《Empire of the Ring》


 Chapter 1

    <h4>Chapter 1: An Offer Received After a Beating (1)</h4>


    *Disimer: The following contains depictions of religion and ethnic disputes. We do not support the author¡¯s views, we are only tranting and editing the novel. This fictional novel is inspired by real-world people, ces, and events ¡ª the author has taken these people, ces, and events and embellished them as characters with conversations and backgrounds as done in fiction.


    There is not a single part of my body that is not aching. The swelling in my cheeks has lessened, and I can finally open my eyes with ease. I forced myself to look around, but the scene has not changed a bit.


    A light bulb dangles from the ceiling and the small, iron-barred windows are merely touching the ceiling at the top corner. They seem to function as a vent to circte air rather than for letting sunlight into the room.


    It has been three days since I got locked up in this room, but all they have been doing is giving me some thin soup and tough bread. They beat me so hard the first day I was dragged here, but from the next day onward, they haven¡¯t evenid a finger on me.


    I have no idea why I got beaten up since I am just an innocent merchandiser who came here to sell Korean unmanned security systems.


    ***


    Youngho, who was drinking a cup of coffee at a caf¨¦, was threatened at gunpoint. The men dragged him and beat him with sticks. It was no use to plead or protest with his poor English.


    Youngho had a bad feeling that he was being terribly misunderstood by these people. As if they wanted to scare him, they covered his eyes, threw him into a car, and drove him to who-knew-where for several hours.


    At first, they pped his face, brutally taking down his self-esteem, andter they beat his shoulders with arge, thick rubber stick. It was terrifying to get beaten up without a single word of exnation.


    Youngho figured that these people were not from the official Armenian army when they started beating him. He came to this conclusion not only because of their inconsistent beatings, but also because their beating was leading to nowhere. They seem to be tormenting him without a purpose. He thought that this organization must be a sloppy one.


    Youngho was saving his words since he could get into grave danger if he exposed their identity. He needed to gain their trust and make them believe that he was not their foe, but it seemed impossible since he couldn¡¯tmunicate with them.


    There were three to four people switching in guarding him around the clock, but he recognized nobody. He became desperate when he found out that he couldn¡¯tmunicate with them even with his poor Russian because as far as he knew, most Armenians spoke Russian.


    After all the hassles of the first day, Youngho noticed a change in their behavior.


    It was clear that someone was watching Youngho, who had been staying in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, for 15 days going in and out of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Main Police Department. It didn¡¯t make sense to abduct Youngho, who just came to Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory, if they hadn¡¯t been watching him.


    Even with a little ambiguity in his look, Youngho considered his appearance a natural Korean¡¯s. He wasn¡¯t sure if there might have been some western blood in his ancestry because his family was often told that they looked a little western back in Korea, but his passport clearly showed that he was from the ¡®Republic of Korea.¡¯


    They must be startled to find out that he was a 27-year-old Korean named Lee Youngho, as they went through his stuff after abducting him.


    There was no doubt that they were one of the Nagorno-Karabakh organizations that were fighting against Azerbaijan. With the hope of getting released, Youngho felt uncertain about the possibility of his abductors¡¯ making a reckless decision to avoid the Korean government¡¯s protest.


    ***


    Youngho managed a little trading shop in Yongsan Electronic Market with his friend.


    It was a bad idea to start a business in Eastern Europe. Trusting his English skills, since he majored in English Literature back in college, he decided toe here to sell Korean unmanned security systems which were popr here.


    His friend Cho Sangchun tried to stop him because Youngho was going to a disputed territory, but Youngho insisted for he thought he could make even more money from businesses in a ce like this.


    He confidently thought that his western look could attract more people. But here he was, all locked up and beaten up. He felt likeughing.


    The situation was not funny at all since he wasn¡¯t sure whether he would be facing death soon. It drove him crazy not understanding Armenian or Azerbaijani, not to mention that nobody spoke English in this group, which was systemized enough to abduct him.


    It was natural for at least a single person to speak Russian in arge group of people from a region like this that once belonged to the Soviet Union.


    It was uncertain if they just did not want tomunicate at all.


    Whether they wanted to terrorize him enough so that he would confess anything was unclear, but it was no use since he did not know anything.


    The insides of his mouth hurt, but he forced himself to swallow the tough bread. Recovering his condition was his first priority.


    He felt pain in one of his outer thighs ever since he got beaten up with the rubber stick, but he tried to get used to walking with it.


    He had been staying in shape, so his body was robust, but that didn¡¯t help with all the pain from the beatings. The situation was so absurd that he kept on cussing.


    If he was not suddenly threatened at gunpoint, he could have defended himself because Youngho once belonged to a naval special forces unit. But now what? He was already tied up unless he possessed some special fleeing skills....


    His beard looked bushy since he could not shave for the past three days.


    He spoke English to a huge guy who came to give him his meal as if it was a normal meal time.


    ¡°Hey, got any cigarettes?¡±


    The big guy stared at him and took out a cigarette and lighter.


    Surprisingly, this big, dumb-looking guy understood English.


    The fact that the guy started tomunicate with him after three days was telling Youngho that their attitude toward him had changed. Youngho was excited to think that he might be able get freed. After thinking about how to act, he chose to try showing boldness rather than nervousness.


    The cigarette was American and the lighter was ¡®Bultina,¡¯ a Korean brand. Youngho felt frustrated after noticing that it was his.


    How dare they touch my lighter? Don¡¯t they know that smokers are attached to their lighters?


    ¡°Aaaaahhh....¡±


    He felt a little dizzy as he inhaled the cigarette smoke for the first time in three days. After he sucked up his entire cigarette, the guy was generous enough to give him one more stick.


    Even though they covered his eyes when they beat him, Youngho knew that this guy was the one who had beaten him harshly. His humongous hand that was like a big cauldron lid was proof.


    ¡°Is there anybody here who speaks English or Russian?¡±


    The big guy jerked, which meant he understood.


    ¡°Do you know why I am here? I am a citizen of Korea!¡±


    Saying that made him choked up for no reason. It was nothing to cry about. Embarrassed by his tears, Youngho breathed heavily.


    ¡°You d*ck! Are you mute?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    As Youngho got up from his chair and started to approach him, the guy stepped back and stopped Youngho with his hands. Youngho¡¯s height was 185 cm*, but this guy was at least a head taller than him.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to meet the person in charge.¡±


    Youngho pulled out his thumb and repeatedly said ¡®captain.¡¯


    After looking down on Youngho for a moment, the guy stepped out of the room, saying, ¡°Wait.¡±


    What was wrong with this guy? He spoke English but was ying dumb all along.


    ¡°Hey, you jerk! You understood me but ignored me all along?¡±


    The huge guy did not answer and shut the iron door.


    Youngho was startled.


    Even though his English bore a hard ent, Youngho felt hopeful in knowing that he could speak to him. At second thought, he felt leery. They already knew who he was, but they were not letting him go. A sudden thought popped into his head:


    They can¡¯t be assassins who leave no witnesses.


    Youngho began to think about how troublesome he could be as an eyewitness for them. They might be discussing Youngho bing cause for another trouble after abducting him.


    I¡¯ve got to escape. They¡¯ll kill me like a dog.


    He swiftly looked around his surroundings, searching for tools to escape with. Therey only a chair, desk, and a light bulb. No; a wooden meal tray and spoon were there as well.


    Since they had taken his shoes to prevent him from running away, Youngho was already barefoot. He felt helpless for not knowing where to go after leaving the room, but his mind was telling him to flee.


    Youngho began to think hard. He could take down one big guy, but what would he do after that? He had no idea where he was.


    This was Nagorno-Karabakh with a teau of over 1,000 meters** above sea level. He would starve to death if this ce was located in the midst of a mountain.


    On top of that, an organization this big would locate him wherever he went in this country. However, sitting and waiting for them to turn friendly felt stupid enough. He stretched his body to prepare for the next move.


    He did not have enough strength to escape. He had not fully recovered since all he had been eating for the past few days was thin soup and tough bread. He tried to do some push-ups, but he felt pain along his sides and back as soon as he began. He had to stop after forcing a few repetitions.


    He finally realized that he could not take those guys down by himself even with his well-built body. After all, they belonged to a big organization with guns and knives.


    Youngho¡¯s new strategy was to convince them that he would not report them if they freed him, but he was not sure if he could do that with the current state of his brain, which didn¡¯t seem to be working properly at the moment.


    *185cm- about 6¡¯1¡å


    **1000 meters- about 3281 ft


    ============================================================


    Hello readers,


    I¡¯m excited to introduce a new novel. As shown in the synopsis, this is a Korean ongoing novel with more than 750 chapters on Munpia.


    I¡¯ll be uploading 14 chapters a week and hopefully 2 chapters a day. Because it is a long novel, the pace might feel a little slow, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll enjoy this grand epic story. Please give it a try and hope you enjoy travelling with Youngho !

 Chapter 2

    <h4>Chapter 2: Gunshots Fired in Nagorno-Karabakh (2)</h4>


    Fearing the esction of war which might drag other nations around Caucasus, the international opinion pressured Azerbaijan to avoid war. Armenia was not in the position to dere war either because Russia was sparing anyments for supporting Armenia.


    In the former battlefield, heavy firearms disappeared before anyone could find out, and only gunshots were fired now between the two sides.


    Youngho was not sure how much influence he had in stopping the war but he took all the actions he could. While he was busy convincing the government officials and foreign investors, Fatima and the siblings stayed at the farm. Youngho had let them stay there as a refuge since he did not know when the war might break out and Armenia might fire a rocket to the city of Baku.


    The siblings got excited when they saw Youngho visiting the farm after ten days. Youngho was embarrassed when receiving hugs and kisses from them, but he acted calmly.


    ¡°Oppa, have you been busy? You look awful.¡±


    ¡°I have been meeting officials and businessmen every day and had to eat foods I don¡¯t like. Can you make me a ramen noodle soup? I should sooth my stomach with ramen.¡±


    Youngho was surprised by his own remark to Fatima. He had asked Fatima to cook for him sofortably. ¡®Wow, I just said it like I say it to Yunsuh,¡¯ he thought.


    ¡°Okay oppa. Just wait.¡±


    Excited to be of help, Fatima went ahead to the kitchen with a smile on her face.


    In a few minutes Youngho was almost gulping the hot ramen noodle soup in sweats. Looking at him, Zeynep and Szechenyi went ahead to try the soup. Thoughtful Fatima made lots of portion as if she knew that her siblings would want to try Youngho¡¯s food.


    Zeynep and Szechenyi liked eating kimchi even though they tried it only recently. It seemed that they fell for the charms of kimchi, that they always wanted it with every meal now. Youngho again felt the warmness of a family while eating together with the siblings.


    ¡®Would it feel like this when I have children?¡¯ he thought.


    The sound of the siblings¡¯ chatters and the smell of ramen and kimchi cleansed Youngho¡¯s stressed mind which was full of worries.


    After having the meal, Youngho yed his recently bought guitar and sang a Korean song to the siblings. When he was teaching a popr song, Gerhardt entered the management of the building with a bottle of wine in his hand.


    Gerhardt recently moved to the single house on the farm with his family from the living quarters of the management building, although the house was right next to the management building. Gerhardt was grateful for Youngho that he had built a nice two-story house for his family to live in.


    ¡°Boss, you¡¯re here in a long time. Why don¡¯t we have a drink?¡±


    ¡°Wow, I just thought about drinking. Come in.¡±


    ¡°This is the new wine from the biggest winepany in Baku. They had brought a box to us to ask us to sell our grapes to their winery.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Don¡¯t they have their own grape farm?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they do. But their farm size is just about a quarter of our farm, so they always buy grapes from the farms nearby. Their price suggested is not too high.¡±


    ¡°Gerhardt, I have a n to start a winery in few years.¡±


    ¡°Awesome idea, boss. I didn¡¯t say it before, but allrge-scale grape farms have their own winery.¡±


    ¡°Good. Alright, let¡¯s taste the new wine. Fatima, you can drink with us too. You¡¯re an adult now.¡±


    ¡°Alright, oppa.¡±


    Fatima became 19 recently. She liked to be treated as an adult, so she brought three sses happily.


    ***


    Youngho was now crossing Georgia¡¯s border to get to Armenia. Since his final destination was Stepanakert in the Southern part of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was far away from the previous battle site, it was still safe to travel. Before going on the trip, Youngho had reported to the Main Police Department of Baku that he was going to look around his branch in Stepanakert, just in case. The director subtly asked Youngho to tell him how things are going around Stepanakert, and Youngho felt like he was a double spy. The director wanted to use him as much as he can.


    At the checkpoint, an officer who went through Youngho¡¯s bag held a raki bottle in his hand and smile. It meant that he wanted the bottle for himself. He gave him another, saying he had brought many anyways, the officer cleared the gate and let Youngho go.


    When Youngho got on a bus, he saw a backpacker couple arguing with the officer, it seemed that the officer was not clearing their entrance to thend. Youngho showed another bottle to the officer to signal him to let go of the couple. Since Youngho¡¯s status as a US diplomat was an entrance guarantee, the officer nodded to Youngho and stamped on the couple¡¯s passports.


    The entering process of Armenia was not very systematic, it was up to officers. Now it was not a good time to enter since they were atbats with Azerbaijan soldiers. The officers had authorities to reject anybody from entering thend if he found something suspicious, or if he did not like the people.


    The young backpacker couple was saved by Youngho¡¯s nosy nosiness.


    ¡°Mr. Lee thanks for your help at the checkpoint.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I travel around here often because of my business. I just wanted to help because I know how travellers feel like.¡±


    ¡°Now if I tell people a bottle got me cleared at the checkpoint, all travelers would bring alcohol here.¡±


    ¡°Haha. I gave him the bottle because I knew him. It¡¯s not a bribe. The officer would have held you for hours before letting you go.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that. I think he let us go because of your position.¡±


    ¡°Well, if my position was established because of the alcohol, I agree.¡±


    The names of the couple were Arsen and Batzen from Germany. They were 26 years old. They were doctorate students of Goethe University in Frankfurt. Their destination was same with Youngho, Nagorno-Karabakh, so they decide to travel together.


    The only transportation to get to Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, was a small bus taking off from Yerevan. The small bus drove on twisty mountain roads, so travellers had to trust their lives on the driver. Even though Armenia was a small country sizing about only 20% of Korean penins, it took six hours to get to Stepanakert since the country was mountainous. Driving on the cliffs made Youngho¡¯s hair stood on end.


    The German couple had made a reservation for lodging, but Youngho shook his head when he heard where they were staying. The ce was a shabby one to Youngho¡¯s knowledge, so he introduced a Europe Hotel in Stepanakert. The hotel was a good one for travellers who n to stay long in the region. The couple thanked Youngho and told him to contact them when he gets a chance toe to Germany. They even asked for Youngho¡¯s business card, little did Youngho know that from this short encounter, Youngho would receive lots of help from the couple and stay as good friends for a long time in the future.


    ***


    ¡°Hey you big businessman Mr. Lee, you look great. We are trying to enroll as warriors in the northern border.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Do you think bullets are going to naturally fly away from you?¡±


    Park Jongil greeted Youngho in his joking way. All other friends also weed Youngho but their eyes were fixed on the bottles he brought.


    ¡°Ya¡¯ll didn¡¯t wait for me, did you? You waited for the drinks!¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Why would we wait for you? We have beautiful girls all around here.¡±


    It seemed that Cho Chulhwan also made a girlfriend here, he sounded serious about the girl when he said he already met her parents. He was introduced to a sister of one of his militant trainees, and started dating her. Youngho was worried that he would hurt the girl¡¯s heart if he suddenly decides to go to Korea.


    ¡°Chulhwan, if you¡¯re not serious about her, you¡¯d better stop before it gets out of your hand.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, you think you¡¯re the only adult here. Don¡¯t worry I¡¯m pretty serious about her. I¡¯m thinking about getting married and living here forever.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t know what I have gotten you into.¡±


    The gang was excited to see Youngho back in Stepanakert, that they started opening the bottles that he brought. While drinking, Youngho told about the two nations¡¯ status in detail to the gang. After letting them know that Armenia wanted to have war, he made sure to tell not to get involved with the war recklessly. The gang listened seriously and agreed to what Youngho said.


    Edward was sitting in the Stepanakert office, looking exhausted. The current situation seemed to work toward Edward¡¯s disadvantage.


    ¡°Lee, this is our people¡¯s issue and I¡¯m confused. The battle started by soldiers in Nagorno-Karabakh. They¡¯re trying to get Russia involved in this to have war. I¡¯m just worried that pro-Russian side in Armenia would start a war against Azerbaijan¡±


    Russia would not act without any cause. However, since the matter was deeply rted to their army residing in Armenia, nobody could guess how they would react.


    ¡°Ed, thankfully Azerbaijan¡¯s public opinion is against esction of war. The foreign investors made sure of it in the government.¡±


    ¡°Lee, you¡¯ve done such a great job in the time like this. The European chapter thinks highly of your efforts. They¡¯ll support more information expense soon. Please keep up what you¡¯re doing with the foreign investors. We must stop the war spreading.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear that he¡¯d receive more payment soon. It seemed that he was finally being treated as a regr agent.


    He asked Edward tantly if there was any information he could deliver to Baku¡¯s Main Police Department. Knowing Youngho¡¯s situation, that he acted as an information source in Baku although as a disguise, Edward told him to mention about pro-Russian officials. As some of them were visiting Stepanakert at the moment, it would be nice to share that to the director. Edward also emphasized that the pro-Russian officials were pressuring the Armenian army into war, not the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.


    Trying to stop the war spreading, Edward and Youngho busily struggled to stop the war spreading.

 Chapter 3

    <h4>Chapter 3: Gunshots Fired in Nagorno-Karabakh (1)</h4>


    The season has just changed to winter. Baku was such windy a city that people needed windbreakers in order to survive the winter. That was why the retailers of Chunho Merchant were busy selling clothes ordered from Korea.


    The retailers of Chunho Merchant clothes in Baku kept high pricing that almost matched clothes from Youngho¡¯s direct store. They did not consider the low quality of their clothes but tried to use Youngho¡¯s direct store¡¯s high quality fame to make more money. Even though he had warned them that he would take away Chunho Merchant¡¯sbel from them, they did not listen. They were damaging the brand name of Chunho Merchant and the sales of the direct store.


    Because Youngho kept on tackling them, they said that they would directly have business with Korean clothing factories, excluding him. So, Youngho stopped his business with the retailers. However, the retailers made the decision not considering about the expenses for shipping, storage, clearance, and other official fees. Because they used a different brand name with less appealing design, their clothes werepletely rejected by consumers.


    Regretting their decision, they returned to have business with Chunho Merchant again, but it was toote because Youngho had already supplied the winter clothes to other retailing stores. The three retailers eventually turned their eyes to Chinese factories.


    Youngho only smiled at their shameful tactics, even though they were descendants of the merchants who dealt with people on the silk roads.


    Youngho thought it could be because it had been only 20 years since the capitalistic market economy started in Azerbaijan and and the concept of business ethics or credit was not settled in yet.


    Youngho got a phone call from Korea.


    ¡°Youngho, it¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Sangchun? What¡¯s up, man?¡±


    ¡°I just called, just wondered if you¡¯re doing well.¡±


    ¡°Well, you became a dad and now you know how to take care of your friend.¡±


    ¡°So, I heard you¡¯ve got a girl.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I got too many girls. There¡¯s Karajan, Stephany, 19-year-old Fatima, and Zeynep who just turned 12. They are all girls, what?¡±


    ¡°Dude, stop joking around. Mom was going to introduce a girl to you, but Yunsuh said you have a girl now.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you two are just writing a fiction, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯m just taking care of some kids that I met in Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then I should tell mom to set up a blind date for you.¡±


    ¡°No, that is a ¡®no thank you¡¯. I don¡¯t want to go out on a blind date. Tell mother.¡±


    ¡°Mom is really pushing it this time.¡±


    ¡°No, I want to focus on working for a while. I don¡¯t want to think about other stuff.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I got you. But you¡¯re not really going to raise a girl and marry her, right?¡±


    ¡°Keep writing the fiction, I¡¯ve got to go.¡±


    Confused after the phone call, Sangchun walked back to Yunsuh¡¯s room.


    ***


    Youngho heard about the battle after 9 PM.


    Edward called him in urgent voice that there had been gunshots between the soldiers at the border of Nagorno-Karabakh. After two hours, a news channel broadcasted on national TV, that there had been multiple casualties due to a tank battle at the border.


    Whether the battle was nned or not would be unsure until the next day. When the news broke out, ¡®Finally¡¯ was the word that came to Youngho¡¯s mind.


    He called his friend in Stepanakert and made sure that they would not move hastily. Hiis friends tended to be ill-tempered, so Youngho was worried that they might do reckless things if they hear their trainees got hurt during the battle.


    In the morning news the next day, Youngho realized that something he and Edward were worried about had finally happened. The news reported that the soldiers on each side had fought over night taking each other¡¯s bases leaving tens of casualties behind. He could see that tanks and heavy firearms were used in the battle. When he checked on the inte, it seemed that foreign news considered it as an idental battle because they did not make it a big issue.


    When Youngho went to Chunho Merchant office in Baku, Karajan and Gerhardt were talking, agitated over the news of the battle. Youngho chose not to participate in their conversation, since they talked against Armenia. Youngho knew this was a sensitive issue to the two nations and this might make a misunderstanding between him, a foreigner, and them.


    Youngho pondered about a way to politically move and help on stopping the war. As a foreign entrepreneur, Youngho could help prevent the war from getting spread by insinuating his concerns over the war to high officials and making the public opinion against the war.


    He had to act not only to stop the war, but also to save his businesses in Baku. Youngho had just started a farming business investing all of his money and CIA¡¯s money, but he would be out of man power to cultivate grapes if all men got drafted to the war.


    When Youngho visited Main the Police Department of Baku, all officials were in theirbat uniforms. They considered that they were at war now. Youngho met the director who was excitedly talking about the war.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, now is not a good time to visit. What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I just got too worried. Wouldn¡¯t I lose my workers because of the war?¡±


    ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be such a problem. We have a great Air Force, the situation will be cleared soon.¡±


    The director seemed to be confident because of Azerbaijan had recently bought multiple fighter nes from Israel. Azerbaijan kept close rtionship with Israel even though they had different religions. They were in favor of Israel for some reason.


    ¡°Director, I came because I felt desperate. I invested more than a million dor and I¡¯m going to have to pay for thend in three years. If I can¡¯t manage the farm business, I¡¯ll be bankrupt in no time. It¡¯s not just me but other foreign investors are anxious too. I¡¯d like the battle to be settled before spreading big.¡±


    Understanding what Youngho was worried about, the director who did not wee his visit at first replied,


    ¡°I understand that you are worried. I did not think about foreign investor¡¯s positions and how they might not invest again in our nation. I¡¯ll take your opinion to the executive council, they¡¯ll take my word in consideration even though I¡¯m just a mere official in the police department. Thank you foring here and sharing your opinion.¡±


    The director was an open-minded person. It made Youngho sad to think that he was the one who killed many Armenians when he served in the military in the past. He might have been pushed to an extreme decision because of old national sentiment, but he did not seem to take life lightly.


    Youngho also visited Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, andined that if all foreign investors lose their money due to the war, the nation¡¯s finance would helplessly fail. Kamal was a high official and could make a voice in deciding national matters. The international opinion was also leaning against the war.


    Because Azerbaijan had started constructions all over the country as part of their economic development n, there were stronger inside opinions that wanted to wrap up the battle as an idental collision between the two nations.


    Youngho met Turkish investors who had businesses in Baku and convinced them to help stopping the war. All of them agreed to Youngho¡¯s opinion, since they were businessmen who were after money, and some even said that they would visit high officials and voice themselves.

 Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4: An Offer Received After a Beating (2)</h4>


    Youngho was abducted in a quiet caf¨¦ in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. The city was not popted like South Korea, where the streets and restaurants were thoroughly watched by closely set-up CCTVs. Youngho¡¯s disappearance could be easily called a mystery if they wanted to.


    In this area, there was no Korean conste or representative department.


    Since he met only a handful of Koreans in Armenia¡¯s capital city Yerevan, he had no friends to ask for help from. There was nobody; it was only Youngho who could save himself.


    After he spent hours deep in thought, he heard the door open. The big guy came in with a thin man who looked around 40 years old. Youngho sprang up from his chair. The big guy motioned him to sit down. The thin man leaned on the desk with his hip and spoke English with a British ent,


    ¡°Mr. Lee, do you know who we are?¡±


    Would you let me go if I knew, you jerk? he cussed in his mind as he forced himself to act calm.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t want to know. I don¡¯t even want to argue why I had to be beaten and treated like this in here. I am a mere merchandiser from Korea, and if you don¡¯t like me here, I will just leave now.¡±


    Youngho had simply made it clear that he would not make this a problem, but the thin man¡¯s reaction was unexpected.


    ¡°We are sorry, Mr. Lee. There has been a mistake. We are....¡±


    Youngho stopped the thin man from speaking any further. If Youngho found out more about them, it would get him involved in more trouble.


    Misunderstanding? How did they make such a big mistake? Why did you even beat me in the first ce, you b*stards? Despite thinking that, he spoke calmly, because from then on, his good choice of words could get him out.


    ¡°Very well, if there has been a mistake, please let me go. I do not wish to hear about your story or your status.¡±


    Knowing their identity would probably get him in another trouble, he thought, and in fact, there was not even a single piece of his mind that wanted to know anything about them.


    Smiling weakly, the thin man spoke, ¡°Mr. Lee, I know that you havee here to sell unmanned security systems. We already checked your stuff. I am impressed by your courage toe here knowing that this is a disputednd.¡±


    All right, I didn¡¯te here to hear that, d*ck! Just let me out of here since you admire my courage. Stop saying this nonsense!


    ¡°Okay, since you are impressed by my courage, I think I already achieved enough here. So please let me go,¡± Youngho near pleaded to the thin man.


    ¡°That is why, I am proposing an offer.¡±


    Youngho did not want to listen to any offer. Getting out of there was his priority and nothing else came to his mind.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t take this offer, will I be in trouble?¡± asked Youngho as he checked the man¡¯s facial expression. He had to, since his freedom was in this man¡¯s hands.


    The man seemed to be surprised by Youngho¡¯s words. He replied, ¡°Not exactly.¡±


    ¡°Then please help me get out of this country. I willpletely forget whatever happened here because of your men¡¯s misunderstanding.¡±


    Feeling humiliated, Youngho thought that he would not mention anything about this embarrassing moment to anyone in the future.


    Looking at Youngho¡¯s eyes, the 40-year-old man spoke with a very clean and firm British ent, ¡°Our proposal is not a big deal. As a way of apologizing, we would like to buy Korean electronics from you.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I can take your offer after all of this?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    I was given a merry hell for a little misunderstanding. Even if they are from a disputed territory between two countries, they can¡¯t just treat me like this without any identification process.


    ¡°If you were our enemy, we wouldn¡¯t have offered anything, but we are a courteous people.¡±


    ¡°Then, I will ask one thing. What made you misconstrue me as your enemy?¡±


    Plucking up his courage, Youngho had to know why.


    ¡°The executive director of Main Police Department that you had contact with is under our watch. He is presumed to have had massacred countless Armenians when he was serving as a military officer. You were exposed to have been contacting him quite a bit, and since you came here, there was no choice but to suspect you.¡±


    This was still not right. They could have already identified him the first day he was dragged here with his ID and other stuff in his bag.


    Even if he was a spy, they should have interrogated him first, and then tried to torment him to get words out of him, but all they did was beat him from the first day.


    ¡°What on earth is your source doing? You trusted his information and used me of being a foreign spy? I still don¡¯t understand why they even had to beat me first. You just made me a scapegoat to vent out your anger?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Also, I was introduced to Main Police Department by the Korean Embassy and KOTRA trade center in Baku, so I contacted him as my potential business client. Do you not realize a businessman will go anywhere for his business?¡±


    All the hardship was for some ridiculous nonsense.


    ¡°Our men were blinded by a misjudgment. This wouldn¡¯t have happened if I was here, but unfortunately, I was out of town. We sincerely apologize for what we have done.¡±


    Youngho was just a fooled victim. He had nothing to say to their sincere apology.


    ¡°Normally, when you are recognized as a spy in Azerbaijan, you are immediately executed without any interrogating process, but you were lucky that we were reluctant to proceed since you are East Asian. Because we were waiting for an American CIA agent to identify you, it took us three days.¡±


    At the mention of CIA, Youngho was relieved. An organization that shared information with the US CIA would not kill a person recklessly.


    It must not be their concern to respect any human rights or internationalw since they were in a dangerous, disputed region between two countries, where people fought for thend risking their own lives.


    It was stupid enough of Youngho to go between these two countries and try getting some business partners.


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t know what to say. I should be relieved to be alive when I could be facing death.¡±


    He was being sarcastic. There was nothing to fear anymore after he was identified by CIA. He was so upset that he even wanted to call on each person who had beaten him so harshly.


    ¡°And like I said, that is why, we are willing to buy some Korean electronics from you as a way of apologizing.¡±


    The man was looking at Youngho¡¯s face.


    The heck, it already happened.


    Youngho wanted to getpensated for all the beatings he got.


    ¡°All right, then. I will do business with you because you want topensate me for all the things I¡¯ve gone through. I will not hold any grudges if our business is sessful.¡±


    Suddenly, the thin man smiled big. It was such a nice and big smile that nobody could expect it from his rigid face. He asked for a handshake.


    ¡°Very well, I like your boldness. I am Margos. I am amander of the unofficial militia of Nagorno-Karabakh.¡±


    ¡°I am Lee Youngho from Chunho Merchant. I am a vice president.¡±


    ***


    He breathed in the clean air deeply, then breathed it out.


    He felt alive. Apparently, he was in the middle of the woods. He was locked up in a safehouse of the militia within the woods.


    Youngho spoke to a huge dude standing next to him,


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    Korean guys always nitpicked about how old people were if they looked like their peers. Especially if they had already served in the military, they asked for their unit and enrollment year. They would be obsessed with their positions and ages.


    ¡°I will be twenty-five next month. Is there a problem, Lee?¡±


    ¡°You are even younger than me, but you mercilessly pped me? If you were in Korea, you would be in so much trouble, jerk.¡±


    As soon as Youngho found out the huge guy¡¯s age, his rage exploded.


    ¡°Lee, it was just a misunderstanding. I had no personal grudge against you. But is the age so important?¡±


    The huge guy spoke insensitively regardless of Youngho¡¯s emotions.


    ¡°Yes, you jerk. I am your ¡®hyung*,¡¯ son. You are called an elder in Korea even if you are just one year older. Got it?¡±


    Youngho still couldn¡¯t let go of his grudge for the beating. He was barely suppressing the urge to punch him.


    ¡°You will feel better if I call you an elder then?¡±


    ¡°Notpletely, but I will feel better a little.¡±


    ¡°Then you are ¡®hyung.¡¯ All right?¡±


    ¡°Can you believe this guy?!¡±


    Youngho couldn¡¯t help smiling at the big guy¡¯s words.


    Youngho had forgotten that their culture was totally different from Korea. They were the kind of people who would even call their father by his name, so what else could he say? Their words of respect when calling people were just sir, mister, miss, and ma¡¯am. What more could he say?


    ¡°What is your name? What¡¯s your job here?¡±


    ¡°I am Dejavar Helskey. My friends call me Helk. I ammander¡¯s bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°Not Hulk?¡±


    ¡°Nope. It¡¯s pronounced differently, Helk.¡±


    ¡°Hulk suits you better. I will call you Hulk from now on. Don¡¯t forget!¡±


    ¡°Do as you wish.¡±


    He was as bulky as the Hulk, but it looked like these guys never watched American shows.


    Hulk drove Youngho to his hotel.


    They had driven for hours after abducting him from the caf¨¦, but it only took thirty minutes to get to downtown. They must have done that to conceal the location of their hideout.


    Luckily, his room was not checked out and all of his belongings were still there.


    He immediately made a phone call to Korea. The ringtone started to sound after waiting for a while at the front desk.


    *hyung ¨C a Korean word for ¡®older brother,¡¯ used by a younger male to an elder male

 Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5: An Offer Received After a Beating (3)</h4>


    As soon as Youngho picked up the phone, he could hear the person on the other side of the line gushing out curses.


    ¡°You b*stard! Where on earth have you been? You didn¡¯t show up in your room and didn¡¯t even pick up your phone?!¡±


    ¡°Dude, where are your manners talking to your ¡®hyung¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Whatever man. Were you trying to slowly drain my life?¡±


    Cho Sangchun was flipping out. It was understandable since Youngho vanished for several days, so he must have been worried sick.


    ¡°Hey, I have two pieces of news for you; one good, one bad. What do you want to hear first?¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m that gullible to get tricked in the same way again? Hold on, I will let you talk to Yunsuh.¡±


    ¡°Save it forter, I want to talk about business first. I got an order. I don¡¯t know how much it will be but this should be quite good.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? You got an order?¡±


    His tone quickly changed, not sounding like he almost wanted to kill me just moments ago. It was proof that he had been dying to get orders. Youngho had been out here for almost a month without getting anywhere, after all.


    ¡°Yes, son. I finally got you something.¡±


    ¡°Oh Youngho, my man! I gotta bow to you. So, what are the items?¡±


    ¡°Not sure yet, but wait until tomorrow. They¡¯ll tell me about order items and quantities, and I¡¯m sure about this one.¡±


    ¡°But why haven¡¯t you contacted us?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all mountains and hills here. I couldn¡¯t get any signal on the phone.¡±


    ¡°Man, I didn¡¯t know your situation. We thought you were just having itchy feet again.¡±


    ¡°And why do I call you my best friend again? Well, get Yunsuh on the phone.¡±


    There was some noise from the other end of the line before Youngho heard a sharp voice say,


    ¡°You are such a d*ck. Are you trying to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Yunsuh, before taking it out on me, please listen to me.¡±


    ¡°Juste back. Now. I don¡¯t care about any orders.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, Lee Yunsuh, I can¡¯t just do that. I finally got a deal, should I just leave this? This ¡®oppa*¡¯ will stay here a little longer. That¡¯ll be better than going back to Korea just to get attacked by you.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Yunsuh, leave the fax machine on. I¡¯ve got to go.¡±


    He hung up while Yunsuh was yelling because he knew his little sister could go on and on for hours once she started. Also, he might almost tear up if he talked to her more.


    ***


    The next day, Youngho had a visitor at his hotel room. It was Margos, the militiamander.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, is it possible to order nonelectronic items as well?¡±


    ¡°I can get any products from Korea, but I mostly trade in security systems and electronics.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like to get backpacks, sleeping bags, and some mountain-climbing equipment as well.¡±


    Items like these could be found anywhere in Korea. Wasn¡¯t Korea a country that could sell a million products in the blink of an eye?


    ¡°Yes, it is possible. I will bring the best quality products for you.¡±


    ¡°All right. I have the items and quantities listed here. Please take a look.¡±


    Yougho¡¯s eyes got bigger as he looked through the item quantities.


    ¡°What, are you purchasing all of them all together?¡±


    ¡°That is just the first order. If we like the products, we will buy other things too.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s eyes became even bigger as the corners of his mouth lifted. The purchase order he received today was telling him that he just hit the jackpot.


    Of course, this was nothing forrge traders, but at Chunho Merchant, this one was their biggest order ever.


    Chunho Merchant was named after abination of names: from his friend Cho Sangchun¡¯s ¡®chun,¡¯ and his name, Lee Youngho¡¯s ¡®ho.¡¯


    It was a huge amount that Youngho wouldn¡¯t have ever dreamed of dealing with in the past, no matter how much hard work he put behind it.


    The electronics they wanted to orderprised 200ptops, 100 29¡å color TVs, and some security cameras, though older generations. It was not a problem, since he could get them if they searched through the YongSan Electronics Market.


    The rest of the items made his jaw drop. Backpacks, sleeping bags, cookwares, burners, one-person tents, etc.¡ªbut they wanted 10,000 of each.


    He could buy electronics easily since there are plenty at YongSan Electronics Market, but mountain-climbing gears were not items hemonly handled. He did not even have any connections with suppliers.


    The biggest problem was that Nagorno-Karabakh was not internationally recognized as a republic. Instead, it was recognized as a territory of Azerbaijan. There are no suppliers that would sell their products trusting the letter of credit (LC) issued in here. Who would send their products to such a dangerous, disputed region?


    Youngho wanted to take the deal, but the quantities were not something that Chunho Merchant could handle.


    Surprised, Margos asked with a frown on his face, ¡°Mr. Lee, is there anything bothering you?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Margos, using an LC under the name of Nagorno-Karabakh will not be trusted. It¡¯s more likely because of therge quantities. Also, I don¡¯t have many connections for items like these that we don¡¯t trade usually.¡±


    ¡°Well... it is because ournd is not recognized as a member of the global society. This is not an official business, so we will not use the name of Nagorno-Karabakh.¡±


    His voice wasn¡¯t too excited, but he didn¡¯t seem that much disappointed.


    ¡°I regret to say this, but this is just too much.¡±


    ¡°I will ask for help from the US CIA. We can find a way. We¡¯d like to buy these without being known to others and Mr. Lee¡¯spany is just the right fit for that.¡±


    At ¡°US CIA,¡± Youngho came to his senses. There was a silver lining promising that this business would be sessful.


    ¡°By any chance, are you providing these mountain-climbing equipment to the militia?¡±


    ¡°That is correct. We need equipment that is remarkably thermal and durable for missions in mountainous areas, and I was rmended Korean products, which are said to be excellent.¡±


    Although disposable, those were basic necessities for the militia, so he would have to get those unseen. If the government of Azerbaijan found out about this, they would suspect that the militia was trying to umte their strength. Therefore, it was crucial for them to get those in quiet.


    Youngho, who was pondering for a little while, asked, ¡°Where do I send the items?¡±


    ¡°To Yerevan.¡±


    Yerevan was a capital city of Armenia. Because it was andlocked state with no seas touching it, the items should be delivered through Georgia. Although Turkey, which was friendly to Korea, was close to Armenia, the border had been closed since the two countries were not in good terms. Youngho had a hunch that their money was from the CIA.


    If the US Intelligence Agency were in the middle, he wanted to take an adventure. This meant that the CIA was also investing in Armenia by helping out the militia in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was a pro-Russian country.


    Obviously, they couldn¡¯t just import US products. They have to choose some unknown merchandiser like Youngho to leave no evidence.


    Youngho was not sure if the US was looking after Armenia for religious reasons, or because of the Armenian influence in the US congress, but there was no reason for Youngho to reject this offer.


    Most of Armenian citizens were Apostolic. Easily said, they were Christians.


    And more than 90% of the poption in this region were Armenians. In 1994, Armenians seized this region from Azerbaijan and had since connected other autonomous districts and roads that were broken. Somehow, the US was working on thisnd, and a great opportunity presented itself to Youngho.


    Youngho was debating whether he should return to Korea. Therge quantities seemed overwhelming for his friend Cho Sangchun and his little sister Yunsuh to manage. Sitting in his hotel room, he reached out to the phone.


    Just in time, Yunsuh answered, ¡°Is that you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Yunsuh, did you check the fax?¡±


    ¡°Is this a real order? We can¡¯t take this much, oppa.¡±


    ¡°I will go back to Korea for now. The Armenian side decided that they will open their LC from the Deutsche Bank.¡±


    ¡°Wow, Deutsche Bank is more than enough. Just hang in there. Sangchun and I will take care of it for now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re carrying a life, you can¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Is Sangchun in the office now?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s been having a hectic day since reading the fax. He has been making phone calls and just disappeared.¡±


    ¡°Where is he at, leaving his wife alone?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about my husband that way, I won¡¯t take that.¡±


    ¡°Tell Sangchun that the LC is from the Deutsche Bank. That will make him feel better.¡±


    ¡°Okay, oppa. Don¡¯t worry. Just take care of yourself.¡±


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s talk again tomorrow.¡±


    ***


    That night, two people visited Youngho as he was about to fall asleep. It was Margos, the militiamander, and a good-looking white man in his thirties.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I had someone to introduce so I came at this time. This is Edward from the US CIA.¡±


    ¡°I am Lee Youngho, nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Edward here. I already know you from your profile given by the Korean chapter. I am sorry that we couldn¡¯t help when you were undergoing some trouble here.¡±


    He was sincerely apologizing. The US CIA wouldn¡¯t have any excuse whatsoever since the militia that they were looking after had abducted and tormented a citizen of their allied nation.


    ¡°I thought I was about to be killed. Why couldn¡¯t you help earlier?¡±


    ¡°I had just gone to Georgia for work. I contacted the Korean chapter and checked your profile. You¡¯re from a special forces unit.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°We can figure that out easily from the Korean chapter.¡±


    Youngho was not going to deny that since they knew about him already.


    ¡°I was in the Navy Special Forces. After the training period, I served only for nine months and got discharged. I¡¯ve already forgotten all the training I went through. I¡¯m just like a normal person now.¡±


    As if he was making an excuse, Youngho gave a long speech. It didn¡¯t feel right being asked about his experience in the Navy, so he told them that his body was not like what it was when he was in the Navy.


    ¡°Our government is very interested in Korean special forces. There are not a lot of people now who has undergone their intensive training.¡±


    He was interested in Youngho¡¯s background in the special forces. There was no need for him toe see Youngho, who was just a merchandiser.


    ¡°You are not trying to drag me in, are you?¡±


    ¡°Do you think I am that kind of person? You¡¯re imagining too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding, Mr. Edward.¡±


    ¡°Please call me Ed. We will see each other often from now on.¡±


    What are you talking about? I just joined because you¡¯re having a party with money from the CIA.


    Youngho would never say that out loud since he did not want to break the deal which he got in exchange for his beating.


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m doing business with the US CIA instead of the Armenian militia.¡±


    Edward suddenly hid the amusement from his face and said, ¡°It is not our intention to favor or help a specific ethnic group or country. We just give advice. But we do not support the ideas of mass killing caused by ethnic differences.¡±


    He said it backhandedly, but he meant that the US was helping Armenians.


    ¡°I am a person who is disgusted by people who take life lightly.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s view was somewhat different regarding the dispute between the two nations. As far as he knew, the dispute was escting not only because of the powerful nation¡¯s, Azerbaijan¡¯s oppression, but also because of Armenia drawing in Russia¡¯s influence in-between.


    ¡°I contacted the Korean chapter for this time. If you are in trouble, don¡¯t hesitate to go ask for help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, but I feel ufortable. I¡¯m receiving too much for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Lee. This is our gift for your troubles, all because of my people.¡±


    ¡®My people.¡¯ Youngho pondered about what Edward had just said.


    ¡°Let me introduce myself again. I was born in an Armenian-American family. Aside from my CIA work in here, this is my home country as well.¡±


    Youngho would have suspected him if this guy said that the CIA was intervening to stop the sh between two ethnicities with different religions, but he just identified himself as an Armenian. Youngho was somewhat relieved by his words. For even a CIA agent like him, it would matter to have a helper on their side. At least he wouldn¡¯t throw Youngho aside after his usefulness expired.


    The whole world knew that the US CIA was an organization that would involve itself in another country¡¯s affairs; and if needed, they would even change its government because their top priority was their own interests. One might even say that their value of existence was greater when these kinds of disputes happened.


    Youngho was willing to deal with anybody in exchange for a beating. However, getting in-between an ethnic dispute might rip him off, but he was determined to take that risk.


    Even a CIA agent was telling him that he was Armenian-blooded.


    Let¡¯s see how far I can go. An unyielding spirit was rising from the inside.


    *oppa ¨C a Korean word for ¡®older brother,¡¯ used by a younger female to an elder male

 Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6: CIA (1)</h4>


    The phone next to the bed rang loudly.


    Youngho looked at the clock. It was 6 AM. It was frustrating, but he contained himself since he did not know who it was yet. It must be something urgent, to call at this hour. It turned out to be his friend Cho Sangchun from Korea.


    ¡°Sleeping? You¡¯re able to sleep when I¡¯m dying under the workload?¡±


    ¡°Sangchun, what time is it now?¡±


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s 11 AM in Korea now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy. Do you even know what ¡®time difference¡¯ means?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the extra time to consider that.¡±


    This must not be bad news since he sounded bright.


    ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re not starving yourself as you work, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my beautiful Yunsuh takes care of me well.¡±


    ¡°What a romantic.¡±


    Youngho could hear Sangchun turning pages.


    ¡°Youngho, do you even know what the total amount is for the whole order?¡±


    ¡°5.3 billion in Korean won*. What about it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, I¡¯m talking about the production cost.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your job to calcte that. I just signed the deal, you deal with all the math.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be shocked. The production cost for the mountain-climbing gears is 4.3 billion won. And we¡¯ll also make more than 50 million won for theptops and security systems. Are you sure this order is correct?¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve always been skeptical, but are you doubting me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just... It feels like I¡¯m dreaming, man.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited. They might order more in the future. If it¡¯s not too damaging to our profit, tell suppliers to make them the best quality and don¡¯t consider the production cost.¡±


    Youngho said that because he was confident that he would get more ordersing in the future. It did not feel like it was going to end after one business deal.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll pressure the suppliers, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Youngho felt like a ton of weight was lifted from his shoulders after the uplifting call.


    He was fully awake already. After staying in his bed for a while, Youngho suddenly got up. If he stayed in bed any longer, he would only waste time daydreaming. He went out to the lobby in his tracksuit.


    The firece in the lobby had been lit even though it waste summer. There were some early bird guests who were already having their morning coffee in the lobby lounge. It was somewhat chilly in there even in thete summer because the city was located at an altitude 800 to 900 meters high.


    The sun was rising as Youngho left the hotel entrance.


    He stretched his body and started sprinting. At about three kilometers, Youngho felt out of breath. He changed his stride and started walking at a rapid pace to catch his breath.


    It was strange to feel the same difort from undergoing U.D.T. training in the navy, when his drill sergeants kept pulling his legs underwater, in a faraway country. He was a fast learner, so he did not get drowned as much as hisrades, but he would not forget that feeling of difort.


    He moved nearer to the buildings on the roadside and walked at a speed close to running. The safest defense was having one side blocked. It was better to defend oneself having one side blocked than having all sides freely open.


    Some bakeries were open already, but other stores were still closed. A butcher shop ten meters ahead caught Youngho¡¯s attention. As he was stepping into the shop, he heard lousy footsteps behind him. Without looking back, he reckoned that the footsteps belonged to two people. Stepping inside, Youngho looked at the owner and put his index finger on his lips. The owner grinned and stood near the canopy at the entrance.


    The smell of gunpowder arose. One of the guys must have pulled out a gun. If one did not clean the muzzle or breechblock after shooting, a gun would smell like that for a while. Especially in the case of pistols; it was worse since they did not import them within the region often. This guy must not be skilled. The smell of gunpowder told Youngho that they were enemies.


    If Youngho hesitated now, he might have to take bullets or get abducted again. The one who was walking along the outer walls of the store just turned around the corner. At that moment, the side of Youngho¡¯s hand struck the guy¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple.


    Hrrrk! he made a choking sound. He grabbed his neck and his eyes rolled back. Youngho did not hit him too hard to be life-threatening, but the extreme pain dumbed his senses, stopping him immediately.


    The second guy looked inside to see who made the choking sound, and he flipped back as Youngho¡¯s fist struck his temple. He fainted at the shock from the attack on his vital point. His big body fell backward, and the back of his head hit the floor hard.


    ***


    Margos the militiamander immediately came to take care of the incident. Fortunately the two men were not in bad condition, and they seemed like excellent toys for Hulk.


    Whoever these men were, it was obvious that Youngho became a target for somebody. Edward, who showed up after a few hours, also worried Younho.


    ¡°Lee, this is not good. You¡¯ve been made a target of special police of Azerbaijan already. This is our mistake.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been staying in the same hotel as you. They were drinking coffee and saw you walking out alone, so they initiated contact with you. Now, you can¡¯t freely roam around in Azerbaijan and in here.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    Hearing hisplicated words, Youngho felt woozy.


    ¡®You are done here.¡¯ It was as simple as that, but Edward kept on using all kinds of words to tell him that he could not be free here. Frustrated, Youngho burst with a question.


    ¡°Ed, may I use the pistol I obtained this morning for self-defense?¡±


    Edward smiled at Youngho¡¯s words, as if his question was not even worth asking.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if there are any legal problems with that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem. I¡¯ll also personally protect you because you¡¯re going through so much trouble caused by our people.¡±


    From someone who didn¡¯t even know that I was getting beaten.


    Edward¡¯s looked rxed, as if this situation was interesting.


    Youngho was still rmed like a porcupine with quills, but Edward exined the current situation in a business-like manner.


    ¡°What I¡¯d like to suggest now is that you must hide your identity by enrolling as a temporary CIA field agent.¡±


    What he was saying was total bullsh*t. Just because Youngho was targeted by the special police of Azerbaijan, he needed to change his status? He needed to be a CIA agent?


    ¡°Ed, I¡¯m not in the mood to joke around. I¡¯m serious.¡±


    However, Edward kept on insisting that he was just suggesting it because he was worried about Youngho¡¯s safety, and Youngho needed to do that if he wanted to carry out the deal.


    ¡°The headquarters wouldn¡¯t approve of this even with my rmendation if you were a regr civilian, but since you have some background in the special forces, and you¡¯re the person we need to seal the deal for this district, we can make a fake identity easily.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that if I keep my Korean identity, I won¡¯t be able carry out the deal with you, not to mention securing my safety.¡±


    ¡°You are looking at it right.¡±


    There was no other choice to consider.


    ¡°If there is no other way, please get me a temporary cover.¡±


    Smiling at Younho¡¯s words, Edward continued, ¡°All right, then. You are now under the watch of Azerbaijan, and that is why we are temporarily taking action like this. Our organization has a lot of people who can be quite flexible and rational.¡±


    Dude, please. I¡¯m just busy taking care of my situation. I¡¯m not interested in your organization.


    ¡°Very well. Since the situation is so dreary that I can¡¯t even go jogging by myself, I¡¯ll take anything, whether it¡¯s a fake passport or temporary agent; but promise me that it will not affect my country or family. If you can promise that, I will take whatever you offer.¡±


    There, he said it, and there was no other way for Youngho.


    ¡°I have the right person, Lee. I¡¯ll report this to the headquarters and we¡¯ll see how it goes.¡±


    Youngho was not so pleased with Edward¡¯s attitude. He sounded like he was bragging when he said that he was going to make Youngho a fake passport.


    Youngho studied the pistol by disassembling and assembling it again and again. It was an Italian Beretta pistol, used for practuce drills in America.


    Beretta pistols were so famous worldwide that even high-standing American weapons dealers acknowledged them. They were also one of the US Army¡¯s favorites.


    Weighing around a kilogram**, the pistol could load fifteen shotgun bullets and 380ACP bullets, which were recoilless. The pistol was a product that made Italy world-famous in the firearms industry.


    Now, it was in Youngho¡¯s hands. Youngho put it in the front pocket of his suit. He was now able to assemble the pistol with his eyes closed. If he wanted to live, he needed to carry one. Didn¡¯t they say that he was a target of the Azerbaijan special police? He wanted to return to Korea immediately, but the deal was stopping him.


    ***


    With Edward¡¯s rmendation, Youngho stayed in his room quietly for several days. At the seventh day, Edward came to his room. He was lively as he told Youngho that he had just been to Germany, where there was a European chapter.


    ¡°Lee, congrattions! You have been specially appointed as a field agent by the European chapter. Please keep this with you at all times. This is a US passport.¡±


    What is he talking about now? Is he insane?


    ¡°Ed, did you just say that I was approved as a special field agent? You said that you would just make a temporary ID.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you are a veteran who was trained under the special forces. You have already taken down policemen under cover with your bare hands and proven your skills. As a head of the local chapter of the US CIA, I wanted to rmend you as a field agent. This will not be a minus to you ever. This ID is not fake; it is a diplomat¡¯s passport issued by the United States.¡±


    Youngho could not think straight.


    ¡°Why on earth do I need to keep this?¡±


    ¡°You are officially not Korean here now. You can check out from this hotel and find another one to stay in.¡±


    Youngho felt like he was caught in something.


    Well, there was nothing he could do now. Why would the CIA make him a fake passport? It felt like Youngho was tricked into Edward¡¯s n all along, but he could not do anything because of the deal.


    ¡°With this passport, the US Embassies in any country will do favors for you.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Edward, you are pulling me into something.¡±


    A field agent was a person who carried out missions locally. In fact, you would be a field agent only after undergoing a harsh training period in the States, but allegedly, an agent in a high-ranking position could specially appoint someone as an agent in necessity.


    ¡°I will not deny that. If you want to withdraw now, we will act as if nothing happened, but I¡¯m telling you that this kind of opportunity does note often. I guarantee that it will not be of any harm to you.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s mind was filled with a thousand thoughts in an instant. If this was his destiny, he wanted to take it. Rather than going back to a small country andpeting just to live in there, he wanted to go experience the crazy life in the vast world.


    Edward was not forcing him to be a CIA agent, but was convincing him to make a rational judgment by making him see from a realistic point of view.


    Youngho had a chance, but it was like walking on a tightrope. If he was sessful, he would live and gain wealth; but if not, he might get killed in vain.


    Putting all his thoughts aside, he already had the answer.


    *won- Korean currency. $1 equals to 1124 won as of 10/16/18


    **kilogram-measurement of weight. 1 kilogram equals to 2.2lb

 Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7: CIA (2)</h4>


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to take back what I said. Please let me know what I will be doing.¡±


    Edward smiled as he saw how determined Youngho was.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made the right choice.¡±


    Dude, I won¡¯t leave you alone if this causes me any trouble.


    ¡°Your role is to collect information and to assist me if needed. You don¡¯t have to worry about analyzing the collected information; all that will be done in the European chapter or the maind. There is no problem with your role here since you have been rmended by the Head of the Southern Europe chapter. Also, be aware that you¡¯ll have to get intelligence trainingter on.¡±


    ¡°Whatever the condition might be, I¡¯ll y along since I was forced into a corner.¡±


    So there, it was confirmed. Youngho already decided to be a CIA field agent and did not want to be passive.


    ¡°Lee, some people might say that the CIA uses field agents as disposables, but that is not true. Many of the high-rankers are field agents.¡±


    Hearing that made Youngho feel ufortable since Edward said something that he did not have to say.


    Edward, who had achieved his goal, started talking about their business.


    ¡°Did you hear anything from Korea about the items we ordered?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are ready to be shipped. The containers will be delivered to Poti Sea Port in Georgia, and then the next step will be delivering them to Yerevan by train.¡±


    ¡°The containers will take about two months to get to the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°No. Because Korea and Turkey have friendly rtions, there are lots of export cargos that are shipped to Istanbul. Our containers can be transferred from there. We can deliver them in a month.¡±


    ¡°You have attained that much of the products in such a short time.¡±


    Edward had no idea about Korea¡¯s strength. Even if they were out of stock, they could produce that much supply quickly in five days.


    ¡°Korea lives off exporting. That much quantity is just chicken feed.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, ¡®chicken feed¡¯ it is,¡± Edward moved on. ¡°That¡¯s good news. We need to provide those supplies to the militia as soon as possible. Azerbaijan¡¯s activities have been suspicious.¡±


    Edward worried over the war.


    If the bnce of power was maintained, the two countries would hold the status quo. But if one misjudged and underestimated the other side¡¯s force, it would force its way into the other. Worried about the potential war, the US must be secretly helping the Armenian militia despite the Russian forces residing in Armenia.


    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s frustrating. Will I get pulled into the war too?¡±


    ¡°No, that won¡¯t happen. We only treat information. Lee, I have a personal favor to ask. Can you be in charge of specially training militants?¡±


    Youngho felt like he just made him a field agent to make him a drill instructor.


    ¡°Is there a ce for a training spot in Stepanakert?¡±


    ¡°Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°Ed, we are on the same boat now. I¡¯m not going to try to spare myself. In fact, this is a good chance to get back in shape.¡±


    If Youngho was going to carry out the deal, there was no need for him to be passive. He decided to actively pursue his goal.


    ¡°Thank you, Lee. I will join the training in my personal capacity.¡±


    ***


    Stepanakert, which was the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, was 800 meters high above sea level and housed a poption of 54,000. People of Azerbaijan insisted their ownership over the region, but because Armenians upied 90% of its poption, it was permitted to be somewhat like an autonomous region. Unofficially, people called it the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Thus, the region had its own military force and unofficial gueri forces as well like the militia organization.


    The airways were blocked here, so one could onlye here by car. The roads were so rough around this hignd region that one could almost think that the Daegwallyeong mountain pass* was t.


    The secret training spot of the militia was outstanding. The state ran the ce secretly, and the US CIA was behind them, so they had amazing supplies.


    All sorts of weapons, even multiple rocketunchers, were hidden in the mountain.


    After finding out that they even had an assault course, Youngho asked Edward if he could bring therades who trained with him.


    ¡°Ed, I can help you for now, but I am a merchandiser. I know you didn¡¯t pick me as a field agent just to make me a drill instructor. What do you think about inviting some civilian drill sergeants who were trained in the special forces?¡±


    Youngho was thinking of hisrades who now worked in the personal guard industry.


    ¡°That is a great idea. I will discuss that with Margos. How many do you think you can bring?¡±


    ¡°Most of myrades work as guards and the wage is just pathetic. If I call them, at least three of them wille at once. Just pay them regr wages. I can provide their lodging cost and such with the money I¡¯ll make from your order.¡±


    ¡°Lee, you seriously impress me. Personally, this is for my people, and officially, it concerns the instructors of the militia. How can I make you pay for that?¡±


    Dude, I¡¯m not trying to impress you. I just need to do my job to make money. I don¡¯t want to spend an eternity as an instructor.


    ¡°In exchange for that, how about I be your exclusive merchant?¡±


    ¡°No way Lee, I can¡¯t let you use the profit you made from a proper business deal. Just tell your friends that we will pay them $80,000 to $100,000 a year. I will take this matter to the European chapter.¡±


    Youngho waited for a room at Hotel Europe after registering as a long-term resident and he just got a call that a room was avable. It was a mid-level hotel in Artsakh Street. Equipped with a five-story building and thirty-two rooms, it was a popr ce for long-term residents or backpackers.


    This ce was one of the most dangerous ces to travel in, but young travelers around the world still crowded here just to see its untouched, clean nature.


    Youngho unpacked after he was escorted to his room on the fifth floor.


    ¡°Wait, did you change hotels again?¡±


    ¡°How did you know that? Oh, I told you the hotel phone number in my email.¡±


    ¡°Nope, I heard from the front desk that it¡¯s Hotel Europe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to stay here for a long time. I¡¯m going to cook my food too.¡±


    ¡°Is it like a condo?¡±


    ¡°No, there are so many backpacking travellers that they allow making ramen in the room.¡±


    ¡°You want me to send you some instant rice and kimchi**?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got other friends who will bring them. By the way, can you go look for a number on a business card in my desk? His name is Park Jongil. My cellphone is finally dying.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say you need to get a new phone before you leave? You don¡¯t ever listen to me! What about Jongil-oppa?¡±


    Yunsuh was nitpicking again. Youngho¡¯spany was not doing well when he left. He had forced himself to go on a business trip, and now that the business was doing so well, she was telling him a different story.


    ¡°I want to introduce him to a job position here. There are some spots open for drill instructors.¡±


    ¡°Will Jongil-oppa do fine? He¡¯s only into drinking and girls.¡±


    Youngho hung up the phone after struggling with Yunsuh¡¯s long nagging.


    ¡°Hey, is this Jongil? It¡¯s me, your hyung.¡±


    ¡°Sh*t, you are the only one who calls himself ¡®hyung¡¯ just because you served in the military months before me. What¡¯s up with this long distance-like call? My phone was showing a weird number, so I didn¡¯t want to pick up. But since it¡¯s just you, I¡¯ve got to go.¡±


    Jongil knew that Youngho was on a business trip.


    ¡°Dude, I¡¯m calling with a hotel phone. Don¡¯t you want to know why I called?¡±


    ¡°A hotel? You are soid-back. I¡¯m guarding some random people but you¡¯re just rxing in a hotel bed and calling me?¡±


    ¡°Dude, You can¡¯t call your clients ¡®some random people¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m working for a high school student being threatened by his schoolmates, what?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha ha, you poor man. What is a person from the UDT*** doing guarding a student? Jongil, you trust me, right?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Not ever. Never.¡±


    ¡°Please, I¡¯m not talking about girls.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I trust you then.¡±


    ¡°Just quit right now and fly to Armenia and bring some more guys with you.¡±


    ¡°What?! Quit ande to where? ¡®Ar....¡¯ Man, what kind of country is that? I can¡¯t even pronounce its name.¡±


    Park Jongil repeated Armenia¡¯s name. He had thought that since Youngho was in Europe, he would hear some well-known names like France or Italy.


    Jongil, who was murmuring to himself, suddenly blurted a question, ¡°What? You¡¯ve got problems?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a job. It pays a hundred million won a year. How about a drill instructor position for the Armenian militia?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask any more questions. Okay, how many people do you need?¡±


    Youngho liked that Jongil was a simple and cool guy. Nobody would juste without setting any conditions.


    ¡°Pick some of our trainingrades who are 27 years old like us. Can you bring three people including you?¡±


    ¡°When is the deadline?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call you tomorrow night. Get them ready by then.¡±


    ¡°Okay bary.¡±


    From someone who doesn¡¯t even speak English.... He was pronouncing ¡®okay about it¡¯ wrong.


    Edward visited Youngho, celebrating his moving.


    ¡°Lee, can your friendse from Korea?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I will confirm it by tomorrow night. I¡¯m sure at least three people will be avable.¡±


    ¡°I confirmed this with the head office. They will pay your friends 100 million in Korean won and also provide the cost for living in here. Are they good at martial arts as well?¡±


    Western people had a strange stereotype regarding Asian people. If they looked fit, Western people immediately pegged them as mysterious masters of the martial arts.


    ¡°Yes, they are warriors. And also good at martial arts.¡±


    ¡°Kung fu?¡±


    ¡°Nope, Taekkyeon, Taekwondo, Haidong Gumdo, and et cetera. They are Korean native martial arts.¡±


    ¡°Do they teach you skills like flying in the sky?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    He must be thinking that Asian martial arts could teach someone how to fly like those martial artists in Chinese martial arts movies.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your friends¡¯ visas. I will make their identity warriors from the French foreign legion****.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Ed. My friends will appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m looking forward to the arrival of these specially trained elite militants.¡±


    ***


    The hotel lobby was crowded. Two of Youngho¡¯srades from the UDT had arrived. They were Park Jongil and Cho Chulhwan.


    ¡°Victory, Sergeant Cho. It¡¯s been long.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you sailor, you bothered me the most when we were training. What victory are you talking about? And I was a chief petty officer when I was discharged. Don¡¯t call me a sergeant.¡±


    During their training days, Sergeant Cho Chulhwan was picked on the most by hisrades.


    ¡°Man, we had to pick on you to avoid receiving group punishment. Wee, my friend.¡±


    Youngho and Chulhwan shared a hug with joy.


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that on your chest?¡±


    Chulhwan, who was recently discharged from the special forces unit, was very sharp.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pistol for defending myself.¡±


    ¡°Geez, that¡¯s scary. Did we make a right decision toe here?¡±


    Chulhwan was saying those words, but he did not really seem scared. In fact, his face was like a boy¡¯s, who was expecting something fun to happen.


    ¡°Jongil, did you bring ramen, kimchi, and pepper paste?¡±


    ¡°Who am I? I have them all, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Other travellers were looking at them to see what was going on.


    Youngho, who just put a cigarette in his mouth after he finished eating ramen with kimchi, was smiling as if he was finally alive.


    ¡°Youngho, are you sure we are the right people for this job?¡± Chulhwan asked with a face of doubt.


    ¡°Just train people with half as much as the training we received. They will still praise you as a great instructor. Chulhwan, you were the chief officer. You can be the training general. You can speak English, right?¡±


    ¡°Dude, I was in the American Navy SEALs for three months. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°English learned for three months, I can¡¯t wait. When is Cha Insoo arriving?¡±


    Jongil was reluctant at Youngho¡¯s words.


    ¡°In a week, but there is a problem. I had been calling around and some people hadn¡¯t picked up. We have another membering. There is another guy who¡¯s so eager toe, so we decided to share our pay.¡±


    Youngho felt bad for his friends¡¯ situations. It was just hard for them to make it in Korea. They were desperate toe here.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Maybe they want more people here.¡±


    How bad must their situations have been in Korea, toe at an instant. Too many people in highlypetitive job openings....


    *Daegwallyeong mountain pass ¨C a tough mountain road in Daegwallyeong, South Korea


    **kimchi ¨C Korean traditional side dish made out of fermented Napa cabbage


    ***UDT ¨C Underwater Demolition Team


    ****French Foreign Legion ¨C a French military service branch which mostly consists of foreign recruits

 Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8: CIA (3)</h4>


    Park Jongil had worried for nothing.


    Edward was even happier when he heard one more instructor wasing. He had been excited after seeing the two new instructors¡¯ training in the assault course.


    Because it was just tooplicated if Youngho and his friends all stayed in the hotel for such a long period, the militia provided a ce for all of the instructors to live within their secret house, and even hired a housekeeper. The amount of their everydayundry was overwhelming.


    It had been fifteen days since they started training.


    During gymnastics training, Edward the CIA agent was knocked down, and in the rappelling course, Hulk, the bodyguard of the militiamander, almost peed in his pants after saying that he was acrophobic.


    Walking on a single rope, double rope, and triple rope were just basic skills. When he taught a special skill, killing with bare hands, which was effective in closebats, all of the trainees became pale and looked at the instructors as if they were reapers.


    They could not do underwater training just because the ce only had mountains and valleys around without any deep water. It looked like if they had done it, all of the militants chosen as warriors would have gone home already. It seemed like Koreans were just spiteful.


    Youngho¡¯s friends were breathing heavily after just finishing mountain hiking.


    ¡°Youngho, what kind of ce is this? I feel like I developed mountain sickness.¡±


    ¡°Dude, It¡¯s just 1000 meters high above the sea level. What mountain sickness?¡±


    Cha Insoo, who joined them in Armeniater, scolded Park Jongil¡¯s exaggeration.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of breath, man. I don¡¯t have enough air.¡±


    ¡°You just smoke too much.¡±


    ¡°How can a man quit smoking? Are they even human, huh?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to quit, but you need to smoke less. You have one in your mouth now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my only food preference. Don¡¯t get on my nerves.¡±


    ¡°You stupid, cigarette is not a food.¡±


    ¡°Americans even chew cigarettes. If it¡¯s not food, then why would you chew them?¡±


    While Park Jongil and Cha Insoo were having this stupid conversation, Cho Chulhwanmanded them to resume hiking.


    ¡°Time¡¯s up. Back to your positions!¡±


    ¡°Oh man, who gave him that title? Take it from him!¡± Jongil nagged as Cho Chulhwan ordered.


    ***


    After a month, Youngho dealt with the clearance process for the imported goods at Poti Sea Port in Georgia. Margos signed the receipt and faxed it to Seoul.


    Now, all Youngho¡¯s friend in Korea had to do was to pay the mountain equipment suppliers and Yongsan Electronics Market for their products.


    From this order, the merchant made 500 million won. His friend, Cho Sangchun, must be crazy over the money they earned. Youngho sighed to think about his friend being happy when this was actually a price for his beating. He could not ever tell the truth to anybody until death since it was too embarrassing for him; not to mention, the Yunsuh and Sangchun couple would never even touch a single penny if they knew about it.


    Liking the Korean mountain gear, the militia ordered more of the winter outdoor suits, top and bottom pieces, with 15,000 each. Youngho¡¯s heart almost leaped to his mouth.


    American money was not only overflowing, but was also streaming down all over the ce here. Although it was weird that they were ordering supplies five times more than needed since they only had 3,000 militants to Youngho¡¯s knowledge, he did not question it. He just figured that it was because of the nature of the supplies, which were disposable. If he nitpicked and asked more questions, then they might reduce the quantities they were ordering, and Youngho would lose money.


    They wanted the khaki color just like the backpacks they ordered. He made an international call to Cho Sangchun and asked to check their prices. The Armenian militia had estimated the price of the suit, which was 400,000 won each, but they asked for the quality of the 600,000 won suits in the market. Even though they were asking too much, Youngho was willing to meet their demands.


    A sample product from Korea arrived in haste. It was from a Korean brand B that became arge corporate firm by selling mountain climbing equipment. The militia ordered them after checking that the suit was more efficientpared to other famous foreign brands.


    Yunsuh¡¯s voice was as soft as a spring breeze since Chunho Merchant received two sessful deals in a row. Trusting Chunho Merchant from thest sessful business, the B brand started their production as soon as they received the LC.


    The factory price was 370,000 won, and Cho Sangchun bragged that he had even negotiated the price to include gloves. It was a deal that would make 450 million won for them. The gloves were just a gift to the militia from Chunho Merchant, which was to show that Chunho Merchant did not only care about profits, but also cared about their clients.


    As the special warfare training program was settling down, the US CIA paid ahead all of the instructors¡¯ annual sries at Youngho¡¯s assurance. Youngho¡¯s friends were not doing well financially, so they all needed to send money to their families in Korea.


    ¡°Youngho, can we really take this?¡±


    Park Jongil, who had just received a deposit slip to his ount, was making a fuss.


    ¡°It¡¯s yours to take. Do you have any idea how much the US CIA¡¯s yearly budget is? I don¡¯t know about other things but the pure information budget is more than 40 billion dors. We are just taking a tiny bit from the information expense. Don¡¯t feel sorry.¡±


    ¡°I get to earn 100 million won all because of you. Youngho, my man! I will treat you tonight.¡±


    Park Jongil¡¯s annual sry when he was in a securitypany in Korea was around 30 million won at most. And to get that, he had to work day and night. But now, if he could earn this much just by training and bothering the militants, it seemed like he could do it for decades.


    ¡°Treat who? I¡¯ve got to treat you. I get to earn money for trading on top of the instructor sry.¡±


    Youngho was also told that he would be paid more from the information cost. He felt full already.


    ¡°Then treat us good! We will eat up the whole ce.¡±


    Laughter broke out from everyone at Jongil¡¯s remark.


    It was not like it was free money. It was for their hardbor, but they were still happy to have the money in their pockets. Youngho was a bit bitter hearing his friends¡¯ughter.


    ¡°People here have great physicals. There are no deserters yet even after three months of training. When we were training in the UDT, half of the people got kicked out.¡±


    Um Sangtaek, who had joined them recently, said this while shaking his head.


    The Special Warfare Unit¡¯s basic training program was extremely hard, so much so that it only had a 40%pletion rate in Korea. It could mean that the special forces was very fierce, but it also meant the trainees would be terrifying weapons if a war broke out.


    ***


    Edward came to the secret house where Youngho was staying.


    ¡°Lee, we found a spy in the militia. This was revealed as I was investigating your incident and how the information about you got leaked.¡±


    ¡°Then the locations of the militia¡¯s residences got leaked too?¡±


    ¡°Not true. The driver who drove you when you were being abducted was the same driver who released you to the hotel. The spy must have seen that at the hotel and it was only that part about the driver and you which was leaked.¡±


    After finding that Youngho was abducted, the director of Main Police Department sent secret police to find out what happened to Youngho. Then Youngho made the deal bigger than it was by overly defending himself from the police when he could have just told them that he was a mere merchandiser and he was misunderstood as a spy by the Armenian militia.


    About the guns that Azerbaijan¡¯s secret policemen were holding, it was their conventional way to prepare for a potential danger. The militia had to cover it up because the policemen who were after Youngho were missing. It was revealed that Youngho was not suspected by Azerbaijan¡ªhe just became their object of interest.


    Baku of Azerbaijan was a great market offering all sorts of foods. Youngho was just too hungry to focus on the autonomous region as a militia instructor or a temporary CIA agent. To get out of the Main Police Department¡¯s watch and to make a connection point in Baku, he made a suggestion to Edward.


    Because the US CIA was also working hard to improve their connections in Azerbaijan, they weed Youngho¡¯s active involvement. The CIA immediately approved and provided an information expense of $100,000 to Youngho, who had suggested opening a branch of Chunho Merchant in Baku.


    Youngho hurried and went to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. In order to enter Baku, one needed to pass Georgia¡¯s Tbilisi first, and then get on the train to enter Azerbaijan. It took aplicated route to get there.


    The two ethnic groups were not friendly at all, to the extent that they did not even utter the other country¡¯s name. So, if they knew that a person had been to the other country, they would deny your entry.


    The director of Main Police Department remembered Youngho. Some people said that Asian¡¯s faces were too hard to distinguish, but he must have remembered Youngho¡¯s unique, westernized look. Although, it would have been weird of him if he did not remember Youngho since he sent secret policemen for him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you said you were going to Georgia. What happened to you?¡±


    He looked very surprised to see Youngho. It was reported that Young had vanished after being released from abduction in Nagorno-Karabakh. But Youngho was standing in front of him as if nothing happened.


    ¡°Director, I came back alive from almost being killed. I was in Georgia, where my business was going nowhere, so I decided to go to Armenia. It was a terrible idea.¡±


    Younghoined, exining how he was abducted and beaten for days in the militia. He lied to him, telling him that he had to trade in some backpacks and sleeping bags for them so that they would release him under the condition that he would not make it a problem.


    Knowing Youngho had been released from abduction, the director listened to Youngho¡¯s story sincerely.


    Because the director could easily find out Youngho¡¯s past whereabouts, Youngho told him the truth.


    ¡°Now you know how cruel Armenians are. They took ournd by force and drove out our people. Around 800,000 people have nowhere to go now, and living a wanderer¡¯s life. Mr. Lee, I¡¯m d you are safe and free. You are a lucky case.¡±


    The director was agitated when exining his people¡¯s history.


    ¡°I made money from the orders in exchange for the beating, but I¡¯m still shaking.¡±


    The director was smiling at Youngho, who was unreasonably chatty. He thought that Youngho, who was disgusted with Armenia, could be a good information source for him.


    The sly director did not tell Youngho about sending secret policemen after him until the end. He did not mind their disappearances since many of the policemen and spies went missing while working in the disputed territory.


    Youngho had reduced the quantity of the order items he traded, but since he even told him about trading sleeping bags and backpacks to the militia, it was unlikely for the director not to believe him.


    The director evenughed as Youngho went on and told him worrisomely to be cautious about the militia making him a target. To gain his trust, Youngho told him about the location of the safe house and the appearances of the people who had tormented him, although he did not tell him that the safe house was already closed down and there would not be a single life in there.


    When Youngho said that he would open his own office in Azerbaijan and expand his business around Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, the autonomous region, the director was delighted. He said he would help Youngho get his office and made phone calls to realtors. He was willing to help Youngho since he was tormented because of the connection with him. Also, Youngho could be a great source for him as he was going to start regr business with the militia.


    Because Youngho wasbeled as a foreigner whom the director of Main Police Department was helping, he could get everything he needed in lightning speed. Introduced by a realtor, he rented an office about 700 sq. ft. for $2500 a month, and the director also introduced him to ady who could work for him.


    The office rent and prices were as high as the level of those in Gangnam, Seoul. Youngho hired thedy named Karajan, who was distantly rted to the director. The 23-year-olddy had majored inmerce and trade at Azerbaijan University. In an Imic country, it was rare to find a woman who went to college, but in Baku, where women¡¯s social activities were moremon, you could easily find educated women like her.


    Youngho used the director¡¯s connection to gain her trust. He knew that Karajan, who was a distant cousin of the director, would report A to Z about him. But did he know that the darkest ce was right under the candlestick?


    The two nations hated each other¡¯s guts to death due to ethnic disputes, but they seemed kind and warm-hearted. Youngho thought a foreigner like him could live here.


    Not long after that, Youngho realized how naive he was, but that is life. It is hard.

 Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9: City of Wind, Baku (1)</h4>


    With a poption of over 2.1 million people, Baku was thergest city near the Caspian coast. Located at the edge of the Caucasus mountain range, the capital of Azerbaijan was a city of beautiful women and night views.


    Because it held an abundant amount of oil deposits, the oil industry was widely developed, and it was the richest country among the three countries near the Caucasus Mountains.


    High prices, corruption in the government officials, and serious ie inequalities made economic gaps between the rich and poor, but the people here were innocent and naive.


    With the help of his employee Karajan, Youngho just finished the establishment report for Chunho Merchant. He needed to apply for a long-term visa, but it was automatically resolved with the establishment of his business branch. Being arge city within which a quarter of the whole nation¡¯s poption lived, Baku was full of opportunities.


    ¡°Boss, I got you a driver. It¡¯s my cousin-brother, and he just lost his job because the furniturepany he worked for just went out of business.¡±


    Another cousin again? thought Youngho for a moment, but it was not going to be an obstacle for him. He epted her request without hesitation.


    ¡°All right, I will pay him just like you for $1,500 a month.¡±


    ¡°That is too much, boss. I don¡¯t feelfortable either.¡±


    In here, $1,500 a month was what a majorpany¡¯s executive made. It was more than two times a regr man¡¯s sry. Youngho considered the fact that hispany was a foreign one, and for Chunho Merchant, he wanted create an image of a sessful foreign corporation. He had to seem that he was establishing a decentpany site in Baku.


    The reason Youngho suggested a huge sry to Karajan, who just got out of college, and the driver was only because they could speak English fluently. He said he would hire the driver, but he also interviewed him. From conversations, Youngho got to know his character. Youngho liked his honest personality, even though he was a cousin of the director.


    Karajan¡¯s cousin Gerhardt was a married man in his mid-thirties, and had two children. Even in a country where the social security system wasparatively well-established, if one spent months unemployed, it would not be easy to save one¡¯s face, especially if you were a dad.


    Youngho felt like a lifesaver sent by the heavens to Gerhardt because he was hired for several times more money than he used to make in the furniturepany.


    The cost for a used car, especially a sports utility vehicle, was extremely high here. Youngho purchased a used Korean H brand SUV for $10,000. The poor quality of the public transportation system and the conditions of the outer roads made him splurge. An SUV was the best car you could get considering the road conditions here.


    Having a Russian or Korean car made you middle-ss here. Youngho was happy to have his own car instead of taking inconvenient taxis all the time. He chose a high quality apartment room about 1,067 sq. ft. near his office to stay in. The monthly rent was a million in Korean won. He had earned some money from the instructor payment and information payment, so he was able to live without struggle, but if he could not receive any more orders, he would have to ask Edward for help.


    All the luxury was inevitable because he needed to maintain his identity as a well-off foreign businessman.


    The director ordered new security systems like CCTVs and monitors to newly install around Main Police Department.


    It was the first order Youngho received in Baku. He was going to make only about 5 million won, but his future was looking bright. Allegedly, in the near future, Baku was going to be covered with security cameras. Expecting that he would get more orders, Youngho sold his products cheaper than other Europeanpanies.


    Now that thepany was doing well from the past orders from the militia, Cho Sangchun, who was in Korea, also agreed to earn their trust first rather than making huge amounts of money now. He shipped quality products to Youngho.


    Youngho learned a tip while dealing with the Armenian militia. In the three nations along the Caucasus mountain range, foreign clothes were sold in high prices. He nned on setting up a clothing store or an import agency, for they would guarantee high profits.


    Fortunately, Yunsuh had lots of connections with clothingpanies since she majored in fashion.


    Clothes from foreign brands cost three times more than Azerbaijani clothes. Even though Korean clothes were not as cheap as ones made in China, they were high quality with cheaper pricespared to European brands.


    Karajan, who was looking at a sample clothing line shipped from Korea, was almost in shock. She kept asking if she could have a few undergarments. Her reaction was proving the quality, so Youngho asked Karajan to contact local clothing retailers.


    The image of Korea here was quite favorable.


    A few years ago, the Korean president had visited the ce with some businessmen. People here thought of Korean electronics as high quality, like other European products. Especially Korean cosmetics, which were considered as the best.


    Recently, K-Pop had gained poprity as well. That was why people viewed Korea like advanced European countries.


    The attitudes of the retailers that Karajan had contacted were not at all bad. Baku had a subtropical climate, but the mountainous areas around caused nine different climates. Because of this special climate, people needed diverse clothes to prepare for diverse weathers.


    Youngho told Yunsuh that he could buy up to $50,000 worth of clothes from the three clothing retailers they had contacted if the quality of clothes was as good as the samples, under the condition of buying the clothes that did not sell in discounted prices. In the clothing business, you could earn the cost of production when selling only 50% of the products.


    A clothing supplier at Dongdaemun* said they would sell clothes if Chunho Merchant paid them ahead, so that was what they did.


    This could be an adventure, but Youngho thought it was an easy profit since all he had to do was sell 50% of the products. All of this was possible because Chunho Merchant had seed money from the militia orders, which was the price for Youngho¡¯s beating.


    Clothes were sent from Korea.


    The first samples Youngho received were from the clothing factory at Dongdaemun. From underwear to shirts and pants, he sorted out 100 different types of products and sold them to local retailers. He used the Chunho Merchant as the name of the brand. Yunsuh had designed thebel. It had a four-leaf clover on it with Chunho Merchant written in English.


    Youngho picked out some items and sent them to the director¡¯s house. The director had helped him with the clearance process, so Youngho wanted to make a good impression for the future.


    ***


    When Youngho appeared in two months, his friendsined and asked if he had been seeing a girl. Youngho had nothing to say to his friends¡¯ simple minds. Youngho helped their training as an instructor at the assault course for fifteen days.


    As the weather got cold, the mountain-climbing gears that Youngho traded were found to be useful. The militants all rated high for their instion, permeability, and other categories. The militiamander was touched by the gloves given as gifts, which he never expected, and the militants were satisfied with the quality.


    Karajan called Youngho from the office in Baku. She was in a rush.


    ¡°Boss, the clothes are all sold out at the retailer. I just ordered the same items worth $400,000.¡±


    ¡°Karajan, just email the Seoul head office about the items and quantities and they will do their job.¡±


    After Youngho calmed down Karajan who was too excited, he called Yunsuh to tell her the good news. Yunsuh was happy to earn 30 million won for the recent order, but when he told her that there was an additional order, she almost leapt with joy.


    For Dongdaemun clothing suppliers, an order worth $400,000 was like a rain during the drought, something good in the current economic recession. Winter was a slow season for clothing suppliers. They weed Chunho Merchant, who paid them in cash ahead of production.


    Yunsuhined that she was too busy because the clothing suppliers kept calling her to treat her.


    She was expecting at the end of March. Even with that big belly, she was still strong enough to wander around everywhere for the business. When Yunsuh had just hung up the phone, she saw Sangchun entering the office.


    ¡°Hey you, Cho Sangchun. Where have you been without telling me?¡±


    ¡°Ha, now that you got some money from clothing, are you now bing bossy?¡±


    ¡°What is it? What order did you get?¡±


    ¡°Youngho told me not to tell you. He said you might be shocked.¡±


    ¡°Really, you¡¯re not telling me?¡±


    ¡°Let me just tell you that I¡¯ve been to Ministry of National Defense. That¡¯s all I can say.¡±


    Yunsuh stared at him and continued pushing for more information, ¡°Are you trying to be a universal provider? Selling weapons, now?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not true. The US CIA has requested to buy items for the Armenian army. I went to find out if they were exportable goods.¡±


    Sangchun tried to cover up for Youngho, but Yunsuh did not stop there.


    ¡°Why are you trading weapons? It¡¯s too dangerous. We have enough businesses now. We¡¯ve got the orders for the militia and for the clothing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not weapons. It¡¯s helmets and night vision goggles.¡±


    ¡°Honey, I don¡¯t feel good about this. Aren¡¯t we going to be in trouble getting in-between Azerbaijan and Armenia?¡±


    Yunsuh worried if Youngho became too hungry for money, dealing with dangerous businesses.


    ¡°Honey, who¡¯s Youngho? Don¡¯t worry about him. He has nned out everything. He would refuse to trade weapons, but as a merchant, there¡¯s nothing wrong with selling personal equipment. You¡¯re overthinking.¡±


    Sangchun, who was drinking coffee in a rxed manner, quietly began to talk, ¡°By the way, Youngho has been pushing me to move to a different ce. He said our room won¡¯t be enough for a baby. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°He has been doing that to me too. Our apartment is so small that he can¡¯te visit us.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s move, then. I always felt sorry for giving Youngho such a small room.¡±


    ¡°All right, honey, we made a billion won this year. I think it¡¯s time to enjoy. Let¡¯s move the office and hire some more people too.¡±


    Until then, the three of them lived in an 850 sq. ft. apartment room. It was very inconvenient for all of them. Now if they sell the apartment room and pay some more, they would be able to get a room more than 1,420 sq. ft.


    ***


    Chunho Merchant¡¯s clothing, which arrived through air shipping, was selling like hot cakes. There was some stockpile left, but the local retailers did not try to buy them for a discounted price and did not dy the payment because they did not want to lose money by offending Chunho Merchant. Chunho Merchant¡¯s clothes were highlypetitive with other European brands.


    Chunho Merchant made a good profit for the recent trades, and Yunsuh agreed to be solely in charge of the clothing business for the uing orders.


    ¡°Oppa, why are you not asking us to send money to pay for your living cost and for your employees?¡±


    ¡°Yunsuh, I receive some money for looking after some jobs for the American government here. And you only pay a quarter wage of what you pay in Korea. If I don¡¯t have enough, I¡¯ll ask.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, it¡¯s not something dangerous, right?¡±


    Youngho had to exin to Yunsuh, who was still worried, that he was getting help from the director of Main Police Department, and that his position was secured here.


    ¡°I¡¯m not even married yet, why would I do reckless things?¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t feel good about it.¡±


    Since they earned some money, Yunsuh wanted Youngho to get out of dangerous matters. Now that they already earned the amount that could cover their living for the next few years from trading mountain-climbing equipment and clothing, she wanted him to take it slow.


    ¡°Are youing back?¡±


    ¡°When you move.¡±


    ¡°We are moving next month. Our room was sold for a good price.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I will be there for New Year¡¯s Day**.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Take care and eat well, oppa.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear that they were finally moving to a better ce. It was due to everyone¡¯s hard work.


    An unsessful business trip to a disputed territory and getting abducted by the militia had gotten his business expanded like now. It was worth it to get beaten after all, thought Youngho.


    *Dongdaemun- a region in Korea famous for its shopping attraction. Many clothing manufacturers are gathered in here.


    **New Year¡¯s Day- Chinese or Lunar New Year, usually in February of each year

 Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10: City of Wind, Baku (2)</h4>


    Karajan, the officedy of the Baku branch, continuously tried to talk Youngho into opening the brand¡¯s directly operated store. She wanted to manage the store on her own.


    Her idea was not a bad one. Since there were 2.1 million people living in Baku, it could be sessful. She suggested that they pick non-ovepping clothing items from other clothing retailers so that they could be sessful. It would also refresh the image of the brand.


    Youngho was not sure whether he could open a new store with the 1.7 million won left from his instructor and information payment. If he opened a sloppy store, it would only give a bad image of the brand. Regardless of the size, it was better to open a well-built store in the main street to raise the value of the brand. After deliberating on what to do, Youngho asked the director to find a realtor for him.


    Getting an office or store in Baku¡¯s main street was almost as impossible as picking a star in the sky. A realtor introduced him to a store. Youngho liked its location and size, but the price was unbelievably high. The monthly rent was 5 million won, and the owner signed the contract under the condition that they pay six months¡¯ worth of rent ahead of time.


    Karajan made a fuss again, saying that it was the best location.


    The expense was a bit overwhelming for Chunho Merchant, which sold middle-priced clothes and which was not well-known like other European brands. However, Youngho wanted to save Chunho Merchant¡¯s face since it was doing so well.


    He told other retailers that he was opening a store next to Moscow Hotel to raise the value of the brand. They unwillingly agreed with him after he told them that he would only sell high quality clothes that would not ovep with the clothes they were selling.


    Young told Yunsuh what kinds of items he needed to disy in his store. When he told Yunsuh to ship many designs in small quantities, Yunsuh gave him an earful again. She was still bossy even when Youngho made it out without asking for help from the main office.


    As mentioned before, Gerhardt, who was working for Youngho as a secretary and driver, once worked in a furniturepany. He had connections with the carpenters who previously worked for the furniturepany. Four of them came and finished up the interior of Chunho Merchant¡¯s store, although the process was not easy.


    Youngho was bothered by the process for days since the carpenters did not finish things nicely. The quality of their interior technology was substandard. The level of the quality was like looking at the interior designs of Korea in the 90s, so they had to redo some of the work all over again for a few times. The front sign was also edited thrice.


    Youngho nitpicked on everything; from the store sign to store counters. The whole thing stressed him out so much that he thought he would lose all of his hair.


    If it was in Korea, every process could be resolved by using a one-stop service, but Youngho could start finishing up one by one with the help of Karajan and Gerhardt.


    The person who helped him the most was the director. When he heard that Youngho decided to stay in Azerbaijan for a long-term business, he willingly helped him. Youngho already reported his rtionship with the director to the militia and the CIA, so there was nothing to worry about getting help from him.


    ***


    After the long hassle, the store was finally open.


    Youngho did not have many acquaintances, so he invited some people, including the director of Main Police Department and his wife.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯m impressed. I came here to support my cousins who work for you, but this is so much better than I imagined. Something like this is hard to find in Baku.¡±


    Not knowing what Youngho had to go through, the director gave him an emptypliment. In fact, there had been countless things that might have ripped off Youngho if it were not for the director¡¯s help. Youngho was thankful.


    ¡°Because you were my helper, I had the courage to do this much. I appreciate your support and look forward to working with you more. I¡¯ll be doing more businesses with the militia. I¡¯m ready to take their money.¡±


    Hearing the word ¡®militia,¡¯ the director¡¯s face brightened.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. If you just let me know what items you are selling and how many, I will be d to support your future businesses as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. It¡¯s nothingpared to your help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    Watching the director smile, Youngho felt guilty for using him, but he straightened his view. After all, it was because of the director that Youngho was misjudged as a spy, and the director was simply paying for that.


    ¡°I have a little gift for you. This is a Korean way to greet people, so please do not feel ufortable. Instead, please spread good words about Chunho Merchant.¡±


    Youngho gave a teacup set from Korean H Porcin brand and a Korean traditional foldable hand fan to the guests. As soon as they unwrapped the gifts, they let out their exmations. After looking at their reactions, Youngho thought he could disy the H Porcin brand at the side of his store.


    The more expensive and unique clothes unseen in other Baku clothing stores, sold sessfully as clients started spreading the word.


    The profit was 60% of each clothing, meaning that he would make 60,000 won from selling clothes worth 100,000 won. Chunho Merchant¡¯s own brand, that Yunsuh had put a four-leaf clover design on thebel of, was making its name in Baku.


    It was told that Europeans believe four-leaf clovers brought good luck. There were lots of stories behind it, including the story of Napoleon who was able to avoid a bullet flying to him because he bent his body when he found a four-leaf clover.


    ¡°Yunsuh, send me some more clothes that you designed, just about twenty pieces each. It¡¯s urgent, so send it through the flight to Baku that¡¯s connected in Turkey.¡±


    ¡°What? Are they making it that well? Hmm, I¡¯m not making much for the design.¡±


    ¡°Yunsuh, did you forget how much you made from the orders? And buying clothes wholesale is nobor.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, designing is the hard part.¡±


    ¡°Executive Director Lee Yunsuh, don¡¯t you forget that you are not paying any living costs or employee wages here.¡±


    ¡°All right, I get it. You are doing pretty well without any financial support. And what about H Porcin? You are spreading it too thin, how are you going to patch that up?¡±


    Yunsuh, who took care of Youngho like a mother back in Korea, did not seem to trust him fully.


    ¡°My Yunsuh, I know you know everything, but I didn¡¯t know you could see things from that far. I disyed the teacup sets at a side in the store and it¡¯s selling well.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make things soplicated, and oppa, the designs for the high-ss clothes were created by my friend. She¡¯s working for us, but we¡¯ve got to pay her for the designs separately. She almost lives in the factory now.¡±


    Yunsuh had hired her friend from college as a Chunho Merchant¡¯s designer. Sheined that her friend was working so hard because Youngho ordered different designs in small quantities, so her friend had to meet his needs day and night.


    ¡°Is that so? Okay, what is her bank ount number? I will send $1,000 a month.¡±


    ¡°What? How much are you expecting to make a month?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly sure, but about forty million won? I don¡¯t know exactly yet since it hasn¡¯t been a month.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great, oppa. So, you¡¯ll have enough to use there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more than enough. I will save some for wedding funds.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, I have plenty of your wedding funds saved at Chunho Merchant. Don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°Yunsuh, use the money for yourself. I¡¯ve got enough myself but you need to take care of inws too. You¡¯ll need more.¡±


    ¡°Oppa....¡±


    Yunsuh was close to tears, so he changed the subject quickly.


    ***


    The Korean saying ¡®it sells like it has wings¡¯ must have been made for Chunho Merchant¡¯s clothing store in Baku, Youngho thought.


    He was short on supplies even though clothes were sent through flights once every week. People here even stripped clothes from mannequin disys. The porcin teacup sets were a hit, so Youngho opened another store next to the clothing store for porcin goods.


    H Porcinpany had lent their name to Chunho Merchant and sold their products to them. Chunho Merchant was able to get products at factory prices by paying them in cash, and when selling the sets in Baku, their profit was more than 40% of the selling price.


    In Baku, most people preferred colorful and fancy household goods designs. So the factory designed their products ording to the local preferences using vivid colored prints on teacups and tes.


    The director had brought in most of the buyers especially ever since Youngho sent a full set of household goods to his wife. He also sent teacup sets to government officials in secret, and they were impressed by Youngho. These people did not really care for the idea of bribing.


    In two months, Youngho earned a profit of more than 70 million won from the two stores after subtracting the monthly rents and employee payments. Youngho was almost rolling in money.


    He now had hired four salespersons, and Karajan was doing well as a store manager. Because the employees were Karajan¡¯s friends or cousins, the atmosphere of his stores were family-like, although he felt like he was being watched every day.


    The word ¡®inshah*¡¯ could be an excuse to any faults here.


    People used that as an excuse word to get out of things, saying that all things happened due to God and His will, and what could they do to the mighty God?


    Youngho was counting item stocks and heard a middle-aged woman spitting out the word after dropping a teacup on the floor.


    Although Azerbaijani people did not strictly follow religiousws, they conventionally abused the word inshah. Sometimes it was just used for an excuse word to cover up faults.


    But then, surprisingly, the teacup did not break when it hit the marble floor. Bone-china¡¯s sturdiness was proven.


    Until then, British bone-china products were considered as the best quality, and most people could not even dream about getting the British brand bone-china due to their high price. The middle-aged woman, who was making a fuss, bought three teacup sets immediately. The price was not cheap¡ªthey cost 300,000 won each. The word travelled fast that H Porcin brand¡¯s teacups and tes were unbreakable.


    ***


    All items were sold out, so a person from H Porcinpany¡¯s headquarters flew over to Youngho with their products.


    The staff from the H Porcin head office was very excited about Youngho¡¯s achievements, saying that Baku¡¯s sales in a short period was more than what the head store in L department store sold in the first quarter of 2010.


    There was a huge gap between the rich and poor here.


    Bribing was frequent and conventionally done among government officials. But because of this fact, it was a good ce to have business. One of the reasons that H Porcin was selling well was that H Porcin household sets were just right for bribes disguised as gifts.


    Youngho was drinking beer with the H Porcin staff, Kim Sungkyung who was in histe thirties, at a hotel bar. He introduced himself that he had been a staff member at H Porcin¡¯s foreign marketing department for the past ten years.


    ¡°Manager Lee, can you exin more about yourpany, Chunho Merchant? Having a branch here, yourpany must havee a long way, but you don¡¯t even have a web page.¡±


    He must have been curious about us since the sales skyrocketed, thought Youngho.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m just running a family business. I do everything here by myself.¡±


    ¡°I was told that you have connections with a high official here. I¡¯m very curious.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, there is a reason why. I¡¯m embarrassed by it, but I was lucky.¡±


    Youngho exined his experience with Main Police Department and the militia, except the story about the CIA. He made the story simple and funny, and Kim Sungkyungughed hard.


    ¡°And that¡¯s when you said, ¡®give me my life back¡¯!? Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°True. I received business orders from the two ces, and also received lots of help from both.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I admire your perseverance. If I were you, I would have fled from this sick ce.¡±


    Youngho could not agree with him. It would be in stupid to run away from here just because you got beaten. Why not get something out of that, why not suck them out for that? That was his mindset.


    ¡°People here are naive. You¡¯d hear about ethnic conflicts and hatred. But these people are innocent to the core. It¡¯s just that they couldn¡¯t cut the corruption out of the government since the time of Soviet Union, but my view toward them is that they are just kind and innocent people.¡±


    ¡°I just can¡¯t believe that they can drink freely in here, manager Lee.¡±


    Youngho too was surprised when he saw their drinking culture. Azerbaijan was the only country that did not pray during prayer times thrice a day under Imic culture.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that true? Most women here don¡¯t wear hijabs. They are very liberated.¡±


    ¡°It is indeed a charming country. From now on, our headquarters will pay more attention to the store in Baku.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not one to say this, but in a few years, I will make the richest of the three nations near Caucasus mountain range drink and eat with H Porcin.¡±


    Kim Sungkyung was fired up by Youngho¡¯s remark. It was certainly a big deal that Youngho¡¯s sales reached 60 million won in just two months. That meant he could even make more than 400 million won in this year.


    He was dreaming about raising foreign anticipatory export sales for 2011. When the H Porcin¡¯s tableware set was picked as the official tableware for the Nobel Prize award ceremony, the wholepany dined together, celebrating thepany¡¯s achievement. However, the sales had gone down afterward due to global economic recession. Now, Kim was seeing a little hope again from the city of two million people. Thinking that it was a good idea to take a business trip toe here, he took a sip of cold beer.


    *inshah- an arabic word, tranted as ¡®God willing¡¯ or ¡®if God wills¡¯

 Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11: City of Wind, Baku (3)</h4>


    Youngho nned on going to Korea for New Year¡¯s Day with his friends who were working as drill instructors in Stepanakert.


    When his friends were on their way to Baku, Youngho had just visited the storage in Gerhardt¡¯s house and was on his way to the office. Storages in downtown were too expensive, so he built a knockdown building about 710 sq. ft. big in Gerhardt¡¯s yard. When building the storage, Youngho fixed breakages in Gerhardt¡¯s house and fence as well, and now Gerhardt and his family treated Youngho like a prince. They almost loved him too much since Gerhardt was paid like an executive of a big corporation; and not to mention, Youngho had been sharing food, clothes, and tableware from Korea with them. Even though Gerhardt was a cousin of the Chief of the Department of Public Safety, he was more loyal to Youngho now.


    With the backseats fully loaded with teacup sets and clothes, Gerhardt drove the car carefully. That was when they saw a truck on the uphill path, blocking the road. The bo was open and the truck seemed to have a problem. As Gerhardt was preparing to walk out to see what was going on, Youngho stopped him. There was another car behind them.


    Younho¡¯s danger sensor was telling him something.


    It was nothing to brag about, but he was known to his friends for his animal-like instincts for sensing danger.


    It was in midday, and there was no car in the road, something which was unusual. That meant somebody blocked the road on purpose to get to Youngho¡¯s car.


    Youngho immediately took out the Beretta he was carrying for defense and checked its bullets.


    If somebody carried a gun without covering his face at midday in a safe ce like Baku, he probably meant to kill. Why would he need a mask when he was going to kill the victim? And that was happening to Youngho. There was no time to ask him what was going on. An evil-looking man pointing a shotgun toward Youngho came near Youngho¡¯s car.


    Without even thinking, Youngho attacked him first.


    If he was even a little hesitant, it would have been like asking to be killed. He lowered the window a little and shot the man¡¯s thigh with the Beretta. Getting shot unexpectedly, the guy screamed ¡°Aaaahhkkk!¡± He dropped his gun and grabbed his thigh.


    Youngho got out of the car and stood at the side of the car, letting Gerhardt out too. He was experienced with handling shotguns from his special forces training. He picked up the shotgun and gave his Beretta to Gerhardt.


    He fired the shotgun toward the man who was getting out of his car parked twenty meters behind. Shotguns were easy to use because of the shotgun effect. Even if you did not aim close, you could shoot your targetparatively easy.


    The guy, who was covered with bullets just like his front car door, struggled and fell to the ground.


    In the meantime, two people got out of the truck blocking the road ahead and ran toward them. However, with Gerhardt¡¯s shooting, theyy down t on the ground.


    Gerhardt¡¯s shots were not aimed. Although he was just shooting to warn them, it was very threatening to the enemies. When the shooting stopped, the two guys ran back to their truck.


    The gun Youngho attained was a pump-action load shotgun which was a favorite in the American army. Its gunbarrel was shorter than the service rifle M16, and it was easier to carry around. Because it could crash a lock on a door at one shot, American cops and deployed soldiers used them often.


    He reloaded the gun. With a click, he pulled the trigger of the reloaded shotgun, and little metallic shots from the gun fired out from the muzzle.


    With a bang!, the two men running thirty meters ahead struggled.


    They would not die because the shots were for short distance. But they would just have to be delivered to a hospital for the little bullets to be taken out from their bodies.


    Even though it was not crowded like the downtown area in the outer city, multiple gunshots were heard and it rmed the fully policed city. Someone might have reported the incident already as well.


    Not long after that, policemen arrived with loud sirens ring. Youngho hid his Beretta and arranged the two shotguns he attained and the other Beretta pistols from the attackers in a row to disy. Then he took out a cigarette to smoke until the policemen came.


    Gerhardt was exining what happened in a speedy manner to the policemen.


    Youngho called the director on his cell phone and briefly exined the incident. Then he gave the phone to the policeman who was in charge. After a moment, at the director¡¯s order, Youngho and Gerhardt were released soon from the ce of attack.


    ***


    At Chunho Merchant store, Gerhardt was busy telling his cousin Karajan and Stephany the recent heroic story on the way back.


    ¡°And that was the time when boss fired them with a shotgun.¡±


    ¡°Are they all dead now?¡±


    ¡°No, they are alive. It¡¯s because boss was going easy on them.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that¡¯s a relief. I don¡¯t know who they are, but won¡¯t they avenge themselves in the future?¡±


    Karajan looked worried, but Gerhardt, who saw how Youngho reacted today, seemed free from any worries.


    ¡°The police will investigate this thoroughly. Boss is a foreigner who¡¯s staying here formerce. Don¡¯t you think our government would be sorry that multiple unidentified armed men attacked him? The director already knows; he will take care of us.¡±


    Regardless of Main Police Department, Youngho felt uneasy over the incident. Perhaps it was the other clothing suppliers or tableware traders who were behind the attackers. Because Youngho¡¯s business was skyrocketing, he must have be a target for somebody. It was a serious problem to resolve.


    Youngho entered Main Police Department with Gerhardt.


    Because Youngho had been making connections with high officials by giving gifts, he was confident that he would get help easily. They would not just neglect a foreign businessman like him.


    The director greeted Youngho with uneasiness.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯ve gone through so much. They were not just muggers.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so disturbing. I was a target of the militia and now the merchants in Baku are ganging up on me?¡±


    ¡°Haaah.... I¡¯ve got a few pottery traders involved in here.¡±


    ¡°I know how it is. They are holding a grudge for losing their sales because of my store.¡±


    ¡°This will be treated at the government level. Our country is now trying to build rtionships with the western world by maintaining good rtionships and expanding travelling businesses. It¡¯s not forgivable to attack a foreign businessman.¡±


    The director was as surprised as Youngho too. Baku was famous for its public peace in the European countries, but the incident was just not eptable for its reputation.


    It was not just a random mugging. It was a terrorist attack against a foreign businessman. The director¡¯s position could get unstable when this incident got picked on by his other political opponents.


    ¡°I was going toe back from my trip to Korea this time, but I think I should quit doing businesses in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we will help you. Please don¡¯t say that. We owe you a lot. If you leave like this, we will be in a bad position. Will you please reconsider that for me?¡±


    The director was appalled by Youngho¡¯s remark and earnestly asked him to reconsider his decision.


    ¡°I am alive only because I was born in a divided nation like Korea and trained in the military. I don¡¯t know how I was able to fight against them.¡±


    Youngho was exaggerating.


    The director, who was thinking for a while, said he would introduce a person in Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯ll introduce you to my superior back in the military who¡¯s now in Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If you get to know him, you will be able to go higher than any other foreign merchants in Baku. How about that?¡±


    The director did not want to lose a good information source who traded with the militia in the Nagorno-Karabakh. He was also anxious that his cousins might lose their jobs.


    ¡°I will go back to Korea ande back after a week. I don¡¯t want to make money while risking my life, but your offer is just too sweet not to take.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made the right decision. Main Police Department will investigate this incidentpletely and punish the guilty, so something like this will never happen again.¡±


    The director was relieved by Youngho¡¯s positive response.


    Because he knew that Youngho was struggling with the item clearance process, he mentioned Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appeal to Youngho so that he would stay.


    In Azerbaijan, the clearance process was done by rule of thumb. A word from a high government official could make the process easy.


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve asked, I will stay here for now, but I am not that desperate to risk my life for money. I don¡¯t have to do business here; Korean products are popr in Eastern Europe too.¡±


    It was not like the director was going to look into Chunho Merchant in Korea, so Youngho lied about Chunho Merchant being a bigpany in Korea. Well, it was doing well for now from the militia business.


    ¡°The two nations¡¯ heads of government visited each other¡¯s country already. If word spread out that I didn¡¯t treat well a Korean businessman here, we will lose our prestige. I will report this to the chief. I will make this right.¡±


    Youngho, who had beenining for different reasons, came out of the department building smiling. He had achieved his goal.


    He knew he would be getting more exclusive information if he gained a connection with a high official in Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Youngho reported what happened in Baku and how he would be introduced to a high official soon to Edward.


    Edward worried that Youngho was in danger. He said he would send him assistant agents, but Youngho rejected the offer. He knew that newbie agents could be more problematic than not having any assistant agents.


    Although, he thought the story would be different if Edward decided to send any of his friends, the drill instructors in Nagorno-Karabakh, as his assistants.

 Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12: On the Move (1)</h4>


    ¡°Where did you steal these flight tickets from, Youngho?¡±


    Just as usual, it¡¯s not Jongil if he talks nicely unless he¡¯s deadly sick.


    Park Jongil thanked Youngho on behalf of all of his friends with a joke.


    ¡°I received the full instructor payment without working full-time all because of you. And you won¡¯t sit still if I don¡¯t pay for that.¡±


    It was not cheap, but Youngho bought all round-trip flight tickets for five people including him.


    ¡°Yeah, you surely have to give back at least half. Don¡¯t you dare think getting the tickets were enough.¡±


    All of his friends burst intoughter at Jongil¡¯s remark.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you a girl, how about that? Yunsuh said you looked ready to settle down. She has someone she wants to introduce.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy? Introduce who? There are plenty of walking Barbie dolls around here. They¡¯re not like sassy Korean girls.¡±


    ¡°Insoo, did he get a girl now? He can¡¯t evenmunicate with the people here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He goes out every night. Who knows what he is up to?¡±


    Youngho was astonished at Insoo¡¯s words. Youngho knew how Jongil used to chase women all the time.


    ¡°Dude, girls here are innocent and nice. Don¡¯t make them cry. That will affect my business too, okay?¡±


    ¡°Hey! I go learn English at night, all right? And why would I look for other girls when Karajan is there?¡±


    ¡°What, Karajan? Since when do you even know her? This crazy dude is going to ruin my business here.¡±


    ¡°Dude, since when? She was charmed by my manliness when we had beer together at the Phoenix pubst night. I like her a lot. Her dark hair and Asian vibe.¡±


    This womanizer was into Karajan. To Youngho, Karajan was a great employee. Youngho knew it would affect his business if Jongil caused any problems with her. Youngho had to stop him.


    ¡°Do not cause any trouble. Everyone who works for me is her friend or her family. She is my business partner. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Ha! There are no boundaries to love. It¡¯s just between a man and a woman. Why are you bringing your business between us? This is like agape. Don¡¯t you think it would be awesome if your business partner bes your friend¡¯s wife? Man, I love this!¡±


    ¡°Oh my, this guy. He will cause a big problem. Hey, Training General! Take him out of the instructor list. He turned out to be not qualified.¡±


    ¡°Man, is he still my friend? He¡¯s ruining my love life. I¡¯m going to stay in Baku forever. Remember, you pulled me into this, so you are responsible for me.¡±


    Inside a Korean A Airlines ne heading to Seoul from Istanbul, the gang had random conversations.


    ***


    At Incheon Airport, Yunsuh, whose belly was fairly big as the due date was closing in, and Cho Sangchun greeted Youngho in excitement.


    ¡°Youngho, you worked so hard.¡±


    Youngho pulled apart from Sangchun¡¯s long hug.


    ¡°If you know I¡¯ve worked hard, why not bring a girl at the airport instead of giving me a long hug?¡±


    ¡°Oppa....¡±


    Yunsuh, who had been nagging on the phone when Youngho was in Baku, threw herself into Youngho¡¯s arms with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Why are you crying like I¡¯m going to die?¡±


    Yunsuh snapped at Youngho while drying her eyes.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t know how to treat your little sister.¡±


    ¡°Now you are showing your true self. Look at your belly! Why didn¡¯t you just stay home?¡±


    The airport was crowded. Youngho¡¯s friends already disappeared to go look for their families.


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, try this. This is the sweet rice punch that mom used to make. I made it.¡±


    ¡°Yunsuh, you don¡¯t have to make anything for me.¡±


    ¡°Do you like it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good. Okay, make me some more. I¡¯ve got to take this when I leave.¡±


    ¡°What a man of moods....¡±


    ¡°I like your new ce, Sangchun. It was good thing you moved!¡±


    ¡°Say no more. It was hard to please Yunsuh.¡±


    Yunsuh chewed Sangchun¡¯s ear off when they searched for a new ce.


    When Sangchun decided to marry Yunsuh, Youngho knew that he would end up like this, but Sangchun did not see thising for he was under Yunsuh¡¯s charm.


    ¡°Well, did your parents visit here too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they loved it. They like Yunsuh so much. They said Yunsuh is a lucky charm to the family.¡±


    ¡°Tell them toe live with you. He can get people to work for the orchard. Your parents must be lonely in the countryside by themselves. They can help you two when their grandchild arrives.¡±


    ¡°They just agreed oning here. They are going to help taking care of our child until kindergarten. They also asked if you can visit them when you get here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course I should visit them on New Year¡¯s Day. It¡¯s been so long.¡±


    ***


    Fields turned white after the snowfall from three days ago.


    The road to Sangchun¡¯s parents¡¯ house in the countryside was rough and slippery. After getting out of the highway, the gang had to chain the tires to stop skidding on the local roads. After a long drive, the three of them finally arrived at Sangchun¡¯s parents¡¯ house.


    Sangchun¡¯s mother greeted Youngho and Yunsuh the same as before.


    ¡°Wee, Youngho! I heard you are going through hoops overseas.¡±


    With tears in her eyes, Sangchun¡¯s mother gave Youngho a big hug. She was always tender like this. Now she was Youngho¡¯s mother-inw, but they had always been like a family since Youngho and Sangchun were young.


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m sorry for worrying you, and I didn¡¯t go through hoops overseas. The climate is great and the people are kind to me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same living far away from your hometown. I should thank you. Because of your hard work, they¡¯ve got a home now.¡±


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s working hard. He just stays at a hotel room and talks on the phone all the time. That¡¯s it,¡± said Sangchun.


    Sangchun¡¯s mother gave Sangchun a little spanking on his back.


    ¡°Sangchun, why would foreigners buy Korean products? It¡¯s all because of Youngho¡¯s hard work. He has to bend his pride to sell products to people.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Mother, you know the truth. I am the one who feeds them, haha,¡± said Youngho.


    Even though they were making a ruckus, Sangchun¡¯s father didn¡¯t show up.


    ¡°Mom, where¡¯s Dad?¡±


    ¡°Your dad¡¯s still drunk. His former students came to say their New Year¡¯s greetings and they drank a little too much. He¡¯s still in bed.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still the same. When he moves to Seoul, it¡¯s not going to be fun for him anymore.¡±


    Youngho was familiar with how Sangchun¡¯s father was like.


    ¡°Hey, kiddo, say no more. I get sick of his drinking habit. It¡¯s always my job to make him snacks when he drinks.¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s father was a retired teacher from Hongchun High School in his hometown. Because their house was close to Seoul and it had a beautiful river nearby, his former students and friends frequently visited him and his orchard. They always brought drinks for him, and the mother hated making snacks for them.


    Hearing people in the living room, their father came out from his bedroom, looking messy.


    ¡°Is Youngho here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father. I couldn¡¯te see you from overseas.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve done a lot taking care of these kids.¡±


    ¡°Dad, we are not kids...!¡± added Sangchun.


    ¡°Quiet, Sangchun. He¡¯s now your brother-inw, not your friend anymore. Did you chase him away to the foreignnd to live by yourselves?¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s father always favored Youngho, who used toe and help him work in the orchard.


    ¡°Yes, Father. You are right. They are just like kids. Why not give them some punishment drinks today? I brought a 100-year-old wine from Armenia.¡±


    ¡°What? Talking about drinking when you are not even fully awake?¡±


    ¡°Honey, it¡¯s not just alcohol. It¡¯s a 100-year-old drink, made out of grapes.¡±


    ¡°What is it if it¡¯s not alcohol?¡±


    ¡°Mother, I also brought some expensive Chaga mushrooms known to be good for cancers and liver health. This much drink is nothing when you have these.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, you know how to deal with people. Hahaha!¡±


    In this weing atmosphere, they started a wine party with their lunch meals.


    ¡°Youngho, it looks like you spend all of your money for your sister and brother. I feel sorry for you.¡±


    ¡°No, Father. I¡¯m happy to help my family, and I save some for myself.¡±


    He was confident since his stores in Baku were sessful.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. You always use all of your money for others and don¡¯t take it for yourself.¡±


    The father stopped and had a sip of wine.


    ¡°When I go to Seoul, I won¡¯t being to the orchard except maybe twice a year. I will give you the orchard when I die. Sangchun is not interested in getting his hands dirty.¡±


    At their father¡¯s shocking remark, Youngho tried to reject his offer.


    ¡°No, please, Father. There is Sangchun now, and there will be your grandchildren in the future. Why give it to me?¡±


    ¡°You always liked the dirt.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It gives me peace when I touch dirt.¡±


    ¡°The orchard in here doesn¡¯t cost much. If I give it to Sangchun, he will sell it in one month.¡±


    ¡°Father, when have I...?¡±


    ¡°Just be quite, Sangchun. You would never take care of thend.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is....¡±


    ¡°I expanded the orchard little by little with my small teacher¡¯s pay. It¡¯s not much, but I have cared for thend for a great deal. I think you will be the one who can take care of this when I¡¯m gone.¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s father felt sorry that Youngho had been selflessly using most of his earnings for his sister and brother-inw. Because he knew that Youngho always cherished the orchard, he asked him to take thend.


    Youngho decided to take the orchard since the old guy was asking sincerely. It was not a good manner to say ¡®no¡¯ to an elder.


    ¡°Yes, I see what you mean. Please give it to me. I will take care of it well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You should do fine. Honey, please get me the document. Maybe I should write on thend title that I¡¯ll be passing it down to him as inheritance.¡±


    ¡°Darling, you are rushing it like you are on your deathbed.¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t do it now, Sangchun will sell it while Youngho¡¯s gone overseas.¡±


    ¡°Dad, you¡¯re kidding. Do you really think I would ever do that? The money Youngho and I are making now can buy multiple orchards like this. I will never sell it.¡±


    ¡°Look at him. He never talks about taking care of the orchard. He only talks about buying orchards that¡¯s already been taken care of by other people. Humph.¡±


    Sangchun muttered with a sulky look, ¡°Phew, I have been a devoted son, but you are making me into someone bad here.¡±


    ¡°How are you a devoted son? You just came because your wife Yunsuh has been grilling you.¡±


    ¡°Dad, if you are talking aboutst time, I had been so busy, so Yunsuh came to see you for me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you bad son. Take the drink. I hope you are not too hurt that you didn¡¯t get the orchard,¡± said Youngho.


    ¡°You are making it even worse for me.¡±


    While the two bickered at each other, the father made a statement.


    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t you live in the foreignnd for too long. Come back and live in Korea, that¡¯s my one condition. If you don¡¯te back, I will take my word back.¡±


    Youngho felt a prick at his conscience. Youngho wanted to focus fully on the three nations along Caucasus Mountains for now, but the old man had just put a break in Youngho¡¯s decision.

 Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13: On the Move (2)</h4>


    Youngho visited the headquarters of the H Porcin and Dongdaemun clothing factories to get acquainted with his business partners, and also to discuss about the taxation processes. The CEOs of the clothing factories pampered Youngho as a VIP partner. Youngho was almost like a savior since it was hard for clothing factories to meet a business partner that urately counted and paid the material and designing prices. Moreover, in order to bring in business, they often had to pay high costs to bribe traders.


    However, Chunho Merchant was a fair business partner, who did not nitpick on other things in the process after assigning them what materials and designs to use.


    Chunho Merchant¡¯s role was only to sell the clothes after paying for their designs. The quality was the factory¡¯s responsibility. Because their roles were different, they did not have to deceive each other. As the high quality products were selling well in Baku, the productionpanies got benefits from it. The cycle of business between the clothing production, Chunho Merchant, and the customers in Baku ran smoothly.


    After his New Year¡¯s break, Youngho came back to Baku in Azerbaijan. His friends had to take the long way, getting connected in Istanbul and again in Georgia to get to Baku. Now, the first ss of the militia traineespleted the training, and the second ss was next in line.


    From then on, the militia decided to have special warfare training with 300 militia trainees every six months. The skills of the first ss of trainees had improved dramatically since it was almost close to one-on-one training. Youngho¡¯s friends weed the militia¡¯s decision with a joyful dance because the fact that they had more than 2,000 untrained militia members left to shape up was a job guarantee for them for at least four years. The job provided them meals and a living ce on top of one billion won of annual sry. It was a dream job. Not to mention, the girls were beautiful in here. Youngho¡¯s unmarried friends loved the ce.


    Edward from the US CIA contacted Youngho, letting him know that Korean helmets and night vision goggles were confirmed for militia supplies. Youngho negotiated the price of the products from a defense industrypany in Changwon, Korea. It was 1.5 million won for each piece, and the quantity was more than 3,000. Surely, it was not a little price for a defense industrypany to sell 4.5 billion won¡¯s worth of products to a private buyer. With the cooperation of the defense industrypany, Korean Ministry of National Defense, and the CIA, Youngho was able to sessfully trade nonbeled, all-in-one helmets and night vision goggles. The defense industry products were not taxed, whether they were sold for national or international trade.


    The defense industrypany in Changwon suggested that they give Youngho 100,000 won asmission fee for each of the products. They were trying to lobby Youngho, thinking that Youngho was a military trader supported by the CIA. They even paid him in US dors. Youngho was d for themissions because he wanted funds that could not be touched by Korean financial authorities. Now, suddenly, he had 300 million won in his hands.


    He did not use Chunho Merchant¡¯s name for military businesses anymore but used his own name, simply because he did not wish to continue doing military businesses for a long time, and he never knew if there were any spies in the militia. It was not good if Chunho Merchant¡¯s name was exposed, especially to Baku¡¯s clothing retailers.


    Youngho¡¯s friends worked hard as drill instructors. They picked out outstanding trainees from the first ss to foster them as future instructors. Not wanting to get exposed as Koreans involved in the militia, they wanted to raise future instructors fast.


    Because they did not want to be seen as Koreans involved in ethnic disputes or religious conflicts of the region, they introduced themselves as former soldiers of the Foreign Legion of France.


    Youngho also helped to cover up their identities. He opened a second branch office of Chunho Merchant in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, the autonomous region, and hired all four of his friends as his employees. By doing this, he solved their visa status and identity problems. Edward mentioned something about making them temporary field agents like Youngho, but Youngho thought one person was enough.


    From the beating in the militia, he received many business orders, but Youngho wanted to do more than just business. He wanted to do proper business in the regions of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and he wanted to do something to help out the people here.


    During his stay here, Youngho became fond of the local people. Except for their ethnic conflicts, they were kind and innocent people. Coming from a divided country, their problems did not seem like others¡¯. Youngho was not a phnthropist, but if there was even a small way to be of help, he wanted to do it. He felt sorry for the people since he was living off doing business with them.


    Then what needed to be done was maintaining the bnce of power between the two groups. The reason that he was helping the militia was that he wanted the two regions¡¯ powers to be bnced since the militia¡¯s side had rtively weak military power.


    ***


    ¡°He must be crazy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying, these people gave orders to kill him just because the guy scored a goal, didn¡¯t they?¡±


    They were talking about a Korean ser yer who was ying for a foreign team.


    A moderately famous Korean yer K was a hardworking ser yer. After getting scouted into a Turkey team, he recently scored an own goal by mistake while passing the ball to the goalkeeper of his team.


    Then the gamblers who lost money because of him secretly made an order to assassinate him, and somehow it was leaked to the press. The press was broadcasting it as a main story. Park Jongil hustled around, saying that he would go save the ser yer.


    The fourth biggest city in Turkey was notorious for its fanatic ser fanbase. There had been many casualties in the past when the team yed against its rival teams. The Korean ser yer K was allegedly hiding from the gamblers, and the press reported that he would soon return to his home country.


    The Turks were famous for their passion for ser. Even though they had a great rtionship with Korea, the gamblers did not care about the nation¡¯s diplomacy.


    Everyone tried to stop Park Jongil who was about to take a break to go save the ser yer.


    ¡°Hey, Jongil, what do you think the Korean embassy is for? They have their own armed forces protecting the embassy. K is already in good hands. Don¡¯t use your energy for nothing. You might lose your job if you keep acting reckless like now.¡±


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s nuts!¡±


    The saying must be true¡ªthat people be patriotic when they reside in foreign countries. Jongil almost became K¡¯s bodyguard on behalf of Korea.


    Youngho visited his friends after a long time.


    Since he did not work as a drill instructor anymore but only helped with the CIA¡¯s work, he now visited Stepanakert once a month under an excuse of looking after his second branch office.


    After hearing his friends¡¯ conversations, Youngho suggested that Jongile to Istanbul with him. Youngho figured it would be good for Jongil since Jongil seemed to be getting bored by the simple life. Jongil was excited to hear the news.


    The militiamander asked for help from Youngho a few days ago. Because themander was Armenian, he had many limitations in Turkey since the two nations were not friendly with each other. That was why he asked Youngho to go on his behalf.


    Youngho thought it would be a tedious trip, but having Jongil with him made him feel better. Themander also agreed on it since it was a job for the militia.


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil arrived at Atat¨¹rk International Airport. It only took twenty minutes to get to Beyoglu from the airport.


    The region of Beyoglu was a business center in Istanbul. Merchants, constes, banks, and travel agencies from different countries were all gathered in this region.


    Jongil did not care for their job because he was already under the charm of beautiful Turkish women. Youngho felt like he was taking his baby brother on a business trip. Hoping that Jongil would not cause any problem was the only thing he could do. The two of them unpacked their belongings in a hotel located near Taksim Square.


    In the afternoon of that day, Youngho met a carpet retailer at the hotel caf¨¦. Mustafa was a tough-looking, dark-skinned merchandiser in his forties with a bulky body.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never had business with foreigners. How did youe to know me?¡± his husky voice asked.


    ¡°I am from Chunho Merchant in Korea. I¡¯m a branch manager in Azerbaijan. I¡¯m not here for business.¡±


    Mustafa suddenly changed his attitude after hearing that they did note for business. As a businessman, he had to hold himself in a strong manner, but he did not need the attitude anymore.


    ¡°For whose request did youe to see me? Please be honest if you want me to be serious.¡±


    ¡°Good. Margos, the militiamander of Nagorno-Karabakh asked me to meet you for him. Mr. Mustafa, he said you are Armenian-blooded.¡±


    Mustafa seemed to know Margos well. After carefully checking his face, Youngho showed him his diplomat¡¯s passport. Mustafa investigated the passport for a moment. He got up from his chair and signaled Youngho to follow him.


    ¡°If you are staying in this hotel, let¡¯s go up to your room. Just to be safe.¡±


    Youngho followed Mustafa, saying out loud that, ¡°The carpet prices are too high!¡± with exaggeration to look like they were having an argument. Realizing what Youngho was doing, Mustafa acted naturally as well.


    Park Jongil, who was resting in his room, looked surprised to see Mustafa and Younghoing in.


    ¡°What¡¯s up, Youngho?¡±


    ¡°Can you leave us for a moment? Maybe you could go walk around the town?¡±


    ¡°All right.¡±


    Ready-witted Jongil dressed up and left them without asking any questions.


    ¡°You can speak freely now. If you are being watched now, I won¡¯t contact you after today.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just being extra careful. Turkish ultranationalist organizations always watch for Armenians here.¡±


    Armenians in Turkey were afraid of Turkish conservative ultranationalists because not only there had been a tragic historical events in the past but also Turkey was a brother country to Azerbaijan, which was at odds with Armenia.

 Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14: On the Move (3)</h4>


    Mustafa, who was drinking a canned beer that Youngho offered, asked Youngho directly, ¡°I want to know what Margos had requested of me. Before you say anything, I¡¯m telling you that I¡¯m just a normal businessman living in Turkey.¡±


    Not wanting any trouble, Mustafa indirectly asked Youngho not to pull him into danger.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, but if you don¡¯t want to hear about it, I won¡¯t say anything.¡±


    After thinking for a while, Mustafa opened his mouth.


    ¡°If... it¡¯s not something dangerous, I will help you.¡±


    ¡°The militia wants to buy Turkish militarybat rations inrge quantities. Do you think it will be a problem if you introduce me as a buyer?¡±


    ¡°You want to buybat rations?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Even though thebat rations are a military supply, they are produced by a privatepany. I heard that they can produce them for civil use. In Korea, they sellbat rations to civilians, and campers are the main buyers.¡±


    Turkey was widely known for kebab, which they used asbat rations from the time of the Turkish Empire. Theirbat rations were known to be trustworthy. Even though there existed the USbat ration, Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE), they could not provide it to Armenian militia. If the fact that Armenian militia was using MRE was leaked to the world, it would cause political problems, so they wanted to buy them from Turkey.


    ¡°How are you going to exin that Chunho Merchant is the buyer?¡±


    ¡°You know how young travelers from all over the worlde to travel around Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the major three nations of the Caucasus mountain range? I¡¯m going to say that I will be selling them to the travellers. For travellers who go to remote areas, it is the perfect food for them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the quantities. You need at least a few 10,000, and they are not just for a day or two¡¯s use.¡±


    ¡°Mypany has a branch in Armenia. We¡¯re retailers; we can make up a ton of excuses.¡±


    Mustafa¡¯s face brightened as Youngho gave him a rational excuse.


    ¡°Very well. It¡¯s all connected here in the market. I will see what I can do. I¡¯ll give you a call soon.¡±


    Walking out from the room, Mustafa stopped and talked in a rxed manner.


    ¡°I will tell others I was introduced to you by the Korean embassy. By the way, my dad was a veteran who served in the Korean War. He even received a medal.¡±


    Turkey favored Korea to a great deal since they only used the word ¡®kan karde?¡¯ to Koreans, which meant ¡®blood brother.¡¯


    Their favor of Korea was not only because historically, the two countries were descendants of the Goryeo Dynasty, but also because the Turkish people had great pride in fighting and shedding their blood for Korea during the Korean War, deployed as a United Nations ally. They believed that Korea hade this far with their help.


    ***


    Two dayster, Mustafa introduced Mehmet, Eti the foodpany¡¯s head of sales department. Thepany recently gained poprity for their new diet food.


    Young Turkish people were obsessed with diet foods because the adult disease rates were high. Their meat-based meals and high-calorie foods were driving them into adult diseases.


    Excluding other diseases, the statistics showed that people who suffered from high blood pressureprised more than ten million in the whole Turkish poption, which totaled eighty million. This was bing serious.


    At the hotel caf¨¦, Youngho met Mehmet, a fat man in his forties. Youngho felt it ironic that a big guy like him was the head of the sales department of apany that sold diet foods to people.


    ¡°Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lee. I was intrigued by your idea that you want to sellbat ration to travellers. Even if you¡¯re buying our products in low quantities, the head officials had decided it can be a great opportunity to advertise our products worldwide. Before we talk, can you tell me how many quantities you wish to order?¡±


    He unexpectedly had a delicate voice. Having been in the sales for so long, his ingrained gestures and voice felt even cute.


    ¡°I will import 50,000 first.¡±


    Mehmet was surprised. He expected Youngho to buy 10,000bat rations at max.


    ¡°Wait, do you think you can sell that many products? We¡¯d love to trade such high quantities since we will be able to run our production line properly, but I¡¯m worried about your business, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°I have connections with the governors of Azerbaijan. I can easily get help. If I can¡¯t sell all of them, I will ask them to use these as military supply.¡±


    Mehmet smirked, as if he liked Youngho¡¯s confident attitude.


    Mehmet did not know that this little quantity was only going to supply ten meals for 3,000 militia members. Youngho also added thatbat rations couldst a few years, so he would be fine with them.


    Eti invented three different menus of theirbat rations, and Mehmet brought a sample which was the Turkish army¡¯s favorite. They asked for hot water from the kitchen and tried the sample meal together. Within the vacuum packaging, the meal hadmb¡¯s meat, rice, and vegetables mixed together with some spices. It contained high calories and tasted great.


    Youngho contracted with Eti the foodpany.


    They agreed on using English and Russian for the instructions on the package and agreed on buying it at the military supply price, which was eight dors for each package. Youngho opened a Letter of Credit from an Ottoman bank. They arranged the shipment of the products to be delivered in twenty days to Poti Sea Port in Georgia. It was a safe ce, since Georgia wasparatively friendly to Armenia.


    Mustafa brought the $20,000 that he received from Eti for his agency role in the business. Youngho asked if he had brought it because it was too little for him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we Armenians don¡¯t use the money that¡¯s been stained by our own nation¡¯s blood. Instead, we give it back to the nation. The number of Armenians who are living in foreignnds is more than seven million now. It is more than more than three million people living in Armenia.¡±


    Mustafa, whose excitement disappeared from his face, continued, ¡°Our poor nation could make it this far because the Armenians living outside have been supporting the country. Even a foreigner like you is helping out our country despite the dangers. How can I use this money for myself?¡±


    Youngho could not even imagine how big their love must be for their country. They did not care about their economic status but worked hard to send more money back to their country. And people who had influence would try to let the public know about their country overseas.


    It was because of their efforts that Armenian-American governors in the States raised more than a $10 billion loan for Armenia. In 2010, Armenia was so poor that the gross domestic product(GDP) per person in Armenia was $2500, which was a third of Azerbaijan¡¯s GDP.


    ¡°That is fine. I am buying all of it with the money provided by the CIA. That money is your portion for your role as an agency.¡±


    ¡°Then can you use this money for the orphans in our country?¡±


    Mustafa wanted to help orphans made by the frequent wars in Armenia.


    ¡°Then I will donate this in your name.¡±


    ¡°No, please don¡¯t. An anonymous donation is good as is.¡±


    Youngho was touched by his humble heart.


    That night, at a pub in Beyoglu¡¯s Mesrutiyet Caddesi Street, two East Asians and a Turkish man were drunk.


    ¡°Big brother Mustafa, take one more drink. It¡¯s all on me tonight!¡±


    Park Jongil¡¯s tongue was twisted from raki, a strong traditional drink with alcohol content of 40%.


    After drinking shot after shot, they all got stered. It was after ten o¡¯clock in the night, but the street was still crowded with people enjoying the night culture.


    The trigger of the night party was Jongil, who was touched after hearing about Mustafa¡¯s donation to the orphans of Armenia. After having a few shots with Mustafa, Jongil and Mustafa became brothers already. Mustafa was also impressed by the two men who worked as drill instructors for the Armenian militia.


    Youngho, at first, withheld his desire to drink, but eventually he was carried away by the atmosphere and ended up pouring alcohol down his throat beside Mustafa and Jongil.


    Because they talked in English, they were seen as foreigners by others. The owner of the pub and other people around them were nice to them.


    However, as they became louder and drunker, people began to stare at them. When the owner came to give them a warning, Youngho told him that they came from Korea and they were having a drink with a Turkish friend. As soon as he heard ¡®Korean,¡¯ the owner changed attitudes and asked for a shot from everyone in the pub, saying that Koreans were ¡®kan karde?.¡¯


    ***


    In the morning, Jongil, who suffered from a bad headache, talked to Youngho while drinking coffee from a big mug.


    ¡°Lee Youngho! You should have stopped me, but you got drunk just like I did! You¡¯re supposed to be my boss.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, dude, don¡¯t talk too loud. I feel woozy. Man, I swear I¡¯ll change my name if I drink with Jongil one more time.¡±


    ¡°Coming from the guy who kept asking for another round, I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    Youngho did not remember.


    He was fully drunk, and the only thing he remembered was entering the hotel lobby. His money was safe in his wallet, so he figured Mustafa must have paid for thest round.


    They asked for Korean ramen from the hotel kitchen and went to the hotel¡¯s traditional bath house to wake up. Inside the bath house, there was hot marble to sit on while waiting for your sweat toe out. The ce was warm, and it had a subtle firewood scent. Except for the fact that you had to cover your important body part with a towel, the ce was perfect for Koreans who liked spa. It was known as the Turkish pool by Koreans. Youngho and Jongil came out feeling fresh from the bath house.


    When Youngho was having a short nap aftering out from the bath house, Mustafa called Youngho¡¯s room.


    ¡°Youngho, what are you doing? Come down, let¡¯s go eat something for your stomach.¡±


    Howe he is so fine after all that drinking? Youngho shook his head.


    Youngho and Jongil went down to the lobby. Park Jongil greeted Mustafa with his specialty friendliness.


    ¡°Big Brother Mustafa, will we keep running today?¡±


    Not understanding what that meant, Mustafa looked at Youngho.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Korean expression. Heavy drinkers say ¡®keep running¡¯ instead of ¡®drinking.¡¯ His English is poor. You can just ignore him now.¡±


    Mustafa took them to a boat at a dock in Karakoy of Bosphorus Strait separating Asia and Europe. After eating the kebab that Mustafa cooked for them on the boat, Youngho¡¯s stomach became better, just like Mustafa promised.


    Mustafa showed them around downtown and then to the Ortakoy flea market. Little did Youngho know that a destiny was waiting for him there.

 Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15: A Destined Encounter in Istanbul (1)</h4>


    Youngho, Jongil, and Mustafa visited Ortakoy flea market on a crowded Sunday. Ortakoy flea market was an outdoor market where people sold used products.


    ¡°Young Ho. There is an old saying in here. ¡®You encounter your ancestors in flea market.¡¯ If you are lucky, you might even find a hundreds-year-old legendary item. Why don¡¯t you try your luck and skim through stuff here?¡±


    Knowing that hundreds-year-old Southeastern European artifacts are easy to find, Youngho was not intrigued to search through things. Youngho was still tired from the hangover. He skimmed to see if he could find a gift for Jongil.


    After an hour of looking, Youngho¡¯s legs got tired, so he sat in a little caf¨¦ and drank Turkish traditional chai tea. While looking around, he saw a little sales stall without any customers. There was a thin, dark-skinned, teenage looking girl who had opened a narrow sales stall. Out of sympathy, Youngho walked toward her.


    There was a reason that people did not stop to see what she was selling. She didn¡¯t have any sales stand and the items that she put on a cloth on the ground looked awful.


    She had a stained kettle andmp, old leather shoes, little copper tes and so on. Those were not in the quality for sales. It looked like she had just swept her house clean to avoid starving. The girl spoke to Youngho in Turkish which Youngho couldn¡¯t understand but her face was showing how desperate she was.


    The weather was pretty chilly but what she was wearing looked so thin that it couldn¡¯t possibly keep her warm. Youngho almost wanted to take off his own clothes and put it on her body. While shaking her body in cold, the girl¡¯s eyes looked so desperate for money. Youngho couldn¡¯t just pass by her.


    He did not want to hurt her feelings by just giving her money, so he pointed at a dirty ring to show his intention to buy.


    The silvery ring had a ck rock in the middle. Even though it was not visible from the dirt on the ring, there were engraved patterns on it. She politely gave him the ring in her two hands, and started exining about the ring but it was no use for both of them.


    Mustafa who was watching them from a distance, came to help Youngho and the girl.


    ¡°Lee, she is saying that this ring is a relic of the family and she will give it to you if you need it. Since she doesn¡¯t know how to price it, she will take whatever you give.¡±


    Because the ring was so old and shabby, she did not know how much she should call for the price. Her eyes facing Youngho looked sad. They were telling Youngho that she would die if she didn¡¯t sell anything today, so Youngho decided to be generous to her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much this ring costs but if this is a relic of your family, this probably means a lot to you. How about I buy this for $200?¡±


    ¡°Lee, what are you saying? This costs only a few dors, why would you pay that much of money for this? Are you still drunk?¡±


    Mustafa, not knowing what Youngho was thinking, tried to stop the bargain.


    ¡°Brother Mustafa, I can¡¯t just pass by her desperate face. Just interpret this for me.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s serious face, Mustafa shrugged his shoulders and exined to her how much Youngho will be paying in Turkish ¡®lira*.¡¯


    The girl¡¯s eyes got bigger and soon, tears welled up in her eyes. Youngho was not sure if she was touched or if she was sorry for her poor status.


    ¡°What did you tell her?¡±


    ¡°I told her you are paying more because she reminded you of your little sister in Korea. It¡¯s about 600 lira, it is about two months¡¯ rent of a house on the outskirt of the town.¡±


    ¡°Well, her eyes wouldn¡¯t let me go.¡±


    She carefully put the money in the pocket inside her jacket as if it was her treasure. Then she started to pick up her belongings on the ground and put them in a leather bag.


    Youngho quickly went to a kebab store nearby and brought a bottle of water and kebab to the girl. He sat down on the ground and gave some to the girl. The girl was reluctant at first but she dly received the bottle and food.


    Youngho signed with his hands to eat but the girl shook her head and spoke speedily in Turkish. Mustafa was startled by Youngho¡¯s actions and stopped him.


    ¡°She is saying she will eat that with her little siblings at home. Let her go now.¡±


    Jongil weirdly looked at Youngho¡¯s actions as well.


    ¡°Hey Jongil, can you bring me some more kebab? I will hold her for now.¡±


    ¡°You crazy, you are being strange. You want to save all of the poor people in Turkey?¡±


    Park Jongil looked at Youngho as if he was being nonsensical.


    ¡°Just bring me the stuff, dude. I can¡¯t let her go like this.¡±


    Soon, Jongil came back with a big bag of kebab in his hand.


    Youngho took all the stuff out of her bag and put the kebab in there instead. Then he said he would buy all of the rest. She shook her head hard with tears in her eyes. Her eyes were saying it was enough money for her.


    However, Youngho almost forcefully took her stuff and handed in $500 in her hands. Youngho had given her kebab because she looked like she missed her lunch, but she couldn¡¯t even eat the food for herself. She tried to take it home to share with her siblings. Youngho was touched by her actions and felt bad for her. Seeing her like that, Youngho could not let her go.


    Knowing that he can¡¯t stop Youngho, Mustafa just watched him in silence.


    Before the girl left, Youngho gave his business card to her. He told her through Mustafa to call him when she needs help. The girl smiled.


    It was Sunday, March 30th in 2011.


    It was the day that he met Fatima for the first time in the flea market like a destiny.


    ***


    In the hotel room, Jongil talked to Youngho, who was cleaning the stuff he bought with soap in the bathroom.


    ¡°Why did you act like that in the market?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s was curious because he had never seen Youngho acting that way.


    ¡°I wanted to give these to Yunsuh. She likes vintage.¡±


    ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about. Since when did you be a phnthropist?¡±


    ¡°Come on man, she was desperate. If I didn¡¯t help her, she would¡¯ve been devastated. You should¡¯ve looked at her eyes. You¡¯d never know since you are so busy chasing girls¡¯ behinds.¡±


    Youngho had a reason, but he browbeat Jongil because he was embarrassed.


    ¡°All right, all right. I didn¡¯t see that because I was only looking at Turkish girls like a dog in the mating season.¡±


    Jongil continued with a straight face.


    ¡°But don¡¯t you think you gave too much?¡±


    As Youngho showed the things he just cleaned, Jongil looked surprised.


    ¡°Look at this. They are worth the money.¡±


    After getting all the dirt out of the things he bought, they all looked out of ordinary. They were at least hundreds years old.


    Although they were useless now, Youngho thought that they would make great disy decorations.


    The ring he bought at first looked brand new after cleaning it with toothpaste, so Youngho put in on his left middle finger. It fitted well.


    Youngho cleaned the rest of the things; three other rings, four pairs of faded leather shoes with antique patterns on, a little silvery kettle, and some copper tes. Then he dried them with a hair dryer.


    Park Jongil who was sleeping lightly yelled at Youngho.


    ¡°Just go to sleep now! We have to get up early in the morning to look around Istanbul tomorrow!¡±


    ¡°You will be in Armenia for four more years. Why are you in such hurry? You can look around here on your next vacation. I will be sitting in a museum all day long tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You are no help. I¡¯ve got to upload pictures of me travelling around the world. Just sleep. We will start touring from 7 AM.¡±


    Jongil, being sly just the way he was, wanted to brag around.


    He¡¯s going to make it seem like he has been in Istanbul for months after being here for days, thought Youngho.


    Exhausted by the day¡¯s event and by the hangover from the previous day, Youngho slept like dead and woke up in the morning.


    His body was refreshed like never before.


    Jongil was taking a shower while singing in the bathroom. Jongil had a charming voice that even made Youngho humming along.


    ¡°Get out quickly dude. I need to dump.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that in this luxurious hotel.¡±


    Jongil continued as dancing to his tune.


    ¡°Youngho, I¡¯m feeling great this morning. Why don¡¯t we go talk to girls today?¡±


    Since Karajan was not reacting to his affection, Jongil wanted to hit on other girls in Istanbul, but Youngho wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Jongil was renowned as a womanizer among his friends. He had broken many hearts of Yunsuh¡¯s friends back in Korea.


    ¡°Jongil, I¡¯ve got to punish you today for the girls you made cry.¡±


    Spoke Youngho as he chocked Jongil¡¯s neck. Then Jongil made exaggerating groan. Jongil was a good-looking, smart guy with a great voice. There was no wonder that superficial girls would fall for him. If he had better support, Jongil was a guy who could have gone to a good college but he never did.


    Even though he had never been to a college, Jongil spoke English so well for a person who learned it only for six months. Youngho looked at him in jealousy. Sometimes Jongil¡¯s English sounded better than Youngho who majored in English Literature.


    Jongil¡¯s outstanding ability innguages showed when learning Armenian too. Jongil, who recently started learning Armenian from his English teacher, was now at the level to boss around his trainees in Armenian.


    *Lira -Turkish currency, 1 lira is about $0.17 as of 10/11/18.

 Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16: A Destined Encounter in Istanbul (2)</h4>


    The next day, Youngho had to be a photographer for Park Jongil, following after him everywhere.


    Jongil asked the girls walking by to take photos with him and to Youngho¡¯s surprise, they all kindly agreed to Jongil as if they were angels. Acting like Jongil would be considered crazy in Korea, but it was nothing to people living in Istanbul, a global tourist destination.


    As they were resting in their room, Cho Sangchun called Youngho on his cellphone.


    ¡°Youngho. It¡¯s a boy! I just became a dad.¡±


    ¡°What?! Can you speak slowly? Did Yunsuh give birth already?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Everybody¡¯s healthy. I can¡¯t let you talk to her yet. She¡¯s in the recovery room now. I¡¯ll call you tomorrow.¡±


    Sangchun hung up on Youngho after delivering the news. Youngho was still in a shock. Although the phone call was short, Youngho could almost feel Sangchun¡¯s excitement from his voice.


    ¡°What is it? Was that from Sangchun?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He said Yunsuh just gave birth to a son. He¡¯s exuberated.¡±


    ¡°What an awesome news! His parents must be happy to finally have a grandson.¡±


    ¡°Man. I¡¯m happy too.¡±


    Youngho and Yunsuh were two years apart. When Youngho was serving in the military, their parents died from a car ident, leaving behind the two.


    Sangchun, who was Youngho¡¯s best friend since college, helped out with the funeral process since Yunsuh was young and Youngho¡¯s break from the military was not long enough to prepare for theplicated funeral process.


    Back then, Yunsuh had nobody to rely on except Sangchun, and as they were always together, they eventually fell in love. Sangchun¡¯s parents happily supported the couple, and as soon as Yunsuh got out of college, they got married. The parents hurried to marry the two young lovers because not only they did not have any other son to carry on the family line but also they liked Yunsuh¡¯s smart and keen personality.


    Youngho felt strange that his little sister gave a birth. She became a mom already.


    ***


    Youngho returned to Baku in his regr life after finishing up the business in Istanbul. While he was gone, the retailers who carried Chunho Merchant¡¯s products were doing well.


    Many customers in Baku preferred Korean middle-priced clothes for their affordable prices and high qualities, and the sales were overtaking the sales of other European brands.


    Youngho¡¯s direct stores near Main Police Department were the top-selling stores. A caf¨¦ near those stores was reced with another high-ss clothing brand store. However, Karajan told Youngho that their sales wouldn¡¯tpare to the sales of Youngho¡¯s direct stores.


    Karajan was a nosydy who wouldn¡¯t let her friends or family members walk on the street wearing other brands¡¯ clothes. She was extremelymitted to Chunho Merchant.


    It had been five months since Chunho Merchant¡¯s direct, high-quality clothing store opened and four months since the H Porcin direct store opened. The profit of the two stores meanwhile surpassed 200 million won already. The changing weathers would affect his profits, but Youngho¡¯s stores were all settled that he would at least earn 500 million won a year.


    Youngho paid his employees a big bonus pay as amission for their job well done. Karajan became apetent manager that she could even make orders from the headquarters in Seoul, Korea by herself.


    After the sess of the two direct stores, Karajan wanted to open another one for business expansion to raise thepany¡¯s value. She looked for a location for the new store.


    Because of the help from the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whom Youngho was introduced by the executive director of Main Police Department, Youngho did not have to pay other extra fees except tax. His profit was being maximized.


    Not being a member of WTO*, Azerbaijan had an ambiguous taxation system. They taxed each container of trade items $10,000 regardless of what was in there. However, Youngho found the system helpful for his case because hispany sent clothes for his direct store by airmails which were not taxed. Although, items for H Porcin and for other retailers arrived in containers by ship, which were taxed, he did not have to pay extra fees to customs officers. Paying unofficial extra fees during clearance process was conventionally done but knowing who was behind Youngho, the customs officers never touched Youngho again.


    Youngho yed a little trick to step up in the officialdom. He delivered a message to the director of Main Police Department, saying that he wanted to donate some of his profit from Baku for schrship. After hearing that news, the chief of Main Police Department contacted him immediately, wanting to meet him.


    He looked surprised that Youngho wanted to donate even though hispany was small.


    ¡°Mr. Lee , I¡¯ve heard about you from the executive director. I know you have gone through troubles because of us, but you are willing to return your money to our society. I thank you ahead on behalf of our government.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing really, chief. The director helped me to a great extent. I just want to return some of the money I made because of the citizens of Baku to the people of Baku.¡±


    Youngho intentionally acted modest and spoke highly of the director. He wanted to secure the director¡¯s position, so that he could continuously use him as an exclusive information source.


    ¡°Oh, that is just admirable. So, what kind of students would you like to support?¡±


    ¡°I will make $100,000 each year for schrship. Since the director has helped me greatly, I¡¯d like to donate this money for children of police families.¡±


    He picked police family to impress governors and officials.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, this sounds like a lot of money to you. You only have two stores here, how would you make such money?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. If you feel ufortable, pleasee to my store and buy some from us.¡±


    The news spread fast among government officials that Youngho donated for children of police family without hesitation. Naturally they became very favorably inclined towards Youngho, so he was invited to many different events of high officials. This made it easy for him to collect a lot of information frommunicating with core officials. Not to mention, the director¡¯s position was secured because of Youngho.


    The chief in return for Youngho¡¯s generous donation, assigned Youngho as a honorary police officer and issued him a certificate, telling Youngho that this would help him live with ease in Baku.


    Youngho knew exactly what he meant. There were no officials who would be in Youngho¡¯s way anymore.


    Learning about this news, Edward praised Youngho that he made a smart move using an unprecedented method to step into the mainstream society and he promised topensate Youngho¡¯s donation with information payment. Therefore, Youngho was able to nt himself in Baku¡¯s mainstream society without paying a single penny.


    Karajan, the manager of Chunho Merchant¡¯s Baku branch, realized the change in the officials¡¯ attitude toward Chunho Merchant when she recently went to submit trade documents.


    Previously, the officials used to turn her down when she submitted necessary documents, with strange reasons that she needed to submit extra documents. However, now they easily let her go telling her that they would take care of any issues with her documents without even checking.


    Although the poption of Baku was 2 million, the number of government officials was not many. Having the officials helping him meant that Chunho Merchant¡¯s position was officially secured.


    Youngho¡¯s efforts to step up resulted in increased sales. The direct stores had more customers than ever, that the sales representative Stephany, Karajan¡¯s cousin, even requested to hire a new salesperson.


    Instead of hiring one more person, Youngho promised to use that money for his employees¡¯ professional development. He promised that he would send all of his employees to Korea for a training course in the winter.


    ***


    The more popr Chunho Merchant became in Baku, the higher the number of orders they received. The season was changing to the summer, and the retailers boldly batted and ordered about $60,0000 worth of clothing, expecting people would buy new designs for the new season.


    Cho Sangchun got busy as he could not get any help from Yunsuh who stayed home with her son. Yunsuh¡¯s friend in college, who was now a designer of Chunho Merchant, had to work double as she took over Yunsuh¡¯s job. They were happily busy to see how well theirpany was doing.


    ¡°Youngho, stop pushing orders in. Man, I think I might suffocate under a pile of money.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve got to quit if you can¡¯t handle this much. Just hire some more employees, we will have more orders in the future. How long are you going to take advantage of Yunsuh?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to mention that. I¡¯m nning on hiring two more people. It¡¯s overwhelming now.¡±


    ¡°Well good then, and can you tell the designer to send clothes as soon as possible? We are almost out of stock.¡±


    To the women in Baku, the consistent designs of Chunho Merchant were appealing. The fact that Chunho Merchant did not make a lot of quantities for each design was also a selling point. They liked the uniqueness.


    ¡°Are you doing that well? Where do you use all those clothes, not for your firece right?¡±


    ¡°Dude, I think I might make more money than you soon. If you need money, just tell me. I¡¯m your big bro. I got your back.¡±


    ¡°I have a plenty in here, man. You can take care of yourself with that. We didn¡¯t even support you from here, how can we take your money?¡±


    ¡°Finally you¡¯re thinking like a person.¡±


    ¡°How dare you, an unmarried man, say that to a dad?¡±


    As thepany was doing well, his voice was even brighter.


    ¡°Sangchun, I¡¯m nning on having a training course for our employees in Korea in the winter. Can you look for a ce for that?¡±


    Sangchun loved the idea. He was excited to get to see the employees in Baku. He was curious about Karajan whom he had been worked with through the phone.


    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t worry. By the way, we¡¯ll be earning more than 70 million won for this order. I¡¯m extremely busy but it feels good to make money.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you now know the taste of money. You¡¯ve got to make some herbal tonics for your parents who are helping out with the kid, under my name, alright?


    ¡°You are making me look like a bad son again, aren¡¯t you? Anyway, I¡¯ve got to go. Yunsuh will give me an earful if I¡¯mte.¡±


    ¡°Man, you miss your son already.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you should get married too.¡±


    Feeling somewhat empty inside after hanging up, Youngho lit a cigarette. Youngho missed his newborn nephew whom he had never met.


    *WTO- acronym for World Trade Organization, regtes international trade between nations

 Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17: The Secret of the Ring and the Leather Shoes (1)</h4>


    Youngho visited Poti Sea Port in Georgia.


    At the Port, he received trade items such as: all-in-one helmet and night vision goggles shipped from Chunho Merchant¡¯s headquarters in Korea,bat rations from Eti the foodpany in Turkey, and tableware products from H Porcin.


    Youngho received another thing from the defense industrypany in Changwon, which was $270,000 in his bank. Thepany sent him the money on the Q.T. to lobby him. Youngho felt relieved to have extra money now. Even though he made lots of profits from his stores, there would be a plenty of events that would cost him money in the future.


    For the next 15 days, Youngho busily travelled around Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh. As Mustafa wanted, he donated his money to an orphanage run by the state.


    Strangely, Youngho felt not as tired as before ever since he visited the flea market in Istanbul. Even his driver and secretary Gerhardt asked him what kind skin care he used. Heplimented about how Youngho looked even younger these days.


    Youngho also felt the change. When he looked at his face reflected in the mirror, his skin looked cleaner and shinier. The climate in Baku was very dry with very low humidity and that usually resulted in rough skin texture. People in Baku desired for shiny skin. That was why the first thing imported in Baku was women¡¯s skin care cosmetics since the poor economic condition improved. Korean cosmetics were one of the popr products. However, Youngho did not really care for his skin change yet.


    ***


    On azy Sunday, Youngho started taking care of his apartment in a long time. After doing his piled-upundry, he disyed the old stuff that he bought at the flea market in Istanbul. Cleaning them a few times with soap and polishing them had made them looked like great vintage antiques. He still kept the ring on his finger. The color of the rock on the ring looked changed a bit but thinking it must have faded, Youngho did not pay too much attention.


    Youngho liked to have the ring on his finger. Many of the people in Baku considered a ring with engraved patterns as a prestigious family¡¯s ring. When Youngho, an East Asian, asked to shake hand with the ring on his finger, they showed interest. That¡¯s why Youngho had it on since he came back from Istanbul. In fact, now he did not want to take it off, he became attached to the ring.


    After disying the silvery kettle and copper tes in the showcase, he picked up four pairs of the old leather shoes to polish them. It was then when he saw a brief sh of light on a shoe. Assuming that he mistook afternoon sunlight reflected on the sheen of the shoe, he kept on polishing it with more cream. Now when he started polishing the inside of the shoe, a bright light wrapped around the whole shoe for a moment and disappeared. Youngho¡¯s hair stood on end but he still held on to the shoe. Many things came to his mind in a sh.


    Youngho regretted letting the girl go without asking her where she lived. Even though he gave her his business card, there was no reason for her to call him since he did not speak Turkish and she would never want to call him in fear that he might ask the money back for the ragged items.


    After he was done cleaning the insides of the shoes, he tried them on for himself. The shoes looked bigger than his size but when he put them on, to his surprise, not only they fitted well, they disappeared in his eyes.


    Youngho¡¯s heart leapt into his mouth. He took a few moments to calm himself down and began to think.


    I feel them on my feet but I don¡¯t see them.


    Thinking that, Youngho took them off. Then the shoes appeared in his eyes again.


    Invisible shoes or magic shoes?


    Four rings and four pairs of shoes?


    Because there were four numbers of each item, they seemed to makebined sets. Curiosity about the mysterious items, rather than fear of them drove him.


    Putting back the shoes on, he tried walking at different speeds and looking in the full-length mirror in the bathroom. Nothing new happened except that his body felt lighter.


    Youngho was confused.


    Guessing that other items from the flea market would have different functions, he tried different things on the items including touching and starting at them.


    He even tried chanting different spells. If his friends saw him, they would call him insane.


    Finally, he took out his ring to see if it had any connection with the shoes. When he took out the ring, he could see the shoes on his feet again. The ring and the leather shoes had linked together.


    Youngho was now running in the secluded mountain behind his apartment. Not running, he was dashing at a fast speed like the cyborg man from the old American TV series, The Six Million Dor Man. It would be more urate to say that he was almost flying as if a rocket engine was attached behind him.


    After realizing that he could wear his normal running shoes on top of the mystical leather shoes, he was stunned when he tried jumping in those. His weight felt like feather and he could jump up so high.


    Now he could run at the speed of 30 miles per hour while moving at least 5 yards for each step he took. He tried his best to bnce himself while moving. Youngho thought it would be impossible for a person with little muscle mass, since it was hard for him to stop from that speed. The shoes seemed to have a function of absorbing shock on impact.


    Youngho tried hard to bnce himself while quickly avoiding obstacles in the mountain. It was unbelievable to see this kind of mystical items existed. However, it was real. Still not fully believing in them, Youngho was d that he attained items that can make him travel a short distance in a sh.


    Youngho thought that it was his destiny to have them believing he was blessed because he was generous to the girl in flea market and they came to him. He did not know where to use those for now, but it was still worthy to keep them.


    He trained himself for two hours and returned his apartment.


    He investigated the rest of the rings and shoes but they did not show any special functions. Thinking that the little kettle might be mystical too, he tried taking the ring close to the kettle and rubbing it against it but nothing extraordinary happened.


    Then he realized that the rock on the ring had changed its color to dark purple. This just happened with the ring he had on, not with the others. Youngho figured that they would change the color when it had been on someone¡¯s finger for a while. He decided to have two rings on his fingers on each hand, so that they might reveal their hidden powers to him.


    ***


    He was having busy days but he would still go to dining with government officials to maintain rtionships. Last night, he had dinner with the head of Azerbaijan¡¯s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kamal, and the executive director of Main Police Department. When Youngho told them that he would open a branch in Georgia, they tried to convince him to invest some for Baku saying they would look after him.


    The recent fluctuation of oil prices had caused the nation¡¯s economy shrink. Therefore, the governors of Azerbaijan were searching for ways to increase foreign investments. Because their positions were at stake, they made great efforts to bring international investments to their country.


    In fact, Youngho liked the charming city of Baku more than Georgia but he mentioned Georgia to see how they would react. At the end of the meeting, he also showed them his intention to buy or rent a farm site to open a grape farm, asking if they knew any good, avable sites.


    The two officials were exuberated to hear his n because Youngho would start a primary industry rather than importing consumer goods. The emergence ofrge-scale farms, a primary industry, could be a catalyst forpanies to invest in agriculture.


    Kamal excitedly promised Youngho for a farm site as if he could lend a state property in no time.


    Soon, Kamal found a great site for Youngho. A state property site was a hilly area which was 30 minutes apart from Baku. Kamal said Youngho could rent as muchnd he wanted. If Youngho hire local farmers, they could let Youngho rent it for free under a condition that he would buy it after three years.


    The minimum size of thend that Youngho could rent was 200 acres. 1 Acre would cost Youngho $1,000. He liked the farm site and decided to run a farm size about 500 acres and submitted a business n.


    After a few days, when the Azerbaijan government permitted his business, they contracted right away. Youngho thought that he could pay it off with his earnings from the direct stores in Baku and he would be able to pay his farm employees with the profit of the farm.


    He also wanted to show off his financial capability to the officials that he could invest that much amount. Kamal was surprised to see Youngho¡¯s boldness. It was the price that they never imagined that Youngho could afford.


    Youngho stepped in the international airport of Istanbul in Turkey for the second time. This time, he visited there to buy grape nts and equipment to prepare for his grape farm. He came to Istanbul where the prices are lower than Azerbaijan. Baku¡¯s prices were as high as Seoul¡¯s. Youngho wanted to visit Istanbul again ever since he found out about the ring and leather shoes he bought in here. Now, it was time for him to catch two birds with one stone.

 Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18: The Secret of the Ring and the Leather Shoes (2)</h4>


    Edward of US CIA was delighted to hear that Youngho signed argend leasing agreement with the Azerbaijan government. It was Edward¡¯s achievement as well because he had assigned Youngho as a field agent in Baku.


    When Youngho said he would visit Turkey, Edward asked to meet in there.


    Mustafa greeted Youngho at the airport.


    ¡°Mustafa, you shouldn¡¯t havee. You are a busy man. I could just take a taxi.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t just sit and wait knowing that you areing.¡±


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m here to buy grape nts and farm equipment. Can you get me connections?¡±


    ¡°This time you are buying grape nts and farm equipment? What¡¯s next?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. Yeah, I had to do this to gain trust.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that you might turn into a double spy.¡±


    Youngho felt weird. Sometimes, he felt like he was doing a double spy¡¯s job.


    ¡°Come on brother Mustafa, what would a CIA agent gain from Azerbaijan, unless it¡¯s Turkey?¡±


    Saying that, Youngho ced a piece of paper in Mustafa¡¯s hand. After checking what it was, Mustafa frowned and stared at Youngho as if he did an idle job.


    ¡°The orphanage insisted to issue this because they wanted to express their gratefulness. I couldn¡¯t do anything when they kept insisting.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to receive this kind of certificate. The fact that I could be of help of the orphans in my country is more than enough.¡±


    Although he was saying that, he looked proud.


    With Mustafa¡¯s help, Youngho couldplete all the purchases of nts and equipment in four days. He bought Muscat of Alexandria grape nt variety that were widely cultivated in dry central Asia and Southern Europe.


    They borerge sized grape fruits that are harvested from September through October. They could grow well in drynds. He bought three-year-old nts that can be cultivated now at a price of 1 for 400 won, he bought 200,000 of them. The price was cheap since it was such arge-scale grape ntation area.


    Ten Automated grape pickers, ten multipurpose cargo bikes, and other extra equipment cost him almost 200 million won. He ced nts and equipment in a container and sent them to Baku through Poti Sea Port. They were not taxed. The taxes were specially exempted because Youngho was the first foreign investor of Azerbaijan¡¯s farming industry.


    In order to have produces by next fall, Youngho would have to work for the whole summer diligently nting the seedlings. Farming also would cost him 200 million worth of wages, which was equivalent to most of the savings from businesses in Baku. Because he was reimbursed for his police family donation from CIA, he was able to manage that without taking the money received as a lobby.


    Youngho¡¯s position was secured in Baku, now that he had a title of a farm investor. Because the officials were in favor of Youngho, no one would dare to take advantage from him.


    When Youngho finished buying all of the necessaries, Edward visited him to his hotel room. He wanted to hear every conversation that Youngho had with Baku¡¯s high officials, so Youngho told him everything descriptively.


    Such details seemed like nothing to Youngho but for an elite information agent like Edward, every single detail was something that he could infer information from.


    From the conversation with Kamal the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Edward implied that there might be a dispute soon. With a serious look on his face, Edward said that he needed to visit the headquarter office of Europe.


    He asked Youngho if he could wait for him for five more days, staying and touring in Istanbul for the meantime. Youngho, who nned to go find the girl from the flea market, dly agreed to his request.


    ***


    Luckily, the next day was Sunday, so Youngho went to Ortakoy flea market where he met the girl.


    There was a young man selling essories at the spot where the girl sold her belongings on a cloth on the ground.


    Youngho had learned Turkish for the past two months but he still had hard time tomunicate with people. He could barely greet people and say simple words.


    He used bodynguage and English with Turkish to exin what he was looking for and the young man took him to an old merchant who had been doing his business in the market for the longest. Like he did to the young man, Youngho tried his best to exin why he was there but the old merchant did not seem to get him.


    Youngho could not figure out from the merchant¡¯s face, if he was just avoiding to answer him or because he did not know who the girl was.


    For the next hour, Youngho looked around asking for the girl¡¯s whereabouts. As if he felt bad for Youngho¡¯s situation, a young man who could speak English asked.


    ¡°Why are you looking for that girl?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I just want to help her situation.¡±


    ¡°Do you by any chance, like her?¡±


    The man and people around him looked at him as if he was seeking the love of his life. Since Youngho wanted to keep the secret of the ring and shoes to himself, he just decided to go along with their imagination.


    ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯m embarrassed but she¡¯s been on my mind ever since I left for home. I¡¯m a Korean. I do business in Baku, so I visit here often. I thought I could meet her again if Ie here.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Kan karde?*.¡±


    Suddenly his face brightened with joy and hugged Youngho, saying why he did not say that he was a Korean earlier. Youngho exined that he did not like her as a woman but like a little sister and he wanted to give some help.


    The manplimented Youngho¡¯spassion repeating, ¡°Kan karde?.¡±


    Then he suggested that if Youngho buy an item from him, he would take his time and look for the girl for Youngho. He pointed to a leather bag and suggested $50 as a price. It was obvious the man was trying to sell his item but Youngho paid him to give a benefit of doubt.


    After looking at Youngho who had not even tried to bargain with him, he gave back $20.


    ¡°I feel sorry looking at your face. $30 is enough. I will look for the girl.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. If you find the girl, I will reward you.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, he quickly started packing his belongings to go look for the girl immediately.


    ¡°I will find the girl and give you the information about her in three days. How much are you going to pay me?¡±


    At his genuine attitude, Youngho suggested $2000 but the man said he would need at least $3000 to mobilize other men to search for the girl. Youngho agreed on the price. He thought it would not be a waste even if he paid $10,000 if he could find the girl.


    Youngho gave him his business card and the hotel phone number. The man introduced himself as Sharim.


    If Mustafa knew about how much Youngho agreed on paying Sharim, he would have flipped out but Youngho did not want to tell him that he was looking for the girl, so Mustafa would not find out about this.


    ***


    Istanbul was a big city with a poption of 13 million. It was three times bigger than Seoul and had more people living in. Searching for a person here was like looking for a needle in the sand desert.


    For the next three days, Youngho stayed in his room learning Turkish from an interpreter introduced by the hotel. The interpreter ttered him saying that hisnguage is improving a lot but for Youngho who lived in Azerbaijan for a year, it was not too difficult to learn Turkish. The twonguages were very simr that people from the two nations wouldmunicate with each other without any interpreters.


    After three days, Sharim called Youngho, letting him know that he found where the girl was. Sharim told Youngho that the girl lived in a slum area that foreigners did not dare to go alone and offered him to go together.


    Youngho thought for a moment and agreed to go together, saying that he could pay for the ride. Now, Sharim would bring his car in three hours.


    Youngho could not trust Sharim just yet. He did not bring his Beretta, so he did not have any weapon to protect himself. Of course, Youngho was a trained guy but what if Sharim and his friends ganged upon him? Youngho immediately went to a store near the hotel and bought five Turkish traditional flip knives.


    Many Turks would carry flip knives for peeling and cutting fruits not as weapons but they were very sturdy. Youngho hid two of them seamlessly in each of the leather shoes and put one in his trouser pocket. He decided to wear the leather shoes he brought to show to the girl, just in case.


    Thinking that he would be fine, Youngho did not tell Mustafa about going to the slum area. He did not worry too much because Istanbul was a safe ce full of travelers walking around even at nights. Before leaving the hotel, he put all the valuables in the hotel safe bringing his passport and $1,000 only with him.


    Sharim¡¯s car just entered Bt where poor people lived. Long time ago, it used to be a Jewish town but now it was a main slum are in Istanbul.


    Youngho saw that the walls of many buildings with torn walls and faded paints. The ce smelled a peculiar stale of slums.


    Sharim and Youngho walked along a narrow winding alley for a while. They stopped at a house that had a brick wall painted in pink, a roof covered with asphalt, and a red door with scratches all over it. The colorbination was so disturbing that he did not know where to put his eyes.


    When they knocked, two guys came out from the door. As Youngho stepped back, Sharimforted Youngho, saying they were his friends.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, This is the ce where the girl you are looking for lives. You can go in there. She is waiting for you.¡±


    Youngho, calming down his pounding heart, asked them to call her out as a way to be courteous. Nervously, he waited for her outside.

 Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19: The Secret of the Ring and the Leather Shoes (3)</h4>


    Sharim¡¯s friends shrugged their shoulders as they talked in Turkish. Then one of the guys entered the house and came out with a girl.


    The girl was someone whom Youngho had never seen before, her body frame was simr to the girl from the flea market but it was not her.


    The guys bbered that she was the one who was at the flea market two months ago. They asked for money with frowns on their faces.


    Youngho smirked.


    Instead of making efforts to search for the girl, they made a fake person.


    It would not be a big deal to take care of these guys, but Youngho was already exposed by them and he could not tell what kind of organization they belonged to, so he negotiated. Youngho said he only had $1,000 with him now.


    Sharim took the money from Youngho¡¯s hand and intimidated Youngho with a dark look.


    ¡®Does he think that I¡¯ll be scared?¡¯


    Sharim told him that since he is a business man from Baku, he should stay with them and call his friends to bring more money. They did not listen when Youngho said that he had more money at the hotel. They would not budge since Youngho could call the police once he got to the hotel. It seemed like Sharim nned all this when he returned $20 to Youngho who bought his leather bag.


    Looking at these guys, Youngho figured that they are not from a big organization because among them he saw a skinny guy shaking his legs. Inexperienced in doing this kind of job, they were all looking at each other to find out what else they could do.


    Youngho quickly snatched the money from Sharim¡¯s hand, who was still talking. His eye widened.


    ¡°Sharim. You¡¯ve got the wrong guy. This is a huge mistake.¡±


    Youngho spoke clearly with Turkish, so that the others could hear him too.


    Now he continued with English.


    ¡°You should know that I¡¯m not an easy guy. As a businessman in Baku, I have people who got my back and I also have connections in Istanbul. I just didn¡¯t want to bother them with a pesky work.¡±


    Sharim was quiet without any words.


    ¡°You could have just gone with $1,000 but you made a bad choice. You took advantage of my earnest heart. Do you understand?¡±


    Sharim felt the sudden change of Youngho¡¯s spirit.


    Because he dealt with many people at the flea market, Sharim was a tactful guy. He knew something was going wrong. Youngho was not intimidated at all by the three guys surrounding him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you an option. We can just part ways here or I¡¯ll let you go free. I won¡¯t do any harm to your business in Ortakoy flea market.¡±


    After finishing his sentence, Youngho gave two hundred bills and his business card to the girl who was shaking and told to her,


    ¡°If these guys take your money, just call me ore find me at Marmara Hotel at Taksim Square. My room number is 701.¡±


    Youngho repeated his hotel room number twice to the girl in case she did not understand Youngho¡¯s hard ent. The girl nodded.


    ¡®The girl must have been threatened by those guys¡¯, thought Youngho.


    Youngho emphasized that he was a wealthy businessman with powers because the guys would still have to run their business at the flea market. He did his best to stop them.


    He stepped out form the alley and felt his legs shaking. If they did not let him go easily, somebody would have gotten hurt. He was lucky that they were just fumbling swindlers.


    He took a taxi on the main road, and changed his destination to Mustafa¡¯s store.


    ***


    Mustafaughed heartily.


    He kept onughing loud and even pping Youngho¡¯s back, who was still embarrassed.


    ¡°Youngho, I wonder how you can act so boldly in foreign countries. Is that because you were trained in Special Forces?¡±


    ¡°Brother Mustafa, I can take care of tenme guys in a back alley but the problem is I don¡¯t know the ways here.¡±


    ¡°No, Youngho. What if they have guns? Can you still protect yourself? It¡¯s easy to get guns here.¡±


    At Mustafa¡¯s words, Youngho came to his senses.


    ¡°Mustafa, I left my gun in Baku. I¡¯m sure I can get one from a local agent but it¡¯s going to be a long process. Can you get me a Beretta? I¡¯ll keep it in your store when I leave for Baku and use it when I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°I got one now in my store. Use it for now, I¡¯ll get another one for you soon.¡±


    Mustafa said as he took out one Beretta and two magazines.


    Seeing Young disassemble and assemble the gun freely, Mustafa whistled at Youngho.


    ¡°Wow, you could even do that without looking.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a toy to me.¡±


    Mustafa smiled as if he had expected that from him. He must have seen many James Bond films.


    ¡°By the way, what is the real reason that you are looking for the girl? Is it just out of sympathy? Or are you looking for someone to use as an information agent?¡±


    ¡°Brother, I wouldn¡¯t use a little girl as an agent. I would ask you to be one if I needed one.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see what I can do, although, I think you can find her easily if you request it to your organization.¡±


    ¡°This is a personal business. It¡¯s not urgent and I don¡¯t want to bother agents who are already busy with their work. I still have some time since I have to wait for another agent for a few days here.¡±


    ¡°Wait a couple days. I will get my men to look for her.¡±


    ¡°Brother, don¡¯t worry about the money. I have a ton. I¡¯m now running a farm business in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s to cover up your identity and it belongs to US CIA. I know you are working hard for my own country. I can¡¯t bother you with that.¡±


    Mustafa was very loyal to his country, just like any other Armenians. He knew that Youngho was working for the Armenian militia, and because of that Mustafa was not hesitant to help him.


    ***


    Edward, the head of the CIA Southern Europe chapter, came to see Youngho at his hotel. Youngho could tell from his face that something must be going bad.


    ¡°Lee, it was reported that Azerbaijan is nning to evade Nagorno-Karabakh in the near future. I will try my best to stop it diplomatically but if it goes bad, this might lead to World War III outbreak.¡±


    ¡°Ed. Is it that serious?¡±


    ¡°The fluctuating oil prices are making the economy fail, so they are trying to resolve the instability from elsewhere. Nagorno-Karabakh is their automatic target.¡±


    The government of Azerbaijan stored a colossal sum of money but they also invested inrge-scale businesses all over their country. They were running out of their savings.


    ¡°Will they make a move despite the Russian army?¡±


    ¡°That is a bigger problem. Russia would deploy more soldiers in arge scale under the statement that they are protecting their citizens. Then, other pro-Azerbaijan countries will also join.¡±


    Because of this small country, a world war might break out. Then Youngho¡¯s business would be screwed. Feeling frustrated, Youngho hastily asked what he can do to help.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big problem. Is there anything I can help with? I want to be of help even if it¡¯s a little job.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for saying that, I feel better already.¡±


    ¡°Ed. Of course I should help. I receive information payment from CIA. I want to do my job.¡±


    Edward was impressed by Youngho¡¯s activeness. Even though Youngho¡¯s job is an information agent who only needs to give information, he always did more and initiated new roles, so now Edward left all Azerbaijan-rted work to Youngho.


    Because Youngho brought more information than other permanent field agents, Edward could exert more power from his position in CIA.


    ¡°Lee, I have respect for you. Even though you didn¡¯t really want to be an agent, you are doing a great job. Making a farm in Baku was a great idea and the high-ranking officials are also very impressed by you. You¡¯ll have good news soon.¡±


    ¡°Ed, I opened the farm not only because of CIA, but also because I had personal desire. You don¡¯t have to rte that to information work.¡±


    ¡°The high officials do not take it take way, they know that you are initiating your role in Baku and settling down there. I¡¯m grateful that you¡¯ve mobilized your friends to train and elite the militia.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed since all of his friends came after the money.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what to say.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be modest as from your culture. You¡¯ve got to see this in the perspective of ¡®give and take.¡¯ You are getting rewarded for your job well-done.¡±


    After thinking for a moment, Youngho suggested to Edward.


    ¡°Ed, I don¡¯t have the resources to solve the delicate problems between nations, but I think I can create public opinion. As a foreign investor, I can raise my voice to create public opinion that war will only result in self-destruction.¡±


    Youngho had to stop the breaking of a war even for his own sake because the war would make consumption shrink.


    ¡°The high officials also want us to stir the public opinion. We need to create that atmosphere to stop the war. Azerbaijan is boldly expressing their intention to take Nagorno-Karabakh. If a local battle breaks out, we¡¯ll have to work to minimize its effect.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart was heavy as if a weight was pushing down on his chest.


    ¡°I feel like we are carrying a big burden. If the war breaks out, I will also help. My friends would also be involved in it, I can¡¯t leave them alone.¡±


    ¡°Lee, your role is not taking out a few soldiers. You have a bigger role. You¡¯ve got to stay in Baku.¡±


    Edward was afraid that Youngho and his friends would take unexpected actions since they were fully trained soldiers.


    ¡°Alright. I will stay in Baku but I¡¯m not sure how I will react if my friends are in danger.¡±


    Edward shook his head looking at him as if he could not stop him.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to Georgia tomorrow. Do you have more ns in here?¡±


    ¡°I will be back in Baku in a few days. I¡¯ll be buying some more grape nts here and receiving the pottery items from Korea. I¡¯m getting them in containers this time.¡±


    Patting Youngho¡¯s shoulder, Edward spoke to himstly before leaving.


    ¡°Lee, it was a blessing to have met you. I will contact you soon.¡±


    Youngho was ttered but heavy-minded at the same time thinking about the possibility of a war.

 Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20: Fatima, the girl from Istanbul (1)</h4>


    While waiting to hear from Mustafa, Youngho focused on learning Turkish in his hotel room. He wanted to speak to her in Turkish when he met her.


    Most people would travel around tourist attractions when they go to new ces, but Youngho was not the kind of person. He did not like crowded ces, so he liked to stay in hotel rooms. The only attraction for him now is exercising in the hotel fitness center.


    At the fourth day of waiting, Youngho received a wee call from Mustafa.


    ¡°Youngho, I found the girl. Get ready ande out. I¡¯ll drive my car in front of the hotel.¡±


    Calming his pounding heart, Youngho went ahead to get dressed in a suit and went down to the hotel lobby.


    ¡°What is all that? You are dressed up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to surprise the girl. I thought a suit would look more trustworthy than casual clothes.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s true. I don¡¯t see many gentlemen out in the street because young people like to get dressed for outdoor look.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same in here too. Outdoor look is so trendy that it became everyday casual in Korea but I like suits better.¡±


    ¡°Is suit a trademark for an agent?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Mustafa surely had watched too many James Bond films.


    ¡°Where does the girl live?¡±


    ¡°Bt. It was easy to find her since Bt is where many ordinary people live together. I searched for a family of children only, which has been a little better off recently.¡±


    ¡°You must have had a lot of trouble. How can I reward you?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. It was not a big trouble since I searched her through my acquaintance. Just buy me some more drinkter.¡±


    The car slid through the narrow alley. Mustafa¡¯s car was a good fit for this kind of narrow alleys. Youngho thought that there was a reason that many Europeans usedpact cars even though they had tall frame. Many old cities had narrow, winding alleys that big cars could not fit in. Small,pact cars were great for those cities.


    Youngho wondered how they could find a house in suchplex alleys but Mustafa skillfully drove around the alleys as if he drove there every day. Finally, Mustafa stopped at a house that looked the shabbiest. The house was shabby butpared to the other houses we went to a few days ago, it was a hotel.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s heart palpitated. Taking a deep breath, he carefully knocked on the door. The house was so quiet that he could hear someone moving inside.


    As Youngho saw a girl peeking out through the chink of the door, he almost stopped breathing.


    The girl had changed so much since he saw herst time. She was extremely skinny with a tan face then, but now even though she was still skinny, her face was so much brighter.


    She had been eating properly and gaining some weight. She blinked a few times and her eyes widened. She recognized Youngho.


    Youngho tried to smile big and greeted her in Turkish.


    Her eyes welled up with tears, and she thanked him first.


    ¡°Thank you sir, I was not thinking straightst time that I didn¡¯t even get to say thank you. My sister was very sick.¡±


    He only got half of the words she said, but he understood her.


    ¡°My heart was uneasy after leaving you like that, so I asked my friend for help to find you. May Ie in?¡±


    Mustafa quickly interpreted for Youngho.


    ¡°She said the inside is too simple that she feels ufortable.¡±


    The girl stopped him, but Youngho insisted on getting in.


    It was a one-room house with a light bulb hanging in the ceiling. A little skinny girl lying on the bed peeked at Youngho, and a bigger boy who was writing something at his desk looked at him in fear and stepped back to a corner.


    As if they were preparing some food, something mushy was boiling on an old stove. It smelled savory.


    As he looked around the room, Youngho couldn¡¯t help the tears welling up in his eyes. Enduring hardships, the children lived in an awful environment.


    While Youngho did not know what to do with his emotions, Mustafa reasonably took action. After talking about the girl in bed in Turkish, Mustafa suggested on taking her to a hospital.


    ¡°Youngho, the girl in bed has been ill from pneumonia for months. They couldn¡¯t take her to a hospital, so they¡¯ve been treating her only with medicine. The money you gave was only enough to get her medicine and food. Let¡¯s take her to the hospital. I also raise children and I can¡¯t just pass this by.¡±


    ¡°Of course, brother!¡±


    Coming back to his senses at Mustafa¡¯s words, Youngho hurried with Mustafa.


    After finding out that Youngho hade to help her, the girl hurried and dressed her little sister. Although her sister¡¯s condition had improved a little, she was in no position to reject Youngho¡¯s offer when she did not know if her sister¡¯s illness could get worse.


    As if she did not have many valuables, she only took an old leather bag. She locked the door but the door was so frail that a grown man could handle to break in. Locking the door was pointless except that it let people know that no one was home.


    Even in a smallpact car, the space of the back was more than enough to fit the skinny children.


    ***


    Mustafa took them to a private hospital near Taksim Square. After seeing how broken Youngho looked, Mustafa hastily took them to the hospital.


    When Youngho showed a wad of dor bills, the receptionists weingly took them in quickly and treated them well.


    After taking X-ray shots, getting diagnosed, and doing some tests on the child, they couldy her in a bed. The nurses bathed her clean andid her. She is now receiving intravenous fluid.


    The doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia and because her lungs were damaged quite a bit, she needed to stay in the hospital for two months and get treated. He also added that, even after leaving the hospital, she would have to recuperate from somewhere that has clean air for six months in order for her lungs to work normally.


    Youngho paid a month¡¯s fee ahead. It was about $5,000 but it did not matter to him. The child was in a terrible condition that the doctor said if she did note to the hospital, it would have been fatal.


    Leaving the child at the hospital, Youngho took the other siblings to the hotel that he was staying, since it was only ten minutes away from the hospital and the two agreed to stay in the hotel.


    While checking in for another room for the siblings, Youngho noticed the children¡¯s ragged clothes and shoes, which did not seem to go well with the high quality hotel they would stay at. He did not want others to point fingers at them, so he took them to a clothing store and bought new clothes and shoes for them. Not knowing what¡¯s going on, the children just followed around Youngho.


    Her full name was Fatima Aleksandar. She was 18. Youngho realized her age when the siblings wrote their information at the hospital. He was surprised to find out that she was 18 because she was so skinny and small, Youngho had thought she would be 16 at most.


    The siblings were reluctant to take the food in front of them.


    There were only kebab and soup on the table, which wasmon Turkish food, but what appalled the siblings were the shiny tes and silverware on a white table cloth.


    When Youngho started to take soup with a spoon, the boy did the same.


    Fatima, as well, started to eat kebab carefully.


    When Youngho spoke to them in his broken Turkish, the boy who was holding it back finally burst outughing.


    He told Youngho that he was 14 and his name was Szechenyi. The one in the hospital was Zeynep, 11 years old.


    Fatima was also smiling at Youngho¡¯s strange, hard ent. He thought her smile was beautiful as a rose. Even though she was skinny like a stick since she could not eat well, she was still beautiful as she was.


    Fatima and Szechenyi who nned to visit Zeynep in hospital, fell asleep in their room as if they were exhausted by the day. Since Youngho did not hear anything back when knocking on their room, he headed to the hospital by himself. For such a young girl to stay in the hospital alone it seemed to be too dreary. He was going there to let her know that she was not alone.


    When Youngho left the hospital, he tipped the nurse and asked her to stay with Zeynep if possible. Thankfully, the nurse was chatting with Zeynep when he stepped in. Zeynep¡¯sughter was so pure and clear to hear that Youngho felt like it refreshed his soul.


    Noticing him, the nurse smiled. Youngho told her to take rest for now in poor Turkish.


    Zeynep greeted Youngho with a smile. It had been only a day but her breath sounded smoother from getting treated with medicine.


    Youngho held her skinny hand and put the mystical ring that had been on his finger, on her left pinky. The ring was big but it suddenly shrunk to fit her pinky.


    A look of surprise crossed on Zeynep¡¯s face with dry patches.


    Youngho noticed that his physical conditions restored quickly once he put on the ring on his finger, so he gave it to Zeynep wishing her fast recovery.


    When Youngho patted her head few times without saying anything, Zeynep blinked her eyes, smiled and fell into deep sleep.

 Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21: Fatima, the girl from Istanbul (2)</h4>


    In the morning, Youngho woke up to the sound of someone knocking at the door in haste. It was Fatima. Realizing that she had slept through the whole night without visiting her sister in hospital, she was flustered.


    As he opened the door for her, Youngho exined what happenedst night. Fatima smiled brightly and gave him a big hug. He was startled but soon he realized that hugging is amon expression in their culture unlike in Korea.


    While having coffee, Youngho tried his best to exin about the ring that Fatima had sold, using all of the Turkish words he knew. However, Fatima who did not get what he was saying, just stared at Youngho with her eyes blinking. At the moment, Youngho felt like he was mesmerized by Fatima¡¯s deep eyes. Trying to ignore her eyes, he kept on exining.


    Whether Fatima understood him or not, she just weakly nodded. It seemed like she did not care about the ring anyways. She was just curious about Youngho who hade to help her family.


    When he could not convince her about the ring, he took out another ring and asked her to put it on. Fatima unwillingly put the ring on her pinky. The ring did the same thing fromst night at the hospital, and shrunk to her size. Fatima¡¯s face was full of astonishment. When Youngho could notmunicate with her anymore, he hastily left the table. It was also because he did not think that he could handle looking at her eyes anymore now.


    ***


    The sound of Zeynep¡¯sughter echoed in the hall of the hospital. The nurse from yesterday chatted with her, and left when she saw Youngho and the siblingsing.


    Fatima quietly shed tears when she saw her sister who had improved dramatically overnight. Youngho could hear her weeping sound. She was sorry that she could not visit herst night. Szechenyi also cried next to her.


    Youngho left the room to give some time for the siblings. When he took out a cigarette to smoke in front of the hospital, Mustafa¡¯s car stopped in front of him.


    ¡°Hey Youngho, how¡¯s the child?¡±


    ¡°She is doing a lot better even though it¡¯s been only a night. It¡¯s all because of your help.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop that. It¡¯s because you searched for the girl. I¡¯m d that we were able to save a life.¡±


    With a satisfied look on his face, Mustafa left Youngho, saying that he had ns for the day.


    In the afternoon, Youngho signed a one-year leasing agreement for an apartment room that was close to the hospital. It was for Fatima and her brother to stay, and also for him who visited them often. Youngho could not stand the environment that they lived in in Bt. The ce must have been intoxicating for the children.


    Youngho told Fatima that he was a businessman who often visited Istanbul and the ce is for him to stay during his business trips. He lied that he needed someone to take care of his ce when he was gone, and asked her to stay there.


    She seemed like she was aware of his intention, and hearing that Youngho would visit often, she agreed happily.


    They stayed two more days at the hotel. After picking up the siblings¡¯ belongings from their ce in Bt, they moved in to the new apartment. The apartment was furnished but they needed to buy daily necessities to move in. Youngho and Fatima busily went to market and bought items they needed. Fatima seemed to have befortable around Youngho. Not rejecting his favor, she even picked up some stuff for herself.


    Before heading to Baku, Youngho made a bank ount under Fatima¡¯s name and put $20,000 in there for the living cost and hospital payments. When receiving the bank ount and credit card after signing her name in the bank, Fatima did not know what to do for she never had her own ount before.


    ***


    Even though Youngho returned to Bakuter than expected, his employees managed to run the stores in good condition.


    Baku¡¯s officials actively helped Youngho who had just been to Istanbul to buy seedlings and equipment immediately after he signed the farm contract with the government.


    It was easy to find people to hire since it was a trustworthy business that the government was encouraging. People wanted to get hired because the word had spread that Chunho Merchant paid their employees well.


    Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs stopped by his farming site every day asking if Youngho needed any support. Officially, Kamal was the one who sessfully induced a foreign investment in this business, so he had high hopes for Youngho.


    As for the government, it was a pilot case to receive foreign investment for farming. Because the statend was almost a wastend for it was on the hillside, they weed foreign investment on thosends.


    Youngho asked Edward for help.


    Youngho could manage 500 acres ofnd but he wanted to invest in morend to establish better rtionship with the Azerbaijan government and to be able to raise his voice. He asked if he can use CIA¡¯s budget.


    ¡°Hmmm. It¡¯s unprecedented.¡± said Edward and continued.


    ¡°But. There¡¯s another way. We can use the information expense to use it for your investment. However, only a regr agent can use such amount of money.¡±


    Edward was saying that only regr agent, which Youngho was not because he was a temporary agent, could spend more than a million dor as an information expense. Edward then started to convince Youngho to apply for a regr agent, encouraging him that he could manage to handle second-ss secrets by now.


    Youngho thought for a second.


    Well, it doesn¡¯t matter what kind of agent I am, my job will be still the same.


    Youngho agreed to Edward without thinking too much. Edward congratted him, saying that Youngho would need to receive further education for information security.


    Youngho doubted for a second if all this was nned by Edward all along, but what could he do now? It was no use to doubt Edward.


    After a few days, Youngho received a million dor in his ount.


    Youngho immediately took action.


    He sent a message to Kamal asking if he could invest in the development of another 500 acres of statend.


    Kamal returned to him with an exclusive government¡¯s offer greater than the one before. He said, if Youngho invest in the development of 1000 acres of statend in sum, the government would lent it to him free for three years under the condition that Youngho would buy thend at a price of $700 per each acre, and they would not charge the property tax for five years. The government encouraged the development of their hillynd since more than 60% of their territory was either mountainous or hilly.


    Youngho prepared the buyer¡¯s documents with deliberation through an internationalw firm in Turkey. Azerbaijan limited foreigners¡¯nd ownership. Youngho had to make a perfect document, so that the government would transfer the ownership of thend without any trouble after the leasing period ended.


    Youngho needed to go back to Istanbul to buy more grape nts, he was running out of them already. Now that he was developing double the size of the farnd than he had nned, he needed more nts.


    ***


    Youngho came back to Istanbul airport only after a month. Mustafa was greeting him with a weird look.


    ¡°Brother, You could have stayed in your store but you are ring at me like ¡®Gah-jah-mi*¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What? ¡®Gah-jah-mi¡¯?¡±


    ¡°You should learn Korean. Look at me, I study Turkish like eating everyday meals.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. That didn¡¯t sound good but didn¡¯t sound bad either. I will get back to thatter.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s hard to talk to a smart person.¡±


    Mustafa smiled at Youngho¡¯spliment.


    ¡°Brother, how are the siblings? Fatima now has a cellphone but it¡¯s no use, I can¡¯t even talk to her.¡±


    ¡°I visit them almost every day. Don¡¯t worry about them¡±


    ¡°Thank you brother. I¡¯m d I have a good friend in Istanbul.¡±


    Mustafa had that weird look again.


    ¡°I already made an order for grape nts, so you don¡¯t need to worry about it, and the equipment, we can just make a call...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for you toe here, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Mustafa seemed to be asking what Youngho was up to.


    ¡°Brother, I came to pay the agency fee as a buyer.¡±


    Mustafa had been rejecting Youngho¡¯s payment. He even got upset when Youngho gave him money once. However, Mustafa was d to hear that from Youngho, now that his carpet business was not doing so well because of the rough economy, Youngho¡¯s money was like a rain in a drought.

 Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22: Fatima, the girl from Istanbul (3)</h4>


    Mustafa was thankful for Youngho who not only worked for his country but also tried to take care of Mustafa¡¯s financial difficulties. Mustafa had been feeling guilty for not being able to help his own country as much as he thought he should be, but since he started helping Youngho¡¯s work, he felt rewarded as he was indirectly helping his own country. Youngho was his tie that enabled him to give back to his country.


    ¡°Lee, don¡¯t be surprised. Fatima is growing so much.¡±


    ¡°Brother, don¡¯t try to mock me. She can¡¯t be growing so much anymore, she¡¯s 18.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see. It¡¯s a mystery to me too. Every time I see her, she looks changed. Well, maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s eating and sleeping well now but all three of them are growing too fast. It¡¯s like they arepensating for their past time when they couldn¡¯t eat well.¡±


    ¡°Phew, you are exaggerating just like Jongil.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, him. How¡¯s he doing?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s almost killing the militants.¡±


    ¡°Killing?¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s training them for hardcore. There might be a real war soon, so we¡¯re all preparing for the worst.¡±


    Mustafa who had been silent for a while suddenly spoke decisively.


    ¡°The Armenian merchandisers in Grand Bazaar made a secret pact. We are sending money to Armenia altogether.¡±


    Youngho was stunned to hear that. He thought that merchandisers¡¯ ill-patriotism for their country would cause a bigger trouble to people around them.


    ¡°Brother, you should stop them. Helping Armenia from Turkey will make a bigger dispute. When Turkish secret police or extreme rightists find about the pact, you can¡¯t even live here.¡±


    Mustafa just quietly listened to Youngho. He did not seem to understand what Youngho was worried about.


    ¡°I got you, we will be extra careful.¡±


    ¡°No. You need to cancel the pact.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Brother, are you prepared for torture? They would do anything to stop your pact and find about your group.¡±


    Since Youngho was dead serious, Mustafa did not say anything.


    ¡°That¡¯s why some high secret agents have suicide capsules stuck in their back teeth. If they can¡¯t endure anymore torture when caught, they would choose to die rather than giving out information.¡±


    Mustafa now seemed to be getting scared. Youngho continued.


    ¡°You might get the Fatima siblings are in danger too.¡±


    After a short silence, Mustafa opened his mouth.


    ¡°Is just sending money dangerous?¡±


    ¡°If you want to do it, send it to an American organization instead. Don¡¯t let the merchandisers mention ¡®secret pact¡¯ in their mouth ever.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I got you. Phew, if you are this serious, I guess we were being reckless.¡±


    ¡°Brother, did you tell about me too?¡±


    ¡°No, I shouldn¡¯t expose an information agent.¡±


    Youngho stopped there after warning him enough. He was relieved that he was able to stop Mustafa before anything happens.


    ***


    After Mustafa left him at his apartment where Fatima and her siblings lived, Youngho smiled with a cigarette in his mouth as he looked up to the building. He could not wait to meet them again.


    A minuteter, he pushed the bell for the apartment room.


    Someone checked to see who it was through the little lens at the door. Then the door opened wide and the three of the siblings jumped to Youngho.


    They screamed with joy and surprise.


    It seemed that they had been waiting for him toe back.


    Youngho hugged each of them in joy.


    After all the fuss went away, he looked each of them carefully. He was amazed by how much they have changed.


    Fatima grew at least 2 inches more. Looking like other girls of her age now, she shined. Zeynep turned into a cute little girl that Youngho almost wanted to pinch her cheek. Lastly, Szechenyi gained much weight and looked like a healthy boy now.


    While he was gone, the siblings had been studying with a tutor introduced by Mustafa. They were not educated since they could not afford to go to school before. Their dad passed away three years ago and their mom also followed her husband due to illness six months after. They were at the verge of life when they met Youngho.


    On the day when Youngho met Fatima at the flea market, Fatima had no money to spare for food, let alone the cost of medicine for her sister. Even though her parents had said that the relics of the family should never be out in the world, Fatima forgot about it and sold it to Youngho.


    Zeynep recovered fully after being hospitalized only for a month. The doctors were surprised and said that she was a mystery. Youngho was not surprised to see her at home since he received the message from Baku, but the thing that made him drop his jaw was their physical changes. Youngho still could not believe that they changed so much.


    He believed that the drastic changes in their bodies, was the effect of rings they had on. This time, Youngho brought another ring for Szechenyi too. On one side of his mind, he wanted to keep the mystical rings all for himself but the rings were the siblings¡¯ family relics. It was the right thing to give them back to them. Youngho decided the was d that he got to keep one for himself.


    He wanted to share the secret of the leather shoes too but he was not sure if they were ready hear that. He would find out about the mystical relics of their family once he talked to them.


    Youngho thought that it must not be an ident that the secrets of the relics were revealed by him who was an outsider. Mystical items that were likely to exist in fantasy novels were in his hands. He thought, maybe the relics found him to protect the descendants of their maker¡¯s family from near danger, or maybe he was just being delusional.


    ***


    The next morning, Youngho got up from his bed to the savory smell of a meal.


    Fatima greeted him with a smile.


    ¡°Sir, I have your breakfast ready.¡±


    Fatima spoke slowly, in case Youngho did not understand her, even though it was easy for Youngho who had been intensely studying Turkish for the past month in Baku.


    ¡°Fatima, calling me ¡®sir¡¯ feels awkward. How about calling me ¡®oppa¡¯? Korean girls call me that.¡±


    After repeating ¡®oppa¡¯ for several times, she could easily say the word. Even Szechenyi tried to call Youngho ¡®oppa¡¯, so Youngho taught him only girls use ¡®oppa¡¯ and boys say ¡®hyung¡¯ to an older menn around their age.


    The four of them had breakfast together like a warm family.


    Youngho took the siblings to the Cevahir shopping mall after the meal. The apartment that they lived in was near Taksim Square, a city downtown with many shopping stores and restaurants were nearby. Even though the siblings could use Youngho¡¯s money in the bank ount, they did not spend any except for the basic necessities. Youngho wanted to buy extra things for them.


    As if it was their first timeing to a department store, they were hesitant to step into the entrance. Youngho took them in to clothing corner. Because of their drastic physical change, all of the clothes they had looked shrunk. Youngho bought lots of clothes and shoes for them.


    Next stop was a beauty salon to fix their hair.


    With new hair and clothes that actually fit them, they almost dazzled. Youngho scrutinized their faces now. The siblings did not have traditional Turkish features on their faces. With brown hair and bluish eyes, their look was closer to Northern Europeans¡¯.


    Although they looked at themselves awkwardly in the mirror, they seemed to have more confidence in their look now. They enjoyed walking around holding hands together on the street.


    ***


    When Youngho was walking back to the department store holding Zeynep¡¯s hand, helooked around to the sound of someone calling ¡®oppa.¡¯ Wondering if there was any Korean girl around him, he kept on looking. Then the voice called ¡®oppa¡¯ again.


    It was Fatima calling Youngho. Her pronunciation was so natural, he thought it was a Korean girl. As if it was fun to tease Youngho, sheughed loudly. Youngho pondered at her smile. She was as beautiful as a rose.


    She had called him because Youngho and Zeynep were going too fast. Fatima reminded him of his little sister Yunsuh in Korea.


    Not knowing what Youngho felt, Fatima took his hand to stay together in the crowd but Youngho was thrilled by her action. ¡®Family¡¯ was what came to his mind.


    At their second visit to the department store, Fatima picked up some cosmetics that girls around her age liked, with a little help from a sales clerk. Zeynep picked up dainty essories while Szechenyi was into game machines in the electronics department. Youngho bought bunch of stuff that they wanted. Their blushed faces when they got what they wanted made Youngho happy.

 Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23: Another Family (1)</h4>


    Youngho was at a used car dealer shop.


    Now that he regrly visited Istanbul for his business, it was ufortable not having a car. If he had a car in here, he could use it to drive the siblings to school and eventually teach Fatima how to drive.


    With Mustafa¡¯s help, he bought a year old smallpact car from European L brand.


    Youngho enrolled Fatima in a driving school first. In Istanbul, you could take written and driving tests afterpleting a five-week school program. He also wanted to take the siblings back to school. Fatima had dropped out of school when she was a sophomore in high school. Szechenyi was in 7th grade and Zeynep was in 3rd grade when they stopped going to school.


    Youngho registered them in an American school in Istanbul called, George Marshall and while waiting to go to school, he hired a tutor for them to study English. Even though the siblings were not qualified to be enrolled in that school, Youngho could register them with the help of Edward the CIA agent.


    After sending all the grape nts and farm equipments to Baku, Youngho dyed his stay to spend more time with the siblings. Gerhardt, his secretary, and the other officials in Baku would take care of the shipment for him.


    The siblings got excited since Youngho was with them. They always nagged him to go out for a drive when Fatima came back from the driving school. They enjoyed the car ride which they could not afford since they were raised from a poor family.


    Thankfully, he was able to drive aroundplex roads of Istanbul with the help from a GPS and Fatima¡¯s coach. The siblings became more brighter daily as they started to forget about the horrible past memories in the slum area.


    Especially Zeynep who liked to follow around Youngho like a real big brother. She was a hugefort to Youngho who was getting burned out from living far away from his homnd.


    Youngho was not sure if it was one of the effects of the rings or if it¡¯s because of the siblings were smart, but the siblings learned English extremely quickly. Zeynep, the youngest one, was the brightest among the three. She spoke English at 7-8 year-olds¡¯ level and could have conversations with Youngho. She surprised him when she even learned some Korean words.


    Youngho was getting ready to go back to Baku for he could not leave his stores for too long.


    Zeynep who did not want to say goodbye started crying. The siblings who had the best days of their lives with Youngho, loved to be with him.


    When their parents were alive, even though they were happy, they were extremely poor. They could not fully enjoy close rtionship as a family since they were busy to get by each day. Now when Youngho, who gave and gave freely to them, said he was leaving, they were scared that they might lose him.


    ¡°Oppa, can¡¯t we just live together?¡±


    Zeynep asked with tears. When she hugged him like she would never be able to see him again, Youngho almost cried.


    These children now trust me and rely on me, thought Youngho.


    Youngho, who was searching for ways to treat them better, could leave after convincing her that he will take her to Baku next time.


    ***


    Karajan did an amazing job as a manager of direct stores while Youngho was gone. Gerhardt also had been doing well in the farm development site ever since Youngho told him that he will assign him as a director of the farm development business.


    However, the problem was the officials sent by the government as an encouragement of the farm development business. Even though they were here to help, they were still officials, not his employees. Youngho treated them every night with dinners and drinks. He was exhausted.


    When treating them, he tried his best to maintain close rtionship. As a way to thank their hard work, he showered them with nice gifts like porcin goods and clothes that their wives would like. Because of Youngho¡¯s efforts, they started to treat him like a friend rather than a foreign investor.


    ***


    Youngho left to Nagorno-Karabakh after spending ten days in Baku. He needed to see his friends and also had a meeting with Edward. Because the CIA had made him a fake passport as a US diplomat, Youngho was able to go in and out of the two countries without any trouble.


    ¡°Lee Youngho, I almost forgot your name. What¡¯s making you so busy these days?¡±


    ¡°You know, I need to make money to feed you all.¡±


    ¡°Oh you are? Then I forgive you. I have no shame, buy us drinks tonight!¡±


    Park Jongil brightened the mood.


    ¡°No doubt man. Should we go downtown or should we unpack my bag?¡±


    Jongil knew what Youngho was talking about.


    ¡°Did you bring raki, Youngho?¡±


    ¡°Yeah my man. I knew you would be missing this since Istanbul.¡±


    As Youngho took out bottles of raki, his friends all gathered with excitement.


    ¡°Do you have any frozen fish fillets? If you do, we¡¯ve got to grill it. Raki goes well with grilled fish.¡±


    Then Park Jongil suddenly shouted as Cha Insoo opened the bottle and poured the drink in a cup.


    ¡°Dude! You need to dilute it with water. That¡¯s 52% alcohol.¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m stronger than you. I can handle this much alcohol.¡±


    They had an alcohol party that day. They drank 10 bottles of raki with five people. It was about 750ml* for each person. They carelessly got drunk because the next day was a Sunday, on which they did not have to work. They went to sleep after singing together on the karaoke machine that they ordered from Korea.


    In the morning, the gang started to wake up one by one drawn by the smell of ramen that Youngho was cooking in the kitchen. They gathered and ate it with kimchi to soothe their stomach from the hangover.


    ¡°Youngho, we decided to be raki lovers now,¡± said Cho Chulhwan, who still looked a little drunk.


    ¡°This alcohol, it¡¯s expensive dude. It¡¯s more than 30,000 won. Just stick to wine or cognac.¡±


    When Youngho madeints, Chulhwan cut him off.


    ¡°Man, I haven¡¯t felt like this in a long time. This is a great alcohol. Imand you to deliver 20 bottles of raki each time you visit here. You wouldn¡¯t disobey the general of training¡¯smand, Lee sailor?¡±


    ¡°I barely brought ten bottles because they were heavy, but now 20?¡±


    ¡°I will alter mymand. You can bring 10 bottles, got it?¡±


    The gang was cluttered from the effect of the hangover from the day before.


    Even though the job of drill instructor was not easy, Youngho¡¯s friends still kept their atmosphere upbeat looking on the bright side. Because they wererades who trained together from Korea, they had special bond with each other. Now that they worked and lived in a foreign country together, they were even closer. Looking at his friends all treating each other like brothers, Youngho¡¯s heart was heavy. He was worried about them getting pulled into a possible local battle in near future.


    In the next day afternoon, Youngho met Edward in his small branch office in Stepanakert.


    ¡°Lee, we need to buy morebat ration, backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, and other extra items. We need to prepare step by step now in order to get ready for the possible situation in a year.¡±


    Surprised, Youngho cautiously asked, ¡°How many quantities do you want to order?¡±


    ¡°10,000 for each personal gears andbat ration for 100,000 portions.¡±


    ¡°And the price would be the same as the first order?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Your products were proven to be excellent with good pricing.¡±


    ¡°Combat ration is something I can order as an agent but the mountain climbing equipment, I should order it through Chunho Merchant. There will be some extra fees.¡±


    ¡°Lee, this is an official purchase. Of course Chunho Merchant should get paid for their part.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make an order for the mountain climbing gears right away. As for thebat ration, I will split the order and deliver them in three parts to be safe. So, should I ship them to Poti Sea Port?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, please go ahead and do that for us. I¡¯m careless because I have you. You make it so easy for us to buy mass equipment.¡±


    ¡°Ed, I¡¯m proud that I can be of help for keeping the peace.¡±


    Putting up his thumb, Edward smiled at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°You are the most amazing guy I¡¯ve ever met.¡±


    Edward¡¯s remark was toward Youngho, who was helping the poor siblings in Istanbul because he asked his help about the siblings¡¯ school enrollment. Edward was impressed by Youngho¡¯s selfless heart.


    Thinking he should learn to say cool things like Edward, Youngho was ttered by hispliment.


    Somehow Youngho received a big order again. He was eager to tell this to his friend and sister in Seoul headquarters.


    *750ml- about 25 ounces

 Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24: Another Family (2)</h4>


    ¡°It¡¯s me. Were you asleep?¡±


    ¡°Youngho, what time is it there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s at midnight. What?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯ve got to consider the time difference...¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s voice decreased. He just figured that he had done the same to Youngho before.


    ¡°Yeah, are you realizing that now? You¡¯ve done this to me all along.¡±


    ¡°Sorry man. If I knew you were a narrow-minded dude, I shouldn¡¯t have done that to you.¡±


    ¡°Shut up dude. It¡¯s only 6 AM in Seoul. You should get up by now.¡±


    ¡°No! It¡¯s 5 AM. You are on daylight savings. I couldn¡¯t sleepst night because the baby kept crying, you single!¡±


    ¡°Is the baby sick?¡±


    ¡°No, all babies are like this. What¡¯s up anyways?¡±


    Sangchun sounded worried and Youngho was d to have someone who cared for him.


    ¡°Sangchun. I¡¯ve been stopping myself to call you and I couldn¡¯t help anymore. I need 10,000 sets and there will be a LC opened from Deutsche Bank.¡±


    ¡°Wait, What sets? ... oh! You mean backpack, sleeping bag, and tent?


    ¡°Yep. The price is the same as before. You¡¯ve got to do it fast. Call Bpany right away and tell them to operate their full production line.¡±


    ¡°Oh man! My sleep is gone. Hold on Yunsuh wants to talk.¡±


    ¡°No, no! She will give me an earful again!¡±


    ¡°What earful?!¡±


    He could hear Yunsuh¡¯s voice. Youngho was d to hear his little sister¡¯s spiteful voice.


    ¡°Hey, my Yunsuh. You must be busy taking care of your baby and thepany work.¡±


    ¡°Oppa. Why would you hang up the phone? I don¡¯t always talk like that.¡±


    ¡°Okay okay, you should get back to sleep. You¡¯re cracking. Sleep tight and let Sangchun do all the work.¡±


    ¡°What kind of order is it that Sangchun got that excited?¡±


    ¡°Mountain climbing equipment, 4.5 billion won worth of order. It¡¯s 10,000 sets like thest time, and that¡¯s why Sangchun must be acting like that. He¡¯s crazy over money.¡±


    ¡°What! Really oppa?! That¡¯s going to make us profit of more than 100 million won¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You guys can roll and party in the money. I¡¯m going rot alone here.¡±


    ¡°Aww, oppa, what¡¯s up? I sent you enough kimchi. Let me know if you need anything. You know my mother-inw is a great cook.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I do. I don¡¯t have kimchi anymore, my friends ate them all. Send me instant rice and some side dishes.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll send a lot of them. Take care of yourself.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you too. Don¡¯t overwork.¡±


    ¡°Alright, oppa.¡±


    Youngho always felt empty after talking to Yunsuh. Maybe it was because he was homesick. Yunsuh was the only family left in the world, so he cared for her to a great deal.


    ***


    Youngho was now in Eti the foodpany¡¯s conference room in Istanbul to meet Mehmet, the head of the sales department. Mustafa, who came as an agency representative, was with him as well.


    It took 25 days toe back to Istanbul.


    ¡°Wow, Mr. Lee. Are you saying that you¡¯ve already sold all of our products?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re not asking about my secret for sales?¡± Youngho squinted his eyes as he spoke.


    ¡°No no no. Ourpany doesn¡¯t even keep trading records forbat rations, since it is in the sensitive area.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m not asking for that kind of secrecy. I just need 10,000 packages this time. Since it¡¯s inconvenient to deliver them at once, I¡¯d like to split them in three shipments. You can produce them ahead and send me separately.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Since you are ordering arge quantity, I can give you some discounts. How about $7.7 for each package? This is a very good price.¡±


    Mehmet called the price considering that Youngho would try to bargain with him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do $7.5 but if you pay my agency well, I will consider paying what you suggested in our next business.¡±


    ¡°Deal. I can allow the price of $7.5 at the discretion of the head of the sales department. Don¡¯t worry about the payment for agency. I raised sales rate because of Mustafa.¡±


    Satisfied with signing the deal, Mustafa and Youngho had lunch together and sat at a caf¨¦ to drink Turkish traditional tea.


    ¡°Youngho, I¡¯ve got to follow you around instead of selling carpets. I¡¯ll make more money from that.¡±


    ¡°Haha, brother. You¡¯ll have other chances to earn more money.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, hopefully I can help out my country more. I just hope that it¡¯s not for the battlefield though.¡±


    Mustafa was worried about the war.


    Youngho suddenly changed the subject.


    ¡°Brother. How are the siblings doing? I talk to them every day on the phone but I was curious since I couldn¡¯t see them.¡±


    ¡°Well, they are literally growing leaps and bounds. You¡¯ll see it for yourself soon.¡±


    Mustafa¡¯s words made Youngho even more curious. He could not wait to see them. His heart was already at the apartment near Taksim Square where the siblings lived.


    ***


    As soon as Youngho rang the bell, the three siblings opened the door and jumped at Youngho. What Mustafa said about the siblings was true, they have grown in 25 days. Fatima got an inch taller and looked like a woman now, Zeynep was as tall as girls of her age, and Szechenyi looked older than his age.


    The siblings¡¯ physical conditions were so awful that they needed to be nurtured well at least six months to get to normal, but they got perfectly healthy after only two months. It was all because of the mystical rings¡¯ healing power. They were evenining that their clothes do not fit anymore. They were somewhat embarrassed to be growing so fast.


    Youngho sat down with them and exined everything he knew about the rings. When they checked the color of the rocks on their rings, they all seemed changed. Fatima and Zeynep¡¯s were greenish and Youngho and Szechenyi¡¯s were almost ck. Zeynep kept taking off the ring and putting it back on as if the ring¡¯s magically changing size was interesting. Youngho told her not to take it off since she could get sick again.


    It was a week ago when Fatima passed the driver¡¯s test. She needed to get a license to drive to school with her siblings. Youngho and the siblings went out for driving with Fatima. There were some scary moments when nervous Fatima almost hit other cars on the road, but she was getting used to driving. She drove better the next day and her fear of driving was gone.


    Youngho took Fatima to a club as a reward for her passing the driving test. She had never been out to night streets for fun. After watching people drink and have fun together, she was in shock.


    ¡°Oppa, I didn¡¯t know people have fun like that. Why do they do that?¡±


    ¡°Well, peoplee out to enjoy because they are stressed. I don¡¯t really like the nightclubs but I just wanted to show you new things.¡±


    Fatima seemed still in shock. She looked like a grown-up but she was still tender inside.


    Looking at Fatima, Youngho was worried on how could an innocent girl like her survive in the harsh world.


    Youngho was rted to them through the mystical rings, and now they were now a big part of his life. It seemed like the siblings relied on him but he also started to rely on them. In fact, living as a foreigner far away from his hometown, he feltfort from the siblings. Fatima and her siblings were now a family to him.


    ***


    Gerhardt in Baku called urgently.


    He said that there was an ident at the farm construction site and five people were injured. Officials at the site tried to resolve the issue but the incident had attracted various media and they were stirring the public opinion into a weird direction.


    Youngho had to go back to Baku immediately. It was only two hours away by ne, so he told the siblings that he will be back soon. However, Zeynep started crying since she was counting on the promise Youngho had madest time that he would take her to Baku on his next visit. She had already made a passport waiting for his next arrival.


    Youngho could not leave Zeynep alone, so he decided to take all of the siblings with him. After a while, they were now on an airne. Because economy seats were all taken, he bought business seats for all of them. The siblings had never been on the ne, let alone sitting the business seats. And same with Youngho, business seat was a new experience. He was trying to figure out how to control the chair. Excited to fly for the first time, the two younger ones were fighting to sit closer to the window to look outside.


    Knowing something bad happened to Youngho¡¯s business, Fatima worried about him. She was sorry that he had to bring them because of Zeynep¡¯s nagging.


    ¡°Oppa, I¡¯m sorry for Zeynep.¡±


    She was not very fluent in English yet, but it was good enough to understand.


    ¡°Fatima, we are a family now. We met because of the rings but I think it was a destiny. No need to feel bad. I¡¯m your big brother, ¡®oppa¡¯.¡±


    Even though he had to exin this using Turkish, bodynguage, and English, she seemed to understand him and looked relieved after the conversation.

 Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25: Another Family (3)</h4>


    Zeynep¡¯s legs were shaking at the immigration office. She realized that she was now in a foreign country, and she got worse after seeing a few people being escorted to interrogation room by policemen.


    When Youngho showed his passport to the interviewer, he changed his attitude and treated him politely, saying why he was in the line formon travellers. When he tried to take them to a separate room, Zeynep tried to exin things in English nervously. She thought that he was taking them to be interrogated and even started to breathe heavily from nervousness.


    Youngho and the interviewer had to convince her with a candy. The party was escorted to a reception room. Because of Youngho¡¯s diplomat¡¯s status, they were treated as VIPs. Even though Azerbaijan was a country that had a strict entry process, they were easily passed by the immigration officers.


    When Zeynep¡¯s condition got better, they went to Gerhardt who was waiting for them.


    ¡°Boss, did something happen? You took long toe out, I even called the director to ask for help.¡±


    ¡°It was no big deal. My young guests are tired from the trip, can we go to their lodging right away?¡±


    ¡°Yes siree, boss!¡±


    Because she has been learning English, Fatima understood most of their conversations. After seeing how the airport staff and Gerhardt treated Youngho, her curiosity about him grew more because she did not know a lot about Youngho, she had thought that he was a just a small businessman who owned one or two stores.


    ***


    Youngho got extremely busy the next day, and he asked Karajan to look out for the siblings while he took care of his business. The first thing he did was visit the hospital where the injured employees were hospitalized. He apologized to the employees and their families and gave them money forpensation. He also visited the site of the ident and had a conference with constructionpany staffs to talk about responsibilities and countermeasures.


    The ident happened because the safety railing copsed when workers were working on the rooftop of a grape storage unit. The constructionpany had full responsibility for the ident but the public opinion was going bad about this issue. The press was bashing on the government giving privileges to foreign investors.


    If Youngho could not resolve this, he would be in a situation where the money he invested was going to be wasted due to public criticism. Youngho asked the director of Main Police Department for an advice but nothing special came to their minds. They had to act carefully because they did not know how the public opinion would react, especially as an official, the director had a lot of limitations to his actions while trying to spare himself. Everything seemed to be going wrong for Youngho.


    ¡°Boss. It looks like the constructionpany turned their back against us. They shifted the responsibility about the ident to us. They must be behind all this.¡±


    ¡°Did you find something weird, Gerhardt?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s just normal to talk about safety issues after the ident at the construction site, but none of the press is mentioning that. They only focus on privilege of foreign investors, which is pointless. It was a wastnd anyways and now it is being developed by a foreign investor. It¡¯s an absolute plus to the government and employees. I don¡¯t get why they are bashing on you.¡±


    Gerhardt¡¯s remark was reasonable. By developing a wastnd, Youngho was making employment opportunity and he would be attracting foreign currency from exporting grapes. The grape produced from the region was considered sweet due to its weather that had great daily temperature ranges, so the grape prices were high.


    Youngho suddenly had an idea, using the public opinion to ovee the impasse, he asked Gerhardt to contact the most popr newspaperpany and arrange a meeting with a staff from the advertisement department. The staff from the newspaper¡¯s advertising department visited Youngho immediately for they were curious about his business and rted issues.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I am Hardy, the director of advertisement department of AzerNews.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you woulde directly, Mr. Hardy.¡±


    ¡°I have been following about you. Baku is big but a small ce at the same time. Because you made a call directly without going through an agency, I wanted to see you.¡±


    From then on, Youngho exined about the ident for the next hour. Hardy made a phone call after listening to him. After a while, a journalist and photographer came to Youngho¡¯s office, they took pictures of the blueprint of the development site and interviewed him to talk about details of the business. When they were done, they left the office leaving Youngho and Hardy alone.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. How about putting up an advertisement of your farm project at the bottle of our newspaper¡¯s first page? We can help your situation. We¡¯ll write an honest article about your situation. I thought running an article on the newspaper was the best way to help you since you are trying to develop ourgging agriculture.¡±


    On the next day, an article favorable to Youngho¡¯s business was put on AzerNews¡¯ economy section with an edited image of his farm. On the day after that, an article about how constructionpanies¡¯ faulty work was harming national interests was put on with another article that reported his visit to the hospital tofort his injured employees. Because two articles telling about Youngho ran on AzerNews for two days in a row, many journalists from other newspaperpanies visited him for an interview. Youngho thought it was an opportunity for him to turn around the public opinion. He made interviews his priority leaving his business work behind.


    Simr articles were on major newspapers the next few days, which wrote about how developing agriculture would make them a rich country that does not have to rely on oil production profit. Many public readers agreed to the opinions of the convincing articles and some officials were interviewed to add on to Youngho¡¯s opinion. Now the public opinion about foreign investor¡¯s privilege was nowhere to be found.


    Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was praised as an official who came up with an effective method to use a wastnd. When the public opinion turned to his favor, Kamal treated Youngho for dinner.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You¡¯ve drawn the public opinion to our favor even though we couldn¡¯t actively help you. I should thank you.¡±


    ¡°Kamal, the public moved themselves. It was hard. I thought my money was going down in the drain when I paid almost a million dor.¡±


    Even though the constructionpany¡¯s fault was obvious and Kamal seemed to know about it, Youngho saved his words.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I know that the constructionpany made some mistakes, but you should keep it as if nothing had happened. Thepany has many connections with high officials, I¡¯m afraid if you get rid of them from the construction, you might get disadvantaged. I wanted to see you to tell you this.¡±


    ¡°I get what you are worried about. I don¡¯t want to make enemies because of the construction


    worth of $100,000 only,¡± Saying this, Youngho was thinking otherwise. He would not let them go easily. They tried to ruin him for their own sake. If the public opinion had not turned to Youngho¡¯s favor, his business would have been dead.


    ***


    Youngho could not focus on Fatima and the siblings because he had been busy trying to turn back the public opinion. Hearing that Youngho took care of the problem well from Karajan, the siblings were carelessly enjoying their visit in Baku. They sometimes helped out with the sales staff at Youngho¡¯s stores and they visited popr ces of Baku.


    They drove Youngho¡¯s Benz car around the city, he did not need a Benz but because he needed to look good as a foreign investor for his business, he had bought a used Benz, and now the siblings were enjoying it.


    It was a miracle that Youngho could make it this much after a year in Baku. It all started from being misunderstood as a spy and now he became a foreign investor who runs arge-scale farm. Even though there had been moments where he seemed to be in danger, Youngho kept encouraging himself.


    He had made it this far despite many hardships but the constructionpany tried to shake him to conceal their fault. He could not let them pass like this without any consequences. He calmed his mind and tried to find a way to get even with them.

 Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26: Country of Fire, Azerbaijan (1)</h4>


    Youngho smiled as he watched Gerhardt humming to himself as he drove. Gerhardt finally looked relieved after the public opinion turned to their favor.


    ¡°Gerhardt, what¡¯s making you so happy?¡±


    Even though Gerhardt was facing forward, Youngho could guess how his face looked like.


    ¡°Boss, you know how I was going to be the director of the farm development and the n had to stop because of the public criticism, but now you turned around the public opinion, so why wouldn¡¯t I be happy? I get to be the director again.¡±


    ¡°You know, this might not be over yet, public opinions are like waves in the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Boss, there¡¯s no one who¡¯d stop us now.¡±


    Gerhardt felt like dancing because the image of Chunho Merchant had gotten better ever since the farm ident.


    ¡°I know most of Azerbaijani people are innocent, but I just can¡¯t trust entrepreneurs of Baku.¡±


    ¡°I am disappointed too. Rich people with great businesses can¡¯t just leave you alone, I¡¯m sorry boss.¡±


    Gerhardt was bitter in the heart since Azerbaijanis like himself continuously disturbed Youngho¡¯s business exhausting every means even if it¡¯s terror and trickery.


    ¡°The director told me to take good care of you. He pressured me and Karajan to tell about you and your business for information. We felt a little ufortable, and I told him not to call again. He¡¯s the same as other businessmen in Baku.¡±


    Youngho had been waiting for Gerhardt to tell him about the director.


    He knew that a tender and simple person like Gerhardt would admit to him. Gerhardt was a loyal person who would not betray him, who generously gave and treated him well. Youngho considered Gerhardt and Karajan¡¯s personalities when hiring them, and it was finally paying off.


    Hiding what was on his mind, Youngho opened his mouth.


    ¡°The director¡¯s position must have made him doubt people especially foreigners. I don¡¯t mind it that much.¡±


    ¡°Nobody would like it if they were being watched or spied on. Karajan also told him that she won¡¯t see him again if he acts like that again.¡±


    Knowing about Karajan¡¯s personality, Youngho could imagine her being spiteful. From now on, she would not even eat with the director, her cousin, he thought.


    ¡°Well, once I start trusting someone, I will trust him until the end. I knew you and Karajan would reject to answer the director if he asked ufortable questions.¡±


    Gerhardt¡¯s face looked as if he was touched by Youngho¡¯s words. He was a simple guy anyway.


    Fatima who was sitting in the back seat with her little siblings, only understood half of their conversation because they talked in English. She knew that Youngho had to deal with some troubles recently, but now that everything seemed to calm down, the siblings were on their way to visit the farm for the first time.


    Fatima was sorry for bother Youngho because Zeynep stubbornly asked to take her to the farm. She wanted to help on Youngho¡¯s work too but it was beyond her ability, she did not even speak English well. Youngho never expressed any difort to their presence, so Fatima was thankful and sorry at the same time.


    The farm¡¯s management offices were already built and now the workers were working on the grape storage, where the ident urred. The constructionpany had exined that they were working under pressure in order to finish it before the winter. However, the actual reason was thepany¡¯s safety frigidity.


    Even though Youngho had bought 400,000 grape nts in total, the workers already finished nting all of them with the help of the government¡¯s support. Now they were working on setting up the fencing, because the size of the farm site was more than 42 million sq. ft., it was a formidable task to do. Because there was a river flowing at the edge of the farm and a forest on the other side, and they reduced the work boundary. The forest did not have many trees but it was still called a forest in Baku with their dry climate.


    If it was not for CIA¡¯s information expense, a million, Youngho would have only 500 acres of farming site, but now all of the money was invested in here for twice of thend size. It cost 300 million won to buy the seedlings and farm equipment and another 300 million won for the fencing, sprinklers, instation of grape supports, and employee wages.


    On top of the money cost, he would use 800 million won for the construction of other units and facilities. This meant he would use almost all of the money he made in Baku and from the CIA. He somewhat regretted making the business too big but he decided it was a necessary decision to be a steady entrepreneur in Baku and make it in the mainstream society.


    Luckily, he did not have to buy filtered water for nts because the underground water at his farm site was proven to be clean after examination. It was unexpected because usually tap water in Azerbaijan was calcic and undrinkable. This was afort to Youngho, who did not have to spend more money for water.


    ***


    Fatima and the siblings could not close their mouths at the humongous size of the farm site.


    They were overwhelmed by the number of grape nts nted in consistent distance with each other. The leaves of the first nted nts were already turning green that they refreshed onlookers¡¯ eye sights.


    A momentter, the siblings eximed as they stepped in the management office building. Considering that Youngho would frequentlye and stay there, he ordered to make detailed inner structures and decorations, and the siblings seemed to love it. There was a firece on one side and it was creating a homely environment.


    ¡°Oppa, Can we stay here tonight?¡±


    Zeynep asked Youngho after looking around the whole building. The ce was not yet finished but they had food for workers in the storage. The only problem was that they did not have any bed or sleeping bags. As Youngho was taking some time before answering her, Gerhardt suggested that he would go and buy the sleeping bags for them, saying he woulde back in an hour.


    Around the management building was still under construction, but the siblings loved the ce as if it was their house. Fatima, who thought that Youngho ran a small business, was surprised by hisrge scale farm. She had been feeling sorry for him taking care of her and her siblings, but now she was relieved a little bit thinking that she did not have to worry for him.


    Fatima¡¯s siblings got used to living the full life and enjoyed it, especially Zeynep who has gotten lively after she recovered from her illness. She was born weak and frequently got sick since young. However, after she put on the ring, she was more active and lively than her peers. Today, Zeynep was again embarrassing Fatima by nagging at Youngho. Although Fatima was sometimes annoyed by Zeynep¡¯s restless activities, but she was happy to see her little sister well.


    Gerhardt returned from downtown with more than everything they needed to stay there for the night. He wanted to treat them nice because he had ess to the farm development budget. Since Youngho assigned him as the director for the farm development, Gerhardt could use the budget freely without any permission. Youngho had told him to just submit expense report each term.


    Youngho and Gerhardt now became closer like good friends. It was because Youngho was generous to his employee in the beginning but now they also trusted each other. They could tell each other their hearts open mindedly. Gerhardt even trusted Youngho more after he bought him a Beretta pistol worrying about any potential terrors like the one in the past from other porcin goods businessmen. He thought that Youngho cared for his safety.


    Now it was getting darker. The works had left the farm site and all there was left was silence.

 Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27: Country of Fire, Azerbaijan (2)</h4>


    It became chilly soon after the sunset, Youngho lit the firece on the first floor and turned on the lights using an electric generator. Because the building was notpleted yet, he was using a power generator for electricity. He used oil for the firece and generator as much as he wanted, since the gas price was cheaper than drinking water in Baku, since it was in an oil-producing country.


    The siblings became louder as if they liked the homely atmosphere, but they sounded pleasant like music to Youngho.


    After they had supper, the siblings got busy setting the sleeping bags and other equipments that Gerhardt brought on the second floor.


    The management building had a size about 16,000 sq. ft. It consisted of one basement floor and two stories above the ground. In the first floor, it had a reception room with a firece, an office room, a conference room, and a big cafeteria. The second floor was the living quarters for staff members, it had eight bedrooms and a living room with a little firece. Youngho built the living quarters for the farm staff that would live on the farm. Also, the basement had a storage room for food and equipment, a gym, and a safety room for an emergency shelter. Since there had been so many small and big disputes in Azerbaijan, it wasmon to have a safety room in a single house. The safety room upied one side of the basement floor, sealed with thick iron gates.


    Youngho and Gerhardt stayedte calcting the farm expenses in the conference room. The siblings must have gone to sleep because they could not hear them on the second floor anymore.


    ¡°Boss, once the actual farming begins, someone has to live in here to manage all things. Should I just move in here?¡±


    Youngho was thankful for Gerhardt but it seemed too much for Gerhardt who lives in the inner city with his family, since the farm was on the outskirt of the city.


    ¡°The environment I¡¯m living in now is not that great, but I¡¯d like to live here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be thankful if you live here but I am worried about your children. What about their school?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only 30 minutes away to the inner city, I can pick them up every morning.¡±


    As if Gerhardt already calcted the whole thing out, he answered Youngho fluently.


    ¡°What about your parents? Wouldn¡¯t they be ufortable when you live here?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have thought about that. You know by next year, we¡¯ll need people to cook for the workers on the farm. How about hiring my wife and parents as cooks and staff members in here? They always wished to live in somewhere that has clean air and environment, so they¡¯d loved toe here and work.¡±


    Where Gerhardt lived was a shabby side of the city, it¡¯s crowded with factories and other houses and the environment was not so great. He wanted to move in to the farm to work as the director.


    Youngho thought for a while and suggested Gerhardt.


    ¡°Alright, I can hire your wife as a cook and your parents as managers of the workers. Since you¡¯d be busy with other work-rted things, you won¡¯t be able to always stay at the farm. Your parents can share your workload as managers. I¡¯ll pay them as proper employees.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you don¡¯t have to pay them. I just wanted to move in here out of my personal desire.¡±


    ¡°No, as long as they work here, they should be paid. If I have to hire people anyways, I¡¯d love to hire someone like you and your family whom I can trust like my family.¡±


    Gerhardt¡¯s heart was warmed by Youngho¡¯s thoughtful words.


    They nned out Gerhardt¡¯s moving soon and decided to build a small two-story living quarters for his family only. Gerhardt rejected Youngho¡¯s offer but Youngho insisted since it would be difficult for his whole family to live in the management building where other office rooms were on the main floor.


    ***


    As Youngho and Gerhardt kept on their conference about nning next year¡¯s management and agenda, they raised their head at the same time.


    They saw a car headlight shing through the conference room window, from the direction of the entrance to the farm. Nobody would visit the farm at this hour, Youngho thought.


    The management building could be only seen after turning from the entrance, and as if the car just found the lightsing out from the management building, it turned off its headlights and drove in slowly.


    Youngho and Gerhardt immediately took out their Beretta pistols. There was no reason to turn off the headlights if they were normal guests. Youngho asked Gerhardt to guard the second floor where the siblings slept, and left the building by himself.


    Youngho regretted not having on the mystical leathers shoes now, because with those he would easily run to them in a fraction of a second and body check the invaders. He pushed regretting aside and approached a storage unit for equipment where the invaders parked their truck.


    ¡®They must be here to steal farm equipment,¡¯ he thought.


    There were three people. As they were about to go into the storage, Youngho shouted in English,


    ¡°Stop moving now and raise your hands!¡±


    The invaders were surprised by him but did not seem to understand English, and Youngho did not know how to say ¡®raise your hands¡¯ in Azerbaijani, so he fired the gun in the air once. One of the guys pulled out a gun and fired it everywhere in the air. He was warning Youngho to keep himself away.


    Youngho swiftly sneaked in the shadow where they could not see him, and when he seemed to be quiet, the invaders got on their truck and drove off toward the entrance like crazy.


    Youngho tried to read and memorize their te but he could not read it. So he fired the gun twice to leave evidence on the truck. The bullets made sparks on the truck as they hit the behind of it. Scared of tonight¡¯s incident, the invaders might note back again, but even if they doe again, it would be easy to find them since Youngho left the marks on their truck.


    Surprised by the sound of gunshots, the siblings woke up and asked what happened. He lied and told them that wolves appeared on the farm, so he chased them away. He did not want to scare the siblings. Now the little ones got excited and wanted to search for the wolves.


    ***


    The next day, Youngho checked the trucks that the workers drove to the farm but he did not find any bullet marks. He thought that the invaders fromst night might be workers who had worked on the farm before because they did not seem to be terrorists, they did not seem to be trained inbats either, but they knew exactly where the storage was. Youngho guessed that they probably would be one of the groups of the workers who installed the fencing or nted the seedlings.


    After the incident, Youngho decided to set up security systems on the farm and to always wear the leather shoes whening to the farm. He also tried to spread word that there are staffs living on the farm and guarding the farm to prevent future invaders on the farm. In fact, he bought two rifles and put them in the storage of the management building.


    Youngho also asked Main Police Department¡¯s director to get him two shotguns. Even though the director joked around that he was asking a police to buy illegal guns for him, he dly got them for him. Youngho was their honorary police officer anyway.


    ***


    The siblings liked the city of Baku where it was more quiet than Istanbul even though it was a big city. They decided to stay in Baku until the beginning of next spring, since they would be going back to school in the spring semester and it worked with their schedule too.


    Zeynep and Szechenyi liked to stay in the farm rather than the crowded city. Now that they became close friends with Gerhardt¡¯s two children, they always yed together in the farm.


    Fatima was also helping out with Youngho¡¯s direct stores. Trying to learn English, she voluntarily helped out as a sales person at the store.


    Stephanyined that there were more people who came to see Fatima¡¯s beautiful face than people who came to buy clothes or porcin goods. Fatima was beautiful enough to be the talk of the town, and Youngho was nervous that someone might approach her with a bad intention.

 Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28: Country of Fire, Azerbaijan (3)</h4>


    Two months passed since the Fatima siblings came to Baku.


    Every weekend, they came to the farm and helped out with any work needing assistance. The farm was located on the hills and the temperature was lower than the inner city of Baku. It was still October, but the farm was busy to prepare for the winter, even though the lowest temperatures in winter would be only about 30 degrees in Fahrenheit, it often snowed due to the wet season in the winter. The workers were busy fertilizing and covering the grounds for all the nts before the wet season, in order to cultivate vorful grapes next year.


    Youngho¡¯s farm was always crowded with workers seeking jobs in every morning. They came to his farm because it was the biggest scale among other farms in Baku and had a lot that needs to be done.


    Youngho¡¯s farm was renowned for good wages and for providing foods to workers. In addition, his farm was equipped with new farming gears and equipment that the workload forborers was less than the other farms.


    Azerbaijaniborers were not rich but they tend to be generous to their guests, so Youngho also emphasized to Gerhardt¡¯s wife, who was now the cook on the farm, to prepare enough food for everyone.


    Poor farmers even came on the weekends to do work that Youngho did not even ask for. The gap between rich and poor was big and it was hard for the poor to make it in Baku where prices were high. Not knowing how to deal withborers, Youngho had lots of trouble over the farm site.


    When he came to the farm on the weekends, Youngho tried to teach Gerhardt and Szechenyi how to use pistols. The public security was maintained well in Baku, but there were lots of people who carried guns, it was necessary to learn how to use weapons to protect oneself. Gerhardt had served in the military but he still needed to get used to shooting with pistols.


    Youngho gave him a pair of the mystical leather shoes and trained him in the shoes. He made sure that Szechenyi would never tell anyone else about the shoes. He trained Szechenyi because he was the only man in the family, who had to protect his sisters when he goes back to Istanbul.


    Szechenyi had turned 15st month. Whether or not it was because of the ring¡¯s effect, he had grown bigger than any other friends in his age. Youngho also taught him martial arts and specialbat skills as much as he could. Because Szechenyi had unconditional trust in Youngho, he endured physically challenging trainings from him. Szechenyi studied hard during the day and trained hard in the evening.


    Youngho thought that themoners should be trained as well because of the potential local battle or war. Too many people had died on thisnd in the past. The first one in danger when a war breaks out were women and children, you¡¯d never know how armed soldiers would react under pressures. Everybody should have a gun in their household to protect the family. That was why Youngho had stored lots of ammunition with five shotguns that the director got him and many pistols he bought from the ck market, in the safety room at the farm.


    Gerhardt¡¯s house at the farm was almostpleted and looked like he could move in before the winteres. It was all possible with the help of construction workers from the constructionpany. They worked hard trying to earn Youngho¡¯s favor but he still could not forget how they med him for their fault. Youngho was waiting to see what he could do to get even with them.


    ¡°Oppa, what are you up to these days? I can¡¯t get a hold of you. Karajan said you are living with Turkish children, what is that about?¡±


    It was Yunsuh on the phone, she sounded extremely curious about the siblings.


    ¡°So the word has spread to Korea?¡±


    ¡°So, an awfully prettydy and her little siblings?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s pretty just as much as you¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear about her. So, is she going to be my sister-inw?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s only 19 now, how can she be your sister-inw?¡±


    ¡°Goodness oppa, you have no shame. You have ten years of age difference.¡±


    ¡°He, Hey! don¡¯t get me wrong. I just met them on a business trip in Istanbul and just happened to stay together. They are actually helping me.¡±


    It was true, they have be like a family to Youngho, who was living in a foreignnd.


    ¡°Oppa, I support you no matter what. Her nationality doesn¡¯t matter, if you like her I ship you two.¡±


    Yunsuh was overly misjudging. Youngho was embarrassed to think of him and Fatima that way.


    ¡®How can she look at me and Fatima that way?¡¯ he thought.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t over react. I¡¯ll take her to Korea on Christmas, so you¡¯ll see.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but what the heck is grape farm? Karajan told me that you are at the farm every time I called.¡±


    ¡°I am involved in a government-supported grape farm business now.¡±


    Youngho did not tell her about the details because she did not know anything about the CIA, and he could not tell her about where the money came from.


    Knowing that Youngho likes farming, Yunsuh did not ask any more about the farm.


    ***


    Edward of the US CIA visited Youngho¡¯s grape farm. He came to look around as a person in charge of the business because he had supported information expense that¡¯s worth a million dor to Youngho¡¯s. Recently Azerbaijan and the U.S. government coborated to invest in expanding pre-existing oil pipeline, and their rtionship seemed to get better. However, the US was still not in position to impose sanctions against the war. Edward was stressed over the war.


    Armenians who reside overseas were willing to have a war to get thend of Nagorno-Karabakh officially recognized as Armenian territory. Some of them even insisted Armenian ownership over Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic located next to Armenia, which was an overseas territory of Azerbaijan. The voice of Armenians in foreignnds was bing even louder, not considering about what would happen to the people in thend. Youngho who was listening to Edward, spoke in frustration,


    ¡°Ed. I don¡¯t understand why Armenian government is willing to take the risk of a war because of the influence of Overseas Armenians.¡±


    Edward wiped his face under stress and answered him.


    ¡°The overseas Armenians are the ones maintaining the country¡¯s finance and government with their money. If there is war, it¡¯s their money they¡¯re going to use. It¡¯s inevitable for the Armenian government to be influenced by the overseas.¡±


    Armenia was the country that had 3 million people residing in thend and 7 million living in overseas. And many overseas Armenians were sessful and well-off people. Because they sent money to their country, they had powerful voice over the nation.


    With the conflict with Azerbaijan, Armenia was being pushed to a war. The war would eventually happen but the question is when. Youngho and Edward had a drink together out of frustration.


    The war would strip away Youngho¡¯s businesses in Baku too because war shrinks consumption. Who would buy teacups and tes for their house or clothes to dress up during the war when they are struggling for their lives? Moreover, the business that would be most affected by the war will be the farming businesses because no one would carefully take care of nts during the war risking their lives in the field. This would then cause theck of food to eat.


    For a second, Youngho wondered whether he should start growing wheat by expanding his farm. Even though the UN relief organization would help people so that no one dies out of hunger. Youngho was still worried thinking he could store foods to help people around him. He suggested to Edward,


    ¡°Ed. What do you think about storing some grains and basic living supplies?¡±


    Edward¡¯s face brightened.


    ¡°What a great idea, Lee! You are such a treasure. That would be a great way to relieve the poor and hungry while voicing ourselves.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s current situation did not allow him to take immediate action, but he decided to think about ways to carry out the n.


    If Youngho could buy mass amount of grains, he could make a lot of money when the prices go up, but his morality was stopping him. The war could break out at any time. Youngho had a pity on the people of Azerbaijan and Armenia who would fight and die for the hignd that was almost barren. It was understandable since Armenia was a small sized country.


    Youngho could feel the shadow of theing war was approaching.

 Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29: Gunshots Fired in Nagorno-Karabakh (3)</h4>


    Youngho headed to Main Police Department as soon as he reached Baku. Seeing Youngho arrive, the director took him to a reception room to listen to the news about Nagorno-Karabakh.


    ¡°Lee, how is the atmosphere in Nagorno-Karabakh?¡±


    ¡°When I visited, I saw two officials who usually stayed in Yerevan visiting the capital. The people residing in the region didn¡¯t seem to wee their visit. I heard them saying that the officials were trying to drag Russia into the war and intensifying the bad feelings between the two countries.¡±


    ¡°Well, did you get to see which officials were visiting?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know their names, but they were on newspapers so I brought one for you. The general public opinion says that they are pressuring the army to get involved in the war. Who likes to have wars anyways?¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Let me see.¡±


    ¡°I want to kick their butts too. Because of them, my business in Stepanakert is not doing well.¡±


    The director already knew about the officials whom Youngho talked about but wanted to hear more from Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we know the movements in Nagorno-Karabakh already, and so we did not fight against their armed forces except to defend ourselves. We are a powerful nation, but we are trying to make peace because we are a member of the international society.¡±


    Because you are a member of the international society? I don¡¯t think so; you have your own agenda in this, thought Youngho.


    ¡°I also agree. This time, the Azeri government made a good decision in taking care of the battle.¡±


    Youngho tried his best to say words that could gain the director¡¯s favor. He wanted to give the impression that he was on Azerbaijan¡¯s side.


    ¡°All right. Mr. Lee, I¡¯m d you stopped by.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and another thing. The militia asked me to orderbat rations. Even though I¡¯d love to make more money, I¡¯m not sure if I should take their order because I¡¯m a foreign investor in Azerbaijan.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s new information, the director pulled his chair toward Youngho and spoke, ¡°How many quantities are they ordering?¡±


    ¡°Well, they say they¡¯ll order about 10,000, but it looks like they don¡¯t have enough money. They wanted the price of five dors for each. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll gain profit from this. Won¡¯t it trouble Azerbaijan if I take this offer?¡±


    The director replied with a worrisome face, ¡°Mr. Lee, I worked in the military in the past. Te thousandbat rations are just enough to feed the army for five days. Also,bat rations priced at less than five dors are garbage. No need to worry about it. You can take the offer and keep maintaining a good rtionship with the militia. If you lose money for this business, I¡¯ll find another way topensate you.¡±


    ¡°Phew, it just feels bad. I have lots of work to do my own but I¡¯ve got to take it if I think about the beating.¡±


    At the mention of the ¡®beating,¡¯ the directorughed hard. He left the room for a while and returned with a smile.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you can buybat rations from Turkey. Just in time, the Main Police Department is looking to buy somebat rations too. You can be our agency. We will give youmission as an agent.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that sounds like a good business. Let me know about the quantity in the future. I know a merchant in Turkey. I bought grape nts and farm equipment from him in cheap prices.¡±


    Thinking of Mustafa, Youngho said in excitement.


    ¡°If we needrge amount, the government will take care of the business, but we are just buying some to store in the Main Police Department. Please get us good ones with good pricing.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you asking for cheap ones like the militia?¡±


    ¡°No no no, the Main Police Department is not cheap like the militia. We¡¯d buy ones that cost at least eight dors.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get samples and negotiate with the Turkey suppliers. I guarantee that I¡¯ll get better pricing than government officials.¡±


    Youngho intentionally mentioned about the militia¡¯s order, even though he reduced the quantities, and now he received a new business offer from the Main Police Department. Youngho dly took the offer and left the building after shaking hands with the director.


    It had been only five days since Youngho left the siblings, but the siblings weed Youngho as if they had not seen him for a long time.


    Zeynep climbed on Youngho¡¯s body and chatted about her English learning.


    ¡°Oppa, the English teacher wille to the farm and teach us now. We don¡¯t have to go back to the apartment in Baku.¡±


    ¡°You want to stay in the farm everyday? Won¡¯t you be bored?¡±


    ¡°No, I like it here. I have friends and the building is awesome. I can also ride a bicycle here.¡±


    She kept talking without even breathing. Zeynep was having a st because she made friends in the farm with Gerhardt¡¯s children.


    ¡°Fatima, you should stop helping out with the Baku stores if you want to learn English well before going back to school. You should be able to write essays in order to be in school. You can drive around the farm with the work car in your free time.¡±


    In Youngho¡¯s mind, he intended to keep people from seeing her face as she visited the stores. He was worried that someone with bad intentions would take Fatima away.


    ¡°Okay, oppa.¡±


    ¡°And Szechenyi, I know that you¡¯re studying hard now, but you should keep training too.¡±


    ¡°Okay, ¡®hyung.¡¯¡±


    Szechenyi learned the Korean word ¡®hyung¡¯ and used it naturally for Youngho like Fatima and Zeynep used ¡®oppa¡¯ for Youngho. They even impressed Youngho with their study of Korean when they bought a basic learner¡¯s Korean book and studied by themselves. Youngho was touched that the siblings were trying tomunicate more with Youngho. Maybe it was because they were not sure how long Youngho would stay with them. No matter how many times Youngho said he would be with them forever, they were still insecure.


    Youngho nned on taking them to Korea when he would take his employees for a professional development course. The siblings knew nothing of it yet because Youngho wanted to surprise them. Youngho was sure that the siblings would change once they were weed and epted into Youngho¡¯s family in Korea.


    ***


    Youngho tried to maintain a good rtionship with other businesses in Baku after the terror caused by the porcin merchants in Baku, but the situation was not going well for Youngho. He just found out that the clothing retailers whom Youngho stopped having businesses with were up to something against Youngho. They held a grudge against Chunho Merchant, only thinking about how Youngho reacted when they returned to him asking to start a business again.


    Recently, there was a wave of gang boss arrests. In order to turn the public eyes from the battle against Armenia, the Main Police Department set to getting rid of Mafia in the region. While investigating the belongings of a mafia group, they found a list of requests that had Chunho Merchant¡¯s name on it.


    The request had many specific things, but it basically ordered Chunho Merchant¡¯s ruin, even if that meant getting rid of Youngho. After finding that out from the director, Youngho decided to get rid of the clothing retailers. They got away only with a warning from the police, since nothing had really happened. However, Youngho was afraid that they mighte to Youngho¡¯s house and harm the siblings too. He could not stand the thought of sacrificing the siblings because of his business. Youngho was extremely upset and started nning what he was going to do.


    Dark at night, Youngho, covered in ck clothes, ran like the wind, avoiding CCTVs in the city of Baku. Even if he was taped in the cameras, they would not see him because he was moving too fast with the leather shoes on. When he arrived at the retailers¡¯ storage unit, he lit the fire on a petrol bomb and threw that in at the window of the storage unit. The fire spread and got bigger in no time.


    The storage was what the retailers used to store clothes traded in from China. They had stored expensive down jackets and padded coats in piles. After seeing a fire engine approach, Youngho headed to another ce. In a few minutes, thergest office of the three retailers was getting consumed by mes. Then, Youngho threw the bottles to the constructionpany¡¯s office and storage unit. It was thepany that almost ruined Youngho¡¯s farm business in the past to cover up their faults.


    Youngho knew exactly where to go and how to get there in the city of Baku. Lastly, Youngho went to the houses of the clothing retailers and set fire to their roofs. He threw rocks through their windows, to allow them to escape before the fire got bigger. Youngho might not be fond of them, but he did not want to physically harm them either.


    Youngho did not predict that he would use the mystical ring and leather shoes in this kind of job. He felt guilty, but he had to do something to protect the siblings, which were now his family. To not get caught in cameras, he ran at full speed. He could run at the speed of almost 50 mph. He had burned everything that the retailers had.


    He knew that no one would guess that one person did it because it happened spontaneously within such a short period of time.


    The police and local retailers considered that the clothing retailers had been attacked as retaliation by the local mafia because their list of illegal requests was exposed. Now that all of their belongings were burned, people guessed that the mafia was behind the fire.


    Baku¡¯s rich people tended to store money in a safe in their houses, not trusting banks. So, the retailers would have lost literally everything from the fire. It seemed like Youngho overreacted to them, but he knew that they would try to get back Youngho at any time if their circumstances allowed it. Many of merchandisers in Baku did not possess business ethics.


    Youngho did not want to damage hispetitors¡¯ businesses to make money, but he would not just wait and stand by for the enemies harm him. Youngho had risked his life toe so far, building the foundation of his business with his own hands. He just defended his business and family sessfully, and he was at all not sorry.

 Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30: Night in Baku (1)</h4>


    The next day, the morning news reported about the spontaneous fires fromst night. They did not know who was behind the fire. Youngho felt satisfied because the retailers requested the mafia to get rid of Youngho first. Youngho thought that his revenge was not as harsh as what they intended to do, even though they lost all of their money.


    Gerhardt and Karajan were talking in excitement, saying that they were punished because of their hical business manners. The local mafia was now being investigated for the fires. It was killing two birds with one stone, Youngho thought.


    Youngho did not care about the retailers and the constructionpany. He kept on with his businesses. He ordered 100,000bat rations for the director from Eti, the foodpany in Istanbul, at the price of $7.5 each. The Main Police Department paid amission of $0.2 per ration as an agency payment, and Eti, the foodpany, also paid Youngho $0.3 per each ration for the business with an official government. Therefore, Youngho made $50,000 in total from doing the business. The director was satisfied with the quality and even bought drinks for Youngho.


    Despite the fire, the clothing retailers were building a storage unit for clothing again. They must have a sturdy safe, thought Youngho. Karajan told Youngho that they made an order from China again. Youngho nned to set another fire once the clothes arrive.


    The fire department estimated their loss worth at about one billion won. Youngho would make them bankrupt if he burned the storage again once it was filled with newly traded clothes. In fact, the constructionpany was the one that lost the most valuables. They recently bought a bunch of new equipment and sanitary earthenware and put them in the storage. Because of the fire, their loss worth was about one billion won too. In trying to catch the culprit, thepany even hired a private detective. Youngho felt great to have had his revenge against both.


    Youngho was not a greedy person who would spend money for only himself. He wanted to be rich to give and help others around him. Youngho wanted to take care of his family in Korea, the Fatima siblings, his employees, and poor farmers, but when he realized the clothing retailers would try to stop his dream, he could not stay still. Youngho knew that he might be acting selfishly, but he did not regret harming their business. It was his survival mechanism and minimal defense. Youngho had grown spiteful since he started doing business in the Caucasus nations. He was changing to protecting his family and business from danger.


    ***


    The news reported that the police found weapons of mass destruction while searching through the local mafia¡¯s base. They showed the weapons disyed in front of the Main Police Department building, and some of them made Youngho excited, like the AK rifles and portable rocketuncher called RPG-7. AK-47 was a well-known, simple and sturdy rifle, and RPG-7 was a heavy firearm that could shoot a target within 500 meters. Youngho wanted the weapons for his collection in the safe room. Watching those weapons on TV, an idea came into Youngho¡¯s mind.


    The next day, Youngho visited the director. Youngho¡¯s visit was natural, because he visited the director just for a cup of tea sometimes since his stores were near the police building. Recognizing Youngho, policemen saluted him at the gate.


    When Youngho shivered while mentioning the weapons from the mafia shown on TV, the directorforted Youngho, saying that they already sent the weapons to terminate. Youngho asked him why the army would not use the weapons. The director said that the army would not use illegally bought, unsafe weapons. Then the director started bragging about the potential of Azerbaijan¡¯s national defense and he slipped the location of the weapons. He said they would be disassembled in the storage at the outskirts of the department domain. On his way out of the building, Youngho looked around the ce to locate the storage.


    At night, Youngho stopped his car near the police storage. He came to steal the weapons. The security was just poor. The storage was surrounded by barbed-wire fences and there was one guard post in front of the storage building. There were four security lights around each corner and one security camera in the front of the guarding post. Two armed policemen were inside the post, but the security was not tight because Youngho could hear their drunken voices from the outside. He waited until they went to sleep. When it passed 1 AM, they finally became silent.


    Youngho, with the power of the mystical shoes, jumped over the fence which was three meters high. They made a loud noise when hended, but the guards did not seem to notice. He was still not used to jumping with the leather shoes on. He approached a storage unit near him and gave a little push to the small door next to the big gate. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked and it opened smoothly.


    With a little shlight, he looked through the stuff in the storage. He found disassembled weapons¡ªthere were hundreds of AK-47 rifles. Youngho carried out ten of the AK-47 and ten ammunition boxes and put them near the barbed-wire fence. He did not forget to take two of the portable rocketunchers on his shoulders. The problem was carrying rocket ammunition boxes. They were quite heavy, but with the help of the leather shoes, Youngho could carry them without much trouble. He thought it would be too obvious if he carried out too many rocket ammunition, so he only took four boxes.


    Because Youngho was being extra careful, he sweated like rain. When Youngho arrived at his car, ready to start the engine, he thought it was a waste to not take more of the weapons since the police would get rid of them anyway. He took another ten boxes of rifle ammunition. The police won¡¯t check the number of weapons to be terminated, thought Youngho as he set off with a light heart.


    The next day, Youngho stopped by near the police storage to get more weapons. However, there were more policemen guarding the storage unit. The police had noticed that they fell short of the weapons they took from the mafia¡¯s hideout. So, Youngho changed his mind and decided to be satisfied with what he stole the night before. Youngho stored all the weapons in his farm, since he wanted to prepare for any danger in the future. Whether there would be a war or not, Youngho wanted to be safe, just in case.


    Fatima and her siblings were sleeping, unaware that Youngho sneaked out from the farm two nights in a row. Gerhardt did not mind Youngho driving outside, since Youngho already told him that he had ns at night. Gerhardt would never doubt Youngho but would believe Youngho whatever he told him.


    Youngho visited the Main Police Department frequently for the next few days to see if they noticed his movements, but nothing came up. In fact, they did not seem to care that much about the missing weapons. The nation was full of weapons in the ck market anyway.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s night walks did not stop there. Youngho went around and kept lighting up the clothing retailers¡¯ houses, offices, and storages currently being built toplete his revenge. Realizing their lives were being threatened by mafia, even though their assumption was incorrect, the retailers eventually left the city of Baku for good. Youngho had sessfully chased them away.


    However, after they were gone, Youngho felt empty; like a boy who lost his favorite toy. So, he decided to burn the houses and stores of the porcin goods traders and businessmen who ordered people to terrorize Youngho in the past.


    The consecutive fire incidents rmed the police department, since Baku was renowned for its well-maintained public peace. To catch the culprit, they enforced inspections in the streets and installed more security cameras in the city; but still, they could not find a clue about the arsonist. Ironically, Youngho made money because the police department had bought Korean security systems from him.


    Youngho, who had been busy making fires for a while, was now getting sick of taking revenge against his enemies. One of the reasons was because he did enough already, but his conscience was also telling him to stop. He thought it would be hypocritical of him to teach the Fatima siblings to live morally. Even though he still did not forget or forgive other merchandisers who almost killed him, he realized that it was unfair of him to use mystical items to take revenge. He would get caught eventually if he did not stop. Now that he got rid of most of the dangerous elements in Baku, it seemed to be a good timing to stop.


    He was also a little afraid that he might get punished by the mystical relics for using them to take a personal revenge on other people.

 Chapter 31

    <h4>Chapter 31: Night of Baku (2)</h4>


    Youngho visited the Main Police Department and the director greeted him with bloodshot eyes. The police department must have been busy working day and night to find the arsonist. With a little guilt in his heart, Youngho invited all the policemen to a nice dinner. He wanted to make it up for getting them busy over his crime and he also had not thanked the director yet for using him as an agency to trade inbat rations. They did not reject his offer and ate out together. After treating them well, Youngho drove to his farm.


    Although it waste, the lights in the siblings¡¯ room were still on. Wondering why they were not asleep at this time, Youngho knocked on the door and Szechenyi came out to open the door.


    ¡°Hyung, you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, why aren¡¯t you guys asleep yet?¡±


    ¡°We were watching a movie. It was a horror movie and we got too scared, so we said we¡¯ll wait until you are here.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, I¡¯m going to sleep next you tonight. I¡¯m scared that I¡¯m going to dream about the movie,¡± Zeynep said as she hugged Youngho.


    Fatima also sounded like she was scared of the movie while she greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Oppa, have you eaten yet?¡±


    ¡°Yep, I just ate with the policemen. What movie did you watch?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a zombie movie and it¡¯s really gory. Karajan suggested this movie, she said it¡¯s good but it was awful.¡±


    Even though the movie sounded bad, the siblings must have watched the whole movie, it was the charm of a horror movie. They make you watch it until the end even if you hate it. The people in here especially liked to watch horror movies, maybe it was because there had been many battles and deaths in the nation and they were used to goriness or cruelty. ¡®Could it mean that they can be as cruel?¡¯ thought Youngho.


    After Youngho carried Zeynep who fell asleep on the couch to her the bed, he had a chat with Fatima. Her English had improved after seven months of learning and now both could have a regr conversation. Youngho asked about Fatima¡¯s family history to see if he could find any clues about the mysterious relics.


    ording to her, her parents never told the siblings anything about the relics except to keep them safe in the family. She said that they would not have been so poor if she had known the mystical power of the relics.


    Youngho¡¯s curiosity grew even more. These days, the siblings¡¯ appearance gave an impression of noble atmosphere that could only be seen from a bloodline of a noble family. Youngho thought that the relics must not be something picked up by the family in recent years. The fact that the valuable relics was passed in the family probably meant that Fatima¡¯s ancestors must be high nobles in power, and maybe somewhere along the line of descendants, one of the sessors died before telling the secret of the relics to the offspring.


    However, there was no way to find out about their family. He needed more clues. Youngho told Fatima to look into her family line in the libraries once she goes back to school in Istanbul. She agreed on searching for clues of her family history but she did not want to go back in Istanbul, she started to convince Youngho.


    ¡°Oppa, all of us are so behind because we haven¡¯t been in school for so long, and I don¡¯t want to go back to Istanbul without you. Also, I don¡¯t think I can convince Zeynep, she won¡¯t move back to Istanbul without you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I can search for my roots anytime but I¡¯m not going back there.¡±


    She insisted that she and her siblings would stay with Youngho.


    Youngho did not hesitate for long and went ahead to an international school in Baku the next morning. He submitted transfer forms for the siblings, it was easy because he already had admission certificates for the siblings from an American school in Istanbul.


    Youngho called Mustafa to ask him to cancel the contract of his apartment in Istanbul and take care of his belongings. After taking care of the siblings¡¯ situation, they looked relieved to be able to stay with Youngho in Baku. Youngho made the decision because Fatima asked him, but he also wanted to be with the family as well, he felt like he could not work properly leaving the siblings in Istanbul alone.


    ***


    It was a holiday, so Youngho and the siblings went to a mall to shop for winter clothes. Being ady, Fatima always took a long time to shop, but even Zeynep was a picky shopper. Youngho and Szechenyi gave up and followed them around the mall. Getting hungry from all the shopping, they ate hamburgers at McDonalds.


    Whenever they went out in the streets, they became people¡¯s attention, Youngho was a rare East Asian in the region and Fatima was a rare beauty to find. That was why Youngho wanted to drive anytime he could but Fatima liked walking instead, making him nervous.


    Fatima suddenly stopped walking in front of a fur store, her eyes were fixed on a tan fox fur hat, she seemed to like it. Youngho signed her to go in and see but she shook her head after looking at the price written at the window. It was 1,500 Manat*, but she did not see the 40% off sign next to it.


    It was Youngho¡¯s first time seeing Fatima stop in front of a store. Even though she refused to get inside, Youngho pushed her in and asked the sales person to bring the hat for Fatima to try. It was 900 Manat after the discount, which was still expensive. The hat had a long tail that could wrap around a person¡¯s neck. It looked warm and nice on Fatima. The sales person said she would give arm warmers that go with the hat too. Even though he had to spend lots of money, Youngho wanted to give gifts to the siblings, so he bought the tan one for Fatima and a white one for Zeynep. Szechenyi was waiting for them outside. When Youngho asked if he wanted anything, he said, ¡°why would a man need fur?¡± acting like a grownup.


    It was their first time to shop in downtown in Baku. Youngho had been so busy that he could not make time for the siblings. He had a peaceful time with them shopping, walking on the streets, and eating street foods. Even Zeynep was humming and skipping. Youngho wondered if this was what happiness felt like, he was happy that he was rich enough to be able to buy the things that the siblings like, like a father. Aftering back from downtown, all the siblings took a bath in the Turkish bathtub that Youngho installed for them and went to sleep.


    Youngho called Gerhardt next door and asked him to find a car for Fatima to drive in Baku. He thought she needed it in order to live in Baku because he and Gerhardt were too busy to pick them up from school every time.


    ¡°Boss, don¡¯t you think the fire incidents are weird? It feels like someone had avenged for us. I¡¯m happy that those retailers are gone though.¡±


    ¡°I feel the same. I¡¯m pping inside but I¡¯m afraid that someone might doubt that we made the fires.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s not going to happen. I mean, you are known as a gentle businessman in here. I¡¯m just sorry about other businesspanies that try to harm you.¡±


    ¡°Well, they got what they deserved. I think they were punished by local mafias but we need act carefully too, just in case.¡±


    ¡°Okay, boss.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s conscience pricked him as he lied to Gerhardt, while he acted natural. Now that he had a rocketuncher, he wanted to get rid of the mafias too, but he knew that people would me Armenia for the attack. He did not want to cause a war, he just sipped on his drink.


    *Manat ¨C the currency of Azerbaijan, 1 manat is about $ .60 as of 10/25/18. 1,500 manat is about $881.

 Chapter 32

    <h4>Chapter 32: Night of Baku (3)</h4>


    The siblings stayed in the living quarters due to the sudden temperature drops. Thankfully, the electric wires that Youngho installed used as well in Korea were working well and kept the inside warm that they wore short sleeves in the building. Electricity was cheap like water due to the natural gas power nts, so they used electricity as much as they wanted.


    At the breakfast table, Youngho told the siblings about the uing Korean trip.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m going to Korea with my employees for a job training course. I¡¯d like you toe too. You shoulde and meet my family too.¡±


    After a moment of silence, the siblings smiled as if they finally understood what Youngho was saying.


    ¡°Oppa, is it really okay if wee with you?¡± Fatima asked in excitement.


    Zeynep was jumping and identally almost threw her fork in the air, she looked excited too. Szechenyi looked emotionless but Youngho already saw the tip of his mouth raising.


    ¡°Oppa, I heard Korea is very cold.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as windy as here, so it would feel simr. No need to worry.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, do we get to meet your parents in Korea too?¡±


    ¡°My parents passed away. I only have a sister, but she¡¯s already married. I¡¯m like you in a sense.¡±


    The siblings¡¯ faces got darker, they had been forgetting about their parents¡¯ absence for the past few months. When Zeynep looked like she was going to cry, Youngho changed the subject. He promised to go snow sledding and skiing together in Korea. Zeynep¡¯s eyes brightened with joy and forgot about her sadness soon. Fatima also tried to make her sister feel better. Youngho felt the siblings¡¯ sadness, no matter how he acted like their parents he could not be their parents. His heart was heavy.


    For the next few days, the siblings acted like they were walking on the clouds with excitement. They had 15 days until they leave for Korea but they were so busy packing and preparing for the Korean trip. Fatima recently got her car and Youngho did not have to take the siblings to go out and shop anymore. He put a sign of police, which he received from the director of Main Police Department, on Fatima¡¯s car window, so she could go anywhere with ease. The signs were usually used as a privilege for police families but Youngho also had received one.


    ¡°Oppa, it¡¯s Fatima. I¡¯m at the market but I got caught in the traffic, I think I should wait around here until the traffic is relieved but I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    ¡°Okay, stay at the market. I¡¯ll be right there.¡±


    Fatima had enough money but she had called Youngho because she wanted to spend some time with him alone. Youngho noticed that too but did not say anything, he thought it was a good chance since he was thinking about buying some new clothes for Fatima.


    Fatima had grown again in the past months and her figure changed. Now that it looked like she stopped growing, he wanted to buy her some proper clothes. She was 175 cm now and she became curvy as other women are. Fatima¡¯s clothes became a little tight for her now.


    In front of the market, Fatima waved at Youngho with a big smile. She was beaming and everybody looked at her beauty. Fatima held Youngho¡¯s arm and led him to a kebab restaurant. As he looked at her walk away with kebab on the street, Youngho was d that she looked so much healthier now.


    Youngho brought Fatima to a mall located in Caspian beach. Since she would be going back to school soon, Youngho wanted to buy her some high quality clothes. As a foreigner in school, he wanted her to look nice to others. Fatima who had received lots of clothes from Youngho felt bad about him only buying her clothes, so she picked out a coat for Youngho too. Since the traffic was relieved, Youngho sent Fatima first to the farm. Looking at behind her car driving away, Youngho had a smile on his face.


    ***


    As the date of their Korean trip approached, Youngho put a note on his direct stores that the stores would be closed for a week and told the people around him including the director of Main Police Department about the trip. Since it would be the first time that his direct stores would be closed for a while, he wanted to be careful by letting the policemen know about his absence. Gerhardt would stay on behalf of Youngho taking care of the trade goods and the farm, so he could not join the others for the trip. Instead, Gerhardt asked Youngho to bring lots of Korean alcohol for him because he loved to drink.


    Gerhardt and Youngho were on their way to pick up the H Porcin containers from Baku train station. Youngho would be on a ne to Korea the next day, feeling like he was going on a pic, he worked humming a tune. Watching him hum, Gerhardt joked at him.


    ¡°Boss, I think you¡¯re too excited. Don¡¯t forget that you are taking Karajan and her friends. They are a disaster.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be alright. Don¡¯t worry, I prepared my mind already. They worked hard for me, I think they deserve this.¡±


    ¡°Boss, Karajan looked like she¡¯s going to sweep all the clothes at Dongdaemun market.¡±


    ¡°Haha...¡±


    As they drove in the open-air storage yard, a Bentree passed by his car. He saw three other Bentree cars following the first one. Youngho whistled.


    ¡°Looks like some tycoon is here.¡±


    ¡°They must be mafias. I heard that a mafia boss from Ukraine came to Baku since all the mafias in here were sanctioned by the police. It¡¯s probably them.¡±


    ¡°How can people like them just roam around here freely?¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re not innocent but they didn¡¯t do anything yet in here. I also heard some of the high officials were rted to them too.¡±


    Youngho immediately called the director of Main Police Department and reported him about the mafias at the Baku train station. Youngho as a businessman in Baku, did not wee mafias in the area. The director said he already knew about them and the police was watching their movement carefully. Youngho was worried that he might get in trouble with the mafias as he expands his business in Baku. Maybe they were already watching Youngho¡¯s stores, it would be a war if they directly targeted his stores.


    Afterpleting the clearance process, Youngho passed around gift cards for his stores to the officials as a bribe. Even though he was supported by high officials, he needed the help of hands-on staffs. They liked Youngho since he always gave gifts, the bribing was not a special thing to them but Youngho just did it to give an impression that they were being respected. He sometimes treated them in a quality restaurant to keep the good rtionship.


    Sometimes they were a great source of information.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, so, this container would be thest one this year?¡± an official asked.


    ¡°Yes, thank you for taking care of my business for this year. By the way, I saw luxury cars driving off from here. I guess they are businessmen?¡±


    ¡°Oh! They are fur traders from Ukraine.¡±


    ¡°Is fur traded often?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s question, the official lowered his voice and kept on.


    ¡°It¡¯s a secret but they are mafias. They came to bring the fur by themselves instead of the local mafias who got arrested. It¡¯s a rare event though.¡±


    ¡°Well, they are doing a legal business. I can¡¯t judge them just because they are mafias.¡±


    As Youngho intentionally made an innocentment, the official replied to Youngho as if he was rebuking him.


    ¡°Mafias do legal businesses but once things go awry, they use guns to treat the problem. They¡¯re not a normal organization, Mr. Lee. You should be careful.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever have business with them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you to be extra careful, they¡¯ll do anything to make money.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡±


    On the way back to his store, Youngho could not take the Ukrainian mafias off his mind. Their existence in Baku was dangerous.

 Chapter 33

    <h4>Chapter 33: Missing Seoul, and a Misunderstanding (1)</h4>


    ¡°Oppa, the seat is so much bigger than the seats on the ne from Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°That ne was a smaller size and this one is a bigger one for long-distance flights, you can even sleep.¡±


    Thinking that all the seats on the ne were as big as hers, Zeynep looked around. However, looking at the economy seats behind her, she did not say any more. She was young but she was ready-witted, she noticed that the economy seats were smaller and tightly arranged. She realized that Youngho had used lots of money to make herfortable through the long flight and smiled at him.


    It was a 12-hour flight to Korea. In a Turkish airne, Youngho, the siblings, Karajan, and four other employees set off to Korea. The gang was again in the center of people¡¯s attention because of their eye-catching appearances. Not only because of the siblings but also the girls of Azerbaijan, like Karajan and other employees, were famous for their beauty. It was said that Azerbaijani girls who work in the field were more beautiful than Korean celebrities, even Youngho frequently spotted a beautifuldy who made his heart skip a beat. Karajan was excited to visit Korea, she asked Youngho to give her free time so that she could go shop clothes at Dongdaemun market with Chunho Merchant¡¯s designer. She loves Korean clothes.


    The gang from Bakunded at Incheon International airport at 10 PM, it was crowded with people because many nes usuallynded around the same time. Cho Sangchun and Lee Yunsuh were waiting to greet them at the arrival gate with their child. Karajan looked excited to finally meet the people whom she had been working with, though onlymunicating on the phone. She hugged Yunsuh and almost jumped with joy.


    Yunsuh distinguished the siblings at one nce. She went near Fatima and called her, ¡°Fatima?¡± Fatima answered her with a bright smile, and she greeted her by hugging her in European way, but because of the height difference Yunsuh looked like a child. Yunsuh seemed to like the Fatima siblings. After all the loud greetings, the gang went to a nearby hotel.


    The siblings were busy looking out the window to see the night view of Seoul, they wanted to learn more about where Youngho was from.


    Yunsuh and Sangchun¡¯s family also decided to stay at the hotel together to get to know the people Youngho brought with him. On the way to hotel, Youngho held his nine-months-old nephew in his arms, he already melted his heart when he smiled at him. Zeynep, who was sitting next to Youngho, also loved the baby. As she spoke in Turkish and touched the baby¡¯s foot, heughed loudly. It looked like the baby was interested in the newnguage he heard.


    Looking at her brother Youngho, who looked more peaceful thanst time she saw him, Yunsuh was relieved. Now that she saw Youngho well and met the siblings in person, Yunsuh¡¯s worries about him melted away like snow.


    That night, Youngho and Sangchun drank until they were dead drunk. They had so many stories to share. If Yunsuh had not stopped them, they would have drank until the next morning.


    In the morning, all the employees of Chunho Merchant, from Korea and Baku, had a conference. Even though there was anguage barrier, they all seemed to get along well like old friends.


    In the evening the same day, the siblings and Youngho were invited to Yunsuh¡¯s house for a big dinner. Sangchun¡¯s parents were there to greet them. It was when Youngho realized how much Fatima¡¯s Korean had improved, while helping Yunsuh prepare food in the kitchen, Fatima talked in Korean naturally. Of course her Korean was at the very basic level, but everyone could understand her. Her pronunciation was perfect.


    Yunsuh looked at Youngho and Fatima in doubt. Now that she knew Fatima was learning Korean, she whispered to Sangchun¡¯s mom pointing at Fatima and Youngho. Sangchun¡¯s mom only smiled at them. Yunsuh even became sure about them when Fatima automatically squeezed in to sit next to Youngho at the dinner table. Youngho¡¯s excuses were useless to her, so he gave up convincing her that him and Fatima were not dating.


    ***


    Youngho and the gang were at a ski resort in Gangwon-do, Korea. Even though the resort was crowded with people who came to enjoy the Christmas season, the girls from Baku enjoyed skiing anyways. In fact, they even seemed to enjoy people¡¯s attention.


    In a cold day of a low temperature, 14 degree in Fahrenheit, the siblings and the Baku employees learned sledging and skiing from the ski trainer at the resort until their nosed turned red. They yed all day on the basic course. Youngho followed around the siblings to make sure they were safe, actually, he was following around Fatima. In his eyes, there were too many guys snooping around Fatima, they all looked like wolves.


    Even after all the fun in the day time, Karajan and the girls were relentless and headed to a night club in the evening. Youngho took the siblings to a singing room. Zeynep and Szechenyi fought over the microphone to sing and Youngho could not even touch the it, let alone the singing. Feeling like a rock star, Zeynep loved singing on the karaoke machine.


    The night culture at the resort was hot as its day culture. The resort had lots of things to do and also had quality restaurants. There were people who just came to hang out in the resort, rather than to ski.


    Youngho felt someone¡¯s eyes on Fatima. Well-dressed guys were peeping at him and the siblings for a while and it made Youngho ufortable. Atst, one of the guys came toward him.


    ¡°Hey dude, who¡¯s that foreign girl next to you? We¡¯d like to hang out with her,¡± a guy with excessive hair wax asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s my family. I have little ones here too, are you sure you want to hang out with us?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The guy called at his friends when Youngho did not budge. Four of them starteding closer at him, they all looked extremely rich and clueless. There was a bodyguard in a ck suit behind them. They must have rich parents. All looking slim and weak, they needed a bodyguard to take care of them.


    Youngho did not want to make things bigger than it was. He called the bodyguard to a side and showed him his US diplomat¡¯s passport. He told him in quiet, ¡°if you don¡¯t want to make bigger trouble, you can escort them out now please.¡±


    After seeing Youngho¡¯s passport, the bodyguard understood what he meant and led the guys out hurriedly. Youngho smirked at the troublesome guys who were acting like children.


    ¡°Oppa, what on earth did you show them that they¡¯re running away like that?¡±


    ¡°Well, I just showed them my fake passport and acted like your bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what you need in order to do business overseas.¡±


    Fatima nodded at Youngho¡¯s lie. He made excuses in case she find about his passport in the future. If he was to tell her the truth, he would have to tell everything about the CIA, which he was not supposed to. Also, he did not want to make Fatima worry every time he goes on at trip for a mission.


    After having a st until exhausting for two days at the ski resort, the gang came back to Seoul. Now, they only had two days left before returning to Baku. Karajan and the girls went shopping to Myeongdong and Dongdaemun market and almost swept the whole market. Meanwhile, the Fatima siblings stayed in Yunsuh¡¯s house due to a request of Sangchun¡¯s parents. they wanted to spend more time with Fatima and the siblings.

 Chapter 34

    <h4>Chapter 34: Missing Seoul, and a Misunderstanding (2)</h4>


    After hectic schedules in Seoul, Youngho was on the ne returning to Baku. The gang who spent the five days in Korea in a tightly arranged schedule was already asleep on the ne. It was only Fatima and Youngho who were awake, they were reading some documents together. It was a model application form of a well-known Korean model agency. When walking in the streets of Myeongdong, Fatima was caught in thepany¡¯s staff¡¯s eyes and was held by him for a long time, he tried to scout her as a model for hispany and left her an application form in her hands. She was not as tall as other models but the staff must have liked her eye-catching appearance. Youngho was feeling relieved that she did not have any choice anyway.


    Beforeing back, Youngho met a CIA sergeant in the American army base in Yongsan. They discussed about the training that Youngho was supposed to receive as a proper agent. Usually agents receive training before bing an agent but his case was different because he was specially assigned as a field agent by Edward the chief of the European chapter in urgency. The unusual circumstances between Azerbaijan and Armenia made Edward to make an unprecedented decision.


    Because Youngho was already trained in Special Forces in the Navy, the sergeant notified him that he was exempted from the physical trainings but he must receive a-month-long refresher training from the European chapter. Since he was a solo agent who worked alone as a foreign investor in Azerbaijan, the possibility of him getting exposed was very low. He had a good cover as a Korean merchandiser.


    Even though Youngho worked as an agent and a businessman with lots of freedom to himself, he felt insecure about his position in the CIA. He had not received any proper training yet and he was still not sure if he was a proper agent. As much as a special agent he was without a team to work with, the CIA would not leave him like that for a long time. They could order him to eliminate a government figure and use him as a disposable agent for political reasons.


    All he was worried about was the siblings. The position suddenly felt heavy, ¡®What if they be targets because of me?¡¯ Youngho decided to be strong and be ready for any possible circumstances. Since he chose his own path as an agent, it was his responsibility. He also had the magical relics that he could use in dangerous missions.


    ***


    It was 2012 already, it was Youngho¡¯s second New Year¡¯s Day in Baku, and he was about to turn 29 this year. After visiting Korea, the employees became even hardworking in the stores, they felt morepassionate towards thepany. They were kind to the customers that people had great reviews of Chunho Merchant, and not to mention, there higher sales rate was achieved.


    In Azerbaijan, usual sries averaged around $500 to $700 a month. However, Chunho Merchant paid $1,000 for a beginner¡¯s sry. Youngho wanted to make Chunho Merchant seen as a decentpany from Korea. Includingmissions, the beginner¡¯s sry would add up to $1,200 in sum, so Chunho Merchant had be a job applicants¡¯ top-pick. Youngho also had a policy of not hiring part-time employees, he only hired them as full-time regr employees. Because of his policies, the employees also worked hard and liked working in there.


    Fatima and the siblings¡¯ insecurity seemed to have been lifted up after their Korea trip, they became even livelier and brighter. Youngho¡¯s family¡¯s warm wee was a greatfort to the siblings. Even after returning to Baku, they still talked to Yunsuh on the phone frequently. Sangchun¡¯s parents and Yunsuh cared them like their family, that they even sent the siblings¡¯ gifts from Korea.


    ***


    Youngho had dinner with the director the next day, it was his first time to meet the director after the trip, so he wanted to say his New Year¡¯s greeting.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you look great. Is it because you got to meet your family in Korea?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I had a great time all because of you. I heard that you¡¯ve patrolled around the stores and farm while I was gone. I wanted to say thank you.¡±


    ¡°No problem. It¡¯s just my duty. I should keep foreign investors¡¯ businesses safe.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate you work. If it weren¡¯t you, who would care about my business like you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing as your friend. I consider you my friend, don¡¯t you feel the same?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I feel like you¡¯re my only friend in Baku.¡±


    ttered by Youngho¡¯s remark, the director smiled and continued, saying he had good news for Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, and you know the mafias you saw at the train station? We deported them out of the country. They might walk around in pride in Ukraine, but not in here.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear him, but he still thought that mafias were not the kind of organization to just give up just because they were deported. If they could not have it their way in here legally, they would choose a more subtle and violent, illegal ways to get in. The director was proud having chased them away in his country, but Youngho knew that there were more battles waiting to happen.


    During dinner, Youngho suggested to the director to be his business partner for a new store that he was nning to open. Karajan had found a spot in Sumqayit, the thirdrgest city in Azerbaijan. She was confident about the store¡¯s sess because of the city was full of highly paid workers. The city had 230,000 people residing in and it was 30 minutes away from Baku.


    Rather than to make more money, Youngho wanted to draw more government officials in his business to win them to his side.


    The director was positive toward Youngho¡¯s idea. He had no reason to reject his offer since Chunho Merchant had be a popr and stable business in Baku as a traderpany. It was a great opportunity to make money once the business opens. The director called Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the spot and actively convinced Youngho to only involve him and Kamal in the new business.


    The new business n was carried forward speedily. The three business partners decided to divide the costs for the rent, decorating the interiors, and the clothes to be disyed, which added up to 90 million won. The store would be managed in the self-supporting ounting system by the three sides.


    They already hired two girls in Sumqayit and started training them as sales staffs of the store. Kamal and the director were thankful for Youngho, since they thought that he could open his business without even involving them as partners. Because of Kamal and the director¡¯s involvement, all of the official processes were shortened and progressed in a speedy manner.

 Chapter 35

    <h4>Chapter 35: Missing Seoul, and a Misunderstanding (3)</h4>


    ¡°Youngho, why are you so busy these days? You never visit us anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hey Jongil, I¡¯ve been busy taking care of mafias. I also visited Korea with my employees.¡±


    ¡°I know that you went to Korea, but you had fun with mafias too? Man, you should¡¯ve called me. I¡¯ve got to improve my rtionship with Karajan too.¡±


    ¡°Why mention Karajan here?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s your work, Karajan¡¯s rted too. If anybody harms Karajan, I¡¯m going to let them pay for that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, whatever. Anyway, the clothing retailers that I had business with ordered a local mafia group to get rid of me. Now it¡¯s all been taken care of by the police.¡±


    ¡°What? They requested your assassination? Those crazy b*st*rds, I¡¯ve got to bring a tank and finish them.¡±


    As a drill instructor, the scale of his revenge n was big, even to the point of saying that he would bring a tank. After calming down Jongil, Youngho asked for the reason of his call. He said he woulde and stay with Youngho for the New Year¡¯s break.


    Park Jongil, whose parents passed away just like Youngho¡¯s, only had brothers left. He did not want to visit his family who always gave him an earful to get married quickly. He also intended to meet Karajan again since he liked her. He could use four breaks a year as a drill instructor of the militia, but he nned on using them all at once, making his break a month long. A loud friend of Youngho would be visiting him for the whole break.


    ¡°Whoa, since when did you learn to be polite? You never tell me ahead of time when you¡¯reing.¡±


    ¡°I heard the Istanbul siblings are staying with you. I called for them. I don¡¯t want to surprise them ¡®cuz they¡¯re not you.¡±


    ¡°How thoughtful of you. I¡¯m proud of you.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, man.¡±


    ¡°When are youing?


    ¡°This Saturday is the first day of our break. I¡¯ll arrive at Baku on Sunday evening.¡±


    Fatima was excited to hear that Jongil would stay with them for a while. She remembered him as the person who bought kebab for her family at the flea market in Istanbul. Her first impression of him was a kind man despite the truth that he was a notorious womanizer. In her mind, he had turned into a Daddy Long Legs.


    Asking what kind of food Jongil liked, Fatima worried about what kind of food she should prepare for him. Fatima was also determined to y cupid for Jongil and Karajan when Youngho told her that Jongil liked Karajan. A little jealous of Jongil, that he always attracted girls everywhere he went, Youngho was worried that the troublemaker wasing to stay with him and the siblings.


    ***


    Youngho drove to the Baku train station on a Sunday evening to pick up Park Jongil who wasing from Tbilisi, Georgia. ¡®After travelling for fourteen hours on the train, he¡¯ll be exceedingly grumpy,¡¯ thought Youngho. Youngho¡¯s guess was proven correct; Jongil stepped out of the station drunk, murmuringints, ¡°The bathroom was just too dirty that I couldn¡¯t even wash myself.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be such a clean freak. You¡¯ve got to have a clean mind instead, man.¡±


    ¡°Clean mind what? What are you, a lecturer?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t cause any trouble until we get home, okay? Or I won¡¯t take you.¡±


    ¡°People would think I¡¯m a troublemaker. Anyway, I¡¯m starving. My stomach is aching since I drank with an empty stomach.¡±


    He must have had drunk out of boredom because he did not see any girls he liked on the train.


    ¡°I got Korean chopped noodles and kimchi at home, although the noodles are frozen.¡±


    ¡°Chopped noodles? They are the best! Tell Fatima to make them now.¡±


    ¡°We need at least thirty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thirty minutes? Did you move?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re going to the farm.¡±


    ¡°What farm?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my base in Baku. The CIA has invested in it too.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s like a safety house?¡±


    ¡°Something simr. It¡¯s a good cover for us to maintain rtionships with the officials here.¡±


    ¡°I see. Man, you have aplicated job.¡±


    Jongil, quick-witted as he was, understood the situation already and did not ask any more questions about the business and the CIA. He suddenly changed the subject.


    ¡°What about the siblings? Are they well? I knew you were a snoopy dude, but you really brought them here. You must need a lot of money to take care of them. If you need more, let your big bro know.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, man, but I¡¯m making enough in Baku. I even brought the employees to Seoul for training, you get it now?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re using all of your money. Do you even have any left for your future ns?¡±


    Even though Jongil was a womanizer and sometimes a troublemaker, he was a caring friend. Youngho smiled at his words since Jongil was worried about Youngho¡¯s future, but still, Youngho knew that he could never trust Jongil with women.


    As they stepped inside the management building, Fatima greeted them in Korean.


    ¡°Hello, oppa? Do you recognize me? I¡¯m Fatima.¡±


    Upon seeing Fatima, who greeted him in Korean, Jongil could not close his mouth.


    As he slurped on hot noodle soup, he sweated and looked like he was stunned. After muttering to himself, he finally asked, ¡°Is this the girl we met in Istanbul? I mean, did we really see each other in Istanbul?¡±


    Thinking of the tan-skinned, thin-as-a-stick girl whom he met in the flea market, he shook his head. The Fatima before him did not match the thin girl at the market. She was taller, more mature, and beautiful like a rose.


    Fatima replied, smiling, ¡°Yes. I am. You bought me lots of kebab that day.¡±


    Jongil had a child-like look on his face. He found it interesting that Fatima changed in an extremely dramatic way.


    Youngho hit Jongil¡¯s back and added, ¡°Do you think I¡¯d bring a wrong girl?¡±


    ¡°Youngho, now I know what you¡¯ve been up to. I have respect for you. Raise her well, and let me know when you¡¯re getting married.¡±


    It was Jongil¡¯s tendency to speak nonsense, so Youngho just ignored hisment.


    ¡°Stop saying b*llsh*t. Just go take a shower now, you crazy.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, you¡¯re a great guy. I¡¯ll serve you as my master from now on.¡±


    Youngho could not helpughing at Jongil¡¯s stupidity. The infamous womanizer Jongil looked at all women in a romantic way, and he was looking at Fatima and Youngho¡¯s rtionship in that way too. Youngho¡¯s head almost ached as he thought about how he would have to stand Jongil¡¯s nonsense for the next month.


    He was a guy who would even fly to Istanbul and sit at the flea market for days to find the second Fatima, or maybe he would go to a flea market in Baku, which was closer. In order to get rid of his nosiness, Youngho would have to find a girl for him, like Karajan. Youngho already felt dizzy as he thought about the next month with Jongil. Now that Jongil did not have anywhere to stay at the moment, Youngho picked up the phone. He was calling to see if Karajan was avable the next evening.

 Chapter 36

    <h4>Chapter 36: Mafias of Sumqayit (1)</h4>


    The farm, which had been quiet all winter, was animated with the appearance of Park Jongil. With his natural charisma, he had quickly developed a close camaraderie with Gerhardt¡¯s family, exchanging jokes with them all the time. He had been kissing up to Gerhardt¡¯s father, who was Karajan¡¯s uncle, in such an obvious way that it made Youngho cringe whenever he saw them together. In order to earn Karajan¡¯s affection, he was targeting her family. The Fatima siblings also favored him.


    His fun and na?ve character caused the farm to be filled withughter. His key strategy to pull everyone on his side was to make them smile. Within five days, he made everyone on the farm his friends, and now he started to flirt with the female employees in Youngho¡¯s stores. However, strangely he became stiff in front of Karajan. He seemed to be nervous in front of a person he really liked, which surprised Youngho as he witnessed his friend¡¯s new side.


    Jongil should have been an English Literature major instead of Youngho. His English, which was learned in barely over a year, was fluent enough for him to be considered a person who lived in a native country for a long time. He was even teaching English to the Fatima siblings now. Even though he stopped after Youngho¡¯s scolding, he was still a hopeless guy who was looking around to find the second Fatima. After Jongil came to the farm, Youngho experienced not-so-boring days. Although he was like a troublesome little brother, being with him felt reassuring. After all, he was a bodyguard and a current drill instructor with a great, well-built body; he even bragged that he had not been beaten up by anyone in his entire life.


    When Youngho introduced Jongil to the director, they became close like brothers in short time. Jongil was a people ma. Youngho thought of working with some of his friends, who were currently working as drill instructors for the militia, after they quit working for the militia, and Park Jongil was the perfect fit because his irresistible charisma could be a huge plus as a businessman.


    ***


    Sumqayit, an industrial city, was located thirty kilometers northwest of Baku. It was a distance of a thirty to forty minute drive for a roundtrip. Petroleum refineries and many different factories were crowdedly built, so much so that the environment was devastating enough to be called one of the most crowded ces in the world. The localborers were paid high, so the consumption rate was also high. In this city, Chunho Merchant¡¯s third direct store was finally opened. On a Saturday, they held a grand opening event and started the store¡¯s regr sales.


    Most people in Sumqayit usually shopped in Baku. When Chunho Merchant¡¯s store was opened in the region, it became the center of people¡¯s attention. The store was decorated to look ssy and high quality, just like other Baku¡¯s luxury stores. The local people already knew that the four-leaf clover design of Chunho Merchant¡¯sbel was well-known in Baku, and it quickly became popr.


    The store was the same size as Baku¡¯s direct store, which was about 3560 sq. ft. It had a little resting area where free Korean tea was served for its customers. In a week, the store became such a hot spot for the richdies of the town that all of them had visited the store at least once.


    The weekly sales added up to ten million won, which meant that it could rise up to forty million won of profit monthly. The profit for each clothing was 60% of its sales price. After deducting the rent fee, trade taxes, store maintenance fee, and employee payments, it would still leave fifteen million won as a profit. After hearing the amount of the profit, the director could not close his mouth in surprise. It was almost three times the wage of a regr government official.


    In a big city like Baku, newly opened stores were not noticeable, but in a city like Sumqayit, word spread fast. Now that people knew Chunho Merchant¡¯s store was increasing its sales, it became very popr to its customers and other uninvited guests. Youngho received an urgent call from Karajan.


    ¡°Boss, there were some visitors in the store. They wanted to see you, but the atmosphere was rather unusual.¡±


    ¡°Karajan, calm down and speak slowly. Why did they want to see me?¡±


    ¡°You know, it was just strange. They said they want to be a business partner and invest in this store.¡±


    At her words, Youngho shut his eyes, realizing that something he was worried about had finally happened.


    It could have been a mafia organization active in local small towns. There were various oil factories in Sumqayit. Because of an abundance of interest, mafias with huge funds invested in the legal oil industry. From the CIA, Youngho heard that the mafias that were arrested in Baku were only the tip of the iceberg, and the bigger mafias who were rted to the political sphere were still safe and active. Forcing their way into bing a business partner where the business was already established was their way to threaten themon businessmen. They would overtake the business after investing some of their money and finding any faults in the business system.


    Although the director said he would contact the police department in Sumqayit when Youngho called him, Youngho could not just trust policemen to take care of his business. He was considering making some agreements about his business with the mafias. Not because he did not have power, but because there an order among the local businesses, which outsiders did not know of. If he did not react carefully, it might also affect the stores in Baku, which were doing great. Mafias could bring trouble because they were obsessive over their targets. Youngho had to make a decision on whether he should make a business arrangement with them or not. He decided to meet them in person.


    If he did not bring some kind of conclusion to the mafias, they would keep bothering him and the customers in the stores. They might burn down Youngho¡¯s stores in the dark or scare his employees, so that they would not work for Youngho. There were so many risk factors for Youngho¡¯s businesses.


    ***


    Youngho went to his store in Sumqayit, taking Park Jongil with him. Having fifteen days of the break left, Jongil, who was getting bored at the moment, followed him excitedly at the thought of crushing them, even wanting to overtake their organization. Youngho regretted bringing him along. Even though Jongil was a smart guy, he was ill-tempered, so he might act recklessly in an unexpected circumstance. He would make the situation worse since the mafias could be a big problem if they became his enemy. Youngho nned to act carefully since he did not know what the mafias were up to just yet.


    The business card he received from Karajan belonged to Rodion, the manager of an oil manufacturer in Sumqayit. His name was the same as a main character¡¯s name from a Russian writer, Dostoevsky¡¯s Crime and Punishment. To Youngho¡¯s knowledge, the main character was a murderer. It could not possibly be his real name. Youngho thought that he probably was a psychopath with an evil character. It was already frustrating to meet this unknown guy with an unlikeable name.


    After setting up the contact location and time, Youngho ended up in a caf¨¦ with a shady and damp atmosphere. They seemed to have decided to use dirty tricks to intimidate Youngho by putting him in a dreary atmosphere in an unknown ce. Youngho smirked at their strategy. A giant guy with tattoos all over his face worked as a bartender. The caf¨¦ was full of unpleasant cigarette smoke, and the mixed smell of alcohol and foods, that Youngho frowned as soon as he stepped in. Even the floor was even muddy with water.


    However, Youngho was not intimidated by their strategy. Youngho thought about where to draw the line. He could just use force to drive them away from his stores, but it would be only a temporary solution. However, he could not give up his stores either. Youngho had to make them walk away on their own, but he could not think of a way. He nced at Jongil, who was standing next to him with his face just full of apetitive spirit. Knowing that his friend would not be the solution, Youngho decided to just face them for now.

 Chapter 37

    <h4>Chapter 37: Mafias of Sumqayit (2)</h4>


    The caf¨¦ was not so busy in the afternoon hours and only a few tables were filled with some men. They looked like mafias disguised as guests. Full of cigarette smoke, the room was not ventted well, so Youngho stayed near the open entrance door for a while. Even though the bartender yelled at Youngho to close the door to prevent heat from escaping, Youngho waited a little while to ventte the room before the door. Then he held the business card and yelled out the name on it, ¡°Rodion?¡± A man who was sitting at the inner side of the caf¨¦ raised his hand, inviting Youngho to his table.


    The bartender growled at Youngho passing by as if he wanted to threaten him. As Youngho passed by him, in the blink of an eye Jongil took him by his cor. The bartender was now wriggling to get out of Jongil¡¯s strong grip. When Jongil finally let go of him, he fell backward and the liquor shelves behind him broke with a crashing noise. Thinking it would cost him a lot, Youngho swore inwardly that he would make Jongil pay for the damage. However, because of Jongil, Youngho was not tense anymore. Because of Jongil¡¯s actions, Youngho could make a dramatic entrance. When two of them came in and made noise, the guys near Rodion¡¯s table looked disturbed.


    Youngho sat down opposite to Rodion, acting as if nothing happened. The guy stared at Youngho and Jongil, who sat down when he did not even ask for permission to sit down. The onlookers were stirred by Youngho and Jongil¡¯s behavior, since normal people would get scared as soon as they step foot into the caf¨¦, but Youngho and Jongil did not seem to be nervous at all.


    ¡°I am the CEO of Chunho Merchant clothing store. You said you wanted to be a business partner?¡±


    As Youngho spoke in Azerbaijani, the guy seemed to be surprised.


    ¡°You can speak in Azerbaijani?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not very fluent in Azerbaijani. I¡¯m morefortable speaking in English, Rodion.¡±


    Youngho called him by his first name to look tough¡ªhe did not want to respect him by calling him a mister.


    ¡°We can speak in English.¡±


    Rodion, who looked like he was in 40s, talked to Youngho with difort on his face. His pride was hurt by Youngho¡¯s actions.


    Rodion was a big guy with a big belly raised like a mountain. Youngho nicknamed him as ¡®the big belly¡¯ in his mind. He was a mid-ranked person in the mafia organization.


    Youngho spoke without hesitation, ¡°My store in Sumqayit is already doing so well. What part do you want to y as a business partner? If it is beneficial to me, I¡¯m willing to listen, Rodion.¡±


    Since Youngho and Jongil¡¯s actions were so bold, Rodion could not act mindlessly. Rodion answered him with a frown on his face, ¡°We¡¯re in the oil industry, and the business is bad these days. We wanted to do a clothing business, but we missed the chance because you guys started first. That¡¯s why we want to be business partners with you.¡±


    His English was not fluent, but Youngho could understand what he meant. Even though he said he wanted to be a business partner, he was almost threatening Youngho. He was saying that Youngho snatched the business opportunity that they had been nning on getting all along. It was ridiculous, but Youngho went on.


    ¡°So, how do you be a part of our business?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    He did not say anything when Youngho boldly spoke without a hint of looking scared.


    ¡°The clothing store in Sumqayit is not only mine. I have business partners who are government officials and I need to discuss with them too.¡±


    The big belly jerked at the mention of ¡®officials.¡¯ The mafias nned on taking over the business by threatening Youngho, but he had not expected that officials were involved in the business.


    Mafias did not get involved with officials usually but only dealt withmon people who had no power.


    ¡°Stop trying to lie. Have you thought about the consequences?¡±


    ¡°You know, I have no reason to lie; and even if I do, I don¡¯t have a reason to get scared of you.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    He did not speak for a while, seeming as if he had no words to fight back.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know who we are?¡±


    Now that he was threatening Youngho, he changed his attitude. In the beginning, he disguised himself as part of the oil industry, but now he was intimidating Youngho with his position. Youngho already knew that he was a part of the mafia, but he did not say anything.


    ¡°You introduced yourself as an oil manufacturerpany, and now you want me to find out who you are? Are you threatening me?¡±


    ¡°We own the night in Sumqayit. Don¡¯t you think cooperating with us will be good for you too?¡±


    Youngho smirked at him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t do business at night. I just run a clothing business. Can you exin why I have to fear the night?¡±


    ¡°You have no idea.¡±


    Youngho raised his voice at Rodion¡¯sst words, wishing that his words could be delivered to the higher order in the mafia group.


    ¡°What about you? Do you know who I am? You have no idea which officials of Baku I am working with. I can shut down this clothing store any time I want, but I can make you stop doing businesses in here for good.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°I would have agreed if you asked to get paid in exchange for guarding the store at nights, but you are just a gangster who is threatening me to share my business. Are you out of your mind?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    The big belly fell quiet and sighed to himself. He was being threatened by Youngho instead of him threatening Youngho. He looked as if he was in a shock that an unexpected thing happened to him, a mafia.


    ***


    Ignoring the big belly in front of him, Youngho called the director right away and told him in a loud voice that someone from the mafia was threatening him.


    The big belly¡¯s face changed weirdly after hearing Youngho¡¯s phone call.


    ¡°Hey, Rodion. Who¡¯s your boss who directed this to you? I¡¯d like to let him know that if he wants to be an enemy, he will be an enemy of the government too. Call him now. Tell him I¡¯d like to see him.¡±


    ¡°Uh, oh....¡±


    He realized that things were not going ording to n. Youngho¡¯s indifferent mention of mafias and his calm attitude were overwhelming him.


    Jongil, who was sitting next to Youngho and listening to their conversation, took out his Beretta pistol and disassembled it with narrowed eyes.


    He disassembled and assembled the gun in a sh, naturally putting it back in his front pocket and shrugging to himself as if it was nothing for him. This was only possible for a trained person who used it countless times. He was bold enough to ignore all other people in the caf¨¦, took out the gun, and showed off his skill. Even mafias would not do that in the daylight.


    His actions held a deep message: that he was in a position to legally have guns in the daylight and he was someone to watch out for. The big belly with a chubby face rolled his eyes. His pupils were almost buried under his fat that they were almost too hard to see. Leaving the caf¨¦, Youngho warned him that they would not be able to do business again in Sumqayit if they bothered him again


    Stepping out of the caf¨¦, Youngho pped Jongil¡¯s back, making a loud sound.


    ¡°Man, that hurts! I already know what I did. You don¡¯t have to beat me up.¡±


    ¡°Why did you take out the gun and put on a show? They¡¯d think we are Asian mafias.¡±


    Even after Youngho¡¯s scolding, Jongil sounded proud of himself.


    ¡°I was patient enough. I waited, waited, and waited and held myself. If they¡¯d made more moves, you¡¯d find them deep under the Caspian Sea with their ankles chained to an iron ingot.¡±


    Jongil was a guy who would actually do as he said. Although he looked like a normal person, if someone was caught in his radar, that person would face death or at least be deformed.


    ¡°Watch your mouth. You are so dead if you say that in front of the siblings.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not crazy. I won¡¯t say that.... Okay.¡±


    Feeling Youngho¡¯s deadly gaze, he stopped speaking. Youngho thought it was a good timing to warn him since Zeynep started to act like Jongil and repeated his wordstely.


    When Youngho went back to the store, Karajan, who was waiting for him impatiently, greeted him.


    ¡°Boss, were they mafias for real?¡±


    Karajan, who had been nervous all along, looked surprised when Youngho and Jongil stepped inside joking.


    ¡°They were just petty racketeers. Mr. Park saved me today. We took care of some of them and made sure that they¡¯d note back again.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Karajan looked at Jongil differently.


    ¡°Oh my! Mr. Park must be skillful.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Karajan, you haven¡¯t realized that yet? Mr. Park can subdue three to four guys easily. He used to work as a team leader of a famous bodyguardpany in Korea.¡±


    Karajan smiled at Jongil as never before.


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never heard that before.¡±


    ¡°Man, you need to start bragging about yourself. Girls in Baku like strong men.¡±


    When Youngho ttered him suddenly, Jongil did not know what to say. Instead, he stared at Youngho for not telling him ahead so he could prepare what to say to Karajan. Embarrassed, Jongil did not know what to do in front of Karajan who was looking at Jongil gently as if she was impressed.


    Karajan had only known Jongil as a worker in Istanbul who looked after the clearance process for Chunho Merchant, but now, after hearing that he was strong enough to take over some mafias, he looked different. However, if she knew that Jongil was a drill instructor of the Armenian militia, Karajan would never converse with him.


    Youngho could evade the mafias¡¯ threat today, but mafias would not let go of their prey so easily. They would find a way to take over his business in any way, which made Youngho worried. He felt ufortable putting them in a belligerent position against him.

 Chapter 38

    <h4>Chapter 38: Mafias of Sumqayit (3)</h4>


    There is a proverb: ¡®When fortune knocks upon the door, open it widely.¡¯ Applying it to Jongil, Youngho decided to keep supporting Jongil when Karajan seemed to also be interested in him. Jongil needed to be matched with a woman for him to stop looking for the second Fatima. When they returned to Baku, Youngho asked Karajan to show Jongil around as a sign of appreciation for today. Jongil, leaping with joy in his mind, followed her.


    That night, Jongil even received a ride to the farm from Karajan, making a fuss as he stepped onto the porch.


    ¡°Youngho, I¡¯ll admit that you are ahead of me. You¡¯ve found Fatima too, and now Karajan. You are officially my master.¡±


    ¡®He always speaks of Fatima whenever he can,¡¯ thought Youngho.


    ¡°Did Karajan say she wanted to see you more?¡±


    ¡°You are such an expert. I know why you are so great.¡±


    ¡°Stop bbering. I¡¯m asking if things are working out.¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s into me. She said my English is pretty great and asked me if I¡¯ve lived in foreign countries for long, so I told her I did. I couldn¡¯t say that I learned in Armenia though. When you speak to her, say the same thing, okay? If you mess up, you¡¯ll be dead.¡±


    Jongil was in good spirits. Youngho thought he could take care of himself with Karajan for now.


    ¡°You sly dude. If it works out with Karajan, it¡¯s all because of me.¡±


    Jongil seemed confident after today¡¯s date. He wore satisfaction on his face. Youngho cringed looking at his expression.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go near the flea market anymore. You¡¯ve been just purely embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°I have Karajan now, why would I go there?¡±


    ¡°Haha.... Please keep your word.¡±


    It looked like Karajan held his arm or something. He would not look this happy if something did not happen between them.


    ¡°Youngho, what does Karajan like? I¡¯ve got to push it now.¡±


    ¡°Stop it. Karajan is not someone who¡¯d be shaken by gifts. Just be sincere to her. Don¡¯t approach her in the Korean way.¡±


    ¡°What? Gifting is sincerity. Who¡¯d give gifts as a lie?¡±


    ¡°You would.¡±


    Jongil gave bogus bags that he bought in Itaewon* to every girlfriend he met back in Korea. Youngho knew all of Jongil¡¯s past, and Jongil was tantly lying in front of Youngho.


    ¡°You need to help me all the way. She must like something. Tell me now.¡±


    Hearing their conversation, Fatima approached them with a smile on her face.


    ¡°Jongil-oppa, do you want to know what Karajan likes?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Fatima. You¡¯re the only one. My only friend here is not telling me anything.¡±


    ¡°Karajan is into bowling these days. She goes to y bowling every weekend.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Hahaha, Youngho, I know what to do now. I¡¯m a bowling master. I even have trophies from bowlingpetitions. Thanks, Fatima! You are an angel and he is a devil.¡±


    Jongil was excited to find out more about Karajan.


    ¡°Just go take a shower, you maniac.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t look for me during the weekend, okay? I¡¯ll be super busy.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s idle remarks made everyone in the farmugh.


    Zeynep, not even understanding what bowling was, nagged at Jongil to teach her how to bowl. Jongil tried to dissuade her by saying that she should not interrupt his love business. Even with the noise, Szechenyi only quietly smiled and opened a book called, ¡®First Step of Korean.¡¯


    Szechenyi became even more mature after returning from Korea. As if he felt something from the Korean trip, he became passionate about learning Korean. He must have thought that Korea was the richest country. It was understandable since he lived in the slums in Istanbul and the only ces he had been were Istanbul, Baku, and Seoul. After visiting Korea, he seemed to have a broader outlook on his life. He started asking about how to do business well and what he needed to learn to be a businessman. He looked determined. Youngho could not help smiling at his passion.


    Youngho had been teaching him defensive tactics and gun shooting, and trained him with the leather shoes. Even though he was trained with high intensity, he did notin at all, which warmed Youngho¡¯s heart.


    Szechenyi¡¯s vision was specially developed, to the point that that he anticipated and defended against Youngho¡¯s every move when sparring. Youngho also asked Jongil to teach him some martial arts skills. Jongil even shook his head at Szechenyi¡¯s skills, saying that he was like a monster. His senses were special. Youngho did not know how this training would affect Szechenyi¡¯s life in the future, but his philosophy was that a man should be able to defend himself. Even though it sometimes made Youngho sorry for Szechenyi, Youngho kept training him.


    ***


    It snowed in Baku. Although Baku¡¯s yearly precipitation was only about 200mm, the rainy season spanned from October to March, and it rained or snowed 30mm each month on average. The winter¡¯s temperature hardly went below 32 degrees in Fahrenheit, but it was still cold after snowing just like other ces. It had snowed sometimes, but they were notparable to the snow this time. The snow piled up to the ankles, and as the weather got colder, the road turned icy.


    Because of theck of snow removal system, the city of Baku was frozen. The snow had melted during the daytime and had frozen again due to harsh winds The road looked like a parking lot with all the cars stuck in ce. Because of the outrageous winds, it actually felt like Youngho was in the fields in Siberia.


    Youngho closed his stores, since the city was all closed down. The city had many hillside roads that many cars could not drive on. Thinking about how much money he could make when he sold potassium chloride from Korea in here, Youngho left his store with Park Jongil.


    Even with chained tires, he had a hard time driving to the farm with the car¡¯s wheels slipping on the ice. As soon as he got to the farm, he instructed Karajan to announce that the store would be temporarily closed for the next two days due to the snow. Karajan insisted in opening the store since she lived near downtown, but Youngho could only stop her after browbeating her, saying that there would be no customers at all and she could go work out by herself if she was bored.


    In the farm, the Fatima siblings and Gerhardt¡¯s children were ying outside to make snowmen. Youngho and Jongil even joined them in a snow fight against each other¡¯s team. They yed as if they had returned to their childhood, being chased and chasing after each other. Zeynepined that her snowballs would not fly far. Zeynep ran after Jongil when she was hit by his snowball and all the children joined her and knocked down Jongil and covered him in snow.


    At the same time, Fatima was also chasing Youngho. After catching him, she tried to put snow in his shirt from the back of his neck, but she slipped and fell on top of Youngho. Embarrassed to feel Fatima¡¯s chest upon him, Youngho got up and calmed himself down. Fatima did not seem to notice him. Jongil, who caught the scene between the two, did not let it pass.


    ¡°You guys, get a room! I can¡¯t even have fun because of the snow but you two are hugging each other openly.¡±


    When Youngho stared at him, he walked away toward the other children.


    Only having a week of his break left, Jongil keptining that his love business was hindered by the weather. So, Youngho encouraged Jongil by inviting him to go deer hunting in the mountain behind the farm, which got Jongil excited. He surely acted like a little brother. Youngho had nned on hanging out with Jongil before his break was almost over. Youngho was thankful for Jongil¡¯s friendship, since he came to a foreign country to work at Youngho¡¯s call. Youngho was lonely too, and Jongil¡¯s existence was a greatfort for him. They always looked like they were bickering with each other, but it was a way to show off their friendship.


    When Youngho and Cho Sangchun first opened Chunho Merchant, Jongil was the one who came to help when needed and bought them food and alcohol since the business did not do well until very recently. They were still poor. They could not pay off the monthly rents for their office and they lived off debts. During those hard times, Jongil helped them out with the small wage that he earned from working at a bodyguardpany. Even though he was a good friend of Youngho, Yunsuh still had a grudge against him after he had a bad breakup with Yunsuh¡¯s friend whom Yunsuh introduced after Jongil¡¯s continuous requests. Jongil¡¯s problem was his consistent womanizing. He tried to make excuses about the breakup, saying that it did not end badly. After a week, he would go back to Nagorno-Karabakh, and Youngho would not be able to see him as often. So, in order to make a special event for his friend, Youngho had suggested going deer hunting.


    The next day, three men with each a rifle on their shoulder, went up to the mountain. Jongil, who saw what was in the safe room, made a fuss, asking if Youngho would be waging a war soon. Youngho just made an excuse that he took them from the mafias. To Youngho¡¯s surprise, Jongil¡¯s reaction was positive. He said that it was better to have more weapons and especially heavy firearms, and he also said that they should make the farm a base when a war broke out. Youngho was afraid that what he said might reallye true.


    Even after eating the lunch they brought, the three men did not catch a single dove. Jongil, who had invited Karajan for a deer meat party tonight when leaving the farm, was getting frustrated, but deer still did not show up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it would be dangerous for Karajan to drive on the icy road when shees to the farm?¡±


    Younghoughed at Jongil¡¯s panic as he worried about Karajan. He surely had a bad crush on Karajan and Youngho hoped that it wouldst for long this time. If he ended up quitting soon after he dated her, Youngho was determined to drag him down before Karajan. If Jongil ended up badly with Karajan, it would affect Youngho¡¯s business since she was the main employee.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about her, I gave her snow chains for her tires and taught her how to use them. She practiced twice with me already.¡±


    ¡°Man, I shouldn¡¯t have called her in the morning. Dude! You said there were deer. Have you even seen it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush it. You think I lied? Ask Gerhardt. He said, the half of the mountain is deer and the other half is woods.¡±


    Gerhardt jerked at Youngho¡¯s words. Even though he had seen many deer in the mountain, he still felt guilty that they were not seeing any today. Not noticing that, Jongil kept onining.


    ¡°Where are they anyway?¡±


    After wandering around in the mountain for a while, Jongil suddenly stopped and raised his hand.


    *Itaewon ¨C a region of Seoul, Korea, known as Western town


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 Chapter 39

    <h4>Chapter 39: Mafias of Sumqayit (4)</h4>


    An elk the size of a horse was looking for grass about thirty meters ahead. Youngho had never seen a deer this big before. It had the aura of a carnivorous animal rather than an herbivore. It was a breed that only lived around Northern Europe, and it also lived around thekes scattered in the alpine regions of Caucasus Mountains. It liked to roam around alone. Its antlers were as wide as a big bucket stretched out to each side, giving an overwhelming intimidation. This elk had such strong kicks that even the wolves would not dare attack it carelessly.


    Thirty meters was a distance in which Youngho and Jongil could shoot it easily. However, Youngho chose to leave it to Jongil since he wanted to make a chance for Jongil to brag to Karajan and the farm family. With a ¡®bang!¡¯ the elk was knocked over. With his skillful shooting, Jongil got him through his neck at one shot.


    The length of the elk lying on the ground was at least two meters. His weight was more than 500 kilograms. The three men could not carry him down the mountain, so they gutted it on the spot. Gerhardtined that they were throwing out delicious parts, but the elk was too heavy for them to carry to the farm, which two kilometers away.


    The spot where they hunted the elk was halfway up the mountain and thankfully they could drag its body down the slope like a sledge. Gerhardt put back some of the guts back in his backpack with a smile. He said that everyone should at least try a little bit of the meat part.


    They reached the farm after two hours of dragging the elk down the mountain. Everyone was amazed by its big size and its huge antlers. Gerhardt cut its head off, saying that he would stuff it and put it on his wall.


    Just in time, Karajan and her family arrived at the farm. Jongil became quiet as he greeted them. He looked like a groom who was getting married soon. Karajan¡¯s family was impressed by Jongil even though they did not like his butchering skills, but they let it pass considering that he was a foreigner. It was unusual for Koreans to butcher an animal unless they were farmers. However, in Azerbaijan, ughtering cattle was natural, and sometimes a man¡¯s ability to take care of his family was examined by how well they butchered animals.


    They put the leg parts first on the prepared grill and lit the fire on the charcoal. Their table was already full of alcohol. Including Karajan¡¯s family, there were sixteen people on the farm. They sat around the grill and waited for the meat to be fully cooked. The men were sharing drinks already.


    Park Jongil put a big parka on Karajan¡¯s shoulders to keep her warm. Her parents were looking at them with satisfaction. They seemed to have given a passing score for Jongil now.


    They liked the fact that he was from Korea, which was considered a developed country in Azerbaijan, and because he was a friend and a business partner of Youngho, they trusted him even more. They were very impressed when Karajan told them that Jongil was a trained bodyguard who was strong enough to beat mafias. On top of that, Karajan¡¯s little sisters loved him for his tall height and good-looking face. It was Jongil¡¯s day. He wasplimented for hunting the elk for tonight.


    Karajan seemed to fall head over heels for Jongil after hearing Jongil¡¯s singing voice. When people were getting drunk, they requested Jongil and Youngho to sing Korean songs. Jongil, who was a great singer, sang Korean songs, and Karajan was helpless before his amazing voice.


    Karajan and her sisters also showed off their traditional dance skills in return for his song, which made Jongil smile ear to ear. Dancing in front of Jongil, Karajan was beautiful and charming. She always seemed sassy and bossy, but she was showing another side of her that night. Everyone was going to stay at the farm for the night, so they were not hesitant to get drunk.


    ***


    While taking a shower aftering up to his bedroom, a mysterious vigor wrapped around Youngho and he became sober in an instant. It was the ring¡¯s power. Youngho did not know what it was, but he intuitively realized that ring was signalling that there was danger nearby. It was the first time the ring recovered his body condition quickly in a moment. Youngho hurried and came out of the bathroom.


    After getting dressed and putting his Beretta in his front pocket, he knocked on Jongil¡¯s bedroom door. Even though Jongil was pretty drunk, he answered right away, ¡°Is it Youngho?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. I think we have visitors in the farm. I don¡¯t feel good, soe with me quickly.¡±


    ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll be out soon.¡±


    Jongil sensed the seriousness in Youngho¡¯s voice. Because they wererades trained together in a Special Forces unit, they could tell the level of seriousness in each other¡¯s voices. Jongil came out without anyints.


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°I just know it. I¡¯ll exinter.¡±


    In the past when they were training in the UDT special unit, there was a time when Youngho and Jongil¡¯s team had to endure harsh storms in the sewers. Other teams had failed their mission by giving up and crawling out from the sewers in the middle of the mission due to the storm. However, only Youngho and Jongil¡¯s team could survive until the mission was aplished due to Youngho and Jongil¡¯s quick judgment. The team was rewarded with a day off. The two were a greatbination from back then and even now.


    They went down to the safe room in the basement and took out AK rifles and ammunition. Jongil¡¯s eyes were as fierce as a savage beast¡¯s. Youngho brushed down his chest with his hand and Jongil repeated his behavior with a smile. It was a sign between them, which meant ¡®calm and ready.¡¯ Trusting each other¡¯s senses, they went out of the building.


    Even though it was a waning moon, they could see outside rather easily due to the piled up snow that reflected the moonlight. They swiftly moved in the shadows of the farm, trying to figure out who the uninvited visitors were. The intruders did not notice their existence just yet due to Youngho¡¯s and Jongil¡¯s subtle movements. Youngho and Jongil could hear the intruders¡¯ steps which were rather bold and loud. They must be thinking that the farm was defenseless. There were three of them. As he was trained before, Youngho tapped the butt of his rifle a few times to signal Jongil about the intruders¡¯ location and number. Youngho was sending Morse code to Jongil who was a little further away from him.


    An American inventor Samuel Morse developed Morse code in 1835. The code was widely used by people around the world until half a century ago. Even though it disappeared with the development ofmunication technologies, it was still widely used for military purposes. Remembering their training from UDT, Youngho and Jongil systematically acted as a team. They slowly approached the intruders.


    Because the intruders acted so boldly, they gave an impression of an experienced group, or they could be underestimating Youngho¡¯s farm. The intruders were walking from the gate toward the grape storage unit which was about 300 meters away. And at the distance of fifty meters from the grape storage unit, there was the Gerhardts¡¯ house and the management building, where Youngho and the gang stayed.


    They had to take care of the intruders before they reached the management building. Of all the days, they chose tonight to attack the farm when Karajan¡¯s family stayed there. Jongil was upset about the possibility that her parents might not allow her to date him because of the dangers following Youngho and Jongil. He wanted to finish this before anyone could find out.


    They hid next to the equipment storage and raided the strangers. They each took one down as they walked past them, and thest one who came behind got knocked over by Jongil¡¯s kick when it hit his temple. It happened so quickly that the intruders did not have time to counter them. Youngho and Jongil unarmed them quickly and put them in a storage by threatening them at gunpoint. Then, they tied them together.


    They looked stunned in disbelief. They scowled at the two, but soon they became quiet after Jongil pped their faces a few times.


    They were heavily armed when they arrived at the farm. They must havee to kill everyone on the farm. Otherwise, there was no reason for them to bring so many weapons. They had night vision goggles, radio transceivers, Dragunov sniper rifles, pistols, and knives, although they were caught before they could even use them.


    Youngho was shocked and furious because someone was targeting Youngho with an intention to murder him and the people rted to him. Youngho realized that he had reached a point of no return already. Even though he could find out who was behind the attack only after interrogating the intruders, it was obvious that they were the mafias of Sumqayit. Now, the battle had already begun between the two sides.


    ============================================================


    **Important Announcement**


    Hi readers!


    Thank you for your support of the novel.


    I was told to announce this in advance: This novel will join Premium soon orter once it reaches Chapter 40. 40 is not the exact number, and I¡¯m not sure exactly on which chapter it will join Premium. It really depends on . Thank you for keep supporting. Happy reading!

 Chapter 40

    <h4>Chapter 40: Park Jongil¡¯s Decision (1)</h4>


    ¡°Niki, this is Lee Youngho. Your henchmen are under my custody. I assume you have a lot to say?¡±


    After Youngho and Jongil¡¯s interrogation, the intruders slipped their boss¡¯ name. He should know who was calling him at this time.


    ¡°Who are you? That¡¯s a name I¡¯ve never heard of. You must have the wrong number. My men are in Sumqayit.¡±


    Startled by Youngho¡¯s call, he was letting out the truth by saying where he belonged. He did not deserve to be their boss, since he did not care about his men.


    ¡°Oh yeah? You surely didn¡¯t send your men to Baku. All right, I get it. I¡¯ll make sure your ce bes like a beehive the first thing in the morning. Just wait.¡±


    Youngho hung up after threatening him with harsh words.


    After a while, Niki, who was now widely awake with Youngho¡¯s phone call, called back to his henchman¡¯s phone.


    ¡°I think there is a misunderstanding. Are my men well?¡±


    His voice was shaking a little bit with nervousness.


    ¡°I don¡¯t take people¡¯s lives easily even if they are my enemies, Niki.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Let me remind you: You just opened a can of worms. I was trained in a Navy Special Forces unit. We are at war from now on. Your boss is Sergey of Volgograd? Tell him that things will get interesting starting tomorrow.¡±


    Youngho had already figured out that the Sumqayit mafias were a line of the Southern Russian mafias from Edward¡¯s email. He had even studied the list of their leading members¡¯ names.


    ¡°It¡¯s a misunderstanding, Mr. Lee. My men acted out on their own.¡±


    ¡°I know that you and Rodion are working together. You¡¯ve chosen the wrong guy, idiot.¡±


    After hanging up, Youngho and Jongil beat the intruders as much as they wanted. With swollen and bruised faces, they opened their mouths and told them whatever they knew. Youngho did not beat them because he wanted to torment them¡ªit was because that they came with the intent to kill. They must be used to killing people, and he could not stand the thought of how many people they had killed in the past. Youngho crushed their index fingers, so that they could never use guns again.


    Sergey, who was third in order of the Sumqayit mafias, called Youngho in two hours but Youngho hung up only after saying, ¡°Watch your back in the dark.¡±


    rmed, Sergey tried to figure out how to settle things with Youngho since his snipers were no use in front of Youngho.


    ***


    The next day, Youngho did not turn in the three intruders, who were more like ¡®patients¡¯ now, to the police just yet to give the mafias some time to think. Youngho thought about the incident overnight and decided that if they came up with a settlement he would take it willingly. He did not want to stay alert every night fighting against the mafias.


    However, if they still could not make an agreement with Youngho, he was willing to wage war against them. He would use all of his resources to root them out of the city. Even without anyone¡¯s help, Youngho was confident since he trusted the power of the ring and the leather shoes.


    At two o¡¯clock in the afternoon, Youngho received a call.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I heard that you did not turn in my men to the police. Does this mean that you are now ready to have a talk?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just still wrecking my anger on your men. Wait and see what I¡¯m going to do.¡±


    He was startled by Youngho¡¯s different reaction. Rather than trying toe to an agreement, Youngho was threatening him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, since none of your people are hurt, let¡¯s meet and talk.¡±


    ¡°Sergey, I will be closing Baku¡¯s stores. Instead of working, I¡¯ll prepare a war against you. I¡¯ll bring my friends from the Special Forces unit from Korea just for you. Now, get lost.¡±


    Youngho made up words that he did not mean at all. He was provoking the mafia to so that he would not get looked down on. If Sergey took his words for real, he would be in trouble, but Youngho was acting ording to his judgment.


    ¡°Wait, Mr. Lee. Let me say one word. If you help me a little, I will pay you the deserved amount.¡±


    Getting cold feet from Youngho¡¯s consistent attitude, Sergey made an offer.


    ¡°You guys threatened me and my friends. Do you think I can trust you?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, Niki has been eliminated among us already. I admit that it was my men¡¯s mistake.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we paid for our mistake, so why don¡¯t we meet in person and talk business?¡±


    Youngho did not say any more to Sergey¡¯s honest words. It seemed that they did their part by eliminating Niki.


    ¡°All right, then. Get rid of Rodion of Sumqayit too since he caused all this in the beginning. Then, I¡¯ll talk.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do that. I¡¯m d that now we are on the same page.¡±


    ¡°If you are going to send more men, I¡¯m fine with it. Just remember that I will get even with you. You¡¯ll know who I am when youe to Baku.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, this incident is not rted to the higher ranks in our organization. Our men¡¯s stupidity caused all this.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, don¡¯t act like a gentleman here. I know how mafias are like.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯ll visit your farm tonight.¡±


    Youngho wanted to finish this at this point. If they would not give him any assurance, he would punish them using the mystical power of the leather shoes. They could not freely hustle around in Baku as they did in Sumqayit, but if they did, Youngho was ready to pressure the press and government officials if needed. He nned thisst night after hearing that the mafias were involved in the oil manufacturing near Caspian Sea, which meant that the mafias were rted to government officials as well.


    When Youngho was deep in thought after the phone call, Jongil delivered shocking news.


    ¡°Youngho, I¡¯m going to quit the drill instructor job after the break. I¡¯m just too worried about your dangerous business. You won¡¯t go back to Korea even if I ask you toe with me. So, I¡¯ll just stay with you instead. Just feed me my friend.¡±


    As he spoke, he was trembling with determination. Looking at his face, Youngho could not reject his offer.


    ¡°Jongil, I¡¯m not scared of them. I just acted tough to make a strong impression.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, dude. You¡¯ve been earning money by risking your life. You know me, so don¡¯t reject my offer.¡±


    Jongil would not budge since he had made a decision.


    ¡°Man, you make me cry.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. I heard this from Gerhardt. You were risking your life all along and you never told your friend? Are we really friends?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s face showed mixed emotions.


    He had followed Youngho from Korea. Seeing Youngho struggle this way, Jongil was sorry, but he even felt somewhat betrayed because his most trusted friend Youngho did not share any of his hardships with him. Jongil was a tough guy, but he had some tender sides to him.


    ¡°Sorry man. These kinds of things usually happen, so I didn¡¯t think it was a big deal.¡±


    ¡°You crazy dolt. You¡¯ve dragged everyone near you into danger. Are you just going to let it pass like this?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be the Director of Security of Chunho Merchant stores in Baku. I¡¯m just going to do it even if you don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Youngho did not speak anymore. He was thankful for his loyal friend Jongil and his decision.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll talk to Edward, so don¡¯t get upset. Okay?¡± Youngho said as he patted Jongil¡¯s shoulder.


    ***


    Late at night, two Benz Sedan cars slowly drove in from the farm gates. It was Sergey¡¯spany. One of the cars took the three intruders who were all beaten up and disappeared into the dark. Now, there were only Sergey and his two guards. Youngho invited them into the office on the first floor of the management building. Meanwhile, the Fatima siblings were watching TV on the second floor.


    ¡°I already introduced myself on the phone, but I¡¯ll introduce myself again. I am Sergey Koussevitzky.¡±


    ¡°Lee Youngho, here. This is my friend and business partner.¡±


    Sergey looked like he was in mid-thirties and did not seem to be an action-taker in the group. He rather looked like the brain. Youngho did not want to waste his time talking with a low-ranker in the organization. To make sure that he was speaking to a person in power, he asked,


    ¡°Are you sure you were entrusted with full powers for our business?¡±


    ============================================================


    **Important Announcement**


    Hi readers!


    Thank you for your support of the novel.


    I was told to announce this in advance: This novel will join Premium soon orter once it reaches Chapter 40. 40 is not the exact number, and I¡¯m not sure exactly on which chapter it will join Premium. It really depends on . Thank you for keep supporting. Happy reading!

 Chapter 41

    <h4>Chapter 41: Park Jongil¡¯s Decision (2)</h4>


    ¡°Yes, I am fully entrusted to do business with you. I apologize for our men¡¯s reckless behavior on behalf of my boss. My boss even regretted that he cannot run normal businesses because of his stupid henchmen.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°We recently invested in the oil development business. We are a legal business partner of the Azerbaijani government. We don¡¯t want to antagonize the government because of the bad blood between us.¡±


    Sergey was a calm and polite man. His mafia organization must have been putting a lot of efforts into starting the oil development business with the government.


    ¡°An organization of such big businesses sent assassins only to take over a clothing store? You must be hiding something from me.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Did you want to take over everything from me including the farm? I hope I¡¯m wrong.¡±


    Still furious at them, Youngho could not reciprocate his politeness.


    ¡°If my apology was not enough, I apologize again. Our organization is a massive one and it¡¯s difficult to have absolute control over the smallest groups. It turns out that the men in Sumqayit impulsively acted out without reporting to their superiors.¡±


    Sergey¡¯s did not seem to be lying.


    ¡°If you are speaking the truth, you should check what your uncontroble men are up to.¡±


    ¡°...We are trying to keep our men away from engaging in illegal stuff. Now that we are expanding our horizons as a legal business group, we are being extra careful. It¡¯s been a hard to control the members who are used to their old lifestyle.¡±


    Sergey did not have an attitude of arrogance, nor did he try to threaten him by force. Sergey surely came to negotiate with Youngho.


    ¡°I am a foreign investor doing legal businesses in Baku, and I have nothing rted to you. If you want to take over my business, do it properly by buying it out with your abundant amount of funds.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you are mistaken. If you forgive our men¡¯s behavior, we¡¯d like to be your proper business partner and support your business.¡±


    ¡°Your organization only wants to make big profits in exchange for a small investment.¡±


    Having been patient all along, Sergey¡¯s face was turning red with agitation. At the same time, one of the bodyguards next to him moved.


    However, he fell soon after he moved his body. Park Jongil had struck him with a lethal move. The guard was unconscious on the floor, showing only the whites of his eyes. It was strong enough to be deadly, but luckily he was not killed. Jongil, who had been patiently listening to the conversation all along, weely made a move as soon as he saw the guy move. Youngho instantaneously stopped him.


    Sergey also kept his other bodyguard at bay with his arm.


    ¡°I knew it. You people always use your force to solve every problem.¡±


    Embarrassed, Sergey apologized right away, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my bodyguard¡¯s impulsive behavior.¡±


    Ignoring his remark, Youngho spoke, ¡°I¡¯m going to involve every government official, politician, and press I know to destroy your group. You must have more to lose than me. I¡¯m personally dering war against you.¡±


    Sergey rushed and tried to stop Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we admit our fault. Let¡¯s talk it out.¡±


    ¡°And tell Yaniv that I¡¯ll send a gift to him soon. You may leave now.¡±


    Sergey became pale upon realizing that Youngho was serious. His boss¡¯s name was unknown to many, but Youngho had mentioned it.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, please wait! I¡¯ll call my boss right now. You can talk to him.¡±


    Not being able to talk it out with Youngho, Sergey called his boss and talked for a while in Russian. After five minutes, he handed the phone to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. The boss wants to directly talk to you.¡±


    Sergey¡¯s expression lookedplicated.


    Youngho did not wait, so as soon as he took the phone, he spoke, ¡°Mr. Yaniv? I¡¯m Lee Youngho. I assume you¡¯ve already heard about it, but your men provoked all this. I¡¯m telling you that what I¡¯m going to do from now on is just to defend myself.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I know you¡¯re upset. I¡¯m sorry on behalf of our men. I¡¯d like to maintain a good rtionship with you. How about we help each other from now on?¡±


    Yaniv, the boss of a mafia organization did not fear Youngho, but he feared that the oil business would be affected by this. He continued, ¡°I received a call a few days ago from the higher authorities. They said that we should maintain a cooperative rtionship with you.¡±


    The Director of Main Police Department must have moved other politicians to protect Youngho. As Youngho had guessed, the mafias were rted to politicians.


    ¡°All right. However, I¡¯m only going to be cooperative if you give me a strong assurance.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Mr. Lee. Why don¡¯t we talk about it in person and have a drink together in a few days?¡±


    ¡°Okay. If I¡¯ve been rude, please forgive me for not controlling my emotions.¡±


    Youngho did not want any war against the mafias. He acted unruly because he knew that the mafias feared ruining their rtionship with the government. They had invested a lot of funds in oil development. However, they still did not make any profits because they could not find any oil until now. If they were eliminated from the business, they would lose a tremendous amount of funds.


    Sergey¡¯s bodyguard woke up and seemed to be wondering why he was on the floor. Sergey apologized politely again and disappeared from the farm, taking his men with him. As a friendly gesture, he left all of the weapons that his intruders brought to the farm a while ago.


    New weapons were added to the safe room collection in the farm: Russian Dragunov sniper rifles, night vision goggles, and radio transmitters, with three of each. Youngho and Jongil got excited like boys with new toys after seeing that the guns were equipped with silencers. Although Youngho had suffered for the incident with the mafias, he felt rewarded to receive those weapons. Like elementary students ying war, they nned on adding more security men and security systems in the farm, pointing at each ce in the map of the ce.


    After a long call with Edward, Youngho adopted aplicated look on his face. Edward suggested assigning Jongil as a CIA special field agent since he wanted to leave the militia. He even added that Youngho needed a backup agent who could help in Baku anyway, and Jongil was a great match for the job. Jongil was a highly trained and intelligent person who could speak English. Needing a backup agent meant Youngho¡¯s role in Baku was important. Edward asked Youngho to convince Jongil and hung up.


    Even though Youngho wanted Jongil stay with him since long ago, he was still reluctant to make him an agent. It was a dangerous job with no way out. As a field agent, Jongil would have to go to any ce, with the probability of even risking his life if he was appointed by the CIA. Youngho¡¯s head hurt over agonizing on behalf of Jongil.

 Chapter 42

    <h4>Chapter 42: Park Jongil¡¯s Decision (3)</h4>


    Jongil was Youngho¡¯s friend whom he could trust, and he was also a great bodyguard. After a long period of thinking, he decided to ask for Jongil¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°Jongil, I talked to Edward. What do you think about being a field agent of CIA?¡±


    Jongil looked surprised to hear his friend¡¯s question.


    Youngho continued, ¡°It¡¯s up to you, but I¡¯m against dragging you into this.¡±


    Park Jongil¡¯s face kept changing in excitement.


    ¡°Hey, no need to be too serious. If you can do it, I can do it too, right? I have to be with you anyway, so it doesn¡¯t make a big difference. Besides, it¡¯s better to be an agent than a militia drill instructor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a cool job. You might have to risk your life.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, the militia instructor job wouldst only about three years from now, and we might get exposed any time. But if I be a CIA agent, won¡¯t they guarantee my status and identity here? I¡¯ll make money and I¡¯ll be able to help you too.¡±


    Jongil seemed happy that he could keep seeing Karajan since he would stay in Baku. Even though Jongil agreed on bing an agent, Youngho was still worried that Jongil might get sent away to dangerous ces because of his skills. He was almost a human weapon. However, it still was a greatfort to Youngho, now that his friend would join him in Baku as an agent.


    After his break was over, Jongil went back to Stepanakert to resign from the militia and pick up his belongings. He was now officially the Vice President of the Chunho Merchant Baku branch. Because he would be travelling often with Youngho to ces such as Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia, he needed a reasonable title. A vice president was a good cover for him.


    After a few days, upon receiving a US passport in his hands, Jongil was fiinally realizing what he had gotten into.


    ¡°Youngho, are you sure that I can go to any US embassies with this passport and be treated with respect?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You can even submit an expense report to receive reimbursement.¡±


    ¡°Ha! This is great. So, my Korean passport would be used for businesses only from now on?¡±


    Jongil studied the passport under amp. He was now in the dangerous world of spies.


    ¡°I told Fatima that you¡¯ll be staying with us and she brought some basic things you need into your bedroom. Thank her when you see her.¡±


    ¡°Fatima is so thoughtful. Well, her eyes are just correct. She¡¯s taking care of a generous man who bought her kebab. She can¡¯tpare me with someone who bought a bunch of items with indecent desires.¡±


    Youngho shook his head. ¡®How could he be so shameless?¡¯ he thought.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve got to learn Azerbaijani first if you want to live here. With your smart brain, I bet you¡¯ll be fluent in six months. You can ask Karajan to be your tutor. You can pay her or pay it with your body.¡±


    ¡°What? Pay with my body? What are you thinking? We are not that intimate yet.¡±


    ¡°Phew... you childish idiot! Are you going to send Karajan alone to the store in Sumqayit? She¡¯ll freak out if she sees another mafia. You need to follow her around since you are now a vice president.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®wow¡¯ me, get to work now! Oh, and don¡¯t forget to renew your international license!¡±


    Youngho, as a CEO of the Baku branch, was already acting like a boss to Jongil.


    Youngho thought of revealing the secrets of the ring and the leather shoes to Jongil soon. Since Jongil would be around doing missions together with him sometimes, it seemed reasonable to tell him ahead in case he had to use them in front of him.


    Jongil felt excited these days.


    Not only did he not have to share air with sweaty men, but he also spent his days with a beautifuldy named Karajan. He was living his best days since he moved from Korea. He felt like he got promoted. It was a great decision to be an agent. He even stayed with Karajan untilte because she tutored him in Azerbaijani. He felt like he was walking on clouds.


    Jongil felt like he became a real businessman as he got along with government officials whom Youngho introduced. He tried hard to act like a real businessman by studying business English and learning Azerbaijani. He had never studied like this before, even back when he was a student.


    It was Friday and they decided to have a barbecue party at the farm. They had the deer meat left fromst time. Now that Jongil had the title of Chunho Merchant¡¯s Vice President, Karajan¡¯s parents trusted Jongil more. They dly allowed her to stay at the farm for the night.


    As Jongil drove into the farm, the sweet smell of meat stimted his appetite. The siblings weed him happily. It was not so much different here from Korea; people were still attracted to humorous people.


    ¡°We¡¯rete today. We had a lot of customers around the closing time.¡±


    Jongil bragged now that he was earning money.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re almost ready, except we need to bring the alcohol from the basement storage.¡±


    At the moment, Karajan picked up a piece of not-fully-cooked meat and put it in her mouth.


    ¡°Karajan, that¡¯s not even cooked.¡±


    Youngho was still not used to rarely cooked meat with its blood still showing.


    ¡°This is cooked too much. I don¡¯t like cooking meat too long; they be tough and hard to chew.¡±


    The meat was fresh in Baku, since they were always freshly ughtered. Koreans sometimes would have raw meat sd, so it was understandable.


    Karajan¡¯s speed of eating was incredible. Unlike Koreans, they mainly consumed meat, but she was almost vacuuming meat.


    ¡°Boss, deer meats are good for your diet. Fatima, you eat it now too. The meat that boss cooks is just inedible,¡± Karajanined openly.


    ¡°Karajan, stop eating all of the meat. Aren¡¯t you on a diet?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll be all right. I go bowling with Mr. Park. It¡¯s a great exercise.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Why are you worrying about Karajan gaining weight? Take your eyes off her and just take care of Fatima!¡±


    Thankfully, Jongil said that in Korean. If Fatima had heard that, she would have freaked out. Jongil, who got pped in his back by Youngho, screamed, and Karajan red at Youngho as she patted his back.

 Chapter 43

    <h4>Chapter 43: Park Jongil¡¯s Decision (4)</h4>


    Hearing the noise from outside, Gerhardt¡¯s family came out to the barbecue party. All the men looked ready to get drunk like marathoners preparing to start running at the start line. Looking at Korean soju* bottles on the table, Youngho was satisfied. Yunsuh had sent them from Korea when she shipped clothes from factories. Soju was perfect for a barbecue party. Youngho and Jongil spoiled the others¡¯ taste by insisting that they drink soju instead of wine with meat. Now they were used to having soju at barbecue parties.


    The size of the farm was about 42700000 sq. ft. It was greater than the size of Yeouido**. Youngho had left room for a wine factory. Because of the Fatima siblings¡¯ love for animals, the farm family was now bigger with a cat and a dog. The water for the farm was pumped from a river nearby.


    Youngho opened the farm for visitors and had events for the public such as barbecue parties to stop any more intruders at the farm. If the word spread out and people knew that the farm was always crowded with visitors, and the farm was majorly supported by the government, mafias or thieves would not dare toe to the farm again.


    The Fatima siblings¡¯ first day of school finally came. They had been making a fuss since early morning. They were not used to waking up early, but now they needed to be at school by 9 AM. Youngho became busy looking after them. They could leave the farm after 8 AM.


    Being nervous for the first day, the siblings all looked awkward. The thought of going to separate sses must have been stressful for them. Zeynepined, asking if she really needed to go to school, while Szechenyi looked excited to meet new friends. Fatima took care of her siblings by adjusting their outfits.


    Youngho could not butugh at their different behaviors. The international school consisted of mostly foreigners. Itsparatively open and free ss environment would feel like heaven for the Fatima siblings, but not knowing anything about the school, they looked tense. After taking them to each ss, Youngho left the school for his office.


    Later that day, wondering how they liked the first day of school, Youngho went back to school to pick them up. Their faces were a spectacle. Zeynep talked like a rapid-fire gun as she walked him through her day and Szechenyi also told him that he made many friends. Fatima did not say much, but it was obvious that she had been the center of the boys¡¯ attention.


    Youngho was having tea with the director when he received a phone call from Sergey. Youngho and the director were absorbed in a victorious mood after counting their profits from the store in Sumqayit. The call broke the mood. He answered the phone in front of the director. The director only knew about that the mafias rted to the Sumqayit store. Youngho did not tell him about the intruders at the farm.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I lost track since I¡¯ve been busy taking care of my henchmen. My boss prepared a gift for you to apologize for our men.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, I¡¯ve already forgotten about the incident. You don¡¯t need to apologize again.¡±


    ¡°If you get the time, I¡¯d like to meet in person and talk about business. We¡¯d like to import Korean industrial products in Russia, and it¡¯d be great if you could help us.¡±


    Youngho hung up after setting up the time and location of meeting. As Youngho sighed, the director asked, ¡°Mr. Lee, Sergey is the third in order of Southern Russian mafias. Why is he calling you?¡±


    ¡°He said they want my help in trading Korean products. Phew, I don¡¯t want anything to do with them.¡±


    The director had a worried look on his face. Heforted Youngho, saying, ¡°Mr. Lee, Yaniv, the boss of the mafias is known to be a great businessman. You¡¯ll be fine since our government is behind you.¡±


    The director was confident as a high official of the police department.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea to improve the rtionship with them through business. I know a politician who¡¯s rted to them. I¡¯ll tell him to support you,¡± he continued.


    ¡°Well, if you say so, I¡¯ll try. What a fate I have; I always have to face some difficulties in order to get a business deal.¡±


    The directorughed hard at Youngho¡¯s remark because it reminded him about the militia¡¯s beating, terrors from porcin traders, and a threat from the clothing retailers. The director made sure that he would back him up. He had already received 2,500 manat for his portion of the Sumqayit store, so he had enough reason to support Youngho.


    Youngho and Sergey nned to meet at a French restaurant on the 43rd floor of me Tower, which was a famousndmark in Baku. Sergey made a fuss of greeting him. He was a totally different person from the night at the farm. He dressed up in a suit essorized with a blue pocket square, and he even had brown sses on. He looked like a sessful businessman.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, this is from my boss.¡±


    It was a little container. Inside, there was a luxurious watch from Swiss. It was not too shy, but it was a famous watch that cost about ten million won. Youngho wanted to return the gift, but he could not reject it since it was a gift from Sergey¡¯s boss, which he brought to improve their rtionship.


    ¡°Well, this is just too much.¡±


    ¡°You can take it freely. It¡¯s just my boss¡¯s way of apologizing.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take it. Please tell Yaniv that I appreciate his gift.¡±


    Sergey looked relieved as he saw Youngho¡¯sfortable face because he had to discuss an important business with Youngho.


    ¡°Of course my boss was right. He said such a bold person like you would take the gift. Most people would not take a gift out of favor from us because they fear that we¡¯d have dark intentions and we¡¯d change our words to demand something in exchangeter. Well, our projected image is that bad.¡±


    Sergey made a surprisingment and Youngho looked at his face. His eyes were calm and clear. He looked like a bright person. Youngho wanted to talk to him more.


    The French course meal, which started with an appetizer less than a spoonful size,sted for an hour. Sergey talked a little bit about his life and family during the meal before getting to the point: the business.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, our organization epasses the southern parts of Russia, Kazakhstan, and even Uzbekistan. Except for Russia, the other regionsck daily necessities. We thought importing quality Korean products would be a great business.¡±


    ¡°I get your point, but you could contact Koreanpanies. They¡¯d be d to provide their items. Why do you need me in the process? What¡¯s the real reason?¡±


    He had heard of Russian traders based in divostok of the Maritime Province*** who traded Korean products from well-known Korean harbors in Sokcho or Busan. They could import Korean products as many as they want from them. Youngho wondered why they needed to go through Youngho.


    ¡°We have manypetitors. If we go through you, we could import goods unknowingly. Also, we are suggesting a business as a way to apologize.¡±


    Youngho wanted to reject his offer if they seemed like they were going to take advantage of him. However, Youngho decided to wait until he found out the conditions for the business.


    *Soju ¨C popr Korean hard liquor


    **Yeouido ¨C arge ind on the Han River in Seoul, Korea


    ***divostok ¨C a city in the Golden Horn Bay in Russia, Russia¡¯srgest port is located in the city

 Chapter 44

    <h4>Chapter 44: Mafia Sergey (1)</h4>


    Youngho thought for a while before answering him, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be rejecting this offer as a merchandiser, but I¡¯m worried about where to ship the trading goods.¡±


    ¡°To the Republic of Abkhazia¡¯s Sukhumi Port on the ck Sea<i>. We¡¯ll be delivering them by train to Volgograd</i>* from there.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°We have the ck Sea Fleet protecting trade ships and the Republic of Abkhazia is considered a part of Russia. We also do many trades with Turkey, so the products could be transferred from Istanbul too.¡±


    ¡°Phew, all the ces you mentioned are disputed territories. Korean manufacturers may not trust your LC, but I¡¯ll try to make a deal with them anyway. Can you tell me your budget and the quantities for the imported items?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m expecting two million dors. I will email you the items list and quantities. If our LC is not credited because the destination is a disputed territory, I¡¯ll consider paying ahead before the production.¡±


    Thinking that he went a little overboard, Youngho replied, ¡°You don¡¯t need to pay ahead if you ship the items to Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Mr. Lee. You won¡¯t be disappointed. I guarantee it.¡±


    ¡°Let me be clear. I don¡¯t expect to make money from trading daily necessities. In fact, I am doing this to maintain a good rtionship as I was suggested to do.¡±


    Youngho wanted to draw the line with the mafias since he did not wish to be involved in their other businesses.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I know that you are close with Baku¡¯s officials. We¡¯re not stupid enough to sabotage the oil development business that we invested more than thirty million dors in. You can trust us.¡±


    Their business scale was huge. Youngho wondered where their huge funds came from. Sergey hade out not only to bury the hatchet with Youngho, but also to take advantage of doing business with Youngho and show their cooperation. The mafias wanted to show that they were supporting Youngho to the government officials.


    ¡°Why on Earth, if I may ask, did you invest in oil development, an infamous business that is more likely to fail than seed?¡±


    Sergey smiled at Youngho¡¯s innocent question.


    ¡°You never know. We can expand the area even more and we might be able get oil by tomorrow. Then the 25% of the production profit is ours. How about that? Isn¡¯t that a worthy-to-dive-for business?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can risk that much. Please tell Mr. Yaniv that I wish for his sess.¡±


    Baku¡¯s officials also wished for the Russian mafias to seed in drilling oil rather than rooting for other officials, politicians, or privatepanies because they had received enormous amounts of funds from the mafias as a lobby. The oil development business had to seed for everyone¡¯s good.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deliver your genuine wishes to the boss. I also want to say that we always feel proud of maintaining the friendly rtionships with any of our business partners. My boss is a gentleman. You¡¯ll understand if you meet him in person.¡±


    ¡®h h. Just don¡¯t be obstacles to my business!¡¯ As Sergey kept on talking about his amazing boss, Youngho cussed in his mind.


    ¡°Anyway, I hope we¡¯ll not get in each other¡¯s way.¡±


    Youngho meant it. Sergey had no idea that Youngho was restraining himself from driving them away by force.


    ¡°My boss wants that too.¡±


    After parting with Sergey, Youngho talked with Edward, the Head of the CIA¡¯s European chapter, on the phone to report his business with the mafias. Even though it was Youngho¡¯s private business, Youngho told him about it anyway to receive protection in case he needed it in the future. Also, because Youngho and Edward had been maintaining a trusted rtionship, Youngho thought it was the right thing to report to him about any kind of business rted events. Edward was positive toward Youngho¡¯s business with the mafias. He also added that it would be useful for Youngho to maintain a good rtionship with Yaniv, who was known to be a rather clean businessman.


    While working as an information agent in Azerbaijan, it was very likely for Youngho to encounter mafias in any way in the future. Edward especially emphasized that the mafias and politicians were rted, so it was a great opportunity for the CIA to find out about the politicians¡¯ moves.


    Thanking Youngho for his job in Baku, Edward suggested that if Youngho needed more backup agents, he would assign a few more. Youngho thought about his friend Cho Chulhwan who was working as a drill instructor in the Armenian militia but did not say anything. His friend was now dating an Armenian girl, who was a sister of his militia trainee. His rtionship seemed serious, and even if Youngho convinced him, it was obvious that his friend would not join him in Azerbaijan.


    The next day, Youngho received the list of items and quantities from Sergey. There were twenty items, and the quantities were diversely ranged from 10000 to 50000. Their only condition was buying them with two million dors. No matter how many times Youngho estimated the prices on a calctor, it did not look like Youngho would make a lot of money from the trade.


    Not long after he forwarded the list to Cho Sangchun, he received a call.


    ¡°Youngho, it¡¯s me. I¡¯m looking at the email now. What is it? Who¡¯s opening a universal supply warehouse?¡±


    It was no wonder that he asked since suchrge quantities wouldst months for a mega shopping mall.


    ¡°Russian oil men are opening a business in Kazakhstan. Just go ahead and call the L Company. Tell them we¡¯ll be ordering more in the future. The budget is a little tight, but we don¡¯t want products from smaller enterprises.¡±


    ¡°Chunho Merchant started as an electronics trader, but now we deal with clothes and daily necessities mainly now.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if he wasplimenting orining.


    ¡°The destination is Istanbul. Good luck!¡±


    ¡°Okay, since it is the first trade, I won¡¯t think about making high profits. I¡¯ll send you the best quality products. Man, my department hasn¡¯t been doing wellpared to Yunsuh¡¯s clothing department. This is good! I¡¯ll prove that I¡¯m worth it.¡±


    ¡°Haha....¡±


    Youngho could imagine Sangchun¡¯s smiling face. Sangchun had been surrounded by a great family since young, and he was such an optimistic person. Since he could endure Yunsuh¡¯s nagging, it was proof of his great character. Not only that, he was also a trustworthy friend to Youngho. Youngho felt lucky that a friend like him became his little sister¡¯s husband since Youngho would have little reason to worry about his sister.


    Cho Sangchun worked fast and negotiated the price for the products with L Company at 1.9 million dors. Because the mafias would take care of the shipping prices and taxes, Chunho Merchant would make 100000 dors from the trade.


    Youngho called Sergey and delivered him the news. He seemed surprised and impressed that Youngho picked high quality products and decided not to make high profits from the trade. The production and the rest of the parts proceeded quickly. It was a sessful business.


    Korean products were gaining huge poprity in Russia and Middle Eastern countries. They would be priced a few more times higher than the original price in those countries as excuse for the high taxes, but Youngho had never heard of mafias paying taxes. Anyhow, now that Youngho¡¯s part was over, what was left for him to do was to wait and see how fast they were sold out in those countries.


    Now that everything was taken care of, Youngho was not too busy. His stores were doing well by themselves under Karajan¡¯s management, and the farm was directed by Gerhardt. Youngho sometimes visited the director or Kamal, the Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for some tea to collect some more information.


    These days, he was into farming. If he had enough time, he walked around the farm with the Fatima siblings, touching each grape nt that started budding. Gerhardt looked at Youngho¡¯s actions suspiciously, so Youngho told him about the Korean farming myth that promised that nts grow when they listen to their owner¡¯s footsteps.


    The farm in the spring season was full of work to be done.


    The empty dirt field in front of the management building was now covered with grass. Youngho nted different kinds of fruit trees in the empty parts of the farm. He also bought thirty sheep and put them in the fields where there were fences. Gerhardt¡¯s wife especially weed the sheep, saying that she could procure fresh milk from them. Many Azerbaijani believed that drinking fresh sheep milk everyday maintained good health.


    Youngho, who loved farming and working with dirt, spent most of his time in the farm sweating with the other farmers. This year¡¯s grape crop was a barometer of future yields, so Youngho put his best efforts into farming. Even though Youngho had bought grape nts that were more than three years old from Turkey, how much produce he would cultivate was not guaranteed due to Baku¡¯s different climate. All he could do was work hard, wait, and see.


    Because of therge size of the farming area, the water pumped from the nearbyke was not enough to cover for all the crops and necessities. As a solution, Youngho started building a reservoir on the farm in the middle of the way from theke. He also nned to use it as a swimming pool during the summer time, so he made a sun shade next to it. Visiting the Caspian Sea in Baku¡¯s coast was also an option, but the sea was already polluted with oil floating in the water, so he made a pool in the farm for his friends and visitors. Until then, he had no idea how the regional battle with Armenia would change his reservoir.

 Chapter 45

    <h4>Chapter 45: Mafia Sergey (2)</h4>


    Youngho named his farm ¡®Zeynep¡¯ after little Zeynep because she especially enjoyed everything in the farm. The farm¡¯s name was now official after Youngho put up an arched sign that read ¡®Zeynep Farm¡¯ at the gate. The farm would be famous as a Baku quality winepany¡ªbut that was a story for the future. The farm crew took a picture in front of the gate as a simple ceremony. Zeynep was excited to see her name on the sign and kissed Youngho¡¯s face in appreciation. Youngho slightly regretted naming the farm after Fatima.


    Youngho was at an open-air storage yard in Istanbul with Sergey, the third inmand of the South Russian mafias. They just checked the containers that arrived from Korea and transferred them to a ship that was going to Sukhumi Port in Abkhazia. Youngho¡¯s role in this trade waspleted as Sergey signed on the bill that indicated that the goods hadnded. Youngho shook hands with Sergey, who was getting back on the ship with his henchmen, to say goodbye.


    Now, what Youngho had left to do in Istanbul was to meet up with Mustafa and drink up raki with him. He was already waiting at the dock.


    ¡°Brother Mustafa, it¡¯s been such a long time.¡±


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d nevere back to Istanbul since Fatima is gone.¡±


    Youngho had not been to Istanbul for a while because he was too busy with many things happening in Baku.


    ¡°Brother, you¡¯d see me or Park Jongil until you are sick of us from now on. Park Jongil is now the Vice President of Chunho Merchant. They have more than enough instructors now. Park Jongil now has the same duty as me, so he¡¯ll have to be here often.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°You know that this is a secret, right? I¡¯m only telling you because I trust you.¡±


    ¡°Is he that great to be assigned by the CIA?¡±


    ¡°He is a human weapon. He¡¯d work as a field agent.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, okay. Whatever you do, please help our people who are suffering.¡±


    Mustafa was always worried about his country. Because of people like him who sent money made from a foreignnd, Armenia could hold out until now.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. We had closed the recent local battle as an ident although I had to drink a lot when meeting with the officials and businessmen in Baku.¡±


    ¡°I worried about that from here too. You did such an amazing job, brother. Now, let¡¯s drink up tonight.¡±


    ¡°Of course, brother!¡±


    That night, Youngho and Mustafa went to three bars to drink. When Youngho woke up, he was at Mustafa¡¯s ce. Suffering from a bad hangover and a stomachache, Youngho learned the hard way that the ring did not exert its full powers when there was no danger.


    Sergey delivered a message to Youngho: His boss Yaniv wanted to meet him. Youngho agreed to meet him without any hesitation because of the previous conversation with Edward. Park Jongil wanted toe with him, but Youngho did not allow it. That was not only because there was no specific danger in meeting Yaniv, but also because one needed to stay in Baku to do the CIA¡¯s job in Baku.


    Sergey apologized in advance that Youngho would have to travel on train to Volgograd in Russia. There was no direct flight, so Youngho had to take the train. However, travelling with Sergey, who was an intelligent gentleman, made the trip feel short. Youngho did not even realize that he arrived to Volgograd, listening to private affairs of Russian mafias.


    Known to be a hub of transportation, the Volgograd station was crowded with people as Youngho expected. He could see many Asians around the antique station. When he asked why, Sergey answered that they were Koryoin*. The story of the Koryoins who had lived in the Central Asia but needed to immigrate to here made Youngho feel sad. As many regions in Russian were freed when the former Soviet Union fell, the Koryoins were left without theirnd due to ethnic disputes. As a person of the same ethnicity, Youngho felt bad.


    He thought that the Jewish or Armenians living overseas would feel the same as Koryoins. Koreans who were called Koryoins were chased away from the Maritime Province to Central Asia during the Japanese colonial era in Korea**, and now they were being swayed by other now independent countries in the Central Asia.


    The reason why Koryoins were living harsh lives now was because of Korean ancestors who ruined their country due to political disputes in the past. They fought over power when they should have developed national defense. Youngho felt bitter toward Korea¡¯s sad history. Sergey, who realized how Youngho must have felt, told him that there were some Koryoin members in his mafia organization. Youngho, instead of feelingforted, sighed after hearing that.


    On the outskirts of the city, where there were widely spread birch tree woods nearby Volga River, stood Yaniv¡¯s mansion. The mansion was surrounded by high fences. The ce was so huge that it even boasted a heliport. Youngho could guess why Yaniv built his mansion in such a remote ce. It was great to hide from snipers sent by his opponent mafias.


    A chubby man around his fifties with a stylishly grown mustache greeted Youngho with a big smile.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I am Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to see you. I am Lee Youngho, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you. I wondered how you¡¯d look like, and you are exactly how I imagined.¡±


    He seemed like a gentleman. As a boss of a mafia organization, he had revealed his name first to Youngho, so Youngho also politely replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I was a bit rude on the phonest time.¡±


    ¡°What a gentleman you are. I thought it was a natural reaction after finding armed men in your farm. I¡¯d have been worse. I appreciate that you decided to overlook our mistake.¡±


    Youngho was startled by his politeness. It did not match the image of a tough mafia boss. Yaniv seemed to genuinely want have a good rtionship with Youngho because of the oil development business.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say this in person, but I thank you for the gift you sent with Sergey, and also for conducting business with me.¡±


    ¡°Sergey told me you didn¡¯t want to have business with us, but you decided to do it to save our face.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not in a position to reject your proposal, so I took it.¡±


    Youngho did not want to be involved with mafias. However, not wanting to have them as his enemy, he had no other choice but to take their business offer.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡±


    Yanivughed out loud at Youngho¡¯s honest expression.


    ¡°I sure like your personality. Mr. Lee, I know about your businesses in Baku and how you made it this far. Let¡¯s keep our friendship.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want too. My natural heart would¡¯ve said not to be rted to you, but being friends does not sound so bad now.¡±


    Since he had already revealed his honest heart, Youngho did not try to hide his mind.


    ¡°Hahaha...!¡±


    Hisughter sounded like he really was having a good time. He liked Youngho¡¯s confident attitude even though he was in front of a mafia boss.


    ¡°Yaniv, in Korea, we tend to respect people ording to their ages. It¡¯s a natural thing.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying you should treat mefortably, since I¡¯m much younger than you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome! Sergey, you¡¯ve got the right guy! Nice work!¡±


    Yaniv, whileughing hard and patting Youngho¡¯s back, asked his henchmen to bring drinks.


    When Youngho looked at Sergey, he smiled at Youngho. It was a smile of relief, as if he was saying that Youngho received a passing score from his boss. Youngho smiled back.


    ¡°Lee, have you ever had vodka?¡±


    ¡°Well, in Korea, people say Russian vodka is too hard, so much that it burns your throat.¡±


    ¡°What a shame. Vodka is what made us win over German forces in the winter battle near Stalingrad¡¯s Volga River in World War II.¡±


    ¡°Ha, they must not have had vodka during the Korean War. Only the Chinesemunist army ran wildly in Changin Reservoir***.¡±


    It was impolite of Yaniv to talk about when their country was invaded by other forces without mentioning the time when they invaded another country. Youngho would have kept arguing, if Yaniv did not admit Russia¡¯s fault on Korea.


    ¡°Ha! Well, I guess I¡¯ll have to apologize for my ancestors¡¯ fault.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s really not Russia¡¯s fault. It¡¯s because our ancestors didn¡¯t develop the country¡¯s power. I¡¯m sorry; I just felt bad after seeing Koryoins at the train station.¡±


    ¡°Now I know why Baku¡¯s officials like you. You are straightforward. Here, drink up! In Russia, we be friends if we drink together.¡±


    Yaniv, Youngho, and even Sergey drank vodka all night long.


    In the morning when Youngho woke up in a huge room, he was lying on a huge bed that was double the size of a regr king size bed. He did not remember anything. It did not seem like he made a huge mistake, but it was not clear. Youngho could not believe that he drank with a mafia boss until he passed out.


    When he was trying to remember the night before, someone knocked on the door. It was Sergey.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, Bossplimented you. He said you were a good friend to drink with. I¡¯ve never seen my boss drink like that with a new person.¡±


    Sergey looked at Youngho as if he was a monster.


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, did I make any mistake? I don¡¯t remember anything.¡±


    ¡°Nope, you did not. Wash ande down. Boss wants to eat together with you.¡±


    When Youngho went down to the dining room on the first floor, Yaniv greeted him with a face of a bad hangover.


    ¡°Lee, how do you feel? I¡¯m still drunk.¡±


    ¡°Did you sleep well, Mr. Yaniv?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. My stomach is messed up. You look all right.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not good either, but I¡¯m younger than you. It¡¯s only natural that I¡¯ll recover faster.¡±


    Even Youngho, who had a ring that could slowly recover his body, was struggling from a hangover. It was natural for Yaniv who was in his fifties to feel bad.


    ¡°I drank too much and didn¡¯t think about my age.¡±


    ¡°In Korea, we say we ¡®run¡¯ all night.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s a great expression. You run as if someone¡¯s chasing you. That¡¯s how we drink. Anyway, let¡¯s eat first before going to a sauna.¡±


    They had a mildly spicy soup to soothe the stomach and went to the Russian sauna banya in the mansion to detoxify all the alcohols out of their body.


    Youngho felt lighter after soaking his body in the icy cold water pool in the garden, which was pulled from Volga River. After tapping his whole body with a broom made out of birch tree branches, Youngho felt his body circted and detoxified.


    The three of them looked polished after washing and started eating a proper meal together. Youngho had not eaten a decent meal since yesterday, so he ate as much as he could with his belt unbuckled. Since they drank together until they passed out and had been to a spa together, they acted naturally like close friends. Because Russian guys also were capable of downing kegs of wine like Korean guys, they got along very well. They seemed to have a lot inmon.


    *Koryoin ¨C ethnic Koreans who immigrated to former Soviet Union from thete 19th century, also called as ¡®Koryo-saram.¡¯


    **Japanese colonial era in Korea ¨C began in 1910 and ended in 1945 as the World War II concluded.


    ***Changin Reservoir ¨C located in now North Korea. During the Korean War, it was where a decisive battle urred between the UNC forces and Chinese forces in 1950.

 Chapter 46

    <h4>Chapter 46: Mafia Sergey (3)</h4>


    ¡°Lee, the Korean products are getting popr now. I¡¯d like to pay you back because you brought me awesome products. Do you want anything?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I am a merchandiser. It¡¯d be a lie if I don¡¯t have any personal desires, but I don¡¯t want to lose anything more important because of such small things.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m correct, it sounds like you won¡¯t care about small fish to get even bigger fish. All right, I like how you think on arge scale. I want to trade in even more quantities this time. I¡¯ll arrange for a higher budget, so you¡¯d make more money for an agency fee.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate your favor, but I already make enough money from Baku¡¯s businesses. And also, I don¡¯t make money from ordering Korean products, it¡¯s my brother-inw in Korea who¡¯s making money for that order.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho did not want to be rted with the mafia¡¯s money since he was not sure what Yaniv might ask for in the future. Even though they now became a little closer, he still drew the line for a casual business rtionship. Moreover, he was not sure how the money would be epted by the CIA. If it was not official, which he could not exin properly, it was better not to take it.


    ¡°I just want to share some of mine because I earned a lot from the business with you.¡±


    ¡°No, the agency fee was what I deserved. I worry that I might change if I get more than I deserve. Thank you for your heart though.¡±


    ¡°Lee, you¡¯re impressive. All right, I get it. By the way, what do you think about drinking together today? Do you want to ¡®run¡¯ just like ording to your expression?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t reject that. Let¡¯s ¡®run¡¯ then.¡±


    Even though Youngho agreed, he still did not trust Yaniv fully. Mafias like him would change their attitude and act violent if something got on their nerves. Youngho prepared himself; he had brought four Turkish flip knives hidden in the mystical leather shoes.


    Yesterday, Yaniv politely weed Youngho in a big reception room since it was their first time meeting in person.


    Today, at Youngho¡¯s request to meet informally, they met at a bungalow next to Yaniv¡¯s mansion. They drank together near the firece and ate smoked salmon as a snack.


    When they had finished drinking a shot each, they heard an explosion from the mansion. It did not sound like a bomb, but like a rocket fired from a portable rocketuncher.


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, is there a basement in this bungalow?¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes, there is.¡±


    Sergey, who became pale after the explosion sound, was flustered. Yaniv looked surprised as well.


    ¡°It must be a terrorist. You should take your boss to the basement. I¡¯ll go look out.¡±


    As soon as Youngho finished hisst word, he turned off the inside lights and looked outside to see what was going on.


    Youngho stepped outside as he heard a second explosion, since the bungalow could be a target too. Even though he was out, he did not have a gun. He had left it in his bedroom in the mansion. A gun could not stop a rocketuncher, but it could stop nearby enemies. He went back to the bungalow and asked Sergey for a gun. Sergey gave what he had to Youngho: a former Soviet Union¡¯s TT-33 pistol and two magazines.


    Because Sergey knew that Youngho was a specially trained person, he trusted him. Youngho made sure that they stayed in the basement.


    The mansion was burning brightly with mes. With twounched rocket shots, one side of the wall of the first floor waspletely ripped apart. It was where Youngho drank with Yanivst night. He felt his hair stand on one end since he would be smoked like a Turkey by now if he decided to drink in there today.


    The fire was soon controlled by the automatic sprinklers. The security guards of the mansion were running in different directions afluster, and some wereing to check the bungalow. Youngho told them that Sergey and Yaniv were safe and to check for the security status of the mansion. They had to get ready for another possible attack.


    From what he had seen from yesterday when Youngho drove into the mansion, there were many guard posts all around the mansion. However, it seemed that all the guards in the post must have been subdued, or else rocketuncher attacks from this close would have not been possible.


    Youngho was running in the birch tree woods outside of the mansion. If someone had seen him, they would have thought that it was just a wind passing by. He was running at the speed of 80 km/h. His face was getting cold.


    Youngho looked for the attackers whounched the rocket shots, thinking that they must still be nearby. Youngho did not know whether the attackers knew if Youngho was with them or not, but anyway, the rockets have killed Youngho if he had not wanted to drink in a less formal setting tonight.


    After he searched for about ten minutes, he heard some people behind some bushes. It was on the hillside at a distance of 300 meters from the mansion, and it looked like a usible ce forunching the rocket shots. There were four of them. The rocketunchers were gone as if they hid them. They were looking at the mansion with night vision goggles on, giggling with each other.


    Youngho went furious over their inhumanness. They wereughing even though people might have died. It was dark, but he thought he could still get them with the pistol. He unlocked the safety catch of the gun, and with the power of the leather shoes, he jumped from the ground. Youngho, who jumped at least 5 meters high, fired two shots in an instant while looking down from the air.


    As soon as hended on the ground, he fired one more and swiftly approached the attackers. With full force, he hit an attacker who was startled by unexpected shots with the side of his hand. Youngho¡¯s wrist became sore since he had hit him with his full power.


    The men who were shot groaned, bleeding from their stomach and legs. The man whom Youngho hit with the side of his hand had passed out already. Youngho fired more shots in the air at regr intervals. Then he gathered tree branches and made a big fire to let others know about Youngho¡¯s existence. If there were any other attackers left, they might run away after seeing Youngho¡¯s fire. Also, Youngho wanted to finish his role at that point. He did not want to be another target because he helped Yaniv¡¯s organization.


    Youngho could see many shlights and heard footsteps approaching him. They were Yaniv¡¯s henchmen. They were surprised to see the attackers and Youngho since Youngho had found and subdued all the attackers by himself.


    After hearing what had happened from his henchmen, Yaniv thanked Youngho, patting his shoulder with a stern face. He did not say much, which meant he was ufortable. After ordering his men to clean up around the mansion, Yaniv took Youngho to the bungalow, saying that they could keep drinking. He was still calm even though something terrifying had just urred within his mansion. Youngho admitted in his mind that Yaniv was a true boss and looked at him respectfully.


    ¡°Lee, I received a big favor from you tonight. If you weren¡¯t here today, I would¡¯ve drunk with someone else in that reception hall.¡±


    ¡°Well, I got lucky. All I did was to follow what I learned from the Korean Navy.¡±


    Yaniv smiled weakly.


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed to show my weaknesses in front of a guest, but what can I do? This is the reality.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, it¡¯d be same in every ce. People may not carry weapons on themselves, but they always carry knives in their minds.¡±


    ¡°You are absolutely right.¡±


    People here sometimes expressed their feelings outward without considering their actions. Just like today, they must have had someints, so they brought a rocketuncher.


    ¡°Thank you. Just like your expression, let¡¯s ¡®run¡¯ all night long tonight.¡±


    Tonight¡¯s atmosphere was totally different from yesterday¡¯s atmosphere, but they still drank hard. In fact, they wanted to drink because they could not shake off the shock from the attack. Anywhere Youngho went, it seemed that he always got into danger. From Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku, and now in a mafia¡¯s headquarters.... He drank with a bitter heart. ¡®When will my spring time finallye?¡¯ thought Youngho.

 Chapter 47

    <h4>Chapter 47: The Godfather of Southern Russia (1)</h4>


    The next day, Youngho woke up as usual while the other two were still asleep. It would have been weird of them to get up like usual since they drank for two nights straight. The little bungalow had everything they needed to stay in, so Youngho made himself a Russian ramen in the kitchen, but it was too oily for him. He missed kimchi and Korean ramen which were both spicier.


    After taking a shower, he went out of the bungalow. Yaniv¡¯s henchmen greeted Youngho politely. After recognizing Youngho¡¯s extraordinary skills fromst night, they seemed to have gained respect for Youngho. They reported to him about the attackers fromst night. Youngho also remembered their faces. They looked like traditional Central Asians. Allegedly, they attacked Yaniv¡¯s organization because they lost their sales for their daily necessities business because of Yaniv¡¯s Korean products. Their actions were just childish since they tried to take care of business matters with violence. Now, it was obvious that Yaniv¡¯s organization would take revenge on them.


    Yaniv and Sergey showed up with disheveled faces. After talking with his henchmen, Yaniv called Youngho.


    ¡°Lee, let us pack our belongings and move to somewhere else. The mansion is a mess now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get my belongings.¡±


    ¡°Everything should be wet because of the sprinklers. You might have to get new clothes.¡±


    ¡°My luggage is a hard case. I¡¯m sure mine is fine.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s bedroom floor was all wet, but his clothes inside the closet were safe. He changed into a suit and came out with his luggage. Yaniv looked around his mansion, frowning, and got on his car.


    The car drove from the birch tree woods, into a sunflower field, and finally arrived at a quiet country town. Dachas were closely built together in the town. Dacha was a Russian country cottage, and many middle and high-ss Russians had at least one dacha with little gardens in a country town. Yaniv¡¯s huge dacha was located near a sereneke. His dacha magnificently represented its owner, a boss of South Russian mafias. Since all of the people at Yaniv¡¯s mansion came together, the quiet ce soon became crowded. They seemed toe here frequently since the mafias moved naturally, moving their luggage and going into little bungalows next to Yaniv¡¯s dacha. Yaniv must have bought all nearbynds surroundingtheke.


    Sergey showed Youngho to his room and suggested that he go kayaking on theke. He felt apologetic, because their guest had been pulled into danger that was not rted to Youngho at all. Not to mention, Sergey could not take care of Youngho since he was busy dealing with the emergency.


    Youngho changed into sportswear and went up on a kayak. Theke¡¯s circumference was about six kilometers long. He rowed for two hours, sweating hard to refresh his body from yesterday¡¯s drinking. When his palms became sore, he stopped rowing and came back to the dock. It looked like more henchmen had arrived while he was on theke. The dacha was even more crowded with more cars. They must have been summoned to discuss the urgent issue regarding the attack on their boss.


    As Youngho also guessed, the attackers were members of the Kazakh mafia organization. Sergey informed him that the leading members of the Kazakh mafias had sent an action squad to attack Yaniv¡¯s organization. From interrogating the attackers fromst night, they could find out about them. Youngho decided to leave for Baku. He had no reason to be in the middle of the disputes between mafias.


    He had done enough to gain trust from Yaniv by drinking with him twice and also catching the attackers on the mansion. When Youngho said goodbye, Yaniv did not stop him again.


    ¡°Lee, my life has been lengthened because of you. Let¡¯s meet often for a drink. I¡¯ll be in Baku soon for a business. See you then.¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll resolve the dispute with the other mafias well. Let me know before youe to Baku; I¡¯ll prepare drinks for us.¡±


    Sergey escorted Youngho to the Volgograd station, so Youngho returned to Baku without any trouble. From this trip, Youngho gained a new experience in another part of the world. He learned that mafias battled fiercely over hugemercial supremacy. Whenmon people battled with their quality of services or products, mafias battled with rocketunchers and guns. Their scale was at a different level. It was a world where only stronger organizations could survive.


    Youngho sent a report about his visit to Volgograd to Edward. The CIA considered local mafias¡¯ movements important since they were the first ones to be affected by political affairs. Youngho¡¯s role was a direct link to the South Russian mafia boss.


    In a short period of two years, Youngho had be a foreign entrepreneur in Baku and made the boss of a South Russian mafia group his friend. He was an unprecedented agent in the CIA. Youngho received a call of encouragement from Edward, the head of the European chapter, because of Youngho¡¯s trip report to Volgograd.


    On top of his regr payment as an information agent, which was 100000 dors, Youngho received information expenses for any expenses during his trips and any businesses rted to the CIA. Youngho could request up to a million dors worth of information expense depending on the importance and scale of businesses. It was a way to support and appreciate their agents, so the encouraged agents could work more freely. In the past, the CIA had paid Youngho a lot of information expense for his excellent job during the local battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan because he even mobilized foreign investors and officials.


    Witnessing the attack on Yaniv¡¯s mansion made Youngho worried about his own farm¡¯s security. There were so many defenseless ces in his farm. Youngho discussed his concern with Jongil, and Jongil suggested installing security cameras and rms and burying ymore mines around the farm.


    ¡°You¡¯d just have to push a detonator when the rm goes off. Why do we even have the safe room? We should install monitors and detonators in there!¡±


    Jongil¡¯s idea was to doubt everyone who did note through the gate. It sounded like a terrible idea, but Youngho was intrigued.


    There were even mafias firing rockets to a mansion full of guards. Watching out for invaders with security cameras and rms was a good way to check all the blind spots.


    ¡°How are we going to take care of it if people die?¡±


    ¡°You are being too lenient here. If you¡¯re going to worry about people whoe to kill you, we shouldn¡¯t do this then.¡±


    Jongil was right. Thinking about where he could get ymore mines, he thought about Sergey. Since those would be easy to get in the Russian ck market, Sergey could be of help.


    Youngho called right away and suggested installing security cameras and the things that Jongil talked about. At the end of the conversation, Youngho asked Sergey to get him some mines when he would buy his own.


    A few dayster, Sergey came to the farm with two ymore boxes. He looked brighter since Younghost saw him at Yaniv¡¯s dacha.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I told your idea to boss, and he loved it. Here are the mines you asked.¡±


    Each box was filled with twenty Russian MON-50 ymore mines. When the detonator was activated, the mine would fire tiny steel balls to its surroundings.


    ¡°My boss was even happier to hear that it was your idea to install ymore mines. They¡¯ll be useful for securing the mansion.¡±


    ¡°How are things going with the Kazakhstan mafias?¡±


    ¡°We paid them back in the same way as we always do. They are almost demolished.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m d you got things sorted out.¡±


    ¡°Now that our opponent is gone, we came to a conclusion that we could provide more Korean products to consumers. We¡¯ll order the same products worth three million dors this time.¡±


    ¡°What? Like I said, I don¡¯t get anything from your order. It¡¯s my sister and brother-inw in Korea who are making money.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they say, ¡®What¡¯s good for the goose is good for the gander¡¯?¡±


    Sergey did not mind Youngho¡¯s words. Cho Sangchun and Yunsuh would be thrilled to hear about this order.


    ¡°My boss set apart something for you. I have them in the car; would you like to see?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care for it. I thought we were friends and it¡¯s not a friendship if you have to pay for it.¡±


    Sergey leaned backward with a weak smile on his face. He looked like he had a lot to say.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, although we used ck funds when we first made our organization, the most of the money we made were from legal businesses. In fact, we began legal businesses when I received a doctoral degree in business administration.¡±


    Youngho took out a wine bottle. It looked like the story would be getting longer.

 Chapter 48

    <h4>Chapter 48: The Godfather of Southern Russia (2)</h4>


    Sergey¡¯s father and his boss Yaniv used to be childhood friends in a slum town of Stalingrad, now called Volgograd. In the slum, children did not have many options to live on. As other children did for money, Sergey¡¯s father and Yaniv started out with running small errands such as delivering drugs and drawing customers for prostitutes. As they got older, they delivered illegal liquors from bootleggers. One day, they were picked by local mafias. Just like that, they became a member of the dark world, from dealing with small jobs to bigger ones.


    Not long after Sergey was born, his dad was sacrificed by a battle between mafia organizations. It was Yaniv who took care of him after his dad left him. Sergey was a bright child. When he received his doctorate degree in business administration, he rejected the professor position offered by his university to help Yaniv¡¯s organization. Even though it was against Yaniv¡¯s will, he pushed his way in the organization. He changed the substandard systems into decent structured systems and involved in legal businesses to grow the organization. Sergey told about the rtionship between him and Yaniv in a calm voice as if he was telling someone else¡¯s story.


    ¡°During the Cold War, our parents¡¯ generation had no morality but all they did was to degradingly fight for their own interests. I wanted to break out of the vicious circle, so I became a mafia to help Yaniv instead of bing a professor. Now I havee to know you and you saved my life. I can¡¯t let this pass just like this, I really want to pay for it in any way I can.¡±


    After all, his long story had a reason. He was saying that Youngho deserved to receive what he brought in the car, so Youngho should not reject it anymore.


    ¡°Phew, I get it. You¡¯d get mad if I keep rejecting the gift.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you should¡¯ve taken it already.¡±


    What Sergey brought was gold bars from the time of Russian Empire. Somehow they attained those and because the bars did not have any serial numbers on them, they considered them a great gift. Sergey took out a heavy bag from his car and handed it to Youngho.


    There were 20 gold bars, each weighing a kilogram. Its worth in today¡¯s time would near 70 million won in Korea. As he saw what was in the bag, Youngho stepped back. However, Sergey insisted saying that the boss heard about the contract condition of his farm site and it was a gift to pay for the farm site.


    Youngho could not reject the gift anymore because Yaniv thoughtfully picked out the gift for him. He received it thinking that he would give it back at a proper time. As if he knew what Youngho was thinking, Sergey added.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we made a lot of profits due to your great products. Also there¡¯s good news that we¡¯ve identified arge amount of oil reserves in the oil field. Boss is happy that everything is going well after he met you. He would be sorry if you return his genuine gift.¡±


    Youngho moved his lips but he could not make any words. Yaniv would misunderstand his gesture if he gave back his gift. At Youngho¡¯s reaction, Sergey smiled and left with a word that he would open a LC for the next order.


    Cho Sangchun called Youngho immediately after he received his message.


    ¡°Youngho, we¡¯ll be extremely rich at this pace.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited. This client is not an easy one. You barely make money for this anyways.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know ¡®many drops make a flood¡¯? If we get orders like this ten times, we¡¯d earn a billion won. You still say I barely make money for this?¡±


    Sangchun was more than thrilled to receive another order. Youngho was d to hear his bright voice.


    ¡°What about me? You two are the only ones having fun.¡±


    ¡°Dude, don¡¯t say that! I give all I make to Yunsuh. These days, she doesn¡¯t give me enough to drink, saying I should stop drinking before ruining my body.¡±


    Youngho could imagine Sangchun living a controlled life by Yunsuh. He had told Sangchun that he should consider her personality, not only her face when they were dating. He never listened and now he wasining that his wife managed all finances for the family.


    ¡°Sangchun, what goes into Yunsuh¡¯s hands neveres out. You¡¯ve got to find a way to save your own.¡±


    Even though Yunsuh was his sister, Youngho felt bad for Sangchun.


    ¡°Yunsuh finds out like a ghost.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to send you some money?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t. She¡¯d kill both of us if she finds out about it. I¡¯ll just satisfy myself with a few cans of beer.¡±


    They ended their conversation talking behind Yunsuh¡¯s back.


    Park Jongil¡¯s facial expression when he received ymore mines made in Russia from Youngho was worthy to save. As if he reunited with someone whom he had missed for a long time, he got too excited and made a fuss that he would install them right away. Since Jongil once worked in for a securitypany, he was an expert about security products and he went crazy over new weapons. Youngho was sorry that he went to Volgograd by himself, so he gave a Tokarev pistol which Jongil went crazy over.


    The grapes were starting to grow, but because there was not much to be done in the farm until the fall, it was quiet now. It was a great timing to install security systems when there were no people to look. It took a week for Youngho and Jongil to install security cameras and rms on the lights stand at regr distance along the fence line. They decided to wait before installing ymore mines since they were too dangerous. They were now safely and soundly resting in the safe room.


    The monitors for the cameras were set in the office on the first floor of the management building. Youngho hired three guards to monitor the cameras and guard the farm during night time because Youngho or Jongil could not guard the farm over nights without sleeping.


    Youngho was not sure when but Jongil had nted Korean vegetables such as lettuce and crown daisy in the empty field of the farm, now they were almost ready to pick. Jongil insisted that he would make everybody eat his fresh vegetables but the actual person who watered the nts every morning and evening was Youngho.


    It had just entered May and the weather was great for outdoor activities. All the kids ride four wheelers along the little trails of the farm enjoying the nature. Youngho and Jongil, who liked people and drinking, invited people over for barbecue parties every weekend. Youngho hoped peaceful days like these would go on forever but the ways of the world did not seem to grant his wish.


    Edward notified Youngho that there would be a month-long training course in the European chapter. It was located in Frankfurt, Germany. Doubting Youngho¡¯s long trip to Europe, Fatima asked lots of questions.


    ¡°Oppa, you have many jobs to do in Germany? You can¡¯t even visit us during the weekends?¡±


    Even though Karajan agreed to stay in the farm when Youngho was gone, Fatima felt uneasy for Youngho¡¯s long absence. He could not say anything about the CIA, so he made up words that he was going on a business trip.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I cane during the weekends. I have to establish the market and retailers in Europe because we¡¯ll be producing wines in the future.¡±


    Fatima did not care about the business but she was happy to hear that Youngho would visit them during the weekends.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have to live there if you¡¯re going to export wine to Germany?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ll only deal with retailers. I¡¯ll be able to take care of them through phone calls.¡±


    Fatima looked relieved by now. Because of her, Youngho would have to make international trips over every weekend.


    The CIA¡¯s European chapter was located in Frankfurt in Germany. It was in the center of German economy, finance, and transportation. Just in time when Youngho got there, the city was crowded with people from all over the world due to a world¡¯s fair.


    The poption of the city was just a bit more than 600,000 but as an international city ofmerce and industry, it held an international exposition every year and an auto fair every other year. As soon as Younghonded at the Frankfurt airport, he went to the European chapter. Michael, the head of the European Chapter office greeted Youngho. After a little interview with him, Youngho was escorted to the American base.


    Because Youngho had not gone through any training or testing ever since he became a field agent, he was tested for his physical abilities by drill sergeants such as: strength, shooting, viability, and self-defense. As Youngho scored high in those categories, they nodded in satisfaction. Youngho¡¯s stats just proved why Edward gave him such high points. His skills such asmunication through Morse codes which he learned from Korean Navy Special Forces unit also proved that he was capable of more things than other agents. The high officials decreased his time of training in half after seeing his capabilities, considering he was a field agent who had to stay in the field.


    Youngho called Fatima and let her know that he would be back in fifteen days, so he would stay in Frankfurt for this weekend. Fatima and Zeynep were happy to hear that he would be back soon.


    It was the weekend. Since he could enjoy free time, Youngho wanted to visit museums in the city but he stopped the thought of going because he did not like crowded ces. Instead, he thought about the German graduate student couple, Arsen and Batzen, whom he met a checkpoint near Armenian border. Arsen said to call him whenever Youngho visits Frankfurt, giving his business card. When Youngho called, Arsen greeted him happily.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It¡¯s nice to hear from you. I had been thinking about you. You were such a great help to us during our Armenian trip.¡±


    ¡°I hope I¡¯m not bothering you. I was on a business trip and you popped up in my head, since you said you lived in here.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for contacting me. I talk about you all the time with Batzen.¡±


    Youngho decided to meet up with Arsen and Batzen at a famous beer bar. When Arsen told him to introduce him to German beer, Youngho was exuberated. Talented doctorate students, Arsen and Batzen studied Pharmacology at Goethe University in Frankfurt. They were living on schrships from the world-renowned pharmaceuticalpany, B. The 27-year-old couple impressed Youngho with their dream. They had been studying with a vision to make medicines for ill people of the world. Comparing their purpose of study with Youngho¡¯s own college years, he felt ashamed. He did not have any dreams or purpose when he was in college. In fact, he was just a kid. Even though their starting lines were different, Youngho now had a bigger dream.

 Chapter 49

    <h4>Chapter 49: The Godfather of Southern Russia (3)</h4>


    After he was done with CIA¡¯s training period, Youngho visited the director of Main Police Department in Baku. Youngho had told him before that he would be visiting the world¡¯s fair in Germany. The director met Youngho in a reception room.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, are you expanding your business to Germany now?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. Any businessman should visit the world¡¯s fair as a way to connect with entrepreneurs around the world. It was like a field trip for me.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I thought you were going away to another country.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. Where would I go, leaving all of my businesses here? You should give me an honorary citizenship or something in the future.¡±


    The director did not react much about Youngho¡¯s joke but his face looked serious instead. There must be something going on with the director.


    ¡°Mr. Lee,tely, the movement of Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s army is not normal. They have been assembling their troops of soldiers at the border of our territory in the region. I¡¯m afraid that it will badly affect our business if a war breaks out.¡±


    Youngho thought he was patriotic, but he was worried about the business first since he made a lot of money through it.


    ¡°Is there any room for improvements between the two countries? I feel like I¡¯m living in an explosive warehouse.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do now. We have a long history.¡±


    Youngho shut his eyes tight, thinking about war again.


    After the Soviet Union fell, many autonomous regions broke away as Republics. However, Russia was still instigating small countries, causing small and big disputes in Southeastern Europe. Russia sent military aid to ces like Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. With their army residing in disputed regions, they were trying to strengthen Russia¡¯s position.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the politics, but it¡¯ll be problematic because Russia is behind this. The businessmen I met at the world¡¯s fair were worried about it too.¡±


    ¡°I agree. I hope we can sort it out politically, but it¡¯s not easy. Nowadays, they are pressuring us to make a transportation route to Iran.¡±


    Azerbaijan was nning to expand the oil pipelines by connecting it to Turkey through Georgia. However, Russia was in their way, since they were insisting on making a railroad to Iran in the South. Because of that, officials in Azerbaijan were in trouble for financing the construction costs. Russia¡¯s ambitious vision was to connect Azerbaijan and Iran to get to the Indian Ocean, not going through the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal. They pressured Azerbaijan and Iran, which umted wealth from developing oil industry, to pay the construction funds. Even though it was overwhelming for now, the Azerbaijan government was considering it because it would be profitable to the country eventually, since Azerbaijan would be the hub of transportation between countries in Southeastern Europe.


    ¡°Then, the government of Azerbaijan will not react to the Armenian side at all?¡±


    ¡°Well, we cannot sit still, but the international society does not want a war, so we¡¯re still making decisions.¡±


    ¡°Armenia is isted because all of the ground roads are blocked. Don¡¯t you think they¡¯ll be more cooperative if Azerbaijan opens some roads for them?¡±


    ¡°To which way? They hate us and Turkey because of the past. At least they have Georgia¡ªthat has an open road to the ck Sea for them.¡±


    The director was implying that unless Armenians changed their minds about Azerbaijan and Turkey, they could not resolve anything with them.


    ¡°They think that they have nothing to lose if a war breaks out. It¡¯ll be our loss since we have more.¡±


    Youngho talked with Edward all night. Edward also recognized the situation for what it was, but he said that it would be hard to convince Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh that had Russia supporting them from behind. However, they could not cut off their aid now because it would break the status quo between the two countries.


    The next day, Youngho thought about how to go about securing grains. In case of a war, he wanted to store grains and share with the people around him at a cheap price. If a war broke out, there would be many corrupt dealers who would make unnecessary excessive profits from selling highly priced grains. Youngho wanted to help bnce that out for poor people. Thinking that Russian grains would be usible for this, he called Sergey.


    Sergey had been staying in Volgograd. When Youngho said that due to signs of war, grain prices would be skyrocketing, he understood what Youngho meant right away.


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, I wouldn¡¯t be asking for your help if I wanted to umte wealth from the war.¡±


    ¡°I get what you¡¯re saying. A war¡¯s going to shake not only grain prices but also the prices of daily necessities. It¡¯ll put us in a good position if we secure those now and sell them for a rational price.¡±


    ¡°Could you please deliver this message to Yaniv? If you need more funds, I¡¯ll also invest mine.¡±


    ¡°Your job as a good information source is more than enough. We¡¯re buying information from you instead. Boss will be happy to hear this too.¡±


    It seemed like Sergey¡¯s im to having a doctoral degree in business administration was true. He was smart enough to understand Youngho¡¯s idea and made decisions looking at the forest instead of the individual trees.


    Buying grains would not be a small business. It was a big business needingrge funds. With Youngho¡¯s money, he would be able to provide for thousands of people, but if Yaniv moved, he could provide for hundreds of millions. Youngho was also seeing a bigger picture. It was a good opportunity to show off to the Azerbaijan government. If he moved Yaniv, a Russian mafia godfather, he would be epted as an important entrepreneur by the Azerbaijan government. Yaniv would be reappraised as a helpful legal businessman for the country. Then, the Russian government would assign Yaniv as a representative to negotiate the Southern transportation route instation business with the Azeri government. If they could seed in connecting the route, Yaniv would naturally be involved in different rted businesses such as construction for the route. If things went ording to Youngho¡¯s n, this would be beneficial for both Youngho and Yaniv.


    It was three days after Youngho talked on the phone with Sergey when Southern Russia¡¯s godfather Yaniv visited Baku. It was a rare move for him since he rarely left Volgograd. Finally having found oil deposits from the exploration was one reason for his trip, but Youngho held the greater part of the reason for his trip. Yaniv thought that everything was going well after he met Youngho. It was understandable since Youngho saved his life.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, wee to Baku. Forgive me; I can¡¯t officially take you around the city.¡±


    Youngho could not take the mafia boss around the farm and city because Yaniv¡¯s opponents or the government could make the people around him a target if Youngho was openly seen with him.


    ¡°I know, I know. No worries. I just came to see you.¡±


    Yaniv treated Youngho as an old friend.


    ¡°Lee, you do keep giving me gifts!¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°The security systems around my mansion were great, but the grain idea is just extraordinary! I promise that I will not try to be greedy from this business.¡±


    Yaniv drew the line before Youngho said anything. Youngho was satisfied by his words.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I know that you are not on a charity mission. I just hope that you wouldn¡¯t face away from the people in need.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why I like you?¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t try to fill your greed. You¡¯re a principled businessman and also a terribly lucky man! Hahaha....¡±


    ¡°I see. Unfortunately, I have a jinx. I¡¯m only able to achieve something after some problems actually happen. If you call that luck, it could be luck.¡±


    Yanivughed heavily and called room service for drinks. Youngho asked if he could call in his friend who was waiting in the lobby. It was Jongil. Yaniv agreed, so they drank until dawn. Park Jongil showed off his sociability as usual. Jongil even called Yaniv ¡®boss¡¯ when he was fully drunk, which was not too surprising because he called everyone brother after having a drink together.


    Yaniv spent his time in Baku busily meeting high government officials and even secretly meeting the current president who had been staying in power for a long time. The current president of Azerbaijan, Aliyev, was criticized by the western world because he became president due to father-to-son session. However, in contrast, the people of Azerbaijan trusted him unconditionally. Using pro-western ideas and free market economy, he raised the GDP to almost ten times more than before his session. So, it was no question why he was adored by his people, like some past president in Korea.


    Having finished with his official business, Yaniv came in secret to Youngho¡¯s farm with his bodyguards and Sergey. Surprised by the unexpected visit, Youngho looked at Sergey. He just shrugged at him as if he was surprised too. Looking at the two, Yaniv asked that they have some drinks together.


    ¡°Lee, don¡¯t you have any liquor in here?¡±


    ¡°How would I have drinks now? I didn¡¯t know you¡¯de here.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we friends? A friend doesn¡¯t need to show up making a fuss.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Wee. Let¡¯s go to the office.¡±


    Yaniv came in secret without his henchmen. Youngho was thankful for his thoughtfulness, because his farm would be the center of people¡¯s attention if people found out that a mafia boss visited him.


    ¡°You have a great farm. Are you going to open a winery too? If you do, I¡¯ll only drink wines from your farm from now on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll deliver them to you every year on my own, but you should be prepared for its high prices.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that means you¡¯ll make premium wine? All right, then we¡¯ll buy out all of the wines from Zeynep¡¯s Farm. How about that?¡±


    It was not a suggestion he expected, but it was something Youngho would not reject.


    ¡°Now that I have the market, I¡¯ll have to make a winery by tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Yaniv stoppedughing and asked subtly.


    ¡°Lee, do you know that I met the president here? I talked you up to him. I said that you are a gifted entrepreneur with a bright future, and that you are bold enough to talk honestly in front of mafias. He¡¯ll call you soon. I thought you could use a chance like this. Good luck.¡±


    Even though it was surprising, Youngho yelled in delight inside.


    The president was supported by his people for developing the country¡¯s economy and various social security systems. If one paid a personal visit to the president, any high officials would have no choice but to give their preferential treatment to Youngho. Not to mention that he would be able to collect high-level information. Moreover, in Azerbaijan, making an acquaintance with the president was like having wings on your body.


    ¡°This is such a big present to me. Thank you, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°You are indeed a businessman. You exactly know I mean.¡±


    The day when Youngho gets to have a private consultation with the president, his position in Baku would change in a dramatic way.

 Chapter 50

    <h4>Chapter 50: A Dangerous Gamble (1)</h4>


    Youngho was financing the budget for the winery instation. In Europe, there was a piece of statistics that stated that seven to ten-year-old trees would produce 450 gallons of grapes for each acre. Also, Australia and the United States were said to produce 600 gallons of grapes for each acre. Youngho¡¯s farm had 900 acres of grape nts. Calcting his first year¡¯s produce, he would produce 270,000 gallons of grapes. The number 270,000 gallons gave a little shock to Youngho, that he jumped up from his seat with an emotion of half-surprise and half-joy. He wanted to share the news with someone, but nobody was around him.


    There was a problem. If he was going to produce 270,000 gallons, he would need at least 900 oak casks. Considering each cask cost 2 million won, he needed to pay 1.8 billion won just to buy them. Youngho did not have that much money, and not to mention the fact that he would have to buy other equipment to have a decent winery such as a fermentation cer, a low-temperature ripening room, filtering equipment, a packaging room, and so on.


    His solution to this was to sell grape extracts only for this year because he just needed to install a grape crusher and a press. They would be installed in the grape storage unit, which Youngho already had. Instead of selling grapes, producing and selling extracts was a better way to maximize the profit. Youngho could not stop smiling because the farm¡¯s estimated profit was about 1.4 million dors.


    After finishing his calctions, to calm himself down, Youngho started to pluck up weeds from Jongil¡¯s garden. Fatima, who showed up out of nowhere, was also crouched down and plucking up weeds with him.


    She looked like she wanted to talk about something, but she hesitated for a moment.


    ¡°Oppa, do you think I should go to college?¡±


    At Fatima¡¯s question, Youngho lifted his head with an incredulous look. She sounded as if she wanted to quit her pursuit of education. Youngho used to tell the siblings that they needed to be educated, but perhaps she was thinking otherwise.


    She continued, ¡°I want to work after I¡¯m done with high school. I can¡¯t live off your money forever.¡±


    Fatima seemed to think that she and her siblings were being a burden to Youngho. It was natural since they were not a real family.


    ¡°Fatima, like I said, we are a family now and I have more than enough money to support all of you. Even though you¡¯re relying on me now, there will be a time when I¡¯ll rely on you. Aren¡¯t you going to help me when I¡¯m in trouble?¡±


    After pondering Youngho¡¯s words, Fatima smiled, looking like she had found a solution to her problem.


    ¡°Okay. After I¡¯m done with college, I¡¯m going to work for you. You can¡¯t stop me then, can you promise?¡±


    ¡°There is a saying in Asia: A man¡¯s word is just as valuable and heavy as thousands of gold.¡±


    After listening to Youngho, she beamed brightly and gave Youngho a big hug.


    Youngho knew what Fatima was doing. She needed continuous confirmation from Youngho¡¯s that the siblings¡¯ peaceful life would not be taken away again. She was insecure that Youngho would change his heart toward them.


    ¡°Fatima. I¡¯m going to teach you what Korean leaf wrap rice is. You¡¯ll be eating this for the rest of your life.¡±


    After saying this, Youngho knew he made a mistake. He unconsciously said ¡®for the rest of your life.¡¯ He thought for a moment whether he should add more exnation to that, but he ultimately let it go. It seemed weird to add an exnation to fix a small mistake. However, Fatima¡¯s eyes twinkled in hope for the moment.


    After eating leaf wrap with the siblings, Youngho was about to go for a walk but he saw breaking news written in subtitles on the TV in the living room. It said that Nagorno-Karabakh made a sudden military move toward Azerbaijan¡¯s Tartar district in the region. Out of nowhere, Armenia began the movements of a dangerous gamble. It was not known if they were just warning or if they wanted to have a war. Youngho had nned a weekend trip with the siblings, but Armenia was not of help.


    When he called Edward, he could hear him sigh. He said that what he had feared had finally happened. Edward, who was an Armenian-American, was deeply distressed, and it made Youngho sorry for him. Because there had been consecutive provocations from Armenia, the international opinion was that they go against Armenia.


    Russia was stepping back by officially iming that they would not be involved in this. They would have joined Armenia if Azerbaijan hit Armenia first, but because of their one-sided decision and recent anti-Russian movements, Armenia would not have Russia¡¯s support.


    Youngho worried about his friends who were drill instructors of the Armenian militia. Trying to keep the status quo between the two, America was in a difficult position. The military provocation this time must not be Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s own decision without the Armenian government¡¯s push. Even the event of some soldiers firing their guns could bring war, but they were using heavy firearms in their invasion of Azerbaijan¡¯s region. It did not make sense to Youngho. It was obvious that the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh did not have much power over Azerbaijan, but they were the ones who started threatening Azerbaijan.


    There was nothing to be done from Youngho¡¯s part yet as a CIA agent. The European chapter was on standby, waiting to collect more information before acting.


    Baku¡¯s officials were frantically moving as expected. The Azerbaijan side wanted war as well because they could never pay back Armenia in order to stop the esction of war. However, the officials¡¯ opinions were now calling for a victory over Armenia. Youngho reported all the information he collected from the officials to Edward. Meanwhile, the battlefield was expanding and the casualties increased daily.


    Even though the battlefront was afar, the city of Baku was held in a tense atmosphere. Azerbaijan¡¯s government was recognized on war footing, and the army reserve was called up. All the schools were closed temporarily. Having an unexpected break, the Fatima siblings spent all day on the farm.


    Baku¡¯s temperature in June went up as high as ny-five degrees during the daytime. Due to the hot weather, the water reservoir in the middle of the farm turned into a swimming pool for the kids. Zeynep and Szechenyi¡¯s friends from school all visited the reservoir and yed together. Because it was built as a reservoir, the depth of water was deeper than five meters. Worried about their security, Youngho brought life vests for everyone. Most of the kids were Western Europeans since their school was an international school. Because of a possible war, many ces had been closed. The kids had nowhere to go, just like the siblings. More kids were starting to show up at the farm, hearing that there was a pool on the farm.


    The reason for visitors from the school was that Zeynep spread the word that there was ake on the farm. The big reservoir which had a size of 106750 sq. ft. must have looked like ake in Zeynep¡¯s eyes.


    Jongil, who was not busy as the stores were not doing well due to the imminent war, also yed with the kids in the farm. As a former Special Forces man specializing in underwater tactics, he was teaching survival techniques to the kids. The kids loved him and they followed him around. Even though the world outside was dealing with an imminent war, the farm¡¯s scene looked like as if they had moved the school in there.


    Fatima was busy taking care of the visitors. Although she said that Zeynep caused unnecessary work, she was smiling.


    Youngho was distressed watching the news broadcasted on TV. He brushed down his hand over his face. It was a stress habit. A recording of the battlefield¡¯s situation was being shown, and there were tanks and heavy firearms. The reporter said that Azerbaijan was at an advantage, but Youngho thought Armenia would not be defeated easily. The soldiers in Nagorno-Karabakh were ready toy down their lives for their country. They were like martyrs, so to speak.


    Luckily, the battlefield was located in a hilly area. It did not cause many civilian casualties, but the number of soldier casualties was rising every day.


    The poption of Nagorno-Karabakh was 140,000, whereas the poption of Azerbaijan was nine million. They were already outnumbered before the battle even began. Armenia must be supporting their army. Frustrated after watching the news, Youngho came out to talk with the director.


    ¡°Director, I was so disturbed by the news. Is there any chance that the battle would stop before it turns into a full out war?¡±


    ¡°Our government is not going to sit still this time. The president also wishes to retake the Tartar district. If we just let this go, what will other countries think of us? We have to show our true strength.¡±


    The director sounded like Azerbaijan¡¯s army was preparing something big for their enemy.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried. All of my stores¡¯ sales have awfully dropped.¡±


    The director sighed at the sound of sales.


    ¡°Lee, I met the chief of Main Police Department today and he said that there will be even stronger punishments. It¡¯d be best for the economy if we could bring this to an end.¡±


    Even though he was surprised at his words, Youngho acted natural and asked a question, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t air force nes bought from Israel do the job? I mean, you can¡¯t use missiles for this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably use them both. We know the coordinates for their location. We¡¯ll bust them in the dark at the same time. Then they¡¯ll have to surrender.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart was beating fast.


    It was not a problem of who was going to win or lose. If genocidal weapons were used, the soldiers in the battlefront would be massacred. Youngho hurried and came out from the police building and delivered the message to Edward.


    Now, it was Armenia¡¯s call to assess the information and decide whether to withdraw their troops. If they decide to risk many lives for a littlend, there was not much to be done to help them.

 Chapter 51

    <h4>Chapter 51: A Dangerous Gamble (2)</h4>


    On the news, the scene of Armenian troops hurriedly evacuating the battlefield was shown repeatedly. The news anchor imed that their enemies decided to pull out after a few threat flights ofbat nes. The Azerbaijan army had set their D-day to carry out a full-scale attack a few dayster, but due to Armenia¡¯s evacuation they lost their chance.


    However, it was as equal as Azerbaijan defeating Armenian army without anyrge-scale attack. So, they were iming to have achieved a victory in the battle to the public.


    Youngho¡¯s information yed a key role in the evacuation of Armenian army. It looked like Armenia decided to believe his information since theypletely changed their attitude. The Tartar district that they were fighting over was not a strategically important point to protect losing thousands of soldiers. They must have decided to fall back because they did not want to lose their men, tanks, and self-propelled artilleries due torge-scale bombing.


    Edward called in a bright tone.


    ¡°Lee, we were lucky. Armenia trusted our information and acted upon it. You have saved many lives.¡±


    Youngho could feel the excitement from Edward¡¯s voice, which was unlikely for the calm agent. He seemed to be happy to have stopped sacrificing his peoples¡¯ lives.


    Youngho was relieved to have maintained the status quo of the two countries for now. Even though they decided to evacuate the battlefield, nobody knew just yet when they would decide toe back again.


    Oil produced in the Caspian Sea were provided to elevenpanies from developed countries including American big oilpanies through a pipeline that went through Baku, Tbilisi, and Ceyhan.


    Although the pipeline did not pass through Armenia, the oil corporations would not stand it if Armenia caused a problem in the oil production line due to war. The Western politicians who had been lobbied by therge oil corporations could change the Armenian government, or in the worst case scenario, Armenia could disappear on the map by force. Giant oil corporations had more than enough power to wipe out a country. The CIA might be already under pressure from the government lobbied by the oil corporations.


    If that was the case, Russia would not just sit still and wait. What about Edward? He could act against the CIA¡¯s instructions for his people in Armenia. Thought of this possibleplicated situation got Youngho worried.


    Youngho decided to take his friend Cha Insoo out of the militia. If he was to focus solely on collecting information, he needed Park Jongil¡¯s assistance. However, with Park Jongil gone, the farm would be defenseless. So, he needed his friend Cha Insoo, who would guard the farm for them. When Youngho requested Cha Insoo¡¯s resignation in the militia to the CIA, it was epted right away. Cha Insoo was hired as a bodyguard of CIA agent Youngho. So, his wage was paid as an information expense from the CIA.


    Youngho thought his friends who were still left in the militia, Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek, should be sent back to Korea or be hired by him in Baku in due time since it was dangerous to stay in the militia. As instructors in the militia, if things went wrong, they would not be protected for having helped Armenian armed forces.


    The reason that he nned to put out all of his friends from the Armenian militia was because of Edward. Even though Youngho loved him as a person and his superior, he was afraid that Edward would act recklessly for his country. Youngho may be thinking ahead but he thought he would regretter if he did not act now.


    More battles were still expected and due to insecure public, the prices were shaking. The most affected product was daily necessaries, no traders sent the same amount of trading goods as usual to a country in war. They decreased the quantities of products in Azerbaijan, and the bnce of supply and demand circle was broken. The prices for agricultural and marine products were rather stable but the daily necessities were inadequate in number.


    Sergey in Volgograd started to sell the daily necessaries that he had stored in advance in Azerbaijan. Yaniv had called President Aliyev that he would provide inadequate daily necessities in Azerbaijan at the same price before war. Although Yaniv was still making money, Azerbaijan was impressed by him since he had provided them even before the Armenian army in Nagorno-Karabakh evacuated the district of Tartar. Now that Yaniv¡¯spany nted a good impression of themselves, they would be in advantage for next businesses or oil development in Azerbaijan in the future.


    When Youngho got a phone call from the pce of the president, he was having tea with Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He almost freaked out hearing that Youngho was invited to the president¡¯s pce. Now Kamal and Youngho¡¯s status had switched. Kamal had to look good in front of Youngho to be able to impress the president. As Youngho left the ministry building, he smiled at Kamal who escorted him out like never before.


    President Aliyev of Azerbaijan graduated from Moscow International University. He is a smart person who was once a professor at his university. He had made Putin, Russia¡¯s president, his acquaintance since the time of Soviet Union. Although Azerbaijanis did not like Russia, Aliyev and Putin were deeply rted.


    Yaniv¡¯s achievement in Azerbaijan would be reported to President Putin and this would be a great chance for him to be recognized as a businessman rather than mafia. Yaniv had also told President Aliyev that Youngho had given him the business idea. The two were great partners, since they made each other look good in front of the two heads of the two countries.


    Korea and Azerbaijan¡¯s friendship had been developing in the recent past years. The two presidents visited each other¡¯s country and Korean businessmen were paying attention to Azerbaijan. Korea¡¯s image in Azerbaijan was getting better day by day. And just in time, the word that a Korean investor worked for Azerbaijanis was delivered to the president. That was why President Aliyev contacted Youngho and invited him the presidential pce. Since Youngho was an investor who invested for Baku¡¯s farm development, Aliyev wanted to see him.


    The meeting onlysted 30 minutes and the president and Youngho only had a cup of tea together. The president thanked him for his achievements for donating schrships for police families, developing wastednd for a farm, and nning to provide daily necessities during the war time, predicting the prices would skyrocket. Even though the country had overflowing oil dors, they did not prepare the daily necessities for the citizens in advance. Because of Youngho, the prices were stabilized. The president encouraged Youngho¡¯s investment and business in Azerbaijan.


    The fact that Youngho met the president personally alone changed people¡¯s treatment towards him. The director treated Youngho even more politely, knowing that he had put a word about him during the meeting with president. Now when Youngho visits him for tea, the chief of Main Police Department also joined them to make acquaintance with Youngho. He was recognized as a high official in Azerbaijan. Nobody could ignore him at this point.


    The European chapter of the CIA also considered Youngho¡¯s meeting with president an impressive move. The CIA treated him as an important agent. Even though Edward was Youngho¡¯s direct supervisor, he now often received directions from the headquarters. This meant that he was given a lot of weight in the CIA now.


    Park Jongil was gone for training to Frankfurt as Youngho did before.


    Sergey visited the farm on the first day of thest week of July. Sergey¡¯s excited face made Youngho curious for what was going on.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, boss hasplimented you so many times. He was invited to a meeting with President Putin. I think the president will involve us in the construction of Southern transportation route. The government thinks highly of us because of the image of a businessman close with Azerbaijan¡¯s government.


    ¡°That is great news to hear.¡±


    ¡°Putin is nning to stay in power for a long time. In order to earn people¡¯s support, he needs to develop the country¡¯s economy quickly, and that¡¯s why he¡¯s obsessive in opening the Southern route.¡±


    If the railroad route that connects Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran waspleted, people could reach Indian Ocean without going through the Mediterranean Sea. This could turn some trading ships that go to the Suez Panel and Russia gain some economic power.


    ¡°It was a good thing that we didn¡¯t price the necessities highly like you suggested. It¡¯s all because of your insight. As a way to thank you, boss sent you another gift.¡±


    Youngho did not want to receive another bag of gold bars, since he did not report thest gift to the CIA.


    ¡°I already told you that you shouldn¡¯t do this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what you deserve, you should take it.¡±


    After a little tug-of-war of words, Youngho received ten gold bars reluctantly. From selling daily necessities in Azerbaijan, Yaniv earned reputation that¡¯s more valuable than money. Yaniv thought Youngho deserved the gold bars.


    ¡°I¡¯m having a yacht party next month. If you are not too busy, please join us.¡±


    ¡°A yacht?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what we do sometimes in the summer. We have party on board on the Caspian Sea. You can bring your family and guests.¡±


    It was nothing to reject, so Youngho said that he would be joining them for the party. The siblings would be happy to hear about the party. It also sounded luxurious to spend the summer on the Caspian Sea.

 Chapter 52

    <h4>Chapter 52: A Dangerous Gamble (3)</h4>


    Park Jongil had returned from Germany after receiving his training from the European Chapter. Now he was officially an agent. With his great physical abilities, he stunned the CIA¡¯s drill instructors. They showed the power of Korean Special Forces¡¯ training.


    Now that Cha Insoo was guarding the farm and Park Jongil was working as a backup agent, Youngho felt relieved. Since they were good friends, it was easy tomunicate and n strategies for defense. Cha Insoo¡¯s official title was assistant manager under Gerhardt, who was the director of the farm.


    Youngho wanted to make Cha Insoo the director but he could not. By Azerbaijani foreign investmentw, foreign investors had to have a local person as a business partner as an executive manager. They could rece the manager if they did not like them but they still needed a local person in the ce. Azerbaijani government made a wisew for its economic development. They made their citizens a local agency for foreign investors¡¯ business to prepare for the case when they ran out of oil. While making money, the local people learned how to run businesses working under foreign investors of developed countries.


    However, the local business agents¡¯ abilities were not up to international business standards. Youngho was using Gerhardt since he was loyal but he did not have management ability. He had hard time dealing with contracts and other business-rted documents, though he was good atbor and what he was told to do. Also, thew stated that the foreign investors should hire 90% or more of needed employees among local people, as a great way to raise local employment rate.


    Cha Insoo was as surprised as Jongil when he first witnessed diverse weapons stored in the basement safe room.


    ¡°Youngho, I heard about this from Jongil but you seriously need to have an armory or something. What if somebody finds out about this?¡±


    ¡°The safe room is my armory. I have the key to the room. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they have like a sudden inspection or something?¡±


    Youngho never thought about it before but there was no one in Baku, who would dare to search his property. He had the president and head of Main Police Department.


    Cha Insoo¡¯s opinion was different.


    ¡°We are foreigners. No matter how much you think you have gotten used to this life, you are still just a foreigner. This country is as same as a socialist state. If things went wrong, they¡¯ll not hesitate toe and search your belongings without any notice.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking we should prepare for the worst case. Just simply think.¡±


    ¡°You are right. They can do anything in this autocratic country.¡±


    Cha Insoo was a careful person. The safer room was to prepare for an emergency. Cha Insoo¡¯s idea was to hide the safe room, so it would not be discovered by others and to have a month of food supply stored in it. So, Youngho, Insoo, and Jongil renovated the basement interiors. Now the safe room could not be seen by people who had not been to the room before.


    Youngho told his two friends about potential changes and dangers due to giant oil corporations and Edward¡¯s possible reckless action. He also shared his mind that he would pull out his friends in the Armenian militia. Cha Insoo told him not to worry about them.


    ¡°Chulhwan and Sangtaek already have girls that they want to marry in there. Even if you want them out of there, they¡¯ll note. I know you¡¯re the one who brought all of us in here, but from then on, the choices is ours to make. And should you be worried? It¡¯s us! We can take care of ourselves in danger. You¡¯re thinking too much.¡±


    At Cha Insoo¡¯s words, Youngho¡¯s heart became heavy. They all came here for money but now, it was not sure whether Nagorno-Karabakh would still persist to exist in near future. Their identities were disguised as Koreannguage teachers but it was a matter of time when they would be revealed. Youngho just hoped that the worst case would not happen.


    Having received zing sun rays, right temperature differences, and enough water, Zeynep Farm¡¯s grapes were maturing well. Gerhardt excitedly said that there were more fruits than he expected for the first cultivation. Youngho expected to have 300 gallons for each acre, but it seemed like he would have much more yields than that.


    With Cha Insoo added in the farm family, the farm became even livelier, Insoo took care of small and big things that Youngho and Jongil have not been able to care for since they were busy for outside work. With his meticulous personality, he managed to fix anything Fatima asked. He was known as the ¡®Midas touch¡¯ in the farm.


    His skills learned from UDT such as; underwater welding, dealing with explosives, running and repairing different machines and equipment, were useful in the farm work. Insoo did not have anything to do outside of the farm since he did not speak Azerbaijani and his English was also short. Until he could at leastnguage, he was living almost a half-mute. Therefore, Zeynep became his English tutor. Cha Insoo followed her around everywhere, and she loved it since it felt like having a bodyguard following her.


    There was a fuel station in the farm. When constructing the farm facilities, they had buried two huge tanks underground, so they could get any oil needed for farm equipment from the system. In Azerbaijan, oil was cheaper than water, so people did not care for oil prices.


    Zeynep and Gerhardt¡¯s children drove four wheelers around the farm all the time and when they got tired of driving, they went to explore the nature around the farm, such as the mountain, woods, and river. In the summer, the mountains were full of fruits and fun things to do. They sometimes brought wild berries picked from the mountain. Youngho also enjoyed fishing in the river with Szechenyi. Although Insoo did not have fun following around the kids, Youngho was relieved that a trustworthy bodyguard was protecting the kids.


    Sergey called to announce the on-board party¡¯s date.


    Youngho, the siblings, Jongil, and Karajan all got ready and went to a dock in between the Old City and Carpet Museum. The size of Yaniv¡¯s yacht was immense. The giant yacht was 60 meters long, it made Youngho wonder how much money the mafia boss had.


    With Yaniv¡¯s wee at the entrance, they got on the yacht. After touring around the yacht, Youngho wanted to ask how much the it was but it seemed not ssy to ask about the price.


    Sometimeter, they were served a luxurious dish made out of Caspian Sea¡¯s popr caviars.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. How much do you need to pay for this kind of yacht? It would cost you a ton just for the maintenance.¡±


    Youngho had to askying down his pride.


    ¡°Why do you ask? You must like this yacht.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°This cannot be among the leagues. The yachts of wealthy people who cross the ocean probably cost ten times more than mine.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I shouldn¡¯t have asked. I¡¯m just going to make wines and go climbing on the mountain behind my farm instead of yachting.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I like doing physical exercises. It makes me feel like I¡¯m alive.¡±


    Although Youngho envied Yaniv¡¯s luxurious life, he did not show it.


    ¡°Well, if you need a yacht, let me know. I¡¯ll let you borrow mine.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed.


    ¡°I appreciate your offer but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be using a yacht like this. I¡¯ll just be happy if you invite me to your parties sometimes.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯ll need it some time. President Aliyev sometimes borrows mine too. He should have saved a lot of money behind but he can¡¯t just buy a luxury yacht in front of many eyes. So he borrows mine.¡±


    From Yaniv¡¯s answer, Youngho caught important information. It sounded like President Yaniv who was known to be integritous and clean, had been storing funds in secret.


    A long-term seizure of power by one man always needed money to maintain the power. The money was used to maintain supporters and to hush people speaking against him. It was the government that the president received from his father. It must have been done from the president¡¯s father¡¯s generation to receive lobby funds from officials and big corporations. It got Youngho worried about whether he should have bribed the president since he would be expanding his business in Baku. He had not prepared anything when he was invited to the presidential pce. In order to survive as a businessman in Baku, he thought he should also bribe some funds.


    Youngho subtly asked Yaniv about his concern. Yaniv¡¯s answer cleared his mind. He said that the president earned so much money from selling oil that he does not care about small funds. He would not receive anything even if Youngho gave him and Youngho should not worry about it since President Aliyev would not even care for it. Yaniv was predicting that the president must have astronomical amount of money to maintain his government.

 Chapter 53

    <h4>Chapter 53: A Dangerous Gamble (4)</h4>


    Youngho started receiving more directions directly from the CIA headquarters than from Edward. The reason could be either that Youngho was treated at the same level as Edward or Edward was slowly being excluded from the missions. This might be because of the fact that Edward was an Armenian.


    There was another change that Youngho noticed, the CIA¡¯s financial support of the militia must have decreased since the militia had not been ordering from him for a while. Even though the militants were not sent in real battles yet, they usually went through supplies quickly from trainings and practices. The amount of CIA¡¯s yearly budget was astronomical, so there must be something going on in the CIA against Armenia. Youngho just did not know what it was yet.


    Youngho visited Nagorno-Karabakh. The official reason for his visit was to visit his two friends left in the militia. Jongil could not join him since the Sumqayit¡¯s store was busy due to increasing sales. Also, Jongil¡¯s Azerbaijani improved dramatically that many officials and business partners requested him as a spokesperson of Chunho Merchant. Meanwhile, Cha Insoo was busy too with the works of the farm.


    In the past, Youngho had to fly to Tbilisi from Baku, and drove from there to Yerevan. However, the flights had been arranged so he could fly from Tbilisi to Yerevan easily.


    Although from Yerevan, he still needed to ride a dreadful minibus for six hours on mountainous hills in order to get to Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was a wild, scary, and exhausting drive going on cliffs and rough hilly roads.


    Meeting after several months, Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek greeted Youngho wildly. Since two of the friends were taken by Youngho, they had been lonely.


    ¡°Hey, you must¡¯ve gone through many troublesing here. Are you here to get rid of us here too?¡±


    Cho Chulhwan asked in doubt, he looked at Youngho like a grim reaper. His rtionship with his Armenian girlfriend must have been entering a serious phase.


    ¡°As if you¡¯d go if I ask. I heard you¡¯re doing well with your girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you know? Insoo has a big mouth for a big guy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an American agent, I can find out anything about you.¡±


    Youngho made jokes to ease the tension before bringing up the sensitive topic. He took out the Turkish liquor, raki. The two dudes were excited and started to call someone.


    After an hour, the two each bought a beautifuldy and some snacks.


    ¡°Say hello to your future sisters-inw!¡±


    ¡°Beautiful sisters-inw? Man, you guys never cease to amaze me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you need to catch us up, dude.¡±


    They started to chat and drink as if they had done this often.


    Fortunately, the girls were able tomunicate little bit in English. Youngho hurried and spoke to the girls with a matter in his mind, even though he had not discussed this to his friends in advance. There was not much time left. In order to decide the next move, he had to speak with them.


    ¡°Forgive me for asking this now but have you ever thought about leaving here to live in Yerevan?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°My friends will quit the drill instructor job soon. Since I can¡¯t let theme to work in Baku because of you, I¡¯m going to open a clothing store in Yerevan so that they can work in there. Please help me.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s request, the girls started talking restlessly as if they had a lot to say.


    The two 23-year-old girls, Esther and Reba, had been friends for long. They said that they had desired to go out of the small state, Nagorno-Karabakh, but they did not have any connections outside. They were also insecure about living in the disputed territory. Even though they were scared to move from their hometown, they were willing to have an adventure for a better life. Youngho thought it would not be an easy conversation, but as a matter of fact, the girls were very cooperative to him. They were excited that they would be married to foreigners, so that they would be able to move away from their hometown.


    Youngho¡¯s two friends did not know what was going on between them since they did not speak English. After they sent the girls home, Youngho exined everything about the possible situations and war in the area. Knowing that Youngho took care of the girls first to save them, the two friends were touched by his caring heart.


    ¡°I never thought you¡¯d care about us this much.¡±


    His eyes tearing up, Cho Chulhwan¡¯s face turned red. He sipped on his drink.


    ¡°Shut up, man. You guys will never leave here without your girlfriends, and I can also rest after seeing your girlfriends¡¯ families were in a safe ce. I know you can protect yourselves but what about your girlfriends and their families? Also, what will you do for a living when you quit your job? If I open a store in Yerevan, you¡¯ll be able to take care of yourselves. I got your back, okay?¡±


    They knew what Youngho meant well but not wanting to be embarrassed to talk sensitive, they made jokes.


    ¡°Man, your store had better do well cause I¡¯m worth more than you think.¡±


    ¡°My stores always do well. You¡¯d have to share your profit because you¡¯ll be making a lot of money.¡±


    Youngho felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders after talking his honest heart out with his friends. They drank together all night.


    After two days, Esther and Reba, who had received permission from their parents for moving, visited Yerevan with Youngho. They looked around the city to find a spot for the new clothing store. The girls picked a good ce in downtown area where there was a lot of transient poption. It was a restaurant owned by an old couple who was retiring. They decided to buy the ce.


    Yerevan where 1.2 million people, a third of Armenia¡¯s entire poption, resided had prices that were a third of Baku¡¯s. It included rent and employ payment. The two girls signed a contract as co-owners of the clothing store. Youngho exined how his clothing stores worked to the girls. The rest of the process would be taken care of by the girls after he was gone. After getting an apartment for them to live and signing a contract with an interiorpany, Youngho left for Baku.


    Youngho was smiling the whole time on the way back to Baku.


    Because of Yerevan¡¯s low prices, helping the Yerevan¡¯s store was not a big deal for Youngho. He was satisfied since he had taken care of his friends¡¯ well-being. When he returned, Insoo and Jongil patted Youngho¡¯s shoulder thanking him for what he had done for their friends.


    On thest day of August, Youngho had just said goodbye to Jongil and Karajan at the Baku airport. They left to Yerevan to guide the process of opening of the new store for a business trip. Youngho could not forget Jongil¡¯s excited face from the night before because he was going on a trip with Karajan for a whole week. Youngho smiled.


    Youngho received a shocking phone call from Edward who said a short goodbye to him. Even though Youngho knew that the CIA was a secretive organization, he still could not ept the fact that he had to let Edward go like this. Youngho insisted to meet Edward before he leave but Edward said his ne to Panama in South America would be arriving soon. ¡®Relegation¡¯ was the word that popped up in Youngho¡¯s mind. Trusting Youngho¡¯s humane personality, Edward asked him to help Armenia. Edward was forcefully removed from the European chapter because of his rtion to Armenia which could be an obstacle to CIA¡¯s decisions upon the state.


    He was a thankful person towards Youngho. Edward used a public phone in case he was being watched and he did not say much anymore. Youngho who had been silent for a moment in sadness opened his mouth.


    ¡°Ed. If you face any problems in life that you can¡¯t handle, please call me. I wille for you and help as a friend. You know how me and my friends are, right?¡±


    Edward had not been a field agent and did not have impressive physical skills. Youngho thought he could use his and his friends¡¯ special skills someday. It probably was better for Edward to be removed from the war scene since he was an Armenian, the CIA must have done this to protect him.


    The European chapter had not assigned the head of Southeastern branch, Edward¡¯s former position, yet. Youngho had no one to get directions from now on, except the headquarters. When he asked Michael, who was the executive director of the European chapter for further directions. He said that the European chapter was taking over the missions in Russia and Azerbaijan on their won, so Youngho could move separately on his own as a Baku branch.


    Youngho and Jongil was now an independent branch without any supervisor looking over them. Since Youngho had been connecting with Russian mafia and Azerbaijani president, the headquarters had judged that he could move as a single organization. From now on, Youngho needed to join the branch heads¡¯ meeting in Frankfurt once a month.


    Youngho thought he would receive more information about the Caucasus regions in the heads¡¯ meetings, so he could act quickly upon situations. If a war breaks out, his priority would be saving his friends from Nagorno-Karabakh. Even though it was their wish to stay there, he ardently hoped for his friends to leave there as soon as possible before a war. It was Youngho who brought them here in the first ce. What if something dreary happened to his friends? He would regret it with a broken heart for the rest of his life, and he was determined to take them out of Nagorno-Karabakh and if he had to he would act against CIA¡¯smand and directions. Now, Youngho¡¯s dangerous gamble had begun.

 Chapter 54

    <h4>Chapter 54: Zeynep¡¯s Wine Company (1)</h4>


    As it turned September, the heat started to cool down. Grapes had been matured and frequently inspectors from winepanies came to check the grape¡¯s sugar content level. The Charles Wine Company of Baku expected Zeynep¡¯s farm to produce about 300000 gallons of grape extracts in this year. With that amount of extracts, they would be able to produce more than 1 million bottles of wine.


    Charles Wine Company knew that Youngho nned to buy oak caskets to produce wine in the future. However, not only they were expensive but also oak caskets took long time to age wine. It was impossible to produce more than 200000 bottles a year. Knowing this, the Charlespany started acting high-handedly, thinking that they were the only market for Youngho. Gerhardt alsoined that the inspectors from thepany whoe to the farm to check the sugar content, acted rude these days. On top of being rude, they finally contacted Youngho that they have to lower the price of grape extracts. It was not like Youngho had not experienced Baku¡¯s tradespeople¡¯s poor manner, but it still shook him since they changed their word right before cultivation. There was no business ethics in their mind. Youngho decided that he could not continue to have business with them since he would have to put up with their bad manners every time.


    Youngho n to install stainless steel wine tank facility on his farm to produce budget wine. There would be no problem storing wine once he installed more tanks in the fermenting cer and stainless steel tanks. As long as he could produce wine on his own, he would not have to worry about the market since Yaniv said he would buy them all from Youngho. There was a month of time left until cultivation.


    The problem was how Charles Wine Company would react, now that Youngho was not providing the extracts to them. Businessmen of Baku always made sure they got even with people if their business was damaged by them. If they came with fire and burn the trees after sprinkling some oil on the farm field, grape cultivation would happen only in Youngho¡¯s dream. Youngho asked Jongil, who was now living with Cha Insoo inside the city of Baku, toe to work in the farm for a while.


    The school was in session for the siblings. Since they were gone to school, the farm was quiet during the day time. With everyone and Jongil joining the farm, it became loud in the evening. Cha Insoo became close with Zeynep and Szechenyi to the extent where he jokingly had a physical fight with them, but he was especially distant from Fatima. Youngho asked why and his answer stunned him.


    ¡°I heard from Jongil, man. How can I treat her easily? I know she¡¯s still young but she¡¯ll be my sister-inw in the future. Good luck, man.¡±


    That night, Youngho pped Insoo¡¯s back so hard that there was a hand print left on his back and Jongil was chocked by Youngho in the bathroom.


    Fatima who would be 20 the next day especially looked mature unlike her still young age. She never acted impolite or made jokes unsparingly, she was always calm and smiling. Her attitude even felt weighty sometimes. Because of her mature attitude, customers in clothing stores frequently mistook her as Youngho¡¯s wife. His friends made jokes about her that Youngho was raising her to get married when she was grown up. He did not mind his friends but was nervous if Fatima would find about their jokes.


    Fatima nned to enroll at the Baku State University by next fall. The international school specially allowed to send their students to the state university with the rmendation letter from the school principal. ording to the school, she would be qualified after another year of schooling. Youngho could imagine his mischievous friends calling Fatima ¡®sister-inw¡¯ when she graduates from college.


    Hearing that Youngho would be beginning to produce bargain wine, Charles Wine Company tried to negotiate with him that they would buy the extracts as promised before. However, Youngho did not ept their request. He strongly kept his stance that he could not have business with apany that changed their mind right before cultivation. When he rejected them firmly, they moved rted government officials to pressure him. Youngho did not back up. After all, he was one who had a personal meeting with the president. When Youngho threatened thepany saying that he would ask the president to conclude this feud, they stopped forcing him in silence.


    Buying and installing 60 stainless tanks with the size of 5000 gallons was troublesome to Youngho. Moreover, he needed more tanks to use them for in the fermenting cer. Right now he did not have much space left in the farm for those facilities. Eventually, the Charles factory contacted Youngho to have a long-term contract with them at the price of six dors for each extract gallon. When he called the tank manufacturer factory, they were in the process of making 30 stainless tanks and 10 fermenting tanks. The number of tanks could cover 150,000 gallons of extracts. Charles Company had to pay ahead to buy rest of the extracts excluding the 150,000 gallons that Youngho would be producing on his own.


    The payment that Youngho received ahead from thepany, 900,000 dors, was enough to pay for the tanks and other facilities that he had bought.


    From the tug of war with the Charlespany, Youngho¡¯s farm was equipped with wine production facility. The greedypany now secured only 150,000 gallons, and they would have to pay Youngho 150,000 dors every year to receive extracts. They would still make money from the business but they had lost their chance of making more money from being hical. Youngho decided to wait before expanding his farm until he made some money from selling grape extracts to the Charlespany and making bargain wines for Yaniv. He did not want to risk his business by expanding it too quickly. Besides, the potential war was still waiting around the corner. He did not want to spend all of his money if there was a war.


    After a long struggle, the cultivation finally began. Pushing everything behind, Youngho first provided the extracts to the Charlespany. Grapes were picked by 20 cultivators imported from Turkey. Because the cultivator machines went around and gathered grapes, it only took a few days.


    The grapes picked were moved by four wheelers with a cargo box and poured into crushers. Crushed grapes went through a press machine and filter to be extracts. All Youngho had to do was to load the extracts to the Charlespany¡¯s tank truck which was parked in Youngho¡¯s farm. The cultivation should be done at once in a short period of time in order to avoid fruit drops. It took 20 days to finish the cultivation process. This year, the farm produced 310000 gallons of extracts.


    Youngho only had tanks enough for 150,000 gallons, so he gave another 10,000 gallons to thepany as a bonus. The 150,000 gallons of extracts could produce 700,000 bottles of 750 milliliter sized wine. He expected to produce more extracts next year, so the future of the farm was looking bright.


    In addition to the added facilities, Youngho hired people who had long experiences of producing wines from other farms. He needed the know-hows of other wineries. Even though a bargain wine, it would be sold under Zeynep Farm¡¯s name, he wanted to produce great tasting wine and gain poprity.


    For two months, Youngho had been working in the farm only. He reinforced the security system to prepare for the possible harm from the winepany, they mighte to destroy the farm¡¯s facility since they could only receive grape extracts when Youngho could not produce wine. Youngho never trusted the businessmen in Baku.


    During those two months, Youngho had gone to the branch head¡¯s meeting in the European chapter in Frankfurt. He found out that all of the funds for the militia had been cut. They had decided to stop instructing the militants in December since the Armenian army nned to transfer the militants in the official army.


    When the militants were absorbed into the army, foreign instructors would be an obstacle to them. So, the CIA had decided to stop supporting the militia.


    The clothing store in Yerevan was doing well on its own. It has been a month since their grand opening and the sales were increasing as they were gaining poprity. There were four employees, Esther, Reba, and two guards. The two friends nned to get married next year and live in Yerevan. The two friends did not have to quit their job since their job was going to be terminated anyways by the CIA. He could not call them to Baku, since they were going to get married to Armenian girls. Now that the foundation of their lives wasid by Youngho, they would be able to live on by themselves in Yerevan. Youngho knew that he would not be able to go see them in Armenia as often since the CIA did not have any job in there anymore. As an agent, he had to keep in mind to be careful in every step he makes.


    Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek were withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh earlier than expected. It was still in the middle of November. The fact that the CIA decided to pull their men out of the militia earlier meant that the transfer of militants to the Armenian army was being rushed. Somehow Armenia was moving fast as if they were being chased.


    Chulhwan and Sangtaek moved to Yerevan, they told Youngho that all of their future inws were getting ready to move to Yerevan as well. The two friends must have felt the near danger too. Youngho also heard that Margos the head of the militia lost his job since there was no militia anymore. He thought that he would not be rted to Nagorno-Karabakh anymore. All of things that he was rted were gone. Youngho felt a little bitter inside but there was nothing he could do, he worried how he should exin this to Edward in Panama.

 Chapter 55

    <h4>Chapter 55: Zeynep¡¯s Wine Company (2)</h4>


    In the agent meeting in Frankfurt, Youngho asked about the situations in Armenia but even Philip who was in charge of Armenian region seemed to be frustrated for not having any information to provide. There was something going on in Armenia. He also called Sergey to see if Russia was involved in this but he said that there was nothing special going on with the Russian army. In Youngho¡¯s eyes, the Armenian government seemed to move for the unknown third party behind it. If there was a war, it must be happening for the third party¡¯s benefits.


    The recent decision of the Armenian government to absorb the militia into the official army did not seem to make sense. If Armenia was not going to give up Nagorno-Karabakh, they should have kept the militants in the militia, instead of drafting them into the official army. The militia should exist as the militia. The politicians might have decided to give up Nagorno-Karabakh and maybe the big oil corporations were behind this decision. No matter what, there was nothing Youngho could do in Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s side. He decided to forget about his rtions to Nagorno-Karabakh. Instead, he decided to do what he could from his side.


    To give information about the state of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Azerbaijani government, Youngho went to Main Police Department to see the director.


    ¡°What brings you here? I heard you¡¯ve been busy working for the farm.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Park must¡¯ve not told you about it then. I¡¯ve been busy installing wine producing facility on the farm.¡±


    ¡°I heard about how the Charlespany treated you. I¡¯m embarrassed as an Azerbaijani.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Well, problems can happen anywhere. We¡¯ve sorted things out. It¡¯s all good now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve be a true businessman of Baku.¡±


    The director seemed to be sorry for Youngho. As a government official, he wanted to support foreign investors but Azerbaijani businessmen were not helping.


    After having a small talk, Youngho cut to the chase.


    ¡°I visited Frankfurt recently and there were strange rumors going on. It was just weird, so I had toe. I hope I¡¯m not causing any trouble for telling you this.¡±


    The director was intrigued. He pulled his chair closer to Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, you won¡¯t be a problem to me ever. You can tell me anything. Since businessmen from all over the world gather in Frankfurt, I¡¯m intrigued to hear what it is. This might be useful.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll just tell you exactly what I heard. I met a German businessman. He recently gave up his project to invest in Yerevan. When I asked why, he said that the militia was being transferred to the Armenian army and they were preparing for a big war. I also heard that Russia was upset that the Armenian politicians decided all this on their own.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? We¡¯ve been receiving reports about the militia but I¡¯m curious about the Armenian politicians who¡¯d move against Russia¡¯s will.¡±


    The director did not seem to get what he was saying. Youngho kept on.


    ¡°Russia is against Armenia¡¯s provocation of war. Right now they can¡¯t justify their involvement in the war against bad international opinions.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t they just sit still in the back when they lose their influence if Armenia loses?¡±


    ¡°You know, if Armenia was in their way of the Southern route business, they¡¯ll overlook Armenia. Why would they ruin their business for Armenia? Hearing this, I thought it was a great decision to stop having businesses in Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia might be giving up Nagorno-Karabakh soon.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s information implied important facts. If Russia was not going to be involved in their dispute, Azerbaijan could get rid of Nagorno-Karabakh easily.


    Youngho repeatedly made sure to the director that Russia would not involve itself in the dispute. By giving this information to the director, Youngho expected that he would talk to the president about this, and the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia woulde to an agreement on the current state.


    Youngho¡¯s prediction was correct. He was invited to the president¡¯s pce once again.


    Having tea with President Aliyev, Youngho had light conversations about how his business was doing. The president¡¯s face was brighter than ever.


    When Youngho was leaving the pce, the president patted his shoulder. He thanked for his involvement in the country and encouraged him for more involvement. Youngho could guess that the presidents had met already and came to an agreement. The president also mentioned that the director was promoted to a general manager. This meant that Youngho¡¯s manipted information acted as an important role in their decisions. He felt bad for Nagorno-Karabakh but the international situation were working against the state.


    The Azerbaijani government was moving their official army to the border area of Nagorno-Karabakh in secret. They were determined to pay back to Armenia and get back their takennd if Armenia provoked a battle once again.


    Youngho also let Sergey know about the government¡¯s movement, so he could prepare more grains and daily necessaries to produce during the war time. He also called Edward and told him what was going on. It was his way to care for Edward, so he could call his friends or family in Nagorno-Karabakh to take refuge before war broke out.


    The shadow of theing war made Youngho¡¯s heart heavy but in contrast, his farm was busily operating. The fermented grapes were now in aging tanks turning into tasty wine. The empty field of the farm was filled with construction supplies and workers were busily installing aging room and an automated factory facility.


    Since he already secured the market for the wine, there was no risk of investing money for the wine producing facilities.


    Now he had his information expense payment saved in his bank ount and 30 gold bars received from Yaniv. He had nothing to worry about. His business scale was not even up to a mid-sizedpany but what he was expecting to earn was about what a regr corporation would make.


    Youngho requested a personal leave at the CIA¡¯s European chapter. For the siblings¡¯ winter break, he went on a trip with the siblings to show them around different countries in Western Europe. Youngho thought it was a good opportunity for them to see different parts of the world. Jongil wanted to follow them but he had to stay because of Karajan. After their business trip to Yerevan, they seemed to be much closer with each other.


    Youngho¡¯s n was to visit Frankfurt for a short while for work first and then move to Zurich in Switzend by taking the train from there. It was their first trip after visiting Seoulst year.


    On the airne, Zeynep, who has been excitedly chatting, was quietly asleep. Fatima took out the world map and showed Youngho the cities and attractions where the siblings wanted to visit. The siblings had nned the whole trip, and it seemed like hr needed more days off to visit all the ces they had nned. Fatima even nned to camp out at the Zurich Lake for a night in the cold weather.


    When they arrived, they checked in for a room at a Hilton hotel. Youngho left the siblings at the hotel and left to the European chapter.


    Youngho briefly reported the situations in Azerbaijan and asked for an extended break. Michael looked at his monitor and said that he could use more personal days, since he had 45 personal days he did not use from the past. Now, that all was taken care of, Youngho came out of the building lightheartedly.


    He and the siblings were now on the train to Zurich, Switzend. The siblings, who were tired from two days of tight sight touring in Frankfurt, were sound asleep on their pulled-back seats. The train¡¯s first ss offered a meal even during a four-hour long trip. The siblings who had been even snoring woke up soon and ate their meal hurriedly. Zeynep who just ate up Youngho¡¯s croissant started to talk with crumbs around her mouth.


    ¡°Oppa, I like being on the train. There are more to see than being on the ne.¡±


    ¡°But if you get on the ne, you can save more time and you can tour around more cities.¡±


    ¡°No, the bread tastes better here than ne.¡±


    Zeynep seemed to be fond of train because of the bread. It was typical, silly Zeynep.


    ¡°You¡¯d be so big if you keep eating croissants. Are you okay with that then?¡±


    Zeynep suddenly flinched. She just remembered that she had been saying how ufortable it would be if she became big like some German people she saw in Frankfurt.


    Sipping on the wine that was offered as a part of the meal, Fatima¡¯s face had turned red already. Sheined that the wine tasted bitter here. In fact, the wines produced in the Caucasus regions, where the daily temperature difference was big, generally tasted better.


    Fatima gave a much better rating to Baku¡¯s wine. She recently started to drink since she turned 20, so her opinion was not credentialed, but Youngho also thought Baku¡¯s wines had good tastes. Youngho¡¯s goal to make Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine worldwide popr was not an absurd idea. Looking out the window, he smiled.

 Chapter 56

    <h4>Chapter 56: Burning Nagorno-Karabakh (1)</h4>


    The stores in Europe generally opened at 9 AM and closed at 6 PM.


    Many Korean travelers who were used to 24-hour convenience stores had trouble finding stores in the evening. Youngho, who had been living overseas for nearly three years, sometimes still had problem with this system.


    That was why he and the siblings were excited when they arrived at Zurich Central Station. It was 8 PM in the evening, which was like the midnight in here, but stores were open with bright lights on. There were about 200 stores lined up and ready for customers. They sold a variety of things. Tempted by all sorts of things, the siblings did not want to go to hotel. After visiting a souvenir store, mini-sized electronics store, and bookstore, the siblings went to a ce where music wasing out. It was the season of Christmas. They could see a giant crystal Christmas tree disyed in front of a building and a few musicians ying carol songs together. People passed by looking at the scene with smiles on their face. Youngho¡¯s heart was warmed. ¡®Have I seen such a warm scene like this before?¡¯ he thought.


    Listening to the peaceful carol songs, Youngho calmed down his busy heart due to the exciting trip. When he was settling in the atmosphere, Fatima came near him and took his arm. She whispered,


    ¡°Oppa, this is such a peaceful ce. All these people look like they don¡¯t know about any sadness of the world.¡±


    At Fatima¡¯s remark, he felt guilty for forgetting about the struggling people in Southeastern Europe. At this moment, people were fighting and dying. Many people did not even have food to eat and struggled to survive.


    ¡°We should still be thankful for the developed countries. They still reach out to other countries in need to help them.¡±


    ¡°These people¡¯s wealth andfort were all established by the sacrifices of weak countries. Looking at their rxed face and attitude, it feels like they are two-faced. All they have is because of their ancestors but they think they are superior.¡±


    Youngho could understand why she was feeling this way.


    She had met many foreign travelers when she lived in Istanbul and she could never forget how they looked down at her and her siblings. Even during this trip, many people whom they conversed with seemed to be surprised to found out where the siblings were traveling from. They were ignorant. Not to be treated badly, Youngho took out his US passport whenever he needed. Fatima seemed to be curious about why Youngho was using a US passport. He felt like she was going to ask about it in near future.


    ¡°That is why we have to strengthen our economy. Economic power is the national power and people would be treated nicely if the nation has power.¡±


    ¡°I felt that too during this trip.¡±


    ¡°The reason that West Europeans can be confident when they travel as backpackers is that their country is strong.¡±


    Fatima smiled softly at Youngho.


    ¡°Their confident attitude is cool but I don¡¯t envy them. We¡¯ll try to be our best but we¡¯ll always have you on our side.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine bes worldwide famous, I¡¯ll tell people that you are my brother!¡±


    Touched by Fatima¡¯s words, Youngho almost hugged her.


    Regardless of the serious talk between Youngho and Fatima, Zeynep and Szechenyi were busy looking around different stores. Szechenyi was 16 now and Youngho trusted him as a bodyguard of his sisters since he had trained him hard.


    Spending a long time touring around, the siblings nowined that they needed kimchi and ramen. Because of Youngho and Jongil, they got used to steamed rice, kimchi, ramen, and other Korean dishes. Whenever they ate oily foods, they wanted kimchi to go with them. They were serious, since they even visited a Korean restaurant in Frankfurt after searching on the inte.


    After spending a night at Park Hyatt Hotel near Zurich Lake, they visited downtown for a tour. The siblings were impressed by the antique designs of downtown but Youngho did not pay attention to them. He liked much quiet ces. In fact, if the siblings were not with him, he probably would have spent the whole day working out in the hotel. Youngho was just following the siblings in responsibility. He thought watching people was more interesting than touring around the city.


    There were people who were obsessed with taking pictures to leave proof of their trip. They must have prepared for the trip a few years in advance. There were other people who liked touring around museums and looking at man-made artifacts, they were more ssy-kind of people. The siblings did not belong to the two groups of people mentioned above. They did not take pictures nor did they visit any museums and galleries. They just searched for foods and shopping ces. They walked long distances touring around city and searching for what they needed, and naturally they had to eat often for all the calories they burned.


    Fatima and Zeynep loved shopping for little decorative stuff and Szechenyi liked collecting pocket knives and climbing gears. He bought a few stuff for his friends from school.


    Youngho also picked a multi-functional pocket knife and ordered 100 of them to be delivered directly to Baku. It seemed to be a great new year¡¯s gift for anybody.


    Due to snow, they had to cancel the outdoor camping near Zurich Lake which Fatima had nned. It was relieving for Youngho.


    Youngho was touring around Louvre Museum when he heard about the war from Park Jongil. It was a week before Christmas. He needed to cancel the rest of the trip to go back to Baku. The siblings felt a little bit bad but they were satisfied with the past trip. Zeynep and Szechenyiined a little but Fatimaforted them with a warm smile.


    Youngho hastily came back to Baku from Paris.


    It was a ten-day short trip, but it was a valuable time for Youngho and the siblings. The siblings seemed to have fully epted Youngho as their family now. They did not hesitate to request anything they wanted, bought anything, and evenined to him during the trip. Even seeing their food preference has now be simr to his, Youngho felt that they were now very used to being around each other. Physical contacts like hugging were also usual and he could now ept them easily.


    The airport security clearance process was stricter at the Baku airport. Youngho and the siblings came out after a long while. Park Jongil, Karajan, and even Gerhardt were waiting for Youngho at the entrance.


    Thepany split in two cars and drove to the farm. On the way, Youngho heard what went on between the two countries. Jongil said that there was a shootout two days ago and heavy fire arms appeared at the battlefield yesterday.


    Azerbaijan was preparing tounch missiles at right time. They would not take long before firing since the international society would try to stop the war if the warsted long. What Azerbaijan wanted was to retrieve their territories and borderline as it was before the past war with Armenia.


    On the TV news, an anchor reported that Azerbaijani army had recaptured a region in Nagorno-Karabakh. Youngho, now used to Azerbaijaninguage, could understand most of what the TV said.


    ¡®This morning, the army reported that they had gloriously recaptured some of the Western regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. The regions are now returned to us after 20 years. Also, yesterday the army had captured 20 Armenian soldiers...¡¯


    Even though the anchor was delivering the news in excitement, the government always reported selected information for their own advantages. However, everybody knew that Armenian army would not be easily defeated. Especially the soldiers who used to be in the militia, they were strong and harshly trained.


    Russian army had not shown any movements to involve in the war yet. However, if things go bad for Armenia, they would ask for Russia¡¯s help. Because of this, Azerbaijan side had to end the war before too long.


    Youngho called his friends in Yerevan to never get involved in the war even if their former militant trainees ask for help. If they got involved in the war, he might not be able to see them forever.


    The international opinion was looking at the war lightly as a local battle. When it seemed that it hade to a state of lull, the Azerbaijani air force¡¯s full-on missile attacks to annihte Armenian core military unit began.


    Armenia tried to fight back but they were helpless in front of Azerbaijan¡¯s attacks using advanced weapons.


    Most of Armenian soldiers in Nagorno-Karabakh had retreated or were killed now. Only the former militants who were transferred to the official army and were isted in Nagorno-Karabakh hid in mountainous areas. They were hiding to conduct gueri operations.

 Chapter 57

    <h4>Chapter 57: Burning Nagorno-Karabakh (2)</h4>


    The presidents of different countries around Caucasus started to pressure Azerbaijan to agree to a truce with Armenia. Russia also stated that its troops would be dispatched if the war was escted.


    Azerbaijan yielded unresistingly and retreated from the Armenian domain to the border area. It was a gesture to sign that they would not cross Armenian borderline and would not make further attacks. Since Azerbaijan¡¯s goal was to recapture their lostnd, the country was in the mood of victory and celebration. Not only it was their first victory over Armenia but also they had just retrieved 14% of their territory which was taken away from them for the past 20 years.


    Youngho reported about Azerbaijan¡¯s situation to the European chapter and took close attention to the government¡¯s further decisions. Now the problem was left for Azerbaijani government to decide on behalf of the Armenians residing in the retrieved territory. The international opinion suggested permitting Armenians freedom to reside in thend. Azerbaijan¡¯s takeover was internationally official to the world.


    Armenian force that has been fiercely fighting back was now getting weaker. Not only were they outnumbered, but also they did not have a good reason to fight back to keep the territory since it was Azerbaijan¡¯snd in the first ce. Since the war was provoked by Armenia¡¯s preemptive strike, Azerbaijan had more than enough reason to be confident in their victory in front of the international opinion. Azerbaijan was using the international opinion to their advantage over the war.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s public was at peace as if the war was already over even though the army was still fighting back the guerri attacks of the former militants. Youngho could already notice that the sales of his stores were rising again, it meant that the citizens were opening their pockets again. The war was ending.


    Now that his stores and the farm were operating regrly, Youngho went for hunting with his two friends, Jongil and Insoo. It was a rxing Saturday in a long time, so went up on the mountain chatting with each other.


    ¡°Youngho, I saw workers building something on the farm, next to the lodging facility. What is that?¡±


    Guessing that Jongil and Karajan would get married this fall, Youngho was building a house for them to live. The farm was spacious and had clearer air than the inner city. If they did not want to, Youngho could use it for something else, but he wanted to do something for his friends.


    ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re going to live. We are 30 now. We should start getting married and make children.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re building my house? Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than in the city, man.¡±


    ¡°I was going to live in an apartment with Karajan. Why would you do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Okay. I¡¯ll just finish building it and whoever gets married first can have the house.¡±


    Jongil looked puzzled for a while and he became quiet. He was touched by Youngho¡¯s thoughtfulness.


    ¡°Man, I didn¡¯t even propose yet.¡±


    Although Jongil did not fully epted Youngho¡¯s suggestion, he was excited since he always thought that he wanted to stay in Baku with Karajan.


    Listening to their conversation, Insoo interfered.


    ¡°Youngho, can Koreanse here and live?¡±


    ¡°Of course. They¡¯ll be epted if they submit an application to be a legal resident. What¡¯s up?¡±


    Cha Insoo never seemed to be interested in dating. It was weird but Youngho did not pay attention to it and just thought he was shy.


    ¡°I got a girl in Korea that I¡¯m engaged with, and I¡¯m the only son. I should take care of my parents too.¡±


    ¡°Dude, why didn¡¯t tell me earlier that you have a girl? I was looking for a girl to introduce to you.¡±


    Insoo scratched his head and blushed.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been dating for long. If I hadn¡¯te here, we would¡¯ve gotten married already.¡±


    ¡°Man...¡±


    Youngho thought he was silly, if he had told about that earlier, he could have found a way to bring her here on a long-term stay visa.


    Cha Insoo¡¯s parents were farmers in Korea. If they moved to Baku, there were plenty of things to do in Youngho¡¯s farm.


    ¡°You need to go to Korea for the New Year¡¯s and bring your girl and parents! Since Jongil said he¡¯s going to live in the city, you can take the house when it¡¯s done. There will be extra rooms for your parents too, but do you think your parents will leave Korea?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯lle if I ask. I don¡¯t have a lot of rtives, so it¡¯ll be better for them to live in here with me.¡±


    Youngho was d that he will have more people added to the farm family. Living in a foreignnd, more family was always wee in the farm. If Insoo¡¯s parents were nearby, Youngho thought it would be also good for the siblings.


    Azerbaijan looked like a dangerous country with constant disputes from outside but it was actually a safe ce aside from the disputed areas. Especially Baku, which was touching the Eastern coast, was irrelevant from wars. However, not knowing about this, Youngho¡¯s sister in Korea, Yunsuh, called him with a worrisome voice.


    ¡°Oppa, are you really safe? Nothing happened, right?¡±


    ¡°Man, again, I am seriously okay. I don¡¯t want you to worry about me. Where I am is totally irrelevant from war. Can¡¯t you see that from the clothing orders from my stores?¡±


    ¡°I know, but I feel insecure. Promise me you¡¯d leave the country right away if there is a slight sign of danger.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Where is your husband?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s out for a business meeting. I¡¯ll tell him to call you back.¡±


    After hanging up the phone, Youngho once again realized about the potential of danger in Azerbaijan. Her concern was understandable. Even though he was safe now, the future was unpredictable. The reason for his boldness was the mystical ring and leather shoes. He thought he could escape whenever he wanted if there was danger since he could flee and fight for himself with ease.


    The CIA¡¯s European chapter ordered Youngho to investigate the situations of Nagorno-Karabakh. The field agent Philip who was in charge of Georgia and Armenia regions had gone missing two days ago. He was told to investigate from outside of Nagorno-Karabakh which was isted now but it seemed absurd since they had contacted him because they could not find out what went wrong even with their tight informationwork. It was not known why Philip had to go in there but Youngho needed to get in to find out about it.


    Even without the CIA¡¯s order, Youngho was dying to go back to Nagorno-Karabakh to see how things had changed. After all, he had rtions with the state and the militia members. He also wanted to know who Azerbaijani government was treating Armenians. Youngho requested that he would go in Nagorno-Karabakh with Jongil as a backup agent. The European chapter asked to stop the mission but he insisted to find Philip on his own.


    Now it was time to reveal the secret of the ring and the leather shoes to Jongil. Although Park Jongil was a strong guy with extraordinary military skills, the state was full of militants trained for war. Youngho and Jongil needed extra help to stay safe. He asked for Fatima¡¯s ring in an excuse of doing some experiments on the ring. She gave her ring without anyints, in fact, she did not like the rustic design of the ring so she always left the ring at home when she went to school. It was not a big deal for her.


    Youngho exined everything to Park Jongil. He made him promise that he would not tell anyone about this until death. Stunned by the secret, he just nodded with eyes wide open. There was no wonder that Jongil was surprised, he just witnessed something that would only exist in fantasy novels. After giving Jongil the ring and another pair of leather shoes to put on, Youngho trained Jongil with the ring and shoes. Jongil, who had a trained body, got used to the mysterious items soon. After running around the mountain in front of the farm, he asked,


    ¡°Youngho, can¡¯t I buy these from Fatima?¡±


    ¡°Man, this is Fatima¡¯s family relics. I¡¯m borrowing these too. They¡¯d give them to us if we asked, but don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little harsh?¡±


    Although one pair was for Youngho, he lied to Jongil that he was only borrowing. He knew Jongil would want to have a pair no matter what if he told him the truth.


    ¡°Phew, you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only using these relics to protect people and that¡¯s also why I am protecting the siblings to the best ability I can.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°And nobody should find out about this. If the secret leaked, we¡¯ll be in grave danger.¡±


    Jongil nodded knowing what he meant. The mystical relics would bring misery to them if people found out about the truth. People woulde day and night to steal the priceless mystical items. Jongil shook his head thinking about the possible future.

 Chapter 58

    <h4>Chapter 58: Burning Nagorno-Karabakh (3)</h4>


    Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh had be an isted ce since all of the official routes had been closed. Because there was no way to connect even going through Georgia and Yerevan, Youngho decided to directly get in there from the Azerbaijan border.


    His n was to drive to Began in the Southwest region and to climb through mountainous areas on foot. It was all possible because of the leather shoes. Stepanakert was only 40 kilometers away from the borderline. Even though they had to go through the rough mountainous areas, it would only take up to two hours for Youngho and Jongil to reach the city with the help of the leather shoes.


    Youngho hurried and set off after telling Fatima and the farm family that he was going on a business trip to Southwest regions to find more markets for his stores. He and Jongil packed mountain climbing gears and emergency food supplies in an SUV car and drove four hours until they reached the bordend of Began and Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s teau area.


    Leaving the car in a Began district¡¯s public parking lot, they began their journey dressed as backpackers. They had only brought a pistol and a flip knife hidden inside the leather shoes in case of inspections. Park Jongil who has not been on a mission in a long time looked excited as a child going on a pic.


    When they did not see any more people around, they started to run. Since they had trained on the mountain when they were in the militia, they could find ways easily. The security guards had moved near the Armenian border, so it was quiet except they spotted a few animals in the mountain.


    When they arrived Stepanakert going across the mountainous areas that was 1,000 meters high above sea level, they could not walk on the street freely being Asians. Not wanting to draw attention, they hid and called Margos the former head of the militia. The reception was bad due to the city¡¯s geographical features but they were able to finally reach him after a few tries.


    Margos answered in a weak voice but he became excited to hear Youngho¡¯s voice after a long time. They nned to visit Margos¡¯ ce in the evening. After hanging up, Youngho tried calling ¡®Hulk¡¯ the former bodyguard of Margos, but nobody answered. Hulk may have been transferred to the official Armenian army, or there was a possibility of something that went amiss for him.


    It became dark soon in the winter day. They found Margos¡¯ ce easily since they used to visit him often before. When they knocked on the door, Margos who became even thinner like a stick came out supporting himself with a cane. He must have undergone such stress, that he even lost some of his hair. In order to take away the militants, Armenia had decided to discard him, who had been serving for his country as the head of the militia. Youngho felt bad but he was not in the ce to judge the government.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, it¡¯s been long. You¡¯ve done a lot for our people but now Nagorno-Karabakh had turned to this isted state.¡±


    Margos sighed after greeting the two.


    ¡°Mr. Margos, you don¡¯t look well. Let¡¯s sit and talk.¡±


    After catching up with each other, Margos opened his mouth.


    ¡°So, you must be on to something havinge to this dangerous ce.¡±


    Margos looked them in doubt.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to look for an agent, Philip. He had been missing in action after reporting toe here.¡±


    ¡°I guessed that too. It¡¯s an official secret here. I inquired here and there about his whereabouts and it looks like he¡¯s been captured, it¡¯s going to be difficult to save him. The militants who were not transferred to the army went in to the mountain tounch a gueri war, it¡¯s very likely that Philip is taken by them. The militants think that the US had betrayed us. I don¡¯t even know if he¡¯d alive by now.¡±


    Youngho also sighed after hearing this. It was a mystery why Philip had evene here since he was not a field agent. He was only an information agent. Although he had been trained to defend himself and to use weapons, his skills were still not enough toe to a risky ce alone.


    ¡°We can go and try to negotiate with them. We know all of them because we trained them as instructors. They won¡¯t harm us.¡±


    Although Youngho said he would negotiate with them, it was unlikely that they wouldply to his request and give away Philip easily. The only way to save Philip was to fight them to win him over.


    ¡°If Philip was killed, the US will never support Nagorno-Karabakh again. We should at least try to stop them.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Margos found a little hope for the state. He added,


    ¡°Do you remember the training valley in the Northwest area? Philip must be there. I wish he¡¯d be fine but the militants are just inmed right now.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Margos. Please forget about our visit tonight.¡±


    Margos nodded.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I hope for little damages on both sides.¡±


    Youngho promised he would try his best to keep it low. Although the enemies now were the militants whom they had trained sweating together. He only wished for him to take Philip without any casualties on both sides. Leaving the house, Youngho gave Margos $5,000 which was in his pocket at the time because Margos looked like he did not have any money to take care of himself and buy medicine. Margos did not take it but when Youngho insisted, he received the money with tears in his eyes.


    They wanted to go to a regr inn, but because they did not want to draw attention Youngho and Jongil spent the night camping outside in a tent. Due to the war, they were the only Asians visiting in the area, being seen by people was too risky for them.


    The next day, they searched the Northwest mountain area as Margos told them. They could find the militia base in thete afternoon. There were only two guards outside. Since the Azerbaijani army had retreated from the area, their guard was not too strict. They checked if there were rms and mines around the base and nned to sneak in the base at night. They first n was to sneak out Philip in secret in the dark.


    The sun had set and Youngho and Jongil began their mission. Relying on a shlight, they walked toward the base for five minutes. Suddenly Jongil, who was holding the light, turned the light off and put on the night vision goggles.


    ¡°Youngho, we need to wrap around the shoes. They make loud sounds on the snow.¡±


    Youngho smirked seeing that Jongil had gotten nervous, which was a rare thing for him. He must have been nervous since they needed to take Philip out without letting the militants know.


    ¡°What? You think wrapping will get rid of the sounds? Just go! There¡¯s no one guarding at night.¡±


    ¡°Dude, is this funny to you? I see you smiling. I am serious!¡±


    The base¡¯s location was safely hidden from outsiders and it was also a windy day. Youngho thought that the militants would not be rmed by now. As he expected, there were no guards. If he wanted to have a conversation, he would not decide toe at night. Heand Jongil agreed to knock guards cold if they meet anyone on the way. Using the leather shoes, they moved fast like the wind and got closer to the base.


    Youngho guessed that Philip would be locked in the storage building where there was no lighting out, since the militants would not give a nice room to a captive. When he put his ear on the outside of the storage building, he could hear someone moaning and moving. While Youngho was looking out for guards, Jongil unlocked the lock on the outside using his flip knife. When the door was open, they quietly went inside being cautious.


    There was a man crouching on a pile of hay. He was surprised when two robust guys came in with chilly wind. It was Philip.


    Youngho turned on his lighter, so that Philip could see who they were.


    ¡°Philip, this is Lee Youngho.¡±


    ¡°Lee? How¡¯d you get here?¡±


    Philip broke down in tears holding Youngho¡¯s hands. Youngho could feel Philip¡¯s heart since he went through a very a simr situation less than two years ago.


    ¡°Shhh, can move your body?¡±


    Philip asked for water after pulling himself together.


    ¡°I think I can walk. Can I have some water first?¡±


    Philip drank water in a rush as if the militia had not been giving him water for a while. He looked nurtured a little bit after drinking.


    Youngho had brought shoes and clothes for him since he knew that the captives¡¯ shoes and clothes were taken away in order to prevent them from running away. After Philip was ready, they left the valley. They left the door same as before.


    When they reached a safe ce away from the base, Youngho gave emergency food supplies for Philip to eat. He was not tortured physically badly but his body was weak from not eating. He was half unconscious now, so they needed to carry him on their backs. It would not have been possible without the power of the leather shoes.


    Youngho walked speedily with Jongil each taking turn to carry Philip. Even though it was a cold day of 10 degrees in Fahrenheit, they were sweating from moving. If one carried Philip, the other took the other¡¯s backpack and carried two backpacks. They walked on and on all night long and they could reach the city of Began in the morning. They could not tarry in there, so they drove to Baku right away.


    When they got to Jongil¡¯s apartment in Baku, Youngho reported the rescue of Philip and requested a passport for him to the European chapter.


    Michael flew from Frankfurt to meet Youngho and Philip in Baku. At Europe Hotel in downtown, he reunited with Philip in excitement and thanked Youngho repeatedly. All he had ordered was to gather information of the state¡¯s situations but Youngho went in there and rescued Philip without leaving any evidence. It was an outstanding achievement.


    From this incident, Youngho¡¯s team of the CIA¡¯s Baku branch¡¯s status rose above other branches in Europe. Philip also spoke highly of Youngho and Jongil for saving his life. Listening to the story that Youngho and Jongil took turn and carried Philip whose strength was undermined, other agents were proud ofradeship. Youngho also heard that the director of the US CIA headquarters requested to talk to him on the phone to reward hisbor. However, he doubted that the director might be calling him to give him more dangerous missions.

 Chapter 59

    <h4>Chapter 59: Charles Company¡¯s Choice (1)</h4>


    Youngho contacted Margos who had been worried about the militants¡¯ safety and let him know that no militants were hurt during the rescue mission. He thanked Youngho forpleting the mission quietly without hurting anyone.


    After gaining back his strength, Philip left Baku thanking his rescuers again. Park Jongil bragged that he would not have to receive any training from the CIA again due to his outstanding skills, he even thought that he should be a training instructor at the CIA. A few dayster, Youngho and Jongil were rewarded with 100,000 dors for their sessful rescue mission for agent Philip. Jongil wanted to use the money to buy a luxury Benz but he soon became quiet by Youngho who insisted that he should not use the money earned from life a threatening mission in vain.


    At the battlefront of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the two sides were still exchanging fires without any improvements. Azerbaijan was fiercely defending for their retrievednd. Because they were not giving disadvantages to the Armenians remained in theirnd, the international opinion was leaning toward Azerbaijan¡¯s advantage.


    Finally, Azerbaijani government stated that they would grant autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh under the condition that Armenians leaving in theirnd should evacuate and move to Nagorno-Karabakh within a year. Although this could be another beginning of a territorial dispute, Azerbaijan could not give up their recapturednd. They wanted to send back 800,000 Azerbaijani people who had been forcefully driven outside of their hometown by Armenians. There were lots of Armenians who lived in Azerbaijan¡¯s retrievednd, which upied 14% of the total territory of Azerbaijan. Many people had been living off farming or ranching but now they were at the position to be expelled from theirnd of work of decades. It seemed that there would be wild resistance from those Armenians.


    On January 20th of 2013, the truce was called by UN¡¯s initiation. Because of the UN¡¯s deration that they would deploy Peacekeeping Forces if the fighting did not stop, the fires from both countries could be ceased. Although it was not the end of the war, they were at peace now. However, the 7 millions of Armenians scattered in different countries strongly objected the truce. Wanting Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s independence, they protested in front of their governmental buildings.


    Korean New Year¡¯s Day was on February 10th. At Youngho¡¯s suggestion, Jongil and Insoo nned to visit Korea. Karajan was also going with Jongil to meet his family members before their wedding. Karajan was full of pride before leaving to Korea. In any country, women would fall for a good-looking guy like Jongil. Moreover, he was smart, sessful, and he had a great sociable personality. The only w was that Jongil used to be a terrible womanizer, if Karajan could stop him from womanizing any more, she would be one happy bride. Youngho wished that she would note to his house toin about Jongil¡¯s womanizing in the future.


    When he came back from the airport, Fatima and the siblings¡¯ faces looked different. Their faces were burning red. Even little Zeynep¡¯s face looked like a carrot. To Youngho¡¯s surprise, Andrey the winemaker exined what happened with a smile on his face. It was a tasting day for the wines that had been aging in the facility and the siblings had been sipping the wines, attracted to their sweet taste. Andrey, who was near sixty, chuckled and said that Youngho grew amazing grapes since the kids liked the wine¡¯s taste. Youngho picked up Zeynep who was acting silly being drunk andid her on her bed. He also helped on sitting Fatima on the couch.


    The next morning, Youngho made some ramen to sooth the siblings¡¯ hung-over stomachs. After the meal, he was calcting the estimated amount of profit from selling the wine to Sergey. Expecting 4.2 million dors, he was smirking to himself. Fatima, who had just finished washing dish, asked why.


    ¡°I just found out that we¡¯d make 4.2 million dors from this year¡¯s wine sale.¡±


    Not understanding the value of the money, she took a while to figure out what the number mean.


    ¡°Wow! It¡¯s the amount that can buy more than 400 of the car I¡¯m driving. That¡¯s incredible.¡±


    Shepared the amount to how many cars she could buy. It was her way of getting the concept of money.


    ¡°The money will be made under the name of Zeynep Farm. From now on, I will deposit a million in your ount every year, since I am borrowing your sister¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for the family just in case. You should manage the money.¡±


    Fatima smiled because she was thankful for Youngho trusting her with arge amount of money.


    ¡°Okay, oppa. I¡¯ll keep the money safe since it¡¯s the valuable money to protect my family.¡±


    Youngho also told her about the gold bars hidden in a safe in the farm¡¯s safe room and thebination for the safe. Because Youngho always had a risk of losing his life for his job as an agent, he wanted to prepare a way to live for the Fatima siblings in case he was gone. She could not hide her touched face when Youngho told her about the secret.


    It was in the early February when Margos called Youngho for help.


    He worried that the flour supplies were short in Nagorno-Karabakh and the price of flours was skyrocketing. Youngho asked where all the emergency supplies that Edward had stored for the residents were. Margos answered that the official Armenian army had taken them away for their military supply. It was an obvious crime of the Armenian army since they had stolen American properties that were stored for the residents. It seemed that they did not care about the residents who were isted in the region.


    Nagorno-Karabakh was hignds and most of the people lived off nting and farming. However, their produces were not enough to feed all residents. Their prices were naturally high, which was one of the reasons that the residents lived a hard life. It was difficult for the residents who protected the hignds without any underground resources risking their own lives but they would not leave their ancestors¡¯nd. Now the grain prices were rising even more, all there was left was agonizing life.


    Youngho was also guilty for Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s residents, who were driven to unwilling situations. He looked to find a way to provide grains to the residents. There were around 150,000 residents in the state and if they die out of poverty and hunger, the state would notst to exist soon. Azerbaijani government did not seem like they would care about Armenians¡¯ poverty, they might even wee this situation.


    Youngho reported about the Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s situation. Now that his job as a CIA agent was done, he nned to approach the problem personally. Even though the border was closed and outside supplies were blocked, people would find a way to get in there if they could make money. He nned to spread a rumor that said; people could make arge amount of money if they bring grains or daily necessaries to Nagorno-Karabakh.


    It was a n using Azerbaijani businessmen¡¯s mentality. Because the concept of business ethics had not settled in Azerbaijan yet, they did not care about any business rules if they could make money. Youngho experienced this since he was almost terrorized multiple times in the past. It was certain that many of Azerbaijan¡¯s businessmen would bribe frontier guards to get into the state.


    The Charles Wine Company¡¯s owner, Araz, used to be an official of the former Soviet Union. With the help from the rtions to the current government¡¯s officials, hispany controlled the small-scale grape farms around Baku. To the small farm owners, Araz was someone to crawl to, since he had the power to ruin their businesses. Nevertheless, Youngho did not care about Araz and rather, Araz suffered a setback when he tried to control the prices of grape extracts from Youngho¡¯s farm.


    To Araz, Youngho¡¯s farm was supposed to be a farm that only provided grape extracts, not wines. However, he was producing wines under name of Zeynep Farm. He was annoyed to hear this, especially because the extracts had the best quality level of sweetness. If Youngho would sell all of the extracts to Araz, he could produce more wines at high prices for their great taste and high quality. Because Youngho was a foreign investor to whom the president was paying attention, he could not treat him carelessly. Araz searched for ways to disrupt Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine producing and to have all of the extracts from Youngho¡¯s farm.

 Chapter 60

    <h4>Chapter 60: Charles Company¡¯s Choice (2)</h4>


    The absence of Park Jongil, Karajan, and Cha Insoo made a big change to Youngho¡¯s schedule. During the day, he worked in his direct stores and during the night, he met government officials. He could not make time to begin any work on the farm.


    Gerhardt was in charge of farm work but there was still a lot of things needed to be done by Youngho. Although he had sorted things out with the Charlespany, he could not pretermit the farm¡¯s security at nights because he knew how temperamental businessmen in Baku could be. He had inquired about who Araz of the Charlespany was, and what he found about Araz made him even insecure.


    Araz had raised hispany in a short period of time from a small-scale farm inherited from his parents. It would have been impossible for him to make thepany as big as now in such a short period of time if he had run his business in the normal way. He was known to lower the purchase value of grapes of other small-scale farms and to frequently threaten other farm owners. Youngho¡¯s farm could be one of his victims.


    Youngho opened his eyes automatically in his sleep because of a sudden chill he felt. It was not from outside since the windows were closed. He realized that it was the ring signing near danger. Not wasting a moment, he dressed and went down to the security office where there were rms and monitors. The night guard who was dozing off woke up and asked what was wrong. There was no sign of people shown on the monitors. When he was about to turn on the security lights, he changed his mind and stopped his motion. He told the guards to protect the building. Then he put on the leather shoes and left the back door with a pistol and night vision goggles in his hands.


    Because of the snow from two days ago, the field was bright. Using the leather shoes, he ran about two kilometers in a moment. There was nobody around where the rm sensors were located. He could see footprints, which meant that the intruders were already inside the farm. Youngho went back and checked the farm routes. After running and carefully searching for any evidence of intruders for a while, he could find two robust men walking 100 meters ahead of him. They were panting because of the big backpacks they carried.


    Using the running speed of the leather shoes, he approached them and struck the back of their necks. They fell unconscious. Right away, Youngho searched their backpacks while they were unconscious. They had each brought a gasoline container and pistol. They must havee to burn something in the farm. He woke them up to find out what they wanted.


    Being threatened at gunpoint, they let out everything they knew. They were street hoodlums paid by the Charlespany to sabotage Youngho¡¯s farm. They came to burn the wine production facilities which were still under construction. Saying that they only brought guns for protection, they begged Youngho for mercy. They were a typical example of back alley hoodlums that ruled only the powerless. They were Araz¡¯s partners who had been doing the dirty job for him. At Araz¡¯smission, they had been threatening powerless farmers.


    Youngho thought it was no use to turn them in to the police. If his farm continued producing wines, Araz would keep trying to ruin his business. He needed to get rid of the root cause.


    The winter night was long.


    It had only passed 3 AM. Youngho was now aiming the Charles Wine Company¡¯s wine factory with a portable rocketuncher. He knew the way around the factory site because he had visited here for a tour. Two rockets wereunched and burned the automated factory building. Another two shots burned the storage unit for aging tanks. Thest rocket directly hit an oil storage unit. The factory was devastated in a moment. Not only Araz lost all the wines produced this year but also it would cost him a few billion won to rebuild the factory facility. He might as well file for bankruptcy.


    It did not matter if they doubt Youngho for this. It was the Charlespany who had provoked the bad blood first. Youngho was not going to wait for Araz to ruin his business, so he burned his property first. It was a self-defense. In order to survive as a businessman in Baku, he thought he should have this much gut. Since he could not get rid of the two who intruded the farm, he called Sergey to take them. Now the two were destined to spend the rest of their lives working at a lumber camp in Siberia.


    The explosion of the Charlespany¡¯s wine factory caused an uproar among Baku¡¯s people. People even guessed that there was war. Araz was in shock since his factory was on fire instead of Youngho¡¯s farm, which was still intact, and he could not reach the two men he sent to Youngho¡¯s farm. He could not doubt Youngho for the explosion since he knew that his Korean employees were absent for their trip to Korea. And even if Youngho had found out about Araz¡¯s n to burn Youngho¡¯s farm, it was impossible for a person to travel dozens of kilometers during the night to attack the factory.


    The investigators reported that the explosion was due to rocket fires.


    The news reported about the explosion for days. There were many people who would have been vindictive toward the Charlespany in Baku due to Araz¡¯s brutality. The police interviewed people who were on bad terms with thepany but Youngho was out of the investigation radar.


    ¡°Boss, we need to buy more aging tanks. It¡¯s going to be difficult to supply for the Charlespany from now on.¡±


    Youngho felt a prick at his conscious at Gerhardt¡¯s remark but he responded naturally.


    ¡°The Charlespany will restore the factory soon since they have plenty of funds.¡±


    Gerhardt looked at Youngho as if he was being too naive.


    ¡°Boss, haven¡¯t you heard? Araz¡¯s out of funds now because he had to repay to his business partners.¡±


    Gerhardt worried about the workers of the Charlespany.


    ¡°Do you mean that Araz is quitting wine production?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing left to quit anymore. I already received calls from the workers of hispany. They asked me to hire them for our farm. They also said Araz was selling his grape farm too at a cheap price.¡±


    ¡°You know, we can¡¯t hire the workers right now as if we¡¯ve been waiting for this. They¡¯d doubt us as the culprit for the explosion.¡±


    Youngho did not want to get rted to Araz¡¯s business but Gerhardt kept on convincing him.


    ¡°The Charlespany is notorious for its brutality. Although you can¡¯t see it, people would be apuding inside now that thepany¡¯s gone.¡±


    Youngho wondered why Araz even bought the grape extracts from Zeynep Farm. Gerhardt exined his question.


    ¡°The government pressured local farms to sell their extracts to the Charlespany. Then thepany sold their wine at a cheap price in a mass production. Because of them, other winepanies got behind in the pricepetition and lost their market.¡±


    Listening to Gerhardt¡¯s exnation, Youngho thought Araz had been a trashy, corrupt dealer.


    ¡°Hispany had bled the local farmers dry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why people are apuding for his failure.¡±


    Youngho decided to find a way to buy Araz¡¯s farm which Gerhardt wanted. Surprisingly, someone unexpected contacted him to suggest him to buy out the Charlespany¡¯s farm and wine factory. It was Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kamal was promoting the Charlespany¡¯s wine factory and farm site due to a request from the agriculture department.


    Youngho rejected his request with a reason that he had used all of his savings to buy wine production facilities. However, Kamal convinced him to buy the property, saying that he would connect him to bank advances.


    Since the government approached Youngho first, he had a reasonable cause to buy the farm. With 200,000 dors of down payment and 400,000 dors of a mortgage, the 300 acres of Araz¡¯s farm was now Youngho¡¯s. It was equipped with a lodging area, office, and aging storage. In a normal circumstance, the farm would have cost at least 800,000 dors but Youngho could buy it cheap because he insisted that he did not have any money.


    Araz of Charles Wine Company was going crazy over his factory¡¯s explosion. Even though he treated his business partners brutally, it was not to the extent where someone would burn down his factory. He could not guess who did this to him. Now that his factory was destroyed, his wine business seemed to be done.


    Since he needed to return the advanced payment from his clients for his wines, his loss was huge. The police were concluding the cause for the explosion as mishandling of gasoline, in order to hide the instability of the city¡¯s security.


    After the day of the explosion, Araz had searched for the men who had gone missing in Youngho¡¯s farm. However, he could not ask him if somebody visited the farm at night. He concluded that they must have run away with his money paid in advance. It was doubtful that his factory was exploded on the day that he sent men to Youngho¡¯s farm but he did not doubt him. He could not imagine a foreign investor acting this violent in Baku.

 Chapter 61

    <h4>Chapter 61: Charles Company¡¯s Choice (3)</h4>


    Park Jongil and Karajan who were on their New Year¡¯s Day break came back first, a few dayster, Cha Insoo brought his fianc¨¦ and parents. Karajan looked bright as she told the story of meeting Jongil¡¯s brothers and rtives. Since Jongil visited them with a tall mor beauty, his family must have thought that he was sessful in Baku. Karajan who also spent a lot of time with the Yunsuh couple finishing somepany affairs handed Youngho some Korean side dishes that Yunsuh made for Youngho and friends. He sced his mind looking at Karajan¡¯s pictures of her and his nephew together.


    Cha Insoo¡¯s parents and his fianc¨¦ Kim Sunghee were surprised by the overwhelming size of the farm and the wine factory. They were also thrilled to see their house on the farm, the exterior of the house looked great, now the workers were finishing up its interiors soon. It was a nice and roomy two-story house. The parents looked satisfied with the secluded environment since they had lived in a rural area in Korea as farmers for their whole life.


    Hearing the rumor that Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s prices of daily necessaries and grains were skyrocketing, Baku¡¯s greedy tradespeople moved fast. Another word was spread that Armenians had overflowing funds sent by Armenians overseas. Newspapers also reported that Nagorno-Karabakh was a gold mine for all merchants. The tradespeopleined to the government that the government was taking away the opportunity to make money. The government that could not keep the state isted forever opened the market to the state with limitations to the trading items.


    Now Nagorno-Karabakh was able to breathe again. Merchants would want to sell other items when selling, they would expand the kinds of items and their quantities. As they provide more supplies, the prices would eventually be lowered due to the pricepetition. The Azerbaijani government did not allow the merchants to get in the state but they could open their market at the borderline.


    On the day of spring rain, the automated facility for bottling the wine waspleted on Youngho¡¯s farm. Youngho had great expectations on Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine since he invested all of him money in it. Sergey from Volgograd came to the farm and took a few boxes of the firstly made wine bottles.


    Even though his boss promised to buy all of the wine, he wanted to check the quality before making a deal. Many people came for wine sample tasting and gave Youngho satisfying reviews. Youngho sent some boxes to the presidential pce as a gift.


    Sergey contacted Youngho saying that Zeynep Farm wine was well-received in Volgograd. He agreed to buy all of the produced wine at the price of five dors for each bottle. The automated facility could produce 4,000 bottles in eight hours. It was 330 boxes of a dozen bottles. Excluding the holidays and weekends, the farm could produce 100,000 bottles a month. Considering the fact that Youngho had 110,000 gallons left to bottle aside the 30,000 gallons in the aging tanks, he would have to produce 550,000 bottles, which meant the factory would be operating until the next cultivation in the fall.


    Now that Youngho had bought the Charles Wine Company¡¯s factory and farm, he needed more specialized workers, so he hired 20 former workers of the Charlespany for Zeynep Farm as Gerhardt suggested. He also bought more oak caskets since he knew that naturally the longer aging period the better wine tasted.


    The farm got busy now that the distribution had begun. A semi-trailer truck came to the farm every week to load wine boxes. Sergey paid Youngho in time by wire transfer when the payment was due. He was selling Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine at the price of ten dors a bottle to Russian people who liked drinking. Because the Charlespany¡¯s cheap wines were not distributed anymore, the wines from localpanies started to be sold at right prices.


    On the contract of the farm site, it was written that Youngho would not be charged for taxes for five years. The exemption of taxes only included the production of the farm and not the wines which were processed and distributed. He had to pay the alcohol taxes.


    Wines that contained less than 13% of alcohol was treated as non-alcoholic drinks, so it was not charged alcohol taxes. However, the wines aged in oak caskets were taxed since they exceeded 13% of alcohol containment.


    Youngho bought 30 more stainless aging tanks with the funds he earned from the wine sales to age all of his extracts to turn them into wine, now that Charles Wine Company was no longer buying his extracts.


    He nned to nt new grape nts from Turkey on the former Charlespany¡¯s farm and start cultivating next year. All of the wines would be produced through oak casket- aging system.


    Because Karajan was in charge of all of the work of the clothing stores and porcin store and Park Jongil was helping her, Youngho could focus wholly on the farm work and collecting information as an agent.


    After saving agent Philip, Youngho¡¯s team gained a high status in the CIA. Youngho felt insecure about more difficult and dangerous tasks.


    People saw Youngho as a sessful foreign investor in Baku, who had been continuously donating money for police families and who had met the president twice already.


    As if heavens wanted to put a break on Youngho¡¯s sess, he received a disturbing call from Yerevan in the middle of the night. It was Cho Chulhwan. He told that Um Sangtaek who was working in the clothing store was dragged to the police department. The reason for his arrest was engaging in espionage. Cho Chulhwan had luckily escaped the arrest because he was at the airport to receive clothes sent from Korea at the time. It was nonsense that the Armenian government arrested Sangtaek who had worked for their country as militia drill instructor.


    Youngho called Edward in Panama and asked him to mobilize any officials he knew in the Armenian government who were rted to the police department to help his friend out. When he called the European chapter, the only response he got was to wait until things clear up. The US did not want to cause any problems by involving in Armenian business. Youngho felt bitter but he decided to do what he could do. He also called Sergey in Volgograd for help. Because the Russian army resided in Armenia, he thought that Sergey could easily collect information of Armenia. In fact, mafia and the Russian army were close business partners since they traded weapons in secret. For the mafia, requesting themanding officer to be a reference for Sangtaek was not a big favor to ask.


    Youngho did not worry too much for Sangtaek since he did not have any suspicious records. The police doubted the two Korean friends because they did return to their home country after their duty as militia instructors was finished.


    Armenian police released Um Sangtaek after three days due to many pressures from different people. They regarded the arrest as a misunderstanding and gave an evasive reason for the incident. Instead of apologizing, they acted if they had done a favor to Sangtaek.


    Youngho could not stand their attitude toward his friends. Yerevan was where his friends would put down roots for their entire life. If he just let this pass, they would keep using his friends as spies whenever something happens. Youngho had to do something to knock off the Armenian police¡¯s perch.

 Chapter 62

    <h4>Chapter 62: A Plot Hidden in the Frontline (1)</h4>


    Youngho, Jongil, Insoo were at an airport in Yerevan at the immigration checkpoint. It was in the beginning of May, they hade to attend Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek¡¯s joint wedding. Because of the previous arrest of Um Sangtaek, the two friends decided to get married as fast as they could in order to receive permanent resident status and settle down in the country. Aside from Chunho Merchant¡¯s clothing store, which their wives-to-be were running now, the two friends just started clothing retailing business at the rmendation of Youngho. Since Youngho already had experiences in clothing business in the area, they learned know-hows from him. Of course, Yunsuh in Chuho Merchant¡¯s Korean headquarters was happy to have more business partners.


    Simr from Baku, Korean clothes were received well in Yerevan. The city had a third of the country¡¯s poption, 1.2 million people, residing. The sales they made were about half of the sales that Youngho made in Baku but the clothes were still gaining more poprity.


    Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek¡¯s first houses were in downtown. They each got a decent two-story house and lived with the family of their wives. The friends had bought the house with the money they saved from the militia instructor payments. It was heartrending for Youngho to see his friends made this far in a foreign country because of his call. As a wedding gift, he bought electronics from Korean Lpany in Yerevan and filled his friends¡¯ house with them.


    Many rtives of the grooms came for the wedding from Korea but most of them were poor people who had never been to a different country. Knowing that they hade to the wedding with a lot of sacrifices, Youngho gave them their trip expenses even though his two friends did not want him to. It was his gift for them.


    In Yerevan, the wedding tradition was to invite all of the rtives and throw big parties in the bride¡¯s house for three days before the wedding. All of the rtives gathered together and ate and drank as if they wanted to break the house. They sang and danced together for the celebration.


    Because it was a special asion for two Armenian girls getting married to Koreans on the same day in the country where Asians were rare to find, Yerevan¡¯s broadcastingpany came to cover the wedding story.


    After the brawling wedding ceremony was done, Insoo and Jongil returned to Baku. Since Youngho had a meeting with agent Philip at the Armenian intelligence bureau.


    With Yerevan¡¯s Republic Square in the middle, there were a gallery and history museum toward the direction of North and a government building in the Northeast. At the South of the square, the Foreign Office, Regional Construction and Management Administration, and the Central Post Office were located. The short stone buildings were lined up together near the square.


    It was where the heart of the Armenian government at. The exterior of the buildings had beautiful rose hue since they were built with volcanic tuff. During the time of former Soviet Union, Russians used to call Yerevan the Rose city because of the beautiful color of the building materials. Many famous buildings in Yerevan were built with the funds donated from Armenian diaspora in overseas.


    The Armenian intelligence bureau building was also a beautiful building built out of tuff. Youngho and Philip could enter the building after being body searched by the guards. The director weed them to his office.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I am Garni, the chief director of the intelligence bureau.¡±


    ¡°I am agent Philip, a foreign correspondent based in Georgia and this is Lee Youngho who¡¯s in charge of the Southern Russia and other surrounding countries.¡±


    Agent Philip did not mention the name of Azerbaijan on purpose to the director because he was Armenian. Director Garni looked surprised to hear that Youngho was someone who was watching over a broad area.


    The day¡¯s visit was to hear about Armenia¡¯s official stance on the militia which America had diligently supported. Youngho also wanted to ask why the police would use of his friends who had helped the militia as instructors.


    Nagorno-Karabakh had be isted like an ind now. If Armenia was venting their anger upon the US and Youngho¡¯s friends because the Azerbaijan¡¯s territory which they had taken in 1933 was returned to Azerbaijan, Youngho wanted to warn them that Armenia also would be isted in the international society.


    ¡°The Armenian army took away the militia that the US had raised with their funds and expropriated all the emergency supplies. It¡¯s the US government¡¯s property you took away. What do you think about this?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Our government tried to maintain the status quo of Azerbaijan and Armenia and to stop the war. It was agreed upon in advance by Armenia and the US but Armenia had broken the trust first. You¡¯d know that I was abducted by the guerri army and I escaped from them.¡±


    Philip bent on using him.


    Director Garni did not say anything but his face turned pale as he listened to Philip. He was not sure how this conversation would affect the two country¡¯s rtions.


    ¡°You have arrested two people who came to serve for the militia for two years and used them of being spies. Am I correct that you are treating the US government as hostilely?¡±


    Feeling bad for the director who could not say a word, Youngho interrupted Philip.


    ¡°Philip, shouldn¡¯t we give him a chance to respond? I mean we¡¯re only here to listen to the official stance.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I guess I got carried away.¡±


    Since Youngho saved Philip,he has beenpliant to his request.


    ¡°I apologize for the disgraceful incidents on behalf of our government. I heard from the CIA that you had been troubled by the militants.¡±


    He looked uneasy. As if his mouth was dry, he kept on drinking water and continued.


    ¡°The militants who now became gueri army are out of our control now. It¡¯s not our intention to trouble agent Philip. Also, I¡¯ll pay for the US property that the army had taken without any consent. Our president is also feeling sorry about the unwilling situations. He regrets listening to the army and transferring all the militia to the army. The government had judged that the US will not further support the militia from then on, and that was why they transferred the militia to strengthen the national force...¡±


    As the director slurred the end of his sentence, Philip snapped him.


    ¡°The US never pretermitted any affairs rted to the militia. Our purpose was just to maintain the status quo, not trying to make the militia an overwhelming force.¡±


    In fact, the US was the one who was stepping away from dealing with the militia for political reasons.


    ¡°Can the US help us now? The resident of Nagorno-Karabakh are suffering. They are outrageous and we¡¯ll not be able to take control of the state not much longer.¡±


    Looking at the honest face of the director, Youngho thought that there might be a way to get through this.


    ¡°The Azerbaijani government recently allowed opening a market for Armenian people along the borderline. I heard that even Russian mafias joined the marketing line, so it¡¯s not like the Armenian people in Nagorno-Karabakh doesn¡¯t have any help. Also, the Azerbaijani government stated that they will allow the autonomy of the state. They¡¯re not going to change their stance easily.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Knowing that the Armenian government was highlighting the difficulties that Nagorno-Karabakh faced to the residents to induce to another war, Youngho stated the truth in advance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long the state of tension will be maintained but the first priority should be informing the residents about the truth, so that they won¡¯t have any misunderstanding.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s statement, Garni added another reason for war in frustration.


    ¡°The pressure of the diaspora overseas who send funds to the country is hard to bare for our government. Although Armenia is not at the state to provoke any more wars, but we need to show the people that we are oppressing the Azerbaijani government to some extent in order to satisfy them. If weply to the Azerbaijani government like this, they might stage a coup against the current government.¡±


    The Armenian government was in a sad situation where they needed to satisfy both Armenians inside the country and overseas.


    ¡°...¡±


    At this point, Youngho thought of a certain kind of mission that would help the country out. If they picked a region of battle and let the people hear uproarious gunshot fires to make it seem like a real battle, they could sooth national susceptibilities and the politicians could protect their positions in the government. Of course they needed to get other countries¡¯ agreement, it seemed like it could be sorted politically. The Azerbaijani government would want toply since they wanted the war to be over. By making the director promise not to expand the war any bigger, Youngho and Philip agreed upon the mission. The director left the mission in the US CIA¡¯s hands.


    Youngho thought if he moved Yaniv the South Russian mafia boss, Russia and Azerbaijan wouldply to Youngho¡¯s mission. Now what was left to do was to go to the European chapter and receive the headquarters¡¯ approval.


    His n was carried out with speed. Michael the director of the CIA¡¯s European chapter was busy preparing to operate a big mission in a long time. Because Youngho was in charge of convincing President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Putin of Russia, Michael was not under pressure. He was excited for the mission since upon its sess, the European chapter, which had been used of being at loose ends without any outstanding achievements, would finally able to clear its name.


    It was a mission that could kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of the lobby problems of big oil corporations and politicians¡¯ meddling. Even the US CIA¡¯s chief director of the headquarters flew to Europe to review the outline of the mission. When he left with satisfaction on his face, Michael hugged Youngho in excitement. The battle that would satisfy both Azerbaijan and Armenia would be unfolding soon at the borderline.

 Chapter 63 - A Plot Hidden in the Frontline (2)

    Chapter 63: A Plot Hidden in the Frontline (2)


    On a Lufthansa airne going to Volgograd, Russia, Youngho was surprised by what was offered as a meal. It was Korean bibimbap. It was proof of the growth of Korean travelers all over the world. With exceeding joy from having a Korean dish at an unexpected ce, Youngho gulped down the food. He also packed some Korean gochujang paste tubes by asking a flight attendant since he wanted the Fatima siblings to try them when he gets home.


    At Volgograd Airport, Sergey was waiting for Youngho. Since Youngho did not inform him of the reason for his visit, Sergey jokingly asked why he was here.


    ¡°I came here to drink vodka and sweat in banya*.¡±


    ¡°You know what a real sauna is now!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about banya for a while.¡±


    ¡°Haha. There¡¯s nothing like banya that could restore your body after vodka. Boss is waiting for you. Let¡¯s hurry. He¡¯ll be getting impatient by now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be going back to Baku tomorrow, so I don¡¯t think I can handle too much today.¡±


    ¡°Oh man, boss wanted to drink all night long tonight. You need to stay a little longer.¡±


    After going through the birch woods, the car was now entering Yaniv¡¯s mansion. The mansion was rebuilt after the previous attack, and now it was looking even more magnificent. There was a beautiful garden in front of the mansion.


    Yaniv came out to greet Youngho at his porch. After a fuss of loud greetings, they entered the living room for tea.


    ¡°Lee, Zeynep¡¯s wine is just amazing. I feel like I¡¯m going to be an alcoholic soon from drinking it too much.¡±


    ¡°I bet the wine that¡¯s aging now in the oak tanks will taste better. They¡¯ll be ready by fall.¡±


    ¡°Will they be premium quality?¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a problem if we raise their price.¡±


    ¡°I feel sorry that I¡¯m buying it at five dors from you. How about I pay you fifteen dors for the wine aged in oak tanks? I¡¯ll sell them five dors more than what I pay you.¡±


    ¡°I was going to release them at ten dors. Our factory will be only slightly more than a year old by fall; I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair to receive fifteen dors for each bottle.¡±


    Yaniv thought for a while and looked at Sergey.


    ¡°Sergey, you know why I like Youngho?¡±


    ¡°Because he is an honest merchant.¡±


    ¡°No, I like him because he knows the value of his products. We can push the price of twenty dors a bottle but the market will reject the wine not long after that.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Lee, if you give them to me at ten dors, then I¡¯ll distribute them at 15. I don¡¯t want to ruin Zeynep¡¯s wine¡¯s reputation by being greedy.¡±


    Youngho almost hugged Yaniv. He was a mafia boss, but he was a flexible businessman that Youngho would like to have business with.


    Even though he was a cruel mafia, Youngho had also seen his humane side. When Youngho and his gang were invited to the party on Yaniv¡¯s yacht, Yaniv, who did not have children, fell for Zeynep¡¯s cuteness. Youngho saw that he tried to earn Zeynep¡¯s affection whenever he could. Ever since then, Yaniv sent gifts to Zeynep and the siblings once in a while. After all, he loved children.


    Seeing Youngho satisfied with the business talk, Yaniv asked to go for a drink. However, Youngho was reluctant since he needed to deliver an important message about the uing mission.


    ¡°Lee, is there a problem? I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯te to Russia just to drink with me. You must have an important issue, what is it? You can be honest, it¡¯s between us.¡±


    Yaniv had already guessed that Youngho came for a reason ever since he heard that Youngho wasing.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I was asked to do a favor from someone, and it¡¯s such a difficult one that I am still deciding what to do about it. But it¡¯s something that would help our business as well. That¡¯s why I came here to discuss it with you.¡±


    Youngho respected big-hearted Yaniv. He told everything about how he worked for the militia and the recent arrest of his friend, Um Sangtaek. Although Youngho had to change the story a little bit to leave out anything rted to the CIA, everything else was true.


    ¡°...And my friends got married in Yerevan but I still felt uneasy, so I investigated what was going on. After inquiring here and there, I met the director of the Armenian Intelligence Bureau. What he told me was that the Armenian government was at stake. If they ended the war, the Armenians will tear down the government, so they needed to show something that will assure the people that they are still fighting against Azerbaijan. During that process, my friends, who are foreigners of thend, were arrested as spies.¡±


    Yaniv was engrossed with Youngho¡¯s long story. His facial expression kept changing at different parts and he broke out inughter when Youngho told him that he asked for the payback for his beating at Main Police Department in Azerbaijan.


    At this point, Yaniv could see why the Armenian Intelligence Bureau was in favor of Youngho.


    ¡°I just exined my idea to the director of the intelligence bureau that Armenia would have to make a local battle to satisfy the people. The director promised that there won¡¯t be any expansions of the war. Then he introduced me to an agent of the US CIA. He came to find out what was going on in Armenia.¡±


    ¡°I see. Is this at all rted to us?¡±


    ¡°The US CIA already knew about our rtionship. They asked me to get help from you since you are at a position where you can influence the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan. If they could get the approval of Russia and Azerbaijan, they¡¯ll be able to have a fake local battle between the two countries, which could promote the national interests of both. The CIA anticipated that if I tell you this, you could deliver this message to President Putin.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the two countries¡¯ interests. My only wish is to see my friends live safely in Yerevan.¡±


    There was a long silence in the room.


    ¡°Yaniv, this is my opinion, but I think that the Armenian government will try to maintain their power if Russia and Azerbaijan agree to the mission. They want to show that they did not give up the war with Azerbaijan, so that the Armenians ind and overseas will keep supporting the government politically and financially, and they will earn some more time. The US also won¡¯t force the end of the war because of the Armenian-American pressure in the government.¡±


    Yaniv, who thought in silence for a while, finally opened his mouth.


    ¡°Wow, you are just extraordinary. Your expectation is reasonable and correct. So, you¡¯re saying you¡¯ve received an informal consent to the mission. Okay, I will rmend the mission to President Putin. So, it¡¯ll be all sorted out if Putin and Aliyev agree to it on a phone call.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re absolutely correct.¡±


    The saying that ¡®the older ginger is spicier¡¯ was right. Yaniv realized the intention of the US CIA¡¯s splendid mission. It would cause them more problems if the Armenian people or their army rebelled against the government, so the CIA chose to help maintain the government. Also, the fake battle would be an opportunity for Yaniv to make money by selling daily necessities and grains, since the prices would rise again.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be safe if your name is mentioned to the government of Azerbaijan, will you? I¡¯ll ask President Putin not to mention your name to President Aliyev.¡±


    ¡°If you please, then I¡¯ll be able to sleep well at night without any worries.¡±


    Youngho was d that Yaniv was on his side since Yaniv cared about his people to a great deal.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll go to Moscow tomorrow. Man, I feel like I¡¯m in the center of a huge conspiracy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to say, you are. You should get more attention in this, since you¡¯re the one convincing the heads of two countries.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha.... Okay! Let¡¯s do this together.¡±


    Youngho ended up spending more time away from home, meeting different people rted to the mission. He was finally in Baku after ten days. The Fatima siblings were excited to see Youngho back. Zeynep gave Youngho a big hug before starting to dig through his luggage for gifts. She naturally thought that Youngho had brought something for her from his long business trip. Youngho sighed in relief because he had a big stuffed animal which Yaniv gave him for Zeynep.


    The night of Youngho¡¯s return, the farm family threw a barbecue party for him. At the stinky smell of doenjang-jjigae, a Korean soybean paste stew, which Cha Insoo¡¯s mother had cooked, everyone held their nose while Youngho and Jongil gulped it down. With fresh vegetables that they had grown on the farm, their table was full.


    Seeing Youngho who was eating meat dipped in doenjang paste**, Fatima tried eating the same way. She could not understand why the Korean guys went crazy over dipping meat pieces in doenjang paste. Park Jongil smirked at Fatima¡¯s weird face.


    ¡°Fatima, you¡¯ll get used to this soon. You¡¯re going to say, ¡®why did I not like it earlier¡¯ soon.¡±


    ¡°Jongil-oppa. This is worse than instant ssamjang paste. It smells awful.¡±


    Fatima shook her head. The stink was hard for foreigners to bear.


    ¡°This is the taste of our hometown. For thousands of years, the food has been embedded in Koreans¡¯ bodies. It¡¯s good for your health. It¡¯s known to get rid of the oily taste in food.¡±


    As everybody started to pay attention to him, Jongil kept on exining about doenjang paste.


    ¡°You know, our ancestors used it for wounds too. In the ancient times, soldiers in war used to carry this around and put it on their wounds before bandaging them. Also, most importantly, if you consume this regrly for a long time, your body will be naturally bnced and you¡¯ll have great-looking skin.¡±


    It seemed that Jongil made his long speech praising deonjang for Karajan to listen to. He was convincing Karajan to like deonjang, so that he could eat deonjang at home when he marries her.


    *banya- Russian sauna


    **doenjang paste- a traditional Korean think fermented bean paste

 Chapter 64 - A Plot Hidden in the Frontline (3)

    Chapter 64: A Plot Hidden in the Frontline (3)


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve be a doenjang doctor. How do you know such random stuff?¡±


    Jongil became proud at Youngho¡¯spliment.


    ¡°Dude, you need to study. I¡¯ve been studying since I¡¯m teaching Karajan about Korean fermented foods these days.¡±


    Sure enough, Karajan who had been listening to Jongil was putting her spoon in doenjang-jjigae. Jongil had been putting a lot of effort to make Karajan like Korean food. Living with foreigners needed effort due to the cultural differences. Youngho was the same. Whenever he missed Korean food, he just had to satisfy himself with instant ramen and kimchi. However, it changed after Insoo¡¯s parents moved to the farm. Insoo¡¯s mom felt bad for Youngho, who had not been eating well, so she had been providing meals for the farm family. Even though something like doenjang-jjigae could not be on the table often since the siblings hated the smell, she made it for special asions like the barbecue party today.


    ¡°Mother, do you need more doenjang? Should I tell Yunush to send some more from Korea?¡±


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t need to go through the trouble. I brought enough for this year, and father had just nted beans in the garden. We¡¯ll be able to make our own deonjang next year.¡±


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯ll get to see how doenjang is made because you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Phew, how did you manage to live here if you missed Korean food that much?¡±


    ¡°Mother, there are a hundred Koreans living scattered around Azerbaijan; you¡¯ve got to make some more so we can provide doenjang under Zeynep Farm¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°Of course. There¡¯s not much I can do here but I¡¯ll cook a plenty of Korean food for you. All you guys need to do is stay healthy.¡±


    There were benefits that Youngho could enjoy while having elders in the farm. Insoo¡¯s parents were generous, since they had lived in a small rural town in Korea.


    ¡°Insoo. You¡¯ve got to learn the Azerbaijaninguage and take your fianc¨¦ and parents for trips.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m still busy learning English. You think I¡¯d have time to learn Azerbaijani?¡±


    ¡°Study during the night, man. Don¡¯t just cuddle with your fianc¨¦ all night.¡±


    At Jongil¡¯s joke, Youngho pped his back with full force. Jongil acted exaggeratedly, like he was dying in pain. Youngho stopped him because even though he said this in Korean, Karajan and Fatima could understand some Korean since they had been studying thenguage. Everybodyughed, including Szechenyi, which meant that they all understood.


    The night of May was getting deeper.


    Yaniv contacted Youngho with good news. He had received the approval of President Putin. The mission could only seed with Russia¡¯s cooperation and President Putin thought it was a great opportunity to raise Russia¡¯s voice to Azerbaijan. Yanivughed, saying he wasplimented by the president.


    After hanging up the phone, Youngho immediately called Michael. Now that Azerbaijan¡¯s side was ready, they needed to let the other camp, the Armenian government, know. The ce of the battle would be picked by Armenia.


    The fake battle would work the same way as Pakistan and India¡¯s battles. To maintain the tension of the war, they would often fire cannonballs into each other¡¯s camp. Without making many casualties, they had been doing the same thing over and over for years. It was neither for a battle nor for a provocation. It was almost like a ceremony to show that they were still at war. Now, Armenian and Azerbaijan would be having a simr ceremony soon too at the borderline.


    A few dayster, a TV anchor was broadcasting the two countries colliding again. The camera showed exchanges of cannonballs and explosions, but no casualty list was reported. The people of Baku were somewhat stirred, but they were also relieved that the war was not expanding any further. The government also issued a statement that the frontline was stabilized and reassured the people to go back to work.


    Michael, the director of the CIA¡¯s European chapter, called Youngho in excitement and said that the mission was a sess. He promised Youngho a reward bonus since Youngho was the one who made it all possible.


    From Panama, Edward also called Youngho to thank him. Although he still felt bitter toward his people, he was relieved that the war had not expanded. The situation of Nagorno-Karabakh was also getting better. At the borderline, they bought whatever they needed to continue to live on.


    Because Youngho had been busy for the CIA¡¯s work, he called Mustafa in Turkey to buy grape nts for the new farm that he bought from Charles Wine Company. Knowing that Youngho had been working for Armenians, Mustafa dly helped Youngho and did not forget to say to help more Armenians. He was pathetically patriotic. Armenians living outside thend supported the country unconditionally, but the government was putting up a show now to keep the support.


    Youngho loved the Armenians¡¯ pure andpassionate attitudes, but he despised their politicians. He wondered where all the money remitted from overseas were used for. Of course, they would use the funds for strengthening their army, but the gap between the rich and the poor in Armenia was unbelievable. Youngho had seen so many luxury brands in the downtowns of Armenia, which generated the national ie worth half of Azerbaijan¡¯s. It did not make sense when poor people were dying in poverty.


    Yaniv from Volgograd visited Baku.


    He came to oversee the construction of pipelines for oil production at the request of the Azerbaijani government. The deal for investment was already sealed, and he came to Baku to meet President Aliyev and give him a little gift. He was also recognized for his role behind the current mission, so President Aliyev also started looking at him highly.


    Youngho was invited as well to the presidential pce because of Yaniv¡¯s rmendation. Although Yaniv could not say that Youngho was part of the mission, he could inform the president that Youngho was a great business partner and provider of wine. Yanivplimented Youngho in front of President Aliyev. It was Youngho¡¯s third time meeting the president.


    Now that he had a meal with the president, his status is Azerbaijan was lifted even higher. Policemen on the road even saluted Youngho when they saw Youngho¡¯s car. Korean corporations that made a foray into Azerbaijan were even being benefited by Youngho unwarily. Korean ambassadors in Korean embassy of Baku often came to Youngho to discuss the difficulties that Korean constructionpanies and corporations faced in Baku. If he could help solve the problems, Youngho called officials he knew to request resolutions to the problems, and they often granted his requests. Youngho tried his best to help Koreanpanies since he felt bad that Korea could only survive when businessmen worked hard enduring difficulties they faced in foreignnds. Therefore, Korean corporations usually sent presents to Youngho¡¯s farm in appreciation for his help.


    Many of them also came to build great rtions with Youngho because he was known to be a sessful businessman in Baku, who even met the president personally multiple times. They were busy ttering Youngho. When they left the farm, Youngho did not forget to fill their cars with gifts of Korean foods and farm products because Youngho did not want to hear that he acted high and mighty to people for his high status in Azerbaijan.


    Many representatives of Korean corporations visited Youngho¡¯s farm, and a lot of times, they had meals together with the visitors. Cha Insoo¡¯s mom and dad weed them because she liked hosting and sharing foods. They treated the guests as if they were their own children.


    Moreover, they started learning Azerbaijani from the siblings. Every evening, the conference room in the management quarters got loud with theirnguage ss. Even nearing their sixties, their enthusiasm to learn thenguage was great. It seemed that they were frustrated with not being able tomunicate with the farmers working on the farm.


    Since Cha Insoo was wholly focusing on the farm work, Youngho could move around freely without worrying about the business if needed.


    Regarding Russian matters, Sergey often called Youngho to discuss any issues going around the nation. It was because he trusted Youngho¡¯s business insights. He asked for advice to see if he could make money out of different situations. Youngho also asked him to tell even any small piece of information for his business, but he was actually collecting money for the CIA. The quality of Youngho¡¯s information was great since he was meeting many high officials. The director, who was now promoted to chief manager, was a good information source for the Azerbaijani government¡¯s directions.


    Now that Youngho had saved some money from distributing wine, he paid off the mortgage on the Charlespany¡¯s farm early. He also nned to buy more oak tanks since he would be earning three million dors from this year¡¯s profits. Youngho had not expected that he would make this much money from the farm when he started. After all, the spontaneous decision to install the wine production facility because of the Charlespany¡¯s hical business manner was beneficial to his farm.


    This year, Youngho would be nting seedlings on the former Charlespany¡¯s farm and it would make him even more money next year as he could produce double amount of wine. He decided to hire more local people for the farm for the expansion of the business. Also, if he hired more local people, he would have more influence and power in the Azerbaijani government.


    However, Youngho¡¯s hasty actions were bing another cause for other tradesmen¡¯s wrath. It was a mistake to have forgotten Baku¡¯s tradesmen¡¯s manners.

 Chapter 65 - People’s Choice and a Trip (1)

    Chapter 65: People¡¯s Choice and a Trip (1)


    Youngho was drinking beer with the Goethe University¡¯s students, Arsen and Batzen, after the CIA¡¯s monthly meeting in Frankfurt. When he just finished his third mug, Jongil called him in an urgent voice. He said that the farm had been attacked. ording to Jongil¡¯s drastic phone call, there was a shootout and Cha Insoo was shot on his arm during the fight. He was taken to the hospital and just had an operation. There were no other casualties in the farm family. Jongil said that he did not report it to the police yet.


    After the phone call, Youngho reported the situation to the European chapter and returned to Baku on the earliest ne.


    Youngho did not think that the attack was done by someone unknown. It must be someone who was affected negatively by Zeynep Farm, or someone who held a grudge on Youngho.


    He went to the hospital where Insoo was staying straight from the airport. Surprisingly, Insoo¡¯s condition was better than he expected. His arm was bandaged, but he was moving as usual. They returned to the farm after telling the doctor that Insoo would receive outpatient treatments. Fortunately, he did not have any nerve damage, although he had some muscle damage. The doctor said that his arm would recoverpletely after a few months of rehabilitation.


    At the farm, Park Jongil was waiting for the two. He was outraged at the people who hurt his friend and threatened all of the family members in the farm. Youngho was worried about Insoo¡¯s fianc¨¦ and parents who must have been shocked by the attack. However, they were contrastively calm. Youngho did not know how Jongil and Insoo lied to them, but it seemed that they did not know what really happened.


    Youngho went through the record of the farm¡¯s security cameras.


    In the early hours, three men approached the farm from the Southern stream and touched an rm sensor. The rm in Insoo¡¯s room went off, so he had rushed out and chased them away after a shootout. Because it was in the dark, Insoo could not aim at them urately. After three or four shots were exchanged, they ran away. Since it ended quickly, the farm family was not surprised badly. Insoo had lied to them and said that he was chasing wolves and he got hurt because of an idental firing in the process.


    It was a mistake that Youngho had turned off the security light because it would disturb the growth of grapes. Because there was no light, he could not tell their faces. The security guards of the farm were in name only, and they were not even trained with weapons. He felt bad that with him gone to Frankfurt, there was only Insoo who could protect the farm.


    The next day, Youngho called Sergey to interrogate the two guys working in Siberia, the previous intruders of the farm, whom he sent to Sergey. He thought that they might be rted to the recent armed raiders. If they were rted, Araz of the Charlespany might be behind of all this, since the previous two were paid to burn Youngho¡¯s farm. However, there was no reason for Araz to attack Youngho¡¯s farm now.


    The European chapter considered the incident a serious matter. Youngho was a valuable agent who settled into the Azerbaijani mainstream society. If he had local businessmen as his enemies, it could cause big problems for his position. The European chaptermanded Youngho to expand the manpower on his farm to reinforce security with the CIA¡¯s information expense.


    Youngho hired five people who were former policemen with the rmendation of the chief manager, formerly the director, of Main Police Department. They rotated in guarding the farm at day and night as armed guards. Youngho regretted beingcent about the security, trusting his friends¡¯ strength. Jongil still insisted on installing ymore mines, but Youngho thought it was too extreme for now. Jongil, who had been saying that he would live in an apartment in the inner city after getting married, said he woulde live on the farm now because he wanted to protect his friends. Youngho was relieved by his decision. The farm was like a little Korea town in Baku, and it was Jongil¡¯s will to protect it on his own.


    The newly hired armed guardsined when Insoo insisted that they needed to learn martial arts. They workedfortably even when they were policemen, but Insoo forced them, saying that they would be paid ording to their martial arts level. They had toply with Insoo since the job paid better than other jobs in Baku. As they were trained by Insoo, they became confident andfortable in their guarding duty, and now they trained on their own.


    Sergey contacted Youngho and said he did not find anything from the two men.


    It was weird, because he could not find any otherpanies who would sabotage Youngho¡¯s farm since he had been maintaining great rtionships with otherpanies recently. Also as for the Charlespany, Youngho was the one who helped Araz by buying his farm and factory.


    ¡®Wait, his farm and factory! I had bought the site at a cheap price for not having enough money, but I just paid off the mortgage recently. This must be it!¡¯


    Someone rted to the bank might have slipped to Araz that Youngho recently paid off the mortgage, and it could have been seen as Youngho buying Araz¡¯s property for cheap even though he had money. There would be no one other than Araz who would have the motive toe and invade Youngho¡¯s farm.


    Youngho regretted paying off the mortgage too quickly. In the small business world of Baku, words spread fast. Araz would have been furious to lose his farm overnight. Although he wanted to turn in Araz to the police since he coulde again and harm the farm family, he had no evidence. He decided to verify it for himself.


    Araz lived in a rich neighborhood in the city of Baku where high officials and wealthy businessmen resided. His house had a huge garden and a luxurious pool.


    At night, Youngho, dressed in ck clothes and mask, visited Araz¡¯s house. Sneaking in through the blind spots of Araz¡¯s security cameras, he climbed up the wall around the house and got in the house through the balcony on the second floor. Because the windows were open due to the warm weather, Youngho could easily sneak into the house.


    Youngho had investigated Araz in advance and found out that all of his children were studying abroad in Moscow. Only Araz and his wife were supposed to be in the house, but there were three bulky men sleeping in a room on the second floor. After thinking, he changed his n and decided to interrogate the three first.


    With the grip of his Beretta pistol, Youngho struck two of the sleeping guys¡¯ temples and they immediately passed out. As for thest guy, he struck the guy¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple and then gagged him. The guy who had been unconscious for a moment opened his eyes and looked at Youngho fearfully after finding himself bound and gagged. Youngho threatened him at gunpoint and asked him how he was rted to Araz. He told him that he was Araz¡¯s distant cousin and he had been helping Araztely.


    Because Youngho could not reveal himself, he could not ask if they were the intruders of the farm at night. Instead, he decided to threaten him even more to get more words out of him. With his free hand, he pressed a pain pressure point of the guy. It was a point where someone could scream in pain if pressed hard enough. With another hand, he intimidatingly put the muzzle of the guy¡¯s mouth and yelled at him asking if they were the culprits of the recent street mugging.


    The guy, almost crying in serious pain, answered Youngho that he was not a mugger. He kept on and said that the three guys were paid to attack a grape farm in Baku. They had failed once, so they were waiting for a chance to attack the farm again. Youngho smirked, pleased to find that Araz was the one behind the attack of his farm.


    To be seen as a petty thief, Youngho asked where all the valuables were stored in the house. After the guy answered his question, Youngho knocked him cold by hitting his temple.


    Youngho went down to the first floor and woke up Araz and his wife in their sleep. He gagged the wife and threatened Araz to open his safe. Although he did not need Araz¡¯s money, he took it anyway to be seen as a thief. Before leaving, he shot Araz¡¯s knee and did the same to the other three guys upstairs. They would be living handicapped for the rest of their lives. If Araz still sent people to Youngho¡¯s farm despite his wound, Youngho was determined to kill him then. Youngho did not use the silencer on the gun and made loud gunfire noise, thinking that if he attracted police and the press, Araz would watch his actions in the public¡¯s eyes.


    It was umon in Baku that a high-end house was robbed and gunned down by thieves. Also, because it was a case where an influential businessman was shot on his knee and became handicapped, it made turmoil in Baku¡¯s society. It was not a simple robbery because four people had been shot. The police assumed that someone who was badly rted to Araz tried to cover the incident as a robbery.


    Because of the ongoing investigation, Araz had to list the people who might have any grudge on him while he was still being treated in a hospital. He could not say all of the truth about why someone would have a grudge on him since he also had done many illegal crimes. The police also doubted the three guys in the house. There was no reason for them to stay in Araz¡¯s house in the long term, not to mention, Araz could not exin why they stayed with him. They concluded that Araz was plotting illegal crimes, but he was attacked by his enemy all the more in the process. Although Araz was a victim in this ident, he was treated like a criminal at the same time.

 Chapter 66 - People’s Choice and a Trip (2)

    Chapter 66: People¡¯s Choice and a Trip (2)


    Karajan and Jongil visited the farm for the weekend.


    Jongil carried something in his hand; it was a blueprint of a house. The incident, where Jongil was shot in his arm, had turned Jongil¡¯s mind against living in the inner city. How he had convinced Karajan¡¯s mind was not known, but Youngho was more than happy to have Jongil and Karajan join the farm family.


    ¡°Youngho, was it you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Youngho acted as if he did not know anything.


    ¡°Why did you leave them alive?¡±


    ¡°Dude, I¡¯m still shaking from making them handicapped. I can¡¯t take people¡¯s lives in vain.¡±


    ¡°Man. You¡¯re just too soft. You¡¯re being lenient to the people who came to kill us? By the way, how did you find out that he was behind the attack? I¡¯m curious.¡±


    If Jongil hade with Youngho that night, there would have been a massacre in the house. Youngho was relieved that he went alone.


    ¡°Just because. I assumed it was him, so I went to his house and there were three guys sleeping. When I beat them up, they just told me everything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go out by yourself from now on. You think you¡¯re alone? You¡¯ve got a family now.¡±


    ¡°I know. I didn¡¯t mean to do that, I just went to check but things happened. Next time, I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±


    Youngho was touched by Jongil¡¯s words. It was a great feeling having someone who had his back.


    Looking at the blueprint Jongil brought, Youngho smirked.


    ¡°You came to build a house without thendlord¡¯s permission?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, man. I can¡¯t sleep well these days cause I¡¯m worried about the farm family. Karajan agreed with me, so we¡¯ll take care of building our own house.¡±


    ¡°I can build the house for you. You just buy your furniture.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? All right. I¡¯ll save some money then.¡±


    nning to have three kids in the future, Jongil said he would have a grand wedding ceremony as soon as the house wasplete.


    Cha Insoo had already received a marriage license in Korea although he did not have a ceremony. He nned to just take wedding pictures without a big ceremony.


    The money that Youngho stole from Araz¡¯s house, which was worth twenty manat, was more than enough to build Jongil¡¯s house. Youngho considered the money as apensation for Cha Insoo¡¯s injury and nned to dly use it for Jongil¡¯s house.


    Hearing Park Jongil¡¯s voice, Gerhardt, who was working at the office, brought a drink. He had a special connection with Jongil since he would be his brother-inw once he got married to Karajan.


    Cha Insoo was preparing charcoals for barbecue already. Although his arm was still in difort, he was hurrying because he missed drinking. Youngho had given him Fatima¡¯s ring to speed his recovery, but Insoo could not drink yet. Youngho felt bad for him. He had exined the details of the ring and leather shoes to Insoo as well and told him why they should protect the Fatima siblings. Ever since Insoo was told about their story, he cared about the siblings even more as if they were treasures. He thought that the siblings must be people with high status since they were the owners of the mystical relics that would only exist in fantasy novels.


    Youngho received a small mission from the European chapter. The officials of the chapter had judged that Youngho was the right person to look over the region of South Ossetia since he had a close contact with Russian mobs. The area was originally managed by agent Philip, but now it became Youngho¡¯s responsibility.


    In recent months, there had been ethnic disputes between two peoples in the region. South Ossetia belonged to Georgia in the past, but as it was divided, Georgians became minorities in thend. Because the Russian army was stationed in the region, Georgia could not do anything hastily for their people. Every necessity was transported through Russia, so it was like an ind. There were some routes going through Georgia, but those who used those routes were usually small South Ossetian merchants.


    Normally, it was a custom and a courteous gesture for business travelers to go to North Ossetia first before entering South Ossetia from the North Ossetian border. That was why many travelers entered North Ossetia by flying from Moscow Domodedovo Airport and then going into South Ossetian territory by an ovend route.


    Almost torn apart after eighteen years of civil war against Georgia, South Ossetia finally was able to win independence only with Russia¡¯s help. However, there was still tension between different ethnicities of the region. There were 5,000 Georgians still living in South Ossetia. Although before the war, the two groups of people were at peace and many people freely married people from each other¡¯s country, but now they despised one other.


    The US CIA had been secretly supporting Georgians who were now minorities in South Ossetia, but as the inspection along the Georgian border got stricter, the support had now been stopped.


    There were no major battles going on between the two peoples, but because there were asional shootouts between people and each town¡¯s vigncemittees, it was still a dangerous ce. Youngho thought it was weird that they still had vigncemittees like in the medieval times. Now he was about to enter the weird ce.


    Driving an SUV rented from North Ossetia on the way to South Ossetia, Youngho almost felt sick with the steep mountainous paths. The chilly air entering from the car windows gave goosebumps on Youngho¡¯s arms. As he hurriedly rolled up the windows, he was stunned to see the road sign that said that the altitude was 2,200 meters above sea level.


    Youngho¡¯s had not much to do in here; He just had to meet a local agent to help open a daily necessities retailer shop for the agent and provide the necessities to a Georgian town. The local agent was not aware that the reason for opening a retailer shop was to help local Georgians because he was told that it was a disguise for the agent to settle in South Ossetia.


    Youngho had already discussed the matter with Yaniv, the godfather of South Russian mafias. Yaniv would provide the products, so all they needed to do was to open a shop where they would legally deliver the products. From Russia, Youngho entered North Ossetia as a representative of Yaniv¡¯spany. To Russia¡¯s satellite state, South Ossetia, Youngho was known to be a Russian daily necessities provider visiting his own country to open a business.


    Because the ce was a small-sized, rugged hill country, there were only slightly more than 50,000 people resided in it. Knowing that the trip would be rough, Youngho had brought Korean emergency food for the trip.


    Because of the Caucasus mountain range blocking the way, Youngho had to pay to go through a tunnel called Roki to get to the territory of South Ossetia.


    As he passed the tunnel, the first thing he saw was foggy air. Because it was high enough to be a timberline, there were no trees on the mountain. From then on, it was a downhill road. Stepping on the brake, instead of elerator, he could go down the winding hills. The cars asionally passing by Youngho kept honking, which meant that there were a lot of blind spots. After driving in tension for an hour, he reached a resting area with a little restaurant.


    Starving, Youngho ordered something on the menu. An oily soup was poured in a dirty-looking bowl and served. Not being able to handle it anymore after a eating a few spoonfuls, Youngho added quite the amount of salt and pepper that he brought. It was a little better now. Seeing Youngho, the ownerdy around her forties offered some more soup and asked if she could have some pepper. Using his poor Russian which he learned from Gerhardt, he did not take more soup but handed her some pepper. When he was about to pay for the soup, she insisted that she would not get paid. It meant that daily necessities like pepper were valuable in the area. Youngho had brought many for himself and to give to the local agent. He handed one more to thedy, and she gave him a big hug in appreciation.


    Although the car Youngho had rented was more than ten years old, it looked like newpared to most of the cars passing by. When he searched about the country on the Inte at the airport, he thought the information was incorrect because it said that the annual ie of the people was less than 300 dors. However, now that he saw the country with his own eyes, he could tell that the information was true.


    Youngho had never seen a remote area like this before. He felt bad for the people who lived in this rough mountainous area. They must havee here to live because they were chased away as minorities. Many decades ago, Korea must have seemed like this. People died of poverty. Even though kids nowadays had obesity problems, in the past, Korean kids were thin like sticks, and many died in hunger.


    Leaving the restaurant behind, Youngho drove more. The road to Nagorno-Karabakh was inpared to this road. Youngho was feeling nauseous even though he was driving. He also saw many rusty cars neglected down the valley, which meant that the owners of those cars were dead a long time ago.


    Although it was cool in Tskhinvali, the capital city of South Ossetia, Youngho was sweating and feeling tired because of the intense driving. Youngho considered leaving the car here when leaving the country. With the mystical power of the leather shoes, he could run at the speed of 60 to 70 kilometers, which could be faster than driving the car on the rough hilly road. It seemed better than driving in tension.


    It seemed natural that prices were high in this area. Driving an SUV was this hard for Youngho. Delivering daily necessities on semi-trailer trucks on this road would cause the prices to go higher since delivery would be expensive.


    After staying at a so-called hotel where hot water did not run, Youngho was brassed off with the ce. He wanted to leave as soon as possible after finishing his job of contacting the local agent. Because the signal on the cell phone was unstable, he was only finally able to reach the local agent through a public phone. He could see why he was given a wired phone number, since there was no way microwave ry towers were installed deep in the heart of the mountains. The ce was so poor and shabby that even some fallen buildings due to war downtown were left untouched. Youngho wondered who the agent was who was living in this ce.


    A woman answered Youngho¡¯s phone call. Thinking it must be someone else, Youngho kept asking for the agent by the name. She said it was herself. It was not his intention to underestimate women, but the ce seemed harsh for a woman agent to live in. With this prejudice in mind, he stepped into a hotel caf¨¦ where he nned to meet her.


    Looking at the agent walking into the caf¨¦, Youngho shouted inside, ¡®Eureka!¡¯

 Chapter 67 - People’s Choice and a Trip (3)

    <h4>Chapter 67: People¡¯s Choice and a Trip (3)</h4>


    A woman looking in her early thirties stepped in. She was dressed in a ssy suit, which did not blend in at all with the local people. Because Youngho was used to seeing a beautiful woman like Fatima all the time, he could stay calm, but she was a dazzling beauty whom other men would not be able to able to have a normal conversation in front of.


    She had such a long name that he even forgot what it was. It was ¡®Jekaterina Tatiana Georgievna.¡¯ When Youngho had problems calling her name, she said her friends called her ¡®Katya.¡¯ She worked as a public official in the tourism department. Youngho wondered if other officials working with her could work normally because of her beauty. She was surprising Youngho in many ways. Now that he knew her name, Youngho had to call her, but he felt ufortable.


    ¡°Miss Georgievna, would you like to order something to eat?¡±


    ¡°Call me Katya.¡±


    They were talking in English.


    ¡°Katya, what would you like?¡±


    There were not a lot of items on the menu. After looking at the menu for a while, she shook her head.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, would you like toe to my house? I don¡¯t think this is a good ce to eat.¡±


    Youngho was hesitant since he did not know her that well.


    She continued, ¡°I don¡¯t mean anything. It¡¯s just that I want to treat you well instead of offering you bad hotel food since you came a long way to go here.¡±


    Katya was a confident, outspoken woman. It seemed that Youngho would be dragged around by her strong personality.


    Youngho gobbled down the food since he had not been eating well for the past two days. Katya¡¯s food was great. Because the traditional Russian food was a little spicy, Youngho ate it up in no time. Katya looked at Youngho in surprise.


    ¡°I tried this in Volgograd a few times. I liked it,¡± Youngho made an excuse in embarrassment.


    Katya smiled brightly. She was truly beautiful, and it seemed that Fatima¡¯s beauty was noparison to hers. After having coffee, they started talking about work. Youngho hurriedly led the conversation, going through the details of the retailer business and suggesting that they go out and look around the retailer store site. It was because Youngho could not keep his cool being with her alone in the small room anymore.


    The store building was located on the roadside, and a storage unit and a government building were there. It looked fine. There was not much to discuss about the store since it would be used for a foothold for the US CIA in the region rather than for making money. It looked like it would make enough money to pay the employee wage, so they signed the contract for the store with the money that Youngho brought as information expense. Only five hours had passed after Youngho met Katya. The retailer store did not need decorations except for some shelves for the items. Katya would be handling the rest of the business from then on.


    Katya said that she had been receiving her quarterly information expense in person to avoid being exposed to the bankworks here, and it was Youngho who brought the money this time. Since he brought 10,000 dors for her, she must have been receiving 40,000 dors a year. In South Ossetia, it was an astronomical amount of money.


    Youngho wondered what Katya did to spend the money she earned here. Looking around, it seemed that there was nothing to spend the money on in the city. He saw many people drinking in open-air cafes during noon hours of a weekday. It meant that there was not a lot of things to enjoy in the area. Most of them drank Russian vodka except for the travelers, who drank wine.


    After signing the contract, Katya wanted to go get a drink to celebrate. She took him to a shabby-looking caf¨¦. It looked old from the outside, but the antique interior was very nice. Even though it was early in the evening, the caf¨¦ was full of people. In the middle of the hall, there was a whole pig rotating on a charcoal grill, and a smalldy was singing on the stage while ying a traditional instrument. Like the gloomy weather of the ce, she sounded a little blue, but it was a good day to listen to her song.


    Drinking vodka like it was water, Katya asked Youngho for a song, saying that she heard that all Koreans are great singers. Youngho was not confident because he did not have a great voice like Jongil, but Katya insisted. Feeling the effects of alcohol, he asked for the band to y Eric pton¡¯s Tears in Heaven. They shrugged their shoulders. ¡®Right, these people are ying traditional instruments,¡¯ thought Youngho. He grabbed a dusty guitar in the corner. After brushing off the dust with a dry cloth, he tuned the guitar. Then he began to sing with the guitar tunes in the decadent atmosphere of the caf¨¦. The effects of alcohol and the caf¨¦¡¯s atmosphere made Youngho confident in singing. He was absorbed into his own song. ¡®Wow, I can sing today,¡¯ he thought. After he was done singing, Katya looked at him in amazement.


    ¡°Wow, were you going to be a singer before bing an agent?¡±


    ¡°No way. I was just a salesman.¡±


    Youngho was proud of himself. He felt self-conscious of his singing, but herpliment made him feel like he was a good singer.


    ¡°So it was true that Koreans are great singers. Can you sing another one, in Korean this time?¡±


    Highly encouraged by her, Youngho had no reason to reject her request. He sang a Korean song, Gwanghwamun Sonata. Aftering down the stage, Katya looked at Youngho as if she had found a hidden treasure. Seeing a different side of a field agent, she was impressed since she thought that all field agents were tough guys who only liked to shoot and kill people. In the enjoyable atmosphere, they rxed and drank vodka together for many more hours.


    ***


    Youngho felt extremely thirsty in his sleep. He forced himself to get up and go find water. It was still dark, but he could tell that he was in his hotel room. He was still feeling tipsy. It looked like he drank until he could not remember what happenedst night anymore. He was not sure if it was Katya who brought him to his room or if he found a way to the hotel on his own.


    He opened the refrigerator and drank the whole bottle of water. After turning on the lights in the living room, he was stunned frozen. Katya was sleeping on the couch, covered with a nket. It had just passed six o¡¯clock in the morning and outside it was raining.


    After taking a shower, Young made rustling noises while looking for something to eat in the refrigerator. Waking up to the sound, Katya asked Youngho what he was doing. Because there were no restaurants open in such an early time in the morning, they cooked some instant soup and ate together. Youngho asked if he acted rudely to herst night.


    ¡°Katya, did I make any mistakest night?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha.... You were very polite. I¡¯d say you¡¯re the only guy who did not treat me as a woman. I haven¡¯t met a gentleman in a long time.¡±


    ¡®Woman, my heart is still pounding. I would have turned into an animal by now if I hadn¡¯t been training myself with Fatima.¡¯ Thinking that, Youngho only shrugged.


    Katya must have faced a lot of troubles because of men.


    ¡°We are co-workers. You are more than beautiful, but I only see you as another agent.¡±


    Katya looked impressed by Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Wow, that is simply great to hear! Thank you for that.¡±


    She looked like she was sick of men. Any man would want to be with her.


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. By the way, I didn¡¯t get to say this yesterday, but if you have any problems with the retailing business, just let me know. I¡¯m sure you can sort it out by yourself though.¡±


    Katya¡¯s strong and outspoken personality gave off the aura that she would not need any help.


    Being hesitant for a while, she showed the money in her bag to Youngho and asked if he could send the money to her family in Russia because all of the bank transactions would be exposed to the bankwork in the region. Moreover, she also asked if Youngho could send all of her information expense to her family instead of paying them directly to her from now on. She added that she was asking a personal favor.


    Information expense was not just a payment. To a field agent, it was a payment that included any expenses required for missions and living costs. If she sent all of her money to her family, it meant that she was not using any for collecting information as an agent.


    It was very unlikely for her to ask it of Youngho because he was her immediate superior. Because Youngho did not say anything, she exined more, ¡°I can do agent activities with the money I make as an official. Also, I was told that I could use the extra money earned from the retailer store.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but I just want to let you know that if you ask this kind of favor from the other members of the CIA, it can cause you trouble.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m happy to have you as my superior. I hope you¡¯ll understand.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I also know fromst night that you¡¯re a gentleman.¡±


    ¡®Was asking to drink with her a test?¡¯ thought Youngho. If so, how would she exin sleeping on his couch? She was a very confusing woman.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m d to hear that you trust me. Do you have any other requests?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only concerned about how I could send money to my family.¡±


    Katya sounded like she was worried about her family as much as she worried about her job as an agent.


    Youngho wondered whether her family was in a difficult situation.


    ¡°If your family is in a difficult situation, you can tell me. I have friends in Russia who might be able to help.¡±


    She looked surprised. It was hard for her to ask a favor of Youngho, but he just stepped up and said he would help out her family.


    Thinking he might be going overboard, Youngho still could not let her worried face pass. Also, he wanted to settle everything in the area, so he would not have toe as often. Not only was it a tough trip to get here, but it was also a torture to stay alone with Katya. It was putting his patience to the test. He wanted to be a good superior, not another wolfish man to her. His n was to help her and get over with this area, so he could work on the phone only from now on.

 Chapter 68 - Katya of South Ossetia (1)

    <h4>Chapter 68: Katya of South Ossetia (1)</h4>


    When Youngho told her that he could help her family, Katya¡¯s eyes sparkled in hope. However, she did not know if she could fully trust Youngho. Many men tried to help her in order to earn her affections, and Youngho might be just another man looking for a love interest.


    ¡°May I ask you a personal question?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s question, Katya looked up at him. Mesmerized by her beautiful eyes, Youngho almost spit out the coffee he was drinking. To calm himself down, he asked for permission to light a cigarette.


    ¡°Are you interested in my personal story?¡±


    ¡°Well, a little bit. I don¡¯t see a lot of female field agents living alone in a remote area.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°But please don¡¯t tell me about how you became an agent. You know it¡¯s taboo.¡±


    Katya smiled.


    ¡°Well, you might be wondering how old I am. I¡¯m a 31-year-old single mama. I have an eight-year-old girl in Volgograd and my mom¡¯s raising her for now.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I knew that you would have a contact in Volgograd since you said that you had Russian food there.¡±


    ¡®Wow, she¡¯s a mother of an eight-year-old? I didn¡¯t expect that.¡¯ Youngho also noticed that she was a very smart woman. She had been listening to the very little details of Youngho¡¯s words and analyzing the information from them.


    ¡°Well, Volgograd is my responsibility.¡±


    ¡°I assumed so when I heard that the agent looking over South Ossetia had changed.¡±


    ¡®Wow, this woman is just brilliant. She¡¯s above me,¡¯ thought Youngho.


    Since his job was only to collect information and report them, he did not analyze them. However, she sounded like she could be at a higher position than a field agent. Youngho was d that someone smart was under his supervision. She would be a great resource for him in the future.


    Youngho changed the subject and asked about her family¡¯s problem. Katya was silent for a moment and started talking as if she was determined. She had a husband who had passed away. After his death, she became responsible for his debt and she had been paying it off every month, but she could never decrease the original amount.


    Easily said, her dead husband borrowed money from a private moneylender.


    The moneylending business was usually done by mafias. Youngho thought Sergey would be able to resolve her problem. It was a good chance for Youngho to help her and earn her trust. If the money problem was resolved, Katya would be able to focus on her job.


    ¡°May I ask how much the original debt was and how much you paid off as interest?¡±


    She showed him a little note page that was full of numbers. When she exined what the numbers meant, Youngho became upset because she was paying off a ridiculous amount of interest.


    The original debt was 30,000 dors and she had paid off 80,000 dors as interest, but there were still more interest to pay on top of the original amount.


    Because she could not pay off any interest during the first year of her husband¡¯s passing, her debt had been snowballing into a ridiculous amount because of the high interest rate. It was not clear how long she had been an agent, but she had been putting all of her money into the paying off the debt.


    Youngho felt bad. She could have resolved her problem by telling Agent Philip. Was Philip only interested in her face and body? Youngho wondered since Philip could have also figured out about her issues if he held a deep conversation with her.


    The moneylenders would not be Yaniv¡¯s organization since he never did such petty business. Probably, they would be some backstreet scumbags.


    ***


    Sergey did not answer Youngho¡¯s call. It seemed that he usually did not answer numbers that he did not know. When Youngho called for the third time, he finally answered in Russian.


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, this is Lee Youngho. My phone does not work where I am at now.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯re already in South Ossetia?¡±


    Since Youngho already talked about opening a retail shop in the region, Sergey realized where he was right away.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m at Tskhinvali Hotel in South Ossetia. I¡¯m calling to ask a personal favor.¡±


    Sergey was willing to help Youngho since he had never asked for a personal favor in the past. Youngho exined everything for about ten minutes and told him the name of the moneylenders. Sergey made sure of Youngho¡¯s room number a few times and said he would call him back in a few hours.


    Katya was embarrassed to show her personal weak side to others, but she waited patiently in the hope of writing off her debt. It was when they were having coffee and deciding the prices for the items of the retail store in the afternoon that thedy at the front desk called for Youngho.


    It was Sergey¡¯s call. He asked for the hotel¡¯s fax number, so Youngho let him know. A minuteter, the frontdy brought two pages of paper to Youngho. Since he did not know enough Russian to read what they were, he passed them to Katya.


    Still talking to Sergey, Youngho looked at Katya¡¯s face. Her big eyes were even getting bigger. Sergey told Youngho that her debt was now gone. Sitting across from Youngho, Katya wiped her tears, saying that the document was proof that she had paid off the full amount of the debt.


    ¡°Did you pay off her debt?¡± asked Youngho.


    ¡°What?! No. I just told them that was enough of her payment.¡±


    There was no way that Sergey would have been that nice to the moneylenders. He must have threatened them by force. Also, he might have gotten some money out of them in the process. Youngho thanked him and hung up after setting up their meeting in Volgograd in a few days.


    Katya wanted to drink again for appreciation. Youngho did not want to get drunk again. He politely escorted her to her house and was knocked out when he got back to his room.


    ***


    On a ne to Volgograd, Youngho smiled while thinking about Katya¡¯s kiss before hen he left Tskhinvali. She said that she was just thankful for Youngho, but since she kissed him on the lips, Youngho did not know what to do. Youngho could not stop smiling, remembering the sweet kiss of the beautiful woman. He acted cool, but in the end, he was like other men after all.


    Sergey greeted Youngho at the Volgograd Airport.


    Youngho got on his car, but they were not going in the direction of Yaniv¡¯s mansion.


    ¡°Youngho, we¡¯re going to the family you asked for help for.¡±


    Sergey told him about the family. Katya¡¯s mom and daughter were living in very poor conditions because of the vicious moneylenders. Because it was rted to Youngho, Sergey and Yaniv wanted to help out the family. So, they gave them a new apartment and home appliances using the money that they took from the moneylenders. Youngho was thankful for Sergey and Yaniv¡¯s thoughtfulness. On the way to their apartment, Youngho bought a little stuffed animal and cookies that an eight-year-old would like. After driving a while, he was now in front of their apartment.


    Youngho rang the bell. The sounding from the inside stopped as soon as the bell rang. They seemed to be afraid of visitors because of the trauma from the moneylenders. When he pressed the bell again, the door opened with a safetytch locked.


    A wrinkly woman in her fifties peeked out with a fearful face. She resembled Katya. After trying to talk in his bad Russian, Youngho asked Sergey to interpret for him. When he said that he was a friend of Katya, she finally opened the door for them.


    The house was still untidy from the recent move, but Youngho could see a new TV, refrigerator, and other home appliances. When he handed the gifts he brought to the cute-looking little girl, she smiled brightly. When he told Katya¡¯s mother that he was a business partner from South Ossetia, she started crying. The little girl began to sob, missing her mother.


    Katya¡¯s mother offered them to stay for dinner but Youngho said he woulde back tomorrow. He handed the mother the 10,000 dors from Katya with another 10,000 dors from his pocket and left the apartment. Listening to how she suffered from cruel moneylenders, Youngho could not stand sitting there for another moment in anger.


    She even said that the moneylenders tried to sell Katya to prostitution, so she sent her to a rtive in South Ossetia. Katya was on the edge of a cliff when she left here. Looking at Youngho breathing heavily in anger, Sergey told Youngho that Yaniv took care of the moneylenders and patted his back.


    In Yaniv¡¯s mansion, Youngho kept sighing as he drank vodka with Yaniv and Sergey. He was still upset about what happened to Katya¡¯s family. To Sergey and Yaniv, who were leading members of the biggest mafia organization in Southern Russia, moneylending was not an unusual business. In the very beginning when they made the organization, they could get bigger only through petty moneylending businesses. Even though they now had changed their organization into apany of legal businesses, they still felt guilty.


    ¡°Are you ming us too?¡± asked Yaniv.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m just still in shock. People still have to live, so when they are rejected by banks, they turn to moneylenders. I know it¡¯s part of the cycle.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s remark, Sergey suggested his idea.


    ¡°Boss, it¡¯s impossible for moneylenders to receive less interest rates than the bank, but we¡¯ve got to get rid of those malicious moneylenders someday.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I also want to forget about my dark past. Sergey, you should get to the business then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss.¡±


    ¡°I am a legal businessman now. Our organization shouldn¡¯t be dealing with illegal stuff by now. We¡¯ll be able to get by doing our oil business.¡±


    Yanivughed loudly, looking at Youngho as he continued, ¡°We¡¯ve got our lucky charm here. Because of Lee, President Putin is in my favor. What about the wine and daily necessities trading business? They¡¯re making a ton of money! Don¡¯t they sound better than petty moneylending business? Hahaha!¡±


    At Yaniv¡¯s words, Youngho thought of something.

 Chapter 69 - Katya of South Ossetia (2)

    Chapter 69: Katya of South Ossetia (2)


    Sergey wondered why Youngho opened a retailer store in South Ossetia where there was only 50,000 residents. Upon his continuous asking, Youngho just answered that he could make a good impression to Georgia¡¯s government by doing good business with Georgians living in South Ossetia as minorities, because they were in the seriousck of daily necessaries. He also added about Katya that he hired a local person to work in the store and she happen to be Russian and he got to help her family after listening to her story.


    Now it was in a bad rtionship with Russia but Georgia used to be part of the Russian Empire in the past. The country now relied on living off mostly doing businesses with Turkey, so Youngho thought it would be easy to get into Georgian market if he maintains good rtionship with Georgians in South Ossetia. The CIA would be astounded by this but it was a personal business thought, and an offer Georgia would not reject as well. As Youngho shared his thought, Yaniv and Sergey eximed since it was a tempting idea as mafias. They had not been able to find a way into the Georgian market no matter how much they tried because of the two countries¡¯ rtionship. As mafias, it had been their wish to expand their organization¡¯s influence over Georgia as well as other nations around Russia.


    In thete afternoon of the next day, Youngho visited Katya¡¯s mother and little daughter, Rena, with gifts in his hands. Because of yesterday¡¯s talk, they looked calmer as they greeted him. Katya¡¯s mother cried for a long time when Youngho told her that the moneylenders would nevere back. Then the mother smiled big as she dressed Rena with the clothes Youngho brought as her gift. She looked just like Katya. Youngho thought she would have made many men¡¯s heart flutter when she was young. After having dinner together, he helped rearranging furniture and home appliances in their apartment. It becamete, so he stayed the night in their house.


    The next day, he took Rena around to different stores to buy her school supplies since she would be in school in theing September. As she walked around holding Youngho¡¯s hand, she looked happy that she hummed to herself.


    Her dad had passed away from an illness five years ago. Youngho felt bad for her since she must not remember how it was like to have a father. He spent the whole day with her just like a father would do.


    Youngho came back to Baku from a long trip. Park Jongil picked him up at the train station.


    ¡°You look awful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been on the train overnight.¡±


    ¡°Man, you should¡¯vee home straight from Moscow instead of going to Volgograd... tsk tsk.¡±


    Youngho must have looked exhausted. It was no wonder since he had drank for days with Yaniv and Sergey before he left Volgograd.


    When he returned to the farm, the siblings greeted him. Youngho felt like his tiredness went away because of their warm wee. Zeynep even clung to Youngho following everywhere he went. She must have missed him a lot. When he got out of the shower, he could smell Korean chopped noodles.


    ¡®Insoo¡¯s mother must have made chopped noodles,¡¯ he thought.


    Youngho was happy to smell Korean food since he had been eating oily foods during his trip. Having chopped noodles and kimchi together was extremely satisfying.


    Now the farm was like a little Korea town. By fall, Jongil¡¯s house would bepleted, and next year, Insoo¡¯s child would be born. It would be crowded. Youngho sometimes felt like crying whening back to the farm from a hectic day outside because it felt like a hometown. Even more, with Fatima, Szechenyi, and Zeynep¡¯s wee, he could feel happiness.


    Youngho was sleeping for hours on the couch after eating. Fatima came near him and touched his forehead, she was checking to see if he had any fever. Still lying on the couch, Youngho grabbed her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    She must have been worried about Youngho since he came back looking like a zombie, exhausted from the trip.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job taking care of the family while I was gone. Since it¡¯s your break, we should go on another trip.¡± Fatima¡¯s dark brown eyes got brighter.


    ¡°Oppa, you have to rest too. You just came back.¡± Although she rejected in words, she looked excited to go on another trip.


    ¡°Where did ourst trip end?¡±


    ¡°Paris, at Louvre Museum!¡± She must have been dying to continue the trip since she remembered exactly where the trip ended.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll leave in two days. I won¡¯t have time if we don¡¯t go now.¡±


    Since Youngho had finished his job well in South Ossetia, he had requested a personal leave to the European chapter beforeing back from the trip. He thought he needed a reward for himself and now he had ten days of freedom.


    As if Fatima had already told the siblings, Youngho could hear the siblings¡¯ excited screams from the second floor. Hearing that they were going on a trip as their summer break just started, they could not be happier since they had expected a trip in the winter break.


    Although he was going on a trip as a leisure activity with the siblings, there was another reason, he wanted to search for the siblings¡¯ roots. Now that they knew about the mystical relics, Jongil and Insoo encouraged his trips in hope of finding another mystical relic in exotic ces.


    Youngho had inquired about Fatima¡¯s name. Herst name was Aleksandar and he found in a literature that her name was pronounced in that way in Serbia or Croatia of the Balkan Penins in a literature. There was a high possibility that the siblings¡¯ ancestors were Serbians. He might be able to find some more information in French museums or libraries.


    It was crowded in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with travelers who visited France for their summer vacation. Many of them had tight schedule since they were touring around Europe for a short period of time. However, it was different for Youngho and the siblings


    This time, they were staying in Paris for the rest of their trip of ten days. They had rented a condominium instead of a hotel room, it was a great option if they wanted to cook their own food. Youngho had packed ramen and kimchi for the trip in case they got tired of French food.


    After arriving to the condo, they turned on the air conditioner and ate ramen and kimchi since they were starving. After eating the spicy soup, all of them looked satisfied. It seemed like the siblings had be Koreans.


    It was a hot summer day. After the sunset, Youngho and the siblings left the room with shorts and sandals on. It was a little cooler than the day time but they could still feel the lingering heat.


    They were walking along the Seine River. Since it was crowded with visitors on the upper riverside road, they walked along the riverside road under bridge. As they walked, Youngho noticed three men behind them but he did not pay too much attention to them.


    However, as they were about to cross a bridge, one of the men holding out a pocket knife talked in French and drove them to the end of a pier. They must have waited until Youngho and the siblings reached a quiet ce. They wanted money from him. Judging by their French, which was not fluent, they must be foreigners too. Youngho stood in front of the siblings to protect them.


    Zeynep¡¯s body was shaking. She grabbed Youngho¡¯s shirts from behind. Youngho scanned the guys and they did not seem like someone who had been trained. Since he and the siblings did not carry any bags, they must have approached them because of Youngho¡¯s luxurious watch that was given as a gift by Yaniv.


    When Youngho shrugged to them instead of giving them money, they came close to him pointing a knife to him. At the moment, Youngho grabbed the wrist of a guy standing close to him twisting it and kicked in between the legs of the guy standing next to him. At the same time, he punched a temple of the guy whose wrist was twisted by Youngho. Then hended his turning kick on the head of the other guy whose eyes were wide open in fright. Youngho picked up the knife and threw it to Szechenyi. Since Szechenyi was into collecting knives, he was d to have a knife. He was not surprised by Youngho¡¯s skills because he was trained by him. It was only Fatima and Zeynep who were startled to see what just happened in front of them.

 Chapter 70 - Katya of South Ossetia (3)

    Chapter 70: Katya of South Ossetia (3)


    Because there was nobody nearby, Youngho and the siblings quietly slipped away and walked on the upper riverside road. Scared, Zeynep could not walk right. Youngho carried her and they went to an open-air caf¨¦.


    As they sat down after ordering drinks, Fatima opened and closed her mouth trying to say something. She finally asked a question.


    ¡°Oppa, weren¡¯t they scary muggers?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They were just back-alley thugs. It¡¯s better for us not to call the police, they¡¯ll bother us and it¡¯ll ruin our trip.¡±


    Fatima shook her head as if it was not the answer she wanted.


    ¡°No, I mean. Did you see what you did? You knocked out three guys in a moment. They were even bigger than you. How can a person be so fast and strong?¡±


    Fatima was in shock and could not believe what just happened. When the three guys threatened them, she thought that they were in grave danger but Youngho took care of those guys as if they were children.


    ¡°I learned martial arts in Korean army. It¡¯s not a surprising thing. Insoo and Jongil are faster than me.¡±


    ¡°Oppa. You are hiding something, right? It just doesn¡¯t seem normal. I mean, all of you¡±


    Youngho was guilty for lying. She was quick-witted.


    Fatima had seen Youngho working out with Szechenyi but she thought that it was just to maintain good health. However, she just saw actions only seen in movies with her own eyes. She was curious to know more about Youngho.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to hide. It¡¯s just martial arts that I learned from army. Are you scared of me?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just excited that I have a strong oppa.¡±


    Fatima looked at him in excitement as never before. Szecheyni, not caring about his sister¡¯s interest, asked an irrelevant question.


    ¡°Hyung, can I keep this knife? It looks expensive.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a gift for entering Paris!¡±


    Szechenyi giggling in excitement became quiet after Fatima pped his back.


    ¡°Oppa, do you have anything that you¡¯re not telling me?¡±


    ¡®Man, she¡¯s persistent,¡¯ he thought.


    ¡°No, I have nothing to hide to you! Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Just think about what you¡¯re going to eat!¡±


    Youngho knew that he was in trouble since Fatima would be asking questions throughout the whole trip. Quick-witted Fatima had been wondering about his business trips to foreignnds and the frequent scary-looking visitors at the farm.


    ¡°I feel drained. I don¡¯t want to eat now.¡±


    Fatima was a little upset because Youngho was acting suspicious. Zeynep, who was now rxed, fell asleep leaning against Youngho. Youngho was upset that because of the stupid muggers, the first they was ruined.


    ¡°Oppa, this is my favorite part!¡±


    When Youngho cut out apples to eat and was about to throw away the excess and bad parts, Zeynep shouted. When she lived in the slum in Istanbul, her mom, who worked at a restaurant at the time, brought the waste parts of apple. Remembering the time, Zeynep ate the waste parts as if they were delicious. Youngho could imagine how poor she had been in the slum. Zeynep kept saying ¡®It¡¯s so yummy!¡¯ eating the bad parts of apples.


    The Fatima siblings did not spend money to buy things at all unless Youngho bought something for them. He had been giving them allowances in their individual bank ounts in Baku but they never touched the money.


    To Fatima, Youngho gave her money to use as living cost for the family but she saved most of them and did not buy anything unless they were necessary. Since they had lived in poverty so long, the concept of consumption had not settled in their minds. They only bought things they liked during trips. Fatima wore clothes from the storage of Youngho¡¯s direct store in Baku. They were not low quality clothes but she was never obsessed with the things that girls of her age would like.


    Because of the incident of the first night in Paris, Fatima was certain that Youngho was hiding something from her. To avert her eyes, he wanted to buy gifts for her. He brought the siblings to an outdoor shopping center where stores of famous brands were located but the siblings did not seem to be interested. It would have made Youngho happy to buy something for them on if they liked, but they did not care.


    Instead, the siblings were happy to walk on the streets with he. Fatima held Youngho¡¯s arm and kept touching his body, saying that his body was firm like a rock. It was stressing him since when he wanted to avoid her touch either because he was warm or because he was embarrassed, she became sulky. Alongside Fatima, Zeynep tried to lift Youngho¡¯s shirt to see his stomach. As if it was funny to see his different facial expressions, she kept on touching him. The siblings were having a st annoying him but it was awful to Youngho. Because there no one they knew around, the siblings acted even more boldly.


    The trip to Paris was fun and productive except the incident of the first day. In a museum, Youngho found a simr pattern to the one on the mystical ring and shoes on a Serbian ancient relic, and he could hear from a guide that the museum had a literature of ancient Serbia in their library. He paid to get the copy of the literature and the pattern of the Serbian relic.


    Now he needed a linguist who could interpret the literature and the pattern but it was not a problem. If he asked the two friends in Goethe University in Frankfurt, they would introduce someone right for the job.


    It was thest day of the trip.


    Since it was Szecheyni¡¯s 17th birthday, Youngho and the siblings had a little party in their lodge. Szecheyni was now near 180 centimeters tall and he now had broad shoulders, he became a handsome young man. Although he still looked young in Youngho and Fatima¡¯s eyes, he was fully grown that no one would believe that he was a teenager anymore.


    Szecheyni opened all of the gifts and smiled.


    ¡°Hyung, you gave me money. Does this mean I can buy anything I want?¡±


    ¡°Yep. I couldn¡¯t figure out what you¡¯d like. You can buy whatever you want with that money.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, what if he buys anything weird?¡± Fatima interrupted.


    ¡°Szechenyi is an adult now, Fatima. He won¡¯t be satisfied with what others buy for him. He¡¯ll take care of himself.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right hyung. She still thinks I¡¯m a child.¡±


    Szechenyi was appreciative of his sister¡¯s care but he did not want her attention anymore now that he was grown up. Seeing Szechenyi happy with the money he gave, Youngho smiled.


    Youngho sent a copy of the literature and a pattern of the Serbian relic from the museum to Arsen in Frankfurt through mail. It was such an achievement that he found a simr pattern of the mystical ring and leather shoes. It was all possible because Zeynep who liked to busily move around everywhere. Because of her curiosity, he could find an ancient relic that had a pattern like the mystical items¡¯ at Europe museum in Southeastern Paris.


    Finally, Fatima was admitted to the Department of Business Administration of Baku University. She was specially admitted as a foreigner. Sevan, the chief manager of Main Police Department. Youngho worried about the college boys bothering Fatima but it was something she had to deal with for the rest of her life.


    Since the siblings¡¯ break was over, every morning was hectic in the farm. Fatima was also busy because she had to give them a ride to school every morning. Because of Zeynep, who always had a lot to pack, Szechenyi were alwayste for school along with his sister. Although every morning was loud and busy, Youngho thought it was better than silence. Now he was living for the future of siblings rather than for his own future.


    At the end of this month, the cultivation season would begin. Also, because the grapes that had been aging in oak tanks sincest year would be produced as wine, the farm was busy, that Youngho had to help Gerhardt and Insoo. Wines needed Youngho¡¯s direction because all of them would be exported to Volgograd to Yaniv. If abel was crooked, the value of Zeynep Farm would be damaged, so he checked every bottle as they were produced. The wine aged in oak tanks was bottled in a high quality, ssy looking bottle since they were more expensive than wine produced in stainless steel tanks. Not only it had deeper scent of oak but also it had a better taste.


    Youngho expected this year¡¯s cultivated grape extracts to be 360,000 gallons. Since he needed more tanks, he ordered 100 more oak tanks. Now he would be making more profits because of 60,000 gallons of wine aged in oak tanks. It was not a dream to make 10 million dors a year since it looked achievable.


    In a few years, every wine produced in Zeynep Farm would be aged in oak tanks and only the ones that had been aging for three years would be distributed as premium wine. Youngho was happy to think about Zeynep Farm¡¯s luxurious, premium wine produced by the dry climate, high daily temperature range,rge amount of sunshine, and the seedlings of high sweetness level.


    Thinking about the bright future, Youngho was swelled. He put down his calctor and left the office to walk around his vineyard. Although they were for wine, they were sweet as they were. Youngho picked a handful and ate them. The sour and sweet taste was calling for more. As he was enjoying the taste of grapes, the phone in his pocket started vibrating.


    An unusual number appeared on the screen of the phone. Even though he was not familiar with the number, he knew where it was from. The country code was telling him it was from South Ossetia. It must be Katya the local field agent. After lighting a cigarette and putting it in his mouth, he answered the phone rxingly.

 Chapter 71 - Suffering of South Ossetia (1)

    Chapter 71: Suffering of South Ossetia (1)


    Hearing from Katya in almost two months, her voice was very excited. After talking about work for a while, Youngho noticed that she had been calling him ¡®boss,¡¯ not with his name.


    ¡°Boss. Thank you so much. I don¡¯t know what to say about taking care of Rena and my mom.¡±


    It seemed that now a phone was installed in Katya¡¯s home in Volgograd. She would have called Youngho before if she had known ahead.


    ¡°Katya, you can work better when your family is in peace. My friend in Volgograd took care of their situation even before I got to Volgograd. He owes me a lot, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal.¡±


    Youngho had to make excuses in order not to give a wrong impression. What he did might already have made wrong impression but he had done her a favor as a boss.


    ¡°Boss, when will you be back here? I¡¯ll buy you drinks when you get here.¡±


    Youngho was not sure whether she was drawing the line by calling him her boss but she surely came across as a male friend when she talked about drinking.


    ¡°Katya. Since you don¡¯t have any special mission going on at the moment, why don¡¯t you visit Volgograd? You really should. You haven¡¯t seen your child for years. I¡¯ll report it to the European chapter, so don¡¯t worry about that part.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I won¡¯t forget your favor, boss.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a favor. You know we¡¯rerades now, we should help each other.¡±


    Katya kept saying that she would pay back for Youngho¡¯s favor. It made him wonder what she meant by pay back, but he soon forgot about that part. It was natural for Katya to be extremely appreciative for Youngho since she and her family had been harassed by the moneylenders for their debt but now it was gone because of his help. It made him smile to hear her genuine thank you.


    After attending the monthly CIA meeting in the European chapter, Youngho met Arsen and Batzen, the students at Goethe University. Youngho had requested them to find a linguist to interpret an old literature piece and a pattern that he found at a French museum and now they contacted him as the results came out.


    Since they did not want to get paid because it was not aplicated process to find a linguist, Youngho just treated them with an expensive meal and some gifts in appreciation.


    Apparently, the old literature piece was written in Cyrillic letters that was widely used around A.D. 1100, and the current Serbiannguage was originated from the letters. The contents of the piece were just nonsensical that the linguist told Arsen and Batzen that the literature was not creditable. If the contents were absurd to a linguist, they could be written about old magic. Youngho wanted to see what was inside the interpreted document as soon as possible but he could not do it in front of Arsen and Batzen. He decided to be patient and to open it with the siblings together. It was exciting to imagine the siblings¡¯ faces as they reveal the secrets of the mystical ring and leather shoes one by one together.


    The patterns that were same as the mystical items was a symbol belonged to Archduke Aleksandar who ruled over Serbia before Serbia was governed by Turkey in 1400. The little piece of information from the pattern of the mystical relics revealed the ancestors of the Fatima siblings. Youngho guessed that because of Turkey, the fallen family of Archduke Aelksandar must have scattered and settled in Istanbul. There would be more information of the pattern in the document received from Arsen and Batzen. The descendants of an Archduke must mean that the Fatima siblings were aristocratic. It exined the siblings¡¯ distinguishable appearance. Youngho felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest.


    The farm was extremely busy because it was the cultivation season. On one side of the farm, grapes were picked by automatic harvesters, crushed, and went into the fermenting room. On the other side, wine aged in oak tanks was bottled, wrapped, and loaded in boxes on a semi-trailer truck for delivery.


    It was so busy that even Zeynep¡¯s young hands were helping out with the farm work. A day was not enough and people worked hard missing out their meals. Hearing that Zeynep Farm paid workers well, manyborers came and helped out with the process but cultivating more than 350,000 gallons of grapes was still overwhelming. However, if they did not hurry andplete the cultivation soon, the grapes would pop due to excessive nutrients from the roots. It would be sweeter if they left them longer on the vines but they would lose their freshness, which was not suitable for extracts to be aged to wine. It was a process requiring chain of work and Azerbaijani national broadcasting station was recording the cultivation process of Zeynep Farm since the farm was Baku¡¯s onlyrge-scale grape farm. It was disturbing to the process but since Zeynep Farm would be on TV, Youngho weed the broadcasting staffs.


    The public favored Zeynep Farm because all of its wine was exported to Russia and earning foreign currency. Also, because of Zeynep Farm¡¯s decision to export all of their wine, small-scale farm¡¯s wines distributed in Baku were sold at the right prices without a huge monopolypany like Charles Wine Company charging high prices for customers. Because Araz of the Charlespany was gone, Baku¡¯s small scale farms produced great tasting handmade wines and raised sales. Azerbaijani government now promoted Zeynep Farm as if they had intended all this. The broadcasts insisted that the government should ept more foreign investors to develop the wasted hilly areas by offering them the sites free. Youngho did not miss this chance and sent some of his premium wine aged in oak tanks to the president.


    Invited to a lunch feast at the presidential pce, Youngho had a chance to meet the president again. However, the meal did note free because the president asked him to develop more hilly areas during the meal. Youngho necessarily granted the president¡¯s request and now 600 acres of the hilly site next to the stream near his farm were added to the farm area.


    The contract condition was same as before, and since it was not a bad thing to have more area, he dly epted the president¡¯s offer. The president was satisfied and even mentioned about awarding a medal to Youngho as a foreign investor who made contributions to the country¡¯s economy.


    The price of the farm site that he would have to pay next year was 1.1 million dors but it was not an overwhelming amount now. The profit he made from distributing wine exceeded four million dors and he would be able to make ten million dors by next year. Now that he would increase the number of oak tanks even more, he anticipated making more profits in time.


    Sergey in Volgograd was happy to hear that Youngho would be producing more wine next year. People in Southern Russia were now drinking more wine than vodka since Yaniv started distributing Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine. The wine was received well since it was high in quality low in price. Distributed wine was sold out in different market. Some retailers in different regions even called Yaniv personally andined that they were receiving less wine than other retailers. So Sergey had been thinking about raising the price of wine. However, as Youngho nned to produce more wine, his problem was resolved now.


    Jongil now became friends with most of officials in Baku. Youngho wondered how he had made everyone his friends because it was hard for himself no matter how hard he tried. He was a naturally talented, social person. These days, he became close with Sevan, the chief manager of Main Police Department. He had been saying that he would sell security systems to Sevan. It looked like he would sign a deal soon.


    Jongil¡¯s house was almostpleted, it was located in the remotest ce on the farm. He said that he chose that ce since it had the most beautiful view but Youngho knew that he wanted to reinforce farm¡¯s security by lighting up the remotest area.


    Since his wedding is in November, Park Jongil sent out invitations to his rtives and friends from Korea. The farm needed to get decorated for guests since the Yunsuh couple and their parent would be visiting Baku too. They were upset because Youngho had not visited Seoul for thest New Year¡¯s Day, so he had invited them to Jongil¡¯s wedding with Jongil¡¯s consent. He worried about how to exin the scale of the farm to the couple but could not think of anything yet.


    In a quiet Friday evening, Youngho and the siblings gathered around a table after finishing up their dinner meal. Youngho started reading out loud the interpretation document of the old literature.


    ¡°The gold regr hexagon shape ovepped in manyyers acts as a passageway to collect energy. This gives peace of spirit, increases focus, and strengthens activity.


    If it interacts with its owner for a long time, it changes its color. If the color reaches transparency, the owner will gain strength five times more than a regr man. He will reach to the top of a mountain in a moment.


    As body is restored and detoxed, vision and hearing will improve. The owner will reach to the supernatural world and will be able to sense near danger. The magical power of the pattern on the ring makes the leather shoes invisible...¡±


    ¡°...Should I keep reading?¡±


    The siblings were yawning because of the boring story of the literature.


    ¡°Oppa, I don¡¯t understand a single word from the literature. Can you exin itter to us after reading it?¡± Asked Fatima as if her patience had run out.


    Zeynep was sleeping on Fatima¡¯sps. Szechenyi¡¯s eyes also looked tired. Unlike Youngho had expected, the siblings did not care about the old literature. They were happy to find out who their ancestors were but they were not appealed by the boring exnation of their family relics.


    After the siblings had gone to bed, Youngho read every word on the document. There were some parts that were not understandable but the gist of it was that the ring would exert its full magical power when it turns transparent. It was a little disappointing that there was no mention of how the ring was made.


    ¡®I will find out in time since I¡¯ll keep the ring on my finger.¡¯ Youngho thought.

 Chapter 72 - Suffering of South Ossetia (2)

    Chapter 72: Suffering of South Ossetia (2)


    It was still October but Youngho spotted snow all over on the way to Tskhinvali. South Ossetia was located in the alpine region in the middle of the Caucasus mountain range and it had a long winter. The road signs showed a shocking number of the altitude of the region, 1,500 to 2,000 meters of sea level was the basic altitude in here. Youngho felt dizzy because of oxygen deficiency. As he drove on cliffs, he did not feel nauseous like thest time but he still could not stand the winding path.


    Youngho visited the restaurant at a resting area, the ownerdy in her forties greeted him. Since he had given her two bottles of pepper, she remembered him well although she saw him only once before. Youngho brought different spices to give to her. When he showed them to her, she liked them but her face was darkened. Youngho knew that she must be thinking that he came to sell the spices. When Youngho said that they were gift to her, she hugged him tightly, he could smell stink when she came near. She gave him some oily meat bone soup, this time Youngho put plenty of chili powder and dried garlic pieces in the soup and it tasted good. Made with meat from cattle that had been eating fresh grass and hay from the high mountainous area, the soup felt like a healthy medicine. It was a great restorative food for travelers who were struggling with oxygen deficiency in the area.


    As Youngho ate the soup deliciously, a truck driver sitting next to him was curious. He gave him a spoonful and as soon as he drank it, he grabbed his neck and coughed for its spiciness. His facial expression seemed to ask Youngho, ¡®how could a man eat something like this?¡¯ but he drank hisst broth into his mouth and left the ce with satisfaction on his face.


    Although the size of the country was as small as twice the size of Jeju Ind of Korea, because of the touch winding mountainous paths, it was evening when Youngho go to Tskhinvali.


    Katya was waiting for him at the hotel caf¨¦ and she gave him a big hug with tears in her eyes. Surprised by her physical contact, Youngho told her that he was not familiar with this kind of greeting yet and she let him go finally. Before he left Baku, he looked at Fatima¡¯s face for a long time to get immunized for looking at a beautiful woman but Katya¡¯s hug was still fatal. Now that Katya came back from Volgograd from meeting her family and her worries were gone, she looked even brighter.


    ¡°Boss, I don¡¯t know how to appreciate for your favor. It¡¯s all because of you that I got to meet my family in three years.¡±


    ¡°Katya, why are you calling me boss all of a sudden?¡± Although Youngho was her superior, he was not her boss since they were all hired by the CIA as agents.


    ¡°You are a true leader. Taking care of your underling like this, it¡¯s what a boss does. I haven¡¯t had a superior like you, so I consider you as a boss.¡± Youngho wanted to say something but he did not know where to start. She seemed that she misunderstood his favor. Katya continued,


    ¡°Also, you didn¡¯t look at me as a woman but you lifted my worries from me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I want to have you as my boss for a long time, so don¡¯t reject me.¡±


    ¡®Please don¡¯t reject me?¡¯ Youngho could not figure out what she meant.


    ¡°Katya, you don¡¯t have to call me boss. I just wanted help you as a coworker and because I wanted you to focus on work. And you¡¯re making me nervous, what do you mean by ¡®don¡¯t reject you?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I must have said it wrong. I heard about your business from my mom. I meant that I can work hard. So if you need anyone, you can hire me as your employee. And maybe sometimes, you can see me as a woman too.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡®What in the world is this woman talking about? This can¡¯t be good for our work, and even to Fatima... Wait, why am I thinking about Fatima at this moment?¡¯ Not caring about Youngho¡¯splicated face, Katya continued,


    ¡°I¡¯ve been told that I¡¯m pretty my whole life and I haven¡¯t seen a man like you. I¡¯ve got to say, you made a scratch on my pride a little¡±


    ¡®Ah-ha! She meant this. I see. Of course you are beautiful. I¡¯m trying my best not to look at you as a woman here!¡¯ Katya was surely beautiful but saying that out loud on her own was a little sassy. Katya was captivating but Fatima had a different charm that could not be exined. However, Fatima who was beautiful enough to make Baku roister never mentioned about her own beauty. Katya¡¯s words just made her less appealing to Youngho.


    ¡°Katya. You are beautiful but because we met as coworkers, I could not express anything about that. Maybe my attitude came across as a little rigid but you don¡¯t have to feel bad. You are beautiful enough to make me flutter. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Hmmm.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are a man after all since you are saying that I made you flutter.¡±


    Because the bed was different, Youngho could not sleep deeply. He opened his eyes and it was still early in the morning. He felt a bad headache. It seemed like he had drank until he could not rememberst night with Katya again. He remembered singing a few songs again at a bar but did not have any recollection of what happened after that. He checked if Katya was in his hotel room but thankfully he was alone.


    He decided to get up and work out at the hotel¡¯s fitness center and sweat out all the alcohol. However, when he called the front desk and asked about the fitness center¡¯s location, ady said that it was out of order.


    ¡®Out of order? It was out of orderst time too. You are just closing it because there were not enough guests.¡¯ There was nothing to expect at the hotel. He knew if he went down for coffee in the lobby, they would give warmed up yesterday¡¯s drip coffee, so he just made his own instant coffee with hot water.


    The windows of his rent car parked outside at the hotel parking were covered with frost due to the chilliness. He picked up his jogging suit and sneakers from his car and got dressed to run around the quiet streets nearby. There were remains of war everywhere in the town, such as burned-down tanks, fallen buildings and walls. It made him wonder if they just left them on purpose. Living in the environment like this, Youngho could guess the sorrow in the people¡¯s hearts. However, there was a great thing in the city. Whether it was because that everybody was poor or because that everyone was from the same root, the security in Tskhinvali was one of the best in the world.


    As the sun was rising, stores started to open and Youngho could spot some milk delivery bicycles on the streets. After an hour of jogging, he felt like he sweated all the vodka fromst night. Since he could smell alcohol while running, he could guess how much vodka he drank.


    Katya cried a river in front of Younghost night. She recalled her harsh past and the time that she had to spend alone far away from her family. As Youngho was drunk with Katya, he said something in emotional sympathy but he did not remember what it was. He was ufortable about that but he could figure out what it was as soon as he finished working out and entered the hotel lobby.


    A clerk at the front desk called Youngho, saying that they received an international call from Russia while he was gone. The only friends he had in Russia were Sergey and Yaniv. He called Sergey right away and he told him surprising news.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯ll send other stuffter so don¡¯t worry about that, and Michael will escort the family to where you are.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡®Is this what it was? Man, I must have called him and asked to send Katya¡¯s family here after seeing Katya cry.¡¯


    ¡°Lee, why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, did I make any mistakesst night? I drank a little too much...¡±


    ¡°No, nothing. And also, boss wants you to visit Volgograd before going back to Baku. He wants to have a drink with you.¡±


    ¡®Man, does he want to kill me by making me drink too much?¡¯


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, I¡¯m sorry that I keep bothering you with personal matters.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure. Aren¡¯t we friends? I can do this much for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just sorry because I know you¡¯re busy.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem. They will arrive in two days by the way.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Mr. Sergey. I¡¯ll see you back in Volgograd.¡±


    Talking to Sergey was now sofortable since he felt like a friend. He was even more charming as Youngho got to know him better


    Rena and Katya¡¯s mother entered the hotel lobby escorted by Michael. Having found Youngho, Rena came running to Youngho¡¯s arms, saying ¡®papa.¡¯ He did not pay attention to what she said because of Michael behind her. Michael who was walking slowly behind her greeted Youngho. He was Yaniv¡¯s old bodyguard in his forties and the fifth-in-order in the Southern Russia mafia organization. The night when Yaniv¡¯s mansion was attacked, he was charmed by Youngho¡¯s martial arts skills and strength, he had been asking Youngho to teach him.


    ¡°Michael, you went through troubles because of my personal request.¡±


    ¡°Haha... It¡¯s no problem. It was like going on a trip. Boss also told me to help them settle here and escort you to Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°Man, is he scared of me running away?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he said I need to abduct you. He¡¯s enjoying the wine business these days.¡±


    Yaniv must be determined to monopolize Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine by treating Youngho well


    ¡°He must think I¡¯m a drunkard. I always get sick returning from drinking hard in Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Katya had no idea that her mother and daughter were moving to her town. Youngho did not mean to surprise her but she did not seem to care about what Youngho said on that night, so he did not say any more. Katya appeared at the hotelter and her surprised face was gold.


    The family hugged one another in joy. Although they had seen each other not long ago but because it was a short meeting, they had missed each other more. Rena called Youngho as if he was not the part of the family, calling him ¡®papa.¡¯ Youngho realized what ¡®papa¡¯ meant at that moment,


    It was Russian word for ¡®daddy¡¯ although people called old men ¡®papa¡¯ too but Youngho was not an old man. ¡®Is she going to stop all the womening toward me? I¡¯m still single,¡¯ he thought.


    Now that Youngho made a big mess, he needed to take care of it. Katya believed that Youngho did not call the family without any measure. Since he had resolved her debt issue and found an apartment for her family in Volgograd, Katya trusted him like the Midas touch.

 Chapter 73 - Suffering of South Ossetia (3)

    <h4>Chapter 73: Suffering of South Ossetia (3)</h4>


    Youngho med drinking for his mess,


    Yunsuh used to give him an earful about his drinking habits because he drank to the point where he passed out. She never understood his behaviors. He also kepting home spending arge amount of money while he was drunk. Yunsuh med his Navy unit for his habits and she was correct in a sense.


    While training to the extent of exhaustion and hardship near death in Navy Special Forces, the UDT unit, Youngho and hisrades used to drink all night long topensate themselves for the harsh training whenever they were allowed a day off. It was a tradition in the unit.


    Even to Youngho, what he did this time was a big mess to clean up because he made two people move to another country without any measures. Katya¡¯s ce was too small for three people to live in since it was a small one-bedroom residential house, he made theme without any preparations.


    Most of single houses in this mountainous area were very small as they were built ording to the distinctive structural patterns of a building in the mountains. Also, having a big house in this impoverished town was a special case. Youngho inquired housing through the mafias who came to deliver daily necessities to CIA¡¯s retailer store and managed to find a decent, three-room house. Housing was cheap in here but as he offered to pay twice more the standard housing cost in Tskhinvali, the old couple living in the house cleared the house immediately for them, saying that they have another house in the outskirt of town. So, he could finally find a ce for Katya and her family to stay.


    Because Katya¡¯s mother and Rena moved here in a rush, Rena did not even go through a transfer process from her school in Volgograd. However, because she was a government official in town, Rena was able to enroll in the local school right away.


    People here did not recognize ¡®Volgograd¡¯ because they called it with the city¡¯s old name, ¡®Stalingrad.¡¯ This is how much they were isted to the outside world. Rena became famous in school, known as the kid from a big city. Also, Youngho was known as her ¡®papa¡¯ without his awareness. If he knew, he would have advertised on the local newspaper with the phrase, ¡®I¡¯m single.¡¯


    There were about four towns where Georgianmunities resided in South Ossetia. Due to the serious conflicts with Ossetians, they had to have a group of neighborhood watch and protect their towns, and they inspected suspicious strangersing in their towns. Under this kind of regional condition, the CIA had opened a retailer shop through Katya in Tskhinvali to provide daily necessities to Georgians around different towns. Now South Russian mafias from Yaniv¡¯s organization were delivering the items to different locations of Georgian towns and they were well received by Georgians because the items were distributed at cheap prices as low as local prices by the CIA.


    There was an incident in which a mafia on a delivery was shot by a neighborhood watch in the vige of Kurta where approximately 1,000 Georgians resided. The neighborhood watch was not an overwhelming force since they only had a few rifles as their defense. The vige of Kurt had been doing business exchanges with Gori, a Georgia¡¯s border city, and it looked like the neighborhood watch did not like the recent growth of Russians delivering items around their town.


    ***


    Youngho put on a white g on his car and went inside the vige of Kurta. He had brought a Georgian with him from Tskhinvali as his interpreter.


    It was a day ago that the neighborhood watch of Kurta shot the delivery truck driven by a Russian mafia. As if they had thought somebody woulde for an exnation, a few neighborhood watchmen stopped Youngho¡¯s car. Looking at their antique rifles only likely to be seen in historical museum, he let a short smirk.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to meet someone in charge.¡± He spoke in English and again in Russian. They did not seem to understand English but Russian.


    ¡°What brings you to our town?¡±


    They looked relieved because of Youngho¡¯ Asian appearance.


    ¡°The guy who came to deliver daily necessaries was my employee. I¡¯m the retailer shop owner. I want an exnation about why you injured my man.¡±


    The Georgian interpreter quickly interpreted what Youngho just said. They were startled to learn that an Asian person was the owner of the retailer business. They had no reason to hate Asians even though they hated Russians and Ossetians. Also, they liked the cheap prices of the provided items, they had just shot the mafia because they spotted a Russian snooping around their town.


    They escorted Youngho to the vige chief¡¯s house. An old man looking in his sixties introduced himself as Roshini. He exined to Youngho that they identally shot the delivery man while trying to scare him so they could chase away Russians from their town.


    ¡°Chief Roshini, I have never seen a town this closed like here. Other Georgian towns of South Ossetia never threatened us. I¡¯m a business man after money but I sent my men to deliver necessary items to the isted Georgian towns by driving on tough mountainous roads to help Georgian people. I would¡¯ve never sent my men in here if I tried to make a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to say since you said it was idental but I¡¯m telling you, the person you shot yesterday has a wife and children. Now that he can¡¯t work because of the injury, how are you going topensate that for him?¡±


    Although Youngho did not need money from him, he acted strong. The vige chief swept his face with his hand in stress.


    ¡°Look, our vige is poor. We can¡¯t pay you for our fault with money but we can give you a sheep or a goat if you need, or I can give you our vige¡¯s local products, leather and cheese, if you please.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho felt satisfied by his attitude. He had to make strong impression if he wanted to continue doing business in the town.


    Roshini added,


    ¡°Also, if the business is not owned by Russians, it¡¯d be great if you keep delivering your products to our town. I apologize for our misunderstanding, we went too far even though youe from afar to deliver items to our town. It¡¯s just our town had enough of conflicts with outsiders, so we overreacted.¡±


    Listening to what the interpreter said, Youngho felt sorry for the town people.


    ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t wish to make poor people pay. Let¡¯s make a deal instead. From now on, please don¡¯t shoot our delivery trucks or men. My men might react violently too since they are young.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. We won¡¯t make that a problem from this moment. Why don¡¯t you eat before you leave, since you came a long way?¡±


    Looking around the town after eating at the chief¡¯s house, Youngho could see how far the town wasgged behind. All of the houses looked old and had undergone many hardships. Inside of the houses were even worse-looking, the desks and chairs were worn out and the writings on a school ck board in a ssroom was not even recognizable due to many cracks.


    People on the outside say that civilians go into space, but the town seemed to stay in 1950s. Since there were only Georgians in town and they insisted their istion, Ossetian government did not provide them electricity. So, watching TV relying on a small generator and a satellite dish was their only pathway to the outside world. Having telephones were a luxury to these people and some of them who luckily attained cellphones did not even get signals in town, so they had to go to different regions if they wanted to use cell phones. The only transportation to other regions were some old pickup trucks andpact cars.


    Because a foreigner was walking around the town, kids followed him in curiosity, Youngho could see their snot dangling on their nose. Since there was an enormous shortage of medicine, having cold was nothing special to them.


    Some kids who did not have enough strength to follow Youngho around stared at Youngho like a sunflower leaning on old walls. A kid was wearing wooden slipper. Youngho could see his flesh through ripped leather pants and wool sweater.


    In chilly days, people here don¡¯t even have ayer underneath their clothes. Although they had their houses, they were no better than refugees. Till now, Youngho had not realized how devastated their environment was because they came to buy daily necessities with their own cattle products. Without the government¡¯s providence, they lived as the people in the middle ages. South Ossetians and Georgians both lived with the deep pain of wars.


    Youngho provided daily necessities, school supplies, and even ckboards for school to the town people. If converted in dors, they cost about 5,000 dors but all he received was some sheepskins, fox furs, and martens. He was thinking that he could donate the money to the poor people but Michael, the mafia who came along with Youngho, excitedly said that the animal skins would be much valuable if tanned well. Since Russians loved animal furs due to their harsh winter, he knew their values well. It was a great exchange that satisfied both sides. Although the towns people did not have money, they had plenty of animal skins because they lived off taking care of their cattle. Youngho also told the vige chief Roshini that he would order his employees to deliver medicine too as soon as he returns to Tskhinvali, this would help many people who suffered pneumonia in town.


    After taking care of all businesses in South Ossetia, Younhgo hurriedly left Tskhinvali. With Michael, he crossed the tough mountain range and flew to Volgograd. It was a horrible trip. However, what was even horrible to him was what happened in Tskhinvali.


    When Katya¡¯s family moved to the new house, he helped them in moving untilte. Because Katya¡¯s family insisted that Youngho stayed with them for a night, he agreed. When he was about to fall asleep in a room, Rena came to say goodnight with a pillow in her hands. Later, Katya came in her nightdress, Youngho was stunned to see her gaudy sleepwear.


    ¡®Do all Russians say goodnight in this way?¡¯ he thought.


    Not able to handle Katya¡¯s enticement, Youngho rushed and left Tskhinvali. He thought he would bring Fatima¡¯s picture next time he visits the town.


    ¡®Wait, why am I thinking Fatima? She has nothing to do with this!¡¯ All of his thoughts always ended with Fatima as the destination. Youngho wondered why. He had not realized how big Fatima had be in his heart but he did not pay too much attention thinking that it was a temporary thought.

 Chapter 74 - A Wedding (1)

    <h4>Chapter 74: A Wedding (1)</h4>


    At Yaniv¡¯s mansion in Volgograd, there was a feast waiting for Youngho. Stepping into the reception hall, Youngho¡¯s eyes widened at the variety of food.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, is this a special day? Are you expecting an important guest?¡±


    He had a hunch that it was for himself, but he still could not believe it.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s for you. Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re an important guest to me? I mean, you¡¯re more than a guest. You¡¯re an important member of our family.¡±


    ¡®What? I¡¯m no family. I got my own family in Baku!¡¯


    All of a sudden Youngho missed the siblings since he had not seen them for ten days already.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s an honor if you think of me in that way.¡±


    ¡°We are partners. These days, I feel alive because of you. The wine production, daily necessities business, and grain supplies! All of them are making me tremendous amounts of money. Well, of course they cannotpare to the oil business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more thankful that because of you, I don¡¯t need to think about wine markets.¡±


    ¡°Your wines are excellent. Otherpanies are jealous of us.¡±


    Youngho was ttered since his wines were selling well.


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered by yourpliments, but it feels like you have something you want to request of me. Am I right?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha....¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Hey, Sergey. Did you hear that? Lee already knows! He¡¯s a true businessman.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s curious look, Sergey tapped his back.


    ¡°Today¡¯s feast is for us to have a verbal agreement regarding wine distribution. How about you keep distributing your wines only for me? It¡¯s a rare business that can make me ten million dors a year with only a single product. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to throw me in Volga River if I don¡¯t take the deal.¡±


    Yanivughed out loud until there were tears in his eyes.


    ¡°Hahaha.... That¡¯s terrible joke! I don¡¯t think you can drown even if I tried.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d that you think highly of Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine. I never thought about distributing our wine to otherpanies.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Then it¡¯s an agreement, all right? You can¡¯t say otherwiseter.¡±


    It looked like Yaniv feared that Youngho would sell his wines to otherpanies since the amount of this year¡¯s produce was twice as that ofst year¡¯s produce.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure of it. Now, can we start eating please?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s eat and drink up. Michael, you too, you¡¯ve done a great job with Lee in Ossetia.¡±


    They chugged down drinks again that night.


    Youngho did not remember how he fell asleep again, but he now feltfortable drinking in Yaniv¡¯s mansion.


    The next day, Yaniv, Sergey, and Youngho had a conference to find a way to open Georgia¡¯s market. Sergey had already heard the Georgians¡¯ poverty-stricken surroundings and their situation where they could not receive the benefits of civilization.


    They decided to receive cheese and leathers in exchange for daily necessities and medicine in other isted viges just like Kurta. Since handmade cheese and leathers made in the natural environment were popr in Russia, finding the market for them was not a problem.


    As for the dispatched mafias delivering items in South Ossetia, Sergey would be recalling them back to Russia soon once Katya found local workers to hire. He expected a third of the South Ossetian poption, which was 20,000 people, to be his customers. Even though it was only 20,000 people, selling grains and daily necessities to them would still make his organization a lot of money.


    The word that an Asian merchandiser working with Russians and providing cheap daily necessities to Georgian towns in South Ossetia would spread fast because people would look for reasons when the Georgians would eventually not show up in Gori to buy daily goods. That would be a great time for Youngho and Yaniv¡¯s mafias to open a store for daily necessities in the form of a warehouse in Tbilisi, Georgia.


    Youngho¡¯s role in Georgia was to be a figurehead as the Asian business owner. Although Yaniv would be providing the products and making money, since Youngho had made good impressions to Georgians in South Ossetia, he was the best person to promote the business.


    Youngho thought that he would be satisfied with providing Korean goods in the warehouse store in Georgia. Yaniv insisted that they each manage half of the business, but Youngho did not want to be greedy since he was already overwhelmed with his stores in Baku and Sumqayit, his grape farm, and CIA work.


    Youngho also wanted to focus on making better quality wines. Sergey did not understand why Youngho was stepping back.


    ¡°Brother Sergey, if I expand my businesses, it would be the tail wagging the dog. I¡¯m not up to this. I¡¯ll be fine with providing Korean products here.¡±


    Fromst night¡¯s drinking, Youngho and Sergey said that they would be like brothers to each other. Sergey dly weed being called Youngho¡¯s brother. Since Sergey was eight years older than Youngho, he really felt like a big brother to Youngho.


    ¡°Well, sometimes it¡¯s just good to stick with one thing rather than having multiple things on your te. By the way, boss will be disappointed that you won¡¯t be part of our daily necessities business. He¡¯d even give you 60% of the whole profits if you asked. Are you underestimating our business?¡±


    Sergey, as a person who had a doctorate degree in business administration, was picturing the woods from Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be called a businessman if I wasn¡¯t interested in it, but as of now, the wine business is my priority. I¡¯d like to focus on the farm for now. Can you deliver my message to Mr. Yaniv?¡±


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s the boss who alwayspliments you, but I like your personality too. You have a great mind for business. I¡¯m d to have you as my brother!¡±


    Youngho thought that it was always a great feeling to be acknowledged by other businessmen.


    ***


    On the day when Youngho arrived at Baku Airport, the winds were strong. Not being able tond due to the harsh winds, the ne could only reach the ground after circling around the airport twice. Youngho, who almost peed in his pants because of the tension, came out of the security area and swore in his mind that he would never ever take a ne that would in Baku International Airport again.


    Baku was always windy, and many foreign nes used to utilize Sumqayit¡¯s emergencynding strip when there were bad winds. However, this time, Youngho was frustrated because Sumqayit¡¯s airport rejected the ne that Youngho was on because it did not have the Azerbaijani g on it. Cussing when leaving the airport, Youngho felt better when he was finally in Baku.


    He regretted not traveling on a train. He wanted to shorten the time of travel, but his decision to take an airne was worse than traveling on a train. Youngho wanted toe quickly because he missed the Fatima siblings. Although Baku was still a foreignnd, it was his home now.


    When he arrived at the farm on a taxi without telling anybody, there were more people on the farm greeting Youngho. Jongil and Karajan were there. Their house was finally done and they had already moved in. Everyone was eating dinner at a table on the first floor of the management building and greeted Youngho as he showed up.


    Since he showed up without telling anybody, Park Jongil made remark.


    ¡°Insoo, don¡¯t you think he¡¯s watching us? He¡¯s going to show up in the most unexpected time and nitpick on things! Man, he¡¯s acting like a boss now.¡±


    Listening to Jongil¡¯s joke made Youngho feel relieved since it felt like home.


    He always felt ufortable leaving their home, but smelling Korean doenjang jjigae and being in the chatty atmosphere made Youngho feel sofortable. He started drinking with friends and eating food. Later, he was able to make it to his bed and fall asleepfortably because Fatima pushed him back to his room.


    Youngho opened his eyes early in the morning due to thirst. He found Zeynep sleeping on his bed and himself on the floor with a only pillow. Zeynep had a habit ofing into Youngho¡¯s bed when she got scared on the nights when the wind blew hard. She must havee to Youngho¡¯s bed but unconsciously pushed him because of the smell of alcohol in her sleep.


    Youngho put a nket on Zeynep. It was bright outside when he opened the curtains.


    Through the window, Youngho could see the whole site of his farm.


    Because the cultivation had already ended, it looked gloomy. The grape harvesting machines had left vines and leaves behind. Although using the machines would damage the vines, it was inevitable since timing was a crucial factor for a wine¡¯s taste. Fortunately, vines grew back fast with some watering.


    He stepped outside with his track suit on.


    At the gate of the farm, farm employees were already present for work and honking at the gate to be let in. As a night security guard opened the gate, about twenty workers greeted Youngho as they came in.


    Among them, there were ountants who were recently hired. One of them was 23-year-old Vi, the daughter of Hatsan who was in charge of the wine production line. She greeted Youngho brightly and went into the office. After greeting her, Youngho went on a four-wheeler and headed to the little river on the southern part of the farm to look over the new farm site: the 600-acrend that he forcefully took from the lunch with President Aliyev. The government had already measured the site and marked the territory, so Youngho would start fencing around thend.


    The little river at the southern part of the farm had a width of only thirty meters, but since a great volume of water flowed through it as part of the streams of the Caucasus mountain range, a bridge was needed in order to move farm equipment and machines across. Youngho was deciding whether to use concrete or wood to build the bridge. They each had pros and cons: Concrete was semi-permanent, but it came with aplicated construction process, whereas wood was eco-friendly and easy to build, but needed repair work every year. Since there was no heavy equipment, a wood bridge looked more usible for farming purposes.


    When Youngho was considering how to go about building the bridge, he heard four-wheelers approaching from afar. He looked up to see who it was. It was Fatima approaching closer with her hair blowing in the wind.


    ¡°Oppa, you haven¡¯t even eaten breakfast yet. What are you doing here? And also, you heard about it, right? Yunsuh¡¯s family will be here tonight.¡±


    ¡®Oh man, so I heard someone wasing to Baku. Was that Yunsuh¡¯s family?¡¯


    Since they could not reach Youngho in South Ossetia, Yunsuh had contacted Karajan and Fatima.


    ¡°Is Jongil¡¯s familying together with them too?¡±


    ¡°No, Jongil oppa¡¯s family and Insoo oppa¡¯s family will be here in two days.¡±


    Park Jongil¡¯s brothers and their families were alling to celebrate their brother¡¯s wedding, and Insoo¡¯s wife¡¯s family wasing along. Youngho paid for all of their travel expenses in appreciation for his friends who worked hard for his business. Not to mention the fact that he was the richest among his friends. He felt like he was marrying his troublesome baby brother.


    ¡°Fatima, don¡¯t you have sses today? Aren¡¯t Szechenyi and Zeynep going to school?¡±


    ¡°Phew, you really have no recollection ofst night. I told you already. I don¡¯t have sses and it¡¯s their school¡¯s anniversary, so they don¡¯t have school today as well.¡±


    ¡®Man, that was why Zeynep¡¯s sleeping in my bed now. I really should stop drinking.¡¯


    Fatima started giving Youngho an earful about drinking. It felt as if a wife wasining to her husband.

 Chapter 75 - A Wedding (2)

    <h4>Chapter 75: A Wedding (2)</h4>


    The building was full of the stimting smell of boiling Kongnamul Guk, a Korean bean sprout soup.


    Zeynep who got up earlier than Youngho nagged that she was starving.


    ¡°My belly had sunken to my back waiting for you to get up.¡±


    Jongil must have taught the Korean saying to Zeynep. He seemed to be still sleeping hungover fromst night¡¯s drinking.


    After putting the ring on, Youngho was never hungover until the next day but the ring could not save his memory lost from drinking too much. The color of the rock on the ring was still greenish, not clear yet, so it must not have been exerting its full power on Youngho¡¯s body.


    When people were almost finished eating breakfast, Jongil appeared looking messy. He ate two bowls of Kongnamul Guk in a moment as if he had been starving for days. Jongil was still staying in the living quarters of the management building instead of his house until his wedding. Now that he was full he just remembered how he looked like. With his hair undone, he was still in his pajamas. Embarrassed, he went up the stairs hastily to freshen up.


    ***


    Hearing Koreans talking, people¡¯s attentions were on Jongil¡¯s wedding guests who just arrived at the arrival lounge of Baku¡¯s Heydar Aliyev International Airport. Yunsuh¡¯s family, Jongil¡¯s family, and Insoo¡¯s family were all at the airport. About thirty Asian people were gathered in their formal suits and dresses as if they were going to an international conference.


    Youngho smirked looking at their attires because they were already dressed up in formal suits and dresses as if it was the wedding day. Maybe the reason for their formal attire was that many of them traveled to a foreign country for the first time since they were not well off. The scene reminded of a historical picture he had seen of Korean students andborers at Kimpo Airport in South Korea in 60s. Although they wereborers who were going to Germany as miners, they had dressed up in their only suits for their first visit overseas.


    Youngho picked them up with a rental bus and took them to Kempinski Hotel near a beach in Baku. They would be spending the day touring around and taking rest and would be staying at Youngho¡¯s farm after tomorrow¡¯s wedding. Since they traveled long for the wedding, it was his treat for them.


    The wedding was huge since mafias from Volgograd and many of Baku¡¯s officials joined in the celebration. Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek in Yerevan also joined them. Unfortunately, their wives could note with them due to their Armenian nationality. Even Jongil¡¯s so-called acquaintances in Baku, whom Youngho was not familiar with came as guests. It seemed that Jongil, with his sociable personality, made some more official friends. They were a good resource of information all around Baku.


    Since Insoo did not have a wedding ceremony, Jongil and Insoo agreed that they would have a wedding at the same day. Insoo¡¯s wedding was scheduled after Jongil¡¯s wedding ceremony. Youngho was busy helping out the wedding all day.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s traditional wedding reception went on for weeks but Karajan shortened the long process since she was marrying a foreigner. However, that shortened, informal wedding still took five days toplete. It seemed that Azerbaijani wedding traditions could strip away all the wealth of the newlyweds.


    On the day of the wedding ceremony, the reception went on until 3 AM. They had a total of 300 guests including Yaniv¡¯s people, Baku¡¯s official and their families, clothing retailers and business partners, friends from Yerevan, and the farm families. The next day, close rtives were invited to the groom¡¯s house and had a reception. After that, the bride and groom would go to the bride¡¯s family¡¯s house and had to stay there for two days. It was an exhausting schedule for the bride and groom.


    When Jongil and Karajan were going through the tiring process of wedding traditions, Youngho had fun guiding Yunsuh¡¯s family around Baku¡¯s historical ces and enjoying the time with them on the farm.


    Youngho who was ying with his young, adorable nephew who was almost 2 years old now, Sangchun¡¯s father brought up his concern for Youngho¡¯s future.


    ¡°Youngho, now that you are all settled, shouldn¡¯t you get married? How long will you stay alone like this?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, father but I think now is the time for me to focus more on my businesses. Maybe in a few years I¡¯ll be able to get married.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Since you already have someone who you want to get married, you don¡¯t need to hurry but it¡¯s better to have a baby when you¡¯re younger.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well, you need to wait until your fianc¨¦ graduates from college though. Is this why you rejected my offer to introduce you a girl?¡±


    ¡°No, father, I...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be careful though. If she gets pregnant when she¡¯s still in school, she¡¯llin for the rest of her life.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho was being misunderstood badly by the father but Sangchun next to him interrupted their conversation making it even worse for Youngho.


    ¡°Father just leave him alone! Youngho¡¯ll take care of himself. Who knows? He mighte to Seoul with a baby in his arms on next New Year¡¯s.¡±


    As Youngho gave a deadly stare, Sangchun avoided his stare and went away to the kitchen, giggling.


    ***


    The first day she arrived at the farm, Yunsuh could not close her mouth in amazement. Saying she had never seen a farm this big, she asked Youngho how it happened to him. He just quickly lied that he was only managing Azerbaijani government¡¯s property. She was overwhelmed by the size of the farm since she had imagined it to be a small orchard. Following around Youngho who gave a look around the farm, she made a remark.


    ¡°Oppa, I think you are better off in foreign countries. Look at you, even your facial color looks healthier. Living overseas, you made a beautiful girlfriend like Fatima and manage this huge farm. What happened to you? You never wanted a girl no matter how hard I tried in Korea.¡±


    Back in Korea, Youngho did not have a room for girls because he was overloaded with worries, he was the one who had to provide for the family since his parents passed. Youngho was thankful that he now had a secured and rxed life and mind.


    Jongil, who had returned from the reception in the bride¡¯s house, hugged Youngho in appreciation. Although he did not say anything, a hug was enough for Youngho to know what he wanted to say. It better exined his gratitude than many words. He always liked Jongil¡¯s sincerity.


    ¡°Live well with Karajan. Don¡¯t turn your eyes to other women. If you do, I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    ¡°Man, why are you saying that on this beautiful day? I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think I know you? So, take care of her well. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll tell all about your past to Karajan.¡±


    ¡°What? Phew, I¡¯ve got to move away, you¡¯re too scary.¡±


    Making jokes with each other, they were resolving their burst of emotions. They always had debts of mind to each other. Jongil and Youngho trusted each other since they always had each other¡¯s back. They knew what the other wanted by only looking at each other¡¯s eyes. Since Jongil paid to build his house on the farm without Karajan¡¯s money, he did have a lot in his savings. Already guessing his situation, Youngho paid for all the travel expenses of Jongil¡¯s guests. Although Jongil did not feelfortable, he just made an excuse that it was bonus for Jongil¡¯s job well done in the clothing stores. He was also thankful for Jongil since he did not have to live on the farm but decided to do so in order to protect the farm family.


    ***


    For older generations in Korea, it was not an easy decision to travel abroad. Since it was their first time in Europe, Sangchun¡¯s parents decided to take this opportunity and travel around Azerbaijan. Youngho was d for the chance to help and serve his family longer. He had been sorry that he could not help his family and spend more time with them because he now lived far away from his hometown.


    Zeynep and Yunsuh¡¯s son got along pretty well. Yunsuh¡¯s son was now slightly more older than 20 months. He still was not at the phase where he could talk but he was very lively and active. As if it was fun to hear Zeynep speak in Turkish and English, he went to Zeynep¡¯s room every time he opened his eyes from sleep.


    The siblings¡¯ winter break had begun, so there was no one to make fuss in the morning. The family hadte brunch and talked about what happened in Jongil¡¯s wedding in front of the firece having coffee. Because of Park Jongil¡¯s long wedding ceremony, Jongil¡¯s who had his wedding after Jongil had to have an extremely brief ceremony since they only reserved the venue for short hours. From then on, Jongil had been getting an earful ofints from Insoo. Being sorry for Insoo¡¯s wedding, Jongil tried to convince Insoo to go to Paris for theit honeymoon on his treat.


    Jongil and Insoo¡¯s families had already gone back to Korea for their jobs and only Yunsuh¡¯s family stayed for traveling around the area.


    Sangchun¡¯s father frequently went to the wine factory and enjoyed tasting Zeynep Farm¡¯s wines. He was almost drunk the whole time he was at the farm and he was jealous of Insoo¡¯s father who lived on Youngho¡¯s farm and helped out with farming work.


    Sangchun¡¯s father, who moved to Seoul leaving his orchard behind, was degenerately to an old babysitter for his grandchild. He suddenly announced in front of all, that he would return to his orchard in Hongcheon. As soon as he saw the size of Youngho¡¯s farm, his promise that he would inherit his small orchard to Youngho when he dies was gone.


    Because the rtives and friends who came to the wedding treated Fatima as the mistress owner of the farm, Youngho did not know how to react to them. In fact, mistress of the farm suited her since she served all of the guests of the farm so well with her hospitality and graceful appearance. Not only Yunsuh and Sangchun treated as their future sister-inw but also Sangchun¡¯s dad called her ¡®sae-saek-shi¡¯ which meant ¡®a new bride¡¯ in Korean. It seemed that she now understand what he meant since she searched the word in Korean dictionary when she got home. Despite of their misunderstanding, Fatima was not offended at all. Instead, she flushed and smiled to them.

 Chapter 76 - Chechnya and the Black Widows (1)

    <h4>Chapter 76: Chechnya and the ck Widows (1)</h4>


    People usually think of France or Italy or the dry regions along the South European coast as major grape production countries. Youngho thought the same before he came to the regions in Southeastern Europe. However, grapes were produced all over Europe, and the regions of Moselle River Valley, a branch of Germany¡¯s Rhine River, were especially famous for great-tasting white wines.


    Other than those regions, the regions around the Caucasus Mountain Range were considered to be areas producing high-quality wines due to the areas¡¯ high daily temperature ranges.


    All regions produced wines with distinctive tastes and colors. Now, Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine was also gaining some poprity with the people with its distinct taste and quality.


    The wine produced in Youngho¡¯s farm had a pinkish color. It had a different vibe to it when it was poured in a ss. The wines distributed in different parts of Russia were usually consumed in restaurants because of the romantic atmosphere it created.


    Usually, it was rare for people to get drunk with wines since they were consumed lightly in a seating, but it was different for Russians. Russians, who were used to chugging down vodka, preferred Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine because of its smooth taste. Since they drank wine like the way they drank vodka, the consumption rate automatically rose.


    Even Sergey asked if Youngho could operate his production line twenty-four hours a day. They had high demand, but the supply was limited. The wines produced at the moment were aged more than eight months in stainless steel tanks or oak casks, and Sergey was asking that they make cheaper stainless steel wines.


    As a matter of fact, Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine factory¡¯s wine tanks were full because of the excessive amount of grape extracts produced this year, which was 350,000 gallons. Youngho was deciding which tank he should buy more. Youngho was thankful for Sergey¡¯s timely request. He asked to make more stainless steel wines just in time.


    All ofst year¡¯s oak wines were already sold out and they would be produced again next summer. So, the factory would need to fully focus on producing stainless steel wines now.


    Youngho hired more workers so that the wine factory could operate sixteen hours a day in rotating shifts, and also in order to speed the construction of the newly added southern part of the farm.


    A million bottles of stainless steel wine and 600,000 bottles of oak wine were waiting to be bottled by next year. Youngho calcted the estimated profit from the wines. Since their factory prices were five dors and ten dors each respectively, they would make him eleven million dors. His mind was busy under the pressure because he would need to produce all of these by the next cultivation season. In order to do that, 140,000 bottles needed to be produced every month.


    Eight hours of bottle processing a day in the factory could produce 4,000 bottles, and it would add up to more than 100,000 bottles within a month since eight bottles could bebeled with Zeynep Farm¡¯s logo in a minute.


    Of course, it was a calcted amount of bottles. When operating the factory, random problems often happened. There were many times that they needed to stop the production line. The workers needed breaks too. Having two shifts of workers rotating was barely enough. Even if they worked during weekends, it was only enough to produce some extra wine boxes in the storage.


    ***


    The wine production line started to operate from 4AM in the morning and was on a lunch break at 12NN. This was when the morning shift ended. The wooden building built as a resting ce for workers and visitors now had turned into a cafeteria and resting area for the workers.


    Because Youngho knew the poor working environments in Baku, he wanted to offer the best quality working environment in Zeynep Farm to the extent that people would not envy other big corporations in advanced countries.


    By making a great working environment and giving higher payments than otherpanies in Baku, Youngho tried hard to make his workers loyal to thepany.


    His efforts were straightly paid back with great results, namely the high quality of their wines and the workers¡¯ motivation for the work. It was hard to find defective products. Other than forty-three regr workers, he hired local housekeeper wives as part-time helpers at the production line, packaging line, and the kitchen.


    Because the farm was located in the remote part of Baku, Youngho also offered a minibus as transportation to the farm. His goal was to hear that Zeynep Farm, which was managed by a Korean businessman, was the bestpany in Baku.


    It was lunchtime when the workers from both the morning shift and the afternoon shift all gathered together to eat. The afternoon shift spanned from 1PM to 9PM. The cafeteria was crowded with fifty workers.


    Youngho, Insoo, and Gerhardt were eating as well, and the Fatima siblings who were on their break also joined them to help out with the farm work.


    ¡°Oppa, I can¡¯t work in the afternoon. My friends areing to the farm.¡±


    Zeynep talked with bread crumbs on her face. Youngho smiled at her clumsiness.


    Youngho noticed that the workers in the afternoon shift were relieved at Zeynep¡¯s im of not being able to help. Youngho could not butugh. She had been putting the farm¡¯sbel on the bottles, but it seemed that she had been interrupting other workers rather than helping them out, although she seemed to fully believe that she had been helping.


    Since it was wintertime, Youngho had made the reservoir on the farm an ice rink by taking out most of the water and letting the rest freeze in the cold. Zeynep¡¯s friends came often to skate on it.


    Since the farm was located on a hilly area, its regr temperature was a few degrees lower than the city, and once the water froze, it did not melt throughout the whole winter. Kids loved ying on ice, having not much to y with during the winter season.


    It was Cha Insoo¡¯s idea to freeze the reservoir for Gerhardt¡¯s children, the Fatima siblings, and the part-time workers¡¯ children who followed their moms along to the farm, but Zeynep¡¯s friends from school seemed to enjoy the ice rink the most.


    ***


    When Youngho was calcting the number of bottled wines to be distributed in his office, his smartphone vibrated on his desk. Michael, the Chief Director of CIA¡¯s European chapter, appeared on the screen.


    ¡°Hello? Chief Director?¡±


    Since Michael had only called Youngho before when there was a problem, Youngho was worried first.


    ¡®Dang, he always calls me when he needs something.¡¯


    ¡°Lee, can you go to Chechnya?¡±


    ¡®Right. He won¡¯t call me just to say hi.¡¯


    ¡°Yes, Chief. What is the asion? Is there a problem?¡± Youngho suppressed his frustration and answered him casually.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be investigating the rebel forces in Chechnya. An armed forces unit called the ck Widows requested the help of the US CIA. Can you go investigate that?¡±


    The Chechen Republic, also known as Chechnya, suffered from countless civil wars with Russia in the past.


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯m still in charge of many areas. Are you trying to make me in charge of the whole Caucasus?¡± being reluctant to take the mission, Youngho asked.


    ¡°Right now, you¡¯re our only choice. The fact that you¡¯re an Asian helps a lot for missions in ces like this since people would not be repulsed by your appearance. If you need a backup agent, you can take an agent with you.¡±


    In Southern Russia, people with Asian-looking appearances were spotted often. It was because many Central Asians settled in Russia and through interracial marriages, their appearances were affected. The European chapter considered how Youngho¡¯s appearance could blended within that region. Listening to him, Youngho remembered that people did not recognize him as a foreigner in Volgograd. Although Michael appeared as if he was asking a favor, to Youngho, it was amand from a superior.


    Michael, who was soon turning fifty, had been pushing agents around to achieve a signal sess because of his ambitious goal to be promoted to a position in the US CIA headquarters. Recently, he had been getting along with Youngho every time Youngho visited Frankfurt to attend the monthly conference.


    It meant that he was expecting a lot from Youngho since he was overseeing Russia, Azerbaijan, and South Ossetia with a single backup agent, Jongil, whereas ten local agents were in charge of France, and eight are in Turkey. There were 200 agents working in different parts such as ounting, collecting, analyzing,munication monitoring, and field agents, but actual agents who carried out missions were not many.


    After Youngho saved Philip, his skills were recognized and he became Michael¡¯s center of attention. In any organization, it was inevitable to give more work to a morepetent person, and Youngho was that person in the European chapter. Of course, he was receivingmissions for his work. He almost forcefully took this job that he did not want. Not being able to help, he just started reading the data for the mission he received in his email.


    ***


    From Baku, it took twenty hours by train to get to Grozny, the capital city of Chechnya, which was connected in Dagestan.


    Youngho frowned while looking at the data about the ck Widows. They were known to be an organization of female suicide bombers. ¡®What had driven them to form a group like this?¡¯ he sighed.


    While Youngho was reading, Jongil was snoring in his sleep innocently. Upon receiving the mission overseas, Jongil danced in excitement. He had been tired of the same daily routines of his life. Now that he went everywhere with Karajan 24/7, from house to work, he needed some refreshment in his life. Youngho thought the long mission abroad would bring Jongil and Karajan even closer since they would miss each other. Looking at Jongil¡¯s face in sleep, Youngho smiled.

 Chapter 77 - Chechnya and the Black Widows (2)

    <h4>Chapter 77: Chechnya and the ck Widows (2)</h4>


    After a short sleep, Jongil made a fuss of going to the bathroom and looking for snacks, saying that he was hungry. ¡®It was better when he was asleep,¡¯ thought Youngho since Jongil acted like Zeynep, who was a busybody. Youngho smacked his back because he could not focus on reading anymore, and Jongil looked at him in frustration. His face seemed to ask Youngho what he did wrong.


    ¡°We can go eat steaks at the dining section.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s remark, Jongil¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    ¡°Man! You should¡¯ve told me that earlier. By the way, I just spotted some beautifuldies when I went to the bathroom. Let¡¯s go see them, huh?¡±


    Youngho shook his head. Jongil still had not grown out of his old habit. He was thankful that he did not ask to go hook up with the girls.


    The dining section was full during lunch hour. Since there were no seats left, Youngho and Jongil waited for the food for them to take out. The passageway was narrow, so Youngho leaned against a wall¡ªbut someone pushed him to the wall with his arm. Three tough-looking guys were there. The front guy signaled Youngho to step aside by turning his face and smiling at Youngho. They were Asian-Europeans.


    They seemed to underestimate Youngho and Jongil because of their lean appearances. Since it was his first time encountering rude people like this, Youngho just shrugged while looking at the guy. They smiled, and as they passed by him, the guy tapped Youngho¡¯s face twice with his hand. Jongil was going to confront him but Youngho stopped him with a nce. Attracting people¡¯s eyes would not be of help since they were on a mission in Chechnya.


    Sensing the tension between the guys and Youngho¡¯spany, people peeked at them. They turned away as Youngho did not react to the guys. Like they say, it was always fun to watch fires and people fight.


    ¡®What was that? It¡¯s weird around here. Most of them are Chechens...¡¯ thinking this, Youngho picked up the ready-to-go takeout food. As he turned to go back, someone snatched his food from his hand. It was the guy who tapped Youngho¡¯s face.


    Youngho naturally pushed the vital point of the wrist of the hand that took away Youngho¡¯s food, retrieved his food, and walked away. The guy stood still, stunned by what happened to him in such a short moment. All of the people in the dining section were stunned too. The guy then frowned, feeling pain from his wrist.


    Youngho and Jongil came out of the dining section, leaving the passage door open in a rxed manner, so that the guys could follow them out. However, they still stood at their spots, not understanding what just happened.


    ¡°Those b*st*rds! They can¡¯t even follow us. Man! We should¡¯ve taken care of them in the spot. Why are we waiting for them toe out?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t cause a scene in the dining section. There¡¯re too many people.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that right?¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think people here are tough? Not because they are hignders, but they feel like fighters.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, I don¡¯t think they know we are foreigners. They¡¯re treating us like hillbillies in a rural town. They must be bullies of the ridges between rice paddies.¡±


    ¡°Man, they don¡¯t have rice paddies here! It¡¯s all fields and mountains here, so they¡¯d be field bullies.¡±


    Theyughed hard for a while to their joke. The guys in the dining section were still staring at Youngho and Jongil.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to release the pressure point on his hand?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be released in an hour. How dare a young boy tap a grown-up¡¯s face? Jeez.¡±


    The Grozny Station in Grozny, Chechnya¡¯s capital city, was nice, looking as if they had just rebuilt the station. The surrounding area was also full of modern style buildings. The street battle between Chechen rebels and Russia in 2000 had destroyed 90% of the structures around the station. Now, the Pro-Russian government had just finished rebuilding the whole city.


    The people here were hard to distinguish since Youngho was not familiar with their facial features yet. At the station square, the field bullies and his friends were waiting for Youngho¡¯spany. Since Youngho had trampled on their pride, they were there to redeem themselves.


    Youngho approached them, smiling and asking in Russian if they could go to a quiet area. They were perplexed by Youngho¡¯s attitude. He convinced them that they would attract policemen if they fought in the open square, and Youngho and Jongil followed behind the guys with their carry-on luggage.


    They took Youngho and Jongil to a building construction site. There were no people around, so it was great for fighting. The guy whose wrist was held by Youngho took off his shirt before Youngho, but Youngho raised his hand to stop him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of time. Why don¡¯t all of youe at me at once?¡±


    This made the guy even more upset, so he took out his pocket knife.


    ¡°Jongil, take care of our luggage. They might be pretending to fight us to steal them.¡±


    ¡°Man, you guard the luggage. I¡¯ll go first!¡±


    ¡°Dude, he pointed at me. I can¡¯t back off now. I¡¯m the chosen one.¡±


    ¡°Dang, I should¡¯ve gone first....¡± Jongil murmured.


    Since Youngho and Jongil were not scared by their threats, the guys were reluctant to attack first. Youngho put on leather gloves and took out his Turkish flip knife. They seemed surprised by his action. He only took it out to intimidate them. Youngho nned to go easy on them if they had not taken out a knife, but he realized that they were not just bullies once they took out a weapon.


    Chechen was famous for its street fights, so Youngho came along with them in curiosity, but it seemed that they were serious. People passing by started to gather around one by one. Now there were ten people around them. Some people even tried to record the scene with their phones, but Jongil went around and stopped them. He acted like a security guard at a fight cage.


    As the number of onlookers grew, Youngho quietly took back his knife. The guys were still hesitant. They had realized how rxed Youngho was. Intuitively, they knew that Youngho was far ahead of them and they were not up to Youngho¡¯s level. However, it was toote since Youngho was getting tired of them.


    The shirtless guy tried to avoid Youngho¡¯s kick but Youngho switched his motion and punched his face with his fist. When the guy turned around, Youngho struck the guy¡¯s sr plexus. As the guy was falling on his back, Youngho went past him and kicked at another guy¡¯s temple.


    As it happened quickly, the onlookers seemed to want to rey what just happened.


    Youngho had left three guys alone, so that they could pick up and carry their friends who passed out. Youngho picked up the knife the guy dropped and threw it away into the sewer.


    As Youngho picked up his luggage and started walking, Jongil was fidgeting, looking ufortable. Youngho looked at his face. His face was asking Youngho why they should leave the rest of them alone.


    As Jongil stopped the onlookers from recording and turned back, he saw two guys down and three guys left. Thinking that Youngho had left those three guys as his opponents, he stretched his body, but Youngho ended the fight all of a sudden and returned. Jongil felt betrayed.


    ¡°Man, are we really just leaving?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s eyes were using Youngho.


    ¡°We should. Do you want to be broadcasted on TV?¡±


    ¡°What about my portion?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t me me, dude. Do you really want to y with those scared kids?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you, I¡¯d go first. Man! I wanted to have some fun after a long time of nothing. I had ns for what to do in my mind.¡±


    Jongil wanted to show off his skills since there were somedies among the onlookers, but Youngho had just ended the scene. He was mad at Youngho.


    ¡°Jongil, I¡¯m tired. Let¡¯s just go to the hotel.¡±


    Jongil grumbled continuously on the way to hotel and stared at every guy to see if they would try to get back at him. He loved being involved in physical fights.


    After checking in at City Hotel and unpacking their belongings, Youngho and Jongil left to get to the contact point with the ck Widows. They were dressed casually, and each hid a Beretta pistol in their front pocket.


    On the way to the contact point, Jongil grilled Youngho, asking for his agreement to Jongil taking the first actions this time while carrying out their mission. He still felt bad that he could not scare the living daylights out of the bullies near the station. Coaxing Jongil, Youngho kept on his way to the contact point. Suddenly, he smirked, thinking about Fatima when he said goodbye before leaving Baku.


    ¡°Why are you smirking like a deting balloon?¡±


    ¡°Fatima asked me why I needed the ring on when I¡¯m going on a business trip to Russia. Man, I almost came clean to her. It¡¯s just funny how she¡¯s be obsessive over finding out more about me.¡±


    ¡°Fatima¡¯s going to find out soon. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ll have to tell her sometime?¡±


    Youngho would never tell Fatima since it would stir trouble.


    ¡°Dude, then would you tell Karajan that you¡¯re a CIA agent?¡±


    Most of field agents working in foreign countries kept their secrets to themselves, even from their families, until the moment of their death because it would not be a secret if they shared it.


    Once the secret was out, the family members would eventually slip and tell the secret to their closed ones by ident. If not by ident, many of them would want to brag about the agent¡¯s great achievements. That was why most local field agents had fake business cards from arge international corporation or a government department. The family rtionship changed once they realize the agent¡¯s real job since it would get the rest of the family worried sick for the agent.


    The family members would obsessively check the agent¡¯s security, and he would have to keep making sure that they were safe every time. It was hard to maintain a normal marriage unless the agent was high in CIA¡¯s ranks or had a regr office position.


    These days, it was rare for agents to get involved in fancy actions as seen in movies like in the past times. They now had warfare of advanced technologies to collect information with and prevent leakage of top secret information from other nations.


    However, Youngho¡¯s Azerbaijani team was unique among other teams.


    Since he was in charge of countries with big and small disputes, there were many missions requiring hands-on actions. The ck Widows was an aggressive armed force that was in a gueri war against Russia for Chechnya¡¯s independence. The CIA wanted to investigate its case before deciding to support the organization.


    ***


    The contact point was an open-air caf¨¦. Although it was still midday, it was crowded with people drinking. Youngho looked at the young couples. As he was wondering why they drank so much at midday, he noticed that they were ring at the Russian army base across the street. Since they could not fight with them with violence, they were expressing their spirit of insubordination through staring. The Russian soldiers looked calm however, as if they were used to receiving res from people.


    To capture Grozny, a city which was a military base, it cost Russia hundreds of tanks and armed cars and thousands of lives of Russian soldiers. After sacrificing a tremendous loss, Russia could capture the city by indiscriminately bombing the city.


    The reason why Russia was obsessed with Chechnya was due to its massive oil deposits and its convenient location. Chechnya was where the oil pipeline of the Caspian Sea passed through.


    Before the war, Chechnya was a wealthy ce, gaining money from the oil industry that offered a hundred dors as a bounty for a Russian soldier¡¯s life to elite foreign hired soldiers in order to get into a war with Russia.


    The Chechen widows whose husbands or children were sacrificed in war this time formed the ck Widows. Nobody expected that Muslim women wrapped in ck clothes would carry bombs in shopping baskets and turn into suicide bombing attackers. Since then, Russia was scared of any women carrying any load.

 Chapter 78 - Chechnya and the Black Widows (3)

    <h4>Chapter 78: Chechnya and the ck Widows (3)</h4>


    Since there were no seats avable outside, Youngho and Jongil went inside to sit down. When they were having coffee, a stocky man in his forties with sunsses on approached Youngho. They recognized each other by a pre-arranged code of signals. The man with sunsses on told them to follow him quietly slipping out through the back door.


    When they got out through the back door, the old streets damaged in war appeared. Although the frontal parts of the city were rebuilt in modernized forms with the government¡¯s abundant oil funds, old streets were still untouched.


    After passing through shabby houses, they reached a huge empty lot followed by strips of newly built houses. This was a newly built town. They could even spot some cars parked in front of houses. Some small-scale supermarkets and restaurants were also spotted too.


    The guy with sunsses on made a gesture to follow him as he went into a restaurant with an open door but it was still not their destination. He, again, went out of the restaurant using the back door. He finally took off his sunsses after he went into a house 30 meters ahead of the restaurant. They were at the destination.


    Several big guys sitting on a couch got up as they saw Youngho¡¯spany entering the house. The oldest man asked Youngho for a handshake.


    ¡°Mr. America?¡±


    Jongil showed a disappointed look, not being able to spot a woman since he had expected to find women in the ck Widows. The name was only originated from widows of war but it was now a rebel force led by men. In most of the Imic culture, it was hard to find women leading an organization, which was considered being equal to men.


    Youngho was trying hard to hold hisughter after looking at Jongil since Jongil was sitting there the whole time with an unsatisfied face. He had anticipated meeting women but there were no women around.


    Although he recently married a beautiful wife, it was his natural desire to be around women. He did not have other intentions but he always wanted to impress women. Easily said, he was someone who would have extra strength when women were around. Youngho always thought that Jongil was such a mystery.


    The ck Widows were suffering a shortage of weapons, clothes, food supplies, and other necessities even though Chechens supported them secretively. They had enough funds but because of theck of necessities to maintain their group, they were hoping for the CIA¡¯s help to resolve their issue. The CIA did not want to make any moves until they were certain because the ck Widows was a violent rebel force.


    The oldest man in the room, who did not identify himself but a ck widow, put down 20 gold bars on the table.


    ¡°This is the down payment for the products we need. With CIA¡¯s ability, please deliver us what we need to the border. If you need more money, we¡¯ll give you more right away.¡±


    ¡®Michael said that they¡¯d be supported by CIA¡¯s funds.¡¯


    Youngho rejected the gold bars.


    ¡°Nothing has been decided yet from our side. I can¡¯t take this gold bars.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. This is to save our face. We don¡¯t want to achieve our independence with the CIA¡¯s money. We, Chechen rebels are not poor.¡±


    So the rumor turned out to be true that Chechens fled with the gold bars from the central bank when Russians took over Grozny.


    Youngho became frustrated after listening to the rebels¡¯ strong will. They had enough funds but there was no way for them to get necessities under Russia¡¯s watch. It was not a good idea to deliver the items by airnes since it was obvious that Russia could shoot it down. It would be great to have seas touching the state but it was surrounded by pro-Russian republics.


    There was only one option, delivering the necessities through Georgia. However, There was Russian army guarding the borderline between Georgia and Chechnya. It was impossible to use normal routes. The ck Widows seemed to be interested in using the Georgian route. Although Georgia and Chechnya were from the same root, they have not been friendly to each other. Chechens were not in the position to ask for Georgia¡¯s help to pass war materials publicly since they were defined as one of the rebel forces by their own government.


    There were many rebel forces in Chechnya other than the ck Widows. After long hours of discussion, Youngho told them that he would contact some armed forces active around Georgian side of Caucasus mountain range to make the delivery route, and the CIA would convince the Georgian government if needed. The meeting ended with the tentative n. As Youngho and Jongil were leaving, they had to take the gold bars from the ck Widows because the ck Widows forcefully pushed them in their hands.


    Returning to Baku, Youngho called Michael to report about their decision except the fact that he received gold bars as payment since he wanted to exchange that with his money saved in his bank ount in dors. Youngho preferred having gold bars at hand instead of saving money in the bank that did not have high interest rate. 20 gold bars were worth of 1.2 million dors. He thought that having gold bars was a better investment method than saving money in the bank.


    Michael told Youngho that he would send Philip to Baku, so he could help Younghoing up with a decent supply n. It seemed that Philip who was overseeing Georgia became Youngho¡¯s subordinate now. Michael had been subtly pushing the republics around the Caucasus to Youngho. After all, Youngho was an elite agent now since he alwayspleted any given job with a great result and offered high quality information from Baku¡¯s high officials.


    The two guys who just arrived at Baku¡¯s train station were looking like a wreck with their messy hair and clothes. They even smelled like alcohol. They had been drinking all night on the training back to Baku.


    ¡°Man! I told you we should stop drinking... Look at us now!¡±


    ¡°Now you are ming me? You are the one who opened three bottles.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I didn¡¯t know those women could drink so well.¡±


    Last night, Youngho and Jongil went to grab something for dinner in the dining section. Park Jongil with his special sociability started talking with some women in their forties sitting at the next table. Later, they went to the women¡¯s cabins and drank cognac like water.


    Since Jongil could not have fun withdies, he decided to make friends with older women. Because of his sociability, they could hear about the widows¡¯ hard lives after losing their husbands in war. It seemed that Chechens¡¯ perspective on rebels in the mountains fighting for independence were different from the CIA¡¯s view. ording to the women, Chechens looked at the rebels as troublemakers who abducted civilians to demand a ransom for their lives and caused terrors around the republic.


    Although Youngho was d to hear about Chechnya¡¯s situations from a different perspective, it was such a drag to him since they did not seem like to stop drinking all night long. Eventually, Youngho joined their party and started drinking like them, thus making themselves looked messy like now.


    They used to drink all night long back in Seoul too. Youngho thought he had changed living in Baku but it looked like he was the same person.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯ll change myst name if I drink with Park Jongil again.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? That¡¯s what you said every time on the next day of drinking. Why are you still a Lee?¡±


    Exchanging stupid jokes, they got on a taxi and said ¡®Zeynep Farm¡¯ at the same time as their destination. Zeynep Farm was now famous enough to people of Baku, that any taxi drivers would know where it was when hearing its name.


    When they reached the farm, the farm family waited to greet them even though it was only a four-day trip. Of course, it was Zeynep who was excited to see them the most. After a while of hugging and kissing, they let go of each other. As Jongil stood next to them waiting for his turn, Zeynep turned him down.


    ¡°You have Karajan now, oppa!¡±


    Everyoneughed at her remark.


    Agent Philip came to Baku¡¯s Chunho Merchant¡¯s office three days after Youngho and Jongil came back from Chechnya. As if he was grilled by Michael, he said that all the items that Youngho requested for the ck Widows were ready now. It was not the amount that could be ready in a day or two. Expecting that it would take a while, Youngho had not even sent 1.2 million dors for the gold bars received from the ck Widows to the CIA¡¯s European chapter yet.


    Although the CIA was supporting the ck Widows with their own funds, they gave Youngho gold bars forcefully for their pride, and because Youngho did not report that in advance, it was toote for him to say something.


    He could not report the gold bars because the CIA would doubt Youngho¡¯s intention. However, he could not return the gold bars to the ck Widows because they might affect their rtionship with the CIA.


    Since he did not have any clever n, he decided to keep the money for now and find a way to support the ck Widows with itter.


    ¡°Philip, did you get Georgian government¡¯s consent for cooperation?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Philip looked at Youngho in surprise as if he was asking how Youngho found out about that.


    ¡°I just thought it was strange that you had prepared all this in only three days. We¡¯re not in the condition to deliver them at once anyway. We need to open a new route for the transfer. Could you just check if all the items were fine?¡±


    ¡°Because of the chief, I rushed the process. The Georgian government agreed to send these to Chechnya although they¡¯re not in good terms with the Chechen government since they were all fighting against Russia.¡±


    To supply the items to the ck Widows, it was necessary to receive Georgia¡¯s consent since they needed to use a Georgian route. Getting the items were easy since most of them were avable in Georgia. Many of the items weremon in Georgia, so doing a business with the CIA was a great chance for the Georgian government to help out their bad economy and to take credit for supplying the necessities to the rebel force.


    Although their rtionship had improved, Georgia did not favor Russia because of the past war. In 2008, during the war with Russia, they were stripped away everything by the Russian attacking force that reached near Tbilisi, Georgia¡¯s capital. They had to give in to Russia and as a result, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were taken away by Russia.


    Since Chechen rebel forces distressed Russia instead of them, Georgia had decided to help them out.


    ¡°Chief director Michael appointed me as a supplier for the ck Widows and he told me to act upon yourmand.¡±


    ¡®Ha! This guy is giving me all the work that Edward used to have.¡¯


    ¡°That must be because I¡¯m was the person who negotiated with the ck Widows. I¡¯ll introduce you to them in the bordend.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I heard that there is a security guard working in your farm who had been a militia instructor in the past. Can you get him as my backup?¡±


    Ever since Philip was rescued by Youngho and Jongil from the militia, he had unconditionally trusted the strength of Youngho¡¯s team.


    ¡°Philip, we won¡¯t be doing any dangerous business like crossing the border directly. Also, although he¡¯s hired by the CIA as a security guard on the farm his job is temporary.¡±


    The European chapter was trying to involve Cha Insoo as well as an agent but Youngho would not budge since he did not want him to get involved in the dangerous job, especially now that he was married.

 Chapter 79 - Chechnya and the Black Widows (4)

    <h4>Chapter 79: Chechnya and the ck Widows (4)</h4>


    ¡°If we sense any danger, I and agent Park Jongil will get involved directly. So do not worry.¡±


    Philip had lingering trauma after being abducted by the Armenian militia. Since the militants abducted him and left him to starve even though he was an agent of the CIA who headed to Armenia to help them, he was scared of the Chechen rebels as well. Youngho could understand him because he had gone through the same experience.


    After talking with Philip, Youngho became worried about his friend Cha Insoo. Michael, the Chief of the European Chapter, had been mentioning Insoo¡¯s name quite a lot recently because he wanted to draw him in as a regr agent. Insoo was hired as a security guard of the farm by the CIA anyway. It was obvious that he would get dragged into things if he stayed around Youngho. He thought it would be better to promote Insoo and ce him rather in a safe ce and position.


    Youngho called Michael and told him that he would be hiring Insoo soon. Michael¡¯s satisfied voiceplimented Youngho for making the right choice. Insoo¡¯sbat skills were already recognized when he was a militia drill instructor, and Michael wanted to add him to Youngho¡¯s team.


    Although Michael had high expectations for Youngho and his friends who were all trained in the Korean Navy Special Forces, Youngho nned to ce Insoo in Baku as a stationary agent to protect him and his family once he was hired.


    Three seemed to be better than two. Since Youngho, Jongil, and Insoo were trained together back in the Korean Navy, they had great teamwork and friendship, and they would have a great synergy if they worked as a team.


    When the three of them were together, Youngho and Jongil came clean to Insoo that they had been agents. Insoo was upset that they did not tell him in advance. He did not mind joining them, saying that he was already exposed to danger since he worked at Youngho¡¯s farm.


    Although Insoo was reminded that he would have an ambiguous identity and risks, he agreed to bing an agent. An ambiguous identity implied that when a CIA field agent was captured in other countries, the CIA would not protect him or im him as its own because of the risk of being exposed, which would affect international rtionships of its government. The CIA would use unofficial routes to rescue the agent, but it would deny its agent officially.


    Determined, Insoo was even encouraging Jongil to protect Youngho together with him during emergencies. Since they knew about the power of the mystical rings and leather shoes, they were confident that they would not be killed in missions. Not to mention, they were already trained human weapons.


    The next day, Youngho reported Insoo¡¯s decision to Michael immediately, and the day after, Youngho received a coded notice, in case of hacking, that Insoo was approved as a specially assigned field agent.


    ***


    With Cha Insoo added, Youngho¡¯s team had now turned into the Azerbaijani branch.


    Youngho sent Cha Insoo to Frankfurt for basic education since he would be useless as an agent without the basic knowledge and training. He told Insoo¡¯s family that he would be exporting wines to Germany, and Insoo would be in charge of the business in that country.


    There had been a shuffle in Zeynep Farm and Chunho Merchant¡¯s clothing stores. Youngho hired new employees to reinforce their small manpower.


    Karajan now was assigned as an executive manager of Chunho Merchant¡¯s Baku branch. She now worked only in the office and managed orders for the direct stores and the clearance process of the imported goods. She had two other assistants helping her. Stephany, who had been a salesperson, was now promoted as a manager and took over Karajan¡¯s previous position of managing the three stores in Baku and Sumqayit.


    Cha Insoo did not oversee the farm work anymore, although his official position was Zeynep Farm¡¯s general manager. Youngho hired three assistants to help Gerhardt manage the farm. Since the farm¡¯s yearly sales was higher than ten million dors, it was important to have experienced office employees to manageplicated documents for taxes, employee payments, supply management, human resources management, and so on. The farm had now grown into a medium-sizedpany.


    As Youngho focused on reinforcing the systems of his clothing stores and grape factory, an incident happened in an unexpected ce. Someone had attempted a suicide bombing for terrorism at Moscow¡¯s central police office. The damage was not huge since the woman covered in ck clothes was caught at the gate of the police office, but it had thrown the whole of Russia into turmoil. Russia now started arresting all of the rebel forces in Chechnya.


    The CIA¡¯s European Chapter was startled since the mission to deliver necessities for a rebel force from the Georgian border was still ongoing. It was obvious that Russia¡¯s security over the borders of Georgia and Chechnya would be reinforced. The new route nned for the delivery could be found by them and taken away.


    Youngho tried to call the contact person of the ck Widows, but he could not reach him. It seemed that the rebels all ran away into the Caucasus Mountains where phone calls could not be reached, or else they might have been caught by the government.


    Since it would be better to find out what happened directly in Chechnya, Youngho received permission to go back there from the Chief of the European Chapter, Michael.


    When Youngho expressed that he was going on a business trip to Russia, Fatima stopped him in doubt. She kept asking questions about his reasons. Her doubts increased after she noticed the bag of gold bars in the safe room of the farm which Youngho brought from thest trip. To fast-witted Fatima, his actions became more suspicious by the day.


    Youngho told Fatima that he would be visiting Volgograd to receive gold bars as a payment for distributed wines. When he told her that he preferred getting paid with gold bars than currency, she nodded in relief. Although she was relieved by his answer, he still felt a little guilty, so he promised to go on another trip with her after he returned. Seeing her satisfied face, Youngho could leave in peace.


    Cha Insoo was gone to Frankfurt for basic education, so Park Jongil had to be left in the farm. Youngho felt weird going on a mission alone without Jongil.


    When Youngho traveled with Jongil, fun things always happened around them, but this time, nothing happened for the entire twenty hours of the train ride with Youngho travelling by himself.


    ***


    After arriving at Grozny, Youngho looked for the safe house of the ck Widows in the new town, but the safe house waspletely devastated. They must have been exposed to the government. What if any member who met Youngho was taken? They might expose Youngho¡¯s identity as an Asian CIA agent since it would be hard to endure torture.


    The President of the current Pro-Russian government was devoted to capturing all the members of the ck Widows in order to impress President Putin. He would do anything to find out who¡¯s behind the rebels. Since Youngho was unique in being an Asian, it would be easy to identify Youngho. He looked distinguishable from Central Asians, and by how he was dressed, anybody could easily tell that he was a foreigner.


    Youngho gave up the hotel room that he had reserved in advance. He slipped into a small inn where many travelers stayed. Then he bought fur clothes that Chechens usually wore and dressed up like other Chechens. The furs were great for cold mountainous areas of Caucasus, but in the city of Grozny, they were a little cumbersome. Chechens still wore fur clothes as their ancestors used to in the mountains. Now, Youngho looked like one of the Chechends.


    Without shaving his beard orbing his hair, he went out to search for the people in contact with the ck Widows. Since he could not just wait in the caf¨¦, the contact point of the ck Widows where he first met their contact person, he settled in another caf¨¦ across the street and pretended to read an English newspaper waiting for the ck Widows. Although he drank three cups of coffee while spending two hours in the caf¨¦, he did not notice anything special. The only thing he noticed were the young men drinking at the open-air tables of the caf¨¦ across the street. It was nothing unusual since many Chechens drank across the Russian military base while staring at the guards as if they were protesting quietly.


    Youngho decided to approach the caf¨¦ of the contact point slowly. Seeing Youngho approach the cafe, the drunken guys raised their voices on purpose. They smelled like they were drunk, but Youngho realized that they were not actually drunk. Wondering why the guys were putting up a show, he set down at an open-air table, opening his newspaper again and ordering some coffee. The guys must have noticed Youngho sitting for hours outside the caf¨¦ across the street in spite of the cold weather. The guys now started to go inside the caf¨¦.


    Youngho subtly went inside after them.


    The guys who took tables in groups of two or three, looked at Youngho as he came in. They dominated the caf¨¦. They were near the entrance and the back door, looking as if they were guarding Youngho. Scanning all of the guys in the caf¨¦, he got ready to flee in case of any danger. They looked like a systematically trained organization. It could be either the rebels or the police unit.

 Chapter 80 - Chechnya and the Black Widows (5)

    <h4>Chapter 80: Chechnya and the ck Widows (5)</h4>


    Youngho used a public phone in the caf¨¦ to call the ck Widows¡¯ contact number. He heard the phone ring through the receiver for a while, then it started to ring from a corner of the caf¨¦. He hung up immediately. He was stunned since he did not see the contact person inside.


    He could not reach the contact person by calling when he was in Baku, and now the phone was working again. Youngho was still not sure if the phone was taken by police or other rebels. However, it was not understandable if this many policemen were hiding here to catch Youngho. Youngho decided to call again since he could manage to escape with the leather shoes in emergency.


    He called again and the man in his forties sitting in the corner of the caf¨¦ stood up. He had recognized that Youngho was calling him. As Youngho was pretending that he was calling someone else, he approached Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. America?¡±


    Youngho pretended that he did not know about anything.


    ¡°What? Are you talking to me?¡±


    ¡°I was hesitant because I didn¡¯t know who you were. I am one of the ck Widows. Can we talk in quiet?¡±


    Then all of the guys inside the caf¨¦ stood up to move with the guy in his forties. Since Youngho was still not sure if they were police or the ck Widows, he could not trust them. He leaned against a wall to protect himself and nned to escape jumping against the wall with the leather shoes, thinking he could reach to the entrance with a jump.


    ¡°Well, you might be misconstruing me with someone else. Can you exin why I need toe with you?¡±


    Realizing that their actions might have seemed intimidating, the guy in his forties ordered the others to sit down. Looking at their faces, Youngho was relieved because they did not seem to be hostile toward Youngho.


    After thinking for a while, Youngho followed them inside a secret room. The door to the room was hidden behind an alcohol shelf. They exchanged names with each other. They only identified themselves as a CIA agent and the ck Widows. The young members looked innocent, but their eyes were keen. They introduced themselves as rebels.


    ¡°Mister... are any of the leaders taken by police?¡±


    They looked troubled at Youngho¡¯s question. Looking at the face of the guy in his forties, Youngho¡¯s worries seemed to be true.


    ¡°Yes. Five of our leaders were taken and we have no information about their fates now. We are not sure what to do since then.¡±


    ¡°So the owner of the phone must have been caught too. Can you tell me how you got hold of that phone?¡±


    ¡°Upon their arrest, he hid it under the couch, and I only found it yesterday. I charged it and kept it to myself. I knew that the CIA would contact us again.¡±


    Youngho could guess that a member of the ck Widows betrayed the group and the leaders did not give out their secrets yet since this caf¨¦, which was their contact point, was not exposed yet.


    ¡°You need to evacuate from the city as soon as possible,¡± Youngho said sternly.


    ¡°You mean right now? Do you think we¡¯ll abandon ourrades?¡±


    All of the members seemed to be offended by Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°They won¡¯t sell you out. This caf¨¦ is the proof since you¡¯re all safe even though it¡¯s been three days since they got arrested. You should be thankful to them for enduring all the torture. However, the police will use drugs if torture doesn¡¯t work. They will eventually slip out everything about you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of trusting your leaders. It¡¯s better for the both sides to get rid of all the links in-between.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t leave them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not leaving them. In fact, it would be helping them. You should quickly evacuate ande up with a better n, so that they¡¯ll be released faster. You know you can¡¯t break them free now, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be heading back now too, assuming that I¡¯ve already been exposed. I¡¯m telling you again: Evacuate from here now and abandon all of your hideouts. If you hesitate and wait for them in here, all of you will get caught.¡±


    Youngho even put on his outerwear to get them going, but they were still indecisive. The guy in his forties made excuses.


    ¡°Our leadership has fallen now, so we are taking care of that matter, but I¡¯m not in the position to decide for the group. We should go through a conference.¡±


    Youngho was frustrated by his naivement. They were not prepared for this kind of emergency.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see? You can only keep on going if you survive.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time. Someone has to be in the center as a leader. I don¡¯t see why you want to ask all of the members¡¯ minds to get permission now when the whole group is at stake. You don¡¯t know when they¡¯lle and arrest you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°All of you in here know the situation the best, but will you still follow the whole group¡¯s opinion when others have no idea what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    They did not say anything. Youngho decided to quit helping them since they were helpless. They had no measure for how to react in this kind of situation. When they can¡¯t decide what to do for themselves, the CIA could not help them out at the risk of being exposed.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t decide now, we will dismiss our decision to help your group. It¡¯s too much of a risk.¡±


    Youngho was not even sure if any of the members in this caf¨¦ was a traitor, and when the police would arrive to arrest them. It would be stupid to deliver them the necessary materials at the border, knowing that they would be caught by the government.


    Although it was an unofficial business, it would be problematic if Russia found out about this. The US and Russia had some ideas for who was helping what, but they did not use each other without any evidence. If it was exposed to Russia that the CIA had been helping Chechen rebels through Georgia, it would affect the international rtions like the butterfly effect. Youngho needed to prevent that as much as he could.


    Because the ck Widows were still hesitant, Youngho concluded the meeting, ¡°I understand your position. As the CIA¡¯s representative here, I¡¯m announcing that the CIA¡¯s business with you has officially ended under my authority. We can¡¯t expect anything from you.¡±


    The members looked at each other at Youngho¡¯s strong statement.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°And personally, I¡¯m disappointed by you. You¡¯re ruining the bigger n because of your thirst for revenge.¡±


    Youngho was implying the recent suicide bombing terrorism at the central police office in Moscow since it caused the arrest of the ck Widows¡¯ leaders.


    ***


    Youngho quickly left the room because he thought he would not be able to get out of Chechen if he spent time convincing the ck Widows who were without their leaders. The group was zealous for revenge but was out of control. It would be the CIA¡¯s loss to help them.


    As he was walking fast with the power of the leather shoes to slip out of Chechnya quickly, he knew someone was following him. It was the man in his forties. He was panting.


    ¡°Mister, please wait!¡±


    After a while, the two sat in a caf¨¦ near the inn where Youngho stayed. The guy introduced himself.


    ¡°I¡¯m Basayev. I¡¯m in charge of training the rebels. Please help us. Without our leadership, you and the CIA are our only hope.¡±


    He seemed devastated. The group was in a panic without their leaders, and if the CIA quit helping them, there was no way to get the necessary items. The money in their hideout had been taken by the police, so he was out of funds at the moment. Although they had gold bars stored in the rebel headquarters hidden in the Caucasus Mountains, it was difficult for them to find a market to sell those to. Without any cash, they needed the CIA¡¯s supply in order to get through the winter.


    Youngho told him that the CIA could only help him if he called all of the members and told them to evacuate any footholds in Grozny immediately. They decided to leave the rebel headquarters and training courses in the Caucasus Mountians as they were since the location was a natural fortress.


    Since it was only Basayev who followed Youngho, the other members still thought that the CIA was not helping them anymore. The confidentiality of the mission would be kept safe. Youngho told him that he would contact him with information of the delivery location and time soon.


    Before parting ways, Basayev asked Youngho if he could exchange the gold bars into US dors. Youngho screamed inside with joy. He wondered how many gold bars they had.


    Basayev suggested 40,000 dors for each gold bar and looked at Youngho¡¯s face to read his mind. He must have called the price after calcting themission charge that usually urred when selling gold.


    Since it was about two thirds of the actual price of gold, Youngho dly epted the price. They agreed to exchange thirty gold bars with 1.2 million dors at the border when the supplies were delivered.


    Youngho already checked that the gold bars owned by the ck Widows were manufactured in the time of the Russian Empire. There were no serial numbers or named country on the gold bars, which acted as the bearer bond. They were sold at higher prices than regr gold bars because they were untraceable and had the potential of appreciation.


    The rebels had taken them from the Chechen Central Bank when Grozny was taken by Russia.


    Since the traitor of the group was not caught yet, the group was still unstable. The end of this kind of group wasmon since they could not trust each other anymore. Youngho was more interested in the armed rebel forces settled in the Caucasus Mountains rather than the ck Widows that had been terrorizing against many and unspecified persons.


    So, he suggested to the Chief of the European Chapter that they should focus more on the rebel forces in the Caucasus Mountains, and Michael agreed to divide the aid. Although the ck Widows were acting against Russia, the CIA could not encourage the terrorist group. They could have been deemed more trustworthy if they had notunched the terrorist attack in Moscow, but they ruined it with their uncontroble reckless actions. Now was the time for the CIA to draw the line.

 Chapter 81 - The Rebels of the Caucasus Mountain Range (1)

    <h4>Chapter 81:</h4>


    <h4>The Rebels of the Caucasus Mountain Range (1)</h4>


    Basayev called Youngho two days after their meeting in Chechnya.


    He said that he was able to reach the ck Eagles, the armed rebel force in the Caucasus Mountains. It seemed that rebels around the Caucasus liked the word ¡®ck¡¯ in their names. Youngho requested Philip to deliver all the necessities at Georgia¡¯s border city, Shatili, by December 23.


    Youngho nned to bring the farm family to Georgia this time including the Fatima siblings and the Jongil couple. He would slip out from the family toplete the mission to deliver the necessities for the ck Widows, and after that, he would apply for leave from Michael. He thought, if he did not do this, Michael would give him another difficult assignment.


    As for Insoo and his wife, Youngho thought that he could give him a break for their honeymoon when he would return from learning basic education in Frankfurt.


    Jongil weed Youngho¡¯s n. Karajan had beenining to Jongil, so he was d to have a chance to redeem himself by making Karajan happy.


    The farm was excited because Cha Insoo¡¯s wife, Kim Sunghee, announced her pregnancy. Insoo was still in Frankfurt, so the farm family congratted her. Insoo, who was officially in Frankfurt for farm business to the farm family, heard the good news through a phone call. Insoo became emotional by hearing the news, so much so that he could not continue talking for a while.


    Insoo and his wife Kim Sunghee had been dating since high school. They were known to be the couple that never fought. They were both born from poor families in a rural town and had been working hard to get by since young. As soon as Insoo found a job, he had been earning money and paying for his wife¡¯s two little brothers¡¯ college education. Now that he was making enough money, he settled down with his wife in Baku. There was no wonder why Insoo was so emotional since they finally bore a fruit of their love after all those years.


    ***


    ¡°Zeynep, you¡¯re just mean. How can you treat everyone else except me?¡±


    ¡°Oppa, you said you didn¡¯t like ice cream because of your tooth.¡±


    Everybodyughed while looking at Jongil and Zeynep¡¯s usual argument.


    At the arrival lounge of Tbilisi Airport, Zeynep bought ice cream for everyone with her own allowance except for Jongil, and now they were arguing about that. Since it was their first trip in a long time, everyone looked excited.


    Agent Philip, who resided in Georgia, came to greet Youngho and his family at the airport. Since Youngho and Jongil saved his life, he had been wanting to pay back the favor someday, so he became a guide for their trip.


    He picked them up with a twelve-passenger van and drove them to Marriott Hotel that he reserved for Youngho¡¯spany. While driving the van, he gave a little tour around the city.


    The guys stayed at the hotel caf¨¦ and the others left to go sightseeing. Since Youngho and Jongil already told them that they would be working during the trip in advance, Karajan and the siblings decided to enjoy the trip by themselves.


    After ordering coffee, Youngho spoke to Philip.


    ¡°Philip, we¡¯re sorry to bother you. Since I¡¯ve been too busy that I couldn¡¯t spend time with my family, I brought them here. I promise that it won¡¯t affect our job, so don¡¯t report this to Michael.¡±


    Philipughed as Youngho jokingly asked a favor.


    ¡°Lee, I¡¯m sorry that this is all I can do for you. You became even busier because of me, so don¡¯t worry about that. Also, I already hired a bodyguard for your family so they¡¯d be safe around here.¡±


    Philip had assigned a local agent in the city as their bodyguard.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll get in trouble. Isn¡¯t this ce known to be safe?¡±


    ¡°No, because of your family¡¯s beauty, there might be some dregs troubling them. I want your family to have a peaceful trip here.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you for being so thoughtful.¡±


    Saying that he wanted to pay him back for rescuing him, Philip acted humbly. He thought that he would be thankful for his entire life since no one in the CIA came to help him, but Youngho and Jongil came to find him in Nagorno-Karabakh after only hearing that ¡®an agent was captured somewhere.¡¯ Despite the danger, they came to rescue him and carried him over a mountain in coldness. It was something that other agents would not do.


    Philip reported that the items to be delivered to the rebels were stored in the storage in Georgia¡¯s border security at the vige of Shatili.


    Youngho¡¯spany would be standing by at a ski resort in Bakuriani, which was located on the way to Shatili, and they would move near to the Chechnya border on the 23rd.


    When finishing up their conversation, Youngho slipped about doing business with the mafia in Tbilisi, Georgia to ask for Philip¡¯s help in the area. Philip had heard about how the South Ossetia¡¯s store was opened with the help of the Russian mafias. Youngho exined that the mafias would be using Youngho¡¯s name as the owner of the business since Georgians did not like Russians. Philip agreed to help Youngho, saying that he could look for a spot for their store and get the business permission from the government.


    ***


    Because of the snow, the tires rotated in the same ce without advancing even though they were chained. Around 10 AM in the morning, Youngho and Jongil left the family at the resort, telling them that he had a business in Tbilisi. With Philip, they were on the way to Shatili to make it to the appointed ce. It was 3 PM, but the vige was still seven kilometers away.


    Although Shatili was a famous tourist destination, it was known that no one visited there during the winter due to the massive amount of snow.


    There was a de installed in the front part of the Philip¡¯s van just like a bulldozer. Youngho did not know what that was, but now he learned that it was for plowing the snow. However, because of the de¡¯s weak power, the van could not proceed at its normal speed. They shoveled the snow around the tires and pushed the car from behind multiple times on the way. They could finally reach the vige of Shatili when it had turned dark. In a public parking lot of Shatili, there was no car parked. Instead, there were three donkeys tied to a pole.


    At a hotel caf¨¦, two bearded men and Basayev waited for Youngho¡¯spany. They greeted him as Youngho entered the caf¨¦ with Jongil and Philip. Youngho expected that they would have gone already because it was toote, but they were still waiting for them as if they had expected that snow would dy Youngho¡¯s arrival.


    Without introducing names, they shook hands each other.


    While Philip exined the location of the items to the two bearded men, Basayev and Youngho exchanged the gold bars and money in private. Basayev took the bag of money that Youngho had brought, and Youngho hid the gold bars that weighed about thirty kilograms in the van. When they returned to the caf¨¦, Philip was finishing up the conversation. Momentster, Basayev invited them to a restaurant for dinner.


    The two bearded men were members of the ck Eagles. Since Basayev agreed on giving 40% of the items to the ck Eagles for delivering the items, they had dinner in an amicable atmosphere. It would take them at least 15 days to deliver the items on donkey backs on the rough mountainous paths, but they did not mind at all. The Director of the ck Eagles was happy, looking as if he had received a Christmas gift. He suggested drinks to Youngho¡¯spany.


    He drank cognac as if it was water. Every time Youngho saw him drinking, Youngho felt like his stomach was hurting. Since he was forced into drinking together, Youngho could not help but drink.


    The ck Eagles were people who fought against Russia in the cold mountains. They often slept in the open, and drinking was essential in their life to fight the cold. While drinking, Youngho asked why they liked to use the word ¡®ck¡¯ in their names and their answer was impressive. Chechens loved crows from the time of their ancestors, and they just used the word ck since the crows were ck.


    The Director of the ck Eagles added that the ¡®ck¡¯ from the ck Widows were not inspired by crows since they were inspired by women¡¯s ck chadors. However, Basayev defended the ck Widows, saying their ¡®ck¡¯ had dual meaning and it was also inspired by crows. They loudly bickered at each other, arguing who was better than whom.


    Looking at both sides, Youngho thought that their will was respectable since they were at a gueri war against Russia for their independence with only 500 men.


    The next day, Youngho¡¯spany went to the storage with the rebels. There was a lot of checking process since they had borrowed Georgian border security¡¯s storage. Youngho had no idea what kind of negotiation Philip had with the Georgian government, but now the Georgian government was protecting the weapons and necessities of Chechen rebels.


    The border security was not in favor of the Chechen rebels since they frequently plundered their suppliesing down from the mountains when they were short of their own The Georgian government only decided to store their supplies because the US CIA had promised that they would be in charge of the rebels.


    After checking the items and quantities, each side signed on the agreement form for the transfer of the supplies.


    When they came out of the storage, there were more than a hundred donkeys lined up, snorting violently. They were the fifty Chechen rebels camping around the vige fromst night. They had been stealthily following Youngho¡¯spany as they moved.


    Even with the supernatural sense from the ring¡¯s power, Youngho had not noticed them. It was true that they were a skilled, outstanding force that even the Russian Ranger Unit that was famous for their strength could not make them surrender when they attacked them in the Caucasus Mountain Range.


    Youngho only expected belligerence and strong personalities from Chechens who had undergone countless attacks from other countries in the past, but he did not expect them to be this extraordinary. Jongil, who standing next to Youngho smoking, also shook his head. He had not felt anything, just like Youngho.


    Loading the supplies on donkeys in line with consistency without causing noise, the rebels¡¯ actions were fast and neat. Thinking that it would be horrible to meet the rebels as enemies, Youngho turned back from saying goodbye to the rebels who quietly left using the trail that only shepherds used.

 Chapter 82 - The Rebels of the Caucasus Mountain Range (2)

    <h4>Chapter 82: The Rebels of the Caucasus Mountain Range (2)</h4>


    When Philip¡¯s van had not left the vige of Shatili yet, they heard consecutive gun fires. The rebels said that they would be attacking Russian border security as a decoy to hide their supply transfer. However, the gun fires were echoing from the direction of the mountains where the rebels and their donkeys were headed. Not to mention timing wise, the gun fires should not be heard by now.


    Youngho knew something had gone wrong. They must have been caught in an ambush. Although they had left Georgia¡¯s border security, it would cause an international discord if the rebel¡¯s supplies were shipped out from Georgia.


    Youngho told Philip to stand by in the van and took Jongil with him. As soon as they could not see Philip¡¯s van, they ran at breakneck speed using the leather shoes. Youngho and Jongil had put on the ring and leather shoes when they left the ski resort just in case something like this happened.


    At the mountain path they arrived, they saw the rebels had put donkeys in one spot and shooting Russian soldiers, lying on their stomach. Some of the donkeys and rebels were bleeding and others were trying to give first aid. Youngho approached Basayev and told him that he and Jongil would take care of the Russians and asked to stop shooting for a moment and lie down on their stomachs.


    Youngho and Jongil picked up AK rifles and ammunitions from the rebels and went to the side of the Russian army. They had no idea as Youngho and Jongil approached them because they were too focused on shooting the rebels. The distance to the rebels from the Russian soldiers was 300 meters, which normally took 20 minutes for a regr person since the Russian army was waiting from the higher ground of the mountain. Nobody could imagine someone would approached in such short time. Youngho gestured Jongil to split and they each started to shoot soldiers one by one.


    The soldiers numbered around 30, fell down from the bullets unaware of. Later when they found out that the bullets were shot from the side, Youngho sprinted at a tremendous speed and hit the heads of the few soldiers left with the gunstock.


    When they had finished taking down the Russian soldiers and signaled to the rebels below the mountain, they hastily climbed up the mountain. When they arrived to the ridge, they heard the promised gun fires from afar. It was the rebels starting their operation against the Russian border security.


    Two of the rebels died and six were wounded.


    Thankfully, there were medical supplies in the items, so they injected morphine to the wounded and bandaged them as a temporary relief. They said that there was a surgeon in their base, who could remove bullets in the rebels¡¯ bodies. Among 37 Russian soldiers, only four lived. They were the ones who Youngho did not shot but stroke with the gunstock.


    Youngho and Jongil experienced killing human for the first time in the Caucasus mountain range, they killed about 15 each just to restrain them. Because they shot them from a distance, it was less shocking but that did not change the fact that they took people¡¯s lives.


    While the rebels took care of the bodies and weapons of the Russian soldiers, Youngho put a cigarette in his mouth. His hand was shaking. Noticing Youngho¡¯s shaking hand, Jongil patted his shoulders without a word. He must be feeling awful too.


    Basayev and the director of the ck Eagle looked at Youngho and Jongil as if they were reapers. They had just seen an unbelievable action since the two had taken down 37 Russian rangers in a moment.


    There was nothing to say. Youngho and Jongil came down the mountain leaving words to meet next time. Philip who was waiting in the van asked what happened, the two just shrugged and said everything went well. They were still in the excited state of mind from the unspeakable battle, they did not want to say anything for now. Youngho thought that he would be distressed for a while from today¡¯s battle.


    Youngho¡¯s heart was heavy on the way back to the ski resort in Bakuriani. He did not care about international rtionships but felt bad for the rebels and soldiers who had to fight against each other in the cold. Not to mention, he was guilty for taking lives of young soldiers who just came out to carry out an order.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯spany would arrive to the ski resort in the sunset hours after six hours of rough driving. Karajan and the siblings nagged to return to Tbilisi as if they were tired of ying hard in the snow for three days straight.


    Now that the CIA¡¯s official assignment waspleted, Youngho nned to enjoy his time touring around until Sergey visits him from Volgograd.


    As soon as he arrived Tbilisi and unpacked his belongings in the hotel room, Youngho went to a bank and put the gold bars in a safe box. He was not going to travel with the gold bars. Because of the gold bars, he would have to give up flying to Baku and take the inconvenient train instead but he decided to worry about thatter.


    The streets were crowded with the people who had just attended the mass from Orthodox Churches. At the gate of the hotel, Zeynep found Younghoing back and came running toward him. He had asked to go shopping together and went to the bank while the family got ready to go outside.


    ¡°Oppa, I almost died starving waiting for you. Karajan unni already went to grab something.¡±


    Because it was so cute to see her acting all salty and chatting, Youngho hugged her tight.


    ¡°Eww, oppa. I don¡¯t like the smell of cigarettes.¡±


    Fatima also came near Youngho and held his arm and Zeynep held Youngho¡¯s hand from the other side. Szechenyi walked in front of them in a cocky attitude.


    It got Youngho worried since Szechenyi had been overly cockytely, Fatima also said that he had changed so much. He had been affectionate to his older sister but now he did not talk to her anymore. Youngho was worried that Szechenyi might be a troublemaker. Since he was a good-looking boy, he might get involved with girls too. Although Szechenyi was a good-natured and thoughtful person, girls around him would not leave him alone.


    Lately, Youngho had been too busy that he did not have time to converse with Szechenyi. He thought that when they worked out and sweated together in the evening, that was enough, but he just realized something important. Szechenyi was a teenager.


    To Szechenyi, Youngho was a fatherly and older brotherly figure who had been there for him like a tree. However, he was also a difficult person to talk to. Szechenyi did not share his heart to anyone, even to his friends, who seemed to be less-matured like himself. It was what Youngho had felt when he was a teenager. Finding his own identity, he had acted recklessly.


    Many things had changed for Szechenyi since he met Youngho and as he was in the process of bing a grown-up, he must be feeling many confusions and struggles. Youngho decided to make a chance to have deep conversations with Szechenyi during this trip. He hoped for this trip would serve as a momentum for Szechenyi to let out his burdens.


    The capital of Georgia, Tbilisi was a city with heritage. There were especially a lot of churches in the city. Like many other cities of Southeastern Europe, it seemed to be staying in the old times. Although there were decorated cafes and souvenir shops lined up along the food street of the Old Town, all the buildings were more than 100 years old. However, the atmosphere of the caf¨¦s were as great as other Western European cities¡¯ and the city was still crowded in the cold winter.


    Starving, Zeynep and Szechenyi ordered different things on the menu and ate until they were too full. They rxingly burped in front of Youngho, they did not mind him at all now. As they were full now, they wanted to go out. Since they were getting bored, Youngho told Szechenyi to look around souvenir shops with Zeynep.


    ¡°Szechenyi, why don¡¯t you take Zeynep and look around souvenir shops? I¡¯ve seen nice pocket knives.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s permission, they left in excitement. It looked like that they did not bring any money since Youngho gave them a bunch of dor bills, and they did not reject the money. Even though Youngho deposits their allowances in their own bank ounts, they never thought about withdrawing the money.


    ¡°Fatima, why didn¡¯t you check if they had money and give some?¡±


    Youngho asked it because she was managing the living expenses of the family.


    ¡°They¡¯re not children anymore. They should ask if they need some. I don¡¯t want to spoil them.¡±


    Since she was right, Youngho shut his mouth.


    After the younger siblings were gone, it was their time alone. They were so focused catching up with each other, they did not realize somebody came close to them.


    ¡°You¡¯re too romantic. You chased away the kids just to spend this time alone? I was almost lost if I hadn¡¯t met Szechenyi on the way.¡±


    Jongil spoke like himself as usual. Youngho thought that he would age and die if he expect something more noble toe out of his mouth.


    Jongil and Karajan had the same sunsses. It suited the newlywed couple.


    ¡°Did you guys eat yet?¡±


    ¡°Nope, we¡¯ve been searching for you. Karajan, what do you want to get? You can eat whatever you want now that we have someone to pay for our food!¡±


    Jongil made a fuss sitting down and deciding what to order. He looked up and winked at Youngho, signing him to join for a drink. It was 4 PM in the afternoon. For drinkers, it was a drinking time. On the blessing day of Christmas, they ordered cognac which was Georgia¡¯s world-famous liquor. Now that their mission is done, they decided to reward themselves with the famous liquor, which was needed in order to forget what happened previously in Shatili.


    Fatima and Karajan were now used to drinking a little bit because of Youngho and Jongil¡¯s drinking habit in the farm. Fatima especially began to like wines. On rxing days, she often came to Jongil with a bottle of wine in his library. When the food and cognac were served, they began to drink together.


    The next day, Karajan and Jongil, who were hung over by excessive drinkingst night, stayed at the hotel. Only Youngho and the siblings went around freely all day long. The ring on Youngho¡¯s finger now exerted more power that it recovered his physical conditions quickly. This was why Youngho was not hung over like Jongil and Karajan. Fatima and Zeynep walked before Youngho and Szechenyi. Since it was a good chance to converse with Szechenyi, Youngho tried to talk a lot with him. Szechenyi was in a good mood and started talking back to Youngho.


    It seemed that Szechenyi needed a male figure whom he could talk to and rely on. Youngho felt guilty for not spending enough time with him in his important years. He reminded himself to pay more attention to Szechenyi from now on.


    Visiting multiple historical sites and souvenir shops all day, Zeynep now walked leaning against Youngho in exhaustion. He pretended to focus on the trip but he still had uneasy feelings. The aftermath of the Shatili battle was now showing its signs. As he walked on the streets hugging Zeynep¡¯s small body, he decided to go to a church the next day andy down his burdens.


    It was bitter to see the happy travelers on streets. He thought that he could only feel better after praying for the souls of the dead in a church.

 Chapter 83 - The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (1)

    <h4>Chapter 83: The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (1)</h4>


    Philip dropped by the hotel where Youngho stayed, he had talked with some Georgian officials about opening Yaniv¡¯s shop.


    ¡°Lee, I don¡¯t know what you did in South Ossetia but the officials here are dying to see you.¡±


    It seemed that Youngho¡¯s existence was finally known to the Georgian government. Because Philip was known to be one of the leadership of a petrochemicalpany in here as a disguise, he could freely go in and out of government¡¯s buildings. When he found out that the officials already knew about Youngho, who does note to Georgia often, he was surprised and amazed because he had been living in Georgia trying to earn the government¡¯s trust. He was curious to know.


    ¡°I supplied necessary items to the isted Georgians in South Ossetia, and I sold my name too at the same time, haha.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I think Katya is still selling my name as the owner of the retailer business in South Ossetia.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Katya! She is a rare beauty. How did you be so close to her?¡±


    Since Philip tried hard to earn her affection, he was curious about how Youngho was able to lower her guard.


    ¡°She¡¯s been lonely alone there, so I helped her family move there from Russia. She¡¯d be extremely motivated to work by now. Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°She had a family? Well, I¡¯ve never heard about that.¡±


    ¡®You only looked at her body. I wouldn¡¯t have told you too if I were her, you poor man. You need to learn how to be professional. She rather made a move to me.¡¯


    Thought Youngho but he was the one to get out of there fast not being able to resist her temptation anymore.


    ¡°Okay, then can we visit the officials now? I¡¯d rather meet them now when they¡¯re still interested in me.¡±


    Youngho was introduced to the Chief and executive director of Georgia¡¯s Department of Foreign Investment. They were very excited to meet him in person, which Youngho had not expected at all. It turned out that they had heard about his good deeds in South Ossetia. He supplied daily necessities to isted Georgian towns despite South Ossetians¡¯ cold eyes.


    Youngho was treated like a royal messenger to the Georgian officers. In Caucasus regions, the sense of kinship among people was special. People treated someone who had helped their own people very special. They had a deep appreciation for any helpers because they had gone through many countless oppressions as minorities since the beginning of the history. They naturally weed Youngho¡¯s business in Tbilisi.


    The next day, an official came to Youngho¡¯s hotel with documents needed to im a business in Georgia. Youngho signed on the documents and now all the necessary process for the retailer shop waspleted easily. Sergey who showed upte was surprised by seeing the progress.


    ¡°Lee, you already finished the job for me. I thought it would take longer.¡±


    ¡°You know me. I just used my charm over people.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, you did a good job. I thought it¡¯d be more difficult to open a business here.¡±


    ¡°Well, I got a permission to build our storage unit in the national property located in the outskirt of the town, and we can find the right spot for the warehouse shop downtown.¡±


    ¡°Boss has a lot of expectations for this too. He said since thend price is cheap here, we should buy all the avable spots.¡±


    Youngho had a thing for owningnds and it seemed that Yaniv was the same too.


    ¡°ording to a source, big manufacturers based in Paris will make a foray in Tbilisi but if we buy out all the avablends in advance, they can¡¯te, right?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. I¡¯ve never heard about that but if they do make it in here, we should be able topete with them fairly. Howe a mafia like you is scared ofpeting? You became a true businessman now.¡±


    ¡°How are you going topete with big corporation manufacturers?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big thing but we should buy Georgians¡¯ hearts ahead of them. When they give their heart, they tend to stay loyal unless a terrible thing happens.¡±


    Although loyalty was valued in any rtionships in Korea, Georgians¡¯ loyalty was on another level. Now that Youngho impressed them by saving isted Georgians in South Ossetia, sess would be an easy thing to achieve.


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, I like this car so much. Can we take it?¡±


    Charmed by a hummer, Zeynep was stroking its interiors. After hearing that Youngho¡¯spany would travel to Armenia, Sergey brought a hummer all of sudden. It was a five-seater car but it had enough room to seat four people in the back. There was a foldable seat attached to the cargo space, so even seven people could fit in the car. Taking the cargo space alone, Zeynep got excited. Because of her, all the suitcases had to be tied to the roof of the car.


    It was a strong and sturdy car that could run as usual in a snowfield and would not be crushed even if it rolled on a hill. Also, because its tires were big as other trucks¡¯, it could cross a small river and climb over small obstacles. Judging by Sergey¡¯s character, Youngho knew that he had given it to him as a gift for a safe trip, rather than letting him borrow the car.


    Traveling around regions of Caucasus, Youngho hadints about poor road conditions and bad quality rental cars but Sergey¡¯s gift had relieved his heart. From Armenia¡¯s border, Youngho¡¯spany traveled eight hours to get to the famous Lake Sevan. The road condition was so poor on the way due to snow andck of road construction. He saw many broken cars neglected on the way. Youngho and Jongil took turns to drive on the hignds covered with snow.


    Theke used to be as big as Jeju Ind in Korea but now it had lost 40% of its volume since the water had been decreasing. However, the size of the body was still huge. Zeynep nagged that she was starving since they only ate a sandwich on the way.


    They went to a famous restaurant crowded with travelers and ordered lobsters and trouts which were freshly caught from Lake Sevan. Although they were well-known specialty foods in Lake Sevan, to Youngho and Jongil, they only looked like snacks for drinks. Looking at the night view of theke, Youngho cracked lobsters and fed Zeynep. He was looking at Karajan and Fatima¡¯s face and quick-witted Fatima already raised her hand to order cognac to the server. They started drinking hard after convincing the family to stay in a cabin near theke for the night.


    Karajan and Fatima seemed to notice that something was weird with Youngho and Jongil since they had been drinking hardtely but they did not ask. An experience of shooting people with a gun would not be forgotten for long. To them, drinking was a temporary relief to forget what they had done. Enjoying the atmosphere helped too.


    There was an old guitar next to the counter, so Youngho picked up by the owner¡¯s permission. He tuned the guitar, and with his apaniment, Jongil started to sing with his sweet voice. Listening to Jongil¡¯s song was a great way to forget problems. The two used to go to karaoke rooms since high school. Youngho joined Jongil and sang together. When they stopped, people around them asked for another song and it went on and on. Later, the owner brought more drinks on the house. Fatima, who had been worried about Youngho¡¯s weird behaviorstely, was relieved to see him enjoying the time.


    Youngho could not sing well like Jongil but he could y guitar. Swept away by the atmosphere, he yed songs requested by other travelers. As the night was getting deeper, he felt even peaceful. He drank like crazy on purpose, as if he wanted to forget about everything.


    ***


    Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek in Yerevan greeted Youngho¡¯spany looking as if they were about to cry. To surprise them, Youngho visited their retailer shop without calling them ahead. As they hugged each other, their wives Esther and Reba, who were helping customers, looked surprised as their eyes were widened to see them.


    Youngho noticed that something had changed in their body. As he looked at Chulhwan in question, he smiled. The two wives had been pregnant. Younghoined saying that why they had not called him about the news but he did not forget to congratte his friends¡¯ wives, now mothers-to-be.


    The store was quite busy. Looking at the clothes shipped from Korea, Youngho could see that Yunsuh had been carefully picking them to help their business. Their wives looked much brighter than when they lived in Nagorno-Karabakh as they were better off and safe.


    The guys went outside and smoked cigarettes since they could not help out with the store.


    ¡°Hey, why didn¡¯t you call me ahead? I could¡¯ve prepared a nice meal at my house.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Looking at your wives¡¯ bellies, I¡¯m d I didn¡¯t call you two. I don¡¯t want to give them more work. We were on a trip together and just wanted to stop by to see you.¡±


    The two friends felt bad for not being able to treat them. It was such a surprise for them to see their friends who lived far away. Instead of going to their houses, Youngho suggested gathering in a restaurant of the hotel they were staying tonight and bring all of their wives families too. Tufenkian Historic Hotel was a famous hotel in Yerevan and known with its luxurious atmosphere and facility. Since Youngho, a well-known businessman in Baku, came to Yerevan, he wanted to treat his friends and inws and save his friends¡¯ faces since they did not have any of their own family members nearby.


    At the hotel restaurant, 20 of Youngho¡¯spany ate together. The restaurant divided the lobby with a partition so that they could have a private area. Although the restaurant was crowded with other travelers came to eat in the evening time, they did not mind and chatted loudly since they were too excited. Except for Insoo in Baku, everyone was gathered.


    Youngho thought that the two friends would drink hard but they did not drink much.


    ¡°What on earth... Did you guys quit drinking?¡±


    Jongil asked.


    ¡°Dude, we¡¯re drinking. Don¡¯t nag. I was not going to tell this because it¡¯s too embarrassing but we have a Catholic doctrine test tomorrow. If I fail, it¡¯ll be my third time.¡±


    Armenia was Roman Catholic and Georgian was the Greek Orthodox Church. It seemed that the two friends¡¯ wives had convinced them to convert to Catholic. Youngho thought that at least it was great that they could still drink.


    ¡°Man, if you had been studying, you¡¯ll pass anyway. Just drink!¡±


    Said Park Jongil and Youngho also added.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t drink, you¡¯re not my friends anymore.¡±


    ¡°What? What have been doing in Georgia? You¡¯re trying to drink like you¡¯re obsessed.¡±


    Youngho and Jongil felt a prick at their conscience.


    ¡°Let¡¯s drink now. We¡¯ll die drinking!¡±


    At Jongil¡¯s remark, Zeynep¡¯s eyes widend.


    ¡°Jongil oppa, I can understand Korean well now. You can die alone but leave Youngho oppa!¡±


    Zeynep¡¯s remark made everyoneugh hard.


    ¡®Will there be a time when Zeynep could understand Korean ngs?¡¯ thought Youngho.

 Chapter 84 - The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (2)

    <h4>Chapter 84: The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (2)</h4>


    Snow covered hills and mountains passed by Youngho as he drove.


    Due to the warm airing out of the heater, all of the windows except the front windshield ss were foggy. Exhausted by the long trip, everyone else had fallen asleep in the warm air. They had stayed a night in Ganja, a city of Azerbaijan and had set off to the South in the morning.


    Because everyone wanted to take the hummer, their trip turned into a road trip going to the South from Tbilisi, Georgia. Finding their ways into different cities and popr restaurants using a navigator and searching the inte, they were returning to Baku at a slow pace.


    It was getting dark but they were still driving on mountain paths. Youngho tried to find a vige nearby to stay rest for a night since it was too dangerous to drive in the dark. After driving for another hour passing through Caucasus Mountain Range, he saw a sign that said ¡¯50 km to Kurdamir.¡¯ 50 kilometers was a distance that could take two hours of driving in the snowy mountainous paths. When he was hesitating, a small town appeared ahead.


    At first, they nned to travel along the railroad on a t road but since it was a long way back, they decided to go across the Caucasus Mountain Range. However, the hilly mountainous roads were too winding that Youngho almost felt nauseous. He did not want to keep going since he did not know how the roads ahead were like. Jongil, who had been asleep snoring, woke up as soon as the car speed was decreased. His senses were keen.


    ¡°What is it? Oh, there¡¯s a town. Do you want to switch?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re here. It¡¯s going to be dark soon. Let¡¯s stay for the night in this town.¡±


    Jongil cleared the fogs on the window and said,


    ¡°Ha! Look at this town of the Middle Ages. It feels like this whole town is from the past. Look at the horse droppings on the road. I hope nobodyes out to attack us with ance.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho¡¯sughter woke everyone up.


    ¡°Oppa, aren¡¯t you tired?¡±


    Fatima worried about Youngho as soon as she woke up. He loved her caring heart.


    ¡°Let¡¯s rest here for the night. Jongil said the town looks like one from the Middle Ages. Let¡¯s hope we can find a ce to crash.¡±


    ¡°Middle Ages? What does that mean, oppa?¡±


    Woken up by their conversation, Zeynep¡¯s loud question echoed in the car.


    Youngho asked a guy in his mid-forty for a hotel. The middle-aged guy looked at him as if he had seen an Asian for the first time. He scanned him from top to bottom, surprised by Youngho¡¯s Azerbaijani.


    Youngho also looked at him everywhere. He was not dressed like other people in the modern time. Because he was covered in furs and his hat looked like it was handmade, it seemed that he had gone back to a point in the medieval times.


    ¡®I can¡¯t be time traveling to the medieval times, can I?¡¯ Youngho thought.


    The guy in his mid-forty kindly guided Youngho¡¯spany to the hotel saying that they would not find it even if he exined in words. The guy almost ran ahead of them and he followed him by slowly driving behind. After five minutes of running, he stopped and pointed to an antique hotel building.


    The hotel facility was old and no better than ones in Korean rural towns but the couple owner was very kind. Because Youngho¡¯spany was their only guest, they made a fuss making beds and lighting the fireces in each room. Thankfully, they could use hot water in the bathroom because the water heater was installed.


    The hotel was run by the owner family. They did not have a separate dining room for guests. Since they were invited to have supper together, Youngho and hispany joined the family at the dinner table. There were lots of foods even though they had to prepare them in a rush. Kindness to visitors was embedded in their lives since not a lot of people visited the town. They looked at them eating the meal as if they were curious. They kindly refilled any foods as soon as the tes got empty.


    Throughout the trip, thepany had always rented three rooms. Jongil and Karajan, Fatima and Zeynep, and Youngho and Szechenyi shared each room. However, the old hotel, which was not ready to have visitors, only had two rooms avable at the moment. So, they had to divide girls and boys to share each room.


    Karajan loved it since girls could chat together, and Jongil also liked the idea, saying that he could drink without asking Karajan¡¯s permission. Youngho asked in his mind if it was okay for a newlywed couple to act like this. Meanwhile, Szechenyi, happy to be considered a man like others, went back and forth to the kitchen to serve drinks to Youngho and Jongil.


    ***


    Whenever they went, Youngho and Jongil now always brought security measures because of previous experiences. Although Youngho believed the power of the ring which sensed danger, he took security rm for this trip. Jongil¡¯s philosophy was that it¡¯s toote to regret after losing something, and Youngho felt the same. Although they would be drinking, they made sure that everything was set up. Since they were in a remote town in the middle of mountains, where they did not know about the security of the town and the vigers, they needed security systems to protect themselves and their family.


    It has been quite a while after they fell asleep. Someone must have disturbed the rm sensor that was set up on the second floor. The small receiver next to Youngho¡¯s bed started to ring. He had already woken up because of the chilliness. The ring had been signaling a near danger that could be life-threatening. Although Jongil was deeply asleep, he did not miss the rm sound. Both of them sprang up from the bed and took Beretta pistols.


    Without turning on the light, they slowly opened the door of their room and carefully paid attention to any sounds. Someone was sneaking down from upstairs. It could not be the owners since they had no reason to walk so stealthily.


    Because they made sure locking the girls¡¯ room before they fell asleep, it would be impossible to open the door without a key. Now only Youngho¡¯s room was opened. The intruder came close to the room and Youngho and Jongil went inside. The intruder stood in front of the room to look inside. The intruder was not wearing a mask.


    Youngho pulled him in and stroke his Adam¡¯s apple to make him quiet in case he had apany. His expectation was correct because another man was approaching the room too. It was frustrating to Youngho since he went through a battle recently in Shatili, Georgia, and now there was a robber in the hotel.


    He took him down with multiple strokes on his vital points. Usually, when striking someone¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple, he would grab his neck as a reflex action, and that was when Youngho stroke the sunken point of the armpits. It was hitting pressure points of the opponent¡¯s body and if striking with strength, the pain was excessive. The consecutive actions were spontaneously happening in a moment, they were a series of actions fast like a sh of lightning.


    Not knowing what was going on deep sleep, Szechenyi was snoring. The captured intruders were healthy-looking guys in their thirties. When Youngho and Jongil searched their bodies, they found guns. This got them outrageous. Jongil put on his jacket to take care of them outside.


    They took the two intruders outside near a parking lot. After taking pictures of their faces with his smartphone, Youngho asked why they were at the hotel. Although it was an obvious question and the answer would be obvious too, this did not seem like a normal robbery. Youngho thought that if someone would be robbing travelers in this small town, the whole town would be aplice overlooking his robbery. Youngho and Jongil did not feel good about this.


    Youngho stroke the intruders¡¯ vital points to get words out of their mouths since they were resistant. After feeling extreme pains to the bone, they confessed.


    They said that the guns were just to intimidate people. They had been robbing travelers from outside but they always left money for them to get to a nearby city. They had been robbing innocent travelers for a long time. When Youngho asked if the owners of the hotel were their aplices, they denied it. He was not sure if they were speaking the truth.


    The town did not even have a police office, which was strange. Even if the whole town had been turning a blind eye when the town people robbed travelers, they could have gone to other big cities and reported the robbery. It would have been easy to find who the robber was in this small town but ording to the intruders, they were still robbing people.


    A small bus transported people to the town once a day but there were not a lot of travelers who visited this old town.


    ¡®Something¡¯s going on in this town.¡¯


    Thinking that, Youngho looked at Jongil. He nodded as if he had thought the same. Usually, travelers came to town by the small bus but Youngho¡¯spany had driven their own car to the town. The town¡¯s people must not have been ready to receive visitors when they arrived.


    Youngho pointed to the hotel in the middle of talking, and Jongil sprinted to the hotel thinking about the family left alone. A thought popped in Youngho¡¯s head. He hoped that he was imagining too much. The reason that he thought the town was strange was because of the ring¡¯s signal of danger.


    Youngho had heard about a story of Azerbaijan¡¯s minority groups in remote mountainous areas from Baku¡¯s officials. The small tribes of mountains did not have many people to keep their tribes going. Because it was difficult for them to find people to get married, they abducted travelers in order to keep their tribes¡¯ bloodline. If they needed men, they abducted men to receive their seeds and sometimes killed them to keep the secret. If they needed women, they raped travelers and forcefully married them for babies. It was gruesome to think about. It was hard to guess what these unenlightened people, isted in remote mountains, would do in order to keep their tribe.

 Chapter 85 - The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (3)

    <h4>Chapter 85: The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (3)</h4>


    It was useless talking to the intruders since they did not recognize what they had done wrong. They imed that the guns were just to threaten people, and they did not take money from travelers without leaving them a little amount to travel back. ording to them, the travelers must have left the town in a condition that made them unable to report to the police, being too traumatized. If they had reported the town, there was no way that the Azerbaijani government would neglect the town and leave it without any policeman.


    Jongil came out with a rxed face. He had woken up Szechenyi and sent him to the girls¡¯ room with a gun.


    ¡°I gave Szechenyi my pistol, so he¡¯ll be fine. I also got this from urging the owners.¡±


    He was holding a rifle.


    Szechenyi, who had been training in specialbat skills under the guidance of Youngho and Jongil, could take down one or two big guys. He even had a pistol in his hand now. Youngho felt relieved.


    ¡°What about Karajan and Fatima?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not too worried.¡±


    Since the siblings had seen Youngho taking down three muggers in Paris, they trusted Youngho¡¯s skills.


    ¡°What¡¯s this blood?¡±


    ¡°I beat them a little to get words out, but they¡¯re just repeating the same thing.¡±


    They did not open their mouths since the whole town¡¯s safety depended on their tongues.


    Jongil clobbered them with a butt te of his rifle. Because the intruders screamed in pain, some houses in town started to turn on lights. At this rate, Youngho¡¯spany would have to fight the whole town. Because they were outnumbered by the town people, Youngho quickly took everyone into the car.


    Youngho could feel the chilliness surrounding him. The ring was sensing danger, which meant there were more enemies around other than the intruders. He decided to get out of the town for now ande up with a better n. He took the smaller intruder into the car and drove furiously to get out of the town before the whole town could gather and block the gate. Even if there were small obstacles on the way, the Hummer was strong enough to push through.


    Without stopping, he drove until he reached the city of Kurdamir. There was no other car following him.


    As the big Hummer arrived at Kurdamir¡¯s local police department out of nowhere, people looked out, wondering who it was. As soon as Youngho brought out the intruder with his arms tied up, the local policemen took him away as if they had been waiting for him.


    It was because Youngho had already reported everything to the chief manager, Sevan of Baku¡¯s Main Police Department. After the phone call, Sevan ordered the local police department to prepare for Youngho¡¯spany. Since Sevan was high in rank in the Main Police Department, local police departments were under hismand.


    The police officers treated Youngho¡¯spany nicely since they were friends of Sevan. In the chief¡¯s room, they had a cup of tea and reported the details of the incident. Youngho told the chief to look through other previous reports about missing people around the area. The town people could have killed some travelers, or they still might have some travelers under their custody.


    From Kurdamir, the roads wereparatively t, so they could return to Baku in three hours. Youngho told everybody about the terrible traditions of minor tribes in the mountainous regions and warned them for their future travels.


    Youngho still felt goosebumps all over his body, thinking that something terrible could have happened to his family if the ring did not warn him continuously.


    It was thest day of 2013.


    Because of the end of the year party, Zeynep Farm was crowded with the workers and the farm family. Outside, five wholembs were rotating on barbecue grills and people were sharing drinks everywhere.


    This year¡¯s grapes were great and all of the wines were shipped out to Russia as soon as they were manufactured. Since thepany was on a sessful route and it offered a great working environment, the workers were satisfied with their jobs.


    Zeynep Farm¡¯s employees had pride in their jobs. Making toasts with the employees, Youngho enjoyed the cheerful party with the people.


    Youngho gave bonuses to all of his employees for the end of the year. It was natural that their faces were bright. Not to mention, they would be having the New Year¡¯s break for the next three days as apany.


    The Fatima siblings looked happy too because they had just been on a trip. Although there was a weird incident at the end of their trip, they did not mind it too much. They considered it a little thrill of the trip.


    Cha Insoo, who came back from the CIA¡¯s basic education in Frankfurt, nned to go on a honeymoon trip with his now pregnant wife. Well, since his parents were going too, it was not a honeymoon, but he was such a good son. He wanted to show them around in Europe.


    When Youngho told him about the Shatili battle in Georgia, Insoo was shocked to hear that his friends killed people. He kept asking if Youngho and Jongil were okay. He knew how traumatizing a battle could be, so he was worried about his friends.


    It finally turned to 2014.


    The farm did not do any special party for the New Year¡¯s. Instead, they agreed to have a memorial service for ancestors as done in old Korean traditions. They all changed into Korean traditional clothes, hanbok, which Yunsuh had sent, then prepared a memorial service table.


    Since the Fatima siblings enshrined the ancestral tablets for their parents, they bowed in front of the service table to remember andfort their spirits. Fatima did not get up after bowing. Youngho went to pick her up, thinking that she needed help getting up because of numb legs, but he was stunned to see what was going on.


    Fatima was silently crying.


    Everybody became quiet. Suddenly, Szecheyni and Zeynep started weeping too, missing their deceased parents. Their shoulders heaved as they sobbed. Because of poverty, they could not even buy medicine for their parents and had to let go of them.


    Since their passing, they had not been able to have a memorial service for them. They felt sorry that now they were living well without their parents. As they cried harder, everyone was busyforting them. Because of Insoo¡¯s father, who said that it was not good to be too sad on a good day, they couldplete the service.


    Everybody in hanbok gathered in front of the management building for a group photo.


    Fatima and Zeynep looked great in hanbok dress. However, Fatima¡¯s face turned red by Jongil¡¯s singlement.


    ¡°You look great in hanbok. Now all you need to do is putting the bridal headpiece on top. What¡¯s your Korean age?¡±


    Since Fatima had studied Korean traditions, she knew what Jongil meant. If not, there was no reason for her to feel shy.


    After shooting the group picture, Insoo¡¯s family went to the Baku Airport to set off to Europe. Insoo now knew some decent English, so Youngho was not worried about him going on a trip. Since Fatima had made reservations for every hotel and transportation, they would be having afortable trip. Fatima was now an expert of traveling after a few trips with Youngho.


    To Youngho, who was having a rxing day in a long time, Jongil suggested going hunting.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired of firing guns?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to take Szechenyi too. It¡¯s all part of the training.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that you¡¯re going for his training. You just want to avoid Karajan¡¯sints, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. Why would Karajanin to me? Did you install a camera in our house?¡±


    ¡°Dude, that¡¯s so you. I don¡¯t put cameras in other people¡¯s houses. Hmmm. Did Karajan say that she needs to eat deer meat because she¡¯s pregnant?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you¡¯re such a fortune teller. How did you know? She wanted to keep it a secret for now.¡±


    Youngho was surprised because he just said anything to turn Jongil¡¯s attention away because he was toozy to go hunting, but it seemed that his words were true.


    ¡°Man, congrattions, Jongil! We need to celebrate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too early now. Karajan¡¯s going to kill me if she finds out that you already know. Don¡¯t say anything, okay? And let¡¯s go get some deer.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha.... You should tell your unborn child that I¡¯m the godfather, okay?¡±


    Younghoughed after hearing the good news. It was something to celebrate. He decided to go hunting with Jongil since Jongil wouldin and pay him back in some way in the future if he did not go.


    Szechenyi was excited to go hunting together, feeling like he was considered a grown-up now. He was proud when Jongil gave him a pistol to protect the girls in middle of mountains. He went down to the basement and brought rifles.


    They got ready and went up the mountain near the farm. Because Zeynep, who drooled over deer meat, cheered them on as they left the farm, they were determined to find a deer for sure. Gerhardt said that he would prepare the fire.


    They left without Gerhardt because all of them had put on the leather shoes. Since it would take hours wandering around the mountain before finding a deer, they prepared a tactic. Jongil had borrowed Fatima¡¯s ring since Fatima did not use the ring often. Fatima already recovered her health with the power of the ring, and if she was tired, she could use Zeynep or Szechenyi¡¯s rings for a while. So, she let Jongil borrow hers for a long term.


    The three guys ran around the mountains at a tremendous speed. Szechenyi, who was now used to using the leather shoes, controlled them well. Since he had an outstanding vision, he even dodged faster than Youngho and Jongil if he found obstacles in the mountain. Jongil also freely used the leather shoes.


    Szechenyi, who was running in front, suddenly reduced his speed.


    He finally found an elk. The size of the elk was about two-thirds of the size of the elk they caught previously. The elk was grazing the grass and turned its head to the rustling sounds made by Youngho¡¯spany.


    Youngho and Jongil gave a chance to Szechenyi. He released the safety catch of his rifle and fired a shot urately in the frontal part of the elk¡¯s body. It seemed that his training was paying off.


    The elk which was about to jump fell down, its body twitching.


    They gutted the elk and drained its blood, but it still weighed 300 kilograms. Youngho and Jongil carried it together on their shoulders with a wooden pole. It felt lighter once they moved. The leather shoes were lightening the weight upon them. Jongil looked surprised when they walked fast.


    The weight of the elk had been reduced in half because of the leather shoes, so it felt light on Youngho¡¯s shoulder. It was a new power of the ring and shoes because the color of the rock on his ring was lighter now.


    Because of the hunting, Youngho could reveal a new power of the mystical relics. He was excited to find more about their powers in the future.

 Chapter 86 - The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (4)

    <h4>Chapter 86: The Rough Caucasus Mountain Range (4)</h4>


    With the sessfully hunted elk, the farm family had their first big deer meat party in a long time. Peopleplimented Szechenyi since it was his first time hunting a deer. The charcoal-roasted meat tasted great after it was marinated with wine for a while before cooking. They tried a variety of ways of eating the deer meat, such as eating it raw, broiling with salt, roasting with garlic, and so on.


    Zeynep ordered Szechenyi to hunt deer every weekend. When the party was in full swing, Youngho announced Karajan¡¯s pregnancy since he could not hold it in any longer.


    Gerhardt¡¯s mother, who was Karajan¡¯s aunt, told Karajan not to eat the raw meat, but Jongil was trying to make her eat it behind Gerhardt¡¯s mother. It was Karajan who made Jongil go out for a deer hunt because she wanted to eat raw deer meat so badly.


    Youngho had seen a pregnant Korean woman craving for watermelons in the winter when the fruit was not easily found, and Karajan was craving for certain things too. Korean elderly people often scolded young pregnant women, telling the, what not to eat. It seemed that Azerbaijanis shared something inmon with Koreans, since Karajan was told not to eat raw meat.


    ***


    Youngho was smiling while looking at sales settlement data in his library when Fatima came in with some coffee.


    Lately, Youngho had been avoiding Fatima because he sensed something in their rtionship. It was hard to tell what it was. She sat down on a chair across from him and vacantly scanned the data he was reading. Youngho hurriedly asked a question before she said anything.


    ¡°Fatima, do you have something to say?¡±


    ¡°No, I just came to drink coffee with you quietly.¡±


    Youngho feared that she might drop a bombshell that could change their family¡¯s rtionship.


    During the previous trip, Fatima was very affectionate with Youngho. Not minding the Jongil couple¡¯s eyes, she held his arm and hugged him frequently. It was nothing serious, but it was hard for Youngho since their rtionship was not defined yet.


    Looking at Youngho being nervous in front of her, she smiled. Unlike him, she was enjoying this situation because she knew that his face was hardened whenever she came near him. Although she was young, being fast-witted, she was already above Youngho.


    ¡°Oppa, you are hiding something from me, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡®What is she talking about out of nowhere?¡¯


    ¡°I feel like you have another job. Since you can¡¯t even share it with me, I assume it¡¯s an important secret for you to keep, but you need toe clean to me. As your family, I have the right to know about you.¡±


    Youngho was guilty because she was right.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I was sure something happened to you in Georgia but I didn¡¯t say anything. I¡¯ve been watching you, and you just looked distressed and insecure.¡±


    She acted stern.


    The shootout against the Russian border security soldiers was a traumatizing experience for Youngho. Of course he tried to hide his feelings to the best of his abilities; he was unstable, and anyone who knew him well could find out the difference in his behavior with just paying a little attention to him.


    Fatima was the one who sensed the change in his condition. Youngho knew he could not get out of this with a simple lie. If he did note clean this time, it would damage the trust between them. Youngho was not sure how much he should tell.


    After about an hour, Youngho and Fatima came out of the library with happy faces. Youngho came out of the building and lit a cigarette. He saw Jongile out of his house. Spotting Youngho, Jongil came to him to see what was in his friend¡¯s hand.


    ¡°A cigarette? Why are you smoking here in this cold weather?¡±


    ¡°I just came out to smoke. You and I need to talk. Let¡¯s walk toward the factory.¡±


    ¡°Give me one too. I think I should quit soon because of Karajan¡¯sining.¡±


    As they walked toward the wine factory, which stopped operating for the break, Youngho told Jongil what happened with Fatima.


    ¡°Wow. Fatima is surely quick-witted. Were we that obvious?¡±


    ¡°You know, I couldn¡¯t get out of that when she confronted me directly. She made it so serious, and it felt like she was going to renounce me if I didn¡¯t say the truth. I only told her a little about the jobs, but I¡¯m going to have to give her a report on every business trip from now on.¡±


    ¡°Is she going to tell Karajan too?¡±


    ¡°No, she won¡¯t. What good is it if we deliver this to a pregnant woman? She said she¡¯ll keep it to herself forever.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s all good then. You know we need someone in the family to know about us if something goes wrong during a mission.¡±


    ¡°Dude, don¡¯t say that. That¡¯s a bad luck. Why would things go wrong with us?¡±


    Although Youngho was scolding Jongil, he agreed with Jongil.


    Fatima actually liked the fact that Youngho was a CIA agent. She did not understand why Youngho kept it a secret when he could be proud of his job. Youngho drew the line and said that there was nothing dangerous in his job because he went to business trips to meet government officials and politicians of different countries for information.


    Also, about why he was distressed in Georgia, he told her that he was only distressed because he had toe up with the measures for some rebels who received supplies from the CIA because they were attacked by an opposing force.


    Fatima, satisfied with being able to share Youngho¡¯s secret, did not ask for more. She left the library with the face of a student who had solved a mystery math question.


    ***


    Youngho heard about the vige in a mountainous area where Youngho¡¯spany had night visitors. Chief Manager Sevan called him in excitement. / update by


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯ve given us a great clue to a big mystery. Six people known to be missing in the mountains were captured alive in that vige. They were all women and the local police just rescued them. The chiefplimented you for helping in resolving multiple cold cases at once.¡±


    It sounded like the police department was happier to resolve cold cases than to save the victims.


    ¡°So, it sounds like we still don¡¯t know how many people went missing in that town.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, that¡¯s true. We¡¯ll be reporting this to the president, but not to the press. People won¡¯t visit Azerbaijan, knowing that these kinds of things happen in addition to the fact that we are still a disputed country.¡±


    What he was saying was true, but viges like this could be more than one. The remote mountain viges in the rough Caucasus Mountain Range could be many, lying where the government¡¯s administration could not reach.


    ¡°I agree with you on that part, but what if there are other viges like this?¡±


    ¡°For now, we are evacuating and closing the town. We will also do aplete survey around the Caucasus mountainous areas with local police offices. Mr. Lee, you should drop by the department to receive our appreciation que from the chief. It¡¯s an award for your efforts.¡±


    Youngho clicked his tongue at the police¡¯s conduct. They did not really care about missing people¡¯s lives but were focused on saving their faces. Youngho had nothing to say on that since he took away many soldiers¡¯ lives to fulfill a purpose.


    The Main Police Department prepared an appreciation que for Youngho since they achieved aplishments and receivedpliments from the president.


    The case of the missing foreigners was a big mystery that not only police officers, but also consuls and ambassadors from different nations had investigated. Although not wholly resolved, parts of the case were settled.


    The chief asked if Youngho could overlook the fact that they would be receiving credit for the achievements by reporting to the president that it was a result of a long-time effort of the police department. Youngho agreed since the department would owe him for this. He just said that he was d to help out as an honorary police.


    He felt weird to receive an appreciation que because he was responsible for multiple incidents in Baku such as: fires, the explosion in Charles Wine Company, and a terrorist attack in a luxury neighborhood.


    Chief Manager Sevan was now part of Youngho¡¯s family because his distant cousin Karajan was married to Jongil, Youngho¡¯s best friend.


    To Sevan, Youngho was a lifesaver because Youngho had been strengthening his position by doing big businesses and investments in Baku and offering great information to him, saving his face. Not to mention, this time Youngho yed a key role in resolving unsolved cases. Because of Youngho¡¯s help, Sevan was sure that he would be a strong candidate for the position of chief executive.


    Since he trusted Youngho immensely, he told Youngho anything.


    He even shared the shuffling of high officials in the Azerbaijani government, so it was a piece of cake for Youngho to collect exclusive information. After Sevan was promoted to general manager, he had been sharing information exchanged with politicians. So, Youngho could learn what the Russian government requested from the Azerbaijani government.


    The two were having a leisurely conversation with tea in Sevan¡¯s office.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, our government had an unofficial contact with the Russian government, and there will be an exchange of memorandums of understanding between the two soon. They agreed on extending the railroads, with the consent of the Iranian government. So, I¡¯m looking to find a business ce for us.¡±


    ¡°Chief Manager, it might not end well. Why do you want to be involved in the government¡¯s business?¡±


    Sevan looked at Youngho as if his response was absurd.


    ¡°You are a businessman. Don¡¯t you have any ambitions? If the railroads were set up, there would be stations. We should look into that in advance and buy out thends near stations, then we could build any structures on thends. If you don¡¯t want to, then we can sell thends at much higher prices.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Russia has high expectations for this since it will be a mega business that they can attract traders with using the Suez Canal to pass through. If the railroads were set up, the cities around the roads will gain wealth. It¡¯s a great business opportunity.¡±


    ¡®This guy is suggesting a real estate spection. This is dangerous.¡¯


    Sevan wanted Youngho to be his business partner. Since he was an official, it would be too suspicious if he bought and soldrgends under his name. Sevan would give him information about where the railroads would be set up in advance, and Youngho could buy thends around the expected areas. Because of the kind of government corruption like this, it was easy to earn money if you had good connections in a developing country.


    Youngho was not sure whether he should take his offer since he wanted to make money properly. However, it was intriguing at the same time. He thought he could buynds first and sell them back at regr prices to people who needed thends, so he took Sevan¡¯s offer.


    There would be many other people who would want to secure thends near the expected railroad route. Youngho thought it would be stupid if he did not take the business opportunity because of a fumbling sense of morality. With his wealth, what he could do now was to securends to be developed. He would worry about what he would do with thendster.


    Thinking that it would be a great idea to predict where the railroads would be, Youngho went to a bookstore to get a map book. He also wanted to get some books for the family. Looking at himself, changing like a rough and deste Caucasus Mountain Range, he thought he could use some intellectual nourishment.

 Chapter 87 - A Dangerous Decision and a Battle (1)

    <h4>Chapter 87: A Dangerous Decision and a Battle (1)</h4>


    Philip urgently called Youngho from Georgia.


    He said that the Georgian border securities in Shatili were attacked by the Russian army soldiers based in Chechen¡¯s border city. Theyunched a surprise attack, but thankfully only a few Georgian securities were wounded. They did not fight back but retreated while defending themselves.


    ¡°Philip, what do you mean? They did not fight back but only retreated?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just as you heard. There were too many Russian soldiers surrounding them, so they only defended themselves in their base camp. They could not fight back. And the strange thing is that the Russian army only destroyed the storage unit and pulled back.¡±


    It was obvious that the Russian army had found out that Georgia provided supplies for the Chechen rebels, so they bombed the storage unit of the Georgian borderline securities. There were a few mysteries in their actions. How the Russian army came to find out about the supply route was unknown, and it was also weird that they only attacked Georgian soldiers, not Chechen rebels.


    This could mean that the rebels were already broken up or they were out of the Russian army¡¯s reach, because the rebels went deeper into the mountains to hide. Since Russia could not wage war against Georgia, they had only destroyed the supply route for the Chechen rebels.


    Youngho was dying to know what happened to the rebels such as the ck Widows and the ck Eagle, but he could not just walk in to Chechnya using official routes. Since the leaders of the ck Widows were arrested, he did not know if his identity was exposed to their government as an Asian CIA agent.


    He did not know how many of the rebels were left in the group. In order to find out about them, he needed to cross the Georgian border to enter Chechnya.


    There was no evidence that the CIA was involved in supporting rebel forces of Chechnya. If the leaders of the ck Widows revealed information about the CIA, the CIA would just deny their involvement. Since Youngho had nned to exchange his money with Basayev¡¯s gold bars, he felt sorry, but it did not seem like Basayev would get caught so easily.


    The reason that Youngho was obsessed with gold bars manufactured from the Russian Empire was that they were unique and hard to find. They had much more value than the money which was saved in Youngho¡¯s bank ount.


    He did not like to keep money in the bank that had only such a minimal interest rate. If he could swap the money with the gold bars, it was likely that he would get more money out of them.


    A few days ago, Youngho paid off the mortgage of the site of his farm and became thendlord of his farm. He had two million dors at the time, and he thought it would be just simple to pay off all the debt which was 1.12 million dors. He did not want to waste more time since he was always on business trips and he could miss important deadlines for payments. It was better to use the money instead of saving them in the bank ount without any interest.


    The government officials weed Youngho¡¯s early payment since it made the process so much convenient. Kamal of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who introduced him to invest in the nationalnd, was also satisfied by Youngho¡¯s decision.


    Azerbaijan was no different to a socialist state and the taxation authority could find out any financial transactions of any business. That was why businessmen in here preferred keeping their own money rather than depositing them in their bank ounts. Also, restaurants treated customers who paid in cash better than the ones who used bank cards. The business society was overflowing with ck money and bribes.


    Because of the sessful oil industry, the government also did not pay too much attention to small businessmen. Officials just used them as a means to receive bribes. The reason why officials held up the low sries was because the government conventionally tolerated ck money and bribing among them.


    Since the government ruled the country with dictatorship, they allowed some freedom among officials to receive their ardent support.


    ***


    ¡®When the darkness falls, the Eagles hide in the dark and wolves stretch themselves.¡¯ This is what Youngho thought about the situation of Chechnya and Russia. The ck Eagles and the ck Widows were hiding, and Russia was dominating the bordends between Georgia and Chechnya. Russia was oppressing women and children in the viges of the Caucasus Mountains because the ck Eagles had disappeared into the mountains.


    At the Georgian security checkpoint, the refugees rushed in to take shelter. They could not stay in their viges because of the Russian forces. They were not fond of the rebels, but without their presence in the mountains, they could not stop the Russian forces.


    The status quo had been broken at the border, and more Russian soldiers dominated the area. The CIA¡¯s European Chapter, which had been helping the Chechen rebels, now could not just overlook the situation. If the CIA did not act upon the situation, the rebellious minority group of people around the Caucasus Mountains would start extreme terrorism. If that happened, Russia could dere war against them and wipe them out from the area, which the CIA was worried about.


    Finally, Michael from the European Chapter gave an assignment to Youngho¡¯s team to investigate on the Chechen rebel forces and contact them. Michael gave Youngho an option to forfeit the mission depending on his situations, but he just took the job since he wondered about the rebels and he wanted to collect more gold bars from them. He also decided to take Jongil since Jongil was getting extremely stressed over Karajan¡¯s mood swings.


    Since Insoo had just returned from his trip to Europe and there were armed security guards protecting the farm, Youngho could travel to Georgia without worry, taking Jongil with him. There were a lot of weapons that they needed to bring, so they chose to travel onnd. The Hummer given by Sergey turned into a mission car. There were first-aid kit,bat rations, cookware, and field operational supplies in the car.


    While preparing for the trip, the smile on Jongil¡¯s face never ceased. He seemed to have been stressed out by Karajan¡¯s nagging andining. Youngho told the Fatima siblings that he was going to Georgia to direct the construction site for the new warehouse retailer shop. Since he did not want to worry Fatima, he did not tell her the truth. It was beneficial for both parties.


    ***


    Although they met Philip in Tbilisi, Georgia, they could not hear any news about the rebels. They stayed in Tbilisi for another day and looked around the construction site of the retailer shop. Youngho took photos of the sites and construction materials in case Fatima asked about the trip. It was important for Youngho to satisfy her.


    The next day, they went to the town of Shatili and checked in a hotel, leaving their car in a parking spot. Since there were plenty of travelers who came to hike on the winter mountain, they did not look suspicious. After securing the routes of local shepherds and preparing, they left the hotel.


    Youngho felt the good weight of his backpack on his shoulders every time he took a step. The white camouge fatigues and bullet-proof vest were a little ufortable, but he had to put them on since there were plenty of Russian snipers hiding near the border.


    He put his disassembled rifle in his backpack and his pistol in his front pocket. Although each carried about forty kilograms of load including emergency food, tents, sleeping bags, extra ammunitions, grenades, night vision goggles, and so on, they did not feel tired because of the magical power of the leather shoes.


    Youngho and Jongil sprinted on the snowy mountain paths using the leather shoes. They needed to hurry and follow the shepherd¡¯s paths before darkness fell upon them. Because many shepherds frequently crossed the frontier, Russian border securities conventionally overlooked them.


    They ran about an hour and their eyes caught nothing, not even a single animal. It was already evening and it was a cold day with the temperature below freezing point. After passing the telescope to Jongil, Youngho boiled water for coffee and lit a cigarette. Since there were no people around, he did not have to be careful.


    He took out a rife from his backpack assembled it. From now on, any person they face would be Russian border securities. If he and Jongil were spotted by them, it would not just entail inspection; there would be a life-and-death battle.


    Jongil, who was frowning at the smoke of his own cigarette, also assembled his rifle. He looked rxed, seeming as if he came out for a walk.


    ¡°You look like you¡¯re having fun.¡±


    ¡°You want me to cry then?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean that. Are you not worried?¡±


    ¡°Hey. We already killed people. Since we can¡¯t turn the clock back, we¡¯ve got to consider that this is just our destiny.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just finish this quickly and go drink with Brother Sergey in Tbilisi.¡±


    Jongil must have remembered that Sergey would be visiting in a few days to look over the construction site of their store. Youngho got excited while thinking about drinking.


    ¡®Man, did I be an alcoholic now?¡¯


    Thinking about other things made him feel less nervous.


    Putting on their backpacks, they slowly walked along the ridge. They blended in with the piled up snow well since they were dressed in camouge fatigues.


    What they needed to do now was to find any camp bases of the Russian army. Meeting Russian soldiers would be their only way to find out about the Chechen rebels. A fox eating a wild rat ran away before their eyes. The fact that fox was hunting here was a sign that there were no people around. They kept going.


    After an hour of moving, they spotted smokeing out from a distance. It must being from a Russian army base. They decided to approach them and wait until it was dark to attack them.

 Chapter 88 - A Dangerous Decision and a Battle (2)

    <h4>Chapter 88: A Dangerous Decision and a Battle (2)</h4>


    The Russian camp was a small-sizedpany.


    As Youngho and Jongil hid and watched them, they seemed to have ckened their discipline. A sentry kept yawning on the watchtower and an officer was drunk even though it was before nightfall. There was an obvious shortage of soldiers even though there were four barracks. Usually, apany had about 120 soldiers, but they only had only around 50 soldiers at most.


    The rest must have gone out for a break or for other missions such as an ambush attack. Guessing from their rxed attitude, Youngho thought that they must have gone out for a break. They did not seem to have enemies around them.


    The army deployed to the Chechnya¡¯s border consisted of strong soldiers who had gone through Ranger training. Those strong soldiers did seem nervous at all, and it might be because they had already defeated the Chechen rebel forces.


    Waiting for the dark, the two nned for their next moves. If they abduct a few to interrogate, the camp would find out that there were missing soldiers. If they put an emergency alert, Youngho and Jongil would be confined in the border area and would not be able to escape. If they wipe out the camp, it would also be a problem, but they could earn some time to escape. They decided to wipe them out and discussed the means.


    First, they needed to take down the guards on the watchtower using a rifle with a silencer attached and shut off the emergency phone. Then, they would divide and throw grenades in each barrack. Lastly, they would capture somemanders and interrogate them.


    Killing would be easier than capturing soldiers alive. Jongil would be dealing with themander¡¯s room because he insisted that Youngho might killmanders by not being able to control his strength. After discussing the n, they reviewed everything and took a nap in their sleeping bags.


    Youngho¡¯s watch pointed to 2 o¡¯clock in the morning.


    He put down a guard on a watchtower near the gate and Jongil took down two guards who were patrolling around with their sniper rifles. Usually in the army, the night shift rotation hours were around 11 PM, 1 AM, 3 AM, and 5 AM. Until 3 o¡¯clock, they still had some time left. Watching Jongil, who just reached near a barrack, Youngho also went near another barrack and removed the safety pin of a grenade. Because the two were wearing night vision goggles, they could see each other clearly. They both nodded and threw grenades in all of the barracks.


    A few momentster, they could hear consecutive exploding sounds before it became quiet. Youngho waited for lucky soldiers who would be still alive ande out since one or two grenades would not kill ten soldiers. He was right. Soldiers covered in blood tried to escape the barracks. Youngho shut his eyes tightly for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he aimed at a soldier who was struggling to walk straight, and shot at him. As if a stove was knocked down by the explosion, a fire started inside a barrack.


    Even if there were people alive inside, no one would be able to escape the big fire and its smoke. Youngho stopped and nked out for a while as he looked at the fire. Feeling guilty, he asked himself about what he was doing, but he shook his head hard to forget and to dispel the notion.


    Jongil shouted at Youngho from themander¡¯s room. It seemed that he had already taken down themanders.


    ***


    The burning fire brightened the whole camp.


    All of the soldiers were already dead.


    There were threemanders on the camp.


    As if they had drunk before they went to sleep, the room was filled with the smell of liquor. Themanders who still did not know what was going on kept yelling in their underwear.


    They were still drunk.


    Youngho sshed water over amander¡¯s face from the half-filled cup on a desk. When the cold water hit his face, themander shivered. Sensing Youngho¡¯s fierce spirit, he stopped yelling.


    Youngho had already killed about fifty soldiers with Jongil. It would be no different for him if he killed three more. He was determined to kill them after the interrogation. They would be enemies anyway if met in a battlefield. It was rather painful to him if he treated them personally.


    The two came out of the room for the time being. The big mes had already ceased and there was only a little fire left.


    Without saying, the two lit cigarettes.


    After smoking two cigarettes in a row, they smiled bitterly, looking at each other before putting on masks again to go back inside.


    Two of themanders who could speak English told them about the current state of the Chechen rebels. Themanders already guessed their soldiers¡¯ fates when the two masked men freely roamed in and out of themander¡¯s room. They seemed to have seen a premonition of their own deaths.


    Since they had been attacking and oppressing the small Chechen viges in the mountains, they thought that Youngho and Jongil came to take revenge for what they did. For there was no reason to make excuses, Youngho and Jongil just listened to themanders.


    They said the Russian army had raided the rebels¡¯ bases and almost wiped them out, but about one-fifth of the rebels survived and escaped from their attacks. Since the rebels did not have any foods or weapons when they slipped into the mountains, the Russian army did not chase them anymore, judging that they would not survive the harsh winter of the Caucasus Mountain Range.


    ***


    Now, the mission was over since they got out all the information they needed frommanders¡¯ mouths. The Chechen armed rebel forces had fallen into pieces now.


    There was one job left, returning to the vige of Shatili. When they asked if themanders want to say any other things, they cried for their lives.


    Youngho pondered for a while, thinking of how to deal with themanders now. Since thework was cut off, someone woulde to investigate what happened here.


    Apparently the closest unit was located at a distance that took a half day to reach.


    There was enough time to flee.


    Although they were enemies, Youngho was not so heartless to kill people whom he had been talking with. Youngho and Jongil shared a look.


    Since themanders had not seen their faces, they just decided to let them live. Not to mention, they did not want to kill people anymore. They could tie up themanders in their room so that they could be rescued by other soldiers who came out to search.


    There was enough time for Youngho and Jongil to reach Georgia.


    Themanders must think that people from Chechen viges came to avenge their people. When Youngho was thinking about all that, one of themanders suggested that he would give Youngho gold bars if he let them live.


    It was such a sobering suggestion. The Russian soldiers must have attained those gold bars from the Chechen rebels when they raided their bases.


    When Youngho nodded, themander pointed to an iron container. It was locked, but it broke easily when Youngho hit it with the butt te of his rifle.


    In the container, gold bars shone brightly. Roughly counting, there were about fifty gold bars. Themanders admitted that they picked them up while chasing the rebels running away. Since the gold bars were too heavy to carry, the rebels had abandoned them to save their lives.


    Themanders did not even report the gold to the headquarters of a battalion because they were going to take it for themselves. They would not be able to track the gold bars since they had never reported them.


    Youngho thought that it was a reward for their hard work in this mission. Because Youngho hesitated for a while, he received an unexpected reward. He was going to let them live anyways without the gold bars, but this was much better. Themanders at the edge of their lives would think that they exchanged the gold bars for their lives.


    Youngho and Jongil left the camp, not dying for a single moment.


    They would not search for the rebels anymore. Whether they still lived or not, the CIA would not be involving itself with the Chechen rebels anymore for now. Youngho guessed that Basayev was still alive because he did not find any cash that he had exchanged for the gold bars. He thought that he would meet Basayev again if destiny allowed it.


    ***


    They returned to Shatili after a day.


    Since Jongil hustled Youngho to set off to Tbilisi instead of dawdling in there, they left the vige as soon as they were ready. The ce now would be remembered as a bad memory in their hearts.


    Youngho regretted killing the soldiers when he could just escape quickly using the leather shoes although they would have been chased by the army.


    They fiercely drove away from the vige as if someone was chasing them. Jongil joked about the mission, saying that it was the best battle and extortion for life.


    As Jongil asked if Youngho would return the gold bars to the European Chapter, Youngho did not say anything but stroked the back of his head as the answer.


    Jongil pped and joyfully said that the gold would be their social security for the future.


    ¡®Is he serious or is he just stupid? Why would you report the booty earned from killing people?¡¯


    ¡°Jongil, if you want to, I can give you your share right now.¡±


    ¡°Nope. I can use them anytime I want when you take care of them. You just need to give expensive presents when our baby is born.¡±


    Jongil was not a money-seeker. He was not greedy, but he only wanted good presents for the baby. Youngho was impressed that Jongil was not like other people since they would normally want to take their share right away.


    When they arrived at Tbilisi, they had a short meeting with Agent Philip.


    They did not talk about demolishing apany-sized army unit, but told him that they found out about the rebels by interrogating amander who was out to patrol around the border.


    They reported what they found out about the rebels: that Basayev was still alive and the armed rebel forces of the Caucasus Mountain Range fell into pieces.


    Youngho did not forget to warn Philip not to go near the vige of Shatili since he had interrogated amander and Philip seemed to agree with him. In fact, since Youngho and Jongil wiped out an army camp, the Russian border securities would be seeking for the attackers for a while.


    To Michael, the Chief Executive of the European Chapter, Youngho reported that there was no hope for the Chechen rebels for the time being. The CIA was also not willing to help them out anymore since it was too risky now.


    Anyway, Youngho¡¯s team hadpleted another difficult assignment. There were no other teams that would go into the rough mountains in the harsh coldness to coax forth valuable information. Their aplishment was praiseworthy.


    Youngho hung up the phone call with Michael with satisfaction on his face since Michael said that he would send the informationmission soon.


    ***


    Sergey arrived at Tbilisi.


    A month ago, the three of them gathered and drank until they were dead drunk and they got an earful from Karajan. Even though there was no one around toin, they were not in the mood to drink anymore.


    They were traumatized after the attack.


    They already received an establishment approval for the warehouse retailer shop, so what was left to do was to build the store.


    Sergey said that he was building a direct store in downtown in the form of a big supermarket. He was also buying out thends in the city now. Since his mafia organization was rich, he would be buying outnds and installing big facilities to attract customers.


    He must be nning to open big distribution markets around the Caucasus regions since he said that he could not be satisfied with a retailer shop only. His scale of business was much bigger than what Youngho was thinking.


    Although Youngho was only the pretend owner of the business, Yaniv said that Youngho should have some stocks of the business to be considered as the business owner. He sent a stock certificate of the 5% of the warehouse retailer shop to Youngho through Sergey. Since what Yaniv believed was reasonable, Youngho took the certificate, but he doubted earning much from the warehouse retailer shop. In a year, he would be receiving a surprising amount, but as of now, he did not have any hope in the business.


    Youngho had done a terrible thing that a human must not do at the Georgian border. He felt bad for taking people¡¯s lives even though it was for a mission. He was still making excuses to justify himself not feeling guilty. He was frustrated to think that he was turning into a monster.

 Chapter 89 - Life is Like… (1)

    <h4>Chapter 89: Life is Like... (1)</h4>


    Youngho and Jongil tried to forget about the mission when meeting Sergey, they were suffering some kind of post-traumatic disorder after the attack. It was normal for soldiers who had been in battles where lives were taken. It was natural for a normal person to be shocked after killing people. Youngho wanted to get rid of the bad feelings before he returned to Baku since he thought he could not go back to his normal life at this state. He wanted to go travel but he had just been to a trip with the family not long ago.


    Before leaving Tbilisi, Youngho bought quite a lot of ssic music CDs in a music shop. He picked 200 of CDs including well-known musicians such as Mozart. As he listened to the ssic music while driving back, Jongil finally opened his mouth.


    ¡°What are you doing? What is this improper music?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of healing my soul. Since I¡¯ve done something that a human shouldn¡¯t do, I¡¯m trying to soothe my soul. You should listen to it with your heart too.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Hey Jongil. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll be doing things like this habitually. I don¡¯t feel guilty anymore.¡±


    Jongil replied to him after a while of silence,


    ¡°You die when you don¡¯t kill in war. You¡¯re thinking too much. Don¡¯t be weak. Just face the fact and get over with it.¡±


    Jongil was right but Youngho could not agree with him.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to listen to music, its rxing. Since I can¡¯t go on a trip, I¡¯ll just be satisfied listening to the music for now.¡±


    It was Jongil¡¯s turn to drive, so they exchanged the seats. Listening to the heart-warming violin ying to Pablo de Sarasate piece, Youngho fell asleep.


    ***


    After returning to Baku, Youngho spent his days quietly pruning grape vines with his farm employees, reading books about wine production, and listening to calm music. The siblings benefited the most by Youngho¡¯s change since they loved having him on the farm. Youngho spent his time with the siblings as much as possible and made fun events for them. Making new, peaceful memories with them, Youngho was forgetting his horrendous experience little by little. He barely left the farm, so even Sevan came to visit him on the farm, saying that Youngho never showed his face at the police department anymore.


    The traumatizing experience changed Youngho¡¯s overall life.


    It was around this time when Youngho started installing speakers around the farm, so that he could listen to music all the time anywhere he went. There was another reason for this; He had read from an agriculture-rted book that music stimtes the growth of nts. The music was for the health of his soul and ss well as his grapes. The farm employees also weed the new change since they could hear music while they worked.


    Youngho sometimes had struggles with the siblings to turn on the ssic music which he liked since they were into K-Pop musictely. They insisted turning on K-Pop music. Those little arguments and struggles with the siblings made his life richer. The farm was as lively as usual.


    ¡°Shake it, shake it. Oppa, your butt! Shake it!¡±


    Shaking her behind, Zeynep was singing along the tune of a K-Pop song.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to do it? SZE. CHE. NYI~ Do it!!! Why not?!¡±


    The farm family was startled by Zeynep¡¯s demand since she asked everyone to dance with her. Because of her cuteness while dancing with her small body, the family started dancing alongside her without thinking much. When Youngho stepped in the management building, he spotted Insoo and Jongil dancing and shaking their behinds, forced by Zeynep.


    Youngho¡¯s peaceful days of focusing on his farm except when he had to go for a monthly CIA meeting in Frankfurt were turned upside down by a call from Katya in South Ossetia.


    He received a coded email from her once a week. Since there was nothing special going on, Youngho had been pushing back his visit to South Ossetia. However, Katya asked him to visit her to discuss something important. Youngho was getting tired of being on the farm all the time, so he reported the trip to the European chapter and left for South Ossetia with Jongil.


    ***


    ¡°Youngho, doesn¡¯t your head hurt? Man, I¡¯m getting a headache.¡±


    Having an altitude sickness, Jongil rubbed his temples.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be on a downhill soon. Hold on.¡±


    ¡°Who would make a country in this area? Man, you¡¯ve got to have wise ancestors.¡±


    Jongil keptining for his pain. Youngho knew that he would change his attitude as soon as he sees Katya.


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯re traveling around these ces because we have great ancestors?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m jealous of Europeans, they live without worries. That¡¯s why you need to have power first. Look at them, they always use other countries¡¯ resources freely. They used Africans as their ves and now their descendants are living in wealth.¡±


    Jongil had a point. If Korea turned their eyes to overseas a little bit faster, Korea must have more power in the international society now. They cussed at their ancestors for a while and it seemed to relieve the symptoms of their altitude sickness.


    They stopped by the restaurant that Youngho visited every time he came to South Ossetia. The chubby ownerdy greeted Youngho with a big hug, Jongil looked at them as if he was surprised. Youngho shrugged and took out a variety of spices that he had bought for her. Thedy was touched by him again. She tried to hug him again, so Youngho stopped her by saying that it was just a favor.


    Jongil who also received a forceful hug of the stinkydy stared at Youngho. He could see that des areing out of Jongil¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Dude, why did you let her hug me? I¡¯m a married man and a father-to-be.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? That¡¯s great. So, you wouldn¡¯t care about the agent that we¡¯ll be meeting today. She¡¯s also a mother.¡±


    ¡°Man, why would I care about a married woman? I can¡¯t even handle Karajan these days.¡±


    Youngho smiled in his mind. It was funny to think how Jongil would react to Katya.


    ¡°She has an eight-year-old daughter but she¡¯s still beautiful. Don¡¯t you ignore a married woman although she¡¯s widowed now. She¡¯s an important information agent for us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. I won¡¯t blink even if a miss universe shows up.¡±


    Youngho narrowly held hisughter. There would be an affair that he could make fun out of Jongil for the rest of his life.


    Youngho had brought Jongil to this trip to draw the line with Katya, he did not want her to misunderstand his favors. If they had conflicts, it would also affect their work. He wanted to prevent things before they got out of his hands. Of course, being a young and healthy man, Youngho liked beautiful girls but he needed to be professional for now since he was not ready to settle down.


    ***


    After checking in at a hotel near the bus terminal of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Jongil seemed to be surprised by the environmentsgging behind. The hotel¡¯s facility was worse than inns in small European towns. The only thing that seemed proper for a hotel was the people in the cafe dressed up in business attires.


    Jongil finally asked a question to Youngho,


    ¡°You had been sleeping here every time you visited here?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Where else can I go? There are ruins all around the city. They say that Tskhinvali was not attacked because of the foreign journalists in here during a war against Georgia. This is the safest ce in the country.¡±


    ¡°Huh, is that so? I think it¡¯d be better to rebuild the town after getting attacked.¡±


    ¡°People here only make 300 dors a year. Well, the statistics could be wrong but look. I heard that they found oil field in the lownds. Who knows, they might be a powerful country in a few years?¡±


    ¡°Man, say no more. This country is giving me headaches.¡±


    Jongil seemed to want return to Baku as soon as possible, which was thoroughly understandable. The country was full of winding roads that gave them nausea and the altitude of 2000 meters above sea level was only the beginning.


    The two stopped talking at the appearance of Katya who just stepped inside the caf¨¦. Her gorgeous beauty could make any man stop doing whatever he was doing. Spotting Youngho, she came near him and gave him a big hug and a kiss. Jongil looked at the two as if he was confused.


    ¡°Katya, let me introduce Jongil. He¡¯s our colleague and a good friend, Park Jongil.¡±


    Katya greeted Jongil the same way as she did to Youngho. Still in confusion, Jongil seemed to be frozen.


    ¡°Boss, I prepared dinner at my house. Let¡¯s go eat first and we can talk about workter.¡±


    ¡°Alright. How¡¯s Rena by the way?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s so excited to see you. You didn¡¯t forget to bring her a gift, did you?¡±


    ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t forget, I have a whole lot prepared for her. Hey Jongil. Let¡¯s go, Katya has dinner ready for us.¡±


    Holding hisughter, Youngho pped Jongil¡¯s back and he got up regaining his consciousness. The unimaginable beauty of Katya was enough to stun Jongil.


    ¡°Papa.¡±


    Rena waited at the front door of the house and ran into Youngho¡¯s arms as soon as she saw him and kissed him. She courteously greeted Jongil too and went back to Youngho¡¯s arms. Katya¡¯s mom also greeted Youngho brightly.


    Inside the house now looked tidied up. It looked like a regr house of a middle ss family. Since Youngho had been giving Katya informationmission and added some of his payments to hermission, she was financially supported well now. Youngho had been saving the earnings from the retailer shop in the city because he nned to buy the hotel that he was staying someday and develop it to expand the business.


    Watching Youngho ying with Katya at the dinner table, Jongil called him out with an excuse of smoking.


    ¡°Man, you are a man with a lot secret. Do you have anything to say in this situation?¡±


    Youngho only smiled because Jongil just started giving full scope to his imagination.


    ¡°¡®Papa¡¯? Are you her dad now? How far did you go with Katya? Man, I¡¯m so frustrated. Tell me what happened now!¡±


    ¡°Keep going with your fiction.¡±


    ¡°What if Fatima finds out about this? Oh, sweet Fatima. She¡¯ll be torn into pieces. She¡¯s been living for you. What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°Done with what?¡±


    Jongil yelled at him with frustration since Youngho was not telling him anything.


    ¡°If what I¡¯m imagining is true, you¡¯d be dead by me today. You¡¯re a cheater!¡±


    Youngho could not stop holding hisughter anymore. Now he just became a cheater in Jongil¡¯s imagination.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Later at a caf¨¦, Katya scolded Jongil who was drooping as if he was a sinner. She poured a drink in his cup and said.


    ¡°How can you imagine something like that? Aren¡¯t you his friend? You still don¡¯t know about boss?¡±

 Chapter 90 - Life is Like… (2)

    <h4>Chapter 90: Life is Like... (2)</h4>


    Listening to Jongil¡¯s sweet singing voice, Youngho and Katya clinked the sses together. Jongil who was on the small stage of the caf¨¦ had been singing four songs in a row because Katya would not let hime down the stage, being charmed by his voice.


    ¡°Boss, I made my bed for you because I thought you¡¯de alone. I missed the opportunity.¡±


    Katya made a tant joke.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I brought Jongil with me. I was afraid that you¡¯d get all over me. I can handle Rena but I can¡¯t handle you.¡±


    ¡°Ho ho... Thank you boss.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to see you happy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I haven¡¯t been this happy in a long time. It¡¯s all because of you.¡±


    ¡°Stop ttering me, I can¡¯te if you keep doing that. Just treat me as like colleagues.¡±


    ¡°No, you have my respect forever. Please don¡¯t feel ufortable since I¡¯m doing it for myself.¡±


    ¡°Oh well.¡±


    ¡°And pleasee alone when you visit here. I¡¯d very much like to be a woman but I¡¯m not going to cross the line. Pleasee for Rena. She¡¯s dying to see you all the time, will you?¡±


    Youngho could not reject her request because Katya¡¯s face was so desperate. Rena considered Youngho as her ¡®papa¡¯ because he was the first man who treated her kindly ever since she learned how to speak.


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Thinking about her daughter, Katya choked up and could not continue talking for a while.


    The cheerful sound clinking of sses echoed in the caf¨¦. Jongil who apologized for his misunderstanding with singing became friends with Katya through his friendliness.


    ¡°You know, there were plenty of clues for my misunderstanding. The little one called him ¡®papa¡¯ and your mother hugged him as if he was her son-inw.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Jongil¡¯s chattiness made Katya let down her guard. Enjoying the light mood, she looked happy as never before.


    ¡°Man! I should¡¯ve met you earlier. Then I¡¯d have to reconsider my marriage.¡±


    Jongil must be drunk now since he started to bber.


    The next day, the two ate Korean instant spicy ramen sweating in their hotel room and headed to Katya¡¯ retailer shop. Even though they drank the same amount of alcohol, Katya was sober as usual.


    ¡°Boss. Wee! It¡¯s been busy since the morning. We¡¯ve got some orders piled-up.¡±


    ¡°Katya, don¡¯t worry about us. We¡¯ll just look around.¡±


    Even though it was still before noon, Katya looked busy checking the supplies delivered by two small pickup trucks.


    The reason why Katya called Youngho was that she nned to quit being a public official and start focusing wholly on the retailer business. Her resignation was already submitted when Youngho and Jongil arrived at South Ossetia. Her role in South Ossetia was a source of information but there was not much to know in the area since South Ossetia was a satellite state of Russia.


    At the border of South Ossetia and Georgia, the Ossetian soldiers, who were citizens of Russia, had been deployed to guard the borderline. The rtionship of the two countries were getting worse.


    Katya, who regained peace in her life, wanted to quit being an agent. Knowing her situations well, Youngho decided to ept her resignation. She was a mother and had a family to support and protect. From the incident rted to Chechen rebels, he thought that the job of an agent was not suitable for a mother like her.


    Since South Ossetia was a small country, he could ask information about it from Sergey because the South Russian mafias still frequently visited the country since it was their job to sell back the furs received as payments for daily necessities.


    ***


    After their job in South Ossetia was done, Youngho and Jongil went to Moscow.


    Youngho¡¯s phone, which had been turned off during his trip, showed that he had bunch of missed calls. When he called back to the number, someone answered the phone immediately. Basayev of the ck Widows spoke in his deep voice.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It¡¯s Basayev. I wanted to talk to you for thest time.¡±


    His mention of ¡®for thest time¡¯ distressed Youngho.


    ¡°Where are you now? I¡¯m in Moscow. Can we meet?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. We just finished our preparation and we¡¯re on the move. I¡¯m on a train right now.¡±


    ¡°I searched all over the borderline to find you. What¡¯s going on now...?¡±


    The signal was weak and the connection was interrupted frequently.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to give ast warning to Russia. We¡¯ll stun the whole world. I can¡¯t tell you about it anymore.¡±


    His voice was shaking. He sounded extremely insecure.


    ¡°The reason I called you is to say thank you for consoling the souls of my deceasedrades.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about... Hello...? Hello?¡±


    The call about to disconnect was reconnected again.


    ¡°The rumor had spread widely around the border. A whole Russian camp of border securities were devastated by a single detached unit. I wanted to thank you for avenging us and...¡±


    ¡°Hello. Hello?¡±


    Because of the poor connection on the running train, Youngho was cut off and he could never get back the signal again.


    ¡°Was that Basayev? I¡¯m d he¡¯s still alive. What did he say?¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯s going to warn Russia for thest time. I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s saying though.¡±


    ¡°You know, isn¡¯t what they¡¯d do obvious? Terror attack. I hope they don¡¯t hold people as hostages.¡±


    Hearing Jongil¡¯s passing word ¡®terror¡¯ made Youngho froze. It would not be little attack since Basayev said it was thest warning. They would probably destroy important government building or do something that would damage Russia permanently.


    ¡°Jongil do you have any ideas to what they¡¯re going to do? He said he¡¯s going to make the world shocked.¡±


    ¡°How would I know? I¡¯m not a fortune teller. Something to shock the world... Maybe they are attacking an airport? No, the security is too strict. Wait. Are they thinking about bombing the oil pipeline in Chechnya?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Dude, don¡¯t just blink. Think! See? If the oil pipeline that goes to Russia was destroyed, the oil prices around the globe will shift. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s guess was rational. There was a pipeline that passed through Chechnya, if it was exploded it would have a worldwide impact. The ck Widows was an extreme terrorist group that did not fear death, especially when their group is already fallen and they were left hopeless.


    ***


    Youngho hurriedly called Michael.


    He told him the whole conversation he just had with Basayev who was now the leader of the ck Widows. Michael was startled too.


    Even though the CIA was at information war with Russia since it was a hostile country, if the oil price would change, the Western world will as well. He told Youngho to stand by until he received any orders from the headquarters.


    Youngho hinted the information to Yaniv subtly and said that he should reinforce the security around pipelines against any terror attacks in the future, since Yaniv was the one who could directly contact President Putin. He convinced Yaniv to call the president since he heard the information from a reliable source. Youngho was desperate since he could prevent the bombing attack if they acted now. He was d that Basayev gave him a hint.


    Michael called him back. He said that the US government had decided that it was an emergency situation and they contacted the Russian government officially letting them know about the possible terrorist attack. Michael wanted Youngho to stay in Russia for a while. Since Youngho had nothing to do in Russia, he had an idea.


    Youngho shared his idea with Jongil, to show Karajan and the Fatima siblings around Moscow. Of course, Jongil was in it since Karajan had beeniningtely. He thought that it was a great time to relieve her stress. It was only a two-hour flight from Baku to Moscow. Since the distance was close, it was not a major decision to travel to Moscow. One of the reasons to call Karajan was because she spoke Russian.


    ***


    The arrival lobby of Moscow¡¯s Sheremetyevo International Airport was crowded. Finding Youngho, Zeynep ran up to him and gave him a hug, Szechenyi and Fatima came out with their carry-ons smiling. Karajan walked out carefully holding her belly which was not that big at all yet and she did not forget to side-nce Jongil. Youngho could read what she was saying already with her eyes; ¡®why are you not helping me to walk already?!¡¯


    ¡°Oppa, you could juste back to Baku. Why did you call all of us? Well, we were excited to see Moscow though.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s face lightly smiling was beautiful that Youngho wanted to hug her.


    ¡°I need to stay in Moscow for work for a while. Since we have nothing to do here, we just thought it would be nice to have you all to look around here. Also, since Karajan is under a lot of stress, I thought she could use some trip.¡±


    ¡°You are certainly thoughtful, boss! You¡¯re the only one who cares about me. Jongil just wanted to drink here, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that Karajan. It was Jongil¡¯s idea to call you, not me.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be true.¡±


    On one hand she was saying that but on the other hand, she was patting Jongil¡¯s back, feeling better.


    It was snowing as they left the airport.


    Since the weather was too cold, the snow was powdery. Fatima and Zeynep were wearing hats, scarves, and arm and leg warmers made of fox fur but Karajan looked a little cold. Youngho gave Jongil a look to get back inside because he had spotted a fur shop in the airport. Jongil, being fast-witted, led Karajan into the fur shop in the airport.


    Meanwhile, the siblings told where they wanted to visit in Moscow. It was only a two-hour long flight but they had searched the inte and found tourist attractions in Moscow.


    Fatima stood next Youngho closely. She had great scenting out from her and Youngho was losing his senses.


    ¡®Man, I don¡¯t know what she ate but she doesn¡¯t have a bad breath. She smells sweet.¡¯


    Aged only 22, it would be weird if she smelled bad, she never smoked or drank wildly either. A few momentster, Karajan showed up with a satisfied look. She was covered in fur. Fatima and Zeynepplimented her look and Jongil looked proud. He looked at Youngho and winked. Both parties shared a look behind Karajan.


    They reserved a van from the airport with a driver for the next few days. Since it was huge, it had an advantage for arge group with many loads. Also, they did not have to deal with lousy taxi drivers. They drove the van to Ritz-Carlton Hotel near Red Square through snowy roads. Karajan exchanged some conversations with the chatty driver and she said that the driver would give them a tour the next day. Since it was just too cold to walk outside in Moscow, they agreed on having a tour with the van.


    They stayed at the hotel for the rest of the day in a rxed manner. Even though his body was resting at a hotel, Youngho felt uneasy since people would be fighting over the oil pipeline in such cold weather. It seemed so selfish to rest carelessly. Even though it was a waste, life was like this. There was nothing he could do for the rebels at this point. He felt sorry for the ck Widows that would soon disappear in mes. He just hoped that he would be able to help Chechens someday. Heavy-hearted, he sipped on his vodka and leaned against the window in his room to look outside. Not a single person could be found in Red Square on this snowy night.

 Chapter 91 - Yaniv’s Proposal (1)

    <h4>Chapter 91: Yaniv¡¯s Proposal (1)</h4>


    When Yaniv found out that Youngho¡¯spany was staying Moscow, heined about not telling him and flew to Moscow to see him as soon as possible.


    The cozy atmosphere of Ritz-Carlton Hotel near Red Square was changed into a warlike atmosphere by the bulky men who showed up out of nowhere. Because Youngho begged him not to make a scene, he reduced his guards to a third. However, there were still a lot of mafias from the hotel entrance along the hallways of guest rooms, scaring the guests.


    Because Youngho could not stand the eyes of the hotel employees and guests, thepany had to move their lodging to Ararat Hotel. Yaniv reserved a whole floor for himself and his men, so it was much convenient. However, Yaniv was now flustered around Zeynep, since she kept grumbling about changing the hotel. He tried hard to earn Zeynep¡¯s attention but she did not even look at him, which made it embarrassing just to watch them. When Youngho asked why she did not like Yaniv so much, she replied that it was because of his bulky body. Youngho told that to Yaniv and he said he would lose weight for her.


    Yaniv, who did not have children himself, fell in love with Zeynep¡¯s cuteness. He had been giving her gifts but Zeynep did not seem to like him. Many people would feel nervous around him, but Zeynep was different. With her small face, she spoke freely to him without a hitch.


    Zeynep had nothing to be afraid of when Youngho was around since she thought that he was an almighty troubleshooter for her. She did not like it when Yaniv showed up and ruined the family time. It seemed that the harder Yaniv tried, the more unfavorable he became.


    Zeynep¡¯s weakness were dolls. It was not that Yaniv did not give her dolls as gifts but this time, she was impressed when he gave her a Russian traditional wooden doll¡ªthe oval-shaped Matryoshka doll.


    Every time the lid was opened, there was another doll nesting inside. The dolls would get smaller and smaller until thest one was revealed, which was the size of a pinky nail. As soon as she received the dolls from Yaniv, she looked at him differently. Her standard of a good person was a person who liked dolls. Zeynep now sometimes held Yaniv¡¯s hand, calling him a grandpa.


    What really melted Zeynep¡¯s heart was watching the ¡®The Nutcracker¡¯ ballet performance at the Russian National Ballet Theater. Zeynep had been nagging Yaniv for days to see the performance, so he took everyone to the theater. Even after watching the performance, Zeynep could not take her eyes off the state. She stood and apuded for a while at her VIP seat.


    Of course, the performance was charming to any kid, but to Zeynep, it had opened another world. She still felt ufortable around Yaniv, but because of him, she could experienced this luxury during the trip in Moscow. At the end of the trip, she was unwilling to leave,ining that the trip was too short.


    ***


    It was day five in Moscow when Youngho heard about the Chechen rebels¡¯ arrest. Armed with a great deal of weapons, about 200 rebels fought against the Russian soldiers over the oil pipelines running through Chechnya. Although the Russian army seeded in protecting the pipelines, they suffered immense damage as well.


    Some of the oil pipes were bombed and some oil was lost, but it was not a big problem to Russia since they were prepared for the damages.


    During lunch, Yaniv received a thank-you call from President Putin. After talking for a while in private, Yaniv returned to the table. When he patted Youngho¡¯s back with a big smile on his face, Youngho learned that the emergency situation had been taken care of now.


    Apparently, Putin was half in doubt when he heard Yaniv¡¯s information, but as soon as he received a warning call from the US CIA, he realized the seriousness of the situation. He immediately sent more armed forces near the Chechen pipeline. The Russian army established a defense position near the pipeline before the rebels arrived so they could prevent the rebels¡¯ bombing attack in advance.


    From this incident, Yaniv¡¯s position in Russia was even more enhanced, and it strengthened Yaniv¡¯s trust for Youngho even more. In addition, Yaniv earned Zeynep¡¯s favor this time. Overjoyed by his achievements, he drank at the lunch table and got fully drunk in the middle of the day. He ended up losing the favor he worked hard for from the sibling from this.


    The next day, Youngho prepared to go to the European Chapter in Frankfurt after sending off Jongil and the others back to Baku. He was having hisst meal in Moscow with Yaniv, who suddenly suggested a huge proposal.


    ¡°Lee, why not be a part of my oil drilling business?¡±


    Youngho did not answer immediately, taking a moment to think of a way to politely decline his offer.


    ¡®Why does he want my involvement in the already sessful business?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I think if we make you the face of the business, it would look better in the business world. You might not know this, but I get discriminated against many times because of where Ie from.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I don¡¯t know a single thing about the oil business. I¡¯m not the right guy for your business. What if I ruin¡ª¡±


    ¡°You can just be the face of our business. If you¡¯re involved, President Aliyev won¡¯t ask for money anymore, and not to mention the fact that the Azerbaijani politicians won¡¯t bother me because of you. I just think it¡¯s such a waste to use my money on them. I¡¯d rather give the money to you.¡±


    Since Yaniv¡¯spany was trying to do all businesses in legal ways now, he was struggling topete against otherpanies to preupy great oil fields in Azerbaijan. Of course, a little bribing was necessary. However, if Youngho, who was a respected foreign investor in Azerbaijan, would be his business partner, he would be able to establish a great foundation for his oil business.


    Youngho was not afraid of rting to mafias anymore since he was now an established investor and businessman. In fact, it was not a bad proposal at all. Looking at Youngho who was thinking about the business in his mind, Yaniv already sensed that Youngho would give him a positive answer.


    ¡°All right. Mr. Yaniv, if it¡¯s difficult for you to be at the front of your business, I¡¯ll be the one at front.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I knew you¡¯d take it.¡±


    Yaniv gestured toward Sergey who was standing next to him.


    ¡°Sergey, you said Youngho will decline my proposal, right? I won, now give me the money.¡±


    Sergey unwillingly handed Yaniv a hundred dors. It seemed that they had a bet over Youngho¡¯s decision. It was not a surprising scene, but Youngho could feel the bond between the two. It warmed Youngho¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Lee, you need to decline at least once. How did you take it so easily?¡±


    In the amicable atmosphere, they ended their meeting.


    Sergey said that he would send Youngho more information about the business soon.


    ***


    At Frankfurt¡¯s international airport, Michael, the Chief of the European Chapter, came out to greet Youngho, which never happened before. It was his way ofplimenting Youngho¡¯s achievements this time.


    ¡°Lee, that was an amazing job. You know, I can raise my voice to the headquarters now because of you. I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯re going to call me to the headquarters soon. I still have lots of things to do here.¡±


    Michael, chatty as never before, drove his car.


    ¡°Michael, I can drive. I don¡¯t think I can handle the other agents¡¯ re when I enter the Chapter on a car you¡¯re driving.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯d dare re at you? They¡¯re just jealous because they are not as good as you are.¡±


    Michael¡¯s active favoritism was almost suffocating to Youngho. Youngho thought that he was just lucky. If Basayev had not called him in advance, there was no way for Youngho to find out about the potential terrorism attack. Jongil was also a great help too, since he gave Youngho the clue for the Chechen pipeline bombing attack.


    When they entered the European Chapter, some agents weed Youngho and patted his back. They had never paid any attention to Youngho before. Instead, they looked at him in doubt since an Asian guy that they did not know of was specially assigned as a field agent. However, Youngho had proven his worth through multiple events: He had rescued an abducted agent, and this time, he made the European Chapter proud by preventing the bombing attack on the oil pipeline.


    They seemed surprised to see Michael preciously escorting Youngho to his room by putting an arm around his shoulder. Michael was known to be picky.


    Since he formerly worked in the military, he was strict and intimidating sometimes. However, witnessing his kindness to Youngho, it was truly shocking.


    ¡°Lee, I received a direct call from our president. President Putin must have thanked him after everything¡¯s wrapped up. Although he¡¯s a president of a hostile country, he thanked our president for our help. You know, Putin is known to be a man with strong pride.¡±


    ¡°I see. Will you just treat me with this coffee?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! My wife asked to bring you for dinner. How about that?¡±


    For Michael, it was a very rare thing to invite people to his house since he only invited very important people or close people to his home.


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor that your wife invited me. Thank you. Well, I almost thought you¡¯d just treat me with some beer and call it enough.¡±


    ¡°I get it, I get it. I¡¯ll reward your team a special performancemission. I hope this can encourage your teammates.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much. Phew, I¡¯ve got to achieve more things to earn moremission.¡±


    ¡°Lee, just to let you know, your life is most important. Our job can be very dangerous sometimes. Just take care of yourself.¡±


    Michael reminded Youngho about the risks of their job. In fact, there had been many times that they could not even find the bodies of deceased agents. Since they both knew about the risks they had, they just nodded to each other.


    ***


    Sergey arrived at Baku to participate in the auction for the new offshore oil drilling license. The Azerbaijani government offered the oil drilling license of new fields for an open tender. For a few days, Youngho and Sergey busily worked on establishing a newpany and filing for the application for bidding. Thankfully, with the help of Baku¡¯s officials, they couldplete all the process before the bidding application due date.


    Hearing that Youngho was going to be involved in the oil industry, the officials in Baku processed every document hastily since they respected him as an influential foreign investor in the country.


    At the end of February of 2014, Baku was crowded with the staffs of major oil corporations. The cut-off standard for bidding werepanies that had a capital fund of more than ten million dors.


    Since there were too many businessmen who came to participate in the bidding, almost all of the hotel rooms in Baku were full. The local business owners in Baku weed the change in the city because the businessmen actively exchanged information through meeting people in local caf¨¦s and restaurants, helping out the local economy.


    On the other hand, Youngho and Sergey were waiting in a rxed manner, drinking wine on Zeynep Farm.


    Since thend that Youngho would be bidding on was the one that people failed in exploring a few years ago, no one was interested in the field. However, it was only less than five kilometers away from the oil field Yaniv recently found. Recently, Yaniv¡¯s exploration crew found that oil was deposited in that area, which people failed to find in the past.


    The Azerbaijani government had not been developing the oil field yet, so foreign major oil corporations had no idea about the recent oil field discovery.


    That was why Youngho and Sergey were confident that they could acquire the exploration license with bidding only a minimal amount. Youngho might only be the face of thepany, but he was learning more about the oil industry through this experience.

 Chapter 92 - Yaniv’s Proposal (2)

    <h4>Chapter 92: Yaniv¡¯s Proposal (2)</h4>


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken? I¡¯m only the face of thepany but you¡¯re giving me this much stake?¡±


    ¡°Boss made sure I gave you this much. You know when exploring oil fields, idents that make casualties and sometimes even deaths frequently happen. Then thepany¡¯s representative is the one who¡¯d be most bothered by it going to different ces to sort things out, it¡¯s not just the face of thepany. You¡¯d get busy.¡±


    ¡°Still, this seems too much. I¡¯m getting 3% of thepany¡¯s stake? I¡¯ll invest some of my money then.¡±


    ¡°Boss will kill me if I take your money just because you feel bad, you know how he is. Just take it, alright?¡±


    The reason for their argument was because Yaniv appropriated Youngho¡¯s share of thepany as three percent. Youngho had taken the share of the warehouse retailer shop in Georgia which was five percent, because he was the one who took care of all the process of establishing thepany and since he did not expect to make much from it.


    However, oil business was different. Depending on the amount of oil deposits, three percent could be a tremendous amount of money. Youngho had not invested anything in this, so Yaniv was solely responsible for any failures or damages done to thepany. Since it did not seem to fair, he was declining Yaniv¡¯s offer.


    ¡°Lee. The representative¡¯s job could entail legal responsibilities for thepany¡¯s problems, ites with some risk for you too. Even though you did not invest in it, it is conventional that we give you your share. We didn¡¯t give this to you because we like you, so don¡¯t worry!¡±


    ¡°Do you think this is something I can just take?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just doing what the boss says, okay? Whatever you do with that, it¡¯s yours noe.¡±


    Since Sergey did not budge, Youngho had to take the share certificate.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll take it now but if thepany doesn¡¯t do well, I¡¯ll invest my money too. I¡¯m telling you as a stockholder now.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s not mine to worry now then. Since we¡¯re done talking about work, why don¡¯t we start drinking? Where¡¯s Jongil?¡±


    ¡°He went out to hunt deer for you. You¡¯ll be able to taste elk deer¡¯s meat tonight.¡±


    Sergey¡¯s mouth watered thinking about the deer meat.


    Zeynep, who just opened the library door to find something inside, was surprised to find Sergey there.


    ¡°Whoa! When did you get here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, the sweet littledy has finally showed up! I¡¯ll be staying here for the night, do you have any room left for me?¡±


    ¡°Not without paying.¡±


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d say that, and that¡¯s why I brought gift. It¡¯s from grandpa Yaniv, he told me to make sure you got this.¡±


    Zeynep did not express her excitement but her eyes were looking around Sergey to see what he had. Finding a little gift in wrapper packaging, her eyes sparkled.


    ***


    Jongil must have returned with a deer since it was noisy outside. He took Insoo and Szechenyi with him and had a big talk that he would get a giant elk this time. Youngho could hear Fatima¡¯s admiration through the open windows. Curious, Zeynep kicked the door out and left the room totteringly with the gifts in her arms.


    Gerhardt also showed up with a saw after hearing that Jongil had hunted an elk. He was going to cut off its head and stuff it to put in on the wall above firece.


    ¡°Jongil oppa, I¡¯m going to eat it raw. Make it well, okay?¡±


    ¡°Alright. Raw meat is best when the meat is fresh. I¡¯ll try my best for you, Zeynep!¡±


    Youngho was not fond of raw meat but the fresh deer meat had made even young Zeynep a fan of raw meat.


    ¡°Brother, would you like to try too?¡±


    Sergey opened his eyes widely in surprise. His eyes seemed to ask, ¡®how could a person eat raw meat?¡¯


    ¡°You¡¯ll be addicted to it once you tried it.¡±


    It was getting dark but the charcoal fire was brightening the surroundings.


    The thigh parts of the meat which was marinated in wine beforehand were put on a grill above the charcoal fire. Since the farm family had grown in numbers, it seemed like they could eat up the whole elk in one seating. Including the night security guards, there were 22 people.


    Sergey who tasted little pieces of raw meat, started eating big bites. He was already into the sweet taste of the fresh raw meat. As they ate quite a lot and the night was getting deeper, the party was on its full swing. Zeynep showed off her dancing skills to a K-pop song. Looking at thepany enjoying the barbecue party, Youngho was getting drunk with the atmosphere rather than alcohol.


    ***


    The bidding ce for offshore oil fields was crowded with hordes of people. Because of therge crowd which was uncontroble, only two people of eachpany were allowed to enter the building. For each oil field out of twenty in the bidding, there were at least fivepanies to twentypanies at max making bid. However, only Youngho made a bid for the district seven field. Staffs of major oil corporations looked at him in question and passed by him shrugging, since he was making a bid for a failed district. However, he was maintaining a poker face, smiling inside.


    ¡®I¡¯ll show the whole world why soon.¡±


    Naturally, Youngho¡¯spany was the winner of the bid for the exploration certificate of district seven, it was one tenth of other districts¡¯ prices. This meant that hispany could use the rest of the money for exploration expense. Since the oil field that Yaniv currently found oil deposits was district six, which was right next to district seven, it would be convenient for them to move equipment and share workers.


    The word spread fast about a new middle-sizedpany of Azerbaijan that bought the certificate for district seven. The representatives of otherpanies made jokes on thepany¡¯s decision and even betted for how long it would take for thepany would go bankrupt. However, they were puzzled to hear the name of thepany, Zeynep Oilfield Service Corporation. Conventionally, oilpanies that dealt with oil field exploration and drilling used man¡¯s name since the work is considered rough, but Zeynep was a typical woman¡¯s name.


    Since Yaniv had suggested the name, Youngho had nothing to say in this. He had some reasons for this. First, he wanted to impress Zeynep, of course. Second, he believed that sessfulpanies had used women¡¯s names as their titles. Lastly, he especially insisted that they have to use a girl¡¯s name since they were exploring the field near a shore. It was the same analogy that people used woman¡¯s name for a ship.


    ***


    ying a key role for preventing Chechnya¡¯s pipeline terror attack, Michael sent themission of 500,000 dors. When Youngho called him because it seemed to be an overwhelming amount, Michael said that Russia had sent 1 million dors to the CIA as a token of appreciation. The money was just the beginning, Russia and the US had exchanged political deals too. He told Youngho that he could receive themission freely.


    These days, Youngho was living on a pile of money that amounted to the extent that he could not handle anymore. It was nothing for him, but to his friends it would be even useful. Although they were living well like other middle ss people in Baku, they still had families to take care of, including their inws.


    ¡°Hey, what is this amount in my ount? 200,000 dors? I think you made a mistake, I¡¯ll reimburse it to you. Dude, you¡¯re just distracted these days.¡±


    Thinking that Youngho made a mistake, Jongil tried to give back the money.


    ¡°No. Why don¡¯t you give some amount to your wife¡¯s parents? We received 500,000 dors for the Chechnya incident. I thought you could use more money since I¡¯m good with my farm.¡±


    ¡°Dude, I don¡¯t feelfortable. You¡¯re the boss, don¡¯t you need to get paid more than us?¡±


    ¡°Man, since when did you care about the rules? We¡¯re friends, and I heard Karajan¡¯s managing all the money now. This is your emergency money, alright? You can help your inws in secret if you want.¡±


    The two friends who received a huge amount of money did not know what to say. They were thankful for Youngho but felt bad at the same time. Since both of their families were not well off, they felt responsible to help others. Baku¡¯s clothing stores and the wine factory were the dream and hope to all.


    Jongil¡¯s parents-inw already liked the fact that their son-inw worked at Zeynep Farm but if he gave them some money for living, they would treat him even better. Also, his wife Karajan would give him more respect. Youngho thought that if he had parents-inw, he would have given them money as well. As for Insoo, he was paying for his brothers-inws¡¯ college, he surely could use some money. The money was Youngho¡¯s thoughtful n for them to support their inws well for their own sakes.


    ***


    Listening to ssical music, Youngho was editing the development n of the Southern part of the farm. Thinking about finally working on the fencing around the new areas, changing the routes on the farm was rather excited than being tired. When he was focused on looking at the map, Fatima entered the library with a sweet-scented tea.


    ¡°Oppa, I brought some Citrus tea that Yunsuh sent. This is so good.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you give it to your little siblings?¡±


    ¡°They are already addicted to this, they drink this all the time.¡±


    Sitting on the couch across Youngho, Fatima looked at the blueprint and added,


    ¡°Oppa. What do you think of building a little log cabin near the Southern river?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Lately Zeynep had been ying around the river often but sheined that there was no ce to rest.¡±


    Although it was a narrow river, there were lots of trouts since it had arge volume of water running. Especially because the river did not freeze during the winter, kids yed there often making bonfires and fishing for trouts. However, bonfire was not adequate in winter due to Baku¡¯s strong wind. Although making bonfire was fun, it made a mess. The kids were covered in ashes when they came back from the river. He was also thinking that he needed to build something around the river, so he dly agreed to Fatima¡¯s idea. Since there was not a lot going on in the farm, the three guys rolled up their sleeves to get to work.


    ¡°Man, don¡¯t pull that side, this part is getting shorter. Nope, not there, hold this side!¡±


    The three friends were aligning a side to make a wall of log cabin, they had already bought all the materials needed but there were no improvements since they began their work. It was their first time building a log cabin. Since they did not have any skills for building, they were abusing their power to finish quickly. Insoo, who opened the floor n again, gave them an ¡®x¡¯ sign with his hands. It looked like that they had stuck wrong materials together.


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s just cover this with some stic and call the technicians. I can¡¯t do this, I can run on the mountains but I can¡¯t do this.¡±


    Jongil gave in atst, Youngho was also exhausted. He sat on a log and lit hit cigarette to smoke.


    They had nned on building the cabin in a month and enthusiastically bought all sorts of brand new equipment, but they were finally quitting in just a week of trying. It was a terrible idea to start the construction in the middle of the harsh winter, because their hands were numb in coldness, they could not even grab tools freely.


    Zeynep, who was excited that her oppas were building a cabin for her, had been bringing homemade snacks for them and giving kisses to them. However, since they were at the verge of quitting, they did not know what to tell her.

 Chapter 93 - Yaniv’s Proposal (3)

    <h4>Chapter 93: Yaniv¡¯s Proposal (3)</h4>


    ¡°Lee, do you know any politicians or high officials in Korea?¡±


    Yaniv called Youngho and asked a random question.


    ¡°If I knew any prominent person in Korea, I wouldn¡¯t have to go through the hoop. I was just amon sry man before starting a merchandise.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that¡¯s a bad news. President Putin told me in advance that the oil price will fluctuate soon, OPEC* is getting ready to cut the oil production.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you know anybody in Korea, I thought you could put him wise to this.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. When are they cutting the oil production?¡±


    ¡°I heard that they will officially announce it a monthter, so I also told President Aliyev that he should postpone signing long-term contracts with Western countries.¡±


    Once the decrease of oil production was announced, the gas price would rise at an extremely fast pace. Due to low the low oil price, oil producing countries who were not earning as much amount of money as before were about to pull out their hidden card. Countries that lived relying on importing such as Korea, could only save dors when they sign long-term contracts with oil producing countries now. Youngho hung up the phone after he was done talking with Yaniv.


    No matter how much money he made overseas and send some to his family in Korea, the increased oil prices would have a huge impact on Korea¡¯s economy in a negative way. Although he now knew top-rated information, there was no way for him to tell this to the Korean government. Even if he somehow seeded in letting the government know, he was not sure if they would trust him.


    Youngho pushed on building Zeynep¡¯s log cabin toter since he needed to deal with this problem first. It could make Korea lose hundreds millions of dors. He needed to deliver the message to the Korean government and let them know as soon as possible, but he did not know any hotline.


    After thinking for a while, he decided to meet a representative of the Korean embassy in Baku. Without making any appointment, he just went in the building. Since he was a well-known Korean businessman in Baku, all the officials recognized him.


    He took a hold of an ambassador who was about to walk out for a business trip and told him about the emergency and the details of the message that needed to be delivered to the Korean government. The Azerbaijan¡¯s Korean ambassador K was a self-made man who became an ambassador after passing the Foreign Service examination. Youngho believed that the ambassador would try his best to benefit his country, so he told him the important secret. He had faith since the officials of the embassy had beening to Youngho to ask for favors to help Korean businessmen in Azerbaijan. They were certain that the ambassador K would be willing to help Korea. The ambassador¡¯s face hardened as soon as he heard from Youngho.


    It was an important matter that could not be shared with other countries and that could shake the Korean economy. The ambassador cancelled his entire schedule and sent a diplomatic pouch to Korea. The embassy did not use phone calls, faxes, or e-mails to deliver important messages fearing the security monitoring of Azerbaijan¡¯s intelligence agency. As if that was not enough, he immediately reserved the earliest flight ticket to Korea and left to the airport. It was notmon for an ambassador to leave the country of sojourn but ambassador K believed that it was an urgent matter, he made an extreme decision.


    ***


    Youngho had already gave the baton to ambassador K. The rest depended on him and how fast Korean politicians and rted officials will act upon the matter. Feeling he had not done enough, Youngho called Sangchun in Korea to look for people working in rted-government branch but he could not find any connections. It was same with Jongil and Inso, they did not have many connections. Since Korean mainstream society was very narrow, it was natural for Youngho and his friends who belonged to fringe groups to not have many useful connections around for this kind of a matter.


    Youngho also called Michael of the European chapter and slipped Yaniv¡¯s information. Since it was information from President Putin, he thought it was trustworthy. By letting him know, America couldrge amounts of oil from the Middle East if acted fast and when America has benefited by Youngho¡¯s information, he thought that he would nag Michael to make America sell oil to Korea at a cheap price when the price skyrocketed. Of course, it was nonsense but he thought that he could at least try.


    Michael unconditionally trusted any information provided by Youngho. However, he requested him not to tell anybody about this. Youngho said that he already told this to the Korean government but he had little hope.


    Michael swore that the Koreans would never act upon this information. He wanted to sell the exclusive information to private oil corporations. Before he was promoted to the CIA headquarters, he nned to make money and he would share it with Youngho.


    Youngho agreed to him since it would happen anyway and he had nowhere else to tell the information. If it was sold at an expensive price, he wanted to use the money to help out young generations of Korea. Many young Koreans who dreamed of starting their own business lived in poor environments eating ramen all the time. He wanted to invest in them.


    Because Youngho could not wait any longer, he called ambassador K in Korea and urged him to inform the private oil corporations as well. Even though he tried to make things right as much as possible, he could not get rid of a bad feeling that the Korean government would let this opportunity pass. Michael¡¯s definite statement was still on his mind.


    Since it would not get any better no matter how much he worried about it, Youngho focused on building Zeynep¡¯s log cabin, which was postponed. While working on it, he could forget about the whole oil issue. He worked on it with his friends from morning to dark breathing sawdust-filled air. Because they worked hard on the cabin log for days, the log cabin exterior looked like a decent cabin now. Eventually, they exposed their limit as beginners bypleting the cabin without putting a firece. Getting an earful from Zeynep, they had to buy ready-made iron firece and tear down part of a wall to build a chimney. Finally, the imperfect little log cabin for Zeynep waspleted.


    ***


    He has not heard of anythinf back from Korea but Michael called Youngho to inform that he transferred 10 million dors in his ount. It was not sure to whom he sold the information but it was a huge amount that made Youngho drop his jaw. He wondered how much Michael had received for his share.


    Michael was indeed on another level. It seemed that it was not out of mere luck that he became the chief of the European chapter. He also told Youngho that after the OPEC publicly announce the decrease of oil production, the rest of the money would be transferred to his ount in addition. At the end of the call, what he said was the highlight.


    He said that the person directly involved in signing the deal usually received more than the source person of information.


    Youngho wanted to dance with joy. It was not a dream to be a billionaire if he kept making money at this rate. For this incident, he learned that high ranks in the CIA sometimes sold information. It would not be possible if the other party did not trust the information offered, but informationing from the mouth of a high rank intelligence agent was credible. Michael probably had made this kind of a deal multiple times in the past.


    Since the information was profitable, the corporation had sent money. Moreover, it was only the security deposit for the deal. He could see how much money the oil corporations spent on lobbying. This was also the reason why the oil price did not go down easily. Not only the oil corporations paid an astronomical amount of money on oil exploration but also they spent so much on lobbying.


    Looking at ambassador K¡¯s effete face, Youngho could guess what happened. He sighed and told him what happened; Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy had declined K¡¯s suggestion with a reason that they could not trust an unreliable source of information. He even met many politicians in different departments but they did not take it seriously. Thankfully, some Korean oil corporations paid attention to his words.


    It was understandable that the government branches and politicians could not trust the information from an unknown source but what got Youngho furious was that they did not even try to investigate the authenticity of the information. Instead of declining the suggestion of an ambassador working in an oil-producing country, who flew to Korea to deliver the message, they should have studied any movements of oil-producingpanies or other foreign major oil corporations.


    Enraged with the Korean government¡¯s attitude, he yelled at ambassador K that he should not contact him to ask favors for other Koreanpanies in Azerbaijan and left the embassy building. He could not believe that he had been worried sick and stressed over this matter for days for his own country just to hear what K had said.


    Just like the past Korean ancestors, the officials of the Korean government still were not responsive to an imminent problem. They always tried to cover their faults after problems became their reality. This is why Korea still could not join the ranks of the advanced countries. Living outside of Korea, he could see Korea from a new perspective. He was way more patriotic in herepared to the times when he was in Korea since he missed his own country. Sometimes it was so painful to watch Koreans suffer but for this time, he was disgusted by his own country.


    ***


    Giving up the foolish government officials, Youngho emailed private Korean oil corporations to inform them about the future oil price change and urged them to sign contracts quickly. Seeing Youngho struggle to save his own country, Jongil was upset too. It seemed that Korean people were a babe in the woods. They had such narrow views, that Youngho even wanted to pull young people and show them around the world. Living outside Korea, he could see that many Korean lived as blindfolded.


    After a month, the OPEC, an intergovernmental organization consists of 15 countries that produced oil, announced the decision to decrease oil production. For selling this information, Youngho received 10 million dors in his ount. It was an affair that made a huge fortune for an individual like him, but he was disturbed by the Korean government¡¯s lukewarm reaction. Korea had lost an opportunity to secure oil at cheap prices.


    He had sent a person to the Korean embassy multiple times to set up a meeting to discuss about the measures but he heard nothing back from them. He did not want to deal with any of the embassy people anymore. Everybody was the same. From this incident, he gave up his hope to rely on Korea. He was able to make it this far alone anyway.


    If there were any Korean officials or politicians who woulde to him with an open mind, he might be able to help them in the future but he decided not to try to help them first. He could not sleep in disappointment because of the indifferent officials who did nothing but only maintained their positions, Korea would make hundred millions of dors more to already wealthy oil-producing countries.


    An official of the embassy came to visit Youngho again. This time, he came to hand in an invitation. Youngho, who was reading the invitation after receiving it, suddenly cussed and ripped the invitation before the official¡¯s eyes. The official¡¯s eyes were widened in surprise. He had not expected Youngho¡¯s reaction since he was known to be a gentle business owner in Baku who had been helping out Koreanpanies and businessmen in Azerbaijan. However, Youngho¡¯s absurd behavior was enough to shock him since he did not know about the inside story of the recent crisis of the decrease in oil production.


    Hearing that Youngho not only rejected the embassy¡¯s invitation without words but also ripped the invitation card, the embassy was in an uproar. His gesture meant that he would not cooperate with the Korean embassy at all in the future. The bad news was a bolt out of the blue to ambassador K.


    *OPEC- stands for ¡®Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries¡¯

 Chapter 94 - Lee Youngho’s Rage (1)

    <h4>Chapter 94: Lee Youngho¡¯s Rage (1)</h4>


    Like thest time, Michael came out to greet Youngho at Frankfurt Airport.


    ¡°Michael, you¡¯re too kind, people might think there¡¯s something going on between us.¡±


    Michael smiled and weed Youngho excitingly.


    ¡°Let them think whatever the like. In fact, I¡¯m in love with you these days!¡±


    ¡°Phew! Stop that, I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll give me more difficult assignments when you call me these days.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t send you to dangerous ces anymore. You need to be alive, safe and sound until one day you can pass down your farming know-hows to my future farm in the states.¡±


    Michael nned to establish a farm in the states with the money he made by selling the oil information. It was not a bad n for his retirement since the job of a CIA agent, especially someone high in rank like him, was highly stressful. He could purify his body and mind through peaceful farming career.


    However, Youngho could never trust the chief¡¯s words that he would not be sent to dangerous ces anymore since Michael sought him first whenever there was an urgent business.


    ¡°I appreciate your thoughtfulness but I don¡¯t want to be rted to you even after my resignation.¡±


    ¡°Ha! You don¡¯t trust me at all.¡±


    His face was bright although he was saying that. Youngho was dying to ask how much he made from selling the information. Michael added as if he knew what Youngho was thinking about,


    ¡°The amount of information sale is a secret to both parties, and the corporation doesn¡¯t want to reveal how much they paid as well. I just earned a little more than you, alright?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I didn¡¯t say anything. Well, if you could teach me your know-how, maybe I can teach you my know-how on farming.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you to a middle man someday, I don¡¯t directly talk to the business owners.¡±


    In order to prevent revealing their identities, the information seller and buyer usually has a middle man between them. It meant that there was a middle man¡¯s organization specializing in this kind of business.


    It was intriguing to see different parts of the world. In the corporation world, business owners could only make profits when they were a step ahead of others. Even if a source offered unconfirmed information, they were willing to go through a confirmation process on their own after they bought the information.


    Then after the process, the right amount was paid to the seller. So, the seller would not make money if the information was absurd.


    Up until now, the information Youngho had have contacts with were only useful inside the intelligence agency but he decided to collect information rted to business and economy.


    While Michael was still around in the European chapter, he could learn from him how to be in the information business. This could be an opportunity to make big money.


    After all, Youngho never wanted to do the CIA¡¯s work for the rest of his life, his goal was to raise Zeynep Farm winepany as a world-ss corporation. As a side job, he could still be the face of Yaniv¡¯s oil explorationpany. He and Yaniv were already in the same boat that he decided to be as cooperative and proactive as possible. It was not a mafia business since it was a normal, legal business. He still don¡¯t fully trust Yaniv since he was still a mafia, so if Yaniv was involved in illegal deals for their business, Youngho thought that he should say farewell to him at the end.


    Youngho was not afraid of mafias now. It was because not only was he a skillful man on his own but also because he has powers now. Recently he increased ten more guards for his farms. He sent three men to Charles Farm and assigned the rest at Zeynep Farm. The size of Zeynep Farm was now 1,600 acres and having only five security guards were not adequate anymore.


    Now on Zeynep Farm, twelve armed security guards protected the farm around the clock. Youngho intentionally spread the word that there were many guards on Zeynep Farm, so that someme organization or thieves could not even dare to step in his farm. He bought fifteen more four wheelers for patrolling purposes. They could be turned into a grape carrier when a container was attached in the back, so they could use them during the cultivation season as well.


    ***


    Youngho received a call from the Korean embassy of Baku. They wanted to take a tour around Zeynep Farm with some visiting Korean high officials from Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. He wanted to decline the request but he reluctantly agreed, only for the sake of ambassador K. He told Jongil to stay in Chunho Merchant¡¯s Baku branch office when the officials visit the farm since Jongil was upset with them too. How he would react to their visit was just unknown.


    The next day, Korean officials in their mountain clothes and embassy staffs in suits stampeded into Youngho¡¯s farm. The wind of Baku in March was still sharp and strong that even little rocks were blown from it. However, Youngho did not like the fact that the Korean officials were in their outdoor look when they were visiting his farm as an official event. Although it might be an effort to get rid of authoritarianism among the officials as a recent Korean movement, they were supposed to dress in proper attires when they were visiting a foreign country. Just like the Europeans, people of Azerbaijan were conservative people who cared about formalities to a great deal. Starting from how they dressed, Youngho did not like a single thing about them.


    Another thing that got him angry was that the high Korean officials treated him as if he was their subordinate. He understood that they were people of power in Korea but they were his guests at this moment. The councilor of Korean embassy gave the director of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy a seat of honor, without Youngho¡¯s consent. Usually the seat was for the host of the farm. Although Youngho was younger, they could not treat him, the CEO of the farm, this way.


    ¡°Excuse me. I know why you are here but have you known me before?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Did you used to be a senior from my college or from the Navy?¡±


    The councilor of the Korean embassy hardened his face. Although he knew that he made a mistake, he did not expect this from Youngho.


    ¡°Director, I heard that you were in charge when you heard about the decrease of oil production. Is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Umm... I¡¯m not... a decision maker... and I...¡±


    The director bbered in embarrassment.


    ¡°That information was something I retrieved risking my own business. You declined ambassador K who flew there to deliver the message, I heard that you also warned him not to spread a rumor.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I assume Korea has an overflowing amount of dors since you¡¯ve rejected a chance to save billions of dors but you¡¯d rather pay that to oil-producing countries. Did ambassador K ever say anything about me before you came here?¡±


    The director¡¯s face was darkened at Youngho¡¯s criticism. His reply was even frustrating.


    ¡°It is such a waste but our government system does not work that way. We can¡¯t process anything trusting from an unconfirmed information that is from an unknown source.¡±


    ¡°What about the intelligence agency of Korea? I know that they work around the world. Why is there no one to investigate information from amon civilian?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Since he already started this, he wanted to say all of the things on his mind. He wanted teach them the truth before they left the farm.


    ¡°You know, I work hard in a foreign country and send money to Korea but I don¡¯t know how you had the courage to show up here after wastefully spending dors.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Mr. Lee. Please, let¡¯s stop this here. These officials are just here to meet a sessful Korean business owner. They are not relevant to making political decisions.¡±


    The councilor of the Korean embassy was the one who acted like a thorn in Youngho¡¯s side


    whenever he visited the embassy, interrupted him, making him even more furious.


    ¡°Mr. Councilor, you know I have declined this multiple times. What is the reason for insisting toe and making thingsplicated?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°No matter how high your ranks are in Korea, I am the owner in charge here. Also, don¡¯t you think you should dress formally when you¡¯re officially visiting a foreign corporation despite how cold it is outside? The embassy should have advised that much. Will you be dressed like this when meeting President Aliyev? You¡¯re just looking down at civilians like me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re taking it too harshly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to say one more time, I think the private Korean oilpanies are hundred times better than you. They at least trusted my information and bought oil before the prices got higher. Anyway, thank you for visiting my farm, I hope you have safe trip back to Korea.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s intention was to turn them away out of his farm. They had no choice since the owner did not want them in the farm anymore. Their faces reddened, they got in their cars and drove away without looking back.


    ***


    Fatima who came to serve Korean tea to the visitors quietly watched what was going on. Seeing Youngho who kept smoking cigarettes out of anger after the visitors were gone, she took away the cigarette that was in his mouth.


    ¡°Oppa, they would¡¯ve understood you by now. Please calm down.¡±


    At Fatima¡¯s words, Youngho felt a great surge of emotion, without even knowing, he was chocked up. Although he was a strong man from the outside, emotionally he was not as strong. His rage surged in and he felt bitter inside.


    He wanted to make his own country stronger and that was why he tried his best to be of help when he heard the information about decreasing oil production. It was just painful to look at hopeless government officials.


    ¡®Lee Youngho, you¡¯ve got a long way to go. You need to control yourself better if you want to be a person of more power,¡¯ Youngho thought.


    Jongil who came back to the farmter was still upset by hearing what they had done to Youngho.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just kick them out at the door. What? The director had no power to decide anything? Why do they go around and wasting taxes in foreign countries? They always take long before deciding and lose their chances... Man. They are tax thieves!¡±


    Not all officials were like that. However, the people in charge of deciding important matters for the country did not have any opinions, they just wanted to maintain their positions by impressing people of higher ranks.


    ¡°Jongil, let¡¯s just go for hunting. I can¡¯t sit still. It¡¯s so depressing.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s going to get dark soon. Let¡¯s just eat grilled pork belly and drink up soju.¡±


    Jongil who was always fond of hunting, declined Youngho¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to beat up the councilor in the embassy, I never liked him anyways. You know, when I went there with Karajan to submit marriage application, he was so picky.¡±


    ¡°Dude, don¡¯t even! We shouldn¡¯t use our energy for that kind of person. Let¡¯s just not deal with them anymore. I¡¯m not going to help them no matter what. Those officials just think they¡¯re high and mighty above us.¡±


    ¡°You are the one who tries to help all the time.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s remark was bitter. Youngho did not care about the past where he used to help out with any problems of the embassy but he was afraid that Korea was run by empty-minded officials. The future of Korea would be dark if the government stayed the same. People might say that the political world had made them that way but what Youngho felt was that they could never change their ways.


    The high officials visiting in this foreign country must havee to Youngho¡¯s farm to receive a souvenir wine from a sessful winery. The foxy counselor must have taken the lead.


    To Youngho¡¯s knowledge, government officials visited grain fields for a reason of encouraging local farmers and always returned after receiving huge amounts of gifts from farms. They never paid for the gifts or souvenirs.


    The concilor must havee to Youngho¡¯s farm to save his face but his attitude had turned them down. Unlike an ambassador position, councilor eventually would return to Korea to his original position. The councilor must have tried to impress the government officials in order to look good when he returned Korea. Youngho sighed to find out the reality of the Korea¡¯s government. It was just pathetic that they sent someone like the councilor to work in a foreign country and represent Korea.

 Chapter 95 - Lee Youngho’s Rage (2)

    <h4>Chapter 95: Lee Youngho¡¯s Rage (2)</h4>


    Maintaining ufortable rtionship with the Korean embassy in Baku, Youngho heard surprising news from Seoul.


    Chunho Merchant was being inspected by the taxman. There was nothing to be investigated since Chunho Merchant was a medium-sizedpany, not a corporation. Youngho knew what was going on; the director who visited his farm was taking it out on Chunho Merchant for embarrassing him. He used his connections to find something to destroy Youngho. It could also be the councilor of the embassy who was using his connections in Korea to take a revenge on him. Whoever it was, it was just pathetic.


    Sangchun was a diligent and honest businessman, so the taxman would not find anything uwful for the business but the inspection process was just a pain. Sangchun would be summoned multiple times to get investigated and people woulde to investigate documents in Chunho Merchant¡¯s office. Both of which would disrupt Chunho Merchant¡¯s business.


    Tax investigation was amon way for high officials to get rid of a corporation that they have conflicts with. Youngho was dumbfounded by the officials who did not care what they did wrong but only cared about saving their faces.


    Youngho had an idea to resolve the problem if the officials kept on shaking people around him: Using SNS. It was not a difficult job to spread the word on the Inte, If he wrote that the high government officials declined to act upon important information, the press and people would be asking for facts. It would be a nightmare for high officials and politicians. At that moment, if Youngho sent emails and faxes to the press revealing the truth, it would be like adding oil to the fire.


    ¡®Just push me to the edge. When you cross thest line, all of you¡¯ll have to be prepared to lose your job.¡¯


    ***


    Hearing what happened to Sangchun, Jongil was ready to fly to Korea and wreck the building of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Stopping him by grabbing his cor, he dragged him to near mountain for hunting, taking Insoo along.


    Youngho wanted to train Insoo with the leather shoes rather than to hunt a deer since he had not have a chance to use the shoes unlike Youngho and Jongil. They began to run at full speed in the middle of the mountain where no one was around.


    ¡°Youngho, why aren¡¯t we hunting already? We¡¯re just running now, why are you training Insoo suddenly?¡±


    Jongil realized that they were not out for hunting.


    ¡°I¡¯m just training to prepare for the future. We never know when we¡¯d be gone for a long-term assignment, then Insoo will be the one in charge of the farm.¡±


    Using the leather shoes, they could run faster than using four wheelers and it only took ten minutes to reach one end of the farm to another. If there was imminent danger, he must use the power of the leather shoes. Fatima and Zeynep did not use the rings and shoes at the moment, so Youngho borrowed theirs for Jongil and Insoo. Szechenyi was keeping his own, since he was also a man trained to protect his family.


    Panting after they stopped, Insoo¡¯s face was shocked to experience the leather shoes on his own.


    ¡°Youngho. What on earth, are the siblings? Their existence must be so important since they¡¯re protected by these relics passed down by their ancestors. Man, we should really protect them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be the one who¡¯d do that mostly now.¡±


    ¡°If their existence make these relics work, I should do my best to protect them. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Although it was not the siblings existence that made the magical relics work, Youngho did not tell Insoo about that since it was a better motivation to protect the kids. They were the owners of the relics anyway.


    Following the two ahead of him, Insoo slowly learned how to control the leather shoes and became used to the speed of the leather shoes. Only after running about two hours in the mountain to train, they caught a mid-sized elk and headed back to the farm.


    Because Youngho was not in a good moodtely, the siblings had been careful not to bother him. Knowing that, Youngho threw a barbecue party again to lift up the atmosphere. As they put on the meat on a grill, everything seemed to go back to normal. Youngho intentionally chatted more as he drank with others to cheer himself up and everyone else as well. Zeynep was also enjoying the party that she showed off her dancing skills again.


    Fatima quietly came near Youngho and held his arm. She was thankful that he looked much better after returning from the hunting.


    ***


    It was two days ago when Michael called from Frankfurt. He informed Youngho that Chechen rebels contacted him for help. It was an unexpected piece of information since Youngho had thought that they did not exist anymore. The rest of the ck Widows were all arrested or killed in their attempt to bomb Chechen oil pipeline because of Youngho¡¯s report. Could they have been hiding somewhere waiting to rebuild their organization? It could only be the ck Eagles since the survivors, which was only one-fifth of them, went hiding in the mountains.


    It was great news for Youngho since he knew that the rebels were known to have an enormous amount of gold bars. If only he could have deals for their supplies again, it was absolutely possible for him to get gold bars again.


    Youngho epted the mission immediately.


    The contact point was a little hotel in the vige of Shatili in Georgia. He decided to take both of his friends to the mission this time, so Insoo could actually put his training to use in the real field. Insoo was so excited to get on his first mission after bing a field agent. When Youngho asked why he was so excited when there was no battle, he said that it was an enough thrill to see the rebels.


    He had deep respect for rebels since they were known to be strong and tough. He wished to a drill instructor for rebels as he did it for the militia. He had been protecting the peaceful farm for so long now that he wanted some thrill back in his life.


    They flew to Tbilisi, Georgia and drove an SUV which agent Philip had provided to Shatili. March of Shatili was still in winter, the snow still covered everywhere except on the roads, it felt like they were in a winter wondend.


    The hotel that they arrived when it was getting darker, the leader of the rebel force, the ck Eagle, whom Youngho had met before, was waiting for them. He was still alive after the Russian army¡¯s mop-up operation. d to meet again, they hugged each other.


    ¡°You must have worried about us. We¡¯ve fought with the Russian army for decades. We wouldn¡¯t be called rebels if we were torn apart just because our bases were exposed. The Russian army would be thinking that they have destroyed all of us after desting two of our bases.¡±


    ¡°The Russianmander I met also told me that you¡¯re all gone.¡±


    His face was hardened to hear about a Russianmander.


    ¡°Then, was that you who destroyed apany-sized Russian camp?¡±


    ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t mean to but things turned out that way. So, please don¡¯t spread the word.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what on earth! I was wondering who avenged for us. It was you!!¡±


    The leader of the ck Eagle shook Youngho¡¯s hand again. Youngho was the one who saved them when they went out to deliver the rebel supplies. He was amazed to hear that he was the one who saved them again.


    He kept on saying that as the rebels were ready to get back to fight Russia after they were done hiding, they heard that the whole base of Russian border securities was killed overnight. They were nning on attacking the border securities but someone had already taken care of it for them. Heughed.


    Because of that incident, the Russian army was rmed for a while. They tried to catch the attacker by searching small viges of the Caucasus Mountain Range but no one was found.


    The leader of the ck Eagle asked to exchange names now since they had the same enemy. However, Youngho disagreed to a high degree to stop him. He did not want to share each other¡¯s identity since he was not sure when the rebel would be caught by the Russian army. It would be stupid to expose his identity to him.


    As Youngho told him that he wished to stay the same despite the inconvenience, the rebel just shrugged and let it go. When he asked for any news in Chechnya, he confirmed that the ck Widows of Chechnya waspletely wiped out and did not exist anymore. What the ck Eagle requested from the CIA was daily necessities for 500 people and firearms and ammunitions that could arm 200 people. Because they could not ask Georgia¡¯s help anymore, they had to search for a new way to provide the supplies. Since Youngho had to report it to the European chapter, they agreed to meet the next day and parted their ways.


    Michael told Youngho to give whatever the rebels needed. Since the rebel force was fighting against Russia and they had contacted the CIA first, he was suggested to help them from the headquarters. Since they could not store the supplies at the storage unit of Georgian border securities, the only way to provide them was to deliver the supplies quietly to a shepherd¡¯s cabin in the mountains, so that the ck Eagle could take them on their own. Youngho thought that it was a no big deal for them since they were experts of hiding.


    Youngho¡¯spany met the leader of the rebels again and shared his n. After their meeting was done, the rebel leader suggested an intriguing idea, he asked Youngho¡¯spany to drop by their headquarters in the Caucasus Mountain Range.


    Youngho was d that he asked since he wanted to find out information about the ck Eagle; such as their size, level of training, and the number of firearms. There was no reason to decline his suggestion, not to mention, Youngho was interested in their gold bars.


    After a tight preparation, the three friends went on to a shepherd¡¯s mountain path following the rebel leader. Although he was fast, Youngho¡¯spany was wearing the leather shoes. They felt light.


    The rebel leader shook his head seeing Youngho¡¯spany following him without breathing heavily. He looked at them as if they were monsters. There were not a lot of people who would easily climb on high mountains that was at least 3,000 meters above sea level with a heavy backpack on. Moreover, the path was icy and rough due to the cold weather. The rebel leader lost his words seeing the three guys climbing up the shepherd¡¯s path as if they were walking on the tnd.


    Stepping on a ridge, the leader asked to rest for a while. He put a cigarette to his mouth and ventured a question.


    ¡°What kind of trainings have you gone through? Your stamina is amazing. Can you teach us too?¡±


    What Youngho was eager to hear finally came out of his mouth.


    ¡°We could send an instructor but this ce is too dangerous. I doubt that anybody would want toe here.¡±


    ¡°If that can¡¯t be the case, we could practice on our own. Do you have any textbooks that we can use?¡±


    ¡°The textbook can¡¯t do anything, training is pushing the limits of your body. They must be trained harshly in extreme conditions and maybe one in ten people could reach up to this level. Can the rebels handle it?¡±


    ¡°We are warriors fighting for our nation. If we can¡¯t endure such training, we should just quit and go down the mountain.¡±


    ¡°Are you certain? Alright then, we¡¯ll check out the rebels once we go to the base.¡±

 Chapter 96 - Lee Youngho’s Payback (1)

    <h4>Chapter 96: Lee Youngho¡¯s Payback (1)</h4>


    Youngho asked a question to the rebel leader in the hope of finding out about the gold bars.


    ¡°Do you need anything else other than these supplies?¡±


    ¡°We do have one but I doubt that you could do this as an agent. I¡¯d like to exchange gold bars with cash, we seldom get to exchange these living deep in the mountains. Lately, we haven¡¯t been daring to do that because the Russian secret policemen are searching us with avidity.¡±


    ¡°I can take care of that, but only up to five million dors at a time.¡±


    His face brightened at Young¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Are you sure? If we could do that, we won¡¯t have to deliver the supplies through dangerous routes. If we have enough cash, we can get the supplies on our own. We have plenty of gold bars.¡±


    Youngho uttered yells of delight in his mind. Exchanging gold bars was a great opportunity to make money.


    ¡°We can exchange them at the vige of Shatiliter. I can exchange more amounts if you let me know in advance.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that, you can transfer money directly into our foreign bank ount. You can take the gold bars now.¡±


    The leader was trusting Youngho immensely ever since he heard that his team annihted a base on Russian border securities.


    ¡°You can trust me, I¡¯ve had deals with the ck Widows as well.¡±


    At the mention of the ck Widows, the atmosphere suddenly turned sober.


    ¡°Foolish people. They should¡¯ve waited until they regained strength...¡±


    The leader who pondered for a while continued with the unfinished business talk.


    ¡°So, like I said. If we have cash, the CIA doesn¡¯t need to deliver us the supplies risking your own lives. If we paid, we could even pocket the supplies of the Russian army.¡±


    Youngho could see how corrupted the Russian army was. It did not matter whether the buyer was a rebel, Russian soldiers would sell their supplies to anyone in secret.


    Gold bars would be sold at two-thirds of the original price in the ck market. Even if Youngho bought them at the original price, he could still make money by selling them back if he sold it at the right time.


    ¡°You should still receive the supplies from the CIA. It¡¯s a gift and you could save your money.¡±


    It would be suspicious if Youngho reported that the rebels suddenly did not need any supplies.


    ¡°Okay, then please give us whatever that¡¯s easy to deliver. We can get weapons and ammunition from Chechnya, that way it¡¯s easier to deliver.¡±


    The rebels wanted to utilize their gold bars since they needed cash, Youngho epted the deal dly. He did not know how many gold bars the rebels stole from the Chechen central bank but he guessed that they neared a thousand in number.


    They had begun climbing in the morning so they could reach the rebel¡¯s foothold in the evening. Indeed it was an impregnable fort.


    It was hidden in a rocky area where giant rocks were intertwined together like a maze, that it was undetectable from the sky. There were about twenty toon-sized bases.


    The gate was connected to a cave, so they could easily guard the whole ce against strangers. In the middle of the foothold, there was a quite big lot where 200 rebels were practicing bay skills. Their training program seemed to be as systematic as a regr army.


    The rebels only focused on learning bay skills, and they were not interested in learning specialbat skills and deep cover skills.


    When facing an enemy, deep cover or hiding was used to lessen damage but many people considered it as being coward. Maybe it was embedded in the Europeanbat culture, in which two people traditionally stood at a distant to fire at each other fairly in abat. However, a war was a different story. It was better for even a singlerade to survived in a battle in order to prepare for the future. Being a fair gentleman would not bring a victory.


    ***


    At the morning training the next day, Jongil and Insoo demonstrated some of their lethal moves as the rebels watched them in surprise. When three rebels who each held a bay fell before Jongil¡¯s bare hands, they were all in a shock. They eximed as he jumped borrowing a little bit of power of the leather shoes and kicked the rebels. As leaving the training lot after teaching some basic hand-to-hand fight moves, the rebels pped to the three friends.


    Since they could not stay there too long, they left the foothold after having lunch. In each of their backpacks were 40 gold bars, in total, they carried 120 of them. Not knowing the leather shoes reduced half of the weight it carried, the rebels worried that the gold bars were too heavy to carry but as they picked up their backpacks with ease, the rebels could not close their mouths.


    Youngho promised that he would transfer money right away as soon as he reached Georgia and ran down the mountain at a face pace. With the rebel leader, he agreed on exchanging 30,000 dors for each gold bar. Although it was a negotiated price ording to the recent international gold price drop, the leader was still fond of the price since he received more money than selling the gold bars at the ck market.


    They returned to the vige of Shatili in two hours only. They even had breaks in-between.


    This trip was a good experience for Insoo. Overjoyed by having trained the rebels for a short period, he said that his oldbat senses wereing back. Looking at him Youngho only wished that there would not be a situation where Insoo would have to use hisbat senses.


    Youngho sent the supply items list to Philip and the location of delivery, which was a shepherd¡¯s cabin in the mountains. Youngho¡¯s part as the CIA agent was done now.


    In Tbilisi, he transferred 3.6 million dors to the rebel leader¡¯s foreign ount. Since the ck Eagle had more than a thousand gold bars left, Youngho nned on frequently exchanging money with them from now on. His fondness of gold bars was not only because they were a good investment but also because he could sell it to a particr businessman at arge sum of money when he wanted.


    They had to travel by train on the way back to Baku because of the gold bars. If they flew to Baku, the gold bars would have been exposed to airport security. It was an exhausting 14-hour long trip but because the three of them were together, they felt like high school students on a field trip. Because of Jongil and Insoo who frequently brought snacks and liquors from the dining section, they were all drunk when they got off at Baku Station.


    Although it was a short trip, it was beneficial for the three friends because they got to work together as a team. They learned about each other¡¯s habits, facial expressions, and gestures to read each other. Although they were already close as they had trained together in Navy Special Forces back in Korea, it was their first time together in a real field, using the power of the leather shoes. It was an essential element for field agents on a mission. Knowing about each other and reading their teammates even without having a conversation, was a huge plus during an operation. When a team moved quickly in a flowing manner, it would take longer for the enemy to apprehend their tactics.


    ***


    Youngho was satisfied that he could attain more gold bars. The national bank of each nation tried to acquire more gold because they could print as much money ording to the amount of gold they had. Youngho now had in total of 250 gold bars, they could worth 15 billion won if sold to a good buyer. He wanted to exchange more gold bars if possible.


    The gang went to a Turkish sauna to sober up. After having a nap, they went back to the farm. They wanted to be polished since the two friends were now married. If they showed up at the farm scruffy, their family would have been worried about them, which would be an obstacle for the next trip.


    As they showed up polished at the farm, the farm family greeted them. Since the three guys who protected the farm were gone at the same time, the vacancy must have been big for them. Fatima who cooked ramen for Youngho chatted that the farm felt empty for the past few days. Since she stared at him eating ramen, Youngho could not eat well. Zeynep woke up from the afterschool nap and greeted Youngho with a hug. Looking at ramen, she took his bowl and started eating it as if it was hers despite Fatima¡¯s scolding. Youngho looked at Zeynep as she was eating the ramen. Although it was not a desirable action, she could only behave naturally like that since they were a family. Eating ramen, Zeynep was still chatty but it was like a chirping sound of a bird to Youngho.


    Szechenyi, who had been helping workers loading wine boxes, entered the living room and greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Hyung, you are here. Can you make it to school tomorrow? We have a parent-teacher conference.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I cane.¡±


    Youngho had heard from Fatima that the school was looking for a sponsor for a school concert. It seemed that the school wanted to ask for him to be the sponsor to buy some tickets. Of course, he wanted to support the concert since the little siblings were in the concert. Szechenyi would be ying a big drum and Zeynep would be ying the xylophone.


    Even though young kids had been practicing hard for the concert, parents¡¯ support rate was low. If Youngho could only bring the farm family, it could fill up one side of the school auditorium.


    ***


    ¡°Youngho, is that you? Is everything alright in Baku?¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s question gave the impression that something was going wrong in Korea.


    ¡°Are you still getting inspected by taxman?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s been over for long. You know, we have nothing to be inspected, really.¡±


    ¡°Did you find out why they inspected a tinypany? ¡±


    ¡°They said they usually do inspections every three years. We made huge sales in the past three years, you know.¡±


    Sangchun sounded naive, regr inspections by taxman were only forrge corporations not a smallpany like Chunho Merchant.


    ¡°I might know why, can you look into that more?¡±


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s already over. Let this go.¡±


    It seemed that it would be faster for Youngho to figure out by himself.


    ¡°How¡¯s my nephew?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s talking now.¡±


    ¡°You should visit Baku in the summer, you can bring your parents too.¡±


    ¡°I heard it¡¯s extremely hot in there in the summer.¡±


    ¡°If youe, I was going to go on a trip to Northern Europe with you.¡±


    ¡°Oh now that you¡¯ve got money and time, you want to go everywhere. Okay, we¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    After hanging up the phone, Youngho thought about how to give Korean officials a little warning. Since the timid-minded officials¡¯ spite couldst long, he needed to make them stop bothering him and the people around him.


    He wanted to find a safe way that would not give away his identity. In order to expose Korean officials¡¯ fault for not buying oil before the price went up to the public, he needed to reveal the reason why Korean oilpanies¡¯ had boughtrge amounts of oil ahead of time.


    Since it was his information that made the oilpanies buy oil in advance, Korean people would resent for their government¡¯s way of handling an important issue.


    To attain the information, Youngho needed to go to the Korean embassy and ask the councilor and ambassador K. If he was the same guy who just came to Baku from Korea a few years ago, he would not have thought about giving a payback especially to government officials. However, one thing he learned from living in Baku was to fight back if he was ill-treated. All the business people of Baku lived that way.


    He was not sure if he would end up just giving them a message or making them fired. No matter what, the curtain was rising for his return game.

 Chapter 97 - Lee Youngho’s Payback (2)

    <h4>Chapter 97: Lee Youngho¡¯s Payback (2)</h4>


    In life, some rtionship is just beneficial to you, and with Sevan, the general manager of Main Police Department, was that kind of rtionship to Youngho. Officially, they were business partners of the Sumqayit clothing store and personally, Sevan was Youngho¡¯s best friend, Jongil¡¯s distant inw. Sevan became the general manager on his own efforts but Youngho¡¯s existence had elerated his promotion. Because of theirplicated, yet beneficial rtionship, Sevan now did any minor favors when Youngho asked.


    When President Aliyev was informed by a Russian mafia boss, Yaniv, about the decrease of oil production, Aliyev acted fast to put off any long-term oil contracts, so the Azerbaijani government was able to save the nation¡¯s oil money by waiting for the price increase before signing contracts. Thinking that there must be an official document of order that deferred the decision to put off any oil contracts, Youngho came to attain those as evidence from Sevan.


    It was a case in which the Azerbaijani government acted fast to modify their trading policy upon a piece of information offered by a Russian businessman. However, the Korean government was stupid enough to ignore the information although an ambassador in an oil-producing country tried his best to inform the government officials and politicians. Youngho wanted to gather the circumstantial evidence and put it up on the Inte on an SNS tform.


    He wanted to warn the Korean government and the public for being ignorant. It was even pitiful that the high government officials who were giving a timid payback by inspecting Chunho Merchant in Korea for embarrassing them in Baku. Youngho was confident that he could gather any pieces of evidence to make an uproar in the government since he now was a walking information connection center as an information agent of the great Caucasus Mountain Range.


    Lately, he had realized that information was directly rted to power and money. He already attained the emails of ambassador K that were sent to Korean oilpanies. When Youngho met him and negotiated with him with a condition that he would be cooperative to any embassy work, the ambassador forwarded his emails to him. Ambassador K rather weed Youngho¡¯s n to warn the Korean government since he was also upset by theircent attitude. Since K was closing to his retirement, he did not fear any potential disadvantages from the government.


    When he was ready, he uploaded the data on his SNS ount. It was a n taking advantage of the fact that Korean cyber police could not investigate his ount since it was foreign.


    He made the title quite offensive to the Korean public: ¡®Stupid Koreans.¡¯


    Through the Koreanizens who thought that Chinese or Japanese people were diminishing Koreans again, the views skyrocketed. When finding out that the content was about Korean politicians and high officials who did not even investigate on the information of decrease of oil production that was delivered to them in advance and disregarded it, people were outraged. They started sharing the post, making it spread fast.


    The website of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was frozen for a while due to so many people connecting at the same time to request the truth. As the issue went on, people started guessing the relevant politicians and officials. Eventually, the Ministry¡¯s high officials¡¯ and politicians¡¯ identities were revealed byizens.


    Not because Youngho posted up the reveal unanimously, the government could not dare to sue him since it was a disclosure of aizen who worried about drainage of national wealth. After the second and third reveal of additional evidence and the situation was out of control, the Congress finally imed to conduct a hearing. However, there was nothing that could be done since they already wasted billions of dors on national oil purchases.


    Korean government¡¯s data said that they paid more than 70 billion dors every year. In the field of energy, Korea¡¯s petroleum dependency was more than 40%, and the government should try their best to find a way to save money on oil purchases. The government actedcent because the oil price has gone downpared to thest year and they ended up spending even more on oil.


    ***


    Youngho, who had caused an uproar among the Korean government and the public, was busy pruning grape branches. Even though he had done it throughout all winter, he was still working on it since the farming area was huge.


    Lately, his ambition to make Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine the best quality wine of the whole world was growing inside him. It was because he now had enough funds to produce even more perfect wine by aging it even longer and using great facilities.


    Jongil, who had not much to do at Baku¡¯s Chunho Merchant office, was summoned by Youngho. Comining much, he was working with him, pruning grape branches.


    ¡°Man, you are the one who drinks up all the wine alone on the farm but you¡¯re toozy to join me?¡±


    ¡°Who said I¡¯mzy? I was going to go to the Sumqayit clothing store but then you called me.¡±


    ¡°What about Stephany and the driver? You don¡¯t have to go there every time. Wait, do you have something in there?¡±


    When Youngho questioned, Jongil blinked for a while in silence and turned his head toward Insoo.


    ¡°Hey, Insoo! I¡¯m going to resign from the vice president position of Chunho Merchant, you can take my job. Since the president keeps nagging at me, I can¡¯t do it anymore. I¡¯ll just be an agent alone.¡±


    ¡°Who said you can quit? And the agency job is also something you can¡¯t do alone, you¡¯re my backup agent. Man, stop bbering and work.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I shouldn¡¯t have answered his phone call when I was guarding a high school student in Korea. Park Jongil¡¯s life now depends on Youngho¡¯s hands. I¡¯m like a ve. It was your n making me and Karajan meet all along.¡±


    Although Jongil wasining, he smiled at Youngho seeing that his face brightened by his joke. It seemed that friends knew the best ways to cheer each other.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s farm had visitors; a special agent from the Korean embassy and an official from Korean National Police Agency. The Korean government had found that Youngho was the one responsible for the current state of the reveal. With their informationwork, it was easy to find him. However, they did not have any physical evidence.


    The special agent introduced himself as once a soldier trained by Korean Army Special Forces. He seemed to know where Youngho was from too. Since they both shared a simr background, Youngho thought that he would be easy to talk to.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Korea¡¯s public opinion toward the government is terrible now. If you¡¯re preparing to reveal any other information, we¡¯d like you to consider stopping at this point. You have already made turmoil in the government.¡±


    It seemed that the agent was troubled to be assigned to take care of this incident.


    Although what Youngho had revealed was not fake, when the government faced problems, it wasmon citizens who were damaged by the high leaders. Also, the official from National Police Agency was under pressure of national authority of criminal investigation.


    ¡°I got nothing to say since you already know. However, I believe those high officials should be kicked out. Because of theirck of judgment, Korea lost billions of dors. It¡¯s unspeakable of. What about the Korean citizens who work overseas? No matter how hard they work for their nation, the high officials and politicians are wrecking the country from the top.¡±


    Youngho said whatever was on his mind. Although these people were also officials, they were the ones who worked at the frontline. He figured that they would understand.


    When Youngho told them the edited version of the story of how he obtained the information and how ambassador K tried hard to inform the government, the two sighed. He also told them about how it all started from the high officials¡¯ visit to Youngho¡¯s farm.


    Although they were as upset as Youngho after hearing the story, they begged him toply with their request.


    ¡°The Congress is going to hold a hearing and the chief director official of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy won¡¯t be able to keep their position. If you understand our problems as being the low-level employees, we¡¯d also return the favor. If we bring good news to our superiors, it would re-establish our positions in the government body. Please.¡±


    Youngho had already achieved his goal: Warning the Korean government and public for their ignorance. Thus, he obliged to their request dly. Not to mention, he was impressed that they bothered to visit him to ask for a favor.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be nice of me if I cause you problems when you work hard in a foreign country. I¡¯ll do as you say, I won¡¯t try to make uproar anymore and it¡¯s all because of you and ambassador K.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee. Thank you very much. You¡¯re saving our faces.¡±


    ¡°Before you go, I¡¯d like to say thest word too. When you return to Korea and be a high official one day, please don¡¯t forget about the people working in foreignnds. I hope the government won¡¯t stay ignorant to their voices like now.¡±


    ¡°I deeply agree with you, we¡¯ve learned something from talking to you today. Mr. Lee, I¡¯m d someone like you, who love your own country, is being sessful here. Can I sometimes stop by to say hello and to share information?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to help you to the best of my knowledge.¡±


    Since Youngho¡¯s information strength was trustworthy, they wanted to gain insights from him to make achievements in their workce.


    ***


    Youngho liked the agent since he was not just a brain but he was also from the Army Special Forces. He would not have been cooperative if the agent acted like corrupted officials, but he was not like them. He was humble and sympathetic to Youngho¡¯s perspective toward the Korean government. He was about the same age as Youngho and shared some simrities with him. Not only that, Youngho especially liked his ambitious personality.


    The problem of the Korean government was that bureaucracy was prevalent. So many people who had been only sitting down and studying for officials testing in the library, and once they were passed to be an official, they did not want an adventure but wanted to secure their job for the rest of their lives. There was no need for them to voice themselves because they were satisfied with their jobs.


    Rather than thinking of the job of an official as a service for the country, people considered it to be a secure, tenure job. They reacted extremely offensive to new perspectives since they did not want adventures but wanted to stay the same. Being exclusive of the outside influence, they only cared about ttering their superiors.


    Many intelligence agents were the same. Once they luckily passed the intelligence exam, they be like other members of the officialdom and forget about their real purpose. That was why the agent who visited Youngho was impressive to him since he directly visited Youngho to ask a favor. He was different than other passive officials.


    He said that he majored in Russian from college, which was not a popr major. The agent was a person of a different perspective. People might question what they can do with learning Russian but that would be an ignorantment out of ignorance. If they knew how wide the regions of the Soviet Union¡¯s influence, they would say that he made a perfect choice. Although they did not meet for a good reason, Youngho was d that he was acquainted with the agent for that.

 Chapter 98 - A Guest of the Farm

    <h4>Chapter 98: A Guest of the Farm</h4>


    Back in his Navy Special Forces training days, Youngho asked a question to a drill instructor why they needed to be trained so harshly. The drill sergeant said that the Special Forces trainees were trained so that they could be secretly sent across the North Korean border for an assassination operation someday, since Korea is still divided. He added that North Korea¡¯s Special Forces were trained even more harshly, so they needed to get stronger to the extent where they would not even blink to such hard drills.


    In the past, many soldiers in the Special Forces unitspeted with each other with the number of times they had been to North Korea. In secret, they would invade North Korea and only two to three out of ten of them returned. The ones that did not return were probably caught by North Korean armed forces.


    Youngho was reminiscing of those days now because he saw many representatives of North Korea visiting Baku. They identified themselves as officials from representing departments, but except for a few administrative staffs, most of them were special agents from North Korea.


    Azerbaijan established diplomatic ties with both South and North Korea, so whenever there were special national events in Baku, Youngho spotted many North Korean representatives from a distance. Most of them had smaller body figures and tanner skin than South Koreans, Youngho could tell they were North Koreans just by looking at them. They had sharp and keen-looking eyes just as if they were trained to be special agents. It was unknown if they did not have enough financial support from their headquarters but all of them stayed at the official residence and not in a separate hotel. Since Youngho did not have any point of contact with them, he did not pay attention.


    The South Korean special agent from the embassy visited Youngho. He thanked Youngho that he wasplimented by the government since he had confirmed with him that there would be no more reveal. Thanking him was not the only reason for his visit.


    Apparently, one of the representatives of North Korea secretly contacted the South Korean embassy seeking asylum but he did not want to go in South Korea. The agent asked Youngho if he could take care of the refugee in Baku.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, this North Korean¡¯s family is all imprisoned in the North Korean political prisoner camps and he¡¯ll soon be summoned to be imprisoned too. He and I go way back and we¡¯ve been secretly maintaining touch. He¡¯s a trained person and a security guard of the North Korean representatives.¡±


    Knowing that his family would be executed if he went to South Korea, the North Korean representative had nowhere to go now, so he wanted to stay in Baku until hees up with a n to get his family out of North Korea. The South Korean agent assured Youngho about him since he had passed secret information about the department of North Korean representatives and the North Korean Army¡¯s Special Forces to the special agent already.


    Youngho asked about Jongil and Insoo¡¯s opinion since taking a North Korean refugee was rted to the security of the farm. They did not have any opposing opinions but agreed to take the defector. They thought that no matter how hard the team of North Korean representatives searched for him, they would not find him hiding in their farm. They were also curious to know the level of North Korea¡¯s Special Forces.


    Even though North and South Korea were tragically divided and they are technically still at war, Youngho considered North Koreans the same family from the same root like other South Koreans. Youngho wanted to help the refugee since he was trying to get out of North Korea where people were brutally punished or executed if they did notply with their dictator. Since the Korean special agent assured him about his identity and he asked Youngho¡¯s help directly, he decided to take him in his farm.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon, age 28, graduated from Kim Jong-il Political Military University, an agent of Operations of the Labor Party, this was the North Korean representative refugee¡¯s profile.


    Kim Jong-il Political Military University was a special university that trained special agents. The school was known to only enroll elites from high schools of different regions after they passed strict physical and intelligence tests. Once agents were graduated from the university, they were given a certificate of a high status and treated distinctly as elites.


    While in school, students learned two or more foreignnguages and technical skills for various types of machinery, and for the rest of the time, they focused on physical training. That kim Ilkwon with a special background became part of Youngho¡¯s farm family now. He was now hired as an employee of the farm. Since he was trained to be an agent, he did not use North Korean dialect and was fluent in English and Russian. It was a result of long-term Spartan education.


    Kim Ilkwon worked hard with the desire to go back to North Korea someday and rescue his family members from there. Except for sleeping hours, he focused only on working even for extra hours.


    Jongil and Insoo wanted to have abat with him to see his level of strength but they did not have any chance since Ilkwon always seemed busy. He ate meals at the farm cafeteria and slept in the night security guards¡¯ lodge. Youngho called him from time to time to take it easy but he would not listen, he needed to make money to support their family¡¯s escape.


    Youngho called Kim Ilkwon and told him that he could lend him the money for his family.


    ¡°Mr. Kim Ilkwon. Even if you work here for months like this, you won¡¯t have enough money to cross the North Korean border to rescue your family. I¡¯ll lend you the money so you can save your family first.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I appreciate your offer even if they¡¯re just words but I haven¡¯t nned the escape routes yet and didn¡¯t even find a broker as well. I¡¯m just working hard because I can¡¯t just sit and wait.¡±


    ¡°If you find a way to bring them to Russia, I can take care of them from there on.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I have some friends in Russia who can help us.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I don¡¯t know what to say. I¡¯m already thankful that you offered me a shelter here. If I can only take them out of the North Korean border, I¡¯m certain that I can bring them here but I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d do that with my identity now.¡±


    He had a North Korean diplomat¡¯s identification card but it was useless now. If he carried that when passing the North Korean border, it would be a suicidal mission.


    Youngho had an easy way to resolve this but he did not know how far he should be helping Ilkwon.


    ¡°When you bring your family here, are you nning to go to Korea?¡±


    ¡°No. Since I speak foreignnguages a little bit, I¡¯d like to live away from Korea. Living in South Korea is just not appealing.¡±


    If he went to Korea, the Korean government would treat him well because of his background but he would have to live quietly hiding from the public¡¯s eyes, losing his freedom. As a refugee who had been a high official and a diplomat of North Korea, he would attract the South Korean press, and soon his profile would be revealed to the public. It would not be safe for him since North Korea could send spies to assassinate him and his family. It was better for him to live overseas rather than living in fear of North Korea.


    ¡°How about staying here?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying because my farm is a perfect ce for a hiding ce.¡±


    ¡°If there is a ce for us to settle, I wouldn¡¯t say no to it. Thank you so much Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll make you a Russian passport, that way you can go to Russia and other countries as well.¡±


    Youngho called Sergey on the spot. He took a photo of Kim Ilkwon and sent it to Sergey. He was going to take Ilkwon under his wings since he liked his faithfulness and sincerity. Being the same Korean people, he did not need any more reason to help him who did not have anywhere to go. He thought it must be a destiny having to meet him in Baku. It couldn¡¯t hurt to have a sincere friend near him.


    Youngho still did not know him well enough to discern if he was not going to betray him but he felt that he would regret it if he did not help him when he needed help the most.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon was deeply grateful for Youngho¡¯s help. If he dyed more, his family in the political prisoners camp would be more damaged because of the way they were treated. It would be his worst nightmare if they did not have enough strength to escape from the prison when he goes to rescue them. On the day that Ilkwon received his Russian passport, Youngho drank with him for the first time. Jongil¡¯s special friendliness made Ilkwon feel morefortable around them. As they got even drunk, Jongil insisted that Ilkwon should call him ¡®hyung¡¯ and finally he said it. Being only three years apart, ¡®hyung¡¯ sounded better than ¡®Mr. Jongil¡¯ or ¡®Mr. Lee¡¯.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I just sent thest truck for wine delivery.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hyung, not Mr. Lee.¡±


    As Jongil scolded him, Ilkwon¡¯s face reddened.


    ¡°How can I call him hyung? He¡¯s a famous businessman in Baku and my boss. He¡¯s different from you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all friends here, so you¡¯re discriminating us?¡±


    ¡°I can never do that. He¡¯s my savior, I should respect him.¡±


    ¡°Man, you are just inflexible. That¡¯s alright. Then you can just call him ¡®boss¡¯ instead of Mr. Lee, I don¡¯t like that at all.¡±


    ¡°Dude, what about Mr. Lee?¡± Youngho interrupted.


    ¡°You know, we don¡¯t have that much of an age difference. Isn¡¯t it just awkward?¡±


    Jongil was speaking the truth. Korean people always liked to stick to formality ording to people¡¯s positions or ages. Especially Kim Ilkwon who came from North Korea, he was even more conservative than South Koreans.


    Looking at the two having a little argument with each other, they seemed to have gotten much closer afterst night. Ilkwon, who could not even look at people¡¯s faces directly now talked back to Jongil. Being a runaway who betrayed his own country, he must have been under tremendous pressure. He did not show it to others but as they drank together and got drunk, he opened up his heart a little bit.


    He said that it was hard for him now that he did not have anywhere to be loyal to. He used to encourage himself to work for his own country and people but after his families were all imprisoned, everything went down the drain.


    He thought that he would feel free to abandon cosmetic loyalty but since he did not belong anywhere, he was confused with his identity. Now he was lost in international society. He could not hold his tears when Youngho handed him his Russian passport, hee felt like his identity was restored. He was confused that people who helped him and trusted him were South Koreans whom he was educated as enemies to destroy for his entire life. Not to mention, Youngho offered a shelter for him and even his family, he could not be more thankful.


    ***


    ¡°Hey, we used to be in Korean Special Forces too. You¡¯re kidding when you said you run 40 kilometers in three hours, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m speaking the truth as it is. What do you think I get from lying to you, Jongil hyung?¡±


    Ilkwon insisted that he used to run 40 kilometers in three hours with 30 kilograms of a backpack filled with a sandbag and swim 8 kilometers at least when he was training to be an agent. In order to graduate from the university, all trainees should pass that line. Jongil did not believe him, it was surely unbelievable. Youngho thought that Korean Special Forces has a long way to go if Ilkwon was saying the truth.


    Ilkwon added that he also learned hiding, lethal moves, controlling various weapons and explosives, assassination, and so on in the university and after graduation, all the agents go in the real field and experience the real missions.


    Even though it was named a university, it was, in fact, an agent training institute.


    Once they were determined, they could assassinate key figures of South Korea, any time they wanted but they were suppressing it because of the international opinion. It was ironic since North Koreaunched ballistic missiles multiple times when the nation suffered in poverty but it seemed that North Korea still could notunch terror attacks.


    Kim Ilkwon was nning to travel to North Korea. It was possible to get there by flying to divostok, Russia first and going from there to Najin, North Korea by train. There was a train connecting two regions Khasan Station of Russia and Najin, North Korea. It ran twice a week.


    Now that he had a Russian passport, he could go in there easily. The problem was bringing out his family. They should cross Tumen River but money could resolve the problem.


    In the city of Khasan, there were a lot of brokers for people escaping North Korea, he could pay them to save his family. A broker asked him to pay ten million won, so he needed 40 million won to save all four of his family members. Of course, it would be impossible for him to take out four of them by himself but the prison guards were known to be easily bribed. Youngho was surprised to hear that they even would escort their prisoners out to Tumen River if paid a lot of money.


    It was only possible because once people were imprisoned in the political prisoner camp, they were considered dead, so even if they disappeared, the guards would just report them dead and that would be it.


    Youngho confirmed his routes through multiple sources and gave Ilkwon 100000 dors. It was enough money to deliver their family safely to the Tumen River and divostok. He thought that if Ilkwon neveres back to him, he would just consider the money as lost, he decided to give the benefit of the doubt. Youngho told him to bring his family to divostok, then he could make their fake passport again through Sergey, so that they could travel to Baku.


    As he left the farm, Ilkwon¡¯s eyes turned watery. It was a dangerous journey ahead of him and he might never return if he was caught by the North Korean authorities. He left after swearing that if he returned safely, he would be loyal to Youngho for the rest of his life.

 Chapter 99 - The Spring Scenery of the Farm

    <h4>Chapter 99: The Spring Scenery of the Farm</h4>


    As the spring came, the farm was getting busy again.


    This year, grapes would be growing in the Charles Wine Company¡¯s farm or the Charles farm which was 300 acres and in the Zeynep Farm¡¯s Southern part which was 600 acres. The Charles farm was surrounded by mountains, so the notorious Baku¡¯s wind could not even reach there. There was a reservoir on the farm and the whole farm was watered by it. It was built upon a natural spring which was the main reason that the Charles farm was sessful. It was five kilometers away from Zeynep Farm, so grapes from there could be transported easily to the wine factory. However, the fermentation facility on Zeynep Farm had a capacity to process 1,600 acres of grape nts only. So Youngho was building a new facility on the Charles farm.


    Youngho stopped expanding his farm for now and nned to focus on making premium quality wine. The bottling process could be done in Zeynep Farm, he only needed to build oak cask aging facility at Charles farm before this fall, including crusher, press, aging tanks, and the low-temperature aging room.


    The oak trees grown in the Caucasus Mountain Range were known to be the best-scented casks in Europe. That was why Youngho was building oak cask production facility in the empty field of the Southern part of Zeynep Farm.


    Since it was a lot of money to buy oak casks used on his farm, he wanted to produce them on his own. Oak casks should be reced every five to seven years in order not to lose the scent of oak in wine. The wine would be tasteless if the oak casks were not reced. Since the number of grapes produced in his farm was now enormous, he was not sure if he could replenish all the oak casks from the farm¡¯s own production. He decided to build a big factory, so that he could even sell oak casks to other factories too.


    Many people would think if selling oak casks would make money, but their price was high. A cask of 300-gallon capacity could cost two to three million won depending on the tree¡¯s age. Small farms would not even dare to rece their oak casks because of the high price, but their wine did not taste good because of that.


    If he produced oak casks, they would sell like hotcakes, since premium wine factories were always in need of them.


    Oak cask production factory did not haveplicated facilities since it only needed outdoor tree storage lot, sawmill, manufacturing factory, and storage for manufactured oak casks. The quality of the production depended on how many experienced craftsmen were there because the process was mostly done manually. There were different types of oak trees including acorn, oriental oak, ck oak, quercus mongolica oak, white oak, and Japanese oak, and so on. The trees used to make charcoals would be a high-value product as they turned into oak casks. Oriental oaks were especially special since cork was made from harvested bark of the trees, they were a valuable resource used as the corks of the wine bottles.


    In the Mediterranean regions, there were many small farming viges that only grew oriental oaks to produce corks.


    Youngho nned to mass produce oak casks by automatizing the production process, so that the craftsmen could only focus on making the casks.


    ***


    While the farm work was naturally busy in springtime, Youngho had another work to take care of. It was the exploration work of the oil field, district 7 of the Caspian Sea. Although he was only the face of thepany, he could not just sit back since he received three percent of thepany¡¯s share. Even if he did not consider that, there were a lot of troubles between theborers of the exploration field and he was often summoned to the police department. Theborers who worked for long hours in the tough work field often were drunk and made troubles. Usually they were in physical fights but as they inflicted injuries to each other, they got indicted by the police.


    Youngho had visited the department often but now there was a different reason for his visit to Main Police Department. As the person in charge, he had to bail his workers out and returned them to the work field. Since the oil field was short in staff, he could not neglect the workers in the police department. Every single day, money was passing and if they could finish the exploration process fast, they could start making money sooner.


    Thankfully there was no safety ident yet in the field. However, he was being extra careful since once an ident happens, it would cause serious injuries to the workers.


    Since the oil exploration technicians were not mafias, they needed to be treated carefully. They were highly stressed, so Youngho needed to find a way to relieve their stress.


    To resolve this problem, Yaniv sent a Russian mafia-style constory visit. It was a visit of Russian ¡®intergirls¡¯, known as Russian international prostitutes, to relieve theborers.


    It was something that the Azerbaijani government would not be fond of if they found out but it was conventionally done in offshore oil fields. Not to mention, Youngho could not stop it since Yaniv was in charge. Oil businessmen would have a contract with the brokerpany of intergirls, so the girls visited the oil field once a week to motivate workers. It was a special culture of Russia since girls willingly became intergirls to save themselves from poverty as Russia rapidly turned to a capitalist system. The story of those girls was made as a movie and surprised the whole world but it was still enacted in the Caspian Sea.


    Theborers, working at the oil field drilling and exploring oil deposits, were highly paid due to the risk followed by their job. They did not have anywhere to use the money they earned since they were in the middle of the sea. Naturally, they were drawn to women. So the deal was sealed since there was supply and demand.


    Youngho noticed the increase of Russian beauties in the downtown of Baku. He thought that they were on a trip but there was a reason for that. Baku¡¯s night culture was slowly being spoiled too influenced by the appearance of intergirls.


    ***


    Even in this busy time, Youngho and Jongil went to the vige of Shatili to exchange money with gold bars. He now had gathered 450 of gold bars in total. The money he paid to the rebels summed up to 14.8 million dors. In Korean currency, he paid 16 billion won and earned 26 billion won worth of gold bars. The gold bars could worth any amount of money for a person who really needed it. Youngho did not know what to do with them for now but he visited Shatili from time to time when he was about to forget about them.


    As the Chechen rebels had enough money, they had bought thetest weapons and were getting used to them. Even Youngho envied the weapons they bought from the ammunition depot located in Grozny, Russia.


    Wanting some of the weapons for himself, Jongil even said to bring a car next time to get some of the weapons from them.


    As May was just beginning, the Caucasus Mountain Range started to smell like spring. They could not bring their cars before since the mountains were still icy.


    Youngho told Michael of the European chapter that they should stop supplying the Chechen rebels since they had enough now. If a tail is long, it must be stepped on. Likewise, it was time for them to draw the line with the ck Eagle. It was no doubt that the CIA and the ck Eagle would still maintain good rtion but signs that indicated danger were showing up because the second generation of the ck Widows was established and they were nowunching terror attacks in different ces.


    Although they were fighting for their independence, the Western world could not ept their attacks on many and unspecified persons. The CIA would help them if they directly fought against the Russian army as armed rebels.


    ***


    After passing the borderline of Azerbaijan, Youngho passed the wheel to Jongil. Because it was theirst time going to the vige of Shatili, they decided to take their car.


    Although Youngho desired more gold bars, he had a bad feeling about dealing with the ck Eagle anymore, so he decided to stop after this time. No matter how many gold bars they wanted, what the two could carry in their backpacks were 120 bars at maximum. Since Youngho still had 1,300 dors left from selling the oil information with Michael, he wanted to use up all of his money for the gold bars. This time, he nned to ask for more with a reason that selling gold bars cost him more for themission fee. He trembled his body to think that he was turning into a greedy gold seeker. He turned on ssical CD and leaned back to the passenger seat.


    ¡°Are you asleep?¡±


    Jongil who had been driving spoke to him. Since Youngho was listening to the music with his eyes closed, Jongil must have thought that he was asleep.


    ¡°Nope. I¡¯m enjoying the music.¡±


    ¡°Dude, it doesn¡¯t even suit you. By the way, you got any worries?¡±


    ¡°Why, do I look like I¡¯m worried?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Talk to your brother. Are you in trouble that I don¡¯t know of? I can help you pick up your mess.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Man. You really are in trouble, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No no you stupid. You¡¯re writing a fiction novel again.¡±


    Lately, Youngho¡¯s head was filled with the idea that he needed more money to have power. He was guilty that he was turning into a ve for money, and fast-witted Jongil already found out that he was troubled.


    When a person on the passenger seat falls asleep, the driver also gets tired. So Youngho asked Jongil to switch with him but he said that he was fine. He was worried about Youngho.


    ¡°Jongil, do you think I am going crazy for money?¡±


    ¡°What? Why? Did anybody say that to you?¡±


    ¡°No. I just feel like I¡¯m like that these days.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, you¡¯re just soft. I¡¯m rather worried that you¡¯re busy giving your money away. Dude, you¡¯ve done great so far and you¡¯ll continue to do the same.¡±


    Receiving apliment from Jongil, Youngho felt weird. They were always busy joking around with each other since they had cringes when talking seriously.


    ¡°The Chechen rebels risk their lives for their country¡¯s independence, but I feel like I¡¯m only interested in my profits.¡±


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re not taking advantage of them, it¡¯s a win-win deal. You¡¯re paying them more than the ck market, other brokers would try to rip them off. I don¡¯t know if you think you should be honest but business is a business. It¡¯s how it works.¡±


    Although Jongil was also right, Youngho still felt guilty. He was in a minor identity crisis these days.


    ¡°Youngho. It¡¯s my opinion and probably Insoo would feel the same way but we all could have opportunities because of you. You always took care of people around you and didn¡¯t use money for yourself. Nobody would see you as blinded by money, so don¡¯t confuse yourself with needless thoughts. Look at me, I live a simple life. I can¡¯t push you to live like me though, phew.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho envied Jongil who said that he lived a carefree life. Thinking too much was not good for anything. He already started his businesses. Whether it was the wine business or information business, since he decided to start, he thought that he should try to be the best and make money.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll try to be empty-minded like you. I started things already. Let¡¯s make money out of them. I can care less about being med for it.¡±


    ¡°Man, don¡¯t you think I¡¯m empty-minded. I meant that once I have a goal, I don¡¯t think about anything, okay?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jongil. I can live on the foreign life because you are here.¡±


    ¡°Did you eat something spoiled? You¡¯re being weird today.¡±

 Chapter 100 - A Small Promise (1)

    <h4>Chapter 100: A Small Promise (1)</h4>


    Talking with Jongil was quite helpful. Jongil¡¯s simple solution had cleared Youngho¡¯s confused mind.


    ¡°Park Jongil, no matter what, ¡¯empty-minded¡¯ suits you perfectly.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Man, don¡¯t you know you¡¯re the ignorant one? I¡¯m studying these days, I¡¯m going to enroll in Baku University next year.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a CIA¡¯s field agent. I don¡¯t want people judging me because I only went to high school. Karajan also wants me to go to college since I¡¯m going to be a dad.¡±


    ¡°Who judges you for your education?¡±


    Although Youngho said that, he liked Jongil¡¯s idea. It was amazing that Jongil decided to go to college, he could have gone to a college but because he did not have any money and his path was set to be an MMA fighter, he missed his chance. Even though it took a little while, he should do well in college since he¡¯s smart.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m going to pay for your college.¡±


    ¡°Dude, in here all colleges are free. I¡¯m a permanent resident, you know. You need to apply for it too.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s better to stay as a foreign investor now. It had more advantages for tax processes.¡±


    Although they were always together, they had not had quality talks like this for a while. They encouraged each other.


    ***


    When Youngho told the rebel leader that he would not be able toe again, he was anxious since it was such an inconvenience to sell them in the ck market since they had to find a person to sell and negotiate the price of gold bars. The rebels could have newer weapons because of the money they exchanged with Youngho. Youngho would always pay them more than the ck market and send them the money right after they parted. To the rebel leader, Youngho¡¯s announcement was like a bombshell.


    The rebel leader pondered for a while and suggested Youngho take all of the gold bars. He did not have enough money to buy 700 of them.


    ¡°Mister, I¡¯m not in the state to buy them all.¡±


    He had 13 million dors left from selling information and 4 million dors from wine sales but they were still not enough. It was only enough for 570 gold bars.


    ¡°They¡¯re only rocks if we leave them in here. You can take them and pay me back when you have money, please take them all this time. It¡¯s a little risky for us but I trust you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t crave for money to the extent to turn down your trust. I exchanged gold bars not just to earn money but I also wanted to help you achieve your independence.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your cherished fund, how can I run away with that? I can only pay you 1.7 million dors for now but for the rest of the money, I will pay you monthly. I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    Youngho and Jongil came down the mountain with 20 rebels who helped them carry gold bars. In each of their backpacks, they carried 30 gold bars, Youngho and Jongil each carried 60 gold bars.


    Not knowing about the magical power of the leather shoes, the rebels were utterly shocked that Youngho and Jongil easily carried the gold bars. The rebel leader who entrusted 720 gold bars to Youngho was a bold leader. He seemed to trust Youngho even more since he fought with Russian soldiers.


    Youngho would be owing him 4.5 million dors which he could make in four months from selling his wines. He was thankful that he could attain all of the gold bars from the rebels. His heart was full as if empty grain storage was filled with grains.


    Although the amount of wealth he attained could not bepared to the wealth of a CEO of a mega corporation, he earned more than many people of his age could have earned. From going through different experiences and meeting many people, Youngho learned that a real businessman should be able to be responsible for his own wealth by taking care of other people around him because they were the ones who helped him make money. Money only existed because other people existed.


    The weight of gold bars made the hummer shake. It was the weight of eight giant guys. It could only hold up because it was sturdy as a dump truck.


    He stopped by a bank in Tbilisi, Georgia to transfer 17 million dors to the rebels¡¯ ount and left for Baku. He could not stay there for another day because of the gold bars they had, it was unlikely for someone to steal his car but he was still worried.


    Jongil also agreed to go straight to Baku taking turns to drive overnight. Although Jongil was usually not interested in money, he became insecure because of the amount of gold they had. He joked that he could only sleep after taking all of the gold bars home.


    Jongil thought that Youngho would pay the rebels with the profit he made from wine sales since he did not know the fact that Youngho made 20 million dors from the information business. Jongil worried that he would not be able to pay up the debt to the rebels for long. Youngho thought it was better for him to stay quiet since it was a secret between him and Michael.


    ***


    They easily passed the checkpoint at Azerbaijan¡¯s border. There was no official in Azerbaijan who would dare to bother a foreigner and permanent resident and especially when Youngho had an honorary police certificate. He did not search their car. They only rested a little bit when they stopped to put gas and took turns to sleep.


    When it was around 10 AM in the morning, they could finally enter the farm. Since they had been nervously driving for the night, they were exhausted. They had aplished a huge job since they carried 40 billion won in Korean currency.


    Since the siblings have gone to school, they quietly moved all the gold bars to the safe in the basement and crashed out in their beds. They had not slept for almost two days, so even with the power of the rings, they were tired.


    A noise came out from downstairs, it seems that the siblings were back from school. Someone was loudly going up the stairs. It was Zeynep. She jumped into Youngho¡¯s bed and hugged him.


    ¡°Oppa, when did you arrive?¡±


    ¡°Around the noon. Is Fatima here?¡±


    ¡°Yup, she¡¯s here. You came earlier than expected. We thought you¡¯de back around the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Then she started to search in his backpack but there was nothing since Youngho had been in remote areas and came right back after stopping by a bank in Tbilisi. Zeynep became quiet because Youngho always brought a gift for her every time he went on a trip.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t bring a gift this time since I¡¯ve been too busy. So, instead, what do you think about going to me Towers to eat French food and enjoy the night view?¡±


    Her face brightened again. The siblings loved to go anywhere with Youngho. He had not been able to hang out with them recently because of busy work. He wanted to make it up to them this time.


    ***


    Youngho was always not satisfied with eating French meal, so he bought street kebab. Szechenyi bought a kebab since he felt the same hunger as Youngho. Fatima and Zeynep were different from the guys since they were satisfied for enjoying the graceful atmosphere of the French restaurant. As soon as the kebab was gone from Youngho¡¯s hand, Fatima held his arm. Zeynep ran around to take photos of a lighting water fountain. She was now bigger and because of her pretty face, she was in the center of people¡¯s attention, so Szechenyi, being protective for his little sister, was secretly guarding her.


    Fatima who had juste back with a street ice cream cone was talkative as never before. She talked about Zeynep¡¯s school life, the atmosphere of Baku University, the story about how her beloved car was broken and Youngho had toe tow the car a few days ago, and other stories of her life without stopping. Seeing her being chatty like this was surprising. Maybe it was because they had not been talking like this for a while recently. Zeynep also joined them and started to talk, her talking voice was like a sweet sound of music to Youngho.


    ¡®Should I teach Zeynep music? She has a pure spirit. If she does music, she will brighten the world.¡¯


    ¡°Oppa, Zeynep wants to do music. Can she?¡±


    Youngho was only thinking that in his mind but it seemed like Fatima had read his mind. She asked because Youngho was the leader of the family and she naturally thought that she needed his permission. However, Youngho was not sure how to give advice on their future.


    ¡°Zeynep wants to do music?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Remember the time we went to see the Nutcracker performance in Moscow? She had been saying it from then on.¡±


    Youngho felt foolish. Thinking about the future was so important for the siblings but he had never talked about their dreams yet. He regretted not thinking about their futures deeply. He felt like he did not deserve to be considered the leader of the family. As an adult, it was his role to help the kids experience feeling of achievement for their work, so that they could keep trying to find their way into the future.


    The siblings were special to Youngho. He considered them as his destiny and he secretly thought that Fatima should be his spouse in the future. Although not rted by blood, he considered them as his own family.


    Recently he had been thinking about marrying Fatima. He could feel that Fatima had a special affection for him. It seemed that she only lived for Youngho. Everyone else also thought of them as a couple, so it was not even strange to marry her. Youngho felt the same, since Fatima had been in his mind for a long time although he did not show it.


    Although it was embarrassing, it was time to talk about their future together. In fact, Fatima had been treating him as a man for a while. She had been physically affectionate toward Youngho, which meant that she had opened her heart to him but he had been ignoring it. If only he gave his hand, she was ready to fall into his arms.


    Youngho was pondering how he should begin talking about this to Fatima.


    ¡°Oppa, are you listening to me?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°What do you think about me double-majoring inputer science?¡±


    Youngho was not sure if Fatima was ready to be in a serious rtionship since she wanted to study for long.


    ¡°Phew, oppa. You need to say something to me?!¡±


    Fatima¡¯s face looking up at Youngho was too pretty that he suddenly hugged her tight. Surprised by Youngho¡¯s random move, Fatima only breathed heavily in his arms.

 Chapter 101 - A Small Promise (2)

    <h4>Chapter 101: A Small Promise (2)</h4>


    The different colors of lighting of the fountain created a dreamy atmosphere around the two. Youngho looked at Fatima¡¯s eyes, she quietly looked back at him with her untainted eyes as if she has been waiting for this moment.


    ¡°Fatima, have you thought about when you want to get married?¡±


    Fatima replied him boldly as if it was obvious.


    ¡°Whenever you want to.¡±


    Utterly shocked, Youngho was flustered. Finally confirming his heart toward her too, she now acted daringly.


    ¡°Wait, you are going to marry me?


    Fatima looked at him as if he was being absurd.


    ¡°Then, you¡¯d be okay if I marry another man?¡±


    That could never happen. Youngho had never thought about Fatima being with another man.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that...¡±


    ¡°I want to have your babies and live on the farm with my siblings as a family, just like now.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I remember you said a man never goes back on his word. Doesn¡¯t that also include a man¡¯s action?¡±


    He said something like that when Fatima asked if she should go to college. It was not just because of his word that he should be responsible for her but it was because they just confirmed their hearts toward each other. Fatima was certain that she wanted to be with him more than anything since she even dreamed to have his babies in the future.


    No more words were needed. Youngho gently put his arms around her again and said.


    ¡°Thank you Fatima, I don¡¯t know if I deserve to be with you but I will always be by your side as your man.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Fatima did not say anything but her body was shaking. His shoulder was getting wet because of her tears of relief. He held her even tighter.


    ***


    ¡°Hey! Lee Youngho. What¡¯s going on in heretely?¡±


    Youngho was not sure what Jongil was talking about.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are you even here, not in your house?¡±


    ¡°Come clean now. What have you done to Fatima that she is avoiding Insoo and me whenever she sees us?¡±


    After promising her and Youngho¡¯s future, Fatima had been extremely shy and Jongil caught the strange vibe in the farm.


    ¡°You know, any women at her age always change. Don¡¯t use me of anything.¡±


    ¡°But why the sudden change? She never acted like that before. Wait? She¡¯d changed after you guys went out to the downtown and had dinner out.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I¡¯m getting tired of your fictions. Stop writing fictions and get back to work.¡±


    Youngho tossed him the report that should be submitted to the CIA¡¯s European chapter and left the porch.


    ¡®Man, he¡¯s like a ghost. How can he be so fast-witted? Jeez...¡¯


    ***


    With Jongil¡¯s appearance, the house got boisterous. Zeynep was being loud ying the piano on the second floor. Youngho had bought the piano for her as soon as hearing about Zeynep¡¯s interest in music from Fatima. He did not know anything about music but when he went to a music shop, the owner said that any musician could y the piano even for just a little bit.


    Youngho did not think much and bought the piano. He dreamed of Zeynep being aposer, it sounded great since manyposers earn money producing soundtracks for movies and TV shows.


    However, it was Zeynep he was dealing with. Nobody knew when she would change her mind again. Once she was intrigued by something, she did not look back and paid her whole attention to her new interest.


    Fatima thought it was funny that Youngho bought a piano the next day she told him about Zeynep. His decision seemed to be so reckless since he did not know anything about piano, because in order to be able to y, they needed a tutor but there was no person of such talent on the farm.


    Fatima searched for a piano tutor in Baku and she finally got a hold of a girl who attended Baku Academy of Music. It was a littlete to start learning to y the pianopared to many musicians who started training at very young ages since Zeynep was fourteen now but Youngho was sure that bright Zeynep would be able to catch up with others soon.


    ***


    A rare, harsh rain was signing the beginning of the summer in Baku, and it was when Youngho heard about Ilkwon and his family¡¯s sessful escape from North Korea.


    Youngho was eating a Korean pancake, which he asked for Insoo¡¯s mom to make because he wanted to drink since it was rainy outside.


    ¡°Boss, I just arrived at divostok.¡±


    ¡°Is everyone safe?¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss. Everyone¡¯s safe but their health is weakened now, I think we should rest in a hospital for a few days.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Then stand by in the hospital for a while. If you send me the pictures of your family members and their birthdays, I¡¯ll make them fake passports.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to bother you. We can ride on the train that crosses Siberia, then we could safely reach Volgograd. ¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯d be hard for your family to travel long hours on a train, especially with their conditions now. Just listen to me, so you can fly from there.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll take their pictures and send them to you a few dayster when they feel better.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Do you have enough money?¡±


    ¡°I have enough for now. Thank you boss...¡±


    Kim Ilkwon choked up at the end, so he hung up quickly. Jongil who was listening to their conversation next to Youngho eximed,


    ¡°Man! He really did it! He rescued his family from North Korea. He didn¡¯t ask about me, did he?¡±


    ¡°Jongil, let¡¯s go to Volgograd soon. We need to make his family¡¯s passport and bring them here.¡±


    Jongil agreed in excitement.


    ¡°Yeah, of course I should go since my little brother¡¯s family ising.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart broke for Ilkwon¡¯s family members to think about the hardship they had been through to the extent that they needed to be hospitalized.


    When Kim Ilkwon left the farm, Youngho had a doubt that he would be able to make it back. A hundred dors was not a small amount of money, and if he had bad intentions he could have gone to any other country to live on. After all, Ilkwon was an elite agent who mastered all sorts of skills and techniques including foreignnguages. There were lots of things to do for a young guy like him. However, he had called Youngho to return to Baku. He kept his promise, and that was more important than the money.


    Youngho nned to give empty rooms on the second floor in the management building for now and build a house for them on the farm in the future. The farm was a great hiding ce for them since the North Korean authorities would be seeking for him with avidity. He had one more reason to help them. He was atoning for killing young lives in battlefields. Although he could not turn the clock backward, by doing good deeds, he wanted to wash away the feeling of guilt.


    ***


    There were two ways to get to Volgograd from Baku; by train or by connecting nes.


    The train takes the whole day to get to Volgograd, so it was better to fly if one was pressed for time. However, it was a pain if theyover between connecting flights was long.


    Finding a flight schedule that only had two hours ofyover, Youngho and Jongil decided to take airnes. They flew to Moscow from Baku and arrived at Volgograd on a connecting ne


    Feeling d they arrived at perfect timing, they walked out of the arrival lounge of the airport but there were a lot of security guards blocking the crowd. They said that there was a report about Chechen rebels¡¯ terror attack, so they did not let out people from the airport until they were done searching for explosives in people¡¯s luggage. It took three hours for them until they could receive their luggage and get out of the airport.


    Youngho could not just leave his luggage there even though he wanted to in frustration. He did not have special things in his luggage but he needed hisptop and clothes in there.


    Sergey was waiting for them outside and he also looked tired for waiting too long.


    ¡°Phew, that was a heck of a wait. You should¡¯ve juste out, our men could wait here bring your stuffter.¡±


    ¡°Brother, sorry for the long wait. We didn¡¯t even know the time has passed this much since we were busy looking at beautiful Russian girls. We needed to grab our stuff or the guards would¡¯ve been suspicious of us.¡±


    It was such a Jongil-like reply. The airport was indeed crowded by Russian beauties from different regions of Russia.


    ¡°Jongil, you¡¯re still a newly-wed and your wife is beautiful. Why are you talking about girls?¡±


    ¡°No men would reject ten girls, brother.¡±


    Youngho interrupted Jongil¡¯s stupid talk.


    ¡°Brother, he¡¯s being foolish as always. He says something like that all the time but he was meek as amb when he met Katya.¡±


    ¡°Dude, Katya is a mother. I¡¯m just talking about girls.¡±


    It was silly but men liked to talk about girls when they were alone.


    Yaniv was gone for hunting with President Putin, so he was not in Volgograd. They did not go to Yaniv¡¯s mansion but checked in at a hotel in the downtown and grabbed some beer together.


    ¡°I have all passports ready here. It¡¯s not going to be a problem when they pass the airport security, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you as always, brother.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s between us. There must be a day when I need your favor.¡±


    It was convenient to have a mafia friend. Youngho did not know how they made fake passports but they seemed to make this kind of identification with ease. It was truly amazing to see the fake passports since they looked real including its hologram that was not detectable by the airport security.

 Chapter 102 - A Land of Opportunity (1)

    <h4>Chapter 102: A Land of Opportunity (1)</h4>


    In order to get to divostok from Volgograd, they had to go to Moscow again for a connecting flight. There were three international airports in Moscow and all of them had separate terminals for national flights. Among those airports, Sheremetyevo International Airport had flights going to divostok.


    Theyover was very short, so they had to hurry in the airport running from gates to another gates in terminal D to get on a Boeing 777 of Aeroflot airline.


    Russia was indeed a huge country since it took nine hours to get to divostok. The country was twice the size of the United States and had nine different time zones. Although most of thend were Tundra which was wastnds, it was amazing to think how much of resources were buried under thosends.


    Coming from a small country in Korea, the vast size of Russia was unimaginable to Youngho. He had an ambition to developnds in Russia, if he could get Yaniv¡¯s support, it was not an absurd idea.


    Looking at the vast forestednd from the small window of the ne, Youngho sighed deeply.


    ¡°Anything bothering you? You look stressed.¡±


    ¡°I envy thesends, what if our ancestors had not lost the vast Manchurian in and the Maritime Province? We¡¯d have been flying hours to reach the other parts of Korea by now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you even dream about that. I don¡¯t know much about the history but I know that we couldn¡¯t expect anything from our ancestors, they were always busy fighting against each other¡¯s parties.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I just only wished that they could have given a better future for their descendants.¡±


    ***


    After nine hours of long flight, theynded at divostok, which seemed like a new foreign country faraway. They were in a different time zone, there was an hour of time difference from the Korean time zone. Youngho saw many Asian travelers on the streets that he did not feel like it was Russia anymore. He could hear people speaking Korean around him.


    From people¡¯s mountain climbing attires, he could guess that they were going to cross Siberia by train. There were many Japanese travelers following a tour guide. People may say that they can¡¯t tell the difference between Asians but it was obvious to themselves. A little shorter than Koreans and following the guide around with small steps, he could tell they were Japanese.


    ***


    As Youngho and Jongil stepped in a private room of a local hospital, Kim Ilkwon who was resting on a bed, jumped up like a spring. He had been keeping his guard in case of the North Korean authorities who were in search of him and his family. Relieved after checking their faces, he spoke with joy.


    ¡°Boss! Jongil hyung!¡±


    He gave them a hug as if he had not seen them for ten years. It was only a period of month for the two but for Kim Ilkwon, it must have felt like ten years.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, he fell on his shoulders and cried like a little boy, Youngho could imagine how hard it must have been for him.


    He was relieved that his part was finally over now that Youngho and Jongil were here to take care of them. He let out all of his emotions.


    Youngho and Jongil greeted each of the family members. Ilkwon¡¯s parents were in their fifties, his little sister was in her twenties, andstly, his baby brother was ate teenager. They all looked extremely nervous, but they all looked bright because they now had their freedom back and not to mention, they were hoping to have a ce to live from now on.


    Kim Ilkwon¡¯s parents treated Youngho like a savior, which was somewhat true but it was overwhelming for him. It was understandable since there would be no one to pay the enormous amount of money to save them except for Youngho. They heard about their son¡¯s boss and helper but as Youngho and Jongil treated them politely, they did not know what to do.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t feel obligated to treat us like your superiors. I¡¯m a friend of Ilkwon, we are like brothers. Then, you¡¯d be my parents too. Please treat at ease.¡±


    It was Jongil¡¯s words that made the parents feel a littlefortable with his politeness and friendliness. His way of treating people was always amazing to see.


    ***


    ¡°So, did you kill him or what?¡±


    ¡°Jongil hyung, would you have killed him if you were me in that circumstance? I dragged him first but he already used the money to pay off his debt.¡±


    Ilkwon¡¯s broker told him that he should pay 2,000 dors to the guards of the political prisoner camp, so he gave the money in advance. However, heter found out that he only gave them 500 dors, so he almost could not cross Tumen River because the guards requested more money. Thankfully, he had extra money from Youngho. As he handed 2,000 dors to the guards, they escorted his family out to the opposite side of the river.


    Ilkwon was lucky that Youngho gave him extra money, if he did not have that money, he could have risked his family¡¯s lives and his own life because of the evil broker.


    ¡°Man, where does he live? I¡¯ve got to beat the cr*p out of him.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, it is fine. It¡¯s my portion to pay off, I can work harder to pay for the debt. Because of him, I could save my family anyways. I don¡¯t care for him anymore.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re just too lenient. You all could¡¯ve been stuck in North Korea if you didn¡¯t have the money. Someone like him will make another victim. How can he do such thing for a matter that could risk people¡¯s lives when he makes money for that? He¡¯s just not qualified for the job.¡±


    ¡°He begged and pleaded to meter when I found him. He said he¡¯d pay off the money when he gets money. Phew, it was hard to see.¡±


    ¡°Man, I can¡¯t hear you any more or I¡¯m going to explode in frustration.¡±


    ***


    What happened in the past is in the past. Whatever happened during the process of his rescue mission, Youngho was only d that Ilkwon was back with his family safely. It looked like Ilkwon felt the same.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, you are here now. Let¡¯s get focused since we still need to take your family to Baku now. We¡¯ll leave the day after tomorrow, get prepared and tell your family about that too.¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss. I got it.¡±


    ¡°Do you have some money?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I still have 20,000 dors left. Here it is.¡±


    ¡°Save it for yourself, you need to get clothes and food for your family. Buy whatever you need, so we¡¯ll be set for the trip. We¡¯ll be back in the morning on the day of leaving.¡±


    ¡°Okay, boss. I¡¯ll see you back in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not going to say anything to me?¡±


    Kim Ilkwon smirked at Jongil¡¯s words but politely said goodbye to him too.


    ¡°Jongil hyung, take care. You will be my hyung forever from now on.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Once a hyung is a forever hyung. Remember, okay?¡±


    The two speaking at each other sounded like kids ying, so Youngho stroke Jongil¡¯s back to stop him joking around and left the hospital.


    ***


    Walking on the streets of divostok, the tips of Youngho¡¯s mouth were raised. The more he looked at the city, the more he liked it. Although it was Russia, there was an Asian vibe and culture embedded in the atmosphere since there were many Asian travelers.


    ¡°Jongil, how do you like this ce?¡±


    ¡°What are you asking all of a sudden? Well, other than the fact that it¡¯s a non-freezing point that Russia is proud of and it¡¯s not totally irrelevant with Korean people, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°Look around, don¡¯t you think there are too much emptynds? They¡¯re abundantnds waiting when you go out of the city area.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare, Youngho. They have six months of winter here. You can only grow things in the summer season.¡±


    Jongil must have thought that Youngho wanted to make farms in here.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to develop another farm, I¡¯m only going to do that in Baku. It¡¯d be great to build something here. I just don¡¯t know what yet.¡±


    ¡°There are less than 600000 people living in this city. What are you going to do? I think you can make better money in Baku.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Hey, you also need to work hard for years to pay for the gold bars. Don¡¯t try to risk anything now, I feel like I¡¯m getting headache thinking about you. I said I¡¯m a simple man, don¡¯t bother me with your business n.¡±


    ¡°What kind of a businessman would do business with his own money? A real businessman does business with money from others.¡±


    Jongil looked at Youngho as if he was talking absurd.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a definition of a businessman, It¡¯s a con artist! Why would you use others¡¯ money to do your own business? Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a dangerous statement? Man, I¡¯ve got to hide all the gold bars from you. Don¡¯t you dare try to do anything in gage of the gold bars. You said you wanted to live as if they did not exist?¡±


    Jongil seemed to have developed affection for the gold bars just as Youngho. He had thought that Youngho would safely keep them in the basement for the rest of their lives just in case.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a chicken, I won¡¯t touch those. This is and of opportunity. Don¡¯t you think we should grab that opportunity, huh?¡±


    ¡°...¡±

 Chapter 103 - A Land of Opportunity (2)

    <h4>Chapter 103: A Land of Opportunity (2)</h4>


    People have intuition.


    When ignorantly passing by some empty fields, Youngho swore that he saw something like a mirage. He rented a car and traveled around Nakhodka, a trade port city, and other ces in divostok.


    What he visually envisioned on the field was a humongous warehouse built on the vast empty fields. divostok was what Russia considered a bridgehead of the Far Eastern region. Below Sakhalin inds, there were abundant oil and natural gas deposits. That was a great potential for development. Since it was amunist country, he could not buy thend to own but he heard that people could lease it permanently.


    Youngho thought that a warehouse business could be sessful once he could lease somend on the roadside. People might wonder why a cold-storage warehouse was needed in this cold region but because it was extremely cold, a facility that could maintain the right temperature had a merit.


    In a ce like this where the temperature went down to negative four degrees to negative twenty-two in Fahrenheit, fine supplies would easily get broken. Everything should be stored in a warehouse so that it could operate as it is supposed to be.


    ¡°I think it¡¯d make me money if I build a high-storage warehouse or cold-storage warehouse. It takes two hours from Nakhodka port to the downtown, so wouldn¡¯t it be awesome if I build a warehouse in the middle?¡±


    Jongil nodded to Youngho as he agreed to Youngho¡¯s idea.


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking of bringing Yaniv into this, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Although this is the eastern side of the country, I heard that mafias signed for a gentlemen¡¯s agreement to support each other¡¯s back. There are too many mafia organizations from different republics, so Russian mafias agreed to have peace with each other.¡±


    Youngho thought that he could let Yaniv take the big part in the business and he could only have a little share of the business. It would still make him money as time went on, although little by little. After all, he had no base in Russia. If he started doing business on his own without Yaniv¡¯s help, he would not make it far from the pressures of other Russian mafias. If he could not fight back against them, it would be better to make them on his side.


    Youngho did not wait too long before taking his idea into action, he called Sergey right away.


    ¡°Brother. Are there mafias in divostok?¡±


    ¡°What is it? Are you in trouble?¡±


    ¡°Hey brother, I¡¯m not that kind of a person. Have you seen me in trouble? I have a great business idea in here but I was worried about local mafias would not like that.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that¡¯s better. Wait? What is the business idea that you want to do alone? It¡¯s our region over there as well. You shouldn¡¯t do it alone.¡±


    divostok was not actually Southern mafia¡¯s region. Sergey was just saying it since he had the power to deal with the eastern local mafias.


    ¡°Hahaha. Brother, I can¡¯t do anything by myself in Russia. I was going to discuss it with Mr. Yaniv soon.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I knew you¡¯d not forget about us. I trust your senses for business. Tell me what it is now.¡±


    Sergey got excited about Youngho¡¯s idea. He told Youngho to wait in divostok because he would fly there immediately. If the business proposal was passed by Sergey, Yaniv will unconditionally supported his idea because Sergey was like his son and he only always acted upon statistical data after a thorough investigation.


    For the business development, Youngho ended up staying even longer in divostok. He thought that he should tell Kim Ilkwon and his family to rest in the hospital a little longer. Ilkwon¡¯s family had nothing to do in Baku yet, so they agreed to stay in here longer.


    Youngho had assigned workers to build a house for Ilkwon¡¯s family. They would be able to move in by July since a single house could be built in two months if workers hurried the construction process.


    He let Fatima know about his business n in there since Fatima would get upset if he did not show up at the farm without saying anything in advance. Knowing that she would give him an earfulter, he now reported any schedule changes to her.


    To make her feel better, he also told her that she could visit him with the siblings although he knew that she would not be able to since the school was in session. Youngho now was always careful not to hurt Fatima¡¯s feelings.


    ***


    Youngho greeted Sergey who justnded in Volgograd.


    ¡°Brother, you¡¯d get sick if you hurry things like this. You should take a rest. Youngho is talking nonsense that he saw a mirage but you¡¯re even stranger to fly to here trusting his words.¡±


    Jongil, who was napping before Youngho dragged him to the airport,ining.


    ¡°You¡¯re his friend and still don¡¯t know about him? He is the Midas touch.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not ¡®Midas¡¯, it¡¯s ¡®Minus¡¯. He keeps giving away his money and it makes me so frustrated.¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey. It¡¯s a businessman who gives small things and takes big things in exchange.¡±


    They spoke about business for a while but they soon turned their topic about seafoods in here. It looked like they were dying to drink again together.


    ***


    They traveled two times to Nakhodka port with their rental car. They spotted some small-scale warehouses in different locations. If they built arge-scaleplex of warehouses, it seemed that they could havepetition. It was only Youngho¡¯s vision for now.


    Sergey smiled with satisfaction after he had finished checking the printed statistics data around the region, meeting officials rted to trades of the port, and confirming the number of goods transported. He was certain that it would be a sess because all of the containers stored in the port¡¯s open-air storage yard had functions to keep temperatures either cold or hot.


    ¡°Youngho, you... ¡±


    Sergey seemed to be amazed by Youngho, he was about to hug him.


    ¡°Brother, please. I don¡¯t give hugs to men.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Then he called Yaniv right away.


    A few momentster, Youngho was the one who was talking on the phone with Yaniv.


    ¡°Lee, Sergey is exuberated now. Haha. You know you should also invest some to take your part in this business.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I feel like I¡¯m dealing with too many things now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask help from President Putin. He would also be very interested since he wanted to develop the Far Eastern region too. If I ask him to give some areas, he¡¯s not going to reject it since I¡¯m the one who¡¯s investing my money on the region.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is true though...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. Sergey said he already studied statistics and it should be good. You know he¡¯s a doctoral degree in business administration.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Mr. Yaniv. I¡¯ll n out the business with brother Sergey.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Can you get gifts for Zeynep and tell her that I sent them? She doesn¡¯t answer my phone callstely.¡±


    He was in love with Zeynep who felt like his granddaughter. Youngho thought that he would even give his giant, luxury yacht if Zeynep asked.


    ¡®Wait, should I manipte her to get yacht from him?¡¯


    ¡°Okay, I will do that. I¡¯ll pick up things that Zeynep would like.¡±


    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t drink too much. Sergey is at an age to take care of his body more but don¡¯t say that I told that.¡±


    ¡°I got it Mr. Yaniv, I¡¯ll take care of brother Sergey too.¡±


    ¡®What an irony. He¡¯s the one who drinks like there¡¯s no tomorrow but he cares for Sergey...¡¯


    Sergey who received the phone was curious about their conversation.


    ¡°Brother, Mr. Yaniv worries about your health. We should be abstinent from drinking from now on...¡±


    ¡°What? Man, why would my boss say that...¡±


    ¡°We need to listen to the adults like good kids. Jongil, Mr. Yaniv said he¡¯ll bury us if we drink with brother Sergey again. Let¡¯s just drink without him.¡±


    Not knowing what was going on, Jongil just kept blinking his eyes.


    The warehouse business did not need lots of investments once thend was secured. Using good instion materials when building warehouses and keeping maintenance well, were all they needed to do to keep the business going. The rest was making money.


    Sergey and Youngho agreed that Youngho would invest three million dors and Yaniv would invest seventeen million dors.


    Youngho¡¯s share was about fifteen percent, and he did not have to pay the money now, since they agreed on paying the money with wines instead. Since Youngho had been selling about 1 million dor worth of wine, he could pay off in three months but because he still had debt to the rebels, Sergey gave him a grace period until he paid off the debt from buying the gold bars.


    President Putin ordered rted officials to move for Yaniv¡¯s convenience. Although the local mafias heard about the rumor that Yaniv was doing warehouse business in their region, they did not even dare to interrupt since the president was behind the business.


    A Far Eastern district¡¯s representative, the governor of the Maritime Providence, the mayor of divostok, and other high officials visited the construction field often to support Yaniv, so no one could argue with Yaniv.


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil were now in Baku with Ilkwon¡¯s family.


    Since Sergey was in divostok taking care of the business, Youngho had nothing to worry about the rest. He heard that Sergey was going to sign the leasing contract for thend of eighteen million sq. ft. They did not need that muchnd to build the warehouseplex but it seemed that the government did not consider it a waste since they had lots of extrands.


    There was a little happening to Ilkwon¡¯s family who had never been on a ne. Although they had Russian passports, they could not speak Russian except for Ilkwon. So, they all had to act like they were mutes to pass the airport security.


    It was Youngho¡¯s mistake to think that having passports would do the job. It was risky but luckily, they could pass the security checkpoint without problems. When Ilkwon¡¯s family arrived at the farm, they seemed to be surprised by thw foreigners, the siblings, who greeted them in Korean.


    Ilkwon asked if they could stay in another ce after his family stayed for a night at the farm with other people in the management building. Because they were too insecure from trauma, they were not able to eat at the table with others, they needed a quiet and safe ce only for themselves. Youngho agreed, so the family now would be staying in the little house on the Charles farm alone. They needed time for themselves to heal their hearts since it was hard for them to have contact with other people.


    Although they knew that Youngho was a great person, they did not trust him fully. They were afraid that he would try to oppress them or exploit them. Until they found peace of mind, Youngho decided to give them some space. Worried about their conditions, Youngho thought that they needed to be treated by psychiatrist, so he asked Ilkwon about conditions.


    ¡°Ilkwon, can you tell me about your family¡¯s physical and mental status? If they needed to be treated, I can help them getting anything they need like a psychiatrist or counselor.¡±


    ¡°Boss, my family is strong. If they¡¯re treated by psychiatrists, they might close their minds even more. Those kinds of treatments are not even dared to be dreamed of in North Korea.¡±


    It was understandable, the concept of going to the psychiatric hospital was not positively considered in South Korea either, but in North Korea those types of treatments were notmon.


    ¡°It¡¯s not something you should be ashamed of. In developed countries, people would go see psychiatrists when depressionsts for a little longer than usual.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho thought that it should be their priority to forget about what happened in the political prisoner camp. His heart was heavy thinking that they might not be able to live normally from now on because of the traumatic experience. It would not be only Ilkwon¡¯s family who had to live with the pain since there were lots of them in North Korea and among many of the defectors who left North Korea.

 Chapter 104 - A Land of Opportunity (3)

    <h4>Chapter 104: A Land of Opportunity (3)</h4>


    Ilkwon¡¯s family adapted to the life on the Charles farm and started finding peace as they focused on working on the farm along with other workers. Seeing their changes, Youngho made a suggestion to Ilkwon.


    ¡°Ilkwon, what do you think about bing the director of the Charles farm and look over all the farm work? So far, the farm doesn¡¯t have a person in charge. I think it¡¯d be great for your family too.¡±


    ¡°Boss, I don¡¯t have any experience of running a farm, especially something of this size.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a symbolical position. Existence of a director on farm makes the whole work process go smooth. Just think of yourself as a manager.¡±


    ¡°Alright, boss. You¡¯ve been so kind to us, I don¡¯t know what I should to payback for your favors.¡±


    ¡°You know, we already took you in as my family. That¡¯s why Jongil and Insoo insist that they are your big brothers and let you call them hyung. You don¡¯t have to feel like you owe something to us.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Deeply touched by Youngho¡¯s words, Ilkwon could not say anything.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best so that I can return your favors even for a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Everything here is yours to enjoy for your hard work. I¡¯ll send anguage tutor, so you and your family can learn thenguage here, then we can think about what we can do for your sibling¡¯s future.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, boss.¡±


    Ilkwon was such a genuine and sincere person. For him, the only way to payback Youngho¡¯s favors was working extremely hard, so that the farm could be sessful. There had not been a person in charge of the Charles farm, so the workers had beengging behind without anyone watching them. Since Ilkwon and his family decided to settle down on the farm, it was a perfect decision to make Ilkwon the person in charge. He was a loyal, hard worker.


    Youngho looked at them working from a long distance and he could already tell that they were working as if the farm was their own. He nned to re-assign another job for Ilkwon once his family getsfortable with the farm work. He thought that such an elite like Ilkwon should do something else to put his abilities to good use rather than being stuck at the farm.


    Youngho had expected that there would be a lot of annoying problems when Ilkwon¡¯s family came to the farm. However, now that they live in the Charles farm, it was more than convenient for him. Ilkwon was a great resource since whatever he did, he did everything to close to perfection. He worked smoothly with other workers on both Zeynep Farm and the Charles farm.


    It seemed that after Youngho gave him a car, he sometimes took his family to downtown. He also taught his sister the ountancy work and she was doing a great job as well. The whole family had survived a life-threatening imprisonment, so they were determined to have a better life for themselves. Youngho was rooting for them as well in his heart.


    On one weekend, Ilkwon¡¯s family even visited the farm and dined with the others together. Their conditions had dramatically improved since they did not fear people anymore.


    ***


    When Youngho was having tea with Sevan, he received a terrible message that there was a fire on an offshore drillship.


    After searching all day for a way to get to the ship, he could finally get to the drillship riding on the boat of the ocean police. When he arrived, the fire was under control but no one knew about the situation inside the ship. The lifeboats were left untouched on the ship. It meant that the workers were still stuck somewhere, probably the safe room, inside the ship. Youngho spotted two workers on the ship waving at the police boat. However, the ocean police only sprayed water to control the ze since there were no special rescue guards on the boat.


    Youngho could not just watch them like this anymore. He gave Jongil a look. Jongil hurriedly talked to the head of the ocean police and exined that they were specially trained back in Korea and borrowed their equipment. They had to act fast to prevent any loss of lives. Not having another solution to the problem, the head of the ocean police decided to trust them.


    After putting on fire suits and oxygen masks, they took a safety ax and got on the side of the drillship where it did not catch fire. The two wornJudithkers on the ship looked at the two crawling to the ship in surprise.


    ¡°Is there a safe room inside?¡±


    ¡°Yes, everybody is taking refuge in there. We were doing our job on the ship when the fire broke out, so we couldn¡¯t go there with them.¡±


    Youngho was relieved to hear that the workers were in the safe room. The safe room was a sturdy room that would not be damaged even with rocket bomb attacks. However, if the inside temperature went up too high, people would not be able to hold up too long.


    ¡°You can use this escape rope to get down the ship. There is a possibility of an explosion in this ship.¡±


    After listening to the structure of the inside of the drillship, Youngho and Jongil let them get off the ship.


    ¡°Jongil, I think we still have some time. Let¡¯s put out the fire.¡±


    There was a reason why Youngho said this. It was because all Navy soldiers practiced firefighting procedures from the very beginning of their service years since all of the soldiers would die suffocation once there was fire on a ship. Firefighting and escaping drills were the most important basic training of the Navy soldiers.


    Although the fire was scary, it was not something they had not experienced. For the firefighting drills, they used to put oil in a huge tank to make fire and practiced putting out the whole fire repeatedly. People might ask if it is possible to put out fire burning on oil with water, and the answer was yes. Using a universal nozzle of a water hose to create various ways to spray water, such as direct water and mist, you could sessfully drive the fire to a corner and eventually the fire was killed.


    Youngho took out a hose from a side of the deck next to a fire extinguisher. Then he connected a universal nozzle. He grabbed the handle of the nozzle and Jongil grabbed the hose to secure it from shaking due to the water pressure. Of course, it could not be done with only two people but believing the power of the leather shoes and the ring, they decided to try. Youngho turned the tap and sprayed water directly toward the fireing inside of the ship.


    ***


    The inside of the drillship was dark because the generator had stopped working.


    With shlights on in their hands, the two ran toward the safe room. Even though they could not put out the firepletely, the fire was temporarily gone down. There was smoke all around the inside, but they were safe since they had oxygen masks on. After five minutes of searching, they reached the safe room. With a safety ax, they stroke the door hard so that the people inside could hear them.


    There were some reactions of sounding from inside. They looked at each other¡¯s masked face out of relief. All of the workers in the safe room were waiting to be rescued in fear.


    They could sessfully rescue all 32 workers from inside of the drillship. The hall was dark and full of smoke but people could walk out the ship by grabbing each other¡¯s waist and covering their nose and mouth with clothes.


    People might wonder why the workers did not jump into the water when there was fire on the ship but that was even a more dangerous choice. Since the deck was more than 20 meters high, so if dived wrong, people could be injured or pass out and sink under water. Then it was the end of the story.


    ***


    Although Youngho had made sure that the person in charge of the ocean police to not make a fuss out of this, broadcasters and newspaper journalists kepting to the farm to interview Youngho and Jongil. It was an amazing story for them since there were frequent fires on drillships and usually a few workers would die in the ident. However, the representative of thepany risked his life to directly go into the fire to rescue his workers, it was not only impressive but also a good story for them. Zeynep Farm was now in the center of the public¡¯s attention again.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, it¡¯s not that. We went in because it was safe enough.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I almost passed out after listening to what happened. What if something happened to you? You need to take care of yourself first.¡±


    ¡°I know it was a spontaneous decision but I did it because I had done countless firefighting drills in the Navy. I wouldn¡¯t have gone in there if I was going to risk my life. And not to mention, I can¡¯t manage going here and there if people were killed or injured.¡±


    ¡°Phew, Lee. I¡¯m going to increase your share for this, just for your information.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I¡¯m already overwhelmed by the share you gave me. If you keep raising my share because of these kinds of incidents, how are you going to deal with this in the future?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s mine to consider. Anyway, I¡¯ll visit Baku sometime soon. Let¡¯s meet when I¡¯m there.¡±


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil who became famous due to the fire on the offshore oil drillship were realizing their fame these days. Although their faces were not revealed by the press, the officials whom they had known before all treated them like heroes since they knew what happened. Even the ocean police asked them to teach them how to extinguish oil fires.


    Although there was a big fire on the drillship, the ship was not damaged hugely. The most damage was done by smoke, not the fire since it was made out of sturdy steel. The drillship would be good to go after a little painting work.


    However, because it was true that it was a safety ident, thepany received a penalty assigned by the government. Thepany had to re-install various fire apparatus and get the ship re-inspected, which would take about fifteen days.


    It was lucky that there were no casualties. Even though thepany was insured for workers¡¯ safety, it would have caused a huge problem for thepany since they would have to pay the family of the deceased workers to console them for their loss. If this process was not dealt right, then thepany would have a hard time recruiting for other workers. Since oil exploration was a risky work,borers would not even look to consider thepany if it was known to ignore such safety issues. However, since the representation of thepany had rescued the workers by himself, thepany had been getting calls from workers for recruitment.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, wee.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I¡¯m proud of mypany because of you.¡±


    Youngho greeted Yaniv at the hotel he was staying. Yaniv had just gone to the presidential pce to meet President Aliyev.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to my room to talk, instead of staying in the lobby.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, Zeynep would being if you wait a little longer.¡±


    Yaniv¡¯s face brightened as soon as he heard Zeynep¡¯s name.


    ¡°What? What on earth is going on that she¡¯s going to give me a wee greeting?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get mistaken. She¡¯sing to get the presents from you.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°How was meeting the president today?¡±


    ¡°He talked about ourpany a lot. He also liked how we resolved the fire incident wisely.¡±


    Because of the fire, thepany stopped the exploration for fifteen days but Yaniv did not care.


    ¡°I¡¯d be great if the government quickly passes the inspection process then.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be so hasty. We need to be patient especially when this kind of ident happens and maybe this will bring us a better opportunity. You know, you are my lucky charm anyway.¡±


    Yaniv was being honest. He had made a lot of profits after meeting Youngho.


    Today, Youngho nned to negotiate the price of wine with Yaniv. The taste was known to be great for its price already. Now that Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine was popr in Russia, it seemed usible to raise its price. He would raise two dors for tank-aged wine and five dors for oak-aged wine. Since Yaniv would be making more money as well by raising the price, Youngho thought that he would agree to the price change. Looking at Yaniv¡¯s face, he was calcting the prices in his head.


    The wines produced from the oak-cask aging process would not be released for a few years. If they were aged more than two years, they could be sold in the West European market as premium quality wines. Since Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine was only famous in Russia now, Youngho thought that thepany needed a different market to sell wines, in order to make thepany world-wide famous in the future.

 Chapter 105 - A Land of Opportunity (4)

    <h4>Chapter 105: A Land of Opportunity (4)</h4>


    ¡°Of course you should raise the price. In fact, we should have done that long ago.¡±


    Yaniv agreed with Youngho¡¯s idea to raise the wine price.


    ¡°Nope, Mr. Yaniv. I consider the past as; Zeynep¡¯s wines were on a special sale so that people could taste the wine at cheap prices. Now that they¡¯re in love with the taste of the wine, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll stop buying the wines because of a little price change. From now on, I want people to think of Zeynep wines as premium wines.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. You can produce premium wines as many as you can and let me do the distribution part.¡±


    ¡°Also, Mr. Yaniv, I was thinking to distribute wines that were aged longer in the Western Europe market. Do you have any connection in there?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. You¡¯re saying that I should yield some of your wines. Okay, if you want to make yourpany world-famous, I understand that you need to sell it to different markets. However, you should give me a chance to distribute them when I secured markets in different ces.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely, I will.¡±


    Yaniv gave in easily unlike Youngho expected. It was a relief.


    The great taste of Zeynep Farm¡¯s wines was now known to President Aliyev too, since Youngho had been giving him free wines as gifts. He heard that his wine could be picked as the official wine for the presidential pce banquets. He was focused on producing even better-tasting wines aged in oak casks. It was a great honor to get picked for an official government event.


    Since there would be many leaders of different countries attending the event, it could be a great way to advertise the wine. Not to mention, the wine presented in an official event was already proved as a premium quality. If the leaders liked his wine, nimble-footed entourages would ask about the wine to the staffs in the presidential pce. Then Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine would be official wine of Azerbaijan.


    Also, the press would be there after the event to broadcast the event to the world and his wine might be advertised to the whole world. Exuberated to imagine how Zeynep wine would get famous, Youngho¡¯s heart was pounding.


    ¡°Hey Lee, what are you thinking about? You look extremely excited.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just excited that Zeynep wine could be picked as the official wine for presidential pce banquet.¡±


    ¡°I also told the president that we can¡¯t even sell the wines since they sell out fast and I get them at very cheap prices.¡±


    It was wise of Yaniv for saying that he bought wine at cheap prices. The Azerbaijani tax authority had no idea about the price of wine yet. Although Youngho did not have to reveal the prices yet since he was exempted for tax until the end of next year but the tax authority would be expecting low for beginning prices just like what the former Charles Wine Company had begun with. Their wine was sold at three dors in the beginning but Zeynep Farm wines were more expensive. Knowing the prices of Youngho¡¯s wine, they would probably charge more taxes for him. As he would rather pay less tax.


    Yaniv gave two more percent of the oilpany¡¯s share for the fire incident since Youngho¡¯s fast rescue prevented more damage done to thepany. Youngho now had five percent of district seven oil exploration business. He rejected a few times but Yaniv insisted to give him the share. He could not even imagine how much money he would be making for the addition of the share.


    While they were talking about the construction of warehouseplex in divostok, they saw Zeyneping into the hotel lobby with her friends.


    ***


    Bach¡¯s Air on the G Strings¡¯ delicate violin was ying in the library. The well-controlled sound of a violin ying along the piano calmed down Youngho¡¯s mind.


    Youngho was into ssical music these days and he often meditates while closing his eyes and listening to the music. As the period of meditation time got longer, his mind was clearer and the heavy trauma on his mind seemed to disappear slowly. Along with that, he could see that the rock on the ring¡¯s color was turning clear. He did not experience going to high ce in just a moment or having five times more strength than regr people as written from the old literature. However, he could tell that his vision had improved dramatically. Although he needed a shlight when there was fire on the ship, he did not have trouble seeing in the dark. It was not normal for a regr person. Since the literature also talked about the improvement of hearing, he would be able to experience that too soon.


    He was not sure about the mysterious power of the ring to its fullness, but as of now, all he knew is that his ring was clearer than Szechenyi¡¯s. He wanted to keep it to see what would happen from now on. He thought that he had a special bond with the ring and leather shoes since they were passed down to him somehow, even though he did not share blood with the siblings.


    ¡°Oppa, have some tea.¡±


    Fatima interrupted Youngho who was immersed in his thoughts.


    ¡°Oh, thank you. I was getting thirsty anyway.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t drink a lottely but you smoke more than before. You should cut it down.¡±


    Since there were a lot of things to think about, Youngho could not keep his hands off cigarettes. Now he smoked a whole pack of cigarette in a day. Realizing that he was getting addicted to smoking, he was thinking to quit soon but just in time, Fatima had pointed that out to him. He felt sorry that he was not being a good influence on the siblings.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll quit from this moment and forth. Zeynep is now avoiding me because of my bad breath.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m serious, I going to quit. I¡¯ve done that before.¡±


    ¡°You know, Jongil oppa is having withdrawal symptoms.¡±


    ¡°I bet he¡¯d be smoking back in a few days.¡±


    Since Karajan had beenining that smoking was not good for the baby¡¯s health, Jongil quit smoking. However, Jongil had gotten extra-sensitive out of frustrationtely.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be d if you quit. You won¡¯t smell bad when Ie near you.¡±


    ¡°Then, you¡¯ve been forcing yourself to hold me until now?¡±


    ¡°Umm...That¡¯s a different story.¡±


    Youngho hugged her since she was being too cute.


    ***


    Youngho visited the Charles farm to check the construction process of the low-temperature storage unit.


    When he parked his car after passing the gate of the farm to park, the security guard saluted and opened the door for him, which never happened before. Kim Ilkwon also came running toward Youngho. He had been watching the workers putting up the roof of the oak-aging storage building and found Youngho¡¯s caring in.


    ¡°You are here, boss.¡±


    ¡°Wow, the work process is going quite fast in here. I guess we can move empty oak casks here starting in August.¡±


    ¡°Insoo hyung told me to hurry since new trial oak casks would be arriving next month.¡±


    ¡°Those are just trial products. We¡¯ll have them in arge quantity in August. So, don¡¯t rush it. It¡¯s better to be slow than having safety idents because of rushing.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, boss.¡±


    Ilkwon worked too hard. Youngho worried that he might get sick from work.


    ¡°Hey. So, why did you make the security guard salute me?¡±


    ¡°Well, he has a hat on, so saluting is a more suitable way to greet his superior. It¡¯s not good to see when people don¡¯t respect their boss.¡±


    He had been educated by the North Korean way for all of his life. Positions were not really meaningful in the free world unlike in amunist society. In North Korea, authorities could send people to jail when they did not like their ways of doing things such as greeting. In the free world, making people salute to their superiors did not mean much since they would not be seeing their boss when they quit their job. Youngho worried that it would be difficult for Ilkwon to get used to the ways of living in the free world.


    Kim Ilkwon¡¯s siblings and parents were working hard on the farm as well, his brother especially did everything passionately since Youngho promised to let him enroll in the international school where Szechenyi and Zeynep went once he learned English and Azerbaijani.


    Because he was also Szechenyi¡¯s age, they became friends easily. When the whole family studiednguages in the morning and helped out with the farm work in the afternoon. Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family all referred Youngho as Mr. Lee, he probably told them to call him that way. He still felt ufortable around Youngho since he was his boss, unlike Jongil and Insoo whom he called hyung.


    It would be a month since they started working. Youngho was already determined to give them their payments for working on the farm just like any other workers. Although they would be rejecting, he thought it was only fair if he paid them.


    It was part of teaching them about the free-market economy. Once they were paid, he would stop supporting them financially, so they could buy what they need on their own. They should learn how to survive on their own.


    It was an experiment to ept Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family and making them settle down in here. If they sessfully settled down in here, Youngho nned to gather North Korean defectors scattered in different mountainous locations like wanderers to divostok. There were many North Korean defectors who could not go to South Korea due to their own conditions. It would be great if he could help them settle down and offer them a ce to work. Of course, he would need Yaniv¡¯s help too.

 Chapter 106 - A Land of Opportunity (5)

    <h4>Chapter 106: A Land of Opportunity (5)</h4>


    The temperature of Baku in July rose as high as 98.6 degrees in Fahrenheit. In the hot summer, there were only a few ces to go for the students of Baku¡¯s international school, their rtives¡¯ houses or the reservoir on Zeynep Farm.


    It was indeed the summer since kids from school were crowded in the reservoir, to the students, it was known the official swimming pool in the city. It was hard to find such arge pool that had more than 100 meters of length on each side. It was now surrounded by different kinds of trees that provided shades to people.


    Some moms who brought their kids were even wearing bikinis. With the sweet scent of maturing grapes, the reservoir felt like paradise. Since Zeynep told everybody in school to visit at any time, Youngho could not even neglect the guests. Gerhardt even asked the budget for snacks and drinks for the guests.


    The farm was huge enough for arge crowd that no matter how much noise people made from the reservoir, it did not bother the farmers. Leaving the noisy crowd behind, Youngho drove a four-wheelers to the farm across the Southern river on the farm. New seedlings had just spread their roots underground and leavers were turning up. Youngho passed the field of grape trees to go into the oak cask factory.


    There was another gate in the Southern part of the farm and oaks were delivered to the factory through that gate. Six technicians were cutting the trees with loud chainsaws and Youngho did not dare to get close to them. It was still surprising to see the size of trees. He had only seen smaller oaks in Korea but the oaks here had average of 50 cm diameter. The trees were so thick and heavy that it could only be treated with heavy equipment.


    Youngho gave cold drinks to the carpenters who had been working in sweats in the hot weather. Since there was nothing else he could do for the workers, he quietly left the sight. The number of oak casks that would be manufactured this year was barely enough for this year¡¯s grape produces.


    The 500 casks in Zeynep Farm could be used for several more years, but the Charles farm needed 350 new casks for this year. Once every facility was properly installed, there would be about thirty workers in the oak cask factory and they would be able to produce 500rge-capacity oak casks and more than a thousand small-sized containers.


    ***


    Youngho arrived at the airport in Frankfurt for the CIA¡¯s monthly meeting. Michael, again, came to the airport to pick him up.


    ¡°Chief, people will really think that we¡¯re dating if you keep picking me up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this to motivate them as well, they should work harder like you. I¡¯m going to give you a heads up, but we¡¯ll have a re-shuffling in the workers soon. We¡¯re exchanging agents with the ones from South American chapter. It looks like they did some lobbying toe to get reassigned in Europe.¡±


    To agents in Southern America, Europe was a dream ce to work in. It seemed that high rankers in the South American chapter grilled the headquarters to shuffle agents.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think my team will be relocated, do you?¡±


    ¡°No, you should be fixed in here until I retire. Who¡¯ll take care of the Caucasus regions when you¡¯re gone?¡±


    Although Youngho doubted that he would be assigned to do the job, he still felt relieved to hear that. There were power struggles of high rankers in the CIA headquarters and if high rankers pushed it, Youngho could be ousted from Europe. If the Chief Director of the CIA headquarters demanded his relocation, he was going to resign from the CIA since he did not wish to move.


    The reason why Youngho was relieved was because he still needed the agent¡¯s position. Even though he was not dependent on the informationmission from the CIA, he needed the informationwork of the CIA since it was helpful for his business and rtionship with other officials and businessmen. The information about different nations that he heard during the monthly CIA meetings was not the ones that he could get from the Azerbaijani government.


    Such information was something like this:


    If other nations increased the hybrid car production rate trying to reduce the oil expense, they would naturally end up buying less oil from oil-producing countries like Azerbaijan. If Azerbaijan knew that ahead of time, the government would reduce the amount of oil production. Then, the status quota of supply and demand would be maintained, and it would prevent other countries demanding change to the oil price.


    This was why knowing different countries¡¯ policy changes ahead of time. Since Youngho was working with the Azerbaijani government, he could use the information he heard from the CIA meetings to his advantage.


    Michael also knew what Youngho was worried about. Agents who worked with different governments sometimes had to give them some information to secure their positions in the government. It was a way to gain trust of government officials. Unless it was highly top-rated information, the CIA allowed agents to share information to put to their use. This might look like agents were acting as double but it was a way to earn more information by slipping bits of small information here and there.


    ***


    Yunsuh¡¯s family came to Baku from Seoul. It was loud from the airport since the whole farm family went to greet them at the airport. Tender-hearted Yunsuh cried with joy for a little while and started nagging at Youngho now.


    ¡°Oppa, you gained some weight now. Are you going to be like an old man even before getting married?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I quit smoking and now I¡¯m putting on weight. Fatima had been telling me to stay healthy, so I¡¯m working out now.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s doing well then. Who smokes these days? You quit because of Fatima¡¯sining, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say no to that.¡±


    ¡°Haha... I¡¯m d she¡¯s next to you.¡±


    Yunsuh went to Fatima next and started chatting with her.


    ¡°Father, mother. Wee, I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t been calling youtely.¡±


    ¡°Well, we know you¡¯ve been busy. You don¡¯t have to bother. We¡¯ve been hearing about you from Yunush.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay here for longer this time? Or you can stay here forever.¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s father seemed to like what Youngho said. He did not like living in Seoul since there was nothing to do except for babysitting. Youngho thought that they would not be bored if they moved here since Insoo¡¯s parents were here, both parents were about the same age with each other.


    ¡°Well, since you asked, we¡¯ll think about that. There¡¯s nothing for us to do in Seoul.¡±


    ¡°Honey, are you really going to stay here? What about our house?¡±


    ¡°Sweetie, Youngho will have a baby soon. We should be the one to babysit their baby. Do you think they¡¯ll be alright without older people taking care of their baby?¡±


    Hearing the father, Fatima blushed. She could not speak Korean well but she could understand what she heard.


    Cho Sangchun¡¯s face was rough from being stressed over the recent tax inspection.


    ¡°Hey, why do you look so stressed? Didn¡¯t you say that it was all over? Are they still bothering you?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even start it. The L Companyined that they can¡¯t deal with us anymore for a reason that they were also inspected by tax authorities, I had a hard time convincing them not to. Who¡¯s behind all this?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to get rid of some people who lost their minds. This won¡¯t happen anymore now. If the taxman bugs you again, just call Korean Intelligence Agency, I already told someone in there about it.¡±


    ¡°What? Intelligence Agency? What on earth are you up to that the Intelligence Agency is helping you?¡±


    ¡°Well, I just exchange some pieces of information from here.¡±


    Youngho had been sharing information with the Korean agent of Korean embassy, the agent told him that he could help him if he was in trouble.


    ¡°Hey, you need to be cautious, it¡¯s not safe to get rted with agents.¡±


    ¡®Man, you¡¯re talking to the agent in charge of the Caucasus regions.¡¯


    Youngho wanted to brag but he could only do it in his mind.


    ***


    Although it was the mid-summer, Baku¡¯s weather was not high in humidity and it was quite cool under the shades of trees. Cho Sangchun who was watching the kids in the reservoir came near Youngho and sat down.


    ¡°Youngho, be honest with me, isn¡¯t this farm yours?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s not your property, how can the government allow your guests in the reservoir like this?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you have quick perception. The government gave me their wastnd for free as an investment, so I can develop a farm. I also don¡¯t need to pay tax for five years.¡±


    Although Youngho already paid for thend, he could not say that since he could not exin where the money came from. The money he made from clothing stores in Baku could not be enough to pay for thend.


    ¡°The government also introduced me to a great mortgage n, so I just signed the contract. I paid off the debt for equipment and facility instation through the profits I made from wine sales.¡±


    This is the only way he could make sense.


    ¡°Oh yeah? That¡¯s great. I worried about you, I thought I might have to give you the money I saved in Seoul.¡±


    ¡°Would you give that to me if I asked?¡±


    ¡°Of course I would, it¡¯s what you made after all. I¡¯m not going to touch your money.¡±


    Sangchun was a sweet friend.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need that money, you should use it for you and Yunsuh. Do you have any idea how much I make from wine sale?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than ten million dors. Subtracting payments for the workers, I still get ten billion won in Korean currency.¡±


    Youngho could only hear a single gasp, Sangchun was utterly shocked by the number. Youngho had to tell him, so he would not feel bad to use the money saved in Seoul.


    ¡°Dude, you should move here if it¡¯s too hard in Korea. There is a house for you and there are too many things to do here.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Hey! Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡±


    Sangchun could note out of the shock easily.


    The next day, Yunsuh startedining during meal time.


    ¡°You have been hiding this from me? Am I not your sister, huh?¡±


    ¡°Phew, I didn¡¯t know how it was going to turn out. I just paid off the debt.¡±


    ¡°Even so, we¡¯ve been saving money to give back to you.¡±


    Youngho could see Yunsuh being stingy.


    ¡°Oh, is that why you all look healthy?¡±


    ¡°Just shut up. You¡¯re just like a snake, how do you lie like it¡¯s nothing?¡±


    ¡°Hey Yunsuh, don¡¯t do that to your brother. He must¡¯ve gone through a lot of trouble by himself, we should congratte him now that he¡¯s doing well.¡±


    Saying that, Sangchun¡¯s mother wiped her tears. When she patted Youngho¡¯s shoulder saying that he had done well, Youngho almost cried too.


    Youngho had been working like crazy without looking back, in thisnd of opportunity to make this far. Although he was not sure how his future would turn out, he hoped that the happiness wouldst.

 Chapter 107 - The Family (1)

    <h4>Chapter 107: The Family (1)</h4>


    At the Baku Airport, Yunsuh¡¯s three-year-old son and nine adults were walking at the V.I.P passageway. Youngho and Yunsuh¡¯s whole family was on their way to a trip to Northern Europe.


    ¡°Oh my goodness! Is this really happening? Oppa, we¡¯re going on the VIP passageway even without getting security checked?¡±


    The siblings looked at Yunsuh, who was making a fuss, as if it was natural.


    ¡°Well... they treat me as a VIP member since I¡¯m a foreign investor who built a huge farm. It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°Oh man, oppa, you¡¯ve really gotten ahead in the world. I need to videotape this! I¡¯ve got to send it to my friend Miran who turned you down a long time ago. She¡¯d be so jealous.¡±


    Yunsuh suddenly mentioned a sad past.


    ¡°Why would you bring that up now?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? I¡¯m going to brag about my brother to everyone. I¡¯ll let them know that you¡¯re now an owner of a farm twice the size of Yeouido and you make hundreds million won a year. Man, I already feel better thinking about their dumbfounded faces.¡±


    It seemed that Yunsuh had turned to a big mouth since she became a mother. But, Youngho smiled, to see his little sister being proud of him.


    ¡°Yunsuh, people are looking. Stop making a noise.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re looking because they¡¯re jealous. Don¡¯t stop me, I¡¯m trying to enjoy this moment of being proud. Fatima! Take a photo of me with this in the background.¡±


    Yunush was so excited that she was about to dance. Sangchun, who could not stop his wife making a fuss, did not know what to do. He was such a good,pliant husband.


    The gang stayed a night in Frankfurt and did some sightseeing in downtown. The next day, they took an afternoon flight andnded at Stockholm international airport in Sweden. On the way there, excited Yunsuh embarrassed the whole family again. At the airport, a limousine that Fatima had reserved was waiting for them.


    ¡°Jeez, it feels like fall here. Hyunsung, let¡¯s put a jacket on. You might catch a cold.¡±


    The name of Yunsuh¡¯s son was Cho Hyunsung and everybody called his name all the time during the trip because of his liveliness. In fact, he was too lively that he distracted everyone. He was an angel when he was asleep but when he was not, he was like a little devil. Even though Youngho adored his nephew, he gave up trying to be a nice uncle only after one day.


    Although the whole of Europe was experiencing an intense heat in a hundred years, Sweden¡¯s weather maintained 68 degrees in Fahrenheit, so they needed to put on long sleeves.


    ¡°Oppa, hold him. I need to dress him.¡±


    Hyunsung tried to go back inside the airport after he resisted putting on long-sleeves. Yunsuh struggled for a while until she could dress him properly.


    ¡°Mother, was Sangchun like this when he was young?¡±


    ¡°Oh, honey, don¡¯t even start it. Hyunsung is quietpared to him, Sangchun was like...¡±


    ¡°Mom! Why are you telling a lie? Dad said I was nice.¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s mother¡¯s looked at him as if he was being pure absurd.


    ¡°Yunsuh was a really nice kid, I can guarantee that.¡±


    ¡°Hey, every kid is naughty.¡±


    ¡°Man, I can¡¯t handle your kid. You can take him then, he¡¯s killing Yunsuh.¡±


    d that her brother took her side, Yunsuh teased Sangchun with her look. Youngho was just happy to see his family enjoying the trip altogether even though not everything was perfect.


    ***


    Michael called Youngho.


    Youngho wondered what was going on since he had met Michael not long ago when he stopped by at the chapter in Frankfurt. Michael only told him that he sent a person to his hotel, so he could receive further instructions from him. He thought that maybe it could be a tour guide, but it was a representative of an information business agency. At Michael¡¯s request, he hade to meet Youngho to see if he was a usible person to have a direct business with.


    ¡®Well, I see what he¡¯s doing. He¡¯de to see me pretending to be ident to evaluate me.¡¯


    He thought that this agency organization might be bigger than the CIA organization.


    People now live in a world where money is everything, everything is connected to money and works toward the money. One could say that all nations moved upon economic logic. Thinking that the representative came to him already knowing about his existence, Youngho¡¯s body trembled. Organizations like Intelligence Agencies did not mean much to this organization. It was a group of elite people who only evaluated if any information was worth money, provided the information to whoever needed it, and made money from the agencymission.


    The person in front of Youngho was the middleman of the organization. His appearance in an unexpected time made Youngho nervous. Maybe they had already picked him as a sessor of Michael. He handed his business card to Youngho who was having a lot of thoughts.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you. I¡¯m Eriksson, I¡¯m sorry if I caused you any inconvenience for my unexpected visit.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I understand, people doing business like us don¡¯t really have fixed schedules. If our service is needed, it doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s daytime or nighttime.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for understanding. This is my country and I¡¯m also on my break, so I requested to meet you to Chief Michael.¡±


    It did not matter if he was really on his break or he was just making an excuse. It was a big step for Youngho just to be recognized by the information agency.


    ¡°Oh, then do you have any ce that you can rmend for us? My family¡¯s kind of getting tired of Stockholm since we¡¯ve been here for days.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have an idea. I¡¯m going to a little log cabin with my family, would you like to join us?¡±


    Eriksson meant that he was going to introduce his family to Youngho. It seemed that he could trust him. Although this may be his n all along, Youngho agreed to join his family since he was curious about the organization of information agency.


    ¡°I hope we¡¯re not bothering you too much. We have a child, so we¡¯d be loud.¡±


    ¡°You might have already guessed but as a matter of fact, I came here to invite your family.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you for your kindness.¡±


    ***


    Sweden¡¯s daysted eighteen hours long, so it was still bright in the evening time. If they had been there in May, they would have a hard time sleeping because of the white night phenomenon. It was already 9 PM but since it was bright outside, Hyunsung who had been running in the woods resisted to go to sleep. Zeynep who was carrying a lot of bags had been lively as well. Only Szechenyi who looked after little kids was exhausted by them.


    Where Eriksson brought Youngho¡¯s family was near a mid-sizedke, many log cabins were built along the shore. The beautiful ce was privately owned by the information agency that was only open to their employees.


    Although Zeynep Farm was quiet, this ce is even more serene. Since there seemed to be nothing that could be dangerous except for the water, the kids roamed around freely. Yunsuh and Fatima loved the ce, saying that it was romantic, and the other adults were enjoying the peaceful ce as well.


    Eriksson was an elite who held two doctorate degrees; Computer social informationwork and statistic. Youngho could not guess the rtion of the two distant-looking degrees but he was certainly a bright man. Walking in the woods with Eriksson, Youngho only had an everyday conversation. Sometimes Eriksson look like he was surprised by Youngho¡¯s good sense of memory but it was all due to the power of the ring.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, do you remember the kind of trees that we passed by and the sshing noises that fishes made?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I can hear them now.¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t bother you, did you count the number of the kind of trees and how many times fishes jumped above the water?¡±


    Youngho did not pay too much attention since it was not a dangerous ce but with the help of the ring, he slowly searched his memory.


    ¡°Well, there were seven kinds of trees and fishes hopped nine times.¡±


    Eriksson did not say anything but he gave him an admiring nce.


    ¡°You might not have noticed but a fish from that side of the bank jumped twice as well.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all the result of training, agents like us learn how to associate things passed by to remember them easily.¡±


    ¡°You amaze me, I brought four people here so far but nobody could answer me like you.¡±


    It was some kind of a test. It seemed that Eriksson had brought agents from other countries too.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a coincidence. I¡¯m embarrassed that you¡¯re making a fuss about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if it made you feel ufortable. Mypany evaluates people who we work with from different aspects and only takes the information from those who have passed our standards. This is how we decide whom to trust. You amazed me with your insight that you did not pass on any small details.¡±


    ¡°Did I pass your test?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re already someone our organization had been watching. Your strength is already well-known, so I won¡¯t say much about that. We know that even a toon-sized military force could not equal your strength. Through our conversation today, I¡¯m d to find out that you have extraordinary focus and attentiveness. I hope we maintain our touch from now on.¡±


    Since Youngho passed Eriksson¡¯s standard, he did not say anything about it.


    ¡°Alright. I hope our business could be used as a good mean for the peace of the world.¡±


    ¡°Well, what you said is impressive to me. I¡¯m d that we¡¯ll be business partners henceforward. It¡¯s an honor to meet someone like you.¡±


    ¡®What honor? If you put me in a problematic position, I¡¯ll get you even from the opposite side of the world.¡¯


    Youngho tried not to trust anyone other than his family ever since he became an agent. There was always a necessary reason for meeting people and that was it. Considering people that way, he could protect himself from getting hurt by them. Also, he thought that he should be extra cautious when dealing with this kind of organization which was moved by money only. He should try to protect himself first rather than to chase money. What if there was information that could wipe out a country from the map? Could they be still nice to Youngho and not betray him for money? He thought that if he even had a little bit of doubt, it was better not to share with them.


    Youngho did not want to jump into any business just because he could make money. Because he already had a wine factory, Georgia¡¯s warehouse retailer shop, oil business, and divostok¡¯s refrigerated-storage warehouseplex, he was not desperate for money.


    In case that he might need to buy information from the information agency, he just wanted to maintain a low-key rtionship with them. Youngho felt that he could now wisely think and choose what he needed to do. His mind has been cleared and he had peace in mind ever since he started meditating to enhance the power of the ring, he could certainly feel the change in his mind and body.


    These days, even if he saw something that surprised him, he could control his mind and act calmly. Now that he felt peace in mind, his perception of the world was widened. The power of the ring was slowly changing Youngho.

 Chapter 108 - The Family (2)

    <h4>Chapter 108: The Family (2)</h4>


    No matter how far apart they lived now, something would never change. It was Youngho¡¯s gut sense for his little sister Yunsuh. Throughout the trip, he felt that she was slowly changing her attitude. It was something that even Cho Sangchun, who lives with her now, did not see. On thest day in Stockholm, Yunsuh seemed reluctant to leave, so Youngho quietly went next to her and tapped her elbow.


    ¡°What¡¯s up? You don¡¯t want to leave? Should we stay a little longer?¡±


    ¡°Oh, my goodness. How did you know? You have sharp eyes.¡±


    ¡°You like it here, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Not only here, I like the stability of the whole Northern Europe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just how it seems, the living is the same as ours.¡±


    She seemed very envious of the people¡¯s lives in here.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding. People here seemed to have more peace andposure than people in Korea. Look, nobody walks so fast on the streets like in Korea where everyone walks like they¡¯re always being chased by time. They can¡¯t act like that if they don¡¯t have peace in mind.¡±


    It looked like Yunsuh would stir up the family soon. There was nobody in the whole world, who could stop her if she insisted to move overseas with a reason for her child¡¯s education.


    Because of Hyunsung, Yunsuh¡¯s little son, the family could not visit many ces. Anywhere they went, they only stayed there for at least two to three days. During the ten days of the trip, there were only three ces they visited but no one was bothered by that fact. It was not only because everyone was understanding and patient but also because the cities and natures in the regions of Northern Europe were perfect for rxing and healing minds.


    It was a plus that Northern Europe was not hot although it was in the mid-summer. Moreover, any people they met on the trip were always kind. It almost felt like the gang came to the cities of angels. It was understandable that Yunsuh was attracted to the Northern European people¡¯s lifestyle. It seemed that people¡¯s personalities would be changed in a positive way when they have lived somewhere like here for only a year.


    However, Youngho wondered if the kids who grew up in a privileged ce like here could survive the harsh outside world. The ce looked so peaceful that kids would not need to be ever selfish andpete with others because of limited resources. He talked about this loudly to Sangchun, to see if he could change Yunsuh¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Sangchun, it looks like this ce is good to live in but do you think kids here can survive the lifepetition in the world? I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°You are right, this ce can be good for adults but kids should be raised in tough environments in order to be strong.¡±


    Listening to the two, Yunsuh interrupted their conversation.


    ¡°You¡¯re making no sense! Any kid who has been raised in here would have an angel-like personality. Can¡¯t you see? Everyone¡¯s kind and nice here.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true...¡±


    Youngho and Sangchun¡¯s conversation did not seem tost so long because of Yunsuh¡¯s strong argument.


    ¡°Yunsuh, nothing is as it seems. You know Korean people had to survive harsh environments andpetitions but because they survived that, they can flourish even in overseas, can¡¯t you see that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want my kid to be such a sessful or famous person. I just want him to have a secure and peaceful life in somewhere like this.¡±


    All parents must feel the same way.


    ¡°Well, I think a little bit ofpetition strengthens children¡¯s mind and body. If I stayed in Korea for the rest of my life and decided to settle for what I had, do you think we¡¯d be strolling down the streets of Stockholm in Northern Europe?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I came outside and even grew stronger, I could even think better because of the hard life. If I was still in Korea, I would¡¯ve been in the same ce but I decided to give it a try topete with the world. I didn¡¯t tell you about this but I went through all kinds of hardships in here and I¡¯ve won thepetition.¡±


    Hearing that Youngho went through such hardships, Yunsuh was tearing up. Imagining how hard it must have been for him to make it this far, she cried in Youngho¡¯s arms.


    ***


    After fifteen days of the trip, the gang returned to the intense heat of Baku¡¯s mid-summer. The kids did not leave the reservoir of the farm ever since they were back. On the TV, it was broadcasting that Baku had hit the highest temperatures in a hundred years as well.


    Wine factory technicians were the only ones who weed the scorching sun for the reason that this year¡¯s grapes would have high sugar level. Scorching heat and huge daily temperature range were the key factors of the growth of sweet grapes. It looked like the farm would produce great-tasting wines this year as well if the farmers water the grapes appropriately.


    The oak cask factory, which had been producing test products, now began to manufacture proper products. It was all possible because most of the production lines were automated. Since the factory bought oaks that were dried in advance, they could save the time for drying process. They even received orders from other farms around but for the time being, the number of manufactured casks were barely enough for the use of Zeynep Farm and the Charles farm. It would only be possible to sell the casks to other farms after a few years.


    Among other oak cask factories, Zeynep Farm was the only factory that had an automated facility. There were some factories that produced more than 500 oak casks a year but they were not reliable since the number of products manufactured was not consistent all the time. If Youngho decided to produce more than 500 a year, other factories would go out of business. Although there was no need for him to care about their business, he did not feelfortable to push them out of business since some of them had worked their whole life in the factories.


    In a few years, he would be selling the casks in the market. To prevent other factories going out of business, he thought that he couldbine small-scale factories under his factory. He needed toe up with a solution to save them since he did not trust them as well. Only if he had a solution, his factory could survive. What if an oak cask factory owneres to burn his factory just like what Araz, the former Charles Wine Factory¡¯s owner, tried to do to his farm. Business people here could not stand losing their profits.


    Tobine the small-scale factories, Insoo and Gerhardt now visited the factories and convinced them to agree on the factory integration n, and dividing the factory¡¯s share. It was a win-win n to survive together.


    ***


    Yunsuh and Sangchun returned to Korea since they could not leave the headquarters of Chunho Merchant for too long and Sangchun¡¯s parents stayed in the farm. They said that they needed to rest long after the trip but they were actually staying a little longer because they liked the farm. The father was not bored since he and Insoo¡¯s father got along well and he also liked farming.


    Youngho weed their stay since he thought being with adults would be good for the siblings on the farm.


    Although there was an empty house, which was built for Ilkwon¡¯s family originally, the parents stayed with Youngho¡¯s family in the management building. The siblings loved the mother¡¯s hearty foods. Jongil was also exuberated for the Korean foods, so Jongil¡¯s couple also joined them at every meal time.


    Lately, the parents started to learn Azerbaijani from Zeynep. It seemed that they wanted to spend more time with her since she was just adorable. Although they did not know Azerbaijani, it was surprising to see them talking with farmworkers through bodynguage. The father was an easygoing person, so he made friends easily. He had been a teacher for his entire life until he retired, so except for the fact that he lectured quite often, he was a great person to be with.


    Being with the parents was especiallyforting to Youngho. He had been making decisions by himself without someone to rely on or discuss life hardships, bits of advice from old people who gained wisdom throughout their lives were very reliable. Although they were Youngho¡¯s sister¡¯s parents-inw, they were like godparents for him.


    ¡°Father, you¡¯re going to wipe out all of the trout in the river. How¡¯d you catch so many?¡±


    ¡°Youngho, it¡¯s so easy to catch fish in here. They are even attracted to an empty hook. Do you think we can eat this raw?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. People here deep-fry them, not as raw. It might have a distoma, don¡¯t eat them in raw.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? We even eat mandarin fishes raw from Hongchun River, you think trout from that clear water would have parasites?¡±


    The father¡¯s im to eat raw fish meant that he would be drinking too. It was his silence request toply.


    ¡°Well, we can eat them raw and take vermicide afterward. I¡¯m going to call Jongil, he¡¯s an expert of filleting raw fish.¡±


    The table was soon set up for drinking. Even Gerhardt joined them and told them not to worry about the trout since they were clean here. Trying raw trout sashimi for the first time with Korean gochujang paste, he kept letting out ¡®it¡¯s so good¡¯ in a row.


    Zeynep who went crazy for raw meat also joined them, and soon the building was having a raw trout party. Because there were elders in the party, Youngho and Jongil could not drink as hard as before but they enjoyed the party. It was so fulfilling to have elders in the house.


    ¡°Father, if you like this ce, should I convince Sangchun and Yunsuh to move here?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother. Since I¡¯m old now, I can visit here whenever I want but it¡¯s always better to live in your own country. Don¡¯t stir up useless hope into them. I¡¯m worried about Yunsuh, She already looks like she wants to move.¡±


    ¡°Living outside Korea doesn¡¯t mean we forget about our country. I¡¯d be d if they moved here if there is an opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to protect Korea if everybody moved? No matter how muchints you have, it¡¯s still your own country.¡±


    ¡°Father, please don¡¯t scold them if they want to live overseas at least for a few years. Don¡¯t you like visiting foreign countries as if they¡¯re your own home?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I do. I¡¯m just worried about Hyunsung. He¡¯s still young and I don¡¯t want him to lose his roots.¡±


    ¡°Father, we won¡¯t let that happen for you.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just an old man¡¯s useless worry. You youngsters can do whatever you want, it¡¯s not something I can stop.¡±


    Father was not too inflexible. As long as people don¡¯t lose the roots and sense of where they belong, he did not mind living overseas.


    Youngho had mentioned this to the father to help Sangchun since he was interested in moving overseas. Youngho wanted to rmend a peaceful ce in Europe for Yunsuh and Sangchun, not the tough regions of Caucasus.


    He thought that experiencing different ces would expand people¡¯s perception and insights. They were now living in the era of globalization, and it was not good to insist to live in one region. The reason that Europeans could make this far was that they were adventurous, they did not fear to settle down in new ces.


    Youngho also was scared when he left Incheon International Airport in Korea. The only thing he had was the fact that he could speak a little bit of English, he only trusted himself and came to a foreignnd. Struggling to survive, he could meet opportunities and make this far. It was of course not only done by his own strength, but because he was also lucky. However, if he stayed in Korea and rejected to be adventurous, he would have not been able to say that he was lucky because he would have never known.


    He became a CIA agent which he never dreamed of and picked up magical relics that would only exist in fantasy novels. Through that destiny, he met the siblings and his fianc¨¦, Fatima. Everything could be achieved because he took the chance to have an adventure.


    This was why he was weing on Yunsuh and Sangchun trying to move overseas. There was so much potential hidden in adventures. Anything was possible.

 Chapter 109 - The Defectors (1)

    <h4>Chapter 109: The Defectors (1)</h4>


    ¡°Youngho, didn¡¯t Ilkwon say anything to you?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Phew, that prim dude. He still can¡¯t speakfortably to you?¡±


    ¡°What is it about?¡±


    ¡°He had a fianc¨¦ in North Korea. He couldn¡¯t get her out when he rescued his family but the broker he worked withst time contacted him and said that he could get in touch with her. He¡¯s dying to go see her.¡±


    Ilkwon¡¯s heart must be burned ck by now. There was no other pain like when lovers could not be together. Even more so, since he did not know how his fianc¨¦ was getting by without him in North Korea. Youngho called Kim Ilkwon immediately.


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°Sit down. I heard from Jongil but where does your fianc¨¦ live in North Korea?¡±


    ¡°She lives in Wonsan. The broker said that he could take her to Tumen River but it seems like her whole family wants toe too... She can¡¯t leave her family alone.¡±


    ¡°So, that means more money is needed to pay the broker. You won¡¯t need to pay much likest time since they¡¯re not in prisoner camp like your family, right?¡±


    ¡°I think I need some more in addition to the money you gave mest time but I couldn¡¯t say anything to you. You¡¯ve done more than enough for us...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you the money, bring everyone here.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t feel like living without her anyway, will you? I don¡¯t know how many her family members are but you can bring all of them and help them settle down in the Charles farm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed but I¡¯ll do as you said. Thank you so much, boss.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. Now, get ready for the trip.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Boss.¡±


    As leaving the porch, Kim Ilkwon¡¯s fists were clenched. He seemed to carry the whole world on his shoulders. He felt responsible for his fianc¨¦ and her family, and as a man, he wanted to prove that he was a man capable of protecting his people.


    Kim Ilkwon flew to divostok the next day. Since his fianc¨¦¡¯s family lived normally and healthy, they were going to travel by train that crosses Siberia. It was a safe way for them to travel since they would not get inspected. Youngho just had to give their fake passports near the Azerbaijani border before they enter the country.


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil arrived at Tbilisi in Georgia because the warehouse retailer shop was having a grand opening. Agent Philip was waiting for them at the airport.


    ¡°Lee, wee. You must be busy with the farm work. You all look tanned.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too hot in Baku right now. I¡¯m afraid that I might get fired as an agent since I¡¯m only focused in farming these days.¡±


    ¡°Lee, if that¡¯s true, I¡¯d have been fired by now already. Just don¡¯t cut me out from your team.¡±


    ¡°Philip, Korean people respect rtionships, it must be our destiny to work together. I¡¯m going to hold on to you until you say you hate the Caucasus.¡±


    Philip was touched by Youngho¡¯s assuring words.


    ¡°Then I can finally proceed with my wedding ns and settle down here.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, you have a fianc¨¦?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been seeing her for half a year but she would not leave here since she¡¯s from Georgia.¡±


    ¡°What a good news! I¡¯m going to tell Michael that you should be here as a stationary agent. Trust me, I can¡¯t even leave Baku right now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only relying on you, Lee.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s no team like our team. We have a great teamwork together.¡±


    Although Philip was not a physically strong agent like Youngho or Jongil, he was a capable information collector who could not bepared to anybody since he was in charge of Georgia and Armenia. He did his job more than enough.


    Yaniv did note to the grand opening event of the warehouse retailer store. It was not a big event that the major shareholder should consider and it was better for him not toe since the Georgian government would not like to see mafias around.


    ¡°Hey! My brothers, wee.¡±


    Sergey greeted Youngho¡¯spany with his friendly smile. Since Philip also had seen him a few times, he came along to the event.


    ¡°Brother, you¡¯ve done a great job here. I should¡¯vee earlier but I had my family visiting in Baku.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Showing up here today is more than enough. You see? I think the officials here don¡¯t have a lot to do. They came all together in crowds for this small event. Well, you need to show yourself as the owner of the business.¡±


    The reason for the officials¡¯ attendance was because they wanted to receive free gifts. The officials here or in Baku had the same mentality.


    After the fancy tape-cutting ceremony, all the guests were in line to get food from the buffet table and started drinking. There was another reason that the officials crowded in the event. There was a symbolic meaning to the opening of the retailer shop in Tbilisi, it meant that Georgia was secure now. Because of Russia¡¯s armed force, foreign investors avoided investing in Georgia but a Korean investor had just opened a huge retailer shop in Tbilisi. Georgian people were hopeful that Georgia would be getting more foreign investments from now on.


    Representatives from Koreanrge corporates S and L, that made a foray in Georgia, also visited the grand opening event, so people expected more Korean investors would being in to invest in the Georgian market.


    Although Youngho was not a major shareholder, he was the face representative of thepany, and Sergey had prepared a lot of gifts and foods for the guests to give an impression that Youngho was a rich foreign investor.


    After the event, the store was opened right away. Youngho was surprised to see the people crowding into the store after waiting in line before the store was opened. He had not thought that he would make a lot of money from thispany although Sergey had given him five percent of thepany¡¯s share. However, at this rate, the store might make him more than he thought.


    Many people came in because it was the first day of opening and they were curious about the store, but it was also because they were attracted to the uniqueness of the warehouse retailer shop. Things were not sold individually but sold in bulks and boxes at cheaper prices. This type of stores had not been opened in Georgia. Youngho also spotted that popr items were already sold out and re-stocked from the storage in the outskirt of the town. It was quite satisfying to see. Sergey was also surprised to see the store¡¯s poprity.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon contacted Youngho from divostok, that he had safely left North Korea with his fianc¨¦ and her family. The family had five people. Youngho received the pictures of each family member and their birth dates and asked Sergey to make their passports.


    From divostok, Ilkwon¡¯spany should take the train crossing Siberia and transfer to another train in Nizhny Novgorod to get to Volgograd. The Siberia crossing train ran about 9,288 kilometers and it took six nights and seven days to get to Moscow. Youngho wondered what it would be like for the new defector family since it was their first time seeing the world. Kim Ilkwon had not dreamed of bringing his fianc¨¦ to Baku too, but because of Youngho¡¯s help, he could bring all of her family out of North Korea. Even though he did not know them, it was satisfying to think that he was able to help them settle down in the new world.


    ¡°Jongil, why don¡¯t you go to Volgograd? We need to get passports from Sergey and give them to Ilkown.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Then I can bring them here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d feel more secure if you¡¯re with them.¡±


    ¡°The security won¡¯t be so strict on the train, and since they have Russian passports, no one will bother them anyway.¡±


    ¡°Man, I wish I can go but I trust you. Just make up some lies. Tell them they are mutes.¡±


    They should not lose the tension until they were safe in Baku because they could get by Russian securities, Azerbaijani securities, or even North Korean authorities on the way. It surely would sound weird when people who have Russian passports can¡¯t speak Russian.


    ¡°Man! Why don¡¯t you let me borrow your honorary police certificate. They can¡¯t distinguish Asian faces well. Maybe I should show them that or I should sell Sevan¡¯s name.¡±


    Since Jongil was now Sevan¡¯s distant cousin-inw, there would be no problem if he sold Sevan¡¯s name.


    Jongil happily left for Volgograd. Although he was flying to Volgograd, it was a 24-hour long returning trip by train. Jongil was still d to have a short period away from Karajan.


    Insoo¡¯s wife, Sunghee¡¯s baby would be born at any time now and Karajan was also due at the end of September. Her belly was huge, she now stopped working at the Chuncho Merchant direct store in Baku and rested at home doing little exercises to prepare for theing baby.


    She had been extra-sensitive and saltytely, and Jongil was the one who had to deal with her frustration. That was why Youngho decided to send Jongil, to give him some free time away from his wife. Soon, the farm would be noisy from the two babies¡¯ cries.


    These days, Fatima and Zeynep frequently went to downtown to shop for baby products despite the high temperatures. Because the mothers-to-be could not go out freely with their big bellies, they were trying to help them. Youngho had not realized that there were so many products that babies needed. While buying products for Karajan and Sunghee, Fatima was buying pretty baby products for her own as well. Youngho thought that she was buying them for separate gifts but they were all stored in her room.


    ¡®Isn¡¯t she too ahead of time?¡¯


    Youngho could not say anything since one of Fatima¡¯s dreams was to be a mom. Since there would be babies born on the farm soon, she was jealous. She was eager to get married and have her own family. She could get married at any time, she was an adult and girls in her country tended to get married early. Youngho was pushing the wedding with an excuse that she needed to finish her study but in fact, there was nothing in the way of their wedding.


    In fact, Youngho and Fatima shared a deep kiss not long ago. This was how it happened...

 Chapter 110 - The Defectors (2)

    <h4>Chapter 110: The Defectors (2)</h4>


    Jongil returned in pride with Kim Ilkwon¡¯spany three days after he left Baku. The family of Kim Ilkwon¡¯s fianc¨¦ all looked so thin out of poverty, that all of their new clothes were too baggy for them. They were at least looking like that after having been eaten well on the train for the past week.


    Even though they were not prisoners, they had suffered hunger and poverty for a long time in North Korea. Luckily, there were more rooms in the lodging where Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family was staying, so until a new house for them was built, the new family could share the lodging.


    ¡°Youngho, we need to educate them before they go into society. They¡¯re just so na?ve and have no idea how things work in here. They¡¯d be ripped off by people if we don¡¯t teach them well.¡±


    Shaking his head, Jongil continued,


    ¡°They had been so blindfolded, they had been serving KIm Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as their gods. It¡¯s just extreme. I don¡¯t understand why the dictator father and son made them such fools. They have no self-driven willingness. You know on the way here, they would not even start eating on their own unless I told them to do so.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯ll change now that they¡¯re starting to open their eyes toward the world. We need to teach them little by little like kindergarteners. At least they have pure, untouched souls. I want to teach them, so that they can be our future resources too.¡±


    ¡°I know about the na?ve aspect but I don¡¯t know about their characters. They can be bitter and evil because of their hard lives. We might have a better chance with children but I don¡¯t think we can expect much from adults.¡±


    Jongil had many shocking moments while he was traveling with the North Korean defectors on the way to Baku. They had only been living a passive life, only acting upon receiving orders, so they had a hard time making their own decisions. Those awful dictators only made poor and unwilling people out of them. Only some people on top lived wealthy and the rest of themon people were only blindfolded and exploited by the high ss.


    Only some people who heard about the outside world dared to escape the nation to seek for better lives. People who could not even dare to think about escaping, lived on in the country only to survive, believing everyone in the world lived like themselves. Youngho was helping them because they were rted to Kim Ilkwon, but talking with Jongil, he realized how na?ve he had been thinking to save North Korean defectors and make jobs for them in the storage warehouseplex in divostok without any specific ns. Even if he helped them settle down, if they did not understand the free market economy and get used to living in the free world, they would live unhappy lives henceforth. They might rather be in North Korea under the dictatorship.


    His idea to create a workce town for North Korean defectors was only good for people who already have learned to live in the free world. If they settled down immediately after escaping North Korea, they would never be able to get used to their new life, and they would not appreciate Youngho¡¯s favor since they were used to receiving their share from the government.


    Instead of thinking that they earned their payment and supplies, they would think that they were receiving the distributed supply and money from the authorities as they used to in North Korea. Then, it would be impossible for them to learn about the free market economy.


    Realizing about the bitter fate, Youngho decided to be satisfied with only helping Ilkwon¡¯s family for now.


    ***


    Insoo¡¯s wife, Sunghee, gave a birth to a sweet little baby girl. The whole farm was excited for the new life on the farm. She was the first newborn on the Zeynep Farm, and the second would be Jongil¡¯s child. Youngho was swelled to see the new change of the farm. He was reminded of the beginning days of the farm. He had nted grapes in the empty waste hignd and made a farm out of it and then now, there was a new life in the farm. It was such a dramatic change of the farm. There had been births of newmbs on the farm but that was noparison to this.


    Other than the baby products that had been prepared, the farm family bought new stuff for the baby to use when she gets bigger. On hard ground, they nned to nt grass, so that the child would not get hurt even if she falls, and they even decided to make yground facility on the farm. The oak cask factory technicians made a cradle out of oak and gave it to Insoo¡¯s couple as a gift. Insoo¡¯s parents were a little bit disappointed because they wanted a boy as many old Korean generations would do but they were joyous to see their first grandchild born in a foreign country.


    After the baby¡¯s birth, a new trend took over the people on the farm. Since Baku did not have rules against smoking, people could smoke anywhere in the city of Baku. Workers of the farm were also spotted smoking all around the farm but after the baby was born, Youngho imed the farm a smoke-free working zone. It seemed unfair for many but since he reinforced the policy by giving rewards to employees who quit smoking, workers started quitting smoking on the farm.


    Fatima and Zeynep almost lived in Insoo¡¯s house now to help out Sunghee. Naturally, they were in charge of bathing the baby and adults did not have to do the difficult jobs. Sangchun¡¯s mother looked at Fatima taking care of the baby and made ament.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for her. When an unmarried girl starts to like babies like that, it means that she wants to have a baby. Youngho, why don¡¯t you take her already? I¡¯ll take care of your baby.¡±


    ¡°Mother, she needs to finish her studies.¡±


    ¡°Is there a rule in here that college students can¡¯t get married until they graduate from school?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡±


    ¡°Phew. Hey, why the wait? If you miss the time, you might never have the chance again.¡±


    ¡°Well, I already talked with her. We¡¯ll think about that when she bes a senior.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s better. I¡¯m just saying because I¡¯ve never seen a girl who likes a baby that much like her.¡±


    Now, Youngho was not embarrassed talking about getting married since he was officially dating Fatima.


    The other day, he had gone to sleepte and he was still asleep after 9 AM in the morning. Even though Fatima came to wake him up, he still did not move, so she started tickling him. Tickling was a weak spot for Youngho, and while he tried to stop her by force, they were on top of each other¡¯s body on his bed. Youngho could not stop his desire towards her and held her tight. He did not lose hisposure, but for a moment, he was driven by his strong desire. Fatima was surprised by his short but strong kiss. Embarrassed, she did note near his bedroom in the morning time ever since then.


    ***


    Youngho was back in Frankfurt for the CIA¡¯s monthly meeting. When hended in the airport, the person who came out to greet Youngho was not Michael, it was Eriksson whom he met in Sweden. He was startled to see him but he reckoned that there must be a reason that Michael had sent him.


    ¡°It¡¯s been long, Mr. Eriksson.¡±


    As Youngho recognized him at once, Eriksson dly asked for a handshake.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, did I surprise you?¡±


    ¡°I was but I thought that there must be a good reason for this.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I thought you¡¯d be upset to see me in an unexpected situation.¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been bothering Chief Michael for the past few days, just so that I could meet you again.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho was more surprised by the fact that Eriksson had spent days to convince Michael to see him. Since the information agency would not waste their valuable resource and time for nothing, he could guess that Eriksson¡¯s appearance must be a huge deal.


    They went to a quiet caf¨¦ from the airport. They started out with having a daily conversation.


    ¡°Every time Ie to Frankfurt, I don¡¯t feel the business even though this is a pretty huge city.¡±


    ¡°That must be because of Germans¡¯ character. They look quiet from the outside but they¡¯re hiding such passion on the inside.¡±


    ¡°To think about it, you¡¯re speaking the truth. Whenever I see you Mr. Lee, you¡¯re very much like German people.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have to agree with you. In a Korean expression, I have a few serpents living inside me.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Although Eriksson wasughing lightly, Youngho could catch tension in his face. It seemed that he could not cut to the chase, so he decided to bring up the reason for his unexpected visit.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, let¡¯s cut to the chase. Can you tell me why you are here? I reckoned that you¡¯re here to request something directly to me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen me right. Our organization usually uses satellites and electronic information and sometimes buyout people from other organizations, but...¡±


    Eriksson was reluctant to say fearing that he was exposing too much of his organization.


    ¡°I¡¯ll forget about our conversation today. Agents like me also get trained to do so.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for being thoughtful. After tomorrow¡¯s meeting, I¡¯d like you toe with me to go somewhere. Of course, I¡¯ll pay you for what you deserve.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. We, agents, are instructed to report our destinations whenever we go somewhere. I don¡¯t think my organization would allow me to do that.¡±


    Youngho knew that Eriksson had already talked with Michael in advance but he only refused to find out about the destination.


    ¡°I already got Michael¡¯s permission for this.¡±


    ¡°Then, what would you do if I refuse toe with you?¡±


    ¡°Your chief said that you¡¯d never refuse.¡±


    Michael considered Youngho as an agent who likes to work directly in the field. However, he was wrong. Youngho only worked hard since it was a job given to him. It seemed that Eriksson was going to a somewhat dangerous ce with Youngho. He needed him as a bodyguard and perhaps for other purposes as well.


    ¡°If you tell me where we are going, I¡¯lle with you.¡±


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d say yes. I needed a person to guard me, so I requested for you.¡±


    ¡°I thought you have your own guards from your agency.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t bepared to your strength, Mr. Lee. Also, we¡¯d be an easy target if I moved with many guards.¡±


    It sounded like a dangerous job since Eriksson was mentioning being a target. He needed a person to move swiftly alone with him.


    After the monthly meeting waspleted, Michael waved at Youngho to talk privately in his room.


    ¡°Did you hear already?¡±


    Youngho knew exactly what he was talking about even though he was not giving much information.


    ¡°Why, me? Isn¡¯t our job just giving them information?¡±


    ¡°A high ranker from the information agency politely requested this, so I had to take the job. Also, I thought that you¡¯d be the perfect person who could deal with this. You¡¯ll make a great impression in their organization for this job. Lee, I trust you from the bottom of my heart. Aren¡¯t we on the same boat anyway?¡±


    Michael talked smoothly saying that he trusted Youngho but in fact, Youngho was picking up his mess. However, Youngho could not hate him for that since Michael had faith in him. In his heart, he also had a desire to take the challenge and to ensure his position in the information agency. He was even getting paid by the information agency and he knew that this was a huge deal. Also, Michael was sending him for another reason. Through this job, Youngho could bring information or connection that would be helpful to the CIA. Since information agent, Eriksson, was taking a risk, this must be rted to the world economy.


    Youngho wondered if this was also rted to Korea¡¯s economy.

 Chapter 111 - The Information Agency (1)

    <h4>Chapter 111: The Information Agency (1)</h4>


    ¡°Where is it again?¡±


    Youngho looked at Eriksson after hearing what he said.


    ¡°It¡¯s Grozny in Chechnya.¡±


    Chechnya was a risky ce where Youngho might have been exposed. He did not receive any information about the ck Widows after their attack on the pipeline, whether they were all killed on the spot or some of them were captured and tortured were unknown. Since he was rted to the ck Widows, the Chechen government might be watching out for Asians to find the agent who helped the rebels.


    Although he used a Korean passport when he visited Chechnya, he was still worried since there were young members of the ck Widows who saw Youngho when he met Basayev. He could use an American passport but Russian authorities were always skeptical of Americans going in Chechnya. It would be nice if he had Russian passports but he was not fluent in Russian either.


    When Youngho told Eriksson that his identity might have been exposed to the Chechen government, Eriksson looked him as if it was nothing.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, if you pick any county, I can make you any passport you want. Under your circumstances, I¡¯d rmend the United Kingdom.¡±


    It was surprising to find out about one of the capabilities of the information agency, they could make any kinds of passport like Sergey. It made Youngho wonder what kind of organization was behind their agency.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, what¡¯s in Chechnya that someone like you are going in by yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to meet the ck Widows.¡±


    It was even more jaw-dropping when he said ¡®the ck Widows¡¯.


    ¡°You must be talking about the new ck Widows. May I ask what you want to find out from them?¡±


    ¡°As you already know, I recently learned that they¡¯re nning to bomb the pipeline again, I¡¯m just going to confirm the time of their bombing attack. It¡¯s something that would hugely affect the oil prices of the world.¡±


    The information agency was not trying to stop their terror attack but wanted to confirm the information. Since they were only after money, they would be selling the information to oil corporations.


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me that even though you know that the CIA will try to stop the attack. Does this mean that you don¡¯t care about exposing the information in advance?¡±


    ¡°What we¡¯re interested in is whether the terror will happen or not, we really don¡¯t care about what the CIA will do upon that. Of course, you¡¯d have to stop the terror attack but do you have any idea how many times terror attacks have been prevented around the world even though they were predicted in advance?¡±


    Eriksson made Youngho lose his words.


    ***


    It was a week after Youngho and Erikson parted in Frankfurt when Eriksson showed up at Baku¡¯s Aliyev Airport.


    Eriksson brought British passports for Youngho and even for Jongil, since it was a dangerous mission that needed a backup agent. Even the European chapter had no idea about it except for Michael. To Jongil, Youngho just told him that some American international corporation asked for a team of bodyguards in Chechnya. Of course, Jongil was excited to take the job since he could get away from the farm for a while. Although he was going to be a dad soon, he did not care about the risks of missions at all. There were people who could take care of Karajan on the farm and he was carefree.


    From Baku Station, the three guys went on a train to get to Grozny. Youngho shaved off his mustache that he had been growing for a long time and he looked like a totally different person. The photo of his passport also had no mustache. The wholepany looked like a gang of young men going on a backpacking trip.


    In case they needed the information, Youngho and Jongil studied about Ennd¡¯s famous streets, restaurants, schools, and maps. Although people could easily find out if they investigated the two, they prepared enough to be able to act like British.


    Jongil¡¯s friendliness made Erikssonugh although he has always maintained a poker face. There was nothing for young men to do on the train except for drinking beer or ying cards. The three men took over a four-people sleepingpartment of the train and they yed cards absorbedly. They betted little cash and it made the game even interesting. Eriksson, whose ten dor bills were almost gone by now, becamepetitive. His eyes had turned red when they were done.


    ***


    After arriving at the Grozny Station, they went directly to their lodging and unpacked their stuff. Their room was a four-people capacity and because they arrived in thete evening, they shared the room with a young Russian man. He was a friendly guy. Since they did not have any schedule the next day, the four of them toured around the downtown. Having him in thepany was helpful since many Chechens speak Russian fluently. Because of him, the gang did not look suspicious. There were lots of backpackers in Grozny since the city was known to be one of the safest cities around the Caucasus regions.


    Since Sochi Winter Olympics was sessfully held, there were lots of people visiting Russia, and countries nearby also benefited in that. Known as Russia¡¯s satellite state, Chechnya was crowded by young travelers who wanted to see its blessed natural sceneries. The fact that Chechnya¡¯s summer was not too hot was a plus for travelers.


    Since Youngho and Jongil¡¯s job was to guard Eriksson, they were not too tired by the job. In fact, they enjoyed traveling around. Eriksson¡¯s active time was in the evening time. Every night, he met some unknown guys at a caf¨¦ near their lodging ce and drank with them, it seemed that there were people working for Eriksson in Grozny too.


    It took time until Eriksson was able to reach a member of the ck Widows since all of the rebels were loyal to their organization. They had no reason to betray their organization that they had been serving at the risk of their lives.


    After a few days, Eriksson could finally get a hold of one of the leaders of the ck Widows. The time and the location of the meeting were set but the problem was that the location was not in Grozny. Outside of Grozny, Eriksson¡¯s safety could not be guaranteed. Often times, travelers who went to other cities in Chechnya were abducted by rebels for ransom in exchange for their lives.


    Among all of the ces, the ck Widows chose Karabk in the Northwest of Grozny. Maybe it was the ck Widows¡¯ plot to catch the information agency¡¯s middleman to request money from the agency, using Eriksson as a hostage since he knew a lot of secrets about the agency. Youngho hated extreme terrorist groups but he had a little hope for the ck Widows since he had a rtionship with their former group from the past business. He thought that he might be able to negotiate with them.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be wise if you directly moved and meet them. I and myrade can go there alone.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I understand your concern but it¡¯s something I have to do myself. I need to meet them and evaluate their information.¡±


    ¡°What if we go there and record the conversations and bring it back to you?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll use a strong jamming device to incapacitate any electronic devices. Even if you seed in recording their voices, it would be useless if you can¡¯t read their faces.¡±


    Youngho did not understand how Eriksson would judge by looking at their faces.


    ¡®Is he a mind reader?¡¯ thought Youngho.


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil prepared for theing battles. They hid flip knives and Austrian Glock pistols in their leather shoes. Glock pistols were well-known for being lightweight and its automatic operation, and many secret agents or bodyguards around the world used them. They also put on a sk vest under their shirts to protect their organs and heart. The reason for their tight preparation was that they knew it was going to be a risky mission.


    Even though Youngho warned Eriksson, he insisted that he should see the rebels in person. Since Youngho and Jongil were hired by him at the moment, there was no choice for them but toply.


    The ck Widows now was not the same old ck Widows in the past, they had turned into an extreme violent rebel group. Their purpose of the meeting was not sure, they might really just want some money in exchange for their information due to theck of funds or they might be plotting to capture Eriksson.


    Although the rebel group could not be trusted since they could change their mind at any moment, Youngho was curious to find out about the potential terror attack. He also wanted to see if the newly formed ck Widows were a reliable group. It was something he should find out as the agent in charge of the Caucasus regions. If they could seed Eriksson¡¯s mission without any damage, the meeting should have many advantages to them.


    As they arrived at Karabk, the rebels waiting for them seated them in the back of their car and blindfolded them. This was done so that they would not find out about their base¡¯s location. To Youngho, the situation was not at all frustrating. He could sense where they were headed due to the ring¡¯s power. Paying close attention to the outside sounds and the car¡¯s driving direction, he tried to memorize everything in his head. The car went around the same area for about thirty minutes and it stopped at the point that was not further than a hundred meters away from the starting point. Because Youngho heard consistent machine sounds of a nearby factory, he could tell where they were. He also realized that the location was not further away from a bus station since he heard the sound of a small bus engine. Everything was possible because the magical ring allowed a supernatural hearing ability for its owner.


    Now that Youngho had grasped the information about the surroundings of where they were, the tension had gone loose. Since it seemed that they were at somewhere with a high concentration of people, he was relieved to think that the rebels would not have a shootout battle in here.


    When the blindfolds were removed, they were inside a house. The rebels did not inspect their belongings, it was weird since inspection was a necessary process in negotiations like this. In order to have a safe negotiation, terrorists like them would remove any weapons and electronic devices. There would be only two reasons for not inspecting their bodies: They either trust the group or they knew that the group would not be able to leave the ce safely.


    It was unlikely that the rebels trusted them fully. Youngho decided to act upon thetter reason, he gave signs to Jongil to notify him of the potential danger. They were not supposed toe here. There would be only two oues for them, if they could not escape from the rebels any time soon; getting killed and buried underground, or getting captured and bing hostages. They should still try to talk to the rebels but the future was obvious. Now all they needed to do was to find a way to escape that ce.

 Chapter 112 - The Information Agency (2)

    <h4>Chapter 112: The Information Agency (2)</h4>


    Eriksson also realized the disadvantageous circumstance, he had experienced this kind of organizations before. From the point where their bodies were not searched, his body became stiff. However, looking at Youngho and Jongil giving looks at each other, he was regaining his calmness, being a bright guy, he was quick-witted as well.


    After a moment, out of mere formality, a young man weed them. He introduced himself as the rebel¡¯s young leader. However, the young leader did not seem nervous to speak to them. Realizing that the situation was not turning out to his advantage, Eriksson tried to save his face.


    ¡°My organization knows every single detail about your group. The reason I¡¯m here today is to find out the date of your nned terror attack, the location you told us does not have any meaning without the time. If you inform us about the time, we¡¯ll send you five million dors immediately.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to let you know in advance, that if I don¡¯t contact my agency within the next thirty minutes, this ce will be razed to the ground.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°My location is live-streamed through a satellite. If I don¡¯t move from a single spot, my agency will consider that something terrible happened to me. Well, let¡¯s see, we don¡¯t have much time now. Since you brought me here, it should mean that you want to have a deal with us, is that right?¡±


    After hearing Eriksson¡¯s words, the young leader of the rebels, got frightened out of his senses and ran out the door and started yelling in Chechen. He must be yelling to other rebels around to retreat. Eriksson had earned only a moment of time but it was more than enough for Youngho and Jongil to prepare.


    They could hear steps of several guys running toward the room where thepany was. They must be trying to move the group to another location to take them as their hostage. They were going to get a ransom from Eriksson¡¯s agency for his life. The two guys rushing in the door soon fell down to the floor from Youngho and Jongil¡¯s strokes. As other following guys were trying to aim the group with guns, Youngho and Jongil threw their flip knives to their enemies, there was no time them to go easy on them.


    The two guys who were struck by Youngho and Jongil would not be able to move for a while and the other two who were stabbed by the thrown knives would go into the shock if they could not stop the bleeding. Now, the A.K. rifles that the guys brought were in Youngho and Jongil¡¯s hands.


    The two fired the rifles at random. The ce was in the middle of a city and gun fires would naturally attract police or army soldiers. They would suspect a terrorist attack and surround the house in no time. Youngho was aiming for that.


    The people who blindly fired the guns, after they were out of ammunition, they opened the door and left the room. The rebels were not spotted as if they all fled their base. Although theirrades were shot and injured, no one came around to help them.


    Jongil carried one of the passed out rebels on his shoulders like a load. Youngho gestured Eriksson to climb on his back, he looked at him in absurdity but Youngho did not care. Carrying Eriksson on his back, he ran outside at a proper speed. They needed to get out of the ce as soon as possible since their appearance in the base of the rebels would be suspicious to the local police or army.


    ***


    The rebel that Jongil brought seemed to hold a high position in his group. Youngho let him feel agonizing pain by pushing some acupuncture points on his body. As he interrogated him and asked him to let out the date of the terror attack, he told them that the date was October 10th. Eriksson, who had been watching the rebel speak, stopped Youngho and asked to let him go. It seemed that Eriksson was assured that the rebel was speaking the truth.


    ¡®Does he also have a mystical relic just like me? Or did he learn how to read people¡¯s minds?¡¯


    Thinking that, Youngho decided to ask Eriksson about itter.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, what types of physical training have you gone through? How could you run like an athlete while carrying me on your back?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through daily training of exhaustion for more than a year. You can only finish the training when you can carry fifty kilograms of weight while running a distance of 40 kilometers in three hours and swimming for ten more kilometers.¡±


    This was what Kim Ilkwon had said about his training in North Korea. Youngho edited some parts and told Eriksson, so he would not suspect his strength. Eriksson had keen insights than most people, so in order to deceive him, Youngho needed to make an intricate lie. After hearing Youngho, his jaw dropped. Truly the training was not any normal person could go through.


    ¡°Even though I already trusted your strengths but it¡¯s just amazing to see with my own eyes. Why don¡¯t you help us when you¡¯re retired?¡±


    Youngho and Jongil were just offered a job after their retirement.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure if Michael will let me go easily.¡±


    While mentioning Michael, Youngho negotiated his value.


    ¡°Looking at the rebels today, they seemed they couldunch the terror attack even on a different date. Thank you for your help, because of your help, I fulfilled my purpose foring here.¡±


    Eriksson was confident. He seemed to have captured something from the rebels¡¯ actions.


    ¡°Well, it looks like a disorganized group like that will be going to stir the world with their reckless behaviors.¡±


    Youngho also felt that the rebels were so different from thest generation.


    ¡°They are just a mere terrorist group. Chechnya¡¯s independence is not their priority; they are just power hungry terrorists.¡±


    Eriksson was right. The terrorists had already lost their purpose, all there was left in them was a sense of heroism to be a world-famous terror group. As those rebels get extreme, Russia would gain more justification to get rid of them, and Chechnya would go further away from independence.


    ¡°We should get out of Chechnya now. They mighte for us for payback.¡±


    Eriksson looked confident that he fulfilled the goal of the mission although Youngho and Jongil had no idea. The only information they attained was some unreliable date of the terror attack but Eriksson seemed to have guessed more than that from the encounter with the rebels.


    ***


    On the train back to Baku, the three guys were again immersed at ying cards. Atst, Eriksson had won all of Youngho and Jongil¡¯s money in their pockets. Although they had begun the game under the condition of five hundred dor limit, Jongil was still pretty upset for his loss. They had lost the keen battle of wits.


    Youngho, again, wondered about the information agency since it was an organization where elites like Eriksson were gathered. Winning a card game could look like it was out of pure luck but it actually was a mind game. That was why ¡®poker face¡¯ was needed. Jongil insisted to y again but Youngho knew that the result would be the same no matter how many times they challenged Eriksson.


    ¡°Jongil, why don¡¯t you just ask to have a race? We¡¯re way behind in the card games.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m confident that I can win now.¡±


    ¡°Your face shows whenever you get great cards.¡±


    Erikssonughed hard at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Mr. Park, you should never y cards. You¡¯ll lose to anybody. It¡¯s not easy to maintain a poker face.¡±


    ¡°Phew. I¡¯m saying I¡¯m a good actor.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s nagging did not work since Youngho and Eriksson was already in their beds, ready to sleep.


    ***


    Youngho was at the Baku airport to say goodbye to Eriksson.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯ll receive what you deserve for helping me this time. Personally, I¡¯m so grateful that I got to escape from a terrible situation because of you two.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. I also wanted to investigate the rebels for the CIA¡¯s purpose. I didn¡¯t want any payment for this, so you don¡¯t have to mind me.¡±


    ¡°No. This is what I proposed first, so you should absolutely get paid. I also want to tell you that I achieved what I needed from this mission.¡±


    Youngho wanted to re-confirm with Eriksson, if it was okay for the CIA to act upon the information individually.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, the information was notpletely reliable but would it be okay if I share this within the CIA or to other rtable countries?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say that we won¡¯t absolutely be affected by that but I guess I should leave the decision to the organizations who receive this information. Nothing will change except for the fact that there will be more organizations watching for the ck Widows.¡±


    ¡°The CIA will try to stop the terrorists but isn¡¯t your business more sessful when there is a terror attack?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°This is what only the insiders of our agency know but I¡¯ll tell you this. We have both clients who would be making profits out of a terror attack and who would end up in theplete opposite side. We deal with both sides at the same time. Apart from the sess of the terror attack, isn¡¯t it true that there will be an attack?¡±


    Eriksson sounded like that his agency valued the truth of a piece of information but his remark was too ambiguous for Youngho.


    After sending Eriksson, Youngho pondered about what he could do with the information. He did not worry about the CIA informing the Russian authorities but he was worried about the oil price fluctuation. Knowing about the potential terror attack would have a psychological effect on oil-producing countries and it would eventually cause a temporary rise in the oil price.


    He wanted to notify the Korean government but the problem was not only they would not act upon the information but also he could not say where the information was from. The government would not change their policy because of a mere farm owner. Last time, they did not even believe the information from a major Korean ambassador who lived in an oil-producing country.


    The only way to deliver the message to the Korean government was telling the Korean secret agent that Youngho was acquainted with. But how would he exin the source of the information? Also, if the terror attack was prevented in advance, the oil price might not change at all. Then, there was no way Youngho could exin the situation. Looking at Youngho deep in thoughts, Jongil realized what he was worried about.


    ¡°Man, are you thinking about a way to inform the Korean government?¡±


    ¡°Whoa, dude. You now point out random things.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it. They¡¯d never listen. Terrorists had been targeting oil pipelines for a long time. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll do anything about it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d kill me if I don¡¯t let them know.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just report it to the European chapter already? They¡¯re the one to stop the terrorists, you know.¡±


    Jongil was speaking the truth. Youngho reached his phone without wasting a moment.


    Youngho exined the situation to Michael and informed him about the appearance of the young rebel leader. It was a loss that he could not take a picture of the leader but there was no such time. Because of the ring¡¯s power, he could easily recall once he saw something. With his description of the rebel leader, the CIA could draw a montage of the leader. Now the rebel leader would be on the cklist and he could soon be arrested with the montage.


    Youngho also slipped the information to Yaniv, so that he could deliver the message to Putin. Although it might be difficult to cover the whole surround of Chechen pipeline, since it was hundreds of kilometers long, the Russian government would also try their best to protect the pipeline. Pipelines frequently became a terrorist target but since they knew the approximate date, his information would be very helpful to reduce the damage.


    Youngho also informed the Korean agent of the Korean embassy in Azerbaijan, that there would be a terror attack on the Chechen pipeline around October 10th. Now there was no other job left for Youngho to do. The Korean government would decide whether to believe the information from the Korean secret agent. Youngho decided to sit back and watch since the Korean economy would not be shaken because of a little oil price fluctuation.


    The Korean agent seemed to be surprised by Youngho¡¯s intelligence capabilities that could collect the information about a future terrorist attack. He only believed that Youngho was just that close with the Azerbaijani government.

 Chapter 113 - The Information Agency (3)

    <h4>Chapter 113: The Information Agency (3)</h4>


    Youngho grinned as he checked the sugar content of his grapes. The grapes were not ripened yet but it seemed that they would reach their best sweetness level in fifteen days. Even now, they were not sour to eat but sweet. It was all because of the abnormal heat this year.


    Due to the high heat level, the Azerbaijani government extended schools¡¯ summer break, so the reservoir on the farm was still full of kids ying in the water. Youngho opened the grape trees around the reservoir for the visitors so that they could pick the fruit freely. The trees that the kids touched turned ugly. It was because they did not pick the whole vine but picked grapes to eat. Every kid who came to the farm left with a full stomach. Some kids who had too much would have to use the bathroom for the entire night. To those kids, ying on Zeynep Farm would be a great memory of their childhoods, and they would naturally be the future customers of the Zeynep Farm wines.


    Karajan gave birth to a boy five days earlier than her due date. Overjoyed, Jongil bragged about his son to anyone walking on the farm.


    Sangchun¡¯s father made a golden string and hung it at the door of Jongil¡¯s house, then the farm family took a family photo in front of the house. Karajan¡¯s mom came to the farm to take care of the mother and the baby.


    However, the busiest people on the farm were Fatima and Zeynep. Excited to have another baby, they popped up everywhere where the babies were. They seemed to babysit Insoo¡¯s baby in his house but they showed up out of nowhere when Jongil¡¯s baby needed to take a bath. They wonderfully loved to babysit.


    Jongil¡¯s house was not too far apart from the management building, so Youngho¡¯s family could hear the baby¡¯s cry from inside. Then, Fatima and Zeynep hurriedly went over to the house to see what was going on. Youngho asked why they were so busy.


    ¡°Phew, oppa. It¡¯s because the baby is so cute. I feel thrilled when the baby grabs my finger.¡±


    Zeynep answered him and Fatima also added her answer.


    ¡°Well, just because. I feel calm when I see a baby.¡±


    Sangchun¡¯s father who overheard their conversation interrupted.


    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s time for her, she wants to have a baby. Why don¡¯t youe up with some names now?¡±


    Fatima blushed in embarrassment.


    To celebrate the new lives born on the farm, the farm family threw a small party. Youngho invited the Charles farm¡¯s North Korean defector family, so that they could naturally get along with each other. Ilkwon¡¯s fianc¨¦¡¯s family still looked awkward and nervous around new people but they had gotten a lot morefortablepared to the beginning.


    The noticeable change was their appearance. They¡¯ve gained some weight on their body and their eyes did not look insecure anymore. Most of all, they now replied to people when they were spoken to. It was a dramatic change since they never opened their mouth in the beginning because they were scared of being disadvantaged if they spoke wrongly.


    It was great to see them restoring peace in mind due to their secured life on the Charles farm.


    Kim Ilkwon¡¯s little sister, Kim Sungryung, would soon be in charge of ountancy as soon as the grape cultivation period ends. Now Youngho wanted to give another job to Ilkown since he thought that he would be a great contact person for the oil drillship. Ilkwon spoke Russian fluently, he could easily talk to the oil technicians.


    Youngho needed to go to the oil exploration field once a week but these days it was even difficult for him to go there even for once in two weeks due to his busy schedule. He could not tell Sergey to get another person since he was the one who said he would be in charge. The employees would work harder when the owner was round, so Youngho wanted Ilkwon to be there as his recement, since Ilkwon did a great job as a director of the Charles farm.


    The workers in the exploration field of District six had not found any oil yet although they had been drilling for a while. In order to find out the cause, a director should closely investigate the field for days. Because the workers were drilling under the sea, it was difficult to check if they were doing the job properly. The workers could have been cking off and had reported that they had drilled deep enough as instructed. Even if their report was false, there was nothing Youngho could do but to believe them. One thing that was obvious was that the workers working in the stratum of the field of District six should have found oil by now.


    The workers did not care about the length of time, since they were getting paid as long as they were working. As the time passed, it was only thepany that was losing money. That was why Kim Ilkwon was needed in District six to watch over the whole exploration process.


    ***


    Eriksson contacted Youngho. He said that his agency was paying him a million dors for the recent job in Chechnya.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, are you disappointed by the amount less than expected?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all. I¡¯m embarrassed to receive this much because it¡¯s too much.¡±


    Youngho felt like he hit a jackpot but he did not show his excitement.


    ¡°If the terrorists attack the pipeline as they nned, you¡¯ll receive additional payment. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    Youngho was not sure why they would be paying so much for selling such information that did not seem like a huge deal. He was also curious about who the buyer was.


    ¡°Then I can¡¯t take that money. I belong to an organization that is against terror attacks. It doesn¡¯t seem right for me to make money over this kind of matter.¡±


    ¡°Our agency thinks highly of your abilities. Please give me your bank ount information.¡±


    When Youngho checked his ount the next day, a million dors was surely transferred overnight. He wanted to share this to Jongil and Insoo but it was obvious that they would be asking the source of therge amount. He could not say that he had a deal with an information agency since his friends had no idea and he could not say it was from the CIA since the intelligence agency would not pay this muchmission for a mission.


    So, Youngho just told them that the American international corporation gave extramission for saving its employee in Chechnya. Receiving the money, Jongil joked that Eriksson was bribing them since he offered a job after their retirement. Since the money equaled to a yearly sry, it was no wonder why Jongil was excited.


    ¡°Youngho, why don¡¯t we make a bodyguardpany for the American international corporation? Man, thispany is rich.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d make apany if I had more rings and leather shoes but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too dangerous to work with them without the relics?¡±


    ¡°Hey, if we contact juniorrades toe here, I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t need any power of the relics. Most of them work in personal bodyguardpanies in Korea, they¡¯re underpaid as well. Don¡¯t you think they¡¯d like it here a hundred times more than working in Korea?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s idea was brilliant.


    Since the members of the U.D.T, a Korean Navy Special Forces unit, were all managed by U.D.T. Union, they could easily find twenty to thirtyrades from there.


    ¡°How many do you think would speak English?¡±


    ¡°Man, we can just pick fast learners with a swift body. We didn¡¯t speak English fluently when we first came here, don¡¯t you remember?¡±


    Jongil was right. Because the job was physically oriented, it was more important for new recruits to have a fast body rather than to have greatnguage skills. Thenguage would naturallye in time.


    ¡°Youngho, you¡¯ll need security guards for the warehouseplex in divostok. We can create positions for our juniorrades too instead of hiring strangers.¡±


    Jongil had just suggested the key hint for the security business. Once they started the business, there would have more than enough jobs to do. If theirpany consisted of human weapons trained in the Korean Navy¡¯s Special Forces, they would soon be a unique and reliable securitypany.


    ¡°Jongil, can you go to Sevan tomorrow and ask about the process of establishing a security servicepany?¡±


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d take my idea. Jeez, why am I so smart these days?¡±


    Jongil wasplimenting himself.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯ve got to admit. You are better than me sometimes.¡±


    Because of Eriksson, Jongil coulde up with an idea of establishing a security servicepany. Youngho was excited about the idea since he could help his UDTrades from Korea. Even though they were harshly trained, high-skilled resources, they were only paid thirty million to forty million won a year and had to work day and night for securitypanies in Korea. If Youngho offered sixty million won of annual ie and provided them with lodging and meals, they would love toe to Baku. Not to mention, they would receive specialmissions ording to the level of danger for each security service request.


    Youngho could not help to smile since he would be able to help hisrades. There would be a lot of jobs to do for the securitypany. As of now, guards were needed for the oil drillship at the exploration field and the storage warehouseplex would need security guards soon once the business is open too. Youngho could use a few for Zeynep Farm and the Charles farm. Also, Baku¡¯s wealthy people would also be attracted to the security servicepany consisting of guards from Korean Special Forces.


    Jongil came back from meeting Sevan was exuberated.


    ¡°Sevan said it¡¯s an outstanding idea and he¡¯s going to introduce potential customers to us. I¡¯ve got to call the U.D.T. Union* right away.¡±


    ¡°Jongil, give Chulhwan and Sangtaek a heads up too. They might feel bad if they hear it from otherrades. It¡¯d be great if they can work for us too.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will. I didn¡¯t like them working in a clothing store like a girl anyway. Why don¡¯t we call all of their families here?¡±


    ¡°No way. You think their wives will want toe? Well, if they¡¯d work for us, we can make a branch in Yerevan or Tbilisi for them.¡±


    ¡°Ha! We might be able to reunite as a team again.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to certainly make calls to the smart ones first. You know we won¡¯t be able to guard for the American international corporation by ourselves as CIA agents. We need some guards for the business.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I know two juniors in the UDT unit and if I can get a hold of them, tons of other guys will follow them.¡±


    The permission of establishment of the security servicepany was issued quickly since it was processed in the Main Police Department. Cha Insoo became the representation of thepany. Youngho opened the newpany¡¯s office in the downtown of Baku, nearby the Chunho Merchant¡¯s office. After several email exchanges with the U.D.T. Union in Korea, Youngho received more than a hundred applications. He realized that they had made things bigger.


    Previously, Youngho and the gang had agreed on hiring only ten guards for the beginning but there were too many good talents that they ended up hiring twenty recruits. After days of picking and choosing good applicants, they now had thirty left for an interview. Youngho, Jongil, and Insoo were now sitting in front ofptops, all dressed in suits. It was the day for the remote video interview. Although Insoo could go to Korea to interview the applicants, they decided to do the remote interview since Jongil insisted that they have to pick people whom they unanimously agreed on.


    ¡°My juniorrades! I¡¯m just going to say itfortably since we¡¯re all from the same unit. I¡¯m not trying to be rude, so please understand.¡±


    All of the juniorrades gathered in the U.D.T. Union office in Korea replied to Youngho.


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    ¡°Great. First, I¡¯m going to interview Kim Hyungseok. Pleasee forward.¡±


    The video interviewsted almost three hours. Some applicants made everybodyugh with their wits, everyone was different and unique.


    They were young men only aged about twenty-five to twenty-seven. They could feel the youngrades¡¯ energy and liveliness. They were all nervous but excited about working in their seniors¡¯ securitypany overseas.


    Among the thirty who had been chosen for the interview, they had to pick only twenty. Since all of the applicants were great resources, the friends announced that they would be hiring the ones who were not hired today when thepany hires additional recruits. Although not everyone was hired today, they were tentatively all hired. Youngho loved them so much that he wanted to hire all of them once thepany gets bigger.


    When the interview was over, the friends heard their juniorrades shouting from the office in the U.D.T. office through their speakers. Although they were young and enthusiastic, they were having a hard time finding jobs for themselves in the highlypetitive Korean society.


    *U.D.T. Union- A group consists of former members of ¡®Underwater Demolition Team¡¯ of Korean Navy Special Forces unit. Youngho, Jongil, Insoo, Chulhwan, and Sangtaek belonged to the group when they were Navy soldiers in Korea.

 Chapter 114 - Zeynep Security Service (1)

    <h4>Chapter 114: Zeynep Security Service (1)</h4>


    ¡°Insoo, did you send the flight tickets and the first month¡¯s payments for the new recruits?¡±


    ¡°The flight tickets will be emailed individually by the travel agency. As for the payment, I sent five million won each yesterday.¡±


    One might ask why they were paying their new employees even before they started working. It was because some of the new recruitsing to Baku were struggling due to financial difficulties that they could not even afford a flight ticket. Because of those who barely made ends meet, Youngho decided to send them their travel expenses.


    ¡®What if they don¡¯te after taking your money?¡¯


    Youngho doubted the new recruits for a while but soon he shook his head. Since he knew how his juniorrades of the U.D.T. unit, he had faith in them. If they did not show up, he was going to consider that as a donation since it would be poor of them to not be able to make it here even after making a life-changing decision to move to Baku.


    Youngho rented four mansion buildings in Baku¡¯s downtown as the temporary lodging for the new securitypany employees. Sangchun¡¯s father would be in charge of their mind and moral training, after hearing twenty young men would being, he volunteered to be an instructor for the mind and moral training. Looking at him, making excuses to stay in Baku even though he did not need to have a reason to stay, Younghoughed inside.


    The training field of the new security guards would be the mountain in front of Zeynep Farm. The new securitypany was named after Zeynep like a habit. Since the name was used for the grape farm, wine factory, and the oilfield service corporation, the three friends automatically agreed on using the name for theirpany¡¯s title.


    A prefabricated building was being built next to the log cabin near the river in the Southern part of the farm, this would be used as a temporary lodging for the new guards until they start working. Youngho wanted to train them in Zeynep Farm and teach them Azerbaijani and English before they could work and live in apartments in the downtown of Baku.


    Learning and training with their colleagues, thepany would be able to have bettermunication and teamwork. As soon as their training period is over, those who could speak English would be assigned as the oil drillship guards and as private bodyguards for some Azerbaijan oil businessmen and ship owners who were introduced by Sevan. One of the guards would be needed in the warehouse retailer store in Tbilisi. Thus, seven of the guard spots were already filled.


    The reason that Youngho was so excited for his newpany was that he could help his juniorrades from the U.D.T. unit. He did not expect to make huge money out of the securitypany. Preparing to wee the new recruits passionately day and night, he did not even feel tired.


    Although Youngho struggled to settle down bying here alone without any connections, the juniors would be starting from a firm foundation of support. Youngho and his two friends¡¯ experiences in Baku would be their strength and support. He could not wait to share his wisdom of life with the new recruits.


    ***


    At the airport, twenty guys with bulky bodies, yet with still young-looking faces, walked out the arrival lounge, each carrying their travel luggage. The former Navy Special Forces unit, U.D.T. soldiers and the new recruits of Zeynep Security Service had just arrived in Baku.


    Jongil weed everyone with his speech.


    ¡°Juniors! Wee to Baku. As you may already know, this is where we¡¯ve already built a strong foundation for neers from Korea. We¡¯ve got you covered, so all you need to do is follow our instructions well and work hard. For today, you can rest in the lodging downtown and starting tomorrow, we¡¯ll give you a tour around Baku and free time for three days.¡±


    As Jongil was done speaking, one recruit saluted him and spoke,


    ¡°Excuse me, sir. None of us are tired from flying for a little, we can start working right now. We also don¡¯t need to have a tour around the city.¡±


    He was highly motivated to work. At that moment, Youngho interrupted.


    ¡°As you already know from the interview, I¡¯m the owner of Zeynep Farm wine factory. I¡¯d rmend you to take a few days and calm yourselves down. I admire your willingness to work but it¡¯s important that you know about the ce and society you¡¯ll be working in. I¡¯m not providing a fun time just so that you can enjoy, but I¡¯d like you to learn and study your surroundings. Ourpany values cooperation, from now on, we¡¯ll be moving together as a team. Remember, your work begins from now.¡±


    Everyone replied to Youngho in unison.


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    ***


    Jongil and Insoo guided them around the city for three days. Although it would take years to fully get immersed into Azerbaijan¡¯s culture, they needed to at least learn about the downtown in order to do their jobs or at least to run an errand like shopping for groceries.


    People watched interestingly as more than twenty big Asian guys were moving around the city in groups, since East Asians were rare to find. The new recruits watched Azerbaijani people as Azerbaijani people watched them. It was such a rare scene.


    Sincemon people of Baku were mostly kind and innocent, and the girls were beautiful, the guys were swelled with dreams to meet beautiful women. They were even more swelled since Jongil told them strong men are popr in here while bragging about his beautiful wife.


    After the tour period, the guards who came to the farm could not close their mouths in amazement. As they drove away from the metropolitan area they could spot some houses in empty fields but after passing some point, they could only see an endless field of grape trees. Baku was a densely popted area but now all they could see was a field without a single person.


    The size of the farm was shocking since it was twice the size of Yeouido, Korea. Although they drove for some time on the road that crossed the farm, they had only reached the middle point of the farm.


    After the guys unpacked their belongings at the temporary lodging in the Southern part of the farm, Youngho told them that they could eat grapes as much as they could. After tasting a few grapes, they started eating them fiercely. They were in love with the grapes grown on the farm, which were different from Korean grapes.


    ***


    For dining, the new recruits had to run to the employee cafeteria. It was quite a distance from their lodging. Since some of them had not been training at all ever since they were discharged from Navy, it was a great way to get back into training. Youngho installed a fitness room in their temporary lodging, so that the recruits could work out on their own to build their body.


    The new recruits also had to take moral and mind control lectures just like in their elementary school days, instructed by Sangchun¡¯s father, a former teacher. Sangchun¡¯s father looked up the inte and used the materials for his lecture and even pushed them hard by giving them tests. He surprised Youngho by making all the recruits¡¯ profiles after having an individual meeting with all of them. He insisted that all recruits should be right-minded especially now that they would be working in the foreign country. Youngho also liked his idea. Security service was a tough job.


    For thepany¡¯s sake, it was better to send someone with morality. Sometimes, in dangerous situations, the guards would have to make decisions and having morality as their guidance would prevent them from making irreversible decisions. Also, having a teacher like Sangchun¡¯s father who could be their counselor and mentor seemed like a good idea for them since it would be hard for them to settle in the new world.


    Within a week of the new recruits¡¯ appearance on the farm, Zeynep became the mascot of thepany. The guys loved Zeynep as their little sister. Knowing her poprity, cunning Zeynep acted all sweet in front of the young men to take advantage of their attention.


    As the cultivation season began, the whole crew of the new recruits helped out with the cultivation process too. The guys worked even more passionately when Zeynep and Szechenyi brought their friends from school to help with the cultivation work. Among them were some mature high school girls. As the young recruits tried to be friends with the school kids, they used English that they have been learning to converse with them. Since the whole farm and the school kids worked together in the farm¡¯s busiest time of year, the whole crew got closer. Now the recruits werefortable enough to blow whistles when Fatima showed up with snacks.


    Five outstanding ones among the twenty new recruits were assigned as team leaders. They were divided into teams, now they could work in teams when there was a job. The leader position was important since they would be the one in charge of the rest during dangerous security assignments.


    The whole crew seemed to be getting ustomed to their new life well. Youngho was impressed by their efforts to work hard and learn as much as they could to be ready for their new job and new life. So, he decided to call the rest of the recruits in Korea which he interviewed.

 Chapter 115 - Zeynep Security Service (2)

    <h4>Chapter 115: Zeynep Security Service (2)</h4>


    Park Jongil and Cha Insoo were proud of themselves as the new recruits enviously looked up to them, they now spent a lot of time training the new recruits who came to the newnd with dreams. In their eyes, the two were pioneers who came to the unknownnd first and made it far. Especially Jongil who shared his exaggerated stories here starting from bing a militia instructor. He did not say anything about the CIA but when he shared the heroic story of how he risked his life traveling around the different regions of the Caucasus Mountain Range, the new recruits gave him an apuse, and because of Jongil¡¯s big mouth, Youngho was also idolized by them. When he passed by the recruits, he could see their nces of respect.


    Kim Ilkwonpletely left the Charles farm¡¯s duty and now he settled as Youngho¡¯s personal secretary and bodyguard. Youngho was going to ce him at the oil exploration field but now that he established the securitypany, there were plenty of other guards who could be there instead of Ilkwon.


    Because Ilkwon had been an elite North Korean agent, he was a useful resource who could pretty much do any job for Youngho. He would be especially useful when Youngho travels to Volgograd or divostok since Ilkwon spoke Russian fluently. Of course, Jongil and Insoo did not forget to introduce Ilkwon to the new recruits from South Korea and warned them to choose words and actions wisely in front of him since he was a North Korean defector with many cultural differences. Some of them did not like the idea that a North Korean was guarding their boss Youngho, but it was natural. Some South Koreans despised North Koreans since Korea had been divided for so long, the public considered North Korea as another unrted nation.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon was awkward too whenever he encountered Korean guys since both parties had been trained to fight each other as major enemies, it was such a weird experienced for them to treat each other normally.


    Following Youngho around here and there, Ilkwon frequently got spiteful nces from the security crew. Youngho did not try to stop them since he thought that there needed to be a fight or something for once to resolve their feelings and to take each other asrades. Sometimes loud and short exchanges of fists could be the best and fastest way to make friends between guys. It was something Youngho could not force.


    Kim Ilkwon, who had experienced living in the free world of Baku ahead of the Korean crew, was way mature than them. It was also because he was older than them. He did not reciprocate the young Korean crew¡¯s hatred but acted calmly. Interested by Ilkwon¡¯s reaction, Youngho asked him why he was okay.


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve gotten such hateful nces countless times living in North Korea. It would¡¯ve been even difficult for me if they received me as theirrade so easily.¡±


    Fond of every word Ilkwon said, Youngho patted his shoulder.


    ¡°Alright, if you say so. Those guys are not looking at you as an enemy. They look at you as apetitor. You¡¯ve got to stay focused if you don¡¯t want to lose your position, they¡¯ll soon want to have a match with you to see who¡¯s stronger.¡±


    ¡°I should avoid that kind of encounters, since we¡¯ll berades in the future. You don¡¯t need a match to know who¡¯s stronger, don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    Ilkwon was confident. He seemed to have studied all of the opponents and concluded that he was better.


    ¡°You want to have a match with me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feelfortable having a match against you. You¡¯ve been through all sorts of hardships, I can¡¯t even think about that.¡±


    Ilkwon had keen eyes. Youngho also thought that it would not be easy to subdue him in a match. In fact, if he did not use the ring¡¯s power, he had no confidence in winning. Kim Ilkwon¡¯s eyes and actions were sharp like a well-maintained sword.


    ***


    It was almost at the end of the cultivation season. Because of the warmer weather than thest summer, grapes were cultivated fifteen days earlier than usual and they were sweeter thanst year.


    Although many people suffered from the high temperatures, Zeynep Farm benefited from the extreme heat. Gerhardt was in a good mood since the farm¡¯s amount of crops had exceeded the estimated amount because they had a good crop in the Charles farm. Gerhardt was the one who rmended buying the Charles farm. He had been worrying about the farm¡¯s sess and since the farming seemed to be a sess, he was satisfied that he did not disappoint Youngho.


    ***


    A day before the monthly meeting at the CIA¡¯s European chapter, Michael called Youngho.


    ¡°Lee, can you bring your friend who fled from North Korea to the meeting?¡±


    When Ilkwon first came to the farm, Youngho had already reported about Ilkwon since he was being protected in the farm where the CIA was supporting. Youngho thought that Michael did not really pay attention to Ilkwon since he was not an influential figure but now that he wanted to see him, it was strange.


    ¡°Chief, I think it¡¯s premature for him to freely travel around.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to mind about traveling to Germany. Doesn¡¯t he have a Russian passport?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I got it from asking the mafias, I don¡¯t know if this will work at German airports.¡±


    ¡°If mafias made it, they could¡¯ve made it through a legal route. If there¡¯s a problem, the CIA can help him, so just bring him tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°The mafia didn¡¯t seem to care about North Korean issues. Anyway, I¡¯ll do as you say.¡±


    ¡°This could be a good deal for that fe, so tell him that he doesn¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    ¡°Yes, chief. I¡¯ll see you at the chapter.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Bye.¡±


    Youngho still felt weird after hanging up the phone.


    He had heard that the CIA was gathering influential North Korean defectors. He wondered what was going on and why Ilkwon was needed. The other day, Edward, the CIA agent who was demoted and assigned to Panama in Central America, told him on the phone about the CIA¡¯s n to form a North Korean government in exile for defectors.


    Time to Time, Edward had been calling Youngho and giving him information that he could not hear from Europe, since he was thankful for Youngho helping Armenians. A government in exile. What on earth was that supposed to mean? When Korea should be united, making a government in exile for North Korean defectors meant that Korea would stay divided forever. Maybe, it might be a n to prevent Chinese intervention after North Korea falls. The problem was that only Koreans wanted to be united and powerful nations of the world but did not want Korea to gain power by uniting the North and South.


    Although the US CIA seemed to act as the world police, they ultimately moved for their own country¡¯s benefits. Youngho did not wish to expose Kim Ilkwon¡¯s existence to the CIA but because a Korean secret agent made a huge fuss out of Ilkwon¡¯s issue and made it too obvious for watchers, Youngho had no other choice than toe clean to Michael. If Youngho was the Korean agent, he would not have made it too obvious. He was concerned with what the CIA was up to regarding North and South Korea.


    The next day, Kim Ilkwon, who was waiting for the flight to Frankfurt, looked stressed. He seemed to have stood overnight worrying about going to the European chapter. If it had not been Youngho whom he was serving, he would have fled from the Charles farm taking all of his family with him. Youngho also thought for long before he could tell Ilkwon that the CIA wanted him. From Ilkwon¡¯s changing facial expressions, he could see that Ilkwon is trying to suppress hard feelings because Youngho was his and his family¡¯s savior.


    When Ilkwon was introduced to Youngho by the Korean secret agent, he knew that the agent must not have introduced him to anybody. He thought that Youngho was a businessman who did government¡¯s job too. He thought that it was interesting when he found out that Youngho was rted to tge Navy Special Forces. However, he never expected Youngho to be rted to the US CIA. Out of nowhere, Ilkwon was summoned to the CIA and he was confused and scared, Youngho was also taken aback by this situation. He would rather have Ilkwon run away overnight with his family but seeing Ilkwon driving to Zeynep Farm in the morning, he knew that Ilkwon was determined. Now it was his turn to protect him from the CIA.


    ¡°Ilkwon, I know I seem suspicious. I¡¯m just going to share my honest heart with you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Before the flight arrived, Youngho decided to give another chance to Ilkwon. He was worried that Ilkwon might be disadvantaged by the CIA. If the CIA asks to take Ilkwon, there was nothing he could do but toply. If he did not, everything he had built in Baku would be taken away. It was probably better if Youngho reported that Ilkwon disappeared at the airport.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want toe with me, you can leave now with your family. I will try to protect you as far as I can but I¡¯m not sure if I have that much power in the organization. I know you might be ming me but know this, my heart for you was true and I took you in as my friend and brother.¡±


    Youngho almost teared up while he said this, he hated his weakness that he could not even protect his own people. He also hated the fact that he could not reject Michael¡¯s request.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Somehow I was connected to the CIA while I came here and struggled to survive, but I¡¯m not a trash to sell you out. I was told that it would not be a big deal. I heard thattely, the CIA had been helping North Korean defectors to form a government in exile and maybe this is rted to that but I can¡¯t guarantee that. Even if I reported that I lost you in here, it would not affect me negatively. You can decide your future now, please tell me in ten minutes.¡±


    Ilkwon pondered for some time and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Boss. No, Youngho hyung. Thank you for telling me your side of the story. If I get taken away by the CIA, could you please take care of my family?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even need to mention that. I mean, wouldn¡¯t you do the same for me? And also, the US is a free democratic country. They¡¯re not going to force you to do something against your will, I¡¯m just regretful that your trust for me and my friends had been broken over this.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say, Hyung. I pondered upon this many times but I¡¯ll never regret serving you. You never tried to take advantage of me but helped me out of purepassion. Since you came as an agent of your organization, I know that you can¡¯t reject themand.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I will keep what you just said in my heart forever. Whatever you do, you are still my brother.¡±


    If Youngho had not opened his heart to Ilkwon at the airport, Ilkwon would have had bitterness toward him for the rest of his life. As a North Korean agent, he had been trained not to trust people and not to mention, in the end, he and his whole family were also betrayed by their own country. It was important for him to know if he could trust Youngho.


    ¡°Phew, man. You impress me so much. Hey, let¡¯s think about how we could react to this in the ne.¡±

 Chapter 116 - Zeynep Security Service (3)

    <h4>Chapter 116: Zeynep Security Service (3)</h4>


    At Frankfurt airport, Michael and two other agents politely weed Ilkwon. Although he was a defector, they were treating him as a diplomat of another country.


    ¡°Chief, we are here.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, wee. Thank you for doing us a favor, it must¡¯ve not been an easy decision for you.¡±


    Seeing the other two agents politely greeting Youngho, Ilkwon¡¯s hardened face was rxed a little bit. He had judged that Youngho is not a low-ranked.


    After they arrived at the European chapter, Michael escorted them to a secret room which Youngho had never seen before. He knew that it was where any conversations would be recorded, and that meant that Michael was not going to talk about ssified top secrets or request an unfair favor. Moreover, Youngho was allowed to be with Ilkwon for the conversation. He was relieved. A few momentster, the two agents who greeted them at the airport also joined them, making the atmosphere even more weing.


    Water and coffee were served to them. After they were all settled, Michael began to speak,


    ¡°Mr. Kim, we did not wish to expose Lee¡¯s identity but we couldn¡¯t help it because this is more important. Since we exposed Lee to you, we¡¯d like to let you know that we are all on the same boat together now. I already know that you two are very close.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho was not sure why Michael had directly imed that they were all on the same boat, but he stayed calm to listen for more.


    ¡°As far as we know, Mr. Kim, you had been an agent who was in charge of security for North Korean representatives in Azerbaijan. Is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are right.¡±


    Kim Ilkwon was now naturally answering him, even though he has been trained all his life that the US was their enemy.


    ¡°By any chance, do you think you can cooperate with the CIA? We¡¯d like some advice from someone like you, who had been an elite agent of North Korea.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Because it was an unexpected suggestion, Ilkwon could not answer him right away. Youngho wanted to say something but he stayed still to respect Ilkwon¡¯s free will.


    ¡°We know how you think of the USA and we could guess your opinion of our country when you chose not to go to South Korea. Agreeing with us might be a gesture of betraying your own country but I¡¯m only asking because your help will be used to benefit North Korean people ultimately.¡±


    ¡°Well... Is this something that I have to give an answer right now?¡±


    ¡°No. We just want to know whether you¡¯re willing to help us in the future. Of course, we¡¯d need some time to gain your trust.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you my answer before I leave Germany. Thank you for treating a mere defector like me so nicely.¡±


    As Kim Ilkwon said in a polite manner, Michael showed a satisfactory smile.


    ¡°Very well. I hope this meeting can be the foundation of our rtionship.¡±


    ***


    Youngho was listening to Kim Ilkwon at a caf¨¦ in Frankfurt.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I concluded, Boss.¡±


    It seemed that Kim Ilkwon had regained his calmness since he was calling Youngho ¡®boss¡¯ again. Majorly, He was saying that whatever it was, he would like to cooperate with the USA.


    ¡°Ilkwon, I¡¯ve been working in the CIA for four years now. The CIA is a pretty flexible organization as long as things don¡¯t harm the national interest. I don¡¯t think they will demand you to go to North Korea for a secret mission.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯d rather go back to North Korea to get some people out, I think that¡¯s a more honorable thing to do. Whoever that is receiving America¡¯s help, he must have decided to betray his own country.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t dismiss the phrase ¡®our archenemy, American Empire¡¯, and I¡¯m reluctant to work with them but I¡¯m confused since I can¡¯t deny the reality.¡±


    Although he understood what was going on, he could not ept the idea of cooperating with the US CIA in his heart.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to care about my position being sabotaged. Your concerns are understandable since you¡¯ve been under the North Korean systems for so long. Just do whatever you want. Judging by today¡¯s conversation, I think they only want some verbal advice from you.¡±


    Ilkwon, who sipped on his tea and gazed at a mountain in a far distance, spoke as if he was finally determined.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll tell them I will cooperate.¡±


    Although it was not going to be an easy job for him, Ilkwon had made his own decision. Youngho respected his judgment and decided to see the bright side. Kim Ilkwon¡¯s appearance on his farm would be serving as a momentum for him to work for North Korea-rted jobs. As a businessman, there would be many times for him to have a point of contact with North Koreans or North Korean-rted issues. His existence just expedited the time.


    ***


    After returning to Baku, Kim Ilkwon spent time taking the moral lecture from Sangchun¡¯s father with other Korean recruits and sometimes training with them. The recruits of the security servicepany were slowly taking Ilkwon as their coworker because they saw him almost every day. They now sometimes exchanged jokes with each other. Since Ilkwon called Jongil and Insoo ¡®hyung¡¯, it was hard for them to keep despising him. Also, as Ilkwon now tried to get close to them by joining their activities, they also opened their heart to receive him.


    ***


    Youngho was on the way to Volgograd with Ilkwon after receiving a call from Sergey to renew the wine distribution contract. Since they were not in a rush they traveled by train. Youngho¡¯s heart was peaceful because cultivation season was already over. Although the farm was still running busy, the busiest part of the year had passed, and it felt like this year was almost done.


    Ilkwon, who was watching outside through the window, asked all of a sudden,


    ¡°Boss, what¡¯s your life goal?¡±


    ¡°Well... I don¡¯t know what to say to such a sudden question. What about you?¡±


    ¡°Well in North Korea, the government only insisted on ¡®unification undermunism,¡¯ so I didn¡¯t have any other goal.¡±


    Youngho regretted asking him the question because, undermunism, North Korean people did not value personal goals since their national goals for the benefit of the dictator were more important than individuals¡¯ happiness. At least they were taught that way and forced to live that way. If they answered it wrong, they would have been criticized aggressively and even get arrested.


    ¡°In a capitalistic society, young people would start out with big dreams and the dream grows smaller as people grow up, and in the end, they settle with secure jobs. In fact, I didn¡¯t even have a big dream, I just somehow went overseas and luckily met great opportunities here and there. Now I just have some money and I¡¯d like to use it wisely.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know a whole lot about the capitalistic society but you don¡¯t seem like the other businessmen in the capitalistic world.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°People usually want to settle down for afortable life with their money but you don¡¯t seem to want to befortable.¡±


    ¡°Ilkwon, don¡¯t tter me anymore. I¡¯m the same as others, I¡¯d settle if I get old, but I still have a young and healthy body. I don¡¯t even have someone to manage my business, if I stopped working now, who will give me jobs? My priority now is gathering people to work with, I still have a long way to go.¡±


    Having this conversation, Youngho realized that it was time to find a professional executive for the wine factory. There were plenty of smart people outside but he wanted someone he could trust. Since he traveled a lot and would be away from the farm, he was not in the position to receive reports and give instructions. He needed a person who would take an active part of the management and make keen business judgments to make Zeynep Farm sessful in the market. The only person who could do that was Sergey.


    However, he was Yaniv¡¯s man and a business partner of Youngho. He also had Sangchun, who¡¯s in Korea, in mind but he did not even speak English. While he was deep in his thoughts, Kim Ilkwon handed a cold beer can to him.


    ***


    Sergey¡¯s face was full of excitement at the train station.


    Wondering what it was, Youngho was about to open his mouth but Sergey spoke first,


    ¡°Hey Youngho. Finally, we finally did it! We detected arge amount of gas emission. It¡¯s going to be a sess!¡±


    Sergey meant that gas deposits were found in District seven.


    ¡°What? Is that true? The captain of the drillship was under a lot of stress a few days ago.¡±


    ¡°One of the staff on the ship called me moments ago. You¡¯ll get the message soon too.¡±


    It was such reliving news. Since they had been drilling for months without any results, everybody was under high pressure. They still need to investigate the field, butpared to District six near the field, it seemed that District seven would have as much as deposits buried underneath.


    Among thepanies that began drilling since the spring¡¯s public oil field bidding, Yaniv¡¯spany was the second one who had a sess. From their sess, the Azerbaijani government would also be making profits since the amount of national gas and oil production would increase.


    Yaniv had been waiting in front of a table all set up for drinking, and as soon as Youngho entered the reception hall, he hugged him.


    ¡°Lee, you are such a blessing to me! I¡¯m the only mafia boss in the world, who has two offshore oil fields.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, now you can¡¯t take back the additional share you¡¯ve given me.¡±


    As Youngho made a joke about thepany¡¯s share, Yaniv replied,


    ¡°Man, of course I won¡¯t. That share was also for Zeynep. Since I¡¯m borrowing her name for thepany, shouldn¡¯t I pay for the name price?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a huge gift for Zeynep. She wouldn¡¯t even understand what this means since she¡¯s young but I¡¯ll tell her that it¡¯s your gift for her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she¡¯ll understand my favor.¡±


    Yaniv seemed to miss her already.


    ¡°You know, in the winter, if you invite her to ¡®The Nutcracker¡¯ performance, she¡¯de immediately.¡±


    ¡°Alright. This time, I won¡¯t bring a lot of men with me, and we could go to Sochi to ski together. I¡¯ll just rent the whole ski resort for us.¡±


    Yaniv was indeed a man ofrge-scale businesses. For a few people to enjoy skiing as quietly, he wanted to empty the whole resort.


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Yaniv. Please don¡¯t. Zeynep likes crowded ces.¡±


    ¡°Phew, okay. By the way, who is that firm-looking guy next to you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my secretary and bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°I like his eyes.¡±


    As a mafia boss, Yaniv certainly had keen eyes for people.


    With Sergey, Youngho renewed their yearly wine distribution contract. They agreed on the new prices of wines, the stainless steel tank wines were sold at seven dors and the oak wines were sold at fifteen dors. The estimated wine sales until the fall of 2015 summed up to $16,000,000. It was only selling wines produced from Zeynep Farm, the grapes produced in the Charles farm were still in the aging process to be turned into premium quality wines for European markets.


    While Youngho was thinking about his business ns, he felt his phone vibrating. It was a call from Eriksson, the middleman of the information agency.

 Chapter 117 - The Caspian Sea: District 7 (1)

    <h4>Chapter 117: The Caspian Sea: District 7 (1)</h4>


    Youngho picked up the phone.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, this is Lee Youngho.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, the Chechen rebels attempted the terror attack on the oil pipeline.¡±


    ¡°Ah...!¡±


    ¡°Although it was only half a sess, the oil prices of the world will fluctuate temporarily. Russia couldn¡¯t stop thempletely because they spontaneously attacked three different points.¡±


    ¡°They really did it... The media from all over the world will go crazy about it.¡±


    ¡°I think that was what they were up to, we already confirmed their attacks and the damaged pipelines through our satellite.¡±


    Youngho could not believe that their agency is a group that even had the power to move satellite. Although the US CIA also had two satellites, the information agency was a private organization, it did not make sense.


    ¡°Okay, thank you for informing me. I¡¯m d that we did not take risks in vain in Chechnya.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. You will soon receive the money in your ount, I look forward to working with you again.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Mr...¡±


    Eriksson had already hung up without giving a moment for Youngho to respond. He was still puzzled since he did not want to get additional payment but Eriksson would not take a second opinion on that matter.


    The ck Widows¡¯ terror attack on the oil pipeline did not have a high impact on the oil prices but the attack was treated as a great issue because Russia dered war with extreme terrorists. It would have been natural for Russia to punish the attackers, but the country was trying to root all of the terrorists and the government of the republics which allowed rebels. Russia had beenying low because of the winter Olympics but now that Sochi Olympics was over, the government had nothing to be scared of.


    As if they had been waiting for this, the Russian government began to dispatch the Russian Army troops to the republics where terrorist groups belonged to. Putin had been waiting to find a reason to root them out and finally, there was an opportunity. Now the Western world¡¯s had no say in this although Russia was on its violent mission since Russia had a rational cause.


    After he was done talking with Eriksson, Yaniv, who was sitting in front of him, also received a call. It was President Putin, saying his appreciation for Yaniv. After Youngho had told Yaniv about the potential terror attack, he called Putin to deliver the news even before the US CIA contacted Putin. The CIA¡¯s call was a couple dayster since they investigated the validity of the information.


    Yaniv was satisfied by the call. It seemed that he even nned another hunting trip with Putin. He put his arms around Youngho in joy.


    ¡°Lee, you are the major person who helped me to get rid of my mafia title.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was just lucky. Please don¡¯t think like I¡¯m special.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Hearing that gas deposits were found at District seven and receivingpliments from President Putin in a day, it surely was Yaniv¡¯s celebration day. Yaniv¡¯s underlings could also rx since their boss was having a great day. Whenever Youngho came to see Yaniv at his mansion Yaniv was in a great mood and his underlings try to stop by at the mansion. It was because when he was in a good mood, he tended to grant anything if his underlings asked for a favor.


    Sergey told Youngho that some high rankers of the group even wait until Younghoes to get Yaniv to sign on some business proposals and contracts. In fact, Youngho had seen multiple times Yaniv signing documents brought by his men while he was drinking. Indeed thepany was not a regr one. After finishing signing, Yanivughed heartily as if he was showing off his generous characteristic.


    ***


    Youngho and Ilkwon returned to Baku from Volgograd. He rushed back to go to District seven since technicians would be discouraged if thepany¡¯s representation did not show up even though they had found the energy source deposits, which was a big aplishment. Youngho would be treating dinner and drinks for all of the workers and technicians, and also giving them bonus payments to reward them, so they would be encouraged to work harder.


    Although finding gas deposits was a joyful news, thepany should now be even more careful at this point. When the pressure of gas emission was not subdued like now, safety idents were more likely to happen. Now, the workers have a lot of technical work to do such as burying pipes and installing facilities to control the amount of high-pressure gas and burn the gas exposed in the air. Of course, the owners of the business would be having a party but for the technicians, their work would be even more challenging and risky from now on.


    At this time, Youngho thought giving bonus payments would be the best way to encourage the workers. Since it was not ideal to just transfer the money into their ounts, he went around the field and shook every worker¡¯s hand, which was done a lot of times in the Korean business world.


    The Azerbaijani government responded to the good news of District seven¡¯s sessful exploration with reward. Youngho was invited to the presidential pce and spent several days meeting rted officials.


    When he went to the pce, he brought ten boxes of Zeynep wine as a silent protest. Since the president smiled looking at the wines, Youngho was positive that his wines will be chosen for the official presidential banquet. Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine, in fact, should be the official wine for the government¡¯s official event not only because it tasted great but also the farm was the biggest and great farm with thergest amount of produce in Azerbaijan, there was a symbolic meaning to the farm.


    And now that Youngho was a permanent resident of Azerbaijan, the farm was not a foreign business anymore. It was Azerbaijani¡¯s business.


    When Youngho went to receive his resident card, he applied cards for the siblings and Sangchun¡¯s parents as well. They would need it anyway since they would also be living in here. Also, if needed, Youngho would be applying for dual citizenship for business purposes.


    The new 600 acres of the Southern part of the farm had its first cultivation of grapes. Although the grapes were not too bad, their sugar content was low to make wine. Since their sizes were great to eat alone, Youngho held an event for the kids and parents of the international school, Koreans living in Baku, and Korean businessmen. He gave away the grapes to them, they coulde and pick the grapes to take home.


    The event went on many days and attendees now asked Youngho to make it an annual event. It seemed like a good idea. Since many people were Koreans, Youngho picked the Hangul Promation Day* for the annual event and around the day, there will be different events on the farm.


    In Youngho¡¯s farm, there were about 50 Koreans including thirty security servicepany crew and the North Korean defector family. He also called the Korean embassy staffs that he had not been in touch with for a while. From henceforward, Zeynep Farm would be the hub for Koreans in Azerbaijan. He also told them toe any time since there was a guesthouse on the farm, it would not be weird since there were thirty Korean security crews training on the farm.


    There would be a pool in the summer and skate rink in the winter for guests. For Koreans who were homesick for Korean culture and foods, Zeynep farm would be a ce offort. For someone like Youngho, who loved his own people, it was satisfying that he could offer his farm for Korean people.


    ***


    Youngho received his Azerbaijani permanent resident card. He could not freely work and live in Azerbaijan as a resident, not a foreign investor. Except for the fact that he did not have the right to vote or social security card, he could now be treated like other Azerbaijanis. To Youngho, nothing changed except that he did not have to renew his visa. Now that he did not have to go back to Korea for his visa, he felt a little empty inside since he did not have any obligations to go back to Korea unless he wanted to visit.


    He imagined getting married to Fatima and wondered how many citizenships she would have if she married him. He smirked to himself. Jongil who was passing by spotted him smiling alone.


    ¡°You do a lot of random things, are you going insane now?¡±


    ¡°I got the resident card, that¡¯s why.¡±


    ¡°Why were you smirking? You must have been daydreaming about weird things.¡±


    Jongil was truly bing a mind reader.


    ¡°Man, you need to go and set up a fortune teller business. You¡¯re bing like a ghost.¡±


    After observing Youngho¡¯s face, Jongil gave a look that seemed to say ¡®I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡¯


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re disgusting. What¡¯s that face?¡±


    ¡°Youngho, everyone around you knows Fatima is your girl. Why don¡¯t you get married already?¡±


    ¡°Dude, she¡¯s still a student...¡±


    ¡°What does being a student have to do with getting married? Also, it¡¯s not a good thing for an unmarried woman to be called as the madam of the farm.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You have no reason to be hesitant. I don¡¯t know how far you went but just get married before it¡¯s toote. The elders on the farm also seemed to feel sorry for Fatima.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s opinion had a point. Fatima was often being called as the madam of the farm by the Korean security service crew and the wives of Youngho¡¯s friends. Whenever she was teased that way, she did not know what to do in embarrassment. Youngho also felt lonely being alone at nights. Looking at him not trying to fight back to his suggestion, Jongil pushed him even harder.


    ¡°Fatima will be twenty four after next month¡¯s birthday. In Caucasus¡¯ culture, she would have two babies by now. People think it¡¯s weird that she¡¯s still not married, just get married before the year passes.¡±


    ¡°Do other people really think that way?¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m in a weird position too. You don¡¯t call Karajan by her name anymore since she¡¯s my wife and it¡¯s weird for me to call Fatima¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t call her name since she¡¯s now a mother. Man, we¡¯re still so soaked in Korean culture.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can fix that until you die. Anyway, I know you¡¯d be too shy to push the wedding, so I¡¯m going to do this for you, okay?¡±


    For his shy friend, Jongil was going to push ahead with Youngho and Fatima¡¯s wedding n.


    After a while, Youngho and Fatima¡¯s wedding rumor was spreading on the farm. Sangchun¡¯s parents were so happy to hear the news.


    ¡°Youngho, many people in Baku already think Fatima¡¯s your wife. It¡¯d startle them if you have a big wedding, why don¡¯t you just have a small wedding at the farm?¡±


    Youngho could not even open his mouth.


    ¡°December 20th looks like a good day for a wedding. There¡¯d be no workers on the farm.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You know you can¡¯t do this alone. Just follow through.¡±


    ¡°Yes, father.¡±


    Youngho had no choice but to agree with him.


    After the wedding rumor was spread, it was difficult to see Fatima¡¯s face. Whenever she met Youngho, she blushed and tried to hide in embarrassment. She was stunned by the wedding rumor that she did not even know of.


    Youngho had not even proposed to her yet. Not only he was terrible at romantic things but also he was shy. It would have been nice if Jongil came to help but he was focused on training the security crew.


    *Hangul Promation Day ¨C Korean Alphabet Day, a national holiday of celebrating the invention and promation of Korean alphabets

 Chapter 118 - The Caspian Sea: District 7 (2)

    <h4>Chapter 118: The Caspian Sea: District 7 (2)</h4>


    The resources buried underneath the Caspian Sea were three hundred billion barrels of crude oil, 2.6 trillion m3 of natural gas deposits, even Russia announced that two hundred billion barrels of crude oil was buried underneath their territorial waters. The region was the El Dorado of energy resources, which had the second most oil deposits after the Middle East.


    The regions around the Caspian Sea also had lots of mineral resources such as uranium and copper all over the ce and Kazakhstan has the greatest amount of uranium production and deposits in the world. It was amazing to know that among the regions of Caspian Sea, 7 billion barrels of crude oil and 400 billion m3 of natural gas deposits were underneath Azerbaijan¡¯s territorial waters and they were ready for mining, it was amazing.


    Since the oil price was fluctuating over the world now, Zeynep Oilfield Service agreed with the Azerbaijani government to produce natural gas from District seven, which had been tested for extraction. The Azerbaijani government hurriedly announced that District seven¡¯s estimated amount of gas deposits was 10 billion m3. Until 2006, the government had imported gas from Gazprom, Russia¡¯srge oil and gaspany. However, after the discovery of gas reservoir underneath Azerbaijani territorial waters, Azerbaijan now became an exporting country. It was natural that the government was so proud to announce their new resource discovery at District Seven.


    The estimated daily production rate was 5.6 million m3 which was the amount that summed up to 2 billion m3 a year, the buried amount was what they could produce steadily for five more years. Although natural gas price particrly changed often, based on the standard of 2010, they were sold at 250 dors for 1,000 m3, and every year they could make 500 million dors from gas sales. They could make more money if the price fluctuates like this time.


    When developing oil, the Azerbaijani government and oil corporation¡¯s profits were split at the ratio of 75% and 25%. Even if subtracting the pipeline installing fees and taxes, Yaniv would earn 80 million dors a year, and since Youngho¡¯s share was 5%, he would get 4 million dors for his portion. They say that oil exploration is either a jackpot or nothing. Since it was a sess, Youngho would be rolling in money soon.


    These days, it was hard for Youngho to stay calm. If there would be no safety idents like gas leakage, he would be making 20 million dors over the next five years, so it would have been weird if he did notugh. There was another thing that made Youngho smile. It was the fact that Sergey officially requested security service from hispany.


    Including District six, which Yaniv already had before buying the exploration license for District seven, the two districts needed thirty security guards and six more for supervising positions for day and night shifts. Since thend pipeline should be under watch, the number of guards needed had increased. Youngho made a system where he used locally hired people for regr guarding positions and Korean crews for supervisor positions. He was happy for several pieces of good news but there was a crucial problem for his security servicepany, it was that most of his Korean crews did not speak English since he did not give weight tonguage when he hired them.


    The ones that spoke English although not fluently, were already sent to guard Baku¡¯s famous CEO, and the security guards sent as security supervisors of District six and seven were having a hard time since they mostly relied on trantor apps on their smartphones andmunicated using bodynguages.


    Among the recent ten new recruits from Korea, three people could speak English but since they were still being trained for localization on Zeynep Farm, it did not seem right to ce them in the work field.


    After their work shifts were finished, the Korean recruits were busy to learn Azerbaijani and English. Since Youngho was also learning Russian from Kim Ilkwon he could not me them. He knew learning anguage was difficult, especially when they have to learn while working in the field with local people in a foreignnd. Once thenguage problem was resolved, life in a foreignnd would be half a sess because there would be nothing to fear once people couldmunicate with others. Not being able tomunicate would make people feel timid and act passively. If that continued for long, people¡¯s personalities could turn passive. In fact, there were a lot of Korean people who had been living in foreignnds for a long period but many of them would not even dare to go out alone due tomunication problems, unless they lived in somewhere like Los Angeles, where there was a lot of Korean poption residing in Koreatown.


    ***


    The second floor of the Zeynep Farm¡¯s mansion or the management building was under renovation. Cha Insoo had called a renovation specialist and was making a usible home for Youngho and Fatima.


    When Youngho first built this building, he made a lot of rooms so he could use it as a residential floor for farmers, but now the rooms were useless. So, Insoo wasbining rooms to make bigger rooms of different purposes. Although Youngho refused to have a bigger room, Insoo insisted and since Fatima also liked his idea, he had to shut his mouth.


    Fatima, who had been shy when there was a wedding rumor was now actively involved in the preparation process and told her opinions. She wanted to make the mansion a more family oriented ce now that Sangchun¡¯s parents were living in together. Keeping in mind the future babies, she worked with the renovation specialist with deliberation. Youngho did not say anything to intrude because Fatima was the one who would be in the mansion more often than Youngho and he felt awkward looking at her. It was unbelievable that he would be sharing a bed with her and it was also embarrassing to look at Szechenyi and Zeynep. They were like a family but now they were bing inws.


    ¡°Youngho, Fatima requested to make three kids¡¯ rooms. Did you agree on that?¡±


    ¡®Is she going to have three babies?¡¯


    ¡°No. I haven¡¯t even proposed yet. How can I ask that kind of question?¡±


    Insoo looked at Youngho in absurdity.


    ¡°Do you even want to get married? I can do house makeover for you but you need to...! Man, I¡¯m lost for words.¡±


    Insoo clicked his tongue and gave Youngho with a pitiful look.


    ¡°Hey. How do you do it?¡±


    ¡°Jeez...!¡±


    Making a fuss, Insoo called on Jongil who was downstairs. Coming up the stairs, Jongil made ament,


    ¡°Dude. What do you even live for? You want us to propose to her for you? Fatima must be waiting in tiptoe for your proposal. Now, stop testing her patience. We¡¯ll help you. First, we need to go downtown.¡±


    Dragged by Jongil to downtown, Youngho bought a decent ring at a jewelry shop. Since Fatima did not like morous things, he picked a simple design. Although Jongil insisted him to propose to her romantically at me Towers, he refused his suggestion and called Fatima to the reservoir of the farm. The moon was full just in time and it created a usible atmosphere. Youngho felt the cringe since he had to see her as a woman whom he had been treating like a little sister but it would not be eptable if he did not propose to her, especially in the culture here.


    In the Caucasus regions, there were many proposal agencies that nned and helped out whole proposal event. Fatima would not forgive him for the rest of her life if he skipped the process just because he felt awkward. Youngho seated Fatima on the bench near the reservoir and kneeled down before her holding out the ring toward her.


    ***


    Youngho sent out invitation cards individually to Yaniv and other close friends. There was still a month left but he informed people in advance, so that they could set the time apart from their busy schedules in-between other year-end events. Since December 20th was a Saturday, many Westernized people might feel ufortableing to his wedding since they would be taking their Christmas break. However, because it was that time of the year, it seemed that many people far away could make it for the Christmas break or end-of-the-year break.


    Only Yunsuh and her husband would being from Korea and other long-distance guests would only be his two friends in Yerevan, Armenia and Yaniv¡¯spany in Russia. He did not contact the CIA people, since many of them would still be working but he called Eriksson of the information agency because he was acquainted with Eriksson¡¯s family in Stockholm and he needed to maintain his rtionship with Eriksson for future potential businesses.


    ***


    Youngho now was hurrying his steps to the gas field construction site of District seven. In concurrence with the Azerbaijani government, the site was in the middle of installing conduit line. Today was the day of President Aliyev¡¯s visit to the site, there would be a tape cutting ceremony to celebrate the beginning of the construction of the oil field production line.


    The work had begun fifteen days ago already but the official event was being held today. Of course, Yaniv, the major shareholder of thepany from Russia had flown into Baku yesterday. Looking bright as if he had enough rest at the hotel, Yaniv shook hands with government officials and politicians. As soon as he found Youngho, he gestured to Youngho toe near him.


    ¡°Lee, today¡¯s guest of honor is you. You can¡¯t hide in the back.¡±


    ¡°People already know that you¡¯re behind this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just an investor, you are the representation of the corporation.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a disguise representation, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Anyhow, it¡¯s such a wonderful thing that we found this much amount of gas field only after seven months of drilling.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s positive remark, Yaniv smiled and began to talk about wines.


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve made an impression to the president by showing up with wine boxes in your hands.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I did that. The president said the wines taste great.¡±


    ¡°Do you want a little nudge?¡±


    ¡°Well, it would be great if you could slip some words to the president. Can you mention that Azerbaijan can¡¯t mistreat the wine from his own country, which Russia buys out every year? If my wines get picked as the wine for the official national banquet, you¡¯d be able to distribute them in higher prices as well.¡±


    ¡°I sure will do that, I also told some of my men to find a market in Western Europe. Since Russians like the taste, wouldn¡¯t it work for Europeans too?¡±


    ¡°As a matter of fact, if my brother-inwes, I¡¯ll let him be in charge of sales in Western Europe.¡±


    ¡°Man. Then, our markets will ovep with each other. Should webine the distributionpanies with your brother-inw?¡±


    ¡°My brother-inw will want to work alone. He doesn¡¯t like coborating with otherpanies.¡±


    For the Western Europe market, Youngho wanted to work individually apart from Yaniv, so he made up some words. It was because there would be more profits for Youngho when Cho Sangchun finds the market alone and he thought that it was enough for him dealing with mafias. Although he had a good rtionship with the mafia group, it was him and their rtionship. There was no guarantee that they would also be kind to Sangchun.


    The group was exhaustively after profits, meaning that they would not be mindful of others to the point where they lose money. Whether because Yaniv knew Youngho¡¯s heart was not sure but he did not say any more.


    ***


    After running up a mountain as part of their training, the security crew was panting heavily. Since Youngho and Kim Ilkwon were running with them, they fell over themselves to show off their strength. They werepetitive not wanting to be beaten by Ilkwon who had been a North Korean agent and their senior Youngho, who years older than them. However, their efforts stayed as only efforts. Youngho had beaten them even without putting on the leather shoes.


    ¡°Huff... Huff... Boss, what do you even eat? How can you be so fast and strong?¡±


    ¡°Eat what? I train every night to stay strong. I can see that you¡¯ve been smoking for years. I¡¯m not going to tell you to quit but you don¡¯t believe that you can outrun me when you smoke like that.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I should really quit smoking this time. After being discharged from the Navy, I¡¯ve been doing all sorts of bad things to my body. I¡¯ll take me a while to get back in shape.¡±


    ¡°You know, your seniors maintained the best physical condition by training every single day when we first came to overseas.¡±


    Youngho added a little lie in there. There were days when he drank too much until he passed out and the next day he would be wobbly all day long. However, it was true that he did not try to lose tension in the body. To be specific, it was after he became a CIA agent.


    The security crew was stronger than most people but they fell short of Youngho and his friends. When Youngho and his friends did not have any special thing going on, they always trained in the evening. It was partly because they were trying to get used to the ring and leather shoes and expand its power, and partially because they were also training Szechenyi. When the weather was not great, they worked out in the basement of the mansion to stay focused and maintain the best condition. Looking back, living in a foreignnd and facing many enemies, Youngho and his friends always tried to stay alerted and not to loosen the tension.

 Chapter 119 - Fatima’s Wedding (1)

    <h4>Chapter 119: Fatima¡¯s Wedding (1)</h4>


    The reason for training the security crew hard was that many clients who requested for personal guards were being targeted by extreme terrorist groups. Since the clients were wealthy businessmen, terrorists madly look for ways to abduct them for the price of their ransom. Also because the families of the clients were also being targeted, they needed well-trained security guards.


    Although the Azerbaijani government was also trying to get rid of extremist terror groups in the nation, their effort was inadequate. That was why many owners of oil corporation or minefield owners hired expensive private security guards from securitypanies of Western Europe. Now that the word had spread that a security servicepany consisted of guards from Korean Special Forces was established in Baku, thepany was getting requests from new clients. Sevan of Main Police Department was also a great help for spreading the word.


    Because of the risk thates with taking security service requests, Youngho did not take clients whom his crew could not handle. Although he would be making more money, his employees¡¯ safety was his priority. For now, he focused on assigning people at the pipeline facilities at District six and seven because guarding the facilities were less stressful for the security crew and they could have more free time to studynguages.


    Youngho had worried about the amount of payments for the security crew who came from Korea. Based on the regr employee payment rate in Baku, he could pay only thirty million won in Korean currency but he was stunned to find out about the amount that corporations in Korea paid for their employees. They usually paid forty million to fifty million won for college graduates, he realized that Korea¡¯s payroll costs were pretty high.


    Usually, securitypanies spent most of their profits on employee payrolls, because thepanies could only operate by decreasing the amount of employee payrolls, security guards would get the least amount of payments. For Zeynep Security Service¡¯s case, thepany also offered living costs for its employees since they were staying in the foreignnd for their job. Youngho concluded that he could pay fifty to sixty million won to the employees by minimizing thepany¡¯s own profits. Although right now he would not be making much money from thepany, once thepany gains poprity, he could ask for more service fee for each request. Also, he could not exclude the fact that his employees were specialized workers since they had served in the Navy Special Forces. Moreover, he wanted to make a sustainable and decent job for his Navy juniors. Having the ambition to make thepany the greatest security service in the Southeastern European regions, he suggested somewhat immoderate payments for the employees.


    It would be a great investment if he could start making profits after a year of operating thepany. That was why he used local employees for simple guarding positions and his Korean crew for supervising or leadership positions. If they could resolve thenguage problem, they would be like warriors whom each worth a hundred persons.


    Zeynep Farm, which now had a security servicepany alongside it, was considered as the safest ce in Baku. No thieves would dare toe near the farm since it was crowded with thirty bulky young men. Youngho had bought two minibusses for the security servicepany¡¯s use and every time the whole crew went out to downtown on the bus, people watched them in curiosity. When the minibusses that had the logo of Zeynep Security Service passed by, big restaurantspeted with each other to take the crew as their customer because once the thirty young men with voracious appetites visited a restaurant to eat, they would eat up all of the prepared food of the restaurant.


    The employees on their guarding duty now resided in the apartments downtown and only visited the farm on weekends. The ten employees who joined the crewter were still residing on the farm since they were like half-mute now, not knowing thenguage. When they run around the farm every morning and night, the whole farm was filled with their shouting voices, which meant that they were training as hard as they could. Youngho held many barbecue parties to encourage them but being youngds as they were, they always seemed to be hungry no matter how much meat they ate.


    ***


    As the grapes were almost gone from the trees nted this year across the Southern river of the farm, the visitors of the farm were now crowded for the winery tour. The authorities of the city of Baku requested Zeynep Farm and other small-scale farms in the city to open for the public, so Youngho dly agreed on opening the farm as a travelers¡¯ attraction. The visitors were mostly West Europeans and backpackers from around the world, who would be Youngho¡¯s future customers, so it was also beneficial for the business.


    Youngho wanted to treat them well, so the visitors would never forget Zeynep Farm¡¯sbel. Since they came to see winery, he provided wines for tasting as much as they wanted along with some cheese so people would not get drunk.


    One day, Gerhardt had pushed away all of the cheese and Youngho asked why.


    ¡°Boss, because the quality of cheese is so good, the visitors won¡¯t leave the farm. They even get drunk so often so I thought we¡¯d better not provide cheese.¡±


    It seemed that Europeans also went crazy for free stuff.


    ¡°How can we serve wine without cheese?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting an overwhelming number ofint calls from travel agencies. They say that the rest of their travel schedule for the day is messed up whenever people visit Zeynep Farm and other souvenir shops¡¯ sales are falling.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not something tough about. This is fine for individual backpackers or visitors but for those who are group-traveling through agencies, they¡¯re supposed to stop by other souvenir shops and attraction spots as part of their package. If we keep receivingint calls like now, Zeynep Farm will be excluded from the list of tour stops. We can¡¯t allow that since this is a great opportunity to advertise our wine.¡±


    Gerhardt was speaking the truth. Although the farm was giving away free drink, it was to secure potential future customers. It would be stupid if the farm lost the opportunity to advertise the wine due to giving away too much free stuff.


    Now that the farm was crowded with many visitors who came to experience the winery, the farm needed a new makeover. In order to create a different vibe, the farm family re-decorated the gateway and around the mansion. The mansion¡¯s exterior used to have concrete finishing but now stone siding was being installed around the building. Youngho¡¯s philosophy used to be ¡®inside is more important than the outside,¡¯ and that was why he did not pay attention to the exterior of the building. Having a sturdy building was enough for him, but now the farm was at the point where exterior also mattered.


    Since the rooms inside the mansion were also being remodeled for Youngho and Fatima; Fatima, Zeynep, and Karajan took charge of beautifying the farm.


    Baku was an old, historic city. Its structural relics were rtively maintained well and there were some buildings in the old city even looked like artistic figures. However, some insensitive property owners could be spotted from time to time destroying the old artistic relics for property development. Even though the authorities of the city tried to regte the property development to preserve old buildings as they could be great tourist attractions, it was hard to regte more than two million people residing in the city. In those houses of the old city, there were many outstanding outer wall decorations and outdoor statues and Fatima and the girls bought them out one by one at cheap prices. If cleaned and polished a little bit, those decorations would not be weird if they were disyed in a museum and they were now being collected to Zeynep Farm.


    As they were set up at likely spots, they made an antique atmosphere around the farm. The farm which was only a few years old was now turning into an antique, historic farm. As the delicate touch of girls fixed the farm¡¯s exteriors, the farm was transforming into something elegant and new.


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, hold that side. It¡¯s going to rip if you pull so hard so be careful.¡±


    ¡°Fatima, step aside. Hyung and I can do this alone.¡±


    Szechenyi interrupted Youngho and Fatima trying to hang up a curtain.


    The delicate, whitece curtain was such a pain to hang up. There was an intricate geometric pattern embellished on it if the two sides did not match symmetrically, it looked like it could ruin the whole aesthetic view. The big windows were also difficult to deal with. After a few tries, the curtain was finally all fixed and the patterns were symmetric.


    ¡°Fatima, do we really have to put this up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this because this is a pattern that brings peace in mind. Now, we only need to put up the heavy outer parts. Stopining and put this up on the hook.¡±


    Fatima, who could not even look at Youngho straight when there was a wedding rumor, was now an entirely different person after the proposal. She did not try to hide from him anymore and her attitude turned a little bit bossy. Her changed attitude startled Youngho.


    Youngho was happy now that he could kiss her any time after the proposal, but now he did not know how to react to her different attitude. He asked Jongil for help but he was not in the position to help Youngho because he was also on a very short leash by his bossy wife, Karajan. Youngho thought that it must be usual in the Caucasus regions for women acting like this once they get married. Gerhardt was the one who gave a hint for his wonder.


    ¡°Boss, Turkey and Azerbaijan are Imic countries. The governments allow polygamy and women here tend to take charge in the beginning of their marriage, so their men can¡¯t look the other way.¡±


    Youngho was surprised by the idea, he was an innocent and faithful person when it came to romance. He never looked at other women but Fatima, he even refused beautiful Katya in South Ossetia. He also thought the idea was absurd since If women acted too bossy, men would be even more drawn away from them.


    ¡°Um, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea. It will actually have the opposite effect on men.¡±


    ¡°You know, they¡¯ll change their attitude once they trust you.¡±


    ¡°So you mean, it will get better and better in time?¡±


    Looking at Gerhardt smile, it seemed that he was satisfied with his marriage. Youngho asked if he had told Jongil about this but he shook his head. Poor Jongil had no idea why Karajan was so feisty. He was always looking for opportunities to stay away from home and that was causing Karajan to act even more bossy and spiteful. It did not seem too bad for men to be a little subordinate at the beginning of the marriage if their wives could finally trust them and be nice to them.


    It seemed that marriages would not be so boring if women kept changing their attitudes. In fact, it would be refreshing if women acted like a different person. Youngho thought that all married couples here were love birds and they might be because of women¡¯s high-level strategies. What if a calm girl like Fatimaes to bed acting like a temptress? Imagining bedtime with Fatima, Youngho¡¯s body trembled in excitement. As if Gerhardt knew what Youngho was thinking, he walked away to the wine factoryughing loudly.


    Youngho also thought it was strange for women here being obsessive of makeup even at their old ages. Although their bodies get weighty as they get old, their smiling eyes were the most beautiful in the world. It was all because they wanted to attract their men.


    It would not be fair for Youngho if he kept this to himself so he hurriedly called Jongil to share the wisdom.

 Chapter 120 - Fatima’s Wedding (2)

    <h4>Chapter 120: Fatima¡¯s Wedding (2)</h4>


    The process of grape cultivation and pruning trees was already automated but grape farming still needed people¡¯s touch. The pruning of the bottom sides of trees was still done by human hands.


    The work did not need to be rushed but it had to be done before the springes in order to get ready for the next fruits to grow. The process should be done anytime between October¡¯spletion of cultivation and March next year. Arge-scale farm like Zeynep Farm needed workers all around the year and forty to fifty farmers from other small-scale farms around Baku came to work at Zeynep Farm every day to earn daily wages. Although the farm needed more workers, the farm could operate as normal because the security crew of Zeynep Security Service was helping out with the farm work. Likewise, the Charles farm was also crowded with twenty farmers working under the two North Korean defector families.


    Since 350 oak casks of 300-gallon capacity which was filled with wine should be reced periodically, Youngho bought a forklift for Charles farm¡¯s use. As Youngho was going to hire cooks for the workers of the Charles farm, Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family stopped him and offered to treat them on their own. Knowing that they wanted to reduce Youngho¡¯s expense on the Charles farm, he epted their offer. Although he was not sure if they could cook something that Azerbaijani people would like, he was d that they offered to help. Ilkwon¡¯s family had changed a lot ever since they came to the farm.


    Since Youngho paid them as much as they worked, they worked hard to earn and save more money. It was something that they never felt in themunist society of North Korea. Their attitude toward Youngho was also changed, in the beginning, they only nodded and bowed to him but now they made eye contact with Youngho and answered his questions with ease. It seemed that they gained more confidence after Kim Ilkwon became a personal secretary of Zeyneppany¡¯s boss, Youngho.


    ***


    The whole month of November needed the most manpower in order to have less trouble in the uing rainy season of the winter.Because the farm size had grown so much, he needed far more manpower thanst year, so he had to hire people from the inner city of Baku. Although there were a lot of unemployed people in Baku, it was difficult to findmonborers due to the well-established social security system. People did not need to work since they had enough to live from what they received from the government.


    Frustrated by the situation, Youngho evenined to Sevan that the unemploymentpensation should be lowered to motivate people to find jobs. After listening to Youngho¡¯sint, Sevan suggested to provide manpower for him, he had been watching for a chance to make money by real estate spection for thends around new railroad track to Iran but the railroad construction n could not even be signed due to extreme terrorists.


    It was called a volunteer service when army soldiers helped out with civilian work or business. However, in Azerbaijan, it was conventional for civilians to give a certain amount of money to the army under the name of donation.


    Since Sevan used to be in the army, he was nning to be the middleman between the army and Zeynep Farm and take some percentages of the money for himself. Youngho did not have any reason to refuse his offer since he would be getting young and strong workers. Unlike in Korea, the Azerbaijani army refrained military drills during the winter season and soldiers did not have many things to do. The government had hired arge number of soldiers because of the dispute against Armenia but after recapturingnds around Nagorno-Karabakh, the high number of soldiers became a problem for them. The army, which was reluctantly maintaining their soldiers, sent three hundred army soldiers residing in Baku to Zeynep Farm. Receiving the army¡¯s aid for a month was a tremendous help. Even though quite a lot was spent on snacks and foods for the young soldiers, it did notpare to their achievement at the farm since they finished work of months ahead of time. The trimming work for grape trees waspleted by the beginning of December.


    ***


    Baku¡¯s weather had gotten so cold that heavy jackets were necessary outside. The TV news and the reporter was broadcasting that it was an unusual weather for the beginning of December. In fact, this year¡¯s weather was strange. In the summer, they had high heat in a hundred years and it had snowed twice since December. It would seem normal since it was the rainy season but it had only rainedst year without any snow. Since there had been already two falls of snow at the beginning of the winter, the media was making a fuss about it.


    Even though it rained a lot in Baku during the winter¡¯s rainy season, snow was rare to find. However, since it had snowed in Baku where it was not equipped with proper snow removal equipment, the downtown traffics paralyzed and many cars without winterization equipment were stuck on the road. At this moment, the most desirable car was SUVs and big cars like a hummer. Since there were two SUVs and a hummer on Zeynep Farm, the farm family did not have any trouble driving in the snow. Regrpact cars could not even dare to drive in the snow. Fatima who had gone out to downtown with Zeynep who was on the winter break got off from the hummer.


    ¡°Oppa, it was a good idea to take a big car, downtown is so messed up now. I had to pull two cars on the way.¡±


    Zeynep kept on talking with her cheeks turned red by the cold wind. Whenever Zeynep was being chatty, Youngho thought about the same thing that there would not be many people who would stay still when she acted like that. Although she tried to get out, he hugged her tight and kissed her cheeks.


    ¡°Jeez, oppa. Your beard is scratchy! You need to hug my sister instead of slobbering on my face.¡±


    Zeynep, who had been basked in people¡¯s love for the past few years, looked brighter than any other kids.


    ¡°What did you go out in the snow for?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I can¡¯t say it yet. It¡¯s me and my sister¡¯s secret.¡±


    Youngho did not try to dig up the truth for long but Zeynep was now so eager to tell the secret.


    ¡°Very well. It¡¯s girls¡¯ secret and you can¡¯t tell it to a boy.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, aren¡¯t you curious?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to ask me anymore?¡±


    ¡°You said it was a secret.¡±


    Zeynep was frustrated now since Youngho, who was supposed to keep asking was ignoring her now.


    ¡°Oppa, really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Since Youngho was stern, Zeynep now nagged at Youngho to make him ask her again. Fatima who had beenughing covering her mouth opened the back door of the car. There was an elegant white wedding dress hanging in the back of the car.


    ***


    They tried to make a secret since they were going to show the dress to Youngho on the wedding day, but in Korea, it was extremely natural for the bride and groom to shop the wedding dress together. In the customs here, the groom should never see the wedding dress in advance. It was a custom to leave it a mystery to the groom. Zeynep made a fuss saying that it was a bad luck to see the bride¡¯s dress. Not only Azerbaijan and Turkey¡¯snguages were simr but also their customs had a lot inmon too, it was also shown in the way how simr women treated men after they get married.


    ¡°You know in Korea, the bride and groom go shop together for their wedding dress and suit. It¡¯s alright.¡±


    Zeynep was pretty upset.


    ¡°Fatima unni, the shopdy said you should not show this before the wedding.¡±


    ¡°Hey, oppa is Korean so it¡¯s okay. Also, only Turks and Azerbaijani people can have many wives and it¡¯s illegal in Korea.¡±


    Younghoughed since he knew how Fatima subtly tried to push away the idea of having other wives for Youngho. He thought Fatima was cute knowing that she had been acting sassy and kind of feistytely to keep him on his toes for her.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    He hugged Zeynep again for her worry for her sister. She hoped for the best in her sister¡¯s marriage. Being in the society that allowed polygamy marriages, Zeynep was insecure that Youngho might have someone else on his side in the future and he knew exactly what she was worried about. Fatima, who had been insecure for a while, was a little relieved after learning about Korean marriage culture. Insoo¡¯s wife, Sunghee, must have told her about that. If he had to share his loved one with someone else, it would be such a painful curse for him and it was well-shown in the history how humans¡¯ desire to possess could turn ugly. The custom also affected angel-like Fatima since she tried hard to follow other women in the culture. Although Youngho would never get a second wife, if he did, he thought that he would not survive from Zeynep¡¯s grilling and nagging.


    That night, due to Sunghee and Sangchun¡¯s mother¡¯s persistent request, Fatima showed off her dress in front of everyone.


    ¡°Youngho, I¡¯ve been to a lot of weddings but I¡¯ve never seen a bride like Fatima. She¡¯s beautiful.¡±


    Youngho could not close his mouth in awe of her beauty. Gazing about with a gloomy look, her longshes shivered and her whole image was indescribable. It was not sure if she was deep in thoughts looking at the snow through the windows but Youngho inhaled a deep breath looking at her morous but innocent beauty.


    ¡®What did I ever do in my previous life to deserve a beautiful and wise woman?¡¯


    Youngho realized that Fatima was in a sorrow, she looked so sad, so he called her quietly.


    ¡°Fatima, you should take off the dress.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s voice, Fatima quickly wiped her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, oppa.¡±


    Youngho could guess what had made her sad,


    Fatima often showed the same face when she talked about her parents. The person who would be most delighted by a woman¡¯s wedding was her mother. However, this would be a wedding without her mother. Seeing the two quietly from behind, Sangchun¡¯s mother gently hugged Fatima. The two both without parents soon would get married. Youngho had Yunsuh¡¯s family but Fatima had not a single rtive. They say women think of their mother the most when they get married, it would be weird if Fatima did not feel any sorrow now. Comforted by the mother¡¯s hug, Fatima¡¯s shoulders were shaking.


    Even though he knew why she was sad, Youngho could only watch her cry since he could not fill the empty space in her heart. Would having children fill the empty space? Maybe that was why Fatima was so eager to make children¡¯s rooms, to fill her empty heart. Youngho would try his best to make her and her siblings happy but he was frustrated that he might not be able to make her fundamental loneliness disappear. How long would it take for a broken heart to heal from the traumatic tragedy of the past? Thinking that he had never tried to understand Fatima¡¯s broken heart, she had been hiding the deep scar in her heart alone. He only helped her financially but it seemed that he never had an open-hearted conversation with her. Guilty and frustrated, he quietly left the porch.


    The farm was covered white in the snow.


    Snow from the sky was falling reflecting the lights from the securitymps standing sparsely. He suddenly thought of smoking which he had quit.


    ¡®This would be a good time for smoking.¡¯

 Chapter 121 - Fatima’s Wedding (3)

    <h4>Chapter 121: Fatima¡¯s Wedding (3)</h4>


    Fatima changed again.


    She was not as talkative as before but she showed more variety of facial expressions. It was natural for a bride-to-be to experience different surges of emotions before her wedding but Fatima¡¯s case was different. Turning even more graceful, she exuded profound dignity that no one could attain. Because her transformation was so obvious, Youngho thought everyone also noticed but it was only him who felt her changes.


    This was not listed as one of the mystical ring¡¯s powers in the old literature. Ever since the rock on his ring¡¯s color had changed to light blue, he had been noticing that all of his senses became extra keen and he just realized that noticing Fatima¡¯s delicate changes was another influence of the ring, which was very unexpected.


    After the securitypany was established and the farm was pretty tightly secure, Fatima had put the ring back on, which Insoo had been borrowing from her. It was not sure if her change was rted to her putting the ring back on, or it was because she regained peace in her mind because the wedding was set, or if not, maybe it could only the effect of Youngho¡¯s ring that was making him to sense her changes.


    At the farm, the most leisure month in a year was December, since most people took a break at the end of the year, field agents also could take about a month of free time to visit their families. For Youngho, it was the time off both from the farm and the CIA. Since he did not need a lot of preparation for his small wedding, he was not busy at all. He used most of his time in his study, reading the old literature found at a museum in France. The literature stated that once the ring turned transparent, one could go over a mountain in a bound and gain strength manifolds more than regr people. Since it did not say much about the rtionship between ring¡¯s color and the changes such as improved vision, hearing, memory, and attentiveness, he wanted to find more about those abilities.


    Although Youngho was looking into finding out more about the ring¡¯s power and abilities, he did not wish to make personal profits out of it. It might have been pure luck to have met the ring but he considered it a destiny. He did not have a big sense of duty to use the ring¡¯s power for world peace, but at least he was suppressing his desire to make personal profits using the ring¡¯s power. If he wished to, he would have taken advantage of the ring to gain wealth but his conscience did not allow it.


    This was why he had a hard time getting over the fact that he used the ring¡¯s power to fight and kill Russian soldiers residing around the Chechen border. He could not have done that without the ring and it made him even bitter that he harmed other people using the ring¡¯s power, instead of using it for a good cause.


    Even after reading the old literature repeatedly, it did not say anything about the recent change that Youngho sensed about Fatima. Some parts of the literature were left not tranted, and he thought that the answers to his question might lie in those parts. He would have to find more prestigious archeologist or linguist to solve the ring¡¯s mystery.


    What he learned from the old literature was that Serbia, which had been developed through more than a thousand years of its history, used to flourish to the extent, where it even threatened the Byzantine Empire. It had been fallen in the 1400s by Turkey and through WWI and WWII it had gained the country back but due to ethnic disputes, the nation was now divided into Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo and Metohija. Since the country was near Europe, other countries of power did not let it be.


    Because the culture was mixed with all sorts of civilization, it did not seem to be weird to have mystical relics like the ring and the leather shoes.


    ***


    The wedding felt quite real when Yunsuh and her husband arrived at Baku for the wedding. It was going to be a small wedding but the rumor had spread inevitably. After Sevan found out about it, he contacted Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and soon the presidential pce noted the joyful news. Youngho¡¯s n to have a small wedding was not an option now.


    He had to notify any acquaintances and connections he met through business in Baku, including the Korean embassy and the international school parents. If he did not send out invitations to all soon, it would get him in troubleter, so he hurriedly made more invitations and delivered them by himself, apologizing to everyone for such short notice. Jongil and Sangchun had already insisted that they should have a big wedding, and Youngho now had to agree with them. Since he was a very sessful businessman of Baku and everybody now knew about it, he could not just get away with a small and brief wedding. Yunsuh was also on their side, saying such a humble wedding did not suit a descendant of an archduke of Serbia.


    Everyone in the wedding, the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and even the flower boys, had ordered matching dresses and suits ording to the wedding theme color and a hotel venue for arge wedding guest group was reserved. By the time everything was ready, the wedding had be a huge event in Baku that everyone knew about.


    Finally, the wedding day had arrived. Receiving flowers sent by President Aliyev showed how much his wedding had be an issue in Baku. The wedding begun as the bride and groom greeted the guests on the stage of a hotel reception. Because both sides did not have parents, there were no special procedures, such as lighting candles and bowing to the parents of each side for appreciation as done in Korea. The only thing that looked like a traditional wedding was the flower boys and bridesmaids and the groomsmening down from the stage together as the wedding march resonated, and taking group pictures after the ceremony.


    Right after the official ceremony was done and pictures were taken, foods and drinks were served and it had turned into a celebrating party with music and dancing.


    There were plenty of foods for everyone. The wedding tradition here was that after the bride and groom¡¯s dance, the guests would join the dance together in celebration, the wedding soon turned into a real party. Youngho was thankful for the guest who came to celebrate the couple¡¯s special day in the cold weather. He also enjoyed the party. With Fatima, who was being shy, he went over to everyone to say thank you. There were too many guests that Fatima¡¯s small purse was too small for the congrattory money received from them as they went around. Zeynep followed the couple around and emptied the purse as soon as it was filled, but the purse would soon get full again.


    When they stopped by Yaniv¡¯s table, he whispered to Youngho that he would give them the moneyter since he did not want them to lose the huge amount of money. Unlike Korea, where people would give the congrattory money before they entered the wedding ceremony hall, in Azerbaijan, people gave the money directly to the bride and groom.


    The wedding was huge that even Newspaperpanies and TV broadcasters came to cover the event. The wedding was a cherished memory that Youngho and Fatima would never forget since hundreds of people were gathered just for the two. They were deeply grateful.


    After the party, which went on until early morning, the couple stayed at the hotel for the night. Yaniv visited them in their room and left a small box congratting their marriage. Youngho¡¯s heart leapt into his mouth when he opened the box to check what was in there. There were three gold bars of the Russian Empire. Yaniv was indeed a wealthy, big-scale man.


    All of the money received today was for the bride to keep as it was done traditionally, Youngho could not even get a single penny out of it. That exined why Zeynep was so helpful emptying her sister¡¯s purse and following her around. She was eager since the money would all be her sister¡¯s.


    ***


    One obvious change after the wedding was that now Youngho shared a bed with Fatima no matter what, because in the people¡¯s culture here, if the newlywed husband did not sleep in the same bed with his new wife, it meant that he did not like her and she would be chased away to her family soon.


    Youngho was so used to sleeping alone that he could not sleep tight with Fatima sleeping next to him, making rustling sounds. Also, Fatima kept asking for his arm to pillow her head on and he had to endure it even if it felt like he was going to get a cramp. Except for those inconveniences, everything else was great. He enjoyed everything he could from the sweet new married life with Fatima. Although he was sad now that Zeynep did not show up in his bedroom but he was impressed by her thoughtfulness since she was being considerate of the newlywed couple. Another change that the marriage brought was that he became a real member of the siblings¡¯ family. If he had a baby, Szechenyi and Zeynep would be its uncle and aunt, the baby would be another medium that would draw them closer together. Maybe that was one of the reasons why Fatima wanted to have a baby as soon as possible.


    All of the wedding guests left except the Yunsuh couple. Youngho had already agreed with Sangchun that they would be spending some time to get used to living in a foreign ce and he would be moving to an area around Austria or Nethends to establish Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine distributionpany in there.


    Chunho Merchant in Seoul was already being managed by a management specialist and they only needed to visit thepany¡¯s headquarters once in a few months. Although Sangchun¡¯s parents had worried that it was not good for them to leave Korea, their own country, they did not say anything to their son¡¯s decision. It seemed that they already forgot about that as soon as they got to see their grandson again.


    When people get old, their greatest joy was to spend time with the family of their own flesh and blood. Charmed by their grandson, smile never left from Sangchun¡¯s parents¡¯ faces.


    Because Sangchun¡¯s parents insisted that they should eat what the new bride made, Fatima was troubled. She could make a few Korean dishes that Youngho liked but she was not a great cook. Although Sangchun¡¯s mom helped her, because she was so nervous, she could not really pay attention to cooking. Tasting her soup, everyone¡¯s face was strange but Zeynep was the only one who was asking for another bowl.


    ¡°Unni, give me another bowl of soup.¡±


    Looking at her strangely, Szechenyi asked,


    ¡°You. Do you really think this soup is good?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s what she made and if you eat it consciously thinking that it¡¯s good, then it really tastes good.¡±


    Because of Zeynep¡¯s remark, everyone else asked for another bowl of soup, not to make Fatima embarrassed but their next actions were indicating that her soup was terrible. Everyone was busy putting more salt, pepper, and red chili powder into their bowl. Looking at them, Fatima began to make excuses.


    ¡°Well, I usually put too much spices when I make soups. So this time I thought I¡¯d make it a little thin, so you can put spices ording to your taste.¡±


    ¡°Oh my word! My new sister-inw is so reasonable. It¡¯s hard for me to put enough salt for this soup. It¡¯s better this way, so people can put spices to their own likings.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was going for.¡±


    Yunsuh, who had already been dreaming of living overseas and fantasizing everything that was foreign, was taking Fatima¡¯s side. Listening to her, Youngho also wondered if Fatima had really nned all this as Yunsuh was saying but he could see her sitting next to him, putting salt into her soup and smiling in embarrassment. The newlywed bride was making up stories to cover up her mistake, she was no ordinary woman.


    Zeynep, who had stoppeding to Youngho¡¯s bedroom ever since the wedding, stepped in his room with a pillow in her arms.


    Since the night was especially windy, he had just told the night guards to be on their guards through the interphone and was about to go to sleep. However, it seemed that Zeynep could not stand the sounds of chill winds of the winter. Even though the house was sturdy, it did not block the sounds of winds and Zeynep hated that eerie sound of wind that seemed like something was going toe out. She was too scared that she had to interrupt the bedtime of the newlyweds.


    ¡°Oppa. Unni. I¡¯m too scared, I can¡¯t sleep alone.¡±


    Although she looked mature on the outside, her mental age was still young. Youngho, who would never refuse her, raised the corner of his nket and told her toe in.


    ¡°Okay, Zeynep. Come in. This bed has enough room for three of us.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, you¡¯ve done this a lot... You should stop doing that. You¡¯re spoiling her.¡±


    ¡°Fatima unni, I¡¯ve slept with him more than you have, I have a right to do this.¡±


    ¡°???¡±


    This might have sounded inappropriate if someone had overheard their conversation but Zeynep, who was like Youngho¡¯s beloved little sister, was speaking innocently.


    ¡®Phew. Sleeping together more times than her is not something to brag about.¡¯


    ¡°Oppa said that I cane any time when I feel scared.¡±


    She squeezed between the couple and instead of falling asleep immediately, which she seemed that she would, started talking about what happened at school excitedly. He was not sure if she was just ying the baby or she had slow wits but Youngho secretly weed her appearance in his bedroom. He had been exhausted because he and Fatima had been working on making a baby for nights in a row upon Fatima¡¯s request. Since Youngho could take the night off because she showed up, he was just thankful.

 Chapter 122 - Happiness is Like…

    <h4>Chapter 122: Happiness is Like...</h4>


    Youngho woke up early in the morning and Fatima¡¯s arm was on top of his chest, she was still deep in her sleep. He was satisfied to see her peaceful face without worries since the marriage brought her peace and security. Not wanting to wake her up, he stayed still. Fatima soon opened her eyes, it seemed that she felt Youngho¡¯s nce while in her sleep.


    ¡°Sleep more. It¡¯s still early in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You should sleep more too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to work out with the security crew, I¡¯ll wake you up after I¡¯m done working out.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going back to my sleep then.¡±


    Seeing her falling back to sleep, Youngho left the bedroom.


    The winter¡¯s cold air in the morning made his body shiver. It was not as cold as Korea since the temperature was only down to 30¡ãF but because of its wind, the wind chill temperature was much lower.


    The sound of the security crew running in the Southern part echoed in the farm. Being early birds, Jongil and Insoo must be running with them too. Since Youngho waste today, he would be getting teased by Jongil. As he was about to pass the reservoir, he saw a bunch of men running toward him. He stretched his body to join them and Jongil¡¯s voice burst upon his ears.


    ¡°Hey! Does a new groom even have enough strength to run? Just do some stretches there.¡±


    ¡°Man, don¡¯t embarrass me in front of our juniors.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re old enough to know what I mean. And why would a new groom need to work out? You don¡¯t have enough stamina, huh?¡±


    At Jongil¡¯s teasing, everyoneughed and some even cheered up Younhgo.


    ¡°Why are you cheering? I don¡¯t need to be cheered. I¡¯m a man of capability.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you can do it only if you will. Cheer up.¡±


    The crew smirked. It seemed that they were determined to tease him this morning.


    ¡°If you say another gibberish, I¡¯ll cancel the three-day break at the beginning of next month.¡±


    His threat did not work since they now started booing at him. Although Youngho was their boss, they had a special bond with each other since they were all from the same Navy Special Forces U.D.T. unit.


    The morning running was over after circling half around the farm while singing their former military song together. When Youngho went inside the building, Fatima was waiting for him with honey water. They had been together only for a week as a married couple but they seemed like a couple who had been living together for several years. They were so natural together only because they had been living in the same mansion together as a family. Jongil even made fun of them that they did not look like a newlywed couple but Youngho did not mind.


    Youngho also had to postpone the honeymoon trip because of his work. District seven was in the middle of the gas pipe instation process and he nned on going to Southern Europe where it was warmer once the district was secure. They had traveled together a lot, so it did not seem like a big deal. Besides, they could not even dream of traveling alone since they saw that Szechenyi and Zeynep had already packed their luggage to follow them to the honeymoon. It was just so natural since they were used to traveling together. Moreover, Yunsuh was also interested in Southern Europe. It seemed that their honeymoon was going to turn into a family trip.


    Youngho had nned on going to a quiet honeymoon alone but when her siblings said that they would be joining them, Fatima was even happier. She knew that Youngho would be boring to travel with, since he never liked crowded ces but enjoyed being in the quiet. She thought that group travel would be much more fun and lively.


    ***


    Zeynep whispered something in Fatima¡¯s ear. Although she meant to be quiet, Youngho could hear everything. She said that she would give her all the congrattory money that she had been saving if her big sister allowed her to buy a puppy with some of the money. The clever girl dared to negotiate with her sister¡¯s money. Youngho interrupted their conversation.


    ¡°What kind of dog do you want that you¡¯re bothering your sister?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you scared me! Did you hear all I said?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know everything even by only reading your lips.¡±


    ¡°Huh! I knew that so I spoke in Turkish.¡±


    ¡°I already learned Azerbaijani and now I¡¯m studying Russian.¡±


    Since she could not get him through, she now started nagging using her cuteness as a weapon.


    ¡°Oh,e on, oppa. I saw a puppy yesterday and it was shaking because of the cold. That poor puppy needs a home. And if I sleep with a puppy, I won¡¯t have to go to your room at night.¡±


    Her negotiation skill was better than what Youngho had thought it would be. She was offering the serenity of their bedroom, she was truly a cunning little girl.


    By all means, she brought a little Shih Tzu puppy. It was so tiny, being only three months old. Zeynep made a fuss about training the little puppy that did not even recognize its name. The house was full ofughter after the puppy came. It was too cute that Youngho automatically looked for it when it was gone from his sight. It was too small and it camouged with the carpet¡¯s patterns that he almost stepped on the puppy multiple times. It had be everyone¡¯s routine to y with the puppy in the evening time.


    Youngho wondered if the dog is so lovable like that, how much he would love his own child. That night, he paid extra attention to the baby-making process in the bedroom.


    ***


    It was the New Year¡¯s Day.


    The wine factory was on a three-day break and the farm and only the farm family and the thirty security crew were gathered to hold a memorial service for their ancestors. Although all of them were far away from their home country and family, as they gathered together for the traditional event, they did not feel lonely anymore.


    The service was just a formality and the highlight of the day was performing ¡®Sebae,¡¯ New Year¡¯s ritual bows. It did not matter how big people were, they would bow to elders and the elders give a gift of money to the younger ones as they give words of blessing for the new year.


    Since Insoo¡¯s parents and Sangchun¡¯s parents did not make money, Youngho prepared four envelopes of money for each the four parents, so that they could give money to people who bowed to them. It was a lot of money because the farm family had grown big in number and everyone would be getting for envelopes of money as gifts from each parent.


    All of the Korean crew was happy to receive the money even though they were big adults. It was also because Youngho also gave them a bonus-payment for their job well done for the past year. Even Gerhardt¡¯s children who were not Koreans came to bow to the adults as they heard about receiving money, they returned home happy with the gifts of money.


    It seemed that Zeynep had bragged about receiving the Sebae money to her friends from school. As it turned to afternoon, a lot of cars parked at the farm. Zeynep¡¯s friends who heard about the rumor brought their parents to see if they could join the ritual. Not knowing what was going on, the parents stopped by the farm for their kids. Youngho was acquainted with all of the parents who visited the farm since they came to the farm to swim in the reservoir in the summer and to pick grapes from the trees in the fall. He could just let them go in vain. The Korean crew prepared for a barbecue party, so that everyone could enjoy the New Year¡¯s Day. Youngho had to give more money to the parents since he could not ignore Zeynep¡¯s friends¡¯ eyes of expectation.


    It looked like that every New Year¡¯s Day from now on, the farm would be busy with the guests whoe to join the Sebae ritual to receive a gift of money. It was a little hectic but it was quite fulfilling to see the crowded farm. The farm had now turned into a little town. Although he would be spending more money for the ritual, it would not seem so wasteful if all could enjoy the day together. Happiness did not seem so far.


    It was not sure how people found out about the party at the farm but Korean businessmen and people residing in Baku also came to the farm to join the party. Some of them even brought a karaoke machine and they ended up having a singingpetition with a prize. It was a loud party.


    After spending the hectic New Year¡¯s Day, Youngho and Fatima discussed holding such a big annual event every year. She suggested having a family trip around Christmas in advance and holding the New Year¡¯s event at the farm afterward. Youngho also agreed to her. Since many Koreans felt lonely being away from their families, it did not seem so bad to invite them over for a traditional event and party. Korean employees in the securitypany would increase gradually and some of them might get married and settle down in Baku. It would be nice if the farm could be like their hometown.


    Since Youngho would be a father of a family in near future, he thought it would be great if he could teach his children about Korea by making the farm the hub for Korean people and events.


    ***


    Finally, Youngho and the family could go on the honeymoon trip. The instation of pipeline and gas valve was finallypleted at District seven and the risk element at the field was now gone. There could have been safety idents at any time but it was lucky that there was none. The pressure from the gas field was especially high in pressure and thepany had to hire a world-famous technician from Kuwait to control the pressure since there was no Azerbaijani technician who could handle it. The amount of gas deposits was too much for Azerbaijani standards, although it was not up to the world-level standards.


    Anyway, Youngho¡¯s heart was lightened since a big source of anxiety was now resolved. Although he only had 5% of thepany¡¯s share, he worked hard as if thepany was his own. The Azerbaijani government was also impressed by Youngho¡¯s hard work and his influence over District seven. His way of working was more than enough to have an impact on the officials who were still soaked in the socialistic ways of handling work since he went to the field every single day to prevent any safety ident except for the two days around his wedding. It was not a coincidence that Yaniv gave gold bars for wedding congrattory money. It was a way to show his appreciation for Youngho and to encourage him to work harder for their business.


    At Baku¡¯s airport, there were more people who were going on the trip than who came out to escort them and say goodbye. The honeymoon crew including a little child was seven in total. As they walked through the VIP passage, Yunsuh again repeated her exmations.


    ¡°Oppa, I showed the pictures taken fromst year¡¯s trip to my friends and they were so jealous of us.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re evil. Why would you brag about it?¡±


    ¡°What? I just bragged about my sessful brother.¡±


    She was full of pride.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve advertised to the whole world about moving overseas this time.¡±


    ¡°Why not. That¡¯s huge news to brag about.¡±


    ¡°Do your friends know that you can¡¯t speak English?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, absolutely not. They¡¯d just think that I¡¯m fluent since I travel a lot.¡±


    Her level of maturity was the same as Zeynep¡¯s. In fact, she was degrading after getting married and bing a mom. Youngho had nothing to say about her change since his sess was one of the causes. Yunsuh was not like this when they used to be poor. She was now even stubborn that it seemed that it would be hard to change her back to her old self. Youngho only wished her to be a little more graceful when she gets old. However, he did not try to stress her out since another baby was growing inside of her. It would be hard to be graceful having two babies. He just wished that she would not be loud all the time. As he was thinking that he would not allow Fatima turning like Yunsuh but Fatima was just raising her voice to Zeynep.


    ¡°Zeynep, If you keep acting like this, I¡¯m going to leave your puppy at the airport.¡±


    ¡°Phew, unni! How can I put him in the cargopartment of the ne? It¡¯s going to be cold in there.¡±


    Zeynep was fighting back, the puppy would be a major troublemaker of this trip.


    Although he had expected the trip to be a little hectic, he regretted having a family trip. The trip that was supposed to revolve around the newlyweds was actually revolving around Zeynep and her puppy. There were not a lot of hotels that allowed pets, so they could only visit ces where near pet-friendly lodging.


    Youngho and Fatima as a couple were taking pictures in front of famous travel spot as backgrounds. Youngho was scolded by everyone since he was not fond of taking pictures.


    Everyone was exhausted when they returned to Madrid after visiting Toledo and Granada of Spain. The puppy and Yunsuh¡¯s child had made it difficult for them to have a peaceful trip. The tired child had been nagging and crying and the puppy kept having diarrhea as if it ate something wrong. The gang finally decided to cancel the rest of the trip and returned home.


    Youngho and Fatima¡¯s honeymoon had ended t just like that.

 Chapter 123 - The Hotel of Tskhinvali (1)

    <h4>Chapter 123: The Hotel of Tskhinvali (1)</h4>


    Cha Insoo and Kim Ilkwon had visited divostok while Youngho was on his family trip.


    The storage warehouseplex was beingpleted in March, so they went to find out how many security guards were needed for smooth operation of theplex. There were ten warehouse units being built as of now. Things that needed refrigeration or kept warm were usually stored in the warehouses and most of them were high in value.


    If some bad people intended to rob theplex, the owner of theplex had topensate for the whole loss. So, once the warehouse was under operation, the security service would be one of the most important parts of the business.


    Since theplex was located in the outskirt of the city, it could only be protected with a force that equaled to a size of a military troop. Although the security crew that would be assigned to the field was the best-skilled guards, theirnguage ability was always a problem. It was a funny situation where in order to send the security crew for supervising positions, interpreters also needed to be assigned to them. Inevitably, Kim Ilkwon, who could speak Russian, was assigned as the supervisor for the security crew at divostok. The Korean security crew now did not mind Kim Ilkwon as their supervisor since they had gotten much closer.


    He had a lot of volunteers wanting to be assigned in divostok, the reason for that was that Ilkwon would be returning to Baku once the Korean crew couldmunicate fluently in Russian. When Ilkwon leaves, one of the Korean guards would be promoted to the supervising position. Since Ilkwon¡¯s word would be a huge influence for their promotion, they were trying to impress him.


    Since it was pretty weird that Ilkwon had gotten popr among the Korean crew suddenly, Youngho asked Jongil if something happened between them.


    ¡°Jongil, Ilkwon doesn¡¯t even like drinking and getting together with people. What happened?¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re the boss but you have absolutely no idea? Man, you need to hand in your position to me.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Ilkwon has a little sister, you know.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about Sungryung?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because she now eats well and feelsfortable but she¡¯s gotten prettier these days.¡±


    She was a 26-year-olddy who had been through life-threatening tortures and hardships in North Korean political prisoners camp and had sessfully escaped. She was thin as a stick when she first arrived at the farm but recently she had gotten so much lively. It would have been weird if the thirty young men away from their hometown were not interested in her.


    Korean people usually say that women in the North and men in the South are better looking. Sungryung was blooming into a beautiful woman and the change was enough for the young crew to be shaken by her look. They decided to impress Ilkwon first to get to his sister. It seemed that there might be a North-South Korean couple soon on the farm. It was natural for them to be attracted by a woman of their own ethnicity, who spoke their ownnguage, rather than a foreigner.


    ***


    Katyained that Youngho never visited Tskhinvali anymore. She did not have a second thought about Youngho since she already knew that he was now married. In case she had affection for him, he had invited her to his wedding and although she could not make it because of the retailer shop business, she congratted him wholeheartedly.


    As Youngho left for his family trip, he asked Jongil if he could visit South Ossetia but his response shocked him.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯d be the father for Rena? I know you can¡¯t visit there often but you need to visit there once in a few months. Also, I have experiences with girls. Katya is on top of your level, she won¡¯t try to make a move on you, so you don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He was showing off his experiences with girls but Youngho had nothing to say since it was true that Jongil knew about women more than he did.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go together.¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m very much beloved by Karajan these days since I don¡¯t go on business trips now. Are you trying to take that away from me?¡±


    Although Jongil was saying this, he could not hide his excitement. Since Karajan¡¯s mother was staying in his house to take care of the baby, there had been a lot of inconvenience for him.


    ¡°Man, this is what freedom feels like. I love going on a trip!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know what you¡¯re talking about. You haven¡¯t even been married for a month. You¡¯ll know how it really feels like once you hit your anniversary.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s face was stern as if he had had enlightenment. As the two waited for the ne to Moscow at Baku¡¯s airport, they were having coffee. Youngho remembered Fatima¡¯s disappointed face when he told her that he was going to Russia. She was having dreamy days because Youngho had been affectionate toward her ever since the honeymoon trip. She could not stop him since he told her that it was a business trip but instead, she let him go after a heated night.


    ¡°I know why you were bent over backwards to follow me on this trip.¡±


    ¡°Hey, when did I bend over backwards? I just followed you because I worried about you.¡±


    The two shared the same mind as they were enjoying the freedom away from all their responsibilities. If someone had stopped them there, it would have been his funeral day.


    Youngho had realized again that Tskhinvali was not a ce to live especially in the winter.


    It took a full day to get to Roki Tunnel crossing the Caucasus Mountain Range, and they spent another day after crossing the tunnel to get down from the mountain. It was all possible because Russian soldiers had removed snow diligently.


    There was no airport in South Ossetia, so if the mountain roads were blocked by nature, the region could not help but to be isted from the rest of the world. He was amazed by the ancestors who decided to settle down in a ce like this.


    It was evening when they arrived at the old hotel in Tskhinvali. Youngho called Katya to let her know that he arrived at the hotel and to tell her to meet the next day. She agreed since she knew how much trouble he went through driving on the rough roads. Because of the weather conditions in the winter, the delivery trucks did not work during the winter time. So, all of the daily necessities at Katya¡¯s retail store was stored busily from the spring through the fall period.


    Even Jongil, who was usually not easily scared, held the handle in the passenger¡¯s side too strongly that his arm was hurting at the end of the drive. Although they had put chains around the tires and drove down the mountain at a slow speed, it was still scary that Youngho almost wetted his pants.


    ***


    For the first time, Youngho and Jongil did not drink at all for the business trip but slept soundly in their hotel room. After driving on the deadly road for hours, they were so exhausted.


    The next day, at hotel¡¯s caf¨¦ in the lobby, the two had a rxing brunch and was now drinking coffee. The hotel¡¯s many guests peeked at the two as if they had never seen Asians in the area, but as soon as Katya entered the lobby, their eyes were all on her. Despite the eerie weather and atmosphere, the whole hotel was brightened by Katya¡¯s morous appearance. She had brought Rena with her.


    Rena, who had found Youngho, ran into his arms, calling him ¡®papa¡¯. It was a situation where anybody would mistake Youngho as Rena¡¯s dad who just returned to Tskhinvali from a long trip. Katya also gave him a big hug, which did not really help out with the situation.


    There would be no men in the small town who did not know about beautiful Katya. She must have had enough from guys who tried to impress her. After she had opened the retailer shop for daily necessities, sharp and scary-looking Russian men increased around her, and one day her mom and daughter moved to Tskhinvali. It was rumored that an Asian man was the father and people finally found out who that was.


    Youngho realized that Katya had intended the scene for them to look like a family. He knew that Katya was suspicious since she did not hurry toe and see themst night upon their arrival. Youngho also joined the y. It was because he saw a few cocky men at the caf¨¦, sighing after seeing them. If he was going to join her, he decided to really help her by acting even more actively. He hugged Rena and gave her a big doll that he bought as her gift to look like a father and a daughter. All of the people in Tskhinvali would find out about the fatherter of the day.


    After joining the unexpected y, the two went over to Katya¡¯s house.


    Katya¡¯s mother greeted Youngho and Jongil who had not visited them for a long time. Since Rena would not stay away from Youngho, he had to hold her in his arm for the entire time, being a nine-year-old, she did not weigh much to him. Looking at Rena, who had been missing a dad figure, Katya¡¯s mother¡¯s eyes turned watery. Youngho also was sad but there was nothing more he could do for them. Acting as Rena¡¯s dad was something that needed courage but he had epted the role since his existence could give hope and dream to young Rena.


    Although Youngho and Jongil had eaten before, they could not refuse the meal that Katya¡¯s mother had cooked only for them. They were full but they ate all of the food without leaving any leftovers. They tasted great as well.


    Rena, who had disappeared for a while, came back with some friends in town. She wanted to brag about her dad since everyone else had a dad except for her. Since Youngho had brought a lot of school supplies for Rena, he also shared some to her friends.


    Although Tskhinvali was the capital of South Ossetia, school supplies were valuable in here and it made a perfect gift for children growing in here. It was a day for Rena to prove that her dad was alive to her friends, If he had not visited this time, taking even longer before his visit, the three women would have held grudges toward him.


    Although it was a difficult and tiring trip to make, Youngho could act as the father of the family a hundred times if he could help Katya¡¯s family settle down well. It was what it took to share a little happiness to them.


    He had helped the family out ofpassion but it was also satisfying for Youngho to see how well they were doing because of him. He wanted toe more often to see Rena growing into a woman even if Katya refused. He had not been visiting often because he had no idea of how much his existence meant for Rena but his heart was warmed by Rena who seemed to have the whole world in his hands only because of Youngho¡¯s short visit.


    He could not stop her calling him ¡®papa¡¯ now since it would crush her, he could not take that happiness away from her. However, what if Fatima found out about thister? He thought that she would probably understand because she was a kind woman but for now, he wanted to keep it a secret. He did not want to stress her out over this by exposing Katya and Rena now.

 Chapter 124 - The Hotel of Tskhinvali (2)

    <h4>Chapter 124: The Hotel of Tskhinvali (2)</h4>


    ¡°Katya, it doesn¡¯t look like you¡¯ve called only because of Rena. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Phew. Are you really going to act cold this way?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to say anymore because you sound like you¡¯re done here since you¡¯ve seen Rena.¡±


    ¡®What¡¯s up with her that she¡¯s acting all charming?¡¯


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. I was just wondering since you called me in this season where the roads were rough.¡±


    Katyaughed hard as Youngho did not know what to do. Her smile could melt any man¡¯s heart. Youngho took a deep breath to not to be charmed by her smile. It seemed that Katya was enjoying Youngho¡¯s changing reactions.


    ¡°Boss, you said that you want to buy the hotel in the city.¡±


    ¡°I did. I just want to fix it up because it won¡¯t be weird if maggots came out now from that hotel. It¡¯s hard to sleep well in there every time I visit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s now out in the market, do you want to buy the property? Although, I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s within the price range that you can afford.¡±


    Katya had no idea who Youngho really was.


    ¡°People here must not be interested in buying the hotel.¡±


    ¡°They think it¡¯ll cost more for them to fix up the hotel but in my perspective, the hotel is such a historic building in the city. The exterior also looks like quality antique. If you tidy it up a little bit, it would be andmark.¡±


    ¡°The inside is just awful. Everything should be done all over, including the piping work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why they¡¯re selling the property. They can¡¯t afford it.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if he would make money out of the hotel business. Who would visit here where there were neglected burnt thanks to the streets?


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll be enough guests...¡±


    ¡°You also go there because you have no ce to stay. I¡¯ve been watching the hotel and the floors above the second floor were always lightened.¡±


    It looked like she had been watching it for a long time.


    ¡°And I think I can invest some too because someone contacted me to sell the business rights for the retailer store.¡±


    ¡°That person is not afraid of mafias who provide supplies?¡±


    ¡°When I told him about mafias of Volgograd, he said he could trust them. Mr. Sergey also told me he would provide supplies for him if his boss agreed.¡±


    Youngho had not been talking to Sergeytely because he was busy preparing for his wedding. He saw him at the wedding but he did not have time to speak about businesses.


    As he found out previously, Katya had great analytical skills. She did not miss Youngho¡¯s passing word about buying the hotel property and she called him when the property was out in the market, so he could see it for himself.


    The inside of the hotel was terrible but the exterior was great. If auxiliary facilities and individual rooms were remodeled, the ce seemed that it could be a mid-level hotel.


    The building had six stories and a hundred rooms. The first floor had a lobby, caf¨¦, reception hall, cafeteria, bar, souvenir shop, fitness center, and a sauna facility. The only things that were operating now were the caf¨¦ and the cafeteria and the rest of the facilities were just nominal. The rooms were designed in an old-fashioned way that it was huge that it could even be a suite room but it was divided into a bedroom and a living room. The exterior was made out of rocks magnificently but because of its age, it was stained and wrecked.


    Although there were so many things to be fixed, as Katya said, it would be a greatndmark and a quality hotel once it was remodeled.


    The owner had decided to sell the property since the guests were decreasing and he could not afford to fix it.


    What Katya said about investing was that in case Youngho did not have enough money, she would sell the business rights for the retailer shop and pay some part for the property. She had also studied the hotel¡¯s profit system, the average upancy of the rooms was 40-50% and she was confident that Youngho would make profits once the subsidiary facilities operated well. She also said that if remodeled, he could even raise the price of each room.


    The hotel was like a symbol for Tskhinvali that even Georgia excluded the hotel when they bombarded the city of Tskhinvali. There were other small hotels in Tskhinvali but their conditions were even worse than this hotel. It did not take long before Youngho decided to buy the hotel property.


    ***


    The acquisition of the hotel was a smooth sailing. Youngho and Katya agreed not to sell the retailer shop because if the new owner was only after money, it was highly likely that he would not provide the daily necessities to remote Georgian towns. The prior reason for opening the retailer shop was to supply daily necessities to poor Georgians in remote towns in South Ossetia and this was the reason that Youngho could open a warehouse retailer store in Tbilisi, Georgia since Georgians favored Youngho who had been helping Georgians in South Ossetia. Not to mention, selling the business rights was not a lot of money for Youngho, so he hired a sales agent and let Katya take the management role.


    The major factor that made Youngho move was that the property included 710,000 sq. ft. of thend and 4,270,000 sq. ft. of the hilly site behind the hotel. He was interested in the hugend and 350,000 dors seemed like a usible price for the entire property, although it was an astronomical amount of money based on South Ossetia¡¯s economic barometer. He was thinking that he could expand the hotel if South Ossetia develops more in the future.


    There were more reasons to buying the hotel property, Youngho wanted to manage the hotel in Tskhinvali as an experiment and if he has sess with it, he nned on buying out old hotels around Swiss and Austria. He had seen old hotels when he traveled around Europe. He also trusted Katya¡¯s analytic judgment, if she was hopeful of the hotel¡¯s future sess, she was probably right. Thest reason for his decision was that he wanted to provide a secure living environment, he would be building a beautiful guest house next to the remodeled hotel for Katya¡¯s family.


    Although he was inexperienced managing a hotel, he did not worry too much since the hotel was already well-known in Tskhinvali. Most of the people who traveled to South Ossetia from overseas stayed in this hotel. There were no attractions around the city, so if he made a great facility for people to enjoy, it seemed like it would attract a lot of people. He assigned Katya as the manager of the hotel and promised her 10% of thepany¡¯s share, although the hotel¡¯s profit would not be a lot in here, it was more of a symbolic gesture. Knowing what Youngho had in mind, Katya was grateful. She understood that he had invested for this business trusting her and out of love for Rena. Rather trying to make money out of the business, he thought it would be okay if he did not lose money and if he had somewhere to stay whenever he visited the town.


    Because of the process of buying out hotel property, he stayed two more days than he had expected before leaving Tskhinvali. The gang had stayed at Katya¡¯s house after meeting her since she insisted. The Russian he learned from Kim Ilkwon was very helpful when he talked to Rena, so he went to sledding with Rena and spent more time with her.


    Rena did not know how to call Jongil, so she started calling him ¡®papa¡¯ too, which stunned Jongil. He unexpectedly had be a partner in crime with Youngho. Although it was poor of Jongil, Youngho thought that it was better since he would have excuses even when Fatima finds out about Rena.


    ***


    Instead of going straight to Baku from Moscow, he flew to Frankfurt to visit the European chapter. It was because he wanted to let Cha Insoo off the hook from the CIA. Insoo¡¯s did not have a huge role as a field agent and he recently he had been busy with the securitypany. Youngho thought that it would not be a matter even if he resigned. However, he knew that the European chapter would not want to let go of an agent that was trained as a human weapon. Another reason was that the CIA had thought that Cha Insoo could guard an influential figure and that could make him a resource for high-level information. Youngho had no more reasons to reject Michael anymore since he offered to amodate all of his needs.


    ¡°Chief, if Cha Insoo gets paid without having any role, I might get punished after you leave here. I¡¯m just worried about that.¡±


    ¡°Your team consists of special and unique people. Easily said, since your team is a special case, you can have one or two field agents at my discretion.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t matter who gets my seat after I¡¯m gone, he¡¯ll only focus on umting achievements. What team would cover the entire Caucasus regions and gather such quality information like yours?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like when my team doesn¡¯t perform well enough, it won¡¯t matter if I leave the organization.¡±


    ¡°If your team doesn¡¯t perform well, that would fall under my responsibility since I¡¯m the one who did not encourage your team. The achievements you¡¯ve had won¡¯t go anywhere.¡±


    ¡°I was lucky too. Not everything was achieved because of my abilities.¡±


    ¡°It was your ability that made a chance into an achievement.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t wish to work for the chapter without you. I¡¯m not a social person either.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about leaving soon, aren¡¯t you? Look, I don¡¯t wish to go back to my home country before I retire.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I wanted to, but I don¡¯t think I can handle the political pressure and I¡¯m also looking forward to doing more information businesses with you in the future.¡±


    He meant that he wanted to make more money using Youngho¡¯s outstanding information strength.


    ¡°Alright then. So the chapter wouldn¡¯t mind if I assign Cha Insoo agent anywhere I wanted.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t even have that much free time to care about every move of the field agents under you.¡±


    This was an advantage of a field agent that did not work at the chapter. Since Youngho was allowed flexibility for agents under him, he could put Cha Insoo anywhere he wanted. In fact, Cha Insoo needed to stay in divostok regardless of the work of the CIA, and that was why Youngho hade to get permission to release him from the agency.


    The security service work of the storage warehouse in divostok was huge pressure for him because high-end electronics would be stored in there. Since the electronics could not be neglected at the container harbor in the cold, most of the imported goods would be sent to storage units after a certain period. Although each electronic would be stored only for a month or two, robbers would be targeting theplex once they found out what was being stored. Especially in Russia, robbers would gather in groups and often use firearms, and there would be frequent life-threatening idents. Also, they drove trucks to stores and raided them, so if not cautious, all of the stored goods would be lost and employees would get injured as well. Theplex would make a good spot for the robbers.


    He only wished that everything would be fine but in order to prevent the robberies, he needed to show that the security was tight. That was why at least for the beginning of the business, he would be assigning arge group of security guards more than needed.

 Chapter 125 - Pioneers of Vladivostok (1)

    <h4>Chapter 125: Pioneers of divostok (1)</h4>


    ¡°Youngho, what do you think about taking the weapons in the basement to divostok?¡±


    At Insoo¡¯s sudden suggestion, Youngho was dumbfounded. He was not sure why he wanted to take those heavy firearms.


    ¡°Dude! You¡¯re not going to war. Why do you want to take rocketunchers and AK rifles?¡±


    ¡°I heard something when I was in divostok. People were saying that robbers were as systematic and strong as militia. I don¡¯t think pistols and shotguns will be enough.¡±


    Youngho had only thought about making money from the storage warehouse business, but he had not thought about frantic robbers like bandits in the Far East. They were known to move around in groups and rob food depots from remote towns in an instant. The fact that something like that was still happening in the twenty-first century was unbelievable. It was because the public order could not be maintained since the barren region was too vast.


    Because the police force was too weak, the Russian Army of the Far East regions was protecting thend, but the robbers, who appeared briefly and then vanished, were still troublesome. They rode horses in the past to rob people, but now that they were driving trucks, they had gotten much faster and even more troublesome.


    The problem was that it was not easy to ship out weapons.


    As for AK rifles, they could be disassembled into pieces but nothing could be done to hide the rocketunchers. Besides, the farm also needed to have some weapons at hand in case of danger.


    The only way to deal with this was to buy weapons from the local ck market, but Youngho was not sure if there was any ck market near divostok since it was a rather clean area. Not to mention, it was like goat¡¯s wool if a securitypany was armed with unauthorized weapons. However, at the same time, it was certain that the warehouseplex needed more weapons for protection.


    Right at that moment, Youngho remembered that the Chechen rebels used to buy weapons from the Russian Army. He thought it would be faster if he contacted the army residing in the Far East regions. Although they might not be selling heavy firearms, they could be selling weapons of sizes equal to AK rifles. The security guards should look like they were armed with shotguns only, but they should also be armed with pistols, rifles, and even grenades on the inside.


    Youngho ordered arge number of CCTVs and security rm systems from a Korean security system seller. The security n for the warehouseplex involved having the peripheral regions guarded through cutting-edge unmanned security systems and having three guards to a team stationed at each guard post.


    Youngho was not too worried about the robbers¡¯ raids because they could not be so reckless as to invade theplex where arge number of security guards were at watch. However, it would not be a minus if theplex was prepared for the worst.


    If it was another¡¯s business, he would try to raise the service cost, but it was where Youngho also invested in shares. Since the management of the warehouse operation and security service was Youngho¡¯s responsibility, he needed to reduce expenses from his part.


    The management of the warehouse operation was not a big deal.


    Once good word about the storage warehouse¡¯s facility and security was spread to people, there would be increased customers who would entrust their goods to them. All he needed to do was manage the goods being stored and released, which meant that he could operate the warehouse with several facility engineers and office staffs.


    ***


    Zeynep Security Service Company had be so busy because of the warehouseplex business.


    Many of the security guards including Cha Insoo and Kim Ilkwon were sent to divostok. There were still a lot of things to be done such as hiring more local security guards, engineers, technicians, and office staffs. Because theplex had facilities for employees such as lodging, cafeteria, and a resting area, the warehouse system could be operated once there were enough employees for each category.


    The warehouse would be operated around the clock by about fifty employees in total.


    divostok had be a world-famous city since APEC* in 2012. However, outside of the metropolitan area, the gap between the rich and poor waspletely exposed as the city was still full of substandard residential areas and road conditions.


    Due to themunistic social security system, people did not have the motivation to work, and the productivity barely reached one-fifth of western societies.


    Laborers worked just enough to get paid and businessmen became busy exploiting payments.


    The average monthly sry was not enough for people to sustain a decent living since it was only about $150. The social structure had led to widespread corruption. Soldiers pocketed military supplies andborers stole manufactured goods and spare parts to cover up the scanty cost of living.


    However, in those harsh circumstances, there was a uniquely thriving minority group called Koryo Saram or Koryoin. That was why Cha Insoo and Kim Ilkwon tried to hire local security crewmen from the Koryo Saram.


    While being pushed around, Koryo Saram reimed the barrennd from where they settled and converted it into fertilend, and they also took their ce in mainstream society with high education rates of their children and their unique vitality.


    Because of their independence movement during the Japanese colonial period in Korea, they were forcefully removed from Korea. So they settled down in Russia, even though they were forgotten by the Korean government.


    Insoo and Ilkwon did not only hire them out of sympathy, but it was because Koryoins were diligent workers more than any other ethnic groups.


    Last spring, when Youngho visited divostok, he saw many Koryoins selling vegetables and side dishes in small stores. Back then, he thought that they were living in a poor environment, but that was a huge misunderstanding.


    Koryoins owned small-scale farms and resided in fancy houses in a rich side of the city.


    Their persistent vitality had made them survive in this circumstance. What was even more amazing was that the Koryoins living in Volgograd were now third and fourth generations of Korean immigrants and they could speak both Russian and Korean fluently.


    Because the Korean security crew did not speak Russian, Koryoins were perfect as local guards.


    Some of them had married local people and had different skin colors from Koreans, but they still did not forget the Koreannguage. Moreover, they still kept Korean traditions that had already died out in Korea.


    Hearing about the situations of Volgograd from Insoo, Youngho opened his mouth.


    ¡°Insoo, we should raise the pay scale for Koryoin guards since they¡¯re bilinguals.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was thinking that too. There are also some Central Asians who can speak minoritynguages too, so I¡¯m going to hire some of them.¡±


    ¡°We also need to hire local Russians too.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll pick Russians for office staffs.¡±


    Since the clients were mostly Russians, the warehouse needed white Russian employees so that the clients could approach the business without difort. Recently, there had been incidents of racial discrimination in Russia, and that was why Youngho was hiring native Russians too. Although divostok, located in the Far East region, had more people of Asian descent than white people and racism was rare, but there was still a group of Russians who were white supremacists.


    ***


    Ever since he made the securitypany, Youngho had more things to worry about. Although he was not physically tired, he was more exhausted mentally. Protecting the facility and the employees at the same time was not as easy as it sounded.


    Once the security service had begun, the whole responsibility was brought to hispany. The more the risk factor the higher the security service charge, but that meant that there were more chances of employee injury.


    He had to be on the edge of his seat for fear of someone getting hurt.


    When he first established thepany, he was only d that his farm was now safer and that he could offer a decent job for his juniors from the Navy Special Forces, who had not been treated well by Korean employers. However, the truth was that he could not treat them as easily as other local employees since they meant more to him in many ways.


    Since they were lonely young men living in a foreign country, he had to take care of them individually and help them in getting used to their new lives.


    Most of them were doing well, but a few struggled to get ustomed to the new life.


    They could endure hard physical training better than psychological loneliness. If they could not get through this, they would not be able to make it far. He even once sent the few who were struggling the most to Korea for a break so that they would not be homesick anymore. Now that he had to forcefully lead them since he was short in staff due to the business in divostok, it weighed like a huge burden in his mind.


    ¡°Kim Sangkyung, how do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m feeling better now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me boss. Just call me hyung. Hey, you¡¯ve got to stay strong. Big guys don¡¯t get homesick, okay? Didn¡¯t you have a hard time getting used to the Navy training in the beginning?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I also had a hard time and I cried in secret too. No one is perfect in the beginning. If you can¡¯t adapt to the new life here, you won¡¯t be able to adapt to any life in any ce in the future. Keep holding on. We¡¯re going to divostok tomorrow and I¡¯m taking you with me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You can visit Korea again after staying in divostok for a few days. I already told Cha Insoo about you, so you don¡¯t have to feel uneasy about it. You know, I don¡¯t let go of my man so easily. Although you¡¯re struggling now, I know that you¡¯ll be able to make it eventually. Don¡¯t be discouraged.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you, Boss....¡±


    Youngho hurriedly let him go because he was close to tears, and if he talked more, he seemed that he would burst into a rage of tears.


    Knowing that his words could change Kim Sangkyung¡¯s lifepletely, he encouraged him as much as he could. Instead of browbeating him for his inability, he decided to console him so that he would gain strength to get back up again.


    When Youngho first came overseas, if there had been somebody who gave him a helping hand, he would not have struggled as much as he had. Now, Youngho was holding out his hand for his juniors from the U.D.T. unit. They were only in their beginning stages now.


    He believed that there would be great results for them if they persisted to endure the hardship that they were going through. If they did, they would be able to help other young Koreans struggling to make it in foreign countries.


    It is not easy to endure life in a foreign country alone, where everything is foreign, especially when they were not here for a trip but for living. People might say that a man should endure such hardship but they would never know if they had not spent countless nights wetting their pillows with their own tears.


    Youngho once even wished that tomorrow would not toe, and that was the reason why he deeply understood what his juniors were going through.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, are youing to divostok? Brother Sergey told me you can¡¯te.¡±


    ¡°I rearranged my schedule. I also want to visit divostok since it¡¯s been a long time. When are you nning to leave?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving tomorrow with my employees.¡±


    ¡°Great. Then, we shall meet in divostok.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Have a safe trip, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, Lee. I¡¯m always happy whenever I talk to you on the phone.¡±


    ¡®He¡¯s gotten better at paying lip servicetely.¡¯


    The warehouseplex buildingpletion ceremony would be held in three days in divostok.


    Because of Yaniv¡¯s attendance at the event, high officials also signed up to attend the ceremony. Their goal was to impress him so that he might put a good word about them into Putin¡¯s ears. In Russia, Putin still held the sole authority and power, and there were no officials who were bold enough to ignore that fact. They needed to show their loyalty to Putin in order to survive in the political society. That way, they could maintain their power and take advantage of their power and positions.


    This meant that Youngho also had to get connected with officials and influential figures in divostok for his advantage. Sadly, this was Russia¡¯s reality.


    *APEC ¨C stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a forum held by 21 Pacific Rim member economies.

 Chapter 126 - Pioneers of Vladivostok (2)

    <h4>Chapter 126: Pioneers of divostok (2)</h4>


    ¡°Boss, we installed all of the security cameras and rm systems around the fences and they¡¯ll also be set up around the guard posts by tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Ilkwon, you must¡¯ve heard this from Cha Insoo, but you can¡¯t treat them as North Koreans would do to their underlings. Please take care of them since they¡¯re your assets.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. If the high officials of North Korea really cared about their people, there wouldn¡¯t have been the North Korean famine. There were people who even killed and ate their children, but the authorities did not release the flour rotting away for no reason at all. Most of the local security guards are Koryoins who are our countrymen. I should be looking out after them.¡±


    Youngho repeatedly emphasized that Ilkwon should not treat their employees as harshly as they were treated in North Korea since he could lose his people if Ilkwon pushed them too much, even though they could utilize the security facilities that could guarantee the security.


    That was why all the facilities were built sturdily and functionally.


    The guard posts were built at the level of a bunker for defensive purposes.


    No one would work well in poor quality facilities that were in such cold temperatures that went below between -4 ¡ãF to -22 ¡ãF. They would work most efficiently when they were encouraged by the best work environment.


    Youngho installed the security systems that enabled the control center to contact guard posts immediately when they found a risk factor through monitoring.


    There was nothing to worry about the warehouseplex facility since it was equipped with ultra-modern facilities.


    After the opening ceremony was finished, Yaniv returned to Volgograd and the first clientpleted stocking his goods in the daily necessities storage yesterday. For the next ten days, more goods would be stocked.


    As therge-scale warehouseplex withplete security system was having a grand opening, the business was flooded with clients¡¯ advanced bookings even before it had opened.


    Boasting two ultra-low temperature storage units, refrigerated storage units, three refrigerated units, and five incubator warehouse units, theplex was the secondrgest in divostok.


    Youngho nned to build more units after seeing the amount of stored goodsing in this year. Running a warehouse business was easy if one could afford the construction expenses in the beginning. Although it would not make money overnight, it was going to make a steady amount of money over time.


    This kind of business was necessary in regions with extreme climates, and many global corporations had warehouses in different parts of the world. Since the storage cost was a highponent of the price of manufactured goods, the warehouses were even needed more.


    Sincend deals were not permitted in countries in the Communist Bloc, it was difficult to possess a warehouse. Even if one rented and long-term, he had to face the risk of the warehouse being closed down at any time due to political reasons.


    That was why many shippers preferred entrusting their goods to local warehouse owners. Even if the goods were taken for political reasons, they could hold the owner responsible for their lost items. Of course, the warehouse owner was insured by a world-famous insurancepany.


    The insurancepanies also investigated the backgrounds of their clients before they signed any deal with them. Since they already knew who was behind Youngho and what kind of political connections he had, the insurance rate was inevitable low for him.


    In Youngho¡¯s case, he was paid highly to store goods of world-level corporations. It would be a big problem if the business failed, but as long as he had Yaniv behind him, he was certain that such a time would nevere.


    Youngho could only rx after the warehouse business was settled well, but it did not mean that he was not busy anymore.


    Since he still had to collect information as a CIA agent, he spent his days busily meeting Azerbaijani politicians and high officials with Jongil, but it did not seem like a burden at all because he was used to the work.


    ***


    As spring arrived, Katya contacted Youngho to inform him about the remodeling of Tskhinvali hotel in South Ossetia.


    There was no one who would want to have a mafia group as their enemy.


    The expert¡¯s estimated remodeling cost for theplete renovation was $4,500,000 and $2,000,000 for the partial renovation. Although there were only a hundred rooms in the facility, because of their huge sizes, the cost was more than he had expected.


    Because Youngho did not think that the hotel would be filled with guests even if he did theplete renovation, he ordered the contractor to proceed with the partial renovation.


    There was a reason why the hotel property was cheap.


    Since the hotel had not been repaired for decades, the previous owner could not dare to start repairing. Since the workmen¡¯s wage was cheap and the prices were cheap, the estimated amount was only that much. But if it was in Europe, the price of the property itself would have been higher than 10,000,000 dors.


    Katya, who did not have the repairing cost in mind, was flustered by the shocking amount. She felt guilty that Youngho lost money because of her suggestion.


    ¡°Katya, the cost is still within my budget. You don¡¯t have to be stressed over this.¡±


    ¡°Boss, I expected that it wouldn¡¯t go over half a million dors at most.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the installed pipes and subsidiary facilities are too old. The beds were not in great shape either. The exterior should be fine with just cleaning with high-pressure water since they¡¯re built with rocks.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s such a relief that you already expected this. I¡¯ll work harder to redeem the purchase costs within a year.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Katya. By the way, I already requested an expert architect to design the guest house. You can check the floor ns and you can edit it to your liking because it¡¯s where you and Rena will be living in.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s surprise announcement, Katya suddenly became silent.


    It seemed that she was deeply touched by him.


    ¡°Boss, you don¡¯t need to overdo it. The hotel repair cost is already too much.¡±


    ¡°You need to live close to the hotel if you¡¯re going to manage it. And the environment you¡¯re living in now is not that great either. I¡¯m just building it so that you can focus on managing the hotel.¡±


    ¡°All right, boss. I will work hard for sure.¡±


    ¡°Katya, please don¡¯t feel obligated. The repair and guest house work will bepleted in three months. Until then, please watch over the site.¡±


    Since she did not know Youngho¡¯s mind, it was natural for her to feel obligated by his favor. However, Youngho merely invested such an amount of money since he received two million dors from the recent information business and he still had what was left after sharing the money he received from protecting Eriksson in Chechnya.


    ***


    It would be nice if everything was a sess, but life was not that easy.


    The warehouseplex in divostok, which was in the Far East region, had already had three robbery attempts.


    Youngho received a report that the robbers had retreated after hearing the sirens. Once robbers were caught in security cameras or when the security rms were touched, the sirens would start to blow and the searchlights would turn on at the same time. The fact that robbers attempted to invade theplex thrice despite the rming sirens and searchlights was proof that each attempt was done by different robber groups.


    Another visit from a different group of robbers was well-anticipated.


    If robbers made even more frequent appearances, they needed to use special measures or reinforce the guards.


    Because the robbers were allegedly not armed, they might havee to just test the security. So, Cha Insoo, who was about to return to Baku, postponed his schedule, saying that he woulde back after investigating the cases in depth.


    A few days before the opening ceremony, he heard from Ilkwon that he could buy the old-type rifles and portable rocketunchers from amanding officer in the district of the Far East.


    Youngho only wished that there would be no event where they would have to actually use them.


    Anyway, now that it was certain that the robbers would frequently appear, they needed to tighten the guard.


    He was thankful that the robbers were not too outrageous because at least the Russian Army of the Far East was located not far away from the warehouseplex in divostok.


    Cha Insoo returned from divostok.


    His face was haggard, looking as if he had been stressed out.


    ¡°You look thinner. You must have gone through a lot of hardships.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I was stressed out. I naturally lost some weight because I watched over the boundary area every day.¡±


    ¡°Is the reinforcement of the wire fence finished?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s done as good as the level of the ceasefire line. And you don¡¯t have to worry since the rms were set even more densely now.¡±


    Cha Insooplimented the Koryoins who were hired as guards recently, saying that they were diligent and cooperative.


    Koryoin women usually did handicraft manufacturing and sold goods in the market for a living, but it was difficult for many young men to get hired by Russianpanies even with their college diploma. The unemployment rate was high even among Russians and people of minority groups had even fewer chances for employment.


    Even though their parents had worked hard so that they could be educated in college, they were not able to find decent jobs and they were still lucky to get hired as security guards at theplex although the job was irrelevant from their majors.


    Since Zeynep Security Service hired people who spoke Korean, Russians were excluded from the start. Koryoins were the only who could apply for the job.


    Although it was a simple position of a security guard, most of the young Koryoins were college graduates. Youngho had mixed emotions toward them.


    In Korea, the situation was quite simr since the unemployment rate was getting higher and higher by the day, but Russia¡¯s situation was even worse. So, many young people lived off working part-time jobs. If they did not even have that, they would drink up vodka and get drawn to the dark world in order to survive.


    There even were quite a lot of Koryoins who worked in Volgograd under the Southern mafia boss, Yaniv.


    The fact that robbers were crowding in indicated that young people were either struggling to make living expenses, or they needed money for entertainment.


    Since the warehouseplex in Volgograd needed simpleborers to store goods in storage units, Youngho wanted to hire more Koryoins to relieve the stress of their hard lives.


    The Korean ancestors who immigrated to the Maritime Province did not settle down in this cold and vast ce because they wanted to. They could not help living in the Maritime Province and became sacrifices in Stalin¡¯s mass transfer policy, being forcefully scattered to different parts of Central Asia but they still came through.


    determined to die. However, as the former Soviet Union fell, the different ethnic groups in Central Asia broke away and the Koryoins became a nuisance to any nation, having nowhere to go.


    It was their diligence and high education rate that enabled them to survive in different republics.


    Many of the Koryoins who could not find their ce in the republics gathered back in the Maritime Province for it was where their ancestors settled down, but they could not even find jobs to live on.


    Althoughte, someone like Youngho, a sessful Korean businessman, should take care of his own countrymen and help them with their struggles.


    It was proven through history that independence fighters in North Manchuria and the Maritime Province yed a huge role in Korea¡¯s release from Japanese oppression, although the major reason was Japan¡¯s defeat in the Pacific War. Well, it would be hardly necessary to argue semantics now since past was past.


    Youngho, as a mere individual businessman, did not mean that he would be making up for his own country¡¯s fault in the past when its government could not look after their people living in foreignnds. However, he only wished to help out his countrymen a little bit.


    He only hired the Koryoins because they were hard workers. If they were known to bezy and cocky as some young Russians, he would not have hired them either.


    When he first designed a business n for the warehouseplex in divostok, he thought about hiring North Korean defectors. However, through dealing with Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family, he realized that it would take more time than he expected for them to restore their sociality since they had been exploited under the North Korean system.


    And that was when he turned to the Koryoins of Russia.


    Although they were rejected by both South and North Korean authorities, they still did not cease to love their home country. Their homnd was North Korea when they were under the Soviet Union, and after the copse of the former Soviet Union, their homnd became South Korea.


    When Youngho went to a traditional market, he was weed by Koryoin merchants. Just because Youngho was their countryman, they greeted him with warm hearts. He could only take care of them because he remembered their favor.

 Chapter 127 - Pioneers of Vladivostok (3)

    <h4>Chapter 127: Pioneers of divostok (3)</h4>


    Youngho received Michael¡¯s call when he just finished visiting District 7 and was getting off a ferry.


    ¡°Lee, there had been arge-scale battle between Chechen rebels and Russian border securities. I checked through the satellite and it looks like heavy firearms were used. Did you know anything about this?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The ck Widows of Chechnya now made a connection with the IS armed forces, the CIA had already given up supporting the terrorist group. However, the rebel force, the ck Eagle in the Caucasus Mountain Range, was a group who were only fighting for the independence of Chechnya from Russia, and the CIA had supported them by providing supplies. Youngho had now stopped supporting them as it was almost impossible to deliver supplies through Georgia without their cooperation, and since they could buy their own supplies and arms from the money that they made from exchanging gold bars with Youngho. Even though he did not have a connection with them anymore, he wished that their legacy could be kept on.


    ¡°Chief, this is something new. I haven¡¯t been able to grasp their recent moves.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? They fought so boisterously and that¡¯s how I found out about it.¡±


    ¡°Are you wondering why the rebels were scattered?¡±


    ¡°No, not that. Our maind is not really interested in Chechen rebels. Instead, the information agency is wondering about the rebels. I just wanted to see if they had contacted you too.¡±


    Something must have been going on with the Chechen rebels, or else Michael would not have called Youngho to ask about the situation.


    ¡°I think you should just tell the truth since we¡¯re not involved in this.¡±


    ¡°I already did. You should also stay back when Eriksson contacts you, alright?¡±


    ¡°I got you. I also don¡¯t want to be rted to the Chechen rebels.¡±


    ¡°Very well. It was reported that the rebels are now getting involved with terrorist groups because they lost their ground from the recent battle, there¡¯s a high chance that they might be our adversary. In this case, we should rid of all the past evidence rted to them.¡±


    Youngho felt a prick at his conscience when Michael mentioned ¡®past evidence.¡¯


    ¡°I understand what you mean.¡±


    Youngho was not interested in finding out about the rebels anymore although if Eriksson asked for his help, he could have inquired about them in secret through Yaniv¡¯s connections.


    It might have been Eriksson¡¯s regard to Youngho for not contacting him about this since he made it clear that he did not want to get involved with Chechnya anymorest time he saw Eriksson. Money was one thing, but he had concluded that it was a waste of time trying tomunicate with the extreme terrorist group. They were now just a mad group of people who were incapable ofmunication. He never wanted to go on a mission to extort information from a terrorist group even at the request of the information agency. He felt like that their indiscriminate terror attacks were going to make Youngho to act extremely.


    To buy additional grape seedlings, Youngho had nned on visiting Istanbul in a long time but Mustafa held him back, so he had to order them by a phone call.


    Mustafa had kept him away from Istanbul because the city had be a target for extreme terrorist groups and there had been spontaneous bombing attacks in downtown. The terrorists were sacrificing innocent civilians meaninglessly just to tell their purpose to the public.


    ***


    A suicide bombing attack was alsounched in Baku. A subgroup of the IS based in Syria hadunched an attack because Azerbaijan was making railroads to Iran in coboration with Russia. It was because Russia had dered war with terrorist groups.


    The safest ce from terrors had been Baku, until now, but it was not a safe zone anymore. Although the police had obtained intelligence beforehand and acted fast to prevent huge damage, Youngho was in a serious shock by the news. It was threatening to think that there were random bombers in the crowded streets of Baku. He was worried because schools were not safe from them either.


    As if the international school knew Youngho¡¯s mind, the school administration requested security service from hispany. He dly epted the job since he was worried about Szechenyi and Zeynep.


    Since ten of the security crew who spoke neither English nor Azerbaijani had been only training in the farm, Youngho assigned five of them at the school immediately. Although the school only had a budget for three security guards, Youngho assigned two more out of his expense.


    The reason that he sent more people to the school was to teach themnguages as they worked in the school, and because there were pretty students at the school, all of the Korean crew wanted to be assigned there.


    After the terror attack in Baku, all of the security guards on their duty wore a bulletproof vest and carried a taser gun and pistol with them at any time. Since the Korean security crew was trained with guns until they were tired of shooting it in Navy Special Forces U.D.T. and they were capable of dealing with terrorists in no time. Youngho also assigned a guard for Fatima.


    Because of the terror attack in Baku, Youngho received continuous security service requests from clients, so he had to recall six guards who were sent additionally to divostok. Theplex was now well settled with local security guards, it was easily operated with five security supervisors. He also recalled Kim Ilkwon because the local Koryoin guards could speak Korean with the Korean security crew.


    Now, there were no safe zones in the whole Europe because of extreme terrorist groups¡¯ spontaneous and random suicidal attacks. Youngho thought Zeynep Farm was the safest ce in Baku but he and his family could not always stay in the farm. Fatima also understood Youngho¡¯s worry, so she refrained from going out to crowded ces of the city.


    Fearing the possibility of hijacking, the European chapter announced the provisional cancetion of the monthly meeting and told all agents to refrain from flying unless it was necessary.


    Youngho pondered upon the recent terrorist attacks and suddenly, he had a realization. There seemed to be a corrtion between the fact that the information agency inquired about the cause of the Chechen rebel¡¯srge-scale battle against Russian border securities through Michael and the recent spontaneous terrorist attacks all over Europe and the Caucasus regions.


    ¡®Something¡¯sing.¡¯


    He concluded that the terrorists might have all grouped together to fight back against the Russian government that had dered to root out all the terrorists. He called Michael again to find out what was going on and Michael confirmed that there would berge-scale bombardment on Russia in near future.


    Since the information agency is an organization that made money from selling information, Youngho figured that the agency must have provided the information already to corporations that would make money or lose money because of the news. It was such an incredible organization. It was run by a small group of people but they could manipte unconfirmed information and have deals with it. He did not know who was behind the group but he knew it must be a group or a person of tremendous power and intelligence.


    ***


    Fatima who just had breakfast did not feel good. She started retching. She had be extra sensitive and tiredtely. Youngho was worried if she had gotten sick, and he wondered why she was not recovering since she had the mystical ring on her finger.


    Youngho let her skip school for the day and called a doctor to check upon her sickness. Unlike in Korea, many family doctors made house calls in Baku and other European regions. Although Fatima said that it was nothing more than some dizziness and nausea, it was worrisome since she had never been sick, even for a small cold.


    Hearing that Fatima was sick, the Yunsuhand Sangchun with his parents also paid a visit to Fatima.


    As the family wasing down the stairs to the living room, they brightly smiled. Thinking it was absurd to act that happy when someone was sick, Youngho was about to say something.


    ¡°Oppa, congrattions.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, congrattions!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Oppa, are you really an adult? How can you not even doubt a little bit for her pregnancy? The doctor will make sure once he sees her, but I¡¯m certain that she¡¯s carrying a baby. You don¡¯t have to worry about her.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Hey! Snap out of it!! Are you okay, oppa?¡±


    Youngho¡¯s head turned nk, all he knew what that he missed Fatima so much. He ran to the second floor immediately.


    Zeynep, who had returned from school, leaped with joy as she found out about the baby. Since she loved babies, it was a natural reaction from her, and Szechenyi¡¯s face turned peculiar since he could not handle too much joy. He hugged Youngho and picked him up and put him down. This was how teenagers congratted each other in Baku these days. Youngho was surprised that Szechenyi had gotten so strong now.


    The news of Fatima¡¯s pregnancy had spread to the farm. Now that she was a mother, she had really be the madam of the farm. As her pregnancy was confirmed by the family doctor, everything needed to be changed for Fatima and her baby¡¯s security. She immediately applied for a leave of absence and did not go outside of the farm anymore to buy groceries or any other things.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon, who was scheduled to return to Baku, was still tied up with warehouse business in divostok. There had been more robbery attempts.


    There was a reason why warehouse business was not active in divostok. It was because no matter how tight the security was, security guards who sided with robbers would pocket stored goods from thepany and the business owners would have topensate for the lost goods to the shippers. Luckily, theplex had hired Koryoins and because they had a special bond of being countrymen, nothing like that happened yet at the warehouseplex. However, there was a possibility that the Koryoins might turn their backs to thepany in the future.


    The robbers moved in small groups and did not have any specific bases. Also, the problem with robbers was that a normal person could turn to being a robber overnight. When local people faced financial difficulties, many people decided to have easy cash by robbing goods from stores and warehouses, this was the reason that ck markets were easy to find. What were sold in the market were usually stolen goods. Since they were sold at cheaper prices than the original, even officials bought goods from there, and the number of robbers was increasing day by day.


    Since this was the reality, people did not try to open warehouse business in divostok. This was something that Youngho and Sergey did not know about when they started the business. Youngho thought that the business would be an automatic sess once the facility was built, but it was a business that everyone else had given up.

 Chapter 128 - Pioneers of Vladivostok (4)

    <h4>Chapter 128: Pioneers of divostok (4)</h4>


    There was sleet at divostok Station. Although it had turned April, the ce was still in winter.


    Instead of flying, Youngho and Jongil were on the Trans-Siberian Railway, a train that crossed Siberia, because there was a chance of hijacking. It took eight days to get to divostok from Baku, which was a shortened duration because the train traveled through Volgograd. Since Youngho brought Jongil with him, obviously they had gone through some random events on the train. Kim Ilkwon, who came to pick them up at the station, was looking exhausted.


    ¡°Boss, hyung, wee.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with your look?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep a bitst night because of the robbers. They wandered around theplex all night.¡±


    Looking closely, his eyes were bloodshot as well. Youngho did not care about losing stored goods but he had emphasized to Ilkwon that the security crew must not be injured in any case. Ilkwon must have been stressed over Youngho¡¯s word since he was the one in charge.


    The warehouseplex was insured and if stored goods get stolen or damaged by robbery or robbery attempts, the insurancepany was required topensate the lost money. This was why Youngho had emphasized that the safety of employees was more important than protecting stored items.


    The fence and the security system around the warehouseplex were close to perfection. Youngho thought that he invested too much to buy the security system but it did not matter since they wouldst semi-permanently at the facility.


    Robbers usually roamed around theplex at dawn. Theplex was located in an empty field and it was impossible for anyone to intrude during daytime and that was why Youngho had assigned most of the security crew for the night shift but everyone was getting tired from the continuous appearance of robbers in the dark. This was what the robbers were aiming. No matter how tight the security was, it could not stay the same forever. They were going to tire out the security crew and raid them once the crew was burned out in exhaustion.


    After Youngho was rmed that the robbers would make noises as if they woulde in at any moment but then would run away in repetition, he thought that the security crew needed another n tobat the sneaky robbers.


    ¡°Ilkwon, we need to revise the whole security system. There¡¯s no need to patrol around during daytime since there are a lot of cars on the road and staffs working. Watching with security cameras is enough for the day. How about rotating the night workers for double shifts?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯ll be more efficient, boss.¡±


    ¡°Would the robberse tonight too?¡±


    ¡°There is a high chance. They¡¯de at night when the weather¡¯s irregr.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s catch some tonight.¡±


    ¡°What? Wouldn¡¯t that be too dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Jongil and I have a n.¡±


    Youngho was going to use the power of the ring. He was confident that he could outrun the robber¡¯s car in the field with the ring and leather shoes. Besides, he could easily subdue a regr man even if he had a gun.


    ***


    The sleet turned to snow as night fell. Youngho, who had gone to sleep early, was watching security monitors since 11 PM. From the camera at the back side of theplex, he spotted a car¡¯s headlight which blinked for a moment and then disappeared. It was a robbers¡¯ car that was approaching to theplex with its light off. Youngho and Jongil stepped out of the monitor room quietly, leaving Ilkwon behind.


    ¡°Youngho, there¡¯s another car at 10 o¡¯clock. They must be a different team.¡±


    There was also another big truck starting its engine, located 300 meters away from the right side of the fence. They were fearless, and because the security guards did note out of the fence and fought back from the inside, they parked their car near the fence trying to make a chance to get in.


    ¡°You take care of that side.¡±


    ¡°Please go easy on them.¡±


    ¡°Why go easy? We need to crash them so others robbers would hear that they¡¯re done for when theye to here.¡±


    Youngho reached the truck in a single bound. As his face appeared suddenly in the dark, three guys inside the truck were appalled in fear. As if the old truck did not even have door locking function, the interior light turned on when Youngho swung the door open like he was going to rip it. The robbers who did not even have masks on but they hastily put their hands into their jackets, but Youngho¡¯s hand was faster. A hairy guy screamed grabbing his chest as Youngho struck him and the guy in the middle seat soon coughed after Youngho¡¯s hand hit his Adam¡¯s apple. The guy on the driver¡¯s seat opened his side of the door and tried to escape running in the field after rolling down his body to get out of the truck but after a few seconds, his body wasid t on the ground after Youngho¡¯s kick struck him. Youngho saw the guy on the ground under the shlight and it looked like he was in mid-twenties.


    From the rear gate, two old trucks were entering theplex. They belonged to the robbers that Youngho and Jongil just captured. Six robbers were tied in a row in a cargo section.


    ¡°Bring all of them to the office.¡±


    The security guards rushed in and pull them out as if they were pieces of luggage. As the robbers were thrown down to the ground, they screamed. Koryoin guards cussed at them and kicked them as they were trying to get up. Since they had been giving the guards a hard time every night, the guards were taking it all out on them. They only stopped when Kim Ilkwon restrained them.


    ***


    All of the robbers who were caught that night were Central Asians aged ranging from the mid-twenties to early-thirties. The six were working as a team. They were the ones who approached theplex from peripheral sides twice or thrice of a week to tire out the security guards. They said that they sometimes met different robber groups near theplex, which meant that there were three or four more robber groups who were after theplex.


    Youngho interrogated them and went to search their hideout in the outskirt of divostok. It was surprising because they had quite a lot of weapons even though they were petty thieves who moved around with two cars and stole foods from remote towns or farms to sell at the ck market.


    They had eight AK rifles and three ammunition boxes. What was shocking the most was that they had two women in their hideout that they had abducted to satisfy their sexual desires and do chores for them. In their storage, there were electronic goods and grains that they had not sold in the market yet.


    After grasping about the robbers, Youngho called the police to arrest them. When the cops arrived, they were not even surprised by the robbers since something like this wasmon in divostok.


    Because the robbers in here oftenmitted murders, they were considered as brutal criminals. Without any trials, they were taken to lumber camps in Siberia.


    Youngho brought the weapons and ammunition found in the robbers¡¯ hideout to use them for the warehouseplex. It would be a waste if he gave them to the police.


    Youngho and Jongil stayed there for a week and captured four groups of robbers in total. It was half size of the robbers who had been aiming to intrude theplex. Not knowing that they had special hidden powers, Kim Ilkwon kept asking how they caught the robbers but Youngho only said that it was Korean Special Forces¡¯ secret skill. Ilkwon did not seem to believe what Youngho was saying but because the two kept capturing robbers, there was no other choice for him but to believe them.


    Other robbers had not shown for the past few days as if they had smelled a rat since theirpetitors kept on disappearing.


    Meanwhile, Youngho had a secret deal with the chief of police of divostok. The security crew was only allowed to use guns only in urgency but he got the permission to use guns for threatening purposes. Since there were too many robbers roaming around targeting theplex, the chief of police allowed firing at the robbers. He had taken into ount the fact that theplex was located in a remote part of divostok where there was not a lot of people, especially in the night, and also Youngho¡¯s little gift of envelope was a key factor for his decision of permitting weapon usage.


    Because there would be no robbers to risk their lives to steal goods from theplex, security work would be a lot easier from now on. It would be also beneficial for the policemen because the security guards would be doing the police¡¯s job by catching robbers and sending them alive to the police department.


    Youngho regretted not dealing with the police department in advance. Since the chief had already tasted money, Youngho now would have to bribe him frequently.


    ***


    ¡°Do you think it makes sense that we can¡¯t fly because we¡¯re afraid of hijacking? I¡¯m already sick even thinking about being on trains for eight days.¡±


    Jongil was tired of the joy from the train trip. It was quite contrastive from his previous train trip where he flirted with Russian girls on the train. Youngho was insisting to travel by train because he had emphasized to Fatima to use train only for traveling. If he went back to Baku on a flight, she would give him an earful about it. Besides, it was true that nes were dangerous in times like this.


    ¡°I¡¯m also sick of trains but you know there are countless crazy people out there. We should travel by train even if you hate it. We¡¯ll have more fun this time because we have Ilkwon. You could empty his pocket on the way.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s eyes sparkled as Youngho suggested ying cards for money with Ilkwon.


    ¡°He¡¯s too smart. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯ll beat both of us?¡±


    Jongil was worried about losing. Youngho thought it would be okay even if Ilkwon beats all of them.


    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll get on the train. Don¡¯t make me repeat this.¡±


    divostok was the beginning point and terminal point of Trans-Siberian Railway. The length of the railway was 5,772 miles long and there were sixty stops between divostok and Moscow. It was a long trip thatsted six nights and seven days. Youngho¡¯spany would be getting off in the middle at Volgograd, so they would be on the train for four days. Now that the warehouseplex could use weapons freely, there were no more huge risk factors for the security crew, so Ilkwon was also joining the trip back to Baku. He was excited to visit home in two months, not knowing that his pocket would be cleaned out by Youngho and Jongil on the train.


    Youngho¡¯spany paid for a four-people private room. Since thepartment had an individual door that can be locked, it was great for traveling families. Because even at night, there was fear of losing valuables, many people preferred staying in two or four-people rooms despite the high price. There were three sses of travel in the Trans-Siberian Railway: six-people public room, four-people private room, and two-people private room. There was of course a dining section, since it was a long-distance train. Park Jongil and Kim Ilkwon bought a bunch of snacks.


    ¡°Hey! Who¡¯d eat all that? There¡¯s a restaurant on the train.¡±


    ¡°Do you only live on meals? What good is the trip if there¡¯s no alcohol?¡±


    Jongil was speaking the truth. When three guys were traveling in a room together, the only things they could do was eating, drinking, and ying cards. Of course, it was fun to watch the scenery outside but the fun onlysted an hour or two. There was no way that they couldst looking out the window for days. Traveling in a trainpartment for days needed a lot of patience. However, on such a boring Trans-Siberian train trip, a fairly exciting event awaited them.

 Chapter 129 - Trans-Siberian Railway (1)

    <h4>Chapter 129: Trans-Siberian Railway (1)</h4>


    Chapter 129: Trans-Siberian Railway (1)


    ¡°Youngho, get up, the train just stopped in somewhere that¡¯s not supposed to. There¡¯s not even an announcement.¡±


    After waking up Youngho who had fallen deep into sleep and started to dress up. He then woke up Ilkwon. If it was a dangerous situation, the ring must have given him a sign but he did not feel anything. Since the lights were on, it did not seem like the train had broken down either.


    ¡°Why are you getting dressed?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go out and see what¡¯s going on. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s weird that the train has stopped in an empty field in the middle of the night?¡±


    The train had set off from Irkutsk Station located below Lake Baikal in the evening and was on its way to Krasnoyarsk Station. It was thepany¡¯s third night on the train.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Some of the passengers had woken up and was sticking their heads out the window to see what was going on although there was nothing to see in the dark except for the train¡¯s lights. Since Youngho¡¯s room was located in the front part of the train and it was close to the engine, the group went upfront but being an old train, the engine was separated by the passenger cars. The group could not find out anything.


    A railroad security officer was trying to talk to lotive engineers on an interphone but he was startled because no one replied to the phone. Looking at the security officer¡¯s face, it was certain that something had gone wrong. There was no way for the two engineers to sleep at the same time. If the train was stopped, it must have been forcefully stopped by someone.


    Youngho introduced the gang as securitypany employees to the security officer and asked if he could search the front of the train. He dly opened the passenger car¡¯s door. After the door was opened, the cold April wind of Lake Baikal rushed in. There was a 1.5-meter gap between the footte and the ground. Many people would find it difficult to get off and to climb back on from the height. Youngho let Ilkwon standby at the door and he jumped off the train with Jongil. It would seem reckless to jump off a train that was staying in an empty field without knowing what was going on but Youngho decided to check for himself since the engine drivers were not responsive.


    If something bad happened, someone on the train also should try to resolve the matter since they could not be stuck in there forever. It did not seem like there were more skilled people on the train than those three. Also, he had in mind that if he resolved an issue here, he could advertise Zeynep Security Service, that its employees resolved the problem for all the passengers.


    ¡°Jongil, I think I see some images of people moving ahead in the engine lotive.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see them.¡±


    Because of the ring¡¯s power, Youngho¡¯s improved vision could see everything as if he was in the daylight but he only said so since he could not say the truth to Jongil. He was told that there were two engineers but there were more people near the engine riding on horses, which was telling him that they were the ones who stopped the train. He had never heard of railroad workers riding on horses to fix railroad, and he only wished that there would be no trouble but he had also heard about train hijacking.


    A few years back, robbers would often put obstacles and fire on the railroad to stop the train and once the train was stopped, they would rob people in the first and second cars of the train. He hoped that this was not the case.


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil did not go straight to the front but went around to slowly approach them and since they were using the leather shoes, no one noticed their subtle and swift moves.


    In front of the train, a wagon was on the railroad with one of its wheel taken out and one on the other side, a brazier¡¯s me was burning brightly. Although the wagon did not seem like it could be an obstacle for the train, the engineers must have stopped the train to see what was going on. The weird thing was that the people around the me did not seem nervous at all. They were smoking cigarettes. Among them, he could see people in the engine driver¡¯s uniform. They were not trying to get rid of the cause of stopping the train but smiling and smoking with the others. It was a funny situation that Youngho had never expected.


    Although it was dark, Youngho and Jongil looked at each other¡¯s eyes and frowned.


    ¡®A sweetheart deal.¡¯


    They nodded at each other. The situation could not be exined in other ways than to think that the engineers and the people who stopped the train were a team working together. If there was an obstacle on the railroad in the dark, the engineers should have called a railroad security officer and receive further directions before or after stopping the train. If in urgency, they could even run over the obstacle especially since there had been robbery cases like this in the past. If the train did not stop, there was no way for intruders to get on a moving train. It all made sense how past robberies had been all a sess. As engineers voluntarily stopped the train, robbers were able to get on the train to rob its passengers. It was such a preposterous situation.


    There was no need to think deeply. He was going to subdue them first. There were eleven people on the opposite side. Youngho and Jongil went around to each side of the group of people sitting down and attacked them fast. With the gun¡¯s handle, Youngho beat them randomly and began to strike them with his hands and feet. The guys who were caught off guard were helpless. A few of them were loading their guns but they soon screamed in pain as Youngho shot them in their thighs using his keen eyesight.


    Although they may have been experienced robbers, they were defenseless against Youngho and Jongil¡¯s skills. They could not possibly be of a match to them who jumped up high with the leather shoes on. It did not take too long until they had subdued everyone. The engineers did not fight back but they were frozen and shaking in fear.


    Hearing the gunfire, Ilkwon jumped off the train and ran to the front. However, when he arrived, the situation was already covered by his two friends. The robbers and engineers had nned on robbing people in the empty field where there was no signal for phone calls and inte. Since there was no way for the passengers to inform the outside of their situation, they would fall in group fear.


    Although the engineers were the most suspicious ones, Youngho pretended that he did not know anything and let them drive the train. The robbers were tied and locked in apartment with the security officer¡¯s help. Soon, the train began to move slowly.


    ***


    Through Kim Ilkwon, who could speak Russian, the gang told the officer about the situation. Youngho told Ilkwon to emphasize that the engineers and the robbers were connected since they stopped the train even though they could have pushed through the wagon on the railroad and moreover, they were smoking and talking with the robbers near the fire.


    Doubting the security officer too, Jongil and Ilkwon stayed the night in thepartment where the robbers were captured. Because Russia was where corruption and graft prevailed, they did not know whom to believe anymore. Youngho also watched the engineers in the driver¡¯s room until they reached a way station and as soon as the train stopped, he took them. Thankfully, at the way station, smartphones worked every now and then and there was also a wired phone. The people who could resolve this situation were neither Russian police nor Russian army. The only people Youngho trusted in Russia were, of course, Yaniv and Sergey. Not to mention, calling them was the most efficient way to resolve the situation since they were directly connected to President Putin.


    When Youngho got off at Volgograd Station, it felt like he hade home. It was because he was used to the scene and also there was a friendly face waiting for him. Sergey smiled nicely as he greeted Youngho and hispany.


    ¡°Shall I spread the word that yourpany specializes in catching robbers and thieves? Or should I say that you guys also take care of the security of Trans-Siberian Railway?¡±


    ¡°Poof, brother. It was just a coincidence that we got to catch them.¡±


    ¡°It was such bad luck that they nned to get on the train where you guys were on. Isn¡¯t that really funny for a coincidence? You guys are destined to be in Russia.¡±


    It was understandable that he thought it that way. Coincidences were happening too much in Russia as if they were following Youngho around. He had a point but the truth was that the world was full of these kinds of event every day. Youngho was only able to deal with those situations more actively than other people since he had the ring and leather shoes.


    ¡°I¡¯m just d that we found out the lotive engineers and the robbers were a team. Because of that, more people will now know about Zeyneppany.¡±


    ¡°Boss is exuberated by this, It¡¯s going to be a bloodbath among Russian officials. President Putin won¡¯t let this pass.¡±


    Sergey did not seem to realize that this was thone of the ills of a Communist Society, not the problem of bureaucratic society. The society was too corrupted; Youngho did not know where to point his finger first, although it was sometimes beneficial since he could also cheat for his advantage.


    At Yaniv¡¯s mansion, there was a banquet waiting for Youngho¡¯spany. Since Zeynep Security Service had resolved the robbery issue at the warehouseplex in divostok and even received permission to use weapons, the business would be a smooth sail from now on. Moreover, Youngho did not spread the word about the incident of Trans-Siberian Railway but quietly let Yaniv know. Yaniv must have beenplimented by President Putin, or maybe such a huge wee was natural for Yaniv.


    Later when the passengers or people mightin about the train robbery but the Russian government would pretend as if nothing happened. From this incident, President Putin¡¯s trust for Yaniv had grown even more, since he was thankful for Yaniv who did not let out the word to the press and cleaned it up spotlessly. If the press had found out, Russia would have been made fun of by the world.


    Train robbery in the twenty-first century? It is unheard of that the engineers of the National Railway teamed up with robbers to rob the whole train. Russia was like awless area, the society was corrupted from the core. It was a great ce for many na?ve Western minded businessmen to starve to death.

 Chapter 130 - Trans-Siberian Railway (2)

    <h4>Chapter 130: Trans-Siberian Railway (2)</h4>


    On Trans-Siberian Railway, burry and robbery weremon daily events. It was rather weird if the train arrived at Moscow without a single burry, but robberies directly rted to engineers were unusual. Those types of events were treated as just a happening by the government and people would never find out the truth. In the same car, making people drunk by suggesting to drink vodka and stealing their belongings when they get too drunk were a lucky case. A few years back, there was even a shocking case that a traveler was stripped off of his clothes and was thrown away through a window of the train.


    The train culture security had improved a lot from the past but it has a long way to go. It was practically impossible to perfectly control the security of the whole nation which territory was bigger than the United States and Chinabined. Sometimes police officers could even be more dangerous than criminals since many were money hungry. There were cases that police officers took people¡¯s passports and did not return them unless given bribes.


    As the gang traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railway, there were many asions that they did not have phone signals because not only a ry station in empty fields were inefficient, but it would be like saying, e everyone, take the device now.¡¯


    It would be a robber¡¯s good preying spot if the device was in a ce where a train could only reach in half a day. Most international travelers were insured and if they lost their belongings they usually im to their insurancepanies since they had tight schedules during the trip. They would not sit and wait in a police office until the robbers were caught.


    People might say that traveling on Trans-Siberian Railway is romantic, but it was a not at all romantic but a disgustful trip for Youngho and his friends. Any room should be dirty and ufortable throughout the trip. Thezy train crew did not even clean the bathrooms well. Renting a two-people room or four-people room was also ufortable if you were stuck with someone who you do not know. Moreover, the trip is the worst if you are stuck with a drunkard from drinking vodka from the beginning of the trip. Unless it was a one or two-day short trip, Trans-Siberian Railway trip was not something to rmend.


    All you could see from the train that runs for days were empty fields, hills, and bald mountains. Although sometimes you could see a grove of birch trees, there was nothing much to see even in the cities where the train stopped before it reached Moscow.


    It was so bad that even Jongil refused to watch beautiful Russian girls and begged to go on a flight. Youngho, who was determined not to travel by airne in fear of hijacking, swore that he would never ride on a long-distance train again. The only fun they had on the trip was ying cards with their bloodshot eyes in an effort to empty each other¡¯s pocket.


    ***


    In Russia, no matter what kind of incident it is but if one was rted to that robbers, he had to go through such troubles. Even though Youngho and his friends were heroes who captured train robbers, it was not like they would be getting rewards for that. If they did not go straight to Yaniv, the gang would have stayed in the police office for several days to write statements.


    At a local police office in Moscow, Youngho was asked how he knew that they were robbers. It was absurd. It seemed that the police officers did not care for catching robbers but med them for not chasing them away and making them work more. An official who came from Moscow even tried to press charges on Youngho¡¯s group for carrying and using weapons. Knowing how authorities would react, Youngho had called Yaniv in advance. If he had naively contacted a local police office, his group would have suffered disadvantage from the incident. The local officers, who did not know that it was directly reported to President Putin, were only busy to reduce the incident. They tried to press charges on Youngho¡¯s group for overreacting and injuring people who only stopped the train but did not rob people. Since Youngho was already used to Russian police officers¡¯ absurdity and how they could be maniptive, he justughed at the situation. Thankfully, when they called Sergey, they were able to get out of there as quick as possible.


    As they were about to leave Volgograd after finishing the police examination, Youngho received a gift from Yaniv. It was his share from the 2014 settlement of the warehouse store in Tbilisi, Georgia, which was 300,000 dors. Having no idea how well the business in Georgia was doing, he was stunned to see the amount. Although it was not muchpared to what he was making from his wine business, it was still a lot for the small size of the business. Owning two stores like that would make a yearly profit of ten million dors easily.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, it¡¯s quite embarrassing to take this money since I didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish. We can only do this business easily because you¡¯re the face of the business. Because of you, we also opened a nightclub there and it¡¯s doing great.¡±


    Yaniv¡¯s had a great momentum since he opened a nightclub in a devout Christian country. Focused on the oil business, Youngho had almost forgotten about the business in Georgia, but it was a pleasant surprise to make such money not knowingly.


    ***


    When Youngho returned to Baku after finishing the problematic twenty five day journey of divostok, he crashed out in his bed as if the ring¡¯s power did not even reach him. It was because he paid too much attention to the big and small events that happened in-between.


    Youngho cussed at the terrorists who made it difficult for them to travel by airnes. Jongil also gritted his teeth, saying that he would crash all of the terrorists searching in Baku.


    ¡°Why do we even have to suffer like this? We spent freaking sixteen days on the train for the round trip. This is such a waste of time.¡±


    Ilkwon replied to Jongil who wasining.


    ¡°Hyung, you¡¯re right. We used too much time on the road. It was a pain to spend days in the small train room. My body itched so badly from not being able to wash so often.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t North Korea send their military advisory group to Africa or Middle Eastern countries to work as instructors for terror groups?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s arrow ofint was now directed to Ilkwon who had nothing to do with this.


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t speak Russian well, I would¡¯ve been deployed in some ce and worked as an instructor. It¡¯s their way to earn foreign currency.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I should stop talking. Sorry that I took it out on you. I just hate terrorists so much.¡±


    Ilkwonforted Jongil as he apologized soon.


    ¡°You¡¯re fine, hyung. It¡¯s the truth of the republic.¡±


    Kim Ilkwon, knowing why North Korea was being criticized by the world now, was being sorry for his nation.


    Youngho sighed thinking about the current situation where people could not dare to go on long-distance business trips due to the extreme terrorist groups. Unlike in the past when they used to bomb important buildings and facilities, they now terrorized random civilians that had nothing to do with politics, with suicide bombing attacks.


    It was taking a risk once any farm family stepped out of Zeynep Farm. Even the tight airport security checks did not work, where else would be safe? With one explosion, trains would be wrecked, so traveling on trains were not safe either. Considering that, Korea was rather a safe ce from terror attacks.


    Because of the current situation of Europe, Yunsuh and Sangchun would now be safer living in Korea than settling down in Europe. At the moment, they did not even step out from the farm territory at all. It was worrisome since Zeynep Farm¡¯s direct wine store should be opened in Austria or Denmark by this fall as nned.


    ***


    At the moment, terrors were still happening frequently in Istanbul, Turkey. Fatima, who was watching TV news after supper, looked at Youngho with worried eyes. It seemed that she wanted to say something.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Oppa, It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t know about whates with your work but I hope you don¡¯t go on business trips overseas for a while. I can¡¯t even sleep from the day before you go on a trip.¡±


    It was understandable why she was worried so much. On TV, every little or big terror attacks and incidents all over Europe was broadcasted every day and that made everyone feel daunted. It was even suspicious that what terrorists were after was this, to make people fear them. Terrorists did notmit great deals like the 9/11 attacks but they were driving cars to run over people or crashing into buildings andunched suicide bombing attacks in ces like a nightclub. Because of those little terrors, the economy was shrinking as well. People did not dare to go to crowded ces l such asrge malls and markets. They also stayed away from traveling overseas, those countries in Southeastern Europe who were living off tourism revenues suffered financially.


    The CIA informed local agents the profiles of terrorists in different countries so that they would be of help to arrest terrorists. Because Youngho also received information from the European chapter and slipped the information to Sevan, Baku was still being safe from further terror attacks. All local agents received the CIA¡¯smand to stand by in their location. It seemed that there may be a deadly mission for field agents to fight against terrorist groups and everyone was being nervous. Even though they could save their lives with bulletproof vests, it would still be impossible for them to protect themselves from bombing.


    The obvious cause of the recent frequent terrors in this year was that Russia, France, and Turkey were all fighting against the nations or republics that were sheltering extreme terrorist groups. However, Youngho suspected a different cause for the terrors. He pondered upon who would be the ones making profits from terrors.


    Since the oil price fluctuation was obvious, all the oil-producing countries wereunching preemptive strikes to the terrorists, it did not seem like that people would make money with oil crude prices. It would not have any effects on port traffic since terrors attacks were onlyunched on drnds. Arms industry corporations would not make much money since it was not arge scale war which consumes leading-edge weapons. He felt such frustration. It did not seem normal for extreme terrorist groups since they were even endangering themselves, there had to be something other than the obvious reasons but he could not put his finger on it.

 Chapter 131 - The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (1)

    <h4>Chapter 131: The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (1)</h4>


    Youngho called someone who could clear up his confused mind.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, this is Lee Youngho.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, what a pleasant surprise to receive a call from you. In my experience, when information resources call me first, they usually bring me the good news. Am I right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not calling to give you information but I¡¯m calling to confirm information.¡±


    ¡°You know there¡¯s a cost if you want to confirm any information from us.¡±


    Eriksson talked about money first. Youngho flinched at Eriksson¡¯s reaction because he had called him thinking that he could take advantage of his connection with him. He had forgotten about the information agency¡¯s basis.


    ¡°What if I share what I know with you?¡±


    ¡°Then that makes a different story. We can conclude to exchange our information.¡±


    Although the agency waspletely after money only, Eriksson was fairly easy-going.


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to be straight-forward, I just have a doubt in the current situation of terror attacks. I¡¯m assuming that there is a powerful de facto behind terrorist groups or maybe each head of the groups had made an ally but I can¡¯t figure it out by myself.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, no one ever doubted that before but how did youe to such a conclusion?¡±


    ¡°Well, it seems like a tactic of the terrorists, since there are no major attacks but there are spontaneous small-scale attacks beingunched all around Europe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed again by your intelligence. I now know why you were picked as an information source for our agency.¡±


    Hispliment was ttering enough, although he must be sugar coating it.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking again, it¡¯s impossible for terrorist groups with limited funds to exert their power this much. Isn¡¯t that obvious that there is a power behind this?¡±


    ¡°That was what we¡¯ve been investigating upon. I can¡¯t tell you about all spections our agency is making from different perspectives but I can tell you my opinion on it if you¡¯d like to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Very well. If you do, I¡¯m sure I can help you in some way.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll just think of it as the payment for saving my life in Chechnya.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Eriksson spoke so calmly for a person who escaped from life-threatening danger. It was quite contrastive from agent Philip, who said he would payback Youngho¡¯s favor for the rest of his life. Maybe Eriksson was being confident since his agency paid Youngho for saving his life. After a short pause, Eriksson suggested ridiculous spection.


    ¡°I think that the US Federal Reserve Bank is behind all this.¡±


    Eriksson¡¯s response was a preposterous nonsense.


    ¡®Why on earth would the US Federal Reserve Bank terrorize Europe?¡¯


    The Federal Reserve Bank is the central bank of the United States, which has control of the US dor supply. Although it was an organization made of private banks, it had to go through the board of directors¡¯ vote of the Federal Reserve Systems to make decisions of major mary policies. Why would they be supporting the back of terrorist groups?


    ¡°What kind of nonsense is that?¡±


    ¡°In my perspective, it makes sense. Isn¡¯t it true that Jewish capitalists started the World Wars? You¡¯d know that the Reserve Bank¡¯s board of director¡¯s current chairman is a Jew. Wouldn¡¯t it be a reasonable guess if the board made extreme decision tobat the weakening of dors anymore?¡±


    His voice was shaking as if he held a grudge on the Federal Reserve Bank. What if the Federal Reserve Bank troubled by the continuation of weak US dor, was stirring up the world to fluctuate oil price and hold back Europe¡¯s economic growth by decreasing tourism revenues caused due to terror attacks? It was a usible story. It would be an opportunity to reverse the weakening of dor against strong euro. Even when 9/11 was also suffering by many conspiracy theories, there was nothing Youngho could say to oppose Eriksson¡¯s theory.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to consider this conversation as it did not happen.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you should. People like us who live off doing information business should have that kind of an attitude in order to survive in this industry for long. We¡¯re just messengers, not the driving force of such events.¡±


    Through the conversation with Eriksson, Youngho realized something big, that there were things in the world that should be overlooked.


    ***


    Youngho was stunned to hear that an organization with untouchable power and authority was controlling the whole world. In this world, there is more to it than meets the eye. He could not say anything to Eriksson¡¯s usation that Jewish capitalists were behind World War I and II.


    Historically speaking, the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Empire¡¯s sessor Archduke Franz Ferdinand¡¯s assassination in Sarajevo by a Yugov Ist was the reason for the First World War. It did not seem that Eriksson, who was a middleman of the information agency, to speak of such nonsense that could turn the history upside down. World War II was known as caused by Hitler¡¯s madness. However, another reason was more realistically believed by many people, that the war broke out to contain the Rothschild family who had been in great power over the whole Europe for more than a century after the Napoleonic Wars. At the time, the family¡¯s economic and political power was so great that it was hard to find any European countries that did not have debts to the Rothschild family. It was also a historical truth that in order to trash the bonds that the family had, politicians around Europe spread the conspiracy that Jewish people were trying to control the whole world, which caused the oppression of Jews.


    Ironically, the Rothschild family had risen in Frankfurt, Germany. Moreover, Youngho was intrigued by the family since the family was the only group that had Baku of the Caspian Sea oil field exploration license in the 19th Century.


    How good a family is enough to dominate the railway industries of Germany and Russia and issue bonds for each country? Although the family had been almost destroyed by Nazi, they fled to the States and to Great Britain and during the Second World War, the family financed Britain¡¯s funds and yed a major role in establishing Israel in the Middle East now.


    Now, the family was as a mega financial corporation that could control the world finance. Eriksson had emphasized ¡®Jewish capitalist.¡¯ The Wall Street was also dominated by Jewish funds. If the power of a single family was that enormous, the family¡¯s glory in the past was unimaginable.


    The Western world harassed by terror attacks and people¡¯s hatred over terrorists were rapidly growing. If this continued, the Western world and the supporting countries of extreme terrorist groups could be up in arms against each other. Would not that be a beginning point for another World War?


    ***


    Mega global corporations were not subject to a certain country now. Not being under the authority of a nation, they now were subordinate to certain families. A capitalist family like the Rothschild would try to resolve political issues with their money. Of course, they would control world financial markets. Global corporations that made weapons for mass destruction would sell their arms if they could make money, not discriminating its buyers. If political leaders, who armed their forces with those kinds of weapons, made decisions out of their misjudgments, the world would soon turn into a war ce. Imagining this, Youngho decided that he should prepare for the most extreme scenario. Although it was his own conclusion, he was certain that there would be events that would put the world into turmoil.


    Paper currency such as dors and euro would be considered as trash in such situations. All that could be worth of money would be gold bars and raw materials. He would have plenty of oil since he was directly connected to Yaniv. He thought that if he could buy out cobalt, iron, or copper mines, which weremonly spread in Azerbaijan, at cheap prices now, he would not have to envy the Rothschild family some day.


    How would he find mines that had effective minerals? The answer lied in the ring¡¯s power. Youngho¡¯s senses were developing at a tremendous rate. If he could sense a certain mineral, he would be able to sense its existence in abandoned mines as well. It would be best if he could find a gold mine.


    Since Youngho had been spending a lot of time in his study meditating ever since he returned from divostok, it was Jongil and Insoo who got busy with work. Jongil had to get along with Baku¡¯s officials to collect information for the CIA. Also, because of Karajan who stayed home taking care of her baby, he needed to look after the Chunho Merchant direct clothing store¡¯s management and its retailing business.


    Insoo, as well, busily managed the securitypany by going around to check the work environment for thepany¡¯s security crew and supporting their needs. Trusting his friends¡¯ abilities, Youngho focused on meditating, expecting if he could reach the ring¡¯s full potential as done in fantasy novels but nothing new had happened yet. However, he was feeling that as his mediation time lengthened, his head was clearer and focus was keener. Heid different types of minerals and tried to see if he felt anything special but all his efforts were in vain. Thinking that his greed was overtaking his mind, he kept on meditating only.


    ***


    Ever since Fatima got pregnant, Yunsuh and Sangchun had moved into the mansion to live with the family. It was because Sangchun¡¯s parents insisted that Fatima should not be tired out by being in charge of big and small chores of the mansion. The quiet mansion had now turned lively due to the puppy and Yunsuh¡¯s little son. Believing themon saying that it was good for expecting women to see babies and little children around, she let Fatima have more time with Yunsuh¡¯s son. Fatima¡¯s face had gotten even brighter with that pregnancy glow and she made Youngho want her more but since she never let him near her, all he could do was to meditate alone at nights.


    On a night of full moon, Youngho and Fatima went out to take a night walk alone. The trees had recently yielded fruit and the fresh scent of grapes in the night breeze was tickling Youngho¡¯s nose.


    ¡°Oppa, ever since I began to take a walk with you at night, I sleep well.¡±


    In the beginning stage of her pregnancy, she suffered from not being able to sleep but now, the mother and the baby were both healthy.


    ¡°You got pregnant in the best season. The grape scents make your head clear.¡±


    Fatima took Youngho¡¯s arm and began to hum softly to herself. When she hums, it meant that she was in a great mood. Youngho was d that he suggested taking a walk for an hour every night. Indeed, her pregnancy had taken ce in the blessed time. Her due was at the end of October, which was the time right after the cultivation season would be over. When the baby is born, Fatima would have the whole farm¡¯s care and attention.


    Youngho was a little bit worried to make a pregnant woman insecure but since he needed to let her know about the current situations, he carefully opened his mouth.


    ¡°Fatima, there will be events that will agitate the whole world soon, and there might be a war too. I just want you to stay strong even if things get worse. When I made the securitypany, there were many reasons but I also wanted to tighten the farm¡¯s security.¡±


    Youngho emphasized that the farm would be safe no matter what.


    ¡°...¡±


    Not saying anything back, she only grabbed his arm tighter. She did not seem to be shocked by the news.


    ¡°Luckily, Baku is a world-famous treasure of natural resources and many powerful nations hold each other in check to prevent abusing the resources. Here can be safer than other European countries.¡±


    Fatima who had been listening to Youngho¡¯s words silently finally opened her mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be here protecting the ce. I know we¡¯ll be safe here because of you. Who would touch an agent¡¯s family? Don¡¯t worry about me and the farm and just do your best for your work.¡±


    The CIA¡¯s investment and regard for its core agents were tremendous. Of course, the families of the agents were benefited by the CIA. It was guided in the CIA¡¯s manual that in urgency, the families of agents and ambassadors were escorted to safe zones and if that was not possible, they would be taking shelter in aircraft carriers floating above the water. It might not seem like a big deal but with this system, the US encouraged all agents to focus on their work, risking their lives for dangerous missions.


    Youngho also envied this kind of regard for core members of the CIA, since he was not a core member of the CIA. However, he was sure that he could safely evacuate his family with the power of the ring and the shoes.

 Chapter 132 - The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (2)

    <h4>Chapter 132: The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (2)</h4>


    Youngho who rarely went out to downtown, came to me Towers dragging Jongil whoined to be busy, since he had a lunch meeting with Kamal, the head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was because Youngho could not take Ilkwon because being a North Korean defector, he could not be exposed to North Korean representatives.


    The representative department of North Korea was ufortable towards Youngho. The Western world spected North Korea to be one of the supporters of the terrorist groups and there was a political rumor that the representative department would be soon dismissed from Azerbaijan.


    The reason that the Azerbaijani government was reacting this way to the North Korean representatives even when Germany and Great Britain granted their existence, was because of Youngho¡¯s influence. Youngho always provided great information to Sevan whenever he came back from CIA monthly meetings in Frankfurt. Without his news, Sevan might have to retire even before bing the chief of Main Police Department.


    ording to Youngho, the North Korean representatives allegedly brought illegal drugs to Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani government did not have much business with North Korea. Since the scale of trade between Azerbaijan and South Korea had been growing, there were many South Korean corporations making their forays in Azerbaijan. If the North Korean representatives were being an obstacle to this, it was not a hard decision for the government to cut them off from the country.


    To President Aliyev, who invested most of the oil funds for infrastructures and the country¡¯s economic growth, South Korea was much more attractive than keeping the rtionship with North Korea.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I was surprised to hear from you since you are so busy with your businesses.¡±


    ¡°I wish I have ten bodies so I can meet you more often, Mr. Kamal. I just wanted to have lunch with you.¡±


    Youngho and Kamal were pretty close although not close as Youngho and Sevan. Since Kamal was making more money from the Sumqayit clothing store, which he was partnering with Youngho, he lookedfortable.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m going to treat you today Mr. Lee. I feel embarrassed since it was I who¡¯s been treated by you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to choose expensive menu since you¡¯re buying.¡±


    They chatted for a short while and sat down at the table. During lunch, they talked about terror attacks and politics and when the dessert came out, Youngho cut to the chase.


    ¡°Mr. Kamal, I know that in Northwestern Caucasus Mountain Range from Baku, there are several neglected mines like gold mine, copper mine, and cobalt mine. Are they still being managed by the government?¡±


    ¡°Those are all open-cast mines and we don¡¯t need to manage them. They¡¯ve been neglected for more than a decade and I heard that the region had turned into grasnds.¡±


    Being the chief of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he quickly understood why Youngho was mentioning the region.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy out the region and develop a farm.¡±


    Kamal narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice.


    ¡°Since those mines¡¯ economic feasibility is low, the production was stopped but there is quite a lot of minerals that were still buried in there. The government is still managing it in case we run out of resources.¡±


    Although he said that the government was managing the region, it was being treated as a wastnd but Youngho could not say anymore since it meant that the country was saving it for its descendants.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that I can¡¯t have it.¡±


    Youngho was going to give up buying the site and he was about to turn the subject to a long-term rental.


    ¡°Ahem. Why would you be so hasty to give up? I might be able to find other ways if you tell me why you chose that region when there are plenty of sites perfect for farming.¡±


    Kamal sounded like that there was a way for Youngho to buy the region. Maybe he was going to be a broker for the deal. Whatever it was, it did not matter to Youngho as long as he could buy the region.


    ¡°Well, there must be a way then.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯ve got plenty of mines and it¡¯s a pain to count all of them in the list for management.¡±


    It seemed that because ofzy officials, mines that should be managed in a long time of period were disappearing.


    ***


    After a few days, Kamal contacted Youngho toe to the government quarter. He must have found a way for Youngho to buy abandoned mines.


    Youngho went over there and saw Kamal who was dressed up since it was an official meeting.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, let¡¯s go to the conference room and talk to other rted officials.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for a huge wee.¡±


    In the wide conference room, there were six high officials sitting. To each official, Youngho gave Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine gift set and gift cards that he had prepared in advance. In Azerbaijan, even if in a government building, it was not a w to receive or give gifts. Rather, it served as a soft medium for conversation, it was conventional that well-off businessmen to bring gifts. The Azerbaijani officials under socialist government usually were proud to receive gifts from someone like Youngho, who was an influential businessman who frequently met President Aliyev.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, even if there are no mineral resources, leasing or sellingnd is a very sensitive issue. Of course, you have a permanent resident card and a domestic corporation.¡±


    Another official added,


    ¡°As you¡¯d know, there might also be public resist if we sell a mining site to a foreigner.¡±


    Instead of speaking about the point, they were talking about typical theories. Youngho decided to give what they wanted.


    ¡°It sounds like I have to get Azerbaijani citizenship.¡±


    All of the officials¡¯ faces brightened as Youngho mentioned their point first.


    ¡°Our country is one of the few Imic countries that allow dual citizenship. The fact that you are not subject to a specific religion would work for your advantage.¡±


    Youngho pretended to be thinking for a while. Although the mines were closed, if the government assigned and full of mineral resources to a foreigner, the opposition party would not let it go easily. Especially, in a time like this when the opposition party street-protested to stop the prolonged one-man rule with young people¡¯s lead.


    There were no other conditions. There would be absolutely no problem if Youngho acquired the Azerbaijani citizenship. From the officials¡¯ words, Youngho felt the notion that the government wanted him to stay. Since he was a sessful businessman who was acquainted with the president, Youngho was admired by officials.


    At first, he began to donate schrships for children of police families and he expanded his donation to war widows and orphans sincest year. Although he made contributions in quiet, the rumor was spread in the small society. Not only he was huge since he coborated with South Russian mafia boss but he also owned the greatest grape farm in Azerbaijan. His wines were also famous in Russia that Azerbaijan was earning foreign currency through him.


    At the time, when the Korean wave was hitting Azerbaijan hard that the government sent a hundred officials to Korea to learn advanced civil service system, it would have a symbolic meaning if Youngho became an Azerbaijani citizen.


    Moreover, he was a businessman who provided marvelous and exclusive information to the government. Because his existence was so beneficial to the country¡¯s development, it was natural that the government wanted to keep him in the country.


    ***


    Youngho received a gold mine that had been worked for more than two hundred years, that no more veins of gold could be found from there, and a copper strip mine that was excavated by the Soviet Union for a hundred years.


    The reason that he received a seemingly useless gold mine and copper mine was that he insisted to receive a good cobalt mine, saying that other mines would be used as farming purposes. When he insisted to get the cobalt mine, the Azerbaijani government thought that was suspicious and had a subsurface investigation over the region. As a result, they found that there was still a lot of cobalt buried in the mine.


    Eventually, the cobalt mine was taken out of the sales since the government found out that the mine was productive if a modernized facility was installed. Anyhow, as Youngho had nned, he bought a gold mine and copper mine at a very cheap price, it was all possible because he decided to acquire Azerbaijani citizenship. Of course, Jongil and Insoo also became Azerbaijani citizens since they were inseparably rted.


    There was a reason that Youngho wanted old mines that had been excavated for centuries.In the old literature that he found in France, it said that the whole area of Baku had abundant fire and gold piled up like a mountain in the time of the Persian Empire. How could the people of old times without any advanced devices know that there was buried gold? They would have guessed from estimating the dust gold underneath rivers. Also, Baku became a central city of the Silk Road because it produced gold. Then, there should be more to the mines than as they seem to be.


    Miners in the past used to give up old mines that had a risk of being copsed because they could dig another mine to excavate gold. Since the site Youngho bought had dozens of such mines, he was hopeful that he would get something eventually.


    He was going to repair the old mines to find veins of gold. The strip copper mine would be used as a farm site to distract others¡¯ eyes.


    Thinking that there would be big turmoil in the world soon, he had decided to dig up resources and became a citizen of Azerbaijan overnight. It did not mean that he gave up Korean citizenship. He nned to return to his homnd in time but for now, he wanted to make more money.


    ***


    ¡°Lee, why are you so busy these days that I can¡¯t get ahold of you?¡±


    ¡®What¡¯s wrong with this man? Did his wife take it out all on his this morning? I report him about my work all the time.¡¯


    ¡°Chief, you sound like you¡¯re stressed.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no single piece of good news these days. I wish I could see you, Lee. I only have a bunch of morons in here.¡±


    Youngho could guess what he meant. ming his underlings meant that they did not resolve things as Michael had directed. He wanted to ask a favor for Youngho but there was not enough justification since Youngho would have to leave his team¡¯s territory.


    ¡°Chief, don¡¯t beat around the bush. I¡¯ve been working under you for a while. I can see through your mind.¡±


    ¡°Well, Humph. Since you found out like a demon, I¡¯m going to be frank. Can youe to Frankfurt?¡±


    ¡°The other day you said I shouldn¡¯t fly. How can I make it there?¡±


    ¡°If there are hijackers, you can subdue them and fly here.¡±


    He must have been under a lot of pressure since he was insisting with a stupid reason.


    ¡°It sounds like I can travel by flight from now on. Hmmm, but you haven¡¯t forgotten what you said about not paying travel expenses for flying?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you hear that you speak too much these days?¡±


    ¡°Phew, okay, I¡¯ll stop it now. Should Ie alone?¡±


    ¡°Come with agent Park Jongil. It¡¯d be great if you can bring agent Cha Insoo but someone has to stay in Baku.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll listen to the full story in Frankfurt.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I like how you don¡¯t make an unnecessary remark.¡±


    Although Michael did not say much about why he was calling them, Youngho knew where this was heading. Since he also mentioned Cha Insoo, the answer was only one, he must be sending them to somewhere for a mission.

 Chapter 133 - The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (3)

    <h4>Chapter 133: The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (3)</h4>


    ¡°Man, he¡¯s such a funny guy. Didn¡¯t he say that all of the agents would be submitted to a disciplinarymittee if we travel by flight?¡±


    Makingints, Jongil¡¯s face was bright, excited for a mission in a long time.


    ¡°He also wanted me to bring Insoo. I don¡¯t know what the assignment is all about but you¡¯d be suggested to be a regr agent. What¡¯re you going to do about it?¡±


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s there to think? The temporary field agent and the regr agent all belong to the CIA. I¡¯d rather be a regr and be treated properly.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be easy to step out of it in the future.¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t ept our resignation, we¡¯ve got to do something big to make trouble.¡±


    Looking at Jongil¡¯s mischievous eyes, Youngho was reminded that he was not one to have a serious discussion with.


    ¡°Phew, why bother talking to you.¡±


    The two were chatting as they waited for the boarding time for their flight. The security check was so strict that they witnessed people who arrived at the airportte missing their flights. Since the two did not carry many things, it did not take long for them to pass the security check. If terrorists could pass through this tight security, there must be someone inside helping them.


    Especially, Baku Airport was rejecting all passengers from other Imic countries and was being criticized in the Imic world. Since the country¡¯s economy did not depend on tourism revenue, Azerbaijan could make such decision and it did not budge to such criticisms. Knowing that many young people from other Imic world had be terrorists, Azerbaijan was determined to deny all of their boardings. Since President Aliyev was an authoritative leader who had been in control for a long time, he could make such an order.


    Since the government also imed to receive only Turks whom the Turkish government held responsible, the tension between the two nations was growing even though the two were brotherly countries. Ifmon Turks wanted toe to Azerbaijan, they had to get on a ship.


    ***


    When Youngho stepped in at the CIA chapter building in Frankfurt, it was a madhouse in the chapter. Office staffs ran hastily to different directions and he saw some agents he knew who were gathered. It seemed that all agents in Europe were gathered for this assignment. He did not know what it was but it seemed to be big.


    Jongil friendly talked with other agents but it looked like other agents also had no idea.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they have any idea.¡±


    ¡°Since Michael did not mention anything to a branch head like me, it should be a top secret. The CIA is now a pandemonium, I bet the conversations we¡¯d have in here today will be retold in the hostile countries tonight.¡±


    Even though they were not double agents, the agents would slip unimportant information to hostile countries for different purposes but there had been cases that they were won over to the other side, so people were saving their words. That was why, often times, the core operation was briefed when agents arrived at the field.


    When Youngho and Jongil were drinking coffee at a waiting room, agent Philip called Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, Chief is looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Philip! Where have you been? I¡¯ve been looking around but I didn¡¯t see you.¡±


    ¡°I have a friend in themunication department but I was rejected at the door. This must be a big one.¡±


    Since Philip graduated from the CIA University, which was an educational institute of the CIA, he had a lot more connections than Youngho did. However, even he was rejected by his old friend. It seemed that all agents would be hearing about the operation when they reached the mission field.


    ¡°Chief. You wanted to see me?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you should¡¯vee to find me when you arrived. You made me search for you.¡±


    ¡®He didn¡¯t say anything abouting to see him. Judging by his personality, if I hade in a bad time, I would¡¯ve gotten an earful from him.¡¯


    Grumbling in his mind, Youngho looked around Michael¡¯s room. Documents were scattered on his desk and some were even on the floor. As he reached out his hand to pick up a document from the floor, Michael stopped him with his hand and pointed to a conference desk. It seemed that he was about to tell Youngho about the operation. On the desk, there was a map of different cities, there were O¡¯s and X¡¯s marked on different locations.


    ¡°Are these locations of expected future terror attacks?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s question, Michael suddenly looked up at him, with a strange face. He seemed to be surprised that Youngho guessed it right. Youngho shrugged and exined.


    ¡°The chapter wouldn¡¯t be so hectic if it wasn¡¯t for terror attacks. Aren¡¯t those maps sent by the headquarters?¡±


    Michael now looked at Youngho, with an opened mouth.


    ¡°How did you know? Who told you that?¡±


    He was astounded as if he was going to interrogate Youngho.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious that now the terrorists are ready to have a major attack afterunching little spontaneous attacks all over Europe? If I were the mastermind behind them, I¡¯d do the same. I¡¯m frustrated since I don¡¯t know who the mastermind is though...¡±


    Momentster, Youngho who was sipping on a cup of coffee in a rxed manner in the Chief¡¯s room and Michael who had a face of a new employee who came his boss to get a paper signed were having a conversation alone.


    ¡°Hey, Lee. Tell me. You¡¯re keener than others. If we can resolve this one well, I can even be the Director of the headquarters.¡±


    ¡°If you leave to be the director, what would that make me? Should I quit everything in Baku and follow you around?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be the second-inmand.¡±


    ¡°Chief, please stop lying. How will I be in that position? I¡¯ll be shot dead in no time as soon as I step in there full of Americans.¡±


    ¡°Those jealous talentless morons. I¡¯ll cut them off, don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    Michael, again was mentioning the talent and jealousy. Since Michael and Youngho shared private secrets as they did information business together, they could talk to each otherfortably, making jokes and sometimes criticizing each other. Youngho and Michael¡¯s secretary were probably the only ones in the European chapter who could fend off Michael¡¯s scolding. That was why Youngho could act brazen-facedly in front of him.


    ¡°Chief, you¡¯d already know this but with what money would terrorists attack spontaneously together? The information you received from the headquarters also seems to indicate to be cautious rather than to act upon it. Otherwise, why on earth they can¡¯t pick locations of terror attacks when they know that the attacks will happen.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°They must have a good reason for not being able to inform us about that. Personally, I¡¯m opposed to this operation.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, huh?!¡±


    Perplexed by Youngho¡¯s opposing view, Michael yelled.


    ¡°Even if our agents were deployed to expected attack locations, they won¡¯t be able to stop the terror and many might get injured. That will also put you in a bad position.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m trusting your sense. Stop speaking nonsense and pick the locations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it will help me think when you keep insisting.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut up. You need toe up with the best possible location before going back to the hotel, or you can stay here all night.¡±


    Since the two trusted each other, they could have this kind of conversation. Michael still insisted that Youngho would pick a spot but his spirit was not as strong before. Although he did not care to be the director of the CIA headquarters, he hated it being dishonored as a former military man. If he loses his agents through this operation, he would leave a blemish on his career. To Michael, who was waiting for his retirement since he was getting close to his sixties, it would be like a bold out of the blue. That was why he was grilling Youngho.


    ***


    The terror expected locations received from the headquarters were Frankfurt where Youngho was at, Berlin, Paris, and Istanbul. Youngho first exclude Istanbul, since it had been a major city of terror attacks. The ce was protected with full police forces and terrorists would not make a huge impact in there. He also crossed out Paris because it had been exposed to several terror attacks recently, that the city was thoroughly checking each travellers and as they tightened the security. The rest were Berlin and Frankfurt and it seemed that Frankfurt would be the best ce to attract the world¡¯s attention. When Younghonded at Frankfurt Airport, he had a feeling that the security was somewhat loose, so the city had the perfect condition for terrorists to make their move. Especially, the CIA¡¯s European chapter was in the city, nobody would guess that terrorists would dare tounch attacks in here but that might be the tricky point.


    Because Frankfurt was the center of Germany¡¯s economy, the terrorists would make the most impact when they attacked the city. Youngho, who had been beating his brain until the evening, went into Michael¡¯s room. As Youngho appeared, Michael called the heads of the information team and analysis team as well.


    ¡°...For these reasons, I think Frankfurt would be the most convincing ce for terror attacks. We need to tighten the security in the airport and also for the sites of automobile exhibition and trade fair.¡±


    ¡°That was great, Lee.¡±


    The meetingsted for one hour and Michael finally smiled at the end. The other two team leaders also looked satisfied. Michael immediately ordered through the interphone for his secretary to contact the chief of the German Police Department, and Youngho could finally return to his hotel room. As soon as he took a shower, he fell asleep as if he was dead. Until Jongil woke him up in the morning to have breakfast, Youngho slept for nine hours straight. Since he used all of his energy in the chapter, he had been mentally exhausted.


    ¡°Why do you sleep so long? Are you getting sick?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I was mentally tormented by Michael yesterday. Did you see his face? His cheeks were sunken in. Let¡¯s finish eating and go to the trade fair.¡±


    ¡°Are you out of your mind? We need to wait for the next order. Where would you go when the chapter is in chaos?¡±


    ¡°That is where we¡¯ll be working today. Tomorrow, we¡¯ll be going to the automobile exhibition fair.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, grandpa Michael had be finally insane.¡±


    Since Michael¡¯s daughter had a child, he was right. However, if he heard what Jongil just said, it would be better for Jongil to just resign and quietly go home. Michael hated being called a grandpa, he even told his grandson that he shouldn¡¯t call him his grandpa but his name.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t mention that in front of Michael even as a joke.¡±


    ¡°Man! That¡¯s great. We can finally resign. We should tell everyone that Michael is a grandpa.¡±


    ¡°Forget about our resignation. What if he gets a heart attack or sudden increase in blood pressure? You think I put up with him with other reasons? He grabs the back of his neck whenever he¡¯s stressed and my heart falls when I see that.¡±


    ¡°But he likes you so much. It¡¯s like he¡¯s looking at his own son.¡±


    ¡°Man, who said I want to be his son? I can only put up with him since I see him once in a while. Look at the staffs in the chapter. They try their best to avoid him.¡±


    ¡°Phew, anyway you should be a subject of study.¡±


    ¡°Who are you talking about? You are the same.¡±


    ¡°Why do you mention me? I¡¯ve been good and quiet ever since I got here.¡±


    Although Youngho was making jokes with Jongil, his head was full of worry since he had concluded that there would be a major terror attack in Frankfurt.


    With the help of German police officers, Youngho learned and searched the weak spots of the fairground. Since he had advanced senses, he was going to find out ticking bombs by hearing but he gave up after trying for two hours. He realized that no one would use such old-fashioned bombing device now. They¡¯d use detonator to set off the bomb, although in reverse, terrorists might use old-fashioned bombs because there were jammers that could disturb electronic signals.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you feel any physical change after putting on the ring?¡±


    ¡°Nope. I don¡¯t feel anything except that I sleep better and digest foods better.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re helpless.¡±


    As Youngho expected, the ring was useless for such insensitive persons like Jongil.


    ¡°What? Does the ring show you anything?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel anything like improvement in vision or hearing?¡±


    ¡°Whoa, the ring must have all sorts of functions.¡±


    ¡°Man! It¡¯s useless for you. Just give it back to Zeynep.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re taking it away now? I¡¯ll give it backter. I can¡¯t give it away since right now, I need to protect you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think that I¡¯m the one who¡¯s protecting you?¡±


    Jongil smirked at Youngho¡¯s remark, he looked Youngho as if he was being absurd.


    ¡°Wait, does that mean your senses had been improved a lot? Is that so?¡±


    ¡°Remember how far we were at the Siberian train from the engine. I told you I saw some images of people but I could see everything.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you did. I thought you saw a phantom.¡±


    ¡°My senses began to develop as I started meditating. I just wanted to know if you also felt any changes.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The terrorists might not use detonators because of the jammers. Then, they might be using time bombs and I wanted to find out with my senses.¡±


    ¡°Will they give up suicide bombing attacks?¡±


    ¡°Well, for that, we can only trust German officers. If they do security checks well, that can stop primary terrors but if the terrorists have installed devices in here beforehand, there is no other way to find them but to search for them. Let¡¯s try!¡±


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s like the Blind men and an elephant.¡±

 Chapter 134 - The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (4)

    <h4>Chapter 134: The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (4)</h4>


    Although Youngho wanted to say something about the de facto power of terrorist groups, he was hesitant to tell Michael. Being a former military man, he was a patriotic person and Youngho did not wish to confuse him with unconfirmed information.


    Michael was a typical middle-ss white man who was hot-blooded. It would be asking too much for him to handle his country¡¯s injustice. He would fight Youngho if he had to and abandon his honor to protect his country¡¯s honor. Although if it was not rted to his country¡¯s benefits, he did not hesitate to sell information to the information agency. Anyway, Youngho was not sure what kind of disadvantages would fall on him if he shared Eriksson¡¯s opinion with Michael. There was a possibility that the CIA might also be involved in this.


    Youngho only wished Edward was near him.Although he was relegated to Panama, he was like a savior who helped Youngho settle down in the CIA. It would not be a lie to say that he could only make this far because of Edward. Youngho picked up a public phone near the trade fair site and dialed Edward¡¯s cell phone number. He did not pick up even though the bell was ringing. When he did not pick up at the second time, Youngho called him for thest time and Edward finally picked up sounding as if he had just woken up.


    ¡°I thought you won¡¯t ever pick up. Were you surprised by the strange number?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you in sleep. How are you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been long. What made you call at this hour? Is there a problem?¡±


    Surprised by his call, Edward¡¯s tone was raised.


    ¡°I¡¯m visiting the European chapter and I just wanted to hear from you. I haven¡¯t been keeping in touch and I felt sorry for that.¡±


    ¡°Well, between men, it¡¯s a lot if you talk once in several months.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m less burdened if you say so. How are things?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been great. I¡¯ve been entertaining myself looking at Panama beauties.¡±


    Edward¡¯s voice was clearer now that he was fully awake.


    ¡°If there¡¯s no one around you, I¡¯d like to discuss something with you.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you using a public phone? Will you have enough time to talk?¡±


    Youngho who had just put down the phone felt better now. Edward sympathized with many of Youngho¡¯s guess and advised him for what to watch out for. When he said not to trust anybody in the CIA, Youngho asked about Michael. Because he said Michael was trustworthy, Youngho felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. Edward was a second-generation Armenian American immigrant who was raised in the States and had studied in the States but he considered Armenia as his own country.


    What Youngho asked for Edward¡¯s advice was about Eriksson¡¯s spection that the mastermind of the recent terrorist attacks might be Jewish capitalists. Edward, who was an elite agent who graduated from the CIA university as agent Philip, gave basic advice but it was enough to calm Youngho¡¯s mind. He said that ¡®information starts on the basis of conjecture, and at times, agents should be able to doubt anyone even if it the president of the United States.¡¯ He emphasized not to act upon spection without any positive evidence and not to look at the works of nations or big organizations with an ethical standard. If Youngho waited quietly, he would soon see who¡¯s involved to what extent. Saying that, pretending to be ignorant was beneficial in the long run for an agent, he added that if Youngho found out unspeakable information, he should rather try to make mary gain. Therefore, Michael¡¯s involvement in the information business was not so hical. Knowing where Youngho was from, Edward¡¯s had given the best advice to him.


    ***


    It was only Eriksson¡¯s opinion that the Federal Reserve Bank was behind current terror attacks. Youngho was just shocked realizing that an unexpected organization could be the driving force that was stirring the world. When did the world move normally?


    When the oil prices fell, OPEC tried to cut oil production, and the resistance of the Western world to tame them and the Imic countries on the verge of national overthrow always paralleled. If it was all a conspiracy that the bad cycle continues, where it all ends up with Imic hardliners¡¯ terror attacks, the world was a such a funny stage for y.


    The current events were not something new since we all live in the world full of conspiracies. No matter what, it is true that we live in a world where money is everything.


    The world had been quiet or loud depending on wealthy countries¡¯ ethical standards and how they used their money.


    Whether it was a conspiracy or not, the countries that had been attacked by terrorists would have to take revenge on them. They would not save some missiles since they needed to calm the public opinions in order to maintain their government power. The local warfare would inevitably take ce, and Youngho would only survive when he sees everything in the eyes of a businessman, not the ones of an agent. There were multiple meanings to Edward¡¯s advice to expand his funding sources.


    If one bes a mega-corporation that was not subject to a certain nation, nobody could touch that person. Since Youngho was neither an elite agent that went to the CIA University nor a US citizen, Edward had suggested to stop dreaming of a high position in the CIA but make money to survive.


    When Edward first met Youngho, he said that he was a US CIA¡¯s agent but he was the second generation of an Armenian immigrant. This meant that he knew the limits of his origin, and he was showing his will to help his Armenian people with the power of an agent. He also never looked back as he was being relegated to an unimportant role. It was because he did his best to help his people.


    As he was leaving to Panama, Edward had asked Youngho to secretly help Armenians if possible. He had be an agent with a goal to help out his people and Youngho had be an agent for his business purpose.


    Then, Youngho¡¯s path was only one.


    ¡°Where have you been?¡±


    ¡°I was just a little frustrated, I talked with Edward.¡±


    ¡°What kind of advice can a person in Panama give now? Anyway, how¡¯s Edward?¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯s enjoying Panama beauties.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s eyes sparkled at Youngho¡¯s mention of ¡®beauties¡¯.


    ¡°I heard that there were many beautiful women in the Central and Southern America. Man, that must be true. Didn¡¯t he say anything about inviting us?¡±


    ¡°What? Should I just assign you there? Agents in Central and Southern America do a lot of lobbying just toe to Europe.¡±


    ¡°Dude!¡±


    Ignoring Jongil¡¯s yelling, Youngho dragged him back to the basement of the trade fair site.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, it¡¯s Lee Youngho.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honored to hear from you so often.¡±


    Eriksson answered the phone in the same rxed manner as before.


    ¡°I felt like I should pay you back for your opinion.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t wee to an agreement by exchanging information with each other?¡±


    ¡°You can take care of that to your liking. I just think I owe you that much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll listen carefully. Please go on.¡±


    ¡°A major terrorist attack is expected in Frankfurt. German police and experts have been mobilized now, but the results are unpredictable.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I just want to let you know that it¡¯s something new for us.¡±


    He spoke in a business tone but it was neat.


    There was unprecedented tension in downtown Frankfurt. Every vehicle entering the main facilities were passed only after being searched to the bottom of the car and in the streets, armed special police force was patrolling around in groups of two or three.


    Youngho and Jongil, who had looked around the trade fair site, were now at the site of automobile exhibition fair. Although the German police¡¯s bomb disposal unit had already swept the scene, Youngho and Jongil were sent to search around representing the CIA. Since the two were not explosive experts, it was impossible to find bombs. It was rather a perfunctory visit but the German police officers weed the two as if they were experts since they were sent by the CIA.


    The estimated time of terrorist attacks was in three to five days from now.


    The automobile exhibition fair was held every two years. The fair that was supposed to be heldst September was being held in this May due to industry¡¯s circumstances. Since the opening day and the next day were the most convincing days for attacks, Youngho also paid attention to the exhibition site. Of course, all of the officers and rted people had the same idea and searched the site thoroughly.


    Although Youngho¡¯s team and other officers investigated for hours, nobody found any strange object. Jongil who was chewing a bad hamburger which he had bought from a near fast food store, spoke to Youngho.


    ¡°Youngho, doesn¡¯t it seem like everybody knows about the potential terrorist attack in here?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think any stupid terrorist groups could have guessed this situation?¡±


    Jongil had a point. What if it was the terrorists¡¯ scheme to turn everyone¡¯s attention in this way andunched their attack in some other ce?


    ¡°Are you saying that it¡¯s going to take ce in somewhere else other than Frankfurt?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯d be effective if they attacked here. There will be so many people crowding in for the automobile exhibition fair, from automobilepany owners and rted business people. Including the airport, train stations, and fair site, there are tons of ces in here where people could gather.¡±


    ¡°You know police is checking people in big hotels and malls where there¡¯s going to be a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s going to be possible to check all of the people?¡±


    Jongil had been irritating Youngho with his words.


    ¡°Stop saying about the problems. So, what are you suggesting?¡±


    ¡°You know, if the attack will take ce anyway, we should spread the word that this ce is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Man, do you think the German government will tell people to not visit here? It¡¯s like advertising that the country is defenseless against terrorist attack, and what good would be these events if there were no visitors?¡±


    The German government was in a dilemma that they have to keep going on with their national events knowing that there would be terrorist attacks.


    ***


    Without any fruit, the automobile exhibition fair day arrived. All of the facility was concluded to be explosive-free. The most worrisome things left were attacks using a driving car and a suicide bombing attack by individuals. The only way to prevent those was to not to have cars at the fair and checking all the peopleing in. If there was even a little suspicion, people were searched. Of course, there were so manyints by people and the VIPs were disgusted by Germany¡¯s treatment of them. Although lives were at risk, people could not be patient for the immediate inconvenience. Because people¡¯sints continued, the officers who were in charge of security check, acted passively and defensively. Looking at their behaviors, intelligence experts nervously began the countdown for the attack.


    The incident happened at night. There was a little explosion in a caf¨¦ in front of Romer city hall, and it was followed by the explosion of a cruise ship at a dock of the Main River. In front of the Romer, traveling families were injured and in the cruise ship, the staffs of the fair who were having an own celebration party were exposed to the attack. It was all done by young terrorists who were disguised as staffs.


    Although many people were injured, the government continued with different events as they were scheduled.


    And the aftermath of the incident began to deteriorate strangely. Throughout Frankfurt, people in Arab and Imic costumes now were med for the terror attacks. As if they had been waiting for the incident to take ce, young German people who imed to be Nazis and even skinheads joined to exert indiscriminate violence all over the city. Asian visitors, Youngho and Jongil, were not safe from them either since they were attacked by young German men too. Because Youngho showed his pistol, he could avoid them but if he did not have the weapon, he would have fought against the young men in order to get out of the ce. It seemed that terrorist attacks were not important anymore but the bigger problem was the violence of German young people.

 Chapter 135 - The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (5)

    <h4>Chapter 135: The De Facto Power of Terrorist Attacks (5)</h4>


    Youngho felt disheartened to think that this was the cause of all the fuss. In the end, terrorism was just used to provide a reason to mobilize German extremist groups to aggravate racial conflicts. He wondered who would be taking advantages from this. If it was to express an old grudge against Germany, it seemed to be only a tasteless joke.


    Youngho¡¯s agony was not long, because Eriksson flew to Frankfurt quickly. He did not minding to a ce of potential terror attacks and violence. He was not sure if he was a strong person or if he simply did not have any fear.


    ¡°What urgency is there for you to fly to this dangerous ce?¡±


    Youngho was d that Eriksson, who could resolve Youngho¡¯s agony, had appeared. But at the same time, he was worried over what kind of a bomb he would be dropping since he did not seem toe with good news.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I thought you¡¯d be happier to see me, but it seems that you aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s making me nervous that you had toe despite the fact that it is the worst time for a visit.¡±


    ¡°I just came to monitor the situation here, and I also wanted to check if there are faces whom I know involved in this.¡±


    Eriksson would be talking about the pawns of the mastermind of the terrorist attacks. He wanted to confirm his spection by finding tools of the Jewish capitalist in here where the terrorist attacks wereunched. However, it seemed that Eriksson was wasting his time since even if his spection turned out to be true, the pawns of the capitalist would not be exposing their faces out in the open. They would either disguise themselves or use phone calls to control the terrorists.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how someone could be gaining profits from this.¡±


    ¡°This might be a tactic to bring Germany into war against terrorist groups since Germany is showing a passive attitude toward them, or maybe someone is trying to weaken the euro currency. They¡¯d be watching the situation and adjusting the intensity of their attacks, but I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re going to hit Syria or Iraq one more time soon. Even Israel vowed to retaliate against Lebanon which supported the Palestine Liberation Organization.¡±


    ¡°This is such a crazy world.¡±


    ¡°You might say that but from this, our organization has been making a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho did not understand how they could be making money from this.


    ¡°The value of the euro is plummeting. Our agency concluded that it¡¯s either the United Kingdom or Germany. Since you told me about the potential terrorist attacks here, we focused more on Germany and informed our clients too. They probably made appropriate portfolios for each case already.¡±


    If it was predicted that the US dor would get stronger due to the sudden plunge in the value of euro and the German stock market, it would have been possible for Eriksson¡¯s clients to take preemptive measures.


    It seemed that if the terrorist attacks have caused stock markets in the relevant countries to fluctuate and subsequently, for extremist groups to destabilize the political situation, the German government would have no choice but to join the war on terrorism.


    ¡°Do you still believe that a Jewish capitalist is behind all this?¡±


    Without answering the question, Eriksson only smiled subtly.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I told you already. Not everything is what meets the eye.¡±


    This was the only reply Youngho received from Eriksson.


    Since he did not know much about the economy, he could not figure out what the weakening of the euro meant and what kind of effect it had on the US dor. He only thought that he should ask Sergey when he would meet him in the future.


    Michael was in a terrible mood since he was manipted by themand from the headquarters.


    It seemed that the European Chapter was just a puppet to show that the CIA was actively involved in preventing terrorism.


    The terrorism could have not been stopped anyway.


    He was embarrassed to think that the Chapter only made a fuss over terrorism without any achievements to show in front of the German government.


    The level of the recent terror attacks urred frequently everywhere in Germany, although it was unexpected that the attacks would provoke German extreme violence groups.


    ¡°Lee, are you going back home now?¡±


    Michael still wore a sulky look on his face that was still reddened and swollen from drinking too much with other high-rankersst night.


    ¡°Even if I stayed longer, all I¡¯ll be witnessing is senseless craziness. I, too, don¡¯t get why the CIA made a fuss about it, but it¡¯s true that we put a lot of effort into this. So, why don¡¯t we just let this go now?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Michael did not answer, fuming.


    Youngho finally slipped out the words that he had in his mind.


    ¡°I feel like we danced to someone else¡¯s tune, but it¡¯s the reality of the world. I should just bear with it.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s remark, Michael lifted his head.


    ¡°Wait, did you feel that too?¡±


    ¡°It seems that we have more inmon.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I had a great rxing time at the hotel, but I feel leery,¡± Jongil said after hended at the Baku Airport.


    Although Youngho always made fun of Jongil¡¯s simplicity, he always thought that Jongil was brighter than himself. He wanted to hear Jongil¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°What about it? Just think that we had a trip.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense to mobilize such a number of agents for minor terrorism like this. And what are those extreme violence German groups that came out of nowhere as if they¡¯ve been waiting for this?¡±


    ¡°Michael said it¡¯s all a show. I didn¡¯t try to dig deeper into it anymore. I had nothing to say since he said it was an operation for a show.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re hiding something, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I just have a feeling but I can¡¯t be sure for now. I might look crazy.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I feel like there will be a huge war in the near future, but I can¡¯t find a reason for that.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you bought old mines?¡±


    This is why Youngho thought Jongil was smart. He already inferred Youngho¡¯s recent purchase of mines from this conversation.


    ¡°Yup. If there is war, cash currency will be useless. So, I wanted to secure mineral resources.¡±


    Jongil pondered for a while before looking at Youngho with narrow eyes.


    ¡°Dude, don¡¯t look at me like that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re such a sneaky snake. I wonder how youe up with such extraordinary ideas.¡±


    ¡°Now you know my true worth. If you just follow this hyung around, you¡¯ll be rolling in money all your life.¡±


    ¡°Man, sure I¡¯ll call you hyung if you can really make that happen. Just don¡¯t push in the mines.¡±


    Jongil, fast-witted like a demon, already predicted what was going to happen to him in the future. If veins of gold were found, Youngho would not trust anyone but his two good friends and Kim Ilkwon.


    ¡°What if I found gold? Should I entrust that to strangers? If the word spreads out, the Azerbaijani government won¡¯t let it pass.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s going to be too dangerous to reinvestigate hundred-year-old mines?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to work on the stabilization of the mines. In some of them, equipment facilities will be installed too. Also, we are wine sellers. It¡¯smon sense to store oak casks or bottled wines in caves. To the government, it will only seem as if I¡¯m using the mines as wine storage.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a fox.¡±


    While having this conversation, the two walked out of the airport.


    ***


    The mine area that Youngho had bought was a part of the Caucasus Mountain Range and it was a two-hour distance from Baku.


    The size of thend was about three hundred acres, which would be a perfect fit for shepherding. It did not need special facilities except for lodging for shepherds and hutches for sheep to stay in the cold winter. Youngho decided to buy a thousand sheep to have a small shepherding ranch.


    Since the ce was also great for a training course for the employees of the security servicepany, another lodging facility would be built for them too.


    In the copper strip minefield, sheep would be raised. In the old gold mines, wine would be stored.


    In the empty lot of the minefield, arch-shaped iron beams and timbers were piled up, looking like a little mountain. Hearing that the wage would be high, many miners had already gathered and made a vige of small tents.


    The twelve mines that Youngho would be using as wine storage were abandoned two hundred years ago.


    He had only picked old, copsed mines that were neglected by miners since they could not go deeper into them with the technology of that time. Although copsed, they could be easily repaired by putting in pirs.


    For mines that were only dug by human hands, there was a big lot in the mid-way of each mine and it seemed that they would be great for wine storage.


    Inside the mines, there were engraved images of Mary and the cross on the wall and there were traces of an altar. It seemed that it was also used as lodging for ves who were forced to work in the mines.


    The stabilization work was not soplicated.


    After removing the copsed stone and erecting an arch beam, thick boards were put in in-between to prevent falling rocks. Within three months of work, the repair would be done to the end of the mines.


    The process of wrapping the road to the ranch and building the shepherd¡¯s quarters and training facilities for the securitypany was simplypleted quickly since only standardized materials were used.


    The oak casks that would go into the cave were being made in a rtively small 50-gallon size in the oak cask factory.


    The first produced wine from the Southern part of Zeynep Farm would be stored in here.


    It would be great if Youngho could kill two birds with one stone, but even if he did not find any gold, the ce was still good as wine aging cers.


    He only thought of using the caves as wine-aging storages to deceive others when he searched for gold, but it was actually a great idea.


    Jongil looked around the first cave that was repaired as a trial basis.


    ¡°It¡¯s great. When we get tired ofbor, we can open up an oak cask to drink. Laborers are all about drinking.¡±


    He meant that the work would be exhausting but Youngho thought that the work might not be hard for him with his super senses.


    ¡°Jongil, get pickaxes. Let¡¯s go deeper inside.¡±


    ¡°Hey! That side doesn¡¯t even have an arch beam installed yet.¡±


    ¡°Well, the rails are alreadyid out and we¡¯ve got enough materials inside. We can put the beam in. The vein is already cut off there. Let¡¯s do a test excavation.¡±


    Youngho could not wait since the cave was stabilized already.


    The rail was alreadyid out until the end of the cave, so he wanted to try digging in a few spots.


    He heard that the minerals here showed a vein of gold and there was ayer of sandstone underneath. Since he confirmed from the old literature that once the sandstoneyer was poured out, sometimes gold the size of a fist woulde out, he felt greedy.


    He had an idea to collect gold mixed with other ore and to make a gold bar with a small smelting facility. His heart pounded as if it was about to find a rich vein of a bonanza.


    ***


    When he was not doing the CIA¡¯s work, Youngho mostly spared his time in mines. He had been also studying about mines for quite a while, so now he was a semi-expert of mines.


    The rocks and ore that had been neglected for a long time were great materials for a stone wall. Ever since the stabilization work was finished in the old mines, he had been making a sturdy stone wall by mixing byproducts of minerals and cement.


    The field was located mid-mountain, and there were a lot of predators that were eyeing his sheep. Since they could not be stopped by a wooden fence, a stone wall was needed.


    Because of thend¡¯s topographic characteristics, there was no need to make stone walls around the whole area.


    The gold mines were made by digging into a side of a cliff, so they did not need a stone wall around them, and since there was a deep valley on the northwestern side, animals could not possibly cross there.


    If some southern parts of the field and near the entrance of the ranch were walled, it would serve as a good fence.


    The walls would also serve as protection when Youngho found gold but it was a little too premature of him to have fancy walls now.

 Chapter 136 - Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (1)

    <h4>Chapter 136: Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (1)</h4>


    The eleven new recruits who came in July from South Korea were doing a morning run with the preexisting securitypany employees. They sang loudly together as they ran.


    This time, folks who could speak some English were hired because it was inefficient to teach recruits after they were hired. Therefore, Youngho had already informed the U.D.T Union and the ones who had been studying English to get hired were picked as the new security crew.


    It was rare for people from wealthy families to volunteer for Special Forces. Most of the ones who served in the U.D.T. Unit were from poor families and had no college diploma. That was why they did not have decent jobs even after their discharge.


    Only lucky ones got to be hired by securitypanies in Korea, and many worked part-time jobs for a living. Because of this background, it was hard to expect them to speak English fluently. It was only possible because Youngho had donated money to the U.D.T. Union to support English education for his U.D.T. juniors.


    The juniors were excited to be hired in the securitypany that their senior from the same unit had established in a foreign country. Because once they were hired, high pay and a future were guaranteed, so the juniors studied hard, determined to get employed.


    Because their hard efforts paid off, the new recruits received their training excitedly. Their singing voices and hopeful faces were satisfying for Youngho. Another reason for Youngho¡¯s gratitude was that he was dreaming to find a vein of gold soon.


    As the lodging facility of Zeynep Security Service waspleted, the farm¡¯s lodging facility now turned into a guest lodging. It was because the farm¡¯s guests have been increasing, and Youngho also had Zeynep¡¯s friends who often visited and stayed at the farm overnight in mind.


    Baku¡¯s summer was extremely hot.


    It was bearable only because the humidity was low.


    Because the whole of Europe was exposed to terrorism and many people feared traveling by train or by ne, the farm had turned into a resort for Zeynep¡¯s friends from the international school who could not visit their rtives in Europe.


    After the securitypany was made, the rumor that Zeynep Farm was the safest ce in Baku was spread and even more people gathered at the farm.


    The rumor was believable since the security employees who could not speak English were still staying on the farm until they could learn thenguage, so people felt more secure at the farm.


    Who would dare toe near the farm with bad intentions when the security crew even guarded around the reservoir? While working andmunicating with the visitors of the farm, the crew also learnednguages fast.


    As the number of guests in family groups increased, it was like having a festival on the farm every day. When the day¡¯s fun continued until nighttime, many families would stay the night at the farm. So, Youngho had to open the employee lodging quarters to the public.


    The international school had 120 students, and excluding local students, the students from Europe were about 70. Except for the ones who returned home for the summer despite the danger of terrorism, 30 to 40 kids visited the farm every day.


    Among them, five or six families insisted to stay at the farm, saying that they would camp out.


    Youngho usually weed the families¡¯ visits. Since their parents were usually diplomats from European countries or high rankers from global corporations, he could collect resourceful information from getting along with them.


    They hung out in the farm whenever they wanted and cleaned up after themselves when they left, so there was nothing to worry about. The farm was livelier because of many foreigners¡¯ visits. To suit their tastes, more modern facilities were set up near the reservoir and the antique statues that Fatima bought added more value to the atmosphere.


    Since there were many opportunities for Yunsuh and Sangchun to get along with the visitors of the farm, they were getting over the fear of speaking with foreigners.


    Originally, they nned on going to Austria and opening a wine shop there, but they had to change their ns due to terrorism. Cho Sangchun was now learning about wine production and management as he helped out on the farm. Youngho was d that Sangchun voluntarily helped out in the farm since Cha Insoo now was focusing on managing the securitypany and the farm needed someone to look over the farm and the wine factory.


    Even though Gerhardt was there, he was still not strong in documentation work.


    Sangchung¡¯s parents were also happy in their minds since their son¡¯s family was fixed in Baku due to the terrorism. As all parents do, they still wanted to have their son around even though he was not a child anymore.


    ***


    The ranch with dead mines was two hours away from Baku¡¯s downtown, but it was an hour and a half away from Zeynep Farm. If the tough roads were paved, it would only take an hour to get there.


    Whenever Youngho visited the ranch, he always stayed there for the night. Fatima thought that he was training with the security crew but he was actually exhaustingly digging deep into the mines to find gold all night long with Park Jongil and Kim Ilkwon. They went in deeper and deeper into the dead mines whenever they could.


    The ring¡¯s power was only rted to improved senses and sensing near danger, and it was not rted at all with finding certain minerals. Youngho tried hard to see if he could gain X-ray vision to no avail.


    A vein of gold was a result of sole physicalbor and sweat.


    In the early morning, the sound of the security crew¡¯s military song echoed deep within the caves.


    Youngho and the Jongil were loading rocks they had dug up all night on a wagon and there was a strange sounding out from the ceiling that had been quiet all along. It was a minute sound, but it was clear in Youngho¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Jongil,e out this way. The ceiling must be weak. Let¡¯s step back quickly. I think it might copse soon.¡±


    After a moment, with rumbling sound, the cave was filled with dirt. The gang waited until the dirt had cleared before going back inside.


    What they saw underntern light was a flower garden of gold.


    ¡°Youngho, what is this? Aren¡¯t these rocks of gold?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s break the lumps. If it¡¯s all gold in between rocks, we won¡¯t even need to have theplicated smelting process.¡±


    The old literature said that after veins of gold reached a sandstoneyer, gold ores would show up. The sandstoneyer was found deep in the mines where the firm rockyers ended.


    Under the light, they seemed to be a huge amount of gold but the content of gold would only be figured out after they went under the separation process. However, they clearly found gold in the mines. From now on, sandstoneyers were waiting for them instead of the firm rockyers.


    Sandstone was soft so it could be dug using hoes.


    The two went out and smiled to the security crew not because they were d to see them, but because they found gold. Calming down their minds, they closed the entrance of the cave. In Youngho¡¯s pocket, there was a little gold ore.


    The process of smelting gold was rtively simple but since Youngho was not in a hurry, he only left them after the separation process.


    The separation process was also easy since the gold ores mixed in sandstone were separated when hammered. Even though there would be byproducts after the gold had undergone the smelting process, he would still gain some gold.


    For now, he could store the separated gold. And when the whole mine was excavated enough, he would install a smelting factory.


    Youngho bought an additional 3,000 acres to expand the ranch with a n to buy 10,000 more sheep. Government officials also actively supported the n to develop a barrennd with hills in the mountains and valleys with little streams.


    Because he had submitted a business n to build arge-scale cheese factory, he could buy thend for almost free.


    Now, Youngho was a businessman who owned thergest farm business in Azerbaijan. Compared to other manufacturing and oil-rted businesses, his farming business would note close to their profits, but the size of his grape farm and sheep ranch were iparable to other agricultural corporations.


    Since he had no other choice but to expand the ranch business at an attempt to develop the gold mines without contracting rumors, until then, he had no idea that the cheese factory would be an agricultural industry of great value in the future.


    ***


    Although Fatima¡¯s belly was now huge, she was busy looking after work in the ranch and wine factory.


    As the number of sheep grew, more local shepherds were hired by the ranch and there was now a separate restaurant at the ranch. Fatima was busy taking care of the restaurant work. She checked if the menu was nutritious enough and if Korean foods given to the security crew had not expired yet.


    Since the ranch was also producing cheese out of sheep¡¯s milk, Fatima and Zeynep who especially favored cheese often went in and out of the ranch. They ordered cheese to their own likings and came back to taste the produced cheese. The production line was at the trial step as of now but it seemed that by winter, the cheese processing facility would bepleted and the release of Zeynep Cheese was expected.


    When Fatima traveled, Kim Ilkwon immediately moved alongside her to guard her. Kim Ilkwon¡¯s philosophy was that only a trained person for terrorism could fight against terrorists. He was confident that any terrorist would be useless like scarecrows before him.


    Since Youngho had only been working in the mines without any official schedule, he volunteered to be a personal security guard for Fatima, so Youngho dly epted his request. Ilkwon was beloved by Youngho because he actively found his own job in changing circumstances.


    Even though her due date was close, Fatima was active and lively as never before.


    When she was with Youngho in Zeynep Farm, they always went out for an evening walk together and Youngho never saw her lying down because of fatigue or heaviness.


    Except for her big belly, she did not look like a pregnant woman at all.


    The farm¡¯s atmosphere with ssical music streaming all over was also a great influence for her and the baby. Her happiness was great since she also enjoyed serving the guests of the farm¡¯s reservoir during the summer.


    Although the farm was having a peaceful time at the moment, the outside world was wildly shaking.


    Turkey was now on the cklist for travel, and except for some countries in Northern Europe, the whole of Europe was not safe from terrorism.


    Whenever French bombers air-raided Syria, suicide bombing attacks wereunched in the main streets of Paris as threatened. Israel and Lebanon were in a missile war.


    Russia and Turkey kept bashing Syria, provoking extremists, and it was predicted that Europe¡¯s economic growth rate would fall by 0.5%.


    The advanced continent¡¯s economic growth rate was said to be great around 2%, but if it was reduced by 0.5% from that, it would mean the continent¡¯s major retrogression. If the rate fell below 1%, to stimte the economy flow, they would have no other choice but to print euro currency. If so, naturally, the value of euro would plummet and the only ones who would gain from reflective interest would be the US and the United Kingdom.


    This was how the world was run, but Youngho¡¯s hostility against Jews was growing because of what Eriksson had said.


    The gold ores excavated from the mines were estimated to be more than one to two tons a year, but the funding Youngho would make from those would not be of a match to the Jewish capitalist¡¯s.


    However, there was an old Chinese saying: ¡®The beauty of a flower will notst ten days.¡¯


    Any authority or power¡¯s influence would face its end someday.

 Chapter 137 - Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (2)

    <h4>Chapter 137: Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (2)</h4>


    It was time for Youngho to find out what to do with the gold ores that had impurities. They had gone through the separation process, but because too many ores were piling up, now he needed to find measures to keep them. They had been stored in a wooden storage unit in front of the dead mines, but because of Youngho¡¯s strong drive to find gold, the storage was already about to overflow.


    There were multiple ways to extract gold. He had studied the theories but he needed an expert with experience.


    Since it was an old mining region, finding a retired expert was not hard, but he was not sure how many people could be counted on to keep the secret of his mines.


    ¡°Oppa, what do you do on the ranch to make you super tired?¡±


    Youngho knew that quick-witted Fatima would find out about his secret one day, and sure enough, she soon asked a question.


    He had been so upied in digging up gold that he forgot to rest and stayed up all night in the mines. Although he had the ring on, there was a limit to his body¡¯s capabilities.


    Because he could not work on other things in the day, he excluded Kim Ilkwon from working at nights so that Ilkwon could rece Youngho in the day.


    Knowing that he could not deceive Fatima, he had toe clean.


    ¡°I identally found veins of gold while repairing the dead mines.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s eyes brightened at his words.


    Who would not like gold and jewels?


    ¡°Oh my word. Wow!¡±


    She repeatedly uttered an exmation. She seemed curious.


    ¡°I kept it a secret because the government will not sit back when the word spread out because I bought the mines to use for wine-aging storage.¡±


    Youngho showed her a lump of gold he stored in his study and her face brightened like a child looking at something for the first time.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you built a stone wall around the ranch.¡±


    ¡°No, in the beginning, I built it to protect the sheep from other animals, but it works as a primary protection now. The rest of thend I¡¯ll just keep as pasture. It¡¯ll look suspicious if I build stone walls everywhere when there are not a lot of people around.¡±


    ¡°I like the scenery there. I was going to make a summer house in there so our child can run around and y. What do you think?¡±


    Surely, the ce was 800 meters above the sea level that it would be cool even during the summer. Youngho had only thought it as a training ce for the security crew since it was in a remote ce, but after listening to her, he realized that the ce might be safer than Zeynep Farm.


    It could actually be a natural fortress since more than two-thirds of the ce was surrounded by cliffs and valleys. With the entrance and the southern part secured, no one could approach the ranch.


    The pasture could be left as it was since it was only used for sheep, but the preexistingnd of 300 acres with its natural environment would look like a castle of a medieval time period with a little touch.


    Also, as Fatima said, his soon-to-be-born child could y there safely if there was a mansion like a little castle.


    He would never find how much, but there was gold buried in thend. It was a valuablend that he could leave for his descendants.


    Soon, he began the construction to build a mansion in thend, thinking he was building a strong and safe ce for the farm family¡¯s vacation ce that could also be a fortress in case of war. The stone walls near the entrance and southern part of the ranch were built higher and sturdier. So, even if war broke out, he would not have to worry about his family¡¯s safety.


    ***


    The hutches for the sheep to stay warm in the winter were alreadypleted and the milking facility and cheese processing facility wereing close topletion.


    Youngho convinced local shepherds in other local ranches and turned them into his employees with a regr sry. Since their regr sry was guaranteed, they sold their own tens or hundreds of sheep to Youngho¡¯s ranch. The job of shepherding was not one that anyone could do. The shepherds were experts with vast experience.


    They controlled herds of sheep with dozens of different whistling sounds and they could fight wolves only with a staff. Not only that, it was a hard job since they have to milk the sheep after herding them.


    Although it was less tiring since there was a milking machine nowadays, milking was still a delicate process to be treated hygienically.


    In due time, shepherds also had to shear sheep and took care of the newborns of their sheep. Shepherding was an all-year-round busy upation.


    A thousand sheep was a jaw-dropping number, but Youngho was looking at 10,000 sheep even though the leader of shepherds kept convincing him it was impossible.


    He said that sheep would conceive twice a year and since they usually give birth to one or twombs that the number of the herd would grow quickly. In 3,000 acres of pasture, 7,000 sheep was the limit. If the number exceeded 7,000, they would have to find other pastures to feed the sheep.


    From spring to fall, grazing was possible because thend was full of grass, but in order to prepare for the winter, they had to prepare hay in advance and the amount would notst to feed 1,000 of sheep. Therefore, the shepherd leader said that the herd would starve to death if there were 1,000 sheep.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we¡¯re thankful that you bought our sheep and gave us decent, regr pay but we can barely handle 4,000 sheep now.¡±


    To the shepherds who had been living in the mountains, herding hundreds of sheep and selling cheese made out of sheep¡¯s milk, Youngho¡¯s enterprise approach was absurd. The hays to feed the herd for the winter could be bought from outside, but they had no idea if that was possible.


    It was natural since they did not experience economy of arger scale, but Youngho was not someone who would ignore the shepherds¡¯ experiences.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s begin with 4,000 sheep. In order to provide cheese in the Baku market, we need that much sheep. You don¡¯t have to worry about hay. If we don¡¯t have enough hay, we can buy them from outside¡±


    ¡°Well, if you can buy hay from outside, it¡¯s not all impossible. If the milking facility ispleted, we won¡¯t have to hire more people. I think the ten shepherds we have now can handle 4,000 sheep. If we need more manpower, our children can work too.¡±


    The children of shepherds who used to have their own herds were usually better shepherds than inexperienced adults.


    ¡°Well, you can let them work after school. I don¡¯t want them to drop out of school because of work.¡±


    Youngho said that since in remote areas, many children¡¯s education rates were low because their parents did not earn much from shepherding.


    The reason that many people in the farm industry were poor was that they were isted with only so many resources they had. The shepherds who only relied on hundreds of their sheep and farmers who owned local grape farms only made enough to live on. They still stayed poor despite their hard work since they did not have enough funds to expand their business.


    Even if they were able to increase their production amount, it was difficult to find markets because of the Caucasus Mountain Range. It was blocking exchanges between people. No one would make roads in remote hilly areas in the mountains where only a handful of people lived in small viges. Many generations of people that used to live in the mountains also gave up and moved to big cities.


    The regions of Caucasus had vast, untouchednds.


    If an entrepreneur like Youngho paid a little more attention, there were plenty of sites to make into farms or ranches.


    ***


    Since transportation was the major issue, Youngho made efforts to expand and pave the road to the ranch. Since onlyrge trucks or SUVs would be going into the ranch for the business, the road did not need to be polished.


    Although the Azerbaijani government had plenty of funds from oil production, there was no budget to pave the roads in the remote areas.


    It was expected to cost a lot of money just to wrap a 20-kilometer or longer paths from the main road to the ranch.


    The pavement work waspleted only after Youngho negotiated with the government and they agreed that Youngho would pay the construction fee and worker¡¯s wage and the government would support with asphalts and other materials. Being a byproduct of oil, asphalts were cheap in Azerbaijan.


    As the area rarely had rain and there was little traffic, the roads were paved without any drains and central lines. Its benefits were enormous.


    First, because essibility was improved,borers easilymuted to the ranch and construction materials were easily transported.


    The greatest thing was that now a delicate or fragile product could be moved in good condition. The traffic had be so convenient now that the 40-minute distance had been reduced to 15 minutes.


    ¡°Man, why don¡¯t you make a bunker already?¡±


    Jongil clicked his tongue as he looked at Youngho¡¯s floor n of the mansion.


    ¡°It¡¯s for the next generations of my descendants. We¡¯ve experienced all sorts of things because we were poor, but I don¡¯t want my descendants to suffer. I wish for them to live in peace.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this country will be a war-torn ce?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see how hostile Armenians are to Azerbaijan? They want to take over the whole region of the Caucasus. It doesn¡¯t seem feasible now, but someday, they will really do it.¡±


    ¡°You overreact to all things these days. What are you not telling me again? Just say it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Although it was just a supposition, Youngho wondered how Jongil would react if he said that Jews were shaking the whole world¡¯s history. It would be better if Youngho looked crazy but it would be more problematic if Jongil overly reacted to the story.


    ¡°Man, you surely have something going on. I can see it from your face.¡±


    Now, Jongil was sure that Youngho was hiding something from him.


    For the next hour, Youngho exined what Eriksson told him to Jongil with a little revision.


    ***


    ¡°After making the second basement, we should make a passage to connect two buildings.¡±


    Youngho was shaking his head. Jongil was a smart guy but other than hisnguage ability, his brain seemed to be filled with muscles only. He just reacted to everything with his unique simplicity. He was now for certain that the world will be upside down soon.


    The next day, he was busy going here and there with Insoo on Zeynep Farm with the farm¡¯s map on his hand.


    He even took out the Russian ymore mines that were put away in the basement¡¯s armory and installed them around the farm for the next few days.


    As if that was not enough, he ordered more from Sergey in Volgograd.


    ¡°Jongil, you¡¯ve got to stop it. People will get scared.¡±


    ¡°They can get scared all they want but that¡¯s not the problem. Can you give me my share of the gold bars? I think I should buy a missileuncher.¡±


    Youngho ran out of his patience at that moment.


    ¡°Dude, cut it out!¡±


    Youngho stroke the back of Jongil¡¯s head but he kept on going.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to be prepared in my own way, so give me some of your money.¡±

 Chapter 138 - Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (3)

    <h4>Chapter 138: Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (3)</h4>


    The cultivation season had finallye.


    This year was twice as busy as thest year since the 600 acres of southern part of the farm was additionally cultivated for the first time.


    Insoo was busy with the securitypany but Park Jongil had not shown his face without any specific reason. When Youngho tried to talk to him in the evening, Jongil would be already in bed exhausted so he did not have any chance to talk to him.


    Youngho could guess what Jongil was up to these days.


    At the ranch, the excavation for the mansion¡¯s basement was being done by now and Jongil must be overseeing the construction site. Youngho just let Jongil be since he could not keep Jongil away when he was determined to make the mansion as an indestructible fortress.


    Youngho was the one who provided the information about the possible war and Jongil¡¯s actions were actually not so weird. He would only feel secure when the construction of the ranch¡¯s mansion would be satisfactory.


    Jongil not only meddled with the construction process, but he also frequently visited the Main Police Department to collect more information about terrorism.


    Even though Youngho told him that the Jewish capitalist was only spection from Eriksson, Jongil did not mind. He grilled the employees of the securitypany to report any useful information.


    Some of Baku¡¯s influential figures liked the system of Zeynep Security Service. They referred thepany to people around them, so security service requests were now overflowing.


    Because the risk of terrorism still existed and there were not enough skillful security guards, the cost of security service naturally rose. The insecurity of the public kept growing and people did notin even if thepany called the service fee twice more than original.


    Then, many well-off people began to remodel their houses or mansions to make them as impregnable fortifications. Since Baku¡¯s situation was like this now, there was no reason for Youngho to stop Jongil¡¯s strange behaviors.


    Youngho rather liked Jongil when he made a fuss and kept trying to get money from him in an effort to build a tighter security system, because people would not care if Jongil hustled around instead of him.


    In the end, Park Jongil reached the peak of security measures by installing a metal detector. As a result, everyone who entered the farm had to go through the detector like the one at airport security checks. Youngho smirked while looking at that scene, but there was no harm in being extra cautious. Since Zeynep Farm owned a security servicepany, it would look rather good when the rumor spread out that the farm had tight security.


    ¡°Jongil, you¡¯ll be paranoid. You can stop now. What kind of terrorist woulde to attack the farm?¡±


    ¡°Stop being so mindless. Then why do you think wealthy people keep requesting for security service?¡±


    Come to think of it, the owners of big corporations were hiring security guards, paying high costs to prevent abduction.


    Jongil continued, ¡°I¡¯m going to assign a personal guard for Zeynep when she goes to school. Don¡¯t try to stop me. She¡¯s the most influential person in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Szechenyi is with her. He can take down several lousy ones. If you make it too obvious, she¡¯s going to stand out more.¡±


    ¡°You think that baby boy without any field experience can be a match to malicious terrorists?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    Since there was no one who did not know the name of Zeynep, it was necessary to be careful. Youngho regretted exposing her by using her name for his farm, oil business, and securitypany. Since he could not change the name of hispany now, he would also be using her name for his ranch. He thought that he should pay her back well in the future for her name.


    ***


    When the grape crusher¡¯s engine stopped, the workers around the machine all yelled with joy. The biggest work of this year had just ended.


    Although it would be more urate when the grape extracts had gone through the fermentation process and the aging process, but the estimated amount of the product was more than 700,000 gallons.


    Out of that, 300,000 gallons would be aged in oak casks for the next few years and 400,000 gallons were going to be distributed after being aged in stainless tanks for a short while.


    Every year, when the extracts went into the fermenting room, Youngho felt like the year had already finished.


    Likest year, many people visited the farm and participated in the cultivation like a festival. As the cultivation of grapes waspleted, Youngho treated his guests with a big party to show his appreciation.


    On barbecue grills, dozens ofmbs were being roasted on charcoal fires and 50-gallon oak barrels with tabs on were ced all over the farm for people to taste.


    Jongil, who had been up to preposterous work during the whole cultivation season, also was drinking wine in a rxed manner.


    ¡°This year¡¯s wine is especially good, or maybe it¡¯s just because I¡¯m feeling good.¡±


    ¡°Jongil, you¡¯ve done a lot to ensure the security of the farm and the ranch. Since you hustled around like that, people did not make a problem out of that.¡±


    ¡°Do you understand my intention now? You looked at me like I¡¯m a fanatic.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. I¡¯ll fill your ss since you¡¯ve worked hard.¡±


    As they wereughing together, Cho Sangchun and Cha Insoo joined them.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been so long since we drank together. Let¡¯s drink up tonight!¡±


    As if determined, Sangchun held out his ss toward the gang.


    Aftering to Baku, his face had brightened since he no longer had to listen to Yunsuh¡¯sints.


    Yunsuh gave birth to her second son on the farm and she now felt more peaceful in her mind so she did not give him an earful anymore like she used to. Her life was good on the farm because she did not have to work hard and live on a tight budget anymore. Living on the farm for several months, she was more rxed now and her personality seemed to change positively. Sheughed more and hummed frequently.


    Youngho was d to see his sister¡¯s change.


    He felt lucky that he could provide a shelter for his family.


    ¡°Sangchun, we need to call your father. He won¡¯t be happy if he finds out that we left him out for drinking.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already been drinking over there in the log cabin. He took Insoo¡¯s father, Gerhardt¡¯s father, the wine factory director, and even the oak factory director. Since he took a big piece ofmb meat, he will drink until he passes out tonight.¡±


    It was sure enough. However, Youngho was d that Sangchun¡¯s father acted as if he was the owner of the farm rather than being self-conscious.


    Sangchun¡¯s father was having a blessed old stage since he had his children and grandchildren around him and serving him. As the highest elder of the farm, Sangchun¡¯s father had established his position well. As a former teacher, he tried to be a role model for the younger ones on the farm and volunteered to teach humanities to the security crew from Korea to support them as their teacher and counselor. His only w was speaking too long once he was before a mic.


    Youngho had worked hard dreaming of such a paradise, and since it wasing true before his eyes little by little, his heart was warmed. Here, he and his friends had dreamed, and this would be the ce for the children to dream as well.


    Everything could be done easier because of the power of the ring.


    That was why Youngho was going to name his farm and the ranch together ¡®Empire of the Ring¡¯ in the future, although the name seemed too grand for the little ces.


    ***


    The number of gold ores grew even more and the storage now was about to overflow. Since the ore¡¯s size could be cut down to a tenth of the size once the gangue was separated from the ore, Youngho ordered an aggregate crusher.


    He had thought the machine was going to be huge, but the movable aggregate crusher that was delivered was the size of a little truck. It crushed lumps of sandstone to the size of a baby¡¯s fist, efficiently separating gold ore from gangue although some thought-to-be lumps of gold would still have different minerals in them.


    Now that the volume of gold had decreased dramatically, there was more room in the storage.


    A lone wall was installed near the dead mine to stop people. The shepherds did note close there since they thought the mines were used as a long-term wine aging storage.


    Youngho could not wait to dig up all of the mines, but there was only so much manpower from four people including him, his friends, and Ilkwon, who could be trusted with gold, so they still were working on the first cave whenever they had free time.


    Youngho could understand why people from the past used ves. Since they wanted to store gold without getting the word out, the ves could note out from the cave until they were dead once they went in there.


    Gold mines were exclusive property of feudal lords with armed forces or merchants with wealth. If they were found by weak individuals, they would only be the seed of misery because when they had been caught secretly excavating and distributing small quantities of gold, they would be threatened by being falsely charged with various crimes¡ªand sometimes, their lives would even be taken away. In many cases, people died keeping their secret, unable to inform their descendants.


    This might be a different case, but the ves who were digging the dead mines found by Youngho somehow stopped digging in the midway. When the ves were freed, they might have dreamed of returning to the mines and finding veins of gold, although their dreams were now foundered.


    Youngho did not think that all of the ves who worked in the mines were killed. If their descendants were still around, he might be able to reach them. He began to search for them in secret. Since the country was Imic, the ves would have been Christians who were caught as prisoners of war in the 1700s.


    Jongil, who was determined to enroll at Baku University this year, was finally admitted to the college, but he was barely making it as a student. Around the time he was admitted, he was focused on establishing security of the farm and the ranch and he could not focus on his sses. He chose Physical Education as his major which was a rather easy degree.


    When Youngho said that he was going to visit the Department of Archeology at the university, Jongil volunteered to escort him around the campus as a student.


    As many publics were freed after the Soviet Union fell, the countries around the Caucasus were focusing on finding and recording their own history. Among them was Azerbaijan and the Baku University, collecting necessary data with the support of the government.


    Youngho wanted to check the historical records in order to find the profiles of past prisoners of war who became ves. Although racial conflicts were resolved a little due to the effort to straighten the past history, the root cause had still not been resolved.


    The Azerbaijani people who used to be ves could not make their foray into the mainstream society and still lived like foreigners in the country, although they now had Azerbaijani citizenship as well.


    Youngho thought that if he could get them on his side, they would be the most trustworthy people. Because they were not treated equally in society, he was confident that he could gain their trust with a little act of kindness. It would be great if he could gain their loyalty as well.


    ¡°Youngho, isn¡¯t that a little cruel to take advantage of them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not. Actually, I¡¯d be helping them. They were not discriminated in the time of Soviet Union, but when the Azerbaijani government appeared, they were alienated because they were immigrants. How would you feel if you were them?¡±


    They were the descendants of a little kingdom that had disappeared in history. Youngho exined that to Jongil.


    ¡°Although Korea was divided, we still have our nations, but these people don¡¯t even have their country anymore.¡±


    ¡°If we can gain their loyalty like Koryoins with a little favor, I think it¡¯ll be worth a try. These people could be the only ones who would keep the secret of the gold mines.¡±


    The drawings on the walls and altar left in the dead mines might mean something to the descendants of the ves. If the minority group of Azerbaijan could open their hearts to Youngho since he was also a minority, the ranch could be their safe ce too.

 Chapter 139 - Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (4)

    <h4>Chapter 139: Gold Flower of the Dead Mine (4)</h4>


    The repairing and remodeling of the hotel in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia was finally done.


    It was the grand opening day of the hotel.


    Youngho, Jongil, and Ilkwon who had arrived two days ago, were staying at the new guesthouse next to the hotel building, and which was now Katya¡¯s house.


    At the request of Katya to name the new hotel, Youngho and his friends on the farm hade up with the name, ¡®Arirang.¡¯


    Although the name sounded a little old-fashioned to Koreans, it was well-known in the regions of Northeast Asia, Central Asia, and even Eastern Europe. It was because Koryoins who wandered from ce to ce sang the traditional Korean song ¡®Arirang¡¯ wherever they went.


    ¡®Ari¡¯ meant long and ¡®rang¡¯ meant hill.


    Therefore, ¡®Arirang¡¯ was known as the word that indicated the highest mountain or river in the region where Koreans resided. That meant wherever Koreans went, there was Arirang.


    Youngho liked the name since he was fond of the sound of the word and it was easy for foreigners to say. He decided to call all of his future hotels this name.


    ¡°Ilkwon, is the metal detector on the first floor working fine?¡±


    ¡°Jongil hyung. I checked twice already. There¡¯s no problem, you can rx.¡±


    The metal detector malfunctioned since it kept making beeping sounds. It seemed that as they carried the sensitive machine on the rough mountain roads to South Ossetia, the machine was damaged. Thankfully, they could repair the machine because they brought Ilkwon who could easily fix any electronics.


    They brought the metal detector since Jongil had insisted that security devices should be installed where there were a lot of visitorsing in and out. In fact, most decent hotels in Western Europe had metal detectors as a basic security device.


    Having the machine would give an impression that the ce is safe. Although there was a low chance of terrorism in Tskhinvali, it was actually a great idea to install the machine since the ce has a symbolic meaning in the region.


    The hotel had been receiving guests from a month ago but the official opening ceremony was today.


    Like Azerbaijan, South Ossetia also had plenty of deposits of crude oil and natural gas. Many people in the oil and gas business visited Tskhinvali.


    Since Arirang Hotel had many rooms and was a great facility, it naturally had be popr.


    Katya proudly showed the sales record for the past month.


    Since the average usage of guest rooms was higher than 70%, she was excited.


    Even though the cost of the room was raised from $70 to $100, people did not makeints about the price adjustment. Since the old-fashioned rooms were a few times bigger than modern hotel rooms, the cost did not seem that high.


    Many hotels made more money from subsidiary facilities rather than from selling guest rooms. Arirang Hotel in Tskhinvali was that case.


    The city had not much to enjoy even in downtown. Once people decided to stay at the hotel, they had to spend time around the hotel. People usually spend time at the hotel caf¨¦, restaurant, and bar. The profits from the sales of the souvenir shop and the convenience store on the first floor were also great.


    Since there existed a sauna facility and fitness center in the hotel, it was bing the main attraction in the city. Hotel guests also loved the trail connected to the hilly area behind the hotel, which Youngho had made when remodeling the building.


    ***


    Youngho had brought Kim Ilkwon. Not only was it because Ilkwon was fluent in Russian, but he also wanted to make Ilkwon a contact person for South Ossetia since Youngho could note here every time.


    As if he had noticed something between Youngho and Katya, Ilkwon treated her politely.


    ¡°Ilkwon, you might be misunderstanding, but Katya and I are just pure business partners.¡±


    ¡°Boss, I didn¡¯t say anything. You don¡¯t have to make an excuse.¡±


    Ilkwon had a smile on his face. It did not seem that he believed Youngho¡¯s words.


    ¡°Who made an excuse? Hey! Just ask Jongil.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you might only think that I¡¯m an ignorant person who was only trained as an agent, but I¡¯m also quick-witted. I can see that you enjoyed being called ¡®Papa¡¯ when Rena called you that way.¡±


    ¡°I just let her call me that way since she doesn¡¯t have a dad.¡±


    ¡°What about Katya¡¯s eyes looking at you?¡±


    ¡°Is that my fault?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying. You¡¯d be in trouble if Fatima found out.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re being risky here.¡±


    Ilkwon and Youngho had be close now to the point where they could open up their hearts to each other and make such jokes.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to shut up, so please raise my payment. I¡¯m going to be a father soon.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even get married yet.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to a huge wedding. Isn¡¯t telling others that we¡¯re married enough?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to n a big wedding for you next spring. You can just follow me, or your wife willin for the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you can give that money to me instead so I can pay you back for the money I owe you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have a bond of debt, who are you going to pay back?¡±


    ¡°Haha. Boss, you just made a huge mistake. North Koreans can be really stingy and you didn¡¯t even write a bond?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tugh like that. You¡¯re disgusting.¡±


    The opening ceremony of the hotel ended sessfully.


    It was a ceremony even the Republic¡¯s Prime Minister, Kulumbegov, attended.


    It was understandable since South Ossetia only had 50,000 people residing within it, so there were not a lot of huge events in the country and the prime minister did not have much work to do.


    The position of prime minister was as humble as Korea¡¯s remote region¡¯s governor, that even a foreign investor like Youngho seemed to hold a higher position than him.


    The grand opening of Arirang Hotel was a big issue in South Ossetia that an entrepreneur of Azerbaijan, who had an enormous farming business, invested in a Tskhinvali¡¯s hotel. Even if Youngho did not invite him, he would havee to see the hotel.


    There was a huge meaning behind it since not only had a foreign investor cared for South Ossetia, but the hotel that had been a symbol of Tskhinvali was also remodeled and reopened.


    Until then, there had been no proper ce for the country¡¯s official guests to stay in when they visited. Now that Arirang Hotel was there, which even had a reception hall, the government¡¯s official events would take ce at the hotel naturally from now on.


    Because of that, Katya became popr in the country.


    Although Youngho would freak out if he found out that she was thought of now as a famous hotel manager who had an Asian businessman as her husband.


    ***


    Knowing that Yaniv would flip out if Youngho did not visit him after staying in South Ossetia, he could not go straight to Baku without stopping in Volgograd. Yaniv would have already heard that the hotel in Tskhinvali had a grand opening through his henchmen delivering the supplies in South Ossetia.


    Sergey greeted the gang at the airport.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve known when you asked me to introduce you to a hotel interior designer. Phew, because you didn¡¯t tell me, I got an earful from the boss.¡±


    ¡°Brother, South Ossetia would flip upside down if Mr. Yaniv showed up for the opening of a tiny hotel.¡±


    ¡°But he still feels sorry that you didn¡¯t tell him. You should make it up to him. He¡¯s turning more childish these days.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! I got it. If I can¡¯t change his mind, I¡¯ll have to sell Zeynep¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t deposit the wrong amount for the first half-payment of the divostok warehouse, did you?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up? Is it too little?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Boss said it was too much. I also thought so too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because we were able to decrease the employee payments. You know that we¡¯ve hired Koryoins as the security guards. Since they¡¯re also in charge of storing goods, we could save a lot of money.¡±


    Since during the day, there were not a lot of things to do for the security crew, so the guards began to help out with warehousing goods in storage units. They were more efficient thanzy Russian employees because the guards already knew the whole map of storage units as part of their security duty.


    In the end, they were also in charge of loading and unloading goods from delivery trucks.


    ¡°Indeed, Koryoins are smart and diligent. Then you should raise their pay. It¡¯s like we took advantage of their hard work.¡±


    ¡°They insisted that they would not get a raise but I paid them for the additional hours. They won¡¯t me us for that.¡±


    Youngho did not try to be greedy since the warehouseplex was only built since Yaniv made an investment while trusting Youngho¡¯s idea. He could make more if he wanted, but he did not want to be so stingy to earn just a little more money.


    Although what Youngho paid them did notpare to the money that they paid Youngho for his share of Georgia¡¯s warehouse retailer store, but Youngho still wanted to give back what Yaniv invested for theplex.


    He knew that any business in Russia was not possible without Yaniv¡¯s influence because mafias exerted their power and influence in any category of business.


    Youngho, who owned a securitypany, did not fear mafias, but there was no reason for him to do business while fighting against mafias. To avoid unnecessary contact with them, Yaniv¡¯s influence was necessary.


    Yaniv and Sergey not only considered Youngho as aplementary business partner but also as their family. Youngho did not mind that at all since Yaniv¡¯s existence was absolute in Russia.


    ***


    After returning to Baku, Youngho focused on finding the record of ves in the public library. Many of them survived, but their descendants had disappeared from the public¡¯s eyes so he could not find where they were now.


    He only found some of the miners whom he hired at the beginning stage of stabilizing the mines after he bought them.


    Youngho had taken care of the workers well during the mine stabilization process. It was because they were in poor situations. Most of them were not educated properly, and since they were sopliant, he wanted to give them more if he could.


    When the word spread out that he was hiring miners, he was surprised since the people who showed up did not look like traditional Azerbaijanis. They were more simr-looking to white Western European people.


    Surprisingly, they were the descendants of the mine ves.


    ording to the historical record he found, Turkey brought Serbia to the ground in the 16th century. As Turkey continuously tried to oppress the Serbian people, the descendants of the rebellious forces were caught and dragged as mine ves in the region of Azerbaijan.


    They were the Fatima siblings¡¯ people.


    When Fatima¡¯s ancestor the archduke was defeated by the army of the Ottoman Empire or Turkey, his people had scattered to different nations. Therefore, there was a high chance that they would be Serbians like the Fatima siblings.


    It was indeed a strange coincidence.

 Chapter 140 - Fatima the Archduchess (1)

    <h4>Chapter 140: Fatima the Archduchess (1)</h4>


    Youngho had contact with the descendants of mine ves who lived near the ranch.


    When Youngho visited them with some daily supplies, they weed him with shy smiles.


    Although the meal prepared for Youngho was not to his tastes, he still ate the food and began to talk.


    ¡°I need people to keep maintenance of the dead mines which will be used as wine aging storages. Are you willing to work on the ranch?¡±


    ¡°You were very nice to us, so I wanted to talk to you with a few technicians about the mines, but I had to pull out all of them because I was told that everything was done.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s desire to find a gold vein did not allow an opportunity for the engineers to share their opinions and he only had let them go.


    ¡°I see. I just found out that I had to keep maintaining the cave.¡±


    ¡°Of course, caves should constantly undergo maintenance and reinforcement. I¡¯d love to work for you if you need us. We can also work on expanding the caves. ¡±


    ¡°Great. How many people can work in the mines then? ¡±


    ¡°I can gather about fifty people. They have been working at mines through several generations. They can do no other work. Besides,tely, only open mines are being developed, so we have no other ces to work as cave mining technicians.¡±


    Youngho did not need fifty people at the moment, but it was a different story if they were the descendants of mine ves.


    ¡°I am not sure if this is a fair question to ask right now, but are they also all descendants of ves?¡±


    The conversation stopped at the mention of the ve¡¯s descendants.


    The middle-aged engineer sighed deeply. His face turned slightly red. He must have felt ufortable to hear the term ¡®ve¡¯s descendants.¡¯


    Bottles of alcohol rolled on the floor.


    Youngho and the Serbian descent in his mid-forties, Nermin, were talking as they drank cognac although it was still in the middle of the day. Not being able to take their miserable story of the past without alcohol, they had been drinking up. Sometimes grasping both fists tightly and tearing up, Youngho listened to Nermin.


    Youngho had never expected to hear the undiscovered history of the Kingdom of Serbia whose power once rivaled the Ottoman Empire¡¯s, though felled by the empire, from one of the descendants of the ves.


    Although Nermin was a descendant of ves and could not receive education, he had not forgotten a word of the history of their ancestors.


    He said that he only survived with the will to raise the kingdom once again.


    Most of those who were brought to very were knights or their offsprings.


    Serbian people were forcefully submitted to the empire, but knights did not bow their heads until the end, and that was why they became ves.


    Even though they hid from the public, the spirit of the knights still remained.


    ¡°Do you also know about the descendants of thest Archduke?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any knowledge regarding that. If you want to know more about that, you may need to go to Niksic who is our vige head. He was always proud of his family since his ancestor had served as thest head knight of the kingdom.¡±


    Youngho was hopeful, expecting that he might be able to hear Fatima¡¯s ancestral story.


    The people¡¯s bond with each other remained strong for hundreds of years only because they were from the same roots. If they are the same people as the Fatima siblings, Youngho and Fatima¡¯s soon-to-be-born child would have another background.


    If so, having an ethnicity would be more valuable than having gold mines.


    ***


    ¡°Are you trying to build a new city?¡±


    Jongil asked when Youngho was looking at a blueprint of the vige built for the descendants of the ves around the ranch.


    ¡°You are turning into a demon now. It¡¯s not a new city but it¡¯s a vige for more than 300 families.¡±


    ¡°Man, are you going to get a medal from President Aliyev or something? You must be nning on offering the vige to him for choosing our wine as the official wine of Azerbaijan.¡±


    Recently, Zeynep wine was chosen to be the official wine of Azerbaijan.


    ¡°These people are already causing too much trouble to protect the Archduches. They will calm down only when I tell them to stay close to the ranch.¡±


    ¡°These people came to protect Fatima, and they so do not fit in the 21st century. You are getting more and more into this medieval y.¡±


    When Fatima was confirmed to be the Archduches, some sturdy young vigers came to the ranch to escort her. Although Youngho persuaded them to go back, it was obvious that their knight spirit was still alive.


    ¡°Shut it, man. If they hear you, they¡¯ll kill you. ¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the freaking 21st century! Who talks about knights and archduchesses? The mansion and houses on the ranch are perfectly secured since I worked hard on it! We don¡¯t need a freaking vige!¡±


    Youngho smiled at Jongil.


    The day after Youngho met Nermin, Niksic, the vige head of the mine vige in his seventies, almost had a heart attack when he heard Fatima¡¯sst name, Aleksandar, which was thest Archduke¡¯sst name.


    The Fatima siblings were the descendants of the Archduke that they were looking for all along.


    Despite the cold weather of October, Niksic took a bath in cold water and polished himself toe to see the Archduches. He only stopped begging after Youngho exined that Fatima was pregnant and the baby will be born soon. However, the next day, he still visited the ranch with a couple of the vigers to see Fatima and finally went back to his ce with satisfaction on his face.


    It was an unforgettable moment to Youngho. They showed extreme royal etiquette to Fatima while calling her the Archduches as if they were still medieval knights. It probably was a natural reaction for they had been waiting for this moment for generations. The Archduches was here and they now could fulfill their long-awaited purpose: reconstruction of the kingdom.


    They were the descendants of the kingdom¡¯s knights.


    The story passed down from generation to generation had be a reality and they now had new hope. Of course, Fatima¡¯s existence was important so they would be protecting her no matter what. Although Szechenyi was there, the eldest was still in the most important position, regardless of gender.


    It was a very funny situation, but Youngho was forced to ept it because of their seriousness. Still, Youngho enjoyed the situation regardless of what Jongil said. He was just sketching his idea of ??building an efficient vige even though only about 50 households were to enter the ranch.


    ¡°So, while more than 60% of the ves were dead, the knights still survived?¡±


    ¡°If they still survived when they were abused andcked food, they must have their own secret training method. But no one knows about that. Their ancestors only asked them to survive and rebuild the kingdom. Such nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Niksic¡¯s eyes were still zing. He still seems to be living in medieval times. When the old man red at me, I almost wet my pants. There must be a special training method. Maybe we should send Szechenyi to find out what it is. ¡±


    Jongil was battered by Niksic after being caught joking at Fatima.


    Youngho asked Niksic about the special training methods of old knights, but he did not say anything.


    Furious at Niksic, Jongil was sure that the old man was hiding something. He suggested using Szechenyi to find out the secret since Szechenyi was still a descendant of the Archduke. The old man had got to pass on the secret somehow.


    However, Szechenyi looked at Youngho and Jongil as if they were crazy and refused to do it, saying that he could not understand them.


    Youngho would not have to worry about people finding out about the gold mines if the vigers worked on the ranch since these people seemed like they could die for Fatima. It was because they epted anything rted to the Archduches as their fate.


    The shepherds working on the ranch were entangled in marriages with them, therefore, no one would cause trouble.


    Youngho decided to build houses starting next spring while equally dividing 17800 sq. ft. per household along the fenced southern side of the ranch.


    When Youngho said that he would contact a constructionpany, the vigers all opposed the idea because they did not want to spend the Archduchess¡¯ money like that.


    They insisted to build the houses on their own if Youngho provided materials and equipment. Still, everyone agreed to his idea to build a school to educate children and young adults.


    Although they had been brainwashed by their ancestors, the vigers did not care much about the inconvenient life because they thought that their destiny had already been settled and they now had a clear purpose.


    They reminded Youngho about the towns in Georgia in South Ossetia.


    Yet, It would be a big mistake to think that they were easy-going people.


    They were such a fanatic group and they might go insane or kill themselves if their hope disappeared. They needed a lot of help from Youngho and Fatima to live normally like others.


    Youngho was shocked by the standard of their living.


    It was poorer than life in the 1950s.


    They grew their own vegetables in a garden near their house, raised a few livestock, got milk, eggs, and meat from them, and they did not have electricity.


    Even after an hour or two away from the city of Baku, the government was not able to set up a pole and supply electricity since small groups of people were scattered around the Caucasus Mountains.


    Their stubbornness to preserve their own ways also yed a part.


    Now, thanks to Youngho¡¯s ranch, there was a paved road and many people could easily transport from here to there. Nermin had a better life than others since he had experienced working in a mine outside.


    Youngho had no idea that there were still many people who lived in woven clothes of wool yarn.


    ***


    Fatima gave birth to a son.


    If it was a month or two ago, Youngho and Fatima would be only receiving words of celebration from people who rted to Youngho, but now it was different.


    When Fatima gave birth to her son, the descendants of the knights, the people of the mine vige, almost fell into a frenzy of craziness.


    The house at the ranch waspletely filled with presents from the vigers.


    They gave the most precious things in their homes, such as chickens,mbs, carpets, handicrafts, and household items. Youngho returned the presents back to the peopleter. All he could remember was that their sincerity was intense.


    When Fatima gave birth, the vigers volunteered to work at the gold mine and refine gold from winter to spring.


    For payment, they agreed to ept all the food and supplies from Fatima.


    It worked this way: They were showing their loyalty to the Archduchess with gold, and the Archduchess as the monarch granted them food and clothing, as done in the old kingdom.


    Since Fatima was still recovering, Szechenyi and Zeynep distributed food and clothing to them. However, Szechenyi and Zeynep werepletely disgusted by their fanatic loyalty, and Youngho could see why. Even Jongil tried to avoid dealing with those people.


    Anyhow, it was relieving to be eased from all the hard work: secretly searching for a gold vein and crushing rocks since the vigers were working in the mines. Youngho made sure that they wore protective gear so that they would not be injured by rockfall or stone powder.


    They were no longer descendants of ves.


    They were the Knights and people of the Archduchess, Fatima.


    For them, the lost kingdom was rebuilt, and now they were the people under the great monarchy.


    Moreover, Youngho¡¯s son was born.


    The newborn baby was the next king of the kingdom, and hope for the people.


    He was only Youngho¡¯s son for a moment. Soon, he became the son of the whole Serbian kingdom.

 Chapter 141 - Fatima the Archduchess (2)

    <h4>Chapter 141: Fatima the Archduchess (2)</h4>


    A huge cargo truck filled with daily necessities entered the ranch.


    Youngho was relieved to see Kim Ilkwon getting off his van followed by the cargo truck.


    ¡°Boss, I could only find thirty units of small-scale power generators. But I made extra orders, and we¡¯ll have enough in a few days.¡±


    Youngho wanted to let the vigers have ess to electricity, so he asked Ilkwon to get and install small power generator units from Baku¡¯s downtown.


    ¡°Thanks. I had no other choice but to send you downtown to get those.¡±


    ¡°No problem, Boss. The North Korean representatives are about to take off the country and no one would¡¯ve walked around the downtown. Besides, I am a citizen of Azerbaijan now. They can¡¯t touch me.¡±


    Younghopletely forgot about the North Korean representatives, and after asking Ilkwon, Youngho realized that he should not have sent Ilkwon downtown. Fortunately, Ilkwon came back without any trouble. Still, Youngho felt that Ilkwon was too obedient.


    ¡°Ilkwon, you can¡¯t just do what I tell you to do. If I ask you to do something that could put you in trouble, that means I wasn¡¯t thinking. You¡¯ve got to speak out in those instances. Do you know how much I was worried about you? I couldn¡¯t reach you because there is no phone signal around here.¡±


    ¡°Got it, Boss.¡±


    Ilkwon could not hide his smile for Youngho¡¯s thoughtful consideration.


    ¡°You know what, let¡¯s request for the instation of phone ry stations. If that¡¯s not possible, we should find a way to installndlines. It doesn¡¯t make sense that we don¡¯t even have a phone connection here when this is such an important ce for us.¡±


    ¡°In my opinion, it would be impossible to install ry stations since there are not many households. It would be expensive, but how about using satellite phones, although they are somewhat costly?¡±


    It was a brilliant idea.


    Youngho only thought about T.V. satellite antennas, but he did not think about satellite phones. The satellite phones would probably be the most effectivemunication tool for Youngho and the security crew of Zeynep Security Service.


    Mobile phones did not work in most of the regions in the Caucasus Mountain Range except for around the capital areas since people mostly dwelled in city areas due to high mountains and rough environments outside of them. Since the rest of thend was abandoned and all the small viges were widely scattered, it would be very inefficient to install ry stations.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve thought of that before. The CIA doesn¡¯t use it because of possible information exposure. But, for us, it would be way better than having nomunication at all.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to Insoo right away.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ve got to say, I didn¡¯t expect a country boy from North Korea to suggest such a brilliant idea.¡±


    Ilkwon chuckled.


    Now, Youngho had one less problem to worry about.


    ***


    ¡°They¡¯ve got great physiques. A little bit of training will make them fit for their job. If you give me permission, I will get on it.¡±


    Ilkwon was saying that because of those descendants of the knights who still roamed around the ranch. Youngho did not know what to do with them since they would not listen to anybody. Their loyaltyy in protecting Fatima. Ilkwon volunteered to train them now.


    ¡°Alrighty then. You can recruit whoever has potential. I¡¯ll talk to Niksic.¡±


    ¡°I see about ten of them with potential. Like I said, they¡¯ve got good physiques. I will get them and train them to fight.¡±


    ¡°Not the way you were trained in North Korea. Let them follow your lead on their own.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Boss. I have no intention of doing that. Just let me get my hands on them; I can turn them into an elite force in no time. After training, if they want, they can work at Zeynep Security Service.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful. New and young blood of the Security Service.¡±


    It was quite difficult to recruit Korean youngsters for thepany. Now, it would be easier to make additions to the service.


    The descendants of the knights were Azerbaijan citizens and encountered nonguage barrier. Since they had quarantined themselves from the outside world, this could be a good chance for them to experience the world. It would not be hard to persuade them because they would bepletely obedient to Fatima.


    Youngho¡¯s son was named.


    Both elders of the mine vigers and Sangchun¡¯s father contributed to finding a good name.


    ¡®Leonard Hanwool L Aleksandar¡¯


    It was a name that recalled the bravery of a lion and generosity like the fence.


    Everyone was calling him Leon, but Youngho stubbornly called him Hanwool.


    Finding a name seemed to be such a big deal, but reporting the birth was even a bigger problem. The son had be such a precious one to numerous people. Youngho¡¯s heart felt heavy because he felt like he passed on a great obligation to his son already.


    Leon would not be able to live a normal life.


    It was the child¡¯s fate and he should be disciplined to ept it.


    After all, Youngho and Fatima¡¯s life was not that normal.


    Fatima recovered her normal condition in less than five days.


    But Youngho could not join Fatima¡¯s room to protect the baby since his immune system was still weak. In addition to that, the baby was crying day and night. If Youngho stayed with the baby, he would not be able to work during the daytime.


    However, Zeynep came in handy. She had been taking care of newborn children of the ranch, and she did not want to be separated from Leon. After the baby was born, the female vigers kepting in and out of the mansion to take care of the Archduchess and to do all kind of chores for her.


    They could not stop the women because Niksic was behind them.


    Still, Fatima was grateful for their help and consideration.


    ***


    While adults worked at the gold mines, children studied with teachers hired from outside. The Security Service lodging was given to children as dormitories and the security crews were sent back to Zeynep Farm.


    The vige children learned how to use theputer and electronics since they seemed to be most interested in handling technology. Some children inte teenage years also joined military training with Kim Ilkwon.


    Park Jongil volunteered to help Ilkwon but he was surprised by the teenagers¡¯ extraordinary movements.


    ¡°I told you, man! It¡¯s incredible if you see how well they use a dagger. I pushed them hard to the end, yet they were not even out of breath. There must be a secret breathing method these guys are not telling us.¡±


    ¡°It must be difficult for you, but roll with them for a while. I¡¯ve got to show the old man what I¡¯ve got.¡±


    Youngho was going to tell Niksic about the power of the ring and the leather shoes as well as tell him the story of Fatima and himself. There was nothing to hide anymore when he already had a child with Fatima. They would show their loyalty to Fatima and Leon no matter what. If they found out that Youngho was chosen by the family¡¯s relics, Youngho would be respected by them too.


    ¡°Niksic, do you remember this emblem?¡±


    As Youngho took out the ring, Niksic¡¯s face turned pale.


    Niksic ran to his wardrobe and took out a papyrus paper. The Archduke¡¯s emblem was on the paper. It looked a little different since it was passed on through several generations, but it still was the Archduke¡¯s emblem.


    ¡°Have you heard of the legend of this ring?¡±


    Youngho nodded and Niksic bowed down to Youngho to show his loyalty as a knight as he did to Fatima.


    ¡°I am aware of the meaning of your action. However, I am not the true owner of the ring.¡±


    Niksic shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there would be an owner of the ring. If the husband of the Archduchess owns the ring and knows the legend, he also is the one we obey and show our loyalty to. I believe that the Archduchess handed the ring to you since you are trustworthy.¡±


    From Niksic¡¯s action, Youngho could see that the ring must have significant meaning to it. To hear more about the Serbian Kingdom in the past, Youngho began to tell the whole story of meeting Fatima and how he far came since then.


    The conversation had continued for more than two hours.


    When Niksic heard about the Fatima siblings¡¯ rough past, he sobbed so hard. Through this, the two formed a strong sympathy with each other.


    ¡°You two are destined to be together, crossing east and west. From now on, we swear to live and die for you.¡±


    After calming down, Niksic promised to be loyal to Youngho since he connected everything as his destiny.


    ¡°I also believed that this should be destiny as well. That is why I¡¯ve searched the entirety of Istanbul. The beginning of the Zeynep ranch was probably led by the power of the ring.¡±


    ¡°I beg you. Could you show me the power of the ring?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Youngho went outside and showed all of the mysterious power of the ring.


    After seeing everything, Niksic replied to Youngho by showing his martial art movements.


    It was technics of a medieval martial art. His movements were so fast that it was hard to believe that he was an old man. Yet, he was not even short of breath.


    ¡°So there is a special breathing technique of the knights.¡±


    ¡°If the power of the ring is the light of a full moon, the knight¡¯s training method is as small as that of a firefly. The Lord protected the kingdom with the power of the ring, and the knights were guardians of the rings.¡±


    It meant that the royal family members with the ring on had fought at the frontline in every single battle to protect their people.


    The ring had to be like a gun or a missile during the age of swords and arrows. That had to be why a small kingdom like Serbia was able to fight against the Ottoman Empire or Persian Empire.


    Although the Serbian Kingdom was demolished by the heavy arms of Turkey, the ring proved its worth and power.


    Since that day with Niksic, the vigers treated Youngho differently.


    They showed respect to Youngho as if they were facing the Fatima siblings. Finally, Youngho was able to persuade them to give up on the idea of building houses on their own. Atst, it was possible to build a modern vige.


    Jongil was asking Youngho about the changed attitude of the vigers.


    ¡°What did you do, man? Howe they¡¯repletely different?¡±


    ¡°I am the husband of the Archduchess. Don¡¯t you think people should look at me differently? Maybe like as a duke or a marquis? I have not seen people being disobedient to a duke or a marquis.¡±


    Jongil had no words.


    ¡°In the 21st century, you are saying you became duke of a few hundred people in this mountain area. You must be really enjoying this medieval y.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tugh! I¡¯m serious! Is this funny to you?¡±


    Youngho was encouraged because people who were not willing to change at all started to ept the change.


    The descendants of the Serbian people were showing how much effort they were putting to make their old dreame true.


    ¡°So... I guess you do not really care about the special breathing technique of the knights.¡±


    ¡°What the heck! You finally persuade him? Did he said he will tell you?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you care toe across the line to the medieval times, there might be a way.¡±


    ¡°Damn it. Forget it! I am not doing it. I would rather die.¡±


    ¡°Brother. It¡¯s easy. Just call Fatima ¡®mydy¡¯ and call me ¡®my lord¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!!¡±


    ¡°Haha....¡±

 Chapter 142 - Descendants of the Kingdom (1)

    <h4>Chapter 142: Descendants of the Kingdom (1)</h4>


    The night inte November was quite chilly.


    Youngho thought the Hummer could handle the rough unpaved road, but they ended up abandoning the car and walking to their destination.


    It was reported that one of the Serbian descendants in the mine vige near the ranch had been missing for a while. Since they were already near the ranch, Youngho and his friends decided to gather people to search the missing viger¡¯s house. Youngho thought the vigers would give up when it got dark, but having extraordinary night vision, they did not mind walking in the dark.


    Youngho and his people guided by a young shepherd boy were close to their destination. The shepherd boy was way ahead of them, waiting with antern in his hand.


    As they approached the house, Youngho sensed a sudden ominous signal from the ring. The signal was not vibration or blinking lights, but it was closer to a chilling sensation filling Youngho¡¯s head. It was enough to alert Youngho for danger nearby.


    Youngho and Jongil exchanged nces, ¡®Let¡¯s hurry.¡¯


    Somebody around could be in a danger at this moment.


    Youngho took his pistol out and sprinted toward the missing viger¡¯s house.


    When the group got closer to the house, they smelled an unpleasant odor all around the house. It was blood. The torn fleshes of sheep were all over the ce and the blood stains were spotted everywhere. The intestines of sheep were pulled out of their dead bodies. Eating intestines first was a habit of predators. There had to be some beasts more vicious than wolves because the ring would not react like this to animals like wolves. A risk factor that Youngho had not thought of should be near them.


    ¡°Grrrrrrrr.... Grrrrrrr....¡±


    Youngho heard a low range sound of a beasting from behind the house.


    There were no other animals but bears that could make this sound around the Caucasus.


    It was probably a bear that came down close to the vige to find extra food before going into hibernation.


    The door of the old house was torn apart and the inside of the house was a mess, looking as if the bear had swept by. Youngho had no time to think. He had to take care of the bear first and then find the resident.


    As soon as Jongil and Youngho went behind the house, they saw a seven-foot-tall bear roaring with its ws out. It was only about sixty feet away which was close enough for Youngho and Jongil to hit the target blindfolded.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Youngho thought three shots would take care of the situation.


    Unfortunately, two more bears rushed toward them after hearing the bear¡¯s cry after being shot.


    Youngho and Jongil almost emptied their magazines to take down the other two bears because of their thick skins. All three bears were still alive since the pistols could notpletely prate their bodies. They ended up shooting the bears¡¯ heads to quiet them.


    They could not find any signs of residents inside the house. If they were eaten by those bears, the remnants of their bodies should be there. The vigers concluded that the residents fled to their refuge since they could not defend the house. Since this kind of event happened almost every fall, the vigers were not even worried about the missing people. They had been living in such a dangerous environment. It was natural for the vigers, but Youngho could not stand it.


    These were Fatima¡¯s people from the old kingdom, and, one day, they might re-establish their empire within the Caucasus with Leon too.


    It was necessary to hurry the vige construction around the ranch so people could move into houses early. Youngho needed these people to be safe and well.


    The vigers whistled and the missing vigers walked out of from the refuge nearby. They had not even a scratch on their bodies because they were prepared for this kind of situation.


    ***


    Youngho called Niksic to the cafeteria at the ranch. Youngho wanted to meet the people living deep inside the mountain since he could not stand people being exposed to danger.


    ¡°Chief Niksic, I cannot ignore this anymore. We need to do something for them. Fatima and Leon wouldn¡¯t like this either.¡±


    ¡°If youmand us, we will get to it right away. But this is really not a big deal for us at all. We¡¯ve lived like this for hundreds of years.¡±


    This was an ordinary life for the vigers.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t let this happen again for your livestock¡¯s safety either. I will provide hunting rifles if necessary. Please put the people¡¯s safety in priority.¡±


    ¡°Rifles? Are you sure you¡¯d give us rifles?¡±


    Even having a protective rifle was such a luxury for them.


    If only they had these weapons, it would not have been so dangerous living the mountain.


    ¡°They¡¯re all members of our vige. They are important people, especially for Fatima and Leon. I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to spend every resource for them.¡±


    Niksic was touched by what Youngho said.


    ¡°Our ancestors always emphasized that our reconstructed kingdom will rule the world. Now, I understand what they mean. Our people have been waiting for the time like this.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t take it that way. The old definition of the kingdom all of you¡¯ve been waiting does not mean much now. If we can pass on a better life to the descendants of the kingdom, this small vige will be our kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you are afraid of, but we, as knights, have our obligations. Protecting the Archduchess and her child is still our mission. Please forgive us for being such a trouble for you.¡±


    Youngho could not disagree with him because it was Niksic¡¯s purpose in life.


    On one hand, Youngho could not understand them at all. What made them be so blind?


    On the other hand, Youngho felt relieved to be surrounded by people who would die for Fatima and Leon.


    One of the bearskins was tanned well and ced on the living room floor.


    The vigers¡¯ tanning skill was beyondparison. Zeynep¡¯s dog was trembling when it saw the bearskin on the floor. The dead predator was still terrifying to the little dog.


    A number of shotguns were delivered to the vige as promised. After a few shooting practices and safety training, young vigers surprised Youngho with their extraordinary shooting ability. It was evident that they were either natural warriors, or the special knight breathing technique had a part in their shooting ability as well.


    Most of the wolves near the ranch and distant houses soon disappeared.


    The special knight breathing technique had not been passed down to Jongil yet. The vigers did not forgive Jongil for making a joke to Fatima, and Jongil was still treating the vigers as crazy medieval people.


    ***


    People were loading this year¡¯s wines on a truck.


    The bottling process waspleted a little early because Sergey told him that the wines were almost out of stock.


    It was not difficult to find workers as the Serbian descendants were avable for help because they stayed at his farm or at the guesthouse on the ranch.


    They were cheerful because they were paid with cash right after their work. Since they only had their hands on cash once or twice a year when they sold cheese or leather in markets, this was a brand new world for them. They were able to go to Baku¡¯s downtown once a week by the farm¡¯s minibus to buy supplies.


    They were already living more satisfactory lives since they lived where the Archduchess dwelled, and they now had easy ess to the supplies they needed and wanted.


    The very existence of the Archduchess inspired people to be diligent and proactive because they believed the kingdom was finally reconstructed. They did not need to worry about being persecuted for they had their own monarch.


    Zeynep wine had nopetitors in Southern Russia and Kazakhstan for its unique color and taste. Sergey was strongly vocal about raising the wine¡¯s price. With his Ph.D. in Business Administration, he believed that when the bnce between supply and demand was slightly broken, it was the best time to raise the price of a product. Supplies were fixed but demands were continuously increasing. The wholesalers were at the level where they had to adjust the price on their own. Therefore, Youngho decided to raise the price by a dor for each a bottle starting this year.


    Youngho was afraid of the consumers¡¯ resistance against the raised price, but Sergey seemed to be confident about it since there was nopetitor brand. No wholesaler would be brave enough to sell foreign wines in the Southern Russian market where the mafia was in control.


    Still, only trusting mafia would not be appropriate for the future of thepany¡¯s business since they neededpetition for the growth of Zeynep¡¯s winepany. Thepany would not survive if they kept selling their products without effort. This was why Youngho wanted to pioneer in the Western European market.


    Youngho had never heard the French and Italian wineries being troubled even though the Argentine budget-friendly wines were overwhelming the market. Australian and Argentine wines did not get on the dinner table because they created a cheap image by producing too many wines from enormous farms. Even though the taste of Australian and Argentinian wines were not too far from Europian wines, they were only used for cooking.


    This was why Youngho was stubborn about wines with a long period of aging in oak casks. He did not want to produce tasty but cheap wine. He had nothing to worry about because he already owned a self-processed factory. Especially now he could save a lot of costs for a low-temperature warehouse because he could use the gold mine cave as a warehouse.


    The wine value would surely go up.


    Youngho was smiling after calcting the estimated profit.


    Wine revenue was way more than his expectations. It was more than twenty million dors.


    2.1 million bottles of tank-aged wine brought him seventeen million dors, and 600,000 bottles of one-year oak barrel-aged wine made nine million dors.


    With this money, the vige that would be built around the ranch for the descendants of Serbian knights could be more fortified. It was only paper money. Youngho could deposit the money in the bank. But if the situation got worse, the money would turn to no more than toilet paper.


    There was no reason to save paper money when gold bars from the mine would be the true assets. The priority would be getting machines and supplies to keep maintenance of the ranch. Youngho probably needed to award the Jewish capitalists for making him turn his eyes to thend and its resources.

 Chapter 143 - Descendants of the Kingdom (2)

    <h4>Chapter 143: Descendants of the Kingdom (2)</h4>


    Thest winter was not so busy since most of the CIA agents were on holiday break, so Youngho had nothing to do except for asional pruning work.


    However, Youngho could not take a break this year because the whole of Europe was under the threat of terrorism. Moreover, since he had been also building the vige for the Serbian knights¡¯ descendants, he was extremely busy.


    Providing a ce for them was not just charity work because they were valuablebor force who did practical work for his farm and ranch.


    Although they were unconditional followers of Fatima, he was providing them a great working environment and decent pay. Especially the miners who excavated and smelted gold from the dead mines, he treated them with the best care.


    The usible work environment with safety as a priority and the workers¡¯ sufficient rest frompleted welfare facilities resulted in the highbor production rate.


    Also, because the employees voluntarily worked, a high production rate was a natural oue.


    Youngho was excited since a hundred and fifty gold bars had been already made. Their transaction value was about nine billion won.


    Fatima cried in joy when Youngho showed her the first gold bar made from the excavated gold from the mines. After learning about the symbolic meaning of her own existence to the vigers, she was under financial pressure. She was joyful now that gold, which could serve as stable funds, was found, and it was in front of her eyes.


    ¡°I was feeling stressed over the old kingdom¡¯s people, but I¡¯m relieved we found gold so now that we can support them. They¡¯re poor people with a tragic history. Please treat them with a warm heart, oppa.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will do that. Their only hope is you and Leon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never understand how they could live waiting for something for hundreds of years, but now, I think I should ept their heart.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They¡¯ve been living with their backs turned on the world. We should try to understand them andfort them. If they know your heart, they¡¯ll surely be d.¡±


    Frankly, it was such an absurd situation, but Youngho thought that this was somewhat possible in the Caucasus Mountain Range. It was thest remote ce left in the world and ever since human beings existed, the ce had been where the most battles happened. All sorts of things happened in the region. Because of that, unique practices were still being performed in the Caucasus.


    Although without any phones, people in remote regions had a unique way ofmunicating with each other even if they were at a distance of a few kilometers away from one another.


    It wasmunicating through a certain set of whistling patterns.


    The recent rescue of people who were attacked by bears was only possible because the peoplemunicated through whistles. Whistles could travel further than human voices.


    They used whistling, which was in a range of sounds that could not be crossed by any other sound, as a method ofmunication since they lived in mountainous regions where it was not easy to transit from a ce to another.


    It was used when there was an intruder from outside when a herd of sheep was lost, when calling for friends, and so on. And because each person made different whistling sounds, they could distinguish the sound and find out who was sending the signals with ease.


    It was such an amazingmunication method since they could deliver any message with about a hundred different patterns.


    Especially when people were on the run as runaway ves, people ensured each other¡¯s safety through making strange bird-like whistles. Youngho also tried to learn their whistles, but it was impossible to mimic since they had attained those whistles since they were young.


    From the sounds made only with lips to fingers-incorporated sounds, their various ways ofmunicating were astounding to see. Youngho was d that he gained the people¡¯s ability on his side.


    ***


    On TV, a news anchor was intensely reporting an issue.


    It was because there was another bombing terrorist attack in Baku.


    A terrorist drove into Baku¡¯s train station when the train from Tbilisi, Georgia was arriving. There were more than thirty people injured or dead by the incident. Most of them were travelers.


    It was bing even more chaotic since different terrorist groups were insisting that they were the cause of the attack. They imed that it was their way of warning Azerbaijan since the country had announced war with extremist Imic terrorist groups and their supporting countries.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s efforts to stop terrorism turned into a waste even though they even stopped Turkish travelers, turning down their brotherly nation.


    Since innocent backpackers and travelers were the ones who were affected, it was obvious that the country¡¯s tourism revenue would fall.


    The sales of Chunho Merchant¡¯s direct stores in the inner city of Baku also fell in half.


    Furious with the terrorist groups, Jongil wanted to find their hideout and root them out.


    ¡°Sevan said there¡¯s a suspicious Muslim in Main Police Department, but no one can touch him in the department. Why don¡¯t we wait for him outside the building and find out what¡¯s with him?¡±


    ¡°Hey, does it make sense that they can¡¯t search when terrorists are hiding in the city?¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t just search people without any evidence. The public will go nuts. It¡¯s still an Imic country.¡±


    ¡°If they can¡¯t do it, we need to be the ones to do it. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t feel good about picking on a Muslim, but let¡¯s do it. You and me, just the two of us can work secretly.¡±


    Azerbaijan¡¯s moderate religious leaders could not bash out hiding terrorists, and they could not use police force either since this could proliferate as a religious battle. If they used police force to search a Muslim¡¯s property, it might look like religious oppression and Azerbaijan could be the target for Imic countries all over the world.


    The problem was that Sunnite extremists were using mosques as their ce of refuge.


    Jongil had just suggested that they should help out the police department that could not do anything about a suspicious person with a terrorist potential.


    Youngho also wanted to take his suggestion because he was affected by terrorism as well.


    He was dying to find out who was behind all this too.


    Youngho did not want to just dive into this mission without a n.


    He should have something in return afterward.


    He contacted Eriksson to see if he could suggest a deal, thinking that he could find out a connection to the power behind the recent terrorism when he captured some major terrorists.


    They was not going to report this to the CIA¡¯s European Chapter since if the Jewish capitalist was behind this, the CIA¡¯s high rankers might be rted to this as well.


    Eriksson expressed his agreement toward his n.


    He said that if Youngho could capture some terrorists secretly, the agency would probably be able to find a link from them.


    Now that what he would do after capturing terrorists was secured, the only thing left to do was actually catching them.


    ***


    At dawn, Youngho and Jongil sneaked inside a mosque in Baku.


    The mosque was located at the end of the old section of the city. Inside the building, there were many rooms centered around a maze-like hall.


    Youngho had many questions in mind. If terrorists were uninvited guests, where would they be staying in here and how were they being treated by clerics? If they were served well in here, there was no doubt that they were all on the same side.


    They began to search through the most luxurious rooms first. Terrorists were still guests of the mosque, so it would not be reasonable for them to be staying in storage rooms.


    After searching a few luxurious rooms, they found a room where three robust young men were staying. They were curled up in bed, asleep with their clothes on. Intuitively, Youngho knew that they must be terrorists since their attire told that they were ready to flee at any time.


    As the two stepped inside the room, the suspicious three men woke up in no time and picked up their pistols.


    Now, their reaction just confirmed the spection. They were indeed terrorists.


    Youngho and Jongil could subdue them easily in a while.


    The two brought the terrorists to the Charles Farm¡¯s oak-cask aging room after tying them with cable ties and covering their eyes and mouths.


    Kim Ilkwon, who received the message beforehand, was waiting for the guests.


    It took a while to knock down two of the terrorists since they moved swiftly. One of them did not resist at all and he gave the impression that he was the leader of the three.


    Youngho and Jongil did not forget to bring their belongings as well. There were different chemicals, materials, and devices for making explosives. The materials were from Turkey, Brazil, and India, where the security was rtively loose. Those kinds of cheap materials could be bought without the permission of each nation¡¯s government, so terrorists could easily get their hands on them.


    That was why terrorists were not caught by the tight Baku airport¡¯s security.


    Youngho did not say much on the way to the farm.


    He relieved his rage when inflicting some corporal punishment in the process of subduing them.


    Jongil had already treated them roughly since he forcefully searched and damaged the inside of their mouths in case that they carried suicide capsules in them. They would not be able to eat for a while. Youngho did not ask any questions since there was nothing to say, and it seemed that they would answer them easily.


    Eriksson appeared at Baku¡¯s airport at the promised time.


    He was with two other guys. ording to Eriksson, they were a psychologist and a hypnotist.


    Eriksson and the guys stayed with the captured terrorists for an hour and brought them outside of the aging room.


    It seemed that he took some action on the terrorists. Eriksson said that he just treated them so that they can maintain psychological stability, but the terrorists¡¯ eyes did not seem normal.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, are they terrorists for sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They sneaked into Baku a few months ago and have been working on terrorism in the city. We¡¯ll find out the details once we investigate them in our agency, but it looks like there are no other terrorist groups in Baku at the moment. If it¡¯s not a problem for you, I¡¯ll take them now. We¡¯ll travel to Georgia on the train.¡±


    Youngho wondered how Eriksson would pass the inspection when they leave the country since they had stepped up the inspection due to recent terrorist attacks all over Europe, but it was not his problem.


    It seemed that the terrorists had been searching for new recruits and working on turning the public¡¯s opinion toward extremism for the past few months.


    Although there were no more terrorists left in the city, the problem was that some clerics who hid them in the mosque also held extremist views.


    It was impossible to officially punish them for what their ideologies, so Youngho nned on punishing them quietly. Now that Youngho was also a citizen of Azerbaijan residing in Baku, people with dangerous minds could affect him and his family as well.


    That night, two masked men showed up at the mosque in the old section of the city and several Imic clerics disappeared, but the police regarded the incident as a minor urrence.

 Chapter 144 - Descendants of the Kingdom (3)

    <h4>Chapter 144: Descendants of the Kingdom (3)</h4>


    The rise of terrorists definitely would cause conflicts among countries.


    Countries attacked by terrorists started to criticize countries supporting terrorists such as Syria and Iraq. Countries such as France, Israel, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Russia even conducted counterattacks. Russia was in a funny position since it provided weapons to anti-government organizations and proimed war against terrorism at the same time.


    The country¡¯s infrastructures such as oil pipelines were widely exposed to terrorists. A political intention to shake the countries under rebel attacks seemed to be also part of Russia¡¯s agenda.


    Terrorism was already prevalent in Turkey, France, and the United Kingdom. Still, it did not seem to make sense how Israel kept attacking Syria and Lebanon. All those countries only needed a small trigger to turn the situation into a huge war. Youngho had be nervous because he already saw that there would be a war at the end of this road.


    From the recent capture of Baku¡¯s terrorists, Youngho was shocked by how easy terrorists could get their hands on explosives. Anyone could get their hands on the materials needed for explosives if they knew what they were. It did not matter what their reasoning was. The problem was that people saw terrorism as a highly paid upation, and someone was providing unlimited funds to support terrorism. Everything that would trigger a war was already on the table.


    Youngho realized that he needed to make a detailed n to build protection systems and strategic supply storages at the ranch. He might be a bit too sensitive about the situation, but all of his senses were rming him for the high possibility of danger that was about toe.


    ¡°Jongil, you used to have a connection to a government official at the Ministry of Energy, right?¡±


    Youngho remembered that Jongil used to spend a lot of time in an effort to get some information from a government official.


    ¡°Sure did. I know a greedy guy who likes bribes. What¡¯s up? I have nothing else to get from him. I haven¡¯t talked to him in a while.¡±


    ¡°We need some oil tanks. Secretly.¡±


    ¡°What now? Why do you need them? You think it¡¯s that easy to steal oil tanks? Besides, do you think he¡¯ll help you without a bribe?¡±


    Jongil seemed to find Youngho¡¯s request interesting.


    ¡°You must have something to get him to work. A good agent doesn¡¯t pay to get what he needs. Am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°This guy.... Okay. Let¡¯s say I can get him to steal them for us. Why do need oil tanks all of a sudden?¡±


    Youngho exined to Jongil about what he sensed and realized the necessity for storing supplies for nearing danger.


    ***


    Large tanks were delivered to the ranch.


    Jongil managed to get ten of 20,000-liter oil tanks from the official.


    They were set up outside near the dead mines, which was the safest ce in the ranch. 20,000 liters of oil could fill up the gas tanks of 2,850pact cars.


    However, one thing still worried Youngho.


    If something happened at the oil production line from the government¡¯s petrochemicalplex, the tanks would be useless. There must be measures in that case.


    That was how he turned his eyes to photovoltaic power generators.


    Since Baku¡¯s dry weather was perfect for utilizing sr energy, it would not be a problem to produce electricity.


    The problem was that the photovoltaic industry was not developed in Azerbaijan due to overflowing crude oil supply.


    People in remote mountainous regions used sr panels to watch TV and charge their phones. Most of the panels were imported from foreign countries at high costs, and since Youngho¡¯s ranch needed arge number of them, he searched for Korean products.


    Even in Korea, the photovoltaic industry was not so popr now after the oil price dropped after 2000. There were only a handful ofpanies left in the industry.


    Youngho was connected to Korean K Electronics through the Korean Embassy in Baku. After hearing about therge scale of Youngho¡¯s farms and ranch, an employee of thepany immediately flew to Baku to see Youngho.


    The employee from K Electronics was astonished to see the overwhelming scale of the grape farm. He was even surprised to hear the number of wine bottles produced by the farm every year, which was about three million bottles.


    After looking around the Charles Farm and the ranch as well, the staff suggested building an assembly nt in Baku since it was difficult to import such a huge number ofpleted sr panels.


    Although Youngho would have to make an investment, he was intrigued by his suggestion. It was actually a great business proposal with a bright future especially in the regions of the Caucasus. The employee added that K Electronic was nning to make a foray in the Middle East, and Baku could be the business¡¯ stepping stone.


    Apart from making profits, Youngho was interested in the green energy supply business since the pollutants made from oil production and reprocessing methods were contaminating Baku.


    Youngho felt sorry that Baku was being polluted by people more and more even though it was the ce their descendants would live in.


    He often felt this when he visited Sumqayit¡¯s clothing store¡ªthat not only soil but also air pollution was at a serious level since the city of Sumqayit was in the top ten of the world¡¯s most polluted cities.


    Oil resources would dry out at some point.


    The Azerbaijani government also was preparing to develop alternative energy sources for that. The government invested their oil money in developing social overhead capital facilities, but because of the nation¡¯s geological features, that 60% of thend was part of the Caucasus Mountain Range, there were limitations.


    At the thought of this, Youngho thought of a cunning idea.


    He did not have to invest in K Electronics alone when he already had a lot of other businesses going on. He could make some investment and draw in the Azerbaijani government to the business. Then, K Electronics would have its own production factory in Baku.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. President, all I¡¯ve told you so far are what I realized as I traveled to Frankfurt every month. This energy policy is definitely necessary for Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°You made my blood race, Mr. Lee. I am touched by your concern for the people of Azerbaijan as a citizen of Azerbaijan. Now I get why Mr. Yaniv kept telling me about you nonstop.¡±


    Youngho emphasized the importance of the efficient use of resources, iming that the country should pass down the oil resources to the next generations and the descendants would remember the president¡¯s aplishment.


    Since there was little possibility that he could persuade the president, he tried very hard to be as logical as possible. Youngho made a big presentation about sr energy and encouraged the governor to build better infrastructures for sr energy production than Europeans. Working together with a Koreanpany, Youngho emphasized that it would be a vicious business to make profits from countries around the Caucasus. Youngho suggested that they could start building small sr panel assembly nts. Then they could learn from Korea¡¯s advanced technology to lead the nation¡¯s industry development.


    President Aliyev always had a thirst for advanced technology, and this opportunity to learn Korea¡¯s technology seemed to be able to quench his thirst.


    ¡°I started my business in Baku and I will lead on to return what I¡¯ve received from Baku. If I say that I will build assembly nts, the Korean government wouldn¡¯t be so picky to offer the sr technology.¡±


    Although it was not such a secret technology, to Azerbaijani, it was a great opportunity to gain advanced technology. Moreover, since Youngho said that he would invest his funds too, it would be crazy of President Aliyev to refuse his proposal.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you made my day! I am surrounded by people who just want to maintain their power and positions. But you¡ªyou are different.¡±


    Giving a piece of advice to a dictator was a brave act for anybody in Azerbaijan since they might be putting their lives at risk. However, Youngho¡¯s case might be different. His suggestion was for the growth of Azerbaijani.


    The process was quick since K Electronics was eager to take this chance to expand their business. This would be a huge opportunity for K Electronics to build a headquarters in Baku which could be a foothold for them as they made a foray into the Caucasus and the Middle East.


    Youngho agreed on getting 10% of the future profits as an agent between the Azeri government and K Electronics. The government and thepany each would be getting 45% of the profits. Although Youngho only had 10% of thepany¡¯s share, he still got to have some control over this agenda. Though all these were for preparing for possible danger for the ranch and the Serbian descendants¡¯ vige, the sr panels were definitely necessary for Youngho. Michael from the CIA¡¯s European Chapter was also notified of President Aliyev¡¯s founding of the Korea-Azeribinedpany.


    Now, even if the CIA¡¯s European Chapter wanted to relocate him, they could not do it anymore. Youngho also had this in mind beforehand. He was looking at the big picture.


    ***


    The vige chief Niksic walked into his study with a humble face on.


    The old guy was always confident outside, but whenever he came to Youngho¡¯s mansion, he did not know what to do. Although Youngho knew why he acted that way, he still did not understand the rtionship of the Archduchess and the knights.


    Youngho had to hold back hisughter every time he saw him act that way.


    ¡°Wee. You didn¡¯t have toe a long way now that you have a satellite phone. You can always make a phone call when you need something.¡±


    ¡°How can I possibly act in such an impolite way? I wanted to pay my respects to the Archduchess and her baby as well.¡±


    ¡°The weather¡¯s getting cold now. Please take care of yourself first. A flu is going around these days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be alright even if I rolled on a snowfield because of the clothes you gave us.¡±


    The descendants of Serbian knights had been living with old and ragged leather clothes and shoes. When Youngho gave them winter clothes as a gift, they were very appreciative.


    The winter in the mountain 800 meters high above sea level was harsh.


    They had been living without proper socks or underclothes, so winter clothes and shoes were an overwhelming gift for them.


    ¡°So, what made you travel on the snowy, rough road?¡±


    Since Niksic had been reluctant even when having tea, Youngho asked first.


    ¡°I had contact with the descendants of the old kingdom who had been scattered around. They also want to move in with us at the ranch. If you take them in, they¡¯ll praise you and the Archduchess.¡±


    Niksic was worried that Youngho might not wee more Serbian residents since he already took in fifty-two families. However, Youngho was rather d that there were more of the descendants left.

 Chapter 145 - Descendants of the Kingdom (4)

    <h4>Chapter 145: Descendants of the Kingdom (4)</h4>


    ¡°Why would they want to join the ranch all of sudden?¡±


    ¡°A while ago, I shared the news with some of the other descendants of the kingdom. Now, they know we found the Archduchess, and they want to serve the Archduchess here as well. I am not sure what we should do though.¡±


    Whether Youngho epted them or not, they would insist in joining and serving the Archduchess.


    ¡°We should definitely ept them, Niksic. They must have lived a very difficult life with the distance. Besides, you already know that you cannot stop them.¡±


    ¡°You are correct. Some must be already on their way here with all of their belongings.¡±


    Niksic seemed to be regretting what he did.


    ¡°I am afraid that we might have way more people than the people living around the ranch. The news will travel fast.¡±


    Youngho freaked out for a little while. How could he handle these many people in the middle of winter?


    Fatima¡¯s presence changed the lives of the descendants. Fatima was like a savior who gave them a reason to live. Their faces now looked hopeful. In addition to that, their physical lives had changed as well. Children started having their education inside a warm building while adults did not have to roam around in the winter snow to survive. They did not have to scatter around since sturdy and warm houses were being built around the ranch. Youngho and the vigers were able to handle this much. Now an unknown number of people could possibly join thend in the middle of the cold winter.


    Youngho had an idea and asked Niksic if it would be possible for the extra descendants to temporarily stay in apartments downtown. But Niksic did not want them to stay away from the Archduchess. As a result, Youngho had to let the security crews move to apartments in Baku¡¯s downtown. The crews were more than d to do so. They had nothing to do but study foreignnguages or train in the middle of the mountain near the ranch. But now, they could enjoy a rtively modern life. Meeting beautiful women in Baku¡¯s downtown would be great for them. Realizing that, Youngho felt sorry that many of the security crews were not able to enjoy their days off since they had been living at the ranch. Living in distant ces would have been stressful for them. It would be better for them to stay in apartments downtown.


    Unlike Youngho¡¯s stressful situation, Leon was growing well without any trouble. He could now recognize his dad, even knowing how to ask him for hugs. Youngho wanted to stay home with Leon all day long these days. However, Fatima pushed his back to get him out for work. As soon as Fatima kicked him out of the house, the phone rang. It was Michael.


    ¡°Good morning, Michael.¡±


    ¡°Are you still at home wasting your time?¡±


    Youngho had a bad feeling about this phone call because of how Michael sounded like. He quickly changed his voice to his serious and humble tone.


    ¡°No, Chief. My child tried to stop me but I stood strong and left the house a moment ago. You don¡¯t sound well.... Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. I just wanted to see how you are doing. I haven¡¯t had enough sleep. Everyone is bothering me all of a sudden. Did you feel something fishy when you met President Aliyev the other day?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°He seemed to be less interested in expanding oil pipelines. The CIA¡¯s headquarters gave me an order to find out what¡¯s happening.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ve heard that he is hesitant to be a part of the construction for the oil pipeline expansion because the oil price is dropping. He was worried about losing money. It doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s going to take part unless some sort of loan is given to him.¡±


    It looked like President Aliyev backed out of the oil pipeline expansion business because of Youngho¡¯s suggestion regarding the sr energy industry. Youngho made up the story of the loan to sound more realistic.


    ¡°What the heck are you talking about? Most of the construction is paid by majorpanies.¡±


    ¡°I guess he is not sure about the oil anymore. Didn¡¯t I tell you that he wanted alternative energy technology? I connected a Korean Sr energypany with Azerbaijan as an agent.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? It doesn¡¯t make sense to me. Sr panels don¡¯t even produce that much electricity. You know what, take a visit to the president today. Tell him we might give him some loan for the alternative energy industry.¡±


    The U.S. was one of the countries that imported energy from foreign countries and kept their own resources for the future. Azerbaijan was one of the countries that the U.S. was importing oil from. The loan would be quite beneficial for Azerbaijan¡¯s economy which would be beneficial to Youngho as well.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he would listen to amon businessman.¡±


    ¡°Tell him to request a loan for alternative energy development to the U.S. government. You can wing the rest of the story.¡±


    The U.S. was willing to give a loan in exchange for using the resources of the Caspian Sea.


    ***


    Youngho requested an emergency visit to the presidential pce, and he was able to meet the president in the middle of night. It was all up to Youngho at this point. Youngho needed to present this issue subtly to protect his identity.


    ¡°Mr. President, have you made a deal with the U.S. government regarding the oil pipeline business?¡±


    ¡°How did you know, Mr. Lee? I¡¯ve ordered all of the officers to keep their mouths shut.¡±


    ¡°You know there is no secret in the economic negotiation between countries. A German businessman I know from Frankfurt made a phone call today, and he mentioned it during our conversation.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I told them I will sleep on it. I exaggerated a little bit about my concern for the oil price drop.¡±


    ¡°You made a good move ¡¯cause you¡¯re holding the stick now. The German businessman suggested that you should request a loan for the country¡¯s alternative energy development to the U.S. government while keeping the pipeline negotiation going.¡±


    ¡°Why would he tell you that?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d make more profit if Azerbaijan¡¯s economy gets better. He knew I had a connection with you.¡±


    Youngho needed to make this happen to save his face.


    ¡°Hmm... I am not sure if the U.S. government would grant a loan. There are too many Armenian congressmen in the U.S.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about it. The U.S. government will take care of it. Maybe we should request a loan for alternative energy development and even for the transfer of U.S. technology. You have the stick, Mr. President. I believe this could be a great opportunity for us to request all we want from the U.S. government.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha.... You know what, let¡¯s do this for the country¡¯s sake. But you need to help me.¡±


    ¡°You can count on me, Mr. President. I will fly to Frankfurt and slip the information to all the businessmen there.¡±


    Youngho needed to put on a show to fly to Frankfurt to make an impression to the president so he could look like he was a big part of the deal.


    If things happened as he suggested, President Aliyev would trust Youngho more regardless of the amount of the loan.


    Youngho had to fly to Frankfurt because of the promise he made to President Aliyev. Getting a loan would not happen within a few days. He still had to work diligently before the year ended because the descendants would rush in soon.


    Youngho decided to include Szechenyi in this trip. Szechenyi would go to college next year, and he wanted to go to Goethe University. It seemed that the trip would be beneficial for him.


    Since Youngho was used to visiting Frankfurt, the city was familiar to Szechenyi as well.


    ***


    ¡°Lee, it¡¯s all because of you that I can save my face in thete years of my career.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Chief. I¡¯m scared of your mood swings. I know you¡¯d change your mind and will be grilling me soon.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡±


    Michael was in a good mood since Youngho sessfully convinced President Aliyev to request a loan from the U.S. government as Michael had said. He asked him to go for a drink together, but since Szechenyi was waiting, Youngho refused. Not knowing that everything happened because of Youngho, Michael felt exuberant about how he got to keep the oil pipeline business going.


    This would be reported to the CIA¡¯s Headquarters as the European Chapter¡¯s achievement. To be specific, it was Youngho and Michael¡¯s achievement. As for Michael, he was put in a bad position since he did not react effectively to the previous terror attack in Frankfurt, but now he redeemed himself since he sessfully convinced President Aliyev.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give you a reward. I won¡¯t look for you until the beginning of next year. You can have a trip or you can spend time with your baby at home. Do whatever you want to do.¡±


    ¡°Do you know when I respect you the most? It¡¯s when you give me a break.¡±


    ¡°People will think that I¡¯m a terrible boss. I always say yes to your requests for personal leave.¡±


    ¡°You have selective memory, Chief. That¡¯s convenient.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Lee. Anyway, keep watching the president until the deal¡¯s sealed.¡±


    Szecheyni could not keep his mouth closed looking around the Goethe University¡¯s campus. It was way bigger than what he had in mind.


    The institution had more than a hundred years of history and it had produced Nobel Prize winners and worldwide well-known intellectual figures. There were more than 40,000 students were enrolled and there were around 170 majors established.


    ¡°Hyung, I love this ce! I feel like I¡¯ll automatically be a doctor if I studied in here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d you like it here. The doctorate students you met yesterday will help you a lot. They said they¡¯ll be researching here for two more years. They can be your role models.¡±


    ¡°My only role model is you.¡±


    ¡°I meant study role models not business role models.¡±


    As Youngho messed his hair, Szechenyi grinned. He was now a youngd and Youngho was satisfied with his growth. He was not the young boy that Youngho saw in Istanbul anymore. He had grown into a strong and diligent young man with a purpose. Youngho could entrust any of his businesses to him in the future.

 Chapter 146 - Descendants of the Kingdom (5)

    <h4>Chapter 146: Descendants of the Kingdom (5)</h4>


    As Youngho worried, several descendants of the kingdom began to arrive at the ranch.


    They all looked no better than homeless people on the street. The people who worked in the mines outside had it better than the people living in the mountain vige. Youngho felt sorry for them and wondered how they had been treated.


    The only thing they were better at than the people in the mountain was that they brought an old truck that was about to be totaled.


    Younghoter found out that the administrators of the other mines had been taking advantage of them because the descendants did not have the proper education.


    They had been working in mines without getting decent pay.


    With no proper safety equipment and no proper medical treatment, living with injuries was natural for them.


    It was impossible for them to save money for their children¡¯s education.


    Most of the business fields in Azerbaijan were underdeveloped.


    But the ignorance of the descendants yed a major role in being treated that way.


    They probably survived the harsh conditions because of the special breathing technique of the knights.


    Youngho was furious. He was ready to run over those who took advantage of the descendants.


    The lost time of the descendants would note back to them. It would be Youngho¡¯s priority to get them used to living normal lives.


    It was not because they were dumb, but because the naive people took it as their destiny.


    He wanted to give them reasons to live well.


    If the ring was given to Youngho for this reason, he would fulfill the obligation. Youngho was probably destined to do this from the moment he met Fatima.


    The number of people returning to the ranch suddenly dropped.


    This might have been because of the snow storm around Northern Caucasus area.


    Only twenty-one households moved in, but there was still room for fifty extra households because the oak barrel aging room at the Charles Farm was now turned into a temporary settlement area.


    All of the oak barrels from the Charles Farm were moved to the dead mines, and the new wines were moved to the aging room at Zeynep Farm.


    Youngho worried over the people who might be isted due to the snow storm.


    Without any equipment, they could wait until next spring if they were stuck deep in the mountains.


    Yet, they had decided toe through the cold winter with the hope of seeing the Archduchess. Youngho had mixed feelings of respect and pity for them.


    ***


    Following a truck with a tractor that had a snow plower attached, two mini-buses of the securitypany, and two Hummers that were recently added to thepany, Youngho, Jongil, and some vigers were on their way to Kurdamir District.


    Since he could not wait any longer, he was going to greet the transmigrants.


    It was the wet season in the Caucasus. Youngho, who was watching the news reporting the extreme weather condition, could not sit and wait.


    Niksic felt nervous when the people had not arrived yet already.


    They must be stuck on the rough road in this bad weather.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s like searching for a needle in the desert. You think we can find them easily?¡±


    ¡°The paved roads are only a handful here. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be using mountain trails for the migration. We can just skim through the roads. Who knows? We can get lucky.¡±


    Jongil followed Youngho out but he did not feel good about his idea since Youngho did not have a specific n. He just decided toe out to search for them because he was running out of his patience while watching the news.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we split the team in half? We¡¯d have a better chance of finding them.¡±


    ¡°The main roads would¡¯ve been already plowed. The problem is the mountainous paths. They¡¯ll have to step out of the mountainous paths toe to the mine region. If they¡¯re stuck in there, they¡¯ll be helpless. No one will plow there since there is no traffic.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. That¡¯s frustrating.¡±


    Jongil took out a cigarette in stress. Recently he started smoking again because he usually spent time with officials for work. Since he could not quit, he had been smoking behind Karajan¡¯s back.


    ¡°Man, give me one too. It¡¯s too stressful.¡±


    ¡°Come on. How can a lord of the ranch smoke like a mere peasant?¡±


    Jongil had been making fun of Youngho, saying ¡®lord¡¯ and ¡®duke¡¯ these days. He was having a st again.


    ¡°Give it now, dude. I¡¯m only going to smoke one.¡±


    After driving twenty minutes away from the main road, Youngho found out that his worries hade true. Before his eyes was a road that no cars could cross without winter equipment. There was no trace of cars on the snow.


    Youngho and Jongil plowed snow with the tractor they brought to work their way through the road.


    ¡°Jongil, I think I see trucks ahead.¡±


    ¡°I only see snow. What¡¯s there?¡±


    With Youngho¡¯s keen vision, he could see trucks covered in snow and people clearing the path.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get off. I think we¡¯ll walk faster than driving the tractor.¡±


    Youngho and Jongil got off and ran toward the people ahead of them.


    The people were astounded by the two rushing in at tremendous speed. Even for a boar, it was impossible to run at such speed in the snow. Not knowing who was approaching them, they picked up old rifles, so Youngho and Jongil had to slow down.


    There were ten small and big men dressed in leather skins to endure the cold. They were gazing at Youngho and Jongil slowly approaching them.


    Although their clothes were ragged, their eyes were alive.


    Youngho opened his mouth first.


    ¡°Old Niksic sent us.¡±


    At the mention of Niksic¡¯s name, the people who were tensed up became relieved.


    ¡°How do you know our Chief?¡±


    Not knowing how the Chief found out that they had been suffering in the snow for days and sent people, they looked puzzled.


    ***


    There were women, children, and old people inside tents in the backs of their trucks.


    The driving seat could only hold three people and the rest of them had to move in the backs of the trucks.


    Forty-five people from eight households were sharing four trucks to move, but they were stuck in the middle of the snow storm.


    Probably, they would have been able to break through the storm within a few days even without Youngho¡¯s help. Everyone except for male adults got into the minibusses and left for the ranch.


    They made a path with a tractor so the old trucks could pass through.


    Youngho clicked his tongue when he saw them starting the trucks¡¯ engines. Their trucks were too old to be driven on the road. They would have made more money if they sold the truck to a historical car museum.


    The trucks were made in the time of the Soviet Union. To start the engine, they had to put a crowbar inside the hole in the front of the truck and rotate it around.


    Youngho asked them to go to the ranch first, but they insisted on waiting and helping the people who were following them. They deserved more respect for the love they had for their people.


    It took a couple of days to take all the isted people from the snow storm. In total, there were a hundred and seventy-nine people from thirty-four households.


    Youngho liked how his farm and ranch were crowded with people.


    Many kids seemed to feel awkward for a few days, but kids were kids. They got used to the new environment soon enough. Although they started to cause trouble all over the vige, it was all a process. It was rather refreshing for the farm family.


    With extra manpower, they were able to build houses for the descendants quickly.


    Building houses were not even close to hard work for the people who went through much more difficultbor.


    Cheese production was catching its momentum since about twenty people were added to the cheese production line.


    Youngho also nned to spend more processing time for cheese as well.


    People were working very diligently and made the messy farm and ranch cleaner than ever. Youngho asked them to take it easy, but they would not listen.


    ***


    Christmas trees appeared in the farm and the ranch.


    It was natural for the descendants since they were Christians. Although Azerbaijan was an Imic country, Christmas trees were often seen in the streets of Baku since they were installed for travelers.


    Youngho had not been able to find time to do Christmas trees until now since he moved here from Korea. Looking at the trees, Jongil started to stir up the people to celebrate the end of the year with liquor. When the Christmas trees were up, it surely meant the end of the year¡¯sing.


    Every single one of the returned descendants paid a visit to Fatima.


    Some cried in front of Fatima while holding her hands. It was certainly bothersome to have visitors all the time but still, Fatima made sure that she greeted everyone and prepared snacks for them. Fatima tried to have them as they were without a single word ofint. She knew that her existence was the biggest hope andfort for the people.


    With the added manpower from the descendants, the overwhelming work of the farm and ranch became stabilized. Youngho had to spend more money to support the new residents, but since it was still within his budget, he provided more than enough for the people.


    Youngho was going to hire outsiders to do the work, but now the new residents took over all of the work. The proper payment and stable life slowly changed the people although Youngho was only paying them for what they did. They had never dreamed of this kind of life. They did not only feelforted with the presence of the Archduchess, but they also lived abundant lives. The once passive people were turning into proactive people.


    They all believed that their work would serve the Archduchess and the kingdom. Youngho thought that he needed to ept their world even though it looked like they had a false dream about the kingdom. It would be impossible to change them instantaneously.


    Children would be educated, and the adults woulde back to reality with changes in their lives. They might be fanatics, but being surrounded by loyal people gave Youngho a strangefort. A smile bloomed on Youngho¡¯s face. He felt like he could ovee any hardship with these supportive people.


    Moreover, gold bars were being smelted in the gold mines. Youngho felt excited thinking about the possible other gold veins he might find. Everything happened because he met Fatima. Youngho had not nned on living this life, but finding Fatima in Istanbul was the best thing he had ever done.

 Chapter 147 - Serbian Village (1)

    <h4>Chapter 147: Serbian Vige (1)</h4>


    In many modern countries, administrative officers would make sure to reach people living in distant ces, but such public service could only happen in dreams for the people in remote regions of Caucasus Mountain Range.


    About 60% of the descendants and their children did not even have their birth certificates. Of course, they could not even expect to get benefits from the government. What kind of benefits would they have when their names were not even registered in the nation¡¯sputerwork?


    Only people who lived from the outside and searched for jobs were registered to get their social security number in the employment process.


    Youngho tried to restore their proper identities as citizens of the country with Sevan¡¯s help. The descendants were marveled as they received their identification cards for the first time.


    Uneducated children older than schooling age were educated in the vige while the rest of the children would be attending school starting next September.


    Now the vige had 531 people from 105 households but the number would increase to over 150 households when the springes.


    Sevan helped Youngho to register the official name of the vige as ¡®Serbian Vige¡¯. They installed the sign for the vige on December 25th of 2015. While official name had been already decided, they agreed on making the Christmas day as their official vige establishment date with the old kingdom¡¯s name in it.


    Under the vige sign, it said ¡®Though thy beginning was small, yet thytter end should greatly increase. (Job 8:7)¡¯


    Even though Youngho was an atheist, he liked the saying. It suited the vige people¡¯s lives.


    People from Serbian Vige would fulfill their dreams in all over the world as parts of Zeyneppany group in dozens of years from now. That night, people celebrated with drinks, meat, and dances.


    The traditional dance and music were presented as well as the knight¡¯s martial arts techniques, for the first time ever. About ten young adults were presenting their skills with a wooden sword in their hands. Their movement was sharp, yet beautiful.


    Youngho¡¯s heart was pounding so hard while watching the knights¡¯ presentation because the ring reacted to their martial arts. Unknown energy from the knights¡¯ movements waking up another mysterious power of the ring.


    While Serbian Vige located at Northwest of Baku was in new hope, the major cities of the world were undergoing terrorist attacks.


    Azerbaijani military units near the borderline were attacked by the Armenian militia, which had been quiet all along. The militia had been building up their force based in Nagorno-Karabakh. As a tactic, they hadunched their attacks when everyone in Azerbaijan was celebrating the end of the year.


    Sadly, this pathetic attempt became the trigger of the disappearance of Nagorno-Karabakh in the map. The Azerbaijani government considered the militia¡¯s provocation as another terrorism.


    Youngho also tried to convince Margos, the former militiamander, several times and remind him how pointless their attacks were, but he merely said that the militia was already out of his control since he was not part of it anymore.


    Youngho had been worried about a huge battle in the Middle Eastern countries but unexpectedly, Azerbaijan was the one having battles.


    Before things get worse, Youngho began to diligently store daily supplies, grains, and arms. The Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine aging room had enough space to store grains that could feed the people of Serbian Vige for several years. Also, rifles, rocketunchers, and other heavy firearms ordered from a Russian ck market were arriving at the ranch¡¯s vige on wine delivery trucks.


    Since he was not sure what would happen in Azerbaijan now, he wanted to secure the defense of the ranch. Youngho was not over-reacting to the situation since the two countries had been viciously fighting against each other throughout the past twenty years.


    ***


    ¡°Lee, any news of Armenia?¡±


    As expected, Michael made a frustrating call.


    ¡°The militia is stubborn. Margos the former militiamander also can¡¯t do anything about it. Why don¡¯t we just summon Edward in Panama?¡±


    ¡°If Edward can resolve this, I would¡¯ve already called him. How¡¯s Azerbaijan?¡±


    ¡°The government is waiting for the militia to provoke more battles. It looks like they are nning to erase Nagorno-Karabakh once they have enough reasons. President Aliyev is doing this to stop Russia¡¯s involvement in advance.¡±


    Armenia and Russia had formed a military alliance and the Russian army was residing in Armenian territory. Russia was in a bad position since it was preparing a war with Syrian extreme terrorist groups, but Armenia had mand an unexpected move.


    The Armenian government was only iming that the government had nothing to do with the provocation but it was the militia¡¯s independent action. Trusting funds from the Armenians overseas, the government had been obsessed with finding a way to secure a territory that could connect the country with thend of Nagorno-Karabakh which was isted.


    ¡°Chief, the CIA wouldn¡¯t get involved in this, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. The US is offering a load to the Azerbaijani government. What are we going to get from Armenia if we help them? Lee, I know your friends are in Armenia but you should stay away from this too.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying. I¡¯ll report back to you if things change.¡±


    Frequent battles in thend of Nagorno-Karabakh were a great opportunity for Youngho to make money but he could not be so ignorant about what was happening there. He was frustrated since the lives of 50,000 Armenians, who still are stubbornly living in Nagorno-Karabakh, were at risk. The militia¡¯s reckless action could destroy them all.


    Since there was a CIA¡¯s order to stay out of it, there was nothing Youngho could do to stop it anymore. Therefore, he decided to make a profit out of the situation and then maybe someday he would be able to help Armenians after the war. As before, he could buy necessary supplies in advance before the prices skyrocketed and sell them to Armenians and Azerbaijanis at a decent price. If he sold them lower than otherpetitors, it would be a win-win for both for him and the buyers.


    ***


    ¡°Insoo. Isn¡¯t there an owner of grain importingpany, who requested security service from us?¡±


    ¡°Yup? What about that?¡±


    ¡°I think there will be a big war soon because of the Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s militia. I¡¯m going to buy grains in advance and make profits out of themter. If I make a lot of money, I¡¯ll help Armenians too.¡±


    ¡°Will there be any change? They always fight without any improvement between them.¡±


    ¡°This time is different. If they fight, Nagorno-Karabakh will be wiped away and other surrounding nations will be affected by it too. The European chapter is predicting that it won¡¯t be over easily.¡±


    ¡°What about Russians? Aren¡¯t they going to interrupt them?¡±


    ¡°The Azerbaijani government will take care of them before the breakout of the war. Also, since Russia is coborating with Azerbaijan to establish railroads with Iran, the Russian government might be on Azerbaijan¡¯s side this time.¡±


    ¡°Well, alright. Let¡¯s see the client list.¡±


    Zeynep Security Service¡¯s name became popr and there were now ten people who requested private security guards. Insoo smiled as if he found the person Youngho was looking for.


    The businessman whom Insoo suggested was the owner of an importingpany of grains and daily necessities. Hisrge-scale business epassed Azerbaijan and Iran¡¯s Northern region. Since more than ten million Azerbaijanis people living in the whole Azerbaijan resided in Iran¡¯s Northern region, it was often called South Azerbaijan. Even the current leader of Iran was from Azerbaijan.


    Although Azerbaijani upied more than 20% of the Iranian poption, the two countries were no closer than other unrted countries. Politically, they just maintained a certain level of rtionship but the civilians maintained active exchanges with each other.


    The businessman must be indeed an influential figure in both countries. Although Youngho was hesitant to partner with Azerbaijani businessmen, he could not ignore them forever, now that it was his country. When he needed to be partnered with an Azerbaijani businessman, he always investigated the owner¡¯s personality and reputation. The guy seemed to have a great reputation and had an easy-going rtionship with both governments too.


    ¡°I get to see the most famous person in Baku, I¡¯ve always wanted to meet you someday. Thank you for visiting me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very ttering but I¡¯m just a lucky person who happened to be an Azerbaijani, Mr. Shamakhi.¡±


    Shamakhi, a bulky man in his mid-fifty, had aforting smile on his face. He was using a simple office even though he was a wealthy man with several skyscrapers in Baku¡¯s downtown.


    ¡°I¡¯m appreciative of Zeynep Security Service since now I can go about the cityfortably because of the guards. They are also polite and skillful. I¡¯m very satisfied.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for choosing ourpany, is there any room for improvements?¡±


    Since it was their first time seeing each other, the two exchanged some small talks to learn about each other. When it was about time, Youngho cut to the chase.


    ¡°Mr. Shamakhi, you must¡¯ve heard about how things will change for Nagorno-Karabakh.¡±


    ¡°I sure have. My business is already affected by that.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to talk about that...¡±


    Youngho¡¯s steps were light as he left Shamakhi¡¯s office.


    The grain importer had agreed to Youngho¡¯s business proposal to import an enormous amount of grains from South Russia. Although Shamakhi knew that he would not be dealing with normal business people but with mafias, he did not seem to mind knowing Youngho¡¯s rtionship with them. He had no reason to reject Youngho¡¯s offer since he could buy grains at much cheaper prices than he used to pay, from the mafias and because he had Youngho¡¯s assurance.


    As an aftermath of a war, when the grain prices skyrocket, it would cause fewer problems if a businessman from Azerbaijan treated grains rather than Russian mafias. That was why during thest battles, Sergy only treated daily necessities except for grains.


    Grains were considered sensitive items that could even be a cause of war between two nations. When his people die from hunger, their leader would do whatever to secure their lives.


    The reason that Youngho turned his eyes to grains was that the price of grains hit bottom. The amount of grains produced in vast ins of Southern Russia was unimaginable. He knew that the price was cheap since they had been cultivated recently. Since grain sellers could not store too much amount of grains, they tended to engage in dumping sales at this time around. Especially, when mafias requested to provide the grains, the sellers would give grains without hesitating. Mafia organization was great to take advantage of for asions like this.

 Chapter 148 - Serbian Village (2)

    <h4>Chapter 148: Serbian Vige (2)</h4>


    Shamakhi the grain importer owned several skyscrapers and hotels in Baku¡¯s downtown.


    His family¡¯s wealth was not built over one night. From the time of Soviet Union, his father had been buying little bits ofnd in Baku¡¯s downtown.


    In the 1990s, as Azerbaijan dered independence, many people became rich from oil money. Because they built modernized buildings in downtown as the symbol of richness, the downtown¡¯snd price skyrocketed and made Shamakhi¡¯s family one of the riches in the city. Shamakhi used his wealth to establish his grain importing business and was able to expand the business to Iran¡¯s Northern region.


    Although It would be difficult to have a grand-scale grain import with Youngho¡¯s funds, he only suggested this to Shamakhi since he was confident that he could get grains at a cheaper price than Shamakhi did since he already discussed it with Sergey in advance.


    However, Youngho was not going to be satisfied with being only a broker. He approached Shamakhi because he found out that the grain importer was quietly collecting gold bars.


    Youngho now had gold bars that weighed more than 1,300 kilograms; including 1,170 kilograms of gold bars collected from dealing with Chechen rebels and 140 kilograms that were produced from the dead gold mines. Altogether they were worth 78 billion won.


    For gold collectors, the worth of gold did not matter.


    Investing in gold always had been beneficial in difficult times and recently the gold value had been doubled that it had taken the center stage of people¡¯s attention. When the value of cash decreased, the value of gold always rose. That was why wealthy people like Shamakhi trusted gold as their only refuge although he owned many estates already.


    Youngho met Shamakhi with a reason to discuss grain importing business, but his real reason was to sell off his gold bars. Every year, he would have two to three tons of gold piling up and he would get the best out of them if he could exchange the gold with something else of a bigger value at the right time.


    That day, Youngho slipped to Shamakhi that he was a broker selling mafias¡¯ gold. Since he suggested that if Shamakhi had something that could be exchanged with gold, he could introduce him to mafias who had gold. Now that Youngho cast bait, all there was left to do was to wait.


    ***


    Buildings over twenty to thirty stories could be found everywhere in themercial area of Buku¡¯s downtown.


    Shamakhi owned five buildings downtown, and even a four-star hotel near a coastal line, Park Bulvar.


    The mid-sized hotel had a hundred years of history and had two-hundred-and-fifty guest rooms. Because of its elegant decorations, Europeans liked to stay in this hotel. This hotel could easily be promoted to a five-star hotel if they switched the appliances to new ones. With the intention to buy the hotel one day, Youngho mentioned about gold bars from the mafia.


    Soon, Shamakhi made a phone call to discuss importing grains, but he could not hide his excitement for the gold bars.


    As soon as Youngho arrived at Shamakhi¡¯s office, Shamakhi started to talking in excitement.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I made a phone call to you because I wanted to find out how much gold bars you could deliver for me. I was also wondering what he would like to get in return.¡±


    It looked like Shamakhi would do anything to get those gold bars.


    ¡°At this moment, he would sell 1,300 kilograms. Your hotel might make the deal happen. I remember that Mr. Yaniv continuouslyined about ces he¡¯s been staying in Baku.¡±


    Shamakhi showed every single sign of being surprised because the amount of gold Youngho mentioned was way over his imagination. Yet, Shamakhi seemed to be very eager to make this deal.


    ¡°It¡¯s an old hotel. Don¡¯t you think it would make him upset?¡±


    ¡°I ampletely sure he won¡¯t. But I guess it all depends on the value of the hotel.¡±


    ¡°A French businessman offered ny million dorsst year. But I declined his offer since I did not need cash. What do you think? Would a ny-million-dor hotel do it?¡±


    Youngho was satisfied with his answer, that he almost ran to Shamakhi to give him a hug. If this deal was made, Youngho would make a huge profit out of it.


    The process of taking over the hotel did not take long. Even though Youngho was there to do the paperwork, Shamakhi did not care to check and signed the paper right away. He probably thought his hotel would not be a big dealpared to Zeynep Oilfield Service of the Caspian Sea.


    When everything was signed and the hotel became his property, Youngho changed the name of the hotel to Ariang Hotel and began to operate.


    Youngho did not change much about the hotel because it was remodeled only ten years ago. He nned to remodel everything once the time was right, and the world was less chaotic from now.


    Youngho had made over twenty million dors of profit from this deal.


    He also subtly mentioned to Shamakhi that he could probably deliver a simr amount of gold every year. If he could buy a few extra buildings in Baku, he would be able to buy a few hotels in European countries in the future.


    Youngho nned to make a deal only with Shamakhi since he made a huge profit and it would be hard to find people to make such a deal of this much amount.


    Shamakhi seemed to show his obsession for gold as much as Youngho did.


    Although it was dyed because of the hotel take over, another huge profit would be made from grain importing soon because Youngho had invested around three million dors for the business as well as receiving his agencymission.


    ***


    As Arirang Hotel in Baku became Youngho¡¯s property, Cha Insoo was one of the busiest people since the hotel had be the asset with the most priority of the securitypany. Soon, the word spread out that Arirang Hotel¡¯s security was as tight as Baku airport¡¯s.


    There was another person who leaped in joy when Youngho bought the hotel. It was Zeynep. She was always fond of fancy things that she fell in love with the hotel¡¯s decorations, statues, and pirs at the entrance. Zeynep made a fuss about how she was liking the hotel.


    ¡°Oppa. When I go to college, I¡¯ll major in hotel management. Then I can probably manage Arirang Hotel, right?¡±


    ¡°If my Zeynep wants to do that, I¡¯ll support it 100% but you don¡¯t think managing hotel is easy, do you?¡±


    When she made a fuss about being a musician, Youngho had bought her a piano and gave her a tutor but soon she lost her interest in music. He thought that this would be the case again.


    ¡°Wahaha. This is the perfect work for me. I can make this as a super five-star hotel.¡±


    ¡°You are such a spoiled little girl. What do you know about managing a hotel? It¡¯s even difficult for experts with long experience.¡±


    Knowing Zeynep¡¯s fuss was only spontaneous and temporary, Fatima scolded her.


    ¡°Unni. I got a feeling as soon as I saw the hotel. This is my destined job.¡±


    Starting Baku¡¯s hotel business gave another hope to Serbian vigers. They considered the business as a stepping stone of the old kingdom¡¯s rebuilding work to regain its power and wealth. When they visited downtown, they always stopped by the hotel to help out with any work.


    Despite the cold weather, they cleaned the stonewall and statues outside of the hotel building with bare hands and washing clothes. Youngho did not refuse them anymore. They believed that their Archduchess should be sessful in order for the whole kingdom to thrive. Since they insisted to work for Fatima, he could not stop them.


    Because of their help to clean up the hotel¡¯s exterior and do all sorts of chores, the hotel was now looking great. They even picked up all the trash in near streets.


    There is something called ¡®Broken window theory¡¯.


    In the mid-1980s, the New York City had quickly turned into a ghetto area but the city government and the police department neglected the situation.


    Dirty, old buildings turned even dirtier. Once a broken window was neglected, a weird phenomenon happened that people started breaking intact windows.


    When the surrounding is filthy, people tend to throw away trash more easily. However, if the surrounding is clean, people cannot do that.


    Once the hotel¡¯s surrounding was cleaned, more foreign travelers visited the hotel. Even though Serbian vigers did not intend this to happen but their actions improved the hotel¡¯s image to guests.


    ***


    Twenty days had already passed since the New Year¡¯s Day.


    Shamakhi¡¯s storages, as well as Youngho¡¯s storage units in his farm and ranch, were being filled with Russian grains.


    Cheese production was catching its momentum, and Youngho began to distribute some of the cheese products at grocery markets in Baku.


    It was not an official sales because Youngho nned to make high-value cheese by processing them for at least six to twelve months.


    The pilot sales would be a great advertisement for Serbian Vige¡¯s cheese. Although it was only a pilot, the amount of cheese was quite a lot since the ranch had numerous sheep.


    Most of the households distant from Baku raised their own sheep and made their own cheese. However, the residents who lived around Baku¡¯s downtown had no other choice but to purchase cheese from grocery stores.


    Over two millions of Baku¡¯s residents could not live without cheese just like Europeans and Central Asians. Soon, the amount of Serbian Vige cheese would stabilize the cheese price in Baku. Youngho did not foresee how the sheep cover his mining business would help out the vige.


    As soon as the exterior of houses waspleted for Serbian Vige, people started to move in. Since they thought all they needed to survive winter was a firece, they did not care about interiors.


    The sr panels were not installed yet, but they still had small power nt units to make electricity. People worshiped Fatima more and more for what they were given in the vige although it was Youngho¡¯s idea and money that provided them with supplies.


    It was reported to Youngho that they found gold veins in another dead mine.


    This time, the gold vein was thick and long instead of small chunk within sandstones. They could turn these gold veins into gold bars easily because the gold veins had high purity of gold.


    Youngho now felt relieved since he found extra veins to make more gold bars. He was feeling somewhat empty ever since he exchanged his gold bars to buy Arirang Hotel.


    If a gold mine found on one side of the mountain gave out this much gold, the other side would also include enough amount of gold as well. The other side was not even a cliff. Though the slope was a bit steep, it would be a good area to utilize it as a ranch since it was covered with soil. It seemed like Youngho needed to submit another agricultural business proposal to the Azerbaijani government.

 Chapter 149 - Serbian Village (3)

    <h4>Chapter 149: Serbian Vige (3)</h4>


    Leon¡¯s cry was like that of a lion.


    It looked like he woke up because he was hungry. He looked upset. A cry of a three-month-old baby was about to wake everyone in the house.


    Even with the loud cry of Leon, Fatima was still deep in sleep.


    As Youngho picked him up in his arms to calm him down, the baby started to cry even louder. Youngho immediately put a pacifier into the baby¡¯s mouth and started to make the powdered milk. When he turned to Leon, he was ready to spit out the pacifier and cry again.


    Youngho moved like a ninja to put a baby bottle into Leon¡¯s mouth. The baby started to drink the milk like a boss and finally had a satisfied look on his face.


    If Fatima was awake, she would give him the breast milk but powdered milk would work for now. She seemed to have a difficult time taking care of her son because Leon was growing and getting heavy too fast.


    Soon, Leon drank up every single drop of the milk and now he was staring at Youngho. He seemed to want to y with his papa. Youngho sighed and turned to the clock on the wall, the hands of the clock pointed to 5 AM.


    Youngho took Leon to his study since even if he went back to bed now, he would only get one hour of sleep. He started to y ssical music in his study and adjusted the volume. Afterying Leon in the cradle, Youngho studied the geological map around the ranch to n out how to set up protection for the vige.


    A few days ago, Youngho heard the news that a number of Armenian militants moved into the regions of Caucasus Mountain Range. They were not militants anymore since they were now called the guerris of Nagorno-Karabakh. They were far-right nationalists.


    They had been isted in Nagorno-Karabakh for a while and recently they resumed their activities as the guerris and indiscriminately bombed the Azerbaijani army residing at the border.


    The Azerbaijani government imed that they were terrorists and announced that the country would merge the Nagorno-Karabakh. The government was not going to permit the autonomy of the state since its people were threatening Azerbaijani people¡¯s safety.


    After this announcement, throughout the whole Armenia, people rallied protesting against the Azerbaijani government. Even in the Armenian congress, it was mentioned that Armenia should subjugate Azerbaijanis¡¯ Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic located between Turkey and Armenia.


    They would not attack Nakhchivan right away in fear of Turkey, but in the worst case scenario, they could do anything.


    Youngho was worried about the guerris massacring innocent Azerbaijani people. If that happens, the Armenians residing in Nagorno-Karabakh would be all demolished by the Azerbaijani army. If one party made a move to trigger this, both nations would be fighting until only one was left.


    Of course, Youngho¡¯s farm and ranch would not be able to get away from being damaged. He could not expect that everything would be safe when missiles would be flying.


    Since the ranch was near the Caucasus Mountain Range and the guerris were allegedly hiding in the mountains, Youngho wanted toe up with a great defensive system for the protection of the ranch.


    ***


    Sometimes things can go wrong as soon as the string of tension is loose.


    It was the case of the Azerbaijani government.


    Azerbaijan had been with frequent big and small battles against Armenia. Because of that, they were used to such level of tension and moreover, they were confident that they would be the winner at the end of the road. Although the government announced a national emergency but it was obvious that the government was not taking it as seriously as their opponent.


    To Youngho, it seemed to be even more dangerous. At any moment, the country might face the madness and fury of the opposing people. So, he tried to put extra effort to prepare for any possible cases of great danger.


    The incident urred in Kurdamir city first. ¡®Provocation¡¯ was a better word to describe this. About twenty of guerris began to shoot civilians in the middle of the day downtown. Dozens of people were injured and dead by them.


    Ten of the guerris were either killed or arrested by military police, but the rest retreated to Northwest of Caucasus Mountain Range.


    The problem was that Serbia Vige was located there. Youngho announced emergency to the vige people and sent some of the security crews to help defend the vige.


    The vigers were good at handling and shooting guns. Although they were armed with hunting rifles that Youngho provided recently, it did not seem enough. He equipped the vigers with A.K rifles from Russia.


    The whole boundaries of the ranch were too broad for the people to watch since they could barely cover the boundary area between the dead mines and Serbian Vige.


    Although Zeynep Farm had a number of surveince cameras, rming system, and ymores to protect it, the ranch did not have any of them installed yet. The ranch only started to have electricity made by small power nt units. They did not have enough electricity to run street lights, so Youngho equipped people with expensive night vision goggles. People cheered now that they could go hunting at night with the goggles. Their simplicity made Younghough in this state of emergency.


    Azeri government did not even consider to protect distant viges like Serbian Vige. Even if Youngho had requested for the government¡¯s support, it would not be granted. However, he would have declined their support anyways even if the government decided to provide help to protect the vige since he needed to make sure no one found out about the gold mines. The only town with many households near the boundaries of Caucasus Mountain Range was Serbian Vige.


    Now that all the houses were closely built to each other, it was more convenient to protect the vige.


    It would be a huge mistake to think the gueris as if they were naive militants. They were now nothing but terrorists rationalized by far-right nationalism. It was obvious that the guerris, who were being chased by military force in the middle of cold weather, would search for houses seeking for food and refuge.


    Knowing the Armenian militia¡¯s state, Youngho could guess that the guerris must have not been supported well by the militia withbat rations. They would do anything to stay warm and fill their stomach. Although he had sympathy for them, his priority was his people and the ranch. He could not put all of his people in danger just because he had a former connection with them. Youngho ordered the vigers and security crews to shoot the guerris down whenever they encounter them.


    ***


    When Youngho was ying with Leon after having dinner, his phone on the table rang loudly. It was a satellite phone, not a smartphone. The only ce that would use a satellite phone was the ranch. Youngho¡¯s intuition was telling him that something had gone wrong.


    ¡°Boss. The guerris approached near the vige and there was a shootout between the two parties. We managed to injure three guerris without any damage on our side, I just wanted to report that they might being back in an attempt to save theirrades.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll being down soon. Just tighten the security watch, and don¡¯t do anything yet.¡±


    Youngho did not worry too much because five junior crews in leadership positions were guarding Serbian Vige.


    Fatima was not concerned about Youngho¡¯s visit to Serbian Vige at this time because she believed in what Youngho, his friends, and the descendants of the kingdom were capable of. Knowing Fatima¡¯s faith in his people, Youngho¡¯s steps were light.


    It was around ten o¡¯clock at night when Youngho arrived at Serbian Vige with Jongil and Insoo. Injured gueris were locked in a storage room after being treated for their injury.


    Since Youngho did not feel confident to talk to his formerrades, he decided to pass them to the main police department as soon as possible. It would be dumb to set them free because they would definitelye back for revenge. Since Youngho knew about their strong fellowship, he needed to catch the rest of gueris.


    Those gueris were only caught because they did not expect the level of security of the vige. If they had known about the strong defense, they would have found a way to approach in subtlety before striking the people.


    It seemed that the night would be long.


    Youngho and his friends searched the nearby areas with night vision goggles on.


    Having the knowledge about the gueri¡¯s skills and tactics, it was not that hard to take a guess where they might be hiding. With the power of the ring, Youngho approached them swift like wind and exposed them.


    Gueris were astounded to see him because they could not imagine that anybody would chase them this far deep in the mountains. Not feeling the necessity to make their own hideout, they had been hiding behind a huge rock.


    It was only a matter of time they were captured by Youngho and the gang because they did not even have any idea someone was approaching them.


    Serbian Vige people caught eight of the guerris, they were the ones who fled from the city of Kurdamir. Since Youngho did not want the press find out that the vigers caught the guerris, he made a quiet phone call to Sevan.


    No one would find out about what happened in Serbian Vige and the Main Police Department would be getting all the credit for capturing the guerris who had been hiding in Azerbaijan. That night, all of them were transferred to Main Police Department. In exchange for taking the credit, the department promised to legalize and officialize home watch of Serbian Vige. This meant that utilizing weapons to protect the vige would be legal.


    As Youngho nned, Serbian Vige and Main Police Department just exchanged a big present with each other. All they needed to do now was to forget about what really happened.


    It was announced that the guerris were caught by Main Police Department¡¯s effort.


    ¡°I do not know how to repay you.¡±


    Sevan expressed great appreciation to Youngho since he was praised for the recent arrest of the guerris by the president.


    ¡°It¡¯s no biggie. You helped Serbian vigers to recover their identification. Consider that we¡¯re even.¡±


    ¡°If you need any weapon, we would provide some of the old weapons. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d be more than happy if you could do that. The weapons we have now were bought from a Russian ck market and they are no good. Even if old, it¡¯d be better for us to have weapons from Main Police Department than a ck market. Also, we could be of help for future guerri attacks.¡±


    The reason it was easier to announce the incident as Main Police Department¡¯s achievement was that some of the guerris were shot by A.K. rifles, and civilians would not be able to have their hands on guns like A.K. rifles.


    ¡°Under the condition of you helping us, we will soon provide those weapons. That would make me feel less guilty for taking all the credit.¡±


    Though the vige would be receiving only several numbers of guns, it had a bigger meaning since Youngho could now pretend those ck market weapons as legal weapons received from the police department. Youngho was going to request at least a few of each type of heavy weapons as well, such as heavy machine guns and portable rocketunchers for future.


    The recent guerris¡¯ attack proved that they could prate into Baku within a day traveling through Caucasus Mountain Range. If those trained and skillful guerris sneaked into the country to conduct their missions, the entire country would fall into turmoil because Azerbaijan was a small country.


    Once Azerbaijan begins to fight back, Armenia would not simply sit and wait. If there is a war, it would be inevitable for innocent civilians to get hurt. They would need to find a way to be safe by either leaving the country or preparing to protect themselves.


    Youngho was in deeper concern because he could not think of a way to fortify the vige without being revealed to the outside world.

 Chapter 150 - Crisis and Opportunity (1)

    <h4>Chapter 150: Crisis and Opportunity (1)</h4>


    Despite the international society¡¯s worrisome voice about the imminentrge-scale war, the Azerbaijani government was calm. Since the government was being highly suspicious, Youngho tried his best to contact high officials and get clear information out of them but he did not have any results.


    Michael of the CIA¡¯s European chapter had been grilling Youngho every single day.


    ¡°Lee, are you being carried away by your personal businesses? Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re an agent.¡±


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯m the one dying to know about this. If things go wrong, I¡¯ll lose everything. Even if you told me to rest, I¡¯ll be showing up here and there to find out what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t get anything from the government, why don¡¯t you ask for the mafias¡¯ help?¡±


    Michael was guessing that President Aliyev and Putin must have a secret agreement with each other. If Youngho contacted Yaniv, it was not at all impossible to find out what was going on between the two presidents since Youngho had helped Putin multiple times before.


    ¡°Stop pressuring me, chief. What about the department of information andmunication? Did they find anything yet? They have cutting-edge equipment that cost hundreds of million dors but they are no better than field agents like us? They must be napping in their work hours.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re getting paranoid when I show my face to them. They¡¯re trying their best too.¡±


    ¡°Since I have great achievements, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s getting disadvantaged in times like this.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to brag about such achievements. Such achievements are natural since we supported you. It¡¯s basic for an elite agent like you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re now diminishing my skills when you¡¯re supposed to be encouraging me?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. Get something useful by this week, or you won¡¯t have any break this year.¡±


    Other agents would be disappointed by such statement but Michael could say this because he was close with Youngho. Knowing how Michael must be feeling, Youngho only grumbled to himself.


    He still could not figure out what was going on even after hanging up the phone.


    The Azerbaijan government officially announced that they would not allow the autonomy of Nagorno-Karabakh. Yet, there was no action to support its announcement.


    Jongil came back from the downtown and spoke as he stepped into the study.


    ¡°Is the ice ageing finally? Baku cannot be -3 degrees in Fahrenheit if not.¡±


    Jongil barely attended college sses, yet he ought to learn something about the ice age.


    ¡°Wow! Where did you get your Ph.D. from? I didn¡¯t know physical education major students learn about the ice age at all.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. Do you think physical education major students are gangsters or something?¡±


    ¡°Well, you do not necessarily need to be smart ¡¯cause you were epted by the college with some special skills.¡±


    ¡°You know what. I am going to get at least a master¡¯s degree and rub it on your face. Then, you will be the dumb one.¡±


    ¡°Oh please do so my dear friend. I would like to a friend with a master¡¯s degree.¡±


    ¡°Just watch me your dumb face only with a bachelor¡¯s degree.¡±


    Youngho was d to see Jongil being cocky about himself now and pursuing college education. Wherever people go, they talk about which colleges they went and what kind of degrees they have. It the past, Jongil could never be part of the conversation. That was why Jongil was dying to get into Buku University because it was the best university in Azerbaijan and people respected graduates who went there.


    ¡°No information, right?¡±


    ¡°You got that right. I didn¡¯t know Azerbaijanis were so soft, didn¡¯t they always call out eye for an eye? Did they all be Buddhists or something?¡±


    ¡°Michael¡¯s been pushing me to find out what¡¯s going on. But I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Both countries must be waiting for the right time to make a move. We should check up the security of the ranch again. Our ranch would be the best route for gueris.¡±


    Whenever Jongil said he would tighten security, all Youngho had to do was to sit back and rx since Jongil was a master hand in that category. He was going to make the ranch an impregnable fort.


    ¡°Okay. You can take care of Serbian Vige when you still have time. As for collecting information, I¡¯lle up with a route. I¡¯ll even go to the presidential pce or grill Yaniv to get what I want.¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯m off of that now.¡±


    As soon as the conversation was over, Jongil left the study as if he was fleeing. He had been under huge stress looking for information from officials and businessmen.


    ***


    Neither leaving Baku nor asking Yaniv to visit Baku was a good idea, instead, Youngho contacted Sergey.


    ¡°Whoa, what¡¯s up my dear lucky charm?¡±


    Sergey seemed to be d to talk to Youngho.


    ¡°Brother Sergey, don¡¯t you think you should be more considerate? No gift? Nothing for people letting you make a lot of money by supplying great wines? Man, I should find another person to sell my wines.¡±


    ¡°Ha Ha... Get to the point brother. What do you need?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Working together for years, Sergey could read Youngho¡¯s mind already before he even mentioned anything about the real business.


    ¡°Let me guess. Aren¡¯t you wondering why the Azerbaijani government has been so quiet?¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯ve visited Volgograd, but it¡¯s been quite hectic in Baku.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard what happened. My guess is Armenian politicians are behind the guerris of Nagorno-Karabakh.¡±


    ¡°Azerbaijan government had no reason to hesitate to strike back. I am worried about the offshore oil field. We need to start gas production as soon the pipeline construction ispleted.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the gas line. The Azerbaijani government is eager toplete it. Unless they are ready to erase their county on the map, they wouldn¡¯t touch the oil field.¡±


    ¡°Did Yaniv mention anything?¡±


    ¡°If he had something in mind, he wouldn¡¯t wait to tell you or me. But I will ask just in case. I¡¯ve seen him with the president. He must¡¯ve heard something.¡±


    President Putin had invited Yaniv several times since he often came to hunt near Taiga forest in the Ural Mountains, where Yaniv was close by. A leader who had been a KGB spy and a businessman who had been mafia did not seem to make sense, but their rtionship had be quite close.


    Because of Youngho¡¯s information about terrorism, President Putin¡¯s entourages even trusted Yaniv. Probably, the rich man, Yaniv¡¯s disinterest in everything else might be another reason for the rtionship.


    Yaniv helped to promote the rtionship between Russia and Azerbaijan in spite of the past sediment. Recently, Russia, even though they made an alliance with Armenia, seemed to show more favor to Azerbaijan because of Youngho and Yaniv¡¯s effort.


    Knowing Youngho¡¯s part regarding the rtionship with Russia, President Aliyev was treating him, a naturalized foreigner who helped the country, with respect.


    Still, Youngho ought to be the only businessman who was fearless enough to send a few boxes of wine as presents to a long-term dictator of a country.


    ***


    Yaniv contacted Youngho that he would be visiting President Aliyev with a Russian president¡¯s envoy. It was unusual for a businessman like him to be assigned to escort a president¡¯s envoy, it seemed that President Putin wanted to establish Yaniv¡¯s position in the political world.


    Previously, Yaniv was only known as a businessman who had been mafia and he had maintained a personal rtionship with President Aliyev whereas now he was invited to the presidential pce as a businessman who was officially recognized by the Russian government.


    Knowing this, Youngho thought that there would be an important meeting. He called Michael right away to inform him about this.


    ¡°You need to figure out what¡¯s being discussed at the talks no matter what.¡±


    ¡°I told you, I¡¯m invited to the reception site.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t drink too much over there.¡±


    ¡®Does he think I¡¯m an alcoholic?¡¯


    In fact, Youngho could be a bad drunkard sometimes.


    ¡°Who would drink until drunk in such a serious meeting?¡±


    ¡°There is. I¡¯ve seen a lot of such kinds.¡±


    ¡°Shall I put you in the guest list? I¡¯m capable of doing that much.¡±


    At that moment, the phone was hung up. It meant that Michael did not even want to hear such a joke from Youngho. Michael¡¯s position as the European chapter¡¯s chief seemed to be shaking now.


    In Youngho¡¯s perspective, Michael was more than a great leader of the chapter but the headquarters was very objective. The performance of an employee in a leadership position was the only thing that was counted in keeping one¡¯s position. It was especially so because the CIA was affected by politics often. Youngho wanted Michael to be his boss for a long time, and he was determined to be a great subordinate and help him keep his position.


    Yaniv¡¯s role was a private businessman assistant administrator of Russia-Azerbaijan-Irannd transportation project. Although it was a national project, some parts of the railroad were invested by private businessmen in order to boost the distribution industry.


    Armenia¡¯s provocation was the worst move for the three countries working on the railroad project, and as a result, the Azerbaijani government decided to call for Russia¡¯s help.


    Russia might have been behind the gueris of Nagorno-Karabakh might, so that the country could interfere and exert its power over Azerbaijan and Armenia.


    The guerris were only sacrificed for Russia. It was obvious to see 50,000 citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh would be sacrificed as well. As a result, both Russia¡¯s long cherished desire and Azerbaijan¡¯s wish would be granted.


    In addition to that, Azerbaijan would take a role as a hub for thend transportation between Russia and Iran. The goal of the railroad project was to take over 50% of transportation from the Suez Canal.


    Through a conversation with Yaniv, Youngho could grasp the situation, and the information was transferred to the European chapter right away.


    The CIA had no other choice but to stand by Azerbaijan taking over Nagorno-Karabakh because a reckless move could lead to the cancetion of the oil pipeline expansion construction, a business project between the U.S and Azerbaijan. Armenia was expressing the me to the U.S. because the U.S. already announced to provide a loan to Azerbaijan for the construction.


    In Youngho¡¯s eyes, this incident was like a drama to show the coldness of international rtions in which only countries with resources and the good location could win.


    ***


    Finally, Youngho had an opportunity.


    No one would question about Zeynep Wine Company¡¯s qualification to be a part of one of the private businessman investors for thend transportation project because the membership was first chosen by the amount of international trade products.


    Although Zeynep¡¯s winepany did not make a lot of profit from exportation, Youngho exported enormous numbers of his wine to Russia.


    Shamakhi also was another investor chosen to be one of them.


    ¡°Mr.Lee. I¡¯ve heard that privatepanies work on highway constructions and make money from charging toll gate fees in South Korea. Do you know anything about the profits they make?¡±


    ¡°Most of them gain humongous profit out it. Some part of the highways barely make a profit though, then the federal government pays the difference anyway.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t the government work on the road on their own if they are going to make up the lost amount to privatepanies?¡±


    ¡°If it neither for national security nor on the national agenda, the government has no reason to do it. If privatepanies do it, it creates employment opportunities and eventually, that would circte the economy more.¡±


    Shamakhi was concerned about losing money from investing in thend transportation project. Although it would be like hitting a jackpot if the railroad could take over some transportation in the ck Sea, there was always a risk in investment. Youngho started brainstorming.


    ¡°Mr.Shamakhi. If you feel like you have too much dor cash, would you like to buy some more gold bars from Russia?¡±


    Youngho needed more cash now since he did not have enough to invest in the private investor¡¯s consortium. He needed to lose some of the gold bars piled up from the gold mine anyways. His prey was right in front of him. Why would he let go of this chance?


    ¡°You can deliver extra gold bars?¡±


    With sparkling eyes, Shamakhi asked back as if he already forgot about the possibility of losing money in the railroad project.

 Chapter 151 - Crisis and Opportunity (2)

    <h4>Chapter 151: Crisis and Opportunity (2)</h4>


    The news of the railroad construction connecting Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran was enough to surprise Western countries as well.


    Now the cargo volume that has been transported only through the Suez Canal was about to change. The construction ofnd transportation meant that the international trade among Indian and Southeastern Asian countries would not be influenced by what happened in Middle Eastern countries.


    Most countries seemed to wee the news because countries near the ck Sea and Caspian coastal lines could transport their product faster at cheaper costs. Egypt that made about six billion dors of profit every year from the Suez Canal would be the only country that would have a huge damage on their profit now. Because of the railroad construction, Egypt would not be able to y with the toll gate fee for the Suez Canal anymore.


    Russia did not have to worry about Turkey blocking Bosporus Strait at all because they could still conduct international trades with India and Southeast Asian countries bynd transportation. Russia had nothing to fear now when it came to international trade since they did not need to use the Bosporus coast nor the Suez Canal.


    The Azerbaijani government had been slowly but surely working on the elimination of Nagorno-Karabakh. The incident caused by the guerris gave good reasons for the government to get all the support from nearby countries. The Azerbaijani government was quietly gathering its military force near Nagorno-Karabakh while blocking all the possible noises from nearby countries.


    In one morning, the news was announced that the Azerbaijani army took over Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.


    ording to the news anchor of the national broadcasting system, the Azerbaijani army disarmed the police and took over the city hall and major broadcastingpanies over the night. There was no mention about how it happened but the anchor only emphasized that there was no causality. The news continued that the civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh would be free to reside where they dwelled whereas officials and far-right nationalists would be deported. Of course, it was a political gesture to prevent unfavorable international publicity.


    Since the government did not specify which standards they would be using to define far-right nationalists, it looked like most of Armenia would have to leave Nagorno-Karabakh, because when Armenia proimed Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous state, they deported most of Azerbaijanis.


    The war seemed to be almost over when Nagorno-Karabakh was taken over. However, the Armenian army and the militia started to strike back from the outer boundary of Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh was being stained with soldier¡¯s blood.


    Soon after the war was triggered, the economy of Azerbaijan was shaking. Civilians were panic buying supplies more than they needed, and prices of products rose as a result. Even though extra supplies were released by the government, the prices still stayed high.


    The Azerbaijani government requested help from private distributors but they would not cooperate. President Aliyev also officially requested cooperation to businessmen of Baku who attended thend transportation information session at the president pce.


    The merchants of Baku were the descendants of the people who used to take advantage of Silk Road merchants. They would not lose this opportunity to make money. Even Shamakhi would have made a profit out of this if Youngho did not persuade him to cooperate. The greedy merchants who decided not to cooperate with the government would definitely be disadvantagedter on since the president with dictator-like authority would not leave those greedy people taking advantages of the time of war.


    ***


    Youngho was about to have his breakfast but Jongil pulled him out of the dining room, saying that they needed to go to the ranch. Cho Sangchun who was also at the table came along with him.


    Since Sangchun had been drinking wines all the time to check the taste of the wine, Yunsuh made a special soup for him tofort his stomach but before he even started to have a sip, they had to leave the table. Following Jongil, Youngho was already worried about what kind of bizarre stuff Jongil had done this time. He kept asking what was going on but Jongil only smiled.


    ¡°You know what, if this isn¡¯t something important, you are dead. Alright? I was in the middle of having my breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Just shut up and follow me.¡±


    Still, Jongil did not give out anything but smiled.


    ¡°Jongil. Slow down a little. I am going to throw up if you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Why did you evene along? Who asked you?¡±


    ¡°Dude, everyone was leaving during the breakfast. You think Yunsuh would let me rx if I stayed there? I came along to survive.¡±


    Poor Sangchun knew exactly how Yunsuh would react now. Youngho tried to stop him from marrying Yunsuh, yet Sangchun only cared about the pretty face of his fianc¨¦.


    Jongil said shaking his head,


    ¡°What a pitiful, pathetic guy...¡±


    ¡°Dude... I am going to puke...¡±


    They arrived at the construction site where the brick fence was being built in front of Serbian Vige.


    In spite of the cold weather, the vigers came out to work on the fence altogether. When they saw Youngho, they ran to him and weed him. They used to have a tough life, even tougher during winter without food, but now, they were having a warm and rich winter since they found the Archduchess. How could they not wee the person who provided warm shelters, and all the supplies that brought back the people¡¯s smiles andughter?


    Niksic also hastily approached to Youngho and weed him.


    ¡°You heard the news as well. Isn¡¯t it amazing?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and I¡¯ll show you around.¡±


    When Niksic guided Youngho, Jongil stopped him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Niksic. I will take him there.¡±


    ¡°Dude. What¡¯s going on? What is it?¡±


    ¡°Just try not to have a heart attack.¡±


    Jongil took Youngho to where the rocks taken out of the mines were piled up to form a small hill. Then he pointed to the ce where they ced rock piles. Bright reflection of morning sunlight dazzled from there.


    ¡°Wow....¡±


    Both Youngho and Cho Sangchun gasped.


    ¡°We found thesest night while taking some rocks away from the pile. I think their ancestors hid these gold under the rock pile. They are not smelted, but they look like high purity gold ores.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s call the miners to smelter them. It would be at least a few thousand pounds of gold.¡±


    How lucky we were, Youngho thought.


    There was no guarantee that they would have this much of gold even if they spend mining for the next few years. Youngho had to respect the knights from the old kingdom, who worked as ves of the mines, for hiding this much amount of gold for the future generations. After a few hundred years, they found the gold while collecting rocks to build a wall for Serbians.


    It felt like Youngho was destined to find this gold as a reward for the effort he had put up to help the vigers. It also seems to encourage him to be a better leader to guide the Serbian descendants. What if the knights foresaw this moment? Thinking that, Youngho had goosebumps all over his body.


    ***


    Youngho could hear noises from outside when he was preparing a trends report. The kiddos from the international school were rejoicing the snow that just started to fall. These kids were ying around on the frozen reservoir and went to the farm¡¯s cafeteria to have some snack and they spotted the snow falling from the sky. When the snow is umted enough, they would want to go sledding.


    The farm was now famous to be the safest in Baku as well as the only ce where kids from the international school could swim during the summer and go sledding during the winter.


    Youngho needed to ept all the kids to promote the good image of the farm, but the kids were bing a bit annoying. Their parents let the kids go to the farm without a concern, probably, because they had no other option in Baku. Therefore, Youngho could not kick them out for Zeynep and Szechenyi¡¯s sake.


    For Leon and the kids from Serbian Vige, a proper yground seemed to be necessary. Youngho was thinking about building a yground with a small zoo attached to it. If he spared a little bit of the grape field, it would be more than enough. It would help kids¡¯ mental and emotional development if they could have a ce to y in nature away from Baku city air.


    Parents and children from the international school would be Youngho¡¯s future potential customer and this sounded like a great idea to promote the farm to the future customers. The memory they had in this ce wouldst in their minds. There was no reason not to invest this money for the future of the farm.


    As soon as Youngho decided to build a yground, he searched for amusement parkpanies.


    He felt a bit of guilt to think about a yground for kids because Nagorno-Karabakh was facing a bloody war. Yet, he remembered some old words of a philosopher.


    ¡®Even if I knew tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still nt my apple tree.¡¯


    Even the Serbian knights did not take the gold for themselves but hid their gold for future generations. Investment for future had to be continued even if Azerbaijan disappears in the war tomorrow. Children were the future.


    Youngho was not going to save every kid in the world but what he could do for now was to provide a better environment for kids around him including his child and the children of Serbian Vige.


    ***


    A war itself was already cruel enough, but if the enemies had ughtered each other due to different nationalities and religious beliefs, the war would be a hell.


    Armenia and Azerbaijan were in that rtionship now. That was probably why no one heard a word about injured people or prisoners.


    All Youngho heard was numbers of the dead during battles. The numbers of dead people were unbelievable because if that many people had died during battles, the whole Armenia was supposed to be copsed by now.


    This might be a mind game strategy of Azerbaijan, or maybe they were including the numbers of civilian casualties as well. Also, frencer journalists were continuously arrested and deported from Nagorno-Karabakh. The journalists had rarely been stopped or deported during wars in Kosovo, Syria, or Iraq because reported news would give those involved countries reasons to stay in wars. This meant that the war might be moving to unexpected direction, otherwise deporting journalists would be unnecessary.


    Ethnic cleansing might be in the process the Armenian soldiers and the militants seemed to be fighting fiercely as if they knew that they were going to die. Armenian forces showed up on the news briefly, and Youngho realized that his assumption might turn out to be true. The looks of injured Armenian soldiers caught on a camera were closer to a resentment rather than pain. No fear was showing in their eyes. There was no way for them to have that kind of looks unless they saw something extremely awful.

 Chapter 152 - Crisis and Opportunity (3)

    <h4>Chapter 152: Crisis and Opportunity (3)</h4>


    What Youngho was worried about must be happening right now.


    Stopping frence journalists definitely meant something was happening in Nagorno-Karabakh. Someone needed to find out what was going on to encourage international publicity to put some pressure on the Azerbaijani government.


    Youngho called Michael.


    ¡°Michael, I have a strong feeling that something terrible is going on in Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s territory. The movement of Armenian military forces seems unusual.¡±


    It was only a feeling, but sometimes a feeling can be more urate than evidence. Youngho suggested checking if something like a mass-massacre or ethnic cleansing was going on in Nagorno-Karabakh.


    ¡°I had the same feeling too and I¡¯ve been looking at the satellite camera. We cannot choose profit over humanity.¡±


    In order to stop whatever was going on in the battlefield, the CIA¡¯s European chapter is manipting publicity. If the public was stirred, it would have an effect to hinder the Azerbaijani government¡¯s military actions. No leaders would ignore international publicity. If they do, the country would be isted from the internationalmunity. The Azerbaijani government would definitely be cautious about their next move since it had been trying to establish their membership in the international society.


    Even with the best quality satellite camera, it was impossible to catch what was going on inside of buildings. Publishing news based on spections would not be enough to stop the Azerbaijani government¡¯s action. Youngho made up his mind to secretly go into the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, so he could catch critical evidence on a camera to stop what the government is doing. Youngho only became an Azerbaijani citizen because he needed it to do his business. He still would not agree to any inhumane measure, and he wanted to save innocent lives at risk. Moreover, he did not want to be a shameful adult to the future generation.


    Youngho persuaded Michael to send him to Nagorno-Karabakh to collect evidence.


    Jongil said, ¡°Do you really think the Azerbaijani government would go that far?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t forget the looks on the faces of the injured Armenian soldiers, and it doesn¡¯t make sense how frence journalists were arrested and deported. Something¡¯s not right. ¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then don¡¯t you think our descendants wouldn¡¯t be free in Azerbaijan in the future?¡±


    ¡°Please, we are not Armenians. The Azerbaijani government has nothing against us. Now you are going too far.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me. Think about it. Serbian Vige will be part of our group. Do you think the government would be happy to see a huge number of outsiders taking over a part of their country?¡±


    Since Youngho and his people were not from Azerbaijan, the government would definitely interfere before Serbian Vige bes big and out of control.


    ¡°You are right. I haven¡¯t thought about that.¡±


    ¡°I sure am. We need to spread Serbian people not only to the ranch but also to the grape farms.¡±


    It seemed like a great idea to manipte the Azerbaijani government. When did Jongil be so wise?


    Youngho was running through the snow-covered mountain trails, but eventually, he had to slow down because the wind was hitting his face too hard. The power of the ring seemed to be stronger. Jongil was wondering about it as well.


    ¡°The ring is getting more powerful. I wonder how they made the ring in the old times? The people who made this must have had extraordinary abilities.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering about that too for a long time. But, I¡¯ve already reached a conclusion.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The ring must be one of the artifacts from aliens to test humans.¡±


    ¡°...sure...¡±


    Even though they did not try to run fast, it only took them less than three hours to reach the boundary of Stepanakert. The Azerbaijan army and policemen were everywhere, and only little kids were ying around on the street. There was no sign of other adults.


    They waited ¡¯til it got dark before visiting the house of the former militiamander, Margos, but the house looked as if it was emptied long ago. He was wise enough to retreat to somewhere as soon as he found out that the Azerbaijani government was arresting and deporting the nationalists.


    Youngho and Jongil infiltrated into Nagorno-Karabakh to find evidence of a possible ethnic massacre. The U.S. would not be able to officially stop them due to the rtionship they had been building but they can try to stop them by using the global publicity.


    They approached Europe Hotel where they had stayed before. Surprisingly, almost every guest room was bright despite the ongoing war situation. It could not be travelers. Drunk high rankers of the Azerbaijani army were roaming around the streets. It looked like they were using the hotel as their lodging. Youngho was thinking about kidnapping one of them to interrogate, but it would alert the whole army and before Youngho and Jongil could do anything, the Azerbaijani government could erase all of the evidence of their wrongdoings.


    They quietly moved to a local neighborhood. They knocked on the door of a house with lights on. Soon, someone answered the door in a scared voice. Joingil tried speaking in English but he did not understand English. So he started to speak in his broken Armeniannguage, saying that he was a journalist. The woman hesitated for a moment, then opened the door for them.


    ***


    When Youngho and Jongil arrived at the ce where the Armenian woman told them, they found blood stains everywhere. The blood was frozen before it was absorbed into the ground due to the coldness. By the amount of blood around, numerous people seemed to have been executed. They tried to find a trace of burying corpses but a smallntern was not good enough.


    Youngho sighed and recalled the conversation with the Armenian woman. The woman was shaking in fear even before they asked her about what was going on. ording to her, people were arrested to be investigated, but not even half of them returned. The Armenian government found out about it and sent special forces to Nagano-Karabach in an effort to save the civilians but they were all annihted. Whoever provided food to the special forces were also used of being spies and executed as well. This happened only a few days ago, and the woman said that the civilian victims would be at least a few hundreds. She informed Youngho and Jongil about the direction where she heard lots of gunshots, and they had been searching for corpses around the ce.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we stop our search and publicize the recording of her testimony? This might do the job.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until the morning and search up a little more. If hundreds of people were executed, the dead bodies of victims must be found around here. The ground was frozen, and they probably couldn¡¯t bury them deep enough.¡±


    From the scene of execution, they followed the traces of a truck and found an excavator only about half a mile away. They would not be able to dig the frozen ground with human hands only. Finally, a huge hole made by an excavator was found. Inside the hole, corpses were buried only halfway through. This meant that there would be more execution and more people would be thrown in the hole. Youngho could not take out corpses to take a picture, he felt like he would be killing them twice. Instead, he took a picture of blood stains on the excavator and the huge hole. Youngho sent the location of the execution and where they buried corpses to the European chapter. Now the CIA would be able to keep an eye on the ce with their satellite. When the scene of the civilian execution by the Azerbaijani military was revealed to the public, there would be no more genocide.


    When Youngho and Jongil were about to leave the scene, two military trucks approached near the ce. The trucks came here to bury more corpses. Soon, a few drunk soldiers got off the trucks. Even though the two countries were arch enemies of each other, the soldiers could not handle this without being drunk. One of the soldiers got on the excavator and started the engine, while the others were unloading dead bodies from the trucks. Youngho and Jongil were extremely furious because the dead bodies were evidently civilians. The unloaded corpses were wearing civilians clothing. Shaking their hands in fury and fear, they took pictures of them. They wanted to ask where they executed the civilians, Youngho and Jongil waited until the soldiers covered the hole with soil. Now, the Azerbaijani government would have to pay their price for what they had done to Nagorno-Karabakh.


    ¡°Let¡¯s kidnap one of them and interrogate. We¡¯ve got to freaking find out where they executed the civilians.¡±


    ¡°No... Michael warned me that we need to make sure not to expose our interference. The CIA needs to keep a low profile.¡±


    ¡°Darn it... Just about how often has the CIA interfered other countries¡¯ businesses?¡±


    ***


    If civilian casualties were incurred by missile attacks or bombing, it would be tragic but will be considered to be part of a war. A scene of civilian dead bodies being unloaded from military trucks and buried shocked the entire world. It was apparent evidence of genocide. If it was an unlucky ident, the civilians¡¯ dead bodies were supposed to be returned to their families. If they had no family, the dead bodies were supposed to be buried in caskets. Instead, the world was watching a scene very different from what was supposed to happen. The world was furious. The apparent evidence of genocide was revealed, and the Azerbaijani government did not know what to do but panic. Azerbaijan governed tried to put the me on some of the high-military officers but the international public did not buy it. Eventually, President Aliyev had to officially apologize and epted Nagorno-Karabakh as an Armenian autonomous state. Still, the Azerbaijani government took away a right to have its own military forces and promised topensate for their loss. Though some of the Azerbaijani military officers were fired and served sentences in jail, everyone knew that it was only a show to calm the furious international publicity.


    Completing the mission sessfully, Youngho could demand what he wanted from Michael.


    ¡°Michael, I strongly believe I deserve a long vacation. I¡¯ve had nightmares every single night. The scene I had to observe with my bare eyes were too cruel. I went to a hospital and my doctor told me that I need some treatment for a post-traumatic stress disorder.¡±


    ¡°You are saying that a man from special forces is having nightmares because of a mission? Give me a break! If you keep telling me this nonsense, I will put you in a mental hospital of the U.S. Army.¡±


    Youngho thought Michael had no sense of humor.


    ¡°If you saw the scene with your own eyes, you would have lost all of your appetites for at least a few days.¡±


    ¡°You did a great job, I¡¯ll give you that. You saved a lot of people from being executed.¡±


    Youngho had been feeling relieved and satisfied after he stopped the genocide.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that much of cruelty.¡±


    ¡°Countries in power all over the world had been doing that for a long time. I appreciate your swift move since it saved a lot of people... and you saved our face too.¡±


    It was such a bigpliment since Michael neverplimented anybody.


    Since Nagorno-Karabakh still there, the U.S. Congress was able to shut Armenian politicians¡¯ mouth who had been raising their voices for their advantages. The Armenian victims of the genocide saved Nagorno-Karabakh¡¯s existence. If Youngho was not so stubborn to go to Stepanakert, it would have been impossible to find out about the genocide. Though Armenians ought to make a statue for Youngho for saving their lives, no one was supposed to know his work.

 Chapter 153 - Crisis and Opportunity (4)

    <h4>Chapter 153: Crisis and Opportunity (4)</h4>


    Chapter 153: Crisis and Opportunity (4)


    Park Jongil had suggested sending neers of Serbian Vige to Zeynep Farm and the Charles farm instead of expanding the vige. Jongil worried that if the vige bes too big, the Azerbaijani people would be jealous of the minority group getting stronger.


    Both Jongil and Youngho learned from the Nagorno-Karabakh experience that when minority groups go through rapid progress, the majority group would feel insecure that one day their power would be overthrown. There was no reason for Serbian Vige to stand out in public¡¯s eyes.


    If the vige gets bigger to the extent where Azerbaijani people would get jealous, there would be legal limitations exerted to the vigers from the government. Youngho was insecure since Azerbaijan was a developing country which was being ruled by an ambitious president who had been in the power position for a prolonged period. He could do anything to keep his power and get support from his people.


    In case there might be a situation where he has to relocate his family and the whole vige, Youngho thought that he needed to invest in different ces to distribute his properties and wealth all over the world. So when one of his bases falls, he could still move to another ce to live on to prevent too much damage being done to himself and his people.


    Watching the tragedy of Nagorno-Karabakh, he realized that a minority group before guns and knives were helpless no matter how their spirit was strong. It would be better for him to cast anchor in some ce new, instead of insisting to live in a dangerous ce with risks.


    The reason that Shamakhi the grain importer was obsessed with collecting gold bars was the same reason as Youngho¡¯s insecurity. As the president, who was close to a dictator, and the surrounding situations of the country were not stable, he got more obsessive for gold bars. He felt lucky since he could attain gold bars from Youngho. The price of gold did not matter to the wealthy businessman with an abundant amount of cash and estate.


    Many Azerbaijani business people did not trust the banks of the nation. They tended to store their funds in their private safes. As for Shamakhi, he usually deposited his funds in banks in Western Europe.


    The taxw in Azerbaijan was pretty loose that the government conventionally did not inspect businessmen¡¯s tax report thoroughly even though they could. It was because the government was still rich with oil funds. Only when apany got on the wrong side of the government, it would get inspected by the government and lose most of its funds for their fake ount books.


    ***


    When Youngho stepped in his office, Shamakhi weed him dly. His business was exempted from tax inspection list because he took Youngho¡¯s advice toply with the government¡¯s suggestion to provide grains to the public at low prices. He would have been regretting by now if he had not taken his advice, for his greed to make money in the war.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, thank you for stopping my greed. The businessmen around me are going through hardship because of the tax authorities.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a natural oue since they didn¡¯t help people in wartime like this. The government won¡¯t make it pretty this time.¡±


    ¡°Since the government¡¯s going to be isted in the international society, it needs someone to take their rage out on.¡±


    Because of the video clip that Youngho and his friends took, the country¡¯s reputation had fallen that the country¡¯s vition of human rights was no better than underdeveloped countries. Although the government punished a person in charge to me and officially promised that they would do their best to stop such incidents to happen in the future, the international opinion did not stop criticizing. Thus, the government had a war without any results but only the image of the nation hit the rock bottom.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I still think it¡¯s not enough. Do you think you can get more gold bars for me?¡±


    When finishing thest deal, Youngho slipped words that he could get some more gold bars for Shamakhi and he was so eager to get more.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv is not interested in Baku¡¯s estates anymore. I think he¡¯s short on some funds for his recent investment in the railroad construction.¡±


    ¡°I have plenty of dors or euros in my foreign ount. I can pay whatever he wants for the gold.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that. Mr. Yaniv is capable of making funds from any connection.¡±


    Knowing that wealthy people valued gold bars more than cash, Youngho was ying a mind-game to any possible amount of cash from Shamakhi.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, how about suggesting 70,000 dors for each gold bar? It¡¯s 30% more than the current market price. Wouldn¡¯t he be interested?¡±


    Shamakhi was so eager that he was suggesting a ridiculously high price.


    ¡°From what I know, he has about four tons of gold bars. He contacts West European banks often. I don¡¯t know what those banks are suggesting the price of gold.¡±


    Shamakhi¡¯s eyes were widened at the mention of the amount of gold. His lips were getting dry after hearing that West European banks are interested in gold bars too. After calcting in his brain for a while, he suggested an astounding amount of money.


    ¡°I will give you 300 million dors. Please close the deal for me. I don¡¯t care how much I should pay Mr. Yaniv. I¡¯ll just consider that I¡¯m investing in for my family and future descendants.¡±


    Although Youngho knew that Shamakhi was a rich person, he did not expect him to have this much money. It was unimaginable how much he had saved in his foreign ounts. Since he suggested paying 50 million dors more than the market value, he had got to have overflowing money in his ounts.


    ***


    Youngho gained 4.2 tons of gold bars after smelting the gold ores found from the rock piles of the deadmines. It was the amount of 4,200 gold bars each weight a kilogram. Since it was a pain to store such numbers of gold bars, Youngho felt lucky that Shamakhi was interested in buying those paying a high cost.


    For rich people, the high cost did not mean much since they would be investing in long-term assets but it was an unattainable amount for someone like Youngho. With the funds he made from this deal, he would be investing ten million dors for the railroad consortium and buying some prominent hotels in Europe with the rest of the money.


    Although he bought Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel at a cheap price exchanged with gold bars, leading European hotels with extremely increasing traveler guests every year, should be bought at the full prices.


    The good news was that the prices of those hotels fell because of the decreased guests due to terrorism. He would only find out about the prices of European hotels but he expected to buy two to three middle-ss hotels with the money.


    Youngho was interested in hotel business because he could make them local bases in the future. In case he had to move, he would not have to worry about a ce to sleep or to eat and he would have influence and power in the local society as the owner of a hotel.


    Many people think that they have to hold important events at a leading hotel in order to save their faces. Since they are considered a member of high society when they have a hotel membership, many local businessmen and leaders try to be hotel members. Moreover, rich people would live in a hotel room and brag about their long-term stay and being a VIP member of a hotel. If Youngho could be an owner of these hotels, no one would dare to walk all over him and his family. That was the reason Youngho was interested in buying hotels in European historic cities where there were many travelers.


    Although he wanted to invest more in the railroad construction, it did not seem secure because of the unstable political situations of Azerbaijan and the surrounding countries. He decided to just invest some to save his face as a local businessman only and not to overdo it.


    Compared to the money he makes from his wine factory, ten million dors was not a little amount at all. Considering the rtionship with President Aliyev, Youngho thought this much amount was enough investment. If he invested less than this, he would lose favor in the president¡¯s eyes because the recent increase in his wine factory sales was obvious to anyone. As for other profits he made from his foreign businesses, the president would have no idea about.


    Among all of Youngho¡¯s businesses, his securitypany was making the lowest profit since it had just reached the break-even point. Yet, thepany was necessary for Zeynep business. Having a securitypany worked as a medium to increase international credibility which was invaluable.


    The recent employees of the securitypany were all young men from Serbian Vige. For young male vigers, thepany was like a necessary step to take likeing-of-age rites as the descendants of knights. Through working for the securitypany as guards, the young Serbian vigers got ustomed to the outside world and grew theircking sociality.


    They were loyal to any business that had the name of Zeynep or Arirang since they belonged to Youngho, Fatima, and Serbian Vige. Of course, they had great teamwork and rarely made problems with each other since they were all from the same root.


    ***


    With the operation of the vige¡¯s own home watch, the ranch¡¯s vige was now almost like a natural fortress. Once the weather gets warm, more of Serbian descendants would be moving in, and Youngho would distribute them in his two farms. The ranch would be thest bastion for his people in danger.


    Youngho bought the steepnd beyond the gold mines from the government and was developing it to make it a part of his ranch. He would make it seem as a ranch to the government but if necessary, he was going to try excavating there for gold too.


    Now that he found out that Shamakhi the grain importer has an overflowing amount of money, he would be selling gold bars to him as much as possible. Shamakhi would never doubt the source of gold bars since Youngho told him that it wasing from a mafia boss, Yaniv, and it would not be exposed to anyone since it was such a secret deal.


    Edward in Panama called Youngho to express his appreciation. It was a natural reaction for him since Nagorno-Karabakh could survive and more sacrifice of the residents were stopped all because of Youngho and Jongil¡¯s effort.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I don¡¯t know what to say for saving people of Nagorno-Karabakh despite the risk. Michael the chief praised you nonstop.¡±


    Michael neverplimented Youngho verbally but it seemed that he does in his back.


    ¡°It was a natural thing to do as an agent. It¡¯s not something to be praised of. I could¡¯ve saved more lives if I went in there earlier.¡±


    ¡°Who would attempt to infiltrate such dangerous ce? I thank you for other Armenians. It¡¯s because of you that many people were saved.¡±


    Rather than being ttered, Youngho felt bad. He had not tried to help Armenians earlier, thinking that his rtionship with them had already ended. If he had tried earlier, he could have saved more lives.


    ¡°Mr. Edward, I regret myziness that I could not save more people early.¡±


    ¡°Lee, If things are settled, can you visit Yerevan some time? There is someone you should meet. I¡¯m just going to say that he is the one who can help out your business.¡±


    Youngho promised he would since Edward was introducing him to another businessman as an appreciation for saving his people¡¯s lives. He needed to go to Georgia anyway, so he thought that he could stop by at Yerevan to see his friends and meet the businessman on the way.


    The reason for his trip to Georgia was to buy a hotel there. If Armenia and Azerbaijan begin a war on arge scale, the air route would be blocked. In that case, he would have to use thend route to cross the Georgian border to reach Turkey. It would be useful to have a little hotel near Georgia¡¯s Batumi Port or Poti Sea Port. Especially, Batumi Port was a transportation hub since it was adjacent to Turkey and it also had an international airport.


    Youngho had no reason to let the money he received from Shamakhi rot in the bank. When the world was gued by terrorism like now, it was the perfect timing for making an investment in the hotel business.

 Chapter 154 - Tracy of The Lincy Foundation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 154: Tracy of The Lincy Foundation (1)</h4>


    Small countries off the coast of the ck Sea did not seem to be the focus of terrorists. It might have been because those countries would not be enough of an issue on TV even if theyunched terror attacks.


    Georgia was one of those countries.


    Afternding at Tbilisi Airport where there was not even a special security check, Youngho went straight to get on a train to Batumi. This trip was apanied by Kim Ilkwon.


    Ilkwon had been very busy going back and forth between divostok and South Ossetia instead of Youngho. It was because his fluent Russian came handy when dealing with difficulties with local people.


    In South Ossetia, his role was to check security situations and train employees at Arirang Hotel.


    Katya did not feel disappointed anymore for Youngho¡¯s rare appearance in South Ossetia since she was busy managing the new hotel. Also, now that at the hotel¡¯s rooftop, a cell tower was installed, she could make a video call to him on her smartphone.


    ¡°Miss Evnained that you don¡¯t visit here anymore. She said you should visit her when the snow melts toplete the settlement of ounts for thest year.¡±


    ¡®Georgievna¡¯ was Katya¡¯sst name. In short, Ilkwon called her ¡®Evna¡¯.


    ¡°We can do that on papers, why does she want to do it in person? I don¡¯t think I can work when I see her face, she¡¯s too distracting.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s indeed beautiful. I almost can¡¯t think when I see her either.¡±


    ¡°Oh, someone with a stone-like personality like you can be distracted too?¡±


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m a man too. Miss Evna is beautiful enough to catch any man¡¯s eye.¡±


    Katya¡¯s beauty was not of the world. Youngho was restraining himself from visiting her because his heart went seesaw whenever he saw her, but he should be visiting her soon since Katya was a valuable business partner of Arirang Hotel.


    Batumi was the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Georgia¡¯s region. The city was the best vacationnd of Georgia, which had only top ss seaports. With its beautiful nature, it was one of the wettest ces offshore of the ck Sea and had a subtropical climate.


    Because of the warm climate, the city was crowded with tourists. Though only 150,000 people resided in the city, there were unbelievable numbers of hotels and high apartment buildings along the shore. Indeed, it was not a lie that the city was referred to as ¡®The Las Vegas of the ck Sea¡¯.


    People looked rxed as they came to enjoy their vacation. Since most of the tourists were Turks, Youngho could hear Turkish on the streets.


    Youngho fell in love with the city. Although he only came to buy a hotel, he had to rearrange his schedule to enjoy the city. There was a petrochemicalplex near Batumi but the city itself was so refreshing and pleasant, which was notparable to Baku. People were also nice and bright, which meant that the city was stable and secure. The public safety was also great that he spotted many women walking around the city at night.


    Youngho stayed there for two days and it seemed the city was equipped with good transportation infrastructures. He came with little expectation, thinking that the city would be just like other cities around the ck Sea, but it was actually an awesome ce that he could start his hotel.


    Since winter was the peak season of tourism, there was no way that he could buy an already existing hotel at a good price. Building a new hotel seemed that it could be a better deal for him, so he started looking for an offshore site with a great view.


    ***


    Youngho visited Yerevan, Armenia in a long time. He had two of his friends, Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek, living in Armenia but because of the border between the two countries was closed, they seldom visited each other now.


    As a businessman of Azerbaijan, Youngho had to visit Yerevan in secret. They still talked on the phone frequently but it was not same as talking in person.


    Their clothing store was doing well, so they were financially well-established but life was still hard for them to live in a foreign country without anyone else. As soon as the two friends saw Youngho, they hugged him and their eyes turned watery.


    ¡°Man, don¡¯t hug me too tight. My ribs are being crushed.¡±


    Although the recent battles urred in Nagorno-Karabakh, the aftermath had reached to them as well. As if they had inner struggles too, their faces had be thin.


    ¡°Dude, I almost forgot your face. Why didn¡¯t you visit us more often?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve been busy due to terrorism all over the ce and then I was stuck because of the sudden outbreak of war in Nagorno-Karabakh.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s over now. We were afraid that it might be a full-scale war.¡±


    Knowing his friends¡¯ concerns, Youngho spat out the words that had been in his mind.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just settle down in Georgia? I¡¯m saying because there is no guarantee that this is over.¡±


    Relocating to another country would be a hard decision for them since they had just settled down in Yerevan. However, since they all had kids, it did not seem like a bad idea to move to a safer ce.


    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s what we¡¯ve been working on. We¡¯re still trying to convince our wives. I don¡¯t think I can keep living in insecurity like this here.¡±


    Since Youngho had brought only Kim Ilkwon only, the two did not go to a hotel but stayed at Cho Chulhwan¡¯s house. Of course, they had to drink up all night to catch up. With his friends¡¯ wives in mind, Youngho kept mentioning good sides about Tbilisi or Batumi Port to convince them to move to Georgia. He was almost forcing them to relocate even for a little while until the domestic situations were resolved.


    It seemed that they were almost convinced by him since Armenians were friendly to Georgia. That was when Youngho told them his n to build a hotel in Batumi. Because he promised them hotel management positions, they could not refuse his offer. It would take two years toplete the hotel building, so they could watch over the construction site and prepare for the opening of the hotel in the meantime.


    In the first ce, the two friends came to a foreignnd far away from their home country because of Youngho. Although there was nothing more left for Youngho to take care of since he provided a store and jobs for them, the country was now frequently at war that something needed to be done for their secure lives.


    It was not like Youngho did not have money anymore. Since he decided to make a world-famous hotel chain, he did not want to be stingy to his friends and family members. The two friends and their wives knew that they could have better lives in Georgia. They had to leave their homnd, Nagorno-Karabakh, once for the sake of their families and they could do that again.


    Just like that, Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel was now at the starting point, with its managers arranged already. Since Youngho already made up his mind and convinced his friends, he did not want to waste time. He gave them seed money to find a ce to live in Batumi and asked them to find a great site for his future hotel. Their clothing store would be handed down to their rtives, so they did not have anything to worry about. By Youngho¡¯s forceful push, they were getting ready to move to Batumi.


    ***


    Youngho made time in his schedule to meet the business person that Edward mentioned. She was a woman in her sixties.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you. You¡¯ve been helping our people, so I asked Edward to introduce me to you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure. I was just lucky that I got to let the whole world know about the disturbing scene of genocide, Madame Kerkorian.¡±


    ¡°I own major businesses in America and I also made a lot of investment in businesses in Yerevan. I was carrying forward railroad construction between Yerevan and Nagorno-Karabakh but it was a total failure.¡±


    A railroad business was not the size that could bepleted by a mere corporation. It was a business that many underdeveloped countries had to get loans from outside in order to begin construction.


    Her statement made Youngho worry about how big her corporation was, that she could n a railroad construction by herself. He looked at her business card thoroughly.


    ¡®MGM Resorts International. Tracy Kerkorian, The Lincy Foundation.¡¯


    She was a daughter of a worldwide billionaire, Kirk Kerkorian, who was an Armenian American. As a well-known woman entrepreneur, she had been running the Lincy Foundation after her father¡¯s passingst year. The family had donated two billion dors under the name of the Lincy Foundation for Armenia¡¯s development.


    Youngho was meeting an owner of a family that was running and moving the world¡¯s economy in this era.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I already know that you¡¯re a CIA agent and you¡¯re running businesses in Baku.¡±


    Youngho felt naked in her eyes since she was boldly exposing his identity in front of him.


    ¡°I happened to be all that you¡¯re saying about me. I can¡¯t deny the fact that Edward yed a key part in establishing my current state.¡±


    ¡°Everything was achieved because of your passion. Personally, I found your story interesting.¡±


    Youngho wondered what it meant for him that a world-ss billionaire was interested in his life. Would it mean that she wanted to be a business partner? Or was she making fun of his small businesses? Either way, he did not feel bad since it meant that he caught her attention.


    ¡°I only made money through the power of the CIA. My efforts yed only a minimum part for my achievements.¡±


    Youngho wanted to look as humble as possible because he thought she would only smirk if he exined what kind of hardship he had to go through.


    ¡°You¡¯re too modest, I¡¯ve seen many men as ambitious as you. My father also started small just like you. He was a pilot of a light aircraft that carried gamblers.¡±


    ¡®What does she mean? Is she saying that I¡¯m making money from illegal businesses?¡¯


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m just saying that my father started rough but boughtpanies one by one. In the end, he practiced charity, so he was a good businessman. He did not leave anything except for the Lincy Foundation to his children when he passed away. Since we¡¯ve livedfortable lives because of him, he wanted us to serve others through the foundation, although the foundation still has an unbelievable amount of estate.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I decided to use the money for my suffering Armenian people and you are the beginning point of my decision.¡±


    Youngho opened his mouth but no words came out. He did not know what to say.


    ¡°I was just a lucky CIA agent who happened to witness a scene of genocide. Well, I¡¯m a little richer than other agents though.¡±


    Madame Kerkorian smiled at his remark. She still used her father¡¯sst name since she lived by herself all her life.


    For the next three hours, the two kept on talking.


    ¡°Armenians are peaceful people. They had been suffering hundreds of years of oppression. But, they won¡¯t stand it anymore now. So, please, with your special abilities, help our people.¡±


    From looking at Youngho¡¯s eyes, Tracy already figured out that there was something special in him. She was trying to find out what his secret was.


    ¡°What about me made you think that I have special abilities?¡±


    ¡°Because of the tight security at the border of Nagorno-Karabakh, my security guards had to return without even trying, but you didn¡¯t and you must¡¯ve already figured out what kind of people they are when you stepped in this room, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    Her guards had extraordinary spirits, seemingly to have the equal or less level of skill as Kim Ilkwon¡¯s although to Youngho, they¡¯re levels were as of a child¡¯s.


    ¡°I just passed by him but I could see that he is a person of great skills. A guard like him is only a handful in the world.¡±


    ¡°See, you figured all of that out in one nce. Also, Edward told me something. He said, there won¡¯t be a lot of people in the world who could beat you and your friend. Now, please share your secret. I¡¯m ready to make an investment on you.¡±


    Youngho felt like he was pulled into a bad joke. How on earth would he slip out from this situation?

 Chapter 155 - Tracy of The Lincy Foundation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 155: Tracy of The Lincy Foundation (2)</h4>


    The names of the two daughters of the billionaire Kerkorian were Linda and Tracy, and from their names, he made the Lincy Foundation. At the foundation¡¯s office in Yerevan, fifty employees were working on various charity in different locations of Armenia.


    The two lost track of time while talking, and so they skipped lunch. They filled their empty stomachs with some snacks at the employee cafeteria in the basement of the foundation¡¯s office building.


    Youngho spotted some of the employees¡¯ rude behaviors toward Tracy. They called her name informally and some tapped her shoulder as they passed by her. It was so natural that it even looked very foreign to him.


    Although they looked friendly, he still hated it when seeing young people calling older people¡¯s name freely. Tracy, as well, was treating him as if she was talking to an old friend but it seemed strange too.


    Having lived in a foreign country for years, Youngho should have gottenfortable with Western people¡¯s customs but he still did not understand their culture.


    Tracy showed too many unnecessary big gestures and seeing her kindled face, he thought that she would be a hot-blooded person.


    First, he needed to lower Tracy¡¯s absurd expectation about him. Eating a sandwich, Youngho made up absurd lies.


    ¡°Madame Kerkorian, Korea is a country with thousands of years of history. Throughout history, countless masters have appeared and they left secret arts. People gathered those secret arts and they are now called oriental martial arts. I am only one of those people who have been training those martial arts from young ages. That¡¯s how I acquire strength distinctive from others.¡±


    He confidently lied in front of her face because he could show the evidence of his lie to her since he had been training to learn the Serbian knight¡¯s special breathing techniquestely.


    ¡°Is it like flying in the sky as shown in the oriental movies?¡±


    ¡°Well, It¡¯s simr. Swiffer movements and higher take-offs would better describe such abilities.¡±


    As he kept on, his lies seemed to get more believable.


    ¡°Then, does the person who came alongside you have the same level of skills as you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not up to my level but he is better than most people, he¡¯s still in the middle of training.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can teach my guards those martial arts skills?¡±


    ¡®What the heck is she trying to make out of her guards? Is she trying to overthrow Azerbaijan with her force?¡¯


    At this point, Youngho thought that he needed to draw the line.


    ¡°It¡¯s an unwrittenw that the secret martial arts should not be passed on to outsiders. Also, the training method only works when a person had begun the training before age ten and had been training for more than ten years, so it¡¯s not really efficient.¡±


    ¡°What a waste. As soon as I saw you, I thought you could pass on mysterious oriental martial arts. Well, that¡¯s alright, but how about this? Can you lend us your strength?¡±


    Her request had a sudden unexpected turn. Youngho was not sure if she was seriously thinking that a CIA agent could be used for her private matter or if she was just being mischievous.


    ¡°You¡¯re asking too much to a CIA agent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just asking a personal favor to help suffering Armenians. You know we can easily have power over the CIA if I or Armenian-American politicians wanted to. But if we did, it¡¯s going to be another debt to them. I¡¯vee to realize how pointless it was to receive help from powerful nations. They¡¯re ready to turn their backs on us at any time.¡±


    From her remark, Youngho could feel the pain of a powerless people. Unlike Azerbaijan, Armenia did not have many natural resources like oil and minerals to attract powerful nations¡¯ interests. The country was only surviving with the money sent by Armenian overseas. On top of that, its government had established equidistance diplomatic rtions with Russia and America, that it was unweed by both nations and their allies. Many foreign opinions criticized the people since they only cared about their own people¡¯s well-being.


    Youngho was not sure how to react to her request. If he turned her down, she could be a major obstacle to his people and business. Especially, when she seems to be one of the extreme nationalists who had pride in her foundation and its charitable work.


    He decided to look as if he was in favor of helping her work for now. A businessman should be able to use his enemy as his resource too.


    It seemed that Edward only thought of her as a capable business person but Youngho¡¯s intuition was telling him that she was a far-right nationalist.


    ***


    Tracy was a woman more paranoid than Youngho had thought.


    She is disgusted with marriage and she surrounded herself mostly with celibates. Also, she could only be satisfied when things revolved around her. On a bright side, she had a simple personality that it was easy to y along with her. She seemed to be satisfied when Youngho just nodded to whatever she said. Since he had helped Armenians before she must have thought that he would agree to help Armenians from then on as well.


    The Lincy Foundation¡¯s endowment was three billion dors. It made Youngho¡¯s jaw drop since it was the amount that would be used for helping Armenians only.


    Tracy had a bold n to provide weapons to the Armenian government. Her goal was to retrieve Nagorno-Karabakh by sending an armed force of people equipped with oriental martial arts skills to fight against Azerbaijan. Since the Azerbaijani government did not allow the state¡¯s own military force, Nagorno-Karabakh was not restored fully, and she intended to win full independence of the state.


    Finding out the mysterious martial arts could not be passed on to her guards, she asked Youngho to find a way to provide cutting-edge weapons. The reason that she wanted to see him in the first ce was to get acquainted to a trustworthy agent, so she could get weapons from him.


    Since themission from a weapon deal was great and it was not a big deal for him, he decided to shake on to her request. It was not an impossible deal if he asked Eriksson from the Information Agency. The people of the agency would do anything if that was profitable. They would even get Youngho a nuclear weapon if it could make money.


    The problem with this deal was when the arms were sent to the Armenian government, they might make a misjudgment. If Armenia attacks Azerbaijan, the aftermath of the attacks would affect Youngho.


    He did not worry about conventional weapons but if she asks him to get weapons of mass destruction, he would have no excuse to refuse her request at the moment.


    He had to find a way to agree with her but stop the weapons going into Armenia. Thinking for a while, Youngho came up with a shameless n.


    After the deal was closed, the weapons would only be transferred through one of the ports in Georgia or through flights. The only way to stop the weapons would be exploding them midway.


    ***


    Youngho stayed there for several days and met her frequently to talk about the deal. The conclusion he made in the end was toply with her since he did not know what kind of disadvantages he would get from not ying along with her.


    Although his n seemed a little bit reckless, he thought that it would be a great opportunity to get weapons to arm Serbian Vige.


    He did not feel sorry for Tracy.


    She was only obsessed with a biased view to help her people but it was obviously wrong to take other people¡¯s lives to help her own. Her father, who made the foundation in the beginning, would not like the idea from underground as well.


    Three billion dors was an enormous amount of money but when it was used for weapons, it was not that much since thetest fighters cost a hundred to two hundred million dors each. There must be more funds from other Armenian Americans other than three billion from the Lincy Foundation. Knowing how the weapons would be used, no one would officially sell weapons to Armenia. That was why Tracy nned to buy those in secret through Youngho. She was smart but she had no idea what he had in mind.


    Upon returning to Baku, Youngho called all of his security crew who knew about weapons well. Although they were no experts, they were better than others who had no knowledge of weapons. Jongil was upset since Youngho had been grilling him to study cutting-edge weapons.


    ¡°Dude, what are you up to now? What¡¯s all the fuss about? Ilkwon, did anything happen in Armenia?¡±


    ¡°No, Boss only said that we¡¯d be getting great weapons. I¡¯m as curious as you to find out what it¡¯s all about.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been only treating light firearms here. Even if we have high-tech cutting-edge weapons, we won¡¯t be able to use them.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think he¡¯ll get fighters or missiles here, do you?¡±


    ¡°Man, Youngho had spoiled you already. You¡¯re thinking in big-scale now. Stop hanging out with him!¡±


    It would be great if Youngho could really bring missiles in Jongil¡¯s hand but there was no way to deliver those to the ranch.


    ***


    Youngho talked enough about the buying method of weapons already. Themission was twenty percent of the weapon cost, so Youngho and the Information Agency agreed on each taking half of the totalmission. He wondered on which standard each weapon was priced.


    The arms producers would give that much ofmission and still make money out of that. Usually, they soldplete products but the prices went even higher when technology was transferred. By ¡®technology transfer,¡¯ it would merely mean that buyers would buy weapons in parts and learn how to assemble them intoplete arms.


    From this deal, Youngho learned that the arms producers would unofficially sell their weapons to any buyers if the transaction amount was satisfactory.


    After the fall of the Soviet Union, weapons, even strategic nuclear weapons, that had been distributed in different republics had been sold underground. It made Youngho wonder in which hands those weapons were now. Also, it was scary to think that one day, those weapons would be used and bring disaster in parts of the world.


    When Youngho spent days thinking about the kinds of weapons he would get, there was a groundbreaking ceremony of a sr panel factory that was established by the coboration of the Azerbaijani government and K Electronics of Korea.


    President Aliyev was supportive of the business since there would be a green energy technology transfer in Azerbaijan. The staffs from K Electronics were also swelled by opening one of their factory in the country since they would be making their foray in the regions of the Caucasus from now on.


    After the tape-cutting ceremony, Youngho talked with President Aliyev while drinking Zeynep Farm¡¯s wine, which was now the official wine of Azerbaijan¡¯s national events.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, It¡¯s a historic day of Azerbaijan. We¡¯ve secured another energy resource today. Our future generations would praise us that we made a great decision.¡±


    Aliyev only cared about reputation. He seemed to be thinking about making a statue already. As he said, he would be praised one day if he kept boldly instituting new policies like this.


    ¡°Mr. President. Congrattions on securing new energy resource. Everything¡¯s looking great but I¡¯m concerned about Armenia¡¯s movement.¡±


    ¡°Why, did you hear something?¡±


    ¡°Among business people in Frankfurt, there¡¯s a rumor that Armenia is buying in weapons with big funds.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Any armspanies in the Western world won¡¯t sell weapons to Armenia.¡±


    ¡®Don¡¯t be ridiculous. I¡¯m the one who¡¯s involved in that.¡¯


    Since he slipped the words already, there would be an excuse even if he was caught delivering the weapons he took from Tracy at the Azerbaijani border. If he was caught, he could give away the weapons and if he was not, those weapons would be possessions of Serbian Vige.

 Chapter 156 - A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

    <h4>Chapter 156: A Wolf in Sheep¡¯s Clothing</h4>


    Youngho decided to use his exposed identity in order to get what he wanted.


    Edward could not have introduced him to Tracy with bad intentions but it was true that he made a critical mistake as an agent. It was his love for his people that blinded his eyes. The reason for Edward¡¯s relocation to Panama was his nationalism as well.


    He was not going to me Edward for this since he liked him very much. To Edward, Tracy must have seemed like a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing and that must be the reason that he connected her to Youngho.


    What happened already happened and there was no way that he could turn back time. All he could do now was to take advantage of Tracy. Then, he should draw the line after this deal, letting her know that if she asks more from him, their rtionship would get worse. She should have that much wit.


    If she keeps her tenacious hold on Youngho, then he shoulde up with another way to break the rtionship with her. For now, she trusted Youngho, so he was ready to get on with his n.


    He did not like stabbing someone in the back but since he was a little morbid about weapons, he was excited to think about all the new weapons he would be getting. Park Jongil was the same. Looking at the list of weapon purchased, not only his face turned bright but also he hugged Youngho tightly. After seeing many weapons that he wanted to have on the list, Jongil felt like he would be having his favorite weapons piled up like a mountain. Although the list was for Tracy, the two friends could not hide the excitement from their faces.


    Thankfully, there were no cutting-edge weapons on the list but conventional weapons and tanks. Youngho signed in relief. Tracy must have decided to buy more expensive, high-tech weapons through other connections.


    With the weapons on the list, Armenia would not be able to go near Azerbaijan¡¯s military power. It looked like Youngho did not have to explode the weapon cargo halfway to Armenia and irritate Tracy. He could simply just pocket some necessary weapons from her pile.


    A notable thing was that she was buying a predominant amount of tankspared to other weapons. It was an amount that could dominate a battle on a nd. However, in Nagorno-Karabakh where mountainous regions take most of the territory, tanks were merely used as cannons. The rest of the weapons did not look as threatening.


    If the Lincy Foundation had chosen the list of weapons, they might have picked grandiose items without considering geographical features of the potential battlefield. The weapons chosen in the purchase list were the ones with great demonstration effects, such as an improved model of Russian T-90s, portable anti-tank guns, Katyusha multiple rocketunchers, and BTR-series armored vehicles.


    ***


    Eriksson contacted Youngho only after a week, saying that he already made a deal with Russian armspany to sell all of them at three hundred million dors. The price includedmission payment as well.


    Normally, the delivery of weapons was arranged by the nation seller and a technician who knows how to use the weapons would be sent along with the weapons. However, the delivery had to be done in secret since it was not an official purchase, so Russia would not assign a technician to Armenia. Moreover, confidence should be kept even strictly since the buyer was not a nation, it was Tracy, a mere civilian.


    Above all things, the problem of delivery was that Armenia was a country like an ind onnd, which did not have any ports. The cargo delivery would be shipped to Batumi Port in Georgia first. It was not an easy job to deliver weapons secretly while passing other countries. Although Georgia was somewhat friendly to Armenia, Georgia also was keeping friendship with Azerbaijan since it made tremendous money from an oil pipeline that passed oil crude produced from the Caspian Sea shore.


    Youngho informed all of the problems to Tracy and said he would deliver the cargo under one condition; that he would only deliver them to Poti Sea Port.


    Since he was in the position of helping her, he thought that he should take the initiative in negotiating with her. He did not want to get too deeply involved with this business. As he said that he had done his best and the foundation should do its part too, Tracy unexpectedlyplied with him without aint. It was surprising to him since he thought she would ask him to deliver the cargo to Yerevan. She seemed to admit that the geopolitical location of her country was a huge obstacle.


    In fact, Tracy was thankful that a mere agent had done this much for her because it was a job that many influential politicians or military officers could not do. She was satisfied with the fact that buying weapons which seemed impossible was aplished.


    She asked Youngho to im an independentmission charge to the foundation but he tly refused her offer, saying that he only helped because of his friendship with Edward in Panama. His words meant that if Edward did not ask, he would never have helped her.


    If she needed help in the future, she would have to go through Edward. Youngho wondered how Edward¡¯s face would turn when she mentions purchasing additional weapons.


    Anyhow, she had aplished her purpose of buying weapons for her country through Youngho, so she gained something for meeting him.


    It did not take a long period to deliver the conventional weapons that had been mass-produced since they were notest models. Not to mention, the Russian armspany did not want to waste time selling unpopr conventional weapons.


    Youngho flew to Batumi, Georgia as soon as he heard that the cargo left from Russian port city, Novorossiysk off the ck Sea.


    After the weapons specialist from the Armenian military and a representative of the Lincy Foundation checked the quantities of the items and signed the transfer paper, Youngho¡¯s part of the delivery was finished. His role in the weapon deal was done.


    However, the real work was left for him and that he would be running busily soon.


    Before the cargo crossed the Armenian border, he had to extort some of the weapons somehow. Since the weapons would be delivered on a freight train, separated into ten cars, he should take away armored vehicles and multiple rocketuncher trucks when the deliverers were off their guards.


    If painted and decorated differently, it would be possible to deliver the armored vehicles and rocketuncher trucks to the Azerbaijani border. Youngho was confident because many civilians in the regions of the Caucasus remodeled military vehicles and used them in their own likings. Unique vehicles like those were not looked at suspiciously since it wasmon.


    ***


    Ten security crews of Zeynep Security Service cut down trees around the railroad near the Armenian border. They were working on securing the road for armored vehicles and trucks taken from the train delivering weapons.


    The leaders of the bandit group who would be robbing the freight train were Jongil and Insoo. The train that carried tanks went into Armenia two days ago and the train that carried some of the multiple rocketuncher trucks and armored vehicles. Now, they would be striking the train that had returned and would be setting off after loading new items.


    ¡°Where is Youngho? I haven¡¯t even seen a bit of him today.¡±


    ¡°He left with Ilkwon to get some equipment and buy some paints. He said he would be taking off the rocketunchers from vehicles and delivering them in containers.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s way ahead of himself. We might fail at getting the weapons in the first ce. Man, I¡¯ve be a train robber for having Youngho as my friend. Heck, my life.¡±


    As they had finished checking all of their preparation, Jongil startedining as usual.


    ¡°Mr. Park, aren¡¯t we going to get misconstrued as terrorists for this?¡±


    ¡°Have you seen a good-looking terrorist like me? We¡¯re like Robin Hoods trying to reduce our enemy¡¯s weapons, the cause of innocent people¡¯s deaths!¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t we strike the trains that had been going into Armenia for the past few days?¡±


    ¡°Why do you have so many questions? Do you need to get reminded of the training days in the U.D.T. Unit, huh?¡±


    As if he was getting bored of waiting, Jongil was teasing his junior Navyrade.


    It was a little too primitive to stop the train to rob cargo but it seemed like an effective way. Youngho could have slipped the information to the Azerbaijani government and stop the weapon supply but in that way, he would not be able to attain any weapons.


    He did not worry about the conventional weapons being delivered to Armenia since they could not threaten Azerbaijan¡¯s military power. That was why he was using a cheap way to steal the weapons. Also, the Lincy Foundation had made a huge mistake when purchasing weapons. They did not buy extra ammunition for those arms. Therefore, the weapons would be useless to the Armenian force unless they had extra ammunition of their own. Youngho just overlooked that fact when making the weapon deal but he did not forget to buy his own ammunition for those weapons to keep them for himself.


    Since the Armenian army was receiving those weapons free from the foundation, the weapons specialist did not mention anything about missing ammunition. He must have thought that the Lincy Foundation would be buying additional ammunition in near future.


    A freight train usually moved at a slow speed but this one was taking forever due to the weight of the arms and the curvy roads. It was moving at a man¡¯s running speed. Youngho and Jongil simply jumped on the moving train. Two engineers were frightened by unexpected men¡¯s appearance on the train. Youngho and Jongil stopped the train by threatening them at gunpoint.


    As they were finished with covering the engineers¡¯ eyes and tying their hands and legs, the rest of the crews gave them a sign with a shlight that they had subdued the soldiers at the end of the train.


    Since Youngho had brought only the most skillful crews from the securitypany, taking down the soldiers was not a difficult task.


    They removed the wrappings from the armored vehicles and took them off the train after setting up a freight rail, then went into different freight cars of the train to get portable weapons and ammunition. When they were ready to go, they only freed the engineers, so they could move the train.


    ***


    The train moved as if nothing happened.


    It was dark and the engineers thought that some of the weapons were lost because of the appearance of some unidentified assant. Thankful for being alive, they did not waste time to count what¡¯s been lost but left hastily. The Armenian military force would not be able toin to the Georgian government for meeting an assant since the weapon delivery was not official. Nobody should be able to find out about the military supply, so they had a secret deal with Georgian railroad authorities for this delivery.


    Seven armored vehicles, two multiple rocketuncher trucks, and a container vehicle that carried portable rocketunchers and ammunition boxes were slowly entered in a storage lot nearby.


    From now on, the vehicles should be painted and decorated to look like remodeled vehicles and then they would be able to be driven on the roads like othermon cars.


    Youngho worried about passing the border inspection but there would not be a problem if he bribed the inspectors or if he could get the help of Sevan. He wanted to take more weapons but since those weapons were used as a defensive means only, they seemed enough. Also, since only some of the weapons were taken, the Lincy Foundation would not make trouble out of this.


    Thirty million dors was already transferred in Youngho¡¯s ount. It was themission from the Russian armspany. From this deal, thepany could get rid of the old-version conventional weapons that had been upying their storage lot. If more time had passed, those would have been disassembled and thrown into smelting furnace with their own expense but since they could sell those at proper prices, thepany praised the Information Agency.


    Since the Information Agency gained credit, from this deal, the agency earned more than money from this. Soon, Youngho received a call from Eriksson.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, our agency now has a better reputation because of you. I¡¯ll provide a few pieces of information for free if you need them in the future.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should dly take those opportunities since you¡¯re offering, Mr. Eriksson.¡±


    The fact that the Information Agency which calcted everything for money was providing free information for Youngho meant a huge favor, since their information cost astronomical amounts of money. To them, having Youngho as their client meant a lot because not only did he connect them to a buyer but also, he was a client who would keep their secret no matter what. Just for the confidentiality, Youngho was considered someone whom the agency could share their profits.

 Chapter 157 - Arirang Hotel (1)

    <h4>Chapter 157: Arirang Hotel (1)</h4>


    ¡°The hunting dog will be freed by tomorrow.¡±


    Jongil grumbled about his state since he had been tied down at the farm after sending most of the security crews to Korea for a break.


    ¡°You were supposed to protect the farm but all you did was drinking with young students. Besides, Serbian people were here, what did you even do?¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re in a leadership position, you¡¯re mentally tired all the time. If you don¡¯t know that logic already, you don¡¯t deserve to be called a boss.¡±


    Youngho smirked at Jongil¡¯s ridiculous nonsense. Trying to hang out with young students at Baku University, Jongil had beening back to the farm fully drunk at least twice a week. It seemed that he was enjoying histe college life. It looked like Jongil had be the leader of his college gang since he was working and older but they must¡¯ve done that because he was a sugar daddy.


    It was already the end of March.


    In the beginning of the year, it was hectic because of the outbreak of war in Nagorno-Karabakh and after that Youngho dealt with Tracy¡¯s weapon purchase.


    Since he could not send the security crews for the New Year¡¯s break, he sent most of them for a fifteen-day break except for the few who were on private guarding duty. For many of them, it was their first break off to Korea, and they must have been considered an elite people to their friends and families because they now work in a foreignpany with a yearly sry of arge corporation high-ranker. Now that they even speak foreignnguages pretty well, they must be popr to many Korean women.


    Some of the crews, before they left Baku bragged that they would be bringing back their girlfriends from Korea. If that happens, Youngho would dly make an apartment building for couples at his farm. To build a two-to-three-story apartment building, he requested a floor nning to an expert. If they bring their parents, they would need single houses but for a couple, amunity apartment building seemed to be enough. There were plenty of spaces for any house or livingplex on his farm which was about 71,170,000 sq. ft. in size.


    Now that the amount of grape produce had grown much since new seedlings had been settled down, he wanted to pick ces with a great view and turn them into livingmunities and refresh the farm¡¯s environment.


    At the moment, thirty houses were being built for Serbian neers but since the farm was too vast, it was not noticeable. The yground for little kids was also under construction near the farm¡¯s reservoir after all of the grape trees around it were moved to other ces. Youngho purchased all of the yground equipment from a Germanpany and paid for the construction of it to them as well. Although the workers at the site were only assemblingpleted pieces into yground rides, they did everything with care following safety guidelines for kids. Youngho was impressed by the advanced country¡¯s systems.


    Previously, he had thought that yground equipment should be torn apart and rebuilt every three to five years but the German equipmentpany was putting efforts that could make the ygroundst for decades. Since they worked with such care, Youngho did not feel like he wasted money. Although he only nned to build the yground at Zeynep Farm and Serbian ranch, he requested thepany to build a yground at Charles farm too since Serbian families and their children are living in there too.


    German-style ygrounds were different frommon small ones installed in livingplex neighborhoods in Korea. Fun-shaped inline skate and bicycle track surrounded the yground area and there¡¯s a climbing wall, clean sandy field, a seesaw, slides, trampoline, exploration equipment, and so on, that it even turned Youngho¡¯s head even though he was an adult.


    Youngho smiled thinking about kidsing to y together enjoying all the fun. Now that the yground was being built, he got more attached to his farm. He wanted to make his farms and ranch the safest ce even though the outside world goes into turmoil. His desire made him more eager. Although everything seemed to be getting ready, he still felt like something was missing.


    The weapons that Youngho¡¯s crew stole from the freight train going into Armenia, such as; seven armored vehicles, two multiple rocketuncher trucks, portable rocketunchers, and so on, were now ced in a secret ce of the ranch. It was not easy to take off machine guns and cradles from armored vehicles and to put them in containers. When they passed the border inspection point, they could pass through without any trouble only with Sevan¡¯s help.


    Sevan did not mind what Youngho carried or what was in the containers since he trusted Youngho. He only thought that Youngho was transferring illegal stuff without paying taxes. Even if Youngho had brought weapons, he was now considered Sevan¡¯s far rtive from Jongil and Karajan¡¯s marriage. Also, Youngho was his business partner. It would put him in a weird position if he turned down Youngho¡¯s request.


    He would not be surprised if he saw weapons in Youngho¡¯s container since they had found heavy firearms when they searched a mafia¡¯s hideout in Baku a long time ago.


    ***


    Youngho received a message that his friends who recently moved to Batumi had found a perfect site for Arirang Hotel.


    When Youngho was getting ready to go see the site, Jongil followed along to see his friends in a long time. He had been skipping his sses since he had to work instead of Ilkwon, who had gone for a business trip to South Ossetia.


    ¡°Those fools will be managing the hotel? Dude! They don¡¯t even speak English. They must be still stumbling even with Armenian. Man, if only I knew, I would¡¯ve studied business administration.¡±


    In terms of ignorance, Jongil was a formidable enemy of his friends. He only picked Physical Education for his major because it was an easy degree. Youngho interrupted Jongil.


    ¡°Oh yeah? Why don¡¯t you change your major to business administration now then? Let me take advantage of your smart business skills, Jongil.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I was just saying, and if I change my major, my friends in the same department will get shocked. I can¡¯t let that happen.¡±


    Jongil made a foolish excuse. It was great timing to tease him some more but Youngho had to stop since the two friends whom Jongil had been talking back to were waving at them at the arrival lounge.


    A property of 107,700 sq.ft. on a hill about a hundred meters away from a beach was out in the market. It was a perfect site but the price was unbelievable. The site had a fourne road adjoining and had a great view but the owner was requiring six million dors which was about six times higher than Zeynep Farm¡¯s site. It seemed too high even though the city was a world-wide tourist attraction. When Youngho was astounded by the price, Jongil interrupted.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s an unimaginable pricepared to our farm but it¡¯s not too expensive if you think about it. You almost got the farm site for free since you had the government¡¯s support and the CIA¡¯s too. You were just incredibly lucky back then.¡±


    Jongil had a point.


    The farm site was a wastnd and the Azerbaijani government had given it at such a low price for development of the farm industry.


    Cho Chulhwan also added to persuade Youngho to buy the site.


    ¡°Youngho, this is what I figured from living here for a while. I see why Batumi Port is called the best in the ck Sea. You know, all pipelines of the Caspian Sea have to go through here to get connected to Western Europe and they say major oil corporations are buying outnds here. The price might go up soon.¡±


    ¡°The owner might be taking advantage of that fact to make the price higher.¡±


    ¡°I think so. The realtor said that the site¡¯s price was negotiated two-thirds of the current price before.¡±


    If major oil corporations were buying properties here as Chulhwan said, Batumi must be a secure ce to invest in.


    The next morning, Youngho signed the deal. He did not waste too much time since there was a high possibility that the price would go up soon if he waited too long. After all, the site was great for his future Arirang Hotel. After signing the property contract, Youngho requested for building construction to a designpany in Istanbul, Turkey. The reason that he chose a Turkishpany was that more than 60% of the tourists in Batumi were Turks. Youngho thought that it would attract more Turkish tourists to the hotel if a Turkishpany design andplete the building. Also, it would be easy to transfer construction materials from Turkey since the city was touching Turkey.


    ***


    Though Batumi was a Georgian region, it was more influenced by Turkey. The ce was economically subjugated to Turkey that people even would say that if Turkey sneezed, there would be a typhoon in Batumi.


    Coastal states of the ck Sea all had to pass through Turkey¡¯s Bosphorus Strait in order to get to the Mediterranean Sea. The ck Sea was only a bigke of Southeastern Europe. Although Turkey had be like a paper tiger now, it was still a scary tiger to the coastal states of the ck Sea since if their rtionships with Turkey went sour, they would have to transfer the goods to and from the far-offnd route. No nations could ignore Turkey.


    Knowing that fact, Youngho had decided to hire a Turkishpany for the hotel¡¯s designing and construction.


    About 53400 sq.ft. of floor area was enough to build a decent size hotel building and even an outdoor pool. The rest of the area would be used to install roads and parking lots for buses and cars. Since the surrounding view was great, there was no need to spare thend for majorndscaping.


    The architect in charge from Istanbul visited the site and showed Youngho a floor n and some sketches of hotel designs. Thepany had shown their sincerity even before visiting the site since they already looked up the site using Google Map. The architect also impressed Youngho by showing him a list of leading constructionpanies in Turkey.


    As soon as the architect heard Youngho was a Korean, he hugged him, saying that he was a blood brother. After a long meeting, they decided the details of the hotel building. It would be a five-star hotel with two basement floors and eleven floors above the ground. There would be 220 rooms, restaurant, bar, caf¨¦, and an outdoor swimming pool. The construction cost was estimated to 70 to 80 million dors, so they decided to talk about other details in the future.


    Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek bought their own apartments in the same building in downtown to live with their family. They only brought their wives and children since the rest of their family-inws stayed in Yerevan for now.


    Youngho and Jongil had stayed in a hotel, but tonight they were drinking together at Chulhwan¡¯s apartment since they would be returning to Baku the next day. Jongil¡¯s tongue was already tripping.


    ¡°This hyung can¡¯t sleep in concern of you guys. There is a college here. Why don¡¯t you study hotel management there? Is your ignorance something to brag about?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy! Are you being all smarty just because you¡¯ve been in college for a few months now? We¡¯ve gone tomunity colleges too. We¡¯re more educated than you!¡±


    Looking at them bickering at each other, Youngho had to hold hisughter since they were all about the same level but what Jongil had pointed out gave him an idea. It actually sounded great to send his two friends, who would be managing Arirang Hotel in near future, back to school since they were not busy at all at the moment.


    ¡°Chulhwan, why don¡¯t you go to college around here with Sangtaek before you get busy with work? It sounds like a good idea. I heard it¡¯s easy to get enrolled in colleges around here.¡±


    Youngho suggested because everyone could be admitted to colleges if basic conditions were met and if they could speak thenguage. People here considered older people enrolling in college as ones with a passion. If they were going to live in here for the rest of their lives, it would be great if they could make friends from college and they could be their connections for business.


    ¡°Do you think I can keep up with young students at this age?¡±


    ¡°If you want to learn the Georgiannguage, you need to go tonguage school. Now is a great time for you.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s been difficult to stay home every day without work. If my wife joins me, I¡¯ll go to college.¡±


    ¡°Just study whatever you want and don¡¯t worry about the costs. This hyung¡¯s got your back!¡±


    Jongil, who seemed to have fallen asleep, suddenly picked up his sleepy head to get up from the couch behind his friends and yelled. Although they had this conversation in drunk, from this day¡¯s decision, Um Sangtaek would be walking on the path to bing a professor in the future.


    Batumi¡¯s spring night was growingte.

 Chapter 158 - Arirang Hotel (2)

    <h4>Chapter 158: Arirang Hotel (2)</h4>


    Even in the busiest times, bringing gold bars from the deadmines was one of Youngho¡¯s routines.


    Youngho already had more than four hundred one-kilogram gold bars in store since he sold four tons of gold bars which were made from smelting the hidden gold from the pile of waste rocks of the deadmines.


    He was thrilled to see gold bars piling up every day. That was why he visited Serbian Vige almost every day. The faces of the residents were livelier than ever since they were making money from busily producing cheese and by-products of sheep. It was because Youngho distributed the profits from selling cheese and by-products to the people apart from paying them for theirbors in the mines, ranch, and farms.


    Nermin, who had informed Youngho about Serbian mine survivors, escorted him around the cheese factory.


    ¡°The Archduchess and little Lady visited here yesterday, and theyplimented the taste of our cheese.¡±


    Whenever Fatima visited the vige people, it was a huge event for them. They stopped what they were doing and followed her around. Since sheplimented the cheese, Nermin¡¯s voice was full of pride.


    He still did not understand why their ancestors made such a will that they worship Fatima, who was only the shadow of thest Serbian dynasty.


    ¡°Leon also eats quite a lot of cheese made in the vige.¡±


    Nermin was exuberated to hear that.


    ¡°We make a special cheese only for the little prince. The Archduchess had requested that.¡±


    ¡°You can produce more of them and share them to young children of the vige.¡±


    ¡°How dare can we share the prince¡¯s food? It¡¯s unspeakable. We have plenty of sheep¡¯s milk, and the residentse to get it for free whenever they need milk. So, please don¡¯t worry about them.¡±


    Youngho could not insist because Nermin was so stern about honoring the Archduchess and the little prince.


    After he went around the whole vige. Youngho asked about the vige chief¡¯s health.


    ¡°How¡¯s chief Niksic doing? The spring wind is still chilly in mountains. He needs someone to take care of him.¡±


    Niksic had been refusing to see a doctor for his bad cold relying only on a home remedy and eventually ended up passing out for developing acute pneumonia a few days ago. Fortunately, there was a satellite phone. As soon as Youngho received the urgent call, he sent a doctor from Baku and gave him first aid.


    Niksic was a stubborn old man. He might have been able to ovee any sickness because of the knight¡¯s breathing technique when he was young but such things did not work anymore when he was now in his eighties.


    ¡°He¡¯s showing a lot of improvements. Medicine these days are amazing. He said that he could finally breathe well, now that his coughs are gone.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d feel ufortable if I visited him. Please tell him to get better for me.¡±


    ¡°Actually, the Archduchess came to see him yesterday and he said he feels much better. If I tell him that you worried about him, he¡¯d spring up from his bed by tomorrow.¡±


    The vigers were thankful for anypliments or caring words even though they were not special. It must be because they were not treated as they should be by others until Fatima¡¯s appearance in their lives but Youngho could not take such appreciative words anymore.


    The construction of the vige of 105 residential families would bepleted when the main road through the center of the vige was paved. The ranch vige was now surrounded by high concrete stonewalls and it would be a safe zone once the entrance was shut. Because of the high walls, the vige was warm against harsh valley winds.


    Each residential house had about 16,000 sq. ft. of garden space, so people could grow vegetables on their own. Even if the ranch was cut off from the outside world, people would be able to survive on their own inside. Since there were enough spaces between houses, the view of the vige was great.


    Youngho came up with this measure because it was not usible to have houses so close by each other for sanitary reasons. In the past, houses were built closely, so that they could work as a wall to defend the vige and castles from enemy¡¯s attacks but because of the narrow alleys did not allow enough spaces for people to throw out filth. It must have been ufortable and unsanitary.


    Other walls on the ranch used to separate mines, the cheese factory, sheepcotes, and a new armory. Because of Jongil¡¯s panic toward possible war, the ranch turned a bit ugly since it was built as a fortress and shelter for difficult times. However, for the people rted to Youngho, it would be a great shelter in case of war or cmity.


    From the construction of the foundation, the basement of the ranch was built sturdy that it would not fall even if it was bombed. Youngho liked it since the basement would be a great wine cer in times of peace.


    Except for the little trails used for shepherds and sheep, anyone had to go through the vige in order to get to the ranch, which would work as a double or triple watch against intruders since they would have to pass through the security posts at the gate of the vige, kids¡¯ yground, and then through 150 residential houses to get to the mines and inner parts of the ranch.


    All of these seemed a little too much protection but it seemed like a great defensive system.


    Near the entrance of the vige, there was a yground for kids. During the daytime, at least three or four kids would be ying in there, and they would be little watchers for any new faces and intruders because curious kids always liked to be nosy about new people. The potential little watchers were screaming in the yground at the moment. They were enjoying the yground since the construction waspleted faster than the one on the Zeynep Farm. Looking at the dozens of kids ying in the spring sunshine, the corners of his mouth were automatically lifted.


    ***


    As Youngho was reading a weekly report of the amount of oil production in the offshore oil field, which came through telefax, Edward in Panama called him.


    Edward¡¯s voice was so low that Youngho felt like he shouldfort him instead.


    ¡°I reprimanded Tracy for what she¡¯s done. I¡¯m so sorry, Lee. There won¡¯t be another request from her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. She must have been so frustrated that she came up with such measure to use the foundation¡¯s fund that should be used for peace to buy weapons.¡±


    Youngho had noints because he made a huge amount of money, thirty million dors and gained arms to strengthen the defense of his farms and ranch.


    The only thing that worried him was that his identity was revealed but it did not seem like she would expose him to anyone. It was solely Edward¡¯s fault that he made a thoughtless move to expose his identity to Tracy.


    Edward was extremely sorry since he only introduced her to Youngho thinking that she would be helpful for his businesses.


    ¡°She was so stern that I had to get mafias¡¯ help to close the deal but I drew the line, saying that I could not help her anymore. I only helped her to save your face.¡±


    ¡°I found out about that yesterday. She called me and asked if I can get additional ammunition for the weapons. I cut her off firmly. She wouldn¡¯t do any reckless actions to hurt her reputation.¡±


    ¡°Edward, I would¡¯ve refused her request if it was impossible, though I only did it for you.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I don¡¯t know what to say. You¡¯ve been helping our people but I¡¯ve only given you trouble. I think she understood what I meant. She won¡¯t be bothering you anymore.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. You should forget about it now too. You only did it to help me.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I can¡¯t just let it go. Would you be interested in providing arms to Columbia? Rebels in here requested arms supply. You¡¯d be able to getmission this time.¡±


    If a CIA agent was involved in the arms deal, it must be an official deal. The rebels in Columbia were known to be rtively rich due to dealing drugs. Edward was asking if Youngho could be a middleman between armspanies and the rebels. It seemed that Edward suggested this because Youngho had refused to receive themission from Tracy, although Youngho made amission from an armspany.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get on to that. Please send me the items list.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send it via e-mail.¡±


    Youngho could not hide his smile while looking at the list that Edward had sent him. He was a little worried if Eriksson would be willing to take the deal since there were too many items on the list. It meant that he would have to deal with multiple armspanies. With their plenty of funds, the rebels were buying many different kinds of items, from AK rifles to Jeep cars.


    The rebel organization seemed to be a decently trained force since they ordered ammunitions first. At a nce, the cost of items seemed that it would exceed a hundred million dors.


    Youngho called Eriksson and exined everything. Without anyments, he agreed to take the deal. He said that there would be moremissions if there were more types of items. He only expressed his concern that there were a lot of transaction problems from Columbia.


    ording to Edward, Port of Cartagena in the Antic Ocean is the destination of the supply delivery and the rebels have agreed to pay the rest of the money at the port, so Youngho did not worry about the transaction. If they did not pay, he could simply stop the delivery.


    ***


    Youngho had visitors from Istanbul.


    They were the staffs from Turkishpanies that would be designing and building Arirang Hotel. Youngho invited them to Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel since he wanted to see if the unique and historic hotel¡¯s exterior could be applied to the new hotel building in Batumi.


    If there was no problem for the construction, Youngho wanted to make pirs at the entrance of the hotel building. The staffs of thepanies liked his idea, saying that they had been struggling toe up with the entrance design.


    Some of the staffs kept taking pictures of statues on the exterior of Baku¡¯s hotel, saying that the hotel was Neo-Renaissance architecture and it would be useful for their designs. Also, they said the marble pirs supporting the hotel¡¯s entrance seemed to be cut off from another structure. They photographed little details of the hotel like the little decorative statues in front of the entrance stairs.


    Since architects and building experts made a fuss about the hotel, Youngho was excited thinking that his hotel might have a great historic value. It was possible because Baku¡¯s old downtown was registered as a world heritage. If that happens, the hotel would be full of tourists who came to see the historic building.


    ording to the staffs of design and constructionpanies, Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel¡¯s arch-shaped sculpture was Neo-Renaissance architecture which highlighted practicality and the marble pirs at the entrance were Greek architecture.


    In short, the hotel was a structure of unknown nationality but it had begun to look more valuable to his eyes. He was intrigued to find the origin of this hotel. It would be a jackpot if he had luckily acquired something that could be a world-heritage. After returning to the farm, Youngho excitedly exined everything to Jongil.


    ¡°Arirang Hotel is an architectural structure of two mixed cultures. The Turkish constructionpany¡¯s staffs praised about the value of the building nonstop. Do you think we can spread out the word to the public?¡±


    ¡°You stupid, would youe to sleep in a famous building? People wille to take pictures only and not to mention, there will be street vendors around the hotel. Don¡¯t even try to do that, it¡¯ll only get the streets dirty. It¡¯s only just gotten so neat around the hotel, are you trying to make a mess again?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we shouldn¡¯t even try because you¡¯re too chicken about it? We can clean around the hotel every day and take care of the vendors with our men.¡±


    ¡°Man, you said you¡¯re going toy low for a while. Just stay quiet for now, you dumb head!¡±


    Youngho suddenly came to his senses at Jongil¡¯s words. People say, ¡®A cornered stone meets the mason¡¯s chisel.¡¯ If an invaluable cultural heritage was taken by a private businessman, the government would not just stay back. It was highly possible that the government would take it as their property by any means.


    Although Youngho was an acquaintance of the president, this was a different story. He always discussed important matters with Jongil because he often got to the heart of the matter while talking. After all, Jongil¡¯s keen ideas had proven that his brain was not all made out of muscles. If Youngho had not discussed it with Jongil, he would have missed an important point.

 Chapter 159 - Arirang Hotel (3)

    <h4>Chapter 159: Arirang Hotel (3)</h4>


    Youngho was taking a walk with Leon on a stroller. Leon had been nagged to go out whenever he opened his eyes.


    In was Sunday and the wine factory was closed. Only Serbian children were running about on the quiet farm. Since the construction of the yground near the reservoir was notpleted, the children always gathered on the grassy field near the mansion.


    As Youngho turned his face from the bright spring sunlight, he spotted Jongil who was walking down a hill with his little son holding his hand.


    ¡°Hey, Boss! Why don¡¯t we go hunting this afternoon with Insoo? Gerhardt said there were too many deer in the front mountain.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Someone must be wanting a deer head from Gerhardt. He neverined about such thing before.¡±


    ¡°What? Is that what he meant?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, people rarely want deer meat anymore because it smells bad.¡±


    ¡°Zeynep still likes raw deer meat and I do too!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just because you two are weirdos.¡±


    Anyone rted to Zeynep Farm had a deer head decoration on the wall above their firece. If someone was not given a deer head, it meant the person was not an important connection.


    It was because the security crews would go hunting for deer under the pretext of training. It would not be weird if deer were dried up in the mountain but they still frequently appeared.


    The deer were after little sprouts of grape trees but once they were caught in the security crews¡¯ eyes, they were turned into a great dinner meal to go with drinks.


    Now, most of the Korean security crews lived in apartments downtown and they woulde to the farm to hunt deer on the weekends if they did not have work. Evenst week, two teams crowded in and had a barbecue party with deer meats. Because they made noises in thete night in their drunk, they were kicked out by Sangchun¡¯s father.


    Although Sangchun¡¯s father loved to drink, he did not like people having a drinking party without inviting him. So, many of the smart crews would invite the father and knock him out first and then enjoyed the party without him.


    Anyway, Youngho decided to go for hunting in a long time. Szechenyi got excited as Youngho told him to get ready. He was in love with hunting that he could even jump up from his bed from his sleep when someone mentioned ¡®hunting¡¯. He immediately got ready and was waiting for Youngho at the porch. It seemed that his Serbian blood was calling him to the mountains since they used to live in the wild.


    Szechenyi was willing to be a great teacher of his heritage to Leon. He said that he would teach Leon the Serbian knight¡¯s breathing techniques and hunting skills Since the breathing technique was only taught to Youngho and Szechenyi, Jongil was jealous of them. There was still a tension between him and chief Niksic. However, Youngho could not teach Jongil himself. Not only he was still fumbling but also he promised to Niksic that he would not let out the secret to strangers.


    Niksic only taught it to Youngho because he was Fatima¡¯s husband and Leon¡¯s father. The technique was traditionally taught from father to son, and Youngho would be the one to teach Leon in the future.


    Although Youngho would not need those techniques since he was the owner of the ring, Niksic insisted that any Serbian knights or royalty should know about the techniques. The breathing techniques resembled Korean dan-jun breathing exercise* but it was still different from it.


    ***


    In Youngho¡¯s eyes, Szechenyi, who now mastered martial arts taught by Jongil, was now a different person. Following from behind on the mountain, his now-adult body looked like a natural warrior¡¯s.


    He learned business administration and humanities in college but his body was a natural-born warrior. Youngho thought that he would make a great CEO of a securitypany.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a break! Or we should at least put on the leather shoes now.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, I don¡¯t feel tired at all now.¡±


    Insoo was already out of breath after running without leather shoes to train his body. However, Szechenyi was perfectly fine.


    ¡°Hey! You think we¡¯re teenagers? Man, my thighs.¡±


    Jongil alsoined. They had to stop running for a while.


    ¡°Jongil hyung and Insoo hyung, you can follow me after putting on the leather shoes.¡±


    ¡°Wait, he¡¯s treating us like old men now.¡±


    ¡°What? Did I hear it wrong? So, you¡¯re saying you can beat me with your martial arts now?¡±


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t say that, but I¡¯m confident that I can beat you Jongil hyung.¡±


    ¡°Man, I wish I heard it wrong. You can beat me now?¡±


    ¡°If only wepeted with strength, not skills.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, can I beat him up? I¡¯ve got a challenger. Just don¡¯t tell old Niksic, he¡¯d kill me. I don¡¯t care about the knight¡¯s breathing techniques. I¡¯m going to show him who the real master of martial arts is.¡±


    ¡°Stop ying with the little child, man!¡±


    ¡°Insoo. Didn¡¯t you hear? Szechenyi just challenged me! You saw it, right?¡±


    ***


    They carried two deer on wooden poles to the farm. As they were passing the reservoir, Serbian residents who were taking a break crowded in around them. As Cha Insoo, who was not fond of deer meat, gestured them to take the deer, the residents cheered. They did not mind the bad odor of wild deer meat.


    ¡°Hey! What about us?¡±


    ¡°They do hardbors, you know. They need it more than us. You always fool around here, why do you need to eat meat?¡±


    Insoo did not care about Jongil¡¯s words. Jongil¡¯s face turned pale in worry that he would not be able to get some for his raw meat. He had promised to Zeynep that he would be getting her raw deer meat.


    The meats and the skins were distributed to Serbians and Gerhardt took the heads. Jongil could only take some meat for himself and Zeynep.


    Two elk deer could feed twenty Serbian families on Zeynep Farm. Since they only ate sheep¡¯s meat usually, deer meat was a special treat for them.


    With a little bit of meat that Jongil saved, the gang was having a discussion to make it a soup or barbecue. It seemed like the friends would have a drinking party soon. With Sangchun joining, the gang started to pour the drinks down their throats.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon, who recently visited Moscow on his way back to Baku from South Ossetia, brought a report about the current state of hotel business in Moscow.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying even Korean big corporation is nning to build hotels in Moscow?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Boss. It¡¯s rumored that the famous Korean L Hotel will be making its foray in Moscow near Red Square soon. They say it¡¯s going to be a small five-star level hotel. Although there won¡¯t be a lot of rooms, since it will be near Red Square, they¡¯ll have a great advertisement effect.¡±


    Youngho had never thought about having a hotel in Russia. It was because of Yaniv, since he would want to join any business that Youngho was starting but at least for the hotel business, Youngho wanted to do it alone. However, Moscow was such an intriguing ce for his business. He would have to pull Yaniv and Sergey into his business anyway since he would need mafias¡¯ power to do business in Russia.


    Youngho imagined a high-ss bar in his hotel, crowded by Russians alcohol lovers. Because they liked drinking, the bar would raise great sales.


    ¡°Aren¡¯tnd deals not permitted in Russia? We¡¯d have to sign a long-term leasing contract if we start Arirang Hotel there. Wouldn¡¯t it be hard to sell the business in the future?¡±


    Youngho asked a question to see how much he had investigated the Russian market and Ilkwon answered him right off the reel.


    ¡°Boss, that¡¯s an old story. Land deals are now permitted in Russia. The country is trying hard to attract foreign investments. For foreigners, they can lease properties for a hundred years and if a local corporation body is established, you can even buynds.¡±


    Russia recently instituted a new system that allowed people¡¯s personal properties. If Youngho could take advantage of Yaniv¡¯s power, he could even own a statend in Moscow¡¯s downtown.


    It would not make sense to invest near a hundred million dors to leasend to do business for a few dozens of years but if he could ownnd, that would be a different story.


    On top of that, he could ask for more support from the Russian government since he was a foreign investor.


    If Yaniv agreed to invest in his hotel, he would be able to buy some more hotels in Western Europe with his funds. Since he already had an experience of opening a business in divostok, Russia, Youngho decided to boldly proceed with his new business n.


    After considering different facts, Youngho contacted Sergey.


    ¡°Hey! So, you can make a call first.¡±


    ¡°Brother, I think I¡¯m always the one who calls you first.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m just joking. So, I received the offshore oil field sales report a few days back. What are you up to now?¡±


    ¡°Brother, are you interested in stepping into hotel business at all?¡¯


    ¡°Boss doesn¡¯t even want to mention. It¡¯s not a mafia¡¯s business, you know. And, also, he doesn¡¯t think it¡¯ll make him money.¡±


    It seemed that Yaniv thought that mafias would be looked down if they were involved in hotel businesses.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a golden goose in the world of tourism. Boy, Mr. Yaniv lost his business sense. So, that means he wouldn¡¯t care if I open a hotel in Moscow?¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re saying you¡¯re going to do it alone?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I called you, brother. You won¡¯t ignore me if I start a business there, right?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. If you¡¯re opening a hotel here, we¡¯ll have to rethink about that. Boss is next to me, I¡¯ll ask him about it.¡±


    After a moment, another voice greeted Youngho.


    ***


    Yaniv wanted to see Youngho immediately. He was intrigued by his business proposal. He said that he changed his mind about the business now since Youngho wanted to start a hotel, not anywhere else but in Russia.


    Yaniv did not dare to start businesses in Western Europe because he feared people¡¯s prejudice. Many people were not fond of businesses of foreign mafias in their countries. However, since Youngho was starting the business in Russia, Yaniv thought that he might be able to make his way into Western Europe too as an investor of Arirang Hotel.


    Hot tempered Yaniv wanted to close the deal fast. Since he kept asking, Youngho had to fly to Moscow with Ilkwon soon.


    Meanwhile, Yaniv was waiting for him with a possible site in mind already.


    ¡°What about this? Do you like it?¡±


    Yaniv was treating Youngho as a hotel expert already since he was running two other hotels in South Ossetia and Baku already.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. I only bought those hotels through amazing deals by luck. A n doesn¡¯t automatically pop in my head just by looking at a site.¡±


    ¡°If you made a judgment that it would be worth trying, it¡¯ll probably be sessful. If you fail, I can force mafias in Moscow to stay in the hotel too.¡±


    That sounded like a terrible mafia¡¯s business n. However, Sergey was smiling next to him. It seemed like it was a sensible idea to both.


    ¡°Brother, shouldn¡¯t we do market research? I¡¯m going to invest in here but it¡¯s going to be troublesome if you force it like this.¡±


    ¡°Boss will be managing the hotel, what¡¯s to worry about?¡±


    Yaniv added to Sergey¡¯s words.


    ¡°What is management anyway? Isn¡¯t it a sess if it¡¯s filled with people?¡±


    It was a business management skill unheard of that Yaniv¡¯s idea even sounded fresh. It seemed that Youngho¡¯s brain stopped functioning every time he came to Russia.


    Youngho started exining the historic value of Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel¡¯s statue decorations and how Istanbul¡¯s experts had praised its value.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying, it would attract more people to the hotel if it was built as a ssic architectural structure instead of building a modernized one? Hmmm. That¡¯s different. Alright, I like your idea of making a unique hotel building!¡±


    Although Yaniv had a rough personality, he still had an outstanding sense of business. He already understood where Youngho was getting at.


    ¡°You have made an excellent choice, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    Youngho started to tter Yaniv.


    ¡°You can tter people? What do you want? It sounds like you want to use Arirang¡¯s brand name, am I not right?¡±


    Yaniv was fast-witted that he soon found out Youngho¡¯s real intention behind hispliment.


    ¡°Even though there are only two now, isn¡¯t Arirang Hotel a global hotel chain since they¡¯re in different countries?


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    *Dan-jun breathing exercise- hypogastric breathing

 Chapter 160 - Light and Shade (1)

    <h4>Chapter 160: Light and Shade (1)</h4>


    The design of the new hotel in Moscow would be done by Istanbul¡¯s construction designpany and the construction would be done by a Russian constructionpany through Yaniv¡¯s connection. Thepany was owned by another mafia boss based in Moscow.


    To Istanbul¡¯spany, designing two buildings was like rain in drought because the business had not been doing well due to terrorism.


    The site of the hotel was by Moskva River, where it would be looking down on Arbat Street. The new hotel would be built on an already existing old apartment building site after tearing down the old one. As Youngho worried how to deal with the residents, Yaniv looked at Youngho as if why he was worried about such thing. The apartment was run by the city government and the government would just announce them to evacuate.


    The forceful way of the government was quick and easy since they could chase away the residents with authority but Youngho convinced Yaniv to take care of the residents and find their new homes since Arirang Hotel would get med by them afterward if they just chase them away.


    An important thing to discuss at this point was the hotel¡¯s share. As if Sergey had thought that Youngho did not have enough funds, he hade up with an amazing offer. When Youngho invested five percent of Arirang Hotel¡¯s franchise fee, five percent of management cost, and twenty percent of construction cost, he could have thirty percent of the hotel¡¯s share.


    Judging by the site¡¯s size, it seemed that he would pay twenty million dors at most. He was not sure how Yaniv got a site of an existing apartment building, which was still useable for many years, in such a short period of time. It was impressive. Youngho only assumed that Yaniv must have had a secret deal with Moscow¡¯s high officials.


    After finishing with the business in Moscow, Youngho bought a jewel box and a bunch of crystal craft items for Zeynep. It was because her interest had switched from taking care of her puppy to collecting various items of craftwork.


    She had a little workshop for herself next to the mansion and had been making decent items on her own. Also, the ce had be a yhouse for little kids on the farm that it was always crowded.


    The Serbian residents¡¯ woodcraft skills were amazing since they had been making their own household items ever since they were dragged as ves. Youngho had frequently seen little kids at the ranch working on little craft pieces, sitting outside in sunshine during their free time. Their knife skills were amazing because they were the descendants of knights.


    Since Zeynep asked to make a woodcraft workshop for her, Youngho made a log cabin and bought tools for her and she spent the whole winter in there.


    He was impressed that Zeynep, a seventeen-year-old girl was making wooden items by herself in wood dust. So, he bought different woodworking machines for her. For those reasons, she now asked Youngho whenever he went on a business trip to get her craft items from different countries.


    Beautiful Zeynep who now turned seventeen was beaming. There was a rumor that when she walked on the streets, more car idents urred. Although she was an attractive woman to many men in Baku, to Youngho, she was still a pitiful little girl who was waiting for her death in an Istanbul slum area.


    Because of that image and because she lost her parents at a young age, Youngho did any favor that Zeynep asked him. She also thought Youngho as her fatherly figure, so shefortably asked anything to him. He often forgot to bring Fatima¡¯s gifts from a business trip but never forgot about what Zeynep asked for.


    Zeynep, who just received Russian craft items from Youngho, was showing her affection to him. She hugged and kissed him multiple times and left to her workshop taking all of the gifts with her.


    ¡°My, my. She¡¯s not a young kid anymore but she still acts the same. She should feel embarrassed.¡±


    Fatima was blushing.


    ¡°Why are you embarrassed? I love it.¡±


    ¡°Dangshin*, you like everything she does. That¡¯s why she¡¯s spoiled.¡±


    Recently, Fatima had been calling Youngho with different names; oppa, dangshin, and yeobo*. It seemed that she was beginning to take control of marriage.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. If she gets a boyfriend, she won¡¯t even look at me.¡±


    ¡°No, even if she gets a boyfriend or gets old, she¡¯d act the same to you.¡±


    Since Youngho was like a father to Zeynep, she did not feel ashamed of expressing her affection to him, even though people might look at them with a little repulsion.


    ¡°By the way, you brought so many things. What are those for?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t only get things for Zeynep. Other kids would want things for themselves too.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, sometimes you can be so meticulous.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m a delicate and sensitive guy.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho...¡±


    Fatima¡¯sugh was telling him that he was not the person he says to be. She probably was thinking that Youngho only brought those to save Zeynep¡¯s face to her friends.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I have the final cost of an arms deal. It¡¯s ny-five million dors including themission. Your share is ten million dors.¡±


    It was from Eriksson calling to inform Youngho about the cost of the arms deal for Columbia rebels. It was a strange thing that the information agency was giving more percentage ofmission to Youngho since it was a money-hungry organization. Youngho wondered if they were expecting more deals from the rich rebel force but since it was none of his business, he agreed with the amount.


    ¡°Okay, what is the delivery date?¡±


    ¡°As soon as they get the deposit amount, 20% of the total cost, they¡¯d be entering the port. And they¡¯ll immediately unload the supply upon receiving the rest amount. We¡¯ve already reserved a cargo handling area.¡±


    Youngho did not know which armspany Eriksson was dealing with but they were fast since they were already prepared. It seemed that the cargo ship was already near the port. It meant that the Information Agency trusted Youngho that much. He was nervous. If something went wrong with the deal, he would never be able to have a deal with the Information Agency again.


    Youngho immediately called Edward in Panama and informed him about the cost and the details of the deal. Edward was also tensed up too upon hearing that mafias were already waiting around the port. He had no idea about the Information Agency¡¯s involvement in the deal since Youngho had told him that the Russian government and mafias were supplying arms for the rebels.


    He told Youngho that the Columbia rebels were paying five million dors asmission to Youngho. Coming from rebels, not armspanies, it was a high amount. It was because the cost of the arms was cheaper than they expected. Youngho did not feel good about receiving such amount of money because all he did for his part was making calls.


    ***


    After the money transaction and unloading of cargo werepleted without any problem, Eriksson sent themission to Youngho¡¯s ount.


    The Information Agency treated arms deals as an information business too since, without information, there would not be secret arms deals. They made moremissions especially in secret deals like this. There was no need for technology transfer and they made more bargains out of those kinds of deals for the cost was paid at once with cash.


    The deal was closed and Youngho made a lot of money out of it.


    These days, Youngho sometimes felt like his major job is a middleman of the Information Agency, not an agent. The money he made from selling gold bars was used to benefit his family and Serbian residents by distributing money with them and expanding his hotel business for the future. However, the money he made from information deals did not seem like money properly earned. An astronomical amount of money did not even feel real.


    How much on earth would the armspanies make through deals that they could pay a jaw-dropping amount for amission? It was such an irony that armspanies that promoted conflicts and wars around the world were the ones getting rich.


    ***


    They say that lights are always followed by shadows.


    As Youngho was thinking that the arms deal was easy money, he heard about an injury of his security crew who was on private guarding duty. Allegedly, he blocked an attacker before his client and was stabbed in his armpit which was not covered by the bulletproof vest. His lung was also damaged by the knife that he had to go through an operation. Thankfully, the surgery went sessful and he was now recovering in a hospital.


    Nothing like this ever happened before, so everyone was rmed to hear such news. It was more rming since the client was guarded by two veteran security crews. The other crew had a minor cut on his arm from the attacker¡¯s knife while subduing the attacker. His injury was only minor because he quickly reacted to the situation as soon as he saw iting.


    The attacker must be a person with high skill since he could injure two veteran crews. The captured attacker was an Asian.


    It was highly likely that the attacker belonged to a Chinese assassins organization prevailing in Central Asia. Although Youngho¡¯s security crews were masters when handling guns, they were not great with knives. It seemed that the attacker knew that the crews were wearing bulletproof vests and aimed at the armpit.


    If Youngho did note up with a measure for this, there would be more injuries. If it was a Chinese organization as he expected, they would definitely have an avenge war for their lost member. It was not like he did not expect any risk when starting the securitypany but he did not know that his crews would get seriously wounded that easily.


    It was a kind of pride. Because most of his crews served in Korean Navy Special Forces, he thought that they would be indestructible. They had been focusing on training assault skills only and not defensive skills. The crews now, did not train hard privately but only focused on team martial arts skills that looked good on the outside.


    From the incident, Youngho realized how foolish he had been. Hispany had turned into a spurious team of security guards that if the Chinese assassinse back to avenge theirrade, half of the crews would easily fall.


    The security crews only had advantages from having guns and possessing some lethal movements. With their skills, it would be impossible to beat professional assassins swinging knives especially if they were in a small room.


    The client, who was the target of the assassin, was an owner of a tungsten mine.


    Tungsten was a valuable mineral that was a necessary material for weapons. In Europe, it was only produced in Sweden and Spain. Since it was rare and valuable, many rtedpaniespeted against each other to secure more amounts. Since Zeynep Security Service was protecting such important mineral mine business owner, it seemed that the assassin was hired from otherpany that was after the mineral.


    Luckily, the client was unharmed.


    The client had never mentioned the risk factor in advance, which was a breach of contract. Naturally, Youngho decided to cancel the service contract and exclude the client from the service list.


    Although the contract was canceled, his security crews were furious and ashamed at the same time. Thepany must have been looked down from the assassin¡¯s organization because they dared to attack their former client knowing that Zeynep Security Service was protecting him.


    Not only it was disgraceful but also it could be a threat to thepany¡¯s reputation.


    Youngho and his friends had to deal with the assassin¡¯s organization. It was a matter of pride but more importantly, they had to stop the Chinese group making its foray in Azerbaijan since they would be a major threat to Youngho¡¯s securitypany.


    Youngho called Sergey in Volgograd to discuss the measure for the problem.


    If it was rted to Central Asian Chinese organization, Russian mafias could be affected by it too. Although it was against his will, Youngho now would have to cooperate with Russian mafias for this.


    *Dangshin- a Korean word for ¡°luv¡±


    *Yeobo- a Korean word for ¡°honey¡±

 Chapter 161 - Light and Shade (2)

    <h4>Chapter 161: Light and Shade (2)</h4>


    In Yaniv¡¯s standard, the Central Asian region below Volgograd was his area as well as regions from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan part of South Russia, and other mafias respected that and never touched those regions.


    He was now more into legal businesses but he was a mafia boss to the core, but he just heard terrible news that a Chinese assassin organization had intruded his territory. It did not matter who was their instigator but normally those kinds of assassin requests were done through mafias.


    There were Yaniv¡¯s mafias in Azerbaijan too.


    They only kept their low profile because Youngho, who was close to Yaniv, was actively engaging in businesses in Azerbaijan. Knowing that other organization had dared to take action without their permission had made a scratch in their pride.


    Yaniv was, of course, furious. He even imed that he would move mafias in Kazakhstan to root out the intruders. It was a territorial battle.


    Sergey began his research about the Chinese organization. Youngho and Yaniv agreed on cooperating in the mop-up operation once Sergey¡¯s research waspleted. The reason why Youngho gave the intruder to Sergey, not to the police, was that the intruder might have a connection to other mafia organization.


    Sergey found out that China¡¯s Gold Group Corporation held a grudge against the mine owner for reducing the amount of tungsten production, and requested to kill him to Chinese assassins organization based in Kazakhstan. Yaniv had no idea that the Chinese organization was growing its force in Kazakhstan.


    Sergey sent a video clip of interrogation of the assassin and Youngho sent it to Sevan.


    At the news, the Azerbaijani government was rmed.


    For the next few days, the government criticized the Chinese government that a Chinese assassin had attempted an assassination of a country¡¯s mine business owner. The Chinese government imed that it was the Gold Group Corporation¡¯s independent doing and said that it would punish those who were involved but it was just an open secret. As a result, the furious Azerbaijani government had stopped tungsten trade with China.


    Because of the incident, Asian travelers¡¯ visa issue was now more difficult in Azerbaijan.


    Youngho thought that hispany¡¯s reputation would be hurt by the incident but rather, thepany was gaining more poprity. It was because the public had heard about the guards who protected their client until the end risking their own lives.


    It was different from Korea.


    When incidents happen, Koreanpanies were busy stopping the spread of word andpetitorpanies would be busy hurting otherpanies¡¯ reputation but people in Azerbaijan seemed to give credits forpleting the duty.


    They valued thepany by how the guards reacted to dangerous situations in an effort to protect their client. Service requests were skyrocketing for Zeynep Security Service.


    ***


    Cha Insoo began to change the whole securitypany¡¯s system.


    He called experienced guards from divostok and sent new crews there since the security at the warehouseplex was doing pretty well now. Also, he picked the swiftest and skillful Serbian descendants and gave them supervisor positions. They had only been trained for a short period of time but their natural abilities of judgment, power, and swiftness exceeded Korean crews. Their best strength was theirnguage skills. The clients loved them since they spoke not only Azerbaijani but also Russian in a fluent manner.


    For duties of guarding facilities, Youngho assigned one supervisor and local security guards and for private guarding duties, one Serbian and one Korean crew were assigned together as a team.


    The fundamental matter was not resolved even though thepany regained its reputation. Youngho still felt insecure about the Central Asian Chinese organization. He would be backstabbed if he did not root them out.


    Living in Azerbaijan for long, Youngho was now absorbed into the Azerbaijani culture. The revenge culture of ¡®eye for an eye¡¯ of Azerbaijanis was now his motto. People here always got even with others who insulted them. That idea especially applied to men. Same as the old time, manliness was important in the culture and if one did not take revenge, it was shown as his weakness.


    Other securitypanies in Baku were watching Zeynep Security Service, they were waiting when thepany would take action for revenge. Thosepanies did not hesitate to fight against local mafias if necessary. European securitypanies also frequently battled against local gangsters.


    Instead of calling the police, they liked to take care of their own matters. By fighting back boldly, they were showing that they were not the ones to mess with.


    That was why Youngho, his friends, and the whole security crews now trained together at the farm to make their bodies and improve theirbat skills before the battle against the Central Asian Chinese assassins organization. Although the security crews were beaten up in individualbat lessons with Youngho and his friends, they still came back for more since they felt that their skills dramatically improved after those lessons. They were learning about their weaknesses and finding ways to cope with them.


    ***


    In case Zeynep Farm was affected in the fight against Central Asian Chinese assassins organization, the boundary of the farm was reconsidered.


    Because the border zone was too vast, security could not be efficient. Therefore, Youngho and his friends decided to build stone walls around the wine factory, storage unit, and the mansion. Now that there were many visitors at the farm¡¯s reservoir, there was a need to separate the residential areas and the farm¡¯s core facilities from themon areas.


    Landscaping work was also needed since high walls might harm the grape farm¡¯s view. It would be way easier to make concrete walls but they were not a pleasant view, so the granite stones which were thrown out from Baku¡¯s Old Downtown would be used for the walls. Those faded granite stones would give a great antique look to the farm.


    If stone huts were built at important points of the stone walls, they would be used as yhouses for children in times of peace and covers in possible battles.


    Serbian descendants volunteered to work on the stonewall construction because they were master craftsmen their skills came at handy. Since many of themmuted from the ranch vige to Zeynep farm, Youngho assigned a minibus for their use. Although they spent two hours for the round trip, they enjoyed spending time on the road. They were excited as if they were going on a pic.


    They also loved the fact that they could see their Archduchess and the little prince, Leon, closely. Fatima was also fond of serving them with treats and foods. She now did not feel ufortable being worshipped as the Archduchess. The people¡¯s loyalty had changed her heart toward them even though she still did not understand their unconditional affection for her. She loved their love and pureness dearly.


    It was like many European countries where the royal families still exist. Many people would love their monarchs even though they are merely symbolic in the present age. They still are proud of their royalties and Fatima was that symbol for the Serbian people.


    ***


    Although the securitypany work was stressful, there was great news too.


    Youngho originally nned on opening Zeynep Wine¡¯s direct store in Austria or Nethends but many people advised him to find a bigger city for thepany¡¯s sake. That was why Youngho decided to open a store in Frankfurt.


    He had been to Frankfurt many times but he did not know anything about the local situations. He asked Michael to look for a good site for the store, and Michael dly did the favor. Because he loved drinks, he seemed to expect free drinks from Youngho.


    There was a nice building across the Main Central Station of Frankfurt. The price of the store was high because it was a highly crowded area but Youngho decided to buy the building. The building could be a great base in Europe for the future. Another reason for buying the building was the leasing cost was too much. The yearly cost to lease the first floor of the building was more than a hundred million Korean won. It was definitely better to buy the property in the long run.


    It was a three-story stone building. The first and second floors would be used for an office and the store, and it seems that the third floor could be a residential lounge for Yunsuh and Sangchun¡¯s family since they would be the one in charge of the wine store.


    ¡°How do you like it?¡±


    With a proud face, Michael asked Youngho.


    ¡°How can Iin about it? I know you picked the best ce for me, chief. Since it¡¯s one of the most crowded ces in Frankfurt, It¡¯d be a great ce for the store.¡±


    ¡°You should have great-tasting wines. The location is not that important.¡±


    He never tasted Zeynep Wine before.


    ¡°For you, everything is free. You can have as much wine as you want.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I only have a wine brand I like. I only drink that one. Besides, your wine is only aged for three years.¡±


    ¡°So, you won¡¯t even taste it even if it¡¯s free?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Not even if it¡¯s free. I have a particr taste. If it¡¯s really that great, I¡¯ll buy it myself.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll regret what you just said.¡±


    Youngho smirked since he was confident with his wine¡¯s taste.


    He could buy the building at the right price because the owner was Michael¡¯s acquaintance, although it still was expensive. The three-story building of 10700 sq. ft. of floor size was about 3.5 million dors.


    ording to a source, the cost of the building would be increasing in the future. It was because the European Central Bank was in Frankfurt. Many financial corporations were crowding into the city and there were not enough office spaces.


    Also, the constructionw of Frankfurt was one of the most strictws in the world. It was almost impossible to build new buildings. An unbelievablew stated that all buildings should be designed so that all the office desks should be able to get natural sunlight.


    To Youngho, it only felt like the government hade up with an intricate n to raise thend price.


    In a month, Zeynep Wine¡¯s European branch direct store would be opening in Frankfurt.


    Youngho thought it would be great if he could open Arirang Hotel in there too in the right timing. Since world-wide financial corporations were flocking in here, hotel business would be an immediate sess. Moreover, it would be great if he had a base in Frankfurt for many reasons: he came here often for the CIA¡¯s European chapter, Szechenyi would be entering Goethe University soon, and Zeynep Wine¡¯s direct store would be here too.


    Frankfurt¡¯s sky route was connected to all major cities in the world and itsnd route worked as a hub of European transportation.


    It did not sound bad at all to dream about having a second start of his life in Frankfurt.

 Chapter 162 - Light and Shade (3)

    <h4>Chapter 162: Light and Shade (3)</h4>


    Chapter 162: Light and Shade (3)


    ¡°How many people can make it from your side?¡±


    ¡°I think probably around five.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too little? They have more than a hundred on their side.¡±


    ¡°They only have a high number. I don¡¯t think there will be only about ten skillful guys at most.¡±


    Youngho and Sergey were talking about the raiding mission to root out the Central Asian Chinese assassins organization.


    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll take a few best men from here too. My guys from Kazakhstan would be joining us too.¡±


    ¡°Are youing yourself, brother?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll only be a drag if Ie. Michael will be in charge of our men.¡±


    Michael was one of the high-rank Russian mafias, who escorted Katya¡¯s mother and daughter to South Ossetia. He was the current bodyguard of Yaniv and was a man of skills.


    ¡°If Michaeles, we¡¯d make a great team. I¡¯ll call you before I leave, brother.¡±


    ***


    ¡°You don¡¯t even speak Russian.¡±


    ¡°I guess English will be fine. English can be used anywhere in the world.¡±


    ¡°Nope, not in Kazakhstan. Why are you even here if you¡¯re going to be a drag?¡±


    Insoo and Jongil were bickering at each other.


    Insoo was saying that they should leave Jongil this time instead of him. Since Insoo was now the vice president of the securitypany, he was insisting to go take revenge for the security crews.


    ¡°What about here? Who would take care of the securitypany if there were problems? And there¡¯s got to be someone here in case the European chapter contacts us. You¡¯re the perfect person, Insoo!¡±


    At Jongil¡¯s attack, Insoo stopped insisting but his pitiful eyes looked at Youngho. Of course, it did not work since Youngho trusted Insoo in charge of everything in Baku.


    He was nowpetent at what he was in charge of and he was a better problem-solver than Jongil. With his detailed personality, he did not miss important things.


    Often times, Youngho woulde to Insoo to discuss different business assignments before he went on a business trip. Since he could hold Insoo ountable for important work, he had to stay in Baku when Youngho and Jongil left for other assignments.


    For this time, Youngho was taking two most outstanding security crews, Park Taeyoung and Lee Chulho. They had great potential as managers of the securitypany and their movements were different from others. They were hard workers who learned to speak English fluently since they came to Baku.


    Since they were close with Kim Ilkwon from divostok, being the same age as him, Youngho wanted to take them for a different experience.


    They would learn a lot from experiences. They were excited about being picked for an important mission and for working with their superiors.


    At Baku¡¯s airport, they quickly moved to run errands and take care of their seniors¡¯ luggage. Then they looked at Youngho to see if there were further instructions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too nervous and just act naturally.¡±


    Quick-witted Jongil told the newbies to rx.


    ¡°How many flip knives did you guys bring?¡±


    Youngho had ordered them to bring as much Turkish flip knives as possible since they were great for throwing.


    ¡°We have twenty-five of them. There was no problem when checking the bags.¡±


    Park Taeyoung answered him as if he had been waiting to be asked.


    ¡°You two should also practice throwing first. Don¡¯t even think about closebats.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, the two were tensed up. They had been excited about the mission but his words just made them realize that they were going on a life-threatening mission.


    ***


    When the gang arrived at Volgograd after getting connected in Moscow, the gentle spring rain was falling. Although it was quite gloomy, everyone¡¯s faces were bright except for Jongil¡¯s.


    Previously the two new recruits had chatted with Russian girls who sat next to him at the ne and grabbed coffee at the airport. Kim Ilkwon became a bridge between the young group of men and women with his fluent Russian. They exchanged phone numbers before parting ways. Poor Jongil wanted to join them but he was stopped by Youngho who had stroke the back of Jongil¡¯s head. A beating was great medicine for his chronic womanizing disease.


    ¡°Man, I was going to practice my Russian with them but you never help! You think I still chase after girls? I¡¯m a dad now.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. Don¡¯t try to deceive me because I can see through you.¡±


    Those girls had outstanding looks. Since the two newbies were lonely without girlfriends, it seemed that they would be visiting Volgograd frequently from now on.


    They would only be awakened when they wasted away all of their savings for ne tickets. They were at an age to go through love burning like fire, although Youngho did not know such a thing since his only love was Fatima whom he had seen from her young age.


    It was lucky that the newbies met the Russiandies before the battle since it eased their tension. They would have made mistakes out of being too nervous. The right amount of nervousness was great for work.


    ¡°As you already know, Jongil and I married women whom we have been with for long but just be extra careful with the girls. Those pretty faces might only be a cover. I¡¯m just saying because I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡±


    Youngho warned them since he was worried for them.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying you shouldn¡¯t go out with them but don¡¯t get too into the girls before you get to know them.¡±


    The young security crews of thepany were rough but they were still innocent. Youngho was worried that they might give away all of their money to girls with bad intentions.


    ¡°Boss. We¡¯ve experienced hardships in the past. We love beautiful girls but we can distinguish bad girls from good girls.¡±


    Youngho did not trust them, although they seemed to be confident for their judgment of girls.


    ¡°Hey, hey! They¡¯re not kids! Many experiences before marriage are actually good for your future. You be a better man and husband.¡±


    Park Jongil was speaking from his true experiences.


    ¡°You should save money for your future marriage. You can¡¯t have an empty ount when you finally meet the right girl, okay? Also, I¡¯m telling you that I¡¯m going to get a security deposit for the apartment on the farm when you get married. Don¡¯t forget about that!¡±


    ¡°Boss. Shouldn¡¯t you raise our pay when we live on the farm? The security would be strengthened because of us.¡±


    ¡°The farm¡¯s security is perfect without you now. Don¡¯t worry about it. If you don¡¯t like it, you can go pay for your own apartment downtown, okay?¡±


    Four units of three-story apartment buildings were under construction near the yground by the farm¡¯s reservoir. Youngho had nned to make smaller apartments but because some of the Serbian descendants wanted to move in there for a long-term stay, he ordered to make each apartment 1450 sq. ft. wide with five rooms.


    The building not only looked great from the outside but also highlighted practicality on the inside. If he insisted on saving some money for the construction, it would only give him a headache in the future. He decided to take the long view.


    The exteriors of theplex were decorated with wooden materials and they looked great with the reservoir. Each building had six apartments, so in total, twenty-four families would be able to move in.


    Being three-stories, the buildings did not hurt the view but added a homey atmosphere to the grape farm. Since young couples were willing to move in, in several years, the reservoir and the ygrounds would be crowded with kids and parents. Since Youngho had been nting trees around the reservoir, it had formed the little woods.


    Each building was built at some distance from each other, so it would look like a condo or vi.


    Since Younhgo had announced that once they were married, the apartment would be given for free, the security crews were madly searching for wives from Korea, and because everything would be free except for their own groceries, the security crews had no reason to insist on living in apartments downtown.


    The older generations of Serbian descendants preferred having single houses with their own gardens, but younger generations favored apartments more because they did not need to work as much. The new vis were a hot issue on the farm these days.


    ***


    Youngho and the gang, who justnded at Astana International Airport in Astana, Kazakhstan, were received by some local mafias.


    They were Yaniv¡¯s men based in Kazakhstan. As if they knew Michael, they hugged each other to greet him and gave an unkind look to Youngho who was standing still awkwardly.


    They must have looked down on Youngho and his group, judging by their Asian look. Many low-rankers of the Russian mafia organization were Central Asians and Koryoins.


    They only greeted Youngho¡¯s group politely after Michael said a few words pointing at the group, Youngho also greeted them casually. He did not have to be too kind to them either since he would not see them afterpleting this mission.


    Also, he did not like mafias in general. Were they not the worst kind of people who bleed people dry? He wanted to draw the line. Although he had be friends with Yaniv and Sergey personally, he did not want to make more mafia friends and get involved in their businesses.


    Every preparation waspleted to attack the Central Asian Chinese assassins organization. There was a Chinese street in the city and that was where the hideout of the assassins was. The assassin group called themselves the ck Society but it was not based in China but in Kazakhstan only.


    As Kazakhstan¡¯s economy grew from the trading rtionship with China, Chinese businessmen made bases in the city and they had called the assassin group from the maind. The businessmen had voluntarily gone under the protection of the ck Society, which meant that they had a hard time dealing with the local merchants and gangsters. It was understandable but it still was a dangerous deal that no merchants preferred. They had ced their head in a tiger¡¯s mouth to avoid wild wolves.


    With AK rifles, shotguns, and portable rocketunchers, the gang was equipped with heavy firearms as if they were going on a war.


    Before going to the streets, they had agreed to not hurt the local merchants and civilians since many buildings were close by each other and there were residential apartments too.


    The ck Society had its own luxury building for their office and a separate living quarter building for henchmen. Since the living quarter stood alone apart from other buildings, Youngho told the local mafias to take care of the building and the henchmen with whatever means of their choice. The more important thing was the office building with the leadership group inside.


    The expeditionary force was only five people from Youngho¡¯s group and three of Yaniv¡¯s men. Youngho told everyone else to stand by outside of the building while he, Ilkwon, and Jongil came in to attack first.


    Michael wanted toe along but he was stopped when Youngho showed off his flip knife-throwing skill. Youngho thought that there would be skillful men in the leadership group since they were capable of sending an assassin who injured his security crew severely.


    Yaniv¡¯s men were bulky mafias who majorly used guns. They could not be a match of the assassins who used knives in narrow rooms. Since in a room with little space, a knife could be as fast as a gun.


    After investigating the surroundings, Jongil hade up with a n to raid them spontaneously from different directions by breaking in through the windows anding from the stairs.

 Chapter 163 - Light and Shade (4)

    <h4>Chapter 163: Light and Shade (4)</h4>


    Chapter 163: Light and Shade (4)


    At dawn, Youngho, Ilkwon, and Jongil neared the ck Society¡¯s building.


    All the lights were out except for the first floor and second floor where a liquor store and their office were located. They had just finished delivering liquor to a bar and were working on bncing the books.


    They waited another hour. The henchmen who delivered liquor closed the door and left the building. Looking through the window, about ten of them were spotted on the second floor. Since there were rooms not seen from the outside, there might be a few more inside.


    Youngho¡¯s group was all masked. As they were ready, they gestured each other to give signals.


    After taking a deep breath, Youngho and Ilkwon went up the stairs connected to the entrance. Jongil, who was standing outside the building counted ten seconds, then he pulled out his pistol and immediately jumped to the windows on the second floor. He was using the power of the leather shoes but he did not forget to intentionally kick the wall in the middle of his jump, to not look suspicious to the mafias outside.


    As soon as Youngho and Ilkwon heard the crashing sound of the windows, they kicked the entrance and got in the building.


    Four guys were ying mahjong on a table and five other guys were drinking at a couch. It was obvious that the ones at the table were high rankers since it was unheard of for underlings who are gambling when their superiors drank.


    The knives that Youngho and Ilkwon threw were stuck on the chest and the back of the neck of two guys who were sitting near the entrance.


    Jongil, who had broken in through the windows, fire his pistol with silencer blindly at the ones ying mahjong. Meanwhile, two guys at the couch slipped out from the building by almost rolling on the stairs. Those guys would be taken down by the five men waiting outside.


    Two high-rankers who could still move were taking out their knives. They already knew that they would not leave the scene alive since many of their men had fallen down already.


    As Youngho was stepping up to fight, Ilkwon stopped him. As his bodyguard and former North Korean agent, he wanted to show off his skills.


    The two guys who were already shot by Jongil were still fast with their injuries but Kim Ilkwon was almost flyingpared to their movements.


    It was like a scene in a movie.


    Watching him fight, Youngho and Jongil wondered if the two also looked awesome as him when they were fighting.


    When Kim Ilkwon¡¯s knives were stuck in one guy¡¯s neck and the other one¡¯s shoulder, Jongil boldly finished them with his gun. Ilkwon had proven his skills for thebat.


    Now that everything was taken care of, they were about to search the building. When Youngho turned around, he saw the five guys who were waiting outside had alreadye up and watched Kim Ilkwon¡¯s fight. It seemed that they sessfully took down the two guys slipped away.


    They looked surprised to see Ilkwon and Jongil taking down their enemies without hesitation. Jongil also shot the ones who were groaning on the floor since they had already lost too much blood and could not live any longer.


    ***


    On the second floor, there were many rooms but all of them were locked.


    They smashed in all doors since they would not be used anymore. Some rooms looked like they had been used as a chemicalb. The chemical odors bothered their noses. Michael told them that it was a facility to make methamphetamine, or in another word, Philopon.


    Another room looked like an operating room; there was a table, all sorts of medicine, and surgical equipment.


    In thest room, they witnessed an unbearable sight.


    Little girls and boys looking around age ten were locked in cages like animals. Youngho could see what had been going on there. The ck Society had trafficked in those poor kids to harvest their organs. Youngho cussed at the horrible sight. They were already dead but he wanted to kill them again. Those beasts had done what humans cannot do for mere money. Although he knew organ harvesting was prevalent in many parts of the world, it was his first time witnessing it with his own eyes.


    Since they could not burn the building, they destroyed everything inside so that it could not be used again. The ck Society was now gone from the Chinese street.


    Hearing the sound of crashing, some of the merchants came out toin but Youngho destroyed their ce too, thinking that they were worse than the ck Society members since they were the ones who hired them in the first ce.


    Police should havee by the scene by now since they made a lot of noises but no one was around. It seemed that the police authorities did not dare to hurt the ck Society since they were still Chinese citizens. The country¡¯s rtionship with China might have been affected if they had problems with Chinese immigrants.


    ***


    The local mafias of Kazakhstan said that they would take care of the kids who were locked in cages. Although they were mafias, they were still disgusted by human trafficking of children from their own country and not to mention by organ harvesting.


    Allegedly, there were three to four more organizations like the ck Society. Youngho worried about Kazakhstan, it made him worried since they could grow their power ande to Azerbaijan too as they did before. He wanted to protect Azerbaijan from their hands. Before destroying the office building of the ck Society, he took pictures of each room to inform the Azerbaijani government.


    ***


    In Kazakhstan, Korean products were widely popr. Among the products, Korean cosmetics were especially well-known that they were usually sold out. It was strange that there were no direct stores of Korean products in Kazakhstan yet.


    Youngho would find out the cause soon.


    It was because Chinese merchants were already carrying Korean products. The cosmetic stores in downtown and around the border were run by Chinese merchants and they only carried Korean cosmetic lines.


    Since there was the ck Society protecting them, it would have been difficult for Korean merchants to make their way into the Kazakhstan market.


    Youngho wanted to set up a securitypany here to protect Koryoins and Korean merchants but it was something that even the Korean government could not do.


    ¡°Youngho, the market here is great. You¡¯ll make money if you make your direct stores here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t know what the Korean government is doing. Everything I see is money.¡±


    ¡°I asked the local mafias and they said there is plenty of emptynds here. The government would assign thend to anyone intending to develop it. Why don¡¯t we develop thisnd? We can make our own grain field, then we won¡¯t have to get them from Russian providers.¡±


    Food and resources would be weapons and power in the world from now on. Although it would be still difficult to begin agricultural business in a new country, he had enough funds at the moment. He could easily invest ten million dors to develop a hundred millions of acres ofnd.


    Kazakhstan was the country with the ninthrgestnd in the world. The government would, of course, wee investors who would develop theirnd.


    The business was worth taking a risk if Jongil said so. Who was Jongil anyway? His wit and a keen sense of judgment were bright as Zhuge Liang¡¯s and he had been constantly surprising Youngho with his random passing words.


    ***


    Rather than opening direct stores of Korean products, Youngho wanted to start arge-scale business instead. His head was full ofnd development.


    Jongil had triggered Youngho¡¯s desire, knowing that Youngho was a bit obsessed withnd. He went on to look for sites immediately.


    Youngho¡¯s major business focus was wine and hotel. His wine business seemed to be on the right track now that his European branch would be opened soon. The hotel chain business was also doing fine, and it would be perfect if he could open one in Frankfurt soon.


    It seemed that half of Youngho¡¯s dream was already achieved.


    More Serbian descendants would crowd into Baku more and their next generations would rise. Obviously, they would need a bigger ce to stay. Not to mention, Youngho did not want them to be satisfied living in Baku only. He wanted to show them the bigger world and provide them with biggernd. It was necessary for future generations too.


    The vast and rich soil of Kazakhstan was worthy of his investment and effort. Kazakhstan had many mountainous regions and since the average temperature was low, many regions were not suitable for farming.


    ording to the local mafias of Astana, there was a vast in at the downstream of the Ural River in Atyrau of the Caspian Sea. Although the regioncked precipitation, it seemed that he could draw water from the Ural River.


    Youngho liked the essibility of the ce. The ce not only had an international airport and m could be reached by train in a day from Volgograd. Most importantly, it was essible by ship from Baku.


    He felt rushed.


    As soon as he parted ways with Michael and his men, he flew to Atyrau, an industrial city located in the Northern part of the Caspian Sea.


    Atyrau was a neat and modernized city with a poption of 150,000 people. It was the capital of Atyrau Region and a transportation hub.


    Since Korean thermoelectric power nt and petrochemical nt were already there, local people¡¯s perception of Koreans was rtively good. Since there was a K-Poppetition in the cityst year, it seemed that they liked Korean culture.


    As five Asians in suits showed up at the airport, people¡¯s eyes were all on them. It was so rare to spot Asians in there, people were curious about them. Except for Youngho and Ilkwon, who did not have outstanding looks, Jongil and the two newbies were enough to catch people¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Dude, what did I tell you? I am attractive even in foreigners¡¯ eyes.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with your good look? You¡¯re already married.¡±


    ¡°Man, do you still feel bad about your look? Forget about it. You¡¯ve got to be born with it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Since you¡¯re that great-looking, why don¡¯t you lead our way and be our guide?¡±


    ¡°What good is money if we don¡¯t use it? We should hire us a guide.¡±


    Jongil had already found a travel agency. He quickly went over there and flirted with ady for a while. Then he looked back to his friends and showed his thumb. It seemed that he resolved their issue. Or he might have talked the prettydy into guiding them around after work.

 Chapter 164 - Light and Shade (5)

    <h4>Chapter 164: Light and Shade (5)</h4>


    The territory of Kazakhstan was twenty-seven times bigger than South Korea and the poption was less than twenty million, but there were about 120 ethnicities.


    Atyrau Region itself was three times bigger than South Korea with only 800,000 people living. People were seldom seen outside of downtown.


    Since the gang was sick of crowded city areas, they decided to rent a camping car and look around the region. From the travel agency, they heard useful information about agriculture in the region.


    The region¡¯s agriculture developmentgged behindpared to other regions because of the dry climate. The government supported farmers by giving loans but the amount of grain production had no improvements. Also, most of the people were petty-farmers that mass-production was a rare thing.


    Out of the total amount of grain export, thirty percent went to Turkey and Azerbaijan. Youngho thought that he could even export grains to Azerbaijan in the future. He did not understand why emptynds were neglected even though there was a river which could be a water source.


    Park Taeyoung and Lee Chulho had to leave for Baku because the securitypany got busy. The rest of the gang stayed in there to search for a great site for farming with a Koryoin guide. Because they had been driving on an unpaved road, it was a painful long hour of drive.


    ¡°Ilkwon, don¡¯t just drive but search for creeks.¡±


    Jongil, who had just woken up from his sleep,ined that his body was aching.


    It was still at the beginning of April and it¡¯s chilly outside but Jongil was insisting to get in the water anyway because of all the dirt from the road.


    ¡°If we drive thirty more minutes, there will be a creek. Let¡¯s rest there for today. If there are animals around, we should go hunting for exercise.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, there are only rabbits and wolves here.¡±


    It was the Koryoin guide, Kim Chun.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, have youe this far before?¡±


    ¡°In the summer, I used to go hunting with some Koryoin friends.¡±


    Kim Chun was in his forties. He had been to South Korea several times and he married a Korean woman who came here to travel. He had pride in his ethnicity, a Korean descent.


    He was a Koryoin who grew up here. After he graduated from college, he became a teacher until a few years ago when Korean corporations showed up in the city. Then he worked as a guide for Korean businessmen and now he owned a small travel agency.


    As Korean culture became popr in Kazakhstan, his wife opened a Koreannguage school and was working as a Korean teacher. He said that his family was deported at his grandfather¡¯s generation from divostok but he was now proud to be Koryoin since he could help the economic development of Korea.


    He seemed to be the general father figure of Korea in the 1960s.


    When Youngho asked him to be the agency in charge of his business in Kazakhstan, he closed his agency office and followed them on their trip.


    ***


    ¡°Ilkwon, you can sleep with Mr. Kim in the camping car. We can sleep in the tent outside.¡±


    Ilkwon and Mr. Kim both were terrible snorers, so Youngho and Jongil could not stay with them at night. They had rented a tent and sleeping bags, so they decided to stay outside for the night.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry for the inconvenience again, Mr. Lee and Mr. Park.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you had some drinks tonight, you can snore together peacefully with him. Haha...¡±


    ¡°There might be wolves outside. Why don¡¯t you just inside tonight?¡±


    Feeling bad for the two, Kim Chun kept asking them toe inside.


    ¡°Mr. Kim. Boss will be fine even if a tigeres, you don¡¯t have to worry about them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that Ilkwon. Your words mighte true. Well, if a wolfes, I¡¯m willing to take its skin though.¡±


    Jongil was still feeling bad about catching two rabbits only. He still did not know predators on top of the food chain were more cautious than other animals. They had made such noises for hunting rabbits and gave out the smell of gunpowder. Wolves would nevere near them even if they were dead hungry.


    The highest predators would not lower their guards even when they ate.


    Running the business was the same. As a businessman reached to the top, he has to be considerate and careful when making decisions. There was no guarantee that his business would do well.


    Youngho had thought that he was doing well but because of the incident at his securitypany, he was now in Kazakhstan. Although he now had a new goal because of that, he felt insecure in his heart. He kept getting bad feelings.


    Lying inside the tent, Youngho and Jongil talked about recent incidents.


    ¡°So what? You¡¯re saying we should not loosen the tension in times like this?¡±


    ¡°I was ready to settle down in peace but I keep thinking that we¡¯ve been too rxed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. You and I, we¡¯ll always have to live in tension as long as we work as agents. Well, we¡¯ve got to watch out for the mines though. I hope there won¡¯t be any negligent idents.¡±


    At Jongil¡¯s remark, Youngho was rmed.


    ¡®A negligent ident? Is this why I have been feeling bad?¡¯


    He sprang up from the spot.


    Jongil was startled by his friend¡¯s sudden move.


    ¡°Man, you scared me. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Is your satellite phone charged?¡±


    Youngho immediately called Cha Insoo and Chief Niksic to do a safety check in the mines tomorrow. It did not look like they would believe Youngho¡¯s bad feeling, so he lied that he dreamed about mine copse.


    He also asked Insoo to tighten the security at the offshore oilfield. There could be safety idents in any ce. Looking at Youngho who came back to the tent after making rming calls several times, Jongil opened his mouth.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too groundless?¡±


    ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t feel good.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve woken me up now. Why don¡¯t we drink some more?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee, Mr. Park. How do you like this ce? It¡¯s 50,000 acres. In Korean measure, 60,000,000 pyeong.¡±


    Youngho gasped at the vast empty in. All he could see was the horizontal line. Who would plow this ground and nt seeds in here?


    ¡°Are you sure that thend is given free if I develop this?¡±p


    ¡°Wait, are you going to develop the whole area?¡±


    It was not actually free but the government would be giving the ownership of thend once it was developed and grains were produced since the developing cost was too high. However, because it was drynd, no foreigners hade forth to take it.


    In Youngho¡¯s eyes, the in looked like a golden field.


    Youngho hired Kim Chun as the local president of the farm since he was a great resource. He would be in charge of making a farm development n and establishing the farm, and the farm¡¯s name would be Arirang Farm.


    Although they did not get the government¡¯s permission fornd development, Kim Chun was certain that they would be getting it for sure.


    Since there were many small rivers and streams around thend, they would have to install a pipeline about five kilometers long. If they could install huge reservoirs in several ces of the in, they would be able to water the nts with sprinklers.


    Since it was drynd, Youngho also nned to find underground water by making a tube well. Since Ural River was nearby, underground water was likely to exist around the in.


    ¡°Boss. It¡¯ll take some time before the permission is issued. You can wait in Baku. I¡¯ll get an office and prepare for the business establishment.¡±


    Kim Chun was now calling Youngho ¡®Boss¡¯ too.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, please look for local heavy equipment operators. I¡¯ll buy excavators and tractors from Russia.¡±


    ¡°Got that. For the next year or two, we¡¯ll have to work on pipeline work and reservoir construction. So, you don¡¯t have to buy tractors just yet.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a little trial farm this year. It¡¯ll give us some idea about which nts grow better in here.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll also need temporary living quarters. We can¡¯t sleep outside.¡±p


    ¡°Of course. You can find the right spot near the stream and build a sturdy one for you and workers. I¡¯ll give you enough funds, you can work on that first.¡±


    Kim Chun was d to be part of Youngho¡¯s business since he was a global entrepreneur with farms and hotels. He also liked how Youngho said he could hire Koryoins majorly. Hearing that his boss would treat Koryoinborers well, he even gave him a hug.


    To get to the farm site, one had to drive four hours from Northern Atyrau toward the city of Oral, a border city, and then drive thirty minutes more on an unpaved road.


    Since the paved roads had fournes without heavy traffic, it would be easy to deliver supplies. Although it was still a remote region, it had great essibility.


    He would have to wait three to five years before producing mass grains but Youngho could not stop the corners of his mouth rising when he imagined flying an airne to nt seeds on the vast in.


    Seeing Youngho smiling to himself, Jongil made ament.


    ¡°Man, I don¡¯t feel good about traveling with a crazy dude. Stop smiling now. Your ugly face is getting uglier.¡±


    ¡°Dude! Fatima and Zeynep think that I¡¯m the best-looking Asian in the whole world.¡±


    ¡°What on earth? What are their standards for a handsome man? Your mustache? Or your rounded head?¡±


    Jongil was self-conscious about the fact that he did not have much hair on his face and the shape of his head, which was t. He said that he only slept on the same side when he was young. It was something Youngho did not understand about hisplex.


    ¡°Just imagine. You can nt seeds with a light ne.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you going to fly an airne now?¡±


    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s going to be simr to gliders. I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be hard.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s eyes were sparkling. It looked like he would be taking flying lessons at Baku¡¯s aviation school. Youngho thought that he could do it too. It would be cool if a CIA agent can fly airnes like in action movies.

 Chapter 165 - The Great Plain (1)

    <h4>Chapter 165: The Great in (1)</h4>


    As soon as the gang arrived at Baku¡¯s airport, Youngho rushed to the ranch.


    He wanted to see if his bad feeling was rted to the ring¡¯s power and it was letting him know about danger around people he cared about even in a far distance. This could be something like telepathy of the ring to let Youngho know about near danger of Fatima and Serbian people to whom the ring truly belonged.


    It was not at all impossible since his ring also reacted to the Serbian knights¡¯ movements on December 25th.


    As Youngho rushed into the mines, the miners looked at him in curiosity.


    He told everyone to stop what they were doing and evacuate the mines. He also ordered them to put out the fire from the little shaft furnace used for smelting gold.


    As people got out of the mines, the pressure that was on his chest slowly lifted up. This was proving that the ring was signing near danger of the descendants of Serbian Kingdom.


    Youngho exined everything to Nermin, who was in charge of the mines, that had been feeling insecure about the ranch and asked him to keep everyone away from the mines for a while.


    At a distance from the mines, everyone watched Youngho and the mines alternately. Watching them safe, Youngho¡¯s heart was regaining the peace. His insecurities had disappeared. He was certain that something bad would happen in the mines soon.


    The mines were temporarily closed down and Youngho made sure that no one woulde near the mines for the time being.


    The descendants appreciated Youngho for caring about their safety before gold.


    He also told them to all go to a hospital for a health checkup. The mines were always dusty inside no matter how much effort was put into purifying the air. Even though the miners all wore special masks to protect their lungs but they often took them off because masks were bothersome for theirbor. That was why Youngho wanted to get them all checked up for this time.


    If they turn out to be sick, Youngho was going to let them stay in the hospital until they¡¯re better. He felt sorry for the people that worked hard under the name of their kingdom¡¯s restoration. Maybe he, also, took advantage of theirbor for gold bars.


    Now that the mines were closed, he thought that he should improve the work environment in the mines so that miners¡¯ health would not be affected by working in the mines.


    ***


    ¡°You went straight to the mines from the airport?¡±


    Fatima asked in worrisome voice. She knew that Youngho had been worried about the Serbian people.


    Youngho had closed down the mines and sent all of the miners to a big hospital in Baku. The reason for making such a fuss was that he wanted to let the descendants know that he cared a great deal about them and they were cherished by him and the Archduchess.


    ¡°I was terribly worried for the mines.¡±


    He exined everything about what he felt in Kazakhstan. As he said that it was like the ancestors of Serbian Kingdom had scolded him through the ring for not taking care of their descendants, Fatima¡¯s eyes were tearing up.


    ¡°Thank you, and I¡¯m very happy that my husband is such a thoughtful and kind person.¡±


    She was impressed by Youngho¡¯s heart since he cared about the people that he was not at all rted to unless he did not marry her.


    Zeynep, whom he had met in a long time after his business trip, was a little salty that he did not bring her any gift this time but he was on the jump in worry of the miners. There were many ways that he could melt her cold heart.


    ¡°Zeynep, have you heard of Atyrau of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Wait, how do you know that ce? I learned about that in school. That ce is a Ural River¡¯s delta.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take to get there from here by ship?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, about two days...?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make a farm there and it¡¯d be fun if we could travel on a ship, right? We could even fish in the sea.¡±


    Hearing that, Zeynep jumped up in surprise as if she already forgot about why she was upset.


    ¡°Hey, oppa. Are you going to buy a ship?!¡±


    Zeynep was as fast-witted as Jongil.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯d need a big one if it was going to fit all of our family. You know I used to serve in Navy, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Youngho was not a captain when he was in the Korean Navy, he could run a small boat but navigation of a big ship was a different story. Since it was especially difficult to anchor at a dock, no one should dare to try without a license. Many big merchant ships would hire an expert for anchoring and departure only.


    ¡°Oppa, then I¡¯ll pick the ship.¡±


    ¡°That was what I was about to ask.¡±


    Fatima, who was breastfeeding Leon, overheard their conversation and smiled.


    ¡°I was going to get Mr. Yaniv¡¯s yacht but that¡¯d too big, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like that yacht, it¡¯s too much. You need to get a sturdy one instead of a luxury one, oppa! Practicality is the best quality.¡±


    Coming from a high school girl, her words are impressive. She did not care about the look but the quality of a ship. He would be carrying cargo on the ship for the farm, so she was right. He needed a big, sturdy ship.


    ¡°But, don¡¯t you think the look is important too?¡±


    ¡°Oppa, what do you expect from the Caspian Sea? If you¡¯re going to the ck Sea, then I¡¯ll consider about that.¡±


    Youngho had decided to build a hotel in Batumi in an effort to get to the Mediterranean easily. Everything she was saying was bright. Luxury boats should be driving on the ck Sea. Since Zeynep was so smart and cute, Youngho could not stop loving her.


    ***


    The Istanbul Construction Company visited Youngho with Batumi hotel¡¯s design and construction n. He showed him a simtion clip of the new Arirang Hotel¡¯s building and its surroundings. Youngho liked how it went well with the surrounding environment, so he agreed on the construction n. After the meeting, he treated a nice meal to thepany¡¯s staffs for developing a satisfying construction n.


    Since the new hotel in Moscow would be built with the same design, Youngho sent the clip to Yaniv too.


    Now that the design was confirmed, all there was left was construction. The estimatedpletion of the Batumi¡¯s hotel was in twenty months whereas the Moscow¡¯s hotel would be built in thirty months since the construction was not possible in the winter time. Yaniv would be in charge of the construction of the Moscow¡¯s building and Youngho¡¯s job was only managing the hotel once it waspleted.


    After Batumi¡¯s hotel design was confirmed, Youngho now turned his eyes to Frankfurt to see if there was any building to buy.


    As for Frankfurt, he could only buy an already existing building because of the strict constructionw. If the seller of a building liked gold bars, he was ready to negotiate with them since he had collected 800 kilograms of gold bars.


    When he was thinking about it, what made Youngho insecure finally came to be true.


    He went over to the mines after receiving a call about the copse. About two-fifths of the mine in which the new veins of gold had been found recently caved in. The miners had hurriedly dug into the mines and had neglected the stabilization process of the caves. If miners were inside, they would have been buried alive under the rocks.


    Youngho sighed in relief. It was lucky that he took an action right away after he sensed the ring¡¯s signal.


    The vigers thanked their ancestors and their Archduchess for protecting them, instead of Youngho, who ordered them to stay away from the mines. Well, they were not at all wrong since the ring of their ancestors helped them.


    A notable fact about the copse was that it made a huge noise and vibration which even reached Serbian Vige. This might mean that there was a big empty cave underneath the ground. If there was an empty cave, it would make a great natural wine cer too. Youngho was excited. He ordered the miners to dig up the copsed rocks and dirt first.


    ***


    After removing all rocks and dirt from the copsed mine, they could find a big empty natural cave underneath. Even at a nce, it was huge that it could be about a thousand pyeong*.


    The rock piles copsed from above and from the sides of the cave were about two meters high, which was terrifying since that meant the floor of the copsed mine had been only two meters thick. The miners had been working in danger after all.


    Although the recently found veins of gold were lost from the copse, Youngho was d that he found a great natural wine aging cer. The huge space was equal to a few units of wine storage which could hold tens of millions of dors¡¯ worth of wine. The taste of wine aged in the natural cer without any refrigeration would be amazing.


    There were still veins of gold left in two other mines, which could produce two to three tons of gold bars a year. Among dozens of mines, the stabilized mines were only about ten, so there was a high possibility of finding new veins.


    Youngho was satisfied with the facts that he could save people¡¯s lives and he confirmed another power of the ring. The descendants of the kingdom were special people. He once again solidified his resolve to protect and lead the people well as a leader. They now felt like his family.


    Kim Chun in Atyrau called Youngho in an excited voice.


    ¡°Boss. The permission of agricultural development was issued today. Now, one thing they require is that you have to make a safety deposit before beginning to develop thend. For each acre, it is 20 dors, so they¡¯re asking you to deposit a million dors.¡±


    ¡°What is the deposit for?¡±


    ¡°If you give up the development in the middle, they¡¯ll use it for the restoration of the area but if youplete the development, they¡¯d give it back once the grains are produced. They said that they¡¯ll be giving you the monopolistic stance if you make a safety deposit.¡±


    The government was asking ridiculous money under the pretext of restoration cost since they could not restore thend with twenty dors but to Youngho, it was a good chance. If he paid the amount, the government would not touch whatever he nted or installed on thend if it was developed for agricultural purposes.


    Kim Chung went on.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what the ¡®monopolistic stance¡¯ means.¡±


    ¡°That means anything under the development contract is possible. Even the autonomous security of thend.¡±


    ¡°What? We have to deal with security by ourselves? This is an unjust contract.¡±


    ¡°No. This is an advantageous term. We should make so.¡±


    Youngho would rather have the autonomy over thend than having the government mess with the farm¡¯s systems. It meant that one-third of the city of Seoul* would be Youngho¡¯s kingdom that no one could bother.


    *pyeong- a Korean measure of area . 1 pyeong is about 35.58 sq.ft.


    *Seoul- the capital city of South Korea

 Chapter 166 - The Great Plain (2)

    <h4>Chapter 166: The Great in (2)</h4>


    There is a farm that is a one-fifth of the size of Korea¡¯s Gangwon-do Province. Allegedly, the farm has its own train for the farm workers as well as several stations on the farm. It is not an impossible story since Texas is about three times bigger than the Korean Penins, but it is such arge farm.


    Youngho wanted to make his Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan like the one in Texas. For now, he could not establish a railroad for a train but he could have buses that went around the farm in a regr cycle.


    Since it would cost him a lot to make airfield and ring road, he was calcting the budget.


    It was then when Zeynep showed up at his study with an excited face.


    ¡°Oppa. I found the ship. One of my friends at school has a dad who runs a shipyard. She said that no one is taking a ship that¡¯s beenpleted.¡±


    She was saying that the buyer of the ship could not take the ship because of financial conditions even though the ship had been already made.


    ¡°So? Does that mean we can take the ship right away?¡±


    ¡°Yes! She said it¡¯ll be a huge problem to her family if the ship is not sold soon.¡±


    Zeynep wanted to help her friend and buy the ship at the same time. Looking at her determined eyes, it was certain that Youngho would be in trouble if he did not agree with her.


    ¡°Shall we visit there once?¡±


    ¡°For sure! I¡¯ll talk to my friend.¡±


    Zeynep had no idea about what kind of ship Youngho was thinking about. She was thinking of a yacht but Youngho needed arge cargo ship.


    ***


    The shipyard looked like it was doing well. It was thergest one in Baku that only treated ships that weighed thousands of tons. A ship weighed 5,000 tons was considered as arge vessel in the Caspian Sea.


    At two docks, there was an undone ship and a ship that seemed that it could be driven right away. The one that was finished was a vessel in the 3,000-ton ss. Its length was about 90 meters and width was 18 meters long. Zeynep¡¯s jaw dropped for its huge size.


    She pulled at Youngho¡¯s sleeves. Since the ship looked like it would cost an astronomical amount of money, she wanted to get away as soon as possible.


    ¡°Phew, I was hoping for a bigger vessel.¡±


    ¡°Oppa. Are you insane? Why would you buy a ship as big as a hotel?¡±


    She whispered to him so nobody could hear her.


    ¡°I need a ship that¡¯s a few times bigger than this. It¡¯s not that big.¡±


    Leaving the little Zeynep behind, Youngho went up to the office.


    The businessman who requested the ship had paid fifty percent of the total cost as a deposit but his properties had been taken away by the government due to tax felonies recently and he gave up the ship. He must be the one who did not cooperate with the government during the war against Armenia.


    Although the vessel was brand new, the owner of the shipyard said he would sell it the minimum price. It was a little bit higher than a used vessel. So, Youngho signed the four-million-dors contact on the spot. It was a good deal since he got the ship at a very cheap price and he was able to save Zeynep¡¯s face.


    Moreover, he requested to build two other ships in the 5,000-ton ss. Considering the time that grains would be produced from Kazakhstan, which would be three years away from now, he had signed major shipbuilding contracts in advance. It took about two years to build a ship, so it seemed to be the right timing.


    The onlyrge-vessel shipyard of Baku was almost saved by Youngho¡¯s several contracts. Zeynep¡¯s friend¡¯s dad was a vice president of the Dutch shipyard and he thanked Youngho for his business.


    ***


    Coming back from school, Zeynep stepped on the porch proudly.


    ¡°Oppa. How rich are we? My friend is going crazy about it. How much is the vessel? How many wine bottles do you have to sell to buy such a big ship?¡±


    Zeynep asked questions without breathing.


    ¡®Ha! What do I tell her?¡¯


    Since Zeynep was not good with numbers, Youngho exined in easy terms that she could understand. The two other vessels that he newly signed cost more than ten million dors and it was enough to make her jaw drop since she only received an allowance of a hundred dors for each month.


    Youngho thought it was about time to teach her about the concept of money and how to use it well. In the future, she would be getting many men¡¯s proposals with her beauty and her royal status, and she should have some basic economic concepts.


    She was another owner of the family ring and her family history was stored in the Louvre Museum in Paris. She was a little princess of the kingdom. Also, the name of Zeynep was growing as a corporation now in many fields; such as the farm, wine factory, the securitypany, and the oilfield service. With the Serbian descendants and knights around, she might also be able to get married to one of the European princes. That was why Youngho felt the need to teach her well.


    While thinking about such things, Youngho chuckled.


    ¡°Oppa. Why are youughing?¡±


    Zeynep looked at him innocently.


    ¡°Zeynep,e sit down over here.¡±


    She sat down next to him with a curious face. Although her cheeks were still chubby, she was bing ady.


    ¡°What is this?¡±


    Zeynep asked as Youngho showed her the map of the Atyrau Region and Azerbaijan.


    ¡°Do you see the spot where I marked with a dotted line? Compare this region with the region of Baku.¡±


    ¡°What is this ce? It¡¯s about the same size of Baku if you exclude the outskirt areas.¡±


    ¡°This is where I¡¯ll be developing a farm for the descendants of Serbian Kingdom.


    ¡°This much ofnd? Did you buy it from the government of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Almost.¡±


    ¡°How many times bigger is this cepared to our farm?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about thirty times bigger than the area of Zeynep Farm and the Charles farmbined.¡±


    Zeynep was stunned. Although she did not know about the numbers well, she could see how big the new farm would beparing it to the farm where she lived.


    As they were talking at the couch, Fatima and Szechenyi joined them in curiosity.


    ¡°Why do you need this much ofnd? People are saying the ranch and the farms are big for them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m preparing for your future. When you make a boyfriend, I¡¯m going to say that you¡¯re a princess with this much properties and we are a royal family of thousands of people.¡±


    He was saying that because many people of wealthy European families wouldpare how much estates people had to estimate their wealth. He did not want Zeynep to feel overwhelmed by their behaviors.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to date a man who approaches me for money.¡±


    Although she had a condition, she did not say that she would not date a man. Youngho sighed feeling sorry with a father¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying if your boyfriend¡¯s parents ask about that, you can tell them so, okay?¡±


    ¡°Oppa, you already have bigpanies. Who would look down on me?¡±


    ¡°You said you wanted to go to colleges in Western Europe. People there care about how many estates you have. That¡¯s why I¡¯m getting hotels andnds.¡±


    Zeynep became serious at Youngho¡¯s remark. She was in a cultural shock since she had never thought about such things before. Fatima and Szechenyiughed hard looking at their little sister¡¯s serious face.


    ***


    On CNN News, the ongoing civil war in Columbia was reported to be intensifying.


    Watching the news on TV, Youngho was guilty for his arms deal with the rebels. Although those were not heavy firearms, they had now received plenty of light arms that were useful for guerri activities in the mountains. They had been attacking their government.


    The rebels¡¯ territory was getting bigger. The current Colombian government was at a disadvantage even with other nearby nations¡¯ support.


    By the time Youngho thought that the rebels would be short of ammunitions soon, Edward in Panama contacted him. He asked for the same amount of ammunitions as before. Youngho was going to reject his request with an excuse that he might not be able to get the money from the rebels since they were at war at the moment but Edward suggested a fifty percent advance deposit of the total cost and said that he would be giving him moremission this time.


    Youngho took his offer and now it was his time to deal with Eriksson.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, Columbia rebels are paying fifty percent of the cost in advance for the same amount of ammunition from the previous deal. They¡¯d appreciate it if you could give them extra ammunition too.¡±


    ¡°That is a very great deal. I¡¯m going to try to get an extramission from the arms providers this time. There are not a lot of people who want to buy older versions of conventional weapons these days.¡±


    ¡°How fast can it arrive? They¡¯re in a rush.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make it happen within fifteen days. I¡¯ll email you the ount for the transaction.¡±


    From this deal, Youngho could recover the cost of the cargo ship contracts.


    It seemed that most of the cost for Kazakhstan¡¯s farm development would be covered by themission received from the Colombian rebels since he expected to get more than thirty million dors in total for the business.


    Youngho felt guilty for Colombian people. If he earned money from selling grains, he would have to send them relief food or something tofort them. Since he received help from Colombia, he should pay them back with whatever means.


    Although the money he made was dirty, he thought it was better to help people in danger through what he made since anybody would do the dirty work instead of him.


    Ame sense of morality would only cause a problem in life.


    ***


    Yunsuh, Sangchun, and their children left for Frankfurt.


    From Yunsuh¡¯s voice through the phone, Youngho could sense her excitement. She seemed to like the ce. The third floor of the wine store building was a huge area only for them. There were six rooms and the living room was enough for two little boys to run around.


    Youngho also remodeled the interiors since they would be representatives of Zeynep Wine. If they had important visitors in their home, the visitors would be impressed. He would also be staying there when he visits the European chapter for the monthly meetings.


    Youngho was d that he could make her little sister and nephews happy for the great environment. This was part of why he earned money. Although he had earned money sometimes through hical ways, he wanted to use them for good causes and help people around him.


    Today, Youngho received seventeen million dors from each side asmissions for the arms deal, in total, it was thirty-four million dors. It was the fruit of his hard work and the connections that he made. Nothing was free in this world. He had worked and searched different parts of the world to make money. Although he earned them going through troubles and hardships, he wanted to use them with a ss.


    In the next few days, Youngho would be singing a fifteen-story hotel building contract in Frankfurt. It was a five-star hotel worth about two hundred million dors. He was buying the Hilton Hotel, which was a worldwide hotel chain and would be changing it into Arirang Hotel. It was a brand new start of Zeynep Corporation.

 Chapter 167 - The Great Plain (3)

    <h4>Chapter 167: The Great in (3)</h4>


    ¡°Oppa! Over here!¡±


    At Frankfurt Airport, Yunsuh and Sangchun greeted Youngho¡¯s group. They were busy trying to catch their little boys and greet Youngho at the same time.


    Youngho and Jongil visited Frankfurt for the CIA¡¯s meeting and Sangchun¡¯s parents followed them alone to look around their son¡¯s family¡¯s new ce. They decided to stay at the farm even after their son¡¯s family left to Frankfurt since Youngho was also like a real son to them and there were still a lot of jobs for them to do at the farm.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have toe out to get us. Your ce is not far from the airport.¡±


    ¡°These little devils were dying to get out of the building. We needed to freshen up a little.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t send them to preschool yet?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to give a few months before sending them to preschool. They only speak English and Korean now. I want them to learn basic German at least before going to school.¡±


    Yunsuh did not want her children to be isted at preschool because they did not speak German. It was true that in any country, in order to be treated equally and fairly, learning the localnguage was necessary.


    Sangchun¡¯s parents were satisfied with the antique and roomy building of Zeynep Wine¡¯s European sales store.


    ¡°Youngho, you¡¯ve done a great job. You must¡¯ve spent a lot for them.¡±


    Cho Sangchun interrupted his father.


    ¡°Dad, what are you talking about? I bought all of the appliances by myself.¡±


    ¡°You fool. Even that money is from Youngho.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Father, I coulde this far because of Sangchun. Because he backed me up from behind, I could do whatever I wanted.¡±


    ¡°See, dad? Do you hear what his saying?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not something to be proud of, Sangchun!¡±


    Although Sangchun¡¯s father was scolding him, he had a satisfying smile on his face.


    Taking advantage of the joyful atmosphere, Jongil wanted to have a housewarming party. When he asked Yunsuh to have a party, she gave him a weird look.


    ¡°Jongil oppa, don¡¯t ever think about getting food from me, okay?¡±


    ¡°What did I do?¡±


    ¡°You have no idea how many times I had to say sorry to my friends after you got married to Karajan. Someone like you is women¡¯s archenemy! Argh... Why do I have to clean up your mess? You¡¯re the one who made the mess!¡±


    Jongil was out of words. He knew exactly what he deserved.


    ¡°Why are you doing this? It¡¯s been years and you were quiet all along, what can I do to make it up to you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only withheld my feelings because of Karajan. Well, she¡¯s not here, is she? I¡¯m going to give you an earful from now on. You need to take it until I feel better. ¡±


    ¡°If Karajan finds out about this, she¡¯s going to kick me out. Please don¡¯t tell her about anything! I¡¯ll take whatever from you...¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see about that.¡±


    Youngho interrupted.


    ¡°You pathetic! Why do you even live?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you couldn¡¯t even touch the woman she set up for you. You have no say in this!¡±


    At his remark, Yunsuh struck his back with her palm, which made a loud sound. It left a red, swollen, hand mark on Jongil¡¯s back.


    ***


    Youngho signed the contract for the Frankfurt¡¯s hotel and assigned Cho Sangchun as the general manager of the hotel. Since he already hired a management specialist for the hotel, Sangchun¡¯s position was only given to him for the sake of title. He would be in charge of Zeynep Wine¡¯s sales in the regions of Europe and it would help him if he had a credential title. Arirang Hotel¡¯s general manager sounded more appealing than less well-known Zeynep Wine¡¯s branch manager.


    At the hotel, Zeynep Wine would be sold and disyed at the hotel bar and caf¨¦ and Youngho ordered the employees to suggest Zeynep Wine to customers if they asked for rmendations. It was a way to advertise the corporation¡¯s own brand wine since people would have some expectations if a winery had its own hotel chain business.


    It was amonly used marketing means that many corporations used to advertise their own brands. Since many people who visited high-quality hotels tended to stay at the same hotel in a long term or to be rich, they would be curious about products disyed in the lobby.


    Youngho¡¯s potential customers were businessmen because he was not going to sell his wines individually to the public, but was going to sell them wholesale to distributors and retailers.


    Because Yunsuh¡¯s little boys did not want to be apart from their grandparents, Youngho left them there until hees back to Frankfurt for the next month¡¯s meeting. He flew to Volgograd with Jongil because Michael gave them an assignment to report about the current movements of Southern Russia¡¯s mafias.


    There was a US intelligence agency based in Russia but it was not rted to the European chapter. Since Russia is a huge empire that ran the world, the country probably had the most agents working in the country.


    The European chapter had to go through the CIA¡¯s headquarters in the states in order to learn about Russia¡¯s information, so it was autonomously collecting information through its agents. Youngho was a great resource for Michael who was an ambitious leader, he could ask for the information from the headquarters but he did not want to expose his interests since there were power struggles in the CIA¡¯s high rankers.


    ¡°That old man is just too greedy.¡±


    Jongil was not fond of Michael¡¯s request. Since he had no idea about Michael and Youngho¡¯s information business, he just thought Michael was a sick, crazy superior.


    ¡°I know what you mean but he introduced the building for our wine store for us. We should also do him a favor.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t say a thing but I still don¡¯t understand why he¡¯s making us do it when he can just make a call to the headquarters. Southern Russia is not an area under our watch.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just stubborn and stupidly proud. But, hey. Look at the bright side, we get to drink with Yaniv tonight.¡±


    Jongil smacked his lips at the mention of drink.


    ¡°Are you going to tell him about the farm in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I have no reason to hide that. He¡¯s not a bit interested in farming, if he was, he would¡¯ve made a fuss about nting grape seedlings.¡±


    Hot-tempered Yaniv liked businesses that made money immediately, he would be too frustrated to do farming which took long time before it could make him money.


    Since he had been a mafia for too long, which was a job anything could happen to him at any time, he never liked businesses that he had to wait until he could make money.


    Even so, Youngho had to inform him about his farm in Kazakhstan since he needed Yaniv¡¯s power there for the farm¡¯s protection.


    ***


    ¡°Lee, why would you do such an inefficient business? It¡¯d be better for you to sign a long-term contract with a South Russian grain provider and import grains from him.¡±


    Not knowing that Youngho was preparing for the future and making another base for Serbian descendants, Yaniv only talked about money.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, you know how much love I have fornds and estates. I just loved seeing that great in.¡±


    ¡°I see what you¡¯re saying. The Caspian Sea with offshore oilfield spread apart was like that to me.¡±


    To Yaniv, the whole region of the Caspian Sea looked like oil crude.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little worried about local mafias harming the farm since I¡¯m a foreigner.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, Lee. I¡¯ll take care of that. I¡¯ll tell them that it¡¯s my business so that they can¡¯t even dare toe near thend.¡±


    ***


    Genghis Khan once said this, ¡®The strength of a wall is neither greater nor less than the courage of the men who defend it.¡¯


    Youngho has reminded this quote every time he saw the Serbian residents. Wherever they live, they always volunteered for patrol activities for their town. They habitually protected their residential ces.


    Now was a time of peace but they still did night patrolling. In the time of danger, they would be even more rmed and cautious. Youngho¡¯s farms and the ranch were even stronger than courageous men greater than a wall which Genghis Khan talked about because of the descendants of Serbian Kingdom.


    Because of the Serbian people¡¯s voluntary security activities, the armed security guards that were originally hired by Zeynep Farm had no work left to do. Since Youngho could not pay them for anything, he assigned them to the wine factory and they rather loved their new job. It was because the amount of payment for factory crews was higher for there was more work to do.


    Zeynep Farm¡¯s Serbian residents started out with twenty families, but now they were more than forty families. It had more than enough Serbian security patrols to protect the farm.


    ***


    Now, all of the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom residing in Azerbaijan had joined Youngho¡¯s farms and ranches. Youngho was not sure how many descendants were sold as ves to Georgia or Armenia were still in those nations. He decided to put an advertisement on newspapers in both nations.


    If they still existed and were living a hard life, he wanted to help them settle down at his estates with their consent.


    Listening to Youngho¡¯s n, Chief Niksic thanked him with watery eyes.


    ¡°I have no other wishes in life. I thank you on behalf of our people.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m doing it for my own good.¡±


    ¡°You say that all the time but we¡¯re aware of you and the Archduchess¡¯ thoughtfulness for our kingdom. I heard that you¡¯ve bought a hugend in Kazakhstan for Serbian descendants. Isn¡¯t that so? Who would buynd in the empty in?¡±


    Chief Niksic was saying the truth but listening to him, Youngho felt like he was going back to the medieval time. He was worried that the descendants might really establish a kingdom in Kazakhstan.


    Niksic informed that there might be other people who consider themselves as the descendants of the kingdom in the current Kosovo, Croatia, and Serbia. He added that there would be suffering descendants because those ces weretely involved in disputes.


    There might be people who had not been sold as ves but had been hiding their identity waiting for the kingdom¡¯s restoration.


    ording to Niksic, there was a high possibility that all of the descendants were from the same n society. It was because the babies of the descendants were all born with a blue birthmark on their buttocks.


    At his word, Youngho was shocked and he could feel goosebumps on his skin.


    The Mongolian spot was a gic trait shown in the descents of Mongolians.


    ¡°Chief Niksic, we call those ¡®Mongolian spot¡¯ in Korea. I can¡¯t believe the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom and Korean people share the same gic trait.¡±


    Surprised by what he just found out, Youngho almost screamed.

 Chapter 168 - The Agents Way (1)

    <h4>Chapter 168: The Agent¡¯s Way (1)</h4>


    Youngho could not get a hold of Edward in Panama.


    Worried about him, he asked Michael from the European chapter if he could find out what was going on in Panama. Since Michael knew the two were close, heforted Youngho.


    The next day, Youngho received Michael¡¯s call.


    ¡°Lee, Edward has been missing for days. My contact person found that there were signs of forced entry in his room and no one had seen him for days. I¡¯ll look into this for more.¡±


    Youngho was worried that something might have gone wrong between the rebels and Edward. Since it was himself that provided weapons to them, he felt guilty. He could not tell that to Michael.


    It was certain that something had happened to Edward but he was too far away that he could not search for him by himself. Not being able to sit around and wait for other agents in Panama to investigate upon the case, he finally requested to Michael to send him there to search for Edward.


    ***


    Youngho was on an airne to Panama with Jongil sitting next to him.


    He wanted to go alone but Michael insisted to take a back-up agent, so Jongil apanied him for this trip.


    Finding out the fact that Youngho nned to go alone, Jongil gave him an earful about how can he not take him to somewhere full of exotic beauties.


    Before leaving, Jongil even went on shopping to buy clothes and supplies that matched the hot climate of Panama and Colombia as if he was going on a vacation. Even on the ne, he had sunsses on his head and showed off his fashion sense. Now that he was bored from chatting with a pretty flight attendant, he was makingments about agents of these days.


    ¡°This is what happens when you put a desk agent in charge of a region. If someone trained like us was in charge, we¡¯d have weed the abductors and finished them by ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Not many people like us be agents these days. They¡¯re picked as agents if they can shoot well.¡±


    ¡°Look at Philip in Georgia. He¡¯s been training and now his eyes are different. He realized that he should get in shape only after he was almost dead. Edward is not like him, he¡¯s a weakling. It¡¯s just a mystery how he became an agent.¡±


    ¡°Hah... That¡¯s why I¡¯m worried. What on earth are other agents of Central and South America doing? Are they only looking at beautiful women¡¯s behinds?¡±


    ¡°Man, are you being sarcastic?¡±


    ¡°Dude, if you do anything stupid, I¡¯ll video record you and show that to Karajan.¡±


    ***


    It was pouring out as if there was a huge hole in the sky. The raindrops were so heavy that it was almost painful as they fell on his bare skin. The humidity was high and the breeze from the electric fan was not even cool.


    It was yesterday that the two came to an old hotel near the Colombian border. The cheap hotel did not even have air conditioning orforters. A mosquito, mattresses, and pillows were the only supplies in the room.


    Youngho tossed and turned his body due to the stickiness and he was only able to get back to sleep after taking a shower.


    The two ate a sandwich for a quick breakfast and then went on to drive the old, noisy Toyota that they had rented from the airport on a muddy road. Since they brought an interpreter guide with them in the car, the atmosphere was even more suffocating.


    ¡°Turn on the air conditioner. My sweats are running down my back. Man, what did I follow you for?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t turn it on. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s going to shut off the engine. Just hang on a little longer!¡±


    Let alone watching the beautifuldies, Jongil kept onining as all sorts of bugs bothered him.


    Baku¡¯s windy and dry weather was like heaven¡¯s weatherpared to this. Because of its dryness, the heat was tolerable if you went under a shade in the summer but the weather here was just the worst for them.


    They were driving on the rough mountainous region that was two thousand meters high above sea level on the Eastern side of the Andes Mountains. Youngho did not understand why the rebels were risking their lives to win thisnd that had only humid and rough mountainous regions. Even he, who was crazy fornds, would reject thends in here even if they were given for free.


    As they went up on the slippery mountains road, the Indian¡¯s houses made of woven leaves appeared. They felt better since it became cooler as they went up the mountain.


    Surrounded by jungles, the town was located in a little t field where they could see the sky. It was relieving. Looking down the mountain, they saw heavy and dark clouds that wereing from a distance. It seemed that the rain will not stop any time soon. It was rather refreshing to stand in the pouring rain.


    The town people started toe out one by one to see who had visited them. Since it was a remote region, they rarely had guests. As the local guide spoke to them in Spanish, they pointed their fingers at the top of the mountain. It looked like that they had to go up even higher to find the rebels¡¯ hideout.


    Youngho was scared to go up on the cliffs.


    Although Jongil insisted on running instead of driving, it looked like the leather shoes would not be of help in the muddy roads due to the rain. Not to mention, they needed to bring the interpreter if they wanted to speak to the rebels and ask about Edward¡¯s whereabouts.


    ***


    They chose to drive up the mountain since they did not want to spend the night in one of the houses made with leaves. However, they had to abandon their car and walk from the point of andslide. It was already getting dark.


    They could finally reach the guard post of the rebels¡¯ after they had walked up for about thirty minutes only relying on their shlights.


    The rebels did not seem to disy vignce towards the group but led them to their leaders¡¯ barracks.


    Youngho revealed his identity as a CIA¡¯s agent and they weed them as theirrades. Since the United States had been helping the rebels, they did not show any hostility to the group.


    Youngho talked with Fernandez, themander of the rebels. He had a great-looking mustache.


    ¡°Mr. Fernandez, Edward is missing. I was wondering if the Colombian intelligence agency is involved in this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say they must be the one to me. Edward has been an ally to us and the government must have been watching him for that. He was rumored to be involved in our arms deal and the government wouldn¡¯t have let this go. Why didn¡¯t you contact us earlier?¡±


    Youngho med the US CIA agents based in Central and Southern America. They could have found out about Edward¡¯s whereabouts easily if they paid a little attention but they would have no idea that Edward was rted to the rebels. Since Youngho was involved in the arms deal, he hade to find the rebels first.


    ording to Fernandez, all of Edward¡¯s routines and connections would have been under the government¡¯s watch.


    ¡°Do you have any connections with Colombian agents?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t deal with those disloyal jerks because they are double agents. They shouldn¡¯t be called agents since they¡¯re only after money. They¡¯re not reliable.¡±


    ¡°Do you know any suspicious person?¡±


    ¡°There is a viperous guy named Tevez. I heard that he sells information here and there. You might be able to find out about Edward if you interrogate him.¡±


    ¡°Where can I find him?¡±


    ¡°You need to go to Bogota. Once you get there...¡±


    ***


    In Bogota¡¯s downtown, two Asians in traveler¡¯s attires were sitting down at an open-air caf¨¦.


    It was Lee Youngho and Park Jongil.


    ¡°This ce must have a higher altitude than Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh. Can an equatorial region be this chilly?¡±


    Jongil embraced himself.


    ¡°I like it better. It¡¯s 2,500 meters high above sea level, it¡¯s supposed to be cool.¡±


    ¡°This is cool for you? It¡¯s cold.¡±


    ¡°I told you to take long sleeves with you, and you treated me like I¡¯m crazy. Man, I don¡¯t feel bad for you. Just get a jacket in the clothing store over there. I¡¯m going to wait for the guide here.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to buy clothes there since thedy is not good looking but it¡¯s too cold for that.¡±


    Jongil grumbled as he slowly walked toward the store.


    He was not having fun since he did not find many beauties during the trip and the weather was just horrible for him.


    Tevez was a Colombian agent who had been in the intelligence agency for twenty years. He was a greedy man who did not hesitate to disloyal any group he belonged to for money. He was known to do many dirty businesses that a mafia would do, such as private loaning and drug dealing beside selling information. He owned a decent three-story building in Bogota¡¯s downtown.


    The two had been spying on him for the past three days. It was kind of fun for Youngho since he could see many new ces following him around.


    Tevez was living a rxing double life. Although he was a married man, he had a mistress for whom he got a ce to live. Since the mistress was young, Jongil approached her and seeded on luring her out.


    The mistress in her early twenties was Risaralda. She was a student at the National University of Colombia, majoring inputer science. With Tevez¡¯ money, she was living a luxurious life.


    Pretending to ask for directions near the open-air caf¨¦, Jongil had approached Risaralda, who stayed on the third floor of an apartment building behind Bolivar Square and began to flirt with her. His womanizing skills were finally put to good use.


    He showed off the skills that Youngho would never be able to practice. He made her eyes turn heart-shaped within an hour and disyed boldness to go to her apartment for lunch.


    ¡°I knew you were an outstanding womanizer but isn¡¯t it too much to go to her apartment alone?¡±


    ¡°I had to find out when Tevez usually shows up and how the structure of her apartment so we can sneak in there tonight. You told me to lure her out. Why are you ming me?¡±


    ¡°Crazy. Did you feel happy about making moves to someone else¡¯s girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°Making moves? I didn¡¯t do a thing in that apartment. You think things automatically happen just because a man and woman are left alone? Dude, you have a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°Why does even that young, normal-looking girl like a forty-year-old, pot-bellied man?¡±


    ¡°She lied that she was single but there were man¡¯s clothes in her closet. She came here for college from a small beach town on the Pacific. I think she¡¯s taking advantage of Tevez to make money for her younger siblings and to support her parents. She¡¯s nning on going to the states after graduation. I¡¯d say Tevez won¡¯t be happy about that.¡±


    ¡°Why did she take you in when Tevez cane at any time?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it means this is the day when he doesn¡¯t visit her. If I didn¡¯t say that you were waiting for me, we would¡¯ve gone all the way. Man, I do crazy things now.¡±


    ¡°Dude. You liked it.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. I need to charge this to Edwardter.¡±


    Although he med Edward for it, he was enjoying the situation for sure.


    ¡®Man, I left a cat in charge of the fish shop. How do I see Karajan¡¯s face when this is over?¡¯

 Chapter 169 - The Agent’s Way (2)

    <h4>Chapter 169: The Agent¡¯s Way (2)</h4>


    At night, Youngho and Jongil with masks on their heads sneaked into Risaralda¡¯s apartment through the open balcony. Using the leather shoes, they could easily climb up to the third floor.


    On the bed, half-naked Tevez and Risaralda were asleep. The two quickly tied them up and covered their mouths. Leaving Risaralda on her bed, they dragged Tevez into the living room.


    In order to intimidate him, they started beating him without words. Tevez cried in pain when they hit his thighs with a revolver handle and pushed on a pressure point. They continued on torturing him more for the next five minutes, Tevez¡¯ eyes rolled as if he was going to pass out.


    ¡°Where is Edward?¡±


    Although Tevez was a fluent English speaker, he pretended like he did not understand a thing Youngho was saying. Since he was also an agent, he was trained to be resistant in tortures. However, his behavior only brought more beating from the two.


    ***


    Edward was locked in Tevez¡¯s private safe house in Bogota¡¯s downtown.


    His was in such terrible shape that it was unbearable to see. His face was unrecognizable from swells, bruises, and blood. To prevent him from running away, Tevez had fractured his legs which were swollen so much. His asional groaning was the only proof that he was still alive.


    ¡°Edward.¡±


    Youngho shook his body carefully.


    ¡°Lee?¡±


    He recognized Youngho immediately.


    ¡°Can you breathe well?¡±


    Youngho asked because Edward¡¯s breath was irregr. As if it was difficult for him to even speak, he blinked his eyes to answer the question. The two exchanged a look without saying words.


    Youngho contacted the U.S. Embassy to transfer him to a hospital right away. He was taken to the hospital on a near US Army¡¯s base.


    The embassy was shocked by the incident. Although Edward¡¯s true identity was an agent, his official identity in Panama was a US diplomat. The news of a US diplomat based in Panama was abducted and beaten up while visiting Colombia was a serious issue that could affect the rtions between the two countries. The Colombian government was also startled upon hearing the news.


    Youngho and Jongil, who were the ones that saved Edward, did not show their identities but let the embassy took care of the matter. It was not their ce to show up since the CIA¡¯s Central and Southern American branch was involved in the middle.


    If they revealed who they were, the Central and Southern American branch would be dishonored and this could trigger a bigger conflict between them and the European chapter. They should leave the credit to the regional CIA¡¯s branch.


    Normally, agents could not be praised for their achievements if they hurt the organization¡¯s pride. The whole group was more important than the individual agents. They were like shadows working behind the scenes.


    Youngho and Jongil were only visiting Colombia for a vacation.


    ***


    The regional CIA branch took Tevez in without exposing his involvement in the recent abduction. It was because there was still a lot to hear from Tevez about Colombian government and agency, and moreover, there must be someone inside the CIA who had a connection with. Although Tevez still saved his life, his life was not his own anymore.


    Edward¡¯s abduction turned out to be Tevez¡¯s independent doing. He confessed that he had lured Edward with an arms deal. However, there was still a mystery in his confession.


    Edward would not agree to do an arms deal with anyone if he was not assigned by the CIA. This meant that Tevez had a connection with the arms deal agent whom he previously had a deal with. However, the one who called Edward for an arms deal was not alive anymore. He was taken down and buried after he did his part of contacting Edward for a meeting.


    Tevez¡¯s purpose for taking Edward was to get themissions he earned from arms deals, but even if a weak agent could not have followed some easily even if he was threatened at gunpoint. There must have been supporters who helped Tevez to subdue Edward.


    The abduction of Edward left a bunch of mysteries to Youngho. There must be an insider in the CIA who leaked the information about Edward but he could not see why. Could it be that there were power struggles inside the CIA¡¯s Central and Southern American chapter and Edward was targeted for removal by an opposing force?


    Since Edward was alive and Youngho and Jongil had done their part, they were not allowed to investigate upon the case anymore. Youngho finished his official work by sending a brief report to Michael and went out to shop for Zenep¡¯s gift.


    Jongil was busy taking care of Risaralda.


    Now that Tevez was gone, Jongil helped her sell the apartment and distribute some of Tevez¡¯s money to her. Because of Youngho and Jongil, Risaralda and her family members had lost the source of money to support their lives. Feeling guilty, Jongil was going to give her enough for her college and to support her family.


    Since the two were the ones who caught Tevez, they were given the permission to distribute his money and properties. Because they were not officially sent by the CIA, they could not makemission from the trip. So, they also took some for their portions, Edward¡¯s portion forpensation for the beating, and Risaralda¡¯s portion. They did not touch any properties belonged to Tevez¡¯s family. What they were distributing were his hidden properties.


    His hidden wealth summed up to millions of dors. It was not a hard job to get the signature from imprisoned Tevez.


    When they took care of all of his properties and left Colombia, Risaralda came out to say goodbye to Jongil. She cried in his arms at the airport in appreciation.


    Youngho was d that he had seized another weakness of Jongil in front of his dear wife, Karajan.


    ***


    From this incident, Youngho learned why agents should be secretive even to hisrades since others can sell the information about him for their own benefits. In easy words, he could not trust anyone except for himself. Edward must have trusted an insider and told about his recent arms deals, just like when he exposed Youngho¡¯s identity to Tracy of the Lincy Foundation. Although Youngho liked Edward as a friend, he was not a great agent.


    Apart from his friendship to Michael, Youngho decided not to share any unnecessary information with him from now on, especially if it was a controversial matter because it coulde back to get him like a boomerang in the future.


    ¡°What are you thinking? You haven¡¯t had any food or drink since you got on the ne. Is anything bothering you?¡±


    Noticing Youngho¡¯s unusual behaviors, Jongil asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing but... I just have a lot of thoughts after seeing what happened to Edward.¡±


    They spoke for hours before theynded in Frankfurt. Jongil also agreed on many things that Youngho felt like as an agent and shared his ideas to survive as agents in the CIA¡¯s power struggles.


    ***


    ¡°You two! You are my heroes!¡±


    Chief Michael praised the two¡¯s work as he patted on their shoulders.


    Since they had done what other agents in the region could not do, Michael was proud in front of other high-rankers of the CIA.


    Youngho only wrote brief notes on the report he sent but to experts, it was a difficult mission like finding a needle in the desert. Not knowing Youngho and Edward¡¯s arms deals, anybody would have thought the same.


    Michael¡¯s heart was warmed to think that if any agents went missing from now on, the European chapter would be the one to find him upon the request of the headquarters.


    ¡°Chief, don¡¯t you ever send us to anywhere to find other missing agents. We¡¯ve gone through such troubles this time in the jungles in the mountains.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯ve rescued a person in Bogota¡¯s downtown. What mountains are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°We met up with the rebels to find out about Edward¡¯s enemy. We couldn¡¯t have found out anything if we didn¡¯t meet them.¡±


    ¡°Those Central and Southern American agents can¡¯t even think of something like that. Some of the unqualified high-rankers who were only hired for their connections would be sent back to the headquarters soon. They¡¯re not even decent workers but they¡¯re just mimicking politics in the agency.¡±


    Michael¡¯sints were bursting out from his mouth.


    He was only telling such stories to Youngho since he trusted him but he didn¡¯t know that he was leaking information about the high-rankers of the headquarters.


    ***


    It was boisterous on the third floor of the Zeynep Wine¡¯s sales, where Yunsuh and Sangchun¡¯s family now lived. Jongil had given an emerald that he bought in Colombia with his savings.


    ¡°Jongil oppa. I wasn¡¯t harsh on you because I wanted something like this from you, but since you already bought it for me, I¡¯ll take it. Don¡¯t ever do anything like this for me from now on.¡±


    Yunsuh was obviously saying words she did not mean.


    ¡°Yunsuh, if you really think that I¡¯m your brother, you should totally forget about my past. I can¡¯t live under pressure, you know.¡±


    ¡°Alright, oppa. I¡¯ll never mention about you making some girls cry ever, but I still have friends who are single. They always give me stress when they talk about you.¡±


    Sangchun interrupted Yunsuh.


    ¡°Honey, please! You¡¯ve got to stop giving him a hard time because of the past.¡±


    ¡°What? Forget about the past? Do you know how many notes with your signature on I have? They say you won¡¯t drink anymore but you never kept your promises!¡±


    ¡°My notes and what Jongil did arepletely different matters. He¡¯s done a horrible thing but I only had a few drinks to myself.¡±


    ¡°Dude, are you trying to help or what? We¡¯ve been talking and resolving things without you. Stop interrupting and get off!¡±


    As they already had some drinks, they were enjoying their time together. Youngho was thinking that moments like this was the purpose his life.


    Ever since Youngho became an agent, his life started to unravel.


    Meeting Edward was the turning point of his life. Back then, he had toe to find opportunities in the Caucasus because he was about to sell his family¡¯s house if he did not receive any order soon. He was mistaken and beaten up by the militia but that became an opportunity and starting point for his new life.


    To Youngho, Edward meant a lot. If it was not him, he could not have started his farm well.


    After saving Edward who was his savior when he was weak, Youngho sent a million dors to him, so that he could use it for hospitalization and re-establish his life. It was like Youngho just paid off the debt that had been on his mind for a long time, although everything was Tevez¡¯s money.


    Since they received Risaralda¡¯s help, he gave her enough tuition till her graduation and living costs for her family. The rest of the money, which was 500,000 dors, was given to Jongil. The emerald he got for Yunsuh was bought with Tevez¡¯s money.


    Feeling satisfied that he took care of everything well, Youngho smiled.

 Chapter 170 - A Small Leap (1)

    <h4>Chapter 170: A Small Leap (1)</h4>


    ¡®The Arirang¡¯ was built as a multipurpose freighter.


    There were two huge cargo holds at the front side of the vessel and a small cargo hold at the afterdeck behind the steering house.


    The Arirang weighed three thousand tons and had 94 meters of length, 18 meters of width, and 18 knots of the maximum speed. It was considered to be pretty fast in the Caspian Sea where there was no heavy current.


    Youngho was going to name the freighter ¡®The Zeynep¡¯ but Zeynep disagreed on using her name after searching aboutrge vessels on the Inte. The reason was that the freighter was too small to fit her great name.


    Today was the first official sail of the Arirang which was considered to be supersized in the Caspian Sea. Up until now, Youngho had been recruiting the captains and crew and even had trial sails with wine cargo on board. Since wines would be shipped directly to the Volga River in Volgograd from now on, Youngho could not save a tremendous amount of delivery time and cost.


    Sergey also was d that the freighter could provide arge number of wine bottles to him at once because the wines were always out of stock and he had to hearints from local distributors all the time. Also, now that there were nond-route transportation problems, he suggested raising the wine¡¯s factory price even more for the lessened transportation cost. Youngho was in fact, nning to raise the wine¡¯s price soon with the same reason.


    Primarily, the freighter was bought as a transportation method between Kazakhstan and Baku but it unexpectedly resolved other issues of wine delivery. The waterway of the Volga River was a huge gain that Youngho did not see.


    After he bought the freighter, he had to hire crewmen. Hearing the news of Zeynep Corporation¡¯s recruitment, people crowded into the farm to apply for positions. It meant that the corporation had portrayed a great image to the public. The crew hade up with an idea to deliver wines to the Volga River, and now the freighter had be a regr wine delivery vessel. Although the Arirang crew could make some money even when the ship was not on a sail but because they made much more money from sailing, they hade up with such an idea.


    However, in the Caspian Sea, all-year-round sailing was impossible because the Northern ports and the Volga River froze for three to four months during the winter season. Therefore, the crew had to work hard to make up for the winter time¡¯s delivery before the river froze.


    There were too many people at the farm who wanted to follow Youngho on the first sail of the Arirang, so they had to draw lots to figure out who would be going on the trip. It was because the Arirang¡¯s existence meant a lot to the farm family and the Serbian descendants.


    Indeed, it was so much more convenient to deliver wines on a ship than on cars since there were no border inspections.


    If one followed the waterway of the Volga River, he could even reach the ck Sea. Since Youngho carried a lot of secretive stuff, he was d that he found the waterway, although he would have to use a smaller ship to get there.


    ***


    The Arirang drove off for the Port of Atyrau with Youngho¡¯s group and the crew on board. The waves of the Caspian Sea were strong due to the seasonal wind of May.


    Feeling sick from all the motions of the vessel, Zeynep¡¯s face turned pale. Soon, she began to throw up at the guardrail of the deck. She had given up school toe alongside Youngho but she was having a hard time since it was her first time traveling on a ship.


    The sickness would naturally disappear once she gets used to the ship¡¯s motions but there was another way to forcefully stop it. Since lying down on a bed would not make the sickness go away, Youngho made her run around the deck, which he learned when he severed in the Navy. Running a few times around the deck magically made the sickness go away and all the colors of facee back.


    Feeling a little better after running around, Zeynep smiled as she wiped the sweat on her forehead.


    ¡°Oppa, you said I won¡¯t get sick because the ship is huge.¡±


    She med him for her sickness.


    ¡°These waves are not even strong. You won¡¯t speak like that if you see waves in the Pacific.¡±


    ¡°Phew. I can breathe now. Wait a minute, why are Fatima unni and Leon not getting sick?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re wearing the rings, that¡¯s why they don¡¯t get sick.¡±


    Youngho and Szechenyi gave their rings to them, but they did not feel a thing despite all the waves. As Youngho mentioned about the ring, Zeynep asked where Jongil was and left to find him at the steering house. It seemed that she was going to take the ring from him.


    Many vessels floating on the Caspian Sea were not even painted or decorated. It was because many shipowners did not invest money for their ship¡¯s aesthetic purposes since the vessels only considered as transportational means. Moreover, there were not a lot ofrge cargo deliveries on vessels since there were little international exchanges between nations. The only vessels that stood out were bulk carriers that carried grains.


    That was why the Arirang, a brand new vessel that was painted with bright colors caught people¡¯s eyes when it entered the Port of Atyrau.


    Kim Chun, who had been waiting for Youngho¡¯s arrival with a craned neck, waved his arms as soon as he saw the ship at the dock so that the captain coulde alongside the pier.


    Some people apanied Kim Chun and they were chatting about the huge vessel.


    As soon as thedders wereid, he climbed up on board and excitedly greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Boss, you arete. I almost had to give this dock to another ship. If I didn¡¯t insist, I would¡¯ve lost the best spot.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mr. Kim. I had to wait for a tugboat. Anyway, thank you for your hard work.¡±


    Kim Chun had reserved the best dock spot and waited for them. It was only possible because the port was not so crowded. In big trade ports, reserving a great dock spot could take a few days of waiting in line.


    The people he brought along were the employees of the Arirang Farm and port staffs. He was so thrilled to introduce Youngho¡¯s group to those people since he was the branch head of well-off Zeynep Corporation that even owned its own huge vessel.


    Youngho also did not forget to praise him for his work because it would encourage him to work for thepany knowing that his boss appreciates and trust him.


    ¡°Mr. Kim. Since you¡¯re working this hard, I won¡¯t have to worry about a thing here. I know you¡¯d do a great job at managing the farm¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Boss. These are my friends who¡¯d be managing administrative businesses of the farm. They are all third or fourth generation Koryoins.¡±


    Youngho was introduced to five Koryoin-descents. After meeting everyone, the entire group went to a hotel to rest for the night.


    ***


    ¡°Jongil, I think we should reserve this hotel¡¯s reception hall. Mr. Kim invited too many people, I don¡¯t think going to a restaurant would be enough.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. He must have a wide circle of acquaintances. The chief of police is understandable but I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d invite the mayor and the governor of the city.¡±


    ¡°He told me that he used his connection to other Koryoin descents. What was it? Oh, yeah. He said that a multimillionaire from Korea was opening a farm in Kazakhstan or something. Man, he¡¯s full of bluff.¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s not a liar. You should be a little more boastful of yourself.¡±


    Youngho had told Kim Chun to invite people rted to the farm for dinner so that he could be introduced to them. Youngho initially thought that he would be having dinner with a dozen of people but it already had be a huge event in the city because, apparently, Kim Chun invited all of the influential people in the region.


    Born as a Koryoin descent, Kim Chun had been a minority his whole life but he had been proud of himself ever since Korean culture became popr in the country. And one day, an investor who could be more influential than Korean cultures showed up, so he wanted to show off Youngho¡¯s existence to the mainstream society.


    Knowing where he wasing from, Youngho did not say anything to therge guest list. It would be helpful in the future to make some connections this time anyway since, without officials¡¯ help, it would not be easy for him to establish the farm.


    In fact, it turned out to be a great idea that Kim Chun invited many important local people because it made a great impression of Arirang Farm to the mainstream society. The party was even highlighted by Fatima and Zeynep¡¯s appearance since Youngho introduced them as West European royal family¡¯s Archduchess and princess. Now Youngho had be a wealthy billionaire investor who had a European royal wife.


    Because he invited and treated important officials to the event and made a great impression, they would be favorable to any Arirang Farm-rted licensing and permitting processes. They would also expect some bribes from Youngho, knowing that he was a well-off business owner.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s so funny! Did you see their faces? They did not know what to do when they saw Fatima and Zeynep.¡±


    Jongil chuckled to think about the startled officials when they greeted the high royalties, Fatima and Zeynep.


    ¡°Yup, that was pretty cool. I didn¡¯t know why Fatima followed me on this trip with Leon but she made a great choice.¡±


    ¡°Of course, she knew this was big for you. Man, I should¡¯ve bought Karajan too! Maybe she could¡¯ve been seen as a royalty too.¡±


    Jongil was now holding his stomach since it hurt fromughing too much.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m d we did it. The Arirang Farm will be on a smooth sale from now on. Don¡¯t you think the governor and the mayor look a little greedy?¡±


    ¡°Yup, I noticed that. You know what I did for us? I gave emerald nes to their wives and told them it¡¯s from Colombia. They were in love with those nes.¡±


    Jongil had bought many emerald jewels in Colombia and had been using them for business purposes. Since they were valuable in Kazakhstan, the wives of high officials thought that they were being treated specially.


    ¡°We should ask Edward to send more of themter. Anyone in Bogota had those jewels on their necks and ears, even young children, but they¡¯re valuable here.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it depends on how you process the stone. I bought expensive ones only. It¡¯s not the same with the ones sold on the streets. Don¡¯t mention it in front of Yunsuh, she¡¯s going to grill me to buy some more for her if she found out.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Anyway, I¡¯ve got to admit. Your business skills are amazing.¡±


    Jongil was amazing at understanding women¡¯s mind whether it was an older woman or it was a young girl. He was a born womanizer.


    ***


    The effect of the freighter delivery came at once. The Emptied vessel after finishing the delivery of wines in Volgograd, Russia usually came back loaded with construction materials and equipment. Then it went to the Port of Atyrau and came back to Baku with grains imported from Kazakhstan.


    The reason that it was delivering grains from the port was that many shippers requested a delivery since the Arirang was a huge vessel that visited three countries on a regr basis. With the use of a freighter, Zeynep Corporation could now open a new delivery and distribution business. Although there had been other freighters that went between Baku and Kazakhstan, not only their sizes were smaller but also they did not travel regrly.


    By doing these delivery cycles, Youngho was also putting the vessel into a test if it was strong enough to be driven during the winter times. The freezing of the Caspian Sea during the winter made it difficult for many vessels traveling around but the ice was not as thick as the Arctic¡¯s. The freighter was not an icebreaker but any vessel with a strong hull and powerful engine could ovee the ice. Youngho only wished that thergest shipyard of Baku, where he bought his ships, had the technical skills to make such sturdy vessels.

 Chapter 171 - A Small Leap (2)

    <h4>Chapter 171: A Small Leap (2)</h4>


    Youngho entered the gate of the Baku¡¯s shipyard with Zeynep again.


    Zeynep found a new interest in ships, so when Youngho said he was visiting the shipyard, she hade alongside him.


    As they parked the car, Steve Janssen, the vice president of the shipyard came out to greet Youngho. Then he courteously received Zeynep in a way that someone would do to high royalty. She was startled by the situation but soon she greeted him back calmly.


    ¡°Excuse my ignorance from thest time, I had not recognized that you¡¯re a royal princess.¡±


    The word had spread so quickly.


    The cause was Chief Niksic of Serbian Vige. Youngho had picked and sent some of the talented Serbian children to the international school where Zeynep was attending, so Chief Niksic visited the school as a guardian representative of those children. He was guided by Zeynep at school and what happened next was obvious. He would have followed her around calling her ¡®princess¡¯ all day long and the whole school and the families of the students would have found out that Zeynep was not amon girl by now.


    ***


    Janssen dropped his jaw.


    ¡°Mr. Janssen, does your face mean that this is impossible?¡±


    ¡°No, no. I was surprised that you¡¯vee up with such an innovative idea. People usually don¡¯t wish to pay more money since the ice would melt in four months.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to open a regr water route. If one or two sturdy vessels go at the front, other ships would be able to follow along with the route easily. I believe someone needs to invest more for this. If that¡¯s too much of a waste, I guess the following shipowners can pay to follow through the water route.¡±


    ¡°Although I¡¯m in sales, I¡¯ve never ttered anyone in vain but I think someone like you deserves to be called a true businessman.¡±


    ¡°I am ttered by your words, I always enjoy suchpliments.¡±


    Youngho chuckled loudly at Janssen¡¯spliments.


    ¡°But the only problem is that the bulk carriers that you put an order are already in production. If you¡¯d like to make additional features, there¡¯s going to be an extra cost.¡±


    ¡°You can leave the bulk carriers as originally nned. I¡¯d like to add those features to a multipurpose freighter and another ship that would cross the canal at the Volga River. Do you think it¡¯d be possible?¡±


    Realizing that Youngho came to make additional orders, Janssen got even more excited.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to ce additional orders?¡±


    ¡°The 3,000 ton-ss freighter should be only sturdy enough to break some ice, and can you make the one that would be crossing the canal as a 1,000-ton ss icebreaker? I¡¯m nning to go to the ck Sea with that.¡±


    Although it would be impossible to pass through if the canal¡¯s lock gate gets frozen, Youngho had made an order to make a ship that could be sturdy enough to be an icebreaker because he had another intention.


    Jassen who was sipping on his tea was choked at the unexpected order since Youngho just requested to make two special vessels.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you know that I¡¯m a Dutch. When I worked at a shipyard in the Nethends, I specialized in icebreakers.¡±


    ¡°That is great. I also wanted to add some more special features to the icebreaker. Of course, I¡¯ll pay for the additional costs.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. How about we talk about the costs first and sign on the agreements? I¡¯m in a rush for these. You can postpone the production of the bulk carriers but could you please make these vessels as your priority?¡±


    Janssen thought that it was his lucky day. Because of Youngho, the shipyard could get rid of a freighter that had been a problem and receive four orders of middle andrge vessel productions.


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, why would you make hurry the production of the icebreaker?¡±


    On the way back to the farm, Zeynep asked numerous questions.


    ¡°Do you remember I¡¯m building a hotel in Batumi in the coast of the ck Sea? When the construction ispleted, I¡¯m going to store some things in there.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s intention was to store gold bars in Batumi, which was a rtively safe ce for him.


    If he carried gold bars using thend route, there was a risk to get caught by border inspections but if he used his own vessel, there would be no such problem. Also, ships could carry more gold bars at once than cars.


    The reason that Youngho wanted special features added to the ship that would be traveling through the canal was to install defensive arms on it since he heard that there were a lot of robbers near the canal.


    The Volga River, referred as ¡®Mother Volga¡¯ by Russians, was like the main artery of the regions of Western Russia. The length of the river about 3,600 kilometers and its volume was enormous.


    Russia had been putting a lot of efforts into establishing a canal that connected the Caspian Sea and the ck Sea and the result of their efforts was Volga-Don Canal.


    The length of the man-made canal that connected the Volga River and the Don River was about a hundred kilometers andrge vessels up to 5,000-ton ss could pass through the canal. One could go to the ck Sea after passing through thirteen lock gates along the canal and the Sea of Azov.


    Youngho was excited that he had found a new sea route since a vessel could go anywhere freely on the water. Onnd, he would be under thew of any government or authorities of the territory he was in but on the international waters, no one could touch him.


    ***


    The deliverypany that Yaniv made to deliver wines to Volgograd did not have so much work to do now since Youngho carried all of the wines on his freighter, because it cost less for him to deliver the wines on the sea route, he did not use thepany anymore. Since thepany was run by Yaniv¡¯s man, he had been paying high delivery costs. Thepany only lived on wine deliveries and now that there were no more wine delivery orders, it could not survive anymore.


    Youngho always thought that thepany was run on such an inefficient system especially because the returning trucks from Volgograd were empty. There were many quantities of goods being transported between the two countries but the deliverypany did not try to make money on the returning trip. It was a terrible way to run apany. Thus, it was a great chance for Youngho to start out a new delivery business using the sea route.


    After returning to the farm, Youngho called Jongil and Insoo to his study.


    Since they all had served in the Navy U.D.T. Unit, he wanted to brainstorm the effective weapons on the sea.


    ¡°Hey. You¡¯ve been on battleships, right? I was assigned to transport ships, so I haven¡¯t seen decent weapons.¡±


    Back in Navy years, Youngho and Insoo were sailors of transport ship called LST and Jongil was on a destroyer called DD. That was why Jongil became boastful when they talked about vessels.


    ¡°You fools. You know that you are assigned to different ships ording to your test results from training school. You guys flunked at the school, that¡¯s why you were assigned to transport ships.


    ¡°Stop trying to manipte us. The assigning had nothing to do with your test results! It went by your registration number.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Anyway, I can¡¯t tell you about this since it is highly ssified.¡±


    Jongil was feeling ten feet tall and refused to share what he knew to his friends.


    ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t need your opinion. If you¡¯re going to give me more sh*t, I¡¯m just going to decide it for myself.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? What do you know about the weapons on battleships? I should be the one to decide.¡±


    ¡°This is only a freighter. We don¡¯t need grandiose weapons.¡±


    ¡°Just wait. Let me see. You should install a mount for a heavy machine gun over here and it will look great to have Vulcan automatic cannon at the front or at the end of the vessel. Also, you should top that with an elevator under the deck and put a helicopter there. See? Perfect!¡±


    Then Youngho pped Jongil¡¯s back so hard that it made a clear sound.


    ¡°Dude, why don¡¯t you make a warship then?¡±


    ¡°Man! We seriously need a helicopter. Not a big one, we can have a tiny one. If you¡¯re in a rush, you can travel on that.¡±


    It was not an absurd idea but it sounded terrible just because Jongil said it. The three discussed for a long time and agreed on making a car-ferry-type of a ship. It would be a multipurpose vessel that could carry many people and cars at the same time. The side of the bow would be enforced to function as an icebreaker, so the stem would be cargo area.


    ***


    The grapes were growing under the warm sunshine of June. Looking at those fruits getting bigger, Youngho felt full already.


    If there is not a problem, the number of oak casks would increase at his farm. Since he had plenty of spaces to store oak casks, he did not worry about it. It was because any wine that had been aged for more than two years were transferred into small-sized oak casks and then went into the mine cers. For that reason, the low-temperature aging room on the farm did not have muchrge-sized oak casks in store.


    The oak cask orders had been increasing at the oak factory, so the factory employees had been working even on the weekends.


    Although the factory was operated by an automated system, many detailings needed handwork, so mass production was not possible at any oak cask factories. Especially the factory was producing a lot of small and middle-sized casks, which needed a lot of handworks, and the rate of production was pretty low.


    The quality of the oak casks made at Zeynep Farm was quite great, so the order request had been increasing continuously.


    Youngho smelled the scent of oak trees at the factory that he visited in a long time.


    Leon, who was in his arms, was screaming in an effort to mimic the noiseing from the factory. After he started crawling, he did not sit still even for a minute. He was a curious and mischievous little devil that exhausted everyone around him.


    Since it was the weekend, Youngho was now taking care of Leon, instead of Fatima. Hearing Leon¡¯s scream, the factory manager noticed the two hanging around the factory. He greeted Youngho and escorted him to the shade under a shade umbre.


    ¡°Boss, why¡¯d youe down to this noisy ce? You could just go to rest.¡±


    ¡°My Leon was curious about the sound of cutting lumbers.¡±


    ¡°The prince had grown so much already. He¡¯s going to walk around soon.¡±


    ¡°He already makes trouble when he crawls. If he walks, I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be anything left untouched in the house.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The easy-going factory managerughed nicely even though he was working under pressure.


    ¡°You should take some rest during the weekends even if we had to dy the delivery dates.¡±


    ¡°Since they get amission for every cask they finish, they¡¯re eager to make as many products as possible. They don¡¯t get tired of making money.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t even give you more work since everyone¡¯s so busy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the boss, who¡¯d let you down? What do you wish to ask, Boss?¡±


    Holding Leon, who was struggling to get out, tight, Youngho exined everything the manager while drawing pictures of the vessel on the ground.


    ¡°That is a wonderful idea. So, all of the walls in each cabin would be covered by oaks? That sounds amazing but I¡¯m afraid that it won¡¯t be easy to get such arge amount of the trees. We won¡¯t have enough with the ones left from oak cask productions.¡±


    Since the scent of oak trees refreshed the atmosphere, Youngho wanted to apply that to the ship that was being newly made.


    ¡°Is there any way that we can use the sawdust and the left-over pieces?¡±


    ¡°Well, there is a way. You couldpress the sawdust and cover its surface with a thin coating but it¡¯s aplicated process.¡±


    ¡°If there is a slight possibility, please don¡¯t incinerate the leftovers but store them in somewhere.¡±


    ¡°I sure will. I¡¯ll talk to a lumber dealer that I know well and ask him about it.¡±


    In order to pass the Volga-Don Canal with the car-ferry ship, one would have to spend a few days inside the ship, so he wanted to make the environment more pleasant. That was why he thought of the subtle oak scent. He did not wish to install luxury facilities like a high-quality cruise ship but it would be nice to have refreshing interiors of the ship. Besides, his gut feeling was telling him that the car-ferry ship would be used more than he expected.

 Chapter 172 - A Small Leap (3)

    <h4>Chapter 172: A Small Leap (3)</h4>


    Both of the Arirang Hotels in Batumi Port of Georgia and Moscow had a groundbreaking ceremony on the same day. Youngho and Ilkwon went to Moscow while Jongil and Insoo went to Batumi.


    Fatima and Zeynep apanied Youngho this time because Yaniv insisted to bring Zeynep along. He even came out at the airport to receive them. Knowing Yaniv¡¯s effort, Zeynep kissed him on his cheek.


    ¡°Grandpa! You look healthy!¡±


    ¡°Hey, my beautiful Zeynep! Wee to Moscow. Why haven¡¯t you called me meanwhile?¡±


    ¡°Phew, grandpa. A student needs to study. Also, I didn¡¯t want to bother you when I know you¡¯re always busy for work.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll answer your call even when I¡¯m golfing with the president.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I got it.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, it¡¯s like all of us are invisible to you except Zeynep.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Lee! I didn¡¯t notice you were here. Now that you brought Zeynep, you can go back to Baku right away.¡±


    Yaniv was in a good mood that he was even unusually teasing Youngho. Since he was a mafia boss, he had brought many men along, who escorted him. The airport was crowded by them as if an influential person was visiting the country.


    At the hotel site near the Moskva River, the apartment building was already torn down and cleared for the ceremony.


    Many people crowded in for the ceremony including the mayor, the police, other officials, and even the press. They finished the tape-cutting ceremony and then they started a banquet at a reception hall of a nearby hotel. It seemed that all of the high officials came to attend the ceremony forcefully since they soon disappeared after greeting and eating. Knowing that Yaniv was close to the president, they could not refuse to show up at his big business event.


    ¡°I wanted to talk to the mayor but he left quickly.¡±


    ¡°Well, the reporters took all of the pictures, so they have no reason to stay here. I told them they could go.¡±


    Yaniv had called high officials and reporters to advertise his hotel. Although he was only a mafia, he had more power than the mayor and the police chief due to his connection to the president. Youngho thought such things could only happen in Russia.


    ***


    ¡°Brother Sergey, about the construction equipment I askedst time. You shouldn¡¯t have sent brand new ones, you should¡¯ve sent used ones.¡±


    ¡°Those were not new, they were used in the army base. I only painted the exteriors. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve been used more than ten years.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? The parts were brand new though.¡±


    ¡°Themander of Southwestern regional base told me to pay only the scrap value because he was getting thetest equipment. I think they were just not used very much.¡±


    Youngho did not understand why the militarymander had sold the equipment at dirt cheap prices.


    ¡°What? Wouldn¡¯t he get in trouble for that?¡±


    ¡°The equipment are expendables. Every base has to rece equipment after a certain period of time. Once the timees, they always sell the old equipment at cheap prices and send the profits to the Ministry of National Defense, although Boss gave them some rpense.¡±


    Indeed, it would not make for him to get the great equipment if Yaniv had not bribed the militarymander.


    ¡°Brother, I thought you¡¯d charge me along with the wine distribution fee. I feel like I owe you more.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, stop feeling bad and thinking that you owe us something. We¡¯re more than that. If it¡¯s for you, Boss and I are always willing to help.¡±


    ¡°... but still, I have to pay for what needs to be paid.¡±


    ¡°You know my boss is a rich man. He wouldn¡¯t mind using that much money. He was feeling bad that you¡¯re working on the foreign wastnd by yourself. He wanted to be of help to you. Don¡¯t even try to mention such a thing in front of him, he would be disappointed if you say so.¡±


    Youngho wanted to keep some distance from them but they would not allow such thing from him. It looked like it was impossible to draw the line. He had to admit now that they had be like a family already even though he hated mafias. The rtionship with them had not been harmful to him at all but always helpful.


    ***


    At the instrument panel before the front seatsid the Quran.


    Looking at the condition of the airne, Youngho could see why a Quran was there; to give peace of mind. It seemed that he would have to leave his life to his destiny if he was going to fly on this ne.


    The old airne was in a condition that could be thrown into a dump at this instance. The screws seemed to be loose and the wings were made out of canvas-like cloths. There was a spot that looked like it had been mended, which made it even scarier. He could not believe that this was the ne that used to be the most popr in the sixties.


    ¡°This... can fly?¡±


    Jongil, who is usually a bold person, asked in a worrisome voice looking at Youngho.


    ¡°I already knew it when they gave us parachutes. I¡¯m going to jump out of here right away if things start to go wrong.¡±


    Youngho was feeling d that he learned how to jump out of a moving airne when he underwent airborne training. Because Jongil pushed him to learn how to fly light aircraft together, he also registered at a flying school. They hadpleted basic training and it was the first day on an aircraft. Their trainers had spontaneously decided to fly since there was no wind today. They seemed to have great pride in the aircraft although it was in awful shape.


    ¡°Man, they¡¯re only going to give us the license after we fly that thing for 25 hours. I think I¡¯m going to wet my pants.¡±


    Youngho could not me Jongil forining because he was not feeling well either, although he did not wet his pants. The airne which felt like it would crash at any moment hadnded after two hours of flying.


    The aircraft flew between 300 to 500 meters of altitude and the reason that it felt like it would crash at any time was that it was flying at 100 kilometers per hour when the trainers had emphasized that its maximums speed was 150 kilometers per hour.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do this anymore, Jongil. We should buy a new model instead and tell them to teach us that.¡±


    ¡°Youngho my man! It¡¯s like you read my mind.¡±


    Relieved by Youngho¡¯s idea, Jongil hugged him. Youngho felt like he would be risking his and his friend¡¯s lives if he kept on practicing flying with the old training airne. It was ridiculous to do this when he had money, and he needed an airne in Baku anyway. Since he traveled in-between small countries around Baku often, a light aircraft woulde handy when he was in a rush. Also, even if there was a problem in the engine or there was not enough gas, light aircraft couldnd smoothly like a glider, so he was confident.


    Youngho asked the flying school to look for thetest models of light aircraft and what they rmended was ¡®Cessna 174 Skyhawk¡¯ made by Cessna Aircraft Company in America. He assumed that the airne would be expensive thinking about jets, but Cessna 174 was only 300,000 dors.


    It seated four people including the pilot and could carry 1.1 tons of weight including the weight of the ne. It could also fly up to 4,000 meters above the sky and the maximum speed was 300 kilometers per hour. Youngho especially liked the fact that it could fly 1,300 kilometers of distance since this meant that it could go any nations in the Caucasus.


    It was perfect for Youngho.


    As it was a ne from a light aircraft manufacturer that proved to be safe for decades, he did not hesitate longer but ordered it immediately.


    With the airne, he would be able to fly to Volgograd in four hours and from Baku to Atyrau, Kazakhstan, it would take him less than three hours. Youngho was exuberated by the purchase.


    Since it was a light aircraft, it would not be too dangerous even if he had to make a forcednding on the ne¡¯s belly. Not to mention, that he could use a parachute at any time. He also trusted the ring¡¯s power. If something happens, it would still protect him from danger.


    ***


    ¡°So, you want me to learn how to fly?¡±


    It was Insoo asking back after Youngho¡¯s suggestion to learn to fly.


    ¡°Sure, you and Ilkwon too. It¡¯s not fair that we¡¯re the only ones wetting our pants.¡±


    Ilkwon interrupted the two.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I can even fly jets. In the North Korean university, they picked elite students and taught us how to fly.¡±


    ¡°They invest that much money to raise agents?¡±


    ¡°Well, it only applies to a few talented students.¡±


    ¡°Whoa. They do whatever to train to hijack. So, that means, you were such an elite student! You proud brat.¡±


    Jongil was ming Ilkwon for nothing but knowing how he was like, Ilkwon justughed.


    ¡°No, no. I can¡¯t fly. I have acrophobia and I was exempted from parachute training.¡±


    Insoo was backing out but Jongil had no heart to let him go.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. I also have acrophobia, but I¡¯m oveing it as I¡¯m learning how to fly. You¡¯d be exempted from our gang if you don¡¯t learn to fly!¡±


    Since it would be exhausting to fly three to four hours straight, Youngho and Jongil decided to convince his friends to be pilots, so that they could take turns when flying for a long distance. Since Ilkwon was already a pilot, Insoo was their target.


    Hearing Jongil and Insoo¡¯s conversation, Youngho suggested a solution.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take some calming medicine, then?¡±


    Indeed, Youngho had be so busy to the point where he needed an airne to travel between a workce to another. He had heard that there was a military airport in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia. If he could use that airport, he would not have to travel on the dangerous and rough mountainous roads to get there.


    Since he was the owner of the Arirang Hotel in Tskhinvali, it would be easy to request to use the military airport. If that did not work, he could make Katya visit the prime minister and she would resolve the issue. Youngho thought that he could take advantage of her beauty to convince the prime minister.


    Anyway, with the light aircraft¡¯s appearance in his life, his traveling patter would dramatically change. Time was money for him now that he had be a busy, well-off businessman.


    Until the Cessna airne arrived, they had to practice flying with the old practice airne.


    Cha Insoo and Kim Ilkwon also trained to fly along with Youngho and Jongil. It was such a nerve-racking training period but they were getting the hang of it as time went on. Now the tension of flying had decreased and Youngho could observe what was around him during the flying lessons.


    Zeynep Farm, Serbian Vige, and the ranch all could be seen from the sky. They always felt so huge but looking from the sky, they did not seem so big. They were so tiny that Youngho felt like he had been satisfied as if he had the whole when in fact, what he had was nothing in the world. It was indeed that the world should be viewed from different perspectives.


    If he had not trained to learn how to fly, he would have never realized this truth but would have been boastful of the size of his estates.


    Youngho thought of what Eriksson from the Information Agency said. He said that not everything is what it seems, ¡®not everything is what meets the eye.¡¯ Those words came anew to Youngho.

 Chapter 173 - A Small Leap (4)

    <h4>Chapter 173: A Small Leap (4)</h4>


    Kids¡¯ joyful noise from the reservoir equipped with a yground facility reached the Southern river of Zeynep Farm where Youngho went to seek shade.


    Baku in July had be extremely hot that he had to go near the water.


    The farm was crowded every day with kids that were on the summer break from the international school and the kids of the Serbian descendants.


    Insoo, who was fishing for trout, picked his ears and told Youngho who was next to him,


    ¡°Those kids are loud.¡±


    ¡°The grapes will be growing faster because of them. You know, they say nts grow faster when they hear the owner¡¯s voice more.¡±


    ¡°Is that a proven fact?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard what Sangchun¡¯s father said? The leaves grow faster where you take a walk more.¡±


    ¡°He must mean that you¡¯d have to take care of them more as you visit there more often.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I can tell you this, I¡¯ve grown grapes for years now and the size of the grapes differ from the ones near the mansion and the ones near the fence. You know old Korean ssical schrs cleaned leaves of their orchids every day to make the flower bloom. Not everything is exinable with science.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell them to climb up the hills and scream at the whole farm? We¡¯ll see the results then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the wisdom of life. Any life should be taken seriously even the nts too.¡±


    Then, Jongil who had been listening to the whole conversation interrupted them.


    ¡°Yuck! Why don¡¯t you just be a monk?¡±


    ¡°Phew, why would I bother to talk to you?¡±


    Most of the foreigners who resided in Baku worked for embassies of different nations or global firms. Among them, the parents of the students of the international school were usually well-off Western Europeans and many of them were off work from Friday afternoons.


    Many people got tired of going to historic sites of Baku after a few times during their weekends, especially when the temperature went up high near 99 degrees in the summer, people would have to be bold to step out of their houses. Even when they wanted to visit the beach, the shore of the Caspian Sea was polluted with oil and because the air was not clear, they were reluctant to visit outdoor attractions downtown.


    Under such circumstances, Zeynep Farm was a great ce for people toe and rest since it was equipped with facilities for visitors such as a nice pool, shades, resting ces, and a yground for kids. In the beginning, there was only a huge reservoir but it had evolved into a great mini-vacation ce where people could visit for free of charge. Moreover, plenty of wine and cheese were provided to any visitors. It was a summer paradise for people who had no ces to go during the heated season. That was why people had no shame to keeping to the farm


    It was not difficult to spot people in bikinis now. At first, people were stunned to see people in bikinis at the farm but now it was part of the farm¡¯s scenery.


    Now, many visitors had be friends with the farm family and the workers of the farm, they did not just stay doing nothing all day long, but when there was work they naturally helped with different chores andbors. Some also fished with Youngho and his friends like now. Some active ones also followed them along for hunting.


    One good thing about it was that they brought their rtives visiting in town and advertised the wine on their own. One time, one of the farm guests¡¯ rtive bought five boxes of Zeynep wine as they left the country. The new visitors loved the idea of visiting the biggest winery in Baku and having a fun day at the reservoir pool at the same time.


    Because many people came in and out of the farm, the security of important facilities had to be reinforced. The stone walls recently, around important facilities separating them from open areas, came handy. Youngho also ordered people to build walls around the residential ce of the Serbian descendants so that visitors would not vite their privacy.


    The only exposed facility around the reservoir was the residential vis that were justpleted. Looking like private vacation homes, many people eximed seeing them and expressed their desires to live there. Youngho received many requests from visitors wanting to move into the vis at the farm. Although Youngho had to politely decline them, he was ttered every time he received those requests. They were proving that he had built amazing residential ces in the local people¡¯s eyes.


    ***


    ¡°Insoo, how many of our security crew are at the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt?¡±


    ¡°Why you ask, is there any problem?¡±


    ¡°At the wine distribution store, apparently some drunken peoplee often at night and make noise. Can you put one or two of our crew for the night shift?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve sent three of our guys to Frankfurt including Lee Chulho as the team leader and others are local guards. Hmmm, I think I might be able to send one from the Korean crew and the local crew each. Should I send more crew there to protest to the police?¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. We¡¯ll scare the German policemen.¡±


    Although Frankfurt was a global city and public peace was maintained pretty well, there were still limitations to that since it was hard to crackdown all of the activities of bad teenagers at night. Many travelers who had been in Frankfurt also suggested being cautious to walk out on the streets at night.


    Although the Zeynep Wine distribution store did not sell individual wine, it had been disying wines to the travelers to advertise them untilte nights. From that, there had been several incidents where young, drunken Germans involved in physical fights to buy some wine bottles from the store.


    Most of the German people were whites and Youngho was worried about the safety of the store since young people could gather up and be involved in violent fights against his store which was run by Asians. That was why he wanted to send more security guards from Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt.


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you call Lee Chulho? He has a title of the hotel manager. He¡¯d be able to help you.¡±


    ¡°By the way, why did Lee Chulho end up in Frankfurt? Didn¡¯t he want to go to Batumi hotel?¡±


    ¡°He drew lots with Park Taeyoung to decide who was going to Frankfurt. He¡¯s is an ambitious guy. Then, he was busy learning German. He¡¯d make a great representative of the securitypany.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, both of them are just so talented. You need to ask their opinions when you assign them to new locations or you¡¯re going to lose them.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re faithful people. They¡¯re not just going to leave us for that but I want to send Park Taeyoung to Moscow once the hotel ispleted and teach him Russian so that he can be in charge of the security team there.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You take care of that but call Chulho about the distribution store and assign a few to the store. Yunsuh keeps calling me about it and it¡¯s so annoying.¡±


    ¡°Okay. She must be giving Sangchun a hard time now.¡±


    Then, Youngho¡¯s smartphone showed a new message that was just delivered.


    ¡°See? It¡¯s Yunsuh. You¡¯ve got to take the call andfort her, I¡¯m out of here.¡±


    Youngho thought that he should do an armed protest or something when he visits Frankfurt for the CIA¡¯s monthly meeting. There had been many attacks on Asians in Germany by young German white racists. Although the country was one of the most developed countries in the world, the unemployment rate had reached a serious number. There were many unjust organizations that had been tempting young Germans who did not have anywhere to go such as Skinheads or Nazis. The world was changing and falling into turmoil.


    When Youngho was deep in his thought, Jongil called him.


    ¡°Youngho. The Cessna airne is here! Come out to the flying school.¡±


    ¡°Where are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just stepping out from the office of Department of Energy. Let¡¯s meet up with everyone at the school.¡±


    His voice was excited like a child who received a new toy. Youngho contacted Cha Insoo and Kim Ilkwon to meet up at the school together.


    ***


    ¡°Why is this so small? Can four people get in this thing?¡±


    It was Jongil¡¯s question after seeing the new airne which was just delivered to the farm. In Youngho¡¯s eyes, the ne looked like a hummer with wings. It cost him 300,000 dors but the height of the whole craft was only 2.5 meters.


    ¡°Airne is lighter than apact car. It¡¯s only about 700 kilograms.¡±


    ¡°Man, I think four of us can lift and move this.¡±


    Cha Insoo, who was the biggest of the gang, added.


    ¡°You need to lose some weight if you want to fly this thing. We need to lose other things because of your weight. In total, we should not go above 1.1 ton.¡±


    Looking at Insoo¡¯s body, Jongilined.


    Youngho was worried if the airne would fake off with Insoo on board. Comparing the Cessna airne, even the old airne at the flying school looked trustworthy.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you buy a bigger one? Jongil¡¯s ming me for this.¡±


    Both Jongil and Insoo were underestimating the most popr,test product of the Cessna Aircraft Company. Nheless, they all paid attention to the pilot and the engineer who delivered the aircraft to learn about the basic features and operation of the ne.


    ¡°Youngho, Ilkwon said you can¡¯tnd this at the international airport here. What are you going to do?¡±


    Insoo asked in a worrisome voice but it was not a problem. No international airport would empty a runway for this small light airne but what he did not know was that there were short runways for light aircraft at national airports.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I took care of that already.¡±


    Insoo was still worried but soon, he decided to trust his friend.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we let Ilkwon take control and fly all of us since we¡¯re all newbies?¡±


    ¡°Boss. I don¡¯t feelfortable taking all at once. Why don¡¯t we divide the group? I think it¡¯d better for you to fly with a professional pilot for several times more.¡±


    Ilkwon wanted to make sure that the airne was safe. He had not piloted a ne for such a long time that he was not confident in his skills either. Since anything could happen, he wanted to divide the group, so not everyone would fall in danger altogether.


    That day, the gang flew around the flying school until the gas was almost emptied.


    Youngho felt dizzy at the end of the practice.


    They all practiced taking off andnding the ne until all of their clothes were wet from sweats in the hot weather because the most important and dangerous parts of flying were taking off andnding. Although the airne was proven to be safe, it still made Youngho feel like he was going to wet his pants taking off andnding the airne while controlling its fast speed.


    ***


    ¡°Katya, how are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Boss! I¡¯ve worried about you since you haven¡¯t called metely.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯ve been busy. I was busy taking care of the hotel in Frankfurt and the other hotels under construction now.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m fine with that but Rena is missing you so bad. She¡¯s been waiting for you. She thought you¡¯d visit during the summer break.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in a few days. If you¡¯d be willing to see if we could use the military airport, I can get there by tomorrow even.¡±


    ¡°Did you buy an airne? Mr. Kim said you were learning how to fly.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Please let me know how it goes. I¡¯ll be able to get there in two hours.¡±


    Youngho was proud. Now that he had a light aircraft, he could fly to South Ossetia in two hours. Since Kim Ilkwon was a proficient pilot, there was nothing to worry about even if he had some problems during a flight. He wanted to give a flying tour around Tskhinvali to Katya and Rena.


    ***


    Youngho barely managed to leave Jongil in Baku.


    It was because of Ilkwon who insisted that the number one and number two should not be together in a potentially dangerous situation at the same time. He convinced everyone to fly together after the safety of the airne was proven by this flight. Youngho agreed since he was not confident in his flying skills yet.


    ¡°Boss, Jongil hyung will kill me as soon as wend in Baku. Did you see his re? I¡¯m getting all the mes for not taking him for this trip.¡±


    ¡°You are such a stubborn child. Why did you insist to leave him there?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, this is my first time flying for a long distance. I didn¡¯t feel confident enough to take both of you. I¡¯d rather get the me.¡±


    ¡°Man, you know how long Jongil will have this in mind...¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Well, I know several ways to melt his heart. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    It felt like Youngho only chatted with Ilkwon for a short while but they were already flying above Tskhinvali. It did not even take two hours from Baku.


    As they went lower and circled above Arirang Hotel making the engine noise, the guests all came out to see what was going on. The Cessna airnended at the little runway at one side of the military base. It was Youngho¡¯s first try ofnding.

 Chapter 174 - Koreans in Remote Places (1)

    <h4>Chapter 174: Koreans in Remote ces (1)</h4>


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Rena came running toward Youngho and hugged him. They looked like a long-lost family who had finally met after a decade of searching. After a long greeting ritual of hugging and kissing, Youngho looked up and saw Katya. She was covering her mouth to hold herughter. The scene was enough to make everyone in the military base believe that he was Rena¡¯s dad. Youngho¡¯s westernized face and his mustache were convincing enough.


    After greeting Katya with a light kiss on her cheek, he also greeted a militarymander. The people at the base thought that an owner of a global hotel chain had visited South Ossetia with his own airne. As Youngho invited themander to have dinner and some drink at his hotel tonight, he dly epted it. It seemed that the drinking party tonight would be over after emptying several Russian vodka bottles.


    Oilfield was found at the hills of the bordend of Georgia and many rted oil men crowded in at Tskhinvali. Among them, there were staffs from Korean Resources Corporation. Hearing the news that a new oilfield was found, they hade to see if it hadmercial potential. Their job was to go to different nations exploring resources and saving the data to provide the database to rted corporations.


    Beforeing here, they had searched if he could find any Korean connections to get help from, but they had not found a single trace of Koreans. However, they were astounded to see a hotel named ¡®Arirang¡¯ in South Ossetia, which was a small country of the Caucasus Mountain Range.


    They got more excited to see the big Korean g fluttering by the wind at the entrance of the hotel along with other smaller gs of the world. Since they had been traveling to the most remote ces of the world, their joy to find a Korean hotel was indescribable.


    Youngho and military high-rankers were drinking at the open-air caf¨¦ on the first floor of the hotel. The staffs of the Korean Resources Corporation paid a visit to Youngho after hearing that the owner of the hotel was there.


    As unknown Asian faces showed up, Ilkwon who had been sitting next to Youngho without drinking put his hand to the front pocket inside his jacket. He misunderstood them as the Central Asian assassins that they met in Kazakhstan. Youngho stopped his hand after seeing the Asian faces since he had heard about Korean people staying at the hotel from Katya in advance.


    ¡°You must be Koreans. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Lee Youngho. If you came to talk to me, could you wait for a little while at the table over there? I¡¯ll get to you soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you when you¡¯re with a guest. I was just being hasty for seeing another Korean here. My name is Park Youngsun.¡±


    After drinking more with the military guests, Youngho gave them a bunch of gifts that he prepared beforehand, it was because they let him use the airport in the military base. For them, being invited to the hotel and receiving gifts from the owner would be something to brag about. The word would spread in the whole town by tomorrow that the owner of Arirang Hotel is a polite and down-to-earth person.


    ¡°This is my personal secretary and bodyguard. I apologize for what just happened.¡±


    ¡°No, no. He was doing his job serving you. It¡¯s us who made a mistake.¡±


    The Korean staffs looked awful as if they had been exploring in the wild. ording to Katya, they had asked why the Korean g was in the middle in front of the entrance and why the hotel¡¯s name was ¡®Arirang¡¯. As she told them that the owner was a Korean and the hotel was one of many in different nations, the man who asked the question was moved to tears by her answer. Feeling pitiful, she gave them some ramen noodles and kimchi that she had been saving for Youngho.


    The man in histe forties was the man who Katya talked about.


    ¡°Katya talked about you, Mr. Park.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Your wife had treated us so well. She gave us ramen and kimchi, so our staff got to have some Korean food in a long time. You¡¯ve got such a beautiful wife and what about the little girl. She reminded me of my little girl in Korea.¡±


    When Park Youngsun was finishing up his sentence, Rena came into the hotel and fell in his arms. She came to convince him to stop drinking but toe with her to the guest house next to the hotel. He did not have time to exin but Katya had be his official wife to the Korean staffs.


    ***


    The exploration team was not recognized very well by people even if they went to the roughest and most remote ces of Africa and a desert of heat killing temperature to collect samples of minerals and usually slept in the open meanwhile.


    Listening to their struggles, a hope rose from Youngho¡¯s heart. Because of these people who went to the most remote ces in silent, Korea could secure some foreign minerals. Feeling sorry and thankful at the same time, he drank with the Korean staffs all night long.


    The next day, Youngho also flew the staffs multiple times to the hilly ces of the South Ossetia where the newly found oilfield was. Although he and Ilkwon¡¯s flying skills were notpetent enough, they tried their best to help them so that they could find the exploration field easily. The staffs thanked them, saying that they could narrow down the exploration zones from looking at the field from above in the sky since the colors of thend with oil crude were different from othernds without oil resources.


    Youngho thought that they must be experts who could find out the existence of minerals just by looking at the color of rocks on the surface of the earth. Even though he flew low above thend that they could even see rabbits hopping around, it was obvious that they were experienced technicians who could tell about the minerals just by skimming through the surfaces.


    On the same day, Youngho also flew with Katya and Rena in the sun-setting sky. Rena¡¯s face on the airne was the one of a dreaming girl. It seemed like the scene of the beautiful sky wouldst in her heart for a long time since she still looked like she was dreaming when she stepped down from the airne.


    ¡°Mr. Park, I have an offer. Would you be willing to hear it?¡±


    Youngho carefully brought it up when they were having dinner.


    ¡°An offer to someone like me? What is it? You can tell me, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯d be going back to Korea and be a lecturer at a university. I wondered if it was because the work is too hard or because you missed your family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m exhausted now. It¡¯s not only difficult to find mineral resources no matter how hard you try but also it¡¯s not easy to announce it even if you found the resources because of intertwined interest of different sides. So I wanted to find a new job.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if you¡¯d be willing to take another job offered by me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to develop about 49000 acres of farnd in Kazakhstan. I already signed a contract with the Kazakh government but I¡¯m worried about beginning the farm not knowing about the geological features. I need an expert to look at the site.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Park Youngsun dropped his jaw. It seemed that he could not calcte the size of the vast site.


    ¡°It¡¯s about twelve times of the size of Bundang Newtown in Korea.¡±


    ¡°What?! Twelve times?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be able to circle around the area when flying about thirty minutes with the Cessna airne.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re trying to develop farnd when you have a big hotel chain already.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say that I have a thing for farming. I have a grape farm in Azerbaijan, that is double the size of Yeouido and I have a bigger ranch but I still want more.¡±


    It sounded like he was bragging but Youngho had informed him about the truth so that he could trust him.


    ¡°...¡±


    Park Youngsun had no words to say. He said that he had worked his whole life for his country, but what remained in him were all sorts of wounds from traveling to remote ces and stomach ache from not being able to have regr meals. The leader of the exploration team, Park Youngsun, had been widowed a long time ago. He had a daughter that was the same age as Zeynep in Korea and she was staying at his sister¡¯s house.


    He admitted that the passions of his younger days had ceased now and he only wanted to live peacefully with his daughter in Korea. Working as a lecturer, he wished to grow a little garden in a rural house and write his own book based on his past experiences. For those reasons, he refused Youngho¡¯s offer.


    He told Youngho that his will is great but once he sessfully developed the farnd, all sorts of Korean corporations would jump in and instigate the Kazakh government. They would eventually make the prices ofnd skyrocket although it could be bought with some investments now.


    It was because he had witnessed it many times that once the information about foreign mineral resources was opened, the corporations that only care about their own profits overlypeted with each other, making the mineral prices went up dramatically.


    He shook his head that Korean corporations were blinded by their own profits and never thought about making a consortium like many Japanese corporations.


    ***


    After returning to Baku, Youngho called Kim Chun.


    ¡°Branch head Mr. Kim, the location of the airfield at the developing site would not change, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure enough! Boss. The site is barren that it can¡¯t be used for anything else other than an airfield or storage area. ¡±


    ¡°Could you build a control tower and runway first? You¡¯ve got to make it long enough in case a sky truck wouldnd there. Also, could you please find out if I can develop additionalnd from the government of Atyrau?¡±


    ¡°Boss, are you trying to expend the agricultural area?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to keep other agriculturalpanies away from our site. Once we developed everything and installed all the facilities, the government will try to push otherpanies to share our facilities but I won¡¯t allow it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. They might ask to use the waterway or airport that we¡¯ve made. I¡¯ll make sure to secure additional site from the government.¡±


    ¡°If they ask for more deposits, just give them what they want. Don¡¯t worry about the amount. Also, a Korean geological expert will be joining the development team soon. Can you find a decent ce for him to stay, please? It was hard to convince him to work with us.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get on it. It¡¯d be great to have an expert with us. We might be able to develop mineral resources buried at the site.¡±


    ¡°For now, we¡¯ll secure the ground that we could use as farnd.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re supporting the development process so well, I¡¯m more motivated to work. I¡¯ll double the size of our site!¡±


    ***


    After listening to what Park Youngsun said, Youngho was baffled since Korean corporations would make once was free of chargend expensive due to overpetition.


    The resources that could be bought with investing in facility development, would be high of value just because corporations want to monopolize the resources for their own profits.


    If that happened in Kazakhstan, Youngho was willing to take them down even though they were his own people. To prevent such thing in the future, he wanted to buy out all of the developablend nearby of his farm site. He did not want to share the infrastructural facilities that he put an effort into. He would do whatever it takes to stop Korean corporations making their forays into farming business in Kazakhstan only to make money.


    When Park Youngsun said that he did not want to participate in such dirtypetition withrge corporations, Youngho suggested an idea; which was buying out the nearbynd. Eventually, Park Youngsun epted his offer since he agreed with Youngho¡¯s idea. He said that he would burn thest passion he had if he could produce an enormous amount of food resources that could bepeted againstrge corporations.


    Because he met Park Youngsun in South Ossetia, Youngho could open his eyes to the unknown potential risk of the farming business. In order to survive, he needed to stay firm and secure his facilities andnd that he invested in against otherpetitors or he would be losing years of hard work while doing good for others only. Park Youngsun did not want to see that happen and Youngho also agreed with him.


    Then what he had to do was to secure thend nearby his facilities. The investment cost would still stay the same even if the size of thend increased since the infrastructural facilities would stay the same.


    Once the airfield construction waspleted, Youngho would be able to go in and out of the farm site freely without the Atyrau International Airport¡¯s interference since his farnd was extraterritorial. That meant, he would not have to go through screening whening and going from Baku if he flew into the farm since he was not going tond in a foreign airport.


    It seemed that he would take advantage of his airne frequently from now on.

 Chapter 175 - Koreans in Remote Places (2)

    <h4>Chapter 175: Koreans in Remote ces (2)</h4>


    Mineral exploration expert Park Youngsun¡¯s joining in the team was like having wings on Youngho¡¯s back. There were not many mineral experts with such knowledge and education like him in the world. Youngho was just lucky to have him.


    Geology was divided into many categories of study and Park Youngsun was the one who majorly studied applied field of the study such as energy deposits and geological features. He had plenty of field experience as well.


    Park Youngsun returned to Korea and submitted his resignation at Korea Resources Corporation and then came right back to Baku with his belongings. This time, he was not alone because he brought his daughter with him. Such gesture was an expression of his determination for work and faith in Youngho and his business.


    He began to live in one of the vis at the farm¡¯s reservoir but he always joined Youngho¡¯s family for dinner at the mansion. It was because the father and daughter did not know how to cook for themselves and another intention was to make his daughter get used to the life while he was gone for a long-term business trip to Atyrau, Kazakhstan.


    However, worrying about her was a premature action. She was a bright and smart girl and she instantly got along with Zeynep. Once the school resumes, she would be going to the international school where Zeynep attended. She also became good friends with Zeynep¡¯s friends from school who visited the farm¡¯s reservoir every day, so it looked like she would do well at school too.


    She used to follow her dad around overseas often, so she was used to talking to foreigners in English. Because of her existence at the farm, Zeynep now had a good friend.


    Park Youngsun, seeing the farm¡¯s family-like atmosphere and great environment, was relieved about his decision to move here with his daughter. Also, since the securitypany was owned by the farm, there was one less thing to worry about his daughter¡¯s safety.


    After finishing dinner, Park Youngsun opened his mouth carefully to talk to Youngho while taking a walk.


    ¡°Look, boss. Forgive me if I¡¯m being rude, but I have to ask what I¡¯m curious about.¡±


    Youngho knew what he was going to say. He must be stunned to see Youngho¡¯s real wife, Fatima and his son Leon, when he arrived at the farm.


    ¡°You¡¯re about to ask about Katya and Rena, aren¡¯t you? I saw you being shocked when you arrived at the mansion for the first time but I haven¡¯t been able to clear things out for you.¡±


    Only after Youngho exined his rtionship to Katya and Rena briefly, Park Youngsun smiled.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d be that kind of rich people who meet any woman they like. I¡¯ve had this question in my throat for the past few days, and I wasn¡¯t sure what to believe. I almost regretted bringing my daughter here.¡±


    Younghoughed hard since he was reminded of someone close to him.


    ¡°You know about Jongil, right? He had misunderstood my rtionship with Katya and he is still being teased by me for that. I¡¯ll clear this out for you, I don¡¯t turn my eyes to other women except for my wife Fatima. If I made a mistake, it would not be my will at all unless I was being drugged or something.¡±


    ¡°I apologize for judging you without even trying to hear your side of the story.¡±


    ¡°No, please don¡¯t feel bad. I¡¯m d that you hade clean and told me your honest heart, Dr. Park.¡±


    ¡°Could you rify another thing for thest time? I heard the vigers calling your wife the Archduchess and respecting her...¡±


    Since he had be part of the farm family, Youngho told him many truths about the farm and the Serbian people. It seemed that Park Youngsun had not be a doctor in vain. Whether it was a branch of study or life, development and improvements started from making questions. He must have read books because he was curious, and once he knew one thing he was greedy to know another. A habit of being curious had umted knowledge in his brain and made him a doctor.


    Park Youngsun was relieved from many questions he had from asking them to Youngho, and he tried his best to blend in as a member of the farm family.


    ***


    At Kazakhstan¡¯s Atyrau national airport, a Cessna airne was making its way in, it was the airne that Youngho¡¯s group was on board.


    Kim Chun parked his car with a proud face even when the engine of the airne had not turned off yet. He then loaded the group¡¯s luggage to his car.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, branch president. Can anyone get in here?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim, I would have to give my title to someone else if I can¡¯t make my way in here when Boss of Zeynep Corporation hade.¡±


    Ilkwon smiled at Kim Chun¡¯s proud attitude. Since he had a wide circle of acquaintances, he was a perfect fit for a branch president. He was using his connections from the time he was a teacher since many of his former students worked at government offices.


    He treated everyone as his students even if they were only with him for one semester and asked them to do favors for him. He treated people well with meals or drinks since Youngho had given him enough budgets for such expenses.


    ¡°Boss, in a month, you¡¯ll be able to use the runway of Arirang Farm. Since the region is dry, construction of drain and other extra things could be omitted. We¡¯d just have to even the ground and deposit concrete.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear the news since he would soon be able to sneak into his farm without letting the government know about his visit.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, let me introduce a new face to you. This is a geological expert Dr. Park Youngsun.¡±


    ¡°Doctor, it¡¯s an honor to meet you. I¡¯ve heard about you from Boss in advance and had been waiting to see you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to see you, Mr. Kim. I¡¯ll need a lot of help from you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be needing your help instead Dr. Park. Please assign thend where grains could grow as soon as possible.¡±


    Kim Chun, with his easy-going personality, could get along with anyone easily. After introducing and greeting, he treated everyone as if he was an old friend.


    He drove his recently bought four-wheel drive vehicle to the farm site with everyone else. In the car, he entertained the group with his eloquence.


    ¡°It still gets hot in here in the summer since it goes up to 86 degrees.¡±


    ¡°Well, grains would grow well because of the sunshine.¡±


    ¡°Whatever grows well here if there was water.¡±


    Atyrau was hot as Baku even though the ce was viciously cold during the winter. Since it was not a humid region, the heat was bearable. They drove for more than three hours on the paved road and had just gone on to the unpaved road.


    ¡°Boss, doesn¡¯t it feel like the road is more stabilized now? I leveled the ground with a bulldozer.¡±


    ¡°You did a great job, Mr. Kim. Once the runway ispleted, you can work on paving the road here. We can dy waterway construction but the road should be the priority so that workers couldmute easily and farm materials could be get transported easily.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are not a lot of workersmuting these days since the temporary lodging in the farm is allpleted. I always sleep for the night whenever I visit the farm.¡±


    He exined the lodging construction progress and the Koryoin workers that he picked as employees. The amodations for the workers was done about eighty percent, so it would bepleted by the end of the summer and the construction of the vige for the Serbian descendants had just begun. The vige would be built with the capacity of a thousand families.


    ¡°This is a rocky region, it must have been difficult to get rid of them.¡±


    ¡°Well, it was not a problem. This is a region where wild foxes and wolves appear even during the day time. So, we decided to use some of the rocks as building materials and the rest of them would be used to make stone walls. More rocks would be better for us.¡±


    A vige of thousand families would need public facilities like a public hall, a security department, general merchant stores for daily necessities and foods, and bars and restaurants for people to gather and entertain themselves.


    It was the size of a small city and Kim Chun was confidently saying that he would be building stone walls that would surround the whole vige.


    ***


    Arirang Farm was too vast, it took too long to look around the farm on a car. There they either needed a road that prated the farm or an airne was needed to look over the whole area.


    The size of the current site was huge enough but Youngho submitted a developmental n to the government to develop the whole region that epassed thend where the waterway passed and arterial roads passed.


    If the permission was issued, he would havend that was about half of the size of Seoul. Youngho asked if the permission would be possible and Kim Chun¡¯s answer was great.


    ¡°I made it clear that ourpany would be leaving thend if otherpanies came near our region. I also showed the rted officials the photos of our facilities and construction process. I said we¡¯d be willing to give up the deposits we made.¡±


    ¡®Man, Kim Chun made a bold move.¡¯


    It was only bluffing and Youngho admired his boldness as a branch president of Zeynep Corporation.


    ¡°So, how did they take it?¡±


    ¡°Their faces turned pale as if they had already nned for otherpanies to join the region once it¡¯s developed by us. So I pushed them even more and told them that you¡¯d be visiting this week and if they don¡¯t have the answer by then, we¡¯ll have to make our decision too. Well, I don¡¯t know if I went too far though.¡±


    He had gone too far but this kind of verbal threats worked well in underdeveloped countries. Kim Chun made a bold move that if the government would not give thend that he wanted, he would not be cooperative to the government anymore. So, they would have to wait and see how the government reacted to them but it was highly likely that they would agree to Kim Chun¡¯s request since they were desperate for investors who would develop their wastnd.


    Even if the government gave the nearby regions to other businessmen, it would also not be a big problem since Youngho would stop the waterway and charge them a high cost for using the facility. Nothing could be done in the region without a water source.


    ¡°Dr. Park, how does thend look in your eyes? I have not thought about the possibility of farming since I only thought about the size of thend.¡±


    ¡°There are traces of meadows here. If there are plenty of water, it is not a badnd at all. The ground around the runway had a wide thickyer of rocks, so that is not usible for farming. If you can make grain storage units and vige over there, that would be suitable.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Let¡¯s return to Baku for now and we cane back and get to investigate thend once the runway and amodations arepleted.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to stay here for a few days and look around the region. I can¡¯t sit back and wait thinking that it would be a great farm one day.¡±


    Since he had been traveling to the most remote ces around the world for the past decades, he did not feel ufortable at the farm¡¯s environment.


    ¡°Dr. Park, why don¡¯t you just take off today? You¡¯ve been working hard until now, you could go on a trip with your daughter if you want. If you don¡¯t want to, you can go fishing and hunting with me and stay rxed for a while.¡±


    ***


    Youngho had been traveling so often now that he had an airne, Zeynep and Szechenyi had be sulky. Knowing that Youngho had an airne, they were waiting for their turn to fly on it, but they did not have a chance until now.


    Youngho knew that it would get worse if he waited too long, he picked a clear day without wind and flew them around Baku where there was no regr air route. As they stepped out of the flying school, Zeynep asked.


    ¡°Oppa, why is the runway of the flying school so short?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It doesn¡¯t have to be so long since they only have light aircraft. That is considered long.¡±


    ¡°Then, can you take off andnd near the farm¡¯s southern river? That ce is almost t. If you cut some grape trees, I think you can have a much longer runway than what school has.¡±


    Zeynep¡¯s innovative idea hit Youngho¡¯s head hard. He had not thought about making a runway on Zeynep Farm yet, but she was indeed right. He hugged her with joy.


    ¡°So, it was Zeynep¡¯s idea?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure it is. I¡¯m just amazed at how she came up with that idea. The only problem now is that she¡¯s insisting to learn how to fly, even Szechenyi too. I feel like she¡¯s going to run away I don¡¯t agree with her.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you teach her then? She won¡¯t dare to fly alone, don¡¯t you think? Many European high schoolers learn how to fly when they want to. Why not our kids?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m scared of Fatima. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯ll agree to this idea.¡±


    ¡°Hey! We should buy another airne that can hold eight people. It¡¯s safer since it can fly longer.¡±


    Jongil was taking a further step now.


    The light aircraft¡¯s runway distance was about 300 meters long. When it took off, it was about 280 meters long and whennding it could be shorter. Since the farm had plenty of room, if he could make a kilogram-long runway, one could take off andnd on it with closing his eyes.


    Because of Zeynep¡¯s bright idea, he could have an airfield of his own at the farm. If he was traveling to a foreign airport, he could get an exit stamp at the Baku¡¯s airport in advance. If he made a runway and hangar and hire a professional engineer, he would be able to travel anywhere whenever he wanted. The n was set up at an instance.


    A few dayster, the noise of bulldozer could be heard from near the river of the farm. Zeynep Farm¡¯s time of aircraft was now beginning.

 Chapter 176 - Koreans in Remote Places (3)

    <h4>Chapter 176: Koreans in Remote ces (3)</h4>


    ¡°Boss, I didn¡¯t think I would live in a paradise like this. I¡¯ve be close to my daughter that we exchange jokes now. Thank you for taking us in, again.¡±


    After hunting for a long time, Youngho and the family were having a barbecue party. They were drinking sitting around a bonfire and Park Youngsun thanked Youngho in tears.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t thank me. I¡¯m the one who needed you and did not let you go. I¡¯m thankful for your presence.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m living in a dream since I can finally spend peaceful days with my daughter. It¡¯s all because of you.¡±


    ¡°I hope you can expand your dream as a geologist too, going to Kazakhstan and here back and forth. I can sleep well ever since you came here, Dr. Park. I have not worried about the farm site.¡±


    ¡°Even if you force me to leave, I won¡¯t be going anywhere, Boss. I hope I can work for you for many years.¡±


    ¡°How could I dare to chase you away? Look, your daughter Seoyoung over there will never let that happen.¡±


    On another side of the yard, Park Seoyoung, the daughter of Park Youngsun, was trying raw deer meat for the first time in her life.


    Youngho wondered how Park Youngsun could have lived so far away leaving her daughter behind since he loved his daughter so dearly. He could have not done that just for money. It was because he had a clear vision and sense of duty for his nation and people.


    To Youngho, he looked like an independence fighter of Korean history. Youngho was not sure what specific goals drove him to the remote ces but one thing was certain, he needed someone like Dr. Park.


    The body of the corporation had been bloating and Youngho was in need of someone trustworthy and bright so that he could expand his organization and business branches. A person who can do one job well canplete other jobs given to him wisely too.


    Youngho or his friends had limits to their capabilities. They were better at physical work since they had no management experiences forrge corporations but Park Youngsun had plenty of experiences in public enterprise. Not to mention, he was one of the top experts in the study of his expertise. Youngho thought that someone like him could be a leader of one organization, like the Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan.


    The reason that Youngho decided to make a farm on a dry wastnd was based on the thought of drawing water from the Ural River. However, with Park Youngsun¡¯s appearance, it seemed that he might find an easier way.


    After looking around the site for a short while, Park Youngsun had already figured that there was plenty of underground water being sustained. His theory was the amount of grass on the farm site could not be grown in a region with only 200 millimeters of precipitation. It could only be exined to say that there was a thinyer of y underground which kept moistures and distributed water for grass. Also, the yyer was very dense, and it could be trapping water underground. ording to him, it was highly possible since Atyrau was located at the delta of the lower ss of the Ural River.


    Youngho was exuberated to hear this since it could dramatically shorten the development duration if he did not have to undergo waterway construction.


    ***


    ¡°Fatima, you don¡¯t want to fly on the airne?¡±


    ¡°Zeynep said it was about the size of a small car, are you sure it¡¯s safe? I¡¯m going to wait until you buy a bigger one for now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an airne proven to be safe by the world. Thepany had sold 40,000 of the same model. I¡¯m sure there is a reason.¡±


    ¡°Honey, you¡¯re not afraid?¡±


    ¡°I felt dead scared in the beginning but now I feelfortable. Unless the pilot makes a bad mistake, there won¡¯t be any problem.¡±


    Looking at Fatima¡¯s face, Youngho could see that she was curious but because of the size of the airne, she did not feelfortableing on board.


    Although she did not show it very much, she was a person as curious as Zeynep. She decided to go back to school as soon as Leon begins to walk by himself.


    She wanted to change her major that she was studying in her freshman year. Now her motivation to studyputer science was driving her.


    ¡°You can go to Kazakhstan in three hours? Please take me to the new farm when the new airne is delivered. By the way, Szechenyi said he¡¯s not going to stay in the school dorm but will bemuting from his aunt. Is Yunsuh unni fine with that?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s actually better. She said the store gets a lot of hoodlums in town. If Szechenyi shows up there, everyone would have to stay in a hospital. Yunsuh and Sangchun loved the idea, and what about their kids? They sure love their uncle.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want them to feel ufortable because of Szechenyi.¡±


    ¡°Szechenyi is family to them. What are you talking about? They love him. Besides, he decided to stay in their ce for a reason.¡±


    Szechenyi would be leaving to Frankfurt soon since he was epted in Goethe University. Fatima was feeling bad that her little brother was leaving to an unknown ce alone.


    ¡°Fatima, Szechenyi is an adult now. He needs to learn to stand alone so that I¡¯ll be able to trust my business to him in the future.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been apart from each other for our entire lives. Will I be able to visit him whenever I want?¡±


    ¡°For sure. How about this? Whenever I go to Frankfurt for a meeting, I¡¯ll take you with me.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s assurance, Fatima finally smiled.


    Youngho had not thought how close the siblings were and how Fatima was feeling about Szechenyi leaving. She had been feeding him a lot every meal time and Youngho did not see that it was because she was feeling sad for him.


    Although Frankfurt was only a few hours away from Baku by airne, she was sad that their goodbye was nearing. Youngho felt guilty that he had not been spending time with Fatimately in an excuse of being busy. Since she was with Leon and surrounded by the Serbian descendants who cared for her, he did not try to take care of her anymore. He did not want to be that guy who would not care for his woman anymore after getting married but it seemed that he had been neglecting hertely.


    Feeling sorry, Youngho tenderly hugged Fatima as if she was a delicate crystal that could easily break. Looking at hisplicated face, she also reciprocated his hug with a smile on her face.


    ***


    Chief Niksic visited the farm to see Fatima. It was an unusual move for him since Youngho and Fatima visited the farm often to see him and other Serbian descendants.


    ¡°Chief Niksic, what brings you here? I would¡¯vee if you contacted me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s natural for a subordinate person to pay a visit to his superior. It¡¯ll be rude of me if I always wait for you to visit us.¡±


    Youngho did not agree but since the Serbian descendants were so particr about their Archduchess, he did not say anything.


    It looked like old Niksic must have some important issue to discuss since he came in such hot weather.


    Youngho, Fatima, and Niksic sat down at his study with a cup of tea. After looking around the study, Niksic opened his mouth.


    ¡°I wanted to ask a big favor to you.¡±


    Looking at his face, it did not seem like he was going to talk about a serious issue. Youngho was curious.


    A few momentster, with a satisfying look on his face, Niksic looked at Youngho.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying we should take Serbian refugees.¡±


    ¡°They are not refugees. Where you and the Archduchess are is the kingdom where your power reaches. They¡¯ll be immigrants, not refugees.¡±


    ording to Niksic, Serbia had been going through many cmities like earthquakes and flooding, and many people had found refuges. The descendants of the Serbian Kingdom who had been living in Serbia had heard the news about the Archduchess¡¯ existence and they had already started packing to migrate to the farm. Niksic wanted to take them at the Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan but that was absurd since the construction of the residential town had not even started yet.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stop people whoe to see Fatima but we don¡¯t even have basic facilities ready for them just yet. It¡¯s going to be winter soon and I can¡¯t let them camp out in the open.¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re worried about but the situation is the same in Serbia. Since the farm site is on a in, can¡¯t we at least try building yurts* for them?¡±


    Niksic was almost nagging, but Youngho could not agree to receive refugees there since he did not know the poption of them just yet. Also, he would have to get permission from the Kazakh government.


    However, since the descendants were already getting ready to move and it was something he could not stop in advance, he decided to prepare for any possibilities.


    Located in the middle of the Balkan Penins, Serbia was andlocked country. It was impossible to take them all on an airne, let alone taking their belongings. It would be possible to transport them if they came to the ck Sea since they could use the Volga-Don Canal to get to Kazakhstan. In order for them to reach the ck Sea, they would have to pass through Bulgaria and use the Port of Burgas.


    People could use airnes and their belongings could be shipped in containers. However, it would not make sense to use such huge amount of transportation fee to move their old belongings that did not cost much, but it would not be ideal for them to throw away all of their belongings either since they would need basic necessities and cookware in order to live on the farm in Kazakhstan.


    Another concern was arranging vessels at the Port of Burgas. Youngho was not sure if he would be able to arrangerge vessels just in time.


    ***


    ¡°Man, they might all die in the cold if we ept them right now when the town is not ready. Besides, how are you going to get all the ships you need to transport them?¡±


    ¡°Then, what do I do? There are 228 families of 1,152 people who are ready to emigrate right now.¡±


    ¡°Man, I guess they don¡¯t have tight family ns there. Why do they have so many children? Three or four children are normal.¡±


    Youngho agreed on Jongil¡¯s thought but he could see why Serbian immigrants tended to have big families. Many families of Eastern Europe where they worked in the dairy industry tended to have bigger families since more family members meant more workers. Kids would begin to help to milk sheep and to shepherd from early ages. So, it was not a big deal for a healthy couple to have three and four children as Korea used to be in the 50s and 60s.


    ***


    ¡°This is how good I am. Who could¡¯ve arranged these ferries if it weren¡¯t me?¡±


    Youngho¡¯s ear was hurting listening to Jongil¡¯s constant bragging.


    Jongil had called Mustafa in Istanbul and managed to arrange three car ferry ships that went around the Bosporus Strait.


    Youngho had not thought about the numerous ships that went from East to West of Istanbul. Since there were plenty of small andrge car ferries, it was not a difficult job for Mustafa to arrange three ships from there.


    Three ships that could pass through the Volga-Don Canal could transport the whole immigrants and their belongings.


    Jongil also bragged that he had ordered nomad¡¯s yurts from Kim Chun in Atyrau. Although it was already mentioned by Niksic, Youngho ttered Jongil for his bright idea to use car ferry ships from Istanbul.


    ttered by Youngho¡¯spliments, Jongil was now speaking nonsense.


    ¡°Man! A boss should be able to take care of any issues. I feel like I¡¯ll make a better boss than you. You should be my secretary.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Why don¡¯t you be a boss for real instead of me? Then I¡¯m going to travel with Fatima and Leon.¡±


    ¡°If you step down to my secretary, you¡¯d be busy with more physical work. You won¡¯t have time for that!¡±


    Anyway, Jongil¡¯s idea had resolved the issue of transporting the Serbian immigrants. Youngho would still have to figure out how he could keep them warm throughout the cold season but he was not worried for they will surely figure out something. Now, he would have to pick some bright Serbian descendants from the vige and set off to the Port of Burgas to greet the new immigrants.


    *yurt- portable tents, traditionally used by Mongolian and Turkic nomads

 Chapter 177 - The Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan (1)

    <h4>Chapter 177: The Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan (1)</h4>


    ¡°Brother, do you have enough wine bottles in stock?¡±


    ¡°There must be a problem in the production line since you¡¯re worried about my stock.¡±


    ¡°Not at all, brother. I¡¯m just nning to use the freighter for a different course this time. I¡¯m going to be sending some Serbian refugees to Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°Refugees? To Kazakhstan? You don¡¯t even have anything built there yet.¡±


    Sergey was asking multiple questions at the same time at the surprising news.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking in some refugees who lost their homes to earthquakes and floods.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be fall and winter soon, how are you going to take care of them?¡±


    ¡°If I have enough materials, I can build detached houses within two months. If that¡¯s not possible, I will just let them stay in yurts for the time being.¡±


    ¡°You always take difficult jobs. I¡¯m worried about you, Youngho.¡±


    ¡°I have some reasons, but it¡¯s going to be a long story if I exin it to you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sure you have reasons. I trust you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d you understand me, is there anything I should help with?¡±


    ¡°Brother Sergey, sometimes I don¡¯t know why I even worry when I have you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me now. I need to report it to Boss before helping you.¡±


    Sergey chuckled as he ended their conversation.


    ***


    During the Korean War, the US Navy had saved refugees escaping North Korea with LST transport ship. As Youngho was passing the Volga-Don River, he thought about the Korean history, since using a ship was the best way to transport a lot of people at once, Youngho left the Port of Baku yesterday.


    Including Niksic, about thirty Serbian descendants apanied him on board. Fatima and Leon came along too because Niksic insisted that the Archduchess shoulde along to encourage the spirit of the refugees.


    Youngho was d that she and his son came along since he had not been spending time together recently. It would be a refreshing trip for the family.


    ¡°I was going to go on a trip together with Leon but this is nice too.¡±


    ¡°When did I say I wanted to go on a trip? You only felt guilty on your own and decided to do that. Anyway, it¡¯s nice to be out away from the farm. I just want you to know that I won¡¯t get upset because you are too busy for work, don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    She red at Youngho for a moment but she was beautiful. He wanted to kiss her if there were not too many people around.


    The Volga-Don Canal in the mid-summer had a lot of traffic that it could use a water traffic police. Since the canal was acting as a lifeline of Southwestern Russia, ships waited in line at every lock gate. Youngho already bribed the officials at the lock gates so he could slip out easily without waiting in line. It was conventionally done by many people with authorities or money and Youngho had no reason to wait in line since his time was more valuable than money.


    It was a new experience for Youngho to pass through the canal. He could not elerate the speed of the ship but it was not boring since he could enjoy the view outside. Fatima and Leon were also outside as they passed through the thirteen lock gates. It seemed that everything was fun in child¡¯s eyes, Leon kept screaming in excitement and it was finally hurting Youngho¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Jongil, is your son Sungsoo also loud as Leon? Or is it just Leon who has a loud voice?¡±


    ¡°Man, you can¡¯tpare the two. Sungsoo was too quiet that he did not even open his mouth whenever we went to new ces. Well, it looks like he is just like his father. He¡¯s only into reading these days. Nobody will be able to tell he¡¯s only four.¡±


    Youngho regretted asking to Jongil since all he did was to brag about his son.


    Leon was as curious as for his mom and aunt, Zeynep. He did not miss a single view around the canal and watched them until he was falling asleep. It made Youngho wonder what he was looking at.


    He looked at Leon¡¯s eyes closely. The boy¡¯s brown eyes were filled with Youngho¡¯s image. Amused by his father¡¯s attention, he touched Youngho¡¯s face and bbered out words that he could not understand.


    ***


    After passing the Sea of Azov, the freighter could finally reach the ck Sea after two days since it set off from Baku. Now the freighter sped up to its maximum speed to get to Bulgaria.


    After leaving the Sea of Azov, the vessel traveled 800 kilometers in half a day and arrived at the Port of Burgas. Its maximum speed was 18 knot. They were lucky since they did not meet any heavy current. If there was, the vessel would have taken two days in the ck Sea.


    The Port of Burgas in the ck Sea was the biggest trade port of Bulgaria and its city was well-known for machinery and fibers. The city was the best resort city of the nation and cultural center of the Southeastern region. The port¡¯s atmosphere was very different from the ports around the Caspian Sea.


    Although it did not have many high skyscrapers like Baku¡¯s downtown, there were still many travelers strolling on the streets.


    At the port, Kim Ilkwon and the Serbian youngds who arrived earlier than Youngho¡¯s group were waiting for them.


    ¡°Boss, you arrived earlier than I expected. I thought you¡¯d take several days passing through the canal.¡±


    ¡°I paid the express charge at each lock gate since I¡¯ll be meeting those officials on the way back to Baku.¡±


    Thinking that he would meet them frequently, Youngho bribed them with a lot of money and gave them boxes of Zeynep wine. From now on, those officials would remember vessel named ¡®The Arirang.¡¯


    ¡°You guys went through such troubleing here early and waiting for us. So, you can speak Russian to Bulgarians, right? Where are the immigrants?¡±


    Youngho threw in multiple questions in a rush.


    ¡°We found them at the temporary asylum in the outskirt of the city. If we werete by a little bit, they would¡¯ve all been deported to Serbia.¡±


    In case of such problem happening, Youngho had sent an advance party ahead of him. Since more than a thousand Serbian refugees crowded in the city at once, the city government would have been startled by them.


    As Kim Ilkwon, who arrived at the city just in time, showed the government the entry permit issued by the Kazakh government and promised that the refugees would be leaving in a week, the city authorities had agreed on letting them stay for another week.


    Kim Chun in Atyrau had yed a key role this time again for the Serbian refugees because he managed to get the Kazakh government¡¯s agreement to the mass immigration of foreigners in the Arirang Farm. In fact, the Kazakh government weed new immigrants since the nation¡¯s poption was only about twenty million when the nation¡¯s territory was about twelve times the size of the Korean Penins. Since the Zeynep Corporation was paying for all of their migration cost, there was no reason for the government to reject Kim Chun¡¯s request.


    Youngho did not forget to stop by at the city government¡¯s buildings and bribe the rted officials. It was because there would be more Serbian refugees in the future and he did not know how many times he would being back for them. He did not want the refugees to be treated unfairly.


    Because Bulgaria was the only democratic country among the East-European bloc and the governors and officials had great pride in their country. However, since the country was still struggling, it was a piece of cake to handle its officials whose sries were not much. There were not many officials who would reject Youngho¡¯s request to be a little nice to the refugees when given a little pocket money.


    Moreover, Youngho decided to have a surprising event to make a great impression to the city government officials.


    ***


    The mayor of the city Burgas where a little more than 200,000 people resided was stunned by the recent appearance of Serbian refugees.


    He had received the message from the border checkpoint but since they were legally remaining in the city, he did not know what to do. Later, he found out that they would be leaving soon, he was relieved and forgot about them in his mind. However, he suddenly received an invitation for a banquet. It was from the old Serbian Kingdom¡¯s Archduchess and her husband inviting the city officials to appreciate their hard work for helping Serbian refugees.


    ¡°The Serbian Kingdom¡¯s Archduchess and her husband had arrived. Please pay them your respect.¡±


    Old Niksic was dressed in a decent gown and announced toward the audience.


    As the couple stepped into the room, Youngho¡¯s fingers cringed by the situation but Fatima was calm. He felt like he hade to a dynasty era.


    The two greeted many high officials of Burgas that they invited. Since the Archduchess¡¯ couple could speak in differentnguages like English, Turkish, Korean, Azerbaijani, and Russian, it truly impressed the audience.


    The party was sessful.


    The mayor and high officials of the city were impressed by Fatima¡¯s appearance. They received the honor to hold and kiss her hand. From now on, they surely would not be able to mistreat Serbian refugees anymore.


    ***


    Youngho picked the day when the waves were mostly calm for the set-off day of the Serbian refugees. In three car ferry ships, 228 families of Serbian descendants which summed up to 1,152 people were on board. They were the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom, who had been residing in the mountainous town of Northeastern Serbia. It was admirable how they had been able to hold up until now since the current government of Serbia did not treat them equally as Serbian citizens. It was because they had not been cooperative with the current government, only thinking about the glory of the old kingdom.


    Their hard-to-understand worldview made Youngho shake his head. However, they were absolutely royal and faithful to Fatima. On the day that the immigrants met Fatima for the first time, they were as fanatical as some cult organization.


    Fatima held every immigrant¡¯s hand. Seeing them even tearing up, Youngho felt a little thrill in his heart. He wondered what sustained their desire for their old kingdom¡¯s restoration for the hundreds of years after the fall of the kingdom.


    Youngho could see why old Niksic insisted Fatima¡¯s apany on this trip since her presence was the key to resolve any problem with the immigrants. Now that they gained new hope in desperate situations, the disorganized group of immigrants now worked in unity. Even Jongil was astonished by their movements, saying that even a military troop could not act in unison like them.


    The belongings of the immigrants were not much, they had only packed essentially necessary things. Since their luggage was tied on the roof of their cars and old pieces of furniture were all loaded on trucks altogether, it was easy to move them to the ships.


    It looked like ¡®The Arirang¡¯ freighter that Youngho¡¯s group used to get to Burgas would be empty, so Youngho filled it with newly-bought daily necessities, equipment, machinery, parts, and steel materials to be used in the new farm construction. He could buy those materials and items in Burgas with the help of the immigrants since many of them had forcefully dragged tobor in machinery production factories during themunist during the time of Communist bloc.

 Chapter 178 - The Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan (2)

    <h4>Chapter 178: The Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan (2)</h4>


    ¡°Why are you taking that many sr panels?¡±


    Jongil, who was listening to Youngho¡¯s talk on the phone with a staff of K Electronics, was surprised to hear the number of panels that his friend was ordering.


    ¡°I think it¡¯d be cheaper to use private power station at the Arirang Farm rather than drawing in the Atyrau city¡¯s power. Once they¡¯re installed they¡¯d be permanent, so I won¡¯t have to worry about electricity bills.¡±


    ¡°That actually sounds like a good idea. Since it¡¯s not going to rain there that much, you¡¯d be able to get abundant sr energy.¡±


    Sr panels were already installed throughout the Charles farm, Zeynep Farm, and the ranch and people had more than enough electricity they need. The lights around the sites were also running with sr panels and they automatically turned off when it was dark. Wires were now hard to spot in the visitors¡¯ sights.


    Zeynep Farm was the ce that benefited most in Baku from the Korean-Azerbaijani joint sr energy enterprise. Since Youngho had his share to this enterprise, he could also get those panels at the factory price. The stand-alone photovoltaic system at one side of Zeynep Farm was the biggest instation in Azerbaijan. Since it could generate electricity for the wine factory and low-temperature aging room, it surely was arge scale system.


    As the system was instituted at the farm, many corporations had asked for a showing, so Youngho opened the Charles farm¡¯s system to them. At the same time, he opened the winery tour at Charles farm and shut down Zeynep Farm¡¯s winery for visitors. It was because he could not handle too many visitors, and now Zeynep Wine¡¯s reputation had grown enough that he did not have to open the farm for strangers anymore. Moreover, he did not want the public to know about the private airne runway being constructed at the farm.


    Now, the only guests at the farm were international school students and their parents. Since the international school usuallypleted the clearance process for their new students and their family members, the students and their parents were already identified. So, there was no need to stop them froming to the farm. Also, it would be too cruel for them since their only attraction in the foreign town was the farm¡¯s reservoir and the yground.


    In fact, the parents loved the idea of a new airfield being built at the farm. It looked like they would be asking him for a ride in an emergency.


    The process of transporting the Serbian immigrants to the Port of Atyrau after passing through the Volga-Don canal was a smooth sail.


    Since Kim Chun had thoroughly prepared for theiring, they could go through the process of acquirement of nationality as soon as they entered the country. Conventionally, there were specific requirements if someone wanted to acquire citizenship in Kazakhstan, such as learning the Kazakhnguage and having been living in the country for a certain period of time but because it was a special case for the Serbian refugees, the government had allowed a special process for them.


    When they applied for citizenship, they all surprised everyone by giving up their Serbian citizenship. It was because they were loyal to the old kingdom rather than the current country of Serbia. They had high esteem as the descendants of the kingdom. Because they were given the certificate that had the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s emblem and the Archduchess Fatima¡¯s hand-written autograph, they dly gave up their old citizenship and took the certificates.


    ***


    Afternding at the runway of Arirang Farm, the eight-seater Cessna airne was stored in a temporary hangar which was only made out of a tent only to make a shade from the sun. It was quite contrastive from the shiny exterior of the brand new airne.


    Kim Chun, who had been waiting for their arrival, greeted Youngho¡¯s group with a smile.


    ¡°Boss, your flight duration has been shortened now. It feels like I got a call from you a moment ago that you were leaving Baku but you¡¯re here already. This one must be faster than the four-seater.¡±


    ¡°The speed is about the same. We just met a favorable air current this time.¡±


    It was Youngho¡¯s third visit after the Arirang Farm¡¯s runway construction waspleted. Since it was the first time he flew the new eight-seater, he brought more passengers with him.


    ¡°Let me introduce some new faces to you. They will be in charge of the Serbian immigrants here.¡±


    Niksic and other Serbian Vige elders exchanged greetings with Kim Chun.


    As Youngho looked around the ce, the big storage units were almost at thepletion stage. Since the farm needed storage for food and other supplies, the units were installed in a rush. Around the runway was fenced to block sheep from invading it since Kim Chun had about a herd of sheep for the immigrants. They were producing milk already.


    Hearing that the residential houses for the immigrants would be built by November, Youngho let out a sigh of relief. It was all possible because he had provided enough materials and workers from the city of Atyrau. Moreover, the immigrants were also working hard to help to build their houses. The interiors could be done in the future by the upants but it was fortunate that people would be able to have shelters from the fierce wind and snow in the cold winter¡¯s in.


    There would be more immigrants from now on but Youngho postponed their migration since they were not in a hurry for they did not lose their homes from natural disasters.


    Old Niksic and the elders of Serbian Vige had volunteered to help the new immigrants settle down at Arirang Farm. d to hear it, Youngho brought them as soon as they were ready. The new people indeed need a group of experienced leaders who would guide them and get them to work together since everything was new to them. Since old Niksic had been serving Fatima closely, the immigrants had trust in him and were obedient to him.


    From different parts of the field, the drilling rigs were making noises to explore the underground water. Youngho was ready to dance in joy if he could find water somewhere hidden under the ground. The vast destend would be turned into rich soil if there was enough water. Youngho envisioned to have a modernized farm with agricultural machinery on thend that once was only used for raising sheep and goats.


    Although the farming would not begin even if the water was found right now because the remation process was not done yet, once the houses werepleted, the process would begin starting from the nearby regions of the residential town.


    Tractors and light aircraft for sowing would be bought and delivered in the spring next year since now was the time to focus on the construction for basic infrastructures such as roads, sewage, and the walls around the town to prevent wild foxes and wolves.


    ***


    Because of the huge scale of the farm, it was impossible to divide thend. The farming areas were arranged by investigating the topography of thend using aerial photographs. To settle the farming areas, Youngho and other workers had to tour around the farming areas many times with the airne and repeatedly went over to the areas with a truck to set up gpoles.


    After the process of setting up the boundaries and dividing thend was finished, Youngho found out that there was a small mountain that was about eighty meters high in the farm¡¯s boundary. Since it leaned on one side of the farm, there was no need to get rid of the mountain and Youngho considered it as a hill on the farm where he could go to see the whole view of the site.


    Youngho and Park Youngsun had gone to the mountain for a few times and discussed how they could utilize the mountain.


    ¡°Dr. Park, all of the rocks are useless crumbly sandstone. Should we just get rid of them?¡±


    ¡°The exterior looks crumbly but it gets hard once you dig deep. It¡¯d be impossible to rid of such many of them. Moreover, the existence of the little caves that people had lived in, it looks like many people had resided in the area. It should have some historic value to thend that should be preserved. If you¡¯re okay with it, I¡¯d like to investigate those caves.¡±


    ¡°Do as you like, Dr. Park. I¡¯ll put a residential container here so you can use it when you visit here. You wouldn¡¯t have tomute from your lodging.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you could really do that for me.¡±


    ***


    Although there were plenty of materials, building a house could not be done in one day. Considering the concretes¡¯ curing period, it would take two to three months at least.


    Indeed, water was a sticking point to the construction process. Since they had not found mass underground water in store, the workers had to deliver water from a nearby little stream with a water truck. The immigrants¡¯ old trucks also were helpful with moving water.


    Drinking water was also a problem, so Youngho had to arrange water delivery from the city of Atyrau for so many people on the farm now.


    Because it would be difficult to make out in the winter if the farm did not secure enough water before the season hit, Youngho was bing anxious inside. If this kept on, he would have to arrange arge civil engineering project to establish waterway from the Ural River to the farm soon.


    His wish may have worked since about a kilometer from the airfield, the underground water enough for the immigrants to use immediately was found.


    After checking the volume of water kept in store, Park Youngsun¡¯s face darkened.


    ¡°The volume amount is not what you¡¯d be satisfied with. It could only cover the amount of water that the town people need for living.¡±


    Park Youngsun also felt frustrated. There had not been a satisfying result after the exploration begun, although he was certain that there was a high possibility of the existence of arge scale underground water reserve.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s still relieving to hear. We couldy temporary pipes for now and let the people use it.¡±


    ¡°I hoped to begin farming thend near the water by next year.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park, if it¡¯s unlikely to find enough underground water in store, we could carry out waterway construction at any time. That¡¯s what I had in mind from the beginning. I¡¯m just d to find out that thend is suitable for farming.¡±


    Although enough water was not found yet, Youngho was thankful that at least thend was proved to be usible for farming after going through a few experiments. It would have been a huge loss if they found saltponent from the soil.


    Youngho chose about thirty young and healthyds from the immigrant group and assigned them as a neighborhood watch. Because the stone walls had not been built yet and the people slept in tents in the open, a group of watchers was needed especially at nights. There had been an incident that several sheep were taken by wolves a few days ago. Those wide animals could also harm the people, so Youngho ordered them to have tight security.


    The young guys who receivedtest rifles made teams and patrolled around the town with a truck around the clock. It looked like the farm would have to battle with those wolves for the next few years. Because unexpected problems kept happening in Arirang Farm, Youngho¡¯s face darkened whenever he visited here. He regretted receiving the immigrants without enough preparation.


    However, unlike Youngho¡¯s worry, the townspeople were satisfied with their new life. Although they had ufortable sleep in tents, they considered the farm their own peaceful ce since they were not discriminated as they had been in Serbia.


    They were also relieved by Youngho¡¯s announcement that there will be a doctor once the town ispleted. Not to mention, there was an airne that could carry a wounded person to the city of Atyrau immediately in an emergency.


    Moreover, the fact that the Archduke¡¯s sessor, Fatima. was taking care of them encouraged their spirits. They were ready to go through a short period of inconvenience. It was only Youngho who was worried for them because to them, this was their new kingdom.

 Chapter 179 - Gunfire in Geneva (1)

    <h4>Chapter 179: Gunfire in Geneva (1)</h4>


    ¡°Lee, what makes you so busy these days that you don¡¯t even call me anymore?¡±


    ¡°I can call you every day if that¡¯s what you want, chief. I just fear that you¡¯d get me more assignments if I do.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Lee. You¡¯ve made a fuss and gone to Central and South America. Besides, the European chapter should make some achievements too.¡±


    Michael did not sound happy. Youngho knew that he had to bepliant when Michael was salty like this.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working hard not to let down the chapter¡¯s status and not to get behind other agents.¡±


    ¡°Other agents are only trying to get away from my radar. Lee, I want you to do go Geneva, Switzend. It looks like Armenians are involved in some troubles.¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, isn¡¯t there an agent in charge of Switzend?¡±


    ¡°You know there¡¯s going to be a disarmament conference there. All sorts of spies would be gathered there for that. You won¡¯t be bored.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you¡¯re sending us to Switzend for a free tour, I shouldn¡¯t say no to it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think abouting back without any results. I won¡¯t pay for your trip if you don¡¯t get me anything.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you want me to make a problem.¡±


    ¡°Come to the chapter and I¡¯ll give you a briefing before you go. Oh, and Eriksson wanted to ask you a favor too. He¡¯ll contact you soon.¡±


    Youngho wondered about what Eriksson would be asking. If he had spoken to Michael already, it must be a huge case.


    A few days after, Eriksson came to see Youngho at the office in Baku downtown.


    It had been a long since he saw him in person although they asionally spoke on the phone meanwhile.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, our agency had made a great profit out of the Colombian rebel¡¯s arms deal. It¡¯s quitete to say this but I¡¯d like to say thank you for your role in it on behalf of mypany. The armspany had given the agency a separatemission but I couldn¡¯t take something for you.¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t mind it. I¡¯m not interested in extra money other than my own share. Also, I don¡¯t want to step on your toes.¡±


    ¡°Truly you¡¯re a gentleman. Our agency thinks of you as a good business partner.¡±


    Eriksson was not saying the purpose of his visit but was only ttering Youngho.


    ¡°Michael already talked about you, so why don¡¯t we cut to the chase? You can consider me as a frence for now.¡±


    ¡°Alright Mr. Lee. I know that you¡¯re going to Geneva for your assignment. It¡¯d be great if you could work on our job as well when you¡¯re there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear what it¡¯s all about before I agree.¡±


    Listening to the agency¡¯s secret business meant that one had to take the job already but Youngho still wanted to listen to the business details. Only then, Eriksson took away his smile and began to talk about the point.


    ***


    ¡°You don¡¯t think Michael won¡¯t be mad about this, right?¡±


    ¡°Like I told you, this is what he asked for.¡±


    Since Youngho could not tell Jongil about the Information Agency, he told him that he was doing a favor for Michael and he would be making money for this.


    ¡°I understand that it¡¯s going to be profitable but I don¡¯t want to get involved in dirty works.¡±


    ¡°Did we ever do any clean job then? The CIA¡¯s job is always meddling in other countries¡¯ matters and finding about their ssified information.¡±


    Youngho said this because finding out secrecy was no different from stealing. It was only presumed to be honorable since they belonged to a nation¡¯s agency but their job was not so honorable at all.


    Youngho and Jongil were crossing the border of Switzend on ICE Train from Frankfurt.


    Geneva had a major office of the United Nations, UNOG, and the headquarters of Conference on Disarmament.


    What Eriksson requested was to have a background investigation on an influential French politician who was attending this year¡¯s Conference on Disarmament. Since Youngho was going to Geneva, the agency had asked Youngho to do their job. The agency was expecting that the French politician would be involved in a secret deal in Geneva and Youngho¡¯s job was to find out about the details of the deal.


    Eriksson said that themission would be based on the value of the information that Youngho will report. Youngho and Jongil were rather weed to receive another job since they were assigned to find out about Armenians¡¯ movement anyway. Another job was not a big deal for them.


    ¡°It seems like all the secret agents of the world will be in Switzend. I hope something fun happens.¡±


    Jongil was seeking for something exciting. He had been getting tired of taking care of the new immigrants. Moreover, he was being grilled by Szechenyi and Zeynep who wanted to learn how to fly from him. He almost leaped in joy when he heard that he was going on a business trip.


    ¡°Jongil, don¡¯t try to get into anything. It might be an international matter if you get into trouble with other agents.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to tell since we¡¯re Asians.¡±


    Although being Asians could be used as good covers since people did not see them as agents from America, but their appearance could also be an easy target since they stood out.


    Their lodging was reserved at a cheap hotel near the Cornavin train station, where many backpackers liked to stay. It was reserved by agent Philip. All of the high-quality hotels¡¯ rooms were already taken by the visitors attending the international conference.


    ¡°Why did Philip reserve this cheap room when he came here in advance. Man, why do we, global-scale spies, have to stay in this kind of hotel?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? We¡¯re only based in Azerbaijan.¡±


    Jongil did not care about Youngho¡¯s words since he was looking at girls in the lobby.


    ¡°Man, there must be spies among those beauties.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Why don¡¯t you announce that you¡¯re a global-scale spy and treat them for dinner? Stop talking about nonsense and let¡¯s find out how much this hotel is. This hotel must make a lot of money for all those visitors.¡±


    ¡°You only care about hotels these days. The five-star hotels here cost double the amount of luxury hotels in Baku. You can¡¯t afford any of them, especially if they¡¯re in the market now.¡±


    Youngho checked the price of a high quality hotel room nearby online and it was much more than 350 dors a night. It was a global city but it was too expensive.


    Since it was close to France, Youngho could hear French on the streets as most of the visitors were French. The prices were very high, so most of the backpackers could not even afford those luxury hotels.


    Allegedly, many of the representatives of different nations were also staying in only three-star hotels because there were no more rooms in those luxury hotels. It seemed that having a hotel here would be a good moneymaker.


    ***


    The reason that Youngho and Jongil were assigned to Geneva was to catch the moment of Armenian military officials¡¯ arms deal. They were told to meet Philip who had been staying there ahead of them to work with him but he was still busy as if he was chasing some at the moment. They only got a call from him and he did not contact them yet.


    The Conference on Disarmament was meeting to discuss decreasing the number of conventional weapons spread all around the world. The conference had made visible results in the past such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Because it was a conference to reduce military budgets for arms of each nation, many military officials and arms providers paid close attention to the international event.


    Because all of them had gathered in the same ce, naturally there would be secret deals between interested parties. In fact, there had been many deals to sell and buy manufacturing techniques of cutting-edge weapons in the back alleys of Geneva. Ironically, Geneva had be a ck market of arms, which was apletely opposite idea of the one behind the establishment of Disarmament Conference.


    Beforeing to Geneva, Youngho and Jongil were told to find out about Armenians military officials¡¯ movement at the conference at the European chapter. The CIA had obtained the information that Armenian military was trying to buy missiles from a European country. Italy and France were highly possible seller nations. Even if Eriksson had not asked, Youngho had to watch over the representatives of those nations anyway.


    As Youngho wondered about how to go about his assignment, Jongil asked,


    ¡°You don¡¯t think that grandma is rted to this, do you?¡±


    The ¡®grandma¡¯ meant the Armenian-American extreme nationalist, Tracy of the Lincy Foundation.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure. However, as far as I know, she can¡¯t be at work in the front even if she might be paying for all this. She can¡¯t possibly let down her image by showing her face here.¡±


    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s getting old. Those nationalists, when will they finally get it?¡±


    The conventional cannons or tanks were not a big threat to local war but missiles were a weapon of mass destruction that could reach other regions away from the battlefield. If the Armenian force were nning to buy missiles and attack Azerbaijan, it would be disastrous because Azerbaijan, as well, would demolish Armenia with their cutting-edge weapons and air force power.


    It would not be a big deal if the two countries have a local battle but if it became expanded to the point where civilians would also get harmed, the international society would not stay still. All other nations with their own interests would be involved and the esction would be unavoidable. Then Youngho¡¯s businesses and Serbian people would also fall into danger.


    In order to stop Armenia making an unfortunate choice, the arms deal must be stopped. If they could catch the evidence of an arms deal, the rest would be taken care of by the heads of each rted country politically.


    ***


    It had been very quiet in Geneva but an incident had urredst night.


    An Italian arms provider and a diplomat were assaulted during the night. The diplomat had died on the spot and the arms provider was in aa.


    The attacker boldly shot the two sitting at a caf¨¦ and hid from the public¡¯s eye. It was a shocking ident that a high official of a strong nation Italy was killed in a crowded caf¨¦.


    On the TV news, many spections were made.


    Youngho was also getting an earful from Michael for this incident.


    ¡°What are you two doing over there? Have you been just touring around the city?¡±


    ¡°It looks like the attacker tried to stop an arms deal but it¡¯s difficult to figure out who it is since his method was very amateur.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think the Azerbaijani government is responsible for this?¡±


    ¡°The Azerbaijani government is not that quick-footed. How would they¡¯ve been so close to the truth when our agency is only at the point of guessing?¡±


    ¡°Anyway, be careful and focus on French officials.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll bring you good news next time.¡±


    Youngho gave a desirable answer to Michael to hang up quickly.


    Because the inspection was now tighter, Youngho and Jongil hid their pistols inside the leather shoes, which was very ufortable.


    On the streets, random questioning and inspections were made. Jongil rubbed his ankle andined.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have bruises on my ankles. Can¡¯t we just carry flip knives? I don¡¯t see many skillful men who could be of a match to us.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you need to carry them all just in case. I think Philip is up to something since he hadn¡¯t been calling us.¡±


    At that moment, Philip contacted Youngho.


    ¡°Lee, where are you now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taking a walk around the Lake Geneva. ¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Could youe to where I am? I¡¯m at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel de Paix near ce Bourg du Four. The Armenians that I¡¯ve been following had just entered the hotel where the French representatives are staying.¡±


    Philip had been staking out at the hotel where the French officials were staying. Apart from the truth of their arms deal, now the US would be able to pressure France with the fact that the Armenian military officials had entered where French officials were staying.


    They had found the evidence of the two national representatives had met but they had no idea what their contents of negotiation were.


    The arms providing nations had agreed on not providing mass destruction weapons to Armenia. If France was to break that rule, Armenia must have suggested a shocking price for the arms.


    Youngho could not sit and wait for Armenia to obtain dangerous arms even if the CIA had notmanded him, because it would definitely affect the little kingdom that he had built. He wanted to imprint the idea to the officials and arms providers of all nations that if anyone contacted Armenian military officials, they would suffer great damage. Reading Youngho¡¯s face, Jongil also nodded.


    The two had attained special power that others did not have and Youngho had a sense of duty that he should stop potential danger with the power.


    He did not think deep but he was ready to break the arms deal on the spot. It was to prevent countless people¡¯s sacrifice and suffering. It was achievable with a few people¡¯s sacrifices today.


    Youngho thanked the attacker who shot the Italian official and arms provider in his mind since whatever that would happen at the Hotel de Paix, the attacker would be considered to be ountable for that. The countless CC-TVs on the streets were already tracking him.

 Chapter 180 - Gunfire in Geneva (2)

    <h4>Chapter 180: Gunfire in Geneva (2)</h4>


    Although Youngho had his right reason, an assassination was still a job he did not prefer, especially when it was going to be a global issue that could change different nations¡¯ rtions. Moreover, Philip would not agree to what Youngho was about to do. Thus, he decided to finish the job before meeting Philip. He would have to sneak into the hotel and finish the job.


    Youngho and Jongil quickly approached the hotel.


    Like many cities in Europe, Geneva had many small buildings in lines. The Hotel de Paix was located in a ce where small buildings were closely built together. It was an old hotel but it was maintained pretty well that it did not look that old.


    Many European hotels focus more on the luxury indoor facilities and high-quality service rather than the exterior of the building. Although the hotel had only six stories and 75 rooms, the inside of the hotel was very elegant as it was a famous hotel that many influential people of the world had visited.


    Youngho and Jongil jumped from a nearby building¡¯s rooftop and snuck in to the hotel through an open window. Looking at an old stone railing that had been smoothed out by many people¡¯s touches, Youngho could see how old the building was. It amazed him how a building that was built in thete 1800s could be maintained this clean.


    He felt guilty to that he would be staining the old hotel¡¯s history with blood. Avoiding CCTVs installed inside the hotel, he went down through the stairs but he had to stop when he neared the third floor. It was because there were sharp-looking men guarding around the hall entrance.


    Youngho and Jongil put masks on their faces and body mmed them. Even to well-trained bodyguards, it was hard to avoid unexpected attacks done when they were off guards. Not to mention, the two moved at the speed that was beyond what a normal human would have. Soon, the two moved three bulky men at one corner of the stairs and opened the entrance door to the hallways.


    There must be other guards at the room where a secret deal was being carried out at the moment. Sure enough, three men were roaming around the hall. Two were at the elevator and one was standing in front of a room with a bored face.


    As soon as the door opened, two objects moved like a sh of lightning. Since it happened too fast, the guards could not even fight back. There were only attacks from one side.


    After taking down the guards in the hall, the two kicked the door into the room where a guard was protecting. There was only one guard inside the door and he was knocked down immediately. Only five mid-aged men talking at the couch were stunned and looked at the two intruders.


    Among the five of them, two were French and three were Armenians.


    Since Youngho had lived overseas for long, he could tell who was from where only by looking at their faces. As if the men were about to sign on contracts, they were holding pens but were stunned to see intruders.


    Youngho took their documents first.


    The next step was to shoot their knees with a gun, with a silencer. Although they screamed loud in pain, as Youngho put his finger on his lips, they only groaned in fear.


    Youngho and Jongil searched the men¡¯s pockets to identify them. They picked the leaders of each party and shot them in each of their abdomens. Not wanting to kill them, Youngho stopped at that point. If they did not go to the hospital soon, they would die for excessive bleeding tonight.


    ***


    ¡°Lee, why do you take so long? It only takes about twenty minutes to get here.¡±


    ¡°I was inspected three times on the way here. They even searched my backpack, so there was nothing I could do. I could get away since I didn¡¯t bring my pistol.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I thought something bad happened to you.¡±


    Philip must have been nervous thinking that he would have to deal with those officials alone.


    ¡°Did they leave yet?¡±


    ¡°No, the negotiation must be still going on since nobody came out yet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Philip, you¡¯ve done a great job catching their meeting alone.¡±


    They sat at a caf¨¦ across the hotel and as Youngho was taking his mouth to his coffee to sip, about ten vehicles of police cars and ambnces approached the hotel building with loud sirens. It seemed that the incident was reported to the police now.


    Soon, the hotel entrance was crowded with reporters and broadcasting vehicles. The police line was set up and an armed quick reaction force surrounded the hotel. The police must have thought that the attackers were still inside the building. Even if the suspects had gotten away already, the police department had to show some efforts since an influential French politician and diplomat had been attacked in order to save their face to the international public.


    Philip was discouraged after exchanging some conversations with a policeman.


    ¡°Was someone attacked?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re still not sure but it looks like the French diplomat was attacked.¡±


    ¡°What about the Armenians? Did they leave the hotel already?¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯re still inside. I remember their faces clearly since I¡¯ve been following them around for the past week.¡±


    A few more ambnces arrived and reporters surrounded the vehicles. To Youngho and Jongil, it was such a pain to wait to see what was going on even though they knew about the whole situation. Philip insisted to wait until the Armenians came out, so they had to wait two more hours at the caf¨¦ until the news broadcasted that two French and three Armenians were attacked.


    Aftering back to the hotel room, Youngho sent the arms purchase list document which he had taken at the arms deal meeting to Eriksson.


    Most of the items were missiles and there were even fighters on the list. He was not sure what the Information Agency would do with the list but his part of the job wasplete. To Michael, Youngho just told him that he had no idea what really happened.


    Michael was just relieved that the arms deal was foundered at least. He ordered Youngho to standby in Geneva until there was further instruction.


    The press all around the world was talking about the incident in Geneva. It was indeed a big issue since Italian, French, and Armenian politicians and arms providers had been assaulted in a row.


    Anybody could guess that Armenia had contacted French politician and arms provider to have an arms deal.


    Azerbaijan was also shocked by the fact. From all over the country, people boycotted French products and there were multiple mass crowd protests. The Azerbaijani government had sent a letter of protest to the French government since it was trying to incite a war by selling weapons to Armenia. Even President Aliyev had announced a written statement to France.


    France, which not only had not aplished what it had nned but also had its diplomat and arms provider assaulted, was attacked by the press of the world. It was same with Armenia. The country was downgraded into a hostile country that only cared about wars against Azerbaijan with was seeking peace. Although Armenia stated that the purpose of the arms deal was only to protect itself, nobody bought their statement.


    Because of the aftermath of this incident, clouds of war hung low over the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia. It was rumored that Azerbaijan wouldunch a preemptive attack.


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil who were responsible for all the recent issue were enjoying their peaceful time at the Lake Geneva as they fished.


    Located at the border of Geneva and France, the Lake Geneva was the biggestke on the Northern Alps, which had 72 kilometers of length and 1.4 kilometers of width. It was shaped like a crescent moon.


    ¡°Man, have you only been fishing instead of working?¡±


    As Philip was catching more than what Youngho and Jongil had caught altogether, Jongil teased him. Philip smiled and showed them a little earthworm.


    ¡°You can catch them if you dig the ground a little bit.¡±


    The two had used fishing lures and indeed it made sense that the trout were attracted to real baits.


    After catching quite a lot, they grilled the fish at the barbecue facility at theke and drank wine together.


    ¡°How long do we have to standby?¡±


    ¡°The conference will go on for two more days and I should report to Michael that we¡¯re taking off. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯re going to get an earful from him since we didn¡¯t aplish much.¡±


    ¡°Those attackers... they were like ghosts. I am d that they exposed the arms deal instead of us. The Azerbaijani government won¡¯t sit back and watch if those missiles made it to Armenia.¡±


    Youngho was ufortable to hear Philip since he was the attacker.


    Even though they could stop the deal this time, missiles would eventually make into Armenia. The only way to stop it was to inspect every cargo delivered through Georgia but the Georgian government would not allow it easily since it could affect its rtionship with Armenia.


    ¡°The states will pressure Georgia since there is no way for Armenia to get arms delivered to them without passing the ck Sea.¡±


    There was another way. If Armenia could go through a third power, they could get arms delivered by an airne. However, there was no country that would do that for Armenia except for France.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee, our clients were satisfied greatly by the information you sent me.¡±


    It was Eriksson calling about the list that Youngho sent him.


    ¡°What do they need that for? The purchase list that only had items and their prices.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is a business secret but I¡¯ll let you know one thing.¡±


    ording to Eriksson, whether a particr armspany had developed new weapons or not could be conjectured only by looking at the list of items or techniques they had agreed on selling.


    If thepany was selling thetest manufacture technique of arms to other countries, it would probably mean that thepany had made more advanced arms at the moment. Therefore, knowing this information, thepanies that treated core materials of weapons like tungsten could call a high price to the armspany for the future deals.


    Youngho was only astounded that such information could be implied by the purchase list of arms items. With only one document, many rtedpanies would determine whether to invest in arms development or to call higher prices for materials in their stocks. It was a new world for Youngho.


    Before hanging up, Youngho reminded Eriksson about one thing.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell Michael that I attained the document and I can¡¯t tell you how I attained it.¡±


    ¡°Our agency only values the information in our hands. All pieces of information have fortunately ended in our hands somehow and we ask no questions. I also tell my clients that information could be manipted on the news too. Are you satisfied with my answer?¡±


    Youngho was relieved by Eriksson¡¯s clear answer. No one would find out about Youngho¡¯s work in this.


    At Youngho¡¯s ount, five million dors were transferred soon. It was from Eriksson.


    Apart from whether the information had this much value, Youngho was astounded by how much money those rtedpanies paid for such little piece of information.


    Of course, Youngho had to sneak into the hotel and fight with many bodyguards in order to attain the document, which was unimaginable to many normal people but was it really worth five million dors? It was surprising since the agency would have received more than five million.


    Youngho could not say anything about the Information Agency to Jongil, so he told him that themission from Michael had arrived as he gave him 500,000 dors. It was obvious that Jongil would make a fuss about being an information businessman if he knew about the truth. It was better for him not to find out about it.


    Sure enough, Jongil was excited about the money he received.


    ¡°Youngho, let¡¯s quit the CIA and do this kind of jobs instead. It¡¯s almost five years of our payment.¡±


    ¡°I pay you more than what the CIA pays you. Don¡¯t get too greedy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s that. It¡¯d be nice since we won¡¯t have to hear Michael¡¯s nagging andining.¡±


    ¡°We were just lucky this time. Do you really like shooting guns and getting involved in fist fighting?¡±


    In fact, Youngho had wanted to quit the CIA soon now that he had enough money. However, the CIA¡¯s job had its charm. Also, it did not seem like Michael would be allowing his resignation. For now, he would have to take advantage of being an agent until he quit in the future.

 Chapter 181 - A Collaborative Business with Mafias (1)

    <h4>Chapter 181: A Coborative Business with Mafias (1)</h4>


    After returning to Frankfurt from Switzend, Youngho stayed at Yunsuh¡¯s ce for a few days and spent time catching up with Szechenyi.


    Szechenyi waspletely ustomed to the college life, because of his handsome look, he said that German girls could not get enough of him. He was even brighter than before.


    Arsen at Goethe University had rmended him theputer science major and he had been thinking a lot about his major. Youngho was satisfied to see how he was doing since he was seriously concerned about his future. Szechenyi had be an adult. There was nothing to worry about since he did not have to pick a major for the first semester and the school system was pretty flexible that he could change his major if necessary.


    He deserved to be praised for doing so well in a foreign country. Seeing him, actively engaging in new life and trying to get used to things, was pleasing Youngho. It was a meaningful time together for both Youngho and Szechenyi.


    Baku airport¡¯s security was stepped up unlike before.


    Youngho had returned his pistol at the European chapter, so he did not have anything special that would get caught in the inspection.


    The reason that he used the train to get to Geneva from Frankfurt was also to avoid airport security check. Because of this, Youngho had hidden weapons at any base he went.


    Even at Yunsuh¡¯s ce in Frankfurt, there were numerous weapons. Yunsuh would freak out when she sees the weapons, so he hid them in the safe in Szechenyi¡¯s room. When she asked why he was getting a safe, he had made an excuse that Szechenyi¡¯s family relics were stored in there.


    In fact, there were some weapons and about five million in euros and dors in case of an emergency. Many people trusted credit cards but whenputerwork had problems, cards were only pieces of stic. So, Youngho liked to have some cash at hand.


    That was why he had stored money at any bases he had. The profits made from Arirang Hotel in South Ossetia were not even deposited in a bank ount but they went right into a safe. It was because card transactions were notmon in Tskhinvali.


    After slipping out of the airport, Youngho went right to the Main Police Department to find Sevan since it was where he could find out about the government¡¯s current movements.


    People were also being inspected at the entrance to the department. Now Youngho could not even get in there easily just because he knew many people at the department.


    Azerbaijan had taken the attempted arms deal in Geneva very seriously. Since Armenia had attempted to buy advanced weapons from an advanced country France, the government was experiencing a state of tension. Although the deal was off, it was still rming that the two involved countries had not minded other nations since they tried to close the deal at a popr hotel. It also meant that there could be any other deals in near future.


    Youngho managed to get into the building and met Sevan. Since Youngho was also an Azerbaijani citizen, it was not someone else¡¯s issue. He needed to give some information to Azerbaijani government. He opened up by saying that he had heard from foreign investors he met in Frankfurt during his recent trip.


    ¡°Some of the reporters had found the arms deal purchase list document at the scene of the attack. Armenia was trying to buy missile andtest fighter models. That¡¯s why I flew right back to Baku pushing back my wine sale business.¡±


    ¡°What? Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see? What would a country like France sell? There are plenty of conventional weapons in Russia.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Sevan was astounded with what Youngho said. Since he agreed with Youngho, he could not say anything.


    ¡°What we have to do as a priority now is to convince Georgia, not hunting down impure elements.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we should cut off the arms supply route.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, and we should also put pressure on the French government. We need to give them a message if a war breaks out between Azerbaijan and Armenia, they won¡¯t be able to get out of the hook.¡±


    Understanding what Youngho had said at once, Sevan went up to the chief¡¯s office.


    ***


    ¡°You¡¯re saying anybody from 16 to 40 should undergo military drills?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. If war breaks out, the whole country will turn into a battlefield. There is no frontier in this small country. You haven¡¯t felt when you trained the Armenian militia? They¡¯re going to kill anyone just because they¡¯re living in Azerbaijan.¡±


    It was a conversation between Youngho and Jongil. Youngho could leave Baku at any time with his family and friends but he did not want to give up without trying to protect the homes of his families and the Serbian descendants. In order to do that, the people¡¯s self-defensive power should be maximized. There were many solutions, but trained manpower was concluded to be the best way.


    Azerbaijani government was extremely stern about the situation. After investigating what Youngho had reported, President Aliyev announced that the nation was considering to stop exporting oil crude to other nations, which would be a very threatening decision to many powerful nations. At the same time, there were many Azerbaijani immigrants in France protesting in front of French government buildings and even the presidential pce, making a heavy impression on the issue.


    As the situation worsened, the French government finally announced that it would not export weapons of mass destruction to the disputed countries. However, there was no Western press or countries that believed France¡¯s announcement as truth.


    Georgian government was also flustered by Azerbaijan¡¯s diplomacy oppression since the Azerbaijani government had demanded a thorough inspection of any Armenian cargo transferred at Batumi Port and the Poti Sea Port. Azerbaijani government announced that if any weapons were delivered through those ports because of loose inspection, Georgia would be held responsible for any further oues.


    As Georgia was a country that was benefited by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline as it was located in the point where the pipeline passed through, it could not reject Azerbaijan¡¯s demand. However, at the same time, Georgia could not refuse to help Armenians since many Armenians were living in the country.


    Park Jongil was not fond of the government¡¯s passive way of sitting still and defending against external threats.


    ¡°This kind of defense system is just not my cup of tea. The government is not making any visible achievements from their announcements. How about we change this?¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to say that we should instigate the government to have a preemptive attack?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. I¡¯m just saying we should do this our own style.¡±


    Jongil wanted to make a suggestion to the government, and his idea was this: After watching different pieces of cargo being transported to the ports of Georgia, once a suspicious cargo was found, they should explode it. Since it would be an international problem if the Azerbaijani government directly handles it, Jongil wanted to do the job for the government instead.


    It was a kind of mercenary business.


    Rather than to make a huge profit out of the business, it was a way to prevent war. It sounded like an absurd idea but a bright one at the same time.


    Jongil kept on and said that if the mercenarypany was established in a third country, Zeynep Corporation would not be exposed as well.


    ***


    Youngho visited Baku¡¯s shipyard and asked to hurry the production of the car ferry ship and freighter that he had requested in the past. The vice president said that they would be ready by the summer.


    Youngho wanted to be ready to leave to Kazakhstan at any time. He was not going to abandon his business sites in Baku. He would only have old people, women, and children evacuated the area and protect the ranch with other men. The ships were needed to transport the Serbian people and his family members to the Arirang Farm since the farm could be a shelter for them in the wartime.


    The Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan now had be a great ce for people to stay now that it was equipped with city infrastructure. If only enough underground water was found, it would be a perfect town.


    Youngho was ready to invest any funds to modernize the farm. He had invested his funds in three new hotel sites and bought five new ships but he still had residual cash that was about 35 million dors. It was the money that would be enough to invest in the Arirang Farm for now. He had this much money left since he had made money from selling gold bars and arms dealmissions, which added up to 360 million dors in the first ce. That was apart from the profits from wine sales and other business shares.


    ¡°Brother, you must often lose track of the time counting the money you made.¡±


    ¡°What? You don¡¯t look so happy even though I raised you a dor more for each bottle.¡±


    ¡°I need to change the cirction market that earns more money for distributors than a provider.¡±


    Afternding at Volgograd¡¯s light aircraft runway, Youngho¡¯s group was greeted by Sergey with a bright smile.


    ¡°What brings you here at this time? Especially when you traveled on this thin paper airne, I guess it¡¯s an urgent business?¡±


    Sergey treated Youngho¡¯s airne as a paper airne. American manufacturers would be upset to hear that but Russians tended to like big things and Cessna airne was not in their favor.


    ¡°I have a great business idea, so I wanted to share it with Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    As Youngho mentioned a new business idea, Sergey was intrigued. Although his business proposals did not make great profits at once, there were no other good business ns either. He was curious to hear what Youngho had to say.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be reluctant, Lee. Say it already!¡±


    ¡°I should tell you this before telling Mr. Yaniv but I don¡¯t think this is something you would agree with.¡±


    Youngho thought that Sergey would not be able to agree since he had only been working on the desk, not in the field. His idea would be more attractive to someone who had been in the field.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re refusing my help, is it involving physical work?¡±


    He was indeed fast-witted.


    ¡°I want to start a mercenary business.¡±


    ¡°A mercenary business?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already received the first order.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t even made yourpany yet but you already have a client?¡±


    Soon after Youngho had told this idea to Sevan, the message was delivered to the presidential pce. Since it was impossible for a normal nation to make fire on trucks or trains in another nation, it was better to hire a mercenarypany to do the job.


    In fact, there are many mercenary armies in the world that were mobilized for all sorts of dirty jobs except for terrorism. Moreover, there arepanies that clean up the records of former requests made to mercenarypanies. It was a method what the US of French intelligence agencies frequently used.


    Also, hiring mercenaries were not so pricey since they were hired for each case only and they got to be paid when their assignments were sessfully done.


    When a mercenarypany epts a request, they only needed a travel fee as a starter. That was why mercenarypanies were eager toplete their jobs sessfully.


    Many former soldiers of special forces of different nations, who liked free lifestyles, applied to mercenarypanies. They did not belong to any specific country and were even willing to go into a battlefield if it made money.


    Although there would be no people who did not fear death but mercenaries were fierce and could be very reckless too. For those reasons, Azerbaijani government wanted Youngho to contact a mercenarypany in quiet. If the request was epted, the government was willing to pay an unconventional amount of money.

 Chapter 182 - A Collaborative Business with Mafias (2)

    <h4>Chapter 182: A Coborative Business with Mafias (2)</h4>


    ¡°So, I can send my men as mercenaries who can¡¯t adapt to my normal business.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, they should at least show outstanding physical skills. They¡¯re mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°I have plenty of strong men whose brains are filled with muscles.¡±


    Mafias were a group of people who controlled nights of Russia. They could fill in the empty spots of night public security and it was one of the reasons that the police department had been overlooking their existence.


    In Youngho¡¯s perspective, mafias were better than many Russian policemen who robbed people before their presence.


    Yaniv more than weed Youngho¡¯s mercenary business proposal since his organization was growing at a rapid rate and he could split some of the problematic men as the mercenarypany¡¯s employee.


    Even to Yaniv, it was hard to control young mafias who had been living on the streets for their entire lives. There were many mafias in supervisor positions who generated more heat than light. Yaniv was excited to turn them into mercenaries.


    They agreed on making mafias as watchers only at the ports and letting Youngho¡¯s security crews take over the explosion and blows of suspicious cargo. The mercenarypany would be based in Volgograd.


    The security crew from Youngho¡¯spany would only be involved in special operations, so it was not likely that their identities would be exposed.


    If they could attain cutting-edge weapons during operations, that would also be a huge plus to Youngho¡¯s assets.


    The establishment of the mercenarypany was processed quickly. To gain the trust of Azerbaijani government, the business had to be established properly. Now what was left to do before getting to work was to sign a contract with the government.


    The reason that Youngho started the business was to block Armenia¡¯s arms supply routes. He did not care if he could make money from this but he was surprised to see what Sergey showed him. Sergey had attained a European mercenarypany¡¯s yearly profit.


    Thepany made various amounts depending on each case but it made millions of money as a base amount for each case. Thepany must have been dealing with life-threatening requests since they were making a huge amount for each case. It was a valuable data for Youngho since it could be useful when he negotiates the charge for the Azerbaijani government¡¯s request.


    It all started from Jongil¡¯s bold idea and now that it was bing a concrete business n, Youngho had to report it to the European chapter. Since it was a business for peace between the two countries, it was a praiseworthy job.


    Youngho called Michael and exined the whole business idea.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that the president had made this decision after a long concern.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that President Aliyev is not going to have a war. Right?¡±


    ¡°Considering the current situations, there can be some local battles but it¡¯s not going to be a war.¡±


    The battles would begin around the time when the cultivation waspleted. Since Armenia had provoked Azerbaijan first, the Azerbaijani government had a rationale for attacking them.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re finally working on an operation that¡¯s worthy. Well done, Lee. If you need any operation expense, let me know.¡±


    Michael was happy to hear about Youngho¡¯s n that he even offered to give him expense. Since he was a stingy person, it was quite unusual for him.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need any more from the chapter. I¡¯m just supporting the business from a side.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you should show France and Armenia that they had made a huge mistake. Do whatever you want! I¡¯ll put in good a word to the headquarters.¡±


    ***


    Youngho had been going here and there so busily that the grape cultivation period was already over while he was gone.


    The Serbian descendants had helped with the cultivationbors and the international school had epted working at the farm as a field experience for the cultivation seasons, so the farm was crowded with helping workers.


    The primary work the helpers had to do was to hand-pick grapes after the harvesting machines had swept the trees already. Although the number of hand-picked grapes were not muchpared to what the machines could do, the international school¡¯s students and Korean overseas in Baku came to help every year since Youngho had been having a festival-like event around the cultivation time.


    Even when it was not the cultivation season, the Korean overseas now frequently visited the farm for fun and took Korean food products naturally. That was why the farm¡¯s daily necessity storage was always filled with Korean products. To them, Zeynep Farm or Arirang Hotel¡¯s existence was a hugefort and pride.


    This year was also a rich year like thest year, so Youngho¡¯s finger that was pushing buttons on a calctor was moving lightly in excitement.


    Now, the amount of export of wine was exceeding 23 million dors a year and this was when Youngho had not counted the ones being stored in oak casks for long-term aging. Zeynep Farm had produced 500,000 gallons and the Charles farm produced 100,000 gallons of grape extracts this year. Since every extract produced in the Charles farm was all stored in oak casks, the farm would produce 2.3 million bottles of wine by next year.


    Now the regr wine was sold at eight dors for each bottle and a short-period oak cask-aged wine was sold at sixteen dors a bottle by Russia.


    Themissions Youngho made from arms deals and information business deals were an astronomical amount of cash that did not even feel real but what he made from hardbor at the grape farm had more meaning to him. It was valuable money.


    As Youngho was calcting the money, someone made noise by knocking on the door to his study. It was Zeynep without question.


    ¡°Oppa, I finally flew an airne by myself!¡±


    Youngho questioned what he just heard.


    ¡°What? Are you out of your mind?!¡±


    Astounded, a scream-like sound came out of his mouth. It did not make any sense that a seventeen-year-old girl had flown by herself.


    ¡°No, no. Of course, I had an engineer with me. How can I manage to control the airne by myself? I¡¯m still so scared of flying.¡±


    Youngho was still in a shock. He had raised Zeynep like the apple of his eye.


    ¡°You almost made my heart drop. Pick it up and sew it back on me.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. You don¡¯t need to be so surprised, oppa! I¡¯ll be an adult soon.¡±


    Then she talked about her first flying experience for a while.


    Now that he learned a seventeen-year-old girl could control an airne with help, he thought that anyone could learn to fly. It would be useful if he could teach the Serbian descendants how to fly. Also, flying was getting old since there were only four people who could control airnes.


    It was exciting to take control of an airne in the beginning but after one or two hours of flying, it became boring. Youngho and his friends all agreed that driving a car was less boring than flying.


    Since there could be many urgent incidents from now on, it was not realistic to have only four people who could fly his airnes. The more pilots on the farm, the faster he would be able to handle urgent situations. There were many smart descendants at the farm. He wanted to train as many teenagers and young adults as possible.


    Since he had his own airfield, it was not all impossible to train them at the farm.


    ***


    Youngho invited the flying school¡¯s trainers to the farm. He sent two trainers to Kazakhstan and ced a four-seater Cessna airne and an eight-seater Cessna airne in there. One trainer now resided at Zeynep Farm as well.


    The young adults were picked for flying lessons after going through some tests. They were an elite group of young adults who would be able to fly at an urgent time. Teenagers would also be trained in the near future but for now, he started out with young adults only. Three were picked from Zeynep Farm and six were picked from Arirang Farm.


    Even though they would be flying light aircraft, there were many things to study for. They would have to spend some time of training as Youngho and his friends did.


    Stunned to hear that Zeynep was flying, Youngho added various safety features to his airnes. Parachutes were prepared for each passenger and for the body of the airnes too and intable cushions were installed to reduce shocks of the emergencynding.


    He also emphasized to everyone to abandon the airne in an emergency. Airnes could be bought with money at any time but valuable talented people could not be bought with money.


    ¡°Those guys are trying topete with each other to go as mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°I only need a few who are specialized in explosives.¡±


    As Youngho asked Insoo to pick suitable security crew to be sent as mercenaries, many crews who were bored by Baku¡¯s peaceful lives had volunteered.


    ¡°You cannd at Batumi¡¯s airport at any time since I¡¯ve already gotten the permission from the airport. When I said that we¡¯d be transporting the guests of Arirang Hotel regrly, the airport staffs issued permission quickly.¡±


    It was only achievable since Agent Philip, who was in charge of Georgian regions, had used his connection to help Youngho.


    Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel¡¯s basements had been alreadypleted and its floors above ground were under construction.


    Youngho had requested a long-term regr use of runway at the airport because he wanted to store gold bars at therge-scale safe in the basement of the hotel. Although he could not carry a lot at once on the light aircraft, he would at leaste twice a week to deliver all of the produced gold bars. It was only possible since he only carried ten to twenty kilograms of gold bars.


    Now that Youngho could travel to Batumi at any time he wanted, he would be able to effectively cut out the weapons going into Armenia. Whenever the mafias who were watching the cargo in Georgian ports contact Youngho, he was ready to fly there immediately.


    Just in time, as if it was waiting for him to be prepared, he received a call from the mafias at the Batumi Port. They reported that a French freighter was entering the Batumi Port. Youngho had ordered them to report any French vessels entering the ports and because of that, he had to go check even if the vessels turn out to be normal.


    As soon as he received the call, he got ready to set off.


    Eight men dressed as travelers were being inspected at the control tower of Zeynep Farm¡¯s airfield. The group included Youngho, Youngho¡¯s two friends, Ilkwon, and four other security crews who specialized in explosives.


    ¡°You wear sunsses on a rainy day? Take it off, you look like a country boy, and why are you wearing shorts?¡±


    Park Jongil, who had taken the drill instructor¡¯s role, pointed out every w from the crews.


    ¡°Never mind. That¡¯s fine. Everyone get on board. Some had gotten off from the French ship, let¡¯s hurry!¡±


    Although it was raining at Batumi airport, it was not difficult tond.


    At the airport, Michael hade out to greet Youngho. Michael was Yaniv¡¯s man who was a middle boss mafia and Yaniv had put him in charge of the mercenarypany.


    Since he had traveled to South Ossetia and Kazakhstan with Youngho, it was easy to work with him and not to mention, he was the swiftest man that was close to Yaniv.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯ve made it quicker than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your work, Mr. Michael.¡±


    ¡°We spent several days without catching anything but now it seems like we¡¯ve got something. You told me to inspect supplies from France but we checked every freighter headed to Armenia. There is a possibility that the arms could be delivered by a ship of a third country.¡±


    Michael was indeed an experienced middle-boss mafia. Youngho had not considered that Armenia would use a freighter that belonged to a third country.


    ¡°I had not even thought about that at all. I almost made a huge mistake.¡±


    ¡°I contacted you toe since I found a suspicious French freighter today. You¡¯ll see what I mean soon. It¡¯s just weird that it¡¯s overloaded to the point that its waterline had almost gone under the water.¡±


    There were not a lot of freighters that were overloaded to the point where they exceed the waterline since it was prohibited by the internationalw of the sea. Ship owners of advanced countries especially strictly followed thew¡¯s guidelines, so it was quite strange that a French freighter had not followed thew. It probably meant the owner of the freighter was pressured by his nation or the cargo exceeded the rmended weight.


    If the cargo was an inseparable body, it would have been inevitable to vite thew. After hearing from Michael, Youngho became hasty to check the freighter.

 Chapter 183 - A Collaborative Business with Mafias (3)

    <h4>Chapter 183: A Coborative Business with Mafias (3)</h4>


    The French freighter was sunken in the water to the point where the waterline was unseen above water. It was fortunate that the sea route from the Mediterranean, through the Sea of Marmara, and to the ck Sea had no heavy currents but it had taken quite a dangerous voyage. Taking such risk meant that the cargo it was carrying was very important.


    The International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea strictly forbid such trip, so there must be a good reason for the freighter to vite thew.


    The freighter did not unload their cargo yet. It seemed that the staffs of the freighter were still negotiating with Georgian officials at the port. It would be a pressure rather than a negotiation since Georgia was a weaker country and it was obvious that Georgia would yield to France¡¯s pressure rather than keeping their agreement with Azerbaijan.


    Youngho and his friends were certain that the cargo must be missiles going into Armenia.


    If they were missiles, there was nothing Youngho¡¯s group could do. Once the cargo leaves the port, since the radius of their explosion was not predictable, innocent civilians could be harmed by it. They had to act before the cargo went out for delivery.


    ¡°Let¡¯s sink them in the water.¡±


    ¡°Sink what?¡±


    Youngho was reminded of something by Jongil¡¯s sudden suggestion.


    ¡°You know, while they are talking with the Georgian officials, we should put them in water at the port. That¡¯s what we¡¯re specialized in, don¡¯t you remember? ¡®Underwater Demolition Team¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Where do we get the equipment?¡±


    ¡°We can get scuba gear anywhere if we have money.¡±


    It was a piece of cake to get into the freighter. However, there were no technicians who could deactivate cutting-edge arms. Not to mention, if they exploded the missiles in the freighter anchored at the port, they would be putting numerous lives at risk. Thus, the only way to get rid of them was to sink them with the whole freighter.


    Youngho¡¯s group had never tried this to an intact vessel, but it was their first time to show off what they had trained for in their Navy time.


    When they were in the Navy Special Forces, they had trained underwater as a daily routine. U.D.T. was a special force unit that dealt with any terrorism and special operations on the sea. Now the unit deals with a variety of missions but when Youngho was in the unit, the team was only renowned as an underwater demolition team. Since they were focused on underwater missions, the soldiers were as free as seals in the water.


    Youngho¡¯s group could easily attain scuba gear but they could not get underwater oxygen cutting machines since Batumi Port did not have a boat repair yard.


    Michael the mafia inquired many people and found out that the machine could be bought at Poti Sea Port, which was reliving news since the port was only an hour away from Batumi Port by car.


    Since there were many travelers who visited Batumi Port, the port had prohibited noisy ship repairing and loading and unloading of raw materials that were subject to make dust. Only finished goods were allowed to be traded at the port.


    All of the members of Youngho¡¯s group were now prepared and were investigating the freighter. A boat would not just sink even if a hole was drilled through it. They had to find a critical spot that would damage the freighter the most.


    The group agreed on sending Youngho, Jongil, and two other security crews for the underwater operation. The rest of the group would be supporting them from outside.


    The French freighter was big enough that would exceed 20,000 tons by far.


    There were four cargo holds. The freighter was thetest model that the engine room was located at the stern of the ship and all of the holds were located at the front of the vessel.


    Youngho¡¯s group was going to drill near the screw at the stern of the ship but it did not look like it was going to be huge damage. After discussing with others, Youngho had decided to target the body below the center hold.


    Considering the thickness of the body of the ship and the depth of their diving, they did not need scuba cylinders. Since the conventional air tankssted thirty minutes in twenty meters below water, they couldst fifty minutes in ten meters below sea level. It would only be bothersome for the operation if they dived in with double cylinders.


    The thickness of the body of the vessel was only twenty millimeters thick, so it would only take them about an hour to drill a ten-centimeter hole. There was no need to make the hole bigger since that size of a hole could break the bnce of the freighter in a moment.


    ***


    There were only two ways to approach a vessel that was anchored at the port, it was either to go through the gangway installed next to the vessel at a dock or to illegally get in the ship by tying a rope at a side of the boat from the seaside.


    As for a vessel that was already anchored, the staff sailors would not watch around it but they only guarded the gangway tightly for the ship¡¯s security.


    Also, it was impossible for petty thieves to steal things from freighters since most of the freighters carried over-sized cargo and they were not movable unless the thieves used cranes to steal them.


    However, Youngho¡¯s team was approaching the freighter through an alternative way since they were swimming underwater to get to the ship.


    It was still in the middle of the day but Youngho¡¯s team had floated a little barge twenty meters away from the freighter and began their operation byying a rubber hose under the water. The barge was full of different wastes scooped from the bottle of the sea, which was typically found at any port. They were creating a scene of a group of people in diving suits going in and out of the water to collect wastes and broken anchors thrown out by fishing boats.


    Michael who was watching the scene at the waterfront smirked since Youngho¡¯s group was carrying out their operation so boldly and shamelessly.


    After about two hours, a barge that was filled with sea wastes was leaving away from the freighter. Soon, the emergency bell began to ring from the freighter. Within an hour, the French freighter began to sink into the water.


    Batumi Port was a naturally formed port.


    In many other man-made ports, people had put so much effort to makerge vesselse alongside the pier since those vessels coulde near the port only after digging out sands and rocks from the bottom of the sea at ports. However, Batumi Port had naturally secured optimum water level so even jumbo cruise ship coulde along. In the port¡¯s deep water level, the French freighter easily sunk.


    After the body of the vessel had sunkenpletely and only the tip of the bridge could be seen above the water, it finally stopped sinking.


    Not being able to hold the weight of the vessel, the rope tied at the quayside was pulled apart and the staff that has not been able to evacuate the ship in advance were swimming to the waterfront holding on the life rings.


    Inattentive of what was happening at the waterfront, Youngho¡¯s group who had changed into their normal attires were drinking hot coffee at a nearby caf¨¦.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, it was such ridiculous operation and I waspletely awestruck.¡±


    Michael clenched his teeth trying to holdughter.


    ¡°Well, you should doubt any ship that roams around other vessels at nights. This is how things are usually done in our world.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s unaffected attitude, he finally roared withughter.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    From then on, it was time for a show.


    Youngho had already recorded the scene of the French freighter sinking. He quickly sent out the pictures of the sinking freighter, with some description attached, to a world-famous news agency.


    In the description, he wrote that there was an incident that a French freighter that carried an over-sized cargo illegally sunk at Batumi Port. Then he added he had no idea why French military officials were mobilized when a mere freighter was sunken.


    It was a matter of time before the broadcastingpanies around the world crowd at the Batumi International Airport and France would have toe up with a good excuse to them.


    The French military would have to collect a hundred millions dors¡¯ worth of weapons submerged at the port, but paparazzi would not let it go easily.


    Since France could not neglect the freighter in the water, it would have to fill in the hole in the body of the vessel and bail water out of it to get it back. The engine room must have been already invaded by sea water, thus it would not be able to function as normal, so the vessel must be towed away to France.


    All of the processes would be a nightmare to France.


    The cutting-edge weapons that had been soaked in seawater for a long time would not function normally and France would have to supply new ones to Armenia, but now, the whole world¡¯s eyes were on France.


    France was now in huge trouble. Although it would find another way to supply the weapons, Youngho¡¯s group would also act again upon their decision.


    At the time, Youngho¡¯s group that was responsible for the whole issue wasnding at the runway of Zeynep Farm. As they unload their stuff, Youngho talked to the group.


    ¡°Did we go too soft on them?


    Jongil looked at Youngho as if he was being absurd.


    ¡°Hey! I told you to drill only one hole but you went with two. My head still aches. Man, it¡¯s been such a long time since I dived in water. I even forgot about the regtions. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to get dpression sickness.¡±


    Jongil was just exaggerating, he was an expert diver with plenty of experiences.


    ¡°Seniors! We¡¯ve aplished our job well today. Don¡¯t we have any rewards?¡±


    ¡°You guys only picked up trash from the water. Your seniors had risked their eyes and drilled holes with welding machines.¡±


    Jongil scolded the junior security crews.


    ¡°You have done such a great job today. Let¡¯s have amb meat barbecue party tonight. I need to drink since I¡¯m going to have to meet government officials here tomorrow. I need a boost,¡± Youngho said.


    ***


    Youngho was smiling as he left the presidential pce.


    President Aliyev had invited Youngho to a big lunch. He was very satisfied with the recent incident.


    Although it was a mercenarypany that yed a key role in the sinking of the French freighter, it was Youngho who had introduced him to the mercenarypany. Any high officials of Azerbaijani government knew that Youngho was a connection to the mercenarypany.


    Although Youngho was the mercenary who drilled holes on the vessel, he could not reveal the secret but he told the president that he was the one who reported to the famous news agency.


    He intentionally let the government know about his doing since he wanted to give debt to the government. That way, even if he made mistakes in the future, the government would overlook his misdoings.


    The government was willing to paymission but Youngho refused it with an excuse that the mercenary could not be paid since the freighter¡¯s cargo was not revealed yet. If it was really carrying missiles which had a hundred millions of value, he would regret receiving only a few million from the government.


    Although what Youngho had slipped out to the press was an unfortunate sinking of a freighter, the incident was having an unexpected turn.


    Azerbaijani government had lobbied the press and even the United States and Russia were pressuring France. Now, France was in a position that it could not get rid of the freighter at Batumi Port by itself. The appearance of French military officials at the port after the sinking of the freighter was not seen as usual.


    This was what Youngho had in mind when he sent out the email to the news agency.


    Russia and the United States who were directly involved with the major countries of the Caucasus insisted to investigate the freighter together. If the cargo was revealed to be weapons, France would be in big trouble. The country had participated in the Conference on Disarmament to decrease the number of weapons around the world but ironically it had supplied weapons to a disputed country. It was revealed to be true, France would have no words to say to the international society.


    Everything seems to be going well as nned but France could also be watching for a chance when the public eyes were on the Batumi Port.


    Youngho asked Michael to watch Poti Sea Port cautiously. If France really forces to deliver the arms supply through Poti Sea Port, he was willing to go further than sinking a freighter. He also asked Michael to prepare a rocketuncher since he would be exploding their freighter this time.


    Batumi Port was where Arirang Hotel was being built and it was an international tourist spot so Youngho acted carefully but Poti Sea Port was different. If he shot the freighter down when it was still floating on the sea, it would not damage the port. There was no way for the freighter to defend itself since it would not know the direction the rocket ising from. Youngho wanted to scare France, so it would stop trying to supply weapons to Armenia.


    Youngho¡¯s worry came true to life.


    Michael had contacted Youngho from Poti Sea Port that the simr freighter from the Batumi Port had appeared.


    ¡°Please stand by until I arrive. This time they¡¯ll be guarding and watching around the freighter, French intelligence bureau is a tough match. Also, could you please set what I asked for at a proper ce?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Lee. My men won¡¯t even go near the freighter. I¡¯m going to arrange a building nearest the port and ce the thing in there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll see you at the port.¡±


    It had not been fifteen days yet since Youngho¡¯s group had been to Batumi Port but as Youngho announced that they were moving again, everyone seemed to be nervous. They all knew that this operation would not be as easy as thest time.


    At Zeynep Farm, Jongil was checking everyone¡¯s attire again.


    ¡°Ilkwon, you¡¯ve left North Korea a long time ago but why do you still look like a country boy?¡±


    ¡°Hyung, I think I look more modern than you.¡±


    ¡°What?! Did you guys hear that? He looks more polished than me?¡±


    All the juniors answered unanimously.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    It was a way to relieve tension. At Jongil¡¯s joke, everyone smiled showing their white teeth.


    Since a rocketuncher would be used for this operation, Youngho was worried about the sailors of the freighter, it was because the freighter was still anchored at an outer port since there was no spot in the inner harbor. All of the indispensable crewmen would be still in the freighter. If only all the sailors luckily decided to go to a pub at the port to drink, Youngho would be relieved. He only wished that the Goddess of Fortune favored them.


    Now it was the show time. There would be a huge firework in the fall¡¯s night at the Poti Sea Port.

 Chapter 184 - A Collaborative Business with Mafias (4)

    <h4>Chapter 184: A Coborative Business with Mafias (4)</h4>


    Georgia¡¯s Poti Sea Port was one of the most well-known trade ports at the ck Sea.


    Since it was only an hour away from Batumi by car, Youngho¡¯s group had flown to Batumi first and was on their way to Poti Sea Port on a minibus, Marshrutka. Youngho had bought a Marshrutka since he thought that he would be moving in groups frequently from Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel.


    Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek, who had been living in Batumi and looking after the hotel¡¯s construction had joined the group, the bus was filled with robust guys.


    Upset by the fact that they were excluded from thest operations, the two friends yelled at Youngho that if he was going to work on an operation in Georgia, he should get permission from them since it was their territory. Thus, the two hade along with the group this time.


    Poti Sea Port was like a Ma of cars.


    Among the three nations of the Caucasus, Georgia was the most advanced in the car parts industry. Georgian government was also advertising it proudly, so foreigners often misunderstood that there were countless parts factories lined up in Poti.


    However, all of the parts in the city were used ones. The city was famous for collecting used or scrapped cars from North America or Europe and polishing their parts to sell in the market.


    That was why one had to be cautious when buying a car in the city. Cars could look polished from outside but their parts could have been put together forcefully to make the cars work. The safety of those cars was not guaranteed.


    That being said, Poti Sea Port was no different from an open-air flea market. Since many raw materials and used products were unloaded at the port, the cargo handling area was so packed that there was no ce to put anyone¡¯s feet.


    The port¡¯s cargo handling system was different from other advanced countries¡¯ ports by far. Any freighters visiting the port had to wait at the outer harbor until there was an empty space at the dock. Especially, if a freighter was carrying the cargo of arms that could not be shown to the public, the sailors would wait until the port got quiet.


    The French freighter was one of those vessels.


    ¡°They¡¯re so shameless. Do they think that they¡¯re not detectable since they have another country¡¯s g up? The crewmen are all talking in French.¡±


    At the stern of the ship, a Panamanian g was hung and at the front of the vessel, a Georgian g was hung. Usually, when entering a foreign port, a freighter hung on the g of the country to enter at the bridge, and the g of the country that the vessel was registered to was hung at the stern of the ship.


    No one would be able to guess that the freighter was French by looking at those gs but some of the sailors who got off from the vessel at the dock were all speaking French to each other.


    ¡°They¡¯re not shameless but fearless. They¡¯d only be able toe to themselves when their fingers are burned.¡±


    ¡°At least this time, they did not have an over-sized cargo. I can see the waterline, the vessel must be bigger than the previous one.¡±


    ¡°Look at them, they¡¯re obviously soldiers in anyone¡¯s eyes.¡±


    Where Youngho was pointing his finger, a group of young sailors passed by smiling.


    A strange thing is that some non-sailor-looking men were mixed in among them. If one looked at them carefully, he could figure out that they were soldiers.


    Their manners in which they acted gave a hint of well-trained soldiers. They acted in orderly and neat movements. Even the mafias had noticed these facts by observing them closely.


    Also, the mafias did not forget to convince the port officials to be cooperative with them. Whether they threatened them or had something on them, Youngho could only guess that mafia-style way was used to convince them. It was something only mafias could do. He thought that he made a great decision to work with mafias.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we got something. It seems like most of the sailors would get off the freighter tomorrow. Tomorrow, the crewmen are having a group lunch at a downtown restaurant. The restaurant staff told that they were expecting thirty people. Excluding one or two people guarding the vessel, all of them would be there.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done awesome work. Mr. Michael that¡¯s important information. Please reward your men who had gone through troubles for this.¡±


    To get this information, the mafias had beenying low in the meantime. Michael had mobilized dozens of his men to stalk each sailor. As he achieved a satisfying result, he was exuberated. In fact, Michael and his men were the key parts of this operation since information was the most important backbone of any operations. Youngho¡¯s group¡¯s work in the operation was only an oue of such hard work from mafias.


    Thirty sailors were not needed to move a vessel in the 20,000-ton ss. With the development of technology, freighters these days used a diesel engine and including sailors on different shifts, only about ten people were needed.


    Since most of the crewmen were getting off for lunch, Youngho thought that taking over the vessel could be a better solution than exploding it. Although it was staying at the outer harbor, he was not sure how big the explosion would be if there were missiles on board. Also, it was a great chance to attain the cutting-edge weapons worth an astronomical amount of money. He was excited.


    Two rubber boats approached quietly near the French freighter, Youngho¡¯s group was in them.


    They threw a hook tied to a rope to the side railing next to the bridge of the vessel and climbed up the vessel quickly. They could see a little light from the steering house and the bright light wasing out of the windows of the cabin on the deck.


    Everyone approached the gangway after Youngho hand-signed to them. Jongil and Insoo went near the cabin¡¯s door where the bright light wasing from, while Youngho and two other juniors went up the stairs to the steering house since there must be amunications watch in the bridge.


    There were four watchers on duty left on the ship. Youngho¡¯s group had subdued them immediately and let them at a corner of the cabin. Although the freighter carried weapons, they did not expect anyone to approach the freighter that was floating at the outer harbor. Moreover, since they had been waiting for a long time in boredom without any risk elements, they were now off guard.


    The guys who were left on board were onemunicator and three French soldiers in service. Now that the freighter was seized, dozens of Michael¡¯s men came on board through the gangway. They were sailors from Russia that Michael had hurriedly hired, and among them, there was a technician that could neutralize GPS attached to the vessel.


    The four sailors captured were taken to a house near the port. They would be able to escape on their own by tomorrow or be discovered by someone else.


    Cha Insoo and the other junior security crews parted their way from Youngho, Jongil, and Ilkwon as they would be going back to Baku from Batumi on the airne. They agreed on meeting at Kazakhstanter.


    On the other hand, Youngho, Jongil, and Ilkwon were on the French freighter with mafias and Russian sailors. The freighter had started its engine to get to Sea of Azov which was within Russian jurisdiction through the night.


    ***


    ¡°What¡¯s all this? This must be a short-distance anti-tank missile and wait, this is a portable size but since it¡¯s bigger, this must be ground-to-air missiles.¡±


    Youngho, Jongil, and Ilkwon who went into a cargo hold were unwrapping the weapons with curious eyes. There were numerous ERYX anti-tank missiles, Mistral ground-to-air missiles, and MICA air-to-air missiles. A surprising fact was that there were five ground-to-ground missileunchers which had a capacity ofunching dozens of missiles.


    It was no wonder why a big freighter was needed. The massive missiles and heavyunchers were extremely heavy.


    A question was why the MICA missiles were being delivered. Those MICA missiles were installed on French fighter, Rafale. The missile¡¯s range was about 100 kilometers that its uracy was world-ss.


    Youngho could assume that French fighters would be stationed in Armenia soon.


    After the freighter had reached the Sea of Azov, the group had quickly erased the name of the vessel and put a new name on it. Since there were too many freighters that looked simr, it was not easily recognizable if the name was changed.


    The problem was the maximum weight of a vessel that could pass through the Volga-Don canal was 5,000 tons. So, the cargo in the holds should be unloaded separately.


    All of the missiles were stored in wooden boxes, so they did not stick out but the five rocketunchers were huge that they needed to be disguised.


    As the group had finished the preparation at the Sea of Azov, they waited for Michael to bring a freighter in the 5,000-ton level.


    ¡°How much do you think they all cost?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be more than two hundred million dors? Also, look at the missiles anduncher tform, they¡¯ll exceed a few million dors themselves.¡±


    ¡°Man, France,and Armenia will so grudge having to lose these. By the way, the problem is that France will be bringing their fighters to Armenia. We can¡¯t stop that?¡±


    ¡°If the vessel submerged at the Batumi Port was found to be carrying this kind of cargo, the US or Russia won¡¯t sit still for France¡¯s action. Let¡¯s see what¡¯ll happen.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going to ce these at Arirang Farm? Let¡¯s put some of them in the car-ferry freighter.¡±


    Jongil was a lunatic collector of arms just like Youngho, he was satisfied just by looking at those weapons.


    The French freighter had its own crane so it was not a big deal to move the arms to a ship that would be passing the canal. The emptied freighter would be turned into a new vessel in a shipyard soon.


    Youngho and the mafias agreed that the mafias would take the freighter and Youngho would have only the cargo. Mafias had no use for such weapons, so they were willing to give them to Youngho. For now, it seemed that the mafia had made more profit since a new vessel in the 20,000-ton ss could be sold at about ten million dors.


    ***


    Arirang Farm¡¯s gigantic storage was full of weapons.


    In desire of taking some more weapons back to Baku, Jongil frequently visited the storage even though the only weapons that could be loaded on the freighter, The Arirang, were a portable anti-tank missile and Mistral ground-to-air missile.


    Since Mistral ground-to-air missile weighed about sixty kilograms, it was perfect to carry around on a car.


    It was lucky that Youngho could seize those weapons this time. If the French freighter had not waited at the outer harbor for a long time, there would have been no chance for him. Since the mercenarypany took the whole freighter and arms, which were invaluable, there was nothing to demand from Azerbaijani government.


    Now, Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan had secured armed power that even a troop came rushing at the farm, it would be able to hold as a fortress although there would be no such incident. Youngho was now fearless. If he had to use those arms, he could carry them on his vessels.


    As Youngho had been busy with the mercenary business, it was his first visit to Arirang Farm in a month, because there was good news at the farm, people were livelier than ever.


    Dr. Park Youngsun¡¯s stubborn research had finally won. Although it was notrge-scale underground water, he had found water that was enough for the townspeople¡¯s use and to supply water to form farnd near the water.


    The construction of the pipeline to draw water to the town was in process.


    Since the winter was harsh in Kazakhstan, the pipe had to be buried deeply more than a meter below the ground so that the pipe would not be frozen in the cold.


    A huge reservoir was already built on the farm, so the water from underground could flow to the town through the pipe.


    As the farm now had enough water, many problems were resolved at once, plus the speed of the house and stonewall constructions were now faster.


    Water was an absolute element in the construction process since concrete could not be mixed without water. Although the amount of underground water could not supply the water needed for the whole farnd, Youngho was relieved since it could resolve the water needed for the townspeople and partial farnd.


    At a distance from the town, the photovoltaic power generation system was beingpleted. All of the sr panels had been installed already, so once the system waspleted, the farm would have more than electricity of its own.


    The sight of sr panels tightly packed at the slope side of the farm was spectacr. The electricity that could be used by about 3,500 residents would be generated soon.


    Because it was a windy region, a transmission tower was not built, but any cables were buried under the ground.


    In mid-November when the winter begins, most of the construction would bepleted except the stonewall and interiors of each house.


    On the airne back to Baku, Youngho¡¯s face which was looking down the reservoir and the residential town being built was brighter than ever.

 Chapter 185 - A Foreseen War (1)

    <h4>Chapter 185: A Foreseen War (1)</h4>


    It was revealed to the world that the cargo in the sunken French freighter were missiles.


    Some frence journalists who had been waiting at Batumi Port secretly dived and managed to get in the freighter under water. They were indeed very determined journalists since they were bold enough to get near the freighter slipping through the tight security and to enter the freighter in the water.


    All of the scene they recorded was money, journalists would go anywhere even at disputed areas risking their lives and dared to stalk influential people around. Because of their efforts, the identity of the sunken freighter could be revealed very soon.


    On the TV news, wooden boxes, head parts of missiles, anduncher vehicles filled the screen. Youngho unknowingly pped as he was watching the TV in his living room.


    He wanted to reward those journalists since even Russia or the United States had not been able to investigate the freighter until now. After this, Azerbaijani government would have a reason to pressure Armenia and would givemission to the mercenarypany.


    Azerbaijan was in an utter shock after the news was broadcasted.


    The journalists had exaggerated the facts and reported that weapons of mass destruction that were enough to devastate the whole country of Azerbaijan was nned to be delivered to Armenia.


    Since journalists often exaggerated facts it was understandable, but broadcastingpanies were also echoing those reports as if they were true. It was as if thosepanies were expecting something to happen in Azerbaijan.


    As if it was stepping up with the news reports, the Azerbaijani government had run the emergency system at the border. The government announced that it would not allow Armenia¡¯s deception and preemptive attack since it did not know how many missiles from France had been delivered to Armenia until now.


    The government dered war against Armenia and sent its army to the border hastily. It was not a scale of a typical shootout at the border because the Azerbaijani army had carried out arge-scale bombing on fighters to where many Armenian troops were located.


    The TV news reported that several mechanized units had been destroyed. The Armenian army also fired cannonballs on tanks and self-propelled guns, but it was no match to the Azerbaijani army.


    Jongil who was watching the news opened his mouth.


    ¡°Did you hear anything from the chapter?¡±


    ¡°I was told to standby for a while and it seems that Michael had recalled all agents residing in France. He¡¯s going to give them a hard time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so obvious. Tell Sangchun to give them some wine since they¡¯re going through a hard time because of us.¡±


    Jongilughed triumphantly. He had been envious of those agents who were located in the paradise-like ce.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Michael to relocate you to Paris? Who knows, he might ept your request since he¡¯s in a good mood.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it. Karajan¡¯s going to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Phew, by the way, the war¡¯s intensifying. It¡¯s getting me worried.¡±


    ¡°If those missiles had fallen into their hands, we¡¯d be in trouble by now. They¡¯lle to their senses when they¡¯re beaten harshly once.¡±


    Jongil was now making war critique.


    ¡°We should start moving soon. A freighter is hard to move from December.¡±


    The whole region of Azerbaijan had been dered as restricted airspace, and so the sky route was blocked except for regr civil aircraft services. That was why Youngho was going to move gold bars on his freighter.


    This time, he would be visiting Istanbul in a long time. The prices of daily necessities in Baku had skyrocketed due to the war, he was going to import some from Istanbul. On the way back, he would be giving those to Arirang Farm and bring several French bantam missiles from the farm¡¯s storage.


    This war did not look like it was going to end easily.


    ***


    The streets of Istanbul were as crowded as before.


    Even though there were frequent terrorisms happening and there was a suicide bombing a few days ago, which left twenty casualties, the city was still full of travelers as the world-famous tourism spot.


    It has been such a long time since Youngho and Jongil saw Mustafa.


    After meeting him, they drank together and hung out with each other.


    Jongil¡¯s tongue was tripping already, and he began toin about Armenia.


    ¡°Brother, Armenia will fail if it kept going on like this. Tell Armenians in Turkey to stop sending money to their country. I¡¯m saying because I¡¯m truly worried.¡±


    ¡°As you all know, our country has gone through such a sad history. There is no country like Armenia that has more of its people residing overseas than the people living in the territory.¡±


    Youngho could see why it was not fair for Armenian people. Their territory had been decreased to half of what they used to have and since many Armenians were deported outside the country, there were only three million people left in the country where there were seven million people living overseas.


    During WWI, a million people were sacrificed, and it must have been devastating for the people. The country wasndlocked, so even small purchases had to be made through other countries. Luckily, its rtionship with Georgia was good, if there was no Georgia, the country would have been isted.


    ¡°Brother, let¡¯s quit sayingplicated things and drink more. Jongil is just saying since he¡¯s also frustrated.¡±


    ¡°You know... this will be like hitting a rock with an egg, right?¡±


    It was such random words but Youngho could understand what he was saying.


    ¡°With its abundant underground resources, Azerbaijan will be going through rapid growth in the next few decades. It¡¯s better for Armenia to mimic a permanently neutral country like Switzend. Any further steps would be like hitting a rock with an egg as you said.¡±


    Although Switzend is andlocked country surrounded by powerful nations such as Germany, France, and Italy, it was doing pretty well. Youngho thought that Switzend must also have deep resentment like Armenia.


    Looking at Mustafa who sighed, he also thought about his own country, Korea. It seemed that Korea also had a long way to go in order to survive amongst big and powerful nations.


    He only came to Istanbul to buy some daily necessities but his heart became heavy.


    ¡°Dude, you should¡¯ve stopped me! Ouch, my head! I swear that I¡¯m going to change myst name if I drink with Park Jongil again.¡±


    ¡°You know that you always me me after drinking well on your own?¡±


    At the dock, Youngho, who was looking at the crane loading daily necessity boxes on the freighter, rubbed his head. He had drunk too muchst night.


    His worry about the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia was even burdened with thoughts for Korea and he eventually drank too much to let out the stress.


    ¡°Youngho, do you remember the nonsense you said at the hotel?¡±


    ¡°What? Did I make a mistake?¡±


    ¡°Dude. You grabbed me and said that we should buy an Aegis ship.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was out of my mind.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I almost stayed up all night thinking about where to hide that.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tugh.¡±


    ¡°I thought about buying one and sending it to Korea if I made enough money, but now that I think of it after bing sober, it¡¯s not going to work. Where can we put it? At the ck Sea, or the Caspian Sea?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Jongil shut his mouth. He must have been beating his brain to find a way to hide the Aegis ship.


    This was a true Jongil.


    As Youngho was thinking that Jongil had gone smarter these days, he realized that he has been misguided.


    ***


    As Youngho was looking at the pastoral scenery outside when passing the Volga-Don Canal, the captain looked for him.


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve checked this already but they said you could sail during the winter too. As long as you have an icebreaker, you can pass the Volga-Baltic Waterway and reach the coastal waters of Find.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Youngho pricked up his ears at the new information. He had not thought of this amazing route. If he used the Volga-Baltic Waterway, he could go to the Baltic Sea which was enclosed by Find and from there he would be able to enter the Antic Ocean.


    Of course, he could not userge vessels but what Youngho had ordered at Baku¡¯s shipyard could pass the waterway as much as possible. If he did not have to pass the Mediterranean, he would be able to shorten the distance to get to Germany, the United Kingdom, and even to France.


    ¡°Jongil, we can go to the Baltic Sea with our ship! Then we¡¯ll be right at the Antic!¡±


    As Youngho got excited about the news, Jongil was apathetic. He shook his head.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard that the Antic¡¯s waves are stronger than the ones in the Pacific? Our ship is only a leaf in the Antic. We won¡¯t stand a chance.¡±


    Park Jongil, as usual, mentionedmonsensical problems to this kind of idea.


    Youngho was excited to go to the Antic, but it would be a problem once his ship entered the ocean.


    ¡°Hmmm. We should go to Sweden or Norway for once.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s in there?¡±


    ¡°You said our ship is only a leaf. We need a bigger boat.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s an advisable thought. Thedies there must be beautiful, I¡¯m going to read palms for them.¡±


    Finally, Youngho had to hit his head to stop him from fooling around.


    ¡°Just think about which ship would be the most efficient for us. Stop thinking about girls with your smart brain but consider what we can buy from Germany, the United Kingdom, and even the United States for our people.¡±


    Since Kazakhstan wasndlocked, many materials were hard to find.


    Youngho wanted to buy supplies, equipment, and materials from Western Europe and upgrade the Serbian immigrants¡¯ lives in order to make the farm as a powerful country.


    More immigrants would being to the farm in theing Spring. If they were going to put down their roots and build lives for next generations, they would need good facilities and equipment along with a great education system.


    The new immigrants would bring more teenagers and their education was a problem. Since it was impossible to make themmute three to four hours a day to schools in urban regions, an education system was needed at the farm.


    If young generations could, with cutting-edge facilities, then one day the farm might be able to have Nobel prize winners.


    This was what a small but powerful country, Youngho dreams of.


    ***


    Jongil kept touching anti-tank missileuncher.


    Although there were many Russian portable rocketunchers at Zeynep Farm, he wanted to take newer products.


    ¡°With two of Mistral ground-to-air missileuncher, we probably can destroy Armenia¡¯s air power.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯re at war with an elementary student? They must have their hidden cards too.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to take the anti-tank missileunchers. Let¡¯s leave them here for now and use themter for a more suitable asion. The Azerbaijani army is not that weak, they¡¯d brought all sorts of things from Israel.¡±


    Azerbaijan and Israel had a special connection. Regardless of different religions, Israel and Azerbaijan were friendly to each other, that Israel had even considered using some of Azerbaijan¡¯s territory when the nation was first established.


    The Jewish family, Rothschild¡¯s wealth had originated from Azerbaijan¡¯s oil crude. That was why the Rothschild family helped the Azerbaijani government with supporting funds when the nation became independent.


    Because of that history, Azerbaijan and Israel were as close as other brotherly nations, especially Azerbaijan¡¯s air power was unbeatable with Israel¡¯s support.


    As The Arirang came to the Port of Baku, Cha Insoo rushed up on board.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a huge problem. Armenia is about to send their special forces to the city soon.¡±


    ¡°Who told you that?¡±


    ¡°Philip just called me. He said your satellite phone is not working.¡±


    If special forces were going to invade in where the civilians resided, they must be determined to explode some important facilities or to abduct influential people. With the regr army at the battlefront and special forces that was specialized in unconventional warfare, the war would be a chaotic total war without front or behind. However, all of this could be just part of Armenia¡¯s psychological warfare to get out of the corner.


    Youngho¡¯s head was filled withplicated thoughts and suddenly he felt like his head cked out. Since it was his first time experiencing it, he could only support himself leaning on the railing on the ship. The ring¡¯s signal had hit him most strongly than ever.


    If the special forces unit was put in the middle of the city, Armenia would be determined to lose all of their soldiers since it was like going into the middle of the enemy camp. That was highly unlikely since special forces units are made with a lot of time and money. If the Armenian army wanted more soldiers to return alive, they would put them in safer ces to increase the sess rate.


    The special forces would need a base in the outskirt of town or mountainous regions within the city to hide afterunching an attack and to prepare for another. The weather was getting cold now and in order for them not to lose their soldiers¡¯ strengths, they would definitely need to seize private houses.


    The ces that had the necessary and sufficient condition were Zeynep Farm and Serbian Vige at the ranch. If they could seize those ces, the soldiers would be able to eat and sleep and they would be free to move on with their operations.


    These thoughts had hit Youngho¡¯s head hard.


    ¡®Could this be why the ring¡¯s power had awakened me?¡¯

 Chapter 186 - A Foreseen War (2)

    <h4>Chapter 186: A Foreseen War (2)</h4>


    Youngho gathered his friends, some mid-aged leaders of Serbian Vige, the team leaders of the security crews, and Kim Ilkwon as well.


    After hearing Youngho¡¯s concern, some nodded and some showed serious faces.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying we should send the people to Kazakhstan or Germany for a while?¡±


    ¡°Okay. The war has already begun. We can¡¯t leave our families in a dangerous ce where we don¡¯t know what¡¯ll happen. Also, we won¡¯t be able to do anything properly if there are people to take care of.¡±


    Everyone agreed to Youngho¡¯s opinion.


    There would be nothing to worry about if the war went on only at the battlefront, but hearing that Armenia would be sending their special forces to the city, they had toe up with a special measure.


    Thankfully, the residential town at Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan was almost atpletion and it could take in all of the Serbian descendants from Azerbaijan. Even without houses, they would be able to hold in yurts since they had lived rough lives.


    The leaders of Serbian Vige also weed the idea, saying that the Serbian descendants and the new immigrants would be able to have time to get closer. Since they were separated to different farms from the beginning, they were not able to learn about each other.


    Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family at Charles farm agreed on going to Arirang Hotel in South Ossetia for now. Ilkwon had been visiting South Ossetia because of the hotel work and since South Ossetia was a small, quiet country.


    It seemed that his family would feelfortable there since they were still not fully ustomed to the liberal system and had been stressed living with others in Azerbaijan. Living in South Ossetia would be like having a break from newness for them since the country was poor and had simr lifestyles as in North Korea.


    Fatima and Sangchun¡¯s parents would be going to Yunsuh¡¯s ce in Frankfurt and Insoo¡¯s family and some other security crews would be staying at Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt. It was lucky that Youngho had bought the hotel and wine distribution store building in Frankfurt ahead of time. It was as if he had expected these things would happen in the future.


    Because Yunsuh¡¯s ce had six rooms and it was sized about 3560 sq. ft., it had plenty of room for a few families to live in.


    As for Karajan, she insisted to live in Baku no matter what. Therefore, she was now going to stay in Arirang Hotel in the city.


    Youngho rented several cruise ships and used The Arirang to transport all of the Serbian descendants and their belongings to Arirang Farm.


    Kim Chun would be taking care of them well from now on.


    For the week after the big decision was made, Zeynep Farm and the ranch were hectic with people moving out. After sending Fatima¡¯s group to Frankfurtst, Youngho was fagged out and tired as if he had had war already.


    Youngho was outrageous that he had to separate families that were supposed to be together. Although the old people, women, and children left the farm and ranch, many young and middle-aged men who could work and fight were left and operating the wine factory, ranch, and the mines along with other hired workers at the farm. Because they were relieved now that they had sent their families to a safer ce, their production rate increased.


    It would be difficult for the enemy¡¯s special forces to intrude Zeynep Farm and the Charles farm since they were close to the urban area. However, the ranch, where Serbian Vige was, would be more easy to seize since it was adjacent to the main line of the Caucasus Mountain Range.


    Any gunshots fired or battles they had at the ranch would not be heard and known from the outside world since it was located in a remote ce. So, people were guarding the ranch as if they were at a battlefront.


    Armed with rifles, groups of three guards patrolled around the ranch or were on ambush duty hiding in burrows.


    Any shepherds or miners also carried rifles too.


    At the gate of Zeynep Farm and the ranch, each were ced an armored vehicle and a machine gun. Other five armored vehicles and two multiple rocketunchers were secretly sent to the farm in Kazakhstan on a freighter.


    Because Arirang Farm in Atyrau had a gigantic surface area, it needed mobile armored vehicles in order to patrol around the farm.


    If the situation urs where Youngho would have to use multiple rocketunchers at Zeynep Farm and the ranch, that meant grand-scale troops had approached. Then, Youngho would have to abandon the farm and the ranch since they would be helpless before the regr army of Armenia. Since he already had another base at Kazakhstan, there was no need to risk many people¡¯s lives to defend the farm and the ranch unless he had a high chance of winning.


    ***


    The ranch was now like a main room for the Serbian descendants, meaning that they knew any hiding spots and details of the map of the ranch. The descendants and security crews who knew about all the blind spaces of the ranch became a team and found effective security points to hide around.


    The ranch was built as a fortress which is hard to invade if several spots were defended well, but the enemies were specially trained forces. To defend the ranch, the security crews who had served in Korean Navy special forces, U.D.T. Unit, which was also recognized by the US Navy, were all getting ready. Their tactic was to be seen as defenseless. Once Armenia¡¯s special forces arrived and came to the ranch off guard where no one was protecting it, they would be trapped by the Serbian descendants and the security crews.


    Hong Sungki, who was thirty years old, was a recruit of the securitypany.


    He used to work at a top-ten Korean securitypany that belonged to arge corporation and entered Zeynep Security Service through his friend who had been bragging about a global securitypany. He wanted to live overseas and applied to thepany and he was epted immediately.


    He thought that speaking English would be enough, but since he needed to learn Azerbaijani, he was staying at Zeynep Farm learning thenguage. However, he was suddenly ced as a team leader because of the war situation. He was bitter that he had be like a mercenary but he had to endure it due to thepany¡¯s high yearly sry that was not even dreamable in Korea.


    It had been three days since he had been watching in a burrow at the Western side of the ranch with two other Serbian descendants. The burrow was almost like a bunker and three people could sit down with ease. Since there was no news that the enemies had invaded the ce, he was only waiting for his shift to be over. His heart was already in the lodging. After the watching duty was over, he would be patrolling around the ranch and would be able to rest in his bed.


    In his watery eyes due to yawning, some figures were spotted. There was an hour left until the next teames for rotation, so he rubbed his eyes. The figures¡¯ movements were obvious. It was people dressed in unknown camouge attires. They were slowly approaching the ranch, keeping a certain distance from each other. He spotted about twenty people roughly. They must be Armenian special forces since the Azerbaijani army could not be training in here. His hair stood on end.


    In fear of his voice being heard by them, he tapped his headset to give a Morse signal. He remembered the battle rules when he was given the assignment.


    When enemies were approaching in quiet, he was supposed to shoot without hesitating. It was because the enemies would be shooting anyone who spotted them in order to prevent their exposure.


    He signaled to the two Serbiands to slip the safety catch and assigned each other¡¯s targets. When the enemies had approached them within fifty meters of distance, shots were fired from the three watchers¡¯ muzzles.


    Hong Sungki fired three aimed shots and then began to shoot them randomly on automatic mode. Since three were shooting at different directions, they had enough angles.


    From unexpected fires, five or six enemies fell on the ground and others hid behind trees and rocks. Not knowing where the bullets wereing from, they shot at everywhere. Hong Sungki shot them one by one with aimed shots.


    If it was in the night time, the enemies might have been able to guess where the bullets came from by the sparks from the muzzles, but it was not dark yet.


    Hong Sungki felt bad that he did not have a sniper rifle with him. As he changed the magazine of his gun for the fifth time, he stopped his motion. It was because he heard a moving armored vehicle.


    With a thunderous roar, a voice said that it was the blue force on his headset.


    Soon after, a heavy machine gun noise echoed in the whole mountain.


    ***


    ¡°How many people are captured?¡±


    ¡°Twenty-six, so far. There are four with serious injuries. They¡¯re bleeding heavily. I think we should transfer them to the hospital right away.¡±


    ¡°Are there any casualties from our side?¡±


    ¡°Some are saying their fingers hurt because it¡¯s been so long since they had actually pulled the trigger.¡±


    Since he was joking, it seemed that the security team was in high spirits.


    ¡°Make sure to hide the armored vehicle at the gate unseen. I¡¯ll be bringing some Azerbaijani military officials soon. Also, give first aid to the wounded ones. we¡¯re going to have to interrogate them.¡±


    ¡°Got that. I¡¯m also going to hide all of the rifles in the basement storage.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Also, tell people to stop patrolling around but hide in the burrows. The enemy force might have snipers out. Make sure everyone put on the helmets and bulletproof vests.¡±


    When Youngho was giving directions to the security crew team leader, Jongil was making a call to the capital security division.


    After ending the call, he also called Sevan to inform him about the situation.


    Soon after, the ranch would be surrounded by military and police.


    On the way to the ranch, soldiers were getting off sandbags from military trucks. It seemed that they would be making a temporary defensive position.


    ¡°Look at them. They have to make those in advance. What good is it if they make that after the damage was done?¡±


    ¡°They had no idea that the special forces were invading the city.¡±


    ¡°Still. They should¡¯ve prepared the basics when they¡¯re at war.¡±


    Youngho did not inform the government that special forces were being sent. He did not have any excuse if people asked where he got the information and he also wanted to see how the Azerbaijani military would react but it was below his expectations.


    ¡°Now that I think of it, our country is so well-prepared for war.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because North Korea keeps saying that it¡¯s going to make South Korea a sea of fire.¡±


    ¡°What about this ce? They frequently have battles at the border and have casualties. I don¡¯t know why people are so peaceful.¡±


    Because there were frequent battles, people here might have been numbed by the danger. That might be why they were not making a fuss even if they were at war now.


    ¡°You are Hong Sungki?¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job. There could¡¯ve been many casualties but you prevented that. You can speak English and you¡¯re not married yet...¡±


    While reading his profile, Youngho looked at Hong Sungki carefully. He used to work in a huge corporation and had many experiences working in a team.


    ¡°I am learning Azerbaijani now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re older and you have experiences. You¡¯d be promoted to a team leader when this is all over. You¡¯ll be in charge of The Arirang¡¯s security. Is this clear?¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Boss. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    A security crew beside Youngho who was listening to their conversation made ament.


    ¡°Hey! Red Pepper. You need to treat us drinks this weekend.¡±


    ¡°What? Red Pepper?¡±


    ¡°Boss. His name is Hong Sungki*, everyone calls him that.¡±


    ***


    The news of Armenian special forces invading the city was enough to shock the international society since it meant that Armenia had dered total war.


    It was different from bombing other¡¯s military camp on fighters. Unconventional warfare was considered the same as terrorism because it apanied destroying facilities and civilians that were irrelevant from war.


    The Armenian special forces did not appear only at Serbian Vige, they also invaded in three other ces at Baku¡¯s countryside and fierce battles were going on.


    Many casualties urred from both sides. About forty soldiers were caught near Serbian Vige, which meant that there were more people still hiding or who had escaped through the mountain range.


    The watchers of Serbian Vige inspected any nearby ces that could be a hideout. During the investigation, they found remnants of the special forces and had a shootout, which ended up killing seven people from the enemy¡¯s side.


    However, it was not just the opponent¡¯s side that was damaged. From the battle, two of the security crews and five of Serbian descendants were wounded. They were all wearing bulletproof vests, so their lives were not at risk but Youngho felt guilty for their wounds.


    ¡°Jongil. We can¡¯t leave it like this. What if anyone dies from bullets? I can¡¯t handle that.¡±


    ¡°Why do those scoundrels all gather around the ranch? Okay, let¡¯s take care of them on our own. Are we taking Insoo too?¡±


    ¡°We need to leave one here.¡±


    ¡°Should we cross the Armenian border?¡±


    ¡°No, let¡¯s first take care of the remnants. We need to interrogate them first and decide for the future.¡±


    At least one person who could use the ring¡¯s power and freely go in and out of the mountains had to be at the ranch in order to act fast in emergencies.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we need Dragunov sniper rifle?¡±


    ¡°Sure. We¡¯ll be showing a grim reaper to anyone we spot.¡±


    Youngho could not allow any more casualties from his people, especially when it was not their fight. They were either Koreans or Serbian descendants but were being attacked by Armenia only because they lived in Azerbaijan. Also, for now, he did not wish to abandon Azerbaijan where he has been considering as his second home. It was now home for many more people too. He was ready to strike his enemies to protect his people.


    *Hong Sungki- ¡®Hong¡¯ has a meaning of red and ¡®Sungki¡¯ has a meaning of genitals. Since ¡®pepper¡¯ in Korean also can mean ¡®male genitals¡¯, Hong Sungki¡¯s nickname had be red pepper (red male genitals)

 Chapter 187 - Their Own War (1)

    <h4>Chapter 187: Their Own War (1)</h4>


    ¡°Jongil, at 10 o¡¯clock, look through your scope.¡±


    ¡°Six guys. Alright, the one standing and talking to the others must be the leader. Including him, I¡¯ll take the two on his left. Ready? One, two, three!¡±


    A soundless bullet was fired after giving dull impacts on Youngho¡¯s shoulder. He shot two more in a row and got up. He had just checked that every enemy had fallen.


    The two ran about 500 meters of distance at once.


    The scene of six people lying on the ground was an unbearable sight. After checking their belongings, they buried all of the weapons after dissembling them. They covered all of the bodies with leaves. Although they had to kill them, they wanted to pay respect to the dead ones, it was just to make themselves feel easy.


    The number of people they shot was twenty-four. They had been hunting them down for the past three days. It was a lot of kill for only two people, but the number was not satisfying judging by their skills.


    ording to the group that they managed to capture on the first day, there were still thirty more special forces soldiers that were on the run. Since they found those guys only today after searching all day long for them, they concluded that the others left already and escaped the country. Some might be already wounded and waiting for their death in the mountain.


    Youngho did not feel sorry for them at all since they would also kill him and Jongil right on the spot when they see them. They did not juste to Azerbaijan for a protest, they were ordered to kill anyone they saw whether they were soldiers or civilians. It was what came out of their mouths during the interrogation. That was why Youngho and Jongil were killing everyone they met with snipers.


    The bitter coldness of the mountains bothered the two. As the wet season began, it had suddenly gotten cold. The early November¡¯s night in the mountain was already below thirty degrees in Fahrenheit.


    Eatingbat ration, Jongilined as he shivered in cold.


    ¡°We¡¯d better run all night long.¡±


    As Jongil was saying that, Youngho gestured him to lower his voice.


    ¡°Shhhh... Get away from the fire. Put on your helmet and bulletproof vest. Something doesn¡¯t feel right since a while ago.¡±


    The ring¡¯s spirit was stimting Youngho for some time. The two naturally got up and went away from the fire as if they were going to relieve themselves. When they were away from the fire, the cold sensation in Youngho¡¯s head went away. That meant some of the remnants of the special forces were aiming at them nearby the fire with snipers.


    Since the targets that were near the bright fire had disappeared, the enemies¡¯ muzzles were aiming in vain. Probably they were about to see whether the two were their friend or foe through the scope because they had not shot them yet. However, a scope without night vision function was useless in the dark.


    Jongil took out a night vision goggles and tossed it to Youngho. From now on, Youngho¡¯s side had the advantage. The two already knew that the Armenian special forces did not carry any helmets or night vision goggles in order to decrease the weight they carried.


    Most of the soldiers that Youngho had captured only carried snipers, ammunition,bat rations, and sleeping bags. Even if they had night vision goggles in the beginning, they would have thrown them on the run since they were quite heavy.


    They had entered Azerbaijan¡¯s territory with a n to obtain necessary supplies in the field but their n had gone wrong from the start the moment they were detected by Hong Sungki at the Serbian ranch.


    Jongil tapped his helmet. His Morse code was saying that the enemy was at one o¡¯clock at about a hundred meters of distance.


    When Youngho looked at them through the scope, three enemies were using hand gestures. They must be discussing to approach close to the fire. Since they were cold and hungry, they just wanted to knock the two down and take the supplies in order to survive.


    Jongil gestured Youngho to get closer to the fire. It was to set the enemies at ease.


    The rationale behind it was that any chaser or runaways would not set fire recklessly despite the coldness. If there was anyone setting a fire in the mountain at this hour, it must be a hunter who did not care about war but only their living.


    Hunters around the mountain range did not really care about territories, and they go anywhere to hunt for desired animals.


    To relieve the enemies, Youngho became a decoy. Since the ring would let him know about the potential danger, he did not mind going to the spot.


    The Armenian soldiers who were approaching Youngho looked extremely exhausted. They did not have any more strength left it seemed that he could subdue them with one finger.


    There was no need for the two friends to stain their hands with blood. They would die in hunger and coldness if they were left alone.


    They had guns but since they neither had been sleeping or eating well, they were not even soldiers anymore. Their thin faces could make one believe that they were beggars. However, their eyes were still alive. It seemed that they were only moving, possessed by vengeance and hatred. The nationalism had enchanted the entire Armenian soldiers.


    ***


    The Caucasus Mountain Range is divided into two distinctive ranges, Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus.


    The Greater Caucasus is about 1,500-kilometer long. It begins from Southwestern Russia in the ck Sea coast and went through North-central Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea coast. The Lesser Caucasus, which is about 600-kilometer long, is located parallel to the Greater Caucasus at about a hundred kilometers south of distance.


    As for Azerbaijan, it is a very unique country that had nine different climates with both Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus in the West and East.


    The teau stretches from the west of the Lesser Caucasus to Anatolia, Turkey. Thus, Armenia, which was located in-between the teau of the Lesser Caucasus, hignds with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters upied the most part of its territory.


    Now, Youngho and Jongil were crossing the hignds on the Western side of the Lesser Caucasus within the Armenian territory.


    On behalf of Azerbaijan, the two were here to have a deputy war against Armenia.


    The two was determined to move since the Armenian army had sent special forces, which was trained to be like human weapons, to Azerbaijan. It was the same as terrorism on many and unspecified persons. Not to mention, Youngho was furious that he had to separate his families and Serbian descendants to different ces when the Serbian descendants were now gathered in one ce.


    ¡°There are only marks for the boundary. I¡¯ve never seen a borderline without any sentinels.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯d cross this harsh mountain range and high hills? There¡¯s nothing to do here, it¡¯s almost a wastnd.¡±


    It was even difficult to walk in the area but if soldiers could pass the region carrying heavy military supplies and guns, their victory would be natural.


    At the hignds at an altitude of 2,000 meters, no trees were there but only some grass. It was because the region was above the timberline.


    Youngho thought it was admirable how people had put marks to designate the boundaries. There was no need to watch this rough and deste region since it would be like a suicidal mission for a regr army to cross the region to invade the other country. Since the Armenian special forces had crossed the border from here, their spirits and strength were admirable.


    If Youngho and Jongil did not have the rings and leather shoes, they would have given up a long time ago and returned home already. The ring¡¯s power had put their bodies in optimal conditions, and the coldness did not bother them. Since it was colder in the mountains, it snowed frequently. Small-sized snowkes were falling from the sky since the temperature was very low.


    ¡°In thirty more minutes, we¡¯ll get to the city of Ayrum.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re changing the name of an Armenian region as you please.¡±


    In Jongil¡¯s ears, Youngho¡¯s pronunciation sounded terrible.


    He had learned the localnguage when he worked as the Armenian militia¡¯s drill instructor, and Youngho¡¯s pronunciation wasughable to him.


    ¡°Eh hem, you understood it anyway.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I shouldn¡¯t even start it.¡±


    As the little city near the border was getting closer, the two felt better to think that their mission would be over soon.


    They had not been able to clean themselves for the past few days and they looked awful. Youngho wished for a Turkish bath and sauna but he had a more important thing to do for now.


    From the special forces soldiers that they recently met in the night, they learned that arge-size mechanized troop was located at the suburb of the city of Ayrum.


    It was where the Azerbaijani fighters had not bombed yet and the mechanized unit wouldunch arge-scale counter-attack in a few days. Hearing that, Youngho and Jongil had traveled to the region at once to strike terror into their heart, so that they would stop their military ns. They wanted to show that if Armenia sessfully managed to sneak in their special forces to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan could also do the same.


    ***


    Many of Armenia¡¯s military units were already deste after Azerbaijan¡¯s air force attacks. Azerbaijani government had not sent their special forces since it was well aware of the international opinion. However, Youngho and Jongil had a different idea. They did not want to let them off the hook so easily and in order to terminate the war early, they believed that they should warn the Armenian military. They did not fear since they were protected by the rings and had attained supernatural power from the rings.


    Armenia¡¯s mechanized troop at the suburb of Ayrum had about a dozen of full-size storage units at some distance away from their camp. They had disguised all of the storage units and hid their equipment to manage them. Since all of the sentinels were dressed as civilians, no one could tell that the storage belonged to the military unit. It was a perfect cover for them. The security was not so strict either since it would be weird to have armored vehicles around at civilian facilities. There were only two watchtowers and security lights.


    The troop had put their equipment away from their camp to disguise their equipment as civilian properties but it rather acted as luck for Youngho and Jongil.


    ¡°Look, They¡¯ve done some brain work. They divided their camp into small units and even their guards were dressed as civilians.¡±


    ¡°That means they¡¯re fearing the power of Azerbaijan¡¯s air force. Man, I¡¯m relieved. We can just destroy heavy firearms and leave without sacrificing people¡¯s lives.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get sympathetic. We¡¯re at war. Look, how much do you think the Armenian army had invested to make a mechanized unit? They¡¯re a source of trouble.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s words are a hundred times right but Youngho did not want to kill any more people. There would be no one in the world who would feel fine after taking people¡¯s lives.


    It was not difficult to jump over the shabby walls. Going through the blind spots of security lights, the two approached an oil storage tank.


    They did not have any explosives to burn all of the heavy equipment on the camp and they were not specialized in explosives. So, they decided to use the oil from the enemy¡¯s storage tank and make fire. It seemed to be the most effective way. This was what they hade up with after circling around the camp throughout the day and finding the oil storage tank.


    There were no guards around the storage and only the main entrance was tightly guarded. It looked like they could easily slip in since the watchers at the watchtowers were only paying attention to the outside.


    When Jongil opened the oil tank¡¯s tap, Youngho watched for people. There were fiverge-size oil storage tanks, so it took a long time until all of the oil were spilled out. As if the heavens were helping them, the wind wasing from the direction of the entrance, so the smell of the oil did not blow to the side where the guards were.


    Oils were soaking the ground going down the slope. If fire catches around the storage units, it would definitely burn the storage and the mes from the walls of the storage units would stter to the heavy equipment sets. Since soldiers usually cleaned military equipment with oilcloth to prevent them from rusting, any sparks would make them scrap metal. Just in time, the wind started to blow more heavily.

 Chapter 188 - Their Own War (2)

    <h4>Chapter 188: Their Own War (2)</h4>


    ¡°It¡¯d be great if the fire doesn¡¯t spread to other ces.¡±


    Youngho murmured to himself as he watched the mes rose high from a distance. He was worried that the fire might get too big due to the heavy wind.


    The surroundings of the storage units were already chaotic. The fire burned from oil storage tanks made a huge pir of fire and the drums rose to different directions in the sky and popped like fireworks from the yard where drums were gathered.


    As if the oil tanks of armored vehicles and other tanks were exploding, sounds of sts came out from the storage units in a row. Then, Youngho heard consecutive exploding sounds. It was the sound of ammunition and shells burning in fire and exploding.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to watch it anymore. Let¡¯s go home.¡±


    Jongil nagged as if he now had nothing to do with the region anymore.


    ¡°Let¡¯s watch the fire for a little more.¡±


    There are a few things that attracted onlookers, and the scene of fighting and fire were among those few.


    Since the fire did not seem like it would be put out, Youngho wanted to see some more. He felt like a child in front of a big fire, he wanted the fire to be put out but secretly wanted it to burn more at the same time.


    It was unreasonable to travel back to Baku on the snow-covered mountain path, so the two decided to camp out at a teau two hours away from the city of Ayrum. Since it was too risky to get food from any nearby towns, the two only hadbat rations.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting sick of these. This is all we¡¯ve been having for the past few days but it¡¯s not like we can hunt for rabbits or birds at this hour.¡±


    Youngho felt the same. He could not swallow the food since they were rough. It was not even Korean but Turkish. All he could smell was heavy spices.


    ¡°You snooped around the side door of the storage unit. Did you catch something?¡±


    Youngho remembered that Jongil was peeking inside a storage unit before they set the fire.


    ¡°Oh, right. I almost forgot. They must make strange armored vehicles these days.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen some looking like American Humvees but they were a bit bigger. I saw them under my shlight and they were disguised as regr cars.¡±


    ¡°They must be light armored vehicles. They must¡¯ve ordered smaller ones for mountain operations.¡±


    ¡°Man, I wanted some of them. It looked it could bepletely disguised as normal cars if the machine gun on the roof were taken off. I need to find out what country they were from.¡±


    Feeling frustrated by the fact that he did not get to find out about the manufacturerpany, Jongil smacked his lips.


    Youngho was also curious, he could not wait to find out what it is. He called Insoo on his satellite phone.


    ¡°You two! Can¡¯t you call a little early? I¡¯ve been worried sick for you. You know I can¡¯t call you first.¡±


    Insoo, not knowing what his friends were up to in the middle of the enemy¡¯s country, could not call them first. Frustrated by his friends¡¯ ignorance, heined as soon as he heard his friend¡¯s voice.


    ¡°You¡¯d find out what we¡¯ve been up to on tomorrow¡¯s TV news. By the way, can you look up light armored vehicles online? If there are, we should get a few. Jongil had seen some of them and he¡¯s dying to have some.¡±


    ¡°Why on earth are you suddenly into light armored vehicles? Are you all fine?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get to the farm by afternoon tomorrow. Get prepared for a huge barbecue party.¡±


    ***


    The farm family weed the two who showed up looking like beggars after a few days.


    Jongil took a quick shower and left for Arirang Hotel to see his wife, Karajan. Insoo and Ilkwon were sitting and looking at Youngho¡¯s lips at his study, waiting for him to speak.


    ¡°Why are you all sitting like that?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just curious about your journey. What have you done?¡±


    ¡°Man, haven¡¯t you seen the news?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all about the bombing. There¡¯s nothing special.¡±


    ¡°What? Therge-scale fire at Ayrum was not on the news?¡±


    The two looked surprised to hear Youngho¡¯s words.


    ¡°Did you burn the whole city?¡±


    They thought that Youngho and Jongil had done something terrible.


    For the next ten minutes, Youngho briefly exined everything to curious friends.


    Ilkwon smirked after listening to the whole story.


    ¡°It¡¯s weaker than the bombings that it won¡¯t even be on the news. Besides, I think Armenia would want to keep it quiet.¡±


    Youngho naturally thought that the fire would be on the news but it was his stupidity. The media that wanted to minimize the exposure of their own damage of the war to the public would never proudly advertise their situation.


    ¡°Anyway, they¡¯d be terrified by now and their military strength must be weakened for now since we¡¯ve burned quite a lot of their heavy firearms.¡±


    ¡°So, they had disguised their arms like that. Doesn¡¯t that mean that there are more arms disguised like that in other ces too?¡±


    Youngho was rmed by Insoo¡¯s words. This could mean that Azerbaijani air force had been bombing and burning the enemy camps in vain. They had only been beating scarecrows.


    He had to let the government know about this since the Azerbaijani government was already in the mood of celebration that they had won the war. His words would be like throwing a wet nket to their celebration but that was not important when the Armenia¡¯s military strength still remained untouched.


    ¡°You¡¯ve checked all of the Armenian military facilities already?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We have mobilized an enormous number of spies. Since it¡¯s ssified information I can¡¯t tell you much but you can be at ease.¡±


    Sevan¡¯s face was full of pride. Youngho could not say that he had witnessed what the enemy¡¯s camp looked like with his own eyes. So, all he could say was to investigate more since the enemy might have sessfully fooled Azerbaijan.


    ¡°You should grill more the soldiers of the special forces that are captured. I¡¯m just worried about this. Even North Korean force counterposing South Korean force bury hide all of their equipment and facilities underground.¡±


    ¡°Just rx and watch the news. Oh, and I didn¡¯t get to say appreciation for the residents of Serbian Vige for their work in capturing Armenian special forces. The government will be rewarding the people soon.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a natural thing to do as citizens of the nation. Since they¡¯re immigrants, they receive a special exemption from the national military service. We ought to do something like this to save our face.¡±


    The descendants of the Serbian Kingdom were considered as naturalized foreigners that they were exempted from military service.


    After the Serbian descendants had won against Armenian special forces at the shootout at the ranch with only using AK rifles, the government was impressed by them. It was a good opportunity for the descendants to earn the government¡¯s favor.


    However, Youngho was still worried that the government still had no idea about the enemy¡¯s disguise tactics.


    Looking at Youngho¡¯s worried face, Sevan added.


    ¡°There will be a reinforcement of our weapons from the government soon since Armenia might have a revenge attack on us.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I was going to strengthen the defensive power of the ranch too. I was considering buying some light armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°What kind of?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve found great ones online. There are some vehicles simr to Humvees made in Turkey. They have great mobility that they could be used in mountainous areas too. I¡¯ll get a few and ce them at the ranch. That wouldn¡¯t be a problem, would it?¡±


    The Cobra series light armored vehicles made in Turkey were perfect for Youngho¡¯s use. Among various kinds, he picked a four-wheels ten-seater with a 360-horsepower engine that could be driven on harsh mountain paths with ease. Its oil tank had a 200-liter capacity which meant that it could go over 500 kilometers of distance at once.


    Since Youngho frequently traveled to Kazakhstan, the car that could go a long distance seemed usible. Moreover, it did not look like a military vehicle at all.


    The price of one vehicle was not overwhelming since they were about 250,000 dors each. So, he decided to go to Turkey himself to buy about twenty vehicles. He had to go to Frankfurt anyway for the monthly meeting, he nned to go to Turkey after visiting there.


    ***


    Leon, who spotted Youngho, almost leaped in excitement. Since it had been only two months since he walked by himself, it was surprising to see how he could be almost running to Youngho.


    ¡°Papapa...¡±


    Amazed by him trying to pronounce ¡®papa,¡¯ Youngho lifted him up and kissed him. Looking at his son, it felt like all of his worries had gone away.


    Fatima smiled, covering her mouth with her hand. Such gesture from her meant that she was extremely excited to see him but since there were people around them, she was not showing her feelings.


    ¡°I heard that Armenian soldiers came into the ranch?¡±


    ¡°Well, they crowded in to protest but they soon went away.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that it was not something serious?¡±


    Sangchun kept asking senselessly in front of the other family members. As Youngho gave a look to Jongil, he quickly helped him out.


    ¡°Hey, you traffic police, stop doubting us. Didn¡¯t you forget that we¡¯re from U.D.T? No matter how many of them came in troops, two of us can take care of them in a moment. They ran away as soon as they saw our faces, so that¡¯s all good.¡±


    ¡°Eh-hem. Jongil oppa, can you stop giving my husband a hard time? As far as I remember, you and I have something left to talk about.¡±


    Sangchun had served as a conscripted policeman during his mandatory military service time. Coming from a Navy special forces unit, Jongil always looked down on him when talking about military years.


    After making a fuss greeting each other, Youngho gave a big bow to Sangchun¡¯s parents.


    ¡°Humph, humph. You shouldn¡¯t pay such respect to us every time. Phew, you folks are going through troubles in foreign ces. We don¡¯t feel easy since we¡¯re always being treated by you, young folks. I just hope the best for you. Don¡¯t get involved in dangerous businesses...¡±


    The group had to listen to Sangchun¡¯s dad¡¯s lecture for ten minutes. It felt like an old principal¡¯s speech.


    ¡°Phew, my dad had taken too much of our valuable time with lecturing.¡±


    Aftering down to the office on the second floor, the gang was now ready to have a private drink party. Sangchunined for a while and filled sses with a drink.


    ¡°Hey, adults are all like that.¡±


    Jongilughed, saying that he felt like he went back to being a high school student.


    ¡°So, you have quite a lot of customers these days?¡±


    ¡°Germans usually prefer white wines but the other day a customer gave me a thumbs-up after tasting our wine.¡±


    At the store on the first floor, wine bottles were disyed nicely andrge framed pictures of the scenery of Zeynep Farm and the wine factory were hung on the wall. The video recordings of the farm¡¯s work were also shown on the TV, so many local distributors were finally being drawn to Zeynep Wine.


    ¡°There¡¯s a demand for short-period aged wine too. We should ce some of them at the store too. Since our brand¡¯s not known to the public, I think we should also sell some cheaper wine too.¡±


    ¡°Shall we put an advertisement in the top local newspaper? Or we can have an online banner advertisement too.¡±


    ¡°Wine sales don¡¯t depend on advertisements. People might misunderstand that our wine is mass-produced. Let¡¯s leave it this way for now. Since we¡¯re advertising at Arirang Hotel in the city here, it¡¯ll get there soon.¡±


    In fact, Zeynep Wine had dominated the lobby of Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt.


    Since it was a five-star hotel, most of the guests were well-off. They would not like seeing a cheap advertisement of Zeynep Wine on papers and online websites.


    Youngho was certain that people would start recognizing Zeynep Wine in time. As the guests of the hotel stay and eat at the hotel and have a chance to taste Zeynep Wine, they would naturally be intrigued to have some more. Europeans love wines and Youngho trusted their taste.


    A great philosopher Immanuel Kant¡¯sst words were ¡®Es ist gut,¡¯ which means ¡®it is good¡¯. It was right after he had sipped on wine on his deathbed. Youngho wondered what kind of wine he had drunk that he said ¡®good¡¯ before dying. Apart from the kind of wine he had, his final words were well known to show that his love for wine was indeed great.


    Youngho¡¯s vision for Zeynep Wine was to produce the same kind of wine that a great wine lover like Immanuel Kant would love to death. In order to do that, he had to put more efforts toe up with better tasting wine.


    He signed since he had not been able to focus on his main job but only to other nations¡¯ war.

 Chapter 189 - Their Own War (3)

    <h4>Chapter 189: Their Own War (3)</h4>


    Youngho and Jongil flew to Istanbul after having a pleasant time with families in Frankfurt.


    Youngho did not inform their visit to Mustafa this time. It was because he had be hostile to Armenia. He did not feelfortable chatting with him or drinking with him obliviously. Moreover, he was visiting the city to buy arms, so he was only going to return home after closing a deal with the arms manufacturer.


    The problem was that he needed to buybat rations as well. Since Mustafa was his agency, if he met Mehmet from Eti the foodpany, his visit would naturally be told to Mustafa. Knowing how patriotic Mustafa was, having to see him was a pain for Youngho.


    It was pathetic that such pure-hearted Armenian overseas¡¯ money was used in such vain wars.


    Deceived by Armenia¡¯s disguise tactics, the Azerbaijani government was still believing that the war would be over soon. Youngho needed to tell the truth but he did not have any brilliant idea. If there was no solution, Youngho and Jongil would have to fight in deputy war for Azerbaijan again.


    ¡°Just consider that this is our destiny. We¡¯ve been benefited from Azerbaijan, so just think that we¡¯re paying them back.¡±


    Aftering back from drinking with Mustafa, this was what Jongil said as they returned to the hotel. It was such an implicative expression.


    Youngho had achieved so much in Baku. Although there were a lot of difficulties, he hade so far only because of Azerbaijani people.


    ¡°You said that it¡¯s our destiny. You can¡¯t take it back, okay? Don¡¯t ever think aboutining.¡±


    ¡°Man, when did Iin?¡±


    Jongil shook his head. His motions were showing that he was half drunk, which meant that he could have some more.


    ¡°You want to drink some more at the bar?¡±


    Youngho fell in love with Otokarpany¡¯s Cobra II which was a tactical wheeled armored vehicle. It was a 12-ton strong ten-seater that could even pull a tank.


    The best features that Youngho liked were that it was a four-wheel-drive vehicle that could adjust the height of its body and it was drivable in all weathers due to its use of run t tires. a run-t tire has a special function to maintain its shape for about a hundred kilometers after it goes t.


    Thepany¡¯s staff was not surprised even though a civilian was buying twenty vehicles at once. This could mean that there was another civilian who bought many vehicles in recent time.


    Curious to know, Youngho tacitly asked,


    ¡°There must be someone who¡¯s nning to have a business on a in in Kazakhstan like us.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that. He said that the vehicles would be used to support refugees in remote ces of Africa. He ordered twenty vehicles in a rush and took them two months ago. He had made an additional order for thirty more, so we¡¯re waiting for them to be released.¡±


    Youngho came to form an idea of who the buyer might be.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it the Lincy Foundation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, how did you know about that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an American foundation but the problem is the owner is Armenian. I wonder if the government of Turkey knows about that.¡±


    Youngho informed thepany¡¯s staff that the Lincy Foundation had bought arms for Armenia since it was not the time for him to be ignorant.


    The staff¡¯s face turned pale at once. Then he hastily made a call to somewhere.


    Youngho called Jongil to a corner.


    ¡°Jongil, isn¡¯t what you saw at the storage simr to these?¡±


    ¡°Wait, let¡¯s see. Come to think of it, they look like these. Since they were not colored in camouge, I was confused.¡±


    ¡°The Lincy Foundation had bought twenty. Two months ago.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s no use anymore. They¡¯re all burnt.¡±


    The Lincy Foundation would make additional order since all of their vehicles were burnt, but Otokar would not be taking their orders from now on and what were already manufactured would not be shipped to them. Although thepany would pay penalty, it would definitely be canceling the contract with the Lincy Foundation.


    It was because it would be something a dog passing by wouldugh about if Turkey sold arms to Armenia since the two nations were hostile to each other.


    Since Youngho had revealed the truth about the Lincy Foundation, he did not have to wait for his vehicles to be made. He could just load the ones that were to be shipped to Armenia on his freighter.


    He bought the ten more vehicles that were left and loaded them on his freighter. Since he needed those to cover the farm that was half the size of Seoul, the number of the armored vehicles were not too many. He had Russian light machine guns at the farm already, so he did not have to worry about what arms to put on the roof of the vehicles. Those were called light machine guns,t but it had the firepower of cannons.


    ***


    The Lincy Foundation¡¯s exposure was a good reason to inform the Azerbaijani government. With the information of the Foundation¡¯s purchase of military supply and the disguising of armored vehicles into regr cars, the government should know that Armenia was up to something secretive. If not, Youngho would have no hope in the government.


    Thinking for a while, Youngho came up with a decision to eliminate the cause of the problem.


    ¡°I think I should shake the Lincy Foundation. I¡¯m going to have to either rob it or destroy it.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s random words, Jongil looked at him in confusion.


    ¡°Are you talking to me? Or are you just talking to yourself?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Armenia will be giving up easily as long as their fund source, the Lincy Foundation exists.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to rob their money in the bank? Hacking doesn¡¯t work these days, and do you think they¡¯ll even blink one eye even if you destroy the foundation?¡±


    ¡°Well, that is what I¡¯m going to have to think about for now.¡±


    After returning to Baku, Youngho visited the Ministry of National Defense with Sevan and met some officials.


    He slipped what happened in Turkey to them in a convincing way. Only then, they all recognized that the war was having an unexpected turn. They criticized the Armenian government for their tactics but soon, they regretted that they had been missing big pieces.


    Youngho left the conference room at the moment, his job to inform them about potential danger was done. Also, he did not want to give them too much of his input. He wanted them to find their own solutions to deal with the problem since it was their own war to fight and he did not want to be responsible for future failures of the war.


    After giving a huge assignment to Ministry of National Defense, Youngho also was dealing with his own assignment, to find a way to break the link between the Lincy Foundation and Armenia since everything would be able to return to its ce only after the link was broken.


    The war¡¯s aftermath had left not only his farm and ranch but also the whole country in struggles.


    The farm¡¯s empty yground was creating a gloomy view without its owners. Youngho could not stand to watch it anymore.


    To think that people, whose heads were filled with vengeance for their nation, could be attacking the farm at any time, he could not even sleep well.


    ¡®Should I just get rid of her?¡¯


    To keep the peace of the Caucasus and safety of many lives, there seemed no other way but to get rid of her.


    ¡°We should¡¯ve done that way earlier. I don¡¯t even get why you¡¯re so hesitant. Our actions will not be justified if we killed one or two fewer people now, we should just be satisfied with the fact that we fought for the peace of our next generations.¡±


    Jongil weed Youngho¡¯s idea.


    ¡°If we can take care of Tracy and her most close personnel, Armenia will be quiet.¡±


    ¡°Is there another witch?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s one who acts as her secretary. She¡¯s even a more vicious extreme nationalist.¡±


    The only way to strike a blow to the Lincy Foundation was to get rid of its head, Tracy. Even though the foundation would still remain, her absence could lead to the downfall of the organization. It would be fortunate if the foundation was rebuiltter to contribute to world peace ording to its original purpose of the establishment.


    ***


    Jongil was excluded from this operation.


    Instead, Youngho would be bringing a young Serbiand who was fluent in Armenian.


    Because Youngho had a western look and even had a mustache, he could be disguised as a local Armenian but Jongil had an obvious East Asian appearance that stood out.


    After making the young Serbiand¡¯s Russian passport with Sergey¡¯s help, they hurried for their journey.


    ¡°You also look like an Asian to these people. Don¡¯t you dare be proud.¡±


    Jongil picked on Youngho since he was feeling sorry that he could not go with him.


    ¡°Okay, I get that. While I¡¯m gone, just make sure to take the Russian armored vehicles at the farm and ranch back to Kazakhstan.¡±


    It was his n to ce three of the new light armored vehicles from Turkey in Baku and moverge Russian armored vehicles on Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan. Because of the big size of the Russian armored vehicles, they were useless in mountainous regions. Since it was such a waste to keep them at the farm and the ranch, Youngho would get more use out of them if they were ced at Arirang Farm.


    ¡°I said, call me Boss.¡±


    ¡°How can I call the Archduchess¡¯ husband that way? That can¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a special asion.¡±


    Youngho was on a train that was going to Yerevan, Armenia from Georgia.


    The Serbian youngd who followed Youngho as an interpreter was 21-year-old Vaso. He was stubborn as his grandfather, old Niksic.


    Following his parents, Vaso had spent his childhood in an Armenia¡¯s marble mine. That was why he was fluent in Armenian.


    Armenia¡¯s marble was well-known as beautiful, high-quality construction material, that there were countless mines near Yerevan. The Armenian marble was so popr that it was even told that the nobles in the time of the Russian Empire were not considered as nobles if they did not build their houses with Armenian marble.


    Youngho eventually managed to convince Vaso and rified his title.


    Tracy¡¯s everyday daily routines were consistent. As a strict ascetic, she kept a tight schedule to the minute every day.


    Many staffs came in and out of the foundation¡¯s office building and the most outstanding among them were the Armenian military soldiers at the entrance.


    Youngho already knew that the foundation was rted to the Armenian military but as he had confirmed it with his own eyes, he became even more determined to stick to his n.


    At this moment, his problem was getting a sniper rifle. Because he had to pass the border, he could not take any weapons with him. He needed to get one from a local ck market but he was not sure if young Vaso could handle an arms deal.


    Especially during at a time like this, it would look very suspicious to buy a sniper and he needed to make cautious moves.


    Youngho sent Vaso to find out about the location of an arms dealer in secret. Since he had already secured a ce for him to snipe at the enemies, as long as he had a rifle, he was certain that he would not miss his targets.


    ¡°Boss. I found an arms dealer¡¯s house in the old town but I¡¯m worried that the security is strict.¡±


    Not knowing what Youngho was capable of, Vaso seemed insecure since Youngho was not a bulky man on the outside.


    Youngho tightened the silencer on his Dragunov sniper rifle and aimed it at his target.


    Tracy and her secretary who just arrived at the foundation¡¯s building and got off their car just entered at the sight of his scope.


    It was a perfect chance in a million.


    After breathing in the air deeply, he pulled the trigger toward the secretary first. Youngho could feel the rebound of the rifle on his shoulder.


    The secretary who just grabbed her chest was seen through the scope and Tracy had ducked down in fear. Youngho closed his eyes and breathed again. When he opened his eyes, he pulled the trigger once more.

 Chapter 190 - A New Attempt (1)

    <h4>Chapter 190: A New Attempt (1)</h4>


    The Head of the Lincy Foundation and her secretary¡¯s murder deeply affected the international society.


    It was because the two were both Americans. To the public¡¯s eyes, there was no reason for a charitable institution and her secretary to be murdered in public.


    The whole Armenia mourned for Tracy¡¯s death. Not knowing the truth of the foundation, it was a natural reaction for the country.


    The foundation had been helping the Syrian refugees and had been fighting to end terrorism, so people suspected IS since the foundation was like a thorn in their side.


    It was a wild guess, but the nerveless terrorist group did not try to deny the spection. As the international opinion pointed toward the organization as the suspect, IS, atst, imed that it was their doing.


    Youngho thought that it was a crazy group. Then, the United States warned the group that mass military forces would be deployed by way of reprisal for the loss of its own citizens¡¯ lives.


    After sending Vaso back to Baku from Georgia, Youngho was drinking coffee with Michael from the mafia at an open-air caf¨¦ near Batumi Port.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, France won¡¯t have thought of sending arms to Armenia, will it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. French people have their own unique way of thinking....¡±


    Since the United States and Russia began their salvage work for the sunken freighter despite France¡¯s protest, France might be holding a grudge against them.


    Since Russia was close to the ck Sea, the salvage work was being done with equipment provided by Russia.


    ¡°We¡¯re still checking every freightering to the two ports of Georgia.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re doing great. Let¡¯s keep it up for a few more months.¡±


    ¡°If people knew that we¡¯re earning money this easily at a vacationd, anyone will make a mercenarypany. Our men were exuberant when the bonusmission was paid.¡±


    From the mafia¡¯s standard, they were earning money without putting out a lot of effort, so Michael¡¯s men were high in spirits. It did not seem like a big of a deal for the mafias, but Youngho was d that they were doing a job that could not be done by anyone else but mafias. Who would recruit Russian sailors in haste and would be able to sell a stolen freighter if it were not those mafias?


    The Azerbaijani government had paid the mercenarypany amission of ten million dors, so Youngho kept half of it for himself. Since he yed a key role in the business, the mafias agreed on taking half for themselves. Also, since they would have sold the freighter by now, Sergey would be leaping in joy counting the money he earned.


    Youngho¡¯s n was to watch the ports for about two more months and then withdraw the mercenaries from there. Since France would not be able to make a hasty, reckless decision for the time being and Armenia also was paying for their mistake, it did not seem that there would be a freighter carrying a cargo of arms at Georgian ports any time soon.


    ***


    ¡°Ehem. As your master, I have nothing left to teach you. You can go down the mountain now.¡±


    Jongil gave a twistedpliment when a simple ¡®good job¡¯ was enough.


    ¡°If I go down the mountain, you¡¯re going to sell my farm.¡±


    ¡°Not only your farm¡ªyou¡¯ve got the ranch and the gold mines and plenty of other things that¡¯ll make me rich.¡±


    It was Jongil¡¯s way of praising Youngho since he had discouraged Armenia¡¯s spirit in a snap. Now all they had to do was to wait and see how the war would turn out.


    It was a privilege for Youngho and Youngho¡¯s close friends to know the truth behind the different phenomena and watch how things would turn out.


    Since Youngho knew the answer to the current war situation already, he felt rxed. It seemed that the tension in the atmosphere of the farm and the ranch had also gone away already.


    The new light armored vehicles brought from Kazakhstan could be driven to everywhere except for very steep slopes. Two were ced at the ranch and one was ced at Zeynep Farm. Those only looked like strong SUV cars. Since there was no need to disguise them, they were ced at the gates of each site. It was a sess since even the wine factory staff asked why a cash transport truck was ced at the farm.


    If needed, a machine gun could be attached to the roof of each vehicle, and it would turn into an armored vehicle.


    It was like having a new toy for Youngho since flying was prohibited in Azerbaijan and his airnes were useless in the region now.


    In their free time, Youngho, Jongil, and Insoo frequently drove the armored vehicle to the mountain in front of the farm.


    Going on a patrol was just an excuse since there was no other car that was more suitable to carry hunted deer. Now that transporting dead deer was easier and the gang brought numerous deer bodies frequently, Gerhardt¡¯s family started to smoke deer meats.


    Gerhardt¡¯s family and Karajan, who had been staying at Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel, had returned to the farm already. The security crews¡¯ families were also back and had upied the residential vis near the reservoir.


    The farm¡¯s atmosphere was turning homey again.


    In a few days, the Serbian descendants who had gone to Kazakhstan¡¯s Arirang Farm would be returning. Although the war was still not over, they decided toe back since there was little possibility that Zeynep Farm would fall into danger.


    In Youngho¡¯s opinion, the Azerbaijani army would strike another blow at Armenia, and soon, both nations would make a mutual non-aggression treaty.


    The two nations¡¯ conflict had brought many changes to the Serbian descendants.


    One of them is that they had realized that although the farm and the ranch were their home, they could leave those ces at any time. If they only had those ces, they would risk their lives to defend their living bases, but they had another fertilend prepared for them. They were more rxed now. Knowing that they had another home, they had no reason to be obsessed with Zeynep Farm and the ranch. They thought that wherever the Archduchess¡¯ power reigned was their home anyway.


    ***


    As Fatima and Sangchun¡¯s parents joined the farm, the liveliness of the farm doubled. The siblings did note with them this time.


    Szechenyi, who was on summer break, had just started working as a private security guard. It was not a great job. As Zeynep and Park Youngsun¡¯s daughter, Park Seoyoung, were on their European trip, he was hired as their private guard.


    Since Youngho believed that Szechenyi was strong enough that he could easily knock down three other security guards, especially with the ring¡¯s power, he decided to send Szechenyi along with the girls.


    After Fatima¡¯s return, the mansion was crowded with the Serbian descendants who came to pay a visit to the Archduchess every day. Not being able to concentrate on his work, Youngho usually spent his day at the office of Zeynep Security Service in Downtown Baku.


    Since the three friends were all usually at the office together, they were chatty.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying the Russian armored vehicles had be fixtures on Arirang Farm now. They were wasted in the storage, so I insisted on cing them at the four corners of the farm and the other three are still in the storage. I¡¯m worried that it¡¯s going to get rusty since nobody takes care of them.¡±


    Jongil was upset. He had a special heart for arms.


    ¡°You know, they be scrap metals in years anyway. It¡¯s still good that the townspeople feel secure because of their existence.¡±


    ¡°Man, you! You just don¡¯t value them because you make a lot of money now. They wouldst dozens of years if you take care of them well. Man, what a waste! Also, those expensive light armored vehicles that you bought for patrol now turned into night guard posts. You know how it¡¯s warm inside with the heater. They love it. I gave them only five of them and put the rest in the storage.¡±


    It seemed that Jongil had grilled them to keep the vehicles in good shape since they were brand new and thetest model.


    ¡°What about the stonewalls? Are they finished yet?¡±


    ¡°What kinds of stonewalls are so high and thick like that?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan¡¯s wind is beyond tolerable. I ordered them to make it high to block the wind. I think we¡¯d need to make a windbreak forest near the stonewalls.¡±


    The continental wind of Kazakhstan was so strong that even thick grains of sand flew around.


    ¡°Well, because of the stonewalls, it felt cozier inside the town.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out if there are other problems at the town once we go through the first winter.¡±


    Many say that one should observe a region for about one year before building a town. The decision should be made after checking if the region is flooded during the wet summer season and if it tolerable during the winter.


    However, the more ignorant you were, the more daring you became.


    Youngho had not done any basic inspection for the site of Arirang Farm and went ahead to sign thend contract already. There might be many failures along the way, but he was ready for the struggles.


    Many Kazakh people considered and livable if livestock could live in there and they did not care about circumstances too much. If it was a true wastnd, the government would not have epted Youngho¡¯s agricultural development proposal. Since people who had lived there for thousands of years epted his proposal, he had no choice but to trust their instinct.


    ***


    People were still firing cannons at the border but it was dramatically weakenedpared to the beginning of the war. In the beginning, Azerbaijan¡¯s army was determined to wipe out Armenians. However, Azerbaijan was getting tired as the war went on.


    Because of the breakout of the war, the country¡¯s economy had depreciated and many international trades were stopped. Since Armenia, which was thought to surrender after a few strong air strikes, held out for long stubbornly, the economy regressed rapidly.


    Although Azerbaijan was still making money from oil crude trade, it was obvious that it would experience tremendous economic loss because of the war.


    The situation was the same in Armenia as well.


    The country without decent resources was holding on with funds sent by Armenians overseas, but as the Lincy Foundation, which had been the country¡¯s huge support, withdrew from thepany, they even lost their power.


    When the two countries were ready to end the war, Russia stepped up to arbitrate in the dispute since it did not have a choice but to intervene if the war went on due to its military cooperation with Armenia.


    Exhausted by the war, the two countries stopped the fires at the border at once by Russia¡¯s arbitration.


    Both countries neither mentioned a mutual non-aggression treaty nor asked forpensation for damages at the negotiation table. It was not a truce but a temporary ceasefire with a loose end.


    Youngho and his friends who were waiting to see how the war would unfold were only baffled by the result.


    ¡°What kind of ceasefire is this? Russia should¡¯ve pushed both nations toe up with a clear statement. Man, it¡¯s neither this nor that,¡± Jongil murmured to himself, upset by the turnout of the negotiation table.


    Youngho also was in a funny position. He felt drained as he found out that the result of his efforts was only a temporary truce without a clear statement. It seemed that the two countries would never stop fighting against each other when all he wanted was a peaceful life in Azerbaijan.


    ¡°Man, I was going to make a forever home here and leave thend for generation after generation, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to work.¡±


    Youngho thought that it was time to make a decision.


    It was no use to expect more for Azerbaijan.


    It did not mean that he would be abandoning Baku, but he would only consider the city as an investment site only, not as his home.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t leave our descendants in such an insecure ce. Why don¡¯t we make the vast continent of Kazakhstan our home then?¡±


    Youngho nodded at Jongil¡¯s words.


    To Youngho, the Caspian Sea was not an ind sea since it was open to the ck Sea through the Volga-Don Canal and to the Antic and the Baltic Sea through the Volga-Baltic Waterway.


    Geographically, Kazakhstan had easy ess to both canals since the Volga River was nearby.


    Instead of living in a ce with an endless war potential, it would be a hundred times better to live peacefully in Kazakhstan.


    Envisioning the vast in, Youngho unknowingly pped hisp, making a loud noise.


    ¡°Man, you scared me! What¡¯s up?¡±


    Jongil and Insoo shouted unanimously at Youngho.


    ¡°Let¡¯s draw in the Ural River.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s our original n.¡±


    ¡°No, let¡¯s make a canal through it to Arirang Farm.¡±


    ¡°What? A canal?¡±

 Chapter 191 - A New Attempt (2)

    <h4>Chapter 191: A New Attempt (2)</h4>


    The reason that Youngho wanted to develop a farm in the vast in of Kazakhstan was that the region was close to Ural River.


    The Ural River, which was about 2,543 kilometers long, originated from the Ural Mountains and it flowed to the Caspian Sea.


    The location of Arirang Farm was in the range of the lower-ss of the river and water could be drawn from the river with the construction of a waterway. From that fact, a new idea to make a canal popped in Youngho¡¯s head. Every problem would be resolved if the canal was made up to the entry of the farm.


    The farm was more than ten kilometers away from the Ural River but, fortunately, a branch of the river was only about five kilometers away. Although it was only a branch of the river, it was still a decent sized river. Kazakhstan was about twelve times the size of the Korean Penins, and there were countless rivers flowing through the continent. Arirang Farm had favorable natural conditions, so a canal did not seem like an impossible idea.


    Youngho called Park Youngsun to ask to investigate thend to see if the canal construction would be possible. However, Park Youngsun suggested four problems to the canal construction.


    First, it was aplicated work that could affect nature. Second, it was impossible to make a canal without the government¡¯s permission. Third, it would be a huge scale civil engineering work to build water instations and lock gates. Fourth, considering the time and funds it takes to build the canal, it was an uneconomical business n.


    The major problem was the fourth use. Park Youngsun thought that there was no reason to make a waterway to the entry of the farm since only goods of daily necessities and grains would be delivered to the farm. However, he did not just refuse his idea.


    ¡°Actually, your idea itself is groundbreaking.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park, you suggested all the problems until now but you¡¯re saying my idea is great?¡±


    Youngho felt ufortable since he just rejected his idea with rational reasons.


    ¡°In fact, you gave me an idea. If we can build a road that connects the farm to the nearest branch of the Ural River and there is a quay for your ships to moor, you¡¯d be able toe and go to the farm with ease. That¡¯s why your canal construction n was a bright idea.¡±


    There was an alternate way that was as effective as building a canal with less amount of investment. Building a road and a quay were more economical than building a canal.


    Although the canal construction was not usible, it was indeed a great idea. After hanging up the phone, Youngho turned to his friends who had been listening to his conversation with Park Youngsun.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve known when he talked nonsense.¡±


    Jongil teased Youngho.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s kind of a canal. We won¡¯t have to go through Port of Atyrau but we could have our own quay without anyone bothering us.¡±


    Youngho made an excuse.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. If you cane near Arirang Farm through the river, the transport fee is going to decrease dramatically.¡±


    Insoo added. Then, Jongil, who had teased Youngho, now took a different side and suggested an additional idea.


    ¡°Then we should just get permission to develop the regions near the branch of the river.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. If other people develop regions nearby in the future, then we could ask them to pay to pass the river.¡±


    Now, Insoo and Jongil were having a st with their n to expand thend.


    ¡°Thend is getting even bigger.¡±


    Youngho immediately called Kim Chun and asked him to make a development n for the regions of the river branch and submit it to the Atyrau¡¯s regional government.


    The document would pass easily because the government had no reason to turn it down since it was for the best of the farm¡¯s development. Rather, the government would wee the idea that a foreign investor like Youngho was willing to build a transport infrastructure in thend that had been neglected.


    ***


    Youngho was thinking about making another town looking at the map of Arirang Farm. It was because the development n of the nearest branch of the river to the farm was epted by the regional government.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s permission process for farnd development was not too strict. Only the map of the surveyed area by a local surveypany, the types of grains that would be grown in the farm, and bank bnce statement needed to be submitted.


    The regional government epted any investors if they had enough money unless they were developing underground resources.


    Then, once the development waspleted to a certain degree, the government either gave ownership of thend or a long-term lease to the investor.


    Many farnd investors wanted a long-term lease since the ownership came with a lot of responsibilities. However, Youngho was different, he would somehow make sure to get the ownership because he wanted to give thend to his descendants and the Serbian people. In his perspective, he would not need to put an effort to make all sorts of infrastructure if he was not going to be the owner of thend.


    It did not take thirty minutes to get to the branch of the Ural River by a light armored vehicle. Since the tires were as huge as the dump truck¡¯s, the vehicle ran on rough unpaved roads without any difficulty.


    ¡°Boss. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a branch but it is as wide as the Han River in Seoul.¡±


    ¡°The river is about 150 kilometers long and this side is the downstream part. Do you see the red g over there? That¡¯s where the quay¡¯s going to be. The ground consists of bedrock, so it would be a firm foundation for the construction.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the river freeze in the winter?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it will but you won¡¯t have to worry about that. The Ural River downstream is a rapid stream, so it won¡¯t be a problem for sailing. You would only have to break four kilometers of ice on this side with an ice breaker.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park. If it wasn¡¯t your insight, I would¡¯ve gone through so much trouble.¡±


    ¡°Well, what does a geologist know? I just went by somemon knowledge.¡±


    Youngho did not have many reasonable men like Park Youngsun although he was being modest. Since he was a well-versed man in his area of study, he did other jobs with his own standards, so he did not make big mistakes.


    Park Youngsun was a valuable talent to Youngho. He had gone through so many things as an explorer and gained experiences and wisdom from that. Youngho knew that someone like him would decrease many trials and errors that Youngho would make if he did not have Park Youngsun.


    ***


    From the sky on his Cessna airne, Youngho checked the branch river¡¯s route to see where his ships could reach. It seemed that his freighter could go to Kazakhstan¡¯s border city Oral and with a smaller ship, he could even reach Orenburg, which was a Central South city of Russia.


    From the sky, Arirang Farm was a hugend butpared to the vast sky, it did not look too big. The Farm was located in the halfway between Atyrau and Oral. Atyrau region was three times bigger than South Korea and about 380,000 people resided near city areas. Thus, it was almost impossible to spot people around the farm in a vast in. Because the government could not develop itsnd due tock of people, the government weed someone like Youngho who was not only developing farnd but also making a town that was the size of a small city.


    Arirang Farm¡¯s development also vitalized the domestic market of Atyrau. Youngho had bought out many of construction materials since he was buying them in bulks. He brought many from Russia but a huge amount of materials for infrastructures such as cement and asphalt for roads and pipes for water and sewage were needed to build a small city-sized town.


    Tons of materials were needed to build five hundred houses for Serbian immigrants including the ones who would be moving in by the spring. Every necessity should be bought for each house, such as Lumbers, tiles, kitchen fixtures, bathroom materials, beds, and house appliances.


    The daily necessities that the immigrants and workers of Arirang Farm consumed were also a lot. The regional government had to hastily import goods from Russia in fear of their prices skyrocketing because of the farm. Of course, most of the necessities needed for the immigrants were supplied through The Arirang, many things were also bought from the city of Atyrau. It was to impress the city government.


    What had impressed the government most was that because of the farm development, the city¡¯s unemployment rate had decreased in number. Since it was an annoying problem to the government that young people only crowded in city areas with a limited amount of job openings, the change was good news.


    Kim Chun, the branch president of Arirang Farm, now a had high status in the city.


    Any item he bought from Atyrau was arge purchase that could easily fill a storage unit, so many city businessmen tried to earn his favor. Since he was Koryoin, his first choice was to visit warehouses or retailer shops owned by other Koryoins and if he did not have other choices, he visited shops run by Russians. Because he had belonged to a minority group in Kazakhstan, he took this chance to pay pack his sorrow by helping minority businessmen. However, it concerned Youngho that Kim Chun¡¯s behavior might face a bacsh from the city government and local businessmen.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand you but please buy products from local businessmen too.¡±


    ¡°Boss. It is Russians that control Kazakhstan¡¯s economy. They upy 30% of the nation¡¯s poption and hold the purse strings. The minority groups don¡¯t have any chance if I don¡¯t take advantage of my position to help them when I have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°The city government secretly asked me to use stores ran by Kazakhs or minorities.¡±


    Countless Russians had immigrated in Kazakhstan from the time of the Soviet Union and they had dominated the country¡¯s economy. Although it was independent now, the country was still subjected to Russia economically. It had its ownnguage but Russian was also picked as another officialnguage. Russia¡¯s power over the country was that strong and that was why Kim Chun was intentionally helping Koryoins and other minorities first.


    ***


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°We should take this opportunity to make proper money this time. It¡¯s all us who have been doing the job.¡±


    Insoo intervened as Jongil suggested to Youngho.


    ¡°Hey, our job is only to introduce and not bother. Why are we getting involved? Aren¡¯t you tired of it already?¡±


    The friends were talking about the recent Azerbaijani government¡¯s mercenary request.


    The government had now learned that Armenia¡¯s military authorities had much military equipment hidden in city facilities and it was trying to find a way to get rid of them although the war was over now.


    Youngho clicked his tongue. If the government had listened to Youngho earlier and investigated more deeply during the war, it could have gotten rid of the weapons by their fighter strikes but since the war was over, the Azerbaijani force could not interfere Armenia.


    With the Cessna airne, Youngho could go anywhere when in a rush like now.


    He went to Volgograd to see Sergey since he wanted to discuss the mercenary request in person.


    ¡°Lee! You use this tiny airne so often.¡±


    ¡°Brother. You¡¯d see how great it is once you fly with this. It¡¯s much safer than helicopters.¡±


    ¡°We prefer helicopters though. If that can¡¯t handle, we¡¯ll be buying small-sized jets.¡±


    Since the mafias were rich, their scale was different. Even a small size, an airne with a jet engine would cost a tremendous amount of money.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me feel bad or I¡¯ll raise the wine price.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee to do that. We¡¯re already getting out of stock. We couldn¡¯t raise the price because of you.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then, should we change its price?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about that as we drink with the boss tonight.¡±


    Yaniv, who greeted Youngho¡¯s group, was still lively as before.


    ¡°I almost forgot how you looked like. So, I hear you¡¯re busy with the farm in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve sent me heavy equipment, the farnd development is right on track.¡±


    ¡°Those are just what the military department had tossed. If you need more, I¡¯ll send you anything.¡±


    Yaniv was saying as if he owned the military supplies. Such a thing was only possible in Russia.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all sit first?¡±


    Although it was still during the day, the table was filled with drinks and snacks. People of many countries including Russia around the Caucasus offered drink and food first when they had visitors. Refusing those would be considered rude. Everything should be drunk and eaten.


    They drank for a few rounds and talked about different things. Finally, Yaniv made a conclusion.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feelfortable sending my men to Armenia to meddle with the country. Armenia is an ally of Russia and if President Putin finds out about this, he won¡¯t be liking this.¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll pass this along to otherpany. Please pretend that you didn¡¯t hear about this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I value business ethics.¡±


    Youngho was thankful for Yaniv¡¯s rejection.


    Now it was time for him to focus on Kazakhstan and he did not want to waste his time in Armenia but there was no need for him to reject the Azerbaijani government¡¯s request. It would all be resolved if he called Eriksson from the Information Agency.

 Chapter 192 - A New Attempt (3)

    <h4>Chapter 192: A New Attempt (3)</h4>


    There were five countries on the Caspian coast. Russia and Kazakhstan were in the North Center, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan were at each side of the South Center, andstly, Iran was in the South.


    The countries that upied most of the coast were Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and the oil crude deposits in the Caspian Sea were concentrated in both countries.


    Because of that, Russia recently began insisting that the Caspian Sea was not an ind sea but ake. If it was defined as ake, the whole sea would fall undermunal ownership of the five nations and they could divide natural resources evenly and they could even redefine each country¡¯s districts. Since Russia did not own dominant parts of the Caspian Sea, it was trying to redefine the sea to earn more oil crude deposits.


    It seemed that the five countries would be having a long dispute over the definition of the Caspian Sea soon.


    The reason that Russia imed that it was ake was that the sea¡¯s salt concentration was only about thirty percent of other seas. With its low salt concentration, the sea at Russia¡¯s side used to freeze during the winter, so Russia went through many troubles during the winter.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s front sea was also frozen in the winter. This was why Youngho preferred an icebreaker or a car ferry freighter that was as strong as an icebreaker. Thankfully, the Volga-Don Canal was open in the winter. Now, the only thing he needed was a ship that could pass through the Northern Caspian Sea.


    ¡°I just visited to see how much progress has been made.¡±


    At Baku¡¯s shipyard, Youngho asked Steve Janssen, the vice president when they were having coffee together.


    Steve Janssen, who had expected another order from Youngho¡¯s visit, was choked at his words. It was because Youngho was pressuring him to finish the work fast.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯d know it well but a ship in the making cannot be rushed. Especially, what you asked for is a special ship with a reinforced body using special steel and....¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know that well. I¡¯m just asking out of curiosity. By the way, you said that you had worked at a shipyard in the Nethends. Should I visit there to order a ship?¡±


    He has choked again in surprise. Youngho¡¯sst words indicated that he would be ordering an even bigger ship, unlike smaller ships that went around the Caspian Sea.


    ¡°If you ask me, I can get a great deal for a ship from the Nethends.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be best if it is thetest model but I want something that I won¡¯t have to wait for too long. I just hate waiting.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s words meant two things; that he would be okay with a used ship and he was also pressuring Steve to speed up the making process of the two icebreakers that he had ordered.


    After breathing heavily, Steve hastily began to exin that a deal between shipyards could get Youngho a ship at a much lower price. He thought that he could only be off the hook from Youngho¡¯s pressure when he sessfully closed a new deal.


    ¡°How big a multipurpose freighter should be in order to cross the Antic? I need a sturdy one that can put up with heavy waves.¡±


    ¡°Usually, a ship in 20,000 to 30,000-ton ss can sail through the Antic regardless of the weather but you¡¯re not talking about the ones in 100,000-ton ss, do you?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯d be the bigger the better but it¡¯s not going to be used as a cargo liner. It¡¯ll be used as a direct freighter that would carry whatever I need whenever I need it. If an expert like you could help me, I¡¯ll pay you a decentmission.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you can leave that to me. I happen to go to the Nethends this weekend. I¡¯ll look for a great freighter for you as a priority since you¡¯re asking.¡±


    Youngho smiled at Steve¡¯s reaction. Steve was intrigued by the mention of mission.¡¯ Since it was a great chance to earn extra money, he was determined to give his best effort for Youngho¡¯s order.


    ***


    The best thing since the end of the war was that the sky route was open again for Youngho. Since he could fly to anywhere, the two Cessna airnes were frequently used.


    He visited Kazakhstan¡¯s Arirang Farm usually twice a week since he had his own runways at both farms. About nine Serbian descendants who learned how to fly a light aircraft now worked as regr pilots for him and other farm¡¯s businesses.


    There was no need for safety idents since they strictly kept the rule of not flying in the bad weather. Youngho and his friends also kept the rule.


    Youngho just dismissed a regr meeting with employees of the securitypany. It did not evenst ten minutes since he did not like long meetings. Whenever he had a meeting, he kept everything to the point precisely and finished it quickly since he believed long meetings were never good. As employees left the room, Jongilined.


    ¡°Hey! I had something to say. Why did you dismiss it so quickly?¡±


    ¡°Nobody likes long meetings when there¡¯s nothing left to say.¡±


    ¡°I asked Karajan to set up a blind date with her friend for the Korean security guards, whom should I send? I should get rmendations from the team leaders.¡±


    ¡°Man, what rmendations? You should send the team leaders first. Don¡¯t pick, just get whoever that¡¯s ready first. They¡¯d fall in love with any of Baku¡¯s beautifuldies.¡±


    Youngho really thought that thedies of Baku were the best brides. They were somewhat conservative and very dedicated to their families, so he wanted to rmend them to the Korean security crews. Not to mention, they were beautiful with their western looks but with dark hair and eyes.


    ¡°Stephany¡¯s thirty next year. She¡¯s not going to get married any time soon, so her mother asked me to get a Korean man for her.¡±


    Stephany was a manager of Chunho Merchant¡¯s direct store and Karajan¡¯s distant cousin. She had been a member of Chunho Merchant, the foundation of Zeynep Corporation now, since the beginning as Karajan.


    ¡°Call Park Taeyoung who¡¯s now in Frankfurt¡¯s Arirang Hotel as a security team leader. He¡¯d be a perfect match with Stephany.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he reject it since she¡¯s old?¡±


    ¡°Man, he¡¯s going to be part of Zeynep Corporation family. You think he¡¯s going to refuse this opportunity?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m serious. Stop joking.¡±


    ¡°Are you afraid that you¡¯re going to lose your position, man?¡±


    Since the two were being loud in the hallways of the securitypany¡¯s office building, the employees peeked at them curiously. Thinking that it was a great chance, Jongil shouted.


    ¡°Anyone interested in dating a Baku girl,e to the conference room!¡±


    Since the Korean security crews had been so busy working, they had not been able to get out of their solo status. Youngho wanted to help them out.


    Youngho and his friends picked the ones financially suffering from Korea, so they were only busy supporting their family members. There were plenty of rooms left at the vis near the farm¡¯s reservoir, so he decided to hurry and find the crews¡¯ spouses. He also was going to tell Fatima since she would also be d to help to find girls for them.


    ***


    The Christmas Eve¡¯s party had a constant stream of visitors. The reception hall of Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel was full of well-dressed young men and women.


    As Youngho¡¯s opening words were finished, Jongil took over the mike as the MC of the night. He introduced himself to the crowd and then began exining what kinds of benefits would be given if a Serbian descendant and a security crew got married.


    The day¡¯s event was held for unmarried Zeynep Security Service¡¯s employees, Serbian descendants, and some Baku girls.


    Since the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom could not get married to a Muslim man for a religious reason, they had to pick either Korean security crews or Serbian descendants as their spouses.


    After today¡¯s event, there would be many new couples on the streets of Baku downtown.


    As the music was turned on, Youngho and Fatima came up to the stage for a dance. Starting with the two, young men and women started to find their partner for the dance. Only the courageous would get a girl. Youngho wished the best for his Korean security crews and danced until he was dizzy.


    Youngho was feeding Leon some soup. As Leon¡¯s face was now being covered in soup, Youngho¡¯s phone in his pocket vibrated.


    It was Szechenyi.


    ¡°Hyung. It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, how¡¯s everything? It¡¯s not too cold in Austria?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the best ce for skiing. There¡¯s a lot of snow. If you¡¯re not too busy now, can youe here with Leon?¡±


    Bringing Leon meant bringing Fatima as well.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that. It¡¯s cold there. I¡¯d considering if it was Spain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only asking because there¡¯s someone who wants to see you and Fatima.¡±


    ¡°What? Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, nothing¡¯s wrong. I just met a European noble. He wanted to talk to you two. We¡¯re staying at his mansion now. A friend that we met at this ski resort invited us.¡±


    A noble, a mansion, and a friend from a ski resort. Youngho was trying to picture something but he could not. Asking to meet family members meant that he wanted to see adults of the family.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Fatima first. Oh, and if you see a great hotel, please let me know. We can start our hotel chain there too.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s mind was only full of the hotel chain business. Rather than being curious about the noble¡¯s invitation, he was more intrigued to see Austria¡¯s vacationd where the upper ss gathered.


    ¡°No way. You need to bring several guards with you. You need to know your position now. Besides, you don¡¯t even know what kind of noble he is. If you want to make an impression and not to look down on, you need to have some people around you.¡±


    Youngho was going to move with Fatima only but Jongil was scolding him for his stupid decision.


    ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you follow us?¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯d be gone, I¡¯ll be the number one here.¡±


    ¡°Man, I just want to travel quietly this time.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, dude. You need to bring Old Niksic¡¯s grandson and Ilkwon. Or there¡¯s no trip for you, okay?¡±


    Because of Jongil¡¯s stubbornness, Youngho ended up bringing two men and one Serbian woman as Leon¡¯s nanny. Jongil followed them to the airport and gave an earful until they went through the security check.


    ¡°Speak with pride. Tell him that you¡¯re Korean royalty¡¯s descent. You¡¯re lucky that yourst name is Lee*.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho could notugh hard since Jongil seemed to be serious.


    Thankfully, there was a flight that went directly to Vienna, Austria. To get to Innsbruck from Vienna, the group had to be on a train for four and a half hours.


    Young Leon was nagging since he was tired from traveling long hours. However, Old Niksic¡¯s grandson Vaso was happy that he was on a trip with the Archduchess¡¯s family.


    ¡°Vaso! You should keep your mouth closed when in public.¡±


    Lestina, the woman in her thirties who came along as Leon¡¯s nanny, scolded Vaso after seeing him kept smiling in excitement. Looking at the two, Ilkwon worried.


    ¡°Boss, I heard that European nobles are strict about manners. I hope you won¡¯t get into trouble because of us.¡±


    Ilkwon did not feelfortable about this trip. Youngho felt the same.


    ¡°It¡¯d be rather rude if nobles stick to their old manners and ask that to others. Also, it seems that our Lestina is strict about etiquettes too. I think if we keep quiet, we¡¯ll be just fine.¡±


    Despite the two¡¯s worrisome voices, Fatima was calm and even rxed. It looked like that she was now used to act as the Archduchess since she spent a long period of time with Serbian descendants at the farm.


    It was already after eight in the evening.


    Although it was consideredte in Europe, the city was still crowded with winter travelers who were visiting the city that had held the Winter Olympics twice. Since it would not be courteous to visit a mansion belonged to a stranger, Youngho picked up his phone to call Szechenyi to let him know that his group will be visiting the mansion the next day.


    ¡°Oppa! Unni!¡±


    Zeynep¡¯s bright voice pierced into their ears. Szechenyi and Zeynep hade to receive them.


    *Lee/Yi- Lee is pronounced as Yi in Korea. It is one of the most dominant surnames in Korea. It is usually considered as a royal surname since the House of Yi ruled Joseon Dynasty, an old Korean dynasty. All of the surnames of the kings of Joseon were Yi (or Lee).

 Chapter 193 - Youngho’s Bluff (1)

    <h4>Chapter 193: Youngho¡¯s Bluff (1)</h4>


    The group was escorted, by Szechenyi and Zeynep, to the mansion they were invited to.


    The mansion was huge and there was a grass field and a helicopter was ced on one side of the field. As they opened grand entrance doors, there were about a dozen mid-aged people talking around the firece in the living room.


    Among them, a man who looked like he was in his early forties and a graceful woman came to greet Youngho¡¯s group.


    ¡°Wee. I am Oldenburg, the Lord High Steward of the Queen Margrethe II of the Kingdom of Denmark. Let me introduce you to the Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederik Andre Henrik Christian and the Crown Princess, Mary Elizabeth Donaldson. And this is Crown Prince¡¯s sister, Princess Isabe.¡±


    An old steward came up and introduced the royal family of Denmark. Some young children came behind the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. It looked like they were little children of the couple.


    As Youngho was about to greet them, Vaso, hastily came in front and began to introduce Youngho¡¯s group. It was because Lestina poked him on the side.


    ¡°Greetings. I¡¯m Vaso from the 15th generation of an attendant family of the great Kingdom of Serbia. My father is the Lord Chambein but because he was away, I dare to introduce the Archduchess and her husband. This is the Archduchess, Fatima Aleksandar, and her husband, Lee Youngho. And, of course, you¡¯d already know them well but I¡¯d like to reintroduce, the prince Szechenyi Aleksandar and princess Zeynep Aleksandar.¡±


    Youngho was so embarrassed by the grandiose introduction. He wondered when Vaso had prepared such phrases.


    The steward, who was going to impress Youngho¡¯s group with his introduction, moved his eyebrow after hearing the unexpected words. Although the Kingdom of Serbia had fallen a long time ago, Vaso had introduced the group as if they were an existing dynasty.


    People were silent in surprise after such an introduction.


    Leon was the one who broke the suffocating silence.


    ¡°Papapa. Mamama.¡±


    As Leon made sounds, Princess Isabe, who was about Szechenyi¡¯s age, looked at him with endearing eyes.


    Four children standing behind her came close to Leon to touch him. As the princess came close, the nanny let her have Leon. As the princess lifted him up, Leon screamed in excitement and the Crown Prince¡¯s children all giggled.


    The atmosphere might have turned heavy if Leon had not been there with them.


    Now that the tension was lifted, all Youngho wanted to do was to go ahead and sleep. However, it was not over yet. He noticed that Princess¡¯s Isabe¡¯s eyes looking at Szechenyi was more than friendly.


    Soon, Youngho¡¯s group was invited to the reception room and made the Crown Prince and his friends¡¯ acquaintance.


    ¡°This is why I invited you guys here. If it wasn¡¯t for Szechenyi, our Isabe must¡¯ve been badly hurt.¡±


    Youngho was listening about how Szechenyi¡¯s and Princess Isabe met from the Crown Prince. At the ski resort, Princess Isabe lost her bnce and soon, she slid down the slope. When she was about to hit the safety wall, Szechenyi managed to save her.


    Szechenyi could save anyone even if one fell from a high building with his outstanding athletic sense with the ring¡¯s power added.


    Still in a shock, Princess Isabe could not move and Szechenyi carried her to a safe area. It seemed the young man and woman had fallen in love at first sight.


    Princess Isabe had told the Crown Prince about Szechenyi and as the Crown Prince invited him to the mansion, he would have been surprised to find out about his unique family root.


    ¡°I¡¯ve trained Szechenyi since he was young. Do you see my secretary standing over there? He¡¯s a man of skills but he¡¯s going to have a hard time if Szechenyi was his match.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve felt that your secretary¡¯s eyes were different. I¡¯ve also served in the military when I was in my twenties. Only years of training can make such sharp eyes and restrained movements. I wish I can make himpete with my guards.¡±


    ¡°If you make a call, I¡¯m your guest.¡±


    Youngho did not know what kinds of training that the Crown Prince¡¯s guards had gone through but he knew for certain that Ilkwon could make his guard stay at the hospital for months.


    ¡°You sound very confident.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°By the way, I know the Kingdom of Serbia¡¯s dynasty had fallen but it surprised me that you still maintain your dynasty.¡±


    ¡°Four hundred years ago when the kingdom fell, the royal knights had escaped the kingdom and made a secret organization. They had been keeping the kingdom in secret.¡±


    Since Youngho did not want to say that the knights had been dragged as ves, he made it seem like they had kept the kingdom on their own. The Crown Prince was intrigued to hear about the royal knights.


    ¡°Is that true that you ownnd about 74,000 acres ofnd under your autonomy?¡±


    The size of the farm had grown since Youngho had expanded his site of agricultural development in Kazakhstan. Since Denmark was one-fifth of the size of the Korean Penins, he must have been very surprised to hear the size of Arirang Farm.


    ¡°Well, strictly saying, it is under extraterritoriality. We have our own airfield and defense system.¡±


    Youngho was saying anything that could save Szechenyi¡¯s face.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The Archduchess is recently nning on building a castle and it¡¯s giving me headaches these days.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s bluff was now going overboard. He even brought up a non-existing castle. It seemed like he would be building an unexpected castle in the future.


    ***


    ¡°Hyung, hotels in Innsbruck are so expensive for their sizes.¡±


    Szechenyi who just came back from researching with Kim Ilkwon shook his head.


    ¡°How much are they?¡±


    ¡°Their prices can buy a hotel about the same size as Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt. The ones here are not as big as that.¡±


    If there was a usible hotel, Youngho was going to stay in there and see how it was. Although he was invited to the Denmark royalty¡¯s mansion, he did not want to stay there for long. The Crown Prince Frederik interrupted Youngho and Szechenyi¡¯s conversation.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, may I ask why you are inquiring about prices of hotels in here?¡±


    ¡°I was going to see if I can start one of my hotels in Innsbruck since I like it here.¡±


    ¡°Wait, do you even have a hotel chain business?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have hotels in Germany, Moscow, Baku, and some other ces. The name of the chain is Arirang Hotel. The business is just at a starting point.¡±


    The Crown Prince knew well that one would be quite wealthy to buy a hotel.


    Since he had visited many countries as a state guest, he had been to many luxury hotels. He usually brought his entourage and had to reserve two to three floors as a whole, which was pretty expensive. He had gone through some troubles when the royalty¡¯s travel budget was discussed at the Congress.


    The Crown Prince now learned that Youngho was an extremely well-off entrepreneur. He thought that someone like Youngho could not have married such beautiful Archduchess without his wealth.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, if it¡¯s not too much trouble, could you tell me how many hotels you own? I¡¯ve visited many hotels but I found many of even expensive hotels very unfavorable.¡±


    Youngho knew what the Crown Prince was doing. Since he must not be asking Youngho to give him a free pass for his hotels, he was trying to find more about his wealth. Youngho decided to dance to his tune.


    ¡°Well, I have small size hotels with historic values in Baku and Tskhinvali, South Ossetia and a decent size hotel in Frankfurt. And I have modern hotels in the making in Moscow and Batumi in Georgia.¡±


    Youngho said it as if it was nothing. Since Szechenyi might be going out with Isabe soon, he thought that it was better to look wealthy and proud. Also, there was no need for him to hide what he had.


    When he came to the mansion, he had brought several boxes of his wine as well to impress the royalty. It was to show that the Archduchess¡¯ family, even though it had fallen, still had strength.


    ¡°I envied that you had a huge sized grape farm and ranch that could bepared to Europe¡¯s well-known grape farms but now that I know more about you, you are much richer than the Denmark royal family.¡±


    ¡°How can I dare topare myself to Denmark¡¯s royal family?¡±


    ¡°No, the royal family might look as morous from outside but we only live off people¡¯s taxes and there are a lot of things that we can¡¯t decide on our own.¡±


    Since the royalty budget was controlled by the Congress, the royal family had to put up with the bossy Congress.


    Even Youngho knew that the Crown Princess¡¯ excessive shopping had been an issue. The Crown Princess, Mary was deeply rted to Korea. Her father, who was a mathematician, had worked as an exchange professor in Korea¡¯s K national university. It was well known in Korea that when he was teaching in Korea, he received a proposal letter from the Crown Prince. It was told that the Crown Princess¡¯ father had written him back on a haji, traditional Korean paper.


    That Crown Princess could not even go shopping as much as she wanted to because of Denmark public. Youngho did not want to miss this chance. He bluntly told Fatima to help the princess¡¯ shopping. Fatima and Zeynep had great taste since they had worked at the Chunho Merchant¡¯s direct clothing store from time to time.


    ***


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s so heavy. Why does Fatima buy so many things? My arms hurt.¡±


    Youngho opened his eyes from his sleep with Leon to the sound of Szechenyi¡¯s grumbling. He just came back from shopping. The Fatima siblings with Vaso, their servant, and Lestina, the nanny, had gone out for shopping with the Crown Princess, Mary. Youngho had mentioned to Fatima to buy whatever the Crown Princess wanted.


    The Crown Princess was from amon family and she could not even go shopping on her own because of the public¡¯s eyes, so Youngho wanted to treat her.


    ¡°Did you buy any gift for Isabe?¡±


    ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s what for? You have no idea what¡¯s going on. Isabe¡¯s eyes looking at you were going to prate your face.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, we¡¯re not that. We¡¯re just close friends.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you¡¯re good friends, you should get her something, so that she knows that she¡¯s appreciated by you. You think I sent you for shopping just to carry those bags?¡±


    ¡°Phew, I said we¡¯re just friends.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even! Get out now. Go out with Isabe and buy her something. Move!¡±


    Looking at Szechenyi walking out as he murmured, Youngho smiled.


    ¡®Since I¡¯ve done my part, he should do his part now,¡¯ he thought.


    Fatima and Zeynep¡¯s faces were beaming as they returned to the hotel room. They had just done shopping without limits with an excuse of the Crown Princess.


    Youngho did not get why women loved shopping. They had walked around for several hours but they were not exhausted at all. They were nowying out all of the things they just bought and putting on new clothes.


    Since the group moved to a hotel from the mansion, it was muchfortable.


    Youngho was sick of following all the rules of the Denmark royal family. Even if the royalty wanted to act normally, the steward and other servants strictly followed the rules. It was just unnatural.


    Since Youngho could not handle staying in the mansion anymore, he insisted to get a hotel room for his family with an excuse that he was going to study about other hotels for his hotel chain business. He wondered if Szechenyi would be able to endure such rules if he married the princess. Fortunately, Princess Isabe seemed to hate following the rules of the Kingdom. She even wanted to follow them to the hotel, as Youngho¡¯s family was leaving.


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°What? Are you talking about Isabe?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. She¡¯d look good with Szechenyi but the royal family¡¯s rules are not helping. Szechenyi hates such things.¡±


    ¡°Well, if things work about between the two, Isabe will being to live with him. What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°Whenever he visits Denmark, he¡¯d be suffocating.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s worry was premature. The two young men and woman had not even rified their rtionship yet. He felt a little sad as if Szechenyi who had been like a son to him was already getting married.


    Fatima and Zeynep went out for shopping again today.


    Vaso and Ilkwon went with them to guard them and Szechenyi and Isabe were currently having a date. Lestina the temporary nanny had also gone out for shopping and touring around the downtown of Innsbruck. Only Youngho and Leon were left at the terrace ying together.


    Suddenly, the screen of Youngho¡¯s turned on. It was a call from Steve Janssen the vice president of Baku¡¯s shipyard.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I heard back from the Nethends. There¡¯s a great freighter for you. Would you like toe and see? This one could hold general cargo and containers. It¡¯s usually hard to findposite freighter like this.¡±


    ¡°Could you check the performance and the price of the ship, Mr. Janssen?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will. I¡¯m going to check everything thoroughly and see if I can have a great deal on the ship.¡±


    If Youngho could own arge freighter, his horizons would be broadened since he would freely sail through the Antic Ocean.

 Chapter 194 - Youngho’s Bluff (2)

    <h4>Chapter 194: Youngho¡¯s Bluff (2)</h4>


    Denmark¡¯s royal family had been the longest in Europe and people endear them since the royalty did not subordinate under the rule of Nazis.


    However, now that the peace had been maintained for a long time, it only was symbolic to the country as other royal families in Europe. However, many rich families wanted to get married to royalty to gain honor. Easily said, they wanted to earn noblesse by marrying into the royal family.


    Many people sent their children to royal school to make the royal family¡¯s acquaintances and supported the royal family in secret to be part of the royal family.


    The people who came along with the Crown Prince and Princess¡¯ winter trip were those kinds of people. Most of them were many times wealthier than Youngho, owned global corporations, and were from well-known European noble families.


    However, they did not have a high status like Youngho¡¯s family. Since the siblings were direct descendants of the ruler of the fallen Kingdom of Serbia, the regr noble families did notpare to their status. Not to mention, the siblings had unconditional followers, the descendants of the kingdom. It was something that Youngho could proudly tell since the Archduchess¡¯ family was different from other European royal families that had be only a symbol to many nations now.


    It was not sure if such attitude was naturally shown to other people but Youngho¡¯s family¡¯s inexorable actions were naturally taken by others. Even the Crown Prince and Princess carefully treated them with respect. It seemed that Youngho¡¯s bluff had made quite an impression.


    To the Denmark royal family, Youngho was a man of unattainable position with his enormous estates and the Serbian followers. They treated Fatima as a queen.


    Youngho exaggerated the number of Serbian people living in his estates since those numbers of people would be achievable in a few years. With that much followers supporting the kingdom, it seemed natural the Archduchess¡¯ family was so well off.


    Lestina, the nanny was the one who made everything seem believable. She showed off her loyalty whenever she opened her mouth.


    ¡°Your Highness. That cannot happen. You should consider the descendants of the kingdom who only look live for you.¡±


    ¡°Lestina, I¡¯m just going to ski. You don¡¯t have to be too worried. I¡¯ve done this in Georgia many times.¡±


    ¡°Vaso, call your father. Our Archduchess is insisting to go for dangerous skiing.¡±


    Although it was not a show and Lestina was being serious, Youngho could not help hisughter. Trying to hold hisughter, he kept clearing his throat.


    ***


    Kim Chun was puzzled after receiving a request from Youngho to expand the runway of Arirang Farm. It was because the runway they had now was too long for the light airnes. He wondered if Youngho would be buying a jet airne soon. Nevertheless, it was a request from his boss and the farm had plenty of materials to build a longer runway. Since the road construction was in full swing to the branch of Ural River, it was not difficult to use equipment and materials used for the roads.


    The weather that had been much colder since the New Years¡¯ and people frequently hardened the roads with heavy equipment in Kazakhstan. In the Northeastern regions, people still built buildings even though the wintersted for six months. Compared to those regions, Atyrau¡¯s weather was spring.


    When Youngho first brought two airnes and ordered to make a control tower, he thought that was unnecessary but now that there would be farming airnes the runway was frequently used, everything seemed to be necessary facilities on the farm.


    Wondering if there was anything to be done voluntarily in addition to the boss¡¯s instructions, he smacked his knee for an idea that just popped up in his head.


    He just thought of what Doctor Park Youngsun had ordered earlier. Kim Chun smiled as he rushed to his office. He liked staying busy and wanted a time like this couldst forever. Since he would have to think about his boss¡¯ schedule for his visit tomorrow, he would not even have time to sit down today.


    ***


    Youngho felt rushed aftering back from the trip to Austria.


    He had only visited Arirang Farm in Atyrau in his free time and did nothing else for himself but he was chased by his tight schedule. Since it was the beginning of the year, he would have to go and look around each business site but he did not have time for such.


    He sent Cha Insoo to divostok¡¯s warehouseplex and Kim Ilkwon to Arirang Hotel in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia.


    His priority now was to close the freighter deal with Steve Janssen from Baku¡¯s shipyard.


    Youngho liked the fact that Steve had picked aposite freighter but he was being reluctant to buy it at once because of another reason. The freighter was in the 50,000-ton ss that it was too big for his use.


    It would cross the Antic and sometime it would pass the Mediterranean and return to the ck Sea but it was inefficient to buy such a big freighter to transport cargo for only a few times a year. He could not even imagine a ship with a length of 220 meters and a width of 32 meters. It seemed that it would cost him a lot just by its maintenance fee.


    It was because Steve had overestimated Youngho¡¯s scale, which was weird since Youngho had never shown off his wealth to him except to the Denmark royal family only. However, since he liked the price of the freighter, he wanted to meet Steve to discuss it.


    ¡°Hey, are we opening an era of the ocean? We¡¯ll be traveling the five seas and the six continents?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to go to the North Antic but we have no business in other ces.¡±


    ¡°If you own arge ship, we can just go anywhere, don¡¯t you think? We can even rent a nice ind in the South and Central America and spend our winter there. I¡¯m saying you shouldn¡¯t insist freighters only.¡±


    Since Baku and Atyrau were both windy regions, people usually stayed inside during the winter season. Sick from staying home all the time, Jongil wanted to get out of the reality.


    ¡°Let¡¯s decide after checking out the ship first.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard what Dr. Park said? He told you to consider efficiency first. You don¡¯t have to buy big ships just because you have money to do it.¡±


    Jongil was talking about the canal incident again. It was just an idea and Youngho stopped after hearing Park Youngsun¡¯s advice but Jongil kept his skeptical eyes whenever Youngho was going to make a decision.


    ¡°Man! Dr. Park said it was an innovative idea.¡±


    ¡°Did I say something? Why are you all upset? You must know that you don¡¯t fit as a great leader. If you think you¡¯re not up to this, you can hand your position to me.¡±


    Jongil had a point. Youngho had decided everything by himself up until now and many of them were spontaneous decisions. Luckily, everything had gone well so far.


    ¡°Okay, you can take the boss position and you¡¯ll see how stressful it is.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Am I bing the boss now?¡±


    ¡°Take care of Serbian descendants well. I¡¯m going to spend my time traveling with Fatima.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, dude? They are your people! I¡¯m only going to take care of the wine business and hotels.¡±


    Youngho wondered if he should call Doctor Park Youngsun now. With his experience and knowledge, he would be a great council when Youngho had to make big decisions.


    ¡°Jongil. Why don¡¯t we employ Doctor Park Youngsun as our advisor?¡±


    ¡°Man, then my boss position is gone now.¡±


    ***


    Love is everything to people who are in love.


    With love, it would not matter if you were rich or poor since it is the same to everyone. Love at first sight would be even passionate. Moreover, when the guardians of the couple supported their love, the lovers would get close to each other even faster.


    It was the case of Szechenyi and Princess Isabe.


    The royal members of Denmark¡¯s Kingdom debated over marrying amoner but Szechenyi was also of a royal born. It was not just a noble but a prince of the Archduke¡¯s family. Although the family had fallen, it was rebuilding now. Not to mention, his guardian¡¯s wealth was immense.


    It was something that the Kingdom of Denmark should encourage. There was a slight problem that Isabe was four years older than Szechenyi and Szechenyi was still a college freshman. However, since marriage could wait, it would not be a problem at all.


    Because of many reasons, the two young lovers were getting close quickly. Youngho also supported the two to the best of his ability.


    The union of the Archduke¡¯s descendant of the Kingdom of Serbia and the princess of Denmark could be a huge issue. It would be even better if they would live on Arirang Farm in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.


    If that happened, Kazakhstan would be the center of global attention. The reason that Youngho was actively supporting Szechenyi¡¯s love was to prepare for when Arirang Farm¡¯s right of autonomy would be discussed. It was not like Kazakhstan¡¯s territory was small that it could not ept a small kingdom.


    Since there were 120 ethnicities in the country, it would not matter for the country if there was another ethnicity added to its territory.


    It would not be a bad deal if the Kingdom of Serbia that was rooted in European royal family started its kingdom since the Kazakh government would be recognized more internationally and gain more voice in the international society. It was only Youngho¡¯s thought but it was not an impossible idea.


    Kazakhstan had not established full independence because of Russia¡¯s influence over it. Although the country was trying hard to get out of it, Russians had economic power in the nation. If there was more influence that was helpful to the nation, Kazakhstan would benefit from it. If needed, Youngho was willing to invest more to the nation¡¯s development.


    Youngho called Doctor Park Youngsun to Baku. Since the underground water development was stopped during the winter, he did not need to be in Kazakhstan alone away from Park Seoyoung, his only daughter and family. Now, she was home from the Europe trip with Zeynep.


    ¡°Dr. Park. You know where wee from, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure I do. I know that you¡¯re all from the fierce U.D.T. Unit. I served in the military in the early ¡¯90s and hear about the notorious unit as well.¡±


    ¡°Well, we weren¡¯t too bad. It was a little strict.¡±


    ¡°Have you gone to North Korea too?¡±


    ¡°No no. We had a separate unit for that.¡±


    ¡°By the way, why did you bring up your past?¡±


    ¡°I just thought it¡¯d help you understand more about us. Since we were only soldiers and don¡¯t have any business management knowledge and experience, we¡¯ve been through many troubles. It¡¯s pure luck that I was able to make this far. My business is getting expanded at a fast pace and I need help.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask you to manage Arirang Farm in the future but I¡¯m in need of someone like you now. Please help us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only a geologist, what do you think I can help you with? Besides, you¡¯ve done a great job without me until now. You won¡¯t have any problems in the future.¡±


    ¡°I just realized that I¡¯ve made so many reckless decisions without giving a deep thought. And through the recent canal incident, I learned that how trusting my gut can be dangerous.¡±


    Youngho realized that one misjudgment could risk the happiness of the whole people who relied on him. After thinking for a long while, Park Youngsun finally answered.


    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t lived so long but if you need my advice, I¡¯ll help you with one condition.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    This time, Youngho could not respond to him. He merely blinked his eyes.

 Chapter 195 - Youngho’s Bluff (3)

    <h4>Chapter 195: Youngho¡¯s Bluff (3)</h4>


    What Park Youngsun asked Youngho was whether he was willing to listen to any bitter pieces of advice. His reason was that any advice could be taken bitterly and could ruin people¡¯s rtionship. People tend to not give advice unless to a very close person since it could irritate or hurt the listener¡¯s feelings. Park Youngsun also wanted to give advice many times but he was reluctant since the trust between them was not built yet.


    Since the canal n was a huge problem, he stepped up and stopped Youngho but he had been worried about his behavior since he might have upset his boss.


    Park Youngsun wanted to make sure that such problems would not happen before he starts giving any pieces of advice but such thing was not a matter to Youngho.


    ¡°Dr. Park, I understand what you¡¯re concerned about and this is why I¡¯m trying to position you as an advisor. An advisor of a corporation is sometimes higher than the CEO. You would be able to give directions even to me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I just think that if you can be someone like that to me, our group could grow without too much trouble. I just epted your condition. Your concern is taken care of. Now, what do you say?¡±


    ¡°I have no words to say since you see the value in my experience.¡±


    Park Youngsun epted Youngho¡¯s offer.


    ¡°Thank you for doing a huge favor. It must¡¯ve been a hard decision.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯ve done such amazing things to my family. I¡¯m d I have a chance to repay your kindness.¡±


    As Park Youngsun be one of the leading members of the corporation, the person who weed him most was Cha Insoo.


    He had been in charge of the securitypany just because he was Youngho¡¯s friend and it was overwhelming for his capacity. Whenever there was a security service request, he was in the position to decide whether to ept it or not. Most people who requested for the service had someone who intended to harm them and any misjudgment could tarnish thepany¡¯s reputation, so he needed to make cautious decisions. Up until now, he had discussed important decisions with his two other friends but it was still hard for him.


    It seemed that with Park Youngsun¡¯s joining to thepany¡¯s leading team, thepany would gain a huge strength from now on.


    ***


    ¡°So, I¡¯ll be visiting the Nethends for this. What do you think, Dr. Park?¡±


    Youngho asked for Park Youngsun¡¯s opinion about buying a freighter.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. If Russian product is well-known, you won¡¯t have to go far to look for other freighters but if you consider the expansion of Arirang Farm in the future, such big size of a ship is necessary.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Park, since you rmend buying a big freighter, I¡¯ll take your word for it. I agree but I was only hesitant because the freighter will not be used as often.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about that. You should consider making good use out of it and lending it to people as a tramp steamer.¡±


    Youngho only thought that he had to use the ship but as Park Youngsun was saying, if he could lend it to deliver cargo for otherpanies and traders, it seemed that he would be able to make extra money and money for its maintenance.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there is a need for a tramp steamer.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea. Many traders prefer tramp liners rather than cargo liners because they are faster. So, you won¡¯t need to worry about the size of your freighter. Shippers would loverge freighters due to their stability.¡±


    ***


    Youngho apanied Jongil for his trip to the Nethends.


    The freighter moored at the third wharf of the Port of Amsterdam looked almost as new. It was only five years old and it was nicely polished by the owner to sell in the market.


    Precisely, it weighed about 49,980 tons and it could sail at 18 knots. Its price was thirty million dors in the market.


    ¡°How do you like it? It¡¯s a terrific deal since almost a fifteen-year-old bulk freighter costs about twenty-five million dors these days. The market prices had been reduced tremendouslypared to the past.¡±


    ¡°Is there any problem to the freighter? What¡¯s the reason for its price reduction?¡±


    ¡°The shipping industry all over the world is suffering an extreme regression now. It¡¯s because the number of trade goods had been decreased. So, I can tell you this with confidence. When you buy a ship in times like this, the price of the ship will double in the up-phase.¡±


    The unfortunate regression in the shipping industry came as luck to Youngho.


    ¡°That¡¯s very good. I¡¯d like to take over the shipping finance of this freighter. Would that be all possible?¡±


    ¡°The banks will wee it from an entrepreneur like you. They¡¯re going to extend the finance period with a great condition.¡±


    There was no need to buy the freighter with cash since loan interest rates were low at the time being. All Youngho had to do was to pay a third of the freighter¡¯s cost to own the ship now and pay the rest of the amount monthly.


    ¡°Do you like it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. When will I own such a huge ship if it¡¯s not now? It¡¯s interesting that it has thirty cabins even though it¡¯s a freighter.¡±


    ¡°Steve said that there are many people traveling on freighters now, so the owner made the passenger¡¯s quarters.¡±


    Cruise trips were quite expensive for people in the middle ss. Instead of expensive cruise trips, there were alternative trips on freighters or container ships. The crews on board liked having guests on board since new faces were refreshing in long journeys. Many crews who were exhausted from long sailing gained strength from meeting new people and there were many travel agencies who connected those cargo ships to travelers.


    Since freighters visited more than ten ports in different countries once it set off, travelers could look around each port cities when the ships stayed at the ports. It recently gained poprity that it was hard for travelers to find spots now.


    ¡°That¡¯s such an interesting turn on a cruise trip. Man, our freighter has many cabins, it¡¯d be great for that.¡±


    Jongil liked the fact that there were many cabins since he was the one who wanted to travel on arge ship.


    Because of its huge size, the ship would not be shaken by heavy waves and currents. Also, a crane was attached to the freighter, so it did not need to wait for cranes at ports.


    After signing the contract for the purchase of the ship, Steve helped Youngho with the financing process at a local bank as well.


    ***


    An important guest visited Zeynep Farm. It was Princess Isabe that Szechenyi invited.


    Szechenyi stayed in Frankfurt after traveling around Europe with an excuse for studying and it seemed that he had spent quite some time with the princess.


    It seemed that the princess was burning with passion toward Szechenyi now. She could not spend a day without seeing him.


    A princess¡¯ visit was a huge event. Although it was unofficial, she brought more than ten people as her entourage for her foreign trip. Sangchun¡¯s parents were in Frankfurt with Yunsuh and Sangchun, so Youngho cleaned their house for the princess to stay. Since the house was well-built, it was as same as a nice vi.


    Youngho nned her visit at Arirang Hotel and prepared everything for her since she was an important guest but she insisted to stay at the farm in thest minute. Younghoter found out that it was because Szechenyi had told her that if she stayed at the farm, they could go ice skating at the reservoir and hunting together. All facilities were already nice but Youngho was still bothered since the princess wasing into his daily life.


    ¡°Hyung. I¡¯m sorry that I made it inconvenient for everybody because I invited her to the farm.¡±


    Szechenyi, with his nice smile, leaned on Youngho¡¯s shoulder, ying the baby.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re fine. I allow everything she does here but not the airne, okay?¡±


    ¡°I already told her that.¡±


    ¡°Her entourage will pass out if she wants to be on such small airne.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll want to either once she sees its size. At first, even I wondered if that small thing could fly.¡±


    ¡°By the way, why did you decide to bring her here? You could spend time in Denmark or Germany.¡±


    ¡°I bragged about our farm and ranch. I told her we have beautiful scenery every season and she couldn¡¯t wait toe here.¡±


    It seemed that Szechenyi also bluffed a little. It was not likely that Princess Isabe had not been to huge farms or ranches. She was just intrigued to see where he grew up.


    Princess Isabe entered Baku from the airport secretly. Since it was not good to be rumored at this point, everyone acted carefully to hide her identity. It would have been even troublesome if she decided to stay at the hotel.


    The princess¡¯s group was all surprised to see the farm. They had expected a smaller size, family farm but it was totally different. Excited, Isabe¡¯s face was reddened as she entered the farm with Szechenyi¡¯s escort.


    Youngho held a little ceremony reception for Isabe¡¯s arrival at the cafeteria usually used for the farm¡¯s employees. The ce was far from elegant but its rustic atmosphere was also as great. Just in time, it started snowing outside as if Baku weed the princess¡¯ visit.


    At one side of the cafeteria,mb meat was being grilled and peoplefortably interacted with each other. It relieved Princess Isabe¡¯s nervousness since she had been following strict rules of Denmark royal family all her life. Everyone had some wine and the reception was already in full swing. On top of that, Park Jongil who was quite drunk sang a song in front of everyone with his reddened face. Everything was shocking and new to the princess.


    ¡°The princess is not willing to go home.¡±


    ¡°I talked to her yesterday and it looks like she¡¯s going to follow me to deer hunting. She is so outgoing and she loves Leon.¡±


    Fatima liked her bright personality. Talking about Princess Isabe, she smiled.


    ¡°Could it be that the Denmark royalty is pushing her to get married early because she¡¯s too much of a tomboy?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Honey, what are you going to do with our little Zeynep when she finds a man?¡±


    ¡°What? Who¡¯s going to refuse our Zeynep? But, you have a point.¡±


    Zeynep was the most beautiful girl in the world but she was such a tomboy as well as the princess.


    ¡°See? I think any families will shake their heads if they see Zeynep¡¯s personality.¡±


    ¡°If that happens, I refuse them as well! How dare they refuse our precious Zeynep?¡±


    Even though Youngho was saying that he had no confidence in his words. She was so adventurous that she could nowfortably fly an airne on her own. It was all because of Youngho since he was the one who taught her all that.


    ¡°Anyway, Isabe went to the ranch with Szechenyi. She had such fun yesterday that she wanted to go again.


    ¡°Again?¡±


    Because the princess was visiting the ranch yesterday, all of the mining was stopped but it seemed that he would have to cancel mining today too. He sighed. Since the workers had recently found a new vein of gold, they were working hard to produce gold bars.

 Chapter 196 - That Winter (1)

    <h4>Chapter 196: That Winter (1)</h4>


    Princess Isabe¡¯s visit brought many changes to the farm and ranch in Baku. It was because Youngho carefully decorated and made changes to different facilities to look nice. He worried that if she visited the Serbian descendant¡¯s town and houses and they looked dirty inside, the Archduchess might look stingy. So, he was busy trying not to make anything look sloppy.


    Although winter was the only season when Youngho was not busy, he could not bezy making everything look perfect. Before the princess came, many pieces of furniture and daily necessities were delivered to the farm and ranch.


    All of the residential houses were new and there was nothing to fix but the inside of each house thatcked many necessary appliances. People were paid sufficiently for theirbors but the Serbian descendants were used to living frugally. Thus, they never decorated their houses and they shared appliances with each other as much as possible.


    Youngho waspelled to buy furniture and appliances for them. Because of Princess Isabe¡¯s unexpected visit, the townspeople received gifts. They could even be called Isabe¡¯s gifts.


    Princess Isabe could see that the Serbian residents were living better lives than other farmers in Europe. What surprised her most was that the vige at the ranch in mountains was run by electricity from sr panels.


    Youngho also put a new heating system for the newly-built houses. Except for the living rooms where there was a firece, all of the other rooms had Korean-style floor heating system. The houses had incorporated stand-up living and sedentary living at the same time.


    Western stand-up living might look convenient but in Youngho¡¯s eyes, they looked so unhygienic. How could people walk in their bedroom with the shoes that they had on when they were outside? To Youngho, who was not used to such a lifestyle, it was very strange. It might be better if they changed to indoor shoes. He also found air heating system inefficient. If the floor was heated as it was traditionally done in Korea, people could have warm feet even if they take off their shoes. With the two heating methods, the firece and the floor heating system, people could wear t-shirts in their houses even in midwinter.


    Princess Isabe loved the unique heating system and culture. Although she had to go through the inconvenience of taking off her shoes in the guest house where she was staying, she got used to it soon. Being freed from having to wear shoes all the time, she feltfortable now. Since she liked trying new things as an adventurous and flexible woman, everything about her visit was enjoyable.


    The way the ranch people milked their sheep were also safe since they always sanitized first before using milking machines and the cheese production facility was also modern.


    She had wondered if the Archduchess¡¯ family was exploiting the Serbian descendants¡¯bors since they were loyal to the Archduchess, but it was an unnecessary thought. She expected that the Archduchess¡¯ family was the only people who enjoyed their wealth and their people would be poor but the Archduchess¡¯ meal table was rather simple. They preferred vegetables than meat and even said nuts were luxury. They did not drink too much wine either only a few sips at the dinner table. It was totally different from the lifestyles of many European royalties that she met since they all enjoyed a rather luxury lifestyle.


    She spotted one strange thing about the farm people though, that they tended to drink heavily at barbecue parties. However, other than that, Zeynep Farm was an amazing ce.


    The owner of the farm, the Archduchess and her husband did not hold their noses in the air and the Serbian residents truly respected them. She even felt a little ashamed that she had been proud of the luxury she had.


    ***


    Because the princess insisted to go for hunting with Szechenyi, Youngho mobilized the three light armored vehicles that he bought in Turkey.


    The princess¡¯ group was stunned to see armored vehicles stop in front of them since they thought they would be walking or using mules for hunting.


    ¡°Princess, I brought special vehicles that would be safer than mules or horses in mountains.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! I thought you¡¯re going to war.¡±


    ¡°The Caucasus Mountain Range is extremely rough. Only this kind of vehicle could keep us safe from bear attacks.¡±


    ¡°What? Are there bears here?¡±


    ¡°I have to kill three to four a year even though I don¡¯t want to. They attack sheep and even people.¡±


    ¡°Oh wow!¡±


    She kept uttering an exmation to new information.


    ¡°Do you know how big this mountain range is?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I do. I know its longer than the Alps.¡±


    ¡°The elk we will catch today is a big sized one that usually weighs more than five hundred kilograms. You¡¯ll be able to see how good Szechenyi is.¡±


    ¡°Wait, it¡¯s not you who are going to be hunting? Szechenyi can hunt too?¡±


    Although Youngho wanted to catch one for himself, it was a day when Szechenyi should shine in front of the princess. It was Youngho¡¯s n to impress the princess. Princess Isabe, soon, would be forgetting about European boys once she sees Szechenyi¡¯s manly side.


    Szechenyi showed off his great hunting skills in front of the princess. He caught two huge elk deer by himself. The princess glowed with enthusiasm when she saw Szechenyi¡¯s swift movements chasing the elks trying to run away from him. When he carried bleeding elks on his shoulders and put them down in front of the group, the princess¡¯ eyes were beaming toward him. He was so highly enthusiastic that it even got Youngho worried that he might be revealing the power of the ring.


    It did not stop there. Szechenyi skinned the elks and cut their heads before the princess on his own. Since he had done so much to impress her, it seemed that the princess would be Szechenyi¡¯s captive of love forever unless the earth ends tomorrow.


    Finally, the princess¡¯ group¡¯s departure day hade.


    The princess wanted to stay more but she had to go due to another official event. The day before her leaving, she got Youngho¡¯s permission for her future visits. It seemed that Youngho¡¯s n to solidify Szechenyi¡¯s rtionship with the Denmark royalty was a sess.


    For the next step, he would be sending the stuffed elk¡¯s heads from today¡¯s hunting to the royal family along with some Zeynep Wine to remind Szechenyi¡¯s existence to the family. If necessary, he was also willing to send gold bars with the Archduke family¡¯s emblem on them to show off his family¡¯s wealth and it would be a great reminder for Denmark royalty that Szechenyi would be a great spouse for Princess Isabe.


    ***


    If one ignores the entry process when crossing a country¡¯s border with a private airne, it could be a cause for huge trouble in the future. Since Arirang Farm was not fully developed yet, it did not hold its extraterritoriality yet. To establish the farm¡¯s position, the farm must show that it supported the government¡¯s policies and abided by the country¡¯sw.


    Considering all of these facts, Kim Chun received approval for the establishment of Arirang Farm Airfield as an official private airfield. Now, anyone could enter Kazakhstan through Arirang Farm Airfield. All they needed to do was to report their entry to Atyrau Airport from the farm. Kim Chun had established a legal basis for Baku-Atyrau air route.


    Youngho¡¯s group was getting entry stamps on their passports at the immigration office under the control tower on Arirang Farm.


    After Kim Chun gave everyone the stamp, he made a copy of their passports and sent them along with filled-out entry forms to Atyrau Airport. After finishing all of the steps, he brightly smiled and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Boss, and everyone, wee again!¡±


    Everyone gave him round apuse andplimented his achievement. He had done a job that no one ever could have done.


    The officials of Kazakhstan would have been sick of Kim Chun because of his grilling. Without granting his request, they would not have been able to work normally. It was obvious that he also mobilized his past students to achieve all of this.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, you¡¯ve achieved a great deal. I appreciate your efforts.¡±


    ¡°Boss. I¡¯m a third generation immigrant in Kazakhstan, I would¡¯ve been ashamed if I couldn¡¯t make it. If you trust me with other things as well, I will show you what I can do.¡±


    As everyoneplimented his achievements, Kim Chun was giving a grandiose speech. Anyway, all things were achievable because of his outgoing and active personality. Youngho thought that he deserved a bonusmission to reward and encourage him.


    ¡°Then, you think this is the perfect location, Dr. Park?¡±


    ¡°Think about it, it¡¯s a mansion of the Archduke family. It won¡¯t look nice if it¡¯s built on low ground.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. The mansion will be exposed to harsh winds of Kazakhstan if it¡¯s built on a hill.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not installing a yurt. The mansion will be in the form of a stone castle. Why do you worry about winds?¡±


    Because there was a high chance that Szechenyi would be marrying with Princess Isabe, a great-looking mansion that was suitable for the Archduke family to show that the family held an equally high status with Denmark royalty. Since Youngho had mentioned a castle to the royal family, he was eager. Although he did not like fancy things, he thought that a magnificent building was needed to show the Archduke family¡¯s dignity.


    When he called Park Youngsun to discuss the matter, he pushed him to start as soon as possible, so Youngho flew over to Arirang Farm immediately.


    Although Denmark royalty was only symbolic to the people of Denmark, it held a high status in Europe. Since many members of the royalty had married to other royal families of Sweden, Norway, Spain, and the Nethends, if Szechenyi married her, the Archduke family would be rted to them as well. Pointing that out, Park Youngsun strongly imed that a proper building was needed.


    ***


    Baku was also called the City of winds due to its windy weather. However, once one got away from the Caspian coast, it was not so windy in hilly areas and in mountains.


    The farm and the ranch were located in hilly areas and much cozier than in the urban areas.


    However, Kazakhstan¡¯s continental weather was as windy as Baku near the Caspian coast. Also, because Arirang Farm was located in Northern Kazakhstan, its winter was unimaginable. Although stonewalls around the farm, which was built because of Kim Chun¡¯s insistence, were blocking some winds, they did not seem enough. Only severalyers of tree belts would be able to save the farm, so Youngho was discussing it with Park Youngsun.


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned that kids are locked inside their houses because of the extreme cold.¡±


    ¡°How about building an indoor gymnasium? If we ce various sports and exercise equipment, adults would be able to utilize them too.¡±


    ¡°Do you think any facility would stay in heavy winds? The storage unit next to the runway is already jarring now.¡±


    They stopped talking because they had no usible solution. Then, Kim Ilkwon, who was listening to them from a side, threw an idea.


    ¡°Boss, what about making an underground facility? I heard people made most facilities underground due to coldness in Montreal, Canada.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not saying that we should build an underground town.¡±


    ¡°If you make an underground gymnasium facility at the sheep ranch near stonewalls and maintain the ranch, it¡¯ll be well hidden.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to hide though.¡±


    Park Youngsun interrupted Youngho.


    ¡°It¡¯s a great solution. We¡¯re building a new city anyway. We would need a shelter in case of any danger. We could use the underground facility as a gym and an emergency shelter too.


    As Park Youngsun agreed to his idea, Kim Ilkwon excitedly shared his idea in-depth.


    ¡°You can make an entrance at the inside of stonewalls. Then, you won¡¯t have to go around the walls to enter the gym and no one would find it from the outside. Because I¡¯m from North Korea, all I can think of is the air-raid shelter.¡±


    That day, Ilkwon even drew pictures and suggested many things, such as the venttion system, lighting system, how the shelter needs a lodging system, and where the food and necessities should be stored.


    Because he was trained as a spy, all he learned was rted to war. Youngho only thought about having a gym but it took an unexpected turn because of Ilkwon¡¯s idea. Anyway, it seemed that they hade up with a solution for long and cold winters of Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 197 - That Winter (2)

    <h4>Chapter 197: That Winter (2)</h4>


    Regardless of the coldness, the construction of the wharf at the branch of Ural River, the roads inside Arirang Farm, and the one connecting the farm and the branch river went on.


    To rake out rocks and pebbles from the farm site for its conversion to farnd, several heavy types of equipment with rakes attached went back and forth on the ground. The wharf construction was rushed since it was easier done when the water was still frozen. As for the cement of concrete, it could wait until the temperature rises above freezing point.


    The wharf facility construction did not seem to be an easy thing to do.


    Installing a wharf that a 50,000-ton ss cargo ship could be moored and three galvanized steel silos cost him about ten million dors already. He would have to install more silos in the future but since the farm would not produce a huge amount of grains in the next year or two, three seemed enough for now.


    If he did not have the wharf and silos, it would have cost him more for installing more storage units and grain delivery fees.


    Building a wharf was a great decision.


    As if Park Youngsun read Youngho¡¯s mind, he ttered him.


    ¡°If you haven¡¯t thought about making a canal, we would¡¯ve driven to Port of Atyrau every time we had shipment supplies.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to tter me. I know it was a ridiculous idea.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The weakness of the Arirang Farm¡¯s town for immigrants was that there was no doctor who would take care of injuries or illness in an emergency. There were light airnes and six pilots who could transfer the sick or injured person to any hospitals in Atyrau but that was also difficult in bad weather. A doctor who could give the first aid was the farm¡¯s urgent priority.


    Kim Chun was struggling to recruit a doctor who can stay at the farm. There were several Koryoin descent doctors that he was acquainted with but they all worked in hospitals near city areas. Even with good sries, they refused toe to the farm in a remote region. Many of them also worried about their children¡¯s education.


    It did not make sense that there was not even one doctor in a town where more than a thousand people resided, but it was the reality.


    So, Kim Chun eventually managed to hire an old retired doctor and two retired nurses, and made them relocate to the farm. It seemed that they could at least give first aid when in need.


    The school for immigrants¡¯ children on the farm was also almost at itspletion and it seemed that they could attend from this spring.


    Elementary and Middle school would be opened at first and there were plenty of teachers to recruit. It was because Kim Chun had many connections to teachers from his past teaching days. Because their houses were offered at the farm and high sries were promised, many willed to move in as a whole family.


    Since this was the farm¡¯s situation now, everything costed money.


    In Youngho¡¯s ount, he had sixty million dors left after all of the farm¡¯s expenses. Since he had already pre-paid all of the expenses for his new hotel construction sites, this much could sustain the Arirang Farm¡¯s town for the next few years.


    If the gold vein recently found was a jackpot, he would be able to construct an even greater city at his farm. It was not only Youngho¡¯s wish since the miners also knew that a better environment for their next generations could be made only if they mined any amount of gold. Untilte next year when the grains would begin to be produced from Arirang Farm, the farm¡¯s finance was like shoveling sand against the tide.


    ***


    Youngho could not believe his eyes when he first went to check the vein of gold that was recently found. It was as if God had been listening to his wish. The vein of gold was as thick as a man¡¯s thigh and it was spread into quite a length. Although he wished for a great discovery, he had not expected such rich vein to be found. He gasped at its bright sight.


    It seemed that digging only one meter of depth would give a hundred kilograms of gold. Youngho could not help but smile and hum to himself. He began to think about whom to sell the gold bars produced from the mine. He would have to find a gullible buyer soon.


    As Youngho was calcting the estimated profit on his calctor and humming in his study, Zeynep approached him.


    ¡°Oppa, what makes you so happy?¡±


    ¡°I just came back from looking at something as pleasing as my pretty Zeynep!¡±


    ¡°Huh! There¡¯s no one prettier than me in Baku.¡±


    Although she did not usually say how pretty she was to others, she was somewhat snotty. However, Youngho thought that being a little snotty was better than being an extreme tomboy.


    ¡°This oppa had seen an even prettier thing than a human but you don¡¯t need to know what it is.¡±


    Thinking about the money he would make, he wanted to dance but he was holding that in.


    ***


    ¡°Jongil, let¡¯s go to the Nethends again. The freighter is all ready to go, why don¡¯t we go to America and return to Baku?¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re not trying to travel on an empty ship, right?¡±


    ¡°No, there is a shipper who already requested to deliver goods on the freighter. It seems like he¡¯s in a grave rush.¡±


    ¡°So, we¡¯d be able to sail right away?¡±


    ¡°I think there is a ship owner¡¯s role on the first day of sailing. Since they asked me toe, I¡¯m thinking that the crews need some extra cash. You know, sailors have strange customs.¡±


    It seemed that the crewmen wanted to see the ship owner¡¯s expenditure. Youngho thought that there was a need to encourage the sailors to treat the expensive cargo ship as their own. Since the previous owner had failed them, they must be worried about consistent payrolls.


    Another reason for him to spend some time with the crewmen on board was to learn about them. Although the previous ship owner sold the ship, they still stayed until the end and kept their loyalty to the ship. It was impressive that they sailed even with missed payments. That was why Youngho hired every crewman who had been working for the ship. Since they knew about the ship well, there was no need to recruit new sailors. The ship was only sold because the previous shipowner was broke and not because of the sailors.


    At the third wharf at Port of Amsterdam, a freighter named ¡®Zeynep 1¡¯ was moored in a dignified manner.


    Judging by the water line, it seemed that the ship was loaded with quite the amount of cargo. As soon as Youngho saw it, he was satisfied. He had had his own ship but a huge cargo ship was quite impressive. His heart was thrilled.


    He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in and out, and when he opened his eyes, he was calm again. He got on board and shook his hand with twenty-five crewmen including the captain. Now, he had be part of the group.


    He also did not forget to give each of them the envelope of bonusmission payment. It was money to show appreciation for their hard work and an insurance cost for the freighter¡¯s destiny since its destiny was up to the crewmen.


    ***


    Many Korean people preferred Western horizontal workce culture based in individualism rather than Korean workce culture which was based in rather vertical family-like organizational collectivism. In Western culture, people drew a distinct line between public and private matters and there was a clear division between people¡¯s part, but in Korea, the line was a blur between each other¡¯s work part.


    However, there was also a pro in the Korean workce culture.


    Since there was a mindset among workers that thepany¡¯s development is one¡¯s own development, people worked overtime and even during weekends frequently. Then, they would get promoted ording to their seniority whereas people were only promoted by their achievements in the Western workce culture.


    It was different in Korea. If one had a nd personality, he would be promoted ording to his seniority and his retirement would be guaranteed. One¡¯s achievement was considered a team or a department¡¯s achievement, and reversely, the team¡¯s achievement was considered one¡¯s achievement as well.


    Although many young people idolized Western workce culture, Youngho thought that the Korean culture was more humane. Even if onecked ability, people worked as a team and supported each other. Everything was done through cooperation and the team was more valued than individuals.


    The reason that Youngho thought about the cultural difference between Korean and Western workce cultures was that the crewmen of Zeynep 1 reminded him of the Korean workce.


    Although the captain and sailors were Europeans, they were working in a family-like environment. They were still loyal to their ship owner even when they could not be paid by them. It wasmon in many other workces that employees would report their employer if they were not paid well. However, allegedly, the crewmen had advertised their freighter to shippers to get work. It seemed impossible in Western workces where people valued individualism unless it was in Korea.


    Even in the time of the global shipping industry¡¯s regression, the experienced crewmen did not abandon the previous ship owner and the freighter.


    Youngho inquired about that and it was because the shipowner had treated each and every crewman humanely and cared for their family events as well. It seemed that his considerate personality and warm-heart had bought the crew men¡¯s hearts. It made Youngho wonder if the shipowner was an Asian, or even Korean.


    Youngho was also the same as the freighter¡¯s previous owner. He cared deeply for his people.


    Anyway, Youngho had hired every sailor who had been on the freighter and paid everyone amission with his first embarkation. His actions worked like a charm since everyone weed him on board and they all worked hard and as fast as squirrels as they sailed.


    Looking at some sailors pulling ropes, Youngho was reminded of his past days in the U.D.T. Unit since he also worked on board as a Navy.


    As Youngho and Jongil also joined the sailors and pulled the rope skillfully, the crewmen were impressed by theirpetence.


    ¡°Gentlemen, you¡¯ve done a great job today. I¡¯ve prepared some finger food at the cafeteria. Pleasee and enjoy except the ones on duty in the steering house.¡±


    Youngho wanted to get to know about his crewmen and the atmosphere of the group. By inviting everyone to the cafeteria and spending time getting along with them, he was going to find out who had a good or bad personality, who was skilled and not, who was big mouthed and who was quiet, and who was a leader-type. Since he might deliver secretive cargo, such as weapons, in the future, he wanted to find out whom he could trust. The group of crewmen was a close-knitted group, and if he could get the leaders and big-mouthed people on his side, he would not have to deal with everyone to make them do what he wanted them to do in the future.


    ¡°Wait, how did you find that out?¡±


    Youngho only guessed but it seemed his guess was correct.


    ¡°I just thought that everyone was dearly attached to the ship.¡±


    Youngho asked if the previous owner of the ship was an Asian, to be precise, a Korean, and the captain was stunned to hear him.


    ¡°Yes, he was. He was such a great person but he bought many ships at once and eventually he just could not make it through the terrible recession. He only knew about ships and he especially had a special heart for this ship. This was the very first ship he owned.¡±


    ¡°Then, what is he doing now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He might be drinking somewhere in Amsterdam. We tried our best to help him but it was beyond our capacity. If only the bank could wait for him a little longer, he wouldn¡¯t have gone bankrupt...¡±


    It seemed that the previous owner had borrowed a huge amount of money to buy many ships at once and could not keep up with loan payments in the recession.


    His reputation was great. Allegedly, he was the one who knew nothing but ships.


    Youngho needed an expert who would direct all of the ships that Youngho would own in the future. Since all of the crewmen told Youngho that the previous owner only went bankrupt because he borrowed money in an unfortunate timing not because he was ineffectual, he wanted to trust their words and hire him to work for Zeynep Corporation.


    If he agreed, he would be able to dream again and sail on his beloved ship. Although it would not be his own business, if he was given an authority equal to a business owner, he might be interested to work for him. It was worth a try. Youngho decided to find him.

 Chapter 198 - That Winter (3)

    <h4>Chapter 198: That Winter (3)</h4>


    To people of the Nethends, New York was a bitter city.


    New York was originally named New Amsterdam. Dutch people had great business skills that they even bought Manhattan Ind at the price of twenty-four dors from an Indian chief. However, the city was taken away by Ennd and was renamed as New York. It was natural that the Nethends would feel bitter about the city.


    Including Metro New York, it had be a city with more than 20,000,000 living in, but in the mid-seventeenth century, there were only about a thousand people. Interestingly, the poption of a thousand peoplemunicated in eighteen differentnguages. The people of different races, ethnicities, and religions had one thing inmon. It was the lucrativend.


    ¡°So, New Yorkers are wild.¡±


    Jongil, who tended to understand everything through his own standards, made a strange conclusion.


    ¡°Where¡¯d you get that idea?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what everyone knows about. Since I¡¯m going to be busy today, let¡¯s separate from here.¡±


    Jongil was shut up after Youngho smacked him on his back.


    ¡°We¡¯re gettingptops, broadcasting equipment, security cameras, and searchlights. What else is on the list?¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay!¡±


    There were a lot of items to be purchased.


    Since prices were cheaper than many European cities, Youngho nned to buy various items in bulk. Theptops would be provided to Arirang Farm¡¯s school and each immigrant family and the broadcasting equipment and security systems were to be installed at the farm as well.


    ¡°We should make the sellers pack all of them nicely since they¡¯re going to be shipped through air transport.¡±


    Because the weight limitation of a ship going through the Volga-Don Canal and Volga-Baltic Waterway was 5,000-ton, Youngho had to send all of the things through air transport. Also, because the Volga-Baltic Waterway was frozen, The Arirang could not travel through it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Let¡¯s meet back in the afternoon tomorrow.¡±


    Since he was in America, Youngho wanted to meet Edward who was now staying in Albany, New York. Having to spend the day alone, Jongil was excited.


    Youngho worried about what kind of mischief Jongil would put himself into but it seemed that the worst thing he could do was to watch New York women¡¯s behinds.


    Edward, who was badly injured in Colombia, was now recovering in Albany where his family was. When he was fully recovered, he would be working at the CIA¡¯s headquarters office. Since he was a regr agent who had been through an elite training course, he was more suitable as an office agent rather than rough a field agent. When he goes to the headquarters, he would probably take a leadership position of a department since he gained experience from being a field agent.


    As he received Youngho, Edward teared up.


    He would have be a handful of earth by now if it was not for Youngho who came to save him right before his death. A surge of emotion welled up inside him. He was only breathing because of Youngho¡¯s meddlesomeness which ignored the business territory of his own department.


    ¡°Lee. I¡¯m alive all because of you. I haven¡¯t been able to say thank you.¡±


    ¡°Please, it¡¯s between you and me. When arade is in danger, it¡¯s a right thing to do to help him.¡±


    ¡°Come to think of it, I picked the right person.¡±


    Edward¡¯s words were what Youngho wanted to say. It was because of him that Youngho was able to have a stepping stone for his own businesses and sesses now.


    ¡°Are you alright? Do you have any difficulties or inconvenience? If you¡¯re in need of financial help...¡±


    ¡°I bought a farm in a rural area with the money you gave me at the time. I can take care of myself even after my retirement.¡±


    He was talking about the one million dors that Youngho sent him from Colombia. It could buy an apartment room in Gangnam in Seoul, Korea but it could do a lot in rural towns in the states.


    ¡°I heard about your achievements these days. You might get promoted from the European chapter soon.¡±


    As saying that, Edward was proud as if he was talking about his own achievements. It was because the agent he recruited was achieving more than any other experienced agents. Youngho¡¯s team in the Caucasus region was a matchless group. There was no other agent like Youngho who had established their position well in the mainstream society of a country.


    ¡°Well, I only wish to stay in the field. It¡¯s not like I took the elite course like you.¡±


    It was true that Youngho did not want to leave the field taking care of his businesses and people.


    ¡°I wanted to make time toe previously and finally I could make it. I¡¯m d to see you recovering well.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I should get better fast since you¡¯re worried about me. When I go to the headquarters, I¡¯ll have ess to exclusive information. If you need anything, I¡¯ll help you as much as possible. This is what I can do for you for saving my life.¡±


    One of the reasons for Youngho¡¯s visit today was the information. Since Youngho also treated information, sometimes he had an extreme thirst for information since it was difficult to find out about some key clues although he had many things leading up to conclusions. However, because Youngho was only a field agent without any connections to the headquarters, there was no way for him to get help. Only a few keywords were needed to read the flow but he did have someone who would do that for him but, thankfully, Edward was willing to be that person for Youngho.


    ***


    ¡°How much is theptop?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s seven hundred dors each. Why do you keep asking?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not missing any important parts?¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m a fool? I checked its performance. I yed the most popr game now and it worked fine!¡±


    It was Jongil¡¯s way to check aptop¡¯s performance but it was fair enough.


    ¡°Why is everything so cheap here?¡±


    It was natural since the United States did not charge special consumption tax and special purpose tax. Although the Kazakhstan government would charge some tariff, they usually did not charge a lot for the products that were not produced in the country.


    Youngho was d that he could buy the items that he needed immediately at cheap prices. Once the ice started to melt, he would be importing a lot of cutting-edge products and making the town of Arirang Farm the best IT city. His tremendous amount of gold bars would make that possible.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you. My name is Lee Youngho.¡±


    Youngho greeted a man who was gulping down a kind of vodka. Still sitting down, the man only swung his hand as if he did not care.


    ¡°Are you Choi Sunkil by any chance?¡±


    Youngho now spoke in Korean. The man who did not even look at Youngho was stunned to hear sudden Korean from his mouth. He did not think that there would be a Korean who knew his name in Amsterdam.


    ¡°How do you know about me?¡±


    ¡°Captain Gilbert told me about you.¡±


    Choi Sunkil, who was nervous, soon felt relieved to hear the captain¡¯s name, and his shoulders rxed like a deted balloon.


    ¡°How do you know that guy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the new shipowner of the cargo ship. Let me introduce myself again. I¡¯m a major shareholder of Arirang Shipping, Lee Youngho.¡±


    Arirang Shipping was the name for Zeynep Corporation¡¯s shipping industrypany title that he came up with when he bought the new huge freighter. To look more professional, Youngho intentionally used the word, major shareholder.


    ¡°A major shareholder?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t found a professional executive yet and the position is vacant at the moment.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Captain Gilbert told a lot about you. He said you¡¯re a master of ships. If you haven¡¯t chosen a differentpany yet, I¡¯d like to recruit you.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s way was a ssic way to recruit people but it was an effective method.


    Leaning on the railing of hisrge ship, Youngho was feeding seagulls some bread crumbs. It was then when Choi Sunkil approached him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯ve looked up Batumi in the ck Sea coast and it looks like a famous vacationd. I bet the port fee would be expensive there. It¡¯d be more economical if you moor the ship in an outer port and deliver cargo on small boats to the wharf.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Choi, I¡¯ll leave the decision to you. I¡¯m just a major shareholder and you¡¯re the one in charge of Arirang Shipping.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been several days but I still feel like I¡¯m dreaming.¡±


    From a sessful shipowner, he had to step down almost empty-handed and then suddenly, he was hired as a professional executive and returned to his ship. He was naturally still dazed by all things happening to him. Youngho appeared when he was mentally devastated to the point of death, so in a sense, Youngho saved him.


    His family members were also split due to the bond that he could not pay back, but because of Youngho¡¯s payment, everyone was on their way to Batumi, Georgia to be reunited.


    Youngho thought that a person who experienced failures was whom he needed dearly since he never experienced failure up until now. Choi Sunkil would be a great person whom Youngho could learn through his past unfortunate experience.


    Zeynep 1 had traveled a seaway. It was only after passing through the Gibraltar Strait, where the Mediterranean Sea and the Antic Ocean meet, and through the Aegean Sea, the Ma Sea, and the Bosporus Strait, the freighter had finally arrived in the ck Sea.


    The course was not boring but there were too many ships along the route that Youngho thought a sea traffic police was needed. It was allegedly captains¡¯ least favorite route since many collision idents urred between ships. One good thing about the route was that shippers would pay more delivery fees when ships passed this route.


    Choi Sunkil¡¯s n was to mobilize smaller ships along the ck Sea and the Mediterranean coast and the bigger ships around the Antic. He expressed his will to concentrate tramp lining business in preparation for the time when the grain would be produced from Arirang Farm, since once there was a regr delivery scheduled, it would be hard for him to arrange ships for irregr cargo shipping requests. Although there were only a few ships, he had found new hope in them.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, the Azerbaijani government isining that the mercenarypany you introduced fell short of their expectations. Do you know any other?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the Azerbaijani government doesn¡¯t have many experiences with mercenarypanies. What kind ofpanies would attack a country as if they¡¯re going to war? They usually move in secret and attack at once in the right time.¡±


    The government had requested the destruction of Armenian military facilities in disguise to a mercenarypany, but the government was not satisfied with thepany¡¯s methods but Eriksson¡¯s words were convincing enough.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell them to stop pressing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the best mercenarypany I know of. You don¡¯t need to be concerned. If the government hurts thepany¡¯s pride, it might side with Armenia and ept requests from it.¡±


    It was unfortunate but because the government had hired mercenary warriors, the sacrifices of innocent lives had be inevitable. Since the military weapons were disguised as civilian properties, there would be shootouts and explosions in the sites of those properties. Youngho wished that there would not be unnecessary sacrifices but it was an unavoidable choice for him since all of his people could live in peace if Armenia¡¯s weapons were destroyed.


    If the mercenaries failed, Youngho was willing to do their job himself. It was not because he loved Azerbaijan or he disliked Armenia but because he lived in Baku and all of his living was in Baku. Moreover, the Serbian descendants, who were only reunited with the Archduchess after long waiting, would be sacrificed if he did not act. He would do anything to save them.

 Chapter 199 - That Winter (4)

    <h4>Chapter 199: That Winter (4)</h4>


    ¡°Look at the route map, the route passing through Baku is the most efficient. Russia suggested making a tunnel through the mountain range since it¡¯s a long way around going through Baku but we couldn¡¯t afford the construction cost, so we kept the already existing route.¡±


    Listening to Sevan¡¯s exnation about the railroad, Youngho thought that Azerbaijan would be more stabilized soon. Once the railroad waspleted, there would be a transit route as effective as the Suez Canal.


    If Armenia interfered with Azerbaijan with their hidden weapons, Russia would not let it pass. At the thought of that, Youngho was relieved. He sunk into his chair to listen more to Sevan¡¯s exnations.


    It was not a big deal for him to buynds where the railroad would pass through, since if he invested millions of dors now, he would make a lot of profits when he resold thend in the future. It was not a bad investment n at all. Youngho decided to invest his money because he was relieved that Azerbaijan would be a safer ce protected by Russia, and Russia would not sit back and do nothing when Armenia was a threat to its profit.


    Youngho was in a good mood since his worries had gone away. Noticing his change, Jongil teased him.


    ¡°What did you see that you¡¯re smiling like a crazy man?¡±


    ¡°I just feel like the world is so beautiful. What?¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re finally showing the side effects of all the things you¡¯ve done.¡±


    ¡°Look at this route map. Everywhere is money.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to buynd on spection?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s notnd spection. It¡¯s an investment for the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s same to me. You said you were not going to invest any more in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this map remind you of something? Russia will protect the railroad no matter what. Now, Baku is a ce where Russia has to secure.¡±


    Jongil seemed to have an idea in mind.


    ¡°Whoa! Now Park Jongil¡¯s life will bloom finally.¡±


    Youngho looked at him in curiosity.


    ¡°You know how pretty Iraniandies are? Think about those Iranian belly dancers!¡±


    He must be talking about the dancers in the time of Qajar dynasty or Pavi dynasty. Youngho shook his head.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Stop saying such nonsense but go buynds in there. There were thirty million Azerbaijanis living in Northern Iran, I bet you canmunicate with them.¡±


    ¡°What? There are more Azerbaijanis in Iran than Azerbaijan?¡±


    The Northern region of Iran used to be Azerbaijan¡¯s territory. Azerbaijan was divided into North and South during the time of the Russian Empire but it remained divided until now. North Azerbaijan became Azerbaijan now and South Azerbaijan was subject to Iran.


    Although there had been many unfavorable histories among the three countries, Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan were now cooperating for the railroad business.


    ***


    Unlikest winter, Youngho was having a busy time this winter.


    He was not physically busy but he was busy assigning the right man in the right ce but he enjoyed the job. All of the things that he had started were now at the stage of development, so many management specialists were ying the key role in his businesses.


    His hotels were managed by management specialists now, so he did not have to think about that and the wine business was already in its settlement stage. The shipping industry was well managed by Choi Sunkil, which made Youngho feel relieved.


    Kim Chun was also managing anything rted to Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan and since he was close to many officials in the regional government, things were going pretty well. As far as the securitypany is concerned, Cha Insoo was in charge and getting used to all of the work.


    The person who was most helpful to Youngho these days was, of course, Park Youngsun. Whenever Youngho or his friends were stuck with something, he gave them necessary advice and helped to resolve any existing issues. So far, because of him, Youngho did not make huge business mistakes.


    Many say, ¡®the older the ginger, the spicier it gets.¡¯


    It was indeed true. As Park Youngsun¡¯s experiences were added with his knowledge, any advice he gave was invaluable. His word was like the truth and life. Jongil once even said that Park Youngsun should be the religious leader of the new Kingdom of Serbia.


    ***


    ¡°What in the world are you talking about?¡±


    Jongil was outrageous that he kept on cussing.


    ¡°Hey, hey! Calm down. Kids will hear us.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that makes sense? He¡¯s such a scum! Why does he assign us to do the job? I¡¯m sure he¡¯s not ill from the heat in this winter!¡±


    Youngho¡¯s team was suddenly assigned to report situations in Kazakhstan to the European chapter and Jongil was upset. The CIA was bothered since China had been taking tons of Kazakh resources. The U.S had not been paying attention to the country since it was not a threat but China¡¯s buy out of the country¡¯s resources was indeed something that the U.S. had to watch out for.


    Youngho¡¯s team was not in charge of Kazakhstan, but somehow the team was assigned for the job since it was close to Southern Russia, which was the team¡¯s region. Jongil was upset since it was an unfair job assignment.


    The job was assigned by the new director of the Asian Department from the headquarters but it seemed that he did not even report it to Michael, the chief of the European chapter. System-wise, there was not a problem but it was still weird if Michael had not agreed to it. Youngho knew that there was something going on between the new director and Michael. Youngho called Michael right away.


    ¡°Chief, I assume you already know about this but is Kazakhstan under our watch too?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You guys are busy with the Russian railroad case. You can¡¯t possibly take Kazakhstan. Who said that it¡¯s under your jurisdiction?¡±


    Michael, who was nervous about Russia¡¯s southward policy, was furious.


    ¡°Then, are you saying the director of the Asian Department decided all of this without telling you?¡±


    ¡°I knew something like this would happen when he came in. This guy only got his position through the connection! You know what? I¡¯ll call you back.¡±


    ¡°Wait, chief! I don¡¯t want to get in trouble by being seen as tattling you behind his back.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not tattling when you address some difficulties in the field. I¡¯ll say that you¡¯ve asked for supplement the personnel to meet the demands.¡±


    Bingo! That¡¯s exactly what Youngho wanted.


    From Michael¡¯s mouth, he mentioned ¡®supplement the personnel¡¯ first. He had been postponing it with an excuse of budget deficiency. Youngho smiled that he finally admitted it with his own mouth.


    ¡°Well, if we possibly have more people in our team, I¡¯m willing to take over not only Kazakhstan but also Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan...¡±


    Michael stopped him as Youngho was now listing names of Central Asian countries.


    ¡°Okay, okay. You can recruit two more people for field agents. No more than that, okay?¡±


    Youngho suddenly received a special offer to recruit two more people for his team. It felt like Michael was teamed up with the director of the Asian Department and Youngho was dragged by Michael¡¯s seasoned trick but he did not mind since it was a sweet offer.


    Now it was time for Youngho toe clean to Park Youngsun.


    He would not say anything about gold mines or secret arms deals but he would have to tell Park Youngsun about the CIA. There should be a few people as possible who knew about this but it was difficult to lie every time. Also, Youngho concluded that Park Youngsun was a trustworthy person from the past several months of getting to know him.


    Youngho also wanted to tell him how he and his friends became intelligence agents and get advice from Park Youngsun.


    ***


    Youngho, Jongil, and Insoo were quietly waiting for Park Youngsun¡¯s reaction like students who were waiting for their test results.


    After listening to Youngho¡¯s story, Park Youngsun¡¯s facial had been changing from one to another. He breathed a breath that was more like a sigh and opened his mouth.


    ¡°That¡¯s just amazing. How did you get to decide that you want to involve in such a rough path? If it was me, I would¡¯ve run away from anything rted to them as far as possible.¡±


    So far, Park Youngsun did not give any opinion but just let out exmations. Youngho felt like he did something wrong.


    ¡°In the beginning, I couldn¡¯t help but to rely on the CIA and by the time I wanted to step out, I was already too deeply involved in the organization. If you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a great idea, I¡¯m willing to let go of it any time soon. That was my future n anyway.¡±


    Park Youngsun suddenly looked up at Youngho as he said that he was willing to quit.


    ¡°No, no. Don¡¯t get me wrong. Why would you quit? That¡¯s a great position. If you¡¯ve been taking advantage of being an agent, you should keep doing that, using the invisible power. It¡¯s a very special privilege.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re about to settle down in Kazakhstan. Since three of the regr agents were here, the US government would not neglect the country. It would try to use you to establish the position of the US in here and we should take advantage of the government¡¯s support too.¡±


    This was Park Youngsun¡¯s take about the current situation of the U.S. and Kazakhstan. The U.S. had not been able to approach Kazakhstan easily since it was under Russian influence and Kazakhstan had to somehowply with Russia. However, as the Serbian descendants established their town in the country, an obstacle that had been hindering Western European people¡¯s favor to the country was now removed.


    Regardless of whatever Russia thought about it, the Kazakh government now had an excuse to take more Europeans in to increase its poption.


    Park Youngsun suggested emphasizing this fact to the CIA. In order to suppress China¡¯s dominance over the country¡¯s resources, increasing more Western Europeans in the country would be the best way. The Kazakh government¡¯s help was necessary to help new immigrants settle down, so if the U.S. helped the government as an indirect route to connect to the country, Russia would not try to stop the U.S. Also, decisively, the only West European immigrants would be the Serbian descendants. It would be great if the U.S. could help the descendants with their funds and establish their connection to the Kazakh government at the same time. It was a win-win strategy for the U.S. and for the Serbian descendants.


    ¡°This is a chance for us. If it weren¡¯t for you three, I was going to get some investments from my connections in the U.S. anyway.¡±


    Since Park Youngsun did not know about the existence of gold mines, he had been looking for a way to find funds for Arirang Farm and the town of the descendants. He also had no idea about Youngho¡¯s rtionship with mafias since it was unnecessary information for Park Youngsun¡¯s part. Also, he thought that it was good for him to have secret money sources that the advisor did not know of.


    ¡°I have funds that I¡¯ve saved and it¡¯s enough for establishing Arirang Farm and the town. Also, I¡¯ve made money from working as an agent.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great but it¡¯d be perfect if we could get the CIA¡¯s funds. It¡¯ll be like having a strong ally. It¡¯s unlikely to happen but even if Russia or Kazakhstan oppresses the farm, having the U.S. on our side, they won¡¯t be able to touch us.¡±


    On that day, a new unofficial agent was recruited.


    Although Park Youngsun would not be hired and get paid by the CIA, all of the rted information would be shared with him from now on.


    He also had a great idea for recruiting new field agents. He suggested using young Serbiands. Since they were loyal to the Archduchess, they would not let out the secret and they could also be promoted to higher ranks in the CIA in the future. Saying that if Serbian descendants could be in higher positions in the CIA, it would be helpful for Arirang Farm, he seemed excited.


    When he mentioned that colored people like Youngho and his friends might not be able to be promoted because the majority people in the CIA were whites, Jongil snapped at him but somehow it was true in many cases. Youngho thought that not suffering from racism was good enough for now.


    ¡°Dr. Park, I¡¯m sure you know that you¡¯ve already be a target of our enemies from the moment we shared our secrets.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? Why would they...¡±


    ¡°When they take you and torture you, they could easily get words out of you. So, why wouldn¡¯t they? I¡¯m saying you should keep whatever between us only to yourself.¡±


    ¡°No, of course, I agree to that but...¡±


    Looking at him freaking out, Youngho wanted to tease him more.


    ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte. You now stepped into the agent¡¯s world as soon as you found out about our identities. You¡¯ll be a regional agent from now on. It¡¯s an unofficial position and a secret among us.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that I have to carry guns and fire at people?¡±


    At his words, everyone beganughing and grabbing their stomach. Imagining a fifty-year-old big-bellied man firing at people was enough for them tough.


    Park Youngsun now noticed that Youngho had been joking. The tense atmosphere of the conference turned amicable.

 Chapter 200 - Zeynep’s Dream (1)

    <h4>Chapter 200: Zeynep¡¯s Dream (1)</h4>


    It was a rxing afternoon, and Youngho was calcting the month¡¯s profits.


    ¡®Clink!¡¯


    ¡®Man, something¡¯s breaking again. It must be Leon!¡¯


    Young kids would get themselves involved in a lot of troubles and Leon was no different. Worried if Leon might have gotten hurt, Youngho opened the door of his study but it was Zeynep who made the noise.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Huh? You were in the study? You should¡¯ve made sounds or something. I broke it because I was trying to get it from where I couldn¡¯t reach.¡±


    Youngho was med for nothing. He regretted opening the study¡¯s door. Zeynep had broken Leon¡¯s honey jar, now honey was all over the kitchen floor.


    ¡°You could¡¯ve used a chair or something. Are you not hurt?¡±


    ¡°No, can you go to Leon? He¡¯s been nagging since he¡¯s hungry.¡±


    Leon could not stand being hungry and since honey was what usually soothed him, Zeynep was hurriedly trying to get honey for him and made the ident. Since Fatima had left her Leon for the time being, Zeynep was in charge of feeding him.


    Youngho hurried and went up to the second floor with a nursing bottle after filling it with warm water. Being hungry, Leon was now throwing a tantrum and struggling.


    Leon who sucked on the bottle, soon, threw it away realizing that it was water. As he was about to cry, Zeynep sneaked in the room and quickly put the special honey manufactured for Leon. Usually, honey could be fatal to babies due to the natural bacteria but this was safe for him.


    ¡°Injection of tranquilizer, done!¡±


    Zeynep proudly turned around.


    ¡°You should give him some food too. You¡¯re only giving him honey?¡±


    ¡°Look at him, oppa. He¡¯s focused on licking honey around his mouth. This is how I gain time.¡±


    It was true. Leon had forgotten about his hunger since he was busy sucking on the honey around his mouth and on his fingers. Zeynep had put some in his mouth and the rest of the honey around his mouth. She was earning time to make him some baby food or milk.


    To Youngho, it was an innovative way of feeding a baby.


    Thinking that babysitting was not for everyone, Youngho was impressed with how Zeynep was so good taking care of babies. There were no babies on the farm that had not gone through Zeynep¡¯s hands.


    Leon, who was now full, was making different sounds with his mouth in Zeynep¡¯s arms. Since he could now walk and even run and made all sorts of troubles, the best way to keep him out of trouble was to hold him.


    He looked at the two for a while and something popped up in his head. He had not told Zeynep yet that his new freighter was named after her.


    ¡°You know I¡¯ve been to America recently.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Yeah. You traveled through the Mediterranean and came back to the ck Sea, right? What about that?¡±


    Zeynep had a suspicious look on her face.


    ¡°The new freighter¡¯s name is Zeynep 1. Usually, girls¡¯ names are used for ships.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know. I told you. You could use my name on big ships.¡±


    She said it so casually as it was nothing special. Youngho thought that she was letting him go easily.


    ¡°Then can I name other ships as Zeynep 2 and Zeynep 3 in the future?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well. That¡¯s fine but you should do me a favorter, okay?¡±


    Youngho did not like that he kept a condition since with her personality, Zeynep would not ask for a small thing.


    ¡°What do you want to do that you¡¯re not telling me now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±


    She smiled and left with Leon in her arms, which drove Youngho nuts in curiosity.


    Usually, when he was curious, he couldn¡¯t even sleep sometimes. It was a kind of torture for him. Besides, it if was rted to Zeynep, he had to find out what it was.


    ***


    Choi Sunkil¡¯s voice on the phone was extremely excited.


    ¡°Mr. Lee! I¡¯ve got an order. A shipper is willing to request his cargo to us. Since our ship in on the bigger side in the Mediterranean, it worked to our advantage!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great news. You¡¯ve done a great job, Mr. Choi.¡±


    It was only a short-period contract for six months but this order would be the stepping stone of the business of Arirang Shipping. Choi Sunkil had been putting his efforts to get an order from an Italian shippingpany and he had flown to Italy and he finally sealed the deal.


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. It¡¯s all because of your support. Also, the shipper that put cargo on our ship from New York wanted to sign a regr contract with us. It looks like we won¡¯te back with an empty ship.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Last time as they were about to return to Amsterdam, Youngho had delivered an urgent cargo from New York and it seemed the same shipper liked the service. The freighter shipping took only about one more week than air transport but it cost a tenth of the price or air shipping.


    The tramp liner¡¯s best strength was in its fast shipping. Usually, air transport took about a week and marine transport took about thirty to sixty days. That was why tramp liner which was customized to shipper¡¯s requests was a shocking deal.


    Choi Sunkil was doing amazing since he did not overlook a chance to get customers by reaching to the previous, one-time customer. It was because he regained his strength. Now, all of his family now gathered in Batumi and lived together. His strength came from his family. If he could show his achievements to his family, he would do anything to satisfy them.


    Youngho wanted to use him and take a further step for Arirang Shipping.


    The shipping industry was now suffering due to too many ships in the time of bad recession. On top of that, the shipping cost was terribly dropped but the oil price had increased. It was the worst time for shipowners, which meant that it was the perfect timing if one wanted to buy out ships since the ships were sold at such great prices at the moment.


    Since he could use shipping finance, he did not have to have a great amount of cash at hand. Youngho would be able to expand Arirang Shipping if he could increase the number of ships he owned now. He decided to discuss the matter with Park Youngsun and Choi Sunkil together.


    ***


    Youngho tried to find out what Zeynep had in mind and inquired to all people who were close to her on the farm but there was no way.


    He was worried that her adventurous side might be controlling her drive again. Even Fatima said that she had no idea what her little sister was up to. Since Youngho cared a great deal about his little Zeynep, whom he had raised carefully, it was draining him. However, whether she knew about Youngho¡¯s concern or not, she acted as normal and kept spending time with Park Seoyoung, Park Youngsun¡¯s daughter, who now became her best friend.


    Youngho even assigned more private guards for her, and finally Jongil brought up the issue.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you these days? You act like someone who wants to go to the bathroom bad. She¡¯s fine and she can take care of herself. Leave her alone.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s up to something huge. I¡¯m just guarding her because she¡¯s about to get herself in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re just sick. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Jongil shook his head as he could not bear to watch his friend anymore.


    ¡°She wants to ask a favor but it¡¯s a secret. Wouldn¡¯t you be curious?¡±


    ¡°Dude! Is that why you¡¯re obsessed about her? You can just do her a favor when she asks.¡±


    ¡°You just don¡¯t get her. Would you be saying it¡¯s a secret if it was nothing like you said? She¡¯s iming it before she makes trouble because I would say no if I knew about it ahead of time. You should be watching her too. You know she¡¯s a wild child.¡±


    Jongil clicked his tongue. It was natural since he did not have a daughter. Zeynep was like a precious daughter to Youngho.


    Youngho heard someone knocking on the door of his study in the evening time.


    There was no one in the house who would knock on his door beforeing in. However, he did not have any guests who would visit him at this time. He curiously asked who it was.


    As the door was slightly opened, Zeynep came in smiling brightly. Youngho felt as if his heart almost dropped.


    Zeynep visiting him at this hour smiling? It was not a good sign.


    ¡°Hey,e have a seat.¡±


    ¡°Okay, oppa. Did I interrupt your work?¡±


    ¡®Yes, you have. Very much! My heart is racing now.¡¯


    ¡°Well, the sun is going to rise from the west since you came in politely and now you¡¯re reading my countenance.¡±


    ¡°Humph, humph. Hahaha...¡±


    She smiled again.


    Now, Youngho¡¯s arms were covered with goosebumps. He knew that the time that he had been waiting for had finallye.


    ¡°You¡¯re here to reveal your secret to me, right?¡±


    Zeynep looked surprised.


    ¡°Hehehe...¡±


    Her smile was indeed suspicious.


    ¡°Oh, please. Are you going to drain me out? Just say it already.¡±


    ¡°In fact...¡±


    For the next twenty minutes as he listened to Zeynep, Youngho got up from his chair several times and sat back down again. It was because he could not possibly calm down.


    Although she was making many excuses to convince him, it was something impossible for Youngho to ept.


    She wanted to leave Youngho¡¯s bosom.


    She wanted to go to study design in France. The little girl who only asked for gifts whenever Youngho came back from business trips now wanted independence.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave you oppa. You¡¯re like my father but there¡¯s time for studying too. I need your permission. Pretty please?¡±


    Youngho felt like a father who was sending her daughter away to marriage.


    If he refused to let her go, she would be furious. He needed to find a happy medium since he could not send her alone. He said that if she could study design at Goethe University in Frankfurt where her aunt and uncle and Szechenyi were for one year, he would give her independence. It was a trick to turn back her mind since her dream changed frequently. Also, she would have to go to college anyway next year. If she stayed with other family members in Frankfurt, Youngho thought that she would be protected.


    Since he did not have any connection in France, there was no way for him to watch her. What if she gets in trouble when she was all alone by herself? Youngho could not even imagine that.


    Freaked out, Youngho now began his operation to convince her to stay in Baku.


    He gave her control of the Cessna airne unprecedentedly and took her to Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan whenever he traveled to there. He was trying to appeal to her with the fact that the descendants of the Kingdom of Serbia needed her.


    His efforts seemed to be sessful until the spring arrived.

 Chapter 201 - Zeynep’s Dream (2)

    <h4>Chapter 201: Zeynep¡¯s Dream (2)</h4>


    ¡°Oppa. Do you wish me to stay in Baku forever?¡±


    d that Zeynep had brought it up herself, Youngho answered her quickly.


    ¡°Of course. To think that you¡¯ll not be here anymore, I can¡¯t even eat and sleep well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you eat two bowls at the dinner table. Also, you slept so wellst night when Leon was bawling.¡±


    Knowing Youngho¡¯s tactic, Zeynep drove in a wedge. Youngho had no words to say anymore. He turned around the subject since he could not be pushed by her.


    ¡°I¡¯m just too busy these days that my time is wacked. So, have you realized that you didn¡¯t want to leave anymore?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    She smiled again, which gave him goosebumps.


    ¡°If you leave Baku, Leon¡¯s going to be lovesick. He¡¯s going to stop eating and your sister will be lonely too.¡±


    ¡°I know both you and Leon can¡¯t get hands off food. Besides, more than one year is left until I leave. Why are you making this a big deal now?¡±


    Youngho could not make any more excuses.


    ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right but I wish my little Zeynep could live with me as long as possible. This is my conclusion.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll take your word into consideration and think about it for the next year. Well, since I¡¯ve been flying the airne several times, I want to go to an aviation school too.¡±


    ¡®Yes! My n¡¯s finally working!¡¯


    ¡°But, I still want to study design. Should I study both?¡¯


    She had rewound everything back to the starting point.


    ¡®Is she determined to kill me by draining me until the end? She wants to study more things now.¡¯


    Being a stubborn child, Zeynep was a difficult person to convince. It seemed that he was not going to be able to concentrate on working if she flew away from the nest alone. He had to think of something to make her stay.


    ¡®Should I find a husband to stay here with her?¡¯


    Youngho pped his knee thinking that it was a great solution. It had to be someone that Zeynep would fall in love with and someone who is capable of helping with businesses and the Serbian descendants.


    Youngho decided to look for someone who could be a perfect spouse for her. If she gets married as soon as she graduated from high school, she would not go abroad to study design or aviation.


    ***


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. There¡¯s an old saying, ¡®you dig the reservoir deeper when there is a drought.¡¯ When other people had given up, a great businessman would take a further step. Investing in a more aggressive manner during the most difficult time would bring you a ton more back in time.¡±


    As Park Youngsunplimented Youngho¡¯s idea, Youngho was ttered. He had thought that Park Youngsun would oppose his idea that it was a wasteful investment. Choi Sunkil also was ying alongside him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I only failed my business because I didn¡¯t have enough money but it was not investment failure. I spent too much because I thought it was great timing, just like you.¡±


    Wishing that Youngho could learn from his previous failure, Choi Sunkil mentioned his bitter past.


    ¡°I have enough money to back up my investment, so you won¡¯t need to be worried. Since you¡¯re the expert, why don¡¯t you look for great ships to invest in? And please let people know that Arirang Shipping only travels through the Antic. The shippers would be more attracted to that.¡±


    ¡°Of course! If you want to target a niche market, you should make the industry specialized in something. It would only be a drag if you cover even longer sea routes.¡±


    Having Choi Sunkil on his side, he felt like he had a great ally force. Now, Arirang Shipping would be stepping into a new era.


    Youngho¡¯s n was to buy smaller ships with great speed about thirty knots, which big ships could not have, and to specialize in quick shipping services in short distances and dominate the niche market. The regr cargo ships were not as fast as airnes but they had the advantage that they were faster than anyrge ships.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think there would be a lot of pirates in the Antic as in the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of a, do you?¡±


    Recently, many slow ships had been targeted by pirates who followed them with fast-sailing ships.


    ¡°Well, some pirates still show up around the Central and South America asionally but those regions are irrelevant to our sea route, so you shouldn¡¯t be concerned. They can¡¯t possibly show up around Northern American and Europe. They¡¯ll be eliminated as soon as they do.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about assigning security guards on cargo ships?¡±


    ¡°Oh! The crewmen will love to have guards on board. Many shippers also want that but they can¡¯t really afford hiring guards.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already picked safety guards for ships, so just know that two will be assigned for each ship.¡±


    Youngho wanted to assign the job to Hong Sungki, the Red Pepper who had done an excellent job when the Armenian force had invaded the ranch, and his team. It was because Hong Sungki wasining that his job was too easy now ever since he was assigned as a ship security guard in the Caspian Sea, sure enough, there was not much to do in the Caspian Sea. If the team was assigned for ships traveling around the Antic, they would be excited since they would be traveling to the states and famous European ports.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite convenient since you have a securitypany under Zeynep Corporation.¡±


    ¡°Yep. The security crews consist of people who served in Korean Navy Special Forces. If pirates targeted them, they would rather try to take their ships.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Choi Sunkil¡¯sughing was loud and clear since everything he did was going well. Youngho also promised specialmissions to every crewman, that Choi Sunkil¡¯s reputation was now even backed up by it. It was because the crewmen were trying their best to ept more orders from shippers. Any efforts should be rewarded and that was the best way to encourage the crewmen.


    ***


    Two men were standing before Youngho. They were eagle-eyed and their postures were stable. If he ordered them, they looked like they would immediately go break someone¡¯s neck.


    ¡°You can be at ease and listen carefully to what I¡¯m about to say.¡±


    The Serbian descendant young men, vica and Jeremic, both aged twenty-six, were ultimately picked as the CIA¡¯s field agents. They thought that they were picked as the Archduchess¡¯ personal guard and took it as an honor of their families.


    As they listened to Youngho¡¯s long exnation, their eyes were even sharper. When Youngho asked if they could sacrifice themselves for the US CIA, for the glory of the Kingdom of Serbia, their eyes were even reddened. They were impressed that the prince consort, Youngho, had abandoned a convenient life to take advantage of the power of the states. With an exaggerated story, Youngho managed to lure them.


    Now he was their hero.


    For the prince consort who had thrown away his pride for the restoration of the kingdom, the two young Serbiands could be loyal to death.


    ¡°There are only three people who know that we¡¯re CIA agents, the Archduchess Fatima, Kim Ilkwon the secretary, and Dr. Park here. Now it¡¯s five, including you two.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s speech which could only be heard in a stage act, Jongil was about tough but was stopped by Cha Insoo¡¯s re. It was such a solemn moment.


    ¡°We will never be any harm to you or the Archduchess. We¡¯ve made up our mind when you spoke to us.¡±


    ¡°When you call Park Jongil outside, you should refer him as your director, and please call me boss.¡±


    ¡°How can we do that? You¡¯re the prince consort. That¡¯s ludicrous...¡±


    Full of the pride of being the citizens of the Kingdom of Serbia and the dignity of being the descendants of the kingdom¡¯s knights, it was not easy for them to change the way they called Youngho since he was the Archduchess¡¯ husband.


    It was something that Michael would tease about repeatedly from now on since he already knew that Fatima was being worshipped by the kingdom¡¯s descendants.


    When Michael heard about it first, he smirked and said that all of the people of Europe would be rted to royal blood in some way. However, when Youngho reported that he would be recruiting the Serbiands, heplimented him for his decision since the team would have some diversity to it rather than having only Korean members.


    Park Jongil now became the director of Kazakhstan¡¯s operative team. Now that he had two underlings, his self-esteem was higher than ever.


    ¡°At least we should go to Kazakhstan at this moment since the new recruits would be receiving intelligence training.¡±


    Because the two were not trained in Special Forces as Youngho or his friends, they would be receiving a training course at the European chapter before they could be assigned to the field. It was fortunate that they did not have thenguage barrier since they could speak English.


    ***


    The assignment on Kazakhstan was not a short-term period job but was a long-term task which required collecting information continuously and finding out the future measures. Once the investigation of the current economic and political situations of Kazakhstan was done, there would be a negotiation between the U.S. government and the Kazakh government, and then, agents would be deployed for further operations.


    The CIA had already collected some information since there were secret agents in the U.S. embassy based in Kazakhstan and they had been sending information. Youngho¡¯s job was to contact them first and cooperate with them. He was nervous since he did not know if those agents would take his team since they were assigned by the headquarters directly from the Asian Department but Youngho was from the European chapter, which would be strange to them.


    Youngho and Jongil arrived at the U.S. embassy in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. The agents who received Youngho and Jongil looked startled. They had heard that the European chapter was sending veteran agents and they had not thought that Youngho and Jongil would be Asians. Youngho could see what they were thinking just by reading their faces.


    ¡®Man, they must¡¯ve forgotten that Kazakhstan is in Central Asia.¡±


    Asian agents were actually better suited to work in Kazakhstan but they were rather surprised that there were veteran Asian agents in the European chapter.


    ¡°Wee. I¡¯m Agent Smith from the headquarters.¡±


    Youngho already knew it but Agent Smith was emphasizing that he was from the headquarters.


    ¡°I¡¯m the regional head of the Caucasus region, Lee Youngho, and this is the vice head, Park Jongil.¡±


    Youngho made up a title for Park Jongil since he did not want to be underestimated by agent Smith. Referring to Park Jongil as the vice head implied that there were many agents under them.


    As he introduced himself and Jongil with great titles, Agent Smith¡¯s attitude toward them was changed slightly.


    They had some tea at a table and began to talk about their job.


    ¡°As you already know, China is advancing into the country at a tremendous pace. It had overtaken the economy bloc at the Eastern border. At this rate, soon Kazakhstan¡¯s economy would be divided by the two dominating countries, Russia and China.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask, what is the stance of the headquarters in all this? The CIA has been neglecting Kazakhstan but why is it bothering now to get involved in the country¡¯s economy?¡±


    ¡°It was not negligence. It was rather that Kazakhstan was not in the CIA¡¯s focus. However, the CIA is startled by China¡¯s quantum leap in the country. I¡¯ve been continuously sending reports but the headquarters did not really care.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re operative agents and our operations are not bound by political situations. If you need to use force, please let us know.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Agent Smith was startled by Youngho¡¯s direct mention of using force.

 Chapter 202 - The Border Area (1)

    <h4>Chapter 202: The Border Area (1)</h4>


    The Southeastern regions of Kazakhstan were bordering Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.


    Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was resided by forty-eight ethnicities, such as Uyghurs, Kyrgyz people, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Tatars were the majority of people and there were five small autonomous regions inside.


    The region was adjacent to Tamakan Desert and Gobi Desert, which were the seismic centers of the yellow dust blown to Korea every spring and it was the strategic point of the Silk Road in the past.


    Since there were too many ethnicities that emigrated, Chinese people considered the region as a foreign country. Naturally, the people resided in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region looked certainly different from traditional Chinese people.


    Among those people, the ones who had made their foray into the border area were Han. If they were Uyghurs, Kazakhstan would not have been keeping an eye on them, but Han people were the ones who took over the border area using the force of the ck Society and more Han people were settling down in the area. Since Kazakhstan¡¯s economy was being drained by them, the government could not favor them.


    The border was only marked by a checkpoint and it could be easily intruded by Han people. If they decided to take over Kazakhstan¡¯s territory, it was not like Kazakhstan would survey the territory to confirm the border. Since Kazakhstan was a huge territory, there was no reason for the government to get involved in a conflict for the wastnd and it was not like the country had enough troops to guard the border.


    However, if Han people imed to establish an autonomous region, Kazakhstan would be in trouble since it would have no manpower of economic power to stop them. Also, the U.S. would not let that happen since it also imed to be the police state of the world.


    Youngho was that country¡¯s intelligence agent and moreover, he wanted Kazakhstan to be stabilized for the peace of Arirang Farm. There were other plenty of reasons to protect Kazakhstan. One of that was that there was a high possibility that Kazakhstan and Korea shared the same root.


    ¡°Do you get what I¡¯m saying?¡±


    Youngho exined why Kazakhstan was important but Jongil¡¯s unexpected response was surprising.


    ¡°You sound like you want to take over Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m saying Kazakhstan is that important. What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°You know what I usually say.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all the same?¡±


    ¡°Right. Man, I have nothing to teach you anymore.¡±


    ¡°Alright, master. I¡¯ll go down the mountain now. Are you satisfied?¡±


    On the airne to the border city, Almaty, Smith watched the two as they were talking in Korean. He was curious about how manynguages the two could speak since they spoke English to him and Russian fluently at the airport, and now they were chatting in Korean. Knowing that they could also speak Azerbaijani and Armenian, Agent Smith felt self-conscious. He regretted proudly mentioning that he was from the headquarters and looking down on them since they did not go through the elite course.


    ***


    The border area of Kazakhstan in February was extremely cold.


    The three had spent the night in the rental van and just went out to see the market where Han people had dominated. Insisting that the Kazakh¡¯s territory was part of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Han people had built assembly buildings back to back and were selling Chinese products and Korean cosmetics.


    As if they had a separate warehouse, they had a ton of products piled up. Youngho also could spot several Kazakh retailers making a bargain with Han people through Uyghur interpreters.


    Smith who was following around Youngho and Jongil went back to the van since he could not handle the coldness anymore.


    Jongil was now approaching bulky jogs with a scowl on their face ahead of him. They were standing around a bonfire. He was going to provoke a quarrel. Holding a ck stic bag on one hand which carried a piece of cheap winter clothes that he just bought, he looked just like other shoppers.


    Youngho followed behind him from about five meters away.


    Jongil squeezed himself in those jobs and casually crouched near the fire. Since a stranger had abruptly joined them and warming himself with their fire, they could not look at him with favor. They spoke something in Chinese and pushed Jongil away.


    Jongil fell down in an exaggerated manner and made a fuss. Youngho hurriedly ran toward him and picked him up and began saying Russian to the guys who pushed him. It did not matter if they understood Russian.


    ¡°Hey, you! Why did you knock down an innocent person?¡±


    The jobs were startled as Youngho yelled at them with ring eyes. There was no one who could treat them this way in the market. Youngho also approached the one who pushed Jongil and kept saying things as he pushed his chest.


    Baffled by Youngho¡¯s attitude, he stepped back and finally he was pushed near the bonfire but it did notst long. The fire was caught on his pants and he began screaming and jumping.


    It was impossible to put out the fire on cotton-padded trousers unless he stripped it off, and there was no regr water in the extreme cold and there were no fire extinguishers in the assembly buildings either.


    A few guys tried to put out the fire and made a fuss to undress him. On the other hand, they kept peeking at Youngho and Jongil since the two might run away. Since this was the n, Youngho and Jongil stayed still around them. The guys even spotted the two smirking at them. They turned furious.


    Although theyughed intentionally, the guy¡¯s situation was quite funny since he now had no pants. As Youngho and Jongil turned their bodies as if they were about to leave, several jobs stopped them. Now it was show time.


    ¡°You said, you would look around the market for a while.¡±


    Agent Smith could not continue his words. He watched what happened at the market when he was looking for the two to ask to return to Almaty. The view of ten jobs on the ground making groaning sounds and Youngho and Jongil dusting their clothes were quite contrary.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s cold. Why are these guys so stingy about sharing their heat?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s cold. Christmas ising!¡±


    Their conversation left Smith dumbfounded.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. We should warm ourselves by taking a hot bath at the hotel in Almaty. Phew, I thought that they were better at fighting. I was just warmed up.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I think this guy needs time to soak all this. Youngho, I¡¯m going to drive.¡±


    ***


    Youngho was surprised to find out that Agent Smith was this chatty.


    During the four-hour drive, he continuously asked questions without ceasing. In the end, he began to nag that Youngho and Jongil should teach him martial arts skills. His sparkling eyes reminded Youngho of Zeynep.


    Eventually, Jongil agreed to be a teacher for him by the authority of Kazakhstan¡¯s operative team¡¯s director. Jongil had assigned Agent Smith as an unofficial member of Youngho¡¯s team.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying those kinds of jobs are scattered around the border area.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s not only that. They¡¯re disguised as street jogs but some of them looked like they¡¯ve been trained.¡±


    After returning to the hotel in Almaty, the group was listening to Smith at the hotel bar.


    ¡°How long has it been since they showed up at the border area?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been about three years but they had remarkably increased in number sincest year. I have some acquaintances in the Kazakh military and although they patrol around inmon attires, it doesn¡¯t seem enough.¡±


    Kazakhstan was about twelve times bigger than the Korean Penins but had less than twenty million poptions. Although many countries around Southern Russia were friendly to each other and crossing borders were not a big deal between them, China was a different story. Historically, China was a hostile country during the time of the Soviet Union.


    Since there were only 20,000 soldiers in the army, Kazakhstan could not manage to patrol around the border area. There were plenty of weapons received from Russia but since there were not enough soldiers, those were only being stored in warehouses. Although Kazakhstan had be friendly with China after dering independence and there were many trades between the two countries, keeping the border was a strict matter. Kazakhstan was rmed by the Han people¡¯s taking over the territory.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the sense from the headquarters wishing that there would be trouble at the border area. Is your action today rted to that as well?¡±


    Agent Smith was quite quick-witted.


    ¡°If there is a conflict between civilians at the border area, eventually military will be involved. If that was developed, even more, tension will rise between the two countries at the border, and any conflicts between the two countries would have a third country¡¯s arbitration eventually.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°Now. You know why we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. There were some conflicts in Astana since a China town was formed but somehow it was quieted down suddenly. I¡¯ve heard that a regional mafia organization had ended the conflicts and...¡±


    Youngho hurriedly changed the subject since it was Youngho and Yaniv¡¯s mafias who almost devastated the China town.


    ¡°Anyhow. Those jogs would not show their faces for a while. New faces would probably show up inmon attires and patrol around the market. We should capture a few and let them talk if we want to find out how many are involved in this.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Agent Smith looked worried.


    ¡°Well, if they find out that we¡¯re involved, it¡¯s not going to be a small problem.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that¡¯s why we¡¯re here. Trust us. We¡¯ll be acting like regional mafias.¡±


    Agent Smith was excited that Youngho and Jongil were here to deal with the matter. He felt like having two big brothers who had his back no matter what.

 Chapter 203 - The Border Area (2)

    <h4>Chapter 203: The Border Area (2)</h4>


    As people get used to the same work, they naturally getzy.


    It was the same with Youngho¡¯s team. Whenever he was going on a mission, he had never had any failures but only some struggles and dangerous moments. Because of that, Youngho was not nervous at all with whatever mission he was on and did not have a thorough n. It was also because he did not receive basic training as elite agents who went through the elite training course. Noticing the two¡¯s loose n, Smith was screening it to them.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I think you should leave China Town alone. We only need to plot little conflicts but your n is going to make it too big.¡±


    ¡°I understand that my n is rough but could you point out what¡¯s concerning you?¡±


    As Youngho admitted that his n was not perfect, Smith began to describe what he thought.


    Smith had been working in Kazakhstan for three years and he knew exactly how things worked here.


    Although the Kazakh government imed to stand for parliamentary democracy, the first president of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev, had been in power for a prolonged period and he was practically a life president.


    His prioritized economic development policy gained overwhelming support from the public and there was no one in the opposition party who could be a match to the current president.


    There were some group of people who opposed the president¡¯s prolonged one-man rule and those groups had been causing riots in the Western Kazakhstan and terrorism in the city of Almaty to pressure the president.


    Smith wanted to take advantage of the political situation.


    Easily said, he was talking about the CIA¡¯s operation to shake the dictatorial government. ording to Smith, the headquarters had ordered to cause conflicts at the border area and to incite political chaos within the country in order to give power to the government¡¯s opposition party.


    He said that the CIA had been maintaining a cozy rtionship with the Kazakh government¡¯s opposition party since they had worked together a few years ago to stop the president trying to passing the president-for-lifew.


    The current president had turned into a dictator in order to achieve the country¡¯s rapid economic growth. He was supported by the public since he achieved eight percent of the yearly average rate of economic growth, which was an outrageous rate. He had opened a new world for Kazakh people who had only been farming and milking sheep for their entire lives.


    Although the rapid economic growth was bearing some problems such as the gap between rich and poor, it was what any developing country had to face.


    Since he had achieved so much for the country¡¯s economy, he was worshipped like a king by Kazakh people. That was why the Oval Office of the country was still called a presidential pce just like in Azerbaijan.


    It might be a dangerous idea but in Youngho¡¯s eyes, the current president looked like a reputable politician.


    Youngho did not like to be involved in the political maneuvering. Also, his job was only to provide a reason for the U.S. to intervene in political rtions. He did not want to cause turmoil for the whole country.


    Although the president had been in power for a long period of time, there had been almost no incident where he had vited human rights. It did not seem usible to shake that president who was doing well for the country in order to democratize the country.


    ¡°Jongil, let¡¯s not get involved in the politics. We should make Smith to only focus on making confusion around the border.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s on the path of bing a dictator but it¡¯s hard to find a great political leader like him. If we stir up the opposition party and the political situation gets deteriorated, Arirang Farm is also going to suffer.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can convince Smith. It looks like he has prepared a lot for this and has gotten involved in this deeply already.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we should make huge trouble in the border area, so he won¡¯t have time to focus on that anymore.¡±


    ¡°I see you have another n.¡±


    ***


    The border market was now full of suspicious guys. They must have belonged to the ck Society or the Chinese police. Since the jogs of the ck Society had been attacked by Youngho and Jongil, it seemed that they were seeking for the two with avidity.


    However, Youngho and Jongil would not be cheated by thatme scheme.


    When Youngho and Jongil first contacted the jogs, they were dressed as country boys who came to shop for clothes, but now they were disguised as fur merchants and even had sunsses on.


    The two decided to make a natural conflict between Kazakh merchants and Han merchants by acting like a Kazakh merchant and causing a scene. In that way, other Kazakh merchants would side on them and an outbreak of a conflict could happen.


    The Han merchant snapped at the interpreter¡¯s words. He said that he could not buy the fur at such a high price. Jongil talked back at him as soon as he heard back from the interpreter.


    ¡°No way. You¡¯re like a thief who¡¯s trying to get the products for free. Please deliver every word I said to him.¡±


    After hearing the interpreter, the Han merchant furiously stamped his foot saying why he was a thief. Now Youngho added,


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a happy medium. The price is just too lowpared to the usual price of fur that we know of. Please do us a favor.¡±


    The Han merchant who listened to the interpreter had waved Youngho off to cancel the bargain. The chance that Youngho had been waiting for had finally arrived.


    ¡°What is your manner? Where did you learn to chase away your customers like you¡¯re chasing away flies?¡±


    Youngho asked the interpreter to tell exactly what he said. It was to arouse the Han merchant¡¯s anger.


    He directly reacted to Youngho¡¯s insult. His face was reddened as he yelled at Youngho.


    Because Youngho and Jongil were causing a scene, the Han merchant¡¯s guards surrounded the two and pushed them away telling them to leave.


    However, Kazakh merchants at the market did not sit and wait for it to pass. As people gathered around Youngho and Jongil one by one, Youngho acted as if he wasining of injustice in Russian. Since Han people did not understand Russian, he incited the Kazakh merchants, saying that the Han people were thieves.


    There were merchants who would buy things with cash at hand but there were many herdsmen nearby who were forced to sell their dairy products and byproducts of animal skins at dirt cheap prices at the market. They had not been able to voice themselves but now it was their chance.


    Many people madements and began to condemn the Han merchants. The people who were guarding the Han people were also startled by their pressure. As they were startled, their actions came out roughly. They pushed away Kazakh people and during this process, people¡¯s clothes were torn and blood came out from some people¡¯s noses.


    Anyone would freak out when they see blood.


    Now the market had turned into a madhouse.


    Meanwhile, Youngho and Jongil stealthily butted in and knocked down a few guards. Seeing theirrades being knocked down, other guards finally took out weapons. There were knives and pistols.


    Because of their reaction, the crowd finally began to take out their weapons from here and there.


    Since many people worked in farming and ranching, even young kids carried a knife used for cutting meats. Not only the hunting rifles to chase away wolves but also Russian pistols were openly sold here, so even civilians were not to be underestimated in the area.


    With a single person making a move in this tension, it would not be weird if there was a shootout at any moment.


    Suddenly, there was a sound of gunfire. Something big was finally happening.


    ***


    At the marker in the border area, a huge incident urred, where more than twenty people were either killed or injured.


    The market was immediately terminated and tension was flowing around the border.


    Because of Youngho and Jongil, the U.S. and the Kazakh which were strategically teamed up had to part ways for now. It was because Kazakh people were now stirred up by the incident and protesting against Chinese influence. Now people were boycotting Chinese products from the country.


    People were upset that their own people were killed by some Han merchants in Kazakh territory. Even some people took it too far that terrorism against Chinese residing in Almaty had urred. The situations were not good.


    However, the participants of the incident were drinking at a hotel.


    Agent Smith, who was not with the two on the day, still had no idea that Youngho and Jongil were behind all this.


    ¡°Mr. Park, it looks like we didn¡¯t have to get involved. The conflict naturally urred but it¡¯s getting too big now. I don¡¯t know how the government would calm down the angry public.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. What kind of crazy people shoot guns and swing knives at civilians? Do the police in this area just watch them getting killed?¡±


    ¡°I heard that when the police arrived, the situation had already ended and Chinese jogs had already run away. If they¡¯d arrived a moment faster, they¡¯d have caught Chinese police who carried arms. That¡¯s a bummer.¡±


    Smith was also being startled by an unexpected turn at the border area. He was fully prepared to incite the leaders of the Kazakh current government¡¯s opposition party but now because the border area incident was expanded into something serious, he was busy investigating the situation.


    ¡°Well, there was nothing we could do now but we should go to the border area to see how things are going. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask about that. The headquarters is asking to report the situations. Why don¡¯t we go to the border area and collect information together?¡±


    ***


    Youngho and Jongil were their way back to the hotel in Almaty.


    ¡°If the president knew our hard work, he would¡¯ve given us an award certificate or something. What a waste.¡±


    ¡°I know. I don¡¯t understand why the U.S. wants to involve in another country¡¯s politics. The Kazakh people like the dictator, why bother?¡±


    The two¡¯s perspective was that if Kazakh people were satisfied with the dictator-like president, they should be left alone.


    It was only because they had caused a scene at the border area that the dictator president was not cornered.


    Youngho actually liked the presidential system of Kazakhstan at the moment, although the president was no different from a dictator.


    There were problems such as the gap between the rich and poor but the president¡¯s strong economic development policy seemed like it would develop Kazakhstan¡¯s stance fast and Arirang Farm would also be positively affected by it. That was why Youngho had made a huge issue at the border market.


    Although it was an ident, it was a major incident that the country¡¯s own people were killed. It was something that proved Chinese people had looked down upon Kazakhstan. The incident became a turning point for Kazakhstan to have a new perspective on China.


    Youngho was going to slip the information that the Chinese police was also involved in this to the Kazakh government.


    To Youngho, China was more dangerous than Russia since they were expanding their dominance fiercely all over the world. He did not care for politics or rtions between countries but he wanted to keep the Chinese dominance away from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan since they were where the Serbian descendants settled down.


    China would definitely be an obstacle to the establishment of the Serbian Kingdom in the future. Youngho was willing to fight with any means.


    ***


    While Youngho was dealing with the Han people in Almaty, Arirang Farm busy getting through the cold winter.


    Kim Chun, the branch head was returning from ordering products in downtown Atyrau. These days, driving to the inner city was convenient since his boss had assigned him a personal Serbian driver.


    They took turns to drive and it was when he was falling asleep after he gave the wheel to the Serbiand. He woke up when he felt pressure from his safety belt as the car made a sudden stop.


    ¡°What? Why are you stopping the car?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim, take out the gun from the dashboard and duck down. I¡¯m going to dash.¡±


    Kim Chun peeked outside for the moment. It was dark out but he could see blurry figures of several people standing up around a bonfire at a distance.


    ¡®Highwaymen?¡¯


    All he could think was that since there would not be an inspection on the road at this hour. It had never urred to him but he had heard that trucks were frequently robbed. Also, now that he was a famous buyer and he was rumored to carry a lot of cash with him, they might be targeting him.


    However, if they were those robbers, they would not stop after only taking his money. They would definitely kill him since there was no reason to leave witnesses. Also, if two bodies were thrown at the vast field, there are more than enough animals that would get rid of the bodies including their bones.


    No one would be able to find a single piece of evidence in the field.


    Kim Chun felt his hair standing on end.


    ¡°Just drive no matter what! It¡¯s okay if you run them over.¡±

 Chapter 204 - Wintering in Kazakhstan (1)

    <h4>Chapter 204: Wintering in Kazakhstan (1)</h4>


    It was the next day when Youngho heard about Kim Chun¡¯s ident.


    Both the car and the people in awful shape made it near to the city of Kulsary, but Kim Chun was in a critical condition.


    Since both of them could not pull out from the operation, only Youngho rushed to Atyrau by airne.


    At the intensive care unit, Kim Chun was lying down on a bed with a respirator on and Marco the Serbian had his arm in a bandage. He was devastated. Thankfully, Kim Chun¡¯s life was safe but he was still unconscious.


    Youngho wanted to move him to a huge general hospital in Western Europe but Kim Chun was not in a condition to travel. He only asked hospital staffs to give him the best treatment. It was fortunate that there was a hospital in a medium city, which could take patients in critical conditions.


    Youngho emphasized safety all the time but Kim Chun was trying to drive back to the farm in the dark and was targeted by robbers.


    Marco said that they could only save their lives since he broke through a barricade by running over it, but Kim Chun was shot on his arm and chest when he tried to fire back at the enemies. Although Kim Chun was brave, Youngho thought that he should have spared himself since he was not a trained person.


    Such robbery did not happen often in Kazakhstan. Many times, no evidence was left and people were reported as missing and returning alive was a lucky case. The car that Kim Chun and Marco drove was taken by the city police. There were countless bullet holes on the car. It was a miracle that the engine did not shut down and they could make it to Kulsary.


    Judging by the fact that bullets prated the body of the car, it was highly possible that the robbers used Russian machine guns. Also, they must be a robber organization since they were in a group.


    Youngho thought that he should not allow driving at nights for the people of Arirang Farm and give them light armored vehicles if they had to drive at nights.


    It was two days after Youngho¡¯s arrival at Atyrau that Kim Chun¡¯s consciousness returned. Although he was conscious, he still could not talk.


    Youngho only thought that the very critical condition had passed.


    The police said that it was impossible to catch the suspects since the ident happened on an industrial road in an uninhabited region. It seemed that it would be faster for himself to investigate the case.


    As Kim Chun¡¯s position was vacant, the farm¡¯s work and rted businesses were experiencing troubles. With their supervisor gone, the Koryoin workers could not work efficiently. As business was about to be paralyzed, Youngho rushed and called Kim Ilkwon to the farm.


    ¡°Ilkwon, tell people to use light armored vehicles when they go outside the farm. It¡¯s same for you. I think some people are targeting our farm since it¡¯s doing so well. We should take caution from now on.¡±


    ¡°Boss, I should train the town watch here. If they can receive systematized military training, they will be able to effectively take actions in case of emergency.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to train them in this coldness?¡±


    ¡°There are some empty warehouses. Some basic cross-order drill, marksmanship training, and squad operation tactics would do the job.¡±


    Since there was a Serbian town watch, it seemed that they would keep the security of the farm when they were systematically trained. They had been protecting the town from wild animals until now but now it was time to protect the town from thieves or robber organizations.


    A person who could rece Kim Chun was needed. Youngho worried if the Koryoin employees could do their job without Kim Chun¡¯s supervision. He was a great branch head that Youngho could not miss. Since the robbers almost killed him, Youngho could not sit and wait for them to make the next move. They went too far by blindly firing at the car just for some cash. If Youngho left them alone, they would not stop making other victims.


    ***


    ¡°Drive slowly. You¡¯re wasting gas.¡±


    ¡°We can only drive this because gas is cheap here. You said it has great mileage but it doesn¡¯t look like that¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very efficientpared to regr armored vehicles.¡±


    They had filled the gas tank when at the farm¡¯s lubricator but the arrow of the vehicle¡¯s oil gauge was already dropped down to the two-thirds level.


    Youngho and Ilkwon were now driving on the industrial road between Atyrau and the Oral River. They hade out to find the robbers. If they showed up today, it would be their funeral day.


    Although it was an industrial road, there were almost no vehicles on the road at night time. The road was not managed well and the damaged parts of the road were not visible at nights, so people were reluctant to pass the road at nights. Moreover, there were plenty of dangerous elements to drive on the road in winter nights.


    If a vehicle broke down in the middle of the road, people would have to be locked in the car and might freeze to death and even if they make a fire in the field, they would be an easy target of wild animals.


    It had been three days since Youngho and Ilkwon had been looking for the robbers and they still had no luck. Youngho hade out thinking that it would be hisst day of searching them. If he would not be able to find them today, he was going to conclude that the robbers wereying low for a while to avoid police search for firing at civilian¡¯s car.


    Without too much expectation, Youngho and Ilkwon left the farm after having a dinner meal. The light armored vehicle clearance was high, that he had a wide view like a truck. When Ilkwon was still driving, Youngho spotted a light shing for a moment before disappearing from a distance. It seemed that the light had disappeared because they just entered a downward slope.


    ¡°Ilkwon, I saw a light shing. You¡¯ll see it once we hit the uphill road. Get ready.¡±


    ¡°What? Was it a car? I didn¡¯t see it.¡±


    ¡°It was for an instant. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s from a car.¡±


    Since Youngho¡¯s vision was as many times as brighter than others, Ilkwon could not have spotted the light at such far distance.


    Ilkwon thought for a while and got off the road. He was trying to go around them and catch them from an unexpected side. Since the light armored vehicle could drive freely off roads too, it was a great idea.


    They were approaching the strangers with all the lights turned off. Through the starlight scope, seven figures of men were spotted. The robbers were warming themselves around a bonfire and blocked the road with a barricade as if they were police officers doing inspections.


    Due to the heavy noise of the wind, the armored vehicle¡¯s engine noise was drowned.


    Youngho asked Ilkwon to park at about a hundred-meter distance from the robbers, and took out his sniper rifle. Opening the roof of the vehicle where the machine gun would be installed, Youngho aimed at one of the robbers¡¯ car. He nned to strand them first.


    Aiming at where the gas tank was, he fired at once. The first shot was a fail since his night vision goggles wavered and he could not see well. He consecutively fired two more shots and luckily they were not missed. Soon, he also made the other car the same as the first one.


    Through the oil leaked, the cars caught on fire. Due to the explosion of the cars, two were knocked down on the ground.


    Ilkwon drove the car near them until about fifty meters of distance.


    They were yelling at each other watching their cars burning, and they did not even notice that a light armored vehicle was approaching them. The rest of them were taking care of the guys who fell on the ground.


    Youngho fired shots at the thighs of the people who were checking their friends on the ground. As they were knocked down out of nowhere, others panicked. They had no idea what just happened to them.


    Youngho also shot at a guy who was going to take out his pistol realizing that there was an enemy nearby. Then Ilkwon turned on the headlight and searchlight of the vehicle at once.


    At the sudden light, two people who were not shot raised their hands in fright.


    The robber organization of the Atyrau-Oral River industrial road was caught. Now that Youngho captured seven robbers, the police would be able to find out how many people were sacrificed by them until now. The people who were reported as missing were probably sacrificed by them, or there might be other organizations as well.


    Not long after catching the criminals, Youngho received a message that Kim Chun had made a lot of progress and he could finally talk and engage in short conversations. He would be able to stay in the general ward soon. Youngho was relieved to hear that since he was worried sick about him.


    He decided to take this opportunity to reinforce the security system of Arirang Farm. The public order of this vast country was still not satisfactory. He had only been focusing on oveing the natural environments but it was naive of him. He had not prepared anything for security.


    It seemed that he learned it the hard way that wintering in Kazakhstan was not easy.


    ***


    When Youngho was done taking care of urgent problems, Jongil returned to the farm.


    The border operation had won sess.


    As an aftermath of Youngho and Jongil¡¯s causing of conflict, the Kazakh government adopted a hard line and summoned a Chinese ambassador. The government knew that the Chinese police was involved in this since Youngho delivered evidence through Agent Smith. With clear evidence, China could not make any more excuses. From this incident, Russia and the U.S. were most benefited. The U.S. wanted to be involved in the pro-democracy movement of Kazakhstan but it had to wait due to the current political situations.


    The border market would not open for a while but it would probably re-open in several months since there was high demand and where there is high demand, there must be high supply.


    ***


    When Youngho first decided to develop Arirang Farm, he was going to use Koryoin workers for farming. Then, he inadvertently received Serbian immigrants to the farm site.


    As the rumor was spread that the owner of the farm was Korean and he gave preference to Koryoins, many struggling Koryoins who were scattered around Atyrau had been requesting to move in as Arirang Farm¡¯s residents.


    There were plenty of jobs to offer at the farm but Youngho was worried since he had just enough houses for the Serbian immigrants who would be moving in this spring. Moreover, he was not sure if it was a great idea to make two different groups of people live together.


    ¡°What are you worried about? You can make another town for Koroyin near the branch river. Then you don¡¯t need to make another school for them and they¡¯d be a great help for Serbian immigrants to settle down here.¡±


    ¡°A vige doesn¡¯t just pop up. You need to install houses and basic infrastructures. The money is not the problem, but it¡¯s going to take some time.¡±


    In fact, the school and gym facilities were built near the ranch area next to the Serbian town. It actually sounded great if there was another town over the ranch area from the farm and if the ranch could be a boundary between two towns. The problem was if both people could get along with each other. If people could mingle by living together from the beginning, they would be able to resolve issues together but if they lived separately, there might be conflicts between each other as the farm grew.


    ¡°I should take everybody in without separating them. I should make living together a natural thing.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t those Serbian immigrants who were to be moving in this spring get upset? We have built houses for them so far.¡±


    ¡°I should convince them. Just like Fatima and I are living together, people should do the same. That¡¯s the only way that people would get ustomed to living in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Now, whenever he decided anything, he felt that any future problems would be considered and he should be as careful as possible. He could not give too much money for people in case they lose self-surviving abilities and he should not ask too much of people¡¯s sacrifices.


    That was why Youngho needed advice from someone like Park Youngsun.


    Park Youngsun repeatedly emphasized that the city developed only relying on the farming industry would notst long, so Arirang Farm should develop light industry as well. Since it was necessary to use machinery in arge-scale farm, farming could be handled by a minority. Then, it was critical to use the manpower of the people who did not farm.


    His idea was to start a specialized light industry like Swiss Watch or Swiss Army Knife. Any items that could earn money for the town people and benefit Kazakh economy would bring a high status of Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan.


    Thinking about Park Youngsun¡¯s suggestion, Youngho decided to ask if production of light industry goods were possible at Arirang Farm. Since the current president was determined to achieve the country¡¯s economic growth, it seemed that the president would be willing to support the farm¡¯s industry.

 Chapter 205 - Wintering in Kazakhstan (2)

    <h4>Chapter 205: Wintering in Kazakhstan (2)</h4>


    Nursultan Nazarbayev was the current president of Kazakhstan.


    He was born in the biggest city of Kazakhstan, Almaty. He was a self-made man who once worked as a steelworker andter received a doctorate degree in economics. He served as a secretary during the time of the Soviet Union and was elected as the first president of Kazakhstan and had been in power ever since.


    The president looked like a traditional Asian and in Youngho¡¯s eyes, he was just like amon Korean old man in the countryside.


    He received Youngho in a quite straight posture for his age, which was seventy-eight.


    Youngho only had twenty minutes with the president since the meeting should not interfere with the president¡¯s dinner meal time. In such a short time, Youngho had to show him the vision of Arirang Farm and how it would be helpful for the country¡¯s economy.


    Arranging the meeting with the president was not easy but it seemed that his idea for the farm had intrigued the president¡¯s curiosity.


    ¡°Oh! How did you learn to speak in Russian? You¡¯re quite fluent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve learned it through a friend, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I talk to youfortably?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m about your grandson¡¯s age.¡±


    ¡®Oops.¡¯ Youngho made a slip of the tongue because he was nervous.


    ¡°Are you saying that I¡¯m your grandfather?¡±


    It was a mistake but the president smiled as if it was funny. The heavy atmosphere was lifted after exchanging a few small talks.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that we have a huge territory but we only give permission to foreign investors t developnd for farnd development. You¡¯re saying you want to utilize some part of it as a light industrialplex.¡±


    ¡°In the future, food will be a strong weapon. The world is, in fact, suffering from the shortage of food.¡±


    ¡°That had been a problem for a long time. I already know that grain is a resource.¡±


    ¡°To maintain this size of farnd, mechanization farming is a must. I received immigrants for farming but mechanized farming will leave half of the people without a job. To utilize the idle manpower, I¡¯d like to begin light industry that¡¯sbor-intensive and pollution-free. However, the development condition is holding it back.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you wanted, you could¡¯ve asked the regional governor and he would¡¯ve easily helped you.¡±


    Knowing that many Kazakh officials would overlook uwfulness for a little bit of bribe, the president did not think that what Youngho asked was a big deal.


    ¡°I know that well, Mr. President but I don¡¯t want an uwful business in my farm.¡±


    Youngho waved his hand saying that he wanted to keep the country¡¯sw but the president already knew how things worked in the country.


    ¡°Okay, then. Why don¡¯t we skip the introduction and proceed to the main issue? I heard that you wanted to see me in private. Feel free to speak your mind.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President. Forgive me if I¡¯m being rude but I¡¯d like to suggest something. Don¡¯t you want to be free from Russia¡¯s or China¡¯s pressure?¡±


    Youngho carefully worded his thought. For today¡¯s meeting, he had to make an impression that he was a polite young man and that he was not a dangerous person to the country.


    ¡°I assume that you know why I¡¯m insisting a prolonged one-man rule.¡±


    The president implied that he was only in power to free the country from surrounding nations. However, he must have a personal desire for power as well.


    ¡°I have a random idea. If things work out as I nned, Kazakhstan would be gaining more power and that¡¯s why I asked to see you badly.¡±


    ¡°It seems that you have such confidence in what you¡¯re about to say.¡±


    Just when Youngho thought that he had exaggerated too much, he could see the president¡¯s intrigued eyes. He was curious about what Youngho was going to say about a means to protect Kazakhstan from other countries¡¯ influences.


    ¡°Well, the time has passed this much already. Mr. Lee, how about joining this old man for supper? My supper is quite boring.¡±


    ¡°I assure you that today¡¯s supper will be refreshing for you, Mr. President. I¡¯ve brought the very own wine that I produced. Would you like to try some?¡±


    ***


    As they had supper together, Youngho wittily talked about the stories that he had been through in the Caucasus region and about how he came this far. It seemed that he had told about all of his past excluding the story about the CIA and gold mines.


    The old president was pleasantly amused by Youngho¡¯s stories.


    Their conversation continued even after the supper was over and as they walked to the president¡¯s study. It was when the tea was served and no one was around them.


    ¡°What you¡¯re saying is epting Serbian immigrants can be used as measures to fight against Russia¡¯s influence.¡±


    ¡°Indeed that¡¯s true. The Serbian immigrants submit themselves to my wife calling her the Archduchess. I¡¯m also nning on holding a coronation for her in the right time. It¡¯s rare to find people who are loyal to theirst Archduchess wishing for the re-establishment of their kingdom¡¯s glory. The Serbian descendants only desire to make their own small kingdom and live in peace.¡±


    ¡°And when they gain power, they¡¯d try to dere independence and oppose the government¡¯s policies.¡±


    The president¡¯s concern was reasonable but Youngho kept on talking.


    ¡°Mr. President. I heard that there are a hundred and twenty ethnicities in Kazakhstan. Some of them received their own autonomy but I¡¯ve never heard those minority people revolted against the government. I think they rather worked hard diligently and yed a role in Kazakh economic growth.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Through my experience with the Serbian descendants, I know for a fact that they are diligent and dexterous people. If I give them a little support, they¡¯d be developing surprising products.¡±


    Knowing that the president would be eager to hear more about the story, Youngho paused for a while.


    ¡°Phew, why don¡¯t you keep talking already?¡±


    Although the room was warm, the tea had been gone cold a while ago. There was a silence for a short while and the president finally opened his mouth.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have listened to a young man like you a decade ago but as I¡¯m nning to resign in the future and normalize the political situation I now tend to listen to others.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You have such a grandiose vision for such a small piece ofnd. If you wish to be in power, you should seek to control the whole country.¡±


    ¡°Well, what I¡¯m saying is...¡±


    ¡°Hear me out. Your suggestion is intriguing but how would you be able to fight against powerful nations with such little poption? Do you think the world powers would stop bothering our country just because some decayed European kingdom had established their new kingdom?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...but if little influences are unified, the story might be different. And as you said, Kazakh will gain high status if the high-tech industry you mentioned produces worldwide products.¡±


    Youngho, who was devastated to think that the president was rejecting his request, regained his hope.


    It was time for the old president to make a decision.


    Youngho straightened up his posture. He was ready to listen.


    ¡°How many Serbians can you gather?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t possibly bring all of them in one day but I think over 30,000 people would be possible in time.¡±


    It was a number that could be only achieved when he included newborn babies.


    ¡°Alright. Try making visible achievements when I¡¯m still in power. Then, I¡¯ll grant you autonomy as a reward by the time I retire. But, you can¡¯t take in other minorities in Kazakhstan. If you can keep that condition, I can you a certificate by tomorrow for my promise.¡±


    It seemed that the president would not stand the expansion of the farm¡¯s influence. He was worried about Koryoins since there were 100,000 Koryoins residing in Kazakhstan. It looked like he would have to give up receiving Koryoins at Arirang Farm.


    ¡°Thank you very much, Mr. President. I have friends in different countries. I¡¯ll convince them to draw in investments to benefit Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want. I don¡¯t trust poor Serbian immigrants. I only trust your business ability, so don¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    The president was giving a subtle pressure but Youngho was confident in his business. If he had a problem drawing investment from foreigners, he was willing to invest his funds under a third party¡¯s name.


    ¡°First, I¡¯m going to begin with the drone business, which is gaining poprity recently. I¡¯d greatly appreciate if you could exempt the duties for product parts.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve already chosen the production item. What if I refused your request?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was going to make a secret factory underground.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Heughed out loud. He seemed to be genuinely entertained or he must have seen Youngho as an inexorable young man.


    ¡°You, you are hrious. This is why having youth is great. I like your passion to live hard in a foreign country. Please keep it up.¡±


    ***


    Jongil was surprised to see the certificate that had the president¡¯s official seal.


    Although it was a conditional autonomy, it would be a powerful certificate for the farm. Now Youngho could start any business he wanted at the farm.


    ¡°Alright. You deserve to be the boss. You can now...¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go down the mountain now.¡±


    Jongil¡¯s joke was a different way of saying that his friend had done a great job.


    ¡°Since he doesn¡¯t want Koryoins to move in, he must not want us to be a new power influence to the country.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s something I can¡¯t help with. We should be thankful that we can have this status in a foreign country. Who knows, there might be a Kazakh new leader from our descendants.¡±


    ¡°Man, we should raise them tough.¡±


    The spring hade to Southern Kazakhstan but it was still mid-winter at the farm.


    Since there was nothing to do for the Serbian descendants during the harsh winter, Youngho acted fast to prepare for the drone production business. It was something that Youngho already discussed with Park Youngsun.


    Due to the development of techniques rted to sensors andmunication, drones usage nowadays was quickly expanding in various fields of transport, security, farming, and construction. The core techniques of making GPS, elerometer, and lightweight clearance that went into smartphones also applied to drone development.


    Since the drone industry had great potential, Park Youngsun wanted to start the drone factory. For now, the farm would form a technical partnership with corporations that had software and core tform and focus on simple assembly production andter when the technical skills were umted, the farm would be able to produce its own drones. It was a business worth trying.


    As Kim Chun¡¯s condition was improved a lot, everyone went to visit him at the hospital. Youngho thought that he would be spending his time sleeping in his room but he was talking on the phone.


    ¡°I said, my boss had taken care of everything. The president agreed to his new business.¡±


    He was bragging to somebody. As he saw the group of people walking into his room, he gestured everyone to wait for a moment and kept on talking.


    ¡°Why would we pay port dues to the port that we paid to make? Yeah, that¡¯s right. Of course, we should report to the Maritime and Port Administration and since the ships would being from overseas, we should also make a customs deration. Okay, let¡¯s drink together sometime soon. I¡¯ll treat you big!¡±


    After hanging up, Kim Chun greeted the group and made a fuss to take out some beverages to serve the group. He was in a condition to lie down on his bed but he could not sit still.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, please stay in your bed. You need to rest, so you can go home even quicker.¡±


    ¡°Boss. I can go home now. Please let me out of this ce.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? If only you hadn¡¯t decided to drive in that hour...¡±


    ¡°Boss. How many times should I admit? It was my bad. I don¡¯t know what was with me but I insisted to return to the farm that day.¡±


    Then Kim Chun went on and told the story of that night to the whole group. He was such an energetic patient. Thankfully, as his condition was recovered, he was able to work on the phone.


    He probably had made countless drink meetings with business-rted people.


    He would have to fear that he would be summoned to the hospital againter for alcoholism.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, I¡¯ve assigned a light armored vehicle for you. You can go anywhere at any time freely now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, boss. You can even put the machine gun on its roof.¡±


    Kim Chun was still furious about what happened that night. Then he went back to the story of that night. He was talking everyone¡¯s ear off.


    He was such a cheerful person. If Youngho had lost him, he would have lived in regret for the rest of his life.


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve already taken care of the Koryoin problem. They can¡¯t live on our farm but they can live nearby. So, I assigned a residential ce for the workers at about an hour distance from the farm and told them tomute. The government won¡¯t make this a problem.¡±


    That was a great solution. Youngho would have to use local people¡¯s manpower anyway for the establishment and maintenance of the farm, town, and factory and if the manpower is from Koryoins, it would be the best.

 Chapter 206 - Wintering in Kazakhstan (3)

    <h4>Chapter 206: Wintering in Kazakhstan (3)</h4>


    Would anyone believe that the history of the world changed because of people¡¯s pte?


    There was an incident of the Crusades that had influenced the European culture, and its cause was spice.


    It is told that the Europeans who tasted the oriental spices through the Crusades could not eat their own food after they returned home.


    Their major diet was based on meat and since it was difficult to preserve meat, many were decayed and had bad odors. However, when people tasted spices of the East, there was a revolution of taste.


    This was one of the main causes of the beginning of the Age of Exploration, and because of that, the East and West had shed and the colonial era began as well.


    Youngho was reminded of the history because it was impossible for him to like Serbian foods that the descendants of Serbia made for him on Arirang Farm. He could only have a bite of their meat and ovee its smell after putting a lot of pepper powder, cinnamon powder, and expensive saffron. He wished to fly back to Baku once the wind was calm enough.


    He could see why Crusaders opened the Age of Exploration. Serbian people gave him pork leg that had been preserved in salt for years saying that it was good and gave him the most stinky cheese which was supposed to be high quality. So, Youngho frequently ate instant rice, dried seaweed, and ramen to satisfy his hunger.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stand this anymore! I should go to Baku at once and bring some Korean side dishes. I¡¯m going to wreck my health if I keep going on like this.¡±


    As Youngho finally gave up, Jongil and Ilkwon nodded at him as if they felt the same.


    ¡°I should build a greenhouse or something for these people so that they can grow some vegetables. I¡¯m afraid that they might have scurvy due to Vitamin D deficiency.¡±


    Thankfully, the Serbian immigrants were healthy but the gang could not handle their food.


    When Kim Chun¡¯s wife invited the gang asionally, the gang could eat some Korean foods. They wished that she would invite them every day but it was not like they were only invited to Kim Chun¡¯s house. The influential people among the descendants kept inviting them to their houses, so they reluctantly visited their houses as well.


    Spending a while living with the immigrants, Youngho could observe their lives closely.


    Since there was nothing to do in the cold winter, many people drunk often together, and so Youngho made aputer ss at the school, but it was not a fundamental solution.


    It looked like he should build the drone production factory first thing once the temperature was warmed up and create jobs for the people.


    Since the factory would be a simple assembly shop for now no special training was necessary. Once people received basic training, they would be able to assemble drones.


    Because the construction of the wharf and roads proceeded in winter time, there had been many small and big safety idents.


    Although there were no life-threatening idents, many were wounded due to safety frigidity, and the old retired doctor and nurses were busy taking care of the construction workers. It was because of them that the town could give first aid to the wounded people.


    Through Old Niksic¡¯s demand, many young Serbian women followed the nurses around and learned their work. They were of vital importance during emergency situations.


    Arirang Farm in the winter was limping, but it was somehow operating well. Everyone was enduring the coldness and many deficiencies of the farm since they were thankful for they were epted at the farm when they had nowhere to go.


    Since they were safe from hunger and coldness, they seemed to be hopeful that they found a new home. Not to mention, the existence of their Archduchess was a huge encouragement.


    Anyhow, they joyfully epted every day and endured the cold winter in hope.


    Youngho nned to hold an event to let the people feel the warmth of heart despite the coldness outside so that they could remember their first winter in Kazakhstan.


    ***


    ¡°Lee, why aren¡¯t you joining us at the monthly meeting?¡±


    ¡°Chief. I¡¯m now assigned in an operation as a field agent.¡±


    ¡°Your operation was over a while ago. How long are you going to use that excuse?¡±


    ¡°Well, there are finishing steps to an operation. You know that I¡¯ve met the Kazakh president, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to reduce your expense if you keep mentioning meeting the president.¡±


    Michael now knew exactly what Youngho was going through just by listening to his voice. It seemed that Michael should go down the mountain too.


    ¡°Chief. Is there something going on?¡±


    ¡°Every single day is drama. It¡¯s nothing new.¡±


    ¡°If you need me, I¡¯ll fly there at once.¡±


    ¡°The conference is already over, you don¡¯t need to. By the way, I read your report. Is it true that the government is granting you autonomy?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The president was excited about creating an industrialplex. Therefore, you should connect me to apany that we can have a technical partnership with.¡±


    At the end of his report, Youngho had requested an Americanpany that Arirang Farm would have a technical partnership with. He emphasized that such a secure partnership was needed to impress the Kazakh government.


    Making an assembly factory of a drone, which had a small-sized body, did not cost a lot. Since all of the parts would be imported, only a good-sized building with an assembly production line and inspection equipment was necessary.


    The condition of the partnership was, of course, technology transfer in the proper time.


    It was something that the CIA could grant in exchange for Kazakhstan¡¯s peaceful transfer of power and national stability. Then, the CIA would achieve the nation¡¯s job as the world police. The European chapter would also be fulfilling its purpose and Michael was intrigued by that fact.


    ¡°Can you also draw in some investors from America? President Nazarbayev wants active American investments and I¡¯m also arranging Korean investments at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Lee. That¡¯s not a difficult thing to do. It¡¯s a chance for us to raise our voice, I¡¯ll give you a hand.¡±


    ***


    The Korean sr panel productionpany K Electronics had already established a joint venture in Baku, under the condition of a technical partnership with Azerbaijan.


    Since thepany¡¯s size was only to deal with the countries of the Caucasus region, it could not handle the demand for Kazakhstan. This was why Youngho made a suggestion to thepany to take over the big market of Central Asia. His suggestion was a good chance for K Electronics to expand its customer base.


    There was a railroad that connected the countries of Central Asia, which was built during the time of Soviet Union, and if a production factory was built, the market and transport were guaranteed to other countries.


    The demand for sr panels in Kazakhstan was extremely high. It was because the country was huge while its poption was small. Rather than having telegraph poles to supply electricity in a barely popted area, having sr panels was a more efficient way.


    In many remote regions of Kazakhstan, people watched old TVs in their living rooms or yurts. Those were all possible through sr panels or car batteries.


    ¡°Wow, Mr. Lee. When have you make your way into the Kazakh market?¡±


    The staffs of K Electronics who had justnded at Atyrau Airport were busyplimenting Youngho. He was ttered.


    ¡°Well, please save yourpliments. We should go to the domestic terminal first. To get to the farm, we¡¯ll use another airne.¡±


    Youngho and Jongil escorted the staff and stopped before the Cessna airne. As they distributed a little backpack to everyone and told them to put them on, their faces were puzzled.


    ¡°I just gave you parachutes in case of a crash. Put them on tight. The wind these days is just heavy.¡±


    As Jongil scared them, the staffs were hesitant.


    ¡°Hey, stop teasing them. I¡¯m sorry. We¡¯ll all be fine, this is just for your safety. There won¡¯t be any situation where you¡¯d have to use them.¡±


    Then Youngho grabbed the control stick, which made them even scared.


    ¡°Phew, I almost peed in my pants. I can¡¯t think because the ne was so shaky but it¡¯s thrilling.¡±


    There was no pleasant thrill for the K Electronics staffs. Looking at their faces, it seemed that Youngho could count how many times they had been to heaven and hell in their minds.


    ¡°This is what we use every time. This is the only way that we can have a look around the area since it¡¯s huge.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯d be building a panel factory here?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. The factory will be near the city of Atyrau but what you¡¯ve seen today is where the biggest sr photovoltaic power station is in the whole Central Asia.¡±


    The size of the forty acres of sr power facility could be only estimated by looking down from the sky. This was where the electricity to supply for seven hundred families, three thousand and five hundred people, were produced.


    The facility was still in its process of expanding.


    If a drone factory was built, more facilities would be necessary.


    ***


    ¡°I can provide as muchnd for the factory site. You can do a joint venture or sole venture, which one do you prefer?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already decided what we¡¯ll do but I¡¯d like to ask if the Kazakh government or you, are going to make investments as well.¡±


    ¡°If necessary, I¡¯ll make an investment too but I¡¯d rather be satisfied with doing the agency role here.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, everyone¡¯s face was brightened. Since K Electronics had made a lot of profit from Baku¡¯s joint factory, they were expecting more for this business. If the Kazakh government participated in this, their portion would be divided. There was no reason to have a joint venture.


    Youngho also wanted to invest in more for the sr panel factory but he was only going to make twenty percent of equity participation since he wanted to invest in another business to impress the Kazakh government.


    When a foreign corporate body stepped up to build a sr panel factory immediately after Youngho¡¯s meeting with the president, Kazakh officials were surprised.


    Since there was a social problem that there were too many people crowding in big cities without enough jobs, it was good news that an assembly factory that could hire manyborers would be built. It would guarantee at least several hundreds of positions. Moreover, other rted businesses would be also established soon, its economic ripple effect was huge.


    In the beginning, construction workers for building factory facilities would have jobs and after the factory waspleted, factoryborers would be needed. There would also be supply line workers who would deliver parts and moreover, the workers would need ces to eat and entertain themselves.


    Establishment of a single assembly factory had that much effect on the region¡¯s economy.


    Hearing that a Korean corporation had announced its investment in Kazakhstan, Koryoins were also encouraged. There had been some Korean corporations in Kazakhstan in the petrochemicalplex but a Korean corporation¡¯s involvement in a production factory was new. It would also create jobs for Koryoins since interpreters for Korean staffs were necessary.


    Youngho heard that Kim Chun who was supposed to rest had made a temporary office in his hospital private room. Hearing that a Korean corporation was making its foray in the country, he could not stay still.


    ¡°Tell Mr. Kim to take care of his body. We still have a few months left until the construction begins, man. What a busybody.¡±


    Jongil grumbled since he had to stay at the farm due to Kim Chun¡¯s absence and had to suffer at every meal time.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to gain illness if he has to lie down without any work. Let¡¯s leave him alone. It¡¯s still because of him our farm is settled this much.¡±


    Youngho was reminded of the first day when he met Kim Chun.


    It was lucky that he met him at the airport. He was working as a travel guide for Korean people. If it was not him, Youngho could not have had the very thought of establishing Arirang Farm.


    He thought that it would not be a waste if he did any favor for Kim Chun.

 Chapter 207 - Wintering in Kazakhstan (4)

    <h4>Chapter 207: Wintering in Kazakhstan (4)</h4>


    The Kazakh government has been supporting the Imic religion to stand alone from Russia¡¯s economic and religious influences but since the majority of the people were nomads and they followed their ownmonws and traditions, the government¡¯s efforts did not seem to be a huge sess.


    Also, many people who identified to be Muslims were only one in name, just like the majority of Azerbaijani people.


    The Russians that upied about twenty percent of the country¡¯s poption had almost dominated the economic bloc, and the Russiannguage was more conventionally used by people than Kazakh.


    Because of the Russian influence in the country, Russian Orthodox Churches were easily spotted. It was a rare country where the two religions coexisted in peace.


    Recently, Russian Orthodox Church leaders frequently visited Arirang Farm. Since the Serbian immigrants believed Serbian Orthodox Church, they were naturally drawn to the Russian Orthodox Church.


    Youngho was now talking to a Kazakh patriarch from the Russian Orthodox Church.


    ¡°Your Holiness, I haven¡¯t been deeply involved in a religion but I don¡¯t tamper with my people¡¯s religion. My only concern is that my people might get into a religious conflict in Kazakhstan. Could you please help Serbians not to get swept in the vortex of religious conflicts?¡±


    ¡°I understand your concern, but believers of orthodox churches of the world had never been into conflicts with other religions. We are fundamentally different from the Roman Catholic Church. We only provide a ce to find peace for believers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s relieving to know. The president has officially recognized the immigration region, so there won¡¯t be any limitations for religious activities.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about that too. I was hoping to build a small church on the farm for the Serbian immigrants. If you could provide a usible ce, we will build the church at our own expense.¡±


    Since both churches shared the same doctrine, Youngho also agreed to the patriarch¡¯s idea that the people would not mind having a Russian Orthodox church.


    He had been feeling bad for the immigrants who had been drinking to entertain themselves for the harsh winter. If a church was made in the town, their situations would be better.


    ¡°I¡¯ll also pay my part for the construction of the church. I only hope that Arirang Farm would be in peace.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t be more thankful since you¡¯re willing to support us. I promise to send a father who¡¯s a great preacher who can be a great role model and leader for the farm people.¡±


    As the news was spread, Serbian residents weed it with joy.


    It had been a w that prince consort was married to the Archduchess without converting to the Serbian Orthodox Church but hearing that the prince consort had donated the construction cost of the church building, their hearts were lifted.


    To them, religion was culture and life and they had not been able to address it to Youngho that they wanted to build a church.


    Youngho was upset that he wasining to Jongil.


    ¡°Man, there¡¯s no one here who¡¯s going to stop them if they had told that they wanted to build a church. I feel like I¡¯ve been the bad guy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not the good guy either. As the boss, you should¡¯ve paid more attention to the residents and built a church already.¡±


    ¡°And you did not tell me when you knew all this?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m neither the prince consort of the Archduchess nor an aristocrat in this town. If I had made a fuss about it, people would¡¯ve pointed fingers at me saying that I¡¯m greedy for a title here.¡±


    Listening to Jongil, he seemed to want something from Youngho. His nostrils were bigger and he must have aint as well.


    Youngho had been friends with Park Jongil so long that he knew whether Jongil was in a good mood and whether there was something he wanted to ask just by looking his face.


    ¡°Hey, you know at the coronation ceremony, there would be a granting of rewards and honors, right? If you keep acting like this, there won¡¯t be anything for you. What have you done for the residents?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s face turned red.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re saying that I haven¡¯t done anything for the residents? Should I make a list?¡±


    Seeing him getting upset, Youngho realized that there was definitely something he wanted. He was such an easy person to read minds from but not knowing about that, Jongil was pretending that he had no desire for rewards.


    ***


    The winds had been calming down.


    It was a sign of spring. Youngho heard that people here predict theing spring from the scent of the winds. It sounded quite usible.


    Although the temperature dropped below the freezing point at nights, it was pretty warm in the day time. There would only be thest cold snap several times until the end of March.


    The farming would begin by the end of April, so the noise of heavy equipment filled the field.


    The field that would grow wheat this year was about a size of 2,000 acres, butpared to the whole farm site, it was only a small part. It would be a trial seeding since arge-scale underground water resource was still nowhere to be found and the farmers were still not sure of the amount of produce just yet.


    The construction of an irrigation canal was also in the work beside the road construction to the wharf at the nearby branch river, so it seemed that the regr farming could begin next year. It would be perfect if another underground water resource was discovered, but once the irrigation canal was built, water supply would not be an obstacle for farming.


    ***


    Although there were four months of the winter season, there were still things to do outside homes. The school was not opened yet but the teachers who had arrived early gathered people and taught them Russian.


    When the ss was over, men of different ages often gathered and went out for hunting and some old people gathered to drink together, while kids would y with ice on the frozen reservoir of the town. Since Kim Chun brought many pairs of skates and sleds for them, they could have some outdoor activities.


    The town watches were also being trained strictly under Kim Ilkwon¡¯s instruction. Although there were no descendants of knights among the immigrants, they still had mastered strange arts and that was good enough.


    It seemed the arts had been passed down from medieval times for the purpose of people¡¯s defense since they could not own their own weapons due to their ss. All of the people had been learning as they entered teenage years and it was a great means to defend oneself. Since they lived in istion in Serbia, it was martial arts that everyone had to learn to protect themselves and their people.


    The immigrants¡¯ eyes were still keen for the people who lived in the mountainous area only doing farming and ranching. Youngho was worried that they drank too many drinks during winter, but it was just a way for them to warm their bodies and get ustomed to the extreme coldness of Kazakhstan which was iparable to Serbian weather, and also because they had no jobs for now.


    Now that the long period of the winter season was finally passing, the town¡¯s people became livelier than ever. So, Youngho decided to hold a big festival in the town before returning to Baku.


    It was the festival to celebrate theing of spring.


    To prepare for the festival, Youngho lent five-thousand dors for each family under the condition that they would repay him by the fall. He could pay for foods and drinks for the immigrants but buying all of the clothes that they would be wearing at the festival was overwhelming. Since it was a special asion, people would be wearing special clothes and truly enjoy the time.


    He thought about paying for all of their expenses but he decided not to in worry that people might lose self-reliance.


    The people had been living an abundant life through food rotating and farm supplies but it was a different story if they could buy something for themselves even with borrowed money.


    Youngho rented five tour buses for the people as they made a fuss about going out for shopping to the city of Kulsary which was two hours away from the farm.


    All of the buses made five round-trips, which meant that except for a few old people, all the people of the town went to Kulsary for at least one time. Having been living on the farm for several months, they had missed the outside world and they also needed a lot of things to buy for the living.


    While all of that was going on, Youngho called Zeynep Farm and invited Fatima and Zeynep, Park Youngsun and his daughter, Karajan, and Cha Insoo and his family for the festival.


    ***


    The Cessna airne that Cha Insoo flewnded at the runway of Arirang Farm. As the gate was opened, Youngho could hear Leon¡¯s voice first.


    ¡°Papapa...¡±


    Since it was the first time seeing him in almost a month, the two went through a huge greeting ritual of kissing and hugging. Though hugging Leon, Youngho¡¯s eyes were on Fatima. She looked stunningly beautiful today.


    Including the old Niksic, the elders of the town came out to receive Fatima and Youngho could not even get close to her. He was dying to hold her hand.


    Whilst all of that, Youngho did not forget to ask an important question to Insoo.


    ¡°Did you bring kimchi and ramen?¡±


    It was an unavoidable desire for Korean food.


    The festival day was blessed with warm, spring weather with the temperature reaching above 50 degrees in Fahrenheit.


    The traditional Serbian dances that were performed were not seen from the descendants of the kingdom in Baku, and the unique traditional foods with great smells though Youngho and Jongil did not even look at them. Except for the food, everything was new and fun.


    Looking at people¡¯s joyful faces, Youngho regretted not throwing this kind of event earlier. On the other hand, Fatima and Zeynep are having a hard time shaking everyone¡¯s hand. Their hands swelled from shaking too many hands. Although the festival itself was important for the people, having to shake the Archduchess¡¯ hand was a more important and honorable thing.


    As carrying Leon around, Youngho observed people trying to find if anyone was being left out by others. In any group of people, there are people who will be isted and eventually, those people could form an internal dissent and put the whole group in danger. Fortunately, all of the people seemed to get along well and there were no discontent people.


    The festival went on until thete night and all of the town¡¯s people were swelled with the atmosphere and hope for the new year.


    From the unified people, Youngho also saw hope.


    Youngho stayed at Arirang Farm for two more days and returned to Baku.


    As he came from Atyrau, it felt like the season had changed. Baku¡¯s March sunshine was so warm that he almost felt like sweating. When returning to Zeynep Farm¡¯s mansion, Fatima quietly shared her idea.


    ¡°We should stay at the farm in Atyrau during summer. It¡¯d be much cooler there. What do you think, honey?¡±


    She seemed to love how the immigrants treated her like a queen. She wanted to go to stay there in the summer with an excuse of the weather.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to. We could go swimming and fishing at the branch river of the Ural River. I¡¯m going to teach Leon how to swim.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still a baby.¡±


    ¡°Fatima, why don¡¯t you learn swimming too?¡±


    ¡°What, really? Would you be okay if I wear bikinis?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? When did I ever say that I don¡¯t like you wearing bikinis?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that but you always frowned at the international students¡¯ parents wearing bikinis at the reservoir.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I didn¡¯t like that they had bikinis on when others were working.¡±


    Youngho was sorry for Fatima that he had given a wrong impression to her. Because of his position as the CEO and boss of many workers, she had to dress modestly and act older than her age. She was still young but she had given up many fun things for him.


    ***


    An Americanpany in the defense industry, P Drones, chose Arirang Farm as their factory site to producemercial drones for the market of Central Asia.


    It was due to Michael¡¯s effort.


    As a token of appreciation, Youngho gave several boxes of Zeynep Wine to Michael. After receiving the wine through Cho Sangchun, he called Youngho.


    ¡°Lee, You¡¯re not going to pay me with these only, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. You didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re a shareholder of ourpany?¡±


    ¡°Stop kidding me.¡±


    Michael¡¯s voice was brightened as Youngho said that he was a shareholder.


    ¡°You know I care a great deal about you, chief. I can¡¯t lie to a person who¡¯s like my father.¡±


    ¡°Come on, just get done with it. I can¡¯t trust you now since your lying skills have improved too much.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Well, the P Drones will not have a technology partnership with you anyways. You¡¯ve got to be satisfied with only building the assembly factory for now.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯m just happy that I made a great impression on the Kazakh government, chief.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d need to treat me big when youe to this month¡¯s meeting.¡±


    Since meeting the Kazakh president, Youngho managed to draw investments of two foreign corporations. Soon, the factory that would create practical jobs would be established. It was a meaningful step for Kazakhstan since the jobs wouldst more than ten years. Also, it was a great chance for local factory workers to acquire advanced technologies.


    If things worked out well, the factory would also be able to receive transfer of technology from the foreign corporations. As other rted industries would also be benefited by the establishment of the factory, the situation had an excellent prospect.


    To think that he should convert all of the prospects numerically and report it to the president, he called Sergey in Volgograd.


    ¡°Brother, because of the warm weather now, it¡¯s easier to transport wine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. Can you arrange other ships and send more wine at once? I don¡¯t have any left in stock.¡±


    ¡°Our wine must be extremely good. I¡¯ve delivered such a huge amount of themst fall.¡±


    ¡°Well, what about the distributor¡¯s great business skills?¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. This time, I¡¯ll give you wine aged three years in oak barrels. Would that satisfy you?¡±


    ¡°Sure enough. That¡¯s what I wanted. I¡¯ll prove it to you that Russia has a huge premium wine market.¡±


    Sergey had been wanting to sell premium wines and he was d to hear that Youngho was sending three-year-old oak-aged wine. It was because premium wines made high profits for both producers and distributors.


    Youngho had not decided the factory price of the premium wine yet and he nned to decide with Sergey after tasting it together.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯lle along with the cargo ship this time since I have things to discuss with you.¡±

 Chapter 208 - The Path of Spring (1)

    <h4>Chapter 208: The Path of Spring (1)</h4>


    Youngho had been insisting on natural farming for his grape farms that did not use any pesticides or chemicals. There was a reason why the farm¡¯s production rate per unit area was lower than otherrge-scale farms, but his method made better-tasting grapes since healthy trees could endure damages by blight and harmful insects and many insects would disappear naturally when they matured after nibbling on leaves for a while.


    Because there was an obvious difference of taste and vor between grapes that was naturally grown and the ones grew with chemical treatments, Youngho grew his vines strongly without chemicals despite some loss.


    On Zeynep Wine¡¯sbel, it was proudly written that the wine was produced with the organic farming method. Another reason that he did not want to use chemicals was to protect the health of the people who worked or lived on the farm.


    People who had tasted Zeynep Wine noticed the subtle difference in its taste as soon as they had a sip on it. The reason that his wine was sold well in Russia was that it had a great taste.


    ¡°Brother, what would be the reason for the people who were used to drinking vodka like our wine? I¡¯m sure I can produce a third more the amount of wine that I produce now if I used pesticides like the grape farm in Chile or California. It¡¯d have been more profitable for you and myself too.¡±


    Youngho was trying to exin the difficulty of natural farming. It was because Sergey had not called out the price yet.


    ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t say that your wine¡¯s famous because of my business skills. Can you just assign us more oak-aged wine?¡±


    ¡°You should know that there won¡¯t be anyone who¡¯d yell at mafias like me. It¡¯s because I¡¯m confident in the quality of my wine.¡±


    ¡°Have you been ever scared of mafias? You dered war on the first day we met. Remember?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I really had no idea who mafias were back then. I was bold because I was ignorant. How could I ever dere war against mafias now?¡±


    In fact, Youngho never wanted war against mafias when he first met Sergey. He was just bluffing.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop beating around the bush bute to the conclusion. How about ten dors for the regr wine, fifteen for two-year-old oak-aged wine, and twenty-five for three-year-old oak-aged wine?¡±


    Youngho, who was apuding in his mind, showed a worrisome face.


    ¡°Brother, how will you be able to handle such high factory prices?¡±


    ¡®We can sell every single of them. I¡¯m confident.¡±


    Sergey was confident since he had heard from many consumers in Southern Russia that the wine was underpriced.


    ¡°You¡¯re not forcing people to buy them, right?¡±


    ¡°Phew, don¡¯t be ridiculous. We are business people now, not mafias.¡±


    It was a funny situation where a mafia was denying to be a mafia. In fact, Yaniv¡¯spany had changed its overall atmospheretely.


    Yaniv¡¯s men who were skillful and strong had all been assigned to the mercenary and securitypany, that they were morewfulmoners now. There were plenty of jobs for them in Russia even if Youngho did not get work requests for them. Their securitypany was advertised as a protection against the abuse of the public power to civilians. They were hired by people and defended them against corrupt policemen or officials, which was funny but it was the reality. Many private business owners orrge corporations were being abused by tax authorities or policemen.


    ¡°Brother, do you know why there is an eraser attached to a pencil?¡±


    ¡°What are you trying to say now? I¡¯ve suggested the highest prices already.¡±


    ¡°The eraser is used to get rid of miswritten things. Although pencils now fell behind pens, they still survived.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll erase the price I suggested previously and write it again. Twenty-seven dors for three-year-aged wine. I can¡¯t go higher than that!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unfair for the producer if the distributor makes more profits than the producer. I¡¯m going to give it up to you today. You used your eraser at the perfect timing.¡±


    ¡°This man has no shame! You¡¯ve be a true merchant.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯ll see how if you try surviving a year in Baku. And what should I do? I¡¯m spending a lot on the farm in Kazakhstan. I hope you forgive me.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re into such farming. It¡¯s not worthy.¡±


    Youngho smiled brightly at Sergey who clicked his tongue. It was not possible for Sergey not to know why Youngho was making a farm in Kazakhstan.


    ***


    Sergey said that the effect on production inducement of the sr panel factory and drone factory would be more than a hundred million dors. If the final demand for a product was service, the production would affect all sectors of industry.


    The activity of production itself would raise the employment rate and the investments for building factories would bring up domestic consumption. The factories would also encourage the growth of the transportation industry bymuting to and from work. As the virtuous circle between workers and consumption was achieved, the overall regional economy would be vitalized.


    As listening to Sergey, Youngho realized that his business steps were huge achievements to the regional economy. Now he had something to brag before the president.


    ¡°I should study more about the economy, brother.¡±


    ¡°Why would you begin to study now? Take a smart person and let him work. You are better at starting businesses.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to say that I¡¯m stupid?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a natural boss. Don¡¯t let the numbers and figures take you down. It¡¯s something that your underlings should do.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Can I give you some advice? I was reminded of some things when you talked about the pencil.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s from your mouth, I¡¯ll listen carefully.¡±


    ¡°The pencil with an eraser on top. It¡¯s a great invention. The rigid attitudes and ways of thinking like the pens or fountain pens that are hard to remove once you¡¯ve written something with them are only bound to underlings. It¡¯s their limits since they can¡¯t do whatever they want because they are not the owners, but a boss can have flexible and creative ways of thinking like the pencil that you can write and erase with. It¡¯s because of your position since no one would point fingers at you...¡±


    It had a huge impact on Youngho that he even felt like someone had hit him on his head hard. Suddenly his outlook was brightened.


    Sergey¡¯s words refreshed Youngho¡¯s view and expanded his horizons.


    He was saying that Youngho should have the eraser that could erase the fixed idea of failure and sess, a new frame of thinking that was more suitable for his position as a boss.


    Overjoyed, he hugged Sergey tightly.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? I¡¯m afraid people¡¯s going to misunderstand us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing it for them to misunderstand. If this goes into Mr. Yaniv¡¯s ears, he¡¯s going to dismiss you for the inappropriate business behavior. Then, I¡¯ll take you to Kazakhstan immediately.¡±


    ¡°Stop saying the nonsense. Let¡¯s sign on the contract already.¡±


    ¡°You told me to have a flexible attitude. Well, I¡¯ll have to erase my words to scout you for my business.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Then, Sergey also suggested a few ways for Arirang Farm and Serbian immigrants to get assimted into the Kazakh society.


    ¡°You should, first, make a social welfare organization.¡±


    ¡°The Serbian people are already receiving full benefits of the social welfare that I provide¡±


    Not minding Youngho¡¯s joke, Sergey kept on.


    ¡°Kazakhstan is surely a huge country. There are so many people and towns in remote regions that are not benefited by civilization and social welfare. Those are ces where the government¡¯s influence does not reach. The country¡¯s economy has developed rapidly in recent years but it is still a developing country.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying I should help people in remote regions. Then, I¡¯ll naturally show the government that I¡¯m doing charity work for people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a visible effect but the practical effect would be the young people who were benefited by your organization, they would be helpful for you in the future. If they received an opportunity to study in big cities because of you, they¡¯d appreciate it for forever. Think about having those appreciative people in different parts of Kazakhstan. You won¡¯t even have to try but Arirang Farm would hold a high status and unconditional supporters¡±


    ¡°Ah!...¡±


    ***


    Traditionally, miners used to bring bird cages in a mine. People used to bring canaries but because of their high price, any birds that were sensitive to smell could be used. When the air was polluted in the mine, sensitive birds would die first and those birds were the barometers of the level of air pollution.


    There had been so many damages due to air pollution that the miners even used birds as barometers.


    Now there were various safety devices and air cirction machines and birds were no longer needed but the Serbian miners still brought birds as their old habits and enjoyed the sounds of birds.


    Knowing their custom, Youngho brought birds whenever he visited the gold mines. It was a token of appreciation.


    Nermin, who was in charge of the gold mines, greeted Youngho as he received the birdcage from him. He escorted Youngho to the office.


    ¡°Prince consort. You must be wondering how many gold bars have been umted by now.¡±


    Youngho came to find out about that but he could not ask that when he had just met him. He was not so brazen to do that.


    As the big door of the safe was open, the sunshine from the window reflected on the gold bars.


    ¡°Wow, how did you make so many already?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the gold bar prices of the world might drop at this rate. They¡¯re about a ton of gold.¡±


    Adding the four-hundred kilograms of gold bars which were left after selling most of them to Shamakhi the grain importer with the ones that were produced until now neared a ton of gold bars but almost the same amount of gold bars were produced. The gold mines were like the legendary El Dorado.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this much was produced in such short period of time although I knew the vein of gold was pretty thick.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d be able to produce two tons a year for a while. So we will be test-digging the mine next to this one. We have great equipment and the mine is quite stable. We can work much faster than before.¡±


    Up until now, the miners had only dug up three mines in the whole minefield that was neglected by the Azerbaijani government. So, Nermin was eager to find out what other mines had in store.


    ¡°Nermin. There¡¯s no need to hurry. We need heritage for our descendants, we don¡¯t want to exhaust all of the resources in our generation.¡±


    ¡°These mines were closed only because the technology in the past could not keep the excavation work anymore. Our ancestors who were brought as mine ves stopped mining in the mines where there would be the most gold, iming that there was no more gold. It was to leave gold for their descendants. We only touched three out of fourteen mines. Our descendants would be able to produce more gold using more advanced technologies in the future.¡±


    Youngho was excited to hear Nermin¡¯s exnation.


    The rest of the mines were filled with oak barrels but what if all of them were rich mines?


    The first mine that copsed was not dug by the miners anymore. It was now used as a natural refrigerator for oak barrels and now only two mines were producing gold. The thick vein recently discovered was now going to produce two tons of gold a year. It was such a wondrous and rich minefield.


    Gold was a valuable resource that other countries were looking to secure. Many national banks from all over the world were gathering gold to prepare for the case when the international mary system failed since the gold standard would revive.


    It was said that the United States had 8,000 tons of gold stored and Germany has 3,000 tons but they were still collecting gold with high prices. This meant that the international financial market would stumble in the recent future.


    Since the situation was like this, all of the gold produced here would be sold forcefully by the Azerbaijani government or Youngho¡¯s excavation license would have been taken away if it was an official excavation.


    He was lucky that he met the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s descendants. Through the gold mines, Arirang Farm in Atyrau that would be a small kingdom, in the future would have power.

 Chapter 209 - The Path of Spring (2)

    <h4>Chapter 209: The Path of Spring (2)</h4>


    ¡°Boss. It¡¯s Choi Sunkil. I heard you came back to Baku.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯ve been away doing random things after making you in charge of Arirang Shipping. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you from Mr. Park. Thank you for your hard work.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is what I¡¯m supposed to do. It¡¯s been going great. Do you remember the freighters that were in the market? They¡¯re dirt cheap now.¡±


    Choi Sunkil¡¯s voice was full of confidence. Everything has been going well ever since he was hired by Youngho. He was excited to share the good news that the cargo ships that he had been eyeing on were now at one-third of their original prices in the market.


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. Do you think two is enough? How about getting one or two more at this time?¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have that much cargo anyway, so we shouldn¡¯t overdo it even if they are cheap. That was why I failed. I won¡¯t fail twice.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll send you the money and you sign the contracts and as we said before, they will be named as ¡®Zeynep 2¡¯ and ¡®Zeynep 3¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Your sister inw will love to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯m forced to name my ships after her name since she¡¯s the one who holds the leash.¡±


    Youngho was really being dragged around by little cunning Zeynep these days. He worried about what kind of conditions she would have for using her name this time.


    ¡°The total price is forty-five million dors for both ships together. I negotiated the down payment as ten million dors with the financingpany.¡±


    ¡°Only that amount of capital is enough?¡±


    ¡°Instead, they¡¯re asking ¡®Zeynep 1¡¯ as a joint mortgage. Would you ept that?¡±


    ¡°Well Zeynep 1 is already under shipping finance, so it wouldn¡¯t really matter. Let¡¯s ept the offer and could you make the principal repayment first from freight revenue? For the time being, we won¡¯t have our own profits. We only need to have funds for freight maintenance and payroll costs.¡±


    ¡°Alright. The bank will love to hear that.¡±


    Many shippingpanies were trying hard to get rid of their ships and lowering their prices. It was only a possible story because of the recession. As a result, Arirang Shipping could buy two ten-year-old 50,000-ton ss freighters at such prices.


    Also, it would not have been possible without having Choi Sunkil as thepany¡¯s professional management. He knew well about the circumstances of shippingpanies and financingpanies. Repeatedly saying that it felt like living a new life, he was truly enthusiastic.


    Youngho was thankful for meeting such a person who wasplementary to him.


    ***


    It is said that human beings have gained a sense of determining their behavior through life information that has umted for tens of thousands of years.


    The story of ¡®the first penguin¡¯ is often used in the western world to encourage people¡¯s brave challenge. Penguins usually flock to the seaside waddling, but when in time to dive into the sea, they are reportedly hesitant, walking in ce. It is not only because there are delicious foods in the sea, but also there are natural enemies like seals and sharks.


    However, among the reluctant colony of penguins, there is always one brave penguin that jumps first toward the uncertain sea. Then, all of the other penguins that had been hesitant soon follow the first one and jump into the sea.


    ¡®Just do it.¡¯


    The moral of the story is to be do something new despite the fear of uncertainty.


    It is told that people do not always decide things rationally but many times, they also decide things by their own gut feelings within two seconds.


    As for Youngho, it was more problematic that sometimes he decided on important things not even thinking for a second.


    Today¡¯s decision was an example of that.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finally gone mad. Since I¡¯m your friend, it¡¯s partly my responsibility. Why don¡¯t you hit me for that? Then you mighte back to your senses.¡±


    Amazed by Youngho¡¯s absurd opinion, Jongil bashed on him.


    ¡°Dude, I¡¯m saying we should wait for the result at least. I feel good about this time.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have anything left if you feel good about something twice. Man, I¡¯ve been supporting you as my boss but the time has finallye for me to find my own way now.¡±


    ¡°Where would you go without me? You won¡¯tst a day, you know.¡±


    ¡°I have Karajan and I have a son too!¡±


    Jongil was upset since Youngho just imed that Zeynep Corporation would be taking in charge of Azerbaijani private-sector¡¯s managing underwriter for the Moscow-Azerbaijan-Iran Railroad business.


    This was a prospective business that Russia¡¯s influential economists and the global management consulting firm, McKinsey also approved.


    A private underwriter must pay a few times more contribution than other corporations but Youngho was willing to outstretch Zeynep Corporation this time to establish a higher status for the time when he would have to negotiate with the Azerbaijani government. He was more convinced since Yaniv also decided to be the managing underwriter for the Russian private sector.


    The reason for Jongil¡¯s opposition was that the corporation would have to spend so much money on Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan for the next several years.


    Youngho had already promised the Azerbaijani government that he would donate ten million dors a long time ago. He thought that if he was going to donate the money anyway, he should use the opportunity to expand his business. Besides, there was a way for him to make more money, which Jongil did not know about yet.


    ¡°Jongil, you should be thankful that you¡¯re serving me as your boss. You know what I¡¯m saying?¡±


    ¡°Phew, who¡¯s going to be that gullible and invest money for your words?¡±


    ¡°Yaniv!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He told me that this is going to be hisst business. He¡¯s going to pour out everything he got to take advantage of this. He will also want to expand his influence not only over Russia but also in Azerbaijan. If I¡¯m the private underwriter here, we¡¯ll cooperate with each other and share profits.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If I say I don¡¯t have enough money to contribute, he¡¯ll certainly pay for me. He¡¯s rich.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re turning into a con artist now.¡±


    ¡°They say the best businessman starts a business without paying a single penny but I still pay ten million dors. If you keep diminishing me like this, there won¡¯t be your portion in this.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay! Jeez.¡±


    Jongil seemed to be convinced. Youngho spotted a tip of his mouth was slightly raised.


    ***


    It is said that a tiger does his best even when he catches a little rabbit.


    Youngho would also have to do his best if he was going to be in charge of the private sector of Azerbaijan of the railroad project which was an unprecedented project linking the main artery of the Caucasus Mountain Range.


    Now that he found his prey, he would have to use his full force.


    The three countries had now finished consultation and they were now at the stage right before the basic survey for specific lines of the railroad.


    Since the consortium of privatepanies in the railroad project was investing in all sectors, Youngho would have to find a way to outstand among them. The thing was that otherpanies were somewhat passively involved because they were reluctantly intervening in the government¡¯s policy.


    Large oil refineries would invest a little too much, but they would not be willing to take on a troublesome underwriter position, they would rather be satisfied with their equity participation. The toughest opponent for Youngho was a constructionpany that was directly run by the Transport Minister himself.


    Youngho could not understand what kind of country the high-ranking official owned and participated in all kinds of government projects even if he was an opening pledge of the country.


    However, this was the Caucasus and many impossible things were possible here. That was how Youngho could make it so far with his bare hands.


    If the Transport Minister steps up to be the underwriter, it would not be private consortium anymore since the government would be involved.


    To prevent such thing, Youngho¡¯s priority was to collect information to find about the minister¡¯s Achilles¡¯ heel. If the mister intervenes, Youngho would be leaking his malpractice to the public although he hoped such thing would never have to happen.


    ¡°Insoo, can you dig into the Minister of Transport¡¯s private and official lives? Didn¡¯t you say that our security crews are guarding a minister¡¯s rtive?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that family is a mess. Why are you going to bother them? Nothing good wille out if you get involved with them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what we¡¯re going to involve in. We¡¯re just going to slip out his malpractice to the presster. It¡¯s not fair if an official enters the private consortium.¡±


    ¡°Oh, was that what you¡¯re going to do? Okay, we can find as much information as you need.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Ilkwon. The North Korean representatives returned home. Only one left and he¡¯s desperately opposing but you don¡¯t need to be worried anymore. Tell your family that they can freely roam around Baku now.¡±


    As North Korea ignored international conventions such as firing missiles, the Azerbaijani government had also called for the withdrawal of North Korean representatives in the country as a means of pressure under the U.N. resolution.


    ¡°Boss. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°You know I usually don¡¯t say something twice.¡±


    Kim Ilkwon was swelled to hear the news.


    For the meanwhile, he could travel overseas freely but he disguised himself whenever he went out to Baku downtown. He had to be extra careful since he was a North Korean defector and if he was found by North Korean representatives, he would get in trouble. He felt a sudden relief.


    Youngho was also relieved now that he could take Ilkwon anywhere without any worry.


    Sometimes restrictions in behavior also cause mental receding.


    The existence of the North Korean representatives had been subtly suffocating Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family for a long time since they could be abducted and dragged back to North Korea if they were found. If that happened, Youngho would have gone to North Korea to fight for them but thankfully, such thing did not happen.


    From that day, Kim Ilkwon¡¯s family and his wife¡¯s family went to downtown so frequently as if they lived there. It proved how much the fact had freed their minds.


    The spring had just begun in Kazakhstan but Baku was already full of blooming flowers.


    It amazed Youngho how flowers would bloom with only a little moisture in such dry, barrennd. The leaves began to sprout from the vines of his farm as well.


    Youngho took Leon to the vines whenever he had free time thinking that seeing nature¡¯s wonders would help him develop a more stable mentality. If he was going to grow up into a leader of the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s descendants, he would have to have a warm heart.


    Youngho only wished that his son would grow into someone who loves literature and music, and someone who haspassion for others instead of living a harsh life as he did.


    Since he had heard that kids who had frequent contacts with nature from young ages would have great stability and sociability, he was going to let Leon y in fields and mountains for most of his time.


    Youngho¡¯s face seeing Leon wobbling on the vineyard was peaceful than ever.

 Chapter 210 - A Great Migration (1)

    <h4>Chapter 210: A Great Migration (1)</h4>


    Arirang Farm was applying experimental city nning. The harmony between residential andmercial areas had no problem benchmarking the world¡¯s famous cities but preventing the northern and continental winds of the Ural Mountains had been the main topic.


    Building a city in an empty in without mountains needed more than stonewalls. To prevent the winter winds which were simr to natural disaster, many ns were brought up.


    Eventually, people came to the conclusion that the city had to be in the form of a fortress.


    As Youngho shook his head looking at the city nning, Park Youngsun opened his mouth.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, look at this topographic map carefully.¡±


    He pointed to the little hill at the farm which was used as a temporary residential ce.


    ¡°Dr. Park, are you talking about building the castle again? I thought I told you that it¡¯s too early for that. Can it wait?¡±


    ¡°The hill is in the north and it¡¯s not too far away from the branch river of the Ural River. That ce is in the path, that not only the wind from the Ural Mountains but also the wind from the river are blocked naturally. This is the first line that stops the northern wind. That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying we should get the construction started as soon as possible.¡±


    Park Youngsun¡¯s idea was to spread the castle on the hill, so it could act as a wall to block the northern wind and as a watchtower for the river and town in the south. Since the castle would be watching over the whole farm, it would act as andmark of the farm.


    Where the castle would be was at a distance northeast from the immigrants¡¯ town. Since it would be on high ground, it was great for the watchtower and it would also have some prestige to it.


    The outline of the second vige through the fifth vige slowly began to emerge. Each vige would have the capacity of 500 households and would be built yearly, set up in a semi-circr fashion. The curve part of the semi-circr setup would face the north and there would also be a square at the center of the semi-circle. In the South of the residential areas, was the airfield and the runways. Around the central square, there would be facilities such as a mall, caf¨¦s, restaurants, bank, public office, library, theater, and visitor lodging.


    The towns would be surrounded by a stone wall to block winds, and since big buildings like storage warehouse and a school were at the outskirt of the residential areas, they also acted as wind blockers. There is also a ranch area and underneath is where the underground gym was nned to be built.


    Some of the stone walls builtst year had to be removed since it was between the first town and the second town. Since most of the wolves were killed during the winter, the stonewalls surrounding the town was only used as a wind blocker.


    ***


    The construction of the backbonework of the towns, road and water and sewage, was already finished, and the second and third towns¡¯ residential construction was in its process. It was being hurried since the people who would be moving in this year were prospected to be more than a thousand families, also, the empty houses in the first town could not amodate all of the neers.


    People who worked in the construction for building houses were the Kazakh people from the nearby city, Kulsary, Koryoins, and the first immigrants. Since building houses did not need special skills and Most of the houses in Eastern Europe and Central Asia were built by the owners themselves, it was not a difficult job for the people if they had enough materials.


    After Kim Chun assigned a Koryoin construction expert in charge, the houses were being built with surprising efficiency. He was a man of capability that he had trainedmon people as expert construction technicians. With the use of heavy equipment, the number of houses beingpleted was exponential.


    The Koryoin director suggested about twenty different house designs with a reason that uniform house designs hurt the fine view. He said that if differently designed houses wereid in a block, it would help improve diversity and the fine sight of the town.


    Youngho had not thought about the aesthetic part of the towns since he only thought that the speed of the construction was important. It seemed that the director had been frustrated by the uniform design of the residential town.


    ¡°Boss, it takes about the same time until the towns arepleted regardless of the house designs. Have you seen the houses built during the era of the Soviet Union? They¡¯re suffocating. I want to change that since I¡¯m in charge of the construction.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was in such a hurry. You¡¯re the one in charge, you can do whatever you want.¡±


    Although he had majored in construction engineering, he had a mind of a humanist.


    This was his theory: People who live in a standardized form of housing and people who live in different types of housing also differ in the diversity of thinking because the environment around people influences people¡¯s characteristics and personalities.


    Because the farm was on a in without any mountains or streams, he wanted to build diverse buildings. Youngho was impressed to hear his perspective.


    On that day, the Koryoin director was promoted as the director of the construction department of Arirang Farm. Youngho and his group decided to begin the castle construction under his direction as well.


    The Koryoin director¡¯s name was Nikevich Min. As he was hired permanently, he immediately brought his family to live on the farm.


    ***


    Kim Ilkwon was picked as the person in charge of the first group to travel to the Port of Burgas to receive the second group of immigrants.


    As watching him leave with ten Serbian youngds on Arirang from the Baku¡¯s port, Youngho poked Jongil¡¯s side.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got about four days. Let¡¯s go to Amsterdam first and then the Mediterranean to reach the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve no idea how busy I¡¯m as the director of the intelligence group of Kazakhstan. Bring Niksic¡¯s grandson instead. I¡¯ll fly thereter.¡±


    Jongil did not seem to want to go on a long journey.


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Okay. You can¡¯t take it back then.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t try to.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Choi had found an amazing bar in Amsterdam. Did he say that the bar does strip shows?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s face suddenly changed at the sound of ¡®strip shows.¡¯


    ¡°W¨Cwait. I think I¡¯ll have extra time if I make a call to Smith and ask him about a few things.¡±


    At the third wharf of the Amsterdam, two of the ships that Youngho had newly bought were getting ready to set off. The ten-year-old used freighters were newly painted on their rusty spots andbeled as Zeynep 2 and Zeynep 3. Since a decade-aged ship was considered pretty new, crewmen were proud to be on those ships.


    New ships would have a big ceremony before their first sail but as for used ships, the new ship owners would instead give a bonus payment envelope to crewmen on their first sail day. It was because the ship was already proven to be safe, so taking care of crewmen was more important than celebrating the ship¡¯s first sail.


    Although Youngho wanted to have a wild drinking night with the crewmen, they were busy loading every cargo and checking the ships. He had to let them go after giving them envelopes.


    ¡°Youngho, is this all? Why are we here?¡±


    Jongil followed Youngho since he wanted to drink wildly with the crewmen but a sudden unexpected situation urred.


    ¡°What do we do. The crewmen are busy with carrying the goods and they don¡¯t even have time to drink.¡±


    ¡°You deceived me!¡±


    ¡°Man, what for? Let¡¯s just take Mr. Choi and drink in a small group.¡±


    ¡°We need to take the crewmen so we can go to a wild ce. Man! I was fooled toe here.¡±


    Since he could not go to the wild bar he had been wanting to go, he was upset. He would have to sail for three more days after today¡¯s little free time.


    ¡°Mr. Choi. Do you know a good ce for drinking?¡±


    Jongil could not hold it in any longer and he shouted to Choi Sunkil who had just finished talking to a wharf staff and was walking toward the group.


    Choi Sunkil was fast-witted enough to see what Jongil was asking for.


    ¡°Mr. Park seems to be in the mood for a drink. Should I take you to a great ce?¡±


    Jongil¡¯s face brightened. It seemed that they would not be able to return to the hotel before midnight.


    ***


    It was bad timing to travel the Antic in April. The current was heavy and the ship constantly wavered by high waves.


    Feeling ill, even many experienced crewmen did not show up at the cafeteria, but Youngho and Jongil were stuffing food into their throats.


    ¡°There¡¯s something special in the ring. We¡¯ve never seen these high waves recently but we¡¯re all safe without a scratch.¡±


    ¡°Insoo is so going to beg of Zeynep if he finds out about this.¡±


    Zeynep had taken back her ring because pimples came upon her face.


    ¡°Is Fatima alright?¡±


    ¡°What, are you afraid if she¡¯s going to take away the ring from you too?¡±


    ¡°If the owner asks it back, I have no choice but to give it back.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Fatima is holding up fine. It¡¯s Leon who¡¯s affected by the seasickness.¡±


    Because of the rings, Youngho and Jongil were called as monsters by the crewmen since they had not shown a single sign of seasickness. Gilbert and Choi Sunkil also were surprised by the huge waves, saying that they had not been seeing such waves in the recent time.


    As the ship entered the Mediterranean, there were no more heavy waves that could shake the freighter that weighed 50,000 tons.


    Zeynep 1 was on its way to the ck Sea because Youngho received the message that the new immigrants had a lot of belongings with them. The ship would deliver their belongings to the Sea of Azov in Russia.


    It was reported to him in advance that there would be about 350 families or 1,900 people of immigrants, but the number might have increased in the meantime.


    The moving ritual would not be over after this time since there were two more migrations was scheduled after this was over. Four car-ferry ships from Turkey were chartered already, which was enough to transport a little more than 2,000 people, so there would not be a problem this time. The only concerns were any hygienic problems and the urrence of patients due torge-scale personnel transfers. So, Youngho had already paid a high expense and arranged doctors and nurses from Atyrau toe to Bulgaria before the ship would set off.


    If people who left their hometown to live with the Archduchess died during the migration, it would be a controversial issue for the future. Since suchrge-scale migration of people needed to be processed with care, Youngho did not leave the job to others but did it himself. Another reason was to gain people¡¯s trust. Seeing the person in the leadership position making efforts to bettermunicate with the people and to care for them would definitely be seen as reliable.


    Since the Serbian immigrants were the basis of the Arirang Farm, it was natural for Youngho to go receive them by himself.

 Chapter 211 - A Great Migration (2)

    <h4>Chapter 211: A Great Migration (2)</h4>


    In many countries, there are many versions of ¡®The Ant and the Grasshopper¡¯ from Aesop¡¯s Fables.


    This is an interesting American version of the story:


    ¡®As the winter came, the grasshopper went out to search for food since he had nothing stored in his house for spending all summer singing and ying. He knocked on the ant¡¯s door to beg for food but the ant¡¯s reaction was cold for the grasshopper who had not worked for himself during the summer. Cold and hungry, the grasshopper yed his violin with hisst strength reminiscing about the past summer days. Hisst y was sad and touching. The ants that had only worked hard for the summer and had not known about music started to listen for the grasshopper¡¯s violin. Not letting go of this opportunity, the grasshopper shouted to the ants to pay for the admission ticket. From then on, the grasshopper held a recital every winter and eventually he became a famous and rich musician like Michael Jackson.¡¯


    It is a very Americanized version.


    The grasshopper used his specialty to sell his performance ticket and the ants would give him the food they stored during the winter. The moral of the story was that both grasshopper and ants could live helping each other but in another perspective, it was part of a new creation.


    The United States was a country that had been creating something new through a mixture of diverse people and cultures. The country became strong because of the flexible and dynamic culture that was not rigid.


    The story of ¡®The Ant and the Grasshopper¡¯ was not just an interesting spin-off of an already-existing story. A new spin-off was created by mixing an old and somewhatfortable thing with a new, strange thing; making elegant things and vulgar things mingle, and tossing hard and soft things together.


    Any new products and innovative inventions were created out of nothing but were the result of the efforts to get rid of the old and ufortable inconvenience.


    Youngho¡¯s little sess was also achieved by thought to get rid of trial and error from past experiences. It was not done because he was smart. It was a kind of creation as well.


    The reason for the second migration sess without any injuries or stragglers was that Youngho had observed the previous migration and learned from it. He picked the right season for the migration, thought about a number of cases of things that would happen during the migration, and prepared everything properly.


    The housings of the farm were also ready for new immigrants.


    ¡°I guess what you¡¯ve eagerly prepared for was all needed after all.¡±


    It was Jongil who had scolded Youngho since he made a fuss and hired doctors and nurses to send them to Bulgaria.


    ¡°It¡¯s 2,000 people. Do you think there wouldn¡¯t be any idents or emergency? Phew! If there was no doctor, theboring mom would¡¯ve been in grave condition by now.¡±


    As the row of ships entered the Volga-Don Canal, a pregnantdy went intobor and she could give birth safely because of the medical people Youngho hired. Because she was going through dystocia, it would not have been possible without a doctor.


    Not only the pregnantdy, there were also many countless people who were waiting for medical help. They had decided to leave their home since their life in Serbia was hard. A third of the whole immigrant crowd carried small or big illnesses. Many of them had pneumonia because they neglected cold throughout the past winter.


    They could get on board only after being treated and giving medicines at the Port of Burgas. It was a long story but it was managed well.


    Youngho was d that he left Fatima home. If she had seen the people¡¯s conditions, she would have been heartbroken.


    ***


    Four car-ferry ships and one huge freighter were being inspected at the edge of the Ural River. Kazakhstan Navy¡¯s two missile patrol boats and an administrative boat were moored right next to the car-ferry ships in order to get the headcount of the immigrants.


    ¡°Youngho, isn¡¯t that our Naval patrol killer? They¡¯re the Chamsuri boats.¡±


    There was an event in 2006 that the Korean Navy had given three retired Chamsuri patrol boats to Kazakhstan each at the symbolic price of a hundred dors. They were all retired from the Kazakh Navy but the same-looking patrol killers hade to inspect the new immigrants.


    ¡°Well, they look the same but that one¡¯s a newer version. I¡¯ve seen from the TV news that the Kazakh Navy hade to buy Korean Naval small vessels.¡±


    In the Caspian Sea, missile patrol boats in the 250-ton ss were considered a matchless power. To protect the country¡¯s territorial waters, the Kazakh Navy had been training Navy soldiers and the Kazakh Naval officers had been receivingmissioned education by Korean Naval Academy, so both countries had a close rtionship.


    Youngho spoke to a Naval officer.


    ¡°I¡¯m the owner of Arirang Farm in Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I knew that I had heard of the name of the ship. I¡¯m Victor Jun the Kazakh Naval captain. I¡¯m the third generation Koryoin here.¡±


    Since his face was exotic, Youngho did not think that he was a Koryoin, but he just imed that he was a third generation Koryoin. It seemed that he still deeply identified himself as a Korean descent.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve receivedmissioned education in Korea. I¡¯m also from the U.D.T Unit of the Korean Navy.¡±


    ¡°Why, is that true? I¡¯ve also participated in the U.D.T. training for a week in Jinhae. They were indeed great warriors.¡±


    When themissioned education request from outside was epted, the unit was known to roll people even harshly to show off their strength and it seemed Victor had been a sacrifice of that custom. Holding the captain position of the top-of-the-line missile patrol boats meant that he was an elite soldier of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°All of the people from Atyrau and Koryoins know about Arirang Farm. You¡¯re our pride. It¡¯s an honor to have met you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too muchpliment. It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°No, no. My father danced when I told him I was going tomissioned education to Korea, but he showed his tears when he heard that Arirang Farm was established. He said he was proud to be a Koryoin.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear that the existence of Arirang Farm encouraged the Koryoins in Kazakhstan, but he also felt uneasy at the same time since he had not done so much for Koryoins except for hiring some people and helping out some Koryoin merchants.


    Youngho told Victor Jun who was about to leave afterpleting the inspection that he should visit Arirang Farm¡¯s wharf any time he wanted to. As he offered to givemb meat and wine for hisrades, Victor smiled. There was no reason for him to refuse an offer of a wealthy businessman from the same root.


    Not just because he was a Koryoin but Youngho offered it since it would be helpful to have a good rtionship with an elite Naval officer.


    ***


    Youngho opened his eyes from his nap at the crashing sound of a lump of ice that hade down from the upstream against the freighter.


    Since the ship had set off from the downstream river in the morning, he was getting close to the branch river near the farm. Although the field was warm enough to have heat shimmers from the spring¡¯s sunshine, the water was still icy.


    The Ural River¡¯s temperature was said to be cold and not suitable for swimming even in July. The melted water from the Ural River would flow about 2,500 kilometers to enter the Caspian Sea, so it was a silly idea to wait for it to get warm.


    Youngho searched for Jongil and found him fishing at the railing of the deck.


    His face was confident as he had fished six trout from the Ural River while Youngho was napping. Since the river¡¯s temperature was known to be low, the trout¡¯s meat was hard and chewy that it was great to eat as raw.


    ¡°We have about two hours until we get to the Arirang Farm¡¯s wharf. Should I make sashimi?¡±


    As soon as Jongil saw Youngho, he mentioned about sashimi.


    ¡°It¡¯s not great without Soju. I don¡¯t like it with vodka.¡±


    ¡°Man, any meat from a local ce is only good with the local liquor. You¡¯ve lived overseas for a long time but are you still nagging about Korean Soju? I¡¯ll eat it myself if you don¡¯t want it.¡±


    It would have been impossible to drink on the car-ferry ships but they were on The Arirang.


    The Red Pepper, Hong Sungki, who was in charge of security of the migration showed off his great knife controlling skills and made some sashimi and put it on a portable table.


    ¡°Hong Sungki. When did you learn to make sashimi? That was just great.¡±


    ¡°I worked at a battleship¡¯s kitchen before I volunteered to the U.D.T. Unit¡±


    Jongil did not forget to make a joke.


    ¡°Man, are you sure you turned down a culinary position of a battleship? That¡¯s the best department! You must¡¯ve burned rice and was kicked out.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve caused simr problems.¡±


    Exchanging silly jokes, the group was getting ready for a little deck party. It was their first time to drink in about a week and any liquor whether it was Soju or vodka, was wee. In no time, the Russian chief mate came to join their party as well.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be entering the wharf but the chief mate is trying to drink? You¡¯re going to be drunk driving!¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, the chief mate opposed him.


    ¡°I just finished my shift and this is my free time. Also, when entering and leaving a port, no one can touch the steering wheel except the captain in charge. I¡¯m a free man now. Please give me the drink, boss!¡±


    ¡°Oh is that so? I thought anyone could do it but I guess I was wrong. Okay, have some drink. If you have any other liquor hidden in some ce, get them out too.¡±


    Youngho was feeling sad since he only had one bottle of vodka but a chief mate ought to have saved a few bottles in his cabin.


    ***


    The wharf was crowded by the town people and new immigrants. It seemed that all of the town people hade out to greet the new immigrants.


    With the second generation immigrants of 391 families which were 2,135 people added, the wharf had no ce to set one¡¯s foot. It was also loud to the point that Youngho could not hear anyone. Kim Chun, who was still recovering, had alsoe to receive the new generation of immigrants.


    The immigrants¡¯ would be assigned houses by the number of each family, so they just follow the direction and move but they stayed at the wharf without moving for a while. It was because they were too excited to see their new home.


    They left their home thinking that they would be pioneering into a wastnd but they were impressed to see a well-built wharf and a huge grain silo. As they were calming down, people¡¯s belongings unloaded from The Arirang were loaded on the trucks that had been parked in a row. Dozens ofrge buses were loaded with the immigrants and set off to the farm.


    To transport the whole crowd, the buses would have to have three to four round trips today.


    ¡°As the prince consort does not mind going through troubles for our people, we¡¯re just so thankful. It¡¯s all because the Kingdom of Serbia is blessed. Thank you for your work.¡±


    Chief Niksic paid a visit to Youngho¡¯s ce and thanked him with tears in his eyes.


    ¡°Were you not sad that you couldn¡¯t go with us this time? I didn¡¯t take you because I knew it was going to be a tough journey for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d only be your burden if I came with you with this old body. I feel more happy to carry a rock to prepare the farm for the new immigrants. I¡¯m grateful that enough houses werepleted for today¡¯s immigrants. I appreciate you on behalf of all descendants of the Serbian Kingdom.¡±


    Then Old Niksic paid respect as if a knight would do for his king, kneeling down on one knee. Youngho was embarrassed to receive such respect as it happened so suddenly. It seemed that he has to be used to such things by now.


    The next day, the whole farm was busy with people moving their belongings to their houses. The belongings left at the wharf and in the empty fields of the farm were all carried inside each house.


    In the alleys and the yground, all kids came out to y and made noises, and the women who received new appliances and furniture were busy letting out an exmation.


    Youngho had asked to put appliances and furniture in houses beforehand but Kim Chun insisted that it was better to give them as gifts after people had moved in. So, the people were impressed one more time.


    Since many nomadic viges are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the number of children were their assets. It was the same as the Serbian people and there were at least four or five children in each family. On top of that, they lived with old parents and naturally each family was big. Considering that, Youngho had ordered to make five or six rooms for each house. He did that, so children could have their own rooms since it¡¯s many children¡¯s dream.


    Youngho smiled thinking that the children¡¯s future would be brighter as they would have their childhood dreaming in their own rooms.

 Chapter 212 - A Great Migration (3)

    <h4>Chapter 212: A Great Migration (3)</h4>


    Youngho flew to Baku the next day and brought Fatima and Leon back to Arirang Farm.


    The second generation immigrants could not wait to meet the Archduchess and her little son. It was great timing for the person who held everyone together, to finally show up. Without her existence, the immigrants would not have left their houses and homnd.


    Although they were provided great houses and jobs, they were fearful of the future¡¯s uncertainty and having to live in a new country. They were relieved to see the bright faces of the first generation immigrants but they needed to witness the evidence of their old kingdom.


    As the Archduchess showed herself before their eyes, they wereforted as if rain came down in the desert. When Fatima had set her foot down at the runway of the farm from a little airne, everyone weed her with loud cheers. It touched Youngho¡¯s heart. To Youngho and Fatima, it felt like a scene in a movie.


    If someone had recorded the scene as Fatima and Leon were weed by the Serbian descents, it would have been a huge issue in the world since no politician or dictator could receive such genuine wee from the crowd. It was indeed fantastic since even some aged immigrants cried.


    Youngho worried about Leon but he was screaming back at people against the noise of the crowd. He was surprisingly not frightened at all.


    Everyone seemed to be carried away by the joy, hope, and excitement of the moment. Only Youngho followed the crowd casually.


    Conventionally, leaders would have to make a little speech before the public, but Fatima¡¯s smile and waving hand was enough to satisfy the people. Fatima and Leon either shook people¡¯s hands or gave their lower ends of clothes for people to touch, and they began to tour around the new housing area surrounded by the people.


    With a weird smile on his face, Jongil approached Youngho who was now forgotten by the people.


    ¡°I know, so don¡¯t even start it Jongil.¡±


    ¡°Man, you haven¡¯t even heard me yet. This is a great sight but seriously, I¡¯m worried about your life toe.¡±


    ¡°I said don¡¯t even say it, dude! You¡¯re giving me a headache.¡±


    ¡°Well, soon, this will be on the global news. The modern version of the queen and her prince consort. The two had hypnotized the whole group of innocent Serbian immigrants who had been living in mountains... h h...¡±


    ¡°Is it time for your spanking yet? Come on!¡±


    Jongil ran away to a far distance. Youngho sighed since he knew that his dear friend would tease him when the third migration happens in twenty days.


    ***


    Including the third generation immigrants, the farm¡¯s residents would be 803 families which were about 4,350 people. In the meantime, there had been new lives on the farm.


    There were more than 700 housespleted sincest year, and since more houses would be built by then, everything seemed to be going alright. When the autumn¡¯s cultivation was over and the fourth migration of 200 families would move into the farm, there would not be any morerge-scale migrations.


    So, the edited goal was toplete 1,200 houses until next spring. It was because too many funds were being spent on the housing.


    The armory units would have to be fixed, so they were not visible to the public¡¯s eye and the warehouse units irregrly built would also have to be moved behind the town in the north. As Youngho was calcting the budget, he wished for a cigarette badly since they would cost him a lot.


    He had already paid more than thirty million dors for housing construction. It meant all of the profits he madest year from the offshore oilfield, other shares, direct stores, hotels, and wine business were used for the housing construction of Arirang Farm.


    Although he still had fifty million dors and two tons of gold bars, the should be left untouched in case he needed unexpected money.


    He had been investing aggressively on buying freighters and other things but they were part of a long-term n. It was time for him to take a break. Any housing funds or new investments should be done under the profits that he would make from now on. That was why he needed to make the wheat farming and drone factory sessful no matter what. In that way, he would be able to stop shoveling sand against the tide.


    In order to achieve that, there was one person that he had to press. It was Michael the chief of the CIA¡¯s European chapter. Since Youngho mentioned giving some of the factory¡¯s share earlier, he nned to make him a great-looking certificate.


    ***


    At Michael¡¯s office of the European chapter, vivid tulips were brightening the room¡¯s atmosphere.


    ¡°You should¡¯ve had something like this a long time ago, chief. Your room was so gloomy before.¡±


    ¡°Everything must look bright now that you¡¯re rich. I scolded my secretary for bringing such a thing to my office.¡±


    Michael¡¯s words seemed to be implicit. Not missing the timing, Youngho asked a question.


    ¡°Chief, would you like to see this?¡±


    The document envelope that Youngho handed to Michael was a thick piece of high-quality kent paper that was decorated with a fancy pattern on its four corners.


    It was a certificate of a share of the drone factory.


    Although nothing was processed yet except for verbal promise, Youngho had already made a certificate of the factory¡¯s share.


    ¡°Man, this man is determined to draw me it. You haven¡¯t forgotten the proverb from your country, drinking kimchi soup first when someone had not, even meant to give you rice cake?¡±


    What Michael was implying was the proverb that was equivalent to the western proverb ¡®count one¡¯s chickens before they are hatched.¡¯


    ¡°This is not what I¡¯m giving, it¡¯s the Serbian people¡¯s heart for wanting new jobs. Another paper is the Arirang Autonomous Region¡¯s honorary residential card.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Michael knew that the documents could not be more meaningless but the mischievous event made himugh.


    ¡°I¡¯ve spent quite a long time to make them, so don¡¯t treat them wrong.¡±


    Michaelughed hard one more time.


    Having tea time, the two caught up with each other and Michael finally made a suggestion.


    ¡°The field agents you recruited seem to have outstanding talents. Why don¡¯t we send them to the states for a year so they can receive intelligence education?¡±


    ¡°If you can write rmendations for them, I¡¯d be more than thankful. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re short of staffs. If I need a hand, I can use the North Korean defector friend who already knows about us.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Then, it¡¯s decided. Those guys wille handy in the future.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for looking out after them.¡±


    As Youngho politely thanked him, Michael waved him off.


    ¡°Why are you acting formally between us? Just don¡¯t make any trouble and stay close with the Kazakh government. The high-rankers in the headquarters were excited to hear about your job in Kazakhstan.¡±


    The Kazakh president Nazarbayev had recently begun to divide his authority properly and to make visible democratization policies.


    ¡°He¡¯s only in power since there¡¯s no great sessor yet but he¡¯s an open-minded person.¡±


    ¡°I know that already. I was only frustrated since there was no hotline to him. Luckily, you started a ridiculous businesstely and made a connection to him.¡±


    As it seemed to be the right timing, Youngho began to get down to the point.


    ¡°When would D Drones send their technicians and assembly line? The warehouse that would be used as the factory is all prepared. Also, I¡¯m building a small hotel for dispatched technicians to stay.¡±


    ¡°Since they said they¡¯ll send a group of people, they¡¯ll contact you soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve brought some machine tools when the first immigrants came to the farm. Could you tell them subtly so that the production of the bodies would be done locally? If a hundred percent of the factory was only used for assembly, the Kazakh government might be disappointed since there would be no transfer of technique at all.¡±


    Although Youngho was giving the Kazakh government an excuse, he said it because he wanted to gain the technique for propeller and hard case production so that if D Drones stepped out with a ridiculous reason, the factory would be able to make its own products with parts imported from Europe.


    ¡°Is there a machining facility to produce drone bodies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it would be sessful but the people have the ability to make regr machine tools to make weapons, so I¡¯m positive about that.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Okay, it¡¯s nothing special. I¡¯ll make a request.¡±


    ***


    Youngho had ordered Kim Chun to establish a social welfare foundation and gave the sr panelpany¡¯s share as a donation.


    He had twenty percent from the Kazakh factory and ten percent from the Azerbaijani factory. To make a social welfare foundation in Azerbaijan too, he decided to give away the sr panelpany Azerbaijani factory¡¯s share too. The name of the foundation would be, of course, the Arirang Foundation since it would have to promote the Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan and rted businesses that Youngho owned.


    The two countries were deeply rted to Youngho now anyway and establishing a foundation would improve the corporation¡¯s image and the rtionship with both governments. The profits he made from the sr panel business only existed because of the local people¡¯s demand, so giving away that was a way to contribute back to the people.


    Although giving away what was his own was not an easy decision, he decided to let it go to help out people of both countries and to look further. If people were impressed by his deed, people would trust the Zeynep Corporation and Arirang Farm even more that it would help to establish the new Serbian Kingdom in the future.


    Also, if he could help out Koryoins as well through the foundation, he would feel less guilty about not being able to help Koryoins. Youngho was sorry when he met the third generation Koryoin Navy captain at the edge of the Ural River. Youngho was drawn to them not only because they were from Korea but also they were a diligent and kind group of people who needed help.


    This is a story about Raffaello Sanzio who was drawing a ceiling painting in Roman Vatican Pce. The pope, Julius II, who was watching Raffaello painting, saw thedder move and ordered the premier next to him to hold Raffaello¡¯sdder.


    The premierined not understanding why he needed to take care of a mere painter. Then the pope said.


    ¡°If he falls and breaks his neck, there won¡¯t be another person who can paint like him but there are countless people who could take the premier¡¯s job when you break your neck.¡±


    The pope cared for people with extraordinary talent regardless of their ss. This could also be applied to the Arirang Foundation. If the foundation could find a handful of young people with talents by supporting them, it would be a sess. It would also be meaningful to help out families at the brink of a precipice.


    Recently, Youngho had been thinking a lot. If Jongil had heard it, he would have said that his friend was giving too many meanings for establishing a sloppy foundation.

 Chapter 213 - A Great Migration (4)

    <h4>Chapter 213: A Great Migration (4)</h4>


    Zeynep¡¯s eyes sparkled as if she was interested in the idea.


    ¡°Oh my. Oppa, are you sure it¡¯s something that can be handled by someone young like me?¡±


    ¡°A social welfare foundation is a voluntary organization that many nobles desire to own for themselves. I¡¯m asking you because I¡¯d be too busy to manage this.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I¡¯ve been so upied with editing the school newspapertely, and I will soon go to France to study design. I think Fatima would be more suitable for the job.¡±


    Since the position was too good to refuse, she was making all sorts of excuses.


    ¡°Your sister is busy enough with taking care of the immigrants. Also, to use the foundation¡¯s money, you¡¯d have to travel to different locations to survey, your sister won¡¯t like it. This is perfect for you. I¡¯ll send guards along with if necessary, so why don¡¯t you try it with a noble sense of duty to help people in need?¡±


    Zeynep¡¯s face turned more strange at the mention of ¡®a noble sense of duty¡¯ since it sounded more grandiose and intriguing.


    ¡°Phew, what do I do? Would it be okay if I pick people whom I want to work with? Should I ask for help from Park Seoyoung?¡±


    ¡®She¡¯s hooked!¡¯


    Zeynep continuously used ¡®phew,¡¯ which meant that she was interested. Youngho was humming inside because the chance had finallye to make her settle in Baku.


    He was recruiting Zeynep for the position of the Arirang Foundation¡¯s head. It was a decoy to lure her to settle down in Baku since she had been wanting to get away from the family. Knowing what was going on behind the situation, Fatima had to cover her mouth to hide her smile.


    ¡°There¡¯s a job you should do right away.¡±


    ¡°What is it? Tell me.¡±


    Zeynep was fully motivated to get to work.


    ¡°There are not much for Kazakh teenagers to entertain themselves. It seems that they have nothing to do after school and many wander off to bad ces. We need to make a program for them.¡±


    In many local towns, there were only residential buildings and schools in an empty field and all kids could enjoy was a little yground. Youngho wanted to create something for them.


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to help people in need but you want the foundation to help people y?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s to support unfortunate youths and to guide them into the right path.¡±


    ¡°Should I use K-pop? School kids love it.¡±


    Zeynep suggested K-pop, which she was crazy about.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d be perfect for the head of the foundation. Okay, are you going to do it then?¡±


    Sheughed for a while and replied.


    ¡°Well, I have too many things to do, but I¡¯m only epting it since you¡¯re asking. How can I refuse your request? Just give me enough support.¡±


    As soon as she finished her words, she left the house quickly, saying that she needed to find an office spot for the foundation.


    ¡°Settling down Zeynep,plete!¡±


    Hearing Youngho, Fatima burst out withughter.


    ¡°How did you think of something, honey?¡±


    Fatima was also satisfied that Zeynep was staying. She had been worried to send the little Zeynep alone.


    ¡°I won¡¯t stand it when she brings a tall, great-looking guy without a brain from Paris. It can only happen over my dead body!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Korea was being recognized internationally through K-pop recently. Since Kazakh kids and teenagers were also charmed by the K-pop trend, Zeynep¡¯s idea seemed to be usible.


    Youngho guessed that many of the Serbian immigrants¡¯ children would already know about K-pop as well. Moreover, it was what Zeynep was head over heels about. For this, she would not go anywhere away from him for a long while. Thinking about that, Youngho could not help but to smile.


    ***


    Having received the third generation of immigrants, the farm had plenty of manpower. There were 1,200 young and aged men and as they worked in housing and farming, the construction process was sped up.


    Youngho spent most of his time at Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan. Since Fatima and Leon were staying with the people, they were greatly motivated to work. Youngho even had to convince them to go home in the evening because they worked until it got dark.


    Although the farm was operated in a cooperative atmosphere, Youngho did not want this to be the cause for decreased productivity of the farm. It was the same reason that caused the fall ofmunism.


    If people¡¯s efforts andbors were not rewarded properly,ints would pile up soon like a mountain. Then, people would start to not work properly which would eventually drop the farm¡¯s productivity. There was no reason to try hard in the frame of the joint distribution, as there was nothing more toe for more efforts.


    Youngho¡¯s mind was busy as he nned to boldly distribute his assets to people when everything was set in each field. The housing would be a gift of the Archduchess for the immigrants since they had worked in the construction. Although Youngho had invested his funds for the construction, the housing waspleted through the immigrants¡¯ manpower and their heart of respect to the Archduchess.


    Their respect was an invaluable asset to the farm since no leaders would be able to meet such innocent and loyal people. They were not sincere to the farm because the farm had provided them with food, housing, and jobs but because they had one goal to re-establish their old kingdom.


    There were many categories of assets that would be distributed to the people on the farm.


    The farnd, craft workshop, restaurants, shops, and other real estates would be distributed under long-term repayment contracts. Also, people in the specialty area of administration, public order, and technical professionals would be paid properly. Then the city would be operated by itself. The farm¡¯s development and wealth would also spread to nearby areas of Kazakhstan and bring wealth to the country in the future.


    The cultivation area for this year would be increased a few times more than the area nned in the beginning since Youngho had not thought of the people from the second and the third migrations earlier. It should only happen that way since the people were working so hard like ants that never ceased to work.


    Because there were arge number of immigrants who had been ranching, Youngho decided to buy goats, cows, and horses on top of the sheep that were already on the farm. Due to the increase of animals on the farm, a cheese factory needed to be built and workshops for byproducts were also being built.


    People used to make clothes out of animal skins and furs but now they did not need them, so many women stepped up and began to make carpets. Youngho tried to stop them with a reason that they were not highly profitable for such efforts but people insisted that they would sell high-quality carpets to other countries.


    They said that the price of properly-made high-quality carpets was up to the seller.


    So, Youngho reluctantly provided a block of a town that was supposed to have housing as the site for workshops and they were built in a few days by willing people and various craft items were produced soon.


    People are incredibly dexterous.


    ***


    ¡°Hey, boss! It¡¯s been a while. It must¡¯ve not been fun without this director of the Kazakh intelligence team.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see my tanned face? I heard you drank with lunatic soldiers!¡±


    Jongil was hanging out with militarymanders as he often visited the border of Iran and Azerbaijan to buy thend that the railway line north of Iran would pass through.


    ¡°Man, they¡¯re not lunatics. They¡¯ll be the one to lead Azerbaijan in the future.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the bulwark of Azerbaijan but they go to Baku to drink instead of guarding the border?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You haven¡¯t heard that most of Iran soldiers were sent to the backside of the country? Since they are gone, the border patrol soldiers don¡¯t need to stay alert.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still nonsense. Iran has been maintaining a close rtionship with Armenia until not long ago. You think they¡¯re not a threat just because of some railroad business?¡±


    There were more Azerbaijani people living in Iran in the north than the ones in the territory of Azerbaijan. Because the Azerbaijani people in the north had been wanting to form an autonomous region, the two countries¡¯ rtionship was uneasy.


    Also, the Iranian government was aggressive toward war and it was still insisting on nuclear armament. As three countries, Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan exchanged memorandum of understanding with each other to connect the railroad, the conflict was not still over.


    ¡°Bring all of them here. I need to train their minds.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about that. They have their own system and they¡¯ve been through this so long.¡±


    It was true. The Azerbaijani people had been having ethnic disputes for a long time that they enjoyed as much of the time of peace as possible when it arrived.


    The region was where people of different ethnicities andnguages lived over a little valley.


    At the region of the Caucasus Mountain Range, countless ethnicities lived together. Since those people insisted to be autonomous regions, there existed numerous autonomous regions even within a small country.


    The Autonomous Republic of Adjara located in Georgia was a good example of that. Only 110,000 people resided in the region and its capital was Batumi, which was Georgia secondrgest city. It was where Youngho was building Arirang Hotel.


    Georgia was reluctant to allow an autonomous region, but it had to since the people of the region insisted that they would be part of Turkey if the Georgian government did not allow their autonomy.


    Youngho was upset because the Azerbaijani soldiers who know about such situations so well were not doing their jobs.


    As Youngho put on his jacket to go outside, Jongil followed him along.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to Sevan, right?¡±


    ¡°Man, what a ghost.¡±


    If Baku¡¯s situation was unstable, Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan would be affected by it too. Although it was a little thing, Youngho was concerned about the loose guard at Iran¡¯s border.


    In order to protect the grape farm and the ranch where there were gold mines, the Azerbaijani officials would have to stay alert. Youngho rather weed sloppy and corrupted officials at the beginning stage of his business but now that everything was settled well, they were such a bother.


    It was a little antinomic but it was Youngho now.


    The president, blinded by long-term dictatorship, was quietly turning a blind eye to corruption of the officials who supported him and thus eroding nationalpetitiveness.


    Although there was a big country Russia, people of the Caucasus could make irrational choices in conflicts. That was why Youngho was going to make sure that such a thing would not happen.

 Chapter 214 - Dynamics (1)

    <h4>Chapter 214: Dynamics (1)</h4>


    ¡°This is amazing. How many rooms are there?¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park Youngsun said we should have a hundred rooms, but I think that¡¯s too overwhelming. We¡¯d only use about five or six even if we all lived together.¡±


    ¡°I finally get to live in a castle because of you.¡±


    Youngho and Jongil were amazed to see the new castle being built on the northern hill of Arirang Farm. It was designed in a descending manner from the top of the hill.


    Since the hill was not pointy but had a tnd on top, the peak point was dug to make five floors in the basement and the lowest floor was connected to the inclined rooftop of the castle.


    Enduring the geographical feature of the hill, the castle was built in a way that it wrapped around it halfway.


    ¡°Dr. Park said it would be great to offer a ce to stay in the castle when inviting foreign influential figures, and it would also act as a shelter for people as well. I still don¡¯t like to have a grandiose ce though.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re building it anyways. Why not make it big? The Serbian people are excited to have a proper castle for the kingdom.¡±


    As Youngho announced that the castle would be built as a long series of buildings put together as a mean to block the northern wind, the immigrants expressed their appreciation to the Archduchess since she was sacrificing herself for the people.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that we have plenty of workers now.¡±


    ¡°What I spend on the farm is just overwhelming. It¡¯s a little less now since the waterworks were finished. Man, I only wish that wheat farming would be great this year.¡±


    The scenery of green wheat sprouts that were already showing up in the field was a spectacle. The immigrants dug several reservoirs in the field and sowed seed in the field of 5,000 acres.


    Wheat is known to grow in barrennds but in Kazakhstan¡¯s dry climate, irrigation canal was critical in farming.


    Usually, in rich soil, 8,000 tons of wheat were produced in a field of 5,000 acres but Youngho thought it would be a great sess if he could produce two-thirds of the amount for Arirang Farm¡¯s first cultivation.


    If the farm could produce 6,000 tons which were the amount equal to 1,300,000 dors ording to the current international price. The cost of each bushel of wheat changed so often but on average it was about six dors.


    The farming area would soon increase to a size ten times bigger than now, and the amount of cultivation would increase after improving the richness of the soil, but the profit would be only about 17 million dors. So, it was a vain wish to be rich from farming any time soon. However, the good news was that there would be ten times more asions when food source would be in high demand. Therefore, the whole farm was strategic goods despite the profits.


    There were several reasons for this.


    Even though the world¡¯srgest poption capacity was estimated to be ten billion, one billion people were in fact known to be the usible number for the poption of the earth to live infort.


    Nevertheless, the total poption of today¡¯s global vige had more than seven times the appropriate poption, and about seven and a half billion people were living there. However, about eighty million people were being born a year. The days were numbered until the earth was fully saturated.


    It was no different from having a newly created country every year which would have about the same poption of Germany or Iran. In advanced countries, the poption was going down, but 210,000 people were born every day in the rest of the world.


    Poption growth would naturally reduce thend to cultivate and theck of homes, supplies, jobs, and infrastructure to live on would be global issues. So the day would soone when thendowners would have power, and a country like Kazakhstan with a hugend mass and a few people would be in the limelight.


    Youngho was preparing for such asions.


    When nning anything, the first thing he did was to look at statistics since there was all the problems and answers in the data. If he made moves on the basis of that, he thought that he would only seed in any kinds of businesses.


    There is a Korean saying, ¡®you won¡¯t even get the soup.¡¯


    It was used to scold someone because of the soup-eating culture of Korea. It ought to be a curse since eating rice without soup or not being able to get even the soup was a terrible thing when someone was hungry.


    Korean people usually liked to eat soup such as bean sprouts soup or chopped noodle soup the day after heavy drinking. There would be no people who would eat pasta or pizza.


    Youngho and Jongil also used the phrase, ¡®you won¡¯t even get the soup¡¯ often.


    The day before, Youngho had drunk with several leaders of the Serbian people, and to soothe his stomach, he was searching his kitchen for something to make soup, but there was nothing. Youngho and Jongil reluctantly went to Kim Chun¡¯s house and knocked on his door to see if he had any Korean soups.


    ¡°Well, what do I do? My wife has gone to Korea to see her parents and I don¡¯t have much to eat.¡±


    What Kim Chun took out were rice and some side dish. There was not even a little bit of soup.


    ¡°Hah. I was craving for soup but I guess I¡¯m not really getting the soup.¡±


    After a moment of saying that, the threeughed out loud.


    The morning of Arirang Farm was brightened by the Korean gang¡¯s sad butughable situation.


    ***


    The other day, Youngho went to see Sevan in Baku. He was upset that the officers of the border patrol soldiers had not been doing their jobs properly since they had been entertaining themselves with drinking.


    ¡°Why on earth are people not even bothered by the Azerbaijanis living in northern Iran?¡±


    Youngho let out all of the worries that he had been having all at once. Since Sevan was close to Youngho and he was distantly rted to Jongil through Karajan, Youngho couldfortably open his mind to him.


    As Youngho med many officials¡¯ attitudes for working only after something major happened, Sevan smiled.


    ¡°We¡¯ve finally got a patriotic in our country. Who¡¯d worry about our country like you? I should record your speech and make the government board listen to it. Can you say everything again?¡±


    Sevan¡¯s rxed manner made Youngho feel embarrassed. It seemed that he was the only one who was concerned.


    ¡°You should¡¯ve danced along to my tune. I won¡¯t say any more because I don¡¯t feel like saying more, but I¡¯m still deeply concerned about the border area.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean but it¡¯s not at the level that you should be concerned. The recently elected president of Iran is Azerbaijani and we¡¯re more relieved about their national policies.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t matter if the president was an Azerbaijani before political calction. I understand that Azerbaijan doesn¡¯t want to upset Iran but how about sending some police force to the border area instead of the military force?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, in fact, a great idea. I¡¯ll consider doing that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be able to be the head of Main Police Department because of my advice. You should treat me big if you really do.¡±


    Since Sevan was not too worried about the border, Youngho was relieved. It seemed that there would not be a problem at the border any time soon.


    Forgetting about why he was there, Youngho began to talk about purchasingnds in the northern area.


    ¡°I¡¯ll entrust my money to my brother-inw, Park Jongil, too. The best location is the western shore of the Caspian Sea near the Iranian border city Ardabil. For the sake of inspection, there will be arge station of joint jurisdiction between the two countries. This is ssified information. ¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Iranian territory?¡±


    ¡°It used to be called South Azerbaijan, most of its residents are Azerbaijani. It¡¯s also an area where our government secretly wants to take over. I think there have beenmunications with the Iranian government.¡±


    Youngho luckily heard a surprising piece of information.


    ¡°There is an existing railroad but I guess it¡¯s not going to be utilized for the project?¡±


    ¡°Because it would be double track railway anyway, the old winding railroad would be excluded.¡±


    As the outline of the railroad project was revealed, what was left for Youngho to do was to take over the private consortium.


    ***


    Because Azerbaijan had unique climate conditions, there were nine different climates in the country. Due to the special condition, although Zeynep Farm and the Serbian ranch were only an hour away from each other, they often showed different climatic zones.


    Zeynep Farm was under the typical, dry subtropical climate and the ranch was under mountainous subtropical climate which had more than 1,000 millimeters of precipitation as the ranch was located near the Caucasus mountain range.


    As Youngho and Jongil were on their way to the ranch, it started raining because of the different climatic zones.


    ¡°Yikes, I hate the changing weathers. Is this why people have exceptional personalities?¡±


    ¡°What about them? I like how simple they are.¡±


    ¡°You must not have forgotten about the merchants¡¯ actions here in the past. Does everything look beautiful now that you¡¯re ying the Middle Ages and building a castle?¡±


    Jongil kept mentioning the Middle Ages to tease him.


    ¡°If you¡¯re jealous, why don¡¯t youe clean? You won¡¯t even get the soup if you keep showing me that attitude!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been long since I ate meals without soups now. I¡¯m already westernized because of Karajan.¡±


    As both of them lived with a foreign wife, the soup culture was slowly dissipating. Their face and body shapes had also changed. Youngho was not sure whether it was because of the influence of the environment or the ring.


    Today, they were going to the ranch to collect the gold bars that had been umting. Going to collect gold bars once a week was a joy in Youngho¡¯s life.


    He usually collected twenty kilograms to thirty kilograms a week and now at the safe in the basement of Zeynep Farm, there were already one and a half ton of gold bars piled up. There was also another pile of gold bars, which was about 500 kilograms, stored in the underground safe of the hotel in Batumi.


    Youngho nned to move all of the gold bars from Zeynep Farm to the new fort and castle of Arirang Farm once they werepleted. Arirang Farm had its own advantage since it was safer than Zeynep Farm and it would be easy to move the gold bars to anywhere through the wharf.


    Youngho nned to not sell gold bars anymore. Once he was sure that he had enough gold bars, he would be stepping into the financing business. He wanted to be the invisible hand like the Jewish Rothschild family that was leading the world-famous financial servicespany. The family¡¯s source of wealth was immaterial, invisible finance, but it was controlling the financingpanies of the world from the back.


    Youngho envied that financial assets. If he had his base in gold bars, he would be able to start his own financialpany as well. It would not be easy but he was willing to get his hands dirty to get to the top.


    People would say that business should be done ethically and purely but it was a rather an irrational idea.


    The beautiful sunset is only created because of the impurities in the air.


    Youngho was ready to use that impurity for his goal.

 Chapter 215 - Dynamics (2)

    <h4>Chapter 215: Dynamics (2)</h4>


    The reason for China¡¯s opposition towards the independence of ethnic groups might be because it does not want to end up like Russia.


    The Soviet Union, which had a hundred and thirty ethnicities and fifteen republics, was called as the prison for minorities since they were forced to stay in the frame of the Soviet Union. However, as the reform and openness policy came into effect and the former country¡¯s power was weakened, and finally all of the republics earned their independence. There were still many ethnic groups fighting for independence and even in those republics, there were other minority groups fighting for their independence.


    There were one hundred and twenty ethnic groups in Kazakhstan as well, and with the Serbian immigrants added to the country, it sure was a diverse country.


    The demographics of ethnic groups were; Kazakhs 63%, Russians 24%, Uzbeks 2.8%, Ukrainians 2.1%, and there were eleven other ethnic groups. There were 100,000 Koryoins, and they were the ninthrgest ethnic group.


    Since there were 4,000 Serbians on Arirang Farm, they would be the smallest ethnic group among 120 groups.


    Fortunately, the country did not have any prominent religious conflicts since Im and Christianity were equally highly influential in the country.


    The Kazak government hadpared the characteristics of each ethnic group or the level of education, economic power, and national contribution, and Koryoins took the top ranks on average.


    Koryoins were a minority group with almost all of the poption firmly rooted in mainstream society. They were prominent in high-ranking posts in Kazakhstan, academia and cultural arts. The director of asset management of the president Nazarbayev was also a Koryoin.


    They were forcefully deployed from the Far East to Kazakhstan in 1937 and Kazakhs helped them to get through the cold winter when they had no clothes and foods. As people believed that they could survive from the help of the local Kazakhs, they maintained a great rtionship with the country.


    Many economically sessful Koryoins who were the mainstay of the Central Asian Koryoin groups lived in Kazakhstan. However, not all of the Koryoins were well fed and well-off. Many people struggled in remote areas, so Youngho decided to help them through his foundation. It was none other than Zeynep who yed the role of the advance guard.


    It would be the best if there was a field that an airne couldnd for ces she went for on-sight inspection, but because there were many mountainous regions in the central northern region, driving a car was necessary.


    After the primary survey, an inspection was needed to see if the foundation could support the site, and as Zeynep was in charge of that, it was like the dog wagging the tail.


    Youngho could not let her go with a few guards. Since he had raised her like a precious daughter, he was always worried about her safety and dozens of people followed her for inspection including the security guards and her entourage.


    Since a regr car could not drive on rough, steep mountainous roads, three to four light armored vehicles from Turkey were used every time. Many things were loaded to the ten-passenger vehicles. The on-site inspection team was almost the same as a sightseeing team. For this time, Youngho decided to join the team. As he was going, his guard and secretary, Ilkwon came along as well.


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, I¡¯m going to drive. I need to practice driving somewhere like this uninhabited region.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll gain confidence if you drive to downtown for one or two times. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to do it?¡±


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t want to hurt anybody. I go to survey local ces because I want to practice driving.¡±


    Of course, she had her own goal. Without that she would not have volunteered to travel to inconvenient local ces. It was a difficult job to spend days in remote ces where there were no modern bathrooms, clean housing, and other proper facilities. No one would want to volunteer to go there.


    ¡°I should drive this car in Baku too. It has a great wide view since the car¡¯s body is pretty tall.¡±


    ¡°You do whatever you want. It¡¯s parked at the gate of the grape farm. Somebody should drive it once in a while.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    It seemed that she would really drive around the huge vehicle around Baku¡¯s downtown soon. Although it was made for civil use, the light armored vehicle was wide that it would take up twones. Youngho would have to give several boxes of Zeynep Wine to the director of traffic police soon.


    The grassy in in May was full of wildflowers. Even though the weather was close to a semi-dried area, when the raindrops lightly touched the ground, flowers woulde out and bloom beautifully. Youngho thought life was tough and strong here. The flowers must have evolved to survive in the barren environment.


    ¡°Boss. This is what I used to see in North Korea. There are so many varieties of flowers and grass. I¡¯m just going to call this ¡®Gi-Hwa-Yo-Cho*¡¯.¡±


    It was impossible to find out the names of the nts since the environment was so much different from Korea.


    ¡°Find something simr to mugwort or shepherd¡¯s purse. I should make a soup out of them.¡±


    ¡°You can eat almost all of the herbs and greens in the spring field. I used to eat a lot of spring greens to satisfy hunger.¡±


    In the ¡¯90s during his childhood, when millions of people starved in thetter half of the international istion and in famine, Kim Ilkwon used to skip meals frequently. Since he was a brilliant child, he was chosen for elite education and he could finally get out of hunger from the government¡¯s benefit for young talents. It was no doubt that he ate any edible nts in the field.


    Youngho also remembered his childhood. Since his family was not wealthy, his mother used to cook nts and herbs that she collected from the field. When he lived in a small apartment, there were many ces around the neighborhood that were not developed yet, so in spring, housewives were often seen to collect herbs and nts in empty fields. Because he was reminded of the herbs that he ate in his childhood, he told Ilkwon to find some herbs.


    ¡°Wow, the phone works here!¡±


    ¡°Phew, Zeynep. I told you this is a satellite phone.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should make a call to the school newspaper team since today¡¯s the edition day.¡±


    Zeynep was extremely busy these days. She was involved in her school newspaper publication and worked for the Arirang Foundation. As things kept her busy, she never talked about going to France to study.


    ¡°They made a temporary shower facility next to the parked light armored vehicles. Go ahead and take a shower and please use water sparingly!¡±


    ¡°Oppa, you don¡¯t need to take a shower here. A working bathroom is enough.¡±


    Staying for a night on a in where there was no water came with many inconveniences. Zeynep¡¯s entourage had gone through troubles to treat her like a princess. Feeling sorry for the people¡¯s efforts, she did not insist on taking a shower. Making a shower booth with water was only possible because the light armored vehicles had enough rooms for various supplies. If it was for a regr car, this would not have been possible.


    ***


    Although in May, the night of the continent was chilly.


    Despite having great camping equipment, the air inside the tent was cold. Youngho who opened his eyes turned on thentern that was hanging in the middle of the tent. Ilkwon, who had been sleeping next to him, woke up to the light and looked around.


    He had woken up because of Zeynep¡¯s voice calling him.


    ¡°Boss. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I guess she wants to go to the bathroom. She drank a few sips of beer before going to bedst night.¡±


    Looking at the clock, it was a little past three. Seeing Youngho putting on his jacket, Ilkwon also tried toe alone.


    ¡°Just sleep. She¡¯d be embarrassed if both of us followed her to the bathroom.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. Okay.¡±


    Youngho also took his pistol with him. The security guards were taking turns for the night watch duty, so it was safe around the camping area but Youngho habitually took a weapon since it was an uninhabited in.


    As he came out of his tent, Zeynep was jumping up and down impatiently.


    ¡°Oppa. Why are you so slow?¡±


    It seemed that she needed to go as soon as possible.


    ¡°I told you not to drink beer before sleeping. Let¡¯s hurry.¡±


    When Youngho stepped out of the area, the Serbian guard who was on duty was about to follow him. Youngho stopped him with a gesture and he understood right away.


    After a while, Zeynep who had gone to the bathroom ran toward Youngho.


    ¡°Oppa! Turn the light over there. I saw a blue me sparked.¡±


    As Zeynep made a fuss, two guards that were on duty hurriedly turned on the searchlights and searched around the ce. At the peak of the hignd, about twenty wolves had gathered up.


    Since the ring had not given him a sign yet, it did not seem to be a threat but they must have shown up following the smell of food and people.


    Youngho wondered how Koryoin people could have lived along with those wild animals. It would have been difficult to sleep well at nights. He wondered why Koryoins started living in a barren, remote area without a proper road.


    At the strong searchlights, wolves began to leave the ce one by one.


    In the afternoon the next day, the team could finally arrive at the Koryoin town of nine families.


    After passing a little stream, the group reached the edge of the town where were kids looking after goats and sheep. Stunned to see big vehicles, they all ran away. Usually, shepherds would not run away leaving their livestock but they were quite frightened.


    Old broken stone walls surrounded sloppy houses and two old trucks were parked. The scenery was no different from other small rural towns in the Caucasus region. A unique thing was that there were only women and kids since there must be men in any barren ce like this. Since there were kids, there must be dads and uncles but only women and kids were in the town.


    After a moment, an old man with a rigid face approached Youngho¡¯s team, guided by the kids. Youngho intentionally used Korean to greet him and told him that he just stopped by during his trip.


    ¡°Are you from a broadcastingpany? We already refused and you should¡¯ve given up already but you¡¯re here to shoot us anyway!¡±


    Youngho was surprised to see that he did not wee a Korean, but now he was telling him about a Korean broadcastingpany. Since there seemed to be a misunderstanding, Youngho exined why he was here. The old man¡¯s attitude toward Youngho suddenly changed and he talked much softly now.


    ¡°So you haven¡¯t forgotten how to speak Korean yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my country¡¯snguage. I should not forget about it. It¡¯s nothing to beplimented.¡±


    As he said it casually, Youngho was rather embarrassed.


    ¡°Well, you mentioned a broadcastingpany and I reckoned that you didn¡¯t like it. Is there a story behind it?¡±


    The old man exined everything to Youngho as he madeints about thepany. After hearing him, Youngho could see why he was upset.


    They had a sad history that they were forcefully deployed to Kazakhstan, but a Korean broadcastingpany kept poking at their difficult past trying to make a documentary film. So, eventually, the town people kicked thepany staffs out. It must have been highly-motivated producers since they hade to a remote region but it did not work out well in the end.


    ¡°This is not much, but I brought some supplies. I thought it might be hard to get these items here...¡±


    Youngho did not finish his sentence since he was afraid that the old man might kick him out too.


    ¡°You¡¯ve brought such valuable items. They¡¯re essentially important to us. Thank you. We¡¯ll use them well.¡±


    Youngho had expected a scolding voice but instead, the old man was weing the gifts. It meant that it was extremely hard to get those supplies from the town.


    Then, he brought out a bunch of sheepskin and other wild animal¡¯s skins. Surprised, Youngho refused and convinced him to stop the scuffle.


    ¡°You are such a stubborn young businessman. This quality skins attract a lot of people and will sell at high prices but you refuse them?¡±


    He was sad that Youngho did not take his gift but his face was bright.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir, I¡¯m just really curious. May I ask why there aren¡¯t there any men in town?¡±


    *Gi-Hwa-Yo-Cho- ¡°the flowers and nts of fairnd¡±

 Chapter 216 - Dynamics (3)

    <h4>Chapter 216: Dynamics (3)</h4>


    The night in the in was dark without any lights. Breathing in the fresh cold air, Youngho was mesmerized by the sky.


    ¡°Oppa, you are like a dreaming boy. I haven¡¯t seen many people looking at the sky these days.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you look closely too, Zeynep? This is an indescribable mystery of the universe. I feel like everything we do is just so little and unworthy when I look at the sky.¡±


    ¡°The sky here has more stars than the sky from the grape farm.¡±


    The sky in the untouched nature was iparable to the polluted Baku¡¯s night sky. As Youngho was reminiscing his past, Zeynep interrupted him again.


    ¡°Oppa, I still don¡¯t get why the town¡¯s men are not friendly to us? It¡¯s weird. We¡¯re just here to help but they won¡¯t even talk to us.¡±


    Young Zeynep did not understand their behaviors. Unwanted help was strictly refused by the town people, especially when they had voluntarilye to a remote ce to cut themselves off from the outside world.


    However, their intense vignce against the outsiders was fishy. There must be something that they wanted to hide from the outside since they had refused a broadcastingpany too.


    The men of the town came back several hours after Youngho¡¯s team¡¯s arrival. They seemed to be quite perturbed by twenty strangers waiting for them.


    Youngho exined that they were from a social welfare foundation and they hade to give help to the town, but the people did not look happy.


    Since the town had already received valuable supplies from Youngho¡¯s team, the old chief of the town invited the team for dinner but Youngho told him that he would prepare for the dinner for the whole town. It was because he did not want the town to run out of food and there was not a house that could fit all of the town people.


    At the mouth of the town, Youngho¡¯s team prepared to camp out and made excessive foods to treat the whole town. He made an effort to get close to the town people by setting up a temporary screen and showing them a movie.


    People seemed to be more rxed than before but they did not try to converse with the team except for the old chief of the town.


    It was natural for people in remote areas to be vignt against outsiders but once they identify the strangers, they would soon lower their guard but they would not budge.


    Also, the men of the town were acting very awkwardly. This had triggered Zeynep¡¯s curiosity.


    ¡°I like how the kids are lively here. They loved watching the movie, did you see their faces? And...¡±


    As Zeynep began to chat, Youngho was thinking about the town people¡¯s strange behaviors.


    ¡°Oppa!¡±


    ¡°Oh boy, why are you shouting?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear a single word I said, right.¡±


    As Youngho was thinking that there must be a great secret hidden in the town, he had missed Zeynep¡¯s words. She usually got very upset when someone does not pay attention to her words. It seemed that he would be getting an earful from her tonight.


    ***


    The next day, Youngho met up with the old man alone. He was invited to the old man¡¯s house and they were having tea.


    ¡°Mr. Chairman, why did you start doing this? This doesn¡¯t do you any good. It doesn¡¯t make you money or give you reputation.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to call me Mr. Chairman, sir. I don¡¯t deserve to be called that yet.¡±


    ¡°What do I call a chairman? You¡¯re still a chairman.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I started the foundation with a shallow idea to improve my farm¡¯s image in Kazakhstan but this is not easy. I don¡¯t know how to approach people.¡±


    ¡°Hah! I thought you were going to make an impressive speech there. You¡¯re honest.¡±


    The old chief smiled at Youngho¡¯s unexpected answer. In fact, there were not many businessmen who would make a social welfare foundation or a schrship foundation without any calction of a benefit in return in mind.


    Even though they establish foundations with grandiose official purposes, Youngho was casually telling that he wanted to join the Kazakh mainstream society.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve earned some wealth to do this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Paying this much won¡¯t shake mypany. Also, I didn¡¯t contribute that much since I¡¯m not a phnthropist. I¡¯m just pretending that I¡¯m one but I really do want to support people who have the intention to study. That way, I can educate them first and hire them for my businesster.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    As they were chatting, Youngho sensed that the old man wanted to say something but he was beating around the bush. Youngho just opened up his heart to the old man, so that he could trust him. Since there was nothing to lie about, he told everything truthfully.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been living for nearly 80 years and I¡¯ve seen a lot of people, but you are special. I get that you are not the person who would deceive people.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing to brag about but I have big hotels around the world and a vineyard and a wine factory. I have more than 5,000 people under me, who rely on me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have to make lies to be recognized by people. People around me naturally epted me because of my work. You¡¯d know why I¡¯m telling you all this.¡±


    Youngho was reminding the old man that he had nothing to gain for lying to him. Since the old man had been reluctant to say what was on his mind, Youngho was inviting him to the conversation.


    ¡°My father took all of his family and went to the Maritime Province to fight for Korea¡¯s independence in 1920. After that, we were deployed here and we were able to build our family again by doing a family business, but our business went bankrupt because of other Koryoins. I was resentful about people and I couldn¡¯t trust anyone. That was why my old friends¡¯ and my families moved to a remote area and settled in here.¡±


    ¡®Man, is this it?¡¯


    Although it was a long story that could make a book, he exined everything in a short story. Youngho was disappointed a little bit. There must have been many difficult and dangerous moments when his family fought for Korea¡¯s independence, when they were forcefully removed from the Maritime Province, and when they tried to survive in the newnd, Kazakhstan. However, the story was not even a minute long. Youngho was not sure what the old man was implying.


    ¡°Is there anything you want to ask from me?¡±


    After thinking for a while, Youngho carefully asked a question. The old man finally smiled.


    ¡°I am called Kim Sungchan. May I ask you to take care of our town?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sir. I came here after making up my mind to help the town already. Tell me anything you need. I and the foundation staffs will be d to help.¡±


    ¡°Wait here for a moment. I have something to show you.¡±


    ***


    Although Zeynep was now turning into a woman, she still liked toe along anywhere Youngho went. Her curious and adventurous personality was part of the reasons for that.


    Youngho had told her to stay in the vehicle down the valley but she insisted on following him. As she was out of breath climbing the valley, she kept asking if they were close. It almost bothered him.


    Youngho, Kim Ilkwon, and Zeynep were now guided by the old chief Kim Sungchan¡¯s son and other men of the town. They were heading to the ce where they had been collecting gold, this was the reason that the town people were vignt against outsiders.


    Kazakhstan was a country that had many gold resources and it was still producing several tons of gold every year. That amount was what the government was officially producing.


    Where the government¡¯s administration did not reach, gold is illegally collected and all of them were being sold in the ck market. That was why many jewelers were extremely wealthy since they treated gold from the ck market. Also, Youngho had heard that the number of diamonds traded in the ck market was more than the amount that was sold in the official market.


    Yesterday, the Koryoin old man Kim Sungchan brought a heavy sack and opened it in front of Youngho.


    The sack was filled with gold dust.


    He exined that the town people identally found a valley where gold was produced. The town people had collected about five kilograms of gold until now, but they were not sure what to do with the gold.


    Knowing that if the rumor was spread out that there was gold near their town, the town would not be able to survive greedy outsiders or the government, so they had been keeping the secret.


    Kim Sungchan finally opened up to Youngho since he thought that he could be trusted but Youngho was having a hard time to hide his joy. The valley must be a field of alluvial gold since the town people were able to collect gold without any knowledge about collecting gold.


    This was why Kim Sungchan asked Youngho to take care of the town before he came clean to him. He believed that Youngho could take care of the town people no matter what he did with the gold.


    Although five kilograms of gold was not going to make the town rich, it could have made their living better. Kim Sungchan admitted that he and the town people turned greedy after looking at gold. The men of the town only focused on collecting more gold, and the town was neglected by them. When he was regretting about gold, Youngho showed up and he finally gathered up his courage to open up to Youngho since he looked like a person who could rebuild the town.


    ¡°Mr. Chairman. This is the ce.¡±


    The bottom of the clear stream of the valley was sand everywhere but those sands were sparkling under the sunshine.


    Youngho and Ilkwon took out their shoes and went into the stream. Youngho scooped up the sparkly sand with both of his hands. The sand was indeed mixed with gold dust. Since the dust was too small, it would have been impossible for the people to collect them without any expert knowledge. It made Youngho wonder. To think about that, the grains of gold that he saw yesterday was bigger.


    ¡°How have you been collecting gold until now?¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t even collect gold dust because they¡¯re too small. We only collected what we could pick up with our hands.¡±


    At this point, Youngho wanted to shout out to the world that he found gold.


    ¡°This is it? You won¡¯t be able to gather a fistful of these even if you collect them for a month.¡±


    Looking at the alluvial gold that that was gathered on her finger, Zeynep was disappointed.


    ¡°Phew, sweetie. When this is piled up, it would be a huge asset. Don¡¯t say anything about gold to other people, alright? If outside people found out about this, this ce will be a bloody battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I should protect the town¡¯s people property but are you really going toe far to collect gold here?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will. These little grains of gold will brighten the future of the Kingdom of Serbia. I guarantee.¡±

 Chapter 217 - Dynamics (4)

    <h4>Chapter 217: Dynamics (4)</h4>


    The wheat in the field had grown and made a pleasant view. On top of that, outside the walls that protected the towns, birch trees had grown up and made a wood. Although it was difficult to supply water to the trees, those trees would be a great windbreak for the town people in addition to creating great scenery.


    So, Youngho asked people to nt fruit trees for each house and nt many trees around the yground and the central square. As the empty environment turned green, it was quite refreshing.


    Commercial areas are also slowly being outlined, so some of the immigrants received loans at the farm office and were opening up stores such as food restaurants, cafes, beauty salons, and cosmetics stores.


    Youngho began to give lending living expenses to each family, so themercial areas were quite crowded in the evenings and teenagers were starting to do little performances on the streets.


    It was the K-pop performance that Zeynep had been teaching the kids. She had gathered up the kids at the gym and taught them how to dance watching K-pop groups on a big screen. Although they were not too skillful since they were only mimicking K-pop singer groups, the activity acted as an outlet for teenagers without any entertainments for themselves. So, there were several dance teams made up already.


    The residential area of Arirang Farm was now starting to look like a city. It was a blessing to see such changes for the immigrants and for Youngho and his friends and families. As the lives of people were stabilized, there was a big baby boom in the farm. There would be hundreds of new-born babies by the beginning of next year.


    It would be great if everything was a smooth sail but it was not the case.


    As more than 4,000 people were living together, different problems and issues urred every day. Adults would get into quarrels after drinking too much, but the real problem was teenagers.


    Zeynep¡¯s K-pop dance program was not enough to calm down growing youths, not everyone was into K-pops as well. They were controlled in the school during the day time but there was no way to contain them after school.


    Youngho decided to ask for Zeynep¡¯s advice.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    It was Zeynep¡¯sugh of pride.


    ¡°Don¡¯t justugh. I said we need toe up with a solution.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, you can¡¯t do anything without me. What if I resolve this?¡±


    She said it as if she had been resolving every issue until now. Youngho decided to go along with her. Not leaving to Paris was enough for him.


    ¡°Alright. If youe up with a great measure, I¡¯ll grant one of your wishes.¡±


    ¡°You said it!¡±


    It made Youngho concern but he could not help since he already said it.


    ¡°The answer lies in Szechenyi. Remember that Szechenyi used to work out with you?¡±


    ¡°Szecheyni?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it. You exhausted him every day.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    ***


    What Zeynep had suggested was nothing special. It was to send security crews of Zeynep Security Service as drill instructors and train the youths. Teaching martial arts like Taekwondo could transform their minds and bodies at the same time. It was something that anyone could think of, but Youngho had not thought of training the town kids.


    Satisfied with Zeynep¡¯s simple solution, Youngho gave her a big hug.


    At Baku¡¯s international school, the first period was physical education. It was because exercise helped students stay healthy and improved their brain activities as well. Also, as students relieve their stresses while exercising, they were able to focus on other school activities.


    Aftering up with the solution, what Zeynep wanted from Youngho was that she wanted to collect antiques. More precisely, she wanted to visit flea markets and old antique stores of different countries to increase the assets of the foundation.


    Youngho was not sure if she really wanted to help with the foundation genuinely or if she wanted to just collect antiques for her own collection.


    She also had another suggestion to help the youths on Arirang Farm.


    It was to let them raise pets.


    It was a known fact thatmunicating with animals were good for growing children and youths¡¯ emotions, but what she wanted to bring were not small pets but big dogs. Her reason was to protect people from foxes and wolves.


    Although it seemed more like Zeynep¡¯s desire than a solution, still, children and youths would love to have dogs with them. Youngho had to agree with her.


    Then for the next few days, she was busy looking for Korean dogs saying that the youths would be learning Korean martial arts, so that they also would need to raise Korean dogs.


    Zeynep, who could die for puppies, found pictures of Sapsaree dogs which were a rare native Korean shaggy sheepdog breed. They somewhat looked like a different version of Old English sheepdog. She kept saying that they were cute. The hrious pictures of the Sapsaree or Sapsali dogs made Youngho smile since their unusually long hairs covered their eyes and their tongues hanging out.


    The name of the dog Sapsaree meant ¡®one that roots out evil spirits and bad luck¡¯. The dogs were fast to adapt to many environments and they were known to be loyal and brave.


    Since Zeynep was already into the dog breed, Youngho had to agree to buy the dogs from Korea. He made arrangements with Korean breeders and had to even pay some contributions to Korean Sapsaree Foundation so that he could get them delivered to the farm more fluently. Then arranged an airne to ship the dogs.


    As the Sapsaree dogs were delivered to Arirang Farm, Zeynep was not seen in Baku for a while. Skipping school for a while, she lived with the dogs.


    That spring was extremely dynamical as many things were unfolding on the farm.


    ***


    A survey team from the drone manufacturerpany D Drones had visited the farm and left after inspecting the area.


    As Youngho showed them the warehouse buildings once used as storage units of daily supplies and grains, the staffs of D Drones were satisfied and said that the production line could be installed at any time.


    The factory on Arirang Farm would only produce half-finished products before sending them to D Drones. It was only called half-finished because there was no electronic chip inside which was the core technology of drones but it was almost the same as a finished product. After receiving the products from the farm, D Drones would put the core chips inside and package the products before distributing them.


    Youngho was excited since D Drones agreed to build the assembly line, body production factory, and rotor production factory. Since D Drones was a foreign investor, it was making a contribution.


    The technique of producing a body of the drone and rotor, which was the propeller of drone, was agreed to be transferred to Arirang Farm in the future.


    Youngho did not only choose drones to make money but because the drone was an essential technique that could be used effectively in arge country like Kazakhstan. Drones could be the best way to deliver supplies to remote ces. Also, drones could be used to monitor the growth of crops and to tell the best period for harvesting on arge scale farm like Arirang Farm.


    A U.S.pany was providing a pilot service in Rwanda to supply blood and medicine through unmanned drones. When drones reached their destination by using G.P.S, they would drop boxes with a parachute from the sky. In ces with poor road conditions like Rwanda, it usually took several days to get to remote areas bynd, but it took only a few hours to deliver the goods by using drones.


    There have been cases of such good use of drones. However, there was also abusive usages of drones. For examples, a drone bomb made by IS attacked Kurdish forces, and in Colombia someone supplied drugs with a drone to his friend in prison. In addition, apany in the U.K. made a drone called Snoopy, a spy drone that intercepted data while flying around smartphones or tablets with Wi-Fi turned on.


    On the other hand, people made defense equipment such as drone defenders and anti-drones to capture intruder drones with jamming waves and mesh bazooka guns. Flying a drone in the air and filming environments was no longer a new story anymore. That was why Youngho was bent on makingmercial drones.


    As D Drones had strict quality standards, working environment for assembly lines had to be like a factory that made precision electronic products. Thus, the body factory and the rotor factory which made noises were pushed near to the wharf.


    No matter how many dust collecting equipment and air purifier were applied, some toxic gases were inevitably created during the process of melting the special materials of the rotor. The body factory, as well, naturally created dust and noise in the process of using machine tools to cut, drill, and weld things. As a result, the area near the farm¡¯s wharf had be a small heavy industrialplex.


    Just in time, about 30 first-generation engineers picked from the farm left to the D Drones headquarters in the U.S. for technical training.


    When the team returns from training the two months of the training period, there would be up to fourth generations of engineers sent to the U.S. each in every two months until they were all trained.


    Among them, outstanding people who would be trained and be expert technicians in the future. By then, Arirang Farm would be able to design its own drone model and produce drones of the farm¡¯s own brand.

 Chapter 218 - Ah! The Kurds (1)

    <h4>Chapter 218: Ah! The Kurds (1)</h4>


    Just as Christianity and Im, which believed in the same monotheistic god and have the same ancestor, Abraham, Sunnis, and Shiites within the religion of Im have been endlessly confronting each other.


    They argued for legitimacy because of their doctrines and religious leaders. The Kurds were the people who were strangely rted between the ethnic groups of Sunnis and Shiites. The Kurds, who resided in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, were oppressed by the Sunni Muslims in Turkey, despite the fact that the majority of the Kurds were Sunni as well, and they were oppressed by the Shiites in Iraq.


    After World War II, they were divided and had been ruled by Turkey, Iraq, and Iran without their own nation. Twenty million people which were 55 percent of the ethnic group and the majority of their original territory belonged to Turkey and had been fighting for independence.


    Kurds living in Iraq were vying with Iraq to make the region of Erbil an independent state. Even though the Kurds were the people who drove IS out of Iraq to Syria but they were not being appreciated by the nation at all.


    The 3.5 million Kurds living in the mountains of northern Iraq were demanding an independent state, but the Iraq government wanted to keep it in the form of a coalition government.


    In the past, South Korea¡¯s Zaytun unit was stationed in Erbil, where there was Kurdistan Regional Area, so Kurdish people were quite friendly to South Korea. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Zaytun unit members, Korea was regarded as a grateful country for its help in the postwar restoration.


    In that ce, Youngho and Jong-il had shown up.


    It was to survey the market since the railroad that connected Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran-the gulf was passing through Iraq¡¯s Kurdish state.


    Beforeing here, Youngho had to make an excuse to Michael, that he had to travel here to survey the local area since Michael was not fond of Russia¡¯s southward policy.


    Youngho personally liked Russia¡¯snd transport and distribution business, but the U.S. was ufortable with the fact that Russia was moving through the Gulf to the Indian Ocean.


    The Kurds here and Azerbaijanis in northern Iran maintained a friendly rtionship despite the religious differences. Although it was near the border, the two countries did not really pay attention to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in Erbil.


    The majority of Azerbaijani people in the region of northern Iran were Shiite but they were not sensitive toward religious differences since a secr view of religion and politics was universal.


    Especially because the Kurds fought against the IS, the image of the Kurds was good in Azerbaijani people¡¯s view. If they did not protect the nation, the IS would soon take over the regions of Iraq and Iran, and there would be terrible ethnic and religious conflicts.


    Youngho saw female guerris who were passing by Youngho¡¯s Hummer.


    ¡°Man. They¡¯re about Zeynep¡¯s age and they¡¯re carrying guns. How can they carry heavy weapons? It¡¯s hard to watch.¡±


    Jong-il was sorry to see the young female guerris who had to fight at such young ages but despite Jong-il¡¯s sigh, a female guerri who looked about twenty was smiling.


    Youngho wanted to pay deep respect to them since they had chosen to pick up guns to protect their people and fight for their nation¡¯s independence.


    It was quite impressive to see how they could still smile in a situation where they were not sure when they were going to lose their lives.


    Those women were youngbat personnel of the PKK women¡¯s army, a Kurdish armed independence fighting group. They were called Kurdish women warriors.


    ***


    ¡°Youngho, I told you why I got into MMA after graduating from high school, right?¡±


    Youngho faintly remembered that Jong-il liked it because there were no strict rules.


    ¡°You said you liked fighting with people.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s an interesting way to say it. I liked the fact that it didn¡¯t have rules. Mixing boxing and wrestling and taking out useless rules. Man, it¡¯s just wild.¡±


    ¡°Was it because you wanted to hug men since you couldn¡¯t hug girls?¡±


    ¡°Dude, please.¡±


    ¡°Why are you talking about MMA suddenly?¡±


    ¡°Just look at those female guerris. I guess people here like to fight aggressively without rules too. I wonder who¡¯d be willing to fight with those guerris. I¡¯d like to see their faces. That¡¯s just sick.¡±


    ¡°You want to do something about it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be that nosy like you. Don¡¯t worry but if I find one, I¡¯ll do anything to stop him.¡±


    Just like Jong-il, Youngho also felt sorry to see the women warriors.


    As if God had known their hearts, a bus that had a touching phrase on it just passed by the two. On the side of the bus, there was a poster that had a Korean g and Kurdish g on it with a phrase, ¡®We are Your Friend.¡¯ Through the word of ¡®friend¡¯ Youngho could feel their desperation. It was an appreciation for Korea¡¯s Zaytun unit but it was also a cry for help.


    Because there had been Iraq¡¯s political movement to get rid of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. So the Kurdish armed independence group was in the situation to fight against both Iraq and IS. That must be why the women had to pick up arms as well.


    ¡°Man instead of doing a survey of the market, we¡¯d be giving away all of our money here.¡±


    Jong-il murmured to himself.


    It was because there were so many Syrian refugees who were forced to leave their country because of IS. They had taken up the outskirt of the city.


    The refugee camp was not in a bad shape. Since there had been many supports from various international organizations, the faces of kids were still bright.


    However, one scene attracted Youngho¡¯s eyes.


    He saw kids gathered up in a huge tent. After getting permission from a relief organization looking out for the section of the camp, he approached near the tent.


    The kids were bickering at each other. Not being able to withhold his curiosity, Youngho directly went inside.


    The kids turned their eyes toward him in unison. They obviously looked like war orphans.


    Their eyes were lifeless and focus-less.


    ¡®What on earth had they witnessed with their eyes, that their eyes had turned dark?¡¯ Youngho wondered.


    Their bottomless eyes were calm and ignorant.


    Youngho could not help but cry.


    ***


    ¡°Man! Why are you making a fuss? I¡¯m the one who cried.¡±


    Although Youngho was the one who cried, Jong-il was the one who was outrageous for the orphans.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hold me back. Those rotten b*st*rds. I¡¯ll only be able to sleep tonight after avenging them.¡±


    ¡°You lunatic! It¡¯s not going to resolve anything even if we fight for them. This has been going around for hundreds of years and this is not the only ce that has problems. If you get upset with everything, you¡¯ll die early.¡±


    Youngho did not understand why people killed each other to take over such smallnd. It would be great if they could stop fighting and move to somewhere like Kazakhstan since it was the ce where 120 ethnicities lived together in peace.


    ¡°You¡¯re being emotional these days. Is it because you¡¯ve been ying the Middle Agestely?¡±


    ¡°Jong-il. We should help out some of the kids here. It¡¯d be hard to survive without parents. I can¡¯t eat food thinking about them.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re nosiness is getting worse. Okay. Let¡¯s try for once. We¡¯ll at least save some kids.¡±


    The two discussed what they could do to help the orphans.


    Youngho was not a phnthropist but he just could not turn his back after seeing the kids¡¯ lost eyes. He already had a foundation to help out people in need. There was no rule that he should only help people in Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan. The people who need his help the most were right before his eyes.


    As Jong-il said, they came to survey the market to make money but the two were rather giving away what they had. However, he did not feel bad.


    Youngho tried talking with each kid one by one but many did not even try to converse with him. Some might have lost words because of traumas.


    Little children were already taken care of by other refugee adults and what was left were twenty-four children from age seven to eleven.


    Wondering why there were no older kids, Youngho asked one of the camp staffs and the answer was suffocating.


    ¡°Kids who are old enough to carry guns were all dragged by IS. Those kids were only here because the adult refugees were merciful enough to take care of them along the way. How could they take care of themselves?¡±


    Youngho had guessed it already but as he listened to the different stories about the refugees from the camp staff, he was lost for words. What IS was doing was unspeakable. It had taken kids to train them and use them as cannon fodder in battles.


    The ce called Southern Azerbaijan was actually Iran¡¯s northern region. It was named that way since it was upied mostly by Azerbaijanis.


    Because of the Azerbaijani poption there, the Iranian government did not bother them if it was unnecessary. Since the Azerbaijani people might request to be independent if they did not like the government¡¯s policy and treatment, the government was using appeasement policy.


    Youngho¡¯s group was passing the region now and was about to reach the Azerbaijani border inspection point.


    One might think that it would be a long trip from Erbil in northern Iraq to pass through northern Iran and to reach the border of Azerbaijan but the territories were not too big that it only took about six hours.


    Behind the Hummer vehicle that Youngho was driving, a mini-bus was following it.


    Youngho had finally brought twenty-four war orphans.


    He had to go through the trouble to bring the kids but because he was able to get help from a CIA agent in Erbil, so he managed to get permission to take the orphans. Passing the Azerbaijani border was also easy because of Youngho¡¯s influence in the nation.


    Before leaving the refugee camp, Youngho had exined to the kids that they were going to a great ce. However, they did not seem to be moved by the fact.


    They did not show any emotion on their face but went inside the bus and leaned their heads against windows. Feeling sorry for their life-less behaviors, the staffs of the refugee camp, who had been taking care of them, sent them with tears.


    Youngho worried about how to take care of the traumatized kids from war who had lost their families. It was unclear if they would be able tough again but he was hopeful since kids usually were fast to adapt to new environments. His heart was less-burdened to think that he managed to save at least some kids with his own hands.

 Chapter 219 - Ah! The Kurds (2)

    <h4>Chapter 219: Ah! The Kurds (2)</h4>


    Youngho¡¯s grandparents lived in the city of Gangneung in the province of Gangwondo, South Korea when he was young.


    Every summer, Youngho, and Yunsuh would stay there.


    Since his grandparents did any favor they asked, they used to count their days till summer.


    This was the summer when Youngho was in his fourth grade.


    He left his grandparents¡¯ house to go to a beach nearby with neighborhood friends but he had to encounter trouble.


    There were so many booths of merchants and small business owners lined up along the beach, which attracted kids. On that day, he was so preupied with eating with his friends, that he spent all of his money including the money he had to pay for leaving his clothes in the dressing room. Luckily, he still had money left to pay the bus fare to return home.


    Unwillingly, he had to put his clothes on the beach. So, he had an idea to dig up some sand and hide the clothes and his friends all agreed with him, saying that it was a great idea. They found a safe ce far away from the waves and hid their clothes.


    After ying for several hours, the group was ready to return home.


    However, they could not remember where they hid their clothes.


    They should have hidden their clothes to a discernible spot nearby but they had not thought through about it that far. The kids searched the whole beach until it got dark but their clothes were nowhere to be seen.


    It was hrious to see kids searching for their clothes for hours in the hot summer heat. Sweat and tears were all mixed with sand on their bodies.


    Eventually, the gang who could not find their clothes was able to get on a bus in their bathing suits and arrive downtown of Gangneung only because of a merciful bus driver.


    Youngho still remembered the kids¡¯ pitiful look as they walked downtown in the dark.


    It was totally embarrassing and shameful.


    The scene of Yunsuh rolling on the floor withughter when Youngho entered their grandparents¡¯ house was still embarrassing to him.


    Youngho was reminiscing his past because of the war orphans.


    Eleven-year-old kids these days were impudent and cunning because they had ess to more things in the world due to the development of technologies. However, the orphans were different. They did not even say that they needed to go to the bathroom but they just wetted their pants in the bus. They were not even embarrassed by their behaviors.


    Youngho thought that they must have been shattered by the traumas of war.


    Jong-il, who usually was theining one, did not say much but rather cleaned after them and treated them even more kindly. Since the kids did not even express basic desires for hunger or thirst, it was sad to watch them. Only a few of them carefully expressed their needs but most of them were speechless.


    ***


    At Zeynep Farm, Zeynep weed the kids with joy.


    She liked the fact that the foundation was finally doing its job.


    Hugging and patting the dirty kids, she almost acted like their mom. Since Zeynep was a pretty girl, friendlier and younger than Youngho and Jong-il, the kids seemed to be more rxed around her.


    Zeynep wanted to take care of all of the kids but what the kids needed was not a sister, it was a mom. Youngho convinced Zeynep to adopt one kid and send the others to the homes of Serbian immigrants.


    The descendants of Serbian knights in the ranch had great pride and dignity since they were the descendants of the knights of the Kingdom of Serbia. They did not receive regr education because they were dragged as ves but they held great self-esteem as knights.


    Their consideration for others was great even if they had nothing to eat or drink, they would give food for others sacrificing themselves.


    The Serbian immigrants in Zeynep Farm were not knights but it did not mean that they were notpassionate. Thankfully, Serbian people epted the orphans withpassionate hearts. They had experienced hardship in life as minorities in Serbia and they had sympathy for the war orphans. There were more than enough Serbian families that volunteered to take care of the orphans, so eventually, they were all taken to their new homes.


    What the kids needed were to be taken cared of in loving homes with genuine hearted parents and siblings in order for them to get over their horrible memories. Luxury food and clothes were meaningless but attention and care were the best treatment for their traumas.


    There was a reason that Youngho brought a nine-year-old girl to his mansion.


    She was particrly silent, so he wanted to take care of her himself, and he thought that she might improve if she stayed with a baby. Also, she was the one that Zeynep had the most pity on from the moment they first met.


    Fatima and Zeynep cleaned the girl with care and treated her in a friendly manner. Soon, her rigid face was gone and she began to follow Zeynep around wherever she went.


    She intuitively knew who was most affectionate toward her.


    After the supper, Leon yed around the mansion making noises and he approached the girl. It seemed that he liked her since he was very friendly to her.


    Looking at Leon, the wordless girl carefully touched Leon¡¯s hand and hugged him silently. Since she stayed in that position for a while, Fatima approached her to see what was going on but she had to stop. The girl was crying silently hugging Leon with her arms.


    ***


    The Koryoin town, which was half day away bynd from Arirang Farm, was livelier now since a team of the Arirang Foundation delivered supplies for the town every ten days.


    Youngho had agreed to provide food and necessary supplies and gold collecting equipment and to pay for their gold at the ck market price.


    The kids of the town were also sent to Arirang Farm to receive education with Serbian kids. They stayed in Arirang Farm and were sent to their homes at least twice a month.


    Aside from the inconvenience of transportation, it was hard to even think about going outside to study since they had no money or opportunity but the town people were relieved that they had somewhere to send their kids to get an education.


    It had been a month since Youngho visited the town and now he was there to discuss a matter with Kim Sungchan.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy that our kids are doing great in Arirang Farm. It feels like a huge burden had been lifted up from my heart. It¡¯s all because of your consideration.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve taught them well until now. How did you decide to teach Russian to the kids?¡±


    The Koryoin kids could speak not only Korean but also Russian.


    ¡°We¡¯d live in small town for the rest of our lives but it¡¯s not right to hold back younger ones¡¯ future. I taught them time to time but if I had known that they would be leaving our town this soon, I would¡¯ve put more effort.¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. The Russian teacher on the farm said that they¡¯re doing great. Also, they get along with the Serbian kids as well. They¡¯ll be a great influence in the future.¡±


    Since the Koryoin kids grew in an isted town, the town people had concerns about the kids¡¯ sociability but surprisingly, they were doing great with other Serbian kids.


    ¡°Please take care of our kids well.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will. Do not worry. I don¡¯t know much about education but I made the best educational environment. I have great expectations for the kids.¡±


    After talking about the kids for a while, Youngho finally asked a question that was on his mind.


    ¡°Sir. This is not a great environment for the town people. Have you ever thought about moving to Arirang Farm?¡±


    Kim Sungchan was surprised to hear it.


    Since it sounded as if Youngho was saying that the town people should give up the gold, he was silent.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The rumor that there is gold here will spread eventually. I¡¯m just worried about the town people¡¯s safety. All sorts of people wille here to get gold and we should prepare for such a situation.¡±


    It was not like the town people had bought thend and they were protected by thew. Anyone could enter thend and take the gold. People woulde and some even try to rob the gold that they had collected so far.


    ¡°If I hire experts, we¡¯ll be able to collect more gold. I¡¯ll guarantee the town¡¯s portion of gold. In fact, with your manpower, the maximum amount of gold you could collect a year is about five kilograms. It would be silly to take the risk to collect only that much.¡±


    The amount of gold collected here could not bepared to the gold being produced in Baku.


    ¡°I understand where you¡¯reing from but why do you care so much about us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a nosy person by nature. It¡¯s hard to overlook the town when I know what¡¯s going toe. There must be a reason that we came across with each other.¡±


    ¡°A reason...¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t say that gold is not a part of my calction but it¡¯s not a major part.¡±


    Kim Sungchan thought about Youngho¡¯s words for a while, he then said,


    ¡°In truth, I have no lingering attachment to the town itself. Since the kids had already left the town... Okay. I¡¯ll do as you said.¡±


    Youngho could already tell that Kim Sungchan was a wise person, although the rtionship between them had not been that long. Being a son of an independence fighter, Kim Sungchan was educated by his parents and learned to be diligent and loyal. He knew the way of the world through his knowledge and Youngho was dying to have someone like him on Arirang Farm.


    ¡°Sir, if youe and help us on the farm, it¡¯d be like having thousands of troops and horses.¡±


    ¡°For what does this old man know that I dare to guide you? I¡¯ll just get old and die in time.¡±


    Although he did not say that he was interested, his face seemed to be excited about the new life that was being offered to him.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see it when you get there but people¡¯s minds are not stabilized yet because too many things are going on right now. I also need your wisdom. Please teach us. I¡¯ll open my eyes and ears for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who needs to learn more about the world.¡±


    Kim Sungchan joining the farm would help Youngho gain a great counsel on top of Park Youngsun¡¯s knowledge. Their great synergy could have a beneficial effect on the farm¡¯s development.


    Youngho was excited.

 Chapter 220 - Growing Pains (1)

    <h4>Chapter 220: Growing Pains (1)</h4>


    Little Jelyan and Leon seemed to be a perfect match.


    Except for bedtime, they were always together.


    The name of the refugee girl with blond hair and blue eyes was Jelyan.


    Both of her parents were executed by IS and her little brother died of disease on the way of evacuation. She took care of Leon as her little brother and Leon also became livelier because of her.


    She began to talk after that day when she cried with Leon in her arms.


    The first one she talked to was Leon, and gradually she was able to talk with all of the family members.


    Jelyan could speak French because she grew in Syria since Syria used Arabic and French as its officialnguages.


    With Jelyan¡¯s joining, the atmosphere of the family was even more brightened. She filled the empty spot of Szechenyi. When she yed andughed with Leon, it sounded like light music. Youngho was happy whenever he heard Leon and Jelyan¡¯sughter.


    Youngho could hear why Jelyan had cried through her psychiatrist. It was a story so sad, that anyone would surely cry once they hear it.


    Jelyan¡¯s parents worked as teachers in a middle school but one day, they were dragged by IS, who had suddenly invaded the school. Soon, the Kurdish armed independence force went to rescue numerous women who were dragged by IS but her parents did not return and she was led to Erbil¡¯s refugee by the Kurdish armed force.


    While evacuating, her five-year-old little brother, who had not been able to eat properly, suffered from pneumonia and eventually died. Jelyan, who had lost herst reason to live, became a speechless child.


    Although she was provided with food and clothes from the refugee camp, the child¡¯s emotional shock was not taken cared of.


    Soon after the orphans arrived at Zeynep Farm, Youngho called a psychiatrist to take care of the kids¡¯ emotional and psychological traumas. After a while of being treated and living with Serbian families, the war orphans soon were able to talk.


    As the orphans were finding peace in mind, Youngho enrolled them in the international school hurriedly. A good way to get away from a horrible memory as soon as possible was to stay upied with other things in life.


    Of course, Zeynep acted as a great guide for them at school.


    Every morning, Youngho would say goodbye to the kids on a mini-bus as they went to school. Today, he sent them to school and was on his way to Baku¡¯s shipyard with Park Jong-il.


    ¡°You¡¯re so proud of what you¡¯re doing right now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only sad that I couldn¡¯t bring more kids. I see why phnthropists do their job. It¡¯s so satisfying.¡±


    ¡°I thought we are doing too much at first but Karajanplimented me for taking care of them. I guess we¡¯ve done the right thing.¡±


    Although they had brought the kids without any preparation, it seemed that everything was going well so far. Youngho was willing to bring more kids if he would be given the chance. They got along pretty well with Serbian kids on the farm, they were slowly restoring peace of mind.


    ***


    ¡°Man, we¡¯re finally traveling. It¡¯s great to be on a car-ferry ship instead of cargo freighters. This could be called a cruise in the Caspian Sea or in the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. How can this bepared torge cruise ships that can hold about 5,000 people? But this is better than Turkish car-ferry ships.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il were on board for the first sailing of ¡®The Arirang 2¡ä which had itsunching ceremony earlier than expected.


    Their goal for the ship¡¯s first journey was to bring 78 families, 400 people, of Serbian immigrants from the Port of Burgas in Bulgaria. Youngho requested to the shipyard to stop the production of other bulk carrier and icebreaker and to focus on making this car-ferry ship.


    The Arirang 2 could have 572 people and 84 cars on board.


    This could one day be, a cruise ship in the northern Caspian, Ural River, and Volga River.


    ¡°You¡¯ve hidden the weapons well, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup. No one can find it. Man, it¡¯ll look better with missiles on it.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s love for missiles never ceased. All of the ships that Youngho owned carried weapons that could arm a small toon but this car-ferry ship had weapons enough to arm a squadron. Any regr terrorist organization would not be a match for this ship but Jong-il was asking to have missiles on top of those weapons.


    ***


    Because the Port of Burgas in Bulgaria was often crowded by Serbian immigrants the city authorities did not really care about them anymore. They stayed in different hotels in the city since the group was not too big, having only four hundred people.


    The regions of Southeastern Europe were ces where people could have great rtionships with officials that had money. Impossible things in Western Europe where principles were strictly followed were possible here with a little bribe money.


    The officials now waited for Youngho, since he often gave envelopes of appreciation money to city authorities.


    The officials who received gifts from Youngho today took good care of the immigrants¡¯ business. They did not inspect any belongings of the immigrants and let them pass. The process was much quicker because of their help.


    The immigrants brought old trucks as their belongings and they were reluctant to let go of them since those were their precious belongings. So, Youngho had to struggle and convince them to sell the trucks in Burgas only after he gave them an agreement with his signature to get them better trucks once they arrived at the farm. These kinds of troubles happened every time he came to transport the immigrants, and now Youngho was so used to them that he considered it as thest step.


    Jong-il approached Youngho who was sitting on a chair at the deck and looking at the list of immigrants. He whispered to Youngho.


    ¡°Ilkwon is investigating suspicious groups of people and he said they¡¯re really fishy.¡±


    ¡°We only received groups of families. Are you saying the whole family is strange?¡±


    ¡°What do you say if the whole groups of families are suspicious?¡±


    ¡°How many people are they?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s three families and there are about ten members in each. Ilkwon said that they don¡¯tmunicate with other immigrants and their eyes were different.¡±


    It did not make sense if they were thieves who came to steal things from Arirang Farm since they were not many. They could not hijack the ship either because they would be outnumbered. If they were not immigrants, there must be something they wanted.


    They showed up just in time since Youngho was already getting bored. If Ilkwon was mistaken, they could work in the town watch since they had great eyes.


    Since it was a matter that could be finished quickly, Youngho decided to confront them alone. He called them out to have a private meeting.


    He and his friends checked if they had any suspicious things in their belongings and conversed with them but they could not find anything special except for the fact that there were many youngds that posses sharp eyes.


    However, with the Serbian people¡¯s help, they had found out that they were Croatians.


    As their identities were revealed, Youngho had a long conversation with them to find out why they were here. It was a long and painful story.


    ***


    The Balkan Penins of southern Europe had been a ce where countless people have lived in a mixture, and where the upation, domination, and independence of various cultures were repeated. The area, located between Italy and Turkey, north of Greece and south of Eastern Europe, had no choice but to experience frequent ups and downs.


    This was the ce where Ottoman Turks took over for thest time andter produced the seeds of ethnic conflict. After two World Wars and numerous twists and turns, the people merged into Yugovia and were divided into Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Serbia when Tito died. In a civil war that began with Bosnia¡¯s im to independence, Serbia deployed a militia,mitting a crime of abusing a terrible human life.


    Serbian militiamenmitted all sorts of crimes, including indiscriminate killings of Bosnian Muslims and Croatians, and many women were vited and massacred. Usually, it was known that Muslims were the ones tounch terror attacks but in ces like Serbia, where Muslims were a minority, there was a history where Muslims became victims of the indiscriminate violencemitted by Christians. When ugly nationalism and selfish religious conflicts were mixed, the barbarism inherent in human beings was revived, creating a monster of war crimes that would never be forgiven.


    There were people who btedly sought revenge. They were Croatians living in Serbia and some had managed to sneak into the immigrant ranks. There was no way to distinguish Croatians form Serbians by their appearances and their passports were alsobeled Serbia. It seemed that some of the descendants of the kingdom were among the militiamen whomitted war crimes. The Croatians found out about the Serbian militiamen and they followed them to destroy their new ce, Arirang farm.


    The Croatians said that they were going to blow up the ship if they could not go to Arirang Farm. Youngho had been epting Serbian people without any strings attached but now he would have to go through people¡¯s genealogy from now on.


    ¡°Back then, we were all insane. I couldn¡¯t see the violence happening everywhere, so I began to hide Bosnians but one day, I was caught. I was about to be executed if I didn¡¯t kill them with my hands, so I executed them. As I repeated that, I didn¡¯t feel anything anymore. When I returned to my hometown, I was half out of my mind. I kept drinking for a while. I still get nightmares of the past. That was why I decided to leave Serbia.¡±


    Youngho was listening to the story of the previous Serbian militiaman who had taken part in ughtering Bosnians and Croatians.


    ¡°Do you think you can apologize to them?¡±


    He would not be forgiven even if he apologized now.


    ¡°If I can, I¡¯d like to be forgiven but I don¡¯t have the courage to do that. I can¡¯t dare to look at their faces. I¡¯m ashamed that I don¡¯t even have the courage to say I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Youngho dropped off the Croatians at Sebastopol which was at the end of the Crimean Penins where the Russian ck Sea Fleet was located. He gave them enough money for their return.


    In the end, they left in tears without hearing the Serbian guerri¡¯s apology. That was why Youngho apologized to them on behalf of the Serbian guerri. It was because they were Youngho¡¯s people now.


    Youngho remembered that he was happy to see the farm¡¯s poption increasing, but he was reminded that nothing could be gained without paying the cost.

 Chapter 221 - Growing Pains (2)

    <h4>Chapter 221: Growing Pains (2)</h4>


    For the Kazakhstan government, it was difficult to effectively manage people scattered in remote ces and lived off ranching or farming since it was still a developing country. The country¡¯snd mass was twelve times the size of the Korean Penins, and the poption was just over eighteen million. So, most of the poption was concentrated in cities. It was difficult to see people a little outside of the city areas.


    That meant that people in remote areas were often not included in the census numbers. It would be fair to say that the government had no intention of investigating the remote areas and the people who lived there had been living quietly as if they did not exist.


    The people of Koryoin town were such beings. They did not bother to report any birth or the number of town¡¯s residents. It was partly because it was an easy process to get their ID cards issued if needed since they would be made without a word if they went to the administrative office.


    However, now that they came to civilization, they had to change. They made their identity cards to prove themselves, received smartphones, made their own bank ounts, and so on.


    They were given a fancy house that was unimaginable to them before and in many ces of the farm, something like a dream came about living in brightly lit streets in the evening. Fortunately, adapting to a new environment was not too difficult. Since both the immigrants and Koryoins were adapting to living in a new ce, no one was in a better position than others. What Koryoins had more than the immigrants were the money they made for selling the gold they had collected and they had the right to receive money for five kilograms of gold to be collected every year.


    After the Koryoins moved out of their town to get to Arirang Farm, people who took over their old town were gold miners in Serbian ranch in Baku and 17 people of Arirang Farm¡¯s neighborhood watch. Not to be found out by the outsiders, the town was disguised as ranch workers¡¯ town. So, some livestock were kept inside fences.


    The miners only worked 20 days in a month in Koryoin town to collect gold and return to Baku to rest for ten days. Because the amount of gold being collected was not so much, Youngho felt a little sorry to even call the miners from Baku. Because they spent a lot of time traveling from Baku to the Koryoin town, Youngho ordered to set up a ce near the town where his airnes couldnd. A 300-meter-long t area dramatically reduced their travel time.


    Three eight-passenger Cessna airnes werending at the town¡¯s temporary runways because tomorrow was the day that the miners from Baku would be returning their home.


    Youngho was on one of the airnes to visit the ce.


    So far, he had bought more airnes and now he possessed two four-seater nes and five eight-seater nes, and nine of Serbiands were working as all-weather pilots. Bing a pilot was now many young Serbian people¡¯s dream. Twenty-five select young men were still learning the flying skills, so Youngho expected to buy some more airnes soon.


    Just in the evening, people who had finished collecting the gold were grillingmb at an empty lot in the town. Since they knew that Youngho would be visiting them in advance, they had prepared a proper barbecue party for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t been able to visit more often when you¡¯re going through such trouble.¡±


    Youngho, who squeezed into a table, said while pouring drinks in people¡¯s cups.


    ¡°We know that Prince Consort is busy. You don¡¯t need to pay too much attention to us. We rather enjoy collecting gold since it¡¯s for all of us.¡±


    The Serbian descendants were thoughtful workers who willed to make sacrifices for the whole group. Their genuine hearts always made Youngho sorry for not being able to give them more.


    ¡°Are there any improvements?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to get used to the work. For now, we can collect about three kilograms of gold. With help of modern equipment, the production rate will increase ten times more than now.¡±


    Even though Youngho was not an expert miner, he could tell that half of the valley¡¯s sand was gold. There would be a huge difference if they could separate the sand and gold with an automatic facility, not by human hands. Collecting the widely spread alluvial gold was also important but he had a higher hope that there would be a bonanza that was the source of the alluvial gold spread around the whole valley. Finding it was of his primary interest.


    ***


    There was a ce where numerous ethnic groups demanded independence in Asia. It was China. There were 55 ethnic minorities in China. They lived in an area of 65 percent of the country¡¯s territory but they only ounted for only 8 percent of the total poption since more than 91% of the poption was Han people.


    If Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur, which were demanding independence, were separated, one-third of China¡¯s territory would be lost. Because those were border areas, they were important for the country¡¯s security, but they were also a valuable ce to keep because of abundant ground resources across the hignds, mountain ranges, and grasnds. What was more, Tibet had arge amount of water supply, which was an invaluable resource to keep.


    The ethnic minorities in China had been feeling a sense of economic and cultural deprivation for the Han people, and there was a religious burden here as well. This was because Tibet was Buddhist and Uyghur people were mostly Muslims under Chinese government which boastedmunism.


    The problem was that China had begun to open up culturally due to its involvement in the free market and this sparked those ethnic groups¡¯ desire for independence.


    It was not an exaggeration to say that Kazakhstan¡¯s stability depended on how strong its border against China was. Youngho was one of those who hoped to keep peace in Kazakhstan because he had now settled down in Kazakhstan and China¡¯s influence was a threat to his hope.


    In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Uyghur independence groups were fighting against the Han people because they were against the Han people¡¯s dominance over the economy and their spark might affect Kazakhstan¡¯s border at any time.


    The US CIA was also quietly encouraging Xinjiang¡¯s independent and secretly helping armed independent organizations. The reason that the CIA had been keeping a close eye on the border area of Kazakhstan was that it was trying to empower the Uyghur people by providing armed assistance if necessary.


    Youngho¡¯s establishment of Arirang farm in Kazakhstan and gathering Serbians were actively supported by the CIA as it helped the U.S. national interest as well.


    Furthermore, there were aspects to encourage Youngho¡¯s involvement in activities in Kazakhstan. That was because someone had to be the connection and influence to the Kazakhstan government. That was why Serbiands were recruited as agents. If Kazakhstan was stabilized, the U.S. would benefit from its territorial integrity. Otherwise, there would never have been any support for Youngho¡¯s businesses and activities in Kazakhstan.


    ***


    The shameful event during transporting the fourth generation immigrants fell heavy on Youngho.


    For the future of Arirang Farm¡¯s peace, he wanted to resolve this problem and unburden his people before it was toote.


    Through this event, he found out that many people who were involved in the civil war were still struggling with guilt and traumas which could not be neglected.


    Youngho had a long discussion with Kim Sungchan, Old Niksic, and Park Youngsun, whom he trusted as his counsels. Their solution was to identify past Serbian militiamen who were involved in the war and if they hadmitted crimes, the farm should collect a certain amount topensate Bosnia to apologize for their past error.


    If thepensation money was umted for a few years, the farm would be able to help Bosnian war orphans or establish a memorial stone for those who perished during the civil war in Bosnia. Since Arirang Farm was a town of Serbians now, epting their past and making corrections for their errors was the best way to move on.


    Especially, Old Niksic¡¯s will was strong.


    He said that if some of the Serbian descendants did shameful deeds in the past, the whole people should be responsible to apologize and ask for forgiveness.


    It was an ideal story but Youngho was not sure if the descendants could be forgiven now since the past could not be rewound.


    ¡°Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is asking for independence.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s statement out of the blue, everyone looked at him.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If our people made a mistake of oppressing other people due to sick nationalism, they can extenuate their crimes by helping people who are being oppressed right now.¡±


    Old Niksic seemed to be intrigued.


    ¡°Are you saying that we should help Uyghur people to atone for our crimes?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The problem of past Serbian militiamen is the problem of the whole. They were assants but now they are also victims of the war. If we can help them heal their hearts, we should try even if it is too much to ask.¡±


    Youngho wanted to give a chance for the guilty people to atone for themselves.


    ¡°Prince Consort. If there¡¯s any way to atone for our people¡¯s crimes, we need to do it by all means. Their burden is too heavy for guilt and they¡¯re feeling ashamed before their children as well.¡±


    If the people had to make a choice tomit crimes in the past, making a better choice in a simr situation was the only way for them to get over their guilt from past mistakes.


    Among the immigrants who came to the farm, the former militiamen who were deployed to stop Bosnia¡¯s independence were twenty-seven in number.


    Those were the people who particrly made quarrels and problems after drinking too much during the winter. Although they left Serbia, they were still guilty for what they had done. It would not be forgotten no matter how much time passed. They would live unfortunate lives if they could not get over the guilt. They were destroying not only themselves but also the people around them. Youngho could not let that happen to the city he borately put together.


    ¡°The crimes theymitted in Serbia are not going to disappear bypensating Bosnians with money. If they are guilty, they need to face your consequence. It¡¯s not done just because they moved away from their hometown.¡±


    Old Niksic became hopeful after listening to Youngho.


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet everyone and ask for their willingness to be involved. Please tell me what they¡¯re supposed to do in Xinjiang.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to help them to find their independence. They¡¯d have to risk their lives. If they can¡¯t do it, they don¡¯t deserve to be here.¡±


    If they took other people¡¯s lives and they were afraid to risk their lives, they probably did not deserve to be in Arirang Farm. Some might point fingers at Youngho since he was taking them to a dangerous ce but he was sure that this needed to be done because Arirang Farm¡¯s moral values were at stake.


    No one would wee to see the father of a family leave to a foreign ce when they just settled down in a new ce. However, the families of former militiamen weed the idea. It was because the fathers had been causing troubles for their families.


    Instead of acting like fathers, they drank without working and turned violent toward their families. It was something that Youngho had not caught since he took too many immigrants at a time.


    Most of the people were highly motivated in hope of rebuilding their old kingdom but there were people who were below standards and who had been making mistakes over and over.


    It was Youngho¡¯s illusion that any kingdom¡¯s descendants would be the same as the descendants of the knights in Baku.

 Chapter 222 - Growing Pains (3)

    <h4>Chapter 222: Growing Pains (3)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    Youngho believed that if one hadmitted a crime, he must pay the right price.


    Although it was unfortunate that the former Serbian militiamen had to go through such horrible situations, it was wrong to torment innocent civilians who were not involved in the civil war. The 27 militiamen said that they could not help but to follow orders but it had to be serious if Bosnians had been tracking them down for the past 20 years.


    Being the leader of the Serbian immigrants, Youngho could not ignore this situation. There must be properpensations for the victims and their families as well as showing genuine sympathy for them.


    At first, Youngho was going to banish the former militiamen from Arirang Farm, but he just heard about the independence struggles in Xinjiang, and the CIA was quietly supporting the Uyghur people.


    He reckoned that since Serbian people looked simr to the Uyghur people, they would be well-disguised, and moreover, because they were trained as militiamen, they would be able to fit the role of mercenaries or drill instructors. There were in fact, a lot of European mercenaries active in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.


    It was two dayster when Chief Niksic brought 27 former militiamen who were now in their forties. He was haggard as if the recent issue of the Serbian immigrants had hit hard on him.


    ¡°Prince Consort. These fellows had given their lives to you. They agreed that if you keep their families safe, they would do anything for you. They don¡¯t want to live in pain any longer.¡±


    All of the 27 men looked determined, but Youngho had to say sharp words.


    ¡°I won¡¯t make this long. Helping the Xinjiang region¡¯s independence is how you can pay for your past faults since the Uyghur people will also suffer what the Bosnian people had suffered if we don¡¯t help them.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I will do anything topensate Bosnian people for what you¡¯ve done to them. Of course, it won¡¯t bepensated with money but that¡¯ll be the only thing I can do. Your families will be taken cared of at the farm. So, if you want your family¡¯s well-being, you should forget about here.¡±


    People were stirred to hear that Youngho was going topensate Bosnia for their wrongdoings since they knew that it was a hard decision for Youngho as a leader of countless people. Niksic kneeled down at Youngho¡¯s words and the 27 men also followed after him. One of the men spoke on behalf of the whole group.


    ¡°Prince Consort. We don¡¯t know what to say. We¡¯re ashamed of our past now but if we survive this, we¡¯ll return as proud people of the Kingdom of Serbia.¡±


    As the 27 men trained their bodies, Youngho received Russian passports from Sergey to disguise their identities. They now looked like official mercenaries hired by Yaniv¡¯s mercenarypany. It was to prepare for the worst case for they get arrested in Xinjiang.


    Although the men were not in their best physical conditions since they had not been training for a long time, they were training hard for their goals. While they were training, Youngho was contacting Uyghur independence group. There was an expert who could connect him to the group. It was Agent Smith who was working at the US embassy in Kazakhstan.


    Agent Smith in Astana was excited to see Youngho and Jong-il in a long while.


    He proudly reported that he had made acquaintance with local mafias in the meantime. It seemed that he had met Yaniv¡¯s mafias in a pub that he frequently went with his girlfriend, and those mafias suddenly began to treat him nicely. He had no idea that it was because of Youngho¡¯s connection to Yaniv.


    ¡°Mr. Park. You should teach me some lethal movements this time. I need to have at least one lethal move as an agent. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Agent Smith, who are you trying to impress with that? It¡¯s not even special.¡±


    ¡°When I go back to the headquarters, I should be able to prove that I¡¯ve been in the field. Junior agents won¡¯t be able to look down on me if I show them some moves.¡±


    Although Smith was saying that, it seemed that he wanted to impress his girlfriend with martial arts. It was too bad that lethal moves could not be learned in a short period of time.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already talked with the Uyghur independence group. They¡¯re expecting a lot since I told you you¡¯d be bringing mercenary warriors and drill instructors. The CIA¡¯s headquarters also agreed to support Xinjiang region, so there¡¯s going to be a movement soon.¡±


    ¡°Smith, can you get us two Chinese identifications?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone will ask you to show your identification cards. You look like Chinese.¡±


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t. Koreans and Chinese totally look different!¡±


    Although Youngho was upset about what Smith said, it was true that in Westerners¡¯ eyes, Asians were hard to distinguish.


    The boundaries between countries had be meaningless as the boundaries of the media had be wider. In particr, the development of broadcasting andmunication had allowed the world tomunicate in real time, surpassing the limits of time and space.


    Despite the fact that the globalmunity had be one, minorities in Southeast Europe, the Caucasus region and Central Asia still insisted on their own fences and wanted independence. It was a natural request since they had been persecuted as minorities. It was an old dream for them to have their own country.


    The independence movement of such minorities was no exception in China. Especially, the calls for independence in the Xinjiang region were rising as the days went by as many of Russia¡¯s satellite states became independent.


    Currently, Uyghur people were carrying out a separate independence movement centering on the East Turkistan exiled government, the National United Front and the Imic Party. When a massive uprising broke out in 1997, the Chinese governmentunched a tough crackdown, which led to the formation of independent groups. Although it was not reported in the news, there had been frequent bombing attacks by Uyghur independence group in different regions of China. Youngho was sending the former Serbian militiamen to help the independence group.


    Sending them could be considered a form of deportation but if they returned alive, he was going to ept them as proper residents of Arirang Farm. There was a saying, ¡®hate the sin but don¡¯t hate the person.¡¯ Hoping that the growing pains of Arirang Farm would stop at this level, he had sent the militiamen for a dangerous mission.


    Arirang Hotel in Batumi, Georgia was finallypleted.


    It was a 220-guest room, five-star hotel with two basement levels and eleven floors above the ground.


    Youngho¡¯s family from Baku, Yaniv, and Sergey from Russia, Yunsuh and Sangchun from Germany, and Szechenyi and Princess Isabe came to the building dedication ceremony. Since the hotel was not open for guests yet, all the attendees of the ceremony nned to stay at the hotel for several days.


    Among all guests, Princess Isabe was the most important guest. Youngho had prepared a special gift for her and he was curious about how she would react when she received the gift. Away from the loud ceremony room, Youngho sat down with the princess at the caf¨¦ on the hotel¡¯s first floor.


    ¡°Princess. I¡¯m honored that you¡¯vee to celebrate my hotel. I¡¯ve prepared a special gift for you, would you like to see?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re wee. I haven¡¯t been very busytely. If you didn¡¯t invite me, I would¡¯ve been sad.¡±


    As she was saying, she could not take her eyes off the present which was wrapped beautifully. Although it was considered rude if someone did not open a present in front of the giver¡¯s eyes here, the Princess seemed to be hesitant because of her face.


    Szechenyi, who was standing next to her, pressed her.


    ¡°Isabe. Why don¡¯t you open it now?¡±


    Isabe¡¯s face changed as she carefully opened the present. Then she quickly lowered her voice looking around for people.


    ¡°Wow. This is gold bars. It has the Archduke¡¯s emblem on it.¡±


    ¡°The descendants of the Kingdom of Serbian had kept some gold, so I made a ceremonial gift. Do you like it?¡±


    Since Youngho could not say that there were gold mines, he said that there was a hidden fortune of the Archduke¡¯s family. Also, he was implying that there was plenty more gold.


    ¡°Hahaha... There would be no women who don¡¯t like gold or jewels, especially if it¡¯s this heavy gold bars. ¡±


    ¡°I was worried since you must have had everything you wanted as a princess.¡±


    The princess smiled as Youngho teased her.


    ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t decline even if you give me more. You can give me this kind of gifts at any time. Hahaha...¡±


    Her tone ofughter became even louder. She seemed to like the family¡¯s wealth.


    She was already in love with Szechenyi, and if her future husband¡¯s family was wealthy, it would act as an advantage for her if they got married.


    Now that Youngho had shown her the gold, it was obvious that the whole family of the Kingdom of Denmark would find out soon about it. The princess would not keep it quiet since it was good news that the family she would be married into was well-off.


    So, Youngho took a further step.


    ¡°Princess. You should visit my farm in Kazakhstan in the winter. The town had been getting big because more Serbian immigrants moved in. The descendants would love your presence.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that sounds lovely.¡±


    ¡°Also, a winter hunting in the continent is quite fun. I also bought several breeds of hunting dogs. You¡¯d be able to chase wolves with them.¡±


    As soon as she heard ¡®hunting¡¯, she was exuberated.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone to dog hunting several times with my brother. It was much more thrilling than gun hunting!¡±


    The more strictly grown, the greater the longing for wildness. When she heard that she could sleep in a yurt in the rough wilderness where wild wolves roam around, she seemed eager to go at any moment.


    ¡°What did you tell Princess Isabe that she¡¯s so excited now?¡±


    Hearing Isabe¡¯s excited voice from afar, Fatima asked to Youngho.


    ¡°I gave her gold bars that had the Archduke¡¯s emblem on it and I also invited her for winter hunting at Arirang Farm.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough to make her excited. Sometimes, you can be really mischievous. Now that she received the gold bars, she¡¯s going be extremely curious.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that. It must be casual for her.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Fatima knew exactly what Youngho had in mind. The princess had already known that Youngho¡¯s family was rich but seeing the gold bar, her curiosity must have reached its peak.


    Princess Isabe was taken cared of now, and it was Yaniv¡¯s turn.


    Having had plenty of food and drink, Yaniv held on to Zeynep and made a big speech. Hearing that Zeynep was involved in a social welfare organization, he was saying that he must pay a contribution.


    ¡°Why are you refusing when I want to make a contribution?¡±


    ¡°Grandpa Yaniv, it¡¯s because you¡¯re going to be nosy after donating money. I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll be curious where my money is going to be used. What if I don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°My brother said he¡¯s going to pay for whatever we need, so grandpa, you can just stay still.¡±


    Yaniv was trying to talk to Zeynep for longer since he had missed her dearly. As Youngho approached the two, Yaniv tried to wave him away.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, if you don¡¯t listen to what I¡¯m about to say, you might regret it.¡±


    Yaniv did not seem to be intrigued.


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about making money, aren¡¯t you? Go to Sergey and talk to him! He¡¯s better than me with that sort of things.¡±


    ¡°I might be in charge of Azerbaijani private-sector¡¯s managing underwriter for Moscow-Azerbaijan-Iran Railroad business. Are you still not interested?¡±


    He reluctantly turned his body toward Youngho.


    Meanwhile, Zeynep, who was finally able to get out of Yaniv¡¯s attention, hurriedly left the table.


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to make you a managing underwriter?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other person who¡¯s going to take the role. That is if you¡¯d be kind enough to tell President Aliyev.¡±


    ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t interested in the railroad business.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to let go of my interests but it¡¯d be overwhelming to do it by myself. So, I¡¯d like to give you half of its profits.¡±


    It was an offer that did not need a long consideration.


    ¡°Did you say half? Alright, now you¡¯ve got my attention!¡±

 Chapter 223 - Hot Summer (1)

    <h4>Chapter 223: Hot Summer (1)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    An invitation came from Queen Margrethe II to visit the Danish royal family.


    It seemed that Youngho¡¯s gift to Princess Isabe was quite effective. The symbolism of the gold bars must have been great.


    Although the princess was dating Szechenyi, it was not yet exposed to the media, so Youngho had thought that the queen did not really pay attention to their rtionship but it was surprising that he received her invitation soon after the princess attended the building dedication ceremony. It was evident that the queen was looking at the two with a great weight.


    It looked like that he received a passing score beating out Europe¡¯s most prestigious royal families. Well-off Archduke family was a hundred times better than a poor royal family. Whether it was for a political marriage or for a romantic marriage, it was natural to choose a wealthy family that would save the face of the royal family. There was no royal family that wanted its princess to live in destitution.


    The queen wanted his visit to be an unofficial event, so along with his family, Youngho decided to bring five security guards including Kim Ilkwon as the leader and four other Serbian guards. Among them, there was Vaso, the grandson of Chief Niksic. Youngho brought Serbian guards since he was going there as the representative of the Serbian Archduke family. It would look better if he brought Serbian guards.


    It was in the evening when he arrived at Copenhagen Airport after getting connected to Frankfurt. Although it was an unofficial visit, staffs from the pce came to receive Youngho¡¯s group. One of the staffs said that Princess Isabe also wanted to receive them at the airport but she had to give up due to paparazzi. He politely requested to avoid exposure to the media as much as possible.


    It seemed that the Danish royal family thought that the Archduke family was as famous as them but unfortunately it was not the case. No one would gather to take pictures of Youngho¡¯s family here. The supper with the royal family was scheduled the next day, so Youngho¡¯s group went out to tour around the city.


    ¡°How do you get rid of all the paparazzi when you went out with the princess? You should¡¯ve gotten exposed intentionally. Have you been hiding the whole time?¡±


    ¡°Isabe is great at disguising, so we¡¯ve never been found by paparazzi so far.¡±


    ¡°You should date her officially after properly meeting the queen tomorrow. It¡¯d be fine if the rumor spread out.¡±


    ¡°The princess won¡¯t like it...¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re frustrating. You need to make it official as fast as you can. You need to think about the princess¡¯ age too.¡±


    Princess Isabe was four years older than Szechenyi and if he took time until he graduated from college, she would soon be thirty. So, Youngho thought that it was better to hurry.


    It seemed that the Danish royal family also was concerned about that. The princess was at her peak age for marriage and if it did not work out well with Szechenyi, her value to other royal families or other noble families would decrease.


    Youngho also wanted to hurry the wedding since he was also uncertain about his family¡¯s future. It was doing great for now but it might not be this way in five years.


    Not knowing his concern, innocent Szechenyi had no idea why Youngho was pushing him.


    Youngho had expected a royal family¡¯s supper would be morous but it was just amon dinner with amon family. The queen must have reduced the supper intentionally since it was a small, intimate gathering.


    Queen Margrethe II was as tall as Youngho and she did not lose her beauty even though she was in her sixties.


    Her major interest was not in Youngho¡¯s abilities but in the wealth of the Archduke family. After seeing the gold bars with the Archduke¡¯s emblem on them, she had been curious about the family¡¯s wealth. When the queen asked about the family¡¯s wealth, Fatima was hesitant to answer her, so Youngho interrupted her and began to bluff.


    He lied that the descendants of the kingdom had been keeping the Archduke family¡¯s heritage which was 30 tons of gold. It would equal to 1.6 billion dors in cash. It was not a total lie since it was the amount that he could attain in ten years from the gold mines in Baku. Moreover, Youngho also said that he hadnd that was the size of Seoul, the capital city of Korea, in Kazakhstan.


    Since the queen would note to check his wealth, he exaggerated everything he had. It must have sounded like a beautiful song to the queen. She seemed pleased that the princess might get married into a wealthy family.


    ¡°Hyung. Do we really have that much gold in our family? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡±


    ¡°I was saying that we¡¯ll have that much amount in the future. I already have a very rich minefield and there¡¯s another one developing in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°What if Isabe asks to show the gold?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless to worry about that. You need to tell them that the gold is tied as a reserved fund.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    ¡°Also, I have enough for you guys to get by. Just think about how you can bring her quickly, alright?¡±


    Fatima almost cried forughing so hard and Zeynep nagged asking if Youngho had left her portion as well. At a hotel in Copenhagen, the Fatima siblings joined Youngho¡¯s n to take away Princess Isabe.


    After the supper, the queen officially epted the rtionship of the princess and Szechenyi. That meant that she epted the Archduke family.


    Although the Archduke family did not have a reputation like the Danish royal family, she understood that the Archduke family had enough wealth and position that could level with her family.


    When they said goodbye, everyone had a satisfying smile on their faces.


    To get married to a royal family, one would have to either have wealth or have a reputation.


    Even a free love rtionship required some basis of such things.


    Even in the 21st century, the princess was about to be sacrificed for an arranged marriage but she was satisfied since she met Szechenyi at a ski resort and fell in love with him.


    The subject of royal marriages had been the royal family of neighboring countries, but most of them were close or far rtives. It was the news of the century for royal blood to meetmon people and somehow fall in love. Since it was like transfusing new blood to the royal family, the Queen was delighted.


    Youngho felt a weight was lifted from his shoulders now that he had taken care of Szechenyi and Isabe¡¯s business. The next one on his mind was Zeynep but he had a feeling that it would not be easy since he was like a loose cannon. She was someone who could not be tied down.


    Youngho sent Kim Ilkwon to Sarajevo in Bosnia.


    It was to keep the promise that he made with the Bosnian civil war victims whom he met on the car-ferry ship. Ilkwon was sent to find out what kind of help andpensation the victims needed. Since Ilkwon had been a representative of North Korea, it seemed that he would be able to smoothly resolve issues with them.


    There was a Korean saying, ¡®when a woman bears a grudge, there will be frost in the month of May and June.¡¯ There must have been countless women who held a grudge and who had died unjustly. The only way for Arirang Farm to ovee moving on without its future being jeopardized by the victims of the former Serbian militiamen was to admit their faults and correct them. Since Youngho was the leader who was in charge of Serbian immigrants, he felt responsible to console the past victims.


    After sending Ilkwon as his special emissary, Youngho flew back to Arirang Farm.


    He had been visiting the farm at least once a week because the leader¡¯s continuous attention would give a high motivation for the farm people.


    Wheat in the field was growing well.


    Although he had already known that they grew in harsh environments, it was still surprising to see that they could grow well with asional water sprayed on them. The kind of wheat that was sown in Arirang Farm was known to be cultivatable only 110 days after sowing.


    The reason why that wheat was the people¡¯s staple diet was that it could grow fast in a ce like this where the winter took one-third of a year¡¯s time.


    It was when Youngho was having dinner with Kim Sungchan.


    From his mouth, a surprising suggestion came out.


    ¡°Chairman Lee. There¡¯s not much for our people to do in here. So, I¡¯d like to go fishing in the river.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim. This is a freend. There won¡¯t be anyone who would bother you because you¡¯re going to fish and in fact, that sounds like a great leisure activity.¡±


    ¡°No. I won¡¯t be fishing for fun. I¡¯m saying that I¡¯ll be a fisherman.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho was curious since he did not have to work for money. He must have had received plenty for selling gold that his town people collected.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been to the river several times and there is plenty of fish in the water. Koryoin town people can catch them and provide them to the towns in Arirang Farm. I don¡¯t think I can handle the amount of fish without any equipment.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re going to catch them withs?¡±


    ¡°Could you get a small boat for me? Since Arirang Farm¡¯s people are only eating meats from their livestock, I¡¯d like to provide fish for them.¡±


    A light bulb was lit in Youngho¡¯s mind. He had fished several times on the deck of his ships while sailing along the Ural River and its branch river. Although it was only to catch fish that could go with some drinks, it was a great idea to provide fish for the towns in Arirang Farm.


    ¡°Mr. Kim. That is such a great idea. I¡¯ll get you two or three decent boats!¡±


    A variety of food was directly linked to the health of residents. Youngho was excited to think that fish would be another source of nutrition and add variety to the meal tables of each family.


    The sight of the powerful trout and other rumbling fish in the Ural River was often spectacr, and the idea of bringing it up to the table was amazing.


    Youngho hurriedly went to the inner city of Atyrau with Kim Chun because there were several small andrge shipyards in the city.


    ¡°Boss. You¡¯ve got to admit that Koryoins are smart.¡±


    Youngho could not say no since a Koryoin wasplimenting his own people.


    ¡°Alright, I admit. If it wasn¡¯t for Kim Sungchan, I wouldn¡¯t have even dreamed of this. I¡¯m ready to buy some boats if there are usible ones.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You know how I am. I¡¯m the one who has the widest circle of acquaintances in Atyrau. If I get all of my former students, I¡¯ll be able to get even the boats that were sold.¡±


    In fact, it was not an impossible story in here. In Kazakhstan, connections would get a person anything he or she wanted. There was a saying that many Russians used.


    ¡®This is Russia.¡¯ Sometimes it was used in a self-mocking way and it was used as a proud way as well. When irrational things happened, Russians would say that phrase and would not bother about what would happen. A simr thing would happen in Kazakhstan today but no one would be bothered by it.


    Ifmon sense did not prevail, people would only shrug it off.


    Driving on the Oral-Atyrau industrial road, Youngho smiled.


    ¡®Right. This is Kazakhstan.¡¯

 Chapter 224 - Hot Summer (2)

    <h4>Chapter 224: Hot Summer (2)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    The Ural River and its branch river were deep and their currents were quite fast. It was impossible to fish in those waters without proper equipment and boats.


    Since a powerless vessel would not be able to hold, a power vessel was needed along with a that suited the vessel¡¯s size. A captain and sailors who could run the boat should be arranged and of course, safety equipment was necessary for all sailors.


    Other things were also needed and everything could be resolved with money.


    Despite Kim Chun¡¯s efforts, Youngho was only able to get a 5-ton FRP boat. It was still big for a river fishing vessel because it was originally designed to be a fishing boat in the Caspian coast. Five or six people could get on board.


    Learning to control the boat was easy, that anyone could learn to run the boat within an hour. If driven cautiously so that it would not run into other boats, it was perfect to be sailed in the Ural River and its branch river near Arirang Farm.


    Fortunately, freshwater fish was not so popr to people in Atyrau and there were not a lot of boats in the river. The Koryoins made an effort to make a trip to learn fishing skills from experienced fishermen at the Port of Atyrau. They returned after learning to navigate the boat around the Caspian Sea, fish, and other basic skills necessary for fishermen.


    Fishing skills would not be learned only in a day or two, but whether one had learned basic skills before going to fish or not made a huge difference. Also, there were rules to follow in river fishing, such asting without impeding the passage of other boats.


    After buying the boat, the Koryoins had tried fishing for several times and as they got used toting, quite a lot of freshwater fish began to be caught.


    Serbians on the farm, who were not used to eating fish at first, began to like the taste of fish and the demand for fish soon increased. Because Serbia was andlocked country, people did not eat fish as their main diet, but as Koryoins passed on their recipes to them, it gained poprity. Their meal tables had be fuller and moreover, as Koryoin diet which mainly had vegetables and herbs attracted the immigrants, they even received cooking lessons from Koryoins to learn their recipes.


    It seemed that the herbs in the field would not be able to be found by the next spring.


    The most popr dish in the new food custom was eating trout sashimi.


    ¡°Boss. Howe Europeans only thought about cooking this, when raw fish is so good?¡±


    ¡°If Japanese didn¡¯t spread the sushi and sashimi culture to the world, people would¡¯ve thought that we are weirdos.¡±


    There were many Japanese sushi restaurants all over Europe that many people enjoyed raw fish now.


    ¡°As a Koryoin, I¡¯m furious that we were forcefully chased away from our country because of Japanese, but I¡¯ve got topliment them since they made the raw fish culture popr.¡±


    Although the direct reason for Koryoins¡¯ deployment was due to Stalin¡¯s movement policy, they hated the mention of Japanese since they were away from Korea to fight for the country¡¯s independence against Japan.


    As the hot summer night was getting deeper, Youngho took out some Soju bottles that he had been saving. Everyone cheered since they were now used to the taste of the drink. With Soju¡¯s bitter end-taste and sweetness of fresh trout dipped in Chojang*, the fish seemed to melt in the mouth.


    Although shivering with the spicy taste of Chojang, Old Niksic and the elders of the immigrants kept eating trout with it.


    On a hot summer day, Arirang Farm was bustling with an untimely trout party.


    ¡°A battle is a binary system with only zero and ten. It¡¯s either the rage toward the enemy or loyalty to therades that one is in the battle. So, it¡¯s one of the two that we shoot and kill the enemy.¡±


    It was Park Jong-il who preached the senseless philosophy by dissolving the binary argument of anger and loyalty into battle.


    He was speaking of an idea that he heard from his ss as if it was what he had just thought of.


    As the securitypany was settled down, thepany had invited an outside instructor to take sses in order to shift from simple tasks to high-value-added projects dedicated to VIP guarding.


    Taking advantage of a short break during the lecture, Jong-il was speaking to security crews. He had been sharing a lot of philosophical perspectivestely.


    ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°This lecturer doesn¡¯t receive questions unless he¡¯s getting paid. Even if you¡¯re a boss, please keep your questions until the end of the lecture.¡±


    At Jong-il¡¯s reply, everyone burst intoughter.


    He was not confident in answering difficult questions.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell Mr. Cha to pay you for your lecture. Why don¡¯t you relieve your student¡¯s curiosity?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an invited lecturer, so I can do whatever I want. No questions, I said!¡±


    He was now frustrated, now that he was cornered.


    The junior security crewsughed even harder listening to the two¡¯s conversation.


    Just in time, the invited lecturer returned to the ss, so Jong-il murmured as he returned from the podium.


    ¡°Also, I had another thing to say. I almost forgot about it because you suddenly asked me a question.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°What is the primary rule for guarding VIP? It¡¯s to act first and control the situationter, isn¡¯t it? I was going to tell you not to regretter, but to act now. Man...¡±


    He was saying to act fast ording to one¡¯s intuition and it just reminded Youngho of something.


    When Youngho met the queen of Denmark, he had said that he had 30 tons of gold. It would take about ten years to collect that much gold from Serbian ranch. Since the gold mines had to be worked cautiously with limited miners due to the size of mines, the work process could not be faster. However, the alluvial gold field in Koryoin town could be worked on more actively.


    Since it is an open mine anyway, it was possible to use as many workers as he wanted. So, it would be possible to dig all of the gold out at once and be done with it. How long would he have to make efforts to transport engineers to remote the vige? If he took time, it would be a business with no profit left. There was a lot of work to be done and a lot of money to be spent. It was when a bold move was needed. It was necessary to take an active attitude now.


    He needed an active willingness.


    ¡°Why are you thinking in the middle of a conversation?¡±


    Gaining a perspective from Jong-il¡¯s words, Youngho suddenly hugged him.


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re my Zhang Liang**!¡±


    ¡°Ew, get off me.¡±


    ¡°We need to dig open the whole Koryoin town¡¯s gold deposit field.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The universe is limitless, but wouldn¡¯t it be a waste if humans are the only ones enjoying the whole space of universe? It doesn¡¯t make sense that there¡¯s not a single civilian in those countless stars.¡±


    Whenever Youngho came to Koryoin town, he had many thoughts looking at the starts in the night sky and Jong-il treated him like a crazy person.


    ¡°You were into ying the Middle Ages and now you¡¯re speaking of the universe? Why is that a waste of space? I love it. I just made a wish after seeing a shooting star, but your insanity just blew it off.¡±


    ¡°You still make wishes?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s poor me that I¡¯m taking care of a dreamless boss like you. I say a person cannot live without a dream.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s philosophical perspective came out again. Sometimes, his words carried a great truth in them, so Youngho tended to rethink about what Jong-il said.


    ¡°Say that again. That was too profound that I didn¡¯t get it.¡±


    ¡°Dude, please.¡±


    The two were going to look around the stream valley near the Koryoin town.


    With ordinary people¡¯s feet, they would not be able to look around the valley in a few days, but it was not even a task for both of them. Even though more gold was being collected now due to the gravity separation equipment, the amount was still not satisfactory. It was a machine called ¡®Jig¡¯, which recovered even smaller particles while processingrge amounts of gold-sand mixture. It was doing many times more work than it was done by human hands. However, given the amount that was being extracted now, the limit of five to seven kilograms per month was likely. Considering the number of inputs, equipment, and residence expenses, there was not much left, so it was more appropriate to put these people into gold mines in Baku.


    That was why Youngho was trying to find the source of gold. If it was a rich gold vein, he would have to buy thend and get the right to develop it or meet with the president for a negotiation although he would have to determine if it was worth all that before taking an action.


    ¡°So you¡¯re certain that we¡¯ll find gold here?¡±


    Following the stream of the valley, the two had passed a nameless branch of the Emba River and a little stream where the river was beginning. It was only two hours away from Koryoin town.


    ¡°He said there would be a vein of gold somewhere around here that had been spreading alluvial gold for the past hundreds of years.¡±


    Youngho had studied the detailed topographic map of this region with Park Youngsun for days and he hade to see a few ces that Park Youngsun picked out.


    ¡°If Dr. Park Youngsun said that it must be worth trying, but we won¡¯t be sure unless we dig into the ground.¡±


    ¡°This is a dry stream now, but during the wet season, the water would fall from the slopingnd. We need to search every direction thoroughly. Let¡¯s split and search for now.¡±


    Park Youngsun said that there must be an exposed vein of gold. Gold was worn and cut in the rain and wind, and that was the reason that gold dust was spread down the stream.


    Kazakhstan was already known for its gold resource and Youngho was certain that he would be able to find the vein with his eye-sight improved by the ring¡¯s power.


    However, he could not find anything after searching the area for more than two hours. As he was about to move to a different location, Jong-il shouted for him.


    ¡°Youngho. Come here and look at this.¡±


    His stern voice was indicating that he had found something. As Youngho rushed to him, he was standing proudly holding a rock.


    ¡°Man, we should¡¯ve made an agreement before beginning to search.¡±


    Then, he tossed the rock to Youngho. It was quite heavy.


    There was a definite difference from a regr rock. Youngho was sure that it was mixed with heavy metals.


    The color of the parts where some of the soil had peeled off was yellowish.


    Youngho carefully put down the rock and looked around the area. There were countless small and big rocks that spread out on the ground and all of the rocks did not look usual.


    ¡°Not everything is gold, but some of them look like lumps of gold. We need to figure out where they had rolled down from.¡±


    Youngho could not close his mouth.


    Jong-il was acting so calmly even if he had discovered a great sight.


    ¡°Hey, are you not surprised to see this?¡±


    ¡°Man, you think I¡¯m a saint? I¡¯m exhausted for checking all the rocks because I was in a shock. It¡¯s too many that I can¡¯t keep counting. Back of my neck hurts. I was so stunned.¡±


    ¡°Could this be all gold?¡±


    ¡°If these are all gold, we¡¯d be able to buy out the whole world, but once you extract pure gold out of them, it¡¯ll only be a few percent. But, it¡¯s still way better than collecting gold dust.¡±


    If everything was carried to Baku to extract gold, there was no way for Kazakh people to find out about the ce. Youngho had to shout again inside his mind.


    ¡®I¡¯ve seen gold!!!¡¯


    *Chojang- Korean red chili-pepper paste with vinegar


    **Zhang Liang- an outstanding strategist of Chinese Han dynasty, known for his great contribution to the establishment of the dynasty

 Chapter 225 - Hot Summer (3)

    <h4>Chapter 225: Hot Summer (3)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tugh! I was going to im the discoverer¡¯s right this time, but I have none.¡±


    ¡°What if you do?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll break away from you. I¡¯m going to be my own boss.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    What Youngho and Jong-il brought as samples were pyrites which were a Sulfide mineral and a mixture of sulfur and iron. Because many people misunderstood the mineral as gold, it was often called ¡®fool¡¯s gold¡¯. Because the two had no knowledge of native gold, they had misunderstood the mineral as gold.


    Seeing the two bickering at each other, Park Youngsun smiled. Then, what came out of his mouth was significant.


    ¡°This mineral is notmon. You might¡¯ve found something more valuable than gold. There are many geological cases that many minerals are mixed in a ce. I think a treeless mountaintop copsed in a great flood. And the fact that there are a lot of these pieces is that a giant rock might have been blown up by water absorption. I¡¯ve got to take a closer look at the scene.¡±


    Park Youngsun continued his exnation for a while.


    It was difficult to understand all of his words, but the conclusion seemed to be that their discovery would make them a lot of money. Sulfide minerals consisted of minerals such as gold, nickel, iron, copper, and lead which were of great economic importance, so he said that it was too early to give up yet.


    ¡°Dr. Park. You¡¯re saying that this mineral is not useless.¡±


    At Park Youngsun¡¯s exnation, Jong-il¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It looks like you¡¯ve made an interesting discovery. Especially, if the mineral was confirmed to contain nickel, you¡¯ll definitely be able to raise your voice.¡±


    ¡°See? You¡¯ve beenughing at me, but you¡¯ll need to look good to me now. If I be the owner of a great mine, you¡¯ll not even be going to get the soup.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I won¡¯t need to get the soup, so you make sure you¡¯re the owner of that mine, alright?¡±


    ¡°You know what? This is the timing that we should be dealing about how much percentage of the share is going to whom. Man, this is not fun. I¡¯m quitting.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il,e here. Let this brother give you a big hug.¡±


    ¡°Why are you trying to give a hug so often these days? You¡¯re disgusting.¡±


    As Park Youngsun had triggered the two men¡¯s curiosity and motivation, it was obvious that they would not sit and wait. The two immediately flew back to the Koryoin town with Park Youngsun and began theirnd investigation.


    They heard two opposite perspectives, so joy and sorrow mingled together.


    The story that made Youngho, who was crazy for gold, sad was this. The alluvial gold that had been mixed with sand below the stream of the valley was from the Sulfide minerals as a result of weathering. The streams had swept down the gold from the minerals and into the valley and luckily they were deposited in a calm stream. And this meant that there was no rich vein of gold around.


    What made Jong-il joyful was that the Sulfide minerals contained a lot of nickel and copper, so they seemed to be a very important resource.


    From that day, Jong-il acted so high and mighty. He imed that he would go find a fallen kingdom and make another autonomous state in Kazakhstan, but he was stopped by Youngho¡¯s p on his back.


    ¡°Youngho, why don¡¯t we make it official and develop the mine legally?¡±


    ¡°If only that¡¯s possible, but I¡¯m just worried that the Kazakh government won¡¯t allow it. I have no proper reason to buy thend. This is obviously not farnd or ce for ranching. The government will think we¡¯re suspicious.¡±


    ¡°You should just tell the truth to the president.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s not a strategic mineral, but if the government decided to develop it on its own, the field will be taken away from us. I don¡¯t know if the president will be able to give us that kind of privilege.¡±


    The two tried toe up with a way to get thend near the Koryoin town, but they could not think of something.


    Kim Ilkwon, who was sent as Youngho¡¯s special emissary, returned from Bosnia.


    ording to him, there had been many nameless war crimes in Bosnia and it was hard to listen. He had made a negotiation with the Bosnian government, so Youngho decided to donate five million dors to help war widows under the name of the Arirang Foundation. It was because the Bosnian government did not want any financial help from Serbian people.


    It was something that could be forgotten by the people soon and something that could not be settled by financialpensations, but Youngho¡¯s donation was to show sincerity. When he had even taken care of war orphans, it made sense to take care of the Serbian immigrants and their past faults. He never intended to stop supporting Bosnia after a temporary help. The n was to hold the immigrants also ountable for some of thepensation from now on.


    Youngho had taken an action because it was likely to be burdensome for Leon after he and Fatima died. When the Arirang farm continued to develop andter became an influential group in the internationalmunity, it could not be hampered by its ancestors¡¯ irresponsible handling of what happened in Bosnia. That was why he decided to thoroughly examine the Serbian immigrants who would be moving in the future.


    Nothing was free in the world.


    In the beginning, Youngho was d to receive loyal and diligent immigrants who were the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom. On the other hand, there was a dark shadow. However, it would be unfair if the entire poption was treated as a harmful group because of some immigrants. That was why he wanted to clean up the past by taking an active step. Kim Sungchan praised Youngho for his decision. It was not good to dig up the hurtful past, but the past faults must be corrected. A group that had not corrected its past could never move forward.


    It was just like the ground was solidified after the rain.


    When the immigrants learned of the situation, they also volunteered to help. They said that they would raise a certain amount every month and make it a fund to help the war victims in Bosnia. They also said that they would set aside a certain amount of wheat profits to be distributed at the end of the year. They realized that if they failed to make up for their past wrongdoings, their descendants would suffer the damage.


    This had brought the residents together more tightly than ever before as they worked toward one goal with the same heart. The drunk people who walked around the streets in a disorderly manner also disappearedtely. It was proof that people were finally getting a grip on themselves. The productivity was also increased among the Serbian residents.


    ¡°Mr. President, it¡¯s only because you favored me that I didn¡¯t, but I even thought about secretly digging out all the resources.¡±


    The presidentughed his head off at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Lee. The more I meet you, the more surprising you are. You know how mineworkers are in the country.¡±


    ¡°How would I know?¡±


    ¡°The owners are usually Russians and they only report about one-fifth of the amount that they really produce. Knowing all that, I overlook their reports. It¡¯s because if I get down to the bottom of that, the rtionship with Russia would be affected by it. Kazakhstan has no strength to ignore Russia yet.¡±


    Youngho was not sure how to react to him since his remark even sounded a little self-mocking.


    ¡°What do I need to do, to not to cause you any trouble?¡±


    ¡°If I give you permission for mining, what can you give to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan has inexhaustible underground resources. It won¡¯t be depleted because you dig some out. There won¡¯t be anyone who¡¯d bother you even if you submit fake reports like Russian minefield owners. Just promise me that you won¡¯t take the money outside Kazakhstan. I¡¯m saying you should use it for Kazakhstan only.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Youngho was deeply touched by the old president¡¯s request.


    Unless there was drainage of national wealth, the money would be circted in the country. His made a broad-minded suggestion that he would not touch any of Youngho¡¯s activity if he did not take out the money he made to foreign countries. Also, there was a hidden warning in his words. If Youngho had broken the promise, the safety of Arirang Farm would not be guaranteed.


    ¡°Mr. President. All I¡¯ve earned here, I¡¯ve used it for Arirang Farm¡¯s wellness. Although I used it for Serbian immigrants who had nowhere to go, but eventually it is the same as making investments for Kazakhstan. Anything I earn from mining will be the same. I¡¯ll use it for Serbian immigrants and it would circte around the regions of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Understanding Youngho¡¯s intention, the old president smiled.


    Youngho had requested a private meeting with President Nazarbayev and he was finally meeting him today.


    No matter how much he thought about it, there was no justification for securing thend. So, Youngho exined everything that happened in the Koryoin town to the president. Since he had already learned about the old president¡¯s personality, he decided to be honest and take the bull by the horns to resolve the problem.


    Even if his request was declined, there was nothing for him to lose. He would rather be imprinted as an honest businessman.


    Because there would be not much alluvial gold left to collect, Kim Sungchan and Park Youngsun both agreed and suggested to get official permission to develop the minefield from the government. So, Youngho came clean to the president and the reply was even more generous than he had thought.


    ¡°Russian minefield owners sometimes brought bribes too.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I used all of the bribe money for the country¡¯s economic development. Some went to support the opposition party that is trying to stop the dictator government.¡±


    Feelingfortable around Youngho, the president was having another cup of tea and was telling side stories.


    ¡°Western countries don¡¯t know why I¡¯m maintaining the opposition party by providing their political funds. It¡¯s because if they used ck money, it will ruin Kazakhstan¡¯s future. In short, I¡¯m raising a healthy opposition party.¡±


    It was like the president was determined to impress Youngho today. He was sharing private stories.


    ¡°Then, I should too...¡±


    ¡°Hear me out until the end. Russians use most of their profits here, but they still take the money to their homnd secretly. That¡¯s why they bribe me to appreciate that I¡¯m turning a blind eye to them. You won¡¯t have to give me anything if you use the money earned here in the country.¡±


    ¡°I take that to my heart.¡±


    ¡°But, I won¡¯t stop you collecting what you¡¯ve invested in here. If a bad rumor was spread out, who would make an investment in our country?¡±


    ¡°I understand, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°I trust Koryoins than anyone. You¡¯d already know that there are many Koryoins in my close circle. I also know you¡¯ll keep your words.¡±


    After meeting with the president, Youngho¡¯s heart was light.


    The president had shown his trust to Youngho and there was a little wiggle room for him as well. Youngho was impressed by the president even though he was a dictator. It was quite impressive that the president supported funds for the opposition party.


    The old politician was preparing things for the time he had retired as well.


    Since Youngho gained the president¡¯s trust and expectation, he wanted to repay his favor. If Kazakhstan was developed, Arirang Farm would be benefited by it too, so there was no reason for him to be hesitant.


    The meeting today was quite impressive to Youngho.


    Humanly trust was something that could not be bought with money, but the president was one of the people who trusted him.


    It was the best feeling when honest move worked rather than an expedient.


    This summer was especially hot and Youngho¡¯s heart was even warmed up with passion.

 Chapter 226 - Hot Summer (4)

    <h4>Chapter 226: Hot Summer (4)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    Sixty percent of Kazakhstan¡¯s territory was either desert or was in a process of desertification.


    Many ces that were turning into deserts were a result of indiscriminate development of farnd in the past. Arge-scale agricultural project was carried out in Kazakhstan during the time of the Soviet Union, which ignored the natural environment and the farnd was neglected afterward.


    The Kazakh government, too, after bing independent from the Soviet Union, was practicing the simr farming policy and it was aggravating the desertification of its territory. Arirang Farm was not an exception. Thend was neglected for decades and it was turning into a desert when Youngho had imed it.


    The annual precipitation was only 200 millimeters and it was concentrated only in winter, and it did not help farming. Fortunately, the branch of the Ural River was close by, and water could be drawn to the farnd from it. It was a very lucky case.


    However, in the case of the Koryoin town, there were norge water resources nearby, so it was not possible to create a mining vige or build smelting facilities around it. At first, Youngho had nned to build a mining city, but the water was an obstacle and he had to revise all of his ns.


    Therefore, the n was revised to send the raw ore to the smelting nt only after dressing of ore. Fortunately, the open-air mining system only required a very primitive technology to separate minerals. Not much of facility funds were needed since it was only necessary to build a connecting road to the industrial road to the city of Aktobe, where there was a smelting nt.


    Park Youngsun, who was discussing the road route with Youngho, suggested an idea.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I don¡¯t think you need a paved road. This is a dry region, so the road won¡¯t get muddy and even if you make a paved road, it will cost you more to maintain the road in several years. Large trucks could stille and go on the rough road.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we still should make a road?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll just need to even out the surface with a bulldozer. I¡¯ll also look for a way to develop underground water resource. If the Koryoin town¡¯s upper stream gets polluted because of the minefield development, we won¡¯t have any supply for drinking water.¡±


    Anywhere he went in Kazakhstan, there were enough mineral resources but the problem was water supply. The government also developed underground water resources around farming regions because of water deficiency, but in a remote area like the Koryoin town was not benefited by it.


    ¡°The underground water resource development is the most urgent matter. Even if we build a lodge for mining workers now, it would be useless without any water supply.¡±


    It seemed that Youngho would have to focus on underground water resource development with a heart of Native Americans calling for rain.


    The Lakota people, who lived in the desert in Arizona of North America were known to make rain when they did a ritual for rain. The reason was that they kept doing the ritual until the rain finally fell. Since the region had 200 millimeters of precipitation a year, it would have rained if they endured the ritual until the rain came.


    It was a reckless and indefatigable method, but it was a way to unite the people who lived in a barren environment. If they did not have a belief that there would be rain, they could not have done the ritual so patiently.


    Park Youngsun was also in high spirits that he would drill multiple holes until he found underground water like the Indians who persevered. Youngho also encouraged him that he would support him until the water was found.


    ¡°Youngho, you should quit the clothing and porcin goods business. They¡¯re already out of our hands since we¡¯re too busy doing other things.¡±


    Youngho had no time to think about his clothing stores and porcin store. He had been thinking about getting rid of those businesses and Jong-il had mentioned about it just in time.


    ¡°If there¡¯s anyone suitable for the business, you can sell the businesses. As for the Sumqayit store, you should ask if Sevan wants to buy it first. As for the direct stores in Baku, try selling it to Stephany too.¡±


    ¡°Stephany will be exuberated to hear that. Karajan will also love it if her cousin bes the owner.¡±


    ¡°I feel a little sad now that I should let go of the direct store.¡±


    Chunho Merchant¡¯s direct clothing store and H Porcin store in Baku were what made Youngho now. On the basis of those businesses, he was able to be rooted in Baku, but now the scale of his businesses had grown too big and the profits he made from those stores were iparable to what he made from his wine business and hotel business. It was time to get rid of small businesses in a decisive manner and concentrate his energy on the hotel, wine, and shipping businesses.


    Youngho was invited by Sevan to the Main Police Department, so he went there in a long time. Sevan, who had agreed on receiving Youngho¡¯s share of the Sumqayit clothing store, could not hide his excitement.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You¡¯re handing in the clothing store that has been like a widow¡¯s cruse. You must¡¯ve decided to focus on your main businesses.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little sad to let it go, but I need to have my eyes on bigger things.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s purchasing sites that are on the railroad route?¡±


    ¡°The sites were in a disputed territory and it doesn¡¯t look great, but I¡¯m thinking to be an underwriter of the private consortium. My advice for you is not to take the risk, now that you have my share of the clothing store.¡±


    Russia, which was actively carrying forward the railroad business, was caught up with Ukraine¡¯s problem and the railroad to the Gulf was at a standstill.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you brought some war orphans when you went to look around the sites to purchase. I just think that there are so many regions that are too good to miss.¡±


    Sevan still did not give up his dream to purchasend around the railroad route. Since the price of thend would double and triple in time for sure, it was understandable but Youngho did not want to risk things for such small things. It was more important not to miss more important things while chasing after small things.


    When the railroad connection construction began, Azerbaijan and Iran would be tied together as an ally and it would stabilize regions around them. There would still be borders, but people could freelye and go in and out of countries, so Iranian Azerbaijanis in northern Iran might be self-contented with their autonomous region. Then, there would be one less disputable factor around the Caucasus region.


    Also, Russia would be the one who wanted peace around those regions the most, since it would not stand if the golden railroad route to the Indian Ocean went wrong. In the future, all of the countries around the Caspian Sea would have to use this railroad route and the regions around the route would be naturally kept in peace.


    Countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan would also transport goods on the Caspian Sea. Shipping Industries would naturally develop and Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea would be developed ording to the business trend. Although transporting business in the Caspian Sea had been suffering a recession, it would soon change.


    Then, Azerbaijan would permanently be a safe country. Moreover, the country would make a lot of profits from the railroad business. That was why Youngho wanted to be the underwriter for the railroad private consortium. If he became the underwriter, he would be able to get involved in many profitable businesses rted to the railroad. The railroad distribution business would soon be a widow¡¯s cruse that would give him consistent, secure profits just like his wine business.


    ¡°Wow, and when you said that, Yaniv agreed to do it?¡±


    ¡°Yup. He said if I came to report to him in Volgograd twice a year, he won¡¯t bother any businesses of the foundation.¡±


    ¡°Is he really going to pay five million dors?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. We¡¯d be getting a fat check donation soon. Now we can expand the foundation¡¯s business.¡±


    Zeynep bragged that she was able to convince Yaniv to donate five million to the Arirang Foundation. Trying to make a connection with Zeynep, he promised to Zeynep to donate such amount to the foundation at the Batumi hotel¡¯s building dedication ceremony.


    It was an enormous amount, but Yaniv did not mind.


    Now Zeynep would have to make a trip to Volgograd twice a year, but Yaniv¡¯s offer was too good to refuse. She was now into looking for a new charitable project. She did not mention about collecting antiques anymore.


    Her determined eyes scared Youngho since it was obvious that she would look for ways to get away from Youngho.


    ¡°Zeynep. The foundation¡¯s boundary is within Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. We won¡¯t be getting involved in other regions just yet.¡±


    Feeling the need to draw the line in advance, Youngho softly informed her.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. I was going to help Kurdish refugees in Iraq, but I guess I¡¯ll have to quit.¡±


    It seemed that she had heard a lot about Kurdish refugees from the war orphan, Jelyan.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of international relief organizations involved in helping them, so you won¡¯t have to worry. I just brought little orphans because they had no families.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Okay, I thought everyone was dying in hunger.¡±


    The war orphans were all adapting well at Zeynep Farm.


    Especially, Jelyan dramatically became brighter and it made Youngho happy. Leon also looked for Jelyan the first thing whenever he opened his eyes from sleeping. He caused such trouble every time she went out to school since he nagged to follow her to school.


    The darkness in her soul was nowhere to be seen now after receiving psychiatric help and care from the family. Youngho almost passed away when she first called Fatima and him ¡®mama and papa¡¯.


    Although she was not his biological daughter, he wanted to raise her as if he was her real father and he was so emotional when she called him ¡®papa.¡¯ It was even touching since nobody forced her to say those words.


    Some war orphans who suffered aphasia after a traumatic experience tended to forget about their own past and Youngho wondered if she was that case as well. It was difficult to understand that one could erase the memories of his/her own family, but it could be a defensive mechanism to survive through indescribable pain.


    Zeynep was on her summer break and because of her eagerness, the whole family flew to Volgograd on a Cessna airne to meet Yaniv. She was eager to get the donation check from Yaniv before he changed his mind.


    After receiving the check from meeting Yaniv, she then nagged to visit Batumi.


    It seemed that Fatima also wanted to travel more away from people¡¯s attention. So, Youngho agreed to her since it was a long-awaited family trip. He also wanted to show Jelyan a new world.


    She had lived in hilly areas inndlocked regions and she first saw a sea, only after she came to Baku. She did not speak English fluently just yet, so it was difficult to talk in depth, but there was no problemmunicating basic needs and emotions with each other.


    Jelyan looked excited about going on an airne trip.


    Kim Ilkwonnded the eight-seater Cessna airne at Batumi Airport.


    Cho Chulhwan, who already knew about Youngho¡¯s visit came to the airport to receive the family.


    ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I came to watch you and see if you¡¯re running the hotel well. I¡¯ve got to collect money as well.¡±


    ¡°You came just in time. We had Turkish group travelers and they just checked out today. If they didn¡¯t, you would¡¯ve slept in my house.¡±


    ¡°What? A group travelers in a five-star hotel?¡±


    ¡°I made some discounts for advertisement. People shoulde back because they¡¯ve already experienced our great facilities.¡±


    The management professionals were running the hotel properly, but Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek had been studying about hotel business and together, they were great partners. He said that he kept losing track of time because work was so fun.


    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo yourself. This is a famous vacationd anyway, so travelers will voluntarilye in all four seasons.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? As soon as our hotel had a grand opening, other same-level hotels nearby began event sales. If people stayed there for four days, they gave one night for free.¡±


    The world was going through a recession and because of terrorism around the region, people were reluctant to take trips. That was why hotels in Batumi were sopetitive with each other.


    ¡°Oh, yeah? You can give away Zeynep wine for free at our hotel. We have an overflowing amount of wine.¡±


    If the rumor spread out that Arirang Hotel was giving away free wine that was 30 dors a bottle in the market, wine lovers would rush into the hotel. Especially, people around Batumi loved wine. Since Zeynep Wine was new around the region, they would be intrigued to taste the new wine and they woulde back again for the wine.


    It was a win-win sale strategy.

 Chapter 227 - Summer of the Black Sea (1)

    <h4>Chapter 227: Summer of the ck Sea (1)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    The coastal waters of Batumi in the ck Sea were so clear and fresh, unlike the Caspian Sea.


    The ck Sea was 1,150 kilometers long, 610 kilometers wide, and 2,200 kilometers deep. There were six countries, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia, that were bordered by the ck Sea and Turkey upied most of the southern part of the sea.


    Although Russia took over the Crimean Penins, if Turkey decided to block Russia, the country would be cut off from the Mediterranean Sea. The ck Sea was open to any merchant ships from the world, but military vessels were strictly blocked unless they were from the coastal states.


    In case of a war, Turkey had the power to close the Bosporus Strait, so Russia would have to maintain a good rtionship with Turkey.


    The coastal countries of the ck Sea made a pact not to fight within the ck Sea, which meant that the sea was the safest water. The pact could be trashed if the countries decided to, but it was so far a sea of peace.


    Especially, Georgia¡¯s Batumi was the most popr vacationd of the southern regions of the ck Sea and well-known hotels of the world were all located in the city. Among them was Arirang Hotel. Since the region was adjacent to Turkey, most of the guests were Turks. Most of them belonged to the upper ss since Batumi¡¯s prices were high and it was known to be a high-quality vacationd.


    Arirang Hotel in Batumi was modeled after Baku¡¯s Arirang Hotel and hotel¡¯s guests enjoyed the European antique atmosphere of the hotel.


    Now Leon, Jelyan, and Zeynep were ying in the outdoor swimming pool at the hotel.


    ¡°Can you watch Leon? I should teach Jelyan how to swim.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not going to learn to swim in a day. Just get her a life jacket and let her y.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got no fear of water. I think she¡¯ll learn it with ease.¡±


    It was true that she did have no resistance against water. After ying so hard in the water, Leon was falling asleep, so Youngho did not have to watch him at all. Although he was a trouble maker who exhausted his parents when he was awake, he looked like an angel when he slept.


    While he was looking at Leon¡¯s face, someone put down a can of drink in front of Youngho. It was Cho Chulhwan.


    ¡°Youngho. Do you see a blonde mid-aged man sitting on a tanning chair? He wanted to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°He is interested in the hotel and asked me if I can introduce the owner. Do you want to meet him?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will talk to him. It¡¯s a good thing that he¡¯s interested in the hotel.¡±


    With Chulhwan¡¯s introduction, Youngho greeted him.


    The man in his mid-fifties was Yasar Kemal and he was a Turkish distribution businessman.


    ¡°I only came to stay in this hotel with my family because I liked the name ¡®Arirang¡¯ and just as I thought, you¡¯re a Korean. Your Turkish is great though...¡±


    Since Azerbaijani and Turkish people could speak to each other using their ownnguages without interpreters, it was natural that Youngho was fluent in Turkish.


    ¡°I live in Baku, so I learned some Turkish.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s great. I visit Batumi every summer and I love everything about this hotel including its name.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered that you¡¯replimenting my hotel. I¡¯ve put quite an effort in this.¡±


    It seemed the gentleman was a well-off businessman since he was enjoying a vacation with his family in a five-star hotel. Many people enjoyed alcohol while on vacation, but he was not drunk at all. On the table, he had a book and a newspaper. Youngho liked the guy. He seemed to be a person whom Youngho could spend a long time talking with.


    ¡°So, I heard that you wanted to meet me...¡±


    ¡°Oh, excuse me. I was wondering where the hotel¡¯s unique design hade from.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an old hotel in Baku and the building was modeled after that. I¡¯ve gone through some trouble to make it look the same. The building was designed by a Turkish architecturalpany. If you want thepany¡¯s information, I can introduce you too.¡±


    ¡°I see. You have some connections to Turkey.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because we are ¡®kan karde?¡¯.¡±


    It meant ¡®blood brother.¡¯


    ¡°Oh, kan karde?! I can¡¯t forget the 2002 FIFA World Cup, when Koreans cheered for Turkey team.¡±


    When the Korean War broke out, Turkish students were said to protest to get deployed to Korea to help. Among the UN troops, Turkey sent the fourthrgest number of soldiers which were 15,000 people and they were all volunteers. This showed how Turks thought of Koreans.


    During the 1988 Olympic Games in Korea, Turkish pressmen who came to Korea were disappointed after seeing that Korea had forgotten about Turkey and it was known that they had pledged not to love Korea anymore. However, they were again impressed by how Koreans cheered for the Turkish team in the 2002 World Cup and the two countries¡¯ rtionship was recovered because of that.


    Korea and Turkey had a long history of friendship and it was natural that Youngho and a Turkish gentleman were connected at the hotel that Youngho owned. They talked and drank untilte at night.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re such a drunkard. That Kemal guy is the same as you. If Sangtaek had not intervened, you two would¡¯ve drunk the whole night.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what had gotten into mest night. It must be because I¡¯m on vacation. Kemal was so fun and I lost track of time.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to distribute your wine in his store?¡±


    ¡°I need to diversify the markets for my wine. The wine distribution in the central and northern Europe will be based in Germany and if I can distribute wine from Turkey, it would be the base market for southern Europe. I¡¯ll have to do this.¡±


    Kemal owned one of thergest market chains in Turkey. As he suggested distributing Zeynep Wine in his market store, Youngho was tempted.


    It was very difficult to enter the traditional liquor market in Turkey, so it was a great opportunity if his wine was disyed in his market store, where it had its chain stores all over Turkey.


    Youngho was sure that his wine would gain poprity with one or two wine tasting events since it was hard to find organic, natural wine that was aged in oak barrel. It was a premium wine that could attract Europeans who were wine lovers.


    Youngho had offered his wine to Kemal just to treat him but after a few sips, Kemal asked about the wine stock. When Youngho said that there were oak barrels that could have two million bottles of wine, Kemal was stunned. Then, he insisted to have a distribution contract with him.


    When Youngho said that he could not distribute short-period aged wine because it was only sold in Russia, Kemal rather said that he would only treat premium wine that was aged at long periods of time. At this point, Youngho was the one who was more eager for a contract.


    It would cost him a lot to distribute his wine in arge chain market and leave him only little from his wine sales but because he met Kemal, he would be able to disy his wine in his stores, free of cost. The wine¡¯s great taste was proven again since Kemal would not have asked to sign a contract, if it was no good.


    ¡°Oh, I thought you drank too much with the guest, so I was going to have a word with you but I guess it was a business meeting.¡±


    ¡°Fatima, it¡¯s like you can¡¯t help before money too. You look too excited.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I also contributed to grape cultivation. Don¡¯t forget about my portion!¡±


    ¡°I give youbel fee, what are you talking about?¡±


    Zeynep eavesdropped on the couple¡¯s conversation and interrupted them.


    ¡°What? Label fee? What name are you using for thebel, and where does the money go?¡±


    Youngho had forgotten about Zeynep¡¯s presence. It was toote to change his words.


    ¡°It¡¯s just emergency money in your sister¡¯s ount. I just call it abel fee.¡±


    ¡°Whoa!¡±


    Zeynep showed an open palm to Youngho.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Oppa. I should get my portion directly from you. You know I¡¯m going to be an adult soon, right?¡±


    Youngho could only findmon ground with Zeynep after negotiating with her for a long while. He agreed to pay 500,000 dors of the wine sale profits to the Arirang Foundation every year.


    She then kept asking how much money Fatima had saved. She only stopped and turned away smiling, when Fatima said that it was what she had saved for her wedding funds. At this point, Youngho felt that it did not matter how preciously one raised his daughter. Zeynep would eventually leave him for a man she falls in love with. If only it was a good man, how much money would be spent on her wedding did not matter, but if it was someone who did not deserve his Zeynep, there would not be any soup left for him. Thinking about Zeynep¡¯s future always made his blood boil. It seemed that he was an obsessive dad.


    Leaving all of the families in Batumi, Youngho flew to Istanbul with Ilkwon.


    It was because Kemal invited him to show his distribution store.


    As Youngho said that he had his own freighter to transport wine, Kemal was eager to sign the deal. So, Youngho was visiting his store first, since it would be problematic if he signed an export contract with a failingpany.


    He should also investigate Kemal¡¯s reputation in Turkey and hispany before deciding to sign the contract, but his mind had already leaned toward him.


    ¡°Boss. I¡¯ve heard that there are frequent terrorist attacks in Istanbul. I hope there won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Well, there hasn¡¯t been terrorism in arge market store so far. It¡¯ll all depends on Kemal¡¯s reputation.¡±


    Many terrorist groups would usually attack public offices to get recognition from the government and the public. On the other hand, they sometimes targeted certainpanies that they held a deep grudge against. So, the businessman¡¯s reputation was an important factor in Youngho¡¯s decision for picking his partner.


    ¡°How is it? We¡¯ve got quite a lot of customers, haven¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°This is amazing. It¡¯s way bigger than arge market store in Korea.¡±


    There were more than 20 market stores that Kemal owned in Turkey and five in Bulgaria. The business was Kemal¡¯s family¡¯s heritage. That meant thepany did not lose public sentiment. If it was a dishonestpany, people would have refused to buy products from his stores. Also, he must have maintained great rtionships with providers since his store seemed to disy high-quality products.


    Youngho also visited a store that only treated liquors. It was as wide as a huge restaurant. Liquors from all over the world were disyed and the first section from the entrance was dedicated to French or Italian wine. The prices varied from three dors to fifty dors, and most of the customers put cheap wine in their carts. Youngho wondered if premium wine could survive in here.


    ¡°Most people aren¡¯t interested in premium wine. They only look for cheaper ones.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s cooking wine. Housewives won¡¯t buy expensive wine for cooking, but many people tend to open up their wallets during the weekend, especially men.¡±


    Cheap wine brands were usually used for cooking and expensive wine was popr among men. Especially in an Imic country like this, men were the main drinkers rather than women. Many men would buy pricey wine to save their faces.


    So, Zeynep Wine¡¯s marketing tactic was to use men¡¯s mentality to want to save their faces. It seemed that men around the world had something inmon.

 Chapter 228 - Summer of the Black Sea (2)

    <h4>Chapter 228: Summer of the ck Sea (2)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    ¡°You passed all of your work to me and didn¡¯t even give a call. Did you forget about here?¡±


    As Youngho returned to Baku after five days, Jong-il who got tired of waiting came to Batumi on the Cessna airne.


    ¡°Man, how would you live without the Cessna airne?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. A person I call my boss is just an irresponsible human being. You need to keep your seat, whether there¡¯s work or not. Where have you been? Also, Ilkwon. You should¡¯ve called me if you knew it was going to take time.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s scoldingsted for a while. As Youngho and Ilkwon kept silent with smiles on their faces, he finally stopped.


    ¡°Jong-il hyung. Boss and I have been gone to make money.¡±


    ¡°Money? What money?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to bother. Do you think being a boss is that easy? I go here and there to work when you guys sleep. Man, you sleep all you want and how would you know my heart?¡±


    ¡°Youngho, did you close a deal?¡±


    ¡°Ilkwon. Don¡¯t tell him anything. Let him die in curiosity.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation about what happened for the past few days, Jong-il got super excited.


    ¡°Man, I worried about those oak barrels getting rotten in the dead mines. That¡¯s exciting that you¡¯ve found a market for the wine. You¡¯d have made a better deal if I was with you though...¡±


    It was true that if Jong-il was there, he would have bought Kemal¡¯s heart instantly. It was rare to find a guy like him who could get along with people so easily. He had made way more friends than Youngho, who had settled down in Baku a while before him. Youngho did not even recognize half of the guests at Jong-il and Karajan¡¯s wedding ceremony.


    ¡°Why would oak barrels rot? Also, I didn¡¯t negotiate the price yet. You can try to do it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yea? Okay, don¡¯t worry about it. This bro will be your help.¡±


    ¡°Since Jong-il hyung is here, should I return to Baku?¡±


    Ilkwon interrupted the two.


    ¡°Where would you go, aren¡¯t you his guard?¡±


    ¡°What do I need to worry about? You¡¯re here, hyung.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you and I, we¡¯ve got a match to finish. Why don¡¯t we have a match as North and South Korean special forces?¡±


    The lobby of the hotel got loud with Jong-il¡¯s appearance. Zeynep, who overheard him as she was passing by, came to greet him.


    ¡°Oppa! You didn¡¯t bring Karajan but came alone here?¡±


    Jong-il flinched at Zeynep¡¯s interruption. She would be trouble if she found fault with him.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t bring her because I was in such a hurry.¡±


    ¡°Meh, you must¡¯vee alone to have a drinking party with Youngho, oppa.¡±


    That was the exact reason why he came alone.


    Youngho, who also wanted to drink with his dear friend in a long time, also flinched at her keen guess.


    ¡°Hey cutie, I was going to make sashimi with fish from the ck Sea. Are you up for it?¡±


    ¡°Call!¡±


    Jong-il and Zeynep loved raw deer meat and their appetite for raw fish was the same. With Zeynep¡¯s joining, the gang got excited as if they need to get her permission, before drinking.


    Everyone joined the sashimi and drink party.


    After having a round of drinks, Youngho, Jong-il, Ilkwon, and Chulhwan were discussing the pricing of Zeynep Wine that would be distributed to Turkey.


    Jong-il and Ilkwon were pushing a high price for the wine.


    ¡°Boss. Our wine is no worse than French wine. Let¡¯s not price it low. What about forty dors?¡±


    ¡°Their aging period is longer than ours. Also, there¡¯s brand value. I don¡¯t want the high price to act as an obstacle for potential customers. I say thirty dors is great as a starting price and we¡¯ll be able to slowly raise the price once it gains some poprity.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Baku¡¯s country boys just don¡¯t know the prices around the ck Sea.¡±


    Cho Chulhwan interrupted and abruptly made Baku the countryside.


    Jong-il snapped back at him.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Baku is not the countryside. It¡¯s a world-famous city that has more than twenty times the poption of Batumi.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Then why are the best hotels around the world all gathered in this small city, that only has less than one-twentieth of Baku¡¯s poption?¡±


    Chulhwan¡¯s statement was indisputable. Baku, which was the best city on the Caspian coast was not as famous as Batumi, on the ck Sea.


    Sergey in Volgograd grudged, hearing that premium quality Zeynep Wine was going to be distributed in Turkey. He understood that three-year aged wine could be popr in Russia, but not five year-aged wine. Although the wine tasted better when it was aged longer, Russian people drank a lot of amount of liquor, so pricey wine was not a good fit for their custom.


    Russians loved to drink and there even had been a case where a whole town people died, after drinking self-made chemical alcohol, in order to cost for drinks. It was hard to expect for the Russian public to have expensive premium wine.


    Since Sergey already knew about that limitation, he had to let it go.


    ¡®The Arirang 1¡ä loaded with wine, headed to Istanbul from Baku.


    It had just unloaded some wine for Arirang Hotel in Batumi. The wine that was being transported now was worth 900,000 dors. 5,000 boxes of six bottles of wine were quite a lot of amount. Youngho was able to send those wine bottles right away since he had bottled them in advance to send them to Frankfurt.


    Because it was the first distribution to Turkey, he came along to observe the whole process and people¡¯s reaction to the wine with his own eyes.


    In Germany, Arirang Hotel was doing a great job as an ambassador of Zeynep Wine. When people ordered a luxury course meal, a cup of wine was served alongside the main dish and the wine began to gain poprity through this method.


    Because of Arirang Hotel, other famous hotels also wanted to try serving free wine as well, but they could not afford expensive wine prices. It was something that only the Arirang Hotel could try since it had its own vineyard and wine factory.


    So, Cho Sangchun invited main chefs from top hotels in Frankfurt and had a free wine tasting event for them. The wine was reviewed well by the chefs and they began to rmend Zeynep Wine to hotel guests. Youngho remembered Cho Sangchun¡¯s proud voice when he said that Zeynep Wine would be distributed to hotels in Austria and Switzend in near future.


    Although it was being recognized well in Europe, he was not sure how Turks would take his wine, since Turkey¡¯s living standard was very different from other European countries.


    ¡°If the public likes the wine, I¡¯m going to disy my wine in hotels in Istanbul. If the hotels wouldn¡¯t take it, I might buy a hotel in Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°People look for wine at bars, are you saying you¡¯re not going to distribute them in bars?¡±


    ¡°I heard bartenders and main chefs hold the power to supply alcohol brands. If alcoholpanies pay them promotion fees, they¡¯ll rmend thepanies¡¯ alcohol brands to guest tables. If they¡¯re not paid, any brands of alcohol are not allowed in hotel bars or restaurants.¡±


    ¡°Man, why are they acting so high and mighty?¡±


    ¡°Those chefs and bartenders have high reputations and skills. Istanbul is different from Western Europe and chefs and bartenders¡¯ authorities are absolute. People are so picky about tastes here.¡±


    Since this was the situation in Turkey, it was almost impossible to supply a wine brand to bars or hotel restaurants, unless one used physical threatening like mafias. There was a high entrance wall for restaurant and bar industries in Istanbul since those industries were guarded by quality specialists.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been having any physical activitiestely. Should I make a move myself?¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m afraid to say anything in front of you. If you¡¯re bored, just dip yourself in the sea water. People say that sharks appear frequently. You can go and chase them away.¡±


    ¡°We should make a branch office of our securitypany in Turkey and take over hotel security services. Since there are frequent terrorist attacks now, securitypanies are in high demand.¡±


    ¡°Where did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been focusing on Kazakhstan too much and turning blind on what¡¯s happening to ourpanytely. We¡¯ve got a security service request from a hotel in Istanbul. It seems security servicepanies in Turkey cannot satisfy Turkey¡¯s demand.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re getting too smart these days.¡±


    ¡°I know, right?¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that we should ept the request and convince chefs and bartenders?¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re warming up.¡±


    The security servicepany was only based in Azerbaijan and worked for guarding important figures or businessmen in Azerbaijan, but it had not made its foray in a foreign country yet. It was thepany¡¯s first time to receive a foreign request.


    Zeynep Security Service had many experiences in hotel security service. It was because thepany was in charge of the security of four locations of Arirang Hotel. Youngho was a little bit concerned about sending security crews to Turkey since there was a danger of terrorism, but it was a tempting opportunity.


    If guards wore safe gears at all time and prevent terrorism ahead of time, it would be a great opportunity for thepany to make its name known to the world. Also, since Youngho could hire Yaniv¡¯s mercenaries for dangerous ces, it would also be a win-win business for him and Yaniv.


    A charming business opportunity was waving at Youngho.


    Mustafa, whom Youngho met in a long while, expressed joy at the news that Zeynep Wine from Baku had made its foray in Istanbul.


    Saying that it was good news to Istanbul since travelers had decreased dramatically in the citytely, he kept on sipping on his drink.


    ¡°Brother. You know that I¡¯m taking care of immigrants in Kazakhstan, right? The women residents there are handcrafting high-quality carpets. I was wondering if Serbian carpets had advantages in the Turkish market.¡±


    At the sound of Serbian carpet, Mustafa opened his eyes widely.


    ¡°Serbian-made carpets?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re making them now, but I don¡¯t know about the quantity yet. I will bring samples when Ie here to deliver wine next time. I¡¯ve taken some pictures of their working process on my phone. Do you want to see them?¡±


    Mustafa groaned as he scanned the roughly taken photos a few times.


    ¡°Lee. This is the best quality craftsmanship. Look at that pattern. If they are made topletion, they would sell out immediately in the market. Would you provide them to me?¡±


    ¡°Whom will I ask for a favor, if it weren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sweet. Please don¡¯t ever change your mind, Lee. This will make more money than selling tens of cheap carpets. I will sell them at the right prices, I promise. I¡¯ll just be the agent between you and the carpet sellers.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to sell them on your own?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t negotiate with you. You¡¯re my friend. I¡¯m a carpet seller but I can¡¯t do that to a friend. It¡¯s better for me to just receive agencymission.¡±


    Turkish merchants were known to have great business skills. Especially, carpet merchants possessed the best skills. It was because the products they sold could be bought at 20% of their first prices.


    The key to buying a product at a cheap price was to pretend to leave when the merchants called out their price. Then the price would immediately go down. If those steps were repeated a few times, a buyer could buy a product at a magical price, but the merchant still would not lose anything.


    Mustafa¡¯s skills did not fell behindpared to those merchants, so he did not want to negotiate with Youngho and rip him off since he cared for him a great deal.


    Serbian women on Arirang Farm only started making hand-made carpets since they had nothing to do in the winter and wanted to be of help for Arirang Farm¡¯s finance. They had said that those were high-quality carpets and it was proven by Mustafa. Since he had been a carpet merchant for a long time, hispliments meant a lot.


    ¡°Brother, are these carpets high quality for sure? I guess carpets have sses too?¡±


    ¡°Carpets be more expensive if intricate patterns are woven up and if all patterns are symmetric. With quality threads and dying skills were added, carpets could be pricey as gold. People would not use them for carpets, but use them for disys on the wall.¡±


    ¡°I had no idea that these could be so valuable.¡±


    ¡°No matter how bad the economy is, the luxury market would never be in recession. Rich people would make more money in bad recessions, so they¡¯d buy more luxurious products. In the past, Persian carpets would sell at hundreds of thousands of dors. You¡¯d know why people are so into carpets if you go to a carpet auction.¡±


    Youngho did not get why people would buy old and smelly carpets at hundreds of thousands of dors, but it seemed some people liked to collect unique things. Anyway, it was good news that what Serbian women made could be a profitable business.


    Even in any remote regions of the Caucasus, carpets were a staple in each house, since they were used to keep out the coldness from the floor. Those people would usually make their own carpets. It was not a special skill to make one¡¯s own carpet since many people lived self-sufficiently and carpets were a staple piece of their living.


    For a long time, carpets produced by automated machines gained more poprity, but in traditional markets, hand-made carpets were still treated as the best quality.


    Rather than a perfect product produced with modern technologies, a hand-made product with some human ws were more valued in carpet markets. People valued that humanly touch in those markets. It seemed that Istanbul was still a humane ce.

 Chapter 229 - Summer of the Black Sea (3)

    <h4>Chapter 229: Summer of the ck Sea (3)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    The market store was extremely crowded on the evening of Friday.


    At the liquor section, male customers were buying a lot of liquors.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that people here don¡¯t drink a lot?¡±


    Jong-il poked Youngho¡¯s waist, as he asked a question.


    Although Youngho had visited Istanbul frequently, he had never seen drunken people on the streets in Istanbul. It was lucky that he had not been arrested for drinking too much with Mustafa and Jong-il since they traveled bars to bars whenever they gathered.


    ¡°I guess they don¡¯t get drunk outside for their faces. Nobody will bother them if they drink with friends at home. Man, think about us. It¡¯s a shame.¡±


    ¡°What about us?¡±


    Jong-il pretended that he did not know anything, but the two knew what they were like. It was a regrettable thing to walk around the streets while being fully drunk. It was not an umon sight in Korea but in foreign countries, people would look at drunk people as lunatics. Among many Koreans who liked to drink, Youngho¡¯s gang must have made the top of the list.


    Youngho toured around three stores today to see how Zeynep Wine was doing.


    At the liquor corner of a market, a salesperson was giving away a free cup of wine to people. Although Youngho was confident in the taste of his wine, he could not be certain that people here would favor his wine, since people¡¯s tastes were different in different regions.


    Jong-il nagged that he could not watch it anymore, but Youngho still stayed around the liquor corner.


    The two looked at the site of the salesperson pouring Zeynep Wine in a cup and handing it over to a customer. A middle-aged man who sipped on the little stic cup looked surprised.


    The two watched him carefully since his reaction was telling them that he liked the vor of the wine. The guy took another cup and sipped on the wine and slowly enjoyed the taste. The guy nodded and put two boxes of six bottles of Zeynep Wine in his cart.


    After looking at the scene, the two almost screamed in joy.


    ¡°Are you satisfied now?¡±


    ¡°I was worried, but I guess I didn¡¯t have to be. It¡¯s surprising that most Turkish people are Muslims and they like to drink alcohol.¡±


    ¡°People here are not traditional Muslims. They are modern Muslims. They drink wine and beers like water.¡±


    ¡°Is that why they don¡¯t like to get drunk outside?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. It¡¯s good that the wine is selling well.¡±


    Any people who tasted Zeynep Wine bought some bottles and boxes of the wine. Youngho watched the customers of the market store for two hours, but his legs were not tired. Instead, he was gaining more strength. It seemed that the wine would be famous in a few weeks if they kept on giving away free cups of wine.


    ¡°Jong-il, let¡¯s go now.¡±


    ¡°Wait, let¡¯s watch those guys before we go. They¡¯re drinking the wine now.¡±


    A group of young guys was sipping on Zeynep Wine. Their faces turned strange as if they were surprised.


    ¡°Look at their faces. It looks like they know about wine.¡±


    After tasting the wine, the young guys shrugged and checked thebel of the wine.


    Then they started putting the wine bottles in their cart.


    ¡°Jong-il. Let¡¯s go out. I want to drink with brother Mustafa tonight.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I was concerned about that too.¡±


    ¡°I feel great that young fellows recognize the taste of Zeynep Wine. It¡¯s all because you introduced me to a grape seedling seller.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve raised them well without any chemicals. I also love the taste of your wine, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to visit you as often since I was focused on other businesses, but I¡¯ve got more reasons to visit here now. On top of wine and carpet businesses, I think I¡¯m going to start a security service business here too.¡±


    ¡°A security service?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you the night when we drank together? I received a hotel security service request from here.¡±


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s understandable. There are too many terror attacks going on here. How many requests did you receive?¡±


    ¡°So far, I have only one but if my crews catch terrorists, thepany will have more requests.¡±


    Mustafa smiled at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    The smile was for Youngho¡¯s innocent perspective on Turkey¡¯s situation.


    ¡°This ce must look like a hot mess on the news, but it¡¯s not true. It¡¯s been like this forever and we¡¯ve only got a few wild terrorists these days.¡±


    Mustafa did not worry about a thing since he was so used to terrorism in the city.


    Since there were many ethnic minority groups, that was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, they would vent out their anger at the government authorities inrge cities like Istanbul. People who lived in Istanbul did not really think of terrorism as an unusual thing.


    ¡°Also, terrorists usually don¡¯t attack hotels since they stay at hotels often. They usually mess up with public offices or small cafes.¡±


    It was relieving to hear that terrorists did not attack hotels usually.


    Now that he thought about it, from the parking lot and the entrances of each hotel, there were parking staffs, doormen, and security guards that it seemed to be a difficult ce for terrorists to attack.


    ¡°I understand that minorities were oppressed by the Ottoman Empire in the past, but it¡¯s weird that Muslims are fighting against Muslims now.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you have a clear idea since I¡¯m an Armenian, but if you want to understand Muslims, you¡¯ve got to be a Muslim too.¡±


    The next day, Youngho went to a flea market with Jong-il, since Jong-il was dying to visit the market. It was where Youngho first met Fatima.


    The flea market had changed so much over the course of nearly seven years.


    Market stalls were installed in an orderly manner and the market was so crowded with travelers.


    ¡°Man, all of these people must¡¯ve heard about you. How could this many people crowd in here?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to say nonsense again?¡±


    ¡°Does every guy here look like a thief who would raise an Archduchess of a fallen kingdom and marry her?¡±


    Jong-il teased Youngho again.


    ¡°Get over here. I need to beat you up so you can shut up.¡±


    ¡°If youy a finger on me, I¡¯m going to announce that there is a big thief here.¡±


    Saying such jokes, they looked around the market, but it did not have the antique atmosphere of the past.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like thest time. Imitations are all over the ce.¡±


    There was a sturdy booth where Fatima used to be. Someone was selling wooden dolls.


    ¡°Time is so fast. I feel like it was only yesterday that I first met Fatima.¡±


    Batumi and Baku were at a simrtitude, but Batumi was not as hot as Baku. The city¡¯s highest temperature was about 30 degrees in Fahrenheit and because it rained frequently, evenings of summer were sometimes even chilly.


    Since Batumi¡¯s midsummer¡¯s weather was fine, it was a great vacationd. Many visitors were from Turkey, but because there were rich visitors from Russia and around the ck Sea, there were a variety of foods and the only casino was in the ck Sea.


    Even though the Caucasus regions was like a powder keg, the ce looked like heaven on earth.


    Youngho and Jong-il went out for a walk after having dinner and were watching the sunset over the ck Sea. Since the sun began to set around eight in the evening, it was still bright outside.


    ¡°Man, this is like a paradise. Even though people are dying from terror attacks and wars at this moment, people here look so carefree.¡±


    ¡°Why are you dragging us down?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the poor and oppressed who are in pain. I¡¯m just saying that even I¡¯m enjoying this apart from what¡¯s going on in the world.¡±


    Having spent time in Batumi for the past few days, Youngho thought that anyone would be able to forget about the world here. He was surrounded by travelers everywhere and as Batumi¡¯s residents were kind and bright, there was no tension at all.


    Youngho had been living a war-like life daily, but there was something about Batumi that made the reality go away. That must be why people liked to go to vacationd. It was not to rest but to forget about reality.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been having a lot of thoughts since you came from Istanbul. Why are you bothering yourself with needless thoughts? Do you live so well because of your good ancestors? No, it¡¯s because you¡¯ve worked hard. We even ended other people¡¯s lives to get here.¡±


    ¡°Dude. You make us look like bad criminals.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we are not different from criminals. We¡¯ve done things that only highway robbers would do. Just ept the fact, let it go, and live freely. The world is not going to change a bit because you worry.¡±


    It was true, but Youngho could not agree with him.


    ¡°Is it strange that I¡¯m saying this to you all of a sudden? I don¡¯t regret my past, but I just get a lot of thoughts when I look at Jelyan. She¡¯s suffered so much at a young age because of the crazy world. I¡¯m also one of the people who made the world crazy. I want to give her more.¡±


    ¡°Ha, soon, you¡¯re going to say that you¡¯re giving away all of your property to the society. Don¡¯t waste your time on such thoughts and just raise her well as if she¡¯s your own daughter. If she does something wrong, scold her and if there¡¯s something topliment, give her apliment. If you raise her too soft just because you¡¯re sorry for her, she¡¯d be terribly spoiled and you¡¯ll ruin her life.¡±


    Youngho had been feeling this quite often, but when he talked with Jong-il, many of his worries went away. Today, Jong-il¡¯s words lifted him up again.


    Youngho put his hand on Jong-il¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Thank you, my friend. I¡¯m so happy that you¡¯re by my side.¡±


    ¡°Did you eat something bad? Why are you acting weird?¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey! Drive slowly. We have nothing to rush!¡±


    ¡°Hyung, this is going slow. The cars on the opposite side are driving at insane speeds. I don¡¯t know why those cars are driving like that here.¡±


    Youngho, Jong-il, and Ilkwon wereing back from Georgia¡¯s Poti Sea Port.


    A Marshutka, which was a bus that was as big as a full-sized van, crossed the middlene, drove wildly and passed cars in the front, and almost collided with the car that Youngho¡¯s gang was in.


    Whenever Youngho went to Poti Sea Port, he always had to be nervous because of the Marshutkas. If he tried to stop his car to argue with the Marshutka drivers, they would have been disappeared from the spot already, so he had nowhere to vent his anger. Also, those drivers would rather ask him why he was upset when there was no ident. That was why one needed to brace oneself before beginning to drive in here. The driving culture here was just nasty.


    When Youngho criticized other drivers for their poor driving manners, they would evenugh at him asking why he was upset since there was no ident.


    If one needed to drive around here, he would have to prepare his mentality, or else, he would have gone crazy by the time when he had arrived at the destination.


    The reason for visiting the Poti Sea Port today was to buy a small yacht.


    It was everyone¡¯s idea that there should be a yacht avable for hotel guests since Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel was a high-quality hotel in the ck Sea.


    Because it was not well-known as some other hotels yet, special events were necessary to get visitors¡¯ attention.


    There were many decent-looking yachts at Poti Sea Port, so Youngho made a contract for a new yacht and agreed to receive it at Batumi Port a few dayster.


    Many people who visited his hotel stayed there for more than a week. Since many Europeans would take a month-long vacation trip, unlike Koreans who usually only had about a week of vacation time. So, many hotel guests liked to stay at a hotel enjoying the rxing time. So, having a hotel yacht seemed to be a great idea to appeal to those guests who liked to stay at the hotel.


    ¡°Youngho. Why don¡¯t we use our car-ferry ship here? We don¡¯t have many immigrants moving in right now. It¡¯s such a waste to just leave the ship hanging around. Or, what do you think about developing a Caspian-ck Sea traveling package? Baku is full of rich people, why not try this?¡±


    Jong-il had thought of such a great business project. He had improved so much as a businessman. Youngho was impressed.


    ¡°Dude. Do you now want to be a travelingpany¡¯s president? That¡¯s a great attitude. Now, I¡¯ve got two presidents under me, I¡¯ll have to be the chairman.¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m not joking!¡±


    ¡°I just gave you an okay. Why are you acting dumb?¡±


    ¡°Should I go for it, then?¡±


    ¡°Alright, would you understand when I answer you like Zeynep? Call!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m up for it no matter what!¡±

 Chapter 230 - Trial and Error

    <h4>Chapter 230: Trial and Error</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this difficult to call a cruise ship?¡±


    ¡°ording to Park Jong-il, it¡¯s a fake cruise.¡±


    Park Youngsun held his sides withughter.


    After wiping tears from his eyes, he expressed opposition to Jong-il¡¯s idea, saying that the current business conditions could not support such a venture. Since there was a risk to jump into an untested business, he emphasized that enough market research was needed before deciding to start the business.


    Youngho expected him to agree with Jong-il¡¯s idea at once, but he was somewhat defensive at the new business proposal. Since he did not have to rush the business, he decided to ept Park Youngsun¡¯s opinion.


    The ship that was already made would not go anywhere and it would be used as a wine delivery ship until a new freighter that Youngho had requested waspleted anyway. The size of the car-ferry ship was perfect to go through a canal to reach the ck Sea.


    Jong-il was sullen that his idea was rejected by Park Youngsun.


    ¡°Why would Dr. Park disagree with me?¡±


    ¡°I was appealed by your idea, but now Dr. Park has a point. It¡¯s too premature to start a travel business. Let¡¯s do some market research first.¡±


    ¡°Man, I thought it was a valid idea.¡±


    Jong-il was still in denial.


    ¡°Dr. Park is not just rejecting it without a reason. He just wants us to take more steps before starting a new thing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve always started a business with your gut feeling, don¡¯t you think? Have you ever done a thorough market research before?¡±


    Youngho had been extremely lucky until now. Everything he had started went pretty well.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying we¡¯ve been lucky. Don¡¯t get personal about this. I just think we should do things more properly from now on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not getting personal. I have a big heart, you know.¡±


    Jong-il was saying that, but his face was saying the opposite.


    The two had started many things if they agreed to until now, but now that the organization grew big, many other opinions were in the way.


    Since people had different perspectives, it was not easy to just push through with an opinion, but this was why Youngho had hired many talented people, was to make as fewer mistakes as possible.


    It was great to expand the business area, but careful caution was needed many times. There were now so many people depending on Youngho¡¯s decisions that it was better to maintain and develop what he had now, rather than starting something new as he used to.


    In a way, he had lost his adventurous spirit, but Park Youngsun¡¯s view that defense was more important than the offense was could not be ignored, since Arirang Farm still had a long way to go until it was well established and settled down.


    In the field, tenrge tractors were harvesting wheat while making a great noise.


    Wheat usually took about 110 days to grow from seed. Since it was thete August now, it was the perfect timing to harvest it.


    Everyone was looking forward to the crop since it was Arirang Farm¡¯s first cultivation. However, great expectations could lead to great disappointments.


    The results of pre-surveying the yield were much lower than expected. Although wheat could grow in a barrennd, thend¡¯s vitality had been almost exhausted due to desertification.


    Initially, Youngho had calcted the yield to be about 6,000 tons since normally on average, 8,000 tons of wheat would grow in 5,000 acres ofnd. Since it was the first crop, Youngho had expected less than the average amount of wheat crop, but it was way fewer than his expectation.


    Where he had turned over the grasnd had produced some crop, but the area where it was deserted already was a total failure.


    ¡°Chairman, Lee. Don¡¯t get too disappointed. It¡¯s only the first crop.¡±


    Kim Sungchan talked to him in a consoling tone.


    ¡°2,000 tons of wheat from this area is only about one-fourth of the usual crop. I didn¡¯t have a high expectation, but this is a little disappointing.¡±


    Although Youngho could not show his disappointment to everyone, since everyone¡¯s efforts were put into wheat farming, he was greatly frustrated.


    ¡°There is something called fertility of the soil. If we strengthen the soil, it would have a better result next year. Don¡¯t feel disappointed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not disappointed. First of all, it would be a priority to increase the area of cultivation, so that thend cane to life. The straw left over in the field would act as manure. This much crop was only possible because there was an irrigation canal. I feel less bitter since the farm products cultivated in ind areas are fewer than this.¡±


    It wasforting to hear that farmers in Kazakhstan¡¯s western ind areas without irrigation had to be satisfied with fewer yields, than what Arirang farm had produced.


    People consoled each other with the fact that they produced about 1,500 tons of wheat to be exported on top of a year¡¯s consumption of Arirang Farm¡¯s residents. Wheat prices were expected to exceed eight dors for each bushel this year, so about a profit of 400,000 dors were expected. It was only the amount that could pay 460 dors per household. Although Youngho had invested in farming of the barrennd to secure arge amount ofnd, he could hardly help, but feel disappointed. The residents did not show their disappointments, but it was obvious that they felt the same as Youngho.


    The conference room¡¯s atmosphere was heavier than ever.


    No one was smiling looking at the paper that had the amount of the yields and the amount of export.


    Youngho forced himself to act calm as he suggested a solution to stop thend¡¯s desertification.


    ¡°You¡¯d like to start a reforestation project?¡±


    Jong-il asked back as if Youngho was being absurd.


    ¡°Yes. We didn¡¯t expect a lot for grain production anyway. It was just a way to secure arge area ofnd to prepare for the future.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just leave it as it is for a while, then. We¡¯re wasting our money on the desertednd.¡±


    ¡°The government won¡¯t allow the ownership ofnd if we did not develop it. We have to make grasnd at least. The government already knows that thend is not suitable for farming and that was why it gave us permission for development. So, I¡¯m saying I¡¯m going to submit an alternated business proposal to developnd to raise livestock. Once the field turns green, thend will be fertile again.¡±


    As Youngho gave him many reasons, Jong-il began to nod to his idea.


    It was not a total failure since there was some crop.


    However, the amount of the crop was just too little,pared to how much money was put in for farming. Although it was only the first crop, Youngho could not help to be disappointed.


    He had expected to make about 1.3 million dors for this year¡¯s crop, but it was only about 400,000 dors. It was a failed project from a management perspective if it was not a strategic measure to securend.


    Kim Chun, who could not be unaware of the atmosphere, quickly reversed the mood. He submitted the report of Arirang Farm¡¯s overview that showed what had been invested in the farm field of 49013 acres and the total amount of yield of the past and this year, and he lobbied the regional government of Atyrau to ept the development of grasnd.


    Thend was already deserted and the government admitted the fact that it was an impossible mission to develop farnd in the wastnd. Therefore, the government agreed to give ownership ofnd to Youngho if he could establish grasnd. Since grasnd could stop continental sandy dust, there was no reason for the government to reject Kim Chun¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°Boss. This is almost ournd. Next year, we¡¯ll increase the area of farnd twice than what we have this year and nt fruit trees that can grow well in a dry climate. And it¡¯s going to be more economical for us to develop grasnd and begin arge-scale livestock industry.¡±


    His suggestion was to begin a livestock business aside from farming since wheat farming did not make enough money.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to take a long time to make irrigation canals to the site where grasnd is going to be. I guess we should focus on developing underground water resource now.¡±


    Although Arirang Farm¡¯s business n would have to go through a great modification, Youngho could not disagree with Kim Chun¡¯s suggestion. It was because the immigrants weed the new since most of them had been in the livestock industry in the mountains.


    Especially, Niksic¡¯s face was bright. Saying that he could not stop Youngho who was forcing wheat farming, he began to exin different businesses that would follow raising livestock.


    ¡°Prince Consort. Sheep are more useful than cows.¡±


    ¡°And why is that so?¡±


    ¡°With the amount of fresh grass that a cow needs, we could raise four to five sheep. Sheep give us meat, skin, milk, and byproducts such as cheese and wool carpet. Raising sheep is a more versatile business than raising cows. Also, cow¡¯s muck is used for fuel, but sheep¡¯s muck just goes to the earth which will strengthen the fertility of the soil. If the grain price skyrockets in the future, we can then focus on farming grains and we¡¯ll have great fertility by then.¡±


    ¡°Niksic, why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier? I wouldn¡¯t have insisted on farming wheat then.¡±


    Younghoined that Niksic was sharing opinion now when he had just experienced failure.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be an obstacle to your n and also, I didn¡¯t expect the yield to be this small.¡±


    ¡°Please share your honest opinion from now on, if I insist on do any major decisions. I don¡¯t want any more trial and error.¡±


    Since Arirang Farm¡¯s site was only permitted to Youngho for agricultural development, there was no other alternative. The regional government had permitted developing grasnd only because it was afraid that Youngho would give up thend due to small yield. Now that Youngho thought about it, the first failure of harvesting arge crop might lead to a better oue in the future.


    The failure was bitter, but he was now more open to others¡¯ opinions for his future business decisions.


    Many say that it never rains, but it only pours and it was exactly what Youngho felt like.


    It was already a bummer that the number of wheat yields was disappointing, but wild wolves began to show up in the residential towns at night. It seemed that nt-eating animals had dried up in thend due to the desertification of thend and wolves had nothing to feed on.


    Although the towns were protected by dogs, they still invaded the area and killed three to four sheep a night. The town watch had been unprepared and could not handle the situation in advance.


    The appearance of the wolves in thete summer was a serious issue since they usually showed up in the winter when there was nothing to eat in the field.


    To continue the high stonewalls built to prevent northern winds, the construction of lower walls that surrounded the whole towns was resumed. In the beginning, Youngho was going to surround the towns with barbed-wire fences, but they did not seem to be appealing as stone walls.


    Instead of that, in order to avoid damaging the city¡¯s beauty to the fullest extent, the fences around the ces where roads met, were designed more carefully and beautifully, so that fence could be a sculpture itself.


    Nikevich Min, the construction director of Arirang Farm escorted Youngho who showed up at the construction site in a long time and began describing his achievements.


    ¡°Boss. This wall will pass through the sheep ranch and connect to your pce under construction.¡±


    ¡°Wait, is there a need to make the wall that long?¡±


    ¡°This ce not only has the northern winds from the Ural Mountains but also the continental winds of the northeast. The walls will also act as a barrier from wolves in the field, so I¡¯m making them longer and thicker.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like we¡¯re having a war with nature. If I knew this ahead of time, I wouldn¡¯t have jumped into this. After seeing the results of wheat farming, I regret that I began the business too prematurely.¡±


    ¡°Boss. This ce did not use to be like this in the past. This is the result of a random development of farnd and negligence afterward, but I heard that this used to be a beautiful ce with trees and meadows.¡±


    ¡°If only we could turn back time... but I guess we should just ept the reality and cope with the environment.¡±


    ¡°Once the irrigation canals are connected and we water thend regrly, thend wille back to life again in a few years. I guarantee.¡±


    Director Min¡¯s confidenceforted Youngho¡¯s distressed mind.

 Chapter 231 - Turning Over a New Leaf (1)

    <h4>Chapter 231: Turning Over a New Leaf (1)</h4>


    Youngho did not feel as happy as he used to when visiting Arirang Farm for wolf problem.


    It was because his disappointment with the number of wheat yields was great.


    He was shocked since it was his first major failure after starting his businesses. He had achieved great sesses with business projects with tens of millions of dors, but he was frustrated with a project worth only a million dor. This meant that he was still an inexperienced, young businessman.


    He could not ept the fact that he had failed. However, after listening to the construction director Min, he began to feel sorry that he expressed his disappointment to him.


    Director Min only asked Youngho to support the reforestation project since enough water would revive the desertednd. He also emphasized that some part of the area should have more trees and walls to block winds, so it would stop the process of desertification. That way, sands blown by winds would not cover the grasnd and the bad cycle of desertification would be stopped. He promised Youngho that he would make Arirang Farm a city with a forest. This was why he was connecting the walls to the pce.


    The immigrants had been expecting to get paid for their farm work from exporting wheat, but what they were getting was not enough to pay back the money they borrowed from the immigrant center of Arirang Farm.


    Although their housing, food supply, and education problems were taken care of by Youngho, it did not mean that their personal desires were taken care of. They dreamed to make money for their work and do whatever they had desired.


    They did notin, but their disappointments were surely great. Youngho needed something to bring up the residents¡¯ spirits.


    It was great that the farm still had a drone factory who was ready-to-go.


    The drone factory was equipped with apleted assembly line and was only waiting for parts to arrive. The ny workers who had been to D Drone¡¯s headquarters in America for training were also well-prepared for work.


    The fourth group of thirty trainees had returned and as they began to train other residents, there was enough manpower that could be used in the production line.


    The production of the drone bodies and rotors had already begun and the factories located near the Arirang Farm¡¯s wharf were making noises.


    Once the drone assembly line began to run, the depressed atmosphere would be revived soon because the residents would make money from the drone factories.


    In several years, the farm would be able to produce its own parts and have its own drone parts brand.


    It was not a mere dream since younger generations of Serbian immigrants had exceptionally excellent learning abilities. Youngho regrly received academic achievement reports from the farm¡¯s own schools and most of the kids in the elementary school were outstanding learners ofputer and technology-rted studies. The news about farm kids¡¯ outstanding achievements was a silver lining of the farm¡¯s future, especially in the times like this when wheat farming was a huge failure.


    It would be great if the immigrants could be satisfied with grain farming, but once their basic needs were meet, they would naturally want to have better lives in which they could go on trips to overseas and buy better things for themselves. Those things cost money and drone technology would be the farm¡¯s number one source of ie in the future.


    Lately, Youngho began to meditate frequently because he was disappointed in himself, after realizing that he was struggling over little matters.


    He read books while listening to ssical music in his study and got up early around dawn for meditation, to calm down his mind.


    He was quite surprised to notice that he had been neglecting his inner self for the past few years. He had only been running forward toward his goals and living as if someone was chasing him, although there was none behind him. He needed time to look back calmly at himself and rethink about why he had been fluctuating between hopes and fears.


    He even abstained himself from going out for other businesses except for going to the CIA¡¯s monthly meeting.


    Worried about his friend who was always in his study, Jong-il asked him to go out for hunting to refresh.


    ¡°Meditation is only good for a day or two. Let¡¯s go for hunting with Insoo.¡±


    ¡°Sounds great! My butt was getting numb. I can¡¯t sit still anymore.¡±


    As the three friends went out carrying their hunting rifles, farm workers who were checking farm equipment smacked their lips already. They knew that they would be having deer meat tonight.


    All the farm workers were busy checking up on harvesters since the harvest would begin in several days. The farm was full of noises from test-driving farm equipment that had been stored for a year.


    Listening to the sounds of machinery was strangely calming.


    ¡°Don¡¯t those harvesters sound like music? Is it just me who¡¯s hearing it?¡±


    ¡°It might be music in the owner¡¯s ears but it¡¯s just noise to me.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s invidious remark even sounded sweet in Youngho¡¯s ears. It seemed that there was heaven and hell in his mind since things looked different, depending on his mindset. It was because he lost much of his impatience.


    The three friends walked slowly in the mountain in front of Zeynep Farm. As they walked for about an hour chatting with each other, Insoo who was leading the group in the front pointed his finger to a ridge.


    There was a huge elk grazing peacefully. A small elk was next to her as well.


    ¡°Give it up. You¡¯re not that crazy about meat.¡±


    Jong-il shook his head.


    ¡°Whoa, what¡¯s gotten into you? That little one is still quite big.¡±


    ¡°Youngho¡¯s into meditationtely. I don¡¯t want to corrupt him.¡±


    Youngho smirked involuntarily at Jong-il¡¯s remark.


    Jong-il dragged Youngho out for diversion on the pretext of hunting. It was his thoughtful gesture since Youngho had been quiet since the wheat cultivation.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s chase away wolves today then.¡±


    Insoo also agreed with the two and took back his rifle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me a weirdo. We should hunt at least one or two deer. We can¡¯t forget about the farm people. They must be waiting for us to bring deer meat.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rather weird to be sessful all the time. They¡¯d consider us as normal people when wee back empty-handed sometimes.¡±


    Although Jong-il said it as passing words, it touched Youngho. He was indirectly mentioning that not everything could be sessful. Since he would be a senseless person, if he did not say anything to his friend now, Youngho shouted one word.


    ¡°Master!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re funny. Let¡¯s go down. Why don¡¯t we havemb meat barbecue tonight?¡±


    If he drank as much asst night, he would usually suffer from a hangover in the morning, but he felt unusually light this morning.


    He had a great time with his friends, forgetting about stressful things in a long time. In the end, they pulled out a karaoke machine to the yard and sang their favorite songs. It was a party night.


    Along with the friends, Zeynep and Jelyan sang on a mike and the security crew families who lived in the vis near the farm¡¯s reservoir also joined the party.


    Noticing Youngho¡¯s movements, Leon who had been ying in his crib stretched out his arms asking Youngho to pick him up. Holding him in his arms, Youngho went downstairs to the dining room.


    Nice smell that stimted his appetites came out from the kitchen. The two sisters were busily moving their hands as they were preparing foods.


    ¡°What on earth are you making? This smells heavenly.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re up already! Oh, my Leon¡¯s awake too.¡±


    Fatima weed the two with a smile.


    ¡°Oppa. You can even be a singer. You were so goodst night.¡±


    Zeynep teased him, as she handed him some warm honey tea.


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Have I improved that much?¡±


    Jelyan also appeared with her messy attire and hair straight from bed and hugged Leon as soon as she saw him.


    It had been only night since they saw each other, but they were chatting in anguage that Youngho could not understand and greeted each other so dearly.


    The morning¡¯s sceneforted Youngho¡¯s heart.


    Zeynep¡¯s chattiness throughout breakfast time was like a bird¡¯s singing.


    It was a joyful morning in a long time.


    He felt as if he would have good luck with anything today.


    This was the same morning on the day he bought the Arirang Hotel in Baku. He had left the house after watching Zeynep making a big speech that she was going to be a great hotelier.


    Of course, he had closed the business deal smoothly that day.


    He decided to visit the head office of the continent railroad construction project after a long interval.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that you need to nail a girl in order to make her your own? You need to set a seal if you want to be sure.¡±


    Youngho shook his head at Jong-il¡¯s cheap figure of speech.


    ¡°Dude, you have to bring up girls now?¡±


    ¡°The world does not run on verbal promises. Honestly, I don¡¯t trust this. There are things you can trust and things you shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    As Youngho came back from Azerbaijan¡¯s railroad project head office with a verbal approval for him to take the managing underwriter¡¯s role, Jong-il insisted to get proof saying that a certificate was necessary, so that the head office would not change its words.


    The construction of the continental railroad was still in the process of basic designing and its expense was not budgeted yet, so Azerbaijan was still keeping an eye on Russia¡¯s opinion.


    In the beginning, the railroad project was pushed by Russia¡¯s aggressive demand, but as Azerbaijan found out how much it would make for railroad toll fees, it was not being proactively involved in the project.


    Russia had put the project on hold since it was now confronted with the western world, due to its issue with Ukraine and Azerbaijan was waiting for its chance to take the lead role in the project.


    In fact, the Azerbaijani government had invested in one-fifth of the Iranian railroad routes and it was in an advantageous position against Russia. The government was nning to ask for the raise of toll fees. It was expected that Russia would grant its requirement.


    Since the government held the advantage, it did not really care about the railroad¡¯s private consortium¡¯s managing underwriter. It was only Youngho who was seeking invisible rights and interests, so he did not put much weight on receiving a certificate to be an underwriter.


    ¡°Jong-il, do you know what the major part is in a railroad construction?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the construction of subbase course and track for sure.¡±


    ¡°Those are basics. It¡¯s the train.¡±


    ¡°The train?¡±


    ¡°If double tracks were installed, do you think there will be only one trip in a day?¡±


    ¡°Oh! So, you¡¯re trying to trade trains, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    With his facile mind, Jong-il immediately realized what Youngho was nning to do.


    ¡°There will be engines, passenger cars, freighter cars, tank cars, and so on. Think about how many cars will be needed.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s n was to trade some of the cars needed for intercontinental routes. Although Russia would insist to trade all of the cars on its own, he predicted that it would be difficult for Russia to handle all of the trades. He thought that he would have a chance if he could offer a better deal for car trades.


    ¡°You¡¯re not saying you¡¯re going to produce the train cars by yourself, are you? Are you going to take an agency¡¯s role?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Russia is the only country among the three countries that produce trains. I should find out Russia¡¯s unit prices for cars andpete with those prices. Since it¡¯s a sensitive issue between the three countries, Russia won¡¯t be able to push theirs.¡±


    ¡°What about the trainpanies?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a Europeanpany and Korean H Company. I¡¯m going to choose the one that pays a highermission.¡±


    ¡°Man, you don¡¯t have any love left for your country?¡±


    ¡°This is business. You¡¯ve got to be cool-headed.¡±

 Chapter 232 - Turning Over a New Leaf (2)

    <h4>Chapter 232: Turning Over a New Leaf (2)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    Any Koreans living overseas would consider using Korean products as much as possible. It was as what most people had said, that many became patriotic when they had left their home countries.


    Youngho also felt the same. When foreign people gave great reviews for Korean products, he was ttered. Since he knew that the Korean economy hugely depended on trading businesses, he did not want to exclude Koreanpanies from his businesses.


    However, business was business. It was natural for him to seek a partnership with apany that would make him more profits. It was not about patriotism.


    There was a time when he insisted on Korean products andpanies. It was because he was not familiar with foreignpanies. It was more convenient for him to work with Koreans and not to mention, Korean products tended to be cheaper than foreign brands since Korean export goods were priced cheaper than domestic consumer prices.


    Nheless, he had learned that it was not a wise decision to insist on Korean products after living overseas for seven years. The more he persisted on Korean goods, the more he felt the invisible wall for his business.


    On one side, many people would see him as a homesick Korean and had to pity him. On the other side, local people disliked him for being stubborn since his gesture reflected his resistance for local cultures and products.


    It was a foolish decision of many Korean overseas because no one would take them as true friends. Their behaviors only proved that they would leave for their home country in the near future.


    If one wanted to live in a foreign country, one should be like a native.


    Not only thenguage but also clothes and foods should be assimted to the local people so that the natives would a foreigner as their friends. It was better to forget his home country if he was determined to live overseas.


    Even if he tried hard to get assimted, it would be still hard for him to enter the mainstream society since stubbornness to the new culture was a huge obstacle to make new friends.


    Youngho was sharing his perspective in a length to Jong-il who was asking why he would not just pick a Korean trainpany.


    ¡°So, you won¡¯t mind which country was producing it as long as the prices are right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. If there is a good Korean producerpany, I¡¯d introduce it to the government and negotiate the pricing with thepany.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no use. It¡¯ll cost more to move the trains from the opposite side of the earth.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that concern to the producers. Our role is just to let them know about the situations here. If the producers thanked me for sessfully closing the deal, then that¡¯d be great.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, you¡¯re so unaffected.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. I¡¯m going to get a high agencymission.¡±


    ¡°Dude. You always take care of Koryoins so much. Why are you being stingy with Korean corporations?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just business.¡±


    The grape harvest began.


    Youngho could not help but smile since the amount of yield was simr tost year¡¯s yield.


    Zeynep Farm¡¯s high yield was quite contrastive from Arirang Farm¡¯s wheat yield. It was the result of his conceit since he had not thoroughly researched before he begun nting wheat but he consoled himself by saying that he had learned a valuable lesson from it.


    Little kids went to pick leftover grapes underneath thick vines after harvesters had swept off the vines first. Rather than working, they were ying with the grapes but Youngho did not mind it since it would make them a great memory.


    Every harvest season, kids of the international school and Korean people who resided in Baku came to the farm and created an atmosphere of a harvest festival. The Serbian kids of the farm also joined them and now some of them were bathing in grapes.


    The war orphans including Jelyan also enjoyed their first experience of the grape harvest. Most of them spoke some Azerbaijani and English and they were being loud. Among them, Jelyan¡¯s voice was the loudest.


    As Youngho listened to what she was shouting, she was saying other children not to throw away grapes in vain. It made Youngho smile since she was acting responsibly as the vineyard¡¯s owner¡¯s stepdaughter. Since Zeynep was her sister who¡¯s got her back, Jelyan¡¯s voice naturally grew bigger. Zeynep had be an outspokendy whom no one could treat her wrongly in and outside of the farm.


    Park Youngsun who had been focusing on developing underground water resource in Kazakhstan visited Zeynep Farm since it was the harvest season. With the farm¡¯s light airnes, it was only a few hours of trip from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan.


    ¡°Boss. You always look happier when youe to Baku.¡±


    ¡°Is it so obvious? Man, I should be more careful.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s good news in Kazakhstan as well. You should stop by first.¡±


    ¡°You found underground water, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right! It¡¯s quiterge to supply water for workers in Koryoin town.¡±


    Youngho had thought that Park Youngsun looked carefree. It was because he had finally found the underground water resource. He had given his word that he would find water and his prediction was right.


    Underground water in Kazakhstan was life-giving and Youngho also was excited to hear the news.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gone through quite the trouble. Thank you for your work. It feels like a heavy weight had been lifted from my chest.¡±


    ¡°I had to fly to Baku. I needed to get somepliments from you.¡±


    ¡°I should give you a piggyback ride. It was getting stressful that I didn¡¯t hear anything about underground water for over a month.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just underground water. It is natural bedrock water.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho did not quite understand what that meant.


    ¡°The bedrock water doesn¡¯t cause the ground subsidence when the water is pumped out and it is the cleanest, first-ss water as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    ¡°That is why I¡¯m being confident about this. You should pay me some bonus this time.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will. You¡¯ve done so much until now. Why don¡¯t you take a break at Batumi¡¯s hotel with Seoyoung?¡±


    Any person who worked hard would need some sort of reward for his work. It would be funny if one asked him to work only with his passion and sense of duty since it was not a struggle for independence.


    Park Youngsun was a little different than usual workers since he had joined Youngho¡¯s group to be with his daughter. He did not refuse harsh work because his only concern was his daughter¡¯s safety and happiness. It was lucky for Youngho that someone as talented and persistent as Park Youngsun hade to join hispany.


    He once worked as a resource explorer in remote ces and worked for his country but when he decided to quit his job regretting his past, then went back to his daughter, Youngho had shown up in front of him. As his passion for work went away, all there were left in him were regrets and a bad rtionship with his daughter. However, everything changed when he settled in Baku. He had found peace there.


    Youngho also cared a lot for Park Youngsun and his daughter.


    Even though Park Youngsun refused to go on a break saying that he was still busy because of work, Youngho pushed him and his daughter to go on a vacation in Batumi. He wanted to make them feel as if they were Youngho¡¯s real family, and not like the other workers who worked for him.


    Leaves had begun to turn their colors already in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia. With its altitude rising 1,000 meters above sea level, the fall had arrived early.


    At the outskirt of the city where there was a military airfield, Youngho and Kim Ilkwon stepped out of a light airne that justnded.


    ¡°Boss. I didn¡¯t even contact Rena about your visit. She¡¯ll be exuberated to see you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already getting a headache thinking about being grilled by Katya and Rena.¡±


    Ilkwon who was moving their cargo from the airne smiled lightly. They had brought an eight-seater to bring goods that were ordered previously. Daily necessity products were valuable in Tskhinvali, so although the products were delivered by road, Kim Ilkwon brought goods on the airne whenever he visited the city.


    The products the two brought today were mostly gifts. Feeling sorry that he hade to visit the mother and daughter after a long time, Youngho bought many things for them. He had toe after hearing that little Rena had been missing him a lottely. He had uneasy feelings toward Katya, so he only talked on the phone with her about business matters and had stoppeding but since the littledy was asking for his visit, Youngho could not refuse her.


    Arirang Hotel of Tskhinvali had a constant stream of visitors.


    It was because South Ossetia had begun producing oil crude actively.


    Since an oilfield was discovered in the bordend of Georgia and South Ossetia, most of the hotel¡¯s guests were oil businessmen. The hotel was now renowned as the best quality hotel in Tskhinvali and it was even hard to find an empty room. The hotel was making a lot of money with guests lined up seeking for a room.


    Katya and Rena¡¯s attitudes toward Youngho¡¯s visit were quite different.


    Rena, with her blushing face, ran toward Youngho and jumped up in his arms in joy but Katya had a weird look on her face.


    ¡®What is up with Katya?¡¯


    Although he was curious, he could not ask what was going on.


    ¡°Boss. How can you not visit us for this long? It doesn¡¯t even take that long if you use the airne.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard about me from Ilkwon? I¡¯ve been busy with wheat farming and other businesses.¡±


    ¡°I know but I only ask that you visit at least every other month. Rena had been dying to see you.¡±


    Youngho was ashamed that he did not visit them because of a bad reason. Although being with Katya was ufortable, it was wrong of him to hurt the little girl¡¯s feelings. Knowing that Katya would not do anything harmful to him, he still had to stay away from her to be cautious. It was because he was not confident in himself, not Katya¡¯s fault.


    Kim Ilkwon had been reporting what had been going on in the hotel but Katya was eager to report her achievements.


    ¡°Katya. Keep all the profits made here. I¡¯m nning to build another hotel in the hilly area in the back of the hotel.¡±


    The profit of Arirang Hotel in Tskhinvali was only about ten percent of the total profits of the Arirang Hotel chain business but it was a fortune in Tskhinvali¡¯s standard. Since she made 240,000 dors from the guest room booking and other subsidiary facilities, it was quite a lot.


    ¡°Wow, really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re going to have more guests from now on and the guest rooms here won¡¯t be able to contain the number. There is no other hotel like this in town.¡±


    ¡°Then, can we start as soon as the next springes?¡±


    As Youngho shared his n to expand the hotel, Katya was eager to start its construction as soon as possible.


    ¡°It¡¯d be best to start it by the end of next year. I¡¯ll invest more funds for the expansion.¡±


    ¡°We can divide them as new building and old building and the old building¡¯s rooms would be priced for suite rooms.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the rooms are so spacious. It¡¯s such a waste. Even guests wonder why we only priced them at 150 dors.¡±


    She had a point. The rooms were quite big that if there was a partition dividing the rooms in half, the rooms could double in number.


    Talking about the details of the hotel, Katya bloomed like a beautiful rose.


    As if she had been enjoying managing the hotel, her face was brighter than ever and it was pleasing to see her that way.


    Rena¡¯s grandmother prepared a special meal for Youngho since he visited them after a long time.


    After the dinner, Youngho, Katya, and Ilkwon went to a bar and continued their gathering as they drank. They did not have a drinking bet but they had drunk so much that they emptied so many bottles.


    Because Youngho was feeling sorry for Katya, he drank a little too much and eventually crossed the line.


    Youngho opened his eyes from his sleep out of thirst.


    Unaware of his state, he pushed aside his nket and went to the refrigerator to get some water. Only after gulping down some water, he found out that he waspletely naked.


    He could remember that Kim Ilkwon had brought him to the guesthouse but there was no recollection after that.


    It looked like he had taken off his clothes for being stuffy while he was asleep.


    Not being able to find his underwear, he turned on the light. However, what he found was a new set of clean clothes on the night table next to his bed.


    He thought that Katya must have brought it in the early evening but he still felt leery.


    ¡®When did she take the underwear that I took off?¡¯


    He felt wide awake already. As he went to the bathroom to take a shower, he tilted his head multiple times while wondering about what happened.

 Chapter 233 - Turning Over a New Leaf (3)

    <h4>Chapter 233: Turning Over a New Leaf (3)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    ¡°Mr. President. This is not a mere dream. You¡¯d be able to request a technical tie-up from the Korean train producer in exchange for a train trade.¡±


    ¡°Coming from your mouth, Mr. Lee, I¡¯m intrigued by it. The problem is Russia. The Russian government will try to monopolize the train car trade.¡±


    ¡°I understand that Russian products are sturdy but their trains tend to break down easily. Russian producers will also admit that too. Why don¡¯t you n a conference so you canpare different products¡¯ price and performance? I¡¯ve been to an international railway exposition in Istanbul not long ago and it was epted well by the international public.¡±


    As Youngho asserted his opinion, the president could not hide his feelings. Youngho did not miss that.


    ¡°I also confirmed that local production is possible. Then Azerbaijan will be able to foster local technicians and technology transfer would naturally follow along. There is a local factory in Turkey already, so there¡¯s a high possibility that Azerbaijan will have one too. Since it¡¯s a huge problem to transport trains from overseas, the producer will be intrigued to build a local factory. As for Russia, it won¡¯t reject our request if we say that we¡¯ll take care of our own trains that will be operated in the local routes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What is made in Baku are our trains. You¡¯re suggesting something big here. I¡¯ll ask the Minister of Transport to examine the foreign producer¡¯s technical skills.¡±


    Excited by the president¡¯s approval, Youngho had to hold himself from jumping up from his seat.


    ¡°Mr. President. That Korean producer produces not only trains but also tanks for Korean military since it¡¯s also a defensepany. I¡¯d like you to keep that in mind for your decision.¡±


    As he walked out from the presidential pce after slipping crucial information to the president, his steps were light.


    Youngho had already had an agreement with the Koreanpany, H Rotem.


    When he went to Istanbul for wine distribution, he came across H Rotem¡¯s local factory. When hepared thepany¡¯s train prices with German Gpany¡¯s trains and it seemed that H Rotem had better prices, so he had contacted H Rotem.


    Although Youngho did not have an official title of being a managing underwriter of the railroad project, H Rotem could easily confirm that he was involved in the private consortium. Trusting his reputation in Baku, thepany actively negotiated Youngho¡¯s agencymission for Azerbaijan¡¯s train deal.


    Youngho had no reason to refuse thepany¡¯s offer as it suggested a highmission for each train car sold.


    H Rotem estimated that Azerbaijan would use about at least 300 train cars for the intercontinental railway. The number of cars was a project that required local factory production.


    It seemed that his visit to the presidential pce earned the whole city¡¯s attention.


    The major reason for his visit this time was to give this year¡¯s wine to the president and high officials since Zeynep Wine was the official liquor for Azerbaijan¡¯s state banquet. Since the dictator-like president¡¯s authority was unimaginable in the country, it was a huge deal for officials that Youngho had a private meeting with the president.


    Hearing the news, Sevan even visited Youngho in Zeynep Farm with an excuse that he came to visit his rtives. The purpose of Sevan¡¯s visit was to find out whether Youngho had talked about him with the president.


    Youngho did not say a single word about the railway project since he could not freely talk about what happened in the presidential pce and moreover, it was rted to his business interests. Although Sevan was like a distant cousin now to him, it would be silly of him to give out any business information since it would eventually leak.


    H Rotem¡¯s staffs from Korea visited Baku.


    Because the railroad project was worth about 300 billion in Korean won, thepany proactively engaged to seal the deal. Another reason for thepany¡¯s aggressive involvement in the project was that Youngho had told its staffs that they would possibly be able to make their foray into Kazakhstan as well in the future.


    Kazakhstan was twelve times bigger than the size of the Korean Penins and railroads were intertwined like a cobweb. Based on the statistical data that the old train cars that would be reced were more than 200 in number a year, Youngho had induced thepany staffs into investing in Azerbaijan¡¯s railroad project.


    The staffs of H Rotem stayed at Arirang Hotel in Baku until the day they returned home. They could have stayed in another hotel but their gesture showed their intelligence capabilities since they must have found out that Youngho was the owner of the hotel.


    While they were staying in Baku, Youngho showed them around Zeynep Farm. When they arrived at the farm, a light airne wasnding at the farm and everyone seemed to be surprised to see an airne. It was understandable since it was hard to imagine a farm with its own airfield in Korea. As Youngho told them that the ne had juste back from Kazakhstan, they were astounded by it. Although he did not intend it, it somehow happened.


    The staffs had already researched about Youngho and whom he had married. Therefore, they all politely behaved around Youngho¡¯s family and it was quite surprising. Being a world-sspany that exported cars to many nations, thepany was indeed different from many others.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We could negotiate well with the Azerbaijani government all because of you. Thank you. I heard that you¡¯ve even had a private meeting with the president of ourpany.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to thank for. I¡¯ve also invested in the railroad project and I was looking for high performing trains withpetitive prices. One more thing, I invited all of you here because I n to install a railroad on my farm in Kazakhstan. I wanted to get some advice from experts.¡±


    ¡°How big is your farm that you¡¯re thinking about running a train?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about two-thirds of the size of Seoul, so it¡¯ll be more efficient to install a railway rather than constructing roads for cars. I just wanted to hear if this is a reasonable idea.¡±


    At the size of the farm, H Rotem¡¯s staffs could not close their mouths in amazement.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to imagine a farm with such huge area.¡±


    ¡°I originally nned to do wheat farming but I just started engaging in stock-farming due to water deficiency. The site is too vast and I heard that the train was more efficient than using cars. Would it cost a lot?¡±


    ¡°We majorly deal with producing train cars but we could investigate the validity. I¡¯d like to look around the farm sometime.¡±


    ¡°Then, would you like to go see it tomorrow?¡±


    The next day, everyone gathered in front of his Cessna airne at Zeynep Farm¡¯s airfield.


    As he told everyone to carry a parachute before boarding, all of the staffs¡¯ faces turned pale. For the next few minutes, he had to convince everyone that his light airne was safe. Although they nodded and got on board, they still did not seem to rx. They must have been regretting to agree toe with Youngho.


    When Youngho sat in the pilot¡¯s seat, some even let out groans. Next to him was Ilkwon whose face turned weird as he held in hisughter.


    The staffs were stunned to see Youngho to take the cockpit since they had thought that there would be a professional pilot.


    As the ne took off and the altitude was stabilized, everyone looked down. The ne was already flying over the Caspian Sea. They got even frightened by looking at the sea since parachutes could not save them if they fell to the sea.


    ¡°Gentlemen. You can rx. My airne is safer than a jumbo jet. Even if we make an emergencynding, you won¡¯t have to worry since it is equipped with a safety device.¡±


    This was better not said. Youngho¡¯s remark nearly knocked people out of shape.


    The area of Arirang Farm was bigger than what the staffs had imagined and they were all astounded by it. They said that the orbital train would be more economical but they would not rmend it now since there was not a lot of transportation of goods. It was certainly efficient to install railroads and run a train than making roads for cars and the most effective ce for a railroad would be between the farm and the wharf.


    Youngho was satisfied to hear a positive response. Expecting that the farm would make regr profits from farming and ranching by next year, he nned to start the construction of the railroad and run the train by then.


    This year¡¯s wheat yields that were to be transported were about 1,500 tons and a grain truck would have to have more than fifty round trips for such amount. It was not reasonable to buy more trucks that would only be used around the fall.


    If the farm produced more regr yields in the future, it could produce up to 16,000 tons of wheat. It was nonsense to move them on trucks. A train was a better choice by far.


    Youngho did not show Arirang Farm to the staffs of H Rotem without a secret reason.


    It was hard to imagine Kazakhstan¡¯s vastness without seeing it with one¡¯s own eyes. He wanted to show them that the country¡¯s unlimited potential for railroad development. Besides, if thepany could take over Kazakhstan¡¯s railroad, they would be able to make a stepping stone to expand its business to other countries in Central Asia such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.


    Since China was taking over the country¡¯s economy at a tremendous speed, Youngho wanted the country to have technical skills so it could oppose China. Many countries in Central Asia did not have their own railway because they did not have the technology.


    As Youngho made a huge speech about the need for coboration to build a factory in Kazakhstan, H Rotem¡¯s staffs apuded him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Ourpany had already investigated the market here but we did not have a chance to start our business here. Since the Kazakh president is actively attracting foreign corporations and investments, we¡¯ll confirm the establishment of a factory as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the factory¡¯s site. I¡¯ll also ask the president for other support measures.¡±


    Since the factory could be built anywhere near the Arirang Farm¡¯s wharf, Youngho assured them not to worry about it. It was the best location since any products from the factory could be distributed onrge vessels. Also, there was more than enough manpower on Arirang Farm who could work in the factory.


    ¡°Then, there is no reason for us to hesitate. We¡¯ll make an arrangement in our return schedule to meet the Kazakh officials before we leave if necessary.¡±


    Having investigated the country¡¯s market already, the vice-president was eager to start the business in Kazakhstan. Youngho also added words to drive a wedge in for his decision.


    ¡°You must already know about how much iron is being produced in this country. I¡¯m saying that there is plenty of resources that yourpany is looking for. I also have an open-air mine to myself.¡±


    Hearing Youngho¡¯s words, Kim Joo-hyuk, the vice president, opened his eyes widely.


    He remembered the chairman¡¯s will to seek raw materials and mineral resources. The chairman had promised to give a promotion to anyone who closes a deal for mineral resources. Kim Joo-hyuk wanted to put up a good show for his business trip.


    Raw materials were quite expensive and securing them meant that thepany would be able to gain high pricepetitiveness for its products. He was ready to dance if he could secure raw materials now. He could even be a president if he could seal the deal this time.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I give you my word for the establishment of a local factory for train cars in Kazakhstan. In exchange for that, could you help us secure raw materials?¡±


    ¡°Are you certain, Mr. Kim?¡±


    ¡°I can assure you that but about the raw materials...¡±


    ¡°Great. I will get you as much amount as you want. I swear it by Arirang Farm¡¯s name.¡±

 Chapter 234 - Gleaning (1)

    <h4>Chapter 234: Gleaning (1)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    The Kazakh government weed the railroad car joint business proposal from H Rotem. It was not just a joint venture but an exceptional proposal that suggested a technical partnership with a 70 percent localization rate.


    Although Koreanpanies had participated in the construction of petrochemical nts and thermal power nts in Kazakhstan, it was the first time for a Koreanpany to enter heavy industries such as railroad cars. Since a joint venture of heavy industries was helpful for the development of the defense industry, President Nazarbayev also showed a keen interest in the business.


    H Rotem had advantages from the joint adventure but it was more interested in seizing the opportunity to secure raw materials from Kazakhstan. Since the country had an inexhaustible amount of minerals buried underground, thepany was not going to refuse a chance to exchange their technology with them.


    H Rotem¡¯s staffs were staying in a hotel in the city of Astana.


    They were waiting to receive the vice-chairman and presidential group from thepany¡¯s headquarters in Korea. While the staffs were waiting, Youngho met Koryoins governmental officials and other officials in the Ministry of Finance and Economy.


    The person who introduced different officials to Youngho was indeed Kim Chun. Using all sorts of connections, he arranged meetings with different officials. The reason that Youngho and Kim Chun were trying their best to buy their hearts was to build the train car factory near Arirang Farm but any officials they met were opposed to the idea.


    They agreed on the part that cars could be transported easily through the Caspian Sea and Ural River but they refused the idea since there were no infrastructures around the farm. There were neither associatedpanies nor lodging capacity for factory workers nearby. It was a huge project that could not be managed by only 4,000 people of Arirang Farm¡¯s poption.


    They asked for Youngho¡¯s understanding, saying that it was best to build the factory where there was a medium-sized industrialplex nearby. Also, in their perspective, the most economical way to transport parts was to deliver them by Trans-Siberian Railway from divostok, not through the Caspian Sea.


    It seemed that Youngho had achieved nothing so far from the railroad car factory establishment in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Boss. I think it was too early for us to get excited. There¡¯s no gain in this. I¡¯m a little bummed since we¡¯ve been working hard to make the joint-venture work.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim. Let¡¯s talk outside.¡±


    Since Kim Chun spoke bluntly and wasining before Koryoin officials, Youngho had to take him outside quickly. The officials flinched whenever they heard the word ¡®boss¡¯ because, in Russian culture, the word was perceived negatively since there were a lot of mafias.


    The people who called Youngho ¡®boss¡¯ frequently was Kim Ilkwon, Kim Chun, and Katya and especially Kim Chun, who took great pleasure in saying the word. He could call him ¡®Mr. Lee¡¯ outside out of courtesy but he did not mind other people at all.


    When Youngho asked for his reason, he said that calling him ¡®boss¡¯ had more weight and it made him feel as if he belonged to a grand organization.


    ¡°Boss. It¡¯s painful to see H Rotem making money when we are the ones who worked for it.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is confirmed yet. If we can¡¯t get the car factory, we¡¯ll work to build a parts factory near the farm. If that doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯ll ask for a free train for our farm.¡±


    The railroad car joint venture between H Rotem and the Kazakh government and minerals trade were confirmed and now the two parties came to sign an MOU.


    Both parties were satisfied with agreement terms and they all were pleased. Now that Youngho had sessfully established the rtionship of the two parties, he began to promote his own business.


    First of all, he tackled the transportation of thepany¡¯s products.


    The Kazakh government officials said that they would receive products from Korea through the port of divostok and use the Trans-Siberian Railway from there. There was a gap from the port until the products were loaded in the railway trains and thepany needed a ce to store parts safely.


    Even though Youngho did not intend for this situation to happen, he had arge-scale warehouseplex that he built in partnership with Yaniv.


    He told Kim Joo-hyuk that he had a warehouse in divostok that he managed. He emphasized the fact that it was cheaper and safer than other warehouses while slipping the fact that divostok was awless ce where even military weapons were frequently stolen by robbers.


    Of course, Kim Joo-hyuk flipped. Train car parts were quite expensive since they were made out of special steels. Robbers might sell them at cheap prices but it would be a huge loss for thepany.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. So, you¡¯re saying we¡¯d be able to deliver parts here safely?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can guarantee that. I have a security servicepany and some shares in a Russian mercenarypany. If you leave the security and storage of your goods to us, I¡¯ll deliver every part safely without a scratch.¡±


    ¡°It was our huge concern since there had been so many theft cases in Russia. We¡¯ve had our products stolen frequently in the past. Even if we report thefts to Russian authorities, they don¡¯t really do anything to resolve the issue. I¡¯ll report to the vice-chairman to keep the train cars as well as otherpany¡¯s products in your warehouse and get permission to sign yourpany for transportation of the products.¡±


    As Youngho offered to resolve thepany¡¯s old problem, Kim Joo-hyuk was exuberated. From this, he would be able to earn some scores from the vice-chairman.


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    Youngho should be the one to thank him but Kim Joo-hyuk was thanking him instead. It seemed that he would be able to sign a contract with H Rotem soon.


    It was the production of parts that Youngho focused the most from the joint-venture production of railroad cars. Although he could not bring the whole production of cars to Arirang Farm, he wanted to draw in at least some parts of the production.


    If it was possible to produce core parts at Arirang Farm, the farm would attain a great technological prowess.


    Some might say that train car production was nothing big but because foundry technologies such as making axles and wheels were applied, it was possible to switch to heavy weapons manufacturing. Since control devices were sophisticated enough, the technologies to make them could also be applied to other industries.


    Now that he was in charge of parts storage and security of transportation of goods, it was time to weigh which parts would be more valuable for production. Since there was still time until the factory sites were assigned, he was going to study more about train car parts. He would have to convince both the Kazakh government and H Rotem for building a parts factory at Arirang Farm.


    By Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s arrangement, Youngho could have a meeting with H Rotem¡¯s vice-chairman.


    The chairman, who was in histe forties, seemed to be a serious man. He was different than many other people Youngho had met, who received their fortunes from their parents.


    He politely weed Youngho and asked how he could reward him for his contribution to H Rotem.


    ¡°It¡¯d be a lie if I said that I have no desire for money seeing that I¡¯m a businessman, but I just wanted the country that I¡¯m living in to acquire advanced technology, so it couldpete with surrounding countries. This ce has so many disputes and all I want for it is to be a stronger country. It will eventually help to secure my businesses as well.¡±


    Youngho intentionally did not ask for rewards since now was not the time. If he could have a technical tie-up with thepany, that would make him more money in the future.


    ¡°After hearing your perspective, I now understand more about Kazakhstan. I also studied the countries near the Caspian Sea and they had gone through very unfortunate events. I admire your courage to start your own business somewhere like this.¡±


    ¡°I had no other option but to leave Korea in order to survive. I could make it this far only because I was lucky.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you didn¡¯t make it this far out of pure luck. You must have gone through many struggles in the meantime.¡±


    After sharing some personal stories, Youngho told the vice chairman what he wanted to hear. He offered to help thepany so that it could maintain a good rtionship with the government.


    Although it was out of Youngho¡¯s hands now, he was in a position where he could ruin their rtionship if he wanted to. It all depended on H Rotem and how they would treat Youngho. He did not want to favor thepany just because it was Korean.


    ¡°Hey, you look great now that you¡¯re meeting with people who control the financial circles of Korea.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve been going through troubles. I¡¯ve got to say, without your support, we wouldn¡¯t have made it possible.¡±


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t do much. All I did was teach Agent Smith some sundry skills.¡±


    Jong-il yed a huge part in aplishing H Rotem and the Kazakh government¡¯s partnership. Since he used his special affinity to mobilize Michael, the chief of the CIA¡¯s European chapter, and Agent Smith of the U.S. Embassy. Those two had many connections with Kazakhstan¡¯s high officials and they eventually convinced many to act in favor of Youngho and H Rotem.


    The CIA was in favor of the Koreanpany and Kazakhstan¡¯s heavy industry partnership since the development of heavy industry in Kazakhstan could suppress Russian influence in the country.


    After Jong-il taught Agent Smith the fatal skills that he was dying to learn, he took the initiative in talking to CIA¡¯s officials and Kazakh officials into helping Youngho¡¯s business. He did his best since he also wanted to weaken Russia¡¯s power over the country.


    Since Kazakhstan was also looking for ways to get out of Russia¡¯s influence over its economy, it was great timing for the government. Because Russian people still dominated 60 percent of the country¡¯s economy, H Rotem¡¯s technical partnership was a good way to develop the country¡¯s economic independence.


    ¡°Are we getting something out of this?¡±


    ¡°We are only acting as the Kazakh government¡¯s agency. We¡¯ll make everything work to our advantage before negotiation.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that H Rotem was crazy over raw materials? We need to sell minerals from our mine.¡±


    ¡°I already told them about it. They don¡¯t have any control over Russian mine owners but when I said that they can export the whole quantity, they were excited.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk the vice president earnestly asked for permission so that he could take credit for closing the minerals trade deal. When he frankly said that he wanted to be promoted to a president this time, Youngho could not help butugh. Thinking that his openness was admirable, Youngho agreed that he would give him the credit.


    As Youngho exined everything to Jong-il, he pushed him even farther asking if there were any other profitable businesses.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re just too soft. Why would you do that without something for exchange?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be our helper if he bes president this time. He said that he¡¯d be sending a great present by the end of the year. We¡¯ll see what he¡¯s up to.¡±


    ¡°That man must be looking to expand the horizon for hispany.¡±


    ¡°He was interested in starting harbor construction in Atyrau. So, I told Mr. Kim to go for it.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we stop helping otherpanies in making money, and start working on our own construction business instead?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be hasty. We don¡¯t have technicians or technology. We¡¯ll lose a ton if we get ourselves involved in that.¡±


    ¡°Clean your ears and listen, Mr. Boss. You can just get the agencymission for representing apany thatcks capabilities to win a contract.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s idea impressed Youngho again. It would not be rewarding if Youngho did not recognize his idea. He hugged him tightly.


    ¡°Master!¡±


    ¡°Dude. You¡¯re gross.¡±

 Chapter 235 - Gleaning (2)

    <h4>Chapter 235: Gleaning (2)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    ¡°Are you saying that the whole mountain is a pyrite mine?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s small eyes were open wide.


    ¡°There are also some nickels buried in there too. I¡¯ve also confirmed that there are other minor minerals mixed in the rocks. Why don¡¯t you take some for samples?¡±


    Astounded by the mine¡¯s scale, he was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Do you have any idea howrge your mine is?¡±


    It was quite big including the whole mountain of minerals and what was buried underground, but it was not a surprising sizepared to other mines in Kazakhstan. However, Kim Joo-hyuk almost looked like he was going to faint.


    It was because Korea was not a country with a lot of underground resources and he had never seen a mine that huge. Youngho would have felt the same if he was in Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s shoes but having lived in the Caucasus region for years now, a scale like this was nothing to him.


    ¡°Strip mines aremon around here. A scale like this is not consideredrge in this country. Oh, by the way, some of the minerals contain goldponents and they¡¯d be charged separately.¡±


    At the mention of ¡®gold,¡¯ Kim Joo-hyuk did not know what to say. It was a tremendous deal for him.


    The two entered a restaurant near Koryoin town where manyborers stayed for mining. As soon as he sat down, Kim Joo-hyuk pulled his seat toward Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I don¡¯t know much about mines but you have a huge mine. You won¡¯t change your mind about providing minerals for us, right?¡±


    ¡°A verbal promise is still a promise.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Then, would it be alright if ourpany builds a processing nt first?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Not fully understanding what he was saying, Youngho only blinked his eyes.


    They had previously agreed that Youngho would be in charge of processing the minerals and delivering them to the ck Sea, but it seemed that seeing the mine with his own eyes changed Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s mind. Although Youngho was not sure if Kim Joo-hyuk was in the position to decide it without the permission of thepany¡¯s owners, he was exuberated by his reaction.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to institute cutting-edge processing technology.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you don¡¯t know much about mines...¡±


    ¡°I know what kind of processing minerals go through from sorting to smelting. H Corporation has an ironworks and I have to know some of the basics since I¡¯m the vice-president of H Rotem. It¡¯d be a problem if the chairman asks a question and I can¡¯t provide him a valid answer.¡±


    It seemed that management specialists like Kim Joo-hyuk who belonged to a corporation worked hard to keep their positions. Since owners were like kings in the corporate world, if they were not satisfied with the specialists, they could fire them at any time.


    Anyway, since Kim Joo-hyuk offered it first, Youngho did not have to think about building a processing factory now, which meant that he did not need to make roads from the factory to Arirang Farm¡¯s Wharf either. H Rotem would take care of all of the construction.


    If Youngho¡¯s shippingpany delivered the minerals to the ck Sea, he would also be able to make money from it. This was like blowing his nose without using his hands.


    From then on, Kim Joo-hyuk followed Youngho around every day.


    To him, Youngho looked like the widow¡¯s cruise.


    ¡°Have you reported what we¡¯ve discussed here to the vice chairman?¡±


    ¡°When I reported everything on the phone, he told me to get a contract signed as soon as possible. It¡¯s something that he¡¯d get credit from the chairman as well. Now everything around you looks like money to me.¡±


    ¡°Sure it does but life here is fiercer than life in Korea. People here would get their guns out if they don¡¯t like something about you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve lived in Ennd in the past and I know how living in a foreignnd can be. When I was in Ennd, Kazakhstan was a territory of the Soviet Union but I remember there had been many disputes between autonomous republics around here.¡±


    It seemed that he studied overseas in thete ¡¯80s or early ¡¯90s since Kim Joo-hyuk looked like he was in his early fifties. Back then the Soviet Union had already fallen and many republics demanded independence, so the whole Southeastern Europe and Central Asia would have been uproarious.


    Since it was quite pleasant to talk with Kim Joo-hyuk who understood the history and culture of Europe, Youngho met him every day until he left Kazakhstan. Likewise, Kim Joo-hyuk enjoyed Youngho¡¯spany since Youngho was his source of money.


    Youngho received an urgent call from Kim Ilkwon when he was attending a celebratory reception dinner for Kazakhstan-Korea railroad car joint-venture.


    ¡°Boss. Rena is very ill.¡±


    ¡°What? Then you should go to a hospital, why did you call me?¡±


    ¡°It looks like she has acute appendicitis. Katya wants to take her to Georgia for her surgery because hospital facilities in Tskhinvali are too old to be trusted.¡±


    Although appendicitis was something that could be treated in a local hospital, Katya seemed to be scared and worried about the old hospitals. Youngho knew how poor the hospital environment was since he visited there one time.


    Katya was stubbornly asking to get her daughter¡¯s surgery taken in a better facility. It was something that she could not have imagined if there was no light airne.


    She could have called Youngho directly but called Kim Ilkwon because she did not want to be a bother to him. She must have been very frustrated and scared. Youngho felt sorry for her.


    ¡°Take her to Tbilisi on the airne. I¡¯ll call Philip to contact the hospital and the airport of Tbilisi and arrange everything for them.¡±


    ¡°Katya asked if you coulde too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there for sure. Hurry up. It¡¯s a simple surgery but if you take too long, she might develop peritonitis.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon in Georgia soon.¡±


    As he arrived at the hospital in Tbilisi, Rena was already moved into a ward.


    The surgery only took about an hour and since it was aparoscope surgery that would leave a minimal scar, she only had a few small pieces of gauze on her belly. Except for those, she lookedpletely fine.


    She yed fine until Youngho arrived, but as soon as she saw him, she began to whine.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bothering you when you¡¯re so busy. I had to ask you toe because I was scared.¡±


    Katya felt bad for calling him since the surgery turned out to be simple.


    ¡°What are you talking about? I should surelye when my little Rena had surgery. It¡¯s only been a day but she¡¯s doing so well.¡±


    ¡°She washed her face when I told her you wereing. She¡¯s making a fuss now. She even nagged to go outside to y before you came.¡±


    Youngho was d that he came. Although Kim Ilkwon and Philip were looking after the mother and daughter, they were not like Youngho whom Rena considered as her father.


    ¡°She should be whiney in times like this or when could she be whiney again?¡±


    ¡°Rena told every nurse that her papa was bringing her a gift soon.¡±


    At Katya¡¯s remark, Youngho knew that he made a mistake. Having been carried away by work, he had forgotten about bringing a gift this time.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I was surprised to hear Katya¡¯s daughter calling you ¡®papa¡¯.¡±


    Philip was curious about Youngho and Katya¡¯s rtionship.


    ¡°I once went to an apartment in Volgograd to save Rena for Katya and ever since then she calls me papa. I could not resist the little girl calling me papa.¡±


    ¡°Phew, you are such a humanist, Mr. Lee. You¡¯re now ying a father¡¯s role for her? I¡¯m lucky to have you as my supervisor.¡±


    Philip ttered Youngho for a while calling him numerous names. He was still thankful for Youngho for rescuing him when he was abducted by the Armenian militia in the past. He had told the stories so many times that the whole European chapter knew about it. It was a convincing story since Youngho also had gone to Colombia to rescue his oldrade Edward.


    ¡°Thank you, Philip. You¡¯ve been a great help for them. Katya is grateful for your help.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Katya used to be my colleague once. Also, I should of course do anyone a favor when ites from you.¡±


    Philip rather thanked Youngho foring to him first when he needed help. He would have felt sad if Youngho did not ask for his help.


    Staffs of the hospital were nervous since so many people visited the hospital to arrange and process the surgery and stay for the little girl. It was because Philip mobilized the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi to prepare for Rena¡¯s hospital stay.


    Using his connection, he arranged an ambnce at the airport, so it could pick up Rena as soon as she arrived at the airport but the name of her disease was only appendicitis. Thinking that she was from a well-off family or an influential family, hospital staffs assigned a special patient room and primary nurse for her.


    Youngho who arrived thereter gave the doctor who operated her surgery and primary nurse free Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel vouchers as a token of appreciation. The whole hospital was surprised. The Arirang Hotel chain was gaining poprity in the close-knit society of the Caucasus region and everyone knew about it. People knew that there were already three hotels in the Caucasus region and more overseas.


    The voucher was not a special certificate. Youngho simply gave them his business card and wrote a note in the back of the card asking to take good care of the guests for several days.


    No matter how trivial a surgery was, when a person goes under the knife, he would feel weakened for a while. Rena could not fly back to Tskhinvali when she just had undergone surgery, so Katya and Rena nned to stay in Tbilisi for several more days. To Rena, it was the first trip away from her home. She was excited to look around Tbilisi.


    The city was full of high buildings and new products that were hard to find in a small city like Tskhinvali. Youngho smiled to see Rena amazed by new things walking through the streets.


    Holding Youngho and Katya¡¯s hands on each side while walking around the city itself was a fun experience for Rena. As Youngho bought her things which she showed interest in, she had nothing to envy of the world.


    Katya was also happy to see her daughter having fun.


    ¡°Ilkwon. Katya seemed to have changed. Have you noticed anything?¡±


    ¡°Katya is always like that. Don¡¯t you see it? It¡¯s because she likes you, Boss.¡±


    Katya could easily be with a guy if she wanted to, so Youngho asked her about it one time but she had been acting weird ever since. He wondered if she was not looking for guys because of Rena.


    ¡°Boss. You are Rena¡¯s foster father. Why don¡¯t you get along with Katya more? People in Tskhinvali think you¡¯re her husband.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a rumor. There¡¯s nothing between us, actually.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying, since there is really nothing between you two, you can treat her more naturally. If you¡¯re confident, you don¡¯t have to be so conscious of other¡¯s eyes.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? I tried to stay away from her because I didn¡¯t feel easy around her. You think she¡¯d be sad if I keep pushing her away?¡±


    Youngho thought that he should act more naturally around her for the sake of Rena. Although Katya might try to make a move, he would be fine if he could defend himself.


    Rena said goodbye with a smile.


    She used to throw a fit and nag whenever she had to let him go but spending time with him for a week seemed to have resolved her need for a fatherly figure in her life. She gained confidence since Youngho was around when she was unwell in the hospital. She now learned that he would be around when she was in danger or harmful situations. Sometimes, kids could be more perceptive than adults. They intuitively knew whom to trust and whom not to trust.


    She kissed him on his cheek as she was going on an airne to return to Tskhinvali. It seemed that the trip to Tbilisi was quite satisfactory for her.


    It was the same for Katya. The twodies sent Youngho with a blessing.

 Chapter 236 - Gleaning (3)

    <h4>Chapter 236: Gleaning (3)</h4>


    <b>Trantor:</b> None <b>Editor:</b> Eastman


    Kim Joo-hyuk, the vice president of H Rotem, who had returned Korea flew back to Baku with severalpany staffs.


    His face was bright as he stepped into Youngho¡¯s office near Arirang Hotel.


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a few days since you went back to Korea. How did you return so quickly?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee because of you, I have so much work to do now. I¡¯m overjoyed for our new venture. I don¡¯t want to procrastinate a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh, am I tiring you out? Should I turn to German Gpany, then?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk shook his head hard at Youngho¡¯s joke.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make such a joke. This is my chance to be the president.¡±


    ¡°The current president of thepany won¡¯t be happy to hear that.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. When I be the president, he will be promoted to the vice-chairman of the H Corporation. He¡¯s even pressuring me to get promoted as soon as possible.¡±


    Youngho thought thepany was an enjoyable environment if the culture of thepany was as easy as that.


    ¡°We signed the contract only a few days ago. The ink is still not dried.¡±


    ¡°Ourpany pushes things a little hard. We roll like a bulldozer. I also received approval directly from the chairman for this project.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk hade as a temporary director of the railroad car partnership with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan now and he bragged that he has an authority of the president over the project.


    He kept saying that he would be the president for sure when he returns Korea, but it came across as pressure to Youngho.


    ¡°I feel a little ufortable since it sounds like your promotion depends on my cooperation.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking for your support. I¡¯ll certainly repay you with great gifts.¡±


    Youngho wondered what kind of gifts he was talking about, but acted as if he did not care. He leaned against the back of his chair. Then, Kim Joo-hyuk leaned forward toward the table to get closer to Youngho. He was about to say something secretive.


    ¡°The chairman of the corporation suggested an interesting deal. Would you like to hear about it?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t go anywhere now since you¡¯re already so close to me.¡±


    After Youngho agreed, he came even closer to Youngho. His upper body almost covered the whole table. Lowering his voice, he began to speak.


    ¡°Our corporation¡¯s Intelligence Team is as great as the intelligence services of any country. We can find out about the business strategies of ourpetitors, and if necessary, we can also figure out people¡¯s personal information.¡±


    Youngho already knew about thepany¡¯s intelligence strength. He had to hold backughter since Kim Joo-hyuk acted as if he was sharing top secret information. He was dead serious.


    ¡°Any global corporation should be equipped with such an informationwork. So, you must be saying that you already know about me as well, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    His face turned like a deted balloon as Youngho pre-empted. It looked like as if it was asking how Youngho had found out.


    ¡°Come on. Please don¡¯t beat around the bush and cut to the chase. If you go to any decentpanies in Baku and asked about me, they can tell you how many spoons I have in my kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Man, I was trying to hold a candle to the sun.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll cut to the chase. As far as I know, you¡¯re a billionaire who wants for nothing. I¡¯m not talking about your cash but your property assets. The chairman said that a mere agencymission would not suffice to suit your value, so he suggested something.¡±


    After a long introduction, he finally was starting to get to the point.


    ¡°Are you serious? Ha! He¡¯s such a generous man. I guess thepany is really struggling with supplying raw materials.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m still amazed by the unprecedented offer.¡±


    ¡°Youngho. They say it¡¯s not good to think too long. Why don¡¯t you take the offer if you think it¡¯s a good one?¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park. What do you think about the offer?¡±


    Park Youngsun was silent.


    The offer was so shocking that he needed time to think.


    After thinking for a while, he made a remark that poured cold water on Youngho¡¯s excitement.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. There¡¯s always a catch behind any appealing offer. I understand that this is a great opportunity for us, but you need to give it the benefit of the doubt.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Think about it. There¡¯s got to be a reason when a global corporation is willing to build you a parts factory. Although thepany is desperate for raw materials, but any corporation won¡¯t sell its hens on a rainy day.¡±


    Jong-il expressed dissent to Park Youngsun.


    ¡°Dr. Park. What if they are suggesting this to improve their rtionship with us? They¡¯re afraid that paying us small agencymission would not get them far with us. Building us a parts factory is nothing to them if they can meet their raw material demands.¡±


    Youngho was discussing the H Corporation¡¯s exceptional offer with Park Youngsun and Jong-il.


    What Kim Joo-hyuk brought as gifts were three proposals.


    The first proposal was what Youngho was dying to have, which was establishing a partnership train car parts factory. Youngho¡¯s share would be 51 percent and the H Corporation¡¯s would be 49 percent, under the condition that H Corporation would be responsible for building the factory.


    This was already an exceptional offer since the corporation was building a factory for Youngho to be its CEO.


    The second proposal was a condition for the first one, which was for Youngho to supply Koryoin town¡¯s mine¡¯s mineral resources exclusively to H Corporation. Since it was what Youngho had already promised to Kim Joo-hyuk verbally, there was no problem.


    Thest proposal was for Youngho to be H Corporation¡¯s representative agency in Kazakhstan and to work to win business contracts with themission fee of three percent of each business project.


    These looked great at a nce, but Youngho did not want to be hasty and miss important things. So, he brought the matter to Park Youngsun before responding to Kim Joo-hyuk.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. What I¡¯m worried about is the exclusive supplying of minerals to the corporation. We haven¡¯t thoroughly examined the deposit yet. In order to operate the parts factory smoothly, the exclusive supply is necessary but if the supply doesn¡¯t go on amicably, the parts factory won¡¯t run properly.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know about the deposit amount, who would?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell everything by just looking at it. We need to do some test excavation works and a geological survey before we can tell an estimate deposit amount.¡±


    Youngho had thought that someone like Park Youngsun could estimate a mine¡¯s deposit amount only by looking at the geological features of mine, but it was an unlikely prediction.


    ¡°Dr. Park. Do you really think that they would not provide materials for parts factory just because we failed to provide minerals? It¡¯s going to affect their car production.¡±


    ¡°They would probably make an additional use in the contract and take back the factory if minerals are not provided. Even if the chairman wanted to give us great offers, the corporation¡¯s practitioners and counselors will make sub-conditions to protect their assets in any case.¡±


    Park Youngsun paused and sipped on his tea before continuing.


    ¡°Also, there had been so many internationalwsuits between Korean corporations and their foreign partnerships. So I¡¯d like to suggest something. Since they made a suggestion to us, why don¡¯t we make the contract?¡±


    Everything Park Youngsun said made sense.


    Any exclusive offer usually was followed by provisory uses.


    ¡°Then, could you make a draft, Dr. Park?¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re already determined, I¡¯ll get right to it and make you a decent-looking one.¡±


    Park Youngsun, who fulfilled his goal from the discussion, left the office with a smile.


    Kim Joo-hyuk was feeling confident that he brought exceptional business proposals, but as Youngho did not give him a usible response immediately as he expected, he fretted and fidgeted as he waited. His only wish now was to receive Youngho¡¯s agreement, so that he could call the headquarters in Seoul to report the good news and drink some cold beer.


    He frequently visited the building where Zeynep Corporation¡¯s offices were to see what was going on. He did not know what Youngho was up to, so he wanted to see if office workers had heard anything from him.


    On the other hand, Youngho who already decided what to do was having a rxing day.


    It was difficult to draw in H Corporation to his advantage, but he was almost there. It was rather H Corporation that was torn by anxiety and Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s action was its proof.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I need to report the result to the headquarters. What should I tell them?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim. As you know, I¡¯vee this far with luck, but I never did any harm to my business partners.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear what your business philosophy is.¡±


    ¡°Well... I don¡¯t quite understand what you¡¯re saying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only curious about your past rtionships with other foreign partnerships.¡±


    ¡°Are you assuming that our corporation is going to stab you in the back?¡±


    ¡°How could I imagine such a thing? I¡¯m just curious.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk, then, seemed to understand Youngho¡¯s intention.


    As Kim Joo-hyuk took a moment in thought, his face turned rigid.


    It was because the corporation had never ended businesses with past foreign partnerships in good terms. In most cases, it had to content awsuit and some of them even created diplomatic problems.


    The rtionships with foreign partnerships always started in good terms, but contracts caused many problems. Many ambiguous uses in their contracts often were med forwsuits.


    A contract for mineral resources was a long-term business that would be dealt in more than a decade of time. As the time went by, manypany staffs that were in charge of the project would be reced and the sessors would find it easier to take problematic contract uses to court, than trying to deal with the other party.


    Youngho pointed that out.


    ¡°Mr. Kim. I appreciate your corporation¡¯s suggestion, but I couldn¡¯t help but think about the future. So, My counselor made a contract. Would you like to look at it?¡±


    As Youngho handed him the contract, Kim Joo-hyuk read it thoroughly with a nervous face. He signed in relief after reading it twice.


    ¡°This is quite simple. I¡¯d like to polish it a little bit, just in case. I¡¯ll hand over this to the headquarters¡¯ legal department for a review.¡±


    He was an unavoidable professional manager.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to understand my words. I gave you this so you can show it to the chairman and get his signature. As soon as the legal department takes over, the contract would gain ten more pages to it. Would you be able to handle it if I didn¡¯t like the added conditions and reject to work with you?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°There is no contract like this these days. I¡¯m sure this is way clearer than contracts with twisted and coded sentences.¡±


    The rough summary of the contract that was written by Park Youngsun.


    ording to the utmost good faith, the contracted conditions were carried toward the end of the contracted term. The party that could not carry out the conditions of the contract would give up any rights for the business. Any different opinions would be mediated and resolved by a mutual discussion of the two parties. Including the uses above, the contract went on with simple and clear uses. There were no conditions under each use orplicated uses.


    This was a contract that could be unfair and could be beneficial to both parties at the same time. If both sides kept their promises without being greedy, the contract would not cause any problems.


    The minerals would be priced ording to the current market price each time of transaction and parts factory would share profits ording to each party¡¯s share. There was no need for aplicated contract.


    Youngho only found out about thister, but the chairman of H Corporation chuckled after looking at the contract sent to him by Kim Joo-hyuk. Anyway, Youngho¡¯s gleaning was finally gaining its momentum.

 Chapter 237 - The Sunrise of the Caspian Sea (1)

    <h4>Chapter 237: The Sunrise of the Caspian Sea (1)</h4>


    The car ferry that carried drone parts finally arrived at Arirang Wharf.


    Kazakh media sources crowded inpeting with each other to cover the story.


    Although the factory was not arge scale businesspared to other foreign-invested businesses in Kazakhstan, the drone business gained poprity majorly because of the government¡¯s influence. Because the business incorporated a cutting-edge technology that was invested by an Americanpany, it had a symbolic meaning.


    The government wanted to induce the investments of rich Russians in Kazakhstan and it also warned them that Kazakhstan could have a technology partnership with America.


    However, the heated attention of the media was not what Youngho wished for. He worried that Arirang Farm¡¯s exposure would be harmful to the farm since it had not yet to be stabilized.


    It would be the same anywhere that if someone was sessful, there would be people who would follow him. It would only cause problems to Arirang Farm if other investors decided to establish farnd around it. The farm¡¯s site covered the whole area of a branch of the Ural River and the government could require a territory that had a waterway from the river branch or he might have to share the wharf and river branch with other investors. Since the water was not enough for the whole site of the Arirang Farm¡¯s territory, if the waterway was shared with others, it would only hinder the farm¡¯s development.


    So, Youngho had a hard time convincing the media source staffs and reporters not to expose the farm by only covering the factories near the wharf. He could stop them from exposing Arirang Farm only after handing around envelops of money and mobilizing government officials. Because of his effort, it was reported that an American dronepany D Drones, established a drone factory as a joint-venture with Kazakhstan.


    The delivery of theponents was a meaningful first step that would be an indicator of the operation of Arirang Shipping in the future.


    ¡®Zeynep 1¡ä that had left New York Harbor unloaded them at the Port of Istanbul so that theponents were transferred to a car ferry. The car ferry, then, passed through Volga-Don Canal to ascend the Ural River before arriving at Arirang Wharf.


    It seemed like aplicated route, but because everything was delivered by Arirang Shipping¡¯s private carriers, it was the fastest way to transport cargo.


    Many neighboring countries of the Caspian Sea had trouble with the distribution of freights because they only relied on roughnd routes. In order to use canals and sea, they needed to securerge ships, but those ships were hard to get in the Caspian Sea. Many shippingpanies ownedrge ships, but they were old and not in good shapes, so they were not trusted by shippers. There was no shipper who would entrust his precious cargo to an old ship which might sink at any time, especially when the waves of the Caspian tended to be heavy as the ones in the Antic.


    D Drones highly valued the fact that Zeynep Corporation could mobilize its shippingpany, Arirang Shipping to transportponents to Arirang Farm. Thepany not only drastically reduced costs and time but also did not have to struggle to arrange ships to safely transport its goods. Some of the freight was also transported bynd after being unloaded at Poti Sea Port in Batumi, Georgia.


    ***


    A bulk ship in the 5000-ton ss and two general freighters each in the 2000-ton ss and 3000-ton ss was adopted by Arirang Shipping.


    The 3000-ton ss general freighter was equipped with a body and engine of an icebreaker that it could be driven in any type of weathers. It was a ship that Youngho specially ordered to make after considering the climatic situations of the northern part of the Caspian, the Volga-Don Canal, and the Ural River since they froze up during the winter. He paid about 1.5 more times than a regr ship in its ss, but it was perfect for his taste.


    With these ships added, Arirang Shipping became a top-levelpany in the shipping industry of the Caspian, equipped with an icebreaker-ss car ferry and huge freighters.


    In the beginning, Youngho was going to make a 1,000-ton ss passenger ship, but he changed his mind because of Jong-il¡¯s insistence to make a ship that could carry cargo and cars, so he made a 3,000-ton car ferry. Car ferry was indeed more versatile than a mere passenger ship.


    It had more than enough room to load small droneponents as they could fit in a few containers. Just in time, the fourth-generation team of technicians who went to D Drones¡¯ headquarters had finished their training and was ready to return. So, Youngho mobilized the car ferry to transport the team and theponents at the same time. This proved the usefulness of the car ferry.


    If the weather permitted, it could cross the Antic and could go to the coast of Europe and Youngho had many expectations for it.


    Although the Volga-Don Canal was only limited to vessels sized equal or less than 5,000-ton ss, it seemed that the limitation could offer a great turning point to Arirang Shipping. Many shippingpanies were reluctant to make medium-size vessels and they did not dare to cross the canal since it belonged to Russia, since Russia was an uneasy country to deal with.


    ¡°Mr. Choi. How is it?¡±


    ¡°The two bulk freighters are pretty new and it would be a waste if they are used to transport minerals. Many people remodel grain carriers that had been used more than a decade to ship minerals.¡±


    H Corporation wanted Youngho to deliver minerals to the ck Sea, so he was going to use grain carriers that wereunched recently. However, Choi Sunkil was opposing him since the ships were new.


    ¡°Would it be possible to convert a mineral freighter to a grain carrier?¡±


    ¡°If its holds are thoroughly cleaned and painted with special paints afterward, it is not at all an impossible story, but that¡¯s an unusual thing to do in general.¡±


    He still was indirectly opposing Youngho¡¯s opinion. After pondering upon it, he suggested a different way to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. ording to my sources, grain carriers in the Caspian are usually small and old that they can¡¯t endure the high waves of the sea, but if they¡¯re only used to deliver minerals to the ck Sea, shippers would not oppose to using those. How about using those ships to deliver the minerals? And we could rece those ships¡¯ jobs with our new bulk freighters.¡±


    It was an excellent idea.


    Most of the grains in Azerbaijan were imported from Kazakhstan. The grain carriers that shuttled between the two countries were at most about 2-000 ton size and since they were about 30 years old, some of the ships often became the sacrifice of the notorious waves of the Caspian Sea.


    ***


    The Caspian Sea boasted waves as rough as the Antic Ocean. The strong waves were caused by heavy winds.


    Youngho experienced storm-like winds in the neighboring countries of the Caspian Sea, as Baku was called as the City of Winds and as Kazakhstan was famous for its continental winds. The whole Caspian coast suffered from typhoon-level winds. The northern windsing down from the Ural Mountains and continental winds that passed the vast ins of Central Asia covered the whole Caspian Sea. The winds that reached the sea became stronger above the sea water and rushed toward the west, and Azerbaijan was located in their destination.


    There was also a windy region in Korea, which is Samgeun-ri in Uljin.


    Although it was an exaggerated expression, the ce was named because the winds were so heavy in the region that a rock that weighed three geuns*, or Sam geuns, could be blown away. So, Youngho nicknamed Baku ¡®Samgeun-Baku.¡¯


    When he first came to Baku, he thought that there was no ce like this. In the strong winds, young couples still enjoyed dates outside.


    Recently, there had been a fire at the off-shore oilfield site and it caused many casualties because help could not reach the site soon enough due to heavy waves. This incident could exin the severe winds of the Caspian Sea.


    The ship owners who had been sailing in this harsh environment with their small vessels weed Youngho¡¯s suggestion. To deliver the minerals to the ck Sea, they would sail through the Ural River to stay at the Caspian Sea for a little bit and enter the Volga-Don Canal, and there was no reason for them to reject it. They would meet theke-like Sea of Azov after passing through the waveless, peaceful canal. From there, they would unload minerals and repeat the route again. It was like a dream-like sea route.


    Judging that the route would be safer and more profitable than delivering grains in the Caspian Sea, the ship owners agreed to Youngho and signed a charter contract with Arirang Shipping and their ships soon went under a remodeling work to be turned into minerals carriers.


    As small grain bulk vessels of the Caspian Sea all turned to mineral carriers, the exporters of Kazakhstan and importers of Azerbaijan were troubled since they could only deliver grains bynd now.


    They hastily tried to arrange Russian shippingpanies, but they asked for ridiculous shipping costs. Meanwhile, grains at ports in Kazakhstan were piling up to the point where there was no more storage room.


    Among those grain importers, there was Shamakhi who had bought gold bars from Youngho in the past. He had be a billionaire from his grain import business, but he did not own a single bulk freighter. Other traders were the same. It seemed that they had been gaining wealth by being cheapskates. Since owning vessels were followed by fixed expenses, they did not want to deal with such costs. They were only relying on chartered ships.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I heard that you have bought two-grain bulk freighters recently. I¡¯ll pay you whatever you ask for shipping costs. Could you deliver my wheat? Please, you and I go way back.¡±


    Just as Youngho thought, Shamakhi who had been inquiring about grain carriers, came to Zeynep Corporation¡¯s office after hearing that Youngho had bought two bulk freighters in the 5,000-ton ss.


    He must have thought that since he had bought Youngho¡¯s gold bars at a high price and gave him the hotel in Baku at a cheap price, he would be able to negotiate with Youngho with ease. However, Youngho had nothing to be sorry for him since he had disguised himself as Yaniv¡¯s agency when selling his gold bars. Also, he did not force the high price for the gold bars. It was Shamakhi who had bought out the gold bars paying a high price to prepare for a falling dor in the future.


    ¡°I¡¯m only in charge of the bulk freighters as Mr. Yaniv¡¯s agency. It¡¯s the same as the off-shore oilfield. My title only serves me as the face of the business. Mr. Yaniv bought those for another purpose and I can¡¯t use them for my own purpose.¡±


    Youngho yed the innocent and refused to help him by making an excuse of Yaniv. He assumed that Shamakhi would not dare to negotiate with the mafia boss himself.


    ¡°Then, wouldn¡¯t you be able to speak on my behalf to him? I said I¡¯m going to pay for the shipping cost as much as he wants. If I can¡¯t make money now in the harvest season, it¡¯s going to be really bad. Ice will start to form soon and then I¡¯ll have to transport grains by train.¡±


    If that happened, the price of grain would soar because it would cost him several more times for the shipping cost and the shipping time would be dyed. As the supply would be short for its demand, the market price of grain would rise. It seemed that it would be beneficial for Shamakhi in anyways. However, it was strange for Shamakhi to fret over benefits.


    ¡°The price of wheat and flour will skyrocket as the shipping cost rises. Phew, should I buy out flours now, for my farm family?¡±


    As Youngho turned the subject, Shamakhi gulped down water as if he was frustrated.


    ¡°I am currently being pressured by the government for ying tricks with grain prices. If I said that I could not rent vessels in the harvest season, the officials won¡¯t believe me. They will only suspect me more, that I didn¡¯t arrange vessels on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Shamakhi. Why don¡¯t you tell your situation and ask help from officials you made connections with and reward them? There¡¯s no other option.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Don¡¯t turn your back on me, but can you please help me? I¡¯ll reward you as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll try to convince Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    As Youngho stepped out of the reception room leaving Shamakhi behind, his face twisted. In order to hold hisughter, he had pinched his thigh too hard that he frowned because he was in pain.


    *geun- a Korean unit of weight, a geun approximates 1.323 lbs

 Chapter 238 - The Sunrise of the Caspian Sea (2)

    <h4>Chapter 238: The Sunrise of the Caspian Sea (2)</h4>


    There was a time when grain exporters had more authority but in recent years, importers had be more vocal.


    It was becauserge farmingpanies produced more yields per unit area due to mechanization farming. Naturally, overproduced grains made exporterspete with each other to secure buyers. Grain price hit the bottom within the next half-century.


    Atst, precious grains were converted into feedstuff when people in underdeveloped countries still suffered starvation. It would make sense that all people around the globe would have plenty of food to eat if there was an overproduction of grains, but the fact was that there were more people who suffered hunger in the world now.


    Even if it was difficult to buy grains in the year of poor harvest due to an extreme weather event, a country with rich natural resources as Azerbaijan had no difficulty in making international arrangements with governments of other countries to import grains since its resources were its weapons.


    However, private grain traders strictly followed thew of supply and demand. In years of poor harvest due to an extreme weather event, exporters had an advantage and in years of good harvest, importers had an advantage.


    As for this year, it suffered global severe weather and grain production had been so poor. Many referred grains as ¡®grain weapon,¡¯ and naturally, the exporters held an advantageous position in the market. However, producers in Kazakhstan were not among them. It was because the charter vessel owners of the Caspian Sea all contracted with Youngho and their vessels were being remodeled to turn into mineral carriers causing trouble for the grain producers for shipping grains. Thus, they lost their chance to raise grain prices to the importers.


    If they had enough room to store the grains, they could have disyed nerves but the small-scale grain producers did not have decent storage warehouses. It would be maddening for them if the grains stored in the open air storage yard at the Port of Atyrau were ruined from rains in the winter¡¯s wet season.


    Youngho was like a savior to the grain traders, as the grain traders heard that Arirang Shipping was running two 5,000-ton bulk freighters as grain carriers. A vessel in the 5,000-ton ss was considered small in the Antic, but it was a mega ship in the Caspian.


    Although he wanted to take as much time as possible before mobilizing his vessels, he had to run his vessels earlier after hearing grain traders were suffering because of his business decision. Not only grain silos but also open-air storage yards werepletely filled with grains causing problems to many.


    The grain traders shouted in joy as Youngho¡¯s freighter was loaded with their grains. Their shouts represented their hardship meanwhile. When the winter¡¯s wet season came, the wheat stored in the open-air would soon rot and all of them would be ruined, not even being able to be used as feedstuff. Since the Port of Baku was only 650 kilometers away from the Port of Atyrau, it would be dreadful if grains got rotten because there was no vessel to carry them. Thus, two vessels of Arirang Shipping were indeed saviors to them. If they did not deliver the grains in time, they would fail not only this year¡¯s trades, but also trades toe in the future since they would lose buyers¡¯ trust in them.


    Slow old bulk freighters that were equipped with poor hatch covers could notpete with the fast, new bulk freighters that could travel in bad weathers.


    Sailing at the average speed of 15 knots, it only took the new freighters 24 hours to get to Baku from Kazakhstan and the round trip could bepleted in two days.


    Since loading and unloading wheat took up two days as well, if the freighters were operated continuously, each could have seven round trips in a month, which was an unimaginable number of trips in the past.


    If waves were high near the Port of Atyrau, ships had to wait for an indefinite period of time until they calmed down and even in great weathers, old and slow ships took double the travel time of the new ones. Likewise, if the waves near Baku¡¯s port were high, they had to wait. The bad circle went on and it was even hard for them to travel three to four times a month. Besides, there had been many sinking of the freighters while carrying grains and shippers were frequently upset by it.


    Many shippers were said to even feel sick when they saw bulk freighters. Whenmunication environment was poor in the past, many said that they could only eat after seeing the freighters returning to the port as they waited for their safe returns with the knot of tension in their stomachs.


    There were no vessels of good performance in the Caspian, due to the economic downturn. So, it was indeed surprising to shippers that two brand new 5,000-ton freighters were proudly sailing around the Caspian Sea.


    As Arirang Shipping¡¯s vessels were mobilized and the urgent problem was taken care of, the regional government of Atyrau and exporters praised Youngho.


    Of course, Kim Chun yed a key role in making Youngho a hero since he had drawn the longbow and told officials and exporters that Youngho had broken charter contracts with other shippers for his vessels and decided to save the city of Atyrau. Saying that now was the only time to take advantage of the situation to burden the city government and exporters with debts of heart, he bragged about it everywhere. In the end, Youngho had to force him to stop, because he was getting out of control.


    Shamakhi also thanked Youngho and paid him a high shipping cost and vessel agencymission fee. Since fixed shipping fare rate andmission fee did not tend to shift easily, Shamakhi was not happy about it, but he could not raise his grain price indiscreetly because of the Azerbaijani government¡¯s pressure. He had no other option, but to pay Youngho a high price.


    Shamakhi promoted Arirang Shipping to the government officials and other shippers since he was still thankful for Youngho¡¯s help. Because of his help, Arirang Shipping began to gain poprity as customizable tramp liners, not long after the vessels were mobilized.


    Shippers liked the fact that the water route mobilized two vessels of the 3,000-ton ss sailed to the ck Sea and from there a vessel in the 50,000-ton ss was used to cross the Antic. Many general cargo shippers contacted thepany.


    Although it was the developing country, there were many different goods to export excluding minerals or oil crude. Since thebor costs were much cheaper than advanced countries,bor-intensive products had high pricepetitiveness against the products from advanced countries.


    ***


    Youngho was at Zeynep Corporation¡¯s office in downtown Baku. As he was discussing the shipping fares of vessels with Choi Sunkil, Zeynep visited him with a girlfriend of her age.


    ¡°Oops! I thought you were alone but Mr. Choi was here. Hi, Mr. Choi.¡±


    Even though she already knew that Youngho was meeting someone, she pretended that she had no idea.


    ¡°Miss Zeynep. It¡¯s been long since I saw you. The office is brightened by your presence.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ttered by hispliment, Zeynep smiled and her eyes turned in the shape of half moon. After introducing her friend to both, she was reluctant to leave the room.


    ¡°Oppa, I had a favor to ask, but I should talk to youter.¡±


    It was Zeynep¡¯s n to shake Youngho, who would be dying to know what she had to say.


    ¡°Come on, Mr. Choi is not a stranger. What is it?¡±


    ¡°Well, no. I¡¯m going to tell you about it at home.¡±


    She deliberately came to the office to ask, and it made him even curious.


    ¡°I¡¯m dying to know. What on earth is it?¡±


    ¡°Will you agree to do this favor?¡±


    She was asking for his answer without even asking him a question.


    ¡°Phew, hey. I can only decide after hearing what it is.¡±


    The tail of her eyes rose. It seemed that Youngho was upsetting her. So Youngho changed his words quickly.


    ¡°Fine. I don¡¯t know whatever you need, but I¡¯ll help you. Say it already. You¡¯re making me frustrated.¡±


    Only then she let out a rxed smile, as she leaned close to the table toward Youngho.


    It was more beneficial for Youngho to ept whatever she wanted, rather than having to face sulky Zeynep for days. She was not a girl who would demand a ridiculous favor. It seemed that she had brought her friend over for a reason. Even though Youngho knew that she would not havee to him if she could have dealt with an issue by herself, he was still worried about what she would have to say. She could be quite random sometimes.


    ¡°Oppa. My friend here is about to go bankrupt, because of our Arirang Shipping. Because all shippers turned to ourpany, her father¡¯s ships have no jobs to do. They¡¯re all just anchored at the harbor. It¡¯s my friend¡¯s dad¡¯spany, you know? It¡¯s not fair for argerpany to trample on small-scale enterprise, right?¡±


    ording to Zeynep, Youngho was an hical businessman and a public enemy for small-scale business owners. Arirang Shipping had turned into a monster in her view.


    At that moment, her friend from school was about to say something, but looking at her friend¡¯s face, she closed her mouth. Youngho did not miss Zeynep¡¯s expression. In that instant, she red at her friend and bit her lower lip to stop her.


    Pretending that he did not see her expression, he let out a satisfactory answer to Zeynep.


    ¡°Is that so? Then, it¡¯s our mistake. I can¡¯t make my princess suffer from injustice. Mr. Choi, did you hear that? Could you please check to see if there was any dumping of the shipping cost.¡±


    ¡°Of course. If Miss Zeynep thought that we have been unfair, we must¡¯ve made mistakes. I will investigate this thoroughly and make sure that there will be no more disadvantages to small-scale shippingpanies.¡±


    Looking at Zeynep who walked out with hips swaying after getting a satisfactory answer, Youngho burst outughing.


    ¡°It looks like she¡¯s determined to hire her friend for the foundation or else, she wouldn¡¯t havee to make a request with her. Don¡¯t you think so, Mr. Choi?¡±


    Zeynep was not someone who would do a favor to people without considering a return service.


    ¡°I had a hard time holding back myughter. She said it dead seriously, but it was a windy argument.¡±


    Then the twoughed for a long while.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is any shippingpany that would deliver goods to the Antic, in Baku. Her friend¡¯s dad must be a foreign businessman. Among the parents of the international school, there is someone who owns a shippingpany in Turkey, but it doesn¡¯t have a point of contact with ourpany since its bulk grain carriers sailed directly to the ck Sea through the canal.¡±


    ¡°Ah-ha! It means that the Turkish grain bulk carrierpany is getting nervous about us. They must be worried for us expanding our business to Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Miss Zeynep is a real trickster. She¡¯se to drive a wedge in ahead of time. Mr. Lee, then you shouldn¡¯t do any grain delivery from Turkey.¡±


    That shrewd Zeynep came to warn Youngho ahead of time, after learning about what her friend¡¯s dad worried about. It seemed that Arirang Shipping had be quite sessful in the Caspian since otherpanies are worried about their businesses.


    In fact, if thepany was seen as a threat to other business owners, it was not a good phenomenon. Youngho would rather want to be praised for his business, even if it was a dream. Since Zeynep Corporation was named after Zeynep, Youngho did not want her name to have a bad reputation.


    Also, he knew that Zeynep was tricking him, but it was a good opportunity for him to make her settle down in Baku. Since he was doing her a favor and she would have another reason to stay, instead of going overseas for study.


    Youngho smiled. Thinking about that, he was exuberated and could not help but hum.


    This must be what people called ¡®sisterplex.¡¯


    He was ready to impress her.

 Chapter 239 - The Sunrise of the Caspian Sea (3)

    <h4>Chapter 239: The Sunrise of the Caspian Sea (3)</h4>


    Zeynep¡¯s friend¡¯s dad from school visited Youngho¡¯s office.


    Fikret Yilmaz in his fifties was a ship owner who provided grains to Istanbul and Baku with his five bulk vessels in the 3,000-ton ss. He was feeling a sense of crisis after hearing that Arirang Shipping had joined the Kazakh-Baku grain shipping business withrge vessels. So, he had told his family that the family might not be able to continue their abundant life. Although he said it as passing words, his daughter was shocked by his serious face. She told about it to Zeynep at school and that was what caused them to visit Youngho¡¯s office. They had misunderstood that Arirang Shipping was taking over other business¡¯ ces. After all, Zeynep was a nosy person just like Youngho.


    ¡°I came to apologize for my daughter¡¯s behalf. It was disrespectful of her toe to see you like that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no need to apologize. My sister was a bit ahead for her worries, but it made me think about many things.¡±


    The little daring Zeynep, after using Youngho as an hical businessman, pretended that she knew of nothing at the dinner table even though she must be dying to know how everything concluded.


    ¡°I feel easy since you don¡¯t mind her behavior. Frankly saying, I worried so much to think that Arirang Shipping will use its funds to expand the business.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have no funds since we are only a starting business. You must know well about this, but I only started grain shipping because of the ship owners that decided to begin transporting minerals for my suggestion. I¡¯m only helping the grain exporters and port staffs since they are troubled by piled up grains.¡±


    Being a foreign investor and businessman, Youngho had refrained himself from making any business decisions that would stand out, since he did not want to incur local businessmen¡¯s enmity. So, he would often consider other businesses before starting a new business and it was unlikely of him to threaten another business¡¯ source of ie to expand his own. He had never thought of such a thing. It was not worth it since it would give him a bad reputation.


    As they continued to talk, Yilmaz¡¯s face turned peaceful than when he first came in. He was rigid when he first introduced himself.


    ¡°Well, I guess I had worried for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t ever worry about such thing from now on. I¡¯m already fully upied taking care of the produce of my farm.¡±


    Yilmaz¡¯s eyes were widened at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°I heard that you have a farm in Kazakhstan, but I thought it didn¡¯t produce enough to export.¡±


    ¡°Thend is a little sterile, but I expect to export 15,000 tons of grains from next year and forth. The produce will increase as time goes by.¡±


    Surprised by the amount of the produce, he leaned forward at the table.


    ¡°By any chance, could I buy your grains?¡±


    ¡°Well, for now, I¡¯m nning to provide the whole produce to only Azerbaijan since it¡¯s my second hometown. I won¡¯t turn my eyes to Turkey any time soon.¡±


    Yilmaz¡¯s looked relieved as he heard that Youngho did not n to sell his grains to Turkey.


    ¡°I inherited my shippingpany from my father and expanded it to the Caspian Sea. It¡¯s been more than ten years since I came to the Caspian and I still had nopetitor. I¡¯ve got to say, I was alerted like I was covered in cold water because of Arirang Shipping¡¯s appearance.¡±


    Relieved to know that Youngho was not hispetitor, Yilmaz went on to talk about his past that was not even asked.


    Based in Turkey, his family¡¯s shipping business was inherited from generation to generation. Until his father¡¯s generation, thepany only operated its ships in the ck Sea but he was the one who joined Atyrau-Turkey and Atyrau-Baku grain transport business.


    He frequently visited Baku for his business and even moved to Baku, since its public peace was better than Istanbul. He had been making stable ie and did not have anything to worry about until Arirang Shipping appeared.


    Talking with Yilmaz impressed Youngho since he seemed to be a fine businessman. First of all, Youngho liked Turks and the fact that he came to apologize for his daughter¡¯s action was admirable. Lastly, he was an honest man who opened his heart and told what was in his mind. It was not easy for a businessman to open up to another businessman who could be his potentialpetitor.


    It did not make sense to let him go without a gift.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this about the grains produced in Kazakhstan? Any grains going to Baku will be transported by Arirang Shipping and the ones going to Turkey, you could take them. I¡¯m suggesting we should support each other and have a win-win rtionship.¡±


    It was a suggestion to monopolize the Kazakh grains and divide them into two to share. Yilmaz looked tearful.


    Youngho suggested this since his ships could only cover the ones that were delivered to Baku anyway unless he bought more ships.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy that I¡¯ll get to keep seeing the sunrise of the Caspian Sea every day. Thank you for the good suggestion.¡±


    Yilmaz¡¯s politely asked for a handshake and Youngho also willingly shook his hand.


    ***


    ¡°Boss, you don¡¯t have to give me any more bonus pay. I¡¯m already getting paid several times more than before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please take it. You still suffer from the aftereffects from bullet wounds. I know you¡¯ve been overworkingtely. I don¡¯t know what people get here as restorative tonics, so I¡¯m just giving you money for that. Please get something for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Boss, are you still treating me like a patient? See how strong I am?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to take care of your body now. If you pass out one day for overworking, who¡¯d rece you? Or you need to train someone smart as you, to rece you.¡±


    Kim Chun waspletely healed from the wounds, but it would be a lie if he did not suffer from aftereffects. However, being an extremely meddlesome person he was, he did not stay still for one second. Youngho gave him a vacation bonus because his face was getting thin. If he really fainted, Arirang Farm would be the one to suffer a loss. Moreover, Youngho wanted to pay him a bonus in appreciation for his role inpleting jobs with H Corporation as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m not ignoring your opinion, boss but I just worked hard because this is my work. I don¡¯t need to exchange my efforts with money.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m giving you this, so you can take care of your health. I want you to work hard for many years toe.¡±


    What was inside the envelope was like a new letter of credence and Youngho¡¯s heart rather than money.


    Kim Chun received several times more annual ie than most Kazakhrge corporations¡¯ employees but to Youngho, it was nothingpared to his efforts and work. Because of a willing horse like him, Youngho could focus on other businesses.


    ¡°There is Batumi Arirang Hotel¡¯s voucher in the envelope. Please take a vacation with your family there. You should forget about work for a week and serve your family for the whole period.¡±


    Touched by Youngho¡¯s regard, he took a deep breath of the air.


    ¡°You¡¯re giving too many free rooms to people. I¡¯m afraid Batumi¡¯s hotel will go out of business one day.¡±


    It was Kim Chun¡¯s way of saying thank you.


    In fact, his words had a point. Youngho had given away a lot of hotel vouchers to people for business purposes, but he would not have to worry since the free guests would eventually be paying guests in the future.


    ¡°Stop worrying about such things, but you need to send me a photo to prove that you¡¯ve actually stayed there, alright? When youe back, you should promote the hotel to people. There¡¯s nobody who won¡¯t listen to you here Mr. Kim, you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered to hear that, but somehow it doesn¡¯t sound like apliment.¡±


    Youngho said it to mean that he was a nosy person and he immediately caught that. He was quite fast-witted.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Kim. You didn¡¯t hear back about the establishment of the Countryside Force?¡±


    ¡°I heard that the documents were sent to the central department, but I¡¯ve been too busy to follow up on it.¡±


    The two were talking about establishing Arirang Farm¡¯s own military force.


    In order to use the weapons stored in Arirang Farm, a force that was higher in order than a mere neighborhood watch. So, the farm requested to upgrade the neighborhood¡¯s watch¡¯s status to the government. When he met the president previously, he had heard good feedback from him about making a defense organization for the farm, so he decided to push it.


    ¡°Before you leave for vacation, could you make a call to check on it? I¡¯d like to have a ceremony of the establishment of the self-defense force before the winteres. We¡¯d pick a decent military uniform for that as well.¡±


    ¡°Okay, consider it done. If the government permits, I¡¯m nning to make about 200 people as paid soldiers. If they¡¯re trained enough, they will be a force with the strength of two army divisions.¡±


    Youngho thought that Kim Chun could be more military-obsessed than Jong-il after seeing him say that a patrol ship should be made in the Ural River.


    ***


    ¡°You want Cha Insoo to be the defense force general, not me?¡±


    ¡°You need to direct everything in ce of me when I¡¯m not around. Why are you making a fuss to be abat force¡¯s general?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. I¡¯m not a boss. It¡¯s not for me, you know. Please leave all the fighting to me and let Insoo take the director¡¯s job.¡±


    Jong-il had nagged to take over the boss¡¯s job from Youngho, but now he was grilling Youngho to give him the general¡¯s job. The two was arguing over something that the Kazakh government had not permitted yet.


    ¡°Insoo is perfect for that since he¡¯s in charge of the securitypany. Get ahold of yourself, dude. You¡¯re getting old. Why are you dying to fight anyway?¡±


    ¡°Why is protecting the Archduchess and the residents and defending the only kingdom in the world is fighting? Your remark is something that could take you down from the Prince Consort¡¯s position.¡±


    Jong-il was twisting his words, but he meant to join to y the medieval times, which he had joked about countless times in the past.


    ¡°Stop this childish nonsense and go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to budge until you agree to give me that position. You need to think this through.¡±


    Looking at Jong-il¡¯s face, he was determined to get an answer from Youngho. Knowing for more than ten years, Youngho knew him so well.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you take a part in the medieval y that you mock?¡±


    He was intrigued.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The Kingdom¡¯s director of intelligence. How about that? Doesn¡¯t that sound like something? I know it¡¯s a small kingdom, but it is equipped with a world-scale intelligencework and it¡¯scking a director.¡±


    Since Jong-il liked to get a big head, the job was perfect for Jong-il.


    ¡°Are you teasing me now?¡±


    Although he was questioning, he had a satisfactory smile on his face.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take it back, since you don¡¯t want it.¡±


    ¡°People say that every man for his own trade, and you have your own talent too. How did you think of something like that?¡±


    ¡°You freak. Now get out of here. I¡¯m going to call your wife!¡±


    He lifted his body as he could not fight back Youngho¡¯s threat. He dropped a remark as he left and it made Younghough so hard.


    ¡°I knew that the intelligence department was indeed in a higher order. Only bunch of rum-dums actually fight against each other face-to-face, shooting guns.¡±


    After Jong-il left the study, Youngho got lost in contemtion.


    If the intelligencework was well-established, the farm would be able to check and prepare for any emergency situations in real time.


    Youngho only suggested it to satisfy Jong-il¡¯s nagging, but it actually was a great idea. Besides, he already had a resource, Erikson the middleman of Information Agency. If a bright guy like Jong-il takes over the farm¡¯s intelligence department, it would turn out to be a decent group. To think about giving shape to the n, Youngho was exuberated.

 Chapter 240 - Dream of Arirang Farm (1)

    <h4>Chapter 240: Dream of Arirang Farm (1)</h4>


    If Kazakhstan¡¯s military power could overpower the surrounding countries, there would be no need for a self-defense force at the farm. However, in the north of the country there was Russia that boasted one of the world¡¯s strongest military powers and in the east of the country, there was China which came close to Russia.


    Defending the country against Russia and China with only 30,000 army soldiers was nonsense. The only reason those countries did not bother to overtake Kazakhstan was that they were using the country¡¯s resources. If Kazakhstan resisted trading its resources, the oue would be obvious.


    Although Kazakhstan was the leading power of Central Asia, its destiny was like a candlelight in the wind. That was why Youngho wanted to help out the country.


    The Serbian immigrants would be living in the country for generations and generations and he wanted the country to be stronger.


    The warehouse of the farm was full of weapons that he had siphoned from here and there. They would rust and get terminated in time if they would be unused. However, it was not a great idea to tell the public that he had weapons since they were illegally brought there. Therefore, he was going to make an excuse for the self-defense force for the weapons once it was established.


    Having a military power in Arirang Farm would also positively influence the immigrants¡¯ self-esteems for having a decent self-defense force. Once it was officially known to the public that there was a military force in the farm, no intruders and robbers would dare toe to the farm and face the organization equipped with guns and knives.


    ¡°I mean. Establishment of Countryside Force will set us the grounds to have weapons.¡±


    Youngho was exining pros about establishing the defense-force when Zeynep Corporation¡¯s leadership group and the elders of the immigrants were gathered to discuss the uing winter¡¯s preparation.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Are you going to expose our weapons to the public, then?¡±


    Park Youngsun raised a worrisome voice.


    ¡°There¡¯s a saying that you should hide 30 percent of your strength when fighting. We¡¯ll hide 90 percent of our defense power. It¡¯d be more than enough to just be recognized as a group with defense strength. I¡¯m just saying that we should make a legal basis for having weapons to prepare for emergency cases.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic nation and the government is sensitive toward minority group¡¯s arming. It fears that the minority groups might demand independence. We need to be extra careful about this.¡±


    Park Youngsun opposed Youngho¡¯s opinion to expose the weapons.


    Just then, Kim Chun raised an objection.


    ¡°My family has been living here for generations and I might be able to change your mind. I understand Dr. Park¡¯s concern, but the government often ignores minority groups¡¯ arming. It¡¯s because the country is bordered on every side.¡±


    Kazakhstan was located on the trade route of the Silk Road and for this geopolitical reason, there had been many ups and downs in its history. ¡®Kazakh¡¯ was a word indicating people who had achieved independence from authority. It was a country established in the fifteenth century, by people who broke loose from The Mongol Empire.


    Throughout itsplicated history, some part of the country became a subject state of the Russian Empire and some part survived under the pressure of Qing dynasty.


    Although it seemed that the country suffered from ceaseless disputes between 120 ethnic groups, they were actually living and surviving in harmony. It was so only because the Kazakhs and Russians upied 84 percent of the whole poption and other minority groups shared the rest of the percentile. Even so, minority groups were known to have contributed much to the nation in its history. Being nomads, they had involved themselves in all sorts of dissipation that the Russian Empire grew sick of them. They could be called groups of bandits. Because of their behaviors, no one dared to turn their eyes to Kazakhstan. Since this had contributed to fixing the current border of the country, they should indeed be rewarded for that.


    As the descendants of the nomads, the minority groups were known to be hostile to strangers. Since they did not like strangers stepping on their territories, they naturally liked to be armed. Although their armors could be called ancient, they still continued to have armed forces.


    Although there were no more horses in modern times, Russia and China would still have to face a nightmare if they wanted to vite the Kazakh border, since the minority groups in the border areas would all turn into gueri forces and fight against the intruders.


    As the intruders would be slowed down by the minority groups, the Kazakh regr army would eventually join the battle and the war would not be exciting for them at all.


    The 60 percent of the country¡¯s territory was covered by half-desert regions and unless the intruders wanted to cross there and suffer the sacrifice, they would have no other option.


    As Kim Chun exined the history of Kazakhstan¡¯s minority groups¡¯ armed forces, no one could oppose the establishment of the farm¡¯s own self-defense force. There might be some exaggerations in Kim Chun¡¯s words, but his story was believable.


    The farm would only have insignificant number of soldiers that would not be a threat to the Kazakh military force. Kim Chun insisted about not requesting to upgrade the Arirang Farm¡¯s neighborhood watch since the government overlooked minority groups¡¯ own defense forces anyway, even though they had weapons. He did not forget to make thestment in the end.


    ¡°Boss. We need to get a patrol ship, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Jong-il interrupted Kim Chun as he made a request.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, no doubt. That¡¯s basic. I was going to say that we should buy a fewbat helicopters.¡±


    The whole assembly of peopleughed at his remark. Jong-il instantly reversed the atmosphere that had be serious.


    ***


    H Rotem¡¯s vice president Kim Joo-hyuk and thepany¡¯s staffs who looked around the machine tool and rotor production factories wanted to expand the foundry factory in order to produce some principleponents at Arirang Farm.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It¡¯d be perfect if you could increase the capacity current with electricity and have an automated system in your factory. I¡¯ll have to think about what parts would be produced here for the next few days. Your machineries are all brand new.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk pointed at the cutting machines and shelves that Youngho had bought randomly in Bulgaria.


    ¡°Some of the residents of the farm are great mechanists, so I bought them randomly, thinking to make improvised guns.¡±


    He was startled to hear about guns.


    ¡°Is it possible to make weapons on your own?¡±


    ¡°This is a grassy ne where wolves outnumber people. Without measures of self-defense, people can¡¯t go out in the fields freely. That¡¯s why it¡¯s not a special thing for nomads to carry weapons.¡±


    It was an unimaginable thing in Korea.


    Korean people had to go through a veryplicated process in order to obtain a hunting rifle and even that could not be stored by an individual but had to be stored in the armory of a police office. Despite the exacting process, there would be frequent firearm idents, but Youngho had never heard of such thing here, even though any family would have guns in their house.


    Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s group that had thoroughly investigated all of the factories including the drone assembly line, were stimted to see that there were more decent technicians than they had expected. Then he suggested producing the bearing that went into train cars. The high carbon chrome steel which was the raw material would be provided by H Corporation.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯m afraid to rmend this, but you¡¯d have to buy automated machine tools to produce the quantity for our cars. I mean, they¡¯re quite expensive.¡±


    Although Youngho was not a mechanic, he knew about the importance of a bearing in a car. Kim Joo-hyuk was rmending a high-valueponent and if there were automated machine tools, Youngho would be able to produce any kinds of bearing. Kim Joo-hyuk had suggested it as a token of his appreciation.


    So, Youngho answered him without hesitating.


    ¡°I will buy the automated machine tools.¡±


    He rather asked Youngho back, since the answer came out so easily from his mouth.


    ¡°Are you answering with the idea in mind about how much the milling machine and the automated machine tools cost?¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s you who¡¯s rmending them, I know they¡¯d be worth the costs.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk who nodded back to him soon made another suggestion.


    ¡°It was indeed fortunate of us to meet someone like you, Mr. Lee. It¡¯s a blessing for me to be in charge of this region as well. If you don¡¯t have the funds now, ourpany can cosign for your loan.¡±


    ¡°How much on earth are the automated machine tools for bearing, that you¡¯re saying this?¡±


    A bearing was a keyponent of any mechanical parts. It was even called ¡®grain of machine¡¯ since it enabled rotational movements of machines.


    In WWII, countless spies of the Allied Forces were sacrificed while locating German bearing factories. They had epted engineers¡¯ opinion that the war would only end quickly when bearing factories were destroyed. This had be an anecdote exining how bearing was important in machine parts.


    The bearing production skills had been developing until now and in the modern times, bearings were mass produced by automated machine tools. Once the tools were installed, they would be a big asset and benefit the producers for a long time.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take to install all the necessary machines, but I¡¯ll take bearing production at Arirang Farm.¡±


    Since Youngho decided rather hastily, Kim Joo-hyuk who had suggested this himself rather tried to stop him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯m not pressuring you here. You should take time to consider this and decideter. I have other parts suggestions for your factory as well.¡±


    ¡°I have a gut feeling that I should take this. Once the factory begins the bearing production, I¡¯ll be able to talk through others¡¯ hats.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for sure an important part, but since it¡¯s not a strategic item, you won¡¯t really talk big about this to others.¡±

 Chapter 241 - Dream of Arirang Farm (2)

    <h4>Chapter 241: Dream of Arirang Farm (2)</h4>


    As Youngho requested to set up the production line of bearing, Kim Joo-hyuk soon returned with different collected data with a bright smile on his face.


    ¡°Mr. Kim. You look great.¡±


    He then unfolded a paper in front of Youngho.


    ¡°This is what I received this morning. The statistics look great. I¡¯m d I introduced a great business item to you.¡±


    On the paper that he handed, the instation fee of automated machine tools, the number of technicians needed to operate the production line, and the estimated yearly sales were written in an organized way.


    The instation of the bearing production line was 4.5 billion in Korean won and since it was a lot less than what Youngho expected, he raised his head.


    As if Kim Joo-hyuk had expected Youngho¡¯s reaction, he continued on talking.


    ¡°We were able to lower the instation cost because the bearingpany that supplies parts to us gave a discount. This size of machinery, the factory could be operated by only 25 employees and earn the sales of 13 billion won a year regrly. Well, the sales all depend on the strength of the sales department of course.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was excited as he exined.


    His story sounded like Youngho could automatically make money only if the machines were installed.


    ¡°Is that so? Then I should make the bearing retailers around the countries of the Caspian my clients.¡±


    Youngho had already found out that there were no bearingpanies in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, so it seemed that it would be easy to attract clients in those countries and other countries in Central Asia.


    ¡°The bearing our factory produces is an internationallypatible standard product, but German and Japanese bearings are dominant around the world now. You¡¯ll need to give the vendors a lot of margins to increase the turnover ratio of the new product.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s words encouraged Youngho¡¯s motivation. Since the bearing was a standardized size, it would be easier for him to sell those. If someone like Jong-il or Kim Chun swept the retailer shops around the Caucasus region, all of them would be his clients immediately.


    ¡°Then yourpany won¡¯t really care whether we provide the bearing from our factory or not, will it?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s almost the same as we have made a verbal agreement already. You should be the bearing supplier for us.¡±


    ¡°It just seems that yourpany won¡¯t have any problems even if you¡¯re short in supplies. It¡¯s standardized size bearing. Don¡¯t they get produced in Korea too?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re nning to export your products?¡±


    ¡°In the Caspian coastal states, supplies are extremely valued. It¡¯s because the transport of goods is difficult here. Many regions are blocked by the Caucasus Mountain Range, so it¡¯s hard to deliver goods bynd and if waters are not connected to oceans, if not through canals. Do you think such a precision part like bearing would be well-supplied here?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk silently continued looking at Youngho¡¯s mouth that was making a passionate speech.


    ¡°I¡¯m installing the automated machine system only because of that. Starting with bearing, I¡¯m going to produce other precision parts in the future as well. Did you think that I¡¯d only be satisfied with making products only for yourpany? Heck no. You¡¯d have to be more nervous than that or I might not provide any parts for you.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    That day, Kim Joo-hyuk shared a lot of knowledge that he knew about automated precision parts. He taught Youngho what parts were prospective and did not cause pollution.


    If the precision mechanical industry was applied to IT industry, robots would be produced and if went further, AI could be developed as well.


    He strongly affirmed that a small elite minority group could feed the whole globe and advised that the farm¡¯s children should be encouraged to be interested inputers.


    However, there would a limit to the poption of Arirang Farm.


    That was why the factory would be automated to minimize the manpower and outstanding talents would be supported to studyputer engineering abroad. Software produced by the minority poption could be the source of ie in the future.


    Anyway, Youngho had already recognized that he needed to invest in software development that could have the maximum effect with a minimum number of people.


    Listening to Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s story, Youngho was quite intrigued.


    Although he appreciated Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s advice, Youngho wondered why he was sharing important business information. He asked whether Kim Joo-hyuk wanted something in return.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you¡¯ve done me a huge favor, so I wanted to give you something in return. I¡¯ve been imagining what I would have done if I had thisnd and residents. That¡¯s why I got carried away while talking about it.¡±


    ¡°Well, you had no intentions behind it, but I must¡¯ve misunderstood you. Thank you for your unstinting support. You truly opened my eyes to many things. I¡¯ll also pay you back with the same support you¡¯ve given me in the future.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. This is what I was looking for. I guess it worked.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I heard this winter¡¯s going to be harsh. Would the underground gym constructionplete before then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m positive. Also, your pce will be finished by the next year¡¯s harvest season. The problem is that the stonewall building is going to take longer than expected.¡±


    Construction Director Min was indirectly saying that he was short of manpower. However, there was nothing Youngho could do. Among 4,700 residents, male adults who could work were only about 1,000 people and the rest were old people, women, youths, and children who could not work. It was a natural result since Youngho received family groups when he received immigrants to the farm.


    Among the male adults, 50 of them watched the outskirts of the farm in 12-hour shifts, so they could not be mobilized for construction and 120 of them were working at the drone factory. Moreover, 200 of them worked at ranching, fishing, carpentry, leatherwork, butchery, heavy equipment mechanics, piloting, and so on. Excluding the people who worked in different sorts of necessary positions, there were only 600 people left.


    Those people were working in wheat farming and the construction of different buildings at the farm. 600 workers seemed a lot, but when they were scattered in the vast farnd, they were even hard to locate.


    Inevitably, work that needed high-level techniques such as interior designing and remodeling were left to outside technicians. That was the only way the farm could operate without any difficulty. Even so, Youngho could not let teenagers work.


    The teenagers should focus on studying since they would be the future leaders of the farm.


    Therefore, a measure that required a two-year specialized course for any teenagers whopleted the high school curriculum was suggested.


    Then, people began to argue about problems of education, rights, and duties of the residents, and whether to have localws and regtions.


    These kinds of things should be decided by the whole city, rather than a small group of representatives. As the future of the farm was at stake, public hearings were held several times and various opinions were collected.


    Youngho did not meddle with anything but watched every process silently.


    Since the farm was still undergoing a lot of trial systems, he thought that the residents should decide important things together on their own. Unless they came up with their own decisions, people would not be satisfied with their system.


    There was a rich diversity of opinion when choosing the head of the farm. It was because Youngho, who was naturally thought to be the head of the farm refused the position.


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to take Boss¡¯s spot, if he doesn¡¯t?¡±


    Kim Chun was stunned to hear an absurd story.


    ¡°I am only the Prince Consort of the Archduchess. Since I am a symbolic figure anyway, I don¡¯t have to be the management specialist just because I¡¯m the leader. Arirang Farm should be run by someone who lives here. So, Mr. Kim. Why don¡¯t you run for the election as well?¡±


    Now Kim Chun jumped up in anger.


    ¡°You should stop joking if you are. A dog passing by willugh if I try to run for the election. I used to be a mere elementary school teacher. It won¡¯t look good if I lead a city of 5,000 residents and the public will not ept me either.¡±


    He was only refusing because of a kind of inferiorityplex, but Youngho¡¯s idea was different.


    ¡°No one knows this ce like you and works so passionately as you do. Besides, you are from this ce. You¡¯ll be the perfect person who could negotiate with the regional government, don¡¯t you think? If I need to be in front, I¡¯ll help you. Please, just try for once in your life. As you know well, the position makes the right person for it.¡±


    ***


    As many opinions were gathered, people decided to vote for different subjects.


    Any residents who were aged over 18 years old had the voter¡¯s right. As they voted, 96 percent of agreed vote rate came out.


    ¡°It¡¯s like themunist party. A vote approval rate like this can onlye out after weapon threats. I should¡¯ve run for the election as well.¡±


    Jong-il, who was looking at the result of the election, made a joke.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you dreaming so small for the director of the intelligence department that will control the whole region of Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re saying it, I need to give up a small dream, but I never thought that Mr. Kim would receive majority votes.¡±


    Kim Chun, who was forced to register as a candidate by Youngho, became themissioner of Arirang Farm.


    Some of the farm¡¯s residents also ran for the election, but they only received votes from their families and friends. It was because Kim Chun¡¯s efforts were what brought the farm this far. He even took bullets, while working for the farm.


    ¡°We should give Mr. Kim. No, Mr. Commissioner great support. He¡¯s much older than us, so I¡¯m also going to be as respectful as possible from now on. There¡¯s not a lot of people like him who love the farm.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s indeed a person that I¡¯m appreciative of. I¡¯m going to support you hard as the director of the intelligence department. So, just give me a lot of money.¡±


    The localws and regtions and themissioner were voted by the residents meant that anyone could not be free from thews and the authority.


    Any rights were followed by duties. If anyone did not like the fact, they would have to leave the farm. Living on the farm meant that they could enjoy the privilege of rights of the farm. Therefore, there were many duties of the residents, such as that everyone should work for their own properties.


    One thing that took ce immediately right after the vote, was the establishment of the specialized educational institution. Any high school graduates would mandatorily enter the institution. It was not just a regr two-year specialized institution, but it was a school that would give military training to students.


    It was an idea that was suggested because it was impossible to run the farm with a small number of residents and it was weed by the teenagers since many of them were willing to receive military training.


    After the two years of education, they would choose their own path to be workers or to study more. Some of them were sent abroad to study more.


    This way, Arirang Farm would be an autonomous region governed by outstanding future leaders.

 Chapter 242 - Dream of Arirang Farm (3)

    <h4>Chapter 242: Dream of Arirang Farm (3)</h4>


    Although the farm¡¯s manpower was limited, it did not mean that the farm was struggling. It just meant that its work process was slower than before.


    Young and middle-aged adults were practicalbor force of the farm, teenagers were focusing on studying, and the rest of the farm¡¯s poption, women, did not only do homemaking.


    Their work was hard enough as homemakers, but they had another secondary job. It was making hand-woven carpets.


    No one forced them to work and set production quantities for them. However, ever since Youngho told them about carpet action in Istanbul, any women who were dexterous joined the production, since it was a great opportunity to make a fortune.


    The quality of their handmade carpets was something that could be only seen at auction houses. Many worked so enthusiastically that many gathered after supper to work on making carpets. Some families would even have troubles because of women¡¯s enthusiasm.


    Youngho was a little nervous since their efforts should be paid off by being sold at high prices, but since Mustafa said that the carpets sent as sample pieces were received well by the local people, he believed that Arirang Farm¡¯s carpets would be a luxury carpet brand in near future.


    There were no residents who spent days in idleness as they worked diligently.


    There was an uproar at the farm, as the teenagers who turned adults received a draft notice from the Kazakh Army.


    Kazakhstan opted for conscription because of its small poption, but exemptions were possible for those who enrolled in schools or who worked. In fact, thew was not strictly respected and many people could wiggle out of it. It was because the army received an overflowing number of recruits since military veterans received a special employment opportunity for government official positions after being discharged.


    Since the farm needed a reason to get exempted from military drafts, Youngho hurriedly submitted a request to the president¡¯s office to allow the establishment of localws and regtions of the farm.


    The request was sent with a document of exnatory articles and it went on for several pages. With the supplementary articles, Youngho wanted to emphasize that the farm was under the government¡¯s control and it would work to benefit the country.


    The most prominent things written in the articles were two things.


    First, the farm¡¯s adults would serve in the Countryside Force of the farm primarily, instead of getting drafted to the Kazakh Army but the organization would answer the call to defend the country at any time: This article exined that the force was under the government¡¯s control.


    Second, any products made at the farm would be supplied to Kazakhstan primarily: The automated factory was for civil use but the article emphasized that it could turn into a military use if necessary.


    These articles were necessary since there was no government that would allow an autonomous state without any safeguards. The farm had only a small poption, but for the government, it would be a sensitive issue to permit a state to operate under its own rules. The decision was up to President Nazarbayev. Youngho crossed his fingers for a positive response from the president.


    ***


    ¡°The devices rted to the intelligence department are too expensive to buy. Any legitimate devices cost millions of dors. It¡¯s not something we should just jump in.¡±


    Shaking his head, Jong-il flopped down into the couch.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there any used devices?¡±


    ¡°No idea. I don¡¯t know much about these and I can¡¯t find other routes.¡±


    ¡°Should I ask Edward?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even. He¡¯s going to go through the trouble to get them for you, even if you said it in a passing word.¡±


    He was right. Edward would try his best to contact all the people he knew to get what Youngho wanted. He was the one who earned informationmission of a million dor when Youngho first suggested making the grape farm as his base from the CIA, although there was a condition that Youngho would be a regr agent.


    Edward had been such a helpful connection for Youngho and Jong-il.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just ask him about routes that we can buy the devices cheap?¡±


    ¡°Any intelligence devices would be controlled by the nation. It won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    ¡°There must be something that they¡¯re getting rid of after a long use.¡±


    ¡°Even discarded devices will be managed by the government authorities. If they ended up in civilians¡¯ hands, there will be all sorts of problems.¡±


    If something likemunication monitoring devices fell into the public¡¯s hands, the situation would metastasize into a full-blown case. Many devices were customized and cause many rumors. It did not make sense for the CIA to sell them as used devices for little money.


    ¡°Just wait for now. I¡¯m going to ask Philip and try to find other ways too. If nothing works, I¡¯ll talk to Michael to make a CIA¡¯s chapter in Central Asia.¡±


    The two proudly talked about the establishment of the new chapter but deep down, they felt the reality that they did not belong to the mainstream in the CIA. Although Youngho was overseeing Central Asian regions as a leader, he was someone who merely started out as a field agent through special recruitment, which meant that he would be done in the CIA¡¯s society when he retired. He was destined to be a disposable staff by the organization¡¯s executors.


    If he was born in the U.S. and took the elite course by enrolling in the intelligence institute, the headquarters could support him to establish a region¡¯s chapter making him the head, but he was only a small-fry agent. He was not even allowed to look at ssified information, but was only used as a messenger of information that he collected from different regions. His team was only being recognized because of Youngho¡¯s achievements so far.


    Jong-il¡¯s unsatisfactory facial expression was telling him that he felt the same.


    ¡°There will be a day when we manipte information and sell it. You can count on me.¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean? Sell information?¡±


    Jong-il had no idea about Youngho and Eriksson¡¯ s secret partnership.


    ¡°You remember Eriksson from the time when we went to negotiate with Chechen rebels?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We received a huge allowance because of that. What about that guy?¡±


    ¡°That guy turned out to be an information seller. I don¡¯t know about the details but it could make us a fortune.¡±


    ¡°Well, I knew he was something else. He just felt different.¡±


    Jong-il was indeed fast-witted.


    Youngho thought that it was time to tell him about the secrets. In the past, he worried that Jong-il would recklessly try to sell information, but now that was not his concern. Since Jong-il was a father and husband, Youngho was certain that he would not take thoughtless actions.


    ¡°Can you believe if information sellers¡¯ abilities to manipte information is way ahead of the United States?¡±


    ¡°You said a private group is more superb than us. You mentioned a consulting chain group like McKinsey has more manpower than us.¡±


    McKinsey & Company was one of the three biggest consulting groups that had 14,000 employees in 58pany branches in 28 countries. Thepany boasted of a faster and more analytical informationwork than American CIA.


    ¡°Eriksson is part of such organization, the Information Agency¡¯s. He might look strange because he¡¯s too smart, but his analytic ability is just outstanding. Since you¡¯re smart, you can probably make a fortune from doing information businesses.¡±


    ¡°Dude. You finally admit that I¡¯m a genius. But, what about it? I can¡¯t make such organization in my lifetime.¡±


    Youngho did not like to see his friend boast of his outstanding cleverness, but it was true that Jong-il had an amazing talent.


    ¡°I said it¡¯s about manipting and analyzing information. You interpret information I throw at you in the most amazing ways sometimes. Don¡¯t you remember? You stopped the bombing of Chechen oil pipeline.¡±


    ¡°I just said something as passing word and you interpreted it.¡±


    ¡°Anyway. I¡¯m saying it¡¯s what we achieved from receiving one phone call.¡±


    Jong-il seemed to be lost in thought after listening to Youngho.


    ***


    ¡°Ed. How are you doing these days?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little frustrated since I work at a desk now. I¡¯ve had my best days when I was in the field. It¡¯s not so fun here being a sryman.¡±


    ¡°You should visit Baku some time.¡±


    ¡°I miss the Caucasus, but I didn¡¯t want to trouble you since you¡¯re so busy. Can I visit with my family during the winter break?¡±


    Youngho felt sorry that he did not invite him earlier.


    Although his connection to Armenia had ended a long time ago, his guilt stopped him from calling Edward.


    ¡°You¡¯re always wee. If youe to Baku, I¡¯ll take you around to Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exciting. I heard many emigrated there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s less than 5,000 people. They are all settled down now and doing quite well.¡±


    ¡°You called in a long time. I¡¯m assuming that you need something from me?¡±


    Working in the field of intelligence, he was quick-witted.


    Since he had offered to help Youngho, Youngho could call him without feeling burdened.


    ¡°You got me. I need some electronic devices, but had no idea where to get them. Thought you might know the route.¡±


    ¡°It must not be something usual. I¡¯ll look into that and let you know when I see you in the winter break.¡±


    Edward already sensed what Youngho was looking for since Youngho would not have called him to look for usual devices.


    It seemed that Edward would bring a great Christmas gift to Baku.


    In the meantime, the farm could hire recruits for the intelligence department and start the department¡¯s operation when the devices arrive.


    As Edward began to look for devices, Jong-il began to recruit people for the intelligence department.


    This affected Cha Insoo since Jong-il tried to take security guards from the securitypany that Jong-il was in charge of. His reason was that Asian recruits would be less noticeable by the public in Central Asian regions, but Cha Insoo did not want to let go of his core members.


    ¡°Insoo, please. Thepany won¡¯t copse just because I take some of your guys.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you take the new recruits and train them? The guys you are asking are in supervising positions. Also, I need to train Arirang Farm¡¯s special school¡¯s students as well. It just can¡¯t happen!¡±


    ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯m going to take the brightest ones from your new recruits. Say nothing about it!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Why do you need to take my guys, when you have Koryoins? You don¡¯t need to have physical strengths when collecting information. Instead, you need someone who canmunicate with Central Asians.¡±


    ¡°What? Koryoins? Wait a minute. That¡¯s a great idea. They can speak both Kazakh and Russian. Man, it turns out that you can use your brain when you¡¯re cornered.¡±


    Jong-il decided to take Cha Insoo¡¯s advice.


    ¡°Alright, then. There won¡¯t be no transferring from the securitypany, right? Man, you almost made my liver shrivel.¡±


    Insoo was relieved since he did not have to give up his employees whom he had trained.


    ¡°But, you need to tell me any information your employees collected in the field. Anything works.¡±


    ¡°So, you want to receive reports from me? Dude, you¡¯re going to act like a boss. How dare you.¡±


    ¡°A boss? No, it¡¯s only sharing of resources.¡±


    Seeing the two teasing each other, Youngho chuckled.


    It seemed that something never changed no matter how much time had passed, since their time of Naval Special Forces.


    Youngho wished the rtionship of his friends wouldst like this forever, but he knew that as their kids grew and they got older, they would be satisfied with much bigger resources.


    So, he decided to let out what had been on his mind.


    ¡°Okay. Can you all listen to me if you¡¯re all settled down?¡±


    As Youngho spoke in a stern voice, they dropped their yful attitudes just like good elementary school kids.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. I want to get rid of severalpanies I have.¡±


    ¡°Whichpanies?¡±


    ¡°You know, thepanies belong to Zeynep Corporation.¡±


    ¡°Who are you going to sell them to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to pass them to you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±

 Chapter 243 - Dream of Arirang Farm (4)

    <h4>Chapter 243: Dream of Arirang Farm (4)</h4>


    Sometimes when people were lost, they should go back to where they were lost.


    This phrase was what best suited Youngho¡¯s heart at the moment.


    In retrospect, he realized that he did not show enough consideration for his friends. It seemed that he had forgotten his past. He used to share everything hispany earned no matter how little it was and exin every single detail to his friend.


    However, as thepany¡¯s size got bigger these days, all he did was transferring money to his friends¡¯ ounts without any sharing of information. Nheless, his friends sincerely followed and supported him without any exnations and did not say anything. If it were not for them, Youngho could not have made it this far.


    Though it seemed a littlete, Youngho wanted to share his business with his friends instead of hiring them as their boss. Surprisingly, Jong-il and Insoo refused his decision no matter what. He knew his friends¡¯ hearts. It was because they did not work for anything in return. They were rather thankful for Youngho who gave them great opportunities in life.


    But, Youngho still pushed his opinion because he knew that he would lose this chance forever if he did not split his business now.


    ¡°Guys, I know we¡¯re all family and you don¡¯t want anything in return but people won¡¯t look at it that way. Why don¡¯t each of you take apany for yourself and run it on your own?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re not making sense at all. Do you want to part ways from here? Are we that much of a burden to you?¡±


    Jong-il was rather making Youngho feel ufortable.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that, dude.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s forget about what you said today.¡±


    Youngho was not going to back out.


    ¡°Insoo, you take the securitypany and the warehouseplex in divostok and Jong-il, you take the shippingpany.¡±


    The warehouseplex was not solely Youngho¡¯s since Yaniv had his share as well but he was going to exchange his share of the offshore oilfield with Yaniv¡¯s warehouse share. Since the offshore oilfield would be exhausted in several years, he was fine with giving up its share.


    ¡°Hey, Insoo. He must be sick. He¡¯s being nonsensical now.¡±


    Jong-il still thought that Youngho was being ridiculous.


    ¡°Jong-il. You can help your family-inw and have your children inherit thepany in the future. How long will you stay empty-handed?¡±


    ¡°Why are we empty-handed? We have you as our boss. And what makes you think that we wanted to rip you off? We didn¡¯t move for money. We¡¯re here because we¡¯re your friends.¡±


    ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m doing this, can¡¯t you see? We will still discuss and make big management decisions together but I¡¯ll turn them under your names for now.¡±


    Since Youngho was strong-willed, Jong-il who had been upset now tried to convince him.


    ¡°Youngho. Insoo and I never envied your wealth. You are the one who brought us here from Korea and made us this big here...¡±


    Jong-il could not continue his words since he was being choked up.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t achieve this on my own you know. Everything was possible because of you. Just think of this as an emergency saving and store it for now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy. How can we save millions of dors of emergency saving every year? We¡¯re not that money hungry.¡±


    As he was stopped by Youngho, Jong-il picked up a bottle of alcohol. He could not talk without alcohol for being frustrated. It was not that Youngho did not see that but he needed to separate his business now because if thepanies kept getting bigger, he would not be sure anymore if he could give them to his friends. Unless one was a saint, one couldpromise in front of money.


    ¡°I know that your cousins and family-inws are in need of help and you can¡¯t support them fully even though you want to. And I also know that there are struggles you go through that you can¡¯t tell me. I have decided, so say no more or I¡¯ll misunderstand that you¡¯re all greedy for money.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with this guy today really?¡±


    ¡°This is the perfect timing to split the business ording to our own parts of interest. The securitypany and warehouse would make only about one or two million a year and the shippingpany is only big but has a long way until it can make profits. If they get bigger, we¡¯ll have to go through a confusing general meeting of stockholders. So, just listen to me.¡±


    ¡°Phew. I can¡¯t get through anything to him. Insoo, let¡¯s get out. He¡¯s going to drive us crazy if we stayed.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t take this in a wrong way. Just think that we¡¯re dividing eggs in different containers. If I hold everything to myself and one thing goes wrong, everything will go down consecutively. I¡¯m just preparing for just in cases. Alright? Also, the share of the warehouse store in Georgia will be also passed down to the guys in Batumi.¡±


    Youngho was driven into a wedge.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that senseless to not understand what you¡¯re saying referring to the eggs. I¡¯ll go along with you for now. I know that you always want to take care after us. So, tell us anytime if you want them back. We¡¯lly down everything.¡±


    As Youngho tried to talk back to Jong-il, he stopped Youngho with his hand.


    ***


    The wind was exceedingly cold.


    Jeremic, the Countryside Force, who just passed water, shivered and got on the light armored vehicle. Inside, three of hisrades were snoring.


    Since there was a while left until the shift rotation time, he was bored. He turned on the searchlight on the vehicle for a moment and turned it off. For the short moment, he sensed something reflecting the light back.


    He turned the light back on and saw several wolves scattering because of the light. The construction of stonewalls around the residential towns was notpleted yet and there was a concern that they mighte to attack the towns. So, he opened the vehicle¡¯s root and fired nks randomly.


    Startled by the sounds, hisrades all woke up.


    ¡°What is it? Wolves?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I think there might be five or six. They fled to the pce construction site. Call Team 2.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you fire an aimed shot?¡±


    ¡°The weather outside suddenly got cold. If I catch them now, I need to skin them. I didn¡¯t want to go through the trouble, so I chased them away to Team 2. Those guysined that we got the wolves several days ago. I¡¯m letting them have this.¡±


    Wolf skins in thete fall were so popr.


    Because the wolves finished molting already to prepare for the winter, their furs were dense and sleek. If tanned well, wolf skins could be sold at 400 dors for each piece. Therefore, the Countryside Force that patrolled around the farm at night were actively looking to hunt wolves. They would receive a hundred dors at the farm¡¯s office when they brought a skin, so it was a great way to earn some pocket money.


    This might sound like a horror story to animal activists but that was the case in an advanced country that was willed to protect wolves that faced near extinction in national parks. In the ins of Siberia or Kazakhstan, any wolves spotted were to be killed since they were mere hazardous beasts. Because they killed livestock every day, hunting wolves were directly rted to living.


    Besides, the wolves in Kazakhstan were too many that their poption should be reduced. If they were left alone untouched, they would grow in number at a tremendous speed and people would not be able to walk off the farm freely in fear of wolves. There were no protecting wolves in the wild ins of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Youngho. Let¡¯s go make money at Arirang Farm.¡±


    Jong-il, who heard about the reward for hunting wolves, could not sit still.


    ¡°You just started managing your business. Why are you trying to take a little pocket money?¡±


    ¡°I just received apany in huge debt. I need to sell wolf skins to make up for that.¡±


    ¡°Man. It¡¯s apany with assets of over a hundred million dors. How dare you call it apany in debt!¡±


    ¡°You siphoned off the best part to the farm and gave me apany that won¡¯t make profits until a few years. I¡¯ve got to exchange it with Cha Insoo¡¯spanies.¡±


    Although Jong-ilined, he was actively engaged in the shipping business and frequently contacted with Choi Sunkil. Since he was the owner of thepany now, he became more passionate about it.


    The vessels that sailed across the Antic would not make profits until the loan amounts were paid off but the two bulk grain carriers and two other general cargo freighters would make him quite a lot.


    He stillined but his face looked brighter. It seemed that he could save his face by helping his family-inws.


    What Jong-il referred to as the best part was the car ferry vessel since Youngho turned its ownership to Arirang Farm. It was what the residents would have to use now and since it would transport parts for drones and materials for machine tools, it became the farm¡¯s exclusive vessel.


    ***


    ¡°Jeez. Did you gather all of the wolves in Kazakhstan here?¡±


    Youngho could see dozens of wolves through the starlight scope.


    Youngho and Jong-il were aiming the wolves from a light-armored vehicle.


    ¡°I told youst time. Zeynep freaked out after seeing dozens of wolves when we went to survey Koryoin town. The wolves here are huge. Even tigers dodge them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. ording to the elder Kim Sung-chan, Tigers stay away from wolf packs.¡±


    ¡°These continental people are just big talkers.¡±


    In Kazakhstan, people said that a group of two to three wolves could hunt a tiger. Also, wolves were somon that some people would capture and train newborn wolf pups for their own use. Generally, wolves were known to be impossible to train but Kazakh people believed that a pup that was less than a month old could be trained.


    ¡°This winter¡¯s going to be a war against wolves just likest winter. The hungry packs will crowd in smelling the livestock on the farm.¡±


    What Youngho and Jong-il caught that day were five wolves.


    Even though they fired aimed shots from sniper rifles with a silencer, the rest of the wolves still sensed the two and ran away. As other wolves fell down in pain, they intuitively fled to hide. Since they were that prudent, they kept snatching away sheep in secret.


    It drove people crazy since sheep would be gone even under their watch.


    As they followed the blood stains, the only remains they could find were thick bones and skins of sheep.


    The strong teeth of wolves could chew up any decent-sized bones.


    In every winter, professional hunters would catch wolves but they could not reduce the number of wolves. It was said that they did note around when dogs barked near residential areas but they were getting bolder every year.


    This was what Youngho was worried about.


    Losing livestock was something that had been happening for a long time but if children were lost while ying outside the walls, it would be a huge problem at the farm. If those kinds of idents continued to happen, the farm would not be a good ce to live for many. Youngho could not watch that happen and that was why the farm was actively getting rid of wolves around it.


    Since wolf skins were sold at a high price, people were eager to catch more wolves.


    The farm¡¯s management office was not going to sell the skins as they were because if they processed a little bit more, they would be sold at several times more the original price. So, people were going to make clothes, hats, and arm and leg warmers to sell them in the market.


    Among the 4,000 residents, there were quite a lot of people who had dressmaking skills. There were even crafty women who could read a magazine and make simr design clothes.


    The wolf skins caught in thete fall was highly priced. Especially, Russians were fond of wolf fur, and there were not enough wolf fur products in the market for them.


    Youngho thought of Sergey in Volgograd.


    Indeed, mafias were the best agency Youngho could trust especially in Russia. There was no one who would buy mafias¡¯ products at cheap prices.


    Selling wolf skins was a business that would kill two birds with one stone.


    To the people enrolled in Countryside Watch, it would be a way to make allowances and to women who possessed dressmaking techniques, it would be a great source of money.


    If the residents had enough money, it would also be directly rted to the farm¡¯s development.


    Excited, Youngho did not waste a minute to call Sergey.


    ¡°Brother. I have an excessive number of wolf skins. Do you have any furriery that you know well?¡±


    ¡°Wait, why would you give them to a furriery? We also treat furs.¡±


    Youngho had forgotten that the mafias would get involved in any business to make money.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to pay me a dirt cheap price, right?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. Alright. Don¡¯t worry about such a thing. Why don¡¯t you bring some sample pieces first? We can only negotiate the price after I look at the products.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll fly to Volgograd the first thing tomorrow.¡±


    Now that the farm¡¯s residents would have another job to do, their winter would be warm and full.

 Chapter 244 - Red Mafia (1)

    <h4>Chapter 244: Red Mafia (1)</h4>


    At Moscow¡¯s Sheremetyevo International Airport, Youngho and Jong-il appeared.


    They hade just in time to attend the building dedication ceremony of Arirang Hotel in Moscow.


    Sergey weed the two with a bright smile.


    ¡°By the way, what is this fur business?¡±


    ¡°You will understand why I¡¯m doing this when you see the wolf skins. I¡¯m going to work as a broker for my farm¡¯s residents.¡±


    The quality of life of the residents was directly rted to the farm¡¯s development. He did not mind being a broker for them.


    ¡°You¡¯re having so much fun running the farm.¡±


    Jong-il added words to Sergey¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. He¡¯s so into this medieval y. I¡¯ve been pressured by him so much, so I ended up taking the director of the intelligence department of the farm. He¡¯s given me apany in debt and told me to run the department with the money I make from thepany.¡±


    It was something Youngho did not mention but it sounded like a good n. If Jong-il was going to voluntarily run the department, Youngho did not have to worry about its expenses.


    It was indeed what Jong-il would offer since he did not want to just take apany from his dear friend.


    ¡°I heard the shipping industry is suffering these days. You¡¯re not losing money, are you?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re running tramp steamers and short-distance deliveries to target a niche market and it¡¯s been going well so far.¡±


    ¡°I should call you CEO Park.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s ttering to hear but I only have the title. I can¡¯t even do anything by myself.¡±


    Jong-il was proud but acted modestly before Sergey.


    After the two arrived at Yaniv¡¯s mansion, Youngho had a chance to talk to Sergey in private. Since he was a great business adviser and friend, Youngho shared the new change in his business.


    ¡°I see. You¡¯re not only going to live well by yourself but want to share your wealth with your friends? That¡¯s something you can do only when you¡¯re at the starting stages. It¡¯s not going to be easy when thepanies get big.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m still keeping the best for myself. Jong-il is stillining that I gave him an empty grain.¡±


    ¡°Still, that must¡¯ve been a difficult decision to make. I admire your determination. This is why I like you. Well, anyway thepanies would still belong to Zeynep Corporation. You¡¯re not going to stop doing partnerships with us right?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, why indeed. Nothing¡¯s going to change. My friends are only taking profits from thosepanies and they won¡¯t leave me even if I pushed them away.¡±


    ¡°I envy your friendship. It¡¯s great to see and it¡¯s certainly a blessing to have trustworthy friends around you. I¡¯m also blessed to have you around.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Wow, these wolf skins are in the best qualities and they were insanely well dressed and sewed. I can disy these at my store right away. Why don¡¯t you sell all of this to us? They¡¯ll make great profits and we¡¯ll dly take a seller¡¯smission.¡±


    It would be a huge gain since Sergey was not going to buy the skins at retail prices but was willing to take the seller¡¯smission only. Other furriers would not offer such a deal since they would buy skins locally and process them on their own before selling. But, the fur products that the residents made were in great qualities that it could be sold just as they were.


    Sergeyplimented the Serbians for their techniques.


    ¡°I¡¯ll appreciate it thousand times if you¡¯d do that. I¡¯ve been worried that there was not much left for the residents because this year¡¯s wheat crop was terrible.¡±


    ¡°When you don¡¯t have teeth, you fight with your gums. As far as I know, the Serbian immigrants lived in difficult environments when they were in Serbia. They have much more than what they used to have now.¡±


    ¡°People¡¯s desires have no end. When they sit, they want to lie down. I want to let them make more if there¡¯s any chance. Their quality of life has improved but the farm towns don¡¯t even have a lot of funds now.¡±


    The costs for education, medical expenses, and daily necessities were quiterge and in order to run the farm properly, Youngho needed to save funds for the farm. Since he could not feed them forever, he was figuring out ways to let them live on their own. The drone factory, train carponents factory, and carpet production were such things. The wolf skin and fur business would be added to the farm¡¯s residents¡¯ own businesses.


    When he nned and developed Arirang Farm in the beginning, he did not think about receiving immigrants.


    He was only going to produce grains and secure thend. However, as he unexpectedly took in immigrants, he could not help but involve in different businesses to support them.


    The reason why he invested an astronomical amount of money to make a small-scale city and tried to establish infrastructures so that the residents would be able to live on their own was to recover what he invested in and to make them live in prosperity.


    As the farm would be established as a wealthy kingdom, by the time Leon grew up and take over the farm, it would have be an autonomous state that possessed several global corporations.


    Arirang Farm was a ce of a dream that was continuously growing.


    ***


    Arirang Hotel in Moscow was finally in business.


    Since it was located in a cold region, the construction got dyed during the winter, so its grand opening was postponed until now.


    Among the businesses that Youngho started with Yaniv, this was thergest one. Yaniv was only a shareholder and did not involve in the management department, so it was convenient for Youngho.


    The only reason Youngho drew Yaniv¡¯s involvement was that the hotel was located in Russia. Any businesses in Russia could not ignore the influence of local mafias. Many people would fail their businesses terribly and leave the country when they ignored the mafias¡¯ existence. There were nothing mafias could not do in Russia.


    If Youngho had started his business alone, he would have gone through a war against mafias every day and bailed in exhaustion. He did not think it this way in the beginning but he was fortunate to meet Yaniv. He had met Yaniv for a drink one time and ended up saving his life, so Yaniv had been taking care of Youngho¡¯s businesses ever since. He was very fond of Youngho and starting the hotel in Moscow was Youngho¡¯s fourth business partnership with Yaniv.


    So far, there had not been a major conflict with him and any businesses Youngho suggested were a great sess.


    ¡°Sergey was so happy to obtain great furs. Should I go to Kazakhstan to hunt wolves too?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, you often go hunting with the president. If you bring your hunting gang and dry out the wolves in Kazakhstan, farm¡¯s residents will lose their jobs because of you. Why don¡¯t you go hunt for tigers in Siberia instead?¡±


    ¡°Tigers? That¡¯s a great idea. Do you want to join me?¡±


    ¡°If you let me know, I¡¯ll be d to join anytime.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s try that this winter.¡±


    Tigers were protected in Russia but Yaniv was not a man to care about such a rule. If he was determined, he could do anything. There was no one in Russia who would stop him.


    ¡°By the way, do you like the exterior of the hotel building?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so great. It¡¯s got the Moscow vibe and other building owners are jealous of it. You saved my face, Lee.¡±


    When Youngho first suggested the partnership, he disliked the idea since a hotel business was not big enough for a mafia boss but it seemed that he had learned that a hotel business was a great way to establish a different social reputation.


    He had been maintaining a close rtionship with the president, so he was trying hard not to get involved in illegal businesses buting from a mafia basis, he was struggling to reform his image.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. I distributed mypanies to my friends recently. They¡¯re notpletely independent but they¡¯ll run the businesses on their own from now on. So, I was wondering if you¡¯d be interested in exchanging your share of the warehouseplex in divostok with my share of the offshore oilfield. How do you feel about that?¡±


    ¡°I already heard about it from Sergey. You¡¯ve made a big decision. It¡¯s great that you¡¯re peacefully doing business with your friends. The profit you make from the oilfield is way more than what you make from the warehouseplex. Will you be fine with the exchange?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing for me to lose. You¡¯ve just given that to me to be generous. It was not mine from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let that happen especially since it¡¯s between you and me. I¡¯ll talk to Sergey. We¡¯ll settle the bnce properly. You take what you deserve.¡±


    He was nice enough toply with Youngho¡¯s decision and Youngho was appreciative of his generosity.


    ***


    ¡°What? You can¡¯t give me this much. You and Mr. Yaniv would lose money this way. I can¡¯t take this.¡±


    ¡°The offshore oilfield will produce for more than a decade from now on. ording to my calction, your share adds up to more than 50 million dors. After deducting our share of the warehouseplex, giving you 20 million dors still gives us more. Boss agreed with this, so you can take it freely.¡±


    Youngho had given away something to his friends and now he was grabbing more.


    He reluctantly took it from Sergey.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll have to say thank you to Mr. Yaniv in private.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a proper business. You don¡¯t have to thank us. Aren¡¯t you going for tiger hunting this winter? If you bring Zeynep to the trip, Boss will be exuberated. You know how he is with Zeynep.¡±


    ¡°Of course I should. I¡¯m d that she grewfortable around him now.¡±


    Zeynep did not feelfortable around the mafia boss but ever since Yaniv made a contribution to Arirang Foundation, she had been talking to him often on the phone. Her intention was to get more out of him but it eventually made her feel friendlier toward him.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have any children and thinks Zeynep as his granddaughter. Please keep that in mind if you want to thank him.¡±


    ***


    Russia was a country world of its own for mafias.


    They did not care aboutws if they decided to do something.


    At one time, it was estimated that there were 6,000 mafia organizations and five million mafias in Russia, and they controlled 1,500 government-operated enterprises and 400 banks, and tens of thousands ofpanies.


    It was known that their numbers had been reduced due to the government¡¯s strict mop-up operations but in fact, their numbers had been increasing because of mobile, scattered mafia groups.


    Some economists said that mafias controlled 40 percent of Russia¡¯s economy and since this was the reality, it was impossible to do businesses without mafias¡¯ involvement. They were organizations that trained elite groups and send them to take parts in governmental bodies to maintain their powers.


    Although they were thought to be criminal gangs, many Russians also considered them as a minority privileged ss. The Russian definition of mafias was ¡®an organization that is maintained through illegal means of gathering among those who wish to monopolize interests in certain powers and resources,¡¯ and they were called red mafia.


    The absence of clear legal regtions on ownership, confusion inmercial practices, and ipetence of security authorities werebined to make it difficult to distinguish between businessmen and mafias.


    Lately, there had been countless new-born mobile mafia groups that were scattered around. In the past, even mafias had its own culture and grad of ranks and organizationsmunicated with each other that they were controble.


    Mafias with big names like Yaniv were now all adopted new identities as businessmen and he did not really care about some small shot groups. He had thought that they would automatically creep and cross to him.


    However, even though the hotel¡¯s owner was already rumored to be the godfather of Southern Russia, a gang group that ignored and threatened the hotel to pay bribe appeared.


    It was such a rash group. Its members did not fear death being junked up and acted on instincts.


    Zeynep Security Service was in charge of the hotel¡¯s security but Youngho asked for Yaniv¡¯s men from Volgograd to patrol around the building. If they decided to throw firebombs and attack the building, the hotel would be closed down and the business would suffer major damage.


    Sergey was also aghast but he was helpless.


    A nonsensical thing was happening that a small reckless mafia group was dragging down a mega mafia organization¡¯s business. Because the group was mobile and scattered, its leadership group was not even exposed yet. It seemed that Youngho would be in a war against a bodiless group.


    He was not going to sit back and watch this since the business with more than 100 million dors of investment was being hindered.

 Chapter 245 - Red Mafia (2)

    <h4>Chapter 245: Red Mafia (2)</h4>


    ¡°I¡¯m not too worried since the hotel¡¯s security director is Lee Chulho but working every day being pressured is not fun.¡±


    Ever since Moscow¡¯s hotel went into business, it was receiving local mafias¡¯ threatening letters every several days and everyone was overwrought. The letters asked for a certain percentage of the hotel¡¯s profits as a bribe or management of the hotel bar. It was hard to ignore the letters because it was written that if the hotel did not answer, they would take some kind of threatening action.


    ¡°Who are these cheap shots anyway?¡±


    Jong-il brushed off his face and asked in a frustrated voice.


    ¡°You think I¡¯d sit silently if I know who they are? Southern mafias also investigated upon them but didn¡¯t find out anything.¡±


    Cha Insoo also was stressed out and his face was drawn and haggard. He had been paying all of his attention in Moscow as well because of some mafias.


    The police authorities were also looking after the hotel because Yaniv had pressured them that if something went wrong, Moscow would get in trouble but they only sent some patrols around the hotel and did not really get into capturing the criminals. There was nothing to expect from police authorities since they were worse than mafias in a way.


    If the hotel was Youngho¡¯s, he would have paid the local mafias but since it was a sensitive issue for Yaniv, he was being cautious and it was not like he could dere war against the mafias. This would not be resolved after catching some small fries. Since those mafias were mobile, if he defeated one group, others would stille and find him since it was said that hundreds of gang groups were born recently in Moscow.


    President Putin had dered a war against red mafias and backed down after several years of raising the stakes with getting rid of them. Until there were enough quality employment opportunities and corruptions disappeared in Russia, it was something that the nation had to suffer.


    If Youngho decided to get rid of the local mafias, other groups would soon join to avenge them since they would have to set an example of what would happen to the people who ignored their request. There would be no gain for Youngho.


    ¡°Brother Sergey. Did you find out which organization it is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got some idea about what it would be so I contacted them and they said it was a group that fell apart from their organization and they¡¯re out of their control. They don¡¯t even know who the leader is.¡±


    ¡°I want to know how many members are there.¡±


    ¡°Those groups have only a dozen at max and sometimes they¡¯re only four or five. Since we¡¯ve taken our hands off those petty dirty works for so long, little mafia gangs aren¡¯t even scared of us anymore. They think we¡¯re just a business group.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t shake them thoughtlessly. If they begin to disturb our business, it¡¯ll be only a loss to our hotel¡¯s reputation.¡±


    ¡°Just wait for a bit. There¡¯s a huge organization in Moscow that I can negotiate with. Those little gangs won¡¯t ignore their warning.¡±


    Yaniv had be a businessman but he was still like an emperor in southern Russia. He was not a paper tiger yet. If he decided to re-establish his mafia organization, thousands of men woulde under him immediately. He was only holding back because he did not want to lose his reputation as a businessman that he had been building.


    In recent times, skinheads had also joined those gangs and had been attacking colored people in Russia. Likewise, Arirang Hotel was not free from them.


    Because the hotel used the name of ¡®Arirang,¡¯ the skinheads had been roaming around the hotel thinking that the hotel was taking away Russia¡¯s national wealth.


    Although they did not take obvious actions, colored people were reluctant to stay at the hotel. The very existence of skinheads at the hotel was a threat to them.


    Their targets were usually immigrants in Russia, who came from the South Caucasus, Chechnya, Georgia, and Armenians and other Asians. They held a grudge against immigrants since they had taken superior job positions instead of vs.


    The anger of the skinheads, who were left out of thepetition in capitalism and were left out in despair, was being expressed as a terrorist attack on colored people. Ironically, these ultranationalists¡¯ activities were said to be supported by President Putin by the western world.


    Putin often refers to Russia as a diverse, multiracial, multi-religious, and multi-cultural country but many analyzed that he, who had the nickname czar, a Russian word for emperor, neglected the ultranationalists in an effort to regain the glory of the past.


    Since this was the situation in Russia, Youngho, being an Asian, would not ever be able to root down in Russia without Yaniv¡¯s help.


    ***


    The three friends were now at the management office of Zeynep Farm to discuss the matter. Lately, there had not been a situation where they had to gather opinions but now, the case of the hotel in Moscow was the issue.


    ¡°I¡¯m dying to get rid of them at once but we need to see how things go for now.¡±


    Since the hotel was not being disturbed by the mafias and skinheads for now and the damage would not be so big even if the hotel could not do business regrly, Youngho concluded to wait for a while without taking any actions.


    Yaniv said that he would take care of it and soon, it would be resolved in any way. Stressing over the issue would not resolve anything as well.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we support them in secret and adopt them for our own use? We¡¯ll need intelligence agents anyway.¡±


    After making a nonsensical suggestion, Jong-il chuckled at himself.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯ll just die if I have to work with them.¡±


    ¡°At any rate, if theyid a finger on the hotel, I¡¯m going to hunt down everyst one of them!¡±


    ¡°Whoa, our director of intelligence is getting too violent. You said only rum-dums involve themselves in gunfighting.¡±


    As Insoo teased him, Jong-il snorted.


    ¡°If the securitypany can¡¯t defend the hotel, the genius people of the intelligence department will take an action. You should do your best if you want to save your face, man.¡±


    The security guards from Insoo¡¯spany only took care of the inside security of the hotel, so he would not have any trouble. Also, a one-time struggle against the gangs would not end the war.


    Youngho would only have to watch how Yaniv would resolve this in the mafia¡¯s way. Even if there was a war, people would not say anything if it was mafias against mafias.


    He knew that his involvement would only worsen the issue. Besides, it would trouble Yaniv if he took action.


    ¡°And you thought you¡¯ll have enough funds when the hotel started its business.¡±


    Not understanding what Jong-il was talking about, Youngho only looked at his friend.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if you¡¯re not having trouble with your funds after giving yourpanies to me and Insoo.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Yaniv properly paid me the bnce when I exchanged my share with his and I¡¯m stress-free.¡±


    ¡°Well then that¡¯s great but you know we¡¯d been doing great so far because of you. We decided to give you supporting funds until Arirang Farm could operate by itself.¡±


    Thinking that Moscow¡¯s hotel was losing money, Jong-il announced that he and Insoo were going to give funds to Youngho.


    Youngho was happy to hear that but he did not need such a small amount of funds.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that desperate to take a child¡¯s pocket money. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°A child¡¯s pocket money? You know we make a lot now. You already made your point and saved your face. We¡¯re not trying to pile up riches here with what you¡¯ve done. Don¡¯t say any more. It¡¯s what we both agreed on.¡±


    The more money the better and they must have their own desires too. Despite that, they were trying to help Youngho. Thankful for their thoughtfulness, Youngho¡¯s heart was warmed.


    ¡°Okay, I get your point. I¡¯ll ask if I¡¯m in need of your help. By the way, Dr. Park Youngsun had been staying in Baku a lottely. What¡¯s up with him?¡±


    ¡°For someone who¡¯s called a boss, you should know everything at a nce. You still have a long way to go, dummy.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Um, he might get married for the second time soon. It¡¯s something that people around him should push, so Karajan and I gave him a little nudge.¡±


    Every man for his own trade and Youngho wondered when the workaholic Dr. Park had found time to meet a woman. Although he was not young anymore, he still had not reached fifty yet, and he could use a new marriage.


    Youngho regretted not seeing his need earlier. He felt sorry that he did not have the time to look around people around him.


    ¡°That¡¯s relieving. I didn¡¯t want him to live only for his grown-up daughter forever. If he¡¯s found someone he likes, I¡¯m shipping him with anyone.¡±


    ¡°What if that someone is Leon¡¯s nanny and the head of the maids?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ***


    Something that Youngho feared finally happened.


    Someone who was guessed to be a mafia threw a firebomb at the hotel¡¯s entrance. The person who was caught in a CC-TV camera was not a bald skinhead but a youngd looking in his twenties.


    Growing beard meant that he nned to shave aftermitting a crime. It seemed that he had prepared this thoroughly in advance. Because the hotel was guarded tightly, the fire was put out in the early stage but the hotel¡¯s reputation was tarnished already.


    The hotel was already well-known by the public for being specially featured by the press, so no travel agencies would suggest a hotel that had be a target of some gangs.


    When Youngho called Sergey, heined that he had a hard time calming Yaniv.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say it. Boss is outrageous. He already gathered the members of our organization.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they be quiet for a while since they just made their point?¡±


    ¡°Youngho. You don¡¯t know how these guys are like here. They bother their target until they get what they want.¡±


    ¡°So, they¡¯re going to try again.¡±


    He knew exactly how things would be since he had done exactly the same things in the past as a mafia. He would have been worse than the new gangs.


    ¡°The government is not going to let this pass since the gangs had bombed a facility for the public. The authorities now know that it¡¯s a power struggle between mafia groups. There will be a wave of arrests from now on but it¡¯s going to die down soon again. In the meantime, we n tomunicate with mob bosses in Moscow.¡±


    There would be a conference of mob bosses who owned decent-scale organizations in Moscow but Youngho was not sure if that would make any difference.


    The fearless gangs would not blink an eye since they were lunatics who urgently needed money for drugs.


    As Youngho hung up the phone, Jong-il who had been listening to the conversation next to him sighed.


    ¡°It amazes me how this country still exists.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Russia. Only Russia can run like this.¡±


    This was the phrase that many Russians used when they were dumbfounded by events or when they exaggeratedly self-mock their country.


    Youngho did not even know how he had survived in this kind of environment so far. The ce where normal senses did not work was Russia and the Caucasus region. Something that was unimaginable for people who grew up in Korea happened every day.


    However, there was no other option but to cope with the situation. It would drive him crazy if he tried to reason every single detail. This was why Youngho could have be rich here even though he came empty-handed in the beginning.


    Becausemon sense did not work, the Caucasus was open for more opportunities than any other ces.

 Chapter 246 - The Second Winter (1)

    <h4>Chapter 246: The Second Winter (1)</h4>


    It was only early November, but the ground had frozen up already at Arirang Farm. It was time to prepare for harsh northern winds and continental winds since the winter would continue for five months from now.


    The stonewalls and little trees that had struck roots would not be able to block all the winds, but their existence as windbreakers still brought emotional relief.


    The first blocking line was the rampart of the pce that was overlooking the branch river of the Ural River and the second line was the windbreak wood andw walls around the different parts of the field of the farm where livestock was raised.


    The winds that passed through the two lines werestly blocked by the stone walls that surrounded the residential towns. In order to protect people from wild animals and wind, the walls were built thickly and highly and they made the towns more livable and warmer ce.


    Although there was a limit fighting against nature with artificial means, Arirang Farm¡¯s various facilities helped to ovee harsh continental weather.


    Also, to cope with the environment that did not have many trees around, the farm adopted an electric heating system and it was favored by the residents.


    What the farm had adopted was Korean traditional Ondol Heating*. People did not feelfortable with the Korean culture to take off their shoes in their houses in the beginning, but they learned how hygienic it was soon. Although Youngho liked the sensible aspect of the western culture, he only suggested Ondol Heating because he wanted to change the lifestyle where people stepped into their bedrooms with shoes on, and soon, people started to admit that taking off shoes at the door to the house was cleaner.


    Besides the floor heating, the exterior walls of buildings were thickened to reinforce instion, and people loved their houses, saying that they were much better than log houses. It was because the winter was extremely cold in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Boss. It¡¯d be great if I knew when the Denmark royal family is going to visit here. I¡¯d rather be prepared when they do.¡±


    Kim Chun still called Youngho ¡®boss¡¯, even after he became themissioner of the farm.


    ¡°Commissioner. Please stop calling me boss.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help it because I¡¯m so used to this. I¡¯ll try to fix it.¡±


    No matter how many times Youngho told him not to call him ¡®boss¡¯, he did not listen since he was the one who thought that saying ¡®boss¡¯ is cool.


    He had a strange fantasy about the wildness of men. Youngho was certain that he would have even be a mafia if he was asked before he became a teacher. Since Youngho and his friends were trained in Korean Navy Special Forces, he secretly admired Youngho¡¯s life.


    ¡°They¡¯re only going to stay here for a day or two when they visit. They can stay at the farm¡¯s hotel. The princess is such an easy going person and if we kept basic courtesy, she wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°But this is a royal family that¡¯s the most influential in Europe after the United Kingdom. I pressured the construction director to hurry and finish building the pce as soon as possible, but he¡¯s too busy with the walls, phew.¡±


    Kim Chun did not like the fact that the construction director Nikevich Min did notply with him, even though he was now themissioner of the farm. Nikevich was someone whom he rmended on his own, but he could be as stubborn as a rock. He prioritized things based on reasoning and he did not budge, once he was determined.


    Youngho had emphasized protecting the farm¡¯s towns from wild animals and winds, and he also had agreed with Nikevich¡¯s decision. However, Kim Chun was someone who liked to show off socially, so he wanted to proudly present the finished pce to officials of the city of Atyrau. He thought that exposing the pce to the public was the fastest way for the farm to be upgraded as an autonomous state.


    Setting aside the autonomous state, Youngho only wished that the government would soon give permission to the farm¡¯s Countryside Force to be an independent military force, but Kim Chun was already dreaming big.


    ¡°Boss. I¡¯d like to remodel the hotel¡¯s suite then.¡±


    He was asking for a budget. Youngho knew that he would not stop at remodeling the suite, but he would also fix the hotel¡¯s lobby and cafeteria. The small hotel only had 40 guest rooms, but the subsidiary facilities were as good as a mid-ss hotel.


    It was something that a countryside town did not deserve, but he still was not satisfied. Because the Denmark royal family was the first guest of the farm ever since he was elected as amissioner, he was showing concern.


    ¡°The facility is more than great as is now. No one¡¯s going to make fun of it.¡±


    ¡°Then can I decorate the exterior of the hotel at least?¡±


    ¡°Sure if that¡¯s what you want.¡±


    Kim Chun wanted to impress the guests and receivepliments from their stay. He was eager to show everything the farm had.


    Youngho was not sure how he did it but soon after the conversation, he had convinced the residents to have a cleaning day every week, and even Old Niksic was spotted sweeping around the corner of streets.


    ***


    Automated machine tools for the bearing factory finally arrived and were carried to the factory building that was almost close topletion.


    The automated system would produce bearings of indifferent sizes and materials as programmed and the system only took about 3558 sq. ft. What took up more space was high carbon chrome steels which were the main material that went into the system.


    Since it would take about a month to install the system, Youngho would be able to see the first products by Christmas.


    From now on, that was the part where Kim Chun would shine the most.


    After hearing that the factory would be in production soon, he went around spreading the word to receive preorders. As for wolf skin products, he insisted that German market was also big as Russian market and he contacted Cho Sangchun in Frankfurt to look for the market.


    He was so enthusiastic and determined to make the residents of the farm independent from Youngho¡¯s financial support in two years.


    The farm¡¯s residents were also excited to hear that the bearing factory would soon be ready. It was difficult to expect abundant living from wheat farming and ranching, but as a cutting-edge technology factories were starting to settle at the farm, people were hopeless for the farm¡¯s future. Moreover, when H Rotem¡¯s branch factory would be built, the whole towns would be benefited by it, and everyone was eager.


    The carpet and wolf skin products were also being received well in the market, so the farm was livelier than ever.


    A lot of people are bound to bring forth ideas. To cope with the cold weather that made it difficult to produce vegetables, some residents suggested building greenhouses. And some people with woodworking skills said they could even make luxurious furniture with intricately carved patterns.


    Residents also began to produce high-quality hunting rifles with the machine tool ordered from Bulgaria. With delicately crafted wood gun grip and copper alloy muzzle and other exposed parts, the rifle looked quite luxurious. It was something that would look great if disyed on the wall.


    The prototype rifles were proven to be superior, so the farm decided to produce them on arge scale. Although it was arge-scale production, only about 20 rifles would be produced, but if they were packaged in a decent case, they would be great as gifts.


    It seemed that this could be popr in Russian market since Russians liked luxury-looking products. If Sergey saw this, he would immediately agree to be a seller.


    Youngho ordered to make a luxury case for the prototype. The content of the product was indeed important, but packaging yed a huge role in drawing the buyer¡¯s attention.


    Arirang Farm was originally designed to produce grains.


    However, when the immigrants arrived, Youngho had to find ways to feed them. So, he turned his eyes to higher value-added businesses, but there was a limit for them to be developed as the machine industry.


    Therefore, what he had found was informatization.


    Although the farms weregging behind in the manufacturing industry, people could quickly catch up with information technology if they were trained.


    Youngho provided aptop to every family so that they could be adapted to usingputers. At school, students were learning aboutputers, IT, and AI techniques. Older people might not be able to adapt to these technologies, but younger generations were different.


    The winter of Kazakhstan was long, and young kids and youths could not y outside for extended periods of time. They would seek ways to utilizeputers for fun, and maybe this could offer opportunities to those who were talented in technologies.


    ***


    At a guest room of Moscow¡¯s Arirang Hotel¡¯s, Sergey opened the high-quality hunting rifle¡¯s case.


    ¡°This is a hunting rifle? Well, I¡¯m excited to see what else would be made from the farm in the future.¡±


    ¡°How do you like it? Doesn¡¯t it look decent?¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m looking at an art piece. Those Serbians are indeed skillful. What can¡¯t they make?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t earn much from selling wolf skin and rifles, but things like this is their hope. We¡¯ll soon produce hand-crafted hardwood furniture as well. It would be a luxury disy cupboard that master craftsmen hand-carved and polished multiple times.¡±


    ¡°Keep talking. I¡¯m listening.¡±


    Intrigued by the description, Sergey listened carefully.


    Come to think of it, there were many collectors who valued hand-crafted products, rather than mass-produced products in factories. Thinking that any hand-crafted products would make money, Youngho asked for a market.


    ¡°Brother Sergey. What if a store that is specialized in hand-crafted products was open in Moscow?¡±


    ¡°Do you still want to open a new business in Moscow after seeing what happened to this hotel?¡±


    As a result of searching all of the gang groups in Moscow, Sergey could guess which group was responsible for damaging the hotel, but it was toote. The group had already left Moscow after sensing that they were exposed.


    Other groups might fill their empty spot, so the hotel staffs were still cautiously watching for surroundings. It was not something that would end easily, because there were too many gangs in Moscow.


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯d even be interested in small shops?¡±


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯ll handle anything if they can make money. How about this? I¡¯ll sell your products for a while. All of the products you bring from the farm are high-quality goods. Just put them in great packages just like this rifle. Russians like luxurious stuff. They¡¯d love it.¡±


    Sergey¡¯s satisfied face made Youngho smile. He should not express excitement if he was mindful of the hotel, but he was still happy.


    ¡°Do you think there will be enough demand?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯re lots of wealthy people in Russia. Also, many people give gifts to officials as bribes. If you can, make them in the best quality. There are tons of people who would not mind high prices of products that will be sent out as gifts. Not to mention, I¡¯ve got a lot of connections who¡¯d preorder the products I¡¯m selling, if I told them. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    Youngho did not know that he would get this muchpliment from Sergey. He had thought that the Serbian immigrants were good at making things for their own use in the house. Since he did not have any knowledge about handiwork furniture and products, he needed to reinvestigate the residents¡¯ work.


    If they had outstanding talents, Youngho¡¯s job would be to make a way for them to practice their skills, so they would not die out. He had been only caring about making money to prepare for the future, but he had not been considerate of residents¡¯ great heritage. Those were the invaluable legacy that should be preserved.


    If he had a chance, he wanted to talk to each resident of the farm.


    The only way to learn about people¡¯s specialties and experiences was tomunicate with them frequently. Not everything was about money in life.


    Thinking that he was the one who saved them and supported their living, he might have been ignoring what they truly wanted. There might have been many residents who were ignored and hurt by Youngho¡¯s decisions for the farm. Because most of them did not have any techniques and education, Youngho sent them to America, to get trained to be technicians in factories, and this could have been huge innumerable mistakes that he made.


    Youngho was convicted to spend some more time with the residents this winter and listen to their thoughts and worldviews as much as possible. He was d that he had realized this now. Every single member of the farm was cherished, and maybe their lives in Serbia might have been better if it was not for the flood.


    He was embarrassed to think that he might have been boastful of what he had done for the farm¡¯s residents, just because he provided them materials.


    *Ondol Heating- Korean traditional floor heating system.

 Chapter 247 - The Second Winter (2)

    <h4>Chapter 247: The Second Winter (2)</h4>


    The season had turned to winter, but the temperature had not yet gone down below 14 degrees in Fahrenheit. It was not until the end of December that the cold snap would make it difficult to do outdoor activities. The weather now felt like spring to Youngho.


    There was still a decent period of time left until the river would be frozen.


    Even if the river was frozen, Youngho had a sturdy car ferry and freighter that acted as icebreakers, so they would be able to sail even in the mid-winter.


    At Arirang Wharf, thest crop of this year¡¯s wheat was just loaded on a ship to Azerbaijan. Although it was a poor harvest, the amount of crop weighed about 1,500 tons, so Youngho could save his face to the Azerbaijani government. It was not a huge amount, but the government was relieved to receive a stable, regr grain trade from Youngho.


    The government had a deep trust in him, knowing that he would not trouble Azerbaijan like other traders.


    On the first day that wheat was transported to Baku, Youngho was invited to the presidential pce for dinner. This was proof that the Azerbaijani government was appreciative of the grain trade.


    After the freighter full of thest crop left the wharf, a car ferry reced the empty spot. The ferry wasing from Volgograd and Istanbul to deliver wine, carpets, and wolf fur. The best thing about operating a car ferry was that vehicles that carried freight could be shipped as they were. There was no hassle to load and unload cargo like freighters, and that meant people could save time.


    The only thing that wascking were passengers on the ferry. The standard of living was not so high in the countries of the Caspian coast, so there were not many travelers who used a passenger ship yet.


    However, it was certain that using a car ferry was an innovation in distribution. A car ferry vessel was the only means that could move wines effectively in a short period of time. Risk factors of delivering them bynd had disappeared as well. In terms of time and cost saving, no other means of transport was like the ferry.


    ¡°What would we have done, if there was no car ferry.¡±


    ¡°I had a hard time taking this for the farm. If I hadn¡¯t, we would¡¯ve paid so much for delivery costs.¡±


    Kim Chun was proud that he was the one who insisted to take the ferry under the farm¡¯s property when Youngho gave his shippingpany to Jong-il. His mind was preupied with the convenience of the ferry, he was not aware of the costs for operating the ferry. Not wanting to knit pick on that, Youngho wished that he would realize the problem of the huge costs. Then Jong-il, who was quick to act, said a word.


    ¡°Commissioner. Frequent sails cost a lot and you also need to consider the depreciation cost. It¡¯d be the best to load the vessel to fullness and ship goods at once or you won¡¯t be able to handle the shipping costs in the future.¡±


    ¡°Of course I know all about that but for now, I want tofort the residents since they could not travel freely until now. I know Boss said that they could use vessels freely to travel, but they just didn¡¯t want to bother you when the vessel was under the shippingpany¡¯s property.¡±


    Youngho was not aware of such fact


    Although it was a prince consort¡¯spany, it was run by a management specialist. And Choi Sunkil must not have been an easy person to ask a favor for the residents. So, they would rather not ask to travel on a ship. However, now that the farm had its own vessel, the residents¡¯ requests were overflowing.


    Since Kim Chun, themissioner of the farm, was trying to do a favor for the residents, Youngho let it go. Kim Chun was not someone who would act upon something without a deep consideration.


    ¡°I feel a little embarrassed, but I have to say this to you. It was such a blessing to meet you,missioner.¡±


    ¡°Phew, you¡¯re trying to tter me so you can shove me around, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ***


    The big corporation¡¯s outstanding and orderly task processing ability astonished Youngho. H Rotem had alreadypleted building temporary roads to transport minerals from the mine near Koryoin town.


    The roads were paved to Arirang Wharf to prevent dust. The corporation was now building a dock for minerals transport and it would be ready by next spring. Since H Rotem used farm¡¯s equipment, so many heavy equipment technicians of the farm were hired. Kim Joo-hyuk who just returned from Korea was directing the road construction site.


    ¡°Vice President Kim. You¡¯re going to wear out your body if you work too hard.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Mr. Lee. Well, I don¡¯t know much about construction, but I¡¯m the person in charge of this. I should be working hard.¡±


    ¡°The severe weather will start soon. I¡¯m a bit worried about workers¡¯ health.¡±


    Thepany¡¯s belonged to a global enterprise, H Corporation, and Youngho knew that it would try to push the construction even in the mid-winter since it could not wait for another five months to pass the long winter.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I need an open-air storage yard near the wharf. Could you spare me somend?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you loading minerals right away after the trucks arrived?¡±


    ¡°We decided to deliver the minerals from another mine in the west through this route. It¡¯s much more efficient to do this way than to transport them bynd.¡±


    Transporting goods from western Kazakhstan was more efficient to use Arirang Wharf than using Trans-Siberian Railway to a port in divostok and to transfer them to a ship. From Arirang Wharf, small ships could travel to Istanbul from a canal and from there, goods could be transferred to arge vessel so it could pass directly through the Suez Canal. It was a short-cut route.


    ¡°Did you arrange a temporary open-storage yard in Istanbul?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t figured that out yet. My staffs are working hard. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll get one sorted soon.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I arrange one for you? I have some friends in Istanbul and business connections as well. Also, our security servicepany¡¯s guards are working there too.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s eyes sparkled to hear Youngho¡¯s offer.


    Although the corporation had outstanding staffs, it was difficult to rent a middle open-storage yard in a foreign country. If Youngho helped him, he could take the credit as his achievement in the corporation. By the time he answered Youngho, his smile was telling that he had done calcting everything in his brain.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. If you could introduce one for me, it¡¯d be the same as my achievement. I¡¯ll contact the steel mill in Istanbul right away. The employees there probably couldn¡¯t have figured out anything yet.¡±


    Youngho also wanted the minerals gone as soon as possible since he could only be paid for the minerals, only after he had delivered them. If he wanted to, he would be able to arrange an open-storage yard. There were Mustafa, Kemal who owned arge market chain business, and Mehmet from Eti, the foodpany in Istanbul.


    Giving a good impression to the corporation would also be beneficial for Youngho. If the corporation recognized that Youngho was a great connection to different businesses around the countries of the Caspian coast, there would be more business opportunities for him in the future. There were so many things left to take advantage of the corporation for him, so it was important for him to impress the corporation.


    ***


    Youngho had a deep understanding of Southeastern Europeans¡¯ social tendencies.


    They rarely refused to do favors for their acquaintances if asked. They rather appreciated being asked to do a favor and actively tried to help, since asking a favor meant that they were friends. Since Youngho knew more about the Southeastern Europeans¡¯ culture, he had offered to find a storage yard for Kim Joo-hyuk.


    Although it would be possible to prearrange a good yard with a high cost but paying that much for minerals would be a huge waste, since they were not aplete product like cars and electronics. The corporation had a small budget for the yard, which made it difficult to find one.


    Istanbul was a global port city and a middle stopover for all sorts of products.


    There were also a lot of foreign businesses in Turkey. They all needed a yard to store their products, so without Youngho¡¯s help, there was a little chance for H Corporation to arrange a decent yard in time.


    At the international airport in Istanbul,te November¡¯s rain was dripping.


    It was already winter in Kazakhstan, but Istanbul was still inte fall.


    Unlike a city that struggled with frequent terrorism, the airport was crowded with travelers from the world. The nation was listed in the risky travel site, but that fact did not seem to suppress people¡¯s curiosity. Or maybe, people were numb about terrorism since it wasmon.


    The H Corporation¡¯s staffs at the steel mill in Istanbul were waiting for Youngho and Kim Joo-hyuk with hopeful eyes. They were waiting to hear good news since they could not arrange a storage yard yet. Their faces showed that they were pressed for time.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, wee. We appreciate your voluntary help.¡±


    A middle-aged man, who seemed to be in charge of the group politely weed Kim Joo-hyuk.


    ¡°Executive director, Yi. I¡¯m only here as an assistant. Mr. Lee, here is the one who¡¯s going to help us today.¡±


    Director Yi already knew about Youngho, but it was his first time seeing him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We already booked a hotel. We¡¯ll escort you there.¡±


    Youngho could not help, but cringe since the staffs of the steel mill were treating him like a special guest. Their expectation for him was high.


    He had contacted different people to ask for help and all he needed to do now was to wait for their call back.


    ¡°Director Yi, please treat me as your friend. I¡¯m overwhelmed by your great wee.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? For ourpany, Mr. Lee, you are a VVIP. I was told by the vice-chairman to do you proud.¡±


    This kind of treatment was a voiceless pressure for Youngho to seed in getting the open-storage yard. He did not feelfortable.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d be an ipetent businessman if I don¡¯t seed this time.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. We¡¯re not giving you any pressure here, but it¡¯d be a lie if we said that we¡¯re not expecting much from you. If we can arrange a long-term storage yard this time, we¡¯d be buying in more mineral resources from Kazakhstan and the Caucasus regions.¡±


    Because Russia and China were the two countries that wildly drew in mineral resources from all over the world, any country was eager to get resources. Especially a global corporation like H Corporation had an extreme thirst for them.


    Taksim Square, Istanbul was a ce where globalpanies, banks, and hotels were concentrated. There were also two hotels where Zeynep Security Service was in charge of the security.


    As soon as Youngho arrived at one of the hotels, the security guards of Zeynep Security Service, who had received the word ahead, weed him at the lobby.


    Personally, they were his juniors from the Korean Navy Special Forces, the U.D.T. Unit, and officially, Youngho was their boss, the chairman of Zeynep Corporation. Knowing that he never let go of his hardworking juniors without rewards when he met them privately, the employees were not going to let this opportunity go.


    This was why the guards who were off-duty that day came to see him at the hotel.


    H Corporation¡¯s staffs were startled to see a bunch of bulky Korean guys in Istanbul.


    ¡°Why are you guys here when you¡¯re not working? Go take some rest.¡±


    ¡°Well, since our boss is here, we wanted to hang out with you. It¡¯s been a while.¡±


    The security guards of Zeynep Security Service werefortable around Youngho to ask for a drink.


    ¡°Whoa, okay. Since you guys worked hard, I¡¯ll treat you tonight. Let¡¯s see who can drink more tonight!¡±


    That night, the hotel¡¯s bartender could not go home in time because the staffs of H Corporation and Zeynep Security Service did not leave until the early morning.

 Chapter 248 - The Second Winter (3)

    <h4>Chapter 248: The Second Winter (3)</h4>


    ¡°Do you mean that there¡¯s a port in the Sea of Marmara?¡±


    ¡°Of course. All the ports near Istanbul are already full. Since it¡¯s also nearby the downtown area, there is no open-air storage yard that stores raw materials that could cause dust contamination. Even if there was one, it must belong to the government and it¡¯d be close to impossible to get that.¡±


    Istanbul was a city with heavy air pollution and there were no ports near the city that wanted to store raw minerals that caused dust, especially if it was for a foreignpany.


    Youngho was discussing an open-air storage yard for H Corporation¡¯s minerals with Mehmet of Eti, the foodpany.


    Mehmet rmended using a port in Marmara that could be reached after passing the Bosporus Strait. Ports near Istanbul were not only expensive but also very picky, so his suggestion was quite reasonable. Moreover, if Youngho could find a port in Marmara that treated lots of mineral cargo, then it would be more convenient and easier to use one.


    After inquiry, Youngho could find a usible dock at Port of Gebze in the Sea of Marmara.


    In fact, the conditions were better than ports in Istanbul. Although the Sea of Marmara, it was located in a strategically important position for Turkey, so there was a naval base. It was because the sea had great ess to the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.


    Ports in the Aegean Sea were not allowed to do foreign businesses unless they were from allied nations since Turkey was in conflict with Greece over a little ind in the Aegean Sea. The storage yard of the Port of Gebze was almost full, but Youngho could squeeze in through his connection with Eti since thepany soldbat rations to the Turkish military.


    Not only that, many other factors were ountable for securing the storage yard, such as the existence of H Corporation¡¯s business in Turkey and Turks¡¯ favoritism for Korea. Anyway, Kim Joo-hyuk was extremely thankful for Youngho since, without Youngho¡¯s help, he would not have been able to get a storage yard.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I thought you¡¯re only doing businesses in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, but I wasn¡¯t aware that you¡¯re big in Turkey as well. You¡¯re a great help to ourpany. Please let us know if you need to order something from ourpany. I¡¯ll try to suit your need as much as possible.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s suggestion was attractive, but Youngho had another idea in mind.


    ¡°Do you know how big Kazakhstan is?¡±


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s twelve times bigger than the Korean Penins with a poption of less than 20 million people. Since you¡¯re asking about this, you must have a great business idea, haven¡¯t you, Mr. Lee?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was thinking about road construction business. As for the railroad tracks, they arepleted in the time of Soviet Union even though they¡¯re getting old, but the roads in Kazakhstan are in substandard conditions. Despite that, the transport of traded goods are increasing and it¡¯s beyond the capacity of the poor roads here.¡±


    Kazakhstan was bing one of the most important transport hubs in Central Asia. Countries like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and so on, could not reach Russia or Europe without going through Kazakhstan bynd.


    There needed at least three big highways that would link the south and the north, but distributors were having lots of troubles due to the current roads that were barely there.


    Youngho only mentioned this to Kim Joo-hyuk since he did not have the funds to start the business. He wanted to draw H Corporation that had deep pockets to start the construction of highways. There was nondpensation cost as in Korea, and if the roads avoided mountainous areas, no tunnels were needed. It would be a simple road and bridge construction that could earn stable toll fees with less construction cost.


    It could be a joint venture with the Kazakh government or it could be an independent business. Once the roads were improved, H Corporation would be able to transport raw materials more easily, so it was a win-win business.


    ¡°If you could start this project, it will open the way for you to participate in government-ordered businesses under favorable terms. Given the nature of the president,panies that scratch the itch parts for him are highly likely to give preferential privileges.¡±


    Since the president¡¯s priority was the country¡¯s economic development, he would definitely give privileges to foreign investments that were willing to join his vision.


    ¡°Are you talking about private investment highways?¡±


    ¡°Yes, well, it doesn¡¯t mean that all of the roads are going to be private. We might be able to have a joint venture with the government if we send a business proposal.¡±


    ¡°Each road will be thousands of kilometers in length.¡±


    ¡°Will there be a need to finish it all at once?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We can separate sections and finish important sections first and receive toll fees. The rest of the roads could be built toward the toll sections. There¡¯re infinite ways to this.¡±


    ¡°You mean we should build road sections which were intended pass bridges or tunnels.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°So, it could be done by the consortium of Korean private corporations.¡±


    ¡°No wonder.¡±


    They enthusiastically exchanged their questions and answers.


    ***


    The reason that Youngho visited Istanbul to help H Corporation was that he wanted his mineral mine to have active businesses. Since helping the corporation would benefit both businesses, he could not sit back when the corporation was having difficulty.


    It was not a hard decision because Istanbul was not a strange ce for him. He had many friends and business connections, and since he was distributing his wine there, he wanted to visit there himself and help.


    As it went sessful, Kim Joo-hyuk now wanted to start expanding the business around here. He inquired about the road construction business that Youngho talked about earlier. He was a power-hungry person who wanted to impress the chairman of the corporation and be promoted to the president of H Rotem. Now that he had Youngho on his side, he wanted to make an opportunity for a new business. If H Corporation started the highway construction business in Kazakhstan, it would not only be profitable for H Corporation but also be beneficial to the country. Kazakhstan would be finally freed from foreign contracted constructionpanies that required excessive costs.


    ¡°The headquarters is weing this enthusiastically. We¡¯d like to send people to do foundation work during the winter. Can we get the Kazakh government¡¯s agreement?¡±


    ¡°Of course, you could. I already told some officials about it.¡±


    ¡°The local survey team will stay here for a while to investigate the routes, but I¡¯m a little worried about their security.¡±


    Such a worry was inevitable since the survey team would have to travel around the wilderness where they have to endure the severe coldness and the danger of wolf packs that frequently appeared.


    ¡°If they¡¯reing to see the local routes, Arirang Farm could help them. They can first scan around the sites from the sky and then drive onnd to investigate more thoroughlyter.¡±


    Light airnes and light armored vehicles could take the survey team anywhere they wanted in Kazakhstan. Also, if some of the Countryside Force and guards from the securitypany went together, security would not be a problem at all.


    ¡°If you could arrange those, I¡¯ll pay you for travel and security expenses.¡±


    Smiling, Kim Joo-hyuk appreciated Youngho¡¯s help.


    Looking back, most of what Youngho promised to the Kazakh president, Nazarbayev, was fulfilled. He had promised to attract foreign investments and businesses in Kazakhstan if the president allowed Serbians residency at Arirang Farm.


    He drew in joint-venture of a sr panel factory and a drone factory and established a bearing factory by himself. Moreover, he attracted H Corporation¡¯s train car factory that was originally nned to be built in Azerbaijan and opened a market for minerals trade.


    He had done more than what was expected of him, and if he made H Corporation invest in the road construction business that the Kazakh government was pushing, he would even deserve to receive an honorary medal from the government.


    Now that he had established many things and benefited the government, it was time for him to meet the president and ask for the rightful thing. If he could get permission for Countryside Force to be its own military and earn the farm¡¯s independence as an autonomous republic, he was willing to do whatever it took to increase Kazakhstan¡¯s economic strength. Kazakhstan might be a globally powerful nation in a few decades since Arirang Farm would also be in peace if Kazakhstan was in peace.


    ***


    ¡°Are you saying that it¡¯s not the Korean government that stepped up to do construction business here but a Korean private corporation did?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, Mr. President. H Corporation was having a hard time to arrange a storage yard for minerals, so I got help from my connections in Turkey, and they asked me what I wanted, so...¡±


    ¡°So you put aside your own desire and sacrificed for Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°If it looked that way to you, then I must¡¯ve said it well. If I was being too obvious, then I still have a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    As Youngho came clean and exined what was on his mind, the old president burst outughing.


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed a funny fe. My close associates told me this; if we satisfy your desires for a little, you¡¯d give up huge things for our country.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if the president was asking something from him.


    Could he mean that Youngho should donate one of his vessels since he was strengthening naval power?


    Not minding the president¡¯sment, Youngho hurriedly responded.


    ¡°I already made you 5,000 citizens that you didn¡¯t have before. Developing a wastnd and making it fertilend is already a huge sacrifice I underwent for Kazakhstan. I¡¯m already fulfilling what I¡¯ve promised in the beginning, since I invited three foreign factories. Moreover, I¡¯m waiting to hear back from a Turkish foodpany, since I¡¯ve already talked to them.¡±


    Youngho lobbied Mehmet from Eti the foodpany, to ask for thepany to make its foray in Kazakhstan. Since daily supplies such as canned goods, gourmet snacks,bat rations for civil use were very valued in the country, Youngho exaggerated and said that Eti would be the top foodpany in Central Asia.


    ¡°Wow, a foodpany in Turkey. That¡¯s a terrific business to invite here.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan could obtain the manufacturing methods for dual-usebat rations, it would be used pivotally in time.¡±


    Then Youngho sipped on his tea.


    He calmly smiled to wait for the president¡¯s reaction, now that he had shown all of his cards to him. The president also smiled.


    ¡°You look like you¡¯re asking for a reward from me for your achievements now.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare to negotiate with you Mr. President, but I¡¯ll be in debt forever if you would look after our farm.¡±


    ¡°Alright. How can I forget what you¡¯ve done so far for our country? I¡¯ll permit autonomy of your farm and Countryside Force as its own military force under some conditions. They will not be an unreasonable demand, so perhaps you could get along.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Mr. President.¡±


    Youngho wanted to jump and shout ¡®hooray¡¯ right at the spot.


    Arirang Farm was already in the mood for the festival.


    Finally, the farm achieved recognition as an autonomous republic of the Serbian minority group. Despite the cold weather, people did not have the will to go home. Many people were busy talking about the news on the streets with their neighbors.


    Youngho had not officially announced to the people, but the word traveled fast. It was because Kim Chun had bbed in excitement to people around him as he returned to the farm with approval documentation.


    ¡°Boss. Don¡¯t we have to have a big celebration? This is a historic day for our autonomous republic. It¡¯s like an independence day!¡±


    Overwhelmed with excitement, Kim Chun was now mentioning an independence day.


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, can¡¯t you see the strict conditions?¡±


    ¡°Boss. That¡¯s not even a big deal. We¡¯re only taking charge of the security of the Ural River and its branch river. Isn¡¯t that good news? I mean, I feel like dancing already!¡±


    Although Kim Chun had been wishing to have river patrols at the farm, Youngho wondered why Kim Chun epted the government¡¯s condition to guard around the Ural River and the branch river, since it was a huge burden. It was quite the responsibility and the Kazakh military would try to interfere with Countryside Force if it was not satisfied with any small details about river security. There was an intention to take control of the Countryside Force.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be safer and efficient if Countryside Force and the Kazakh military cooperated together in times of emergency and danger? This is not our loss at all. We¡¯re all part of Kazakhstan anyway.¡±


    He was right.


    Countryside Force of the farm was not an independent power, but a part of Kazakhstan. If the nation failed, it would fail, and if the nation lived, it would also live. When Kazakhstan fell into danger, Arirang Farm would also be in danger. It was quite ironic of Youngho to separate the two.


    Many thoughts crossed in Youngho¡¯s mind.


    Now that the farm was approved as an autonomous republic, this was the real beginning of it.

 Chapter 249 - The Second Winter (4)

    <h4>Chapter 249: The Second Winter (4)</h4>


    The second winter of Arirang Farm was severe, but it would be remembered as a warm year by many. The elevation of the status of Arirang Farm as an autonomous republic lightened up new hope in the residents¡¯ hearts. They were solidarized more, due to the event.


    Moreover, there was a cause for the farm¡¯s own military power. The upgraded Countryside Force now had a different uniform. They had prepared the Kazakhstan Army¡¯s uniform and went around proudly wearing it.


    The farm was permitted to have some judicial power and military power to defend and attack enemies, and that made the director of Countryside Force to be amander.


    Hearing that Cha Insoo would be amander of Countryside Force, Park Jong-il was jealous. He had been saying that the director of the Intelligence Department was higher than amander of Countryside Force.


    ¡°If your men are bad at what they¡¯re doing, Intelligence Department will take over Countryside Force, do you understand?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have any recruits yet. I¡¯m not afraid of your one-man intelligence department.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll soon have more people than you do now. Don¡¯te to me saying you need to exchange menter.¡±


    The two bickered at each other, but their faces were brighter than ever since there was no one who would bother the farm for using forces. The heavy firearms that were only collecting dust in the storage units of the farm would be put into use. Although there would be no asions to use those, in reality, they were great for demonstrative use and showing off.


    ¡°By the way, what is this term? The autonomy of the farm will be re-examined if its poption doesn¡¯t grow half as many, in a decade?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous, but the government wants us to do whatever it takes to increase the poption.¡±


    Younghoughed at this term when he first saw it, but this revealed the weakness of the Kazakh government. It was trying its best to increase the density of people since the country was suffering from a shortage of people. There were not many countries that forced children like this around the globe.


    There were many weapons given by Russia, but because of the shortage of military soldiers, they had no chance to be used. They were only taking up space in national armories. The government could recruit more soldiers but if that happened, other industries would be paralyzed, so thew did not receive young people who were employed byrge corporations. To the government, Serbian immigrants were good news since when the number of people increased, wastnd would start to be developed little by little.


    Another term that was attached to the autonomy, was that the farm shouldplete developing thend who they had given it to.


    Youngho was givennd who was sized two times more than what he had originally nned. At first, thend he contracted with the government was about the half size of Seoul, and now, thend was a little bigger than Seoul. Although he was given morend, he was not happy at all.


    He was still struggling to develop thend and some were developed into pasture, since farming the whole site was impossible, but the government was now forcing him to develop morend. If it was given to him in the beginning, he would have loved it, since he was crazy overnd, but he now knew that having morend was not an exciting thing.


    On the other hand, Kim Chun was excited to have morend. He did not mind the wastnd since the farm had more surroundingnd. Now that there was double the size ofnd, farmers would have to nt wheat in an area that was a few times more than the current farming area.


    Regardless of the quality and quantity of crop, it was better to begin farming and soiling, in order to produce fertilend. Though it would only produce one-fifth of the richnd¡¯s crop, it was still a lot of numbers, when everything was gathered in the vast farnd.


    The farm nned to make meadows in the northeastern side of the farm, to prevent sandstorm and farnd in the southeastern side.


    As the territory grew in size, it would be necessary to find a way to decrease traveling time around the farm. So, Youngho would have to n to install railroads and paved roads. It seemed that there were many things left that would drain the farm¡¯s funds.


    ***


    A Koryoin naval officer, Victor Jun, visited the farm.


    He was the one who inspected the farm¡¯s car ferry that carried the first generation of Serbian immigrants. He was the captain of a missile ship that protected Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea.


    He had frequently visited the farm¡¯s wharf to receivemb meat and by-products of sheep, and today was his official day of visit.


    As the farm was now in charge of patrolling, some part of the Ural River and its branch river was under the control of the Navy, and Victor Jun was the director of the Ural River¡¯s security patrol area. It seemed that the government wanted to strengthen the naval power since it wanted the farm to patrol the river and the even part of the Caspian Sea as well.


    It was not enough to guard the vast area of waters, so the president gave some of the responsibility to the autonomous republic. Youngho wondered what level of strength the Navy required.


    ¡°Well, I see you got promoted. I would¡¯ve missed that if I didn¡¯t look at your uniform closely.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because Arirang Farm was elevated as an autonomous republic and my jurisdiction was broadened. It¡¯s mostly because of you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°How is that because of me? I didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ce many great vessels in the river from now on? Navy needed a higher rank to be in charge of the area.¡±


    Youngho could see what the government was doing.


    By promoting a captain to a lieutenantmander, it was going to make the farm¡¯s strength under his control, and by making the farm to patrol around the river, the farm was inclined to buy the right vessels that suited the naval standards, and that would automatically strengthen the naval power of the area.


    ¡°Very well. What kind of strength do you want for our farm? You already know this well, but the farm has a security servicepany under it and the recruits are all from Korean Navy Special Forces. They have the techniques and abilities to operate decent vessels. If required, I can arrange the ones who were in the position of technical sergeant.¡±


    Lieutenantmander Jun could not hide excitement from his face, after hearing Youngho¡¯s remark.


    If it was up to Youngho, he wanted to bring inrge vessels, but it would not be suitable to have better ships than what Kazakh Navy had now. It was not also usible to have destroyers in the Caspian Sea, which was quite small.


    ¡°A patrol boat in the 500-ton ss is on the bigger side, but we don¡¯t even have a 300-ton ss vessel in our sea sector.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about patrol boats of the maritime police?¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly. I¡¯d like you to help out with the maritime police. How about that?¡±


    Youngho smirked in his mine. He was thinking about naval vessels for the farm¡¯s Countryside Force, but patrol boats were more than enough for the force for now.


    The patrol boats could have Vulcan automatic cannons and a machine gun installed on them and if needed, missiles could be loaded as well. That much strength was enough to be a luxury patrol boat.


    ¡°I will prepare vessels in the 300-ton ss and the 500-ton ss each. Would that save your face?¡±


    Victor Jun widely smiled as Youngho responded.


    ¡°Where are you nning to buy those vessels?¡±


    ¡°Korean shipyards would do the best job for making such vessels, but the problem is the distance. So, I was thinking about France or Turkey. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to have Korean vessels since I receivedmissioned education at the Korean Naval Academy. If needed, I¡¯ll request it to the government.¡±


    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter to me but Korean shipyards are great since they could make something like Aegis destroyer. Then, I¡¯ll owe you one for this. The one I¡¯m going to order this time will be an upgraded vessel that could be used as a naval vessel in the time of emergency. I¡¯ll also increase patrol boats if necessary. All I ask you in return is to look over the autonomous republic.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Mr. Lee. You¡¯re helping the Navy. Feel free to ask anything when you need help.¡±


    Excited that the naval power would be strengthened, his shaking hand had a strong grip.


    ***


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Jong-ilughed his head off when Youngho told him and Kim Chun what he discussed with Victor Jun.


    ¡°Mr. Park, don¡¯tugh. This is quite embarrassing. What the heck is a patrol boat?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner. It¡¯s still huge for Countryside Force to have armed patrol boats. I¡¯m going to attach missiles if necessary, so don¡¯t get too disappointed.¡±


    ¡°Boss. You should¡¯ve forced him a little bit. Victor, this guy! He¡¯s not a stranger and he¡¯s a Koryoin. How dare he do this to us?¡±


    The Kazakh Navy requested the most suitable job that Countryside Force could handle. Youngho could tell that the government had carefully made the decision.


    A patrol boat, instead of a battleship, had a wide radius of action and was not very restricted from crossing other seas. This was because most of them yed a role in preparing for disasters.


    In particr, fishing boats from the Caspian Sea coastal countries did not take much trouble crossing other seas. They were not many in number and most of them could not go far because they were for offshore use. Even if they somehow intruded into other seas, their old and ragged equipment was not worth paying attention.


    Each country had several small patrol boats, but they only patrolled around ports. It would not be a lie to say that they were there, to save their faces.


    One good thing about the farm¡¯s status as an autonomous republic was that the farm¡¯s young people were freed from military drafts. Due to the farm¡¯s own military education and training, they were exempted from the Kazakh military. Moreover, the schools in Arirang Farm did not receive official authorization yet, and there was no way to prove the students¡¯ status. Now, all it needed was themissioner of the farm¡¯s authorization.


    To the Kazakh government, the farm was only an autonomous region of an ethnic minority group, but it wrote ¡®The Autonomous Republic of Arirang¡¯ on any official documents issued by the farm with the Archduke family¡¯s emblem. If there was a legitimate seal on documents, it would look very authentic.


    To prepare the official seal, Kim Chun was going through European royal families¡¯ documents on the inte.


    ¡°Boss. How about this? These are what old kingdoms in the Balkan Penins used to have.¡±


    ¡°We can use anything. What counts is that we put a seal on a document.¡±


    ¡°Many foreign distinguished universities sometimes verify the authenticity of their seal. Should I order a seal that has the Archduke family¡¯s emblem in it? We won¡¯t get into any trouble that way.¡±


    Kim Chun was anxious to think that the students of the autonomous republic might get a disadvantage in the outside world in the future. The small-sized autonomous region and kingdom could look ridiculous to foreign people.


    Youngho thought that, since there was nothing to boast about the farm now, he should at least earn more money for the farm¡¯s people.


    Now that the farm was promoted as an autonomous region, there was a need to promote the state to the public. The officials of the regional government of Atyrau would know about it already, but other regions would not have heard about it yet, and to let the people who were rted to Arirang Farm through direct and indirect connections know, a huge and jazzed-up event should be held. People would acknowledge the autonomy of the farm and treat the farm¡¯s residents respectfully when only there was an official promation of the autonomous state.


    Youngho ordered Kim Chun to prepare for the ceremony and festival day.


    Making a list of invitees and sending out invitations, he hurriedly prepared for the promation ceremony and it could be held at the end of November. Many people came to congratte the farm and went back after admiring about the farm¡¯s city.


    The residents celebrated the festival for two days straight.


    The main stars of the festival were, of course, Fatima, Leon, and Zeynep.


    As Fatima showed up, Youngho was pushed to the back seat again. Watching this, Jong-il did not forget to make ament.


    ¡°I said your role is a chore guy for your wife. Why don¡¯t you serve her as your mistress from now on?¡±


    Despite Jong-il¡¯s tease, a smile did not leave Youngho¡¯s face.


    He could not fall asleep at night for the past several days since he was too excited with the achievement he made. He was satisfied that he had made the farm an autonomous region.


    In the harsh coldness, the farm was filled with guests and residents that gathered to celebrate the autonomous state. Looking at people¡¯s satisfied faces, Youngho responded back to Jong-il.


    ¡°Who cares I¡¯m a chore guy if every day was like this? I¡¯ll be happy to be a chore guy a hundred times!¡±

 Chapter 250 - The Autonomous State of Arirang (1)

    <h4>Chapter 250: The Autonomous State of Arirang (1)</h4>


    ¡°Dang, Baku is springpared to this.¡±


    Shivering in cold, Jong-il was stepping out of an airne.


    Today was an expanded board meeting at the autonomous state, so Cha Insoo and Kim Il-Kwon joined Youngho and Jong-il.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the wind. It would be more tolerable if there was no wind.¡±


    Youngho, who agreed with Jong-il, also shivered.


    Atyrau, Kazakhstan had a northtitude of 48 degrees, which was eight degrees higher than Baku and seven degrees higher than Korean Paektu Mountain. Inevitably, winter here was bound to be severe.


    As December began, rivers began to freeze, and fishing was stopped.


    Ice on the river could be broken with a sturdy and powerful car ferry, but having learned fromst year, Youngho already prepared everything ahead. For the factories near the wharf, Youngho had stored parts and materials ahead of time when it was still warm, so they could still produce, regardless of the outside weather.


    Also, in case that sr power generation was disrupted by the winter¡¯s wet season and electricity reserve was insufficient, each factory was equipped with its own power generator.


    The wet season was not truly wet in Kazakhstan. The precipitation was only about a hundred millimeters from January through March, but since most of the rain in the country rained this time, it was called the wet season.


    Having spent the harsh and severe winter once, things were prepared for any emergency at the farm, and it felt quite cozy. If there was no wind, the winter could be more tolerable, but unfortunately, because of the cold weather that went below negative four degrees in Fahrenheit, people had to stay inside until spring.


    The underground gym built underneath the sheep ranch was the only ce where people could go to do indoor activities and exercises. Despite all of the facilities, the coldness was hard to bear for Serbians since they had lived their entire lives in the warm Balkan Penins. It seemed that they needed more time to adapt to the new environment.


    ¡°We concluded to send ten men from Countryside Force with H Corporation¡¯s construction survey team. If there are no other inquiries or requests, today¡¯s meeting will be dismissed.¡±


    A team of H Corporation¡¯s staffs came to Kazakhstan before beginning the highway construction and the team needed security guards around the vastnd of Kazakhstan. It was only a simple job of guarding, but because Countryside Force was being sent out of the farm for work, it needed to be reported to the Kazakh government. Although Countryside Force would majorly work at the farm, they technically belonged to the Kazakh Army. Any activity outside the farm should be reported and approved by the Ministry of National Defense. The Kazakh government wanted to have strict control over the farm¡¯s force.


    ¡°Commander Cha Insoo, you¡¯re aware of the fact that you need to report to Ministry of Defense tomorrow, right? When you¡¯re there, you also need to report the arms and equipment our men will carry with them. I¡¯m not sure if they will be approved though.¡±


    ¡°Private firearms will probably be approved. I¡¯m also going to ask for the approval of light-armored vehicles as well, this time.¡±


    French anti-tank missiles and ground to air missiles would stay hidden from the government, but Turkish light armored vehicles, Russian armored vehicles, multiple rocketunchers, and portable rocketunchers that were taken from Armenia would be reported. The government might have a question when the farm purchased such weapons, but it would not be a big matter, because now they were there to strengthen the country¡¯s defense.


    The government requested the farm toe up with patrol boats on its own, which meant that, it intended to strengthen national defense.


    Seven armored vehicles, twenty-seven light armored vehicles, and two multiple rocketunchers were a great strength added to Countryside Force.


    The light armored vehicles were used most of these days, so it would have greater firepower if they could have multiple rocketunchers on. The light armored vehicle could seat ten armed men. Its four-wheel-drive top-of-the-line tactical maneuver function showed off the best engine in vast ins and mountainous areas of Kazakhstan. The vehicle itself proved its worth when used around the farm in the meantime, So Youngho ordered ten more of them from Otokar, the light armor vehiclepany, in Turkey.


    He nned to give them away to the Kazakh military as a celebratory gift for the farm¡¯s elevation of the status as an autonomous region.


    One reason was to earn favor from the military. Countryside Force would be under the Kazakh military¡¯s control anyway, and Youngho thought that the best strategy for the farm was to make the military on its side. There was another reason as well. It was to let the Kazakh military turn its eye on defense equipment from other countries, rather than only relying on Russianpanies. There was no reason for the government to insist on Russian products when there was a great quality of foreign military products.


    Cha Insoo came back from Ministry of Defense with an approval letter for ten Countryside Force soldiers and three light armored vehicles to leave the region for the first time.


    One might ask why a survey team for road construction needed armed men and vehicles, but he would soon find out if he stayed in Kazakhstan for a few days. Wild animals appeared night and day, and since many regions did not even have roads, regr vehicles were not much of help. Moreover, robbers and bandits frequently appeared in remote ces. If the team was not armed, its members would risk not only their belongings but also their lives in many cases.


    A lot of supplies were needed for the survey team, so one of the vehicles was filled with gas and camping supplies only. Despite the tight preparation, the team would only be able to sustain their expedition when receiving a supply of goods once in every week from the farm. Since the team needed to endure the severe continental cold during their expedition, the preparation did not seem sufficient. Thus, Youngho did not forget to slip a note to the Kazakh government that any support needed for the survey team¡¯s convenience would be done as asion arose.


    Although Kazakhstan made huge funds from trading their excessive underground resources, the country weed any foreign investments, as there were many asions to spend money as a developing country. Especially, if they came from a third country instead of Russia or China, where the government did not have any conflicts with, was more convenient for the country.


    The old president made Youngho excited as he dly approved Arirang Farm¡¯s autonomous status. The reason that Youngho suggested H Corporation build highways in the country was to show appreciation to the Kazakh government. It was also to keep the promise that he would spend money that was earned in Kazakhstan, for Kazakhstan only.


    The old roads that were used by merchants who crossed Kazakhstan on horsebacks and camelbacks during the time of the Silk Road still remained in the country. This meant the road conditions were extremely bad and rough.


    If the government refused to invest in the road construction project, he was going to do it all by himself, but it seemed unlikely since there were staffs from another Korean constructionpany in the survey team along with the staffs of H Corporation. This meant that he did not have to worry about investing in the construction anymore.


    Youngho did not mind this at all since he could simply invest in other ces with the money now. He was attached to Kazakhstan more than Baku, Azerbaijan since Baku was already a stable city. Kazakhstan was and of opportunity in his eyes.


    The desertednd could be turned into rich soil if it was well-taken cared off, and there were so many ways it could be developed into.


    It was breathtaking when the government asked for the development of a vast tract ofnd over 247 acres under the condition of the autonomous state¡¯s existence, but it was not a terrible condition.


    If the water of the Ural River was drawn and supplied and the underground water resource was developed smoothly, thend could possibly be turned into mega farnd.


    When Youngho and Park Youngsun scanned through the newnd on an airne, they could spot a few londs.


    Park Youngsun pped hisp immediately. He thought of an idea to not only ting windbreak, but also set them in a way that pools of water would be formed in the londs.


    He meant to create some kind of oasis.


    It was such a great idea that Youngho was taking another tour around thend with Jong-il, Insoo, and Il-kwon.


    ¡°Man! This is all ours? How big is it anyway?¡±


    Jong-il eximed. It was indeed a breath-taking view of the vastnd.


    Youngho was worried to think about how much money would be invested here from now on.


    ¡°This is a little bit bigger than Seoul. I¡¯m scared that the government might toss morend to us when this is all developed.¡±


    ¡°If the authorities give us more, just take it. I¡¯ll take a shovel to give you a hand.¡±


    ¡°Man, that¡¯s cute. Let me give you a hug, man.¡±


    ¡°Get off your disgusting hands, dude! You want to hug me whenever I¡¯m off guard. I hate it.¡±


    Il-kwon who was flying the airne took a turn.


    ¡°Boss. I think we shouldnd there.¡±


    ¡°Whynd in this coldness? Let¡¯s take another round and return to the farm.¡±


    ¡°I think I saw some frozen ice. I should go check.¡±


    ¡°What? Did you say ice? That means there¡¯s water.¡±


    It was unprecedented to say that there was water in a ce that was a half-deserted region. Youngho had flown around the ce for several times but saw dried upnd only.


    As an experienced pilot, Kim Il-kwon found a t ground and sessfullynded the four-seater Cessna airne. Thending was somewhat rough, but his skill was great enough to bring up everyone¡¯s thumb.


    ¡°You¡¯d make quite of money when you be a professional pilot.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, how dare can Ipare to you? You usually fly longer than I do.¡±


    ¡°Apetent pilot like you also approve of my skills, but he alwaysins whenever Ind. He¡¯s so stingy withpliments.¡±


    ¡°Somebody with Boss¡¯ skills is allowed toin to you.¡±


    Jong-il and Il-kwon¡¯s conversation seemed topliment and mock Youngho at the same time.


    ¡°Hey, you two! Why are you having that conversation in front of me? Hurry and get off the ne now!¡±


    What Kim Il-kwon saw from the sky was a little pond and there was a little pasturnd and little bushes sparsely formed around the pond.


    It could be only spotted because the frozen water reflected the sunlight, but the size of the pond was so small that it would not have been recognizable if there was no ice. The existence of the pond was surprising. It was not possible if there was no stream of water. It recently snowed and rained a little bit since it was the wet season, any water was dried up immediately due to the dry wind. Thus, it was such a valuable discovery.


    ¡°This is kind of an oasis but I don¡¯t see any useful trees but some thin bushes.¡±


    ¡°The existence of water itself is amazing. I think there might be a stream somewhere. I should get Dr. Park here right now. If there was a living vein of water formed here, this might be better than a vein of gold.¡±


    If the underground vein of water was found in a ce that was 20 kilometers away from the farm, the cost of irrigation canal construction would be saved and the ce around the water could be developed as farnd.


    ¡°Il-kwon hit a home run today.¡±


    Water was the most valuable and cherished in Kazakhstan.


    Any ce where people resided together had to have a source of water.


    The discovery of a stream gave new hope. There might as well be other water ponds around the area. A thorough survey of thend was needed now. If there was enough water, there would be nothing to worry about.


    So, groups of people of the farm on light armored vehicles were sent to different sectors of the newnd to find water. Youngho even put reward money for any group that found water, so many farmers were eager to find it. They would dly do the job anyway for the farm, but since there was a reward, people were enjoying their mission, despite the bitter weather.

 Chapter 251 - The Autonomous State of Arirang (2)

    <h4>Chapter 251: The Autonomous State of Arirang (2)</h4>


    ¡°Where are they stuck at now?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re about 50 kilometers north of Uzbekistan. The ce is west of the Aral Sea.¡±


    The road survey team was facing a problem near the Aral Sea.


    In other countries, many local vige people did not prefer to have a road passing through their viges, but the team was facing the opposite case. A local town was troubling the survey team since the town people wanted a road to go through their town. Although the foundation work was not even started yet, local people seemed to have great expectations about the new roads already, since they would bring more opportunities for businesses and the development of the town.


    What was problematic to the survey team was that a bridge needed to be built, if a road had to go through the town. Still, the town was the best location because it was located in the shortest way from Turkmenistan to reach Atyrau, Kazakhstan by going through Uzbekistan in the middle. The road was necessary to develop the underdeveloped western part of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying the survey team can¡¯t investigate?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re asking for a written confirmation. The survey team doesn¡¯t have the authority to change the route. Even vice president Mr. Kim can¡¯t decide that without the headquarters of H Corporation¡¯s approval.¡±


    The best way to resolve a situation like this was to directly talk to the town people in person. The decision should be made after thoroughly investigating the economic ripple effects that the road through the town would bring,pared to the money spent on building bridges.


    It was obvious that the survey team was struggling since the mindset of a corporation was to make the best profit with a minimum investment. So, Youngho decided to deal with the situation himself.


    Hearing that there was no ce for an airne tond in the town where the survey team was, Youngho drove there with a light-armored vehicle.


    It was only about 800 kilometers away from Arirang Farm, but the rough roads took him sixteen hours to get there. Youngho spent a night in an empty in and drove six more hours before he could finally reach the town. His behind was hurt badly for sitting too long.


    The town was a typical Kazakh farm vige, but the farming had been difficult due to salty sea dust from the Aral Sea, caused by drying of the sea. The only way to support their living was to trade with Kazaks living in Uzbekistan. Therefore, the town had to have an open road to get to Uzbekistan.


    The southern part of the Aral Sea belonged to Uzbekistan, but most people who lived there were Kazak, so the border between the two countries used to be only nominal.


    The bnce of power between the two countries used to be even, but Kazakhstan began to take a significant lead in economic power as it became rich after their discovery of oil crude, and that made Kazakh people hold a higher position than Uzbeks.


    Moreover, if Kazakhstan interfered, Uzbekistan would be in a geopolitically disadvantaged position, since because it was andlocked country, so Uzbeks often overlooked Kazakh people crossing the border illegally. It would cause them more troubles if they tried to interfere with Kazakhs. Not to mention, they were making profits because of Kazakh traders, so keeping a smooth rtionship with them was more profitable for the country.


    Among Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan was one of the leading powers, and if a neighboring country was powerful, a country next to it could share its fate.


    ¡°Vice president Kim, the stream is dried up. I might not have to build a bridge if you could make an irrigation canal for them and cover it with earth.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a civil engineering expert but when building a road, it should be designed to endure the most precipitation amount in the past hundred years. I¡¯m afraid that there might be flooding if we stopped the waterway.¡±


    Youngho was not aware of such standard in designing a road, but it still sounded too much to build a grandiose bridge in fear of hard rain that came for one or two times in a hundred years. The rain would be absorbed to the dried up ground immediately anyway.


    ¡°Think about the desertednd that we¡¯ve passed to get here. Can you even distinguish streams from ins? Actually, this might be better. You can build a bridge and make this a toll-collecting ce.¡±


    ¡°Well, this stream is considered widepared to other streams, so I guess that could be a great excuse. We can raise the surface of the road so that it could stay t.¡±


    Since he was building a highway, it would be more usible to have a t road rather than a road that went up and down along they of thend, or else, it would be the same as a regr road. In order to prevent road damage from the rare rain, the road would better be lifted from the ground level.


    Naturally, the road would be a motorway.


    Once people got used to the convenience of the highway, they would not be able to help, but pay the high toll fee to use the road.


    It would be inconvenient if any motorway or highway that crossed vast wilderness had no towns along the way. Without bathrooms or ces to get refreshments, people wouldin about the road all the time.


    Unlike in Korea, Kazakhstan¡¯s service area business was not big. Youngho thought that service areas could be a great business, and Kim Joo-hyuk loved it as he shared his idea. If there were service areas, gas stations, auto repair shops, and lodging facilities for long-distance travelers, it would also be needed alongside them.


    Youngho, who mentioned about the service area business, was interested in a different thing. When the service areas were set up, little towns would be made around the areas, and he was more intrigued by that. If he could make those towns as the farm¡¯s little bases, it would be easy for him and the farm people to dominate those areas.


    The highway that was going to be built was the section that opened the way to Volgograd by taking-in the traffic from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Since there was an industrial road already that connected Atyrau to Volgograd, the highway would be built up to that point.


    The route was important since it could be used as a kind of information belt.


    Depending on the point of view, it could cover Western Kazakhstan and it could even cover Central Asia. So, through this route, Youngho believed that there would be ways to be indirectly involved in Kazakhstan¡¯s politics. Although it was a dream, he wanted the country that he took part of to be politically and economically stable and well. The problem was that the long-term dictator-like presidency would have a lot of repercussions.


    Many countries that were freed from the Soviet Union tended to have prolonged presidency. The heads of the countries did not let go of their power under the pursuit of stability of their nations. In that process, the authorities of the countries were inevitably corrupted, since they needed to stay in power along with their presidents.


    As the wave of democratization rose among young people and new authorities took over the old, there would naturally be civil war. It would bring a bloodbath, and in order to prepare for that time, Youngho needed to make forces that favored Arirang Farm.


    Any governors and influential people respected by the public should be on the farm¡¯s side, and this was the job of the Intelligence Department. To collect information about people and movements in government and the country, to make more reasonable decisions for the farm¡¯s future, Youngho was willing to invest in an astronomical amount of money for the department. As the director of the team, Jong-il was the most important person for this.


    ¡°So?¡±


    Jong-il who had been listening attentively asked again.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®so¡¯? I¡¯m saying if you don¡¯t get yourself together, Arirang Farm will fall and be a boring, regr town.¡±


    ¡°You mean I hold the responsibility?¡±


    ¡°Am I the director of Intelligence Department? It¡¯s you.¡±


    ¡°You know my department requires lots of funds.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry about that. Just pick some decent people as recruits. Pick some from Koryoins, Serbians, and Kazakhs, and you can do whatever it takes to train them.¡±


    Jong-il, who thought for a while, suggested an innovative idea.


    ¡°How many empty houses are left there?¡±


    ¡°There are about a hundred of them, but I need to share some to the staffs of H Corporation. What about the houses?¡±


    ¡°I need some hostages.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I should make them vow loyalty somehow. I¡¯m going to primarily pick fes who are in difficult situations. I should make their families move into the houses here, so they can have better lives.¡±


    Jong-il was indeed a fast thinker. If the families of recruited agents were taken care of by the farm, they would automatically be loyal to the department and would not dare to betray the farm. What Jong-il wanted was a minimal safety measure for his future recruits.


    ¡°Well, if not necessarily for that purpose, it could still give peace in their minds, and they¡¯ll be able to focus on work better. It¡¯s a great idea.¡±


    ¡°Should I be the one toe up with great ideas all the time? A boss has to know about such things automatically.¡±


    Seeing Jong-il being proud of himself, Youngho had to tter him more now.


    ¡°Well, what can I say. You should¡¯ve been the merchant in the first ce. Ourpany would¡¯ve grown at least three times more if you were it.¡±


    ¡°I know, right? Well, I got hungry for thinking too much. You got anything?¡±


    It waste evening and what Jong-il wanted was to drink.


    Although there had been a celebration festival at the farm, the leading members of the farm could not drink, since there were too many eyes on them. Now that things were taken care of, and there was no one to bother them, it was time for them to have their own party.


    ¡°Call Insoo and Il-kwon now. Also, don¡¯t forget about Kim Chun themissioner.¡±


    At Arirang Hotel¡¯s bar at the autonomous state of Arirang Farm, there was a drinking party.


    Both Park Youngsun and Kim Joo-hyuk, who did not like to drink, joined the gang anyway, and they loudly chatted with each other.


    The loudest person among them was Kim Chun.


    ¡°Boss. How about this? This ship is only ten years old.¡±


    He had returned from visiting a shipyard in Atyrau. When Youngho was busy taking care of other stuff, he had been to many ces using his connections to look for ships that could be used by Countryside Force.


    He was pathetically trying to get cheap freighters so that they could be remodeled into patrol boats, but Youngho frowned at what he had been doing. In Atyrau society, the rumor would spread before they would know, and Youngho did not want to be recognized as a cheap person to the government and Kazakh Navy.


    ¡°Apart from money, we need to think about Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s face. Other countries will mock us if we remodeled freighters.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t they be covered when they¡¯re fully armed?¡±


    ¡°Patrol boats should be faster than other boats. The inside walls should be strengthened and there should be a different cargo space for arms. It just can¡¯t happen with regr freighters.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. I thought any vessel could be used if it was armed.¡±


    Youngho wanted to make patrol boats that were like naval battleships, but they should not be seen that way. So, they should look like regr patrol boats on the outside, but Youngho was going to equip them with missiles on the inside.


    Victor Jun said that he would request the Kazakh government to get vessels from Korea, but it might take a while. If they could not be arranged in time, Youngho was going to buy used patrol boats first and buy new onester.


    ¡°Boss. Why don¡¯t you get bigger boats? You¡¯re going to buy them anyway.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be suspicious if patrol boats that were meant to patrol around a river were too big?¡±


    ¡°Those boats will go to the northern part of the Caspian Sea as well, though rarely. Victor Jun will thank you for saving his face if youe up with bigger boats.¡±


    Kim Chun had a point.


    Bigger boats would save not only the farm¡¯s face but also Victor Jun¡¯s. Moreover, there was no doubt it would save the face of Kazakhstan before the eyes of foreign navy ships in the Caspian Sea.

 Chapter 252 - Preparing for the Future (1)

    <h4>Chapter 252: Preparing for the Future (1)</h4>


    ¡°There will be fifteen recruits in Kazakhstan and five in Azerbaijan. They¡¯re enough to run the department.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get this sort with Michael. He probably won¡¯t reject this.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason for rejection. These are our own agents, not the CIA¡¯s. If he acts cheap and doesn¡¯t want to spend some money on security service, just take back your offer ande back.¡±


    ¡°Being an ambitious person he is, he won¡¯t reject it. To the American government, this also means that it¡¯s going to have an allied force. There¡¯s no reason to dislike our offer.¡±


    Jong-il had brought a list of recruits that he had picked himself as agents.


    For the people who would be working in Kazakhstan were all Koryoins, since Serbians of Arirang Farm would stand out among Central Asians and not to mention, their Kazakh and Russiannguages were still not fluent. Any agents that would be active in Baku were picked from young people of the Serbian ranch vige in Baku.


    There were good reasons for picking Koryoins as primary recruits. Most importantly, there were many Koryoins scattered around Central Asia, so they could blend in anywhere and would not be easy to get spotted. Also, many Koryoins were born from a Korean parent and Kazakh parent. They knew differentnguages and cultures.


    The Koryoin recruits and their families that moved to the Autonomous State of Arirang did not have trouble with moving in and getting along with Serbians. It was because they had already heard that Arirang Farm was a great ce to live from other people and they felt privileged.


    Since the farm had formed a private intelligence organization, Youngho needed to report it to the CIA¡¯s European chapter. Before going to see Michael, he tried to find a way to have it his way. If the number of agents increased, Michael would, of course, try to use them for his own good. Youngho could not let that happen.


    ¡°Jong-il. Whatnguages do the agents speak?¡±


    ¡°They can speak Russian, of course, and Kazakh.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. That means they can¡¯t speak English.¡±


    ¡°Not speaking English is a good thing?¡±


    Jong-il did not seem to get Youngho¡¯s intention.


    ¡°Yeah. You know we were recruited by the CIA because we could speak English.¡±


    He thought that the CIA would not try to hire recruits who were notmunicable with the majority of the organization. It would not be world¡¯s end when they were drawn into the CIA, but he did not want them to be controlled by the CIA, but he thought that CIA would be interested in supporting the new intelligence team under Youngho since they would be Youngho¡¯s eyes and ears in Central Asia.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think Michael will dismiss the group, right?¡±


    Jong-il worried that the group he had put effort into forming might not get approved by the CIA.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way. The U.S. is eager to make its way into Central Asia. Refusing this opportunity is nonsensical for them.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the new president ordered to cut all sorts of budgets. I¡¯m not sure the CIA will have money left for us.¡±


    Youngho thought it was highly unlikely to cut off budgets for the CIA¡¯s intelligence activities and expenses. Any presidents would want to draw the intelligence organization that knew every detail about them on their side.


    ¡°You¡¯re a person like Don Quixote.¡±


    ¡°Chief, was that apliment right there? Jeez, it¡¯s been such a long time since I heard apliment from you.¡±


    ¡°Compliment? Whatpliment?¡±


    At the CIA¡¯s European chapter in Frankfurt, Michael smiled after listening to Youngho¡¯s offer. Youngho¡¯s idea was a daring, one like Don Quixote, but was very innovative. He had heard that Korean corporations would be having businesses in Kazakhstan, but hearing that they were already on a highway building project was quite surprising.


    He also smirked at Youngho¡¯s hopeful ambition to take over businesses in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, once the roads werepleted. When Youngho said that he already recruited twenty agents, he was like a monster to Michael.


    ¡°Chief Michael. Just know that I work hard, day and night to save the European chapter¡¯s face.¡±


    ¡°You focus more on your private business, than the CIA¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°All of my businesses are rted to the CIA¡¯s work. If I stopped all those, where would I get information? I¡¯m only doing it for the CIA¡¯s sake. Also, chief, you¡¯re the honorary citizen of the Republic of Arirang.¡±


    As Youngho¡¯s words lengthened, Michael waved him off as if he was toozy for that.


    ¡°Okay, all I can give you is three million dors of information expense for each agent. Just send me the list of your agents.¡±


    This was something Youngho did not expect to receive. Although he wouldin that the information collected was not satisfactory in the future, it was still a lot of money. However, Youngho wanted to push him further.


    ¡°Chief. You should also spare old equipment and devices for us too. Do you want us to work with bare hands?¡±


    ¡°What devices?¡±


    Michael pretended to know nothing about the devices. Knowing Youngho¡¯s trick, he was not going to let him have it this time.


    ¡°I have formed Countryside Force. You can support us with some weapons, you know.¡±


    ¡°That ispletely irrelevant with the CIA.¡±


    ¡°Kuh, you know that when Arirang Autonomous State gets stronger, it¡¯s helpful for America.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re such a bother, Youngho. Alright, alright. I¡¯ll request that to the headquarters. Now please stop.¡±


    ¡°Then you could slip in some oldmunication monitoring devices, okay?¡±


    It had been two days since Youngho had been stuck with Michael at the chapter.


    ¡°Chief. I have so much work to do. You can trap me here for this long.¡±


    ¡°Ah, get over with it. I know your schedule¡¯s quite flexible. Just help me out, before you leave.¡±


    ¡°Chief, you know that you¡¯d make a great dictator, right? Should I make a country for you?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Youngho. You¡¯re begging me to get weapons for your little autonomous region. How could you make a country?¡±


    ¡°The size of the farm is bigger than the ind of Guam. If I¡¯m done developing the area, the Kazakh government will probably give me more.¡±


    ¡°You know the approval for an autonomous state is not amon event. The Kazakh government will try to use you as well. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°What is an autonomous state anyway? It¡¯s like a republic that could follow its own line of conduct. The Kazakh government will try to use that fact to wiggle out from other country¡¯s influence.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably for that reason. The government asked me to get patrol boats.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, patrol boats...¡±


    ¡°The government agreed to talk to the Korean government to buy their boats. It seems that the government wants to strengthen its naval power.¡±


    ¡°What would you say if the U.S. government offers to help their Navy first?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you make an excusable cause for the Kazakh government to get out of Russia¡¯s pressure, the government will dly take your offer. You can do it through an agency as well. The government already dealt with an American drone factory, so Russia won¡¯t suspect us.¡±


    Michael, who had been thinking for a while, began to talk again.


    ¡°I can¡¯t trust the reports from the U.S. Embassy based in Kazakhstan. You met the president privately already. You must be more urate than those reports.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I know the government is trying to get out of Russia¡¯s influence. You don¡¯t think it will chase us away, do you?¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to send a military advisory group or something?¡±


    ¡°If the Kazakh government entered into a rtion to domissioned education for naval officers with Korea, we think that it¡¯d also be possible to do the same with the U.S.¡±


    The U.S. was preparing to approach Kazakhstan from the governmental level.


    The nation willed to separate the whole Central Asian region from the influence of Russia and China if possible, but there had not been a cause for the U.S. force to reside in Kazakhstan, but now Michael just saw an opportunity.


    It would also be beneficial for Youngho if the U.S. would make its foray deep within Kazakhstan.


    Since Youngho visited Frankfurt in a long time, Yunsuh served lots of special food for him.


    With Yunsuh¡¯s family, Szechenyi, and Youngho at the table, it looked full in the dining room.


    ¡°Wow, how can you guys have great food all the time? It¡¯s like a buffet here.¡±


    ¡°Why? You think this is too luxurious? I thought you¡¯d be sad if I only have vegetables out when you visited here in a long time, so I showed off my cooking skills.¡±


    Yunsuh was ttered by Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Hyung, we don¡¯t eat like this every day. We eat sandwiches all the time here.¡±


    Szechenyi added.


    ¡°Hey, you. Why don¡¯t you visit home when you¡¯re on a break? Where have you been anyway? Your sister¡¯s dying to see you.¡±


    ¡°Phew, she thinks I¡¯m still a kid. Baku is too quiet for me. I go to the library all the time and study.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s busy seeing his girlfriend these days. Don¡¯t me him.¡±


    Having been living with Szechenyi, Sang-chun took his side.


    ¡°Does Princess Isabe ever mention anything about hunting?¡±


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s been ready to go back to Baku for hunting. She hasn¡¯t been able to make time because of royal events. She¡¯ll bring a big group of entourage.¡±


    ¡°We just remodeled a hotel that has 40 guest rooms. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    Kim Chun had been making a fuss about remodeling the hotel at the farm, in preparation to receive the royal guests.


    ¡°I feel like Arirang Farm deserves to earn autonomy. A hotel is great.¡±


    ¡°Not only that. We have a military force of our own and we¡¯re getting a patrol boat soon.¡±


    ¡°No way, hyung. What if the Kazakh government disapproves it?¡±


    ¡°The government requested that to us first.¡±


    Looking back, the force had more than enough weapons, but it did not have enough men. The farm was going through the same situation as Kazakhstan. He would only have about 200 men and call it a defense force.


    As soon as she heard the word hotel, Yunsuh¡¯s face brightened.


    ¡°Oh, oppa. So, we get to stay at the hotel when we visit there?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to go to the hotel. I think our construction director is making the Archduke¡¯s pce a hotel. It¡¯s got too many guest rooms.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s saying that it needs to be big, so it can look like other European royal pces. Also, since it¡¯s located in a remote ce, he said all important guests should stay at the pce in the future.¡±


    The number of guest rooms was reduced from the original n, but there were still more than thirty guest rooms being made. It was to take care of the entourage of important guests. Including huge event halls, dining hall, and other morous subsidiary facilities, the pce was going to be extremelyplex for new visitors.


    The pce was about 80 percentpleted and the exterior of the building looked marvelous.


    ¡°Oh wow, what does that make me, then?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just a sister of the prince consort. What else can it be?¡±


    ¡°I mean, Leon will be the Archduke, right? I¡¯m his aunt, am I still nothing?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be the aunt of the Archduke.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying there¡¯s no title for me?! Not even a countess or something like that?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    That night, Youngho could not finish his meal, due to Yunsuh¡¯s endless inquiries.

 Chapter 253 - Preparing for the Future (2)

    <h4>Chapter 253: Preparing for the Future (2)</h4>


    Jong-il was dying to hear from Youngho who had just been to the European chapter for Michael¡¯s approval.


    ¡°It looks like the states are finally interested in Central Asia¡¯s business now that China is trying to take dominance over it.¡±


    The U.S. had been unable to actively engage in rtions with Kazakhstan for the opinion of the Congress that it could not empower a country that was nothing more than an authoritarian state, but it finally had a reason to get involved in the country since the Kazakh president made a statement that he would make a peaceful transition of government once he finished his goals for the country¡¯s economic development.


    Although it was still a government no different than dictatorship, the U.S. still had a basis for their future actions.


    ¡°What does that mean? Does that mean we¡¯re getting something out of it?¡±


    Jong-il wondered if Michael would spare some weapons to his intelligence department.


    ¡°I tried so hard to convince Michael. I said if there¡¯s nothing he could do, I¡¯ll call Edward, who¡¯s working for the headquarters and ask for his help.¡±


    Michael was a man of self-respect and he did not like other people getting involved in his people and organization who was under his management. Now that Youngho mentioned about Edward, he would not want to see Edward helping him just because he could not. That meant that Youngho had a good chance of winning great weapons and equipment from him.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what happens. We might be only used to help the U.S. involvement in Kazakhstan and get abandoned afterward.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re the one who needs us now. We need to get whatever we need from them while they use us. If they decided to throw us on the side, we should im independence from the CIA.¡±


    Youngho volunteered to be the link between Kazakhstan and the United States. It was to impress the Kazakh government. Although he could not say that he was a CIA agent, he needed to make it seem like a person who had a connection with an influential American politician. To the CIA, maniption of such information was not a difficult thing to do.


    Through Youngho, the U.S. would establish domestic ties with Kazakhstan and aid surplus equipment and weapons to the Kazakh military. Youngho¡¯s role here was important since he would have to slip in the U.S.¡¯s intention to the Kazakh government as well.


    Michael had been calling him frequentlytely. It seemed that if he was lucky, he would get patrol boats for free from the CIA since he asked about details of ships such as the ship¡¯s ages and its weight ss.


    He just received Michael¡¯s call again, so he decided to test Michael.


    ¡°Chief, if there¡¯s something you¡¯re nning to do, please tell me frankly. If you take too long, I¡¯m going to have to order vessels and it¡¯ll all be a waste.¡±


    Although Youngho already made an order, he lied to Michael.


    He had ordered two 500-ton patrol boats for the autonomous state of Arirang and the Kazakh government ordered five guided missile ships from the Korean government.


    ¡°What are you expecting? You didn¡¯t forget the Korean proverb, ¡®don¡¯t think about drinking kimchi soup first¡¯, did you?¡±


    ¡°Then why are you suddenly showing interest in patrol boats? Obviously, you¡¯re not calling me because you miss me. Come on. I¡¯m an agent who deals with information too. You think I¡¯m that gullible?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my personal interest. Also, we talk often on the phone over personal matters apart from work. Don¡¯t waste your time on daydreaming.¡±


    He acted as if there was nothing going on, but his voice was brighter than usual.


    Knowing Michael for almost ten years now, Youngho could tell that Michael was hiding something.


    ¡°Chief, you know how much I respect you, right? I have deep appreciation for you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    He pretended that he knew nothing of what Youngho was talking about, but his voice could not lie.


    As he expected, the CIA was making a list of presents that were to be given to Kazakhstan.


    There were only about 50 stable soldiers at Arirang Farm. Although there were 250 students at the special institution in the farm who were also receiving military training, many of them were willing to study abroad after their graduation. It was time to recruit more soldiers from male adults.


    Being themander of Countryside Force, Cha Insoo wanted to raise elite soldiers that could defeat a hundred men for each.


    ¡°Man, we need to hire mercenaries from somewhere to be called a force.¡±


    Cha Insooined about the small number of Countryside Force soldiers.


    ¡°You can treat all of the students from the special institution as your soldiers regardless of their gender. When they graduate from school, they¡¯ll make a great reserved force.¡±


    Since the poption of the farm was not too big, anyone would be drafted in the time of emergency. The two-year special institution period was considered as a mandatory military training period, and the students would serve as a reserved force until they reach forty. That way, the small number of poption could be protected when soldiers were needed.


    ¡°Oh, man. Those little kids can¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°If needed, they will do their part. Why don¡¯t you train them yourself? Among them, there will be future officers.¡±


    As the Korean proverb said, ¡°If there were no teeth, you would have to live with your gums.¡± Although there was a limited number of people, Insoo had toe up with an effective way to utilize them as soldiers.


    The problem was that the forcecked soldiers who were trained to use heavy firearms. Insoo inevitably would have to train professional soldiers. There were some young adults at the farm who did not like to work in factories or farming and who liked to brag in uniforms. Insoo decided to gather them and train them to be technical officers.


    It was because armored vehicles and multiple rocketunchers could be only used by people who received professional training.


    For private arms, each soldier would receive an AK rifle, pistol, helmetmunicator, night vision goggles, and bulletproof vest, so that they could fight in all weathers.


    The reason that AK rifles would be distributed to the force was that the Kazakh army was using the same model. If there was a joint operation, it would be easy to work together if they all used the same weapon.


    The soldiers were exuberated to receive the goggles and helmetmunicators, and bulletproof vests. Those equipment themselves had raised the strength of the force greatly.


    The uniform of the Countryside Force was very simr to the uniform of the Kazakh army, but they were made to function simr to mountain climbing gears.


    Also, Youngho ordered four-wheel motorbikes as private equipment. The bikes were the ones frequently used at Zeynep Farm. Because there were not a lot of soldiers, he focused on increasing their mobility.


    ¡°Man, because of ipetent soldiers, you have to cover them in gears.¡±


    Seeing that soldiers¡¯ private equipment, Jong-il smirked. He was, in fact, jealous of the support given to Countryside Force.


    ¡°They¡¯re excited to ride the bikes like kids.¡±


    A hundred bikes were delivered to the farm and the soldiers fought over them, to ride them first. Youngho thought of cheap bikes instead of expensive horses, and they were great to ride in fields and hilly areas. He nned to order more in the future. Even people in the ranching business took several bikes, saying that it was better to ride bikes than using horses that were sensitive.


    If people could be careful enough at the farm, it would be a great recement of horses that old and young people could use. It looked like the bikes would be a dominant vehicle at the farm from now on.


    Regardless of people¡¯s abilities, all people had the potential of doing great things unexpectedly. Park Youngsun was such a case.


    He only focused on doing geological investigations of the farm and looking for underground water resources, and most of the time, he kept quiet minding his own businesses. There was an event that Park Youngsun, who had been quiet all along during the farm¡¯s different meetings, surprised everyone.


    He invited several doctors from Korea. To Youngho¡¯s knowledge, it was not easy to bring out doctors from Korea, since they were highly thought by the public and they lived convenient and well-off lives in Korea. They were elite people who went through difficult studies and training. Many people became doctors to be rich.


    Despite that fact, they left Korea to a remote ce giving up wealth and reputation, they ought to be dedicated people to help people.


    ¡°Dr. Park. If they¡¯re really willing toe here, I¡¯ll pay them highly and prepare the best medical facilities and equipment for them.¡±


    Impressed by his action, Youngho spoke excitedly. Then, Jong-il took a further step and suggested to build a hospital to make profits.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we build a general hospital then? If we¡¯re going to have an elite medical team here, all the rich people of the Caspian Sea wille here to get medical treatments.¡±


    ¡°You know, it¡¯ll be just great if farm people could receive proper medical care. Don¡¯t¡¯ you think rich people will go to France or Germany to get medical care? Why would theye to this remote ce?¡±


    Youngho thought that there was a little chance to make money out of the hospital business, but if things happened as Jong-il said, it would be like a dreame true.


    ¡°Dr. Park. Did you also invite a dental specialist? My teeth are not in good shape since I hadn¡¯t been able to go to a dentist since I got here.¡±


    It was not because Youngho did not have money to go to a dentist, but dental treatments could be extremely expensive to many.


    ¡°A friend of mine from college said he would bring specialists from different areas, so I guess you could count on him.¡±


    ¡°How on earth did you convince them toe to this ce?¡±


    Youngho was sure that he offered to provide high sry and housing, but those things were not enough to convince them and their family to move here. The farm was not located in a popr city in Europe. It was a substandard, remote ce. Even doctors from the main city area of Atyrau were reluctant toe to the farm.


    He managed to hire retired doctors and nurses who could give the first aid to the residents, but if there was a huge ident, they needed to be transferred to the big hospitals in Atyrau on an airne. He could not believe that experienced doctors from Korea wereing to the farm with their families.


    The doctors who were friends of Park Youngsun and who decided toe to the farm were members of Doctors Without Borders. They had been volunteering to help people in the globe who needed help, due to disasters and conflicts.


    Most of them were mid-aged, and many of them felt that they had established foundations of their lives now and were looking for ces to volunteer. Their children were all grown up and left to establish their lives on their own. Just then, Park Youngsun contacted one of them andined about poor medical facilities of Central Asia, so they were gathered to help the farm people.


    They would reside at the farm and work primarily at the farm, but they wished to asionally volunteer to help around Central Asian countries. Their decision was very admirable.


    Youngho liked their idea as well. If a professional medical team was formed at the farm and traveled around different regions of Central Asia as volunteers, the autonomous state of Arirang would be respected by the public as well.


    It would, of course, earn the favor of the Kazakh government. The news that doctors wereing to the farm was equally joyous, as the news that the farm was approved as an autonomous state.

 Chapter 254 - Preparing for the Future (3)

    <h4>Chapter 254: Preparing for the Future (3)</h4>


    Three Korean doctors entered the arrival lounge of Atyrau International Airport in Kazakhstan. They came as an advance party, so they did not bring their families yet.


    As Park Youngsun waved at them, a gentleman with white hair smiled brightly. Different from his stubborn-looking face, his smile was warm. He looked like a guy that Youngho could get along easily.


    Park Youngsun introduced both parties.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m honored to finally meet you. I¡¯m Kim Dong-sung.¡±


    The white-haired guy smiled big as he shook his hand with Youngho. He seemed to be an easy-going man.


    ¡°Dr. Kim. I¡¯m just grateful that you decided toe here. I hope you like Arirang. autonomous region.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. Anywhere, people is all the same.¡±


    ¡°This is a very cold ce, I¡¯m a little worried about that. Well, I know you had a long trip to get here, but we¡¯ve got to move soon. It takes about an hour to the farm.¡±


    The three men were not even surprised to hear that they had to travel for one more hour. They must be thinking that they were going to drive, but what Youngho meant by travel was flying.


    The group moved to the domestic terminal to get on the light airne that Youngho brought. He wanted to drive to the airport, but because the road was slippery due to snow, he had no choice but to bring an airne. He did not want to surprise the doctors, but there was nothing he could do. The airne was a bigger one since it was an eight-seater but most of his guests in the past were frozen up in front of his light airnes. Doctor Kim Dong-sung¡¯s group was no exception. It was not a surprise.


    As the airne that Kim Il-kwon piloted left the runway, the whole group got nervous and grabbed the arms of their seats. To relieve them, Youngho exined.


    ¡°Dr. Kim. This airne is safer than a car. We¡¯ve also got an awesome pilot, so you don¡¯t need to feel nervous at all.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we¡¯re going to be on this ne for the entire time?¡±


    He did not seem to be excited about the airne. Youngho felt a little awkward, but everyone would feel the same at first. Park Youngsun, in fact, acted the same when he first got on the airne. The doctors would do fine in time.


    As Kim Il-kwon maintained low altitude, the doctors¡¯ group could not take their eyes off the endless field. Anything would look more beautiful when looked down from the sky. They would freak out on what kind of warlike, thew of the jungle was going down there.


    Kim Dong-sung could not stop making exmations.


    ¡°It is amazing. So, all of thisnd beneath us belong to the autonomous state of Arirang?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going to be. They¡¯ll be given to us when Iplete developing them into pasture or farnd.¡±


    ¡°Wow, does that mean you can expand the territory?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but it¡¯s not an easy job.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t reject freend. I would develop anynd if it was given free.¡±


    Kim Dong-sung was excited to see the vastness of the farm. Coming from a small country, Korea, it was understandable why he was so astounded to see the size of the farm. He had no idea that there was not enough water to develop thend yet.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Then, would I also be able to own somend if I develop it?¡±


    ¡°Well, you won¡¯t get approval from Kazakhstan, but if you developnd within the farm, I think I can arrange something for you. Dr. Kim, do you want to developnd?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. It¡¯d be stupid to not own freend.¡±


    ¡°Well, who would stop you if our new doctor wants to do it. You can take anywhere and try to develop it. In exchange for that, please take care of the farm¡¯s patients with devotion.¡±


    He would realize how stupid he was after a few days, but he seemed to be an enthusiastic person.


    The farm¡¯s hospital was not equipped with many medical devices, but the facility was great. There were empty surgery rooms, doctor¡¯ offices, wards, and other subsidiary facilities.


    After taking a tour of the hospital, Dr. Kim¡¯s team was quite satisfied. Dr. Kim said that it was located in a great ce since it was not far away from the residential towns and the building could have some additions in the future as well.


    The hospital had all the basics, so what Youngho had to do was to order medical devices, so that it could start operating as a normal hospital.


    Even though the doctors were only visiting for now, as soon as they saw patientsing in, they rolled up their sleeves and began to help out with the patients. They looked busy, so Youngho and Park Youngsun stepped outside the building.


    ¡°They must be curious about the patients.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s part of their job Mr. Lee. Would you walk away if people were being robbed? You have the strength to help them. My friend is just doing it because he can do it.¡±


    Youngho nodded. If someone was in trouble, Youngho would dly reach out and help him, not because he waspassionate, but because he was confident.


    ¡°Can a surgeon see regr patients too?¡±


    ¡°Doctors are trained to see all categories of the medical field throughout their internship and residency periods. Not to mention, they¡¯re doctors who have experiences in remotest ces. I¡¯d say, they can handle pretty much any patients.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s great news. Those kinds of doctors are always wee here.¡±


    They also looked around the houses and residential ces. They seemed to like the farm since every facility was pretty new and well-organized, but Youngho worried that they would get disappointed as soon as they saw thend beyond the stone walls that surrounded the towns. Although they came as volunteers, they would want to have a good environment for their family members.


    ¡°He¡¯s a social butterfly in the medical field of Korea. The people he came with this time used to be my students from college. If they like this ce, they would bring some more doctors.¡±


    Since the poption of the farm was less than 5,000 people yet, if many doctors worked together, they would be able to handle patients with ease. They could do their volunteer work during the weekends as they wanted to.


    Youngho thought that it would be a waste of time if they wanted to travel to remote regions to volunteer. It would be better toe up with an airne shuttle system that could transport patients from other regions to the farm. Whatever it would be, Kim Chun woulde up with the best way.


    In many cases, kids would learn from what they¡¯ve seen. With the doctors residing on the farm, the young kids of the farm would have an interest in bing medical professionals. If that would be the case, Youngho thought that it was worth to invest in building a huge general hospital. His mind was busy, thinking about the future of the farm.


    ¡°Dr. Park. Please convince them. I¡¯ll promise to give them the best equipment and treatments for them. Having them here is an investment for the farm¡¯s future. I have nothing to lose.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re already determined toe here. Don¡¯t you worry about them changing their minds.¡±


    Lately, Youngho came across many asions to visit the presidential pce.


    At President Nazarbayev¡¯s call, Youngho hurriedly left to Astana. The president had epted Youngho¡¯s request for a private meeting. Since it was not an official visit, Youngho could meet herte in the night, when the president¡¯s day was over. This meant that they could talk as long as they wanted to.


    Whether it was for a good asion or a bad asion, it was a basic courtesy to bring a gift to the president for a meeting. The best gift that Youngho was confident about was, of course, Zeynep Wine. This was not only a great gift that anybody would not feel overwhelmed about but also had a great taste.


    The old president who enjoyed a few sips of wine opened his mouth.


    ¡°Did you request to meet me, to make this wine as the official wine for the governmental banquet?¡±


    At the president¡¯s remark, Youngho, who had been nervous, sighed in relief. It was a president¡¯s signal for Youngho to speakfortably.


    ¡°How dare can I desire that, Mr. President? There¡¯s awesome vodka made in the eastern part of the country. But, if you would do that for me, I wouldn¡¯t reject your offer.¡±


    Youngho made an effort to get along with him.


    ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯m going to mention it to the government to consider it. So, what surprising news do you have for me today?¡±


    They talked until they finished a whole bottle of the wine and opened a new one. As Youngho carefully poured the wine in the president¡¯s ss, Nazarbayev asked a question with a smile on his face.


    ¡°So, what are you getting out of this?¡±


    ¡°I just want the Autonomous State of Arirang to stay in peace for many more generations toe. Moreover, I¡¯d like to see Kazakhstan bing a powerful nation over the globe, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°America must be gaining something from this too, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The old president already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Youngho¡¯s political perspective.


    ¡°I think you can take it as an action to hold Russia and China in check and that¡¯s all there is to it. I don¡¯t think the U.S. will try to interfere with political issues inside the country like Russia does. This is my personal narrow view, but the U.S. probably wants Kazakhstan to stand as an independent country.¡±


    ¡°Russia would feel like it has a bone stuck in its throat if the U.S. sent us a military advisory group of only a handful people. There are going to be all sorts of pressures, but it¡¯s an intriguing offer that I want to take even if I suffer from Russia¡¯s pressures. Russia will also try to provide us with weapons, so it won¡¯t lose its influence over us. We haven¡¯t been receiving any decent weapons from Russia apart from old conventional arms in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President. Kazakh citizens are not fond of Russia now. Developing a diplomatic rtions with the U.S. could bring up your reputation even more.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to tter me?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you feel ttered by me sir, I would make up even better words for you. I¡¯ll keep doing it, as long as the Autonomous State of Arirang exists in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    There were many kinds ofbat support equipment: Vehicles that carriedmunication devices, multi-purpose tactical trucks, light-armored vehicles, Jeeps, river-crossing equipment, heavy equipment such as bulldozers, field hospital vehicles, and even field kitchen vehicles. For private equipment, there were: night vision goggles, helmets, bullet-proof vests, and so on were included.


    If these kinds of equipment were supported by another country, a military advisory group was sent to teach how to use them.


    When the U.S.¡¯ reason for supporting weapons was to repay for mineral trades from Kazakhstan, no one would dare to have problems with it. The old president maintained his poker-face, but it was certain that he was quite interested.


    Now that Youngho had done his job to get the president hooked, the rest of it was up to the American government.


    ¡°In fact, if you rejected this idea, I was going to get some old weapons from my friends in America.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with old weapons?¡±


    ¡°Naval equipment is in pretty good shape. I¡¯ve seen some old vessels that could be as effective as Russian brand-new naval ships.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and I did, you know that?¡±


    The president¡¯s eyes got bigger since he had been trying to strengthen the naval power.


    ¡°I used to be a Korean Navy. When I served, the majority of ships we used were the ones built in 1940 in America. Though old, those old vessels could easily beat North Korean naval ships.¡±


    In fact, those vessels retired when Youngho entered Navy, but he had heard that they were used until a few years before he was enlisted. Their reputation was still great among his seniors.


    ¡°So, you¡¯d like to get those vessels for the Arirang Autonomous State?¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s going to suspect when an autonomous state tries to strengthen its military power. Russia will not say anything about it.¡±


    ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pretend to use those for a while and donate them to the Kazakh Navy. If the Navy says it can¡¯t handle the Caspian Sea, the Arirang Autonomous State will take over the sea. Well, of course, it can only happen when you approve of it.¡±


    The old president held his sides withughter at that point.

 Chapter 255 - Preparing for the Future (4)

    <h4>Chapter 255: Preparing for the Future (4)</h4>


    The atmosphere of Michael¡¯s office at the CIA¡¯s European chapter in Frankfurt was as light as a feather. It was because Youngho was talking about what he had conversed with the Kazakh president.


    ¡°Chief. How many agents who can talk to a president in private are there?¡±


    As Youngho boasted, Michael smirked.


    ¡°You met him as a businessman, not as an agent. You think he would¡¯ve spent a second with you if he knew you were an agent?¡±


    ¡°Phew, you always try to bring men working down under you instead of showering them withpliments.¡±


    The two could exchange such jokes since Youngho did not have any desire to get promoted in the CIA, but it would be a weird scene for other agents.


    ¡°Alright. You did well. Now you can keep your quiet.¡±


    ¡°Got that. I did my role, so why don¡¯t you unwrap the present package for me?¡±


    ¡°Phew, Youngho. You sound like I owe you a debt. You¡¯ve done a proper thing that every agent should do. Why do you need amission for this? I don¡¯t have such a thing. Stop dreaming about it now.¡±


    Quite opposite from his remark, Michael¡¯s face was proud of Youngho¡¯s achievement. The European chapter had been collecting information in Central Asia, but it had never actually been politically involved there. It was because the U.S. did not think of it as an important matter. The U.S. focused on Kazakhstan when it first imed independence from Russia but soon, it found out that it could not cooperate with pro-Russian governmental officials who formed the majority group of the Kazakh government. However, now the situation was different. All around Central Asia, there were surging waves of anti-Russian and anti-Chinese ideas. Officials did not want Russia¡¯s involvement in their countries anymore. Taking advantage of this atmosphere, the U.S. was trying to dig into the crack between Russia and Kazakhstan under the pretext of a dispatch of the military advisory group.


    Michael was credited for beginning the U.S.¡¯s diplomatic rtions with Kazakhstan, but his concern was in somewhere else. The rtionship with the U.S. and Kazakhstan was now politically discussed and the CIA¡¯s involvement in it was no longer needed.


    His problem was now to reward Youngho to the extent that he would be satisfied. Youngho was one of the most valued agents under Michael, but he was also very unpredictable. Since he did not desire to stay in the CIA, Michael was not sure when he would say he would resign from the CIA. He had brought many achievements to the European chapter and Michael wanted to keep him as long as he could, and even if he left, Michael wanted to stay in touch with him and keep the cooperative rtionship with him since he was an influential businessman around Central Asia.


    There were strategic weapons that belonged to the U.S. Department of Defense that had been sorted as idle equipment, but he had to consider the political situations. As Arirang Farm became an autonomous region, sending military equipment was not a matter but it must be done ording to reasonable standards, but Youngho was not someone who would be satisfied with one or two patrol boats.


    After a long consideration, he decided to see Youngho¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Lee. Would you be satisfied with some patrol boats?¡±


    ¡°How many are you giving me?¡±


    Youngho asked the question so naturally without shame. Michael was dumbfounded.


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®how many¡¯? You have any idea how expensive they are?¡±


    ¡°Whoa, I guess you¡¯re giving me huge vessels to patrol around the palm-sized Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°The Department of Defense still wants to make profits from any used vessels. They¡¯re not free, Youngho.¡±


    ¡°I know they¡¯d be sorted as idle equipment.¡±


    Michael leered at Youngho who was not willing to give in a single bit.


    ¡°Oh, what a greedy man...¡±


    ¡°Chief. I¡¯ll make it easy for you. A couple of patrol boats and three to four small missile boats would be sufficient. I¡¯m only going to pass them to the Kazakh government in the future.¡±


    Youngho said it naturally, as if he was asking for a few bottles of wine.


    ¡°Three to four missile boats?!¡±


    ¡°Chief, I know you¡¯re a guy who had all of this in mind already. Why are you acting like you¡¯re surprised?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just unbelievable, Youngho.¡±


    ¡°What did Michael say?¡±


    Jong-il pulled his chair toward Youngho as he mentioned about military equipment for the Department of Intelligence.


    ¡°He said he would sneak in some equipment when he sends the patrol boats.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t say anything about what kinds?¡±


    ¡°He told me he will get everything sorted if we just sit back and wait. I couldn¡¯t push it any further.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re too soft. It¡¯s a huge achievement that you¡¯ve been the contacting point with Kazakhstan. Why did you step aside?¡±


    Michael could not guarantee anything since any equipment rted to intelligence was quite expensive. Also, taking out used devices that belonged to the U.S. CIA was aplex process that had to be approved by the high rankers of the organization. Moreover, one might track what the CIA had been up to through their old devices. It was a risky business for the CIA. However, Jong-il wanted to push it even further since he saw an opportunity.


    ¡°Dude, just wait around. Michael is not a guy who gives promises in vain. If he can¡¯t do anything, I¡¯m really going to ask Edward for help.¡±


    ¡°What about ships? How many ships is he giving away?¡±


    ¡°I told him three patrol boats and five missile ships, and he was about to faint.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. I guess we¡¯ll get at least half of the number you said.¡±


    ¡°I bet there are tons of idle ships. They¡¯ll get rid of some of them this time, for the sake of their storage room. Since the U.S. is giving them to Arirang Farm, not Kazakhstan directly, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Just remember. I¡¯m going to use at least one ship dedicated to the Intelligence Department. Okay?¡±


    ¡°What? An intelligence ship?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re going to give us ships that are less than ten years old. Those new ships would have all sorts of devices installed inside. I bet that could be used as an intelligence ship.¡±


    What Jong-il had in mind was a new ship that was in the 500-ton ss. If the ship was disguised as an ocean surveyor ship, no one would notice that it was used to collect information for the Intelligence Department.


    It was Jong-il-like idea.


    Since a surveyor ship could go anywhere in the Caspian Sea and even to the ck Sea, it was perfect for small-scale operations.


    Jong-il had countless ideas about how he would run the department, but what hecked was the number of people whom he could mobilize. After all, the problem was that the poption of Arirang Farm was too small.


    Since drawing other minority groups in Kazakhstan was specifically forbidden by the president, the only thing the farm could do to increase the poption was to draw in more Serbian immigrants. Youngho needed to search for more Serbian diasporas who were the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom.


    Christmas was a week away.


    In many countries of Western Europe, Christmas carol songs were yed in the streets and holiday decorations were disyed starting from the early December, but Baku or Arirang Farm was not the same case.


    The Christmas of Eastern Orthodox Church was not on December 25th but on January 7th. Serbian church also followed the Eastern Orthodox Church. The descendants of the Serbian Kingdom who lived in Baku were not very religious, so Christmas to them was only another holiday. So Zeynep Farm¡¯s Christmas was on December 25th and after that was a winter holiday break.


    In the other hand, Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s Serbian immigrants were zealous brethren of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and naturally, their Christmas was on January 7th.


    Youngho and his friends, who were not religious and who had been enjoying Christmas as a regr holiday, had to experience two Christmases in a row at each farm.


    Since Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were Imic countries, the season was not celebrated by the majority of the public. There was a tree decoration in Baku downtown, but it did not look special.


    ¡°Man, this doesn¡¯t feel like at all in the streets.¡±


    ¡°But yet, we have two Christmases at our farms. Isn¡¯t that crazy?¡±


    ¡°Come to think of it, Korean Christmas was so fancy. Man, even my heart swelled when it came to the season.¡±


    ¡°I miss those days.¡±


    The three friends who gathered in Youngho¡¯s study in a long timeined about the season.


    ¡°But at least we have a tree at the farm¡¯s entrance. It looks great.¡±


    ¡°You consider that a Christmas tree? Zeynep and Park Seo-young made it. I think I cane up with a better-looking one.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s frustrated response to Insoo would have been a risky one if Zeynep was around and heard it.


    ¡°Well, we get to have a longer break if there are two Christmases but we can¡¯t just rx here.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we take our kids and go somewhere nice?¡±


    The three each shared their opinions, but nothing seemed intriguing. The three had been working without ceasing, and the idea of rxing was quite odd to them. Although they got to spend time with their families, their minds were at work.


    The guests at Kazakhstan had already returned to Korea and workers were on the holiday break. Even if they wanted to work now, they needed to wait until the workers came back.


    ¡°Well, guess we go separate ways and find something to do for our own family. We can¡¯t always have drink parties.¡±


    Leon, who was walking toward the gate of an airne with Zeynep and Jelyan¡¯s hand on each side, looked back and waved at Youngho to hurry him.


    The family was about to get on an airne at Baku¡¯s international airport to go to Frankfurt. Everyone was excited since it was a family trip in a long time.


    Fatima¡¯s looked happy as she walked alongside Youngho. Seeing her bright face, he felt sorry that he had been working too muchtely.


    ¡°Are you that excited?¡±


    She nodded quickly.


    ¡°Yes. Going on a trip itself is just so exciting. Look how the kids like it too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve been into work so muchtely.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault. I¡¯m proud of your work because you work for many people¡¯s happiness.¡±


    Apliment like this from Fatima did note frequently.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to go on a family trip more often. I was busy because Arirang Farm just became an autonomous state, but I should¡¯ve taken care of my family first.¡±


    ¡°A, I¡¯m d you think that way.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your patience, Fatima.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ttering me.¡±


    Fatima smiled brightly.


    Looking at the couple walking slowly behind them, the kids called them even louder.


    Their voices were loud and full of confidence. Looking back, Jelyan had changed so much. When she was first adopted, she could not even speak because of the trauma of losing their parents and brother from war. Now, she was a different person. Having trustworthy adults and family that could protect her around gave her confidence.


    Looking at his happy family, Youngho was even proud of himself. He had worked hard to support his family and this moment was enough as a reward for his hard work. He only wished that the family would stay like this and the peace wouldst forever.

 Chapter 256 - Preparing for the Future (5)

    <h4>Chapter 256: Preparing for the Future (5)</h4>


    It was a rather short trip, but everyone seemed to be blessed by it.


    Youngho and his family visited only several big cities in Germany this time, and the kids loved sightseeing rather than going to museums since they loved to shop around downtowns of big cities. Fatima was the same. She loved going on shopping.


    While touring around, Youngho searched for what could be applied to the Autonomous State of Arirang. His favorite city was Freiburg. The city was uniquely regted to be an eco-friendly ce. No vehicles were seen around residential ces. They were all parked in the outskirts of the city.


    The city¡¯s policy allowed it to reduce air pollution and car idents. Also, streets and alleys were spared for children, so that they could freely run around. Each roof of the houses had a sr water heater attached, the trees and small nts were nted in any empty spaces for air purification purposes.


    Each house also had a rainwater reservoir and any wastewater had to go through a purification process to be reused. It was quite amazing that people strictly saved water even though the city had plenty of precipitation. Youngho never thought of such a thing in Kazakhstan. He was stunned that he had been letting go 200 millimeters of precipitation a year. When he saw that the city recycled food waste to gain energy andpost for farming, he could not help but let out an exmation.


    Youngho thought that this should be the way how Arirang Farm should be if he wanted to prepare for the future. He admired how people of an advanced country like Germany could be so frugal. Their efforts to leave a clean environment for their descendants were quite surprising.


    To him, who was living in a semi-deserted ce, everything he saw was enlightening. He gained a new hope that if Arirang Farm could start green revolution first, the semi-desertednd could turn into greennd one day.


    ***


    ¡°You should¡¯ve seen the ships following behind us. It was a marvelous view.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it just easy to break the ice because it was thin?¡±


    ¡°No, ships with weak engines could not even proceed into thin ice. Man, you have no idea how many vodka bottles those captains sent me. I feel like I¡¯m already drunk just by thinking about drinking them.¡±


    Jong-il bragged about how the shippingpany¡¯s 3,000-ton ss ice breaker freighter could get to the Port of Atyrau by breaking the ice around it.


    Due to the sudden drop of temperature, the seaway was frozen and ships that were moored at an outer port nearby could not get to into the Port, but ¡®The Arirang¡¯ that had gone out to deliver wine to Volgograd was on its way back just in time, loaded with building materials. It made a route for other vessels by breaking the ice with its body.


    Now that The Arirang had made the seaway for other ships in the winter, the word would spread quickly. The northern part of Caspian Sea was always frozen during winter and no one could sail around the area at this time of the year. Knowing this situation, Youngho had ordered vessels that could work as an icebreaker in advance.


    Up until now, it was quite ordinary for captains that once the ice was frozen, the ships would go on a break until it melted. The degree of salinity of the Caspian was very low, so it was the same as a river freezing up during the winter. It was not that people did not attempt to break the ice before, but they stopped trying because there were not a huge amount of goods being traded around the area and it was not worth to spend the cost to break the ice.


    Icebreakers were only used to go around the downstream of the Volga River in Russia and to deliver necessities to the oil exploration ship. Except for those, any other transport of goods were stopped in the Caspian Sea in the mid-winter. During this time, when people needed to transport goods urgently, it was normal to deliver them through a long route bynd, but Youngho had turned that custom upside down.


    ¡°I asked the captains who followed behind us. They said that they usually waited at the outer port until the sea ispletely frozen and then they walk to the port on the frozen sea. Do you think this is possible in the 21st century? Man, I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re just rxed people or stupid.¡±


    The freighter was not sturdy enough to go to pr regions, but it could easily work as an icebreaker in the Ural River and the Caspian Sea unless extreme cold weather continued and ice was frozen to a thickness of more than one meter. To secure the sea route in case of severe weather, the car ferry and the freighter were sailing around the Arirang Farm to break the ice.


    Since they were only breaking the ice so that ice would not thicken, little ships could not sail around freely, but the Port was still able to function as a port. Because of Youngho¡¯s effort, transport of goods around the downstream of the Ural River and the Port of Atyrau were freely circting even in the winter.


    There was a group that weed the fact that the Port¡¯s function was revived. It was the Kazakh Navy. The Navy did not try to break the ice on the sea until now, even though it had stronger ships. Now that Arirang Farm had broken the ice for them, it was convenient for the Navy to get back to work around the port.


    ***


    Two missile boats of the Kazakh Navy moored at Arirang Wharf.


    The boats were under the guidance of the lieutenantmander, Victor Jun. They followed the icebreaker freighter that just returned to the farm. He had contacted Youngho in advance to visit the farm, and Youngho was eagerly waiting for him.


    ¡°Lieutenant Commander Jun, you¡¯ve gone through the trouble to sail around in this cold weather.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It¡¯s been a while.¡±


    He took a bow courteously and it made Youngho feel awkward.


    Although a naval Commander was not in a position to bow his head to anyone, Commander Jun had so much respect for Youngho since he was the one who could meet the president in private and he was the practical owner of the autonomous region. He could not treat Youngho like amon person. Moreover, Youngho was a Korean businessman who helped a lot of his people, Koryoins. So, in his perspective, Youngho was quite a respectable person.


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re staying here tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If I may, I¡¯d like to stay here for the night under your consent. I also wanted to discuss something with you.¡±


    ¡°Commander Jun, someone like you is always weed by me. Please call all of your men to Arirang Hotel. I¡¯ll treat them well tonight.¡±


    Since they came to the farm, Youngho wanted to provide them lodging instead of letting them stay on their narrow ships. Besides, it would alle back to him if he did a favor to others first. This was his business philosophy.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯m immensely thankful for your hospitality on behalf of my soldiers.¡±


    ¡°I just put more silverware on the table for your men. Pleasee anytime you want. I¡¯ll always have food and a ce to stay for you. Aren¡¯t we on the same boat after all?¡±


    Now that the farm¡¯s Countryside Force was given a mission to patrol around the water with the Navy, the two parties were indeed on the same boat from now on.


    ¡°I feel less guilty now since you say that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re staying just to get to know each other. If you have anything on your mind, please don¡¯t be afraid to say it.¡±


    Commander Jun seemed to beat around the bush, so Youngho openly said it first. Although themander was in the position to control the seaway of the autonomous region, it was still hard for him to ask Youngho a favor.


    ¡°The Navy would like to charter an icebreaker from you for the winter, if possible.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to break the ice around the Port of Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Not only that, but we¡¯d also like to break the coastal waters to get to Port Aktau.¡±


    Since Port Aktau was located on the Mangysk Penins, it was a strategically important ce for Kazakhstan. It was a foothold city of oil development in Kazakhstan and a port that exported resources. Also, the port was a gateway to the Arystan oil field of the Korea National Oil Corporation and had many Korean visitors.


    ¡°So, it¡¯ll be convenient for you if ice around the Port of Atyrau and the coastal waters nearby is cleared out?¡±


    Because Aktau was in the midway between Baku and the Port of Atyrau, it was a port that never froze in the winter.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I didn¡¯t want to bother the autonomous state every time. So, I requested it to the Ministry of National Defense and I was approved to charter an icebreaker. But when I asked themissioner Kim Chun, he told me that it was impossible to charter a vessel for the long term, due to frequent transportation of goods. This is why I came to see you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    Kim Chun must have been troubling Victor Jun under the pretext of transportation of goods.


    ¡°So, is that all you need? To secure the waterway?¡±


    ¡°If the icebreaker could break ice every other day, naval vessels will be able to sail around with ease.¡±


    Commander Victor Jun seemed desperate. Due to stranded vessels at the Port of Atyrau every winter, the already poor naval force was reduced in half. It was not enough to protect the territorial waters only with the small number of vessels at Port Aktau.


    ¡°Well, the seaway is where our ships would have to sail around anyway. You won¡¯t have to spend the expense of the Ministry of National Defense. How about this? If you could provide us the oil we need to run our vessels, we¡¯ll open the seaway for you with our icebreakers. Since we¡¯ve got two, we could rotate them each time.¡±


    Although the farm had already stored necessary goods before the winter arrived, many unexpected things were additionally needed at this point, so Youngho nned to break the ice anyway. It was because Doctor Kim Dong-sung¡¯s medical team had ordered so many medical devices and medicines. Moreover, ambnces and hospital buses were also necessary. The car ferry would have to deliver those materials busily.


    Just in time, the Kazakh Ministry of National Defense requested to break the ice in the sea for them. It was a win-win business for both. Youngho would save the cost of oil for his ships while doing a favor to the Kazakh government, and the Kazakh government did not have to pay for chartering Youngho¡¯s ship.


    As Youngho agreed to break the ice for the Kazakh government, Victor Jun¡¯s serious face was brightened up immediately. He thought that Youngho was only doing a favor since he was a Koryoin and Youngho had only agreed to save his face. Since he could not read Youngho¡¯s poker-face, it was not his fault to think that way.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I appreciate your decision. I know it¡¯s not an easy one.¡±


    ¡°Anyone would¡¯ve done you a favor. Also, wouldn¡¯t it be good for other Koryoins if a Koryoin navalmander like you was credited for this?¡±


    Knowing what Victor Jun must be thinking, Youngho decided to burden his mind and earn his favor this time. After all, it would be beneficial for him to maintain a good rtionship with the navalmander that was overlooking the waters where Countryside Force would be patrolling around.


    ¡°I only decided to bring out my icebreakers because you convinced me, Commander Jun. There¡¯s no other reason.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I know that other Russian vessels would charge you a ton for breaking the ice for the Navy, but the ships from Arirang Autonomous State would be free, only with the cost for its oil. Commander, you¡¯ve convinced me with your ability. You¡¯re more than wee to report it that way.¡±


    Youngho smiled to think how he could be using this rtionship to benefit Arirang Farm in the future. Since the farm would have to transport goods on the sea in the future anyway, having a navalmander friend was not going to be a bad deal for the farm. It was one way to prepare for the future.

 Chapter 257 - An Honored Guest of the Arirang Autonomous State (1)

    <h4>Chapter 257: An Honored Guest of the Arirang Autonomous State (1)</h4>


    The temperature of Zeynep Farm in Baku was about 37 degrees in Fahrenheit, but Arirang Farm in Kazakhstan was about three degrees now. With the harsh wind added, the weather actually felt like it was over below zero.


    Youngho and Jong-il shivered, as they got off the eight-seater Cessna airne that justnded at Arirang Airfield. The temperature difference from Baku was about 15 degrees, which were hard to adapt in a short time. Moreover, the runway was empty without any stonewalls or windbreak since they could disturb airne pathways. As the two walked to the control tower from the hangar, their bodies were frozen up.


    ¡°I got to spend several days to Baku and I can¡¯t get used to this weather now. I feel weak.¡±


    They both spent their New Year¡¯s in Baku and they grew fond of Baku¡¯s weather already.


    ¡°Why are you ming the weather? It¡¯s because you¡¯ve been drinking for the past several days, you idiot! Your body didn¡¯t have a chance to recover from it yet.¡±


    For the past several days, Jong-il went to visit many governmental officials in Baku to say New Year¡¯s greetings and his greeting often ended up to be a drinking session.


    ¡°You know you can¡¯t skip liquors for New Year¡¯s greetings. Besides, I didn¡¯t drink those because I wanted to. It was all a sacrifice for our future.¡±


    ¡°Phew, you only make things seem greater than they actually are with your words.¡±


    Jong-il was close with high officials in Baku, and the most important information came from his rtionships with them, so Youngho could not me Jong-il for drinking too much. Since he liked to get along with people, he always drank too much around the Christmas and New Year¡¯s Day season.


    ¡°Man, I should take Insoo with me from now on. The guy¡¯s strong. It¡¯s such a waste that he doesn¡¯t use that for drinking.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, you need to learn how to drink moderately. You have no line. You¡¯re going to end up with a messed up body one day.¡±


    ¡°What about you? You¡¯re the same.¡±


    Youngho was also a heavy drinker if there was a chance.


    ¡°I know that, but I feel refined when Ie here. I don¡¯t drink as much as I used to do.¡±


    It was in fact not true. The two often went out to hunt wolves and drank vodka to keep themselves warm in the cold. Still, Youngho felt better since he got to exercise more in Arirang Farm, whereas he was always in his study on Zeynep Farm in Baku. It was because there were too many things to be done in Arirang Farm and manpower was short.


    ¡°Why is the precious princess visiting anyway? There¡¯s nothing she can do here in this cold.¡±


    ¡°What would royalties and nobles do for fun? It¡¯s either partying or hunting.¡±


    Princess Isabe wasing to visit Arirang Farm because she wanted to experience winter wolf hunting. Although it was already an unofficial fact that she would get married to Szechenyi, Youngho could not treat her visit carelessly.


    Facilities on Zeynep Farm in Baku were in a perfect condition that it did not matter who was visiting, but Arirang Farm still had a long way to go. That was why Youngho came in advance to prepare for her visit. He had experienced the winter herest year, but he still could not help to cuss to the biting cold. The Serbian immigrants alsoined that this winter was worse than thest year. It seemed that many people would have to suffer, because of the clueless princess.


    Despite the difficulty, Youngho wanted to tie together the princess and Szechenyi no matter what. It was because there were many benefits for Arirang Farm to have the Denmark Royal Family as a family-inw.


    If they got married, it would be a huge issue in the world, and people everywhere would recognize Arirang Autonomous State since a royal princess had chosen the ce to get married into. The whole world would know about the fallen Archduke¡¯s Family of the Serbian Kingdom that was rebuilding its kingdom on Arirang Farm.


    Before there was a royal wedding, Youngho wanted to make sure that the Autonomous State of Arirang was at least known to the world.


    Youngho shared this concern with Jong-il since he was a clever person, but he did not have a bright idea either. At first, he suggested an ambitious idea to use the Intelligence Department to make an achievement to stop world¡¯s terrorisms, which was nonsense. Another idea was to n the Archduke¡¯s coronation ceremony as a global event. Youngho smirked at this point. He thought that it was only going to be something to joke about, due to the size of the kingdom.


    Despite Youngho¡¯s disagreement, Jong-il insisted that this was the best way to promote Arirang for this Inte-driven generation. If they could get high views on their coronation clip, it would be the fastest way to spread the word about Arirang. Although Jong-il¡¯s idea was not at all senseless, Youngho did want to risk to lose respect from Szechenyi¡¯s future family-inw, the Denmark Royal Family.


    ¡°Man, this kind of news is the only way to promote the Arirang Autonomous State. Or you can try sending the deration of the autonomous state to small-sized countries at our level.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ideas are getting out of control. Never mind. I shouldn¡¯t have asked you.¡±


    ¡°You know you need to have an open heart for different ideas. My idea isn¡¯t all bad.¡±


    ¡°Are we in the Medieval times? Are we going to fight with small countries and take their territories?¡±


    ¡°What you¡¯re doing now is ying the Medieval times. I¡¯m only trying to assist you, man.¡±


    There was no clear way to promote the Arirang Autonomous State. It was not a ce with rich mineral resources. It was just a semi-deserted vast wastnd.


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to nt trees and farm wheat when the springes. That¡¯s the only things that will cover the deserted surface.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a great choice. What¡¯s important is how it looks on the outside, not what¡¯s on the inside. Let¡¯s expand the wharf nt trees around it and the residential towns as well. We can also try decorating around the airfield with trees or stonewalls. They¡¯re just so empty now.¡±


    As Youngho and Jong-il were engrossed in their visions for how the future farm would look like, Kim Chun, who had been marking the border of the autonomous state, came back with a great n.


    ¡°Boss. I¡¯m going to do a project that will involve every heavy equipment on the farm.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make several hills all around the Autonomous State of Arirang.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll dig deep in the ces where the underground water is found and make hills with the dug-up dirt. If we nt grass and water on those small hills with the underground water, they would turn into green hills. If we can make several of them, the autonomous state will be safe from dust storms.¡±


    The man-made hills would act to cut off the wind¡¯s paths and would turn into bigger hills in time, by collecting dust blown by the wind.


    ¡°That is a groundbreaking thought. It¡¯d be great if we can get Dr. Park Youngsun¡¯s advice, before starting the project. You can do anything you want with the heavy equipment, Commissioner Kim. They¡¯re only idle during the winter anyway.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get to work once you fill the gas station in the residential ce full with gas.¡±


    ***


    The winter was especially harsh because of the wolf packs that kept showing up around Arirang Farm. It seemed that all of the wolves in Kazakhstan had gathered to seek for food.


    The farm¡¯s ranch had a few thousands of livestock already to get byproducts from them, and they were a good target of the wolves. The wolves began to show up, regardless of the time of the day.


    There had been a few incidents where some high school boys fell into danger when they went beyond the stonewalls, which was forbidden for unarmedmoners. Luckily, they could survive with the help of the dogs that came along with them at the time. They would have been gone if the dogs were not around. Youngho was shocked to hear that the wolves followed the four-wheeled bikes that the boys drove, instead of chasing their dogs.


    He had limited wolf hunting in order to save some wolves for Princess Isabe¡¯s visit, but that caused a rapid growth in the number of the wolves. It was certainly not sensible to threaten the security of the farm only to entertain the princess.


    It was stupid of him to think that wolves were almost gone because the residents of the farm had killed many of them previously for their skin. As soon as the sound and smell of gunfire ceased, the farm turned back into a yground of the beasts.


    Jong-il¡¯s escted voice urged everyone tounch a mop-up operation on wolves.


    ¡°People will get hurt because you want to marry off Szechenyi. I¡¯m going to mobilize my guys who are getting trained for the Intelligence Department. Tell Insoo to send the military trained people for this operation too.¡±


    Innocent Szechenyi was med for nothing.


    Youngho could not say anything since it was his fault.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it through very well. I didn¡¯t think their number will grow this fast.¡±


    ¡°What would you have done if those kids got hurt? Man, that¡¯s a bad story.¡±


    For the next few days, the wolves around the farm had to suffer troubles.


    People who weed this news the most were the ones who earned money for dressing wolf skin and fur. Also, old people of the farm were benefited since wolf meat was known to restore weak bodies. Most of the meat went to them and the rest was gone to young people who enjoyed the meat as snacks for drinking.


    Jong-il, who enjoyed hunting wolves for the past several days, entered the farm¡¯s office proudly.


    ¡°How many did you even kill? Man, you¡¯ve massacred them.¡±


    ¡°I caught a few younger ones alive. Tell Princess to take them and raise them on her own.¡±


    It would be a problem if the number of wolves did not decrease, even after hunting them every year. There were other dangerous creatures such as venomous snakes and insects in the semi-deserted region, so it was quite dangerous to go to grasnds without any protective gear, but it was also impossible to contain farm¡¯s kids inside the walls. A fundamental solution would be needed soon. Unless the farm¡¯s poption grew sharply, if the residential and farming areas were expanded, the farm would have to continue to hunt down the wolves and be cautious for dangerous creatures around the farm.


    It was not a good idea to increase farming areas since empty farnd after harvest could cause dust. Thus, the farm would be somewhat free from the dust when grasnd was formed around the residential areas and farnd was developed in the southeastern part since it was on the opposite side of where the wind blew from.


    Thankfully, there were several streams within the farm¡¯s territory. Grasnds could be developed around the streams and if trees were nted around there, the farm would be a green ce in time.


    Youngho¡¯s mind was busy to think of different ways to improve the farm¡¯s environment. Maybe he could make a bigger waterway to flood some deserted farm areas once a year to speed up the restoration process.


    With many thoughts in mind, he could not fall asleep even though it was almost midnight. The perfect medicine for this was a good drink. His hand slowly moved toward the interphone that was next to his bed. Although he had scolded Jong-il to stop drinking insensitively, it was nonsense to drink alone at this hour.

 Chapter 258 - An Honored Guest of the Arirang Autonomous State (2)

    <h4>Chapter 258: An Honored Guest of the Arirang Autonomous State (2)</h4>


    When the farm had just finished preparing for the special guest, Princess Isabe¡¯s group arrived at the autonomous state.


    Since her entourage would not allow her to get on any of the small Cessna airnes, they were picked up by the car ferry at the Port of Atyrau. Since the princess had never been on a car ferry that broke the ice and to the Arirang Wharf, she and her group were constantly amazed by everything. As the farm¡¯s residents received them with cheers when they entered the farm, the princess was deeply touched by them. People were immensely thankful for the Danish royal princess¡¯s visit to an unknown autonomous state.


    The entourage she brought were as many as twenty people. If it was her official visit, she would have brought more people but since it was an unofficial visit, the group was said to be reduced. The whole group stayed at Arirang Hotel.


    The hotel was all polished up to receive its honored guests. The princess and her entourage looked satisfied after touring around the hotel building. Since the whole building was devoted to them, they did not have anyints. Although Jong-il scolded Youngho that he should not treat her so special that way, knowing that her entourage would be pickier than the princess herself, Youngho had to suit their needs. It would be even problematic if her personal doctors and security guards nitpicked on small details. Renting the whole hotel to the group was the best solution.


    After looking around the hotel, the princess thanked Youngho in an excited voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m honored by your special hospitality, prince consort. I¡¯m also very touched by themissioner and the farm¡¯s residents¡¯ warm wee.¡±


    She sounded like she was quite impressed by the farm¡¯s wee.


    ¡°The residents rather appreciate your visit to this deserted and unknown ce.¡±


    ¡°Deserted? Your city is amazing. I admire how the residents have built such amazing facilities in this harsh environment. Everything is full of surprise. Is it quite dangerous out there that you have to have those high stone walls surrounding this ce?¡±


    For the princess who had lived all of her life in civilized and well-organized environments, the farm that was in the middle of vast ins was quite interesting. She had never thought of a ce where stonewalls were necessary to protect people from vicious wild beasts.


    ¡°The stone walls were built to block continental winds and winds blown from the Ural Mountains and to protect the people from wild animals. It¡¯s safe inside the town. You shouldn¡¯t be worried about it.¡±


    ¡°I heard there are lots of wolves here. Can we see them if we go outside the stonewalls now?¡±


    ¡°Sure. You can see them anytime.¡±


    The princess was intrigued to hear about wolves. Having an adventurous personality, wolves were enough to provoke her curiosity.


    ***


    Isabe made a fuss about the vastnd as she looked around the farm on a light-armored vehicle that Szechenyi drove. Besides, after hearing that there was an alluvial gold mine at the Koryoin town which was a day-trip away from the farm, she nagged him to visit the mine immediately. It seemed that her interest was more in the alluvial gold than the wolves.


    ¡°Szechenyi, are you saying alluvial gold is just spread apart down the stream?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see it for myself but Zeynep told me she touched the gold with her hands.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! It must be quite a lot if you can grab it with your hands. Can we go there together?¡±


    Youngho interrupted her at that point.


    ¡°The stream in the valley is frozen during the winter. You cane and visit us in the summer and collect gold for yourself. I¡¯ll make gold bars out of them if you do.¡±


    ¡°Is that true? You promised me, then.¡±


    It looked like Princess Isabe was no different than other women. She was a princess who didn¡¯t want anything anymore but she was so excited to hear that she could collect gold for herself. She must be thinking that the autonomous state was extremely well-off. Youngho smiled to see her excited and curious eyes.


    The princess¡¯ visit ended two days earlier than the originally scheduled time.


    She was having so much fun hunting wolves, she did not want to return. If there was no scheduled event, she would have stayed more. It was quite surprising to see how much she loved hunting. Her marksmanship was great that she could shoot a wolf from the back of a four-wheel bike that was moving.


    Although there was a high number of wolves living around the farm, they were not so easily spotted because they would run away as soon as they heard approaching engines. It was rather easier to capture them when they approached light-armored vehicles that was parked at night but Isabe preferred speed hunting during the day time.


    Even though the continental coldness of the vast fields was not easy to endure, she did not mind that at all. She chased wolves on a bike every day until she left.


    Before she left, she said that she would visit the farm every summer and winter to collect gold and hunt for wolves.


    The princess¡¯ visit brought many changes to the farm.


    The residents who had been living ordinary and mundane lives at the farm became more proud of the autonomous state. Seeing that a royal princess stayed for more days than what was nned because she enjoyed her stay at the farm so much, the residents seemed to gain more confidence for the ce. It was a positive change. People were now more motivated to develop the farm. Youngho thought that if they tried a little more, the farm could turn into a decent city.


    ***


    Not long after the princess¡¯ group left, Kim Joo-hyuk the vice president of H Rotem returned from Korea after the New Year¡¯s holiday break. As they stayed at the newly polished Arirang Hotel, they were amazed by its new look.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It hasn¡¯t even been a month but it looks like there had been many changes. Shouldn¡¯t we have to pay higher lodging cost?¡±


    ¡°We had to upgrade a few things because a Danish princess visited the farm with her group.¡±


    ¡°A Danish princess came to visit here?¡±


    He was astounded to hear that a story that could only be heard from TV had happened in real life.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s seeing my brother-inw now. I assume they¡¯ll get married in several years.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was even more dumbfounded to think that the royal princess would be married to some fallen Archduke¡¯s descendant of a tiny autonomous region. It was a nonsensical story. It was unbelievable but he also knew that there was no reason for Youngho to be lying about such a story.


    ¡°Well, congrattions. You¡¯re going to have royal family-inws.¡±


    ¡°Believe it or not, this couple is officially acknowledged by the queen of the Danish royal family. She must¡¯ve approved their rtionship expecting the grand future of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°That must be true. The Danish royal family is investing in something great for the future of Mr. Lee and the autonomous state.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was quite stirred.


    H Corporation had researched about Youngho¡¯s profile and he thought that he knew everything about him. However, the story about the Danish royal family was a new story. If the Danish royal family had decided to send a princess to the autonomous state, there must be something else. He felt that he should report this as soon as possible to the headquarters of H Corporation. Youngho might not be a normal businessman as thepany had thought.


    He believed that any business partnership would be sessful when he knew about his partners and treat them as they should be treated. He had met Arabian royalties and nations as his business partners. Having failed many partnerships in the end by rubbing their fur the wrong way, he wanted to make sure to maintain a good rtionship with Youngho. Especially now that he knew Youngho was rted to European royalty, he intuitively knew that there must be more benefits from his rtionship with Youngho.


    H Corporation that received Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s report about Youngho was troubled. Thepany had treated Youngho as another petty business partnership but he was, in fact, more than what they had thought of him.


    Not knowing what Kim Joo-hyuk was up to, Youngho was busy going over the medical equipment list that Dr. Kim Dong-sung requested. He was confused with a lot of strange medical terms on the paper. Each equipment cost was extremely expensive.


    Most of them were manufactured in the U.S.A or in Germany. When Youngho was deciding how to go about them at his desk, Kim Joo-hyuk entered his office.


    After listening to Youngho¡¯s concern, he spoke.


    ¡°That¡¯s such weing news that Korean elite doctors will be starting to work here. Arirang Hospital will be the most famous hospital in Kazakhstan. You should receive expensive medical fees from rich Russians.¡±


    ¡°The doctors areing as volunteers. I can¡¯t damage their reputation.¡±


    Youngho said so but his brain was working hard to count money.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We should give you a hand since you¡¯ve been a tremendously helpful partner for us. Ourpany would like to be in charge of buying some of the medical equipment.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this would be a burden for ourpany, so we¡¯d like to pay a contribution.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was dying to earn Youngho¡¯s favor this time.


    To Youngho, it was an unexpected gift from him. It seemed like a windfall wasing upon him all of a sudden.

 Chapter 259 - An Honored Guest of the Arirang Autonomous State (3)

    <h4>Chapter 259: An Honored Guest of the Arirang Autonomous State (3)</h4>


    Ever since the Arirang Hotel of the autonomous state was reopened, it had been receiving many guests. They were partnership business-rted people.


    The hotel was originally offered free to any guests of the autonomous state but after Kim Chun became themissioner, he made it a charged lodging. He thought that it was reasonable to at least make money to pay for employees of the hotel and for the maintenance of the hotel¡¯s facilities.


    It was also better to encourage self-reliance for the farm¡¯s residents. Since the farm¡¯s purpose was not to do charitable work, it was better for people to earn money for what they worked for.


    The hotel was now crowded with the staffs of D Drones, the American dronepany, and the sr panelpany. They came to oversee the factories on the farm and to find their market in Central Asia. They had made the farm as their base and went to other regions of Central Asia to promote theirpanies.


    The reason that they made the farm as their base although it was located in a remote region, was that they had more ess to information and connections from the farm than other bigger cities. It was because Youngho often provided thetest business-rted news for them.


    Especially, D Drones highly thought of Youngho¡¯s position in Kazakhstan. Since any U.S.pany in the defense industry had advanced informationwork than any small country, so it was not surprising how D Drones was treating Youngho well as an equal-level partner. Although the information Youngho offered to his partners now was mainly from Agent Smith who was working in the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan, he believed that in the near future, he would be able to provide information mainly from Jong-il¡¯s Department of Intelligence.


    Youngho was having a discussion with D Drones¡¯ sales director from the Central Asian sector that came to visit Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°Do you think our factory can handle this?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Small-sized drones don¡¯t have apetitive price now since anyone¡¯s factory can make them. You need to target bigger drones. Drones that could not only transport objects but also humans are in the process of developing now.¡±


    It was not efficient to connect the vast regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia with a trafficwork. The measures for this was to use sky roads but it was also costly to use airnes. Thus, drones were the best measures in the future. Since small drones could only travel a little distance, the development of mid-size drones was essential.


    ¡°We can support its development cost but we don¡¯t have any researcher.¡±


    ¡°The headquarters will be in charge of developing the core technologies. I¡¯m suggesting you to attempt developing body production. Ourpany will support part of the cost and send technicians as well.¡±


    It was good news.


    Once the drone body production technology had umted, the farm might be able to make bodies of aircraft as well in the future.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll be in charge of mid-size drone body production. Please sendpetent technicians for us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll report this to the headquarters right away and proceed with the n.¡±


    It was a necessary step for D Drones to develop technologies to produce mid-sized drones to get along with the industry¡¯s trend. Youngho was d that thepany chose to invest in the farm¡¯s factory. Thepany had probably reckoned up the gains for investing in Youngho since his influence in Central Asia had great potential.


    ***


    Workers were busy installing sr panels on each roof of residential houses of the farm. Although it was cold, it was somewhat easy to work since it was a snowless area.


    Youngho ordered this to follow the eco-friendly city that he saw during his recent trip to Germany. There was plenty of electricity generated by sr power nts for the whole farm to use but considering the factories to be built in the future, the farm had decided to install sr panels for each house so that each family would use their own electricity.


    The staffs of K Electronics were here because of sr panel instation.


    The sr panel factory on the farm was already working over its capacity to produce sr panels to fill 82 acres of thend on the outskirt of the farm¡¯s residential towns, and because it had to produce panels for 900 houses, it could not even produce panels for outside customers.


    With the Kazakh government¡¯s support, K Electronics had been providing sr panels to remote viges. With the growing demand for sr photovoltaic power stations, thepany was willing to build more factories and expand its business in Central Asia. Since Youngho was their agent in Kazakhstan, a representative of thepany came to discuss it with him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We¡¯d like to build a factory in Almaty which is a base city in south and east regions of Kazakhstan¡±


    ¡°The prices and employee wages in Almaty are very high. It might not cost you like Seoul but it will still cost you a lot.¡±


    Since it cost too much to transport parts from the farm in Atyrau, thepany wanted to build a factory in Almaty. This meant that thepany needed Youngho¡¯s help. Although having a factory in the city was pricey, the city was a charming deal. Being one of the biggest cities of Central Asia, it had plenty of workforce and location-wise, it had great ess to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and even Xinjiang Uyghur.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll see what I can do for you.¡±


    Youngho agreed to him readily because he wanted to make a base of the intelligence team in the big city. If Jong-il had heard it, he would have been exuberated. He had been nagging to make a base in Almaty.


    ¡°Hey. You didn¡¯t even blink when I asked you to go to Almaty over and over. What made you change your mind?¡±


    Jong-ilined.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking, man. I just didn¡¯t have a chance yet. Besides, your agents are still being trained.¡±


    ¡°You know when we went therest time, the rent was pretty high there. Why don¡¯t we just buy a building and use it as a lodging and office facility?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking maybe we could open a hotel there.¡±


    ¡°What? Another hotel?¡±


    ¡°There are old buildings in the old city center where Russians used to live. I can buy one of the buildings, knock it down, and build a decent one. If we have a hotel as our base, our agents will look less suspicious .¡±


    Almaty was Kazakhstan¡¯s center of economy and education, and it was the first city that foreignpanies had chosen when they started their business in Kazakhstan. Since there was an Arirang Hotel in Baku, it was also fair to open one in Almaty. All of the Kazakh high officials knew that Youngho had a hotel chain and they must be thinking why he was not opening one in Kazakhstan. Hotel business in Almaty was very prospective due to an increasing number of visitors and tourists. Having a hotel as a base had some advantages. It was easy to collect information from people and the agents of the Intelligence Department of the Arirang Autonomous State could be disguised as hotel staffs.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go there at once. I¡¯m getting bored with hunting wolves.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s call, Jong-il also got excited.


    ¡°Tell Agent Smith toe to Almaty too. I still have things to teach him.¡±


    ***


    Agent Smith received the two friends who justnded at Almaty International Airport.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been stuck at the embassy but you guys saved me.¡±


    Smith was d that Youngho and Jong-il called him. He was not sent to anywhere ever since he got back from his New Year¡¯s break and was dying in boredom. He had been nning to go on a winter trip with his girlfriend and as Youngho and Jong-il called him, he brought his girlfriend along with him. There was a famous ski resort in Almaty where Asian Winter Games was held a few years ago, and he nned to go there with his girlfriend. Although it was not professional of him to bring his acquaintance to a formal trip, he knew that Youngho and Jong-il would overlook this since he was helping them.


    ¡°Smith. You said that there is a great building on Kurmangazy Street?¡±


    It¡¯s at the entry of the old section of the city, so it¡¯s right next to the new town. There are a lot of tourists there. My source who lives around here confirmed it, so I can guarantee that. This building is put up for sale just in time. You¡¯ll be able to have a bargain.¡±


    The old city center of Almaty was a tourist spot because ofndmarks such as Panfilov Park and Zenkov¡¯s Cathedral which was made in Imperial Russia. The cathedral was the second-highest wooden structure in the world, and it was known as the only structure that did not copse in the earthquake with a magnitude of 10 on the Richter scale that happened in 1910. Having such famousndmarks in the area, any building around it would be quite pricey.


    ¡°I love the location but the price will be the problem. I might have to buy more buildings around the building to build a hotel.¡±


    Since the scale of the hotel would be quite big, Youngho would have to buy more buildings around it but he was not sure if the owners would agree to sell their properties.


    ¡°Director. Why don¡¯t you trust my sources for this? I can also get help from officials in this area if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying we are going to help corrupt already corrupted officials?¡±


    Receiving help from officials in Almaty meant bribing them. The officials of Kazakhstan were not recognized as civil servants but as authoritative governors, so they did not have the mentality to serve civilians. If people needed any official work done speedily, they would have to pay bribes. They were as terrible as robbers. It was easy to spot officials having a sudden inspection on travelers asking for a bribe. If they did not have their passports, disembarkation cards, or residential cards, they would be immensely troubled by police officers but bribes could get them out of these troubles. It was a bad tradition among officials which started from the time of the Soviet Union. Youngho thought that it was better to use his connections with the government¡¯s high officials if sellers of the buildings would do their business unfairly.


    Youngho and the group surveyed around the intended area for the new hotel and investigated the traffic amount and infrastructure around it. Then they went to the city hall to submit a request for building and construction permit.


    Luckily, all of the building seller that Smith introduced was a Russian and he was pretty fair to Youngho¡¯s group. It was because many Russians were very fond of foreigners who could speak Russian. Since they needed to buy three buildings to secure an area of 17800 sq. ft. for the intended hotel, they stayed there for several days to meet other building owners.


    Although the prices of buildings in Almaty were high in Kazakhstan, it was not overwhelming for Youngho. Compared to many other European cities, the prices here were nothing for him. To build a seven-story three-star hotel with about a hundred guest rooms, it would cost him about 20 million dors. Even if he wanted to build a bigger hotel, it was impossible since it was against the old city center¡¯sw. If he had bought a building in the new city area, he could have built a bigger one but this was the best for him for now.


    The reason for insisting the old city center was that there was a Baraholka market which was the biggest universal conventional market in Central Asia. Since countless people visited the market, it was the best location to collect information.


    When they visited the Baraholka market and took a look around, most of the products disyed were Chinese. There were expensive European tableware and mid-priced Russian products as well but cheaper ones were imported from China. Although many Kazakhs had hostility toward China, it seemed that they could not resist the low prices of Chinese products.


    ¡°All of those are made in China?¡±


    ¡°Well, there are some Russian, European, and Asian products but most of them are Chinese.¡±


    The reason for Kazakhs¡¯ hostility toward China was many. Historically, there was a time that Kazakhstan had to pay tributes to the Qing Dynasty and the people of Kazakhstan considered it as a humiliating history. Many did not like Han people taking over their businesses, and some did not like how the Chinese government was persecuting Uyghur people who were trying to break free from China. There were many culturallyplex issues.


    Youngho would be having an operation in Xinjiang Uyghur, so he was learning Chinese now. Thinking about the cultural issues, Youngho felt mixed emotions in his mind.

 Chapter 260 - A Dream of Uyghur (1)

    <h4>Chapter 260: A Dream of Uyghur (1)</h4>


    The Kazakh and U.S. government reached an agreement on the provision of surplus military supplies.


    Although it was a military aid that began with a unteral unrequited request from the U.S. side, it was officially known as an agreement because of the symbolism of Kazakhstan being an independent country. Kazakhstan was perceived as a subordinate state of Russia by many, so the Kazakh government intended to dispel such distorted views. The announcement was sending a message to the Chinese government which had been getting Kazakhstan¡¯s resources at cheap prices that the Kazakh government could establish a business rtionship with the U.S.A or with European countries. As for the U.S. government, it wanted to reduce China and Russia¡¯s influence over Kazakhstan from establishing a rtionship with Kazakhstan.


    As everything was not what they seemed to be, the U.S. CIA got extremely busy over China and Kazakhstan¡¯s issues. Assuming that Central Asian countries would revolt when China persecuted Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, they were getting ready to shake the Chinese government from the backstage.


    Before Youngho¡¯s group left to Xinjiang Uyghur, Michael called Youngho to warn him.


    ¡°You need to do this at a subtle level.¡±


    ¡°I got you chief. We¡¯ll adjust the level of intensity on the spot.¡±


    ¡°Did you say that those Serbians are already fully immersed in there?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. They were sent as a military advisory group.¡±


    ¡°Keep in mind that you guys are there only to stir up things, not to dere war. This will go on for a prolonged term.¡±


    Michael had many concerns and requests but the operation in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was approved. The U.S. CIA had been financially supporting independence fighters¡¯ organization in Xinjiang, and as a huge poption of Chinese people moved to Xinjiang, Uyghur people who felt threatened decided to actively begin their independence movement.


    The U.S. who just agreed on sending military support to Kazakhstan did not let that pass. So, Youngho and Jong-il were now being sent as executives responsible for Russian mercenaries in Xinjiang to investigate the local situations.


    In Xinjiang, 27 former Serbian militiamen had been working as mercenaries to fight for Uyghurs. These were the people who were involved in ethnic genocide during the Bosnian civil war. Since Serbians were Pan-vs, their identities were disguised as Russians, and they had been adapting well without any trouble.


    Officially, Youngho received an order from the CIA but his personal reasons for visiting Xinjiang was to secure a foothold there and to check the training status of independence fighters¡¯ group there. This was where the Serbian people were sent.


    Youngho was not nervous since the only thing that could prove his identity was his Russian passport. Around the Chinese border between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang, there were many Asians who could speak Russian because they were mostly Central Asians that had been citizens of the federal states of the former Soviet Union.


    Those people were from many different countries of Central Asia but many were also citizens of Russia, so it was not a difficult job to cross the border of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Many merchants crossed the border daily to sell their goods.


    Youngho and Jong-il also reported that they were furriers and passed the checkpoint. It would be more convenient to use an airne but because most merchants crossed the border by driving their cars, they also had to travel bynd. Also, furs were not only sold in big cities, but they were also the items that were sold frequently in rural regions, so driving a van or an SUV made more sense.


    ¡°See that person in mountain-climbing clothes? He looks suspicious. Let¡¯s talk in Russian now.¡±


    The person that Jong-il pointed was acting careless but the vibe that came from his body was quite different thanmon hikers. There were not a lot of travelers who looked asfortable as him around the border. It seemed that he was advertising that he was sent by authorities.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s like he¡¯s saying it out loud that he¡¯s got power.¡±


    ¡°You know how authorities are. We shouldn¡¯t be worried too much.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re lucky to be Asians here. No one¡¯s paying attention to us.¡±


    Since they always grabbed people¡¯s attention when they traveled around the Caucasus, they were d that they were not noticeable now since they were surrounded by Asians. Youngho felt a strangefort from it.


    ***


    Uyghurs were currently staging a separate independence movement centered on the East Turkestan¡¯s exiled government, the United National Revolutionary Front and the Turkestan Imic Party. The Chinese government called them Uyghur separatists. They were troubling the Chinese government as they were active in big cities like the Pamir Mountains and Urumqi but it did not find a way to effectively root them out yet. Especially, the independence fighter groups that were active in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture and Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture were they immensely troubled the Chinese government using their sufficient human resource and geographical advantages.


    Since they were close to Tian Shan¡¯s mountain range, when they took off the city with the help of civilians, soldiers or officials of the Chinese government were not able to catch them easily.


    There had been massive rebellions in Xinjiang in 1997 and 2014, so the region was under the oppressive rule of China as Chinese military resided and controlled the people. Because of this, Uyghurs¡¯ hostility towards Chinese people was bigger than one could imagine. That was why Chinese people in Xinjiang only resided in big cities. They did not feelfortable traveling around the region away from big cities.


    Although not all Uyghurs had blue eyes and brown or blond hairs, since many were Mongolian decent, they could easily distinguish Chinese people from themselves and foreigners. Now Youngho and Jong-il were in the city of Kashgar, and the local Uyghurs immediately knew that they were not Chinese. ording to them, Chinese people were not the only ones to stride down the street confidently in their region like the two but also foreigners who looked confident even if they did not wear Imic attire. Also, since the two were Koreans, some things would have looked different from Chinese people.


    ¡°I am Yaniv, and this one standing next to me is Sergey.¡±


    Youngho borrowed his friends¡¯ names as he introduced himself and Jong-il to the leader of the United National Revolutionary Front of Kashgar. Yaniv and Sergey would be stunned to know this but there was no way that they would find out about it. Youngho figured that it would be safe to use different names.


    ¡°It must have been a long trip for you to get here.¡±


    Youngho had talked to him on the phone before but it was his first time meeting the independence fighter group.


    ¡°Well, it was not a trouble at all. We¡¯re supporting you because we want money but it is also because we really want Xinjiang Uyghur to be an independent country.¡±


    Youngho ttered the leader since it was better to maintain a good rtionship with him.


    ¡°I appreciate your help in many ways. Our group is strengthened to the level of a military force with the support of your Russian mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°Could I meet our mercenaries?¡±


    ¡°There are six left in the base and the rest of them are scattered around different footholds for training. I¡¯m afraid that you can¡¯t meet them here.¡±


    ¡°I guess the United National Revolutionary Front has sufficient financial support.¡±


    Youngho asked since the mercenary payments that were received were quite high.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you about the details but in short, we have more than we need because of the support of our people living overseas. We¡¯d only be able to repay them when we achieve our freedom.¡±


    The money sent from the CIA also was disguised as the donation of Uyghur overseas. Since the U.S. wanted to hide their existence in helping Xinjiang Uyghur, Youngho also had to stay as an executive responsible for Russian mercenaries.


    ¡°The reason for our visit is to check the level of military strength and training here before deciding whether we should keep our mercenaries here.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Our men are trained in different regions in small-scale groups to avoid the eyes of the Chinese government. There¡¯s still a long way to go. We need to keep training our men for at least two to three years more until we reach our desired military strength. We¡¯ll pay your mercenaries more.¡±


    Youngho agreed to his offer since the former Serbian militiamen had no ce at the farm now anyway.


    ¡°Which force is more threatening to the United National Revolutionary Front? Is it the public police or is it the upation forces?¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re both troublesome. The public police are hiring Chinese gangsters to incite bloodshed and the Chinese government force had sent search parties to the mountainous regions multiple times and there had been some small-scale battles. We managed to move our hideout without huge damages on our side.¡±


    It seemed like they could not fight back the Chinese force. Instead, they were busy evacuating their hideout.


    ¡°I heard that European mercenaries are also active here. I guess they¡¯re doing great jobs.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you about ssified information but they are a great help to us. Because of them, civilians are also encouraged to fight for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re carrying on their job well despite their noticeable appearances.¡±


    ¡°Chinese can¡¯t distinguish between Uyghurs and Europeans, so they don¡¯t have trouble working as mercenaries here.¡±


    As many Westerners could not distinguish between Asians from different countries, it seemed that the Chinese also could not distinguish Uyghurs from Europeans. It was fortunate news since the former Serbian militiamen would not be detected from other Uyghurs. Youngho had thought that they only trained Uyghur independence fighters deep in the mountains because of their looks.


    Recently, the Chinese force had been appearing across the border of Afghanistan. It was because another Uyghur independence fighter group, Turkestan Imic Party had its base in Badakhshan which was located in the northeast part of Afghanistan. As the government of Afghanistan was receiving benefits from Chinese support, it was overlooking the Chinese force¡¯s patroling across their border.


    ¡°Do our mercenaries keep in touch with each other?¡±


    ¡°The military advisory group that was dispatched to Afghanistan is out of contact now but there¡¯s nothing to worry about. They must¡¯ve moved their hideout because of the recent increase of the patrols around the area. They¡¯ll contact us soon once they¡¯re safe.¡±


    Since it wasmon to lose contact with their men who were dispatched to different locations, no one seemed to be stirred by this.


    ¡°How many were dispatched there?¡±


    ¡°Four. They are volunteers.¡±


    ¡°They volunteered to go to a danger zone?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We are very appreciative of them because they went ahead to volunteer to go to the dangerous area first.¡±


    Youngho could not believe that people volunteered to go to the cold and deserted hignds as a military advisory group. He wondered if their choice was out of self-abandonment orradeship. Where they were sent was a part of Afghanistan which was a long stretch ofnd between Tajikistan and Pakistan, a narrow part of the area was touching the border of China. Badakhshan was the high and rugged terrain near the upper stream of the Amu Darya River in the west side of Pamir Mountains. It was such a rough teau that most people did not bother to go there.


    The former Serbian militiamen went there voluntarily and they were out of contact now.


    Although he was delivering terrifying news, the leader of the United National Revolutionary Front exined it very calmly.


    The former militiamen were sent because they had convicted crimes in the past but their families were still alive and living in the Arirang Autonomous State. Youngho could not ignore them.


    ¡°Jong-il. Should we go and check out the ce?¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s eyes glistened from hearing Youngho¡¯s remark.

 Chapter 261 - A Dream of Uyghur (2)

    <h4>Chapter 261: A Dream of Uyghur (2)</h4>


    A rectangr car, made without any consideration of its design, was running on unpaved roads. It was a Russian minivan called UAZ that carried Youngho and Jong-il. The four-wheel-drive eight-seater van was simply made for its function, also was known for having no minor faults and good mileage. Since it started off as a military vehicle, it could run on the unpaved road, desert, mud, and mountainous roads, but its ridefort was close to zero. It was a great car to have in the cold and rough region of Central Asia.


    ¡°My butt still hurts no matter how manyyers of wool Iy on the seat. How on earth is this car made that it rattles this bad?¡±


    Jong-il said as he massaged his sore behind in the passenger seat.


    ¡°This is developed as a military vehicle. Just be thankful about it. They¡¯re made this way because soldiers shouldn¡¯t fall asleep while driving.¡±


    Even though it would be difficult to make it happen on purpose, the two could feel every single curve of the earth¡¯s surface.


    ¡°Well, they should¡¯ve made some more cushions if they decided to sell it to civilians.¡±


    ¡°But those Russians can make their cars sturdy. Other vehicles would¡¯ve been broken by now.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we hide the car somewhere around here and just run there? Or can we please take a little break?¡±


    The two were on their way to face the Chinese force but were not nervous at all. Since they had been in different battlefields already, this was not new to them. They were onlyining that the car¡¯sfort level did not suit their expectation.


    ¡°Man, we so need more arms.¡±


    The two could not bring any firearms, such as rifles since the Chinese inspectors at the border checkpoint were extremely strict. Because Uyghurs frequently gathered independence assemblies andunched attacks on governmental offices, they did not let people carry any huge-sized metal pieces that could be used as arms.


    In some checkpoints, they even took out all of the things from vehicles and searched the floors and underneath of the vehicles meticulously. No one could hide a single knife from their eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m just d that we got to hide our pistols in the leather shoes.¡±


    Since the leather shoes that was connected to the mystical rings were invisible, they managed to bring pistols, but it was suicidal if they were going to roam around the border area with pistols only.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t help, we should rob a military camp. We¡¯ll be running in the mountain with our backpacks only. No one¡¯s going to notice us.¡±


    It seemed that Jong-il wanted to see what kind of weapons were there in the Chinese military camp near the border, but Youngho was also intrigued by the idea. He had heard that the Chinese force had reduced their soldiers from three million to two million and modernized private weapons and equipment. It was enough to make both curious.


    Leaving the regr path, the two drove on the rim of the Tamakan Desert since there were too many checkpoints on the road that was built around the Tian Shan mountain range. Not to mention, the inspectors kept asking about the purpose of their visit and where they were heading to. Their reason for visiting Badakhshan to buy out furs in this winter was a little bit suspicious to inspectors, especially when Afghanistan was not a regr ce.


    Afghanistan was a highly disputed area where its government force, Taliban, and IS were conflicting with each other, and it would not make sense if merchants were willing to go there just to make money.


    Thankfully, Badakhshan, where Youngho was heading to, was not rted to Taliban or IS, but it was a region that one should be cautious to travel too.


    ***


    ¡°The camp is strictly guarded, but it looks like they don¡¯te outside of their fence in this cold. Let¡¯s climb the barbed wire over there.¡±


    There was a dispatched camp of the Chinese force in the border area of Afghanistan, so the two were there to attempt stealing some weapons from the force.


    ¡°Wait. I think I saw a watchdog over there.¡±


    ¡°That dog must have gone home in this cold.¡±


    It was early evening and the temperature had dropped to negative 2.2 degrees in Fahrenheit. There was no one walking around the camp. So, the two decided to go inside the camp now instead of going in at night.


    ¡°Seems like the camp is bigger than apany-size.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not arge size yet. I guess the Chinese military has a different camp-size system.¡±


    ¡°I could use night vision goggles now. You think they¡¯d have such expensive devices?¡±


    China was a country of great economic power, but its force was not so rich to provide good devices to unimportant remote military camps. Although it had boasted of modernization of military force, it meant that they were focusing on reinforcing Navy¡¯s and Air Force¡¯s missiles for armored units and missile units. However, since the camp was located in a disputed area, Youngho expected to find equipment with high mobility.


    The two jumped over the barbed-wire fence with ease and quickly moved near to where warehouse units were located. They moved roughly, but no one noticed their movements because of the loud noise of a power nt. The camp was relying on a power nt since it was located in a remote area.


    There would not be many people who decided toe to a camp that was surrounded by many guard posts and barbed-wire fence in the biting cold. As they were moving around calmly, Youngho heard a growling sound. Youngho¡¯s sharp hearing had detected the small sound.


    They did not expect any watchdog to roam around, but it was lucky that the dog was not barking yet. If it was raised as guard dogs, it would have been barking already but it did not seem like it was raised for that purpose.


    Jong-il jumped to the dog swiftly and strangled its neck. It was to knock it cold for a while. The dog might be fast, but it was not faster than Jong-il who was wearing leather shoes. It was, in fact, stunned to see Jong-il who approached it so quickly.


    After the dog was taken care of, the two searched a few warehouse units but they could not find any individual firearm. There were not even grenades or ammunition around. It seemed that all of the individual weapons were located inside the barracks.


    The units were filled with groceries and oil drums. Since it was too cold outside, the oils were stored inside the units. Near the warehouse units, armored vehicles, trucks, and towed howitzers were parked in the open, under a roof.


    There was nothing that they could take. It seemed that the two hade for nothing.


    ¡°We can¡¯t just leave like this. All of these will be used against Uyghur independence fighters.¡±


    After murmuring, Jong-il suddenly opened a top of an oil drum and poured out the oil around the warehouse. He was going to make fire. It did not matter whether the Chinese force would find out about who did this. If they figured out that it was done by intruders, Uyghur independence fighters around the border area might get in trouble, but they were already fighting against each other anyway.


    If their conflict was intensified by this, then the whole of Central Asia would unify and criticize China. Then, China would fall out from the nations of Central Asia, and if those countries turned against China and became hostile toward it, the CIA would be d for that.


    ¡°Man, the me is so bright. I love it.¡±


    It was an amazing sight to see an oil drum soaring to the sky on fire. It felt like they could feel the heat which was two kilometers away from the camp.


    ¡°Their armed vehicles are certainly ruined by that, right?¡±


    Since the warehouse units were built so closely with each other, no devices and equipment would be safe from the oil fire. They had experienced this in Armenia, but military camps tended to be careless about storing oil. It was not understandable since enemies could make fire. They must be storing oil close to equipment for convenient refueling. Because of this, any fueling system in Arirang Farm was built far away from the towns and warehouse units and the gas tanks were all built underground.


    ¡°It¡¯s their fault for not taking care of oil more tightly. Since they¡¯re too loose, they can¡¯t stop intruders like us.¡±


    ¡°Man, the person who¡¯s in charge of the camp and who¡¯s responsible for managing oil will be in so much trouble.¡±


    The two were the ones responsible for the fire, but they were concerned about others.


    ***


    As the night deepened, the temperature fell below negative thirteen degrees in Fahrenheit.


    Although the two covered themselves in their sleeping bag, they felt the cold to the bone. In front of mother nature, the ring¡¯s mystical powers were no help. It was only tolerable after they activated hand warmers and put them in each of their sleeping bags.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know if this will be worth it.¡±


    ¡°We need to at least check if our men are alive. We can¡¯t just leave them when they are out of contact.¡±


    ¡°I think they raised their caution even more. I just want to check if they¡¯re still alive and return to Almaty and get into a hot sauna.¡±


    It was a night that a hot spa was desperately needed. Youngho admired the independence fighters that volunteered to go into the mountains in this coldness. A sense of duty could make people do supernatural things.


    In the morning, the two would have to cross the border and find the independence fighter group, Turkestan Imic Party. Allegedly, the group did not use satellite phones in fear of exposure. The only way to contact them was to let them know of their location through reflector signals. This was the way mountainous guerri units frequently used, since World War I. It was exposing one party¡¯s location to the other by reflecting the sunlight with a piece of mirror in certain patterns. If their signals match, the other party would ept another as their own ally.


    The descendants of the Serbian Kingdom, who lived in mountainous areas, also had a simr way of contacting each other, except that they used whistles to signal to each other. Since whistles could be used regardless of the weather, it was a more advanced way ofmunication. If whistles were blown to the direction of the wind, the sounds could even travel a few kilometers. It seemed that the powerless side had developed more innovative ways to survive.


    Although the two traveled on rough mountainous paths, they did it with ease since they were wearing the mystical leather shoes. As they ran fast, their faces were cold but they had no other difficulties.


    After searching for the whole day, they could meet with the independence fighters of the Imic Party. Fortunately, the former Serbian militiamen were safe and alive. They cried at the sight of Youngho. It would not have been easy to go on, missing their hometown and families, without a promise of when they would return home. They did not have hope to return home and considered themselves as forgotten, but as the prince consort came to see if they were alive, they were deeply touched by it. Since they had been suffering from the Chinese force and sleeping in the open in the severe coldness, Youngho¡¯s visit was even more impressive to them.


    Youngho took everyone by hand andforted them. It was Youngho who sent them to pay for their wrongdoings in the past, but looking at their deserted life now broke his heart. He shared them the news of their families and took a group picture so that he could give it to their families when he returned to the farm.


    The Imic Party that had their base in Afghanistan nned to leave Badakhshan and move their hideout to a region of Xinjiang Uyghur in the spring. It seemed that the group was prepared and it was ready to get back to their fight for freedom. Youngho and Jong-il had to leave soon as they promised to meet the Serbian militiamen in Xinjiang, in the spring. They could not stay longer because the Chinese force had begun their strike again.


    Youngho and Jong-il were reluctant to leave without doing anything, so they were d that the Chinese force had begun their action again. They decided to lure the force toward their location in order to make time for the Imic Party so that they could get to their third ce safely.


    In the mountainous area, there was no one who could stop the two people who kept appearing and disappearing in different directions. As they had mobility as fast as the wind, they did not even need rifles to knock down the Chinese soldiers. Ever since that day, the Chinese force could not forget the day when they saw ghostly figures who had knocked them down as if they were possessed by ghosts.

 Chapter 262 - A Dream of Uyghur (3)

    <h4>Chapter 262: A Dream of Uyghur (3)</h4>


    ¡°How many bullets are left?¡±


    Jong-il, who had been gasping, turned to Youngho and asked.


    ¡°I got five magazines left. Do you need one?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll just go and pick up some from those guys lying on the ground.¡±


    The Chinese force of the Afghanistan border was now fully alerted. Not onlyrge-scale fire broke out in arge-size camp but also soldiers kept being knocked down by a hail of bullets that they did not know where they wereing from. They could only believe that the information they had received about the armed Uyghur freedom fighters was wrong since they were thought to be only a handful of men.


    Youngho and Jong-il with their high mobility appeared at the mountainous area and began to shoot at the Chinese soldiers randomly. They did not fire aimed shots in order to seem that there were many soldiers on their side.


    ¡°Man, they could fight.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re furious because theirrades were knocked down.¡±


    The Chinese soldiers, who had fired back at the direction of Youngho and Jong-il randomly in the beginning, began to focus on aiming at their enemies. Because they shot back at where the bullets flew in from, the two could not stay at one location. The soldiers were getting used to the battle.


    It had been three days since the two began to shoot at the Chinese force to confuse them. They were running out of thebat rations that they had brought. Now that they had earned time for the Imic Party to get to a new location safely, it was time to retreat.


    ¡°Let¡¯sunch another attack from the northeastern ridge one more time and fall back. We need to get some sleep too.¡±


    The two could hold out for the past three days with the help of the mystical ring¡¯s powers but they had now reached their limits. The Chinese force was pestered by them night and day and was now as busy as a nailer.


    The soldiers would have been exhausted by now too. If Youngho and Jong-il stopped shooting at them suddenly, they would think that the independence fighters had retreated and would rest for a while. Now the inspections in the border area would have gotten loose because of the emergency, so it was the best time for the two to slip out of the border.


    ¡°We can¡¯t go like this, smelling like gunpowder. Let¡¯s go somewhere and take a shower. People at the checkpoints will definitely find out unless they¡¯re stupid.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nowhere we can take a shower.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. Should we roll in the snow? Or pour alcohol on us?¡±


    After shooting for several days, the smell of gunpowder wafted through their bodies.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go stay in a town if there¡¯s one on the way.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You think people will believe that we¡¯re furriers? We need to have rawhide at least. Let¡¯s go get some. The gunpowder smell will go away as we walk.¡±


    Getting rid of the smell of gunpowder was only an excuse. The two were desperate for somemb meat with a good drink. Because they had taken so many lives around the border, they did not feel easy. It was to save their men but any sane person, it would not be easy to keep the peace of mind after shedding blood.


    When one¡¯s mind was busy like this, the best medicine for him was to drink and sleep. Any decent sleep could make vivid memories fade.


    ***


    The van filled with animal skins sped on the paved road.


    Youngho and Jong-il stopped by a small ranch vige and bought dozens ofmbskins. After loading them on the van, they were off to Kashgar. As they paid high prices for the skins, the town¡¯s people treated them nicely for the night, so they were fully restored to their normal conditions. They were not tired anymore and their bloodshot eyes turned normal. Most importantly, the memory of the fierce battlefield was not so vivid anymore, and they felt much better.


    ¡°Is this because of the ring or the alcohol?¡±


    ¡°Probably both.¡±


    Although most Uyghurs were Muslim, people in mountainous areas always kept alcoholic drinks to endure the severe cold and to sanitize wounds. The two drank almost all of the drinks from the vige.


    ¡°By the way, it¡¯s interesting how the Serbian Kingdom was fallen by Turkey. Isn¡¯t the kingdom so great and strong with these relics on its side?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll never know what happened more than 500 years ago but the kingdom is indeed special if you see how its descendants are still loyal to the kingdom. The immigrants and the descendants of the knights are still unconditionally loyal.¡±


    If the Archduke¡¯s Family had lost Serbian people¡¯s loyalty, there would be no descendants who would support the kingdom until now. The medieval times were a time like that. Only noblemen were respected and the rest of the people lived like ves.


    ¡°Hey, did Fatima stand out to you in Istanbul?¡±


    ¡°I only approached her because she was so pitiful.¡±


    ¡°Man. That¡¯s really special that you found her there out of so many people. I just realized that this time since that destiny brought us the rings and leather shoes.¡±


    Because of the rings and leather shoes, the two could endure the coldness and exhaustion and couldplete their operation.


    It happened a long time ago, but Youngho still appreciated that destiny had led him to Fatima. If he had passed by her in the flea market in Istanbul, he would not have been the same person as now. The ring¡¯s power had been helping him to solve problems or to get away from danger in the important moments of his life.


    Even though he had received special training from Korea, he would not have been able to appear and disappear in different ces in a mountainous area like now, he did not have the ring. As Jong-il mentioned, his rtionship with Fatima was a call of destiny or luck in a million years.


    ¡°I might have received the luck because of you. Because of you, I¡¯m ying medieval times now.¡±


    If Youngho did not drink all night long with Jong-il and Mustafa, he would not have gone to the flea market the next morning.


    ¡°Whoa, you didn¡¯t forget my role in that. Don¡¯t ever change your mind, okay?¡±


    ¡°Well, who was the one that said I¡¯m cleaning rubbish antiques at the hotel?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even recall that. Don¡¯t try to manipte me, and just give me the wheels now.¡±


    When they were near Kashgar, a checkpoint that was not there before appeared. It was temporarily made after hearing the battle around the Afghan border to inspect peopleing from the direction of the border.


    Trucks and people were lined up to pass the checkpoint. Youngho and Jong-il also waited in line in their van. Before taking off, they hid all of the weapons and ammunition around the border area and gave away left-over groceries to the people of the ranching vige, so they did not have anything to be suspicious of, but any foreigners who did not speak Chinese could be questioned.


    The Chinese guards who inspected people created a warlike atmosphere. They took out every load in vehicles and searched everywhere despite Uyghurs¡¯ints. Fully armed, the guards were quite threatening.


    Youngho¡¯s car was not an exception. After searching through everything in the vehicle, they let the two go. Because they treated the animal skins badly, they were covered in dirt now. Youngho had to poke Jong-il¡¯s waist to keep him calm.


    ¡°Man. That¡¯s the reason why Uyghurs want freedom. Why do they inspect people here, when the battle happened in the border area?¡±


    ¡°Geez, why didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯re the one who did it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just upset that they stepped on the skins. I need to teach them who¡¯s better before I leave to Kazakhstan.¡±


    Ill-tempered Jong-il was outraged by the guards¡¯ insensitive attitudes but they had to let it go since they were guilty of the battle.


    ***


    ¡°Did you witness the recent battle near the border?¡±


    ¡°We heard the sound of gunfire as we came back from visiting the Imic Party and mercenaries but we have no idea what happened because we only drove along the road.¡±


    Youngho yed innocent as he pretended that he had no idea. There was no reason to reveal what they had done.


    ¡°Do you know if the battle happened between Uyghurs and Afghan force? I wonder how big it was that all of the Uyghur upation forces are in the emergency situation.¡±


    Since the staffs of the United National Revolutionary Front in Xinjiang still could not reach the Imic Party, they were extremely curious about what happened near the Afghan border.


    ¡°Well, who knows what happened. Anyway, the independence fighters of the Imic Party are safe. They said that they¡¯re going to retreat to Tajikistan. When the springes, they¡¯ll get back to Kashgar to start taking actions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we already agreed on. I just wonder what happened near the border. This must be big. I¡¯ve never seen the Chinese force to be this stirred.¡±


    They were not just stirred. This was an incident that amander would have to resign to take responsibility for. Military supplies and heavy firearms were burnt and a hundred of border patrols were killed. Someone would have to resign for this. There must be more casualties since Youngho and Jong-il finished their operation with indiscriminate fire. This was why the soldiers were inspecting people eagerly.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m d that ourrades are safe. Also, you¡¯ve gone through such troubles to visit the ce where we don¡¯t even dare to go. Thank you for informing us about the Imic Party¡¯s whereabouts.¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s safe and well. Our mercenaries are also safe, so we feel relieved too.¡±


    As Youngho showed the group the picture he took with the Imic Party, everyone seemed to be relieved. At the same time, they looked at Youngho and Jong-il like ghosts. It was just unbelievable how normal Youngho and Jong-il looked after visiting the rough ce in the severe cold.


    The fighters of the Imic Party said that they would go to Tajikistan through the Pamir Mountains, and their only enemy would be cold. Once they reached Tajikistan, they would be weed by the public. As most of Uyghurs could not be apart from Central Asian countries, many Muslims lived in Tajikistan. Since many Central Asians shared simr cultures as nomads, they considered each other as brothers, so they did not sit back when China oppressed Uyghurs. If China kept oppressing Uyghurs, other Central Asian countries would naturally turn hostile toward China.


    Since Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s purpose of the trip here was to stir up things and put some distance between them and China, he needed to make a chance to trigger that. Since there were checkpoints in every city¡¯s gates, theints of local people were umting.


    Atst, there was an incident that some merchants whoined about the inspection were beaten up by the Chinese guards, and it seemed that people¡¯s anger would burst soon. If there was another trigger, it was obvious that arge-scale riot would arise.


    However, Youngho and Jong-il could not take action easily because they worried that local civilians would be harmed in the process.


    ¡°I¡¯m about to go crazy. We can¡¯t do anything, man. Should we just go near the border here and make some trouble?¡±


    ¡°Man, they suffered at Afghanistan¡¯s border. You think they won¡¯t be prepared again?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just do it and return home. That way, we won¡¯t have toe back here again.¡±


    ¡°The real problem is when we left here. The local people will have to put up with the Chinese force for our doings.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going to do that anytime no matter what. Let¡¯s just relieve the local people¡¯s anger for them this time.¡±


    The reason that China desperately opposed the independence of Xinjiang Uyghur was that Tibet and Inner Mongolia would follow to im their independence as well, and the fundamental reason was to secure underground resources. Since China¡¯s economyrgely depended on exporting goods to other countries, it needed to secure resources to keep producing goods. It would never let go of those states since they were full of natural resources.


    ¡°It¡¯s been ten days already since we left home. We should get back soon.


    Because they left the regr road toe around the mountainous paths, they had to run to get back quickly. It would not have been possible if they did not have the rings and leather shoes.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll see if I can get AK rifles.¡±


    Jong-il answered livelily.


    He was a born fighter. It was not sure that if he was motivated to help Uyghurs achieve their dream or if he just wanted to fight out of his own destructive desire. Whichever it might be, it did not matter anymore. The two reminded themselves that everything was for Uyghurs¡¯ independence and got to work.

 Chapter 263 - A Dream of Uyghur (4)

    <h4>Chapter 263: A Dream of Uyghur (4)</h4>


    Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s Russian passports would be useless next time if they did not have a departure stamp. Because there should be evidence that they had traveled to Xinjiang in order to visit there next time, they had to cross the border by car ande back on foot in silence.


    Since the Chinese force might close the border area after this time, they were going through inconvenient steps. The whole region of Xinjiang Uyghur was suffering because of Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s recent doing in the Afghan border. The two nned to do another job to provoke the hostility between China and Central Asian regions one more time since people were already suffering anyway.


    ¡°Man, we¡¯ve grown so much that we are now making global conflicts.¡±


    Jong-il said it to Youngho as they were taking a break while running in a mountainous region.


    ¡°Yeah, it looks that way since we¡¯re doing something, knowing that there will be disputes provoked by our actions.¡±


    In the past, Youngho would have taken actions without knowing the consequences but now he acted whileparing many situations and predicting what woulde out as the results of his actions. What they were about to do now was also a thoroughly measured provocation.


    Frequent idents in military camps were usually fire or idents caused by mishandling of explosives. Many times, the Chinese force would me Uyghur independence fighters for those idents since it was a good excuse to get out of reprimands of the central authorities.


    ¡°This unit is tightly guarded.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until it gets colder. They will all go inside.¡±


    Even with winter clothes on, it was hard to stand outside for more than ten minutes. Due to unimaginable cold, watchers would stay inside the guard posts to do their job. As soon as they were inside the posts, they would get drowsy due to the warmth, and when they were that way, they were slow to act. Even if they did not get drowsy, their visions would getpromised because of the frost on the windows of the guard posts because of the temperature difference. When that happened, it would be the best time to take actions.


    ¡°Hey, those guys keep going in and out of the door. Wait, what¡¯s that? Armored vehicles are now moving.¡±


    Two light-armored vehicles now came out of the gate and began to patrol around the unit. Patrolling around the base at eight in the evening meant that the unit was ready for intruders. This unit must be tightly guarding their oil tanks and drums as well. Naturally, they would have emptied things around the oil warehouse units.


    ¡°Man. Should we wait until dawn?¡±


    ¡°If only I had a rocketuncher. I¡¯d just have to fire some shots and leave.¡±


    All they had were rifles now, so nothing could be done until they were inside the unit.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just call it a day after firing automatic shots?¡±


    ¡°We need to make it seem like an ident. Poor Uyghurs will suffer from this.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? There¡¯s got to be so many global broadcastingpanies in Xinjiang Uyghur. Those Chinese won¡¯t be happy if this spread out.¡±


    Since Uyghur¡¯s independence movement was already well-known by the globalmunity, if China oppressed Uyghurs with a high hand this time, it would provide good news for global press and frence journalists. However, China might not care about what foreign public might think about their actions since it would also trouble China if it did not seek strong confrontation with the conflict with Uyghurs in the border area right now. Being a country that had frontiers with so many countries, other minority ethnic groups might also request their independence as well. In order to prevent that from happening, China might face Uyghurs squarely by way of exemry punishment.


    ***


    Youngho and Jong-il could move carelessly at the base near the Afghan border because of the self-generator that the Chinese force used, but here was quiet as a mouse. Since guards were patrolling outside their posts, they could not find a chance to sneak in.


    ¡°We might not get lucky today.¡±


    They could not dig a tunnel to get inside the unit. The only way to get in was to gather all eyes in one ce. As one distracted the guards, the other would sneak inside the base and destroy military equipment.


    ¡°Jong-il. I¡¯ll give you the honor. You can distract the guards here. I¡¯ll get to the other side to get inside.¡±


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s a good idea but are you going to be fine?¡±


    ¡°If I get caught, I¡¯ll just run like crazy. I don¡¯t have to risk my life here when we¡¯re only here to confuse people.¡±


    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    In a short time, while Youngho was getting to the other side, Jong-il had already begun to distract people.


    He had fired at the guard posts randomly.


    The sound of his gunshots was so loud, that it sounded like dozens of people hade to attack the base. The base was alerted immediately. The soldiers who had just gone inside to sleep came outside with guns in their hands, not fully dressed. However, shrewd Jong-il kept on moving his locations and firing at the Chinese soldiers that they could not even aim at him.


    After watching the armored vehicles that had been patrolling around the unit went back toward the direction of where Jong-il was, Youngho climbed over the barbed-wire fence.


    Around the fence were warehouse units standing in a row. Securitymps were lighting the whole ce and blind spots were barely there. All of the warehouses were locked. It seemed the base was tightly guarded but nothing could be perfect. Youngho thought that there must be a weak spot.


    The gates of the warehouses would be locked of course, but small doors on the sides of the units that were used to take groceries and devices might not be locked. There could be some old,zy veterans in any base.


    As expected, when Youngho pushed on a side door of a warehouse unit, it slid right back. When he stepped inside, he could smell a strong gas odor. The building was used as an auto garage. On the side of a wall, lubricating oil bottles, car paints, and thinner bottles were weing him.


    Youngho heard a loud explosion after hearing busy machine gunshots from armored vehicles. It seemed that Jong-il had jumped on the vehicles and finished them. It was not Jong-il if he had let it pass easily. At the same time, the auto garage warehouse began to burn up.


    Now it was time for Youngho to divide the attention that was solely on Jong-il. After getting outside of the base, he began to consecutively fire at trucks that were lined up in the military training ground. He took off after going through five magazines. Then, he started to run in the direction of the promised location.


    Jong-il, who had been breathing heavily, sat down on the ground with a pleasant smile on his face.


    ¡°Hey, I told you not to overdo it but you had to wreck all those trucks beforeing out?¡±


    Jong-il was one to talk.


    ¡°Oh, yeah? What about those armored vehicles?¡±


    ¡°They were just making a lot of noise so I went behind of the vehicles and burned up their gas tanks. Man, I could¡¯ve been troubled so bad. Machine guns are just hard to escape from.¡±


    It seemed that a bold guy like Jong-il was also stunned by machine guns. Anyhow, the leather shoes would have given him the mobility faster than armored vehicles. It would have been a piece of cake to go behind and jump on top of them. It was only possible because they could see most of the things with their bare eyes even in the evening, unlike other normal people who needed shlights to see.


    The base of the Chinese force was still on fire at a nce from a distance.


    The only thing that could put out the fire on paint and thinner was sand. Water would have been frozen hard already. Even if they had water, it would be difficult to put out the fire for a base that did not have a fire engine.


    ***


    Although it was a small incident, the Chinese government was astounded by an event that its military base was attacked out of nowhere that the incident was exposed to news broadcasters, which was an unusual step for the Chinese government.


    The reason for the Chinese government¡¯s exceptional decision to expose the news to the globalmunity was showing its intention to pressure Uyghurs even more from now on.


    That meant that Youngho had achieved what he had aimed for. China¡¯s hostility toward Uyghur people would make the rift between it and Central Asian countries deepen. They would support Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s independence movement. That would inevitably bring a battle that was close to a civil war. The more China used its hard-line policy on Xinjiang Uyghur, the closer it would be to its dream of separation and independence from China.


    As Youngho watched the news on TV, he called Michael and reported the details about what he did for this mission. Michael showered him withpliments.


    ¡°Okay. You did a great job at such a cold ce. What you¡¯ve done is huge this time. I¡¯ll get you some drinks when you get to Frankfurt.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, I feel like I did something since you said you¡¯re going to buy me a drink.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. You did something great. China is going to pressure Uyghur more and it¡¯s obvious that Central Asian countries will stand against it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little worried about the Uyghur people. They¡¯re already suffering but if China goes even more harsh on them, I¡¯m afraid that there¡¯s going to be a huge disorder.¡±


    ¡°That was expected to happen anyways. I¡¯m hoping that the frence journalists in Xinjiang Uyghur would take this to the global level.¡±


    Michael wanted to use the power of the press to expose Chinese oppression of the minor ethnic groups.


    ¡°I think the border will be closed for a while now. In order to find who¡¯s responsible for this, they¡¯d block everyone at the border. Do you think journalists would be able to roam around freely there?¡±


    ¡°An article and a single picture, do you have any idea how much they¡¯d make for it? If they missed this, they can¡¯t be called frence journalists. Smart ones are said to have contracted with local people already.¡±


    Journalists would go anywhere if there was a newsworthy issue even if it was a fire pit. Michael believed that the story would be told to the Western world through them somehow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the chapter for our next meeting. I¡¯ll look forward to receiving gifts from you.¡±


    ¡°What gifts?¡±


    Even though he was asking back to Youngho, Michael¡¯s voice was high. It seemed that he had already prepared something for Youngho.


    At Royal Tulip Hotel in Almaty, Youngho and Jong-il rxed enjoying the hot spa. As they were spending their second day at the hotel doing nothing, Agent Smith flew in from Astana to meet them. It seemed that he had heard about what they had done at Xinjiang¡¯s border since he showed his thumb as he walked into their room.


    ¡°Director, why don¡¯t you count me in when you go on an operation?¡±


    He was speaking nonsense. He could not possibly join their trip, which was more than 200 kilometers of distance, where they would have to go over a mountain in negative twenty-two degrees in Fahrenheit. Jong-ilughed hard at Smith¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Smith, you think we had gone on a pic?¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve gone through troubles. I¡¯ve done mountain-climbing training when I was in the intelligence school.¡±


    ¡°You would have done that in the summer.¡±


    ¡°We did train in the winter as well.¡±


    ¡°It would have been only about ten degrees above zero.¡±


    Since Jong-il did not seem to approve of him, he looked at Youngho instead.


    ¡°Smith, it¡¯s impossible unless you receive two years of special training. Can you hold out only with a sleeping bag without making any fire in below zero temperature?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t make fire?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a boy scout.¡±


    Smith shut his mouth at that point.


    ¡°Smith, you said you know the mayor of Almaty, right?¡±


    Now that he seeded in shaking China, he was going to take care of his business. K Electronics had said that it was going to build another factory in Almaty.


    ¡°Of course, the mayor is a pro-American politician.¡±


    ¡°Can you introduce me to him? A foreign corporation is nning to build a sr panel factory in Almaty. I don¡¯t want to ask a favor to the president for little things.¡±


    Although it would be taken care of with one call to the president, Youngho did not want to bother the president for small things. Moreover, now was the time to make connections with local governors and politicians to raise the autonomous state¡¯s reputation. When he would be known to help to attract foreign corporation¡¯s business to Almaty, the autonomous state would gain credit for that eventually.


    Almaty was the economic center of Kazakhstan and the mayor of the city would be a remarkable person. Youngho was eager to draw him to his side.


    ¡°The factory¡¯s scale is quite huge.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for K Electronics, which is a global sr panel corporation. There¡¯s one factory in Atyrau and thepany wants to build their second factory here.¡±


    ¡°In that case, the mayor woulde out with his bare feet and wee it. It¡¯ll also save my face.¡±


    ¡°Smith, I know you¡¯ve done a lot for me but do me another favor. Can you set up a private meeting with the mayor?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s no problem at all. I¡¯m going to get free drinks from the mayor.¡±


    Since Youngho would build his hotel chain and even a factory in Almaty, it was a great chance to show off to the mayor.


    There would be no mayor who would oppose it when new job openings were created in his city.

 Chapter 264 - Gifts (1)

    <h4>Chapter 264: Gifts (1)</h4>


    Xinjiang Uyghur was a hot potato in the globalmunity.


    Despite the criticisms of the global society and Central Asian countries, China proimed martialw on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The promation of martialw would temporarily stop the autonomy of the state and themander of the Chinese upation forces in Xinjiang would wield absolute power over the state.


    The border area was certainly closed, and the newspaperpanies and broadcasting stations were seized by the Chinese force. The force was now setting up evening curfews and regting people¡¯s long distance traveling.


    The state was turned into darkness. The local people were daunted by the sudden change. However, the independence fighters did not sit back. Governmental buildings, police stations, and military camps were constantly being terrorized by them. There were even several shootouts in the open in the streets. Xinjiang was no different than a wartime situation.


    As the Chinese authorities suppressed local Uyghurs more, the Chinese people who resided in Xinjiang became the target of the independence fighters. It was so severe that even the Chinese gangsters who were hired by the Chinese authorities avoided the Uyghur independence fighter groups.


    About forty percent of the Xinjiang¡¯s poption was Chinese Han people who were more than eight million people. It was not an exaggeration to say that the city of Urumqi was the Han people¡¯s city. As Youngho and Jong-il heard the news after returning to Arirang Autonomous State, they regretted that they had made unnecessary trouble.


    ¡°The U.S government might be smiling to this but Uyghurs must be dying for this.¡±


    Youngho spoke in a worrisome voice. Jong-il also frowned.


    ¡°Man, was it all pointless? I feel guilty.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got to see the bright side. This would¡¯ve happened eventually. We just sped up the process.¡±


    If it did not be a global issue like this, Xinjiang Uyghur would have been a forgotten ce to the globalmunity and would have beenpletely assimted to China in several years. Since there were quite a lot of Uyghurs who were pro-China already, as time went by, independence would even be far-off.


    Students were taught Chinese in school as mandatory, and teenagers were already ustomed to Chinese cultures. They spoke Chinese in their daily lives and any official documents were written in Chinese.


    This was what Uyghur independence fighters feared the most. If people would lose their identities at some point and ept living as Chinese, their past independence movement and struggles would be useless.


    Most people predicted that Uyghurs¡¯ Im would die off soon. The Chinese government had been restricting Muslim traditional cultures for several years already. There had been an incident where a couple was given a sentence. It was because the husband grew his beard in Imic style and the wife wore a burka. That was why Uyghurs were fighting for their freedom from China.


    Kazakhstan also did not step aside for the Uyghurs¡¯ pain. It was because there were 1.5 million Kazakhs living in Xinjiang Uyghur. The Kazakh government requested the Chinese government to allow Kazakhs in Xinjiang to move to Kazakhstan. However, the Kazaks living in Xinjiang did not even bat an eye.


    They did not want to leave their hometown. Moreover, it was not like there were house andnd prepared for them even if they moved to Kazakhstan. Youngho knew about that well since he had been receiving Serbian immigrants to Arirang Farm.


    It was a great cause but the Kazakh government did not have any ns for the Kazakhs in Xinjiang if they decided to move back to Kazakhstan. It seemed that it was Kazakhstan¡¯s protest to China but there was no sincerity in it.


    Come to think of it, the U.S. was also not interested in Uyghurs¡¯ peace or independence. Its priority was separating China and Central Asia.


    Youngho got frustrated by the thought that Uyghurs could be a sacrifice for international political dynamics. The world was not going to change because he had stirred up some military camps in the border area. He felt that he had been only a puppet in a huge conspiracy.


    Because of that, innocent Uyghurs were suffering from China¡¯s forceful oppression.


    The Arirang Autonomous State would face the same future if it had no power.


    Youngho¡¯s body would not stop shaking because of anger.


    ***


    ¡°You need to recruit that many?¡±


    ¡°After watching what happened to Uyghurs, I just felt like I was watching our future.¡±


    Jong-il did not understand what Youngho meant.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to need a bigger budget if you want to hire more intelligence agents.¡±


    Although Youngho was worried about funding as well, he wanted to increase the number of their intelligence agents in order to build up the autonomous state¡¯s intelligence strength. As the newly recruited agents would be trained to be agents, they would also receive special military training. Then the autonomous state would automatically gain strength as well. Seeing Uyghurs¡¯ suffering because of theirck of power, Youngho was convicted to make the Arirang Autonomous State more powerful.


    Jong-il also agreed. The current international dynamics of Northeast Asia was indeed pitiful. A nation needed economic and military strength in order to raise its voice. Nothing could stand before an overwhelming military strength.


    ¡°So what are you going to do? Get strategic arms?¡±


    ¡°Sure, if necessary. People don¡¯t care about the Arirang Autonomous State now, and that¡¯s the best condition to prepare for the future. We¡¯ve got ships. We can bring in anything.¡±


    ¡°Even unmanned attack air vehicles? Then, we should build an air defensework like Iron Dome in Israel.¡±


    Jong-il began to list the weapons that he had been willing to have.


    ¡°Hmmm. Hey, let¡¯s go get the gifts Michael prepared for us first.¡±


    ¡°...What?¡±


    ¡°We need to get rewarded for what we¡¯ve gone through for America.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    It was snowing at the airport in Frankfurt. Jong-il made a fuss as he got off the airne that just narrowly made it to the snowy runway.


    ¡°What good is a big airne? It¡¯s more dangerous than the Cessna airne. Man, my liver has shrunken to the size of a pea.¡±


    ¡°There arerge Cessna airnes as well.¡±


    ¡°There are jets that have longer ranges.¡±


    ¡°The runway is too short.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s plenty of emptynds, why don¡¯t we extend it? Bigger airnes need longer runways.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s extend the runway and build a sturdier hangar. We can even make money by lending the airfield to Americans.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re talking.¡±


    Jong-il was satisfied since his idea was epted. Even though the autonomous state was a small territory, it would be necessary to give an impression that it was an organized ce. A small autonomous state that was equipped with important facilities would be able to earn good deals from negotiation tables. Even though it was a smallnd, no one would dare to underestimate it, just like Israel.


    ¡°I wonder what Michael had prepared for us.¡±


    Jong-il was looking forward to receiving intelligence devices while Youngho was looking forward to receiving coastal patrol boats.


    ¡°He must¡¯ve pressured the headquarters quite a lot this time. Since the European chapter is receiving the credit for broadening the gap between China and Central Asia, he might even have asked to build a U.S. military base in Kazakhstan.¡±


    It would be interesting if a U.S. military base was built right under China¡¯s chin. Youngho nned to convince Michael to make an air base near Almaty when he met him.


    Russia must not be excited to see that the Chinese government had deployed too many of its soldiers near the Xinjiang¡¯s border. It was not at all impossible to convince Russia for building an American air base in Kazakhstan under the pretext of stopping China¡¯s advance into the country. Since Russia had overlooked the fact that the U.S was supporting military supplies to Kazakhstan already, an airbase could be overlooked as well. Although an agreement would be made between the two countries only after some political deals were exchanged, it was politically resolvable.


    Putin¡¯s dream was for vic to dominate the Far East regions, and China was now an obstacle of his dream.


    Knowing that the United States did not intend to merge other countries like themselves, Russian authorities would overlook the U.S. that was stepping in to disturb China.


    Even if China opposed it harshly, Russia could just shrug it off since it was between the United States and Kazakhstan.


    Now that every scheme was nned, it was time to present them before Michael.


    ***


    ¡°I seriously think you¡¯d make a great novel writer.¡±


    Listening to Youngho¡¯s words, Michael smirked. Although he was criticizing him, he listened to what Youngho had to say until the end without cutting his words.


    ¡°Chief. You¡¯ve got to know a novel at this level would make a bestseller.¡±


    ¡°Oh, does it have a sequel?¡±


    ¡°Of course it does but I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯re going to mock me and say that it is a fantasy novel.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, you mastered the fantasy genre too?¡±


    ¡°Our autonomous state is nning to expand our airfield and runways to make it as a middle stopover for the public. I won¡¯t share other ns anymore because they are top secrets.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Michael held his side withughter now. Knowing him for many years, Youngho knew that it was his way ofplimenting. Whether it was a ssic novel or a fantasy novel, he seemed to like the idea.


    ¡°Good. That¡¯s what politicians do. Heck, I¡¯ll also join them and help you.¡±


    If Michael decided to help, he was not someone who would just suggest an idea to the authorities. In order to make ite true, he would do anything from lobbying and promoting it until he seeded.


    ¡°Chief. Now is a good time to show your gifts.¡±


    ¡°You never give up Youngho. Are you trying to forcefully take things from me?¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve prepared them already. Why don¡¯t you be a man and just show them to me at once? You don¡¯t want to make someone like your son frustrated.¡±


    Youngho was now appealing to his emotional side.


    ¡°Are you insane? Why are you, my son?¡±


    ¡°Korean people sometimes call men simr to their father¡¯s age their father. Well, I¡¯m just saying it.¡±


    Michael had turned sixty this year and it was not wrong to be called a ¡®father¡¯ by Youngho.


    Listening to the conversation next to them, Jong-il turned his face toward the other side since he was holding back hisughter.


    ¡°Then, you need to serve your father devotedly.¡±


    ¡°Who else can rece me? Who else could be your good son¡¯s hand that can scratch your itchy parts?¡±


    ¡°A good son¡¯s hand?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a Korean back-scratcher made out of bamboo that scratches parts of your body that you can¡¯t reach.¡±


    Atst, Jong-il burst intoughter.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent two 15-year-old patrol boats at the New York Harbor. The Kazakh government will take them over.¡±


    Youngho was surprised that the U.S. government was giving away two huge vessels but Michael¡¯sst words made him sing small. There was no way that the Kazakh government would pass down the received vessels to the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°Chief. The autonomous state is responsible for patrolling around the coast now. The Kazakh government won¡¯t give them to us once they receive them.¡±


    ¡°You said you don¡¯t even have enough people to run the vessels. Why are you being greedy? You can ask the Kazakh government to patrol the coast.¡±


    Not knowing what Youngho had in mind, Michael seemed to have made the Kazakh government the receiver of the vessels. The U.S. government wanted to receive credit by giving away free vessels to the Kazakh government.


    ¡°The area that our autonomous state is going to patrol around is already set up. We¡¯ve already sorted things out with the Kazakh Navy.¡±


    Any kind of vessel was an expensive asset. Especially, he would never miss patrol boats that had the U.S. military systems installed. Although they were 15-years-old, any U.S. vessels regardless of their ages were updated to newer systems periodically.


    ¡°Those will be delivered to Kazakhstan anyway. Can you make an arrangement so that Arirang Farm can be the receiver?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through such trouble to pass down old intelligence devices to your side. Yet, you want me to go through another one?¡±


    ¡®Is this real? He¡¯s giving away intelligence devices too?¡¯


    Youngho did not step back.


    ¡°The name of the receiver just got longer. It¡¯s changed to the Autonomous State of Arirang from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Now stop bothering me and just go.¡±


    Michael waved him off as if Youngho was bothering him.


    Youngho knew better than to linger around since Michael would pick up the phone when Youngho disappeared from his sight.


    ¡°Chief. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not decided yet. Why are you thanking me already?¡±


    Despite his words, he was picking up the phone to make a call already.


    He called Youngho as he was about to step out the door.


    ¡°Keep your schedule free this evening. I promised I¡¯ll buy you a drink.¡±


    At Michael¡¯s remark, Youngho smiled as he closed the door behind him.

 Chapter 265 - Gifts (2)

    <h4>Chapter 265: Gifts (2)</h4>


    ¡°It¡¯s weird that Chief Michael likes you so much. There¡¯d be no one else in the European chapter that Michael likes, except you.¡±


    ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously asking?¡±


    There would be no one in the European chapter who had not been reprimanded by Michael at least once. Since he was hot-tempered and used to be in the military, he would scold people for their bad job straight to their faces. That was why Michael¡¯s office was dead quiet unless there was a conference going on. But Youngho could talk to Michael for hours while exchanging jokes asionally.


    At first, it was not easy for him to speak to Michael. He used to only deal with Michael for hours because Michael would not let him go. Now the two became friends that he could open his heart to him. Youngho rather feltfortable to talk to someone like Michael now. Not only did Youngho shared a secret with Michael but he also saw Michael¡¯s humane side, he developed a deeper friendship with Michael.


    ¡°He¡¯s a soft guy if you get to know him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re insane. Was that soft to you? The atmosphere was freezing cold.¡±


    ¡°But youughed while we talked.¡±


    ¡°You were acting like aedian there. Was I supposed to hold it in?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you this. That man likes our team very much. He feels sorry that we did not receive traditional training. He keeps telling me to change our nationality and go to the CIA University to get on the elite training course.¡±


    ¡°Eww, I refuse to. We¡¯re American citizens on the outside now. The fake Russian passport, Azerbaijani citizenship, and even Kazakh permanent residency. We¡¯ve got so many identities. We¡¯re lucky that the Korean embassy is not recalling our passports.¡±


    Come to think of it, Youngho carried too many passports that it sometimes confusing to know where he truly belonged. In fact, citizenships did not really matter when living busily in a foreign country. Everyone around him was foreigners, so he did not really think of himself as special.


    A dog that had been raised inside a house by humans only was said to be taken aback when meeting other dogs outside for the first time. Thinking ¡®why do other dogs wee me so brightly? I¡¯m a human,¡¯ the dog would avoid other dogs. Even dogs would have an identity crisis. Youngho might be in the same situation as the dog.


    ¡°Michael¡¯s got intelligence devices as well. I¡¯m curious.¡±


    ¡°Whatever they are, I refuse to get nuisance that only take up spaces. I¡¯m not even sure if we can even operate them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take anything they¡¯d willing to give us. Once we receive those, I¡¯ll study to learn about them on my own, and if that¡¯s not enough, I¡¯ll go to the European chapter to learn.¡±


    Jong-il wanted the devices so much that he was even willing to learn the technology of handling electronic information which was said to be extremely difficult. Seeing Uyghur people¡¯s reality, he was rmed to grow the Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s strength.


    As Youngho and his friends lived in southeastern Europe after leaving Korea as if they were chased by the difficulties of life, what they have learned was that any ethnic minority groups could protect themselves with the power of unity and military strength. The newborn independent nations of Caucasus were not touched by outside forces because their people were protecting their nations with united affection for their people. Any minority groups who held out until the end were able to im their own country. Regardless of gender, all people were armed to protect their territory, and outside forces had to let them go since they would fight for their independence with arms day and night.


    Chechnya and Afghanistan were great examples of that. Russia had let Afghanistan go but it was still suffering from Chechen terrorists since it was still holding on to Chechnya.


    It was Youngho¡¯s job to dress up the Arirang Autonomous State that was finally achieved with difficulties but maintaining it was also his job. Not only maintaining its thread of life but to also make this small state a role model to others, doing so would finally make his dutyplete.


    Youngho had a shocking event when he traveled to Switzend with the Fatima siblings a few years ago. When he was there, he saw well-built air-raid shelters all over the city. A permanently neutral nation, Switzend had no armies on standby. They would neither invade other countries nor have other countries attack thend. However, it was fully equipped with shelters in case of war.


    Later, he found out that any men between 20 to 50 of age would be soldiers in an emergency. Since men in that age bracket would be about 500,000 people in the poption of eight million people, no other nations would dare to invade the country.


    The country was made up of Germans, French, and Italians, but they were not separated from each other. That was why they were doing so well as an independent country.


    Ever since Youngho encountered the city of Switzend, he had been preparing emergency facilities at Arirang Farm. The underground gym could double as a shelter and the high stone walls were built for protection. The underground facilities of the Archduke¡¯s castle would be the final bastion.


    ***


    After a little bit of inconvenience, the patrol boats were finally given to the autonomous state. Michael had gone through so much trouble to make that happen.


    So, as a way to thank him, Youngho decided to give him the position of Foreign Affairs National Security of the autonomous state but it was tly rejected by him.


    Anyway, because of Michael, the autonomous state was equipped with thergest patrol boats around the Caspian coast. They were not as powerful as naval missile boats but it was still great strength added to the state.


    Youngho wanted to bring the vessels at once but it would only be possible after the soldiers of the Countryside Force were trained to operate the vessels in the states. Lieutenant Commander Jun also got excited since those vessels would strengthen their naval power. He kepting to the Arirang Wharf to convince Youngho to send some of the Kazakh navies to America to receive the training.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Couldn¡¯t you say that they¡¯re also the citizens of the autonomous state?¡±


    Youngho asked why and he answered that the sea police would be now affiliated with the Navy so that navies who were discharged would be sea police from now on. That way the Navy would be guarding the open waters as well. Youngho had a great idea at this point.


    ¡°What if the autonomous state became in charge of the sea police duties alone then? Any discharged navies will be epted to the Countryside Force, and they¡¯ll be paid by the autonomous state as well.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    As Youngho made a ridiculous suggestion, Victor was dumbfounded.


    ¡°It¡¯s to save Kazakhstan¡¯s national defense expenditure. Since the autonomous state has many freighters, they need to be guarded too. It¡¯d be good for both parties. And of course, they¡¯d be under the Navy¡¯s control, so they¡¯ll be your subordinate unit,mander.¡±


    Youngho did not care who was officially in control since they would be the autonomous state¡¯s strength anyway. The discharged navies would follow the one that would pay them. Moreover, if he offered housings to their families at the autonomous state, they would be the citizens of the state and would be added to the state¡¯s strength in the future.


    It was nonsense that the Navy was responsible for sea police¡¯ tasks, prevention of contamination, and rescue and recovery service. When vessels were increased, other nations in the Caspian coast might misunderstand that Kazakhstan was reinforcing naval strength. This might trigger an arms race between nations in the palm-sized Caspian Sea.


    It was not a good idea tobine the sea police and navy together. It was probably suggested to save the budget for both departments.


    As Youngho raised a hare about the new policy, Lieutenant Commander Jun also agreed.


    ¡°That¡¯d be out of my authority unless there was a president¡¯s decree or rted policies were changed.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the right thing to do, we should request to change the policies. If you think about the future, we need to act now to make the change.¡±


    There was no problem in this era since Kazakhstan was still in its transition period but if the military authorities gained too much power, this might cause a huge problem in the future. It might revolt to the government if it hadints.


    In wartime, military strength should be prioritized but now was the time of peace. The coastal guard duty should be carried out by the sea police and Navy should focus on its own duties. What Youngho suggested was a reasonable point, although he was fulfilling his own desire as well.


    ***


    The Navy had no reason to refuse Youngho¡¯s offer. The icebreakers of the Arirang Autonomous State were still making sea routes to the naval vessels, and it was a huge help to the Navy. Because the Navy would still have the transfer of wartime operational control and it would save funds for the sea police, both the Navy and the president approved Youngho¡¯s suggestion.


    The authorities also had in mind the national budgets for the Navy and sea police that were not used properly due to corrupted Kazakh officials who embezzled some portion of the budgets in the middle. If Arirang Farm would be in control of sea police and its expenses, it would be a huge relief to the Navy.


    There was an old evil that all of the Central Asian countries had. It was officials¡¯ corruption. It was an ill tradition that was passed down from the time of the former Soviet Union and it never changed. That was why the national defense¡¯ budgets were being wasted as well as other governmental budgets.


    Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s wharf was under construction now. A wharf that would be used by both Navy and Sea Police were being built.


    Knowing that foods provided to the Navy¡¯s first-line troops were terrible, Youngho was building lodging, cafeteria, and resting area for the navies. It was to make them an amicable group to the autonomous state.


    Kazakh naval vessels were about 500 tons at max. It was not easy to live in such small vessels. It sounded, in fact, extremely suffocating. To resolve their inconvenience, Youngho was going to build the best facilities for the young navies. It would certainly increase the soldiers¡¯ spirit and the reputation of the autonomous state. As they remembered the good time they had in the state, they would be more willing to move to the state.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯m afraid that all of the soldiers in our naval base would decide to stay here if you keep providing us a ce.¡±


    Not knowing Youngho¡¯s intention, he was bound to be impressed.


    ¡°Just think of it as a short break when you anchor your ships at the Arirang Wharf. The Navy and maritime police are separated by their names but they are one body. It won¡¯t be good for your soldiers if maritime police were treated better than the naval soldiers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honored to meet someone who¡¯s so thoughtful and especially because you¡¯re Koryoin too. Koreans and Koryoins are the same people. I¡¯m proud that I¡¯m a Koryoin. I appreciate your kindness very much.¡±


    Youngho wanted to buy Lieutenant Commander Jun¡¯s favor, and since Jun was proud of being a Koryoin, it seemed his strategy worked.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. You shoulde to receive more food for your vessel from now on when you¡¯re short. We have more than enough to provide for your ship.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so kind of you. Then we¡¯ll provide oil for your vessels as much as you need.¡±


    Coming from an oil-producing country, the Navy was using oil as much as they pleased. The gas tanks in the autonomous state were filled up to the top already, so Youngho was considering building underground gas tanks below the wharf. There was already one near the wharf but it was already full.


    ¡°You¡¯re not trying to sell oil to make money for food expenses, right?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯ll tell the oil refinery to deliver you more oil.¡±


    Youngho liked it that Jun understood what Youngho was trying to say.


    When there was enough gas, patrol boats would do multiple patrols a day.


    If the autonomous state would do more patrols, it would be beneficial to the navies since they would naturally gain more break time and spare that time to tune up their vessels to a nicety. Lieutenant Commander Jun seemed to have calcted all that already in his mind.


    ¡°Do you wish to be amander in the future?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t even know if I can move up to that rank because I¡¯m a Koryoin. I think I might just retire after serving as a fleetmander.¡±


    It seemed that there was a limit to how high ethnic minorities could be promoted in the navy. It was not because Kazakhs discriminated Koryoins but it was because Koryoins were small in number and the Navy had political concerns in choosing their high officers. Moreover, since most of the navies were Kazakhs, having an ethnic minority as their leader was not encouraging to them.


    Youngho bluntly asked a question at this point.


    ¡°When you retire from the Navy in the future, would you be interested in being in charge of the Department of Defense of the Arirang Autonomous State?¡±


    ¡°Come again?¡±

 Chapter 266 - Gifts (3)

    <h4>Chapter 266: Gifts (3)</h4>


    As Youngho told what he had conversed with Victor Jun, a lieutenantmander of the Kazakh Navy, Insoo and Jong-il were excited.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be best if Victor Jun bes the head of our Department of Defense. Coming from his naval background, people won¡¯t have any problem with him. Also, he¡¯d have some connections to the Kazakh military too.¡±


    ¡°The Navy has been always amicable to us and the Army also admitted the superiority of the light-armored vehicles we donated. We¡¯re setting up a great foundation to our people.¡±


    The light-armored vehicles were received well by the Kazakh Army. Although the Turkish electric vehicles were not as strong as the Russian armored-vehicles, they were still enthusiastically weed by the Kazakh soldiers.


    ¡°They would have felt like they were driving regr carspared to driving rough Russian armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°It must have been their first time seeing an armored vehicle that had heating and air-conditioning system.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The light-armored vehicle that was equipped with a CBR protection function, air conditioning and heating, and even run-t tires was indeed a great addition to the army. In fact, the Kazakh Army was so in love with the vehicle that they requested Youngho to import more vehicles from Turkey. Because of Youngho, Otokar, the Turkish military vehiclepany could get a new big customer, the Kazakh Army. As a token of appreciation, thepany promised Youngho that it would provide the newest vehicles first to Youngho henceforward.


    The reason why the Kazakh Army was interested in buying thetest weapons was because of what happened to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The Chinese government had be the object of resentment by Central Asian countries because of its martialw on Xinjiang. It was taken as an offensive gesture since there were many Central Asian people living in Xinjiang other than Uyghur people, and yet the Chinese government still decided to forcefully suppress people with its military power. Moreover, scenes of arresting and beating Uyghurs in Imic attire were broadcasted on TV which made Imic countries in the Middle East to turn hostile to China.


    Even though people were protesting against the oppression of Uyghurs, China did not even bat an eye. The Central Asian countries soon realized that it was because they did not have military strength. Kazakhstan was one of those countries that felt anxious about its military position, and this must be the reason why the Kazakh Ministry of Defense had decided to buy Turkish light-armored vehicles.


    The CIA considered that it was the best timing for Youngho and Jong-il to provoke China. Russia had no choice but to remain silent on the Chinese government¡¯s oppression of Uyghurs because not only its citizens were not the target but also it did not want to interfere in the domestic affairs of China. Thus, Russia could not oppose America¡¯s intervention on this matter.


    However, Russia¡¯s stance on the matter was not received well by many Central Asian countries. Since they had trusted the country, it was seen as Russia was neglecting them. On the other hand, the Western world was criticizing the Chinese government harshly and was siding with Central Asia. Therefore, the U.S. support of military equipment was notpromised.


    As the U.S. took advantage of such a political situation, it scratched the itchy spots of Kazakhstan and was squeezing in between Russia and Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Michael must be overjoyed by now.¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯ve gotten more drinks out of him.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh government is now on America¡¯s side. If this goes on, they¡¯ll soon build an airfield for the U.S. air force.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this as an opportunity and get more out of the U.S.¡±


    ¡°Just wait for now. Once the coastal guarding boats arrive, things will naturally follow.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    As Youngho told him about free military equipment, Jong-il was intrigued.


    ¡°The U.S. won¡¯t be happy to hear that the vessels from thend were not great. It¡¯s about the country¡¯s pride. If they kept making problems, the U.S. has got to send a few more vessels.¡±


    Youngho had a scheme in mind. If he reported that the vessels could not be fixed by Kazakh technicians forck of skills, the U.S. would certainly send technicians from thend. It was because the U.S. military had pride in their equipment and believed that their equipment would not break even after decades of use. If the vessels were not fixed after a few tries, it would send more advanced vessels for sure. He was not sure how to make it seem as the vessels were broken but it seemed like a great idea.


    ***


    ¡°You¡¯re going to move to Azerbaijan through Georgia in the coast of the ck Sea?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how it¡¯s decided because U.S. battle equipment can¡¯t go through Russian territory. Also, Kazakhstan is responsible for moving those.¡±


    Youngho was on the phone with Michael to discuss how to move American military support equipment to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Phew! We¡¯ll have to use all of our freighters.¡±


    Arirang Shipping was the only shippingpany that hadrge enough freighters to move such equipment through the route of Antic-Mediterranean-ck Sea. No shippingpanies would want to take the job because those military supplies woulde with a risk.


    Since Youngho was the one in charge of this, he could not ask the Kazakh government for a shipping charge. Even if the government was willing to pay, it was better for him to refuse it. The only way to save shipping cost was to ask Lieutenant Commander Jun to fill the gas tanks of his freighters.


    ¡°You know the U.S. government¡¯s official stance is to make Kazakhstan responsible for moving those but the U.S. government will probably pay you for shipping. The authorities already know that the shipping cost is not going to be small, and it¡¯s not going be a free supply if we make Kazakhstan pay for the shipping. They¡¯d be concerned with Russia¡¯s reaction but they can make it happen somehow.¡±


    ¡°I was going to do it anyways but it¡¯d be great if the cost is paid.¡±


    Youngho was apuding in his mind.


    ¡°I think you¡¯d better step aside to not to be seen.¡±


    Michael was concerned about Youngho¡¯s rtionship between Yaniv in Russia who was close to Putin.


    ¡°Arirang Shipping is not owned by me anymore, so there won¡¯t be any risk of exposure.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s great.¡±


    The shipping would be more convenient if it could go through the Volga-Don Canal but the U.S. was not sure if Russia would open the route for the freighters. The authorities would rather not cause unnecessary conflict. Also, their official stance for not having the responsibility of moving the vessels from their side was decided in consideration of political pressure.


    It was arranged that the equipment would be unloaded at the Poti Sea Port of Georgia and moved to Baku bynd from there so that they could be shipped to Atyrau through the Caspian Sea. It was aplicated route but it was manageable.


    Georgia and Azerbaijan would wee it since they would be paid for allowing the loads on theirnd and Arirang Shipping would be earning money for the job in the slow season of winter.


    Now everything was arranged, Youngho would have to go to New York with the Kazakh¡¯s military staffs. The military supplies transportation operation that incorporated all of the Arirang Shipping¡¯srge freighters had begun. Upon finishing his conversation with Michael over the phone, he began calling Jong-il who was the new owner of Arirang Shipping.


    It was five dayster when amander of the Kazakh Army and his staffs arrived at New York Harbor along with Youngho. Since everything was politically arranged by the higher authorities already, taking over procedure could be done by themander and his staffs. The Kazakh Army staffs were excited like a kid who was about to receive his Christmas present. They could not stop letting out exmations as they looked through the military supplies stored in the open-air storage yard.


    They indeed great gifts to the Kazakh Army.


    The Kazakh officers who were looking at the supply list called Youngho. It was because they found some supplies that were not subjects of negotiation in the first ce. They were supposed to only bebat support equipment but they just found self-propelled artilleries and towed artilleries. Moreover, there was a great number of old version mortars as well.


    As Youngho could not close his mouth, Jong-il smiled as if he knew what was going on.


    ¡°It means that the U.S. government had reckoned that artilleries would be great for t border areas and mortars would be great for mountainous areas. You know, those mortars could be used at Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir Mountains.¡±


    ¡°You mean they slipped in these since China is running wild and Russia is ying dummy now?¡±


    Since Russia was not able to help out, the U.S. was determined to help Kazakhstan. Since the U.S. was not responsible for moving the supplies, Russia could not say anything to the Kazakh government when it was buying weapons.


    ¡°I guess they¡¯re going to send a more proper military advisory group this time. It doesn¡¯t take a lot to learn to use towed artilleries but learning to operate self-propelled artilleries will take months.¡±


    It would give wings to the autonomous state if the U.S. military woulde to reside in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we swipe some weapons for ourselves?¡±


    Jong-il twitched his nose since he was excited about having new arms.


    ¡°What do you use the old ones for? The Countryside Force of the Arirang Autonomous State will use newest models at all times except when it¡¯s doing a joint-operation with the Kazakh Navy. There are countries that would sell arms without asking a question.¡±


    ¡°France or Israel?¡±


    There were several countries like France or Israel that were known to hand over cutting-edge weaponry for money.


    ***


    Choi Sunkil¡¯s face was bright as he looked through the supplies in the open-air storage yard. There had not been many shipping order in the off-season but now that he was in charge of delivering military supplies, his steps were light as a feather.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We¡¯ll have to make at least three trips to transport all of these.¡±


    The supplies were quite a lot that they had to be transported three times for three 50,000-ton ss vessels.


    ¡°They¡¯d be unloaded at the Poti Sea Port in Georgia and loaded again at the Port of Baku, so please keep that in mind. The rest would be taken cared of by the U.S. government.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll make sure everything is in ce. The crew would be happy to have more work to do now.¡±


    The crew would have to be sufficed with the basic wage if there was no work but as they received amission for each sailing, they more than weed their new jobs. The crew might have someints about thepany¡¯s policy that only insisted on safe routes of the Antic Ocean, which was a little longer in distance, but in fact, they should be thankful that thepany would choose only the safest sea routes.


    Youngho¡¯s group gathered at a pub near New York¡¯s Harbor to discuss the priorities of the work.


    ¡°By the way. How on earth did you get to deliver military supplies?¡±


    Choi Sunkil who just excitingly gulped down his beer asked.


    Not knowing that Youngho and his friends were agents, he was bound to be curious.


    ¡°Since the Kazakh government does not have expertise in the shipping industry, I convinced the president that we¡¯d be in charge of shipping.¡±


    ¡°Well, indeed. There are no other shippingpanies in the Caspian Coast that have as many freighters as we do.¡±


    ¡°If we doplete this job well, the U.S. military might ask us to be a business partner.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to suit the American military¡¯s needs.¡±


    Choi Sunkil, who was making a big speech about his philosophy in the shipping industry, suddenly lowered his voice and said.


    ¡°I received a strange request a while ago but I forgot to share that to you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°A UK military defensepany requested to deliver military supplies to India but the routes are unstable. The delivery charge is quite charming though.¡±


    ¡°Why would they request that to us when there are other shippingpanies in their country?¡±


    ¡°They said that it¡¯s an unofficial delivery, so they did not want to hire well-knownpanies.¡±


    Any transportation of military supplies had been unofficial. Since the United Kingdom and India had aplicated rtionship, it was not a senseless story if they exchanged military supplies. However, it was not a job that one could just jump for. India was a religiously and sociallyplicated country with ss disputes and ethnic disputes. It would be fine if the receiver of the supplies were the Indian government but if not, Arirang Shipping would be in the center of an international dispute.


    ¡°Well, you should reject it for now. Just tell them that we¡¯re already fully booked. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll go ahead and investigate on this with Park Jong-il and see if this will be a safe deal. India is such aplicated ce, and if things go wrong, we might get involved in political matters.¡±


    ¡°I got that. I only care about the safety of the sea routes but I did not think as far as political issues. You two are younger than me but sometimes you feel like old politicians.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ttering me too much. Mr. Choi, we are not as experienced as you. We just learned to be careful as we traveled around many wild countries.¡±


    ¡°I should be careful when taking jobs from now on and take the destinations of deliveries into consideration. If we get into political matters, thepany would be at stake.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to be too cautious but you can¡¯t ignore those facts. Making money is not easy but ourpany has been sessful all because of your hard work, Mr. Choi.¡±


    The job of transporting military supplies should be done carefully, and the shippingpany¡¯s role in this was very important in this. Not every shippingpany would receive this kind of request.


    The job might open another market for Arirang Shipping, so Youngho wanted to show that thepany was capable of more jobs.


    Expecting the great future of the shippingpany, he gulped down his beer refreshingly.

 Chapter 267 - Gifts (4)

    <h4>Chapter 267: Gifts (4)</h4>


    At the Port of Atyrau, icebreaker freighters were the first ones that arrived followed by four small andrge vessels. Thest one arriving was a car ferry.


    Two 5,000 ton vessels and three 3,000 ton vessels filled the port. At the dock, governmental staffs were all gathered. They were extremely excited to receive free American military supplies and to have a strong ally.


    They had different intentions in mind. Some hade to see the supplies in their own eyes and some even came to inform Russia about what it was like. Nheless, the arrival of the first U.S. military supplies was a great issue.


    It was a difficult decision for Kazakhstan since it was always under Russia¡¯s influence but the government finally stepped up because of the pressure of establishing a self-reliant nation. It was because Russia¡¯s attitude toward Uyghurs made it less reliable. On the other hand, it was a struggle to be freed from Russia.


    Since most of the manufacturing industry and mining industry of thend was owned by Russians, it would have to suffer some economic damage but the government had seen more advantage in expanding its diplomatic channel for the future.


    As the first cargo was unloaded to the dock by a crane, everyone looked at it in hopeful eyes. The first cargo consisted of support equipment only, since Youngho knew that the first delivery would draw a lot of attention. The self-propelled artilleries and towed artilleries would be transported forst. The U.S. also would not like it if it became global news. Keeping that in mind, the U.S. government had made Youngho in charge of shipping.


    All of the equipment was well taken care of, that they were still shiny. Although they were idle supplies, since it was given to another country, the U.S. government had cleaned and polished them ahead. They were as good as new.


    The military staffs apuded as they saw the new sophisticated equipment since they were only used to old Russian trucks and rough bulky Jeep vehicles. They were either impressed or d that they got free stuff. People began to leave one by one after watching the equipment getting loaded on a train.


    At that moment, a man in a suit approached Youngho and handed a cellphone.


    ¡°Mr. President is seeking you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    It surprised Youngho. He wondered what the president was about to say.


    ¡°Mr. President? This is Lee Youngho.¡±


    ¡°You did a great job. I just received pictures of the military supplies. You¡¯ve given me a huge gift.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I just wanted to live in peace that I had to do something.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. I heard that there are offensive weapons in the list as well.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯m not an expert in this area but they look like powerful arms. Those will be transported in silenceter.¡±


    ¡°That is a great idea. Please wrap them well so that Russia won¡¯t find out about them. Also, why don¡¯t you stop by at the pce sometime soon? I¡¯d like to drink your fresh wine.¡±


    ¡°Alright, sir. I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±


    Since the old president was not a heavy drinker, he probably had something in mind when he was calling Youngho. If what he had was gifts for the autonomous state, Youngho would be receiving those with open arms, as long as they were not morend to develop.


    ***


    ¡°Ah, Lee. You¡¯re finally here. You must¡¯ve gone through trouble toe in this cold.¡±


    ¡°It was not a problem, sir.¡±


    Youngho was at the presidential pce in Astana.


    He did not take time to visit the president thinking that there must be an important matter that the president wanted to discuss.


    ¡°Hahaha. So, did you bring some wine that I asked?¡±


    ¡°I brought a little too many bottles this time.¡±


    Since Youngho brought as many that could fill up a whole pickup truck, a staff of the presidential pce had toe to help move the wine boxes.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to rush you. What brought you so fast?¡±


    Youngho wanted toe when the president was still in a favorable mood. Now was the best time to meet him since all Youngho would hear would be somepliments.


    ¡°Are you sure you were not scared by the dictator¡¯s call?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t recall doing you wrong, Mr. President. All I remember is doing something that would receive yourpliments. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t resisting so soon.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Although the president was iming a democratic government, he was still a dictator-like president who was holding onto his power under the pretext of focusing on economic development. In front of such president who had been in power for so long, one needed to act humble and wise in order to survive.


    Youngho thought that if he could gain something from the man, he would do any crawling and ttering for a hundred times. That was why Youngho could receive autonomy of Arirang Farm. The president would not be in power forever, so when he gained the favor of a powerful president, he needed to try his best to establish a high ground for the state. That way, even if the government changed, the state would still stand on high ground.


    Youngho was about to leave after having a pleasant time with the president, and the president asked a pregnant question.


    ¡°Lee, how do you feel like bing a politician?¡±


    ¡°Sir, how dare I think of such thing... I have no base here, and how would I earn people¡¯s support? I¡¯ve never dreamed of such a thing.¡±


    ¡°You have a supporting base. You said I¡¯m like your grandfather.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    It seemed that the president did not forget what Youngho said in vain to tter him. Since the president was close to 80, he sometimes felt like a grandfather too. That was why Youngho told him that the president felt like his real grandfather, and the president seemed to be amused by that.


    The president asked Youngho to be a politician out of nowhere, and Youngho was confused about what kind of expectations the old man had for him.


    However, such matter should be decided with caution since it might be a dangerous move.


    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m not up to lead someone yet. I still have a lot to learn here.¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re interested, tell me anytime. We¡¯ve got some Koryoin politicians too, so you won¡¯t be so lonely.¡±


    The old president suggested it casually, although politics were not a child¡¯s game.


    It seemed that the president had summoned Youngho to get him involved in politics.


    ***


    The administration building of the autonomous state was a stone building consisted of two underground levels and three levels above the ground.


    The underground levels were made to have document storage, heavy firearms armory, and shelter. It was built on arge scale to serve as the face of Arirang Farm, and it carrying its job well.


    All of the people who visited the state thought that the towns wererger than they actually were due to the big size of the administration building.


    Now, the conference room on the third floor of the building was heated because of what Youngho had brought up. The administration staffs of the farm all had different views about the president¡¯s suggestion for Youngho¡¯s political involvement.


    Kim Chun was the first one to support the idea.


    Having lived in Kazakhstan as Koryoin for generations, he had a sense of purpose to stand high in the mainstream society.


    ¡°Boss. The reason I came to Arirang Farm was that I believed that you and your friends could be a big deal in the world. That was why I served you the best way I could. Now is your chance, why are you hesitating?¡±


    ¡°If I be an opponent to the Kazakh politicians, Arirang Autonomous State will suffer for that. I really don¡¯t see any advantage in this.¡±


    Kim Chun was highly supportive of Youngho¡¯s political involvement that Youngho had to calm him down.


    ¡°Boss. You need to do this for all Koryoins here. As a minority, we¡¯ve suffered enough for generations.¡±


    Koryoins had high respect for Arirang Autonomous State for receiving the autonomy status among many ethnic minorities.


    Hearing that the autonomous state was born, Koryoins from all over Kazakhstan congratted it and frequently visited the state. Not to mention, it was named Arirang which was Korean.


    Also, the Serbian immigrants who moved to the state all weed Koryoins whenever they visited. The Serbian immigrants saw Koryoins as their brothers since the prince consort of their Archduchess was a Korean. As the number of Koryoins who were recruited as intelligence agents of the state increased to 25 people, their families also moved to the state.


    When Youngho paid the families a visit after they moved to the state, impressed Koryoins tearfully said that a great era for Koryoins had finallye.


    As the atmosphere turned heavy, Old Kim Sungchan opened his mouth.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim¡¯s opinion might represent all Koryoins of the state but Arirang Autonomous State is where Serbians and Koryoins live together. Koryoins are not the only ones who suffered here. Serbians also left their home to put down roots in this foreign, deserted ce. This will be a major decision that would determine the future of the autonomous state. Why don¡¯t we take time before we decide? He said that the president gave him time to think too.¡±


    Only then, Kim Chan stopped arguing as Old Kim Sungchan, who was an elder from a remote Koryoin town suggested.


    As the group agreed on discussing political involvementter, Youngho brought up another case.


    ¡°Arirang Autonomous State leans more toward West Kazakhstan than Atyrau Region. We¡¯ve been focusing on Atyrau because of its port but I¡¯m nning to interact with West Kazakhstan as well from now on.¡±


    ¡°Boss. Are you going to run for a state governor in West Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯m not saying about that. The hospital of the autonomous state will start operating in March. So, I¡¯d like to promote this to West Kazakhstan that the hospital voluntarily service will be open for the region as well.¡±


    ¡°We need to take care of our people first for a while. We¡¯re already fully booked with patients who suffer from pneumonia to herniated disc.¡±


    As Kim Chun opened the new issue, people began to talk about all sorts of things.


    ¡°People won¡¯t need to go to Volgograd for appendicitis anymore.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll probably able to straighten a broken nose.¡±


    ¡°Can they do an operation for hemorrhoidectomy too?


    ¡°Alright, alright. Today¡¯s meeting is dismissed now.¡±


    Kim Chun dismissed the meeting quickly and followed behind Youngho who was leaving the conference room.


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, I thought the meeting¡¯s over?¡±


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t do politics.¡±


    ¡°Boss. Why don¡¯t you listen to me first before deciding it already?¡±


    It seemed like the day would be pretty stressful for Youngho.

 Chapter 268 - Gifts (5)

    <h4>Chapter 268: Gifts (5)</h4>


    The ice around the Arirang Wharf and around the sea route where freighters and naval vessels used was not thick because the icebreakers kept on breaking the ice. Except for those routes, the water was still frozen in the thickness of 50 centimeters, so even cars could drive on the ice safely.


    During the weekends, the frozen waters were full of people of the autonomous state who came to enjoy ice fishing. From the holes all over the ice, trout that was about the size of an adult¡¯s arm were fished. There was plenty of fish in the Ural River.


    Serbians, who were not used to eating seafood, now grew fond of trout that Koryoins caught. Now they were enjoying trout dishes.


    Youngho and Jong-il also joined ice fishing and were catching several trouts already.


    ¡°How can it be so cold? Let¡¯s wrap up and go home.¡±


    Since they had been sitting in one spot, it was hard to endure the cold.


    ¡°Where would you go? This is the true beginning from now on. Those fish wille to us when there are fewer people. The number we caught can¡¯t even fill our stomach. Do you know how many mouths are there in our family?¡±


    Youngho and his friends¡¯ families from Zeynep Farm in Baku were visiting the autonomous state. As all men did not budge from the Arirang Autonomous State, the rest of the families came to visit them on the car ferry that went back and forth between Baku and Atyrau for transporting U.S. military supplies.


    Although the friends spent the past two days serving their family by hunting wolves and babysitting, they were still sent to the river to catch fish for dinner. It was because Zeynep kept nagging knowing that the winter trout of the Ural River was the tastiest.


    ¡°I say this is enough for all.¡±


    ¡°You know how Zeynep is like. She likes any raw things and she¡¯ll gulp them down. Now Jelyan is following her steps and she eats a lot of fish too. I need to feed them until they¡¯re full, or else, Zeynep¡¯s going to make another request. Man, she can be so annoying.¡±


    Although Youngho made an excuse of Zeynep and Jelyan, he was catching more fish because he feared that fish would run out for drinkingter.


    The coldest time of the winter had passed already since it was early March but the coldness seemed to stay the same. Usually, it started to get warmer at the end of February as it turned to spring in Kazakhstan. When it became early May, the real spring would arrive where temperatures at night did not drop down below the freezing point.


    A frozen waterway caught Youngho¡¯s eyes as he returned home. The water would flow from spring to fall but the water would freeze up and cut out during the winter time. Given the situation, the Arirang Autonomous State was a ce that could not survive without underground water. The amount of water would not be enough if the poption grew in the future, so the state was focused on searching for new underground resources.


    ¡°I heard that precipitation was a lot lesser thanst year since it didn¡¯t snow a lot this year. I¡¯m concerned about it. It¡¯d be great if we can get a water bomb or something.¡±


    ¡°We still have a long while until the springes. The wet season has just begun.¡±


    The wet season was about a month between February and March. Since the total precipitation was only about 200 millimeters a year, it was a very dry ce.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a way to draw in the river in the winter?¡±


    ¡°Why not. We can install an intake tower in the river and provide the water like tap water. The problem is that we need to bury water pipes but they¡¯re quite pricey.¡±


    ¡°Hey! You should¡¯ve told me that when we were building the waterway. Why are you telling it now?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. The waterway was necessary for farming. It was a mistake that we did not think of it being frozen during the winter.¡±


    This was not a result of trial and error. It was the result of an insensitive construction that did not consider the natural environment. If the severe cold that could freeze the river and even the sea was taken into consideration, the waterway would have been insted and covered from the open. It was lucky that the people had enough underground water resource for now.


    ¡°Phew. I don¡¯t think covering the waterway is going to work in this cold.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it as is and when the springes, we should bury pipes to connect the river to the reservoir of the residential towns. We don¡¯t know when the underground water would be exhausted.¡±


    Youngho sighed but the cold and the deserted environment were not even surprising now. Arirang Autonomous State was a ce where another problem arose when one was resolved. If one could survive in such a ce, he could survive in any other ce.


    ¡°If only trees and grass can grow, this summer will be much better. I should focus on improving thend this year.¡±


    The reason for the severe weather condition in the semi-desertednd was that itcked nts such as trees and grass. Because of that, the barend was exposed and moisture was evaporated from it. This caused a huge temperature difference between the day and night. The high-pressure belt was formed due to the increase of sr energy reflectivity, which led to the bad cycle of not raining.


    The only measure for the weather problem was to nt trees. If the pors that people ntedst year could grow as expected, they would block winds and evaporation, and daily temperature would decrease. If grass would grow in between the trees, it would be the cherry on top.


    As Youngho was thinking about the potential change of the farm, he could not help to smirk.


    ¡°Man, this ce is driving you insane. We should really visit the hospital when it opens.¡±


    Not minding what Jong-il was saying, Youngho was still happy to think about the green autonomous state.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to nt millions of por this year.¡±


    ¡°Alright, man. I¡¯ll help you this year.¡±


    Seeing that his friend was determined, Jong-il gave in and promised to help him.


    ***


    Long-waited group of people finally came to the Arirang Autonomous State.


    They were the first medical team and their families for the new hospital. The first group consisted of five doctors and nine nurses. They informed the state that the second group and third group that would arrive in monthly intervals had seven more doctors and twenty-five people of nurses, pharmacists, and dental hygienists.


    The medical team was a group of people who left their old life toe to a remote ce in Kazakhstan. They must be dedicated people with a noble sense of duty. The residents weed the medical team joyfully the same way they weed Fatima, their Archduchess.


    Dr. Kim Dong-sung and his team looked around the newly remodeled hospital with smiles on their faces.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯m impressed by how the facilities turned out.¡±


    ¡°Well, I had a lot of help.¡±


    It was only possible because H Corporation had provided most of the medical devices in order to earn Youngho¡¯s favor. The hospital was equipped with cutting-edge digital equipment and medical devices that it could bepared to any huge general hospital. The only things that the autonomous state prepared were ambnces, medical vehicles, and some disposable supplies.


    ***


    People expected that the hospital would be full of patients once it was opened, but it was rather quiet, except for some serious patients. It was partly because not all of the departments were opened yet, but it was majorly because the residents tried to refrain from using the hospital. They did not want to crowd into the building and bother the doctors, especially when they survived without seeing doctors for years now.


    They wanted to give time for the medical team to get used to living in Kazakhstan for now. The medical state here was so poor that many people would have to risk their lives for appendicitis. It was because doctors in Kazakhstan were paid the same as otherborers.


    Since the public treated doctors¡¯ job the same as otherbors with a socialistic way of thinking, people did not try to study hard to be doctors, and the quality of medical services had been getting poorer day by day. Since doctors were rare in remote regions where nomads mostly lived, the survival rate of newborn babies was at the worst.


    The next day, Youngho met up with Doctor Kim Dong-sung for a cup of tea.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. The number of medical personnel who decided toe here is very limited. So, I¡¯d like to educate and train some people. Could you help me?¡±


    Youngho was extremely d to hear that. The elite group of doctors was going to teach young people in the state.


    ¡°What should I do to help? I¡¯ll get you whatever you need.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be great if you could gather teenagers who wish to be a doctor or a nurse. I can probably teach them in empty rooms in the hospital.¡±


    ¡°Would it be helpful if I build a medical education institution right next to the hospital? I¡¯m suggesting because there might be many kids who¡¯d volunteer.¡±


    ¡°The hospital facility is pretty big enough. The medical study can¡¯t be done only with one¡¯s will, but I¡¯ll have to see the volunteers¡¯ talents as well. I¡¯d like to meet the volunteers ahead.¡±


    ¡°Very well, Dr. Kim. Please tell me or themissioner if you need anything regarding the education from now on. The poption of the state will continue to grow and I¡¯m willing to expand the medical facilities as necessary.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Do you have any idea how much do medical tools and materials cost?¡±


    Not knowing Youngho¡¯s financial ability, Dr. Kim seemed to be concerned. Youngho thought that he should make sure that the doctor did not feel ufortable for asking support.


    ¡°Doctor. I don¡¯t have the exact number of the state¡¯s total output now but my profit fromst year was only a little over 160 million.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    From the hotel business, the share of oilfield, and wine profits, Youngho raised a profit of 60 million dors a year. Adding the two tons of gold bars that were produced from gold mines, Youngho¡¯s calction was not badly off.


    Kim Dong-sung was dumbfounded to hear such a high number from Youngho¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you that there was an alluvial gold mine near here?¡±


    ¡°A, Alluvial gold, did you say?¡±


    ¡°When the weather gets better, we should all go together. I¡¯ll let all of you take what you collect from there. The alluvial gold is all over the ce, and you¡¯d be able to collect about two grams. The mine¡¯s not really worth the effort, so they¡¯re just being neglected now.¡±


    The mine was going to be exhausted in several years if it was collected, so it was just left alone as a symbolic mine.


    ¡°Are you sure that we can collect the precious gold?¡±


    ¡°The residents of the state sometimes went there for fun but now everyone¡¯s got tired of it.¡±


    ¡°Wow, man. I¡¯m so excited to hear about the mine. Can I tell this to my medical team?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The only fun in this ce is gardening and going on fishing for trouts in the river. When they get bored, they can surely go to the mine to collect gold.¡±


    ¡°We can fish trouts too?!¡±


    Judging by his excitement, Youngho could tell that Dr. Kim was a fisher.


    ¡°Yup. The river¡¯s half water and half fish.¡±

 Chapter 269 - The Countryside Force (1)

    <h4>Chapter 269: The Countryside Force (1)</h4>


    The U.S. coastal patrol boats arrived at the Caspian Sea safely from the New York Harbor. It was a rash gamble to make the ships sail across the Antic since they were only 300 tons and 500 tons respectively.


    The length of the ships was about 60 meters long, so they could endure most waves but if the sea state was seven or higher, the survival of the vessels about that size could not be guaranteed. Despite the concern, they luckily made it to the Caspian without any damage.


    Since the sixty men of Countryside Force, who were trained to operate the vessels for a short period in America as maritime policies, seeded to sail across the Antic with the new vessels, this was quite an achievement. As they returned, their eyes were full of pride.


    Youngho rewarded everyone who would defend the Caspian coast with an insignia.


    They would be training with Navies for a while to double their operation ability and would serve their duties as an affiliated organization of the Kazakh Department of Defense. Although the headquarters of the maritime police would be in the Arirang Autonomous State, it would only function as a symbol because its main field of action would be Port of Atyrau and Port Aktau. With the new vessels previously ordered from Korea, there would be four vessels in total, dedicated to the maritime police department of Countryside Force. The number of ships was enough to patrol around Kazakhstan¡¯s territorial waters.


    The medical team was surprised to see patrol boats entering Arirang Wharf. It seemed that they were worried that the state of public security was bad. Curious, Kim Dong-sung asked to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Why are there naval vessels moored at Arirang Wharf?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I guess I haven¡¯t told you about this, doctor. It was agreed that Kazakhstan¡¯s territorial waters would be guarded by the autonomous state. That¡¯s why we were given patrol vessels previously used by the U.S. Navy.¡±


    ¡°Is there no sea police in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°The Navy used to be in charge of the maritime police¡¯s tasks, so we stepped in to take over the duty. We have our own force, so we thought it was not a problem.¡±


    He still did not seem to understand.


    For people who just moved to Kazakhstan from Korea, confusion was natural. After Youngho shortly exined things, he finally nodded.


    ¡°The country is more than twelve times bigger than the Korean Penins but it¡¯s true that theyck serious number in the poption. It¡¯s unprecedented to give the maritime police¡¯s job to the civilians of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll only understand the systems of the countries of the Caspian coast after living here for several years. Everything is very different here.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that the reason that the teenagers are receiving military training in case of emergency, not because of outside threats.¡±


    ¡°Well, you can just assume that as a kind of physical education. In order to protect themselves, they¡¯d need to build strength and learn how to use arms. As soon as we go beyond the stone walls, it¡¯s like nature¡¯s warzone.¡±


    It seemed that experience would be more effective for the doctor, than describing how it was like outside the stone walls for a hundred times. Youngho nned to go camping outside with the medical team this week. He needed to teach them the difference between the outside and inside of the autonomous state.


    ¡°Would you like to go camping in the vast ins? You can also try wolf hunting.¡±


    ¡°Wow, certainly! I also used guns when I served as a medical officer.¡±


    The doctor had served in the military when he was in his 20s, which meant that he had not touched a gun for about 30 years now.


    ¡°The guns these days are a little moreplicated than before, but I guess you¡¯d be able to get the hang of them quickly.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s concern, Kim Dong-sung showed a proud look on his face.


    ¡°You have no idea about what we have used during the Vietnam War. It was the M16 rifle.¡±


    ¡°Well then, that¡¯s no problem. I¡¯d like to see your skills, Dr. Kim.¡±


    ***


    Countryside Force suddenly got busy.


    It was because Youngho shared his n to go camping in the wild outside the state with the neers of the state, the doctors and their families, with some of the soldiers of the force. Since the doctors were eager to learn about their new surroundings, the force was willing to help them and protect them in the wild.


    After a few days of preparation, the first day of the three-day camping had begun.


    ¡°Only six people can get in each vehicle. We should also load our supplies.¡±


    Each vehicle could have ten people but since they were driving far, they had to secure some space.


    ¡°Doctor Kim, why don¡¯t you and your wifee along with me?¡±


    ¡°Do you think my clothes would be enough?¡±


    Youngho was surprised to see the couple only bringing thin jackets.


    ¡°The temperature in the day will rise high but the night in the field is quite cold. You need to bring your winter coat.¡±


    It was April, but the temperature dropped below freezing point at night. Winter coats were necessary.


    ¡°But it¡¯s so warm during the day.¡±


    Not knowing how the semi-deserted area was like, it was a natural reaction.


    This was the purpose of the camping, to teach them how to camp outside and how wild animals could be life-threatening in here.


    Fifteen light-armored vehicles set off to the camping sight in a row.


    The vehicles were great transportation in the great ins and if it snowed or rained, people could also sleep and eat inside them.


    Dr. Kim and his wife inside the car was enjoying the outside view.


    ¡°I should make medical volunteer trips often since it¡¯s so nice outside.¡±


    He could only say that when he had not seen the other side of nature.


    Youngho smiled to think that he would not say that tomorrow.


    Although the light-armored vehicles were the newest versions, they were notfortable as cars since they were built for battles. As they drove on a rough field for hours, everyone got tired of the long drive. If there were children in the group, people would have given up in the middle of the trip.


    Since it was not the greatest idea to exhaust people on the first day of camping, the group decided to make a camping ground at that point.


    When Youngho and Jong-il were busy putting up a tent, doctor Kim Dong-sung approached them.


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d be sleeping in yurts where nomads live in.¡±


    ¡°Well, if we would stay here for the long term, yurts would be better but if you¡¯re only camping for a night or two, tents are more efficient.¡±


    The tent they were making now was arge one that could fit portable beds and a heating system inside. They could install a yurt too but that would be an annoying job.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any wolf or person since we left the state.¡±


    ¡°Well, they are nocturnal creatures. Unless they are extremely hungry, they would show up only when it gets dark.¡±


    ¡°Do they roam around the tent at night?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯m sure we can expect to see some tonight.¡±


    Although he seemed to be excited to see wolves, Youngho wondered if he could stay up at night since everyone was extremely tired due to long, six hours of travel time. They would probably fall asleep shortly after dinner.


    ***


    The purpose of today¡¯s camping was mainly to let the medical team experience the nature of Kazakhstan, but it was also for Countryside Force¡¯s shooting training. That was why everyone was in theirbat uniform. As all of the soldiers of the Countryside Force had their uniform and insignias on, they looked serious.


    As Countryside Force became the official defense force of the autonomous state, the intensity of its training was raised and its devices were modernized. They looked very professional and systemized now. The soldiers who came along with the medical group today were 40 people, which was about 20 percent of the total number of Countryside Force.


    Since they didn¡¯t have many chances to use heavy firearms near the autonomous state, they brought mortars, portable rocketunchers, and machine guns to practice. Only the minimum number of guards were left at the campground and everyone else headed to an empty field on light-armored vehicles.


    They looked like they had been training hard as they were moving in perfect order, ording to their drill instructors who worked at Zeynep Security Service previously.


    ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s quite the skill! Man, but what¡¯s that one doing out there? Doesn¡¯t he know what hiding means? I don¡¯t believe this. Cha Insoo said he taught them ording to the special training manual.¡±


    Jong-il wasplimenting andining as he evaluated their state of training.


    ¡°They¡¯re doing great. You can¡¯t expect to be satisfied at once.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just too rxed because they are stuffed with a good life.¡±


    Life was difficult in Korea around in the 1970s, but now it was not the same.


    ¡°Dude, we¡¯re even too young to say that. What time are you referring back?¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t have strong willpower like now, expensive devices are pointless. They¡¯d be busy running away from their enemies in war. Should I train them myself?¡±


    Everyone seemed to be high-spirited after their shooting training.


    Although a few soldiers were stunned by the noise of the machine guns, most of them were highly motivated. It was because they were now prideful that they had learned how to use heavy firearms. Since they practiced until they were out of ammunition, they now knew the basics skills. From now on, their training would be focused on learning how not to blink an eye at explosive noises.


    The mortars and portable rocketunchers were easy to get used to since they would burst from afar, but machine guns on the armored vehicles and light machine guns were deafening. It was a good idea to bring the soldiers to practice those weapons as much as they could.


    Youngho and Jong-il also fired rocketunchers as much as they wanted.


    ¡°Man, if only we had this when we were in Xinjiang Uyghur. We would¡¯ve destroyed the whole base.¡±


    ¡°You know, if that happened, that Chinese force would have demolished the whole Xinjiang region.¡±


    ¡°When are they going to earn their independence if they act so slowly like that? They need to go through a major rough time to get to the conclusion.¡±


    Youngho did not think that China would ever give up Xinjiang even if it went through a war with the region due to the region¡¯s rich underground resources and its locational purpose of being a buffer to other nations. It did not seem like it was going to happen in the near future.


    The whole group returned after it became dark.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We wanted to shoot guns as well. Why didn¡¯t you take us?¡±


    The doctors who were left at the campground the whole day were disappointed that they did not get to touch the arms.


    ¡°Why would you want to practice using the weapons? They only deafen your ears.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what a man¡¯s dream? It¡¯s to drive in the wild wilderness and fire guns at random. That¡¯s been my desire for a long time.¡±


    Youngho did not know that even doctors had such a wild dream. They did not seem to have the strength to pick up a wooden poker.


    ¡°Then, would you like to try shooting tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We need to learn to protect ourselves as well if we are going to live here from now on. I don¡¯t want to be protected by others forever.¡±


    That was the right idea but the training would not be easy as they thought.


    ¡°Very well. Then, you should receive safety training and basic training tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°training?¡±


    People did not like receiving training regardless of their age. However, it was a necessary step.


    ¡°Alright. Everyone, get down and get to the position. Hey, trainee! I told you that you can¡¯t hold a gun like that multiple times.¡±


    ¡°Instructor, please cut us some ck. We¡¯re not soldiers here.¡±


    The doctors began toin when they had not even trained for an hour yet. Youngho told the instructor to go easy on them, but he was being strict as usual. It was only basic training but it was a difficult task for the doctors who did not have strong bodies to use guns freely.


    ¡°Comining to your instructor is not allowed during your training. If that¡¯s a problem to you, I shall take your gun away.¡±


    Doctors finally stoppedining.


    The instructor wanted to train them strictly now so that they could really learn to protect themselves, but to prevent any safety ident, they needed to be trained a little bit harshly.


    Residents of the autonomous state all carried guns since things were wild and dangerous outside the stone walls. Anyone could get attacked by wild animals at any time. If one did not have the strength to protect himself, he could easily turn into a chunk of meat. The wolves did not care if its prey was a human or another animal.


    ¡°Stand again and get to your position now. Hey, trainee, your muzzle¡¯s shaking.¡±


    The doctors were already getting exhausted now since the use of guns needed extra focus and self-control. Although Youngho was convincing the instructor to go easy, he was actually enjoying seeing the doctors strictly getting trained.

 Chapter 270 - The Countryside Force (2)

    <h4>Chapter 270: The Countryside Force (2)</h4>


    The outdoor training of the Countryside Force went on for four more times.


    It finally ended after all of the soldiers had practiced using heavy firearms.


    Youngho went out every time to train with them. It was to get to know their training sequences in case he had to work with them in the future. The only way to maximize fighting efficiency was repeated training. One¡¯s strength and shooting abilities were important but he would only be a paper tiger if his skills were not backed up with actual fight training.


    The training that incorporated real arms consumed a huge amount of ammunition. Because of this, the training field was wrecked. It was not only the ground force that had the training but also the maritime police.


    The only arms that were attached to their patrol boats were 20-millimeter-long machine guns and Vulcan. So, Youngho ordered them to attach machine guns and rocketunchers on their vessels and let them practice shooting those firearms with the ground force.


    There was no point to distinguish Countryside Force by departments since they were not a lot of people, to begin with. Any Countryside Force should be trained to fight on any ce whether it was thend or the sea since dividing thend force and sea force and rotating them every three months would be a great way to run the force efficiently even if they were not a lot in numbers.


    With the small number of people protecting the state, Youngho thought that it would be great if Cessna airne pilots began to take police duties. They could be called a small air force.


    As Youngho told that Cessna airnes would be a small air force, Jong-ilughed hard.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s too funny that you do a lot of things with such a small number of people.¡±


    As Jong-il teased, Insoo snapped at him.


    ¡°Hey! All of the agents of the intelligence department is also a Countryside Force, right?¡±


    ¡°Dude, please. They¡¯re extremely busy collecting information. You know I told you that we should get oldbat nes this time. Did we make the runway bigger for nothing?¡±


    ¡°People willugh at us if we have old fighters with propellers in this era.¡±


    Jong-il had been trying to convince Youngho to buy old fighters.


    ¡°There will be a symbolic meaning to it. You can still use the machine gun and bomb a ce if you want. It can wipe out a ce before a supersonic ne arrives.¡±


    ¡°Oh forget about it. I¡¯m thinking about buying a helicopter. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re talking about it? I¡¯m in for any kind of attack helicopter.¡±


    ¡°I might be able to manage to get a Cobra helicopter from America.¡±


    ¡°Whatever it¡¯d be, let¡¯s try that. The Countryside Force is our own military force. Don¡¯t you think we need at least two attack helicopters?¡±


    In a country that was asrge as Kazakhstan, people preferred fighters that had a bigger radius of action than helicopters that could only travel about 500 kilometers. However, helicopters were better to use within the Arirang Autonomous State. It seemed that helicopters would be a great addition to the state¡¯s military force.


    ***


    Russia finally stepped in to mediate between China and other Central Asian countries because military forces were gathered near China¡¯s border areas. If things intensified, it was not good for Russia either. So, Russia suggested to China to retreat its force and missile base 100 kilometers away from the border to sooth the tension between the Central Asian countries and China.


    China agreed to retreat and even reduced its force around the border down to 130,000 soldiers. Following China¡¯s move, other countries reduced the intensity of their military forces as well. It was because they had gathered to protest against Uyghur¡¯s oppression, not to begin a war.


    Because of the current situation, Kazakhstan¡¯s n to equip its military with U.S. military arms was postponed for now since it would be risky if Kazakhstan was misunderstood to be reinforcing its military strength against China or Russia.


    Youngho was relieved to hear the agreement between Kazakhstan and the U.S. Although Arirang Shipping was in charge of transporting U.S. weapons to Kazakhstan alone, it was too risky to provoke Russia. It could damage his wine trade to Russia and might affect Yaniv¡¯s position as well.


    The leadership of the Arirang Autonomous State was trying hard to make a small but invincible army of the state. The only obstacle was the small number of the Countryside Force.


    It was already a lot that almost five percent of the whole poption was serving in the Countryside Force, and it was now impossible to increase the number.


    It would be the same in any country, but if a country reinforced its defenses it did not mean that the country that reinforced its defenses would want to invade other countries. Any country would just want to have an assurance in the form of a deterrent force. The strength of Arirang Autonomous State would also be an addition to Kazakhstan¡¯s defense force. It was a sense of duty but it was also because some people of the leadership group were crazy over weapons.


    Those people were now gathered at a conference table and making a new n.


    ¡°It¡¯s called and warrior. Simply, it¡¯s a wirelesswork given to soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve heard about it before. The Stryker brigade of the U.S. Army is already equipped with it.¡±


    Cha Insoo still had no idea but Jong-il answered Youngho right away as a military mania.


    The Land Warrior system would be a luxury for bigger armies but the state¡¯s small army could benefit hugely by it if each soldier was equipped with the system.


    For example, a rifle with heat-seeking and a target detection function that could detect an enemy¡¯s location and automatically inform the distance and direction of that target.


    The newest helmet had infrared discrimination andser detection functions and a user could receive real-time information from the battlefield through its disy at any time. He could also message other soldiers using a little keyboard on his wrist.


    If a soldier was equipped with all of these devices, it would be quite heavy since they weighed about 3.5 kilograms but it could save soldiers¡¯ lives.


    ¡°We can just add a disy device to what the Countryside Force has now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to buy at least the all-in-one helmet.¡±


    ¡°You think the U.S. would give them to us easily?¡±


    ¡°The ones made to export might be less functional than the originals, but it¡¯s worth a try.¡±


    Youngho had to give it a try, so he called Edward who was in the states.


    ¡°Ed. How¡¯s your wife doing?¡±


    He was supposed to visit the autonomous state in the winter but because his wife had an injury from a fall, his visit was canceled.


    ¡°She¡¯s been asking to visit the Arirang Autonomous State as soon as she¡¯s out of her cast.¡±


    ¡°How about the fourth week of May. There¡¯s Memorial Day weekend.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re inviting me, I¡¯ll be d toe. Now, I know that you didn¡¯t call me just for that. Did you need something from me?¡±


    Since the two had been friends for years, he knew exactly why Youngho was calling him.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to get Warrior helmets. Do you think that would be possible?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get my hands on those as a visiting gift. I¡¯ll see you then.¡±


    Youngho liked this side of Edward. He did not ask for any exnation but agreed to find what Youngho needed.


    ***


    Youngho ordered arge number ofbat rations from Eti, the Turkish foodpany that recently opened a branch in Atyrau.


    Thebat rations were used by residents who often went outside of town and by the Countryside Force when they had outdoor training. Because the autonomous state¡¯s territory was huge, there was no ce to cook when people traveled a little bit far away from the town. To anyone who often went out of town,bat ration was the best food for them.


    Thebat rations were unexpectedly tasty that teenagers also like them.


    As the spring was arriving, people began to do outdoor activities and the convenientbat rations were their first preference for such asions. Youngho had been giving them out for free since he thought that the people would get sick of them after eating it a few times, but nowbat rations had be the residents¡¯ go-to lunch menu. Since many people lived off farming and ranching, they liked to eat convenient food while they worked.


    In the end, Youngho could not give away freebat rations anymore. So, they were now sold by the state except for the ones that teenagers used for their outdoor activities at school. Although the demand forbat rations decreased after putting a price on it, they were still popr as a packed lunch meal.


    ¡°Boss. The seedling nting work in the lond would be finished soon. We won¡¯t have many workers because all the people will be sent to help out with farming now. It¡¯d be great if the Countryside Force could help out with finishing the work since their training is done. We¡¯ve been borrowing young kids¡¯ hands but I don¡¯t want to interrupt their school life anymore.¡±


    Kim Chun was working on building a reservoir where there was a natural stream and nting seedlings around it. nting would have to continue consistently for many years but this year¡¯s goal was to nt in 30 percent of the state¡¯s territory excluding areas of farming. That would decrease heat and dirt around the residential areas.


    ¡°How about getting the help of all of the residents on their break day?¡±


    ¡°They work for six days these days. I can¡¯t ask them to give up their only day to rest.¡±


    ¡°We should ask for their understanding since they get to have a long break in the summer. If we miss this time, the trees won¡¯t grow so well this year.¡±


    There were no residents who would not help out in a town¡¯s big event.


    There were somezy people but they would have toe out and work with others because of the pressure they will get from those people who were working. nting trees were one of the most important works at the autonomous state now since they want to give a better ce for their descendants.


    ¡°First, I¡¯d like to focus on nting trees in the northeast and southwest regions.¡±


    ¡°Does the southwest region need trees now?¡±


    ¡°The summer wind is quite strong too. Some of the fully grown wheat was snapped by the wind.¡±


    Thend suffered from continental winds and winds from the Ural Mountains in the winter and from winds that traveled the Caspian Sea in the summer. Since Atyrau was lond, there was nothing that would block the wind that would blow through the region.


    Although the warm spring wind could be helpful for farming, the wind was problematic since it was too strong.


    The state was being equipped with the army of the Countryside Force but the worst enemy of farming was the wind now.

 Chapter 271 - New Immigrants (1)

    <h4>Chapter 271: New Immigrants (1)</h4>


    Youngho, who had been staying at Baku¡¯s Zeynep Farm for the past fifteen days, was heading to Batumi in Georgia with Kim Il-kwon on a Cessna airne.


    ¡°This feels strange without Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s less quiet when Jong-il hyung is around.¡±


    ¡°All you do is bicker at each other and you miss him now?¡±


    A business trip was always fun when chatty and loud Jong-il was around but the three friends were now scattered for their own work. Jong-il was away in New York to receive intelligence devices, and Insoo was in divostok to build new warehouse units within the warehouseplex. He was extremely busy at the moment because the warehousepany contracted with H Corporation to store goods that would be traded to Kazakhstan and Russia.


    The warehouse business was not going to make a big fortune with one swoop but it was a secure business that would make consistent profits. Youngho thought that it was a charming business once the system was set up. Because quantities of imported goods were increasing in Russia and in Central Asian countries, contracting with arge corporation like H Corporation would guarantee a high profit. The warehouse business was a golden goose.


    As the business in divostok was sessful, Sergey was motivated to open a private warehouse business in a port city of the ck Sea. He was also nning to open a hotel business too. He would be a potentialpetitor of Zeynep Corporation.


    They would not have an ovepping point now but if Yaniv was gone, they would have to survive on their own.


    ¡°How¡¯s yournd purchase going?¡±


    ¡°Farm owners around keeping to sell us theirnd that It¡¯s hard to reject them now. The Charles farm itself is more than 30 acres. Including thend that is going to be added, it will be about 50 acres.¡±


    As the small-scale farm owners around the Charles farm became employees of the Charles farm, they began selling theirnd. It was because the money they made as employees were better than what they made from running their own farms. Since experienced farm owners were great employees, there was no reason to refuse them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t buy them so cheaply. I¡¯m afraid that people will say that we¡¯ve killed all of the small-scale farms around us.¡±


    ¡°I feel like they¡¯re too expensivepared to thend received from the Kazakh government.¡±


    ¡°The soil must be rich. They¡¯re worth the money.¡±


    An abandoned soil and manured soil had a huge difference in the amount of yield they produced. People thought that the Charles farm would have more crop than Zeynep Farm when the new grape vines were nted. Since the small-scale farmer families had taken care of their preciousnd for generations, their quality was great. That was why Youngho wanted to honor their efforts by paying high costs for their estates.


    ¡°Any citizen in Baku knows how sessful Zeynep Farm is. We even do charity work for people in need. We should definitely pay them well for their cherished farnd.¡±


    ¡°I understand but there are people with ill-intention too. Evenrge-scale farm owners are requesting to buy theirnd. They¡¯re afraid that if we expand our farm business to the domestic market, they¡¯ll go out of business.¡±


    When the Charles farm went out of business in the first ce, which had monopolized the domestic market, middle torge-scale farms had taken over the domestic market and benefited by it. Since all of the wine produced by Zeynep Farm was exported to Russia and Europe, there was no contact point with them. They were making an unreasonable demand.


    ¡°Just ignore them. The business people of Baku are greedy.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re trying to scare us ahead of time in case we decided to distribute our wine in Baku.¡±


    ¡°They were going out of business in the first ce because of the previous owner of the Charles farm. They get to make money because of us now. I don¡¯t know what their problem is.¡±


    Although small-scale farmers were still struggling, middle andrge-scale farmers were doing much better now but were still being greedy. This was why Youngho did not want to do business in the domestic market of Baku.


    ¡°Should we teach them a lesson this time?¡±


    Il-kwon wanted to scare them away.


    ¡°How can we stop them from being greedy?¡±


    ¡°We can start distributing our wine in Baku. They¡¯d be so frustrated.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s not. It¡¯s our business that¡¯ll get damaged if we run into a problem. We live here now but the fact that we were still foreigners here will never change. Zeynep Wine won¡¯t ever be sold in Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°Should I announce that to the vineyards that make wine?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we should do anything to quiet them.¡±


    ¡°I feel like it¡¯s such a waste that we have to give up the domestic market because of them.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m rather d. We don¡¯t even have a sufficient amount of wine for our foreign demands.¡±


    That was because the grape farm was the base business of Zeynep Corporation, Youngho had to make a firm decision. Although he had to do that, he could not help but feel annoyed by the local vineyard owners.


    ***


    The reason that Youngho was visiting Batumi was not to meet his friends or look around his hotel since he could always talk to his friends on video calls and receive reports about the hotel through e-mails. It was to buy a shipyard in the city.


    There were shipyards that built vessels that weighed tens of thousands of tons but the one that Youngho was interested in buying was a shipyard that specialized in making yachts only.


    Batumi was a famous tourist sight in the ck Sea but it was also the richest city of Georgia due to its shipbuilding business, light industry, and chemical industry.


    ¡°Boss. When I looked around the ce a month ago, they were building two yachts but today there¡¯s none. I don¡¯t think this one¡¯s selling well.¡±


    Kim Il-kwon had visited Batumi a few times to visit shipyards in the market. Since he had convinced Youngho that yacht production was a prospective business in the future, Youngho had reluctantly agreed that he woulde with him.


    ¡°You know, there is only a handful of wealthy men who¡¯d buy a yacht in the coastal countries of the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen the yachts moored at the port over there? Everyone¡¯s saying that they belong to foreigners of the coastal countries of the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all used ones.¡±


    Youngho could see a few new ones but most of them had their paints peeled off from their bodies.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if they¡¯re used ones or new ones. The important thing is that there¡¯s a demand. The reason I rmended this business is because I thought the yacht production technologies could be a good addition to the Arirang Autonomous State and Zeynep Corporation.¡±


    High-performance yacht production technology was monopolized by a few advanced countries but there was a yacht producerpany that stood out from the coastal countries of the ck Sea. Since there were frequent disputes between different ethnic groups, people could not travel freely onnd. As they used sea routes more often, the maritime business was naturally developed.


    Thepany specialized in producing small vessels for different purposes, so its strength was that their vessels could be customized in any way. The bodies of their vessels were made up of FRP or ss fibers instead of steel, so they were light and they could be made in various forms.


    ¡°They¡¯ve got outstanding technical skills but they¡¯re financially struggling now because of business depression. If we could transport those facilities and hire their technicians, it¡¯ll be like having a small hidden champion in our autonomous state.¡±


    It was the result of a global economic recession and not being able to read the market well. The management team was responsible for insisting on yachts only.


    ¡°They¡¯d be great for battleships too, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯ve got the speed, lightweight, and sturdiness. What more could we ask for?¡±


    The technology of a high-performance yacht production could be applied to anywhere. The recent trend of building ships was vacuum forming which incorporated ss fibers. This could make the body of a vessel 50 percent harder than the original production method, bread-and-butter model. Moreover, the body was 30 percent lighter and had higher fire resistance and better instion.


    No matter how strong a battleship was, it could be destroyed by a single missile. If it was going to be destroyed anyway by a missile, it was more economical to produce more ships with less investment and shorter production time. Youngho decided to study about how building a shipyard could help other industries and economy of the state first before deciding.


    ¡°Find out the core technologies of yacht production.¡±


    ¡°Boss. Did you finally make the decision?¡±


    ¡°We need to make the most out of our state¡¯s geological advantage of having a river next to it. I think the technologies can also be applied to drone production.¡±


    ***


    The reason why mega-corporations like Sony and GM were cornered was that they settled for their current sess and abined reason of a self-preservation attitude and mimunication between its leadership and underlings.


    Batumi¡¯s Ararat Shipyard was not a hugepany like the ones mentioned above but it was a distinguishedpany that boasted more than a hundred years of its history. It was a capablepany but the recent management team failed to maintain its finance well and ended up giving up thepany.


    Thepany¡¯s purchase condition for a buyer was to take over all of the technicians of the shipyard, which was thest regard of the owner for thepany¡¯s employees who had been working hard for him for a long time.


    Just like most of the other countries around the Caucasus, Georgia was not affluent enough to support apany¡¯s finance or give a tax exemption. It could not help out the business that had been once a leadingpany in Batumi. With the economic power of $6,000 per-capita GDP, the nation¡¯s management was in jeopardy, devising corporate support measures was unlikely. As a result, even blue-chippanies often went bankrupt out of nowhere.


    After all, Georgia was not a country that had abundant underground resources like Azerbaijan and not to mention, it had been only about twenty years since it became an independent country. It could not yet stop its own corporation¡¯s downfall with its current economic power.


    ¡°It¡¯s only five million dors?¡±


    The facilities of the shipyard would easily cost more than ten million dors. Not only that, the umted technologies of shipbuilding went beyond ordinary standards.


    ¡°The owner¡¯s condition to take over thepany¡¯s technicians meant that we should pay for their payments overdue. We can hand over thepany¡¯s site to thepany¡¯s creditors and take the employees and facilities.¡±


    ¡°How many employees are there?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re about 150 and most of them are veteran workers who have been here for over twenty years. I¡¯m especially excited about the material production department and the designing department.¡±


    Although Kim Il-kwon was educated in a closed and limited system of North Korea, he had worked overseas as an agent for more than five years. Since he used to be an elite agent, Youngho trusted him for this job, and he seemed to have picked out the key in this business.


    ¡°Find out if they¡¯re willing to move to Kazakhstan. I don¡¯t want to take over a shipyard without technicians.¡±


    Youngho was rather interested in taking in the technicians rather than the business itself. If they wanted to receive overdue payments and get a more secure position, they would have to leave Batumi. He wanted to see if they were willing to take a leap of faith that required leaving their hometown. Also, with their joining, the poption of the autonomous state would increase.


    Taking in 150 technicians meant taking 800 people including their family members. It would increase the poption of the autonomous state for about 15 percent. They were not homeless immigrants but specialized ship-building technicians.


    The people of the autonomous state were feeling the necessity of a bigger poption. Even if they wanted to increase the number of factories or to expand wheat farming, without more people, it would all be just a dream. Since many were worried about the future of the autonomous state, any more immigrants would be weed by them.


    If the new immigrants would be responsible as citizens of the autonomous state, there was no reason to dislike them. That was why Serbian immigrants were living well with Koryoins on the farm. Youngho thought that this would create a good precedent if the technicians in Batumi decided to move to the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°Il-kwon. Can you contact Commissioner Kim Chun and ask him to send us the whole view of the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°Should I tell him to send the view of the wharf too?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Tell him not to forget to take shots of the school, hospital, and gym facilities too. We shouldn¡¯t hear anything about the autonomous state being worse than Batumi.¡±


    The only way to convince the technicians, for now, was to pay them their overdue payments and offer a new position. There would be no one who would move to an unfamiliar ce that he had never heard of. Youngho had to at least let them know that it was a great ce to live.


    ¡°Boss. I¡¯ll take the charge and try my best to relocate all of the 150 workers to the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that even if one person is not willing to, we¡¯re going to give up purchasing the shipyard.¡±


    Since it was a long-term investment to make a technician, Youngho did not want to miss a single technician.


    ¡°Tell them that we¡¯d even take their distant rtives and friends!¡±

 Chapter 272 - New Immigrants (2)

    <h4>Chapter 272: New Immigrants (2)</h4>


    ¡°Jong-il. Don¡¯t get sidetracked and just fly to Batumi straight from New York.¡±


    ¡°Where would I get sidetracked? You know all I do is to work.¡±


    Jong-il would have been definitely sidetracked if Youngho did not call him but he was impudently lying.


    Purchasing the shipyard was not easy that Jong-il who had gone to transport intelligence devices had to be summoned. It was because the workers were digging in their heels. Even with a great offer, it was not easy for them to leave their hometown.


    ¡°I need your hand. The technicians here would rather apply to other shipyards in Batumi. Man, it¡¯s hard.¡±


    ¡°What? Those hillbillies don¡¯t know what they¡¯re turning down. What¡¯s their problem? Do they have gold buried in Batumi?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d rather stay in their hometown even if that means living poorly.¡±


    ¡°Okay. The loading process will be done by tomorrow. I¡¯ll fly right after I¡¯m done.¡±


    Youngho had thought that a great offer would get them right off to the autonomous state but it was not as easy as he thought. The management of Ararat Shipyard also was having a hard time because of its technicians¡¯ strong outbreak. They med the management for selling them out.


    The autonomous state was fully ready to receive new immigrants. A nice housing had been readied for them, and the facilities of the city were operating normally that there was no inconvenience for living. The only concern the new immigrants would have was the windy and cold climate in the autonomous state that was different from Batumi.


    The only reason that Youngho wanted to take over the shipyard was to relocate technicians to the autonomous state since he needed people, not money.


    It would be a dream job if housing and a generous payment were guaranteed in the Caucasus region but since Youngho had set a condition that all of the family members of the workers would have to move too, it became an obstacle. The workers who had harshly opposed the idea of living in the autonomous state, in the beginning, were now epting the autonomous state somewhat positively but there was still a long way to go. It was a mistake to gather all the 150 workers and try to convince them at once.


    People could not judge for themselves if they were in a group. Therefore, Youngho and Il-kwon began to meet people in small groups and that seemed to be working.


    They would have their own picturesque house if they worked for ten years, electricity was free, and groceries were provided at a production cost. The autonomous state was a safe ce that could provide its residents with all sorts of educational privileges. The autonomous state also had its own airfield and wharf. These kind of facts were enough to attract mothers and children. Most importantly, they were d to hear that the state had plenty of work positions.


    It was inevitable for Georgians to like the offer since they had been suffering a low employment rate and low wages. Not to mention, Kim Chun¡¯s pictures also made the state seem like a paradise.


    ¡°If you have any technician friends around you, please rmend this to them as well. If they passed the interview process, they¡¯ll get an immigrant¡¯s status right away.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan and Um Sang-taek who could now speak Georgian fluently were exining to the workers.


    ¡°Are you sure that the houses in the pictures will be ours if we worked for ten years?¡±


    ¡°Most certainly. Also, the state¡¯s car ferry regrly travels to Istanbul while stopping at Batumi on the way. You could always visit your hometown on the ferry at any time. If it was an emergency, you could use the light airne as well.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? Forborers, it¡¯s not easy to make time to travel.¡±


    Some people reacted negatively.


    ¡°You will be given fifteen days of break both in the summer and winter. Our autonomous state¡¯s leadership team is quiteid back and we have a lot of official breaks.¡±


    ¡°As much as we want to visit our hometown often, I¡¯m concerned about traveling cost.¡±


    Because their lives had been hard, they could not even dream about traveling outside their hometown.


    ¡°For our residents, traveling cost is free. If there are too many travelers in the future, we¡¯d charge you but we¡¯re only going to receive money for gas.¡±


    The technicians and their families who listened to the exnation seemed to be satisfied with the answers that was given to them.


    ***


    Kim Chun came to Batumi on the car ferry.


    He was too excited to receive immigrants that he could not wait at the state.


    ¡°Boss. We can¡¯t pass a special asion like this. Why don¡¯t we drink together tonight?¡±


    As soon as he saw Youngho¡¯s face, Kim Chun asked to drink together. He was that excited.


    ¡°Why are you asking to drink? You can¡¯t even drink.¡±


    Kim Chun could hold his liquor better now since he had been drinking with Youngho¡¯s group often, he still could not handle drinking too much though.


    ¡°When would we drink if we won¡¯t drink on a day like today? I resolved the immigration issue with the Atyrau¡¯s regional government. I¡¯m determined to get rewarded tonight.¡±


    Youngho could see how busily he had been going from ces to ces to make this work. Although there would not be a country like Kazakhstan that could easily receive immigrants without problems, with Kim Chun¡¯s personality, he must have been raising his voice to push the officials who were slow to process things.


    ¡°We¡¯ve not even made a list of the immigrants¡¯ names yet. How did you even process this?¡±


    ¡°I just gave them a rough estimate of the immigrants¡¯ number. Well, it¡¯s an autonomous state anyway. They don¡¯t have to know the details. We can make their passports and residential cardster when we report their profiles from the autonomous state.¡±


    Although he said that the process was easy, the process of receiving immigrants would not have been as simple as he said. It was only possible since Kim Chun had submitted an official document that he would follow through the immigration process properly. Being a social butterfly, he would have used all of his connections to make it happen.


    Youngho could let out a sigh of relief only after watching the car ferry with the first 400 immigrants on board and leaving Batumi¡¯s Port.


    The faces of the families on board were half full of excitement and expectations. Thankfully, no one seemed to have a somber look. Not only they were satisfied that they received the overdue payments now but also they were full of hope for their new start. It was not a forceful relocation since they decided their own move, and as they knew that they could visit their hometown any time, their hearts were light.


    Although some technicians were still being stubborn to stay, it could be resolved with one call from his colleague who moved to the state first.


    The Arirang Autonomous state was still extremely grateful for the first 400 immigrants. They were added poption and highly experienced technicians. Many people would rather live in an advanced country than an underdeveloped country even if they lived poor lives.


    They liked the offers and awesome pictures of the state but Youngho¡¯s touching appeal to build the new-born state together would have also made a difference in their hearts.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need those old facilities but we must get that rail crane.¡±


    ¡°That crane can carry up to a hundred tons of weight. Do we really need that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be useful for us in the near future. It¡¯s almost new.¡±


    Not being able to manage the finance only with yacht building, Ararat Shipyard had begun a rail crane to start repairing business but it was a huge mistake for thepany.


    The reason why Youngho wanted to take it was that he had seen so many ships that needed repairing soon in the Caspian Sea including Arirang Shipping¡¯s vessels. He expected to receive ship repair requests in the near future.


    The crane had a barometer to determine if a shipyard was only a shipbuilding facility or also a ship repair yard. That was why Youngho had to bring it no matter what.


    Most of the other facilities were nearly scrap metals but Kim Il-kwon was still meticulously making a list to take the most out of the old shipyard.


    Youngho could not help but smile since he gained immigrants and shipbuilding technology for the autonomous state from an unexpected ce. Now if raw materials could be secured, the state would be a ce where any kind of vessels would be made and customized in any way.


    ***


    Things moved fast and wlessly so far.


    The first group of Batumi¡¯s shipyard technician families was already adapting to their new lives in the autonomous state. There were still the second and third group of technicians, about three hundred and two hundred people respectively, who were waiting to move. It was about a hundred people more than what was estimated in the beginning since the technicians¡¯ rtives had joined too. It was only possible because the technicians spread the word that the autonomous state was a great ce to live.


    The construction of an exclusive naval wharf next to Arirang Wharf was still in the process.


    It was indeed a great strength added to the navy to have a shipbuilding yard that was a ship repair yard as well. This was why Lieutenant Commander Victor Jun showed up with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Would it be possible to repair our naval vessels as well?¡±


    ¡°Of course,mander. I have 150 specialized technicians now. What can¡¯t we fix now?¡±


    ¡°You just astound me, Mr. Lee. How were you able to make the technicians¡¯ families move as well?¡±


    ¡°Well, I made a condition when I purchased the shipyard. I won¡¯t buy it if a single one of them refused to move.¡±


    It was an absurd condition but except for some of the elderly and some technicians who were sick, everyone had agreed to move to the state, which was still amazing.


    ¡°Our naval vessel¡¯s engine is always troublesome that we often had to let it stay at a dock. I shouldn¡¯t be worried from now on.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Don¡¯t you worry no more. I¡¯ll make sure to make your ships sail like a new naval vessel on the sea.¡±


    Russia¡¯s military technology was well-known by others. However, their production technology of small vessels was below standards. Their vessel bodies were outstanding but their engines were always problematic.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to change some arms on the vessel. Do you think your technicians can install weapons?¡±


    ¡°Do you have anything in mind?¡±


    ¡°Do you know the weak points of a missile boat? Its light offensive weapons are not so effective.¡±


    He was talking about machine guns and Vulcan automatic cannons. It seemed that he was going to wrap the small vessel with weapons.


    ¡°Are you going to install a heavy machine gun or automatic cannon?¡±


    ¡°How did you know? I want automatic cannon.¡±


    Youngho had to know since he had installed cradles all over his car ferry already.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple if you¡¯re only installing cradles but it¡¯d be nice if you have room to install a defensive wall.¡±


    ¡°We have enough room. If we could install two on each side, our vessel would have no match.¡±


    His ship was the only missile ship in the Caspian Sea already. With those cannons added, it would be a lump of weapons floating on the waters.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t look nice from the outside. It might be better to install heavy machine guns because they take less space. I know the ship is built for battles but you need to also think about the aesthetic view.¡±


    At his remark, Commander Junughed hard.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°At least the Kazakh navies should have some swag. You know that missile is already heavily armed, I feel like it¡¯s going to sink in the water soon.¡±


    Youngho could not help but smirk to see missileunchersid crisscrossed together on a palm-sized ship. Any naval vessels made in Russia looked like that. It would look better if it was a bigger sized ship.


    ¡°Commander Jun. Isn¡¯t a missile ship going to sink anyway if it was shot by a missile just like other ships?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The new shipbuilding technology I took over this time is the technology to build quick and sturdy vessels.¡±


    ¡°Are you nning to build new vessels?¡±


    ¡°If you want, I¡¯d like to make a test vessel.¡±


    Commander Jun was intrigued.


    ¡°The Navy had made one in the past but it failed the speed test. If you could resolve that problem, I¡¯m sure we¡¯d most definitely be willing to support it.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how much budget you have.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we have plenty but we can guarantee a minimum profit.¡±


    He did not look confident but it was better than asking to provide a vessel at a production price.


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll go ahead and try making the best vessel. If the navy doesn¡¯t like it, we can use it as a patrol boat.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a reckless n. You¡¯d only have four vessels including the ones that areing from Korea.¡±


    ¡°I targeted that when I bought the shipyard but I want to provide for the Navy¡¯s needs as our priority.¡±


    ¡°The Defense of Defense would pop the champagne when you report this.¡±


    ¡°Well, we haven¡¯t even designed a ship yet.¡±


    ¡°Well, Mr. Lee. Whatever you do, I trust you.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Isn¡¯t this a win-win business?¡±

 Chapter 273 - The Land Full of Vitality (1)

    <h4>Chapter 273: The Land Full of Vitality (1)</h4>


    To Youngho, one of the world¡¯s greatest views was the scene of growing grains in the field.


    The field sometimes looked like a water wave when it was shaken by the wind, and the smell of the fresh field tickling his nose was sweeter than any other fragrance.


    Whether this year¡¯s crop would be good or bad, the field was again creating a beautiful sight. Youngho, who was driving through the wheat field on a four-wheeler, could not resist stopping to smell the sweet scent. The field had grown about 30 centimeters tall already. Where Youngho stopped was quite far away from the residential towns.


    The sunlight inte May was hot enough to make him sweat.


    Except for the areas of the wharf and towns, the Arirang Autonomous State was quiet. The field was already well-taken care of that it only needed asional water until the day of harvest, all farmers left to develop another farnd.


    Since wheat fields blocked radiant heat and dust blown from the wind, the state was turning into a pleasant ce to live. Apart from the wheat, the trees and grass nted, long stone walls built, and man-made hills had made it a better ce by either blocking or changed the course of winds.


    The farnd was not developed around the road that connected the towns to the wharf but only trees were nted, since the farnd after harvest was dusty as a desert.


    Although not even 30 percent of the territory was developed as grass field yet, the state nned on developing up to 35 percent of thend by the end of next year. The reason for focusing on the development of grasnd was because of dust storms. It was an inevitable choice since the farnd after harvest was the cause for dust storms. Farnd would be developed in-between grasnd and woods only, but that much area was still enormous that it was estimated to produce more than 40,000 tons of grain every year. The farnd would upy 20 percent of the whole territory, although it would be a story after several years.


    As he was looking around the field, a bunch of four-wheelers was approaching him, raising the dust behind them. It was the teenagers of the towns and each was driving a four-wheeler in groups of two. They were entertaining themselves after school but Youngho could not see any kind of self-defensive arms.


    The state¡¯s policy was that teenagers should be guided by at least one armed adult or should be armed with a hunting rifle for protection when they left the towns. In spite of his concern, the teenagers were racing with each other as they greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Hey, hey! You aren¡¯t even armed and you came this far?¡±


    ¡°The Countryside Force guards said that we can travel to the boundaries of farnd. They gave us two-way radios and said that they¡¯ll let us know if there¡¯s any danger.¡±


    The guards had built guard posts at the rim of the boundaries of farnd and grasnd but the huge area could not be guarded by so many guards. They must have been watching the fields through drone cameras. Since Youngho did not intervene in their work to the detail, he had no idea.


    ¡°Alright. How¡¯s riding the bike?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fun but there¡¯s not a lot of them assigned to students, so we¡¯re taking turns to ride them.¡±


    ¡°You only have a few at school?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re temporarily transferred to the development of farnd, so we only have ten at school. You¡¯re lucky if you get to ride it once a week.¡±


    Youngho would have not known this if he did not meet the students. The autonomous state had about 900 families and each had at least two to three children. When the adults were busy for work, their children had nothing to do.


    That was why the school encouraged extracurricr activities and after-school programs, the bikes were assigned for students¡¯ entertainment as well. Although there were more students who were below middle school age, there were still 300 high school students and special institution¡¯s students who needed activities to relieve stress and energy.


    Since they were the most valuable assets of the state who would take care of the state in the future, they must not be neglected. Youngho thought that the state was taking care of them well. He felt sorry that the most popr activity for them had to be taken away because of adults¡¯ work.


    ***


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Let¡¯s buy 50 more bikes.¡±


    ¡°What? We have 150 of them already. If we manage their use more effectively, students can have enough fun.¡±


    Kim Chun did not want to waste the state¡¯s money when the bikes were temporarily borrowed by the farnd development project. The residents could not buy their own bikes yet due to their low financial status, the state had to provide the bikes for them.


    ¡°You need to subtract the ones that were dedicated to the Countryside Force. From spring to fall, there¡¯s nothing like four-wheeler bikes for patrols.¡±


    The Countryside Force refrained to use light-armored vehicles unless it was for a long-distance patrol since the light-armored vehicles were much more costly and it was easier to use the four-wheeler bikes.


    ¡°Then, how about buying 30 more?¡±


    ¡°Please get 50 more just in case. It¡¯ll be nice to have some extras when some bikes need to be repaired.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I think we should recruit a mechanic or train people to be mechanics this time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you Mr. Commissioner but please go ahead and order the bikes today, and transport them on a ship as soon as they¡¯re ready. The kids whom I met on the field will be excited.¡±


    ¡°Those kids must¡¯ve nagged badly to you.¡±


    ¡°No, I just felt sorry that I had to make a promise.¡±


    ¡°Man, we¡¯ve already spent so much this time to buy medical devices...¡±


    As a person responsible for the state¡¯s living, Kim Chun was bing stingy.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s an investment for the state¡¯s future. Please don¡¯t think this is a waste.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just sad that everyone seems to rely on you, thinking you¡¯re their widow¡¯s cruse.¡±


    Although Kim Chun did not like residents taking advantage of Youngho, Youngho was rather the one who had received the most from the Serbian descendants.


    The descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom worked hard in the mines to produce gold and made huge profits from the farm and ranch in Baku.


    The reason that they produced two tons of gold without a word ofint was to thank Youngho for taking caring of their people andnd. Their work did not go to waste since everything would be inherited to their descendants. Not knowing that Kim Chun was bittersweet toward them. Youngho thought that he should exin this to him so that he did not feel resentful toward the residents.


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner. The people who work in the farm and ranch in Baku were the descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom. They¡¯re sacrificing themselves for the glory of the Serbian Kingdom. I¡¯m only using the money they¡¯re making.¡±


    ¡°Boss. It¡¯s not like they built your business from the beginning. It¡¯s natural for them to work, to repay you for creating a ce to work for them. They¡¯re already given a life that they¡¯ve never imagined. I heard this from Old Niksic. He said that if it weren¡¯t for you, everyone would still be living in substandard environments now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one thing but the autonomous state wouldn¡¯t have existed without their hard work.¡±


    ¡°Boss. How can I not know what you¡¯re talking about? I just want to say that giving away things so easy for the residents won¡¯t help to build their self-reliance.¡±


    Kim Chun was indeed worried about Youngho. Even if he was his boss, he did not hesitate to express his concern. Youngho was deeply thankful for Kim Chun¡¯s loyalty and friendship.


    ***


    The total poption of the autonomous state was 6,222 people of 1,133 families, including the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom, Batumi¡¯s technicians, medical teams, and newborn babies.


    It was an extremely small numberpared to the whole area of the state but it was quite amazing that such a number of people had gathered in a short period of time.


    The state had changed so much since the beginning when there was only barend. Although the nted trees were not fully grown to provide shade for people, they were giving out fresh scents from every empty lot. All of the roads in the towns were paved that there was no dust anymore.


    Human power was indeed astounding to turn a wastnd into a city. Despite the fact, it was still true that there was not much poption in the state that it was hard to spot a person on the street during the day time.


    In the mid-day, Youngho could only hear asional voices of children ying in the ygrounds and some people going in and out of the hospital and administration buildings.


    As it entered thete spring, the sun was too hot that it was bing difficult to do any activities outside. The day¡¯s temperature was like the mid-summer and the night¡¯s temperature was like the early spring.


    Blocking the bright sunlight with one hand, Youngho was looking around the Archduke¡¯s pce guided by the construction director Nikevich Min. Thepletion of the pce was originally nned to take ce in this fall but it was dyed now to be in spring next year.


    The reason for its dy was because of the underground floor construction that almost took off the hill¡¯s peak area and the sculpting process of the stone exterior.


    ¡°Director Min. I think this is going overboard. Why don¡¯t you try to wrap up at this point?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim is refusing it. He said that it should be perfectly built this time because it¡¯ll be difficult to begin another constructionter.¡±


    As the farm bes an autonomous state, the pce now had a different meaning. As an autonomous state and a kingdom where the Archduchess was alive, Kim Chun wanted the pce to represent the glory of the old kingdom.


    Youngho was getting impatient since he did not want to wait another year.


    ¡°We¡¯re only going to stay there about half a year only. Please don¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    ¡°The interior will bepleted by thete fall, so people will be able to move in but it will be too noisy because the exterior stones would still be in the process of sculpting.¡±


    The noise would not be the only problem but also the dust from construction.


    ¡°Phew, I can¡¯t win over Commissioner Kim¡¯s stubbornness.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. The pce it the autonomous state¡¯s pride. Even if themissioner didn¡¯t ask anything, I would have done his job.¡±


    As ns were dyed, the coronation had to be postponed as well.


    Youngho nned to officially im the new kingdom to the world and actively engage in diplomatic performances before the year passed. Although Fatima was a descendant of the Archduke of a fallen kingdom, there would be a symbolic emphasis that the new kingdom was made in Kazakhstan when other European royal families were now losing their existential values.


    It would naturally attract curious travelers, and the Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s status would be raised. To make such good change, the best issue was the Archduchess¡¯ coronation but it had to be postponed again that Youngho was frustrated.


    However, he was feeling relieved at the same time since he had earned another year until the huge event. Exposing the autonomous state to the globalmunity woulde with a lot of risks and responsibilities, and the state was not stabilized yet.


    The residents still thought that they were poor.


    Although the state looked like a rich country on the outside, individual ie was not a lot. They had plenty to eat at home but could not buy things as much as they wanted from outside. So, Youngho was going to start a tourist business after the coronation had taken its ce.


    Many West European tourist cities made money from old buildings and structures but the Arirang Autonomous State would have an experienced tour of nomadic viges. Yurts would be installed in the vige as lodging facilities. Flying on a light airne to look at the vast ins could be another business item.


    Wolf hunting experience could also be in the packaged item, which would appeal to adventurous travelers. Even the weak Dr. Kim Dong-sung mentioned about such a dream. If travelers actually caught a wolf, it would be a story to tell for a long time.

 Chapter 274 - The Land Full of Vitality (2)

    <h4>Chapter 274: The Land Full of Vitality (2)</h4>


    ¡°Director Min. Do you think you can remodel yurts in a modern way?¡±


    ¡°What are you nning to use them for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to start a nomadic life experience tourist business.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to install them in the newly formed grasnd?¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯d be a perfect spot.¡±


    ¡°Then I think they should experience the real nomadic life.¡±


    The authentic nomadic life experience would not appeal to people who were already adapted to convenient lifestyles. The inconvenience would quickly lose the target tourists.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let them sleep on bare ground. We should at least have beds.¡±


    ¡°Well, that sounds interesting. I¡¯ll think of a way to incorporate that without damaging the original form.¡±


    When the coronation would be held, the Arirang Autonomous State would be on global news for a while through the avnche of media coverage. To think about that, Youngho realized that the current hotel size would not be able to handle a huge number of broadcasting groups from all over the world.


    ¡°We need to build another hotel near the airfield.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The number of guest rooms we have is too small. I think we should at least have a hundred rooms. Could you start it as soon as possible?¡±


    Director Min only blinked his eyes at Youngho¡¯s sudden request. Although the state had been getting frequent foreign visitorstely, a hotel with 40 rooms was more than enough for now.


    ¡°Did you say a hundred rooms? Mr. Lee, the construction cost won¡¯t be small.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the minimum number of rooms, director Min. You would have to build a strong foundation and basic structure because we might have to expand the hotel in the future.¡±


    It was not wise to build a huge hotel just to receive a temporary rush of guests for an event. Youngho only thought that the current hotel was too small that a new hotel was needed anyway in the future.


    If the rooms were short, the car ferry could be moored at the wharf and used as an alternative lodging facility. The ship had a lot of rooms for guests since it had thirty two-people cabins, twenty four-people, and six-people cabins respectively, and a fewrge-group cabins as well.


    The car ferry was not fully equipped like luxury cruise ships but it could bepared to regr cruise ships.


    ¡°I will finish the building before the coronation day. If the framework and windows can bepleted by thete fall, we¡¯d be able to do interior work during the winter.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t need to rush it. We have an alternative measure, so please don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    Just like Kim Chun, Nikevich Min was someone who would go through fire and water in order to achieve a goal, so Youngho had to draw the line for him ahead of time, or he would make workers work at night too.


    ¡°The residents of the state are now experienced workers and a building with a hundred rooms is not a piece of cake for them.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t mobilize the residents but hire expertborers. They have a lot to do apart from this.¡±


    Until now, all of the buildings were built with the help of the residents. They were experienced workers already. The reason that Youngho refused to use the residents for the hotel¡¯s construction was that the hotel was not for them. He could not make them work for themercial building. It was more so since the building was going to be built out of Youngho¡¯s personal wish.


    ¡°There are hiredborers who are building the shipyard and it¡¯ll take some time until they could be mobilized for the hotel construction. If residents are willing to earn some extra money, I¡¯ll use them.¡±


    ¡°Okay, do as you want, director Min but please let it not interfere with the residents¡¯ primary work.¡±


    It seemed that the residents would somehow get pulled into the construction work since there were too many construction works that were happening now.


    ***


    The work of building a shipyard near the river proceeded with ease.


    It was not a difficult task to dig up the ground and making ferroconcrete walls shaped like a box, but the construction of sluice gate was an advanced level.


    This was used for the asions when there was arge vessel that needed to be fixed and when a ship was needed to be dragged onnd in order to get repaired. If it was a small vessel, it could be carried by a crane.


    ¡°Il-kwon. Do we need to build a warehouse that big?¡±


    ¡°They said the mixer for ss fiber and reinforced stics should be in the same room where vessel bodies are made.¡±


    Il-kwon seemed to have studied a lot about shipbuilding. He was in charge of the shipyard now somehow. It might be the same in any organization but in Youngho¡¯s organization, anyone who suggested a project first became in charge of that project until it was finished. Since there were not so many people in the leadership team, it happened frequently.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure director Min will take care of it but the winds from the river are quite harsh that these kinds of buildings will get torn down easily.¡±


    Youngho had to mention that since winds were scarier than earthquakes in Atyrau. Almaty, thergest city in the eastside of Kazakhstan suffered from a huge earthquake dozens of years ago. The whole city copsed by the earthquake but thankfully the west side of the country near the Caspian coast was safe from earthquakes.


    ¡°So, with those materials, anything can be made?¡±


    ¡°Since the materials are sturdy and light, they don¡¯t change when they¡¯re once formed into something. They said that they could be molded into anything.¡±


    Rather than buying a shipyard, Youngho had bought material technology. Light and sturdy fiber reinforced stics, which could rece heavy and strong metals, could be made in any forms that it could be applied to daily living.


    It could be used in bathtubs, water reservoir tanks, airnes and cars, and even buildings. They did not rust and did not get caught in radars that they were perfect for military vessels.


    Youngho was intrigued to buy the shipyard after hearing that the materials could be used in airnes and vessels, and it was a great decision that everyoneplimented him.


    If one had the ability to design, anything could be made with them.


    The only harm in producing the materials was that the fiberss was harmful to the human body. It could be resolved with strict management and wearing high-quality safety gears.


    ¡°Can they make a vessel without a warehouse?¡±


    ¡°Since it doesn¡¯t rain here, I think they can make it in the open.¡±


    ¡°Tell them to make a small passenger boat or some canoes to test it out.¡±


    There were only a few fishing boats on the surface of the wide river, and there were none for teenagers¡¯ entertainment. Youngho thought that it would be great for them to have canoes or rowing boats to y with.


    The Ural River was an amazing natural environment, and it would be a great opportunity for the towns¡¯ young teenagers to enjoy that.


    The residents of the autonomous state used sea routes or sky routes tomunicate with the outside. All of the traded goods were, of course, transported by the river.


    Although there was an industrial road connected to Atyrau, the road was in poor condition and there were too many dangerous risks. It was because there were many highwaymen. Kim Chun was also shot by robbers on the road once, so traveling onnd was avoided, unless it was a special case. Also, there was no reason to use thend route since ships could transport more people at once.


    The only problem now was that moving the car ferry in the 3,000-ton ss for only a few people or little amount of freight was not efficient. So, the sometimes patrol boats were used to transport people.


    So, Youngho nned to make a small vessel for this purpose. With 150 marine technicians, a small passenger boat would be made in an instant.


    ***


    The consortium of Korean construction industry finally decided to invest in building highways in Kazakhstan.


    Considering Kazakhstan¡¯s economic status, toll fees were set at the minimum level but instead, the consortium agreed on receiving mineral resources from the Kazakhstan government to cover the construction fee. The government was also happy to pay the Korean consortium with their resources which they had plenty of.


    The deal was made because of Youngho¡¯s effort but Koryoins¡¯ existence was a huge help in the process. If Koryoins did not live in Kazakhstan, the government would not have viewed Korean corporations as positively as now.


    They were thrown out of the Maritime Province in the 1930s and forcefully ced in here but they contributed to the Kazakh society as they worked hard and set a good role model to others as they focused on educating their children. They also did not forget to appreciate the Kazakh government for receiving them and helped the society as their own if there were any difficulties. Without their history in Kazakhstan, today¡¯s business would have never happened.


    As the two parties of the highway construction project achieved what they wanted, rted people of the project were all invited to the banquet held in the presidential pce.


    After the president¡¯s warm weing speech, Korean businessmen and government officials began to drink together. Although Kazakhstan had mimicked Im, it was in name only and there were no officials who would refuse to drink. Especially because their winter was harsh, they drank vodka as if it was water.


    Likewise, Korean construction businessmen were also heavy drinkers, that there were even some drunken people for only thirty minutes after the banquet had begun. Youngho and Jong-il also joined them and began to pour down drinks.


    As Youngho was in the middle of drinking, President Nazarbayev sought him.


    ¡°Mr. President. Have you been looking for me?¡±


    ¡°You need to stop drinking with those men and start getting along with politicians. How long would you stay satisfied with the autonomous state only?¡±


    The president was still trying to make Youngho a politician.


    Sick of corrupted politicians, he wanted a new face in politics. He also wanted to attract more foreign investment to the country through Youngho.


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided not to meddle with politics. I¡¯m only going toe to the presidential pce as long as you¡¯re here but I¡¯ll stoping when you retire.¡±


    ¡°You know, if you be a politician, you¡¯ll be able to attract much more businesses than what you have now.¡±


    ¡°Well, I bet I¡¯ll get many enemies at the same time. Instead of making enemies inside, I¡¯m nning to go abroad.¡±


    ¡°You only wish to maintain the autonomous state and stay as a businessman in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I think that¡¯s for the best.¡±


    ¡°I understand. That¡¯s a less stressful decision. Politics is a real sick business.¡±


    ¡°As a businessman, there¡¯s a high possibility that I¡¯ll be biased as a politician. I didn¡¯t think that would be a good idea for the autonomous state as well.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯m not going to try to persuade you anymore but please do tell me when you change your mind.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration, sir.¡±


    Kim Chun would be heartbroken to hear this but no matter how hard he thought, bing a politician was like running into a burning fire.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s too bad. I thought politics would be more fun if I had you around.¡±


    ¡°Instead, I will step right in if I can be of help for national defense.¡±


    The president already knew that the autonomous state had begun to build a light vessel in cooperation with the Navy. Although it was only at a nning stage, the Kazakh¡¯s Department of Defense was exuberated to hear that.


    ¡°Of course. If Kazakhstan goes down, it means that the autonomous state goes down too. But I¡¯m still discouraged. It¡¯s a waste that we can¡¯t use someone like you.¡±


    It seemed that the president would force a position to him.


    Youngho hated to refuse since the president had asked him multiple times now. Since there was a lot of businesses that Youngho was involved right now, the president would maybe try again in the next several years.


    The only way to stop him was to dere the Republic of Arirang next year. The prince consort of the Archduchess would not be able to get involved in Kazakhstan¡¯s politics. He should make it official somehow.

 Chapter 275 - The Land Full of Vitality (3)

    <h4>Chapter 275: The Land Full of Vitality (3)</h4>


    Because there were no rooms left in the hotel at the Arirang Autonomous State, the state had to borrow five empty houses that were built for new immigrants. It was because the businessmen of Korean construction consortium decided to make their head office for the highway building project at the autonomous state.


    The duration of the construction was five years from now, and since the roads would need to be taken care of regrly, the staffs of the Korean consortium needed a decent management office in a ce where there were infrastructures around. The city of Atyrau was the perfect ce for them but the problem was that they did not speak Kazakh in order tomunicate with the local people. That was why they chose the Arirang Autonomous State since they could get Youngho¡¯s help and other Koryoins¡¯ help as well.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We need a lodging facility, as well as an office facility¡ª where we can eat and sleep. We saw an empty lot near the airfield. We¡¯d like to build facilities that we¡¯ll be using. Would that be possible?¡±


    ¡°Tell me anything you want. I¡¯ll be d to help.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like to buy an area about four acres of size.¡±


    ¡°We have plenty ofnds, why are you trying to buynd? Just use them and don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s thepany¡¯s property that we should make it under our name.¡±


    ¡°Would it be alright if I write you permission for freend use?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho was talking to Im Min-soo¡ªwho was the president of the Korean construction consortium that consisted of five constructionpanies.


    The consortium had decided to build their own buildings since they could not spend so much money to stay at the state¡¯s hotel. They needed a living ce for more than a hundred staff members.


    ¡°You can pick anywhere near the control tower. We¡¯re also building a hotel with a hundred guest rooms near there.¡±


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s great. We¡¯ll build our lodging facility and the head office there. Do you have any construction policies in the autonomous state?¡±


    There were no such rules in the autonomous state since it was a newborn country.


    ¡°Well, you can discuss that with our construction director. He¡¯ll exin everything to you in detail.¡±


    ¡°Can I request the construction to the state. That must be possible too.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll help. The price here is cheaper than Seoul, so you won¡¯t have to pay too much.¡±


    Wages for workers in Kazakhstan and construction materials only cost about 40 percent of what must have cost in Seoul. It was dirt cheap pricespared to Seoul. It was the same in any country, but the cost was a huge part of a total construction cost. The Korean businessmen were already getting advantage of it.


    Likewise, most of the area where the highway would beid was a national property¡ªthat they did not need to pay for thend. That was why they decided to invest in constructing private highways. Because it rarely rained, they would not have to build subsidiary facilities¡ªso the construction cost was massively reduced. Moreover, most of thend was t that they did not need to build tunnels. They would only need to build some bridges.


    All of the factorsbined, the whole construction cost was only about ten percent of what they must have paid in Korea. The Korean construction consortium agreed on receiving mineral resources from the Kazakh government as a payment for their construction of highways. Due to the cheap construction cost, it seemed that the consortium earned more than the Kazakh government. Moreover, the consortium was now partnered with the government for any future constructions as well. Joining the current project was like winning a lottery for the consortium.


    ¡°H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joohyuk rmended this ce to have our head office but honestly, I¡¯m worried about the inconvenient transportation.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t be worried. We¡¯ve got light airnes and they cannd on most of the surfaces. We¡¯ll let you use our nes.¡±


    Since Kazakhstan¡¯s roads were only paved around big cities, and there were no roads in the vast ins and fields¡ªit was inconvenient to get from one ce to another. The Korean staffs would understand in a few days that the Arirang Autonomous State was equipped with the most convenient transportation system.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m d that the workers could travel and stayfortably. I especially like the fact that the autonomous state has a lot of Korean products.¡±


    Most of the daily necessaries used in the autonomous state were from South Korea. It was because many of Kazakh products were below Youngho¡¯s standards but since he could not buy expensive European products, he decided to import Korean goods. The warehouse was filled with Korean products delivered in containers. If there was a supply shortage, Youngho would ask Sergey to send things from Volgograd¡ªbecause Yaniv was still importing Korean goods and making a lot of money from selling them to Russia, and Central Asian regions.


    ***


    H Rotem¡¯s assembly factory was now set to be built near Astana.


    It was a convenient location to receive parts from divostok, and since there were a lot of other factories nearby, it was the best location to recruit workers.


    Kim Joo-hyuk, who tried to attract a small parts factory in the autonomous state felt extremely sorry to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I have no words to say.¡±


    The decision was made by the Kazakh government that H Corporation had no other choice. Since the state received expensive medical devices and goods from the corporation, Youngho did not feel resentful. He was rather thankful.


    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t feel sorry. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to take care of it even if we had built a parts factory here. But instead, the Korean construction consortium decided to make their head office here.¡±


    In fact, Youngho was d that the parts factory was not built in the state since it was not part of the high-tech industry. Having the Korean consortium in the state was more helpful because it was a group of people that consumed the most of what was produced by the autonomous state.


    ¡°The new president of the consortium Mr. Im has been working in the industry for almost forty years. He¡¯s a living legend. I¡¯m sure the chairman of our corporation had a reason for putting him in charge of this project.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see but why do you think the chairman sent such a talented person to this remote ce?¡±


    ¡°Our corporation doesn¡¯t look at Kazakhstan as an underdeveloped country.¡±


    ¡°That makes me happy to hear that.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll see how great he is when you start working with him. I guarantee.¡±


    Whether it would be good or bad, Youngho had no idea. It would be revealed to him in time. Now, Kim Joo-hyuk would be going back to Korea, and Youngho would not see him again unless there was another project in Kazakhstan.


    It would not be right if they did not share a drink on this kind of day.


    ¡°I should treat you a good-bye drink tonight.¡±


    ¡°A good-bye drink? No way. I¡¯m going to visit here often. I¡¯m going back to my formal life but I¡¯m still holding the title of the H Corporation¡¯s director in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯d be more than wee to visit here. I¡¯ll treat you as an honored guest of the state.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Man, the summer¡¯s going to pass while you wait until those vessels were made.¡±


    Jong-il scolded Youngho after hearing that Youngho had been waiting for canoes to be made from the shipyard in the autonomous state.


    ¡°Do you know any other way?¡±


    ¡°For sure. There are sturdy rubber boats too. You need to buy banana boats and gears for water sports. The kids will have so much fun.¡±


    ¡°How do you know such things so well?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s justmon sense. Why are you asking such a silly question?¡±


    There was nothing Jong-il did not do to y with girls back in Korea. He knew how to have fun.


    Adults could fish and do more quiet activities for fun but there were not many activities avable for kids in the summer. It seemed that the kids and youths in the autonomous state were not as privileged as the ones in Baku. They yed in nature but it could get old.


    Youngho prepared rubber boats and water sports gears from Baku. If he could not find things in Baku, he ordered things from Istanbul. As he bought a lot of fun things, Zeynep and Jelyan wanted toe along with him to the autonomous state. They had never used the water sports gears before. Soon, Fatima and Leon joined them as well as Cha Insoo and Jong-il¡¯s families.


    The river that was connected to the Arirang Autonomous State was a branch of the Ural River. It was only a hundred kilometers long but since it was attached to the Ural River, its volume was great. It was also crystal clear.


    That river was now so crowded with young people of the autonomous state. It seemed all of the youths of the state hade out to y. After watching them for a few days, Youngho shook his head. They never grew tired of ying in the water, and during the weekends even adults joined them¡ªthat the area near the wharf was full of people.


    Ever since they moved to the autonomous state, they had been working so hard forgetting about entertaining themselves. Now that there was something for all to enjoy, people excitedly came out to y in the water, even though the water was not warm enough yet. Youngho felt sorry for making them work too hard for the state.


    This was the slowest time of the year for the autonomous state now.


    People only needed to wait until the grains were ripe. Youngho felt that he should send all of them for a group trip to a near vacationd. Kids could be sent on a field trip as well.

 Chapter 276 - The Land Full of Vitality (4)

    <h4>Chapter 276: The Land Full of Vitality (4)</h4>


    Finally, the autonomous state received its first payment for selling the minerals that were produced by the pyrite mine near the Koryoin vige.


    The profit was 1.2 million dors even after paying the business tax to the Kazakh government. It seemed that the mine could easily make ten million dors a year. It was the minimum profit they had estimated even if the bulk freighters might not sail during the winter due to the frozen Volga-Don Canal. However, the actual profit would be more.


    The autonomous state¡¯s finances would get better through this.


    ¡°This is much more than I expected. I feel like I¡¯m still dreaming.¡±


    Kim Chun smiled as he looked at the documents.


    Youngho was delighted too. He had never expected to make such a huge profit from the mine.


    ¡°This is why Russian mine owners would not let go of the mining industry.¡±


    ¡°Those robbers are still refusing to pay taxes. Kazakhstan would have be an advanced country already if not for them.¡±


    Since Kim Chun¡¯s family had been living in Kazakhstan for generations, his hostility toward Russians who dominated Kazakhstan¡¯s economy was understandable. However, it was unlikely for Kazakhstan to be an advanced country just because Russians were not there.


    The two were still excited to see a huge amount of money though. They maderge amounts of profit for trading raw minerals while only doing the separation process. If they could also do the smelting process, they would make a few times more. The only problem was that water was needed to build a factory. They only have a small amount of underground water that they used for their workers.


    ¡°Boss. What if we build a smelting factory near the Arirang River?¡±


    The branch river in the autonomous state was now called the Arirang River by the residents. It seemed like Kim Chun had a simr idea with Youngho.


    ¡°That¡¯s out of our abilities now. Also, we are already contracted with H Corporation now. It¡¯s not possible.¡±


    Youngho had a contract with H Corporation to provide them minerals for five years; he could not change or break it. Also, the real reason why they could not build a smelting factory was because the correct amount of deposits was still unknown to them. They should only build a smelting factory once they had secured deposits that would at leastst for twenty years.


    ¡°What a waste. We could¡¯ve made much more money if we could sell minerals on our own.¡±


    ¡°We can decide if we need to make changes after a year. Then, we¡¯ll be able to know the total amount of deposits. If we confirm that there¡¯s an unlimited amount of resource deposits, we can negotiate with H Corporation to build a joint smelting factory.¡±


    Even a small smelting factory would cost an unimaginable amount of money.


    Iron manufacturing and smelting businesses were usually led by global corporations that had deep pockets. Youngho could try to start this business, but he could not give up everything else to start this business.


    ¡°H Corporation has a steel manufacturing factory in Korea. Do you think they¡¯ll build an additional factory here?¡±


    ¡°Well, the corporation has enough money and experience. Building a smelting factory of nonferrous metals would not be an overwhelming deal for them. The only concern I have is that I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll invest such huge amount in Kazakhstan. This country¡¯s still not stabilized yet.¡±


    Kazakhstan was having a hard time due to the recent decrease in oil¡¯s price, and Russia¡¯s economic recession. Russia¡¯s influence on Kazakhstan¡¯s economy was not small. Youngho was not sure if H Corporation would still be willing to make arge investment in a country that was not generally stable.


    ¡°We cannot start a business without enough power to defend it. If the Kazakh government decided to take the business, we¡¯ll have no chance.¡±


    ¡°All of this is caused by Russia. Russia had ruined Kazakhstan once and for all.¡±


    He med Russia for everything, but any ethnic minority would rte to him.


    ¡°Do you think Kazakhstan¡¯s the only one? Our people¡¯s history is no different.¡±


    ¡°I hope the Arirang Autonomous State doesn¡¯t get such a disadvantage. At least we need to have the strength to keep the peace in our state.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the reason why I try to keep my distance from politics. If you excel from the crowd, you¡¯ll be the target. The current president will keep us protected but when he¡¯s gone, we¡¯ll be a target to many powerful politicians.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You know it¡¯s not all hopeless. If we make Kazakhstan famous in the globalmunity through our own influence, it¡¯ll be beneficial for both. The Vatican Pce is not treated as an inconvenience by Italy because the pce attracts tourists and global attention.¡±


    The autonomous state should look like a harmless city to the government. The future of the state would be unforeseeable if the state turned into an ufortable entity.


    ***


    Youngho told him a pessimistic story because he feared that Kim Chun would rush into things, but the autonomous state¡¯s future was not too dark. It was because of the Koryoins who were in the mainstream of Kazakhstan. They were the best donors and supporters of the autonomous state.


    In fact, Youngho was contacted by one of them because that particr person wanted to visit the autonomous state. His name was Alexey Choi who was the current vice minister of the Department of Health.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. It¡¯s such an honor to meet you, vice minister. You traveled so far even though you¡¯re so busy. I should¡¯ve gone to Astana instead.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t make someone whom the president favors so much travel too far.¡±


    His warm smile was just like amon Korean gentleman¡¯s.


    It seemed like his family had not been involved in interracial marriage since he looked like a normal Asian. Although he could not articte Korean perfectly, his Korean was fluent. When a family lived in a foreign country for generations, it was natural to forget their mother tongue. It was quite amazing to hear from him since his family had been living in Kazakhstan for three generations already.


    ¡°Favors? No, he just thinks of me as his grandson.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to make a friend out of a foreign president. Our Koryoins feel very proud of you. You¡¯ve done something that no one could have done. You made an autonomous state and named it Arirang. This means a lot to us.¡±


    Youngho blushed.


    He did not have a strong sense of duty to name the state like that. He just used the name because it was an easy name, but Koryoins did not look at it that way.


    ¡°Well, since you¡¯ve traveled so far, I should treat you in Korean style. The majority of the autonomous state is Serbian people but Korean cultures are everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Not forgetting where your roots came from is a good thing. Koryoins here had never forgotten about Korea. Although the north and south are divided now, Korea is still our home.¡±


    Koryoins must have felt bitter to see their hometown having a war and be divided into two countries. His words were well representing his heart.


    Youngho set up a table to drink and treat Alexey Choi.


    Since he was the vice minister of the Department of Health, Dr. Kim Dong-sung also joined at the table. As they began to exchange drinks with fresh raw sashimi on the table as a snack, Alexey Choi began to tell the reason for his visit.


    ¡°You¡¯d know this already but Kazakhstan¡¯s techniques for medical treatmentgs behind other nations. Even Kazakhs prefer to have surgeries overseas. So, I visited the autonomous state to ask for help.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything we can help you with we will do so, but we only have forty medical personnel. We¡¯re still at the beginning stage.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m not talking about such kind of voluntary work. Don¡¯t you wish for the state to be more sessful?¡±


    Of course, he wanted the state to be sessful since he had invested almost everything he had for the state.


    ¡°I just want a peaceful state wheremon people could live together.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It¡¯s impossible now for the Arirang Autonomous State to be amon state. The state is now in the center of Kazakh high officials¡¯ attention.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well, their attention has good intentions behind it though. People told me that the autonomous state is setting a good example for Kazakhstan to follow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being extra cautious to not outshine the other cities and states too much. Honestly, I¡¯m not a big fan of unnecessary attention.¡±


    ¡°What if your state bes a good role model, not a subject ofpetition?¡±


    Alexey¡¯s visit could be a turning point for the autonomous state. It could change the state¡¯s uncertain future.


    It was because of the elite Korean medical personnel.


    He wanted to adopt Korea¡¯s medical system to Kazakhstan. However, he suggested making arge medical institution in the autonomous state where future medical personnel of Kazakhstan could be trained since there were only about forty of them.


    A state that was strong and rich could be a subject of jealousy, but a state that raised talented people would be a ce of people¡¯s admiration. The autonomous state could be the center of Central Asia¡¯s medical education.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t share this idea to the minister yet because I wanted to listen to your opinion and your medical team¡¯s as well. I truly hope that the state named Arirang would exist for a long time and be a ce that all Kazakhs will love. Moreover, the state is the hope of all Koryoins scattered around Central Asia.¡±


    Alexey Choi¡¯s words were impressive. Youngho could feel that he really meant what he said.


    ¡°I see what you¡¯re saying. We¡¯ve also been preparing to train the next generation of medical teams although in a rather small-scale. We only targeted the students of the autonomous state but I guess we should expand our circle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I will take this to the minister, and see how this can be supported at the governmental level.¡±


    ¡°Vice-minister, if we receive the government¡¯s support, we won¡¯t be free from the government¡¯s interference. We¡¯ll see if we can budget this out on our own.¡±


    Establishing a medical institution could cost a ton of money. However, the state would not be free from the government¡¯s influence as soon as it received money from it. If the government requested to build the institution in a more developed city where there were more social infrastructures, their ns for building a medical institution in their state could be taken away from them. Even more, some of their medical team might leave the autonomous state to transfer to that new institution in that more developed city. Youngho would refuse to do that no matter what.

 Chapter 277 - The Land Full of Vitality (5)

    <h4>Chapter 277: The Land Full of Vitality (5)</h4>


    ¡°What do you think Dr. Kim?¡±


    Establishing a medical institution could not be decided by Youngho only. The opinions of the doctors who would be in charge of teaching and training students were the most important.


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for me to refuse a job that could grow the next generation medical personnel. I¡¯m a little concerned with the small number of doctors we have now but I have friends who might be willing to join us. I¡¯ll try to convince them.¡±


    As Kim Dong-sung agreed to help out with the project, vice minister Choi could not hide the excitement on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you won¡¯t feel any inconvenience with administrative work but in exchange, would you mind letting the government choose the students for the institution? This is the only way for them to receive a schrship from the government. This way, the government would be sending them to the autonomous state formissioned education.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Any talented person is always wee.¡±


    It was not a good idea to ignore the Kazakh government¡¯s influence. The government was nning to provide schrships to medical students and make them serve in governmental medical institutionster as a mandatory service in the future for a certain period of time in exchange for the schrship. If Youngho rejected that as well, the government would not allow building a medical institution. The reason that there was a shortage of people in the medical field of Kazakhstan was that all of the talented doctors had left the country to seek for higher payments and amodations.


    ¡°Thank you very much. Then, I¡¯ll make it official that the government is training our medical students in the autonomous state formissioned education.¡±


    ¡°Would other medical schools oppose this project?¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s going to refuse to raise the medical personnel of an underdeveloped side of a country. If they hear that elite Korean doctors would be teaching them, even already licensed doctors would want to be taught by them.¡±


    People were being enrolled forcefully on Kazakhstan¡¯s medical schools, and not because their academic performance was high. Since doctors were treated the same as other government officials, people did not feel the need to study hard.


    The students who received education in the Arirang Autonomous State would probablye back to the state after serving in the government¡¯s medical institutions because they would be paid highly and treated well unlike other Kazakh doctors. Youngho was also confident that he would make them fall in love with the autonomous state while they attended the medical institution.


    They would usually spend about six years toplete their medical training. The students would feel homesick for being far away from their own hometowns. They would think about their days in the state once they leave since they were treated warmly and nicely by the state.


    With the medical institution established, other colleges could be established as well in the future. Many talented students would be gathering at the state. It was all in Youngho¡¯s head, but he was sure that he could make the state as the educational capital of the country. Then, the poption of the state would naturally grow. He smiled while thinking about such an innovative idea.


    Alexey Choi, the vice minister of the Department of Health, stayed at the state for two days to n and discuss the establishment of the medical institution. As a Koryoin political figure, he was excited to support the autonomous state.


    ¡°Now, the government officials who are rted to the establishment of the medical institution will visit the state often from now on. They might bring their family members who are ill. The ones who are ill could be a bother but please treat them warmly. You should make them friendly to the autonomous state.¡±


    This was some sort of a free medical trip for high officials. This could be a good chance to make friends with high officials.


    ¡°That¡¯s also what I wanted. I have not been introduced to mainstream society. I shall make acquaintance with high officials this time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re close with the president. You don¡¯t need such steps but I heard that you¡¯re close with the Department of Defense.¡±


    Youngho was not just close to the Department of Defense. The Countryside Force was part of it now. He had given light-armored vehicles to the Kazakh Army as gifts, took the navy¡¯s coastal patrolling position, and helped to break the ice on the ocean for naval vessels. He was also in the process of recruiting Lieutenant Commander Victor Jun to be the person in charge of the Countryside Force of the state after he retired from the Navy.


    ¡°Well, do you know Lieutenant Commander Jun of the Navy?¡±


    ¡°I know him well. He¡¯s one of the few Koryoin field-grade officers in the Department of Defense.¡±


    ¡°Our state has taken the job of the Maritime Police, which is under Lieutenant Commander Jun¡¯s section.¡±


    ¡°He must¡¯ve received the President¡¯s private consent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. It¡¯s just a simple recovery job for maritime police.¡±


    ¡°The Department of Defense acts like the president¡¯s arms and legs. Well, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re in good terms with the Department of Defense. It¡¯s an organization that was a little rough but I¡¯ve got to admit that they are also a loyal group. The reason that we still survive as a country is because the Department of Defense is still doing its job.¡±


    Although the Kazakh military could not bepared to Russia and China¡¯s force, Kazakh people had pride in their military since it was theirst bastion. Also, as Alexey Choi said, the organization was not as corrupted as other parts of the government yet.


    ***


    The original n was to have the team of doctors train only the medical personnel of the next generation within the state after the hospital was built in the autonomous state. However, it had now expanded to the establishment of the central medical school of the west side of Kazakhstan.


    The Arirang Autonomous State would naturally be famous in the country no matter what because a major general hospital would be built along with the medical school, and people all over Kazakhstan ]woulde to get medical treatments from elite Korean medical team.


    It was as if Alexey Choi, the vice minister of the Department of Health, had lightened the way of the autonomous state for its future. He had suggested a way for the state to be a role model to respect, not a subject of jealousy. If people could receive high-quality medical training and medical service from the autonomous state, everyone would wee the existence of the state. On top of that, voluntary medical service of the medical teams in the remote ces of the country could be added, the autonomous state¡¯s reputation would increase as well.


    ¡°You look like an angel on the outside but there¡¯s a wolf sitting inside you.¡±


    ¡°Why are you talking like this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s what I see with my eyes. It will worth a Nobel prize for peace if you build a medical school and general hospital, and do voluntary medical services. But, you¡¯re thinking about buying attack helicopters and missiles in your mind. Isn¡¯t that a wolf or what?¡±


    Fatima and the children were already asleep after ying in the water all day long.


    The three friends were now enjoying the summer night as they sipped on wine.


    ¡°Dude. This hyung had read Vice Minister Choi¡¯s heart.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Why don¡¯t you give him an honorary residential certificate for the autonomous state already?¡±


    Jong-il was teasing Youngho but his face was bright.


    He was genuinely happy to hear that the autonomous state would be establishing a medical school. The medical school would be a great strength and cover of the state, which could protect the state from outside influences.


    ¡°Mehehe...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re disgusting, man. You must be extremely happy tough like that.¡±


    ¡°Sure I am. We can do anything with this cover, man. Nobody¡¯s going to doubt that we¡¯re gathering weapons and raising intelligence force in the back. The agents are almost done with their training. I should send them for assignments now and make a base in advanced in Almaty as soon as possible to collect information.¡±


    ¡°Move after the hotel construction is done. Those agents are still inadequate. I think they¡¯ll get caught soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve waited for too long. When you¡¯re in a rush, you need to eat the food right away, not wait until your gourmet meal is done. Hey, I was thinking to train female agents too this time. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Why, have you seen someone who¡¯s usible?¡±


    ¡°Remember Katya? She¡¯s done the same and she did a great job at it. I just want to prepare for the future because I know we¡¯ll need some women in our team.¡±


    The state was busy with the establishment of the medical school.


    The conference room in the administration building was crowded every day to map out the medical college and general hospital. Even Im Min-soo, the newly assigned president of the highway project joined the meeting and shared his insight.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You need to make sure that the building you¡¯re trying to build is decent once you start to build them. It¡¯s not realistic to say that you¡¯re going to expand the buildings in the future if there¡¯s a demand. Do you think it¡¯ll make sense to undergo construction works when there are people in your wards?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than building a huge building and being left with empty and useless rooms.¡±


    Kim Chun made an opposing opinion.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of space on ournd. Why would we have to expand the buildings? We can build a regr-sized building and if there is more demand, we can build another one next to it.¡±


    The construction director Min also joined their argument.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we getting ahead of ourselves now? We don¡¯t even know how many students are going to be there.¡±


    As Kim Dong-sung, the head of the medical team drove a wedge in their conversation, Kim Chun quickly led the conference with another item on the agenda.


    There were different opinions and opposing views from the conference since the conference room was an open-air market, but Youngho had a big grin on his face.


    The autonomous state was never this lively before. Even though many immigrants had moved in and there were kids ying in every corner of the streets, this was not a moment that could bepared to those in his view. It was because the leadership group had never discussed anything with bright smiles on people¡¯s faces.


    Everyone was enjoying telling his opinion since they were full of pride for the autonomous state. They now no longer worried about the state¡¯s future. It was all because of the medical school project. The residents also were d to hear the news. They now had new hope in their hearts.


    ¡°Alright. Now, I think we¡¯ve had a constructive meeting today and shared enough opinions on our issues. Why don¡¯t we call it a day and go river fishing together? I¡¯ll treat you with the precious drink that I saved.¡±


    ¡°I saw a container arrived yesterday. Do you have Korean soju?¡±


    Kim Dong-sung was fond of drinking as much as Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, you got me. But doctor, don¡¯t you have work today?¡±


    ¡°Since I¡¯m the head of the hospital, I should give chance for my juniors to treat patients.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Alright. The raw trouts are waiting for us. Let¡¯s hurry there together.¡±


    It was already past four in the afternoon.


    The so-called drink hour of drinkers was getting closer.


    People¡¯s backs leaving the conference room looked lively as never before.

 Chapter 278 - How to Survive in Kazakhstan (1)

    <h4>Chapter 278: How to Survive in Kazakhstan (1)</h4>


    The world¡¯s ninth biggest country. A territory twelve times bigger than the Korean Penins. A ce that was bordered by five countries with a border area of 12,000 kilometers. A country that had deserted or semi-deserted regions upying 60 percent of its territory, yet its poption only reached over 17 million people. A nation with unlimited resources...


    These were the phrases that could describe Kazakhstan¡¯s current status.


    Being descendants of nomads, people were generally kind to travelers.


    There was a dangerous entity in the country. They were not wolves nor severe heat or cold. It was the police. After suffering from the Kazakh police, people would tell that the notorious Russian police was kind.


    Policemen were fond of inspecting vehicles for there were many things to nitpick in vehicles. They would hide in quiet peripheral roads. They would appear out of nowhere and stop every car that passed by.


    They would nitpick on basic vitions such as not turning on the headlights and tinting the windows. They would ask for passports and residential cards if they could not find any problem in the vehicle. They would even make a vition out of not washing a vehicle properly and cleanly. This drove people crazy.


    They often gave people a hard time because they wanted to ask for a bribe. Some asked for the sunsses that people were wearing and some asked to exchange shoes, saying that they looked nicer.


    This also happened frequently in Baku, so Youngho used stickers that were given by the Main Police Department on his vehicles to finally stop policemen¡¯s evil deed. It was a shame that he did not have any sticker in Kazakhstan.


    If these policemen came across a Russian or a Kazakh, their going to easily let them go. However, they would ask foreigners for identification cards if they meet foreigners.


    On the way to the Atyrau Airport, which was a distance of only eight kilometers, Youngho got frustrated after being stopped by policemen multiple times. He would get paranoid every time he saw a white car since police cars were also white. Youngho and Kim Chun were nowining about their way back.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Why don¡¯t you just give them ten dors? I¡¯m sick of talking to them all.¡±


    ¡°Boss. Please stay still. I¡¯m going to fix these guys¡¯ bad habits. They need to let us go especially when they had already inspected us on the way here. This is not a border area, why are they acting like this?¡±


    Using a cab would not cause this kind of problem. However, they were using their own van since it was inconvenient to argue about the taxi fare every time.


    ¡°Look, this happens all the time. Just give it up. Then you¡¯ll feel better.¡±


    ¡°Look at him! He¡¯s the one that took our money this morning.¡±


    The policeman who just stopped Youngho¡¯s car looked extremely serious. People would have thought that he was an officer filled with a sense of duty.


    Kim Chun opened the window and was about toin when Youngho tossed him ten dors immediately. Then, his serious face swiftly turned into a smile and saluted them both.


    ¡°What did you just do?¡±


    ¡°What can I do? This is Kazakhstan.¡±


    Kim Chun smirked at Youngho¡¯s remark. He turned to the policeman and spoke to him in a sarcastic way.


    ¡°Hey, do you usually receive money from the same people twice a day?¡±


    If visitors of the Arirang Autonomous State faced this kind of situation, what would they think of Kazakhstan? They would have studied the environmental factors before traveling. However seeing policemen, who were there to keep public peace and to help people, acting as robbers would be daunting to neers.


    This would definitely happen at least once or twice to travelers in Kazakhstan. It was quite odd that police officers appeared wherever foreigners were when they were hard to find in crime scenes. It did not matter if foreigners were driving or walking, policemen would show up all of a sudden for inspections.


    People said that this had gotten better over time, yet it was still pretty bad.


    When Arirang Farm was first developed, countless construction vehicles and the vehicles that carried construction materials frequently came in and out of the farm. The police just counted every vehicle and charged for each.


    Since the farm had found a happy medium with the police officers, the construction process was not interrupted. If Youngho refused to pay them, they would have stopped all of the vehicle licenses that went inside the farm.


    Any cars that drove on a paved road would get dusty after a few hours but the police had nitpicked on it and told Youngho that it was a vition for improper care of vehicle. He had nothing to say back to the policemen¡¯s nonsensical im.


    Everything was eventually resolved with money.


    If one looked into the Kazakh society, there were too many things that did not make sense. There were many problems but it was difficult to point out. Since there were too many problems, it was hard to tell which one was a bigger problem.


    Yet, it was amazing how society was still functioning and moving forward.


    ***


    Koryoins who moved to the autonomous state that became residents were 36 families. They were the people from Old Kim Sungchan¡¯s Koryoin town which had now be a mine of the state. The Koryoins and their families were also the ones chosen as intelligence agents.


    The family members of one of the intelligence agents had been living in different ces of Kazakhstan. They were spotted by one of Youngho¡¯s friends. The family paid a bribe to an official in the administration building when they submitted their residential documents. It was a payment to speed up the process. Their behavior was proof that this kind of social convention was all over Kazakhstan.


    Younghoughed when he heard the story. At the same time, he thought that Kazakhstan still had a long way to go. So, Youngho asked about the condition of that Koryoin family.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, remember the Koryoins who paid an administrative official? How are they doing?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Bribing is sort of a culture already in Kazakhstan. So, they were surprised that the administrative office quickly processed their documents even after they refused to receive money from them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Usually it takes about a week for a document to be processed in the administration office, but they did it so quickly that they finished it in only ten minutes. The Koryoins thought that was odd. It¡¯s because we paid them a lot already as a state. Do you know how much I had to pay when we first submitted the documents to establish the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°So... Did I gave you enough money for such things?¡±


    ¡°I was almost out of them in the end. All of a sudden, officials who are not even rted to our state came to get money after hearing that I will pay them a lot.¡±


    Just like any other officials in the Caucasus region, or in the countries of the Caspian coast. Kazakhstan¡¯s administrative offices were well-known in processing things too slowly. When there was no money involved, nothing could be processed in the day of submission. Seeing the official in charge was as hard as picking a star from the sky. They were never in their seats in their office hours.


    Since there were many people who could rece their tasks, they did not mind leaving their seats. Their mindset was wired to think it was okay to push their own job to one another.


    That was why money was power in Kazakhstan¡¯s society.


    It would seem only possible to handle things with money in a capitalistic society, but money was more effective and capable in Kazakhstan where it was deeply influenced by Socialism.


    Youngho had experienced this too many times from Azerbaijan and Georgia, so he was now at a stage where he was taking advantage of such an unfair system.


    Especially government officials of Kazakhstan were harsh on the weak and amicable to the strong, so sometimes Youngho had to put up a show and made him look like a person with many connections and power. He appealed to the officials of the Atyrau¡¯s regional government with his wealth and beautiful wife when he began to live in Kazakhstan, but now he used another way.


    He went directly to the head of the administration building when he was in a rush. Of course, he visited the head of the administration building after contacting the presidential pce first to arrange things in favor of his work.


    Although the person who called the head of the regional administrative head official was not the president, it was often someone who served tea for the president or his secretary. Its effect was great. When a person who was serving the president closely mentioned, ¡°This is from the president.¡± It would be done immediately.


    This was why Youngho bribed the staffs of the presidential pce every time he visited the president. They also knew that Youngho was someone whom the president favored. Besides, it was not a good idea toin to the president every time he was in trouble.


    ***


    ¡°So, they¡¯re asking for you to pay the damages on the industrial road?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m only telling you this because I don¡¯t understand why they¡¯re doing this.¡±


    Im Min-soo, the president of the highway construction consortium, was makingints to Youngho. His face turned pale.


    Heavy equipment that would be used for highway construction was delivered to the autonomous state on Atyrau¡¯s industrial road, and now the regional government imed for road damage. It did not make sense since the road was already ragged and old.


    ¡°Are your vehicles extremely heavy?¡±


    ¡°No, the road was already damaged when we drove by. If they want us to repair the road, we could do it but they¡¯re asking us to pay money for repairs.¡±


    This was another ridiculous situation.


    Since Youngho had encountered countless events like this, he only smirked but it was driving Im Min-soo crazy.


    ¡°They must be asking for a bribe.¡±


    ¡°I think the amount is too big to be a bribe.¡±


    ¡°They would¡¯ve charged you a regr road repair cost but you don¡¯t need to pay them that much. Just give them whatever you can give.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the culture here but I still don¡¯t get why the regional government is being mean to a foreign consortium that came to build roads in their country.¡±


    ¡°This is Kazakhstan. You won¡¯t understand no matter how many times I exin it. You can try to negotiate with them first and if they still demand a ridiculous amount of money from you, I¡¯ll make it right for you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just nonsense. I¡¯ve worked in many different countries in my entire career but this is hard to understand.¡±


    It seemed like Kazakhstan had made another anti-fan of the country. Im Min-soo must have lost his interest in the country once and for all. It would have been better if the regional government had politely asked the consortium to repair the industrial road. Im Min-soo would have agreed dly. He would be able to smirk at this only after spending a few years in Kazakhstan but for now¡ªit was an absurd situation for him.


    ¡°Mr. Im. Have you met any police officer?¡±


    ¡°No. We don¡¯t have any contact with the police.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll soon have many. Officers will visit you frequently, so please don¡¯t get frightened by them.¡±


    ¡°Wait, why would they visit us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to clean your vehicles pretty well and often.¡±


    ¡°How can we clean our vehicles at highway construction sites?¡±


    As Youngho told him about how evil the police was in the country, Im Min-soo was startled.


    ¡°Oh, please. Are you kidding me? Do you want me to believe this?¡±


    ¡°I told you. This is Kazakhstan and I¡¯m only teaching you how to live in Kazakhstan.¡±

 Chapter 279 - How to Live in Kazakhstan (2)

    <h4>Chapter 279: How to Live in Kazakhstan (2)</h4>


    It was the same in any other country but it was not a good idea to mess with local branches of the government in Kazakhstan. Officials would reluctantly follow orders from the higher order, but they were the ones who actually handled people¡¯s businesses. So, when Youngho needed to process official documents, he would usually save time from approaching officials from the line above them and finished it with bribing local officials.


    The Arirang Autonomous State had been having problems with administrative work. It was because officials would not cooperate with the autonomous state well. The major problem the state was having now was issuing a residential card to the new immigrants who recently moved to the state. The officials were now requiring bribe as if it was a step.


    After receiving permission from the autonomous state, the list of neers would be sent to the Atyrau¡¯s regional government but they now asked the residents toe to the government building individually. Since the autonomous state was an independent state, that was a totally unnecessary step. This meant that the regional government of Atyrau was not epting the Arirang Autonomous State as a separate administrative entity.


    Kim Chun, who could not hold his anger anymore, imed to the regional government that the autonomous state would now be reporting its own administrative progress to West Kazakhstan Region. In fact, the autonomous state was closer to West Kazakhstan Region than Atyrau Region although the state had been buying construction materials and daily necessaries from the city of Atyrau.


    ¡°Boss. The director of general affairs from the regional government of Atyrau wants to visit us. It seems that the government doesn¡¯t want us tomunicate with the West Kazakhstan Region.¡±


    ¡°Phew, why didn¡¯t you just be done with it after paying some money to the regional government? I don¡¯t think the organization will ever change but we don¡¯t know if the West Kazakhstan Region¡¯s government is better or worse than Atyrau¡¯s government.¡±


    The autonomous state might face officials worse than now.


    ¡°I need to at least make a point now. We are self-administrative section but why do they act like they¡¯re so high and mighty? Why don¡¯t you tell them that you¡¯re going to report things directly to the central government from now on?¡±


    What Kim Chun did was against giving bribes to the regional government, now that he had be themissioner of the autonomous state. This had to be confronted once and for all since the state would be dragged by the government if it would not deal with the issue now.


    Aldar Kose, the director of general affairs of the Atyrau¡¯s regional government, was eager to earn back the autonomous state¡¯s trust. If the Arirang Autonomous State turned its back on the regional government, the region would lose businesses that the autonomous state had within the region. Moreover, his career in the governmental branch could be sabotaged if the president heard that Youngho, whom he favored dearly, was disadvantaged by the regional government. He reprimanded the department that had caused this problem with the autonomous state before he came here but he was not sure if that could make amends for his underlings¡¯ fault.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, Mr. Commissioner. Please, I apologize for one of our departments¡¯ mistake. As a person in charge, I¡¯m utterly ashamed of what they have done.¡±


    ¡°A high official like you who¡¯s always busy came here for such a little trouble.¡±


    His countenance became even darker after hearing Kim Chun¡¯s sarcastic remark.


    ¡°I reprimanded the department that caused this trouble before I came here.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve experienced such inconvenience so many times now. You shouldn¡¯t be worried. I¡¯m just concerned that this has caused an inconvenience for our Countryside Force that¡¯s in charge of maritime patrol duty.¡±


    ¡°What did you say? Our regional government has interrupted sea patrol duty?¡±


    ¡°Among the people who submitted the request for a residential card were coastal guards of the Countryside Force. Former nomissioned officers of Navy were recruited by the Countryside Force after being discharged. They¡¯re the guards who belong to the department of defense. I didn¡¯t think their requests would be denied.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how dreadful...¡±


    The face of the director of general affairs was turning pale at Kim Chun¡¯s words.


    ¡°How can we let the people who are not even registered to live in the autonomous state work for their duties? That¡¯d be illegal. That was why we were going to report this to the department of national defense.¡±


    At this point, the director¡¯s mind went nk. He shut his eyes tight. He knew that something was going terribly wrong.


    Although the autonomous state was not a huge threat, its background could be a threat to the Atyrau¡¯s regional government since the state¡¯s Countryside Force belonged to the Department of Defense. The government would be in so much trouble if it did not recover its rtionship with the Arirang Autonomous State this time since all of the vessels that went in and out of the Port of Atyrau were under the influence of the Countryside Force. It was not a good idea to upset the military organization.


    Watching the director of general affairs hastily making phone calls, Youngho smiled in his mind. Kim Chun¡¯s brazen tactic was working. All this time, Youngho had not said a single word but had only been watching them.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    As the officials from the regional government left, Kim Chunughed loudly.


    ¡°How did you think of such ideas?¡±


    He had not discussed his tactic with Youngho and he spoke on his own.


    ¡°This is how the world works. When they troubled us, they should¡¯ve expected thising in their way. Now, we should call Victor Jun quickly and recruit former navies that are discharged. We need to act fast and make documents for them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll change and treat us better for this but we sure did scare them. Now that we¡¯ve given them the stick, the next step is to give the carrot. It¡¯s not good to drive them to the corner.¡±


    No good woulde out from fighting with a regional government. Kim Chun also knew that well.


    ¡°Well, I should go to Atyrau tomorrow and drink with the director although I¡¯m not a good drinker.¡±


    ¡°Sure, you should. Please take care of all of the officials rted to this matter and make peace with them.¡±


    In order not to leave a grudge behind from anyone against the autonomous state, all of the officials should be taken care of.


    Kim Chun¡¯s bold move was a great sess. Sometimes, in order to survive in Kazakhstan, one needed to be bold and maniptive. Since it was easy to get disadvantaged, one had to push through things even with government¡¯s officials.


    ***


    Youngho met up with Lieutenant Commander Jun to receive some rmended names of former naval officers, so he could recruit them for the Countryside Force. Lieutenant Commander Jun was confident that any of the former naval officers would crowd in with the condition of offering a house for their family to live in.


    ¡°Did you change your mind?¡±


    When Jun asked Youngho to recruit naval officers as members of the Countryside Force after they were discharged, Youngho did not give him a clear answer.


    ¡°There¡¯s a limitation of recruiting people only from the autonomous state and also I heard that there are not usible workce for experienced former naval officers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just thankful for your offer. We¡¯ve trained them navigation skills and mechanical skills for vessels, and I hate to see them go to waste. If you provide luxury houses of the autonomous state, they will dly join the Countryside Force without a second thought.¡±


    Former navies of Kazakhstan either became police officers orborers. In big cities like Almaty, many unemployed men could be spotted walking around the streets in the day time.


    ¡°Are there any other navy officers in Atyrau who are having a hard time because their house is too far? Some of them must have families as well.¡±


    Youngho could provide temporary housing for the families of current navies for courtesy. If they decided to stay in the autonomous state even after retiring from Navy, it would be beneficial to the state since its poption would be increased by them. Because houses were still being built every month, there were at least fifty empty extra houses now.


    ¡°If you could give them such privilege, Department of Defense and Navy¡¯s leadership would appreciate your gesture. Would you really do that for us?¡±


    Lieutenant Commander Jun¡¯s eyes brightened. It seemed that he wanted to move into the state.


    ¡°Well, our state might not be the best ce in Kazakhstan but...¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? This is the safest ce with great medical and education systems. I¡¯ve wanted to bring my family too but I couldn¡¯t say that to you.¡±


    He hastily cut Youngho¡¯s words. He was eager to think that he might not get the opportunity to move into the state.


    ¡°Did you wish to move into the state as well? Would that be okay with the high officials of the Department of Defense?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I do! Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Then I should assign same blocks of houses to the naval families as much as I can. That way, they could move easily when there was an emergency.¡±


    ¡°If you could do that, I¡¯ll make sure to receive construction materials from the Department of Defense. It won¡¯t be fair if we make the state pay for our housing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll look even funny to charge the department of defense since I offered this first. You won¡¯t have to worry about the materials and the cost of housing. You could just go ahead and search for navy officers who would be willing to move into the state with their family members.¡±


    ¡°Is there a number limit?¡±


    ¡°We can take as many as possible but moving time could be dyed ording to the number.¡±


    As Youngho said like it was nothing, Lieutenant Commander Jun changed the subject all of a sudden.


    ¡°You know, I must¡¯ve told you about my parents, that they were excited to hear that I went to Korea formissioned education.¡±


    ¡°Of course I remember that.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what my parents¡¯st wish for life? They want to live in the Arirang Autonomous State. You¡¯d know what ¡®arirang¡¯ means to Koryoins.¡±


    Youngho knew about Koryoins hardship and sorrow. As Korean descents, they must have missed their hometown very much.


    ¡°Well, I hope I don¡¯t get in trouble for collecting not only Koryoins but also Kazakhs to the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. I don¡¯t know if this is because of the huge territory but Kazakhs don¡¯t care about what others do. No need to worry about that.¡±


    That was true. Although Kazakhstan was popted with about 120 ethnic groups, they lived without any ethnic or religious dispute. It was because historically, people of Kazakhstan lived nomadic lives after descendants of Mongolians were separated in thend. However, Kazakhstan¡¯s traditional nomadic culture disappeared to a great degree due to Russia.


    The Soviet Union that appeared after Russia¡¯s October Revolution tried to contain nomads in a region and encouraged women¡¯s role in society. The traditional men-centered nomadic culture began to fade from then on.


    Men, who previously rode horses on wild fields and lived off ranching, had nothing to do in big cities. All they could do was to drink and roam around.


    Because families mainly ran on women¡¯s economic activities, having a decent job meant a lot for them since they restored men¡¯s pride and self-esteem.


    The Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s job and housing offer to the discharged navies, who did not have special things to do after their naval days, was indeed a great new start for them. This was a win-win for the state since it would be gaining allied forces too. If events like this kept happening, the future of the autonomous state would be strongly secured.

 Chapter 280 - Downside (1)

    <h4>Chapter 280: Downside (1)</h4>


    Strange things could happen in life.


    Close friends would die or get severely wounded all of a sudden, projects that were doing well could get twisted, and unexpected things happened in the most unlikely ces.


    As the Arirang Autonomous State now had more than 6,000 people, many unexpected things happened.


    Serbian residents who lived at the state were from the Balkan Penins, which was a triangr penins located in the southern part of Europe and east side of the Mediterranean. The name ¡®Balkan¡¯ was named after a mountain range in the northeastern region of the penins. The mountainous ce had many isted regions and it suffered many disputes.


    The Serbians, who had lived in such a rough ce and who possessed vic ethnic temperament, had heavy drinking culture as in Russia and Korea. The people who came to the state traditionally made wine on their own and each family¡¯s wine had different taste. Many residents were saving wine and cognac that had been aging for years as a precious family treasure.


    When they first moved to the autonomous state, there had been manyughable happenings. Some wine pots broke from mishandling and the smell of wine spread in the whole vessel that was used to transport the immigrants. The owner of the wine pot looked sad as if he had lost his only son.


    Youngho thought that it was very odd, but he now understood how much Serbians loved to drink. Some of them were extremely heavy drinkers that could not live a day without drinking.


    ¡°Are you saying we should limit the amount of liquors we sell to each family?¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly. At this rate, there won¡¯t be only a few who could step up as heavy drinkers like Russians.¡±


    Kim Chun, who was not a good drinker, could say that but this would sound like a death sentence to people who loved to drink. Since the leadership of the state could not encourage people to drink less while they drank heavily, this meant that Youngho and his friends would have to suppress their drink drive.


    ¡°We need to start reducing the amount now when it¡¯s still summer so that people won¡¯t drink so heavily during the winter when they don¡¯t have many outside activities.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. No one was reported yet to have caused troubles for getting drunk.¡±


    ¡°Boss. You should listen to the director and head doctor of the hospital.¡±


    Then he turned his face to Kim Dong-sung.


    Kim Chun gave the doctor a nce of pressure.


    Doctor Kim Dong-sung had a sour look on his face. It was because he was a surgeon but he loved to drink. He even thought that doctors who could not drink did not deserve to be called doctors.


    ¡°Well. We¡¯ve got a few people who should get treated for alcoholism.¡±


    ¡°Director. It¡¯s not a few people. It¡¯s a lot. I know that there¡¯s even a few among us as we stand here.¡±


    Two people of the three who were involved in the conversation felt a prick at their heart.


    Youngho was one of them. To think that he might get dragged to get treated for alcoholism, he stopped Kim Chun as soon as possible.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. I do drink quite a lot but you know I only drink on special asions.¡±


    Youngho wanted to snap at Kim Chun since he had indirectly pointed him out as an alcoholic but he could not since he did not want to hear that he should stop drinking at this opportunity from Kim Chun.


    ¡°You know you can¡¯t ignore ethnic traditions. We¡¯re not under Communism here. If we forcefully limit the alcohol consumption, there will be a bacsh. Is there any other way?¡±


    Because Youngho could not oppose him for a personal reason, he indirectly opposed him mentioningmunism but Kim Chun¡¯s reaction was still cold.


    ¡°I want everyone here not to be seen drinking in public. I can¡¯t even look at young people who just turned adults getting drunk in the day time. This is all because we set up such role as adults for them.¡±


    ¡°But you can¡¯t stop that from drinking at home.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something we can¡¯t force but I¡¯m nning to punish those who gets drunk and disturbs other people or things with a light vition ofw. We need to be strict in the beginning stage to correct the wrong drinking culture.¡±


    He already saw this as a wrong drinking culture.


    Kim Dong-sung was looking the other way, not daring to join their fiery conversation.


    Youngho had to drag Kim Dong-sung on his side to win the conversation over to him, so he pulled him in.


    ¡°Doctor. Is this really problematic in the medical point of view?¡±


    ¡°Well, the medical field views drinking a few cups of alcohol a day as an alcoholic behavior but because every person has a different physical and mental constitution. It¡¯s hard to tell.¡±


    At least this was a hopeful remark for Youngho and other drinkers.


    ***


    Since Youngho had been only focused on establishing and building the autonomous state and did not see any problem among people. Now that Kim Chun had pointed out one of the cultural problems of the people and was willing to figure out a means to stop that, it was the beginning of new changes for a better state.


    This had to be dealt with care since Youngho did not know why people were drinking so heavily although mainly it was cultural. Not all of the people who emigrated to the autonomous state were living a satisfying life. Some of them were recruited in the drone factory and bearing factory¡ªand some were chosen as Countryside Force, but the majority of the residents were ranchers, farmers, andborers at construction sites.


    Such jobs were very important but what if some people hated their jobs? The job positions the autonomous state offered to people were not very diverse. This could be one of the reasons why many people drank heavily, out of despair. If so, it was a huge problem. To think that this might not be a simple issue, Youngho was deeply concerned.


    If some people were drinking because they felt a rtive sense of deprivation or because they could not adapt to their new life in the autonomous state, it was necessary to find other measures that could satisfy their desires.


    If they could find new hobbies that were healthy for their mental and physical needs, such as reading books and leisure activities, they would not drink as much as now. People had been so busy only working after working, they had no chance to enjoy personal lives. Also, it was difficult to find a ce to read or even to find books since there was no bookstore or a library in the state. It was a shame.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Have you thought about opening a bookstore or a library? I¡¯m sure you have, you were a teacher before.¡±


    ¡°Boss. Do you have any idea how much it cost to build a library? I thought about it but since our stats are still at the starting stage, I thought I¡¯d do it maybe in several years.¡±


    It seemed that Kim Chun had not been thinking about it. If he really desired a library, he would have grilled Youngho until he got what he wanted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be so ashamed if there¡¯s not a single library in the state when the medical school is established.¡±


    ¡°Then, should I get on it now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please. It¡¯d be great to discuss it with the construction director Min toe up with a great-looking building design. As a temporary measure, I¡¯ll have to make a library out of an extra room in the administration building.¡±


    People who were excited about the new library were Kim Dong-sung, the director of the hospital, and Park Youngsun. Both of them were willing to donate their own books.


    As experts in their own field, they knew the value of reading books. They also said that they could easily get books through their connections. Youngho wondered if they would be willing to share specialty publication.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have to get those specialty books from overseas?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯d be more valuable if students can read what you used to study with.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about little notes we made on books?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I am. You know, you must¡¯ve made notes and underlined important sentences.¡±


    ¡°I thought old books could not make it to the library.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter as long as people can read. I know we¡¯ve got e-books these days but I¡¯m always a big fan of interacting with physical books.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s same with me too. I rarely read on my tablet or smartphone because I love to have actual books with me although I need to carry them around.¡±


    The leadership group of the autonomous state concluded that people tended to drink because there was nothing much to do after work and school. So, they decided to build a library and also make a music shop, stationery store, and office supply store in the center of the city area.


    Nheless, Kim Chun began quota restriction on alcohol consumption in the state. Since he had done it so quickly, Youngho could not stop him. It was for the well-being of the residents anyway, so he had nothing to say.


    Many people still used cash to buy things in the autonomous state but the majority used the residential card. Everything people bought with care left a record in the system, so checking who bought liquor was easy. All the administration had to do was to give the limitation line for alcohol consumption.


    Drinkers of the state resisted the sudden policy, but Kim Chun did not budge. He rather threatened them saying that any people who protested against the policy would be sent to the hospital to be treated for alcoholism.


    Youngho could not say a word to save his face, although he dearly wanted to.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we finish our stressful conferences with drinking? That¡¯d make our state a better ce.¡±


    ¡°If drinking could resolve any problem in the state, I¡¯d learn to be a better drinker. Boss, you¡¯ve exhausted your liver with heavy drinking as well. Please let it rest for the next several months.¡±


    Youngho gave him a pressure but Kim Chun still did not change his mind.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard Dr. Kim? He said everyone has different detoxification ability for alcohol and some people can drink better than others. What about the future festivals?¡±


    ¡°Is a festival not a festival without alcohols? Alcohols rather ruin festivals. I won¡¯t be so stern like this if people knew how to drink moderately. They don¡¯t just drink. They pour down drinks instead!¡±


    Kim Chun made Youngho blush.


    Youngho had drunk a lot with friends during festivals but he never made mistakes, except for one asion when he could not attend the great finale ceremony of a festival for being drunk. That was what Kim Chun was implying now. He would never let that go until Youngho stopped drinking once and for all.


    ¡°You won¡¯t say that if you looked at the people who could not even join the festival and sat at the back.¡±


    ¡°I know them well. I¡¯m telling you that I¡¯llfort those people from now on, and you should take care of other things. There¡¯s no winner with drinking.¡±


    In every huge event of the state, Youngho spotted people who could not enjoy the asion since they still could not adapt to their new life in the state. They could be a threatening group to the state in the future, so Youngho could not let them stay like that alone. Tofort them, he had been drinking with them all along but Kim Chun insisted that he would do the job instead of Youngho without drinking.

 Chapter 281 - Downside (2)

    <h4>Chapter 281: Downside (2)</h4>


    ¡°Man, can you believe this? I¡¯ve never heard of restricting alcohol even in themunistic society.¡±


    ¡°I even tried to use my authority to pressure him but he didn¡¯t even blink. He¡¯s coldblooded.¡±


    Three friends in Baku haveined against Kim Chun¡¯s alcohol quota system. As Youngho came back to Baku, everyone had gathered at the mansion on Zeynep Farm.


    ¡°So, you came to Baku to drink?¡±


    ¡°Heck no, I came here because I missed you guys.¡±


    ¡°So, you didn¡¯t evene for your family but for us?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just let go of it. You sure know how to nitpick on things.¡±


    ¡°Look at him getting all upset. He has a bad withdrawal symptom. Hey, Insoo! Hurry and get the drinks in the fridge. We need to treat him now!¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s joke made everyoneugh.


    At the table, Fatima, Zeynep, and even Jelyan joined them to eat trout from the Ural River that Youngho brought. Zeynep asked as she was carrying a portion of trout to her te.


    ¡°Oppa. Are you really going to get me an apartment?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You said you¡¯re going to live with Seo-young. What can I do? But you need to stay with Szechenyi for now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Thank you oppa.¡±


    She was exuberated.


    Zeynep finally made the decision to leave for Frankfurt despite Youngho¡¯s opposition. He could not say no since Zeynep and Park Seo-young¡ªdaughter of doctor Park Youngsun, both were already admitted to the Goethe University in Frankfurt.


    Szechenyi would be receiving his degree in a year. He was still deciding whether he should seek a master¡¯s degree or he should start managing one of Zeynep Corporation¡¯s businesses. If Szechenyi decided to stay in Frankfurt for either reason, Zeynep¡¯s dream to live on her own would finallye true. Knowing that Youngho could not keep her forever, he decided to let her go. Although he was concerned, he knew that it would not be beneficial for her if he kept trying to suppress her desire.


    After enjoying loud and busy family time, Youngho and his friends moved to the study.


    ¡°Just beware that the autonomous state only allows one bottle of drink a day from now on.¡±


    ¡°The problem is those Serbians. Man, they can drink. I worry about their health.¡±


    ¡°Oh, look who¡¯s talking. You need to drink less too. I heard that you went out with officials yesterday.¡±


    ¡°They never give you information unless they¡¯re drunk.¡±


    High officials in Baku now preferred to apany Jong-il rather than Youngho. Although Jong-il said his purpose was to collect information, it seemed that he became good friends with the officials. They did not keep secrets from him.


    ¡°Did you hear anything about the railroad project?¡±


    ¡°It looks like the Azerbaijani government is going to push through on its own. Russia is slowing down because of the Crimean Penins. It¡¯s also struggling with Syria now.¡±


    Previously, Russia had grilled Azerbaijan as if the project would soon begin but it was now targeting other nations. Nheless, the Azerbaijani government had been repairing the railroad near the Iranian border. It was also working on the route that was connected to the Gulf since it was a necessary traffic route even if it were not for Russia.


    ¡°Those brown bears must be thinking that the ck Sea will be theirs if they gulped down the Crimean Penins.¡±


    Ever since the Crimean Penins was annexed by Russia, it became a hot potato in the globalmunity. The penins¡¯s economy was stopped growing because of the aftermath of the annexation. The western world was bitter towards the penins since the annexation was processed after its people¡¯s vote.


    ¡°Does it be your own country just because you gulped it down for yourself? Man, I¡¯m afraid that Russia will try to gain Ukraine too.¡±


    ¡°I hope Russia gets into a fight against Ukraine. While it gets dragged by the Crimean Penins, our state should grow strength.¡±


    Youngho truly wished that, since Ukraine¡¯s economic and military power was great and Russia would definitely have a difficult time.


    ¡°You think Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan can be stronger as Russia?¡±


    ¡°You know the gas price is restored now. That¡¯s the power of these nations.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. The oil producing countries around the coast are doing much better now. Mr. Choi was happy that our shippingpany¡¯s receiving more shipping orders now.¡±


    The oil price had been maintained at 30 dors per each barrel, then was raised up to forty dors now, and the economic situation of the oil-producing countries of the Caspian coast was getting better now. The effect of the increased oil price would start making changes in a few months but it gave peace and relief to the people.


    To other countries who import gas, this was bad news but it was like a green traffic light to Youngho who lived on the Caspian coast since people began to buy things after regaining psychological stability. Sergey also screamed with joy since wine sale was rising now.


    The oil price increase benefited Youngho¡¯s wine business and hotel business now that people started traveling more.


    ***


    The descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom who resided in Zeynep Farm, Charles farm, and Serbian ranch vige were living prosperous life now.


    ¡°Chief Niksic, wee.¡±


    After Old Niksic left to the autonomous state for new immigrants, Nermin, who had been in charge of gold mines, had now be a new chief.


    ¡°Prince consort. You¡¯ve been so busy with the autonomous state. Why don¡¯t you visit Baku more often?¡±


    ¡°I know I haven¡¯t been here as often as I wanted to but please cut me some ck. The autonomous state still has a long way to go. Besides, Chief Nermin, you¡¯re doing so well. This ce doesn¡¯t need me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know nothing.¡±


    Nermin was being modest but he was proud of himself. It seemed that he was truly enjoying his job as the vige chief. Nermin was a traditional and loyal person, same as Old Niksic. Every evening, he came to visit Fatima to pay respect. The Archduchess was a great figure in his life although it was still hard to understand.


    ¡°So, I heard that the cheese produced from the ranch would be distributed to Arirang Hotel?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re asking us to provide more for hotel¡¯s guests. They said that people loved our cheese. I¡¯m a little worried because we can only produce so much cheese.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you increase the size of the livestock? The ranch is big enough and it won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°We can do that but I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to get enough hay in the winter. It¡¯s not easy to get good quality hay around here since earth near Baku is polluted. So, I was wondering, do you think we can get hay from the Arirang Autonomous State?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re growing grass and it¡¯s going well so far but I can¡¯t guarantee that they¡¯ll grow the same until the fall. It¡¯s much drier there and watering is the hard part.¡±


    ¡°If you could provide us dry hay, we¡¯ll increase the livestock.¡±


    Arirang Shipping¡¯s vessels that went around the Caspian Sea sometimes sailed with empty cargo lots. It would be nice if those vessels could transport hay to the Serbian ranch in Baku. It was not a problem for the state to produce the amount of hay the ranch needed since its territory was huge. The only concern was their quality.


    ¡°I heard this from Zeynep that some of the high school graduates this year want to study abroad. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re hoping for but I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be possible.¡±


    Among the descendants of Serbian knights, there were so many talented teenagers. If they did not have the resource they needed, they would only end up beingborers of the farm and ranch.


    ¡°If they wanted to study more, I should give them a hand. Let¡¯s send them to where they want to go. I¡¯ll take care of the cost.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll support them with the ranch¡¯s savings.¡±


    ¡°No. I want to support at least their education cost. I made a welfare foundation to help other people. I can¡¯t ignore the kids of our farm and ranch.¡±


    The descendants of knights had been saving it for the new Serbian immigrants in the autonomous state.


    ¡°We have more than enough to cover their education cost.¡±


    ¡°You can distribute the savings to all of the people of the residents here fairly. They¡¯ve worked hard to establish all this. Now it¡¯s their time to get rewarded. I don¡¯t ever wish to suffocate them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give away most of them and leave some, just in case. This would be useful someday.¡±


    Knowing that Serbians can be stubborn, Youngho did not push him further. However, he was going to pay for the kids¡¯ education cost no matter what. It was an investment for the future of the kids, and this would be paid back to him in time anyway.


    ¡°You can discuss that with the vige people and decide what to do with the money, but there¡¯s time for study. I¡¯ll take care of the talented kids.¡±


    ¡°If you are determined, I should follow your decision, prince consort. They¡¯d be excited to hear this.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart leaned toward the descendants of the Serbian knights against the residents of the autonomous state. It was natural since they were the ones who stuck with him from the beginning. Maybe it was because the group showed peculiar loyalty to Fatima, his dear wife. No matter how hard he tried to make up his mind to not lean toward a group over another, he felt peaceful whenever he came to Baku. However, it was a useless concern since all of the people were now family no matter where they lived.


    ¡°I realized how scary the first affection can be. I thought I¡¯d never be like this.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you think you¡¯re a saint? Those people are fanatically loyal to Fatima. It¡¯d be weird if you didn¡¯t love those people more. They¡¯re so devoted and they¡¯ve got no self-desire.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think they have too much desire. Do you know they are still dreaming to build their old fallen kingdom until now? It¡¯s a little scary at times.¡±


    Many ethnic groups in East Europe could be so blinded sometimes.


    People would be coldblooded and rational in real life but if they went inside the fence of ethnicity, they acted as if they lost their rationale. It did not matter if it was a highly educated person or aborer.


    It was difficult to understand from a perspective of a Korean.


    Youngho did not get why people were so enthusiastic about royal families when all they do was to take away people¡¯s taxes. Could that ever be possible in Korea? If he tried to convince people to serve the fallen Joseon Dynasty, people would call him lunatic.


    Anyway, it was all because of the descendants of the Serbian knights that the autonomous state had settled down. Youngho was also doing so well because of their hard work. Their loyalty was indeed valuable and admirable. It was because of their fire, the whole of the Arirang Autonomous State was warmed up.

 Chapter 282 - War Clouds of the Black Sea (1)

    <h4>Chapter 282: War Clouds of the ck Sea (1)</h4>


    It was not long after Youngho and Jong-il wished for Russia to struggle over the Crimean Penins when the world became rambunctious over Russia.


    It was because Russia dered that it was going to ce additional cutting-edge air defense missiles in the penins. This implied that Russia intended to take over the ck Sea. The government of Turkey, Rumania, and Ukraine bristled against Russia¡¯s im.


    Interestingly, Great Britain, France, and Germany that originally opposed the annexation of the Crimean Penins did not react to the news. They feared that Russia would stop providing oil crude for them.


    Powerful West European nations tried to wrap up the issue by admitting the annexation of the Crimean Penins in exchange for the safety of Ukraine. However, the problem was that the Turkish government was more eager than the Ukrainian government. If the penins was officially legalized as a Russian territory, the north of Turkey would be bordered by Russia. Turkey never wanted that to happen because in the past when Turkey was the Ottoman Empire, it had battled against Russia over the leadership in the ck Sea. Turkey did not feelfortable to be bordered by a hostile nation.


    ¡°Look, I knew this would happen. What would the air defense missiles target? It¡¯ll never be for defense only.¡±


    ¡°I see why Turkey is so upset about this. Russia will be sorry if Turkey decided to block the Sea of Marmara. I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s forcing it.¡±


    ¡°Man, there¡¯s going to be a battle on the ck Sea soon.¡±


    It was a dreadful news, but Youngho¡¯s group treated it as a rather entertaining story.


    Youngho and his friends knew that something like this would happen anyway, and it was better if it started sooner. The nations surrounding this issue would only be stabilized after a collision. It was getting old to stay tensed up since they had been living in a region where disputes weremon. It was also great if they could take advantage of the situation in the midst of that.


    Jong-il¡¯s eyes sparkled as he watched the news on TV.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we get prepared too?¡±


    It was obvious what Jong-il was talking about. However, the autonomous state could not fight with any nation with its weak defense power no matter how prepared the state was. He had already made a grandiose underground shelter at the Serbian ranch. Youngho wondered what else his friend had in mind.


    ¡°You know it wouldn¡¯t matter if theye. You¡¯ve got the ranch fortified already. If things went wrong, we can just run to the ranch and watch TV and rest.¡±


    ¡°I hope this ends like a storm in a teacup.¡±


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s going to be trouble if we receive a new assignment. I feel bad because we speak Russian.¡±


    Jong-il was not actually worried. In fact, it seemed like he wanted to be sent to the Crimean Penins or Ukraine. Unfortunately, Asians would stand out in those regions so the CIA could never send the two even if the CIA wanted to.


    ¡°Do you think our faces have changed just because we¡¯ve been living in a foreignnd?¡±


    ¡°They can send anyone in an emergency. Michael must be dying to send us.¡±


    A few months had already passed since the two stirred up the regions near the Chinese borders so Jong-il was getting eager to do another job.


    ¡°Man, you can¡¯t just stay still, can you? Stay here and reinforce the shelter facility. If there will be a battle in the ck Sea, Russia would not leave Azerbaijan for being a brotherly nation of Turkey. It¡¯s right next to it, man.¡±


    Jong-il who was pumped to get a new agent¡¯s assignment got disappointed like a deted balloon.


    ¡°We really live in a good-for-nothing country.¡±


    ¡°Did you just found that out? But we¡¯ve got a person we can trust.¡±


    ¡°Yaniv?¡±


    ¡°No, The Serbian descendants. They¡¯re vs, you know.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re a shameless fellow.¡±


    ¡°What? What about it?¡±


    Youngho thought that President Putin would not touch Serbians who were vs since their poption was the majority in Russia.


    ¡°Hey, why did you pick this kind of ce when you¡¯re trying to settle down in the first ce? You should¡¯ve picked somewhere in West Europe.¡±


    ¡°Are youining now? We¡¯ve been living so well up until now. Do you think that we would¡¯ve been able to enjoy this kind of luxury in West Europe?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. With our abilities, that must¡¯ve been impossible. We made it this far only because we were in this ce. Anyway, it¡¯s your fault that you stepped in this ce after all.¡±


    Jong-il grumbled since he had been wishing to live in Europe, but he was stuck in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan because of his friend Youngho.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    Youngho was summoned to the European chapter since it was an emergency situation.


    The CIA¡¯s European chapter in Frankfurt was operating busily now.


    The faces of the agents who worked in the chapter were serious. This meant that the situation of Ukraine was an explosive issue. It was different from local battles in East Europe or frequent terrorism around the whole of Europe.


    If Ukraine¡¯s situation was intensified, the West European region would inevitably fall into utter confusion.


    If the oil crude that was being imported from Russia and the Caspian coast would stop, then the world¡¯s economy that was just recovering from the recession would sink into a pit. The aftermath of that could encourage disputes between ethnic groups of Southeastern Europe, which had been suppressed for a long time.


    There was tension in the conference room.


    ¡°Everyone got that? Stay alerted. The battle that¡¯s going to happen in the ck Sea is the shortcut to the third World War. Let¡¯s be dismissed for now and get back together at the same time tomorrow with more information.¡±


    Michael sounded as if the war was dered already.


    After the conference was over, Michael called Youngho into the side.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear anything about this?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the chapter already know about this more than I do?¡±


    Although Youngho was no special than other agents, Michael was expecting new information from him whom he trusted very much.


    ¡°Everything we know is from the satellite. The headquarters is upset that we didn¡¯t see thising.¡±


    ¡°The rumor that higher-ups in the White House are secretly rted to Russia must be false then.¡±


    ¡°Chief. You must already know this but the Turkish military¡¯s movements have been suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Where did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°I heard this from the security guards who are working in a hotel in Istanbul. He said thattely military generals had been spotted at the hotel many times.¡±


    ¡°Keep your mouth shut. The Turkish military has joint training with our military.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the U.S. and Turkey are doing a joint operation?¡±


    This was an absurd story that could make a dogugh.


    The Turkish president had criticized the U.S. harshly on TV about the fact that the U.S. had supported the Kurdish militia that had been fighting against IS in Syria. It was quite odd that the two countries had teamed up now. The reason for Turkey¡¯s criticism toward the U.S. was that the Kurdish militia was as problematic as IS to Turkey.


    Such countries had be allies in front of amon enemy.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the ck Sea that is in trouble. The Baltic Sea is in huge trouble now.¡±


    ¡°What does Find or Sweden have to do with the Crimean missiles?¡±


    ¡°Do you seriously don¡¯t know?¡±


    Michael frowned as if it was annoying to have to exin this.


    Youngho watched Michael¡¯s stressed face as he exined things. Youngho knew that doing this would relieve Michael¡¯s stress. In fact, he had already nned the night ahead. He began to say random things.


    ¡°You know what? You should just let them fight for their own life. Russia¡¯s expansion policy had been there for a long time. People don¡¯t care no matter how hard the U.S. tries to keep the peace. Why don¡¯t we go out and talk about this over a beer? I¡¯ll treat you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too busy. Let¡¯s have that beer next time.¡±


    ¡°Then you can go ahead and work. I already invited your wife to Arirang Hotel. I guess I¡¯ll have to escort your wife tonight.¡±


    ¡°What made a young man like you want to date that old woman?¡±


    Although Michael still did not agree toe, he was already picking up his jacket.


    ***


    Michael drank quite a lot of wine as he had Italian food at Arirang Hotel. His wife who had been watching him silently finally stopped him.


    ¡°Honey. That will be yourst ss. It¡¯s too much for your heart.¡±


    ¡°Why? Is his heart having a problem?¡±


    ¡°The doctor had recently discovered that his heart artery was not in good shape. That¡¯s why he quit smoking.¡±


    Although Michael was avoided by some people in the European chapter due to his hasty temperament, he had been favorable to Youngho. Michael was not just a boss; he was a friend. Youngho was startled to hear that his boss¡¯s health had been deteriorating.


    ¡°What are his symptoms?¡±


    ¡°The doctor said that he would be fine with oral medicine for now but he would probably have to get surgery after several years.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I know my body. I¡¯m just stressed right now. If I retire, I¡¯ll soon get better.¡±


    It seemed like Michael was the type who would man up and outgrow his illness before it became a real problem. Youngho immediately called Dr. Kim Dong-sung since he was an acknowledged surgeon.


    Youngho let Michael talk to him, and when he was done with the phone call, Michael asked who he was. He was surprised because Kim Dong-sung was so informative.


    ¡°He asked me to visit Kazakhstan no matter what. Who is this guy?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the director of the hospital in our autonomous state and a globally acknowledged surgeon. I heard that he worked in an American hospital and became famous in his field. He¡¯s also a member of Doctors Without Borders. Do you think you cane with me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got work to do. I¡¯m super busy.¡±


    ¡°When were you not busy anyway?¡±


    Before Youngho tried to convince him, Michael¡¯s wife started to grill him to visit the doctor.


    ***


    ¡°What dreadful weather.¡±


    Michael, whonded at the Atyrau¡¯s international airport described Kazakhstan¡¯s summer with one phrase. It was indeed extremely hot.


    Michael finally decided toe and see Dr. Kim Dong-sung in Kazakhstan for his illness. He was someone who would refuse to go to the hospital usually, and it seemed like he had been suffering enough.


    Youngho was confident about this since the doctor told him that he could do a simple surgery on Michael. Michael shook his head when Youngho told him that he did not have to take the surgery if he did not like the hospital¡¯s facility. He already knew about Kim Dong-sung¡¯s profile. It did not take a day to find out about a person¡¯s history from his intelligence connections. Someone like Michael would note to a ce like this if he did not trust the doctor. Also, it was just a simple surgery. It seemed like he might have another reason foring to the autonomous state.


    ¡°Come this way.¡±


    Michael smirked as he looked at the light airne.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fly it.¡±


    As a veteran intelligence agent, Michael treated the airne as if it was a boy¡¯s toy.


    ¡°If you haven¡¯t learned how to fly new airne models, please sit next to me. I have more than 300 hours of private flying experience, chief.¡±


    ¡°Ha! it seems as you¡¯ve only been flying in the air instead of doing the work were supposed to do!¡±

 Chapter 283 - War Clouds of the Black Sea (2)

    <h4>Chapter 283: War Clouds of the ck Sea (2)</h4>


    ¡°What on earth have you been up to all along?¡±


    ¡°I just worked very diligently.¡±


    ¡°This can¡¯t be made just because you work hard. I only saw some rough roofs in a desert when I looked at the satellite pictures of the autonomous state before you started to work on it.¡±


    The autonomous state¡¯s current image was indeed something he could not have guessed.


    ¡°This was only possible because of all the treasures that the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom that was saved for hundreds of years were poured down over here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. Stop lying. You didn¡¯t use ck funds from mafias, did you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d find out within a day if I¡¯m really lying or not. Why would I do such a stupid thing?¡±


    The state looked different when a person looked down on it in an airnepared to looking at it through a car.


    People walking around the state looked content, and the whole city was very modern.


    Everything was so clean that even Youngho was surprised. It seemed like Kim Chun had made efforts to clean up the whole city since he knew Youngho¡¯s friends would be visiting.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we unpack our belongings at the hotel first and meet again for dinner? Our cook must¡¯ve prepared the best food to satisfy your tastes.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, do these suit your pte?¡±


    ¡°I never knew steamed trout and bulgogi* were this good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Our chief¡¯s taste is very particr that I had given up a long time ago but you¡¯re different than him.¡±


    Michael, who was nibbling on his dish with his fork red at Youngho.


    ¡°Why do you me my taste?¡±


    The food on his dish did not look like they had been eaten at all.


    ¡°Haha, the whole world knows about how picky his taste is. You don¡¯t have to mind him. When youe to Frankfurt again, please invite me again to Arirang Hotel. I¡¯d love to apany you again for a nice meal.¡±


    Michael¡¯s wife had fallen in love with Korean food ever since she had some at the Arirang Hotel a few days ago.


    ¡°Will you be alright? I think the chief is starting to get a little jealous.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... This guy? Jealous?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be d if you take this grandma out. I don¡¯t have to hear her nag.¡±


    She gave him a sharp stare for a moment then started to tter Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I now see you differently than before. I never knew that you were in charge of such a big city because you are about my son¡¯s age, I have treated you too naturally. I apologize.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need. I think of you two as someone very special to me. I¡¯ve been relying on you from the bottom of my heart. Please feel free to treat me like your own son.¡±


    This was not a lie but a truth.


    Youngho was the only underling of Michael who was wee to his house. Since Youngho had gone to their house every time he visited Frankfurt, he wasfortable with the couple already. They were like next door neighbors. Youngho was also a special friend to Michael.


    Youngho and the couple went out for a walk after finishing their meal.


    As the sun set, it cooled down just enough for them to have a refreshing walk.


    Michael nodded after looking around the streets that were lit by the street lights. He spoke all of a sudden.


    ¡°Lee. It seems you really don¡¯t want to stay in the CIA for long.¡±


    ¡°I have too many things that I had already started that I can¡¯t be tied down in one ce. When you leave the European chapter, I might as well leave.¡±


    Youngho might have resigned already if Michael was not there.


    ¡°Who¡¯s trying to kick you out? You can stay as a field team director. You don¡¯t need to do much in that position. Why are you trying to abandon your current position? Stay until they ask you to leave. You know how it is. There¡¯s more to gain than lose in our job.¡±


    Indeed, Youngho had gained so many things through the CIA.


    Although Youngho worked hard to provide information to the organization, it was the organization that supported him to settle down in Azerbaijan in the first ce. He was appreciative, so he stayed loyal to the CIA.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t I get that much information from anywhere else?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the quality of the information that matters. You are managed by the system of the headquarters as a different kind of agent and not just a regr one. You won¡¯t get disadvantages in any way. Don¡¯t think about integrity, just take advantage of the organization.¡±


    ¡°As much as I want to do that, I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be abandoned by the group. You know how harsh the reality of the global society is.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t seed if you are afraid of failure. Did you wish to take advantage of it without having the guts for it? This might sound odding from an American, but the U.S. will join hands with a devil for its own good.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You are managed as a potentate by the CIA¡¯s headquarters since you¡¯ve performed beyond a mere agent¡¯s work. You can easily be an influential figure who could control multiple regions. The high wind and waves of the ck sea will affect Kazakhstan as well. You can make more difference if you be a person of power than just stay as a mere businessman.¡±


    Michael¡¯s purpose for visiting the autonomous state was this.


    He needed a person who could embrace South Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian regions since he would be retiring soon. He was thinking about a separate entity from the European chapter. After seeing the autonomous state¡¯s current status and confirming that Youngho was the person he was looking for, he finally made a decision to suggest this to Youngho.


    ***


    Michael¡¯s surgery was finished in a matter of hours.


    What he received was a cardiovascr procedure. Although it was his heart that needed repairing, the surgery left a cut on his thigh that was the same size as a nail. It was a surgical procedure to erge the blood vessel. It was difficult to understand why Michael¡¯s breathing was much easier now after doing such a simple procedure. It was quite magical.


    ¡°Chief. Do you really feelfortable with breathing now?¡±


    ¡°Oh, how many times should I tell you?¡±


    Michael yelled at Youngho. It seemed like he was already feeling well.


    Youngho was happy to have the old Michael back.


    ¡°That yelling is a sign that you feel better now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a patient, Lee. Don¡¯t talk to me anymore.¡±


    He was making a big fuss over a little procedure that made a small cut on his thigh.


    ¡°Just know that I¡¯m the savior of your life.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Now, savior, could you please leave the room? I¡¯m going to sleep now.¡±


    When Youngho checked with Kim Dong-sung, he said that Michael could move around and do simple daily work now. Apparently, the procedure was something so simple that any surgeon could do it with the right equipment.


    ***


    Michael was rmended to rest for two more days before going back to work, but he had to leave to Frankfurt due to the Crimean Penins situation.


    Ukrainian army was reported to have gathered up in arge scale at the border area of the Crimean Penins. Of course, the Russian Army at the penins moved too. This was around the same time the military of the U.S. and Turkey began their joint training.


    The Truman Carrier Strike Group that was previously at the Gulf was moved to the Mediterranean Sea followed by the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group which was relocated to the Mediterranean as well from the harbor in Norfolk, Virginia. Moreover, a division of the U.S. Army that was stationed in Germany was also being relocated to the Port of Gaeta, Italy, where six of the U.S. naval fleets had been stationed.


    All of these movements implied that the situation at the Crimean Penins was not just child¡¯s y.


    ¡°Jong-il. Did you stock all of the reserve materials at the ranch?¡±


    Youngho had ordered people to stock up daily necessaries and grains in case of war. Although there were always six months of supplies in storage units of every base, this time was different. It was because it was highly probable that the ck Sea would be closed down, which would cause a deficiency in traded goods.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got unlimited wheat from the autonomous state. Gas and daily necessaries were enough to supply us for a few years. How¡¯s the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°This ce is always peaceful. It¡¯d be great if it rained. Anyway, you need toe here with Il-kwon. Let¡¯s go to Volgograd together.¡±


    ¡°Did Michael give you an assignment?¡±


    ¡°No, the guy just got a surgical procedure done. He was not in a condition to give me an assignment. I just want to know what Russia is up to.¡±


    ¡°I talked with Agent Philip in Georgia. He said that everyone is very tensed up there. You know, Georgia is a much worse enemy to Russia than Azerbaijan.¡±


    The U.S. military advisory group was ced in Georgia. For Russia, Georgia was like a thorn under a fingernail.


    ¡°The movements of U.S. is very different now. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re moving just to protest this time. Go ahead and make sure the ranch and farm are in good shape before leaving.¡±


    ¡°Il-kwon needs to stay here. It¡¯s too much for Insoo to take care of all the things by himself.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Get here as soon as possible.¡±


    Youngho had a bad feeling ever since Michael immediately left for Frankfurt unexpectedly. This could lead to something huge.


    ***


    It was a terrible idea to cross a border in a private airne in a time like this. Even if they flew over Azerbaijan, Russia¡¯s air defensework was operating at full scale. So, they decided to fly regrly from the international airport of Atyrau to Moscow, and from Moscow to Volgograd.


    ¡°You know Astrakhan is close to Atyrau. It¡¯d be great if we have a small-size vessel. Whether it was peaceful or not, moving on a ship will be the safest.¡±


    Jong-il made a suggestion since the route that was connected in Moscow was very inconvenient.


    Atyrau was located at the downstream of the Ural River in Kazakhstan, and Astrakhan was located at the downstream of the Volga River in Russia. They were only 250 kilometers away from each other, and a small vessel could travel the distance without any problem.


    It was not efficient to use the car ferry as their private vessel for traveling, so a vessel that weighed about a hundred tons would be perfect for this purpose.


    ¡°This would be the first yacht building request in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°You know, they¡¯ll make it like how they did with the naval vessels. It won¡¯t take long. They¡¯re extremely talented that each of them could open a small shipyard.¡±


    The skills of the engineers of the Shipyard thaw was bought from Batumi were indeed amazing. Youngho let out an exmation when he saw them building canoes and small-sized motor boats for residents¡¯ leisure.


    They made 20 boats in 20 days. Their skills could be described as divine.


    Yaniv received the two, but he did not seem to be fully sober from the night before. He must have been drinking with someone untilte at night.


    ¡°I had almost forgotten your faces. You must be really into building your kingdom.¡±


    Yaniv was teasing Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. You are an honorary resident there.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you letting me join those country Serbians since we¡¯re all vs?¡±


    He always made fun of Serbians as mountainous country people. It was not that he had harsh feelings toward Serbians. Instead, it was his way of showing friendliness to them.


    ¡°Themissioner of the state is a Koryoin.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, I see. So, it¡¯s not one of those Serbian country people.¡±


    ¡°Sir, if President Putin gets ousted from his position, you might get in trouble. I was worried about you, so I made you an honorary resident of the state.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    He looked like he was still not fully recovered from drinking previously, but he ordered to get the table ready for drinking.


    It was sickening for Youngho when he imagined about drinking like Yaniv.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. Isn¡¯t it too soon to drink?¡±


    ¡°Sergey. Until what time did we drinkst night?¡±


    ¡°We drank until two in the morning.¡±


    Yaniv shrugged his shoulders.


    Enough time had passed for him since hest drank. Now, it was time for drinking again.


    The table was full of food and drinks.


    The topic of their conversation was naturally about the Crimean Penins¡¯s situation as they ate and drank together.


    ¡°You know, alcohol demand is higher when there¡¯s war. Can you deliver some more wine to us?¡±


    Yaniv mentioned ¡®war¡¯ without hesitating a bit. He had a good reason behind his faith.


    ¡°I¡¯m at a weird ce now. I have to be sad that people would suffer for war but happy for my wine business.¡±


    ¡°President Putin said that he will never yield this to anyone. He will definitely act upon it. You should get prepared for that.¡±


    ¡°Would that affect Azerbaijan as well?¡±


    ¡°That will depend on which side Azerbaijan choose to stand with.¡±


    That meant that a scenario was already set.


    Youngho¡¯s mind was turning busy suddenly.


    Jong-il who was sipping his drink and was sitting next to Youngho gradually hardened his face as well.


    Youngho had relied on his intuition all his life when he had to make a major decision. Most of the time, his intuition was right. As of the moment, that intuition was telling him to prepare for something.


    *Bulgogi ¨C A popr Korean meat dish. It was made of thin slices of marinated pork or beef which could be barbequed or be cooked on a stove-top griddle.

 Chapter 284 - War Clouds of the Black Sea (3)

    <h4>Chapter 284: War Clouds of the ck Sea (3)</h4>


    Youngho found out many things from this trip to Volgograd.


    Russia would definitely exert its power on Ukraine, and the ck Sea would be sealed off temporarily.


    Such events would affect the delivery line of Zeynep Wine and the safety of the car ferry which regrly sailed to Istanbul through the Volga-Don Canal.


    The Russian ck Sea fleet could detain merchant ships or even sink them to make an example. Although Youngho was a good friend of Yaniv, idents were inevitable in times of war.


    The best thing to do now was to transport wine and sell it in Istanbul and Frankfurt ahead of time.


    ¡°We need to refrain from crossing the ck Sea for some time. Let¡¯s transport as much wine as possible first and prepare for the worst-case scenario.¡±


    Zeynep Corporation had three vessels that crossed the Volga-Don Canal. A car ferry and two freighters in the 3,000-ton ss. They usually transported cargo from Istanbul to the Caspian Sea through the Volga-Don Canal.


    If war broke out, the northern part of the ck Sea and the canal would be blocked automatically and the only route left for transportation would bend routes across Georgia.


    ¡°The vessels that navigate on the Antic Ocean won¡¯t be troubled since they only travel to Istanbul but the mineral transportation would be problematic.¡±


    It seemed like Youngho would make a lot of money no matter what, but he would not profit if there were no goods to be traded. What was more, all of the huge freighter shippingpanies that worked under Arirang Shipping that delivered minerals would lose their job as well. This would again backfire on Arirang Shipping.


    ¡°Jeez. We¡¯ve got another problem now that the autonomous state is making some profits.¡±


    The profit made from selling minerals was a huge hope for the residents of the autonomous state. Knowing that they could not trade minerals anymore would crush them. This was what Youngho was concerned the most. They were already living in a barren environment. Taking away one of the residents¡¯ hopes would greatly discourage them.


    ¡°Man, why should those Russian brown bears have to be so greedy? They¡¯ll still be rich with the resources buried under the vast Siberiannd.¡±


    Frustrated by the situation, Jong-il med Russia.


    ¡°You know nationalism can really blind people.¡±


    ¡°Man, any white people look the same in my eyes. It¡¯s really odd that they have to fight for such a small matter.¡±


    Youngho also wanted to fly to the Crimean Penins at once and destroy all of Russia¡¯s missiles but that would only provoke war.


    What he could do now was to find ways to minimize the aftermath of war.


    ¡°Jong-il. If you have any extra room in storage units, just stock up whatever you can regardless of what kind.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about that too. Man, meeting Yaniv made me realize how serious this is.¡±


    ¡°Contact Mr. Choi of Arirang Shipping and ask him to buy some of our daily necessities from New York as much as he could.¡±


    Although the Crimean situation might end in a short period of time, its aftereffect couldst long.


    Most of the countries of the Caspian coast rely on imported industrial products. Their daily necessities would suffer an extreme increase in cost, which was a good cause for social unrest.


    Once it became difficult to buy things due to high prices, people would criticize national leaders. When people suffered from poverty, young people would turn to terrorist groups like IS. This might be a huge jump of thought but this was the reality of the Caucasus now.


    ***


    There was a ce that was not shaken by the intense situation.


    It was the Arirang Autonomous State.


    People of the state were living their routines regardless of the outside world. Watching them working hard and living as if they did not care was a hugefort for Youngho.


    The construction sites of the medical school building and the new general hospital that would have about 200 rooms were crowded by hardworkingborers.


    In addition, Kazakhstan¡¯s influential figures continuously visited the state. They usually brought their families along with them. Their purpose was rather to get treated by the Korean elite medical team for their illness, and not because they wanted to look around the state. However, Youngho could not charge them for their treatments. In fact, they did not expect to get charged since the educational and medical cost was free in Kazakhstan¡¯s public institutions.


    There were a few people among them who wanted to pay knowing that it was a private hospital, but Youngho graciously refused them. It was better to earn their favors for now rather than to make money from their visit. Moreover, what they spent while they stayed at the state could usually make up for their treatments.


    Kim Chun was the one that made it possible.


    He had raised the hotel¡¯s fee instead of charging their medical treatments.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Are the hotel guests being charge too much?¡±


    ¡°The hotel facility is as great as a five-star hotel in Atyrau, but we¡¯ve been charging people with the cost of a four-star hotel.¡±


    ¡°But this is a remote area where there¡¯s no infrastructure nearby. I¡¯m afraid that they might criticize us for charging them too much.¡±


    ¡°Boss. Our hotel¡¯s free breakfast¡¯s quality is better than foods from high-ss restaurants. Where would Kazakh people experience such food? I¡¯m sure they¡¯re satisfied with our service.¡±


    Breakfast meals were simr in every hotel and the breakfast from the Arirang Hotel in the state was no different. Kim Chun strongly believed that its breakfast was the best in the world.


    Jong-il left to Istanbul with two freighters and a car ferry.


    Youngho also wanted to do something, but he could not concentrate on a specific matter since his mind was so busy. So, he frequently went out in the wheat field and helped out with farming.


    The wheat in the field was growing rapidly. It was a blessing that there was a crop that could grow in a barren environment.


    Korean rice farming needed a lot of care and plenty of water in order to have a good crop in the fall but wheat farming was extremely simple. After sowing, wheat farming needed only a little attention from the soil¡¯s moisture. The nts would grow well until the harvest season even if they didn¡¯t take care of it too much.


    Althoughst year¡¯s crop was pathetic, farmersforted everyone saying that they were expecting a good crop this year. People were worried that they might not grow well because the total precipitation for May and June was only 20 millimeters but thankfully, all of them had grown to their full size. Now, all people had to do was to wait until all the grains became ripe.


    Wheat was not really expensive, but it was a symbol for the autonomous state. The atmosphere of the whole state depended on the situation of the crop. In all ages, people were strengthened if there was plenty of food to eat. Any person who had spent a harsh winter from Central Asia was relieved when their storeroom was full of grains.


    ***


    The wharf was full of daily necessities that were unloaded by a freighter.


    Residents of the state were just happy that more supplies had arrived; even though they had no idea what was going on


    Youngho, who was watching the whole unloading process at the wharf, felt relieved now. He sent the amount of wine that could cover the sales demand until the winter came to Turkey and Germany, and now the supplies that would be used for the residents of the autonomous state and Baku. It seemed that he could finally rx.


    Jong-il, who was overseeing the unloading process, came to Youngho with a serious face.


    ¡°The inspection was so tight when we came through the canal. I feel like Russia will even take away other country¡¯s cargoes.¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t seize private cargoes unless they¡¯re crazy.¡±


    It seemed like Jong-il went through trouble as he passed through the Volga-Don Canal.


    ¡°I had to call Sergey, so the guards would let us pass through.¡±


    This was a warning from Russia since the canal belonged to the country. Since Russia made money from trading oil crude, gas, grains, and weapons, blocking the canal meant that it was going to bear the loss of trade profits.


    Although Youngho¡¯s concern about the situation would not change it, he needed to prepare for the worst case scenario. He wanted to make sure that he would not regret anythingter.


    When the autonomous state was in its developmental stage, Youngho built a lot of warehouses. The purpose of most of them was to store grains and necessary supplies for the residents. Some of them were built to hide weapons that were previously taken from Georgia and the ck Sea. The warehouses for weapons were now almost empty except for French arms becauserge armed vehicles and missileunchers were hidden in different ces of the state.


    Youngho thought that there was plenty of room to store the newly transported supplies because there were newly built warehouses. However, the number of supplies was more than enough to fill all of the warehouses. Some of them were justid in the open-air.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. So, I heard there are still extra supplies?¡±


    ¡°We filled up all the warehouses and empty spaces, and even each family¡¯s storage units are full with supplies but we still have some left.¡±


    ¡°Then, can you make a call to the Navy and tell them to take the supplies? Well, I guess we can¡¯t help it. Why don¡¯t we do something nice to the Navy? You know, since the Navy that was living in the state already know about this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an amazing idea. I get to save my face in front of Lieutenant Commander Jun in a long time.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯te here often since it¡¯s an emergency situation.¡±


    Twenty naval families had already moved into the state now. There were now more than 50 navy-rted families living in the state including the former navies, who would be recruited as the Countryside Force, and their families. Among them was, of course, Lieutenant Commander Jun and his parents.


    ¡°I think they just sleep at the wharf of the state most of the time. You know, there are a lot of naval vessels at the wharf. Have you seen them?¡±


    ¡°I thought they onlye here during the weekends.¡±


    ¡°No, apparently soldiers just love toe here since Arirang Wharf is much morefortable for them than the Port of Atyrau.¡±


    The vessels that were supposed to be moored at the Port of Atyrau were now staying at Arirang Wharf ever since the new facilities for the Navy and Countryside Force on maritime police duty were built. Youngho was now a little bit worried that there would be too many naval vessels at Arirang Wharf.


    ¡°Youngho. How long does a regr shipbuilding process take?¡±


    ¡°You know, that¡¯s going to take too long. So, we decided to repair a used vessel. There were a lot of used ships at the Port of Atyrau. The engineers at the shipyard were confident that they¡¯ll make it look like brand new.¡±


    A new vessel was needed to travel through the Volga-Don Canal since Youngho visited Volgograd often. Using the canal would be much more convenient than traveling on regr airnes. It would take about six hours to get to Volgograd; the traveling time was the same even if Youngho used a regr airline.


    ¡°They¡¯re not magicians. How will they transform a ten-year-old ship in such a way?¡±


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s much more economical if they reinforced the body and repair its interior.¡±


    ¡°Well, alright. Tell them to make it look as luxurious as possible. Those inspectors seem to overlook yachts because they don¡¯t know who their owners are. They don¡¯t want to get in trouble for that.¡±


    Rich and influential people were the ones who usually owned a yacht in Russia. That was why inspectors frequently let yachts pass by without any trouble. A yacht in the 100-ton ss was about 20 meters long in length, so it was perfect to sail through the Volga-Don Canal.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to arm the ship with all sorts of weapons, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s for a disguise but that should be used as a high-speed ship in an emergency. We can¡¯t just go sightseeing peacefully with this. I¡¯m going to ask to install the best engine for this to the shipyard. Just do your thing and not worry about this.¡±


    Youngho wondered what crazy stuff his friend would do now that he received a great toy under the pretext of traveling to Volgograd more conveniently.

 Chapter 285 - A Cheap Scheme (1)

    <h4>Chapter 285: A Cheap Scheme (1)</h4>


    On TV news, the currently on-going battle in Luhansk in the eastern part of Ukraine was broadcasting. Located in the easternmost ce of Ukraine, Luhansk was bordered by western Russia. It was majorly popted by Russians.


    Since 2014, people of Luhansk dered independence from Ukraine as it renamed the ce as Luhansk People¡¯s Republic. It was a still on-going dispute.


    When other countries were strained by the situation in the Crimean Penins, an unexpected battle between the Ukrainian military and the militia broke out.


    Watching the news, Youngho and Jong-il were puzzled.


    They were not sure if this was what Russia was truly after. Maybe the whole situation had been a cheap scheme. Russia had drawn everyone¡¯s attention to the Crimean Penins by installing air defense missiles when what it was truly after was to help the independence movement of Luhansk.


    Anyone knew that the independence militia would have acted on its own without Russia¡¯s support. Since the dispute had been going on for a while, it was less obvious to the public eye that it was manipted by Russia. Youngho called different people to figure out what was really going on.


    ¡°Chief. This is far from what Yaniv had told me.¡±


    ¡°You know, when you want to deceive the enemies, you need to deceive your allies first. I knew it was strange that Russia had been so open about the whole situation. The brown bears are now using cheap tricks.¡±


    Michael was startled by Russia¡¯s action that went beyond his expectations.


    The global society had no reason to oppose this now. This was well disguised as one of the frequent ethnic disputes in eastern Europe.


    The instation of missiles in the Crimean Penins was now pushed to the side and the collision between Luhansk¡¯s militia and Ukraine¡¯s military was at the center of people¡¯s attention.


    ¡°I have no clue. Even if we had evidence, we¡¯ll have no say in this. Jeez. It¡¯s only the U.S. that made a huge fuss out of this.¡±


    ¡°But at least Russia was shaken by the U.S.¡±


    ¡°No. I bet Putin never even blinked.¡±


    Michael might be true.


    By the internationalw, Russia could exert its power over the Crimean Penins although it was Ukrainian territory since residents of the penins had voted to be annexed by Russia. It was not done forcefully.


    Russia would try to deny that it had no influence over the Luhansk battle.


    Since most of the residents in the eastern border of Ukraine were Russians, it was natural that they did not like to be ruled under the Ukrainian government.


    ¡°Chief. So, the Crimean situation is going to be closed for now?¡±


    ¡°Do you think Russia will stop after winning over the Crimean Penins? Starting from Luhansk, it¡¯s going to slowly take over eastern Ukraine. Can¡¯t you see this?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying Russia is after the whole of Ukraine?¡±


    ¡°Well, at least the eastern part.¡±


    After exchanging conversations enthusiastically, the two sighed at the same time.


    ¡°Whoa. The ck Sea will be icy cold for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you do, you need to take extra caution in times like this.¡±


    Jong-il had a frustrated look on his face as he had been listening to Youngho¡¯s conversation with Michael on the phone.


    ¡°What is this? So, we¡¯ll be stuck in the Caspian Sea?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve gotnd routes too. Through Batumi¡¯s port, we¡¯ll deliver things to Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°You know how inconvenient that can be. The minerals can¡¯t go anywhere now.¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s been confirmed yet. Let¡¯s hope for the best.¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. This is too stressful that we¡¯ll still have to sail around not knowing what¡¯s going to happen tomorrow.¡±


    Although Younghoforted Jong-il, he was as frustrated as his friend.


    It would be exhausting to live with the tension. It was the best to be cautious in times like this.


    ***


    ¡°Did you hear?¡±


    Jong-il urgently asked Youngho who justnded at the Arirang Airfield after visiting Almaty¡¯s construction site of the new hotel.


    ¡°Hear about what?¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re just tooid back. The Ukrainian force entered Luhansk and is having a street battle against the militia. It¡¯s all over on TV news.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s finally getting bigger.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just big. They¡¯re having a firefight. Ukraine must be up to something. Otherwise, how do you think it¡¯s pressing this hard?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s got to be something behind them or they¡¯re just outrageous now.¡±


    Since the Crimean Penins was taken away by Russia already, Ukraine could not let Russia steal its eastern part again.


    The Volga-Don Canal would be blocked for a while now. It was because the Sea of Azov in the downstream of the canal was divided by Russia and Ukraine that the battle would affect the canal¡¯s operation as well.


    ¡°So, I stopped all of the bulk freighter transportation today.¡±


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s good.¡±


    As Youngho replied to him, his face was sour.


    It was because it was difficult to expect to make profits for minerals when bulk freighters were stopped. Moreover, there was a concern for chain bankruptcy of the bulk freighter owners due to nonpayment.


    ***


    As Youngho traveled to Frankfurt for the monthly meeting at the European chapter, he met up with Michael at his office.


    ¡°Chief. I don¡¯t believe that Russia went through all this just because it wanted to increase the oil price.¡±


    ¡°The oil price was going to rise anyway since OPEC had taken an action to cut oil production. What Russia¡¯s after is Ukraine. Because it can¡¯t ignore the global opinion, it¡¯s secretly supporting the separation of the eastern region of Ukraine.¡±


    Russia had made it a domestic dispute of Ukraine, so other countries could not get involved in it.


    ¡°Poor ship owners¡¯ businesses are at stake because of this.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s mineral export was also stumbling now.


    Michael knew exactly why Youngho was feeling sorry.


    ¡°Oh, are you talking about yourself?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can store minerals at the wharf. The minerals won¡¯t go anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Our carrier strike groups are standing by on the Mediterranean Sea. Russia would not dare to push further.¡±


    It may sound odd that the U.S. carrier strike groups were not entering the ck Sea but were standing by at the Mediterranean, but not everyone was allowed to enter the ck Sea.


    The ck Sea was a neutral territory that was off limits for the battleships of the countries that did not have territory on the coast. Also, Turkey had an authority to block the strait in wartime. This was an internationalmitment that had been kept since the end of WWI.


    The Arirang Shipping was the only entity that was not keeping themitment. Although not known to the outside, all of its vessels were armed as maritime patrol boats. Youngho wished to install missiles on them but had to suppress his desire.


    ¡°Chief, doesn¡¯t the U.S. Navy have battleships disguised as private ships? Why don¡¯t they make one already and sail around freely in the ck Sea?¡±


    Since Youngho had done this, he wondered the U.S. Navy had also thought about doing the same. He also wanted to make a suggestion for the U.S. Navy.


    Michael¡¯s reaction surprised Youngho.


    ¡°Are you trying to tell me a secret or to make a suggestion?¡±


    He had a keen sense.


    He sounded as if he already knew about such vessels.


    ¡°You sound like there are such vessels already.¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s none. For what would the U.S. Navy risk viting an international agreement? That is a foul y.¡±


    If one was confronted by an enemy in war, he would have to fight for his life and to win no matter what. There was no fair y in this. His reaction was enough to imply that there were such U.S. naval vessels already in the ck Sea.


    ¡°You know, there¡¯s a saying in Korea. One that catches the pheasant is a hawk.¡±


    ¡°Is this one of those weird Korean figures of speech?¡±


    ¡°This is not a weird Korean figure of speech. It¡¯s the wisdom of life. If you wish to win, you can¡¯t be tied to the code of a gentleman. You do whatever it takes to win. Are you saying that shooting people with rifles in camouge is okay and disguising your vessel is not? If you haven¡¯t thought about that, you can suggest this to the Department of National Defense.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. We are the country that keeps ss even if we¡¯re at war.¡±


    It was funny since this came from one of the people who made poison gas and the nuclear bomb.


    ¡°I bet Russia also made such vessels.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t talk about this anymore.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s continuous nudging made Michael ufortable. He waved Youngho off but Youngho did not stop there to see Michael¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Won¡¯t you have to suggest this innovative idea to the higher-ups?¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. Trust me that¡¯s a very old idea. Why don¡¯t you forget about that now and go to Volgograd to meet Yaniv?¡±


    ¡°Whatever he knows is false information from Putin. I don¡¯t have anything to gain from him. It¡¯d be better if we can arm merchant ships in the meantime instead?¡±


    ¡°I said that can¡¯t happen.¡±


    Michael¡¯s reaction was telling Youngho that there were merchant vessels that were disguised by the U.S. military.


    He was only refusing to expose it to keep it as ssified but apparently, it was not an idea that only Youngho and Jong-il could think of. In the five oceans as well as in the ck Sea, such vessels must have been sailing around from decades ago with missiles hidden in them.


    Youngho wondered if the shipyard in the autonomous state could build such ships. The engineers could make any vessel but installing secret missiles under the deck was an advanced technique. It would be impossible without technical skills for advanced weapons.


    This meant that he might have to buy a premade vessel that was armed but disguised as a merchant¡¯s vessel from an advanced country. The problem was that no countries would make a vessel upon his request if it was not a request from an ally.


    A Russian armspany might do that for him but that was when the war situation was all cleared up and over, but Russia was now taking its hour against Ukraine.


    For Russia, it was better to drag the situation since it would make more reflective interest due to the increased oil price and there would be a higher chance that Russia would win over eastern Ukraine.


    This would only make the surrounding countries of Russia and their businessmen suffer.


    The only country around it that might be smiling was Armenia since the country was a difficult ce to live in anyways. Armenia was a country that could not be sustained without donations of Armenian overseas. People of Armenia might feel better about themselves now.


    Come to think of it, Youngho had not been paying attention to Armenia for a long time now. When he was pondering about this, he hastily picked up the phone as if he just thought of something.

 Chapter 286 - A Cheap Scheme (2)

    <h4>Chapter 286: A Cheap Scheme (2)</h4>


    ¡°Ed. It¡¯s been long.¡±


    ¡°Lee. I can¡¯t keep my promise again this time. The CIA¡¯s headquarters is just hectic over the Crimean Penins. I can¡¯t make time to visit you.¡±


    ¡°I know that you¡¯re busy. I¡¯m in Frankfurt for a meeting and I thought of you today.¡±


    ¡°About the helmet, you requested before, thepany said it will be sending about its information soon. You can read about it and let me know. Its functions will be limited and different from what the U.S. military is using though. Would that be okay?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯d be thankful if one or two functions were added to the bullet-proof helmets.¡±


    The two talked about each other¡¯s life for a while and finished their conversation after agreeing to meet next time.


    Edward was sad that he could not visit the autonomous state for this summer as he had nned to.


    It was an unwritten rule for agents not to contact one another apart from work. It was to prevent any errors that could be caused by information exchange between agents. However, it was already well-known to the CIA¡¯s insiders that the two were especially close, so there was no problem.


    Youngho was the one who traveled to Colombia to save Edward and the two did not have any contact point in their areas of assignment.


    The reason that Youngho hastily called Edward was not to ask for something.


    It was because of a thrilling sensation that felt as if small needles had pricked all over his body swept him from top to bottom. This could be the mystical ring signing a warning, or this might just be Youngho¡¯s guilt over Armenia.


    Youngho knew that Edward would definitely mention about Armenia while talking. It was because he was an Armenian American, a very loyal one. If one wanted to know about Armenia¡¯s news, Edward was the one whom he should go to.


    When he used to be the agent overseeing southeastern Europe, his heart leaned toward his own people rather than staying neutral and rational as an American intelligence agent. He even earnestly asked Youngho to help Armenians.


    Despite his request, Youngho could not help Armenia since Armenia¡¯s policies conflicted with many of his businesses. He inevitably had to harm Armenia and it had left a scar in his heart too. That was why Youngho did not want to pay attention to any event rted to Armenia. Even so, the ring¡¯s signal that stimted him consistently reminded him of the ce.


    Youngho wanted to find out Armenia¡¯s situation through Edward but he did not find anything special through the phone call. Edward¡¯s voice was heavier than before but it was probably because he was stressed over work for now. He did not seem that he wanted to give Youngho any message about Armenia.


    Another reason that Youngho was eager to find out about Armenia was that this could be rted to the future of the autonomous state.


    The situation of the Caucasus was quiteplicated now and if Armenia joined to add to the problem, it would affect the autonomous state too. The state was finally stabilized and if Armenia was in its way, Youngho would have to intervene to stop it.


    Since he could not hear anything from Edward, he was going to push Michael to find out about Armenia.


    Youngho knocked on Michael¡¯s door again.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re still here?¡±


    ¡°I still got time before my flight schedule.¡±


    Realizing that Youngho hade for business, Michael took off his sses.


    ¡°Talk to me. What interesting suggestion do you have for me now?¡±


    Thinking that he had given away too much from his reaction to Youngho, he was on his guard.


    ¡°You know, Armenia has been too quiettely. I just wondered if there were any strange movements. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s odd that a country that had caused so many troubles so often had quieted down recently? The political leader¡¯s not even changed.¡±


    Michael gently pushed down his temples with his fingers.


    It seemed that Youngho¡¯s remark was giving him a headache.


    Armenia was like a troublesome child to all employees of the CIA.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything from Philip.¡±


    He replied back at Youngho annoyingly as if he wondered why Youngho was bringing up an issue when the agent in charge of the region had not reported anything. However, Youngho knew that Philip despised the country. All he would be doing would be checking news about Armenia. Since there was nothing special going on in the country, he must not felt the need to pay attention to the country.


    Indeed, Youngho¡¯s feeling was not wrong.


    Michael grilled the staffs of the electronicmunication department to find out about Armenia and ording to the satellite data analysis of Armenia¡¯s movements in the past few years, it was confirmed that the number of Russian Army had increased remarkably.


    Increasing the Russian Army in the country would mean that the country was up to something.


    ¡°Chief. Will you inform this to Turkey?¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be concerned with this number. I don¡¯t wish to increase the tension between Turkey and Russia. Let¡¯s keep this sealed for now. Now that we know Armenia and Russia had been preparing for an action, I shall report this to the headquarters.¡±


    The reason that Michael believed that Russia was nning on action was that Russia¡¯s attitude toward the railroad project that would connect to the Gulf had changed drastically all of a sudden.


    Youngho also agreed with him. Although there were many reasons that Russia could not focus on the railroad project, it was still odd that the country did not put the project as its priority since it was the project that would make high profits for Russia.


    The only country in the Caucasus that had allowed the Russian Army in its territory was Armenia. There was no way that Russia would have given up the southward policy. There must have been a secret deal between both countries.


    The Armenian government once relied on the U.S. but after learning that the U.S. would not be supporting it anymore, it was closer to Russia now.


    The U.S. had given up Armenia realizing that the country would not let go of Russia even though the U.S. had supported Armenia with the expense of ten billion dors. The U.S. government must be feeling bitter toward Armenia too.


    ***


    After returning to Baku, Youngho and his friends discussed future ns.


    ¡°Man, brown bears are exercising their talents.¡±


    Jong-il was aghast by another piece of news.


    ¡°The Crimean Penins is already a captured prey. Why would Russia make a fuss about installing missiles? This was a cheap scheme for such a huge country.¡±


    Russia had turned the whole world¡¯s attention to the penins and was carrying on its other ns. The increased number of Russian Army in Armenia was proof.


    Armenia¡¯s dream wasplete independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and the submission of Nakhchivan. The two countries had enough reason to be allies since Armenia was bordered by Iran and Turkey. This was a very tempting location for Russia.


    Turkey and Iran must be restless to think that Russia¡¯s force was targeting them in front of their porch. Turkey was still bitter for handing over the Crimean Penins in Imperial Russia. The increase of the Russian Army¡¯s number in Armenia must be targeting Turkey.


    If Turkey knew about this ahead, it would have threatened Armenia a long time ago for cooperating with Russia for overweighing Turkey.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that Turkey does not know about this yet. Well, there¡¯s nothing it can do now since the Russian Army is already there.¡±


    ¡°You know Russia is now in bad terms with Syria for the recent event. Is this what it¡¯s all about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the U.S., not Turkey.¡±


    There was an incident where the Syrian government had sprayed sarin gas in a region where Sunnites were concentrated. As a result of this, the U.S. attacked the Syrian government indiscriminately since the government had gotten its hands on prohibited weapons of massive destruction.


    Russia could not act upon the U.S. attack, and Turkey, being Sunni, naturally supported the U.S. Russia that was supporting Shiites must hold a deep grudge against the U.S.


    Now, the current situation was revealing Russia¡¯s detailed n for its southward policy.


    Connecting Azerbaijan and Iran, it was making its foray into the Indian Ocean and using Syria, it was dreaming to enter the Mediterranean as well. This seemed to be the only exnation for Russia¡¯s current movements.


    ¡°Georgia and Armenia are already connected with the railroad and the Turkey route would be avable if Armenia¡¯s border area was repaired. You know it¡¯ll be hard for Turkey to reject Russia¡¯s request to use some part of their railroad to get to Syria to enter the Mediterranean.¡±


    ¡°Man, they¡¯re on point with their n.¡±


    ¡°Ukraine is already in Russia¡¯s courtyard. Russia can y with it anytime. When the international opinion gets heated, it¡¯ll stop exerting its power on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Russian Army in Armenia had settled down already. Okay, they have three negotiation cards now; withdrawal of their missiles, arbitration of independence movement of Luhansk, and the decrease of the number of its army in Armenia.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s nothing we can do. We¡¯ll just be bystanders this time.¡±


    Youngho then suggested making a missile ship.


    ¡°How are we going to make that with our technology? Should I kidnap engineers?¡±


    ¡°Do you think world-wide airlines produce all of theponents of their airnes at one ce? They makeponents from different ces and only assemble them by themselves. This is what we¡¯re going to do too. We already have a lot of missiles. We can buy the rest of the system parts by parts.¡±


    There was a one storage unit dedicated to all sorts of missiles taken from a French freighter a while ago. A body that could handle those could be requested to the shipyard in Baku and the coreponents could be assembled at the autonomous state.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you about this so many times and you ignored me. Man, I¡¯m d that you finally made up your mind. This hyung is going to show you what I got, you can just watch.¡±


    Jong-il was very happy to hear about the new project.


    ¡°The shipyard in Baku is the best ce to make its body. You know they can make icebreakers and that¡¯s an advanced technology.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Now, you can take your hands off from there. I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±


    Seeing how highly motivated Jong-il made Youngho worried about the cost, he would not know what Jong-il would do.


    But, it did not matter.


    He had enough funds to have a missile vessel and it was better to use that money now than regretter. Anyone who stops his people¡¯s well-being would have to suffer a missile shower from an unknown source. It would be funny if a merchant ship was turned into a missile vessel all of a sudden.

 Chapter 287 - A Cheap Scheme (3)

    <h4>Chapter 287: A Cheap Scheme (3)</h4>


    Chapter 287: A Cheap Scheme (3)


    Youngho felt as if all the fog had lifted from his head.


    There was a huge difference between being frustrated for not having any clue and knowing the answer already. Now that Russia¡¯s scheme was revealed, his worries disappeared.


    Although the naval vessels of Turkey and Russia were standing face to face against each other in the ck Sea as if they could fire at any time, ships of Arirang Shipping and the bulk freighters that worked for Zeynep Corporation freely traveled around as if nothing was going on.


    At first, when Youngho ordered to resume the sailing of the bulk freighters that carried minerals, the owners of the vessels were reluctant. They worried about losing their vessels and crews. They even asked for Zeynep Corporation to sign the liability form for their potential loss. Since Youngho was confident, he signed the form for them.


    The power of information had made him act without fear.


    Youngho was sure that Russia was not going to begin a war in the ck Sea. It was only a scheme to earn time to arrange the number of its army in Armenia and to support Luhansk¡¯s independence. In order not to be detected by a U.S. satellite, it had been slowly moving its army to Armenia little by little. Since everything was clear to him, he did not have to fear anything for his people and businesses.


    He was a little annoyed that he had to go through such stress for nothing.


    However, there was always a risk for idents with naval vessels. So, he put up a sign of Russian naval vessels on all of his vessels that sailed to the ck Sea through Sea of Azov that was in the downstream of the Don River. It was a g that the Russian Navy had specially made and had been selling to private vessel owners for a ridiculous reason that any vessels with the sign would be safe in the ck Sea. This was unlikely, but since now was a special time, Youngho decided to buy them wishing that it would be of least help.


    The gs were produced with different colors every time, so they could not be used twice. Using this cheap skill, the Russian Navy tried to make as much profit as possible taking advantage of the current situation of the ck Sea. Many freighters that were ripped off from its lie had a bunch of naval gs put up at once. After sailing around several times, ship owners would learn that the naval g did not have many functions. Soon, the g business of the Russian Navy slowly fizzled out.


    ¡°Those brats! It was nothing but a bunch of lies.¡±


    Jong-il was furious that he had wasted time for busily running around to stock supplies to prepare for war. Moreover, extra supplies were given to the Kazakh Navy. It was a waste of money for nothing.


    ¡°We only say this because we know what¡¯s going on. Most of the other countries there are still strung up.¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s afraid to set their ships afloat. You got any business idea for a time like this?¡±


    ¡°What? Do you want to sell gs like the Russian Navy?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous! I wonder how they can be so shameless as soldiers.¡±


    Youngho already learned how shameless Russian military could be in Chechnya but sometimes it really went too far.


    ¡°You know, on the other hand, that might provide a great opportunity for us.¡±


    Many corrupt soldiers meant that it was easy to have ess topanies of the munitions industry. Youngho wanted to take advantage of that to buy thetest missile boat in Russia.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to buy missile ships, are you?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the people who sell even nuclear weapons to make money. I bet some of the wealthy Arab oilmen carry several nuclear briefcases.¡±


    ¡°It turned out to be just a rumorter.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that rumor was made? There must have been such deal even though it might not have been sessful.¡±


    As a matter of fact, there had been a few cases where nuclear weapon deals had been made with Russian mafias in eastern Europe. The CIA once investigated those cases.


    ¡°Missiles boats should be quite expensive.¡±


    ¡°You know any unnatural dealse with a bargain. Also, no one¡¯s going to make trouble when it looks like a freighter on the outside when, in fact, its inside is a battleship.¡±


    Youngho had one thing in mind.


    He had heard that there were many abandoned or given up battleships or freighters that was being remodeled as warships in Russian shipyards.


    Sometimes it was because prearranged national defense budgets had gone missing often. Other times, it was because shipyards had gone bankrupt and all of their vessels in the making were just abandoned.


    ¡°Oh, man. You¡¯re really warming up now. Why don¡¯t you go tell Sergey and get a great bargain or even tell Yaniv to get some freebies?¡±


    Jong-il, who seemed to be intrigued by Youngho, was now teasing him instead.


    Ignoring his friend, Youngho kept on exining.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even need a big one. One in the 3,000-ton ss should be perfect to sail around. Let¡¯s put off Baku¡¯s shipyard for now and go meet Sergey first.¡±


    ¡°You said Baku¡¯s shipyard makes great vessel bodies. Why are you switching your mind?¡±


    Jong-il was disappointed that he could not make the vessel on his own.


    ¡°You know, the circumstances had changed now. Why would we go for the hard way? Let¡¯s try the easy way first.¡±


    ¡°Okay but instead, I¡¯ll be in charge of making the 100-ton yacht. Don¡¯t stop me.¡±


    The face of a man in his mid-30s that was eager for his toy was very desperate.


    ¡°Dude. You act like a child when ites to weapons.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what about you?¡±


    The two went head over heels for weapons. Even the lieutenantmander Jun would pick up magazines for military supplies and weapons when he visited Youngho¡¯s office. He sometimes even asked whether there were new weapons added to the armory of the autonomous state. He had already figured out that Youngho and Jong-il were weapon lovers.


    ***


    Kim Chun and Kim Joo-hyuk of H Corporation were most excited to hear that the minerals were finally sent out.


    Kim Joo-hyuk who thought that the ck Sea was in a vtile situation grilled Youngho by calling every day.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You¡¯ve put quite an amount of minerals at the port in Turkey. Aren¡¯t you pushing it too hard? What¡¯s going to happen to the minerals if war breaks out?¡±


    ¡°You know those bulk freighter owners kept on insisting that they would risk the possibility for damage. I couldn¡¯t stop them.¡±


    Youngho vamped up an excuse that the shipowners had initiated¡ªresuming to work. It was himself who pushed them to resume for work since the residents of the autonomous state would be disappointed if they knew that the mineral business was stopped.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t push it too hard. Ourpany was going to lend you funds if the bulk freighters were damaged for war. Since they¡¯re our partners as well, we¡¯re willing to support them for their unexpected loss, especially when that happens while doing business with us.¡±


    ¡°I understand your concern but I don¡¯t want to cause trouble for H Corporation. If we stopped transporting minerals, your smelting factory in Korea will have to stop operating.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that there¡¯s going to be war.¡±


    Not knowing what Russia was truly up to, he was gravely concerned.


    After listening to Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s nagging for a long while, Youngho could finally hang up the phone.


    Kim Chu, who just came into the office and overheard his conversation, suggested that Zeynep Corporation should charge H Corporation for danger pay.


    Youngho had not told him about the secretive truth of the ck Sea since it could be spoiled if the rumor was spread. All Kim Chun knew was that any vessel with the g of the Russian Navy was safe to travel.


    ¡°Boss. Some of the technicians of the shipyard are asking if their cousins in Batumi could move to the autonomous state. What should I do?¡±


    This was also a reflex effect of the tension in the ck Sea. Watching the warships of Russia and Turkey roaming around the sea made the people eager.


    Batumi was a ce that adjoined Turkey. If the war broke out in the ck Sea, Batumi would be heavily damaged and this made them feel insecure.


    ¡°How many families are asking to move?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re about 20 families. Most of them work in vehicle engineering and casting industries.¡±


    Since the Arirang Autonomous State only received engineers and technicians as new residents previously, only the rtives of the engineers of the shipyard called them to ask about immigration. Car recycling nts and small-scale shipyards were concentrated in Batumi and Poti and they were one of the richest cities of Georgia.


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that we don¡¯t have houses for them to live in now.¡±


    It was too bad that all of the new houses were taken.


    ¡°They will have to build their own houses. We don¡¯t have to build houses for voluntary immigrants. Shouldn¡¯t we let them pay their portion?¡±


    Houses were provided for the former navies and shipyard engineers, that were directly rted to the survival of the autonomous state, but it was a different story if people wanted to move in on their own due to the potential danger of war.


    The ones who emigrated to the state in the beginning stage were people who worked hard to build up the city in the harsh natural environment.


    Although Youngho provided thend and necessary materials for them, they had built their own houses by working hard. People who moved in after them were privileged since they were benefited by the former immigrants, but it did not cause a problem because they were of the same ethnicity.


    As for the engineers of the shipyard, they were weed by the state since they were necessary talents for the development of the state.


    ¡°Okay,missioner. Please consider their economic status when you assign them their portion of work. Also, I think it¡¯ll be good for them to build their houses near their rtives as they stay there while their houses are being built.¡±


    ¡°You can leave that to me. I won¡¯t give them too much burden since they¡¯ll be our neighbors as well. I just think it¡¯ll be the best way for them to build their own houses. They¡¯ll adapt to the autonomous state more quickly this way.¡±


    He had the most amazing idea.


    Since a house could not be built by one person, it was necessary to get help from others. While interacting with other workers, new immigrants would learn to adapt to their new life.


    The residents of the autonomous state would never be mean to new immigrants since the state needed arger poption. They would soon be good friends and neighbors.


    ¡°I¡¯m so d to hear that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about...¡±


    ¡°All I want to say is that Commissioner, you are the best.¡±


    If people were emigrating because they suffered from poverty, this could be too harsh for them, but they were people who had enough money avable. They were only trying to move because they wanted security. These people had a high potential of feeling superior to others in the state. It was a great suggestion to give them time to work hard for their own ces and get to know other residents. Kim Chun had all of this in mind.

 Chapter 288 - A Cheap Scheme (4)

    <h4>Chapter 288: A Cheap Scheme (4)</h4>


    A CNN news reporter was talking in an excited voice as he showed footage of the Russian ck Sea Fleet¡¯s maneuvers. It seemed like the winds of the ck Sea were especially strong today that he was all wet as he stood on a small fishing boat.


    The image of the warships of Russia that sailed forward leaving foams behind, the gloomy weather, and the reporter that was consistently getting showered by the high waves was showing the pressing situation of the ck Sea.


    As the screen showed another scene, three Turkish frigates that were floating on the sea could be spotted at the far corner of the screen.


    It looked like that it would not be strange if the vessels started firing at each other.


    ¡°Man, those Russians are putting on a well-made show. It¡¯s only the Turkish Navy that¡¯s nervous.¡±


    ¡°Oh man. Poor new recruits, they must be suffering from seasickness in those high waves.¡±


    The two conversed casually as the whole world held its breath by the scene. It was because even though war seemed inevitable at this moment, they knew that it would be stopped at some point.


    ¡°What if the Turkish Navy decided to fire a shot?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. might have informed the Turkish leadership already.¡±


    To prevent an idental collision, the U.S. might have let the Turkish military know in advance.


    Youngho was still not sure how the Turkish military would react to the Russian Army residing in Armenia. The war would truly break out around the ck Sea if the Turkish military found out.


    ¡°Man, we¡¯ve got to find a way to make money in this time.¡±


    ¡°Wait for now. We don¡¯t know what we can do yet .¡±


    There were not a lot of people who knew about Russia¡¯s scheme.


    The ships of the ck Sea¡¯s coast were all frozen now because of Russia¡¯s show, and this had caused the prices of daily necessaries and traded goods to skyrocket. Some countries were experiencing a shortage of goods on some items.


    It was not only the ck Sea, but the countries of the Caspian coast were suffering as well. The light industry was not well developed in the Caucasus region and Central Asia, so countries of those regions imported their daily necessary supplies.


    People in these regions would panic-buy if the state of affairs did not look good, and Ill-intended merchants would take down items on the shelves in order to raise their prices.


    Youngho, who just finished calcting with his calctor, lifted his head.


    ¡°Jong-il. You can¡¯t take the 5,000-ton bulk freighter out of delivery line, can you?¡±


    ¡°There are only two of them in the whole Caspian Sea. If they don¡¯t run, what would the people of Azerbaijan do?¡±


    The bulk freighters were the only ones that provided grains produced in Kazakhstan to Azerbaijani people. All other ships of Arirang Shipping were busy delivering minerals now.


    ¡°I only need them once to transport supplies of daily necessaries. I can handle the rest by myself from there.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the car ferry and a 3,000-ton freighter? Aren¡¯t they enough to deliver daily necessaries?¡±


    ¡°You know there are so many countries on the coast of the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea. They¡¯ll me me if I provided them insufficient supplies. I want to do it properly and receive hazard pay. That¡¯ll get us some money.¡±


    In a dangerous time like this, no other shippingpanies were willing to transport goods on the sea. Youngho thought that the retailers of the supply goods would pay him more even if he did not ask for it because of the hazardous situation he would have to face. Youngho was confident about this since he just thought of Zeynep¡¯s friend¡¯s father who was an owner of a shippingpany in Turkey.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Yilmaz. It¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honored that such a famous person like you decided to visit me, Mr. Lee.¡±


    Yilmaz was truly excited to see Youngho.


    Since Youngho provided wheat that was produced in Kazakhstan to Turks, Yilmaz¡¯ business would not have been sessful without Youngho¡¯s help. Youngho had kept his promise that he would not let other freighters invade in Yilmaz¡¯s business range in the ck Sea. He did it not because Zeynep had made a fuss, but because he agreed to divide the ck Sea into two for each other¡¯s benefit.


    ¡°You must be frustrated for not being able to move your freighters.¡±


    ¡°If this continued for a few more months, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen to the business.¡±


    ¡°I came here to suggest something. Would you like to hear it?¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s any way I can get out of this situation, I¡¯ll go with your n.¡±


    Both of them had talked about Youngho¡¯s n for an hour. They finished their conversation with a satisfying smile and a handshake. Yilmaz felt as if he had met a savior for hispany and the ship-owners who worked for him.


    Since Youngho had promised to guarantee the security for his vessels, Yilmaz did not have any reason not to agree with Youngho. He did not know how Youngho could promise the security of his vessels, but he had no other choice now. He felt like he would regret it so much if he did not work with Youngho. What Youngho requested to Yilmaz was to deliver assigned freight from Istanbul to Port of Atyrau. Yilmaz would even take the devil¡¯s offer by now, and he felt exuberated that Youngho had suggested a great opportunity for a new job.


    While shippingpanies were suffering from the ck Sea crisis,nd transportpanies were benefiting from it. However, because of their high transportation cost, retail prices of supplies were getting higher day by day. Wholesalers and retailers would reflect those prices to their products, so it was terrible for regr consumers. However, wholesalers and retailers also suffered since sales were dropping quickly due to high prices.


    Most of the goods were used to be transported using the railroad in the Caucasus and Central Asian regions because the Soviet Union had built railroads all over the ce in the past. However, after the Soviet Union fell, the railroads were neglected without additional investments made on them, and they were considered as the epitome of inefficiency.


    Since the railroads were run by a nation, there was no concept of service. People also frequently lost their freight. Thus, most retailers preferred truck transportationpanies over railroad transportation.


    This was the case of many surrounding countries of the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea.


    Russia, who had caused this mess, was finally facing difficulties.


    Although the country had factories that produced daily necessaries, its own people did not prefer them due to their low qualities. The country majorly relied on European goods. As the ck sea was tied down, the whole scheme began to catch up with Russia.


    However, Russia could note clean and say that everything was a big show. Russia never meant to touch private merchant ships, but it was facing a bitter reality since no shipping countries dare to sail on the sea. On one hand, Russian authorities wanted a bold shipping country to step up to start operating again.


    Oddly enough, small bulk freighters from the Caspian Sea were spotted roaming around the ck Sea fearlessly.


    ***


    Youngho and Jong-il were having a heated conversation over the situation of Russia.


    ¡°I heard western Russia is a mess now. It¡¯s like it has tripped over its own trick.¡±


    They heard that the Russian government had asked for Yaniv¡¯s help after the prices had rapidly and indiscriminately gone up. Sergey told them that the government asked to provide their Korean traded goods to the city of Moscow.


    ¡°It was a cheap scheme that would generate more loss than gain. Russia dug its own grave for being too greedy.¡±


    ¡°They say you should survey yourself before attacking others.¡±


    Jong-il, who usually enjoyed ying Go, used a phrase that was frequently used by many Go yers. This was a good way to describe the current situation of Russia since the country was falling apart from the inside before taking over southeast European regions.


    Sergey ran out of Korean goods, so he contacted Youngho to ask for help.


    The daily necessary goods that were transported from the Mediterranean were now getting all sold out in Russia before they even reached the Caspian Sea.


    Sergey advised Youngho to scratch the Russian government¡¯s itchy spot at this chance. It was a good opportunity for Youngho to save his face to the Russian government.


    ¡°What do you think? Do you think Russia¡¯s going to thank us just like Sergey said?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t care but it¡¯s worth to try. We¡¯ll make money anyway.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s not the government, Yaniv and Sergey would still owe us.¡±


    Youngho did not expect the Russian government to recognize what he was doing. All he needed was the mafias of Volgograd anyway, so he did not mind the government. Not to mention, he was selling the goods for a higher price because of the dangers he might encounter in transporting them. Making high profits was enough to be the reason for his business with Russia.


    Although Russia was having difficulties, the countries of the Caspian coast had suffered the most from the whole situation.


    That was why Youngho turned the third of the total amount of transported goods to the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were suffering an extreme shortage of goods.


    As Youngho and Yilmaz began to provide goods to the countries of the Caspian Sea and the ck Sea, many countries soon began to be stabilized. The increase in prices had finally stopped. It would still take a long time until the prices stabilize once they went up.


    What this meant for Youngho was that he would be extremely busy making profits for a while.


    The caf¨¦ in the Arirang Hotel¡¯s building in the autonomous state was crowded by retailers and traders of daily necessaries.


    It was because they heard the news that Arirang Shipping would deliver goods at an arranged time if the danger charge was paid. There were no other shippingpanies who would do this job in a time like this.


    The coastal countries of the Caspian not only had arge number of imported goods but also hadrge quantities of exported goods. There was a saying that the one who was thirsty would dig a well, so eager tradesmen hastily sought the autonomous state. They had to travel to the autonomous state to get the deal even if it was too far from them because it was a firste-first-serve deal.


    ¡°Hey, are we going to be fine? It feels like we¡¯re overusing our power as the only shippingpany operating now but what if they turn their faces after this situation is over?¡±


    Jong-il did not like the fact that shippers had toe to the autonomous state to contract with Arirang Shipping. He had asked to open a temporary office of Arirang Shipping in Atyrau but Kim Chun stopped him and changed the location to the autonomous state.


    Youngho also agreed to Jong-il, but he could not stop Kim Chun because he strongly insisted.


    ¡°So we provide them our light airne service to make up for their inconvenience.¡±


    ¡°Dude, we¡¯re not providing it for free.¡±


    ¡°You know, we¡¯re merely getting paid for the cost of gas and guest rooms.¡±


    ¡°Man. That Commissioner Kim is giving a hard time for many people.¡±


    The retailers and traders were wealthy people who would use more convenient travel means if they could. The light airne service of the autonomous state was a tempting offer for them.


    Kim Chun insisted that the autonomous state should be making money for this chance as well, and that was why he changed the Arirang Shipping¡¯s office to the state.


    Youngho was impressed for Kim Chun¡¯s idea to take advantage of this situation for the good of the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think Commissioner Kim is someone who¡¯s born for the Arirang Autonomous State?¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re turning into a major fanatic of him now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to let him do whatever he wants even if he stays as themissioner for a prolonged period.¡±


    Youngho was very pleased with his passion and hard work for the autonomous state. He could be themissioner for the rest of his life if he continued to work like this.


    ¡°Oh no. Your symptoms are getting worse.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you too made a lot of money from shipping charges. Give Commissioner Kim Chun a bonus pay.¡±


    Kim Chun charged the business guests for their room, but he did his best to provide them the best service.


    ¡°Am I the only one who made money? You took all of the danger charges in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°You know how hard a broker¡¯s job is? I need more appreciation than this.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I shouldn¡¯t bother talking to you.¡±


    The summer of that year was heading to its end leaving behind so many stories to talk about.


    The entity that benefited the most from Russia¡¯s poor southward policy was only the Arirang Autonomous State.

 Chapter 289 - Meaning of the Wheat Field (1)

    <h4>Chapter 289: Meaning of the Wheat Field (1)</h4>


    Soon after the TV news had made a fuss about a huge rainstorm around the Caspian Sea, rain began to pour down in the Arirang Autonomous State as if the bad weather was contagious.


    It usually only rained once or twice in the summer in Kazakhstan. The rain was like a blessing from heaven. Although wheat still grew well in dry climates, some moisture was necessary, and the rain came just in time. Natural rain was better than spraying all over the wheat field by man¡¯s hand.


    Farmers of the state had been suffering from the heat. As it began to rain, everyone was joyful as they enjoyed standing in the rain. Children also yed and screamed in the rain. No one would try to avoid the blissful rain in the autonomous state.


    Youngho opened his window to see the scenery outside.


    He could smell the scent of wet earth.


    The news or rain was uplifting to him as well. The fact that the earth¡¯s scent had gotten stronger meant that the soil had gotten much richer. Many kinds of bacteria and fungi lived in healthy soils, and they caused the earth to smell as they dissolved organic matters.


    Come to think of it, Youngho had not seen heavy rain in a while in person.


    He wished for the rain to fill up the reservoir.


    The towns of the state had installed street inlets on their roadsides, and it was designed to collect water for the reservoir. Not a single bit of rain was wasted.


    Other regions of Kazakhstan could be flooded with this amount of rain since most of the cities were not meant for heavy rain as they did not have a great sewer system. Those cities got flooded often because of the indiscreetly built paved roads.


    There were about 50 reservoirs that were dug up, but such number was not a lotpared to the size of the autonomous state. The reservoir was the reason why grass and trees could grow. The ces that had arge-size reservoir often had a huge ranch for sheep, milking facilities, and temporary lodging facilities for workers.


    Since it was difficult to travel far while herding sheep, several ranches were built around the state. The ranchers would milk the sheep and send the milk to the towns.


    There were not manypanies that made cheese out of sheep¡¯s milk these days, so the cheese that was produced in the autonomous state and the Serbian ranch in Baku had easily gained poprity.


    It was already well known to people that sheep milk was highly nutritiouspared to cows milk or goats milk. People loved the cheese so much because they knew that it was produced in safe and hygienic facilities.


    Even Sergey who had tasted the cheese previously asked Youngho to distribute some to Volgograd.


    The demand for sheep milk cheese was rising, so Youngho and Kim Chun were talking about increasing the number of ranches.


    ¡°We have about 20,000 sheep now. Their milk is very limited even if we increase the number of sheep. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have enough for Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°You know, cheese made from sheep milk is rare and it¡¯s much more profitable than regr cheese. That¡¯s why even Russia wants our cheese.¡±


    ¡°Boss. It¡¯s a proven fact that our cheese tastes great. I am confident in the quality. How about raising the price this time?¡±


    Kim Chun always wanted to raise prices as soon as things seemed to go well.


    ¡°If we want to charge more for our product, we need to make it look more luxurious. The packaging needs to be upgraded and we also need a new brandbel. That¡¯ll cost you more.¡±


    ¡°If you agree to raise the price, I¡¯ll find a way to change the packaging at a cheap cost.¡±


    Kim Chun who was born and raised in Kazakhstan thought like a Kazakh and did everything in the Kazakh¡¯s way. Youngho could tell that he would probably ask the state¡¯s students toe up with packaging designs and a brandbel.


    In fact, the cheese produced in the autonomous state and the Serbian ranch in Baku was tasty for Youngho as well. Even though he did not know much about cheese.


    Back in Korea, he only knew two kinds of cheese known as the pizza cheese and the sandwich cheese, but it was almost ten years since he moved here. He learned a lot about cheese, and he could now tell which cheese tasted good.


    Youngho had experienced all sorts of cheese, from the ones with disgusting odors to the ones that were served to the table after collecting dust in the storage for a long time.


    Since there were many underdeveloped regions in the Caucasus, people did not care about the packaging of cheese products. However, a lot of cheese products that were made in the Caucasus and Central Asia could be called world-ss cheese. He felt bad that they could not be recognized by more people.


    If Kim Chun, whose family had lived in the region for the past few generations, wanted to raise the price, it probably meant that the cheese was worthy to be priced higher. Youngho decided to let Kim Chun determine the price they would put on the cheese since he knew more than Youngho.


    Kim Chun left the office with an excited face.


    ¡°Boss. Our cheese is a premium cheese! Tell that to Russia when you receive a call from them.¡±


    ***


    The ck Sea was still under a vtile situation.


    The warships from Russia and Turkey were still marking each other intensely. It made the watchers exhausted as the situation kept on for days.


    In that situation, several freighters were sailing through the ck sea carelessly. Many people pointed fingers at Arirang Shipping saying that thepany went crazy for money, but Youngho did not care knowing how the whole situation was going to end.


    Regardless of what was happening in the ck Sea, the wheat field was turning yellow since August was almost about to end. Wheat could be harvested after sowing it for 110 days, so the harvest season was already upon them.


    Kim Chun who was checking the quality of the wheat¡¯s ear jumped excitingly. Watching him from a distance, Youngho knew that he must have good news. Not being able to resist curiosity, Youngho went to talk to Kim Chun.


    ¡°How did it turn out?¡±


    Kim Chun who was counting ears of wheat hugged Youngho all of a sudden.


    ¡°Boss. We¡¯ve got a bumper crop! I don¡¯t know how well other regions of Central Asia have done this year but this is a super bumper croppared to what we hadst year.¡±


    Last year¡¯s crop was only a third of what other regr wheat farms produced.


    ¡°A super bumper crop?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be at least twice more than thest year¡¯s crop.¡±


    Kim Chun was so impressed that he was about to shed a tear.


    The wheat was not a super crop like he said, but it was much better thanst year.


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. Then we¡¯ll easily have 6,000 tons this year.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we have a hugend. You¡¯ll see, we¡¯ll easily have more than 8,000 tons of crops.¡±


    Kim Chun was too excited that he overestimated the number of crops they had. This year¡¯s farnd was only about 10,000 acres. There was no way that 8,000 tons of crops were produced, but Youngho did not want to discourage him so he did not say a word.


    The word spread fast to the whole autonomous state.


    The residents who did not get excited too easily all came out to the wheat field. Just because themissioner had shouted a bumper crop, everyone wanted to see it for himself.


    They had not forgotten their past when theyughed and cried depending on each year¡¯s crop. They were the ones who lived deep in the mountains and depended on small farnds for hundreds of years. They must have experienced extreme hunger and cold during those days.


    They had never dreamed of afortable life andrge farnds before they came to the autonomous state. They did not mind how big their portion would be from the profit. They were already content to experience this kind of life for years and years toe.


    The good news made everyone happy in the state. That night, most of the residents came out to the caf¨¦s and pubs and enjoyed each other¡¯spany with cold drinks.


    ¡°I envy them that they could be so joyful just because of a good crop. It didn¡¯t hit me that way.¡±


    Kim Dong-Sung, the head doctor and director of the hospital, came to Youngho¡¯s office because he saw the light was on.


    ¡°Most of the residents lived in istion in an environment that was even harsher than this till several years ago. They won¡¯t forget about the hardships of the past. The sess we have now is all because of their hard work. That must be why they¡¯re celebrating it now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve lived close to 60 but I guess I have been missing something in my life. You¡¯re happier when you have less.¡±


    Happiness did not depend on what you had. People could be content with whatever they had even if it was not much.


    ¡°Coming from someone who had achieved so much, you¡¯re making me embarrassed, doctor.¡±


    ¡°Ohe on, you¡¯re the one who made this all possible. When I look at you Mr. Lee, I really want to go back to my 30s and change my life.¡±


    Youngho was flustered since he knew that he was not what Kim Dong-sung thought he was. He had worked hard to fulfill his greed and desires. He had made a lot of mistakes in the past.


    ¡°Doctor. Do you know how Koryoins lived here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve roughly read about their history but that¡¯s all I know. I should learn more about them since I¡¯m already living here.¡±


    ¡°You know elder Kim Sung-chan, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°The Koryoin who¡¯s a descendant of an independence fighter?¡±


    ¡°Well, most of Koryoins are the descendants of independence fighters of Korea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Koryoins were Koreans who were scattered and lived in Central Asian regions. Many Koreans knew how Koryoins ended up in Central Asian regions.


    The Koreans of the Joseon Dynasty who lived in the Maritime Province of Siberia was forcefully removed to the Central Asian regions because of Stalin¡¯s migration policy in the 1930s. They received Koreans¡¯ attention only after the Soviet Union fell.


    The reason why they lived in the Maritime Province and North Gando in the first ce was that they voluntarily moved to fight for Joseon¡¯s freedom. They were also independence fighters because they supported food and supplies to the army for national independence. They were now called Koryoins, but they were indeed Koreans.


    ¡°The descendants of the Serbian Kingdom also endured a difficult history just like Koryoins.¡±


    ¡°I thought Serbians had exerted its power all over the Balkan Penins, but I guess not everything is what it seems like.¡±


    When the Serbian Kingdom was defeated by the Ottoman Empire, most of their knights and soldiers were sold as ves and the rest of their people had escaped deep in the mountains with the dream of re-establishing their kingdom. That was how they were isted from the outside world.


    They lived in istion for a while, but they were forcefully drafted to battlefields and to factories asborers soon after. They had never forgotten about their past though. When Fatima, the descendant of the Archduke of the Serbian Kingdom was found, they had all gathered again in the autonomous state.


    ¡°I guess Koryoins, Serbians, and Kazakhs have a reason why they get along so well. They all have experienced sad and difficult times.¡±


    ¡°That is exactly why I like this ce.¡±


    Youngho did not know why he was drawn to the residents. It seemed like the people¡¯s appreciative hearts were contagious.


    It was understandable why the residents were so overjoyed with this year¡¯s crop. It was not just a good crop. It waspensation for their past hardship and hope for a bright future.

 Chapter 290 - Meaning of the Wheat Field (2)

    <h4>Chapter 290: Meaning of the Wheat Field (2)</h4>


    Wheat was being harvested with a loud noise by Russia¡¯s enormousbine harvesters.


    Yellow-throated buntings, which were the size of sparrows, gathered to pick up missed grains wherever thebine harvesters passed. It was a great view.


    Youngho wondered where all of the birds came from in this deserted region.


    Thergebine harvesters were made in many countries now, but it was first introduced to the world by America in the 19th century. Ever since the machine that would do a work of hundreds of men was invented,rge-scale farming had been possible.


    It was said that the world¡¯s hunger was greatly reduced because of the U.S. and South America. They had acted as the world¡¯s granary since the 19th century.


    ¡°We should get some shotguns. The meat of buntings is a good snack in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Kim Chun said as he smacked his lips.


    It was a snack for him but it was something to go with a drink for Youngho.


    ¡°I saw those birds in Korea during winter. I guess they are migrating birds.¡±


    ¡°They say that when our ancestors were forcefully relocated to Central Asia, they cried so much because those birds reminded them of their hometown. Those birds were considered as resident birds in both Korea and Kazakhstan.¡±


    The yellow-throated bunting spent the summer around Central Asia, Mongolia, and Lake Baikal. It would move to a warmer ce in the south when it became cold. It was amon migrating bird.


    The bird meant a lot to Koryoins because the Koryoins were also forced to relocate to Kazakhstan because of unfortunate events.


    Youngho was lost for words when he heard that Kim Chun wanted to eat those birds.


    ¡°Why are you going to hunt those birds? They¡¯re not harmful to us.¡±


    ¡°Those birds aremonly hunted in here. Our Koryoin ancestors also caught them when they didn¡¯t have food to eat.¡±


    ¡°But, I don¡¯t want to eat them now that I know about Koryoins¡¯ history with the bird.¡±


    ¡°You know, the Koryoins only felt sentimental towards the birds when they first got here. They¡¯re so great as a snack that it¡¯s hard to find them because people always hunted them down.¡±


    Youngho had never thought of catching such small birds for snack. When he was in Korea, those birds were only pretty to look at. Korea was a lot more advanced than Kazakhstan. This made him think about how the Koryoins¡¯ life must have been in the past.


    The harvest would not end in several days because of the size of the farnd.


    Youngho called his family from Baku because the harvest was the biggest event in the autonomous state. The celebration would not be fun if the Archduchess did not show up.


    Everybody came except for Szechenyi and Zeynep who were in Frankfurt. Zeynep had left already because her sses from Goethe University would start soon.


    Jelyan had filled Zeynep¡¯s empty spot. However, she was not very noticeable because of her quiet personality. She only got chatty when she was with Leon.


    Youngho went out to the field holding Leon and Jelyan¡¯s hands on each side. Since Youngho only visited Baku once or twice a week, they were excited to spend time with their dad. Jelyan told everyone she met in the field that Youngho was her dad.


    The girl who had shut her heart because of the trauma of war two years ago had now be a perfect member of the family.


    Jelyan believed that Youngho and Fatima were her parents. She might have wiped her painful past from her mind by choice. It was said that many children would try to forget their painful memories, but she was a rare case since she hadpletely forgotten about her past.


    Jelyan¡¯s case was an effect of post-traumatic stress disorder. She suffered from a topical memory loss, but it did not bother her daily life.


    It was not known whether that was good for her future, but anyway she still was a girl who needed lots of love and care. After all, she had just be eleven and still was a child.


    The wheat field close to the towns was scheduled to be harvestedst. The scene of the wheat field moving around by the wind was amazing.


    Kim Chun was the one who dyed harvesting the field close to the towns. It was to let the visitors of the state enjoy the view.


    Some of the visitors who saw the wheat field were quite surprised.


    It was because such a wheat field was hard to find in deserted areas. Developing a farnd in a deserted field was not an easy task. All sorts of equipment were needed to draw water from thend.


    ***


    ¡°Whoa, Leon is asleep.¡±


    Leon, who ran around empty fields all day, must have been exhausted that he fell asleep in Youngho¡¯s arms on the way back home.


    Fatima put Leon into his bedroom. She then began to talk about what she heard from the women in the towns as she gave snacks to Jelyan.


    ¡°It looks like the women in the towns want to modernize the carpet factory.¡±


    Youngho could not believe what he just heard because he had asked to modernize the factory multiple times before, but those women rejected his offer.


    ¡°What? They never said they wanted it.¡±


    Youngho tried to convince them before since the process of cleaning wools and making them into threads was a difficult process if done by human hands. He told them that with modernized facilities, the time for those processes would be shortened to a great extent. Not to mention, the quality of the products would be better. Moreover, women would not be so tired after working with advanced looms.


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re just realizing that now. They¡¯re bing more ambitious since they are making a lot of money from carpets.¡±


    The carpets were so popr that they were sold out as soon as they were out in the market. It was not just a market, but a luxury carpet market. As the situation was like this, more women wanted to join the production of carpets. Thus, they now needed a bigger workroom. They also wanted to increase the production rate by using more efficient equipment.


    ¡°The carpet business is doing as well as the drone factory. Mustafa keeps asking me if I can send more carpets.¡±


    Fatima was intrigued when Youngho mentioned Mustafa.


    For her, Mustafa was someone whom she could never forget since he was like her savior.


    ¡°What? I want to see Mr. Mustafa. Can you invite him over here? I want to treat him a nice meal.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? We should go over there to get treated by him. He¡¯s gaining so much wealth because of us.¡±


    The money Mustafa made as an agent for the carpet made him rich that he was doing so well now. Serbian women¡¯s skills were very outstanding.


    ¡°But can you still invite him to Atyrau? I really want to see him.¡±


    She indeed missed Mustafa, but she also wanted to show him how well she was doing.


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want. I¡¯ll need his advice on carpets as well since he¡¯s an expert.¡±


    Youngho did not hesitate long and called him in front of Fatima.


    ¡°Brother, it¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Lee. Are the carpets ready now?¡±


    ¡°No, I just called to say hi. Do you only think about carpets when you see me now?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You know I¡¯ve been waiting for new carpets.¡±


    ¡°Are you busy this week? I¡¯d like to invite you to Atyrau if you¡¯re not. Pleasee and look around the carpet factory and give me some advice. I¡¯d like to upgrade the factory a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? I should bring my modernized loom catalog. You know there¡¯s a direct line to Atyrau from here. I can get there anytime.¡±


    Mustafa was eager to visit the factory. The modern loom was not an automatized machine. It just had a few more functions for convenience. It could produce more to a tightened organization of threads, so it would improve the quality of carpets. Being an expert of carpets himself, Mustafa could not wait to share his insight with Youngho so that he could sell products of more quality at higher prices.


    ***


    Fatima was in tears as if she was about to meet a long lost family member.


    As Youngho and Mustafa justnded at the Arirang Airfield, Fatima caused a fuss when she finally met Mustafa.


    Mustafa also seemed to be holding in his emotions as well. He had mixed feelings.


    Kim Chun had no idea why Fatima was crying, but he treated Mustafa with respect as if he was the father of the Archduchess. Since he was too polite, Mustafa did not know what to do in embarrassment since themissioner of the huge autonomous state was treating him that way.


    They moved to the hotel, and Mustafa seemed to be confused. He looked around with his eyes wide open.


    ¡°Lee. How long did it take to build this city?¡±


    ¡°I only provided the ce. Fatima¡¯s people have made all this.¡±


    ¡°Wow, the world is indeed marvelous.¡±


    The awful-looking little girl who was so skinny that her body was about to twist turned out to be an Archduchess. Mustafa was amazed as well about the fact that Youngho had found her at a flea market then married her afterward.


    Youngho forcefully gave her a lot of money, but she refused. He then desperately looked for her and married her at the end. Youngho could see what Mustafa must be thinking.


    ¡°Brother. How do we look like as a couple?¡±


    ¡°Well, you two look so great together. I¡¯m so happy to see you two happy.¡±


    Mustafa immediately visited the carpet factory.


    Mustafa said after looking around the ce, ¡°I feel like I¡¯m in the medieval times.¡±


    It was because of the old loom that was being used to make carpets, but it was also because Fatima was there. He saw how Serbian women treated Fatima. Youngho did not say much.


    ¡°It¡¯s made in the traditional way, right?¡±


    ¡°You know, maybe the carpets of the Arirang Autonomous State are popr because they look like they are made by human hands. Perfect-looking products only look like they were made with automated machines, but your process is so inefficient. Old things are valuable, but we don¡¯t have to exclude convenience from it.¡±


    Mustafa suggested automatizing the process of cleaning wools, making threads, and dying and changing the looms into semi-mechanized ones. He also shared a lot of advice on the work environment. The carpet production that had started as a cottage industry was now changing into an official business.


    Youngho had no idea what Kim Chun had said, but Park Youngsun, Kim Dong-sung, Old Niksic, Elder Kim Chan, all gathered at the reception hall of Arirang Hotel.


    Poor Fatima had wasted her time preparing dinner for Mustafa, but she was fine with it since it was better to wee him with a bigger group of people. Mustafa was someone who deserved to receive such wee.


    In the middle of the dinner, Jong-il came to join the party after running some errands in Baku. It got even louder.


    ¡°Brother. How can you do this to me? I¡¯m closer to you than Youngho. If you came to Baku, I would¡¯ve flown with you here. How is Youngho¡¯s flying skill anyway? Is it terrible?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather fly on a ne that¡¯s being piloted by Youngho than flying on a Boeing.¡±


    ¡°Man, he must¡¯ve practiced quite a lot.¡±


    As Jong-il began to chat in a friendly way, Mustafa seemed to feelfortable with the people now. He asked a question to Kim Chun.


    ¡°Commissioner, I heard that the autonomous state has a restriction on alcoholic drinks. Does that apply to visitors too?¡±


    Youngho had told Mustafa in advance to ask for Kim Chun¡¯s permission to drink.


    Kim Chun¡¯s face changed a dozen times in a moment. It was obvious who had slipped the words into Mustafa¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°How could we do that to visitors? This only applies to our Boss and a few other people here. The doctor said that Boss¡¯ fatty liver index turned out to be high, and he shouldn¡¯t be drinking so much.¡±


    Youngho had gone crazy over his answer.


    He made him stop drinking in the first ce, and now he was making up lies about his health.


    Youngho was excited to be able to finally drink with Mustafa, and his dreams all turned into bubbles. If Youngho tried to pick up his ss, Fatima and Old Niksic, who thought what Kim Chun had said was true, werepletely appalled and would stop him in an instant.


    Jong-il also could not drink anything. He med Youngho for that after their dinner was over.


    Youngho waspletely sober that day. He never knew how painful it was to be sober while others were getting drunk.

 Chapter 291 - A Piece of Cake (1)

    <h4>Chapter 291: A Piece of Cake (1)</h4>


    Youngho remodeled the carpet factory ording to Mustafa¡¯s advice.


    What Youngho focused on the most was the work environment. Youngho freaked out after hearing that the dust and floating particles were fatal to the human body. So, air purifier and forced air cirction device were installed inside the factory to filter the air and supply fresh air to the building.


    Since women worked long hours sitting on a chair, ergonomically designed chairs were brought in, and the maximum work hour was limited to five in a day. The reason that the work hours could have been reduced was that the modernized equipment and automatized machines were used to shorten the work time. Youngho wanted to buy automated looms as well but the carpets would lose their value as hand-made items, so modernized ones were ordered.


    Also, since carpet production was not a major industry of the state, Youngho wanted to let it stay as a sideline. Since it started as housewives who wanted to help for the economic development of the autonomous state, it would not be right if they focused more on work, rather than on their house and family. Making a lovely family would be their best work to help and to develop the state¡¯s social well-being.


    The carpet factory now had 300 women making carpets. It was more than the workers in the drone factory. Since many processes should be done by human hands, naturally it needed more people. Nheless, all of them could make enough money since the carpets were sold at awfully high prices.


    A part of the profit was saved for the autonomous state, and the rest was given as payments for workers.


    Youngho was trying his best to develop the environment of the carpet factory, but Kim Chun did not really care for it. He did not see it as a big business. His focus was only on wheat farming. He may be right because wheat farming was the base business that could affect the whole autonomous state.


    The reason that the Kazakh government gave thend to the autonomous state was so that the state could develop itsnd. The more the people of the state developed thend, the more territory that was added to the autonomous state.


    ¡°Boss. This year¡¯s crop is about 6,573 tons. It could¡¯ve been 8,000 tons if only there was another rain in the summer. Well, it¡¯s still great though.¡±


    That was still great.


    If calcted by the international wheat price, it was about 2.4 million dors already. Although this was only about half the amount of other regr wheat farms, this was a great achievement for the autonomous state. This was twice the amount ofst year¡¯s crop.


    Youngho was satisfied with the result. The huge change was made only in a year because people worked hard to form grasnd, reservoirs, windbreaks, and little hills. These creations changed the course of the wind, so dust storms were greatly reduced.


    ¡°What an amazing turn out of crop this year! If you think about our autonomous state¡¯s given environment, this is more than great.¡±


    ¡°Should we nt more wheat next year, Boss?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep it steady like this year. We need to focus on increasing developing more grasnd and windbreaks as our priority. Those are now proven to decrease dust storms.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. If we kept our straws, we could¡¯ve used them as manure for grasnd but it¡¯s too bad that we already turned the field.¡±


    If the wheat field was neglected after harvest, all of the straws would be blown by the wind, so the field was hastily plowed so that the straws could be used to manure the wheat field. It was the only option because straws would be crushed when the field was harvested byrgebines.


    It was truly amazing what people could do to change natural surroundings.


    As a result of continuously nting and watering trees and nts, grassy fields were formed in the desertednd. Those were small but effective steps. Youngho thought that it would be great if this custom could be carried on to other regions of Kazakhstan. They did not cost a lot. If people were determined to improve the natural environment, anyone could easily do it. It was a shame that the Kazakh government did not care too much about the country¡¯s natural environment.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Now that the harvest is over, why don¡¯t we spray all of the water left in the reservoirs on the grass fields? We¡¯ll be able to fill them up again during the wet season in the winter again. Let¡¯s not try to save them.¡±


    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s what I was going to do. Also, Dr. Park Youngsun said that he¡¯s going to investigate the border area for the underground water resource. Let¡¯s hope that we¡¯ll find something soon.¡±


    The uracy rate of underground water resource investigation these days was about 30 percent with the help of satellite image interpretation, subsurface investigation, and geophysical prospecting technologies. Not long ago, the uracy rate was only about ten percent but it was greatly improved because of Park Youngsun¡¯s effort to buy professional equipment. A mineral resource exploration expert was now turned into an underground water resource exploration expert.


    It would take days to dig an exploratory hole after transporting all of the necessary equipment. Not only that, while the hole was being dug, an expert would have to stay at the site to monitor the process, so a temporary lodging facility should be set up at the site. The exploration process was an extremelyplicated and exhaustive job, and when one or two attempts had failed, people would be dreadfully discouraged.


    Park Youngsun had endured countless failures before he found one, but the water resource he found did not have the amount that he was expecting. He must have lost his motivation but he still persevered even after that. He was indeed a stubborn and persistent person since he did not give up on his mission yet.


    ***


    Because Park Youngsun¡¯s daughter, Park Seo-young went to Goethe University in Frankfurt with Zeynep, Park Youngsun had no reason to stay in Baku. He had been staying in the Arirang Autonomous State for now.


    His major interests were underground water resource exploration and searching for rare minerals that could be existing in the autonomous state.


    Because his area of activity was too wide, Youngho assigned a light-armored vehicle to his use only and arranged two Countryside Force guards for personal protection.


    Not even one-fifth of the state¡¯s territory was developed yet, so the danger was always waiting outside developed areas. In empty fields, wolves and snakes could be deadly but people were also equally dangerous.


    Any people roaming around in a man-less area must be suspected. They could pretend to be travelers at first but turn into robbers at any time. This happened only seldom but it was better to be prepared. Anyway, Park Youngsun had been busily investigating all over the state that there was nond left that he had not trodden on.


    He usually first surveyed thend from the sky on a light airne. Then, he went to the site on a light-armored vehicle to see it for himself. He was always prepared to camp out on his exploration. That was why the guards arranged for his protection were single men. They had been working with him when he first came to the state to investigate the subsurface of thend to develop farnd.


    Today, he was out in the eastern region of the state for a two-day exploratory trip.


    The purpose of the exploration was to survey thend that he had watched from the sky a few days ago. He had spotted an unusual feature, so he came to check on thend.


    Even if he did not find anything special, he genuinely enjoyed being in the wild. His guards also liked toe along with him since they could fish and hunt for fun together.


    ¡°You guys should also check if there¡¯s any rocks or earth that look different from others.¡±


    The Countryside Force guards investigated thend as Park Youngsun had asked.


    ¡°Doctor! The color of the earth here looks different. This kind of looks like mud but it¡¯s very hard.¡±


    One of the guards came back to him holding ash colored y.


    Park Younsun¡¯s eyes were widened after looking at it closely. The ash y was Bentonite y that was sometimes called white y.


    ¡°Did you find more of this?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a ton of it over there.¡±


    Looking around the site that the guard pointed at, Park Youngsun smiled big.


    ¡°You had an amazing discovery today! I should reward you for this.¡±


    ¡°Is this a valuable earth?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It sure is valuable. This is used in cosmetics, medical products, and construction materials.¡±


    Bentonite y was not a rare mineral but it could be used in so many purposes.


    It was used in chemical additives for drilling oil crude, different kinds of cosmetics and medicines, construction materials, and so on. Ground into powder, it was used as a cosmetic ingredient since it had about 60 minerals in it.


    In steel mills or smelting factories, the process of refining inevitably caused environmental contamination but Bentonite only needed a simple refining process that it would not affect the environment. If the Bentonite found today was high quality, a refinery could be built in the autonomous state which would raise the value of the state.


    In other words, they had found an expensive earth.


    ¡°Dr. Park. We wondered if we could find treasure buried under the earth but guess we really did find it. We¡¯ll have to dig a hole anyway to make a reservoir. We can do that as we dig up Bentonite.¡±


    Kim Chun was exuberated to hear that a valuable mineral was found in the territory of the autonomous state. He began to find ways to make money.


    ¡°We need to investigate it. If it¡¯s not high-quality Bentonite, we won¡¯t be able to use it for medical or cosmetic purposes but for construction materials only. I should go to myb now and find out the quality of the y.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make money anyway. I hope it sure is charged more than cement.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... It can¡¯t bepared to cheap cement. Low-quality Bentonite would be a few times more expensive than cement.¡±


    Youngho was also excited about the news. He searched about Bentonite on the Inte and found that the raw mineral was sold at 50 dors for each ton but refined mineral was sold at 10,000 dors for each ton. Since wheat was sold at 300 dors a ton, this was extremely valuable found.


    ¡°Dr. Park. Do you have enoughb equipment?¡±


    Park Youngsun smiled as he knew why Youngho asked.


    ¡°Phew, Mr. Lee. Why are you doing this? The result wille out in several days. Please take it easy and be patient. I investigated in roughly with my eyes but I don¡¯t think its quality is bad.¡±


    He must have been confident in his discovery since he came to Youngho¡¯s office with the raw Bentonite. If he was not confident, he would not havee to show it to Youngho. Youngho already knew that Park Youngsun was that kind of person but he still could not wait until the result came out. To him, this was the most weing discovery of the autonomous state in a long while.


    ***


    Youngho could not concentrate on any work while he waited for the result of theponent analysis of the Bentonite. Although the mineral was not rare, it was high in demand that it could make good profits. This was another opportunity for the state to step up.


    Bentonite was modern alchemy of getting gold out of the mud. The mineral had been looked away because refinery technology was not developed enough in the past, but now it had taken center stage as a bio-mineral.


    Youngho, who just learned that non-metal mineral could be valuable, was getting fidgety. It was another hope for the future of the autonomous state.


    Eager-hearted, Youngho visited the discovery site with Park Youngsun to survey the amount of deposit. The minerals on the surface were hardened naturally and had many impurities, but the ones buried underground were expected to be of high quality since impurities could not permeate into the depth.


    Since it was scattered widely on the surface of the earth, it seemed that it would have high payability.


    ¡°Doctor, how many times do we have dig holes to estimate its deposit?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the type of mineral but Bentonite is usually exposed on the surface. A good rule of thumb is that it¡¯s all deposited where there¡¯s a big lump. If we excavate at an interval of 100 meters, we¡¯ll be able to get a roughly estimated deposit.¡±


    This was indeed a great discovery that had the potential of bing a golden goose business of the autonomous state. Who would have thought that this kind of treasure was hidden in the wastnd with nothing but sparsely grown grass?

 Chapter 292 - A Piece of Cake (2)

    <h4>Chapter 292: A Piece of Cake (2)</h4>


    Bioindustry was an industry that could make an astronomical amount of money and worldwide fame by developing a new medicine at a palm-sizedboratory. In advanced countries, the subject of bio-minerals had been a newly-rising study. It was a study to research how minerals affect the human body and apply that knowledge to create new medicines and different categories of life and studies.


    Youngho heard that globalpanies in the food and medical industry were racing to create health supplements and anticancer drugs using natural mineral resources.


    This meant that there was a high demand for minerals.


    Although the autonomous state might not be able to develop new medicine since there were not enough researchers, Youngho wanted to develop the Bentonite industry so it could be one of the businesses that best represented the autonomous state. If the Bentonite buried under the ground was proven to be of high quality, it was not a reckless dream to expect a sessful business.


    ¡°First, we¡¯ll need someboratory equipment for now.¡±


    It was Park Youngsun¡¯s words. Youngho also expected that from him since the business would not be a temporary fling, but a staple one in the state.


    ¡°How big do you want it to be?¡±


    ¡°I need a facility that could produce 0.5 tons of y. This will be enough to produce refined y and sell it to medicalpanies. From then on, we shall see the reaction of the market. Once we have umted enough technologies, we¡¯ll be able to produce about ten tons a year, which makes the profit that¡¯s equal to the money made for trading 500 tons of Bentonite y for industrial purposes.¡±


    Youngho was astounded to hear that.


    The refined Bentonite y was almost valuable as gold bars. Of course, the expense forboratory and refinery facilities would be huge¡ªbut it was not a problempared to the profit it would bring to the state.


    There were different steps in the refining process such as, smashing, purification, sterilization, drying, packaging, and storing but since the refinery was eco-friendly, it was no big deal. The only impurities in the y would be riprap, sand, and microorganisms living in the earth. They would not affect the state¡¯s environment in any way.


    The total amount of deposit was hard to estimate but the amount that could be dug up at the moment was about 50 tons. The yearly amount of Bentonite y that was mined in the whole world was about 15 tons only. The Bentonite field found in the autonomous state was grand-scale.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, we had money buried in our front yard! This won¡¯tst forever but it wouldst us a several hundred years at least. What do you think of making a bioresearchplex near the Bentonite field?¡±


    ¡°Doctor, isn¡¯t that too grandiose?¡±


    ¡°If you really think about the future of the autonomous state, we¡¯ll have to start preparing now. The bio industry is truly the future of mankind. The medical field is looking at the y as a great medical ingredient. Medicines made out of natural ingredients don¡¯t have many side effects like the ones made from chemical ingredients.¡±


    If doctor Kim Dong-sung¡ªan acknowledged surgeon, saw a great potential out of Bentonite y, he was probably right. Youngho did not have to hesitate upon his advice.


    Jong-il, who had been busy monitoring the yacht building processtely, came to Youngho¡¯s office after hearing about the y.


    ¡°Man, I didn¡¯t know that white mud field is as worthy as the gold mine. I¡¯ve seen those every time I yed in the back hills when I was young. It¡¯s interesting how they can make money from it now.¡±


    Come to think of it, Korea had arge deposit of Bentonite y as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to take some time until we have all the facilities set up and researchers ready, but Dr. Kim Dong-sung said it wouldn¡¯t be too hard. He can find as many researchers we want in Korea.¡±


    Any students who had a bachelor of natural science degree could work at theboratory. They did not need to be doctors, and it should be easy to find graduates who needed a job and money.


    ¡°You think they¡¯lle to this rural area? They must be all dreaming about working in an advanced country.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to convince them. Dr. Park Youngsun and Dr. Kim Dong-sung said that they will find people from their connections. I guess they¡¯ll be more convincing than us.¡±


    ¡°If only Russia was quiet, this ce would be considered a peaceful ce. I¡¯m just worried that people would think this region as a battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. Hey, when is the yacht going to be ready?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re only repairing the inside of a used ship. It¡¯s not a long process. It¡¯s just taking time because I¡¯m installing secret weapons.¡±


    ¡°I need to go to Volgograd next week. You think I can ride it by then?¡±


    ¡°Are you going there to buy warships? Yeah, I will for sure finish it by then.¡±


    Jong-il was excited to hear about the trip to Volgograd, for they would be buying warships.


    ***


    The wheat field that was busily upied by workers was finally calm now.


    The plowing process took days to finish. If it was not plowed, straws would be blown away. The field would be plowed again in the next spring.


    As the whole state was focusing on wheat farming, other ntations were close to nonexistent. That was why other farm produce was imported from outside, but their prices were high.


    Fruit trees were nted in every yard of the towns but it would take a few more years until they could bear fruits. They were now only as tall as a male adult. People grew their own green vegetables in themunity garden but they did not farm potatoes and beans, which were quite important.


    To grow more variety of products starting from next year, Youngho asked Kim Chun to pick some kinds. The next day, Kim Chun came with all sorts of seeds.


    ¡°Usually, beans are the first ones people sow but I got carried away with wheat farming.¡±


    ¡°Why is that so?¡±


    ¡°Elders say that beans would improve the fertility of the soil. When Koryoins first came here, they sustained their life with beans and potatoes.¡±


    ¡°Then we should sow beans in some parts of the wheat fields where the crop was not so great, so the quality of the soil would improve.¡±


    ¡°We have enough wheat now that we won¡¯t have to worry about it for the next few years. I was thinking that we should reduce the wheat field in half and rece the half of the field with beans, potatoes, and corns.¡±


    Kim Chun did not want to let go of any wheat.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we still export some of the wheat to Azerbaijan this year? We already agreed upon this with the Azerbaijani government and we can¡¯t change words. The price of wheat this year is ten dors a bushel. It¡¯s going to help the autonomous state¡¯s finance.¡±


    Kim Chun was only convinced after calcting how much profit would be made from trading wheat. Corners of his mouth turned up as he concluded that the profit of 1.85 million dors would be made when 5,000 tons of wheat was sold.


    Kim Chun listed the kind of vegetables that the state could grow, and there were more than ten kinds. With the number of farmers that the state had, it was impossible to grow all of them. So, Youngho picked some of them from the list.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s try beans, potatoes, and corns first since they can be harvested with thebine harvesters. We can also test grow tomatoes, carrots, and onions in the little yard near the towns.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that sounds good. Do you have other things in mind?¡±


    ¡°I want to grow rice too but everybody knows that rice farming is not a good idea, so I¡¯ll give that up.¡±


    Every Korean would know that rice farming was difficult andplicated. It also required high precipitation. It would be crazy if anyone tried rice farming in West Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Commissioner, you are such a rational person.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to tter me again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡±


    There was a reason that Younghoplimented him.


    He was, of course, a good worker but since the biggest event of the autonomous state, wheat harvest was finished, and Bentonite y was found, it was a good time to have a celebration. Now that people have worked so hard for the harvest, they would probably need some entertainment.


    ¡°Commissioner, the harvest was finished now. Shouldn¡¯t we have a festival? You know, when the Archduchess was still here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not trying to have a legal drinking day, are you?¡±


    He was indeed quick-witted.


    ***


    Even Kim Chun, who was always stingy about spending money, had also used quite a lot to decorate the state for the festival.


    The state would have invited guests from outside of the state but for this time, no guests were invited because Youngho requested to keep a low profile for a while. In addition to that, people only promoted the Arirang Autonomous State as a state that only relied on its farming business. But, Youngho¡¯s wealth was magnified to seem like the state was highly reliant on Youngho¡¯s personal funds. This was only to emphasize that the state was only a poornd that would not be a threat to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°So, I said that we shouldn¡¯t be charged for tax just because we produce some wheat. We¡¯ve invested so much so far for the development of the farnd and how dare they charge us tax? When factories are built, any money made from them is not profits, until they had collected the initial investment.¡±


    As everyone carefully listened to Kim Chun¡¯s story, he became even excited. He sipped some water then continued on talking.


    ¡°I said we still have a long way to go until we retrieve our initial investment. We didn¡¯t receive any profit, so we can¡¯t pay tax. If they should charge us tax, they should take wheat instead of money. They went away as soon as I finished my words.¡±


    At a table set up on one side of the fairground, everyone was listening to Kim Chun¡¯s long story. He was talking about the time when taxmen of Kazakhstan¡¯s taxation authority came to the state to impose a duty on the wheat farm as the authority had decided the autonomous state was producing a lot of wheat. Kim Chun refused to pay tax and managed to convince the taxmen with his speech.


    Youngho would pay tax for the profits made from selling industrial products and minerals, but any crops produced by the autonomous state were an exception. If he considered the investment he made for developing a desertednd, the government rather would have to give him money for support. Also, since the crop was the only half amount of what other farms would produce, it was technically a bad crop. Youngho would have done the same if he had met the taxmen.


    ¡°I see. But still, why didn¡¯t you give them some money?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee. Who am I? I would never be that senseless. I gave them some money before they left. They must have sneaked here without even reporting it.¡±


    If they really came to the state to investigate for taxes, the high officials of the taxation authority would have hastily stopped the taxmen from visiting the state. The autonomous state always paid taxes for any traded goods just in time, when other businessmen never paid taxes properly and in time. It was the same in the Caucasus and Central Asia.


    They were immensely thankful for the autonomous state and did not want to cause any trouble for upsetting the administration of the state, especially since other foreign investors were leaving Kazakhstan because ofplicated taxation standards and frequent double taxation.


    The central government imed that the taxation rules would be changed soon, but nobody would ever know how soon the changes would be made.

 Chapter 293 - A Piece of Cake (3)

    <h4>Chapter 293: A Piece of Cake (3)</h4>


    As people were rxed after the harvest, the towns seemed to be quieter now. It was early September already.


    The hospital at the center of the state was also slow, but without too many patients. Youngho, who had fixed hisst cavity at the dentist¡¯s office at the hospital visited Doctor Kim Dong-sung¡¯s office. The two were talking over tea.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Now that you¡¯re not too busy, you¡¯re going to keep your promise, right?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho did not know what he was talking about. Nothing rang a bell.


    ¡°You said the hospital staffs can go collect alluvial gold for themselves. Why are you acting you¡¯ve forgotten about it?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I totally forgot about that. That¡¯s not a difficult thing to do. Whenever you¡¯re ready, I can take you there.¡±


    ¡°The weather¡¯s perfect today and this seems to be the perfect timing...¡±


    He seemed to want to go badly. Kazakhstan¡¯s weather was always good except for February and March. He was merely making an excuse to go today.


    ¡°Please gather people who¡¯d like to join you. Why don¡¯t we depart tomorrow morning, then?¡±


    ¡°I think everyone would want to go. No one would refuse a chance to get free gold.¡±


    ¡°Well, we should take everyone then.¡±


    The next morning, Youngho was surprised to see how many people came to join him and Kim Dong-sung.


    Since many of the neers from Korea experienced camping in the nature of Kazakhstan when they first came here, he thought that they would not want toe for another trip for they knew how inconvenient traveling in Kazakhstan could be.


    However, people gathered at the square were 42¡ªincluding teenagers.


    If camping equipment was loaded, ten light-armored vehicles that he brought for the trip would not have enough room for all of them. Although each vehicle could seat ten people, a driver and a security guard were seated in every vehicle, and also to secure spacious room, it was the best to have four to five passengers in each car. Including the additionally bought ones, the total number of the light-armored vehicles was 45. However, there were not many extras.


    One was given to Park Youngsun, some were used to patrol the border of the autonomous state, and some were sent to the highway construction site. There were only about 20 extra vehicles left, but some of them should be left as extra vehicles just in case.


    ¡°No way, are those girls going too?¡±


    Youngho asked while watching mid-teenage girls getting on a light-armored vehicle as they giggled. Youngho was worried if they could endure camping.


    ¡°They¡¯re determined to make their own gold ring. I was afraid that they would be runaways if we didn¡¯t take them.¡±


    Everyone was excited hoping to collect tons of gold.


    The gold mine and the autonomous state were five hours away from each other. It used to take ten hours because the course of the route went far around but H Corporation had evened the way and made bridges to transport minerals to Arirang Wharf more conveniently. Even so, everyone was exhausted after driving on the rough, unpaved road. People had to take a break a few times on the way, so they arrived at the Koryoin town at midday.


    The Countryside Force guards at the mine weed Youngho¡¯s group.


    Since the autonomous state had mining permission for the mine, ten Countryside Force guards worked there at a time.


    The Koryoin town had changed so much.


    The old town was reced with lodging, cafeteria, warehouse, and machinery repair shop for mine workers. This was only possible because underground water resource was discovered by Park Young-sun. If there was no water, a water wagon must have been necessary. It was because the little stream in the valley where alluvial gold was found was contaminated because of the mine work.


    Although only separation process was done in the mine, dust formed during the mining process had caused water pollution inevitably. The whole mine site was a mess because everywhere was dug up. The stream was muddy but still, people could collect alluvial gold in the stream.


    ***


    People eximed here and there.


    They each held a panning bowl used for collecting gold and were amazed when they washed bits of gold in the water. Everyone was working hard to collect as many grains of gold as possible. Doctor Kim Dong-sung was also absorbed in collecting alluvial gold as he frequently groaned for his back pain.


    ¡°Doctor. Take it easy. You will have so much trouble with your back at night.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m going to risk it for this much fun! I think this could be a few grams.¡±


    He immersed his panning bowl into the water as he said.


    Teenage girls were even more enthusiastic about collecting gold. Every time they found a grain of gold, they screamed for excitement and it made Youngho smile. They said that they woulde to collect gold often. It seemed that they would be bothering Youngho frequently.


    ¡°If we worked hard for several days, we¡¯ll be rich. I didn¡¯t know bing rich was such a piece of cake like this.¡±


    Seeing that the bottom of the stream was half sand and half gold, Kim Dong-sung said. He was so excited that it seemed that he could quit his doctor¡¯s position to collect gold for a living instead. He was looking at little bits of gold on his palm.


    Looking at his satisfied face, Youngho could not say that this was all they had for it was going to disappoint him for sure.


    ¡°Let¡¯s collect some more tomorrow morning and return to the state.¡±


    Kim Dong-sung was happy to hear that since he thought the group would be going home today. He had indeed collected a lot of gold for such a short time.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to collect gold in your free time, rather than going for fishing from now on.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea how it¡¯s giving me trouble inside my mind now.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to collect gold when the weather gets cold. So, why don¡¯t wee here every weekend for the next month? You should at least be able to make a gold ring for yourself, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Youngho hurriedly gave him a timeline of a month. It was long enough to satisfy his desire.


    He would find it boring after a while but if he could be happier in the state by collecting gold, it was not a bad deal since he was a necessary person in the state. He deserved a huge appreciation from the state.


    That night at the campground, all people gathered around a bonfire.


    The H Corporation¡¯s director who was in charge of the mining and Korean staffs also joined Youngho¡¯s group.


    As themb meat was getting roasted, people shared a drink with each other. The next day was Sunday and it was a free day for the workers of the mine. So, the workers were determined to enjoy the night.


    The mine workers only came to the autonomous state once or twice a month, so they were excited to meet Koreans in the Koryoin town. The workers also knew about alluvial gold but they never go there to collect it in their free time because their work was already hard. After working all day in the mine, they would get too tired. Also, the gold valley was protected by the Countryside Force, so no one could pass to get in there without permission.


    It was a ce left for the residents of the autonomous state so that they could have fun activities once in a while. If people went there any time without permission, the gold would soon be exhausted. Anyway, it seemed that the medical staffs from Korea would being back again for the next trip.


    As Youngho had expected. The Koreans in the state were in high spirits after confirming that a thin gold ring could be made by collecting gold for two days.


    ¡°Boss. They¡¯ve started a gold rush. I should loosen some wolves to cool down their heat.¡±


    Kim Chun jokingly said it as if he found the situation funny.


    ¡°Would you take such risk to cool them down?¡±


    ¡°I should of course. The hospital will be at stake if I don¡¯t stop them.¡±


    These days, all of the staffs at the hospital talked about was the gold mine. Kim Chun felt the need to take action about that.


    ¡°Boss, you¡¯ve stirred them up for false hope. You know how gold mining can get crazy. It¡¯s like drugs.¡±


    He said that he would take care of this, so Youngho would not have to worry about it.


    ***


    In Kazakhstan, anyone could im things in an empty field if they were not previously imed by someone else.


    Alluvial gold was one of them too.


    Although the state had been rewarding the Koryoins from the Koryoin town for profits from the mine, but it was technically free.


    Especially there were so many rocks in empty fields. After they have finished developing a field for farming, rocks collected during the process would make a small hill. They were not small rocks but bigger ones, so they could be used for construction materials and outdoor decorations.


    Since rocks weremon in the autonomous state, they were used to finish the exterior of the houses in the residential towns and they looked ssy. Likewise, most of the buildings in the city square were about three stories tall, and they were finished with rocks as well. They were not only sturdy but also antique-looking that they did not look like they were just built.


    Construction Director Min came to Youngho to discuss his n for uing new buildings in the state such as; lodging facility and office for the Korean private consortium, new hotel, and medical school¡¯s dormitory facilities. He wanted to finish their exteriors with rocks again.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we also finish the pce¡¯s exterior with raw rocks too? I don¡¯t want it to be too luxurious looking.¡±


    ¡°The pce is away from the residential towns and the view of it is blocked by the windbreak and stonewalls, so people won¡¯t be able to see it from the city unless they get close to the pce. Also, it¡¯s only the entrance that looks luxurious.¡±


    Youngho never liked morous-looking styles all his life, but it seemed that he could not go against Director Min and Kim Chun¡¯s stubbornness this time. At least the part of the pce where it was viewed from the riverside was finished with rocks¡ªin order to defend the state from any outside attack. As it was finished with the rocks, it looked like an old castle.


    The autonomous state¡¯s airfield used to be about three kilometers away from the residential towns, so it was normally very quiet. Now, as the city kept growing, new buildings had filled up the gap and now, the airfield was only about 2.5 meters away from the city.


    The stone walls were being built at the edge of the city now.


    ¡°Now we¡¯ve got double walls.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll have double security andfort.¡±


    Although the new walls would block winter¡¯s north wind and continental wind twice, it did not look great from an aesthetic perspective. So, the workers were also nting trees around the walls as they built the walls.


    Building such long stone walls were only possible since there were so many stones avable in Kazakhstan. Piles of rocks never seemed to decrease.


    ¡°Can we find other ways to use those rocks?¡±


    ¡°Why not? We can crush the rocks andy them on unpaved roads, then they¡¯d be like a paved road as time passes.¡±


    Roads were made all over the autonomous state but since many of them were unpaved, dust would blow when there was wind, if crushed rocks could act like paved roads, it was worth a try.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you told me such a great idea before?¡±


    ¡°I just haven¡¯t been able to get to that for being so busy. If you want to get to it, I¡¯ll tell the construction team to start the process tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We definitely should start it as soon as we can.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll order a crusher first.¡±


    Many roads were created in the autonomous state since it was first formed. The roads inside the city and the ones that led to the wharf and the airfield were all paved but since the size of the autonomous state was so big, the other roads were just left unpaved.


    It was weing news that those roads could be paved through crushing overflowing rocks dug from the ground. The roads never got muddy due to the dry climate, but dust from the roads was blown to the city area and was quite problematic.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to crush all of the rock hills over there to cover all of the roads.¡±


    ¡°We have so many piles of rocks dug from wheat fields developed this year. I¡¯m d that we have a way to get rid of them.¡±


    Anything that was formed naturally was useful in some way, just like the state was benefited from rocks and y from dirt. The surprising fact was that this was only the case of the autonomous state. The whole Kazakhstan must be hiding treasures all over the ce. Youngho was excited to think about what else he could find around the autonomous state. He might have to follow Park Youngsun around to seek for treasures of the mother nature.

 Chapter 294 - Fundamentals of Negotiation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 294: Fundamentals of Negotiation (1)</h4>


    At the living room of Yaniv¡¯s mansion in Volgograd, Yaniv¡ªwho seemed to have put on some pounds¡ªand Sergey reacted differently to Youngho¡¯s absurd order.


    ¡°You are collecting those weird things now?¡±


    Sergey looked at Youngho ridiculously, and Yaniv could not hold back hisughter.


    This was indeed a ridiculous idea to Youngho as well.


    It would be understandable to have about ten vessels, but one disguised warship did not seem to be as effective on its own.


    ¡°It¡¯s for peace of mind.¡±


    Youngho was out of excuses that he just told him a random reason.


    ¡°Are you that bored these days? If you don¡¯t have anything to do, why don¡¯t youe with me for hunting?¡±


    Yaniv truly believed that Youngho was just trying to buy a disguised warship for a hobby. It was more convenient for Youngho that way.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, an escort vessel is necessary to freely travel around the five oceans. There are pirates in action near the Panama Canal now.¡±


    ¡°Arirang Shipping must have its own armed vessels. Are you really going to buy a warship just because you¡¯re afraid of those petty pirates?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to prepare for unexpected situations. It¡¯s still a suicidal mission to sail around the ck Sea. The Arirang Shipping decided to take the risk because private shippers and retailers pleaded to us to transport their goods for them. We¡¯ve been bribing the Russian Navy as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t be worried. I already told the ck Sea Fleet to let you pass.¡±


    The Russian Navy must have done that in order to provide supplies to Russians, and it had been working out well for Youngho. He already knew what Russia was up to, but he still pretended not to know about anything.


    ¡°I heard that there are countless upleted warships in Russian shipyards. Why don¡¯t you reconnect with your old friends this time?¡±


    ¡®Old friends¡¯ meant other mafias and influential people who might have connections with warship makers.


    ¡°Do you need it armed too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible because of the public eye, but if you could make auncher for a missile under the deck, I¡¯d really appreciate it.¡±


    Thinking that Yaniv would reject his request if he asked for a missile as well, Youngho thought that would utilize the missiles that were stored in the autonomous state.


    Being a mafia boss of southern Russia, Yaniv must have defensepanies and shipyards under his influence. If Yaniv really tried, he would be able to get even a nuclear weapon on that vessel.


    ¡°I knew you were up to something when you agreed to provide supplies without a word.¡±


    It was true that Youngho wanted to make Yaniv feel indebted by doing him a favor, but he was a businessman who would not show his intention so easily.


    ¡°Well, those supplies, I only agreed to provide them to save your face.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll inquire about the ship from a few ces. It¡¯ll take some time in order to keep it a secret.¡±


    There was nothing Yaniv could not do in Russia. It was only a matter of time.


    Youngho was going to leave the next day, but he was stopped by Sergey.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finished your business with Boss. Now, why don¡¯t we talk about our business?¡±


    ¡°Brother. Our supplies for Turkey is not even enough. If I cut their supply and turn them to Russia, it¡¯ll damage our reputation.¡±


    ¡°Lee. Any business should be closed after talking about money. I¡¯ll pay you more. Think about the handmade hunting rifles and wolf furs.¡±


    The hunting rifles and wolf furs produced in the autonomous state were sold out in Russia as soon as they were restocked. In the beginning, Sergey almost forcefully sold them to his connections but now, they gained huge poprity in the market.


    Especially, the hunting rifles were favored as great gifts. Even a trend of giving them to their lovers as a present was created among rich Russians.


    The quality of the rifles was proven since even Yaniv also gave it to President Putin.


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t help it if you¡¯re going to force it like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just asking you a favor. It¡¯s a better deal for you too.¡±


    ¡°Very well. We¡¯re currently changing our conventional production method to modernized production method. We¡¯ll be able to provide some of them in the winter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not automatized production but modernized production?¡±


    ¡°We still need to handcraft them so that they don¡¯t lose their value.¡±


    ¡°You know, I can sell machine-made products as handcrafted products.¡±


    Sergey was used to doing everything in the mafia¡¯s way.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine, brother. I¡¯m not going to deceive anyone with the products made in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s deceiving who? I¡¯m just following the logic of the market.¡±


    That market logic was the mafia¡¯s logic and power.


    ***


    Yaniv was someone who had the whole world in his hands and was always bored.


    It was impossible to estimate his assets. He was a mafia boss in his 60s and all of his businesses were already well established. All he needed to do was to maintain his health so that he could live long.


    Other than frequently going on hunting trips, he had no other official events these days.


    Now that Youngho was here, he did not wish to let him go so easily. Since he insisted for Youngho to stay longer and keep himpany, Youngho could not refuse him so coldly.


    Yaniv¡¯s mansion located in the outskirt of Volgograd was adjacent to the Volga River. It was a great ce for fun outdoor activities such as fishing, horseback riding, and different sports.


    ¡°Brother. Where is Park Jong-il?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s at the gym. He said that he¡¯s going to teach lethal movements to our bodyguards. Man, I bet he¡¯s going to knock down some of our men tonight.¡±


    Every time Youngho and Jong-il visited Volgograd, Yaniv¡¯s bodyguards sought a chance to learn from them, so Jong-il had been sparring with them as much as possible.


    It was sparring but it rather looked like one party beating up the other party. Although they could not ever beat Jong-il, they kept challenging him. Their determination to improve was quite impressive.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv wanted to go fishing with me. Are youing along?¡±


    ¡°Well, I should. He gets insecure when I¡¯m not around.¡±


    Since Sergey was the most trusted man, a godson, and the brain of Yaniv¡¯s organization, he always followed wherever Yaniv went. Without Sergey¡¯s business skills, Yaniv would not have the riches he had now.


    The Volga River that flowed in front of the mansion was 3,600 kilometers long. It was the longest river in Europe. Russians were proud of it, and they referred to it as the Mother Volga.


    It was connected to the ck Sea through a canal, and it connected Russia to the Baltic Sea as it was connected by a series of canals that passed through Moscow.


    The Volga River¡¯s downstream was quite wide, and countless vessels traveled through it.


    Youngho and Yaniv were now fishing at the front of the river as they set on the edge of a grassy field. They talked for a while and Yaniv finally asked about the warship.


    ¡°Why on earth do you need a warship? Are you trying to battle with someone?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Yaniv. That¡¯s nonsense. I just want to have it to satisfy my own desire.¡±


    ¡°Man, you have such a weird hobby. I¡¯d understand if you collect antiques or valuable pieces of jewelry but I never get people who collect weapons.¡±


    Yaniv seemed to have a little doubt in his heart, but Youngho was relieved that Yaniv just thought of it as his hobby.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know how much people like to collect weapons these days? If I get rich like you, Mr. Yaniv, I¡¯d buy a yacht and cover it all over with arms and brag it as I sail it around. It¡¯s a dream of a true man.¡±


    He looked at Youngho with an absurd face and made a point.


    ¡°Jeez, the Inte has spoiled so many people.¡±


    Yaniv¡¯s dinner table was full as always.


    All sorts of gourmet dishes were there. It was a little too much for only a few people, but it was also a verymon convention among mafias. Not only mafias but also rich Russians were known to practice hospitality if they had guests. It was to show off their wealth and generous manners, and the guests would only consider saying that they were treated well once they received such hospitality. It was not eptable to have an empty spot on the table when guests were around. The table should be filled up even with any alcoholic drinks in the house.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. I feel pressured because you always prepare so much every time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you might think but I consider you as my friend. We Russians treat our friends well. This is only the basics.¡±


    ¡°How dare can I consider someone as huge as you as my friend, Mr. Yaniv?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you don¡¯t want to be friends with a mafia?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying. I¡¯m just a young man who still has a long way to go. I can¡¯t be put on the same line as you.¡±


    ¡°Well, looking back, my past had been indeed dark and hard.¡±


    Now that Yaniv was over 60, he felt that his life was in vain. He regretted that he had been a mafia his whole life.


    ¡°This might sound a little vulgar, but there¡¯s a saying that you should make like a dog and write like a minister. You know you¡¯re living in the dark times once it gets harder and harder to make it to the next day. Any person with some guts would have walked in your ways too. I know I would¡¯ve but you¡¯re different now. You¡¯re a prideful and confident businessman and phnthropist now.¡±


    As Youngho was speaking, he realized that he got carried away and his speech might have sounded as if he was lecturing Yaniv. He apologized immediately.


    ¡°Forgive me if I came across a little rude. As I told you, I¡¯m still a young boy and I don¡¯t have much experience like you.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re young, Lee, but you seem to know how this world works. I like that a lot. You¡¯re saying that I¡¯m fine now, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not just fine. You¡¯re admirable.¡±


    Youngho could throw in ttering words a hundred times to his business partners especially when they asked about themselves first. Acknowledging the other party¡¯s achievements was the basics of negotiation. People would not be hostile towards the other party when they were ttered by him.


    ¡°Hahaha... You know how to give a sweet talk, but I¡¯m ttered to hear that I¡¯m admirable. Alright, let¡¯s drink up!¡±


    Looking at Yaniv drinking in a good mood, Youngho was sure that he would be getting the vessel he wanted without any trouble. Since he was not buying the vessel for his business and Yaniv was helping him find it, he would not have to pay a high price. He could just forget it if the price was too high, and Yaniv knew that as well.

 Chapter 295 - Fundamentals of Negotiation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 295: Fundamentals of Negotiation (2)</h4>


    Youngho¡¯s group was on its way to the city of Astrakhan sailing along the Volga River. There were quite a lot of ships on the river.


    ¡°There are still many tourists even though it wouldn¡¯t be weird if war broke out now.¡±


    ¡°Putin won¡¯t make an irrational decision since he needs to sell oil crude and gas to other countries. The country¡¯s economy will shift abruptly. Who¡¯s going to want that?¡±


    Sergey came alongside the two friends on their way to the Arirang Autonomous State. He said that he wanted to see how much the state had changed but, in fact, he was reallying to secure more carpets.


    ¡°Brother, you know you can¡¯t get more carpets even if youe to the state. Why are youing anyway?¡±


    ¡°I said we can provide automatized machines for the carpet factory.¡±


    ¡°I know those machines will help us make uniform products, but it¡¯ll ruin the reputation of the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°I can make it look like the products were made in Iran. Don¡¯t worry. The demand is overflowing.¡±


    Wealthy Russians these days liked to disy luxury carpets in their houses.


    It was kind of their cultural vanity. People tried hard to look sophisticated by having a wall of books that were never going to be read and by disying oriental antiques. Collecting unique things would make them feel distinguished from others. The supplies became scarce since all of them were trying to buy carpets and potteries. That was why Sergey was sure that there would be a high demand for carpets even if the products were not handcrafted.


    The biggest market for carpets was Istanbul. If a product went through the Istanbul market, the price would multiply. So, Sergey wanted to buy them directly from the autonomous state in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°You made this Yacht in the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°Well, we bought an old vessel and repaired it. It¡¯s small but quite heavy. Jong-il had done some weird things on this vessel.¡±


    ¡°I guess you disproportionately armed this small vessel.¡±


    Sergey¡¯s guess was correct about what they have done to the vessel since he knew that Youngho and Jong-il were weapon lovers. He still did not seem to understand why.


    ¡°Well, this is for a just in case moment.¡±


    ¡°You two just want to y a battle game. Aren¡¯t you tired of it by now since you two are living in the Caucasus where people always raise their guns and knives?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we should be more prepared. Would you just sit still and do nothing when danger is near you brother?¡±


    Volgograd was the most peaceful ce if there was no war between the mafias. Sergey had no idea how afraid Youngho was to lose the paradise that he had created and enriched.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m telling you ahead of time now. Volgograd is safer. You can live like an emperor in Russia as long as you have a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°Phew, brother. You say that because you¡¯re a Russian. It¡¯s not my cup of tea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it when you live there.¡±


    The people once had a saying that no animals were around the tiger¡¯s cave, it must be safe for Sergey as he was in the center of mafia groups. He did not know how valuable it was to have freedom without any interference since he was never interfered by others under Yaniv¡¯s wings.


    Sergey continued.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather live in Russia. It¡¯s way more charming than the Western world where everything is restricted. Russia is a ce you see interesting things happen every day.¡±


    It was surprising how Russia could operate now with so many holes, but countries in the Caspian coast were as prosperous as Russia. Maybe Youngho was still here because he was charmed by that side of the region.


    ***


    People would exim in wonder when they first saw the autonomous state.


    They were astounded by the existence of a whole new city built inside stone walls on an empty in. They were even more surprised the second time they visited once they found out that the state was drawing water from the river for wheat farming.


    Sergey¡¯s reaction was no different.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that all those houses were made and this many people were gathered here in such a short period of time. It can¡¯t be possible unless you¡¯ve remodeled a city that was already there.¡±


    He was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t East vs always tough and relentless?¡±


    ¡°We used to be but Stalin had made all of uszy, but I guess that toughness was in the blood of Vulcan vs as well.¡±


    In order to survive in a cold ce like Russia, people would have to be tough and diligent.


    They used to work to store food and wood logs in Russia¡¯s short summer so that they wouldst throughout the winter. However, themunistic system had changed people. As people weremonly distributed their own portions, they stopped trying hard.


    ¡°The Serbian people¡¯s toughness amazed me as well. They¡¯re so diligent and faithful that I couldn¡¯t help to support them with my own money.¡±


    ¡°Well, theirmon purpose of re-establishing the old kingdom must have made them strong also.¡±


    Being a knowledgeable person, Sergey had already seen through how it must have been with the Serbian people.


    After looking around the small state that was full of surprises, Sergey was envious of the state. Heter evenplimented Youngho for establishing the state. This would never be possible in Russia.


    ¡°If more of these kinds of cities are created, Kazakhstan will be a strong nation that no other countries could treat badly.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. Greedy politicians won¡¯t leave the residents alone if they get richer. Unless the mindset of politicians and officials are changed. That¡¯s not going to happen any time soon though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to build a small city like this sometime in the future as well.¡±


    His eyes were full of envy.


    With Yaniv¡¯s wealth, it would not be difficult to make countless small cities like the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°Brother, you should establish an agricultural corporation under your name.¡±


    ¡°Why not under Boss¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°We both know Mr. Yaniv does not care for such things. You can start farming now, and it will be handy in the future. I¡¯m telling you right now, the people who own their ownnd will have more power in the future.¡±


    The border of southern Russia was only 300 kilometers away from the Arirang Autonomous State, and from there, Volgograd was 100 kilometers away.


    If Sergey could get assigned on Kazakhstan¡¯snd near the border and develop farnd there, Youngho would have a dependable ally nearby.


    ¡°An agricultural corporation...¡±


    ¡°The world is rapidly changing. I¡¯m only suggesting. At least have some kind of safety for unexpected events. You could even buy an ind in the South Pacific.¡±


    ¡°You think the world is going to change.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see how the world is in turmoil? Nations might perish and the world might run by small city-states instead. Even if that¡¯s not the case, wouldn¡¯t it give you peace of mind if you¡¯re prepared for the worst?¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re saying. We have a very uncertain future ahead of us.¡±


    Unlike already stable Western societies, Russia, Central Asia, and China where numerous ethnicities still lived together might face a time of turbulence soon.


    ***


    Youngho had never experienced a failure when he had businesses with Sergey.


    Youngho would suggest a business idea first to Yaniv so that he would invest in Youngho¡¯s idea. Youngho would be the manager of the business since the business started out of Yaniv¡¯s investment. Luckily, Yaniv always gave Youngho more shares¡ªwhich he deserved. Both parties acted upon their own benefits, but it was true that Youngho received more than he expected. This was how Youngho¡¯s partnership with Yaniv and Sergey usually went.


    For these reasons, he felt indebted to Yaniv and Sergey, and that was why he was suggesting to Sergey that he should establish an agricultural corporation. The biggest reason for rmending it was that he knew that power and authority would notst forever. President Putin would step down from his power in the end, and Yaniv¡¯s organization would also be affected by it since his connection to the president was one of the major reasons why he could seed as a businessman even though he was merely a mafia boss. Under uncontroble circumstances, Yaniv and Sergey might have to leave Russia for good.


    They would thank Younghoter if that really happened. So, Youngho tried to convince Sergey to establish an agricultural corporation in Oral, which was a border city of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Brother. Kazakhstan wees any foreign investment for agricultural development. I know some people see Russians negatively but that¡¯s something you could ovee easily.¡±


    ¡°Boss wouldugh at me saying that I¡¯m so easily tempted.¡±


    Sergey¡¯s joke was telling him that he already made up his mind.


    ¡°You know, Russia won¡¯t always be the same. Things will change rapidly, and other ethnic groups will also try to win their freedom from Russia¡¯s domination. Chechnya and the other regions in the southwestern side of the country can¡¯t be considered Russia. I¡¯m only telling you that you should be prepared if you want to survive through that, just like I am.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Russia will be shaken that easily?¡±


    ¡°Well, now it still has power and it won¡¯t be a problem, but we never know how long it willst. What Russia did to other ethnic groups will return to it like a boomerang.¡±


    Youngho did not have to exin it in length to Sergey who had a doctoral degree in business administration. The decision making was up to Sergey now that Youngho had done his part. Youngho had brought Sergey water, but he could not force him to drink that water.


    ¡°Will there be any problem in getting and?¡±


    ¡°If you pay taxes well, nothing¡¯s going to be problematic.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll pay taxes.¡±


    ¡°Now, brother. Please keep in mind that you¡¯d have to develop thend and make it into either a farnd, a grasnd or something else. The ownership of thend won¡¯t be granted to you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only when you¡¯re receiving thend for free. I don¡¯t have any ns to develop a farnd any time soon. I¡¯ll just buy thend with money. That¡¯ll be more convenient.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. It¡¯d be easier for you to just buy thend.¡±


    With Yaniv¡¯s wealth, buyingnd in Kazakhstan was nothing. If he could negotiate well with the Kazakh government, he might as well buy and that was as big as the Arirang Autonomous State for only a hundred million dors. Of course, he would have to sign a contract that he would only use thend for the purpose of agricultural development, but there would be less interference from the government since he would be fully paying the cost of thend.


    Sergey returned to Volgograd after closely observing the Arirang Autonomous State. He took a train saying that he would stop in the city of Oral in West Kazakhstan before returning to Volgograd.


    Before he left, Youngho told Sergey to think about the future when Yaniv would no longer be in power. Although Sergey was managing Yaniv¡¯s corporation, once Yaniv was gone, he would have to share the corporation with the leadership group of the corporation. Yaniv would want to treat his underlings fairly wishing that his corporation wouldst for long, and in appreciation for their life-long service for him. Conflict might happen within the group if he did not treat them fairly. After all, they were all mafias, and they would easily start a gunfight with each other if necessary.


    Even though Yaniv was a boss, he could only survive when he negotiated with his underlings sessfully by satisfying their needs. Since Youngho had many businesses that he partnered with Yaniv¡¯s group, this would also influence Youngho too. He would be fighting on Sergey¡¯s side if that happened, but he wanted to prevent such a thing beforehand if possible.


    Kazakhstan was not stable because of China¡¯s existence, so he would rather not deal with a problem caused by Russian mafias if possible. A business should end as a business. He never wanted to get involved in another¡¯s domestic quarrel.

 Chapter 296 - A Claim for Damage (1)

    <h4>Chapter 296: A im for Damage (1)</h4>


    When there was tension, people tended to make either small or big mistakes.


    Especially when young and inexperienced soldiers were exposed to tension for too long, excessive stress would drive them crazy.


    The confrontation between Russia and Turkey on the ck Sea had been continuing for almost three months. As soldiers¡¯ patience was running out, finally something big happened. A shot was mistakenly fired from one of the Turkish naval vessels toward a Russian destroyer. The shot was not aimed as it only raised spray, but the Russian Navy immediately began to fire back at Turkish naval vessels.


    This became the trigger of the battle.


    Both parties were enraged and kept shooting at each other. Countless vessels were damaged because of the battle. This also caused some casualties. Nearby warships also joined the battle, the battlested for an hour.


    If missiles were shot, this could have developed into a full-scale war.


    Fortunately, the conflict was settled right away because the Navies of both parties admitted their faults not long after the battle and tried to resolve it together.


    Jong-il made ament while watching a TV reporter briefing about the incident.


    ¡°I knew that something was going to happen soon. It¡¯s bad enough that they have to stay like that for three months. If I were one of them, I¡¯d have alreadyunched a missile a long time ago.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s mind got busy as he watched the news.


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s not the important point here. Do you think any private ship will travel on the sea in this situation? Man, call them to stop all the ships now. If we get damaged by even just a single shot, it will be our loss.¡±


    Jong-il¡ªwho contacted a few people on his phone after taking Youngho¡¯s advice¡ªfrowned in frustration.


    ¡°A mineral bulk freighter from Kazakhstan is out of contact.¡±


    It was unlikely for naval vessels to misunderstand private vessels as warships, but Youngho could not shake off this bad feeling inside of him.


    ¡°Tell them to keep contacting the ship. The ship¡¯smunicator might be off for being too old.¡±


    The next day, Choi Sun-kil, the professional manager of Arirang Shipping flew to Zeynep Farm in Baku. His house was in Batumi, Georgia, and it was not far from Baku by flight.


    ¡°Did you hear anything from the bulk freighter?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Itsmunicator seems to be down. It¡¯s already been 18 hours since we heard from the vessel that it just passed the Bosporus Strait. It must have reached near the Sea of Azov by now.¡±


    The battle took ce in open waters that were about 250 kilometers south of Yalta Sea Port. It was right in the middle of the ck Sea. If 18 hours had passed since the bulk freighter left the Bosporus Strait, it would have sailed for about 600 kilometers with its maximum speed of 18 knots. Since the ck Sea¡¯s maximum distance was about 1,150 kilometers, there was a slight chance that the vessel might have been caught in the battle zone.


    ¡°Did you stop all of our vessels from sailing?¡±


    ¡°I told the vessels that belong to Arirang Shipping to stop sailing from wherever they are. But it¡¯s making me worry because half of them are on the Caspian Sea and half of them are on the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You know Turkish ports charge you a lot for using their dock. They won¡¯t care whether there was a battle or not.¡±


    No ports would let ships stay for free just because they were frozen because of a maritime battle. Despite the expensive cost of ports, ships could not stay in the outer port for a prolonged period of time because it would need to refill basic supplies such as gas, water, and food.


    ¡°We should pay for the vessels¡¯ port charges first. We can get it reimbursed from H Corporationter.¡±


    Youngho could not let the petty ship-owners pay for the high costs since they worked for Arirang Shipping. Although their ships were old, they were quite helpful for transporting minerals.


    ***


    Although Turkey and Russia had ceased firing at each other after both had admitted that the prior firing was idental, there was a possibility that they could start firing at each other again. Both leaders of the countries kept emphasizing that the battle was not intended to stop the expansion of the battle. However, even though both governments did not wish to fight, it was questionable whether their already furious navies would tolerate their desire to shoot artillery when they encountered each other in international waters. How many soldiers could keep their sanity when they had lost theirrades? They were more bound to start another fight especially because the two countries had been enemies for a long time.


    When Youngho served in the Navy before he applied to special forces, he also experienced a simr case. He was assigned in a warship in the western sea of Korea, and one day, he heard that one of the naval vessels¡ªChamsuri-ss patrol boat¡ªwas shot after it encountered a spy ship from North Korea. Youngho felt his blood boiling at the news. He could imagine what the Turkish and Russian navies must be experiencing at this moment. It was a feeling that he could not describe himself. Since the navies had been exposed to the high tension and had been stressed out for months, there was no doubt that there would be another fight.


    Youngho¡¯s concerns came straight into reality in a matter of days.


    There was another artillery duel between the two naval parties. Luckily, no vessels were damaged through the gunfire because of the high waves but this incident confirmed that the ck Sea was no longer safe now.


    Except for the naval vessels of the two countries, no other ships could stay in the ck Sea anymore.


    Youngho and his friends could note up with any solution for this even though they had been gathering at Zeynep Corporation¡¯s office in Baku to discuss the issue.


    ¡°Phew, this is not a small issue.¡±


    Listening to Youngho¡¯s remark mixed with his sigh, his friends had nothing to say.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we sail along the coastline?¡±


    Insoo, who had been quiet all along made a suggestion.


    ¡°The coastline?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s dangerous to sail in international waters because of the two countries, so we can sail around the territorial waters of those countries.¡±


    ¡°That will double our sailing distance. I¡¯m not sure if H Corporation will ept that too.¡±


    ¡°We are in an emergency situation now. H Corporation would better take this alternative if it stills wants minerals.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the second best n we got, and I like it. If there are no other ways, we should go with that n. Hey Jong-il, why don¡¯t youe with me? Let¡¯s go to the Main Police Department.¡±


    Although the ck Sea was not big, exclusive sea area was assigned in the sea territory. Since nations could not invade into the exclusive sea area, which would be a vition of the Internationalw, Insoo¡¯s suggestion was a good idea.


    Asking Jong-il toe to the Main Police Department was just an excuse. He suddenly had another idea to resolve this problem, so he wanted to discuss it with Jong-il. His solution was to mess up with the Russian side.


    The Russian government might be enjoying this situation now, since making a tension on the ck Sea was their scheme in the first ce. To break this long chain of tension, what Youngho could do was to draw Russia¡¯s attention to something else, so it could not focus on the ck Sea situation anymore.


    One of the most important businesses of Russia was oil crude and gas provision line. If the oil pipeline was damaged, Russia would have to suffer a huge loss.


    Youngho was thinking if he could manipte a terrorist attack on Russia¡¯s pipeline and sell fake information to Eriksson at the same time. This way, he would be able to pay back Russia that caused him a lot of profit loss and make up for his loss by selling the information to Eriksson.


    ¡°Jong-il. We should take action on this.¡±


    ¡°Man, you and I think the same way. I was thinking, Chechnya would be the easy victim.¡±


    ¡°Agreed, we won¡¯t get suspected that way. Let¡¯s cross the Georgian border. We need to recover what we have lost.¡±


    The oil and gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea was stretched to the ck Sea, and the pipeline that passed Chechnya was about 150 kilometers long. If that section was the only one to get damaged then Russia would only doubt Chechen rebels for the incident.


    ***


    ¡°Man, look at them. They¡¯re so rxed even though the ck Sea is in chaos.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il were crossing the border between Georgia and Chechnya through a roundabout route. Jong-il clicked his tongue because the border¡¯s security wasx. At the border of the two countries, a lot of Russian frontier guards resided. It was to prevent Chechen rebels and Imic radicals from crossing the border, but their level of security was ironically quite low.


    It was a well-known fact that Russian residential guards were corrupted that they even sold military supplies to rebels. At this moment when there was a battle going on at the ck Sea, the guards should tighten the security but many were spotted yawning and neglecting their duties.


    ¡°Man, I want to beat them up, but I¡¯ll take care of themter. So, where should we get the explosives?¡±


    ¡°We should sneak into their camp at night. We can¡¯t buy them in the ck market, right?¡±


    ¡°Do you remember the location of the pipeline?¡±


    ¡°Hey! You ttered me for having a genius brain the other day.¡±


    Before making a trip to Georgia, Youngho told Eriksson¡ªthe middleman of the Information Agency¡ªthat Chechen rebels were attacking Gazprom¡¯s oil pipeline that passed Chechnya. Since the Information Agency was an organization that sold ssified information to corporations and nations ahead of time and made money frommission, the agency would benefit from knowing important information about oil pipeline beforehand. The damage on an oil pipeline meant that the oil price would fluctuate soon, and when corporations or nations knew this ahead of time, they could make important business and domestic decisions ording to their analysis. This was also a great opportunity for Youngho to make some money for selling information to Eriksson.


    Eriksson did not ask where the information was from since he trusted Youngho who was a CIA agent. Youngho had given Eriksson just enough time for him to utilize the information, and at the same time, Youngho traveled to Almaty and return by train just to make his alibi secure. He bought a round-trip ne ticket but only used the half of it for now. Eriksson thought that he was still in Almaty. Since Youngho was building a new Arirang Hotel in Almaty, he had plenty of reasons to visit there.


    To deceive others, one should be able to deceive his own ally. Since the Information Agency¡¯s intelligencework was as great as the CIA, Youngho had gone through the trouble.


    ***


    All they had brought were pistols, some magazines, and flip knives.


    In order to bomb the oil pipeline, something more destructible like a bomb or a portable rocketuncher was needed. Thus, they decided to steal some heavy weaponry from a rearguard military unit.


    They were now at Urus-Martan where a mountainous border unit was located. Urus-Martan was a city in the north of the Caucasus Mountain Range. The city was most famous for being upied by Chechen rebels, mafias, and Imic radicals. Now, the rebels had be only nominal and only Imic radicals were still actively terrorizing Russia.


    ¡°What is this? Is this a military camp or just a training camp?¡±


    ¡°A rearguard unit doesn¡¯t need tight guarding.¡±


    ¡°Hey you won¡¯t need to pocket night-vision goggles, will you?¡±


    If the camp was at the border, such equipment would bemon but in a rearguard unit, it would be obvious if equipment like that was stolen.


    ¡°I can roughly see things at night too. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s vision was strengthened by the ring¡¯s power, so he did not have a problem distinguishing objects even when it was dark. It seemed that the guard was not as tight as China¡¯s border, and he would be able to steal weapons without any problem.


    ¡°There¡¯s a warehouse at ten o¡¯clock. I¡¯ll go search in that area, you stay here and cover me.¡±


    ¡°I look like a Chechen too.¡±


    The people of Chechnya did not suspect Youngho to be a foreigner because of the western features of his face and his mustache, but Jong-il looked like a traditional Asian. He would be detected as soon as he stepped his foot in the camp.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±


    Ignoring Jong-il¡¯s silly remark, Youngho jumped over the barbed-wire fence.


    It was about to be dinner time, and many soldiers could be spotted at the camp. They looked rxed since some of them were chatting with post guards and smoking cigarettes. This was a good time to move. After their day¡¯s schedule, soldiers would be off-guard the most.


    The camp was upied by regr soldiers and civilian employees, so Youngho was certain that he would not get suspected even if he walked around the camp in the open. Since he spoke Russian fluently, he was confident. Some of the people were even in their jogging suit.


    As darkness began to fall in the camp, Youngho casually walked toward the warehouse where there were no people around. He was looking around to see if he could get in the building through a window because the entrance was locked. Suddenly, a soldier walked towards the warehouse.


    He hesitated for a moment after looking at Youngho whose back was leaning towards the security light. He then slowly approached Youngho without suspicion because Youngho shrugged to him.


    Youngho approached him as well and asked if he had a cigarette.

 Chapter 297 - A Claim For Damage (2)

    <h4>Chapter 297: A im For Damage (2)</h4>


    People in civilian¡¯s clothes in a military camp were usually just civilian employees or people who belonged to intelligence groups. They usually treatedmon soldiers without respect since they looked down on them.


    Youngho would look exactly like one of the two kinds since he was in civilian¡¯s clothes at a military camp. He had asked for a cigarette to a soldier shamelessly and even asked why he was there.


    ¡°Your daily routines should be done now. What brings you here?¡±


    The soldier was reluctant to answer. He seemed nervous.


    ¡°It must be something you can¡¯t share. Okay, you can do your job and leave.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡±


    The soldier thanked him and saluted Youngho. Then he hastily reached to a chain of many keys on his waist and opened the entrance of the warehouse.


    Youngho¡¯s head spun due to the cigarette smoke because it had been so long since hest smoked but he pretended to be fine and scanned the inside of the warehouse through the open entrance.


    The lit warehouse was messy with all sorts of tools and disassembled guns. The warehouse that the soldier had opened was a gun repairing shop.


    The soldier quickly grabbed a stic bag that was located underneath a table and left to the direction of the barracks after locking the entrance. The stic bag showed the form of what was inside it. It seemed to be a bottle of liquor. The soldier¡¯s superior must have gotten the liquor through some kind of route during the day. Now that their daily routines were over, he would have assigned his underling to retrieve it for him. This kind of situation wasmon in any military camp.


    Most of arms repair shops in a military camp were not strictly guarded. The only thing that was locked was the entrance but windows were not carefully taken care of. Many soldiers would smoke during the day, so windows were always open and even when the shop was shut at night, people did not care to lock them.


    As Youngho had guessed, the windows on the side of the warehouse building opened without any resistance. After getting into the building with ease, using his enhanced vision, he looked around to see if there were any useful arms.


    Most of the weapons in a regr military camp would be easily fixed by recing parts and lubricating. It was because there were not a lot of high-technology weapons. Especially Russian weapons were simple and sturdy that many of them could be easily fixed by precise disassembling and reassembling even if they seemed to be broken at first. This meant that any of the weapons in the shop could be used by Youngho.


    Just in time, a weapon that stood out among others was spotted by Youngho¡¯s eyes.


    At one corner, a newly fixed portable rocketuncher was nicely disyed on the disy stand. Now if he could find some rockets, he would be able to bombard the oil pipeline.


    ¡°What took you so long? I was about to fall asleep.¡±


    Jong-il was careless even though his friend had risked danger to sneak into an enemy¡¯s camp.


    ¡°Dude, I was so nervous I thought my balls had shrunk.¡±


    ¡°What made you took so long? It doesn¡¯t seem to be soplicated.¡±


    ¡°I had a hard time locating rocketunchers.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Well done.¡±


    ¡°Dude! At least pretend to show some sympathy for your friend.¡±


    Not caring whether Youngho was upset or not, Jong-il began checking out the rocketuncher.


    Three rockets were taken from an armored vehicle standing nearby the warehouse. Because Youngho did not have something to carry the rockets, he took an old military uniform that was in a corner of the armored vehicle and wrapped it around the rockets.


    ¡°They¡¯ll freak out if we blow out three different parts.¡±


    ¡°Before we get to Georgia, let¡¯s mess up with this camp just a little. I think the whole unit will flip out if we mess up with the oil tank.¡±


    ¡°Man, we¡¯ll be sweating a lot this time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve alreadye up with a n to get paid for our sweat. Just wait.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Not knowing what Youngho was talking about, Jong-il only blinked his eyes.


    He had no idea that this operation was a im for damage that would make up for what Youngho had lost because of Russia. He was only thinking that they were doing it to distract Russia.


    ***


    The Caucasus Mountains inte September was quite chilly.


    Chechnya was sized as Gyeongsangbuk-do Province in Korean. It was located at the north pardon of the Caucasus Mountains between the Caspian Sea and the ck Sea. Most of the country¡¯s regions were at high altitude, and the winter started in October.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s chilly. Let¡¯s not try to camp outside in this weather. Why don¡¯t we blow out the pipeline tonight?¡±


    ¡°Because of the Chechen rebels, the security of the oil pipeline is strict now. I say we should wait until tomorrow. I don¡¯t even want to go over the mountain in the dark.¡±


    It was not a good idea to climb a mountain at night. There were too many obstacles and because of the uneven surface, it could drain people out pretty quickly. Therefore, Youngho refrained from climbing a mountain in the dark, especially when he was in the enemy¡¯s ground.


    As the night fell, it got even colder.


    The two made a fire but their backs were still cold.


    ¡°What could we have done if we didn¡¯t bring parka?¡±


    Since Youngho had visited Chechnya multiple times before, he prepared something warm to wear and a sleeping bag.


    ¡°What did I do wrong in my previous life that I get to sleep in the open so often like this?¡±


    Jong-il grumbled as he put on his parka.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got to do what we¡¯ve got to do. We can live afortable life, but we always get ourselves into something bigger than us.¡±


    Youngho felt sorry for Jong-il.


    Establishing the autonomous state was irrelevant from Jong-il but he was always the one who was dragged into what Youngho had started.


    ¡°Hey, hey! I didn¡¯t mean to me you for this. I was just wondering if we weren¡¯t from the special forces unit, would we still be doing something like this?¡±


    ¡°All I can say is that everything is possible because we have the ring and leather shoes.¡±


    If it were not for the mystical rings and leather shoes, which gave supernatural power for people who put them on, Youngho and Jong-il would not have riskeding here and getting involved in dangerous matters.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand this. So, exactly how did the people with abilities to make these magical relics fall? And why wouldn¡¯t people like that appear in this era?¡±


    Youngho also did not understand why.


    The relics that were in his hands had the power to annihte any enemy before him. If these had fallen into bad people¡¯s hands or if there were still people who could make these kinds of relics, the world would look different by now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know and there are so many things that we don¡¯t understand. The old literature did not mention anything about them. It just said that they¡¯d show great supernatural powers in time. I didn¡¯t believe it at first.¡±


    ¡°Your ring¡¯s color is turning transparent, and your physical abilities are enhanced but a single thing had changed with me.¡±


    Youngho wondered why.


    This could only be affecting a person that the ring had chosen or maybe it only happened to the first person who found and touched the ring.


    Come to think of it, Szechenyi also did not show any change. The color of his ring had changed until a certain point, and then it stopped changing its color. The ring maintained Szechenyi¡¯s health, but other than that it was nothing more.


    ¡°I am the chosen one.¡±


    ¡°Oh, boy. It¡¯s a supernatural relic but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s conscious.¡±


    It was a mystery.


    Could the relics have chosen for Youngho, who had cleaned them carefully after he found them? Could they have made him attracted to Fatima?


    One thing he was certain was that he was drawn to her from the moment he saw her, regardless of the truth of the rings and leather shoes. If connecting him and Fatima was a destiny set by someone else, it would make sense.


    Youngho shook his head.


    It is a matter that would take him some time to figure out.


    For now, he would have to focus on destroying the oil pipeline.


    Many people would suffer for this but this was the only option he had to stop Russia from its expansion n towards the whole world.


    He was also determined to make up for the loss this time. He would, in fact, make more than he lost from themission given by Eriksson through the Information Agency.


    ***


    ¡°Those guys look like they¡¯re specially trained. Look at their equipment! They¡¯re just like American soldiers.¡±


    Jong-il spoke in a nervous tone as he looked down with his telescope.


    The sections that were easy to ess were all upied by three soldiers as a team. They wore special armors. Their trenches were also hidden quite well that even Youngho and Jong-il could have overlooked them. They almost looked like bunkers.


    ¡°Jong-il. Let¡¯s go to other sections where it¡¯s not so easy to ess.¡±


    t areas were easy to attack but it was easy to be attacked back in reverse.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve brought a sniper rifle, man.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d get found as soon as we fired a shot in this short distance.¡±


    There was no guarantee that the enemy would not have a sniper as well. Also, they must have greatmunicationwork between trenches. Youngho and Jong-il could fire the rocket and run but that would fail to fulfill their n to shoot three shots.


    They might get trapped in the mountain of Chechnya even though they had the mystical leather shoes since they could be surrounded by the enemies. They decided to look around other sections to find a spot where the security was not tight.


    Investigating here and there in secret, another day passed.


    ¡°Man, we really underestimated the level of security here.¡±


    The Russian government was strictly guarding the oil pipeline. The two could not find any chance to get in there.


    ¡°Do you think they might have known ahead that we wereing?


    At Jong-il¡¯s remark, Youngho felt a prick at his conscience.


    ¡®Could Eriksson¡¯s agency have messed things up? Or did he sell the information to someone that¡¯s connected to the Russian government?¡¯


    However, there was no way for Youngho to find out the truth for now. He decided not to doubt without any leading clue. Eriksson and his rtionship were based on trust and if that trust was damaged, he would not be able to have business with Eriksson anymore.


    ¡°How would they know already? It¡¯s only between us. There must¡¯ve been terrorist frequent attackstely.¡±


    There might have been several attacks on the pipeline by Chechen rebels even though they were not featured on TV news.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel right that their security is too tight.¡±


    ¡°We should strike several sections where security is not so tight tonight.¡±


    It was the best to bomb different sections, leaving some space between them since that would elongate the restoration work. Bombing only one part would only take a few days to fix by shutting down the pipeline valve and recing the damaged section. Then, there would be no point for Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s attack on the pipeline.


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we blow up the pressurizing facility? That¡¯ll dy the repairing process.¡±


    ¡°Would three rockets be enough?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll first fire two shots and fire another when the oil and gas leaks. Then it¡¯s going to make a bigger explosion.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t make it too big, or it¡¯s going to have a huge aftermath effect.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you came here tomit a terrorist act. Now you¡¯re worried for others? What an irony!¡±


    Youngho worried that if he made too big of damage, the economy of whole Europe would shake but it was already shaken by the Crimean Penins situation.


    ¡°Alright. Russia will retreat from the ck Sea only if something big happened in its courtyard.¡±


    A pir of fire rose high to the sky.


    Youngho still felt the heat although he was standing 400 meters away from the fire. As heavy smoke reached where he was standing, Jong-il tapped him on the shoulder. He was ready to leave.


    The oil pipeline¡¯s pressurizing facility was being consumed by a fierce fire.


    That much of smoke and light could be caught by a satellite. Now that the work was done, the two had to get away as far as they could from the pipeline.


    The two t out ran toward Urus-Martan for about 90 kilometers with the help of the mystical ring and leather shoes. Even running 30 kilometers would be extremely hard for specially trained people, especially if it was on a mountainous path. However, the two had to distance themselves that much, so they would not be suspected.


    Only after they could see the light of a city under the mountain, they wiped their sweat and began to catch their breath.


    ¡°Man, there¡¯s nothing more spectacr than watching the fire burn. What a waste.¡±


    ¡°My heart is still pounding like crazy. It startled me to see how high the fire pir went up.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t remember the fire on the oil exploration ship in the Baku¡¯s sea?¡±


    ¡°That was half water and half oil, but this is an explosion of both gas pipeline and oil pipeline at the same time.¡±


    They truly had done something big.


    Russia would have to spend at least two to three months to restore the damage.


    All there was left to do was to mess up with the rearguard Russian unit in Urus-Martan before leaving. Then, Russia would have to solely focus on the region of Chechnya. When Russia¡¯s profit line was in trouble, the government would not be able to focus on other matters.


    There might as well be the second and third terror attacks on the pipeline. The Chechen rebels or Imic radicals might mimic the terror attack, thinking that it was effective on the Russian government.

 Chapter 298 - A Claim for Damage (3)

    <h4>Chapter 298: A im for Damage (3)</h4>


    Now that they were safe, Youngho and Jong-il felt extremely tired.


    The two made a bonfire between rocks and sat down.


    Jong-il began searching for food in his backpack.


    ¡°Do you still have somebat rations left?¡±


    ¡°What we hadst night were thest ones. I¡¯m starving. I¡¯ve got to eat an energy bar.¡±


    Since they had bombed the pipeline, made a fire in the military camp in Urus-Martan and run in the mountain for all night, it was about time they were hungry.


    The ce where they were taking a break now was Shovi, a mountainous vige in Georgia, near the border with Chechnya. At dawn, they set fire to an oil tank at the Russian military unit in Urus-Martan and ran to Georgia.


    Since Chechnya was a small country, running to Georgia was not a problem for both of them with their enhanced physical abilities but they were still tired, for they had been nervous all along.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they feature this on the news when two ces are wrecked?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. They just want to keep it a secret. I mean, it¡¯s not something to brag about. Russia wouldn¡¯t want another copycat terrorist attack.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the oil pipeline but I what about the military campfire? They can¡¯t hide that. The whole people of Urus-Martan know about it.¡±


    The Russian government could also take advantage of this to me Chechen rebels and Imic radicals and pressure Chechnya. It would be revealed what the government was after soon.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move. I think it¡¯ll only tire us if we stayed here for longer.¡±


    ¡°At least I feel refreshed for ying with a firework in a long time.¡±


    They went back to Almaty through aplex route and came back to Baku by flight in order to secure their alibis. The world had gotten in an uproar for a while.


    Chechen Imic radicals had announced that they were the ones who attacked the oil pipeline to the press even though that was not true. It was their way to warn the Russian government. Youngho wondered how they found out about the explosion. He was dumbfounded by their reckless action.


    ¡°Man, they¡¯re indeed radicals. Would Russia leave them alone if they do this?¡±


    ¡°They just want to attract the whole world¡¯s attention to this matter.¡±


    ¡°It was reported that it¡¯ll take at least two months to restore the pipeline.¡±


    The TV news was reporting the economic loss and restoration period, referring to experts¡¯ quotes.


    The aftermath of the explosion of the pipeline was great.


    Russia had directly lost a few billion dors for not being able to export oil crude and its indirect loss was even hard to estimate. The Russian Army was spotted to move to Chechnya in the end.


    Watching the news, Youngho had a smile of satisfaction on his face.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s find what¡¯s been going on at the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think Russia will take some time to retreat from the sea?¡±


    ¡°You know, Chechen Imic radicals are officially announcing that they¡¯ll continue to attack Russia¡¯s properties. Russia will have to act fast in order to stop them.¡±


    Ironically, Azerbaijan was benefiting from the attack on the Chechen oil pipeline.


    It was because the price of oil crude from the Caspian coast had gone up.


    Zeynep Security Service now had more work requests since the Azerbaijani government had asked to guard its oil pipeline. The government was concerned that Imic radicals would bomb their pipeline connected to Turkey.


    Cha Insoo was worried that the security guards would get hurt if thepany took the job. Being the actual terrorists, Youngho and Jong-il, had to hold back theirughter.


    ¡°Insoo. I already inquired about this at the CIA¡¯s European chapter and confirmed that this was only a problem within Chechnya. It¡¯s irrelevant from Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°You think those terrorists will care which pipeline will get bombed? I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about a thing and just send the new recruits there.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t even speak Azerbaijani yet...¡±


    Many hotels in Istanbul relied on Zeynep Security Service for their security. The security guards of thepany had been getting great reviews for being trustworthy hard workers. Because of the growing demand for more guards, thepany had recruited 30 more employees who had formerly served in the Korean Navy Special Forces Unit just like other security guards.


    They came excited to work in a foreign setting but they had only been locked in Zeynep Farm for the past two months since they needed a lot of cultural, linguistic, and physical training. It seemed to be a good time for them to start working in the field now.


    ***


    ¡°The recent information you gave me was very useful.¡±


    Eriksson simplymented.


    Useful information meant that he satisfied his customers with the information. Since Youngho gave him a specific period of time of the attack, it would have served him well.


    ¡°I¡¯m d it was useful. I think Russia¡¯s policy would change because of this too.¡±


    ¡°Well, that was something we¡¯ve been expecting. The southward policy will be dyed for a while. The conflict in the autonomous state in eastern Ukraine will calm down as well.¡±


    Surprisingly, Eriksson was slipping out some valuable information. Youngho was not sure if he was doing it on purpose or if he just assumed that Youngho knew about this already.


    ¡°Since armed Chechen rebels allegedly said that they will join to provoke Russia soon. Small and big incidents will continue to happen.¡±


    ¡°What will happen from now on does not mean much to my customers anymore. This has already been reflected in the market. A gift to you will arrive soon, Mr. Lee. Since our customers are greatly satisfied this time, you can expect something big.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ll talk to you next time.¡±


    The tension of the ck Sea was already predicted, but the pipeline situation¡¯s effect was great. Russia suffered a huge loss¡ªYoungho and Eriksson were benefited by that. Although Youngho received the damage for his businesses from an unexpected entity, it did not matter to him. All he needed to know was that the ck Sea would be open soon.


    The evacuation of the Russian Navy Fleet that had been at the ck Sea which happened five days after Youngho and Jong-il returned to Baku. Having lost their purpose of being there, the Turkish Navy Fleet was also pulled out not long after that.


    Arirang Shipping¡¯s Choi Sun-kil called Youngho to inform him that the blockade of Bosporus Strait was also lifted. As the ck Sea was quieted down, the prices that had been going up, then began to fall at once. Although the provision of daily necessities was not fully normalized yet, the security in people¡¯s mind had stopped the rising prices.


    All of the ships that had been tied down began sailing again in the ck Sea.


    Jong-ilined that his waiting time was extended because of the ships flocking to the Volga-Don Canal at once.


    ¡°Man, we¡¯ve done a useless job. I miss the old time when there were no ships here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what dreadful thing have we done? I don¡¯t remember a thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, forget it.¡±


    ¡°Russia will make up for its damage because of canal charge.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Chechen rebels and Imic radicals were nowpetitively attacking Russia. The explosion of the pipeline and the fire in the military unit seemed to have motivated them. They were certain that someone who belonged to either organization had done those since there was no reason for them to catch fire without an outside force.


    Russian military facilities all over the Chechnya including the capital city, Grozny, were attacked by the rebel forces. Eventually, the situation got out of control that Russia had assigned their specialized units in all over Chechnya.


    What Youngho and Jong-il had sown was bing out of control now.


    ***


    The harvest season of Zeynep Farm and the Charles Farm had begun.


    This year, the national broadcast of Azerbaijan came out to report the scenes of cultivation. Zeynep Farm had now be a major attraction that it was one of the first spots that people showed when foreigners visited the country. It was because the farm was equipped with arge-scale vineyard, modern winery facilities, and oak cask production factory.


    Moreover, because the Azerbaijani government had been trying to attract agricultural investment and development in the country, Zeynep Farm was a perfect exhibit for the purpose. It was a sessful case of foreign investment, so the government was taking advantage of the farm to promote its agricultural development n.


    Baku was a dry ce just like Kazakhstan, but because of the plenty water source from the Caucasus Mountain Range, people did not worry about water deficiency. Especially, Zeynep Farm had a stream that had arge volume of water despite its small size, so the farm was immensely benefited by it.


    Rich amount of daily sunshine, huge daily temperature range, dry climate, and other factors made grapes with great taste. In addition to that, the wine that was aged in oak casks for years in the dead mines at the Serbian Ranch was now widely-known as premium wine.


    Baku¡¯s liquor retailers kept asking Youngho to distribute Zeynep Wine to Baku¡¯s market but Youngho had been rejecting them. There were not enough quantity of wine for domestic sales since every wine was distributed to Russia and the European market. Youngho also did not want topete with business people of Baku since he knew how dirty they could get.


    Common Azerbaijanis were usually kind and innocent people, but business people did not have ethics.


    ¡°Boss. That guy¡¯s here again.¡±


    Gerhardt informed that a liquor retailer was visiting as he entered Youngho¡¯s office on Zeynep Farm.


    ¡°Gerhardt, I told you that you need to reject them.¡±


    ¡°He came with a business card of a high government official. I can¡¯t handle this on my own.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I can¡¯t give him anything from the export volume. I don¡¯t know what I can do. Okay, please escort him in.¡±


    It seemed that the retailer decided to use his connection to a high government official because he could not turn Youngho¡¯s mind on his own. Youngho was d to hear that someone wanted his wine so badly, but there was nothing he could do.


    After a moment, a huge man in his 40s entered the room.


    A mid-aged man called Minerva Jetman lousily introduced himself and began to talk about whom he was introduced by, and how he was rted to high officials.


    ¡°Have you tasted Zeynep Wine?¡±


    ¡°I fell in love with the wine when I tasted your wine at Arirang Hotel in downtown. Oh, would you please let me sell your wine at my store?¡±


    ¡°You must already know this but most of our wine is exported to Russia and some of them are sold to Turkey and Germany. It¡¯s not a lie when I say that we don¡¯t have enough quantity for you. If I decided to distribute the wine in the domestic market, I¡¯ll also be viting the contract with my buyer and have to pay for my buyer¡¯s damage.¡±


    ¡°I heard that you bought farms nearby the Charles Farm. I assume you have more products now.¡±


    He must have researched about Youngho¡¯s business pretty well.


    ¡°Those farms are on test harvest this year. They¡¯d be producing grapes at full scale starting from next year.¡±


    ¡°Can you at least let me sell some for a limited time? It¡¯s a sad thing that Azerbaijanis can¡¯t have what was produced in theirnd.¡±


    Youngho did not have anything to say but he had given up the domestic market because of the local business people. He sent the retailer away after saying that he would consider it for now.


    ¡°Boss. That Jetman guy doesn¡¯t have a bad reputation. Well, it¡¯s not so great either though.¡±


    Gerhardt had inquired about him. In Baku, that much of reputation meant that he was a good businessman. Since most of the businessmen¡¯s reputation was horrible.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should ignore him since he is connected to a high government official.¡±


    Although Youngho also had connection to Sevan of the Main Police Department and the president, it was always great to have more connections and good rtionships with other officials too in Azerbaijan.


    ¡°He seems to be pretty well-off. Why don¡¯t we provide him premium-quality wine? With that price range, you won¡¯t have topete with other small-scale vineyards.¡±


    ¡°The ones that I provide to Arirang Hotel? Wouldn¡¯t that be too expensive?¡±


    ¡°You cannot refuse to sell our wine to the domestic market forever. Why don¡¯t wepromise and say that we¡¯d only be providing premium-quality wine to Baku? Baku is not a huge market but considering our image, we should promote high-quality, expensive wine.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s then provide him 5-year-aged wine. Let¡¯spete with the French and Italian brands.¡±


    French and Italian wines were known as the best-tasting wine, but Youngho was confident that Zeynep Wine was better.

 Chapter 299 - An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (1)

    <h4>Chapter 299: An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (1)</h4>


    The grape festival began at Zeynep Farm.


    It was a yearly grape-picking event and gathering for the employees of the Korean embassy and Korean corporations, and the parents of the international school. Since machine harvester always left grapes on small branches behind, the farm needed people¡¯s hands to finish the harvest. It was an easy process of stripping off a small branch by a sweeping motion.


    People would be covered in grape juice after working for an hour. Since it was a fun activity for many people, the involvement of the festival had been growing every year. Even if they were not invited, people would just show up to join the festival.


    The festival would start on Friday of the week when the machine harvest was finished and end in the following Sunday afternoon. In the Saturday evening, the reservoir on the farm would be so crowded since themb meat barbecue party was held. Themb meat was provided from the Serbian ranch.


    The farm was already upied by wine factory employees, the descendants of the Serbian knights, and security service recruits but since they were scattered in the vast farm, it was usually quiet. But, the farm was so crowded now because of the people who came to the festival.


    Youngho¡¯s kids were excited to see so many people. Jelyan was looking around here and there holding Leon in one hand. As Youngho gestured her toe, she hastily came toward him with Leon who waddled toward him as well.


    Leon and Jelyan were always followed by two Serbiands because they worried about their security. Since Leon would be their Archduke in the future, they did not want him to be without a guardian. Jelyan tried to wave them off as if she was bothered by them. Youngho smiled looking at them.


    He took them in each of his hand and went around greeting visitors.


    People asked Youngho to make a lodging facility for visitors on the farm. The reason was that they could not drink too much wine since they needed to drive back home. Youngho thought that he was doing a service for their family by sending them back home before it was toote.


    It was already after eleven o¡¯clock at night as he saw thest visitors out of the farm.


    Fatima and the kids were already asleep as if they were exhausted for taking care of the visitors. It was only an annual event but there were so many things to be prepared just to receive so many guests. People who had prepared Korean food would know that they took a lot of preparation time. Also, when foreigners were around, their taste had to be considered.


    The reason that Youngho held this event in the first ce was to serve Koreans who struggled to make it inside a foreign country. In fact, just leaving the grapes on the vine was more profitable for Youngho since he used quite a lot of money for the festival but there were about a hundred Koreans living in Baku. He just wanted to make a day to feel like they were in their hometown.


    Youngho did not forget to give Korean products to the guests as they left the farm, and people were always grateful for Youngho¡¯s caring heart. Although he was losing money for this, he did not mind. People¡¯s smile and satisfaction were enough of a reward for him.


    ***


    ¡°Are you sure that the festival is over already?¡±


    Jong-il, who had been gone to Istanbul during the festival period, was sorry.


    ¡°Hey, did you say that the Turkish government made you pay more for their wharf?¡±


    Since the open waters of the ck Sea had been unsafe to sail around, Cha Insoo had suggested sailing along the territorial waters of each country.


    It had reduced the distance between each stop, and this could in fact help vessels to distribute more goods as they could be reloaded at each stop. As for H Corporation, their distance of delivery would be longer now but it was something they could be happy about since they had now secured a safer route to deliver minerals.


    ¡°I think the government had some economic damage for the recent incident and is now charging more for any public facility. I think we¡¯d better find another port in Georgia.¡±


    ¡°Should I ask Philip to look for one?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we should keep asking him a favor for private matters.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d rather be d if we did that. He¡¯s always eager to help us, just to repay us.¡±


    Ever since Youngho and Jong-il rescued Philip who was abducted in Nagorno-Karabakh, he had been indebted for his life.


    In order to find out what was going on in Armenia and to meet Philip, it was about time they visited Tbilisi, Georgia.


    Because Park Jong-il was too busy, Youngho took Kim Il-kwon to Tbilisi.


    Kim Il-kwon had been busy for managing the Charles Farmtely. Since his family from North Korea had been stabilized, and he was a father now, he had nothing to be jealous of.


    People around Youngho were usually the ones who suffered greatly in the past and had sorrows. Many of them had regained hope of life because of Youngho¡¯s help. Many who suffered a great pain would not be so open and faithful to other people, but it was a blessing that his friends were all trustworthy.


    Youngho was willing to let them go if they wanted to leave him to find their own lives. That was why Youngho divided his business and gave them to his friends. It was to encourage them to do something else with that money if they wanted to.


    It was when the two just came out from the entry of the country, in Tbilisi¡¯s international airport.


    ¡°Boss. Look over there.¡±


    Where Il-kwon pointed his finger at the Asian man and woman. Looking like backpackers, they were exining things to security guards in English. They looked flustered.


    Youngho approached near them quietly and smiled inside because he spotted Korean ramen. It seemed that they were new around here. They must have brought ramen as an emergency food in case they were sick of foreign food, but they had no idea where Georgia was.


    A Russian poet and novel writer Alexander Pushkin had once said, ¡°every Georgian dish is a poem.¡± Georgian food was the best in East Europe that even it becamemon in Russia.


    Their belongings on the security device consisted of gifts such as high-quality pens and catalogs of electronic products. Youngho could tell that they must be from a tradingpany.


    ¡°Boss. Why do you smile like that?¡±


    ¡°It just feels like I¡¯m looking at myself in the past.¡±


    As Youngho spoke to Il-kwon in Korean, the woman in her mid-20s screamed and asked if they were Koreans.


    ¡°Please calm down. Can you tell me why you¡¯re in trouble?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Younghoughed so hard to the point that he cried as he listened to the story of the new Korean friends.


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed that we did not have enough knowledge about the country. As employees of a tradingpany, we should¡¯ve known better.¡±


    The two young people were new employees of S Corporation. They worked in Turkey but they signed up to go to Georgia just because someone rmended the ce.


    They just got hired in February and as they were sent to a new location to sell thepany¡¯s products as they were just getting used to thepany¡¯s culture. They were struggling to describe what their items were to the security guard, and Youngho, together with Il-kwon had appeared just in time to save them.


    Youngho¡¯s passport of a U.S. diplomat was a free-pass in Georgia so he could take them away without difficulty. They were in trouble because their items were too expensive and the security guards wanted to make them pay tax for the gifts.


    As Youngho exined that they could easily get themselves out of trouble by giving gifts or money to taxman or policeman, they nodded. They could have gotten help from other employees of the S Corporation¡¯s branch in Tbilisi, but it seemed that thepany was training them the hard way.


    Youngho had now helped the two Korean employees and bought them coffee. It was time for them to walk away but they were reluctant to get up. They were desperately expecting something from him, and he could not wave them away.


    Knowing that Youngho was a U.S. diplomat who traveled freely around Georgia from Azerbaijan, they wanted to see if they could sell their products to him. Although their attitude as a salesperson was admirable, it was all a bother to Youngho who was busy with his work.


    So, Youngho decided to see how long they wouldst.


    They also felt friendly as his own little brother and sister.


    ¡°You two don¡¯t seem to have a specific destination now.¡±


    ¡°You helped us in the first ce. How about helping us until the end? You know they say even brushing past a person is fate.¡±


    They were determined to follow Youngho around.


    ¡°You¡¯re not trying to sell stuff to me. Do you want me to introduce you to local people who might be interested in your products?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You are a local person. Who else would we need to find?¡±


    They were being rather bold now.


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll take care of your day today. I can¡¯t be so cold-blooded to turn my back to Koreans whom I met in a foreignnd. Il-kwon, can you bring these fes to the hotel? I¡¯ll talk to Philip and follow you.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il hyung will kill me if I left you alone, Boss. I¡¯ll rather wait for you at the airport¡¯s cafeteria.¡±


    As Il-kwon called him as a boss, the two young employees looked at Youngho with respectful eyes.


    ¡°I heard that there is a decent open-air storage yard near the Poti Sea Port. The staffs seemed to wee foreign ships.¡±


    Any countries liked to have foreign vessels moored at their port since foreign people would spend a lot of money while they stayed. Especially when vessels would sign a contract toe routinely to unload their cargo, their vessel staffs would reside around the port to look after their cargo. This had a great impact on the city¡¯s economy.


    ¡°The storage yard and wharf charge would be much cheaper than Turkey.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just cheaper. If you think about Georgia¡¯s prices, you can consider it free.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have to lobby the wharf staffs?¡±


    ¡°It looks like they¡¯re going to lobby you in reverse. They¡¯d be happy to see you. Why don¡¯t we meet the staff from Maritime Affairs and Port Office tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°I owe you big for this, Philip.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t say that. I¡¯m d that I can be of help.¡±


    If Youngho could have a sessful business with the port this time, it would not matter if the ck Sea turned upside down from now on.


    In fact, he wanted it to be turned upside down again.


    If a shippingpany kept on doing its business despite the danger, any shippers would want to ship their goods through thatpany.

 Chapter 300 - An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (2)

    <h4>Chapter 300: An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (2)</h4>


    26-year-old Suh Min-seok and 24-year-old Kim In-hwa of S Corporation were the young people that Youngho met at the airport in Tbilisi.


    ¡°So, you two were recruited around the same time? You two are so friendly with each other, like old friends.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been helping each other a lot since we came to thepany. To be honest, she¡¯s actually being rude to me even though I¡¯m her oppa.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Suh Min-seok, I¡¯m going to remember that forever.¡±


    Kim In-hwa red at him, but he did not mind that at all. It seemed like they had been doing this quite often.


    Youngho enjoyed watching the two energetic young people. They felt like bouncy balls to him.


    Not understanding young South Korean people¡¯s unreserved words and actions to each other, Kim Il-kwon only chewed on his food without a word.


    Youngho invited them to dinner and they impressed him for showing up in formal suits. They also had great table manners. Having such manners despite being new recruits, they must have been trained strictly by thepany or they must be from well-off families.


    They did not seem to hesitate, and they also acted without constraint that they made Youngho thought about himself.


    ¡®Did I act like them eight years ago?¡¯


    It had been eight years already since Youngho came to the Caucasus. Time flew so quickly.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I heard that you do business with secretary Kim. We¡¯re wondering if your business is rted to what we¡¯re selling.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Are you going to start selling your products to me from now on?¡±


    ¡°No. We were just curious. You saved us today and treated us with a high-quality hotel restaurant dinner. We wanted to know if there was anything we could do to repay you.¡±


    Being employed at S Corporation¡ªwhich was a globalpany¡ªhad made them proud.


    ¡°I only helped you because you reminded me of my past. I received a lot of help from other Koreans in the past. If you meet a Korean who¡¯s in need of help in a foreignnd in the future, please go ahead and help him.¡±


    What Youngho said was contradicting to what he had really experienced. He actually never received any help from other Koreans in here. He only lied to make them feel better.


    The next day, Youngho met someone from Maritime Affairs and Port Office and signed a contract to use the open-air storage yard.


    As of the moment, the yard was full of scrap metals and any vessel would have to wait a month until it could store its cargo there. A month¡¯s time was all Arirang Shipping needed to empty its cargo from the Turkish port.


    The Poti Sea Port that Youngho just contracted with was located close to the Sea of Azov which could be reached aftering out of the Volga-Don Canal. This route could shorten the distance for about 1,600 kilometerspared to using the Istanbul route which was longer and costed more than the Volga-Don Canal. This could benefit H Corporation and other bulk freighter owners that worked for Arirang Shipping.


    Most of all, Youngho liked the fact that whatever happened in the ck Sea would not matter to the vessels since they would be moving alongside the coastlines.


    He did not need to worry every time something bad happens in the ck Sea showed up on the TV news.


    There was no way that he would blow out the Chechen oil pipeline whenever Russia would do something bad. Although he possessed supernatural abilities, there were always risks for doing such dangerous work.


    Youngho was tired of feeling nervous every time he had to do something dangerous. A single bullet could take away his life. It would be a lie to say that he was not worrying about a thing.


    If he was really concerned about his family, he should stop doing something reckless. He was lucky that he survived so many different missions that he was sent to.


    Now that he knew the mineral sales and distribution line would be secured for the Arirang Autonomous State, he regretted having made such reckless decision.


    Youngho was already in his mid-30s and it seemed like a good time to be more cautious for himself. He wished that his decision to stay safe wouldst long.


    ***


    ¡°Please forgive our rude behaviors yesterday. We did not know that you¡¯re a chairman.¡±


    ¡°Why are you acting all formal suddenly?¡±


    ¡°We contacted the headquarters of S Corporation, and the information team informed us that you are working on a huge project with H Corporation in Kazakhstan. We were told to treat you in a respectful manner.¡±


    ¡®Have I be so famous now? S Corporation must have known about my existence as well.¡¯


    The corporation must know about him.


    H Corporation and S Corporation were the top twopanies andpetitors in Korea. S Corporation must know what H Corporation was up to. They did notpete with each other directly since their products were in different categories, but they were both globalpanies that tried to dominate the Korean economy.


    ¡°I¡¯m only an agent for H Corporation. I¡¯m just a businessman in his 30s, and I don¡¯t feelfortable being called a chairman.¡±


    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll call you a CEO. Anyway, we were told to visit Kazakhstan alongside you. So, we¡¯ll have to follow you around for even longer.¡±


    They looked stern.


    ¡°Why do I need to take you there?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to go back. Thepany ordered us to follow you around until we learn everything we need to learn from you, or we would have to resign.¡±


    ¡®They¡¯re ordered to study my work?¡¯


    It seemed like their superior had done some brain work.


    It made Youngho smile.


    ¡°Yourpany¡¯s president must be a gang member.¡±


    ¡°We wish to work under someone that is as great as you are.¡±


    ¡°You know, I never let go of the people who came from under my wings. Will you guys be fine with that?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    At Batumi¡¯s airport, autumn rain was falling.


    Batumi was the wettest ce among all the cities near the ck Sea.


    The annual precipitation in Batumi was about 2,500 millimeters and most of the rain poured down in fall. Compared to Kazakhstan, Batumi was immensely blessed.


    A limousine for special guests was waiting at the airport.


    It was a vehicle that Youngho bought for VIP guests of Arirang Hotel.


    It must be either Cho Chul-hwan or Um Sang-taek¡¯s joke since they were already informed by Kim Il-kwon that Youngho would be visiting. As they heard that Youngho was bringing two young people, they wanted to see how they would react.


    ¡°What are you doing? Get on.¡±


    They were reluctant to get on the car. It was quite contrastive from their proud attitude from the first day. They had never been on this expensive limousine.


    The hotel was only ten minutes away from the airport, but it almost took them half an hour to get there because of the heavy rain and the heavy traffic. As the car drove uphill, they could see the modern-style hotel. Seeing that the hotel was named Arirang Hotel in English, the two suddenly got busy searching on their phones.


    They were surprised that the hotel¡¯s name was Arirang. S Corporation must not have informed the two about his hotel, or maybe the people there had no idea who Youngho really was.


    ¡°Excuse me, Mr. CEO. I searched Arirang Hotel on the Inte and it seemed like the hotel is also in Moscow, Frankfurt, Baku, and South Ossetia. The owner must be Korean.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s one in Atyrau in Kazakhstan. I guess it¡¯s not being promoted well on the Inte yet.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim must have been busytely. We¡¯ve done so much work for Atyrau¡¯s Arirang Hotel.¡±


    Youngho had never searched Arirang Hotel on the Inte. He only asked because he was curious. He was not sure how the two newbies took his words, but they looked dumbfounded.


    Cho Chul-hwan¡ªthe general manager¡ªand other employees came to receive Youngho¡¯s group at the hotel lobby.


    ¡°Hey! Why did you send the limo? What would we use if an important VIP came?¡±


    ¡°Look at the sky. It looks like there¡¯s a hole in the sky. Should I have let you take a cab?¡±


    ¡°Do you have some fresh fish? I have some guests with me. I want to treat them.¡±


    ¡°Are those your guests?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Mr. Suh Min-seok and Miss. Kim In-hwa,e and say hi to my friend. He¡¯s the president of Arirang Hotel in Batumi.¡±


    The two busily greeted him without knowing what was going on.


    They were intimidated by Chul-hwan¡¯s look since he was big and bulky.


    ¡°Dude, you need to lose some pounds. What is the hotel¡¯s fitness center for?¡±


    ¡°I have no time to work out these days. You are the one who makes your employees overwork. Where is my vacation?¡±


    Despite the ck Sea situation, Batumi¡¯s summer business was doing great. Although the sea was uproarious, the sky route andnd route were fine. Since there had been frequent affairs at the ck Sea, many well-off people did not mind enjoying their summer vacation.


    ¡°There are people whoe to the hotel to enjoy their vacation. This is a great ce for you to enjoy. Where else would you go? Huh? Or you coulde to the autonomous state and sweat the summer away while you instruct the Countryside Force soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m d to hear that. I¡¯ll put Sang-taek in charge of the hotel, and I¡¯lle to the autonomous state with you so I could do some exercises and lose some weight.¡±


    The two followers of Youngho listened to their conversation carefully as if they did not want to miss a single word.


    ***


    Baku¡¯s airport was crowded with travelers.


    The Hotel didn¡¯t have that many travelers in the summer because it was too hot, but it was popr among European travelers during the fall season.


    Youngho¡¯s followers were even astounded to see that Youngho and Il-kwon left through the VIP lounge. They were surprised because they thought that only presidents or high officials could use such a lounge.


    It was alreadymon for important guests from a global corporation to stay at a VIP lounge, but they didn¡¯t know that. It only took five minutes for them to pass the security check and finish the entry procedure. Waiting for the luggage of Youngho¡¯s followers took most of their time since their luggage came out from the cargo section of the airne. Youngho¡¯s followers were still in shock as they drank their coffee at the VIP lounge.


    Since Youngho feltzy to exin everything, he just let them think whatever they were thinking.


    ¡°Well, you guys are still my guests. I should take you to my home.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. We don¡¯t want to bother you and your family. We¡¯ll find a ce to stay in downtown. If you let us know where your office is located, we¡¯lle and meet you again in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re asking me to work on a Saturday as well.¡±


    The two who got carried away by what had happened today seemed to have lost track of time. Youngho had nned to spend time with his family tomorrow, but his n was ruined because of the new guests.


    ¡°Wow! It feels like we went back in time on a time machine. Look! There¡¯s a remaining part of an old castle!¡±


    The two newbies continued uttering an exmation forgetting who was standing beside them.


    On the way back to the farm, Youngho took a detour to show them around the old town of Baku. He wanted to show them that Baku was a city with history.


    ¡°Okay, I think we¡¯ve seen enough. It¡¯s alreadyte. You can rest at the farm tonight and take a tour around downtown with our staff.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t your staff have to take a break tomorrow?¡±


    Since new recruits of the security servicepany were staying at the farm, Youngho thought that they could get along well.


    ¡°Some of the staff will probably go to downtown tomorrow.¡±


    As they drove to the rural side leaving behind the city area, the two newbies¡¯ faces turned dark. It was quite amusing to watch their faces change.


    ***


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    Jelyan and Leon greeted Youngho as they hugged him.


    They were also followers of Youngho.


    ¡°You¡¯re early. I thought you were going to look around downtown. So, these are the ones you talked about?¡±


    The guests were frozen to see a beautiful foreigner, Fatima, speaking in fluent Korean.


    ¡°Guys, this is my wife and they¡¯re my kids. The bigger one is Jelyan and the little one is Leon.¡±


    As Youngho finished talking, kids ran toward the new guests.


    Since Jelyan could not speak both English and Korean fluently, she speedily talked to them in French, and Leon bbered English words to them. The two guests did not know how to react to the kids.


    ¡°Jelyan. You need to speak in English to this unni and oppa.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s hard to say what I want to say.¡±


    Kim In-hwa was talking to the kids as she brought herself down to the children¡¯s level, but Suh Min-seok looked like he would take a while before he could speak to Youngho¡¯s family.


    He was stunned to see Fatima.


    It was probably because she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. He was having a hard time matching Youngho and her together.


    ¡°Okay, Mr. Suh Min-seok, you can use that room and Miss. Kim In-hwa, you can use the room at the end of the hall.¡±


    Youngho unpacked his belongings and took a shower beforeing downstairs.


    Youngho¡¯s followers followed him down to the first floor.


    ¡°Should I warm chopped noodle soup for them? Mother made it today because you¡¯reing.¡±


    The one she referred to as ¡®Mother¡¯ was Yun-suh¡¯s mother-inw and Sang-chun¡¯s mother who was now permanently staying at Zeynep Farm with Youngho¡¯s family.


    ¡°Alright. Please make it spicy.¡±


    Fatima who turned around to head to the kitchen looked especially beautiful today.


    Youngho had to take his eyes off Fatima because Leon pulled his pants asking to y with him.

 Chapter 301 - An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (3)

    <h4>Chapter 301: An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (3)</h4>


    Morning came, and Youngho awoke to the boisterous sound of the people in the house. As he headed towards downstairs, Kim In-hwa¡¯s face was flushed as if she had juste back from a morning walk.


    Leon, who just woke up, giggled as he leaned toward Kim In-hwa.


    Suh Min-seok was thest one to wake up. He went outside to look around and came back with an astounded expression on his face. He was surprised by the size of the farm. Since he came to the farmtest night, he was not able to get a good view of the farm at that time.


    ¡°Is this really a vineyard? How much wine would a vineyard of this size produce in a year?¡±


    ¡°Hey, are you here to take a census on my house and farm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just couldn¡¯t get over how big your farm is but I¡¯m still curious. Any salesperson can¡¯t let go of things until their curiosity is resolved.¡±


    Suh Min-seok said boldly although he was merely a newly hired salesperson at hispany. It made Younghough.


    ¡°Well, we produce a little less than three million bottles. I¡¯ve got a smaller factory too, and it produces about 500,000 bottles.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He did not seem to get a huge number of bottles.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are those numbers too small for you?¡±


    ¡°I only know how many soju bottles are in each box. It¡¯s hard for me to estimate how many bottles those are.¡±


    ¡°My vines produce 400 gallons of grape extract per each acre. I heard that vines from Australia and California produce 500 gallons per acre, but the taste of the wine made in the Caucasus is the best in the world.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I heard wines made in France and Italy taste the best.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea that Georgia had been producing wine for thousands of years. The Caucasus is the hometown of wine.¡±


    ¡°I searched about this regionst night but I still have so much to learn.¡±


    Anything on the Inte about this region was either from a traveler¡¯s blog or a simple information from the encyclopedia. If one really wanted to learn about a country, he would have to live there for several years. There were still a ton of things that Youngho did not know about the regions of Central Asia. There was no way for Suh Min-seok to know everything overnight.


    ¡°So, how would you like to take a look at the farm from the sky?¡±


    ¡°You mean with a drone? I guess that¡¯d be amazing!¡±


    After finishing their breakfast, Youngho left to the airfield on the farm with his guests.


    ¡°I feel like we¡¯re on a farm in California or Argentina since we have to use a car to look around the farm.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been to those ces. Have you traveled to many ces?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve overdone myself because I wanted to make my profile look good. I made money through working part-time jobs and went backpacking to several ces.¡±


    He seemed to be a responsible and sensible person since he made money for what he set out to do. He must have worked for more than a year to collect that much money to travel to foreignnds. It seemed that young people in Korea still struggled to get a job and to build a great-looking resume. It was true that getting employed in Korea got even more difficult these days.


    Youngho felt sorry for the young fes in Korea. Although they were hired by S Corporation, which was one of the toppanies in Korea, it was a little harsh and reckless that thepany sent them to follow Youngho around. It seemed that their superior wanted to move Youngho¡¯s heart through thepany¡¯s young recruits. The young recruits would have had no other choice but toply with what they were asked to do.


    He did not want to me the young followers. Regardless of what their superior must be thinking, it was Youngho who decided to help them at the airport and made the acquaintance of them.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this is totally safe. Just get on the ne. It¡¯s equipped with parachutes and I can assure you that this is the safest airne ever.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He should not have mentioned ¡®parachutes.¡¯


    The young fes were reluctant to get on the four-seater Cessna airne.


    They did not trust Youngho that much yet to entrust their own lives to him.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got two more safety features. On top of having parachutes for each person here, there is also a parachute for the whole airne and a lifeboat. Isn¡¯t that perfect? If we ran out of gas, we can also make a downhillnding safely.¡±


    Kim In-hwa¡¯s face turned pale at Youngho¡¯sstment.


    ¡°Excuse me, Mr. CEO. We think it¡¯ll be enough to look around the farm on a car.¡±


    Suh Min-seok suggested another option.


    ¡°Alright. Then, I should take an assistant pilot with us just in case I passed out.¡±


    Now, Kim In-hwa looked like she was about to cry.


    She could not reject Youngho¡¯s offer because if she went back to thepany now, she would have to go back to Korea for good.


    Thinking that he teased her enough, Youngho began exining his flying experience.


    On the airne, the group took a tour around Zeynep Farm, the Charles Farm, and the Serbian ranch. It took only about 15 minutes.


    As Youngho was going to return to the farm, Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa now wanted to fly more. They wanted to go look at the city area of Baku. However, Youngho could not fly over the city area since flying routes were strictly arranged and limited by the government for even a light airne. So, he showed them around a part of the Caucasus Mountain Range and came back home.


    ¡°How do you like this now? Isn¡¯t it morefortable than arge airne?¡±


    Kim In-hwa responded to him with a bewitching face.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, I have never seen such an amazing view in my entire life. Thank you so much for showing us around.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Now might be a good time for you to send pictures to your supervisor at the headquarters and report that you¡¯re working hard.¡±


    They busily took pictures of the view inside the airne. Youngho then asked why they needed to have evidence to show to thepany.


    ¡°Of course, we should. My supervisor¡¯s going to be exuberated to see this.¡±


    ¡°Great. Why don¡¯t we call it a day for now? I¡¯ll introduce both of you to people who are about your ages, and you can enjoy your weekend with them. They¡¯ll guide you around downtown.¡±


    Youngho was getting tired of spending time with the guests.


    He was about to lose his voice from talking too much. The new recruits of the security servicepany would be happy to meet new friends. They would dly take the guests around the city.


    ***


    Youngho left the new recruits of S Corporation with the securitypany¡¯s new recruits and went to the wine factory.


    The factory was operating normally even though it was Saturday. It was because of the fermentation process of grape extracts. Since freshly picked grapes needed to be crushed and fermented as quickly as possible, the factory workers had toe to work even during weekends after the harvest season.


    The aging process was important in order to make great-tasting wine, but the fermentation process should also be strictly managed. In each step, the right amount of additives should be added in order to make the right taste.


    For factories that mass-produced wine bottles, natural fermentation was an old story. As soon as the grape extracts from crushed grapes entered the fermenting room, sulfurous acid gas was injected to sterilize toxic bacteria. The toxic bacteria were the cause for wine to taste bad. As the sulfurous acid gas dissolved, pure culture wine yeast was added to the extracts.


    The extracts would be fermented for 15 days at about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the sediments were removed from them, they would be ready to be stored in stainless tanks for aging. The ones that went into the stainless tanks would be aged for two months and bottled to be sold as low-priced wine.


    A year¡¯s worth of farming effort would be wasted if the factory failed to maintain the right temperature and humidity because of theseplicated steps.


    Knowing this already, Youngho did not go into the fermenting room and aging room but went to the packaging room where the bottling process was done.


    Youngho watched the bottling process. After the empty bottles were filled with wine, they were moved by the conveyor belt and automatically closed with cork tops. Throughout the whole time, the factory was filled with the nging sound of bottles. The sound of bottles nging could be noisy to some, but it sounded like beautiful music in Youngho¡¯s ears.


    As Youngho was about to leave the factory after walking around the factory, Andrey, who had been checking emptied oak casks came out to greet him.


    ¡°What brings you to the factory, Mr. Lee? I wasn¡¯t able to meet you in the past few days since you seemed so busytely.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be grilled by Leon if I stayed home, so I thought I¡¯d look around the factory.¡±


    ¡°I see. Prince Leon could be a handful.¡±


    Andrey was the nicest person, but even he shook his head because of Leon¡¯s unruly energy.


    ¡°How is the supply and demand of the oak casks these days?¡±


    ¡°The oak casks in our factory could be used one more time, so there¡¯s nothing wrong with them. I was worried because I thought we would run out of casks but because of increasing demand for premium wine, we¡¯ve got empty casks now.¡±


    ¡°Factory manager, you should take it easy if you think about your age.¡±


    Andrey was an old wine artisan. Without his existence, Zeynep Wine would have not made it this far. He used to have a small-scale vineyard that was handed down to him by his family. Youngho was introduced to Andrey by Gerhardt. Andrey had been working for Youngho since the beginning of the Zeynep wine factory.


    His artisan spirit was so great that one time, he had dumped out a whole tank of wine because something went wrong in the fermentation process. Youngho felt bitter because of what he did, but he surely made great-tasting wine. He was the one who made Zeynep Wine popr. In appreciation for his work, Youngho built a house on the farm for his family to live in. His daughter was also helping out with the factory¡¯s bookkeeping work.


    Come to think of it, it had been five years since Zeynep Farm began producing wine. Youngho was blessed that his wine gained poprity in such a short period of time.


    It was all because of the great seedlings and the best climatic conditions. Without an artisan like Andrey though, it would have been impossible.


    ¡°Factory manager, what year of wine do you think we should distribute in the domestic market?¡±


    Youngho only wanted to distribute a limited quantity of wine in the domestic market for a test. He was thinking about 10,000 bottles.


    ¡°2014 wine would be great. The weather that year was the best. We had the greatest daily temperature range. You should look at this calendar.¡±


    Andrey showed Youngho a desk calendar. On the 2014 calendar, each day and night¡¯s temperatures and weather conditions were written in small print.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to go through the trouble. You can check this on the national weather service website.¡±


    ¡°You can check the Baku city area¡¯s weather, but you can¡¯t find out the weather of our farm which is located in a hilly area. You know the weather can be unpredictable here.¡±


    He was quite impressive.


    He had picked the best year that had the best climatic condition for high-quality wine.


    It was the vintage of Zeynep Farm. Vintage wine indicated the best-quality wine produced in a certain year from a well-known winery. Vintage wines were a limited edition and they could be distinguished from the year they were produced.


    ¡°Wow! So, we didn¡¯t distribute yet any of the wine that was produced in 2014?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to do that. We can only have such weather conditions in several years. I put every grape extract produced in 2014 in oak casks. What was sold to Russia was covered with wine produced in 2013 and 2015.¡±


    He meant that the wine produced in 2014 were all put into oak casks even the ones that were supposed to go in stainless tanks. It was because such high-quality wine would be wasted if sold at a low price since it was still a short-period-aged wine.


    Being an Imic country, Azerbaijan did not have a high demand for wine but because there were so many great-tasting wine brands, regr wine would not be able to survive.


    ¡°Then, the wine we gave to the presidential pce was made in 2014?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you finally noticed.¡±


    Youngho remembered people whom he met at the presidential banquet all gave him a thumbs-up. It was because his wine was too good.


    ¡°I should give you a piggyback ride, factory manager!¡±

 Chapter 302 - An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (4)

    <h4>Chapter 302: An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (4)</h4>


    Chapter 302: An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (4)


    Youngho¡¯s young guests who enjoyed their weekend with the recruits of the security servicepany said that they would be staying at a hotel in Baku downtown.


    ¡°Our kids love to have guests around and we have many spare rooms. Do you have to stay at a hotel using your own money?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to bother you too much, Mr. CEO.¡±


    Their attitudes had be even more submissive towards Youngho.


    They must have found out more about Youngho from the securitypany¡¯s employees and decided that he was much bigger than they thought, but Youngho was not going to let them go. Apart from everything, Jelyan and Leon just loved them.


    Jong-il and Insoo also had kids and there were other kids at the farm, but they all seemed to be ufortable around Jelyan and Leon. Thus, the mansion was always so quiet. Cho Sang-chun¡¯s father and mother yed with the kids, but they got easily tired by them. Leon was a tiny devil when he was awake.


    ¡°I thought I told you before that I don¡¯t easily let go of people who came under my wing.¡±


    The two were flustered. They did not know how to respond with what Youngho just said.


    ¡°If you wanted to learn work from me, you should stay nearby. Or is it because I¡¯m a bother between you two?¡±


    ¡°Oh, we don¡¯t see each other that way. We¡¯re just coworkers.¡±


    ¡°Same here. I¡¯d rather live alone forever.¡±


    People said that a strong no was actually a strong yes.


    Since they disagreed with Youngho so strongly, it made them look more suspicious.


    ¡°If you insist on leaving our house, you¡¯ll have to forget about learning from me. I don¡¯t really go to the office in downtown. It¡¯s going to be hard to even see my face. How are you going to learn work from me then?¡±


    ¡°We get that, sir. If you use us as your secretaries, we¡¯ll be d to work for you.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t treat employees of a globalpany like that. You can just follow me around and do some sightseeing.¡±


    For now, they would be just following around Youngho, but he nned to give them some work after they got used to their surroundings.


    Fatima was d to hear that the new guests did not leave.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so d you decided to stay here. If you¡¯re going to be here for a while, you would need to havefortable clothes. Miss Kim, why don¡¯t you go shopping with me?¡±


    Fatima had been dying to go shopping, and buying Kim In-hwa some clothes were a good excuse.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and escort the Archduchess.¡±


    ¡®What? The Archduchess? Those guys at the securitypany must¡¯ve bbered about that too.¡¯


    ¡°Miss Kim. Feel free to treat me as a friend inside the house but just be careful whenever the elderly are around us outside.¡±


    That was unlikely to happen. The descendants of the knights would not like a stranger standing close to Fatima.


    Fatima innocently continued.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go out now. Your clothes look so ufortable. You don¡¯t have to wear suits here.¡±


    As Fatima said that she would be going out, Serbian guards quickly showed up at the porch with a vehicle. They served Fatima and Leon so carefully and politely.


    Kim In-hwa who was standing next to her was treated as if she was invisible. When Fatima talked to them, they nodded and opened the door for Kim In-hwa.


    Suh Min-seok watched everything that was happening outside. He suddenly looked nervous.


    ¡°Mr. Suh Min-seok, you can take a break or ride the bike to look around the farm.¡±


    Youngho thought that he needed some time alone.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, you are not going to work?¡±


    ¡°Everywhere on the farm is my office.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go contact the headquarters at my room.¡±


    It seemed like he got so confused that he had forgotten about the time difference with Seoul.


    ¡°You know¡ªthere¡¯s a five-hour difference between here and Seoul. People are probably still asleep there.¡±


    Youngho remembered the time when he bickered with Cho Sang-Chun because of the time difference. Eight years ago was a more exciting time for him.


    Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa were new faces here, but they would soon befortable living here just like Youngho did.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. CEO, my supervisor and the director from headquarters want to visit Baku. Would you like to meet them?¡±


    ¡°Is there any reason why I should meet them?¡±


    ¡°His title is a director, but he is actually the vice president of S Corporation. If you make his acquaintance, you¡¯d not regret it.¡±


    ¡°Why would such a high person from yourpany want to visit me? I¡¯m only a wine producer. I have nothing to do with him. Also, I don¡¯t n to sell my wine to Korea. That won¡¯t be so helpful for him. Please tell him to not bother ining here.¡±


    Youngho did not know what Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa told to the headquarters, but he knew that thepany would want to contact him soon.


    ¡°Okay, if you say so. I¡¯ll tell them exactly what you said.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Suh Min-seok, did you by any chance mention to them about my wife?¡±


    ¡°I could not find anything about the Serbian Kingdom, so I inquired about it at the headquarters, and I got to mention about you¡ªthe prince consort of the Archduchess. If that was a mistake, please forgive me.¡±


    Youngho could see what was behind all this.


    Suh Min-seok must have informed S Corporation that Youngho had an autonomous state in Kazakhstan, and he was the prince consort of the Archduchess who lived in a farm in Baku that was as big as Seoul.


    They must be thinking that Youngho was a man of indeterminable wealth.


    Fatima and Kim In-hwa who left around noon came back after four o¡¯clock.


    Fatima looked satisfied as she had fulfilled her goal and Kim In-hwa looked tired. Since they even bought Suh Min-seok¡¯s clothes and underwear, it seemed like they would not be leaving the house any time soon.


    Fatima also bought Leon and Jelyan¡¯s stuff.


    Jelyan, who took a nap after school, came downstairs and made a fuss to put on her new clothes.


    Fatima used to pick her clothes from a direct clothing store but now that Youngho had sold his stores, she had been eager to buy clothes. She usually liked to save money, but she would binge-shop whenever she went to a mall. It seemed like her resentment from being poor in the past had a role in her behavior now. However, Youngho was thankful that Fatima could have an outlet for her stress and resentment even in this way. Anyone would have one or two deep sorrow or resentment. Fatima was terribly poor when she was young and knowing her past, Youngho could understand where she wasing from.


    ¡°You got nothing for me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. I bought you some tennis shoes. Try them on. I also bought gifts for mother and father.¡±


    She bought all sorts of things for everyone.


    There were no expensive brands among the things that she bought. Although there was no one who would me her for buying luxury things, she never bought such things. She probably had bought things for Karajan, Jong-il¡¯s wife, and Kim Sung-hee, Cha Insoo¡¯s wife.


    ¡°Mr. Suh Min-seok, why don¡¯t you go ahead and try these on? You should show appreciation for the people who brought you those.¡±


    ¡°I will. Thank you, Archduchess. It¡¯s an honor.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. It¡¯s all from my husband¡¯s money. You can thank my husband.¡±


    She smiled brightly to Suh Min-seok. Youngho thought her smile was so pretty.


    Suh Min-seok blushed and hastily went to the stairs, but he staggered as he went up.


    He was excited that the Archduchess had bought him clothes.


    It was something to brag about for a long time.


    ***


    Two dayster, S Corporation¡¯s director Im Min-shik flew to Baku.


    Youngho had rejected his visit beforehand, but he still came despite that. Since they must havee to ask Youngho for help, it was just another work for him. However, he could not send them away.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯m so grateful for your kindness towards our employees.¡±


    Im Min-shik, a small and thin man in his 50s, seemed to be a man of dignity.


    ¡°Well, I think they were terrific workers. They are willing to go through troubles to achieve their goal. Those two really freshened up my mind.¡±


    ¡°No. I should apologize for giving them such a reckless instruction to follow you around. I¡¯m sorry on behalf of mypany.¡±


    The two actually were not to be med for bothering Youngho. They simply did what they were told to do. It was not actually a bother for Youngho though. He genuinely enjoyed theirpany, and he also wanted to show off to them what he had achieved.


    ¡°I see. Well, you¡¯vee a long way to get here. Why don¡¯t you take a rest at my hotel tonight? Since you came as my guest, I¡¯ll treat you as my guest.¡±


    ¡°A guest? No, I¡¯m here to see if I can be your business partner. We¡¯ve been interested in the regions around the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already sent an advance party. Those two fes seem to be talented and well-educated people.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve given them an assignment, why don¡¯t you wait for now to see how they turn out to be? I was thinking about giving them some work rather than doing business with yourpany.¡±


    The director was surprised to hear Younghoplimenting his new employees. Youngho wanted to tter them in front of their boss so that they would not get disadvantaged.


    Youngho called the two new employees of S Corporation¡ªthe followers of Youngho. He liked them very much, so he was going to apany them for several more days.


    Since they were youngbloods, Youngho thought that they might give him some inspiration for his businesses. If they were helpful, he was willing to give them a reward too.


    ¡°I¡¯m so d that you liked our employees. However, they just started working for ourpany. They don¡¯t have a lot of experience in the field, so I¡¯m nning to leave an administrative director with them.¡±


    ¡°Are you nning to open a sales branch here in Baku?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯vee to know that you have many connections in the business world in the countries of the Caspian coast. If you¡¯re not working for a specificpany yet, I was wondering if you could also be our partner.¡±


    He carefully stated words, but it meant that he had already finished investigating about Youngho. He meant that since Youngho was partnered with H Corporation, he might as well be partnered with S Corporation.


    ¡°I know some officials and politicians that I became friends with since I¡¯ve been doing my business here for a long time already, but I¡¯m only a wine merchant. I don¡¯t know what yourpany had found about me, but many of your information could be false or exaggerated.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just being modest. If that¡¯s true, how would you exin what my employees had seen here?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d be d to help Koreanpanies to make it here if I can, but I already know that S Corporation had many connections with many Central Asian countries in regards to resources. It doesn¡¯t seem like you need my help.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been mobilizing Koryoins and even some politicians, but we¡¯re still having a hard time to make a foray in this region.¡±


    Many Koreanpanies failed to make it in foreign countries because they were too hasty to make profits in a short period of time. They seemed to forget about the differences in cultures, traditions, and people¡¯s way of thinking.


    To someone like Youngho, who had established his position in foreign countries as a local businessman, helping Koreanpanies could be a mistake because thepanies often broke investment agreements with the local government or other local businesses. It would harm the reputation that he had been building for years.


    ¡°Are you officially offering a business partnership?¡±

 Chapter 303 - Visitors from Seoul (1)

    <h4>Chapter 303: Visitors from Seoul (1)</h4>


    Everyone eximed as they watched the amazing view of the autonomous state from the sky. They could see the farnd that was organized well like a go board, ranches and reservoirs in ces, and stone walls that surrounded the residential towns of the city at a nce.


    As the eight-seater Cessna airne lightlynded on the runway, everyone seemed to go for another ride. Ironically, they were the people who refused to get on board at Zeynep Farm several hours ago. It seemed that they got over the fear of flying on a light airne.


    They were lost for words in amazement ever since they could see the edge of thend after passing the Caspian Sea. Not a lot of people would have seen a vast field without a single hill from the sky in their entire life. Even Youngho eximed every time he saw it, and it was definitely something for the people who saw it for the first time.


    They could not believe that there was a city built in a deste ce.


    ¡°Whoa! This is Arirang Farm that is registered as the only autonomous state in Kazakhstan. You are incredible for making a paradise in this deserted ce, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only worked on the foundation that Koryoins had built with their blood and sweat. The people who are truly incredible are the Koryoins who settled down here when there was nothing for them.¡±


    As Youngho spoke about Koryoins, the group got quiet.


    ¡°What a loss of our country. We haven¡¯t been able to take care of our people because we were not strong enough. I hope the government actively begins topensate Koryoins for their struggles.¡±


    Director, I made a clich¨¦ politicalment.


    Anyone could say something like that, but Youngho had never seen people really doing something to help Koryoins.


    ¡°I think the Korean government had made some efforts but most of their resolutions are only temporary help, and they don¡¯t have much power. What they really want is to be identified as Koreans.¡±


    Koryoins saw North and South Korea as the same country. They did not feelfortable choosing North over South, or South over the North since they did not want to abandon any side of Korea. Most of the Koryoins were stateless, even now.


    To Youngho, it did not make sense that people without a country could exist. He thought that the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom in Baku were the only ones who did not have a country. He was surprised to hear that most Koryoins were like them too. After the Soviet Union fell, many Koryoins were lost as many republics dered independence.


    When Youngho told the Koryoin¡¯s current status, S Corporation¡¯s staff felt sorry as if they were to me for the Koryoins. It was because they knew that Youngho had been helping Koryoins with his own money. The Arirang Foundation, which is a welfare foundation established by Youngho, was well-known in Baku and Atyrau since there were many social organizations which the foundation was supporting.


    ¡°We are ashamed. We¡¯ve been only focusing on ourselves when we exist because of the people who fought for our country¡¯s freedom. Mr. Lee, you are doing a job that the Korean government had not been able to do.¡±


    Many Korean corporations only wanted to use Koryoins when they tried to make their forays in the Central Asian regions. If Youngho had not lived here, he would not have known about their lives and past. He would have only taken advantage of them as a businessman, just like other corporations.


    ¡°I¡¯vee to know about them just a little bit because I¡¯ve been working with them as I do my businesses here. I was able to establish my business here easily because of the Koryoins¡¯ reputation in the Kazakh society. I should repay them for that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like to help the social welfare work that you are involved in, Mr. Lee. We are only a corporation that seeks our own profit so we wouldn¡¯t be able to give you a lot of money, but it¡¯d be better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear you say that. I appreciate your words. ¡±


    ¡°No, now that we learned about them, we¡¯d like to help them. We¡¯ve only nned to take advantage of them for our business, but we never thought to get to know them before.¡±


    As Director Im admitted hispany¡¯s fault, Youngho had nothing to say. It was hopeful to see that there was someone in a corporate body, who still had a great ethical andpassionate heart.


    ***


    ¡°This is a little bit bigger than Seoul. We barely developed one-fifths of thend yet. The annual precipitation is so little and we¡¯ve been busy blocking the severe continental winds.¡±


    ¡°Even the area of one-fifth of the totalnd is so huge that I can¡¯t imagine how big the state is.¡±


    The view of the growing wheat in the field moving by the wind was astounding. Im Min-shik told his staff to take good pictures of the state. He could not help showing excitement when Youngho introduced the field of Bentonite y. He knew well that the bio industry was a prospective business field.


    ¡°Director Im. Kazakhstan has plenty of mineral resources like this. If you want to make an investment, I¡¯ll introduce you to a government official who¡¯s in charge of that category.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we invest in the Arirang Autonomous State?¡±


    Director Im wanted to make an easy investment on the state since he did not want to invest in somewhere that was in the development process, but Youngho wanted to refuse that.


    The autonomous state already was equipped with infrastructure, and he did not need any investment before he could make profits at all. He would not want to share the profits with S Corporation.


    ¡°The autonomous state is under a strict restriction by the government, so it¡¯s hard to ept foreign investments. But, you¡¯d be able to find other ces to invest if you are willing to.¡±


    Youngho did not want to be interrupted by S Corporation by receiving some investment. Giving him a few examples, Youngho suggested a direct investment, instead of indirect investment.


    ¡°Okay, then. Could you introduce me to a high official of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°That, I can do it as many times as possible. The government will wee Korean S Corporation. I¡¯ll get back to you on this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you. I heard that you have a connection to the president as well. Please put in some good words for us.¡±


    Youngho could contact the president directly, but he wanted to help out Koroyins this time. If Koryoin officials could get credited for introducing a foreign investment to the government, their status in the government would be more established.


    ¡°There are many Koryoin officials who work for the government. They¡¯ll be a great help if we could get ahold of them. You know, they¡¯d want to get credit for this.¡±


    Most of the officials in Kazakhstan still were used to the perspective of the socialist system, but Koryoin officials were different. Because they were the minority, they wanted to help out other minorities seed in the country. It was because minorities helped each other in order to survive in the Kazakh society.


    ***


    Director Im Min-shik could tell that Arirang Autonomous State was not a regr autonomous state. It was because he saw the Countryside Force soldiers walking by here and there.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. This is not just amon autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°What autonomous state in the world has a military force?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s nothing. We are just doing Maritime Police¡¯s job for the Kazakh Navy.¡±


    ¡°Are you by any chance trying to make this ce an independent republic?¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart sank at his remark. He had been only hoping that in his dreams.


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can¡¯t even dream about. I want to live along with Kazakhstan but I¡¯ve never wanted to make an independent country. We just have small armed forces for our protection because this world can get rowdy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m jealous of you.¡±


    Im Min-shik stopped talking at that point.


    He did not say what he was jealous of, but Youngho could guess that any man would have dreamed of having his ownnd and people. Having seen a vast state equipped with great infrastructure such as hospital facilities, education facilities, factories, and not to mention, its own armed force, he was utterly amazed. This was something that he would not ask for more in his wildest dreams.


    The two young followers of Youngho now became the resident employees in the autonomous state in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°You should be working in Korea now but you¡¯re living in Kazakhstan because of me.¡±


    It was what Youngho intended but he felt a bit sorry to them.


    ¡°Any employees in the headquarters dream about working in foreign branches, Mr. CEO.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when you get to work in Europe or North America. I bet people will want to stay in Korea if they¡¯re asked to work in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Young people would never want to work in a developing country where there was not much to see. When other employees would be sent to advanced countries, they would have to spend quite a while in Kazakhstan. They would be at a different start linepared to others. Youngho would be helping them learn but he still felt sorry.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. We think it¡¯s an honor to work close to someone great as you, Mr. CEO.¡±


    ¡°This ce will not be easy to get satisfactory results. This ce reminds me of Korea in the 80¡¯s¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I will help you guys. This will be a great experience in your life.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir. We¡¯ll try our best.¡±


    They were highly motivated to work at the new ce.


    Since Youngho was willing to help S Corporation making its foray into Kazakhstan, he did not reject them from staying in the autonomous state. If there was any corporation that wanted to make investments in Kazakhstan, Youngho wanted to help them, regardless of their nationality since Kazakhstan¡¯s development would be beneficial to the development of the autonomous state.


    Youngho gave them an office on the second floor of the administration building of the autonomous state and also assigned them a residential house. The two followers and Kim Sung-ho; who was recently promoted to a deputy department head, were the only staff left in the autonomous state as S Corporation¡¯s foreign branch members.


    They could have opened their branch office in the city of Atyrau, Astana, or Almaty, but the intention for staying in the autonomous state was to take advantage of Youngho¡¯s existence.


    Kim Sung-ho¡ªthe deputy department head of S Corporation, visited Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We need a vehicle to move around the country. If you have an extra vehicle, could we rent it from you?¡±


    Youngho could lend him any vehicle, but he wondered where Kim Sung-ho nned to go.


    ¡°You are going to travel around Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Is there aw that states that a foreigner could not drive here?¡±


    ¡°Do you know how to use guns?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He was not sure why Youngho was asking him that question when he just came to rent a car.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Korean guy. You must¡¯ve served in the military and learned how to use guns.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re talking about guns.¡±


    ¡°As soon as you pass the stone walls of the autonomous state, you¡¯ll be facing all sorts of danger. If you can¡¯t protect yourself, then you¡¯d not be able to survive in this ce.¡±


    Youngho exaggerated the truth a tiny bit to scare him.


    It was because Youngho would be troubled when something happened to Kim Sung-ho when he left the state without considering the nature of the danger in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I thought the stone walls here were built to block the winds. Were there other reasons for them as well?¡±


    ¡°Those strong walls were built to block winds and protect the city from wild animals.¡±


    Kim Sung-ho sighed at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    He had not expected thising.


    He thought for a while and suggested one thing to Youngho.


    ¡°I have forgotten how to use guns because it¡¯s been a while since I was discharged from the military. Could you please let us train with other soldiers? If we¡¯re going to have to live here for the next few years anyway, we¡¯d better get used to living here quickly.¡±


    Youngho was impressed by his determination. Kim Sung-ho was ready to live in Kazakhstan for several years and was not discouraged by the danger.

 Chapter 304 - Visitors from Seoul (2)

    <h4>Chapter 304: Visitors from Seoul (2)</h4>


    ¡°So those are your followers?¡±


    Jong-il who came back from his business trip to find a base ce in Almaty,ughed as he listened to what happened while he was gone.


    ¡°One of them is a deputy department head. He¡¯s older than we are. Be polite.¡±


    ¡°His will to get military training is impressive. Should I give him the agent training too?¡±


    Jong-il got excited as a kid who found a great toy.


    ¡°Let the Countryside Force soldiers train them, not the security service guards. They¡¯d almost kill people with their hard training.¡±


    There was a time when the security guards trained the doctors of the autonomous state to teach them how to use guns. Although they needed to teach them strictly so that they would not have security idents with guns but the doctors were too exhausted to do other activities that day.


    ¡°You know you¡¯ve got to learn right when you learn. Or else, they¡¯ll forget. I¡¯ll tell them to go easy on them.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state will get busy with S Corporation¡¯s joining.¡±


    ¡°Well, at first, everyone is motivated to jump in. I hope S Corporation will stay the same until the end.¡±


    Youngho only hoped that thergepany would not disappoint him. The only thing that he was concerned with was the S Corporation was a general tradingpany that earned money from trade brokeragemissions. He was not sure if S Corporation would make an actual investment for mineral resource exploration and development.


    Kim Chun was exuberated asrge corporations kept on settling down at the autonomous state. They were not onlyrge corporations but global corporations.


    ¡°Boss. What do you think about building an office building for our business partners? I think the site next to the road construction office would be perfect.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. It¡¯d be better for them to have their own ce rather than being crammed in our administration building. You can go ahead and work on it. Also, can you please look for a Koryoin high official who¡¯s in mineral or grain-rted field?¡±


    ¡°Are you looking for someone to introduce to S Corporation? Then, how about the congressman, Kim Roman?¡±


    Kim Roman was a congressman and who was a racial representative of Kazakhstan and the chairman of the Koryoin organization.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be a trouble if a politician gets involved in the business?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you won¡¯t find a better person for this job. He¡¯s also a businessman and his reputation is great in Kazakhstan. He¡¯d be way better than officials who have no idea about these kinds of matters.¡±


    Youngho once met Kim Roman briefly at the presidential reception when H Corporation¡¯s highway construction project was signed.


    ¡°Alright. Commissioner Kim, could you then, contact him for me?¡±


    Koryoins in Kazakhstan had preserved the Koreannguage and culture despite living apart from Korea for long. They were ying the central role of Korean culture in Central Asia by making a running Korean Radio station and TV channel¡ªand engaging with the press to inform about themselves and Korean cultures. All of these were the result of Koryoin businessmen and politicians¡¯ efforts.


    In the beginning, they showed more North Korean culture but since Kazakhstan established diplomatic ties with South Korea, they were now leaning more toward South Korean cultures. The spread of Korean pop culture had a major influence on their change. There were so many influential Koryoins in Kazakhstan. Among them were politicians such as Vio Letta Kim, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and Yuri Choi, a Senator, and businessmen such as Kim dimir of a billionaire, and the owner of a copper miningpany and many others.


    Although the Koryoin poption was only about 100,000 in Kazakhstan, their efforts made them remarkable people in society.


    Because Youngho was benefited by their existence many times, he wanted to actively benefit Koryoins in the Kazakh society as much as possible.


    Many Kazakhs preferred Koryoins over Russians, Ukrainian descents, or German descents. It was because they were both Asians and Koryoins were known to be polite people. Ever since the research that Kazakhs and Koreans shared the same racial root in history came out, they were maintaining a close rtionship with each other.


    ***


    ¡°Is that what we¡¯re going to drive here? That looks like a military armored vehicle.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a light-armored vehicle made in Turkey. It can be used for military or civil purposes. You¡¯d be safe inside even if a tiger shows up outside.¡±


    They would be safe anywhere in Kazakhstan if they drove the ten-seater light-armored vehicle.


    ¡°What? Are there tigers in here too?¡±


    ¡°I heard that they show up in Siberia. I¡¯ve never seen one here.¡±


    Kim Sung-ho¡¯s face turned pale at Youngho¡¯s words. He seemed to realize where he was, indeed a remote ce.


    Youngho would definitely send them with guards when they went out of the state but Kim Sung-ho had no idea about that.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. There are no specific ces that we have to go. We just wanted to look around and get to know more about Kazakhstan.¡±


    Now he did not seem to want to travel around Kazakhstan without someone who knew the country well. He now could see why the stone walls around the state were double and tripleyered.


    ¡°There¡¯s a ship at the Port of Atyrau that goes to the airport regrly. You can travel anywhere in Kazakhstan through domestic flights anytime you want. But, you need to receive that gun training. All of the kids here receive that training when they enter high school.¡±


    Only the high school graduates who entered the special school used to receive military training, but now it was expanded to every high school student. Youngho thought that it was necessary in order for them to protect themselves outside the stone walls of the state.


    Serbian youths would grow big as an adult when they reached 16 and they were capable of receiving the military training.


    ¡°We are only temporary residents but we¡¯ll do our best to fulfill our duty as the residents of the autonomous state. I¡¯d also like to learn how to fly if time permits.¡±


    Kim Sung-ho, S Corporation¡¯s deputy department head was strong-willed. So, Youngho also asked the two followers for their opinion.


    ¡°Do you agree with your deputy head?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mr. CEO. We¡¯d be d to receive military training and drive the light-armored vehicle ourselves.¡±


    ¡°You can report to the Countryside Force if you want to drive the vehicle. I won¡¯t receive the gas money from you.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, we¡¯ve got enough expense budget assigned by the headquarters.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be so stingy to my guests.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡±


    The followers answered him in unison like military soldiers.


    ¡°Deputy Head Kim, is your family staying in Korea? I heard that S Corporation would pay for your family¡¯s living cost when you go work in foreign branches.¡±


    ¡°I was concerned for my kids. They¡¯re only in elementary school and I thought to move around, which might confuse them.¡±


    If the autonomous state was in Europe or in North America, Kim Sung-ho would have brought his kids at once, but it was Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to tell you this. The autonomous state¡¯s education is more advanced than the public education of the States. If you want to bring your family here, they¡¯re more than wee.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration. I¡¯ll think about that.¡±


    His face was stern. It seemed that Youngho¡¯s offer did not really appeal to him.


    ¡°Tomorrow is Saturday and the doctors will go on a pic outside. If you¡¯d like to experience Kazakhstan¡¯s nature, you guys coulde to the square early in the morning. Deputy head Kim, you coulde with us too.¡±


    Tomorrow was gold collecting day.


    Youngho wondered how the followers would react after seeing the gold mine.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee. It¡¯s been three weeks since you haven¡¯t been keeping your promise.¡±


    Dr. Kim Dong-sung showed up at the square with a smile on his face.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t collect the amount of gold to make a ring, I¡¯ll give you some of what I¡¯ve hidden away.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You should¡¯ve done that way before. Tell me what you¡¯ve been hiding behind from me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say probably about five to six tons.¡±


    ¡°How many kilograms?¡±


    ¡°Five to six tons of gold, I said.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re joking. I didn¡¯t see any other gold mines there.¡±


    Youngho thoughtlessly spilled the truth, but the doctor did not seem to believe him. He was lucky. Youngho shrugged it off.


    ¡°Anyway, I have a lot of things hidden around here. You shouldn¡¯t be worried. This will be thest time going to the mine to collect gold this year. It¡¯s getting cold, and camping outside won¡¯t be a good idea soon.¡±


    The autonomous state¡¯s winter wasing already.


    It was October already and the temperature would go down below zero in no time.


    Tonight would be quite chilly as well.


    It would take them about five hours before they reached the mine.


    S Corporation¡¯s employees were excited to see nature at first, but they soon grew tired of driving on the rough road. Kim In-hwa even felt sick. It would be convenient to fly on the light airne but there were too many people.


    Because it was theirst trip to the mine this year, even elementary kids joined the trip. The residents of the autonomous state did not understand why the doctors and nurses were so passionate about collecting gold. It was because alluvial gold was not umon in streams of the Caucasus regions, and Central Asian regions. Collecting alluvial gold was a waste of time for them since no matter how hard they collected the actual gold, what they would get was very small. Spending that much time on something more productive would be more profitable.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Why are you going on a pic so far? You said this is a very dangerous ce. It also feels like it¡¯s going to get very cold at night.¡±


    Kim Sung-ho was worried. He was sick of the endless vast in and his buttocks were hurting.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re taking the light-armored vehicle. If you stay inside the vehicle at night, you¡¯d be warm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid to camp outside there tonight. I almost caught a coldst night because I came outside with T-shirts on.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lodging facility in the mining vige, no need to worry about that. I¡¯m going to make a fence around the campground and install yurts next year. It would be a much nicer environment next year.¡±


    ¡°It looks like you go to the same ce every time when you go on a pic.¡±


    ¡°You must be curious, but wait until we get there. You¡¯ll see why.¡±


    Youngho greeted the workers of the mine and went up to the stream where there was alluvial gold. Everyone was now equipped with weird looking bowls and boots. The followers¡¯ eyes were widened after they found out what was going from a kid.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Are you sure that we can take the gold we collected here from home?¡±


    ¡°In here, the first person who ims something gets it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to change your mind tonight, are you?¡±


    They were highly motivated now. It seemed that there would be many people who would not be able to sleep because of the back pain tonight.


    ¡°Collect to your best ability. It¡¯s all yours.¡±


    The two followers excitedly went to talk to Kim Sung-ho. After listening to them, his face was no different from them.


    The stream was about twenty minutes away from the campground. Kids raced to the stream ahead and the adults all looked like they were imagining different things. If they were lucky, they could even get gold that was about as big as a kid¡¯s fingernail.


    The first one who let out an exmation was Kim In-hwa.


    She had picked up a piece of gold that was about the size of a grain. Kim Sung-ho also groaned a while after her. He also picked up something.


    Everyone was searching for gold. All of them were bending their waists and it was interesting to see them highly focusing on their work. Thebor went on for three to four hours.


    It was time to go back to the campground but they did not seem like they wanted to stop. It had now been four hours but many were so immersed in collecting gold that they felt like they had spent only an hour there. Especially, the followers and Kim Sung-ho were deeply engaged in their work.


    They could be only stopped when the Countryside Force guards grilled them to go back to the campground. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with what they had found. The kids did not use the panning bowls but collected little lumps of gold by hand and that seemed to be more effective. Kim Sung-ho could not hide the excitement from his face. He must have collected a lot of gold.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I collected too much. I think I might have to leave some here.¡±


    ¡°You can take it all, don¡¯t feel bad about it.¡±


    ¡°Can anyone move here at any time?¡±


    ¡°Well, not individually but group immigration is something I can arrange any time.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You said about the immigration of my family yesterday, right?¡±


    Kim Sung-ho seemed eager. Youngho had suggested moving to the state yesterday, and he was sorry that he did not answer right away.


    ¡°Yes, I did. They¡¯re wee anytime if they want to move to the state.¡±


    ¡°As you said, I should bring my family members to the state. Even kids¡¯ hands would be helpful in collecting more alluvial gold.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±

 Chapter 305 - The Middleman’s Job (1)

    <h4>Chapter 305: The Middleman¡¯s Job (1)</h4>


    ¡°Mr. Lee, as you already know so well, S Corporation is such a well-known globalpany. If the Kazakh government is willing to go above and beyond, ourpany will definitely make an investment.¡±


    Youngho was now at a private meeting with Kim Roman, the congressman and the chairman of Koryoin Organization.


    ¡°You¡¯d get the full support if you had told the president. Why are you trying to get me involved in this?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯d get involved in this Chairman, other Koryoins would also participate in this. I want to help the Koryoin society in Kazakhstan. I feel sorry that I haven¡¯t been able to help Koryoins more before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t say that. Do you know how much Koryoins are proud of the Arirang Autonomous State? You¡¯ve achieved something that no one could have ever achieved.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state is only the name. It¡¯s just a privatend named as an autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°The president trusts you to a great extent. He even trusted you with the Maritime Police¡¯s job. It¡¯s not the national military force, but it is basically the same in its essence.¡±


    Kim Roman ttered Youngho for his achievement in the 70 years of Koryoin history in Kazakhstan. He alsoplimented Youngho for helping Koryoins in need with his welfare foundation. Youngho could not help to blush.


    It would be great if a Koreanpany seeded in Kazakhstan but even if it did not, it was still beneficial to the Koryoin society since many jobs were opened for them as interpreters for Korean employees. Not to mention, they were very proud of Koreanpanies.


    ¡°Chairman Kim. Electric power shortage in Kazakhstan is quite great. I didn¡¯t know about this before, but S Corporation¡¯s construction department has a lot of experience in constructing electricity generation facilities. I¡¯ll be the middleman. Why don¡¯t you ask thepany to invest in the electricity department?¡±


    ¡°The east and west are now nning to build thermal power nt facilities or gas turbine power generation systems. It¡¯d be great if S Corporation would invest in those projects. The shortage of electricity had been great distress everywhere.¡±


    Because of Kazakhstan¡¯s bignd mass, electricity would be wasted while transmitting. The total length of transmission cable lines in Kazakhstan was about 460,000 kilometers long.


    The economy was developing at a fast pace every year but the electricity issue was a huge obstacle in its development. This was why the Arirang Autonomous State used sr panels to supply power. It was not efficient to get electricity from nearby cities. Since there was plenty of sunlight and Youngho had a partnership with K Electronics which made sr panels; using sr panels was the best option for the state. The panels installed in an area of 82 acres and the roofs of each house, factory, and warehouse buildings generated surplus electricity for the state.


    Youngho was not sure what S Corporation was up to but if it could scratch the itching part of the Kazakh government, the rest of the work would be a smooth sail.


    Since the government was intimidated by China¡¯s business expansion in Kazakhstan through railroad and different road construction projects, Youngho convinced the government to partner with K Electronics to establish a sr panel factory in Almaty, following the autonomous state¡¯s precedent. Youngho was certain about this project since he knew that the most economical way to provide electricity in remote ces was using sr energy generation.


    He was highly motivated to be the middleman for Kazakhstan¡¯s overall development since the autonomous state would not be able to survive when Kazakhstan fell.


    ***


    Kim Roman the congressman and Youngho cooperated together to attract S Corporation¡¯s investment in the government¡¯s electric power industry.


    Kim Roman took a role of exining the benefits of establishing a foreign electricity factory to convince the Kazakh government, and Youngho worked on collecting simr sessful foreign cases to support his presentation.


    The two wanted to convince the government that it would be controble by the government since it would be built in Kazakhstan, despite the power nt being owned by a foreignpany. It was because the government officials; who had experienced the pain of borrowing electricity from Russia in the early days of independence, had a perception that the electric power industry should be a state-run enterprise.


    If foreign-invested power nts were passive in producing electricity or raised their electricity bills, the government would be helpless. However, it was too much to build a power nt with the current state finances.


    Hoping to learn about the perspective of S Corporation, Youngho wanted to hear the deputy department head, Kim Sung-ho¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°Deputy head Kim, what do you think is Kazakhstan¡¯s problem?¡±


    ¡°Well, there are too many that I¡¯m not sure what to mention first. There must be things that I¡¯ve been missing out too since the country had been developing quickly. Also, who am I to say when I¡¯ve only lived here for several days?¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m asking is not about the overall society of Kazakhstan, but the industry part of it.¡±


    Kim Sung-ho pondered upon Youngho¡¯s question for a while.


    Youngho was sure that a deputy department head of S Corporation would have studied different statistical data of Kazakhstan. He must know how to strategically approach toward Kazakhstan¡¯s development.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the government is selling raw materials without processing them. I also think that the insignificant number of infrastructures is a huge obstacle for the country¡¯s economic growth.¡±


    ¡°What kind of infrastructure do you think is necessary at this moment?¡±


    ¡°The distribution system including roads and railroads is at a beginning stage and the information part of the society is substandard. Moreover, the shortage of electricity is serious. It¡¯s sad that the government is not utilizing its limitless oil crude and gas to produce electricity.¡±


    ¡®Whoa, is that so?¡¯


    ¡°I guess what you¡¯re saying is that investing in the electrical power industry will be profitable. I should make an investment right away. Isn¡¯t selling electricity and gaining underground resources are killing two birds with one stone?¡±


    At this point, Kim Sung-ho seemed to realize something.


    He was enlightened by his conversation with Youngho.


    After talking with Youngho, Kim Sung-ho moved fast. Having spent two days in S Corporation¡¯s branch office with the two followers, he came to see Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Do you think the Kazakh government will maintain to mimic free economic system?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t a major American oilpany and other foreign globalpanies¡¯ involvement in Kazakhstan¡¯s different businesses proof of that?¡±


    He was worried that the dictator-like government might nationalize all of the industries inside the country in the future. Since he did not know about Kazakhstan well yet, it was natural for him to have some doubts.


    ¡°Do you know how much I invested in for the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°Frankly, I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Building a single house costs you about 50 million Korean won. Can you guess how much I spent on building 1,200 houses? Have you seen a person who invested this much for an uncertain future?¡±


    It was a rough estimate of what Youngho had paid for building houses.


    ¡°I see what you¡¯re saying.¡±


    Being a bright person, he knew what Youngho was implying.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if my assurance will be of help, but if thepany wants it, I¡¯ll write a letter of assurance.¡±


    If things went bad and S Corporation gave up the business here, Youngho could buy out the electricitypany from it instead.


    ¡°If you would provide some sort of safeguard rules for the investment, the president of the construction department and the CEO of S Corporation wille to discuss the business.¡±


    The investor should figure out the advantages and disadvantages of his investment. If someone could guarantee his safe ride, anyone would be an investor. Anyway, Kim Sung-ho was highly intrigued by Youngho¡¯s appeal to invest in Kazakhstan¡¯s project.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you have a talent to make me happy. You set them up first and gave the credit to Koryoins as you stepped back. That was a great move.¡±


    The presidentplimented that Youngho had given Koryoins the credit for S Corporation¡¯s investment in the government¡¯s electric power industry project. Youngho had made Kim Roman the congressman in charge of this brokerage.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re satisfied, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°You know, several Koreanpanies made bold investments in the early days of our independence and that attracted countries to make investments too. I was worried since the oil price had droppedtely, but this investment will act as oil to make a bigger fire in our economy.¡±


    As it was announced that the electric power industry of the nation would be partially privatized, each embassy of different nations based in Kazakhstan began to grasp the truth. This was because it was tantamount to putting the national strategic industry on a free-forpetition basis.


    ¡°It was something I had to do because I want Kazakhstan to flourish. I came here to live until I die. If you could encourage foreignpanies, even U.S.panies will want to join the project.¡±


    As the word was spread that a global Korean corporation was about to join the project, the U.S. embassy had moved to inquire about it. Agent Smith in Astana had called promptly to ask if Youngho and Jong-il were rted to this project, which meant that the embassy was interested.


    ¡°Oh, is that true?¡±


    ¡°An American friend in Germany inquired about this in details. He asked me if this could be a secure business.¡±


    He drank up Zeynep Wine at that point.


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°I said that I¡¯d guarantee it. I told him that I wouldn¡¯t have built a thousand houses in the autonomous state in the first ce if I didn¡¯t see any profit.¡±


    The old president pped as he got excited about Youngho¡¯s response.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Who would make such investment if our Kazakhstan is not safe enough? And then what happened?¡±


    He looked like a child expecting to hear more fun, yet interesting story.


    The project quickly attracted many investors.


    The U.S., French, and Germanpanies also showed their interest in participating in the project. The Kazakh government was happy to hear the news. Otherpaniespetitively joined the project because S Corporation which was said to be exceptionally tricky in partnering with foreign countries was involving in the project.


    Only France, which btedly said to conduct market research, was excluded and the three countries were selected as power generation facility operators. Two Koreanpanies, as well as U.S. and Germanpanies, signed an agreement to build a total of five power nts in Kazakhstan. Another Koreanpany was H Corporation. The government gave it an advantage since H Corporation had already invested in the government¡¯s road construction project.


    S Corporation agreed to build a gas turbine power nt in the region of Atyrau, but thepany was very satisfied because the size of the nt was as equal to two other nts together. As the U.S. and Germanpanies had joined the project, S Corporation did not need Youngho¡¯s assurance letter for it anymore since thosepanies were proof that its investment would not be a waste.


    The followers of Youngho were proud that they had achieved something in Kazakhstan although it was all Youngho¡¯s doing. However, their happy days were over soon. It was because Youngho made them receive gun training since they would be going out of the autonomous state frequently from now on. As the project began, three other employees were sent from S Corporation¡¯s headquarters. Six of S Corporation¡¯s branch employees including the new ones had to go through severe training for several days.


    Because Youngho and Jong-il had volunteered to join them in order to work out, they could notin about the harsh training. The training instructor was an employee of Zeynep Security Service. Since Youngho was suffering from the severity of the training, other employees of S Corporation including Youngho¡¯s followers must be almost dying.


    ¡°What were you thinking when you made him a training instructor?¡±


    Jong-il was to me for the hard training.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even talk to me. I¡¯m dying here. I won¡¯t let him get away with this.¡±


    Hearing the two¡¯s conversation, the instructor raised his voice.


    ¡°Okay, it looks like there are some trainees who still don¡¯t know how to be respectful. Now, repeat the eighth movement four times!¡±


    The eighth movement of the physical training exercise was twisting the whole body, which was an advanced movement. Youngho was now getting exhausted.

 Chapter 306 - The Middleman’s Job (2)

    <h4>Chapter 306: The Middleman¡¯s Job (2)</h4>


    Youngho was offered amission from American and Germanpanies for his brokerage for the Kazakh electric power industry. They wanted Youngho to be their agent for future businesses as well since Youngho was close to the Kazakh president.


    They thought that Youngho had a special connection with the president. It was not true but Youngho did not mind that.


    ¡°Boss. I think you¡¯re going to make enough for the whole autonomous state with the agency¡¯smission, but the Koreanpanies are rather quiet when they¡¯re the ones who are receiving your help the most.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to receive anything from them. Let¡¯s just be thankful that they made an investment in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You used your own money to make this happen. They should be thankful to you.¡±


    Kim Chun wanted to receive rewards from thepanies right away, but Youngho was waiting patiently until he heard from the Koreanpanies. Thosepanies would need Youngho¡¯s help along the way so there would be plenty of opportunities for him to contact them. It was no good to be impatient in a project that wouldst for years.


    For now, the Arirang Autonomous State had benefited already anyway because the number of employees of bothpanies were growing, and they would eventually spend more money in the state since they were residing there.


    Moreover, there was nothing more Youngho could ask for as long as thepanies help Kazakhstan¡¯s industrial growth. The growth of Kazakhstan was the growth of the autonomous state.


    ¡°The Germanpany that is going to build a power nt in West Kazakhstan will soon contact us to have its residence in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Wait, why would that Germanpany want to stay here instead of staying at the city of Oral?¡±


    ¡°Two Koreanpanies are residing in the autonomous state and the Germanpany would want to be near them since they all need each other¡¯s support and informationwork.¡±


    Since it was the government¡¯s first time putting a privatepany in charge of the state-run industry, it would have many restrictions and interference on them. Thosepanies would have many problems until the formal contract was signed andpleted. Until then, it was better for privatepanies to work together and stick with simr business strategies.


    ¡°We should hurry up and finish the construction of the office building for foreign corporations. If we couldplete the exterior of the building before it gets cold, we¡¯d be able to work on the inside during the winter.¡±


    Kim Chun suddenly got busy.


    He did not know how many people would be moving to the autonomous state but since some would prefer to stay at the hotel and some would prefer to live in a house, he had to arrange things to suit everyone¡¯s needs.


    ¡°Boss. Those employees would need vehicles to get to the power nt¡¯s construction sites. We should buy some more light-armored vehicles because we only have a few extras left. Some are being repaired and the Kazakh army base near the Russian border took five of them for testing, but we never heard back from the army.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s not rush them. They¡¯re protecting our border.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be willing to give them those vehicles if they officially asked for them, but theirmanders might have taken the vehicles for their own use. I mean, where would they get such sturdy vehicles?¡±


    It did not matter to Youngho since those vehicles were already used many times by the autonomous state in the past few years anyway. It did not matter if he could not get them back. He thought that it was better to impress the army because the Countryside Force would have joint training with the army in the future.


    Youngho was someone who always made the other party pay for what they have received from him. He was just keeping quiet now.


    ***


    ¡°Hey! Resident employees of the power nt project! Pleasee up!¡±


    Youngho¡¯s followers immediately came up to his office as he called them from above.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Stop making us blush. You tease us every time you see us.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You should beplimented since you two were the reason why I got help from S Corporation.¡±


    ¡°You know we didn¡¯t do anything with the power nt project. We only stayed at the office.¡±


    They should receive some incentives since they were the members of S Corporation¡¯s branch office in Kazakhstan, but it sounded like they were not receiving any privilege for this project. Youngho still wanted to help them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been checking the wheat prices this year and had a question. Can you help me with this?¡±


    ¡°Sure, we were told to do anything for you if you asked, Mr. CEO.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Can you look at this data and tell me what this means? I just can¡¯t make sense out of this.¡±


    After looking at the data for a while, they began exining the details of the data. It was not that Youngho did not understand the data, but he wanted to see if they were capable of basic business analysis. Although he did not study anything about business, he could read such data through the years of his business experience.


    ¡°Very well. That makes sense. So, that means Kazakhstan¡¯s wheat would not bepetitive despite its cheap price because of the transportation cost.¡±


    ¡°That is if you transport the wheat to Northeast Asia. If you sell wheat to the countries near the Caspian Sea and the ck Sea, you¡¯d havepetitiveness. I¡¯m not sure where you can store the wheat there, but the storage cost there is quite cheap.¡±


    ¡°We store it at the open storage yard at our wharf, which costs us basically nothing. That¡¯s a ce that doesn¡¯t rain.¡±


    After hearing him, his followers were amazed by the natural environment which seemed to be the perfect condition for storing wheat. They had no idea that the dry climate was quite stressful for Youngho.


    ¡°Hmmm, that means there¡¯s going to be no profit if I want to sell wheat to Korea.¡±


    The two were intrigued by Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Unless you could deliver wheat in a wholegrain condition, you won¡¯t be able topete against American wheat.¡±


    The great effectiveness of whole-wheat was well-known to people already, but it was impossible to deliver it on faraway ces without spraying preservatives all over it.


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯d be great if we can find a way to transport whole wheat to Korea. Why don¡¯t you two work on it?¡±


    ¡°One way is to vacuum-pack whole wheat. These days, people really care about food safety.¡±


    ¡°Vacuum-packing organic whole wheat? How long is its shelf life?¡±


    ¡°I heard that it canst for about ten days in a sealed package, but it canst way longer than that in a vacuum package.¡±


    Wheat farming was limited because of the state¡¯s water deficiency. It was a shame that he could only sell it ording to the international grain pricing. If he could sell his wheat as the whole wheat, the value of the wheat would be much higher. Since only a small amount of flour could be vacuum-packed, it would be convenient for potential customers.


    ¡°Let¡¯s say that we bought the flour mill and vacuum-packing facility here. If you could tell me the profit of producing and selling the whole mill, I¡¯ll teach you how to fly. How about that?¡±


    Trusting their youth and cleverness, Youngho thought that they woulde up with an urate estimate of the profit considering all the number of cases.


    ¡°Are you giving us homework?¡±


    ¡°Homework? That makes me sound like a teacher.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like a teacher to us, Mr. CEO.¡±


    Indeed, they always paid attention and listened carefully whenever Youngho was speaking as if they were his students.


    ¡°Okay, whatever you say. If you worked together toplete this homework, I¡¯ll not only teach you how to fly but also take you to wolf hunting in the winter.¡±


    Princess Isabe would being to the state in the winter for wolf hunting. His followers would definitely faint if they met the Danish princess.


    ¡°Do you go wolf hunting too?¡±


    ¡°Wolfskin products are important trading goods of our autonomous state. It¡¯s going to be fun.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I almost took you the wrong way.¡±


    H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joo-hyuk¡ªwho recently became the president of H Rotem¡ªcame to discuss the power nt project.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, I¡¯m a man of loyalty. How can I not apany you on such a big project? I want both Koreanpanies to be sessful in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were done with us when I heard that you were helping S Corporation.¡±


    ¡°In fact, I had no idea that H Corporation had experience in building power nts. I called you without expecting anything, but that was a great decision.¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t, I would¡¯vee to get you from Seoul right away, Mr. Lee.¡±


    The two were now close enough to make jokes to each other.


    ¡°Anyway, the chairman is very appreciative of you. He wanted to reward you for this. If there¡¯s anything you need, please do tell us.¡±


    ¡°Phew, you know I didn¡¯t expect to receive anything from you.¡±


    It seemed like H Corporation wanted to invest in Youngho for its future, but Youngho did not want to be seen as if he was eager.


    ¡°I did this for Kazakhstan¡¯s growth, not for yourpany. I already receivedpliments from the president for this. That¡¯s good enough.¡±


    Most of the other business partners of H Corporation had epted gifts when thepany offered, but Youngho¡¯s rejection was quite impressive to Kim Joo-hyuk.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You are indeed different from others. I understand your stance but no matter what you say, I want to do anything to help the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I said that¡¯s alright.¡±


    Youngho was ying tug-of-war with Kim Joo-hyuk.


    At this point, Youngho stepped back since he wanted to give Kim Joo-hyuk room to wiggle in. If he refused too much, that would also be seen as rude.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, did you hear the announcement that the Kazakh government is going to work on road and railroad construction work in Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to ask you about that too. It seemed like connecting Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from Almaty would be the shortest and cheapest route.¡±


    He had checked different routes already after hearing the government¡¯s announcement.


    ¡°The president is willing to give some sections of the route to yourpany¡¯s private consortium. It¡¯s still in the nning stage at the moment, but if you want to take the job, you might want to give a gift to Kazakhstan to earn its favor.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s eyes were opened wide because of Youngho¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°What should we do to get that job?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about us, making a small symbolic icon in Astana the capital of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°What kind of?¡±


    ¡°It could be a park, a library, or maybe a Korea-Kazakhstan technology cooperation center.¡±


    The old president wanted to make Astana the center of education and culture, but with Kazakhstan¡¯s current economic situation, he was not able to focus on his n.


    Kim Joo-hyuk pped at Youngho¡¯s opinion. It was something that H Corporation could do easily, and the facility would be a significant icon for H Corporation¡¯s achievement in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You know this is why I like you so much. Your idea is just brilliant. H Corporation will make a great impression in the Kazakh society if we could build that technology cooperation center. I¡¯ll contact eachpany in the consortium and ask how much they could contribute to this. This is going to be great!¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was happy that there was a chance for him to impress the chairman.


    He soon announced to the press of Kazakhstan that H Corporation¡¯s private consortium would be to build a library and a technology cooperation center as Korea and Kazakhstan¡¯s partnership businesses. This happened despite hispany not discussing anything with the government yet.


    That news made Youngho smile.


    The point of the article was this: He was appreciative of the people of Kazakhstan for taking care of Koryoins in the society and he emphasized that a Korean corporation was stepping up to ensure continued cultural and technological exchanges with the country. The size of the library and technology cooperation center would not be terribly huge, but they would have a huge impact on Kazakhstan¡¯s society.


    A technology cooperation center would be a sort of educational institution and H Corporation would be transferring advanced technology to Kazakh people. Also, a library would hold literature and global research papers that were hard to find in the country for free to the public.


    The press could not stop praising H Corporation and the Koryoin society was at the center of this attention. Kazakh people were proud to hear that they had been helping Koryoins.


    Since the public opinion favored this, Youngho was contacted by the presidential pce.


    The president wanted him to visit Astana whenever he could. Since this was a great opportunity to save his face, he got ready to set off to the city.

 Chapter 307 - The Middleman’s Job (3)

    <h4>Chapter 307: The Middleman¡¯s Job (3)</h4>


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I only suggested building a mere monument but H Corporation took it much more seriously than I thought.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only including H Corporation in this because I liked it ever since it started the road construction project.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I was just so happy to hear what you¡¯ve been doing. I just wanted to see you so we could talk.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you want to see a trick from me, I¡¯ll do a trick for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s alright. I just feel like I get younger whenever I see you. Do you know why I have so many Koryoins around me?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    There was no way for Youngho to find out the secret past of the president.


    ¡°I received a lot of help from Koryoins when I was younger.¡±


    He then began talking about his past.


    When Kazakhstan belonged to the Soviet Union, its capital was Almaty. The old president was born in that city. He worked as a steelworker and earned his doctorate degree in economics. Ever since he became a secretary general when the Soviet Union fell, he had been a political figure all his life.


    When he was terribly poor, he was motivated to study because of a Koryoin that was also the head of a collective farm that he worked at. It was not a special story, but the old president believed that the Koryoin head had the ability to foresee the future.


    He said that the Koryoin head insisted that he should learn and be a more enlightened person no matter how hard his circumstances were. Without the Koryoin head, he would have stayed working as aborer.


    Interestingly, the Koryoin head of the collective farm predicted that Kazakhstan would be a country in the near future, and convinced him to study to prepare for the future of Kazakhstan. The Koryoin head also told him to help Koryoins once Kazakhstan became independent.


    The president hadughed it out when he heard him back then but now that he looked back, it seemed like the Koryoin head must have known that the president would be a secretary-general and eventually the president of Kazakhstan in the future. At this point, Youngho was also shocked to hear this unusual story.


    The president praised the Koryoins¡¯ diligent characteristics and enthusiasm for education. He was certain that Koryoins had yed an important role in Kazakhstan¡¯s development. Kazakhs who had theziness of nomads in their blood were influenced by the Koryoins¡¯ diligence.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to repay the Koryoins, but I would have never worked with them if they had been incapable workers. However, the Koryoins had never disappointed me, not even once. That includes you since you are from the same root.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d that you look at us that way. I hope that I¡¯m not overdoing it.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve been receiving reports about what had been happening in the autonomous state. Please keep on doing what you¡¯ve been doing. The autonomous state could be a good role model for other regions in Kazakhstan. I will secure the autonomous state¡¯s status forever byw as long as I¡¯m still in power. I don¡¯t care what your dreams are but Kazakhs need a role model like your autonomous state.¡±


    Youngho was touched by the president¡¯s words. He would establish the autonomous state¡¯s status byw so its existence would not be threatened by anyone else in Kazakhstan.


    The old president smiled as he saw Youngho¡¯s expression.


    ¡°The only thing you should keep in mind is that every resident of the Arirang Autonomous State should be aplete Kazakh.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir. We came from different ces but we pursue the same thing. We are Kazakhs too.¡±


    ¡°Since that time you received naval families at the autonomous state, I knew that you don¡¯t care about ethnicities or races. I like that attitude. I don¡¯t have to worry about the autonomous state anymore.¡±


    It seemed like the president had been watching the autonomous state all along. Since Youngho did not restrict visitors to the state, the president was able to send anyone to investigate what was going on in the state.


    Receiving naval families at the state was a great decision.


    ***


    H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joo-hyuk was busy working on establishing the library and Korea-Kazakhstan¡¯s technology cooperation center. He came to tell Youngho what he had discussed with the Kazakh government today.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be building the library and the government agreed to let us rent a building to open the technology cooperation center. All we need to do now is to supply equipment. It cost much cheaper than what we expected.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just the first step. If you don¡¯t continue to support Kazakhstan in the future and if this ends up as temporary support, people will criticize H Corporation for that.¡±


    The library would need continuous updates with equipment and literature.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s something we¡¯ve been keeping in mind. We¡¯ll hire a professional librarian and keep updating the materials. Also, we¡¯ll be developing the technology cooperation center like KAIST of Korea. If we send the engineers that are already here now to the center, they¡¯d make great instructors.¡±


    If he would really keep his words, that would be very much appreciated.


    Youngho did not want temporary support but continuous attention to the development of Kazakhstan. H Corporation would not do this forever, but Youngho was willing to take over when H Corporation was done with Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I should send the kids from our state to receive your education.¡±


    ¡°I arranged a few instructors only for the autonomous state. You shouldn¡¯t have to do that.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? When did you even think of such a thing?¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the help I received from you and the autonomous state. I shouldn¡¯t miss out in supporting the autonomous state.¡±


    Youngho had wished for a few acknowledged professors toe to the autonomous state, and it seemed like he was going to get help from an unexpected person.


    ¡°You¡¯re being so considerate. How can I repay you, Mr. Kim?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk waved him off and dragged his chair forward to get closer to Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, forget that. You know why I¡¯m here in the first ce. Would you please stop beating around the bush and tell me what happened when you met the presidentst time?¡±


    ¡°This is not confirmed yet. I¡¯m not sure if I can tell you.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk pleaded as he grabbed Youngho¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Oh,e on! I need something to report to the headquarters.¡±


    ¡°Okay, the Kazakh government will soon announce this. The president said that he will consider making you in charge of some sections of the Kazakh-Afghan road and railroad projects. He¡¯s a man who doesn¡¯t say what he wouldn¡¯t do. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll hear good news soon.¡±


    The Kazakh government would trust H Corporation that had partnered with the government already for the domestic highway construction project. Since Youngho was thankful for H Corporation¡¯s investment as well, he had put some good words to the president.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s followers appeared at his office.


    Although they were not his followers anymore since they were now official residential employees of S Corporation¡¯s autonomous state branch, he still liked to call them his followers.


    ¡°What is it? Do you already have the results?¡±


    ¡°We could finish this kind of job in two days. Researching and making business project ns were what we¡¯ve been doing every day since we came to S Corporation.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if they were bragging about their abilities or if they wereining about being exploited by S Corporation back in Korea.


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Did your business project n make it to the higher-ups?¡±


    ¡°Well, our supervisor fixed some phrases but yes it was delivered to the higher-ups without any major change.¡±


    ¡®These guys are good.¡¯


    ¡°Did you work with Miss. Kim In-hwa?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we worked together as a team. Thepletion was dyed because we had different thoughts and perspectives on the project.¡±


    ¡°Miss. Kim In-hwa, why are you so quiet?¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, it¡¯s just that my colleague here had already said all I wanted to say.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anyints about this job?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. You even gave us alluvial gold for free, how could I be so selfish when you asked for our help?¡±


    It all boiled down to gold again.


    ¡°If I really like this n, I¡¯ll take only you two to the gold mine on my airne. You can work for up to four hours there. Does that sound good?¡±


    Kim In-hwa finally smiled because of Youngho¡¯s offer.


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. CEO.¡±


    Youngho thoroughly read the business n for an hour.


    It was somewhat wordy but a well-made report in general.


    The report stated detailed analysis from the cost of the mill and vacuum-packing factory facilities to the cost of storing wheat until it was milled. What surprised Youngho the most was that the profit from selling whole wheat flour was about 50 times more than selling it in bulk without any process. A hundred grams of whole wheat was sold at 3,000 won, which was quite amazing.


    It would cost him a lot to install the necessary facilities, but it was definitely worth to get them for the autonomous state. Youngho was in trouble since expanding the wheat field did not seem to be a good idea for now. However, if making a high profit with a small amount of produce would be possible, he would not have to develop more farnd but could turn the rest of the wastnd into a pasture. He could already imagine cows and sheep roaming around on the vast pasture field.


    The leadership group of the autonomous state was gathered at the conference room in the administration building.


    ¡°Hey, little followers! I heard you guys had done something great!¡±


    Jong-il said as he tapped their shoulders after being thest one to enter the room.


    ¡°...¡±


    Not knowing that they were called ¡®followers¡¯ by Youngho and Jong-il, the people inside the conference room did not understand what Jong-il meant.


    Jong-il quickly tried to redeem himself from his slip of the tongue.


    ¡°Oh, this is how we used to call new recruits in the Navy. It just means that you¡¯re fresh and beloved.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Mr. Park. We¡¯re honored that you think of us that way.¡±


    They had no idea that they were being teased.


    ¡°Alright! Everyone, please be seated. We need to go over the business project n that S Corporation¡¯s talented new recruits had made and discuss the matter.¡±


    Kim Chun announced the beginning of the conference.


    For the next 30 minutes, everyone listened to the briefing carefully without a word. They were surprised to learn that wheat could be sold in different ways.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that wheat is actually grains of gold. Who would¡¯ve thought that selling processed wheat would make such a difference in our profit? Why did the others haven¡¯t tried this before?¡±


    Old Kim Sung-chan made ament.


    ¡°The autonomous state¡¯s climate is not ideal for farming. It costs much more to supply water than other ces with great environmental factors and the amount of crop you get here is way lesser than other ces. America, Russia, Ukraine, and even east regions of Kazakhstan would not have to process their wheat to secure their profit since they already make enough when they sell it in bulk.¡±


    Everyone nodded at Suh Min-seok¡¯s long but coherent analysis.


    Impressed by Suh Min-seok¡¯s amazing research content and briefing skill, Youngho almost hugged him.


    ¡°Mr. Suh Min-seok, can I ask how much you get paid yearly by S Corporation?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something that I would like to keep for myself.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever thought of resigning from S Corporation and living in the autonomous state forever?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll give you a house and pay you more than S Corporation. How do you like that?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You do know that building a house here that¡¯s as big as a residential house in Korea takes quite a lot of money, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Not knowing what to say, Suh Min-seok only blinked his eyes.


    ¡°Phew, are you trying to recruit such a talented person like him with such poor disy of scouting skills? Do you think he¡¯d be that easy? You should¡¯ve said that you¡¯ll find him a wife as well.¡±


    Jong-il interrupted. Kim In-hwa suddenly screamed while he was listening to their conversation.


    ¡°No way!¡±

 Chapter 308 - The Middleman’s Job (4)

    <h4>Chapter 308: The Middleman¡¯s Job (4)</h4>


    Youngho returned from the gold mine after taking Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa there as he promised.


    He even let Suh Min-seok¡ªwho was sitting at the assistant pilot¡¯s seat¡ªhandle the control stick and he was exuberated. It was not clear how Suh Min-seok took Youngho¡¯s offer, but he became much more talkativetely than before.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Do you know how big S Corporation is in Korea?¡±


    ¡°I do. Isn¡¯t it an elite group?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not always true though. Korean corporations all have particr culture and philosophy of their own and people choose to go to apany of their liking. We are not the best of the best.¡±


    Back in Korea, there was a time when Youngho tried to get hired intorge corporations, but he was not sessful due to an exceptionally highpetition rate. That was when he found out that each corporation had its own culture.


    ¡°Why are you talking about the culture of a corporation all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to hear your philosophy and your intent in establishing the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°This has be what it is now without any intended purpose. I was only pushed to do this because of the surroundings. Do you think I¡¯d have a specific philosophy? I was only greedy fornd.¡±


    Youngho had nothing to say to Suh Min-seok¡¯s sudden question.


    ¡°Could you count living life to the fullest no matter what the circumstances were as a philosophy?¡±


    ¡°I wondered why you asked us to stay in the autonomous state. We don¡¯t have a lot of experience and we¡¯re not that special either.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to have you two around. Are you disappointed that I didn¡¯t have a grand purpose or a specific n?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. Actually, your answer makes me wonder even more about your philosophy. You are a businessman of global scale and I bet that you have a philosophy of your own.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. My everyday life is philosophical, so it¡¯s hard to say it in one phrase.¡±


    Youngho made a joke as the atmosphere seemed to get heavy.


    ¡°Haha...¡±


    Kim In-hwa, who was listening to their conversation, smiled brightly.


    ¡°So, how long have you two been going out?¡±


    ¡°It started the day when we first met you. We went to a nice restaurant together that night.¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. Indirect light can do amazing tricks.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say that didn¡¯t do a role in this.¡±


    ¡°What? Mr. Suh Min-seok!¡±


    Kim In-hwa snapped at him.


    ¡°I have no idea how it happened, but I just naturally asked her to go out with me.¡±


    ¡°I guess Miss. Kim In-hwa must¡¯ve said yes because of the romantic atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°No, Mr. CEO. I refused him at first!¡±


    Kim In-hwa made an excuse out of embarrassment but her voice had gotten a lot smaller.


    ¡°Well, you two look great together and you make an amazing team. I¡¯m happy for you two. It¡¯s your personal life and it¡¯s all up to you. Make decisions carefully and be responsible. Also, my offer is still valid for both of you. You¡¯re always wee here.¡±


    If they would quit working for S Corporation to work at the autonomous state, Youngho would be d to have them around. He now needed more workers under him in Zeynep Corporation now. They were talented enough that he expected them to climb towards the corporation¡¯s top positions.


    ¡°Thank you for considering us into your ns, Mr. CEO.¡±


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t have a specific n. I offered you guys a position because I like you.¡±


    Regardless of Youngho¡¯s answer, the two looked excited about Youngho¡¯s offer.


    ***


    ¡°The profit from our electronics industry will be up to 30 billion won. Even if we don¡¯t seed with our business in Kazakhstan, we¡¯ll still reward the Arirang Autonomous State for its role in this project. Our corporation is known to keep any promises it makes from the time of our former chairman to our current chairman now. I admire his character so much.¡±


    S Corporation¡¯s president visited the autonomous state. He talked about the different problems of Kazakhstan and now he was bragging about the achievements and owners of hispany.


    Younghoughed at him in his mind since he could tell the kind of person this president was. He seemed like he did not care about this palm-sized autonomous state. Some businesspeople had political characteristics. Youngho thought that this president must be it. These kinds of people were rather quite easy to handle.


    ¡°Oh, is that so? I¡¯m jealous of S Corporation since yourpany earns the amount of money that our autonomous state could make in ten years in just a year.¡±


    Although Youngho said that he was jealous, his physical gestures were contradictory to his words. He crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch.


    He was upset that S Corporation¡¯s president looked down on the autonomous state because of the amount of money that it was making. Also, the president¡¯s announcement at an official event that S Corporation would be rewarding the autonomous state¡¯s effort was not respectful. Paying amission to an agency once a contract was obtained wasmonly done by any business entities, but the president made it look like he was doing it out of generosity.


    The faces of Im Min-shik the vice president and Kim Sung-ho the deputy department head were darkened as the conversation went on. Although S Corporation was a globalpany that made a tremendous amount of money, it was wrong for the president to look down on Youngho and the autonomous state.


    ¡°What can yourpany give to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°H Corporation had announced that it would establish a library and technology cooperation center, and that¡¯s being admired by Kazakhs and Koryoins in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Youngho emphasized ¡®Koryoins¡¯ on purpose, but the president did not seem to care. He must be thinking that he should be respected for investing in a developing country.


    ¡°As far as I know, H Corporation didn¡¯t even make any profit from its investment. Are you sure it announced that at this point?¡±


    ¡°H Corporation is doing it for the friendship of two countries.¡±


    ¡°Is that how it works in this country?¡±


    He seemed distressed.


    ¡°That¡¯s what your information team would have to figure out. As a person who introduced you to the Kazakh government, I only want yourpany to maintain a good rtionship with it.¡±


    He was startled by Youngho¡¯s answer. It was because he had just spoken about how much money S Corporation was earning.


    ¡°This is aparatively new country that became independent after it was under a socialistic rule for a long time. You could lose a lot if you approach this ce in a way that you used to invest in other foreign countries.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you were the one who brokered us with this country. You should help us until the end.¡±


    ¡°I will help as much as possible, but I can¡¯t always be there for you.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s expectations for S Corporation had already disappeared from his heart.


    ¡°Okay, I guess I was asking too much from you since you¡¯ve already done so much for us. I¡¯ll discuss it with mypany¡¯s leadership team.¡±


    It was lucky that he understood Youngho quickly, but it seemed like S Corporation would be struggling a lot in Kazakhstan.


    The leadership team of S Corporation from Seoul left and Youngho was left in his office.


    Youngho did not want to expect too much from S Corporation any more. It seemed like thepany did not want to help improve Koryoins¡¯ position in Kazakhstan. When Youngho mentioned the Koryoins, the president looked like he could not find any connection between his business and the Koryins in Kazakhstan. It was Youngho¡¯s mistake to think of asking S Corporation to donate to the Koryoins, but he wanted to try since the president of thepany was bragging about how much hispany had made in a year. Youngho med himself for trying to ask him for a donation, he shook his head.


    ***


    Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa came to Youngho¡¯s office.


    They looked somewhat down.


    ¡°I guess your boss must¡¯ve walked all over you. You know you¡¯ll grow strong. You¡¯re always trodden on. People say barley sprouts grow stronger and better when they¡¯re trodden on.¡±


    Youngho tried to cheer them up with a joke but Kim In-hwa still looked serious.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Will ourpany still be able to proceed with this project?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim our deputy department head looks like he¡¯s going back to Korea.¡±


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, Kim In-hwa. Look at me and tell me what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°We heard that ourpany¡¯s president had made a mistake about you. Mr. Kim says he can¡¯t even look at you in the face because he¡¯s so embarrassed and sorry.¡±


    ¡°Mistake? What mistake? People at such position make all sorts ofments, and that doesn¡¯t bother me at all.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure, Mr. CEO?¡±


    ¡°Tell Mr. Kim toe to my office. Man, who does he think I am?¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Please call himter and listen to us first.¡±


    Youngho was having his second cup of green tea.


    His throat felt somewhat dry and somewhat itchy, and he had to drink a cup of cold water before he could clear his throat.


    ¡°Okay, both of you, have youe to this decision on your own?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have and we¡¯d never regret it.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that almost sounds like you¡¯re already regretting it.¡±


    His followers announced that they would resign from S Corporation and take Youngho¡¯s offer. They said that they realized that the world was bigger than they thought and were charmed by Youngho¡¯s lifestyle since he worked on a global scale.


    They also wanted to be like Youngho.


    ¡°Alright. But help S Corporation¡¯s power nt project until the final contract is signed, as administrative staff of the autonomous state. You can be as bossy as you want.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mr. CEO. We¡¯ll do our best to work for you!¡±


    ¡°Very well. Then I¡¯ll give you a written appointment letter and the permanent residency of the autonomous state first thing tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Are we in such a hurry?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are. There is so much work to do. You¡¯ll constantly be flying around the globe.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°First, you¡¯ll need to look around the Arirang Hotels in each country. Then, you¡¯ll go to Baku¡¯s Zeynep Oilfield Service, which is an oil explorationpany, a warehouse store in Georgia, Zeynep Foundation, Zeynep Wine factory, the wine distribution store in Frankfurt and to study their work as well.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. Mr. CEO, you¡¯ve got an oilpany too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s an offshore field and we¡¯ve been drilling gas from there.¡±


    Surprised by what Youngho was telling them, they could not say a word.


    ¡°Lastly, you¡¯d be in charge of keeping things updated from the warehouseplexpany in divostok and Zeynep Security Service which are thepanies under Zeynep Corporation. It¡¯s all yours.¡±


    Kim In-hwa looked dumbfounded.


    ¡°What? How manypanies do you even have, Mr. CEO?¡±


    ¡°Compared to S Corporation¡¯s businesses, any business branch of Zeynep Corporation is a small shop business.¡±


    ¡°How is an oil explorationpany a small shop business?¡±


    ¡°My share is not much. The mafia boss of southern Russia has most of the share of thepany. I¡¯m only managing it.¡±


    Suh Min-seok looked stressed when he heard about mafias. He must be thinking that he had gotten himself in big trouble when he took Youngho¡¯s offer.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it going to be dangerous to deal with the mafias?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. If you say my name, no one will touch you. There¡¯s going to be a war if theyy a finger on you.¡±


    Their faces were turning pale now. It seemed that Youngho scared them enough tonight. He was about to stop since he did not want them to have nightmares.


    ¡°Are there any more surprises, Mr. CEO?¡±


    Suh Min-seok stepped up to ask boldly.


    ¡°That was the least surprising thing. You¡¯ll get to see so many fun and unexpected events around me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to introduce you to the mafia boss of southern Russia. You¡¯ll have to contact him frequently from now on.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s remark, the teacup which Suh Min-seok was holding began shaking hard.

 Chapter 309 - Preparing for the Coming Winter (1)

    <h4>Chapter 309: Preparing for the Coming Winter (1)</h4>


    As Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa began working for Zeynep Corporation; they changed unorganized reports that Youngho used to get from different branches of his business into well-written, coherent ones because they had made manuals for documents and distributed them to each branch.


    One time, theybined each report from different branches into one document and Youngho could not help but smile¡ªsince it was so easy to read. Since they had lifted up his headache with disorganized documents, he felt much easier to give instructions. The autonomous state¡¯s administrative work was also in shipshape. Since the state was also like a corporation, its work efficiency improved with the new manuals.


    ¡°Boss. Those two newbies are so skillful. My life is so easier now.¡±


    ¡°They must¡¯ve adopted S Corporation¡¯s work manuals to our state and businesses. We only just began following the manuals but I¡¯m hearing so many good reviews. Our state¡¯s work efficiency will improve so much as we get used to this.¡±


    Nothing was perfect in the world.


    The manuals looked great right now but some of the guidelines might not fit the situations of the autonomous state. As people would try to modify and improve current manuals, new manuals of the state would be created soon.


    Youngho was d that a new wind was blowing in the autonomous state.


    ¡°Are they getting along with our residents?¡±


    ¡°Sure. They¡¯re especially popr among teenagers. They are teaching them many things.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome. Please keep helping them to get familiar with their new life at the state.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. Suh Min-seok¡¯s parents have decided to move here, and Kim In-hwa¡¯s parents are not going to leave Korea.¡±


    It seemed that Suh Min-seok¡¯s parents were not doing so great in Korea. People would not leave to a foreign country if they were satisfied with their current life, especially to a country where they barely knew about. Most of the Korean people would feel reluctant to move to a developing country.


    Although eastern Kazakhstan boasted of amazing natural sceneries, western Kazakhstan did not have a lot to boast about. There was the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea, which had been shrinking down¡ªbut even people were not visiting the Aral Sea anymore due to its salty breeze.


    ¡°I hope they don¡¯t get disappointed when they get here.¡±


    ¡°I already emphasized this to Suh Min-seok¡¯s parents that life outside the stone walls is very tough and risky many times but they didn¡¯t care. I tried my best because I didn¡¯t want to hear that we coaxed the naive young couple into resigning from S Corporation and moving here.¡±


    The young couple¡¯s parents would have been feeling happy that their son and daughter were hired by a global corporation, but they would have been shocked to hear that they resigned from S Corporation after being sent to a foreign branch. Many Korean parents would try their best to stop them from resigning from a global corporation.


    Come to think of it, Korean parents were extremely bossy and nosy to their children. Even when their children became adults, they would look after them as if they were still young kids. Youngho even heard that parents would follow their kids to their interviews. In the future, there might be parents who would do their children¡¯s work for them. It was a stupid way of ruining their children¡¯s future and, moreover, a way to drop nationalpetitiveness.


    ¡°Well, if they were parents who¡¯d be nosy in their adult children¡¯s decisions, they won¡¯t be suitable for the life in the autonomous state. I¡¯ll ask them to return to Korea politely.¡±


    ¡°They were retired from their workst year and they seem to be quite motivated to live a new life. They even told me that they would be helpful to the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, that¡¯d be great. I just hope that they¡¯d be okay with the cold here.¡±


    ¡°Even I have a hard time because of the cold every winter even though I¡¯ve been living here all my life. It¡¯ll take time for them to get used to it.¡±


    It was the same for Youngho.


    He could endure cold fairly because of the ring¡¯s power, but he still would be reluctant to go out in the field where biting winds rushed.


    ***


    ¡°This year¡¯s winter is going to be exceptionally cold. I think everyone should get prepared. The severe cold returns every several years and Kazakh people are already used to this but it¡¯s going to be hard for the Serbian people.¡±


    Although the winter of the mountainous regions of Serbia in the Balkan Penins was cold enough, it was like springpared to Kazakhstan¡¯s winter. Where the autonomous state was located at the central part of Kazakhstan and its average temperature during the winter was about 10.4 degrees in Fahrenheit and when it was severe, it went down to -4 degrees. Due to the heavy wind chill, it actually felt like -22 degrees.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s winter was life-threatening.


    People would be safe in their houses but life still had to go on even in the winter. Especially, the Countryside Force guards and maritime police guards would have to be outside to fulfill their duty, so they needed to be tightly prepared.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be presenting woolen clothes soon. You can count on it. We¡¯ll be giving them away for kids since they liked to y outside.¡±


    The autonomous state began producing woolen fabrics since it had bought woolen spinning machines when it bought looms for making carpets. It was because there was too much extra wool left.


    ¡°I have a mountain-climbing clothespany that I used to have business with. I ordered the arctic clothes recently. Please give them away fairly to all people of the state.¡±


    After hearing that the winter was going to be extremely cold, Youngho ordered winter clothes for the residents who would be doing outdoor activities often and also for the Countryside Force guards. The climbing clothes were warm enough to be admired by mountaineers who climbed up and down of the high peaks of Himya. Youngho figured that workers of the state would need some support from him since there was much work to be done outside.


    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t have to prepare such thing on your own. You could¡¯ve ordered me to do it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to increase your workload. Commissioner Kim.¡±


    ¡°You used your pocket money again. The state had saved quite an amount of money now.¡±


    Youngho did not care whether he used his own money for the state since he considered what was his was the autonomous state¡¯s.


    Although Kim Chun had said that the autonomous state had saved some money, it was only slightly more than 2,000 dors. The most profit of the state came from the mineral trade, drone, and bearing factories; the second highest profit came from selling carpets, wolf skin, and handcrafted rifles. Also, ten percent of workers¡¯ payments would be automatically taken out from their checks to store it as the autonomous state¡¯s saving. It was a kind of tax. The state would also earn some money from its hotel¡ªresident ces rented to outsiders and selling wheat.


    There were 1,221 families living in the autonomous state. Excluding Kazakh naval families and others who did not pay tax to the state, each family was paying about 3,000 dors of tax every year on average. This meant that each family made more than 30,000 dors of annual ie. This meant that the ie level of the autonomous state had increased quite a lot. Although the state could not bepared to other European countries since the people of the state did not have many options for cultural activities and leisure activities, people did not spend the money they earned. All they used their money for was to buy daily necessities.


    ¡°Is the construction of cattle shedsplete?¡±


    On the grass fields that were formed, small andrge cattle sheds were being built.


    ¡°We are at the finishing stage. We are waiting to install sr panels on the roof of each building. We¡¯re worried that the supply of panels is getting dyed.¡±


    ¡°It must be because the amount of orders is too high for now. We can install the panels next year. Please don¡¯t rush the factory.¡±


    The sr panel factory that was newly built in Almaty was yet to be operated, but the recent demand was too high that it was difficult to supply the panels in time only from the factory in Atyrau. The Koreanpany K Electronics was nning to build a factory in Uzbekistan next year since its business had been so sessful in Central Asia. Because of that, Zeynep Corporation which had a share in sr panel factory was benefited as well.


    ¡°We utilized the wasteful rocks that were all over the state and made an outer wall. It¡¯d be a permanent facility of our state. They could also be used as bunkers in case of emergency.¡±


    The walls around the cattle sheds were built out of rocks since there were plenty of rocks in the autonomous state that was found when fields were plowed. Another reason was to use them as bunkers in emergency situations. Sheep did not need such walls in order to stay warm from the cold but the state was taking an unnecessary step to build the walls.


    The idea was taken from Grozny, Chechnya¡¯s capital city. It was also known as a fortress city. When Russia invaded Chechnya in 1994, its military had a hard time defeating Grozny because of the city¡¯s military instation despite Russia¡¯s overwhelming firepower.


    That was why Youngho asked to make all buildings of the autonomous state in a fortress quality. Ideally, there should not be any war but people also built all sorts of facilities to improve deterrent. Also, such sturdy facilities wouldst longer than regr facilities.


    ***


    H Corporation¡¯s highway construction consortium was assigned as the primary negotiator of thepany in charge of the 170-kilometer section at the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Compared to the total length of the road construction, it was not much but because it was located in a mountainous area, the construction cost would be multiplied as the consortium would have to build many tunnels and bridges.


    The construction environment was also extremely rough since more than 80 percent of thend¡¯s altitude was above 2,000 meters¡ªbut H Corporation rather liked it since difficult construction circumstances would leave a higher profit in the end.


    Im Min-soo, the director of the H Corporation¡¯s highway construction consortium came to see Youngho.


    ¡°I¡¯m d to know that the climate of Kyrgyzstan is simr to Korea¡¯s climate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be quite cold since it¡¯s a ce with high altitude. Are you really going to begin the construction in this season?¡±


    ¡°We need to find out the fee estimates for the project and report them to the Kazakh government soon. I want to impress the government since it has acknowledged our technical skills.¡±


    Although the consortium was not yet confirmed by the government since it was only the primary negotiator, Im Min-soo was certain that the consortium would get the job.


    ¡°Okay, here¡¯s what I can do for you to help you. I will assign you ten Countryside Force guards and five light-armored vehicles. You¡¯d be able to bring daily supplies with those vehicles. Also, if you need anything, you can call me through a satellite phone so I can deliver things on a light-airne.¡±


    ¡°If you do that, we won¡¯t have to worry about a thing. Thank you.¡±


    Since all of the state¡¯s expense would be paid by H Corporation, Youngho did not mind giving him all the necessary support.


    Many of the Countryside Force soldierspetitively wanted to get assigned for the external support work. They would not only get paid more but also get new working experience in a foreign country, rather than staying at the autonomous state all the time.


    The autonomous state¡¯s Countryside Force intended elitism, so it consisted entirely of professional soldiers above nomissioned officers. It was because they needed to have the ability tomand residents in an emergency since all residents would be soldiers in such asion.


    Because long-distance operations were assigned by squad, external support was only possible when the officer of the squad waspetent, but they had not met Youngho¡¯s expectations yet. But, he was confident that they were better than the army officers of the Kazakh military.


    The biggest problem of long-distance operation was thenguage barrier.


    Speaking Russian was necessary if one had to travel around countries in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan but there was no soldier who could speak Russian fluently yet. Learning a foreignnguage usually took people a very long time. Thankfully, Serbians were fast to learn Russian since Serbian used the same Cyrillic characters as Russians. That was why Koryoin intelligence agents yed a key role since they could speak multiplenguages.


    ¡°Insoo, did you decide which ones to send to Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°Oh man, don¡¯t even mention Kyrgyzstan. My head hurts just by thinking about it, so I decided to rotate squads every month.¡±


    Since every squad wanted to go to Kyrgyzstan, he decided to give all of them a chance. It was not going to be all fun and easy when they left their home, but the soldiers were excited as if they were going on a field trip. This meant that they had been familiarized to Kazakhstan¡¯s severe weathers and were confident enough.


    They were ready to show off their uniforms and light-armored vehicles to the people of Kyrgyzstan. They belonged to the autonomous state but they were also official soldiers of Kazakhstan who received orders from the Kazakh military. It was a great chance for them to interact with the troops at the border since they would be crossing the border.


    The autonomous state was well-known in west Kazakhstan but southeastern regions would have never heard about the autonomous state. It would also benefit the state if the Countryside Force got familiar with soldiers on the east side of the country. It was unlikely, but they could be sent to work together for the same military operation in the future.

 Chapter 310 - Preparing for the Coming Winter (2)

    <h4>Chapter 310: Preparing for the Coming Winter (2)</h4>


    Youngho reported to the Kazakh Army that the Countryside Force would be leaving the Arirang Autonomous State to guard the road construction survey team. It was not something that the state could decide without the Kazakh military¡¯s consent since soldiers of the Countryside Force would leave the state on light-armored vehicles.


    He had been strictly reporting every movement of the Countryside Force if any of the soldiers on duty was leaving the state since the Countryside Force could be considered as a threatening armed force to the Kazakh military.


    As Youngho was still waiting for the military¡¯s approval, there was a lot to prepare for the Countryside Force and the H Corporation¡¯s highway construction consortium. He got some gifts to the upational troop at the border and things needed for the construction survey team.


    There were only ten members of the survey team and ten Countryside Force guards to travel to remote ces; they would need a lot of things including water, gas, and daily supplies. If they could not camp out, they would have to stay at the vehicles¡ªso one vehicle was assigned to only four people at a time.


    In several days, the Kazakh Army¡¯s approval was received. Recognizing the importance of the national project, the Army agreed to send amissioned officer along with the survey team. This meant that the Kazakh Army approved the Countryside Force as part of its branch.


    ¡°I guess the army sent an officer in exchange for the light-armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°Whatever their reason is, let¡¯s just be d that the army approves us now.¡±


    Youngho recently sent a document of free transfer of the light-armored vehicles that the state had rented to the army troops in west Kazakhstan. It was an appreciative gesture of the army for saving its face. The army in west Kazakhstan had been dissatisfied since only the troops that were near the Chinese border were equipped with brand-new armored vehicles. With the light-armored vehicles received by the autonomous state, the west Kazakh Army was now equipped with more legitimate vehicles.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be on the road for more than ten days from forward. Are there more supplies we should bring?¡±


    It would take them at least ten days for them to cross the country that was twelve timesrger than the Korean Penins when the road condition was at its best. Since they would have to drive on the rough, unpaved road most of the time of their trip, it would probably take them more than that.


    ¡°Except for the existence of the bathroom inside, the vehicles are modified so that you can eat and sleep inside it. You¡¯ll have everything you need.¡±


    Since the vehicles could seat ten fully-armed soldiers, it had enough room for four people to lie down, when several seats were removed. They would be able to sleep on thick mattresses inside.


    It could be fatal to camp outside in the severe cold of Kazakhstan¡¯s winter and at an altitude of 2,000 meters. Also, the guards would have to be on their duty overnight if they camped outside. Since it was going to be a long trip, it would wear them out slowly. Thus, sleeping inside the vehicle would be warmer and safer for the survey team.


    Moreover, the light-armored vehicles were sturdy enough to protect people from idents that frequently happened because of Kazakhstan¡¯s rough road conditions. People in Kazakhstan were known to drive violently as well, but there would be no driver who would rush themselves toward light-armored vehicles.


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned since it¡¯ll be hard to find gas stations once they enter Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner. How about sending a small tanker with them?¡±


    ¡°Oh! There¡¯s our solution. That¡¯s a hundred times better than running out of gas in the middle of nowhere.¡±


    They had to be prepared for any emergency situation since they were traveling a long distance in appalling conditions.


    ***


    Although it was now an offseason for farming, there were hardly any drunken people on the streets at the autonomous state. It was partly because of the state-regted alcohol consumption, and it was also because the whole state was busy preparing for theing winter. People had no time to drink at the moment.


    Serbians at the state had a distorted drinking culture since they had lived in istion, and in a mountainous area for a long time. It was also because the Serbian Orthodox Church allowed drinking. The reason that the state limited alcohol consumption was that too many people were used to heavy drinking and that could cause problems in families andmunities.


    ¡°There are not many residents who drink too muchtely, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you are a great role model for them, Boss.¡±


    ¡°Why are you pulling me into this?¡±


    ¡°I made a rumor that the prince consort of the Archduchess stopped drinking for health. That was quite effective, I think.¡±


    ¡°I drank with visitors of the state. Who¡¯d believe that?¡±


    ¡°You drank for guests, not for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ll be having frequent visitors from Volgograd from now on. I should be sneaky to drink with them.¡±


    Yaniv and Sergey were extreme heavy drinkers that their way of greeting was to offer a drink. It was quite strange to Youngho that how people who belonged to the Orthodox Church drank more than people who did not go to church.


    He had heard that Russia adopted the Orthodox Church because it allowed drinking. Im was not a suitable religion for cold Russia since religion prohibited pork and alcoholic drinks. The Orthodox Church tried to suppress heavy drinking culture but it never had sess because it could not stop the aristocrats¡¯ privilege of making and selling vodka.


    Recently, the Russian government had been trying to improve the excessive drinking culture but it was not as sessful as the autonomous state. It seemed that the people of the Arirang Autonomous State, which consisted of immigrants, were strong-willed to adapt to the new environment and establish the new kingdom.


    People of the state who ranched were now busy picking up hay that was made in the summer and fixing cattle sheds. Farmers, although it was an off-season for farming, were now working at developing new farnd and building stonewalls to block winds.


    The state nned to double the size of farnd by next year. There would be beans nted in the new farnd by next year. The soil would be maintaining its rich condition as beans and wheat would be alternatively nted every year. The rest of thend would be turned into pasture and used to raise cattle.


    Even with the new farnd developed, the state would only be able to produce a few tons of wheat at max, so most of it went to Azerbaijan. It was because the autonomous state had signed a contract with the Azerbaijani government to provide wheat for the country for several years. The n to sell whole wheat flour was postponed since there was a lot to figure out before the state could actually secure the market for whole wheat. Youngho decided to let Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa figure out the details of the whole wheat business.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to rush it. Just thoroughly examine it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try to find a market in Korea first, but I highly doubt that there¡¯s high demand. So, I¡¯m going to also look for a ce around the Caucasus.¡±


    Suh Min-seok showed great enthusiasm.


    ¡°Wheat is the major people¡¯s diet here. People prefer whole wheat bread and you can¡¯t expect to get paid highly for it as you would in Korea, or else, you will get kicked out from the market right away.¡±


    Youngho was giving the couple a challenging job because he wanted to test their capability. Wheat farming was not the major business of the state, so it was not going to be a terrible thing if the whole wheat business failed.


    ***


    In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the heating system of most households was a stove. In urban homes, electric stoves or furnaces were used, but wealthy people used fireces to heat their houses. It was an expensive option especially for urban people because firewood cost a lot to keep houses warm throughout the whole winter.


    Except for the people who lived in rural ces with lots of trees, it was not easy to get firewood. So, people naturally wore thick clothes even inside their houses to stay warm throughout the winter.


    However, the houses at the autonomous state had floor heating system which was adopted from Korea, and people couldst the winter wearing t-shirts inside their houses. With thick outer walls, the houses were designed to keep cool air during the summer, and warm air during the winter. And as the floor was heated, each house was bound to be warm due to the cirction of air.


    When the residents lived in Serbia, they used fireces and it used to cause them cold and pneumonia due to the polluted air and dryness. They liked that their chronic illnesses were gone ever since they moved to the autonomous state.


    Youngho visited the hospital at the autonomous state in a long time to see Doctor Kim Dong-sung.


    ¡°Director, I heard that you¡¯re bored and that you don¡¯t get many patients heretely.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have many patients from the state but the patients from outside had been increasing. I¡¯m concerned that we¡¯ll run out of wards for the patients soon.¡±


    The medical team at the autonomous state was now popr in other cities such as Atyrau and Astana in Kazakhstan and people traveled far to get hospitalized for their illness. They would have gone to Russia or Europe to get treated in the past, but now they were crowding into the autonomous state.


    The general hospital was still being built with more wards and facilities but it would bepleted in next year.


    ¡°You should prepare for the winter when you¡¯re not busy.¡±


    ¡°What does a doctor need to prepare for winter?¡±


    There was nothing that a hospital should prepare for the winter except for its regr duties such as, buying regr hospital supplies.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you need some wolf fur?¡±


    His face brightened as he finally understood what Youngho meant.


    Since the doctor was already over 60, he would not be able to hunt in the severe mid-winter¡¯s weather. Now was the best time for him to get outside now and hunt wolf with Youngho before it became too cold.


    ¡°I was going to visit the gold mine before the water freezes but I guess I should be satisfied with hunting wolves. My head gets cold these days and I was thinking to buy a hat for myself. Wolf fur sounds perfect for that!¡±


    He loved gold indeed.


    Youngho heard that the doctors had been gathering on Friday afternoons. It seemed that they had been thinking about going to the gold mine. Youngho had postponed the trip to the mine multiple times because it did not look good to the residents when they were so busy preparing the state for theing winter. The weather had turned so cold that it frosted every morning now, and it seemed that the gold mine season was off for this year.


    Instead, he was willing to satisfy the doctors¡¯ desires with hunting wolves and bunnies.


    The next day, Youngho received a call from Eriksson when he was taking a rest in his home after returning from hunting with Kim Dong-sung and other doctors.


    ¡°Lee. I hope I didn¡¯t keep you waiting for too long.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to worry about that. They say that no news is good news.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s a way to look at it. A gift must have arrived to you, Lee. I¡¯ll stop by at Frankfurt sometime soon. Let¡¯s grab some coffee.¡±


    ¡°I have a monthly meeting next month. Let¡¯s meet at the ce where we always meet after my meeting.¡±


    Eriksson hung up as soon as Youngho agreed to see him. It was a straightforward call without unnecessary information. He must have something to discuss with Youngho since he asked to meet him.


    Any business with Information Agency was beneficial to Youngho, so he would not refuse to meet Eriksson at any time.


    He checked his bank ount immediately, and 25 million dors was deposited to his ount. It was an amount more than enough to make up for what he had lost from Russia¡¯s situation. Youngho wondered how much the clients of Information Agency would have made from the Chechnya¡¯s oil pipeline explosion incident since 25 million dors was only his portion and the agency must have made more than him.


    There must be other parties that lost this much amount of money when there were people who made this much. There were many groups that utilized such information that he had slipped to Eriksson.


    Youngho was again reminded of the importance of information.


    This was why Youngho tried hard to acquire any piece of important information about Central Asia. Fast information meant money.


    Youngho quickly called Jong-il to share his thought. He thought that Jong-il¡¯s intelligence team should have a base in Almaty as soon as possible.


    He also called Agent Smith in Astana to ask to find an office for H Corporation¡¯s road construction consortium. Although he traveled to Almaty often, he did not have many connections as Agent Smith.


    ¡°Whoa, I didn¡¯t know you can call first, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°You know that a Korean corporation is building roads in Kyrgyzstan, right?¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea how much I was criticized for that because there was no information for American corporations?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I helped you with the power nt business. I wasn¡¯t going to get an American corporation involved but I still told you because I cared about you.¡±


    ¡°Those corporations would never thank you for such a job. They just think that it was going to be theirs anyway.¡±


    ¡°I need an office in Almaty for H Corporation. Could you please look for a good site?¡±


    ¡°Will you count me in this too?¡±


    If American corporations would get involved in this, Youngho was willing to make a position for them since Kazakhstan was full of Russianpanies. The country needed more foreign businesses to fight against Russianpanies.


    ¡°Depends on how well you do the job.¡±

 Chapter 311 - A Baby Step (1)

    <h4>Chapter 311: A Baby Step (1)</h4>


    ¡°What¡¯s all the rush? You said that you wanted to start when the hotel in Almaty ispleted.¡±


    Jong-il asked Youngho about the reason why he told him to find a base for the intelligence department of the autonomous state in Almaty as soon as possible.


    ¡°Just open something like a fur store or open a fake H Corporation¡¯s consortium office. Wait a minute. H Corporation will need an office there.¡±


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°The CIA¡¯s European chapter would wee us if we start targeting Central Asia more aggressively.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good news.¡±


    In fact, Michael, the head of the European chapter, was expecting a lot about it. Almaty was a city that was near the H Corporation¡¯s construction site at the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. To supply necessary materials and external help, having an office in Almaty sounded like a good idea.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can send some of our agents who finished training as H Corporation¡¯s local staff. We also need interpreters for the Koreanpany staff. They won¡¯t refuse our people.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll sort out some agents who know well about Almaty.¡±


    Youngho called Im Min-soo and told him about his n, and Im Min-soo loved the idea.


    ¡°We were just thinking about opening our office in Almaty, thergest city in the southeastern region of Kazakhstan. And we were going to find local interpreters anyway. If you could take care of that for us, that¡¯ll be much appreciated.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. It¡¯ll also be beneficial for us since we¡¯ll be able to support our security team that went with your survey team. I¡¯ll go ahead and find a good ce for an office, and get ready for our people to work at the office as interpreters.¡±


    If Youngho could just send security guards to Almaty ahead of time, it would decrease their travel time from the autonomous state to the construction site which was about 20 days for a round trip.


    ¡°We¡¯d be grateful if you could find an office for us. Do you have connections in Almaty too?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I do. I have a close friend who works at the U.S. embassy. I found a great site for my new hotel which is still being built at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re opening your hotel there too?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where I¡¯ve been looking forward to opening a business for a long time. Almaty is Kazakhstan¡¯srgest economic city, and it has the most exchange with China. It¡¯s even called the New York of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°I feel relieved that Arirang Hotel will be opening there soon. I was a bit overwhelmed by the new city, to be honest.¡±


    Although H Corporation was a globalpany, employees still did not feelfortable going to an unfamiliar city. Any ce of the world was full of brokers who were ready to rip off foreign businesses that had no idea about local life. If they could have an ally that would take care of such local issues, the employees would be immensely thankful since they could only focus on their work.


    ¡°Well, this is what I should do as a friend and a business partner.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea how helpful you are to us. I should spread the word to Korean corporations that they shoulde to the Arirang Autonomous State first when they want to make their foray into Central Asia.¡±


    If Im Min-soo would do that, Youngho would not refuse him. Anypanies that wanted to start their business in Central Asia would hear that and it would be a win-win business for Youngho and them.


    ¡°The Arirang Autonomous State will be called a broker state in no time.¡±


    ¡°Well, won¡¯t that also benefit Kazakhstan? The government won¡¯t stop the state from attracting foreign investors.¡±


    ¡°Because of you, I¡¯m going to hearpliments from the president again.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Your sess means more business for us, so I¡¯ll keep promoting you to ourpany and otherpanies as much as possible. Please let me know if you need anything from us.¡±


    Youngho was d that he gained a great ally. He would be able to save his face to the Kazakh government. He was excited about what to ask for from the government as a reward for his job in attracting foreign investors.


    ***


    Youngho left to Almaty with some Koryoin intelligence agents and his follower couple, Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa. In order to get to Almaty, he needed to take a domestic flight. He could take his light airne, but he gave up that option since he would have to fill its gas tank twice along the way. Almaty was too far that it was not a good idea to go there with a light airne.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you to buy a bigger airne. I know that this country is huge but does it make sense that we can¡¯t travel on our airne freely?¡±


    Jong-il¡¯sint made Youngho wonder whether he needed to buy a small jet now. A light airne was the safest airne but it took a long time to travelpared to bigger airnes. Also, it was useless if the traveling distance was too long.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok. Find a decent jet for me. A 20-seater would be perfect.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Mr. CEO. I¡¯ll get on it as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a used one. You can take your time.¡±


    Knowing that Suh Min-seok thought that Youngho was super wealthy, Youngho told him to get a used one.


    ¡°No, no. Suh Min-seok. Find a new one. A used one will eventually cost us more to repair it.¡±


    Not knowing Youngho¡¯s mind, Jong-il ordered differently.


    ¡°Hey! We should buy a used one for the training purpose first and then buy a new one afterward.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to fly on it if it¡¯s not new. I don¡¯t want to risk my life on a used jet.¡±


    The follower couple innocently began searching for jets online. It seemed that only Youngho was feeling bitter in the group. A new jet could cost him the whole money he earned from selling information to the Information Agency.


    The group went to the Ritz-Carlton hotel that Youngho and Jong-il usually used in Almaty.


    ¡°Wow, is this ce really in Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°You guys, you are underestimating Almaty.¡±


    Jong-il then began his briefing about Almaty to the young couple.


    He was giving them false information because the followers¡¯ exaggerated reactions were too cute. The two were surprised to see high buildings since all they had been seeing in the autonomous state was an empty field.


    The forty-story Ritz-Carlton hotel unusually had its lobby on the 31st floor, and the view from the lobby was quite amazing. The floors below the lobby were rooms formon guests, and the floors above the lobby were dedicated for long-term staying residence. It was perfect for long-term guests.


    ¡°When I was in the Special Forces, I did skydiving so many times. This building would be the best ce to skydive from. If you guys want to try that, I¡¯ll get ready all the equipment.¡±


    Jong-il who had been enjoying the young couple¡¯s reactions was now mentioning skydiving.


    ¡°Oh, please, Jong-il. You¡¯d be called crazy if you said you¡¯re going to jump from here.¡±


    ¡°You are getting old and soft, man. You never even blinked back in the old days.¡±


    ¡°What? Mr. CEO had been in the same unit that Mr. Park was in?¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s attention was entertaining Jong-il.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know that? He was a human weapon who used to show up out of nowhere and scare the heck out of people.¡±


    ¡°I said stop it!¡±


    Before Agent Smith who worked at the U.S. embassy arrived in Almaty, Youngho¡¯s group finished visiting the hotel¡¯s construction site and the new office. Since Smith had already found a ce for H Corporation¡¯s office already, what Youngho had to do was to look for office supplies and furniture only.


    Smith¡¯s spirit was high because an Americanpany could join Kazakhstan¡¯s power nt project because Youngho had passed the information to Smith so that he could contact higher-ups of the CIA. It seemed that Smith wanted to let other Americanpanies join the nation¡¯s road construction project through Youngho again¡ªbecause the Kazakh government had announced its business n of the road construction to Afghanistan.


    These days, intelligence agents did not fight with guns but most of them focused on businesses rting to the economy.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Lee. So, I guess you were going to invite me to the Arirang Autonomous State since you wanted to see me in Almaty.¡±


    ¡°What would you do in the autonomous state? I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the situation if youe and shake Serbian girls¡¯ hearts before you leave.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a womanizer?¡±


    Most womanizers would never admit what they were, and it seemed that Smith was one of them.


    Youngho was talking about his hotel in Almaty with the follower couple when Smith joined the group. As a good-looking American man in his early 30s came in and hugged Youngho, the couple looked at him in curiosity.


    ¡°Hey, these are my rookie employees. They¡¯ll also visit Astana frequently from now on. I¡¯ll appreciate it if you help them a lot.¡±


    As Youngho introduced Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa, Smith was excited.


    ¡°Great! I always wee a beautiful woman.¡±


    ¡°These two are going to get married in the near future. You should keep your eyes off her.¡±


    ¡°Aww, that¡¯s a bummer. Why would you get married so early? That¡¯s unfortunate.¡±


    The couple was dumbfounded by Smith¡¯s absurd words.


    ¡°Smith. If you act like this, I won¡¯t help you anymore.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I was only kidding.¡±


    Only then, Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwaughed. Smith¡¯s light character and wit could disarm even the people who met him for the first time.


    ¡°Oh, is that so? You two are elite people who used to work for a globalpany.¡±


    The follower couple and Smith got along so well as if they had been old friends. Since Youngho and Jong-il were above Smith in the CIA, he tried to act more polite but he acted morefortably when he interacted with the couple.


    When the couple asked how Smith got to know Youngho and Jong-il, he casually lied that the two were his training instructors when he served in the U.S. Special Forces. His intention was to brag that he was a specially trained person. It was a moment that a desk agent was turned into a human weapon. He had a talent of morizing himself. This was why Youngho thought that he was a womanizer.


    ¡°Ms. Kim, if you could introduce your Korean friends to me, I¡¯ll guide you around the Tian Shan mountain range. We¡¯ve got the U.S. embassy¡¯s vi there and it¡¯s a beautiful ce.¡±


    Youngho shook his head at Smith since he kept trying to impress Kim In-hwa.


    ¡°Smith!¡±


    ¡°Okay, I get it. These kinds of words are necessary to impress women.¡±


    He was a helpless womanizer.


    As soon as Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa left, Smith lowered his voice with a coldblooded-looking face as if he had never joked before.


    ¡°I will tell you the news from America.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear if I will get pulled into this just because I know about it.¡±


    ¡°What are you afraid of, Mr. Lee? You can protect yourself.¡±


    ¡°I have other things to take care of. If this is not about the work of the European chapter, I won¡¯t hear it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. American corporations are nning to make arge-scale investment in Kazakhstan, and it would be great if you could mediate this.¡±


    Youngho was intrigued, but he pretended that he was not interested.


    ¡°I am doing a trade business with Russia. You know how I¡¯m connected to a mafia boss. If I do this, I¡¯m putting my position at stake.¡±


    ¡°They will be investing in Russia too, so you won¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you need me?¡±


    ¡°The leadership group at the headquarters thinks that you could confine both countries. It¡¯s not decided yet, but I was told to ask for your opinion on this. The European chapter must¡¯ve been told about this already.¡±


    Michael did not mention a thing to Youngho yet, but it seemed that something had been going on behind him. Michael must have been looking for the best time to ask Youngho.


    Youngho¡¯s existence in the CIA was a special case.


    He was specially recruited as a field agent, and soon, he surprised everyone by bing a sessful foreign business investor in Azerbaijan, and by bing a member of the mainstream society of the country. On the other hand, he became friends with a mafia boss in Russia and freely traveled to Russia as if it was his own country.


    Youngho was a necessary member of the CIA who could find out highly ssified information of the societies of Central Asia and the Caucasus region.


    He had changed the CIA¡¯s leadership group¡¯s perspective about Asian agents since he was able to seed because he was an Asian. That was why the CIA was now trying to push Youngho to get involved in this business. It was another great opportunity for Youngho as a businessman. He was ready to take the job.

 Chapter 312 - A Baby Step (2)

    <h4>Chapter 312: A Baby Step (2)</h4>


    Sometimes it was better to choose to be an ally instead of choosing neutrality.


    It was easy to be targeted by two opposing sides if one stayed neutral but an ally could protect him. It was a statement from Machiavelli¡¯s ¡®The Prince.¡¯


    If one wanted to stay neutral, it would have to be an unchallengeable force.


    Switzend was this case. The country was located in the central part of Europe. It could stand alone as a country because it armed the whole nation and maintained its neutral policy against other countries that coveted its beautiful natural environment.


    Other countries could not dare to invade Switzend because of the people of Switzend, who armed themselves to protect their country, and its natural environment acted as a natural bunker. There were no leaders who would want to waste their time on taking over a small country over other bigger regions.


    As for the Arirang Autonomous State, it was like it had allied with Kazakhstan. Since the autonomous state depended on Kazakhstan¡¯s state of sess and failure, Kazakhstan¡¯s peace was the autonomous state¡¯s peace.


    That was why Youngho was trying hard to attract foreign investments to the country. Although he was asked to be an agency for American corporations, Youngho had doubts. There was no guarantee that those corporations would build decent factories in the country. Even if he sessfully attracted American corporations, he would get criticized if they made poorly-built and poorly equipped factories in Kazakhstan.


    Youngho was going to take his followers around and train them for this job.


    Once he met with representatives from American corporations, they would support him and see if he had missed anything. Seeing how business in action was done would be a great experience for Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa.


    Ever since they met Smith, they began looking at Youngho as if he was someone who came from another star. They did not understand why U.S. diplomats in Georgia and Kazakhstan treat Youngho so respectfully.


    ¡°Excuse me, Mr. CEO. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to ask you something.¡±


    Suh Min-seok finally opened his mouth but knowing what he was going to ask, Youngho quickly drew the line.


    ¡°Whatever that is, it¡¯ll be rude, so don¡¯t say it.¡±


    Then, Kim In-hwa interrupted.


    ¡°But, how are we going to introduce you to other people when we don¡¯t have information about you?¡±


    ¡°You two don¡¯t know things about me? I¡¯m sure you do. I have a few shop-store businesses, and I¡¯m a husband of an Archduchess. You know it all.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯ get why U.S. diplomats are so polite to you.¡±


    It was understandable since there was no reason for U.S. diplomats to act respectfully to a mere businessman.


    ¡°Oh, they just want to take advantage of my connection to the president.¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t seem like they were trying to lobby you though...¡±


    Youngho ignored the confused couple. He would be able to tell them the truth in the future once he could already trust them.


    Leaving Jong-il and other intelligence agents in Almaty, Youngho and the follower couple left to Astana with Smith.


    Now that American corporations had decided to make investments in Kazakhstan, what Youngho had to do first was to tell the news to the president. He did not know exactly what business category those American corporations would want to be involved in, but Youngho wanted to hear the president¡¯s opinion first.


    It would be a good thing for Kazakhstan to receive foreign investments, but Youngho did not want Kazakhstan to sign a disadvantageous deal with them. He wanted to make sure that the Kazakh government was benefited by the new business partners from America.


    ***


    ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of mineral resources here. If they want the resources in exchange for their business here, there¡¯s no reason for us to refuse them.¡±


    The president weed the news that American corporations were interested in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to meet our American friends in Frankfurt during this weekend. I¡¯ll try to avoid any business that would cause pollution in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan had already suffered greatly from heavy pollution because of the factories and nuclear experiment facilities built by the Soviet Union in the past.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll establish an environmental office this time. Do you want to be in charge of that?¡±


    The president was so excited to hear about foreign investments that he even made a joke to Youngho.


    ¡°Sir. I¡¯m pretty sure that they¡¯ll want to build a factory in a declining industry. I¡¯m introducing these corporations to the country, but I don¡¯t want to see Kazakhstan¡¯s natural environment getting contaminated anymore.¡±


    Youngho was speaking his heart.


    The reason why 60 percent of Kazakhstan¡¯s territory turned into a desert was due to the Soviet Union¡¯s expansion of food production policy in the past. Moreover, the level of pollution in the earth and air in Kazakhstan¡¯s big cities was at the worst.


    ¡°You¡¯ve almost be a native Kazakh now. What an impressive patriotic you are!¡±


    ¡°Mr. President. My friends and I settled down here. Of course, we should be loyal to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re concerned about, but Kazakhstan doesn¡¯t have many infrastructures. We even have to rely on imported goods for our daily necessities. Our light industrygs behind other countries by far. I don¡¯t care what business it is. I¡¯m not at a position to decline any businesses.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Since the president was speaking the truth, Youngho could not say anything back.


    ¡°But if we are able to establish factories, I¡¯ll ask the corporations to find a way to reduce pollution as much as possible. That¡¯s all we can ask for now.¡±


    Youngho felt sorry that the president could not ask much from foreign investors.


    ¡°They¡¯d want mineral resources in exchange for building factories, and I¡¯m willing to give that to them. We won¡¯t be able to use them all with our little poption that is not even 20 million. If necessary, let them take it.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯ll be necessary to limit the period of collecting mineral resources.¡±


    ¡°The gap between the rich and the poor is too big and the unemployment rate is too high in Kazakhstan. I can¡¯t hesitate because our people need jobs right now. Bring anybody who wants to build factories in ournd.¡±


    The president touched his head as if he was getting tired. His secretary who had been standing next to him for the meantime quickly gave him an ice pack.


    ¡°Mr. President. Are you feeling alright?¡±


    ¡°I just got a headache when I¡¯m stressed. I¡¯ll feel better soon. No need to worry about me.¡±


    The president looked terrible. It got Youngho worried. The president was the one who had to stay in power as long as possible to keep the autonomous state¡¯s status.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got several acknowledged doctors in the autonomous state. I¡¯ll call them toe tomorrow. You should let them check your body.¡±


    The president had his own doctor, but his doctor must not be as great as doctor Kim Dong-sung, who was an elite doctor from Korea.


    ¡°Forget it. I know my body.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about your health sir, but you also have to stay healthy for me. I need your support as long as possible. Please let me help you see a doctor.¡±


    Youngho tried hard to convince him since his health would y a critical role in the autonomous state¡¯s existence. He was also worried about the old president¡¯s health.


    The president, who was still holding the ice pack against his head, chucked at Youngho¡¯s remark. Whatever the reason for Youngho¡¯s concern was, he felt good that someone cared about him.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s followers waited for about an hour at the waiting area in the presidential pce, and when Youngho showed up, they huddled around him like little chicks.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, what did the president say?¡±


    ¡°Nothing special, you know. Why are you all pale?¡±


    The two must have thought that Youngho must be in trouble for meeting the dictator-like president for almost an hour since they had no idea about Youngho and the president¡¯s rtionship.


    ¡°He was a pretty scary guy when we checked him out on the Inte...¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just like a warm Korean neighborhood grandpa. He treats me like I am his grandson.¡±


    ¡°See? I told you. Boss and the president are pretty close to each other.¡±


    ¡®Look at these kids. They are calling me their boss now.¡¯


    ¡°Why do you two call me ¡®Boss¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Well, you are a friend of a mafia boss and we¡¯re in a foreign country now. I think it¡¯s natural to call you ¡®boss¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t call me that. Not you two. I¡¯m going to get a headache.¡±


    Youngho hated to be called ¡®boss¡¯ but the follower couple thought that it was cool to call him that.


    The followers looked proud on their way back to their hotel.


    By just making a single phone call at the hotel, a vehicle from the presidential pce came to take them, and they were also escorted back to the hotel the same way. They had never experienced such honorary service.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, tomorrow, a special military ne willnd at the autonomous state. Inform Commissioner Kim about it.¡±


    Youngho was thankful that the expansion of the autonomous state¡¯s runway waspleted already. Now was its time to shine.


    The two was dumbfounded when Youngho mentioned a special military ne.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Head doctor Kim and his staff wille to Astana tomorrow for the president¡¯s health checkup. We¡¯ll also return to the autonomous state on a special airne the day after.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay, I¡¯ll do that. Do you have any other request?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll head to Frankfurt immediately after wend at the autonomous state. Get prepared for that.¡±


    The two were happy to hear that they would be traveling to Germany. Getting away from Kazakhstan to a well-known city in Europe was quite exciting for them.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be meeting American businessmen in Germany. You should prepare all the business statistical data for Kazakhstan. Also, you can look for what kind of factories will benefit the people of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mr. CEO.¡±


    Youngho was satisfied to see the excited faces of the two. They seemed to have the future of the autonomous state on their shoulders.


    ¡°Doctor Kim. How¡¯s the president¡¯s health?¡±


    Youngho was on his way back to the autonomous state after the old president¡¯s checkup was finished. With the medical equipment brought from the autonomous state and the ones that were already in the presidential pce, the doctor thoroughly checked the president¡¯s body.


    ¡°His overall bodily function has declined due to his age. His blood pressure and blood sugar levels are a little high, but you shouldn¡¯t be concerned about this. He also has a little cardiovascr disease, so I told him not to drink or smoke. Since he has a strong constitution, he will be fine if he exercises regrly.¡±


    The president and his entourage were relieved to hear an expert¡¯s opinion.


    The president¡¯s team was also happy to hear Doctor Kim¡¯s promise that he woulde to the presidential pce immediately when necessary.


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange a jet so you can travel to the presidential pce more conveniently from now on, Dr. Kim.¡±


    ¡°This military ne is still quite impressive. Are you trying to spend that much for a jet?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t fly this far with a light airne and I think we need one for the autonomous state. It¡¯ll be great to serve VIP guests of the state.¡±


    Kim Dong-sung did not say much since he could see why Youngho was trying so hard. Youngho was going out of his way in establishing the autonomous state¡¯s reputation. He had arranged the head doctor of the state to check the president¡¯s health even though he did not show any terrible symptoms of being ill.


    Kim Dong-sung felt sorry for Youngho since he was going above and beyond to maintain a good rtionship with the president and his team.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I will make sure to monitor the president¡¯s condition and check with his doctor frequently. Don¡¯t worry so much about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Dr. Kim. If you could do that, I¡¯ll develop a gold mine just for you.¡±


    Dr. Kim reacted to Youngho¡¯s words quickly.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°How can I lie in front of the head doctor of the autonomous state?¡±


    Hearing about the gold mine, the follower couple interrupted the two.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, what about us?¡±


    ¡°You will need to escort the doctor anyway. You guys are automatically in it.¡±


    ¡°Whoa!¡±


    They were so happy like they were little kids.


    It was a little bit concerning since Korean people had a tendency to go crazy when gold mine was being mentioned. It would be great if he could find a gold mine in the autonomous state¡¯s territory.

 Chapter 313 - A Baby Step (3)

    <h4>Chapter 313: A Baby Step (3)</h4>


    Frankfurt was more crowded with businesspeople than tourists.


    Expositions of different products such as books, electronics, daily necessities, motors, and instruments were continuously held throughout the year in the city.


    Most of the European cities were filled with backpackers from all over the world, but Frankfurt was filled with people in suits and ties.


    Romerberg in November, however, was a tourist hot spot. Youngho and the follower couple were taking a tour around the square as they hadnded at Frankfurt earlier. The couple who had been busily taking pictures of the city caught up with Youngho who was walking way ahead of them.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, isn¡¯t this the meeting ce?¡±


    ¡°We are meeting at Bockenheimer. You can take a tour and return to the hotel first. Get there before it gets dark. This ce is full of pickpockets so be careful.


    ¡°We wille with you.¡±


    ¡°This client doesn¡¯t like to have many people around. You must be exhausted for flying too long today. Just get some rest for now. We¡¯ll get busy tomorrow since I have many ces to visit including Zeynep Wine distribution store.¡±


    Leaving behind the young couple, Youngho entered the restaurant to meet Eriksson.


    Eriksson who was having coffee at the table near the windows waved at him.


    ¡°It looked like you hadpany.¡±


    He saw the couple who followed Youngho to the entrance of the restaurant through the ss.


    ¡°They¡¯re new recruits of mypany. They follow me around like little chicks.¡±


    ¡°Well, they must have been keeping you entertained.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re like my younger brother and sister. I call them the followers.¡±


    Erikssonughed out loud.


    ¡°Oh, that just reminded me of my past. When I was young, I followed around my big brother but I lost him every time. I don¡¯t know what kind of trouble he was up to, but he tried hard to keep me away.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve all been there where we wanted independence and secrets from others. If he had let you know of his secret, you¡¯d have told your parents about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. You just can¡¯t tell your little brother.¡±


    ¡°Right. It feels better to share secrets with someone your age.¡±


    ¡°Lee,e to think of it, you and I are on the same boat.¡±


    Youngho did not care for that. He was only treating Eriksson as a business partner.


    He just wondered who would be the Information Agency¡¯s clients. If the intelligence department of the autonomous state got bigger in the future, he was certain that his informationwork could catch up with the Information Agency.


    Eriksson¡ªwho was having a conversation with Youngho¡ªsuddenly wrote some initials on the newspaper that he had.


    He wrote ¡®G¡¯ and ¡®R¡¯ and connected the two letters. Again, he wrote ¡®G¡¯ and ¡®A¡¯ and then put a question mark in-between.


    G would be for Germany and R would be for Russia. Then naturally, A would be for America. Since there had been an intense war of nerves among the heads of those countries, Youngho quickly solved the riddle.


    ¡°And what about them?¡±


    ¡°I heard that America is making investments in Kazakhstan.¡±


    He was asking for Youngho¡¯s unofficial information. Youngho stepped back.


    ¡°There are rumors about it, but they are not officially determined yet.¡±


    ¡°Central Asia will be the new arena ofpetition. Russia and the U.S. will have brutal economic and political warfare there... I need more information.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan and Russia have economically and politically cooperative rtionship, and the whole world knows about it. What other information do you need?¡±


    ¡°When America intervenes, things always get moreplex.¡±


    Many Europeans tended to look at America as some kind of a monster and Eriksson seemed to be one of them when to Asians¡ªEuropeans and Americans were the same.


    ***


    Youngho busted Zeynep¡¯s apartment unannounced.


    Szechenyi had gone to stay in Denmark as soon as the summer break started. It was only Park Seo-young and Zeynep who was currently at the apartment. When Youngho entered the apartment, it was a mess. It seemed like there had been some sort of partyst night.


    Park Seo-young and Zeynep jumped out of their skin to see Youngho unexpectedly. There were a few bottles of wine on the floor. It looked like the two had a wine party together.


    ¡°You shoulde home when you¡¯re on your summer break. Why are you two still here when Szechenyi¡¯s not around to protect you?¡±


    ¡°Phew, oppa. Don¡¯t worry about us. The guards from the hotel follow us around and we¡¯re almost tired of them. We¡¯ll have some fun for some more days and return to Baku.¡±


    Park Tae-young¡ªthe security team leader of Arirang Hotel in Am Main, Frankfurt¡ªdid his best to take care of the girls, but Youngho was still worried about them since Frankfurt had the highest crime rate in Germany. He was d to hear that the security team looked after the girls for him.


    ¡°Did you have breakfast yet?¡±


    ¡°No, we just got up.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out. We didn¡¯t have breakfast yet because we wanted to have brunch. We¡¯ll wait outside, hurry up.¡±


    ¡°We? Did you bring Il-kwon oppa too?¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯re new employees of ourpany. You don¡¯t know them.¡±


    As Zeynep and Park Seo-young came out, the follower couple seemed to have been stunned by Zeynep¡¯s beauty. The three women soon became chatty that Youngho¡¯s ears were now hurting.


    ¡°Miss Kim. Would you like to go shoppingter today?¡±


    ¡°Shopping?¡±


    ¡°My oppa gives me not much allowance so I can¡¯t go shopping these days. Look, my shoes are all ragged.¡±


    Zeynep was the chairman of the Arirang Foundation. It was a total lie that she could not afford to buy shoes. Kim In-hwa was confused since she knew that Youngho was a wealthy businessman.


    ¡°Oh, um... Well, if you want me toe along, I wille...¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that oppa? Miss Kim wants to shop with me. Can I use your card? I¡¯ll pay youter.¡±


    Youngho gave her enough allowance, but she always used all of her allowance for the foundation and asked more from him. Kim In-hwa looked at Youngho in a weird way. Zeynep had turned him into a wealthy but stingy brother-inw.


    After having brunch, the three girls went to a mall, and the two guys were killing time at a nearby caf¨¦.


    ¡°Man, these kiddos are having a st.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, I¡¯ve gone shopping with my mother and sisters. You shouldn¡¯t have high hopes on this. We¡¯ll have to wait for several hours more.¡±


    Youngho already knew that Zeynep could spend hours when she shopped.


    He was only frustrated since his mind was busy because he had a monthly meeting at the CIA¡¯s European chapter tomorrow.


    After three hours, Zeynep said that she was unhappy that she could not hit some other floors. This was what happened every month when Youngho visited her for his monthly meeting since she used his card. But, she still made Youngho smile for donating her money to the foundation.


    Kim In-hwa seemed to have discussed the Arirang Foundation. When it was time to part ways, Zeynep was signing a few documents that Kim In-hwa gave her.


    It seemed like they had spent their shopping time quite productively.


    ***


    ¡°You came to Frankfurt during the weekend. Why do you show up sote?¡±


    ¡°How did you know that I got here?¡±


    ¡°Where do you think you are? This is an intelligence institute.¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve checked my record of entry here. Well, you seem to spend so much of your time checking on a mere agent.¡±


    ¡°Why would I go through such trouble for you? Eriksson called me.¡±


    Youngho agreed to Eriksson when he said that he would inform Michael about their business.


    ¡°I was going to keep it a secret, but Eriksson spoiled it all.¡±


    ¡°Oh please. Do you think you can get away from my influence? No way.¡±


    ¡®This guy¡¯s sometimes so cute.¡¯


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think about it. I can¡¯t do anything if I don¡¯t know anything. Should I hear that American corporations are trying to get into Kazakhstan from an outsider?¡±


    Surprised, Michael denied it as he jumped from his seat. His reaction made him look more suspicious.


    ¡°Hey, hey. I need to evaluate if this is going to be a plus or minus first before telling you. My head hurts from stressing over it.¡±


    Youngho kept on talking tantly as if he had no idea.


    ¡°But why would it cause trouble for me when American corporationse to Kazakhstan? What corporations are they? I should meet them at once.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re trying to use you as their agent. That¡¯s what¡¯s giving me a headache.¡±


    It seemed like Michael was worried that this might hurt Youngho and Yaniv¡¯s rtionship.


    Youngho decided to help him.


    ¡°You¡¯re concerned about Yaniv. Well, I¡¯ll give up selling wine to Russia and the share of the hotel in Moscow. What are you worried about when American corporations are trying to invest in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all they want, you know.¡±


    Youngho had already heard about it from Agent Smith, but he had to listen to Michael for the next hour about the same issue.


    ¡°So, are you saying that they are investing in petrochemical industry?¡±


    Youngho was excited to hear the news. Petrochemical nt business was arge-scale investment. Because many rted businesses could be derived from it, it was going to be a necessary investment that Kazakhstan should take even with many risks.


    ¡°Major oil corporations have decided it already. We¡¯re going to have to support their decision.¡±


    Youngho was willing to go above and beyond if he could have this investment. What America wanted was to secure a safe route for oil crude for now. It was relieving that America was not looking to get underground mineral resources from Kazakhstan yet.


    ¡°Russia must be perking up its ears over this now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why we need your help. We¡¯re going to build an industrial goods factory or a daily necessities factory in Volgograd to soothe and distract Russia.¡±


    Russia focused on developing heavy chemical industry during the cold war era in order to get ahead of the U.S., and this caused its light industry tog behind other countries by far. They had goods produced within the country, but they could notpete with imported goods in terms of their quality and price.


    The U.S. wanted to invest in one or two factories for industrial products in Russia and safely help American corporations making its foray into Kazakhstan. It was because Russia was not fond of American investments in Kazakhstan although it weed other foreign investments in the country.


    ¡°First, you can inform Yaniv that an American corporation wants to invest in Russia and see how the Russian government would react to that.¡±


    Since Youngho was disguised as a well-off businessman who had multiple businesses in Russia, the headquarters of the CIA had decided that Youngho was the perfect agent to do this job.


    ¡°I guess the factory in Russia will be our priority first, and then I won¡¯t look suspicious to Russia even if I attract American corporations to Kazakhstan afterward, right?¡±


    ¡°I just hope that Russia takes it that way. If they think of you as a businessman who considers both countries¡¯ growth, that¡¯ll be our mission aplished.¡±


    ¡°And you won¡¯t care if something happened to me.¡±


    ¡°No, no. That¡¯s not what I mean. We just want to make an opportunity to make an agent that has Russia¡¯s trust this time.¡±


    ¡°I should follow any orders from the higher-ups, but don¡¯t you have any return service for me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange some things so you can use the weapons you took from the French freighter at your convenience.¡±


    ¡°What? A French freighter?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you underestimate the U.S. CIA.¡±

 Chapter 314 - A Baby Step (4)

    <h4>Chapter 314: A Baby Step (4)</h4>


    Yun-suh made a tableful of dishes.


    ¡°Please sit and eat. I bet you can¡¯t have meals on time when you work with my brother. You should fill your stomach whenever you can.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, Yun-suh?¡±


    ¡°You only care about work. You¡¯ve got to take it easy sometimes.¡±


    It had been a while since Youngho had gotten an earful from Yun-suh. He was d that the old days were over.


    ¡°Hey, I can rest whenever I want. Ask these fes how rxing our trip was.¡±


    ¡°Is he telling the truth?¡±


    The follower couple kept on busily moving their spoons without answering her.


    ¡°Oh, just leave them alone. Can¡¯t you see they¡¯re trying to eat?¡±


    After hearing Youngho, Suh Min-seok tried to make an excuse.


    ¡°Oh, we were just gulping down these foods because they are so great.¡±


    ¡°Aww, I¡¯m ttered to hear that. Would you like to have some sweet rice drink? It¡¯s directly from Korea.¡±


    Yun-suh liked to watch people eat until they finished the food that she made. Suh Min-seok¡¯spliment made him her target now. He was now in trouble since she kept on giving him more food even though he was already full.


    Yun-suh¡¯s homey wee warmed Youngho¡¯s heart.


    She did not change even for a bit, and that was an indicator that she was doing great in Frankfurt. Sometimes she sent Youngho home-made dishes, and it made Youngho teary when he saw them. It was not easy to get ingredients to make Korean dishes while raising two boys in a foreign country. It was also not easy to wrap those dishes in multipleyers carefully and ship them to Youngho since some of them had a very strong smell.


    Without Yun-suh¡¯s support, neither Szechenyi nor Zeynep could have lived in a foreign city¡ª Frankfurt¡ªon their own. Youngho felt bad that he had called her family out of Korea, and now he was not living close by her anymore. He was only thankful that he was earning enough money to travel to Frankfurt anytime he wanted, and that he had toe to Frankfurt every month for CIA¡¯s meeting.


    ¡°Hey, Sang-chun, these guys were trained at a global corporation. I brought them here to show how they write and organize documents. I bet you can use some help.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see how S Corporation¡¯s work manuals are. I know you two don¡¯t have long work experience, but I can use your help.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO¡¯s been talking highly of us but we are only new recruits here. We still have a long way to go until we bepetent at work.¡±


    ¡°Well, I looked at your manuals, and the document system was great. It looked like it was written ording to ISO standards. I¡¯ll be d to learn that.¡±


    Following ISO standards could improve the overall work process and manage document records at the same time. Since it would improve thepany¡¯s credibility, Zeynep Wine needed this system.


    ¡°You can figure out a system so Zeynep Wine could get ISO certified. You could use more people if you need to.¡±


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll try.¡±


    The two answered him positively. It was going to be a difficult job for the two of them but Youngho was sure that this could be a great opportunity for them to grow.


    ***


    Youngho and the followers justnded at the airport in Volgograd after stopping at Moscow to look around his hotel after leaving Frankfurt.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Isn¡¯t it going to be a bother when we¡¯re around?¡±


    Suh Min-seok was nervous as the group was going to meet Yaniv¡ªthe mafia boss.


    ¡°No, he¡¯ll love to see you two. Kim In-hwa, I know you enjoy wine. You¡¯d be able to eat some caviar with vodka tonight. You¡¯ll want toe back if you know how that tastes like.¡±


    ¡°We just don¡¯t think that this meeting is where we¡¯re supposed to be.¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s face looked like a cow that was being dragged to a ughterhouse.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. A mob boss couldn¡¯t have been the boss from the day he was born. He¡¯s worked his way up from the bottom just like us. There¡¯s no need to be scared of him.¡±


    The followers had been trying hard to get out of the meeting.


    They freaked out since all they knew about a mafia boss was quite dreadful, but Youngho went ahead and introduced them to Sergey first.


    ¡°Brother. These are my new employees. You¡¯ll see them often in Volgograd from now on.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m pleased to meet you. It¡¯s an honor to be able to work with good-looking young people.¡±


    The two were dumbfounded to see such a gentleman when all they had been thinking about was a muscr big guy. He actually seemed quite nice.


    ¡°This is Sergey. He¡¯s like my brother. Since he has a doctorate degree in business administration, you¡¯ll have a lot to learn from him.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if they heard him since they only nodded nkly without a word.


    He brought them to Volgograd because he wanted them to experience how business meetings and negotiations were done, but he did not have to meet the representatives of an American corporation since no negotiation was needed. They would be investing in the petrochemical industry of Kazakhstan, and that was more than wee. He originally nned to send them straight to Baku from Frankfurt but now, he was here with them in Volgograd.


    Although they were acting cowardly now, they would get used to meeting different business partners¡ªeven mafias¡ªand gain confidence in no time.


    On the way to Yaniv¡¯s mansion, Youngho told them the story of how he came to know Yaniv. Of course, he did not tell them the full story. He only told them that he met him while he was doing a business of importing Korean goods.


    ¡°Whoa, you could even be friends with mafias when you do business.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to deal with organizations of which their only purpose is money, but what you have to keep in mind is that you¡¯ll have to have a hidden power that could threaten them. Or else, they¡¯ll try to rip you off.¡±


    ¡°Wow, so did you also have something to threaten this mafia?¡±


    ¡°No, I had nothing back then. I only made it seem like I have power.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You know when you don¡¯t have a lot, you don¡¯t have a lot to lose. It was reckless of me to try and deal with mafias back, but I had nothing to fear.¡±


    Youngho smirked as he thought about his past with Yaniv.


    It was just mere luck that Yaniv decided to be Youngho¡¯s business partner. Youngho was only able to keep peace with him since he was trying to start an oil exploration business in Azerbaijan, and he wanted to keep a low profile. If Yaniv decided to get back at Youngho, he might not be able to live today.


    ***


    Yaniv¡¯s wee was always the same.


    He would give Youngho vodka as soon as he sat down. Since Kim In-hwa was a woman, he did not give her a drink, but no one else was free from his way of weing people.


    He was in a good mood since Youngho told him about the American corporation¡¯s investment in Volgograd as soon as he met Yaniv. Yaniv took it that Youngho was hired as the corporation¡¯s agent since it was impossible to start a business without the mafia¡¯s help, and Youngho was the connection to mafias.


    ¡°Well, I guess I can¡¯t ask for my share from the American corporation since you¡¯re in it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no worries about that. I¡¯ve decided to step back as soon as I connect you to the representatives of the corporation.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    Knowing that Youngho would not go through such trouble for no gain, Yaniv asked.


    ¡°My goal lies in somewhere else. Only after I sessfully brokered the American corporation into Russia, I¡¯ll be able to have a reason to broker them into Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh president must be grilling you to attract more foreign investments after giving you that small autonomous state. What did I tell you? I said you could farm anywhere in Russia.¡±


    Yaniv clicked his tongue as if he pitied Youngho.


    Youngho was d that Yaniv was taking his words without any doubt. It would be best if he was seen as trying his best to attract foreign investments under the Kazakh government¡¯s pressure. He would probably tell this to Putin, the president of Russia since they were quite close.


    The US CIA strongly believed that Youngho would not get suspected by Russia. It was because he had been working with Yaniv for a long time as a foreign businessman. He had many businesses that he partnered with Yaniv that his rtionship with him was quiteplicated.


    ¡°Should I look for some great farming site for you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Yaniv. That¡¯ll be fine. Instead, why don¡¯t you get somend from Kazakhstan for brother Sergey? I¡¯ll farm for him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it, but I refused to do it. Why would you want to use your money in a deserted area?¡±


    It was new to Youngho that Sergey¡¯s request was rejected by Yaniv.


    ¡°Not all of Kazakhstan¡¯s territory is a desert. Forty percent of it has rich soil.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s border area near Russia was fertile and had great amounts of precipitation. Its price was cheap as well.


    ¡°What if the government takes away thend after you worked hard on it?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan has a president who¡¯s been serving for a prolonged period already, but it¡¯s still a democratic country. Your ownership of properties will be guaranteed no matter what.¡±


    Kazakhstan was very different from Russia which supported socialism, but Yaniv¡¯s standards were always Russia.


    Only then, Yaniv began asking questions about farming in Kazakhstan.


    As they shared multiple shots of drink, the follower couple¡¯s faces looked much more rxed now. After learning that Youngho and Yaniv¡¯s rtionship was quite firm, they began turning their eyes toward great selections of food on the table.


    When the vehicle that escorted them first entered Yaniv¡¯s mansion, they looked frightened to see guards that were armed with guns. However, seeing that everyone in the mansion was giving them a warm wee, and how Yaniv treated Youngho, they were relieved. Although they did not understand their conversation in Russian, the atmosphere was pretty promising.


    As Suh Min-seok was getting drunk, he boldly offered a drink to Sergey. It seemed that Sergey was the smallest person among the whole group of mafias, but he had greatly underestimated him if he knew how much Sergey could drink.


    It was difficult to tell how much Russians could drink only by their appearance.


    Later, Suh Min-seok who had gotten fully drunk and made fool of himself was a great entertainment of the night to everyone at the meeting. It seemed that the follower couple had made quite an impression to the mafias.

 Chapter 315 - Green Light (1)

    <h4>Chapter 315: Green Light (1)</h4>


    Jong-il was surprised to hear about the conversation Youngho had with Michael at the European chapter.


    ¡°Oh, man. He must¡¯ve pretended that he didn¡¯t know about the French freighter all along. It¡¯s quite scary.¡±


    The US CIA already knew that Youngho had taken away the weapons loaded in a French freighter when he carried out a raid at France¡¯s illegal arms deal¡¯s site a while ago. If the CIA tried to make a problem out of it, it could have but since Youngho took them to the autonomous state¡ªwhich was Arirang Farm, back then¡ª in Kazakhstan, it had considered them as defensive means against Russia.


    The number of weapons that Youngho and his friends took was not even many, so the CIA decided to keep quiet about it. Youngho had been full of himself thinking that he had deceived everyone, but now he felt stupid after finding out the truth.


    ¡°The CIA must¡¯ve thought that it was great that those weapons did not make it to Armenia. Also, you can¡¯t even use those weapons if you didn¡¯t learn how to operate them from a military advisory group.¡±


    ¡°What? You can teach yourself through manuals. Is it that a big deal to shoot a little missile?¡±


    Jong-il yelled it out but his voice was not strong.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell them to just take them instead of stalking on us?¡±


    ¡°Man, what would the U.S. military do with those old weapons? They don¡¯t want them.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a tracking device be automatically turned on when those missiles areunched? Isn¡¯t that why the U.S. military doesn¡¯t want them?¡±


    Jong-il was suspicious about the CIA¡¯s decision.


    ¡°France would have simplified the functions of the missiles for the illegal trade. They wouldn¡¯t want to be tracked down when the missiles were used, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no guarantee. It means there¡¯s a slight chance that we might get tracked down.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we never operated those missiles yet. There¡¯s no problem so far, and Michael gave me his words.¡±


    Since France did not want to be found out that it was involved in an illegal arms deal, it had no reason to reveal it to the world that their weapons were stolen. Even if Youngho got caught, he would have something to say back. He would say that he got those from Russian mafias. There was no way that people would find out about the truth since the whole world knew that mafias could do anything to make money.


    Youngho told Michael that he would not use the missiles unless Russia threatened Central Asia. However, he would not use those when he was not sure what kind of gadgets was attached to them. It was too risky. He would need to have an arms expert investigate on them.


    Michael told him that he would not make a big deal out of the weapons only if Youngho did not sell them to illegal organizations, but used them to protect Kazakhstan and the autonomous state.


    ¡°Man, we¡¯re lucky to have Michael as our boss. Hey, but where are we going to get an arms expert?¡±


    ¡°There are many Kazakh technicians who worked at weapons research facilities during the Soviet Union era. We¡¯ll be able to find experts among them. Tell your agents to find them somehow.¡±


    There had been an international issue in the past when many Kazakh weapon experts and researchers had gone to North Korea after the fall of the Soviet Union. As it became a problem, many returned home but some were said to be still working in North Korea since there were no jobs left for them in Kazakhstan. This meant that there were hidden experts in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll contact them right away. We might be able to produce our own weapons if this went well.¡±


    ¡°You need to be careful to look for them in secret. They had been locked away from the Soviet Union¡¯s time, so you won¡¯t be able to find them so easily.¡±


    ***


    Youngho opened his mouth after looking at the document Suh Min-seok had brought.


    ¡°Are you sure we could get a private jet at this price?¡±


    He had organized the statistical data of different jets from differentpanies in Brazil, Japan, France, and America. Youngho could see theparative performance data and prices at once. All he had to do was to pick a model from the paper.


    Youngho had been a fan of Cessna, the U.S. aircraftpany, and he could not resist reaching his hand to thepany¡¯s catalog. He could not believe it since the prices of jets were much cheaper than he expected.


    ¡°Well, they all vary in their airspeed and the maximum number of passengers. There are the ones that have an average speed of 650 kilometers and 970 kilometers. I think the flying range is the most important feature of a jet. If you look at the Cessna jet, the six-seater can travel up to 2,400 kilometers long and the twelve-seater can travel up to 6,000 kilometers long.¡±


    The Cessna¡¯s six-seater jet called ¡®Citation 525¡¯ was about 3.6 million dors, but its twelve-seater was almost 20 million dors. Buying two of the six-seater jet would be only seven million dors, which was cheaper than buying one twelve-seater jet.


    The six-seater jet was not as great as the twelve-seater but it was still about three times faster than the light airnes that Youngho had now. Its flying range was quite great since it had doubled the range of his airnes. It needed about 600 meters of the runway, so it would be able tond in any small airport including the one at Zeynep Farm in Baku.


    Without stopping in the middle for fueling, it would take Youngho to Istanbul and Astana from the autonomous state. If Youngho refilled its tank in Istanbul, it would take Youngho to any city in Europe.


    He did not want to buy the twelve-seater jet just because its speed and range were better for the cost of more than five times than the six-seater.


    ¡°Phew, I was going to buy ones that could have twenty people on board.¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s true but we can¡¯t give up the advantage of ¡®nonstop¡¯ travel. Should I look for used ones then?¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯ll get new ones since they¡¯re not as expensive as I thought. How about buying two of them for a starter?¡±


    ¡°What? Two of them?¡±


    Suh Min-seok dropped his jaw. Confused, thinking that Youngho got a six-seater and twelve-seater, he quickly tried to correct his words.


    ¡°I was talking about the six-seater.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, it¡¯s about 40 billion in Korean won even for a six-seater jet.¡±


    Suh Min-seok emphasized the price of the jet since it cost an astronomical amount of money.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°No, what I was saying is...¡±


    ¡°One is for regr flights and the other is for emergency use. I always like buying things in two.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il were all-time travelers, so Youngho thought it was a good idea to get two of them. He would not be able toe back to the autonomous state or to Zeynep Farm from a business trip just because an emergency happened there.


    Not to mention, aircraft was a very sensitive machine that needed a thorough check-up after each flight.


    ¡°I¡¯ll contact Cessna immediately.¡±


    ¡°Send an e-mail to thepany with the autonomous state¡¯s ount. A representative from thepany will visit the state not long after the e-mail is sent.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m their VIP customer.¡±


    Youngho had so far bought two four-seater and five eight-seater light airnes from Cessna, and he was going to buy two business jets from thepany now. He had indeed be a VIP client.


    If he bought new jets, it would take him only about an hour from Baku to the Arirang Autonomous State; two hours and a half from the state to Astana, the capital city and three hours and a half to Almaty.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, I¡¯ll leave everything rted to the jets up to you. It¡¯s your job to negotiate the price of the jets and their devices when people from Cessnae. Alright?¡±


    ¡°I got it! I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    Suh Min-seok was excited to be in charge of a seven-million-dor project.


    Because the jets were a new model, it would be a hassle to arrange training sessions with Cessna since pilots and mechanics would have to be taught to operate and repair the new jets. Youngho wanted to see how he would handle all of the jobs.


    Many people would say that operating jets were much more convenient than operating airnes once people got the hang of it. Youngho already felt obnoxious to learnplicated maneuver of the jets. When the new jets arrived, he would have to make sure to train all of the Serbian pilots in Baku and the autonomous state. It would be a long process.


    He wondered whether he should make a flying school at the state. Then, he thought of flight simtors. Many pilots would train through those before actually flying a new aircraft.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok. Also, see if you can get a flight simtor.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that! Mr. CEO, are you talking about that thing that looks like a video game?¡±


    Flight simtors had gained poprity as a game, but they were originally made for pilots to have safe practice without destroying airnes and themselves.


    ¡°Hey, hey. They¡¯re originally made for training pilots.¡±


    ***


    Jong-il brought two men in theirte 50s.


    They were arms experts that Kim Chun managed to find through his connections with difficulty. Jong-il was able to convince them toe to meet Youngho.


    The two arms experts worked at Kazakhstan¡¯s armsboratory as technicians during the Soviet era and were eventually forcefully repatriated to their hometown. They also told a story of some of their coworkers who were invited to North Korea to work for a biochemical weaponsb before they were forcefully sent back to Kazakhstan.


    Their story was quite stunning since Youngho had no idea that North Korea had been inviting foreign technicians to make biochemical weapons. The Soviet Union could be also med for this since it had allowed it to happen. When former Russia fell, it did not do a great job at taking care of armsboratories and technicians that were scattered around many republics and regions.


    After that, the two experts lived off making metal crafts out of arms shells in Atyrau, which was their hometown. Back then, there were so manyboratories in Kazakhstan, that did experiments with weapons, and there were too many shells. It was easy for them to utilize those to make a living.


    ¡°Are you still able to operate missiles?¡±


    ¡°Well, a missile is not aplicated weapon. Its life lies at the warhead. What makes a good missile is how intricately electronic devices and GPS are made and installed in it.¡±


    The man sounded as if a missile was simple as a boy¡¯s toy.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if you could identify a missile¡¯s performance with inspection equipment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been more than 20 years but it won¡¯t be a problem if we could learn how to use the inspection equipment. Missiles and different shells have be moreplex, but they still share the same mechanisms.¡±


    When they had chatted for a long while, Youngho asked if they would be interested in working at the autonomous state¡¯s armsboratory.


    ¡°The Kazakh government didn¡¯t even treat us as researchers. It feels weird that we¡¯re receiving your offer. I had stepped into weapons making out of curiosity in the past, but I don¡¯t want to make weapons that harm people anymore.¡±


    He indirectly refused Youngho¡¯s offer.


    ¡°Our autonomous state doesn¡¯t want to make weapons to threaten other countries or to mass produce weapons. We only want to use what we have already as protective means.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Of course, if our lives are at stake, we¡¯d have to find ways to protect ourselves. Ultimately, we want the Kazakh military to be freed from Russian weapons so that the country would be more independent from it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the Arirang Autonomous State and the Kazakh government have a close rtionship but I never knew that you¡¯d be so worried for Kazakhstan¡¯s future. Indeed, Koryoins are different than others.¡±


    Youngho looked like a Koryoin to them but he did not mind it. He was rather happy to hear that.


    ¡°We never know what¡¯s going to happen in the future. I just think that we¡¯ll at least have a n b if we prepare for the worst starting from now.¡±


    As everyone seemed to have gottenfortable to talk to each other, Youngho asked for their help again.


    ¡°I called you because I needed teachers who would teach basic knowledge to our technicians. If you move to our state with your family, you¡¯ll receive privileges of a house, use of medical facilities, and education at no cost. I¡¯ll also support whatever you need for teaching and researching.¡±


    ¡°We did not know that the Arirang Autonomous State had been developing this much but I guess there was a good reason behind it. Very well. We don¡¯t possess great knowledge but our skills are too good to be wasted. Even though we won¡¯t make weapons, our skills could be used to benefit people in need. We¡¯ll join you.¡±


    It was true that wars had progressed science in general. Ironically, the technologies that made weapons had provided convenience to all humankind.


    ¡°Thank you for making a hard decision for us.¡±


    ¡°Can I rmend some more workers that have worked with me in the past?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯d wee anyone who has skills.¡±


    Youngho was already happy to have two of them joining the autonomous state but he got even more excited to have more technicians.


    ¡°You¡¯ll even meet technicians who¡¯d surprise you to a great extent.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°There are so many arms technicians in Kazakhstan. They are now all doing random work to get by.¡±


    It sounded that many of the former weapons technicians were not doing so well, and Youngho was willing to take as many of them as he could since they were all talented researchers and technicians.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you aboratory for sure. You don¡¯t have to make weapons. You could do whatever you want.¡±

 Chapter 316 - Green Light (2)

    <h4>Chapter 316: Green Light (2)</h4>


    ¡°Lee. We¡¯d wee any household itemspany unconditionally but I was told that a distributionpany is not going to pass.¡±


    It was Sergey¡¯s call from Volgograd.


    ¡°Brother. I heard that Colgate-Palmolive is a worldwide household itemspany. It makes toothpaste, body products, pet products, foods, and health supplements, and sporting goods too.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Then that¡¯s perfect for Volgograd. Tell them that we¡¯ll be in charge of distribution. We¡¯ll be in charge of the hundred percent of the products not leaving any stock behind.¡±


    If a huge mafia organization was in charge of distributing the goods, it would sell them all using any means. Further negotiation would be needed since the Russian government and the Americanpany would have to decide how many products would be manufactured in Russia but it was apany that made products used by 800 million people all over the world. There was no reason that Russia would reject a globalpany.


    ¡°Brother. Could you please find a good site for the factory in Volgograd to lease?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. There are so many empty sites near the Volga River.¡±


    It seemed that Youngho was receiving the sole credit of attracting an American corporation¡¯s investment to Russia. Yaniv had been calling him frequently and it was broadcasted on Russia¡¯s TV news as a big issue.


    ¡°I wasplimented by the president all because of you. I¡¯m going to bear hunting with Putin soon. I¡¯ll give you a brown bear¡¯s skin if I¡¯m sessful.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, you don¡¯t have to do this. I only did this for my sake. I needed to survive in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°When I told him about you, he smiled. He said you could develop an area in Siberia. Then, you¡¯ll attract more foreign investments to Russia too.¡±


    Yaniv¡¯s chuckle was relieving to Youngho.


    ¡°Phew, Mr. Yaniv. I¡¯m struggling with what I have in Kazakhstan. How can I take care of Siberia?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just put your name in the business and I¡¯ll be in charge of logging business. It¡¯s not difficult to cut trees.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even have the funds for that. I¡¯m not sure if I can start a logging business. I¡¯ll take that into consideration for now.¡±


    Youngho stepped back with an excuse of funds.


    ¡°What are you hesitating for? When Putin wants to give that to us, he means it. Also, logging business doesn¡¯t cost you a lot. I¡¯ll take care of the rest. Just think about what we¡¯re going to do after the trees are gone. If you¡¯re lucky, you might as well own thend in the future. Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho was reluctant for starting a logging business but it seemed that it could be another opportunity for him.


    ¡°Well, if you would willingly do theplicated work, that¡¯ll be an easy gain for me.¡±


    ¡°Awesome. I¡¯ll tell that when I meet Putin. Just think about where you¡¯ll disy the bearskin.¡±


    ¡°I bet Kamchatka got too cold that all the bears would be hibernating by now.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t know about the Kamchatka Penins so well. It¡¯s in the north but it¡¯s a warm ce somehow. Because salmons are still there, this is when the bears are most active. Kamchatka is where there are more numbers of bears than people. I¡¯ll probably catch several of them.¡±


    Yaniv¡¯s voice was uplifted.


    The Colgate-Palmolive would be building more factories depending on the demand. When the factory waspleted, products that could suffice the demand of 30 million Russians every year would be distributed to the south and east Russia. He was extremely happy that he would be monopolizing the distribution of American products.


    ***


    The tension between the U.S. and Russia caused by the recent Crimean situation had been lifted because of the American corporation¡¯s investment. It was a sensitive issue but Russia weed it with arms wide open. It was a sign that the political situation of the ck Sea was softening.


    The U.S. was allowing this for two reasons. It wanted to interrupt the rtionship between Germany and Russia, which was quickly progressing, and it wanted to invest in Kazakhstan without Russia¡¯s interruption. Silently, the U.S. was making moves to establish a petrochemical factory in Kazakhstan.


    Since Youngho told President Nazarbayev about it ahead of time after he came from Germany, the president was maintaining his poker face from Russia. He still wanted to make sure in person, so he called Youngho to the presidential pce.


    It would have been nice if he sent a private jet but unfortunately, Youngho had to fly on a domestic airne to Astana. Kazakhstan¡¯s national airline was Air Astana. The airnes wereparatively new since they were imported after the nation¡¯s independence was imed but many of the pilots used to serve in the Russian air force; their take-off andnding were terribly rough. Youngho wanted to fly the airne himself every time he used Air Astana.


    The President after his official work hours liked to use his study that had a little firece on one side of the wall. It was a ce where only his close friends were invited.


    Normally, presidents of big nations would spend their days busily traveling to other nations and hosting guests to their nations but since Kazakhstan was only a developing country, he even looked like he was idling. It seemed that there were not many guests who would go out of their ways to visit Central Asia, andlocked region. Not to mention, he was seen as a dictator-like president due to his long-term seizure of power. Because of this, many western countries avoided getting close to him.


    Because the president was not too busy, Youngho was able to see him frequently.


    President¡¯s entourage treated Youngho special because the president was especially fond of him.


    ¡°How¡¯s the president¡¯s condition?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee. Because you sent a great medical team and prescribed medicine, the president is doing so much better these days. We¡¯re all very surprised.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the president¡¯s mood today?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s excited to see you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    At the study, a bottle of Zeynep Wine was in the middle of a table.


    ¡°Mr. President, I heard that you¡¯re not allowed to drink anymore. Why do you have that wine on your table?¡±


    ¡°My doctor has confirmed it with the head doctor of the autonomous state. He said that a little bit of wine is good for my health.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank goodness. I¡¯m happy to see you doing better.¡±


    ¡°This wine tastes great. Please get me some more next time.¡±


    ¡°Sir, now you¡¯re starting to see the value in my wine. You have no idea how much effort was put into making this. Once you taste it, you can¡¯t resist Zeynep Wine.¡±


    ¡°I feel like you¡¯re asking me to make this an official wine for the presidential banquet.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President. I¡¯m not a person who boasts of things that he has, but I¡¯m just that confident in my wine. I also used all of my money earned from wine sales to the autonomous state. It definitely deserves to be called Kazakhstan¡¯s wine.¡±


    Many countries around the Caucasus and Central Asia would put Georgian wine as their official wine, but Youngho did not think its taste. It seemed that those nations used Georgian wine for a symbolic gesture since it was produced in the region. It was not because Youngho was subjective toward Zeynep Wine but because his wine was evaluated by many different sources that it was better in quality and taste.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll tell my secretary to make your wine as the official wine of the presidential pce. I should give you a huge reward for your job in attracting American corporations but I assume this way is better for you to think about your position.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more than I can ask for, sir.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to go through the hassle of having dinner together. You know, it¡¯s better not to be seen by many people.¡±


    ¡°This time is, in fact, more convenient for me.¡±


    The president soon sent his secretary out of his study. This meant that he wanted a private meeting time.


    ¡°Come sit closer.¡±


    ***


    The clock at his study pointed to ten o¡¯clock.


    Youngho had been speaking to the president for more than two hours now.


    Tomorrow, the word about Youngho¡¯s extensive private meeting with the president would spread in the political world of Kazakhstan. Two hours was a long time to figure out each party¡¯s personal affairs.


    Youngho¡¯s status would be raised, but he would have manypetitors as well. Ironically, there was not much important information shared throughout their private meeting.


    The president was just curious about the future steps of the autonomous state, so it took up a lot of time to talk about that.


    They talk about the petrochemical factory which would be built in Atyrau and the road construction business only for a little bit since the president was already receiving reports from Youngho through his secretary.


    ¡°I¡¯d expect more than a billion dors of investment but it¡¯ll worth more if you think about businesses derived from the petrochemical factory.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a gain for us even if they take all of the oil produced from the factory. I mean, think about the number of jobs that will be created in Kazakhstan.¡±


    A petroleum refining facility would benefit the country from the construction stage to the operating stage of a petroleum refining facility since there would be jobs for people throughout the process. Moreover, the oil profit would be divided by the two countries, so it was a gain for Kazakhstan. Although the factory would be automatized, numerous people would be still needed to run the facility includingborers and security guards.


    ¡°There are more than 100,000 people every year, who go to foreign hospitals to get medical treatments. I checked the statistics and 8,000 people went to Korea for the same reason.¡±


    He meant that Youngho should speed up the process of building the medical institute and general hospital in the autonomous state, and turn the steps of rich people that were traveling to other countries to receive expensive medical treatments.


    ¡°Sir. That¡¯s what happens when you don¡¯t treat high-quality human resources for what they deserve. If you treat them the same as regr officials, they¡¯ll all leave Kazakhstan not long after.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that people willin if I pay them more than others.¡±


    ¡°You should ask for the public¡¯s understanding. They are the people who studied longer than others and practiced their knowledge and skills for years. If you don¡¯t treat them for what they deserve, the medical people will turn to other nations.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m asking for the autonomous state to be a test model for that. I¡¯d like to expand the territory of the Arirang Autonomous State and make it a special autonomous state or a state area of extraterritorial jurisdiction. In exchange, I want you to move proactively to be a role model society for the whole Kazakhstan.¡±


    Youngho was stunned by the president¡¯s unexpected suggestion.


    A special autonomous state or an area of extraterritorial jurisdiction was an area that worked simr to a foreign country¡¯s embassy in a different nation.


    Extraterritoriality would guarantee the Arirang Autonomous State an invible right for individuals, honor, administrative documents, andmunication. It also exempts the state from jurisdiction, police authority, taxation, and required services from Kazakhstan. In one word¡ªthe autonomous state would be treated as a foreign country in Kazakhstan.


    Youngho had to refrain himself from dancing for joy.


    He thought that he should stay as calm as he could but at the same time, he thought that there was no reason to hide his excitement from the president. He smiled brightly.


    Seeing how Youngho could not contain the excitement to himself, the president continued talking with a smile on his face.


    ¡°But people would have to fulfill duties as Kazakhs. I heard that the Countryside Force is doing a great job as a maritime police. Please keep up the good work for the peace of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. President. I won¡¯t disappoint you. I¡¯ll soon make weapons dedicated only for the Kazakh military.¡±


    Youngho was too excited that he slipped about weapon production, but it turned out that it was a good thing that he told him the truth.


    ¡°I waited to hear that from your mouth. Now you¡¯re telling me. Russia wouldn¡¯t cause any trouble for that since the autonomous state is an area of extraterritorial jurisdiction from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been contacting researchers that worked at weaponsboratories in the Soviet Union era silently, but I guess you¡¯ve already heard about this.¡±


    ¡°You need to remember that Kazakhstan also has an intelligence department.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hide it anyway. I¡¯m a little bit concerned about Russia, so if we made some useful ones, I was going to give them to the Russian military as a gift.¡±


    ¡°This is why I like you. You¡¯ve be a better Kazakh than other Kazakhs.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I love Kazakhstan. This is my second home. I should cherish it and embrace it. I don¡¯t want the sess of the Arirang Autonomous State without Kazakhstan¡¯s sess. I want to live well together.¡±


    The president was touched by Youngho¡¯s remark.


    Grabbing Youngho¡¯s hand, he spoke in a shaky voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m grateful that someone like you came to Kazakhstan. You work diligently to help our country.¡±


    Youngho was overwhelmed at the president¡¯s words.


    Not wishing to show his tears, he hastily said goodbye to him and left. He felt guilty to reflect his actions since many of his motives were not for Kazakhstan¡¯s good but for his own. He could not stay there any longer.

 Chapter 317 - Green Light (3)

    <h4>Chapter 317: Green Light (3)</h4>


    Youngho still could not hide his excitement as hended at the runway of the Arirang Autonomous State.


    His steps were light as if he was walking on the clouds. He wanted to share the joyful news to everyone but it was a shame that he could not since it was not official yet. If the word was spread because of his big mouth, it could spoil the whole thing.


    Youngho thought for a second to share with the leadership group of the state, but he soon decided not to. It was because he thought of a Korean old story of a king that had donkey¡¯s ears. It would be painful but he would have to keep it to himself for a while.


    Looking at Youngho¡¯s strange facial expression, Suh Min-seok asked if he was feeling sick.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a hundred percent fine. I guess I had been too nervous about meeting the president in a long while.¡±


    ¡°I was going toe with you but because you refused me, I got an earful from Mr. Park.¡±


    ¡°What? What for? You¡¯re not my secretary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a secretary but aren¡¯t I like your business assistant?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take you to business trips when there are things to discuss together but you don¡¯t have toe along for every trip I take. I would¡¯ve asked you toe with me if I needed. Just rx and enjoy your life as a regr sryman. You don¡¯t have to make great achievements in a short period. You¡¯ll have to work to the point where you¡¯d get blisters on your feet in the future.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean.¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s face was brightened. It seemed that he had been under pressure of work and did not have time to rx. Since he followed Youngho around to different countries as soon as he started work, he must have thought that every day would be as busy as that. It was better for him to take it easy in order to achieve bigger thingster.


    Although the followers had resigned to work for Youngho, S Corporation did not find it offensive since they had been only new recruits and it figured that it would be helpful to have them nearby working for thepany¡¯s agent, Youngho.


    Since S Corporation did not feelfortable talking to Youngho directly, thepany¡¯s staffs like the fact that they could talk to the follower couple instead of talking to him. They could not get who Youngho really was. Sometimes he looked like a regr businessman, politician, or a member of a royal family. It was just difficult to figure out how to treat him. Since he met the Kazakh president frequently, sometimes it looked like that they would have to treat him as someone equally high as the president but it seemed that nothing would suffice to pay that much respect to him.


    They were rather joyful to hear that Youngho had taken their employees since they had been their underlings and it would be easy to deal with them. However, it was their delusion to think that. Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa had been submissive employees before but now they had turned into tigers as employees of the agency of S Corporation.


    ¡°Deputy department head Kim, what¡¯s taking you so long? Have you had any idea how long it¡¯s been since I asked you to give me an estimated amount of the total investment?¡±


    Suh Min-seok raised his voice.


    This would have never happened when he was under Kim.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, people in the headquarters are staying overnight toe up with the estimates now. Please wait for more.¡±


    Kim now had to console Suh Min-seok since he worked for anotherpany.


    ¡°I need to report this to the CEO and he won¡¯t like it if this gets dyed. He¡¯s going to visit the president next week. Why don¡¯t you just give me a rough estimate?¡±


    ¡°Man! Suh Min-seok. You know how ourpany works. Why are you doing this? I¡¯m going to give it to you before your CEO goes to the presidential pce. Do you hear me?¡±


    Kim¡¯s voice was finally raised too.


    He felt bad since Suh Min-seok was grilling him when he was the one who knows so well about how S Corporation¡¯s system meticulously checked documents that would be sent to otherpanies, but Suh Min-seok did not budge.


    ¡°H Corporation already gave us the estimate. I don¡¯t know, Mr. Kim. I¡¯m going to tell the CEO that you¡¯ll be the one who¡¯s going to report directly to him. Okay?¡±


    Thinking about meeting Lee Youngho directly, deputy department head Kim was stressed.


    He had been having nightmarestely because he was under a lot of pressure now. The sess of S Corporation¡¯s business in Kazakhstan was up to his team.


    ¡°Oh,e on, Suh Min-seok. Why do you do this to me? You need to save my face. You know how I feel about Mr. Lee ever since S Corporation¡¯s president came here only to be rude. I¡¯m under a lot of pressure here.¡±


    The corners of Suh Min-seok¡¯s mouth rose as he left S Corporation¡¯s office in the autonomous state.


    ***


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, how many unupied residential houses are left?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got 14 now. There are also 20 houses that were about to bepleted. We have just enough for the families of weapons technicians and Bentonite researchers that are going to move into the state this time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just great. They would¡¯ve stayed at the hotel if we didn¡¯t have enough.¡±


    ¡°I told single people to move to the dormitory but they never listen. They don¡¯t do a good job at maintaining their houses and they don¡¯t even eat well because they don¡¯t cook. It¡¯s just a shame.¡±


    The employees of H Corporation¡¯s consortium were given houses temporarily until the dormitory for them waspleted but they still insisted on living in the houses even though their dormitory was now ready. It was because it was inconvenient for them since the dormitory was somewhat far away from the city¡¯s downtown. Also, living in residential towns gave them more opportunities to interact with people since they were quite lonely apart from their homes.


    The dormitory was about two kilometers away from the Arirang airport, and there was a line of buildings under construction, such as the ones for Arirang Hotel, different offices for different businesses, medical school, and general hospital along the way, and it was a little bit dreary. Moreover, it was not easy to walk two kilometers in the cold, so people were reluctant to move to the building.


    ¡°How many houses have you given to them?¡±


    ¡°There are 19 houses given to each corporation. They¡¯d be given free meals when they go to the dormitory but they¡¯re still postponing the moving date.¡±


    Kim Chun who had lent houses dly in for rents was now frustrated since more important people were about to move to the autonomous state.


    ¡°If we¡¯re not short of houses, let¡¯s postpone their move until the end of this winter. It¡¯s because the dormitory only has a cafeteria as a subsidiary facility. It looks like H Corporation is dying to make other facilities on purpose. Singles wouldn¡¯t want to go there.¡±


    H Corporation¡¯s branch president Im had proudly said that he would be building a hotel-level dormitory for thepany¡¯s employees. He insisted that it would be a studio dormitory that would have all sorts of services provided for people but it only had a cafeteria at the moment.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m relieved to know that we have enough houses for now. I received permission from the president about receiving weapons experts to the state. If they want to call their friends and former coworkers, have them call silently.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. I was afraid that the word will slip out because I already have five people moving into the state even though I looked for them in silence.¡±


    Kim Chun was not so fond of doing a business rted to weapons at first. He was concerned that the autonomous state would be med for it.


    ¡°Was there any further instruction from the president?¡±


    ¡°No, but he said that he¡¯ll give us good news soon. Let¡¯s wait and see. Also, he said that he¡¯ll make Zeynep Wine the official wine of the presidential pce...¡±


    ¡°What? Our wine is going to be the official wine? That¡¯s quite a milestone.¡±


    ¡°Hah,missioner. You¡¯re never fond of drinking. Why would you wee that?¡±


    Kim Chun did not care for Youngho¡¯sint.


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m just happy that you¡¯ll be drawing money into your pocket.¡±


    ¡°What? I won¡¯t make a profit from providing the wine to the presidential pce. In fact, I should refuse to receive money even if the president wants to pay me.¡±


    ¡°Why are you being stingy to provide wine to the pce? Can¡¯t you see how much advertisement effect it will bring to Zeynep Wine?¡±


    Zeynep Wine would be naturally featured on worldwide TV news when it became the official wine of the presidential pce. There was no better advertisement than this.


    ¡°Oh, Commissioner. You should pick the grapes by yourself at the harvest next year. You¡¯d know why free wine makes you so bitter.¡±


    As Youngho was discussing transportation of this year¡¯s wheat crop to Azerbaijan with Kim Chun, Park Young-sun entered the office. He looked dirty as if he hade directly from the field but his face was bright.


    Kim Chun greeted him.


    ¡°Dr. Kim, you should take it easy. I¡¯m afraid you might get ill for working too hard like that.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim,pared to how diligent you are, I feel like I¡¯m traveling freely all the time.¡±


    Park Young-sun¡¯s face was especially bright today, so Youngho also made ament.


    ¡°Dr. Park. You look different today. Did you find anything?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee. I can¡¯t lie to you. I found underground water. I came here directly because its pressure was quite high.¡±


    It was exciting news since high pressure of water meant its volume was huge.


    ¡°Dr. Park. Where is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s near the Bentonite field.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go there right away. I¡¯d like to see it with my own eyes.¡±


    ***


    Youngho was witnessing a gushing spring before him.


    The state had found several underground water resources but they did not have enough amount of reserve for the state¡¯s needs.


    It was a sess of several years of making countless holes in the ground and investigating on the surface of the state through satellite pictures.


    Youngho did not know what to say.


    Water was life in Kazakhstan. Although the state was adjacent to the Ural River¡¯s branch, it was not an easy job to draw water from it. Since it was too expensive to install waterways like a spider cob in the area that wasrger than Seoul, people had to be satisfied with only making a small area of farnd and empty-looking pastures. However, when water wasing out to the surface, it meant that there was a huge river flowing under the ground.


    ¡°Dr. Park. Isn¡¯t this ce where it was confirmed that it did not have underground water?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was. That Bentonite y had distorted the surface satellite pictures. The dense particles made anything impossible to prate through.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean that there¡¯s Bentonite buried in here too?¡±


    ¡°I would presume so. We¡¯ll be able to find out when we have a thorough investigation, but it¡¯s a secure ce since there is ayer of rocks under theyer of mud. The ground won¡¯t sink even if we pump out the underground water. If the underground turns out to be a river, that¡¯ll be the best case scenario.¡±


    Even if the ground sank, the ce could be used as a reservoir but then it would not be easy if the area was too big.


    ¡°First, stopping that water would be our priority.¡±


    Youngho wanted to scoop the water that was smeared on the ground because any drop of it was golden in the autonomous state where water was hard to find.


    The small city was in a festive mood.


    The word that underground water of which its volume could not be estimated was found; spread fast throughout the whole state and everyone was excited about the news.


    The state had been using the Ural River¡¯s water, reservoirs, and nearby underground water reserves to farm and to live. People had enough water but since underground water was a limited resource, many of them lived in fear of losing water.


    The news of a huge reserve of underground water was a new hope for the residents.


    Youngho thought that he should not let this joyful asion pass without a proper celebration.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. How about we call it a day today to have some fun?¡±


    ¡°Boss, are you sure it¡¯s not you who can¡¯t handle the excitement?¡±


    Kim Chun looked at Youngho in suspicion.


    ¡°You know you¡¯d get med if you ignore our residents when they¡¯re joyful like this. They¡¯ll think that you have no wits.¡±


    Youngho could not calm his heart.


    Water in the autonomous state was the future.


    Especially, if the underground water turned out to be a river, it would be a blessing of life.


    ¡°It looks like a nice day to get drunk. We should share this joy with everyone by throwing a huge party.¡±


    It looked like the whole poption of the autonomous state was out in the central square.


    There was not enough room for Youngho to step in, so he had to go take a spot at Arirang Hotel¡¯s caf¨¦.


    Kim Chun kept on bringing drinks as if he had been hiding them somewhere.


    ¡°Commissioner, where have you been hiding those drinks?¡±


    ¡°You know, we bought daily goods to stock up our warehouse when the Crimean and the ck Sea situation was at its peak. I also got drinks just in case. The autonomous state is not a ¡®no drinking¡¯ country. We¡¯ve got to have some drinks at least. I wouldn¡¯t want to getints from the residents. You¡¯d never help me in that case, would you Boss?¡±


    It was Youngho who fought hard against the alcohol consumption regtion policy, so he would indeed never help Kim Chun in that case. However, the number of drinks he stocked up did not seem to be ¡®some¡¯. Youngho wondered how ¡®a lot¡¯ would look different from what he was seeing now. Come to think of it, Kim Chun had an open hand. His personality seemed to have changed a lot like Youngho now.


    What was more, another person who took a further step has recently appeared.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, I heard that we¡¯re short of sausages. Should we release some more from the warehouse?¡±


    People would stop drinking shortly after snacks were gone but Suh Min-seok the follower just volunteered to get some more snacks.

 Chapter 318 - The Special Administrative Region (1)

    <h4>Chapter 318: The Special Administrative Region (1)</h4>


    Jong-il returned to the Arirang Autonomous State after helping the state¡¯s agents settle down in Almaty.


    ¡°Wow, we¡¯ve got twelve people who are moving in? Isn¡¯t that too many?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all specialized in different types of expertise. The state ought to have that many researchers in our metalb, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Dude, all of them worked at a weaponsb during the Soviet era. That¡¯s got to attract the public¡¯s attention.¡±


    ¡°So be it.¡±


    ¡°I get it. You have someone that has your back.¡±


    Jong-il quickly read Youngho¡¯s mind.


    ¡°The president¡¯s got our back. He said he¡¯ll support us.¡±


    ¡°If so, we need to restrict guests from outside. Every secret will be out soon if we keep our current system.¡±


    ¡°This is only an autonomous state of Kazakhstan. Anyone can enter the state. How are we going to stop them? Should we start issuing visas?¡±


    ¡°Jeez. What do we do? We can¡¯t follow around all of the guests in the state.¡±


    ¡°I have a great solution to that problem. Now, don¡¯t you worry about that. Just think about how we are going to send our wheat to Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°You know, as the director of the Intelligence Department of Arirang, I can¡¯t allow this. Kazakhstan is like a police state, and we should at least try to mimic that.¡±


    It seemed that Jong-il was concerned that the Kazakh government would soon find out about the weaponsb, but Youngho was not sure how his friend would resolve it.


    Surrounding nations called Kazakhstan a police state because the country had 300,000 police officers which were about 1.8 percent of the country¡¯s poption. Many countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia also had simr police power. It was because many of the rulers and presidents of those countries wanted to stay in power for a prolonged period and needed absolute police power to suppress the public. Not only that, it was a well-known fact that most of the rulers would involve their rtives in politics to strengthen their power.


    It was the same with President Nazarbayev. Despite the corrupted government, he was dearly loved by Kazakhstan¡¯s people since 90 percent of them supported him even after his prolonged one-man rule.


    Although corrupted, Park Jong-il envied the absolute police power of the nation. Police officers were often nasty because they would always rip off people who were passing by. They also asked for a bribe, but since their presence was everywhere, the public peace was well kept. They were so notorious that even people would say that everything would be safe as long as they stay away from the police.


    ¡°How are you going to restrict the visitors?¡±


    ¡°We can set up a checkpoint at the main artery and at the wharf that leads to the autonomous state before letting the visitors fill the entry form.¡±


    It was like the entry card people would fill before entering another country.


    ¡°People won¡¯t like that.¡±


    ¡°You know we¡¯re getting more terrorist attacks in different ces of Kazakhstan now. If we say that we¡¯re trying to prevent that, they¡¯ll understand.¡±


    Just like many other nations around the Caucasus and Central Asia, there had been attacks from the extremists who joined the IS in Kazakhstan. That was the only reasonable cause for setting up a checkpoint for now.


    ***


    The weaponsb was named as the metalb of the state. Since it would be used for dangerous weapons, theb would be built around a small ranch at the outskirt side of the city. It was about 25 kilometers away by car. The ranch was a peaceful ce with a reservoir and pasture for sheep. The sheepfold was built with stones, so it could act as a bunker in case of an emergency. Since every ranch usually raised thousands of sheep together, it was also equipped with a lodging facility for shepherds. On the roof of the sheepfold, sr panels were installed, so heating was provided throughout the harsh winters of Kazakhstan.


    Ironically, a weaponsb used for assembling, disassembling, and making arms would be secretly built at the peaceful ranch. To operate various facilities for the weaponsb, providing plenty of electricity was necessary. So, a small-scale sr power nt was being built nearby it.


    Since this would be the facility that needed to be kept hidden from the public¡¯s eyes, the scale of the construction was getting bigger. Now it also needed a lodging facility for security guards.


    Youngho called the construction director Min and Jambyl Jabayev, who was chosen as the manager of the metalb to discuss the scale of the power nt. Manager Jabayev insisted to build a dormitory for researchers and technicians. His reason was that they would be wasting time to travel to the city.


    ¡°Manager. We¡¯re not in a rush or anything. Is there a need for them to stay overnight to do their research?¡±


    ¡°Oh, when you¡¯re focused on your work, you often lose track of time. You can only get a good rest when you¡¯re given work is done. They need some pressure. Otherwise, how would they get results when they get to have fun as much as they can?¡±


    ¡°I know that that¡¯s how you used to work in the past. However, I want everyone to feel at home in the Arirang Autonomous State. I don¡¯t want to stress them out. How will I be able to rest when you and other researchers can¡¯t rest?¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. But, I still ask you to build a dormitory facility for theb workers in case of bad weather and if they needed to work untilte at night.¡±


    Although he stepped back, he still wanted the dormitory for his zeal for research and achievements. So, Youngho gave in eventually. He had to promise that he would build the lodging facility for theb workers.


    ¡°Do you like your new house?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never had a better house in my entire life. My coworkers also say the same. They¡¯d been living difficult lives for hiding their past, but now they look like they found peace in the autonomous state. I¡¯d like to thank you on behalf of my coworkers.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. I¡¯m blushing. If you need anything else, please tell themissioner. We¡¯ll try our best to meet your need.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already given more than what we deserve. We¡¯re immensely thankful to you for epting us as who we are.¡±


    ¡°In the meantime when we build theb and buy all the necessary facilities, could you teach the technicians at the hunting rifle factory?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much of help we would be since we specialize in precision strikes and high explosives. I guess we could help to improve shells.¡±


    That was good news. If the state could produce different shells, it would mean that missiles and cannonballs could be made too.


    ¡°Manager. Do you think we can do a small quantity batch production?¡±


    ¡°If we have equipment like mold and press, we can make anything in any quantity. With the automatized machines these days, it¡¯s especially easier.¡±


    ¡°I guess we need workers then.¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll have to train professional manpower since it could be a dangerous process. If there¡¯s any person who¡¯s interested in the production of arms, we¡¯ll pass down our knowledge.¡±


    Youngho was excited to hear that. On top of a weapons productionb, the state would be equipped with professional arms technicians. He thought that his friend Jong-il would be exuberated to hear this.


    ***


    The news that officially announced the designation of Arirang Autonomous State as a special administrative region was broadcasted on TV. Most of the residents did not know the meaning of this, but people who knew what it meant got very excited.


    It meant that another country was born in Kazakhstan.


    Kim Chun rushed into Youngho¡¯s office with a pale face.


    ¡°Boss. What is this all about? A special administrative region?¡±


    ¡°You could say that we¡¯ll be just like Hong Kong. We¡¯re a lot bigger though.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you know that¡¯s not what I meant. How on earth did our autonomous state be it?¡±


    He almost jumped out of frustration since Youngho acted as if the big news was nothing.


    ¡°Alright. The president promised to assign our state as a special administrative region during ourst meeting. In exchange, he asked us to do our best to fulfill the maritime police¡¯s responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean we¡¯ll have to pay more expenses from now on?¡±


    He was now more concerned about money.


    ¡°You know all of the vessels we are making at our shipyard are for sea patrol duties. We won¡¯t have to pay more, so no worries.¡±


    ¡°When the state doesn¡¯t have enough money, you¡¯ll have to use the money from your own pocket. It¡¯s no different from buying the title with money.¡±


    Kim Chun had a different perspective. He was rather worried about the president¡¯s request. However, that was just because he did not know the privileges of a special administrative region yet.


    So, Youngho thoroughly exined what it would be like to be a special administrative region. After listening, Kim Chun got even more excited than when he first came through the door of Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°Are you saying that not just anyone can enter the autonomous state from now on? We could decide who cane and who cannote.¡±


    Kim Chun liked the fact that the autonomous state would be able to limit visitors from now on.


    ¡°By the way, now that our territory will be increased, we should start marking the newnd soon.¡±


    ¡°I will do that kind of job a hundred times. We won¡¯t have to forcefully form pastures under pressure.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true but we should still hurry if you want to be free from the dust storm.¡±


    Including the area that was assigned by the president this time, the total area of the autonomous state was about 321,340 acres. Simply said, it was about twice the size of Seoul.


    The location of the addednd was in the southern and western parts of the state. Since the western border was naturally marked by a valley, it seemed that only the southern border needed to be remarked.


    The area was huge, but it was only a tiny regionpared to the whole area of Kazakhstan. The president had given the wild area to Youngho so that he could develop thend into pastures and farnd, which was basically the Kazakh government¡¯s duty. It was an overwhelming size ofnd, but Youngho could notin since he was given much more than he deserved.


    Since arge volume of underground water was discovered recently, it seemed that the state would have enough water to develop the new area as well.


    At the conference room of the administrative building of the autonomous state, every leader of each department was gathered. Because of the recent change in the status of the autonomous state, Youngho held a question and answer session with the leaders of the state.


    ¡°Prince consort, may I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead.¡±


    Since it was a very formal and official meeting, Jong-il respectfully asked Youngho.


    ¡°Now that we have our separate jurisdiction and taxation, are we allowed to make identification cards on our own?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to make our own passports but I¡¯m going to keep the current residential cards and passports.¡±


    If the state¡¯s own identification card was issued, residents of the state would be identified as foreigners by Kazakhstan, but that did not seem to be beneficial for the residents since they would still frequently travel to different regions of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Boss. So, we¡¯ll be exempted from paying tax to the Kazakh government. How are we going to figure out what to do with the profits we make from the Koryoin mine?¡±


    Kim Chun brought up one of the most sensitive issues.


    ¡°If we make profits outside of the autonomous state, we¡¯ll have to pay appropriate amounts of ie tax to the government. We didn¡¯t discuss any detail about such subjects yet with the central government, so I guess we¡¯ll have to keep our current system and rules until things are settled.¡±


    Although the state was free from tax duty, it gained the full duties of maritime police, so the expense would be increased. Legally, the state would be a special administrative region, but to the Kazakh military and the residents of the state, it was still the same autonomous state.


    However, it was true that the Arirang Autonomous State was given an exceptional privilege by the government. Since Congress had determined that the autonomous state would be beneficial to the development of the country, it had given permission.


    If so, the autonomous state would have to show something that would suffice the expectations of the politicians of Kazakhstan. In order to show that the president¡¯s decision was right, it would have to show a visible achievement.


    The fastest way to help to strengthen the national defense was to reinforce devices for maritime police. Youngho thought that the state shoulde up with something to show off even if he had to grill the workers at the shipyard.

 Chapter 319 - The Special Administrative Region (2)

    <h4>Chapter 319: The Special Administrative Region (2)</h4>


    Not many things changed after the autonomous state was appointed as a special administrative region except for the fact that the process of visitor¡¯s entry had be much moreplicated than before.


    The Kazakh public did not care for it too much as well since it was not a big deal if a tiny semi-deserted area had be a special region. It was better this way for Youngho and the autonomous state.


    On the other hand, Park Jong-il was overly excited about the changes.


    He was now grilling Youngho about setting up the state¡¯s boundary line.


    ¡°This is like a border. We might not need a barbed-wire fence, but you need to have guard posts if you want to prevent outsiders trespassing ournd.¡±


    ¡°Come on. Who¡¯de to this desertednd?¡±


    ¡°We are open in every direction. Anyone can illegally enter here if they wanted to. How do you call that a special administrative region? What if criminals sneak in and hide from the authorities? The Kazakh police won¡¯t be happy about that.¡±


    Jong-il had a point. Youngho did not want to disgrace the autonomous state by allowing criminals to slip into the region.


    ¡°Okay, okay. Go ahead and do whatever you want to do then but do it with Cha Insoo¡¯s consent. You know he¡¯s been stressed out about the shortage of people.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s too busy with the divostok warehouse business. He should be thankful that I¡¯m doing something that he should be dealing with. Man, I wish I can take some of the security servicepany¡¯s employees to be in charge of the guard posts.¡±


    ¡°A passing dog willugh if you ce people who were trained in Special Forces as border guards of a remote region.¡±


    ¡°What about it? We should have that much strength at the borderline.¡±


    Since many guard posts would be far away from the city, guard posts would need to have lodging facility, cafeteria, and resting area for guards to work around the clock in rotation. In addition, it would need defense facilities for an effective defense system and an office as well. Each guard post would need at least two armored vehicles, so each squad of Countryside Force should also be assigned there too.


    The northern boundary was marked by a river and the western boundary was marked by a valley. So, anyone was less likely to enter the state from those directions. Only one post for each boundary at the weakest spot would be fine for those areas, but at least three posts for southern and eastern boundaries would be necessary. It was a lot moreplicated than Youngho expected.


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t assign more than a squad for each post guard, right?¡±


    Dividing the Countryside Force, which was not so big in the first ce, had made it look even smaller. Youngho was not sure if he had enough soldiers for the city.


    ¡°That¡¯s got to be enough. I bet the soldiers will love it if I rotate each squad and send them to work at the post on a weekly basis.¡±


    The soldiers were sick of working inside the city since all they did was to train. All of them would want to get assigned at the guard posts. It would be their getaway from hard training.


    ¡°Are you going to assign heavy firearms too?¡±


    ¡°We definitely should. We will assign a Russian armored vehicle and light-armored vehicle each. That¡¯ll make it look like a decent border post.¡±


    Jong-il seemed to go overboard about this subject, but Youngho decided not to intervene with his n. After all, he was simply doing his job.


    The strength of each squad of the Countryside Force was greater than the strength of apany of a regr army by far.


    First of all, it had outstanding mobility and defensive power because each squad had two light-armored vehicles. Light-armored vehicles were not only fast but also used as powerful offensive weapons. Each vehicle was originally made to seat ten soldiers inside, but since soldiers were frequently assigned for remote missions at the autonomous state, only a group of five to six people used each vehicle.


    The state had been buying the light-armored vehicles over time, and it had a total of 55 vehicles now. The amphibian Otokar Cobra vehicles were equipped with a 12.5-millimeter machine gun and a smoke bomb discharger. Since it also carried a portable rocketuncher and a stationary mortar, it was reasonable to say that each squad of the Countryside Force had a greater force than apany of a regr army.


    The state had two Russian multiple rocketunchers and seven heavy armored vehicles that were stolen a while ago when they were being transported to Armenia. That was why Youngho was going to utilize the heavy armored vehicles this time for the guard posts.


    The five guard posts would be enforced with a heavy armored vehicle and a light armored vehicle each.


    This would not be considered too much by the public since there had been frequent terrorist attacks in major cities of Kazakhstan. It would seem reasonable to have such force at the boundaries of the autonomous state.


    ***


    Surprisingly, the Kazakh military rather weed that the Arirang Autonomous State had be a special administrative region. It was because the reinforcement of the defense power of the autonomous state was the same as the reinforcement of the defense of the whole Kazakhstan. Also, the tiny Countryside Force was not a big threat to the Kazakh military.


    The Navy also had high hopes for the autonomous state.


    Victor Jun the lieutenantmander of the Kazakh Navy was also excited for the new changes in the state. Since his family lived in the state, Youngho saw him frequently.


    Today, Youngho ran into him at the state¡¯s shipyard.


    He brightly greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You finally did it.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is different. I just received amand from the president to strengthen Kazakhstan¡¯s national defense.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about anything since we¡¯re getting two vessels from Korea next year.¡±


    ¡°Well, Mr. President wanted us to produce weapons for the Kazakh military.¡±


    ¡°Have you told him about the small battleships that are being made at this shipyard?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t but he seems to have high hopes for us. Anything made in Kazakhstan would be better. By the way, did you check out the high-speed yacht in the 100-ton ss that we just made out of a used vessel?¡±


    ¡°When did you make that? The Navy could really use such fast vessels.¡±


    Lieutenant Jun was surprised to see the yacht. The yacht looked different than he expected since it was remodeled to look like a private vessel.


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t travel to Volgograd on our light airnes, so we reced our transportation method to a yacht, and my dear friend Jong-il armed it to the teeth.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. You could¡¯ve installed a missile too, then.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to have a missile on a 100-ton vessel. It¡¯s not going to hold up the weight. Besides, it¡¯s still invincible with a portable rocketuncher and machine gun.¡±


    ¡°How fast is this?¡±


    ¡°I changed its engine and reinforced its body, and now its highest speed is about 45 knots. On average, it could sail at 40 knots. I heard that it could be faster if it had a sturdier body.¡±


    45 knots was about 83 kilometers an hour.


    If a boat could sail that fast on the sea or the river, there were no other vessels in the Caspian Sea that could match with its speed.


    Lieutenantmander Jun opened his eyes wide.


    After a while, he spoke in a very excited voice.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Are you saying a battleship in the 200 to 300-ton ss could have such speed?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably possible. I was going to make a test battleship in the 100-ton ss, but the shipyard has been busy.¡±


    The shipyard was not yet equipped with a dock facility, but there were too many vessels that needed to be repaired now. The shipyard had begun a vessel repair business first since the technicians needed to get paid somehow, but the workload was getting out of control now. Making new vessels was now out of its priority.


    ¡°But, you¡¯d be starting its production soon, right?¡±


    ¡°A 100-ton vessel can be made without a dock facility but bigger vessels would need to wait until we have the facility.¡±


    ¡°I should go ahead and inform the naval headquarters at once. Everybody will love it if the autonomous state is going to produce high-speed vessels.¡±


    There was a reason why Lieutenantmander Jun was so excited about the news.


    The shipyard in Atyrau had produced a vessel, but its speed was lower than expected to pass as a naval vessel. So, the Navy decided to buy its vessels from foreign makers.


    Youngho would have stopped him a while ago, but now he wanted him to spread the word. It was because the president had asked Youngho to strengthen the military power of Kazakhstan so he needed to prove that the president¡¯s decision was right.


    This would not be a huge issue in western countries, but in Kazakhstan, it was an achievement that it could make a high-performance vessel.


    ¡°Well, we only made one test vessel by remodeling a used boat. Wouldn¡¯t it be too premature to spread the word?¡±


    Youngho asked.


    ¡°You know, the Navy could support you for this project, but it has to know that you¡¯re doing this. I will tell the higher-ups that we can¡¯t ask too much from the small autonomous state without giving any support. The Navy might also have special offers for ships. Just pretend that you don¡¯t know about a thing and wait. I¡¯ll get you good news soon, Mr. Lee.¡±


    That was true.


    Youngho did not want to make a free vessel for the Navy. If the Navy wanted anything, they would have to pay for its price.


    Currently, the autonomous state¡¯s maritime police force consisted of 60 Countryside Force soldiers and 20 former naval soldiers and two 15-year-old former US military vessels.


    The state had received more soldiers than necessary for the current two vessels now because more soldiers would be needed by next year when two patrol vessels in the 500-ton ss would be sent from Korea.


    As for the home port, vessels of the maritime police and the Navy could use the Port of Atyrau, but they preferred to stay at the Arirang Wharf. Its new facilities for soldiers¡¯ convenience, such as lodging, cafeteria, and resting areas made them feel at home, and especially the food menu selection was beloved by them.


    Youngho had tried his best to build great facilities for the Kazakh naval soldiers because he wanted to impress them as they could be future Countryside soldiers.


    In fact, navies appreciated that the autonomous state took discharged naval soldiers as members of the Countryside Force to do the maritime police job. It was because once they were retired from the Navy, they would still have a ce to work.


    Although Kazakhstan was a well-off country in Central Asia, there were not many job opportunities for discharged navy soldiers. For this, the Arirang Autonomous State was supported by them. Even current naval soldiers often joked that they were the soldiers of the autonomous state.


    It would seem that having soldiers reside in the city would cause many problems but nothing of the sort ever happened at the state since the soldiers did not want to cause trouble for the state where they would be hired after their discharge from the Navy.


    However, the naval soldiers were said to feel discouraged recently. As the autonomous state became a special administrative region, they assumed that it would not be easy for them to move to the state anymore because the immigration policy would be different for the state from now on.

 Chapter 320 - The Special Administrative Region (3)

    <h4>Chapter 320: The Special Administrative Region (3)</h4>


    Ever since the autonomous state had be a special administrative region, its residents were distinguished from the regr Kazakh people.


    The Kazakh police already set up a checkpoint near the entrance of the autonomous state. Because of that, the autonomous state had to also set up a checkpoint at its entry earlier than nned.


    Policemen let people pass easily if they had a residential card of the state. Although they sometimes asked for a bribe from people who were passing by, they were now openly doing it rather than showing out of nowhere and asking for a bribe from people.


    It was not likely that Kazakhstan¡¯s long-lived culture of bribery would be changed anytime soon. Bribery had be a way of living in the country since policemen and officials were not paid a lot by the government.


    ¡°When springes, we should build a decent checkpoint at the entry of the autonomous state.¡±


    Because the Kazakh police had set up a prefabricated checkpoint, the autonomous state hastily went ahead and set up a container as a temporary checkpoint.


    ¡°Only mineral transportation vehiclese and go these days, why would we need that?¡±


    ¡°H Corporation is trying to change the open-storage yard for minerals. It¡¯s because it¡¯ll be more economical for them to be in charge of transporting minerals to the Port of Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. They must¡¯ve had much inconvenience. We¡¯d be thankful if they¡¯ll transport the minerals from the mine.¡±


    ¡°When the mineral delivery truck drivers left, the lodging facility and the cafeteria at the wharf will be less crowded.¡±


    H Corporation had been using the open-storage yard at Arirang Wharf to store the minerals. Although the distance would be short if the mineral transportation trucks would drive across the state, it made a lot of dust. So, the trucks used to drive around the outskirt of the state to go to the wharf. From the wharf, the minerals would be loaded on freighters and transported to the next ce.


    Youngho could take that inconvenience, but when the winter came, the river would freeze and the state had to break the ice through icebreakers which were quite a job. The worst thing was that the entry and departure from the state had be aplicated process now that the state had be a special administrative region. The mineral truck drivers were mostly local Kazakh, and since they were not the resident of the autonomous state, they would have to go through a thorough documentation process when they came in and out of the state.


    Ever since Youngho made the mineral open-storage yard, he had regretted it many times, but he could not tell that to H Corporation. He would be immensely thankful for H Corporation if it would use another port to store the minerals. If so, the bulk freighters that transported the minerals would have to travel for less distance, and the autonomous state would be free from metal dust.


    The autonomous state had been earning money from the open-storage yard, but ever since the shipyard was made at the state, the yard had be an unweed business.


    It seemed that H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joo-hyuk had noticed that and decided to look for another yard at Port of Atyrau. Although the truck drivers would have to drive longer from now on, from the mineral mine to Port of Atyrau, it would be better for both parties this way in the long run.


    As expected, Kim Joo-hyuk hade to discuss the new arrangement with Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Congrattions. The autonomous state has wings now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve earned some more independence, but we are still a member of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°But that is still special. It¡¯s like the same as an independent country.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have our ownw written down, so we don¡¯t have any legal force yet. Once we make thew and submit them to the Kazakh government, it will have an effect.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a simple step. From the perspective of a Koreanpany residing in Kazakhstan, the autonomous state is like a shelter.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s great to hear. You¡¯re right the autonomous state has wings now.¡±


    ¡°Since the state is bing a better ce, I¡¯ve been thinking, Mr. Lee. I think it would be better for both of us to change the open-storage yard for the minerals. The minerals are polluting the air at the state with its dust when the state already deals with its own dust storms. I already found the site for the open-storage yard and the transportation route for that. If you agree, I¡¯ll go ahead and make arranges for the change.¡±


    Since Youngho already heard about this ahead of time, he did not say much.


    It seemed that H Corporation had already decided to make the change.


    ¡°Well, the bulk freighter owners will love to hear that their traveling distance has gotten shorter now.¡±


    ¡°I know it must¡¯ve been inconvenient for you and you didn¡¯t say a thing. I¡¯m sorry for causing such inconvenience.


    ¡°Actually, I was thinking about whether we should expand the wharf. Thank you for yourpany¡¯s consideration.¡±


    Youngho did not hide what he was thinking since he was happy that H Corporation was moving its open-storage yard.


    ***


    Youngho was fishing as he faced the cold winds of early December at the river near the Arirang Wharf. As he was enjoying fishing for trouts, Kim Il-kwon called him.


    ¡°Boss. We¡¯ve got enough now. Why don¡¯t we go back?¡±


    ¡°Do you think these are enough?¡±


    ¡°Only you and Jelyan likes to eat raw trout, so two would be enough for that, and we can make a soup with the rest of the fish.¡±


    ¡°No, Fatima¡¯s into raw fish these days.¡±


    Youngho could not go to Bakust weekend, so Kim Il-kwon brought Fatima and his children to the autonomous state when he came. As soon as they came, Jelyan nagged for raw trout, and that was why Youngho and Il-kwon were fishing in the cold.


    The trout from the Ural river had great taste and texture that everyone loved it. It seemed that his body had not adapted to the sudden cold yet. Youngho quickly packed everything to leave with Kim Il-kwon.


    Il-kwon who was driving back to the city said as he saw the open-storage yard near the wharf that had been cleared out.


    ¡°The wharf looks empty now without the mountains of minerals.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, is there any way we could utilize that space?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we let it sit there empty for now? Don¡¯t you like to see an extra space?¡±


    ¡°What? Should we leave it empty like that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we could use it in the future.¡±


    As soon as Youngho heard those words, it felt like fireworks just went off in his head. Those words had just shaken his fixed idea that he should fill up everything.


    As he returned home, he repeated those words to have some extra room.


    ¡®That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve been trying to fill up everything. Leaving it empty is a way to use a room too.¡¯


    Youngho had been rushing thingstely, and Il-kwon¡¯s words had just made him recognize that.


    As they got home, the follower couple and other little followers were ying together.


    Hearing that the kids would being, Kim In-hwa must have dragged Suh Min-seok who must have been a couch potato at home. Jelyan and Leon were screaming as they yed a video game with the two adults.


    ¡°Whoa, what brings you here on a weekend?¡±


    ¡°Jelyan and Leon told us toe.¡±


    Kim In-hwa then said as she smiled.


    ¡°Well, we actually came because Jelyan told us that you went trout fishing!¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. That¡¯s why you¡¯re here? We didn¡¯t catch a lot because it was too cold. Don¡¯t tell anybody that you had trout here, okay?¡±


    There were many people at the state who woulde running for a trout.


    Youngho and Il-kwon drove Fatima out of the kitchen and took over the ce to fillet raw fish and make spicy fish soup.


    Suh Min-seok was sweating as he ate the spicy fish soup.


    ¡°Secretary Kim, this is so good. I should take you as my master to learn some cooking skills. How did you make this?¡±


    Suh Min-seok had just finished his second bowl.


    ¡°Back in North Korea, there were not a lot of things to eat. I made soups out of many things until it tasted good.¡±


    ¡°What? Secretary Kim, are you from North Korea?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m only a Koryoin here.¡±


    Looking at the follower couple¡¯s surprised face, Youngho made a joke.


    ¡°Oh, didn¡¯t I tell you? He used to be an intelligence agent from North Korea. I brainwashed him and convinced him to be a defector.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Right. Boss made me a capitalist from a socialist. So, I be a nationless runaway.¡±


    Il-kwon also joined with a serious face.


    ¡°Oh my! This is like a story from a novel.¡±


    Kim In-hwa totally bought the story.


    Then, Fatima sudden burst intoughter.


    ¡°Hah? Why are youughing, honey?¡±


    ¡°Did you also tell her that you brainwashed me?¡±


    ¡°How could I do that? Meeting you was destiny.¡±


    ¡°Bahaha...¡±


    As the house was filled withughter, Youngho¡¯s heart was at peace.


    This was overflowing happiness, but he felt like he had been missing it for a while because he was too busy running toward goals.


    ***


    For a long time, Youngho was busy protecting the autonomous state from an outside force. He put his best effort to establish its position and develop its environment so that the residents could live on their own. He also poured his money over the state¡¯s development.


    As he had given his best to the state, everything about it was cherishable.


    Finally, the Kazakh government had recognized his effort and epted it as an independent entity, a special administrative region. It was not only the president¡¯s decision, but the Congress had also permitted it.


    Youngho was extremely happy regardless of the government¡¯s intention behind its decision. He was relieved that the residents and his family now had a ce that could be called their own forever.


    Even if the world changed, and the state¡¯s status was canceled, there was a legal basis to fight for thend. In order to keep its status, the autonomous state needed to stay like a treasure of Kazakhstan. He began to brainstorm about what would imprint the minds of politicians and the Kazakh public. An idea that would make them believe that the autonomous state was a ce that needed to be maintained.


    Youngho visited the heavy equipment and farming machine repair shop after a long while.


    The equipment that was exploited day and night from spring to fall were now being repaired and checked up throughout the winter so they were ready for the next spring again.


    Even though it was winter, different kinds of equipment were still being used in the construction of a reservoir and different buildings.


    The workshop used three warehouses, but there was not a lot of room to step in because parts that were disassembled from different machines were all over the ce.


    ¡°Prince consort, what brings you here?¡±


    Bobek, a Serbian manager in his 50s, greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Will the alcohol prohibition be lifted now that the state had be a special administrative region?¡±


    Youngho did not see what bing a special administrative region had to do with the alcohol restriction. It sounded a little pushy.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not alcohol prohibition. We¡¯re only trying to encourage people to drink moderately.¡±


    ¡°Haha... To vs, a bottle a day is the same as alcohol prohibition.¡±


    The residents of the state were not happy to hear the restriction policy, but they willingly obeyed the new policy since they were determined to build a new city.


    ¡°Prince consort, would you like to have some coffee at my office since you came to visit me?¡±


    Youngho was escorted to his office. After talking about how theb was operating for a while, Youngho cut to the chase.


    ¡°Manager. That means if we have parts, we¡¯ll be able to make new farming machines or heavy equipment, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The core technology is in the engine, and we can make anything if we have the engine.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear that. He quickly asked the question that was on his mind.


    ¡°Then, do you think we can make military tanks too?¡±

 Chapter 321 - The Special Administrative Region (4)

    <h4>Chapter 321: The Special Administrative Region (4)</h4>


    ¡°What? We didn¡¯t even make a deposit yet but the Jets areing now?¡±


    ¡°No, thepany¡¯s going to offer a trial ride service because you¡¯re a VIP customer. So the message was already sent from our control tower to Atyrau Airport.¡±


    Because the autonomous state¡¯s airfield did not have a radar instation, it followed the restrictions of Atyrau Airport. The airfield did not even receive a code from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).


    Any aircraft would have to follow the instructions provided by Atyrau Airport and when it entered the airspace of the autonomous state, it was guided by the autonomous state¡¯s control service. There was no instrumentnding system, a pilot had to continuouslymunicate with the control tower tond, which was an old-fashioned way ofnding. The control tower was managed by a retired Koryoin air-traffic controller.


    Although not an official airport, the runway was about two kilometers long and 25 meters wide that a mid-sized airne couldnd at the airfield.


    ¡°That Cessna is a greatpany to recognize the autonomous state¡¯s status. Tell them that we¡¯ll be buying bigger nes in the future.¡±


    ¡°Got that, Boss.¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s voice was full of vibrancy.


    The follower couple congratted when the state became a special administrative region than anyone. Kim In-hwa even had tears in her eyes, so Youngho asked why, and this was what she said,


    ¡°Our autonomous state is small, but it¡¯s like an independent country now. The Republic of Arirang! Hooray!¡±


    Youngho was touched by the couple¡¯s loyalty to the state. That day, he promoted Kim In-kwon as the chief secretary and gave the couple the title of secretary to both.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok. What did you say to the staff of Cessna that it¡¯s offering a trial ride?¡±


    When Youngho told him that he was a VIP of Cessna, he was only joking. Thepany had much bigger buyers than him even though he had bought seven light-airnes from thepany.


    ¡°I told them that the head of the Republic of Arirang would be using the jet.¡±


    Youngho was utterly dumbfounded by what he just heard.


    ¡°What do you mean by the republic and the head?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Park Jong-il told me that I could say that. Also, he said that we¡¯d be buying a medium-size private airne soon, so I told that to thepany staff too.¡±


    Youngho now nodded. It was indeed strange that thepany would bring a jet for a trial just because he was buying two six-seater jets. Believing the lie that Suh Min-seok told the staff, thepany must be offering an excessive service since he seemed to be a big customer that it did not want to miss to anotherpany.


    ¡°That may happen in several yearster, but the six-seaters would be enough for my lifetime. Argh, Jong-il, this dude is ruining you guys. You need to get approval from me with business-rted stuff.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Boss.¡±


    Youngho wondered if Park Jong-il had said about more things than he should have.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear any strange story from Mr. Park, did you?¡±


    ¡°He said that you¡¯re a generous person who gives away sessfulpanies to your friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s out of his mind. A sessfulpany? He received a shippingpany that¡¯s on debt.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, so that was really true?¡±


    Suh Min-seok looked at Youngho with eyes of respect.


    ***


    Park Young-sun was taking a ss from Youngho with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that we won¡¯t have to worry about the Commissioner¡¯sint today.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be away for several more days since there is a lot to discuss with the central government in Astana. We need to drink as much as we want when he¡¯s not around.¡±


    Since the amount of the underground water discovered recently was quiterge, Youngho had gathered up some people to celebrate it. It was not stagnant water but a flowing one, and it looked like there would be greater news when the investigation on it was finished.


    ¡°Doctor, if the water was connected to the branch of the Ural River, it would be perfect. Is there a slight chance?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to explore it some more but it¡¯s not an impossible story.¡±


    ¡°I hope it is flowing around the whole autonomous state.¡±


    Jong-il even wished for a bigger dream.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that can¡¯t be good for the autonomous state. There will be so many people that will be jealous of the state. Just think of it as a water supply that would meet the needs of our residents.¡±


    ¡°Man, do you need to be afraid when you have enough now?¡±


    In Kazakhstan, water resource was valued more than any mineral resource, so it was not a good idea to boast plenty of water resource.


    ¡°Doctor. Wouldn¡¯t the underground water dry outter?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing in this world that¡¯s unlimited. Everything is finite just like this earth is.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the earth will perish?¡±


    Startled by his remark, Jong-il asked back.


    ¡°If the earth¡¯s expected age was a year, only 18 hours are remaining for its life now. ording to Stephen Hawking, the life of the earth is only about 1,000 years left. If you think about that its age is older than 4.5 billion years, it¡¯s a scary story.¡±


    When everyone was frozen at his exnation, Park Young-sun made anotherment.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to think of ways to revive the earth now. We should save things so that our descendants would have at least a few hundred years more.¡±


    After listening to Park Young-sun, Youngho did not want to drink anymore. It was a heavy topic.


    ¡°Well, there was a philosopher who said that he¡¯s going to nt a tree even if the world ended tomorrow. Let¡¯s cheer for the future of the autonomous state!¡±


    Everyone cheered together but they did not feel like drinking anymore either. Soon, the party was over since people started to go home.


    ¡°Why did Dr. Park have to spoil the party by talking about the end of the world?¡±


    ¡°We might even have to develop a spaceship to go find a new like earth in the universe, in the future.¡±


    Jong-il was bummed too for the party was dismissed.


    ¡°Seek what? We should just enjoy what we have here and leave when the timees.¡±


    ¡°Oh, hyung. You¡¯re saying like a 1,000 years is a day away.¡±


    ¡°Il-kwon. I¡¯ve lived three more years than you. I¡¯m three years wiser than you are.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Park Jong-il! Why did you ask such a question to Dr. Park? It¡¯s all because of you.¡±


    After Park Young-sun was gone, they were left with heavy hearts.


    ¡°Oh, howe you men are discouraged by such thing? You can try to save the earth. First, you can nt a lot of trees at the autonomous state and make pasture to increase the age of the earth. Then, everyone in Kazakhstan will follow what you¡¯ve done afterwards.¡±


    Fatima spoke confidently. It was not an impossible story. Since Kazakhstan was a huge country, if what was done in the autonomous state could be spread to the entire nation, it could have a huge effect on Central Asia and moreover, to the earth.


    ¡°The Archduchess is indeed bold and insightful. Hey, ya¡¯ll hear that, right? We can save the earth. Il-kwon bring us two more bottles. I¡¯m in a mood for the party again.¡±


    Theyughed at Jong-il¡¯s remark and restarted the party of their own.


    ***


    Whether the end of the earth wasing or not, the autonomous state was operating like always.


    Today was the opening day of the central library of the state.


    Many things were still needed to bepleted inside the building but books had been gathered enough to open the library for public¡¯s use, so the reading room and the library area were tidied up and open. It was a little hasty, but Youngho hurried up to open the building so that kids coulde and read throughout the long winter.


    The library was a lot smaller than what H Corporation¡¯s consortium was building in Astra as a contribution to Kazakhstan, but it would have every necessary facility when it was done.


    It would have two underground floors to store about 500,000 books. Many long novels were mostly written in English but Youngho also got many different types of literature in Kazakh, Serbian, Russian, and Korean as well.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. There are so many Korean books but we don¡¯t have a lot of Kazakh books.¡±


    ¡°I requested more books in Kazakh at the central library in Astana.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. It¡¯ll be a problem if people don¡¯t know Kazakh when they live in Kazakhstan. I¡¯m concerned that Russian is used more than Kazakh in big cities.


    ¡°The government officials I met this time were worried about that too. That got me thinking. We should start teaching Kazakh in our autonomous state.¡±


    The schools in the Arirang Autonomous State had been focusing on teaching English and Russian only. So, the state was also guilty of not emphasizing the importance of the Kazakhnguage.


    ¡°How did the officials think of the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°They were d that the autonomous state had now be a special administrative region. They think it¡¯s going to strengthen Kazakhstan¡¯s national defense.¡±


    It was good news that government officials approved of the autonomous state. It seemed that emphasizing on the country¡¯s military strength was a good idea.


    Since Kazakhstan was a big country with plenty of mineral resources, many Kazakhs were worried that other nations would covet what they had. Therefore, Kazakh people considered sparing quite a lot of national budget on national defense. That was why they liked the fact that the autonomous state helping out the Navy by taking over the maritime police job.


    ¡°Commissioner, please make sure to tell our residents to act polite for visitors and other Kazakh people. We don¡¯t want to lose the support of the public.¡±


    There were many workers that came to work at the state from outside. Youngho worried that the residents of the state might hurt their feelings in any way. Since the state was newly formed, public opinion could threaten its existence.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t receive technicians from outside anymore. Many residents had learned the construction work now. We¡¯ll have enough workers of our own.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s great.¡±


    Now that the central library of the state was finally open, Youngho was feeling happy that the state had hit a milestone. The future generations of the state would be grown on this foundation. To think that the autonomous state was now bing a city with necessary infrastructures, Youngho could not help to smile, but Suh Min-seok spoiled the mood.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, are you fine?¡±


    ¡°Do I look like a sick person? You are always asking me if I¡¯m fine. Come on, I¡¯m a perfectly healthy person.¡±


    As Suh Min-seok now had the secretary title, he literally started following Youngho around all day long while checking his condition.


    ¡°The trial jet from Cessna will arrive here tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Thepany is quite fast to act. Did you order the flight simtor as well?¡±


    Because newpanies that sold jets were increasing recently, Cessna was actively trying to sell the jets to the state. Since jets were quite different than light airnes, Youngho was excited to see them.


    ¡°Yes, I ordered that too, and Cessna would be sending us a trainer for the jets soon.¡±


    Youngho was going to send people to get trained to learn how to maneuver the new jets, but it was great that thepany was sending a trainer. The jets would be opening a new era for the autonomous state.

 Chapter 322 - The Road Survey Team (1)

    <h4>Chapter 322: The Road Survey Team (1)</h4>


    An aircraft with a slick body that had justnded on the runway was now slowly turning and approaching the control tower. It was the trial jet that Cessna had sent as a service for its special customer. Suh Min-seok had promoted the autonomous state as a republic, and that was why thepany was treating the state as a special customer. There was nothing Youngho could do now, so he decided to take advantage of the situation.


    ¡°Man, the sound of its engine itself is exciting. Now I get why bikers love to ride Harley-Davidson bikes.¡±


    Jong-il expressed his excitement byparing the jet with a bike.


    The inside of the jet was quite small, but the fact that there was a restroom and he still could walk around was still impressive. There were two pilot seats at the front of the aircraft.


    Theplicated cockpit could be seen from the passenger¡¯s seat in a nce.


    ¡°Are you supposed to learn all of that?¡±


    Suh Min-seok looked suffocated by theplicated cockpit.


    ¡°It may lookplicated but you only have to think about take off andnding. It has the function of instrument flight, so it can fly to the designated destination once you enter it.¡±


    ¡°This small jet can fly on its own?¡±


    ¡°This is a machine that has all thebination of the 21st century¡¯s technology.¡±


    Jong-il exined details of the jet to the follower couple as if he was going to fly it at once.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that this tiny aircraft can fly for 2,400 kilometers long.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you to order a bigger one. With the bigger one, you can go to Frankfurt without refueling in the middle.¡±


    Although Jong-ilined about not buying the twelve-seater which had a flying range of 6,000 kilometers, owing a jet was a huge leap for the autonomous state. Since Youngho traveled to Baku and cities in Kazakhstan most often, he did not think that it would be so inconvenient to own six-seater jets. He could travel to farther distance using other airlines, which seemed to be a less hassle.


    Until now, when Youngho¡¯s group had tond on different airports with the light airnes of the autonomous state, they were not weed since the airport staff did not want to arrange a regr runway for them. However, having the jets would be different since it needed a decent runway.


    ¡°You think the airport will let us use the main runway now?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t wend on any surface?¡±


    ¡°No. Airnes with propellers cannd on pasture but jets are very sensitive. We don¡¯t want any debris getting into its engine, so we must secure a runway.¡±


    Light airnes that couldnd on any t surface was most convenient to use in Kazakhstan. The autonomous state would have to take care of its runway from now on tond jets.


    ¡°Oh, Suh Min-seok. Call Cessna right away to send the jets as soon as possible. I love it.¡±


    ***


    The weather was getting colder each day but the construction work was still going on for five guard posts of the state¡¯s boundaries and for the Bentonite y production facility. For any facility, sturdy stone walls that were three meters high were built around. The walls were the best way to protect the facilities from the north wind from the Ural Mountains and continental wind of Kazakhstan.


    Although the state had been nting trees and forming pastures, it could take years until it was free from dust storms and harsh winds. With recently discoveredrge-scale underground water, one-third of the state¡¯s territory could be covered but there was no specific n for the rest of the territory. What was clear now was that the state would focus on forming green fields for now.


    It would be better if the scale of farnd was not increased anymore since farming needed an excessive amount of water. It was not a good idea to exhaust the underground water that was recently found for farming.


    As people were scattered to different locations of the state to work on forming pastures, Countryside Force guards¡¯ patrol area had be much bigger. It was impossible to patrol and that was twice the size of Seoul only with a hundred guards. Because there was no way to increase the number of residents, the state came up with a drone patrol system which was quite effective.


    Drones had a wide patrol range and could be used in any weather around the clock. The guards would only have to monitor them inside their vehicles. Moreover, the sharp engine sound of drones often chased away wolves. So, a monitoring system was installed in every patrol vehicle now. Where there was a need, there was a way.


    There were people who always had great new ideas. They were the follower couple.


    ¡°You¡¯re not too busy these days, are you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Boss.¡±


    ¡°Then, what do you think about going to Korea now? You can say hi to your family and friends.¡±


    Since the follower couple would be living in Kazakhstan from now on, Youngho wanted to give them some time for closure in Korea. He had always been sorry that he made the follower couple work for him hastily.


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    The two spoke in unison as if they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.


    They were only in Georgia for a temporary business project when they first met Youngho, and ever since then, their life had an unexpected turn. They did not have time to immerse with the new changes in their lives after they left S Corporation and started working for him.


    ¡°While you¡¯re in Korea, you can figure out the market for whole wheat flour and see if there are other business items that would be helpful for the autonomous state. You cane back after the New Year¡¯s long weekend.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, this break sounds too long. We still have our own job to do. I don¡¯t feelfortable leaving my job for such a long period.¡±


    Since they were secretaries now, they were in charge of quite a lot of tasks at the state but at the same time, nothing terrible would happen just because they were gone for three weeks.


    ¡°Just think that you¡¯re remotely working from Seoul. I also gave you a job to do, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°I can do such tasks here too.¡±


    ¡°Then you can just have fun there and rx. You won¡¯t have time to have fun starting from next year, so this is yourst chance of freedom. Hurry and go get ready for your break now.¡±


    As soon as Youngho was done speaking, the two shouted for joy and left Youngho¡¯s office excitingly. It made him chuckle.


    ¡°Hey, without the followers, your office feels like a Buddhist temple.¡±


    Jong-il looked bored like a boy who lost his toy after the followers were gone to Korea.


    He had been entertaining himself by teasing the followers when they were around. Youngho also felt weird without the follower couple. They had not recognized this before, but it seemed that they were attached to the young couple now.


    ¡°Man, I feel the same. It feels empty without them following me around.¡±


    The follower couple had been sincere to Youngho. They would always get him coffee when he needed it even though he did not ask for it. Their presence was greatly missed at the office.


    ¡°I should be nicer to them when they¡¯re back. I think I might¡¯ve gone too far with the teasing.¡±


    ¡°Hey, they know that you¡¯re teasing them. Your jokes and tease might have made them adapt to the state more quickly. They alwaysugh around you.¡±


    ¡°Man, I thought they didn¡¯t get it. I don¡¯t know how we¡¯re going to hold up three weeks until they¡¯re back.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they out of reach? Don¡¯t they have satellite phones?¡±


    ¡°The survey team must¡¯ve changed the course of their route on their own.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? What were they thinking? Do they think that they¡¯re still in Korea?¡±


    As Youngho was frustrated, he raised his voice.


    Im Min-soo, the president of the road construction consortium, could not say anything back to Youngho¡¯s outrage. His reaction somehow made him even more angry that he finally said what had been on his mind.


    ¡°Mr. Im, did you tell the survey team to hurry up?¡±


    ¡°No, no. I never ordered such a thing. I emphasized that their priority should be their safety no matter what circumstances they were in.¡±


    He swung his hand in the air to deny Youngho¡¯s spection.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t the survey team pushing itself in an attempt to make achievements in a short period of time?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. The members of the team are not that kind of people. They have enough experience overseas and they wouldn¡¯t push themselves if there was a slight possibility of danger.¡±


    Shocking news that the road survey team that went to the construction site for the road project that connected Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had gotten lost was delivered to the autonomous state.


    It was time for the Countryside Force guards to rotate with the next group, so the survey team of the construction consortium was supposed to wait at the temporary lodging in Sary-Tash, but the whole team was gone without a note when the new team of guards reached there. The team must have gone to do the survey job ignoring the given instruction, or they could have faced an unexpected event.


    ¡°Our agent made sure that they should wait at the lodging until the new guards arrived there.¡±


    It was Jong-il¡¯s words.


    ¡°The agent was sent to do an interpreter¡¯s job. Where was he when the team got missing?¡±


    ¡°He was also left Sary-Tash because another agent wasing for them.¡±


    Sary-Tash was not a dangerous city. It was quite strange that the whole team had gone missing without any note, especially when they had satellite phones to contact the H Corporation¡¯s consortium office. They were said to be experienced engineers, so it did not make sense if they did not follow the instruction.


    Youngho thought that he would find them faster if he went there to search for them.


    ¡°Jong-il. Send more agents to the city, and let¡¯s go there together too.¡±


    ¡°You mean, us?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, are you going to sit and wait here, and do nothing?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not our style.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart was resentful on the missing Korean survey team members, but Jong-il got all excited. He wanted to use a light airne to get there.


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s fly there on the light airne even if we¡¯ll have to refuel the tank on the way. We need to go straight to Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s mind was busy. Sending a hundred Countryside Force guards would not resolve this issue. In an emergency like this, Youngho and Jong-il who had the ring¡¯s power could be more helpful.


    Thetitude of Kyrgyzstan was lower than the Arirang Autonomous State but its average altitude was more than 2,700 meters high throughout its territory. It was called the Switzend of Central Asia.


    The country, which was a little bit smaller than the Korean Penins, consisted of more than ten mountain ranges. Thus, only about eight percent of its territory could be utilized for farnd and othernd uses.


    The ce where the road construction survey team was had a mountainous region of altitude of 3,000 meters. It was a dreadfully cold region, and if the team had been roaming in the mountains, they could be in a fatal condition by now.


    Another thing that concerned Youngho was that Tajikistan was not fond of the road construction project that would connect the two countries due to the borderline problems. So, people of Tajikistan might have harmed the survey team in order to stop the construction project.


    He did not want to think about it but he could not shake off the bad feeling. If the survey team moved with their own will despite the given instruction, Youngho could get away from the moral and legal responsibilities but if the survey team was abducted by any group of people that tried to get money from H Corporation, it would be Youngho and the autonomous state¡¯s responsibility since the Countryside Force guards were hired to ensure their safety. Since the guards were gone when they began missing, it would be work negligence.


    Regardless of what it must be, he was worried about the lives of the Korean survey team.


    On top of that, the weather was not in its most preferable condition. He had to hurry to save them.


    Every winter, big or small incidents frequently happened and it seemed that this winter was not an exception.

 Chapter 323 - The Road Survey Team (2)

    <h4>Chapter 323: The Road Survey Team (2)</h4>


    The light airne that Youngho and Jong-il were on had just flown over to the border area of Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°Should we just go straight to the south? We already contacted the Kazakh government and people must know that this is an emergency.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s drop by there just for a little bit. Our agents are all waiting in Bishkek.¡±


    The Koryoin agents that worked in Almaty had already entered Bishkek which was the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Because there were 20,000 Koryoins residing in Kyrgyzstan, the Koryoin agents could be sent there without worrying about getting exposed by the public.


    ¡°Could this be a doing of Tajikistan¡¯s IS group?¡±


    Central Asia might look peaceful on the outside but there had been disputes over the borders of many countries since they were defined by the Soviet Union a long time ago. People did not have physical battles, but diplomatic conflicts were relentless.


    This was what Youngho was concerned about the most.


    Many countries would look like they agreed with Kazakhstan¡¯s policy tobine the Central Asian countries under one economic bloc but there was no way to find out what smaller countries would be thinking about it.


    ¡°It could be the IS but I don¡¯t think Tajikistan would try to interrupt Kazakhstan¡¯s national project.¡±


    ¡°That sounds nonsensical but you never know what these people are up to.¡±


    The Balkan Penins, Caucasus, and Central Asia were the regions notorious for ethnic minority groups¡¯ nationalism and far-right tendencies. Many people had analyzed that there would be stronger disputes in these regions than the disputes in the Middle Eastern regions.


    ¡°Man, we surely found a weird ce to settle down.¡±


    ¡°You know, there are more opportunities in dangerous regions.¡±


    ¡°If the IS is involved in this, our winter is going to be so long.¡±


    Youngho remembered hearing that the IS organization that was active in Afghanistan had entered Tajikistan when he was in Frankfurt. Many poor young people without jobs had been joining the IS, and maybe those IS members were involved in this.


    This could not be good for the autonomous state either. The state could be exposed by the IS group and it could continue to threaten the existence of the state.


    Youngho and Jong-il who justnded at Manas International Airport in Bishkek met up with the agents who were already gathered there. They had not figured out what was going on in Sary-Tash. They only assumed that the IS must be after this. There could note up with any other reasonable exnation for the current situation.


    The government Kyrgyzstan also agreed to investigate this case but it could not be trusted. It was because the government in the border area was quite poor and it was less likely that IS would offer support.


    Youngho and Jong-il immediately flew to Osh taking two agents with them. The city where as far as their light airne could go. Since the Countryside Force guards that were supposed to be guarding the survey team if they had not gone missing, Youngho¡¯s group decided to join them to search for the lost team in Sary-Tash.


    Youngho had a bad feeling that this winter would be long like Jong-il said.


    ***


    The road from the city of Osh to Sary-Tash was extremely rough.


    It would have been better if Youngho took the airne despite difficulties.


    It was a deadly mission to drive on rough, icy mountainous roads with the rented van that was more than 20 years old. It also made weird engine noises. It was okay when it went up and down the winding mountainous roads. But, when it crossed sloppy bridges that looked like it was going to fall, Youngho thought that it would be better if he crossed the bridge by foot. Despite the thrilling situation, the driver of the van did not care a bit and kept on driving roughly.


    ¡°Hey, can¡¯t you tell him to take it easy? I just want to rx for a minute.¡±


    ¡°He is rushing because he has to return home tonight because he needs to go back to the hospital tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What? He works at a hospital?¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯s a doctor.¡±


    ¡°Why would a doctor work as a driver?¡±


    ¡°He said that he can¡¯t make ends meet with the 300 dors he makes as a doctor. He works as a driver when he¡¯s off duty.¡±


    ¡°Is he going back in the dark after driving us to the city?¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯ll be fine because he knows the road.¡±


    Youngho was lost for words.


    He would not dare to drive on this rough road at night if he was not out of his mind.


    He boasted that he could drive the distance equal to the length from Seoul to Daegu within seven hours, which Youngho found it odd since sometimes he drove slowly. However, after entering the mountainous area, he realized that the driver was quite fast.


    Considering the poor road condition and the weather condition, it was not a good idea to drive over the speed of 40 kilometers per hour. Youngho sweated badly to drive on cliff roads that did not have any guard rails and wobbly bridges. There were dents on all over the road due to fallen rocks and just when he thought that he could rest, the icy road showed up.


    When he got to the entrance of Sary-Tash, he did not have any strength in his body. He was only thankful that he finally could meet up with the Countryside Force guards who were waiting for Youngho¡¯s group.


    They went to the inn that the road survey team had stayed.


    It was a popr lodging for backpackers and was located at the outskirt of the city. It seemed to be a great ce to stay. The facility was chosen because it had an empty lot, which the light armored vehicles could be parked. Even though it was winter, several backpackers were staying there. They were not much help since they came after the survey team went missing.


    The owner of the inn only shrugged to hear such news. However, that was quite suspicious since it was hard to notice when ten foreigner customers left the facility. If they were going for a road survey, they would have taken their equipment but the equipment was all left at the inn. They could have gone to tour around the city¡¯s downtown.


    ¡°Does any of this make sense to you?¡±


    ¡°Nope, not at all. Leaving the facility without notifying the owner without an interpreter itself is just nonsense.¡±


    ¡°If they were abducted, there must be some requests in exchange for their lives but we didn¡¯t hear anything yet. If so, we still have hope. Maybe they are locked in somewhere and waiting to receive directions from the higher-ups of the criminal organization.¡±


    ¡°We need to hurry.¡±


    The survey team must have let someone know if they were leaving the facility on their own.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get all the belongings of the survey team and pretend that we¡¯re leaving. We should watch this inn for a while.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re also suspecting this ce.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always a clue at the crime scene.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite fishy. Howe the Kyrgyz police did not suspect the owner of this ce?¡±


    The police must have dropped the case already since the country was not well-off enough to take care of an abduction case of foreigners. If the police were willing, it would not have left the missing people¡¯s belongings at the inn like that.


    Judging by the belongings that did not have any valuables left, it seemed that any valuable goods were already taken by people.


    ¡°Let¡¯s watch this ce starting from tonight. ce the agents around here in secret. The criminals are definitely rted to the owner.¡±


    ¡°How about the Countryside Force guards?¡±


    ¡°Let them check in at the lodging across the town and make sure that they¡¯re dressed up in private clothes. The survey team couldn¡¯t have gone far from here.¡±


    The case seemed to be a definite abduction but considering that it was a cold winter, there was a high possibility that the team must be still around. If necessary, the Countryside Force guards would be mobilized too.


    ***


    ¡°I just received a call. They said that there are a few suspicious-looking people who areing in and out of a traveler¡¯s inn. The owner didn¡¯t show any suspicious activity.¡±


    Youngho was taking a rest for the moment at the lodging but Jong-il soon came into his room and woke him up.


    ¡°Tell them to stay still until we are there.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They¡¯re now decent agents.¡±


    The hard training that they received turned out to be effective now. They could stake out, and tail; they were equipped with martial arts and gun-shooting skills. Each of them could take two or even three guys on his own. The Arirang Autonomous State had been treating them graciously, so they had be proud agents now.


    ¡°Tell the Countryside Force guards to stay here and let¡¯s move.¡±


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s put the silencer on our pistol and take the bulletproof vest, along with our night-vision goggles just in case.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s voice was full of vibrancy because he might be involved in some actions tonight. It was the same with Youngho. The thrilling sensation was what Youngho had not been feeling for a long while.


    The two ran like the wind to the traveler¡¯s inn at the outskirt of the town. The agents who were standing by near the inn were stunned to see the two. They did not get how the two got there so fast without a car.


    ¡°How many went in there?¡±


    ¡°Three went inside and one of them came out a little while ago. One of our guys is following him.¡±


    ¡°Did he take a satellite phone?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He just contacted me that the guy just went into a caf¨¦.¡±


    ¡°You can join your friend there. Just tail him and don¡¯t do anything, alright?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    Youngho sent him away because he did not want to show what was going to happen at the inn. After the agent left, the two approached the inn. The only ce that had a light on was its cafeteria. As expected, the owner of the inn they had met during the day and a man with a beard was having a conversation. He looked like he was in histe 20s. There was no drink on the table, which meant that they were having a serious conversation or they could be Muslims.


    Although Youngho¡¯s hearing that was enhanced by the power of his ring could hear their conversation, he could not understand theirnguage. He had thought that he would understand Kyrgyz since it was a tongue of Turkish but it was harder than he thought.


    ¡°Did they mention the road survey team?¡±


    ¡°Dang, I can¡¯t understand a thing.¡±


    ¡°Should we just bust them?¡±


    ¡°Man, what if they¡¯re not the ones who abducted the survey team?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to torture them so that they could tell us who¡¯s behind this. What else can we do? We won¡¯t get anything out of them if we just stand here.¡±


    ¡°You think people who can abduct others will easily slip out the truth? That¡¯s going to be a waste of time. I think they¡¯re going to move soon since they¡¯re not drinking. Let¡¯s wait for a while.¡±


    Youngho thought that it was the best until he had certain evidence. If they were part of the IS, they would not open their mouth even if they were tortured to death. A zealous religious organization could be that scary and determined. They would, in fact, willingly die for their organization¡¯s goal.


    After a moment, the two guys were done with their conversation. Leaving the owner behind, the guy joined another guy that was waiting for him outside. They were now about to leave on a car.


    ¡°What now? Should we run and follow the car?¡±


    ¡°The road condition is terrible. I don¡¯t think the car will be able to drive at a high speed. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be slower than us. Don¡¯t worry. Care for evening jogging?¡±


    ¡°Man, you don¡¯t need night-vision goggles but I need to run with this burdensome equipment on.¡±


    ¡°Follow me slowly. I¡¯ll go ahead and give you the location when I get there.¡±


    ¡°Dude, how am I going to figure out where you are? We don¡¯t even know this ce.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Then we should run for our lives. Oh! The car¡¯s starting.¡±


    As Youngho caught up with the car in one bound, Jong-il gritted his teeth as he followed him.


    ¡°Man, if they¡¯re the ones who abducted the survey team, they¡¯re dead in my hands.¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯ll be far gone in my hands before you do that.¡±


    Abduction was not tolerable in any case.


    Agent Philip in Georgia still felt fearful until today because of the trauma that he got from being abducted by the militia of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was an unspeakable fear that could not be erased.

 Chapter 324 - The Road Survey Team (3)

    <h4>Chapter 324: The Road Survey Team (3)</h4>


    The car went across the town and was now slipping out of the town.


    ¡°Man, where on earth are they headed to?¡±


    It was a foggy night and the road was icy.


    The car was going at a terribly slow speed because of the worst possible road condition.


    Because of that, Youngho and Jong-il could have conversations as they followed the car behind.


    ¡°If they¡¯re just regr folks, we¡¯d be wasting our precious time tonight.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen normal guys moving secretly at night? It¡¯s also weird that youngds own a car. This is a poor country, remember? They can¡¯t be normal.¡±


    Youngho could tell that the two guys were trained since they had sharp movements and postures. Although the car looked like it needed some repair work, having a car in this town was indeed very suspicious.


    The car that went on for about ten more minutes finally stopped in front of an old stone house. The light wasing out from its windows. It looked like there were many people inside the house.


    ¡°What now?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until they go to sleep. I don¡¯t think they have further ns for tonight.¡±


    Youngho tried to listen to any sign of movement with his enhanced hearing but it did not seem that anybody was moving. As he was going to stop listening, he caught a tiny sound. It sounded as if someone had just coughed. It was not loud, but a suppressed coughing sound.


    He was sure that he caught something. He gestured to go near the house to Jong-il.


    As they were about to move, they spotted a headlight from a vehicle far away. This must be the one that had gone to the town¡¯s caf¨¦. Just as he thought, four big guys were stepping out of the car.


    ¡°Is this tiny town now under the control of an anti-government organization or something? Why are these young people keeping to this house?¡±


    ¡°Are you ready for a showdown?¡±


    Now that they were certain that the house was suspicious, they decided to act.


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s put on masks first.¡±


    Kyrgyz people looked distinguished from Kazakh people. It was because Kyrgyz had the blood of Mongolians and Aryans of Europe in them. That was why Youngho and Jong-il needed masks to cover their faces. That was also why they brought agents who were half Russians with them.


    ¡°What are we going to tell the survey teamter?¡±


    ¡°Should we tell them that Kyrgyzstan¡¯s patriotic people had rescued them?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s think about thatter.¡±


    ¡°Dang it. Now we have to think about what we¡¯re going to say after rescuing the survey team¡¯s life? This region surely has problems.¡±


    ¡°The survey team will have to just ept the reality. They¡¯ll have to be here until the construction waspleted anyway.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go easy on them in case they¡¯re not rted to the survey team.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t break anything. Just knock them down!¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s hot temper could only be soothed after breaking the enemies¡¯ arms or legs but Youngho convinced him to just knock them down in case they did not get the right people.


    ***


    There were two rooms that had lights on.


    The whole group was divided into two rooms.


    There was only one door that led to the inside of the house, so Youngho and Jong-il would be cannon folders if they went through the door. So, they decided to take each room and use the windows to get in.


    Youngho went near the windows to see what was going on inside. Four guys were talking quietly. He looked to Jong-il¡¯s side and Jong-il informed him that there were five guys in the other room with his fingers. Youngho thought that Jong-il would notinter since he got more guys than him.


    He was not too worried about taking down the guys since they had no idea that the two wasing for them. It was the beauty of raid.


    The two counted three with their fingers then jumped inside breaking the windows.


    He knocked down one guy as he broke in and struck another one¡¯s temple as he was about to take out his pistol. The other two held their chairs up in the chaos, but Youngho crashed the chairs with his kicks and knocked their head down with the grip of his pistol. The situation was easily taken care of.


    It happened in a quick moment, so Youngho also was rather surprised how easy it was. Since they might wake up soon, he hit each guy¡¯s temple with a full force. They would be spending the next several days with swollen temples.


    He opened the door to see what happened in the other room. The living room had a firece. Jong-il soon opened the door of the other room as he had just finished his job.


    ¡°Did you take care of them?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be waking up anytime soon.¡±


    Although they did not use big motions, they were still panting because of the tension.


    ¡°I checked all of the open rooms but no one else is here. That locked room looks suspicious. Let¡¯s get all the guys in one room and tie them before we do other stuff.¡±


    ¡°Shoot, I¡¯ve got to break one of their body parts. It¡¯s such a waste.¡±


    Jong-il grumbled as he moved the guys.


    Youngho also thought that he might be going too easy on them but since he did not know what would happen next, he decided not to take further steps.


    He felt that this would not be thest time he would be facing them.


    The bodies of the guys seemed to be strong and toned. This was proof that they must have been trained systematically.


    The two picked up the nine guys on the floor and tied them together in one room.


    Next, they knocked on the locked door and shouted to ask if someone was inside in English.


    Youngho could hear people busily moving inside. Someone asked to turn on the light for them. He turned on the switch next to the doorknob and asked in Korean if they were the Korean road survey team. And soon, people inside the room shouted that they were Koreans. They were tearful to know that someone hade to rescue them.


    As the two crushed the lock and opened the door, a terrible odor came out of the room.


    The road survey team that looked dirty and exhausted all came out to hug Youngho and Jong-il as they cried in relief.


    ***


    It seemed impossible to seat six adults in apact car but it was actually possible when they were squished together. They could find two vehicles that the criminals used there, so they were divided into two groups to head back to the town.


    As they arrived at the lodging facility, everyone gulped down some food and took a shower. It was already three o¡¯clock in the morning.


    ¡°We can breathe now. We all thought that we¡¯d end up being killed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what you had to go through. It was our fault that we left you alone here without realizing how dangerous this ce could be.¡±


    ¡°Who would have thought so? We¡¯re grateful that you¡¯vee to save us.¡±


    H Corporation¡¯s construction civil engineering director Ahn Sung-man, who was the leader of the survey team, thanked Youngho and Jong-il repeatedly. Thankfully, all of the members of the survey team was exhausted but no one was hurt. They were given food by the criminal organization but they could not eat well since they were gravely worried for their lives. They looked skinnier but no one needed to go to a hospital.


    Although it had been only four days since they were abducted, it would have felt like years for them. Despite the fact that they must have experienced great distress, they were rather calm.


    ¡°They abducted you as hostages to get money from yourpany?¡±


    ¡°They told us that they¡¯d be moving us to Afghanistan. They identified themselves as members of the IS.¡±


    There was no case when the IS has asked for money in exchange for a hostage. The organization was known to abduct people to take their lives to show off their existence. Youngho did not see a reason that the IS was going to ask for money.


    ¡°The owner of the inn said he had no idea where you went. Did you see people¡¯s faces when you were abducted?¡±


    ¡°The owner is the main guy of the organization. We were held at gunpoint while we were sleeping. I think there were a lot of people who had been taken the same way as we had. We saw other people¡¯s belongings at the ce we were locked in.¡±


    Jong-il was outrageous to hear that.


    ¡°That b*st*rd! He pretended that he doesn¡¯t know about a thing and shrugged us off. I need to get back at him immediately.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. We are not sure if we¡¯re going to report this to the police yet. It¡¯s not going to do us any good if we spread the word.¡±


    There was no good in reporting this to the local police since it would onlyplicate things for the autonomous state. It was the best to just return to the state as soon as they could.


    ¡°Let¡¯s retreat back to the autonomous state for now and figure out what to do from now on.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re almost done with our survey. We only need to investigate the route at Tajikistan¡¯s border. I¡¯m afraid that we will never have the courage toe back again if we return to the state now.¡±


    It was understandable that the survey team would never want toe back to the ce where they experienced life-threatening danger. That was why they wanted toplete the job when they had the Countryside Force guards around them.


    ¡°You¡¯re not at the stage to conduct a subsurface investigation yet, are you?¡±


    It was a survey toe up with the estimated construction cost, not a survey to do the execution drawing yet.


    ¡°We at least want to do a level survey for now. The topographic map that was provided by the government was not exact, so we wanted to conduct a sample examination.¡±


    ¡°We got a drone inside our light-armored vehicles. Can you utilize that? Wouldn¡¯t aerial photographs enough for such examination?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a drone?¡±


    ¡°Each vehicle is equipped with one drone.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be able to simte three-dimensional images of the region with the pictures. That¡¯ll save time.¡±


    ¡°Alright. If you need to do it now, we¡¯ll apany you until the filming process is finished.¡±


    It was concluded that the road survey would be conducted through drone pictures. It was because it would be impossible to fight with the IS organization, which might strike back at the survey team, with only a small number of people.


    The roads would not be built on tnd anyway since they would be built on bridges and tunnels, and the pictures would suffice for such purposes.


    ¡°What do we tell the cops?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll tell them that they were lost in the mountains and found by shepherds.¡±


    ¡°Are we just leaving things like this?¡±


    ¡°Heck no. We¡¯ll say goodbye to the Countryside Force guards and the road survey team at Kazakhstan¡¯s border ande back to see what they¡¯re up to by then.¡±


    Youngho wondered how the IS organization would react now that the survey team had escaped. Would it hide now that its identity was revealed, or would it still be active shamelessly as it used to? He would be able to find out through the autonomous state¡¯s agents here.


    ¡°I heard that there are hundreds of IS members from Kyrgyzstan. Are we going to fight all of them?¡±


    ¡°If necessary, we will. The organization is going to harm the construction team in the future too. Let¡¯s see what they got.¡±


    ¡°They must know that the Korean corporation has its base in the autonomous state. Won¡¯t they suspect us?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll see the survey team and the guards leaving Kyrgyzstan. How are they going to suspect us when we¡¯re gone?¡±


    Jong-il smiled at Youngho¡¯s response.


    There was his face that was of a boy with a fun toy again.

 Chapter 325 - Koryoin Immigrants (1)

    <h4>Chapter 325: Koryoin Immigrants (1)</h4>


    The little town of Sary-Tash was a teau area surrounded by snow-covered mountains.


    Because it was located on the way to China and was adjacent to the border of Tajikistan, there were many different types of restaurants and lodging businesses.


    Its beautiful natural environment attracted travelers but it was also a ce of frequent mysterious disappearance incidents.


    People often thought that the unpredictable climate and wild animals must have caused unfortunate car idents and deaths; turned out that it had been the doing of the IS.


    Knowing that nothing would be changed even if they informed the police, Youngho and Jong-il decided to take care of it themselves.


    It was not for revenge. It was rather for the construction work that would be conducted in the future. It was better for them to deal with the organization early.


    ¡°We should¡¯ve done this earlier. Why did we decide to drive here before?¡±


    ¡°If we were on jets, we couldn¡¯tnd on an empty field like this. A light airne is useful in many ways after all.¡±


    The ce was full of hignds since its altitude was 3,000 meters high and there were ces that a light-airne couldnd all over the ce. Not aware of that, Youngho and Jong-il took a deadly ride for seven hours when they came herest time.


    If they did not have a light airne, they would not have been able to return to the town so quickly. After saying goodbye to the survey team and the Countryside Force guards at Osh, the two immediately flew back to Sary-Tash. They nned to leave tomorrow with the two agents that they had left there two days ago.


    ¡°Do you think anyone saw our airne?¡±


    ¡°This is five kilometers away from the town. Who would¡¯ve seen us? Let¡¯s deal with these guys first and go to Osh before we head back to the autonomous state.¡±


    Although the two were there to deal with the IS members, they were not nervous at all. It was not a big deal for them since they were protected by the ring¡¯s mysterious powers.


    The Koryoin agents who had been waiting for them weed the two.


    ¡°Did anything happen?¡±


    ¡°Nothing special, except the policemen who work at the guard post at the border visited the town once.¡±


    As the survey team returned to Kazakhstan safely, the police must have been relieved to hear that. It was not a small ident if a ten-member foreign road construction survey team had gone missing at once in the country but no broadcastingpany made an issue out of it.


    It was because the ce was located in a remote region and people really did not care since such incidents happened quite frequently somehow. People were only busy to make ends meet in this ce.


    ¡°How are they?¡±


    ¡°The owner of the traveler¡¯s inn busily went in and out of the building for a while but he¡¯s now quiet.¡±


    ¡°He must have visited the hideout of the IS because he could not get in touch with other guys.¡±


    ¡°We checked again this morning but all of the members are still at their hideout.¡±


    Since Youngho and Jong-il struck their vital points to the point that they were passed out, they would not be able to walk around normally for a while. Since the survey team was gone already, they must have no one to me and take revenge as well.


    ¡°Did you see any new face going into their hideout yet?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t see anyone so far.¡±


    The members of the survey team were already gone after reporting that they got lost in the mountains and managed to safely return, the IS members must have thought that everything was fine now. Even if the survey team reported the group, there was no proof that they had actually abducted the team.


    ¡°You two, go ahead and pack all of your belongings to get ready to leave.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Get to the light airne. There are rifles and tents inside the ne. You can get ready to camp out and wait until we¡¯re back. You¡¯ll find the airne when you walk in the direction of three o¡¯clock for about five kilometers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll camp out there tonight and leave first thing in the morning, tomorrow to Osh.¡±


    As they heard that they would be leaving the remote region, their faces were brightened. They had been there for only a few days but they did not grow fond of the ce.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you twoing with us?¡±


    ¡°We have things to do in the town. We¡¯ll be there at night.¡±


    After sending the agents, the two ran toward the hideout of the IS group. Since it was located in an isted area, no one in the town would know that Youngho and Jong-il were here. Even if someone had seen the two, they would have no proof to show since dead men could tell no tales.


    Since that day, nine young guys and the owner of the traveler¡¯s inn had gone missing and no one ever saw them again.


    ***


    ¡°Apparently, there are more than 5,000 young people who joined the IS.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we also deal with them? They sound really crazy.¡±


    Apparently, the IS had been luring youngds with sweet talks making them their own members only to use them as cannon fodder. This was what the two heard after interrogating a few members at the hideout.


    There were many abduction cases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and mainly the IS was to me for such cases. The organization had been sending abducted people to Afghanistan. Those abducted people were used to train the IS soldiers and eventually faced tragic death.


    They were using living people so that the IS soldiers would not fear killing people anymore.


    The IS organization in Afghanistan was much bigger than Youngho had imagined.


    After returning to Osh, Youngho called Michael and exined everything.


    Surprisingly, Michael said that the CIA already was informed about the IS. He told Youngho that the US Air Force had recently decided to reside at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan because of the same reason. It was because the power of the IS was growing rapidly that Kyrgyzstan could not suppress it with its own strength.


    The U.S., that was retreating from Afghanistan had now decided to reside in Kyrgyzstan to suppress the IS forces.


    The problem of the IS was that it saw other religions and Imic entities as its enemies. ording to them, even if people were Muslims, they were also enemies if they did notply with itsws.


    ¡°How are we going to stop them? They¡¯re a big organization.¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t just sit by and wait until they knocked on our door. We need to do something.¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded by the list of IS¡¯s expected upied territory that he found at the hideout of the IS in the little town of Sary-Tash.


    Regions in the Middle East, southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia were all of the territories that the IS was going to take over. That meant that any of the region and groups that did notply with it would be destroyed.


    There were already so many members of the IS that was expanding all over Central Asia.


    Recently increasing terrorist attacks in Kazakhstan was its proof.


    ¡°The Arirang Autonomous State is not a safe ce anymore.¡±


    ¡°We need to strengthen our security inspection process.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we should. The IS could have persuaded our residents to join it too.¡±


    ¡°Man, we can¡¯t tell the residents to watch their neighbors just as in North Korea. I¡¯m afraid that people willin if we strengthen the inspection.¡±


    To the IS, the autonomous state was an assembly of pagans. It was because the majority of the residents were members of the Russian Orthodox Church. There was a tiny poption of Muslims among Koryoins and former navies, but they prayed in their houses.


    If the IS saw the state, it could think that the state excluded Im.


    In Osh, Youngho¡¯s group searched for the IS¡¯s branch for several days but they could not find anything through their intelligencework.


    Youngho and Jong-il wanted to take care of the group immediately but as there was no clue of where it might be, they were growing tired now.


    The two, who had been staying at a hotel without doing anything, were now sick of dairy products and meat. So, they went to a Koryoin store in an open-air market.


    Osh, a city located in southwest Kyrgyzstan, was a transportation hub of the country. Its poption was about 230,000 people. Since the road that was connected to the Pamir teau began here, especially many Chinese trucks could be spotted.


    Except for Kazakhstan, most countries in Central Asia were subject to China¡¯s economic power. So, any daily goods or industrial goods sold were made in China.


    Most of the goods in the open-air market were Chinese as well.


    ¡°That person who¡¯s selling vegetables look like a typical Korean. If Koryoins had lived here for three generations, wouldn¡¯t their appearances have changed?¡±


    Although the environment was different, people¡¯s appearance did not change in only about seventy years.


    Where Jong-il pointed was a woman looking like she was in her forties, were selling white kimchi that was roughly marinated with ground paper. She looked like a traditional Koreandy.


    ***


    Youngho asked her how much the kimchi was in Russian.


    Having heard that 20,000 Koryoins in here had forgotten Korean unlike the Koryoins in Kazakhstan, so he asked in Russian. Surprisingly, thedy answered him in fluent Korean.


    ¡°You are Koreans. I knew that you two were Koreans ever since I saw you roaming around from the other corner. Korean travelers oftene here to get Korean food if they did not like the food here.¡±


    Asians could roughly distinguish each other¡¯s nationalities by people¡¯s looks, and it was the same with Koreans.


    ¡°You can speak Korean fluently.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a Koryoin. I¡¯ve also been to Korea for several years to work there, so I¡¯m more fluent than other Koryoins here.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed that he asked such a question. Her response seemed to be asking why he was asking such a dumb question to a Koryoin.


    He quickly changed the subject.


    ¡°We are living in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I see. But you can¡¯t be Koryoins.¡±


    Thedy responded with a smile.


    ¡°People now call me a Koryoin.¡±


    ¡°I guess you really live in Kazakhstan since you identify yourself as a Koryoin.¡±


    Most of the Koryoins living in Central Asia had lived good lives because of their hard work but Kyrgyzstan was a different case.


    The country did not have a representative industry and it did not haverge farnd since the country was located on hignds. Since all Kyrgyz people eked out a living, Koryoins living in the country was no different. About 30 percent of the country¡¯s national profit was sent by the Kyrgyz overseas who went to foreign countries to work.


    The Koryoindy who sold kimchi said that she was able to have her tiny store with the money she made after working several years in Korea.


    Youngho felt bad to hear about the Koryoins in Kyrgyzstan.


    There were not enough factories or jobs for them even though they wanted to work, and the country gave priority to native Kyrgyz people. She also said that many Koryoins were leaving to Uzbekistan now because there was no hope in the country.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, if you could, would you move to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. In the past, residing there was restricted because of the Soviet Union but now we can go there if we wanted to. We, Koryoins have survived here for 70 years. Back then, they hade here with nothing.¡±


    ¡°But, isn¡¯t this your hometown?¡±


    ¡°It is, and I¡¯ll miss this ce but I can¡¯t hold up in the ce with no hope.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying other Koryoins think the same as you?¡±


    ¡°Well, if they¡¯re doing fine here, they have no reason to leave. But people like me must be thinking that they¡¯re going to leave here soon. In several years, thousands of Koryoins will be leaving.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il looked at each other at the same time.


    They nodded to each other.


    ¡°Do you have a ce to go to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°My son works in Almaty but he said the prices are too high there. I¡¯m a little worried about that but there will be a job for me in a big city like that. I can also farm.¡±


    ¡°Where I live has be an autonomous state recently. The state is taking residents now because it has a little poption there. Should I rmend you? The state gives you freend, free medical and education service.¡±


    ¡°A ce like that couldn¡¯t exist. How is the state going to survive when it gives away everything for free?¡±


    ¡°It is called the Arirang Autonomous State. It is a peaceful ce where the Kazakh government does not bother.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    She looked at Youngho strangely since she was not sure if he was speaking the truth.


    She had heard that Koreans often cheated on other Koreans in foreign countries, so she doubted the two strange men.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make such a joke because we live poorly here. Hurting feelings of the people from the same root is a terrible thing to do!¡±


    ¡°Would you like to look at the picture of the autonomous state?¡±


    Sometimes one picture could say more than a hundred words.


    Youngho showed thedy the pictures of the scenery of the autonomous state on his smartphone.


    The Koryoindy smirked. Although Kazakhstan was better off than Kyrgyzstan, what Youngho showed her could not possibly be a city in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Are you sure that this is the Arirang Autonomous State? Not a city in Europe?¡±

 Chapter 326 - Koryoin Immigrants (2)

    <h4>Chapter 326: Koryoin Immigrants (2)</h4>


    Most of Koryoins who were in Kyrgyzstan lived in big cities.


    When they first started moving to the country, they majorly farmed to make living. However, they moved out to bigger cities to look for jobs because of the limited amount of farnd in the country.


    Another fundamental reason to move was the education of their children.


    Koryoin parents worked hard so that their children will be able to have better lives than themselves in a foreign country. Among them, there were some people who became rich and influential in Kyrgyz society through their business skills even though they were first-generation immigrants.


    During the Soviet Union era, there were many job opportunities for them but as soon as Kyrgyzstan became independent, they were discriminated by the native Kyrgyz people.


    Any new job opportunities were only open for Kyrgyz people and Koryoins had no hope. Inevitably, most of the second and third generations of Koryoin immigrants left to Russia, Europe, and Northeast Asia to seek for an opportunity and they never returned.


    Even in other foreign countries, they were offered less preferred jobs with low sries because of their foreign status. They could not buy airne tickets to visit their home after sending money to families in Kyrgyzstan.


    Many of them were not married either. Their difficult lives had made them consider having a normal family which turns out to be a dream that was unachievable.


    This was the current reality of Koryoins in Kyrgyzstan now.


    It was the day after Youngho and Jong-il met the kimchidy again. Her name was Kim Cam. When she saw the two, she apologized to Youngho for doubting him. She had called her sonst night and heard that there was really a ce called the Arirang Autonomous State in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Are you sure that we don¡¯t have to worry about where to live and what to eat anymore?¡±


    ¡°I can guarantee freend and house, also we¡¯ve got plenty of job opportunities.¡±


    ¡°Can you put that in a legal document?¡±


    The Koryoindy still could not trust Youngho and Jong-il, but what she was asking was not a big deal to him. He had provided houses for the residents for free anyway and as for the farnd, he was going to divide and distribute it to farmers when the right time came.


    Youngho liked how she confidently asked for what she needed.


    ¡°That is absolutely possible.¡±


    ¡°Oh my, if you can do that, I¡¯ll provide kimchi for free for you forever.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. I should be thankful since you decided to move to a remote ce. Could you please spread the word and tell other Koryoins that they¡¯re also wee if they want to move to Kazakhstan?¡±


    Now she was extremely excited that she even promised to offer kimchi for life to Youngho.


    ¡°What if they want to move now?¡±


    ¡°We still have dozens of empty houses now, so we can handle that many families. Also, it will take them several months before they¡¯re ready to leave. Who¡¯s going to want to move in the winter?¡±


    It was not an easy decision to leave a hometown.


    People with properties would have wait until they were sold. In Kyrgyzstan where there was not a lot of economic activity, it would take them a while until their properties were settled. Moreover, all people knew how harsh Kazakhstan¡¯s winter could be. They would not want to move in the winter.


    ¡°The problem is the Kazakh government...¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to oppose people¡¯s immigration since they will increase the total poption of Kazakhstan. Also, why would the government dislike it when these are Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that the government might think that the state is receiving too many Koryoins.¡±


    ¡°You know, they are only a few thousand Koryoins at max. I bet the government wants every Koryoin scattered in Central Asia toe to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re diligent and they have high enthusiasm for education. How many ethnic minority groups had actively supported the Kazakh government¡¯s policies so far except for Koryoins?¡±


    The Kazakh president had already told Youngho that he would not care about any of the autonomous state¡¯s activities as long as the state lived under the government¡¯s rule. It did not seem that the government would refuse Koryoin immigrants especially when the country¡¯s main problem was its little poption. Not to mention, Koryoins were dearly loved by many Kazakhs.


    ***


    ¡°We¡¯re nning to open an office in Bishkek. Our agents will manage new Koryoin immigrants there. Commissioner, could you make sure that we have enough houses for new immigrants?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting more residents all because of the road survey team. It¡¯s terrific.¡±


    Youngho was just on the phone with Commissioner Kim to discuss the housing of the new immigrants. Kim Chun was excited to hear that there would be new immigrants, especially they were Koryoins just like him.


    ¡°First, could you let the Kazakh government know that the autonomous state will be taking Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan? You can proudly say that this is going to be investment immigration.¡±


    ¡°Should we arrange moving trucks now?¡±


    ¡°I told them that they should only bring clothes that they¡¯ll use and reduce their belongings as much as possible. We¡¯ll worry about the truckster. What we need to focus on now is to have the houses ready.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember how the Serbian immigrants still kept their ragged belongings when we warned them to reduce their belongings multiple times?¡±


    Youngho had forgotten what happened when the Serbian immigrants first came. It was not easy for them to abandon their belongings. One immigrant even brought an old wine pot and it was broken in the middle of their moving.


    It seemed that trucks were not a great idea due to the rough roads. Rather, trains sounded better to move people¡¯s belongings even if it took a long time to get to the autonomous state.


    Since Koryoins would have toe to Bishkek anyway to register their immigration at the new office, renting a lodging facility for them also sounded like a good idea.


    ¡°How many houses are empty now?¡±


    ¡°We have 34 now.¡±


    There were quite a lot of empty houses since all of the H Corporation¡¯s employees had just moved to their dormitory as well as foreign power nt project teams.


    Youngho thought that he could start receiving immigrants right now.


    After his conversation with themissioner, he spoke to Jong-il who was standing next to him.


    ¡°Jong-il. Let all of the agents stand by at Bishkek, and in Osh, I think we should set up a temporary lodging ce for Koryoin immigrants.¡±


    ¡°I already told them toe to Bishkek except for three agents who are staying in Almaty. I¡¯ll arrange the lodging facility.¡±


    The capital of Kazakhstan¡ªAlmaty, was the biggest city in Central Asia. Jong-il sent five agents to reside in Almaty, which was the least possible minimum number of people. But in a time like this, the number of agents was quite short.


    ¡°Man, we¡¯re getting more and more worktely but we don¡¯t have men with skills. We need to find a way to increase our agents.¡±


    ¡°We can find skillful men from the Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan this time. We can only trust our people.¡±


    ¡°Those young guys are the same as local Kyrgyz people. Do you still consider them our people?¡±


    ¡°We share the same blood. We can convince them that. We can¡¯t receive Koryoins from Kazakhstan anymore.¡±


    It was fine when the autonomous state took immigrants from foreign countries but the state could not receive people within Kazakhstan because the Kazakh government would not be happy about it.


    Youngho thought that there was no way to increase the poption of the state but he found Koryoins from a very unexpected ce. Moreover, if they were well-off, he would have not cared for them but they were suffering greatly in Kyrgyzstan. Since he would be able to help Koryoins, who shared the same root as him, his heart was light.


    ***


    When Youngho returned to the administration building of the autonomous state, the road survey team had just arrived there too. The team could have taken a flight from Almaty but the people had traveled with the Countryside Force guards because they felt safer to stay with the guards.


    Their missing ident was reported to the Kazakh government as a mere happening where they got lost in the mountains. It was because exposing what had really happened did not seem to be a good idea. Since attracting people¡¯s attention could also attract the IS to the autonomous state.


    The staffs of H Corporation¡¯s road construction consortium could not believe that it was Youngho and Jong-il who saved the survey team from the IS organization.


    The consortium was considering to ask help from the Korean government if Central Asian countries were not supportive for the search and rescue of the Korean people but it was unbelievable that the two flew to Kyrgyzstan and rescued the abducted team in no time.


    Im Min-soo the president of the consortium asked for a thorough exnation.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Could you please exin how the rescue took ce? I need to report this to mypany and the Korean government.¡±


    ¡°You can tell yourpany the truth but it¡¯d be better to just tell the government that the survey team got lost in the mountains. If the Korean government contacted the Kazakh government for a reasonable exnation, our state will be the one that will suffer between the two.¡±


    ¡°The Korean government will hold us responsible for not informing the truth early if this gets out of our hands.¡±


    ¡°You know, the Korean government might grill us but it will never solve any problem for us.¡±


    Korean embassies in foreign countries were notorious for their mistreatment of Korean people. Youngho did not expect anything from the Korean government. Many Korean officials did not care about their own people¡¯s lives just like most Kyrgyz officials.


    They worked for money rather than a sense of duty. If this was heard by Korean politicians, this would be only used as their political tool, not to benefit the Korean people working overseas.


    Youngho had never heard of any self-made Korean overseas who received the Korean government¡¯s help during their hard time.


    ¡°But it¡¯s the IS that¡¯s after us. You won¡¯t be able to save us every time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure that the organization can¡¯t touch any of the Korean people here. As long as the Countryside Force guards are with you, no one can harm you.¡±


    ¡°The technicians in the survey team told us that it was only you two who came to save them...¡±


    ¡°The Countryside Force guards and our intelligence agents all worked together to rescue them. The only reason we were able to work together with them was that we used to serve in the Korean Navy Special Forces but other guards are also well-trained soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I believe you, Mr. Lee. I¡¯d like to provide every staff that is going to the construction site with defensive weapons. Would that be possible?¡±


    Since most of the normal Korean men had served in the military once in their lifetime, they all could handle guns. That sounded like a good idea.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea, Mr. Im. I¡¯ll talk to the head of the Countryside Force and make sure to provide guns for the Korean staff as well as a simple gun training since many people might have forgotten how to use guns.¡±


    The security guards of Zeynep Security Service would be happy to hear that they had more trainees now. As strict instructors, they were the ones that had been even harsh on Youngho and Jong-il. It seemed that the Korean staffs would be the next people who would suffer from their training.


    When the IS had its base in Central Asia, the autonomous state could not be safe even though it was located in a remote ce. So, the leadership group of the state announced that it would offer outdoor military training for the state¡¯s special school students who were on their winter break. The voluntary training was received by the students so well that most of the students enrolled for the training, except for a few sick people.


    It was because the training also offered group wolf hunting experience.


    Just in time, Szechenyi called Youngho that he and Princess Isabe would visit the state by the time the military training was in session. He was d to hear that since he could show off the military strength of the autonomous state before the princess.


    When she returned home, she would tell the Danish royal family that the autonomous state was not only a wealthy state but also a state with strong defensive power.


    Since Princess Isabe was older than Szechenyi, Youngho wanted to settle their wedding before this year passed. The coronation would take ce in the spring and the wedding could be held by the harvest time in the fall next year. The two big events could promote the autonomous state to the whole world.


    Before that, the state needed something to show to the world but most regions were still empty since they were not yet developed.


    Youngho needed Kim Chun to discuss such a matter.


    He was a resourceful and crafty guy.


    How Szechenyi¡¯s wedding would look like must be already in his head.

 Chapter 327 - Katya and Rena (1)

    <h4>Chapter 327: Katya and Rena (1)</h4>


    ¡°Boss. Why do you insist on having the wedding ceremony here? We should have a huge, magnificent wedding ceremony in Denmark! I¡¯m sure the Danish royal family won¡¯t mind when the autonomous state is paying for everything.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not nning to live in Denmark. It¡¯s more reasonable to have a wedding here.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. We live in the 21st century. We don¡¯t have to be so rigid with such tradition. Besides, the Danish princess¡¯s wedding will be big news all around the world. Maybe some broadcastingpanies might pay us to live-stream the wedding. We can spend the money to pay for the wedding expense.¡±


    It was, in fact, a brilliant and highly possible idea.


    Compared to the unknown autonomous state, Denmark was also a widely well-known ce that could attract more people¡¯s attention.


    Youngho was nning on using Szechenyi and Princess Isabe¡¯s wedding to promote Kazakhstan as well as the autonomous state, but now Kim Chun just suggested him a better idea. Making money through the wedding also sounded intriguing. There would be not many people who would want toe to the autonomous state where there was not much to see and where it was physically difficult to reach.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. That is such a brilliant idea!¡±


    ¡°Brilliant? Oh, it¡¯s not only brilliant. It¡¯s killing two birds with one stone. When the princesses this time, you should mention about the possibility of the wedding. Tell her that this ce is not safe because of the IS.¡±


    Thanks to the IS, the wedding in Denmark would be easily justified. Also, the state would not have to worry about embellishing the city. It was funny and ironic that the IS was helpful to the autonomous state.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask the prince and see how she feels about that. Let¡¯s decide what to do after that. By the way, there will be at least 500 households that will be moving into the state from Kyrgyzstan. Do you think our city is big enough for the increased poption of the state?¡±


    ¡°I thought about that too. Why don¡¯t we exploit the in on the way to the Archduke¡¯s pce?¡±


    The area between the towns and the pce had been left alone as a buffer zone to prevent any damage caused by the continental wind. There was nothing but a bunch of trees and stone walls. It would not be difficult to turn the area into a residential town. All it needed were water and sewage system, and also basic infrastructures around the residential area.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be inconvenient for people tomute to the city?¡±


    ¡°It is only four kilometers away from the administration building. It wouldn¡¯t be that hard if we run shuttle buses. It¡¯s only going to be used as amuter town.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that this would be only for Koryoins?¡±


    ¡°We will allow any people who prefer to live in a suburban area to move to the town. Especially, I¡¯d like all Countryside Force guards and the Kazakh navy soldiers to move there. They¡¯ll be closer to the wharf. They can probably even walk to go to work.¡±


    ¡°Then, why not build the town close to the pce?¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll have to leave the area empty at least a kilometer away from the front gate of the pce. I was going to make a public park there in the future. What do you think, Boss?¡±


    ¡°Hmm... It won¡¯t look good if the pce is too far from the town. But we also cannot ignore security around the pce. Let¡¯s sleep on it. We¡¯ll find a way.¡±


    The inside of the pce was almostpleted and ready for Youngho¡¯s family to move in. However, Youngho thought that it would be funny if such a small family like his was the only people that lived in such a big ce. So, Youngho decided to stay in the house near the administration building as he had been.


    The house was as big as the mansion in Baku. It also had a lot of guest rooms. So far, Youngho felt no inconvenience staying there.


    It looked like the pce would only be used for big events and only as a symbol of the autonomous state since Fatima did not even want to move to the pce, even though she was the Archduchess of the fallen Serbian Kingdom.


    Now that the Koryoin immigrants were settled where they would reside, the construction work needed to begin as soon as possible. They would note all at once, but small groups of Koryoins would be continuously moving to the state. Youngho expected to have 500 households, but it was more of hope rather than a reasonably estimated number.


    Once the construction work for houses started, workers could not stop until they werepleted. Otherwise, the houses in progress would be easily damaged by environmental factors such as rain, snow, sun, and winds.


    ¡°Boss. How about we make outlines of the town first, then built 100 houses for a starter? I mean, we need to make sure exactly how many households will be moving in. Besides, it will cost too much to build the whole 500 houses at once.¡±


    ¡°We will only work on house site development, then let people build their houses on their own. It¡¯s just the way how we dealt with the technician immigrants from Georgia.¡±


    Youngho was thinking about benchmarking the Georgian immigrants¡¯ case. Koryoins would quickly adapt to the culture and life of the state while building houses with other residents together. The residents would dly help Koryoins during weekends since they always weed neers.


    ***


    Europeans usually had their Christmas break around December 20th. Tourists would expect busy Christmas time but they were often startled to see that a lot of restaurants and stores were actually closed for the holiday. It was because most of the Christian countries enjoyed calm, quiet and family-oriented Christmas season.


    As a matter of fact, the day after Christmas is the busiest day because stores would have a huge sale event which was called a boxing day.


    The autonomous state¡¯s Christmas was on January 7th because most of the people were members of the Orthodox church. However, they started decorating for Christmas early because of Princess Isabe¡¯s visit.


    The state was no longer poor and people were rxed enough to decorate for the season.


    Watching the city¡¯s holiday view, Kim Dong-Sung, the chief doctor of the state, spoke with excitement.


    ¡°It does feel like the end of the year.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Christmas time. The people of our state deserve some fun. They¡¯ve been working so hard from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°It is quite different from Christmas in Korea.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. Isn¡¯t it a little too quiet here unlike Korea?¡±


    ¡°Well, there are not many patients anymore at the hospital and my days are slow. Am I invited to the hunting event when the princess visits?¡±


    The hospital was not so busy since the number of patients from Almaty and Astana had been decreasing since the winter began. Kim Dong-Sung was a very active person unlike other doctors, and he wanted to be involved with every fun activity.


    ¡°Of course, you are a hunter now Dr. Kim. You¡¯d better join us. Also, it wouldn¡¯t make sense to go on a hunting trip without a medic.¡±


    ¡°Oh no. I have no other choice but to join the hunting trip now.¡±


    ¡°By the way, it is the holiday break time now. Don¡¯t others want to pay a visit to Korea?¡±


    ¡°We are here to be part of the state. I am sure they want to visit Korea but I suggested not going to Korea until next year because we might not want toe back when we go to Korea now. Some of the doctors¡¯ families decided to make a trip to Europe instead.¡±


    They dide to the state to settle down. It would be a good idea not to go back for it would remind them what they had left behind in Korea. It was probably a wise decision to go to other countries like Europe.


    ¡°I would pay for their vacation. Why don¡¯t you let them go on a trip to other countries? You can divide them into families and let them take turns so that there were still some doctors left in the state for emergency situations. There are numbers of Arirang Hotels all over the world.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I totally forgot about Arirang Hotel. You wouldn¡¯t charge your people, right?¡±


    ¡°No way. I told you it¡¯s on me. I would also arrange light airnes for short-distance trips.¡±


    Youngho though that it was necessary to offer a special bonus trip to the doctors so that they could enjoy a little luxury for their morale. The doctors were special people who came to the state for a sense of duty. Youngho was touched to hear that they made a pact to not to go to Korea for a year.


    He offered to pay not only because he wanted to pay them, but also because they were heads of their families. Youngho wanted to satisfy their desire to serve their families and make them happy.


    Although European countries were in danger of terrorism, they were still attractive countries to travel around. Yet, the fact that Arirang Hotels were in safe ces like Frankfurt, Moscow, Georgia, and Baku made the people of the state proud.


    Arirang Hotel was also built in Tskhinvali, which was in South Ossetia. It was such a remote area but it was a very safe ce.


    ¡°Ever heard of Tskhinvali in South Ossetia?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard there is an Arirang Hotel there. Wasn¡¯t it invaded by Russia?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it is safe from the IS. The country has such a beautiful natural environment. It would be a perfect ce to fly on a light airne. Would you please rmend the ce to other doctors?¡±


    Il-Kwon was the only person who regrly visited Tskhinvali for now because Youngho did not want to face Katya¡¯s affection, but he decided to take the medical team to the country for their holiday trip. It seemed to be a good idea since the doctors could check on Rena and the grand mother¡¯s health. Also, Youngho needed to see Katya to discuss hotel expansion anyway.


    ***


    Three eight-seater light airnesnded on a military runway outside of Tskhinvali. Although it was the capital of Ossetia, the runway was only about one kilometer long. It was because it was mostly used for helicopters.


    Youngho, the medical team, and their families stepped out of the nes.


    Some military officers were waiting for Youngho outside despite the cold weather.


    They were more excited to see Youngho than to see President Putin because whenever Youngho visited Tskhinvali¡ªhe invited the officers for meals and drinks, he also gave them gifts as well. Foreign businessmen were no more than a money pocket for officers where bribing was prevalent. The cold weather was not an issue for them because they knew a bit of favor would bring a bigger profit for them.


    ¡°Wow. It is an honor to be weed by officers like you.¡±


    ¡°The hotel manager was constantly poking with the news of your visit. In addition to that, our president was very interested in the visit of famous medical doctors of Kazakhstan.¡±


    They seemed to be expecting a lot from the medical team. Probably, someone was sick, or they needed a health check-up.


    This was a ce where people put their lives on the line to have an appendectomy due to the country¡¯s poor medical system. Rena once had to go to Tbilisi in Georgia to have an appendectomy. It turned out that the officers were waiting to receive the Korean doctors from Kazakhstan.


    Katya weed Youngho with a big smile at the resting ce of the military base. Soon, Rena rushed into Youngho¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Wee, Boss.¡±


    ¡°Papa!¡±


    The doctors and their families were shocked by how beautiful Katya was and how a little girl came running to Youngho calling him ¡®Papa¡¯. Even though Youngho already exined the rtionship between Youngho and them, they seemed to think Youngho¡¯s exnation was only an excuse for an affair.


    Il-Kwon realized the situation and introduced Katya to the doctors. It was quite awkward for Youngho.


    Youngho would probably have to go through the exnation again because Katya was too beautiful, and Rena kept calling him papa. What was more, Katya was blushing when she weed Youngho. It would be very difficult not to think that there was something between the two.


    After a short introduction, some of the doctors¡¯ group went to the hotel escorted by Katya while Youngho, Kim Dong-Sung, and internal specialists had to visit the president¡¯s pce. It turned out that the president had a slight symptom of pneumonia. The group was able to join the others at the hotel after they gave an injection and gave some medicines for the president. It was fortunate that they prepared basic medical instruments and medicines just in case.


    On the way to the hotel, Youngho had to suffer because Kim Dong-Sung kept asking about Katya and Rena. Youngho had to tell the group the whole story of how he met Katya since Kim Dong-Sung thought their rtionship was abnormal.


    ¡°That¡¯s how we have this unique rtionship.¡±


    ¡°Katya¡¯s family must consider you as their savior.¡±


    ¡°I helped them because I could help them easily with a few words to a friend. But it turns out to be a huge grace for them. And also, I could not tell the truth to a girl who believes that I am her father.¡±


    ¡°It would be a big scar for the little girl.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I couldn¡¯t say no. I just pretend that I am her father. Katya is helping me out with the hotel business to repay me.¡±


    ¡°Well... But still being PRETTY could cause a PRETTY big problem.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±

 Chapter 328 - Katya and Rena (2)

    <h4>Chapter 328: Katya and Rena (2)</h4>


    Most transportations in South Ossetia were cut off during the winter because of the extensive amount of snow. The only way to get to South Ossetia was either to go through a rugged mountain road from Georgia or to use the Roki Tunnel in Russia.


    Therefore, visitors and foreign investingpanies did not dare to travel to Tskhinvali. It was inevitable that there were not a lot of guests at Arirang Hotel. The winter was always a slow season for businesses that served tourists and visitors.


    Katya exined that the hotel was all booked until the end of the fall.


    Youngho thought it would be inefficient to expand the hotel at this moment because many of the suites would stay vacant for a while.


    So Youngho was trying to convince Katya to focus on maintaining the hotel¡¯s current state instead of expanding it.


    ¡°Katya. Why don¡¯t we focus on the maintenance of the building for now?¡±


    ¡°Boss, I am telling you. We did not have any empty room until the end of the fall. Allow me to build a guest house with my money.¡±


    Katya had an urge to build a condominium behind the main hotel building for long-term guests. She stressed that she saved up to 500,000 dors for the expansion.


    ¡°500 grand wouldn¡¯t even build a condominium with 10 guest rooms. All the materials need to be bought from Russia. It would be expensive.¡±


    ¡°Long-term guests pay more attention to the quality of hotel dish rather than the room. The hotel would be too luxurious when you think about Tskhinvali economy. We shouldn¡¯t spend money on high-quality guest rooms.¡±


    ¡°Katya. What are you trying to do with all the money you made?¡±


    ¡°I am going to make you rich!¡±


    ¡°Do you even know how much money I have in my bank ount? I don¡¯t really need more money from here. I am totally fine with what you are making here.¡±


    ¡°But... This is the only way I can repay you. You¡¯ve done so much for us...¡±


    It would have not been possible to run a sessful hotel without Katya¡¯s help. She already repaid Youngho more than she owed. Even though Youngho understood Katya¡¯s sincere heart, it did not seem that Youngho would feel right for maintaining this vague rtionship. Youngho wanted toe clean about their rtionship.


    ¡°I do understand your heart. But how long are you going to repay me without living your own life? What you have done for me in this hotel is already more than your debt.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°This is such a burden for me to see you always trying to repay me. I want to let you go if you seek your own happiness.¡±


    ¡°I am happy working for you. There is nothing I want. What¡¯s the point of seeking happiness now? I am just happy that Rena and my mom are happy and healthy. I am fully satisfied with my life.¡±


    ¡°Okay then. Consider the Tskhinvali hotel as Katya and Rena¡¯s home. Send me 50 percent of the profit from the Arirang Hotel. The rest is for Katya and Rena. This is a reward for running the hotel sessfully.¡±


    Youngho wanted to give all profit to them, but it might hurt Katya¡¯s pride. The margin would be only about 300,000 dors.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s too much.¡±


    ¡°We are partners. You deserve that much. If you feel bad about this, please give some discount if the people from our state stay here for vacation.¡±


    Katya did not argue anymore. However, Youngho already knew that she would save up more and brag about how she expanded the hotel and made more profit. But Youngho decided not to say anything about it.


    ¡°I will still visit once in every two months to see Rena. I still need to do my dad duty.¡±


    Katya smiled at Youngho when she heard that Youngho would still y the role of Rena¡¯s father.


    ¡°Thank you, Boss.¡±


    ¡°No. Don¡¯t thank me. I am the one who needs to thank you, Katya.¡±


    The next day, Katya looked happier than ever. She seemed to be rxed as well. Youngho was happy for her.


    ***


    Katya led the group to the beautiful nature of Tskhinvali. In the beginning, people kept distant from Katya because she looked sophisticated. But when they found out Katya¡¯s friendly personality, they got close to her. Katya also defended Youngho about their rtionship, and Youngho was thankful for her. It was much better than staying around rumors.


    Rena was the most excited one. She brought all her friends to the hotel and introduced her dad. The Arirang Hotel was a good yground for the kids. There was nothing for kids to do because of the aftermath of war. Katya made a small yground behind the hotel, and the kids could not stay away from it. The country with a GDP of 200 to 300 dors could not afford a lot of things for children¡¯s entertainment.


    All the worries Youngho had disappeared as he watched Rena y in the cold weather.


    ¡°Mr.Lee. This ce is better than the Alps I would say.¡±


    ¡°This is in the middle of a great mountain with its height over 1,500 kilometers. There would be more beautiful ces when we starting down from North Ossetia. But I wouldn¡¯t rmend traveling the path because it is a very rugged path.¡±


    ¡°Well, Miss Evna has been bragging about it already.¡±


    Katya¡¯s full name was Jekaterina Tatiana Georgievna, and many called her Katya or Evna.


    ¡°When we didn¡¯t have the light airnes, we¡¯ve always driven through that path. I don¡¯t even want to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Is it that rough?¡±


    ¡°They paved for military pathways. But think about driving up and down through mountains of an altitude of 3,000 meters. It is such a nightmare, but the scenery is unmatchable.¡±


    ¡°It seems like a great visiting ce as long as the peace is maintained. The hotel¡¯s location is pretty good too.¡±


    ¡°You seem to like this ce a lot, Dr. Kim. Would you like if I had a vi there? We boughtrgend behind the hotel.¡±


    ¡°Really? Why don¡¯t you build something else on there?¡±


    ¡°This is a country with a poption of only 90,000 people. We wouldn¡¯t have enough people toe to visit. We are full of empty suites at the moment. Expansion is probably a long shot.¡±


    ¡°Well, Mr. Lee, to me it sounds like it¡¯d be a great ce for a resort. Rich Russians would definitelye to live in the luxury resort. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Youngho had not thought about having other businesses except for his hotel. Building luxurious vis and selling them to rich people was a new idea. He had totally forgotten about the beautiful nature in this third world country.


    ¡°What do you think, Katya?¡±


    ¡°Although almost every single visitor and guestplimented the scenery, I don¡¯t think they would want to buy a vi near here. Transportation is still very inconvenient.¡±


    ¡°Rich Russians can still use their light airnes just like us.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if the military here would allow them. They ept you since you¡¯re helpful. But for visitors? I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll open the door for them.¡±


    Katya had a good point. However, the country would have a great benefit from visitors, especially if the number of visitors increased. The military service was more made for its name, rather than for security.


    ¡°Let¡¯s build a few vis and see what happens. If it doesn¡¯t work, we will use them for special guests.¡±


    ¡°I will find out other ways if the government does not allow it.¡±


    Katya seemed to be excited because she finally had permission to what she wanted to do. It did not seem like a hard job to find a way because she knew a lot of government staffs from her previous job.


    ¡°I will send you a million dor. Let¡¯s start by building a few vis.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got money...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the money for Rena¡¯s future.¡±


    Katya was touched by Youngho¡¯s consideration. Her eyes were teared up, but Youngho left the room right away pretending that he did not see anything since he did not want to be misunderstood by others anymore.


    ***


    The incident happened in the morning of the group¡¯s departure day.


    Rena threw a tantrum saying she would follow Youngho. No exnation would work for a child of age eleven. Katya tried to calm her down for Youngho, but Rena would not stop. Since he felt bad to leave the child like this, he decided to take her home during the winter break. Jelyan would be happy to have a friend, and Leon would probably like her too.


    It would be difficult to exin it to Fatima, but she had to know about this anyway.


    Rena was extremely happy to go on another trip for this was her second trip ever since her trip to a hospital in Georgia for an appendectomy. Knowing that her father was flying the airne, she felt like she owned the world.


    Rena talked nonstop sitting right behind Youngho. Since the way she talked in Russian was so cute that all the passengers including Kim Dong-sung instantly fell in love with her. He and his wife wanted to adopt her.


    Though it was a short trip, the medical team and their families were happy to see South Ossetia¡¯s gorgeous natural sceneries because they had only seen the unlimited great in of the autonomous state when they were in Kazakhstan. Kim Dong-sung pushed Youngho to develop a regr trip n for every quarter.


    ¡°Mr.Lee. If you don¡¯t bring us back there every quarter, we are going on a strike. Okay? No kidding.¡±


    ¡°Currently, Kim Il-kwon goes there twice a month. You can go anytime with him. If you visit Rena regrly, she¡¯d love it.¡±


    ¡°You are right! I will make sure that Rena is healthy all the time. Rena, can you call me Papa too?¡±


    Rena heard her name, but she could not understand what they were saying. When Youngho tranted for her, she brought out puppy eyes and said Youngho would be the one and only Papa. What she said made Youngho smile. She was not his daughter by blood, but she was still a daughter. It was likely that she probably already knew that Youngho was not her real father, but she still pretended, she knew no better. Still, he was happy to be an only person trusted by a child.


    After 4 hours of flight, theynded at the state¡¯s airfield. Rena stayed up through the entire flight and made peopleugh. Kim Dong-sung and his wife were determined that they would learn Russian right away because of her. They even announced that they were still considering adopting Rena since their children were all grown up and left them a long time ago. They did not want to bother their children by asking them toe to visit, but they felt so lonely.


    ¡°Doctor. Why don¡¯t you adopt an animal?¡±


    ¡°I like animals but they don¡¯t talk. I¡¯d rather raise a child. You probably do not know this, but when your child causes problems, sometimes that makes you feel like you¡¯re alive.¡±


    Youngho was worried for a second that Dr. Kim might be thinking of Rena like a pet, but it was not the case.


    ¡°There are numbers of war orphans around the Caucasus region. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Can Asians adopt western orphans too?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter as long as the parents are ready to raise children.¡±


    ¡°Then, I am up for it. I will pour all my heart to raise a child.¡±


    While Youngho was worried about how to introduce Rena to Fatima, others were excited about child adoption.

 Chapter 329 - A Distinguished Guest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 329: A Distinguished Guest (1)</h4>


    It was again proved that Youngho¡¯s dear wife, Fatima, was a saint.


    After bathing Rena and watching her fall asleep, she came to the bedroom.


    ¡°Is Rena asleep?¡±


    ¡°She must¡¯ve been tired. She¡¯s an angel.¡±


    ¡°I sorry I didn¡¯t tell you the full story. It was because I didn¡¯t want to worry you. Thank you for understanding.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned it one time, remember? You said that the manager of the hotel in Tskhinvali is a woman who used to work for the CIA.¡±


    ¡°Have I? I didn¡¯t want to hurt little Rena¡¯s heart, so that¡¯s be this. I just couldn¡¯t ignore her when she called me papa.¡±


    Youngho was being talkative as if he was making excuses.


    But, Fatima gently touched Youngho¡¯s hand and smiled.


    ¡°I will take care of Rena just like you have taken care of me and my siblings. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for believing me without a doubt.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to doubt about. If you had something to hide, you wouldn¡¯t have taken the doctors and their families to South Ossetia. If I had known about this, I would¡¯ve told you to bring Rena so she can y here and spend more time with you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°By the way, is Rena¡¯s mother that beautiful?¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded to hear the question.


    It seemed that she had heard about Katya¡¯s beauty from the doctors¡¯ wives. He could not answer to that question right away since the truth might make Fatima jealous.


    The next day, the living room on the first floor was a mess.


    Leon, Jelyan, and Rena looked like they had been up and ying for quite a while, and nothing seemed to be in its original ce.


    In Tskhinvali, Rena¡¯s only yground was the hotel lobby and she could only y with her friends when they visited her. Now that there were two friends in this house, she did not want to miss a single chance to y with them. Although they did not understand each other¡¯snguage, it did not bother them when ying. Theymunicated through facial expressions and body gestures. Theirughter and giggles filled the house.


    ¡°Since when they have been up?


    ¡°I have no idea. They were already gathered in Rena¡¯s room when I woke up.¡±


    The two were also excited to have a new friend in the house. They must have been curious about each other and started ying together.


    Youngho looked closely and noticed that Leon was not letting go of the end of Rena¡¯s pajama. After the follower couple left to Korea, the two had been sad and lonely since there were not many friends in the autonomous state to y with. It was imaginable how exciting they must have felt to see a new friend around their age.


    As the kids saw Younghoing down, they all clung to Youngho. He needed to hurry to get ready for work but it seemed that he would have to y with them for a while.


    Rena¡¯s face was brighter than ever and herughter was gradually bing louder.


    She seemed to befortable here just like she used to be in her home in Tskhinvali.


    ***


    ¡°The Archduchess didn¡¯t give you an earful?¡±


    Jong-il had been worried that Fatima might not like the fact that Youngho brought Rena with him.


    ¡°Fatima asked me why I waited until now to bring her here.¡±


    ¡°Man, she¡¯s a saint. If it was Karajan, she would¡¯ve pulled out all of my hair.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t do such a thing when you were only trying to take care of a little girl.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you have no idea. Girls in Imic culture can be so jealous. They might look quiet but when ites to other women, they turn into angry cats.¡±


    Although having Rena in the house did not seem to have any trouble, Youngho could not stop reading Fatima¡¯s countenance. He did not make a terrible mistake but he still felt guilty.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sofortable here but Rena did not do anything wrong. I can¡¯t hurt her when she believes I¡¯m her father.¡±


    ¡°Fatima must understand that you deal with a lot of stuff as you travel to many ces around the globe. Man, anyway, I guarantee you that she¡¯s an angel.¡±


    ¡°This happened before I married her and that must be why she¡¯s so understanding.¡±


    ¡°But you still need to be careful. You know how women can be moody.¡±


    ¡®You must think that all women are like Karajan but that¡¯s not true at all.¡¯


    ¡°The kids get along so well that it¡¯s so satisfying to watch them. Leon is all for her. For a long time, he¡¯s the only friend had been for Jelyan and now he¡¯s got Rena too.¡±


    Because Leon was too young to be in a kindergarten, his only friend was Jelyan. There were many kids including Jong-il and Insoo¡¯s children at Zeynep Farm in Baku but he had not had a chance to meet a friend in the autonomous state yet.


    He was an angel when he was asleep, but a little devil when he was awake. Youngho wondered how long Rena would be able to endure him.


    Recently, as people were getting used to the life at the autonomous state, there had been a baby boom among women in 40s. There were also many newly married couples in the state that so many pregnant women could be spotted on the streets.


    The autonomous state had been encouraging people to have babies because of its limited poption. And it was also because that people were feeling peaceful now that the autonomous state was growing. It was estimated that there would be almost 500 newborn babies soon.


    Now when the Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan were added, the poption of the autonomous state would be dramatically increased.


    It was still not enough since more than 100,000 families could live in the state¡¯s vast territory. Youngho was jealous of China for its overpoption. Since the number of people could represent a country¡¯s national power, he wished that there would be more people in the state.


    ¡°How many people have registered for immigration so far?¡±


    ¡°When I checked before I left Bishkek two days ago, there were about 60 families. It was about 300 people in total. You know, the immigration is not promoted very well now but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll easily have more than 400 families.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, that many people have registered already?¡±


    ¡°They are the ones who live in nearby cities. If people who are in mountainous areas hear about this, everyone will try to register. I¡¯m going to send a few more agents so that they can promote this in those remote regions too.¡±


    Youngho was quite surprised to hear that so many Koryoins in Kyrgyzstan had registered to move to the state already. He was d to help them who were discriminated in the country and suffering from a hard life.


    ***


    As the new year came, the follower couple returned to the state earlier than expected, and Princess Isabe finally visited the state.


    The private jets that the state ordered from Cessna had arrived just in time, so Youngho could fly to Istanbul¡¯s international airport to pick her up.


    This time was also her unofficial visit again. She brought a smaller group of people as her entouragepared to herst visit but they were still eight people. Two of the jets were used to bring them to the state.


    The state only managed to fly the jets because of the pilot instructors that were sent by Cessna. Since the jet waspletely different than airnes with propellers, pilots would have to train for at least 200 hours before they could fly the jet. So, Youngho and Jong-il could not even touch its cockpit.


    Kim Il-kwon was the only one who could fly a jet among the group since he was trained in North Korea. However, he also had to receive basic training because the jet was a newer model.


    The training course included: theory education, safety education, flight simtor training, take off andnding training, and hours of practice flying. The process was much moreplicated from the light airne flying training process.


    Youngho paid 1.6 million dors for a flight simtor, which was half amount of the price of one jet. This was even a cheaper version since the simtor from many professional flying schools used was about 18 million dors.


    The autonomous state had made an investment since the state nned to train new pilots continuously from now on.


    As two private jets came to receive the princess at the Istanbul¡¯s airport, the princess¡¯ entourage was quite impressed. Those jets were proof that showed off the autonomous state¡¯s position and wealth.


    ¡°Brother, are you buying two jets?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I pushed myself because Princess Isabe is visiting us. So, you need to make a lot of money to make up for that, okay?¡±


    ¡°How will I earn such a huge amount?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be a king¡¯s son-inw, so I don¡¯t want to give you any rough work. Instead, I¡¯m nning to make an investmentpany soon. Study about business management hard until then.¡±


    Youngho had been thinking about establishing an investmentpany for a while. He was only hesitating because it would cost him a lot of money but considering Szechenyi¡¯s position in the future, he thought it was going to be a perfect job for him.


    ¡°An investmentpany?¡±


    ¡°You need to have a decent title now that you¡¯re getting married. Thepany will basically takeover otherpanies to manage them or to sell them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d have to have quite a lot of capital to start that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my job to find that money. As for you, you should focus on the wedding next fall.¡±


    Since gold bars had been umting at the Serbian ranch in Baku, he could use them to establish an investmentpany.


    ¡°What? You want me to marry her that early?¡±


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t the princess talked about it?¡±


    ¡°No, she never talks about such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Man, you need to be more mindful of her title and age. This could also be considered shameful from the royal family¡¯s perspective.¡±


    ¡°She said that her brother, the crown prince, had no problem even though he got marriedte.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t think that man and woman will look the same to the public¡¯s eyes. You¡¯d be saving the princess¡¯ face when you propose to her first.¡±


    ¡°I need to study more and experience more things...¡±


    ¡°You can do any of that after getting married.¡±


    Considering Szechenyi¡¯s character, if Youngho did not push him right now, he would never try to settle down since he was so open to learning new things and having new experiences.


    Although Princess Isabe might not be grilling him right now, she would have been stressed out about this. She was not too young ording to the marriage traditions in Europe and the Caucasus.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, is she the famous Princess Isabe?¡±


    Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa could not believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if she¡¯s famous but she¡¯s the youngest princess of the Danish royal family.¡±


    ¡°So that was true that she¡¯s getting married to Szechenyi.¡±


    ¡°Yep. The royal family has already epted them as an official couple. It¡¯s just not known to the public yet.¡±


    Youngho was proud to say that.


    He had started his journey as a poor merchant from Korea, and now he would be turned into family-inw of a royal family.


    ¡°No way! No way! No way!¡±


    Kim In-hwa was overly excited to hear that.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, can we take a picture with the princess?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll agree with that. Visiting here is an unofficial event for her, so she¡¯s not going to want to expose it to the public. You can take as many pictures as you want with her at her wedding in Denmark next year. I¡¯ll put you two in the invitation list.¡±


    ¡°No way! No way! No way!¡±


    Kim In-hwa kept on shouting exmations.


    ¡°Are you inviting us too?¡±


    Suh Min-seok was also excited.


    ¡°Of course. You¡¯re my secretaries, I can¡¯t go there without you.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what should I do? I don¡¯t even have a tailcoat.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even have a dress.¡±


    The two were not going as wedding guests but as Youngho¡¯s assistance, and they were as excited as if it was their own wedding.

 Chapter 330 - A Distinguished Guest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 330: A Distinguished Guest (2)</h4>


    Princess Isabe was an important guest of the autonomous state but Rena was also a very special guest and daughter to Youngho.


    The princess was happy as long as Szechenyi was there for her, so Youngho did not have to take care of her, but Rena was different. She felt awkward around new people except for Youngho and his family. Since she got easily sullen when he paid little attention to her, he had to be careful around her. That was why he tried to y with her as much as possible.


    Ever since Youngho drove the kids around the state on a light-armored vehicle, she kept nagging to go for another ride again. She was mesmerized by the vast in since all she saw in Tskhinvali were mountains.


    Leon and Jelyan also grew fond of car ridetely. They were more appealed by the light-armored vehicle itself since theplicated machines inside looked like new toys.


    Youngho was getting tired of it now. He only tried to y with the kids more often because he felt sorry that he had not been able to do thattely, but now it was getting out of his hand. Since he hade back from hunting with Princess Isabe yesterday, he nned to rest for today but kids were already asking to go out for a ride when he was still in bed.


    ¡°Hurry and wake up. Kids areing to get you.¡±


    Fatima who had brought him some honey water to drink pushed him.


    ¡°Phew, these kids don¡¯t know when to stop.¡±


    ¡°You brought this on yourself. Now Leon wants to go on the light-armored vehicle more than Rena. He¡¯s so stubborn.¡±


    ¡°What about Zeynep and Seo-young?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯te back from the hotel yesterday. They must¡¯ve talked with the princess all night long.¡±


    The two girls who resisted toe back home from Frankfurt for their summer break had toe unwillingly because of Princess Isabe¡¯s visit. Youngho thought that the princess needed more friends around since she was always with Szechenyi only, so he had forced the girls toe back.


    ¡°Call Zeynep to y with the kids.¡±


    ¡°Those girls are now tired of ying with Leon. They always make ns before I ask them.¡±


    Since Leon was known to never let go of people who came to y with him, he exhausted everyone.


    ¡°He must have gotten that from you, not me.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?!¡±


    Fatima red at him but that was still pretty. Youngho hugged her.


    ¡°You¡¯re giving me mixed messages here, honey. Let me go. The kids areing.¡±


    ¡°Let theme. It will have a good influence on them when they see mom and dad together.¡±


    The kids started to pull Youngho¡¯s arms when he was still finishing his breakfast. It seemed that Leon¡¯s stubbornness was contagious since now Rena and Jelyan were acting just like him. Although it made Youngho tired, this was a good change for Rena. She probably had never been so spoiled like this in her entire life. She had gained confidence enough to nag at Youngho. It was satisfying to see her this way. Considering how lonely she must have been without dad¡¯s love, Youngho could endure her nagging any day.


    ¡°Man, I don¡¯t know if I ate the food with my mouth or nose.¡±


    ¡°Should Ie along?¡±


    ¡°You can take a break Fatima but instead, can you call Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa? If the kids touch anything in the vehicle, we could have a safety ident. I need some adults¡¯ help.¡±


    ¡°I think Miss Kim stayed up all night with the girls too.¡±


    Kim In-hwa must have joined the girls since she was quite excited to see the Danish princess.


    ¡°Hey, kids! Let¡¯s go out.¡±


    As soon as Youngho finished his sentence, the kids got all busy putting on thick down jackets and hats.


    ***


    ¡°Boss. The Kazakh government now knows that Princess Isabe is here. The president¡¯s secretary just called us to ask if she can make time to visit the presidential pce.¡±


    It was Kim Chun who had just received a call from the presidential pce.


    ¡°Phew, we tried our best to keep it quiet but they still found out about her. I guess there are some spies in our state.¡±


    ¡°It must be navy soldiers. The Danish princess¡¯ visit is not small news. The whole state was busy to get ready for her visit. It¡¯d be weird to say that no one had reported this to the Navy.¡±


    Although it was not an official visit, it was still a visit of a Danish royal princess.


    Since the Kazakh government found out about that, the government felt that it would be rude to not to pay her respect. That was why the government wanted to invite her to the presidential pce. She was visiting the autonomous state but it was still Kazakhstan¡¯s territory. It was Youngho¡¯s mistake that he did not inform the government beforehand because the Kazakh government would be still held responsible if something bad happened to the princess in the autonomous state. Also, it was a good chance for the government to interact with the Danish royal family.


    ¡°I should first convince the princess since I can¡¯t give an answer without her consent. Could you tell the secretary to give us some time?¡±


    ¡°Boss. We should definitely make this happen. Isn¡¯t this a great chance for the autonomous state too? Our state in international society would be established if people found out that we¡¯re connected to the Danish royal family.¡±


    ¡°Phew, this is now getting out of my hand.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s for the best.¡±


    Since the Danish royal family also made a mistake for not informing the Kazakh government about the princess¡¯ visit, the princess agreed to visit the presidential pce. It would still be unofficial to the public but Youngho was secretly nning to slip the news to the press.


    The royal family had epted them as a couple but it was still not announced publicly. So, Youngho wanted to make it official this time.


    The Danish princess¡¯ love story with a descendant of the Archduke of the fallen Serbian Kingdom would let the whole world know about the Arirang Autonomous State, and the Kazakh government would have to officially admit the Serbian Archduke family.


    This kind of big news should be delivered by a global broadcastingpany like CNN.


    Youngho immediately called Agent Smith who was working at the U.S. embassy in Astana. Since Smith had many connections, he would know many journalists. There were so many frence journalists who would want to report this kind of global news.


    ¡°Smith. Would you like to get free drinks from journalists?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. They¡¯re the people who rip you off instead. How would they buy me a drink?¡±


    ¡°What? Aren¡¯t you such a pushover? You work at the embassy but you still have to crawl to the journalists?¡±


    ¡°I have to collect information as an agent you know. Most of my information expense is wasted to treat them.¡±


    ¡°I have a serious item. You can use it to pay back to the journalists.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Smith was happy to hear that he could be bossy to the journalists once and for all.


    ¡°Someone important will be invited to the presidential pce soon. Tell them to make sure to get good photos of the event, and I¡¯ll tell you the details next time. You can meet the journalists and tell them all about it.¡±


    ¡°Who is this about?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that right now. If I get pictures, I¡¯ll get them to you as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°If my information is not correct, those journalists won¡¯t leave me alone.¡±


    ¡°You can guarantee that you¡¯re going to be the only source of this news. Those journalists will make so much money for this.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this? If things go as you say, I will buy drinks for you multiple times.¡±


    Smith thanked Youngho and promised that he would buy multiple drinks for him.


    ***


    Even though it was an unofficial visit, the presidential pce had prepared honor guards to receive Princess Isabe. Since the Danish royal family had politely apologized for not informing her visit to the autonomous state, the presidential pce did not hold any grudge against that. The president even felt sorry that the government had made a big deal out of this when the princess was only here to see her boyfriend in secret.


    After the banquet was over, Szechenyi, Isabe, Fatima, and her children went to take a rest to the guest rooms of the presidential pce. Youngho and the president were left to talk.


    ¡°Mr. President, I never wanted to hide it from the government but since it was not announced officially, I wanted to be extra careful. I apologize for my mistake.¡±


    ¡°I know, you¡¯d have done what you had to do but I couldn¡¯t let this pass since I found out that an honorary guest was visiting Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Danish royal family had already acknowledged their rtionship, so I think they¡¯ll have their wedding by next fall.¡±


    ¡°I see. The royal family must¡¯ve recognized the Archduke family.¡±


    ¡°What good would a fallen Archduke family be? I was surprised to hear this at first too.¡±


    ¡°Then people would believe that the Kazakh government recognized the fallen Archduke family of the old Serbian Kingdom too since we made the autonomous state a special administrative region.¡±


    What Youngho wanted to hear finally came out of the president¡¯s mouth. He was asking if the Danish royal family knew about the autonomous state¡¯s new status.


    ¡°The queen was very happy to hear the news. Marrying into a royal family of an autonomous state is very different from marrying into a royal family of a special administrative region. You have saved the Danish royal family¡¯s face.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even give you richnd with beautiful sceneries in east Kazakhstan but instead gave you a semi-desertednd. You make me feel stingy.¡±


    The president put down his wine ss and made a joke. He was in a good mood.


    ¡°Mr. President. It would be nice if we could have the wedding in Kazakhstan but I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t ignore the position of the Danish royal family.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where you¡¯d be having the wedding. The special administrative region belongs to Kazakhstan and the whole world will find out that the Danish princess is marrying the Archduke¡¯s descendant in Kazakhstan anyway.¡±


    ¡°So I was thinking to have a coronation ceremony for the Archduchess next spring. It would help to promote the special administrative region in Kazakhstan. I wanted to hear your opinion on this.¡±


    ¡°Are you inviting European royal families and leaders?¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state is not fully developed yet to receive such guests. I was going to invite broadcastingpanies to let people know that the fallen Serbian Kingdom was being rebuilt with the help of the Kazakh government. That will bring Kazakhstan to the center of the world¡¯s attention automatically.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s terrific. I treated journalists from broadcastingpanies well during Asian Winter Games but they still reviewed our country badly. But a coronation must be different.¡±


    The president would wish for positive articles about Kazakhstan, but there were no journalists andpanies that would praise the prolonged period of a one-man rule presidency.


    Youngho did not care for that. He only wanted to get international recognition for the fallen Serbian Kingdom¡¯s Archduke family. The Kazakh government would also work in favor of the autonomous state too. Everything seemed to be going well as Youngho nned.


    ¡°Mr. President. I¡¯m afraid that the Kazakh public might not take the Archduchess¡¯ coronation well.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll love it since it¡¯s going to make Kazakhstan famous. I¡¯ll make sure to promote this to the public, you shouldn¡¯t be worried about that. Kazakhstan will not shake just because of a little autonomous state.¡±


    The president was confident about his country.


    ¡°Also, our government will send a delegation to the wedding too. Since it¡¯s a special event for the autonomous state in Kazakhstan, our government has a privilege to be there.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡±

 Chapter 331 - A Distinguished Guest (3)

    <h4>Chapter 331: A Distinguished Guest (3)</h4>


    ¡°Smith. Did the journalists take pictures?¡±


    ¡°They said that they followed the group around from the airport to the presidential pce and got the whole event on their cameras. Can you tell me now who the person was? They said that they were very secretive.¡±


    ¡°Man, howe those journalists are so slow to notice?¡±


    ¡°There were some kids and some other people. Those journalists are already giving me pressures right now. Are you sure is this a big one?¡±


    ¡°What if there was a Danish royal princess?¡±


    ¡°Wait, what did you say?¡±


    ¡°You know what? I don¡¯t like to repeat myself. I¡¯ll email you what¡¯s going to be on the article. You can match that with the pictures those journalists took. Tell them that I¡¯ll decide whether or not I should give them more stories in the future depending on how good their article is.¡±


    ¡°Got that. I¡¯ll talk to you soon then.¡±


    Szechenyi and Princess Isabe were going to get married soon anyway, and helping them to make it official would not hurt anyone. Youngho was excited to think that the whole world¡¯s attention would be drawn to the Arirang Autonomous State. Journalists from all over the world would soone to the autonomous state to know more about this new state. Then the news of coronation that would be held in the spring would also be known to the world in no time. The Danish royal family would suffer a little bit but they would have no chance but to ept the situation.


    ¡°Hahaha... I guess Smith would be exuberated by now.¡±


    ¡°He must be being treated heavily at one of the hotel bars in Astana by now.¡±


    ¡°That was a clever move. Are you sure it came out of your head?¡±


    ¡°Hey, what about my brain?¡±


    ¡°You must know this already but I can speak fivenguages freely. Am I not your tactician?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you are so great. You can speak Kazakh and Armenian all you want!¡±


    Since they were in a good mood, they were joking with each other with random talk.


    The follower couple who was overhearing their conversation was proud that the autonomous state was going to be famous through the global press.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, what are we going to do if we get too many journalists and reporters?¡±


    ¡°You two secretaries will have to take care of them.¡±


    ¡°But we need some guidelines. We want only official interviews to be published.¡±


    ¡°You could regte that. Be sure to only tell them the official stance of the autonomous state. If anything rted to Princess Isabees up, tell them to ask the Danish royal family.¡±


    ¡°What is the autonomous state¡¯s stance?¡±


    ¡°Tell them that the Kingdom of Serbia that fell about 500 years ago is rebuilding with the help of the Kazakh government in the Arirang Autonomous State. If you tell them that everything will be revealed at the Archduchess¡¯ coronation next spring, they¡¯ll be dying to know more about us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little too vague.¡±


    ¡°We want the vagueness to attract the press. Are you going to tell them everything before they even ask? You¡¯ve got to make them curious.¡±


    The reason Youngho brought Fatima and his kids to the presidential pce with Princess Isabe was that he wanted to introduce them to President Nazarbayev before the coronation took ce.


    Inviting the Archduchess to the presidential pce meant that the Kazakh government had acknowledged the existence of the Archduchess. Since journalists had taken pictures of them too, it would be covered as well.


    Also, the atmosphere at the banquet was great because the president liked kids. When they were quietly sitting down, they looked like little angels. In the end, Youngho was embarrassed since tired Leon started to act out but it was expected of a little child.


    The presidentplimented Leon¡¯s loud voice saying that he would make a great Archduke. It seemed that everyone was introduced well because of Princess Isabe. Since other politicians at the banquet heard that the president¡¯s mention of Archduchess and Archduke, it looked like the government would soon officially acknowledge the existence of the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s Archduke family soon. The president must have done it because of Princess Isabe. If he did not admit it to her, it would be rude since he would be denying the authenticity of the Archduke family in front of her when she was marrying into the family.


    ***


    Although Princess Isabe left the state for Denmark, the autonomous state had received so many requests of journalists who wanted to visit and cover the state.


    Many European royal families that had been providing them with all sorts of news had been quiet recently. Now that they had heard that there was going to be a royal wedding, it was like rain in a drought, especially when the wedding was between the Danish royal family and an unknown Serbian Kingdom¡¯s Archduke family which was known to have fallen in history.


    ¡°Hahaha... There are no secrets in our autonomous state. Let them alle and cover us. Our hotel¡¯s going to be booked full by guests.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we surely have secrets, Boss. We¡¯ve got the metalb and Bentoniteb. Especially if people found out that you are wealthy, there will be so many people who will approach you for money.¡±


    If the autonomous state did not provide vehicles to the guests, they would not go near to thebs that were located in the outskirt of the state in the severely cold weather.


    ¡°I used all of my money for the autonomous state. I don¡¯t have much now.¡±


    ¡°You just bought two jets. Who¡¯s going to believe that?¡±


    No matter how many times Youngho said that he did not have money, Kim Chun did not even blink. To him, it did not make sense that his boss had just bought two jets and decided to receive Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan when he had no money. It was because building houses for them would cost an astronomical amount of money. The autonomous state¡¯s budget could not possibly handle that amount.


    Kim Chun thought that it was better for people to think that the autonomous state was not so wealthy, but Youngho thought differently. He wanted to hear that the autonomous state was a ce that could not be overlooked. He also wanted to save the Danish royal family¡¯s face and brag about loyal residents.


    There were no other group of people in the earth that was so unified like the people of the autonomous state in the 21st century. He was proud of his state.


    The news that Youngho and Smith slip out to the journalists had drawn the whole world¡¯s attention to the autonomous state and left a bunch of questions.


    They had used a group of journalists to publish small pieces of consecutive articles about the autonomous state so that there were no in-depth stories about it. It raised spection that the Danish royal princess would be marrying the Archduke¡¯s descendant of the fallen Serbian Kingdom soon.


    Since the Danish royal family had the most authority second to the British royal family, people assumed that the princess would not marry someone from an unknown, illegitimate family.


    Smith told the journalists that he would provide the next story soon, and they were now calling him day and night. He was happy that he was finally being treated well by those arrogant journalists.


    When it was difficult to get stories from the autonomous state, journalists would turn to the Kazakh government, and the government would like the attention as well. It was a win-win situation since Kazakhstan would be promoted to global society.


    Central Asia was very underestimated by the globalmunity. People were reluctant to travel to the new countries that had not been existing long since they were freed from the Soviet Union not long ago. Youngho was always bitter to see that European countries were raising so much money from tourism when there were so many beautiful countries in Central Asia too.


    The follower couple and Kim Chun were exuberated by the journalists¡¯ attention. Most importantly, they were happy that businesses of the autonomous state were going so well.


    Secondly, since Kim Chun was themissioner of the autonomous state, he had to do many interviews and the followers were also busy to assist him. They were the great source to inform the journalists about what was going on in the state including the news of the Archduchess¡¯ coronation next year.


    As the number of guests was increasing, Atyrau Airport said that it would provide a 16-seater and 8-seater propeller airnes and run regr flights to the autonomous state. Since the airfield of the autonomous state was not a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization, it could not be used formercial use. So, Atyrau Airport had found an opportunity in the niche market.


    Although Kazakhstan was making money because of Princess Isabe, Youngho was still happy about it.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. CEO. This is too much for Commissioner Kim to handle alone. Can¡¯t you please step up and deal with it for once? The journalists said that they will expose the Archduchess and her children¡¯s faces on the Inte.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ask them to please go ahead and put up the pictures. It¡¯s about time.¡±


    ¡°But princess Zeynep¡¯s face will be up there too.¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, that¡¯s not going to happen. She¡¯s still a student.¡±


    ¡°I think you have to meet the journalists, Mr. CEO. They won¡¯t be convinced without you.¡±


    Youngho had been only thinking about the promotion of the autonomous state, but not his family members¡¯ privacy. If Zeynep found out about this, she would not go easy on him. He would have to step up for there was an unexpected problem.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to make apromise with them with the picture of Leon, Rena, or Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°You should take out Rena from the list. Otherwise, you¡¯d have to exin your rtionship to them.¡±


    Come to think of it, Rena was neither his adopted daughter nor a stepdaughter. It would be not easy to exin his rtionship with the people. It could also make rumors about the private life of the Archduchess¡¯ prince consort.


    ¡°Oh well. I guess there¡¯s no other choice. Tell the journalists that I¡¯m going to hold a press conference.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    Happy to hear Youngho¡¯s answer, Suh Min-seok answered him loudly and left his office.


    He was just excited to be part of an exciting event at the autonomous state.


    The follower couple seemed to have gained confidence ever since they came back from Korea. Compared to the living environment of Korea, the Arirang Autonomous State was a ce of paradise, except for its barren natural environment.


    The state did not charge people for housing, education, medical treatments, and many other services, and most importantly there were so many job opportunities for willing people.


    The two must have told their families and friends that they had important job titles in the state and many people must have envied them. It was not easy to survive in Korea where there were plenty of high-quality human resourcespeting with each other in a small job pool. They would have bragged so much about the autonomous state.


    Since they hade back earlier than their given break period, Youngho asked what brought them early.


    ¡°You guys are just so unpredictable. Why did youe back early?¡±


    ¡°Miss Kim In-hwa dragged me here, so I had toe earlier than I had nned.¡±


    Suh Min-seokined that Kim In-hwa had insisted to return to the state but he did not look like he was sad toe back.


    The two must have been curious about what would have happened to the autonomous state while they were gone since the state was full of new changes.


    ¡°Kim In-hwa! Why did you bring your boyfriend who was enjoying his freedom from work?¡±


    ¡°I knew that Leon and Jelyan would be missing us and...¡±


    ¡°Phew, you know they have a great family that takes care of them so well.¡±


    ¡°Actually, we didn¡¯t really enjoy our vacation to Korea really well. So I convinced Suh Min-seok toe back early.¡±


    ¡°Why did you do that? The autonomous state operates just fine without you.¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s more dynamic here than in Korea.¡±


    ¡°Which part is?¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, we are never bored when we work with you.¡±


    ¡°What does that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°I feel like we¡¯re in a movie. Are we the main protagonists?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m the main character and you guys are only my sidekicks.¡±

 Chapter 332 - A Distinguished Guest (4)

    <h4>Chapter 332: A Distinguished Guest (4)</h4>


    With Princess Isabe gone, there were no official events in the Arirang Autonomous State anymore. As Youngho was trying to sign a stockpile of documents that were waiting for his approval, he felt Suh Min-seok¡¯s nce.


    ¡°Why are you staring at me like that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I just...¡±


    ¡°What? Are you having problems with journalists?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that. I just heard some stories about you from the technicians that had been abducted in Kyrgyzstan recently.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be curious about. I was just lucky that I was able to save them.¡±


    ¡°Is it true that you knocked down nine IS warriors?¡±


    ¡°Warriors? They¡¯re just lunatics. What about it?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a rumor that you and Mr. Park took all of them down without other people¡¯s help.¡±


    Although Youngho and Jong-il used to be in Navy Special Forces, Suh Min-seok thought it was a ridiculous rumor. Youngho was not happy about that but he did not want to make a big deal out of it.


    ¡°Did the journalists found out about this by any chance?¡±


    ¡°No way. The technicians know that this cannot be exposed since we don¡¯t want to attract the IS to the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°What if Mr. Park and I have really rescued them on our own?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Do you think that I can¡¯t take those crazy people down by myself?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not what I meant but we are not living in the medieval times now. How could you have possible knocked down nine men with guns? Also, this kind of an absurd rumor could be seen as the state was trying to spread legendary stories about you before the coronation.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you said that to Mr. Park, you¡¯d have to face a ten-kilometer run in full armor.¡±


    ¡°So you two really rescued the technicians of the road survey team.¡±


    ¡°I said we got lucky. They were all drunk and asleep. We didn¡¯t have to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Whoa! I didn¡¯t think that there was Superman, but you two are like him.¡±


    ¡°For the second time, they were drunk.¡±


    Youngho made excuses but Suh Min-seok did not seem to care.


    He quickly scanned Youngho¡¯s body and thought that it was weird that Youngho did not seem to be so bulky. He was actually pretty lean. He did not look too strong either. After scanning different parts of his body thoroughly, respect in his eyes had gone away soon.


    He now truly believed that each IS member was fully drunk and Youngho and Jong-il did not have to do anything.


    ¡®Oh, this dude. I can already see what he must be thinking.¡¯


    However, this was way better than having to exin everything about the rescue.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, some journalists are still here after the official interviews.¡±


    ¡°Well, they must be the ones who¡¯d want to negotiate with us after taking pictures that could provoke controversies.¡±


    As Youngho guessed, Suh Min-seok was startled.


    ¡°Whoa, how did you know that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so predictable. Frence journalists without representativepanies will try to negotiate with us since their hotel room cost is increasing as they stay here. You can ignore the ones who ask for too much and sort out some sensible ones. Tell them that we are willing to offer stories about the development process of the autonomous state so that they could make articles about it.¡±


    As there were not much to figure out from the autonomous state, most of the journalists that had crowded into the autonomous state left to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Only some were left to get stories about the private life of the Archduchess¡¯ family.


    However, Fatima and Zeynep were too nice that there were no gossip-worthy stories. The two girls visited residents¡¯ houses when new babies were born, spent their days with women at the carpet factory, and took kids to ygrounds. There were not much to cover but some journalists who took photos of them when the Archduchess and her sister made a mistake, they wanted to make money to sell it to Youngho to make up for their travel expenses.


    Although Youngho did not have to, since the journalists were also guests of the state, he decided to give them something to write about. It was to help make Fatima famous.


    Not digging into private matters too far, Youngho was going to make great stories about the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s rise and fall. On top of that, if he could slip in some stories about how the Kazakh government had been helpful in rebuilding the Serbian Kingdom, the old president would be immensely thankful for him.


    ***


    Journalists wanted to know everything about the Archduchess, and now Rena was also at the center of their attention. Although Youngho tried hard to hide her, everyone was interested in the child that lived with the Archduchess. Since she called Youngho ¡®papa¡¯ in front of the public, journalists got more curious about her. Moreover, Youngho¡¯s secretaries; the follower couple was often spotted ying with her. Rena was naturally photographed by many journalists and they had now found out that she was an adopted daughter of Youngho.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, you said that Rena wouldn¡¯t be exposed.¡±


    ¡°The kids yed around the state all the time and we could not help it. That¡¯s why I told them she was an adopted daughter just like Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°Oh no. If Katya found out about this, she¡¯d be upset. Her mother is alive and well. Adoption is nonsense.¡±


    Youngho worried that Katya might find out about thister, but there was nothing he could do now.


    Rena was bold enough to pose for journalists and paparazzi when they asked for her a picture. She felt special to be treated like a little princess.


    Surprisingly, no one had made any problem with her just like Jelyan. If it was a boy, people would have made trouble about who was going to be the sessor of the Archduchess. Serbian residents were happy that Leon, their future Archduke, had more family members around to grow together with.


    Regardless of what was happening outside, Rena was careless. She fell in love with the new life she had now and seemed to have forgotten about South Ossetia. As soon as she woke up each morning, she went to y with Leon and Jelyan. Every day was full of fun. Moreover, Youngho yed with her whenever he had time, and it seemed to have made up for her past where she was never loved by a fatherly figure.


    ¡°Rena, don¡¯t you want to go back to Tskhinvali?¡±


    ¡°Papa, I like this ce but I still missed my mom and grandma. So I video called them yesterday.¡±


    Because she could talk to her mom and grandmother every day through the Inte, she did not seem to have too much problem with it. Moreover, she was surrounded by many friends and families that cared about her. A day was short when she yed all day long with them.


    ¡°Is that so? I was going to get you to your mom if you miss her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to live here. I¡¯ll go home for breaks.¡±


    ¡°But when the break is over, Jelyan and Leon have to go back to Baku.¡±


    ¡°I told Jelyan that I¡¯ming with her.¡±


    This was new to Youngho.


    It seemed that the kids had made such a big decision on their own. It was funny but not a bad idea. Tskhinvali did not have great education whereas Baku had an international school. It would be helpful for Rena¡¯s future. The only problem was what Katya and her mother would think if they heard about this.


    ***


    As the press covered the story about a Danish princess and the prince of the Arirang Autonomous State, the Danish royal family had to admit that they were an official couple. Since it did not want to hurt its state, it kindly described the details about the old Serbian Kingdom and how wealthy was the autonomous state. The family did not want to hear that the princess was marrying into a random family.


    Naturally, people¡¯s attention was directed to Youngho. He was known as a wealthy businessman that raised the fallen Archduke¡¯s family.


    Now that the veil was lifted, the Arirang Autonomous State had to make an official stance. Most of it was filled with an expression of appreciation to the Kazakh government. Since it did not cost any money, Youngho thought that it was a good idea to impress the Kazakh government.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you give too much credit to the Kazakh government?¡±


    ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t cost us anything. We still belong to Kazakhstan, remember?¡±


    ¡°The president must be happy to have improved his image.¡±


    As Jong-il said, President Nazarbayev¡¯s image to the globalmunity was improved so far.


    He had been criticized by the western world because he had been maintaining his presidency for the past 20 years. However, the president was also well-known as a president who had not persecuted a single ethnic group when he was the president of a country that consisted about 120 ethnic minority groups.


    His deed made him the generous president who had only been seizing his power to develop Kazakhstan¡¯s economy. With the autonomous state¡¯s official stance about the Kazakh government, he was now recognized as a generous and bold president who had givennd to Serbian immigrants who were gathered to re-establish their old kingdom.


    It seemed that Youngho would receive a call from the presidential pce.


    He might be appreciated for what he did or asked to help the government to have a summit meeting with the Danish government.


    If the Kazakh government wanted to visit other European countries in order to improve its image, Youngho wanted to help it, even by receiving help from the CIA or the Danish royal family. Western European countries would not refuse his visit since he was the head of a country with unlimited oil crude and underground resources. A country with such amount of resources could be helpful for any entity. Otherwise, the Kazakh government might be getting love calls from western countries from now on due to its improved image.


    ¡°It was indeed clever of me for informing the press about the princess¡¯ visit to the presidential pce.¡±


    ¡°Are youplimenting yourself?¡±


    ¡°I should reward Smith too. His role was pretty big in this.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I thought he was such a cluts, but even he can be of use.¡±


    ¡°He bragged that he¡¯s now being treated so highly by the journalists who were given the exclusive information.¡±


    ¡°Hey, by the way, Korean broadcastingpanies requested to interview you. Are you going to meet them?¡±


    ¡°No, why would I do that? I looked at Korean online articles yesterday and they had made so many spective articles while giarizing foreign articles about our state. I¡¯m just really disappointed in them.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t you think that it¡¯ll be helpful for Korean people to know that Koryoins were doing well in Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°You are just so na?ve. Don¡¯t you remember the time when the OPEC provided information about the decrease in oil crude to the Korean government? I can deal with Korean business people but I don¡¯t want to deal with the Korean press, officials, or politicians ever.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the press be different?¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯re all the same. It¡¯s better not to deal with them. They won¡¯t help us but only cause troubles for us.¡±


    It was obvious that letting Korean broadcastingpanies cover the story about the autonomous state would only damage the reputation of the state. All sorts of people with ill intent woulde to the state when they found out that the Arirang Autonomous State was a good ce to live, and he did not want to deal with that. When Koreans were gathered, they were busy to divide groups. He was afraid that this would spoil the innocent residents of the state.


    ¡°Also, make sure to keep the foreign business people and technicians that were staying at the state now to be quiet. Tell them that I will chase them away as soon as they provide any story about the autonomous state to the press.¡±

 Chapter 333 - Treasure Land (1)

    <h4>Chapter 333: Treasure Land (1)</h4>


    Victor Jun, a Kazakhstan¡¯ naval lieutenantmander, came to visit Youngho¡¯s office.


    Youngho often ran into him at the state but he had never visited his office before. It made him curious.


    ¡°What a surprise, Lieutenant Commander. What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°Well, I came to ask you a favor. An oil carrier came to bring us oil but it had to leave only after emptying one-third of its tank. It¡¯s because we don¡¯t have enough oil storage units.¡±


    ¡°Oh,mander. What we already have is the amount that can cover more than a whole year¡¯s oil usage for the entire state. It wouldn¡¯t be reasonable to install more oil storage units. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    The Kazakh government and the state had made an agreement earlier: The state would break the ice on the Ural River and around the Port of Atyrau during winter, and in exchange for that, the government would provide free oil for the state.


    Since Kazakhstan was an oil-producing country, it was quite generous with the use of oil.


    ¡°But we need to think about the future, Mr. Lee. I¡¯d store plenty of oil that wouldst more than a few years just in case for the future. Why would we let go of free oil anyway? Can we store the oil underground at the ce where we emptied underground water?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I hadn¡¯t thought of that. That area would store the amount of oil that could cover the whole state¡¯s oil usage for a few years.¡±


    It was a smart suggestion, Youngho thought.


    There was a slight possibility that this could affect other underground reservoirs, but it was not an impossible story.


    Many countries usually stored enough oil that couldst them for three months to one year. It would be a wise move to store more amount of oil than them just in case something might happen to the oil provision line. Victor had an important point. The state was a safe ce from the impact of earthquakes. Once they saved up enough oil, the state would be better off for a rtively long time.


    Victor was not expecting to be an admiral because he was born as a Koryoin. There were still a lot of limitations for minorities in the Kazakh military. Youngho once asked Victor to be in charge of the state¡¯s security if he did not get to be an admiral in the Navy in the future. Victor did not give a clear answer to that back then. But, now that he had moved to the state along with other present and former Navy soldiers, Youngho thought that Victor had grown fond of the autonomous state. Victor¡¯s suggestion was also a sign that he cared about the state. He continued to suggest another idea.


    ¡°I think you should also store jet fuel underground as well. I¡¯ve heard that the IS is nning on attacking enemies¡¯ important facilities on the ground.¡±


    ¡°It looks like Kazakhstan is not a safe ce anymore.¡±


    Youngho did not tell Victor Jun about the recent abduction of the Korean road survey team by the IS organization. Although Victor was showing his favor of the state, he would be obliged to report the incident to the government as an active navalmander. Instead of reporting the truth, Youngho only told the government that the construction experts got lost and came back, so the state would not be exposed to the IS.


    ¡°The state had better be cautious about any outsiders. The Aktobe city bombing was definitely done by the IS. If you don¡¯t have enough security guards, I will aid the state with naval soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration Lieutenant Commander but we will be fine. I¡¯d rather not add more weight to the Navy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Families of navy soldiers think that they owe you for the jobs that the state had provided even for them. They would love to help.¡±


    The underpaid navies and their families were financially doing better ever since they moved to the state because they were able to find jobs at the state. The state provided educational and medical benefits for the naval families, which were given to the residents of the state. There was no reason to not treat them the same as the residents since currently there were not many naval family members in the state and the navies would join the maritime police of the Countryside Force when they were discharged from the Navy.


    ¡°Since there are still several reporters and journalists in the state at the moment, let¡¯s wait and see when we should work on your suggestion.¡±


    ¡°I know I am a Kazak navy, but I will also do my duty as a state¡¯s resident. So, please let me know whenever you need my help.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate it.¡±


    ***


    Park Young-sun agreed that it was a great idea to store jet fuel underground. He rmended two underground reservoirs that had been emptied in the beginning stages of the autonomous state.


    ¡°Dr. Park, is there any chance that this will cause the oil to slip into other underground reservoirs and end up polluting water?¡±


    ¡°I believe the chances are very very low. But I will get to work to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen.¡±


    It would be strategically valuable if it was possible to stably store oil without building storage units. So, Park Young-sun wanted to get to work immediately. This could be pointless in perspective of the Kazakh government since the country had an almost limitless amount of oil crude, but there was no harm in saving up the oil.


    ¡°If we fill up all the empty underground reservoirs with oil, we won¡¯t have to worry about getting more oil in the future even if our poption drastically increases.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have enough oil for the next several generations.¡±


    ¡°Sure, if we keep storing up, the state will be just like an oil-producing country.¡±


    The state used sr power for most of its heating, but quite a lot of oil was needed to run farming vehicles, cars, and ships. It was not necessary to store arge amount of oil, yet this was a good excuse to be greedy for oil.


    ¡°Who knows? Maybe we already have a lot of oil somewhere in the state. There is still a high chance since we are located in West Kazakhstan, which is geologically known to have oil resource. We just don¡¯t know since we¡¯ve never tried to find it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Don¡¯t even think about it. Oil fields are everywhere around this region including Atyrau. We just don¡¯t want to be part of that business yet.¡±


    It would be a big problem if oil was discovered in the state somehow. It was because the government would im the ownership of the oilfield. Oil exploration could wait until the state was powerful enough to ignore the country¡¯s interference.


    ¡°Well, I thought about it already, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I can handle the aftermath of the business.¡±


    ¡°Think of it this way. Wouldn¡¯t it be delightful to imagine living on top of an oilfield?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha¡±


    ¡°You know, people who are filthy rich are the ones who ownnd.¡±


    The truly rich people would be the ones who owned buildings andnd. While the world poption would increase, the avablend for each person would decrease. Inevitably, property prices would only go up. This was the way how the world had been and would be.


    Numbers ofpanies in the past eventually failed, while people with real estates stayed rich over generations. Youngho was into properties and hotel business for the very reason. The semi-deserted Arirang Autonomous State might not have much on itsnd, but it would surely show its true potential one day.


    ***


    A lot of time in history, those who sought peace were made ves, and those who prepared for war earned their peace.


    This was the reason that Youngho ordered to build weapon researchb and a shipyard. He even tried to build a tank at the repair shop.


    Some people might say that an effort of preparation from a small state would be pointless. But it did not mean that the state should just let others invade theirnd. The state needed both physical and political power. That was where the strings with the Danish royal family and the CIA came in. Without those strings, the state made up of a bunch of minorities would notst long.


    The state¡¯s existence was based on the attention of the world and the recognition of the countries like the United States and Kazakhstan. Today, Youngho was working to build a tie with Frankfurt.


    ¡°What do you think? Aren¡¯t we almost like an independent country now?¡±


    Upon meeting Michael in Frankfurt, Youngho bragged about the presidential banquet with Princess Isabe and the wedding news which had been featured by many European newspaperpanies. In exchange, Michael joked to Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, you can shut up and leave my room if you are going to keep talking about the honorary citizenship nonsense.¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve seen the royal guards. Has any agent made an inw rtionship with the Danish royal family?¡±


    ¡°The wedding hasn¡¯t happened yet, which means you are not an inw of the royal family yet.¡±


    ¡°You just can¡¯t handle it because of you¡¯re jealous, can you?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Okay, let¡¯s just put it that way. Now, why don¡¯t you go back to your position and send me some valuable information?¡±


    ¡°What more valuable information can I bring you other than this?¡±


    ¡°I am not blind. I¡¯ve read all about it on newspapers already.¡±


    The conversation was still pleasant because they had built up a faithful rtionship over a long period of time. In addition to that, Youngho had be more of a partner to Michael rather than a mere agent.


    ¡°You are not even going to treat me with lunch or something? I¡¯ve flown really far to see you.¡±


    ¡°I need to buy a meal for a millionaire?¡±


    ¡°Well, I once saved your life, remember? You would¡¯ve been dead by now if you didn¡¯t get the procedure.¡±


    ¡°Like I did not know I had to do it? I was just waiting for the right moment to get the treatment.¡±


    ¡°Whoa... You are such a gentleman.¡±


    ¡°Enough with the nonsense. Now, get out. I still have loads of paperwork to sign.¡±


    Youngho hade to see Michael to discuss something. As he walked out of the door, he subtly said,


    ¡°Well, I guess I am cutting down trees by myself. Russia offered a logging business in Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Hold on! You didn¡¯t even finish your tea. You¡¯ve got to finish your drink if you are a gentleman.¡±


    When Youngho started talking about the logging business that President Putin offered, Michael was suddenly interested in talking.


    ¡°So, he offered a logging business to you because he recruited an Americanpany.¡±


    ¡°I guess I got famous for doing businesses in remote areas.¡±


    Probably, President Putin offered it to Youngho since he wanted to continuously attract foreignpanies.


    ¡°The fact that he offered the business to you is important. Logging business in Siberia has been exclusively offered to the president¡¯s close connections.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should take it. Cutting wood and carrying them seems to be aplicated process.¡±


    ¡°Just do it no matter what. Don¡¯t worry about the funds. I will get them for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got money. The issue here is that what Putin wants is continuous recruitment of Americanpanies.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what his intention is. I will take care of it. Instead, find a way to buy somend.¡±


    ¡°What? I am not nning on running a farm there.¡±


    Youngho was not sure why Michael was so eager to getnd in Russia.


    ¡°Youngho, you don¡¯t understand the importance of Siberia. Just do as I say now and thinkter.¡±


    ¡°What am I going to do in thend where wintersts over seven months and people suffer from pests during summer?¡±


    ¡°The mountainous region won¡¯t be a permafrost area. Besides, why are you into farming only? Siberia contains tons of underground resources.¡±


    ¡°Will the CIA support me with everything if I take it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. No Americanpany was able to earn a favor from Russia. You¡¯ve got a shot here.¡±


    It would be a good opportunity, but it seemed like too much of a burden for Youngho. Although Yaniv would send mafias, no mafia would want to work in such a remotend. But, since Michael insisted, he thought maybe it was not a bad idea just to look around the site and make a decision afterward.


    ¡°Okay. I will go take a look at the site.¡±


    ¡°Great, I will make a report to the headquarters.¡±

 Chapter 334 - Treasure Land (2)

    <h4>Chapter 334: Treasure Land (2)</h4>


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s face turned pale when he heard that Youngho was going to Volgograd.


    He was extremely drunkst time he visited there, and because of that, he freaked out whenever he heard any word sounded close to Volgograd.


    Luckily, Youngho was not nning on taking him this time but he decided to tease Min-seok a little.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the secretary¡¯s job to follow wherever his boss is going?¡±


    ¡°I... I do not speak Russian, so I¡¯m only going to be a bother instead of being helpful.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. They speak English.¡±


    ¡°Um... I... I need to keep in touch with the Korean whole wheat importpany. Oh! And I need to teach Leon some Korean too .¡±


    Youngho ended up chuckling because of Min-seok¡¯s excuse using his own child.


    Min-seok had been taking care of Leontely. In fact, Min-seok¡¯s absence would lead to Fatima¡¯s suffering with Leon, the little devil.


    Since there was a chance that Youngho would need to fly to Siberia to take a look around the site for logging during this trip, he was going to only go with Il-kwon and two security guards. At the moment, he was just waiting for Sergey¡¯s call.


    Jong-il would have to stay in the state because he was busy taking care of the immigration of Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan. Jong-il would be in charge of the state and Youngho¡¯s other businesses when Youngho was absent, so it was not a good idea for them to be absent together, especially when the IS problem was rising at the moment.


    Cha In-soo was too busy to make time for traveling because of Zeynep Security Service, warehouse business in divostok, and the Countryside Force at the autonomous state.


    Youngho was thinking about recalling Cho Chul-hwan from Arirang Hotel in Batumi to the autonomous state to take over the Countryside Force instead of In-soo. It was overwhelming for In-soo to take care of two businesses and the Countryside Force at the same time. Since the Countryside Force needed someone trustworthy to be in charge, his good friend Cho Chul-hwan seemed to be a perfect candidate for the job.


    The Batumi¡¯s hotel already had a good manager Um Sang-taek anyway, so it was unnecessary for Chul-hwan to be there.


    ¡°He will like it. But his wife probably won¡¯t like it at all since she is now used to living in Batumi.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but do you think it¡¯ll be a good idea to call Chul-hwan?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course, I¡¯d like that. No one will be a better fit than Chul-hwan. Besides, he had three months of training in Navy Seal in the United States. He will turn the security guards into special forces in no time. Hey, by the way, you need to recruit more guards after he takes over the job. I¡¯ve heard there are over a hundred applicants from Korea, is that true?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They are extremely eager toe. Some even sent me e-mails telling me that they will visit for the interview.¡±


    In Korea, it was not easy to make a lot of money with security guard positions. Many of the highly trained guards only got paid about 20,000 dors a year. Since most of Youngho¡¯s juniors who were discharged from the Korean Navy Special Forces U.D.T Unit worked as security guards in Korea with low sry, they were eager toe to work at Zeynep Security Service.


    ¡°I want them all. They¡¯ll be great reinforcement to our security team. If we don¡¯t have room for security guards, we will hire them as Countryside Force guards. ¡±


    ¡°We still need them to learn to speak English at least.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care as long as they have a good personality and morality. We can always teach them English as we train them here.¡±


    Zeynep Security Service had been growing ever since it began taking requests from hotels in Istanbul. Due to the highly educated and trained security guards at thepany, the securitypany was already recognized as the top security service. Everyone wanted to hire security guards from Zeynep Security Service, so thepany needed to recruit more guards. Moreover, if Youngho decided to start the logging business in Siberia, the business would also need security guards there as well.


    ***


    As soon as Chul-hwan heard from Youngho, he flew to the autonomous state the very next day alone. His wife and children would pack their belongings in Batumi and followter.


    ¡°You dummy! Are you crazy? We are not even in a rush. Why dide by yourself? You could¡¯vee with your family when things were ready. Your wife would be mad at us now.¡±


    ¡°This butt head probably thought we were in the middle of a war or something. He goes anywhere to fight.¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth! I know you wouldn¡¯t have called me if you were not busy.¡±


    Even though Jong-il and In-soo were talking trash to him, Chul-hwan could care less about what they were saying. Although he had been managing Arirang Hotel in Batumi with Um Sang-teak, running a hotel was not for him. He rather liked to use his body and y rough. He was just d to be in the state to work for the Countryside Force.


    ¡°You saved my butt Youngho! Do you know how much I suffer from running the d*mn hotel? I was never meant to manage the hotel and work in a service position. I mean, I¡¯ve had some people leave the hotel because of me. Phew, d those days are over now.¡±


    ¡°What?! If you¡¯re having such problems, you should¡¯ve told him that earlier.¡±


    ¡°I was not so proud of what I¡¯ve done at the hotel. Why would I open my mouth to ruin my reputation?¡±


    With his husky body and stern face, Chul-hwan could seem like an intimidating person to strangers. It seemed like one of the managers of the hotel, he had scared off numbers of guests instead of attracting them.


    ¡°So, your wife didn¡¯t refuse toe here?¡±


    ¡°She loved it! She was so excited to be your neighbor. She didn¡¯t have many friends in Batumi. You know Armenians like her are not weed around the Caucasus region.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry to hear that. I thought you were doing well there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. It was not perfect but we were living the most luxurious life than ever. I¡¯d better notin.¡±


    Since Chul-hwan¡¯s family who moved from Korea lived a poor life in the past, they appreciated what they had now. That was probably why he did not say anything to Youngho even though he was not satisfied with his life in Batumi.


    Hearing his friend¡¯s story, Youngho felt sorry that he did not pay more attention to his struggles. He gave Chul-hwan a big hug instead of saying how sorry he felt.


    ¡°Umm... I don¡¯t like this. Why are you hugging me?¡±


    ¡°Just take it, you son of a gun. I am measuring your body to see how much fat you got.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy...¡±


    Although he pretended that he did not know what Youngho was doing, Chul-hwan also hugged him back.


    The presence of Chul-hwan made a big difference for the Countryside Force. After a few days of Chul-hwan being in charge, the whole force already looked like a sophisticated military unit. It was because he applied a strict incentive and punishment system to the force. If there was anyone who did not follow his order, his sry was deducted. Since they needed to be paid to live, the soldiers of the Countryside Force had no other choice but to follow the order of the chief. Not to mention, Chul-hwan¡¯s appearance probably made it more effective.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think your standard is a little too high? They are not from the regr army.¡±


    ¡°You know this is necessary until they are disciplined. At the right time, I will give them back their deducted sries. It would make them more dedicated to the training, order, and to the chief. The carrot and stick approach. This is what we used to do at the U.D.T. Unit, remember?¡±


    The system of the Countryside Force was not the only thing that Chul-hwan changed. He also suggested a few great ideas after looking around the metalb facility and repair shop. It was quite impressive how much had changed after Chul-hwan came. Seeing the changes, Youngho felt morefortable to leave the state for his trip to Volgograd.


    ***


    Along with Il-kwon, Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho, who had been working at the divostok warehouseplex for four years now, were on the flight to Volgograd. They were going on a business trip with Youngho since they could speak Russian.


    ¡°Sung-ki. Wasn¡¯t the head position of the shippingpany¡¯s security team enough for you? Why did you step down from it?¡±


    ¡°Boss. It is really boring to watch the ocean for years. Also, I want to get married. I¡¯m already over 30 years old. Everyone around me is married.¡±


    ¡°I was over 30 when I got married. I only have one child.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different because you were always busy. I am not busy like you.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki who sessfully defended Baku during the invasion of Armenian special force was one of the few people who still called Youngho ¡®Boss¡¯. Youngho had ced him as the head of the security team of Arirang Shipping long time ago. But after a few years, he wanted to step down ande back tond.


    ¡°Il-kwon. Do you know any single woman for Sung-ki? After he lost your younger sister to another guy, he¡¯s got no luck.¡±


    ¡°I already tried to help him a lot. But it seems like he doesn¡¯t have dating skills.¡±


    ¡°Secretary Kim! You didn¡¯t even help me. I¡¯ve heard that you were supporting Chul-ho while I am on the sea. You are responsible for my singleness!¡±


    ¡°Mr. Hong. I wasn¡¯t helping anybody. How can I stop people from falling in love?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care whatever you say! If you don¡¯t take this responsibility, my single soul will hunt you down in your dreams!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    It snowed terribly in January of Volgograd. The atmosphere in Yaniv¡¯s mansion in the forest was quite warm unlike the freezing weather outside. Youngho was not surprised that Yaniv constantly offered to drink more vodka to the whole group.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to try bear hunting, Lee. I will give you some bearskinter. I caught two bears and President Putin only caught one the other day. He was quite upset that day. ¡±


    Yaniv was proud of his bear hunting skill.


    ¡°You know he is known to be verypetitive Mr. Yaniv. Don¡¯t you worry about him taking his back on you?¡±


    ¡°I had no choice. We had a huge bet. I¡¯ve always lost, so I practiced shooting before going on the hunting trip this time. At least I proved how excellent the rifle made in your state. I bet he will use your rifle next time to hunt bears.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send a few more high-quality rifles to you. There had been some upgrades to our rifle.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Send me some then. I¡¯m going to have to make him feel better with the new rifle.¡±


    Their conversation continued untilte at night. They had plenty of topics to talk about such as the warship Youngho ordered previously, and the ground-breaking ceremony of the American corporation¡¯s factory in Volgograd.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. There is no big merit if I only collect the trees from Siberia if I don¡¯t own the property.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know Russia had been selling somend to foreign corporations?¡±


    ¡°I am not talking about buying a small area. I am talking about a site at least as big as the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry about it. I¡¯ve already picked a perfect ce for you. Go take a look at it and let me know if you like it.¡±

 Chapter 335 - Treasure Land (3)

    <h4>Chapter 335: Treasure Land (3)</h4>


    Youngho and hispany left Volgograd to look around the logging site that Yaniv had prepared for Youngho. The on-site survey of the Taiga forest of Siberia was scheduled to take a domestic flight to Krasnoyarsk and then explore with a helicopter provided by the Russian Army. Youngho was supposed to meet a guide at Krasnoyarsk International Airport.


    The group could also take Trans-Siberian Railway but it was a three-full-day trip on the road. It was fortunate that there was an airport in Krasnoyarsk as an industrial city of southern Siberia. After his experience on Trains Siberian Train, Youngho hated to get on there for another trip no matter how luxurious the passengerpartment was. He waspleted disgusted that he would never rmend it to someone else.


    It was because the trip was so boring. After spending an hour or two on the train, his whole body was twisted out of difort and boredom¡ªas the only entertainment was the simple scenery unfolded outside the window. Alcohol was the only thing on the boring trip that allowed alcohol-loving Russians to breathe. Although Youngho was quite an optimistic person, it was almost impossible for him to endure the long journey. Thus, he was just d that there was an airport in the city.


    At the airport, there was a man who definitely looked like a mafia but he was quite polite to Youngho and his family. It seemed that he was informed by Yaniv about who Youngho was.


    ¡°Mr. Lee? I¡¯m Sergeenko. Please to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m sorry that you had to wait for us in this cold weather.¡±


    ¡°Boss told me to escort you well. If you have any inconvenience, please feel free to tell me.¡±


    Yaniv must have asked him to treat Youngho¡¯s group politely, but his face looked so intimidating that Youngho did not want to ask anything from him even if he had inconvenience.


    ¡°It snowed too much. I¡¯m not sure if the helicopter can fly today.¡±


    ¡°The snow is only going to stop tomorrow morning. You can take some rest here tonight. In the morning, we¡¯ll drive for a while to get to a military unit and get on a helicopter from there.¡±


    It was odd that there was a military unit in the middle of the Siberian field, but this was Russia where umon things were possible. Youngho thought it would take an hour or two to get to the unit but his expectation was almost shattered the next day. Siberia was argend. The drive on the unpaved, snowy road took all day long. In Russia, the Krasnoyarsk region east of the Ural Mountains and the Zabaikal region in the south were called the Siberian region, while the rest of the region was called the Far East.


    Youngho and his family were now visiting Krasnoyarsk, which was widely known as a haven for political prisoners, and Taiga forest. The coniferous forest belt in the north was called Taiga. It was a tundra region where it was permafrost that was frozen all year round.


    Sergeenko kept saying ¡®we are almost there,¡¯ but the car drove for a couple more hours. It was the moment when the concept of time distance turned out to be meaningless to Russians. It took a long time until the military unit showed up.


    It was already evening when they arrived at the ce. The ce of the military unit used to be a concentration camp for prisoners but now it was where a battalion military unit was stationed.


    It was such a vast area that many people had been illegally collecting natural resources from the forest without permission. To prevent it, the government had stationed a military unit here. Since local police colluded with illegal smugglers, the military soldiers were sent to do the police¡¯s job but as far as Youngho knew, the Russian army was as rotten as the police.


    Upon meeting the battalionmander, Youngho gave him gifts that he had prepared previously. Whenever he had to meet someone in a high rank in Russia, he always prepared some gifts. This time, he brought a box of premium Zeynep Wine and the hunting rifle made in the Arirang Autonomous State. As he kindly informed themander that the same hunting rifle was also given to President Putin as a gift, he was almost out of breath.


    The battalionmander was a lieutenant colonel in his early 40s. His name was Dmitry Nikyevich Klimov. Although he might have been in a tight spot when he was ced in this Taiga region, which was not a border area, Youngho still had to earn his favor since he was themander of the garrison area. It would be a honor for his family since he was given the same hunting rifle which was given to the president as a gift as well. The lieutenant colonel immediately called the guard and told him to bring the vodka.


    ***


    The next day, a heavy helicopter to guide around the Taiga forest was preheating its engine at the training camp. It was unusual for a battalion-level unit in a remote area to have a helicopter of its own.


    The helicopter was one of the Kamov series that Russia boasted of. The helicopter was first introduced to Korea Forest Service in 1993. It looked so old that Youngho wondered if it could still fly without any problem.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. This is what the Far East Fleet used to have. It still has a long way to live. This is the best helicopter that can hold up in terrible weather conditions.¡±


    Youngho felt out of breath to hear that the unit still used retired items from the Russian Navy.


    ¡°Commander Klimov, is there any way that we can look around the region on a car?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll take too long because of the snow that had been piled up. I tell you this is totally safe, please don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Themander was being very kind to Youngho since they got to know each other better from sharing vodka togetherst night, but Youngho still could not believe he was going to get on the helicopter. But, it seemed that themander would be very disappointed if Youngho refused to get on it. Since Russian-made munitions were said to be strong, Youngho decided to trust him and venture.


    The endless stretch of woond was, in short, spectacr. All he could remember from touring the whole area for about an hour was that what was white were frozenkes or rivers and what was ck were trees. The huge Siberian forest, which ounted for 22 percent of the world¡¯s total forest area, was beyond description. Passing through the dense forest, he could seerge and smallkes and streams, and then again, the spectacr view of the vast forest continued. He wanted to stay there for hours but the group was forced to return to the base since the helicopter would be overloaded if it flew for hours.


    Deste Kazakhstan¡¯s vast ins were also spectacr, but the snow-covered Taiga region of Siberia was a fantasy itself. It was unbelievable that this beautifulnd of resources remained still intact in the north. Because of the awe that Youngho felt from the forest, he felt that it would be a crime to develop the untouched nature. He immediately fell in love with the hugend.


    It was not a matter of developing or not developing, but he wanted to feel the vastness of nature all over again by walking on the unchallengednd. Youngho had also heardst night that there would be no problem buying thend since it was neither a border area nor a specially protected area. The Russian government would not make a problem selling thend to foreign corporations that were registered in the country.


    Lt. Col. Klimov, who saw Youngho getting off the helicopter, grinned since he looked almost ecstatic.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Do you like this ce?¡±


    ¡°The forest is so majestic that I¡¯m almost lost for words.¡±


    ¡°The person who rmended this ce must be Mr. Yaniv in Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I already received an instruction from the higher-ups so I already know. He¡¯s a wealthy man who¡¯s close to President Putin.¡±


    He seemed to know that Yaniv was the boss of southern Russia mafia organization. Youngho had nothing to hide from him anymore.


    ¡°Yes, that is right. I saved his life once and now he treats me like his son.¡±


    ¡°So, what do you think? Do you still want to start a logging business here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still astounded by nature but I wouldn¡¯t havee here in this cold weather if I was not interested in the business.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard that this is a repository of resources?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what everyone already knows?¡±


    ¡°Do you remember that I told you that I¡¯ve been voluntarily working here for the past five years?¡±


    Lt. Col. Klimov¡¯s words sounded quite significant. Last night, he said that he was mesmerized by nature here, so he volunteered to work overtime even though he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. When Youngho heard him, he smirked in his mind since no one would volunteer to be in this remote area. He was sure that Klimov had nowhere else to go. But, it didn¡¯t seem like that. Klimov was trying to share a secret to Youngho now after he saw how Youngho was intrigued by thend.


    ***


    Comparing aerial photos and maps takenst summer, Klimov continued on to exin about thend.


    ¡°Where you¡¯d be exploiting is from this region to that region, Mr. Lee. Other regions are already selected by President Putin¡¯s close friends.¡±


    ¡°This region is full of littlekes and rivers but there are still countless trees to cut down.¡±


    ¡°It bes like a swamp in the summer because it gets really muddy. You could start working in October when thend dries out.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to take a break during the summer.¡±


    ¡°Are you still interested in developing thend?¡±


    Since it was a simple business that only needed cutting down and transporting trees, there was no reason for him to refuse it, especially when he did not need to pay for thend with his own money. Moreover, Youngho was already in love with the ck woods, Taiga.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to try.¡±


    The captain was lost in thought for a long time.


    ¡°Commander Klimov, is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, are you a Koryoin by any chance?¡±


    ¡°No, I was born in Korea and have been living in the Caucasus for almost ten years.¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, many say that Koreans are not to be trusted. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say that they could be trusted but there are; as many great Koreans as well as bad Koreans.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯re quite honest. That makes me want to trust you.¡±


    He was beating around the bush, so Youngho asked him directly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are thinking but I am a businessman. I have never betrayed anyone so far. I never know if I¡¯ll ever betray someone though.¡±


    Klimov took a small leather pocket which was on the iron table between the two and began to spread out the contents carefully. Hundreds of small stones were found in the leather pocket, they were the size of Leon¡¯s pinky fingernail.


    They were unclear but Youngho could tell that they were something like gemstones.


    ¡°These are rough diamonds.¡±


    ¡°What? Are these all diamonds?¡±


    ¡°I have checked already and I can tell you they are diamonds.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    He was surprised to see Youngho¡¯s calm reaction.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this amazing?¡±


    ¡°Rough diamonds are found frequently in Kazakhstan but gemstones are not pricey. Also, only 20% of the original gemstone is used to be jewelry and the rest would be used for industrial uses. Its value is unknown until it¡¯s processed and evaluated.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s important to know where ites from if you¡¯re going to be able to feel and rate it.¡±


    Hundreds of little rocks were making Youngho dizzy.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you to dispose of this. Wouldn¡¯t Mr. Yaniv have a market for these?¡±


    ¡°As you know, mafias will do any job that will make them money. It must be the best for you if you didn¡¯t expose this to them.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t Mr. Yaniv give me some profit if it was for your sake?¡±


    ¡°Phew, it sounds like you want to be responsible for this. It might be better for me to buy them from your hands and just let them rot at my home.¡±


    ¡°That may be true. You know since it¡¯s between you and me, we¡¯ll keep it as our own secret.¡±


    Youngho was also in a quandary because he had never experienced such a case before. It was also funny to set the price on a raw stone, let alone making a deal. If it were only industrial diamond and not jewelry-quality diamond, it would only be a problem for Youngho. Since he had no knowledge about diamonds, there was no price Young-ho could offer for the jewelry.


    However, Klimov insisted that they were diamonds. Because of the fact that Youngho had already learned the secret of the lieutenant colonel, he was forced to ept the offer now. The colonel offered the price of 50 dors per rock. It seemed that even if Youngho sold them for industrial use, he would easily make such amount of money.


    In order to develop the forest in the future, Youngho would have to earn the colonel¡¯s favor or the colonel could interrupt his business any time.


    They counted the number of rocks and settled the price of 27,000 dors for 430 rocks. Youngho promised to give cash on his next visit. That amount of money was quite a lot of money in Russia.


    At the end of the deal, Klimov surprised Youngho by making an unexpected announcement.


    ¡°I collected these gemstones near the trees,kes, and rivers from the region where you¡¯re going to exploit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    If that was true, it seemed that Youngho had truly gained a treasurend. It was only a matter of time how long the secret would be kept.

 Chapter 336 - Memorandum of Understanding (1)

    <h4>Chapter 336: Memorandum of Understanding (1)</h4>


    The Ural Mountains and the Pacific coast were known as Siberia. Eventually, it was divided into Ural, West Siberian, East Siberian and Far Eastern regions, which were a vast area with the east-west distance of 7,000 kilometers and with the north-south distance of 3,500 kilometers.


    Among them, the woond of coniferous trees was called the Taiga region. The region was filled with densely grown deciduous trees, fir trees, spruce trees, birch trees, pine trees, and western cedar trees.


    Except for mountainous areas, most of the area was wends, and in the summer they turned into muddy water, allowing logging only in the winter when the ground was frozen.


    Despite his doubts, Youngho hade to look at the region because the US CIA was also actively pushing it, but he now grew fond of thend especially after he heard about diamond stones near the rivers andkes. He had only thought that diamonds were produced only in mines. He was quite intrigued to hear that diamonds were found near the riverside.


    Klimov told him that the only period that diamonds could be collected was the summer season once the snow and ice melted. Since Youngho would be able to make money by logging in the winter and collecting diamonds in the summer, buying thend did not sound like a bad idea.


    ¡°These are diamonds?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He said that he mobilized soldiers to collect 540 of them for five years.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s not only him who knows about it.¡±


    ¡°He told the soldiers that he likes to collect shiny stones. For every shiny rock the soldiers collected, he gave them one cigarette pack in exchange, and then he collected all of them in a ss bottle to disy it in his bedroom.¡±


    He treated the gemstones casually so no one thought that they were valuable diamonds.


    ¡°That guy is clever. But if we start developing thend, he won¡¯t be able to reach there. Why would he tell you about this?¡±


    ¡°He said that we can¡¯t even go into the muddy field during the summer, so he will collect it for us for 50 dors each.¡±


    If themander of the district decided to y tricks to interrupt Youngho, he could restrict ess to the area for safety reasons as thend in the summer period turned into a giant swamp. Officially, Youngho would have no reason to refuse the militarymander¡¯s order to go there in the summer since logging business was only possible in the winter. He had no choice but toply with themander.


    ¡°He¡¯s openly asking for a bribe.¡±


    ¡°He was rather acting seriously. He was ready to do some business.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s good for us after all. I wouldn¡¯t want to search the swamp region and suffer from mosquito bites to pick up some stones. They don¡¯t worth my time and effort. It¡¯s better to pay him the money for diamonds.¡±


    ¡°I know but I¡¯m just a little frustrated since I don¡¯t know how much I should be paying for a rough diamond stone.¡±


    ¡°Can I have a few? I¡¯ll check its price when I go to Almaty next time.¡±


    Jong-il treated it with little consideration. It was only a solid stone that cost 50 dors each, and there was no proof that it was a really rough diamond. Also, he thought that themander would not have sold it for 50 dors each if it was a real diamond.


    A carat of diamonds weighed 200 milligrams. The cost of processed diamonds traded in New York¡ªthe world¡¯srgest diamond trading market¡ªwas around $7,000 per carat. The price of a diamond was determined by its color, rity, ws, design, and cut.


    Most of the diamond stones collected were for industrial use, and stones that could be processed as jewelry were ssified more, closely evaluated and sold to stone dealers in each country through the London Diamond Syndicate which was the Central Selling Organization of diamonds in London.


    The British Central Selling Organization handled more than 80 percent of the world¡¯s stones and decided their prices. Therefore, the individually owned raw gemstones were no more than hard rocks.


    Youngho decided to do logging business and forest development anyway. Thus, he needed to build a strong rtionship with the local armymander by making a deal with him. After buying the rough diamond stones, he thought that he could at least sell them for industrial purposes in the worst case scenario. The diamond deal was an unexpected event, but his focus had to be about the logging business.


    Now that he was determined, the first step he needed to take was to make a business n and report it to Yaniv; he would then report the progress to Michael in the CIA¡¯s European chapter.


    ***


    Kim Chun after watching some videos and photos was excited saying that the state would be getting good timber from now on.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to transport them here from Siberia. It¡¯ll be best for us to process the wood in the pulp and paper factories in the city of Krasnoyarsk for now.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean? You can¡¯t even use wood to your heart¡¯s content when you own a logging business? I mean, we¡¯ve got the need at the state right at the moment because we need them to build houses.¡±


    ¡°You can order wood from Volgograd and transport them on a ship if you need it now. What are you worried about, Commissioner Kim?¡±


    Kim Chun¡¯s mind was preupied and busy by the construction of new houses for Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan. It was quite inconvenient in Kazakhstan that building materials had to rely solely on imports. It took too long to transport them bynd, so the best transportation method was using ships, but the river and sea were already frozen hard because of the cold weather. Even with icebreakers, the broken ice was a nuisance because it prevented a ships¡¯ navigation.


    ¡°My dream was to live in a tree-lined area since I was young.¡±


    ¡°I see. You don¡¯t see many trees in Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not only that. I envied Russian people who heat their houses with wood. Most Kazakh people used oval briquettes, and the smell of them gave me a headache all winter long.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is full of oil. Are you saying you didn¡¯t use oil ever?¡±


    ¡°Because it was during the Soviet era. All of the oil produced was taken to Russia, and Kazakh people couldn¡¯t even touch it. But now, I feel like we¡¯re paying back to Russia since we can get wood from Siberia.¡±


    Kim Chun¡¯s words were filled with resentment.


    The Soviet Union had scratched away all the resources from Kazakhstan in the past, so it was understandable that Kim Chun felt that he was taking revenge on Russia.


    Although Kazakhstan was free from Russia, its economy was still controlled by wealthy Russians, and people hated that. If there was a way to bring timbers from Taiga forest into Kazakhstan, the Kazakh government would wee it with open arms.


    This made Youngho think. In order to make that happen, he would have to consider Russia¡¯s logging policies. If he had to sell all of the logs to Russia, he wanted to refuse to get involved in the business. One thing that concerned him was that Russia recently was restricting timber exports and was focusing on pulp and paper manufacturing.


    Since Youngho would be only involved in logging, not in the timber processing industry, Russia¡¯s restrictions in exportation would be directly rted to his business. In that case, logs would have more added values only when the timber processing industry was involved. He might have to move away from being a simple supplier of raw wood by stretching into the processing wood business. If he could attract a U.S.pany as a business partner, he would be able to save his face before the Russian government. Russia would never refuse to build a factory on its ownnd with foreign investments.


    Although it was a country that was unstable due tock of consistency in policy, it would not call for nationalization of all industries as ignorant as it used to be in this global era. If it did, Russia would be bogged down by economic sanctions, as well as suffering from massive internationalwsuits.


    When he was done thinking, Youngho called Michael in the European chapter.


    ¡°Chief. There must be a lumber mill or pulp and paper factory. There would be no gain for us if I involve in logging business only.¡±


    ¡°The headquarters thinks so too. Recently, Japan and China also announced that they will invest in the woodworking industry in Russia. Of course, Americanpanies should step in.¡±


    ¡°The ce near Krasnoyarsk is the best location for factories since it is easy to ess. I¡¯ll ask for the best site for factories.¡±


    ¡°You can hint at Russia that you¡¯re going to attract an American lumberpany.¡±


    ¡°How much would the investment amount be?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet but pulp and paper factory would be over 100 million dors.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv will y the role of the agency if I introduce an Americanpany to Russia, and I will have to invest some for the factory too.¡±


    ¡°Okay, suit yourself. The role of the CIA will be highlighted only when you step into this business. I hate to hear that we¡¯re an organization that only eats up the national budget.¡±


    Youngho smiled after he was done talking to Michael. He now had a good blueprint for the business.


    ***


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s up with Leon¡¯s face?¡±


    ¡°He fell while I was looking away for a moment. He¡¯s too active that I can¡¯t watch his every move.¡±


    Youngho returned from Siberia, and he saw a scratch mark on the bridge of Leon¡¯s nose. He looked even more mischievous now. Since he liked to y wildly, he always had bruises or scratches on his body.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d be exhausted by him eventually. Even his aunt Zeynep has given up ying with him.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which, the Archduchess said she doesn¡¯t know whom he gets that from.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that for me to hear?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, never.¡±


    The follower couple denied Youngho¡¯s spection, but the couple had been getting somewhat big-headed because they were getting close to Fatima. Kim In-hwa imed to be Fatima¡¯s secretary now, which meant that she had entered an area where Youngho could not touch. Many royal princesses or queens had a personal secretary, but in the case of Fatima, who had no external activities, having a secretary was just a luxury. But Kim In-hwa now pretended to be her full-time secretary. Youngho was only pretending to be ignorant about this because he thought that having a close friend next to her would be good for Fatima anyway.


    ¡°I have a n to go to Moscow to sign a memorandum of understanding for the logging business, but this time I will have to go with you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t speak Russian fluently yet. I¡¯m not sure I can offer much help.¡±


    ¡°Foreign investment attraction documents are written in English, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Russian officials must be good drinkers. I bet they¡¯ll want to have a drink after signing the memorandum of understanding.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Since it is winter, they¡¯ll want to drink up all night long.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Suh Min-seok¡¯s face turned white. A cup of vodka could cause burning pain in the esophagus, and many people found it hard to endure that pain. In the beginning, Youngho had a hard time getting used to it too.


    ¡°If you want to live here, you should get used to drinking vodka. It¡¯s rude when you frown in front of business partners because of a drink.¡±


    ¡°I know that but I still can¡¯t help it. The alcohol is too strong. I suffered for days after drinking it in Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you need to fill your stomach with dairy goods before drinking it.¡±


    ¡°Can we drink Zeynep Wine instead of vodka this time?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? When you¡¯re in Russia, you follow the Russian rules.¡±


    Youngho was scaring Suh Min-seok with nonsense because it was amusing to tease someone who felt like his younger brother. Suh Min-seok, who thought that he would be excluded from this trip with Fatima and Leon on his back, was disgusted to think about going to Russia and drinking vodka.


    A few dayster, Youngho¡¯s group made it to Arirang Hotel in Moscow. Lee Chul-ho, who was the head of the security team of the hotel, greeted them at the hotel¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°Boss. You are here. We¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve waited for Secretary Kim instead of me.¡±


    Kim Il-kwon¡¯s younger sister Kim Sung-ryung was Lee Chul-ho¡¯s wife now, which made him Kim Il-kwon¡¯s brother-inw.


    ¡°Goodness no, we¡¯ve waited for you because we would all get our bonus pay once you are here boss.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, these people always want money from me.¡±


    ¡°My wife was also excited to hear that you areing, Boss.¡±


    ¡°Why? Did your payment got dyed or something? I guess Kim Sung-ryung is now fully immersed in capitalism.¡±


    Every time he visited a business site, he gave a small amount of money to express sincerity to his employees. Now whenever he forgot to give some to them, it was rumored that Zeynep Corporation was not doing well. Youngho believed that a little bit of recognition to employees on top of their regr sries would boost the vitality of the organization. The monthly pay was fixed, but the bonus pay was extra money, which was like an unexpected gift. There would be no employees who did not like bonus payment.


    ¡°The staffs are very excited to hear that they are participating in the development of Siberiannd.¡±


    ¡°Why is that? Are you going to help out with that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who works in Russia, shouldn¡¯t I be the one to help you?¡±


    ¡°Superior, Lee Chul-ho, I can let you have everything but not Siberia!¡±


    ¡°Hey, Hong Sung-ki! What have you let me have so far?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you¡¯ve got to have some conscience. Think about what you took from me.¡±


    Everyone was brightened up except for Suh Min-seok who looked like a cow that was dragged to a ughterhouse.

 Chapter 337 - Memorandum of Understanding (2)

    <h4>Chapter 337: Memorandum of Understanding (2)</h4>


    The next day, Yaniv and his men also arrived at the Arirang Hotel.


    The airport was paralyzed by a heavy snowstorm that had hit all over Moscow, but thankfully the airne managed tond. Younghoter found out from Sergey that Yaniv was able to arrive by threatening the captain who was going to return to Volgograd. It was terrifying to hear. It was fortunate that Yaniv came to Moscow safely, but it could have jeopardized the lives of everyone who was on the ne. This made Youngho realized that this was Russia. The poor captain would haveplied with the direction of the famous mafia boss, Yaniv.


    Despite having made such a desperate attempt tond at his destination, Yaniv acted naturally. Themotion in the lobby was proof of that.


    ¡°My man! You¡¯re an excellent businessman. You¡¯ve already contacted an Americanpany?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a verbal agreement, but I got a positive response.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I¡¯ve been doing so welltely because of you. How should I reward you?¡±


    ¡°A gift between you and me? There¡¯s no need. Get me a logging machine, the stronger the better!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with giving a gift to you? I¡¯ll have to give Zeynep more money for her foundation then.¡±


    ¡°Yes. That would be fine. Zeynep will be excited to hear that.¡±


    ¡°She calls me sometimes. She evenined about you giving her little allowance.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have given Zeynep any extra money, would you?¡±


    ¡°Haha... Can I interfere with the rules set by the head of her family? She must¡¯ve called me so she could push me to give her some welfare money.¡±


    After entering college, Zeynep had been receiving welfare funds from everywhere. The biggest hand by far was Yaniv. She seemed to call him often as an excuse to secretly apply pressure so that he would donate more money.


    In Europe, royal families and aristocrats were usually very proud of creating social welfare foundations, helping needy neighbors and providing research funds to climate research institutes. The general view of it was also very favorable. They viewed it as something worthy of their social status.


    Every year in Europe, there was a massive sale called Boxing Day, which originated from the day after Christmas in the past when thendlords handed out groceries to his residents in boxes. It was because the lord¡¯s duty was to look after his people.


    Therefore, often times, a nobleman or a royal blood ran a social welfare foundation. Since Zeynep was also a princess, being a descendant of the Archduke of the fallen Serbian Kingdom, Youngho put her in charge of the Arirang Foundation in advance. It was to prepare her for her future possible exchanges with other royal families in Europe. Whether or not other European royal families recognized the family of an Archduke, it was important that she maintained her dignity as a nobleman. Regardless of personal wealth, it was a tradition in Europe that a nobleman should help neighbors who were in need first.


    The Arirang Hotel in Moscow belonged to Yaniv, and Youngho only had 20 percent of its share and management rights. Thus, Yaniv had a high voice in the business.


    Sergey already had set up a drink table at a room that had a terrific view.


    ¡°Brother, the sun is still up. Are you going to start drinking already?¡±


    ¡°Lee, it¡¯s going to snow soon. Isn¡¯t this a nice atmosphere to drink? We¡¯ll have to drink anyway. It¡¯s better to set up the table before Boss gets upset.¡±


    It would be a great discourtesy if acquaintances were gathered in Russia, and they were out of alcohol. It was because the Russians were great alcohol lovers.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we start with Zeynep Wine today?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s quite hot-tempered to the point where he wouldnd an airne that was going to return by force. He¡¯s going to want to start with vodka on a day like this.¡±


    Suh Min-seok was now hurriedly shoving cheese into his stomach. Although Yaniv might never offer a drink to him, he was already scared of vodka.


    ***


    There was not much in the contents of the memorandum of understanding (MOU). Although there were many implementations based on logging, this was the key: The logging section of the Taiga region was stated between 93 and 95 degrees east longitude and 58-58.5 degrees northtitude in Krasnoyarsk province.


    After thend that had been logged, the lumberjack or the logging business owner had the right to develop thend first, and when the development was determined to bepleted, ownership was transferred to the business owner from the Russian government.


    In principle, logging trees were consumed in Russia, but there was a provision that exports could be made if the business owner established a woodworkingpany in Russia.


    Although it is an extremelyprehensive memorandum of understanding that left some room for arbitrary interpretation, Youngho did not question it at all because it was a matter that would have been discussed only in the conclusion of this contract after conducting a preliminary investigation anyway, and he could not even think of anything to do with the wends after cutting down the trees. Except for the said-to-be diamond stones, which seemed to be of little money, there was no big merit to thergend.


    He thought that it was unusual for logging locations to be marked withtitudes and longitudes, rather than using the measure of square kilometers. Thend given to Youngho was roughly 55 kilometers in length and width. To make aparison, the area was about five times the size of Seoul.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, when will we finish cutting down all of those trees?¡±


    Looking at the logging area from afar, Suh Min-seok asked.


    ¡°By the time we¡¯re done cutting trees, other trees would¡¯ve grown from the area that we first started cutting, and we¡¯d have to cut them down again.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll cut them faster if we cut them simultaneously here and there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a wend. Six to seven months in the winter are the maximum time we can work on thend. It¡¯s also going to be busy during the winter since we¡¯ll have to clear the way to transport wood. By the way, I don¡¯t even intend to do random logging. If I cut down the trees, I¡¯ll nt it twice as much again.¡±


    Youngho was not a great environmentalist, but nting trees was necessary to elongate the life of the logging business. The memorandum of understanding does not set a logging period, but only marked a logging area. Since he did not want to develop thend, he wanted to keep the logging business as long as he could.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯ve been given such a huge area that could be only marked with thetitude and longitude. I mean, we don¡¯t even have a map.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be only able to see at a nce with satellite pictures.¡±


    Youngho and Suh Min-seok could not keep their mouths shut about the huge area where they could not fathom how big it was through drone pictures or on a helicopter. He was not sure what else might be hidden in the forest, but he wanted to explore it before it became a muddy field when the summer came.


    ¡°I should go back to the state and set up an expedition team.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you trying to investigate the forest while it¡¯s still winter?¡±


    ¡°This is a ce where I can only go in the winter. We have to do a preliminary survey in order to present our requirements when we conclude the contract.¡±


    He did not want to sign a loose contract since it would be used permanently. Through a thorough investigation, Youngho wanted to make a favorable contract with the Russian government.


    Youngho was the one who signed a memorandum of understanding with the government this time. However, the local agency of the American lumberpany was Yaniv. The agency¡¯s job which was to be in charge of everything that went on in Russia was nothing short of a local sponsor in a broader sense.


    While it was not necessary to sponsor its own people like in the countries in the Middle East,panies investing in socialist countries were receiving help from local influential people as their sponsors. In Russia, where money and power were over thew, it was convenient in many ways to have a mafia as a sponsor. If things went wrong, the mafia would resolve them all with one-stop service. Mafias were in a sense stronger than the police.


    The main office of Youngho¡¯s loggingpany would be located in Volgograd, and Suh Min-seok was going to proceed with the corporate establishment with the help of Sergey. He was not that frightened by the mafiaspared to before, as he slowly became aware of what the mafias were like in Russia. And now that he knew how influential Youngho was in Russia, he was more confident to work with the mafias than before. After finishing their work in Moscow, Youngho¡¯s group parted ways.


    Youngho and Kim Il-kwon returned to the Arirang Autonomous State, while Suh Min-seok left there to returnter when he had finished processing the establishment of the logging business in Volgograd. Youngho assigned Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho¡ªwho could speak Russian fluently¡ªas Suh Min-seok¡¯s guards because he knew that Suh Min-seok would be severely disadvantaged or ripped off by the Russian police or the customs at the airport.


    ***


    There was nothing like a Turkish long-range light-armored vehicle that could easily move around the Siberian region, but there was no way to bring it to Siberia. It seemed that it would be cheaper in terms of cost to rent a caterpir track vehicle that belonged to the local Russian army unit for this winter. Once the logging business was carried out, the Turkish light-armored vehicle would be required to ride around swamps and be covered in mud.


    Waiting for Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho to return, the state was busy preparing for the expedition team¡¯s winter trip.


    Dr. Park Young-sun, a geology expert, had to join the expedition. He was now trying to improve his body strength these days by exercising in a fitness centertely. Park Young-sun was easily able to adapt to different regions due to his frequent outdoor activities, but being over 50, it would still be difficult for him to adapt to the frigid Taiga forest with temperatures ranging from minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius.


    It was because the severely cold climate would exhaust people even if they were sitting inside a vehicle. Even employees of Zeynep Security Service, who had undergone extreme training found it hard to endure the coldness. To prepare for the expeditions, the team hurried to order hiking gear and camping gear that was used for pr expeditions.


    As the preparation for the expedition wasing to an end, an incident broke out in an unexpected ce and held the team back. A sanguinary collision broke out in Kyrgyzstan, and the autonomous state quickly transported Koryoin people living in dangerous areas. It was because a number of Uzbek people had rioted in the city of Oshu in Kyrgyzstan where it was bordered by Uzbekistan. During their protest to the Kyrgyz government due to its favoritism of Kyrgyz over other ethnic groups in the process of dividing residential areas, Uzbek people had rioted against the government.


    As emotions grew more and more intense, a fight erupted, atst. It even involved weapons. It may be hard to understand for Koreans how civilians could own weapons, but peoplemonly carried rifles in the regions of Central Asia and the Caucasus. The problem was that there were also Koryoins who were living in the region, who had decided to move to the autonomous state previously. They were now vulnerably exposed to the middle of the battle.


    Youngho received Jong-il¡¯s urgent call.


    ¡°Youngho, it¡¯s not the best time to leave for Siberia. I¡¯ll get ready to escort Koroyins to Almaty from Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°Okay, should Ie with you?¡±


    ¡°No, stay there and get ready to receive immigrants that I¡¯ll be sending from here. I¡¯ve already informed everyone in the primary danger zone. There¡¯s no ce for people to stay here right now, I¡¯ll send them off on train as soon as they get here. There are more than 200 people in 47 households.¡±


    ¡°I got you. Me and Cho Chul-hwan will dispatch the Countryside Force guards to Almaty Station soon.¡±


    ¡°Okay. If the situation gets worse, we¡¯ll move all the Koryoins in the Oshu area. I¡¯ll keep an eye on the situation here and then decide.¡±


    ¡°Do you have enough funds?¡±


    ¡°I do. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re short of housing. You need to set up yurts just in case.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Just make sure to move everyone from dangerous areas, with force if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    From the other end of the phone, Youngho could hear noise from the surrounding area. It seemed that Jong-il was busy since he could not talk for too long.


    Youngho expected to receive Koryoin immigrants starting in the spring, but the situation would not allow him to wait for them until spring. The state could receive the number of people who would be moving now, but there were no extra houses for future immigrant groups. Since a fight had started, the whole city of Oshu would be agitated soon.


    Youngho hurriedly sought Kim Chun.


    ¡°Boss. There are 53 houses, including those vacated by the Korean employees of the road construction consortium. If the number of immigrants increases, we¡¯ll have no choice but to get the former construction site amodation ready. We can¡¯t let them sleep in yurts in this cold weather.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since the amodation had been used.¡±


    ¡°If we fix it a little bit, we¡¯ll be able to have 20 households there. If we¡¯re short, we¡¯ll have to ask our residents to provide rooms for them. If that doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll put them in the hotel. They¡¯re all our poor fellow countrymen.¡±


    Youngho was proud of Kim Chun, who was worked up to exin his n. Others might think that he only cared for Koryoin people, but Youngho did not think so. As an ethnic minority in Kazakhstan, Kim Chun knew exactly what other Koryoins might be suffering from in foreignnds as they were forcibly pushed. He had a strong affection for them.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. There¡¯s one more thing that we can use as a lodging facility in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°What? Is there a ce I don¡¯t know in the autonomous state?


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the car ferry with 40 rooms for four-people and six-people and 30 two-people rooms. There are also rooms for arge group.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

 Chapter 338 - Koryoin Immigrants – Part II (1)

    <h4>Chapter 338: Koryoin Immigrants ¨C Part II (1)</h4>


    Atyrau, where the Arirang Autonomous State was located, was 2,700 kilometers away from Almaty, the economic capital of Kazakhstan. The train route from Almaty to the Port of Atyrau was about 1.5 times longer than the direct distance between the two cities.


    The Koryoin immigrants who just finished their four-day train trip to Atyrau only had bags of clothes with them. Because of the sudden event, they did not have enough time to pack most of their belongings. Since it was a life-or-death situation, they had no time to think. Trusting the agents of the Arirang Autonomous State that they would be given houses and furniture, they took heavy steps for their immigration journey.


    Although they did not have much living in a remote region of Kyrgyzstan, their faces were saddened by the fact that they had to leave their hometown unwillingly. Their ancestors were driven out of the Maritime Province 70 years ago, and they were experiencing the same event now.


    Hearing their sad news, Koryoins who resided in Atyrau stepped in to help. Most of the Koryoins in Atyrau were middle-ss citizens, and they had enough to share. They offered warm tea to Koryoins that just got off the train and gave them a ride to the port.


    The autonomous state could rent some buses for the immigrants, but the state decided to take the local Koryoins¡¯ warm-hearted offer since their countrymen¡¯s help would cheer up the desperate immigrants.


    Many of the Koryoin immigrants who were escorted to the port were crying. Although many of them had already decided to move to the autonomous state, they were never meant to be driven out from their homes this way. They did not have much, but they wanted to save some money after selling their properties and belongings. However, they had nothing in their hands now, just like homeless people. They found some sce in local Koryoins¡¯ kindness since they waited for them despite the cold weather.


    The immigrants were startled to see a big ship waiting for them. They had thought that they would be going to the state directly from the train station, but they were escorted to a port. They were also surprised to see a ship named ¡®Arirang.¡¯


    Kim Chun, with a megaphone on his hand, announced to the immigrants at the dock.


    ¡°My fellow Koryoins! This is the ship that you¡¯ll be getting on! If we travel for a half day more on this ship along the river, you¡¯ll be directed to your warm houses that have been waiting for you.¡±


    The crowd chatted amongst themselves, but no one was daring enough to get on board. They were rather appalled by the luxurious-looking ship since they had never been on such ship. Many times in Central Asia, any buses and trains were quite ragged and old and people could ride on them even if their shoes were dirty with dirt or animal feces. But, seeing the clean, luxury ship, the Koryoin immigrants were reluctant to get on board so easily.


    Seeing that, Kim Chun raised his voice again.


    ¡°This ship belongs to the Arirang Autonomous State. This is what you¡¯ll be using quite often and you won¡¯t get charged at all.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that you won¡¯t charge us for this luxurious ship?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Are you ready to get on board now? Hurry, it¡¯s cold outside. Our ship is warm and we¡¯ve got food ready for you.¡±


    Kim Chun was encouraging people like a merchant trying to sell his products. It made people smile. Trusting Kim Chun¡ªwho introduced himself as themissioner of the autonomous state¡ªpeople started to get on board one by one.


    ***


    206 Koryoins of 47 households from Kyrgyzstan could not believe that they were given houses and enough daily supplies. They were already informed that a wealthy Korean businessman had created the state, but it was hard to believe that he would be this generous to give away such necessities to strangers. They thought that Youngho would exploit them since he was providing them a ce to stay for free.


    Just as they thought, the administration of the state came out to do a census survey for the new immigrant group and investigated all sorts of details about them. The next day, Koryoin immigrants were sent to the hospital to do physical exams for the first time in their lives.


    The immigrants were now certain that the state was checking their conditions before giving them hardbor positions. It only made sense to think this way since they were given all sorts of things for free.


    On the third day of their arrival, the administrative officials of the state asked them if any of them could work starting from people who had carpentry or machinery skills. Also, the officials registered everyone who was in school-age for schooling. Seeing how everything was processing, the immigrants thought that what they had been thinking was right after all. But not long after that, their bad feelings had changed into hope.


    The administration gave everyone a job ording to their talents and expertise. Moreover, their work environment was great, and the intensity of their work was even yawning. Not to mention, they soon learned that their payment was unimaginably goodpared to what people received in Central Asia.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. How do you think people are reacting to their new lives?¡±


    ¡°The technicians are happy that they have jobs now. Also, many are d to hear that farming and ranching could be their main jobs, not side jobs.¡±


    In Kyrgyzstan, where the light industry was not developed well, finding a job was as difficult as picking a star from the sky especially when native Kyrgyz people were given opportunities first before other ethnic minorities.


    ¡°Do they recognize that everything doesn¡¯te free of cost?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re aware of the facts that they¡¯ll pay for their houses if they had not built it on their own and some percentage of their pay would be taken off as a tax.¡±


    If the state gave away everything for free just because the immigrants were in a pitiful situation, they would soon lose motivation to work and bezy.


    When the first generation of Serbian immigrants came to the autonomous state, houses were provided at no cost because they helped to build houses and cities to establish the state. But now, new immigrants already had great infrastructures and an established city that they could enjoy without any effort.


    In order to be fair for all residents, the state decided to make immigrants pay for the houses if they did not build them.


    ¡°They don¡¯t have much yet. Please give them enough daily supplies.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least now we get to use the daily supplies that we had stocked up because of Russia¡¯s tyranny at the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°You should provide only basic home appliances and furniture. The original residents will only help them when we do so.¡±


    If everything was ready for the new immigrants, there would be no room for original residents¡¯ help. They would only share when there was a need for it. This would provide more opportunities for people to connect with each other.


    ¡°By the way, you must be bummed because the Siberian expedition was dyed now.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, I don¡¯t even think about that now. I¡¯m only d that we¡¯ve got more poption in the state now.¡±


    ¡°Even if we get more immigrants in the future, we won¡¯t have to worry about their housing since we can use the car ferry.¡±


    Although the urgent issue was resolved now, Youngho was still standing by at the autonomous state since he did not know what would happen next. Jong-il asked him to stay until he returned to the autonomous state, and it seemed that there was a sign that something else was about to happen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be moving when Park Jong-il returns. While waiting for him, I¡¯m going to master how to fly the Jet. I feel sorry that we always ask the pilot instructors from Cessna to fly the Jets for us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I think there might be a way to fly the Jets.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I think we might be able to recruit some of the Jet pilots and mechanics sent by Cessna. There are a few of them who are going out with Serbian girls.¡±


    Serbian girls were pretty, but they did not give a chance to men so easily because they were quite conservative. Once they entered the marriageable age, they acted very carefully.


    Youngho took the news by surprise since he could not believe that Serbian women would date foreign men.


    ¡°Whoa, they must be great with girls. How did they develop such a rtionship with the Serbian girls?¡±


    ¡°You know, they¡¯re young and passionate. There are plenty of spaces to meet up with each other such as movie theaters and caf¨¦s.¡±


    It was funny how conservative Serbian girls were helping Youngho out by dating American men. The pure Serbian girls who had been living in the mountainous region in istion must have looked like angels to American pilots and mechanics.


    Since most of the dispatched pilots and mechanics sent from Cessna were not married, Youngho wished them to stay at the state, and now it did not seem like an impossible story.


    ***


    The first group of Kyrgyz Koryoin Immigrants was very satisfied with their new life.


    Although the natural environment was not as great as Kyrgyzstan, which was often referred to as Switzend of Central Asia, the autonomous state¡¯s system was just above their expectations.


    The public order of the autonomous state was naturally formed because of the peaceful life that the residents had now. The state was full of respect for each other which was unimaginable in Kyrgyzstan where people were desperate to make ends meet. The new immigrants had never experienced such an advanced culture up until now.


    Whatever they did, it was natural that theycked basic public order.


    Youngho only found this out because of Kim Chun who came to his office toin about them.


    ¡°Whoa,missioner. Are there that many people who received penalty points?¡±


    ¡°I guess they didn¡¯t have to keep basic order in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not used to the life here yet. If they could learn from how our residents live here, they¡¯ll soon change.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think we should be stricter in order to change them.¡±


    Kim Chun reported that the Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan were ignorant of basic public order. It must be not a problem in Kyrgyzstan to throw away trash anywhere, but the autonomous state did not allow such thing, not even wasting water on the ground.


    It was expected to line up and be quiet in public ces in order to be considerate of others, but the new immigrants did not care about such rules and were not ashamed of their behaviors.


    Since this could be a huge issue in the autonomous state¡¯s society, which could be even expanded to a division between people, this had to be addressed directly. Education was necessary for new immigrants.


    ¡°Commissioner. Why don¡¯t we gather all of the working people, and educate them for a while? It¡¯s not that they¡¯re bad people. They just don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Great. I was going to discuss that with you anyway, Boss. They had been living in a disordered social setting for such a long time and education seems to be a must at this point.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s discouraging that their lifestyle is really different from how we live, but we should focus on what we can do for them now.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Boss. Ha... I should go ahead and think about how I can teach them now...¡±


    Kim Chun sighed as he left.


    His shoulders were drooping. Although Kim Chun was d that new Koryoins wereing to the autonomous state, it seemed that it would take a while until they could adapt to the new custom and life of the state. They were just so different from Kazakh people.


    Many of them also lost their identity as Koryoins. It made Kim Chun very sad.

 Chapter 339 - Koryoin Immigrants – Part II (2)

    <h4>Chapter 339: Koryoin Immigrants ¨C Part II (2)</h4>


    At the boisterous sound in his house, Youngho came downstairs only to meet the follower couple ying with his kids even though it was still morning.


    ¡°Hey, guys! Can¡¯t you keep it down? I need some more sleep. I didn¡¯t even sleep four hours since I got here early in the morning.¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t sleep until you got here either, Mr. CEO.¡±


    These days, the follower couple always talked back to Youngho. It started ever since they got closer to Fatima and Leon.


    ¡°Oh, is that so? Why didn¡¯t you sleep more then? Instead of waking me up this morning at my house?¡±


    ¡°I heard that Leon was looking for me.¡±


    ¡°Phew, is Leon your best friend now?¡±


    Although the couple used an excuse of Leon to stay, they must havee to get a free meal from Fatima since the cafeteria at the administration building was closed on weekends. They alwayse to Youngho¡¯s house to get food on weekends and holidays.


    Youngho came back from the Koryoin mine vigete at night with H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joo-hyuk. It was because the road that connected the vige and the new mineral open-storage yard at the Port of Atyrau had an opening ceremony yesterday.


    The road from the vige was paved until the outskirt of Atyrau and the rest of the road was evened out now¡ªthat the transportation of minerals would be sped up from now on.


    Youngho would have stayed at the mining vige for the night and drank with the miners but because the state was busy for the Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, he had toe back as soon as the ceremony was finished.


    ¡°Are there other things to report?¡±


    ¡°No, there was nothing special. Oh, and I had not told you about this before but there is a person with special expertise among the new Koryoin immigrants. Would you like to meet him?¡±


    ¡°What specialty?¡±


    ¡°He majored in Oriental medicine.¡±


    ¡°Does he have a license?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing of sort. He¡¯s learned it from his father. But in Osh, his family used to be known as a noted doctor among Koryoins. Many Koryoins after moving here said that they¡¯d rather go see him than going to the hospital.¡±


    ¡°So, he¡¯s been treating people without reditation so far.¡±


    ¡°In Kyrgyzstan, people recognized him as a traditional remedial treatment doctor, and local Kyrgyz people also sought him for treatments.¡±


    Many countries in Central Asiacked medical systems and facilities that many people still relied on folk remedies for their illness. It was not only because western medicine was quite expensive but also because hospitals were too far away from where many lived. Even without licensure, people sought remedial doctors that were known to be skillful. Since oriental medical treatment used acupuncture and herb medicines, they did not have a lot of side effects.


    ¡°After breakfast, why don¡¯t you bring him to me? I trust oriental medicine. Many times, they are more effective than western medical treatments.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mr. CEO!¡±


    Suh Min-seok had thoroughly reviewed new immigrants¡¯ profiles and picked out a person that had special expertise. He also asked about his reputation to other immigrants to make sure before he reported it to Youngho.


    It seemed that he was doing a great job as Youngho¡¯s secretary.


    Youngho was d that he hired the follower couple as his secretaries since they noticed many small things that he easily overlooked.


    ***


    Bang Sun-yeob who was in his mid-40s had majored in oriental medicine. He was as skinny as doctor Kim Dong-sung but his voice was quite low.


    ¡°Mr. Bang, I wanted to see you because I heard you¡¯re recognized for your talent in oriental medicine.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my patients are too nice that they treat me as a reputable doctor.¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve gone through a lot of hardship in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have. I should¡¯ve said this earlier but I thank you for your generous act for all Koryoins, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°I should help out Koryoins since they are my countrymen. I only cared about Koryoins in Kazakhstan until now that I did not think about Koryoins in other regions.¡±


    ¡°There are not many people who would help others with their own money. We, Koryoins, are determined to repay you with our hard work.¡±


    Although Youngho¡¯s act to save about 200 Koryoins in danger was admirable, he only did it since the autonomous state needed more poption andbor force.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it to hear suchpliments. I only did it because the autonomous state needed more manpower.¡±


    ¡°You say that but still, you could¡¯ve paid anyone nearby to work for you. We will never forget what you¡¯ve done for us and try our best to repay for your generosity.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to feel burdened by this. I called you because I needed you too.¡±


    After exchanging some stereotypic expressions of gratitude, the two started talking about how Bang Sun-yeob learned oriental medicine.


    Bang Sun-yeob¡¯s great-great-grandfather used to be a doctor who worked for the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty in the past and from then, his family¡¯s upation as a medical doctor was passed down to the descendants.


    After losing the country, his grandfather took his family to the Maritime Province to help and treat independence fighters of Korea in the province until they were forcibly relocated to Kyrgyzstan by the Soviet Union.


    He turned out to be a decent oriental doctor, not a quack since his family used to serve the old Korean royal family line.


    Youngho wondered how the head doctor Kim Dong-sung would react to this news. Many hospitals would do joint treatment of western and oriental medical practice these days.


    Maybe the autonomous state¡¯s hospital could have a branch of Oriental medicine in its building too.


    After meeting Bang Sun-yeob, Doctor Kim Dong-sung got quite exuberated.


    Although Doctor Bang did not study in a university, his knowledge was based on handed-down discipline in his family. His experience as a remedial doctor in Kyrgyzstan also strengthened and backed up his study.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know a lot about oriental medicine but his way of treating patients is very unique. Only by talking to him, I¡¯m already confident in him and his skills. In medical science, there¡¯s something called a cebo effect. If a doctor could make his patient rxed andforted in the process of diagnosis and treatment, the effect of treatment multiplies. There are so many things I can learn from him.¡±


    ¡°Is he that knowledgeable?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m lost for words for his passion as a doctor. He said that he even practiced low voice to soothe his patients and gain trust from them. I believe we can open the oriental medicine branch in our hospital and let him be in charge of the department. If Korean doctors who majored in oriental medicine met him, they¡¯d be honored.¡±


    Even though doctor Kim Dong-sung had not known Bang Sun-yeob for a long time, he was certain about his talent and qualification. It seemed that Bang Sun-yeob had enough qualification to attract oriental doctors from Korea. If the state offered education for a traditional oriental medical practice and provide high sry and houses to live in, it would be able to attract talented young doctors from Korea.


    ***


    Park Jong-il, who had been helping Koryoin immigrants in Kyrgyzstan, returned to the state.


    He looked a lot thinner than before.


    ¡°Hey, no matter how busy you are, you should eat well and take care of yourself first. Why do you look so thin?¡±


    ¡°Argh, don¡¯t even talk about it. I stayed with Koryoin refugees all along. How could I eat good food when they can¡¯t? I was d that Cho Chul-hwan brought a lot ofbat rations to eat. If he hadn¡¯t, I would¡¯ve starved there.¡±


    ¡°Osh is a big city, isn¡¯t there a decent restaurant?¡±


    ¡°The whole city is in panic. Who¡¯d open a restaurant in that chaos? Grocery stores are getting robbed by people now. There¡¯s no order. I helped the migration of the rest of the Koryoins from there to the city of Bishkek. There¡¯re about 100 there now, but the problem is the Koryoins in remote areas.¡±


    Uzbek people still striking against the Kyrgyz government, so the whole city was paralyzed now. Since it was a cold winter, people were having a hard time finding food and daily supplies.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for now since we moved all the Koryoins from Osh. We can take in the people who are in Bishkek but after them, we¡¯ll have to wait until spring to take in more people. I¡¯m not even sure if we have enough houses to take in 100 people at the moment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the borderline was wrongly assigned by the Soviet Union. Thend used to belong to Uzbek people.¡±


    ¡°Man, I don¡¯t get it. People already have enoughnd mass in Central Asia. Can¡¯t they just live in peace for a second?¡±


    Since Central Asia did not have a dense poption, many parts were wasted. Territorial disputes seemed odd in Youngho¡¯s eyes since he came from South Korea, which was a small, overpopted country. He thought that the reason must be that there were too many ethnicities living together in Central Asia.


    ¡°By the way, about those diamonds you gave me. They turned out to be quite valuable than we expected.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? For industrial use or for jewelry use?¡±


    ¡°You know I took eight of them with me. When I showed them to an expert, he said that three of them could be processed as jewelry. We¡¯ll have to process them and get appraised but they¡¯ll worth at least four to five thousand dors a carat.¡±


    ¡°How many carats do you think we could get out of one stone?¡±


    ¡°He said that most of the stones have one carat but rarely they could be two to five carats as well.¡±


    Youngho was feeling down that he had been tricked by Lieutenant Colonel Klimov, but Jong-il¡¯s words got him excited now.


    ¡°What about the ones for industrial use?¡±


    ¡°He said that we should keep them for now. They could be used for many purposes since they are a strategic item.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, these are really valuable stones.¡±


    ¡°You need to go to the Siberian expedition as soon as possible. I want to go along but we can¡¯t be both absent from the autonomous state.¡±


    Although Klimov knew the value of the diamonds, he could not find a market for the illegally collected diamonds. The Russian government would not allow him to make profits even if he opened this up. 50 dors for each stone was the best price he could get from his deal with Youngho.


    Now, there was another reason for Youngho to go back to Siberia.


    If Youngho could get Eriksson to sell the diamonds, he would get him the best price for them since he had all sorts of information from his connections to all sorts of organizations and corporations as a middleman of the Information Agency.


    Youngho thought that it would not bete for him to go to Siberia after contacting Eriksson and trying to make a deal with him. He called Eriksson right away.


    ¡°Eriksson, do you treat diamonds as well?¡±


    ¡°As long as they¡¯re not blood diamonds.¡±


    The blood diamond that Eriksson mentioned were the diamonds collected from a diamond mine that caused the civil war in Sierra Leone. They were named blood diamonds because so many innocent people shed their blood to produce them. The term was now used to refer to diamonds produced illegally.


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. They were inherited in the Archduke¡¯s family.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good to know. Will you give me the honor to sell them?¡±


    No one doubted the Archduke family¡¯s inheritance, especially when it was not processed. Many European royal families stored jewelry and gems as family inheritance just in case.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got 540 rough diamonds.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, that is a lot more than I expected but I guess big customers would love that.¡±


    ¡°As for themission, I¡¯ll follow the usual business custom.¡±


    ¡°I like the fact that you¡¯re so easy going. I¡¯ll get the best price for them for you. Now, where would I receive the items?¡±


    ¡°Well, airports in Europe have tight security. Why don¡¯t we meet at Arirang Hotel in Batumi?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have strict rules for rough diamonds but we¡¯d better not to expose our identities. Then, I¡¯ll see you there in two days.¡±


    The next day, Youngho flew to Batumi on his light airne.


    Um Sang-taek who was now solely in charge of Arirang Hotel in Batumi greeted Youngho with excitement.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re doing a lot on your own.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not much. The manager does all the work. You guys are the ones who¡¯re going through a lot.¡±


    ¡°You know, all of your friends are idiotic. We want at least one among us to be knowledgeable by earning a doctorate degree. You should finish what you started without worrying about other things including the tuition.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Youngho.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? It¡¯s between us. You don¡¯t need to thank me. Hey, by the way. Chul-hwan and his family are gone now, is your wife okay with that?¡±


    ¡°Sheins all the time but she knows that she needs to stay with her husband.¡±


    ¡°If she gets too lonely, why don¡¯t you and your family move to the autonomous state? You can work and study here during the week ande back to the state during the weekends.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been thinking about thattely. I also don¡¯t like the fact that this is a vacationd. It can¡¯t be good for my children¡¯s education.¡±


    ¡°If you feel that way, send all of your family and your wife¡¯s family to the state. I¡¯ll make room for them.¡±


    ¡°You always take care of us. I really appreciate that, man.¡±


    ¡°Phew, stop saying it! If we get too busy with the Siberian business, you might have to stop your study for a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine with me any time.¡±


    Arirang Hotel grew this much because of Um Sang-taek and Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s effort.


    His friends thought that Youngho was being generous with them, but in Youngho¡¯s perspective, his friends were helping him. No business could be done alone. Since he had trustworthy friends who worked for him, he could focus on other things not worrying about his local businesses.


    Many people would betray his close friends when they had money but his friends never did such a thing so far. It might be because they had beenrades in the Special Forces Unit who shared sweats and deadly training together. Even after their naval days, their bonds had been staying strong that they took care of each other.


    Youngho truly appreciated their friendship. Now, they shared the same goal of establishing and developing the Arirang Autonomous State.


    Um Sang-taek might have to temporarily stop his study if the Siberian business got bigger. Therefore, Youngho wanted to move Sang-taek¡¯s family before he got busy.

 Chapter 340 - The Black Forest, Taiga (1)

    <h4>Chapter 340: The ck Forest, Taiga (1)</h4>


    Eriksson did note alone to Batumi but brought a diamond appraiser with him.


    Since he was going to buy 540 of rough stones, he needed to make sure that they were real.


    The man in his 50s, who thoroughly evaluated the stones bybeling each of the stones for a long time, began to put numbers in his calctor as if he was done appraising them.


    ¡°Eriksson, are you pricing them here?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re priced with a conservative method but we should tell you how much they cost before we leave. We¡¯re going to put them at a secret auction.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t care since I trust you, Eriksson.¡±


    ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t but I¡¯d hate to be doubted by you or I won¡¯t know when my head would be targeted by you. I should make things right, hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not such an ignorant person.¡±


    ¡°That makes me more nervous. That¡¯s why I brought an appraiser with me.¡±


    The appraiser showed the LCD of his calctor that had the final number on it. The first number was five followed by other numbers. Number five caught Youngho¡¯s eye.


    Eriksson, who talked with the appraiser, interpreted it to Youngho.


    ¡°Please understand ournguage since he doesn¡¯t speak English. I mentioned that you¡¯re someone to fear just in case he has a second thought. He says that his appraiser was never incorrect. The value of the rough diamonds is a little more than five million dors.¡±


    ¡°All of them?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. If you hand me over all of them, I¡¯ll put them in an auction. If you¡¯re willing to sell them all right now, we¡¯ll pay you right away, but if you¡¯d like to go through the auction yourself, we¡¯ll charge you themission of 20 percent no matter what price they were sold at.¡±


    If Youngho would go through an auction and got six million dors, he would only get 4.8 million after themission was deducted from the original profit. In this case, Youngho would be losing 200,000 dors from the original appraised price.


    ¡°That¡¯s a new way of selling them. I could lose money if I put them in an auction. What should I do? Could you give me an advice?¡±


    ¡°I suggest you put them in an auction. If you are lucky, you might end up earning twice the original appraisal price.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like there¡¯s a high possibility that I will gain money from the auction.¡±


    ¡°Jewelry should go to someone who knows its value.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Please put them in an auction for me.¡±


    ¡°You made a great choice. If we promote this as the Serbian Archduke family¡¯s old heritage, this will gain value for its unique story.¡±


    On the way back to the autonomous state, Youngho still could not believe what had happened. The value of the rough diamonds was way more than he had expected especially when that diamonds had not been processed yet.


    Processing the rough stone itself would cost hundreds of dors. It seemed that there would be at least 1,000 carats of diamonds after processing the rough stones.


    Youngho had never expected this to happen. In the beginning, he was forcibly pushed by Lieutenant Colonel Klimov to buy them from him but now, he thought that it was lucky that he met Klimov.


    Youngho wondered how he should convince Klimov to collect more diamonds when he met him next time. Since it would look suspicious if he pushed the colonel without a reason, he needed a believable reason.


    ***


    After watching the Koryoin immigrants from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, moving into the autonomous state, Youngho¡¯s group left for Siberia.


    Youngho, Park Young-sun, Kim Il-kwon, and Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho, who were the security guards of Zeynep Security Service, were the members of the expedition team this time.


    It was an eight-hour flight from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. The size of the Krasnoyarsk region was 13 percent of Russia¡¯s total area and it was ten timesrger the size of the Korean Penins. Also, the Yenisei River that cut across was a long river that was about 4,130 kilometers in length. Originated from Mongolia, the river flowed through Western Siberia to the Yenisei Gulf.


    Since the river was ten kilometers wide near the city of Krasnoyarsk, it was used as a good means of transportation. It was even possible to ess the city through the Arctic Ocean. This was why Youngho was interested in the Krasnoyarsk region. He could transport goods through the river in the thawing season.


    Although it would be a long-distance trip if he used the Arctic Ocean, it was another way to transport logs when it reached the limit to transport them usingnd routes.


    The Arirang Autonomous State preferred to use sea routes to transport goods since it was located near the Ural River. The car ferry of the state was made as an icebreaker so that it could break the ice on the river and sea in the cold season. An icebreaker was not hard to make, it was just a vessel with a thick and sturdy body and a strong engine.


    ¡°Boss. Once the weather warms up, you¡¯d be able to take your private Jet here.¡±


    ¡°Il-kwon, are you sure you¡¯re not flying the Jet because you¡¯re not confident? Does it make sense that the radar doesn¡¯t work due to the severe cold?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m indeed not confident flying the new Jet since I¡¯ve only flown old Jets. But it is true that Jets could malfunction when the temperature drops below -58 degrees in Fahrenheit.¡±


    The region of Krasnoyarsk got quite cold in the winter that the group could not bring the state¡¯s private Jet.


    ¡°People say that the ones that are produced now don¡¯t have such defect.¡±


    ¡°But at least we don¡¯t have to worry about pilots now, do we?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Those guys were about to cry when I confronted them. I thought they were going to run away in the dead of night or something.¡±


    ¡°You really scared them a lot, Boss.¡±


    ¡°They were not scared because of what I said. They were probably scared of losing the precious Serbian girls.¡±


    Youngho and Il-kwon were talking about the pilots and mechanics, who were sent by Cessna¡ªthe American airnepany as jet instructors at the autonomous state. He managed to force them to settle down at the state by confronting them and threatening them. He lied that the traditions of the Serbian Kingdom required girls to marry men once they joined their hands together because holding hands meant that they were engaged. The poor American guys did not know what to do to hear such rule. Youngho urged them that they should marry the Serbian girls and live in the state as soon as possible. It was an exaggeration but he needed talented pilots and mechanics that could work for the state.


    Because of this, even Cessna sent an official apology on behalf of its dispatched employees. However, Youngho did not budge. He requested them to get married at once or to pay for the damage. The American pilots and mechanics needed to make a decision quickly.


    Despite Youngho¡¯s nonsensical request, the guys were willing to follow the tradition of the Serbian Kingdom. They said that they would take the girls to America soon to introduce them to their parents. There would be good news soon. It seemed that they liked the state anyway since they were willing to move to the state.


    ***


    At the airport of Krasnoyarsk, Sergeenko, who was still intimidating by his look, was waiting for Youngho¡¯s group.


    He was quite friendly now since it was their second time to meet. There was a reason that he was d to see Youngho. It was because Youngho had given him an envelope of money when he said goodbye at the airportst time. 2000 American dors was a lot of tip for his service for a few days.


    When Youngho first saw him, he did not expect a lot because of his scampish look but he was actually a sincere person. Since Youngho was going to work with him quite often, he paid him for his job well-done. Many said thatpliments could make whales dance and money could buy the devil¡¯s heart.


    This time, Sergeenko brought a weird-looking car that puzzled everyone. The front wheels were regr tires but rear half of the vehicle was a caterpir. The rear wheels were made out of rubber but they had iron spikes all over them. The vehicle seemed to be durable and effective in snow and ice. Youngho always thought that the light armored vehicle that he had was the best but this one was extremely genius-looking.


    ¡°Sergeenko, where did you find this snowmobile?¡±


    ¡°Boss sent this for you to ride. I was scolded because I took you in a vanst time.¡±


    Because of the low temperatures, in Russia, snow was quite dry and it was not so slippery. Many Russians did not use chains or snow tires despite frequent snow since they were used to it.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve gone through trouble because of us.¡±


    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s an honor to serve someone like you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    Youngho was not sure what Yaniv had told Sergeenko about him. He only shrugged. Maybe it was the effect of the envelope he gavest time.


    ¡°This car would get you anywhere in Siberia with ease.¡±


    ¡°You could even stay in the car for a few days if you¡¯re trapped in the snow. This is a six-seater but the cargo area is quiterge that you won¡¯t feel difort inside it.¡±


    ¡°I like it a lot. I was going to rent an armored vehicle from the local military unit but this is much better.¡±


    The next day, the expedition team set off on the snowmobile that was fully loaded with extra gas, water, and supplies. Sergeenko did note along since the group was surveying the Taiga forest. Instead, he gave an AK rifle and a lot of ammunition to Youngho saying that wild tigers and wolves of Siberia might be a problem. There were a power saw and different tools in the vehicle as well. Sergeenko told Youngho that those were tools to build a temporary log cabin. He said that Russian people would make their own cabin when they were on a hunting trip since tents were not safe in snow storms.


    Taking his advice, Youngho took as many tools as he could.


    ¡°Boss. This vehicle seems to be made for Siberia.¡±


    ¡°This must have been a military vehicle before. There¡¯s no way that this kind of vehicle was made for civil use.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be great to have some for the ranch in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there one for each at Zeynep Farm and Serbian ranch?¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re not so great to drive on the mountainous road with piled-up snow. This will take us freely around the Caucasus Mountain Range.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you order several ones when we return? We can have some in Baku and some at the autonomous state.¡±


    The snowmobile was not so fast but it moved smoothly. Traveling on it was quitefortable. The only downside of it was that it took two days to get to the forest whereas it was only a one day trip before.


    Park Young-sun also seemed as if he was mesmerized by the snowy Taiga region as Youngho didst time.


    ¡°This is where I dreamed toe ever since I was young.¡±


    ¡°Any geologist would dream of being here.¡±


    ¡°Even Russian people wouldn¡¯t know the whole Siberia yet. Except for the areas that had been logged and exploited, people must¡¯ve notid their eyes on other untouched areas.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a tundra region when you pass the Taiga and the swamp regions. With the economic ability of Russia, it must¡¯ve been overwhelming to develop the whole region.¡±


    ¡°That must be the only reason why those regions are still preserved.¡±


    This might be the reason that those diamonds fell into Youngho¡¯s hands. If the whole area was developed, he would not have had a chance to do a logging business in Siberia. Since the region suffered from severe coldness in the winter and humid swamp in the summer, people were reluctant to take thend.


    ¡°Dr. Park. You must be against exploiting this area.¡±


    ¡°Personally I am but I can¡¯t ignore the economic thinking. You might think that it will be okay since you¡¯re going to nt trees after cutting them down but nature doesn¡¯t go back to where it was in the beginning.¡±


    ¡°I was going to nt as many trees as I have chopped down but you sound like it¡¯s not going to work.¡±


    ¡°Have you thought about how long it will take for trees to grow in this cold region? The surrounding environment is not like the past, and it will be almost impossible to restore it.¡±


    ¡°But what else can we do? At least I¡¯ll have to try.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to find the most effective way to restore the environment.¡±


    Come to think of it, the Arirang Autonomous State was busy nting trees everywhere and it was quite opposite in the Taiga forest in Siberia since Youngho was going to chop down its beautiful trees. It was sad, but Youngho could not resist the logging business since his mind was already drawn to the free diamonds of the forest. He should try his best not to disturb nature.

 Chapter 341 - The Black Forest, Taiga (2)

    <h4>Chapter 341: The ck Forest, Taiga (2)</h4>


    Lt. Col. Klimov greeted Youngho as if he was his long-lost family member.


    It was natural since he had entrusted his rough diamonds to Youngho before. If Youngho changed his mind and decided not toe back, Klimov would have lost years of his effort.


    After absentmindedly greeting Youngho¡¯spany, he pulled Youngho into his office alone. He wanted to get paid for his diamonds.


    ¡°How did it go?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°They are real diamonds, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t get all of them appraised since I didn¡¯t want to get suspected that I found those from our state.¡±


    Youngho decided not to tell the truth.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa, wait. You didn¡¯t even get them all checked yet?¡±


    ¡°I showed some of them to my friend who knows about diamonds. He said that they are rough diamonds but he can¡¯t tell their value since they¡¯re not processed.¡±


    ¡°Eh-hem!¡±


    ¡°Also, the price of diamonds these days have dropped quite a lot. He said that I¡¯d better keep them for a while before selling them.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Now, don¡¯t you get so disappointed because we can always sell them when the price goes up. If you don¡¯t have anywhere else to sell them, I¡¯ll buy them from you, Lieutenant Colonel.¡±


    Youngho suggested as if he was doing a favor for the colonel.


    ¡°Would you really do that for me?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Since we¡¯re partners in the Taiga forest, I should help you out. I think I¡¯m going to sell them when the price goes up in the future, so I don¡¯t mind buying them from you now. I¡¯ll consider them as my saving.¡±


    Hearing Youngho¡¯s suggestion, Klimov¡¯s eyes were again filled with hope. Being military personnel, he could not dream of making such money that Youngho would pay him for rough diamonds. He would probably go crazy to find as many rough diamonds as possible during his service in the military since his term would notst forever.


    He could not mention about the diamond to anyone since he would lose his reputation and privilege as military personnel if the government found out that he had been hiding the diamonds. Thus, the deal between the two would stay a secret forever.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let you roam around without any guards. Especially, if something bad happens to you, Mr. Lee, my position will be at stake too.¡±


    ¡°Our survey area is quiterge and we will have to move around constantly. If we move with soldiers, our schedule will get dyed. Our employees used to serve in Korean Navy Special Forces, we¡¯ll be fine without local soldiers. Also, we have a GPS. I¡¯m certain that we won¡¯t lose our way.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll set up an outpost for you. I¡¯ll store gas and food there so you can use them if you need.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll appreciate it if you could do that, Colonel.¡±


    The expedition team already had satellite pictures of the region and had fully prepared for the trip, but Klimov was still fearful that something might happen to Youngho¡¯s group. After receiving 27,000 dors from Youngho for rough diamonds, He treated Youngho like a fragile ss. It was because Youngho was the only source of money for now.


    He was quite enthusiastic about collecting more diamonds for this summer, mobilizing his underling soldiers. Youngho doubted that the soldiers would not know that what they were looking for was gems but he decided to trust Klimov since he assured Youngho that he had a certain way of deceiving them.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Please do make a call to the unit every morning with your satellite phone. If you need it, we¡¯ll mobilize our helicopter to aid you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯re bothering you too much.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is one of our duties as a local unit. You don¡¯t have to be sorry.¡±


    Klimov used the kindest words of the world, but his excessive kindness was all because of the diamond deal he had with Youngho.


    ***


    A temporary bungalow was set up 40 kilometers away from the local military unit.


    Klimov ordered his soldiers to build it with logs all over the ce within a day.


    It seemed that the expedition team could use that as a base during their survey period. The team would not have to camp out anymore.


    In Siberia, a distance of 40 kilometers was considered just around the corner, only below -40 ¡ãC was considered cold, and alcohols that contained a volume of less than 40 was not considered a decent drink. It was weird that people were obsessed with the number 40, but it was true.


    Although it was below -40 ¡ãC, the snow-covered Taiga region did not feel so cold because there was no wind. Some might ask what was there to investigate in the snow-coverednd but there were a few ces that did not freeze because of hot springs. The purpose of this expedition was to investigate those regions.


    Since the surface of the earth would be exposed, the geological survey would be possible and the expedition would be a sess if the team could find rough diamonds. Youngho refused to be guarded by soldiers because of the diamonds.


    Where the team was headed was quite far away from where Lt. Col. Klimov found the valuable rocks but they could be anywhere in the region. It was because there used to be an active volcano and the whole region was affected by it.


    ¡°Boss, look at that. There¡¯s a whole reindeer pack.¡±


    Il-kwon who was driving the snowmobile stopped the vehicle and pointed at a direction.


    The snowless ce was covered with moss, and hundreds of reindeers that had been eating moss hastily fled away by the sound of the vehicle¡¯s engine.


    ¡°Dr. Park, what do you think? This must be a hot spring zone.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way to describe this phenomenon. The heat from the spring must be being transferred to the surface of the earth. We might be able to bathe in the hot springs if we get lucky.¡±


    The group enjoyed the warmth of the surface as they got off the vehicle and walked on thend full of moss.


    ¡°It feels like spring here.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was such a blessednd in Siberia where it¡¯s below -40 ¡ãC.¡±


    ¡°We need to make a reindeer barbecue tonight. Security team leader Hong, why don¡¯t you catch a reindeer for us?¡±


    ¡°Can we even catch it? I mean, you don¡¯t think they¡¯re a natural monument or something, do you?¡±


    ¡°A natural monument? That¡¯s ridiculous! Just catch one. We¡¯ll be full for several days with the meat from one reindeer.¡±


    Finding a greennd after driving on cold, white, and snowynd for a long while, Youngho felt like he found a paradise. From little ponds of water, steam rose. When he put his hands above it, it was even quite hot.


    ¡°Dr. Park. We should camp out here tonight.¡±


    ¡°Where there is a reindeer, there would be a wolf. We¡¯ll have to give up a good night sleep.¡±


    ¡°Come on. We have several rambos here. We¡¯ll return with wolf furs then.¡±


    Birch tree branches were burning and the reindeer meet on sticks were being cooked.


    It was said that the natives here ate reindeer meat with its blood still dripping and Russian people were quite stunned to find that out in the beginning. However, it was because they did not know that the raw reindeer meat was a great source of vitamin for tundra natives.


    The reason that the natives who could not find a lot of vegetables did not get scurvy was that the meat and blood of reindeers were full of vitamins such as C and B2.


    ¡°This tastes so good. I don¡¯t smell any yucky odor in this.¡±


    ¡°People say that it¡¯s not so bad even if you eat it raw. Would you like to try it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even like to eat rarely cooked steak.¡±


    Park Young-sun who was munching down the meat waved off Youngho¡¯s offer as he picked up another stick. Although there were already a few empty bottles of vodka on the ground, everyone was still fine. Due to the fresh air and great food, they did not get drunk so quickly.


    ¡°Man, no matter how much I drink, I don¡¯t feel tipsy. There¡¯s a reason that Russian people are heavy drinkers after all.¡±


    ¡°Hong Sung-ki. The wolves will being tonight. Don¡¯t drink too much.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to hold in front of an automatic rifle gun.¡±


    All people in the expedition team were pumped up now since they were having a rxing moment in a long while.


    ¡°Quiet. I think we already have an uninvited guest.¡±


    ¡°What? Is there a wolf when it¡¯s still bright in the day?¡±


    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s a person.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s keen ear had sensed a minute sound from the opposite side of the forest.


    ***


    ¡°Does this ce belong to Evenks?¡±


    ¡°We migrate alongside the reindeer. The whole Siberia is our territory.¡±


    Out of nowhere, an Evenk, the native of thend, appeared at the campground.


    The man who showed up on aplex-looking sled that was led by a reindeer looked like a traditional Asian man.


    Thinking that he might have caught a reindeer that belonged to him, Youngho cautiously asked him.


    ¡°Is the reindeer that we killed one of yours?¡±


    ¡°No, this one is wild. I thought soldiers were here because of the gunfire but it was you.¡±


    Youngho had heard of natives that raised reindeers in the open but most of them were known to reside in the tundra region. However, ording to him, natives who lived in a family unit and raised reindeers stayed in the Taiga region during the winter since it wasparatively warmer than other regions.


    The Evenk was bummed that Youngho¡¯s group was not soldiers since he came to ask for ammunition in exchange for reindeer meat.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got enough ammunition too but these are for AK rifles. I don¡¯t think this will be helpful for you.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter because we used the same barrel. Can you spare some of yours? The wolves are quite problematic these days. We need more ammunition. I want to exchange it with reindeer skin.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t really need animal skin but we¡¯ll share ammunition with you. Take as much as you want. But would you please do us a favor?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re surveying this region but it¡¯s difficult to figure out some ces with this map only. I was hoping you could guide us to other areas with hot springs.¡±


    ¡°ces like this are all over the region. There¡¯s a river that never freezes at about a distance of five kilometers from here but why are you surveying this area?¡±


    ¡°We received permission to log the area so we¡¯re looking for a ce to build loggers¡¯ barracks.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to log the whole forest?¡±


    He seemed to be startled to hear about logging.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be logging in the winter only. We don¡¯t know how many decades will it take until we are done. You won¡¯t have to worry about leaving here immediately.¡±


    ¡°We Evenks don¡¯t have a certain ce to live because we¡¯ve been migrating alongside wild reindeers and hunting them. We don¡¯t have ournd.¡±


    Evenks had lived near Lake Baikal in the past and all over Siberia as well.


    He said that because the Taiga forest had been selected as a logging region and the number of reindeer had been decreasing, many now lived in the tundra region. If Youngho logged the forest, the Evenk and his family would lose their winter base. They could find another ce but it would not be easy to find a warm ce that was full of moss like this.


    ¡°If I preserve this ce, will your reindeer be able to get through the winter?¡±


    ¡°This ce has not enough moss for our reindeer unless you preserved other hot spring areas nearby with this one.¡±


    It was not a difficult request.


    Since he did not jump into the logging business because he was desperate for money, he would be fine with leaving some hot spring zones alone. There were more than enough areas where he could log and he was rather interested in collecting diamonds now. He did not want to damage the Evenk family¡¯s living bases.


    The Evenk promised that he woulde back for them the next morning and left with a lot of ammunition.


    ¡°Dr. Park, will wild reindeers still remain here when we log the rest of the forest?¡±


    ¡°The wild reindeers will leave because of the noise of machinery but tamed reindeer would stay with their owners.¡±


    ¡°Phew, what a dilemma. I didn¡¯t know this region was a living ce of wild reindeers.¡±


    ¡°We should n logging areas without disturbing the animal¡¯s moving paths. That¡¯s all we can do. This ce will be exploited anyway even if we don¡¯t.¡±


    The next day, an Evenk man named Irtysh came to the campground with his reindeer sled to guide Youngho¡¯s group around the forest.


    Many Evenks used names derived from surrounding regions, so there were a lot of people who had the same name. That was why when people said that they knew someone; they had to the person¡¯s name, and which forest he was from. So, the Evenk Youngho met was Irtysh of the forest of hot springs.


    Although the natives had their ownnguage, they did not have their own letters. Theirnguage was about to die out but recently it was written in Cyrillic characters in Russia.


    The reason they couldmunicate in Russian was that the Russian government had made a policy requiring young nomads to attend boarding schools in order to make nomadic people settle down. However, it was not enough to settle down nomads that traveled with reindeer.


    ¡°Irtysh, I heard that there are special stones found near the river here. Have you seen them?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about shiny stones. They are often stuck in big rocks but they¡¯re not popr for our people here. We value red stones more than them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that it¡¯s not that there are little grains of rocks scattered on the ground but they are stuck in rocks?¡±


    ¡°There are quite a lot of rocks that have gems stuck in them.¡±


    Youngho could not believe his ears.


    ording to him, there were rocks that had rough diamonds in them.


    If there were diamonds that had not been separated but preserved in rocks despite weathering and floods, they must be huge in their size.


    Since he referred to the rocks as shiny stones, it seemed that Evenks did not know the value of diamonds yet.

 Chapter 342 - The Black Forest, Taiga (3)

    <h4>Chapter 342: The ck Forest, Taiga (3)</h4>


    Youngho¡¯s group was escorted to a ce with a big stream that was 50 meters wide, but its volume was not quiterge. It was flowing along a gradual slope and only a little part of its rim was frozen. Hot springs were bursting out from different nearby ces.


    Youngho dipped his hand into the water and it was lukewarm. Irtysh pointed near the water where rocks were gathered. Each of them was about the size of a grown man¡¯s head. After searching in the rocks for an hour, Youngho could find one that had rough diamonds bedded in them. The stones varied in their sizes as some were as big as an adult¡¯s thumbnail and some were as tiny as a kid¡¯s pinky nail.


    ¡°Boss. Are you sure that these are all rough diamonds?¡±


    ¡°Most of them are for industrial use but if we¡¯re lucky, some of them might be processed into jewelry. Open your eyes wide and search for more!¡±


    ¡°Boss. So, are you saying the first one who finds it gets it?¡±


    Hong Sung-ki hastily took off his shoes and got in the water. Seeing the diamonds had boosted up his enthusiasm.


    ¡°Phew, I¡¯m the owner of thisnd, but if you find a good one, I¡¯ll get you a diamond for your future fianc¨¦.¡±


    ¡°What? You can¡¯t be serious to ask us to find diamonds without any reward. If you take all of the things we found, what fun is there for us?¡±


    ¡°Il-kwon. Throw him out. He¡¯s just too greedy for this job.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay! I¡¯ll bring you whatever I find.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho rolled up their pants and began searching in the water to find more rocks.


    ¡°These people must know that these are gems since they were educated in Russia. I wonder why they don¡¯t pay so much attention to these.¡±


    ¡°The natives here still believe in Shamanism. They might think that touching these will bring them bad luck. Irtysh said that his people only value red stones.¡±


    ¡°That might be true. Natives who won¡¯t settle down in any region wouldn¡¯t care about diamonds. They will value a reindeer more than these gems.¡±


    Irtysh could not understand Youngho¡¯s group which was searching in the water for hours to find the shiny stones. As it became noon, Youngho gave him abat ration. He loved it as he hastily finished the whole thing quickly and asked for more. Natives would not have such high-calorie food that was marinated with different spices and sauces.


    When Irtysh left, Youngho gave himbat ration packets for every member of his family and taught him how to cook it. He thanked Youngho as he promised toe back to the campground tomorrow morning.


    ¡°Boss. I guess there¡¯s no reason for them to search for diamonds and break rocks. They won¡¯t find a market or people who know the value of the stones here.¡±


    ¡°There might have been a problem in the past when they introduced the diamonds to outsiders. That could be a reason why they don¡¯t touch them anymore. We won¡¯t know whatever happened between the natives and Russian settlers in the past.¡±


    ¡°I heard that they had a fierce battle between the natives and the Russian settlers in the beginning. Maybe all of that was for the treasure.¡±


    ¡°Imperial Russia¡¯s wealth is known to have unimaginable wealth. Probably that was all taken from this kind of remote ces.¡±


    Imperial Russia¡¯s pce was decorated with jewels all over it. It must have collected treasures as it took over Siberia and the Far East. The pce in Saint Petersburg was proof of its enormous wealth. Youngho assumed that the diamonds here must have taken part in building Imperial Russia¡¯s wealth. Many people still believed that the treasure that Russia¡¯sst dynasty was going to siphon was sitting somewhere in Lake Baikal.


    The taiga and tundra regions in Siberia were a blessing to Russia. Despite their extreme cold in the winter, they were full of oil crude, gas, trees, and all sorts of mineral resources. Youngho envied Russia¡¯s natural treasures. If he had a hundredth of its natural environment, he would not have to worry about the next generations of his family.


    With the help of Irtysh the Evenk, Youngho¡¯s group was guided to different regions of the Taiga forest. When they got lucky, they picked up some rough diamonds, and they also found some intermittent springs too.


    Youngho was not sure about the summer in this ce, but it seemed that he could stay here in the winter as long as he was within the ranges of hot springs. At a severely cold region where his lung felt like freezing when he breathed in, the existence of hot springs was like a pleasant gift to Youngho.


    It would have been great if everything was going to be smooth sailing from here, but wolves were causing troubles now. Since the warm hot spring regions were full of moss, herbivores gathered there. It was natural for predators toe ording to thew of the food chain.


    There were too many wolves that the team could not rx for a moment at nights. The wolves in the region seemed to stay nearby all the time, so when people went out to take care of nature¡¯s call, they needed to take another person along to look out for them. However, it was a little too much to build a log cabin for a bathroom.


    Youngho admired the Evenks who lived in a ce like this. It was a ce where people could notst a day without a means to chase away wolves, but the Evenks had been surviving here for thousands of years.


    As they had done enough survey of thend now, they decided to finish their first expedition. Besides, people were getting tired of hunting wolves.


    ***


    ¡°You retreated because of wolves? That¡¯s why I wanted you to take my soldiers. Our soldiers would¡¯ve fired a mortar to chase them away. They won¡¯te near if you fire at them several times.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t destroy their natural habitat. We can avoid them instead.¡±


    ¡°Wolves are considered a hazardous animal here. Our unit often earns some finance from selling reindeer and wolf skin.¡±


    Since the unit was located in a remote region and not at a border, the Russian government did not spare a huge budget for the unit. It seemed that the unit had been doing side businesses to cover its operating expenses. They must have killed countless wolves under the pretext of making money for the unit¡¯s expense.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve had a good supply of animal skin here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, are you interested in it?¡±


    ¡°I have a small animal skin factory in Kazakhstan. We mostly sold wolf skin there, but I guess reindeer skin would be great too.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a furrier who collects our umted fur regrly. If you want to take them, I¡¯ll dly give them to you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the furrier get upset if I did?¡±


    ¡°Well, he won¡¯t say anything if we tell him that we don¡¯t hunt here anymore.¡±


    Klimov treated Youngho¡¯s group as honorary guests with great hospitality for the next several days until the group left. There was no luxury in the military unit, but Youngho thought that being able to take a shower in the freezing Siberia was indeed a luxury.


    Klimov, who would be able to see Youngho in the summer, asked him to visit again before the summer since he wanted to sell umted furs and rough diamonds to him as soon as possible. He would be collecting everything he could until Youngho came to visit next time. It seemed like the reindeers, wolves, foxes, and deer nearby would be annihted by him soon.


    Youngho thought that he should get gifts for the soldiers too when he visited here next time since they would be the ones who worked hard to collect diamonds and furs. They would go crazy forbat rations made by Eti, the foodpany in Turkey.


    Leaving every expedition tools and machines to Sergeenko, the group got on an airne with a light heart. The team had found out that the Taiga forest had so many potentials in ways it could be exploited. There were tons of things that would make Youngho rich in the forest. Most importantly, Youngho was d that he found diamonds from a new ce. It meant that he would not have to rely on Lt. Col. Klimov to supply diamonds for him. Getting animal skins from him was an extra gain of this trip.


    Also, the existence of hot springs opened up another possibility to Youngho. It turned out that the Taiga forest was a livable ce for people. He might be able to make a vacation spot around the hot springs. If he built simple log cabins and bungalows and promoted the remote vacation experience to people, it could be a great tourism item. Spending the summer in the Taiga forest and enjoying hot springs and reindeer hunting in the winter would attract rich people.


    Logging business would not have to be his priority business anymore. Since he did not want to destroy the natural habitat, he wanted to make a business that could go along with the preservation of the natural environment.


    As for the logging business, there were tons of other people who would do the job for the American lumberpany. It would not be a problem if Youngho was not its primary supplier.


    But before that, he would have to set up off-limits areas. If people found out about the rough diamonds, the whole logging area would be returned to the Russian government at once. Russia only granted logging, not collecting other mineral resources. Youngho would have to negotiate it with the Russian government before he signed a contract, but it did not seem that the government would permit him to collect minerals so easily.


    ***


    The group returned to the autonomous state after ten days of the expedition trip. The state felt like springpared to the weather of Siberia. There was snow all over the ce because the wet season of the winter just began, but it was nothingpared to the Siberian cold that felt like it was going to freeze Youngho¡¯s lungs when he breathed.


    Seeing Leon, who was ying at the airport as he waited for Youngho, Youngho thought that this ce was a good ce to live. In Siberia, people would not dare go outside in its cold weather. Rena and Jelyan clung to Youngho¡¯s legs that he could not go forward anymore.


    It seemed that the autonomous state was doing fine since the kids were out in the airport. If there was a problem, Fatima would not have let her kids outside the house.


    Standing next to Youngho¡¯s family, Kim Chun greeted him with a bright smile.


    ¡°Boss. You must be exhausted.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve had a great trip because you¡¯ve been working hard for the autonomous state while I was gone. It looks like the state is doing great.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same as before when you left. The second group of immigrants is doing great so far. This might be news for you. Our pilots have sessfully managed to fly Jets on their own.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? How many have had sess?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got five so far, but the instructors said that all of the pilots would be able to fly by the end of next week.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, those young fes will be ahead of me then. I should start practicing again tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. Just use a pilot already and don¡¯t think about flying on your own.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still young. Are you saying I should now take the back seat? You must not have been feeling well now that you¡¯re over 40, Mr. Commissioner.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You know I¡¯ve stopped bullets with my body. I¡¯m the first person who was injured by an outside force in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Kim Chun treated highwaymen as if they were the autonomous state¡¯s archenemy. He was once shot by robbers on an industrial road and always talked about the event as a legendary tale.


    Kim Chun¡¯s unique exaggerative tone and expressions made people around himugh all the time. He had a special power that made people smile.


    The follower couple also greeted Youngho, but what they were wearing was quite strange.


    Suh Min-seok had a wolf fur hat and gloves, and Kim In-hwa had a scarf and arm warmers on.


    ¡°Where did you get those expensive fur products?¡±


    ¡°I killed two wolvesst year and sent them to the factory. I just received them from stock.¡±


    ¡°Well, I brought wolf skins from Siberia, but you won¡¯t need them I guess.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, I earned this with my effort. If you brought stuff as a gift, you should still give them to us.¡±


    ¡°What kind of logic is that? It all depends on the heart of the giver.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please give them to us! You have no idea how much we needed fur. I wouldn¡¯t have gone to the hunting trip with people if I didn¡¯t need them.¡±


    The couple clung to Youngho to the point where Youngho felt sorry.


    He now felt that he was at the autonomous state now since he was teasing the two.


    ¡°Where did all the Jets go? And where¡¯s Mr. Park?¡±


    ¡°He rushed to Almaty yesterday. He must have reached Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan by now.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on there?¡±


    ¡°Some of the Koryoins that were going to move to the state in the spring were allegedly attacked by Uzbek rebels.¡±


    ¡°Attacked?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the details about the event, but they own a small ranch there, and they called us when they were attacked, but we lost contact with them afterward.¡±


    What Youngho was worried about came true.


    A Koryoin who owned a ranch must be well-off in Kyrgyzstan. It seemed that Uzbek rebels who were rebelling against the Kyrgyz government were now randomly attacking other ethnic minorities too.

 Chapter 343 - An Eye for an Eye (1)

    <h4>Chapter 343: An Eye for an Eye (1)</h4>


    This was exactly what Youngho was afraid of. If there was going up, there would be going down as well. Things did not always go well.


    The reason that Youngho decided to take Koryoin immigrants earlier than nned was the unstable political status of Kyrgyzstan as well as their exposure to the IS.


    There seemed to be no future for Koryoins in Kyrgyzstan. Youngho wanted to help Koryoins so that their children could dream of a better future.


    Due to their hard life, Koryoins there could not even think of moving to a foreign country unless Youngho reached out to them.


    Although he had done his best to save Koryoins from potential damages of the dispute in the country, things like this still happened.


    Youngho regretted his inattention. He was sure that he could have saved those lives if he paid more attention. Those furious Uzbeks probably attacked Koryoins to take out their anger unless they hated Koryoins for their penny-pinching lifestyle.


    Youngho called Jong-il with haste.


    ¡°Those b*st*rds buried every single one of them under the ground. Even infants.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me...¡±


    ¡°All the Kyrgyz people nearby were also ughtered.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be the Uzbeks rebels. There is no way they did such a cruel deed even if they were furious. They are furious at the government, not other people.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly. The Kyrgyz military is investigating it now. They assumed that the IS was involved in this.¡±


    ¡°What is the casualty?


    ¡°Two Koryoin families, nine of them, and five households of Kyrgyz. A total of 28 people.¡±


    Youngho felt like he was suffocated as he was infuriated at the number of casualty and the fact that they even killed little infants.


    ¡°Jong-il, wait until I get there. I will gather a few more security guards.¡±


    ¡°Dude! Calm yourself down. This is not your business. Are you trying to get involved in a dispute between other countries?¡±


    ¡°Believe me. My head is calmer than ever. I am only trying to avenge the innocent Koryoins. I need to get paid for innocent babies¡¯ lives.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying we should wait and see how things go here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I will think about it on the way there.¡±


    This Kyrgyzstan visit had to be unofficial for future¡¯s sake.


    Whoever victimized Koryoin families needed to pay. Youngho was ready to show that no one shouldy their finger on Koryoins. Youngho was nning on being a true savage to handle the situation so they would never think about touching the Koryoins ever again.


    Youngho had calmed down the next morning when it was time to depart. This trip would have no other meaning or emotions involved other than bringing justice to criminals who killed civilians for no reason. If killing infants was no big deal, they had to be brutes. Youngho did not need to be furious to kill brutes just like how killing animals was only to protect livestock and to get some meat and leather.


    Koryoins of the Arirang Autonomous State had not heard about the situation in Kyrgyzstan yet. If they heard about what happened, they would not stay calm. Instead, they would definitely put their lives on the line to avenge their brothers.


    For that reason, Youngho asked the administrators to keep it a secret. It would be harder to build a rtionship with other countries if the state was rumored to use its force to meddle in other countries¡¯ dispute.


    If the IS was involved, it should be even more critical to keep it as a secret. Youngho made his move under the surface as much as he could. He only brought a minimum number of people with him.


    When Youngho arrived at Bishkek with Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho whom he took to the recent Siberian expedition, the Kyrgyz government had already taken care of the rebels.


    ¡°Things are only roughly taken care of, only on the surface level. It¡¯s quiet during day time, but those Uzbek rebels still roam around causing problems at night.¡±


    ¡°What about our agents?¡±


    ¡°Only the ones that have Russian origins are here. Otherwise, our agents might get mistaken as Kyrgyz people and get attacked.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you saying the Uzbek rebels attacked Koryoins because they thought they were Kyrgyz?¡±


    ¡°No way. It¡¯s obvious Koryoins look totally different from the Kyrgyz.¡±


    ¡°So it was definitely intentional.¡±


    ¡°The deceased Koryoin victims had hired Uzbek workers before. I think they might have been hard on the workers.¡±


    Still, it did not sound like a serious reason to kill babies. Someone had probably sent a request to act as savage like that.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Osh right now. If we interrogate a few, they should spill out the truth.¡±


    ¡°Sung-ki and Sang-ho, you should stay here. I will go with Il-kwon and Jong-il. We need to keep a low profile.¡±


    Sung-ki and Sango-ho were about toin, but they soon stopped because Jong-il red at them. The situation was too serious for them to argue.


    ¡°I need you to stay here and take care of Koryoins in the city of Osh. This is also an important task.¡±


    There were still quite a number of Koryoins in Osh. These Koryoins were living a rtively safe and wealthy life. However, the incident might have given them a reason to move. It would be difficult to give up their businesses in Osh, but it was a life or death situation.


    Osh was quiet. People were walking around the downtown, and many stores and restaurants were open for business. They seemed to go back to their daily life since the border guards were taking care of their security. Although they had a curfew at eight in the evening now, it was not a big problem for them. Most stores and restaurants closed around six o¡¯clock in the evening, and there were not a lot of people in the streets because of the cold weather.


    Youngho¡¯s group met up with the autonomous state¡¯s intelligence agents at the city.


    ¡°This should be the rebels¡¯ base. The recently closed building used to be a school where they taught the Uzbeknguage. It was closed for years but,tely, some youngsters are spotted secretly going in and out of it. You can see them at the restaurant right across the building.¡±


    ¡°How did they look physically?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if they looked like if they had been through some military training.¡±


    ¡°They looked normal to us.¡±


    Maybe it was too early to expect the agents to notice a subtle difference like this.


    ¡°Is there anything else to report about them?¡±


    ¡°It was a bit suspicious that they only moved by car.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, that¡¯s strange. They could be easily found out by military personnel and policemen on the streets.¡±


    ¡°They mainly inspect pedestrians. They don¡¯t seem to have enough people to check cars around the town.¡±


    It was highly possible that they were moving weapons if they only moved by cars. At least now, Youngho had a starting point.


    ***


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s obvious that they are trained. Look at how the door guards keep looking around. Something must be in the building, right? Man... Look at those shoulders. He must¡¯ve been through heavy gun training.¡±


    ¡°Hey, quiet down a little! Everybody in the restaurant will hear you.¡±


    ¡°No one in here would understand English. Am I wrong?¡±


    Jong-il was giving a lesson to the agents. He exined how to tell if people have been trained or not judging by people¡¯s ways of walking and posture. It was quite urate and informative, even Youngho was listening and nodding without paying attention to the old school building.


    The Korean special forces would not even teach these, but it seemed that Jong-il had taught himself with his keen instinct. He was a natural.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯ve got to watch the building. Pay attention.¡±


    ¡°I was listening to your pathetically detailed lies.¡±


    ¡°Shut your face. It¡¯s rather a living education than a lie.¡±


    ¡°It certainly is living. When did you study all that?¡±


    ¡°Not anybody can take the position of the director of the intelligence department. It¡¯s possible because it¡¯s me.¡±


    Jong-il was ttered by Youngho¡¯s words. Watching Jong-il¡¯s reaction, Il-kwon quietlyughed. Noticing that, Jong-il jumped on him.


    Watching the two bicker at each other, Youngho quietly went outside to take a breath.


    It was a snowy day. Tonight, lots of innocent lives would drop like the snowkes in Osh. He felt sorry for how the Switzend of Central Asia had turned into this mess now.


    Russia was not to be med for this mess. It was the result of Kyrgyzstan¡¯s ancestors settling for mediocrity. Just like Korea¡¯s ancestors did. Still, Kyrgyzstan did not seem to have hope, unlike Korea after its independence. Koryoins in Kazakhstan were blessedpared to those in Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look elegant to break in. Maybe we should just go and gently ask them if they can open the front door for us.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should shut up and jump up to the fence already.¡±


    Il-kwon had agents stay outside to watch just in case. This had to be the headquarters of the Uzbek rebels. All the lights on the second floor were on except for a big ssroom. There seemed to be at least 20 people in the building.


    A lot of Kyrgyz military guards and policemen had searched for them, but they could not find this ce. They probably did not even try that hard. Youngho would have missed this ce if it were not for the agents that had been here for a while.


    The enemy must not be the rebels in Kyrgyzstan, but the IS force who came to shake the whole nation.


    The Uzbek had no reason to move in this organized way. They were only acting out to show theirints about policies andws of the Kyrgyz government. The problem was that due to the Kyrgyz government¡¯s poor economic and military power, it would not be able to handle the rise of the IS in the country. The country would be an easy ce for terrorism. The government¡¯s weakness made innocent civilians including Koryoins suffer such terrorism.


    ¡°These guys don¡¯t even have watchmen? I know I¡¯m not fully prepared either but I don¡¯t feel weed in here at all.¡±


    As Jong-il said, the two of them only brought a pistol for each of them and some gasoline.


    ¡°Who woulde in here without their permission? They would¡¯ve thought that this is the best hideout for them.¡±


    ¡°There is a big iron door on the way to the basement. That should be it.¡±


    There was an iron door with a huge lock. It was a piece of cake for them to pick a lock.


    ¡°Wow... They¡¯ve stored a ton. These weapons are enough to equip a few military units.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and make fire. See if you can find a grenade.¡±


    ¡°I found one!¡±


    Jong-il was holding a Russian portable rocketuncher.


    ¡°What are you going to do with it? Let¡¯s do it our way. ¡±


    ¡°I am sick of burning things all the time. Why don¡¯t we try something different this time?¡±


    The ce was not guarded tightly at all. Jong-il whistled as he poured gasoline over the weapons.


    Many said that a soldier who was defeated in a battle was forgivable, but a soldier who neglected watch duty was not forgivable. Judging by how carelessly it was guarded, the IS group turned out to be nothing serious.


    It was quite pathetic that no one would see the firework that Youngho and Jong-il made in the city of Osh because of the curfew.

 Chapter 344 - An Eye for an Eye (2)

    <h4>Chapter 344: An Eye for an Eye (2)</h4>


    The city was quite chaotic because the fire happened overnight. The old school building hadpletely copsed except for a few pirs. The windows of the houses near the building were all damaged because of the explosion.


    Youngho was so focused on demolishing the IS headquarters, he had forgotten about the city¡¯s high poption density. But fortunately, the explosion did not spread the fire around the building. He wanted to look for a way to repay the owner of the houses for their damaged windows. It would be such a pain to endure the cold winter without windows.


    Judging that it was not a small case, the Kyrgyz government started an investigation on the explosion at the closed school building.


    At the same time, Youngho¡¯s group was moving to another hideout of the IS organization.


    This hideout seemed to be where the point of contact was located. The cars from the old school building were also spotted in this big grocery store.


    ¡°Are you sure they didn¡¯te here to pick up groceries?¡±


    ¡°Their boxes were quite big for groceries.¡±


    ¡°Then, this must be where the weapons are transported.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about the owner?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve only seen some young workers but have no idea who the owner is.¡±


    ¡°The owner might not exist at all. Look at those workers. They can¡¯t work like that if the owner actually existed.¡±


    The grocery store was open, but the workers did not care for customers at all. They even turned them back quite a lot.


    The workers kept calling somewhere, but no one would answer them. It probably was because the headquarters was demolishedst night, and everyone in the building should be buried under the copsed site. They would be calling to another leader soon.


    Youngho¡¯s group watched the grocery store for hours from a distance. Eventually, the workers closed the store and left the building. They kept checking if anybody was following them, but obviously, they were not doing a good job at that.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that all three of us are following that little group of rabble.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how many people are there at their destination. We were fortunatest night since we got them while they were off guard, but it¡¯ll be different tonight.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it look like they are trying to run away?¡±


    ¡°No, they keep looking around to see if they are followed by others. They are obviously going to meet another point of contact.¡±


    They seemed to be quite shaken by what happenedst night. It was understandable since the group with strong firepower that put the whole city of Osh into fear got demolished overnight.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the IS recruited such weaklings to build their nation. I am already bored with this. Did we overestimate them?¡±


    ¡°Wake up. They are highly brainwashed with their religion. Once they receive a mission, they won¡¯t hesitate to do it. It¡¯s scary to think that a normal civilian standing right next to you is about to bomb a city.¡±


    ¡°Eh... Can¡¯t theye back to having a normal life?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They are already fanatics. They would turn into warriors at any time even if they seemed to be back to their normal selves.¡±


    After roaming around the streets for a while, the workers made a turn at a street.


    Now the guys were dashing to an inclined alley without looking back. It seemed like they thought that they had lost any potential followers.


    ***


    ¡°Normally I feel crabby after going on a mission to strike a group, but it feels fine this time. You don¡¯t think the IS wouldn¡¯t do anything dumb for a while in Osh, do you?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯tst long. Soon, they will fill up their members again. It won¡¯t end unless the leadership group was killed once and for all.¡±


    ¡°Good grief. We don¡¯t even know where they are.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s ask Koryoins in Osh if they want to move to our state first. If they don¡¯t want to, we will be out of here.¡±


    The autonomous state would try their best to convince Koryoins living in Osh. But if it took too long to move those Koryoins, it would eventually give the IS time to track them down to the Arirang Autonomous State. If Koryoins in Osh refused to move, there was no point in protecting them from the IS while risking the whole state since it would be a target of the IS.


    The workers stopped at a middle-ss house. Two rtively old looking IS members were waiting for them at the door. Through the window, Youngho could see the high-end interior of the house. This meant that the owner of the house could be someone in a high position in the city.


    Youngho¡¯s group rushed into the house and took control of those guys, but they could not gain any information from them. They tried torturing them with pressing pressure points, but they were not giving out answers. Youngho was already tired of dealing with them since nothing was going to change even if he spent quite a while harassing them.


    Since their faces were already exposed to the IS members, there was no other option but to get rid of them.


    As the group walked down the hilly alley leaving behind the burning house, Youngho¡¯s heart was light. It would take at least a few months for the IS to rebuild their organization.


    While they are gone, all there was left to do was to convince Koryoins and bring them to the state.


    After they came back to the state, Jong-il, Il-kwon and Youngho were brainstorming to recruit more agents because the agents in Osh made a big difference in their recent mission. More agents would mean more quality information. There would be no reason not to recruit more because it would strengthen the asymmetry warfare capabilities of the autonomous state.


    Thus, they decided to recruit some bright young Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan as new agents. It would be practical to give them short and intense agent training so that they could have a stable career.


    As the state announced that it would be recruiting more agents, young Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan got exuberated. They looked up to the agents after they found out that they were the ones who helped them to move to the state back in Kyrgyzstan. Since people needed to have self-motivation in order for them to follow through harsh physical training and intelligence education.


    After a strict recruitment process, 22 young Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan was selected to be the autonomous state¡¯s intelligence agents. Six months of intense training and education which would include foreign, intelligence, and military education, would turn them into backup agents. Then after a year, they would be great regr agents of the state.


    The reason that the state hurried to recruit more agents was that it needed a force to fight against the IS.


    Although it would only be a small number of agents, the state would be able to defeat the enemies one by one with the help of agents. This was what Youngho felt after defeating two local groups of the IS once in Sary-Tash and once in Osh. Although the organization was huge, individual local groups were no threat to the autonomous state. If the state could not do it alone, Youngho was willing to ask for aid from the CIA.


    ***


    ¡°Howe they are extremely vicious?¡±


    ¡°They must¡¯ve learned their lesson this time. Without power, there is nothing but misery.¡±


    ¡°We better not send them to Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    The agent training began with military martial arts. Youngho and Jong-il were impressed that not even one of them gave up throughout the course of the state¡¯s intense training. They did not have well-built bodies like young well-fed Koreans. However, since they always walked and ran to travel in Kyrgyzstan, there was no question about the level of their endurance. Not to mention, they were all determined to be agents.


    They had to be vicious because they got paid during the training period. What they received was more than enough for their families to maintain a rtivelyfortable life. Compared to how they lived in Kyrgyzstan, they were living a dream now in the autonomous state. They suffered from being a minority, but now they had a hope to be a mainstream of the newnd.


    ¡°They insisted to continue with the hiking training even though they were puking all over. I am afraid that they might ruin their body or something.¡±


    ¡°Tell the instructors to take it easy on them. What is wrong with them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the instructors¡¯ fault. It¡¯s that Sung-ki and Sang-ho are pushing them at the training ground.¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. We¡¯ve got to find dates for them. I asked them to build a new Siberian expedition team, and it turns out that they had been ying at the training ground instead.¡±


    ¡°I know. Why can¡¯t they find a woman for themselves like other guards? Are they missing body parts or something?¡±


    ¡°They imed that they lost the sense of romance because they were working on the sea for too long.¡±


    ¡°Right... What a pathetic excuse.¡±


    ¡°Man, now it¡¯s our duty to find girls for our juniors.¡±


    It was a divine move to recruit the guys from the Korean Navy Special Forces since they did not have decent jobs after being discharged from the Navy. But now, because they had worked so hard, they had lost their chance to find girls. They were getting older now.


    Since peoplemonly got married before they were 25 in eastern Europe or in Central Asia, it was considered to be abnormal if people were not married until they were older. People thought that they must have a major defect. This was not good for the Korean guys who were over 30 now. They were losing their chance to get married as they were getting older every day.


    .


    ¡°Maybe we need to make a marriagemittee. If not, they might take out their stress somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a great idea! How about letting Commissioner Kim be the chairman of themittee?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to make a huge fuss about it.¡±


    Kim Chun would be a perfect candidate for the job, but he might get carried away with it and take it too far. Youngho was a little worried.


    He might even try to draw Miss Kazakhstandies into this. Ladies from Baku would be the best, but their religion could be an obstacle.


    Most people from Baku would only consider Im region practitioners for their spouses. Although Jong-il married Karajan, it was a very unusual case. If Youngho had not supported him and Karajan with his full force, it might have not happened at all.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try to find women whether they are Serbian or Azerbaijani. I¡¯ll ask for Karajan¡¯s help too.¡±


    ¡°Only if the women from Baku are not so stubborn...¡±


    ¡°Karajan used to be beautiful and naive before she met you. Look how you turned your wife into a stubborndy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never said Karajan is stubborn.¡±


    ¡°Chill out. You are lucky to marry Karajan. You don¡¯t deserve her at all.¡±


    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You think about what I meant. I am not going to say it.¡±


    Jong-il used to be a big womanizer before he met Karajan.


    ¡°Fine. Fine. I will ask Karajan to be the chairman of the marriagemittee.¡±


    ¡°Great. It¡¯s about time you say it.¡±

 Chapter 345 - Land Distribution (1)

    <h4>Chapter 345: Land Distribution (1)</h4>


    vica and Jeremic, who had gone to the US CIA University to receive intelligence education, finished their education a year earlier than other students and came back to Baku. They were talented young men.


    Youngho had rmended them to the CIA before because they were outstanding young men among the descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom who were staying in Baku¡¯s Serbian ranch.


    Now they had be regr agents of the US CIA. They could speak Serbian, Azerbaijani, and English. They were of course sent to work for the CIA¡¯s European chapter since there were not a lot of agents who could freelymunicate in the Balkan Penins and the Caucasus region. Youngho and Jong-il could, but their Asian features were sometimes an obstacle in those regions.


    ¡°Prince consort. We were able to finish our education quickly all because of your support.¡±


    ¡°Well done, you two. We¡¯ve heard about your progress through different sources but we didn¡¯t know that you¡¯d be finishing your education this early. I¡¯m proud to see that you are living up to the name of the descendants of the Serbian knights.¡±


    They were of course at an advantage since they had mastered the special breathing technique of the Serbian knights. They were physically stronger thanmon people and most importantly, they were full of sense of duty.


    They studied hard in the United States and refused toe back home even during their breaks. The CIA was quite impressed by their achievement as well.


    Youngho¡¯s word ofpliment meant a lot to them. It was because Youngho, the prince consort of the Archduchess, was a huge figure among the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom and also because he was their superior agent as well.


    ¡°Chief Michael told me that you were going to be assigned to the Caucasus region but I opposed it with all my will. Someone talented as you two should work in Europe. The Caucasus is too small for you. Since I have my team watching over the Caucasus, there¡¯s not much for you to do here.¡±


    ¡°We only wish to support you, prince consort.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be great if you could work your way up to the headquarters in Langley after working in the European Chapter. The Arirang Autonomous State needs insiders who are in the mainstream group of the CIA.¡±


    Since the two were only rookies in the CIA, they would need a lot of support from their connections and experience in the field. Because they had graduated the CIA University, it would be more helpful for them to be in the headquarters where most of their connections from the university would be gathered.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re done with studying and have decent jobs, all you need is to find a woman for yourself.¡±


    ¡°We still have a long way to go prince consort. Maybe we¡¯ll work for two more years before looking for women.¡±


    ¡°Did you already find girls in America by any chance?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    They did not reply to Youngho right away. It seemed that they might have already found girls from America.


    ¡°I guess you already have girls in mind. Alright, good luck with that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Youngho thought about the juniors from the Korean Navy Special Forces since they were yet to find women for themselves, unlike these Serbian young fes who had just graduated from university. It was a shame.


    The mansion on Zeynep Farm was crowded with people in a long time.


    There was a month left until the kids went back to their school and since Rena was going to enroll in the international school in Baku, he came back with his family early from the autonomous state.


    Rena seemed to be fond of Baku.


    The scenery of Zeynep Farm was quite different from the empty-looking autonomous state. A hill full of trees, the stream at the center, and the antique-looking buildings on the farm made a warm and homey atmosphere.


    Although she decided to stay with Jelyan and Leon instead of going back to Tskhinvali where her mom was, it was natural for her to miss her mom. She visited Katya not long ago with Il-kwon and she seemed to be relieved to find out that Tskhinvali was only about an hour away on a light airne. She could go back anytime to meet her mom and grandmother.


    Katya loved Rena¡¯s decision to stay with Youngho since she was happy that Rena would be able to study at an international school rather than being in South Ossetia where the educational standard was quite low.


    She rather thanked Youngho and Fatima for their support for her daughter. Youngho was also d that Katya did not mind him raising Rena.


    Katya was now highly motivated to expand the hotel in Tskhinvali since she was not able to do that with her daughter around. To support her, Youngho sent some funds for the construction of the new condominium.


    ***


    After hearing that Korean employees of Zeynep Security Service were having a hard time finding girls to marry, Karajan stepped up to be in charge of a matchmaker¡¯s job.


    She had been solely focusing on raising her children, so she got excited to have a new job apart from babysitting. She visited Baku University and met up with senior girls who might be interested in meeting Korean guys.


    ¡°Ugh, she might end up making a marriage brokerpany at this rate.¡±


    ¡°What about it? Your kids now go to the kindergarten on Zeynep Farm. It¡¯ll be good for her if she gets back to work.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that so easily just because it¡¯s not your business.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Karajan doesn¡¯t make breakfast for you anymore because she¡¯s too busy now? You cane to our house to eat.¡±


    ¡°No, not that. You know how ambitious Karajan can be.¡±


    ¡°You said she was stubborn. Is she now ambitious?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the same thing. If she is determined to make money, she will do it at the cost of our family¡¯s happiness.¡±


    ¡°Dude, chill out. She¡¯s been home ever since she married you and had children. Don¡¯t you remember how active she used to be when she worked at Chunho Merchant¡¯s direct clothing store? She needs a ce to breathe. You¡¯re always gone for work anyway.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il were now always at the autonomous state that they only came home a handful times in a month. Fatima and the kids visited the state often but Karajan hated flying since she was scared of it. She was always in Baku.


    ¡°I was thinking about giving her an office at the Arirang Hotel¡¯s building for a marriage broker business. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you really want to make it big?¡±


    Youngho thought that a decent ce was needed for a marriage broker business.


    When a couple was on a blind date, many women would naturally want to meet at a clean and luxury caf¨¦, so he thought a hotel would be a perfect spot for Karajan¡¯s office. When single women entered the hotel, they would feel like a Cindere in a luxury pce.


    If the consulting office was located in a hotel, it would be easy to gain clients¡¯ trust.


    Although Azerbaijan was not a traditional Imic country as it was more liberal, there were still a lot of marriage broker businesses since many marriages were still arranged by conservative parents.


    Many parents woulde to a consulting office with the pictures and profiles of their sons and daughters to look for a great match for them. Those parents would especially be intrigued to see an office in a luxurious hotel. They would feel like they hade to a high-ss business, and trust that they would find a high-ss match for their sons or daughters.


    That was what Youngho was after.


    Since he was trying to get a match for Asian, non-Muslim guys, which was not traditional at all, he wanted to appeal the superficial sides of the office and the Korean guys to the parents anddies. It was not a lie since the Korean employees were actually making way more than normal Azerbaijani workers.


    ¡°Karajan, do you like this spot?¡±


    ¡°Oh my! Boss. Won¡¯t this be too good for my small business? I don¡¯t want my clients to get overwhelmed by the look.¡±


    ¡°This will earn their trust, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°You are indeed generous!¡±


    Even after getting married and quitting her job, she still called Youngho her boss.


    ¡°You know those Korean guys really need you. If you can match up to ten couples, that will be a great sess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best. I will find great Bakudies for them.¡±


    ¡°Some of the guys want to live in the autonomous state. I don¡¯t think it will be easy. Wouldn¡¯t Bakudies who are used to big cities hate to move to a remote area?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know about girls here. They¡¯ll want to follow their husbands no matter what once they¡¯re married.¡±


    ¡°Still, I doubt that they want to live in the autonomous state. It¡¯s not a well-equipped city yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that. You shouldn¡¯t be worried.¡±


    Karajan assured Youngho confidently.


    It seemed that she was quite excited about her office. She was highly motivated now.


    ***


    Hong Sung-ki entered Zeynep Corporation¡¯s office in downtown Baku with an excited face.


    ¡°Do you like her?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? She¡¯s going to win a beauty pageant if she ran for one.¡±


    Mostdies in Baku were beautiful, but any women in the early 20s were all beautiful in any country. To Hong Sung-ki, who was getting older without a dating experience in a long while, any women in that age range would look like they were angels from heaven.


    Youngho worried that he might insist on dating only Koreandies but he epted interracial marriage naturally. This might be Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s influence since they all married a woman from a different country.


    ¡°Dude, I¡¯m not saying about her face. How is she really?¡±


    ¡°Boss. Ladies here are so kind. I don¡¯t need to be so picky about them. The parents¡¯ of the girl I met today were quite surprised to hear what I make a year. They looked like they were ready to give me their blessing any day if I told them that I¡¯m going to get married to their daughter.¡±


    Since Zeynep Corporation that included different businesses like Zeynep Farm, Zeynep Security Service, and Arirang Hotel¡ªwho was well known in Baku, people generally thought highly of others if they were employed by the corporation. The girl¡¯s parents must have been intrigued to hear that Hong Sung-ki was one of them.


    ¡°Man, are you ready to get married already?¡±


    ¡°When do you think I¡¯ll be able to meet a beautifuldy like that?¡±


    ¡°Girls here are all pretty!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another thing I liked about her.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I asked her if she would be fine living with my parents, and she nodded. Man, she was so cool.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to get your parents to move here?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re farming in a rural area in Korea but they¡¯re getting older. I want to serve them now.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki cared about his parents dearly. He wanted their parents to retire soon ande to live with him.


    ¡°Okay, if you feel that way, I¡¯ll give you any house you want at Zeynep Farm. You could ask your parents toe and live with you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Boss.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only doing this so you can serve your parents, not for your sake.¡±


    Youngho, who lost his parents while he was serving in the military, cared for others¡¯ parents to a great deal. The reason that he was so fond of Michael or Yaniv was that they were about the same age with his parents if they were still alive. If any of the security guards wanted to bring their parents, he wanted to support their decision wholeheartedly since he did not want anyone to regret like him after their parents passed.


    ¡°But I surely want to live in the autonomous state. It¡¯s also closer to Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Would ady from a big city want to live in such a remote region? Ask your girl first. Our Jets can get them to travel from the state to Baku within an hour.¡±


    If the runway of Zeynep Farm was modified a little bit, Jets would be able tond on the farm as well. Youngho was also nning to buy another Jet that would be dedicated to Zeynep Farm.


    ¡°My parents still want to farm after retiring. Their dream is to have argend for themselves.¡±


    It was not easy to own arge area in Korea. It was because the country was quite popted and thend was extremely expensive.


    ¡°Well, if they are still strong enough to farm, there are tons ofnd that can be spared at the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Boss, are you going to distribute the farnd in the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely. In fact, I¡¯ll start distributing it this year.¡±


    ¡°For free?¡±


    ¡°I need to be fair to everyone. I¡¯ll make them repay for thend in the course of ten years. But thend will be cheap since I don¡¯t want to burden our residents.¡±


    ¡°You mean I can register too?¡±


    ¡°Are you a farmer? Your parents might be able to, but not you.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki was intrigued by Youngho¡¯s words.


    It was understandable since many Koreans thought buyingnd was a great investment.


    Youngho was, in fact, one of them. He was crazy aboutnd and properties.

 Chapter 346 - Land Distribution (2)

    <h4>Chapter 346: Land Distribution (2)</h4>


    Kim Chun¡¯s eyes were bloodshot.


    Dividing the farnd of the autonomous state must not have been so simple.


    Most of the people wanted thend near the residential ce, not thend farther away from the city. To satisfy everyone, Kim Chun needed to convince the farmers and meet their needs too at the same time.


    The farmers did not have financial abilities to own private vehicles or farming equipment yet, so having their farnd far away from where they lived was not desirable. But, it would not be wise to assignnd randomly since the physical status of the farmers and their ages should be considered in the decision too. If they were young farmers, they would be able to endure longmutes to theirnd daily, but most of them were middle-aged.


    ¡°What should I do? It feels like I had poked a beehive. Everyone wantsnd near the city and it¡¯s hard to decide.¡±


    People also wanted thend that was known to produce a good crop in the previous years.


    ¡°It¡¯s understandable since the repair shop is located in the city.¡±


    ¡°Boss, so I came up with an idea. Hear me out and tell me if this makes sense. How about we only divide and distribute thend near the city for now? The farnd will be smaller than we nned but that¡¯d be the fairest way to distributend.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. The size of thend is too small. People won¡¯t be able to sustain their lives by selling such a small yield.¡±


    ording to Kim Chun¡¯s idea, farmers would get only about 40 acres ofnd each but they would not be able to feed their household for farming such a smallnd.


    Youngho did not think Kim Chun¡¯s idea was usible since he thought that the autonomous state should havepetitiveness in farming at least. Since farming would be the state¡¯s primary industry. Food source could be a weapon in difficult times, so the state should produce more than enough food for its sake.


    As the two could note to a conclusion, they decided to take it to the state¡¯s leadership meeting. Distribution of farnd could not have trials and errors since it could lead to a serious division between people in the state. They had to find a fair means that could convince everyone without aint. Youngho wondered if there was such a perfect way.


    With Chief Niksic at thest, the conference room was finally filled with every member of the leadership group.


    The map of the autonomous state, which the follower couple had prepared, was projected at the screen.


    Kim Chun, with his eloquent speech, got everyone¡¯s attention to the matter ofnd distribution. Most of the members seemed to understand the importance ofnd distribution as they nodded to his speech. Now all there was left to do was to decide which means to carry on the task, and the whole room also turned into chaos just like a beehive that had been poked.


    Everyone had their own opinion about who was going to get which site of farnd.


    Niksic insisted with his prating voice to draw a lot.


    ¡°Prince consort, I don¡¯t think people willin about whatnd they¡¯d be getting. They should be thankful that you¡¯re giving away farnd. Drawing a lot is actually a fair way to distributend. If they make a problem out of this, tell them that you¡¯re not distributing it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Chief Niksic, I already announced that the state will be distributing thend. People will be disappointed badly if I change my word but I appreciate your opinion. Is there anyone else who wants to contribute an idea?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, what are you talking about? Who does thisnd belong to anyway? It¡¯s all bought with prince consort¡¯s own money. This would be his territory and he would be our lord if it was in the past. Who¡¯s going to tell him what to do?¡±


    Niksic was getting carried away with anger.


    Now that he mentioned the lordship of Youngho, Jong-il would be making fun of him for a while.


    Then, Kim Chun, who was quick-witted, quicklyforted Niksic and continued on talking.


    ¡°If younger farmers are assigned tond near the city area, older farmers might find it unfair. If we can talk to younger farmers and convince them, they won¡¯t mind giving older farmers a chance first.¡±


    Then, someone else suggested another idea.


    ¡°Commissioner, I think it¡¯d be better to distribute farnd near the city equally and divide the rest of thend ording to farmers¡¯ age and ability.¡±


    There were more other opinions but they were narrowed down to three ideas.


    ¡°Okay, the result of our vote indicates that we should draw a lot fornd distribution. But, we¡¯ll have to pay incentives for people who¡¯d get farnd distant from the city area. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Since they¡¯d have tomute, we should assign them vehicles as a priority, and since their yields should be less, we should deduct their tax.¡±


    It was Park Young-sun who suggested this idea.


    ¡°How about adding one or two farming towns to the state? If new towns are formed, they won¡¯t have to drive so long tomute. It¡¯d be great if we have another town area at the distance of an hour from the city area. If we utilize the ranch sites, it won¡¯t be so difficult to form a town.¡±


    Old Kim Sung-chan was the one who voiced himselfst.


    It was great for the bnced development of the autonomous state.


    The original city would be the center of administration and economy of the state. Having several farming towns as satellites would speed up the development of the autonomous state.


    The problem was the education of kids, but small schools could be also formed ording to the size of each town. As for older kids, they could usemuting bus or dormitory. If roads were established, they might be able tomute within the range of 30 minutes.


    Everything was centered around the original city, and it was a reason that the autonomous state¡¯s development was slowing down. Thus, the establishment of satellite towns was all agreed upon by the leadership group.


    There were reservoirs all over the autonomous state and ranches were formed nearby them. Since most of them werepleted including stone walls, building towns there did not seem to be a huge problem.


    ***


    ¡°Making farming towns will resolve our issue of theck of housing in the city.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯d want to leave their old houses?¡±


    ¡°We should give them some incentives, of course. Wouldn¡¯t farming equipment the best gift for farmers?¡±


    The farnd that would be distributed to each farmer¡¯s household was about 200 acres. It seemed to be a huge area, but it was not a lotpared to what rich farmers had in Kazakhstan.


    In advanced countries, 320 tons of wheat was produced from and of 200 acres on average but the state was expecting only about 250 tons of wheat from each farnd for now due to thend¡¯s low fertility level.


    250 tons of wheat was sold at about 74,000 dors these days, and for a small scale farming family, it was quite a lot. If the amount of yield would increase in the future, their ie would increase even more. Of course, they would have to pay for farming equipment and other expenses but roughly they could even earn a billion Korean won a year. It would be a dream ie in Central Asia.


    ¡°We will purchase all of the wheat produced in the state but other crops could be sold individually using local retailers in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯ll be beneficial for the people to follow the market economy rather than beingpletely controlled by the administration of the state. When the ie of the farmers and area of farnd increase, we¡¯ll be able to have a room for a hundred more households to join farming.¡±


    ¡°I heard that we¡¯re already getting calls from the residents wishing to be farmers.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t take anyone as farmers. They¡¯d have to be equipped with the skill, passion, and endurance. Most of them are only being greedy for farnd.¡±


    There were 152 farming households in the Arirang Autonomous State and 30,000 acres ofnd would need to be distributed to them but the developed farnd was only about 20,000 acres so far.


    The farmers who would be moving to new towns would need to develop farnd on their own. Even after developing it, the fertility of thend would gradually increase, and they would only be able to have a decent amount of yield after a few years of working hard on the newnd.


    Because of this reason, Youngho was going to give exclusive treats for the ones moving to the new towns. New towns were not going to be equipped with convenient facilities as the city area where the administration was located. They would be only an hour away from the city but the psychological distance would be even farther than that. It would be only fair if there was a great incentive for the farmers who would have to move away to new towns.


    Also, he would allow farmers to exchange theirnd once and for all after thend was distributed ording to the result of the drawing.


    The drawing day had finallye.


    The staffs of the administration numbered each area of the autonomous state on a huge map and put the numbers on little balls. They put all of the balls randomly in a box so that each farming household could draw a ball from it.


    This could be done through aputer program but the state intentionally held an official drawing at the state¡¯s underground gym. It was to make it an official event of the state and to convince everyone that it was a fair game to all farming households.


    Every time a ball with a number was picked, farmers would go to the map to check the location of their farnd. Peopleughed, eximed, and sighed together as they watched the event.


    The farmers who got thend near the city were relieved that they received good, established farnd. The farmers who got newnd were disappointed but they did notin since they were hopeful for what kind of incentive they would be getting from the state.


    After the drawing waspleted, people were busy chatting about newly assigned farnd. Since the farmers had not registered the number of theirnd yet, they still could exchange theirnd with each other. Even after registering theirnd, they would be allowed to exchangend for once.


    Distribution of farnd of the autonomous state ended as a great sess.


    All of the residents were full of excitement for the uing new change of the autonomous state.


    ***


    The distribution of farnd surely had positive effects on the autonomous state.


    It was rumored that the annual ie of state¡¯s residents was estimated starting from the farmers, and then each factory¡¯s production rate had started to go up.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening now? The drone factory¡¯s output was increasedpared tost week and it¡¯s the same with the bearing factory.¡±


    ¡°The slow work pace at the shipyard has gotten a lot faster now. People are hopeful that they will make six-figure yearly ie in several years.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m quite afraid that the word will spread to outside. We can¡¯t stop people froming to the autonomous state to settle down.¡±


    ¡°Phew, what are you worried about? The autonomous state should have at least 50,000 people in order to be a decent state. We barely have about 7,000 people including infants. With the next group of Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan moving in the spring, we¡¯ll barely have about 10,000 people.¡±


    ¡°People who¡¯d be moving in the spring used to be farmers unlike people from the big city, Osh, most of them would want farnd of their own. We¡¯ll be able to make new towns in the state.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I mean Boss. Would you please get us some lumber from Siberia? I just think we¡¯re paying too much for lumbers for home furniture.¡±


    Kim Chunined.


    It was because the cost of building materials and lumbers for home furniture was quite a lot.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little premature since we have only exchanged the memorandum of understanding so far. There is a ce where we could buy them at a cheaper price.¡±


    ¡°Where is it? I¡¯ll go ahead at once and negotiate it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°What? From Kyrgyzstan?¡±

 Chapter 347 - Land Distribution (3)

    <h4>Chapter 347: Land Distribution (3)</h4>


    Kyrgyzstan was a mountainous country that was called Switzend in Central Asia. Its average altitude reached 2,700 meters, and as the water melted down from the icecaps formed rivers andkes, the country¡¯s alpine forest was a source of timber.


    There were numbers of coniferous forests in Karakol where it adjoined Kazakhstan¡¯s border. Hardwood was easy to find there since it was one of the major businesses of Kyrgyzstan.


    The lumber imported from Volgograd was expensive since they were all processed already. The autonomous state could save money if it could find hardwood from Kyrgyzstan and process it in the state after importing it.


    Kim Chun wanted to import hardwood without a middleman.


    ¡°You¡¯re not saying we¡¯re going to log our own trees there, are you? We need to have a middleman in Kyrgyzstan. Let¡¯s not risk anything to save some petty money. It¡¯ll be cheaper than buying lumber from Russia anyway.¡±


    Whether the state hired a middleman or not, the safest way to import hardwood was to receive hardwoods inside Kazakhstan¡¯s border. Paying cash directly to the hardwood middlemen at the border after checking the quality of wood would be the simplest and the surest method of importing it.


    Kim Chun was convinced by Youngho¡¯s exnation.


    Since the best way to move the wood to the state was by train, he asked if the state could buy train cars that were produced at the factory of H Rotem.


    ¡°We can definitely transfer them to the Port of Atyrau on a train and from there, we will move them on a ship but the question is, how are we going to transport them from Arirang Wharf to each construction site? It¡¯ll be great to have railroad tracks in the state.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm...¡±


    ¡°Think about it. It¡¯ll be convenient in so many ways. We¡¯ll have two more satellite towns soon, and it¡¯ll be difficult to handle every transportation of supplies only with trucks and cars.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think H Rotem¡¯s factory in Astana is making train cars yet.¡±


    ¡°Then do you think we can find used freighter train cars from Russia? We don¡¯t need new ones now. The track is not going to be so long anyway.¡±


    ¡°That actually sounds good. I¡¯d love to have a railroad in our state.¡±


    Youngho was still waiting for the international business project, Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran railroad project, which he was going to be involved but it was slowed down because of situations in Russia. And it seemed that he was going to see railroad established in the Arirang Autonomous State first now.


    He dreamed that one day he would be able to see the train that left the autonomous state being connected with the Trans-Siberian Railway.


    ***


    The way how the state had assigned farnd to each farmer¡¯s household was fair but some farmers stillined.


    Some who were assigned to new farming towns imed that they would not be farming anymore, and some ranchers alsoined that the state was giving privilege to farmers only. Ranchers wanted their ownnd too.


    Co-production was great in the beginning, but the production rate was bad since people tended to work less hard when they did not possess their ownnd. It was one of the reasons why socialism failed.


    Kim Chun, who came to discuss the problem with Youngho, kept on sipping his coffee in stress.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, how much area does a sheep graze this year?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea, Boss. I¡¯ve never heard of a nomad who calcted the area. They just move around to seek new pasture.¡±


    ¡°In advanced countries, people calcted the amount of livestock¡¯s food and prepare their hay and feed ording to that.¡±


    ¡°That only applies to people who raise their stock in a limited area. In here, we don¡¯t even count meat from livestock that¡¯s not raised cage-free.¡±


    For the people who had lived as nomads for thousands of years, anynd that they trod on was theirs, but for Serbians who had lived in mountainous areas, it was a different story.


    Since they had raised their stock in a limited amount ofnd, it was likely that they would manage their stocks effectively if they had their own properties. The only concern was that Youngho had no idea how many animals and how much big of an area should be given to each household.


    ¡°If we distribute livestock to the ranchers, wouldn¡¯t we be able to get more cheese and meat from them?¡±


    ¡°That could be a case but I¡¯ve never heard of nomads amassing a big fortune around here. They don¡¯t live to enjoy luxury. They merely get by with what they have.¡±


    ¡°I should look for statistics. We have more than enoughnd that was developed into pastures to spare but it¡¯s unclear if the ranchers would be able to make enough for living.¡±


    ¡°Phew, if only the ranchers could be satisfied with what they have now... It¡¯s driving me crazy now that they want their own properties.¡±


    Except for the state¡¯s share and tax, all of the profits from produced cheese and by-products had been given to the state¡¯s ranchers, and they earned as much as factory workers.


    On the other hand, farmers of the state only earned about 10,000 dors a year since the amount of yield was not so great yet. To make enough for their living cost, they were given construction works here and there during the farming off-season. Land distribution was a kind of reward for the farmers who had been working hard for years in different fields of work. But, it seemed that ranchers now envied farmers.


    Youngho was impressed to see the data that the follower couple brought him.


    Using a usible form, they hade up with a standard for distribution of livestock by substituting the amount and area of grass that was eaten by a sheep every year.


    ¡°All of these came from your head?¡±


    ¡°We found statistics from ranches and farms that have sheep in Australia and New Zend. Of course, those areas have pastures all over theirnd due to the high precipitation rate. So, we applied two thirds more amount of area than the standard of Australia for our state.¡±


    ¡°We need 400 acres of pasture per 500 sheep? That means we need more than 16,000 acres to raise 20,000 sheep. Do we have this much pasturend in our state?¡±


    ¡°We majorly focus on producing hay from our pasturnd. Ranchers usually raise their stock in wastnd.¡±


    The wastnd of the state was semi-deserted, but quite an amount of grass grew in the spring because of the snow that fell in the winter. Thus, ranchers could raise their stock in there.


    As for the grassy field that was developed with manpower, hay was majorly produced in preparation for winter since grass did not grow.


    ¡°Would 500 sheep make enough money for each rancher¡¯s household?¡±


    ¡°They can make what they used to make only if they raise about 1,000 sheep and produce cheese, by-products, and meat at the same time. But the maximum number of sheep that could be raised by each family is 500.¡±


    It was difficult to raise 500 sheep with only so many members in one family. There was no idle workforce that could help them in the state. On top of that, it was too much work for them to be in charge of the production of cheese, shearing, and ughtering at the same time.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. The production of cheese, butchery, and shearing should be assigned to experts. If we could divide the profits from those businesses well, 500 sheep could be enough.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying breeders would be only in charge of breeding and milking.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. They can form a stock-raisers¡¯ association and be members of it.¡±


    ¡°Very well, let¡¯s decide it at the leadership conference then. Great job, you guys.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you, Mr. CEO.¡±


    ***


    Theints of ranchers were relieved now with the solution that the follower couple came up with.


    Although they would still haveints after the distribution of their properties, it was natural for people to take some time to adjust for new changes. But, if they could not follow the policy, they might as well leave the state since they could not live in harmony.


    Since not every resident was strong and young, residents needed to learn how to care for the weak and to share some of their portion for them.


    This way, the society of the state would grow mature.


    Some rancher families teamed up to partner with each other by getting assigned a bigger area together. They soon learned that it was more efficient to work with other rancher groups, rather than being in charge of sheep on their own. Still, they were satisfied that they had their own properties now.


    They also soon moved near to the pasturnd that was given by the state since it was more convenient to work. It seemed that there would be mini towns, which consisted of only four to five ranch families, all over the state soon.


    ¡°Boss. If we¡¯ve made a residential town already for new Koryoin immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, we would¡¯ve regretted it. We are already going to have about 200 empty houses.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say we need to increase the number of people anyway? Please build the new residential area near the pce as nned. We never know what will happen here.¡±


    ¡°Then I should increase the dormitories for the kids of the new farming towns and ranching towns first. Since they¡¯re moving away from the city, theirmutes will not be so easy. I don¡¯t want this to bother their school life and education.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, Commissioner. You can do it as you want. I don¡¯t care how much I spend if it¡¯s for their education.¡±


    The two kept discussing on different matters of the newly built towns.


    ¡°There are many people who would run daily necessities stores and bakeries now. But they¡¯re not willing to sell fresh products like meat and vegetables. It¡¯s a shame but it¡¯s not so profitable because of the low poption of the little towns.¡±


    ¡°If our poption increases, they will naturally form business stores that will have those products.¡±


    The low poption of new towns was a problem. That was why the state was excited to receive new immigrants from Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°By the way, the residents are very curious about the price ofnd properties. Chief Niksic is still opposing the transfer of the ownership ofnd from the state to residents. If we force it, he¡¯s going to protest and fast in front of our office. He insists that we should transfer the right to cultivation only if we want to preserve ournd.¡±


    ¡°Phew, he¡¯s still talking about that lordship stuff.¡±


    ¡°Chief Niksic is not fully wrong. I agree with him that the autonomous state should still have the ownership ofnd in case of future emergencies. Also, some people are criticizing that the administration is trying to make money from the residents by sellingnd.¡±


    ¡°What? People wanted their ownnd before. Why are they acting this way?¡±


    ¡°They must¡¯ve expected to receivend for free.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. It¡¯s not fair to people working in other fields either. If they¡¯re worried about the price of their property, will they be okay with renting then?¡±


    ¡°It looks like they¡¯ll be satisfied with having the right to cultivation.¡±


    ¡°The ranchers won¡¯t even want to buynd at all.¡±


    ¡°Of course, how will they afford such huge pasturnd for their sheep?¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded that he had gone through such trouble, but what he was getting was criticism. He thought that if they could earn their properties by paying off the price throughout the years, they would have hope and motivation for work and life. If it was in Korea, they would be d to ownnd even with debt.


    Youngho had no other option now.


    Although not free, he was going to pricend very cheap so that he could transfer the ownership to farmer and rancher families. It would be beneficial for them to ownnd if they wanted to live there from generations to generations, but people liked the right to cultivation better than ownership of a property. It was because nomadic people had no sense of buyingnd properties and havingnd ownership.


    To him, it was not a bad idea to preservend and sellter if they wanted to. He would even be able to sell it at higher prices in the future or he could inherit the whole region to Leon.


    He was just a little disappointed that people were not ready to take a step to build their lives on a more advanced level. It seemed that things did not always happen as he wanted.


    But, maybe it was better for him this way.

 Chapter 348 - A Tonic for One’s Daily Life (1)

    <h4>Chapter 348: A Tonic for One¡¯s Daily Life (1)</h4>


    Since it was already March, the temperature had warmed up.


    The wet season of the winter had ended and snow on the field melted away; the construction that was stopped over the cold winter resumed.


    The medical school¡¯s dormitories and the Arirang Hotel near the airport were getting ready to open in September. Workers were also working on the railroad that would connect the harbor and the city. It was only about 10 kilometers long, but this would be good practice for future railroad construction.


    Though Youngho wanted to build a railroad between Kazakhstan¡¯s national railroad and the autonomous state right away, it would require much more work such as dealing with the national railroad department and building multiple stations and signal systems. It would not be toote to do so after building more infrastructures. In addition, railroad construction would normally be way more expensive because there should be roadbed construction and leveling work before even getting to the railroad construction.


    Fortunately, the state was mostly made of t, dry area, and this was the best condition for railroad construction. It was definitely beneficial to have a railroad looping around the state since there were already two extra farming viges now. In addition, they needed to rece the construction materials around the state, and a train could be a big help.


    When Youngho asked the follower couple to calcte the cost of building a railroad around the state, they opposed Youngho¡¯s idea.


    ¡°I asked Mr. Kim Joo-hyuk from H Corporation about this. Do you want to see the research paper he gave me?¡±


    ¡°Hmm... Wait, a narrow-gauge train would be the best fit for our state? Then it won¡¯t connect to the railroad from the harbor.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to build the railroad that connects the state to Kazakhstan¡¯s national railroad, we should definitely use the international standard railroad. But, for a train that will connect viges of the state, a narrow-gauge train will be sufficient. Not to mention, the construction and maintenance cost will also make a huge difference.¡±


    ¡°Can we even find these trains?¡±


    ¡°We can. Mr. Kim said that we can ce an order. It would be less stable and slower, but it¡¯ll be fine for our state since our roads are t and straight.¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re saying, but I am thinking about the future here. I appreciate how you want to save money, but we shouldn¡¯t be penny pinchers for this matter. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°I understand. But it is also an expert¡¯s opinion. I think it is worth giving some thought on that.¡±


    Suh Min-seok did not back off even though Youngho insisted his opinion. He also had a point too, so Youngho stopped arguing.


    ¡°Okay. I think you do have a point. I will consider that option too. But if the cost doesn¡¯t differ that much, we will go with the international standard railroad right away. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡±


    Youngho truly appreciated Min-seok¡¯s effort to persuade him, and his opinion was based on thorough research.


    He could see that Min-seok cared about the state¡¯s well-being as much as Youngho did.


    He had changed a lot since he came to the state. He used to be a timid young recruit but now, he was a great secretary who voiced himself quite often.


    ***


    ¡°He challenged me and argued with me as if he didn¡¯t even care about the fact that I am his boss.¡±


    ¡°Whoa. Now you have a person who openly opposes you here? Nice.¡±


    ¡°What am I? A dictator? I appreciate debating. I¡¯d like to listen to other people¡¯s opinions as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°Right... You are the most stubborn person I¡¯ve ever met in my life. Sometimes, I don¡¯t even want to continue debating with you because I know you are not going to change your mind.¡±


    ¡°So what? Has anything gone wrong?¡±


    ¡°Whatever, man. This is great. I might take him as my sessor. Min-seok would be the ultimate opponent for Youngho one day.¡±


    Youngho was quite surprised by Min-seok¡¯s attitude, and it was such a refreshing experience since not many people had opposed him before in the autonomous state. Being the prince consort and the owner of thend had made him a difficult person to talk to by many.


    ¡°So, a narrow-gauge train? Do they still make it? It sounds pretty old.¡±


    ¡°This is why you need to travel around the world to widen your view. It was still popr until the 90¡¯s in Soraepogu in Incheon, Korea.¡±


    ¡°Sure. You know about a tiny little train. Wow, You must know how to foresee the future too. Oh wait, were you just there chasing skirts around that period?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. Anyway, it is a really narrow train where two people¡¯s knees will meet if they seat face to face. Even in my view, it doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s going to cost a lot. If Mr. Kim suggested, then he would have put a lot of thought in it too.¡±


    ¡°I agree with you. If it bes a problem in the future, he wouldn¡¯t have suggested it.¡±


    ¡°Who knows? Maybe it will attract tourists in the future.¡±


    ¡°We need to send our freighters to Volgograd. I was informed that two diesel trains, ten cargo trains, and three passenger trains are ready for us.¡±


    ¡°Did brother Sergey threaten somebody to get them for us?¡±


    ¡°They are only used trains. Probably, he bought them from a military unit.¡±


    Of course, not many military units would decline a Mafia boss¡¯ request since they might have made several illegal transactions with them in the past already. Aged military supplies needed to be reced after a certain period of time anyway. They would go through an inspection to see if they were still usable but someone in the military must have embezzled the trains for Yaniv since the military personnel in charge of such matter conventionally sold them a scrap metal without the inspection process.


    ¡°Even the scrap iron itself must be quite expensive...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Yaniv¡¯s gift for recruiting the American lumberpany into Russia.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to take advantage of uster for this.¡±


    ¡°Well, he might now. He asked me to send him some rifles from our state.¡±


    Youngho asked Sergey for some used trains previously, and the trains were ready sooner than expected. Youngho was going to raise the price of his wines, but it seemed that he should wait because Yaniv did a big favor for him and the state. Youngho was sure that Yaniv already had this in mind before helping him.


    Regardless of the deal, soon the people of the state would hear the sound of diesel trains.


    ***


    Among the second group of Koryoin immigrants from Osh, nine households that had rtively young families were not given their houses yet. They were staying at the barracks used for constructors in the beginning stage of the autonomous state. They were roughly built but since one household was using a few rooms, it was not too inconvenient for them. Besides, they now had hope of living a safe and stable life, and their faces were bright.


    When Youngho¡¯s group visited them, they were about to have their dinner. As soon as they saw him, they stopped eating and stood up to greet him.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t stand for me. Finish your meal. I feel like I picked the wrong time to visit you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Di... did you have your dinner yet? Do you want to join us?¡±


    Their Korean was not proficient, but it was intelligible.


    Youngho was surprised to hear his Korean. The man in histe 30s still had Koreannguage and customs embedded in his life.


    ¡°Do you have extra food for me?¡±


    ¡°We always make more than we need because kids might get hungryter at night.¡±


    ¡°Great. I would love to join you. Hope you don¡¯t mind if we eat too much.¡±


    As Youngho¡¯s group started to eat, the whole cafeteria went back to their meal and became rowdy. He kept checking around as he ate because he heard that this group of Koryoins was particrly in a very poor condition due to their hard life in Kyrgyzstan.


    At a corner of the cafeteria, a mother and a teenage boy were having a quiet argument. It looked like the boy was not happy with the food. Youngho quietly asked Kim In-hwa to check it out for him since there was a lot of food on the table, and there was no reason for the boy toin about the food.


    When Kim In-hwa came back, she looked concerned about the situation.


    ¡°The boy wants some ramen noodles. His mom said that he does this every meal time, so we shouldn¡¯t be worried.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t like this food?¡±


    ¡°It looks like he hasn¡¯t tried ramen noodles before, and he wants it so bad. He seemed to be bit smaller than other teenage boys. It¡¯s obvious their life in Kyrgyzstan was full of struggles.¡±


    Youngho checked others during a quiet conversation with In-hwa. If the boy could not even have cheap ramen noodles, he wondered what kind of life these people had before.


    ¡°Can we make some ramen noodles for him? It¡¯s not going to make him sick.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have any more ramen noodles left.¡±


    ¡°Give them more.¡±


    ¡°We have no more ramen noodles now. The whole group of Koryoin immigrants only wanted ramen noodles the entire week. Nothing is left in the stock.¡±


    Since Serbian residents also loved ramen, the state had been importing them in containers from Korea. Especially, young Countryside Force guards loved to eat them as night snacks when they were on patrol duty.


    After Youngho finished his meal, he could not leave the cafeteria, he felt bad that the immigrants could not even eat ramen noodles in Kyrgyzstan. Instant ramen noodles were cheap food in Korea that many college students and people between jobs ate it. It came across as a little shock.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok. Make a call to Korea and ask them to send us ramen noodles immediately. Tell the supplier it¡¯s urgent. You could also call the importers in Istanbul and see if they can send ramen noodles. Give them the price they want.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. How many containers would you like to get?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it up to you.¡±


    Min-seok was d that Youngho cared about Koryoins. If Youngho did not ask, Min-seok was going to spend his own money to order some ramen noodles.


    Youngho could not forget about the scene he saw at the Koryoin immigrants¡¯ cafeteria.


    Though he was not nning on building a big state like this at the beginning, he eventually grew empathetic for Serbian immigrants who had struggled to live in their previous homes. That was the reason why he began building the city and poured his heart in building the state.


    Now, seeing Koryoins struggling hard this way, it reminded him of the days when the autonomous state was still starting. Rather than ming someone for their hard life, Youngho wanted to find ways to help them. So, he called a few people to the conference room to discuss it.

 Chapter 349 - A Tonic for One’s Daily Life (2)

    <h4>Chapter 349: A Tonic for One¡¯s Daily Life (2)</h4>


    ¡°Koryoin immigrants here are fortunate ones. Yet, I know there are many Koryoins out there still struggling to live. That¡¯s why I called out this meeting.¡±


    ¡°I understand your concern and intention. But the whole state might suffer while we help them.¡±


    It was cruel, but there was nothing wrong with Park Young-sun¡¯s point.


    ¡°Think about the case of Germany. After the unification, the whole country suffered to sustain East Germany. Their economy recessed as a result even though Germany was one of the richest countries back then.¡±


    ¡°But they managed to make aeback.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t ignore the fact that there were social conflicts among German people either.¡±


    ¡°There are not many Koryoins around Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It will be only about 30,000 even if they all moved to our state, and besides the state needs more people.¡±


    It was Kim Chun who made a bold objection to Dr. Park¡¯s opinion because he thought Youngho could somehow make it work.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we can¡¯t do it right now. You are asking everyone in our state to suffer poverty. People who contributed and worked really hard to build our state from the beginning will feel betrayed by the state.¡±


    Old Kim Sung-chan, who had been closing his eyes for the entire time, slowly raised his hand to stop the debate. There was no one who knew about Koryoins more than he did.


    ¡°They were only stuck in those remote areas because of bad luck. The Koryoinmunity in Kazakhstan tried to help them several times. If they want toe to our state, those Koryoins must be desperate.¡±


    ¡°Koryoins around Central Asia will want toe here if they know about our state.¡±


    ¡°They have settled there for a long time. They wouldn¡¯t want toe unless they are suffering greatly just like the Koryoins in the middle of a dispute in Kyrgyzstan. There will be no more than a few thousand immigrants. It won¡¯t hurt to take them in. I will help as well.¡±


    Nobody could argue with the old man because he meant to give up the money he had earned from the gold mine in old Koryoin town. It sounded like he was rebuking everyone for not giving up what they had to help others. Then he made a different suggestion.


    ¡°Like I told you. If they¡¯re determined toe here, they must be desperate. Mr. Lee has already prepared to ept them in our state. So let¡¯s not talk about it anymore. Instead, how about we discuss how we can help Koryoins who want to stay in Kyrgyzstan? Maybe we can grant a loan for them. A low-interest, long-term loan can be one way. If they want to open a store, we can open one under the name of our state. Or if they want to start a business, we can invest in their business too.¡±


    ¡°Great idea. Then, both their pride and finances would be preserved. Let¡¯s talk about how we are going to loan them money.¡±


    Over time, Youngho learned that Koryoins cared about their pride more than anything, and they would definitely pay it back when they received favor from anybody.


    ***


    ¡°Do we have that many ships that are waiting to be repaired now?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re from outside. Collisions from icebergs had done damage to many vessels.¡±


    Sturdy ships from the Arirang Autonomous State or Arirang Shipping could handle icebergs without a big problem, but other ships that sailed on the Ural River or the Caspian Sea were not quite sturdy enough. It would probably be more urate to say that those ships were old since vessels made out of iron tes were damaged by ice.


    If the state¡¯s icebreakers had not broken the ice on the waters and cleared out the sea route for them, they would have not cruised around in the cold season. In a sense, the state had fixed a problem that caused another problem for other ship owners.


    ¡°It looks like the production of speedboats got dyed because all the technicians are working to repair damaged boats.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got no choice. We couldn¡¯t turn them down.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I guess we shouldn¡¯t have made the path on the ocean for them after all.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? They all appreciate our icebreakers. They wouldn¡¯t even make any money unless we made sea routes for them. Besides, we are not even charging them a lot to repair.¡±


    ¡°If they can¡¯t pay right away, give them some time to pay back. We certainly don¡¯t want them to think that we¡¯re taking advantage of them.¡±


    ¡°Boss. You need to show them that we¡¯re not going to be a charity group just earn their trust. If we let them paybackter, they will continue dying their payments.¡±


    Though the ice had notpletely melted yet, the Ural River was showing more and more water as the weather got warm.


    Since fishers could catch arge number of fish if they threw the in the water where there was no ice, they were all getting busy. Since people did not prefer fish from freshwater in Central Asia, the river was literally filled with half fish and half water. People rather enjoyed meat from sheep and cattle.


    Therefore, the state was the only big market for fish around the area. Though some Koryoin fishers lived in the state, they could not catch enough fish to cover the demand of the state. That was why fishers in Kazakhstan risked their boats to fish in the frozen water since they earned quite a lot of money by selling fish to the state, and it was worth it for them to spend money for their vessels¡¯ repairs.


    ¡°That must be the reason why I see fish dishes on my table so often these days.¡±


    ¡°Too much meat will cause health problems. As themissioner, I can¡¯t let that happen.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Have you be a nutritionist now?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say themissioner had to know everything that went around in the state?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I am d you are ourmissioner. I can count on you and travel to wherever.¡±


    ¡°I guarantee you. In a month, bigger size bulk freighters will being into our shipyard for repairs. I spread the news about a huge ship repair shop when I visited the Port of Atyraust time. Soon, we¡¯re going to need another dock.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it. I see now why the technicians from Batumi looked so happy these days.¡±


    ¡°I will appreciate it if you tell Lieutenant Commander Jun to wait for the speedboats until summer. He¡¯s been pushing metely.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. We will have numbers of new ships for the state by summer.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear that. Finally, we are getting new patrol boats. I can¡¯t wait to tell others about it.¡±


    ¡°Whoa. You better not. You know what they say. You need to hide at least 30 percent of your military force to expect a victory. These new patrol boats are going to be our secret weapons. I ced a very special order to the Korean Navy. We need to make sure that no one knows about our three new secret boats including the disguised boats we are nning on getting from Russia in the autumn.¡±


    Chun¡¯s face turned serious as he listened to Youngho talking about military force.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too shocked. I am just following an old saying, ¡®prepare for war in the time of peace¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Then, I wish we can bring all of the Koryoins in Kyrgyzstan. What good are those ships and boats when we have no soldiers to run them? Isn¡¯t it the fastest way to recruit soldiers?¡±


    Chun was hitting the most painful spot. The low poption of the state was always the problem.


    ***


    A few days ago, Suh Min-seok freaked out because a Korean strategy research department wanted to talk to Youngho. Min-seok could not make a connection between the Arirang Autonomous State, and the Korean strategy research department. If Youngho told him he was an agent of the CIA, Min-seok would have passed out in shock.


    The research department called to let Youngho know that the anti-ship missiles called Haeseong were not to be exported to other countries. When he heard the news, Youngho felt something was fishy. The Navy had not said anything when Youngho requested ships and while the ship was being built, but now he was being informed that he could not get the missiles.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s a Korean product, but the anti-missile is not a new technology. I¡¯ve heard it was an upgrade version of the previous technology. Why has this be a big deal now?¡±


    ¡°We own the patent of the technology. We¡¯vee to the conclusion that we¡¯d be risking that our technology will be leaked if we export this. Our research department cannot approve to send you a vessel equipped with an anti-missile.¡±


    ¡°I understand this is a foreign country. But as you can see on the contract, this ce is called the Arirang Autonomous State. We are not an enemy of Korea. You know... only Koreans would use Arirang to name a state.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I understand that. Still, it is true that the Arirang Autonomous State is a foreign country to us.¡±


    ¡°At the point when we settled and signed the contract, we received an agreement from the Korean Navy. The shipbuilding process was based on that agreement. Not to mention, we already made our down payment. We have no reason to buy the ship without the anti-ship missile on it.¡±


    Youngho requested two anti-missile vessels in the 500-ton ss. But, without those anti-missiles, those vessels would be nothing but passenger ships. Youngho thought about equipping French or Norwegian missiles instead, but it seemed to be too much work.


    ¡°To tell you the truth, Congress has decided to restrict every military deal with other countries because of a recent national secret that was leaked. Our facility cannot do anything about this.¡±


    ¡°You know you are about to face an internationalwsuit, right?¡±


    After going through quite the trouble, the chief of the research facility finally approved the exportation of the anti-missile. It was probably because he did not want to go through an internationalwsuit.


    It was such nonsense because the technology was not even secret to other countries.


    In the beginning, Youngho wanted to request the vessels from a Norwegian shipyard if it was not for Lieutenant Commander Jun. Though the quality of the ships from other countries was not much differentpared to the ones from Korea, Jun had a fanatic belief that Korean products were the only best ones. Youngho did not want to be seen as a sellout who betrayed his own country for better products in Jun¡¯s eyes, so he agreed to buy ships from Korea. It was not a great choice after all.


    ¡°What did the Kazakh Navy say about this?¡±


    ¡°I heard that everything went well between the Korean Navy and Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? They kept talking nonsense about a national secret. I threatened them with an internationalwsuit.¡±


    ¡°We thought that anti-missile was not a brand new technology.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that theirs have an outstanding performance. I¡¯ll give them that much.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed to even talk about the Korean military¡¯s attitude, so he onlyplimented the weapon¡¯s performance.


    ¡°Are you traveling to Korea to pick them up?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯m going to have the Korean military deliver them here. I couldn¡¯t find a team to go to Korea to pick them up.¡±


    ¡°I guess it would be only us traveling there for our training for the new vessels in Korea.¡±


    ¡°How about we include a few maritime guard agents with you?¡±


    ¡°That is highly possible except we need to get approval from the department of defense to take care of their expense. It might take some time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the money. If some of our Countryside Force guards coulde along with you, we will pay for all of the Kazakh Navy soldiers¡¯ food expense in Korea.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that, Mr. Lee. If we go to those developed countries, our budget is not enough to enjoy our free time there.¡±


    Youngho felt proud of his country all of a sudden since Korea was considered a well-developed country for Kazakhstan¡¯s Navy. Though there was some trouble earlier, it was more favorable to hear good things about Korea.

 Chapter 350 - A Tonic for One’s Daily Life (3)

    <h4>Chapter 350: A Tonic for One¡¯s Daily Life (3)</h4>


    Youngho received a call from Eriksson.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?¡±


    Youngho was the one who used to this kind of phrase often, but it was weird to hear it from Eriksson¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°You can say both news at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear any bad news. I¡¯ve got a handful already.¡±


    ¡°Well. Let me say it this way then. I have good news and not so good news.¡±


    Eriksson seemed to be happy since he was quite talkative today. He usually did not make many jokes.


    ¡°Let me guess. The good news must be that the rough diamonds were sold at a good price at the auction, and the bad news must be that the buyer wants to know where they are from.¡±


    ¡°Good guess. No wonder you are a veteran agent. It was a mistake to tell the buyer that the rough diamonds belonged to the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s legacy.¡±


    ¡°A mistake? Don¡¯t worry about it. I could care less as long as we get a good price for them. Eventually, they will find out about the Arirang Autonomous State anyway.¡±


    It was a rare chance for buyers to get such a big number of rough diamonds at once. Especially with their rough edges, they did not look like they were collected from mines. People must be curious where they were from and if there were an open field with rough diamonds, they would want to go get them for themselves.


    ¡°I know there are no more rough diamonds from the Archduke¡¯s family. If anybody tries to approach you, just let me know. The Information Agency will not tolerate anybody who vites our policy and tries to harass our valuable client. We¡¯ll put them in our cklist and will not have any deals with them in the future.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me who it is by any chance? I also am a very curious person.¡±


    ¡°I just told you, Mr. Lee. We value any of our clients and keep their confidential information to ourselves. I just mentioned that client because I wanted to warn you in advance. I hope you understand that I can¡¯t say his name.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I like a greedy person. If I can directly contact that person, I don¡¯t have to give you amission. I would rather have that persone to me. You know what? I am going to search for more diamonds at the old Serbian Kingdom¡¯s site to see if I can get some more.¡±


    Youngho subtly let Eriksson know that he might find some more rough diamonds. Eriksson surely caught what Youngho meant.


    ¡°Hahaha. You wouldn¡¯t really stab me in my back, would you? I will cut some of mymission. Nine million dors will be deposited in your ount after the auctionmission. Would you continue your business with us?¡±


    ¡°I will call you as soon as I find some rough diamonds.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to hear. It would be win-win for both of us.¡±


    Youngho wondered how a five million dors worth of diamonds could be sold over nine million dors.


    ¡°Is there a chance that your other client wanted to contact me because he paid too much for diamonds? He must be looking for me because he wants to get some money back.¡±


    ¡°I admire someone with humor like you. You¡¯ve got to teach me how to be humorous.¡±


    Eriksson always made Youngho think since a lot of words from him were like riddles. He stopped trying to figure out what Eriksson meant since it was about to give him a headache. Instead, Youngho decided to end the conversation.


    ¡°Well, I was just being silly. Thank you for your effort to make the deal. I will treat you at a nice restaurant next time we meet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart was beating so fast knowing that rough diamonds in the size of a kid¡¯s pinky fingernail earned him nine million dors which were close to the annual ie from the Koryoin vige¡¯s steel mine. It would be more efficient for him to focus on finding rough diamonds rather than using his time on other businesses.


    ***


    After finding out that the rough diamonds could make some money for him, Youngho donated three million dors to the Koryoinmunities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Then, the Old Kim Sung-chan donated two hundred thousand. Knowing that he would be okay in the autonomous state without the money, he used all of his savings to help other Koryoins. Sung-chan inspired many residents to donate some money. In the end, the umted amount of donation reached around five million dors. Youngho¡¯s donation itself would have been enough, but he openly asked for everyone to donate so they could be a part of a good cause.


    Even the follower couple, Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa, made some donation as well.


    ¡°You guys didn¡¯t have to do it. You don¡¯t make that much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a ce to live and all the meals are free here. Not to mention, we¡¯ve got a bunch of daily supplies in the state¡¯s warehouse. We have nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Those supplies are not for your daily use. They are for emergency purposes in the state.¡±


    ¡°We know. We only use things that are close to being expired. Smart, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s remark was impressive. It seemed the follower couple had found a smart way to save their own money.


    ¡°Well, you guys will be billionaires one day.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t be as rich as you are, but you are certainly our goal.¡±


    ¡°Oh please. I would love you guys to be rich and get out of my umbre.¡±


    ¡°We will never leave you.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to stick to the rich people like you so we can continuously take advantage of you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such penny pinchers like you guys.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t care what you think. You can¡¯t kick us out. We are a part of your body. Rough diamonds!¡±


    Youngho genuinely enjoyed talking to the follower couple. A conversation with these youngsters was somehow refreshing and energizing his life.


    ***


    ¡°Hahaha... Did they make some donation too? That¡¯s really nice of them.¡±


    ¡°Also they¡¯ve only used supplies that were close to being expired. I joked and told them to live on their own, but they said they would stick with me and suck my blood forever.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got a good eye for picking people. I honestly thought you brought a bunch of hobos at the beginning.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve never failed to pick the right person except for you.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? After how I devoted my entire life to save your butt?¡±


    ¡°Right. Everyone knows you¡¯ve been with me because you were afraid of Yun-suh. She¡¯d track you down if you do us wrong, you know. Also, you need to repay her for what you did to her college friend.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy? Is this 60¡¯s or something? Nothing happened between us.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Everyone knows there was something deeper than just a fling between you two.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any evidence? I won¡¯t take this unless she brings my child or something.¡±


    ¡°I knew it, you b*st*rd!¡±


    When Kim In-hwa heard peopleughing in the office, she came to check and asked if they wanted some refreshment.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already had some tea. By the way, are you guys nning on getting married soon?¡±


    ¡°I am looking for another man.¡±


    Both Youngho and Jong-il froze at In-hwa¡¯s response. The couple must be going through an issue at the moment.


    ¡°Oh... Sorry to hear that. But you know what they say. Lovers¡¯ spats neverst.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Believe me. It willst.¡±


    It sounded like she was pretty upset with Min-seok.


    ¡°What did he do? Did he cheat on you or something?¡±


    ¡°No, Sir.¡±


    Youngho did not like meddling, but he was worried that this might affect their work.


    After a short conversation with In-hwa, Youngho found out that Min-seok sent his application to Karajan for a marriage consultation and Kim In-hwa found out about itter.


    The security guards¡ªwho were still single¡ªin the state were sending their profiles and applications, and Min-seok seemed to have gotten carried away with the atmosphere. Min-seok¡¯s excuse after he got caught was even a worse move than his actual mistake. ording to him, he only wanted to know how appealing he would be to other women.


    In-hwa got extremely upset and dumped him at once.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t cheat on me. But how can I trust a man like this?¡±


    It was quite stupid of him to do that and be caught by his fianc¨¦. Youngho did not want to defend him.


    While talking to Youngho, Kim In-hwa cried with a bitter heart.


    Youngho was ready to find out what Min-seok was really thinking and to rebuke him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find out what he was actually trying to do. Calm down and wait. But you know you are at a workce, right?¡±


    ¡°I do, sir. Sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s not a big deal. I will give him a serious interrogation.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t hit him too hard though. You know that he¡¯s weak, and he¡¯s going to get knocked down with only a few blows.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Where did he go by the way?¡±


    ¡°He went to the administration office.¡±


    When he found Min-seok, Youngho could not be too harsh oh him because he looked like he was already ready to cry. But Youngho really wanted to know why he did what he did.


    ¡°Why did you do that? You know women are very sensitive before a wedding. Also, you know you are causing a bit of trouble in our work environment.¡±


    ¡°I was really curious. I envied all the security guards. You know all the security guards are manly, proud, and strong. Look at me. I am a weaklingpared to them....¡±


    ¡°Min-seok. You are a smart man. We are not living in an ancient era. Strength and physical abilities are not what all men need to be sessful in life. You studied hard instead, so you¡¯re smarter than them.¡±


    ¡°But look at you. You are smart, rich, and strong. I just wanted to know how I would be evaluated. I had no other intention.¡±


    ¡°You are the right hand of the number one boss in the world. Who else in your age is living like you? Find me a friend of yours who¡¯s as sessful as you, please show me if there¡¯s any.¡±


    Youngho wanted to encourage Min-seok a little bit.


    It was a bit stressful to encourage him, but he really appreciated his service as a secretary. He had been a great help to the autonomous state as well. Not to mention, Youngho enjoyed the follower couple¡¯spany a lot.

 Chapter 351 - A Tonic for One’s Daily Life (4)

    <h4>Chapter 351: A Tonic for One¡¯s Daily Life (4)</h4>


    ¡°Insoo, do you want to visit Korea this time? The Kazakh navy soldiers are going there to receive training in Korea. Why don¡¯t you bring some of our Countryside Force guards there to get the training too?¡±


    ¡°Would it be okay if I am away from work for a while?¡±


    ¡°I can take care of the securitypany, don¡¯t worry about it. You can have a break with your family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯lle back as soon as the work is done. I can¡¯t have a vacation when you guys are working hard here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. You need to make your wife happy sometimes.¡±


    Since Insoo and his wife still had rtives in Korea, Youngho thought it was a good idea to send him with the Countryside Force guards this time.


    ¡°My parents and wife would love to visit Korea but I don¡¯t know if I can enjoy the time there knowing we¡¯ve got tons of work to do here.¡±


    ¡°When are you going to Korea if it¡¯s not for this kind of asion? You need to have fun with the excuse of a business trip. You might not be able to go to Korea for a while.¡±


    Youngho also wanted to visit his hometown but he did not have any excuse to go to Korea now. He decided to be satisfied with sending his friend instead.


    ¡°Man, why don¡¯t you send me with him too?¡±


    ¡°What? No way. Who¡¯s going to watch out for the state if both of you¡¯re gone? You can go there when Insoo¡¯s back, okay?¡¯


    ¡°Man! I need to prove to the Countryside Force guys that I used to be great in Korea. They don¡¯t believe me no matter how many times I tell them.¡±


    ¡°Dude, who¡¯s going to believe you? They¡¯ll only think that you had been chasing girls in the Caucasus region before getting married.¡±


    Jong-il also wanted to visit Korea after hearing that his friend Insoo was going there.


    It was natural since he needed to go straight to home after work in the autonomous state because there were too many people looking up to him. He used to be a heavy drinker and he liked to be with people, but because the state had been regting alcohol consumption, he had not been able to enjoy his old lifestyle here.


    He missed his old days when he used to enjoy the streets in thete at night.


    He also missed some jajangmyeon which was a Korean noodle with ck soybean sauce.


    ¡°Man, when you miss your hometown, jajangmyeon is the best to soothe you. Should we ask Kim In-hwa to make that for us?¡±


    ¡°That girl makes it so watery. Where did she learn how to cook like that?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you should be thankful that you can even eat jajangmyeon in a foreign country.¡±


    Kim In-hwa often made jajangmyeon for the Korean people in the autonomous state saying that she learned how to cook it during herst visit to Korea. For that, she was loved by the Koreans in the autonomous state. Although not perfect, the unique smell and dark color were enough to make everyone feel like home.


    Although Youngho had left Korea ten years ago, it was still difficult for him to change his eating habits. Or it might not be the eating habits but because of nostalgia. There was a saying in Korea that even crows from hometown are prettier than crows from other ces. It would be the same for everyone who left their hometown.


    ¡°It was so good today. Your cooking skills have improved.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I can be a cook at the cafeteria here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no one¡¯s going to stop you for that. You can do whatever you want. If you work in the kitchen, Mr. Lee will be sad though.¡±


    As Head Doctor Kim Dong-sungplimented her as he ate her food, Kim In-hwa¡¯s face brightened.


    ¡°If I only make small portions of food, just like I have now, I can make it tasty but when there are more than ten people, I can¡¯t guarantee the taste.¡±


    ¡°By the way, why doesn¡¯t Mr. Suh Min-seok eat jajangmyeon?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s his least favorite food, sadly. He also thinks that my jajangmyeon is bad.¡±


    ¡°What? Howe the groom-to-be doesn¡¯t like the food that the bride-to-be made? He¡¯s going to regret saying it for the rest of his life.¡±


    Youngho saw Suh Min-seok eating rice alone in one corner of the cafeteria. It made Youngho and Jong-il burst out intoughter at the same time.


    Not knowing the reason why the two wereughing, people around them nced at them.


    ¡°One more bowl for me, please!¡±


    ¡°Okay, Mr. CEO!¡±


    ¡°Suh Min-seok! I know this is not the best tasting dish in the world but you need to force yourself to eat it, or you might end up alone in the end.¡±


    Suh Min-seok reluctantly came near the two and shoved the jajangmyeon down in his throat. This made themugh even more.


    ***


    ¡°Wow! I didn¡¯t know there was a ce like this in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t someone take you here when you came to the farm?¡±


    ¡°We were nning to visit the Serbian ranch but then we had to go to the autonomous state suddenly. Mr. Park talked about here so many times. It¡¯s worthy to talk about.¡±


    ¡°He should be proud of this ce since he put so much effort in building this ce. This looks peaceful on the outside but on the inside, it¡¯s a huge fortress. The ranch could take a missile and not be bothered by it.¡±


    Youngho was ttered to hear the follower couple¡¯spliment.


    The ranch surely was a strong fortress. Behind the homely Serbian vige, there was a rampant that was built with geographic features. Inside the walls, there wererge mansions, warehouse buildings, and sheep sheds scattered around on green pasturnd.


    Since the follower couple had only seen deserted, brownnd in the autonomous state, it was a refreshing scenery for them.


    Youngho was also pleased to see the scene where beautiful trees were lined up at the end of the pasturnd.


    ¡°Is this where you store wine too?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard that we store them in caves? I can¡¯t even visit there whenever I want to. If the taste of wine changes because of me, thousands of dors would be at stake.¡±


    ¡°Wow! This ce is a real treasure cer then.¡±


    Since there were gold mines, the Serbian ranch was indeed a treasure cer.


    Kids, especially Jelyan, also often nagged toe here because it was quite different from Zeynep Farm.


    Youngho visited the Serbian ranch to check how many gold bars had been produced, and to see the new wine storage cave that was newly discovered recently.


    He brought the follower couple because his kids had been missing them¡ªfor not seeing them so often as they used to at the state. Also, he wanted to give the couple some time to refresh, so that they would resolve the issue between them. The two had been at cold war for a while. But by the time they reached Zeynep Farm after passing the Caspian Sea on a light airne, they seemed to have reconciled as they wereughing with each other.


    Although it was a business trip, it was a fun trip for them after all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any cave around here. Where on earth is it?¡±


    ¡°A treasure cer can¡¯t be seen so easily by the public.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    The entrance of the gold mine and wine storage caves were hidden well from the public¡¯s eye. Even Suh Min-seok, who had a keen eye, could not find it at a nce.


    The ranch was where only the descendants of the Serbian knights lived. These were the people whom Youngho trusted absolutely since they were loyal to Fatima and Leon to their death. Youngho still did not get their loyalty to the fallen lord¡¯s family but the descendants of the knights strangely had kept their loyalty to the kingdom until today.


    ¡°Who are these descendants of Serbian knights?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the kind of people like Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Fatima and Leon are everything to them. They believe that they are the only ones who could protect the two so they need to live nearby my wife and son.¡±


    ¡°They are a little strange.¡±


    ¡°Their perspective is very different from us but they¡¯re good people.¡±


    ¡°This is a modern time, how can they still keep their faith and loyalty to their long-lost kingdom?¡±


    ¡°Our business has grown this big only because of these sincere people. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve givennd to them.¡±


    The Serbian ranch and the vige looked like a rural vige of Western Europe.


    The yground at the entrance of the vige looked great as well. Its parking lot was filled with SUVs andmuting buses that transported people to Zeynep Farm. The scenery was indeed better than the autonomous state¡¯s scenery.


    ¡°Well, this surely looks wealthier than the autonomous state. But I still don¡¯t get them.¡±


    ¡°Anyone would think so. It¡¯s just like how I don¡¯t get you two.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO. You¡¯re teasing us again, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, In-hwa, how can you be so rude in front of the CEO?¡±


    ¡°Hey, idiot. Can¡¯t you see that Mr. CEO isughing?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Kim In-hwa snapped but no one could stopughing.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s group was back at Zeynep Farm.


    Kids were having so much fun with the follower couple in the field that he could hear their screams inside the mansion.


    March in Baku was incredibly warmpared to the Arirang Autonomous State that it was great weather for kids to y outside. Since the kids spent the harsh winter at the autonomous state, the weather at Zeynep Farm was dreamy for them. They still needed thick jackets in the morning and in the evening but it was still great.


    Leon¡¯s burst into tears. He must have fallen or skinned his knee.


    He was an active child. He was injured too often that Fatima and Youngho did not care too much when he fell. They became even careless after Zeynep put her ring on him. His healing speed was so fast that after a day of getting an injury, his wound was already gone. They did not have to worry about a thing.


    No matter how much of a trouble maker Leon was, it did not bother Youngho at all. He was d that his son was a healthy boy who ate, slept, and yed well.


    Many things about the ring and leather shoes¡¯ bizarre powers were still a mystery to Youngho. The big question was¡ªwhy only Youngho was experiencing changes when others who had the ring on stayed the same since only his eyesight and hearing had been enhanced. At the same time, he was excited about what woulde next.


    Youngho was making a barbecue at the front yard of the mansion to feed the family.


    Sitting next to him was Fatima who kept on eximing as she listened to Youngho¡¯s story.


    ¡°Whoa, so what happened?¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s ying with the kids now. That couple has been an energizer for metely. I mean, it¡¯s hard to hold myughter when I even look at their faces straight.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Suh can be quite unpredictable sometimes. How did hee up with such an idea?¡±


    ¡°So it made me wonder. How would I do if I send my profile too? I want to see how much poprity I¡¯ll get if I do.¡±


    ¡°If you do it, it¡¯s not going to be so innovative. That¡¯s ill-intention.¡±


    ¡°Come on, I¡¯m just curious.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Suh must¡¯ve been desperate. You know he must feel so different around you or Mr. Jong-il. You two are not normal people.¡±


    ¡°Hey, why am I not a normal person?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not normal. If you were in primeval ages, you would¡¯ve been great.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Haha... Kids! Come and eat!¡±


    After ying and running around for all day, the kids and the follower couple were starving.


    Since they ate so quickly even before the meat was thoroughly cooked, Youngho could not even get a piece yet.


    Grilling needed some skill too since poorly grilled meat was burned outside when its inside was still red. He had picked up barbecue tongs after watching Suh Min-seok failing poorly.


    He did not have a chance to drink because he was busy grilling meat, so he gave a look to Suh Min-seok multiple times but it seemed that he had not received any sign from him. He was enjoying his meat so much.


    If Youngho directly asked for a drink, Fatima would give him an earful. So, he made ament.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, don¡¯t you need something to drink withmb meat to soothe your stomach? There¡¯s soju in the basement. Bring it if you want to drink it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind me. I don¡¯t need soju to enjoy this.¡±


    ¡®Jeez, that senseless idiot.¡¯


    ¡°Fatima, do you ever want to try drinking?¡±


    ¡°Why would you drink such a bitter drink? Lamb meat is so tasty by itself.¡±


    Since no one stood on his side, Youngho onlyforted himself.


    He thought that he should go back to the autonomous state at once in the morning. He was going to gather his friends; Park Jong-il and Cho Chul-hwan, and drink all night long.


    ¡°By the way, honey. You need to go to the international school tomorrow. It¡¯s Rena¡¯s first day of school.¡±


    ¡°I was going to return to the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Flu is going around these days, so I made an appointment for Leon¡¯s shot. Also, Mr. Suh and Miss. Kim would want to have some free time to tour around Baku. You should stay here for a few more days. Kids will be sad to let you go so early.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Before Youngho could even answer, the follower couple answered her first.


    ¡°Thank you, Archduchess.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re wee. Please stay here for more days. I know following him is a tiring job.¡±

 Chapter 352 - Food for the Soul (1)

    <h4>Chapter 352: Food for the Soul (1)</h4>


    ¡°Why are you staring outside?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you are here. It just feels different without that idiot.¡±


    Youngho found Chul-hwan staring outside when he visited the administrative office of the Countryside Force.


    ¡°Yeah. I know.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because he went to Korea.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t care about our home country anymore.¡±


    Cha Insoo had been traveling in and out of divostok and sometimes was gone for a half a month. Though Korea was as far away as divostok was from the autonomous state, they felt like Insoo was gone to somewhere farther away.


    ¡°Probably it¡¯s about time you go visit Korea too. We are not going to be busy for a while. Besides, you haven¡¯t used your vacation for a while.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve enjoyed enough vacation time in Batumi. I don¡¯t need an extra break.¡±


    ¡°A few days off without worrying about anything will get you energized. The Countryside Force looks sharp now. Let them go on a vacation, and so do you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should give them some break. I¡¯ve been pretty strict to them.¡±


    ¡°You know what? Let¡¯s get some drink at my ce tonight.¡±


    ¡°Okay, sounds good!¡±


    Cha Insoo¡¯s visit to Korea stirred up their mind, but he at least gave them a good excuse to grab a drink.


    The news traveled fast, and some doctors including Kim Dong-sung joined their table for a drink. It was surprising to see doctors drinking and smoking. Youngho thought that they would not put anything harmful to their body. Suh Min-seok also joined the table although he did not drink.


    ¡°I was homesick and decided to have a gathering to fix it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never had homesick since I got here because the hospital is full of Korean doctors and nurses. Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°Insoo went to Korea with Kazakh naval soldiers for a battleship education, and it made me think how much I miss Korea.¡±


    ¡°I thought you¡¯ve be a foreigner a long time ago. I am quite surprised that you miss Korea that bad.¡±


    ¡°How can I forget my home country? I was only trying to avoid thinking about it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to hear you have a soft side, Mr. Lee. Now you look like an average Joe.¡±


    Their conversation went on for a while, and the drinks and snacks were almost out. Youngho asked Min-seok to make some ramen noodles for them.


    ¡°Min-seok, you ate all our snack for the drink. Go make some ramen noodles for us, will you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, we are out of ramen noodles now. Koryoins emptied the whole ramen noodles from the warehouse. It will take a few weeks until we get some more from Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to do something with this ramen issue. This has happened before when we received arge group of Serbian immigrants. Howe we are always out of it?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess Korean ramen noodles appeal to people from all over the world.¡±


    Korean ramen noodles were popr in Russia. There would be no doubt that those instant noodles were popr for Serbians and Central Asians. It wouldst no more than a few weeks, even if the state ced orders for bulk of ramen noodles quite often.


    ¡°Should we make a ramen noodle factory in the state now? Ramen noodles are not that heavy, and it would be a total waste if we keep getting them delivered inrge containers to the state.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound realistic. We don¡¯t have that many people in our state.¡±


    ¡°Well, think about it. If we want to produce instant ramen noodles, Sergey will want to trade that from us. What if we make Im style ramen noodles? It could be popr in Baku or even in the entire Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°That sounds reasonable. It shouldn¡¯t be that difficult to build a ramen noodle factory.¡±


    Kim Dong-sung agreed with Youngho.


    ¡°Would Korean manufacturers share their technique?¡±


    ¡°How hard can it be? Besides, we are all Koreans. They wouldn¡¯t be so mean to us. You want to call a fewpanies?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve got nothing to lose. We grow the organic whole wheat we haven¡¯t used.¡±


    ***


    The followers came in with a research data of necessary facilities and instruments that were used in ramen noodle production process. The state already possessed a milling factory, and other necessary facilities could be bought in no time. Making noodles was not an issue, but the ramen base powder was. Korean manufacturers would ask for the royalty for sharing their base powder recipe, which Youngho was not happy about. Youngho thought it would be great if the state could create its own ramen.


    The followers freaked out when Youngho asked them if they could hire a few food experts to make the state¡¯s own ramen brand.


    ¡°If it was that easy, Russianpanies would¡¯ve already done it instead of importing Korean ramen. There are reasons why Korean instant ramen noodles are popr.¡±


    ¡°But we won¡¯t have any margin left if we have to pay the royalty.¡±


    ¡°It still will be better that way. We will lose money if weunch a new unpopr ramen noodle brand.¡±


    ¡°You are not confident with this?¡±


    ¡°I am being realistic. We can start by paying them royalty and use their brand. Then, we might find a breakthrough one day.¡±


    ¡°You mean we offer a job to whoeveres out to teach us the recipe from the manufacturer?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Just like how the pilots and mechanics from Cessna decided to stay at the autonomous state. We will subtly and slowly beguile them to send their profile to the marriage consultant, and they might find their future spouses here.¡±


    As soon as In-hwa finished talking, Min-seok¡¯s face turned white and his body was trembling. She might have done something to scare him after he made a terrible mistake by sending his profile to Karajan before.


    ¡°What? You want to start aprehensive foodpany now?¡±


    ¡°Once we start a ramen noodle factory, it won¡¯t be too much extra work to make snacks. Choctes or crackers maybe? We can make safe and clean products on our own, and it will be helping to build light industry in the country. I bet the Kazakh government will thank us for that.¡±


    When the n tounch a ramen noodle factory was announced, people started to throw some ideas. Especially, Kim Chun was excited about the project. There were enough flours and milk produced in the state, and all they needed were people who would share their recipes. Many housewives in the state had nothing much to do during day time, and they wanted to help. Of course, Youngho nned to pay them well so they could support their families too. Meanwhile, Youngho was concerned about how ramen noodles production would affect Kazakhstan¡¯s economy and the food business around the area.


    ¡°Let¡¯s think about it after sessfully establishing the ramen noodle factory.¡±


    ¡°Boss. If you are concerned about how others would evaluate our move, we can open the issue to the public.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We can tell them that we are going to produce Korean food products in our state because the transportation cost is overly high. Then the Kazakh retailers might also get interested in our factory.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a small market. We don¡¯t have a lot of poption around here.¡±


    ¡°We have Central Asia and South Russia. It¡¯s not small at all. We can tell them how we arepeting with low-quality Chinese products. That¡¯s all the justification we need.¡±


    ¡°Do they have that much repulsion for Chinese products?¡±


    ¡°The whole of Central Asia has negative feelings against China because of their bad history. They hate Chinese product as much as they hate Russia. But they have no other option but importing cheap Chinese products.¡±


    Chinese products were not necessarily the worst, but Central Asia had been dependent on Chinese products too much. Youngho thought this might work better than he thought.


    ***


    ¡°Over 300 thousand ramen noodles a year?¡±


    ¡°Yes. There are 5,500 people who are over ten years old in our state. If we assume they eat ramen noodles five times a month, it would be 330 thousand ramen noodles a year.¡±


    ¡°Just how many ramen noodles have they had so far?¡±


    ¡°We asked Commissioner Kim. He said the number was that high after he restricted the number of ramen noodle supplies to the residents. If he didn¡¯t, people would¡¯ve consumed way more than that. We¡¯ve spent around 200,000 dors for ramen noodles only.¡±


    Youngho could not believe that the state spent 200,000 dors on ramen noodles in a year.


    Ramen was free in the beginning, butter the state charged the price with no margin left.


    When he added the cost for other instant food supplies and snacks, the number was much more than he expected. Now, Youngho could understand why Kim Chun asked for snack production along with the ramen noodles. The food supply factories seemed to be a requirement, rather than a choice when he thought about the increasing poption.


    ¡°Phew, I think you guys should go to Korea and gather some information about food supply factories.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe they will offer to help since they don¡¯t know us. We need someone in a high position in our state toe with us.¡±


    They made a good point when he thought about the hierarchic culture of Koreanpanies.


    ¡°Insoo is in Korea.¡±


    ¡°He will be busy with the work he is given.¡±


    ¡°How about you guys take Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°That would work. We will be d to go anywhere with him.¡±


    Jong-il would also like to go with these youngsters since he loved the two. They seemed to make a great team together.


    When Youngho told Jong-il about visiting Korea, he went frenzy. It seemed that he had forgotten why he was going to Korea for a moment since he started calling everyone in Korea to let them know about his visit.


    Since Jong-il seemed to have forgotten about his family as well, Youngho asked him to take Karajan and his children along the trip. Although he did not have parents, he still had his brothers and their families living in Korea. It would be great if he could visit them at this opportunity. Jong-il was busy for the next few days preparing for the trip.


    After sending them off at the Baku Airport, Youngho felt extremely tired.


    On the way back home, he talked to Fatima who came to say goodbye to Jong-il and the follower couple with Youngho.


    ¡°I am d he is finally gone. It would be a quiet week.¡±


    ¡°Honey, let¡¯s take our kids and go to the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°How about their school?¡±


    ¡°The international school won¡¯t make a big deal about it. There are many kids who would travel for a couple of months with their parents.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Why don¡¯t we go on a trip too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, honey. You need to work harder to cover for the people who left to Korea. I think our kids will be happy to visit the state.¡±


    Kids were sleeping quietly in the back seat.


    ¡°You are right as usual. They will turn into devils when they wake up. We can¡¯t take them anywhere else. Let¡¯s just go to the state.¡±


    Fatimaughed.

 Chapter 353 - Food for the Soul (2)

    <h4>Chapter 353: Food for the Soul (2)</h4>


    This happened every time Fatima showed up in front of the Serbian people but it was quite a scene when they greeted her.


    Herst visit was only a month ago, but the people all came out to receive her.


    Youngho thought that Fatima might be enjoying this now.


    Serbian young people were all waiting at the house near the administration building where Youngho and his family stayed. They were sent to guard the Archduchess.


    The way they were lined up to receive their Archduchess in front of the house looked even funny to Youngho. It probably was Chief Niksic¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Why are they all here? They don¡¯t need to guard the Archduchess when there¡¯s no threat whatsoever around here. Commissioner Kim, why didn¡¯t you stop them?¡±


    ¡°Boss. You should work to establish your prestige. You need to be distant from the residents but not too far from them. If it was not Chief Niksic, I would¡¯ve put Countryside Force guards around your house.¡±


    ¡°You still don¡¯t know about Chief Niksic yet. He¡¯s never going to entrust the guarding duty for the Archduchess to the Countryside Force. That¡¯s only for the descendants of the knights.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a funny thing. You should be careful with them too. Park Jong-il treated her without respect and Niksic gave him a hard time for years. Jong-il still has nightmares about him sometimes.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was someone that Mr. Park feared.¡±


    ¡°He avoids Chief Niksic as much as he can.¡±


    ¡°Chief Niksic made a fuss about cleaning the city and each resident¡¯s house before the Archduchess¡¯ arrival. Since he was too enthusiastic about it, I didn¡¯t say much.¡±


    ¡°You know, he can be too much sometimes but he¡¯s full of a sense of duty. It¡¯s something I¡¯ll never understand.¡±


    Chief Niksic allegedly had lived a quiet life until he met Fatima. Youngho could never imagine him being quiet. He heard this from Niksic¡¯s grandson, Vaso. He said that Niksic said to himself that the time had finallye to his house after meeting Fatima. Then, he began practicing the special breathing techniques and movements that had been only handed down to the Serbian knights in a long time. Hearing the story gave Youngho a little cringey feeling. Niksic¡¯s way of treating the Archduchess seemed to be the fanaticism that could be seen in many cult groups. Although it interfered with themunity around him, he did not care.


    ¡°Fatima. I feel like you¡¯re enjoying the attention given to you.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The residents will feel discouraged if I don¡¯t receive their greeting with joy. This is overwhelming sometimes but I decided to take it as my destiny. They¡¯ll follow me around anywhere I go anyway. So, what can I do?¡±


    ¡°The Serbian immigrants from mountainous areas are not so problematic but the descendants of the Serbian knights are a little too much. I thought they were the royal guards of the British royal family. Can you believe what they were wearing? Jeez...¡±


    ¡°I had to hold myughter too, but they sure look awesome.¡±


    ¡°See what I¡¯m talking about? You¡¯re enjoying this.¡±


    ¡°Honey, you need to watch out too. If I order the guards to keep the prince consort away from me, you won¡¯t be able toe close to me ever.¡±


    ¡°What? Then I¡¯ll give my profile to Karajan. Thedies of Baku will throw themselves at me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you think? You should do it if you have that much confidence in yourself.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s reaction gave him sudden chills. Maybe he had been ying in her palm all along.


    ¡°Hey honey, are you okay? Why are you shivering suddenly?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Fatima, do you want to visit the nomad town with the kids tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°You mean the yurts we made here? Wouldn¡¯t it be too dangerous?¡±


    ¡°We made a small size nomad town in a small ranch area. It¡¯s surrounded by stone walls and there¡¯s also a lodging facility for workers.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then. The kids will love to go there. It¡¯d be great if it snows.¡±


    ¡°The wet season is still notpletely gone. We might have a chance tomorrow.¡±


    Youngho had already checked the forecast and there was a slight chance of snow tomorrow. That was why he wanted to bring the kids to the nomad town.


    Ever since both Jong-il and Insoo were gone to Korea, he seemed to have a lot of free time to himself. He also missed Korea. So, he decided to have some family time.


    ***


    ¡°I gave them a break but I found them idling at their units. I asked them why, and you know what they said? They said that they have no other ces to go and they feel morefortable when they work. Man, I had no words to say.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was talking about how Countryside Force soldiers reacted when he gave them a break. Since Countryside Force soldiers were used working during weekends, having a break was an unusual thing for them. They were rather proud to work on the weekends.


    ¡°You should chase them away no matter what. They need to get trained to have free time in order to enjoy their free time.¡±


    ¡°Since they lived isted in mountainous regions before, I don¡¯t think they know the concept of a break or a vacation. They think going home after work is a break.¡±


    ¡°They should know how to rx. That¡¯s the only way that they canst long.¡±


    ¡°What about you? You only spent two days ying with your family.¡±


    ¡°Dude, I couldn¡¯t take it any longer. My kids were so clingy since we are inside a yurt the whole time. It snowed too much that we couldn¡¯t even go out of the yurt.¡±


    The Arirang Autonomous State in March was still winter.


    Because of the heavy snowbined with strong winds, the family could not go anywhere to y and look around. Although it was a rxing time for Youngho since he stayed inside and ate a lot of food while doing nothing, his kids were bored to death. They were the ones who asked Youngho to go back home first.


    ¡°Man, I guess I need to arrange a list of vacation spots for the Countryside Force soldiers so that I can send them to have free time.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you send them to Arirang Hotels scattered around different cities?¡±


    ¡°Ha, I guess that¡¯s a way. We can give our residents a discounted price for their hotel stay. They can tour around foreign cities and expand their horizon.¡±


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s first open ones in Baku and Batumi for our residents as a trial. We can give them a ride to Atyrau Airport and they can fly from there.¡±


    Because many of the residents had no experience of vacation trips, they needed to be guided to enjoy their vacation. Youngho wanted to offer free stays at the hotels, but then the hotel¡¯s business might get affected by the residents if they crowded in there.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll travel to foreign cities since they might think it¡¯s a waste of money but they need to learn how to enjoy their free time. They¡¯ve worked hard since the beginning of the state.¡±


    ¡°We had nothing back then when we first started the autonomous state. We still have a long way to go but we can¡¯t let our people only stay in our state.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan had a point.


    When the world was in chaos, staying in the small state trying to protect it from the world would not be a wise choice. It would be impossible trying to prevent outside force by such a small number of people.


    It would be wiser to make war bases in different ces in the world like Siberia and grow mobility to move to anywhere for the state.


    ¡°I want to get anotherrge-scale transport ship.¡±


    ¡°Why do you need that?¡±


    ¡°The original car ferry of the state will be used for tourists that visit the Caspian Sea from the spring. It could be used as an icebreaker but it can¡¯t go to the North Sea.¡±


    ¡°The North Sea? Are you going to sail to the Yenisei River then?¡±


    The icebreaker that the state had now could only break the ice that was about 50 centimeters thick. The vessel was too small and weak to break the ice on the North Sea¡¯s which was about two to three meters thick.


    ¡°If we want to exploit thend in Siberia, our only way to transport supplies and products is to use thend route. I want to open a sea route to ess the region too.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good.¡±


    The Yenisei River was a huge river and even the width of its upper stream was more than five kilometers long.


    The river¡¯s width reached up to 20 to 40 kilometers wide from the point where it met the Angara River, so it was used as important transportation means in Siberia.


    Its freezing period was quite long, but a big and sturdy icebreaker could sail through it in the winter.


    Since a huge vessel could be used as a lodging for workers and security guards when if it was moored at the river even in the summer, it could be used in many ways.


    In an emergency, the Countryside Force soldiers could be transported to different ces for their operations.


    The vessel had to be bigger than the current ferry but it was a shame that a bigger vessel would not be able to sail through the Volga-Don Canal since the maximum weight of a vessel that could go in the canal was 5,000 tons. In order to cruise around the rough North Sea, a vessel should be at least 10,000 tons.


    Although it would cost Youngho a lot to build the ship, it was an investment for the future. Besides, if he could find more rough diamonds, the cost could be easily covered.


    ***


    ¡°Boss. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be so profitable to produce snacks at the state.¡±


    ¡°Have you done market research already?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have to. Serbian families bake their own biscuits and snacks. And since we have our own cheese, they also make something simr to pizza.¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯re going to mass produce snack products in the Kazakh market.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be better to leave snacks to local business people and to produce different kinds of ramen in the Kazakh market. Since there are already local business people who produce snacks, we¡¯d better not to disturb their businesses.¡±


    ¡°Okay, when Mr. Parkes back from Korea, let¡¯s see if there¡¯s anything we can do about that.¡±


    Youngho had been hoping to produce some daily supplies in the autonomous state anyway. Since the state would only get bigger, it was not usible to wholly rely on imported goods.


    If the state had a facility to produce tes, it could make eco-friendly tes out of y and if the state could produce natural soaps and detergents, it would not pollute the river as much as before.


    Starting in May, more Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan would be moving in. In order to make more job positions for the increased poption, making a factory was also necessary since not everyone would want to do farming and ranching.


    People in the state had been making their own snacks since not many instant foods were supplied to them until now. They were given ice cream during the summer but that was the only exception. It was because there were more important necessities than instant foods or snacks. It was about time that the state provided more variety of snacks to the residents.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t provided any carbonated drinks, cookies, and snacks to people. If we did, we would¡¯ve ruined kids¡¯ health.¡±


    ¡°But if our kids go study abroad in foreign countries, they¡¯re going to ruin their health anyway. There¡¯s no way that they¡¯ll be able to resist such temptation.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then we should start providing them little by little so that they can be familiar with foreign snacks. I don¡¯t want them to get made fun of by foreign students just because they don¡¯t know about such things.¡±


    ¡°Phew, there are so many things that we need to care about. By the way, I¡¯ve heard interesting news. It seems like many people want to have a night club here.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can make one. It could be a great meeting ce for young single men and women at the state.¡±


    ¡°There are such clubs in Atyrau or Astana. I¡¯ve been to such ces several times when I was young but those ces always had problems. I¡¯m afraid to make such a facility here.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s music, dance, and drink. I think it¡¯s natural to have some troubles once in a while but that can¡¯t be a good reason for not having it.¡±


    ¡°If a private owner opens it, it can¡¯t be controlled since the owner will do whatever it takes to make a good profit. The owner might try to sell excessive alcoholic drinks or do illegal businesses.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we manage it by the administration of the state? There are many ways we can control it. You know, we can open it only on Fridays and Saturdays or something.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯s something special, do you, Boss?¡±


    ¡°There are quite a lot of night clubs near colleges in Korea. Young people like to gather at such ces. Well, if you go out of college areas, clubs in some other areas had been turned into strange ces.¡±


    ¡°What about them?¡±


    ¡°Some ces had be a ce where married people gather to have an affair with other people, and it became a social issue.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying there¡¯s a risk that this could turn into an indecent ce.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true but don¡¯t you think young people should have an outlet where they can resolve their stress? It all depends on how we manage the ce.¡±


    Youngho thought that preventing people from entertainment could make society even darker since people would find ways to have fun anyway. It was better to open it all up and try to manage it well. This could make a brighter society.


    There would be troublemakers but such people would get punished to teach a lesson to everyone. If these steps were repeated, the society would grow more mature and healthy in the future.

 Chapter 354 - The North Sea Route (1)

    <h4>Chapter 354: The North Sea Route (1)</h4>


    The follower couple that returned from Korea looked concerned as they were estimating the cost of building the new icebreaker.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, can¡¯t we just use the icebreaker we have now after reinforcing it?¡±


    ¡°You know it¡¯s called an icebreaker, but it can¡¯t even break the ice that¡¯s a meter thick. It can¡¯t survive in the North Sea.¡±


    ¡°Would our autonomous state ever be able to make such a budget? I heard South Korea is having a problem saving money to build an icebreaker that can travel to the South Pole, and it¡¯s getting dyed.¡±


    ¡°Well, the autonomous state might not have it, but I do.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? It will cost you more than 100 million dors to build that ship. Are you really going to spend that much money?¡±


    ¡°You know, we¡¯re not building a ship to explore the North Pole but a transport ship that would carry people and cargo only. It¡¯s not going to be as expensive as that.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s still going to be around 80 million dors.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s about what I spent to build the hotel in Batumi. I¡¯ll be paying the amount over three years. It¡¯s not going to overwhelm me.¡±


    ¡°You can rent Russian vessels that sail around the Yenisei River only.¡±


    ¡°If I have a good icebreaker, I can go to Greend in the Danish territory.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. You¡¯ve got a big n.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to limit ourselves in the state. We need to go overseas and stretch out our influence. I¡¯m going to make war bases all over the world.¡±


    Youngho actually had diamonds in his mind more than war bases, but he could not be honest to the follower couple, so he bluffed about his future n.


    Youngho contacted a big shipyard in Denmark to request an icebreaker.


    Since the country had a huge ice ind¡ªGreend¡ªits shipbuilding technology used to be unequaled, but its reputation was not like before now.


    The reason that he contacted the Danish shipyard was because of Princess Isabe.


    Even many countries could not make their own icebreakers because of its high cost but if an autonomous state requested it, the Danish royal family would indeed be proud of its soon to be family-inw.


    The big ind, Greend was about two-thirds of Kazakhstan¡¯s territory. Because 85 percent of its territory was covered in ice, it was called an ice ind. Although its own government owned the right of using its underground resources and judicial and police power, its national defense and diplomacy were exerted by the Danish government, and the head of the state was Queen Margrethe II.


    The Danish royal family was intrigued to hear that an icebreaker worth 100 million dors was requested by an autonomous state. It was obvious why Youngho had chosen Denmark over Korea which was another strong shipbuilding nation. The royal family was satisfied to hear it.


    Not long after it was announced, Szechenyi called Youngho with an excited voice.


    ¡°Hyung, you already have two icebreakers. Are you going to build another one?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m spending all of my savings on your marriage. Just know that.¡±


    ¡°Princess Isabe is very appreciative of your gesture. She was also surprised to hear that the autonomous state already has two icebreakers.¡±


    Szechenyi must have bragged that there were two more icebreakers in the state other than the one that the state just ordered. Since many countries could not even afford an icebreaker, it would be natural to get surprised to hear the news. She must be wondering why the state needed three icebreakers.


    ¡°Tell her that I¡¯m interested in establishing the North Sea route.¡±


    ¡°Is it because you¡¯re going to develop thend in Siberia?¡±


    ¡°If you sail through the Yenisei River, you can get to Krasnoyarsk easily. I should transport wood and exploit underground resources too.¡±


    ¡°It looks like the Danish royal family is going to pretend that it had a part in attracting the autonomous state¡¯s decision to request a ship at the Danish shipyard. The shipyard had been losing money for a while despite its outstanding technology.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? I should buy some stock of that shipyardpany. Szechenyi, you should prepare to make an investmentpany in Denmark.¡±


    ¡°I still need to study a lot before jumping into a business. What can I do?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you won¡¯t need a degree to own some good stock. Apany that has original technology won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, hyung. You¡¯d be visiting Denmark soon right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there to sign the contract. I¡¯ll being with your big sister. We should pay a visit to the royal family.¡±


    The fact that a Korean businessman had chosen a Danish shipyardpany over a Korean shipyardpany to make an icebreaker was a huge plus for the Danish shipyardpany since it was proof that its technology was recognized.


    Youngho only targeted the Danish royal family, but it seemed that the shipyard was going to benefit from his decision. So, he was going to take his chance to buy a share of thepany.


    Korean shipyards were one of the most sessful shipyards in the world but when they made special ships, they paid a huge amount of money for royalty to otherpanies since they did not have original technology. It was going to make him money when he bought the share of the Danishpany which had its original technology when it was still being underestimated by the world. It would be best if he would be able to do Merger and Acquisitions, or M&A, in the future.


    ***


    H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joo-hyuk came to visit Youngho hastily after hearing about the new icebreaker.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. You know that we have a shipyardpany that¡¯s rted to H Corporation. If I knew about this earlier, I could¡¯ve helped you in negotiating the cost and other things as well.¡±


    ¡°Of course I thought about you, but I couldn¡¯t refuse the Danish royal family¡¯s earnest request. I¡¯m also a stockholder of that shipyard. I¡¯d be criticized if I hadn¡¯t ordered a ship from thatpany.¡±


    The royal family was only an excuse, but since he was going to be a stockholder of the Danish shipyard, what he said was not all a lie. This was the only way that he could make Kim Joo-hyuk give up.


    ¡°I see. I was worried that we might have done something wrong to you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t worry about such a thing. I¡¯m hoping to take over a shipyardpany that has original technology. When I do, you should ask yourpany to find clients for me.¡±


    ¡°You must have it all nned out then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a n. The Danish government won¡¯t be willing to let go of thepany.¡±


    ¡°Well, I hope you¡¯ll get to achieve your n. It¡¯s going to be good news if a Korean businessman like you can have apany with original technology.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Kim. I¡¯m afraid that I haven¡¯t done much for youtely when you support our state so much. Are you by any chance interested in developing an area in Siberia?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll be interested in Siberia. We wanted to get in there, but it¡¯s not so easy to deal with Russia as an individual corporation.¡±


    ¡°If you want to take part in the development, you should first make an investment.¡±


    ¡°Then that icebreaker must be for Siberia too. I wondered why you need another one.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m trying to get to Siberia with the new icebreaker. There is and route but it¡¯d be easier if I can use the sea route.¡±


    ¡°Well, Mr. Lee. A businessman like you can deal with anybody, but a Korean corporation like us has a lot of restrictions when doing business with a government.¡±


    The only reason why Youngho could do business with the Russian government was because he had a connection to Yaniv¡ªthe mafia boss of southern Russia¡ªwho was also close to President Putin. H Corporation would not have a chance to get Russia¡¯s resources since the Russian government would have so many restrictions and rules against a foreign corporation. And Youngho was fully aware of that.


    ¡°I might be attaining the development right of thend.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you sure, Mr. Lee? As an individual businessman?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t mean it that way. That will be a dreame true!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll only be developing an area that¡¯s only five times bigger than the size of Seoul. Compared to the whole size of Siberia, it¡¯s just a fingernail.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk could not close his eyes because he was so shocked.


    It took some time for him to process the information. After hastily drinking his tea that was already cold, he leaned forward toward Youngho.


    Youngho could already guess what he was going to say.


    ¡°There must be something that our corporation can deal with here. Isn¡¯t that why you asked if I was interested in this?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see. You won¡¯t be interested in the lumber business. You would be interested in mineral resources, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°How can you always be so thoughtful? We¡¯ll take it no matter what. Don¡¯t think about other business entities, okay?¡±


    ¡°Well, we should do some more exploration work, but the region used to have an active volcano. There is an infinite possibility in there.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re giving me your word, Mr. Lee, right?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk did not even ask for any condition but forced to be Youngho¡¯s partner no matter what.


    ¡°You¡¯ve bought the mineral resources from the autonomous state. I should definitely give you priority over other business entities, Mr. Kim.¡±


    ¡°This is why I like you so much, Mr. Lee. We¡¯ll buy it at the best price.¡±


    ¡°Before you offer a partnership, shouldn¡¯t you wait until we find what¡¯s under there?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not important whatever¡¯s under there. A promise is more important than that.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk thought that any business that Youngho had jumped in must be worth a shot no matter what. He looked for a notepad since he wanted to get a written note of promise from Youngho. It seemed like the word would spread fast through his mouth.


    ***


    ¡°Excuse me? I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re saying.¡±


    ¡°We came here to do additional businesses, not only to do the power nt business.¡±


    ¡°This is a ce of limitless opportunities. Your corporation is capable of doing so many businesses here in the next few decades. I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re saying it like there¡¯s no work for you to do.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. We were very disappointed to hear that you requested an icebreaker from a Danish shipyardpany when our corporation can make it so easy for you. I¡¯m the director of the headquarters, and I¡¯m going to get rebuked that I missed that opportunity.¡±


    S Corporation¡¯s director of the headquarters, who had not been showing his face for quite a while, suddenly came to Youngho¡¯s office andined. Youngho was startled to hear it.


    If he had usually worked this hard, Youngho would have connected him to other business partners even if he had not asked.


    Youngho never liked the way S Corporation worked, but he tolerated it only because the follower couple used to work for thatpany. The way the director spoke was as if S Corporation had deposited something in advance to Youngho, and now it¡¯s asking for their money back. His attitude was quite upsetting.


    Youngho cleared his throat.


    ¡°I am honored that S Corporation trusts the Arirang Autonomous State greatly, but any business body or an autonomous state has its own reasons for making business decisions.¡±


    ¡°As a director, I should know the cause and reason for your decision so I can report it to the headquarters. Please consider my situation here.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I have no reason to make an official announcement for my decision. I¡¯m a shareholder of the Danish shipyardpany, and the Danish royal family will be my family-inw soon. You¡¯d understand that I have no reason to order a ship from otherpanies, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±


    Youngho was sure that S Corporation was only making trouble since H Corporation was ahead of it since H Corporation was doing another partnership with him.


    Youngho had to say something. He made a sarcasticment to the S Corporation¡¯s director.


    ¡°You must be so loyal to your partneringpanies since you¡¯re so upset that you couldn¡¯t get the shipbuilding business for them.¡±


    ¡°Well, when we work in foreign countries, we support each other.¡±


    ¡°So, you must be working so well with other Korean corporations too, right?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho expected Korean corporations to cooperate with each other in a foreign country like this, but the reality was theplete opposite. They did not even share information with each other since they were busypeting against each other.


    It was a shame and quite worrisome since they did not even care to receive low-cost orders in thepetition.


    It would be the same in the construction and energy industries. If Korean corporations wanted to attain resources, they would have to reside in foreign countries for years andpete with the localpanies in order to have a chance. However, they were only interested in short-term deals and fast achievements.


    They also only cared about their own organization, not seeing Korea as a whole society and one economic entity. It made Youngho frustrated. He was worried that these Korean corporations would damage the reputation of Koreans that Koryoins had built up over many decades.

 Chapter 355 - The North Sea Route (2)

    <h4>Chapter 355: The North Sea Route (2)</h4>


    ¡°What is wrong with these people? They want to take advantage and make money in Kazakhstan, but don¡¯t want to make a little contribution to the country?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s whatpanies are made for.¡±


    ¡°But they shouldn¡¯t act that way. They are not being asked to do charity work but invest for their future business instead. Besides, they never contributed to Koryoins in Kazakhstan. They know that there are many Koryoins here. Don¡¯t they havepassion for distant rtives?¡±


    Jong-il alsoined about Koreanpanies. Youngho and Jong-il expected Koreanpanies would be better for the sake of Koryoins in Kazakhstan like they would do in other countries. They were quite disappointed in those Koreanpanies. It seemed that they could not expect a lot from Koreanpanies anymore.


    ¡°I am done with thesepanies. Next time, we will only contact foreignpanies. This is so not right.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. Business needs to be clean and clear. We will be better off with non-Koreanpanies.¡±


    ¡°Still, we will keep the ramen noodles factory going here.¡±


    ¡°Of course. We have no reason to discard them. Ramen is popr worldwide.¡±


    Jong-il visited several foodpanies in Korea to make deals, but he decided to give up on other food supplies except for ramen noodles. He was hopeful since he was going to get treated well because he was Korean but that was not what happened.


    If he had visited thosepanies as a foreign businessman, he would have had a better shot. Since he and the follower couple visited there as Korean businessmen from a poor Central Asian country, thepanies almost ignored them.


    Eventually, Jong-il had to give up because he knew that he could get the equipment and facilities in other Europeanpanies. After that, he decided to enjoy his vacation in Korea by meeting all of his friends from college and spending time with his family.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a call from Eti the foodpany. They want to visit the state to talk about building their factory in here.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t thepany have a factory in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°They want to have one in Russia too, and they need our help.¡±


    Eti was a well-known Turkishpany forbat rations and diet food. Eti and Youngho had built a close bond when he importedbat rations for Armenian militia way back.


    ¡°I guess they are trying to get into Russia with our brand power since we provide wine to the Russian market.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe they thought that building a factory in the state will earn them some credit in the future.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t Russians hate Turkey though? Do you think Turkish products will sell in Russia at all?¡±


    ¡°Well, if they make it in the Arirang Autonomous State, it could be a different story.¡±


    ¡°True that. We¡¯ve got Russia.¡±


    ¡°Sergey will be so happy when he hears about our foodpany.¡±


    ¡°Wine and food. Everyone in Volgograd knows about Zeynep Wine. We need to use the Zeynep brand for our foodpany.¡±


    ¡°That is a good idea. I hope Zeynep doesn¡¯t charge us for the brand name.¡±


    ***


    Mehmet the sales manager from Eti¡ªthe foodpany¡ªhad been promoted to an executive. Mehmet handed his business card that had his name engraved in gold.


    ¡°Congrattions to your promotion!¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you, Mr. Lee. Thebat ration sales with you got me this far. I¡¯m counting on you with my future promotion too. Hahaha.¡±


    ¡°You will be a CEO one day. A sessful one, I bet.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, ever since I met you, everything has been going so well. I was having a drink with Mustafa a few days ago, and I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re nning to open a food factory so I came here right away.¡±


    Mustafa probably subtly spilled the news. Mustafa had made quite a lot of money by selling luxury carpets made in the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°So, you¡¯d like to start a business in Russia?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I hope you would help my way into the Russian market.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why you can¡¯t sell the products from Eti¡¯s factory in Atyrau. Aren¡¯t they technically Kazakhstan¡¯s products?¡±


    ¡°We are selling a small amount to Russia. The problem is that they already recognize our products as a Turkish brand. But if we provide all the materials to you and the state produces them, it would be products of the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    Mehmet meant that he would get rid of Eti¡¯s brand from the product. It would be a new branding from the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°So? What do you think? We will pay for all the ingredient supplies, equipment, and facilities. The state will be in charge of production and sales.¡±


    ¡°It sounds very fair. We will have half of the profit, and you take the other half. How would you like that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear. My CEO will also be happy to hear that.¡±


    ¡°By the way, you realize that we are not only nning on selling our products in South Russia but also in some cities in Siberia.¡±


    Mehmet was speechless.


    ¡°I am starting a lumber business in Siberia. Soon, our ships will cruise along the North Sea route as well.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I won a lottery today.¡±


    The truth was that it was Youngho who won a lottery since Eti would be providing all of the ingredients and facilities for the food factory at no cost. The market for the food products would be taken by Yaniv since he trusted anything produced by the Arirang Autonomous State. If he started with Russia, it would not be difficult to gain poprity in the Central Asian market either. Soon, his products could be more popr than Chinese food products. It was obvious that Eti¡ªthe foodpany¡ªalready did its math before approaching Youngho. Otherwise, a 50:50 deal would be a losing deal for thepany since it was going to provide all the necessary materials.


    ¡°How lucky are we.¡±


    ¡°Man, are you sure you didn¡¯t expect this? Were you ying us when you sent us to Korea?¡±


    ¡°Come on. At least you went to Korea and enjoyed your time.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you consider being looked down by the Koreanpanies as enjoying¡ªthen yes! We did.¡±


    ¡°Now we know that we don¡¯t want to deal with Koreanpanies anymore.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Jong-il was d to hear the state¡¯s project with Eti¡ªthe foodpany. Jong-il was a big deal in Central Asia, but it seemed that nobody knew him in Korea.


    ¡°They will regret that they didn¡¯t take the chance to work with me when I visited them.¡±


    ¡°They probably won¡¯t care about our state at all.¡±


    ¡°Trust me. One day, they are going to have toe to us. You know what? If the Korean constructionpanies in our state don¡¯t do well, I will kick them out of our state.¡±


    ¡°Bro, don¡¯t take it out on them.¡±


    ¡°I am not taking anything out on anybody. I¡¯m just saying that thesepanies might think they¡¯ve got the job because they are great.¡±


    Jong-il was pretty upset about the Koreanpanies¡¯ bad treatment of him.


    Since Youngho did not know what really happened in Korea, he thought that he should ask the follower couple when he had a chance.


    ***


    Royal guards were marching on the street of Copenhagen. The marching of the royal guards was for tourists as well as for the reputation of the Danish royal family. If Chief Niksic saw this, he would try to do the same at the autonomous state for the glory of the old Serbian Kingdom.


    While the marching was going on, Leon kept trying to get out of Youngho¡¯s hand since he wanted to follow the royal guards in the march. The look of the royal guards in furry hats was enough to make a little boy curious. One time, Leon almost touched one of the royal guards, but Youngho managed to stop him from making more trouble.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking Leon to the yground.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a yground around here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll build one for him if I have to. If not, he¡¯s going to ruin the whole marching ceremony if I don¡¯t take him somewhere.¡±


    The chance would be very thin, but there would be no other way to calm him down. It was not only Leon but also Jelyan and the follower couple who seemed to be mesmerized by the march.


    Yesterday, Youngho¡¯s group visited the Danish pce to pay a visit aftering to Denmark and also to sign the contract for ordering an icebreaker. Today, the group was touring around the streets of Copenhagen.


    Since it was an unofficial visit to the royal family, Youngho did not want to bring a big group but still, his group was twelve people including his family, the follower couple, and some security guards.


    Last night, they had dinner with the royal family including the queen, Princess Isabe, and Szechenyi at the pce while talking about the icebreaker. The royal family treated Youngho and Fatima as its future inws. The queen and other royal members were quite surprised by the wealth and potential of the Arirang Autonomous State. The queen was impressed when Youngho mentioned that he was exploiting an area in Siberia since it was not easy to earn the Russian government¡¯s trust as a foreigner.


    They also greatly appreciated Youngho¡¯s decision for requesting an icebreaker from a Danish shipyardpany. Princess Isabe was also proud of it since she now proved that she was marrying a man that was not from an unknown family, but a family of great power and wealth.


    Szechenyi made a swift move to buy the Danish shipyardpany¡¯s stock so he could be a major shareholder as Youngho suggested.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. Are you trying to be thergest shareholder of thepany?¡±


    ¡°No. a major shareholder would do the job. I just want to voice myself at the business meeting. If I attract some clients for the ships, other shareholders of thepany wouldn¡¯t be able to ignore me.¡±


    ¡°You want to do the sales too?¡±


    ¡°After I buy enough stock, I¡¯m going to have to find a way to increase the value of my stock.¡±


    ¡°Can wepete with Korean shipyards? They will make ships for a lower price.¡±


    ¡°We will work on special ships only. I am not nning onpeting with them.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    Min-seok looked at Youngho with sparkly eyes.


    ¡°You want to see how the North Sea route will change?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I bet it would be a revolutionary change since you are here.¡±


    ¡°Revolutionary? I¡¯ll move subtly and quietly, but I guarantee that you will see a big change.¡±

 Chapter 356 - The North Sea Route (3)

    <h4>Chapter 356: The North Sea Route (3)</h4>


    ¡°Once the ice starts melting, it won¡¯t be too difficult to travel the North Sea route with 3,000-ton car ferry. The waves are strong, but even the fishing ships on the rough Bering Sea are only about 2,000 tons.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the sea still frozen even in the summer?¡±


    ¡°The area near the North Pole might be, but our icebreakers will be okay on the North Sea.¡±


    Choi Sun-kil, the manager of the Arirang Shipping exined to Youngho. He was a professional captain who technically had sailed to everywhere around Central Asia and the Caucasus, even the North Sea route. His advice gave Youngho confidence that his team would be able to use the Yenisei River this summer.


    ¡°We can pair up a cargo ship with a car ferry. If a cargo ship carries some extra gasoline, they could travel a long distance.¡±


    ¡°Great idea!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to overpliment me, Mr. Choi.¡±


    ¡°You deserve thepliment. I¡¯ve only considered oil tankers but have not thought about using freighters to carry oil. We can turn some of the cargo sections into oil tanks.¡±


    Jong-il interfered in the conversation.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we install some weapons on the ships?¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. We don¡¯t need them on the North Sea. We are only going to need some individual weapons because we are going to follow the Russian coastlines.¡±


    ¡°What if the Russian Navy is no different from pirates?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Park, Russian naval vessels won¡¯t travel around the arctic ocean. Their military ships are not icebreakers.¡±


    Sun-kil quickly deterred Jong-il since all the people of the Arirang Shipping including him were tired of Jong-il trying to arm all of its vessels every time.


    ¡°We will be okay. Themercial ship from Russia that we¡¯ll be receiving soon is already close to the level of an average military ship.¡±


    If what Sun-kil said was true and Youngho¡¯s team could go through the North Sea with a 3,000-ton car ferry, the travel distance, time, and cost would be greatly decreased because the ship could travel through the Volga-Baltic Waterway. Sun-kil¡¯s advice confirmed the high possibility of the development of the Siberian area.


    Youngho was going to wait until the new, heavy icebreaker was built. But, if he could travel this summer, there was no reason to wait. It meant that Youngho had to sign an official contract with the Russian government before the summer to start his business there. The Russian government would not decline Youngho¡¯s request to travel alongside the Russian coastline.


    ¡°Jong-il. Can you pick a few Koryoin intelligence agents for me? I¡¯m going to have to open a Siberian branch in the city of Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, are you going tounch our intelligence department there too?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a city with a poption of a million people. There should be something for us to collect. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Sweet! We have a few Kazakhstan agents who studied in Russia. I will arrange them for you.¡±


    Volgograd had been a ce for an official corporation in Russia. The actual intelligence work in the country would mostly happen in the Krasnoyarsk region. Youngho nned to open an office for his logging business in Krasnoyarsk and make the state¡¯s intelligence agents run the office so they could legally stay there to collect information.


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m going to have to visit Krasnoyarsk with the agents.¡±


    ¡°When you go to Krasnoyarsk, there¡¯s a mafia named Sergeenko. He¡¯s Yaniv¡¯s man. He will take care of most of the business. Make sure to take some envelopes for him.¡±


    ¡°Are you bribing a mafia?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more of a service fee because he is helping us. He looks like a scary thug, but he actually is a very trustworthy person. He will be a big help for us in the future if we get him on our side.¡±


    ¡°Phew, Russia is a country run by mafias.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than dealing with government officials. They¡¯re worse than mafias.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ve got to agree.¡±


    ***


    Soon, Jong-il and two other agents took off to Krasnoyarsk, and Youngho started working on reinforcing two icebreakers that the state originally owned. Though they would be traveling in the summer, anything could happen in the Arctic Ocean. The state was going to use the ferries for tourism around the Caspian Sea. But, after hearing Kim Sun-kil¡¯s advice, Youngho could not lose the chance to get rough diamonds. Thus, he had to modify the original n for the ferries and run them for tourists during the winter only.


    The Sudden change of n made Kim Chun upset.


    ¡°Boss. We¡¯ve done all the advertisement already. We can¡¯t break our promise. Our reputation is on the line.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me you already took reservations.¡±


    ¡°You are lucky I didn¡¯t. I¡¯ve thought something mighte up, so I was going to get confirmation from you before I took reservations.¡±


    Youngho felt guilty because it sounded like there was no consistency running the state.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it would be more exciting to cruise while breaking the ice? If people stillin, we will have to buy some small car ferries from Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°It sounds good, but people wouldn¡¯t want to travel in the winter. The Caspian Sea is quite rough during the winter.¡±


    ¡°As an alternative, let¡¯s bring out the 100-ton yacht and small boats and cruise them around the Ural River and its coastlines for tourists. We might get a bunch of gold in Siberia. We have to use icebreakers for that.¡±


    ¡°What did you say? Gold?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, Commissioner. Lumber is no less than gold for our state. I need to start transporting lumbers when summeres. I am counting on you.¡±


    ¡°Phew, alright. As long as you make us rich, I will take care of it.¡±


    Although his logging business had not even started yet, Youngho could buy lumbers from the Russian government for Kim Chun¡¯s sake. The two car ferries would have to go in and out of Krasnoyarsk for a few times anyway, so it would be better if he could bring some lumbers on the way back. Mafias would help out with the pricing of the lumbers. The Arirang Autonomous State definitely needed quite a huge amount of lumbers for building houses.


    If the 3,000-ton car ferries would transport lumbers two to three times, the state would have enough amount of lumbers for the next few years. Leftover lumbers could be used as firewood. As soon as Youngho mentioned a firece, Kim Chun asked if Youngho could bring some burning wood too.


    ¡°Selling burning wood in Atyrau¡¯s downtown would make a nice profit. Do you know how much a bundle of burning wood costs?¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we just use them in the state? We don¡¯t have to start another business here. I will bring extra if we have some room on the ferries.¡±


    Using burning wood inmon households was considered quite the luxury in Kazakhstan. It was because wood was hard to find in the semi-desertednd. Chun was hopeful to see a lot of lumbers being transported to the state. He would be disappointed if Youngho came back with nothing. It seemed that Youngho would have to find a way to get lumbers in Russia no matter what.


    ***


    Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan began moving into the state in the middle of March.


    Youngho asked them to move to the state in May, but many families did not want to wait any longer. As they reached Kazakhstan, they realized that March in Kazakhstan was still winter, unlike Kyrgyzstan. The houses were not ready yet for the new immigrants, but they could not sleep on the street in the freezing winter days.


    Immigrants who had a small family shared the houses of state¡¯s residents, and the state also offered yurts for bigger families. Youngho had to start building the farming viges right away since the number of residents was growing rapidly. When the houses in the city were emptied after farmers or ranchers moved out to new small viges, Koryoin immigrants would temporarily use the emptied houses. They would eventually move out after they were done building their own houses. This was what Youngho decided as a policy that all Koryoin immigrants should build their own houses. This would be helpful to prepare the state for its increasing poption.


    ¡°What? Many of them want to live in the farming vige?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good thing, but they preferred long term farnd lease rather than buying it.¡±


    ¡°I guess the farming viges will look like a great in for them since they¡¯ve only seen mountains everywhere in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°A lot of them also want to go to a ranching vige, and young families want to live in the city. I am nning on limiting the number of households in front of the pce to 300 families. By looking at the trend, most Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan will likely want to do farming or ranching as their upation.¡±


    It was good news since not everyone was fighting over the limited city area. There would not be enough jobs or houses for them if they did.


    ¡°I¡¯m d the farming and ranching viges will be expanded. We will have bnced development in different areas of the state.¡±


    ¡°This means that we need to build a school for the farming and ranching viges too.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say the younger ones would finish up to middle school in the school we will build in each farming and ranching vige. Then, they will have tomute to the city once they¡¯re in high school. I am sure they will be fine withmuting.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of building new schools and viges. Why don¡¯t we build a ramen noodles factory and a food production factory in the farming and ranching viges? They won¡¯t have enough ie for a few years by doing only farming and ranching.¡±


    It sounded like a good n. Housewives without work could apply for jobs in the factories. Since it would be a simplebor job, the work would not be too difficult to learn. Having such factories in the small viges, not in the city, would evenly distribute the state¡¯s poption as well.


    ¡°It would only take them half an hour to travel to the city if we have a railroad. Even if the number of produced items increases, it won¡¯t be a problem because we have the railroad.¡±


    ¡°This is a good thing, right? It almost feels unrealistic to see everything fitting together at the right time.¡±


    ¡°Of course this is a good thing. We will have our struggles and troubles once we have more poption. We will leave them in the future.¡±


    ¡°I am willing to lose my hair from stress if we can have more people.¡±


    Youngho thought the same way as Kim Chun. Youngho did not feelfortable giving military training for teenagers. But he had no choice because they were surrounded by strong countries.


    The state would need to build an image of a weak country on the outside while ensuring internal stability. Another reason why Youngho wanted to develop the Siberian region and take the North Sea route was that his business move would make the Russian government think that the state¡¯s economy was dependent on Russia.


    Youngho would have to make sure that the state was not threatening to other countries until the state was fully ready. The process would be subtle, slow, and quiet.

 Chapter 357 - The Investment Company in Copenhagen (1)

    <h4>Chapter 357: The Investment Company in Copenhagen (1)</h4>


    Szechenyi looked excited when he came to Zeynep Farm in Baku.


    Szechenyi had been buying stocks of the Danish shipyardpany while he was staying in Copenhagen. He was studying to get his MBA in Frankfurt, but his career path suddenly changed into running an investmentpany¡ªdue to an unexpected opportunity that was opened because of Youngho¡¯s Siberian development business.


    ¡°Hyung, I own 2.1 percent of thepany¡¯s share now.¡±


    ¡°Why is it still so low? You¡¯ve got to be more aggressive than this.¡±


    ¡°I am just waiting for the right timing. The stock value is going up.¡±


    Youngho thought it would be easy to buy the share of thepany because thepany¡¯s value had been underestimated for a long time.


    ¡°I guess our move made people rethink thepany¡¯s value.¡±


    ¡°Well, most shareholders are long-term holders. They are pretty loyal to thepany.¡±


    ¡°Is any of the royal family members a shareholder?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe so.¡±


    ¡°We need at least three percent to get their attention.¡±


    ¡°The shipyardpany keeps calling me to check if we are a hostilepany aiming for mergers and acquisitions (M&A).¡±


    ¡°Well, it would look certainly aggressive for a young investmentpany.¡±


    Thepany¡¯s concern made sense. Why would anybody or any investmentpany buy stocks of a poor shipyardpany, especially when there had not been a big change in thepany? It was logical to think that someone was trying to hunt down apany.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they already know about us.¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s why they are more concerned. Investing in apany makes sense. But buying stocks? No wonder they think our goal is M&A.¡±


    ¡°What did you tell them?¡±


    ¡°I told them I was buying stocks because thepany had so much potential. I also said I would love to invest in thepany.¡±


    ¡°Good job. Soon we will make a small investment in thepany. They might let us have some managerial rights.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to be a board member?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s necessary although I am not nning on running thepany or anything. I am just trying to voice myself as a major shareholder. I¡¯m going to shake its management as a board member.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. Thepany certainly has an outstanding technology. It¡¯s just that thepany¡¯s executives were filled with mannerism for quite a while. They also couldn¡¯t get enough orders because of the Korean and Chinese shipyardpanies.¡±


    ¡°Well, Korea and China cannot lower its price anymore. They are going to hit the bottom soon. Soon people wille to European shipyardpanies where they can get their ships made quicker than Central Asianpanies. With thepany¡¯s original technology, we won¡¯t have to worry about being bankrupt.¡±


    Many Asian shipyardpanies were able to lower the price of their vessels because their governments covered some part of their production cost to grow their shipyard market. Because of that, they were getting too many orders which led to an extremely long wait time to build ships. People would be willing to pay a little more if they could get their ships sooner.


    ¡°Brother. It would take a lot of investment to repair old docks and improve management institution.¡±


    ¡°I am only going to invest until I can voice myself. It won¡¯t be too much. Then I¡¯ll use my connections to look for clients who¡¯d be interested in building ships. It would be fun.¡±


    ¡°I can guess who you are talking about.¡±


    ¡°What do you think? He would be interested in this, right?¡±


    ¡°I think so. Well, I¡¯m going back to Denmark soon. I¡¯ll inform thepany that we are willing to make an investment.¡±


    ¡°Yes. You need to go. Princess Isabe must be waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t even have time for her now. I have never been this busy.¡±


    ¡°You better make some time for her if you don¡¯t want to lose her. You know how you have to keep making connections and impress people to stay on the surface there.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯ll keep in mind.¡±


    ¡°Also, we are nning on buying a house for you two in Denmark. Could you make sure you do the interior for her taste?¡±


    ¡°We were going to buy a small apartment.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? You are marrying a princess. See if you can find an old castle owned by the royal family. We¡¯ll pay for the castle.¡±


    This would be a far better choice than having a house in Baku or the Arirang Autonomous State since the royal family would wee them if the princess would stay near them after getting married.


    ***


    As soon as Jong-il came back from Krasnoyarsk in Siberia to open a business office, he had to fly to Almaty. It was because the number of immigrants of the state had suddenly increased, and he was in charge of regting the immigration of Koryoins to the state. The state needed to adjust its time n for the moving-in poption. Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan would suffer from the cold weather because Kazakhstan in April was still freezing at night. There were still not enough rooms for the immigrants in the state even after the state provided empty hotel rooms and rooms in car ferries.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Let¡¯s open the Archduchess¡¯ pce. It¡¯s the only ce left.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not! The Archduchess hasn¡¯t even been there yet. Chief Niksic will kill me if he finds out about this.¡±


    ¡°We have 50 empty rooms. Besides, it¡¯s only going to be temporary. Can we at least ask?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe you should be the one to ask him.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m the host. And this host says it¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°Boss. The pce is the most symbolic and treasured ce for Serbian people. Everyone will disagree.¡±


    ¡°What do we do then? It¡¯s still below freezing point during the night.¡±


    ¡°We will open the gymnasium for them to stay. Students will have to bear with the inconvenience.¡±


    Two new farming and ranching viges were filled up with construction technicians from outside because the state needed lots of houses. The whole n to let them build their own houses was already breaking down.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be inconvenient if we set up the vige simr to the central city.¡±


    ¡°Then, the public facilities are going to be there and the market ces will be around here.¡±


    ¡°It will be a smaller version of the administration building.¡±


    ¡°I am counting on you, Construction Director Min. We didn¡¯t expect these many immigrants to be here so soon.¡±


    ¡°We need moreborers. Shall we hire the immigrants?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. You can also hire our farmers. They don¡¯t have a lot of work now.¡±


    A little assistant from people would elerate the building process.


    ¡°Is the underground bunker going to be at the central square?¡±


    ¡°I assume the central square would be the best ce for it. It¡¯s easily approachable, and the emergency storage units are close by. Most of all, the pond is nearby.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good. We could also think about building an underground water tank.¡±


    ¡°We are nning on renovating the whole central square after we are done building all the houses.¡±


    Youngho was nning on building underground bunkers for the farming viges too. It would be better to struggle now than to be sorryter.


    ¡°Will you have enough electricity?¡±


    ¡°We will have enough. Still, we are thinking about building a power nt near the factories, just in case.¡±


    Now, all they needed to think about was the cost. The state had enough extra budget to cover the cost for the farming viges. Youngho was thinking about where to get some money. They still have some gold bars. Youngho needed to call Eriksson soon.


    ***


    Szechenyi called to ask if Youngho could visit Copenhagen.


    ording to him, the Danish royal family had offered a royal vi to the new couple upon hearing that the couple would be staying in Denmark after their wedding and Szechenyi would be investing in the Danish shipyardpany.


    ¡°The queen was exuberated to hear it.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t just take her offer by any chance, did you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, not. I said that I can¡¯t take the royal vi and instead, I¡¯d like to buy one of the royal castles, and she would not take that from me. She probably doesn¡¯t want to hear that she made money from her future son-inw.¡±


    ¡°Ask Princess Isabe if there¡¯s any good castle. It should be a ce where our family can easily visit you.¡±


    ¡°After the coronation ceremony of my sister, you¡¯ll be her official prince consort. You won¡¯t be able to visit Denmark unofficially. It¡¯ll vite propriety.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know that any royal trip is unofficial? Except for a few rich royal families, people can¡¯t afford to take a huge entourage with them. Also, I can¡¯t follow the strictws of royalty. I¡¯m always going to visit you in secret.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I agree with you on that. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The shipyardpany said that our investment is always wee.¡±


    ¡°Have you been collecting more share?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just passed three percent. There is some stock of thepany in the market but its cost is extremely high.¡±


    ¡°Then, don¡¯t do it. You won¡¯t have to tolerate such an unfair deal. Just ignore it until the shareholders lower their price.¡±


    The Danish shipyardpany was only asking for a high price to Szechenyi because he was a foreign investmentpany. If he waited long enough, the price of thepany¡¯s share would be lowered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell the royal family that I¡¯m visiting you. I¡¯m afraid that the queen will invite me again.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll only inform the shipyardpany.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to look for a castle in great shape. You need to pay for it no matter what. I can¡¯t let you owe something from your family-inw.¡±


    ¡°Why not take a free castle?¡±


    ¡°Then the royal family will never try to payback for our favor after giving you a castle. We¡¯ve made an investment in Denmark and there should be a reward. That¡¯s why I ordered the icebreaker from Denmark, and the royal family is silent about it until now.¡±


    ¡°Phew, hyung. You must be determined to sell me out for business.¡±


    ¡°You bet. You have no idea how much I spent to aplish your marriage.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°You should hurry to find the castle because it¡¯ll take some time to remodel the inside.¡±


    Although Youngho was not someone who made a fuss about his achievement or contribution, he was determined to get something out of the Danish royal family. Would it not be great if he could earn a piece of the ice ind?

 Chapter 358 - The Investment Company in Copenhagen (2)

    <h4>Chapter 358: The Investment Company in Copenhagen (2)</h4>


    Yaniv¡¯s mansion in Volgograd was busier than ever now.


    It was because the mafia organization was having a promotional evaluation for all mafias. They would be receiving small andrge businesses under the organization after this. Some of the mafias who knew Youngho tried to impress him with their smile thinking that his good words to Sergey or Yaniv would give them a promotion.


    ¡°Brother, I guess I came at the wrong time.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to join our evaluation team too?¡±


    ¡°Well, I always choose strong people. Would that be enough for you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s our Boss¡¯s standard too. We don¡¯t need to evaluate a lot of things. Hahaha...¡±


    Soon, Youngho was escorted to Yaniv¡¯s room. He greeted Youngho with a big smile.


    ¡°What brings you here, Lee? I thought you¡¯re swamped with work.¡±


    ¡°No matter how busy I am, I should pay you a visit. Zeynep also says hi.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that cunning kid is now trying to impress me. Should I give her one of my businesses in Russia?¡±


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯d be too busy to manage a business. She¡¯s studying.¡±


    Zeynep did not ask him to say hello to Yaniv for her but Youngho only wanted to bring up his mood since he was quite fond of Zeynep.


    ¡°So, Lee. You must be excited about your business in Siberia since you¡¯ve traveled there quite a lot when your business hasn¡¯t even started yet.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, the autonomous state is huge too although it¡¯s not Siberia. I¡¯m rather interested in the North Sea route. I think there are so many potentials in the North Sea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not trying to have fun alone, are you?¡±


    ¡°No, what can I do in Russia without you, Mr. Yaniv?¡±


    ¡°Of course you need me. What is it anyway?¡±


    ¡°I decided to make an icebreaker. I¡¯m going to use the coastlines to approach Siberia.¡±


    ¡°I see. That means you¡¯d be traveling above Russia.¡±


    ¡°The northern route will be a golden route from now on. This is going to be more efficient than using the Suez or Panama Canal. Since it¡¯s going to save time and transportation cost, anybody would be interested in the North Sea route. The only problem is that there are not many icebreakers that could travel through that route.¡±


    ¡°The Russian government has a lot of icebreakers too including some atomic-powered icebreakers.¡±


    ¡°They must be for military orboratory use.¡±


    ¡°If I ask Putin to open a sea route for me, he¡¯d mobilize one of the icebreakers. I don¡¯t see a need to have my own icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°When you ask for a favor, you¡¯d have to be ready to repay for the favor. If you had your own, you won¡¯t have to think about such an interest. Not to mention, you¡¯ll make a lot of money by guiding merchant ships of different nations.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that there will be tons of work for me if only I owned an icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°That is right.¡±


    ¡°Sergey, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Boss. Has any business n he brought ever disappointed us? I¡¯m quite excited for this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He never disappointed me for once.¡±


    ¡°The North Sea route is our courtyard. I¡¯m a little upset that our friend is taking over the route before us.¡±


    ¡°Alright. We can¡¯t let this dude beat us to that. Very well. Why don¡¯t we move to another room and talk about it with some drinks?¡±


    Offering a drink was Yaniv¡¯s way to show his interest. It seemed that Youngho had sessfully managed to lure him.


    ***


    Youngho visited Volgograd before going to Denmark.


    As he exined his situation to Sergey earlier, he told Youngho to drop by on the way to Denmark. It was because Sergey was intrigued to hear a new business idea now that the mafia organization was getting rid of small businesses.


    Youngho told him that Yaniv would be interested since a shipping business was a highly reputable business. Just as he thought, Yaniv was very pleased to hear a new business proposal.


    Yaniv filled sses with vodka and asked Youngho for a toast.


    ¡°For our new business!¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, are you already determined to do this?¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re doing it. I can do it too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll cost you more than 70 million dors to build a new icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°If I asked, I can make it at a much cheaper cost in Russia.¡±


    ¡®Jeez, he¡¯s going to request a ship from a wrong shipyard.¡¯


    Although Russia¡¯s technology could make icebreakers, if he paid less, he would be getting a ship that he deserved. Youngho only came here to make him order a ship from the Danish shipyard.


    ¡°You know Korea is well-known for its shipbuilding technology.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course. There¡¯s got to be a reason why shippingpanies from all over the world crowd in there to order ships, but Russia¡¯s technology is not far behind.¡±


    ¡°I ordered an icebreaker too.¡±


    ¡°So I hear you ordered it from Denmark.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the Danish shipyard makes the best icebreaker in the world.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean, but if I ordered it from Denmark, Putin will get furious.¡±


    Youngho thought that it would be fine if Yaniv ordered an icebreaker from Denmark since he was close to Putin, but it seemed that he was notfortable to cross Putin¡¯s will.


    Youngho was going to lose him if he did not act fast.


    He quickly thought of another way.


    ¡°Would you still feel ufortable if you bought a used Danish icebreaker?¡±


    ¡°You said you ordered a new one. I should get a new one too since it¡¯s a new business.¡±


    ¡°If you bought it from me, it¡¯s going to be a used one.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you made a contract with the Danish shipyard directly, President Putin would find out about it soon. But, if you bought one from me even if it¡¯s a new one, he won¡¯t care. Or you could make me your agent.


    ¡°It all sounds great but what is the real reason that you¡¯re dragging me to the Danish shipyardpany?¡±


    The old mafia boss was quite quick-witted.


    Youngho thought for a moment whether he should make another excuse, but it looked like it would be the best if he came clean. He opened everything up to him since Yaniv would one day find out about the rtionship of Youngho and the Danish shipyard.


    ¡°Yikes, guess I¡¯m caught. You know I¡¯m going to be inws with the Danish royal family. I bought the share of the shipyard to impress the royal family. Since the shipyard has its original technology, the investment value is quite high.¡±


    ¡°I see what¡¯s going on. You¡¯re going to buy the shipyard in the future, or you won¡¯t be promoting thepany like this.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not interested in that. I¡¯m only being honest since I don¡¯t want to lie to you, Mr. Yaniv. Thispany¡¯s future will be bright and I don¡¯t want to miss it. ¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going to get an earful from you for a while if I ordered a ship from the Russian shipyard.¡±


    ¡°No, sir. Maybe it was too much to ask. You can go ahead and order your ships from Russia, but could you please order at least one ship from Denmark topare their performances? I¡¯ll get you a deal at the same price as the Russian ships.¡±


    ¡°You talk like it¡¯s yourpany already.¡±


    ¡°I can make it. How would you like that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care about the Russian shipyard. I only worried that Putin might not like my decision. You know what, I¡¯ll take your offer. Putin¡¯s not going to say when I buy used ships from you.¡±


    ¡°Great decision! I¡¯ll talk to Sergey about the details, but you should make a deposit first before I can proceed with the shipbuilding orders. The shipyard is not doing so well these days.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. Alright. I¡¯ll hold you responsible if I don¡¯t make money with those icebreakers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll buy all of your icebreakers if you don¡¯t make enough money.¡±


    ¡°It should be worth trying since you¡¯re so confident about it.¡±


    ***


    The Danish shipyardpany¡¯s building was antique as it was an oldpany with a long history. It looked like it had been managed quite well.


    Youngho visited a bathroom for workers and pleasantly nodded. It was because he had heard that apany¡¯s status could be grasped by looking at one of its bathrooms. Szechenyi, who came along with Youngho looked at him curiously.


    Thepany¡¯s staff who was giving a tour around thepany to them was nervous since Youngho was meticulously looking around thepany¡¯s building. But, he soon sighed in relief seeing Youngho¡¯s smile.


    ¡°The workers look bright.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because we¡¯ve recently got several orders to build icebreakers and car ferries.¡±


    ¡°I guess thepany hasn¡¯t fired the employees even though it hasn¡¯t been getting a lot of orders.¡±


    ¡°Yes. We held out with our savings of past decades.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that the rtionship betweenbor and management is great.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the only way we survive. We stick together in hard times. It¡¯s also hard to find such great technicians.¡±


    Most of thepany¡¯s employees were employed for long-term, usually more than ten years. Even during a time of slump, thepany and technicians endured it together waiting for the time of booming again. Thepany seemed to know well that the boom time would be as long as the length of the recession.


    At the conference room, Youngho could tell that the members of thepany¡¯s leadership group were excited to see him. It was because they had already figured out that the Archduke¡¯s family that was going to be inws with the Danish royal family was wealthy. Not to mention, he was a major stockholder who ordered a 70 million dor worth of an icebreaker.


    ¡°Ourpany will need about seven million dors to build a lodging facility for workers and about 20 million dors to rece our old dock and goliath crane.¡±


    ¡°Alright. If I invest in yourpany, what would I get in return?¡±


    ¡°We will give you the right to attend the board meeting as a member and the return of your investment ie at the end of every year when we settle ounts.¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, you haven¡¯t made a profit for many years. It¡¯s going to take me forever to receive the investment ie. I¡¯d rather take yourpany¡¯s share instead.¡±


    ¡°This has to be discussed at the board meeting but I¡¯m positive that we¡¯ll be able to give you the share that¡¯s equal to the amount of your investment, under one condition that you remain amicable to ourpany.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I¡¯m going to be the future inw of the royal family. How can I act hostile to you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why our board members are excited to have you on our team.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear what kind of privileges would I get if I attract clients who¡¯d order ships.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about regr vessels?¡±


    ¡°No, I have a person who¡¯d order about three icebreakers.¡±


    The leadership group was stirred to hear Youngho¡¯s remark.


    An icebreaker was different than regr vessels. On top of its strong and powerful engine and body, it was equipped with a function to break the ice as it went through a repeated motion of going above the ice and dropping its body on it.


    ¡°We¡¯ll give you amission of three percent of the total price of the ordered vessel.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t take that much amount of money. I¡¯m a major shareholder and an investor of thepany. I don¡¯t want to get med for taking suchmission. I¡¯ll take it in the form of a share instead.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll appreciate if you¡¯d like to take the share instead of money even though it¡¯s not so valuable now.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll make an investment. Please make masterpiece vessels for my client.¡±


    People apuded in satisfaction.


    They were d to receive suchrge orders for a long time since it would save them and thepany. However, Youngho had a different idea in mind. As soon as his share of thepany reached 15 percent, he would be firing some of the members of the management group since they were the ones who drove thepany to this point.


    As Youngho was leaving, they all shook his hand one by one. He also responded to them with a smile.

 Chapter 359 - The First Voyage (1)

    <h4>Chapter 359: The First Voyage (1)</h4>


    Finally, the spring was here as sprouts on the in showed up.


    Arge number of people were out at the Arirang Wharf to send off two ships traveling over 11,000 kilometers through the Volga-Baltic Waterway to the Yenisei River in Russia. It was the first voyage to pioneer the North Sea route. The big crowd was filled with wild excitement as the ships sounded the boat horn. Jong-il spoke on the mic while Sung-ki waved at people from a car ferry.


    ¡°Sung-ki! We need to have a sessful trip this time if you want to get married. My wife will keep her eyes on yourdy in Baku!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m counting on you!¡±


    ¡°We will hold your wedding at the wharf on the day youe back!¡±


    ¡°YES!!! I am not going to be a virgin anymore!¡±


    Everyone at the wharfughed out loud as Jong-il and Sung-ki joked to each other.


    Sung-ki was in charge of the expedition team this time. He had been the leader of the security team of Arirang Shipping for a long time, and he also served as the security guard team leader of thest Siberian expedition.


    Youngho wanted to travel with them, but he could not make spare time for this 25-day long trip. Instead, he nned on temporarily joining them for a short while when the vessels docked at the Tromso in Norway for maintenance, then rejoining them along with the follower couple when the ships reached the Yenisey Riverter.


    When the followers heard that they were going on a business trip, they got excited and started to pack up their luggage. The followers seemed to enjoy business trips with Youngho, and Youngho also enjoyed theirpany.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they working a little too hard?¡±


    ¡°As soon as they heard they are going to Norway, they just went frenzy.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just too cute. I¡¯ve got to admit that they¡¯ve done a lot of work for us.¡±


    ¡°What have they done?¡±


    ¡°They visited almost every single Koryoin household and collected all the necessary information from them.¡±


    ¡°I guess that must be In-hwa¡¯s idea. She had a concern about how the immigrants might turn their back on us if they do not get enough attention.¡±


    ¡°Well, thanks to her, we found an autistic teenage boy with a super memory. What do you think of recruiting him as our intelligence agent?¡±


    ¡°Will he make a good fit for the job?¡±


    ¡°He will be different but why not.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get permission from his parents, and we are going to watch him for a while.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It would also be good for him if he can use his talent.¡±


    Although the child had a special condition, it did not sound bad to give a job to a child with great talent. The Arirang Autonomous State needed all the talent they could use.


    ***


    ¡°Hey, Min-seok. Don¡¯t you think your baggage is a little too big for a two-day trip?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my job to prepare your stuff too because I¡¯m your secretary.¡±


    ¡°All I need are some socks and underwears. I am carrying my baggage.¡±


    Youngho hated carryingrge baggage for his business trips.


    ¡°We¡¯ve packed some ramen noodles and instant rice packets as well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been in a foreign country for over two years. You still need to pack that much Korean food?¡±


    Il-kwon, who had been listening to their conversation, interfered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve also brought some Korean food.¡±


    ¡°You are an exception.¡±


    ¡°I am?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim, you¡¯ve never had American food when you were in North Korea. We¡¯ve eaten enough American food like butter and steaks.¡±


    ¡°You guys think I¡¯m a hillbilly or something?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡±


    While they were talking, they arrived at Oslo International Airport. They took a light airne to Tromso airport which made them sick because of the turbulence on the way.


    ¡°Man... We should¡¯ve let Boss or Mr. Kim fly the airne.¡±


    ¡°Finally, you respect my flying skill.¡±


    ¡°I agree. It would¡¯ve been way better if Boss was flying the airne.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Even In-hwa admits it? Is it my birthday or something?¡±


    It looked like the followers were overlyplimenting Youngho because they were about to ask a favor. Youngho¡¯s guess soon turned out to be right. They asked Youngho if they could walk around downtown.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys say you were tired? I¡¯m okay. You two go and have fun. Don¡¯t get lost.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    They were no better than little teenagers to Youngho.


    Youngho met up with the expedition team and the vessels that left the autonomous state at Tromso.


    The expedition team needed to make sure to check up their vessels and to stock up supplies before they entered the North Sea route. Tromso was the only harbor where they could buy everything they needed before departing to the North Sea. They would have to stop by Tromso every time they traveled to the North Sea route in the future as well.


    ¡°Did you register our visit to the harbor management office?


    ¡°Yes, sir. We also ordered some fruits and vegetables for our ships.¡±


    ¡°They are more expensive than I thought. At least they have enough supplies.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s cheaper than imported fruits and vegetables at our state.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re a farming state. It¡¯s a shame that we need to buy fresh goods from outside. We are going to have to grow our own fruits and vegetables.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to that since farmers are saying that they will start growing fresh goods in the greenhouse by the fall. Still, it¡¯s too bad we can¡¯t grow oranges and bananas.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. We will need to spend all the electricity we have to grow those fruits. We won¡¯t be able to run our factories.¡±


    ***


    Sung-ki was overly excited to see Youngho although they had not seen each other for only a few days. It was probably quite boring for him to travel through the Volga-Baltic Waterway.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Boss.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you too. I will treat you guys at a bar today. Get ready to be full tonight.¡±


    Everyone was excited because they could not drink on their ship for safety reasons.


    ¡°Any issue with the ships?¡±


    ¡°Nothing serious except the rope that tied airboats were broken.¡±


    ¡°Can we still use the airboats?¡±


    ¡°No problem at all.¡±


    They loaded two medium size airboats and three light armored vehicles because they needed vehicles to move around rivers,kes, and swamps in Siberia.


    When 60 husky guys entered a bar nearby, a few customers slowly left the bar. Youngho felt sorry for the owner of the bar, so he paid for the customers¡¯ meals. Since the state¡¯s icebreakers would be visiting here often from now on, he wanted to have good rtionships with business owners and their customers in the area.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get drunk. We¡¯d better not make any trouble in this harbor.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry sir. We will drink up and fall asleep instead.¡±


    ¡°What? Hahaha...¡±


    The follower couple also joined Youngho and the expedition group at the bar.


    Except for Il-kwon, who sipped on his drink only for a few times, everyone drank and enjoyed the night together. Il-kwon was being cautious in case of any ident or danger.


    ¡°Did everyone go back to their ship safely?¡±


    ¡°Yup. I thought they were drunk, but no one caused any trouble at all. They were all quiet. Sung-ki was the only drunk one.¡±


    ¡°I knew he would get drunk sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°You look fine too, Boss.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t drink a lot because I wanted to drink with you afterward.¡±


    ¡°Well, I am going to turn down your request.¡±


    Despite what he said, Il-kwon eyes were looking for drinks. Youngho was sure that Il-kwon would drink by himself after he went back to his room.


    As the two quietly shared drink together, Min-seok joined them.


    ¡°What are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be with In-hwa?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be her watchdog 24hours a day. I just spent the whole day with her, so she won¡¯tinter.¡±


    ¡°You are not off the hook yet. You know that right? You think she forgot about the marriage consultation incident?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°She will talk about it forever, I guarantee.¡±


    ¡°You know I did not mean to look for another girl.¡±


    ¡°It does not matter to women. What you did is what matters.¡±


    Min-seok¡¯s face turned pale as he heard it.


    He surely did not want to get grilled over his past mistake for the rest of his life.


    Since they talked and drank together for quite a while, they all got drunk soon. Il-kwon started to call Youngho ¡®hyung,¡¯ not Boss, and would not stop talking about his life in North Korea. Min-seok also was trying to y the piano at the corner of the hotel bar. They had not been so drunken like this since they started working together.


    ¡°Well, we need to go to sleep to send off the ships tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°No way! No way, Boss. We just started to drink!¡±


    ¡°Hyung! We can go more.¡±


    Unlike Il-kwon, Min-seok¡¯s body was already swinging. Yet, they kept iming they could drink more. Youngho could already foresee how In-hwa would be mad at Min-seok tomorrow morning.

 Chapter 360 - The First Voyage (2)

    <h4>Chapter 360: The First Voyage (2)</h4>


    Tromso in Norway had only 60,000 people for its poption, but it was the central area of the Arctic region as it was often called the Paris of the Arctic region. It was a popr tourism site all-year-round. For two months from the end of May, the sun would be up even at night, and also, it was one of the ces where people could observe the aurora.


    When Youngho got there, it was still bright at around 8 o¡¯clock in the evening.


    ¡°Boss. I think I will lose the sense of time if I live here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think they would have more productivity since they have such long days? By the way, I can¡¯t find any open restaurant.¡±


    ¡°I heard they close at six o¡¯clock no matter what. I guess they don¡¯t care about long days.¡±


    ¡°I see. Hey, where are these guys? Did they get lost on their way to buy hamburgers? Or are they taking longer to take pictures around?¡±


    ¡°I guess we are going to have to fast today. Even the hotel chefs went home.¡±


    ¡°We have ramen noodles and instant rice packets, right? I guess we can go to the kitchen to make our meal.¡±


    Youngho teased the follower couple for bringing Korean instant food, but it seemed like Youngho would get teased back for asking it. They hade out to find a luxurious restaurant but could not find anything.


    Since the follower couple begged Youngho to stay there for another day in Norway, Youngho agreed with them and had just spent the whole day on the hotel bed. As it was evening, his group came out for dinner. Of course, all they found were restaurants with a closed sign. The followers were on a mission to find hamburgers, but they had note back for a while. Youngho was okay with it because he was not that hungry. He was sitting on a bench and enjoying watching people walking on the street.


    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to be busy at all. No one is walking fast. They¡¯re quite rxed.¡±


    ¡°Our people are as rxed as these people at least at night. Well, they don¡¯t have anywhere to go anyway. I guess they have no reason to move fast.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not always bad to have areas for entertainment. I don¡¯t understand how these people can close their stores so early.¡±


    ¡°Well, they are one of the richest countries in Europe. I guess they have good reasons. By the way, where are my young secretaries?¡±


    When Youngho had just finished his sentence, he spotted the followers walking towards him with a huge bag of groceries.


    ¡°We almost went to the police station to report that you¡¯re missing.¡±


    ¡°We went to the other end of the city. Can you believe it? It only took us this short time to go from one end to the other end ande back. It¡¯s such a tiny city.¡±


    ¡°Oh, look at us. We can¡¯t even find a restaurant in this tiny city.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, can you believe it? It¡¯s our first time here. At least, we know the city now. I guess In-hwa and I cane alone here for the next trip.¡±


    ¡°Only the two of you?¡±


    ¡°We need someone to buy groceries for our ships. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°You think our sailors do not have feet to walk around?¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t know where things are because they would only be here for a brief moment. How about we rent a ce for an office and lodging?¡±


    Youngho had also thought about having an office in the city. It seemed that the followers would be okay in this safe city full of tourists. The state¡¯s ships would dock here regrly from now on anyway, and it should be cheaper to rent a ce for lodging for sailors instead of getting hotel rooms for them.


    ***


    ¡°If we are only targetting the Yenisei River in Siberia, the vige of Bardu, which is a small fishing vige in the northernmost part, would be the best although it would be a bit difficult to buy supplies from there since it¡¯s a vige with only 3,000 people. But if you are also thinking about Greend, Tromso is the best for us.¡±


    ¡°How about Bergen, the third biggest city in Norway?¡±


    ¡°Sizewise, it¡¯s as big as Tromso. But the city is a little too far south.¡±


    The followers were ready to refuse other cities for their office but Tromso. They already researched the benefits of Tromso and rent prices for the buildings. Their intention seemed to be obvious to Youngho, but he decided to pretend that he had no idea.


    ¡°Well, I feel like Bergen is way better.¡±


    ¡°Bergen is the former capital of Norway. Everything is too expensive, and it¡¯s too crowded there. We can cover both the cost of rent and supplies in Tromso with the price of the building rent cost in Bergen.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? When did you do all this research? I¡¯ve got such talented secretaries, don¡¯t you think so, Il-kwon?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Boss. You would¡¯ve regretted if you decided not to take my advice to hire them.¡±


    The followers were ttered by Il-kwon¡¯spliment, and Youngho decided to tter them more.


    ¡°I was going to hire these talented young people. You just gave me confirmation.¡±


    ¡°Boss. You were having them work at the administration office. I am the one who strongly rmended them as secretaries.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. I was only positioning them at the office so they could get used to the atmosphere of our state.¡±


    The followers almost convinced themselves of how great they were while listening to Youngho and Il-kwon¡¯s nonstop race ofpliments.


    ¡°Haha, okay. I agree Tromso would be the best, but the only concern I have is that their supplies are too expensive. If only we can find a way to get supplies cheaper...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got it, sir. We will directly get the supplies from the merchants without any middleman involved. We¡¯re positive that we can make it happen.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve considered that far?¡±


    ¡°Boss. Are you nning on having our people reside here?¡±


    ¡°Well, once we start dealing with Greend, we will have to keep someone here.¡±


    The followers were about to scream to think that they had a chance to live in Tromso. Tromso would be like heaven to thempared to the autonomous state in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. We¡¯ve already found the best ce for our office. I believe if we don¡¯t move quickly, it would be taken soon.¡±


    Youngho was still ying along with them.


    ¡°Is that so? Why don¡¯t we go right now?¡±


    Unlike the building¡¯s old exterior, the interior looked quite modern. The building had a cafe on the first floor, an office area on the second floor, and a residential area on the third floor. The rent was cheaper than the average cost of Baku downtown because the city¡¯s major business was fishing and tourism. The residential area on the third floor had six bedrooms.


    ¡°Looks good. Sign a contract right away and ce some office supplies on the second floor. Register the office as Pr Development Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Pr Development Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Siberia is also a Pr region too, right?¡±


    Although Youngho spontaneously thought of thepany¡¯s name, it did not seem to be that bad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think the office might be too small for the business then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any other buildings around here. The news will spread fast.¡±


    ¡°Should we post the satellite phone number on the door then?¡±


    ¡°What about the phone number?¡±


    ¡°What if somebody wants to call us? We will do sales with our shipping and transporting service.¡±


    Youngho highly doubted that thepany would attract many clients since it only currently had two 3,000-ton car ferries, but he just decided to give it a chance for the follower couple.


    ***


    It had been two days since Youngho¡¯s group came back to Zeynep Farm in Baku. He nned to go back to the autonomous state after staying there for a day, but it took longer because the followers were stuck with Leon. The followers would not let go of Leon who had be more active and mischievous now that he was at his daycare age. Since Fatima would need a break too, Youngho just let them be.


    ¡°Honey, you should stay another day. Leon might throw a tantrum because he wants to follow you, and no one can stop him when that happens.¡±


    ¡°I am going to run away once he falls asleep.¡±


    ¡°Haha...¡±


    ¡°I need to meet our agents in Siberia soon.¡±


    ¡°Trust me. They will like it if you arrive there a day or twote. Let the followers take a rest a little. I¡¯ve heard that Jong-il¡¯sing with you this time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s got to go this time.¡±


    ¡°Then, can Il-kwon stay in Baku?¡±


    ¡°Do you need Il-kwon here?¡±


    ¡°His second child will be born in a few days. The father has to be there, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh. I had no idea. Thank you for the heads-up, Fatima.¡±


    Youngho had no idea because Il-kwon would not talk about his private life ever. He would have felt sorry for Il-kwon if Fatima had not told him. Since Jong-il wasing along, Il-kwon would not feel so bad not apanying Youngho this time.


    ¡°How is Rena doing at school?¡±


    ¡°Now you are asking? She is doing great. I believe she will be elected as ss president.¡±


    ¡°How does she deal with her English?¡±


    ¡°Kids are totally fine with bodynguage. Besides, she will learn fast.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t look for her grandmother?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. She is so close to Leon. Jelyan is so jealous of her already.¡±


    Fatima seemed to be happy about the kids getting along. Or maybe she was happy because she could be free from the little devil. Youngho appreciated her so much since he was only able to work and run the state because of her support. Without Fatima, Youngho could not even live a day.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a second child?


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. My hands are already full with Leon.¡±


    ¡°I know he is a little devil. But he is cute, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Would you have another Leon?¡±


    ¡°Of course. He is an angel when he is asleep. I¡¯ll take ten Leons any day.¡±


    ¡°Umm, no way.¡±


    Youngho thought Fatima looked so beautiful today.

 Chapter 361 - The First Voyage (3)

    <h4>Chapter 361: The First Voyage (3)</h4>


    Youngho was spending quality time with Fatima talking about how much trouble Leon was giving everyone. It seems like he was getting more and more handful since he was getting older.


    ¡°You will have a difficult time when Min-seok and In-hwa leave. Leon used to be manageable when he was at Zeynep¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Leon would be happy to see Zeynep or Seo-young.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of them, do you know why they¡¯re noting home? What¡¯s going on in Frankfurt?¡±


    ¡°They wille home when the exams are over this week. They are onlying because the kids were begging them toe. Otherwise, they would¡¯ve stayed in Frankfurt.¡±


    ¡°I guess they are at the age of finding every single way to have fun. Their security guards must be having a hard time following them around.¡±


    ¡°They told me they¡¯ve got some money from Russia. Looks like Mr. Yaniv made another donation.¡±


    ¡°He said he wanted to give something to Zeynep when I went to Volgogradst time.¡±


    ¡°Honey, I don¡¯t mean this in a bad way, but do you think it¡¯s wise to take his money? I mean, we don¡¯t know where the money ising from.¡±


    Youngho understood Fatima¡¯s concern.


    ¡°He has been only doing legal businesses for quite a while now. The money would be clean.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if you say so. I guess we will take the money then.¡±


    ¡°Zeynep is going to do well. She acts like a child, but she¡¯s business-minded.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid she is almost turning into a workaholic. What if she gets married toote?¡±


    ¡°She is only 20. She¡¯s got a lot of time in her hands. Besides, she will still do well even if she gets married...¡±


    It was true. Sooner orter, Zeynep would need to get married. Youngho would not meddle, but he certainly wanted Zeynep to find a trustworthy and loving husband. When it came to thinking about it, maybe Youngho needed to subtly meddle to make sure that Zeynep would meet the right person. Youngho thought that it would be great to ask Szechenyi and Isabe to find someone great for her. Since the two went to a lot of social events among royal families and nobility, they might be able to find someone that was suitable for her.


    After spending some time with the kids in Baku, Youngho¡¯s group hurried toe back to the autonomous state. Since they spent too much time in Baku, they would have to move quickly to meet the ships in Krasnoyarsk on time. Youngho had no other choice but to take his private Jet. Youngho made a phone call to Sergey to let him know about the flight because he needed permission to cross the Russian border with a private airne. Since it was the first long distance flight on the Jet, Hudson from Cessna came along to assist Youngho in flying the Jet after hearing about the trip from Niksic.


    ¡°Hudson. I hope I didn¡¯t take you away from your date.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. I was going toe along anyway. It¡¯s a long flight. You can certainly use my hand.¡±


    ¡°Come on, did Chief Niksic push you?¡±


    ¡°Well, actually, he said, ¡®Do the job right or forget about getting married.¡¯ Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got some bad temper these days. I think he went a bit too far this time.¡±


    Chief Niksic was not in any position to say things like that to Hudson since he was the one who rebuked the American pilots and technicians for holding a Serbian girl¡¯s hand and forcefully made them stay with his traditional Serbian marriage scheme.


    ¡°Well, still it is an honor to fly with you. I will appreciate it if you take me to long distance flights.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you tter me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you from Smith, the secretary of the U.S. embassy in Astana.¡±


    ¡°Smith? Is he still in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°I met him at Astana the other day.¡±


    Youngho knew that Agent Smith was in Astana, but he pretended that he knew nothing about his whereabouts. It was because he did not want others to find out why he was close to Smith and his CIA background.


    ¡°What did he tell you?¡±


    ¡°He told me that something good is going to happen if I cling and stay close to you.¡±


    Youngho felt like he might get another follower.


    ***


    It took about seven hours to reach Krasnoyarsk from the state because they had to stop by the airport in Astana in the middle of their flight to fill the fuel tank. Since Sergey had contacted the airport and arranged Youngho¡¯s arrival earlier, the airport staffs all received Youngho well. Everything went smoothly there.


    Sergeenko weed Youngho as if he was weing the president of a country. No wonder there was no difficult entry procedure. Youngho felt that there would be no restriction what so ever when he visited Krasnoyarsk in the future.


    ¡°Mr.Lee. We¡¯ve prepared a hotel suite for you. The ships haven¡¯t arrived yet, but I¡¯ve sent my guy to check every hour. When the ships arrive, we will let you know right away.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your trouble. This is not much, but take it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Youngho showed his appreciation to Sergeenko with an envelope filled with money. This rtively small amount of money would make things easier for Youngho and his group.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t hesitate in taking the envelope.¡±


    ¡°Well, he certainly helped us a lot. It looks like mafias here have more power in this small city than those in Volgograd.¡±


    After watching the whole weing process, Jong-il was speechless.


    ¡°Last time when I gave him an envelope, he refused to take it. So, I insisted to give it to him. Then I saw him subtly checking out how thick the envelope was.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°He looks like a dumb thug, but he is as clever as a snake. I will take advantage of him as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you are the one who is as clever as a snake.¡±


    The office that Jong-il had opened for the state¡¯s agents was an old wooden two-story building near a train station. The first floor was used for the office and the second floor was used for temporary lodging.


    ¡°The lodging seemed to be toorge. How are they going to handle the cold temperature?¡±


    ¡°This was the smallest building around. This d*mnrge country¡¯s got no small things. We will have to make several rooms on the second floor.¡±


    ¡°Make sure you inste the walls. Making multiple rooms won¡¯t fix the problem.¡±


    They hired a woman from the city to assist the agents, but she was only killing time because they had no work to do yet. Youngho was afraid that she might quit out of boredom.


    ¡°Teach her English. Maybe we can use her as an interpreter one day.¡±


    ¡°Will she want to learn English?¡±


    ¡°Make it happen. I want her on our side as our family. You can¡¯t just hire a person and give nothing to do.¡±


    ¡°Your ego to make everyone your people...¡±


    ¡°You should remember that you only married Karajan because of my ego.¡±


    ***


    Krasnoyarsk was well-known for its ind seaport because the Yenisei River flowed across the city. The Yenisei was not an ordinary river. Its width was over five kilometers wide. It would be no problem to dock a fewrge ships in this river.


    ¡°This is more of ake than a river. Like I told you, this d*mn country has no small things.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s why this city grew as an ind harbor industrial city.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s surprising how over a million people live in this cold city.¡±


    ¡°There are too many docks that I can¡¯t find our ships.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Therees Sergeenko and his boys.¡±


    Sergeenko and his henchmen were nicely dressed. Sergeenko proudly walked toward Youngho. It was understandable since he was the highest person among the mafias here although he would not be anywhere close to the top in Volgograd.


    ¡°How are you doing, Mr. Lee?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sergeenko. You didn¡¯t have toe out here for us. Our ships are already here.¡±


    ¡°I was concerned about some of the harbor managers and policemen. They might try to give you a hard time.¡±


    It would have been an issue if any of the managers tried to pick on Youngho¡¯s group. Not to mention the policemen would definitely pick on new faces.


    ¡°I guess the official instructions don¡¯t really work in here.¡±


    ¡°Siberia has its ownws. They wouldn¡¯t necessarily listen to orders from Moscow.¡±


    ¡°I see. Please let me know if I am doing anything wrong. I probably wouldn¡¯t handle the Siberianws by myself.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. If anybody gives you a hard time, my boss will fly here right away.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv has retired from this sort of things.¡±


    ¡°Well, then, Sergey won¡¯t let it happen. Sergey might even be scarier than the boss.¡±


    Sergeenko¡¯s face turned ufortable as he said that. It looked like Sergey was quite strict to his underlings. While many big organizations had divided into several small groups, the South Russian mafias still kept the tradition of the hierarchy of seniors to juniors. Sergey was indeed the sessor of Yaniv in the mafia organization.


    If Youngho did not make a connection with Yaniv, Youngho would have gone through several troubles because his organization probably had to battle with the Russian mafias.


    ¡°Sergey couldn¡¯t even kill a little insect.¡±


    ¡°What you see might not always be true. He will control money to get his work done.¡±


    ¡°Control money?¡±


    ¡°He will analyze every single w in the spending history of different business branches, and punish you for losses.¡±


    Just as Youngho predicted, ying with money worked for mafias just like Sergeenko bowed his head to Youngho who had money.


    ¡°Would you let me introduce myself to the harbor manager?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about it. I¡¯ve got you.¡±


    ¡°Still, I feel the need to be acquainted with the manager.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t deserve to meet you. He¡¯s such a petty man...¡±


    ¡®That¡¯s what you think.¡¯


    Even though mafias were in charge of many things, making a connection with officials would be always helpful for Youngho in the future. The connection would let him have ess to information that mafias could not attain.


    As Sergeenko said Siberia had its ownws, Youngho also had his ownws.

 Chapter 362 - The First Voyage (4)

    <h4>Chapter 362: The First Voyage (4)</h4>


    After twelve days of the voyage, two car ferries reached the harbor in Krasnoyarsk with many scratch marks on their bodies. Though the scars were not deep, they showed how rough the journey was. Albeit the light damages on the ship, sailors and agents made it healthy. Sung-ki made a report of the voyage with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Boss. You¡¯ve got to try the North Sea route. You can literally catch fish without using bait. Just throw your fishing pole.¡±


    ¡°Well, they did say the ce was half fish, half water.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more like hunting than fishing except it¡¯s so easy and fast.¡±


    ¡°How did you fish with ice on the surface of the water?¡±


    ¡°As soon as you reach the Yenisei Gulf, there is no ice on the center part of the river. I¡¯ve frozen some fish I caught for sashimi. Bring all your drink. This sashimi would be better than any other raw fish you¡¯ve ever had.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if sashimi would be good with vodka, but his hopes were high.


    ¡°How was the route?¡±


    ¡°We traveled along the coastlines. The ice was not as thick as it was in the mid-winter. It wasn¡¯t that difficult to travel. I am sure we can travel for at least five months every year.¡±


    It was great news. Five months on the North Sea route meant that they could make five round trips between the Arirang Autonomous State and Siberia. It would allow the state to have enough lumbers from Siberia. Lumbers would take some time to dry up in order to be properly used, so Youngho was nning on transporting as many as possible. That was why Youngho asked them for this trip to be specifically dedicated to lumber transportation. Youngho was not sure if it was 100 percent legal to carry an excessive amount of lumbers. However, making a connection with the harbor manager would make it happen even if it was illegal. Besides, no one in Russia seemed to hate a little bribe.


    Sung-ki¡¯s story of his voyage never knew when to end.


    Since he was a great storyteller, even the sailors and guards were absorbed into his stories. They were bored with the trip, and it seemed like Sung-ki had turned their boring experience into a fun and exciting adventure.


    ¡°So you are saying, it would only take about 20 days for a round trip during July and August. Right?¡±


    ¡°There is no ice in that season. We won¡¯t need to be as cautious as now. We just have to keep sailing all day and night.¡±


    ¡°Still,nd transportation seems to be quicker.¡±


    ¡°But we will be able to carry way more lumbers.¡±


    Youngho was afraid that the North Sea route would not be better than using thend route, but this voyage proved that using the North Sea route would make a huge difference. He felt relieved and excited. He could probably instigate Yaniv to make more ships. Yet, he was certain that Icebreakers from Yaniv and Youngho together would make a revolution of lumber transportation in European countries. With this in mind, he now had something to negotiate with the Russian government when he signed a contract for Siberian development. The Russian government always took advantage of their Trans-Siberian Railway since a train was the only means of transportation in carrying arge amount of lumbers from Siberia to other regions. Lumber businessmen would be disadvantaged if the government would not arrange train cars for them. However, now that Youngho could use the sea route, it was a whole another story.


    ***


    Irtysh the Evenk and his family had already left the Taiga forest in Siberia, where Youngho was assigned to develop, he must have gone to the tundra region with all of his reindeers. It was a shame since Youngho had finally had his amphibious light-armored vehicles and he wanted to get a more guided tour around the region.


    Klimov the lieutenant colonel andmander of the battalion unit in the region was also gone, so it was only Youngho and his team that would roam around the region.


    He heard that Klimov and his soldiers had gone patrolling around the Taiga region. It was not to watch for illegal logging but to collect rough diamonds. Klimov must be hurrying to find more diamonds since Youngho promised that he would visit when the snow melted. He must also have grilled his soldiers to hunt animals down to collect animal skins to sell to Youngho. He was quite determined to make money as much as he could while he served in the military.


    Since Youngho could not log trees for business purposes yet for he had not signed a contract with the Russian government other than the memorandum of understanding, he could log trees for trial purposes to check the forest¡¯s economic feasibility. This was conventionally done as an excuse by many log businessmen, so he did not worry a thing. The only difference was that most of them did not bring lumbers home but left them in the forest while Youngho was nning to take them all.


    After hearing the news that Youngho¡¯s group was in the Taiga region, Klimov hastily came back to the unit and visited where Youngho¡¯s group was.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, did you already get permission for logging?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m doing a trial logging just to check the business¡¯ economic feasibility. I don¡¯t want to ruin the forest by randomly cutting down trees, so we¡¯ll only be cutting down old trees after checking their ages.¡±


    ¡°You are indeed a prospective businessman who foresees a hundred years ahead. If all of the loggers were like you in Siberia, a unit like us would not have to be around here.¡±


    Klimov intentionally ttered Youngho. He was like a businessman who was about to make arge deal.


    ¡°Lieutenant Colonel, you work so hard. You¡¯re patrolling around the Taiga forest for days in this cold weather.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only fulfilling my duty as a soldier. It¡¯s what I¡¯m here for.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a true soldier.¡±


    Both of them were busy ttering each other. Now, they were ready to talk about business.


    ¡°How much fur did you collect so far?¡±


    ¡°Not much since it had snowed so much here.¡±


    ¡°Could you bring them to us here? From here, we can carry them to the Yenisei River.¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve prepared a lot for this.¡±


    ¡°I brought some tools and vehicles to carry things. I¡¯ll be signing a formal contract next month. Then, I¡¯m nning to build a temporary building near the riverside. So, I brought some building materials.¡±


    ¡°You could start building it now since you¡¯re going to sign the contract anyway.¡±


    ¡°I wish I could but I did not want to cause trouble.¡±


    ¡°Well, who¡¯s going to cause trouble when I gave you permission? With this manpower, you¡¯d be able to build it within a month.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your amodation.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re partners now. Of course, I should help my partner.¡±


    Youngho almostughed out loud since Klimov was almost bending over backward to impress him.


    ***


    The next day, Klimov brought quite a lot of animal skins and surprised Youngho, especially when he said he could not catch a lot of animals due to the heavy snow.


    However, the condition of furs was not that great. It was because Klimov¡¯s soldiers carelessly fired at the animals and paid little attention in the process of skinning and drying them in the cold weather.


    Although the skins had many scars, it looked like the state could use them by stitching them together. Knowing the quality of the animal skins, Klimov did not ask too much for their prices. Since there was another deal to make, he did his best not to offend Youngho.


    The other deal was about rough diamonds. Youngho wondered how many Klimov managed to collect so far. Just like he thought, Klimov, soon, opened his mouth first.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. I¡¯ve collected some rough diamonds. Would you like to see?¡±


    ¡°You managed to collect them when you¡¯re so busy like this?¡±


    ¡°I told my soldiers that I¡¯ll pay them, and they worked hard for their reward.¡±


    ¡®Well, that¡¯s great that you made everyone your confederates.¡¯


    It was better this way. Even if they found out about the diamonds, the soldiers would not spread the word since they were now helpers of Klimov¡¯s crime. Youngho had broughtbat rations for the soldiers since they worked hard to collect animal skins and diamonds, but it seemed like it was not needed since they were already rewarded by Klimov.


    ¡°I have more of them this time. I hope I¡¯m not burdening you with this.¡±


    ¡°I said I¡¯m just going to think of it as my savings. I can sell them as industrial use, and I won¡¯t be losing money. So, please don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m a businessman, remember?¡±


    Klimov worried that he was selling too many useless rough diamonds to Youngho, but he soon felt relieved by Youngho¡¯sforting words.


    ¡°I should have met you way earlier, Mr. Lee. It¡¯s a shame our time here would not be so long.¡±


    ¡°If you still want to keep your position, I¡¯ll tell Mr. Yaniv about you. He could arrange you something.¡±


    ¡°Really? If you could do that for me, I¡¯d really appreciate it. I¡¯ll treat you well, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Well, we should help each other as partners, right? I¡¯m only doing this because I want to buy animal skins from you.¡±


    Youngho did not mention a thing about diamonds. Since he did not seem interested in diamonds too much, Klimov would not be able to raise its price.


    ¡°My soldiers have worked hard, and we managed to get 400 diamonds in such a short period of time. I doubt that there will be a lot left around this area now.¡±


    It was quite a lot since Klimov had only collected 500 diamonds in years. It seemed that he was determined to find as many as possible before he retired.


    Most of the rough diamonds that Klimov spread on his desk was smaller than the diamonds he gave Younghost time. However, they looked clearer. Some were as big as an adult¡¯s nail. Even at a nce, they looked valuable, but Youngho did not makements about them.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. They¡¯re smaller than thest time, but they will be equally valuable since they are clearer.¡±


    ¡°I guess some of them could be processed as jewels. You could store them and use them for your own good.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, I value cash that is tangible now. I also have my dreams but where would I sell them? It¡¯s only going to get me in trouble. In Russia, jewels in weak people¡¯s hands only bring misfortune.¡±


    Hearing his self-mockery, Youngho felt sorry. So, he paid some more for the animal skins, and Klimov thanked him. On top of that, Youngho gave him thebat rations he brought for the soldiers. Klimov looked happy to receive such a gift. He might be thinking of exploiting his soldiers more with thebat rations. Now that he knew the taste of money, he would not hesitate to find any chance to collect more animal skins and diamonds.

 Chapter 363 - The First Voyage (5)

    <h4>Chapter 363: The First Voyage (5)</h4>


    Klimov, who just receivedbat rations as a gift from Youngho, was very impressed by him.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, how did you think of giving mebat ration?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the Taiga region is isted during eight months of winter. I asked myself what you might need and thought ofbat rations. This is nothing, but I wanted to show my appreciation for your help.¡±


    ¡°How thoughtful of you, Mr. Lee. We¡¯re always in need of convenient food because we are out patrolling in the forest quite often. Could you possibly supply these in bulk?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m only saying this because I have a market for this kind of food. Since winter is so long around here, people usually live on frozen food. If this kind of convenient food in this quality is avable, anyone would want to buy this.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you want to do business in your unit?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I should toss it to a retailer, I don¡¯t think I can do that myself.¡±


    Now that he had tasted money, Klimov was ready to start an intermediary wholesale business with thebat ration.


    It was a great chance for Youngho since he would not have to give Klimov freebat rations anymore.


    ¡°It¡¯s not only because I want to make money but also because I want to serve my soldiers better.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed a greatmander, Lt. Col.¡±


    Although Younghoplimented him, he did not really believe what Klimov said.


    ¡°Alright, my ships will always be empty when they get here after transporting the lumbers to Kazakhstan, I¡¯ll probably be able to provide youbat rations. I¡¯ll only take the minimum shipping cost.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯d feel better if you make more money than that.¡±


    ¡°Thosebat rations are quite expensive. I don¡¯t think people here would be willing to pay such a high cost for the food if you pay me amission in the middle.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you have no idea what Krasnoyarsk is like. People here make at least twice more than average Russians.¡±


    ¡®Whoa! I had no idea.¡¯


    Youngho was surprised to hear that. He thought that the region was too cold to be living in, but it turned out that many rich people gathered here. There was a reason the poption of one million people was residing here. Since illegal businesses were conventionally allowed here, people who acquired wealth through such means had lived in the region.


    ¡°I also have a favor to ask, Lt. Col.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little further away from my developmental region, but would it be possible to make a small dock at the Yenisei River and build a temporary lodging around it?¡±


    ¡°That area is an ownerless ce since it is not given to any developer yet. There would be no problem for you to do that. Some of the loggers here bring their lumbers near the river so that they can transport them to a train station.¡±


    ¡°Should I get permission from the harbor management of Krasnoyarsk?¡±


    ¡°The Taiga region is under my management. That won¡¯t be necessary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that I¡¯d be building a small dock to transfer some of the lumbers.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, the area you are developing is a tiny part of the whole Taiga region. You¡¯re not carrying out the whole Taiga, and if I can¡¯t amodate such little thing for you, I shouldn¡¯t be called your partner.¡±


    The conversation with Klimov reminded Youngho again that this was Russia¡ªwhere you could do anything with connections. More specifically, Siberia. It had its own rules.


    ***


    ¡°Hong Sung-ki, I talked with the battalionmander here. You can finish building the temporary lodging and load all of the lumbers on our ships without any debris left.¡±


    ¡°What? You want little branches too?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim wants to sell those as firewood.¡±


    ¡°Well, if Commissioner Kim asked, we must do what he said.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you are notining as always?¡±


    ¡°I need to impress Commissioner Kim so that he will arrange a house in the city with a good location and a farnd for my parents.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m the owner of the state. I¡¯m the one you need to impress here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, people say that Chief Niksic and Commissioner Kim are the heavyweights of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, that makes me a puppet boss.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s your words, not mine.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Bring all of the little branches so that you can look good in front of the heavyweight.¡±


    ¡°Mehehe...¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯tugh like that. You disgust me.¡±


    There were many little branches and debris that were rotting in the forest, which was a sight that people in Kazakhstan would be sorry to see since any wood was valuable in Kazakhstan.


    Despite the extreme cold, thend was filled with overflowing natural resources, which made Youngho jealous.


    ¡°Boss. Are you only going to let intelligence agents live at the business office in Krasnoyarsk downtown?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sending some office employees too, why?¡±


    ¡°Choi Sang-ho wanted to stay here.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you¡¯re the team leader here, you do whatever that suits you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Youngho was d to hear that someone was willing to stay in Krasnoyarsk. He wondered why.


    ¡°Wait a minute, why does he want to reside here? There¡¯s nothing to do.¡±


    ¡°He said that he has a big crush on the localdy who works at the office.¡±


    ¡°Man, all of you always want to get married here instead of focusing on working.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my junior, I should help him get married.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so bad to get married to a woman who you get arranged with by matchmaking. Didn¡¯t you say the girl you were set up with was like an angel?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a man of capabilities.¡±


    Choi Sang-ho only saw the officedy for a brief moment and he was already in love. It showed how much lonely the security guards from Korea in a foreign setting. They were badly looking fordies. Youngho felt sorry.


    ¡°Does he have a lover he left in Korea by any chance?¡±


    ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t have any girl there. He would¡¯ve stayed in Korea if he did. I mean, it¡¯s not so easy to leave your home country, unless your life waspletely unhappy.¡±


    ¡°Man, are you talking about me? Sounds like my life in Korea.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know we all respect you. You¡¯re an exception.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Anyway, tell him that I¡¯ll be supporting him a hundred percent. If he doesn¡¯t get that girl in a year, we should relocate him where he can find a girl.¡±


    ¡°Alright, sir.¡±


    ***


    The first voyage was quite fruitful.


    Any docks, train stations, and open-storage yards in the area were filled with lumbers and aluminum that were waiting to be transported. Since metals that were smaller in size than lumbers were carried out first, lumbers needed to wait to get arranged by a train car until it could be transported, but the process took at least six months of waiting period.


    If Youngho could use the North Sea route, any pulp and processed timer businessmen would rush in to use his vessels to transport their materials. Since using Youngho¡¯s vessels would be faster and they could move quite a lot of amount at once, shippers would not mind paying the high shipping cost.


    As Youngho was busy taking care of the business in the Taiga region, Park Jong-il was busy making connections with the local officials of Krasnoyarsk.


    ¡°You look like you¡¯re having quite some fun.¡±


    ¡°Man, did you know that they have Korean-style karaoke here? They sell alcohols anddiese to the singing room to entertain you. Jeez, if they wanted, they¡¯d be able to take advantage of us in any way.¡±


    ¡°Okay, just be careful. Siberia is a lot different from Moscow.¡±


    ¡°I know, but the officials here are really freehanded. They drink cognac instead of vodka. Foreign businessmen had been spoiling them big time.¡±


    Although Youngho and Jong-il were used to bribing officials and business partners in Russia, it seemed that the officials of the city hall, whom Jong-il met, were a handful. Youngho was being helped by the battalion of the local military unit and the local mafias, he still needed officials¡¯ help to do business in the area.


    ¡°How are the officials here?¡±


    ¡°You know there¡¯s no reason for them to hate us. I treated them well with drinks and envelopes. What¡¯s not to like about me? I also slipped some words that I¡¯m rted to mafias, and they liked it. They think that we prevent mafias for them. I think they had been troubled by mafias for a long time¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. If we¡¯ve got a problem, we can mobilize Sergeenko to scare them and pretend that we take care of the mafias for them. They¡¯ll have to rely on us.¡±


    In order to survive in Siberia, one had to use any resource that they could use.


    Youngho was d that he could be helped by Sergeenko¡ªwho was the local branch leader of South Russian mafias under Yaniv and Sergey.


    There were other local mafias that did not belong to the South Russian mafia organization as well. If Sergeenko had not taken care of them in advance, all of the small mafia groups would havee to Youngho for disturbing his business to ask for a bribe.


    ¡°You know one of the vessels doesn¡¯t need to stay here. We can probably load it with lumbers and sent it back to the state now. Did you find out whom the lumbers at the dock belong to?¡±


    ¡°ording to the agents, the lumbers belong to a China-Russia joint venture enterprise. I¡¯m not sure how trustworthy it will be. I feel like we¡¯re going to get backstabbed if we dealt with it.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think so?¡±


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s illegal to bring out the lumbers since we don¡¯t have a contract yet. What if thepany take it all on us when we¡¯re foundter?¡±


    The joint-venture enterprise was a government-ownedpany that dealt with many illegal businesses behind. So, Youngho thought that it would not be a problem if he caused a little trouble for thepany.


    ¡°Hmmm. You know what? We shouldn¡¯t deal with them. Why not just take the lumbers forcibly?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡±


    ¡°No, we can just load them from the dock. Who¡¯s going to watch that? People will think that there must be a deal since we¡¯re confidently carrying them out in the open.¡±


    ¡°So, we just load them and go?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why don¡¯t we just say that we had a deal with Sergeenko? We¡¯re just doing what he told us to do, taking what was on the dock.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a simple robber now.¡±


    ¡°What about me? A mafia that sold what was not his should be treated as a robber.¡±


    Even if Youngho was found out to have taken the lumbers at the dock, no one would be able to me a local mafia boss who sold the lumbers that did not belong to him. There was no one who would report it to the police, just because lumbers that were two for a penny around the area were gone in the first ce since it would not be easy to do business in Siberia if one became an enemy of local mafias.

 Chapter 364 - The First Voyage (6)

    <h4>Chapter 364: The First Voyage (6)</h4>


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an amazing suggestion. Nobody¡¯s around the lumber storage yard but I¡¯ll make sure that every staff member either stays in their home or in the hospital.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t take so long to load them since our ship has a crane.¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve brought a bigger ship. How much could you load in that 3,000-ton ship? People won¡¯t even see a difference after you¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°But I should still sign a contract with you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. This is business.¡±


    Youngho and Sergeenko spoke seriously although they were having a deal over someone else¡¯s lumbers. It was not their first time to steal others¡¯ stuff. They shook their hands.


    ¡°That was good business.¡±


    ¡°We should do something like this more often.¡±


    Youngho talked Sergeenko into his illegal deal. As he agreed, they made a contract saying that Sergeenko had sold someone else¡¯s lumbers in the storage yard to Youngho. All Youngho had to do was to pay a little bribe to the mafia.


    With Sergeenko¡¯s henchmen¡¯s help, he carefully chose lumbers in good conditions and filled his ship. It was several days after that when he closed the ship¡¯s cargo hold. As Sergeenko said, no one came near the storage yard and the dock while the ship was there.


    In fact, the lumber storage yard had no fencing around it and everything in it was carelessly neglected since lumber was everywhere around the region. Usually, these kinds of storage yards were where street thugs roamed around doing their ck businesses, andmon people did note around there.


    ¡°Phew, you didn¡¯t have to pull those mafias into this. No one¡¯s interested in the lumbers.¡±


    ¡°No, the harbor staffs would¡¯ve been here asking questions since our ship is docked. Everything will be easier if Sergeenko is involved.¡±


    ¡°Well, guess we could use him once in a while.¡±


    Youngho wished if he had brought a bigger ship since he wanted to take all the lumbers in the storage yard. Even if he got caught by a harbor staff, he would be fine if he paid the penalty¡ªsaying that his employee made a mistake.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll be seeing that China-Russia joint-venture enterprise a lot here.¡±


    ¡°Should I tell my agents to watch thepany?¡±


    ¡°You know they must have searched all over the Taiga forest to collect this much lumber. They probably found out about other resources too.¡±


    ¡°Even rough diamonds?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee that diamonds are only in our area.¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯ve got to look into that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the mafias find out about this, okay? They might know about the diamonds too.¡±


    Maybe Sergeenko had been collecting diamonds too to prepare for his retirement. It would not make sense if he, who had been living here for a long time, had not known about the diamonds that Youngho discovered so easily with the help of an Evenkd.


    ***


    After sending off the cargo ship, Youngho stayed there for two more days before returning to the state. It was because there were quite a lot of Chinesepanies working in Krasnoyarsk. They were in the city under the pretext of doing logging business, but it was just their cover because lumbers were just being neglected at the open-storage yard at the dock. They were rather busy taking other mineral resources from the Taiga region. Lumbers were only valuable in the Arirang Autonomous State, but the Chinesepanies did not really care about them. The Chinese-Russia joint-venture enterprise would have thanked Youngho for taking the lumbers since the yard was running out of room for more lumbers anyway.


    ¡°It looks like Sergeenko already knew that those lumbers had been neglected for a while.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why he took my deal with a delight. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve refused to touch a foreignpany¡¯s property.¡±


    ¡°Should I tell my agents to approach thepany for a lumber deal? If they say that they¡¯re for Kazakhstan, thepany won¡¯t find it weird.¡±


    Since the agents were Kazakh Koryoins, thepany would not suspect them to sell lumbers. It was a way to approach the joint-venturepany, but if the agents were sessful, Youngho would not have to worry about logging for the state for a while.


    ¡°Thepany asked for two dors per 1m3 of lumber.¡±


    ¡°Is that expensive or cheap?¡±


    ¡°You know lumbers that are dried and cut in nks are 60 dors per 1m3. Do you get it now?¡±


    ¡°Well, then it¡¯s expensive. Those nks are already transported and processed. Why are they selling lumbers at such a high price? We all know they¡¯ve been just tossing them in the yard.¡±


    ¡°You know it¡¯s still the best way to approach thepany, which is our real purpose. Not to mention, it¡¯s still a good price.¡±


    ¡°Man, I hope the staff we¡¯re contacting knows a lot about otherpanies and this region. We need to figure out as much as we can from that guy.¡±


    ¡°I assume the underclerk of thepany¡¯s lumbermill would know quite a lot.¡±


    ¡°Would he evere here to count lumbers at the yard?¡±


    ¡°No, he said that he doesn¡¯te here since it¡¯s a crime-riddle district.¡±


    ¡°Phew, it seems like there are bad guys everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about us? Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Dude, we are not doing this for ourselves. We are getting lumbers for our state.¡±


    Although Youngho said so, he was bing the same people who did business in Siberia where ethics and morals were senseless.


    ¡®Whatever. This is Siberia.¡¯


    ¡°Okay, tell your agents to have him by their balls. Treat thepany¡¯s employees well with all sorts of delicacies and bribes, and take advantage of that. They will have to tell us whatever they know.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave them to the agents and get back to the autonomous state. Our business here is done.¡±


    Although Youngho wanted to ask Sergeenko if he had stored rough diamonds, he decided to wait until Sergeenko contacted him. If he had some, he woulde to Youngho in the future since he could not sell them without someone¡¯s help.


    Yaniv also did not sell the gold bars from the Imperial Russian era since he knew that those gold bars could put his entire organization in danger if he sold them carelessly. He only gave them as gifts to his trustworthy business partners.


    Youngho smiled as he thought that he should ask Yaniv about how many gold bars he had now. He might be able to convince Yaniv to sell his gold bars to him. What could he say, Youngho was such a grabby person for gold bars.


    ***


    Although Youngho worked over the phone, still a lot of work was piled up on his desk when he came back from the trip. Suh Min-seok gave Youngho a bunch of documents that needed to be signed out of nowhere and reported that he was going to Istanbul for a business trip.


    He was going with Cha Insoo to sign a security service contract for a new hotel. Insoo was back from Korea while Youngho was gone. It seemed he was waiting for either Youngho or Jong-il toe back to the state before he left to Istanbul.


    ¡°Whoa! Are you going to tackle Istanbul now?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Cha asked me to help him. We are going to sign two hotels.¡±


    ¡°Is Kim In-hwa going with you?¡±


    ¡°No, Mr. Cha will be fine with one of us. Besides, someone needs to be with you too.¡±


    ¡°Well, nothing¡¯s going to happen just because you guys are gone for a day or two. Just take her with you.¡±


    ¡°I will, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, are you feeling alright?¡±


    ¡°You always ask me that question even when I act slightly different than usual. I¡¯m a healthy man.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just you got quiet suddenly.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s an important ce you should visit in Istanbul. I was debating whether I should tell you about the ce or not.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been to Istanbul when we worked for S Corporation. We know the ce well.¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve gone to only tourist spots. Have you been to the flea market?¡±


    ¡°There are so many other ces to see. I heard that the flea market is full of fake items.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was debating myself. You could buy a history of Europe in there.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°When you go to Istanbul, go pay a visit to Mustafa and ask him to take you to the flea market. If you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll buy a very rare antique item.¡±


    Since Youngho got the mystical rings and shoes from the flea market, Suh Min-seok might find something like that too there. He might just find some valuable antiques there or some kids like the Fatima sibling. If he would buy foods for a little child, it could develop as a rtionship of a lifetime¡ªjust like how the Fatima siblings were to Youngho. That could be the most valuable experience rather than finding expensive antiques.


    Youngho had a habit of searching people¡¯s faces wherever he went since he had learned little friendship could be the rtionship of his lifetime in the future.


    Meeting Jelyan at the refugee camp in a northern city of Iraq was also that. She used to be a war orphan who could not speak due to her trauma.


    Because of her existence in his family, the family had be more lively and happy together. Even though Youngho was not her real father, she was as important as Leon whom he was a biological father of. He could not imagine his family without Jelyan.


    She was growing into a bright, young girl in the care of Youngho and Fatima. He had learned that a rtionship like that could make a well-spent life to the fullest. It was the same with the Fatima siblings since he met them at a flea market and now they were his family.


    ¡°Did you get antiques from the flea market too, Mr. CEO?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I did. Mine¡¯s so valuable that I can¡¯t exchange it with anything in the world.¡±


    ¡°Wow, can you tell me what it is?¡±


    ¡°Can you show your treasure to anyone?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you find something you¡¯ll cherish as I do, then I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    Suh Min-seok left the room still not fully understanding what Youngho meant.


    When he got to Istanbul, he would ask Mustafa what Youngho must have found in the flea market although Mustafa might not tell him so easily.


    Even if Min-seok and In-hwa did not find anything special, Youngho thought that it would be a good experience to remember for them.

 Chapter 365 - Working Under the Table (1)

    <h4>Chapter 365: Working Under the Table (1)</h4>


    Youngho was the only person with the winter suit and a thick coat on in Frankfurt on a hot spring day. He did not think that it might be warm or hot in Frankfurt because it was still cold in Kazakhstan.


    vica and Jeremic who came to wee Youngho at the airport had shorts and short sleeve shirts on.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this ce to be hot because the state is still quite cold.¡±


    ¡°Oh, prince consort. We thought you were the best gentleman out there. I guess we were wrong.¡±


    ¡®Jeez, I should¡¯ve told them I was from Siberia.¡¯ thought Youngho but it was toote.


    ¡°Oh, please call me Mr. Lee outside of the state, alright? By the way, you guys are looking good. Does Frankfurt suit you well? It looks like you guys have been eating welltely.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Cho at the wine distribution store call us asionally and treat us well. The princess also invites us all the time.¡±


    ¡°Zeynep does that?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been working on a new business, and we lent her some hand.¡±


    ¡°What the heck is she asking for such busy people like you guys?¡±


    ¡°It was nothing big. She wanted to start a learning center for poor teenagers in Istanbul. All we had to do was to deliver a message to an official there.¡±


    Youngho was proud of Zeynep after he heard what she had been doing. It turned out that she could note to Baku often because she was busy doing business to help others in need.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re the descendants of the knights, but now you¡¯re agents of the CIA. You are not getting paid by the CIA to show your fidelity to the family of the Archduke. Draw a clear line between your work and private business.¡±


    ¡°We understand what you are thinking. But we are not going to devote our lives to the CIA without remembering our origins.¡±


    ¡°Phew, okay. You guys never change.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t be an obstacle to you, Mr. Lee. We¡¯ll be responsible for our work.¡±


    ¡°Trying to protect your indigenous origin is important, but just remember that this is the 21st century.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Although they had studied at the CIA University for three years, they had not changed a bit. They were still stuck with the old thinking of fulfilling the duty as descendants of the Serbian knights. Of course, Youngho was thankful for their loyalty to the Archduke¡¯s family, but it was still frustrating to see how such young people were still living in the past.


    ***


    Michael looked at Youngho from head to toe and spoke,


    ¡°It¡¯s still winter in Siberia. Don¡¯t judge me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to hear your excuse, Lee. Just don¡¯t tell anybody that you are a CIA agent if you are not dressed up.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you want me to quit.¡±


    ¡°You can quit your job when I¡¯m dead.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let me go now? I¡¯m so tired of working for the CIA.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. Everyone knows you love working for the CIA. I am just saying that you need to pay attention to the fashion trend. No more hillbilly. ¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been traveling around to such extremely cold ces. Don¡¯t you feel sorry for me? Chief, you¡¯ve got to know that you are taking too much advantage of me.¡±


    ¡°How about the advantages you¡¯ve taken from the CIA?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing but what you forcibly gave me.¡±


    ¡°Return everything you¡¯ve taken from us, then. I¡¯ll take them back.¡±


    ¡°They are all digested in my stomach. You don¡¯t know the amazing digesting ability of hillbillies.¡±


    ¡°I am not eating with a hillbilly. You are not invited to a nice hotel dinner with my wife. The waiters will look down on us if wee with you.¡±


    It became a ritual between Youngho and Michael¡ªtogether with his wife, to have a nice dinner at Arirang Hotel whenever Youngho visited Frankfurt. Michael and Youngho were more good friends now than a boss and his underling.


    ¡°By the way, what brings you here, Lee? It¡¯s not the time for our monthly meeting yet.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering if you have any information about the Chinesepanies in Siberia. I¡¯ve had an encounter with them while I was there.¡±


    ¡°Chinesepanies in Siberia is not new. They have been there for a long time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the Arctic region but Siberia. Think about the TMGR railroad that connects Beijing, anbaatar of Mongolia, and n-Ude in Russia. Chinese people are all over Siberia.¡±


    ¡°I bet Russia governors have an idea.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the high officials from Moscow know what is going on in Siberia. Most officials near the Siberia are sold to Chinese businesses.¡±


    ¡°They are just making small money behind the central government.¡±


    ¡°I wish that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°What do you know? Do you have a lead?¡±


    ¡°Lumber business is only a title. They are in Siberia to search for underground resources. They all tossed their lumbers in the storage yard at the river and let them rot. I bet some other businesses must be going on there.¡±


    Their business would be revealed soon, but Youngho wanted Michael¡¯s permission for him to intervene in Siberia just in case there would be a conflict with otherpanies.


    ¡°Well, an Americanpany in Siberia will get on Chinesepanies¡¯ nerves.¡±


    ¡°It will be more than that. I will be a war with arms.¡±


    ¡°They are nothing serious to us.¡±


    Youngho envied the pride and confidence that the Americans had.


    ¡°Well, your cowardly reaction got me thinking now. I will call the satellite department to check on it.¡±


    ¡°Have they even paid attention to Siberia at all?¡±


    Finally, Youngho got what he wanted, but he pretended that he was not happy. But, Mike already knew what Youngho was thinking.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I am rechecking. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got something. But don¡¯t even think about making trouble with them. You could be sabotaging the CIA.¡±


    ¡°All I am saying is that we observe suspicious activities of foreignpanies in Siberia. It might be necessary to poke them a little to see their reaction.¡±


    ¡°Do nothing but make an observation on them. I won¡¯t tolerate if you move without permission.¡±


    ¡°What if they get me first?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t do anything in a foreign country. Besides, I know you won¡¯t just sit there and do nothing.¡±


    ¡°All I am saying is that we need to take down a peg or two.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the European chapter¡¯s business. We will talk after we look at the satellite pictures. End of conversation.¡±


    ***


    Youngho had to stay two more days in Frankfurt as he waited for the satellite image interpretation result. Youngho met Yun-suh¡¯s family for one day, and Zeynep and Seo-young for another day.


    Youngho hadpletely forgotten why he was afraid to visit Frankfurt. He was reminded as soon as he met Zeynep and Suh-young because he was dragged to a shopping mall not long after he greeted them. With a tired face, Youngho walked into Michael¡¯s office.


    ¡°Why the long face?¡±


    ¡°I was abused by little devils all day.¡±


    Michael looked at him with pity.


    ¡°Those men following around women for shopping are idiots. Look at me. My wife never asked me to go to a mall with me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should be proud of that. Don¡¯t tell anybody about what you just told me.¡±


    ¡°Well, you absolutely understand what I am saying though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s killing me because they know when I aming. Can we change our monthly meeting date?¡±


    ¡°Cut your crap and sit down. We¡¯ve got the result.¡±


    The CIA¡¯s satellite could zoom in an image to see a clear face of a person. Therefore, there was no way to collect faulty information. They thoroughly searched around the one-kilometer diameter of the expected sight where Chinesepanies were working. It was obvious that they had dug to search for something.


    ¡°What did the analysts say?¡±


    ¡°They are looking for some sort of mineral resources. But they had no trace of transporting what they dug. It¡¯s weird that there has not been a single trace of a truck.¡±


    ¡°Those machines are for aggregate collection, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Our agents concluded the same way. But why would they need those for logging?¡±


    ¡°It would make sense if they¡¯re collecting alluvial gold or something.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Anyway, there was no suspicious activity from thesepanies. Our conclusion is that you don¡¯t need to worry about them.¡±


    The CIA did not have to worry about it, but Youngho did because this was what Youngho was looking for.


    ¡°You are right. I overreacted.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t overreact. I won¡¯t ask you what you are trying to do now, but you need to tell meter.¡±


    ¡°Mike. I just wanted to make sure that they are not doing anything bad.¡±


    ¡°Stop with your y. You know you¡¯re not getting away from my radar. You are onto something.¡±


    ¡®He maybe can read my mind.¡¯


    Youngho walked out of the office before Mike found out more details about what Youngho was up to.


    ***


    ¡°It¡¯s confirmed that Chinesepanies are certainly looking for some sort of gold dust or diamond. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°If they dug up an area of this wide range, they must have collected a lot of them. They might want to move on to another region.¡±


    ¡°Would Klimov let it happen?¡±


    ¡°What if the Chinese guys buy him with money?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You know how greedy he is. He is not exactly a loyal friend type. He could interrupt our work by ming us for environmental pollution or something.¡±


    Youngho could not counter Jong-il¡¯s words because he knew Jong-il was right.


    ¡°Man, this is why I call you smart. Come on, I¡¯ll give you a hug.¡±


    ¡°Eww, get off me! You¡¯re joking right now? You need to do something about Klimov.¡±


    ¡°If Klimov betrays us, I will ask Yaniv to send him to Kamchatka.¡±


    ¡°By the time you send him to Kamchatka, the Chinese government would have made an arrangement with the Russian government. Yaniv doesn¡¯t have the power to prevent trade between the two countries.¡±


    As Jong-il listed the problems, Youngho realized this was bigger than he expected. To prevent all the possible issues; Youngho had to make clear legal documents, and guard the development region. Political means were also necessary. Although the diamonds might be only for industrial use, they would be still valuable.


    ¡°Good thing we looked at the satellite pictures. I bet thosepanies had been collecting all the resources illegally. Police or media would not work. We need to contact mafia.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got some work to do before we contact mafia.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious about what they¡¯ve collected?¡±


    ¡°Why are you so curious? What if they hide all the evidence only because we try to find out about their business?¡±


    ¡°We will do it our way.¡±


    ¡®Our way¡¯ that Jong-il mentioned meant sneaking in and collecting the evidence. It also meant stealing what they had if they were valuable enough. The evidence could be useful when Youngho informed Sergeenko. If mafia threatened them, thosepanies would have to give up on what they were doing. Sergeenko also would appreciate Youngho because he could use the news to threaten thepanies in other areas of Siberia too.

 Chapter 366 - Working Under the Table (2)

    <h4>Chapter 366: Working Under the Table (2)</h4>


    Kim Chun was overly excited to see workers unloading lumbers at Arirang Wharf.


    If there was no one around him, he would have shouted out, ¡®hooray.¡¯ He looked at the lumbers and Youngho simultaneously as if he wanted some more.


    ¡°I will be bringing them several more times. You can use them all.¡±


    ¡°I would¡¯ve hugged you if there were not many people around here. But I¡¯ll do that next time. I¡¯ve never seen this amount of lumbers before.¡±


    ¡°Well, the surfaces are almost rotten.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not. If you peeled the outeryer off, it¡¯s like a new tree inside.¡±


    Kim Chun was afraid that Youngho might try to throw them away.


    He seemed to want Youngho to go back to Siberia to get more lumbers as soon as everything was unloaded.


    ¡°Well, these guys traveled more than a month. How about treating them tonight?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will. They can eat a lot today, rest well tomorrow, and set off the next day again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Commissioner Kim. They need a longer break than that. Sailors need at least five days of rest. They worked without taking off their weekends for the whole month. Don¡¯t you think they deserve some more time?¡±


    ¡°Do they need that much time?¡±


    ¡°Of course, they can sail right away, but then we¡¯ll have to pay them for non-duty allowance for their weekends and holidays. They¡¯d love to make extra money for their hard work.¡±


    An idea suddenly just popped up in Kim Chun¡¯s head.


    ¡°Boss. Some people among the Kyrgyz Koryoin immigrants who just moved here want to work on ships. Can they be trainees on board?¡±


    ¡°The captain might like to hear that. Why don¡¯t you talk to him directly? I¡¯ll tell Mr. Park about it too.¡±


    It was all shippingpanies¡¯ hope to find trustworthy sailors. Any captain would want a sailor whose identity was guaranteed since many sailors tended to be rough and were prone to troubles.


    It was the same for Arirang Shipping. Although one or two security guards were always on board with other sailors, still it would be great to have more reliable sailors in the first ce. Koryoin immigrants seemed to be good candidates for reliable sailors because they would be living in the autonomous state anyway. Moreover, Kim Chun would be d to hear that some immigrants would be hired by Arirang Shipping since he had been having a hard time creating jobs for the increasing number of immigrants.


    Many young Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan wanted to get hired as sailors. Even the follower couple was asked by some of them to help them get the position.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, can anyone be on board?¡±


    ¡°Well, anyone who can adapt to being on the water for an extended period of time can.¡±


    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been getting applications from people who are in their 40s. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be as strong as people in their 20s or 30s.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. Anyone who has normal strength can do it. But, why are they so dying to get this job anyway?¡±


    ¡°They had never seen any ocean let alone foreign countries. They¡¯re curious and excited to travel abroad. Most importantly, the job pays well.¡±


    The job must have sounded all exciting to them, but they had no idea what the huge waves of the ocean could do. It was also not an easy job to stay in a tiny cabin on a ship. Half of the applicants would probably drop out after being on board as trainees.


    ¡°Take everyone who¡¯s willing to be trainees. After experiencing the ocean once, they can decide if they still want to be sailors.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we tell Mr. Park about it first?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we should. I bet he¡¯d love to hear that there are so many applicants.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that he won¡¯t like that there are so many older applicants. I need to make sure that people who asked me for help get the job.¡±


    ¡°You received something from them?¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s a guy who brings me sheep milk at my doorstep every morning. It¡¯s a little too much, and I¡¯ve been feeling bad. I hope this gentleman gets the job.¡±


    The follower couple was now getting a form of bribe now.


    Suh Min-seokined as he took the favor without thinking about consequences.


    ***


    The icebreaker freighter that returned to the state left to the North Sea route again a few dayster with new trainee sailors on board. It was because Kim Chun grilled the captain that they should make the best out of the warm season. Although those freighters could break the ice, they could break the ice that was only about one meter thick, so they could only sail through the North Sea route for only five months a year. Until Youngho¡¯s new icebreaker was finished, the state would have to rely on the freighters. Kim Chun managed to send the sailors to the sea again after guaranteeing two one-month-long breaks each in early spring andte fall for them in exchange for five months of their hard work on board.


    ¡°I¡¯m the CEO of the shippingpany. Why would you decide everything on your own, Commissioner Kim?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Park, the autonomous state is Arirang Shipping¡¯s major client. You should satisfy your client then. I made a decision for you because you¡¯re too busy doing other things. Also, many of the sailors are residents of the autonomous state. They should follow the state¡¯s break standard too.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I knew you¡¯d do this to me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to remember that the shipper is at a higher position than the shippingpany.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re giving me a lecture now?.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Mr. Park. You know we¡¯re all in this together. We should help each other out.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Honestly, I¡¯m fine with it.¡±


    ¡°So, could you please increase the number of round trips for the sailing season just by one?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to thoroughly consider my major client¡¯s request. But don¡¯t get your hopes up.¡±


    Later, Jong-il had to calm Kim Chun down who kept on asking for more round trips.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Why are you being so greedy for lumbers? We¡¯ll have enough lumbers for the state anyway.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a mill. I just want to sell some of them to foreign countries.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have enough to sell to Atyrau. Just save it for the state.¡±


    ¡°We also have lumbers that we get from Kyrgyzstan. So, I¡¯d like to sell it to the Kazakh people in Atyrau. They¡¯ll love to hear that those lumbers are from Siberia.¡±


    Many Kazakh people had hostile feelings toward Russia since it was Russian policy that left theirnd so deste. People would feelforted to hear that the autonomous state had taken Russia¡¯s resource.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a patriot.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should ask the central government to give an appreciative medal to Arirang Shipping.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Jong-il, tell our agents to make the under clerk at the lumber mill in Siberia on our side no matter what. While they do that, we can take the train to cross the border.¡±


    ¡°Argh... We need to take that long, boring train again?¡±


    It would be great if they could take a private Jet, but they had to move in secret. The train was the best way for them to not leave any trace of their trip.


    ¡°When does our car ferry return?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll find there, but I think there will be quite a lot of them. How are we going to move them?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you just broke the jinx. When you make a fuss and say it¡¯s going to be a lot before it even starts, then the opposite will happen.¡±


    ¡°You know what? If we get something out of this, I¡¯ll take it all.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you get it all.¡±


    The two were quite excited about this mission.


    The Chinese-Russia joint-venture enterprise would have collected quite a lot of resources for years of their business in Siberia. Whether it was gold or ore, thepany would have waited until a certain amount was gathered and transported it all at once. Since it was caught on satellite pictures that heavy equipment was used, Youngho expected that a huge amount had been gathered already.


    Youngho had worked with Jong-il for so many years that his heart was light as he left the state. There was nothing to worry about this mission for they had many experiences of this kind. Since they would be taking what had been taken illegally, he did not feel sorry or guilty.


    Instead, he felt he was on a field trip. Many early-age teachers on a field trip would do a treasure hunt on a field trip day, and he felt like he was going on a treasure hunt to Siberia.


    ¡°It feels nice to be on this train again since we¡¯re just going to be here for one day.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no fun in this except that we get to drink as much as we want.¡±


    ¡°This is why we get on this train.¡±


    ¡°Did you see those guys in the next car? Can you guess where they¡¯re from?¡±


    ¡°Of course, they¡¯re Chinese. Why are they on the train that¡¯s going to the opposite direction from where they¡¯re supposed to be?¡±


    If they were connected in Mongolia, they should havee from n-Ude of Russia, but it was weird that they were on the train that came from Moscow.


    Youngho and Jong-il got on a train in Astana, Kazakhstan, to Omsk, and got on the Trans-Siberian Railway to get to divostok. Youngho saw the guys several times going in and out of the restroom. He noticed that they moved like trained people.


    ¡°They sure don¡¯t look like soldiers or diplomats. This is quite fishy.¡±


    ¡°If they get off in Krasnoyarsk, we should find out about them. This could be rted to our work.¡±


    ¡°I thought this mission would be boring but if they are involved, it¡¯s going to be excited.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s be as quiet as we can. I don¡¯t want to raise their guard.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re no match for us.¡±


    ¡°Dude, bullets don¡¯t dodge for us. They¡¯re not regr guys. I feel like they¡¯re trained shooters. They must¡¯ve gotten on the train in Perm or Yekaterinburg. There are many Chinesepanies there.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, they are everywhere. Let¡¯s get to the bottom of this.¡±

 Chapter 367 - Working Under the Table (3)

    <h4>Chapter 367: Working Under the Table (3)</h4>


    With its poption of a million people, Krasnoyarsk was considered to be one of the biggest cities where Trans-Siberian Railway stopped.


    The train stopped for each station for a long period of time, so passengers usually got off the train during a stop to walk around and buy some food for their long trips such as dairy food and pastries.


    When Youngho and Jong-il got to the Krasnoyarsk station, it was crowded with passengers and merchants. The Trans-Siberian Railway was popr for backpackers from all over the world. Youngho could spot some Korean backpackers too, and it was not his first time seeing Koreans on the train.


    Whenever Youngho took the Trans-Siberian Railway, he always bought too much food and ended up sharing all he had with some unknown Korean passengers. Today was not an exception because he met some young Korean backpackers on the hallway inside the train, and he gave away whatever unopened food that he had left.


    ¡°Take them. Consider me like a long lost uncle. You are going to need them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯ve treated us at the cafeteria twice already and shared enough food with us for our travel. Once we take the ship at divostok, we will be alright.¡±


    ¡°Come on. You can pay me backter. We were happy to meet young Koreans on the train.¡±


    The group of five Korean young men and women was in trouble because they lost their money bag on the train. They thought it would be more efficient to have one person to carry all the money, but the girl who was in charge had lost it. Thankfully, some of the girls had a little bit of money left, and they still had debit cards with some money, so they would still be able to get on a ship.


    Since Youngho knew that they would never get their money back, he gave them some money so that they would not starve until they got home. He was impressed to see that they were still bright and hopeful despite the fact that they did not have much money left, so he spent some time with them on the train as he treated them meals. Now, they were thankful and sorry for him at the same time because he had treated them and gave them money when they parted ways.


    ¡°Thank you. We were lucky to meet you on this trip.¡±


    ¡°No problem. Hope you guys find jobs.¡±


    Youngho told them to find jobs instead of saying goodbye since those young people were jobless in Korea. Due to the high unemployment rate, finding a job was a verypetitive process. Many backpackers seemed to have money but most of the young Korean backpackers did not have a full-time job. They saved money from working multiple part-time jobs for a year before taking a trip like this.


    Hearing this made Youngho feel sorry.


    ¡°If you have guts to face hardship, think about applying for internationalpanies. You all have college degrees and speak English pretty well. You will be sessful if you could get international job positions.¡±


    ¡°You two misters must have a sessful career in an internationalpany.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure if it is a sess, but I can afford some stuff.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your advice.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Good luck.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they supposed to be better off in Korea by now? It¡¯s a shame that they came out because they almost gave up on getting a job.¡±


    ¡°I love Korea, but I am concerned about the future of Korea¡¯s young generations. What has the Korean government been doing?¡±


    ¡°I bet the government was trying to survive from the interference ofrge countries like China and the U.S.A. Oh, speaking of which, look who is here.¡±


    As they expected, the Chinese people they met on the train also got off at the same station.


    ¡°Their destination is here too. Wow, look at their carriers. They¡¯re big.¡±


    ¡°Looks like they are going to stay here for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Man, if they cross us, I¡¯ll take all of my wrath on them. The reason that Korea is divided and could not grow is because of these countries that surround us!¡±


    It was only Youngho¡¯s personal opinion, but it was a lie. Korea was always invaded and influenced by its surrounding countries.


    Youngho was nning on dumping his anger on them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and enforce ourw.¡±


    ¡°We are starting it today?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to hurry before they make their move.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with you? Didn¡¯t you say you want to be discreet?¡±


    ¡°They are ying in our yground without permission. We are applying the Siberianw right away. Call the agents. I want them to find out where thepany hid their collected resources.¡±


    ¡°Would a mere under clerk know the location?¡±


    ¡°He is still the number two of thepany¡¯s local branch. He should know.¡±


    ¡°They are taking a taxi.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s follow them.¡±


    Three Chinese guys went into an old hotel, and it meant that they were neither entrepreneurs nor diplomats.


    ¡°They must be agents sent by the security department. They normally have their own lodging, but they are staying at a hotel because they are keeping this visit a secret.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Chinese government doesn¡¯t trust its own enterprise.¡±


    ¡°They must be here to find out the corruption of their employees.¡±


    ¡°They have a lot of things to hide in here then.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should wait until they catch corrupted employees?¡±


    ¡°No. We will make our move before them. If we steal what they¡¯ve collected, their executives will be used of corruption. They will be summoned to their country. Then we do that again when the new executivese.¡±


    ¡°A sneak mission is not my style.¡±


    ¡°Who cares about your style? We just have to get the job done when there¡¯s an opportunity. Now is the time!¡±


    ***


    It was dark, so Youngho and Jong-il moved through the blind spots avoiding the streetlights.


    ¡°There is no security camera here.¡±


    ¡°Camera wouldn¡¯t work in this cold weather. Who would walk around in the freezing night anyway?¡±


    ¡°I hope we don¡¯t leave empty-handed tonight.¡±


    They could not find out the location of the valuables since the agents had failed to get the location of the resources from the Chinese under clerk. However, they assumed that the general secretary of logging of the Chinese enterprise would keep all of the valuables in his office. They searched the office, but they still could not find a single safe. Therefore, they rerouted the destination to the general secretary¡¯s ce.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t find anything from there, let¡¯s interrogate the general secretary. We need to have our masks on and speak only in Russian. No Korean or English.¡±


    ¡°We are going to have to interrogate the general secretary anyways because if there is a safe we won¡¯t know thebination.¡±


    The general secretary¡¯s luxurious house was located near the Yenisei River. The fact that a person in charge of the Chinese government-run enterprise was so well-off meant that he originally had a rich background, or he had been secretly taking money from the government.


    ¡°Man, this guy must be really rich or corrupted. I bet he also bribed a lot of high officials in China.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what kind of things he has been hiding in this big house.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get in.¡±


    ***


    The general secretary babbled in Chinese as the cold de of Youngho¡¯s knife was pressed against his neck. He pretended that he did not know Russian.


    ¡°Where is your safe? Tell me the location or you die here. Your choice.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to send a picture of you I just took to your family in China?¡±


    He shook his head strongly then finally opened his mouth to talk. It was because he was with a half-naked young Russian woman on his bed. He had his family in China but was enjoying his life in Siberia with a local mistress.


    He was afraid of the picture being sent to his family mostly because his wife¡¯s family was involved in the government. He feared that he would lose his power and position.


    ¡°It¡¯s in the basement.¡±


    ¡°We know what you¡¯ve been doing at the logging site. You are lucky that we won¡¯t be reporting you to your government. We will visit you frequently, and all you need to do is pay us well.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He just nodded without a word. He assumed that Youngho and Jong-il were mafias.


    Sung-ki and Sang-ho did not know Youngho and Jong-il hade to Krasnoyarsk because they asked other agents not to tell them. As Youngho and Jong-il walked into the office in downtown, Sung-ki, who was taking a nap, hurriedly got up from the couch and started to yell at them.


    ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t do this to me. I am the chief director of this branch office. You can¡¯t just walk in without informing me ahead of time. Have you secretlye to check on our work?¡±


    ¡°I thought Sang-ho was the director here. Jeez. And why would we want to secretly check on your work? We don¡¯t care. Just go back to sleep.¡±


    ¡°I thought you came to check us out because you don¡¯t trust me. I just finished all the work yesterday, and I was nning on going back to the state tomorrow after taking a day off¡±


    ¡°Oh, cut your crap. We stayed up all night to entertain the officials around here.¡±


    As Jong-il yelled at him, Sung-ki went quiet. He realized that he overreacted because he was so surprised to see them in the middle of his nap.


    ¡°You could¡¯ve told us to do it.¡±


    ¡°We knew you would be busy and tired. So you are going back tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The temporary lodging and the harbor at the Yenisei River are done. We already loaded the lumbers on the ferry. It¡¯s time to go back. Are you done with your work?¡±


    ¡°Yup. We are going back today on a ne. This is what Russian officials gave us. Take them to the ships and keep them safe.¡±


    What Youngho and Jong-il gave him was a little chest with a lock on it.


    Although curious, Sung-ki did not ask any question since he was a fast-witted person.

 Chapter 368 - Working Under the Table (4)

    <h4>Chapter 368: Working Under the Table (4)</h4>


    Previously at the general secretary¡¯s house, Youngho and Jong-il found a huge safe in the basement. He had stored all the rough diamonds he had collected in Siberia for the past two months. All of the diamonds were in a leather pouch. There were some Russian rubles and dors, but he begged not to touch the cash because it was the sry for the employees.


    Youngho and Jong-il did not touch the cash, but it was quite stupid of him to ask not to take the cash because if thieves broke into someone¡¯s house, they would prefer cash. Soon, the security department agents came to the house to find out if everything was okay, and he would have to report the missing valuables to them. When the agents found out that everything but the cash was stolen, they would use him of taking the other valuables. It would be wiser to report that everything was stolen including the cash.


    When Youngho and Jong-il came back to the office and opened the leather pouch, they found at least 4,000 small and big rough diamonds.


    ¡°If the collection of only two months was this many, how many diamonds have been transported to China so far?¡±


    Although most of the raw diamonds seemed like industrial grade, it would still make an enormous difference forpanies and countries because diamonds could be used for anywhere that needed for the strongest hardness, a high conductivity, a small thermal expansion coefficient, and a high acid resistance. The amount was not something that could be collected in two months. It seemed that the Chinese government worked under pressure to get as many as they could in a short period of time fearing that Russia might find out about it.


    The day after Youngho and Jong-il came back to the state, they heard that the general secretary of the Chinese enterprise went missing. Later, they found out that the guy took all the money and ran away that very same night. He had lied about the money being the employees¡¯ pay. But it was unsure why he decided to run away rather than lying to the government. Maybe he feared that mafias would continuously bother him.


    ¡°Lucky. I guess we can do it again. The Chinese government would think that the general secretary even took all the diamonds.¡±


    ¡°Hmm... Wouldn¡¯t they leave the diamonds in their office instead of a house now? We can¡¯t carry arge safe, and we do not know how to pick a lock either.¡±


    ¡°We need to learn how to pick a lock from an expert.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t take long for you to learn since you¡¯re a smarty.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a guy who can teach us that, or we can find a guy who knows the password for the safe.¡±


    They were thinking about robbing the office for a few more times, but they did not need to do it. Since the general secretary went missing, the Chinese government would have to be more cautious about their move from now on. It would not dare to think of collecting in another area.


    Youngho did not report the Chinesepany¡¯s illegal exploitation of resources because he feared that the Russian government might find out about the raw diamonds in his logging area. Since he had not signed the official contract with the Russian government yet, the government could ask Youngho to stop his business in the Taiga region. Youngho wanted to sign the contract as soon as he could, so he called Yaniv.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv. We are done preparing for the logging business in Siberia. We¡¯d like to proceed with the official process to contract with the government. Do you mind if I contact the government officials?¡±


    ¡°Let me handle that for you as your agent. Something good must happen since you are rushing.¡±


    ¡°We found out that our ships can travel for at least five months in the thawing season. We would like to get lumbers as soon as we can.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve only had a few small ships. You won¡¯t be able to move a lot anyway.¡±


    ¡°We need to move our equipment as well. I would rather bring some lumber back to the state than nothing.¡±


    ¡°I see. I will contact Moscow and let you know soon.¡±


    ***


    Car ferries from the Yenisei River came back full of lumbers. As the lumbers arrived, Kim Chun, of course, was the busiest person at Arirang Wharf. He talked to Hong Sung-ki about the voyage and walked around the cargo section to check out the lumber.


    ¡°We should get a gift for Sung-ki. I bet he took some serious risks to get all these lumber.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard they worked in the swamp area to get them. It had to be very difficult and dangerous. This was only a trial logging before signing the contract. I don¡¯t think we can do it again until we sign the contract.¡±


    ¡°I get it. I¡¯ll wait until the contract is signed then. I have also heard the hardship they went through. I am happy with what they have brought.¡±


    ¡°Sung-ki tried really hard to impress you by the way.¡±


    ¡°Impress me? For what?¡±


    ¡°Do you remember that he was nning on living with his parents after his wedding? I think he wants a nice house and some farmingnd near the city area.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be difficult to arrange that. I will surely make it work for him.¡±


    ¡°This is why they call you the real boss,missioner. I am just a puppet for you.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Lumber was the major building material especially for a country like Kazakhstan where instion was essential. The exterior might be bricks and stones, but people preferred wood for interior finishing. Since the state could have its own lumber now, people of the state did not have to worry about using expensive lumber from Volgograd.


    ¡°Mr. CEO. I am so d that we don¡¯t need to think about the lumber cost anymore. Commissioner Kim kept giving us a look whenever we used too many lumber and wood materials, but those days are in the past now.¡±


    ¡°Did he really?¡±


    ¡°Even if he didn¡¯t, everyone would¡¯ve been really careful with such expensive material anyway. I¡¯m d we don¡¯t have to worry about it anymore!¡±


    ¡°We have enough for the state. So use them away.¡±


    ¡°The hotel is about to be done. We will use a little more wood for finishing. It would look more natural and warm.¡±


    ¡°Soon, we will start making furniture in our state. If you could gather some people to work on the project, it would be nice.¡±


    ¡°Some wood craftsmen were already asking me about it. How about we build a furniture factory?¡±


    ¡°If we have the technology to do it, why not? Why don¡¯t you discuss it with Commissioner Kim?¡±


    If the state could have a few furniture factories, it would greatly improve the life of the residents. The lumber would also help out with the shipyard as well.


    Since many mentioned about the furniture factory, Kim Chun got excited.


    ¡°Boss. We will make an office furniture factory and a home furniture factory. A lumber factory for a shipyard cane in handy too. If we were to make beds, all we need to do for a bed is import some mattress. We can make the bedframes in our factory.¡±


    ¡°I will leave that to you. Let¡¯s make sure to build a factory big enough topete with other furniture factories.¡±


    ¡°We already have the site for the factories. We left the ce that used to be the open-storage yard for empty minerals. Even after stacking all the lumbers there, we still have a lot of space for factories.¡±


    ¡°The shipyard was nning on using some part of it. Do you think we still have enough room?¡±


    ¡°Of course, the lot is enormous. I will manage the space.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like the most convenient ce for the factories because it¡¯s close to the wharf. We can save time and money to transport the lumber.¡±


    ***


    The board members of the state had gathered at the conference room in the administration department. Youngho summoned everyone. The coronation of the Archduchess was nned to be held in June, but the state was still busy with the process of all of their work. So Youngho wanted to ask if they could postpone the coronation. Farming and ranching viges were still in the process of being built.


    ¡°It would be more reasonable to have the coronation ceremony in September when the harvest was over. Since we have a big wedding in October in Denmark, the coronation will be a simple ceremony.¡±


    ¡°We will support your decision. It doesn¡¯t need to be rushed. The Archduchess won¡¯t be happy if we just rush the crowning ceremony not considering the circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Elder Niksic agreed. Any other opinion?¡±


    ¡°She is already respected by Serbians as the Archduchess. I agree that we don¡¯t need to rush this issue. But I am concerned about how state residents from other ces would take the crowning. I think we should ask other ethnic people¡¯s opinions about this as well.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s something we should be doing. The state was originally built for Serbians. Kazakhs and Koryoins already knew about this when they decided to move in. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to think about their reaction.¡±


    ¡°Elder Niksic, This ce is going to be a multicultural state. I don¡¯t own this ce, but the residents do. If we forcibly make themply with the Archduke family system, how long do you think it wouldst? We will have the coronation when everyone agrees.¡±


    The debate went on for a while without a conclusion. Kim Chun got upset as the debate went on.


    ¡°Boss. I have never seen any Kazakh or Koryoin who opposed the Archduchess system. If you truly think that way, why don¡¯t we let the residents take a vote?¡±


    ¡°Majority of the residents are Serbians anyway. It would be pointless.¡±


    ¡°We can have a democratic justification at least. We can also tell the future immigrants about how the system was decided.¡±


    ¡°This is technically your own property. Who would dare to oppose your policy?¡±


    After having another long debate and sharing their opinion, they gradually reached a conclusion.


    ¡°Okay. We¡¯ve decided to have a residential vote to sort this out.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to have a vote every single time? You need to rethink this.¡±


    Old Niksic keptining about the decision because he thought it would have no point because the majority of the residents were Serbians anyway.


    ¡°We do not know that. I am following the board¡¯s decision. I just cannot ept that we are going to the Archduke family system in the 21st century without a democratic agreement from the residents. If leaders decide everything, there will be backfires from the residents soon. It might look pointless, but we need this.¡±


    ¡°Justification is important, but I am afraid that the sudden change in how we originally do things will cause disputes. I think they would be more proud to have a figure of importance that they can mentally depend on.¡±


    He might have a point, but this was a necessary process. If the system could not be approved by the multicultural residents, the whole crowning would not have much meaning to it.

 Chapter 369 - Long-term Groundwork (1)

    <h4>Chapter 369: Long-term Groundwork (1)</h4>


    Hong Sung-ki¡¯s wedding was held in Baku, Azerbaijan on a big scale.


    Park Jong-il had promised that he would get him a wedding at Arirang Wharf, but Sung-ki decided to have the ceremony in Baku considering the guests of the bride.


    Since the rest of the Korean employees in Zeynep Security Service would be having weddings following Hong Sung-ki¡¯s, the wedding had to be big. He was thest one to get married among the first and second groups of recruits in Zeynep Security Service.


    Although it cost Youngho a lot to hold such a big ceremony, there was a reason. First of all, Youngho cared about him as his junior from Korea. Secondly, since Zeynep Corporation was a bigpany in Baku, it was necessary to show off that the employees of thepany were well-deserved by thepany.


    The wedding tradition of the Caucasus was quite unique since families and friends came to the groom and bride¡¯s houses a week before the ceremony for a long celebration. They ate, drank, and danced together for the whole week, which was quite dramatic. It was derived from nomadic traditions in which rtives rarely gathered unless there was a special asion like a wedding, and when they gathered they made the most out of it. However, it was still hard to understand because such a tradition came with a high cost to feed the whole rtives for a long period whichsted a week or sometimes even longer.


    Hong Sung-ki¡¯s guests only consisted of his parents, sibling and their families from Korea, residents of the Arirang Autonomous State, and Korean employees at Zeynep Security Service. Because many people came from the autonomous state, a car ferry was used to transport them. It was used as a reception venue and lodging for many guests as well.


    A 3,000-ton car ferry could easily have hundreds of people on board.


    ¡°Boss. We should lend this ship for a wedding reception venue to people from now on. It¡¯s still spacious even though all of the guests of the groom and bride are here.¡±


    ¡°You should charge him a lotter. We mobilized the car ferry because we had no other option, but we¡¯ll be broke if we keep doing this.¡±


    ¡°Security team leader Hong¡¯s going to get away with it no matter what. You should encourage him to get more lumbers from Siberia instead. That¡¯s a bigger gain for us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that man had been demanding me to give him the best farming vige to him and his parents after bringing some small trees to me. It¡¯s quite a bother.¡±


    ¡°He jokes to you like that but he really likes you. If you could encourage him a little bit, he will do his best to help you.¡±


    ¡°His jokes are too much sometimes. I¡¯m literally this close to being robbed by him.¡±


    Although Kim Chun was a brazen person, Hong Sung-ki¡¯s shameless actions and words made him shake his head. Since Sung-ki was a great worker, there was nothing to pick on about him either.


    ¡°But, Commissioner, don¡¯t you think he¡¯s been loyal to our state? He even refused to go on a honeymoon but said that he will go right back to Siberia. At least you won¡¯t have to worry about lumbers anymore.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please let him just go on the freaking honeymoon. There won¡¯t be any problem in lumber transportation without him being there.¡±


    ¡°Then you should make a policy of mandatory honeymoon trip or something.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. I¡¯ll just have to tell him that I¡¯ll give him good farnd and house for him and his family.¡±


    ***


    Youngho was able to seal the contract for developing the Taiga region in Siberia with the Russian government, along with Yaniv¡¯s help. He was given 50 years to log the given area as a primary contract under the condition of giving solid wood to a lumber processing factory in Krasnoyarsk.


    The government did not allow him to exploit thend in any way before he bought thend, so he decided to postpone it until he had thoroughly learned about the possibility of thend. Although he loved the rough diamonds, it seemed that the government would soon find out about them in several years, which would definitely affect his ownership policy. He surely did not want to deal with the unpredictable future.


    He was lucky that there was nond rental fee yet. It was because logging business was a rough business that needed a lot of investment in the beginning stage. For this reason, there were not many people who were willing to start the business. So, not charging thend fee was a way to attract loggers. Since processing lumbers was limited to Krasnoyarsk, it was again for the Russian government anyway.


    ¡°Lee, you surprise me. I thought you¡¯d be dying to buy thend.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to rush into this since I can buy it whenever I want to. Also, thend turns into a swamp in the summer. That¡¯ll be a huge problem when developing thend.¡±


    Youngho made an excuse of the swamp to Yaniv in case the government found out that rough diamonds were grown in the region. But, he was going to secretly steal all of the rough diamonds in the region slowly.


    ¡°Are you really not interested? Or are you just afraid?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, even if the region is full of underground resources, there¡¯s nothing I can do because of the Russian government. It won¡¯t let me take them anyway.¡±


    ¡°I see. I understand that it¡¯s not easy for a privatepany to deal with the government alone.¡±


    Even the mafia boss does not trust the government, and there was no way for Youngho, a foreigner, to deal with the government alone. It was better for him to get along with illegal businesses which were taken as the right way in Siberia.


    ¡°If there are important resources buried in the region, the government will take away my right to log. I¡¯m not even going to try.¡±


    ¡°I doubt you¡¯d do that. Aren¡¯t you trying to get out of it because you already found something in there? That ce has been a region where rough diamonds were found.¡±


    Youngho almost spilled his coffee at Yaniv¡¯s remark.


    His heart almost dropped by Yaniv¡¯s intuition.


    ¡°Well, if they exist, I wouldn¡¯t look at them unless someone attains them and sells them to me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been watching Sergeenko, to see if he deals with diamonds. If there is alluvial gold or diamond there, I¡¯m going to pull every man of our organization from there because it¡¯s going to be a hot potato that even I can¡¯t handle.¡±


    ¡®There you go!¡¯


    Yaniv was now showing his heart to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, you don¡¯t ever sell gold, silver, or jewels. Is there a reason why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about other businesses but gold and jewels are something that can easily break an organization. Anybody can pocket such tiny valuables, and I don¡¯t want to get my henchmen into such temptation. If people suspected and not trusted each other, what would make that my organization? I don¡¯t want to get involved in that.¡±


    ¡°But you have the gold bars made in the period of Imperial Russia.¡±


    ¡°Thatnded in my hands by ident. Many were given away gifts. I only have several left as a souvenir. As much as I want them, I know that they¡¯ll overwhelm our organization.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like something that will attract the government¡¯s containment as well.¡±


    ¡°Of course, the government would be interested since they can make its economy better. So I didn¡¯t even try to make money out of them.¡±


    The conversation with Yaniv made Youngho think that not everyone can be a mafia boss.


    He had thought that Yaniv took any business he could get in order to make money but he had his own, clear standard. He had been able to lead such a big organization only with his exhaustive calction. Even if he could make fortune, he would not dare to touch something that could be a seed of dispute for his organization.


    ***


    Now that Youngho had signed the contract with the Russian government, he did not have to send his ships to Siberia without worrying about other people¡¯s eyes. Until the fall, he would be focusing on logging preparation and transporting equipment. As for lumbers, he would be taking Chinesepany¡¯s lumbers which were piled up at the open-storage yard near the harbor in Krasnoyarsk. Since lumbers which had been overflowing near the docks of the Yenisei River, no one could tell no matter how big amount of lumbers was taken by the autonomous state.


    Since it would take about three years for the U.S. woodworking nt to be built in Krasnoyarsk, Youngho did not want to fully focus on logging yet. He would be attaining lumbers that were in the open-storage yard for the state and focusing on collecting diamonds in his logging area. He would have 50 years of logging business anyway.


    In the meantime, he wanted to interact with the Evenks in the area to find more diamonds and buy their reindeer skin. Reindeer skin was very durable and was quite popr among the residents of the state.


    ¡°Hong Sung-ki, you should work without getting paid. Do you know how many days your bride¡¯s family and friends ate, and slept on the car ferry?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee, what can I say? They were so amazed by the car ferry since many of them live in a rural area and had never been on a big ship like that. Well, they must be thinking that I¡¯m a rich guy.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ll have to pay for that by working hard in Siberia.¡±


    ¡°I expected that already. I might call my wife to Krasnoyarsk to stay with me.¡±


    ¡°You said you wanted to live with your parents here.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re only in their early 60s now. They can live on their own.¡±


    Youngho had thought that Sung-ki would be staying in Krasnoyarsk alone when he asked for an apartment but it turned out that he was going to call his wife there.


    ¡°You and Choi Sang-ho are not security guards of Zeynep Security Service anymore. You guys belong to the intelligence department of the autonomous state. Just be aware of that from now on.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I will. Don¡¯t worry about the Siberian region.¡±


    Since Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho were in charge of the security of the Siberian region anyway, Youngho sent them to the intelligence department. It was because Jong-il hadined that he did not have people who could be in charge of intelligence agents working in Krasnoyarsk. Youngho nned to send some more security guards from Zeynep Security Service to the intelligence department because the department needed well-trained, experienced, and trustworthy agents who could be leaders. Because junior guards who were discharged from Korean Navy Special Forces kepting to the securitypany, there were enough people to serve in the intelligence department.


    ¡°See if you can attract Evenks there. They¡¯lle in handy for us. Their appearance even looks simr to us. It¡¯s not going to be so hard to approach them.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask Irtysh that we met in the winter? We should take some morebat rations for them.¡±


    ¡°I ordered arge quantity of them from Eti the foodpany. Take as many as you can. Also, you should rece all of the security guards that work in the temporary lodging in the Taiga forest with civilian workers. Since there is a Russian military unit there, you won¡¯t need security guards.¡±


    ¡°Even civilian workers need to get armed but I¡¯m worried about fire idents. We should at least have two or three security guards around for safety.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You can talk to Cho Chul-hwan and arrange that.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Cho is a little picky. I¡¯m not sure if he would listen to me. He¡¯s beenining how there are not enough security guards.¡±


    ¡°He said he would amodate anything for the intelligence department.¡±


    ¡°Alright, sir.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan had been anxious about theck of Countryside Force guards in the state, so the state decided to call all of the guards back to the state and hired security guards from Zeynep Security Service to work in the construction sites and mines outside the state. It was a shame that there were still not enough guards in the state to protect itself.

 Chapter 370 - Long-term Groundwork (2)

    <h4>Chapter 370: Long-term Groundwork (2)</h4>


    Atst, a medium-size drone was developed with the technology of the autonomous state.


    Acquiring the source technology that could make a drone¡¯s body and propeller that could lift up to 70 kilograms was also a great feat for the state¡¯s technical skills. While producing core electronic devices were still remote from the state¡¯s technology level, the fact that it made the stable body¡ªwhich was the hardware part had made great strides.


    It was not too far away to make drones that people could ride if the technicians tried even harder. The American sourcepany D Drones said that it would also provide high-end technology in recognition of the state¡¯s technological prowess. The fact that the defect rate of drones made in the Arirang Autonomous State was close to zero also yed a part in this.


    There was another reason that D Drones was sharing its technology. Recently, China, which was famous for copying other countries¡¯ technology, had swept the drone market around the world. Now, Johnson, the director of D Drones, hade to the state to talk to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, can you increase research and development spending further in the future?¡±


    ¡°We can surely do that if yourpany shares some of the key technologies that will enable research and development on the basis of them.¡±


    ¡°Most definitely. Now that it¡¯s proven that the drones we produce here are better than the ones we produce in our own country, we¡¯vee to think about them. We¡¯re looking at basic electronics technologies and mapping transfers.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll immediately expand our research facilities and make generous investments for the research team. All I ask for yourpany is to provide me with research and development equipment. I¡¯ll pay for it.¡±


    ¡°Okay. In the meantime, a lot of researchers have been pulled out of our research and development efforts. We have no choice but to rely on the Arirang Autonomous Prefecture. Fortunately, our products are still more popr than the ones produced by Chinesepanies, but ours are not as cheap.¡±


    Drones had be so popr now that even elementary school children yed with small drones. Drone technology was also not umon.


    ¡°The production line at the U.S. nt has been decided to produce only small drones, so the medium-sized andrge-sized production will be up to the autonomous state. Our management and major shareholders see this ce as prospective production sight. I think we got high marks for securing a stable production line.¡±


    ¡°The passion of our workers is really great. It would be a lot more beneficial in the long run for yourpany, too.¡±


    ¡°In a few years, we¡¯ll develop drones that people can ride on. You can look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°If you do, you¡¯ll have obtained all the skills rted to drone technology. I¡¯ll celebrate your achievement in advance.¡±


    Making drones that could have people on board was not considered aplex technology. This was because it only needed the secured propulsion power and flying distance of a propeller that could handle the weight. In the near future, the state would use drones to sow wheat. If the drones of the state could acquire the technology to evade anti-drone devices, they could be used as unmanned weapons as well.


    ¡°Is your group¡¯sser welding technology transferable too?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in the hands of theserpany under D Drones corporation, so I won¡¯t be able to answer your question. It¡¯s produced and sold in all-in-one welders.¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, the core technology is in optical lenses, right?¡±


    The follower couple had researched aboutser welding technology and informed Youngho about the optical lenses ahead of time. The technology allowed industrial diamonds or rubies to collect and send light from spreading. Since he could gather as many rough diamonds as he wanted, it would be helpful to have the lens technology. He asked about the welding technology to build basic knowledge to makeser guns in the future.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly, but I know that we usually use rubies for lens material. It¡¯s all very expensive, even for industrial use. Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just begun to developnd in Siberia. When I was in Krasnoyarsk, I came into contact with local mafia members.¡±


    Youngho went on for quite a long time. He lied that the local mafias had been forcibly selling rough industrial diamonds to the business holders including him there. He showed Johnson some of the diamond ores. He checked them thoroughly.


    ¡°Mr. Johnson, could you take these and check whether these could be used as a material for the lens. If there¡¯s a chance, I¡¯ll take a chance to bring them from Siberia.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯ll do that kind of dangerous thing?¡±


    ¡°For a business, I¡¯ll pay any price.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start by exploring the possibilities. If we can have a stable supply of the materials, we¡¯ll be thinking about technology transfer.¡±


    ***


    Youngho was going to sell rough diamonds to Eriksson in the future, but it seemed that there was a better use for the diamonds. Since it seemed that D Drones was going to be Youngho¡¯s close business partner, he decided to share the existence of the diamonds.


    D Drone¡¯s Johnson was d to hear about diamonds. D Drones had been making artificial rubies to make lenses and its price was quite expensive. Youngho¡¯s diamonds was intriguing news.


    ¡°Are you saying that we might be able to makeser guns?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be easy but we might as well try.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be amazing if we can put that on our armored vehicles. I guess I don¡¯t have to worry about theck of our force and manpower.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with the supply and demand of the Countryside Force since everyone came back, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, I think we can get on with it now.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan, who was in charge of the Countryside Force and defense of the state,ined that there were not enough soldiers in the force to guard the borders of the state.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to work with whatever we have.¡±


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m just saying. I¡¯m telling you I¡¯ll only be able to sleep well if the weaponsb makes missiles and equip our vehicles with them.¡±


    ¡°So, I heard that soldiers are called at the Kazakh border area these days.¡±


    ¡°I had a meeting with themander here a few days ago, and the Chinese force has stepped up their border security to stop the Uyghur people from escaping. The Kazakh government took it as a vition of the international agreement, so it had no choice but to have a forward deployment of the Kazakh Army there.¡±


    The three countries, Russia, China, and Kazakhstan previously had agreed to maintain 100,000 military soldiers within 100 kilometers of the border. However, the Chinese military broke the agreement using Uyghurs as an excuse. The Kazakh government was quite upset about it.


    ¡°I guess their supply line is not smooth again. They¡¯re using Uyghurs as an excuse.¡±


    ¡°If people want to leave Uyghur, why doesn¡¯t the Chinese government let them be?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that the Chinese government is protesting against the Kazakh government since it¡¯s trying to reduce the supply of oil crude now.¡±


    ***


    Hearing that Xinjiang Uyghur region was suffering, Youngho was worried about the Serbian mercenaries that were helping Uyghurs there. They were the people who were cast out to the Uyghur region from the autonomous state a while ago to atone for their past crimes as former Serbian militia against Bosnians.


    Even if they were reborn as warriors, there was no guarantee that bullets would naturally avoid them. He wanted to call them to the autonomous state now, but the mercenaries had been refusing his suggestion. Although their reason was to fight for Uyghur¡¯s independence, it was only an excuse to stay there since they feared that they would not adjust to life in the autonomous state if they returned.


    They were not safe in the Uyghur region but they were still d that their families in the state were able to sleepfortably because of them. Family members of war criminals were not disadvantaged at the state, and the money they earned from being mercenaries was great. It was because the US CIA had been supplying a lot for Uyghur independence fighter groups and the mercenaries in the region. They were also grateful that they could still talk to their families with satellite phones and through state¡¯s intelligence agents who visited them once in a while.


    ¡°How is his condition?¡±


    ¡°He had to cut off his toes because he had frostbite.¡±


    ¡°Tell the agents to bring him out. He¡¯s over 50 years old. It should be hard for him to do the job of a mercenary. If he can¡¯t adapt to the normal life here, we¡¯ll have to use him as a security guard at the logging area in Siberia¡±


    The news of the oldest man of the Serbian mercenary group was delivered through an agent that he lost his toes to an illness. It was no wonder since he had been wandering the rugged mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in severely cold weathers. Even with well-built, insted clothes and shoes for the winter weather in the Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamirs did notst long. And, the fact that people could not wash often there made the illnesses worse.


    Despite having his toes cut off, he was still refusing toe back.


    ¡°How did he overwork himself to make the situation that bad when there weren¡¯t many battlesst winter?¡±


    ¡°His feet got wet when he fell in a small stream, but he didn¡¯t have shoes to change. He just neglected it until it turned out to be this way.¡±


    The medical and other supplies were far short in the Pamir Hignds at 5,000 meters above sea level since there was no one who would deliver the supplies to the mercenaries in the rough mountainous area.


    ¡°Man, if only we could provide some supplies to the mercenaries...¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we use the drones we developed this time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, but it¡¯s only for a short range.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to get to Tajikistan, so why not fly drones near the border a few times. I¡¯m going to give some of them to the agents. If it works, it¡¯s going to be useful in Siberia as well.¡±


    It was an eye-opening suggestion. If basic supplies could be delivered by drones rather than using light-armored vehicles, it would be a major revolution in short-distance delivery line in Siberia.


    ¡°We should bring the patient first, and start increasing the drone¡¯s flight distance.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the flight range increase if f I lose some weight of the luggage on board?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only temporary. I will try to figure out a way to drastically increase the flight range this time. I¡¯ll have enough time until this winter. If I could get a technical tie-up in time, it won¡¯t be impossible.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please make it that way.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long game anyway. Let¡¯s see who wins.¡±

 Chapter 371 - Long-term Groundwork (3)

    <h4>Chapter 371: Long-term Groundwork (3)</h4>


    Suh Min-seok pounced into the office.


    Youngho could only guess one reason for his rush. It was because today was the day that the executives of D Drones visited the autonomous state.


    ¡°You¡¯ll fall and break your knee. Take it easy.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, the people from D Drones have arrived at the airport.¡±


    ¡°You said they wille in a private Jet. That was quite fast.¡±


    ¡°I got a call from the control tower, and it¡¯s twice as big as ours.¡±


    ¡°Do you envy theirs?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can go to anywhere without stopping for gas.¡±


    ¡°Well, then I¡¯ll get one more.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this? Should I look for another one right now?¡±


    These days, Suh Min-seok measured people¡¯s wealth by whether or not they had a personal jet and how big their jet was. He had been pushing Youngho to buy another ely giving him many reasons why. Non-stop travel was one of the reasons.


    With Youngho¡¯s wealth, a dozen 12-seater Jets which were only about 20 million dors would not be an overwhelming purchase, but he had not been paying so much attention to it. But, Suh Min-seok had a point. In order to travel to Siberia and Denmark from time to time, Youngho would be better off with a Jet that could have 12 passengers on board with a longer range on board, rather than six passengers with a shorter range. With the bigger one, there was no need for intermediate refueling as it had a range of 6,000 kilometers and could fly about three times as far as the six-seater.


    Anyway, it seemed that D Drones¡¯ visit to the state would lead to the purchase of a new 12-seater personal jet.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve seen the living conditions of the state¡¯s factories and workers, you must have all guessed it. They live in family-likemunities. There¡¯s no discord because they¡¯re the ones who chose toe to our autonomous state. They all agreed to ept the Archduke-system of the state as well.¡±


    ¡°Is that an official system of the state?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. We¡¯re going to have a coronation in September.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing that people are embracing a system that¡¯s going back to the past, in modern time like this.¡±


    ¡°The state was originally built by Serbian people. There can¡¯t be disagreements.¡±


    The Archduke system was nned to be confirmed by a referendum in the future, but Youngho had already dered it as an official fact, which was problematic since it would turn out to be a lie when the actual voting was executed.


    Many engineers from D Drones would be traveling to the county for a while because of the technology partnership, but a loud referendum would prove the just-released remark to be false. Youngho did not feelfortable about his lie. Reading his face, Kim Chun quickly made ament.


    ¡°Our residents were the ones who acknowledged the Archduke system from the beginning. Even soldiers who are serving in the Kazakh Navy live here, and of course, they follow thews of the state. The prince consort here is determined to make this ce a well-fed and well-earned paradise, and the residents here are just grateful for him. Would you believe that everything you¡¯ve ever seen here has been aplished by his own money? If it wasn¡¯t the Archduke system, who would dare to pour such arge sum of money into a deste ce like this?¡±


    Youngho coughed repeatedly because he felt Kim Chun was going out too much, but Kim Chun carelessly kept on without changing his face. If Kim Chun¡¯s words were true, the state would soon be transformed into a paradise that the world had never seen before.


    It seemed that Youngho would have to ask the leaders to call out the public voting. Old Niksic would be exuberated to hear it.


    ¡°Great. We thought that there was a reason that the state¡¯s defect rate was zero. With such a stable social structure, the technical partnership is something we should have done. Mr. Lee, I¡¯m hoping to see greater things here.¡±


    ¡°I started my own business out of personal goals, and somehow it turned out this way. Yourpany¡¯s good judgment wille to fruition within a few years. You won¡¯t be disappointed.¡±


    ording to Kim Chun, Youngho had almost the same authority as a king. He could feel everyone¡¯s jealous eyes on him. So he had no other choice but to tell them not to worry about anything, and proceed with the technical partnership.


    ***


    ¡°So you told me in a sh that the Archduke system was fixed? Man, I¡¯m sure Commissioner Kim must have backed it up.¡±


    ¡°Man, I was ashamed to death. Now, how can I see the faces of the leaders?¡±


    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s good. The system was going to be passed by overwhelming votes from Serbians anyway. You won¡¯t have to waste time anymore. This system was established in the first ce when the state was formed. It¡¯s funny to re-discuss it.¡±


    Even Jong-il was on Kim Chun¡¯s side.


    ¡°Man, I don¡¯t know about this. It¡¯s not the same when people choose to ept the system and when it¡¯s forced on them.¡±


    ¡°Again, every time the Archduchess visited, everyone, including Koryoins and Kazakhs, came to greet her with hearts. Don¡¯t make a fuss about it. It¡¯s pointless.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, I¡¯ll have to meet the leaders and convince them not to have the vote.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Kim Chun and I¡¯ll talk to them. You should stay still. Sometimes you need to be brazen too. Phew, I knew this would happen from the moment you opposed Chief Niksic¡¯s opinion.¡±


    Jong-il rather liked how things turned out to be since the state did not have to go through a voting process.


    Niksic was the most pleased one to hear it.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d make that decision, prince consort. Thank you for listening to the old man.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been promoting our state to foreign business people a little too far, and now I have to change my words. Please excuse me for this.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You shouldn¡¯t apologize to people who¡¯re under you, prince consort. Even if you¡¯ve made a mistake, you should be pretending not to know about it.¡±


    Niksic was asking the same as Jong-il, to be brazen as a leader whole-heartedly.


    Youngho was afraid that he was going to be a real shameless human being at this rate.


    ***


    Youngho invited the D Drones executives to dinner. They were served as special guests of the state.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t prepared much, but I hope you enjoy it. Since it¡¯s a bleak ce, we don¡¯t have a variety of food. This is our specialty, Ural River trout, and Serbian grilledmb.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a delicacy for Americans who are used to instant food. I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯re taking too much advantage of our technical partnership since we¡¯ve been treated so well here.¡±


    ¡°People here say that the guest is a gift from God. They treat their guests for days until they leave. I think it¡¯s because people are precious in this remote region.¡±


    ¡°What a beautiful custom. It used to be like in our country too. If you go to the countryside of the United States, people still treat outsiders quite well.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I hope you¡¯ll have a veryfortable time here.¡±


    Not even people from D Drones, but also people from a well-known globalserpany under D Drones corporation that had welding technology andser equipment factories all over the world joined them. They were also here to make a technical partnership.


    Youngho shared a little detail about rough diamonds. He also mentioned the Evenks and said he would contact them directly in the winter to get not only rough diamonds but also the jewels, which he described as red stones. He did so because it would be beneficial to remain as a strategic partner with technology-intensive businesses such as D Drones and theserpany.


    D Drones was not going to give an eye to the state after ending up with a technical partnership, but it was intrigued to hear about diamonds and jewels in Siberia.


    Youngho thought that there must be another reason for this to happen, as D Drones and theserpany would have a reliable supplier of those key materials.


    Later, he called an executive of theserpany to the balcony alone when others were busily talking. He was a little drunk with Zeynep Wine, but he was still sensible.


    ¡°I wondered why you¡¯re interested in natural ingredients when you can use artificial rubies and diamonds.¡±


    ¡°The artificial diamonds and rubies are not good enoughpared to the natural ingredients yet. It¡¯s the limit of human beings who can¡¯t cross nature. Natural materials give you the best results in production.¡±


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re going to have a better product if you have natural materials?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The diamonds you sent with Johnsonst time were in great quality. If you have a rough ore that size, it¡¯s not hard to develop a new product. We¡¯re doing a technical partnership because you promised to supply us those rare raw materials.¡±


    With the technical partnership, the state would bring in one-third of theserpany¡¯s original technology.


    ¡°The diamond prices offered by the mafia are very high. I¡¯m a stranger to diamonds, so I can¡¯t argue with them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind the price. I know that mafia members don¡¯t charge exorbitant prices. What I¡¯m interested in is what the Evenks call ¡®red stone¡¯. I¡¯m expecting it to be natural ruby.¡±


    ¡°They will return to the Taiga forest from the tundra this winter. I¡¯ll take a closer look at it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to a good result,¡±


    The executive of theserpany did not mind the price.


    Industrial diamonds were easy to distinguish under the light since they were opaque and scratched. If Youngho would send industrial diamonds with some precious ones to thepany, thepany would think that he was sending all of the diamonds he received from mafias in Siberia.


    From tonight, Youngho would be busy identifying the diamonds for industrial use among the diamonds he took from the Chinesepany. He would be throwing some diamonds to theserpany for a taste. It was the first step of the long-term groundwork.

 Chapter 372 - Long-term Groundwork (4)

    <h4>Chapter 372: Long-term Groundwork (4)</h4>


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°A whopping 1,250 people in 250 households.¡±


    ¡°Then over 350 households havee from the spring.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that look on your face? Are you crying orughing?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s aughing face, and I also want to dance. It¡¯s too bad that we¡¯re still short 100 households from our expectation.¡±


    Now that summer had begun, it was breathtaking to receive immigrants crowding in, but it did not matter since the poption of the state was growing now. Most of the houses were in the final stages of building for the new residents. The water supply, roads, and even housing sites were prepared in advance, so it would take only two months to build a whole town.


    ¡°Man, it was overwhelming because people suddenly rushed in altogether. If it wasn¡¯t for the help of Agent Smith at the U.S. Embassy, I couldn¡¯t have arranged the train tickets for everyone.¡±


    Jong-il who was in charge of taking Kyrgyz Koryoins was describing the process of transporting the new immigrants to the state.


    ¡°The Kazakh government gave the Koryoin immigrants visa without any conditions. I¡¯m sure arranging a train was not a big deal.¡±


    ¡°Dude, have you seen how other travelersined about the train?¡±


    The Kazakh government weed new immigrants since its poption would increase too. It was also because diligent and sincere Koryoins living in the neighboring country were moving in. Especially, they were not going to big cities but to a remote region of the Arirang Autonomous State where they would not be disturbing Kazakh people¡¯s life. There was no reason for the government to refuse them.


    Kazakhstan was a country that was 12 timesrger than the Korean Penins, with only 17 million people. Despite its small poption, the birth rate had been falling, and the rate of infant death was even quite high due to theck of medical facilities. But now, there were about a thousand immigrants living there. Youngho thought that the government should give the Arirang Autonomous State a ¡®Thank-you¡¯ card or a medal.


    The state was not an exception. It was not able to maintain even the minimum amount of military power due to a poption that was not enough, but it was resolved by therge group of new immigrants. People were so precious in the state.


    The most excited people who heard the news were Kim Chun and the follower couple.


    The train had not arrived yet in Atyrau, but they brought a car ferry at the port in advance and waited a full day to greet the people.


    Because they made a fuss to bring doctors and nurses along, there was a happening in the autonomous state in which a pregnant woman had to have a baby without a doctor. Thankfully, both the mom and the baby were healthy.


    It was still very important to look into the health of those 1,250 new immigrants. Before entering the state, they would get shots for various vinations since there was no way that they received vinations in Kyrgyzstan. In particr, hepatitis A was a disease that spread from person to person, and it was a must-have vine since people did not have an antibody.


    They were very vulnerable people in modern times since they lived in the untouched natural surroundings of Kyrgyzstan; it was called the Switzend of Central Asia.


    It was the state¡¯s first time to receive thisrge group of immigrants at once since the Serbians moved in, so Youngho flew to Atyrau as well. Since the car ferry could carry only 572 at once, the rest of them would have to use other transportation means to enter the state. They came in different boats and trucks.


    The houses were still not done yet, so many of them were assigned a yurt to stay in temporarily. Fortunately, it was summer now. With yurts set up on the sight of their soon-to-be homes, new immigrants¡¯ hearts were already full.


    ***


    Original residents of the state also weed and helped the new immigrants to settle down since they were happy that the poption of the state was increasing. With 1,200 new households. The fact that there was aparable precedent brought psychological stability to the new immigrants and the cooperation of the Serbians yed a huge role in it too.


    The meeting between Youngho and Fatima itself was abination of East and West, just like Koryoins and Serbians, and the fact that they were all immigrants who had nowhere to go to made thempassionate toward each other.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys overworking now? Go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°You can sleep as much as you wantter, Mr. CEO. If we don¡¯t have the demographic and economic census now, we¡¯re going to be in troubleter.¡±


    ¡°The intelligence agents have thoroughly investigated that already when they asked people to relocate.¡±


    ¡°We understand that but we can¡¯t use it as a statistic only by looking at their age, gender, and jobs. It¡¯s a vition of their private life, but you know that we need to investigate their assets.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anybody will be honest with their properties.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way. We¡¯ll ask each person, and we¡¯ll be estimating their assets based on your standard, Mr. CEO. You said that about 30 percent of the whole property is hidden when people share it.¡±


    Every man for his own trade. Although people would not be truthful when they shared about their assets, the follower couple would be estimating their assets with their own standard.


    ¡°It will only be fair if we supply basic necessities on a uniform basis, not ording to their assets.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to look at it that way, sir. More than 200 people are already using Arirang Bank¡¯s private safe. Isn¡¯t that proof of the existence of personal wealth?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to understand their thinking. They must¡¯ve been holding on to their precious metals and valuables like their lives. If you ask about their assets, they may think their lives are being threatened.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡±


    The follower couple suddenly got quiet.


    ¡°What is it? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t think about that. I just admire you so much, Boss.¡±


    ¡®Wait, you¡¯re touched only by this?¡¯


    Youngho felt ashamed that the follower couple was touched by the man who was greedy fornd and precious metals and jewels. He recently decided to be brazen, but it seemed that he would have to do more good deeds to impress the follower couple.


    ***


    ¡°Thanks for all your hard work. It was an inevitable choice as we tried to establish the basis of our state. Just think about taking a rest and doing something new from now on.¡±


    ¡°Considering your sins, I was not going to see you again, but I had to ept this when I heard your bodies are hurt. Just know that prince consort was very considerate for you.¡±


    After Young-ho, even Niksic stepped up to say a word to the returning former Serbian militia members. They were shedding hot tears without saying a word.


    Having lived in such a rough environment in Xinjiang Uyghur, they looked at least ten years older than their actual ages. Youngho felt sorry for the crimes they hadmitted.


    ¡°Your past mistake is notpletely washed away, but think of it like you are born again as of today. You can¡¯t just live with the guilt. Let¡¯s start off by recovering your health and then we¡¯ll talk again.¡±


    ¡°Sir, thank you for taking sinners like us. We¡¯ll repay you for your mercy.¡±


    After the former militiamen left, Niksic thanked Youngho who did not know what to do by the unprecedented action.


    ¡°Sir, thank you for your decision prince consort.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no need to thank me, Chief Niksic. We can¡¯t dwell on past events. They¡¯re already part of us.¡±


    ¡°But when you think about the whole group, you can¡¯t ept them easily.¡±


    Youngho himself was not clean enough to be proud of his life. He felt sorry for them.


    ¡°Have you always lived right? I would¡¯ve done a lot worse in their situation. It would have been a lifelong regret for my family.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s qualitatively different frommitting unspeakable crimes in madness.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t justify my sins though.¡±


    ¡°For the sake of the residents here, please don¡¯t think that way prince consort. As you said, let¡¯s forget about the past and move on. I¡¯ll assist you to the best of my abilities.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Chief, it sounds like you¡¯re asking me to pay more for the residents.¡±


    ¡°You should never do that now. There¡¯s no guarantee that Prince Leon will do as well as you do, but you should save your funds for future governing. We should never repeat your previous failures.¡±


    Niksic was talking about how the Serbian Kingdom fell in the past. The kingdom had fallen because of ack of funds to fight against the enemy. So, even though the descendants of the knights were sold as ves in the gold mine, they hid the vein for the future. Niksic never wanted to follow the footsteps of the fallen kingdom.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. I¡¯m also making a lot of arrangements for the future.¡±


    ¡°The state is still doing well without any extra input, so you can just watch. We have to keep our money in reserve so we won¡¯t have to worry about any emergencies in the future.¡±


    Youngho had been using the gold, produced at the Serbian ranch in Baku by the knights because they have been stored for the future of the kingdom anyway. Now that the foundation had been built, Niksic was saying that the riches should be stored for future needs. And, Youngho was going to do that even if Old Niksic didn¡¯t tell him to do so.

 Chapter 373 - Summer in Siberia (1)

    <h4>Chapter 373: Summer in Siberia (1)</h4>


    D Drones reached out to say that it would purchase any rubies and diamonds for industrial purposes circting in Siberia. Such an active gesture was a testament to acknowledging Youngho¡¯s ability to deal with local mafias in Siberia.


    If used only in the manufacturing ofser equipment, ruby was the most preferable. However, thepany wanted to buy diamonds as well. It meant that they have different reasons for why they were buying the gemstones.


    Regardless of how they were going to use those gemstones, Youngho was also interested in a variety of markets. It was also not desirable to rely solely on Eriksson.


    Youngho was d to earn profits by having a technical partnership and selling raw materials, so he held on to Hong Sung-ki to give him instructions.


    ¡°You have to be careful when you contact Sergeenko. Even though he looks like a cow thief, he¡¯s sly as a fox.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, but Boss, diamonds are in our area too. Can we collect it for ourselves?¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯ll only deal with the mafias for this. I¡¯m going to take a long-term approach with this. Don¡¯t even think about collecting diamonds but focus only on logging. It might be tempting to you but please restrain yourself from collecting any resource other than trees.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about a thing. You know my personality. I¡¯d rathere to you and ask for my own portion rather than going through trouble myself.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki must have his own greed for diamonds, but he was appreciated and trusted because heforted others by saying such empty words.


    Youngho was someone who trusted a person unconditionally once he gave his heart. Also, he did not mind if someone he trusted took advantage of his properties or businesses since that someone had already be his family. It was better to give his money to his family members than strangers.


    ¡°Sergeenko looked like someone with a big ambition. He must be collecting raw materials to increase his gang.¡±


    ¡°Just pretend that you know nothing about it when you approach him. We¡¯re only contacting him to get diamonds to make cutting tools for lenses, nothing more. Ruby¡¯s just for optical lenses.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of your being so careful?¡±


    ¡°Yaniv doesn¡¯t like any of the members of his organization getting involved in the business of jewels. So, I¡¯m asking you to contact him secretly.¡±


    Youngho had not told Hong Sung-ki about his deal with Klimov yet. All he knew was that diamonds were discovered under the guidance of Irtysh the Evenk. Youngho did not mean to hide it from him, but he was being cautious because the issue of diamonds was that sensitive.


    ¡°If an Americanpany needs them, don¡¯t you think we¡¯ll also need them someday?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you worry too much. Haven¡¯t you seen them scattered all over the riverside?¡±


    ¡°They were not that many. Some were asionally stuck in a big stone.¡±


    ¡°We need to be careful or else the Russian government will find out about it. Then we¡¯ll have to stop our logging business. If we wait, we¡¯ll have a chance someday.¡±


    ¡°If I find a big chunk, I¡¯ll slip it in our ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to. Besides, you have toe back to the state when you¡¯re done with this job. Leave it up to Choi Sang-ho. You should stay here and assist Jong-il with the intelligence department. Don¡¯t ever think about sneaking away to Siberia.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I even got a ce for me and my wife.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a house for a newly-married couple. Let the employees there use it.¡±


    ¡°Then where do I live?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You need to live with your parents, remember?¡±


    Hong Sung-ki was not happy to hear it. He did not go on his honeymoon so he could live in Siberia alone with his wife. And now, he still ended up being in the autonomous state.


    ¡°Instead, why don¡¯t you go to Batumi or Frankfurt with your wife after returning from Siberia? I¡¯ll tell them to leave the suite room empty in Arirang Hotel for you.¡±


    ¡°Boss, let me stay in Siberia even during the summer. I already bragged so much to my wife that we¡¯re going to Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you must¡¯ve said that you¡¯d be getting her a ring after collecting diamonds here.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ***


    The reservoir at Zeynep Farm was upied by the children. Zeynep¡¯s empty spot was now taken by Jelyan and Rena, who yed with their friends from the international school in Baku.


    The scorching heat was so intense that recent TV news was all about the abnormal temperature. Baku was so hot now that many even got burned by standing in the sun for a short while. It was fortunate that it was not humid, but it was still hot enough for the old and weak to faint on the street.


    All the children from the international school came to the farm to avoid the heat. Now the farm was treated as a summer school for the kids of the international school. Trees around the reservoir of the farm offered shade for people to rest.


    Even though Youngho came to the farm, the kids could not care less about him since they were too busy ying with their friends. Leon was also ying with them in the water, so he sat next to Fatima watching them.


    ¡°I guess I asked you toe for nothing. The kids had been waiting for dad toe, but now they¡¯re too busy to spend time with you. Haha...¡±


    ¡°Fatima, why don¡¯t you wear some light clothes too? You¡¯re all dressed up like that when other people are dressing down and taking off what they¡¯re wearing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but I have too many eyes on me. I just can¡¯t do it because I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯re going to talkter.¡±


    ¡°All the people take off their clothes at a pool in the summer. Who¡¯s going to talk about you?¡±


    ¡°Look, there are Serbian guards staring at me like that.¡±


    For the safety of Fatima and the children, the area around the reservoir was guarded by Serbian guards who made a thorough inspection at the entrance of the farm. They were now guarding the area in turns even though there was no need to do it.


    Youngho and Fatima had given up convincing them since they would not listen. She was their Archduchess no matter what, so Youngho could not me them.


    This reservoir was filled with water only at the height of the children¡¯s chest to prevent idents, so there was nothing to worry about. Leon had a life vest on, but the guards were still paying close attention to every step of Leon.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m way below Leon, my son.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... did you just realize that now? I¡¯m below Leon, too.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯ll be first.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that important when Leon is already there. Don¡¯t you know they care more about the sessor? Look over there. They¡¯re jumping in just because Leon had some water.¡±


    There was a young man rushing in when Leon struggled for a bit as he fell and drank some water while he was fooling around when even Youngho and Fatima, his parents, were just watching. Since Leon had the mystical ring on, there was not much to worry about him. Besides, he was an active child who fell and got hurt every day


    ¡°They¡¯re spoiling Leon. It¡¯s not rough enough to raise him on the street.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? Why don¡¯t you take Leon for a few days and treat him a little rough?¡±


    ¡°They already make a fuss about us staying together as if something bad would happen to us. I can¡¯t take anymore nagging.¡±


    The logic of that was that people did not put eggs in one basket. So, Youngho had to sneak around Chief Niksic if he wanted to go on a long-distance family trip. The weather in Baku was so hot that he wanted to go somewhere cold like Siberia, but he did not want to get an earful from Niksic.


    ***


    When Rena returned to Tskhinvali in South Ossetia for vacation, the mansion on the farm felt exceptionally quiet. Bored without her, Leon and Jelyan clung to Youngho to bother him. They were now tired of ying at the reservoir of the farm.


    Fatimaughed watching Youngho bing anxious because of the kids since she did this every day. So, Youngho took his family to the Serbian ranch. Since the ranch was located at the Caucasus Mountain Range, it was cooler than Zeynep Farm.


    ¡°Oh, look at them! They¡¯re not even afraid of sheep.¡±


    ¡°They must think that sheep is the biggest food ever since they eatmb meat and milk every day.¡±


    Fatima¡¯sughter was especially high today.


    When she was happy, she forgot about her position of the Archduchess andughed hard as she used to without covering her mouth. That was because the Serbian ranch was afortable ce for Fatima. It was not as crowded as Zeynep Farm and not to mention the ranch only consisted of the descendants of the Serbian knights. She did not have to be so conscious of her attire anymore.


    ¡°I thought only children liked this ce. I guess you¡¯refortable here too.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe I now like to y the Archduchess.¡±


    ¡°Huh! Chief Niksic is going to freak out if he heard that. Look out, there¡¯s another oneing.¡±


    Niksic¡¯s grandson, Vaso, was following them around like a shadow. He wasing back with the kids in each hand.


    Having served as the butler of Fatima, he was now no stranger to the family. He was the one who came along with the family when they visited the Queen of the Danish royal family.


    ¡°Vaso, you should take a break. You¡¯ll get sick if you keep working like that.¡±


    ¡°No. I like ying with the kids.¡±


    ¡°If you like kids that much, it¡¯s time for you to get married.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of waiting a few more years. ¡±


    He seemed interested in getting married. Unlike in Korea, many people got married early here. Youngho wondered why he was still not married. Vaso was already 25, and it was consideredte in the Serbian custom.


    ¡°You know, you¡¯re just at the right age now. If you have ady, don¡¯t hesitate.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it if you rmend someone to be my spouse.¡±


    ¡°Me? Why me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what my grandfather said.¡±


    Youngho was not sure why Niksic had said so, but he guessed that there must be a reason why.


    ¡°If you have a girl you like, show her to me, and I¡¯ll tell you if she¡¯s good or not.¡±


    ¡°Is it okay if she¡¯s not Serbian?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter to me. Does the Chief not like it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, but this won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    ¡°Who is this anyway?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one of Princess Zeynep¡¯s friends.¡±


    Youngho did not know a lot about Zeynep¡¯s friends. The closest one would be Park Seo-young and some kids from the international school.


    ¡°Are you talking about Park Seo-young?¡±


    His silence confirmed that it was Park Seo-young that he was in love with. He must be waiting until Seo-young graduated from the university before proposing to her.


    Youngho wondered how Doctor Park Young-sun would react to this and whether he would support thisbination of East and West.

 Chapter 374 - Summer in Siberia (2)

    <h4>Chapter 374: Summer in Siberia (2)</h4>


    Hong Sung-ki sounded excited. His voice went one octave higher, which meant he had good news to share.


    ¡°Man, don¡¯t get excited and tell me how it went step by step.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m not going to get worked up in this situation? It turns out that Sergeenko was one of the pirs of the ck market here. I¡¯ve been drinking a few drinks, and he said he would connect us to another organization if you asked.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that guy¡¯s crazy. He would be dead by now if he was in Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He said that he was an invisible hand.¡±


    It was worth taking a risk to deal with him and the ck market, but the key was how far Sergeenko was exposed. Sergeenko must be risking his life to do a business that Yaniv extremely disliked.


    ¡°We can¡¯t deal with him if he¡¯s exposed.¡±


    ¡°He said that he¡¯s putting people on the line and manipting them from behind. I¡¯m telling you, I can¡¯t be exposed even if the world was split in half. He¡¯ll tell you the details when you get here.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll be there the day after tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°You did a great job this time, so how about I reward you with a big stone.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to give it to me, please give me a few small ones instead of a big one.¡±


    He probably needed something to show off to his new bride. Whatever it was, it must have been hard to get acquainted with Sergeenko, but he managed to do it well with a few drinks. He deserved to be rewarded.


    Most Russians thought that theirnguage was very difficult for foreigners to learn, so they were very favorable to foreigners who spoke Russian. Youngho also struggled to learn Russian early on, and it served him well in Russia since he was not taken as a stranger to Russians.


    In particr, the Siberian region had arge poption of Asian origin, so it also yed a part for Youngho and his friends and employees doing business there.


    Hong Sung-ki¡¯s phone call broke the peaceful daily life of Youngho¡¯s family. The peaceful daily life that only applied to Leon and Jelyan. However, for Youngho, he finally had an excuse to escape Baku. Since the kids nagged so badly, Youngho had to call the follower couple to stay with them. The followers were only happy to get out of the autonomous state as it felt like a vacation trip for them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be traveling to Siberia. You guys stay here for a while and see if there¡¯s any problem with Zeynep Farm. ¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got work to do in the autonomous state. We can¡¯t stay here for more than a week.¡±


    ¡®Ha! Look at these guys, I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯ll be away for a week. So, you want to be here for a week?¡¯


    The follower couple was trying to get away from the autonomous state as long as possible.


    ¡°Okay... Anyway, stay here until Ie back. If it¡¯s too hot, y at the reservoir with the kids.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    Now that they were ordered to y in the water for work, their voice had gotten higher in excitement. As the recement of Youngho came, the kids did not even look at him when he walked out the door carrying his luggage. Even Fatima said good-bye without looking at him and headed to talk to Kim In-hwa. It seemed that she wanted to go shopping with her. Feeling regretful, Youngho sighed and left.


    ***


    The city of Krasnoyarsk, though in Siberia, was located in southern Russia and felt rather hot in the summer.


    At the airport, there was arge thermometer that looked like a clock tower, and it was marked at 27 degrees in Celsius.


    Hong Sung-ki, who was at the airport to meet him, was fussing about how hot it was.


    ¡°Boss, it looks like you brought summer with you. It¡¯s going to be a very hot day tomorrow.


    It¡¯s a mess.¡±


    ¡°It looks like you have abnormal weather here too.¡±


    ¡°Even if I want to go home to the autonomous state, I can¡¯t go because of the heat...¡±


    ¡°Your wife is waiting alone in the state. You¡¯re returning with me when this job is done.¡±


    ¡°You promised to give the team leader autonomy, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an exception for a new groom, or I¡¯m going to withdraw my promise to give you a diamond.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I got it. I¡¯m going home, so don¡¯t take back your word.¡±


    ¡°So, how much influence does Sergeenko have in the ck market?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say he¡¯s one of the big hands of the ck market. But, I can¡¯t really tell only from his words.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a big talker.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to read his mind.¡±


    Although inexperienced, Hong Sung-ki was doing well beyond his given role, adapting to a new setting and dealing with mafias.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not easy to figure out the mafia in a short period of time. Don¡¯t be impatient since we have all the time with us. Act as if you¡¯re not anxious about getting diamonds. Make them think that you don¡¯t need the diamonds so badly. Keep a straight face. You¡¯re now an agent, alright?¡±


    ¡°I got it. I¡¯ll act as brazen as an old snake, so don¡¯t avoid me for being creepy.¡±


    The branch office was neat and tidy. The second-floor amodation also had several rooms, arge living room, and kitchen, so there was no inconvenience for living.


    ¡°How did you solve the heating problem?¡±


    ¡°This is a district heating system. The heating line passes through the front of the house, so it was easy to fix it. You don¡¯t have to worry about the cold in winter.¡±


    Since it was a cold region, the city was providing heat through the district heating system. It was aimed to reduce the economic burden of individuals which was quite nice.


    ¡°Who¡¯s idea was it to make a separate resting room in the office on the first floor?¡±


    ¡°It was Choi Sang-ho. It made the office a lot homier.¡±


    It was an office that was too big for three male and one female employee. Now that a rest area was provided, it was quitefortable to wee guests from the outside. Choi Sang-ho must have brainstormed the idea to make itfortable for the girl employee since he was in love with her.


    ***


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m not going to be as tactful as that? It¡¯s also directly rted to my safety, so I¡¯ve been careful enough to not get exposed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried because Mr. Yaniv will be furious if he finds out about this.¡±


    ¡°You know, we don¡¯t have a normal distribution route for things like this, so we have to get it on the ck market. The central government cannot intervene in Siberia because this is thend of the natives. I also have the blood of the natives in me.¡±


    Youngho was surprised to hear his confession.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll drop out if the rumor starts to spread out. I¡¯m not going to run a dangerous errand for a technical partnership.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, the days of Boss Yaniv are already drawing to a close. Now that small groups are rising up all over Russia, it¡¯ll be hard for such arge organization to survive as it used to do. The godfather¡¯s distribution of the business to the middle bosses is also based on the trend of the current times.¡±


    Even though Sergeenko was stuck in the remote Siberian region, his judgment on the world trend was keen. It seemed that he had enough qualifications to be the boss of a bigger group. It was all a show when he acted that he enjoyed receiving little money from Youngho. Youngho decided to call him in a different name now.


    ¡°Mr. Sergeenko, I need to renew my rtionship with you. If I¡¯ve ever been disrespectful to you, please forgive me...¡±


    ¡°No. You were the most respectful gentleman who came to the Boss¡¯s introduction. It would be more convenient if you treat me as you have before. I¡¯m a mere local mafia of this region, and I still have a long way to go until I can be a bigger boss. Even the Mafia also has grace and loyalty.¡±


    He now looked different from Youngho. He was usible even though he was still a mafia. It must be because of his eloquence. Sometimes mafias needed to be serious to survive in Siberia.


    Sergeenko was dreaming of survival after Yaniv¡¯s time had ceased. He apparently made a lot of fortune through diamond deals.


    ¡°Now, shall we talk about business?¡±


    ¡°It was a few years ago that I snooped to the ck market. Before that, I didn¡¯t dare to.¡±


    Sergeenko continued for a long time, but to sum it up, the diamond ores came into his hands by chance, and he kept it believing that it was a hot potato. But, he stepped into the diamond business when he heard the Chinesepany was sweeping raw diamond in the ck market. He sold the diamonds quickly through an agent.


    ¡°Well, logging business is my priority here. I just need raw diamonds and materials because the U.S.pany that¡¯s in partnership with us asked me to get some for industrial use.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to see a single diamond without going through the ck market. These days, the Chinesepany have been rushing to buy them out, so their prices have gone up.¡±


    It seemed like the Chinesepany was trying to make up for their loss from the fleeing of the general secretary, when in fact, the rough diamonds from thepany was in Youngho¡¯s hands now.


    When Youngho smiled as he thought about the general secretary, Sergeenko made an interesting suggestion.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, do you know why the Evenks here have been keeping their eyes closed on the shining stone? It was because diamonds drove so many people to death during the Imperial Russian era. But now, times have changed and we¡¯re putting them out little by little. What I deal with is mostly theirs. That¡¯s why you won¡¯t have to worry about being exposed.¡±


    ¡°Are you also a native like them? I don¡¯t see that in you at all.¡±


    ¡°I told you. I have the blood of the natives here. I¡¯m proud to be an Evenk.¡±


    Most people were busy hiding their mixed blood, but Sergeenko seemed to be proud of his Evenk origin. It was quite interesting to meet a mafia with the blood of an Evenk.


    ¡°Then you must know the Evenks that stay in the Taiga region in the winter.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m supplying their daily necessities.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can see the warm elm in the woods.¡±


    ¡°No, how do you know that gentleman?¡±


    It was strange that Sergeenko referred to him as ¡®that gentleman¡¯. He must not be just an ordinary Evenk.


    ¡°Of course. I happened to meet himst winter while doing a basic survey of the area and gave him somebat rations and rifle ammunition. So I¡¯ve brought enough supply to give him this year again.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t like to interact with strangers... Did you have a pleasant encounter with him?¡±


    ¡°He was rather d that I¡¯m an Asian like him.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still being ignored by them for having a little bit of European blood.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Irtysh is someone notable?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he surely is. Since he¡¯s already seen by you Mr. Lee might as well get the whole Taiga Forest at no cost.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

 Chapter 375 - Summer in Siberia (3)

    <h4>Chapter 375: Summer in Siberia (3)</h4>


    Youngho was greatly relieved that the diamond ores Sergeenko handled were from the Evenk people, not from an unknown source.


    The Evenks could not live on selling reindeer skin alone, so they had been collecting shiny stones for a long time. Many still roamed around raising reindeers but they were nowing out of the tundra region as more people were getting mandatory education required by the Russian government.


    They needed money to support their children who lived in big cities to get an education, and that was why they were turning their eyes to the shiny stone.


    But, ording to Sergeenko, Irtysh was a different case. The Evenk society still kept the tribe system and Irtysh was the sessor of an Evenk tribe. Although Irtysh had approached him by saying that he heard gunfire, it was all a show to make a connection with him.


    Anyway, Youngho was d that he would have to only deal with Evenks from now on.


    Since Sergeenko was also an Evenk, he would not deceive Youngho with false ores. He also assured Youngho that givingbat rations and cheap rifles would easily make the Evenks on Youngho¡¯s side.


    What Youngho was interested now was not on rough diamonds, it was rather in rubies. Rubies were known to be collected majorly in Southeast Asia but he had a feeling that there would be rubies in Siberia. It was because Irtysh had mentioned about the red stone. It would not bemon, but he would have mentioned it because it existed. Youngho was too excited that he wanted to search all tundra regions.


    ¡°Director Hong, send the remainingbat rations to Sergeenko.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough right now. Klimov watched us unload at the dock and handed it over to the merchants at the spot himself.¡±


    ¡°Did you get the money?¡±


    ¡°Sure. They paid in cash at the dock. I don¡¯t know how much he made for the transaction but his facial expression was quite a spectacle. He evenined for not bringing more. I had to hold myughter.¡±


    ¡°What? We filled a third of the cargo hold with the rations, and he still said it was not enough?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he told me to fill the ship full next time. So I called Suh Min-seok to check our stock.¡±


    ¡°Man, Eti¡¯s going to love it.¡±


    ¡°Min-seok also liked to hear it because it¡¯s a good profit.¡±


    ¡°I see. Okay, please make sure to get some for Sergeenko too. It¡¯s better to give him so that he could save his face in front of the Evenks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to pay for it, would he?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a gift if you get paid.¡±


    ***


    Since Youngho heard that the Chinesepany had been actively engaging in the ck market for diamonds, he wondered how much was gathered at thepany so far after hisst visit. He decided to visit there and check.


    He stood on a street corner where he could see the window of the Chinesepany¡¯s office. Watching for more than half an hour, the lights in the office had not yet turned off even though the office was usually closed at 9 PM. This could mean only one thing. It meant someone was waiting for the employees to leave to do something in secret. Someone who must know thebination of thepany¡¯s safe must be in the office.


    Without hesitation, he entered the building with a mask on. He climbed the stairs to get to the second floor and carefully turned the handle of the lighted office. It was locked from the inside. Judging by the sounding from the inside, he was certain that there was only one person, so he just broke into the office by breaking the knob.


    A man inside freaked out to see a man in a mask.


    It was about ten meters from the door to the desk. As the man hastily opened the drawer of the desk, Youngho grabbed his wrist. To the man¡¯s surprise, who could not believe that someone could move this fast¡ªa cold, flip knife was at his neck.


    ***


    Young-ho¡¯s steps back to the hotel were very light.


    The city of Krasnoyarsk at night was like an autumn night, so even after 10 PM, the streets were filled with people who wanted to enjoy a short summer night.


    The atmosphere was almost like a summer festival, and people had alcohol bottles in their hands as they walked on the streets.


    By the time we arrived at the hotel, Hong Sung-ki, who spotted Youngho rushed in.


    ¡°Boss, did you go for a walk? I came to have a drink with you and ended up waiting for you for more than an hour here.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, why didn¡¯t you drink with other employees?¡±


    ¡°A married man can¡¯t be hanging out with bachelors. Married men like us are the real adults.¡±


    Youngho did not want to turn down Hong Sung-ki¡¯s proposal since he was in a good mood.


    ¡°Shall we go to the hotel bar or shall we go back to the street?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a quick drink at the hotel bar like decent adults. I¡¯ll treat you today.¡±


    ¡°Wait at the bar, I¡¯ll be up in the room for a while.¡±


    It was a dark ce, so he did not seem to notice Youngho¡¯s fat pocket. He was going to put the diamonds back in the hotel room ande down to have a drink.


    ***


    ¡°So, you had all the fun all by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Why should I call you to take care of an office worker? It only took five minutes to clear the safe. I filled all of my pockets with rubles and dors. Man, it was a lot.¡±


    Jong-il felt bad that he could not be there with Youngho.


    Since Youngho disguised himself as a robber, he had to take all the money as well as the diamond stones from the safe in the office. The man who remained in the office was in charge of the safe. Youngho had rushed into the office when he was counting money with the safe open.


    ¡°I guess they¡¯re going to be a little more vignt next time. The general secretary had run awayst time, and now a robber broke into the office when the clerk was there. They must be freaking out.¡±


    ¡°I did it on purpose. Let¡¯s see where they¡¯ll keep their valuables next time.¡±


    ¡°What a nerve you have. You¡¯re so calm aftermitting a robbery.¡±


    ¡°A robbery? No, it¡¯s called sharing.¡±


    ¡°Urgh, never mind. If you do it alone next time, I¡¯ll tell the Chinesepany who the robber is.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The amount of the diamond ores that the Chinesepany had collected so far was only about 1,000, but most of them were bought in the ck market after being paid for. It must be quite a loss for thepany.


    Since the general secretary had fledst time, thepany might have stopped collecting diamonds from the Taiga region in fear of being exposed to the Russian government. If this kind of thing was repeated, thepany would naturally stop collecting diamonds from the region knowing that they had been exposed.


    ¡°They¡¯ll be a little intimidated by the robbery now. They¡¯d think that the rumor that they had been buying diamonds in the ck market got out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They¡¯ll be going to keep digging for diamonds.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s fortunate that the ck market`s diamond price will be stabilized soon. They won¡¯t be hanging around the ck market again.¡±


    ¡°Then we can get all the diamonds in the ck market instead of them.¡±


    ¡°Without a buyer, the price will fall to the bottom. When that happens, I¡¯ll buy in the diamonds through an agent.¡±


    Before the harvest, Youngho was going to travel through the tundra for a trip to collect diamonds by himself. It was not a difficult job to find the tundra region because he would just have to go down the Yenisei River from the Taiga region.


    While traveling on a car ferry, he might end up meeting Evenks. It would be great if he could find diamonds and rubies with the help of the Evenks there. This could not be left to Hong Sung-ki or Choi Sang-ho.


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to go over the Yenisei River myself next month. You should stay in the state for a while.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t go anywhere I say. Because of immigrants, I have to travel to Almaty and to the state back and forth quite often. Why do you want to go there and suffer when the region will turn into a swamp in the summer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just looking around for ten days on the car ferry.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re crazy about diamond ores.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about that, rubies are said to be the best material forser guns. There¡¯s only a small number of Evenks that Sergeenko knows. I think the Evenks that wouldn¡¯te out of the tundra region at all might have one or two rubies of their own.¡±


    Youngho heard that the sacred red stones were known to drive away back luck and bring blessings among Evenks. If so, Evenk people would have one or two in each household.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t rubymon?¡±


    ¡°It may have beenmon in the past, but it¡¯s as precious as diamonds now. If I found them, I¡¯ll send Hong Sung-ki or Choi Sang-ho to collect them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t send Hong Sung-ki to Siberia. All he¡¯s thinking is to get away from the autonomous state. I feel like I should tie him up to make him stay. He¡¯ll definitelye along if you say you¡¯re going back there for an expedition.¡±


    ¡°Right. I had to force him toe back with me this time. He said the state is too hot now.¡±


    ¡°Jeez. What¡¯s up with that newly-wedded guy?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to go to Siberia now because he achieved his goal.¡±


    He grilled Youngho ever since he came back to the autonomous state and managed to get several rough diamonds from him. Youngho repeatedly emphasized that he should keep it confidential, but he did not feel good since Hong Sung-ki had been hanging out with the follower couple quite frequentlytely. The follower couple would get married in a few years, and it was obvious that the couple would want to have diamonds too.

 Chapter 376 - Summer in Siberia (4)

    <h4>Chapter 376: Summer in Siberia (4)</h4>


    The Yenisei River was 4,120 kilometers long, and its width was about 10 kilometers long in its upper stream and 20 to 40 kilometers long in its down downstream. It was not an exaggeration to say that this was a sea since you could see the horizon at the end of the river.


    The river had tributaries: the Angara River originating from Lake Baikal in the upper side, the small Tunguska River in the middle, and therge Tunguska River in the middle and lower reaches of the Yenisei. The tributaries were also huge rivers, so water transport was well developed. Although frozen for six to seven months in the winter, many ships were in the Yenisei River and tributaries fromte April to mid-October.


    Most of the ships there were small vessels that carried trees that were cut off from the Taiga region. As a huge freighter and a car ferry with a massive body appeared at the dock of the Yenisei River, people gathered to look at the spectacr sight of the ships.


    Among them were Youngho and Kim Il-kwon.


    ¡°The ships had been here before, I don¡¯t know why everyone makes a fuss about it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess people are still amazed by the size of our ships.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the sailors will get enough supplies in this confusion.¡±


    ¡°We should let them stay here for at least two days for them to get some rest.¡±


    ¡°We could¡¯vee a day or twoter. We¡¯re a bit early.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is better than a hot ce.¡±


    Youngho and Il-kwon hastily came to the region earlier than they had nned, to escape from the heat in the autonomous state and Baku. It was repeated every year, but this year was exceptionally hot due to the abnormal weather.


    ¡°Man, I hope the abnormal weather doesn¡¯t change the weather in Siberia either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been several years or so since the news came out that winter has already been shortened here. I hope I didn¡¯t spend money in vain to build a new icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that the Arctic Ocean will melt. It¡¯s good news for us that winter is getting shorter.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as good news as it sounds. When the sea level goes up, all the surrounding countries will be flooded.¡±


    ¡°I guess, then people with ships will make a lot of money.¡±


    Choi Sang-ho and the sailors were busy getting the ropes tied from the ship to the dock. The port staffs should be adding their hands since the autonomous state had already paid for using the port but they were also busy looking at the ship with their mouths open.


    ¡°These are a bunch of morons. They see ships all the time. Why are they so stunned by our ships?¡±


    ¡°You know our ships look magnificent. It has icebreaker features that make it different from other ships on the outside, don¡¯t they? It¡¯s amazing to see it all the time.¡±


    ¡°The whole port will turn upside down when we bring our new 20,000-ton icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°I bet a lot of professional reporters wille to cover the ship. They don¡¯t have any news around here, you know. It¡¯ll be a big issue.¡±


    ***


    The vibrant Yenisei River was also the only resting ce for people here. There was a lot of scenic inds all over the great river, so there was a lot of rich people¡¯s vis nearby. The most magnificent of them among the vis belonged to an oligarch named Niky. His vis looked like pces.


    After the copse of the Soviet Union, new riches had risen in the process of privatizing factories. They were called oligarchs. Niky was one of the most prominent of them. At one time, the whole region of Krasnoyarsk was thought to belong to him alone. Many believed that he would fall because of Putin¡¯s power, but he was still an influential figure. There was a rumor that he and Putin had a big deal in secret, but there were other many businessmen who survived through Putin¡¯s prolonged one-man¡¯s rule. Given the rumor that Putin was the wealthiest person in the world, such rumor about a big deal was notpletely groundless.


    And as such, a great figure like Niky had contacted Youngho hoping to meet him secretly.


    Now that two 3,000-ton ships had arrived in the city of Krasnoyarsk, rumors must havee out, but there was no way that Niky would be interested in a mere lumberjack like Youngho. He probably had researched about Youngho and knew who he was already. Youngho decided to meet him to see what this was all about.


    A sleek boat sent by Niky was moored at a pier. A middle-aged Russian man, who introduced himself as a chief secretary of Niky greeted Youngho to escort him to the boat.


    ¡°My name is Andrei, who¡¯s serving Chairman Niky. Thank you for epting his invitation. I¡¯d like to take you on our boat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honored to be invited by such a remarkable businessman like Niky.¡±


    Andrei spoke in English because Youngho was an Asian, but Youngho¡¯s answer in fluent Russian surprised him.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were so fluent in Russian. Forgive me if I was disrespectful.¡±


    ¡°People are always surprised to meet an Asian speaking in Russian. Well, I can barely manage tomunicate in Russian.¡±


    Andrei was once again surprised by Youngho¡¯s attitude. The invitation of the prominent oligarch, the godfather of Krasnoyarsk, was not a usual opportunity. Many would freak out to receive an invitation from him, but Youngho did not make a fuss about it. First of all, he spoke in fluent Russian, and he did not even try to ask questions about the invitation. Youngho was not at all nervous or intimidated.


    Following Niky¡¯s boat, Choi Sang-ho and the security guards were in two speedboats that had been brought from the Arirang ship. Youngho and the security team already figured out that there would be no special danger, but Choi Sang-ho insisted saying that it was not safe for Youngho to go into an isted ind alone. So, the team decided to follow Youngho.


    It could be taken as a rude gesture to have security guards follow Youngho since this meant that he did not trust Niky, but this was what many people did in Siberia, awless ce.


    ***


    Waiting for Youngho, who was dropped at the dock under Andrei¡¯s guidance, was a staircase that rose directly to the main gate of a huge mansion. The height of the whole staircase seemed to be least 20 meters high.


    The mansion was much smaller than the pce of the Arirang Autonomous State, but it was quite decent. Robust men with shotguns were seen everywhere around the mansion. Such tight security was proof that the owner was insecure. Since Niky was not known to have a bad rtionship with mafias, Youngho wondered what he was afraid of.


    At the entrance, there was some scuffle. Choi Sang-ho and other security guards were carrying guns, and the security guards were alerted to see them. As they told Choi Sang-ho¡¯s team that they could not enter the mansion with guns, the team had to leave the guns at the gate. For the guards who had been trained in the Special Forces, guns were just essories when fighting. Not having weapons did not bother them too much.


    Andrei guided Youngho to the study on the first floor.


    Kim Il-kwon was troubled since he was not allowed toe with Youngho. He also did not like the fact that he did not see Niky¡¯s face. Usually, the host woulde out to the entrance to greet guests but he was nowhere to be seen.


    Youngho did not think that Niky had invited him to harm him, so he agreed to enter the room to meet Niky without any guard.


    In the study, a thin man in his 60s was lying on a cot, getting fluids injection. He was not in the condition to meet guests.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I invited a guest but I¡¯m not in a condition to greet you from outside. I couldn¡¯t stay in my bedroom either to see you, so I was getting my injection here.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Thank you foring all the way here. I¡¯m Niky, the host of the mansion.¡±


    Youngho quickly stopped him from trying to raise himself because he did not look good at all.


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you. This is Lee Youngho. If you¡¯re feeling ufortable, I¡¯lle back next time.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. I always get nutritional supplements at this time of day. I apologize again and again for making you feel ufortable.¡±


    Youngho felt sorry that he mistook Niky as a person with ill-intention to harm Youngho when the man was only ill.


    ¡°I¡¯m finally meeting a man of great prestige in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. I heard you¡¯re also in the hotel business in Moscow.¡±


    ¡°Compared to you, I¡¯m nothing, Chairman.¡±


    Since he already had a good grasp of whom Youngho was, Youngho did not feel nervous. Niky could figure out about Youngho only with a few calls. And Youngho had already researched about him beforeing to the mansion.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to see you like this.¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll get well soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been overworkingtely, and this is the result of that...¡±


    The businessman must have suffered enough to lie on his sickbed doing business in Russia.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to know why you wanted to see a mere lumberjack and a stranger.¡±


    ¡°Oh my, I¡¯ve got a guest here and I¡¯ve been wasting my breath, Andrei. I need you to take this out.¡±


    After taking out the injection, he took a deep breath and then sat down on a chair with Andrei¡¯s help.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done some background checks on you, Mr. Lee. Don¡¯t get me wrong because I was just trying to confirm that you were someone trustworthy to do business with.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it. The basics of entrepreneurship are information, and I don¡¯t me it. Sometimes I do some background checks when I encounter difficulties.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d you understand.¡±


    ¡°Then you must¡¯ve thought you could trust me. Well, I¡¯m honored to be trusted by someone big as you. Sometimes, I don¡¯t even trust myself.¡±


    ¡°I should have met you earlier if I had known you were this cool. Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a very good businessman. However, I¡¯ve never turned my back on my partners before.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also the same. Since you¡¯ve been sessful in a foreign country, you must¡¯ve maintained good rtionships with your partners. It¡¯s proof that you¡¯re trusted by people around you.¡±


    ¡°There are many great, trustworthy businessmen in Russia. I¡¯m very curious about why you wanted to see me.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t trust many Russian businessmen even though I¡¯m Russian too. I¡¯d rather trust mafias. The old evils of socialism have made us distrustful to each other.¡±


    ¡°But do you trust a foreigner who you¡¯ve never seen before?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to stay here for decades from now on since you¡¯re developing a region in Siberia? That¡¯s what intrigued me.¡±


    He already knew that Youngho could not easily run away leaving his hotel business in Volgograd or logging business in Siberia.


    ¡°All right, I¡¯d like to hear what it is.¡±

 Chapter 377 - Summer in Siberia (5)

    <h4>Chapter 377: Summer in Siberia (5)</h4>


    As they talked longer, Niky¡¯s condition seemed to get better. Being able to open up his innermost thoughts were making him feel relieved.


    Later, the two were escorted to the dining room.


    In the room, Kim Il-kwon, Choi Sang-ho, and other security guards were already sitting there waiting for the two. When Youngho came in, everyone looked relieved. Two hours after being guided to the study, they were quite worried about him.


    ¡°Andrei, why don¡¯t you bring out the vodka for our guests? No, I think wine might be better for today. Do we have any Zeynep Wine left?¡±


    ¡°Do you have our farm¡¯s wine here?¡±


    ¡°Mafias made me buy a few boxes of this wine, but I really liked its taste. I enjoy it so much.¡±


    ¡°They said that they can¡¯t sell it because they don¡¯t have anything in stock, but I guess they still haven¡¯t broken that habit.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I was only kidding. Do you know a fe named Sergeenko? He brought it as a gift.¡±


    ¡°Do you know Sergeenko?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know the local mafia boss, you¡¯re not a Russian businessman. That Evenk guy got ahead.¡±


    Since Sergeenko was a local mafia boss in the Krasnoyarsk region, Niky must know him well too, but it seemed he had a special connection to know that he was an Evenk.


    ¡°I was introduced to him by Mr. Yaniv, but I guess he has good rtionships with businessmen here.¡±


    ¡°He used to do a lot of bad things when he was young. He got scolded by me a lot. Now I know that I¡¯ve done a pretty good job since he had gotten his hands off doing unpleasant work.¡±


    They ate and talked, and it was already quite dark outside. It was toote to sail a boat, so Youngho¡¯s group decided to stay at the mansion overnight. Since there were more things to be discussed about business anyway, it was good that Youngho had more time with him now.


    Niky¡¯s trouble was not elsewhere. It was Moscow¡¯s powerful men who had been an obstacle for him. The constant demand for money was dampening even his desire for business. He decided to ask for Youngho¡¯s, thinking that he would not be able to manage his wealth at this rate.


    After a long meal, Niky called Youngho back to his study.


    ¡°My strength was restored when you promised me that you¡¯d be in charge of transportation.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a difficult favor. You¡¯re officially the first customer since I opened the North Sea route.¡±


    ¡°I regret that I didn¡¯t turn to the sea route earlier.¡±


    ¡°Chairman, why don¡¯t you get an icebreaker now? Having icebreakers gave me a chance to participate in the development of Siberia.¡±


    ¡°I have never thought about an icebreaker.¡±


    What Niky asked was to take his gold bars outside Russia.


    When we had been worried since there was no way for him to deliver heavy gold bars out of the country, he spotted tworge vesselsing along the Yenisei River. That was how he thought of contacting Youngho.


    ***


    The province of Krasnoyarsk is famous for producing salt from the 1600s, where the forcedbor of political prisoners was mostly done.


    In other words, inmates and officials who collected sapphire in the summer and logged in the fall to spring were the ones who built the city. Niky said he had been collecting gold from a gold mine and supplying it to the Soviet government since his father¡¯s time. While doing it, he was able to amass wealth because of the gold he had siphoned off.


    He must have siphoned off quite a huge amount of gold since he managed to buy three or four state-run corporations and became an oligarch.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯m only asking for help so that I won¡¯t lose the rest of my wealth. Please take them to a safe ce.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not hard to get them on board. If you can take advantage of the gold, I would rmend you to use it. Do you have any intention of selling them?¡±


    ¡°How can you sell them? There will be a rumor in a short time. If you could do the job sessfully, I¡¯ll give you some of mine.¡±


    ¡°I have some trusted friends in Europe. They could buy them out in secret. I can get you a secret bank ount.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes. But, I¡¯m not sure if the market price will be reflected in the secret deal.¡±


    Youngho thought of Eriksson. He would probably be able to find a buyer for the gold bars.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Please help me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a bit greedy too, so I¡¯d better thank you for trusting me.¡±


    ¡°I know that the state of Arirang is a ce where descendants of the Serbian Kingdom and Koryoin people are gathered. And, Mr. Lee, you are the prince consort of the Serbian Archduchess.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you sound like I should not be greedy but stay as a gentleman and as a nobleman for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...Mr. Chairman, I¡¯d like to ask you a direct question. How much do you expect for a gold bar?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never calcted its price.¡±


    ¡°I know that the retail price now is about $50,000 per kilogram. The problem is that it is not a normal deal, so it is difficult to fully reflect the market price. There¡¯s a lot of risks. So I¡¯d like to make a suggestion.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me.¡±


    ¡°If we allow cash to be deposited into the secret ount as soon as the goods are delivered, an amount that will satisfy both you and me could be made. How about that?¡±


    ¡°Can I get up to 40,000 dors? That alone is enough for me. ¡±


    He asked for 40,000 dors in your hand, which was quite arge amount. Of course, it could be 60,000 dors or 70,000 dors if the gold bars were put on a secret auction, but it was a long shot and risky. Youngho was not sure if Eriksson was willing to buy gold bars that had not been put on an auction yet, but it was worth a try.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll talk to the buyer and let you know the first thing tomorrow morning.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Eriksson, I¡¯ve got a very interesting deal.¡±


    ¡°Lee, hearing your voice drives the heat away. Your proposal is always wee!¡±


    ¡°I was wondering if I could dispose of gold bars. Is this possible?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the amount is quiterge enough for you to ask.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact amount yet, but it¡¯s going to be big. The problem is that we have to settle the client¡¯s anxiety.¡±


    ¡°He must want cash. It¡¯s a lot more profitable if you put it up for auction. Rich people tend not to believe in others. There¡¯s not a lot of customers who just trust us like you do.¡±


    This is why Youngho feltfortable talking to smart people.


    Reading another person¡¯s thoughts and intentions right away was like a high-level customer service.


    ¡°Well, you tter me.¡±


    ¡°The weight of gold has to be at least a ton in order for us to make a payment first.¡±


    ¡°It should be more than that.¡±


    Eriksson was silent for a moment when Youngho said it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t give you an answer right away. I¡¯ll call you back in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to the good news.¡±


    It seemed that Eriksson would be talking to other clients about the gold. A few tons of gold bars were what rich people would covet. To them, the current market price did not mean much. The most favored item for safe assets was precious metals, and the most exchangeable of them was gold. For decades it was amodity of great value, not only that it remained unchanged, but also its value went up in time.


    The next day, at the dock at Niky¡¯s mansion, people were diligently loading wooden boxes on the Arirang. The size of the wooden box was not too big, but each weighed a ton. When a total of eight wooden boxes were loaded, Youngho called Eriksson.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen the pictures that I just sent you, right? There are eight boxes. We¡¯ll be at the Port of Tromso, Norway, in seven days. The directors of transport are Andrei and Choi Sang-Ho. Who¡¯sing out of there to receive them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there myself. It¡¯s a big deal, so I¡¯m not going to wait for it at the office. 20 percent of the total price will be credited to your ount right away. The rest will be deposited immediately after checking the item at Tromso. And another secret ount that you asked for will be sent to you in text.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I like how fast you work. Aren¡¯t you trusting me too much to make such a big bet?¡±


    ¡°How can I not trust you, Lee? There¡¯s a precedent of our past deals. Since you have enough wealth to cover for our loss, I don¡¯t worry much. Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I guess this would¡¯ve been difficult if I didn¡¯t have money¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not always the case, but it¡¯s a good way to reassure those who are above me.¡±


    ¡°Phew, now you¡¯re going to check up my assets daily.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... and themission for you will be sent after the auction. Thank you for a great deal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve also received a little courtesy from the client.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of our business. The herd has rules of the pack. Thanks to you again, I received a lot of praise from thepany for this deal. We always wee these kinds of deals.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a meal at a great restaurant next time.¡±


    This was their way of saying goodbye now. It was said a few times previously, but it was never really been done.


    The price Eriksson offered for gold was 50,000 dors per bar. He made a big bet that reflected the market price. Of course, he must have done it since he was sure he could make more money, but it still seemed like a risky adventure for the Information Agency. Thepany was a middleman, not an investmentpany.


    The deal sharply increased Youngho¡¯s cash assets. He earned 80 million dors by doing a middleman¡¯s job from Niky, but Eriksson promised to send hismissionter, which would be a huge amount as well.


    Niky, who had just checked the secret ount smiled big, as he came out of the mansion.


    ¡°Did you check the amount?¡±


    ¡°Wow, I can¡¯t believe that you took care of such a big deal in this short time. Now, I¡¯m worried about how to repay this favor.¡±


    ¡°I also got a littlemission because of you Mr. Chairman, so don¡¯t mind it. I would have more than one favor to ask you as I start my business in Siberia, wouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°You can ask me anything. I¡¯m delighted to be able to sleep with my legs stretched out now. You really lifted the weight off my shoulder.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Chairman, don¡¯t you want to expand your business to the Arctic Ocean like I suggestedst night? If you have a ship, the whole world will be your courtyard.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Siberia is not the only ce in the world. I¡¯m just saying that you can be even bigger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to hear that.¡±


    ¡°I know a great Danish shipyardpany that makes the best icebreakers.¡±


    ¡°Shall we have a cup of tea in my study?¡±

 Chapter 378 - Tundra (1)

    <h4>Chapter 378: Tundra (1)</h4>


    The ice on the Yenisei River melted from spring to early summer, so the river water melted in the middle and the upper stream flooded every year as it passed through the downstream section, which was a tundra region. That was one of the reasons why the river was exceptionally wide.


    Although the river¡¯s width had reduced a lot as it was already July, the river was usually 20 kilometers wide from the site of the Tunguska River, and it did not even feel like a river anymore.


    Youngho was indulged in the surrounding scenery because it was his first time sailing through the Yenisei River. It was barely halfway through the River even though the ship had sailed about 1,000 kilometers already. The river over 4,000 kilometers was not realistic to him before, but now he could see how long and huge it was.


    Youngho was envious about Russia¡¯s immense nature and vastnd.


    As he was deep in thought, Kim Il-kwon approached him.


    ¡°Boss, what are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you envy this hugend mass that belongs to Russia? Man, this unimaginable size is even suffocating.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m out of breath too. I didn¡¯t know Siberia was this big. I can¡¯t believe there are only trees, moss, and animals without humans.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only moss in the tundra region. I don¡¯t know what the natives here use as firewood.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing how people can live in such an environment.¡±


    ¡°They were probably pushed north by the immigrants or followed the reindeers.¡±


    There was no way that the innocent natives who lived with reindeers could have fought with well-trained immigrants. They were still powerless now like thousands of years ago when they peacefully lived around Lake Baikal since Youngho was now snooping all the way to find them.


    The tundra, where the thick trees disappeared as thend was covered with moss, unfolded before Youngho¡¯s eyes at the end of the Taiga region. It was not that there were no trees at all, but there were some tall perfumes and willow trees in the drainage areas of the low hills. If they traveled further, it would be the pr region where there would be no more trees.


    The sailors lowered their small boat. They checked the depth of the water busily and searched for a ce to moor. After an hour of searching, they found a bay-like spot along the river. They got off themp door on the back deck of the ship so that their light armored vehicles couldnd. The Turkish tactical armored vehicle Cobra 2 was an amphibious vehicle with four-wheel drive and could carry as many as 10 people with a weight of 12 tons. The six-cylinder diesel engine had a power of 3,600 horsepower and was able to travel up to 800 kilometers with a fuel tank of 200 liters, making it the autonomous state¡¯s main battle vehicle.


    Only four people were aboard on each of their three light armored vehicles, while the rest of the space was spared to carry water, oil, and other small amounts ofbat ration.


    They originally nned to dock at the Port of Igarka, but it was impossible since there were so many ships, so they went through the trouble of descending into the lower reaches of the river.


    If it was not for its color, the river could be even mistaken as a sea. It seemed that it was no exaggeration to say that people could catch fish there with their bare hands when the river was frozen. As they cast their fishing rod at the river, a fish would be caught immediately. The size of fish caught was as big as the ones in the sea as they lived on abundant organic matter in the water.


    Sturgeons were also frequently caught that it made the sailors happy.


    Its eggs were known to be expensive and amazing, but that was ignored on the state. Rather, they cooked the whole fish, and its meat was quite chewy and good.


    Youngho was fascinated by the Yenisei River after only two days of sailing. It did not matter that the water was frozen for more than half a year. If it was a ce where one could enjoy such a great nature, then he wanted to have a piece of thend.


    ***


    ¡°Even if we find a reindeer in the future, don¡¯t kill it. Two reindeers willst several days for twelve of us.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, can¡¯t we just peel off their skin?¡±


    ¡°With your skills, we won¡¯t have much left of their skin anyway. I know it¡¯s a pity, but let¡¯s just leave them alone.¡±


    The reindeer were seen and hunted for their meat, but skinning was a formidable task. Besides, if the natives saw them hunting recklessly, it would not make a great impression of them.


    ¡°Boss, it¡¯s a pity that we have no one who¡¯s good at skinning. I¡¯ll have to practice skinning before Ie to Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we should. It¡¯s harder than it looks.¡±


    Most of the Countryside Force guards who came along the Tundra expedition were Serbian youngds, and they were terrible at skinning work. If only there were middle-aged soldiers, this would not have been a problem, but they were all young men whocked experience.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to barbecue this because there¡¯s no wood here. We¡¯ll have to make it a steak, or boil it and eat it with salt.¡±


    ¡°This must be why the natives enjoy raw food.¡±


    The natives might prefer raw reindeer meat not because the meat has a lot of vitamins but because they don¡¯t have any trees to burn. When theye to the Taiga region in the winter, where there was a lot of trees, they could cook the meat. But, in the tundra, there was not much to burn. Since only a small fragrant tree or a small willow tree could be seen, one would have to carry firewood to cook anything.


    Youngho thought that he would easily find the natives in Tundra, but they were nowhere to be seen. He broughtbat rations and rifles to make an exchange with them, but he could do no deals since there were no natives.


    It was not until the afternoon of the second day of their expedition that their effort to search for the natives worked because they managed to meet them. A couple in their early 40s, two teens¡ªa boy and a girl¡ªand twin boys that were in Leon¡¯s age were the members of the family that Youngho met.


    The family said that they were stuck in the region for days because they had a patient. Most of the natives moved to eastern Siberia because it was midsummer. Youngho would not have met an Evenk if there was no one in their family that needed medical attention.


    Everyone was happy to be able to finally meet an Evenk family, and the family was d that Youngho¡¯s group had medicine to heal their wounded child. Since the Countryside Force guards were trained to give basic first aid, it was fortunate for the wounded child.


    The teenage child, who had a cut in his thigh, was suffering from a high fever. One of the guards disinfected and stitched his wound which was as small as a pocket knife.


    The problem was that the knife was rusty and a secondary infection was developed by it. The group called the doctors in the autonomous region on a satellite phone to receive instructions to treat the child. Finally, the child fell asleep with a steady breath in the end. Everyone sighed in relief.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s group camped out nearby the river and went to the ce where they saw the Evenk family earlier in the morning. They were getting ready to leave since the moss around the region was exhausted already.


    Young-ho jumped and dissuaded them.


    ¡°Most of the people infected with tetanus get sick for about a month before recovering, but many also die from it. No matter how important reindeers are, your child is more important.¡±


    ¡°For us, reindeers are family. If the child doesn¡¯t survive, he will return to the arms of Siberia just like other reindeers, so it won¡¯t be too sad.¡±


    It seemed that the Evenks thought of death more of a natural event. Hearing the father¡¯s words, Youngho felt like he was in a different world.


    ¡°I understand, but you still need to disinfect the child¡¯s wound and let him rest for a while and take medicine. It¡¯ll be fatal if he gets infected.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your help, but if we wait any longer, the reindeer will scatter in search of food.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll help you. Just give me the location, and I¡¯ll drive him on the car.¡±


    Since reindeers were directly located to the Evenk people¡¯s life, Youngho could not argue with them. He did not want to send the child with the group since he needed to rest more. Besides, the purpose of his visit here was to meet the Evenks. He resisted to help them and finally, the family agreed to him.


    The parents and their teenage daughter would herd the reindeers, and the rest of the family got on one of the armored vehicles. As the family¡¯s loads were loaded onto the roof of the armored vehicles, the reindeers galloped with lightened steps.


    The Evenk family did not even set up tents at night but slept in the open because they were in a hurry, and they did not want to lose time setting up tents. They looked quite ufortable sleeping in a reindeer skin, so Youngho gave them a tent that was easy to install. The family thanked him multiple times. Their leather tent was not enough to stop flies or mosquitos flying in the summer tundra. It was natural for them to get bitten by mosquitos at night but now that Youngho gave them a simple tent that was simple and light and would prevent bug bites, the Evenk family was immensely grateful.


    They were now mentioning the reindeer skin as a token of gratitude.


    ¡°The only thing we can give is this animal skin.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to explore the great world, not to seek leather.¡±


    ¡°We Evenks always repay a favor.¡±


    ¡°As a friend of the Irtysh of the warm spring forest, I did what I had to do.¡±


    ¡°You are his friend?¡±


    ¡°I ran into him in the woodsst winter. We¡¯re meeting there again this winter.¡±


    Youngho also gave them themb-basedbat ration and a hunting shotgun, the Evenks were amazed by his gifts. They seemed to want more. They had never had food that tasted this good in their entire life.


    The wife and children were fascinated by thebat ration, and the father who was named Dudinka was in love with the shotgun. It was a very cheap hunting gun on the market, but it was more attractive than anything else for him who had an old-fashioned gun that probably was made in the ¡¯50s. Since they were all offered as a gift, they were surprised.


    ¡°I can¡¯t ept it because it¡¯s too precious. You even rejected the leathers, so I have nothing to exchange them with.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like in Siberia, but in the East, even small ties are taken very preciously. Don¡¯t feel pressured because I¡¯m a friend of Irtysh.¡±


    Dudinka thought for a moment, and he went through the pocket in front of his reindeer-skin suit.


    ¡°It¡¯s like an amulet to us, but I¡¯ll feel better only if you take it. I can get it again, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s like a charm, I can¡¯t take it.¡±


    ¡°You can get as much as you want if you go to the small stream. Have you ever heard of the red stone?¡±


    Youngho finally got a chance to see the real red stone. He was waiting for a perfect timing to ask about it since he did not want to give the wrong idea, but Dudinka took it out to show it to Youngho without hesitation.

 Chapter 379 - Tundra (2)

    <h4>Chapter 379: Tundra (2)</h4>


    The next morning, the Evenk family was waiting in front of the campsite.


    The boy who was about 15 years of age and had a scar on his thigh, was able to walk on crutches made out of rough wood.


    ¡°You can walk now.¡±


    ¡°My thigh is still very sore, but it¡¯s bearable.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t overdo it, or you might limp forever.¡±


    Dudinka came out to say a word of appreciation.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be at the grazingnd if we go for one more day. I think we should part ways here. We don¡¯t let strangers in here even if that person is a friend of Irtysh.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve checked out the region enough, so we¡¯d better head back too. If youe down to the Taiga forest in the winter, pleasee to the warm spring forest. I¡¯ll have enough food and ammunition prepared for you.¡±


    The ammunition you gave me willst me for a year.¡±


    ¡°Your boy will need a gun for hunting too. Guns are more efficient for hunting.¡±


    Having a pretty solid bow was a sign that the child with a leg injury was a hunter.


    Youngho suggested it because he wanted to have the bow. Dudinka didn¡¯t know what to do when he said he could give him an extra shotgun. Guns were an indispensable necessity to protect the reindeers and one¡¯s family in the tundra. It would be a lie if he did not want a gun.


    ¡°Will you give me that bow? Then I¡¯ll give you this gun.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Barter wasmon in this ce. Asking for a trade for what he got was a fair way to have a deal. The boy received the gun and Youngho got a bow. The child had a proud look on his face. Youngho thought that he was the youngest child in the world to have a gun.


    Then the little girl, who was watching closely, took off the hideous leathery warmer from her neck and gave it to Youngho. She also wanted to trade it for a gun. Thinking that she would be able to handle a gun since she was as big as the boy, Youngho told one of the crews to bring out more guns. This was because if a man or woman could not hunt, it was a reason for disqualification as a tribal member of the Evenkmunity.


    ¡°I think this is a very important talisman for you, if you have another item, I¡¯ll exchange that for you.¡±


    The child ran to the tent and came out with a woolly sable hat. It seemed that she brought the most precious thing that she had. For the Evenk people, fur hats were a must to survive the winter¡¯s cold. Youngho did not want to ept it.


    Youngho put the gun in her hand to relieve her. He pretended to wear the hat on his head, and gave it back, saying, ¡®It¡¯s small.¡¯ But, the girl was puzzled by his action since the deal was already over. The Evenks would never withdraw their deal once it was made. The barter was already done and calling it off was not an ideal situation. Youngho had to take the hat no matter what.


    He taught Dudinka and his children how to shoot, assemble, and disassemble the gun, and provide them a generous amount of ammunition,bat ration, and misceneous daily supplies.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, are you telling me to just take all this? I¡¯ve only given you a few red stones.¡±


    ¡°How can I just go when I received that precious amulet of yours? It¡¯s just a legitimate exchange.¡±


    ¡°I can fill my leather pocket with the stone any time if I want to. But it¡¯s only good for us, not for outsiders, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s good for a particr machine, so I¡¯m taking it. If this is determined as ruby, this will really bring luck to the Evenk people.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want such luck. The number of Evenks are decreasing rapidly. All I want and hope for is to live peacefully and quietly as our ancestors did.¡±


    They did not want to eat well and live well but just wanted to live quietly. If the natural rubies here were said to be of good quality, there would not be shedding of blood as it used to be in the past, but they would definitely not live in peace or quiet. It would be impossible to not break their peaceful lives.


    ***


    It was a great achievement that Youngho learned a little about the Evenks¡¯ culture as he got to spend a few days with them in this expedition.


    He found that there was ruby in the area, but he feared that this might destroy their peace. He did not want to be the one to reveal it to the world even though it would be one day. However, due to the diamond stones found in the Taiga region, this ce would soon be exposed to the world as well.


    He wanted to let the Evenks in the tundra region live in peace.


    In order to not disturb their lives, Youngho would have to find rubies on his own, not from the Evenks. He would tell D Drones that he got the rubies from the ck market in Krasnoyarsk since he did not trust the Americanpany with the rubies. Since Dudinka said that the red stones could be seen by small streams, Youngho did not have to get their help, so he would not expose them to the world.


    On the way back to the ship moored along the river, Youngho and his crew searched every little stream and collected any reddish stone they could find since they had no knowledge about rubies. It would be a sess if one-tenth of them would turn out to be real rubies.


    ¡°Boss, if you walked around diligently, you¡¯d pick up one or two rubies a day.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s found like that, I¡¯m going to hide the fact that there are rubies in the tundra until the end.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I have a way to make it work without breaking the Evenks¡¯ peaceful lives.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll eventually be rumored one day, even if it¡¯s not from us.¡±


    ¡°I know that but I don¡¯t want to hear that it¡¯s because of me.¡±


    Maybe a lot of people already knew about the rubies, but this might be ignored because most of them were not economically profitable. Still, it would be convenient for him to collect them without making any rumors.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we¡¯re collecting too much for having bought them from the ck market?¡±


    ¡°If I say that the mafias are involved in this, D Drones won¡¯t say much since Americans don¡¯t like mafias.¡±


    Since the rubies would be used as an industrial material, Youngho told the Countryside Force guards the purpose of the expedition. He did not forget to make sure that they would keep it a secret to anyone. Since their mission was finding rare mineral for the future of the autonomous state, they were motivated to support the ruby business. They would have to search the region for rubies the whole summer until the winter came, they were still proud to y a role in the state¡¯s development. Especially, the Serbian guards were impressed that the prince consort had joined them in the expedition.


    ***


    When Youngho came back to the ship, a solid log bungalow was already being finished. The crew brought prefabricated building materials from the autonomous state to make a base in the tundra region. Since the crew would stay here for the summer to collect rubies, a bungalow was necessary as it would serve as an outpost of the tundra for the time being. There was nothing less than a strong log bungalow to make long-term residents feel safe andfortable without being threatened by bears or the Great Lamb. After it was done, the team decided to withdraw the area with only 10 members left.


    ¡°Do you really think two light armored vehicles are enough?¡±


    ¡°One is enough, but we¡¯re taking an extra just in case. Five of us will take turns to search the area. We¡¯ve taken all the vehicles from the logging site, so we¡¯ll have to give back at least one.¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s going on there right now. All they need is an airboat.¡±


    ¡°No, this is a small ce, and we don¡¯t want to do too much maintenance.¡±


    It was not like they did not need the vehicle, but they were only giving it back since it was taken from the logging site. At the logging site in the Taiga forest, ten workers were working to build a dock under the responsibility of two Countryside Force guards.


    Youngho ordered the crews of the car ferry and the freighter of the autonomous state to pass by this region every time they sailed through the Yenisei River. Even though the guards had satellite phones, it would still encourage them to see the state¡¯s shipsing in and out of their working area.


    It was two days after Youngho and the crew arrived at the riverside dock of Krasnoyarsk. In the meantime, he received a report that the freighter that carried Niky¡¯s gold bars had safely arrived at the Port of Tromso.


    Eriksson also called Youngho in a very excited voice.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, these are pure gold bars. They don¡¯t need to get examined. Their weights are not identical, but that makes them more attractive. My higher-ups will always wee such a deal.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that, but if the client wanted to make more deals in the future, he¡¯ll definitely go through me again. I can promise you that.¡±


    Youngho did not know if Niky had any more gold bars, but the deal opened up the possibility for future deals because businessmen would never put everything out on their first deal. Youngho also left the possibility open to Eriksson because if he said that there were no more deals, he might get lessmission from the Information Agency.


    Eriksson¡¯s superiors would understand Youngho¡¯s words as that he would be deciding whether to have a future deal with the agency based on how devoted they were to Youngho, which would be shown as to how big themission was.


    ¡°The rest of the money was deposited into your ount, Lee. The secret auction will go smoothly too. I hope the client was satisfied with our deal this time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re satisfied enough. He¡¯s already looking forward to seeing me again, so look forward to another opportunity.¡±


    Niky was unable to control his face when he found out that arge amount of money had been deposited. He had Andrei and his bodyguards on the freighter with the gold bars just in case, but he could not believe how smooth the transaction went. Although he was an oligarch, he must not have had this amount of cash with just one deal.


    Youngho was making another deal as he drank tea with the impressed-looking oligarch.


    ¡°As you know, it¡¯s important to choose the nationality of a ship.¡±


    ¡°Can a Russian register a ship as another nationality?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can. If that happens, the Russian government will not be able to tamper with it either. It¡¯s in ordance with international maritimew.¡±


    When Youngho pointed out Niky¡¯s concerns, he looked swelled.


    ¡°If we can ovee the ice of the Yenisei River and the Arctic Ocean, Siberia will be developed at a tremendous rate. I and Mr. Yaniv have already ordered several icebreakers. Sooner orter, you¡¯ll see giant freighters breaking ice and sailing up the Yenisei River.¡±


    When Young-ho exined it as if he was exining a well-painted picture, Niky smiled looking like a dreamy boy.


    ¡°You are showing the big world to me who¡¯s like a frog in a well. Siberia is wide but it is nothingpared to the ocean. I¡¯d like to get out of here and stretch my influence now. But I¡¯m worried about the cost of building an icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°There are no ship owners who pay the whole cost of a shipbuilding order. They use a very good system of ship financing.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that difficult to get a loan of 40 to 50 percent of the shipbuilding cost depending on the financial situation.¡±


    ¡°Do you know such a route, Mr. Lee?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I know. There is a Danish shippingpany, which I¡¯m a shareholder of. I can check it out for you right now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear more about it.¡±

 Chapter 380 - Tundra (3)

    <h4>Chapter 380: Tundra (3)</h4>


    The Danish shipyard was thrown into a frenzy after Youngho¡¯s call. It was because Youngho promised a contract of two additional 20,000-ton icebreaker orders, which cost nearly 100 million dors. It was also intriguing to hear that the ships would have Denmark nationality.


    Since Youngho managed to get contracts for a total of six icebreakers within a short period of time in the period of shipping recession, it was quite an impressive achievement.


    The reaction came immediately from the stock market. It was a ten percent increase in market capitalization.


    Szechenyi called Youngho as he heard the news.


    ¡°Brother, you did it again! Stocks are just going up.¡±


    ¡°That American investmentpany will have a stomachache out of jealousy.¡±


    ¡°Yep. The management of thepany must be regretting it so bad.¡±


    When Youngho bought shares of the Danish shipyard from a U.S. investment firm recently at a cheap price, Szechenyi opposed it since it did not seem like there would be more ship orders. With the two percent of thepany¡¯s share that Youngho bought from the U.S. firm, he now had more than six percent of thepany¡¯s stock. Since the shipyardpany agreed to give Youngho future contractmissions with thepany¡¯s share, his total share would increase even more soon. He would be a major stockholder.


    With the request to build six icebreakers in a row, thepany¡¯s reputation had risen. It would lead to attracting more orders for ferry boats in the future.


    Getting Niky¡¯s tworge orders were killing two birds with one stone for Youngho.


    When he emphasized business diversification to Niky, who had just earned a huge amount of money in his hands, he took Youngho¡¯s suggestion so easily. It was majorly because Youngho scratched Niky¡¯s most itchy spot. Business in Russia was like walking on thin ice, and you could be stranded at any time, so he made a decision to stretch his business overseas.


    He made sure if he could make special orders for the ship. It seemed that he was going to make a ship that was as sturdy as a fortress.


    ¡°I think you should refrain from buying stocks for the time being. The price went up too high in a short period of time.¡±


    ¡°Keep contacting the U.S. investmentpany for the rest of their stock. They must be thinking that this is only a temporary rise.¡±


    Youngho was certain that the U.S. firm considered them to be just lucky for closing deals for a few orders. Since the shipyardpany had been dying and losing money for years, a sudden change in the stock market rise was impossible. Because of the recession in the shipping industry, other major shipbuilders were struggling as well. The investmentpany would have no choice but to sell its shares to renew its portfolios.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m embarrassed to hear that the media are paying attention to me for this. Everyone thinks I¡¯m behind it.¡±


    ¡°You should be keeping your poker face. If the press wants to interview you, just be confident and tell the whole world that it was your decision.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it, how can I do that?¡±


    Szechenyi was too nice to take the credit for what he did not do.


    ¡°This is the only way to raise your stock price right now. It¡¯s for the sake of Princess Isabe, your future wife. When you get married, the public¡¯s opinion needs to be formed in favor of you. The Danish public won¡¯t like it when the princess¡¯ husband-to-be is not well-known.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. She was really proud of our investmentpany¡¯s achievement this time. Well, it¡¯s your achievement though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. This is the time. You should let Zeynep make her debut in high society. If you two make prominent achievements as siblings, the world will focus on you two.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy as you say. Zeynep hates things like that.¡±


    ¡°You know Vaso, the grandson of Chief Niksic? He¡¯s already dating Park Seo-young. If you tell that to her, she¡¯d be jealous and go put her foot in the high society.¡±


    ¡°What? Vaso is going out with Seo-young?¡±


    ***


    When Youngho said he was leaving Krasnoyarsk the next day, Niky secretly asked him toe to his office downtown. He asked to have a cup of tea with Youngho, but it meant that he had another favor to ask.


    When Youngho sat down in his office, he made coffee for Youngho.


    Then he sat close to the table to cut to the chase.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t recovered your health yet, aren¡¯t you overworking yourself?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have any physical problems. It was just going through a lot of stress.¡±


    He really seemed to have gotten a lot better after his deal with Youngho.


    ¡°Thank you for taking the time to visit me when you¡¯re busy getting ready to set off.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. You can call me at any time.¡±


    ¡°I should go to Denmark next month, but I can¡¯t afford to travel that far. So, can I send Andrei instead?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that doesn¡¯t matter. Business owners usually send agents to sign contracts. Is there a reason why you suddenly changed your n?¡±


    ¡°This ce is full of government agents from Moscow. It bothers me to go abroad. There¡¯s a couple of people out there trying to find fault with me.¡±


    Most businessmen who took over state-ownedpanies at the time of the copse of the Soviet Union were now being bashed by political figures, officials, and businessmen in Russia for using illegal methods at the time.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you turn them over to another entrepreneur.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but who would dare toe forward to buy them? No corporation that is under the government¡¯s eye can do it. So I¡¯d like to ask you a favor. This time, can you ask your friend in Europe to buy gold bars from me?¡±


    ¡°Is there no obstacle for foreigners to take over abine nt or a chemical fiberpany?¡±


    ¡°There is nothing wrong with that by the currentw, but if the government doesn¡¯t approve of the deal, there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll make it through. It would be beneficial if you know someone in power.¡±


    In other words, it was possible only when a certain amount of payment was paid to someone in power. It was just a matter of time and money.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not impossible for him. This one is going to take some time though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to have it sorted out by the end of this year. I don¡¯t want to do business with the officials of Moscow anymore.¡±


    Niky had abine factory, chemical fiberpany, nonferrous metal-making smelting nt, pulp factory, wood factory, and piano manufacturing factory. Among them, it was chemical fiberpany,bine manufacturing nt, smelters and other chemical nts that the authorities of Moscow were after.


    In Russia, which did not have a high bar for environmental standards, even pollution-causingpanies could maintain their facilities without having to reduce their emissions.


    Eriksson was also the right person for this. Recently, globalpanies¡¯ favorite ce for business was said to be Russia, so there could be an interested client who might have been suffering from global environmental organizations.


    ***


    ¡°You must be still in Russia since you¡¯re using a satellite phone.¡±


    ¡°I should be leaving soon now that I hear the heat had gone down a little bit. My children are dying to see their dad.¡±


    ¡°They must be interested in the stuff you¡¯re bringing them when they say they miss their dad.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should bring some Siberian natives¡¯ toys. There are a lot of things that are worth paying attention to in Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Please introduce me something useful too.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of the industrial city of Krasnoyarsk? Some factories here are on sale. I wondered if you¡¯d like to hear about them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the city that well, but isn¡¯t it on the route where the Trans-Siberian Railway passes through?¡±


    ¡°You are right. The owner is tired of running the factories. There are some annoying issues as well.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t pay the officials well in Russia, you can get caught up in the hassle. I¡¯m sure even foreigners know that well, but it¡¯ll be a shame if you¡¯re a Russian businessman who doesn¡¯t respect that.¡±


    Youngho loved to talk to Eriksson. It was like he was reading Youngho¡¯s mind. Not many words were needed to make him understand.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a pretty goodpany. Would you like to handle it?¡±


    ¡°Of course, this is a perfect situation for us to get involved. There are a lot of Russian corporations on our client list.¡±


    Who would not be on the Information Agency¡¯s client list? It would be faster for Youngho to find areas where they did not involve in. It must be a bigger organization than McKinsey & Company which was a global consultingpany. The Information Agency was an organization that easily dealt with the US CIA as well.


    ¡°My client is in a position to continue to see me here since he¡¯s not leaving the area. He¡¯d sell it even at a low price, but I¡¯d appreciate it if you save my face in the deal.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to do some research to calcte a reasonable price. May I have yourpany name and factory addresses? I¡¯ll call you after I¡¯ve studied it in detail.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got quite a lot of big factories. Do you think you can take them all?¡±


    ¡°Of course. These kinds ofpanies are always in high demand.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your favor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only my job. I wish we could have this conversation every day.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    After talking to Eriksson, Youngho sat face to face with Niky again.


    ¡°My friend asks for some time. He¡¯d have to investigate your factories.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? I¡¯ll give you all the production scale and the sales data.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll need that. They do their own research.¡±


    ¡°All the known sales figures are fake. That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to provide all the data.¡±


    In other words, all the data presented to the government were false. Moscow officials found out about it and had been taking advantage of the secret. As a seller, he wanted to reveal the correct data to receive the right price, but this could be risky.


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t expose that data to anyone. This could be your weakness as a seller. We should just wait until theye up with their own calction.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess I got too excited. If I sold it to the government, I¡¯ll have to sell it at a dirt cheap price, so I was a little eager.¡±


    At the international airport of Krasnoyarsk, a private Jet piloted by Hudson from the autonomous state stood shining in its bright silver color. When Youngho and Il-kwon said they were leaving, Sergeenko followed them to the airport to say goodbye.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯m sorry to have made you travel for nothing on this visit.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. It was still a great achievement to go to Tundra. Let¡¯s go bear hunting together next time when I visit. I was very jealous of the fact that Mr. Yaniv bragged about catching a bear in Kamchatka.¡±


    ¡°You should catch a Siberian tiger here instead of a bear, and you need to have some tiger skin to be recognized as a businessman in Siberia.¡±


    ¡°What? I don¡¯t want to get arrested by killing a protective animal.¡±


    ¡°We recognize self-defense in Siberia. Many have been attacked by tigers, so that¡¯s no problem.¡±


    ¡°I see. There would be another victim if you just let go of it when it¡¯s attacked people before. You know, the Chinesepany is digging up the forest these days, and I¡¯m afraid that the natives will suffer from the damage.¡±


    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll have to do some research and do the right thing.¡±


    ¡°You know that if you make too much noise, I¡¯ll be damaged too, right?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha... Isn¡¯t that what our group is specialized in? We¡¯ll have to teach them how it¡¯s done in Siberia. It is self-defense.¡±


    Now that Youngho had slipped a piece of his mind, Sergeenko would take care of it for Youngho. For the time being, the back alleys of Krasnoyarsk would be busy.

 Chapter 381 - A Deal (1)

    <h4>Chapter 381: A Deal (1)</h4>


    Youngho returned to the Arirang Autonomous State after ten days. Even though the heat had cooled down, his skin still smarted from the sunray.


    The temperature difference was stark as he just came from Siberia which still was chilly at times, even in the summer. It was cool indoors or in the shade because there was no humidity.


    Kim Chun and Cho Chul-hwan gathered in Youngho¡¯s office¡ªwhere there was a fan on the ceiling to catch up with each other.


    ¡°I sent the maritime police guards to the ck Sea since their ship and the Kazakh Navy¡¯s missile ships are being delivered to the sea. They¡¯ll be here the day after tomorrow with dispatched engineersing from Korea.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, they¡¯ll be here already? The Korean military said that they¡¯d transport the ships with a carrier. I guess this is what they meant.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re dropping the ships off at Batumi Sea Port. From then on, it¡¯s up to us.¡±


    The autonomous state now had a missile ship. This is a ship that the state ordered when the Kazakh Navy ordered its ship from Korea.


    Until now, the Caspian Sea has been Russia¡¯s front yard, and the Caspian Sea coastal countries had very little naval power. The only thing that the Kazakh Navy had were three small Russian missile ships. Before that, all it had was retired Korean naval ships for one dor. A dor might sound funny, but it was often done as a symbolic gesture of the transfer of military equipment between countries.


    ¡°Well, with the missile ship, the Caspian Sea will now be ours now.¡±


    ¡°Having asymmetric power is to acquire a war deterrent force. We¡¯re not trying to take over anything.¡±


    ¡°So, all of our forces are just going to train and train for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Sort of. No one really maintains power to deliberately wage war. Nations are led to war when the bnce of power is broken while trying to protect their own share.¡±


    ¡°Military force is a group of high-maintenance. I guess one can¡¯t even dream of having it without economic power.¡±


    ¡°Yes, a force without economic power is a house of cards.¡±


    ¡°Then our state is free from worry. We¡¯ve got a lot of money, and is full of soldiers who are from special forces.¡±


    On Kim Chun¡¯s remarks, Suh Min-seok¡¯s eyes glistened. He seemed to have caught a chance to say something.


    ¡°Right. Boss can buy dozens of fighters in a second. We¡¯re also bringing in a 12-seater mid-size jet soon.¡±


    ¡°What! Did you really do that? You guys didn¡¯t nag him to buy one, did you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, who do you think we are? Boss decided it on his own because we¡¯ll soon have the coronation and the wedding with the Danish royal family.¡±


    ¡°Your word is getting longer. I bet you grilled him to get a jet.¡±


    Kim Chun gave Min-seok a hard time by picking up the truth out of Suh Min-seok¡¯s words like a ghost. He was well aware that Youngho was not a person who bought things to show off in front of others.


    ¡°We were just suggesting.¡±


    ¡°Did you really suggest it or did you hang on to the boss¡¯s trousers nagging?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Commissioner, that never happened.¡±


    ¡®Phew, this kid... You secretly pressured me not to buy that!¡¯


    Suh Min-seok was in trouble, so Youngho helped him off the hook. If he did not do that, Min-seok would be sulky for a while.


    ¡°I called Cessna. Tell them we¡¯ll have to reconsider our decision to purchase a jet it if they don¡¯t give us a discount.¡±


    ¡°They already told us that they¡¯ll give us a 5-percent discount with a payment n.¡±


    ¡°Great. Since we¡¯re buying a different model this time, thepany should send pilots and mechanics again, shouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    Just like thest time, Youngho was nning to make some of the pilots and mechanics settle down in the autonomous state.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same model with the previous one except that its size is bigger. Thepany offered a discount under the condition that the pilots and engineers would be staying here only a few days.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I guess Cessna used its head this time.¡±


    Thepany had already lost pilots and mechanics to the state, so it offered a good price under a condition in order to prevent its employees from quitting their old jobs. However, Youngho was not going to give up his n.


    ***


    In Astrakhan, a city near the Caspian Sea, a Russian naval base in charge of the Caspian Sea lied. The Russian Navy exerted its power in the Caspian Sea, but it onlysted during the melting season. It was because the naval vessels could not go anywhere when the water of the Volga River and the north of the Caspian Sea were frozen for four months in the winter.


    However, Kazakhstan was the only country on the Caspian Sea coast to have an icebreaker, allowing it to project its power throughout the year. It was because of the presence of car ferry and the freighter of the Arirang Autonomous State.


    Russia also has a lot of icebreakers, but there was no way to send those huge ships to the Caspian Sea through the Volga-Don Canal or Volga-Baltic Waterway.


    Thus, in the brief four-month period when the Russian navy was stranded, the Kazakh navy was invincible in the Caspian Sea. And now, five more missile ships were introduced to Kazakhstan. Two of them belonged to the autonomous state and three of them belonged to the Kazakh Navy. Youngho originally nned on purchasing only one vessel, but he changed his heart because of Lieutenant Commander Victor Jun¡¯s convincing words. He said that buying additional vessels would only lead to unnecessary misunderstanding to outsiders, suggesting to buy many at once.


    At the Port of Atyrau, all of the Kazakh military force seemed to have gathered. Even President Nazarbayev was there to see the country¡¯s new naval vessels. Five high-profile missile vessels were mooring and showing off their shape.


    The two maritime police patrol vessels were painted in white, and it was written in English ¡°Kazakhstan Coast Guard¡± on the side of its body. The naval vessels were equipped with 76-millimeter guns at the front, whereas the coast guard vessels were equipped with 40-millimeter guns. But, four anti-ship missiles with a range of 150 kilometers were employed on all ships. With the length of 63 meters, the ships almost could be believed to be destroyers.


    When Youngho approached the president, who was smiling with satisfaction, he gave him a pat on the shoulder with encouraging words.


    ¡°This is great. We¡¯re invincible now in the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°You made a good decision, Mr. President. In the next few years, 100-ton high-speed ships will be pouring in. Our shipyard is nning to introduce a trial vessel by the end of this year.¡±


    ¡°Make it well. I¡¯ll pay you enough for the boat.¡±


    ¡°If we develop a small torpedo for the high-speed boat, Russian naval ships are no problem for us.¡±


    ¡°Is it not enough for the county¡¯s technical skills?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to develop one with a few weapons technicians who retired in the Soviet Union era. We¡¯re not even up to the level of the national weaponsb.¡±


    ¡°Do your research with confidence in the Arirang state. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get there soon. Just don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to sell it only to foreign countries, alright?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t ever do that. I¡¯m all for the development of Kazakhstan. Weapons developed in the country will be provided to the national military without conditions.¡±


    ***


    In the reception room inside the port management office, militarymanders, big-name politicians, and government officials sat together, and Youngho was also invited. Conversation with the president was kept in the room.


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Didn¡¯t you say there will be a coronation at this time of the year?¡±


    ¡°We n to have it simple after the wedding ceremony with the Danish royal family in the fall. I don¡¯t want it to be too huge and disturb the government. We¡¯re only going to invite broadcastingpanies from all over the world.¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve be a special administrative region, please do a lot of good work to promote Kazakhstan and our government.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, since you mention that, I won¡¯t forget to invite all of the prominent broadcastingpanies of the world to promote our state and Kazakhstan. It will be a remarkable day for the whole world.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s what it¡¯s supposed to be. The world still thinks that Kazakhstan is a poor country in Central Asia. I¡¯d like to attract more foreign investors to the country, and the only way to do that is to let them know that we are more than that. I¡¯m very excited about the Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s future steps since you¡¯ve proven your ability by making a desertednd into a city. You know, some of our cab members are worried that the autonomous state is too small and people of the world might make a fool of the Serbian royal family...¡±


    The participants of the meeting were just looking at the president¡¯s mouth to see what wasing out of his mouth next. After a short pause, he drank a cool drink, and then went on again.


    ¡°It¡¯s a wilderness, but do you have any intention of developing a little morend? I¡¯m not asking you to develop it all. I¡¯m afraid that European royal families wouldugh at the Kazakh government for not sparing morend mass to the autonomous state when they see it since our country boasts of the world¡¯s ninthrgest area.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve only developed one-fifth of the state¡¯s territory now. The rest of us are trying to develop it only as a grasnd. It¡¯s beyond the capacity of the state.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee. Mr. President is making a difficult request for you. Could you put more effort into the development of Kazakhstan just as you¡¯ve helped our military? The military will also help you from the sidelines.¡±


    When themander of the Navy stepped up and said a word, other people in the meeting also added words. It seemed that the officials had decided to support the president¡¯s statement.


    Most of Western Kazakhstan¡¯s semi-desert areas were abandoned anyway, so the president thought that sparing morend to the autonomous state would be helpful in the development of the area.


    Youngho acted as if he was overwhelmed by the offer but he actually was d to receive morend.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll do my best to develop Kazakhstan since you¡¯re asking me.¡±


    ¡°I hope I¡¯m not forcing you too much, but could you develop the tributary of the Ural River andnd around it adjacent to your autonomous state? I took a nce at it on the map and it didn¡¯t seem like an overwhelming task to develop the river since the state is bigger.¡±


    The president¡¯s suggestion was quite a surprise. The tributary was about 1,000 square kilometers, but since the area of the state was now 1,200 square kilometers, twice the size of Seoul, thebined area of the two was to securendrger than that of *Jeju Ind.


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration, sir.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a tributary, but it¡¯ll be easier to develop than it is now because the river is attached to it. I¡¯m not asking you to develop a city around it. I wouldn¡¯t be happier if I could see pastures around it. That¡¯s all. ¡±


    Youngho was d to hear the president¡¯s expectation. Rather than developing it as agriculturalnd, he was focusing more on pastures to raise livestock on it since he knew that it was easier to form pastures than farnd. Pastures would prevent sandstorms in thend.


    Now the Arirang Autonomous State was bing a reputable ce, especially with its hugend mass. It would be many years before the wilderness was cleared and developed into a great city. But the wilderness could be and of opportunity since no one was yet to know what was buried in the ground.


    *Jeju Ind- an ind in Jeju Province, South Korea.

 Chapter 382 - A Deal (2)

    <h4>Chapter 382: A Deal (2)</h4>


    Now, President Nazarbayev, who was feeling sorry to leave the wastnd to Youngho, was instructing rted ministers to review whether the autonomous state could get tax benefits.


    ¡°Mr. Lee here used his personal wealth to turn Arirang State into a ce where people can live and brought residents to live there. Also, he bought two battleships this time. Our government should pay him back for his sacrifice andmitment. Ministers in each department, use your brains to figure out how to support him. He¡¯ll be paying a tremendous amount of money to build the medical school and general hospital opening this fall too. Our government is only taking advantage of him and the state.¡±


    ¡°Sir. We¡¯ve been working on a number of options. I¡¯ll give you a report soon.¡±


    ¡°You should. Always keep in mind how many foreignpanies have invested in Kazakhstan, thanks to Lee. If he decided to leave Kazakhstan, we¡¯re the only ones to be sorry.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, I¡¯m a Kazakh now. Where do you think I¡¯ll be fleeing to?¡±


    ¡°I know your heart, Lee. It¡¯s because some of our ministers don¡¯t know what you mean to us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir. Why don¡¯t youe to our state and have medical checkup since you¡¯re here?


    ¡°I¡¯m a very healthy person. Your body will be prone to more sickness when you visit the hospital too often.¡±


    The president soon got up and left the room as Youngho asked him toe to the hospital. It seemed that he was frightened by the sound of a general checkup.


    As the president got up to leave for Astana¡¯s presidential pce, the meeting ended quicker than it would have been. It was all thanks to Youngho¡¯s proposal. Most of the officials who were intimidated by the president¡¯smands looked better after his departure. Some of them felt sorry for Youngho who would apany the president to Atyrau Airport. However, Youngho weed it because he was officially a stand-alone member of the president.


    Many conversations were exchanged between Youngho and the president during the ten-minute car ride to the airport.


    ¡°Your Excellency, the U.S. dronepany said it would share some of its original technology to the state.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state will now have the technological capability too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this because it¡¯s going to take the power of the drones to the next level.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is it? I didn¡¯t know drones can be that powerful.¡±


    ¡°Our borders are so vast that effective vignce is difficult. This can be done by drones. Even if a person doesn¡¯t patrol, the perimeter of a soldier extends to tens of kilometers. It¡¯s something that can dramatically improve our military capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Can you bring it to the Presidential Pceter and demonstrate it?¡±


    ¡°If you call me, I¡¯ll be there any time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m such a lucky president to have you, Lee. Did I surprised you when I mentioned thend development earlier?¡±


    The president confessed that his intention was not to give Youngho a burden but to warn the other ministers and officials by saying it publicly. No one there would attempt to develop the wilderness except for someone like Youngho, so by letting Youngho handle the issue was an rming moment for the cab members who had only been filling their stomachs.


    ¡°Because of you, Lee, the future of Kazakhstan looks bright. I appreciate yourmitment. If you have anything to ask me, let me know. I¡¯ll grant you anything you ask if I can.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing special I can ask of you. I¡¯m not worried about thend you gave me since there¡¯s river next to it. I have a way to make thend rich.¡±


    ¡°How would you? In Korea, the newly developed fields are usually nted with soybeans. It¡¯s good to build the fertility of the soil. It¡¯s scientifically proven as well. Now, part of the wheat field has gone through that process, and the yield has increased because of that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if our agricultural bureau knows about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure people already know it, but it¡¯ll be hard to force farmers to work on it since they¡¯re busy working toward wheat harvests now. It should be enforced with force. And then it won¡¯t be so long before the farnd turns into an abundantnd one day.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll carry you around. I don¡¯t know where to start, but I¡¯m d to hear that.


    I¡¯ll tell them to try it right from next year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you have to live long and healthy to see the great changes in Kazakhstan. I will send you the state¡¯s doctors.¡±


    ¡°I am fine. Don¡¯t bother.¡±


    ***


    Park Young-sun and Kim Chun who were d to hear about the expansion of the autonomous state, especially since thend that covered a tributary of the Ural River was being given.


    ¡°Boss, our territory will double in size. We would¡¯ve made our new viges there if it was given to us earlier. It¡¯s a shame.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee. Look at this map. There is a small stream that follows the tributary. I think that part is going to be ours too.¡±


    Park Young-sun was excited to find that out. The boundaries were visible where he was pointing. He hurried out of the office to go there on a light airne to look around the area.


    ¡°Boss, did the president say anything else?¡±


    ¡°He asked me to bring the drones to the presidential pce and give them a demonstration.¡±


    ¡°No, not that. If he gave us thend, he ought to give us people to live in it. How are we going to finish developing it with a limited number of people?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... don¡¯t worry about that. The president said that I can take as much time as I want to develop thend. It doesn¡¯t even have to be a farnd. There¡¯s no pressure.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I see. That¡¯s awesome and we deserve that. Who¡¯s going to bring in two of those expensive battleships if it weren¡¯t for us? The Navy¡¯s power is doubled because of us.¡±


    Since the state¡¯s missile ships were used to patrol around the Caspian coast, they were naturally considered the addition to Kazakhstan¡¯s military force although they belonged to the state. Youngho did not care about such an idea since the state and Kazakhstan had an inseparable partnership now. If Kazakhstan went down, the state¡¯s existence would be at stake too. That was why Youngho suggested the idea of deploying drones at the border areas. It would maximize military power and effectively guard the areas.


    As the size of the state¡¯s territory was widened, Cho Chul-hwan, the head of the Countryside Force, had concerns. Saying that the state would not be able to guard the extended area, he suggested recing nobatant force with women soldiers.


    ¡°They¡¯ll receive basic training and work only indoors. It¡¯s not against the sentiment here because they¡¯ll only let them wear military uniforms in case of emergency. Who would point fingers at women soldiers who volunteered to protect theirnd?¡±


    ¡°A nobatant force... ¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible for women soldiers to monitor drone activities and do administrative work. It¡¯s a real waste of manpower to get a special-trained member to do that.¡±


    ¡°Is there any volunteer?¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve got positive opinions when I did polls.¡±


    ¡°The women¡¯s issue is important for the two of us to decide. Let¡¯s take this to the leadership meeting.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to convince the group.¡±


    The next day, Youngho called the follower couple who would be the perfect fit for this kind of job. They got along pretty well with young men and women in the state.


    ¡°Boss. Would women soldiers get the same pay as men?¡±


    ¡°It would be a little different since they¡¯d be nonbatant soldiers, but they¡¯ll have sry increases with experience.¡±


    ¡°What if they¡¯re willing to bebatants?¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re capable, why not? But for now, I¡¯m looking for the ones who¡¯d work indoors.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that there will be too many volunteers. Would you ept high school seniors or students in a specialized school if they want to quit their studies?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll have to have a high school diploma. I¡¯ll take the ones who go to a specialized school.¡±


    ¡°Phew, again we¡¯re in charge of an important job.¡±


    Youngho asked the couple to be careful when recruiting the new soldiers.


    When the security forces said they would ept the women, the reaction was quite explosive. Even married women who wanted to apply for the job.


    As many applied for the job, Chief Niksic and Old Kim Sung-chan frequently visited the office and asked if they were true. Everyone seemed to take it positively, and they did not seem to need voting from the leadership group. It was because girls in theirte teens on early 20s were eager to join the army, too.


    ***


    ¡°The maritime police got missile ships now, what about the freighter we ordered from Russia?¡±


    ¡°The boat was almostplete before it was canceled, it will probably be ready by the beginning of next year. I asked Mr. Yaniv to make it as quick as possible.¡±


    There were many abandoned vessels in Russian shipyards that were in the middle of making before they were stopped. Most of them were sold as scrap metal or intact to China, and Youngho had asked one of the vessels from Yaniv previously. He requested a modification to make it look like a merchant ship. It was the one that the Russian Navy tried to use, meaning that it would be at least about 1,000 tons. However, he never heard back from Yaniv for quite a long time about the vessel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust the technology of the Russian shipyard very much. If it¡¯s possible, we¡¯ll have to work on it in our shipyard again.¡±


    ¡°Man, if the Caspian Sea was connected to a huge ocean as the ck Sea, I¡¯ll try to build a big ship, but it¡¯s not so easy.¡±


    ¡°But we can make about a vessel in the 500-ton-ss.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not as nearly as big as the one I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    ¡°Our ships will be invincible in the Caspian Sea even though they¡¯re small. Just wait and see. When the 100-ton ss isplete, we¡¯ll gradually make bigger ones until we make one in 500 tons.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to put theser guns you¡¯re trying to make, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It turns out both the U.S. and Russia already have those on their military vessels. If it doesn¡¯t work out, we¡¯ll steal the technology.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you dream big.¡±


    ¡°All you need to do is start practicing on how to pick a safe.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re determined to turn me into a thief.¡±


    ¡°Come on. Have we done it once or twice? You know we can do it with our eyes closed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. That doesn¡¯t mean we have to keep doing it.¡±


    Park Jong-il scolded Youngho now, but he would be the one to move faster than Youngho when the situation was given. If Youngho left him out in the job, he would be upset for quite a while.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to put theser guns on all of the ships of Arirang Shipping. You¡¯re still not interested?¡±


    ¡°Is there going to be a war soon? Our freighters are fine with security guards on board.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you wonder what will be in their safe when you rob the office?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to live moral life these days, so you¡¯ll have to do it alone.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t cooperate, I¡¯ll blow up your past.¡±


    ¡°This son of a b*tch ising out really cheap.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho said it as a joke, but he could do industrial espionage without hesitation if the state could have advanced technology. Although promised, it was not yet clear how far the U.S.pany D Drones would share its technology.


    Special welding technology was important, but the purpose was to makeser guns.


    Youngho wondered if Eriksson¡¯s Information Agency could help him buy this kind of technology too. The thought of asking him shed across his mind. If it was an organization that bought and sold information, wasn¡¯t technology information too? He said that anything that made money was treated by the organization. If the price was not high, maybe Youngho could buy it too.

 Chapter 383 - A Deal (3)

    <h4>Chapter 383: A Deal (3)</h4>


    Youngho stopped at Zeynep Farm in Baku to give his children souvenir products that he got from the Evenks of Siberia and hurried to Frankfurt. There was a monthly meeting and he was also going to meet Eriksson. The schedule was tight.


    The Heydar Aliyev International Airport¡ªthe gateway to Azerbaijan, was crowded by tourists leaving for the summer vacation season. As the situation in the Caucasus stabilized, the number of tourists in the region increased dramatically. The Arirang Hotel in Baku had also been booked almost full throughout the summer.


    The recently opened 100-room, three-star Arirang Hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was also booked full by global businessmen and long-term staying tourists. It was proof that the global economic recession is slowly clearing away.


    At the Aliyev airport, Youngho spotted many Asians that were hard to find when he first came to Azerbaijan. Kim Il-kwon, who drove Youngho to the airport, nced and pointed to one ce. There, Chinese group tourists were sitting on the lobby of the airport, chatting loudly and eating food.


    ¡°Wow, there are quite a lot of Chinese travelers here.¡±


    ¡°There might be North Korean officials as well. Aren¡¯t you still on their radar? Be careful, they might get you.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m a citizen of Azerbaijan and permanent resident of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still their arrest target. Don¡¯t you know that North Korean diplomats often be defectors these days?¡±


    If North Korea hurts my family or me, it will have to pay a huge price.¡±


    ¡°Huh! Calm down, if you¡¯re in that position, I¡¯m going to take the lead to take revenge. But, I¡¯m just telling you, you should be careful. They can stille to Azerbaijan as long as they want to.¡±


    ¡°Sure I¡¯ll be careful. Man, these Chinese people reminded me of something I don¡¯t want to remember.¡±


    Come to think of it, Chinesepanies or Chinese people were seen everywhere in foreign countries now, especially around Central Asia. It made Youngho worried that the Chinese influence over Central Asia and the world was getting bigger. Many of Chinese businesspeople who had their eyes on Kazakhstan were interested in the old Silk Road without bypassing Russia, and there was no way to stop their surging power. It was quite threatening for him since he lived in Kazakhstan.


    He decided to talk about this issue with the president when he visited the Presidential Pce next time to demonstrate the use of drones. He was afraid that poor Central Asian countries would be subjugated to China one by one. The market was already devastated by Chinese manufactured goods and daily necessities.


    ¡°Boss, are you not flying?¡±


    As Youngho was deep in his thought, he almost forgot that he was going to Frankfurt.


    ***


    Arriving in Frankfurt, Youngho met Michael privately at his office after the monthly meeting.


    ¡°Lee, I¡¯m worried about China¡¯s advance, but It¡¯s nothing to be concerned right now. No political leader would just make a decision to take over the Central Asian regions. You know how people in Central Asia are particr and rough.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a problem because Chinese people are increasing near the border area. Thousands of Chinese seem to be living in mountainous areas. I think the government is up to something and is deliberately sending them there.¡±


    ¡°Is it prior to the n to pressure the Kazakh government to make an autonomous state when the number of Chinese increases in the country?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re up to something and it is going to happen fast. If they were Uyghurs, I would¡¯ve believed that they came to the country to flee from the Chinese government¡¯s oppression but they¡¯re Chinese. Why would the government let its people cross another country¡¯s border?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... That¡¯s weird.¡±


    Michael¡¯s reaction was sour, and it seemed as if the US CIA was not quite interested in this issue. Only Youngho¡¯s mind was busy.


    ¡°Even the Kazakh government is reacting passively since it doesn¡¯t want to challenge the Chinese government. The only way to stop it is to mobilize the international press to pressure China. Large cities such as Almaty are also flooded with Chinese people now. Wouldn¡¯t it be a loss to the United States if Central Asia falters?¡±


    ¡°Can we get the evidence?¡±


    ¡°Our intelligence agents are filming the situations of the Kazakh border with drones. I intend to show them to President Nazarbayev.¡±


    ¡°Well, Russia tried to take over the Crimean Penins, and now China is trying to take over Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°We were too soft on the Crimean case.¡±


    ¡°What would I do when the European countries don¡¯t cooperate with us? They care about Russia¡¯s oil, and gas is more important than Ukraine¡¯s security.¡±


    Although he was reporting as if he were in a hurry, Youngho was not expecting much from Michael. This was because there was no immediate conflict. It only needed Michael¡¯s cooperation to move its international opinion. He was expecting that China would slow down a bit if things happened near the Kazakh border.


    The border area should be heavily guarded to prevent further illegal immigration. If drones could strengthen the border area, it would be a great achievement. People would get cold feet if they saw an aircraft that roars overhead frequently¡ªmaking noisy sounds. Since Michael was the one who introduced the dronepany to Youngho in the first ce, he thanked him.


    ¡°If the autonomous state¡¯s dronepany goes on the stock market, I¡¯ll give you your share of thepany, Chief.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t take bribes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re getting it as an honorary resident of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Is the honorary residence forced?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and please stop by the autonomous state some time. The general hospital is about to open. Don¡¯t you need a medical checkup?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a very healthy person.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an obligation of every resident.¡±


    ***


    With his sunsses on in a no-tie outfit, Youngho was drinking coffee at an outdoor cafe. He was waiting for Eriksson. Frankfurt, even in the middle of the summer, was 25 degrees Celsius and its humidity was low, making it Korea¡¯s general fall weather. This nice climate attracted a lot of tourists. Also, as various fairs are held throughout the year, it was hard to find a room at hotels where business people from all over the world were flocking to. Thanks to this, the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt had always been full of guests. Because of this, Youngho often had to stay in Yun-suh¡¯s house, not in his hotel whenever he came to the city for the European chapter¡¯s monthly meeting. It was a long time ago that the annual ie of the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt had already exceeded ten million dors.


    The hotel business in a world-ss city was like a goose thatid golden eggs. Operating profit, of course, was soaring day by day because room prices were high.


    Youngho had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table at a caf¨¦ where he was supposed to meet Eriksson. When he drank half a cup of his coffee, Eriksson appeared with a big smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m a littlete.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve arrived precisely. I got out of the hotel a little bit earlier.¡±


    ¡°You look great. I guess it¡¯s because you¡¯re having fun these days, right?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you. I¡¯m burdened because I received such a huge amount ofmission.¡±


    ¡°I requested it from the agency because I didn¡¯t think it was going to end in a single transaction. Niky¡¯s gold was auctioned off, and as much as 20 million dors was brought into Youngho¡¯s ount. Having not expected that much, Youngho was stunned by the influx of money. Since he heard that the agency had earned at least 100 million dors from a secret auction, that amount was sent to him as amission. To ask how much it was sold without any consideration was not courteous, so Youngho did not ask.


    ¡°One reason why our organization is going on for so long in the run is the bold payment of fees. It¡¯s a profit to invest properly in someone like you, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°I see. Please thank your superiors for me.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll like to hear it. Aren¡¯t you expecting another news from me, right?¡±


    Another good news was about Niky¡¯s factory. This meant that the sale price had been fixed and that it was above expectations. Eriksson seemed to havepleted due diligence in such a short period of time that he even found his owner.


    ¡°How¡¯re the factories?¡±


    ¡°I could tell why Moscow¡¯s powerful officials were dying to get them. It would¡¯ve been a tragedy for your client to have them longer. The decision to sell was an excellent choice. It would be hard to survive in Russia if a stronger power didn¡¯t back you up.¡±


    Simply put, it was a greatpany.


    It is a money-making machine, but if it did not have the power to stand up against other influences, it could not possibly survive for long.


    ¡°If we sell it to a third party, wouldn¡¯t it be okay?¡±


    ¡°Well, I think your client would have to give up a little bit to the Russian officials in order to live without any problem in Russia.¡±


    And that was to say, eventually, selling the factory would be a problem. However, it would not be impossible if thepany offered a significant amount from the sales as bribes.


    ¡°So we¡¯ve decided to drastically lower the official purchase price.¡±


    ¡°This means that the amount of money the client will actually receive will be higher than that. Wouldn¡¯t your client be happy to make a decision on the sale then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to offer him that kind of option.¡±


    ¡°We only close deals that both parties are satisfied with the terms. Our clients would leave us if a single party is not happy about the deal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always thought you¡¯re agency is an attractive organization, but it¡¯s also rational. Or are you guys just confident in yourpany¡¯s ability?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so happy to hear your praise.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not even in a position topliment you. I just envy your organization.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Why don¡¯t we move to a nice restaurant to talk about the details of the deal? I¡¯ll treat you today.¡±

 Chapter 384 - A Deal (4)

    <h4>Chapter 384: A Deal (4)</h4>


    The price offered by Eriksson was 1.7 billion dors.


    The nonferrous metal smelter was rated the lowest for facility aging, while textile and chemical factory andbine factory were worth quite a lot. Although Niky did not have a world-sspany, the transaction price was considered highest among other businesses in Siberia.


    Now that there was an offer, it was Niky¡¯s turn to decide to take it or not.


    ¡°Let me tell you that the price we offered is very reasonable. I don¡¯t know how much tax the client will be paying to Moscow, but the price that will be announced officially is about 30 percent of the total price.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll contact the client. He¡¯ll probably ept it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you in advance that themission for this transaction would be fair for you.¡±


    Eriksson meant that Youngho should make this happen if he wanted to earn a highmission. Youngho had not really thought of a highmission before since he only wanted to help Niky, but he was happy to hear about the money from Eriksson.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll have to change my job because you¡¯re paying me so much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s natural to have financial rewards for aplishing difficult things. I¡¯m getting paid for just delivering words. You know, information is money.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that, is technology included in that information?¡±


    ¡°You mean advanced technology.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a high technology, but it¡¯s what the Arirang Autonomous State needs. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s easy to get.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to find that for us. We can even buy and sell the technology to make atomic bombs easily.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get someser technology in our state.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the kind of technology that¡¯s avable to any regr techpanies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not something that our state cane up with on our own.¡±


    ¡°Lee, I¡¯ll give the technology to you as aplimentary reward if you can make this deal happen.¡±


    ¡°What? You mean you¡¯re not going to charge me for the technology transfer?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pointless to sell a simple technology that everyone knows for money. It¡¯s a technology that you can learn just from reading a few relevant documents. I¡¯ll be happy to do that for you especially if you want it so badly.¡±


    ¡°You must know that rubies are used in the lens ofser devices.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯smon. They all use artificial rubies.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t they use natural rubies?¡±


    ¡°Natural rubies can¡¯t collect light effectively because there are many impurities. Only the artificial rubies that are specially made could do the job, although the value of natural ruby is as expensive as diamonds.¡±


    Listening to Eriksson¡¯s exnation, Youngho realized something. D Drones must have known about this too, but they still asked if Youngho could get the price of diamonds because thepany was interested more in the industrial diamonds. Thepany did not need natural rubies after all. This relieved Youngho since he was worried that rubies might affect the lives of the Evenks in Siberia. He would just tell D Drones that he could not find any ruby at all in Siberia.


    Eriksson, soon aware of the change in Youngho, asked in a low voice.


    ¡°You were talking about ruby... May I ask why you mentioned about ruby?¡±


    ¡°Can you put ruby up for auction too?¡±


    ¡°Our organization handles everything. We¡¯ve sold diamonds and gold for you before. I think dealing with rubies is going to be a lot more fun since it¡¯s rare.¡±


    ¡°I also have some rubies from the inheritance of the Archduke family of the Serbian Kingdom. I¡¯ll bring them to you soon.¡±


    ¡°How big is the Archduke family¡¯s fortune? It appears so often.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your imagination.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a problem since I tend to imagine wildly. I think the treasure of the Archduke will continue toe out.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    Niky was surprised by Youngho¡¯s phone call. It was because he asked Youngho less than a month ago to sell hispany. It was quite fast and not to mention the high price offered by the buyer. He even asked who in the world had offered such a high price.


    ¡°I was surprised, too. Is the price different from what you have expected?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know mypany was worth that much. But I¡¯m afraid that the officials in Moscow won¡¯t allow it to happen.¡±


    ¡°The agency said that he would pay the right taxes to the authorities in Moscow.¡±


    ¡°Well, they saw it, right?¡±


    ¡°They also said that you¡¯re holding too much in your hands.¡±


    ¡°I guess I should leave some behind if I wanted to keep doing business in Russia.¡±


    Niky soon realized the meaning of Youngho¡¯s words. Since he had been doing business in Russia for so many years, he had that much sense.


    ¡°The official price of your business that will be released to the public will be 30 percent lower than the actual sale price.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re giving me a big present. I will repay you for this kindness.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t feel pressured. I¡¯m only doing a favor as a fellow businessman.¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡±


    Niky was no longer able to speak. He was touched by Youngho¡¯s warm words.


    When Youngho finished talking to Niky, he looked at Eriksson who was grinning. Youngho asked him why he was smiling.


    ¡°I can see your intention of calling the client in front of me. You wanted to show me the client¡¯s reaction, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes I think I should show my sincerity in business deals. I¡¯m not selling mine or doing it for my own good. I hope there¡¯s no misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not interested in what¡¯s going behind a deal at all. The only question we ask in the first ce is who is going to bring us the deals. It¡¯s got to be someone we trust.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like no matter how tempting the deal is, you won¡¯t take it if you don¡¯t like the person who introduces it to you.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. There are always risks to a deal. I don¡¯t even look at the details if it is from someone I am not sure of. That¡¯s the rule.¡±


    Since the Information Agency¡¯s businesses depended on correct information, it was too risky to deal with unknown clients. Wrong deals could shake the whole organization. The agency only dealt with clients when they were thoroughly verified and trusted, and when the verification process was done, the agency could make bold moves to make deals.


    This was why when Youngho sold Niky¡¯s gold bars recently to the agency, the agency easily paid Youngho 20 percent of the total price in advance just by looking at the picture of the ship loading the box of gold bars. Youngho was trusted by the Information Agency. He was ttered to hear Eriksson.


    ¡°There will be no remarkable profit or loss in each party of the transaction. Both the buyer and seller would have a fair deal. If the buyer thinks he had bought it at a high price, he would not keep the secret, so we always have to offer a satisfying deal for both parties. Our organization is always thinking about those cases.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can understand. I¡¯ll be happy to open up my wallet when I think I¡¯m benefiting from a deal.¡±


    ¡°Lee, there will be a day when you will buy from our clients. I look forward to that day.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m open to decent deals.¡±


    ¡°Some of our clients have pretty good things, even though they have an entric personality. Anything you say, I¡¯ll get it for you.¡±


    Atst, Eriksson was in business with Youngho. Youngho had only been a middleman of their deals, but he had never jumped directly into the purchase market. Eriksson¡¯s note meant that the Information Agency now saw Youngho as someone who had the ability and funds to buy their clients¡¯ products.


    ¡°Do you also sell small things?¡±


    ¡°If anything is hard to get from the public market, just tell us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely hard to get in the market...¡±


    ***


    There was Zeynep Wine who was a distributor in Frankfurt. It was run by Cho Sang-chun, Youngho¡¯s college friend and brother-inw. Apparently, Zeynep Wine was selling like hotcakes now for its outstanding taste.


    The store on the first floor of the office building was crowded with consulting staffs and buyers. There were now more than ten employees working in the distributor.


    Sang-chun was so busy that he did not notice Youngho who just walked into the store. After finishing his consultation with a buyer, he weed Youngho as he saw him.


    ¡°You¡¯re here for the meeting. Has it been a month already?¡±


    ¡°Whoa, our wine¡¯s doing so great in Europe. The sales here might exceed sales in the Russian market.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still far away. Maybe next year or so.¡±


    Considering the confidence in his voice, it seemed that it was not far from the day when Zeynep Wine would be able to overtake mass-produced, cheap wines in the market.


    It was premium-quality wine that was sold in Europe, and the vor was different from that of short-term aged wines.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hire more salespeople. If you¡¯re here all the time as a boss, your staffs will be intimidated.¡±


    ¡°Europeans don¡¯t care about such a thing. They rather like me being here helping them since it¡¯s busy.¡±


    ¡°You managed to settle well even though wines from Southern Europe are popr here. You did a great job.¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t taste good, would you buy it? It¡¯s the quality of our wine that¡¯s promoting itself.¡±


    Since oak barrel manufacturing factory was on Zeynep Farm, wine factory often changed oak barrels in the process of making it, and storing the wine in a cave cer added quite a nice naturally matured taste to the wine. Many said that drinking Zeynep Wine was like a treasure hunt because each bottle had a different taste rather than a uniform taste. The wine had an uncanny charm to it that was appealing to many wine lovers.


    The American buyer who had just consulted with Cho Sang-chun and left the store was that case. Saying that wine produced in the Caucasus tasted rough, but its natural taste was far ahead than wines from other regions. He wanted to import some to the States.


    ¡°I stopped him because he wanted to bring a high quantity for a starter. To be honest, I¡¯m not confident of our wine against the ones produced in California, Australia, and South America.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s working in Turkey, too.¡±


    ¡°Americans have different taste preference. It¡¯s hard for a premium wine to settle in a ce where there are a huge selection of low-cost wines.¡±


    ¡°You should arouse their vanity. They have blind admiration for Europe. Georgia was the first ce to make wine historically. Let¡¯s try to make a mark on the fact that the Caucasus is the origin of the wine.¡±


    ¡°Shall we hold a tasting in the middle of New York City?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you, general manager.¡±


    If the wine was slowly being recognized by Europeans, who were known for their picky pte, there was nothing to fear about the U.S. market. Many Americans were also wine lovers.


    Michael of the European chapter was a great example of that. He was also a heavy wine lover. He would be retiring from the CIA soon, and it would be a lot of fun to have him serve as the general manager of the U.S. distributor.


    ¡°Hey, hold that thought. I have a perfect person for the U.S. market.¡±


    ¡°If you already know someone who knows the U.S. market well, that would be awesome.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a real sales genius.¡±


    Having served as the head of the U.S. intelligence agency¡¯s European chapter, he was quite good at managing connections. He would do well in sales with such connections.


    ***


    ¡°Hey, You haven¡¯t left here yet?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Chief. You should go a little easy on the staffs here, or they¡¯re not going to show up at your funeral.¡±


    ¡°Come on. I want to live in peace when I retire. I won¡¯t make theme to my quiet, rural farm anyway.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to make you sick if you stay in a quiet farm all of a sudden just because you retired. You¡¯ve been working hard in crowded cities all your life. So, I¡¯vee up with a solution for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. I said I¡¯m going to live a quiet and peaceful life after my retirement.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have to lift your finger. You¡¯ll work through the phone.¡±


    Michael was anxious to hear what Youngho was about to say.


    ¡°Lee, why are you beating around the bush? Spit it out.¡±


    ¡°What do you think of Zeynep Wine?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a delicious wine. I¡¯m only going to drink this from now on.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way to drink it for free all your life.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like you to be the sole distributor of Zeynep Wine in the U.S. Annual sales will exceed tens of millions of dors. I don¡¯t think I can leave it to anyone but you. I came here because you were the only one I could trust.¡±


    ¡°The CIA won¡¯t be happy to find out about our rtionship.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be a problem at all. Can¡¯t you even meet old colleagues after your retirement just because you were a CIA agent? You¡¯re only taking a wine distribution business. There¡¯s no harm in this.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s persuasion, Michael¡¯s eyes were slightly shaken.


    Living in a big city sounded quite attractive rather than being stuck on a farm in a rural area.


    ¡°Do you think I can do sales well?¡±


    ¡°The delicious Zeynep Wine will do its sales itself.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I guess I¡¯ll be indebted to you for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s wrong with that? It¡¯s a gift for your old age.¡±


    ¡°Is this a gift? This is a deal.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for taking it.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t given you permission yet. Shouldn¡¯t you have to ask your wife¡¯s opinion first?¡±

 Chapter 385 - The Coronation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 385: The Coronation (1)</h4>


    The wheat in the field turned yellow as the harvest season was slowly approaching.


    Wheat¡¯s growth rates ranged from 95 to 110 days, but under climate conditions in Kazakhstan, usually, four to five months were needed until wheat was fully grown for harvest.


    The autonomous state¡¯s farming was mostly done by machines, so manpower was not hugely needed even in the harvest season. However, the residents of the state were extremely busy. Nicky and Kim Chun were busily going around and ordering people what to do because the coronation ceremony would be held right after the harvest.


    The event was supposed to be simplified, but the state needed to look clean and usible due to the mediapanies visiting from all over the world for the ceremony. Youngho thought they were making a fuss about it, so he asked them to keep everything low profile.


    ¡°Prince consort, it¡¯s a coronation that happens once every few hundred years. How can you be negligent? Residents are also very proud of the fact that this event is being held in the state.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Boss. The government has also informed that some will attend the ceremony as special envoys. Especially, when broadcasters and newspaper reporters wille, they will choose only the worst to report rather than the best, so we need to be prepared thoroughly. If you want to help, just stay still. We¡¯ll take care of this.¡±


    Youngho said a word and received ten words in return. There was a bigger problem, but they did not care about it. A coronation ceremony would require subsequent conferment of a title which apparently no one was interested in.


    The Hotel near the Arirang Airfield was also opened now, and the medical school buildings and general hospital were now being rushed for their grand opening. The medical school¡¯s dormitory was already filled with talented students from all over the country. The medical school had recruited 30 students out of the 50 entrance quota from all over Kazakhstan as the first year¡¯s enrollment, so thepetition was quite fierce. 20 were recruited from the autonomous state¡¯s applicants.


    In the beginning, there were no applicants because Kazakhstan was a ce where being a doctor was not preferred as one¡¯s job. Who would endure to study for a long time when the society did not appreciate their hard work enough? To be a doctor, students would have to go through a six-year course of preparatory schooling, an internship period of one year, and a four-year period of a major studying period. A total of eleven years was needed in order to be a doctor who was treated the same as an ordinary civil servant, so the job of a doctor in Kazakhstan was often avoided. However, when Arirang Autonomous State took the lead in providing high-end medical services with its general hospital that was about to be opened, Kazakh students who wanted to go into the medical field were highly encouraged to apply for medical school.


    The state was a ce where construction took ce all year round, but the city area where the administrative office was located, the residential area, and the pce of the Archduke family was finished and fully functioning as a city.


    The newly built farming viges were also getting finished. It was a bit bleak to see only houses in the empty fields. There was much to talk about the dreary scenery of grass-free farming viges. Some suggested dying the harvest or advancing the coronation, saying the state looked too bleak. However, it was ridiculous to slow down the harvest. It was nonsense to ruin this year¡¯s farming because of a coronation ceremony.


    The leadership was gathered in the conference room to talk about this issue.


    ¡°It¡¯s already a deste ce, and the wheat fields are saving the face of the state. Deferring the harvest for a few days doesn¡¯t mean all the grains will fall off, right?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of being seen by others? We¡¯ll get heaven¡¯s wrath if we spoil the state¡¯s hard-earned grain.¡±


    This remark was made by Kim Sung-chan, the elder of the Koryoins.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we put off the harvest a little near the city center.¡±


    ¡°People will think that we¡¯ve already finished the harvest, not a deste ce. We need to do the harvest and the coronation as scheduled.¡±


    ¡°That kind of peripheral issue doesn¡¯t really matter. When the coronation is over, the Archduchess will really be on her throne. Do you want her to live alone with no vassals? It¡¯s more important to discuss that.¡±


    It was Old Niksic who scratched on Youngho¡¯s itchy spot with his point. Even in a perfunctory way, a ceremony to award a nobleman¡¯s title was necessary to save the state¡¯s face.


    The city center¡ªwhere the administrative office was located¡ªwas surrounded by grasnds and trees, so it did not look so dreary even after the harvest. Nevertheless, people were obsessive about grass and trees. They carried important meaning here. It was the people in West Kazakhstan who prioritized such greens more than anything since they did not want to hear that the region was a deste ce.


    The leadership group finally reached apromise to hold a coronation ceremony while carrying out the harvest. The coronation was scheduled a week ahead of its original date, but everyone seemed satisfied.


    ***


    The issue of giving the nobility titles, which was mentioned as ament by Niksic, was resolved without much disagreement. Though it was symbolic, the senior members of the autonomous state agreed in one voice to give Chief Niksic and Elder Kim Sung-chan the title of viscount since they served as the centerpiece of Serbian and Koryoin groups.


    The heads of the remaining groups would be given the title of baron, while those who were given special duties would be receiving the title of Knight of the Carpet.


    Vaso, who yed the role of a steward of the Archduchess, was also confirmed to be given the title of bar.


    ¡°Oh, Baron Park, you are here!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re seriously creeping me out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only calling a baron, baron.¡±


    When Cha In-soo called him Baron, Park Jong-il freaked out. Heined that his body would shrivel up in awkwardness when his title would be awarded by Fatima after the coronation. Since he was pretty close to Fatima as he knew her from when she was young, he did not ever want to call her the Archduchess and receive a title from her.


    ¡°How should I manage my facial expressions in front of her? She¡¯s been calling me oppa for so long. I regret following Youngho to Istanbul¡¯s flea market. If you call me a baron one more time, I will give up the position of the head of the Intelligence Department.¡±


    ¡°Hong Sung-ki is jealous of your spot. He¡¯d be happy to hear that you¡¯re quitting.¡±


    As In-soo continued to tease him, he got more frustrated.


    ¡°Youngho, we don¡¯t need such titles to work here. It¡¯s so cheesy that I can¡¯t live with it.¡±


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s decided at the leadership conference because we need to get the right bnce in the state. Why are you acting all weird over this? No one is saying anything about it.¡±


    ¡°European people don¡¯t mind such things, but when did we ever have this happen in Korea?¡±


    ¡°Study a little. During the Korean Empire era, our country also had titles like that. You might not like it, but your wife must be very proud of you.¡±


    Karajan was an Azerbaijani. She must know what these titles meant. Since she would be called Baroness because of Jong-il¡¯s title, she would kick him out of the house if he refused to receive the title.


    Many Europeans would be proud of receiving noble titles. In the case of the British royal family, they often held ceremonies to proudly award titles to figures that made their country shine.


    Once the titles were decided, the state hurried to send invitations to mediapanies of different countries. Any mediapany that received a nice invitation that had the panoramic view of the Arirang Autonomous State bearing the emblem of the Archduke family would be curious to see what this was all about. It would be quite an issue that a forgotten Serbian Archduke family was having a coronation ceremony in the 21st century, especially when it was not being held in the Balkan Penins but in a ce called the Arirang Autonomous State in Kazakhstan. The state would have been known to the world recently when a wedding with the Danish royal family was announced, but a coronation would be something else.


    ***


    Suh Min-seok was hovering around Youngho as if he had something to say but he was hesitating. Youngho had to ask what was up with him.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s all right.¡±


    ¡°Why are you acting so nervous like that?¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re officially the prince consort of the state, what will happen to us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d still be my secretary. Did anyone say that he¡¯s going to kick you out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking at different cases of royal families. I don¡¯t think anyone should be in charge of the secretary of a royal family, especially when he doesn¡¯t hold the right title.¡±


    He had a point, but it seemed that he also had some self-interest in receiving a title.


    ¡°Why? Do you want a knighthood or something?¡±


    ¡°What kind of title would I be able to get? I¡¯m a mere secretary. I just don¡¯t want to cause a problem for you.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think that far. We shouldn¡¯t have problems with our foreign activities. I¡¯ll talk to the Archduchess and get this knighthood down.¡±


    When Youngho replied to him easily without showing any signs of concern, Suh Min-seok was at a loss. It was such an honor and something to boast about to the future generations. Usually, it was given to someone who had achieved great things for their country, but in Min-seok¡¯s case, he had to have a usible title because he yed the role of Youngho¡¯s official secretary. Of course, Kim Il-kwon, the chief of staff, should be given such a title, but he did not have any reason to present himself in official events because he imed to be the shadow of Youngho. So, Min-seok would the one to bear the title.


    Kim Chun was more than happy to receive the title of baron than the title of themissioner. Honor was more precious than having small power. He almost fainted when he was told that he would be a baron.


    There was no one in his family who held such a high title before. He was only a mere teacher of a middle school in Atyrau and became a travel guide before he met Youngho. Now, he was recognized for his sincerity and diligence that he was now receiving a noble title for that. It meant a lot for him.


    ¡°Boss, do you think I can be like a nobleman?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? You are already a nobleman although you didn¡¯t have the ceremony yet. It¡¯s something you earned and not like other noblemen who just inherited it. It¡¯s symbolic, so be proud of it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Koryoins mightugh at me.¡±


    ¡°Since you moved to the state, you¡¯re the citizen of the Arirang State. You¡¯re fully qualified, so don¡¯t be self-conscious about it.¡±


    ¡°What an honor! I should thank my ancestors who came out of Korea to fight for Korea¡¯s independence. They brought me to the right ce where I¡¯m receiving a noble title!¡±

 Chapter 386 - The Coronation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 386: The Coronation (2)</h4>


    Thanks to the coronation, the city area of the Arirang Autonomous State and its surrounding areas had be much cleaner. It looked fresh all the way from the airfield to the city that was renovated. The control tower looked fresh with its newly-painted exterior.


    It was the day when the 12-seater jet arrived. Its size was hugepared to the six-seater jets that the state already owned. It had a range of more than 6,000 kilometers and had a maximum speed of 970 kilometers per hour, which was iparable to the six-seater jets.


    With this huge jet, the state now had transportation that could fly to any city in Northeast Asia as well as to the Europe nonstop. There was a reason for the rush of bringing in the jet. Even though the state had a small poption and had settled in a barrennd, Youngho wanted to show off the state¡¯s wealth.


    ¡°You really should have bought this earlier. I¡¯ve been nagging you to choose a big one since the beginning, but you¡¯ve been so stubborn that you¡¯re now buying an extra jet.¡±


    ¡°Is it a light ne that the Intelligence Department has been flying around? ¡±


    Jong-ilined even though the Intelligence Department¡ªwhich he was the head of, had been using a six-seater jet as if it belonged to the department.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been using it only because I couldn¡¯t just leave the jet idling around since we bought it anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you need to figure out a way to receive more immigrants. We¡¯ve doubled the size of our state. How are we going to fill it up?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just develop it into grasnd and leave it alone for a while. It¡¯s not going anywhere. What¡¯s the rush?¡±


    If the wastnd was to turn into a grasnd, it would need waterways and reservoirs all over the ce, so it was not something that could be done without enough manpower. In addition, in order to prevent desertification, trees must be nted and artificial hills must be created to change the course of the wind. The state was far short of people who would do the job. That was why Youngho was begging for Jong-il to attract more immigrants.


    ¡°What is the movement of the Koryoins in Uzbekistan?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re rtively well-off, so they won¡¯t need to move. We¡¯ll have a better chance with the Koryoins in Tajikistan.¡±


    ¡°Tell agents to recruit more immigrants in Tajikistan. There are more than 200 remaining houses. We need to fill them up with people.¡±


    Now that the state brought in a mid-sized jet, it had enough to show to the visitors that woulde to attend the coronation. Jong-il said that he would keep the freighter when it returned from Siberia so that it could be disyed for the visitors. Residents were also busy to shop for clothes to wear during the coronation ceremony. All the people went to the city of Atyrau at once on a car ferry to shop.


    ***


    People in Baku were also busy preparing for the coronation ceremony. Szecheny and Zeynep also returned to the farm and snooped around historical museums with Fatima. They were trying to mimic the old traditional clothes and pieces of jewelry for the event. Since it was their first time to have a big, official ceremony as a royal family, they have no idea what to do.


    Even if they wanted to follow the traditions of the Middle Ages, they had not many relevant data, and if they followed the modern way, it would reveal the disconnected history of the Serbian Kingdom. Since it had been such a long time, it was impossible to imitate the old Serbian Kingdom¡¯s traditions.


    Even Chief Niksic returned to Baku to search for old materials, but he could not find anything left since the knights were dragged as ves and most of their belongs had been lost. After a few generations, most of the traditions were forgotten because they were busy making ends meet.


    ¡°I can¡¯t raise my head because I¡¯m ashamed, prince consort. I think I lived in vain.¡±


    ¡°Chief Niksic, you¡¯ve been busy making ends meet. It would be weird if you kept all the artifacts of the Serbian Kingdom after a few hundred years. It¡¯s just a symbolic coronation. Let¡¯s not worry about traditions.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Even though we lost our traditions, we have to start our own tradition from now on. I¡¯m going to have to imitate the one from the traditional Orthodox way because the Serbian Patriarch is going to visit us.¡±


    ¡°I heard he couldn¡¯te because he¡¯s too old. Can he make it?¡±


    ¡°It was just an excuse not toe. When I asked him, he said that the traveling cost was a problem, but he¡¯d be d toe. So, I think we should offer him our jet.¡±


    ¡°Of course we should.¡±


    The Serbian Orthodox headquarters¡ªbased in Bucharest, Romania, had about 10 million followers. But since most of them were very poor in southeastern Europe, the church was financially not supported well. The patriarch had to rely on his followers¡¯ thin wallets, which made him feel ufortable traveling around. It was great that the state had enough airnes to provide for the patriarch.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to make some donations to the Serbian Orthodox Church from now on.¡±


    ¡°How generous of you to think that when you¡¯re not a religious person, prince consort. If you do that, the Orthodox Church will actively help out with our state¡¯s future events.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t ignore the traditions of Serbians if we¡¯re going to take the Archduke system. Our history begins now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just thankful for your consideration. It¡¯s a great deal of luck for us Serbians to have met you. I don¡¯t have any more wishes now.¡±


    ¡°You should take care of your health now, Chief Nikisic. There¡¯s still a lot of work for you to do here.¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to lose since I¡¯m already old. Ask me anything, and I¡¯ll serve you with all of my strength.¡±


    From the standpoint of Niksic, he had no more wishes since he was now about to watch the old Serbian Kingdom¡¯s rebirth with the Archduke¡¯s coronation ceremony. The descendants of the knights had waited and waited for generations to see this day, and the fact that he was given a formal title as a knight¡ªwas exceedingly rewarding for his lifetime of waiting and endurance.


    ***


    ¡°Brother, the Danish royal family would like to send a congrattory delegation to the state. What should we do?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t send an invitation, but they¡¯re going to attend?¡±


    The fact that the Danish royal family still wanted to attend without an invitation was quite surprising since the state had concluded that it would not send an invitation to any European royal family.


    It was nothing to be thankful to the Danish royal family for their willingness to attend the ceremony. It could be misunderstood by other European royal families for leaving them out from an important event.


    ¡°Tell them that it¡¯s an internal event. They¡¯ll understand if you say that it could be a gossip since we didn¡¯t send out invitations to other royal families.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll try to persuade them. It doesn¡¯t matter if Princess Isabees in as my date, does it?¡±


    ¡°Yep, there¡¯s nothing wrong with the princess¡¯ visit.¡±


    If an invitation was sent to other royal families but they did not send an appropriate delegation or an attending group in return, it would be embarrassing to the autonomous state. That was why the state had given up sending out invitations to them since it was not sure that if other royal families would recognize the birth of a new royal family. Not to mention, the state had no interactions with other royal families yet whatsoever. Youngho did not want the state to be taken as begging for its approval.


    ¡°The executives at the Danish Shipyard said they would attend.¡±


    ¡°Of course they shoulde. If they don¡¯te even after receiving an invitation, that would be mere rudeness.¡±


    Only businesses with economic ties to the Arirang Autonomous State were invited to the event this time. Of course, the Danish Shipyard was included in the list since Youngho and Szechenyi¡¯s investmentpany was the shipyardpany¡¯s major shareholder.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost tired because they let me know every time there is a ship order these days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the management is very nervous right now. Even though we said we were a partner, we became a major shareholder so quickly, and that must be overwhelming for them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They were hoping that you¡¯d get involved in the management soon.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯re shocked that you¡¯ve won two more icebreaker orders recently. They couldn¡¯t make it through all their efforts, but you¡¯ve won six orders in a short period of time. Even the dock that had been shut down was restarted now. They¡¯re expecting that good changes will happen when you involve the management.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t get many orders for icebreakers anymore, but I have a few people who might be interested in ordering freighters and ferries. If they won¡¯t, we can order ships for Arirang Shipping from the shipyard.¡±


    As the volume of shipments had increased due to rumors that Arirang Shipping had be specialized in non-regr goods shipment, Jong-il had beenining that more vessels were needed for the shippers¡¯ high demands.


    Although Arirang Shipping was a little bit burdened by its debt, Youngho could help out with thepany¡¯s finance if needed. Even if thepany bought used ships and let the Danish Shipyard repair them, thepany would appreciate it. Until now, the used ship market was flooded with sales to dispose of ships that had been held due to the financial difficulties of many shippingpanies.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be involved in the management of the shipyard for the time being. We may have to bear the brunt of the slump. Tell them you¡¯re just happy as an investmentpany for now.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve grown so excited about you. The union is also very favorable to us. They want us to be in the front line.¡±


    ¡°They said that they maintained their reputation through cooperation with thebor union. I guess now they¡¯re being dragged by the union. How bad on earth was their management?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably why they trust you.¡±


    ¡°I acknowledge the hard work of the workers, but I don`t want to bring them into management. Ask them to do their best in each other¡¯s respective field. Inform the union about my management policy.¡±


    It seemed that thepany was having a hard time due to the neglectful management, which made thepany borrow the union¡¯s funds, and now it was being swayed by the union. Still, it was also funny thatbor union with low expertise was involved in the management of the shipyard. Although it may be a dichotomous idea that was distinguished between management and workers, Youngho had the idea of respecting each other¡¯s field of expertise. Ifbor union wanted to manage thepany¡¯s own business despite having received the privilege of all kinds of legal and institutional devices to protect themselves, it would be like taking advantage of the power of the majority.


    Such a right of authority was a discouragement to entrepreneurs. Workers andbor unions could only exist when there was apany in the first ce. If there were such signs at the Danish Shipyard¡ªhe was about to take their hands off from thepany.


    Many people in the third world were still dying out of poverty and unemployment, and if people in the world¡¯s best-living countries practiced their right of authority bybor union power, Youngho would not stand it. He would rather shut down thepany. Now that he was bing the official prince consort of the Arirang Autonomous State, he wanted to act like a real one even in businesses.

 Chapter 387 - The Coronation (3)

    <h4>Chapter 387: The Coronation (3)</h4>


    These days, European royal families rarely held the coronation ceremony.


    Great Britain was the only country to hold coronation ceremonies, which had long been forgotten in people¡¯s minds since it was already decades ago.


    This meant that the European royal families would only survive as a symbolic existence. Even so, there was still a raucous royal ceremony that still persisted. It was a wedding ceremony.


    Although the coronation of the Arirang Autonomous State was a week away, the media was paying unusual attention to the state. Mediapanies from all over the world crowded into the state since people were interested in the Serbian Archduke family that was about to marry the Danish royal family.


    They filmed different scenes of the autonomous state including Countryside Force soldiers training and working, and of the women soldiers who recently joined the force. Naturally, the maritime police work of the state was also highlighted. The Kazakh government¡¯s decision to delegate maritime police affairs to the autonomous state¡¯s own force meant that the autonomous state was recognized as a capable partner of the Kazakh government.


    It seemed they were interested that the state was ying a part in the military affairs of Kazakhstan. As the coronation should be focused rather than the military part, the state decided to take an interview because the issue needed some rification andment.


    The follower couple was upset as the media¡¯s attention was getting out of their hands.


    ¡°Mr. CEO, the enthusiasm of the press is high, but it¡¯s only illuminated in a strange way. It¡¯s a problem because they think that our state is some sort of a secret weapon of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re indeed a secret weapon.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to pay attention to the coronation, but they¡¯re only focused on exposing our military power.¡±


    ¡°Which country¡¯s media is primarily interested in our military force?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mostly European tabloid newspapers and Asian media. There¡¯s also the Chinese media.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never sent an invitation to the Chinese side?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bother to stop them because they already had a bureau in Kazakhstan. I didn¡¯t want to cause trouble.¡±


    Youngho thought that it was a great chance to y with the press.


    ¡°Really? First, schedule an interview with each mediapany. I¡¯ll take care of them.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I will.¡±


    ¡°Do they know us as Koryoins?¡±


    ¡°They probably do.¡±


    Youngho did not expose his identity as Korean. He was known here as a Koryoin businessman. That was because this would give him more freedom in doing businesses around Central Asia and the Caucasus regions. It was more convenient for him this way.


    It was rumored that the Arirang Autonomous State was a ce where Serbian immigrants and Koryoin people¡ªthat had been scattered in Central Asia gathered naturally to reim the wastnd. And it was known that the autonomous state was only granted by the Kazakh government due to its great contribution to economic development in Kazakhstan.


    ***


    Youngho met each presspany and had an interview with them individually.


    The invitations were issued not only to the regr press but also to the European newspapers, which were heavily sold in tabloid editions, so Youngho had interviews with them as well. Since the coronation ceremony in a Central Asian county, which was a small part of the political circle; it would not be issued in major presspanies, tabloid newspapers, which mainly dealt with the gossip of celebrities, were also invited. Yellow newspapers focused their time on asking questions only about Youngho and Fatima¡¯s rtionship because the state was such a dull and uninteresting ce, while regr newspaperpanies focused on the sensitive areas of how the state would maintain rtions with the Kazakh government if it kept its Archduke system.


    The Chinese media, which was scheduled to have Youngho¡¯sst interview, focused on whether the autonomous state¡¯s defense capabilities were too excessive for its poption. In short, it asked if the Arirang State was a second militarypany of Russia. China¡¯s media outlets were all controlled by Communist Party-controlled news agencies, so it was the same as if the Chinese government was reacting sensitively about the autonomous state¡¯s military power. It was kind of funny since China boasted more than 1 million troops but it was pointing out that the state¡¯s military power which was only about 200 people.


    What the Chinese media was concerned about was the existence of high-tech weapons in the state. In spite of the small number of troops, dozens of thetest model light-armored vehicles were all over the state, and it was quite questionable.


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m going to have to step up the inspection in the future. We need to mobilize all of the light-armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to. They¡¯re just going to see us as a group that¡¯s a little suspicious.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan insisted that the state should show off all of its force.


    ¡°You know who¡¯d believe that there¡¯s a vige like this out of nowhere? Especially when we¡¯re equipped with an airfield and a wharf, they must think that Russia is hiding something.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯d doubt that too since most of our residents are vic Serbians and the Koryoins.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s military and weapons systems were the same as the Russian military¡¯s and had thetest Russian-made fighter jets, which were not in China. So, China considered Kazakhstan as Russia¡¯s satellite country. This made the Chinese government think that the state was a strategic base of Russia too.


    China was still bringing in and using the engines of fighter jets from Russia, but Russia had not handed over itstest weapons to China, no matter how much China was willing to pay.


    ¡°You mean they think we¡¯re the second militarypany of Russia?¡±


    ¡°Tell them to imagine. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be absurd when it turns out to be false, but they¡¯ll at least be on high alert for now.¡±


    ¡°Man, this is getting more and more interesting.¡±


    Park Jong-il was squinting and thinking about something. Such a look could indicate either absurd or unexpected thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to make China and Russia go against each other. It¡¯ll be quiet here if the two growl at each other.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You know Russians are also touching on the Russian group residence area along the border with Ukraine. There¡¯s a same movement of Russia in the industrial city north of Kazakhstan. Agent Smith at the embassy told me, and the Kazakh government seems to be very anxious, too.¡±


    About 24 percent of Kazakhstan¡¯s poption were Russians, and most of them lived in cities near the border areas. The government was worried that it would have to surrender its territory near the northern border if the Russians insisted on independence. In order to prevent that, Russia¡¯s nerves had to be diverted.


    For Russia, affairs with China was the most sensitive issues, so using Chinese card was the best way, but there was no way how to make it happen.


    ***


    The coronation ceremony would be held in front of the Archduke¡¯s Pce under the auspices of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It was because the Orthodox Church of the state was so small that it was not suitable for such a grand ceremony. The tform was already in ce, and after looking at the work of putting chairs on it, Youngho made his way to the airfield. There were still three days left until the coronation.


    He nned to visit the presidential pce in Astana to have a demonstration of using drones. For Youngho, the coronation did not mean much, so other work came to his priority first. He was also curious about the Russian border area story that he heard from Park Jong-il and he needed to know what the president thought about the issue.


    The square of the presidential pce was crowded with many people. Pictures that were just taken by a few drones were being transmitted to arge monitor where the president and military leaders were watching.


    Military officials¡ªwho had seen several attempts; such as raising the altitude and lowering it, eximed. As the scene that would be seen in movies unfolded before them, they had no choice but to admire it.


    ¡°Your Excellency, the drones are flying outside Astana. You¡¯re looking at the situation from about 10 kilometers from here.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try to lower it down, where there¡¯s a herd of cows.¡±


    ¡°If you do, the cattle will run away, surprised by the noise of the machine.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you tone down the noise?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t do anything with drones of that size. If it gets too small, it would be useless for having a short range. But rather, the noise will have the effect of preventing enemies from moving.¡±


    ¡°How do you guys think?¡±


    When the president asked each militarymander, they all reacted favorably to using drones as military purposes. And everyone was surprised when the drones showed a close-up video of a Chinese vige living in a mountain valley along the border.


    Recently, when the autonomous state decided to use female soldiers to monitor drone activities, there was a high increase in the number of female soldiers. It seemed that the Kazakh military also liked the idea of using women soldiers for such nobatant jobs.


    The president smiled contentedly when opinions were thrown in..


    ¡°Deliver the drones in consultation with the military.¡±


    President Nazarbayev finally asked Youngho to supply drones for the country¡¯s military.


    ¡°Of course, sir. I¡¯ll be d to do that. By the end of the year, we¡¯ll be developing drones that will carry 100 kilograms of weight easily. If that happens, you will be able to carry the supplies for the subordinate force with ease.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then, it¡¯d be perfect if their flight range could be increased.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still a limit to flying distance but I¡¯ll try harder to improve that.¡±


    ¡°I only saw the drone as a little toy, but I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d take our military power to the next level. That was a good suggestion, Lee. Thank you for your haste, despite being busy preparing for the coronation.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir. This is my job too. It¡¯s a lot easier for the state when Kazakhstan is stable.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan will always think of peace first. So forget about the conversation we hadst night. There¡¯s no way to win against someone who¡¯s greedy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, sir.¡±


    Youngho arrived yesterday and had a private conversation with the president. When he was worried about the move of Russia¡¯s group residence city near the northern border, the president said that he would just give the territory to Russia. It was because Kazakhstan could notpete by force against Russia. The only way was to give thend first and seek a future. He said he would sharpen his knife of revenge while strengthening the country¡¯s military power. Saying that Kazakhstan needed the help of the Arirang Autonomous State, he grasped Youngho¡¯s hand.

 Chapter 388 - The Coronation (4)

    <h4>Chapter 388: The Coronation (4)</h4>


    The procedure for the coronation of the Archduchess waspleted quite soon.


    She was not a king or emperor, so it was a little too much to do a coronation for her, but the state used it anyway since there was no proper event to dere her Archduchess title. It ended in a moment by putting a small crown on her head.


    As Fatima went up to the front; the patriarch¡¯s prayer and short Archduke oath went on, and it ended with the patriarch¡¯s sprinkling of essence on her hands and head, and a crown that symbolized the Archduke. Compared to the state¡¯s preparation and efforts for this moment, the event was so simple and short. The ungainly dressed participants were also frustrated by the fast-paced process of the ceremony because the residents had been waiting for this moment for years.


    ¡°This is so nd. I thought there was going to be more emotions and maybe shedding a tear too.¡±


    Jong-ilmented as the event ended so quickly.


    ¡°I¡¯m also dumbfounded. Is every coronation like this?¡±


    Youngho also answered thoughtlessly as he still was in a shock. The moment he had been waiting and waiting just passed, and it seemed to be in vain. This may have felt like a year for Fatima since she was the person who this ceremony was for, but viewers were so overwhelmed by the simple ceremony.


    ¡°All coronation must be like this. You know, the patriarch wouldn¡¯t miss the procedures. He can¡¯t dy the process intentionally.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because... I¡¯m sorry the state had worked so hard to show off our state and the coronation to the media. Still, newspaper reporters and cameramen are quiet.¡±


    Although the event was not held to just show-off to the world, it still would be great if the press caught great scenes for the public to see.


    Despite the short ceremony, it was quite sessful since Fatima was given her Archduchess title officially after all, which was the essence of the event. And also, the residents of the state were thrilled for her. When Fatima marched to the stage and descended from it, all people cheered for her enthusiastically even non-Serbian descents. They shouted, ¡®hail to the Archduchess!¡¯ in one voice. Even the road was blocked by the crowd who wanted to touch the garment of their Archduchess.


    It was the atmosphere, and the crowd psychology, that made all people cheer for her. Although the existence of the Archduchess might not mean anything to Koryoins and other ethnic groups in the state, they still sympathized with the Serbian residents since they were all on one ship called the Arirang Autonomous State now. They were proud of their state that could hold such a remarkable ceremony in this modern century.


    The broadcasters were also surprised when the crowd¡¯s enthusiasm seemed to have gone too far as they even turned fanatic. In the 21st century, such a sight was rarely seen, so they were running around and pressing their camera shutter trying not to miss a moment.


    At the end of the coronation ceremony, all members of the nobility including Youngho and other people in the leadership position or who made achievements for the state. They were all appointed by the Archduchess herself at the podium in front of the Grand Pce. Youngho was given the title of duke for his position as the prince consort.


    Giving of the nobility titles was held in front of all the people of the autonomous state. It was to show them that their hard work could earn them such titles too.


    When the ceremony was over, Fatima delivered short words of appreciation and officially dered the Archduke system of the Arirang Autonomous State. Then the residents cheered and burst into tears.


    The moment¡¯s amplified loud shouts filled Youngho¡¯s entire body to the point where he could feel his hair stood straight. For a moment, he felt something passing through his body. When the unparalleled power started from the lower abdomen and prated the whole body, he was dizzy but managed to hold on because he could not lose his consciousness in front of the whole state. It was a very long time for Youngho, but it was only a sh in the real world.


    People shout, ¡®Hail the Serbian Grand Duchy!¡¯, seemed to have awakened something inside him, but he had no idea what this sign meant.


    ***


    At the end of the coronation, the festival for the people was held at the courtyard. Youngho also spent his day mingling with the joyful people. Later that day, he and his family went into the pce since it was their official first day of living in the Grand Pce.


    As soon as he put the children to bed and entered the master¡¯s bedroom, he and Fatima crashed in bed. It was only then that fatigue hit his whole body when all the tension of the day was eased. Then he fell into a deep sleep.


    The next day, he woke up early in the morning by the children¡¯s noise. All the children who woke up were bewildered by the unfamiliar bedroom atmosphere, so they came to the Archduke¡¯s master bedroom.


    Unlike ordinary days, their father and mother were sleeping tight, so they yed in the room. As soon as Youngho got up, they rushed into his arms. Fatima was still fast asleep, breathing evenly. Youngho silenced the children and left the room. Yesterday¡¯s fatigue was gone and he felt particrly refreshed¡ªboth in body and mind.


    In preparation for yesterday¡¯s big event, Szecheny took out his ring and put it on Fatima¡¯s finger knowing that she would be extremely nervous and tired. It seemed her ring had supported her well since she was sound asleep peacefully.


    When Jong-il said he was going to give back his ring to Fatima before the coronation ceremony, she refused to have it back. She asked him to protect the state with the power of the ring since the rings were made to be used for the Serbian Kingdom in the first ce.


    Park Jong-il boasted that he was recognized for his strength and ability by the Archduchess since he was entrusted the ring directly by her. She would not have done that if she did not trust Jong-il¡¯s sincerity because the ring could be misused by personal greed. Saying this, Jong-il was overly excited like a child.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re talking nonsense like never before. It must be a side effect of the ring, you should take it out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, juste clean and tell me you feel bitter. My greatness was just proven. Just know that the owner of the rings put it on me directly, which ispletely different from your case. Since you found out about the rings first, she must have reluctantly agreed for you to use it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Jong-il. Remind me, who was the person who treated me like a crazy person when I was cleaning the rings and leather shoes in the hotel in Istanbul?¡±


    ¡°Oh, prince consort. I didn¡¯t have any ill-intention like you. You bought some kebob to a poor girl who came out to sell the relics of her family in desperation and took the treasures for yourself. I¡¯m different from you.¡±


    Jong-il, who had refused to receive the title of baron before, now insisted that he was the guardian of the Grand Duchy of Serbia.


    ¡°Oh, Great Baron Park, I hope you will give your body and your heart for our great Grand Duchy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, prince consort. Just know that I¡¯ll move in ordance with the will of the Archduchess than the will of the prince consort.¡±


    Jong-il was highly encouraged and motivated to serve the state now since he was given the ring by the Archduchess with a request to use it to protect the state. It must have meant a lot for him.


    ***


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you invite the Korean press to join us, prince consort?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Kim, why are you starting to call me that all of a sudden? Please call me Mr. Lee like before. I can¡¯t take it.¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re officially dered as the prince consort and have even been appointed as a duke, I should respect that instead of calling you Mr. Lee. Also, I feel ttered to have tea with the prince consort.¡±


    H Corporation¡¯s Kim Joo-hyuk came to the pce to meet Youngho. Since Youngho was too busy with the preparation of the coronation, he had not had a chance to meet Kim Joo-hyuk for quite a while.


    The title of the Archduchess only existed as a symbol, and Youngho was doing the official work of Fatima¡¯s position. So, entertaining official guests was Youngho¡¯s job.


    ¡°I intentionally left the Korean press out from the list because I thought it would be too noisy for the Korean press toe in. If I invited them, not only the media but also politicians who had nothing to do with this ce would havee in and out andined about not being treated as honorary guests just because I¡¯m known as a Koryoin. I can¡¯t take that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the Korean government feels sorry for not being invited. Why are you not trying to build a good rtionship with the Korean government?¡±


    ¡°Did the Korean government add a hand to our state? Rather, I helped the Korean economy by exporting and promoting Korean products. There is no reason why I have to bow first because I am Korean. I don¡¯t want to mix words with the government that has neglected the Koryoins in Central Asia and Russia like this.¡±


    Although the Korean government could have helped Koryoins left in Central Asia and Russian regions, it never tried to do so. Youngho became even more disgusted by the stinginess of the government¡¯s efforts to give Koryoins privilege to move back to Korea. Koryoins were treated as foreigners even though they were Koreans.


    Koryoins could speak Korean, and they were proud of their Korean origin and the fact that their ancestors came out of Korea to fight for the independence of Korea¡ªbut the Korean society turned their back against them. They did not aid Koryoins who tried toe back to Korea, and even when they returned to Korea, the Korean public discriminated them for being different.


    Youngho had listened to such sad stories of Koryoins so many times. He only wanted the Koryoins to be at peace in the Arirang Autonomous State instead of trying to reach to Korea.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that the Korean government knows about the existence of Koryoins in the Arirang Autonomous State. Yet, no one from the Korean embassy tried to reach us about this. Since they don¡¯t recognize Koryoins officially, I have no intention to honor the Korean government either.¡±


    ¡°It is a shame that the Korean government had lost your support.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk, who seemed intrigued by Youngho¡¯s remark, asked Youngho if he could introduce H Corporation to Russia¡¯s influential political figure. Because he would not be able to avoid the influence of the Korean government when he was introduced by the government to Russia, he said that he wanted to find another way to get connected to the Russian business market.


    ¡°Is it because Kazakhstan¡¯s market is too small for your corporation?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s part of the reason. I think we can tap into the Russian market with our train technology, but I want to find a usible way.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a Koreanpany in Russia that was treated badly. Why are you asking for my help?¡±


    ¡°I know that it¡¯s hard to run a business without the mafia and powerful politicians on your back. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking for your help.¡±


    ¡°Russia also has world-ss train technology. Do you think it¡¯ll be easy to enter the market and survive?¡±


    ¡°I heard that Chinesepanies are also looking to enter the market recently. That means there¡¯s a market for us too.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll check it out. I have some friends in Russia.¡±

 Chapter 389 - A Stretch (1)

    <h4>Chapter 389: A Stretch (1)</h4>


    An article named ¡®The former Kingdom of Serbia had opened a new history in the name of the Grand Duchy of Arirang in Kazakhstan of Central Asia¡¯ was issued by a prominent newspaperpany after the coronation ceremony. It brought broadcasters from all over the world to the autonomous state. Most of them were yellow journalismpanies that focused on gossips, but the state could not refuse their visits. It was because many people liked to read tabloid magazines with pictures all over the ce.


    Naturally, applicants who wanted to visit the state increased, and the light airnes that carried tourists and reporters came in and out of the state several times a day. Since there were only two hotels with only 140 roomsbined together, visitors of the state had to go through inconvenience. Thus, the state came up with an idea of hosting.


    For the majority of backpackers who visited the state, hotel fees could be overwhelming. Since most of the houses of the autonomous state had plenty of rooms because many farming and ranching families preferred to have many children for theirbor. There were usually one or two empty rooms in their houses. The state decided to offer those empty rooms at a cheap cost for the travelers¡¯ convenience. It sounded like a good idea since travelers would get to experience lives in the autonomous state more closely. Moreover, hosting could be also used to protect the state since residents would be guided to report visitors¡¯ suspicious activities to the Intelligence Department or to the authorities of the state.


    ¡°Prince consort, we should find a cheap amodation option too. Some visitors might not feelfortable staying in a resident¡¯s house.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea, Mr. Commissioner. We can probably take advantage of the sites around the airport.¡±


    Kim Chun did not call Youngho ¡®boss¡¯ anymore but called him ¡®prince consort¡¯ after the coronation ceremony. It was because he was given the title of ¡®baron,¡¯ and it was not usible for a baron to call Youngho a boss. It was the same with the follower couple. The only person who still called Youngho ¡®boss¡¯ was Kim Il-kwon.


    ¡°Now there will be quite a crowd of tourists in the state. Some might be curious about the Grand Pce, and there may be an attempt to infiltrate the pce to see the Archduchess.¡±


    ¡°So, I arranged the ce for the descendants of the knights from Azerbaijan near her. And I¡¯m going to ce the Serbian women soldiers who recently joined the Countryside Force close to Fatima for her security.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s great. If only the men are around, the Archduchess will be ufortable.¡±


    After the coronation, Youngho and his family now had to stay in the pce at all times. The only people who liked to stay in the giant Grand Pce were Youngho¡¯s children and the follower couple. The pce, with plenty of rooms to hide, was like a yground tailored to the children.


    It was quite daunting at first to stay in the giant yet empty pce, but since people including the follower couple; Vaso, who now was the Grand Chambein, and other workers lived there together, it was not so lonely. Also, now that the descendants of the knights from Baku and other women soldiers were going to stay in the pce too.


    The view from the pce was quite nice and open, and Youngho was getting used to living in there. The river was stretched to the north of the state and the central square and residential area were seen in the south. Because the pce was on the highest hill of the state, it looked quite authoritative. The trees around the pce, which had been nted by Niksic and Kim Chun, had grown to shade people who passed by.


    The two insisted to make a magnificent pce, which came with a high cost, but it was worth it since the pce represented the status of the Archduke family. Although the Serbian royal family was not recognized by many now, one day it would be a great pce that everyone would recognize.


    ***


    Among those who attended the coronation was Yaniv. He was staying in the state without returning to Volgograd, even after the event.


    It was to meet Kim Joo-hyuk from Korea¡¯s H Corporation. A Mafia boss was better than a clumsy politician, and since Yaniv had a close connection with Putin, the most powerful man of Russia, Kim Joo-hyuk was eager to make a connection with him.


    Since Yaniv had been getting rid of small businesses, he also wanted to participate in a bigger business. Rather than ying the role of an agency, he wanted to be a shareholder of H Corporation. Both parties seemed to be interested in the benefits of doing business together.


    For H Corporation, having Yaniv as a business partner was like the establishment of H Corporation¡¯s train car business in Russia was guaranteed. Although a foreignpany, locally produced electric trains were considered to be domestic products because it was a good opportunity for Russia to create jobs for people as well as to receive technology transfers.


    When Youngho provided an opportunity for a good joint venture, Yaniv was very happy. Foreignpanies and joint ventures with high technology would also strengthen Yaniv¡¯s position as a businessman in Russia.


    He kept on paying Youngho amission.


    ¡°Lee, I can¡¯t face you like this. I¡¯m sorry that I came here empty-handed, but people would point fingers if I don¡¯t pay you for what you deserve.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Yaniv. I appreciate your visit to the state. What can I ask for more? Also, if it weren¡¯t for your help, I couldn¡¯t have even dared to start doing business in Russia. You¡¯ve been taking care of me for so long. There¡¯s nothing I¡¯ll ask of you.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. Well, let¡¯s do this then. Why don¡¯t I give you some share of the H Corporation¡¯s Russian joint venture?¡±


    ¡°I don`t want to get a share without making an investment. If you let me, I¡¯ll make a fair investment too.¡±


    ¡°You seem to be running quite an amount of cash these days.¡±


    ¡± I have some spare because I don¡¯t have to pour more money into the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll adjust my share with thepany for you. Alright, now that you¡¯ve made a debut to the world, start your aggressive moves, I¡¯ll help you, Lee.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been quiet, but now the Kazakh government is actively supporting us. The reason for inviting mediapanies to the ceremony was to promote Kazakhstan to the world. The president also wants to support the state to improve the country¡¯s image.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very good. Now, put on your wings and soar into the sky. If you need funds, I¡¯ll lend you a hand. Your autonomous state is a real deal. I¡¯ll be d to support it.¡±


    Yaniv had been doubting about spending money on the wilderness, but now, seeing how it turned out to be, he said that he was jealous of the state. He felt a sense of hope as everyone of the state worked together to improve the state.


    ¡°I¡¯m so ttered since you say that, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°Work with Sergey about the H Corporation business from now on. I¡¯m always worried about him because he¡¯s not so bold.¡±


    Since Sergey was a son of his old, deceased friend, Yaniv cared a lot about Sergey. As Yaniv was getting older, he was bing more worried about Sergey. He trusted Sergey and had been relying on him for a long time. So he was asking Youngho to look after him even after he was gone.


    Once a brave tiger whomanded Southern Russia was sitting in front of Youngho looking old and weak. Although he was once the most powerful person in Southern Russia, time was fair to everyone.


    ¡°Brother Sergey is already my family. No matter what happens, our rtionship will never change.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I want to hear. He doesn¡¯t fit in with the mafias, and when I retire, my organization will be attacked from every side. I¡¯ve already distributed my businesses to my closed henchmen to secure my security, but I¡¯m always worried. Mafias are not as loyal as they used to be.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, have you seen the armed forces of our state? If that kind of force is behind him, nothing will happen to Sergey.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Now, the mafia is asking for protection from a civilian. By the way, I¡¯ve always wondered why you¡¯re trying to grow an armed force for yourself. Who on earth are you nning to attack?¡±


    Youngho was momentarily embarrassed by the sudden question. He had no particr enemy. He was only building the military power of the state for protection. Nobody was really hostile to the autonomous state, and it was unnecessary to use money to build up its armed forces.


    ¡°May I say it¡¯s for the sake of peace? I just want to create an awareness that the state is a ce you can easily cross.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean war deterrence?¡±


    ¡°Of course. In the case of Switzend, its neighboring countries didn¡¯t bother to invade it, not because it was great but because they feared that only their power would be weakened to fight against Switzend when there was not much to take anyway.¡±


    ¡°No, I know Switzend is strong, but what about the Arirang State?¡±


    ¡°What about Arirang? We do have our hidden forces.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Is that so? Like disguised cargo ships?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just the tip of the iceberg. Assume that the whole state is a warrior just like Switzend. You¡¯re going to shudder.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s right, Switzend is always perceived as an armed country, and I liked to see its imposing character without begging for peace.¡±


    Peace without power to protect oneself was nothing but a vain attempt. It was an umted experience of world history. Arms¡ªwas an essential element of a nation because peace would notst without power.


    Switzend never begged for peace to the neighboring countries because it already knew that there was no charity in protecting one¡¯s territory.


    History of the Korean Penins also represented that too.


    Knowing that the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War happened to take over the Korean Penins regardless of Korean people¡¯s will, Youngho did not want to repeat that humiliating history in the foreignnd of Kazakhstan again.


    When he exined the history of the Korean Penins as an example, Yaniv nodded.


    ¡°You know there are many weapons avable in Russia too, right? Do you want me to bring some for you?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not an atomic bomb, is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not totally impossible to get that if you really want it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Yaniv. Please don¡¯t run into dangerous things.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no dangerous work for the mafia. Anyway, I¡¯ll try to get you a strong one.¡±

 Chapter 390 - A Stretch (2)

    <h4>Chapter 390: A Stretch (2)</h4>


    ¡°Prince consort, I think we should go to Istanbul because Her Highness has asked us for a few things. There is also an extension of the hotel security contract too, so we¡¯ll have to go there anyway.¡±


    ¡°A business for the securitypany?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Cha said that two hotels had asked for an extension of service.¡±


    ¡°Are you getting paid for your business trips from Mr. Cha?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in the samepany. Why do we get paid separately from him?¡±


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯ve been working unpaid. Zeynep Security Service is Mr. Cha¡¯s business that he runs on his own. Of course, you should charge him for your service.¡±


    ¡°Both Mr. Cha. or Mr. Park doesn¡¯t want to pay us separately. They all say it¡¯s yourpany.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I¡¯ve already given them thepanies. Why are they refusing their chance?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It seemed that the follower couple would never charge Cha In-soo or Park Jong-il for their service. Youngho sent them off. It seemed that his two dear friends would never take thepanies for their own.


    The follower couple was happy to go on a business trip. They were going to take the six-seater jet since they would be buying in some goods for Fatima. Since the 12-seater mid-sized jet was brought in, the six-seater jets had been used to travel anywhere that would take more than two hours to get on a light airne. The light airnes were now used to go to the Atyrau Airport or to patrol by Countryside Force guards.


    The range of patrols was also extended to the Ural River and the coast of the Caspian Sea, which was also weed by the Navy. Because of that, fuel for airnes was provided by the Kazakh Navy. So, jets were frequently used without any pressure. It was much more economical to use a six-seater jet, which was three times faster than a light airne.


    In the autonomous state, time was money. Given that most businesses were scattered all over the ce, it was by no means a luxury to travel on a personal jet considering the poor traffic conditions in the area.


    ***


    Eriksson, the broker of the Information Agency, also attended the recent coronation ceremony. Being a busy person he was, he could only stay for the day, but Youngho still found the time to talk to him in private.


    Eriksson was also surprised by the Arirang Autonomous State. He said that he could not believe how Youngho created such a well-organized urban area in the wilderness in such a short period of time. Although it was a small state, it looked like a state with a bright future.


    ¡°It might sound funny, but you might be able to attract a huge amount of investment just for the dynamic of the autonomous state. If you¡¯re interested in issuing government bonds, please tell me any time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not a country but an autonomous state. How can we issue government bonds? Besides, I hate to be in debt more than anything else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not debt, it¡¯s like safety. The country orpany that has the Arirang State¡¯s government bonds would not let the state go wrong. If they don¡¯t want to make the bonds into scraps of paper, they¡¯re going to try and protect the state.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they ask a lot in return if they put that much effort into helping the state?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a matter of concern forter on. You can eliminate immediate threats and move forward with the bonds.¡±


    After talking about the bonds, Eriksson informed Youngho that Niky and the buyer had exchanged memorandums of understanding on the sale of Niky¡¯s factories in Krasnoyarsk.


    ¡°The seller was satisfied with the amount of money he made from the deal. You yed a big role in this, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Well, I only delivered the seller¡¯s message.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to find any item that¡¯s as special as this. Politically sensitive items are quite advantageous for buyers. Our agency needs to find something like this and please its customers. The leadership group of my organization appreciates your contribution to the group.¡±


    ¡°I`m d to hear that. I jumped in to connect you to the seller because I was eager to get help with the Siberian project from him, but I was a little worried since it was a big deal.¡±


    ¡°The higher-ups of mypany were d to give you what you wanted, so I brought it as a gift to celebrate the coronation.¡±


    Eriksson presented two external data storage devices that were each sized about the palm of his hand.


    ¡°This has a two terabyte capacity. It hasser-rted technology.¡±


    ¡°You managed to get it already?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what we¡¯ve been keeping. My superiors easily agreed to give it to you since it wasn¡¯t a very important technology. They said that they¡¯re willing to offer this level of technology as much as they can in the future for such a great client like you. Please don¡¯t hesitate to ask us if you need anything else.¡±


    The Information Agency did not hesitate to offer the technology Youngho requested. It seemed that thepany had rated the autonomous state very highly as a potential client.


    Even though Youngho could not trust the agencypletely, he wanted to take advantage of it by maintaining a good rtionship as much as he could.


    ¡°Your clients mightin if they find out that you¡¯re giving me exceptional benefits.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a gift from my personal rtionship with you, apart from leaving the US Intelligence Service. Our agency looks forward to keeping our good rtionship with you and the autonomous state. Although our organization is primarily concerned with buying and selling information, we have clients whom we specifically manage, and you¡¯re in that category.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor that you think so highly of me.¡±


    Youngho wondered who the higher-ups of the Information Agency that Eriksson frequently talked of, but he did not bother asking. It was because if he tried to find out about their identities, his rtionship with the Information Agency might not continue.


    ¡°Please thank your superiors for me. Also, tell them that I¡¯d like to work toward the benefits of each other together based on mutual trust.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for taking the small gift with pleasure. There will be a day when you¡¯ll meet with my superiors. They also want to meet you very much. If you start interacting with my superiors, the autonomous state will have a strong background.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to that day.¡±


    Youngho could not help but wonder what kind of people were really running the Information Agency. What he felt whenever he interacted with Eriksson was that he was a strikingly intelligent person. Such brilliant people were working as brokers of the Information Agency which had a faster informationwork than the world¡¯s leading consulting firms. This would mean that thepany¡¯s sub-organizations were probably massive too, but the agency¡¯s true identity was not yet revealed to Youngho. It was surprising that there was a group that was more secretive than the US CIA. It was something to look forward to meeting the leadership group since they were also willing to meet Youngho. Whatever their identity was, he wanted to interact with them as much as he could, unless they were a direct threat to the autonomous state.


    ***


    Niky, the businessman of the South Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, expressed his willingness to repay Youngho for making the deal. His voice on the phone was full of excitement. It seemed that his problem with the authorities in Moscow was resolved.


    In fact, Youngho called Yaniv to ask for arrangements for Niky since those who were in power in Moscow could still bother Niky even though his factories in the city were sold.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I don¡¯t know how to thank you. The deal was negotiated at a proper price. I have nothing in Moscow now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that Mr. Chairman.¡±


    ¡°You mobilized Mr. Yaniv. He yed a big role in this. I¡¯ll thank Mr. Yaniv myself sometime soon.¡±


    ¡°How did you know that? I didn¡¯t tell you about that, and Mr. Yaniv doesn¡¯t expose himself when he works.¡±


    ¡°I was told by the authorities in Moscow. They said that they could not refuse Mr. Yaniv¡¯s request and asked me to make apromise at the proper level.¡±


    ¡°Then let me give you a piece of advice. I want to stop you from contacting him individually. If he knows that he was exposed, he¡¯ll find it ufortable. I¡¯ll take care of it from my side.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I didn¡¯t feelfortable contacting him alone. I¡¯d appreciate it if you would say thank you for me. When the sale isplete, I¡¯ll send you a token of appreciation.¡±


    Many businessmen feared mafia bosses in Russia since they could destroy their businesses easily.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. I didn¡¯t want anything when I decided to help you. Also, I know for sure that you¡¯d also help me with my business in Siberia if asked. I¡¯m only happy because your voice is so bright. I¡¯m fully satisfied with that.¡±


    Youngho wanted something bigger than a meremission or reward since Niky was a person who would benefit in Youngho¡¯s businesses in Siberia in the long run. Knowing that Niky was a businessman who would be willing to pay him even after the deal was over was a great achievement this time. Many other people would be willing to pay when they had a problem, but once it was settled, they tended to hesitate as it was not an urgent matter for them anymore. Sometimes, Youngho had a hard time even getting in touch with them since they were reluctant to receive his call.


    It was natural since everyone loved money. However, such behavior was a temptation to be avoided when doing businesses because no business partners would be around if one acted like that. There was a proverb that said ¡®suffering a big loss in going after a small gain.¡¯ It had been proven many times through different cases in the business and political world.


    ¡°Well, you had a big event, but I didn¡¯t even congratte you. Because my health condition is still not great, I couldn¡¯t visit you, sorry, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Chairman. I know your situation better than anyone else. Please don¡¯t say that. I¡¯ll be back in Siberia soon when I finish some of my work here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please stop by my mansion when you¡¯re here. I prepared a small gift, but I couldn¡¯t deliver it to you. It¡¯ste, but I really want to give it to you, please ept it. In Russia, it is a virtue to give a gift to an acquaintance¡¯s event.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯d be happy to receive it.¡±


    Niky was trying hard to earn Youngho¡¯s favor since he was a capable man with connections to powerful people such as Yaniv. Youngho did not trust anyone in the business world but there was no reason to refuse Niky since he was also quite useful and handy for him too.

 Chapter 391 - A Stretch (3)

    <h4>Chapter 391: A Stretch (3)</h4>


    Since the Arirang Autonomous State was exposed to the media, Youngho had to be more cautious in his actions. It was impossible for him to travel alone because he was the Duke and the prince consort of the Archduchess. However, he did not want to bring a big entourage group every time he went outside the state. He was worried that he must have been taken pictures already by many people not knowingly.


    ¡°What if I get recognize everywhere and someone asked for my autograph?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Your Asian face is not that popr. The reporters can¡¯t even distinguish between you and me, and I get asked to take pictures all the time because they think I¡¯m you.¡±


    ¡°What kind of idiots do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, most of them. So, don¡¯t even worry about it. You are free.¡±


    Jong-il said that Youngho was agonizing over nothing since many westerners find it difficult to distinguish Asians from other Asians. Still, it was funny that the reporters could not even distinguish the prince consort of the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°My face was even on TV and in the papers, yet, they can¡¯t even tell my face?¡±


    ¡°Maybe if they put your face on their wall and look into it every day, they might barely remember it. You know you¡¯re just a in guy.¡±


    ¡°See how you talk to the duke. You¡¯re just a baron, I¡¯ve got to get you punished for that. Anybody out there?¡±


    ¡°Have a good time ying the Medieval alone. I¡¯ve got to go to Almaty now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t juste back from there without good news.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t even get me started. It¡¯s a lot stressful to bring immigrants from Tajikistan than you think. I¡¯m almost going crazy when these people are even trying to bring their farm tools.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already tell them not to pack any belongings?¡±


    ¡°They just don¡¯t trust us enough not to bring their belongings.¡±


    It was heartbreaking to hear that people who were nning to move and settle down in a new ce cherished their farming tools the most even though farm equipment could be bought from anywhere. Living in a ce so poor, they seemed to think that the whole world was like Tajikistan.


    ¡°You said most of them are in ranching, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t even call that ranching. They only raise a few goats and rabbits. All the smart people moved out from there, and the rest of them barely make ends meet. Life is even harder in the border area with Uzbekistan.¡±


    ¡°Are Uzbeks still rioting these days?¡±


    ¡°Yep. You¡¯d wonder why there hasn¡¯t been a war already.¡±


    Because of the boundary lines that were drawn inconsiderately in the first ce by Russia, Uzbek, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan were always in a territorial and ethnic dispute. In particr, many Uzbek people lived in border areas, where bloody shes often took ce and hundreds of victims were killed at times.


    Koryoins as ethnic minorities in the middle of the dispute suffered tremendously by such shes. That was why Youngho decided to help the Koryoin people to move to the autonomous state. The Korean immigrants from Kyrgyzstan were well-coordinated with Serbians, and no one objected to the addition of the state. The major reason for Serbians¡¯ usiblepliance with the state¡¯s policy was Youngho and Fatima¡¯s rtionship. Since the Archduchess married a Korean guy and even had a son with him, they took Koryoins as their brothers, not foreign immigrants.


    Youngho wanted to give hope to the Koryoin immigrants who survived in such a difficult environment. The Arirang Autonomous State would also benefit from its growing poption, and the Koryoin people, who had been scattered around the Central Asian region, would be able to live in a ce where many Koryoins and Koreans lived, which would give them some kind of inner peace andfort. Because they still spoke Korean, the state did not have much troublemunicating with them. They had not given up hope to go back to their homnd someday and kept their traditions andnguage. But now, they would not have to be so sad without a ce to call their own. It was because of the Arirang Autonomous State. Youngho¡¯s empire awaited for them to settle down.


    ***


    Test production of bentonite y had begun, and even the instant noodle factory and Turkish foodpany had begun their operations.


    Turkey¡¯s Eti the foodpany, which had set foot in the state to target the Russian market, began producing civilianbat rations to supply to Siberia.


    Thepany¡¯s original n was to produce snacks such as biscuits, candies, and carbonated drinks, but there was a high demand forbat ration for civil use in Krasnoyarsk. The demand was so high that both factories, one in the autonomous state and one in Atyrau could not amodate the demand sincebat rations were also gaining poprity in Central Asia, in addition to supplying it to the military.


    As the supply ofmb meating in from Turkey was short, Eti even bought themb meat that was produced in the autonomous state. It was good news since the autonomous state was making a lot of money too. Using fresh raw materials directly into the production process resulted in a difference in food quality and taste.


    The freighter docked at Arirang Wharf was being loaded with instant noodles andbat rations. Next to Youngho, Mehmet, the sales director of Eti, grinned in satisfaction while wiping his sweat from time to time. Mehmet was an obese guy. Since Eti was also famous for making diet food, a sales director¡¯s presentation of himself could affect thepany¡¯s sales, but he would not lose weight in spite of the disruption in his business.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I didn¡¯t know that we¡¯d have sess this quickly in the Russian market. It was a divine move to set up a joint factory in the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still quite surprised too. I didn¡¯t know themander of the military unit in Siberia would do sales this well.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get more profit from directly dealing with local wholesalers in Siberia?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t jeopardize my rtionship with themander just to make a few more bucks. Going through him could be more beneficial for us in the long run. The wholesalers of Siberia are tough and unruly as local mafias. It¡¯s too much for us to deal with.¡±


    ¡°It is indeed a great blessing for us to have a connection with the Arirang Autonomous State. Thank you again, Mr. Lee.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s my business too, but we¡¯ll have to work harder. There will be a shortage of raw materials asbat rations will soon be avable in Volgograd. If there¡¯s any supply you can get here, including all kinds of spices, please do so.¡±


    ¡°We really should. It¡¯s also very expensive to transport supplies from Turkey. I¡¯ll discuss it with the head office.¡±


    ¡°And please consider building a local factory in Baku as well. The market in the Caucasus is pretty big.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone over that before, but I¡¯ll consider it only if you are involved in the business.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can help you if yourpany decides to make a factory there. It won¡¯t be so difficult because I have a close rtionship with the president of Azerbaijan.¡±


    ***


    There was a good reason for Youngho in asking about Eti¡¯s intention to set up a food factory in Baku. Azerbaijan was a country that relied on the importation of most of the daily necessity products, so the Turkish foodpany would be weed by many if it was opened in the country.


    Wheat produced in the autonomous state was being exported to Azerbaijan, and it had been supporting the state¡¯s economic growth, so Youngho also wanted to help Azerbaijan.


    Zeynep Farm that produced Zeynep Wine was located in Baku, Azerbaijan, so many officials of Azerbaijan thought that Youngho would never leave the country, but as they heard that Youngho had established an autonomous province in Kazakhstan and held a coronation ceremony, they were freaking out. Especially, Sevan of the Main Police Department who was very anxious. He said that if Youngho asked the president, the Serbian ranch area could even be designated as a special district as well.


    Given the historical fact that descendants of the Serbian knights had lived there for hundreds of years, he said it was not too much to ask. Since the Grand Duchy was already recognized by Kazakhstan, it was not a big issue for Azerbaijan to do the same. Not to mention, it was an opportunity for the country to make a reason for Youngho and the Archduchess, Fatima, to stay in Baku.


    Director Sevan was eager for a reason. It was also a good chance for him to establish his position if he made Youngho settle down, the prince consort of the Grand Duchy of Serbia.


    Another reason was that Sevan felt special about Youngho since he was a great business partner and a friend. Also, they were almost a family since Jong-il married Karajan, who was Sevan¡¯s rtive.


    He offered to apany Youngho if he wanted to make an official visit to the presidential pce in Azerbaijan. So, the process of making a formal visit to Azerbaijan was underway.


    Youngho was going to visit the presidential pce anyway because he had to maintain a close rtionship with Azerbaijan, so he nned to take this opportunity. The high officials of Azerbaijan, who knew Youngho well from his businesses, also agreed to recognize the Grand Duchy of Serbia. Since the president would not ignore the public opinion that was positive toward the autonomous state, it was highly possible that a special district would be granted by the president.


    The first official visit after the Archduchess¡¯ coronation ceremony was decided to be at Baku in Azerbaijan.


    Youngho was bothered by theplicated process of official events and visits after the coronation. There was no way out of this because he did not like to argue with formality. However, he could not make Fatima take responsibility since she dered that she would delegate all her foreign activities to Youngho. Fatima would not be taking a step out of the pce anytime soon.


    He tried to talk to her into stepping up a little bit, but she did not even blink.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t youe with me when I¡¯m visiting a foreign country?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already dered that I¡¯m out of public service. What would happen if the prince consort doesn¡¯t keep his words?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel stuffy in the pce?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too busy decorating the pce these days. So don¡¯t even think about taking me. Alright?¡±


    Only when Fatima moved, the knights, Vaso, and the other servants followed, but Kim Il-kwon and Suh Min-seok were the only two people who aided him for his official foreign visit. Even Kim In-hwa, who became Fatima¡¯s personal secretary now, did not budge. Youngho felt sad, but it was better since he did not have to take a big entourage with him whenever he was on a business trip.

 Chapter 392 - A Stretch (4)

    <h4>Chapter 392: A Stretch (4)</h4>


    The official visit was not a big deal.


    Youngho was only visiting the presidential pce as a duke of the Arirang Autonomous State, not as an individual.


    He had gone there alone before, and the difference was that Kim Il-kwon and Suh Min-seok joined the presidential pce together after registering their names on the official entourage list this time. It was not an event that would be exposed to the media, but a quiet drink of tea at the presidential pce.


    President Aliyev had gotten a little bigger than before. In his 15th year as president, he was considered the same as the king of Azerbaijan. After his father, he served as the president and also yed a role in appointing his wife as the vice president. Still, the public blindly followed him, so it was safe to say that Azerbaijan was an authoritarian state.


    ¡°Prince Consort, wee. It¡¯s been long since I met you.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, please call me Mr. Lee as before. I¡¯m only called prince consort in the Arirang Autonomous State, but outside, I¡¯m only a mere businessman. I am ashamed to be called that.¡±


    ¡°But this is your official visit as a duke of the Arirang State. I don¡¯t want to make a mistake because of our friendship. This won¡¯t be eptable by foreign countries.¡±


    It was funny that a person who appointed his wife and daughters to government posts considered foreign countries¡¯ opinions. Still, the Western press was quiet about him because there was no abuse of human rights or suppression of opposing politicians in Azerbaijan.


    In fact, he and Youngho had a long friendship, so they did not have to be so formal as this. President Aliyev was only being polite because of the eyes around them. As soon as they sat down in his private room, he started to treat Youngho morefortably.


    ¡°I was very disappointed. Did we be so estranged that we couldn¡¯t even be invited to the coronation?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. President, that was an internal event for the local people of Arirang. What brought the press there was the Kazakh government that wanted to revamp its image to the global society. I¡¯ll make sure to send you a formal invitation to the Danish royal wedding ceremony soon.¡±


    ¡°Right, there was also a wedding with the Danish royal family. Of course, you should, I think I deserve to attend the ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Of course. A citizen of Azerbaijan will be the son-inw of the Danish royal family. You should be the guest of honor.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the Danish royal family dislike my presence there?¡±


    ¡°Why does that matter? I¡¯m inviting you as the guest of honor from the groom¡¯s guest list. President Nazarbayev said he wasing, too.¡±


    ¡°Why did the old man step in? Is he still in good shape?¡±


    ¡°I think he¡¯s going to be sitting in power for more than a decade.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been in power since their independence and should¡¯ve stepped down long ago already. I guess he doesn¡¯t have a sessor.¡±


    President Nazarbayev had been a president for 28 years. It was indeed a long time. However, President Aliyev did not fall too far behind since he had been a president for 15 years.


    ¡°Your Excellency, to apologize for my disrespect of not inviting you to the coronation, I was thinking about setting up a food factory in Baku. Would you please help me?¡±


    ¡°A food factory? Would it have enough demand? We don¡¯t have a lot of poption.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a joint venture with Turkey¡¯s Eti the foodpany.¡±


    ¡°Oh! If it¡¯s the famous Eti, of course, you¡¯re wee in Baku, but our poption is only about nine million, is there a chance of surviving though?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a tough market if you target the entire Caucasus region.¡±


    The market was indeed small in the Caucasus region since Azerbaijan was the only country that had a poption of more than 5 million. Rather than building their own factories and producing necessary products, countries in the Caucasus imported manufactured goods and daily necessities from the outside due to their cheaper prices. So, when there was a local war or when the border was blocked for political reasons, the price of daily necessities skyrocketed frequently.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you didn¡¯t forget our Azerbaijan. I¡¯m d to hear your new business in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, Baku is my second home, and I¡¯m obviously a citizen of Azerbaijan. My base is here as well, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your wine factory is here, and I almost forgot that you have a farm and a ranch here.¡±


    The president was lying since he was trying to figure out a way to make Youngho settle down.


    ¡°Even if the state of Arirang is in Kazakhstan, it doesn¡¯t change that I¡¯m a Baku resident.¡±


    ¡°But you should¡¯ve at least let me know about the coronation ceremony for a state that was established by an Azerbaijani citizen. I would¡¯ve sent a small gift for the state.¡±


    ¡°Forgive me for being short-sighted, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to give you a little gift, though it¡¯ste.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯d appreciate your gift.¡±


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s not usible to leave the ce where the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom had been living. So we decided to dere the Serbian ranch a special area with historical heritage. It will be an extraterritorial area where outsiders can¡¯t get in and out without permission, and since we¡¯ve decided to devote morend around it to the special area, the government will take action soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Your Excellency, I¡¯m lost for words.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic. The Arirang Autonomous State and Azerbaijan¡¯s rtionship is inseparable, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ***


    The countries directly or indirectly bound by Youngho were Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Now Youngho just secured a safe base in both countries. Baku in Azerbaijan would have a shelter-like role. That was not to say that the autonomous state was unsafe. However, the state had no choice but to be exposed since it was now in the public¡¯s eye, but the Serbian ranch in Baku would be a secret ce that no one knew about. It was also great since it was located at the entry of the Caucasus mountain range and was near Zeynep Farm.


    President Aliyev devoted somend in the side of the mountain range to the ranch. The ranch now had about 10,000 acres more, but most of them were unusable since they were located on slopes. Still, it was more important than anything that it was designated as a special historical district.


    He said that the government gave the ranch extra-legal status to prevent anyone, even government officials, from entering the area without permission from the Serbian ranch. It was because the mansion in the Serbian ranch was used as if it was a separate pce, the government had decided to respect its privacy as much as possible.


    ¡°Boss, if we take a detour to the mountain road, we¡¯ll be able to get to Zeynep Farm.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not thend we¡¯ve been dedicated to.¡±


    ¡°Does that matter? There¡¯s no one going around in this mountain anyway. Wild animals like wolves and bears show up frequently.¡±


    ¡°Could we drive a light armored vehicle in this mountain?¡±


    ¡°The vehicle¡¯s body is high and strong enough. I¡¯ll check it out in my free time.¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, why are you going to take the mountain path and not the good path that¡¯s already been established?¡±


    Not fully understanding why Youngho was trying to use the mountainous path, Min-seok asked. He asked since he did not know about the Caucasus well enough.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to secure a hidden path for an emergency in advance, Armenia and Azerbaijan are now in the middle of a cease-fire, but it¡¯s like a time-bomb. We just never know when it¡¯s going to blow.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s a risk, shouldn¡¯t we just get out of here?¡±


    ¡°To throw away thend flowing with milk and honey? A ce that not many bothered toe will make you money. It¡¯s not a big deal in life, but people are just scared to try.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I started here, and I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll protect this ce no matter what.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Boss. You have to keep it. We¡¯ve sweated so much to secure this ce.¡±


    Il-kwonmented. It was also a second home for him. It was a grateful ce that took him and his family from North Korea when they had no ce to go. He was especially attached to Baku. He devoted himself to grape farms in an effort to repay for saving his family, who were as good as dead back then. His family and his wife¡¯s family were still living in the Charles farm in Baku.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let your parents stay here and bring your wife and children to the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°My wife is so stubborn about not leaving the farm. She wants to continue to work there. It¡¯s okay, I can go there every weekend.¡±


    ¡°The family should stick together, if not, what kind of family is that? How about this? Come to the state only when I have business trips outside. There¡¯s Gerhardt here, but it¡¯s not enough to take care of two grape farms. You take care of the vineyards and the wine factory. I have Suh Min-seok with me, so I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Does it make sense that there¡¯s no security guard around you, Boss?¡±


    ¡°Nobody recognizes me anyway. Just listen to me. You¡¯re onlying with me when there are an official schedule and long-term departure. This ce is as important as the autonomous state. I¡¯ll only have peace if you stay here to take care of it.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll protect Baku for the time being. However, you have to call me in your free time.¡±


    Kim Il-kwon had little kids, so Youngho did not want to take away the joy of raising children and building a family from him. If he stayed in the autonomous state and only went to the farm on the weekends, it was not fun, not to mention, he might get burned out easily. Also, there were not many people who could rece Youngho, and Il-kwon was one of those rare people. It would make a big difference if he stayed in Baku taking care of the farms.


    ***


    Now that Youngho had a big stretch, it was time to spread his wings.


    Spreading his wings meant business. In the autonomous state, businesses such as drone assembly, bearings, instant noodles, and food factories were the major pirs, while hunting guns, bullets, and carpet businesses were produced in the form of cottage industries.


    Since agricultural products were produced everywhere, it was Bentonite and shipbuilding businesses that could be specialized and developed into something big. Bentonite was still in the test production process, so it would take several years to enter full-scale production. If that was the case, the shipbuilding industry was the market that was immediately tangible to the autonomous state.


    The Danish shipyardpany was specialized in makingrge special ships. Only ships that weighed 5,000 tons or less could travel the Volga-Don Canal, so Youngho thought that the state¡¯s shipyard would bepetitive in the smaller-size shipbuilding industry around the Caspian Sea.


    The state was in a pretty good location for the business. It was close to Russia and across the Caspian Sea, and it was adjacent to the Ural River. It was a blessing that there was a waterway that connected the Ural River to the Caspian Sea and the Volga-Don Canal. The countries around the Caspian Sea were content with the fact that there was a canal that connected them to the ck Sea because there were not many shipping amount around the area.


    On the other hand, Russia was trying to make its way into the Indian Ocean because of the railway project that connected Azerbaijan and Iran. It was to secure a safe transport route that nobody would interrupt. As it was a huge country, it had a huge shipping amount.


    However, the railroad project was being pushed for years now since Azerbaijan and Iran have been passive about the project because of the Ukraine crisis. When the railroad project began, Youngho expected a lot too from it, but his effort was only wasted so far.


    When he met President Aliyev alone recently, he talked about the railroad project, but the president did not give him a clear answer.


    To establish the shipyard business, Youngho would have to win new ship orders. So, he sat down all day with Jong-il toe up with an idea.


    ¡°The railway project is in a state of limbo, and I think we won¡¯t be having the answer to it for a while. What do we do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to build freighters from our shipyard. We won¡¯t have any future in only making small battleships.¡±


    ¡°Do you think our technology is sufficient?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check it out. Making a blueprint is not a hard job. Also, we have a goliath crane. We should at least try it.¡±


    ¡°If we seed to make one, there will be plenty of buyers. Baku¡¯s shipyard can¡¯t digest its demands recently, either. It¡¯s evidence that everyone is paying attention to marine distribution.¡±


    ¡°You know about Mr. Ulmaz, right? The owner of the Turkish bulk carrierpany? Contact him and ask him if he¡¯s willing to buy a new ship.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯ll have the money.¡±


    ¡°Just ask him if he¡¯s willing to. If he wants to buy, I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±

 Chapter 393 - A Stretch (5)

    <h4>Chapter 393: A Stretch (5)</h4>


    The presence of highly skilled shipbuilding engineers was also one of the great assets of the autonomous state.


    Ship mechanics and design engineers who migrated from Batumi had nowpletely taken their root in the state and they had been speeding up the production of ships. They were only working on repairing cargo ships and producing battle speedboats now. As there was no one in charge of the shipyard, Bobek, the head manager of the state¡¯s machinery repair shop, had been appointed as the shipyard¡¯s chief.


    The reason that Bobek, a Serbian, was appointed as the chief of the shipyard was not because of his professionalism but because of his friendly and encouraging nature. He had been so far taking care of Georgian shipbuilding engineers and leading the shipyard well without any trouble. When Youngho visited the shipyard for the first time in a long time, Bobek came out to greet him.


    ¡°What brings you in this squalid ce, prince consort?¡±


    ¡°If this ce is shabby, it¡¯s like saying the whole state is bad. I¡¯m here to discuss something with you. Shall we go up to the office?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about shipbuilding, so I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be of help.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that? You¡¯re a good caretaker. I¡¯m here to discuss making a 5,000-ton cargo ship.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible. The hull design is not a problem, but the engine could be tricky. We have to import all of our steering arrangement and electronic control engines. It would be nice to make our own freighter, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll cost a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°A ship enginepany would be able to make other engines too, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. If we have a processing facility, making the engine¡¯s body is not a big deal. Specialponents for the engine could be imported as well.¡±


    ¡°I see. Would you please consult with the engineers about making an engine nt here? Don¡¯t worry about the money.¡±


    The reason why Youngho wanted to build a factory, even though the state was not going to mass-produce ship engines, was because he wanted to make engines of other transportations as well. Once the factory was built, the state would gradually develop its technological skills, so it could make different kinds of engines.


    There was no need for the shipyard to rely on one kind of engine product. By creating a base of production facilities, the engine nt could be switched to other uses in case of emergency.


    No matter how high-tech electronic age people were living now, the machinery industry was an important basic industry to have. Various machine tools of the state that were brought in from the Balkan Penins with the Serbian immigrants were quite useful. A hunting gun in the limelight in Russia was also produced because of such a machine tool.


    It was the same with different kinds of ammunition produced by the weaponsb. Any kind of special-purpose machine tools could be used in various ways, especially when the autonomous state did not have many things, to begin with.


    Cho Chul-hwan was more pleased than anyone else when he heard about the engine nt.


    ¡°So, we¡¯re getting a huge machine tool, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so. The ship¡¯s engine is huge.¡±


    ¡°Then you can easily makerge wheels that go into the Caterpir.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to use the iron wheel for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to put it in a broken light-armored vehicle.¡±


    ¡°Is your light-armored vehicle broken?¡±


    ¡°It was the one that we used in the tundra, but we can¡¯t use it anymore. I took it to the repair shop to see if I can revive it, but the workers there suggested to put caterpir tracks in it. The machine there did not have a capacity to cut arge wheel, so I was bummed.¡±


    ¡°You really should¡¯ve told me earlier, I would¡¯ve bought special machine tools for such purpose if you did.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it was efficient to buy an expensive machine tool just for that. We could buy parts from outside instead.¡±


    ¡°No, we need to umte technology in the state as much as we can, which we won¡¯t be able to if we don¡¯t try. The reason why I buy steel materials such as cold, hot-rolled steel tes, ship hoods, and so on is that I want technicians to utilize them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what it was? I wondered why you stocked up unnecessary materials in the warehouse.¡±


    Youngho brought in such supplies to prepare for the situation of istion, but it was nothing to save if someone needed to use them since someone could reallye up with something special using those materials.


    ***


    At the office of the administration office, Kim Chun, who had been to Astana, was talking with excitement.


    He exined thend documents of the branch river that was given to the Arirang State by the Kazakh government. Now it was named the Arirang River.


    ¡°Prince consort, the new territory turned out to be and of gold. You can turn it into rich soil if we can make a small waterway through thend from the river. The president has given us a very valuable present. We¡¯ll have to repay him by developing thend into something great. I¡¯m embarrassed to say this, but when I got there, I was highly respected as a baron of the Arirang State. It was different from when I was a meremissioner. I was quite ttered by their treatment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just anyone who receives the title of nobility. It¡¯s great that the Kazakh government respects the titles given by our autonomous state.¡±


    The central government¡¯s treatment of the Arirang State¡¯s officials must be because of the president¡¯s special order since whatever title from the state did not really mean a lot to Kazakhstan. The president had shown his favor to Youngho in front of high officials and military officials when he went to the presidential pce to demonstrate drone usage for military purposes and when the naval missile ships were transported from Korea at the Port of Atyrau. Because of that, other high officials must be trying hard to respect the autonomous state and Youngho as well in order to keep their positions.


    ¡°Commissioner, could you please figure out what each factory of our state needs? If any equipment or facility would be needed in the future, please let them report it to you to order them even if they¡¯re not using them right away.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a waste to order something you don¡¯t need right now?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been so experimental because we don¡¯t have facilities and equipment. It¡¯ll be a plus for us in the long run. There are so many things that we don¡¯t have in the state. Just think of it as leaving a piece ofb equipment in school.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we make a machinery nt? If we¡¯re able to produce theponents we need for each factory, we can prevent redundant investments.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very good idea. If we have arge machine tool, we could supply any part.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we make a technology researchb too with the machinery nt?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem. There¡¯s ab at the Bentonite test-production nt, so we can expand it for that. The problem is the research staff... Could you be in charge of recruitingb staff? I¡¯m sure there is a lot of people who used to work at various research institutes in the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sure. I know there are a few people in Atyrau too. They¡¯d love to work in the Arirang state.¡±


    Having experienced researchers in the state would set a good example for young students. They could also learn technology from the researchers if they worked as assistants and got trained as technical staff.


    ¡°Promise the best possible treatment and condition for them. More researchers will want toe only through good word of mouth.¡±


    ¡°How many are you going to hire?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about the number of potential employees. Since we don¡¯t have a base here, we¡¯ll have to make the best out of them. The more, the better. Also, please make sure that we don¡¯t take people working in government-led institutions. I¡¯m majorly looking for people who had retired.¡±


    ¡°Should we still be worried about the government?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a promise that I made to the president. It doesn¡¯t matter what we do in the state, but we don¡¯t want to interfere with the Kazakh government. If this government is affected by us, it will be a big problem.¡±


    Although the autonomous state was now recognized by the central government and by global society, the state should be careful not to cause any problem to the Kazakh government and society. Now was the time to keep a low profile since if the state was rumored to be a better ce to live in than Kazakhstan, Kazakh citizens would be stirred up and criticize the central government, causing a social problem. It was lucky that the state was seen as a tiny ce in the vast country of Kazakhstan, that not many people of Kazakhstan saw how it was like in the state closely.


    ***


    When the new system was established to a certain extent, Youngho began to set up schedules outside.


    First of all, visiting the Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk, was a priority. The agents who had been collecting rubies in tundra area were withdrawn already, but the logging site had to be in full operation from now on, so Youngho needed to visit the area to oversee the site and workers and security team there.


    The reason for the withdrawal of the ruby collection team was that it was too difficult to find the gems and that Youngho found out that D Drones did not really need rubies since only artificial rubies could be used forser guns ording to Eriksson. What D Drones wanted was natural diamonds, so he would not have to find rubies so desperately anymore. Another reason for his visit to the city of Krasnoyarsk was to discuss something with Niky.


    Hong Sung-ki and Suh Min-seok followed Youngho for the Siberian trip this time. Kim Il-kwon decided to stay in Baku after hearing that Youngho would take Hong Sung-ki. It seemed that Il-kwon trusted Sung-ki¡¯s skills. Hong Sung-ki was in charge of the Siberian region, so he knew about the region more than anyone else. He would not let anyone else take care of any business in Siberia. With his eloquence and stubbornness, no one could beat him in arguments.


    It was Youngho¡¯s first unofficial outside schedule since he became a duke, Kim Chun came out to the airfield to give him an earful again.


    ¡°Prince consort, now you have to stay in the best facilities for the sake of your state.¡±


    ¡°Oh, people just see me as an ordinary businessman in Siberia. I¡¯ll embarrass myself if I mention about being a prince consort there.¡±


    ¡°Director Hong and Min-seok, please watch yournguage around people, okay?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, if we stay here to listen to your lecture, we¡¯ll be here the whole day. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll escort the duke well.¡±


    ¡°You say that then you turn around and call him Boss again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more natural to call him Boss outside. Prince consort has ordered us to call him that once we step out of the autonomous state.¡±


    Kim Chun let them go after a long lecture and nagging.


    Inside the six-seater jet, Hong Sung-ki loudly shared his story.


    ¡°Boss, I went to my sister-inw¡¯s house this time and proudly boasted about being knighted at the coronation. Everyone was surprised. There are no government officials so far in her family.¡±


    ¡°Is the knight a government official, too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Boss. Does it make sense that the person who made the title doesn¡¯t even know? It¡¯s a knight under the baron. Then it should definitely be a government post.¡±


    ¡°The title is just a symbol of one¡¯s identity, isn¡¯t that right Suh Min-seok?¡±


    ¡°Mr. CEO, the knight was a nobleman in the past. It was a ss, not a title. So, it¡¯s not a government post anyway.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Okay. Hey, Hong Sung-ki, what makes you say that a knight is a government official?¡±


    ¡°The state has given me the task to be the head of the Siberian branch of the Intelligence Department of the state. Of course, I¡¯ve got a government post.¡±


    ¡°Ha! A knight is that high and mighty, I see.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me, or I¡¯ll relinquish my knighthood.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? Your juniors are eyeing for that position, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°What? No, what kind of guy crosses my ce? They¡¯re only little chicks. Chicks can¡¯t pretend to be a fully grown chicken.¡±


    ¡°You know the chicken is a good thing to eat, right?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Min-seokughed hard at that point, but he had to quiet down soon at Hong Sung-ki¡¯s re.


    Seeing the two, Youngho burst withughter in a long time forgetting about his position and face.

 Chapter 394 - The Siberian Market (1)

    <h4>Chapter 394: The Siberian Market (1)</h4>


    Krasnoyarsk was already chilly.


    ording to Choi Sang-ho, who came out to the airport, frost fell in the morning.


    Although the air in the autonomous state was chilly in the morning and evening, the sun was scorching in the daytime to the point where people had to seek shade whereas in Siberia it seemed that it was ready for winter weather already because it was 10 degrees higher intitudepared to the autonomous state.


    ¡°Boss, I couldn¡¯t attend the coronation because of the circumstances here. Congrattions on bing a duke!¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. I know you¡¯ve been busy here, but it¡¯s a shame that we didn¡¯t get to celebrate in the state together. And, please, do not call me a duke here ever.¡±


    Arriving at the branch office in Krasnoyarsk, Youngho immediately went to check if the logging site was prepared for the harsh winter that woulde.


    The ice breaker ships would only be able to travel until the end of November, and would not be able to resume operations until February, so all supplies that would be used at the region for four months of winter should be procured now. The icebreakers of the state were unable to sail because they were small and vulnerable in the Arctic Ocean or the midwinter ice of the Yenisei River.


    Both the dock and lodging construction at the logging site were said to beplete, but one should expect to be isted because of the freezing cold that could even freeze oil. It was also not an easy job tost more than four months without supply. Four light armored vehicles were also ready, but if logging equipment broke down, winter work would be ruined, so thorough preparation was essential. There would be trial and error at the logging site this winter since it was the first winter for the logging business. Youngho only wished that people would not get hurt. There was no perfect preparation in Siberia. When everything froze up, people would have to wait until spring came for the ice to melt.


    ¡°How¡¯s the movement of Chinesepanies?¡±


    ¡°They still work the same in the logging area in the Taiga region, but they don¡¯t snoop into the ck market anymore.¡±


    ¡°What about the mafias?¡±


    ¡°Sergeenko is very busy these days. He¡¯s frequently seen at the ck markettely.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he¡¯s in contact with the Chinesepany?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get to find out about that.¡±


    ¡°Does Sergeenko oftene to the branch office?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll drop by once every two or three days. He¡¯s usually just here for a cup of tea.¡±


    Youngho was worried that he might be only raising risk by encouraging Sergeenko to watch the Chinesepany. If the Chinese authorities found out about this and intervened, it would only result in freezing the ck market. It was time to focus on diamonds because natural rubies had nothing to do withser technology. If Sergeenko over-reacted to Youngho¡¯s request, it would not look pretty in the future. He would be able to find out what was going on as soon as he met Sergeenko.


    ***


    Sergeenko acted quite politely, unlike before. Youngho asked why he was acting differently.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have dared to sit face to face with a duke if it was in the days of Imperial Russia. Even though I have the blood of the Evenk, I know the basic etiquette.¡±


    ¡°You can call me Mr. Lee like before. But where did you hear about that? Did Sergey ever tell you?¡±


    ¡°Chairman Niky told me. I heard that you helped him a lot this time.¡±


    ¡°I see. You have a close rtionship with Chairman Niky, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s helped me since I was a little kid. He took care of me when I was just a street brat, I stayed out of trouble and learned how to read because of him. There was a time when I couldn¡¯t even be treated as a decent human being because of the blood of the Evenk in me.¡±


    Even though Sergeenko became a mafia, he did not forget about the favor and grace that was given to him in the past.


    When Youngho asked about the issue of the Chinesepany, Sergeenko unexpectedly replied with caution. Youngho thought that he would be outspoken as a typical mafia boss, but it seemed like he was considering numbers of cases.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re very careful about this issue. I thought you would be enforcing Siberianw right away. Anyway, it¡¯s a good thing for me. There¡¯s nothing good about being noisy.¡±


    ¡°I warned the ck market first because I didn¡¯t want to put the Evenk people in trouble because of rubies. If the ck market is closed for the Chinesepany, they¡¯ll probably seek another way to get rubies and diamonds. I thought I can figure out a way when that happens. It won¡¯t be toote to make a decision then.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to antagonize the Chinesepany. If we can co-exist, then we¡¯ll be more than happy to.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was considering too. The Chinesepany was already working with the central government. What¡¯s the point of our involvement here?¡±


    ¡°What concerns me is that the Chinesepany is too bold to act even though they¡¯re illegally taking diamonds here. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll get caught because of their bold actions.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to them, but they¡¯re taking a cautious approach these days. They don¡¯t even show up in the ck market. I assume something big has happened, but I¡¯ll probably never know what it is.¡±


    Sergeenko was also urately grasping the attitude of the Chinesepany.


    Even though he would never know, Youngho knew the truth. It was because thepany waspletely shaken by the two previous thefts of diamond stones, which were done by Youngho and Jong-il. The first case was known to be because of the general secretary who fled with all of the valuables in thepany¡¯s safe, and the second theft was supposed to have been robbed. So, thepany must have been shaken by the whole situation. They might be thinking they were targeted because they bought the stones in the ck market.


    There was now that said no more simr cases would happen, so thepany must be keeping a low profile for now.


    Sergeenko tilted his head saying that everyone except the under-clerk at the woodworking nt was fired at the Chinesepany.


    ¡°I`m just taking a wait-and-see approach because the Chinesepany is not taking any special action. But if it¡¯s as bad as before, I¡¯ll act upon it. Fortunately, the under-clerk that we¡¯ve been dealing with is still there, so you¡¯ll be able to use the logs piled up in the storage yard for a while.¡±


    ¡°Since we¡¯re starting logging in October, we don¡¯t mind if we don¡¯t hang on to the Chinesepany¡¯s logs.¡±


    ¡°You know logging work is difficult. Why would you do such a hard job? It¡¯s way convenient to take a mountain of logs that is already at the dock.¡±


    He was right. Youngho could buy cheap raw woods that were already waiting for him at the dock, so he did not have to trouble his workers for the woods. It was much more economical to purchase lumber that had already been cut down.


    Youngho was d to see another side of Sergeenko today. He was cautious, considerate, and knowledgeable about the Siberian region. It seemed that Youngho could listen to his advice on any issue in Siberia.


    ***


    ¡°Boss, Sergeenko seems to be a smart guy. I have a different perspective on him now.¡±


    ¡°You think so too? He¡¯s not just an ignorant mafia. I was so impressed by his deep thought. He¡¯s fully qualified as a partner.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been asking Choi Sang-ho to sell thembat rations saying that his buyers and the militarymander¡¯s buyers won¡¯t ovep. He was sure that his markets would be more diverse.¡±


    ¡°Did he really?¡±


    ¡°He told him that he had been willing to ask, but he couldn¡¯t find the chance. He knew that Choi Sang-ho couldn¡¯t say no.¡±


    ¡°I see, that¡¯s quite smart of him. Find a way to secretly supply thebat rations to Sergeenko. Tell him we¡¯ll supply in small quantities, and if there¡¯s no problem, we¡¯ll supply inrge quantities. Since we made a deal with themander first, we can¡¯t supply arge amount at the moment.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll instruct Choi Sang-ho.¡±


    ¡°Tell him to be extra careful when unloading at the dock. It won¡¯t be good if Klimov¡¯s guys and Sergeenko¡¯s guys run into each other.¡±


    ¡°Should we supply ramen to Sergeenko as well? Combat rations, we¡¯d have to consider about Klimov, but does it matter if we supply instant noodles to Sergeenko?¡±


    ¡°I heard Klimov has asked for more ramen. He¡¯s not going to be happy if we supply ramen to mafias.¡±


    ¡°We can tell him that it was to bribe local mafias. Commander Klimov makes a lot of money by sellingbat rations. He¡¯ll understand it. Right now, the supply ofbat rations can¡¯t keep up with the demand, so we should try to appease the mafia.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let Choi Sang-ho handle it then.¡±


    Youngho did not expect much from distributingbat rations in the Siberian region, but it turned out to be quite profitable. He did not have to worry about paying forbor because the products were only sold to wholesalers, and he was paid fully in cash at the dock, so he did not have to worry about not getting paid.


    If Sergeenko would join in this business, the food factory in the state would eventually have to be expanded since it was not impossible for mafias to expand their markets throughout the whole Siberia.


    There was a slight problem; It was a secret trade. However, if Klimov, themander of the local military unit, and the mafia organization would step up, it would not be a problem at all. There were plenty of ways to get away with it because it was not a luxury item but just an instant food. This was Siberia with its ownws anyway. Commonsense was not somon here.


    Youngho was discussing the operation method of the local branch office with Hong Sung-ki when Niky called him. He wanted to meet Youngho for dinner at the hotel he was staying.


    It seemed that he was nowfortable enough to move around the city since he was only in his mansion afraid of being spied on by authorities in Moscow before.


    Later in the day, Niky appeared at the hotel, apanied only by his chief secretary. He now looked like a totally different person as he had put on some weight.


    ¡°Thanks to you, Mr. Lee, I¡¯m free of worry these days. I¡¯m even gaining weight.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done much. I just made a few phone calls.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... But it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you did something that no one could have done for me. Thank you again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no problem. I did what I could do as a businessman.¡±


    ¡°Shall we eat first?¡±


    It was still early to eat dinner. Asking for a meal meant that he wanted to talk for long in private.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s move to a new ce.¡±


    ¡°The food served in the sky lounge here is very good.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯vee all the way here to see me. I¡¯ll treat you today.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m honored to be treated by a duke.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a self-imposed title in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°It was my dream to live like you, Mr. Lee. You know, I made it hard for my family because of my greed. I¡¯d like to buy a small piece ofnd in Europe, could you help me? I¡¯m finally free and my family has gone through a lot because of my business. I want to serve my family now.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a good ce for you.¡±

 Chapter 395 - The Siberian Market (2)

    <h4>Chapter 395: The Siberian Market (2)</h4>


    There were more advantages for Russian businessmen to invest in Eastern Europe rather than in Western Europe.


    They were free fromnguage barriers to start with. They did not have to be intimidated by not speaking English because Russian wasmonly spoken in Eastern Europe.


    Youngho¡¯s fluent Russian was helping him in many ces too as he was speaking in Russian with Niky now too.


    It was none other than Azerbaijan that Youngho said that there was a suitable ce. That was because Russian was amonnguage in Azerbaijan. The fact that it was a pro-Russian country in a geographical location not far from Siberia seemed that it could be a strong selling point for Niky.


    There were many great sites to develop around Zeynep Farm, so he thought that he would rmend one for Niky. Because of the increasing sales of wine, Youngho nned to increase vineyard. It would be great if Niky would start a vineyard too. If he had dreamed of a vi in Europe, the idyllic vi with a vineyard would not sound so bad. Also, Azerbaijan was an attractive investment destination, so it was a ce where European rich people had several buildings in Baku.


    The reason why the real estate prices in Baku were approaching the levels of New York and Paris was because European investors were buying out buildings. Even now, the construction of new buildings was taking ce everywhere in the new town of the city.


    ¡°What do you think of Baku in Azerbaijan? It¡¯s also home to Zeynep Wine.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Baku famous for its high prices? I heard that there are quite a lot of Russians.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to rmend it to you. Western Europe¡¯s rich people think of Baku as an attractive investment destination. Of course, we can also find a farm with a vi. It¡¯s not that difficult because we have close ties to the powerful people of Baku.¡±


    ¡°You mean the president.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t deny it. He¡¯s given me many favors.¡±


    ¡°I heard that locals hate Russia very much. Is this a safe ce?¡±


    ¡°President Aliyev is a graduate of the Moscow State University of Political Science. People in Azerbaijan hate the Communists, not Russians.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking of Western Europe, but it¡¯s an unexpected suggestion.¡±


    ¡°It would be inconvenient if you don¡¯t speak English in Western Europe.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Baku is adjacent to the Caspian Sea. You can also go to the Baltic Sea in the north or the ck Sea on a ship. In reverse, you can also take a ship from Krasnoyarsk to Baku. In my case, there is an airfield on my farm, so I can easily go anywhere in the world.¡±


    ¡°Oh...!¡±


    Niky¡¯s face was telling Youngho that he was fully intrigued. He seemed to grope in his head the destinations that he could go from Baku with his ship.


    ¡°And the most attractive thing is that the people of Caucasus arepassionate. They don¡¯t judge people by their cover.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been told that they¡¯re honest and kind.¡±


    ¡°It will be fun to spend the winter in Baku and the summer on the ind at the Yenisei River. Now that we¡¯re in the shipping business, wouldn¡¯t it be okay to have a vi near the beach?¡±


    It seemed that Youngho¡¯s sweet talk had sessfully lured Niky.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to take the time to visit Baku.¡±


    ¡°Just tell me at any time. I¡¯ll take you on my personal jet.¡±


    ¡°You just said about a vi with a farm. What kind of farm do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to rmend a vineyard. It¡¯s also fun to make your own wine.¡±


    ¡°Then, if I make a winepany, wouldn¡¯t you have apetitor?¡±


    ¡°I would like to encourage that even more from my point of view. I¡¯ve never heard of vineyard owners in Italy or France hating against other vineyard owners around them. The more quality wine is produced in Baku, the more it bes a local specialty. Why don¡¯t we do a wine business together? It¡¯s been hard for me to get through the European market anyway.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Okay. I will actively consider investing in Baku. It sounds like a perfect ce for my family to stay.¡±


    ¡°If you want another ce, tell me. There are many better ces in Europe.¡±


    ¡°My head is already full of Baku because you talked me into it.¡±


    Being a legendary businessman in Krasnoyarsk who once hadmanded the whole region under his feet, Niky would have other friends to ask for a new ce to live in. He probably was asking Youngho to show a sign of friendliness and hoping to build connections with those in power. He suffered from those who were in power in Moscow, so he was anxious to have peace in a ce where he would be starting anew.


    Niky¡¯s visit to the hotel was to give a coronation gift. Though briefly excited by the idea of building a vi in Baku, he did not forget his purpose. He gave a small leather pocket in Youngho¡¯s hand before he left.


    ¡°It is customary in Russia to give gifts for a celebratory asion. I¡¯ve put in some diamond stones. Please give them to the Archduchess.¡±


    ¡°This is such a precious gift. Thank you, Chairman Niky.¡±


    Maybe diamonds weremon in Siberia since Niky presented them as gifts. The autonomous state had thousands of diamond stones already and was still being supplied through Lieutenant Colonel Klimov, but Youngho pretended that he was surprised as if it was his first time seeing such a huge number of diamonds at once.


    ¡°It¡¯smon here. They¡¯re mostly low-quality, so they¡¯re usually used for industrial purposes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m interested in diamonds for industrial use. I¡¯d like to use it for rock drills. Do you know where I can get them? Our state is a semi-deserted area, so we¡¯re developing underground water all year round. The essential ingredient for the drill head is the industrial diamond.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, don¡¯t try to find it yourself. It¡¯s an item that the authorities are watching.¡±


    ¡°I was going to look for them in the ck market, but I guess I¡¯ll have to give up that idea.¡±


    ¡°If you want to survive in Siberia for a long time, you have to stay away from gold and jewels. If you are rumored to be saving diamonds, you¡¯ll be exposed. A lot of the ck market stuff belongs to those who are in power.¡±


    Youngho just learned something remarkable here. Small mafia groups and those in power had symbiotic rtionships. However, as Sergeenko, who belonged to a huge southern mafia organization, was stirring the ck market, they must be eager. They were making profits as the Chinesepany had been buying out all diamonds from them, but as thepany suddenly pulled out from the market, they must be anxious now. They might have misunderstood that Sergeenko and the southern mafia organization was behind this, and sold diamonds to the Chinesepany instead of them.


    Sooner orter, those in power in Siberia would have to choose to fight against Southern mafia organization where Sergeenko belonged or to makepromise with it. Since President Putin was the only one in Russia who dered war against mafias in the past, no one really dared to fight against mafias. There was no other choice but topromise with Sergeenko.


    This was a good chance for Sergeenko. He could possibly make other deals under the condition of pulling out of the ck market.


    ***


    People were supposed to resemble thend where they lived.


    The vast ins of Siberia were very rough, and perhaps because of that, Siberians were quite rough. Likewise, the mafia here was rougher and simpler than the mafia of western Russia, while there was also loyalty between each other. Sergeenko was someone who resembled Siberia the most. Having gained such confidence after meeting with Niky, Youngho made a n to tap into the Siberian market with Sergeenko at the forefront. He was trying to make Sergeenko a supplier of daily necessity goods in Siberia.


    The city of Krasnoyarsk was developed as an industrial city, but most of themodities had to be brought in from the outside. Naturally, the costs of those supplies were higher than Western Russia. The distribution system only profited wholesalers since they were the ones who priced their goods so highly. So, it seemed to be like a piece of cake if the mafia would be a supplier of goods.


    Now in the autonomous state¡¯s branch office, Sergeenko was listening to Youngho with an excited face.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be hard for us to distribute the goods in the market if you support us, Mr. Lee. We¡¯ll take care of the rest of the work if you bring us the goods just to the pier. Since this is a legal trade, no one will argue with us for supplying goods at a cheaper price.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t threaten or scare the port administration officials. If you scare them or make them turn against you, they¡¯ll be an obstacle one day.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, Mafia has to do things in a mafia-style. When you¡¯re being gentle, people will stab me in the back. Trust me, it¡¯s better to handle Russian officials in a Russian way.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Mr. Sergeenko, It`s only my opinion, so I`ll leave it up to you to judge. But I don¡¯t want any more intervention in the ck market. Turns out there were Moscow officials involved. As for the jewels, we¡¯ll just collect what the Evenk people supply us. It¡¯s better for us to let them have the ck market if we want our business to be sessful.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll slowly pull out from the ck market.¡±


    It was fortunate that Sergeenko understood what Youngho were saying at once.


    His learning was short, but his experience in the field was leading to a quick decision. People who had done rough work could catch the warning signs quicker than anyone else.


    This was the secret to a long life of mafias. Sergeenko was also a man of insight who did not obsess over short-term benefits. Youngho was also lucky to have met a partner who was bold enough to target Siberia. He had a real potential as a big businessman. Since Youngho was now in Siberia, he did not want to be satisfied with doing a logging business only. The question was since this was a ce where cheap Chinese products weremonly sold. The question was whether expensive European products would bepetitive, but if they targeted the middle ss, they would have a shot.


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯m going to supply European daily necessities and ramen noodles from the autonomous state, so please prepare the warehouse for them. Let¡¯s transport as much as we can before the winteres and consider the marketter.¡±


    The decision was made as the freighter sailed through the Baltic Sea, it could purchase as much daily necessities from Scandinavian countries and restock the supplies from there.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to cost a lot of money...¡±


    ¡°Just worry about the sale. Our state has that much of capability.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not because I doubt your ability, it¡¯s because it¡¯s so sudden.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s work together. By the way, I hope you don¡¯t have contact with Commander Klimov as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°We mafias have a principle that we don¡¯t run into the military, so that¡¯s no problem.¡±


    ¡°Alright. A 3,000-ton freighter can sail twice in the future. We should prepare a warehouse in consideration of that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Empty warehouses are all over near the dock.¡±


    The idea of supplying European daily necessities to Siberia came to Youngho because he made a huge profit by supplying Korean daily necessities to Yaniv before. Russia had a high demand in those supplies, so Youngho was sure that the business would be a sess.


    Since it was the first year, there would be trial and error. Youngho would have to see whether or not to expand the business in the future after seeing this year¡¯s sales.


    It was also an opportunity for him to evaluate Sergeenko¡¯s abilities. He was excited about how Sergeenko would be dealing with this business.

 Chapter 396 - The Siberian Market (3)

    <h4>Chapter 396: The Siberian Market (3)</h4>


    Even though Siberia was in the south of the tundra, it was where wintersted for more than seven months, the concept of stockpiling was directly linked to people¡¯s survival. To greet winter without preparation was tantamount to giving up one¡¯s own life.


    In Siberia, people were willing to abandon humanity to survive. Snow and ice were everywhere, but it could not be used as a water source because the ice had to be melted to get water. Vodka was the only drink to enjoy in the long, cold winter. It was expensive, and because of that, bootleg liquors were openly distributed. It wasmonly said that there were more people who drowned in vodka sses than people who drowned in the sea.


    Russians usually said that they could live in the cold of minus 40 degrees in Celsius but could not live without vodka. Vodka, slightly frozen after being left in the snow for a while, was said to be the perfect drink to forget that it was hard liquor. Sergeenko was now insisting that they should supply quality liquors to improve the health of the Russians.


    ¡°Sir, as I said, the damage caused by cheap bootleg liquors is quite serious here. So I¡¯m just saying, why don¡¯t we bring in some alcohol along with the daily necessities?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid of smuggling alcohol. I¡¯d rather build a vodka factory here. We can use wheat from the autonomous state. The question is whether we can get permission from the authorities.¡±


    ¡°The vodka factory? If you want to build a factory, I¡¯ll try to get permission at all costs. I¡¯ll take care of everything if you just build a factory.¡±


    ¡°I already have a wine business. I don¡¯t think doing a vodka business is a problem. It seems to run counter to the authorities¡¯ anti-drinking policy, but isn¡¯t it a shortcut to preventing the distribution of bootleg liquors if we make and distribute the proper liquor?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the authorities cannot stop the drinking culture no matter what. Real vodka is too expensive, so cheap chemists sell bootleg liquors. Bad ones can even take people¡¯s lives. The authorities would rather like it if we were to supply quality drinks.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t push it too hard. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll get disadvantaged by this.¡±


    ¡°The authorities know that if we fail to keep up with the demand, we will have another round of smuggling. If alcohol production and salese within the system, they¡¯ll have an increase in tax revenues, so the local government will wee it.¡±


    After talking to Sergeenko, it seemed that Youngho was going to start another alcohol-rted business in Siberia. A liquor business in Russia was never a failure, so he agreed to build a vodka factory. Sergeenko excitedly assured that he could obtain permission at any moment. It was because usually, people made a huge profit from the sale of alcohol.


    It was more difficult to start a liquor business in Russia than it used to be, so Youngho wondered how Sergeenko said he was going to get permission so easily.


    Putin rolled up his sleeves to reform his chronic drinking culture but pulled out in the face of resistance from the public. As a side effect of the strong anti-drinking policy, there was a phenomenon in which only bootleg liquors were used by people, so the government hade up with a special measure to lower the liquor tax. The government had to stop the smuggling even if it had to lower the price of alcohol.


    The name of vodka meant ¡®pure clean water¡¯. Drinking vodka was a kind of culture and part of life rather than alcohol. It even had a mythical story behind it; a fisher who caught a golden fish wished to turn the river into vodka in exchange for letting the fish go. It was a ridiculous story, but this showed Russian people¡¯s love for vodka. If the government would not let them drink it, they might as well all leave the country.


    ***


    Youngho called Szechenyi after he was done talking with Sergeenko.


    ¡°Hey, Szechenyni. Find out the list of daily necessities avable in Copenhagen and some inexpensive routes.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to sell them in Siberia?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll supply them two or three times by fall, so we¡¯ll have to take that into ount.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll look into that. Can you stop by Copenhagen some day?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°The Crowned Princess wants to see you in private.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details. I told him that you¡¯re in Siberia, so he asked me if you could stop by. He said that he could not move so easily because of the public eyes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll finish my work here by tomorrow. Tell him that I¡¯ll be there the day after tomorrow.¡±


    The wedding of Szechenyi and Princess Isabe was arranged six months ago by the Danish royal family and the government, so there was nothing to discuss anymore. Youngho wondered what the Crowned Prince was up to.


    ¡°Director Hong, you should go back to the state after finishing up things here. I¡¯m going to visit the Danish royal pce with Suh Min-seok.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to escort you. It¡¯s not good to go there so simply.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an official visit. I shouldn¡¯t be seen.¡±


    ¡°Even for an unofficial visit, does it make sense for the head of a royal family to travel without a single security guard? Commissioner Kim will give me an earful when he finds out about thister.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. I¡¯ll only take Min-seok with me. You just take care of this ce. Don¡¯t forget to make the underclerk of the Chinesepany fully on our side this time no matter how much it costs.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a heavy drinker, so he¡¯s going to cost quite a lot.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him find out that you¡¯re a Korean. Be careful.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, people know me as a Koryoin. That underclerk guy lives here with his family, which is unusual. He¡¯s the only one that was not fired from the Chinese government. I think he has a powerful background from the maind.¡±


    ¡°Then send some gifts to his home and please his wife. Maybe he¡¯s the real power of thepany. If we could take advantage of him, we should as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°Are they going to give away things so easily?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s thanks to the Chinesepany that we bring in lumbers cheaply without even logging.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s a lot cheaper to carry the lumbers that are already at the pier if you think about the cost of logging and transportation.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese logging area is five timesrger than ours, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve paid quite a lot to the Russian government. They¡¯ll cut woods like crazy to recover the money they paid. They don¡¯t even have enough room left for logs at the docks.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what the underclerk told me. They¡¯ll only be able to transport the logs from the tundra when they emptied the logs at the docks.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s empty the storage yards for them. No matter how much we carry out on our 3,000-ton freighter, it won¡¯t be obvious.¡±


    The regtion that said the transfer of lumbers to the outside should never be made existed only on paper, but they could be carried out through the Yenisei River. The management officials of the river docks never actually came to check the docks. Youngho had transported lumbers through the North Sea route, but no one had inspected him. The autonomous state¡¯s wharf was already full of logs now.


    ***


    Crowned Prince Frederick¡ªthe brother of Princess Isabe, weed Youngho. Since they were about to be inws, Youngho was familiar with him.


    ¡°Hello, sir. I¡¯m very sorry I couldn¡¯t attend the coronation. Isabe said it was very impressive.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I wanted to invite you, but I couldn¡¯t help it because it was an internal event.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the state of Arirang is a very vibrant city, so please invite us sometime. You know I like hunting, right?¡±


    ¡°Pleasee anytime in the spring next year. I¡¯ll leave the wolves alone and wait for you to hunt them.¡±


    The sound of the wolf made him very excited. The crowned prince was famous for his love for hunting. He was once criticized for going hunting to Greend, so he would definitely make a long trip to Kazakhstan to hunt at all costs.


    ¡°You must keep your promise. I¡¯m really looking forward to that day.¡±


    ¡°Princess Isabe was also a master marksman. The wolves will dry up when your Royal Highnesses.¡±


    Prince Frederick suddenly settled down and lowered his voice.


    ¡°Prince consort, I was hoping you¡¯d help me personally. We have some royal funds, but we¡¯ve been looking for opportunities to invest but we can¡¯t do it quietly because of the public eyes. I knew you¡¯re always busy but I had to ask you toe because I heard you are a genius for investment.¡±


    ¡°The genius of investment? That¡¯s embarrassing. I just got lucky.¡±


    ¡°Oh, prince consort. The autonomous state itself is your biggest asset. It proves your ability as an investor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the state¡¯s residents actively cooperated to build the state.¡±


    ¡°Would you say it¡¯s luck that you¡¯ve put the Danish shipyardpany back on track? I¡¯d like to put royal funds in Prince Szechenyi¡¯s investmentpany.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to invest in the investmentpany, I¡¯ll consider it positively. Szechenyi¡¯s doing a good job, so you won¡¯t lose your money. How much do you think you¡¯re going to invest?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have cash, but we have some European national bonds. I¡¯ll have to find a way to dispose of the bonds first before I can make an investment.¡±


    The crowned prince was looking for a way to dispose of the state bonds. The royal family also had a ndestine organization, and it was not difficult to dispose of the bonds through it, but the government bonds Crowned Prince Frederick wanted to sell were like slush funds managed separately. It was a secret fund that the royal butler did not even know about.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. There¡¯s an organization that I do business with, so I¡¯ll be able to dispose of it right away.¡±


    ¡°What? You can dispose of it right away?¡±


    The crowned prince was rather surprised when Youngho replied promptly without hesitation since Youngho had not even asked about the amount of the bonds.


    Youngho talked big because he had Eriksson of the Information Agency which was an organization that could close a deal right away.


    ¡°You speak so easily that it¡¯s hard to believe.¡±


    ¡°I could call the organization right here to confirm it. How much government bonds do you have to sell?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only about 500 million dors.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check it right away. Please wait for a moment.¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, you shouldn¡¯t have to be in such a hurry...¡±

 Chapter 397 - A Deal with the Crown Prince (1)

    <h4>Chapter 397: A Deal with the Crown Prince (1)</h4>


    Eriksson received Youngho¡¯s phone call with great pleasure. He was fully aware that Youngho only called him for a business deal.


    ¡°Mr. Lee¡¯s phone call is always exciting. With what will you make me happy today?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be disappointed if I called you just to say hi.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re also wee to call me to say hi. I would have called you first if I hadn¡¯t heard from you for a while.¡±


    ¡°Let me tell you what it¡¯s all about. I¡¯d like to sell some bonds.¡±


    ¡°How much is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 500 million dors worth of government bonds.¡±


    ¡°That would be something our clients would like. It is also one of the items that ourpany can purchase first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in Copenhagen now. If you¡¯re around, I¡¯d like to meet you here tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in London. I can get there by tomorrow afternoon. Would you mind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m bothering the busy man.¡±


    ¡°Meeting you is always a great pleasure. If it¡¯s a good bond, we can even trade it tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll reserve a private room at the Imperial Hotel near Copenhagen Central Station. ¡±


    Crowned Prince Frederick, who was watching Youngho talking to Eriksson on the phone was stunned to see how fast the whole deal was processing.


    ¡°Prince consort. Is it correct that someone¡¯sing tomorrow to check the bonds?¡±


    ¡°As soon as we confirm the authenticity of the bond, the money will be deposited immediately. Could you give me the ount information that you¡¯re managing?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d have to take out the bonds tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay. I will do that.¡±


    The crowned prince lookedpletely dumbfounded.


    ¡°I can trust him because he¡¯s been doing business with me for a long time. If the deal goes wrong, I¡¯ll take full responsibility.¡±


    ¡°I am a little shook by how easy it was to sell the bonds.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thankful that you trusted me with this, your Royal Highness. If you have any business that you don¡¯t want to be in the front, please don¡¯t hesitate to call me again.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I have many eyes watching me, so it¡¯s been hard to deal with private business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m cautious to ask a private question, but I¡¯d like to take the liberty of asking. What are you nning to do with this sale?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to invest in Szechenyi¡¯s investmentpany, you can do it with official royal funds. I think you have a different use for the funds. Please speakfortably. Maybe I could help you with it too.¡±


    He hesitated for a long time, and then he said that he wanted to give the funds to his brother-inw after selling the bonds. The crowned princess must have talked him in to break his slush fund for her brother.


    With the name of the brother of the Danish Crowned Princess, his business would be sessful unless he was a terrible businessman, but it seemed that the prince¡¯s brother¡¯s business was going into a downfall.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible to revive the business, it¡¯s best to dere bankruptcy and start afresh. There will be damage to the royal face, but it will easily be forgotten in people¡¯s minds.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I know that you might be sorry about what I said not even asking you what kind of business it was, but you must have checked it through various channels, haven¡¯t you? You know, the business might not be recovered even if you put all that money into it.¡±


    ¡°My brother-inw said that the business will get back on the right track if I invest 50 million dors. I was going to give that to him and put the rest in Szechenyi¡¯s investmentpany.¡±


    50 million dors was not a little money. In other words, if thepany would only be able to operate after pouring that much money into it, it would be arge corporation in Danish standards.


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s most lethal to businessmen? It¡¯s missing the opportunity to put down a business. It¡¯s because of reckless attachment. It¡¯s not easy to throw away what you¡¯ve been working on. However, someone has to be the one to do it to save things that could be saved.¡±


    ¡°Thatpany should be kept, even if I have to pour huge funds into it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding, I¡¯d like to stop you from investing in it.¡±


    ***


    The crowned prince looked desperate since he thought that a capable businessman like Youngho would be able to help him.


    As Youngho was going to leave it at that point, the crowned prince kept on insisting.


    ¡°Prince consort, could you please take a look at my brother-inw¡¯spany? I¡¯m asking you because it¡¯s not apany that¡¯s going to copse.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t major in business administration and I don¡¯t have the expertise to diagnosepanies. It¡¯s just an animal intuition that has been serving me all along. You can¡¯t decide whether or not apany should exist with poor knowledge. The existence of apany should depend on a market judgment.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m begging you to take a look. It¡¯s one of the representativepanies in Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Is it not that thepany has lived this long because of your help, your Royal Highness?¡±


    Youngho¡¯sst question was unanswered.


    The crowned prince loved his wife dearly, so he could not refuse her request.


    The prince, who participated in the Sydney Olympics as a Danish yacht yer, fell in love with a volunteer girl. Mary Donaldson, amoner from the Australian ind of Tasmania, quickly became a Cindere after marrying the crowned prince. The princess was not loved by the Danish people because she was criticized for shopping too much with royal funds not long after her wedding. And now, her brother was not helping the royal family¡¯s reputation.


    Youngho could understand the crowned prince because he also had a beloved wife, Fatima. If she had a brother who needed help and asked for Youngho¡¯s help, Youngho would also do as she asked to make her happy.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll take a look at the business after we take care of the bonds tomorrow. If I told you to take your hands off the business, would you listen to me?¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m going to help him at least once more. If it goes into bankruptcy, it¡¯ll affect Isabe¡¯s wedding that¡¯s about to take ce.¡±


    If the Danish royal family was bashed by the public, the wedding would not be blessed by them either. Youngho would not ept it since he wanted to honor Szechenyi¡¯s wedding. He would rather have the wedding in the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°I can¡¯t ruin Szechenyi¡¯s wedding. He¡¯s like my brother. They should have a blessed marriage.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your help.¡±


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, I¡¯m only helping because of Szechenyi and Princess Isabe.¡±


    ¡°I understand that.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Denmark will be your front yard from now on. Aren¡¯t you going to be the inw of the Danish royal family soon?¡±


    ¡°You got the invitation, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it came from the Danish Royal Family. My superiors arepeting against each other to attend the wedding.¡±


    ¡°Should I send you more invitation cards?¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need. They don¡¯t want to be exposed anyway.¡±


    ¡°So, I guess I¡¯m going to see one of them at this wedding.¡±


    ¡°He might sneak in and out quietly, or he can even secretly contact you. It¡¯s hard for me to guess.¡±


    Eriksson took aptop and a portable scanner out of his bag and smiled at Youngho. He wanted to see the bonds.


    ¡°Alright, shall we get down to business?¡±


    ¡°Here you are.¡±


    ¡°It was a U.S. government bond.¡±


    Eriksson scanned the bonds, sent them to hisptop, and then pretended to wipe off the sweat that didn¡¯te out. He looked annoyed.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve trusted you and made a deposit from the beginning, but I couldn¡¯t ignore the procedure, please forgive me for doing it.¡±


    ¡°The process of verifying the bonds is rather fortunate to me. If I had fake bonds, it can¡¯t be good for both of us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your understanding. It¡¯s just a confirmation process from the U.S. central bank and now it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°I see. So, this is how you confirm the authenticity of bonds.¡±


    ¡°Yes. There had been some fake bondstely.¡±


    Youngho wondered what kind of organization could reach out to the U.S. central bank. The more he knew, the more fear he had overawe at this huge organization. If he became hostile with this kind of organization, he would be screwed in many ways. He wanted to maintain a friendly rtionship as much as possible.


    ¡°I brought it with little doubt because it came from someone I could trust.¡±


    ¡°I see. Ourpany also has a 100 percent confidence in any dealings with you, Mr. Lee. You¡¯re already known as a man of loyalty from the incident in Chechnya.¡±


    ¡°In that situation, anyone would have done the same. Someone had to take you out. We¡¯re trained agents, but you¡¯re a civilian, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Youngho once went to Chechnya with Eriksson to deal with Chechen rebels and saved Eriksson. He just naturally carried Eriksson when there was a danger. Eriksson still remembered it.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to take care of oneself in that kind of situation, and it¡¯s even difficult to run with a big man like me. I just can¡¯t understand it even now. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone in the U.S. intelligencemunity who¡¯s strong as you.¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re in a crisis, your hidden poweres out.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to believe that? You¡¯re not taking any special medicine, are you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to take me to yourb and dissect me, are you?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... If it¡¯ll make money, I will offer it without hesitation. You could be a test subject for money.¡±


    Eriksson¡¯s phone rang in the middle of a lighthearted exchange of jokes. The bond seemed to be real, given that his expression was bright.


    ¡°They¡¯re 20-year bonds, and it seemed like the seller had them for 14 years. I¡¯ll include the interest that had been paid for the length of the period it had been owned. Please give me your ount number.¡±


    ¡°With interest too?¡±


    ¡°For important clients, such service is our standard. Our organization also prefers U.S. treasury bonds the most.¡±


    ¡°I have poor economic terminology and knowledge, so I need to study from now on.¡±


    ¡°Why would you study hard when you can use capable people to do the job?¡±


    ¡°Nobodyes under the owner who is too ignorant. I wouldn¡¯t work under him either.¡±


    ¡°If my superiors heard that, they¡¯d be disappointed. They have not studied economics or business management. Yet, they have ghostly business senses. You don¡¯t need to study economics to be a good owner.¡±


    Putting together what Eriksson just said, his bosses in the Information Agency would be geniuses with an uncontroble amount of money since they had not even studied business but they managed to get smart people like Eriksson to work for them.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really smart and knowledgeable like you, so I¡¯m just going to use my physical strength as I¡¯ve been used to it.¡±


    ¡°I envy it the most. You have to be strong enough to fight like a rhinoceros without knowing how tired you are. I¡¯m always tired because I¡¯m not physically fit. In fact, I¡¯m very tired right now.¡±


    Eriksson indirectly said that the conversation was over. Youngho also didn¡¯t want to be there anymore since he felt like his shallow knowledge would be revealed if he talked too much in the presence of a smart person.


    ¡°Then make yourself at home in this room. I should get going.¡±


    ¡°Do you think so? We don¡¯t have amission for you on this deal, so our higher-ups decided to give you a technology transfer. How about that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the most exciting news.¡±


    ¡°You could ask for any technology.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to ask too much from you. Mr. Eriksson, please rmend something suitable. I¡¯ll take it without aint.¡±


    ¡°It would be advantageous to specify what you want. There¡¯s no good in transferring useless technology.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be a problem if I asked the technology that yourpany doesn¡¯t have? From our state¡¯s point of view, any technology would be weed. I¡¯m just thankful to receive anything.¡±


    ¡°You give me homework to do. You¡¯d me me if I gave you an improper technology.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an engineer and I have no insight in this category. It would be best if you could rmend it for our state since yourpany probably has a better perspective on our state.¡±


    ¡°Oh, now you¡¯re burdening me.¡±

 Chapter 398 - A Deal with the Crown Prince (2)

    <h4>Chapter 398: A Deal with the Crown Prince (2)</h4>


    Szechenyi was well aware of the business that the crown princess¡¯ brother had.


    It was a huge enterprise that manufactured industrial electric motor. With Denmark¡¯s technology, it would not be too hard to find markets for exportation.


    ¡°It¡¯s apany we founded in the ¡¯60s, and our technology is solid. The problem is that the crown princess¡¯ brother is rumored to be ayperson in business. He¡¯s only interested in high society and has neglected to invest in research and development. As a result, thepany¡¯s turned into this.¡±


    ¡°The crown prince has no choice but to fund it. Thepany¡¯s got an ipetent man managing it only because he¡¯s the crown princess¡¯ brother. He must have been only focusing on making it look good from the outside without investing in R&D, no wonder why it¡¯s failing.¡±


    ¡°I think so. The Prince¡¯s will is a problem. Thepany might have a chance if he leaves us in charge of its management, but for now, its future doesn¡¯t seem so bright.¡±


    Since he neglected research and development, many research workers must have left the country. Thepany would close down within a few years since it would only depend on its old technology. There was no answer unless the chief executive was changed.


    Youngho was impressed by Szechenyi¡¯s diagnosis of thepany. He looked like a different person now. He seemed more confident and bold in what he believed and saidpared to before. For Youngho, such a change was quite gratifying. Now that he was going to be a brother-inw with the crown prince and the status of the autonomous state was raised, Szechenyi seemed to have gained more confidence. After the coronation, the media covered Kazakhstan¡¯s Arirang Autonomous State for a while, and now he was not so envious of the Danish royal family.


    Worrying that Szechenyi might get too cocky, Youngho said a word,


    ¡°Our state will change a lot in the next ten years. No one will be able to ignore our state. So, we need to keep a low profile until then, that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re quite as dead. I¡¯m saying you need to give the impression that you¡¯re worthy of being a partner, not a target of vignce.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. I¡¯ve got that much idea. I want to surprise the world when Leon grows up and bes the Archduke.¡±


    Szechenyi had more ambition than Youngho. He did not want just a well-off state, but a state thatmanded the world.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not trying to take another country¡¯s territory, are you?¡±


    ¡°What kind of a child am I, hyung? I just want to build our state¡¯s reputation. I¡¯ll have to make some money first, right?¡±


    ¡°You always say what I want to hear. How are you going to make money?¡±


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯ll offer to manage the crown princess¡¯ brother¡¯spany. If the prince is stubborn, I might address the issue directly to the queen. The Queen¡¯s not going to stand still when the pce¡¯s property is being wasted in vain.¡±


    ¡°You might only make it worse by doing that. Hold that thought, I¡¯m going to step up and make a strong appeal first. Maybe no one¡¯s ever been able to give a direct word to the Crown Prince.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone had been keeping their mouth shut rather than directly pointing out the princess¡¯ brother¡¯s faults, fearing that they might get disadvantaged from it.¡±


    ¡°The prince owes me a favor, so I¡¯ll try to persuade him. If the Crown Princess intervenes, this might all go to waste. It won¡¯t be toote for you to step up then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell this to Isabe beforehand, too. She also has an inheritance from the Danish royal family too.¡±


    ***


    The prince, who put out a big fire because of Youngho¡¯s help, looked much brighter than thest time. The money from the bond sale was deposited into his personal ount, which made him feel confident.


    ¡°Thanks to you, I can sleep with my legs straight. I asked a busy man toe, but I think I didn¡¯t treat you well. How can I express my gratitude?¡±


    ¡°It was definitely something I needed to help. If people below you know, it will only make a lot of rumors.¡±


    ¡°Have you learned anything about thepany my brother-inw runs?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t possibly evaluate apany so huge just by looking at it from outside for a few days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just frustrated because I don¡¯t have expertise in running a business. I¡¯m worried because the amount of thepany¡¯s exports is decreasing.¡±


    ¡°In my opinion, thepany should increase its research and development costs to improve its employees¡¯ technical skills. Otherwise, it won¡¯t havepetitiveness against other countries that aggressively invest in R&D.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? Thepany¡¯s technology is the best in the world.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then it must be a false rumor that thepany¡¯s products are losing out on Chinese products.¡±


    Youngho indirectly delivered his message since he did not want to risk pointing out the poor management of thepany. If he could not get what Youngho meant, he would be hopeless. Youngho did not care since the electric motorpany was not that attractive to him either.


    ¡°I heard that thepany¡¯s only been focusing on expanding overseas nts rather than research and development these days. It¡¯s not good news to be rumored like that.¡±


    ¡°No one told me about that. Does it make sense for thepany with so many professional managers to make such bad judgment?¡±


    ¡°I heard it from the stock market, so I can¡¯t guarantee its credibility. However, isn¡¯t the fact that a lot of talented people have left thepany proof that we can¡¯t expect thepany to improve? That¡¯s all I¡¯ve heard.¡±


    Youngho was not going to share anymore. It was up to the crown prince to decide now.


    ¡°Prince consort, please be honest with me. I don¡¯t live with my ears covered.¡±


    ¡°It has something to do with the crown princess. We¡¯re going to be family-inw soon, so I¡¯d like to be careful in what I say. I¡¯m afraid the crown princess might get upset with me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it a secret between you and me.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll tell you what I truly feel. I think you need to change the CEO first. So are the managers who are only interested in saving their faces. If left unchecked, within a few years, once a blue-chippany will end up as an ordinarypany that maintains nothing but prestige. If you don¡¯t want to miss out on those researchers and technicians, recing ipetent executives is a priority right now.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It will not be just the copse of the electric motorpany, it will be a huge national loss. The royal family won¡¯t be able to escape the me.¡±


    ¡°Ha... I see. It¡¯s all about my brother-inw.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not only him, but it¡¯s also the people working under him too. It seems that no one talked straight to him because of his position and power as the brother of the crown princess. They¡¯re mere thieves who get paid for nothing.¡±


    Youngho had no choice but to talk honestly. It was quite rude of him to say it like that, but it was the truth. The prince asked for a diagnosis of thepany, and if he did note clean, he would me Younghoter when thepany failed for not speaking the truth. This would also affect Szechenyi¡¯s rtionship to his family-inw.


    The dice had already been thrown.


    ¡°If it¡¯s difficult to change the CEO right now, let¡¯s put Szechenyi in the management team. His position as Princess Isabe¡¯s husband would not be imposing to the crown princess¡¯ brother. If it is difficult for you to fire your brother-inw immediately because of his rtion to you, you could opt out for a gradual resignation. Then your brother-inw will be able to have an honorable retreat.¡±


    ¡°I should. Thank you for speaking candidly about a sensitive issue.¡±


    ¡°I will help you directly or indirectly. It¡¯s a shame that Denmark¡¯s gshippany bes an ordinarypany.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, the question is, is there any reasonable way to persuade my wife?¡±


    ¡°What a tricky problem. If he steps down from the management line, she will misunderstand that Szechenyi and Princess Isabe are the cause.¡±


    ¡°I can never let the royal family members go against each other.¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be any trouble. I have found about your brother-inw¡¯s corruption. Would you like to hear it?¡±


    ***


    After Copenhagen¡¯s work, Youngho hurried back to Baku with Suh Min-seok.


    It was because the annual grape festival at Zeynep Farm was being held at the moment. The grape picking event was now eight years old. It started out as a small event for people to pick the grapes that were left by harvester machines, but as Zeynep brought her friends from the city¡¯s international school, it got bigger. International school children, parents, and Koreans living in Baku came to the festival every year to pick grapes for their own and have fun.


    The owner of such an important event could not be left out, so Fatima and the children had returned to the mansion of the farm. Since the children who used to skip sses under the pretext of the coronation, they were sad toe back to Baku. Sure enough, when Youngho appeared, the kids asked him if they could attend school in the autonomous state.


    In the state, people treated Jelyan and Rena as princesses, but they were just normal kids in the international school. They loved the privilege that they got when they were in the state.


    ¡°Honey, what do we do? They say they prefer the autonomous state¡¯s school than the school there. Also, Lord Niksic said that there¡¯s going to be a problem if the pce will be vacated for months.¡±


    ¡°Really? I think it¡¯s okay to stay in Baku for vacation and go to school in the state. I guess you were ttered by the way everyone treated you.¡±


    ¡°Haha... Maybe?¡±


    ¡°What about Leon?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s having fun anywhere he goes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the kids at the international school will be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back during the grape harvest season and summer.¡±


    Arge reservoir that became a swimming pool in summer and transformed into a skating rink in winter was in Zeynep Farm, which was more attractive than anything in the city. The kids at the international school would not be too sad if the reservoir would still be open to them. For foreigners living in Baku, Zeynep Farm was a great outlet.


    ¡°You decide on your own.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll transfer the children.¡±


    ¡°The international school will not like to hear that.¡±


    The school had gotten famous since the Archduchess¡¯ children attended it.


    It was like a certified check that the school was good enough to educate the children of the old Serbian Kingdom¡¯s royal family, but now the school¡¯s administration team would be sad to hear that the children would be leaving all of a sudden, especially when there was a lot of benefits that the school received because of Youngho.


    Since Youngho was in Baku, he requested a meeting with Sevan, who now became the Commissioner-General of the Main Police Department to find out about Niky¡¯s farm site. He had to set a time schedule because Sevan was now the busiest person in the department. Being themissioner general was entirely Youngho¡¯s influence, but it was an open secret in Baku¡¯s officialdom.


    ¡°Oh, prince consort. I should¡¯ve visited you first.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t call me that. I don¡¯t feelfortable.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s natural for you to be treated like this in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. I¡¯m so happy that the Duke of the state of Arirang backs me up. This position will remain unchanged as long as you¡¯re in power.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let¡¯s talk about you. You¡¯ve now be themissioner general. It¡¯s so hard to see your face now.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort. Please visit the police department at your convenience. That way, my position will be strengthened.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then I¡¯ll be here often.¡±


    Youngho listened to Azerbaijan¡¯s internal affairs from Sevan. He looked for any useful information, but there was nothing special about the recent economic boom that caused prices to go up further. Real estate prices were also fluctuating as more dors were circting in the country.


    ¡°Commissioner-General, I know a Russian businessman who¡¯d like to invest in Baku. Could you help me?¡±


    ¡°Foreign investment is always wee. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s interested in real estate.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s interested in buildings in downtown Baku, and I think he¡¯s nning to settle down. There are still many hilly areas near Zeynep Farm that could be developed, could you find an area that¡¯s about 500 acres for him?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem. Even though the prices of state property have gone up a bit these days, 500 acres will not be too much of a burden. The problem is that the price¡¯s of buildings in the city have gone up too much.¡±


    ¡°I think he can buy a building or two since he¡¯s quite rich. Please find me a trusted broker.¡±


    ¡°Now I have a way to repay you, prince consort. I¡¯ll go through a few brokers and find out the right ce.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t made up his mind yet, but I¡¯ll bring him one day to look over the area. I¡¯ll introduce him, so you could get acquainted with him too. Please help each other.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a great honor for me to make a connection with a Russian businessman.¡±


    Introducing Niky to themissioner general of the Main Police Department of Azerbaijan would cement his idea of investing in Baku.


    Being close to the powerful, regardless of Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia, had been an opportunity to make more money and strengthen one¡¯s position to anyone. If he had a chanceter, Youngho also wanted to introduce him to President Aliyev. Baku¡¯s farms and ranch were also as important as the Arirang Autonomous State. Baku was hisst bastion. Azerbaijan would be stronger and reputable when more foreign investors flocked to the country.

 Chapter 399 - The End Justifies the Means (1)

    <h4>Chapter 399: The End Justifies the Means (1)</h4>


    A Turkish shippingpany owner, Fikret Yilmaz, entered Youngho¡¯s office while having a tense look.


    He heard rumors about the autonomous state, but he had no idea how big the Grand Pce was. There were guards just like other European royal pces. He was intimidated as he was escorted by a solemn-faced servant.


    Yilmaz had always kept his ears open when it came to rumors about Youngho. The reason was that hispany could only survive because Youngho had yielded wheat transport between Baku and Istanbul. Since most of the bulk carriers of the Caspian Sea were busy transporting minerals from the Arirang Autonomous State, his freighters could monopolize the wheat that was transported to Turkey.


    When Jong-il reached out to him as Youngho requested, Yilmaz was worried that he might be there to announce that the Arirang Shipping would now start a Turkish route. Thankfully, that was not the case.


    ¡°I congratte you, albeit btedly. I heard the news, but I didn¡¯t dare to visit.¡±


    ¡°It was an internal event. The press came, and it became so crowded and noisy.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even prepare a congrattory gift because I was in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°Youing all the way here to see me is already a wonderful gift.¡±


    Yilmaz repeatedly thanked him for helping his business.


    ¡°Thanks to my daughter and her friend Princess Zeynep, I was connected to you and received a huge favor that continued my career. I hadn¡¯t been able to repay your kindness. However, when Mr. Park contacted me, I was going to buy extra cargo ships.¡±


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re nning to buy two medium cargo ships.¡±


    ¡°I need two 5,000-ton bulk carriers, but I was short of cash, so I was thinking of buying used cargo ships. But the president of Arirang Shipping, Mr. Park, said there was a way to finance the ships.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how short you are in terms of money, but I can lend you some. I run an investmentpany. The interest rate would be cheaper than other ship finance.¡±


    A 5,000-ton bulk carrier would cost 10 million dors to make.


    It was a tempting offer for new ship buyers if a shipbuildingpany offered financing options. Ship financing had usually been a financial product in which state-run banks in each country were involved to strengthen their state-owned shipbuilders.


    In the case of Youngho, he nearly had 200 million dors in cash that he received as amission for brokering to sell the gold bars. There was no interest in keeping it in a bank anyway, and ship financing was not a big deal. Also, it did not matter whether Youngho or the state would lend the money to him since the end would justify the means anyway. He was going to lend that money to Yilmaz.


    ¡°If so, I will ce an order to make ships right away. I have about six million dors avable at hand. If that¡¯s not enough, I¡¯ll provide you with real estate as coteral.¡±


    ¡°The cash is enough. When would you like me to deliver the ships?¡±


    ¡°The sooner the better.¡±


    ¡°I think two years will be enough. Since you¡¯re the first customer of our state¡¯s shipyard, we¡¯ll get to production right away.¡±


    The docks at the state¡¯s shipyard were able to build two ships at the same time.


    Since the state was in the middle of creating a new dock as well, it would be able to produce more ships even if there were additional orders.


    ¡°I think this must be my lucky year.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also happy to have my first client.¡±


    ¡°Can I introduce your shipyard to my friends in Turkey?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re more than wee to do that.¡±


    Youngho picked Yilmaz¡¯s shippingpany as his first client because he utilized the statistics of transport in the Volga-Don Canal. He found that Yilmaz¡¯spany had quite a lot of shipping orders, so he sent Jong-il to propose ship financing.


    Now that the state¡¯s shipyard took a great first step, there would be more extra orders from now on through Yilmaz¡¯s acquaintances.


    ***


    At the small docks, two 100-ton ships were stationed in a row. They were almostpleted. Therge-size dock next to it also had an old freighter which was in the process of repairing.


    ¡°Prince consort, do you make a warship, too?¡±


    ¡°This is what the Kazakh Navy ordered and a ship that would be used for patrolling in the state. We¡¯re only at the starting stage.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to make a warship, but you¡¯ve got a lot of technology.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that difficult because shipbuilding technology has bemon these days. The key depends on how much ship prices can be lowered. That¡¯s why we¡¯re also working on ship financing.¡±


    ¡°What factory are you building over there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an engine nt. It¡¯s a hassle to import every part for the shipyard, so we¡¯re going to make our own products and study new engines. Although the Caspian Sea is small, it is the front yard of five countries. The number of ships going through the Volga-Don Canal will continue to increase. That¡¯s one of the reasons why I¡¯m running a shipyard.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I have been socent after hearing what you just said. If I keep doing things my way, mypany will be out of business one day.¡±


    ¡°If you want your shippingpany to grow, you¡¯d have to have more ships. The route to the North Pole will open soon. Keep that in mind.¡±


    Strictly speaking, it was the Northeast route, but people generally referred to it as the North Sea or Arctic route. Recently, the route to Europe that passed the Bering Strait in ska and through Russia¡¯s northern coast was gaining poprity. The route was desirable to anyone since it was 5,500 kilometers shorter than the route that went through Suez Canal, and the length of the voyage would be reduced by 10 days.


    Of course, it should be a ship equipped with icebreaking functions, but even if it was not, it could travel along Russia¡¯s coast in the summer, although it would have to pay a toll since it would be passing through Russian territorial waters.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that route require an icebreaker?¡±


    ¡°If the ship is strong, it could travel in the summer months, but ultimately, you will need icebreakers.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the Arirang state has icebreakers. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have enough ess to the North Pole route. I¡¯ve heard that the waves are not too high because of the ice, so you can travel well on small boats. Is that right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re currently transporting lumbers from Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Really? Is there enough supply?¡±


    ¡°The wood is literally everywhere.¡±


    With his eyes glistening for a moment, Yilmaz grasped Youngho¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Prince consort, can I be in it too?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you want to build an icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°If I have a chance, I¡¯ll have to make it regardless of its cost.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your budget is tight?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any cash, but I have some real estate. I bought a building in Baku 15 years ago, and I¡¯m thinking about disposing of it because its price had gone up quite a lot.¡±


    It was said that a building in Baku had risen several times more than a decade ago, and it seemed that Yilmaz was one of the lucky ones. Fifteen years ago, Baku was not so popr, and buildings were traded at about a third of the current price.


    ¡°I see. It¡¯s the real estate you were offering as coteral a while ago.¡±


    ¡°I know its price is more than 100 million dors right now, but wouldn¡¯t that be enough to buy the cargo ships and an icebreaker?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    ¡°You said the wood is everywhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I¡¯ve also started a logging business in Siberia.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, then I must participate too. It doesn¡¯t worth much, but please take my building and build me a ship of the same value. I was going to dispose of it because the price of the building has gone up a lot. A few years ago, it was a pain in the neck.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we move to my office and talk?¡±


    There used to be a time when Zeynep came into Youngho¡¯s office and acted out, saying,


    ¡®If you bully my friend¡¯s father¡¯spany, it would be no fun.¡¯


    Perhaps that was when the shipping business hit the bottom.


    His connection with Yilmaz was probably meant to be, and now it was bringing him a great gift.


    ***


    ¡°Was your trip convenient?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know a personal jet would be this convenient.¡±


    ¡°Normally, you¡¯d have to be connected to get to Baku. Many people who are not used to traveling abroad hate that. The first step should be refreshing if you want to get things done. There is no special entry procedure required for you. Just give us your passport, and our staff will take care of everything.¡±


    ¡°I thought the VIP room is for special people. Thanks to you Mr. Lee, I¡¯m enjoying this honor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not because I¡¯m special, but in Baku, businessmen are treated special. If you have a business that¡¯srger than a certain size, you can use the VIP room.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a paradise for businessmen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a ce where you can be treated well as long as you pay the tax properly.¡±


    ¡°Not being swayed by powerful people?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Azerbaijan is a democratic country that abides by international agreements.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m in another world.¡±


    ¡°This country is small, but it is also a country with many opportunities.¡±


    Youngho sent a private jet to Chairman Niky since he wanted to visit Baku.


    Since he was a foreigner, he had to go through Baku International Airport. It was a good idea since Youngho could show him that he could use the VIP room too. Now that Youngho impressed him, he was going to impress him even more by stopping by the Main Police Department before going to a farm site. Niky would be surprised if he was introduced to the Commissioner General of the Main Police Department during his first visit to Baku.


    As Young-ho instructed, the car entered the Main Police Department.


    As the policemen stood at the entrance of the front door saluting Youngho, Niky was puzzled, not knowing what was going on. And as if Youngho had deliberately timed his arrival, Sevan was at the front door to wee the two.


    ¡°Good afternoon, prince consort.¡±


    ¡°Oh, why did youe out all the way down here? I shouldn¡¯t have bothered the busy man.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t sit still after hearing that you¡¯re bringing an important guest.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, let me introduce Chairman Niky. He is the king of all of Siberia¡¯s businessmen.¡±


    ¡°Thank you foring all the way here. I¡¯m Sevan, the policemissioner of Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Niky. It¡¯s an honor to be weed this way.¡±


    Niky was stunned.


    He thought he would be going straight to the hotel, but he was introduced to the police chief instead. This would never have happened in Russia. The only time when the police chief met a businessman was when he was bribed with arge sum of money.


    ¡°The prince consort is a good friend of mine. Please think of me as a friend too, chairman.¡±


    ¡°I am dumbfounded to be weed like this. I didn¡¯t know that the Commissioner-General woulde out to greet a mere businessman.¡±


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re nning to invest in Baku, so I thought I¡¯d help my friend, prince consort. I¡¯ve also searched for the site of the vi and farm you asked for, so why don¡¯t we go look at the site together?¡±


    ¡°Wow, do you already have the site?¡±


    Niky seemed to have foundfort already as an experienced businessman. He liked this kind of treatment.


    ¡°Of course. Prince consort here has asked me, so I had to hurry. Even the president would not refuse his request.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Commissioner, you¡¯re ttering me too much.¡±


    ¡°No, no. Ask the people in Baku. You¡¯re the one who does all kinds of good things, right? There¡¯s no one in Baku who doesn¡¯t know about the Arirang Foundation.¡±


    Niky also seemed surprised since he did not know Youngho was doing social work. It was surprising that Youngho was respected this much in a foreign country.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Mr. Lee very much, but I¡¯m getting a lot of help. I guess there¡¯s a whole reason why you¡¯re so famous here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve known him for more than a decade, but he¡¯s a real gentleman.¡±


    Youngho had no choice but to ask Sevan to hurry to thend site. It was unbearable to be praised so much.


    Sevan also rose from his seat while grinning.


    ¡°There¡¯s a hilly area about five kilometers from Zeynep Farm. I¡¯ve finished consulting with the relevant department, and the chairman¡¯s decision is all we have left. Shall we go now?¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t be able to say no since you¡¯re treating me so well.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, I¡¯ll buy it for you. We need to increase the vineyard.¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve said it, I feel like I should buy it more.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find that the atmosphere ispletely different from that of the city area of Baku. After looking at the site, I¡¯ll take you to Zeynep Farm. The barbecue would be getting ready by now. I have all sorts of drinks ready too.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think the vi site is already almost decided. Can¡¯t we go drink first?¡±


    It seemed Niky was quite excited since he asked to drink first. It must be because Russia had never been treating him honorably like this before.

 Chapter 400 - The End Justifies the Means (2)

    <h4>Chapter 400: The End Justifies the Means (2)</h4>


    The button on the charcoal grill was dripping with oil, and Niky, whose face was red with a whiff of sweet and sour liquor, was as excited as he could be.


    Youngho said a word because he felt sorry for Andrey, the chief secretary of Niky, who watched him with a worried face.


    ¡°Andrey, I think the chairman¡¯s feeling great today, so don¡¯t worry too much. We¡¯re the only ones here. It¡¯s a ce where there¡¯s no one to me for making mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, isn¡¯t this a foreign country and that¡¯s a police chief? I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll make a mistake.¡±


    ¡°Sevan is not police now. He¡¯s a very close rtive to me.¡±


    ¡°Is he really?¡±


    ¡°A friend who¡¯s like a brother to me is Sevan¡¯s family-inw. So don¡¯t worry about anything and have a drink.¡±


    ¡°I will refrain from drinking since I still have to serve the chairman.¡±


    ¡°You forgot that I¡¯m the owner of this ce. You should know that there arews of Siberia, but there arews of Baku too.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Sevan and Niky¡ªwho were sitting across Youngho and Andrey¡ªstopped their conversation upon hearing Andrey¡¯sughter. The two were chatting as if they had been friends for years. Since they became familiar in less than a day¡¯s time, Youngho would not have to worry about buying the site anymore.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, I¡¯ve never felt this good in my life. He¡¯s a very cool guy.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s funny. He¡¯s moderately greedy and power-oriented. Still, he¡¯s clean for a high-ranking official in Baku. He¡¯s in a position where he couldn¡¯tmit any irregrity.¡±


    ¡°Sponsors are a must for a government official who¡¯s suffering from low sry. I¡¯ll be happy to y that role.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll just say that he¡¯s a man who would repay a favor.¡±


    It seemed okay for Niky and Sevan to maintain a proper rtionship. Like all countries in Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan was also a ce where corruption in officialdom was at its highest level due to the remnants of the former Soviet Union. The only decent people that Youngho knew of were Kamal and Sevan.


    In that way, Youngho was also extremely lucky. Since Sevan was now a high-ranking government official, he had to have a couple of sponsors. Politicians in advanced countries also had a support group and were legally receiving political funds, and it was perhaps natural for police chiefs in developing countries like Azerbaijan to have that background.


    Youngho was the natural link between Niky and Sevan today.


    ¡°How long are you going to surprise me?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... most of the officials in Baku are close friends. I¡¯ll introduce them to you if you want. I made connections with them by bribing in the early days.¡±


    ¡°Do you still bribe them now?¡±


    ¡°Now, we¡¯ve developed a friendship that doesn¡¯t require bribing. They would refuse my money even if I wanted to give them some.¡±


    ¡°They must be just trying to impress you now that you¡¯re too big. Aren¡¯t civil servants the ones who bow before power?¡±


    ¡°That could be part of the reason why. Are you ready to invest in Baku now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to invest at least the cash I have right now. Is there anything you¡¯d rmend?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the right building just in time. I checked and found that the rental ie would be pretty good too. It¡¯s about 100 million dors. You could negotiate the price with the seller directly.¡±


    ¡°If Mr. Lee rmends it, there¡¯s nothing to argue about it.¡±


    ¡°However, please check the building condition and the surrounding market. I didn¡¯t have time to look at it thoroughly.¡±


    ¡°Can I see it tomorrow?¡±


    About 100 million dors was nothing for Niky


    The rush could be based on the calction of making evidence that he had invested in Baku.


    ***


    ¡°No, how many days has it been since I told you about my building? You already found a buyer? I was thinking of bartering if for a new ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it is undesirable to use all of the money from the building sale for a new ship. Buy somend on the outskirts of Baku with some of it.¡±


    Yilmaz was happy since the building he bought a dozen years ago served him good. Youngho rmended a grape farm to him.


    ¡°You want me to buy somend?¡±


    ¡°You could probably buy enoughnd for a grape farm with a little bit of money from what you¡¯re making.¡±


    ¡°What would I do with a grape farm?¡±


    You can supply your products to Zeynep Wine Company. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t sell my wine because we don¡¯t have enough supply.¡±


    ¡°Is it a profitable business?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try that if you¡¯d continue to buy all of the grapes from me.¡±


    Developing abandonednd would increase its value in itself, and a grape farm would also produce stable profits. It was also attractive that there was a winepany that would ept the grapes produced without a word of mouth.


    This led to the birth of another grape farmer.


    Youngho could buynd and nted grape seedlings, but in the long run, it was more beneficial to Youngho to find a good business for his acquaintances. The increase in grape production would naturally increase wine production, and that would be the basis for Zeynep Wine to be a world-sspany.


    Yilmaz ced an order for an icebreaker to be used for the Arctic route at the Danish shipyardpany.


    He wanted a 20,000-ton freighter. Even though he knew that a ship of that size could not enter the Caspian Sea, he chose arge vessel. In a way, it was an excellent choice. Since he had long experience running a shippingpany, he had considered the case where Russian canal would be blocked for political reasons. If the Russian canal was blocked due to political circumstances, a ship would have to pass through the Antic Ocean and to withstand the strong waves of the Antic Ocean, a ship that was at least 10,000-ton heavy was required.


    If any cargo was carried only to the ck Sea, there were plenty of bulk carriers that would go up and down the Caspian Sea, so Yilmaz thought that there was no reason to insist on traveling only through the canal.


    ¡°Hyung, I¡¯m going to be a director of the Danish electric motorpany.¡±


    It was Szechenyi on the phone.


    ¡°I guess the crowned prince has made up his mind. You must get it together step by step, without stirring too much from the beginning because it could get noisy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Also, I received some of the shipyardpany¡¯s stock holdings as amission to order the icebreaker.¡±


    As Szechenyi would be in the management team of the electric motorpany, it would start to be normalized gradually. It was no longer likely that the royal family would be subject to public criticism for not handling royal funds right. Szechenyi¡¯s entry did not mean that thepany¡¯s performance would improve suddenly, but it would not be asx as it used to be because the brother of the crowned princess would have check force now. He would be nervous in front of Szechenyi since he was not only a prince of the Archduke family but also the future royal princess¡¯ husband.


    ¡°How¡¯s the price of the stock of the Danish shipyard these days?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not much movement. Everyone seems to think of it as a temporary phenomenon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great, keep buying the stock that¡¯s on the market.¡±


    ¡°How much do you intend to keep?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to have at least take control of 15% of the management and keep in touch with institutional investors, too.¡±


    ***


    On the way back to the autonomous state, Youngho¡¯s mind was filled with the Danish shipyard.


    The state¡¯s shipyard was forced to produce only small vessels of less than 5,000 tons, which was the standard for passing through the canal. Large ships would also be needed in order to go to other seas. In case the canal was not avable, an extrarge dock that could producerge-size ships was also necessary. That was why he was thinking of taking control of the Danish shipyard.


    He still had enough stocks to interfere in thepany¡¯s management but to secure control of the management, his shares, and friends shares should bebined to exceed 30 percent at least. So, Youngho had been kept pushing Szechenyi to buy out institutional investors¡¯ holdings.


    If the world economy was on a full recovery track, and the Arctic route was soon to open, it was only a matter of time before the Danish shipyard grew since it specialized in making special ships.


    The Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s own productive forces would be enough to feed itself, but the road to a strong county was far off. The future of the state was guaranteed only when it had a few solidpanies to y a role like a widow¡¯s cruse.


    That led to the idea of acquiring and merging foreignpanies and pointed to the Danish shipyard as the first target.


    The autonomous state had to have a foundation to stand on its own feet, and at least have a corporation that earned hundreds of millions of dors a year to promote the development of the state. Of course, there was Youngho¡¯s gold mine and hotel and wine business, but that was not enough.


    To begin with, mining and bentonite businesses did not make much money. Also, wheat farming, cattle ranchers, food factories, bearing manufacturing, drone nts, carpet production, and medical businesses were expected to make only enough profits to maintain the status quo in the county.


    To make progress in development, there must be a great industrial base, and Youngho had to find it from the outside. He had a vague expectation that if he took over the shipyard based on Denmark, he would be able to see other things too.


    He nned to make full use of his status of the Archduke family that was also rted to the Danish royal family. Starting with Szechenyi¡¯s wedding, Youngho also nned to enter the European high society. If he did so, he would naturally interact with wealthy and influential people.


    Thanks to arge number of mediapanies that attended the coronation ceremony, the Archduke family of the old Serbian Kingdom was in the center of the European high society¡¯s attention. The inheritance of the Archduke family was said to be enormous, but the wealth of the current prince consort, Youngho, was also said to be enormous.


    It would be very helpful if only Youngho could make connections to a few of them for business partners. It was not only economic power that made a county powerful, but also the power of the inner circle that supported the state could not be ignored.


    As Youngho was sharing his ns to Park Jong-il and Cha In-soo, Jong-il interrupted.


    ¡°The high society? Of course, I¡¯m a socialite. Do you know how to dance?¡±


    ¡°You think you¡¯re having a ball in the world these days? They chat in a fancy bar with leading business people these days.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, it is pathetic for us to have to support such a human being as the grand duke. When you go to a meeting that¡¯s meant for couples, you¡¯re supposed to dance naturally. Don¡¯t you have to know the basic steps?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere if I have to dance.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say anymore. Just get a dance teacher and learn some dance moves right now.¡±

 Chapter 401 - The End Justifies the Means (3)

    <h4>Chapter 401: The End Justifies the Means (3)</h4>


    The train from the dock ran at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, arriving in the city where the administration office was located in just ten minutes.


    It was about five kilometers from the wharf to the city, so it was bound to arrive in a sh. It was able to speed up further, but it was such a short distance that it ran at 50 kilometers per hour.


    ¡°You¡¯re acting as soon as you get on board, but if you increase the speed, you could even get to the Bentonite factory within half an hour.¡±


    ¡°Suh Min-seok insisted on putting a train with narrow gauge, but he doesn¡¯t even mention it now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s right forter generations to use standard orbits. What? Do we want toplicate the railway system only to save some bucks?¡±


    ¡°But the idea of saving a penny is pretty good.¡±


    ¡°He just retracted the n, saying it would be more economical to put a standard railway because thend on the riverside will be added this time. I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t so easy to pull out because he¡¯d been exchanging e-mails with the Russian train factory.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how you grow as you go through trial and error.¡±


    ¡°He must be discouraged because the whole wheat export and the narrow-track rail system project are foundered. You should cheer him a little.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give him a bonus pay. That¡¯s the biggest boost for a sried worker.¡±


    ¡°Of course you should. He¡¯s been working hard for the Arirang state. Did you try to get away with it?¡±


    Today was the opening day of the train service from the wharf to the administration office. If the results of the test were good, the state nned to carry out the railroad project across the state in earnest.


    The county was 44 kilometers east and west, and 25 kilometers north and south¡ªabout twice the size of Seoul. The railway would be built about 35 kilometers east from the western end of the wharf.


    This could be done because thend that was given by the Kazakh government recently had elongated the width from the east and west of the state since it was formed along the Arirang River. Since it was adjacent to the river, it was easier to develop grasnd or farnd.


    The rails were needed as soon as possible in the farming towns and the town that had the Bentonite factory because they were scattered apart.


    The multiple test runs of the train went quite well, and everyone who rode the train liked it.


    In particr, Kim Chun got so excited and insisted that the state should consult with the Kazakh government to work on the connection of the state¡¯s railway to the Kazakh main railway.


    ¡°Prince consort, I¡¯m going to contact the Kazakh government and try to get the railroads connected.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy with the government¡¯s budget. The central government might say we have to pay for it all.¡±


    ¡°Ouch, I didn¡¯t think about that. I should rather slip some words when I attend the central government meeting.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That would be a shortcut. You could ask for a budget, and the central government might spare some for the railway.¡±


    The train operation between the wharf and the administration office brought many changes to the state. First of all, hundreds of bicycles filling the roadsmuting to work and back to home had disappeared. Workers at various factories near the dock beganmuting by train, not by bicycle or bus.


    Residents were happy just to get to and from work without regard to the weather. Riding a bicycle in the winter with a strong north wind was quite a trouble.


    During the day, bulk vehicles busily moved back and forth to transport wheat. The amount of grain harvested from all parts of the state was huge, so about 20 bulk cars were mobilized. All the bulk vehicles that had been going between the dock and the administrative office were also mobilized to carry wheat.


    The process of making wheat shipment was processed fast so that the wheat would be able to be exported before the winter came.


    ***


    There were many teenagers and newborns, but there was a huge shortage of blue-cor workers. The territory of the state was almost doubled but it was hard to spot a person around the state except for the city area. Although there was an overflowing number of jobs, there were not enough people to do the job. The state was too deserted for its area.


    Youngho called Niksic to discuss this.


    ¡°Lord Niksic, I don¡¯t see you often because I¡¯m so busy these days. I feel like it won¡¯t be enough even if I have ten bodies since I¡¯m traveling back and forth from the state to Siberia and Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Well, things only work when prince consort is involved.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re asking a horse to run harder.¡±


    ¡°Huh... That¡¯s proof that you have such exceptional ability. What are you worried about when our ancestors are protecting you?¡±


    It was freaky to hear that the ring also contained the spirits of Serbian Kingdom¡¯s ancestors.


    These days, the ring¡¯s energy had been intensified, so what Niksic said did not sound usual.


    ¡°If our ancestors are protecting us, I guess we can ept more Serbians.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°If there are still descendants of the Kingdom in the Balkan, I would like to receive them to the state. Lord, Niksic, could you please be in charge of this?¡±


    After the coronation, Niksic had been almost at a loss for pride in having done all he had to do. He only stayed in his house in istion, so Youngho feared his health would deteriorate.


    Thus, Youngho was now forcing him to work.


    ¡°Prince consort, thank you for giving this old man onest chance to serve. I¡¯ll get to work immediately.¡±


    ¡°You could probably get help from the Serbian Orthodox Church. Take some donations when you go to Romania¡¯s main office this time. I¡¯ve heard that the church¡¯s influence had been very weak.¡±


    ¡°The patriarch will be pleased to hear that. The name of the Serbian Grand Duchy will be remembered for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Please tell him that we will make a donation every year under the name of our state from now on. Instead, ask him to send the remaining descendants of the Serbian Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t refuse it because it¡¯s for the fellow countrymen who are living in difficult circumstances. The church will probably take the lead in recruiting immigrants.¡±


    ¡°Could you ask him to send people who are devout as a priority?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll pick church members first. I¡¯ll take a look at the mountain vige, too.¡±


    ¡°People who can afford to live a decent life there won¡¯t have much fun here. I hope people who live hard lives woulde.¡±


    ¡°What kind of economic power do people in the Balkan have? They¡¯re all about the same. It¡¯s more important to see whether or not they are loyal to the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Then I will leave the matter of selection to you, Lord Niksic.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for trusting me. I¡¯ll give all of my energy.¡±


    ¡°Please take some of the descendants of the Knights with you when you go there. We should show our state¡¯s dignity to the new immigrants.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll shake the whole Balkan Penins with our entrance.¡±


    ***


    ¡°How many extra houses do you have now, Commissioner Kim?¡±


    ¡°We just took in 42 families who have moved out of Tajikistan and 29 families of newlyweds. Now, we have 130 homes left.¡±


    ¡°What about the new town area near the Grand Pce?¡±


    ¡°There are about 100 houses left, but they¡¯re left for just in case. It¡¯s a ce where the Countryside Force guards live.¡±


    ¡°Is there no extra housing in rural viges and research towns?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got some, but they¡¯re only about a dozen houses. Why are you talking about housing all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve ordered Lord Niksic to find and bring back the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom. Not many people will move in this fall or winter, but there will be many immigrants in the spring.¡±


    ¡°Most of the ces that we have newly given are close to the river. How about creating new viges there?¡±


    ¡°Build more viges?¡±


    ¡°We can pick a few ces where the railway line will beid and make maybe two viges near the railway. Our county has a small poption, but most of the poption is crammed in the city area.¡±


    The city where the administration office was located had no choice but to have the entire infrastructure. Since educational facilities, medical facilities, cultural spaces, and shopping malls were all clustered in the city, it was natural for residents to prefer the ce.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure most Serbians would have been ranching or farming in mountainous viges in the Balkan Penins. I think they would prefer to settle in the newly incorporated areas. It will be difficult for them to adapt to the city life. It¡¯s a lot easier for them if we established tworge-scale ranching viges.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s worth considering.¡±


    There were several small ranch viges throughout the state, but there was norge-scale vige yet. It was because there was a shortage of water. But this time, the area would not be far from the river, and the water could be drawn from the river easily.


    ¡°We should pick sites to build the viges first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll choose fantastic ces for them.¡±


    ¡°You should consult with Dr. Park Young-sun and the construction director Min. It¡¯d be great if there is an underground water resource too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m almost an expert now. I can even find a ce where there might be water just by looking at it.¡±


    Kazakh nomads could find a ce in the ins where there was water with ghostly intuition. Kim Chun, a Koryoin, also had a basic farming experience in the ins since his family was used to farming for generations.


    For new Serbian ranching viges, Park Young-sun went ahead and tried hard to find underground water with a huge excavator, but there was no luck. Knowing that the Kazakh nomads were great at this, he finally asked for help from them.


    They came to the autonomous state and soon, they surprisingly were able to find water without a hassle. When Park Young-sun and workers dug the ces where the nomadic people pointed out, two or three out of ten ces had underground water.


    When Young-sun asked them how they said that they could smell water. It was like they had super senses like animals. Animals, with their senses several times as sensitive as humans, had mastered how to dig up water and survive.


    Park Young-sun said that it was unfair that his expensive equipment was no better than the nomads¡¯ instincts. Although it gave him a hard time, the sites for new viges were finally picked. It did not matter how to get to the destination since the end always justified the means.

 Chapter 402 - The Wedding of the Century (1)

    <h4>Chapter 402: The Wedding of the Century (1)</h4>


    Szechenyi¡¯s wedding was just a week away.


    In recent years; there had been little news in the European royal family, but the wedding of Isabe¡ªa Danish princess, and a brother of the Archduchess of the Arirang Autonomous State, was enough to draw people¡¯s attention.


    The wedding ceremony would be held in Denmark, but surprisingly, the autonomous state was in the center of mediapanies. It was because the Danish royal family was quite well-known, but many things about the Arirang state were still in a veil.


    ¡°Prince consort, what should we do with the press¡¯s rush of requests for interviews?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no more news. I¡¯m not going to do any interview. Once you start doing an interview, there¡¯s no end to it.¡±


    ¡°Those reporters are going to back down.¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you let Commissioner Kim do interviews? He¡¯ll give them good stories to talk about.¡±


    Youngho could do interviews, but it would be a hassle if reporters tried to take pictures of him. If he let Kim Chun be in charge of the media, he would probably make the secret history of the Serbian kingdom more appealing and mysterious with his exaggerative story-telling skill.


    What the reporters wanted was a hidden story of the Archduke family that would stimte the public¡¯s curiosity, not Youngho¡¯s face.


    Journalists were not the only ones to visit the state since the rumors of the wedding were spread. Manymon people also visited to see what the Arirang Autonomous State which was formed by the descendants of the Serbian kingdom was like.


    Due to increased travelers, women soldiers working at the state¡¯s airport and the gate checkpoint were having a hard time. Some of them were Koryoins, but most of them were Serbians, and the presence of women soldiers was enough to draw people¡¯s attention. It was because they insisted on military uniform even though they were not required to do so. Also, the beauty of Serbiandies was ying a huge role in this.


    Youngho smirked to hear that many male travelers tended to hover around the checkpoint where the women soldiers work.


    When female soldiers were highlighted by the media, it was also highlighted that the state had a separate military organization. This was touted as if the autonomous state was an independent country.


    Cho Chul-hwan, the chief of the Countryside Force, was also irritated because the military force of the state was being exposed too much.


    ¡°It¡¯s like at the coronation, and now it¡¯s all over again with spective articles, and there¡¯s no way to stop it, and I can¡¯t chase away all the reporters in the state. Man, this is driving me crazy.¡±


    ¡°Just leave them alone. The Kazakh government has permitted our military force. What¡¯s going to cause a problem?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t see our existence as part of Kazakhstan, but in a different way.¡±


    ¡°In what kind of a way?¡±


    ¡°They doubt that the Kazakh government had permitted a military force in the autonomous state and allowed it to take charge of Maritime Police duties. They think of us as a second troop of Russia.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably because our state consists of Serbians who are vic just like Russians. Well, we can¡¯t ask for a correction every time. Actually, I think it¡¯s good. They will not look down on our state but will think of it as a fearful being.¡±


    ¡°How could you be so rxed? Man, this is killing me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a temporary phenomenon. You don¡¯t have to be too sensitive to those stories that are intended to draw people¡¯s attention.¡±


    It was actually better if the rumor that Russia was behind the autonomous state was spread out. Considering the rtionship between Kazakhstan and Russia, it was not too much for the media to think so. Kazakhstan was an independent country, but it was also true that it was inseparable from Russia.


    The 30 percent of the country¡¯s poption consisted of Russians and some Europeans, and they were the ones who control the country¡¯s economy, which made the global society to think that the country was Russia¡¯s subjugation. Under such circumstances, Serbians, who were of the same vic descent as Russians, could be misunderstood as Russians. Especially when the state was armed with its own military force, people were bound to think that the state was Russia¡¯s another military base.


    Youngho was not going to deny or confirm the spection. It was fortunate that the state was considered to have power.


    ***


    Szechenyi¡¯s wedding yed a huge role in moving Serbian immigrants from the Balkan Penins. They were eager to move to the great state of Arirang which was going to be rted to the Danish royal family.


    Niksic called in an excited voice, saying that those who were not descended from the Serbian kingdom also filed for immigration.


    ¡°Prince consort, I¡¯m going to stay in Serbia and go to Denmark the day before the wedding.


    The ssification of the applicants is also difficult as there are so many of them.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take all of them if they¡¯re members of the Serbian Orthodox Church?¡±


    ¡°We will prioritize the descendants of the kingdom as far as possible. Wouldn¡¯t it be a disaster if we receive people who used to be war criminals likest time?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re victims of that time, too.¡±


    ¡°I see what you mean, but it¡¯ll be the best for the future of the country if you can rule out those people as much as possible.¡±


    Niksic tried to pick out only moderate-minded people.


    The reason behind the disgrace of being the world¡¯s powder keg was the massacresmitted by nationalists and their followers in the Balkan Penins. Since it was the time when everyone was obsessed with nationalist insanity, people could not judge which was right and wrong.


    The conflicts between ethnic groups were still taking ce everywhere in the penins. Those who had been gued by ethnic conflicts in the past wanted to move out of the ce. Many people had immigrated to other Eastern European countries or North American countries. It was because the conflicts of more than a decade ago remained as a terrible scar in people¡¯s heart.


    To Youngho, it was a sign that those people would never want to see that happening again. Since they were ready to live a better life and move on, he thought that there was no point in picking who qualified as immigrants of the autonomous state.


    However, Niksic would probably choose the descendants of the kingdom first. He had a stubborn idea that made him think that only the descendants of the kingdom were considered Serbians.


    If disappointed people who had failed the screening process were going to follow ande to the state on their own expense, Youngho wanted to take them as residents of the state.


    If he readily epted such people, they would be more loyal to the state than any other residents of the state since people never forgot the help given at the moment of desperation.


    ***


    The reality of the state was that it was impossible to focus only on the wedding ceremony since there was still a lot of work to do. Although Youngho¡¯s friends including Park Jong-il were ying their respective roles to help Youngho¡¯s work, there were still a lot of things that Youngho was involved in. Only Kim Chun and Youngho could take part in matters rted to the Kazakh government.


    Especially if it was rted to the president¡¯s affairs, Youngho was the one who had to take care of it. As the ceremony approached, the president sought for Youngho. It was to discuss the issue of a delegation.


    Youngho hastily flew over to Astana.


    President Nazarbayev, who had not been visiting foreign countries for very long, said he would go to Denmark for the ceremony. It was a sudden change of n since he previously said that he would send the foreign minister and other politicians due to his health issues.


    The Danish government was equally perplexed by Kazakh president¡¯s protocol.


    Although the economic power of Kazakhstan was meager, the president of Kazakhstan, which was a resource-rich country with a hugend, was also an honorable guest.


    ¡°Mr. President, you wanted to see me?¡±


    ¡°Come on, prince consort. I¡¯m sure I¡¯m giving you a hard time with a sudden change of mind.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m d your Excellency has decided to join the ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Haha... I know it¡¯s a lie but it still feels good to hear such a lie. Well, I changed my mind because I didn¡¯t like the way France has bailed on me.¡±


    ¡°What about France?¡±


    ¡°France suddenly stopped the joint gas field exploration project that had been going on in our country. The French government has asked to postpone it for a few months because of their internal situation, but we¡¯ll lose money for it. We¡¯ve already signed contracts with Western European countries for supplies but we¡¯re going to have to send them back. There was a good reason, but it¡¯s such a pain in the neck. So I¡¯ve decided to give the project to the Danish government as a gift for the wedding.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? I don¡¯t think France is going to stand still.¡±


    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t? They¡¯re not going toe all the way here. This is not the first time France has done this to us. I¡¯m not going to take it anymore.¡±


    ¡°You must have exchanged the memorandum of understanding already. You could be viting the internationalw.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not the only one viting the internationalw. They did it first.¡±


    ¡°The Danish government would love if you give this opportunity to it, but there¡¯s going to be too much of a political burden.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing it anyway. I¡¯m going to fix the France government¡¯s bad habit this time. I didn¡¯t have a proper gift for your brother-inw¡¯s wedding, but now I get to give a good one. I needed to get connected with the Danish government anyway.¡±


    Youngho worried if Kazakhstan would be okay even if it betrayed the Frenchpany.


    In any case, it was good to be rich in resources. The sense of confidence came from having rich resources since other countries that needed the resources were the only ones to be sorry when their rtionships went downhill.


    The president¡¯s action would benefit Youngho in his rtionship with the Danish government. If the emergence of President Nazarbayev was an opportunity for Denmark to take a step forward in the development of Kazakhstan¡¯s resources, Youngho would get some credit too since the Danish royal family would thank Youngho¡¯s connection to the Kazakh president.


    ¡°Mr. President, I¡¯ll escort you if you¡¯re going to the ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the head of the Arirang Autonomous State should not be treated like that. I¡¯ll take care of myself, don¡¯t worry.¡±

 Chapter 403 - The Wedding of the Century (2)

    <h4>Chapter 403: The Wedding of the Century (2)</h4>


    Copenhagen on the eve of the wedding was all in a festive mood.


    The city was crowded with broadcastingpanies and reporters from all over the world, countless tourists, police, and soldiers from all over the country trying to maintain security.


    In particr, young backpackers who came out of curiosity and jealousy were everywhere. The story in the fairy tale was about to actually unfold in front of their eyes, so they were there to make a good memory.


    The curiosity was multiplied by the marriage of the princess of a well-known country and the princess of a Grand Duchy, who came alive from a legendary story. In addition, the prince of the mysterious state had a lot of money. People said that Princess Isabe had be Cindere.


    For the Danish royal family, it was fortunate to be rumored like that since marrying into a rich, royal family saved its face. It was also an impressive point that the Arirang Autonomous State was actually governed by the Archduke and the prince consort¡ªwhereas other European royal families were merely symbolic nowadays. Princess Isabe, who was marrying into a powerful Archduke family was the object of envy by many.


    Gossipers even referred Szechenyi and Isabe living together in Denmark after their wedding as an invasion of the Arirang Autonomous State.


    It was now an open secret that the Arirang state had established an investmentpany in Copenhagen and be a major shareholder of the Danish shipyard.


    It was hard to imagine how much money that the autonomous state had after it had ordered seven ice breakers which cost about 100 million dors each. It was impossible to invest in such an amount to the shipyard that was going bankrupt if the state was not willing to take over the shipyard.


    Moreover, the rumors were amplified when Szechenyi was appointed as an executive officer of the Royal Motor Company not long ago. It was not malicious to describe it as an invasion of the Arirang Autonomous State. These days, even Denmark was suffering from the high unemployment rate, so foreign investors were highly weed.


    Due to Szechenyi¡¯s wedding, the existence of the Arirang Autonomous State was clearly imprinted on people¡¯s minds.


    ***


    The streets were full of people, that there was no room for any more people.


    To see the bride and bridegroom riding in a fancy carriage, so many people hade to the city. Youngho worried that there might be a crushing ident due to the crowdedness.


    People¡¯s showed almost a frenzy of enthusiasm when the fancy-d policemen on horses took the lead, followed by the newlyweds¡¯ carriage.


    Szechenyi and Isabe, who came out of the cathedral after the wedding, waved to the crowd joyfully. People shouted and blessed the newlyweds as if their rtives were getting married. Envoys from each country who attended the wedding ceremony at the cathedral had to be trapped inside the cathedral because of the crowds outside that did not leave the cathedral even after the wedding carriage passed by them already. The cafes and bars on the streets started to give away, so they were waiting for the treats.


    ¡°Shall we walk, too? How long are you going to stay here?¡±


    ¡°The queen and king are still waiting here. We can¡¯t leave before them. Also, if we go out in this attire, all the people outside will flock around us like clouds.¡±


    Youngho was formally dressed for the wedding ceremony, so anyone could tell that he had been invited to the wedding if he stepped outside the cathedral.


    ¡°They¡¯ve gathered so much, I don¡¯t understand why they¡¯re so excited for other people¡¯s party.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s curiosity that the media created. That TV camera¡¯s still working, we¡¯ve also been in the shot a few times.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it will be sent to Korea, too.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure all our friends are watching. Man, we¡¯re going to get a lot of phone calls.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to recognize us on TV.¡±


    ¡°Hey, there are only a few Asians here, maybe about ten. Don¡¯t you think we might stick out from the crowd?¡±


    Yun-suh, who had been listening to Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s conversation, suddenly shouted.


    ¡°Oh! Oh, my God, I¡¯ve advertised to my friends from college that I¡¯m going to attend the wedding.¡±


    ¡°Well, then they¡¯ll recognize our faces too.¡±


    ¡°No, the girls who dated Jong-il oppa must¡¯ve seen this. Some of them still talks about him.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s face turned yellow at her remark.


    ¡°Jeez, Yun-suh, you decided to put me into trouble, didn¡¯t you? Why did you tell them that?¡±


    ¡°Obviously I didn¡¯t think about you being on the air too. When they reach out to me, I have no choice but to give them your number. You do the rest because you deserve that.¡±


    The look on Yun-suh¡¯s face indicated that she was making fun of Jong-il, but Jong-il seemed to be frustrated to think about those girls he had hurt. What he did when he was young and stupid was still haunting him.


    ¡°Youngho, if I leave the state without a word, consider it as Yun-suh¡¯s fault.¡±


    ¡°Well, you son of a b*tch, what did you do to make those innocent girls cry?¡±


    ¡°Anyone who¡¯s never been in a passionate, burning rtionship will never know what I¡¯m feeling.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? I¡¯ve never had a ming love affair, so I don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, as a friend you are supposed to be supportive when I¡¯m in pain.¡±


    Karajan did not understand a thing they said because they talked in Korean, but if she did, she would have plucked out all of Jong-il¡¯s hair.


    The serious royal wedding experience ended with teasing Jong-il.


    ***


    ¡°Please participate in the development of offshore gas fields. We¡¯ll provide you with unlimited supplies for your needs. Please send a working group as soon as possible. I¡¯m giving you a wedding present because Denmark is now in a rtionship with us, Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°This is too much for a wedding gift. The Danish government won¡¯t turn it down, Mr. President. Please let us know if you need a technical partnership. I¡¯ll return your favor with that.¡±


    Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen replied to President Nazarbayev with a bright smile. Denmark, which was only a one-fifth of the Korean Penins in its size, had 5.6 million people. The resources that the nation consumed per year were not much, but it was still a great gift for the country.


    ¡°Although Kazakhstan is behind Denmark for many years, we have hope since the young talents of our country are working hard. In particr, the Arirang state is creating a fresh breeze. Please help us a lot. I¡¯m looking forward to work with the Danish government.¡±


    ¡°Of course. The Arirang Autonomous State and the royal family of Denmark are now bound with a marriage. If you tell the Duke of the state what you need, we¡¯ll add our strength to Kazakhstan. When the working group goes back to your country, we will bring a gift package from Denmark.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±


    Perhaps because Youngho was there, the dialogue between two leaders of the two countries went quite amicable.


    President Nazarbayev also ttered Youngho by saying that he was a good friend who brought good fortune as he tapped on Youngho¡¯s shoulder.


    The old my president was smoothly doing diplomatic sales based on the overflowing underground resources of Kazakhstan. Prime Minister Rasmussen also responded to him pleasantly.


    Now that the two leaders had reached a general agreement, Youngho would be in charge of the details of their business. Political remarks between the leaders were bound to be a feast of words. If theye down to the working level, they would have more to contend with, which could lead to unpleasant results depending on their interests. Youngho was responsible for coordinating that.


    Today¡¯s conversation would soon be announced to the royal pce, and it was self-evident that it would spread to political circles. The thought of the aftermath made Youngho smile. Denmark would soon realize how beneficial it was to take Szechenyi as the husband of Princess Isabe. Thanks to this, not only Szechenyi but also Youngho would quickly emerge as indispensable to Danish government officials.


    Nazarbayev¡¯s visit to Denmark was going as intended.


    He was getting a flurry of requests for a meeting from politicians and foreign ministers from all over the country as a congrattory delegation for the wedding. Most of the envoys who attended the wedding were ministers who worked on practical affairs or influential politicians.


    President Aliyev of Azerbaijan was also seen meeting with politicians and foreign ministers from around the world to make and build connections.


    In that political gathering, Youngho screamed in joy in his mind since he was called around busily. This was because the two presidents were engaged in sales diplomacy using their connection to Youngho. In the process, he greeted foreign ministers and politicians of each country, creating awareness that Youngho was a necessary person if other countries wanted to get involved in business with the two countries.


    ¡°Prince consort, I have a call from the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom who would like to meet you. He asked when it would be a good time for you.¡±


    ¡°Really?! He¡¯s one of the busiest people in the world. Why would he want to see me? You didn¡¯t hear him wrong, did you?¡±


    ¡°The secretary of the Foreign Secretary came in person and asked me.¡±


    ¡°The high man wants to meet me, I should, of course, ept his request. Did he have any specialment?¡±


    ¡°No, he just wanted to see you.¡±


    The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom was quite a reputable position with high power and authority. He was the head of the MI6, which was an intelligence force like the US CIA. Even without the Prime Minister¡¯s permission, he had the power to move the force.


    A person in such a high position was seeking to meet the head of the Arirang Autonomous State, which was a huge mystery. Youngho had already exchanged greetings and business cards with him at the wedding and reception. Since there was no reason to say hello again, there must be a good reason for the meeting.


    ¡°Can you tell them that I¡¯ll leave tomorrow free of schedule. The Foreign Secretary must be one of the busiest people in the world. I have to let him pick the time of the meeting.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll get in touch with you right away.¡±


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, find out who the British Foreign minister has been meeting with. Contact the reporters. They must know.¡±


    ¡°If you ask the reporters about that, they¡¯ll ask for a deal.¡±


    ¡°Get in touch with a smart reporter and tell him I¡¯ll give him a good exclusiveter. Then he¡¯ll find out about it with all of the resources he got.¡±

 Chapter 404 - Signs (1)

    <h4>Chapter 404: Signs (1)</h4>


    Although Youngho asked Suh Min-seok to find out about what the British Foreign Secretary had been up to, there was no track record of him left.


    It was too much to ask to find out about the head of the British intelligence agency¡¯s moves since if it was not an official visit, all of his whereabouts must be in secret.


    Soon, the Foreign Secretary contacted Youngho asking if they could meet on a suite room on the 16th floor of a hotel at 2 p.m. the next day. It was just one floor below the hotel floor where Youngho was staying. He did not expect that the minister would ask to meet in a suite room even though it was not supposed to be a secret meeting. This must be the reason why reporters could not find his trace.


    Even if they were to meet officially, the press would not pay attention to it because it was so natural for a guest attending a royal wedding to meet with the groom¡¯s side. The minister intended to hide the fact that the two were meeting. It meant that he was going to have a secret conversation.


    ¡°Minister, I was startled when you asked to meet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been waiting for two days to meet you, the Duke of the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just the head of a small, newborn state. I don¡¯t have anything to say for sure, but I¡¯m lucky to have a rtionship with the Danish royal family. That¡¯s what the media has been after.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you try to get your state exposed to the press?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The existence of the autonomous state is now known to the world, even to the extent that the Kazakh government cannot afford to tamper with it. Wasn¡¯t it your n to prepare the state in case another administration tries to shake it in the future?¡±


    If Nazarbayev stepped down from power, the state¡¯s position could be shaken by the new regime. This continued to bother Youngho, and that was why he unveiled the autonomous state even at the risk of being harassed by the media. No one would touch it easily if it was in the world¡¯s spotlight.


    ¡°That was part of my intention. If it was visible to you, I can assume that the Kazakh government already knows about it too.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh government will ignore it even if it knew about that since there¡¯s more to gain from having the Arirang Autonomous State. Politicians in multi-ethnic countries are generous in that regard. We¡¯ve already learned from the past that it¡¯s a lot better to offer their own space to embrace immigrants.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what power the Arirang state has.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of power now, haven¡¯t you? The fact that every royal family in Europe has recognized it is proof of that.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Most European countries represent constitutional states. Although the king is only symbolic, he is respected and loved by the people. Kings sometimes wield rusted swords on their backs. Do you know how powerful that still is? The Queen of Ennd¡¯s words is more influential than hundreds of words spoken by politicians.¡±


    ¡°That is good to hear. It seems that my intentions worked.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Now, no one in the internationalmunity is afraid to deny the Arirang Autonomous State. The Kazakh government will ept even if the Arirang state wants independence since maintaining a good rtionship with the autonomous state will be more profitable. That¡¯s how we see it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going too far with your imagination. The Arirang Autonomous State will remain as a member of Kazakhstan. I¡¯ve never thought of our state without Kazakhstan.¡±


    Youngho was stunned to hear those unexpected words from the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. How did the British Intelligence Servicee to that conclusion? That made him wonder if the U.K. would support the independence of the autonomous state.


    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s your n, perhaps that¡¯s how it will be. But things change when there¡¯s a certain variable. Do you think Kazakhstan will stand forever? You know about the Kazakh bordend near the Russian border, don¡¯t you? Russian residents there are working toward their independence from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I know that. I¡¯ve discussed it in depth with President Nazarbayev.¡±


    ¡°So, you alsomunicate with the president in general with domestic politics.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only because it was directly rted to the future of the autonomous state. The president doesn¡¯t want an armed conflict with Russia.¡±


    ¡°Our government has been also closely watching that. If Russia put the Russian residents in the area just like the Crimean Penins in Ukraine, there¡¯s no way for the Kazakh government to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh government could redraw the border. Mr. President thinks that it¡¯s not a big deal to give up a little piece of the hugend. We all know that we can¡¯t fight Russia and win. He thinks it¡¯s better to take some of thends off and get the benefits in return.¡±


    ¡°President of Nazarbayev is known to be a nationalist, but his idea is surprisingly reasonable.¡±


    ¡°Giving up the territory would be only temporary.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s trying to build power until he could reim the territory. No one would feelfortable giving up thend where their ancestors¡¯ spirit is breathing.¡±


    Minister Boris Johnson looked surprised at Youngho¡¯s bombshell remarks. The two were the only people in the room, but he shushed Youngho and looked around as if he was checking if there was anyone around.


    ¡°Is it okay to tell me such an important secret?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already predicted the future of the autonomous state, so what more can I hide? It doesn¡¯t look like the British government¡¯s going to fight against Kazakhstan since you told me about Russia¡¯s situation. Didn¡¯t youe to help us?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You got me.¡±


    ¡°What does the UK want to get from Central Asia? I¡¯d like to ask you what your intention is in telling me about Russia¡¯s trend.¡±


    ¡°To speak frankly, I wanted to know your perspective on this. Forgive me if I was too blunt.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. I wouldn¡¯t have told my whole intention to a person whom I¡¯ve never seen either. When you asked me to meet secretly, I guessed that we would be talking about business.¡±


    ¡°We were right toe to you. The British government has been watching the Arirang Autonomous State for a long time. So, I¡¯d like to make a suggestion.¡±


    He took a sip of tea and sat close to the table. Youngho also leaned forward to listen actively.


    ¡°The British intelligence service wants strategic rtions with the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°I heard there¡¯s an intelligence department in the state, isn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°If you count several local branch offices of the Arirang Autonomous State in different regions of Central Asia, yes, we surely have it.¡±


    ¡°Our MI6 agents in Central Asia confirmed that your agents clearly seem to be well-trained, isn¡¯t it so?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t deny it. We¡¯re only at the level of normal information-collecting activities.¡±


    He did not bother to say no since the minister seemed to be sure of the intelligence department of the autonomous state. It would be better to say with confidence that there were well-trained intelligence agents.


    ¡°Our intelligence service does not interfere with or manipte the political situation of other countries like the United States. It¡¯s just a pure collection of information, just in case. There are not many of our agents in Central Asia or Russia, so it is difficult to gather information. That¡¯s why I¡¯m proposing to share information.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean that the British intelligence service is also willing to share information with us? What would knowing the world¡¯s high-quality information do good for a small state like us? I¡¯m not interested in the world. I only care about our autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be a bother. We are also willing to supply you with the information equipment and special weapons your state needs. It¡¯s going to help the state build its own power.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s little informationing from our local agents. I don¡¯t know if it will help your home country.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than blocking your eyes and ears. I¡¯d like to go further and also learn about Kazakhstan¡¯s trends. Is it possible?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re telling me to spy on Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it as national affairs, think of it as international affairs. You are a foreigner in Kazakhstan anyway.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your county going to need information from Russia and China that borders Kazakhstan?¡±


    At the end of their long talk, Youngho shook hands with the Foreign Secretary before they parted ways.


    Today was the day when the two states reached a surprise agreement on the exchange of information. The next time Youngho visited Great Britain, he would exchange a memorandum of understanding with the Foreign Secretary.


    In exchange for supplying information to Central Asia, the minister would give information about Russia and China and promised to providemissioned education and equipment support for the intelligence agents of the autonomous state. Now the state¡¯s agents could receive systematic training.


    ***


    ¡°Really? Our agents can get MI6 training and British high-tech equipment too?¡±


    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you so you would believe it?¡±


    Jong-il jumped when Youngho informed him of his meeting with the British Foreign Secretary. Since he was a big fan of James Bond from the 007 series, he was so excited to hear the news that the autonomous state would be coborating with the British intelligence service.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I don¡¯t believe it. The US CIA only gives us a few pieces of equipment and get a ton of information every day. Great Britain is still a gentleman¡¯s country.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t believe that about the gentlemen¡¯s country. They¡¯ve done all sorts of bad things in the past. Look at how many colonies they have. He said he doesn¡¯t interfere with other countries¡¯ politics, but I don¡¯t believe that. I only agreed to do the partnership because he already knew about our intelligence department.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? It¡¯s exciting just to be able to receive advanced information education. I should also take the training in Ennd for this opportunity. I can alsopare the difference with the U.S. CIA.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too old to receive their training. You¡¯ll embarrass yourself among the young agents. We can just go and watch our agents receive their training.¡±


    ¡°I have a ring and leather shoes. What are you worried about?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to wear it to the British Intelligence Service? If you use the power of the ring, they¡¯ll try to dissect your body.¡±


    ¡°Why are you scaring me? Don¡¯t worry, my body feels like it¡¯s in its 20s.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go together next month to formally exchange MOUs, and take a look at the educational scene.¡±


    ¡°Will they show it to us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re qualified because you¡¯re the director of the Intelligence Department of the Arirang Autonomous State. Of course, you should see it. Shouldn¡¯t we know what kind of training our agents will be getting? If it¡¯s on the same level as us or below our level, we¡¯ll be better off without their training.¡±


    Since the agents of the autonomous state received training from Youngho and Jong-il on the basis of the U.S. intelligence¡¯s training without proper textbooks, they needed properly structured education. Therefore, the British¡¯s proposal formissioned education was also a good opportunity topare with the intelligence education of the autonomous state.

 Chapter 405 - Signs (2)

    <h4>Chapter 405: Signs (2)</h4>


    Youngho had not yet been able to return to the autonomous state even though five days had passed since the wedding ceremony.


    Only Kim Il-kwon and Suh Min-seok were left, and all the family members and leaders of the state went back. His children had to go to school, and Jong-il and In-soo had to go back to take care of their work that piled up.


    Youngho met many politicians in the city, but there was someone left that he wanted to meet the most before he left. It was because Eriksson¡¯s boss from the Information Agency asked to see Youngho. Since Youngho still could not believe that he met the British Foreign Secretary, Eriksson¡¯s call was quite surprising too. He wondered what the top man of the Information Agency would say. To face Youngho in person meant that the agency fully recognized him as its partner. It seemed that Youngho¡¯s role in connecting the leaders of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to other influential politicians of different countries was one of the main reasons that the Information Agency¡¯s boss decided to meet him.


    ¡°Duke of the Arirang Autonomous State, this is Vincent van Basten, the co-representative of the Information Agency.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Basten.¡±


    ¡°This is Lee Youngho. Are you a Dutch aristocrat by any chance?¡±


    Youngho asked because many Dutch aristocrats used ¡®van¡¯ in the middle of their names.


    ¡°You are indeed the Duke of the Serbian Grand Duchy. Yes, my family once used to be a noble family in the Nethends, but after World War II it was stripped of its peerage.¡±


    ¡°I must have touched a sore spot. Forgive me if I¡¯ve been disrespectful.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. I don¡¯t mean to hide it. The shameful past is something that must be settled. It doesn¡¯t suit my personality to hide what someone else might find out one day. I don¡¯t want to disappoint a good partner like you for that.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He then began to talk about his shameful past as if Youngho had asked. His father was an entrepreneur who supplied Nazi military supplies. In those days, he worked hard to produce and supply weapons but after the war, he was branded a war criminal. Then he was imprisoned and deprived of his nobility¡¯s title.


    Although his father built up great wealth by making war supplies, it became a shameful past for his offspring. He smiled and said that he was still hiding from the world because of it.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know if I deserve to hear about your past.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you because I don¡¯t want to hide anything from my future partner.¡±


    Youngho thought that people like him could be the most cold-hearted and scary people.


    He told him all of his weaknesses open-heartedly even though there was still Israel¡¯s ndestine organization which was tracking down people who had cooperated with the Nazis, but it seemed he did not care about that.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯d like to hear about your rtionship with the Archduke family of the Serbian Kingdom. I can¡¯t help but wonder how much of the Archduke¡¯s legacy is still left. Are there still diamond stones left?¡±


    ¡°Well, I would¡¯ve told you even if you didn¡¯t share about your past. It¡¯s not a special legacy.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re saying you don¡¯t have anything to offer to us.¡±


    ¡°There is a little more left, but if the descendants of the kingdom in the Balkan keep bringing it to us, we will continue to supply it.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... There is the widow¡¯s cruise. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±


    ¡°One of the elders from our state is in the Balkan Penins just now. I think he might be bringing some more. I¡¯ll send the stones by Eriksson¡¯s side soon.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s a blessing to have such people around you. How on earth did you associate yourself with the Archduke family as a Korean? My hobby is writing. If you¡¯d share your story with me, I think it¡¯s going to be a good material.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not much, and it¡¯s not a secret or anything like that. It was just a coincidence.¡±


    ***


    Youngho told Basten how the state began.


    ¡°The Archduchess of the state of Arirang who¡¯s also my wife is from a slum in Turkey. The girl whom I met at a flea market turned out to be the maid of the fallen Archduke family.¡±


    Basten had a look of a curious boy as he listened to Youngho¡¯s story. It seemed business was now behind the scenes.


    ¡°She and her siblings were in such a difficult situation that I couldn¡¯t help to help them. As we spent a long time together, I learned about the secrets of the siblings. They still kept the old legacy of their family intact.¡±


    ¡°Old Legacy? What was that like?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was a piece of cloth, and it had an intricate-looking emblem on it. Out of curiosity, I went to museums and other ces in France to find out about the history of the family. It turned out to be thest Archduke family¡¯s emblem of the Serbian Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fortunate that they had been keeping the family legacy for hundreds of years. So?¡±


    ¡°And by some strange chance, I came across the descendants of Serbian knights, and they recognized the emblem of the Archduke at first nce.¡±


    ¡°Oh! What a coincidence!¡±


    ¡°The descendants followed my wife and me after that moment. They said that they must protect the Archduchess. That¡¯s why we had to get together and live together, and that¡¯s how we became a state inter days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a beautiful story. You¡¯ve fascinated me by your story today.¡±


    When Youngho told him a slightly adapted story of his rtionship to the Archduke family, Basten seemed quite impressed by it. He seemed to be a cold-hearted person when he talked about his family¡¯s past. However, as soon as Youngho spoke about his story with Fatima, which seemed it could only appear in a third-rate novel, his eyes sparkled like an innocent boy. He was a man of unique personality.


    ¡°The profits we¡¯ve earned from dealing with you have been tremendous. There were noints or noise from other clients who bought items from you or your friends. I wanted to have that kind of rtionship in the future too, so I asked Eriksson to arrange a personal meeting with you so I can get to know you personally.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just blessed with great connections. My boss, Michael, rmended yourpany, so I¡¯ve been very careful when doing business with you since I didn¡¯t want to disgrace him.¡±


    ¡°Michael and I are old friends. I asked him to rmend someone I can trust. His rmendation was a great deal of luck for us as well. Since you¡¯re also a man of strength and your state is armed, we can be confident in you.¡±


    ¡°Our autonomous state is still an infant. It¡¯s still a small force.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯spetitive to have a legal military force these days. I¡¯ve always envied it. We often get ourselves into dangerous situations when doing business. No matter how protected you are, idents can happen anywhere. In that sense, your state is an object of envy to us. It¡¯ste but I would like to thank you for saving Eriksson¡¯s life. I¡¯ve prepared a small gift to thank you for all you¡¯ve done for us.¡±


    What Basten put forward was a battery technology. The autonomous state produced electricity from sr power which must be charged with batteries during the day because electricity production would stop at night. In case of cloudy or rainy days, the state had installed generators in important facilities because the batteriescked the capacity to store a huge amount of electricity.


    However, Basten gave him a gift of new technology that could make ESS¡ªEnergy Storage System¡ªthat was one step further from the batteries that the state had. Eriksson once asked Youngho to think about what technology was most needed in the state, and Youngho told him to find whatever that he thought it was best for the state. This was indeed the best and most-needed technology in the autonomous state. Youngho could not help but be d.


    Unused electricity would be wasted if left alone, leaving more than 30 percent of the produced electricity in the air. If enough DSS was secured, there would be a breakthrough opportunity to improve energy efficiency by reducing power consumption.


    ¡°This is such a huge gift. I would have to give you something equally valuable in return, but I don¡¯t think I deserve it.¡±


    ¡°The factory deal in Krasnoyarsk was a big deal for us, too. We are receiving gifts from you every time. Next month, we¡¯ll be paying the rest of the bnce.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Mr. Niky will love it. He decided to invest in Azerbaijan with the money he made from the factory¡¯s sales.¡±


    ¡°It is my pleasure to see our clients¡¯ satisfaction. That¡¯s what we do. But I¡¯ve been getting greedytely. So I¡¯m here today to ask you a favor.¡±


    Finally, Basten was getting to the business.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Could we possibly get some more gold bars? We¡¯re trying to secure safety assets, too.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a safe asset, isn¡¯t diamond stones one of them?¡±


    ¡°Their prices can crash at any time because they are controlled by the British market. Well, diamonds that were used for industrial use could be used as strategic assets though.¡±


    Youngho thought that there must be a reason for him to collect gold bars. Thest gold bar that Niky sent might not have been auctioned off, but it could have been bought by the Information Agency. If so, the agency was saving safety asset over cash even though there was no reason for the dor or the euro to plunge unless there was any sign of some sort of world emergency.


    Still, it was foolish to naively ask why. It was Youngho¡¯s job to figure out why he had to make a sharp turn to safe assets.


    ¡°Let¡¯s check to see if there¡¯s more from Siberia. Aren¡¯t gold bars easy to buy with money?¡±


    ¡°You can buy a few kilograms of gold bars at any time. But if you¡¯re looking for tons of gold, it¡¯s not easy because banks from all over the world are involved.¡±


    In other words, central banks were bent on saving gold bars, and it seemed like something was happening sooner orter. Even Basten, who had not been active in the frontline, was making such a request to get gold bars.


    Although Youngho wanted to ask what was going on, he had to close his mouth. It was still good that he found out that something was going on from this conversation. He would have to get to the bottom of this using his connections.


    Even if there was urgency, he did not have to freak out since he also had seven tons of gold bars in the Serbian ranch.


    ***


    ¡°Chairman Niky, I¡¯ve been informed that all of the bnce of the factory sale will be paid next month.¡±


    ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t think it would be possible until the end of this year. It¡¯s quite fast.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be able to settle in Baku by this winter. The Azerbaijan government said it would issue you permanent residency. You can apply for citizenship in a year.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°That much benefit is nothing for foreign investors. It doesn¡¯t only benefit you but the government as well.¡±


    ¡°I thought it would be moreplicated. As expected, Mr. Lee, you have great power in Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m calling because I have other business to talk about.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°My friend wants to buy more gold bars. Would you be able to find some more?¡±


    Although Youngho knew that the gold bars were from Niky¡¯s own possession, he did not directly say it since no businessman would want to reveal his properties to others.


    ¡°How can I say no to Mr. Lee¡¯s request? Let me check it out. By the way, how much do they say they need?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going to buy it on a ton basis. Can you get that much amount?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s possible. I¡¯ll call you once I¡¯ve found out.¡±


    Basten and Eriksson were listening to the phone conversation between Youngho and Niky next to Youngho.


    Youngho intended this to highlight the fact that gold bars had to be obtained from someone else other than Niky and to show his status in Siberia.


    ¡°Do you think he can secure gold bars?¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t sound like it was going to be a difficult task. He decided to call me as soon as he found out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Duke.¡±


    ¡°But if you wanted to buy gold bars, I would¡¯ve been able to help you through Eriksson.¡±


    The offer to buy more gold bars was a matter that could be conveyed by Eriksson as well, but it was a little strange that Basten had toe personally to see Youngho.


    ¡°I wanted to see you in person on the pretext of the wedding. Of course, I didn¡¯t juste here to meet you though. There¡¯s something else too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±


    If it was someone other than Basten, Youngho would have asked what the other business was, but he shut his mouth tightly. It was because he thought that he would get involved in a veryplicated matter if he asked.

 Chapter 406 - Signs (3)

    <h4>Chapter 406: Signs (3)</h4>


    Youngho finished his work in Denmark and flew straight to Frankfurt where the European chapter of the CIA was located.


    He wanted to find out why Basten of the Information Agency was buying gold bars. If there was no special movement in the chapter, he would not have to be so sensitive about this issue. Now in European cities, there were many terrorist attacks going on, but it was always the case there.


    When Youngho got to the chapter, he could feel that there was no urgent matter going on. Although the number of people working in the chapter had increased, people looked vibrant and bright as ever.


    Youngho thought he became a celebrity because of the coronation and wedding ceremonies, but all of the people at the European chapter treated him normally.


    He grumbled as he entered Michael¡¯s room.


    ¡°Chief, didn¡¯t you see my face on air?¡±


    ¡°Why are you on the air?¡±


    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t watch the wedding broadcast?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time for us to rx and watch other people¡¯s weddings, did you have a good time at your brother-inw¡¯s wedding?¡±


    ¡°It was the wedding of the century. I would have appeared on the TV screen several times, but all of the agents in the hallway didn¡¯t recognize me at all.¡±


    ¡°How would people remember your face that was on the screen for a few seconds? Only the Danish people would have cheered.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? Europe¡¯s leading politicians and foreign ministers were all there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s their work to be in such events.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we were the only ones making a fuss. But you¡¯re an honorary citizen of the Arirang Autonomous State, aren¡¯t you too indifferent? Phew, anyway. Is something going on here? I see more people around here.¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve been living in fairy tales, doesn¡¯t the world look all beautiful?¡±


    ¡°Well, it does look beautiful these days. So, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Something big will happen soon. Don¡¯t tell anybody. If this leaks, our operation will be affected.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The headquarters had decided to wipe out the ISpletely. They¡¯ve been highly active with their terrorismtely, and this has hastened their end.¡±


    ¡°If their headquarters gets bombed, they¡¯d go nuts for a while.¡±


    ¡°Yes, go back to your state and tighten the security. They¡¯ll take it all the way, especially big cities in Europe and the United States.¡±


    Just when Youngho was thinking that it had been quiet for a while, he was informed that things were about to get rowdy again. The problem was that the enemies were scattered everywhere.


    ¡°When is it?¡±


    ¡°That information is only limited to the top leaders of a few countries. Our job is just to confirm the locations of IS strongholds.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like we¡¯ve been excluded from the operation.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going straight into a military operation without the need for our assignments. Syria or southeast Turkey could be a battlefield.¡±


    ¡°What about Russia?¡±


    ¡°Russia agreed with this for now, but there are still many variables. Russia is trying to juggle this with the Ukrainian case.¡±


    Michael had never predicted what would happen so sternly before.


    The CIA predicted that there would be terrorist attacks in many cities as fanatics of the IS scattered all over the world would not disappear even if the organization¡¯s headquarters and strongholds were destroyed.


    Youngho wondered if this was rted to Basten¡¯s gold bar purchase. If this would be only a temporary situation, why would he need to save gold bars? Maybe he was predicting that there would be a proxy war between big countries because of the conflicting perspectives on the IS issue. His head ached with all kinds of thoughts.


    If the IS shook the world, reducing the number of tourists and limiting the movement of logistics, the price of daily necessities would turn exorbitant.


    While the autonomous state would be safe since it always stocked up on daily necessities, poor countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia would be facing difficulties again. He did not fear terrorism, but the jumping price of daily necessities could be a problem to many.


    If Europe¡¯s big cities were exposed to terrorism, then Frankfurt was not a safe ce either.


    His mind suddenly became busy.


    Yun-suh and her children were sent to Baku leaving only Cho Sang-chun behind at the wine distribution store in Frankfurt. Youngho also took Zeynep and Park Seo-young, who were attending Goethe University to the autonomous state. The girls hated the fact that they needed to return home when the semester was still in session, but their safety was more important than their grades.


    Since the IS also existed in Central Asia, Youngho had to prepare the state for terrorist attacks. As soon as he returned, he set up more checkpoints in various locations. Cargo ships frequently traveled to and from the ck Sea through the Russian Canal to stock up more supplies.


    ***


    ¡°Even if I let people know that there¡¯s going to be a terrorist attack, they won¡¯t be as rmed as they should be.¡±


    ¡°Do you think terrorists will attack Kazakhstan too? It¡¯s an Imic country.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re a fanatic group that denies everyone but themselves, and it¡¯s possible that even if the leadership group is dead, they will make another leadership group. Any suspicious organizations should be inspected at this opportunity. Our state is not a safety zone anymore. There¡¯s a lot of Orthodox believers here, so they might be watching.¡±


    ¡°What are we supposed to do to stop them?¡±


    ¡°We have no choice but to be careful and always be on guard.¡±


    ¡°I think it`s best to meet the president and let him know the situation. If I tell him in person, he might be convinced that this is a serious situation.¡±


    ¡°Chul-hwan, rm the Countryside Force soldiers and security guards at the state. Also, deploy more drones at the boundaries.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everyone on duty wears bulletproof vests. I¡¯ve also notified the Atyrau Airport in advance that tourists and journalists will be off-limits for the time being because of our state¡¯s internal situations.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim will be upset that tourism revenue will be stopped.¡±


    ¡°Yep, but we can¡¯t risk our state trying to make a few more bucks.¡±


    When the situation turned out this way, Kim Chun came to talk to Youngho about the issue in haste.


    ¡°Prince consort, aren¡¯t you reacting too sensitively? If we could tighten our inspection and security, we won¡¯t have to stop touristsing to the state. Atyrau International Airport¡¯sints are quite serious. I¡¯m frustrated that the county¡¯s tourism revenue is plummeting.¡±


    ¡°In the near future, there will be some action from the government level. It¡¯s because I¡¯ve heard something is about to happen from different foreign ministers. Even if there is no terrorist attack, think of it as annual terrorism training for the state.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. I wondered why you¡¯ve ordered to transport more necessities for our freighters, but I guess this is an emergency.¡±


    Kim Chun immediately understood the seriousness of the situation. Since Youngho even brought Zeynep and Park Young-sun¡¯s daughter who were in school, he felt that something serious must be going on.


    ¡°What should I do with the construction workers from the outside?¡±


    ¡°You could leave them but don¡¯t take any more workers from the outside if possible. Find workers inside the state. Our technology is advanced enough that we won¡¯t need outsideborers anymore.¡±


    Niksic was recruiting new immigrants scattered across the Balkan Penins now. And so far, there were about a hundred families of people nning to migrate next year. Since they needed time to sell their properties, they would be staying there for the winter and start migrating in spring. There was still time left to prepare for the new immigrants since the state only had to prepare housing sites and building materials until spring. That was if nothing big happened from now until next spring.


    ***


    Since the coronation, Youngho felt his body was lighter than before, but he had not been paying too much attention to the change.


    At the coronation, his body reacted abnormally to the thunderous roar of the state¡¯s residents. He almost copsed with a strange energy that was sweeping through his body. Then he waspletely oblivious because of his hectic life, but he found out today that the stone on the ring turned into its original color again. It was strange since it had turned transparent before. It was turning violet again. It looked like it would soon be ck again, which was its original color.


    He observed the rings that were on Jong-il and Leon¡¯s fingers, and their colors were still transparent. He was sure that this change obviously started after the coronation.


    Curious that his body might feel different, he scratched his arm with a paper clip to make a little cut. It did not feel different since he still felt the pain as a little bit of blood was showing.


    Still, he wanted to check his body, so he went to an empty field where no one was around. His running speed was the same. However, it felt like his strides had gotten much wider, and it was only when he jumped up that he found a difference.


    Previously, he could only go forward about three to four meters at a time, which was still an incredible stride for normal people, but now his stride was even bigger. He also lifted a huge rock as an experiment. A stone that seemed to weigh more than 100 kilograms was not at all heavy to his surprise. He calmed his confused mind and returned to the pce. Since there were too many things that needed his attention, he pushed his surprise aside and went back to his busy daily routine.


    Youngho soon requested a private meeting with President Nazarbayev.


    The logistical chaos caused by the terrorist attacks was as obvious as it could be, so he did not want to dy the meeting. It was because Kazakhstan¡¯s economy would affect the autonomous state as well.


    When he exined how many IS members lived in Central Asia, and what was about to happen, the president took it seriously only because Youngho said that he heard it from the British Foreign Secretary.


    ¡°Mr. President, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom is also the head of the British intelligence service. He can¡¯t possibly have lied to me.¡±


    ¡°Did he want anything in exchange?¡±


    ¡°Of course he wanted to know about situations in Central Asia. He said he would offer information about Russia and China in exchange. I said I would.¡±


    ¡°Well done. Our information is always leaked to Russia and the western world anyway, so there are no secrets. You can tell him everything you know.¡±


    Saying that not only Russian intelligence agents but also pro-Russian figures in the country were leaking information everywhere, the president shook his head. He also added that the fact that he met Youngho today would be known to the Kremlin in Moscow tomorrow.


    ¡°I was thinking I¡¯d rather make economic gains out of this information, but I couldn¡¯t just keep it to myself because it seemed so urgent. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to share it with you. I can make money somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°This is why I like you. You know how to be greedy in moderation, and I¡¯ve never had a friend as honest as you are in front of me.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot I haven¡¯t told you. I¡¯m a businessman after all.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯re still pretty honest. You said there was something you didn¡¯t tell me. If I asked you what it is, won¡¯t you answer me?¡±


    ¡°How can you hide it when you ask? I¡¯ll tell you, even if I¡¯m plotting a knife to your throat.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re plotting to bring a sword into my neck, you must be dreaming of an independent kingdom.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a very impudent dream. If you¡¯re the head of an organization, you should have that much ambition.¡±

 Chapter 407 - Signs (4)

    <h4>Chapter 407: Signs (4)</h4>


    President Nazarbayev said as if it was no big deal, but Youngho felt his hair standing on end. The president had already known that the Arirang Autonomous State would go the path of an independent nation someday.


    ¡°Mr. President, how dare can I dream of such a thing? Less than 10,000 people live in our state. I¡¯m already more than thankful for the Kazakh government for recognizing our state. I cannot ask for more.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you won¡¯t do it in my generation, but in the future when the times get hard, you will naturally think of separating away from our country. Kazakhstan also dreamed of independence for a hundred years, and one day, it came all of a sudden.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Looking at the current world situation, Kazakhstan¡¯s future isn¡¯t that bright. Other nations are only looking for a chance to take our resources, and I don¡¯t know who¡¯s going to seed in my position, but I¡¯m not going to be able to close my eyes even if I¡¯m dead in worry of the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Sir...¡±


    ¡°You should get ready in advance if you don¡¯t want to rush around by then. If you hold on to a corner of Kazakhstan, I will close my eyes at ease. Please don¡¯t forget our people¡¯s favor done for Koryoins when that timees.¡±


    As he left the presidential pce, Youngho¡¯s steps were heavy.


    The President was predicting that the future of Kazakhstan would not be smooth. Unless he was senile, his insight must be correct. The reality was that nearly 30 percent of the poption was Russian or vic. Their call for independence in the bordend of Kazakhstan that was adjacent to the Russian border was impossible without Russia¡¯s influence.


    The president¡¯s concern was that Russia would not stop only by taking the bordend. It was because there were still a lot of Russians scattered around the country. In the worst scenario, Kazakhstan would be dismantled and exist only as a small autonomous state. The only hope for Kazakhstan was to wish that Russia would copse or change its mind.


    To keep Russia in check, Kazakhstan would have to keep building its military strength by developing formidable weapons. This was the only way to maintain an equal rtionship or establish an international standing. For an opponent who was difficult to counter by force, international interests must beplicated to prevent arbitrary behavior.


    That was why the Kazakh government tried hard to attractrge-scale foreign investments and form military and economic alliances with powerful countries. Thus, Youngho¡¯s role in attracting globalpanies to invest in Kazakhstan and U.S. military aid was quite important.


    As Youngho was thinking about this, he realized that the autonomous state was no different from Kazakhstan. No matter how much the world acknowledged it¡ªit would copse without strength and help from around it. The thought shook his whole body. It was then. Youngho shuddered and at the same time, the ring responded.


    Though not as strong as during the coronation, the color of the stone of the ring quickly showed different colors as if the relic wasmunicating with Youngho¡¯s spirit.


    He did not know whatever this meant, but his alreadyplex head was more confused. This was because such a change in the old literature from the museum did not even mention it.


    He hadughed when the old literature wrote that the ring would give its owner the unusual power and strength, but seeing this kind of change made him think that he had to revisit the literature.


    ***


    Niksic reported that about 630 descendants of 126 families of the Serbian kingdom would move to the autonomous state by next year.


    About 40 families said that they would have to move at any moment, so he requested for a ship to be sent to Romania¡¯s Port of Constanta a weekter. A week was also a tight time to make immigration documents. When he ordered Kim Chun to make rted documents as soon as quickly, the answer was surprising.


    ¡°Prince consort, you could send a ship to the Port of Constanta first, documents may be dealt withter. It takes a long time to get documents processed even if I submit documents now to the state government of Atyrau. It doesn¡¯t matter if we submit the documents after they got here.¡±


    ¡°But this is immigration. Wouldn¡¯t there be troubleter if we don¡¯t process it now? I don¡¯t want to hear that the Arirang state had vited Kazakhstan¡¯s rule.¡±


    ¡°When people came from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, I was stressed because the paperwork was not processed until it waste. The documents were processed after the immigrants were done settling down at the state. There¡¯s no official in the government to pick it up.¡±


    The government officials, who had been slow to work all along did not even care about such process. Moreover, some officials even would say that anything rted to the autonomous state was outside their administrative scope. Perhaps if the state made its own passport and applied for a visa to Kazakhstan, there would be some stupid officials who would pass the visa without thinking about it.


    ¡°Commissioner, why don¡¯t you go receive the new immigrants yourself this time?¡±


    ¡°What? May I?¡±


    ¡°You are a baron of the Arirang state. You are fully qualified. And your personal secretary and bodyguard will be arranged soon. Apany them whenever you have an outside activity.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, how can I afford such luxury?¡±


    ¡°You have to do so, not only because of your sake but also for the sake of our state¡¯s dignity.¡±


    ¡°Is it necessary to do that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a kind of learning effect. We need to create awareness that you are a person who can¡¯t be underestimated.¡±


    ¡°Can I pick the secretary myself?¡±


    ¡°Do you have someone in mind?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This is a bright young man at the administration office. The poor guy deserves a better position. He¡¯s a Serbian, but he¡¯s fluent in Russian.¡±


    The idea of Koryoin Commissioner of the state hiring a Serbiand as a secretary was refreshing. Youngho had been insisting on people who could speak Korean such as Kim Chu and Suh Min-seok around him.


    Most of the Serbian residents used to live in the mountains, so only a few people had received higher education. Even though Youngho wanted to give them a chance, they had been excluded from administrative work because they were undereducated. But now, there were many Serbian young people who had graduated from autonomous state schools, and others who went abroad to study at prestigious universities in the world. It was time to give children who had finished their studies a chance to be state servants.


    ¡°Please select a lot of Serbian young adults from now on. The Koryoins had been taking control of the administrative work, but there are more Serbian people who are qualified from receiving higher education. We should give them an equal chance.¡±


    ¡°I was nning on that too. Now that their Russian has improved much, I think they can handle simple administrative documents.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh government can¡¯t ignore us only when the Koryoins and Serbians are well united. Even though many ethnic groups speak their ownnguage, like Switzend, I have always envied them to live without noise.¡±


    ¡°We will be more united than Switzend one day.¡±


    ***


    Atst, massive airstrikes had begun on IS that were based in Syria and Iraq.


    Youngho was watching live news broadcast on CNN from his office at the Grand Pce. Watching TV, Cho Chul-hwan swung his fist.


    ¡°What are they doing? They¡¯re only causing dust. They¡¯re fine inside the bunkers.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t want to waste their expensive missiles to strike them. Also, that¡¯s where the civilians live. They¡¯ll be in so much troubleter on if they bombed the civilians too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem. The problem is that terrorist attacks will take ce in all parts of the world from tomorrow. How are our security guards doing at the hotels in Turkey?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all in bulletproof vests and they¡¯re all heavily armed. But the hotel managers areining because they can scare their guests. It¡¯s a problem.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re constantly bombed but they never learn. If they keep talking nonsense, you¡¯ll have to withdraw our guards. I felt bad about sending our guys to such a dangerous ce. Tell them we¡¯re going to take this opportunity to breach the contract.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see for now.¡±


    ¡°No. There¡¯s definitely going to be terrorist attacks over and over again. Especially hotels, where people gather for various reasons, are a good target. They made a im first, so notify them they¡¯re interrupting our work and we¡¯ll withdraw the guards.¡±


    Dozens of Zeynep Security Service guards were on duty under security contracts at seven luxury hotels in Istanbul. The security guards of thepany were all trained from the Korean Navy Special Forces, and because of their tight security, they gained poprity in Istanbul¡¯s hotels. However, now that they were fully armed when on duty, which was done in preparation for terrorist attacks, hotelsined that they were chasing away guests with their scary looks. If this conflict kept on, Youngho was willing to cancel the contracts and pull all of them out of the city since he was worried that he had sent the guards to a dangerous ce.


    Most of the security guards who were dispatched to Istanbul hotels returned to the autonomous state. Their family members were happy to see them return from a dangerous ce, although some of the single guards were sad that they were taken away the opportunity to meet beautiful Istanbul girls. Istanbul was a crowded ce where 13 million people lived, so it was not a safe ce when terrorism was in its full swing. Since there was plenty of work for the security guards to do in the state as well anyway, Youngho was d that he made such a decision. They would be appointed as team leaders for the Countryside Force soldiers.


    France, Turkey, Russia, and Britain, including the United States, were involved in the raid on the IS organization, which was almost one-sided with little resistance.


    Sixrge strongholds were bombed, and even training fields were destroyed. So, the IS seemed to be almost demolished. As a result, the IS in Syria and northern Iraq had beenpletely cleared up.


    The IS called for a holy war through Arab media, but they were almost annihted after losing most of their power. The majority of the IS leaders were killed.


    As the IS leaders of Syria and northern Iraq were destroyed, terrorist attacks started from different mountainous regions. It was finally starting to happen. The IS remnants would soon beunching more intense attacks. The world was nervous about what they would do after they braced up themselves.


    After the raid, the Kazakh government also reacted quickly.


    The government diligently imported daily necessities and tightened security inspections throughout the nation. In fact, it was unclear if the IS were responsible, but an attack wasunched in the northern industrial city, Aktobe.


    When the world was shaking in fear of terror, a car ferry that would be headed to the Port of Constanta, Romania, was getting ready to leave the Arirang Wharf making a loud sound of a boat horn.


    ¡°Commissioner, please don¡¯t forget to stop by Istanbul and bring the daily goods on the way back.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of cargo space on this ship. Should I bring you something else?¡±


    ¡°No, the staff at the pier would be enough. Don¡¯t even think about getting off the boat and walking on the streets of Istanbul. The security guards will help workers when they load goods at the pier.¡±


    ¡°You know I can protect myself. I¡¯m the first one who got shot while working for the autonomous state, remember?¡±


    ¡°I am well aware of your skills. But if you get hurt, the state will be paralyzed.¡±


    Several years ago, Kim Chun was shot by robbers on the road when he was returning to the state from Atyrau. This story was talked over and over again as a legend. As the years went by, the number of robbers was increasing somehow.


    Jong-il said that the size of a fish that was caught by a fisherman would grow every year, and it was the same with Kim Chun. For example; the first fish would be palm-sized, and the next year, it was bulky, and the next year it grew to an arm¡¯s length.


    Anyway, the day when Kim Chun left the pier, the autumn sky looked exceptionally clear and high.

 Chapter 408 - Great Confusion (1)

    <h4>Chapter 408: Great Confusion (1)</h4>


    The situation seemed to literally have be violent in desperation.


    The remnants of the IS after their headquarters were destroyed built the newmand and encouraged people to fight in a holy war, and the response was insane. Religious fanatics started tounch attacks everywhere.


    They did not attack buildings or public facilities but targeted people passing by as their subject. Whenever there was any public gathering, the fanatics tried to run people over with vehicles or wielded a deadly weapon. Because of the public fear of terrorism, cities could not function as normal. People did not dare to gather at a public ce.


    Youngho and Jong-il were the only ones walking on the streets. They were at a caf¨¦ near the British Museum which was now empty. They sat at the table outside. Since they were the only customers at the caf¨¦, they had coffee in a careless manner.


    ¡°Only people like use out to have coffee. Who else woulde to have coffee in this situation?¡±


    ¡°If a car driving next to us suddenly dashes at us, we can¡¯t help to be injured either, especially when those vehicles are loaded with bombs.¡±


    ¡°Well, I hope someone jumps at me now so I¡¯ll beat him down.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t cause a scene. We might be on TV if you do.¡±


    ¡°You said people don¡¯t recognize Asians very well.¡±


    ¡°Did I say that? But you know, I have a westernized appearance.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say! Please, you¡¯re a typical Asian.¡±


    ¡°Hey! People used to ask me where I¡¯m from, back in Korea.¡±


    ¡°Oh, enough with the outdated humor. By the way, these European cities used to live on tourism revenue, and now they havee to this, I guess only southeast Asian nations are benefiting from this.¡±


    The two had finished their work in London and enjoying their time at a cafe after they came out to have a tour around the city. They came to London to meet the British Foreign Secretary and sign a memorandum of understanding for intelligence force partnership.


    They also nned to visit the education and training sites of the British intelligence service, but because of the current circumstances, the British intelligence service was too busy.


    They decided to tour around the city as their schedule was reduced. But since the city¡¯s big tourist spot¡ªthe British Museum was empty, and they were just spending their time having coffee at a caf¨¦.


    ¡°Okay, I think it¡¯s enough for sightseeing. Let¡¯s go back to the hotel and leave early tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to fly the jet tomorrow, okay?¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. Aren¡¯t you tired of flying?¡±


    The two brought a six-passenger jet this time since they did not want to fly on a public airne when terrorist attacks were going on everywhere. Although the two had supernatural strength, they would not survive in an explosion just like normal people.


    When the two were arguing about who was going to fly the jet on the way back to the autonomous state, they saw a sh of light on one side of a square near them.


    As Jong-il wished to meet terrorists earlier, a real explosion happened before their eyes.


    ***


    It was a bomb attack by a vehicle.


    They heard the explosion at a cafe which was 300 meters away from the site. They immediately ran to the scene.


    A building was bombed, and the entrance to the building was almost destroyed, which blocked the pathway into the building. There was a copse caused by the explosion, but there was still no fire yet since the two got there so fast as they moved like a sh of lightning.


    The two went to clear the rubbles as if they had promised before and took out people trapped under the debris and rubbles as quickly as possible. Their suits soon got ruined.


    ¡°Jong-il. You need to stop that man¡¯s bleeding first. I think he¡¯s artery is bursting. I¡¯ll go save the people inside.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go too deep inside. The building might copse.¡±


    ¡°Okay, stop the bleeding first and pull away those people from the building.¡±


    Youngho squeezed himself into the building, recing debris on the way. When he got in there, people were on the ground everywhere. Giving the first aid was secondary. Fearing that the building might copse, he rushed and carried the people out in both of his arms. As he did that two more times, the loud siren went off.


    Further copse was not happening.


    It was an old stone building, but it was built so sturdy that it did, so only its entrance was destroyed. But the aftermath of the explosion was enormous. The explosion broke every window of the building and of other buildings around it.


    Many people were in pain due to the explosion and its boom. It was hard to distinguish who were rescuers and who were casualties by look. Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s jackets and pants were torn and ragged here and there. It seemed that they were scratched and ripped from sharp edges of the debris of the building. They were so busy rescuing people that they did not know what had happened to themselves.


    ¡°Did we move that heavy thing, really?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know. We just lifted anything we could without thinking.¡±


    ¡°The me is now bursting. We would¡¯ve been in danger if we were a littlete.¡±


    Not long after the firefighters and ambnces arrived, the mes burst.


    They were lucky that the fire did not start earlier since it was normal for the fire to catch up right after the explosion. Part of the reasons was that Youngho and Jong-il moved so fast.


    As the two watched the fire sitting near an ambnce vehicle in distrait, some people came to treat their abrasions, but they did not feel the pain since they were too overwhelmed by the whole situation.


    The helpers thought that the two had escaped from the bombed building.


    They decided to pretend that they were one of the injured people. People would not believe them that they had moved such heavy rubbles of the building anyway. Also, they did not want to stick out.


    As they watched the firefighters putting off the fire, someone offered them cigarettes. The two took the cigarettes and put them in their mouths without realizing that they had quit smoking a while ago.


    ¡°I¡¯ve watched how you rescued the people. I just watched because I didn¡¯t have the courage like you two. I was so surprised that I even recorded you on my smartphone.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Who the heck are you? How can a person be so strong like you?¡±


    ¡°When you face an urgent situation, everyone can exert such supernatural power. In fact, we¡¯re surprised to see the debris that we moved. Can you see the video that you took?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s request, the blonde middle-aged man passed his smartphone.


    Indeed, there was a clear video of the two¡¯s performances. When Youngho handed over the phone to Jong-il, he watched it for a while and pressed the delete button. He deleted the video without asking the blonde man¡¯s consent.


    The blonde man could not close his mouth because of Jong-il¡¯s action.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to delete it without asking. Our faces are quite expensive. You should only remember what you saw today in your head.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. This was a valuable video... ¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve tried to save people before you took out your phone and hit the record button.¡±


    ¡°You acted like heroes. I wasn¡¯t thinking too much...¡±


    ¡°Anyone would¡¯ve acted the same as we did in this situation. That¡¯s how we saved lives today, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    The blonde man got silent, unable to answer Jong-il since every word Jong-il said was right.


    ***


    The next day, the blonde man was seen on the TV news interviewing as an eyewitness of the explosion scene. He said that the faceless heroes were two Asian men in an excited voice. He exined what happened at the London terrorist attack scene to the world. He praised Youngho and Jong-il by referring them as heroes who saved many people by lifting heavy building debris like paper. He assumed that the two were supernatural human beings. Although the Asian heroes erased the video, he stressed that he was not exaggerating and asked to check CC-TVs around the site.


    If Jong-il had not erased the video, the two would have appeared in the news, and the whole world might have been surprised by it just like terrorist attacks. However, there was no proof, the blonde man could not prove it to anyone since all the security cameras around the perimeter stopped working in the aftermath of the explosion.


    Jong-il, who had been watching TV was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Hey, look at that shameless guy. He¡¯s telling the whole world that he was busy filming us instead of trying to save people.¡±


    ¡°Man, you did a good job erasing that video. The world would¡¯ve been noisy if you didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, we can¡¯t even save people now when people are looking.¡±


    ¡°What if technicians recovered the smartphone?


    ¡°Hey, nobody¡¯s going to believe him. Do you think the British authorities have nothing to do?¡±


    ¡°We should have taken the phone.¡±


    ¡°Even if they were to recover the video, people would think that the video was made up to make the two Asian men heroes. Who in the world can lift things that heavy? I didn¡¯t know back then, but my body¡¯s aching like crazy now. But you lifted the rubble that was way bigger than mine. How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°My body¡¯s suddenly changed. The ring¡¯s color has changed too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, now you¡¯re bing a real supernatural man.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s the same level of awakening that you usually see from fantasy novels, but I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s all about.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you sit in a cave for a few days while meditating on it? Man, I should guard the entrance of that cave just in case you go crazy and try to mess up the world.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re even crazier.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the basement of the Grand Pce first. We¡¯ll start with locking you up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop your nonsense. Let¡¯s see what other changes are happening. I think there¡¯s been another change since the London incident.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to rip me alive out of my skin, do you?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to keep talking nonsense?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nervous because this never happened before. You got into other people¡¯s business in that flea market and you¡¯ve been pulled into this.¡±


    ¡°Fatima would¡¯ve love to hear what you just said. No, I should tell this to Zeynep first and see how she¡¯d react.¡±


    ¡°Oh, just kill me.¡±

 Chapter 409 - Great Confusion (2)

    <h4>Chapter 409: Great Confusion (2)</h4>


    The London incident was just the tip of the iceberg.


    There were more and more terrorist attacks throughout Europe, and Muslims living in Europe were also being harassed since they were treated the same with other people by the IS.


    As frequent attacks on Muslims urred around the globe, oil-producing countries vowed to consider oil exports. This was because each country¡¯s public power did not protect Muslims. European stock markets were falling day after day, and of course, the euro was losing its value.


    The price of gold was going up so high.


    It seemed that only Basten, the co-representative of the Information Agency, was benefited by this. That was because he took over six tons of gold bars from Niky just a week ago. Although Youngho knew this would happen ahead, he pretended to be a little naive about this to maintain a good rtionship with him for future benefits. Not to mention, he received the energy storage system technology as a gift from him. From the state¡¯s point of view, it was like having a treasure house.


    He received a call from Eriksson.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there any damage in your state?¡±


    ¡°The whole world would have been turned upside down by the time the terroristse to attack our state.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That might be true. Well, themission from the gold transaction was transferred to your ount. My boss wanted me to thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure. Please tell your boss that he¡¯d be able to touch diamonds in the near future.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be happy to hear that. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°May I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer everything I know.¡±


    ¡°Were you aware of the airstrikes on the IS headquarters in advance?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know precisely. But I knew that the world would get boisterous soon. I assumed that you already knew about this from the CIA, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No, our chapter was excluded from the operation, so I had no idea.¡±


    ¡°We thought you¡¯d know for sure. If I knew that, I would¡¯ve dropped you some hints. I¡¯m sorry for that mistake. You must have had no time to prepare the necessities in advance.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state of Arirang always saves up years¡¯ worth of daily necessities in stock, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯ll treat you a nice dinner next time I see you, to make it up to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it. See you in Batumi next week.¡±


    ***


    The number of Serbian immigrants who moved from the Balkan Penins was 210 people of 42 families. Some of them needed a shelter immediately, so Niksic brought all of them at once instead of waiting for the spring.


    ording to Niksic, those who lived in barren mountains did not receive any benefit from the government.


    Although the economic situation of each country in the Balkan Penins was not familiar to Youngho, it was still hard to understand that the people were left alone to survive in the mountains without any support.


    ¡°Sir Niksic, is it true that they didn¡¯t have electricity?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it when you told me about the Georgian vige in South Ossetia, but in the Balkans, it was not hard to find ces where there were no roads. There were only people living in viges devastated by the revolutionary war. Most of the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom who had no connection in Siberia lived in the mountains. I couldn¡¯t leave them behind.¡±


    ¡°Well, good job. You wouldn¡¯t have been able to eat and sleep infort if you left them there. They all seem like nice people.¡±


    ¡°They are too nice to the point they¡¯ve been idiots. They never thought of asking the government to support them.¡±


    ¡°How is their educational status?¡±


    ¡°They can barely read. Some of the children went to school down the mountain, but they could learn only so much since they had to walk on the mountain path for more than three hours a day tomute to school.¡±


    Exhausted frommuting to school, the kids would often doze off in their ssroom. After returning to their homes, they usually had to take care of their sheep or goats.


    Youngho would have felt a pity for their hard life before, but now he had unexpected anger against the Serbian government for not treating the descendants of the kingdom as human beings. He did not know if it was the influence of the ring, but the descendants felt like they were his family now.


    The descendants of the kingdom had been living scattered throughout Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bosnia. But, they were not even given the basic rights as the citizens of Serbia.


    ¡°Why were they treated like this? I¡¯d like to submit a formalint to the Serbian government.¡±


    ¡°Part of the reason was that they lived in remote regions where the administrative power could not reach. Also, their uneducated ignorance yed a big role.¡±


    ¡°Was the Serbian government okay with them emigrating from the country?¡±


    ¡°They were rather close to none-existence to the government, so the government was not so interested in them. The officials seemed to like the fact that we¡¯re taking poor people from the country. But while processing it, they wanted bribes. That¡¯s how the people got their temporary passports.¡±


    Because of the temporary passports that the government issued them, they were able to cross the border with Romania.


    ¡°Is there still a lot of people who im to be the descendants of the Serbian kingdom?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s hard to be exact. You could consider most of the people living in Bosnia and Kosovo and Serbia as the descendants of the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be fair to say that all Serbian Orthodox people living all over the Balkans could be the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s safe to see that way.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s receive everyone who wants to move to the state. We¡¯d have to have at least 50,000 people to build our strength.¡±


    ¡°What would the Kazakh government think if we keep bing bigger?¡±


    ¡°The president told me to prepare for the future and build strength. To do that, it¡¯s best to increase the poption.¡±


    ¡°Can we dream of our own kingdom?¡±


    ¡°He said that he will open the door for us if we¡¯re ready. So, Lord Niksic, please stop being stubborn and ept anyone who wants toe to the state. We have a lot ofnds, don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°I will honor you and do as you said, prince consort.¡±


    ¡°n a migration that would be done over the next several years. If theye in all at once, the state wouldn¡¯t be able to handle them.¡±


    ¡°I will submit the detailed n after consulting with Commissioner Kim.¡±


    ***


    The world was gued by terrorism, but the autonomous state was full of vitality as if it had built a wall against the world.


    New factories were being built at the industrialplex by the Arirang Wharf.


    Therge-scale machine tool nt had already beenpleted and various machinery parts and ship engines had begun to be manufactured in the state, while theser amplification technology institute was also beingpleted.


    Youngho was excited as the new energy storage system production nt was also under basic construction. A nearby shipyard was also in the final stages of construction for arge dock, while arge block manufacturing nt was beginning to build bulk carrier blocks.


    Kim Chun, who apanied Youngho to the shipyard, suddenly made a tempting proposal.


    ¡°Prince consort, why don¡¯t we enroll the new Serbian immigrants at the technical school so that they can learn welding skills?¡±


    ¡°Well, can they master such difficult skills when they are barely able to read?¡±


    ¡°Welding is not a theory, it¡¯s a skill that¡¯s mastered. It¡¯s a repetitive task, so once you¡¯ve mastered it, you don¡¯t need retraining.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been ranching their whole life. Would they want to change their profession?¡±


    ¡°Their desire for a new profession is great. I¡¯ve interviewed a few people on the ship when they moved here, and most of them wanted to get a new job. Especially, younger generations are tired of the profession they had for generations.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s great. The manager of the shipyardined about being short of staff because the number of ship orders is increasing now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about that, too. I¡¯ll recruit people who want to learn welding skills.¡±


    ¡°Okay. You could consult with Lord Niksic and process it. We need to train high-tech workers if we want to develop our technology.¡±


    When Youngho happily entered his office after looking around the industrialplex, Jong-il rushed to him.


    ¡°Take your phone with you when you¡¯re out, I¡¯ve been trying to reach you.¡±


    ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on?


    ¡°The IS remnants from Afghanistan haveunched attacks in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°ording to our agents, they¡¯re striking government offices with young people in the lead. It looks like they have chosen the city as a new hub. They¡¯re using heavy weapons.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh military must be in a state of emergency.¡±


    ¡°The border against Kyrgyzstan is already closed.¡±


    As the strongholds of Syria and Iraq were destroyed, the rest of the IS members were trying to infiltrate Central Asia and seize its cities to make new strongholds. In Central Asia, where life was hard with a high unemployment rate, the IS seemed to be an outlet for young people, and many could quickly assimte the fanaticism and be IS members.


    No matter what happened, Youngho could never let them cross the Kazakh border.


    ¡°Do you think our agents there will be okay?¡±


    ¡°I told them to be cautious, and don¡¯t take any action without my consent. If they sense any danger, they¡¯ll leave right away from the scene. They¡¯ll be alright.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if they¡¯re fully armed.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry because they have all sorts of things.¡±


    ¡°You must have sneaked a lot of equipment behind my back.¡±


    ¡°I also took an 8-seater light airne for them. Sneaking out weapons is nothing.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you did a good job. Are there any more supplies you want to give them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to send them some morebat food since the city is paralyzed now. I¡¯ll send them on a four-seater airne for them to use, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay, tell the pilots to be careful when refueling in the midway. If they run out of gas, they¡¯ll have to use a parachute to escape before they reach the destination.¡±


    The light aircraft had a range of only 1,200 kilometers, so if people wanted to get to Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, which was about 2,000 kilometers from the autonomous state, they must receive intermediate refueling. Youngho wanted to send a jet, but without a proper runway, it was no better than a light ne.


    The light ne couldnd on a tnd without a runway, and the take-off andnding distance were only about 300 meters, so it was more useful than any other type of airne in Central Asia.


    Youngho thought that he would buy ten more light airnes for this opportunity. This was because great mobility was a shortcut to winning the war. Great equipment was highly advantageous in a war against anybody. He assumed that the Countryside Force would easily take down the IS at the Kyrgyzstan border and beat the regr Kazakh army force. It was because they received special training, and had no one to be afraid of.

 Chapter 410 - Infiltration (1)

    <h4>Chapter 410: Infiltration (1)</h4>


    Today was the day when 100 soldiers of the Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s Countryside Force were sent to the Kyrgyzstan border area. They were named ¡°special squadron¡± because they were equipped with 20 Turkish Cobra tactical armored vehicles. On each vehicle, a 12.7-millimeter machine gun was mounted at the front and 20-millimeter heavy machine gun on top. The four-wheel-drive amphibious tactical armored vehicle, which could carry 10 fully armedbatants, was equipped with run-t tires and a fire protection function.


    The autonomous state recently ordered 30 more tactical armored vehicles from Otokar the Turkish military vehiclepany. It was because the state currently had 55 long-range armored vehicles, in which 35 of them were built for civilian use, and their only assault weapon was the detachable light machine gun.


    Being the head of the state¡¯s military force, Cho Chul-hwan insisted on going to the border with other soldiers, but he had to stay since the state was not free from terrorism either.


    Youngho had mixed feelings as he watched the soldiers went on the tactical armored vehicles to hit the road. He was not sure if it was a good idea to send them just to show that the autonomous state was a member of Kazakhstan. If something dreadful happened to the soldiers, he would not be able to lift his face in front of their families.


    The battle might not take ce at the border, but if it did, there would be some sacrifices.


    Most of the state¡¯s Countryside Force guards volunteered thinking that it was only one of the other jobs that the state offered. Of course, they epted the inevitable training to be soldiers, but they were no different from ordinary people.


    It was very burdensome to send them to battlegrounds where their blood would spatter and flesh fell. However, it was not usible to leave them as ipetent soldiers forever since they needed to protect the state. Thus, the state had made a bold decision to send them to the border so that they could have real experience. Youngho only wished that the soldiers would be reborn as solid warriors and return safely.


    ***


    Although the tensions at the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were escting and Europe was suffering from terrorism, there was still much work to be done.


    Youngho first would have to fly to Batumi to deliver diamond stones to Eriksson and visit the Danish shipyard.


    The first thing that he had to do was to select diamonds to deliver to Eriksson immediately. Youngho delivered about 500 stones, half of which would be processed for jewelry and half for industrial use. He still had a lot more left, but he thought that he would hold onto some diamonds for the state just in case. He would only give just the minimum amount that would help maintain a smooth rtionship with Eriksson and the Information Agency.


    Youngho met Eriksson in Batumi and gave him the diamond stones.


    As he was about to leave for Denmark, he got a call from Jong-il. His voice sounded so urgent that it was obvious that something bad had happened.


    ¡°You¡¯d better hurry back to the state instead of going to Denmark. It doesn¡¯t look good at the border.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°It looks like the battle there is fiercer than expected. There have already been dozens of casualties on both sides.¡±


    ¡°What about our soldiers?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still no fighting in the area where they were deployed.¡±


    ¡°So, that means there can be attacks in their area too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so cancel all of your other schedules ande back now.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Just get the state on high alert. The terrorists mighte to the state now that they know the Arirang Autonomous State is participating in the war.¡±


    ¡°We already closed down the airfield and the wharf. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    It was a good thing that In-soo and Jong-il took had taken action quickly.


    Everyone knew that the Countryside Force soldiers were at the battlefield, and the IS might be looking for opportunities for retaliation.


    If anything else, the wharf facility and the industrialplex near it should be guarded tightly since the infrastructural facilities for the state¡¯s development were all gathered there.


    The state¡¯s security checkpoints were in operation, but the number of checkpoints alone was not enough to cover all of the territories of the state. If one was determined to sneak in, he could get through no matter how tight the security was unless the entire state was surrounded with high walls.


    Worried about the Arirang Hotels in different locations, Youngho made sure that all the guards were alerted. It was because all of the facilities named Arirang could be targeted by the IS now.


    He called Katya in Tskhinvali to see if she was doing fine. Sheughed when she heard Youngho¡¯s worrying.


    ¡°Boss, you have to give them a warm wee if theye here in this remote valley. The military here would love it if a suspicious stranger was found here since no onees here.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of the IS?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Who do you think I am? I¡¯m used to working with the mafia now. Don¡¯t worry about this ce and just take good care of my Rena. I had a video call with her yesterday. She looked bright.¡±


    ¡°Of course she should. She¡¯s being treated like a princess by everybody.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, boss. It sucks that there¡¯s nothing I can do other than saying thank you through the phone.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t feel bad. I should thank you instead because Rena is being a good sister to Leon. And for the time being, I¡¯m going to send Il-kwon as your bodyguard. Your security is toox.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. If you ask the military here for security, they¡¯ll send some soldiers to the hotel.¡±


    ¡°I see. Okay, instead of sending Il-kwon, I¡¯ll just send two security guards to escort you.¡±


    ¡°Boss...¡±


    As Katya did not know what to say, Youngho quickly hung up. It was because he would hear her whimper if he kept talking to her.


    ***


    Tactical armored vehicles were fixed at the wharf and the industrialplex of the autonomous state. Since soldiers were helpless against sudden attacks, it was more effective to guard in a tactical armored vehicle which could even endure rocket fires.


    There was nothing like tactical armored vehicles where people could work and rest at the same time effectively. It was perfect for the facility¡¯s perimeter as it had excellent mobility and could even deal with helicopter attacks with a machine gun and 20-millimeter heavy machine gun. Light armored vehicles were also busily patrolling around the state.


    Upon his return from Batumi, Youngho inspected the conditions of important facilities. He then gathered people in the situation room and waited for news of the border area.


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about the ground security, but I¡¯m worried that we only have one ship guarding the Arirang River. I can¡¯t ask them to work 24 hours a day.¡±


    ¡°We can put the yachts in.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough Maritime Police guards. They are all doing their Kazakh Naval duty. How do we get them here?¡±


    ¡°Then the security guards of Zeynep Security Service should get on board. They used to be navies, sailing yachts is nothing to them.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re busy conducting Countryside Force soldiers all over the ce.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s take over their shift instead of waiting here. They must be tired by now. Ourmunication system is perfect, what are we scared of? We can go back to the docks in twenty to thirty minutes if unexpected things happen. I don¡¯t want to do nothing here.¡±


    ¡°Should we? We only have to guard around the wharf anyway. Let¡¯s do that.¡±


    ¡°Great. Get four ground guards to apany us.¡±


    ¡°We alone are enough. Why are we taking guards with us?¡±


    ¡°No, we need someone to take over the machine gun and the steering room just in case we have to leave the boat.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t think of that. I don¡¯t want anybody to take over our expensive boat.¡±


    Jong-il was too frustrated to be in the situation room that he wanted to go out and patrol around himself. It was no big deal since they only had to guard about 20 kilometers around the docks. It was better than sitting in the situation room and making a fuss anyway. Youngho was also anxious about the whole stressful situation, so he got up with Jong-il, leaving only Cha In-soo in the situation room.


    It was a pitch-ck night. The 100-ton yacht slowly patrolled at the mouth of the river with its searchlight on. Youngho bought this yacht to sail in and out of Volgograd, but Jong-il had armed it with all sorts of weapons. It was finally being put to use today.


    A guard was arranged at each side of the two machine gun stands. Jong-il, who was controlling the searchlight at the steering room suddenly turned the light off and turned it back on.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I see a boat or something at the foot of that side. Can you drive the boat over there?¡±


    He then gave the security guards a few instructions through his headset.


    Youngho sped up slightly to get to the foot where Jong-il pointed out. There were two small motorboats anchored between the reeds. Each motorboat was upied by one person.


    They could see them holding a rifle on their boats. The yacht that Youngho and Jong-il were on was the only patrolling boat at the Arirang River at the moment. The strangers with a gun in motorboats could not be an ally.


    The motorboats were small, but they could usually carry up to four to five people each. However, if only one person was left, the rest had alreadynded onnd. If they did not carry a gun, they could be mistaken as fishermen at night, but they were definitely enemies.


    The enemies were about to fire at the yacht, so Jong-il ordered tounch the machine guns immediately. Within a minute, the two boats became like a beehive with holes all over the boats¡¯ body. The same time the machine guns were fired, Youngho contacted In-soo to announce an emergency to the whole state.


    ¡°In-soo. It looks like at least six to eight terrorists have infiltrated the state. It¡¯s about 25 kilometers from the wharf, so they wouldn¡¯t have gotten to the city area yet. Keep the perimeter security tight, and fly more drones.¡±


    ¡°I heard a gunshot from the outer guard post. Did you guys fire shots?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It was from our boat. I¡¯ve already taken down two of them. Tell the guards to fire at anything that moves. They probably brought a portable rocketuncher since they came on a boat. Make sure our soldiers don¡¯t get out of the armored vehicle, and use searchlights and light bombs to block their ess.¡±


    There was no reason to confront them and engage in a battle. They would not be able to move if the searchlights and star shells were set off. If they still pushed forward to fight, then they would have to be shot down.

 Chapter 411 - Infiltration (2)

    <h4>Chapter 411: Infiltration (2)</h4>


    Light bombs were being continuously fired from light-armored vehicles in the outskirts of the Arirang Autonomous State. It was intended to hold back the intruders with lights everywhere.


    asionally the sound of machine guns from the light armored vehicles reverberated into the night sky. There was no response from the intruders. Eventually, they managed to sneak to the wharf secretly andunched portable rockets at the grain silos. Moreover, the small oil storage tank at the dock was directly hit by a rocketuncher. As a result, mes of fire sparked.


    Even though it was only a small facility, the fire on oil appeared huge visually. That was exactly what the intruders were after. It was to warn the state that they were an intimidating force.


    If such provocations were dismissed as a temporary phenomenon and responded with only heightened vignce, the enemies would underestimate the Arirang state and eventuallye back for more attacks.


    Even though the invaders were overpowered in the end, the problem was that the boundaries of the state were breached. It was disgraceful for the state, even if it was unavoidable. There were many areas to be guarded, but the statecked a significant number of guards.


    There were a total of seven intruders. The damage was quite severe for a mere handful of people. The incident left a psychological shock to the state. Although a small oil tank and several grain silos were the only things that were damaged, residents were also on high alert that the state¡¯s facilities were attacked by the enemy.


    Youngho immediately informed the central government of Kazakhstan of the attack. It was a case confined to the state, but it was necessary to warn Kazakhstan that their facilities were not safe either. ( .c om )


    ¡°We¡¯ll be helpless if our enemy attacks all at once.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve done well this time. We should be d that we didn¡¯t miss a single intruder.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think there will be a rumor that we¡¯ve been attacked?¡±


    ¡°Why would the central government say that to the press? It¡¯ll be thest thing that they want the public to know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that they targeted our state.¡±


    ¡°They must be here to warn us because we sent the Countryside Force to the border area, but we¡¯re not going to tolerate this. Tell the intelligence agents to find out their hideouts and strongholds right now.¡±


    ¡°How did theye in so fast? We need to find out who ordered them to attack us. I didn¡¯t know they were this organized.¡±


    Jong-il was concerned that the state had been exposed to the IS. The problem was that there was the IS group that was established in Kazakhstan as well. The evidence was that retaliation came just days after the Countryside Force was deployed to the border area. Youngho also did not expect that they woulde this fast.


    ¡°I¡¯m also worried about the Countryside Force dispatched to the border area. They might strike them now that we¡¯re exposed.¡±


    ¡°You mean the IS group is making light of us. Okay. I¡¯ll tell Chul-hwan about the situation and tell him not to disperse our troop.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t even have that many to be called a troop. Just tell them to stay inside the tactical armored vehicles as much as possible. That¡¯s the only protection they could get.¡± ( .c om )


    ¡°I hope the residents will not be swayed by this.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no sign of that at all. You know the Serbian residents are used to battles from the Balkans, and even Koryoins who¡¯s from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are used to disputes.¡±


    The residents were not very anxious because they lived in chaotic regions where they had seen many regional battles and disputes. Although some facilities were damaged, people were rather encouraged to see the intruders defeated.


    ***


    After the invasion incident, the vignte army was formed by the residents of the state to take charge of the vacancies of the Countryside Force that had been sent to the border area. Serbian and Koryoin immigrants joined together to form the force. In an instant, 500 people gathered together, and all the idle rifles that were in the warehouse were mobilized.


    Guns were dangerous things, but the people of the state were basically able to handle guns because of the life they once led. The natural environment of the Balkans and Central Asia had forced them to use guns since childhood as they had to chase away wolves and other animals to protect their sheep and goats.


    ¡°How are they?¡±


    ¡°I thought I would have to teach them to be soldiers, but they are as good as veterans.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t be as good as soldiers.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re in great shape. Even people who are in their 50s moved like they¡¯re in their 20s. I gave them basic training and sent them to the perimeter with a rifle and ammunition.¡±


    ¡°With them taking over guarding job, isn¡¯t there any disruption to the state¡¯s production line?¡±


    ¡°We have limited the number of employee volunteers from each workce, but the bacsh is severe. They all want to serve for the state saying that if the state is breached, their workce would be useless. I appreciate their enthusiasm.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s great that we¡¯ve got as many as 520 armed guards now.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re experienced people. They¡¯ll do a good job at patrolling. There¡¯s no way the perimeter¡¯s going to copse.¡±


    ¡°Then we should mobilize the fishing boats of the state as well.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we use the boat that we built for the Kazakh Navy? The state¡¯s exposed to terrorism. The Navy won¡¯t find a problem with this.¡±


    The speedboat, which was due to be delivered to the Navy this month, was in the middle of a test run, and In-soo suggested using it for patrolling purposes. The safety of the autonomous state was his priority.


    The state notified the Navy that it would use the 100-ton patrol boat that the Kazakh Navy had ordered for now. Instead, the 500-ton patrol vessel that was used to patrol around the Arirang River was given to the Maritime Police to guard the coastal border of Kazakhstan. Since it was arge ship, it was not suitable to guard only the small river anyway.


    Hearing the news, Lieutenant Commander Jun of the Kazakh Navy was excited for the vessel that was provided by the Arirang state. He had always been sad that such a great ship which was acquired from Korea was used to guard the river only. It was a bit too much to say that a ship with great firepower was only protecting the river. With such great power turned to the coast, it was not too bad that a 100-ton speedboat would be delivered to the Navy one yearte.


    For the autonomous state, it was more effective to operate a 100-ton ss speedboat, which was smaller but more mobile than a 500-ton ss vessel.


    All fishing boats were also mobilized to guard the Arirang River. The fishermen were also vignt, so they were given weapons too. Most of the fishing boats owned by the state¡¯s shipyards were around 10 tons, but they became more usible as machine guns were installed on them. Fishermen knew all of the ways of the Arirang River so well, so they knew where to guard and where enemies could hide.


    ¡°Whoa, those fishermen will overpower the Maritime Police guards.¡±


    ¡°Well, they know the river like the back of their hands. I should leave the river security to the vignt army from now on.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t worry about the sea and river guards, but I¡¯m worried about the Countryside Force at the border area. Chul-hwan said that he¡¯s got this covered but you know how the IS can be so extreme. I¡¯m not sure if our soldiers are ready for them.¡±


    ***


    As expected, an incident broke out at the border area.


    Innocent-looking local people turned out to be IS members who wrapped themselves with bombs. The Countryside Force soldiers were off guard when the local people approached them and suddenlyunched a suicide bombing attack at them. Five soldiers were injured in the attack.


    It was not until such an ident that civilians were not allowed to enter the border area, but it was already toote. There were no light injuries since all of them were seriously injured.


    Three out of five people were in critical condition and taken to a hospital in Almaty, so Youngho immediately flew to Almaty on a 12-seater jet with the state¡¯s doctors. The injured soldiers would be treated there and brought back to the autonomous state¡¯s hospital once they are stabilized.


    Cho Chul-hwan, who greeted Youngho¡¯s group could not say a word as if he hadmitted a great crime. The soldiers were badly hurt, so his heart was dismayed.


    ¡°I have no face to show you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be too hard on yourself. How can we determine an enemy if they disguised themselves as civilians?¡±


    ¡°I should have been a little more cautious. I forgot how American soldiers suffered with the same trick so many times.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a drag. But we can¡¯t fire at civilians because of this.¡±


    Chul-hwan used himself of failing to stop civilian ess beforehand.


    However, if the soldiers pointed a gun at civilians, it would also be problematic.


    The Countryside Force had an area of several kilometers to guard, and some areas were inhabited by local people, forcing them to contact residents. When soldiers entered local viges, it was natural for curious residents to flock to see strange-looking tactical armored vehicles.


    There was no way that the Countryside Force would bring guns to curious residents. If it happened, it would turn themunities against the Arirang Autonomous State, so the soldiers could not dare to do so.


    Now that a potential danger was revealed, the force would have to firmly block civilian ess when they operated.


    ¡°I heard that the state has been attacked as well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. We tried hard to stop them, but they destroyed our grain silos and oil storage. I¡¯m d there were no casualties, but I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯lle again with reinforcements.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to punish them no matter what. I¡¯ll make them pay back a dozen times.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that it¡¯s hard to tell who¡¯s who. We¡¯ll have to doubt all bearded men.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve taken the offensive, mainly toward the Kazakh military in the border area, but now the region where the Countryside Force is currently at is no longer a safe zone. If they use guerri tactics, our guys who are exposed now will be in danger. There¡¯s no countermeasure.¡±


    ¡°Then I guess we have to go take care of this on our own.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that we should cross the border?¡±


    ¡°Nobody will argue about crossing the border at a time of war. The Kyrgyz government has also been devastated in all the cities. Our agents have investigated that it¡¯s at the stage of anarchy now.¡±


    ¡°Did you find their location?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve got it. I¡¯ve identified their stronghold in the mountains about 50 kilometers from the border.¡±


    ¡°All right, it¡¯s time for revenge.¡±


    Since the state could not take an action arbitrarily, Youngho reported that he and his friends were crossing the border to the Kazakh Army. The approval was given without dy when the tactical armored-vehicle battalion of the Arirang Autonomous State reported that it would target an IS base near the border.


    Although they would be crossing Kyrgyzstan¡¯s border, the Kazakh Army did not hesitate a bit. For the sake of the secret of the operation, the battalion was not informing the Kyrgyzstan government about the operation. Since Kazakhstan was the leading country of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan would not im to vite its boundary. Moreover, the country was not in the state that could control the IS group by itself. It did not matter that much anyway since the concept of a border in Central Asia was not so clear that cattle ranchers and hunters crossed borders frequently without qualms.


    As they were leaving, Cho Chul-hwan ground his teeth, saying that he would not let go of any enemy he spotted this time.

 Chapter 412 - Infiltration (3)

    <h4>Chapter 412: Infiltration (3)</h4>


    The IS stronghold in the border area, which was struck by 20 tactical armored vehicles of the Countryside Force led by Cho Chul-hwan, had been cleverly disguised, but there was no difficulty in finding it as intelligence agents of the autonomous state had already kept photos of it in detail.


    Not expecting such ambush, the enemy soldiers were confused by the roar of the armored vehicle. Although the mountains were quite steep, it was not difficult for four-wheel-drive tactical armored vehicles to approach.


    The Countryside Force nned to cut off all the escape routes and annihte all of them at their base, but when they checked the drones, women and young boys were there too. Cho Chul-hwan was at the lead ambush site while his friends including Youngho were scattered around the site to support him.


    Women could be necessary for cooking and doing chores, but it was questionable why boys in their early and mid-teens were here. The Countryside Force soldiers, who were on high alert to strike the base at any moment were hesitant as they saw those people who seemed to be civilians in the base.


    Cho Chul-hwan, who had been eager to redeem himself with today¡¯s battle, was also in a quandary. ording to the data given by intelligence agents, everyone here was supposed to be an IS member, but if that was the case, women and children were members of the IS group too. Realizing that something was wrong, he ordered the soldiers to standby. He contacted Youngho on his headset.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re at the verge of striking their stronghold, but I need to make sure that this is the right target.¡±


    ¡°If the location matches the GPS coordinates, you can be confident in burning it down.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a problem. There are a lot of women and children here, and I don¡¯t know what to do. We might be sacrificing innocent civilians here.¡±


    ¡°Our agents confirmed that those women and children are all IS members, too. They¡¯re the ones whounch suicidal attacks. No one knows what they¡¯ll do if they survive from there. Regardless of their appearance, they are our enemy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s crazy, you mean to kill all the women?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way. If we try to capture them alive, it¡¯s only going to hurt our soldiers. If you¡¯re not confident, you can pull out. I¡¯ll call the U.S. Air Force in Almaty and ask for a bombing.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll pull out and take care of the ones who are escaping from the base. Contact the U.S. Air Force. I just can¡¯t order them to fire.¡±


    Eventually, Youngho was forced to contact the U.S. Air Force to destroy the stronghold of the IS. The IS remnants who were fleeing from the strike were shot dead by the Countryside Force. It was a pity, but showingpassion to the enemy was a luxury on a battlefield.


    He could not me Cho Chul-hwan for hesitating. If Youngho took the lead, he would have hesitated as well.


    ¡°We shot all the remnants of the scene. There are 36 of them in total.¡±


    ¡°Great. Were there women who were fleeing as well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate, but the ones fleeing were all men. I think all the women and children were killed when the site was bombed.¡±


    ¡°Well, this will sound terrible, but take field photos and retrieve any weapons. That way, you have evidence to show to avoid further criticism.¡±


    Since Chul-hwan and the soldiers were close at the bombing site, they now would have to collect evidence of the scene. To do so, they had no choice but to see the horrible scene. It was war after all.


    ***


    The IS base near the border waspletely destroyed by the bombing of the U.S. Air Force, and the encirclement of the autonomous state¡¯s Countryside Force. The Kazakhstan Army also praised the significance of the operation, as it was an example of what would happen to the IS that was exposed to the military.


    The maneuverability of the tactical armored vehicle was demonstrated in this operation. It also served as an opportunity for the government to bring inrge-scale Cobra tactical armored vehicles. The management of Otokar, the manufacturer of Cobra tactical armored vehicles in Turkey, screamed joyfully at the unexpected order. It was because the Kazakh government ced an order for 200 vehicles.


    Thinking that he could negotiate for technical partnership with Otokar, Youngho decided to contact the management.


    The armored vehicle was not high-tech, so upon receiving Youngho¡¯s request, Otokar immediately responded positively. Rather than sending finished products, it was more profitable to produce them at an assembly nt locally. However, the agreement between the two countries was needed first since its military equipment was a sensitive item.


    To discuss this, Youngho visited Astana to meet President Nazarbayev.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re busy taking care of your own state. Did you have time toe all the way here?¡±


    ¡°The state is stabilized now.¡±


    ¡°I heard that many of the facilities were destroyed and there had been serious casualties in the border area. How are the soldiers?¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, everyone¡¯s over the hump, so we¡¯re a little relieved.¡±


    ¡°The order of military merit and an incentive of encouragement will be given to each family of the wounded soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Your thoughtfulness will be a great help to the wounded soldiers and their family.¡±


    ¡°The order of merit is nothing when some soldiers would have to live crippled for life.¡±


    There were some soldiers whose arms were severed and who were blind to one eye. There were others as well who had surgery several times for lung injuries. Although the autonomous state would honor the wounded, it would mean a lot for them if the Kazakh government honored them too.


    ¡°I¡¯ll never forget the Countryside Force that offered to help Kazakhstan with less than a handful of troops.¡±


    ¡°It was their duty of course as people of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Although something terrible happened, it was a good decision to deploy your troop at the border for the sake of the status of the state in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a good note of that.¡±


    ¡°By the way, you said we can produce tactical armored vehicles in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir, I¡¯ve heard that a technical tie-up is not even difficult as long as it is discussed with the Turkish government.¡±


    ¡°Turkey is a brotherly country to us. I don¡¯t think that will be a problem.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s possible to have a technology partnership, there¡¯s no reason to hesitate setting up a local assembly nt.¡±


    ¡°If you could have this arranged with the Turkish government on the phone, it won¡¯t be a problem. The factory is likely to be built in the port city Atyrau. The location has many benefits in terms of transportation of supply and recruitment of manpower.¡±


    ¡°I never dreamed of a local assembly nt, but it¡¯s a brilliant idea. We¡¯re going to have a huge increase in our military power.¡±


    Although there were Russian-made armored vehicles or tanks, their performance was not great because they were outdated. Most of the weapons that were brought in from Russia were that way except for fighter jets. Although their firepower was not weak, Russia had been very stingy in selling new weapons because it did not want Kazakhstan to grow in power.


    ¡°If we added drones, we¡¯ll have tight security.¡±


    ¡°Very good! My headache has gotten a lot better. Why don¡¯t we have a ss of wine at a time like this?¡±


    ¡°I expected you to say that, so I brought some wine produced this year.¡±


    ***


    Since the IS was heavily attacked at the border, the autonomous state was now on high alert expecting there would be retaliation in some way.


    The vulnerable areas were guarded by vigntes and the Countryside Force, while the inessible areas were guarded by fixed security cameras. Drones were not used since they were quite noisy. Some areas were prepared in full with the establishment of a ymore mine.


    Meanwhile, the state also worked to identify the IS hideouts in nearby cities since people could not just sit back and wait for the IS toe and visit them. The state mobilized the intelligence agents to scour around different regions with the help of Kazakhstan¡¯s secret police.


    As if to ridicule such efforts, the IS was demonstrating its presence by carrying out bombings throughout Kazakhstan. Especially, it drew attention by constantly attacking Kyrgyzstan¡¯s border and working throughout Kazakhstan¡¯s big cities.


    The IS was not unique in Central Asia alone as there had been many attacks throughout European cities, almost paralyzing their functions. Because of this, the prices of daily necessities were skyrocketing. Nevertheless, the goods and products needed by the state were constantly being transported through the river. This was because the sea or river was not an active stage for the IS.


    ¡°Prince consort, if this continues until the end of the year, the world economy will be ruined. Then our state will be inevitably impacted by it too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only d we have enough raw materials for each factory. If we had relied onnd transportation, it would have been a blow.¡±


    ¡°If the price of raw materials continues to rise this way, we won¡¯t be able to afford them anymore. For now, it¡¯s a little concerning that the price of construction materials have risen by 20 percent already.¡±


    ¡°Are we short on what we have now?¡±


    ¡°We only have materials enough to build about 100 houses. If the economy is not normalized before next spring, we will have to pay dearly.¡±


    ¡°Since prices haven¡¯t risen so much on the Russian side, let¡¯s bring them from Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a hassle, but that will relieve my concern for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any other worries?¡±


    Today, Kim Chun¡¯s shoulders looked especially heavy.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Ural River might be blocked. The river is the only entrance to the state. Don¡¯t you think our enemy will know that?¡±


    ¡°How are they going to take over the vast river?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say they decided to fire rocket bombs on our ships on the water. If theye up in a speed motorboat and shoot, we¡¯ll be helpless.¡±

 Chapter 413 - A Bloom in Recession (1)

    <h4>Chapter 413: A Bloom in Recession (1)</h4>


    A word that there could be a terrorist attack on the Ural River came by.


    If ordinary people such as Kim Chun could make such predictions, the IS, which was determined to attack the state, could also think of such an idea.


    The Ural River was a ce where numerous ships traveled.


    From fishing boats torge and small ferries, and even leisure-time revelers, it was a ce of frequent crashes of different vessels. If he targeted the ships of the autonomous state, then it would be helpless.


    In the case of cargo ships, the hull would be easily pierced by rocket bombs, but a steering room would not stand if directly attacked.


    The 500-meter-range old rocketuncher was made for anti-tank use, and it was the most favored heavy weapon by the enemy. It was easy to find and easy to operate, so many carried it around.


    The only way to survive this was to look out for small boats that wandered near the state¡¯s cargo ships. The approaching ships must be suspected unconditionally and must be prevented from approaching by firing¡ªto ensure safety. The state should be extra-cautious since the river was a minefield all around.


    ( B oxnovel.c om ) Instantly, all ships in the state were ordered to be careful of portable rocketunchers and not to make any identification signs indicating they were part of the state.


    Not knowing when, where, and in what ways terrorist attacks would beunched was blood-drying to many. It was also impossible to live on a string of 24-hour tension. As the tension continued, people were losing theirposure.


    It soon affected economic activity. Many well-known cities in Europe, which relied heavily on tourism revenues, were losing money. Economic indicators, whether in advanced or developing countries, were rapidly deteriorating.


    As logistics creaked, the price of daily necessities had to rise, and in addition to that, people werepetitively hoarding daily necessities. The vicious circle had begun.


    No one could have imagined this would happen because of terrorist attacks. Even economists would say that it was not predicted. But, Youngho knew someone that predicted this in advance. It was Basten¡ªof the Information Agency. He had bought a huge amount of gold because of this reason.


    Although the media rumbled on the number of people killed or injured in the attacks daily. The damage was not too big yet. Nevertheless, people were anxious. It was because of uncertainty. Even though it was impossible for the European economy to crash due to minor terrorist attacks, it was bing a reality.


    That did not mean the euro or the dor crashed into a scrap of paper. The terrorist attacks only worsened the economic sanctions for a while, and rumors were circting that people were making money out of derivatives in the financial district. If there was a loss, there was no doubt that there was a gainer.


    Even the information brokerpany had made money out of this, so would there not be someone else who had predicted all this and made money too? For instance, there was the Wall Street in the U.S.


    A rumor that the bombing of the IS headquarters followed by terrorist attacks might have been a put-up job from start. ording to the story, the U.S. Bankers gathered to create the Federal Reserve Bank, and they were involved in any business that could make them money. The conspiracy theory was spread, that people who made money from the economic slowdown that hit Europe were from the Wall Street in New York.


    ***


    Park Jong-il heard the rumor.


    He made a heated assertion about the conspiracy theory about the U.S. that it ordered the IS to overpower the world with terrorism in order to ovee the financial crisis.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of rumors that the Federal Reserve Bank has printed too much dors and caused the current economic slowdown because of the lost value of dors.¡±


    ( B oxnovel.c om ) ¡°You believe that? A false conspiracy like that theory has been mentioned often, but it turned out to be groundless every time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very specific this time. This is what most of our agents have learned.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t buy it. What good information wille out from the back alleys of Central Asia? It¡¯s just a rumor. I was kind of interested, but it just doesn¡¯t make any sense to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Who will benefit from the worldwide recession? It¡¯s a country with a lot of gold. Can¡¯t you tell? It¡¯s the United States.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, our state will be big one day.¡±


    ¡°We should have hundreds of thousands of tons. Several tons won¡¯t just do it.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? We¡¯re not bringing back the gold standard or anything.¡±


    ¡°When the basic currency copses, all you can believe is gold. If not, why is the U.S. struggling to keep as much as 8,000 tons of gold?¡±


    Park Jong-il had gotten so knowledgeable. It was not usual for anyone to know about each country¡¯s amount of gold reserves. It seemed that he naturally studied such information as the director of the intelligence department.


    ¡°Man, does everyone be that intelligent when you are in the director¡¯s seat?¡±


    ¡°Hey, enough of the nonsense. When are the light airnes arriving anyway?¡±


    ¡°Man, I totally forgot about that. I need to ce an order right away. If you¡¯re in a hurry, take what we use for patrol.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to carry an eight-seater around. A four-seater is perfect for our agents. We need to deploy one at each base to boost mobility.¡±


    The light airne¡ªwhich could be lifted and disembarked anywhere; on grass or on bare ground, was now an essential piece of equipment for intelligence agents, whose mobility was life. The presence of light aircraft was another power of the autonomous state since it could carry necessary supplies or weapons and travel anywhere. In Central Asia, the perfect means of transportation was a light ne after all.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, contact Cessna and have them send 20 four-seater light nes right away.


    If they don¡¯t have it, check out the used market.¡±


    ¡°What? 20 nes?¡±


    ¡°Also, when you order, ask if thepany can arm the nes.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to put on a small missile or something?¡±


    ¡°Ask them if they can fit a light machine gun on the ne. If they reject it, you could tell them that we¡¯ll buy nes from anotherpany from now on.¡±


    ¡°Yep. Okay.¡±


    There was now that said a civilian airne could not be armed. If a machine gun could be used on a light airne secretly, it would be invincible in Central Asia. Who could imagine that fire would pour out from a light ne? Although it was a pre-modern method that would have appeared in the 1930s, it was also great to have such a function in the reality of Central Asia.


    ¡°Dude, did you suddenly get smarter now that you¡¯ve be a duke? No one can imagine an armed light ne.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty good for terrain where the armored vehicles can¡¯t go around, right?¡±


    ¡°It even sounds invincible. It can avoid the range of portable rocketunchers, so nothing can shoot it down.¡±


    ¡°If only we could fit a light machine gun in it, it would be our secret weapon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a baron, so I dare not say that I¡¯ll give you a reward to a duke, but I¡¯ll grant you one wish.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    As the autonomous state was rebuilding damaged facilities, the residents were slowly gaining peace. The families whose sons were injured at the border working as soldiers, they were rather proud that their sons had protected the state instead of being spiteful toward the administration and Youngho. The wounded were treated like heroes.


    The leadership group, Youngho, and Fatima had all visited each wounded soldier, but even young students from school¡ªvisited the hospital to encourage the soldiers and their families.


    Moreover, Fatima gave them the title of a knight, which was especially an honorable thing for Serbian families to be proud of for generations after generation. It was because they believed that the knights were the people who protected the Archduchess.


    ***


    The conspiracy theory that Jong-il talked about seemed to have a point.


    Otherwise, there was no reason for the leading countries like the U.S., China, Germany, and Japan to store gold and try to buy more of it. It was probably because the value of the currency was already dropping. It was the same with Basten, the co-representative of the Information Agency who recently bought tons of gold.


    Youngho had collected a lot of gold personally, but he was still trying to figure out if there was any other way to get it.


    In times like this, having as much as 300 million dors in cash was also a burden. If he could not buy gold bars, he would have to get rid of dors by any other means, such as paying the icebreaker bnce in advance and increasing the Danish shipbuilding shares further with his cash. In order to survive in an uncertain world, it was best to follow what other business people were doing. So, Youngho called Szechenyi right away.


    ¡°Hyung, I heard the autonomous state suffered a great damage.¡±


    ¡°Where did you hear the news?¡±


    ¡°I heard it while I was on the phone with Zeynep. There¡¯s a lot of terrorism here, so I¡¯m very alert.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay with Isabe in our state for a while?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so busy with work at the electric motorpany that I can¡¯t be away for that long.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you work at home?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯tpletely cleaned up the close associates of the crown princess¡¯ brother yet.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Well, but you do have to stay here for the winter though. I¡¯m so worried about you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Crown Prince. Is that why you¡¯re calling?¡±


    ¡°I have something to deal with right now. I¡¯m afraid the dor is going to weaken soon. So, can you pay up the bnce of the icebreaker that our state ordered in advance? I also want to buy the Danish shipyard¡¯s stocks aggressively now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already figured that out. Only gold and diamond prices are rising high here too.¡±


    ¡°Buy all the shares that American investors have. They¡¯d think that there won¡¯t be any more new shipbuilding orders due to the economic slowdown.¡±


    ¡°The stock held by foreign investors is worth only 60 million dors. I¡¯ve had some tug-of-war, so if I say I¡¯ll buy it, they¡¯ll give it to us right away.¡±


    ¡°Looks like the stock has fallen again these days.¡±


    ¡°The financialmunity is very negative about the future of the shipbuilding industry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great, buy it unconditionally.¡±


    The shipping industry was very sensitive to economic slowdown.


    If the volume of exports and imports decreased, the shipping industry would be hit hard, and orders for new ships would also be reduced. Investmentpanies that held the Danish shipyard¡¯s shares would have no choice but to sell them unless they intended to take control of the management like Youngho did.


    The purchase would secure about 15 percent of Danish shipyard¡¯s shares, and that meant that Youngho would soon be thergest shareholder of thepany. He would be able to take over the management of thepany in the near future. Other shareholders would wee to have a capable person in their management at hard times like this.


    ¡°Brother, I know you¡¯re busy, but can you please stop by Denmark sometime soon? The crown prince has been waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got to be kidding me to make mee in this emergency. I have to go to Istanbul, so I won¡¯t be free until a weekter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell him that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with the royal family, is there?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s going on, except that Isabe¡¯s body is getting a little heavy.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? You¡¯ve only been married for less than a month.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I guess somehow we managed to make a honeymoon baby.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions. I¡¯m happy to hear it, but what¡¯s the rush? Is the royal family okay with it?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like a big w in the Danish royal family since we¡¯ve dated for a long time before getting married. But, please don¡¯t tell Fatima yet. She might give me an earful.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Things like this should be spread. I¡¯ll give Isabe a huge present now that she¡¯s pregnant.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, just so you know, Isabe only likes gold bars.¡±


    As Youngho made it seem that there were dozens of tons of gold from the Archduke family¡¯s legacy, he would have to bring three or four gold bars to save his face this time.

 Chapter 414 - A Bloom in Recession (2)

    <h4>Chapter 414: A Bloom in Recession (2)</h4>


    Terrorism in Kazakhstan had dwindled as the Kazakh Army and the Countryside Force had been targeting small andrge strongholds of the IS, crossing in and out of the Kyrgyzstan border frequently.


    The IS headquarters in Syria waspletely destroyed, and there was no other ce left but an Afghanistan-based defense body and ones that were recentlyunched in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.


    The U.S. Air Force in Almaty also began to attack IS strongholds, and the IS, which had been set up at the border, finally disappeared.


    When the border was cleared to a certain extent, the Countryside Force also returned from their duty at the border. The return of 95 soldiers and 20 tactical armored vehicles, excluding those injured, also eased the state¡¯s tension. After the tactical armored vehicles joined the state¡¯s patrol line, the security was even more tightened.


    In the meantime, Youngho was very busy.


    ( B oxnovel.c om ) This was because of Turkey¡¯s establishment of the Otokar factory in Atyrau. The joint venture was possible due to the active cooperation of the Turkish government.


    Kim Chun rushed in as Youngho was about to leave his office after preparing for a business trip to Istanbul.


    ¡°Prince Consort, the freighter has just arrived.¡±


    ¡°Hong Sung-ki must be here then, right?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s on his way to the Grand Pce. He said that he has something for you. He¡¯ll be here soon.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing urgent. I can go to Istanbul tomorrow, so please contact the airport and cancel today¡¯s flight.¡±


    Youngho was very curious about Niky¡¯s gift that he offered to give.


    He had received the bnce for the sale of the factories in Moscow. He had been stressing that he would reward Youngho when he received the bnce, so Youngho was secretly looking forward to it.


    As Hong Sung-ki was pulling out from Siberia, he met up with Niky and received the gift intended for Youngho.


    The icebreaker that returned this time had itsst voyage of the year. The Arctic Ocean was already frozen and no longer navigable with the Arirang¡¯s capabilities.


    ¡°You said you brought the gift. Howe you¡¯re empty-handed?¡±


    ¡°How can I carry the thing that needed to be carried with a car? I left it in the storage room on the first floor. It weighs as much as two tons.¡±


    ¡°What kind of stuff is it that it weighs that much? Did he send me vodka bottles?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to make our own vodka next year, wouldn¡¯t he know that? I wasn¡¯t able to see the contents since it was so thoroughly sealed. I hope it¡¯s gold or diamond stones, but I doubt that.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki had guessed right. If it weighed two tons, it must be gold.


    Gold bar of such amount would be more than 100 million dors at the market price. It was a big gift. Youngho felt burdened by it.


    Although amission of one to three percent of the transaction price was usually given to a person who acted as a broker, but such rates were ignored when it came to arge sum of 1.7 billion dors. No matter how big the transaction amount was, a few tens of millions of dors were the limit. The gift was too much for what Youngho did.


    ¡°What did you send me, Chairman Niky? This weighs so much.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t checked the contents yet. I added a little more when I heard that the state was attacked. I received so much from you every time, so this is a little token of appreciation.¡±


    ¡°By any chance, did you send me gold?¡±


    ¡°I assumed that you¡¯d have enough cash, so I reced it with gold bars.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too much. What did I do to get this big gift?¡±


    ¡°You opened a new world for me. I¡¯m flying out of the cage now. I¡¯ll always appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll have to buy the most expensive grape seedlings for your vineyard.¡±


    ( B oxnovel.c om ) ¡°You mean it¡¯s burdensome. Well, I¡¯d appreciate it if you would pay me back with good seedlings.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll also be responsible for the farming of vineyard. My farm staffs are experts, so I¡¯ll get you to harvest the grapes right away next year. If youe to Baku in the winter, the farm work will be already done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°Now I owe you a debt. If you need anything, please let me know. I¡¯ll do as much as I can until I clear my debts.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a family honor to dare indebt you, the duke of the Arirang state. Then I¡¯ll have to ask you a favor right away. I¡¯d like to buy a hotel in Baku, would you help me?¡±


    ¡°If I take the lead in creating a peer of the same industry, our employees will have a lot ofints.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t turn a blind eye to your request. The terrorist attacks have discouraged tourists froming to Baku, but it¡¯s a good time to buy a hotel building now. There is a hotel near Arirang Hotel. Would you mind?¡±


    ¡°I just follow the maxim of investing in recession.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a hotel in Batumi that¡¯s worth it too. Would you like to see it?¡±


    ¡°Is it near the Arirang Hotel, too?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It would be better if there were a lot of hotels together. Tourists prefer that area.¡±


    ***


    Although Youngho received an unexpected gift, he had been dying to ask Niky how many gold bars he had. When the gold bars were passed over to Basten previously, Youngho¡¯s stomach hurt in resentment. However, Niky generously gave gold bars to Youngho as a gift.


    Niky¡¯s family had acquired so much gold as his family had run a private gold mine for over a hundred years. The amount of alluvial gold in Siberia was huge enough to surpass the gold rush of the western era.


    So far, Youngho had seen more than ten tons of gold barsing from Niky. He wondered how many gold bars he had left now. However, he could not ask. He only hoped that one day, he would be able to buy gold bars from him.


    Youngho decided to take Hong Sung-ki, who just returned from Siberia to Istanbul instead of Kim Il-kwon.


    Less than 24 hours have passed since he returned home, so Sung-kiined that Youngho did not even give him a break.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to follow me, go to Baku instead of Il-kwon and protect the farm.¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, how can the deputy director of the intelligence department work at a farm?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was going to stop by at Denmark, but if you don¡¯t want to I can¡¯t push you. I¡¯ll give you a week off from now, so take a break all you want.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to Denmark? Of course, I¡¯ll escort you there. There¡¯s no one that knows Denmark more than me.¡±


    When Hong Sung-ki used to work for Arirang Shipping as a security guard, he had been to the coastal countries of the Baltic Sea frequently. Of course, he missed those days. There would also be girls whom he made acquaintance with at his favorite bars. As Youngho mentioned about Denmark, Hong Sung-ki¡¯s face was suddenly brightened.


    ¡°Denmark is also gued by terrorism, so be armed.¡±


    ¡°Hum, I¡¯ll fill up the bullets in my GLOCK pistol.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to get through the airport security check?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let each airport know that the VIP from the Arirang Autonomous State is on his way. That way, I can arm myself as a bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°Oh, if you make such a fuss, the IS will love to hear that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of everything. Leave it to the best of the men in the autonomous state.¡±


    Although Hong Sung-ki is a bit talkative, he was as reliable as Kim Il-kwon, and he was also quick to move.


    Suh Min-seok should apany Youngho as his secretary, but he could not even protect himself in times like this. Although the schedule to Istanbul was dyed by a day, Youngho was relieved that the two tons of gold bars were added to the asset of the Grand Pce of the state. Combined with the production of this year¡¯s gold at Serbian ranch, there would be up to ten tons of gold bars. Even if the dor tumbled, Youngho would not be afraid of it.


    ***


    A six-seater jetndedfortably on the runway.


    As the jet was moved to the small ne¡¯s mooring, a limousine was approaching Youngho and Sung-ki.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s from the Kazakh embassy in Turkey.¡±


    ¡°What the hell did you do?¡±


    ¡°Well, this is natural. The Duke of the Arirang Autonomous State is here.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, I don¡¯t like this. I just want to go do my business quietly.¡±


    ¡°All the high-ranking government officials already know that you¡¯re the president¡¯s favorite. They¡¯re trying to impress you. Well, I only asked for your convenience at the airport immigration, but this is a little too much.¡±


    ¡°Am I the President¡¯s sweetheart? I¡¯m his favorite?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being favored?¡±


    ¡°Shush! The driver might get the wrong idea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the duke of the Arirang Autonomous State, which is equivalent to a minister-level official of the Kazakh government. Of course, the embassy should honor you. And, you¡¯re the only one in the country that meets the president in private so often like a good friend.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m a fool to talk to you. All right, let¡¯s just ask them to check us in, and please turn down the car. My friend is already here to pick us up.¡±


    ¡°Yep, I see.¡±


    When Youngho said he wasing, Mustafa decided toe to the airport.


    Whenever Youngho visited Istanbul, he visited Mustafa. Youngho owed him since he connected him with Fatima a long time ago, in addition to being a good friend and a business partner who sold the carpets produced in the autonomous state.


    Youngho had been sorry that he could not invite Mustafa to the coronation or Szechenyi¡¯s wedding before. So, he was going to loosen his belt and feast with him for a long time.


    ¡°My brother, you look great.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you, I¡¯m doing a lot better here.¡±


    Mustafa, who had been waiting in the airport, weed the two with a big smile. Mustafa had put on some weight.


    ¡°Brother, did you send the grape seedlings I asked for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s already in Baku. I went to the grape seedling seller and he happened to have seedlings to send to Baku too. So, I sent yours alongside his. But did you buynd again?¡±


    ¡°I was asked by a Russian businessman. He has a vineyard near my farm in Baku, so I¡¯m helping him.¡±


    ¡°I should have done grape farming.¡±


    ¡°Even though I¡¯d rmend grape farming, I don`t rmend wine business to anyone. I got lucky since I had a market in Russia, but it¡¯s indeed not for anyone. Brother, the rug business is perfect for you.¡±


    In fact, Mustafa looked like a rug vendor. Youngho imagined him moving with his big body while smoking a hookah and negotiating prices. It was a usible picture, indeed.


    ¡°I heard that I can live in Armenia richly with what I have right now. Should I retire and go home?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to stop you from entering Armenia. I can¡¯t predict how the world will change in the future.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know, who knows?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the world is too small. Everyone is now an expert with the help of all sorts of technology. My brother, the easiest way to live is to stick to the way you used to live. It¡¯s never going to change.¡±


    ¡°Alright, whenever I think about my country Armenia, I get frustrated. I¡¯m getting thirsty. Why don¡¯t we go to a bar? I¡¯ve been dying to drink with you.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have it at the hotel. That¡¯s the safest ce.¡±


    ¡°Istanbul is safe anywhere. They¡¯ve lived like that for hundreds of years, so they don¡¯t even blink at the sight of terrorism.¡±


    ¡°So, is that why there are so many people on the street?¡±


    ¡°These days, tourism is a little slow.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s such a dynamic city.¡±


    ¡°There are always opportunities in ces like this. You also came here to look for opportunities in this dangerous city too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already found opportunities and luck here in Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°You are indeed the luckiest person to visit Istanbul.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki interrupted.


    ¡°What do you mean, Boss, that you find luck here?¡±


    ¡°You can get lucky if you go to the flea market.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a ce where you sell fake antiques?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes you can even find a real thing.¡±

 Chapter 415 - A Bloom in Recession (3)

    <h4>Chapter 415: A Bloom in Recession (3)</h4>


    It was raining on the day when Youngho visited the headquarters of Otokar in Istanbul.


    On a rainy day like this in Istanbul, which was located beside the ck Sea, the wind was heavy that the streets were often deserted. In this kind of weather, there was no terrorism either.


    Youngho and Hong Sung-ki were greatly weed at the lobby. In the ceiling of the lobby on the first floor, even a banner with the phrase ¡®Wee¡¯ was hung.


    It was a little bit embarrassing, but who would feel bad about such a huge weing?


    Youngho felt that thepany was already giving him a positive message to the business partnership that he came to ask for.


    ¡°They know how to treat their partner, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it.¡±


    ¡°Shall we go to the information desk and let them know we¡¯re here?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. They know we¡¯re already here.¡±


    Youngho saw some guards running to the entrance of the spectacrly decorated elevator that was different from the other three or four ordinary elevators. Middle-aged men in tie soon stepped out of the luxuriously decorated elevator. He could sense that those were higher-ups of thepany.


    ¡°They¡¯reing our way.¡±


    ¡°Talk in Azerbaijani as much as possible. They¡¯ll understand us roughly.¡±


    Because Azerbaijan was a dialect of Turkish, people in both countries were able tomunicate without difficulty. The reason why Youngho asked Sung-ki to talk in Azerbaijani was that people preferred anyone who could speak their ownnguage. It was a basic courtesy in business.


    The two were escorted to the conference room.


    The conference room was quite luxuriouspared to the one in the autonomous state.


    Otokar was one of the affiliatepanies of Turkey¡¯srgestpany¡ªthe Ko? Holding, and it produced tanks and armored vehicle cannons used by the Turkish Army.


    The teacup that was brought out for Youngho was also shiny in gold, although Youngho was not sure if it was real gold. The executives¡¯ teacups were ordinary, but Youngho¡¯s cup was golden. Although he had visited Turkey numerous times, he had not received such a great wee before.


    However, today¡¯s visit was special. Youngho was qualified as a special envoy of the Kazakh president, so maybe this was what he deserved. Such treatment should be taken as a matter of course since it was the ¡°Duke of the Arirang Autonomous State¡± who visited as a special envoy.


    He busily exchanged business cards with various executives and shared handshakes. Hong Sung-ki stood behind his back with his mouth shut. He was standing so solemnly and sternly that it was hard for anyone to dare to speak. He was a man with a solid figure and an angr face. It was intimidating to the Otokar executives. Regardless of what others thought of him, he did not budge while keeping his eyes up.


    As if to break the mood, the most senior among them spoke first. Youngho did not remember his name, so he nced at the business cards and found his name.


    ¡®Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi¡¯ was his name and his position was president.


    ¡°We sincerely wee your visit to ourpany.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with this kind of hospitality I received.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had several deals with the Arirang Autonomous State, but I haven¡¯t been able to meet you in person. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. We¡¯ll deliver the 30 tactical armored vehicles you ordered by next month.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t tter me for ordering a few armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You are an important customer who purchased more than any other country around the ck Sea. Thanks to you, we received an order of 200 vehicles from the Kazakh government.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed to hear suchpliments. So, he went straight to the point. The purpose of the visit shoulde first since he was a special envoy today.


    ¡°Is it possible for us to make your tanks locally?¡±


    ¡°Tank?¡±


    In order to reinforce the firepower of the autonomous state of Kazakhstan, there had to be tanks too. In the case of light armored vehicles, 20millimeter machine guns were all about firepower.


    ¡°We have reviewed various aspects of the local assembly nt you requested, and we think we can build a nt of a size that could produce about 100 tanks a year. But the tank is an item that must have the Turkish government¡¯s consent, and it won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan borders Russia and China. The rest of the Central Asian countries are also bordering China. It is a stern state surrounded by the two superpowers. 100 units a year is far from enough. 200 units a year is not enough.¡±


    ¡°How big do you think the demand will be?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the fact that our state-ordered 200 units at once is proof? That¡¯s what we¡¯re going to need to supply each year for the next five years.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no reason for us to refuse. However, the local production of the tanks must be agreed upon by the Turkish government. I¡¯m sorry we can¡¯t confirm it now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the part where the leaders should involve, but I¡¯m sure it will be easy. We are brotherly countries, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    After the meeting, Youngho sat face to face with Celebi¡ªthe president of Otokar in private.


    ¡°Will you be free tomorrow evening? The group¡¯s chairman wants to see you, duke.¡±


    ¡°I have to go to Denmark tomorrow. By the way, your group¡¯s chairman and I don¡¯t have any contact at all. What¡¯s this about?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you postpone tomorrow¡¯s schedule by one day? He¡¯sing to Istanbul from Germany right now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible to dy the schedule a little, but what¡¯s the asion?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t go ahead and tell you, but I¡¯m sure this won¡¯t be harmful to you.¡±


    Youngho could not refuse Celebi¡¯s request since he looked desperate. There must be a good reason when the chairman of Ko? Holding¡ªa global group, asked to meet Youngho. Besides, he could easily find out what the chairman was up to if he asked a CIA agent in Turkey.


    ¡°If it¡¯s an informal meeting, I¡¯ll agree to the meeting.¡±


    ¡°Nobody will know about the meeting.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll rearrange my departure schedule.¡±


    ***


    As Youngho tried to go out alone, Hong Sung-ki panicked and tried to catch up with him. He managed to get rid of Sung-ki who was clingy like a leech, but he could not tell him that he was meeting a CIA agent since he had no idea that Youngho was also one. It was Saturday when the flea market was open, so he told Sung-ki to go out and buy something for himself.


    An agent sitting at an outdoor cafe recognized Youngho and greeted him.


    ¡°Mister Lee, I got a call from the headquarters. Here¡¯s the data you asked for.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I bothered you with this.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. It was already collected before, so it wasn¡¯t annoying. The Ko? Holding Group has been having a bit of a bad rtionship with the governmenttely.¡±


    ¡°The defensepany is on bad terms with the government?¡±


    ¡°There was a small incident at a hotel owned by the Ko? Holding Group. Anti-government protesters fled to their hotel after being chased by police, who fired tear gas at the lobby. The government is ming the hotel for protecting the protesters, and the Ko? Holding Group used the police of using excessive force. And now, even the Turkish president joined the quarrel.¡±


    ¡°You mean the group that was doing so well is now out of favor with the president?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the oue, but it¡¯s moreplicated than that.¡±


    ¡°Was thepany unable to do well with paying political funds?¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re kind of in a political love and hate rtionship.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a love and hate, they¡¯ll make up sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be that easy. The Army turned to a foreign defensepany and ordered this year¡¯s supply of tanks. It¡¯s like the Turkish president turned a blind eye to a defensepany of his own country.¡±


    ¡°I see. Thank you for your busy time. I would offer to treat you for dinner, but I¡¯m afraid that I have to part ways now. When we meet at the European chapter, I¡¯ll treat you nicely.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡±


    It seemed that there was a reason why Celebi said that he would easily build a local assembly nt in Kazakhstan. He knew that the president would not mind. Since Kazakhstan was not as developed as Turkey. The president might be secretly waiting for thepany to fail, after losing the cost to build a local factory in Kazakhstan.


    Although thepany and the Turkish government were in bad terms, it was a great chance for Youngho. For the Ko? Holding Group, which was looking for a breakthrough, Youngho would be like a savior, and Youngho had a great opportunity to use it to get all kinds of high-end technologies.


    ¡°Duke, this is the chairman of Ko? Holding Group.¡±


    A handsome man in his 60s, introduced by the president of Otokar, politely greeted Youngho. Youngho also hurriedly reciprocated the greeting.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you, Chairman. I¡¯m Lee Youngho.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Enes Kaya. You¡¯re fluent in Turkish.¡±


    ¡°I studied Turkish because I had a deep connection with this city.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You have a connection to Istanbul?¡±


    ¡°The direct line of thest Archduke family of Serbian Kingdom used to live in Istanbul for a while.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an impressing story. When I get a chance, I¡¯d like to hear about your connection to the Serbian Kingdom.¡±


    Basten, the co-representative of the Information Agency, expressed curiosity about Youngho¡¯s private life, and Kaya was the same.


    This would surprise Fatima if she heard it since it was not usible to advertise that she once lived in a slum.


    ¡°I heard you asked to see me. But, I¡¯m just a mere businessman.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re an outstanding figure in the business world now. Compared to you, I¡¯m nothing. I can¡¯t even keep up with my father¡¯s good fortune.¡±


    It was impressive of him to say that he was ashamed of himself as a second-generation tycoon. He was very modest for someone who was born in a filthy rich family.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a lucky guy, too. I don¡¯t think my efforts yed a big part in the process toe this far.¡±


    ¡°In your case, luck is a skill too. I¡¯m struggling with the luck that I was given. The Turkish government is really bothering me these days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that.¡±


    ¡°So, we are nning to be a globalpany. I just wanted to meet, to thank you for giving us a great opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done much. It¡¯s because the president of Kazakhstan is greedy for weapons.¡±


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re very close to the president.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re too close to the highest authority, you can easily get burnt.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so great to be far away from it either. It can be too cold. We¡¯re really having a hard time because of our rtionship with the Turkish president.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Our management group decided that the only breakthrough is to look overseas, but you showed up just in time. I¡¯d like to ask you to arrange a meeting with President Nazarbayev.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan always wees foreign investors. Representatives of foreignpanies can meet with the president at any time.¡±


    ¡°But if the duke of the Arirang Autonomous State himself introduces me to the president, he¡¯ll remember me as a special entrepreneur, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already be a special entrepreneur by agreeing to set up a local assembly nt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to ask the president for a favor.¡±


    ¡°A favor? Is this something I shouldn¡¯t know about?¡±


    ¡°Of course you should, in order to work as a bridge. I¡¯m thinking of getting somend.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯snd, it won¡¯t be a problem. Kazakhstan is full of it.¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s thend full of underground resources? ¡±

 Chapter 416 - A Bloom in Recession (4)

    <h4>Chapter 416: A Bloom in Recession (4)</h4>


    Kaya, chairman of the Ko? Holding Group, wanted a uranium mine.


    These days, the price of uranium oxide was soaring, and Kazakhstan was also striving to increase production facilities. The country boasted of having global scale uranium reserves, so many other countries operating nuclear power nts always had their eye on the uranium prices that were controlled by Kazakhstan. For this reason, countries were eager to secure uranium mines, which Kaya was also greedy for.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll be easy for Kazakhstan to open a national strategic asset to a foreignpany?¡±


    ¡°Any underground resource is a strategic asset. If there is great pay for it, the government will have a second thought.¡±


    ¡°I assume that you have a proposal that President Nazarbayev might be interested in.¡±


    ¡°Our group is a manufacturer of various weapons which you might also be interested in.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll make an active rmendation to the president.¡±


    ¡°If things go well, I¡¯ll transfer the technology that the Arirang Autonomous State could use to produce its own weapon.¡±


    He was tantly throwing bait to Youngho. He was indeed also the chairman of a global arms production group.


    On the way back to the hotel, only one thing was on Youngho¡¯s mind. He must make this happen. To survive in the global society, he needed to secure force and technology to produce force in the autonomous state.


    There was no reason to question why the Ko? Holding Group was greedy for a uranium mine. It was natural for apany to take on new challenges to leap forward.


    Since the Turkish government was trying to tame thepany, thepany was determined to find a breakthrough abroad.


    Strategic technology was a breakthrough for the autonomous state. It was also a golden opportunity for Kazakhstan to emerge from the shadow of Russia.


    Among the affiliates of the Ko? Holding Group were the shipbuilding group, which had technology specialized in mid-sizedbat ships such as frigates and corvettes. In other words,bat ship technology could also be transferred.


    ***


    It was on a flight from Istanbul to Copenhagen, Denmark. Hong Sung-ki, sitting on the co-pilot¡¯s seat, wasining.


    ¡°There was nothing to get at the flea market. Since it was pouring out, there were not even people out there. I couldn¡¯t even get a cup of tea, let alone a kettle, because there were only about 50 empty stalls.¡±


    ¡°Should I give you a kettle that¡¯s in my bedroom at the Grand Pce? That¡¯s also from a flea market.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. If I take your stuff, and Mr. Park finds out about this, I¡¯m dead.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re somehow really scared of Park Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°He starts with his fist when he¡¯s upset. You know how rough he can be as a former MMA fighter.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a flea market in Denmark, so look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°You said a proper antique onlyes from Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°You think the Balkans that were hunted by the Ottoman Empire only came to Istanbul? There are quite a few aristocrats who had moved to Northern Europe, so their relics could be in Denmark.¡±


    ¡°By the way, you said you got lucky because you got something from the flea market in Istanbul?¡±


    ¡°You went to the flea market without knowing what it was?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you get some centuries-old antiques and sold them at a high price? I thought that¡¯s how you got rich.¡±


    ¡°What? Hahaha...¡±


    Although the real story was a little different, it was not totally false. Meeting the Fatima siblings and attaining their relics had brought him this far.


    The weather was nice at Copenhagen Airport.


    Szechenyi who brought a limousine provided by the Danish royal family was waiting for Youngho¡¯s group.


    ¡°How was your flight?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t bored because there was a loud man next to me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Deputy Director Hong. I haven¡¯t seen you in a long time. Did you withdrawpletely from Siberia?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll have to stay in the state for a while now because the duke here has caught me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for sticking with him. I¡¯m not so worried about him since someone as talented as you are by his side.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of ces that are sending me a love call, but the duke¡¯s affection is holding me back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Hong Sung-ki, if you¡¯ve received a scout offers from other ces, I¡¯ll push you to go.¡±


    ¡°Boss, don¡¯t say anything you don¡¯t mean. I know your heart just sank in fear of losing me. Without me, the autonomous state would be paralyzed. How could I leave it knowing that? That¡¯d be so cruel to the state and the people. I know I¡¯m stuck here for good.¡±


    He was a funny guy who could make lies without blinking his eye. Szechenyi burst intoughter listening to Hong Sung-ki¡¯s jokes.


    ¡°I can tell the reason why the duke chose you to apany him, not Chief Secretary Kim.¡±


    ¡°Right, apetent boss knows apetent subordinate.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what you¡¯re saying is that I¡¯m apetent boss at least?¡±


    ¡°You only stand out because of your capable subordinate.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re that capable, why did you need my help to get a girl for you? You¡¯ll have to dedicate yourself to the state until you die to pay for your grand wedding that I paid for.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t even able to meet a girl when I was being chased by work overload. It¡¯s a wedding that you ordered because you were worried that such a talented person like I am might leave you. But do you want me to pay back the cost?¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t have that much time, howe you already have three or four bars you regrly visited?¡±


    ¡°I just had to relieve myself a little bit from the work stress.¡±


    ¡°Oh, jeez. There¡¯s no ending to your lies.¡±


    At Hong Sung-ki¡¯s volubility, Szechenyi almost cried inughter.


    Since Szechenyi had been spending his dull days staring at Isabe in Copenhagen, it was refreshing to talk to Youngho and Hong Sung-ki. He seemed to have gained vitality.


    Later, he even encouraged Hong Sung-ki toe to work in Denmark.


    ***


    At the pce, Prince Frederick was awaiting Youngho.


    Prince Frederick was tired of the boresome royal life. Since Youngho freely traveled anywhere in the world, the Crown Prince envied his life.


    During his bachelor days, he used to be quite athletic. He evenpeted in the Olympics as a yacht yer, but he was caught in an invisible restriction that made him the first in line to seed the throne. The only way of liberation for him now was hunting, but these days, the terrorist attacks of the IS had been keeping him from going on hunting trips.


    When Youngho showed up, he could not help but feel d.


    ¡°Prince consort, you said you¡¯d be here yesterday. What took you so long?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I was stranded in Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°Istanbul is a beautiful city. The women are beautiful, too.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever been to Istanbul?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been more than 20 years. I went sailing in the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°What have you been waiting for me for?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to hunt, and it¡¯s been killing me. So I waited to make some excuses to visit the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to make a usible excuse?¡±


    ¡°Oh if you could do that, I won¡¯t wish for more.¡±


    ¡°In Korea, there is a custom of staying in inws¡¯ ce for a certain period of time after getting married.¡±


    ¡°You mean Isabe should stay in the autonomous state for a while?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and her family coulde along as her guardian. So, if youe under the pretext of that, others won¡¯t say much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. Thank you for that great excuse.¡±


    ¡°But I assume you didn¡¯t ask to meet for just a hunt, did you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a very important issue about Denmark. It¡¯s because you¡¯re a major shareholder of the Danish shipyard.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Do you know that the shipyard used to produce submarines?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it before.¡±


    ¡°The Danish Navy is very sorry that the shipyard has fallen into the hands of a foreigner. The Navy nned to build a submarine from the shipyard, but they¡¯re worried that the secret might leak.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a foreigner, but I¡¯m also the family-inw of the Danish royal family. I¡¯m sorry to hear such spection.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a misunderstanding. I¡¯m just speaking in principle. We all know that the Arirang state is a big help to our country. But when ites to military secrets...¡±


    ¡°The secret of Denmark is the secret of the Arirang Autonomous State and also of mine. Is that the answer you wanted to hear?¡±


    ¡°You always give me the right words that I want to hear. I¡¯d like to say thank you on behalf of the Navy.¡±


    The dock at the state¡¯s shipyard seemed so big, butpared with the dock at the Danish shipyard, it was a joke. It was funny topare a dock that built a 5,000-ton boat with a dock that made ships in tens of thousands of tons.


    The ship engine nt alone was iparable, and so was the magnitude of the block-making nt. Youngho smiled to have control of thepany with such big facilities only in a few days.


    ¡°Boss, do you mean we will take over this huge shipyard?¡±


    ¡°Rather than taking over, we should assume control of the management.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the same to me. I think we can make enough warships here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s universal in building icebreaker. I heard they built submarines before because of their excellent ship-building skills.¡±


    ¡°Now that we have two shipyards, the whole of Central Asia will be ours if we can make fighter jets as well.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I saw a light ne being fixed in the hangar, but it didn¡¯t look thatplex except for the electronic equipment part.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki said assembling an aircraft was as easy as assembling a toy.


    His idea was not all a lie if the state could only assemble the ne after importing allponents that went inside it.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll be possible at our level?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t other countries make light airnes easily? If we hire technicians, we can definitely do it ourselves. I heard you ordered a light aircraft manufacturer to mount weapons on the ne, but how can they install weapons when there¡¯s a weight limit for each light airne? It would be faster for us to build our own aircraft.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to hand over that technology?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about making the most advanced jets, it¡¯s about making the first-stage helicopters or propeller nes. You can do the basics by browsing the Inte.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re belittling the technology too much?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not thetest technology, it¡¯s old technology.¡±


    ¡°All right. You should be in charge of this project.¡±


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m with the intelligence department.¡±


    ¡°In our state, anyone who suggested a proposal will be in charge of it.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you don¡¯t care if it¡¯s an old helicopter or a single-leaf prop as long as it has weapons installed in it, right?¡±


    Even though he received an unexpected assignment, Hong Sung-ki did not even get flustered. It was kind of reassuring to see him speaking with confidence. Although he was usually talkative and a little noisy, he was always cautious in what he did. However, he epted Youngho¡¯s order without hesitation. Since trying a new industry was always wee in the state, Youngho decided to trust him with this project.

 Chapter 417 - A Bloom in Recession (5)

    <h4>Chapter 417: A Bloom in Recession (5)</h4>


    Youngho quickly reported the Ko? Holding Group¡¯s suggestion to President Nazarbayev.


    Of course, he did not forget to inform him about the rtionship between thepany and the Turkish government.


    ¡°What on earth is the Turkish ambassador doing that he doesn¡¯t even know about this? All of the officials there are thieves.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, how will the embassy find out such little detail? They¡¯re already busy with their work.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I just can¡¯t believe those guys. So, you¡¯ve made some progress on this trip?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. We¡¯ve been promised a 2,000-unit tactical armored vehicle assembly nt and technology transfer. And judging by the situation, I think we will be able to also assemble thetest tanks in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Thetest version of the tank?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and the chairman said that he¡¯d consider technology transfer for strategic weapons.¡±


    ¡°Why would they share that to us if they weren¡¯t crazy?¡±


    ¡°The mineral they want is uranium.¡±


    ¡°These days, the price of uranium has gone up a lot, and everyone wants to produce it.¡±


    While producing or trading highly enriched uranium that was used for nuclear weapons were strongly regted by the internationalmunity, but uranium oxide, called yellowcake, was treated as a natural fuel. It was produced without restrictions and traded in the market.


    Canada and South Africa also produced uranium, but Kazakhstan supplied 40 percent of the world¡¯s uranium supply. Recently, the government had made such a high profit as the price surged from $16 per pound to $25 per pound.


    ¡°If we increased the amount of production a little, the price of uranium will fluctuate, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with it. If the technology to produce strategic weapons can be transferred, we should take the deal.¡±


    ¡°Then, would you like to meet the chairman of the Ko? Holding Group?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll meet him. He¡¯s the one who scratches our itching spots.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll contact you as soon as you set the time.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re just doing an errand and not getting anything out of this?¡±


    The old man was quick-witted.


    Although he moved purely to increase the strength of the armed forces of Kazakhstan, Kaya, the chairman of Ko? Holding Group, said he would hand over the weapons manufacturing technology to the autonomous state.


    ¡°He offered to hand over the weapons manufacturing technology and suit it to the state¡¯s ability, but I¡¯m thinking of taking over a different technology than making weapons.¡±


    ¡°What is it? Can you tell me?¡±


    President Nazarbayev, who had been listening to the exnation of Youngho for about ten minutes, seemed excited.


    ¡°Nobody would think that we¡¯re going to make it. Make a proper ne in the state.¡±


    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s just a ne from a generation ago.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a start. So make a new jet and make a chopper. I¡¯ll support you the funds.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll even give you my money if you can make one. You know my property manager is Koryoin, right? I¡¯ll send him to you, so tell me how much you¡¯ll need.¡±


    ¡°I have some money, too. Your Excellency.¡±


    ¡°Make a decent ne of your own. If it¡¯s made in the state, neither Russia nor China will notice it.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t even have basic skills yet, but if we go too far in the beginning and fail, we¡¯re only going to lose money without achieving anything.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of money I¡¯ve been saving for Kazakhstan, so don¡¯t be afraid of failure and just make it in secret. I want to see a jet passing through the Presidential Pce before I close my eyes.¡±


    ¡°Very well, sir. I¡¯ll fly a propeller ne since you¡¯re asking me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough for me.¡±


    The president was determined to provide his secret funds for Kazakhstan¡¯s future. In order to protect Kazakhstan from a great threat, he was willing to increase its force even if he had to give up somend to Russia.


    ***


    It felt like November just came, but December was already here, and winter was just around the corner.


    Terrorism was bound to slow down when the weather got cold, but it was still taking ce every day around the world. Terrorism was now bing a routine and was epted as an ever-present traffic ident.


    People began to slowly be desensitized about terrorism and did not care if it was not a big explosion.


    However, this was the most dangerous time since people were not on high alert anymore.


    Sure enough, IS remnants were preparing for a special event, as they felt the effects of terrorism were reduced, and their presence was not highlighted.


    This time, they were carrying out car bombs on power stations and factories that were supposed to be out of the heavily fortified metropolitan area. In a small town in Belgium, a substation was blown up, and the damage was enormous. Part of thend waspletely paralyzed when the substation stopped working.


    It was inconceivable that a city with a poption of only 50,000 would stop functioning with only one substation blown up. Since then, simr incidents had taken ce simultaneously.


    ¡°I knew they were crazy, but now they¡¯re bing more creative with their terrorism.¡±


    ¡°Hey, make sure the security guards are on high alert and fully prepared for attacks like that.¡±


    Zeynep Security Service now focused mostly on private security duties, protecting the warehouseplex in divostok and the offshore oil field pipeline. What was problematic was that the IS could damage oil fields and pipelines.


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s driving me crazy. There¡¯s no safe ce anymore.¡±


    ¡°We need to get rid of the roots of the radical group.¡±


    ¡°Then there will be a religious war, as in the middle Ages. I guess the Europeans are paying the price of their past wrongdoings. They¡¯ve been doing all sorts of things for hundreds of years, so they should be paying for it.¡±


    Park Jong-il, Cha In-soo, and Cho Chul-hwan also flocked to Youngho¡¯s office and were having a noisy discussion. Every morning they stopped by Youngho¡¯s office for tea time, but today¡¯s issue was the explosion at the substation the day before yesterday.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a morning meeting in your departments? Stop talking and go out. Let me work, too.¡±


    ¡°Yes, prince consort. It¡¯s your order, of course, we should be gone at once.¡±


    ¡°And finish your vignte training properly before it gets colder.¡±


    ¡°What if the old men hurt their bones or something while rolling?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve got the stamina to digest anybat training.¡±


    ¡°They justined about why they need running when they¡¯re riding around the armored vehicle all the time, and you want me to go harder on them?¡±


    ¡°They now took ce in the Countryside Force. If we train them hard, they¡¯ll be a great addition to our defense.¡±


    ¡°Oh, are you trying to keep the Vignte Army?¡± ¡±


    ¡°Thanks to the vigntes, we sleep with our feet stretched. Don¡¯t just let this opportunity slip. Train them at the level of the Countryside Force and arm them.¡±


    This time, Youngho intended to make the Vignte Army the same level as the active-duty soldiers.


    And this should be the case. The reason that Youngho wanted this to happen was that this would expand the Countryside Force¡¯s activities. When the Vignte Army was reliable enough to protect the autonomous state by itself, the Countryside Force could be on other operations in emergency


    The state allowed a recent attack from the IS because the Countryside Force was deployed at a border area for an operation. Under such circumstances, it was unthinkable to temporarily vacate the county if there was no reserve force at the state. Now that there was a Vignte Army, the Countryside Force could leave the state when there was an annual joint drill with the Kazakh Army without any worry.


    Many mid-aged male residents who were familiar with guns had applied to be vigntes, and their number already exceeded 600.


    Thus, the state would be entrusting the Vignte Army with the task of guarding the state, and the Countryside Force would be used as quick reaction forces.


    ¡°Did you transfer Hong Sung-ki to the ne production team?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s got some errands to run.¡±


    ¡°A deputy Director of the Intelligence Department goes around without even reporting to his immediate superior. You¡¯re not taking him out, are you?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to take that talkative guy. You can have it all.¡±


    ¡°Man, I find this project hard to seed. He¡¯s messing around to build a poor propeller ne, but he¡¯s not an expert or anything.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a matter of time. Don¡¯t forget that you have to keep tight security on this project, just educate the guards well.¡±


    ¡°But will the president really give out his personal funds? Aren¡¯t we going to get in trouble if we don¡¯t show him any results?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if he doesn¡¯t pay me. He agreed to build a fighter jet anyway. That¡¯s my goal aplished.¡±


    ¡°Have you got any idea of how expensive the airline industry costs? I mean we don¡¯t even have the basic knowledge and foundation technology for aircraft production.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to import everything from the fusge to the parts and assemble them first. We¡¯ll have to use them right away anyway, so there should be an import substitution effect.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t even make a paper airne, but you¡¯re expecting us to make a helicopter and even a jet. It¡¯s so much pressure especially if ites from the president.¡±


    ¡°Well, they say your drizzling will wet your underwear and a camel¡¯s back will break from carrying straw. If we keep making airnes, we¡¯ll eventually make propellers and jets.¡±


    ¡°What about engineers? Are you trying to kidnap them from somewhere? That¡¯s why Hong Sung-ki¡¯s so busy these days, am I not right?¡±


    Jong-il was indeed fast to notice.


    Hong Sung-ki, who boasted himself as the best person to talk to about Russia-rted stuff, told Youngho that he would bring Russian aviation engineers.


    There were a lot of engineers in Russia who were fed up with low pay and poor working conditions. On the surface, they seemed to show great loyalty to the nation, but many of them were critical of the system and eager to get out of it at the earliest opportunity if it presented itself.


    Building an aircraft would not be all that difficult if the Russian engineers¡¯ knowledge and skills about it were top notch.

 Chapter 418 - A Busy Winter (1)

    <h4>Chapter 418: A Busy Winter (1)</h4>


    Youngho arranged the meeting of President Nazarbayev and Kaya, the president of the Ko? Holding Group, which was held in Kazakhstan.


    When Youngho met Kaya at a hotel after the meeting, he could tell that the meeting went smoothly since he could clearly see it all on Kaya¡¯s bright facial expression. As soon as Kaya saw Youngho, he grabbed Youngho¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Duke, you are indeed a man of capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Did you receive the private consent from President Nazarbayev?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow, we are exchanging a memorandum of understanding.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you. Mr. President told me a lot about you. He even said that you¡¯d be a leading person to the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he says that in public but in fact, he scolds me a lot when I see him in private.¡±


    ¡°He seemed to expect a lot from you. I lived for more than 60 years, and from my experience, I know whether or not people mean what they say. The president has something for you. I look forward to working with you in the future.¡±


    Youngho wondered why Chairman Kaya was making a huge fuss about it.


    ¡°He told me to help you since you¡¯re interested in the aviation industry. I¡¯m willing to aid you in the process.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to assemble a training fighter. I told this to Mr. President as a passing word. He probably remembered that, but our technology prevents us from trying it. So, I was thinking that it¡¯ll be more economical to purchase a finished product.¡±


    Youngho wanted to see if Kaya would really help him, so he spoke as if he was about to quit trying to build an aircraft.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too bad. The president looked like he was expecting an assembly nt right away and a finished product soon after that.¡±


    ¡°Well, what can I say? Some things just don¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°I already told him that I¡¯ll help you to the best of my ability. If you don¡¯t make your foray into the aviation industry, he¡¯ll me me for it.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be worried. I¡¯ll tell him that sometimes things don¡¯t work even if you have enough money.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll think that you gave up because I didn¡¯t help you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be fine. It was just my ridiculous idea.¡±


    ¡°Why!? This is a fiasco. The president even wanted a helicopter.¡±


    ¡°How will I make a helicopter when I can¡¯t even make a light airne?¡±


    As Youngho announced the abandonment of the aviation industry n, Kaya¡¯s face turned yellow. He was shocked that everything was starting on the wrong foot. If he did not help Youngho, what he had negotiated with the Kazakh government would start from ground zero again. He had confidently promised the president that he would work with Youngho, but now, Youngho was canceling the whole project.


    ¡°Duke. As you already know, our technology in the aviation industry is still in the early stages. However, I can introduce you to a Swedish aviationpany if necessary. If you have sufficient money, it won¡¯t be difficult to achieve what you dream of.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned that the technology of the autonomous state is not up to a desirable level.¡±


    ¡°Once you make up your mind, you¡¯ll have our full technical support. I promise.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you say so, I¡¯ll have to reconsider my decision. Thank you, chairman.¡±


    ***


    Hong Sung-ki, who had just been to St. Petersburg of Russia, made a report with his eloquent tongue. St. Petersburg was famous for being the hometown of Putin and the Klimovpany well known as the manufacturer of fighter engines. Hong Sung-ki had gone to recruit aircraft technicians and returned to the state yesterday.


    ¡°So the people who want toe to the state are retired engineers?¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re ratherid off because of their excessive drinking problem.¡±


    ¡°How bad are they that they got fired?¡±


    ¡°They are drunk almost 24 hours a day. I told them that they can onlye to the state when they quit drinking, and they were quite disappointed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re useless then. They need precision touch for the engine, but they can¡¯t do that if their hands are shaking most of the time. Can we really trust them?¡±


    Park Jong-il interrupted and criticized Sung-ki¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Once they¡¯re treated for alcoholism, they¡¯d be as good as normal people. They¡¯re only in their 40s. Their skillfulness is too good to be wasted.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s easy to treat alcoholic people? I don¡¯t know where you even got this idea to bring alcoholics to our state.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Senior Park, would Russia just hand over perfectly good engineers or researchers? Our best bet is to bring people that their own country has abandoned.¡±


    Indeed, it was Hong Sung-ki-like thinking. It was an unlikely n, but there was no other way for now.


    ¡°Did their families also agree to move here?¡±


    ¡°Well, these alcoholics are mostly abandoned by their families too except for two of them.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how you met such people.¡±


    ¡°The pub near the Klimovpany is always full of aviation workers. I found all of them there. People around confirmed that they were the best engineers in making engines and airframes.¡±


    ¡°How will they hold up here when they were fired in their own country for drinking too much?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to force their alcoholism treatment. I¡¯ll be in charge of this and make sure that they¡¯ll get back to normal.¡±


    ¡°You are insane.¡±


    ¡°I talked to some of them when they were sober, and it looked like that they really wanted to be treated for their alcoholism.¡±


    ¡°Okay. It¡¯s a pity, but we need anyone even if they are alcoholics. Bring them to the state first.¡±


    ¡°Should I also bring general technicians? I¡¯ve met some at the pub too.¡±


    ¡°Are they addicts, too?¡±


    ¡°Well, you know, any Russian drinks a lot.¡±


    ¡°The Ko? Holding Group promised us technical support. So, we¡¯ll be able to train aviation engineers soon. Why do we need to rely on alcoholics?¡±


    ¡°What we need is any good veteran engineer. I¡¯ll be hard on them and make sure they quit drinking.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s trust Hong Sung-ki. He said he¡¯ll be responsible for this.¡±


    ¡°I hope people don¡¯tugh at us for bringing alcoholics.¡±


    ¡°I said I can make them good as new. Just don¡¯t forget to give me credit when things work out.¡±


    ¡°If I see any drunkard on the streets, I¡¯ll throw them outside the stone walls. Dancing with wolves will sober them up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go to St. Petersburg tomorrow. I should bring them here to get treatment before the weather gets too cold.¡±


    ***


    The weather began to turn horribly cold.


    At this rate, the Ural River would freeze soon as well as the northern Caspian Sea which had low salinity.


    Despite such cold weather, terrorism was still the same.


    There was a car bomb in downtown Almaty yesterday, and it left dozens of casualties.


    As the IS stronghold near the Kyrgyzstan border was destroyed, the remnants of the IS were terrorizing all over the country, the autonomous state, which was about 1,200 kilometers away from the border area, was not a safe ce.


    Thus, the security of the state was tightened.


    Youngho and Cho Chul-hwan decided to patrol around the border of the state on a light-armored vehicle. After about half a day had passed, they had just finished looking around the bunkers and checkpoints of the state.


    The boundaries ofnd were securely guarded, but it was a problem that boats could not patrol around the river when it was frozen.


    ¡°The river¡¯s edge has already frozen. We¡¯ll have to patrol around the edges too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make additional posts in the upper and bottom part of the river.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll take too long. How about cing tactical armored vehicles around here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. We can stack two container boxes and make a watchtower.¡±


    When the river froze up, enemies coulde across the river, so it would be useless to watch the upper and bottom side of the river, but fortunately, the icebreaker had broken the ice in the central part of the river. Come to think of it, icebreakers were being used for various purposes.


    ¡°Did you say the Crown Prince of Denmark is visiting us at this crazy time?¡±


    ¡°Well, if we make gunfire noise for hunting wolves, the enemies won¡¯te across the boundary so easily.¡±


    ¡°How long will he stay?¡±


    ¡°Not for too long. He should be back to Denmark for the festive season event by the end of the year.¡±


    ¡°I hope the IS will keep quiet while the prince is here.¡±


    ¡°Yep, hope so.¡±


    Youngho sent a 12-seater jet to Denmark for Crown Prince Frederick since he wasing to the state. Szechenyi and Isabe wereing to stay with him too.


    As the Crown Prince would be staying in the state, the Danish royal guard security team hade to check before he came. Seeing how good the security guards of Zeynep Security Service were, they returned without saying a word. It seemed that they entrusted the Crown Prince¡¯s security to the guards at the autonomous state.


    They also liked the fact that the autonomous state was like an ind onnd.


    The state was not receiving any outside visitors or tourists due to terrorism risk. After the coronation, backpackers and journalists continuously requested to visit, but the state sternly refused to issue them a visa. Thus, the state had sessfully reduced risk factors. Many people criticized the state for it, as many of them were stranded at the airport of Atyrau aftering to the airport to visit the autonomous state, but the security of the residents was more important.


    In particr, many Korean people also applied for a visitor¡¯s visa. Some of them were documentary producers of Korea. They were quite stubborn.


    ¡°You know some of the South Korean reporters were forced out of the state yesterday, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They came to the state bynd even though the Atyrau Airport already let them know that this is a non-essible area.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to continue to refuse them?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want them to make a fuss about the autonomous state. If Korean people find out that Kazakhstan is thend of opportunity, all kinds of ignorant people would flock to the country, and I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯re going to dishonor the reputation of Koryoin people. They¡¯ve built their reputations for generations.¡±


    ¡°Hearing you makes me think that some Koreans are scarier than the IS. Man, they¡¯re something.¡±


    ¡°I hope they don¡¯te to Kazakhstan but somewhere else.¡±


    The Arirang Autonomous State was rumored to ept Koryoins in difficult situations now. So, there had been many individual requests to migrate from Koryoins scattered around Central Asia. Many Koryoins were feeling a sense of pride after the autonomous state was formed. It was because for Koryoins in Central Asia, who had been living without a country to call their own, the autonomous state was their home.


    With the existence of the Arirang Autonomous State, the Koryoins were not minorities anymore. Youngho only hoped that Korea would not hurt Koryoins anymore since the country had abandoned its people who only left to fight for Korea¡¯s independence.

 Chapter 419 - A Busy Winter (2)

    <h4>Chapter 419: A Busy Winter (2)</h4>


    The Szechenyi couple and Crown Prince Frederick¡¯s family arrived in the state.


    They also brought along four young princes and princesses, so it would have been a very ufortable trip if Youngho did not send his private jet. It was because even the first crown prince could not mobilize a special ne of the Danish government for an unofficial trip. The royal family looked bright as they stepped out of the jet.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, wee to the Arirang Autonomous State. Did you have a good trip?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you, prince consort, it¡¯s been afortable trip. I¡¯m so happy to have a rich family-inw.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... No way. I only make barely enough to feed my people.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you have this big airport in the state.¡±


    While looking around the airport, Frederick pointed to the stone wall.


    ¡°Prince consort, what¡¯s the big stone wall up there?¡±


    ¡°The continental wind is so bad here that it acts as a windbreaker. It also helps keep wild animals out.¡±


    ¡°You mean wolves, right?¡±


    ¡°Is your body getting itchy for hunting?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to go out with a shotgun right away.¡±


    ¡°I have specially prepared a rifle produced by our state for you, Crown Prince.¡±


    ¡°Szechenyi has talked about it so proudly. So, this is it! He said that you¡¯re producing a very nice rifle.¡±


    ¡°The rifle made in the autonomous state has be a must for Russia¡¯s newly rich.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to using it.¡±


    The Crown Prince and his wife kept eximing on the way to the Grand Pce from the airport. They were surprised to see big houses for residents and growing trees in the semi-desertednd. When they arrived at the Grand Pce, they admired the size of the pce again, saying that it was bigger than the pce in Copenhagen.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not much of a pce but a fortress.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot more practical than ours. There must be a shelter inside.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have a lot of underground shelters throughout the whole state.¡±


    ¡°You know, when it¡¯s peaceful, it¡¯s the best time to prepare for war. Denmark was an imperial empire that ruled northern Europe until the 15th century, but after Norway and Sweden fell apart, it could never retrieve its glory of the past. It¡¯s all because we haven¡¯t grown our national power.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a great thing that you still maintain the dynasty,pared to the Serbian kingdom that copsed by the Ottoman Empire?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of maintaining the dynasty? You¡¯re a scarecrow with no power or authority. In that sense, I really envy the Arirang Autonomous State. Isn¡¯t it the only ce where the realm is still alive?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a child¡¯s y.¡±


    The autonomous state, while advocating monarchy, was neither despotic nor democratic, but had its own strange systems. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was an individual state since it was created by Youngho. It seemed that the Crown Prince was envious about the fact that Youngho could decide anything about the state.


    ¡°I heard this ce also suffered from terrorism too. I guess you¡¯re on high alert now.¡±


    ¡°Our security was loose when our force left to the border area to do a joint operation with the Kazakh military. There was a little bit of damage, but it wasn¡¯t a big deal.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you must have a great force to fight against the regr forces of the IS?¡±


    ¡°Well, all the IS strongholds and hideouts near the border area were swept away. Some soldiers were hurt in the process, but they had a good experience.¡±


    ¡°Szechenyi bragged that the Countryside Force of the autonomous state was the best in the world, and it looks like there was a reason for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an exaggeration. We¡¯re not many in number, so modernizing military equipment has been helping us a lot.¡±


    The Crown Prince looked at the guards on patrol, envious of them since they looked as sharp as a knife.


    ***


    Rather than hunting, the Crown Prince was interested in touring around the autonomous state. He was especially interested in the Bentonite production nt. He was quite excited after asking about the amount of reserves, as well as the production rate.


    ¡°Prince consort, the future of the autonomous state is quite bright with this much amount of reserve. Isn¡¯t this the era of the bio-industrying into the spotlight?¡±


    ¡°Now we¡¯re in the test-production stage. We¡¯ll start the production in earnest from next year.¡±


    ¡°Can I take some of the prototypes that are produced?¡±


    ¡°Where are you going to use them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask a cosmeticspany in Denmark and a pharmaceuticalpany to do someponent tests.¡±


    ¡°Bentonite of the autonomous province has already been dered the best raw material.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then the supply lines must already be set.¡±


    ¡°Manypanies are interested, but none have signed supply contracts yet.¡±


    Crown Prince Frederick¡¯s eyes glistened at this point.


    ¡°How would you like to sell it in Denmark?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a small amount of production now, but if it¡¯s produced on arge scale in the future, we¡¯ll have surplus raw material avable for Denmark. What are you going to do with the surplus raw material?¡±


    ¡°We can have a Denmarkpany take over the sale. If we just supply the materials, the Danishpany will be responsible for everything from packaging to transportation, and that will create a synergy effect.¡±


    People tended to trust a product only when its packaging was usible. No matter how high-end the product was, the difference between having trademarked as ¡®Arirang Autonomous State¡¯ and as a well-known Danish brand would be stark.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea. The state supplies the ingredients and Denmarkpany will be in charge of packaging and sale. It¡¯s the only way to increase the added value of the product.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we establish apany in Denmark that is responsible for packaging and distribution?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not leaving it to the agency?¡±


    ¡°The trademark will be trusted when thepany isunched in Denmark. You and I can handle this business together. Why would we leave it to someone else?¡±


    ¡°Are you in need of some funds, Crown Prince? Should I lend you some?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve spent a lot of money, but we still have a lot of royal funds stored. I¡¯m trying to get this opportunity to create a kind of government fund. It says that where there¡¯s money, there¡¯s power, right?¡±


    ¡°You want to strengthen your crown.¡±


    ¡°I just want to raise the royal voice in the Danish government.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s your goal, I will join you.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have Szechenyi set up apany. How do you like to have 50 percent of the profit?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll already have a stable market for raw materials. If I take the salesmission too, I¡¯ll be a thief.¡±


    ¡°Usually, the median distributor has a higher margin than the producer. Don¡¯t be satisfied by only supplying the raw materials. You should keep in mind to secure salespanies overseas.¡±


    Frederick wanted to take the distribution margin as well.


    Unreasonable prices of fruits or vegetables were usually caused by the distribution margin that was created in the process of packaging and transferring goods, and as salesmission was also added, consumers were bound to pay a high cost for each packaged product.


    ¡°It is not desirable to hear that the royal family is trying to make money. I think it¡¯ll be better if Szechenyi will be in charge of this business.¡±


    ¡°I hope your people won¡¯t hate the Arirang Autonomous State for taking the Danish market. We¡¯d like to remain a good image for the Danish people. ¡±


    ¡°There are lots ofpanies that are in charge of supplying raw materials and distributing them as well. Most of the bigpanies work that way.¡±


    ¡°Ok. But, I¡¯ll also provide raw materials to Danish drug and cosmeticpanies at a factory price.¡±


    ¡°Our people will love to hear that.¡±


    ¡°I should do that for Szechenyi and Isabe.¡±


    ¡°Isabe has such a great family-inw.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say the whole of Denmark also has a good family-inw.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    Although the Crown Prince said that he came for wolf hunting, he had a different purpose in mind. He hade to check the military power of the state and to see if there was any business that he can start with the state.


    Seeing through his intention, Youngho showed every side of the autonomous state to the prince in detail. The prince seemed to be shocked as he found more things about the state for the next several days. With less than 10,000 people, the prince thought that the state would not have much to offer, but he was surprised to see that there were a general hospital and a medical school.


    The shipyard and industrialplex with heavy equipment production facilities, and differentboratories dropped his jaw. It was also stunning news that the state would be making its foray into the aviation industry since the state would be armed with naval, army, and air power.


    As Youngho told him that the Kazakh president was supporting this wholeheartedly, he could not understand.


    ¡°The president is allowing the autonomous state to grow its forces?¡±


    ¡°Well, we are ultimately a member of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like having a knife under the chin.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s based on trust, Kazakhstan will understand that the knife is to shave its beard.¡±


    ¡°I hope Denmark can also join your n. Sweden and Norway¡¯s aircraftpanies are friendly to Denmark. We¡¯re all Viking¡¯s descendants after all.¡±


    Denmark used to advocate a neutral country, but nevertheless, it could not avoid war.


    The Crown Prince knew well that a neutral country would notst if there was no power. Having that kind of past, he showed a strong interest in the aviation industry.


    Leaving Isabe behind, Szechenyi and the Crown Prince¡¯s family returned to Denmark. Isabe would be spending the winter in Zeynep Farm in Baku.


    The winter in the autonomous state was too cold that it was not safe for a pregnant woman, and since Baku was not attacked by terrorists so far, she decided it was the best ce to stay.


    Soon, Fatima and the children also decided to apany Isabe to Baku. Since the Frozen reservoir of the farm was now a great ice rink, it was a major attraction for the children and kids from the international school.


    Despite the cold weather, the railway construction was still in the process, and the icebreaker of the state busily moved around to break the ice over the Arirang River.


    The Vignte Army was receiving hard training. There was no discharge of men so far.


    Youngho often joined their training, and today he was panting hard after the rough training.


    ¡°Where did you find that instructor? he¡¯s crazy.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a retired sergeant fromst year. That guy doesn¡¯t have mercy. I also avoid training when hees out as an instructor.¡±


    ¡°This is regr training? Jeez. Are you sure he doesn¡¯t hate us or anything?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. We haven¡¯t even talked to that guy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that these people are not giving up.¡±


    ¡°I told them that I¡¯ll pay them amission for training. If they give up now, all of their two months of hard work will be wasted.¡±


    ¡°You give them amission for training? Isn¡¯t this their duty to get trained as a vignte?¡±


    ¡°Do you think this is Korea? We can¡¯t expect strength andbat power from them if we trained them in a way that we did in Korea. This is a ce where people get amission for a battle.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan looked at Youngho as if he was from the past.


    Youngho had forgotten that people here had a different concept of military service here. This was Kazakhstan and most of the guards were Serbians. Maintaining thebat power of a soldier should be supported with money. Of course, people volunteered to be Countryside Force and vignte, but they were highly motivated to make money. After all, a deterrent against war, the bnce of power, came from economic power. It was sad to admit but they were living in a world where money was power and strength.

 Chapter 420 - Helper (1)

    <h4>Chapter 420: Helper (1)</h4>


    Thirty tactical armored vehicles sent from Turkey¡¯s Otokarpany had arrived at the autonomous state. They were transferred by the freighter and car ferry with the icebreaker function. Turkey and Russia had been in an uneasy rtionship these days, so transferring the vehicles through the Russian canal on Turkish ships was not ideal, so the autonomous state took charge of the shipment. It was because Russia did not inspect ships of the Arirang state.


    Now, the state had 50 tactical armored vehicles in total, which further strengthened its power. In addition to a light machine gun, the tactical armored vehicle was equipped with a 20-millimeter heavy machine gun at the top, which was great for anti-aircraft defense.


    The state already had 35 light-armored vehicles, but its only weapon was a light machine gun, so it did not have great firepower.


    However, its defense was excellent, so it could be used for vignce. Youngho had donated two units to the West Kazakh Army border unit. He also fixedly deployed each one to Baku Farm and Serbian Ranch¡ªand five at the Siberian logging site. The light-armored vehicle was being used in a wide variety of ways.


    Youngho, Park Jong-il, and Cho Chul-hwan were excited to see the vehicles unloading. The scene reminded Youngho of the Korean Armed Forces Day event. When mechanized troops passed by, he used to be so proud and excited.


    ¡°That¡¯s why they do such a marching event. Man, I want to do it too.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°It means that I¡¯m not afraid of any enemy.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we should get out the Russian armored vehicles and multiple rocketunchers in the warehouse now. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan suggested out of nowhere.


    ¡°Just test-drive them sometimes, so that their performance doesn¡¯t get degraded. Those weapons have such huge firepower that they¡¯re useless right now.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you donate them to the Kazakh Army and get some old helicopters in return?¡±


    Youngho had siphoned Lincy Foundation¡¯s weapons that were being transferred from Russia to Armenia. There were seven armored vehicles and two multiple rocketunchers.


    They were old-fashioned weapons, but their firepower was so enormous that they were intended for war.


    ¡°Are you serious? Multiple rocketunchers and tanks are the same as new ones. We need to have that kind of firepower.¡±


    ¡°I just think it¡¯s a waste to have them stored in the warehouse. If you donate it to the Kazakh Army, you¡¯ll be helping to strengthen its power at least.¡±


    ¡°Man, my heart still shudders when I think of a hard time taking them and moving them to Baku. But you want to give them away?¡±


    Park Jong-il jumped at Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s words.


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re not going to rot or anything just because they¡¯re being stored. Just wait a month or two and you¡¯ll see something better.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The Ko? Holding Group is nning to show us a prototype of fighter jets that they¡¯re going to manufacture. I wish they could bring helicopters too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in helicopters. I just want a camouge freighter toe quickly.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s happening anymore. Yaniv told me the other day that the shipbuildingpany went bankrupt and it was taken by the government.¡±


    ¡°How can a government take over a privatepany? I don¡¯t want you to stay still. We¡¯re going to im damages.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know the name of the shipyard and we don¡¯t have a contract. Of course, I never gave you a dime.¡±


    ¡°Darn it. I made a promise to the shippers that we¡¯ll sail to the Indian Ocean when that ship came. What a shame!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t other ships cross the Suez Canal?¡±


    ¡°What if we meet Somali pirates?¡±


    ¡°With our freighter and security guards, you can take care of a few pirate ships.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve got great firepower these days. We¡¯ll have to arm the cargo ships going into the Indian Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Be properly armed. Don¡¯t get us in trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to install a 20-millimeter machine gun!¡±


    ¡°If you run afoul of international maritimew, you take responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll hide it like a ghost.¡±


    The long-awaited camouge cargo ship went up in smoke, and Jong-il was quite disappointed. It seemed that the Arirang Shipping would be busy for a while. It was questionable whether Cha In-soo would approve Jong-il¡¯s request to increase more security guards on board.


    ***


    The first group of fifteen agents who went to the British Intelligence Service to receivemissioned education returned to the autonomous state.


    Although it was a short month of education, the agents said it was quite useful.


    The agents who acquired advanced education that was actually applied in the field were brimming with confidence.


    As the first team had a good experience, the second team would be sent to London after New Year¡¯s holiday. The Great Britain was offering intelligence support to the autonomous state since it wanted to gain a bridgehead for Central Asia. As the British intelligence service gained the state¡¯s agents¡¯ favor, it achieved what it had aimed¡ªa strong ally.


    The U.K. Intelligence Service also supported the state¡¯s agents with personal equipment.


    ¡°Man, those guys just bought our guys¡¯ hearts.¡±


    ¡°Well, their equipment is awesome. They¡¯ve got all sorts of venom needles. I wonder if the British intelligence agents are responsible for the people who died suspiciously.¡±


    ¡°They must have taught our kids the art of assassination.¡±


    ¡°I saw the demonstration and I¡¯m sure they can kill even us in the blink of an eye.¡±


    ¡°Even us?¡±


    ¡°Yep, we are not made out of iron. What can we do if we suddenly get poisoned by a needle that was shot out of a lighter or a ballpoint pen? It¡¯s really nasty.¡±


    Jong-il must have been quite surprised to see such equipment.


    ¡°We probably won¡¯t order our agents to kill someone secretly, but it¡¯s creepy that weapons like that exist. I can¡¯t wrap my body with iron to protect myself.¡±


    ¡°Just imagine someone sneaking up behind you and putting a sting in your throat. The mere thought of it is terrible. I collected them all from the agents, but I wonder why the British intelligence service has given them to our agents.¡±


    ¡°I guess they just want our agents to be safe. Don¡¯t you think other nations would have thought about such weapons too?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve given the antidote for poisons too.¡±


    ¡°Wow. We should keep them too. Give me some. You don¡¯t know what will happen in the future.¡±


    ¡°You said you got the special power of the ring. Why do you need the antidote?¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, you do have a special power too. When toxicse into your body, the ring purifies it with its power.¡±


    ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯ve never had such a benefit.¡±


    ¡°You know you¡¯ve never caught a cold once here. That means you¡¯ve been benefited by it.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, Is that how it works?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the winter here is terrible, and there have been bad cases of flu too. But we never got sick for the past ten years.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s creepy for some reason. I feel like the spirits of the Serbian Kingdom will show up someday.¡±


    Youngho had never gotten sick ever since he attained the ring.


    That made him realize that the ring would somehow purify poison, even if it took a long time.


    ***


    Hong Sung-ki brought nine Russian aviation researchers and engineers. They were all single or divorced with no family.


    As they could not drink for the past two days when they just got to the state from Russia, they were showing signs of anxiety. They disyed a ssic form of alcoholism. Although people¡¯s reactions toward the Russian engineers were all negative, Hong Sung-ki did not budge.


    ¡°Can they even have a normal conversation?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just having a hard time because they couldn¡¯t drink. When they sip on alcohol, they talk so smoothly.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they can function as normal people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only brought people who were determined to get treated for their alcoholism.¡±


    ¡°What about the rest?¡±


    ¡°They haven¡¯t made up their mind yet.¡±


    ¡°Are they really great researchers and technicians?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve collected their profiles. They¡¯repetent aviation engineers.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they can be treated?¡±


    ¡°Since they¡¯re willing, we¡¯ll have to try. Even if only half of them seed, that¡¯ll be a great achievement.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you fifteen days¡¯ time, make an achievement.¡±


    It seemed that it would be unlikely for them to bepletely freed from alcoholism, but Youngho still epted them because the state had paid for bringing them from Russia.


    They would be hospitalized and separated from other patients to be treated with their alcoholism.


    ¡°He¡¯s either crazy or really sure.¡±


    ¡°Look at those faces. They¡¯re just lunatic. In less than a day, they¡¯ll escape the ward.¡±


    ¡°How can you make them sober in 15 days?¡±


    ¡°Make sure to put guards around the ward to keep them from escaping.¡±


    Even Hong Sung-ki was being treated like a madman


    It was not easy to change people who had been alcoholic for the past decade. Youngho still had doubts that he was wasting his time and money. It might have been better to just leave them in Russia. Still, Hong Sung-ki said that he would get medical attention for them, so Youngho did not want to discourage him.


    However, when Youngho first saw them to give a wee message, Youngho was speechless. They could not be considered normal at all. They were senseless.


    Two days had passed, but it seemed that there was no progress in the hospital room where the Russian engineers were staying.


    Suh Min-seok frequently went in and out of the hospital, checking the ward and reporting to Youngho. Meanwhile, Youngho checked all of the profiles of the engineers that Hong Sung-ki had collected.


    They were all very experienced engineers. They participated in the most prominent projects and the state would have never been able to recruit them if they did not have any problem. There were even people who participated in satellite projects. So, Youngho called Hong Sung-ki to listen to the details.


    ¡°Have you found out why they were addicted to alcohol?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve taken three of our agents and done a background check. Most of them had an unfortunate incident at home, so they turned to alcohol.¡±


    ¡°Like their wife has cheated on them or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes. As engineers and researchers, they often left their house for months for different projects, so some of their wives had run away because they couldn¡¯t stand it and other wives just cheated on them and divorced them.¡±


    ¡°I see. So, they were hurt by such unfortunate incidents.¡±


    ¡°I think so. And their heavy drinking culture did not help.¡±


    ¡°If they could turn normal, our state will gain great helpers. I was impressed to read their profiles.¡±


    ¡°The healing process may be a little long, but if they can recover from the wounds of their hearts, they will be the best gift for us.¡±


    ¡°If you have some progress with them, you could bring the rest after the New Year¡¯s holiday. I¡¯ll alsoe to help them.¡±


    ¡°How would you do that, Boss?¡±


    ¡°The only thing that beats alcohol is physical training. We should make them sober by rolling together. When I¡¯m leading the training, won¡¯t they follow me?¡±

 Chapter 421 - Helper (2)

    <h4>Chapter 421: Helper (2)</h4>


    ¡°How are you doing with them?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re much better. Three or four have a problem, but the rest is holding up well.¡±


    ¡°Let theme out and train their bodies a little. It¡¯s not going to help them if they just lie on their beds all day long.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll take them some time until they will be able to recover their physical fitness.¡±


    ¡°How many years have they been drenched in alcohol?¡±


    ¡°Mostly for five to ten years.¡±


    ¡°Can they live normally after the treatment is done?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. All I can tell you is that they¡¯re trying their best to change.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too hasty and keep an eye on time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that they will be like new people when they¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t pressure yourself too much. We¡¯ll find ways to start our aviation industry even if they fail. We¡¯ll receive help from Turkey and Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Boss. I should make this a sess.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki was trying to keep cool as he was in charge of treating the alcoholic aviation engineers from Russia, but he seemed to be stressed by the job.


    ¡°The alcohol treatment is not easy, but if we can have a sess with one or two people, that¡¯s enough for us.¡±


    ¡°Well, because of their strong will to be healed, the situation is quite hopeful. Many of them suffered from depression, but now some of them have been walking outside and greeting people passing by with a smile. That¡¯s a huge change.¡±


    ¡°If so, good for them!¡±


    Alcoholism was not easy to deal with since it could mentally devastate people. Also, three or four out of ten people often went back to the path of alcoholism even after they were over it momentarily.


    Since Hong Sung-ki had been trying hard, Youngho decided to support him fully. Besides, if this would be a sess, the autonomous state will take a great first step into the aviation industry.


    ***


    Kaya, the chairman of the Ko? Holding Group, contacted Youngho.


    He wanted Youngho to visit Istanbul to see a helicopter that he had prepared. Youngho was not sure if he was going to give the helicopter to Youngho or if he just wanted him to look at it, but he was able to make a rough guess about Kaya¡¯s action.


    He must have calcted that Youngho would tell President Nazarbayev about it. Showing a visible product to Youngho would appeal to the president that Kaya was a great business partner. Even though he had a verbal agreement with the president, it was not like they exchanged a contract yet. There were manypanies that made tactical armored vehicles other than the Turkishpany, so things could change until the contract was signed.


    Since Kaya was dying to secure uranium mining in Kazakhstan, he wanted to buy Youngho¡¯s heart because Youngho was close to the Kazakh president.


    Thinking that it was a great opportunity to secure a force that could cover the sky of the autonomous state, Youngho hurriedly flew to Istanbul. This time, Youngho took Suh Min-seok instead of Hong Sung-ki who was busy dealing with alcoholic engineers.


    ¡°Duke, I¡¯m sorry to bother a busy person like you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯lle here every day if you called me with this sort of news.¡±


    ¡°Great expectations can lead to great disappointments. I¡¯m a little nervous since you¡¯re so excited.¡±


    Kaya was acting modest but he looked confident.


    ¡°Did you have some progress with the Kazakh government?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been contacting the Kazakh officials, but still little progress has been made.¡±


    ¡°Are they not cooperating with you well?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not as enthusiastic as I am. I think they¡¯re rather annoyed.¡±


    One of the ills of socialism that was often frowned upon was the working style of government officials. If there was no bribe in the process, they were not willing to actively move to aplish their duties. Even though this was a project that the president was excited about, they were too slow to carry it forward.


    ¡°I must talk to the president about that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to get you involved in this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. The countries around the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea often have this kind of problem. It¡¯s a disease of old socialism.¡±


    ¡°I admire you for settling down in a ce like this.¡±


    ¡°It was only possible because this is such a ce with so many loopholes. I wouldn¡¯t have made this far if I started in an advanced country.¡±


    ¡°I heard that you attracted a lot of foreign investors to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did that for the well-being of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°President told me so many good things about you. I assume you¡¯d get involved in politics sooner orter?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m not interested in politics. I just wanted to live quietly.¡±


    ¡°The President seemed to have a different idea.¡±


    ¡°Well, he made me several proposals, but I declined.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll change your mind in the future.¡±


    There was a strange afterthought in Kaya¡¯s words. Youngho wondered exactly what he heard from President Nazarbayev. However, it did not matter since Youngho never wanted to be involved in politics since he did not want to be caught up in somethingplicated.


    ***


    A small attack helicopter developed by Agusta in Italy was floating in front of Youngho.


    After creating a strong wind and eating away his ears with the sound of its huge engine, itnded on the ground. Kaya just showed a helicopter demonstration of taking off andnding.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Mangusta helicopter developed by Agusta, and it¡¯s been modified by ourpany and was named T129. It is equipped with a tow missile and a machine gun and boasts a range of about 1,000 kilometers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing.¡±


    ¡°On the Great ins of Central Asia, it¡¯s a great anti-tank attack aircraft. And most of all, it¡¯s cheap.¡±


    ¡°How much is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s 30 million dors per unit.¡±


    The Apache helicopters usually cost 50 million dors per unit, so the helicopter that Kaya just showed Youngho was indeed cheap.


    The helicopter did not have the best performance for something that was developed in the ¡¯80s, but it was armed like a formidable weapon for such a small helicopter.


    It was able to mount eight tow anti-tank missiles, four Hellfire missiles, four Stinger air-to-air missiles, and a 20-millimeter machine gun.


    Youngho, who cared the most about firepower, could not close his mouth in utter admiration.


    ¡°Can I buy that helicopter?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to get many of them because we¡¯re going to supply them to the Turkish Army, but we can certainly sneak one or two of them out.¡±


    ¡°I hear you¡¯ve had a bad rtionship with the Turkish government these days, and you¡¯ve been excluded from the army¡¯s armored vehicle supply line.¡±


    ¡°The aircraft business is not under the name of the Ko? Holding Group, so it¡¯s fine because we`ve established a separate aviationpany called Asselsan.¡±


    ¡°Is it possible to take two or more units to the state, on a trial basis?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. And please show it to the President.¡±


    ¡°What? That helicopter?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the helicopter of which technology we¡¯re trying to transfer.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a separate license for T129. The only thing that¡¯s produced in Italy is the fusge. The engine is made by Rolls-Royce, and the navigation system and titanium gloves were developed by us. A number of other major devices were also made by foreignpanies. So, now you can¡¯t im who has developed it. That¡¯s why it¡¯s much cheaper than a helicopter made in Italy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really impressed to hear that. I¡¯d like to show it to the President right away, but that¡¯s a little difficult, right?¡±


    ¡°The reason I asked you toe was to give this to you. The other one will need some time.¡±


    ¡°The President will be so pleased to hear that.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s my pleasure.¡±


    On the way back to the autonomous state, Youngho asked Suh Min-seok the same question several times in excitement.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, did you get good pictures of it?¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, this is the third time you¡¯re asking that question.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking if you got a good look inside as well.¡±


    ¡°I just took a quick look at it. I couldn¡¯t be so obvious.¡±


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you? It¡¯s our helicopter anyway.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t paid him yet, have you?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear him? He nagged that the uranium mine development project is slow. He asked me to report this to the President so that he will scold the officials.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with the helicopter?¡±


    ¡°You still don¡¯t know what this means? He wanted my help. Showing off a helicopter is a sign of his own sincerity.¡±


    ¡°A kind of bribe?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bribe if I pay.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t look like he was going to make you pay for it.¡±


    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s important that he impressed me.¡±


    With a helicopter with great firepower, Kaya sessfully impressed Youngho and bought his heart.


    Based on the photos taken by Suh Min-seok, Youngho and his friends were making a fuss in Youngho¡¯s office. Since they were all obsessed with weapons even though they were now getting old, they could not help but be excited.


    ¡°The performance really doesn¡¯t matter when it¡¯s equipped with all kinds of weapons.¡±


    ¡°But you still should have checked its average speed. You¡¯re making us more curious with these pictures only.¡±


    ¡°Look it up on the Inte. It¡¯s a helicopter that the whole world knows about.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, only if I was with you on the trip, I would¡¯ve figured out every detail about it.¡±


    ¡°Even if you were there, you wouldn¡¯t have thought of anything the moment you looked at the chopper. It was stunning.¡±


    ¡°I heard you asked to send some people to learn helicopter control and maintenance skills?¡±


    ¡°Find a few good guys for the job. The chopper will arrive soon.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the Ko? Holding Group postpone technology transfer after handing over the helicopter?¡±


    ¡°Thepany¡¯s in a position where it has set up overseas nts because of the discord with the Turkish government. He¡¯s immensely thankful that I showed up and connected him to the Kazakh president. Trust me, he¡¯ll be the one eager to transfer the technology. Thepany has no choice but to be our helper for the next few years. We need to increase the production capacity of helicopters by any means now.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with a bunch of alcoholics?¡±


    ¡°If necessary, I¡¯m going to kidnap a good engineer from somewhere. Or I will make the engineers dispatched in our state settle down here.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to bring up another ridiculous marriage tradition likest time?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s urgent, I¡¯ll have to use a method like that.¡±

 Chapter 422 - Helper (3)

    <h4>Chapter 422: Helper (3)</h4>


    Youngho, who had arrived in Stockholm yesterday, was waiting for Eriksson at the cafe they promised to meet.


    The streets that they could see throughrge ss windows was gloomy due to the terrorism with the seasonal factors of winterbined. There were not many people on the streets. Although it was partly because of the cold, Youngho could not believe that it was just a week before Christmas.


    As he was looking outside emptily, he spotted Eriksson walking toward the building in a hurry.


    ¡°You¡¯re always first toe and make me look like azy person.¡±


    ¡°I used to be in the Navy, so I have an obsession to be at the destination 15 minutes in advance whenever I have an appointment. Whether it¡¯s a warship or a merchant ship, everything has to be ready to go 15 minutes before departure.¡±


    ¡°It must have been a short military life, but it¡¯s interesting that the habit you picked up in the Navysts pretty long.¡±


    ¡°I only remember that the military life was very strict, but I guess it¡¯s still embedded in me. Korea is still in a truce, so we don¡¯t know when the war will break out. Many people didn¡¯t want to go to serve in the military back then, but nowadays young people tend to volunteer to serve.¡±


    ¡°Then, the patriotism of young Korean people is great.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. You know joining the military is a way to run away from the harsh reality for some people. When they can¡¯t find a job after graduating from college, the military is right there for you. My heart is always heavy when I hear the grim news of my home country.¡±


    ¡°The same goes for young people in Europe. There¡¯s no ce to lean on, many are snooping around the world under the pretext of going on backpacking. But, they can¡¯t even do that freely nowadays. It¡¯s a hard situation that we live in now.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Sweden?¡±


    ¡°People here are living as if they have nothing to do with the chaos of the world. People areining that they can¡¯t even shop at ease during the Christmas season. Maybe they¡¯re extremely selfish.¡±


    ¡°It may be because they¡¯re not afraid of karma.¡±


    ¡°What? Karma?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s thanks to their ancestors who rejected to make colonies that even Belgium had. The current terrorist attacks maybe because of the seed that was sown by the European powers in the past.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about cause and effect.¡±


    ¡°The Europeans shook the world throughout history.¡±


    ¡°Then I can¡¯t be free since I have Europeans as my ancestors.¡±


    ¡°So give a warm hand for the survival of the powerless Arirang Autonomous State, then you can be excused.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho¡¯s visit to Sweden was at the request of Eriksson.


    Once the selling of the factories of Niky in the southern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk waspleted, Youngho refused to receive brokeragemission. He was only trying to help Niky, and he did not want to be greedy anymore because he already received two tons of gold bars from Niky.


    Another reason was that now Youngho¡¯s status had changed from a mere businessman to the Duke of Arirang, and he wanted something more than a mere broker to the Information Agency. Eriksson asked me to meet because he knew exactly what might Youngho was nning when he boldly gave up themission.


    ¡°Why are you refusing themission that you deserve?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t doing it to make money. I only wanted to help my friend. I also have to think about my position. I¡¯m not a mere individual businessman anymore, so I decided not to ept it.¡±


    ¡°Then we should treat you differently from now on, Mr. Lee. You want a full-fledged business with us.¡±


    ¡°I like how it¡¯s so easy to talk to a smart person like you.¡±


    ¡°Our main business is to buy and sell information, but sometimes we invest in someone we can trust.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get an investment and buy your information too.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lee, as far as information goes, you might be much faster than we are.¡±


    ¡°That can be true, but I find it hard to predict the future of Kazakhstan and the Arirang state.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to predict the future with tarot cards for you? I think that¡¯s the only way to know the future of an individual or the fate of a country.¡±


    ¡°I have a hunch that yourpany¡¯s intelligence and power could tell me the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to cost a lot between the two sides.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to pay for it at any rate.¡±


    ***


    Youngho wondered if he had ever been searched so carefully in his whole life.


    Although he had assumed that the Information Agency¡¯s headquarters would be in Stockholm, Sweden, he had no idea it would be in the middle of a huge coniferous forest. The building simply looked like a picturesque castle which seemed like a castle from fairy tales came alive.


    It was quite unexpected for the headquarters of the intelligencemunity that handled the information of the world.


    Eriksson kept Youngho waiting for a full day and then came to the hotel where Youngho stayed. He told him toe and meet Basten at the headquarters and asked to excuse him for covering his eyes for security as they were about to leave.


    At the entrance of the old castle in the woods, Youngho was thoroughly examined for about 20 minutes by the guards. They even checked Youngho¡¯s eyes. Youngho joked that he would take off all of his clothes. Then, they said that Youngho was the first foreigner to visit this ce, so they were being cautious.


    Youngho thought that he would be meeting Basten at a public caf¨¦ or in a hotel bar, but he received an unexpected invitation from the agency.


    ¡°Duke, we¡¯ve made you go through too much of a hassle.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be this difficult to meet you, Mr. Basten. It must have been a big honor to have met you in Denmark previously.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess today¡¯s big security show worked since you are seeing me that way.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m kidding. You¡¯re the first person to visit ourpany, so the staff must have been a little flustered.¡±


    He was saying that, but the staff¡¯s search did not make a single error. It seemed that they had done a lot of searches like this.


    Maybe it was all a lie that Youngho was the first outsider to visit the ce.


    ¡°This is a great honor for me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been watching the search process, and you didn¡¯t seem to be agitated at all.¡±


    ¡°Why should I be agitated when visiting my friend¡¯s house?¡±


    ¡°Certainly! I envy your boldness. I think it was a good idea to invite you here today after all.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take it as a sign that I passed the test.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed a man with a strong heart.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just bluffing.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you for inviting me here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a great honor for me to have you. Thank you for traveling far in this cold weather.¡±


    The conversation itself felt like the Morse code. Youngho was extra nervous as to think through every word that was spoken out of Basten¡¯s mouth. As such, today¡¯s meeting was important. His visit to the secret headquarters was a significant step forward.


    ¡°What did Eriksson say that you¡¯re revealing your secret headquarters to me?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t youe knowing it already?¡±


    ¡°I had a mere guess.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure you have a solid idea.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess I have an animal-like sense.¡±


    ¡°How do you see us with your animal-like sense?¡±


    ¡°I even thought your organization could eat away my power and group if I didn¡¯t grow enough strength.¡±


    ¡°Well, you obviously have power that we don¡¯t know about. That¡¯s why I brought you here.¡±


    ¡°I only have a little better stamina than others.¡±


    ¡°Why do I feel like you have hidden power somewhere. I just can¡¯t put my finger on it though. I was curious about that. I think it¡¯s appropriate to describe it that you¡¯re full of energy.¡±


    Basten¡¯s words surprised Youngho because the power of the ring could not be revealed to the outside world. Although Basten could not tell what it was, he was the only one who sensed it.


    ¡°It¡¯s great to have power, either as an individual or as a country. In our world, power has been justice since the beginning.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯vee to ask if you could share some of that power with me.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still building it. There are some helpers, but they¡¯re not enough. It would be an honor if the Duke of the Arirang state joined us, too.¡±


    ¡°Now that I¡¯m here, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll have to get my feet wet. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to go home if I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°No, if you don¡¯t like this ce, feel free to leave. We trust you more than anyone else. Even if you do, our partnership will remain the same.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Are you satisfied with your state, Duke?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have no answer to that yet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dream of something bigger?¡±


    ¡°I have a desire to have and that¡¯s about a few times as big as what I have now. My ambition made me turn to Siberia.¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯re worried about the future of Kazakhstan and the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. The world is soplicated now.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you run Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I understand that President Nazarbayev is leaning heavily on you. I¡¯m sure he thinks you¡¯re his sessor. I bet you also have this in mind.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s nonsense. He just thinks of me as his grandchild.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think will take his spot when he left? Do you think the future of the state will be guaranteed if someone else takes his position?¡±


    Youngho had nothing to say back to Basten because it was also Youngho¡¯s concern.


    This was why Youngho built a medical school, a general hospital and attracted foreign investors. He wanted to nt a good image of the autonomous state to the public of Kazakhstan. That was not enough, so he was struggling to take Kazakhstan¡¯s military to the next level. However, if this series of efforts were denied by someone, then Kazakhstan would be split because Youngho would not just sit back and watch it happen.


    ¡°If a man like you will run Kazakhstan, we will be your ally. No, I¡¯ll take the lead to make that happen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never thought of that before.¡±


    ¡°This is just around the corner. If you don¡¯t prepare now, you¡¯ll regret it soon. Will you let Kazakhstan get sabotaged by Russia and China? If the dayes, you have no choice but to give up the state and leave. Is that really okay?¡±


    ¡°If anyone touches Kazakhstan, the leaders of Russia and China won¡¯t be able to sleep peacefully since I¡¯ll avenge Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Indeed! I can tell that you have an invisible power, seeing how confident you are.¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t just give it all up, would you?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to prevent that kind of thing from happening. It¡¯s going to be a win-win.¡±


    ¡°So, what are you getting out of this?¡±


    ¡°As much as I helped, you¡¯d be helping me, too.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to share Kazakhstan. What do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°I have no desire to run a country. I¡¯m just going to remain a merchant.¡±


    ¡°Are you interested in the underground resources of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you don¡¯t have to be burdened. We¡¯ll pay the right price for the trade.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can help you with if you asked me.¡±


    ¡°If we start now, our trade will expire in a few years, but if you run the country, it will be valid for decades.¡±


    This meant that Basten would dig up every nook and cranny of Kazakhstan¡¯s resources. However, it would not be wise for Kazakhstan to distribute all of its resources to a foreignpany.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about running Kazakhstan, but the country will have to leave something for the future generations to use.¡±


    ¡°You speak like you¡¯re already running Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the exclusive position of developing underground resources will be maintained for a long time? What if I change my mind when I¡¯m in the position of power?¡±


    ¡°I only believe in your promises, but I¡¯m not worried about the future. At that time, you may be an empire that you dare not imagine. We might be hoping to just earn your favor to survive.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is ttering to hear.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the sweetness of power. A lot of people jump in like a fire moth towards the top, but very few are sessful. The difference between someone who¡¯s been preparing for a long time and someone who¡¯s jumped out of the blue is huge.¡±


    ¡°If I make up my mind, would you be my helper?¡±

 Chapter 423 - Helper (4)

    <h4>Chapter 423: Helper (4)</h4>


    ¡°If we don¡¯t go after Kazakhstan, it could disappear from the face of the earth. There is no one else to lead Kazakhstan. Do you want a lot of people to live in oppression?¡±


    ¡°Do you think Kazakhstan will bow to the pressure from other countries? Aren¡¯t you underestimating the country a little?¡±


    ¡°It could be bad judgment. But an unprepared, clumsy nationalist will lead to the copse of Kazakhstan. If more than 120 ethnic groups have their own opinion, how will you afford to maintain your power? The sessor of the power will try to suppress it unconditionally with his power. Besides the internal political issue, Russia and China¡¯s influence will shake the whole country. This is what we reasonably believe.¡±


    Eriksson once said that the Information Agency would have better informationwork than McKinsey, a world-renowned consulting firm. Youngho had been doing business with thepany for many years, and there was never a problem. It was apany that was as capable as the U.S. CIA as well. If so, Basten¡¯s prediction was probably right. Because Youngho knew that fact so well, his agony was bound to deepen. Since he could not answer right away, he said that he would give him an answer after New Year¡¯s Day.


    ¡°Thank you for your advice, but this can¡¯t be an overnight decision. I need some time to think.¡±


    ¡°So far, history has told us and various statistics are proving it. The answer is already there as well. Even if you start preparing now, I can¡¯t say that you¡¯ll be fully ready. I¡¯m telling you as a friend, regardless of my personal greed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am capable of this. I run a small autonomous state, but Kazakhstan is a big country.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be morepetent as you get yourself into it. Just think that your state has gotten a little bit bigger.¡±


    ¡°That still is a burden, though. But I¡¯ll take the stability of the state and the future of Kazakhstan into consideration as I think about your suggestion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you with it. We¡¯re partners after all, and that way, my portion will be bigger in the future.¡±


    Basten was strictly calctive, but Youngho rather liked this frank attitude.


    Basten made a bold move when he suggested to Youngho that Youngho should run Kazakhstan. It did not seem to be much of a deal for him to take underground resources in exchange for helping Youngho, but it may be a more substantial business since he and Youngho will be a strong allied force from now on.


    Youngho was surprised by such a bold suggestion, but there was nothing that he could not do for the well-being of the autonomous state. It was better for him to run Kazakhstan than letting some moron take over and wreck the country.


    ***


    Youngho did not wear a blindfold when he left the castle in the woods


    This meant that the Information Agency had epted Youngho as its own ally.


    Likewise, Eriksson¡¯s attitude toward Youngho had changed. He did not keep his business smile or try to have a small talk. He was now treating Youngho as one of his colleague, not a client now that they shared a big secret together.


    Youngho spoke first because he did not ask anything about Youngho¡¯s private conversation with Basten.


    ¡°Eriksson, is the future of Kazakhstan so uncertain?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little hopeful now, but there will be a big problem in the near future. We¡¯ve received a lot of spection about the president¡¯s deteriorating health.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then you shouldn¡¯t worry too much. You must not know that the medical team of the autonomous state is making regr trips to the pce to extend his life.¡±


    ¡°The modern medicine will keep him healthy maybe until he¡¯s 100 years old.¡±


    Youngho was the one who cared for the president¡¯s health more than anyone else. It was because the president¡¯s power was directly rted to the existence of the autonomous state. The president was also willing to undergo various tests and take nutritional supplements when doctors from the state visited him. He was well aware of what Youngho¡¯s sincerity meant, and even furthermore, he had no intention of stepping down from power.


    ¡°Just because you¡¯re breathing, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re alive. He can¡¯t run the state affairs until he dies. That¡¯s why we need to be ready. You need to bring the various technology partnership projects into your state. Also, most importantly, you need to have a base for weapons production to build a future.¡±


    ¡°I guess I should increase the size of the state.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you should secure an area that¡¯s a few times bigger than it is now and increase the state¡¯s poption too. Ask the President to ept if you can receive Kazakh people as residents too. You must be a multi-ethnic state in order to win Kazakh people¡¯s support in the future.¡±


    It urred to Youngho that the Information Agency had been closely watching the Arirang state and Kazakhstan for a while. Otherwise, there was no way that Eriksson was suggesting well-analyzed ideas for the state¡¯s future.


    ¡°How long did you keep an eye on me?¡±


    ¡°Ever since the Arirang Farm was turned into an autonomous state. My supervisors all predicted that you won¡¯t be satisfied with having the autonomous state only.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure all of them are fortellers.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Well, you could say that. By the time when the coronation took ce, they sorted the autonomous state as an individual country.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great honor. What¡¯s your personal opinion on our state, Eriksson?¡±


    ¡°Do you need my opinion?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°What my bosses think is what I think. I have a slightly different view, but it¡¯s a peripheral issue, and I don¡¯t know if it will help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll listen.¡±


    The peripheral problem that Eriksson mentioned was to maintain a usible rtionship with Russia as much as possible.


    ¡°The problem is that the Russians see Kazakhstan as another Russia with a different name. Nearly 30 percent of Kazakhstan¡¯s poption is Russian, and the country is economically subjugated to Russia. I¡¯m sure the Russians in Kazakhstan feel the same way, and this is why they don¡¯t demand separation and independence right now even though they can.¡±


    ¡°After Kazakhstan¡¯s independence, most Russians went back to the maind, and the rest are those who refused to return to the maind. They¡¯re sick of socialism.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but even though they¡¯re critical and cynical of the Russian political system, their self-esteem of being a vic is great. They¡¯re going to turn their backs on you if you try to confront Russia with a gun.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be on bad terms with Russia, but I won¡¯t stand to be treated unfairly.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes you have to take a step back. If Russia demands you to tear a piece of thend for them, be prepared to give it away. You have to think about the future. If you were to be a normal country, it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult to get thend back, which happened due to the fault of the previous government.¡±


    ¡°Would it be so easy to get back to thend that was taken away once?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want you to build overwhelming power. When you¡¯re on an equal footing, you don¡¯t dare make unreasonable demands.¡±


    Eriksson emphasized not to ignore Russia.


    It was not a peripheral issue, but one that should be handled with the most caution. It was unfair to kneel before power, but Eriksson had a point. Sometimes, a country with a lesser power should make apromise to prepare for the future.


    However, Youngho did not want to make apromise since once he became submissive to a higher power, there was no guarantee that it would not happen again.


    ***


    Youngho left Sweden and arrived at London Heathrow Airport.


    Suh Min-seok, who had to stay at the hotel in Stockholm,ined. He followed Youngho as a personal secretary, but he had nothing to do in a foreignnd, which made him feel a little fidgety.


    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s a lot of fun things to do here. Why don¡¯t you go sightseeing around the hotel and eat exotic food?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll be terrorized any minute once I step out of the hotel. Where can I go?¡±


    ¡°So I told you to learn special martial arts when the Countryside Force received their training. You need to be able to take care of yourself at least. Everyone in the state should receive basic training.¡±


    ¡°I hated serving in the military back in Korea. You want me to get trained again?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be a chicken and get a military drill. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have to carry a gun in the future.¡±


    ¡°So, do I get to do the same mission as the intelligence agents?¡±


    ¡°Why? Do they look cool in your eyes?¡±


    ¡°To be a spy is a man¡¯s dream.¡±


    ¡°You sound like a boy. You don¡¯t know how hard the agents¡¯ train.¡±


    ¡°But if I be an agent, I can quit my job as a secretary.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to give back the title of a knight.¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s eyes widened when he heared that he had to give up his title as a knight.


    The knighthood was an honor to his family, and he did not want to give it up just because he wanted to be an agent. Of course, Youngho was only teasing him, but Suh Min-seok was serious. He suddenly changed his attitude.


    ¡°Oh, I was only kidding. I¡¯ll take the job of a secretary as my upation forever and do my best.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho¡¯s head was cooled in a moment because of Suh Min-seok¡¯s sudden change of attitude. Business trips were not like going to parties, and he was always stressed having to make difficult decisions, but having someone like Suh Min-seok was quite refreshing.


    Hong Sung-ki and Suh Min-seok were great people who could not hide their emotions easily since they showed up on their faces right away. So, apanying them was much more relieving to Youngho than apanying Kim Il-kwon, who was boring as a stick. Moreover, the two helped refresh Youngho¡¯s mind with their brilliant ideas when Youngho¡¯s thoughts were blocked. The fun of making fun of them was an extra.


    The reason Youngho came to London today was because he had an appointment with the Chief of the UK Intelligence Service. Although the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service was the Foreign Secretary, most of the intelligence service¡¯s work was delegated to the Chief. Thus, Youngho had to deal with the Chief to handle such practical matters as training of intelligence agents.


    ¡°Wee, Duke of the Arirang state. I hope you had a safe trip.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t too much trouble since I had a business in Stockholm yesterday.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. The secretary sent his regards.¡±


    ¡°Please tell him, thank you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re having many overseas trips these days.¡±


    ¡°It looks like the news travels fast here. Well, I¡¯m busily working towards making a toy airne.¡±


    ¡°We have a great aero industry in the UK, so if you need anything from us, just let me know. I¡¯m willing to cooperate as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°I am well aware of thetest Typhoon fighter that has been co-produced by four European countries.¡±


    ¡°Well, since the ne is not for today¡¯s purpose, I¡¯ll bring you more information the next time I visit the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it. I know you¡¯re a busy person as well. So, let me cut to the chase. Could you tell me the purpose of our meeting today?¡±


    ¡°Sure. First of all, I¡¯d like to share with you the recent decisions of our government.¡±

 Chapter 424 - Helper (5)

    <h4>Chapter 424: Helper (5)</h4>


    ¡°What? They told you to run Kazakhstan? Aren¡¯t they crazy? Tell me the details!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to prevent Kazakhstan from being trampled on by the great powers. He said he will help us in exchange for underground resources.¡±


    ¡°How can you possibly run Kazakhstan?¡±


    Youngho¡¯s friends were all dumbfounded to hear such a huge story. Knowing that they would react like this, Youngho summoned Park Young-sun and Old Kim Sung-chan to the Grand Pce since they were likely to calmlye up with constructive opinions on the current situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like the President is going to die right now. And who knows? The next president could be in favor of our state.¡±


    ¡°Now listen to what I¡¯m going to say carefully and judge for yourself.¡±


    As Youngho was exining the whole story, Kim Sung-chan and Park Young-sun entered the office.


    ¡°Did prince consort seek this old man?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even been able to say hello because I¡¯ve been away from the statetely. I called you two to have a cup of tea.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about us if you¡¯re busy. I¡¯m not so bored these days because I¡¯m so into the fun of taking the train.¡±


    Youngho had heard that old, retired people in the state were spending their free time traveling on the train during the day. It seemed that old Kim Sung-chan was also involved in it. For the elderly, who were unable to get anywhere in the cold weather, traveling to and from the train station was also the only exercise time. It was only a short trip, but they liked it since being on the train refreshed their minds.


    ¡°Dr. Park, you always seem so busy. Why don¡¯t you take a break? It¡¯s winter.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s a lot of work for me to do. There are soft grounds where the train track will be on. So, I¡¯ve been busy doing a geological survey on it.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a lot of problems?¡±


    ¡°For some sections, we¡¯re thinking about whether to build a ground-reinforcement construction or to change the course. We also found underground water in some sections.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it good news for us if we found water? Money doesn¡¯t matter. If you can, please find a way to bypass the water reserves even if the railroad is extended.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look for the best way. By the way, why did you call us?¡±


    With the advent of the two men, the story began all over again. The two men who listened to Youngho looked in contrast to Youngho¡¯s peers. Old Kim Sung-chan was excited to hear the story, saying that it was not impossible if Koryoins all over Central Asia joined forces. What strength would the state have in its bid to take over Kazakhstan, but political moves could lead to public support. He was hopeful that the new dynasty established by the multiethnic people was not a dream. He was fully supportive of Youngho¡¯s political involvement.


    ¡°People who visit our state are envious of our dynamic movements. Many are sorry that they can¡¯t migrate to our state. Advise the President to get rid of such restrictions first. Now, Kazakhstan¡¯s system is like a socialist system, and it¡¯s not giving people hope. It¡¯ll be a way to earn public support if we could make our state widely known as a good ce to live in.¡±


    This was Park Young-sun¡¯s opinion, followed by Kim Sung-chan¡¯sment.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have too much political ground. The only power is the president, and you don¡¯t know exactly what he¡¯s thinking.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t told you in detail what I¡¯ve talked to President Nazarbayev many times, but he sees the future of Kazakhstan negatively and considers the state the only alternative.¡±


    Until now, private conversations with the President had not been opened as much as possible. However, Youngho thought that it was time to share it with the core members of the state.


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Then, you need to be aggressive. Shouldn¡¯t the president seek another option if you dawdle?¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯d like to meet the President. He may have said that to test me, but the only way I¡¯ll find out the truth is to confront him.¡±


    ¡°If he even said that he only wants the state to survive, it¡¯s proof that he¡¯s had a lot of anxiety about the future of the country. If so, don¡¯t hesitate to respond to the president. Ask him to add more surrounding territory to the state.¡±


    When the two people actively agreed, others began supporting it. It was because their words were convincing enough.


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, what¡¯s the matter with you?¡±


    ¡°Do I look like I¡¯m troubled? ¡±


    ¡°You look like you have a lot in your mind.¡±


    Youngho, who was unconsciously moving his fork, quickly came to his senses.


    Fatima was busy preparing for Leon¡¯s meal, and it was only now visible that Rena and Jelyan were eating with their noses stuck in their te.


    Youngho was thinking about meeting the president to discuss Kazakhstan¡¯s future, so he was not focusing on eating. More than half of the food on the te was remaining.


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡±


    ¡°You have a face full of concerns...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s something. You have been like this ever since you were back from the business trip.¡±


    ¡°Do you also read my mind or something?¡±


    ¡°You mean there¡¯s someone else who can also read your mind. Who is this person?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s this smart man, and he says I look greedy.¡±


    ¡°Who says you¡¯re greedy? You spend your own money to help people in need.¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of greed fornd.¡±


    Youngho wanted to see Zeynep¡¯s reaction. She often had great ideas and new insights that were helpful for Youngho.


    ¡°Everyone in the world knows that you have extreme greed fornd. Our farm and ranch are incrediblyrge.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s smallpared to the autonomous state. But I heard that I have too much greed for thend because I¡¯m trying to increase its size by a few times.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state is like a country, so the wider it is the better. It¡¯s too small for a country. I think expanding the territory is the right decision.¡±


    ¡°We are just a member of Kazakhstan, and if we put it that way, others will misunderstand us.¡±


    ¡°Oh! What¡¯s the misunderstanding? Isn¡¯t our state going to be a kingdomter? What about Leon if you don¡¯t have a kingdom to pass down?¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with Leon?¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s not getting his own kingdom, why do you work so hard to please Kazakhstan? Just give it up already and focus on business so that you can pass it down to him.¡±


    It seemed that young Zeynep also believed that the state would be independent one day. If that happened and the future Kazakh government would take away the independence of the state, the residents would not allow it. Then, it would be a battleground between the government that wanted to have the state and the residents who did not want to lose it.


    The economic level of the autonomous state now was at the same level as Western European countries. The gap between Kazakhstan and the autonomous state would grow wider and wider over time. The residents of the state would not want to be stripped of the privilege to live in the advanced state.


    ***


    ¡°You¡¯re going to increase the size of the autonomous state? And even receive Kazakhs as residents?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to selectively ept only the nomadic people who live in difficulty. There are a lot ofints about epting only Serbians and Koryoins.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Some of Kazakh sailors are also living in it.¡±


    ¡°The Navy was not registered as residents. They¡¯re just temporarily living here for their convenience.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they just want to move to the Arirang state because of the privileges. You can ignore such public opinion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to follow your advice to make the state the final bastion of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°You told me to be the secret weapon of Kazakhstan, but I can¡¯t do anything because of a shortage of people.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I have a rough idea of what you¡¯re going to say next.¡±


    As people said that the old ginger was spicy, and the president was indeed quick-witted to read Youngho¡¯s mind. There was no point in hiding his mind now.


    ¡°Mr. President, if you¡¯d live forever, I won¡¯t have to be interested in increasing the autonomous state¡¯s poption.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re worried about who my recement will be?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have a friend whom I¡¯ve been watching. He has a very useful talent.¡±


    ¡°If you say so, he must be a great person.¡±


    ¡°Of course, he is. It¡¯s safe to say he¡¯s an unprecedented figure. If he¡¯d be my sessor, the future of Kazakhstan would be solid.¡±


    ¡°Then I would like to help him actively.¡±


    ¡°He has a good reputation in the Western world, too. Don¡¯t be too concerned because he¡¯s a reasonable friend.¡±


    ¡°He must be already involved in politics.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t entered the political world yet, but I think he¡¯ll be on the scene soon. Look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, can you introduce me to him, too?¡±


    ¡°Sure. In fact, it¡¯s possible right now.¡±


    ¡°Is he at the Presidential Pce?¡±


    ¡°Here he is. He¡¯s the one sitting right in front of me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡±


    ¡°Hahahahaha... ¡±


    After a longugh, President Nazarbayev tapped Youngho on the back and continued talking.


    ¡°Please take care of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, your jokes are going too far.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I know what made youe to see me at the Presidential Pce? I¡¯ve been through all sorts of things before. I see your eyes full of greed. I like those greedy eyes. Not just for your own sake, but for the future of the autonomous state and Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Very well, now tell me your ns. I have a lot of time tonight.¡±


    There was nothing to hide from the person who looked through Youngho¡¯s heart.


    Youngho started by talking about the story of meeting a broker of the Information Agency. As Youngho¡¯s talk continued, Nazarbayev even pped his hands in excitement as he listened carefully.

 Chapter 425 - Soar (1)

    <h4>Chapter 425: Soar (1)</h4>


    ¡°So what?¡±


    ¡°Even though Switzend is where many ethnical groups live together, they always manage to live in unison. It¡¯s because homogeneity is based on their thought. But, Kazakhstan is not like that. If you step down from power, minority opinions that had been suppressed will burst out.¡±


    ¡°They predicted right. Now, do you see why I maintain excessive police force?¡±


    ¡°That excessive police force does not help Kazakhstan¡¯s development, and the representative of the Information Agency said that it will rather be another power in a confused stage.¡±


    ¡°I agree with him. The police have gotten so big now but without them, Kazakhstan would have been in disorder.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that the police force is not focusing on keeping public peace but interrupting citizens¡¯ daily life. If you neglect this any longer, it will be an obstacle for your governing.¡±


    Kazakh police were notorious for taking backpackers¡¯ money. It was such a shame that many bloggers would warn travelers to watch out for police officers.


    ¡°Apart from the police force, I know that the whole of officialdom has a lot of problems. I think it¡¯ll be fixed if the government normalizes their payment.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also needed but getting rid of the vestiges of socialism shoulde as a priority.¡±


    ¡°Remember that these groups are needed to maintain your political power even though they¡¯re corrupted and disorderly. The police force can take the role of the military in an emergency too.¡±


    President Nazarbayev had been in power for more than two decades, but it was not because he suppressed the Kazakh people with force. He was still the most-loved president who had an approval rating of 90 percent. However, any country in Central Asia had an excessive number of police forces. It was problematic, as many even said that there were more police officers than the number of leaves in the country.


    After listening to Youngho¡¯s long story, the President agreed to grant Youngho¡¯s request.


    ¡°I will increase the size of the autonomous state by three times. Then, your territory will be adjacent to the Ural River.¡±


    ¡°The riverside of the Ural River?¡±


    ¡°The Arirang River is slowly drying. So, maybe within ten years, your wharf might be useless. Without a river, the autonomous state will lose its power.¡±


    It was also Youngho¡¯s concern that the volume of the Arirang River was slowly decreasing. He needed to find a measure since the river would turn into an ugly smallke in the near future, but the President had considered that in his decision.


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡±


    ¡°This is for the future of Kazakhstan. I¡¯ll also allow you to ept selective Kazakh people, so you can make a harmoniousmunity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pick Kazakh people who are living a difficult life. Could you please grant us to ept Koryoins scattered throughout Kazakhstan? Their education standard is quite high, so I think it will be beneficial for the state if they¡¯re around.¡±


    ¡°There are only about 100,000 Koryoins in Kazakhstan. Most of them are middle ss. How many among them do you think will move to the state?¡±


    ¡°I want to attract the young generation. I feel sorry for the young people who are having a hard time finding a job.¡±


    ¡°Well, do as you wish. Also, I¡¯m letting the autonomous state take the responsibility of aircraft production and light-armored vehicle production nt. We don¡¯t have an infrastructure in such industries in Kazakhstan either, so it¡¯ll be our first step.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m only worried that the Russian government won¡¯t like the fact that we¡¯re taking in weapons from Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let Russia feel bad about it. The Russian government recently expressed difort when we requested to sell their newly developed weapon.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, but we still have to be mindful of Russia for now. I think we should ask for their understanding.¡±


    ¡°I was going to challenge Russia because I hate their interference in domestic affairs.¡±


    ¡°The broker of the Information Agency emphasized that we should maintain a good rtionship with Russia for now because we have a high Russian poption in our country.¡±


    ¡°Can you really trust the prediction of the Information Agency?¡±


    ¡°Thepany¡¯s informationwork is known to be faster than the CIA. All sorts of geniuses are gathered in it. Whether or not we trust information from thepany, we should always be mindful of its existence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep your words in mind. Oh, by the way, I¡¯ll send you my slush fund. You can use it to start the aviation industry.¡±


    ¡°Sir, this is the money that your family should use.¡±


    There had been many rumors about the President¡¯s enormous property, which seemed to be true since he was insisting to fund the autonomous state¡¯s aviation industry.


    ¡°My rtives or close friends have been living a wealthy life. They must¡¯ve received so many bribes from businessmen, politicians, and officials behind my back. The reason that the opposition party is criticizing me hard is that I ignored such fact.¡±


    ¡°Well, you became the president when Kazakhstan was still in disorder. The politicians of the opposition party are criticizing you but they are also receiving money from differentpanies.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°I have eyes and ears.¡±


    ¡°I see, you have your own intelligencework.¡±


    ¡°I have a few people working for me, but we¡¯re only taking baby steps now.¡±


    ¡°I see. They must be inside Kazakhstan, but what about foreign countries?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re in Russia, China, and other countries of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Even in China?¡±


    ¡°The British Intelligence Service is sending me information about China. Since I¡¯m a family-inw of the Danish royal family, they treat me special.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re better than the intelligence department of Kazakhstan. I should listen to the international situations from you from now on. It¡¯s great that you¡¯re being acknowledged internationally! This is why I like you so much. I don¡¯t see any future from my rtives or even children. They¡¯re only satisfied with receiving bribes. How can I trust them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just collecting information in hope to secure the peace of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°If I said I¡¯ll retrieve the autonomous state, you would¡¯ve started a war against me.¡±


    ¡°Since I can¡¯t leave empty-handed, I would¡¯ve ng to your trouser leg and made you a deal.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    The next day, the President summoned the Minister of Territorial Division and assigned him to increase the area of the autonomous state.


    The total area that was confirmed to the state this time was 3,600 km2, which was six times bigger than the size of Seoul and two times bigger than the size of Jeju Ind.


    The riverside of the Ural River stretched about 40 kilometers long, and it would be a great stepping stone for the state¡¯s development.


    Among the area that was newly assigned was a ce where 5,000 Kazakhs who farmed or ranched near the Ural River. They would love to hear that their home was being transferred to the autonomous state because the surroundingmunities of the autonomous state had been receiving supplies and medical service from the state anyway. Youngho had been trying to earn their favor since he thought the nearbynd would be merged into the autonomous state one day.


    Not long after Youngho returned to the state, a Koryoin asset manager, who was in charge of the properties of the Presidential residence in Almaty, visited him.


    The Presidential residence was known to have luxurious facilities, and it was where the President stored his wealth. It was surprising that the President trusted a Koryoin the most with his savings.


    The asset manager brought ten tons of gold bars and a bank ount that had 500 million dors in its savings. Ten tons of gold bars were equivalent to 500 million dors, so he brought a billion dors in total.


    Youngho was stunned to see the amount that the President spared for the development of the aviation industry. He must have even more than this stored for his retirement. Come to think of it, the President might be giving this money to Youngho as insurance for his retirement. Youngho would not be free from the President after he received his money.


    ¡°Mr. President, I¡¯m sorry for not saying thank you in person. I received the fund, but this is too much that I almost couldn¡¯t breathe.¡±


    ¡°You have such funds to yourself too, why are you acting so surprised? I thought you called me toin that I sent too little.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make the best out of this money, sir.¡±


    ¡°You can ask me for more if you run out of it. I won¡¯t be taking it when I die, so I want to use it for a great cause.¡±


    ¡°I n to make the aviationpany a corporation. When I have the certificate of stock, I¡¯ll visit you with it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m paying you my insurance fee in advance. It¡¯s a bribe for the future. If someone tries to degrade my achievements, you should make sure to shut them up.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t forgive anyone who tries to diminish you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. I don¡¯t think I can stand criticism even if I¡¯m dead.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have Kazakhstan of as of now without your achievements, sir.¡±


    ¡°Your ttery skills have been improved, but I like to hear that. All you need to do is to show me great fighters and tanks while I still live. Don¡¯t do anything stupid to pay me back.¡±


    The residents of the state were happy that the state¡¯s territory had gotten bigger and it epassed the Ural River. As it was the end of the year, the state was in the festive mode.


    The leadership group of the state had also gathered at the banquet room to have a feast.


    Youngho had been busy with different work, but since it was the end of the year, he decided to let go of himself and drink to enjoy the day. Although the world was still suffering from terrorism, everyone was relieving stress today.


    As people got drunk, they got boisterous. Especially, Kim Chun¡¯s voice was the loudest.


    ¡°Prince consort, we should make a little runway in each vige. That way we¡¯ll be able to travel to each one on a light airne. Since our state is bigger now, it¡¯s hard for us to travel around within a day.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we should. Also, please start the road construction to connect all viges. When the springes, we should build a wharf at the riverside of the Ural River and a new shipyard too. You can be in charge of the city nning.¡±


    ¡°Our state will change into a more kingdom-like form now. We won¡¯t be embarrassed in any ce with our size.¡±


    Although the increased size of the state was a great achievement for the residents, it was still tinypared to the total area of Kazakhstan. For ranchers withnd, thend that was newly assigned to the autonomous state was only a few ranching propertiesbined together.


    ¡°Did anybody make fun of our size?¡±


    ¡°Well, I had a sort of inferiorityplex. Kazakh people had been estimating people¡¯s wealth by the size of their ranching property.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then, I¡¯m d that I asked for the impossible to the President this time.¡±


    ¡°My heart is full because the state¡¯s size has be big enough to be called a kingdom now.¡±


    ¡°Are you satisfied with only this much?¡±


    ¡°The President is going to increase thendmass of our state?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to take over the whole Kazakhstan, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Prince consort, I think you¡¯re getting a little bit too drunk already. Since you¡¯ve been busy these days, you must be tired.¡±


    Kim Chun freaked out as he thought that Youngho was drunk-talking. Although there were no outsiders in the banquet room, he looked around to see if anybody had heard it.


    ¡°I ampletely fine. Commissioner, why don¡¯t you have another ss?¡±


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, what are you doing? Please escort the prince consort to his bedroom.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, I¡¯m nning to get drunk tonight. Why are you trying to get rid of me already?¡±

 Chapter 426 - Soar (2)

    <h4>Chapter 426: Soar (2)</h4>


    As the new year came, the busiest person in the state was Kim Chun.


    He was busy with paperwork and adjustment of arablend and pasturnds for new residents of the autonomous state. Farmers who lived near the Ural River owned about 10-30 acres of farnd and per household. Most of thend was used for a mixture of wheat farming and fruit farming.


    Since thend policy of the autonomous state was not a concept of ownership but a concept of use, the administration decided to buy farnd or pasturend that originally belonged to the residents of the newly added territory.


    If those farnds were added to the state, it would be developed soon. And, inevitably thend prices would rise. If that happened, the original residents who did not ownnd would feel rtively deprived.


    The new residents who were transferred sold theirnd withoutint. For them, it was interesting to sell farnd. In Kazakhstan, where there were plenty of emptynds, ranchers and farmers would just leave theirnd and find a new site when they failed farming. It did not make sense to buy other people¡¯snd for farming since they did not have to.


    Even though they sold farnd to the autonomous state for money, they could farm on their farming site. So, for them, there was no reason not to give up their ownership.


    In addition, the autonomous state promised machine farming to the farmers. If it was adopted, one person from each family could take care of farming while others went to work in factories run by the state because farming would be easier and faster with machines. This would lead to a sharp increase in ie per household.


    Kim Chun smiled emptily as the problem of buying ownerships from the new residents was resolved so easily.


    ¡°I think we might¡¯ve been too naive. We could have just told them to exchange their ownership for farming machines and equipment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s even more troublesome if they bring awsuit against the state in the future. The price of thend was not expensive anyway. It¡¯s better to pay the full price and not getintster on.¡±


    ¡°The new residents said that they¡¯ll build their own house with the money they earned by selling thend. We need to wrap up the city n in a hurry and start building a new city in the spring.¡±


    ¡°Please support the building materials for their house generously. We have to make sure that they don¡¯t feel discriminated.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Since they¡¯ve seen the lives of our original residents nearby, I will make sure that they¡¯ll be treated the same.¡±


    ¡°Did you get poption statistics?¡±


    ¡°There are 6,250 people in 1,040 households.¡±


    The greatest gain from the increase of thend was by far the increase in poption.


    Since more than a third of the county¡¯s poption was added, Youngho wanted to dance in joy. He searched the Balkans to increase the number of people, but now, a huge number of people were added at once.


    If Kim Chun was busy dealing with the incorporatednd and people, Cho Chul-hwan was agonizing over establishing a regional boundary and building guard posts for ensured security. The number of the Countryside Force was not enough to guard the wide area. So, he came to persuade Youngho to recruit more guards from the newly incorporated residents.


    ¡°There are young people, but they were just farmers and cattle ranchers. They¡¯re too na?ve to fit in as Countryside Force.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that there are more innocent young people. All the original guards would stay only as a sergeant, so we need to recruit more people. It¡¯s a good chance to secure at least 300 guards.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there too many soldiers in the Countryside Force?¡±


    ¡°That can be dealt withter when there¡¯s a problem. But, if you don¡¯t increase the force now, we might not have a chanceter since they¡¯re all going to be recruited in other ces.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s put out a recruitment notice. Let¡¯s take all the young people who want toe in, but we should limit their age, and say that only one person per household can apply.¡±


    ¡°If the brothers want toe in, we can assign one into the Vignte Army. What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ***


    When the announcement was made to recruit Countryside Force for the new residents, everyone wrote applications, and all the young people who were tired of their family business, farming and ranching desired to join the force. Rather than learning new skills and getting a job at a factory, they wanted to be in the military since they could use the experience of using a shotgun.


    ¡°How many people have applied?¡±


    ¡°There are a little over 600 people. I think all of the young people applied, except the students who are attending school. There are more than 100 girls among them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s crazy. I thought the managers of each factory were expecting new workers. They must be disappointed to hear this.¡±


    ¡°Everyone passed the physical fitness test safely.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been running around in the field since young, so they must have a basic physical strength.¡±


    ¡°Well, how about we take them all? They¡¯re a clean resource with a nk te. I¡¯d love to train them. I think they¡¯ll be a strong guard if they receive the mind education right.¡±


    ¡°You sound like you¡¯re going to brainwash them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you make me sound bad. I¡¯ll take out some of the smart ones and make them intelligence agents. How is that?¡±


    ¡°Did you find bright ones that could be agents?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I haven¡¯t even trained them yet. They¡¯ll stand out during the training period. ¡±


    ¡°Jong-il would love to hear that.¡±


    ¡°Keep quiet for him. Otherwise, he will show up at the training camp every day and make a fuss.¡±


    The road along the Ural River, which had be the territory of the autonomous state, was about 40 kilometers long. The Ural River originated in Russia¡¯s Ural Mountains and flew across western Kazakhstan into the Caspian Sea. It was a 2,534 kilometer-long river.


    The Arirang Autonomous State was located in the lower reaches of the river, so there was arge volume of water, and a river width was more than one kilometer.


    ¡°How did you decide to operate the river¡¯s guard post?¡±


    ¡°How can we cover the whole 40 kilometers of length? I left the riverside to the drone squadron. I¡¯m not worried about the daytime but I¡¯m worried about the night time.¡±


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s great that we¡¯ve got the Ural River now, but there¡¯s another problem.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to get close because it¡¯s mostly high hills, but there¡¯s a t section that stretches about ten kilometers. This section must be tightly guarded. It will cost some money, but we have no choice but to intensively install security lights and CC-TVs in that section.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re way short of electricity for that. I should find a ce to build a sr power nt along the river.¡±


    ¡°Sr energy again? Shouldn¡¯t we have a small thermal power nt? We need more electricity to build armored vehicle assembly nt and aircraft factories in the future. Sr power will be far short of electricity.¡±


    As the size of the state had grown, electricity use would increase by a lot in the future, but sr power was not enough. Although it was possible to attract electricity, it was also difficult to pay for the construction of a power transmission tower. It was not difficult for the state administration to afford it, but building power towers for hundreds of kilometers was a pure waste.


    ¡°A small thermal power nt? If you use coal, it¡¯s a mess around.¡±


    ¡°Hey, this is a ce full of natural gas. What are you worried about?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s brilliant! Recing fuel with natural gas will solve the environmental problem.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s safe to keep the sr energy nt and make the power nt an emergency generator. It¡¯ll be also great to use the President¡¯s money to produce industrial electricity.¡±


    The power nt was a must-have facility in the long run.


    Electricity produced by sr power was so sensitive to climate change that during the winter months, the produced energy was only sufficient for household use.


    So the factories of the industrialplex near the Arirang Wharf each used arge generator in the winter. Although an electric charging station was being built with the technology that was given by Eriksson, the amount of electricity produced with sr power was still bound to be limited.


    ***


    ¡°Prince consort, it¡¯s been such a long time. I thought you forgot about Koreanpanies.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not going to happen. If there was a project for Koreanpanies to participate, I would have stepped forward and give an opportunity for them.¡±


    ¡°By the time our power nt project and the road construction are finished, we will need your help foremost.¡±


    ¡°I sure will help you. Do you think I¡¯ll take the back seat in helping out my fellow countrymen?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able toe here often because of the work overload at the train factory, but I won¡¯t be busy from now. The power nt will be in full operation from spring.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions. It¡¯s finallying to fruition.¡±


    ¡°So, I assume there¡¯s a business to do since you called me?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was eager to know why Youngho wanted to see him.


    He had been working busily in Astana. When he called Youngho to say the new year¡¯s greeting, Youngho asked him to visit sometime.


    ¡°I heard that you couldn¡¯t go to visit your home country during the holiday season, so I thought I¡¯d treat you to a meal. Of course, there¡¯s a little business to do.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care because I¡¯ve been away from my family for so many times. I rather find joy in working.¡±


    ¡°You have every reason to call a Korean businessman a workaholic.¡±


    ¡°I bet you are the same. You¡¯re always traveling from a country to another.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk sat close when Youngho mentioned building a small power nt.


    ¡°I thought there should be a power nt in our state in the long run.¡±


    ¡°Of course. There must be a limit to the sr energy. Our group has a lot of know-how in building power nts, so we can build any size.¡±


    ¡°How big the nt should be in order to run factories with 20,000 workers?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an outsider in the field of development, so I only have light knowledge of this. I think you¡¯ll need at least one 50 MW powernt to cover your needs. I¡¯ll talk to the construction department for more details.¡±


    He also informed Youngho of the basic knowledge about the power generation facilities.


    Power generation facilities that used natural liquefied natural gas as fuel were somewhat more expensive than a coal power nt but produced eco-friendly energy.


    The strength of the small powernt was that auxiliary facilities could be minimized since the nt would be near to the power consumption centers.


    In the case of the autonomous state, the Ural River was located on the side, so there were also conditions for unrestricted ess to industrial water required for power nts.


    ¡°We will build a power nt and it will be the factory cost in return for helping ourpany¡¯s work in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... It¡¯s just a nning phase, and you¡¯re getting ahead of yourself.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯ve already made up your mind, so give us a chance. I already know that you don¡¯t like Koreanpanies or the government very much, but please think of us as a globalpany.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even met many Koreanpanies so far, and you¡¯ve contributed to Kazakhstan¡¯s development by a lot. I¡¯m thankful for you and yourpany, Mr. Kim. Also, yourpany didn¡¯t have any ties with the Korean government either.¡±


    ¡°While staying in Astana, I often visited the Korean Embassy. The officials there were a little disappointed that they weren¡¯t even invited to big events held in the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°We couldn`t invite the Korean ambassador only. It would be misleading to invite the Korean ambassador to other countries since we didn¡¯t invite any. The country is a member of Kazakhstan anyway, not a member of the Republic of Korea.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°I would¡¯ve invited the Korean ambassador if I had a personal affection for the Korean government, but to be honest, dealing with Korean officials is a hassle.¡±


    ¡°I agree with you on that. I think it¡¯s better to delegate consr service to civilians.¡±


    While dealing with bureaucrats was also a nuisance, the Korean embassies overseas tended to practice their authority over theirpatriots overseas. From the perspective of Korean overseas; who have built their foundation in foreign countries, the presence of the embassy from their home country was a nuisance, let alone being helped by the embassy.


    It was often the case that Korean embassies brought in local ethnic Koreans and entrepreneurs to the embassy to impress politicians visiting from Korea. So, Youngho was distancing himself from the Korean Embassy. Some Koreanpanies were also avoiding contact as much as possible, as the Korean officials were only thinking of using ethnic Koreans or local businessmen. It was a shame that the embassy was no help for Korean overseas.

 Chapter 427 - An Unexpected Dark Horse (1)

    <h4>Chapter 427: An Unexpected Dark Horse (1)</h4>


    Youngho noticed Park Young-sun¡¯s flushed face as he was entering Youngho¡¯s office. Despite the cold, he had been busily surveying each area of the newly assignednd.


    ¡°Dr. Park, you should take it easy. I¡¯m afraid you might get sick or something.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m rather excited to investigate the newnd. You never know what¡¯s buried under the ground.¡±


    ¡°The resources won¡¯t go anywhere. There are so many things that I should discuss with you but I haven¡¯t been able to get ahold of you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling empty since Seo-young went back to Baku. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been keeping busy.¡±


    As the New Year¡¯s season had passed, Fatima and the children went to Baku. Seo-young also followed them because Zeynep was there too.


    Fatima and Zeynep liked to stay in Baku rather than the autonomous state, as there were more entertainments avable for them. Baku was a big city where huge shopping centers exist too.


    ¡°Well, this ce is like a prison without bars for them. My wife also has to be mindful of the fact that she¡¯s the Archduchess. She can¡¯t evenugh loudly in front of people, so sometimes they need to refresh by getting away from here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d want to spend time with your family too. But, you must be sorry that you¡¯re too busy.¡±


    ¡°Well, now I take it as my destiny. I hope that everyone lives peacefully here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d that I can be of help. I¡¯ve got something you might like to hear.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious why I finished my work early today?¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought you¡¯re a little early. But, I thought maybe you came to drink with me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. I think there will be an oilfield in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°What? An oilfield?¡±


    ¡°Today, I was drilling for underground water but found a thinyer of gas deposits. We shall find out more about it when we drill deeper, but there¡¯s a high possibility that gas or oil crude must be deposited.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park, please tell me more about that.¡±


    ¡°The workers all had to get away from the site because we found a high-pressure buildup when we were drilling.¡±


    ¡°Is anyone hurt?¡±


    ¡°No, it was just pressure. Since there was no firearm nearby, no one was hurt. The gas escaped in a moment but we confirmed that there was remaining gas.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that there could be underground oil deposits?¡±


    ¡°Geographically, the whole western Kazakhstan can be considered an oil field. That means our state can be an oil field too. The matter is how deep the deposits are buried.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great news.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll bring more equipment to the site tomorrow and drill deeper. But, the only concern is that it might cause trouble when outsiders find out about the oil field in the autonomous state.¡±


    Youngho would have been nervous in the past, but now that was not a problem. With the President¡¯s full support for the state, no one would dare to touch the state.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry a thing. I¡¯m not nning to develop it right away. But please make sure that the workers don¡¯t spread the word.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to ignore it even if there is a tremendous amount of deposits?¡±


    ¡°The amount of oil produced in Kazakhstan is in a saturated condition. If we add to the production line, the oil price will drop. Let¡¯s save it for now.¡±


    ¡°You should decide that after the amount of deposit is confirmed.¡±


    ¡°How long would it take for you to check that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to drill at least 1,000 meters deep.¡±


    ¡°Oil¡¯s mostly found in the stratum from the Cretaceous period and the Jurassic age, so we need to dig deep to find that.¡±


    ¡°That means that dinosaurs used to live here.¡±


    ¡°Well, dinosaurs lived any part of the earth. Like I said, the oil crude is mostly found in the stratum from the Cretaceous period and the Jurassic age. I won¡¯t exin more because I¡¯ll only be using difficult words.¡±


    ¡°I see, you¡¯re saying that I¡¯m ignorant.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... It¡¯s natural for people to not know about geological eras if they didn¡¯t study a rted major.¡±


    ***


    Kim Chun jumped at the news that there could be oil fields in the state.


    ¡°Prince consort, we should not let anyone go near that area by dering off-limits to local residents.¡±


    ¡°How do you create a no-man¡¯s zone when the shepherds have no choice but to follow their stock when they wander about in search of grass?¡±


    ¡°But we have to do it for security. First, I¡¯ll put a sign for a few kilometers in the radius of the weaponsb and where we¡¯re drilling.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your own authority, so take care of it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another one.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to build more off-limit zones?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll use barbed wire to block the power nt facility, the aircraft nt, and the tank production factory. We need to maintain tight security from inside to keep the secret from leaking out.¡±


    ¡°You treat me as a cheap talker because of what I said at the party.¡±


    ¡°You know what? My heart almost stopped when you said that out loud. We need to stop talking about running Kazakhstan unless you¡¯re in a private setting.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s my bad. I have nothing to say.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯re going to say it casually in public without noticing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll keep your word in mind.¡±


    Kim Chun said there could be political forces watching the state closely.


    Youngho, who tried to joke about how funny was Kim Chun¡¯s reaction at the end of the year party, felt rather embarrassed.


    ¡°By the way, is there anyone in Kazakhstan who could be our political opponent?¡±


    ¡°Politicians tentatively all desire the presidency. What I¡¯m concerned about is the president¡¯s eldest daughter. She has the title of deputy prime minister.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been quiet though, hasn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°She once married an ambitious politician, but his plot to overthrow the current President was found, so they got divorced.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what happened. So what about the previous husband?¡±


    ¡°They say that he was arrested for the involvement of another case and died somewhere in a foreign country, but no one believes that.¡±


    A new concern emerged.


    Since the president only had three daughters, it was not a big concern for Youngho until now. This was because women rarely participated in politics in the Muslim world. For this reason, Nazarbayev supported Youngho like his grandson.


    However, Kim Chun¡¯s story was shocking. It was unlikely that the eldest daughter of the president was not aware of her husband¡¯s ambition. She might even have encouraged him.


    If the President had known about his daughter¡¯s ambition, it did not make sense that he gave her the post of deputy prime minister. Maybe he had no idea about his daughter¡¯s secret ambition.


    If she was ambitious for power, she might already know the existence of Youngho and might even be watching the autonomous state.


    It was possible for her to make a dent in the reputation of the autonomous state by having collusion with the current political forces. If she manipted public opinion and continued to highlight negative images of Youngho and the state, even the president would have to turn his back on him. Until now, however, the president had not said a word or two about his eldest daughter¡¯s political ambitions. There was also a chance that she may not have been mentioned because she could be a secret ally.


    ***


    ¡°Are you starting a power game already?¡±


    ¡°This looks like a power game to you? That woman might destroy our state.¡±


    ¡°What if she¡¯s a friend?¡±


    ¡°The president didn¡¯t tell me about her because he believes that she¡¯s my helper?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Maybe she¡¯s a really talented politician, so the President had put her in the position of the Deputy Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I wish she is an ally. This is important for the future of Kazakhstan and the Arirang state.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the President will pass down his power to her unless he¡¯s insane.¡±


    ¡°Who knows? He might lose his brightness as he gets older. She might be waiting for that to happen.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll send intelligence agents to investigate her and her surroundings. Meanwhile, why don¡¯t you find out about the President¡¯s intention?¡±


    ¡°What do I say to the president? I can¡¯t ask him if he will make his daughter the next president.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know?! You need to find a way. I¡¯ll investigate the deputy prime minister. ¡±


    ¡°You call yourself a genius but you don¡¯t have any idea?¡±


    ¡°Have I even met the president in person before? I need to talk to him face to face to guess what¡¯s going on inside him.¡±


    ¡°Other intelligence experts can even guess only by looking at a picture of a person.¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m not a reader of faces. Haven¡¯t you felt something weird when you conversed with him?¡±


    ¡°There was nothing like that. I told you, he even gave me his own slush funds and asked to prepare for the future.¡±


    No matter how much Youngho recollected his conversation with the President, there was no other family story, except for anything rted to bribery. He said that there was not a single one that he could trust.


    As Youngho tilted his head, Jong-il grilled him as if he noticed something.


    ¡°There was something, wasn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°He said that he gets criticized for not managing his rtives and friends. Heined that his kinsmen are only after bribes.¡±


    ¡°Look at it. I think he trusted his children but they fell short of his expectations. That¡¯s why he chose you! He won¡¯t choose a daughter as his sessor unless he¡¯s crazy.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t know. Maybe I¡¯m overreacting.¡±


    Youngho felt like he was caught off guard since he thought that everything would be a smooth sail with the President¡¯s full support.


    It was not just a political opponent, but a dark horse hase to the surface.


    The position of deputy prime minister also could mobilize governmental authority of power.


    She had a grip of the huge police force, so if she was Youngho¡¯s opponent, it was virtually impossible to beat her. Then, he needed to get the police force on his side.


    ¡°Jong-il, tell your agents to look into the police force. ¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to find about those rotten b*st*rds?¡±


    ¡°The police force is a group that the President relies on most. We need to get friendly with them in advance.¡±


    ¡°You want me to find out the corruption of the head group?¡±


    ¡°If they have weak points, we can use that, and if they have an itching spot, we will scratch it for them. We need to do whatever it takes for us to be an ally.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not a bad way. If we put our efforts in it, the police force could fall into our hands in a few years.¡±


    Although Jong-il hated the corrupted police force to the core, it seemed that he was interested in taking over the force to control it. Youngho wondered if that would be so easy as he just said.

 Chapter 428 - An Unexpected Dark Horse (2)

    <h4>Chapter 428: An Unexpected Dark Horse (2)</h4>


    Youngho met Sanderson, the Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service,st time he visited London. Although they could talk on the phone, Sanderson wanted to meet Youngho, so he visited London after his work was finished in Sweden.


    The reason that he wanted to see Youngho was to provide a special loan for the autonomous state and to make it a strong ally of the British Intelligence Service. It was called a special loan, but it was basically free money that the state could use. Youngho politely declined the offer because he did not want to lean on the UK too much.


    The purpose of the loan was to buy intelligence equipment for the autonomous state¡¯s intelligence department because the costs of rted equipment exceeded a year¡¯s expense of the whole state. The loan was offered to relieve the state¡¯s burden. On top of that, Sanderson promised that he would provide British military satellite services and various electronic equipment with a high-performance level of a supeputer.


    It was tempting, but Youngho had to give it up since the British Intelligence Service would naturally start interfering with the autonomous state¡¯s work if he took the offer.


    Sanderson, who was not happy about Youngho¡¯s rejection, visited the Arirang Autonomous State today.


    ¡°Mr. Sanderson, you must¡¯ve gone through the trouble to travel this far. How was your trip?¡±


    ¡°I had afortable trip because you sent me a luxury jet to Baku, Duke. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me for noting to Baku to meet you. I would have, but I had to finalize some work here. So, I made youe.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not a problem at all. If you came to Baku, I wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to see the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°This is not a fancy ce. We¡¯ve only formed a small city.¡±


    ¡°The Grand Pce is quite magnificent. I¡¯ve seen it from satellite pictures. I like how peaceful the autonomous state is. London is extremelyplex and tiringpared to your city.¡±


    ¡°I heard that there was a terrorist attack there today.¡±


    ¡°Yes, terrorists are still active now. Speaking of which, you¡¯ve sacrificed yourself for our people. I haven¡¯t been able to thank you for your bravery. Your performance saved many lives.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean...?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve confirmed that you and your friend were the ones who saved people¡¯s lives from a bombed building through security cameras and satellite images. Even though you did a heroic performance, you remained anonymous. Even Her Majesty the Queen was impressed by that.¡±


    Youngho did not expect anyone to find out about the terrorist attack incident in London that day, but it seemed that the British Intelligence Service had found out about him and Jong-il. He only jumped in because all he could think about was to save people. He had already forgotten about that incident.


    ¡°Well, anyone would have done the same in that situation. I¡¯m not a hero or anything.¡±


    ¡°How on earth did you attain such supernatural strength?¡±


    ¡°Well, when in an emergency, people can exert superhuman strength. This is often on TV news. Have you heard of the story about a mom who lifted up a car when her child was run over by a car? I was very surprised by what happened that day. I came back to the state and tried to lift up a stone that had a simr weight, but I couldn¡¯t do it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I see you think you suddenly had Herculean strength.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the human body can do amazing things. I just thought the heavens gave me a sudden power at that moment so that I can save people.¡±


    Sanderson did not doubt Youngho¡¯s lie. It seemed that he was only thinking that Youngho was a gentleman who saved lives and did not brag about it.


    ¡°Her Majesty wants to thank both of you. Could you visit Buckingham Pce some time?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t want to be rewarded over nothing.¡±


    ¡°You are indeed a gentleman. Even the Foreign Secretary was praised by Her Majesty because of that. A Danish royal family must be happy to have someone like you as their family-inw.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please stop trying to tter me. I think I¡¯m getting dizzy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also personally honored to know someone like you, Duke.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too much praise. I¡¯m only a clumsy person who still makes a lot of mistakes.¡±


    ¡°You saved dozens of lives. It¡¯s something only a gentleman can do. So the British government has decided to provide free intelligence equipment instead of a loan. It¡¯s a way to express the gratitude of our government. Please do not refuse this time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t want to get anything in return for my deed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a favor from the government.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you insist, I¡¯ll give you an answer after I consult with the head director of our Intelligence Department.¡±


    Youngho knew that this could not be just a simple favor. It was to tie down the autonomous state, but it was still such a tempting offer.


    ***


    ¡°What did you say? He said he would give those valuable equipment? Even the CIA doesn¡¯t give us that much support. Indeed, the British are a gentlemen¡¯s country.¡±


    Jong-il got excited as he heard the news. It was great news for him since he was annoyed by theck of equipment for intelligence agents.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get excited too fast. Sanderson didn¡¯t tell me what he wants in exchange yet.¡±


    ¡°Stop being a chicken. Even the Queen is inviting us. Why don¡¯t we take the equipment first? If they change their word, we¡¯ll just give them back those devices.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re diminishing the UK. You¡¯re talking about the country that used to be on top of the world.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. With those kinds of high tech devices, we¡¯ll be able to count even the number of cockroaches crawling in the Presidential Pce in Astana.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to watch the Presidential Pce too?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to protect the President. He must¡¯ve made so many enemies while trying to maintain his power.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how great is your loyalty.¡±


    ¡°Of course. He¡¯s the one who entrusted the future of Kazakhstan to the autonomous state. We¡¯ll have to protect him.¡±


    Jong-il was saying that he would surveince even the president¡¯s bedroom. Saying that he would be able to watch the President¡¯s kinsmen¡¯s activities, he was getting excited.


    ¡°So far, our agents found that the Deputy Prime Minister meets other politicians quite often. If she doesn¡¯t have ambitions, there¡¯s no reason for her to meet them so frequently.¡±


    ¡°I see. Something must be going on between them.¡±


    ¡°The deputy prime minister is now considered to be the heavyweight in the political world of Kazakhstan. People think that the President is rooting for her. But when they find out that the President is pushing you, they¡¯d be upset. You know they must¡¯ve used a lot of money for her until now.¡±


    ¡°What are they going to do?¡±


    ¡°She and her supporters might even cause a coup .¡±


    ¡°What? Against her father? Oh, you¡¯ve gone too far now.¡±


    ¡°Who knows what hunger for power can do to people?¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that this is why we should ept the equipment from the United Kingdom¡¯s Intelligence Service?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not someone that should be underestimated. We really need all the help we can get. You have two options. Give up the autonomous state or get her.¡±


    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s a hard decision.¡±


    ***


    Sanderson the Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service spent another day in the state before returning to London.


    Youngho decided to take the bait that the UK Intelligence Service had cast out.


    It was because he had a huge enemy, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Dariga. In order to collect data about her, cutting-edge intelligence equipment was essential.


    Sanderson returned home happily saying that he would send different types of equipment as well as personnel to install and operate them immediately. Since the UK was not a neighboring nation, the friendship between the autonomous state and the UK would not be broken so easily. Neighboring countries could only be tied to their interests, so often times their alliance was easily broken. That was why a nation had to grow its force to maintain the bnce of power with the neighboring countries, or it would be overtaken by others.


    Anyway, with the equipment provided by the UK, the autonomous state would be building a trusty rtionship with the UK by gathering and sharing information of Central Asian countries. By establishing this rtionship, the UK would be gaining a bridgehead in Central Asia through the autonomous state. For now, the autonomous state would have to maintain good rtions with the UK which may be a quite substantial friendly force.


    ¡°Hey, Chief Sanderson surely promised us to provide military satellite data?¡±


    ¡°Yes. How many times do I have to tell you?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. This is too good. With that technology, we¡¯d be able to see everything around the world from our state.¡±


    ¡°They will probably give us only the data from Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°And we should be thankful for that!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you ever think that the UK is tying us down with their support?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a faraway country. What are you afraid of? Let¡¯s think that we have a good partner to exchange information with. Who knows? The UK may be a true ally of Kazakhstan in the future.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I¡¯ve be so skeptical these days. Everyone looks like a thief to me.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s sadder is not being worthy to be even used. Just be d that the UK finds us useful and is offering us with their intelligence support.¡±


    A nation without power would have to beg for peace, and Youngho was sad that the autonomous state is at the same state. Although Jong-il tried to console him by saying that the state was useful, Youngho was still feeling bitter. Heforted himself with the phrase, ¡®your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.¡¯


    ¡°I will refrain from visiting Astana for a while.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to meet the President and find out his intention?¡±


    ¡°I will talk to him on the phone as long as possible. If I don¡¯t show up at the Presidential Pce, I won¡¯t be targeted as a political opponent by his daughter.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point? She must be keeping her eye on you already.¡±


    ¡°She would think that the President and I grew apart if I keep my distance from him so suddenly. It¡¯s a simple trick but it works.¡±


    ¡°As soon as the devices are here, I¡¯ll start watching that woman.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you should. From now on, keep a tight watch on her. I¡¯m saying that we should check even a puppy in her house.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pathetic that I have to focus all of my energy on that woman.¡±


    ¡°This is an important matter! All of the people of the autonomous state are at stake.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m saying. We should arm ourselves to the extreme. Hire more researchers for the weaponsb. We should make missiles, too!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired of saying that?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you always treat me like I¡¯m crazy, but there will be a day that you¡¯ll thank me for this.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, it¡¯s like you¡¯re begging for war.¡±

 Chapter 429 - An Unexpected Dark Horse (3)

    <h4>Chapter 429: An Unexpected Dark Horse (3)</h4>


    Suh Min-seok, who carried documents dividing sections of the autonomous state, was proud that the area of the state wasrger than that of Singapore or Luxembourg.


    Of the world¡¯s 254 countries or autonomous territories, it was ranked 178th in terms of its area alone. He got excited as he looked at theparison table of areas by country.


    ¡°Prince consort, if the Arirang River dries up, can we also take thend north of the river?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult. Well, it¡¯s a semi-deserted zone, so no one¡¯s going to be jealous of us even if we take it. But why?¡±


    ¡°If we can do that, the nation¡¯s ranking will jump.¡±


    Youngho looked at Suh Min-seok with a pathetic look since hisment was quite childish for someone who would soon be 30. Noticing Youngho¡¯s eyes, he soon stepped out of the office.


    Speaking of world rankings, there was a magazine that ranked rich people around the world. It was Forbes. Youngho picked it up and saw the world¡¯s billionaires¡¯ list on it. He was surprised to see a familiar name. It was the president¡¯s second daughter.


    Her total wealth amounted to 12 billion dors, which was jaw-dropping. This was an impossible amount she could have collected on her own unless she stole her country¡¯s assets. ording to the data that agents of the autonomous state collected, the youngest daughter also owned an Italian jewelry brand Damiani. This was too much.


    Youngho remembered that the presidentined about being for failing to control corruption among his rtives and close friends. He could not have possibly meant what he said since it was nothing short of giving away huge sums of money to all of his immediate children.


    Maybe President Nazarbayev had given his money to the autonomous state to save himself from getting punished for stealing the nation¡¯s money. Youngho wondered if that was the reason why he said that giving Youngho a billion dors his insurance.


    In the conference room, Kim Chun, Old Kim Sung-chan, Chief Niksic, Park Young-sun, Head Doctor Kim, and Youngho¡¯s friends all gathered at Youngho¡¯s call.


    ¡°I called you today to talk about an important matter. We should gather our insights to reach a final conclusion on the direction of our state. On your desk, I¡¯ve printed out reports collected by our agents. Please read and share your candid opinion on it.¡±


    ¡°Is this true? No matter how blind people can be, the president¡¯s daughters have acquired an unreasonable amount of money. This is unforgivable.¡±


    Commissioner Kim was furious to look at the calcted wealth of the president¡¯s family.


    12 billion dors was going beyond what an individual could acquire from bribes. The amount was only possible if the government siphoned off the national budget.


    ¡°If the person who said that he cares for Kazakhstan¡¯s future did this, you should never believe him. We¡¯ll be treated the same as himter.¡±


    ¡°The dice have already been thrown. You should also be aware of the aftereffects of not keeping your promise with the president. If you cross him, the state could disappear without a trace.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you could cover up this kind of corruption?¡±


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t do that. We have to find any money that¡¯s been siphoned off or hidden away and get it back to the national coffers if we¡¯re to run the country.¡±


    ¡°The report says the eldest daughter is looking for a chance to take power. Do you have any ideas to beat her?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have one at the moment, but that doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t have any alternatives.¡±


    ¡°Even if we have an alternative, do we really have a future as a state in a country like this? It could be better off to give up already and save our power and strength for something better.¡±


    ¡°What would happen to the people of the autonomous state and the countless ethnicities of Kazakhstan if we gave up on ourselves already? I want us to try our best first before we give in to power.¡±


    When he said he would not give up the state, opinions were divided on the future course of action.


    ¡°What if the deputy prime minister holds the presidency in any way possible?¡±


    ¡°If that happens, we¡¯ll not be on the same boat as Kazakhstan. We¡¯ll have to find a different way.¡±


    ¡°Are you thinking about the independence of the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re going to promote not just the independence of the state, but the entire West Kazahstan. The president¡¯s base, the east side of Kazakhstan, will be next.¡±


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re going to have a civil war.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s necessary to protect our people. So from now on, we should build up our force. Only overwhelming force can avoid a civil war.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a long fight.¡±


    ¡°It could end sooner than we expect. We have a justification for proiming the present¡¯s regime tainted by corruption. We also have a powerful ally.¡±


    ¡°We do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know in time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m relieved to hear that. Then, first of all, we should make the most out of what we have. You should get whatever you can get from the president. Our ns would only work if they don¡¯t know what we¡¯re up to.¡±


    This was Park Young-sun¡¯s remark.


    ¡°If this is your will, prince consort, you have my full support. This is our children¡¯s home now.¡±


    This was Kim Chun¡¯s remark, and no one made an opposition. It was because everyone agreed with it.


    ***


    After being determined to take advantage of the president, Yougho felt morefortable.


    Whatever his intention might be, Youngho decided to y along with the president¡¯s plot for a while. It would be revealed whether the president wanted to use Youngho as a tool to put his daughter in power, or he truly cared about the future of Kazakhstan.


    Youngho wondered if Basten and Eriksson of the Information Agency knew about the presidential family¡¯s corruption. If she had amassed such a huge fortune, she would have been caught by thepany¡¯s antenna. It might be natural for countries on the Caspian coast.


    The presidents here were almost treated like kings by the people here as their office was called the Presidential Pce.


    Youngho decided to get Eriksson¡¯s advice on the daughter of President Nazarbayev.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to make youe all the way.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. It was time for you to call, so I¡¯ve been expecting your call.¡±


    ¡°You knew I¡¯d ask for help.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are so many tiger moths that jump towards power. I thought you might need help when you meet an obstacle. Please tell me what¡¯s bothering you.¡±


    Eriksson, who had been briefed on the situation, did not seem to be surprised at all. In a way, he looked so natural that Youngho¡ªwho was exining it¡ªwas discouraged.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to take what was announced on Forbes directly. The second daughter¡¯s wealth is believed to include the assets of her husband¡¯s bank and stock firm.¡±


    ¡°Would Forbes publish a sloppy document that doesn¡¯t distinguish between financial assets and personal assets? Her husband is just the nominal chairman of the financialpany.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that might be the case. But wouldn¡¯t it be natural for a family member of a president who has been in power for decades to have this much assets stored?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You know, President of Azerbaijan¡¯s assets are known to be immeasurable.¡±


    Youngho was rather dumbfounded when Eriksson said it as if it were absolutely natural. It was like him saying, ¡®what is wrong with a dictator and his family umting that much wealth?¡¯


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem surprised.¡±


    ¡°Wealth is natural for a leader of many developing countries that are resource-rich. The state-ownedpany is the president¡¯s as well.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen that a lot while working for the Information Agency. So it¡¯s nothing new.¡±


    ¡°I understand that many leaders of developing countries are corrupted, but I am disappointed that even Nazarbayev¡¯s integrity was fake.¡±


    ¡°Of course. There¡¯s a chance that you¡¯ll find more corruption from him. You have to be strong. Now when there¡¯s a clean leader in a developing country, I think he¡¯s crazy. That¡¯s how the world has been. The kings and lords in the past had filled their stomachs with the blood and sweat of their subordinates. So, that¡¯s why any ambitious people try to get to the top.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in that category, too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a leader who¡¯s close to a working phnthropist. You¡¯re not greedy, and you¡¯re a genuinely good guy. Well, the problem is that people around you will try to manipte you.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like apliment, but it also sounds like you have a thin ear.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. You¡¯re a saint-like leader who sheds light in the world.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to end the conversation because the more I talk, the more I feel embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°Any unjust personal assets will be resolved when you return it to the nationter. It would be a pain in the neck if they were to siphon off their wealth abroad or go into exile, but you can order an organization that specializes in such matter to retrieve that money.¡±


    It seemed that there were many particr organizations since Eriksson was talking about an organization that Youngho had never heard of.


    ¡°Duke, let¡¯s get down to business. You didn¡¯t get the point yet.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, you make it sound like there¡¯s no point about talking. I already know that you¡¯d be saying the woman in that position can have such ambition.¡±


    ¡°What? What about a woman?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s President¡¯s oldest daughter. She¡¯s the deputy prime minister now. I think she¡¯s dreaming of bing a president.¡±


    ¡°I know she¡¯s been keeping quiet. Could you tell me about her in detail?¡±


    Eriksson looked like he was totally unaware of her ambition.


    Eriksson¡¯s expression changed every minute while listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, and he continuously took notes. This was unexpected news for him too.


    When Youngho was done talking, Eriksson closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    ¡°The eldest daughter was not a consideration at all to us. We judged that she¡¯s popr among Kazakh people because she¡¯s the daughter of the president. Also, it is very unusual that the president has offered his slush funds.¡±


    ¡°One billion dors is a lot of money, but for him, it¡¯s nothing if that was used to put his daughter in power. That is if this could be used as a pretext for him to condemn the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that could be a case. If the president said he would give you the money as if he had been waiting for you to step up, he might have other ideas. If things go too well, there¡¯s a trap.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t get rid of the idea that I¡¯m only being used by him.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re talking about possibilities, but that doesn¡¯t mean anything we said is confirmed. I¡¯ll have to think it over a little more. The immediate analogy is that there¡¯s not much justification for these ideas yet.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, the aircraft manufacturer and the tank assembly nt areing into the state soon. Would that be enough to manipte public opinion and condemn us as a threat to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still a weak cause. Don¡¯t you think that a dictator can make any story look real by manipting the media?¡±


    ¡°He can, but President is probably thinking that time is on his side.¡±


    A usible scenario had emerged in Youngho¡¯s mind that the president could use to destroy Youngho and the autonomous state¡¯s position. The conversation he had with Eriksson might be just a delusion, but it was better to be cautious. He just hoped that what he was imagining would note true.

 Chapter 430 - Portioning (1)

    <h4>Chapter 430: Portioning (1)</h4>


    Youngho was relieved to have arrived at Baku.


    Enjoying the familiar scenery stretched before his eyes, he entered the gate of Zeynep Farm in a car driven by Kim Il-kwon. He was on his way back from the Serbian ranch where he just stored gold bars and important documents that had been stored in the Arirang Autonomous State.


    ¡°Boss, is the situation looking that bad?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saving for a rainy day. Didn¡¯t you say that you don¡¯t put all of your eggs in a single basket?¡±


    Kim Il-kwon opened his mouth to say something but then he soon closed his mouth.


    ¡°What is it? Tell me if you have something to say.¡±


    ¡°I was just reminded that there is no one to trust in this world.¡±


    ¡°Well, nothing¡¯se to the surface yet.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You brought a whole lot of stuff as if you¡¯re moving in.¡±


    ¡°Baku is where our fortified mansion is that I can call a second pce. We¡¯ve kept important items here, and I know this is the safest ce because Kim Il-kwon is holding out here.¡±


    Il-kwon was moved by Youngho¡¯s praise.


    Until now, Youngho intentionally saved his praise for Kim Il-kwon. This was because Il-kwon hated such verbal praises that many westerners were culturally used to. It was mainly because he grew up in amunist country that was stingy with verbalpliments and praises. Since Youngho did not give himpliments often, he knew that what Youngho said was earnest.


    ¡°We should buy some morend around the farm and expand the runway and hangar too. I¡¯m also thinking of building a gym at the Serbian ranch.¡±


    ¡°Why are you suddenly trying to do so many projects at once? It¡¯s not like the autonomous state is going to be destroyed now.¡±


    ¡°The great shelter and gym is a necessary facility here as well.¡±


    ¡°Why are you building it at the Serbian ranch?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because there¡¯s a suitable site in the additionalnd we received recently.¡±


    ¡°I see what you¡¯re doing. You¡¯re trying to make a fortress, not an indoor gym.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    There was no answer, which was an agreement. He was preparing the ranch to be thest bastion for Youngho¡¯s people.


    ¡°Man, how can I beat your stubbornness? Do whatever you want.¡±


    He readily epted Kim Il-kwon¡¯s request because it was something that should be prepared even if it was not an emergency. If a gym and shelter were built, it would be useful for the farm and ranching people.


    Since Youngho was thinking about investing more in Baku¡¯s farm and ranch, he was happy to hear Kim Il-kwon¡¯s proposal. Azerbaijan was a funny country that the president and his family had been in power for generations, but it was more liberal and globalized than Kazakhstan.


    Baku was also easy for Youngho because it was like his second home. This was a ce where he built a vineyard. He started with a clothing business and a pottery business. He was grateful for this city that provided him with opportunities and luck. He spent a third of a year in Baku, so the mere mention of Baku made him feel warm. Although he had been neglectful about the city because he had been busily dealing with the Arirang Autonomous State in Kazakhstan, he was morefortable in Baku.


    ¡°Boss, aren¡¯t you too hasty to judge? You don¡¯t even know what President Nazarbayev¡¯s intentions are yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than to be cautious now than to be flusteredter after finding out. Jeez, didn¡¯t you just say that there¡¯s no one to trust?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, if you say so. Don¡¯t worry about Baku. I¡¯ll keep my watch no matter what. Maybe it¡¯s better for the Archduchess and your children to stay in Baku for the time being.¡±


    ¡°I think so, too. I won¡¯t be able to trust Kazakhstan until I know what the president is up to.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you get an extra medium-sized jet? Also, a couple more carpets, too.¡±


    ¡°Are you getting ready to flee?¡±


    ¡°You can use them formercial use and turn them into evacuation transportation in case of an emergency.¡±


    ¡°What on earth has gotten into you?¡±


    ¡°How many years have I served you, Boss? I know what you¡¯re thinking, just by looking at your face. Just tell everyone that I insisted.¡±


    ¡°Phew! Alright, let¡¯s do it. I¡¯d be lying if I say I have no worries.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about teaching special training to the vignte on the ranch?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to make them go through the notorious North Korean spy training?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll select only about 30 young and swift guys and turn them into human weapons.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll follow you well, but you can try. It¡¯s important to prepare whatever we can.¡±


    It seemed that Il-kwon was determined to fortify Baku, so Youngho epted all of his proposals.


    ***


    When Youngho arrived at the mansion on Zeynep Farm, Jelyan and Leon ran to his arms with joy. Rena was not there because she went to Tskhinvali for vacation. The children were excited as their father came in unannounced. As Fatima and the children gave him a big wee, he felt like he had gone for a long time.


    ¡°Why do you all wee me so much?¡±


    ¡°Of course, they¡¯re happy to see their dad. But what brings you all of a sudden? Mr. Suh is not with you today?¡±


    Fatima, who gave a light hug to Youngho, was happy but was a little worried about his sudden visit at the same time.


    ¡°Well, I had toe because I missed you and the kids so much, but I came empty-handed. The kids must be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°Oppa! You don¡¯t ever carry your big luggage for trips these days. I¡¯m sad that I don¡¯t get to rummage through it anymore.¡±


    Zeynep was the one who always ran to Youngho¡¯s luggage first when he came back from a business trip.


    If he did not get a present from his business trip, he had to stop by an airport Duty Free shop for fear that Zeynep would be disappointed. He used to be happy to think about her happy smile while selecting the gift for her. Now, she was no longer that little child¡ªwho used to give him a big hug for a little gift¡ªbut a woman.


    ¡°They¡¯ve been ying outside all day, haven¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not even cold. It was exceptionally cold today, but they yed outside running around all day.¡±


    The kids¡¯ faces were flushed by the warmth of the house. It seemed that they had been outside all day. The innocent sight of children who were only devoted to their instincts regardless of what was going on in the world made Youngho¡¯s worries go away.


    It had been a while since they had family time alone. So, Youngho suggested eating out.


    ¡°Daddy, where are we going? Leon and I want to go to me Towers.¡±


    ¡°Do you know Frame Towers?¡±


    Jelyan insisted on going to Frame Towers, the famousndmark of Baku.


    ¡°A friend from an international school who came to the reservoir today bragged about having French food with his family at the sky lounge of Frame Towers.¡±


    ¡°I see. So you envied it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I want to go with my mom and dad. Then my friends will be jealous of me.¡±


    Come to think of it, Youngho wondered when he had gone out to eat properly with his family.


    It was a big pride for children to join hands with their parents and to eat out, but Youngho¡¯s kids could not do that very often.


    Youngho felt sorry for not spending more time with the kids, especially for Jelyan. She was his adopted daughter who had been a war orphan. Because of her tragic past, she did not remember a thing about her past. That was why he cared a great deal about her. He thought that she was doing well without any worries, but it seemed like a father¡¯s absence was a big deal. She missed having family time. To Leon or Jelyan, the Archduchess or prince consort did not mean anything. They just needed their parents who would hold their hands and walk on the streets with them.


    ¡°Leon, do you want to go to me Towers, too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I want to go.¡±


    ¡°Fatima, do you mind going to a crowded ce with them?¡±


    ¡°Well, only our driver will be busy. I hope there¡¯s a table left for us.¡±


    The family could not even eat out freely anymore because they were always guarded by security guards. However, Fatima did not seem to mind as she was humming to think of eating out together. She was just happy that Youngho was there tonight.


    Everyone went up to the second floor in a hurry to change into a proper outfit. Youngho soon followed them upstairs with a pleasant smile on his face.


    ***


    Upon entering the Main Police Department, Sevan the Commissioner-General, chief of staffs, and even officials, were waiting for Youngho to wee him. Even though he repeatedly said it was a personal visit, Sevan had arranged a huge wee. This was to show off that the Duke of the Arirang Autonomous State hade to visit him.


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, why did you make a fuss? I just wanted to visit quietly as I used to.¡±


    ¡°You may have been visitingfortably before, but now that you¡¯ve be the duke of the Arirang Autonomous State, I should give you a proper wee or the president won¡¯t be happy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one of the president¡¯s most trusted people. He won¡¯t give you a disadvantage for that.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President had been very satisfied with his visit to Denmark this time. I heard he was treated better than the Kazakh president.¡±


    ¡°The two presidents were verypetitive. I got stuck in the middle, so I sweated hard.¡±


    ¡°He was very proud that the Archduchess and duke of the Arirang Autonomous State are the citizens of Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I stopped by Baku to say hello. We¡¯re going to have dinner tomorrow at the Presidential Pce. You and your wife can join us, too.¡±


    ¡°How could I and my wife join such event? It¡¯s an honor just to hear it.¡±


    ¡°I asked the president already.¡±


    ¡°Really? It¡¯s so sudden that I don¡¯t know what to say.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to be attending as the head of the Main Police Department, but as a friend of our couple. So, you don¡¯t have to feel pressured.¡±


    ¡°You really surprise me, duke. How dare can I be your friend?¡±


    ¡°I just got lucky to be a husband of the Archduchess and have an inws rtionship with the Danish royal family, but I want to maintain the same rtionships with my friends in Baku as I used to before. A social position doesn¡¯t matter in friendship, does it?¡±


    ¡°You came here determined to impress me.¡±


    Youngho did not know what would happen in Kazakhstan, but if an urgent situation took ce, he and the autonomous state would be helpless. So he was slowly getting ready for that. The visit to Baku this time was intended to deepen rtions with Azerbaijan.


    The reason that he invited Sevan to the dinner at the Presidential Pce was also based on his ns to push Sevan to a higher position. Sevan was once a business partner with Youngho, and he was also Park Jong-il¡¯s distant brother-inw, so he could be trusted enough. As long as Sevan stayed as a high official in Baku, it would be a safe ce for Youngho and his people.


    The dinner at the presidential pce would give Sevan some power because no matter how high-ranking government officials were, it was quite rare for them to get personally invited to a private dinner at the President Pce. The president¡¯s invitation itself proved that one was a powerful figure in the Azerbaijani officialdom. If one ate a meal with the president, his status would be changed the next day. Thus, Sevan¡¯s position would be elevated after the dinner, and he would be one step closer to bing an influential figure in Baku, which meant that Youngho would have a strong ally.


    ¡°Mr. President. Thank you for inviting me.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s an honor that you and the Archduchess visit Azerbaijan so often.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I shoulde to Baku since I have my house here. The Archduchess will continue to remain in Baku. My children also love to stay in Baku, so they¡¯ll go back to the international school here in the spring.¡±


    ¡°What good news! Don¡¯t worry about the safety of the Archduchess and her children. Commissioner General Sevan will take care of it.¡±


    Sevan slipped in at this point.


    ¡°Your Excellency, we have security measures for the duke¡¯s family, which areparable to those of a foreign head of state.¡±


    ¡°It looks like Commissioner-General Sevan has prepared it well. You know Baku¡¯s security is world-ss, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, thank you for your attention even though I didn¡¯t do much for Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, you¡¯re the greatest contributor to the rise of Azerbaijan? And you¡¯ve been a big part of Baku¡¯s economy. We ask for continued investment in the future.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to make some investment in the backward agricultural sector. I¡¯d appreciate it if you could support me a little, sir.¡±


    ¡°Oh! There¡¯s only a handful of businessmen who invests in agriculture, but you always take the lead. This is why I¡¯m so fond of you, duke.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you every time.¡±


    ¡°Well, thanks to you two, our nation¡¯s credibility is rising. Don¡¯t feel ufortable because I¡¯m rather grateful for you. Help as much as you can.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re nning to expand our wine farm and renovate our wine factory to be a global brand.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I should thank you for that. If you need anything, please ask. I¡¯ll give you whatever you want.¡±

 Chapter 431 - Portioning (2)

    <h4>Chapter 431: Portioning (2)</h4>


    Youngho bought an additional 2,000 acres of hillsidend near Zeynep Farm.


    The nationalnd price was only 700 dors per acre. The reason for its low price was that it was also a barren hilly area, but it could not be used for anything other than farnd or agricultural cooperative facilities.


    The reason why he purchased morend was to prepare for a possible situation. He had to think of the worst case, where the residents of the autonomous state have to flee from Kazakhstan.


    Azerbaijan was the only alternative if the autonomous state went awry.


    So far, the poption of the autonomous state was approximately about 9,000 people in 1,600 households. So, they would be able to spread into differentnd sites that Youngho owned if they came to Baku.


    Zeynep Wine now had 3,900 acres of giant vineyards, including Zeynep Farm and Charles Farm.


    Youngho intended to stay in Baku for the time being to think about the political situation in Kazakhstan. This was because while he stayed in Kazakhstan, he could not think of it objectively. Also, he was also waiting for the intelligence equipment that the British Intelligence Service would be sending in. With such equipment, he would be able to tell whether or not President Nazarbayev had sincere intention.


    The aviation industry intended to take the time under the pretext of technology acquisition and research personnel, and the armored vehicle production nt would be built in an industrial city of Kazakhstan although it was originally nned to be built in the autonomous state. The n was changed to see how the president would react to the change and to earn some time until Youngho found out about the president. He did not want to give the president a reason to attack the autonomous state.


    Kim Il-kwon¡¯s family also left the Charles Farm and nestled at Zeynep farm. He hurriedly moved in, thinking that he should protect Fatima and her children by staying near them.


    The Charles Farm had only 300 acres ofnd, so Il-kwon did not have to stay there as it could only be left to the workers.


    ¡°Your parents must be sad to leave their old home.¡±


    ¡°They were rather happy that they¡¯re moving to Zeynep Farm where there are more people. They¡¯ve been feeling lonely.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing your family adjusted well to living in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my parents now feelfortable living here. These days, they frequently go to the downtown.¡±


    ¡°Good news. There¡¯s also a kindergarten here, so your kids will love it, too.¡±


    ¡°My wife was also excited about that. She feels that it¡¯s time for our kids to make friends.¡±


    Il-kwon¡¯s family seemed to have settled down here as well. They escaped from the political prison camp in North Korea and nestled in Baku, and at first, they could not even leave their home because of the anxiety that North Korean spies woulde in to get them at any moment. They could not even look people in the eyes, but they were different people now.


    ¡°When can we bring in the new wine production facility?¡±


    ¡°The equipmentpany is free because it is off-season. They¡¯re working on the framing now, so we¡¯ll be able to bring it in soon.¡±


    ¡°If we operate an extra facility, we¡¯ll have twice as much production as we have now. I¡¯m sure Sergey would love to hear that.¡±


    ¡°Frankfurt branch has alsoined that it¡¯s short of wine.¡±


    ¡°I guess people are all sipping wine in their house because they can¡¯t go outside for terrorism.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing like alcohol when you¡¯re frustrated.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that, I¡¯d also love to drink. Shall we have a drink today?¡±


    ¡°Would you like some barbecue too? I¡¯ll get some meat from the Serbian ranch.¡±


    ¡°Catch one that doesn¡¯t have a heavy odor.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have Korean Soju anymore on the farm.¡±


    ¡°Are you still drinking Soju? Themb is a good match for vodka, too.¡±


    Although it was winter, Zeynep Farm was always open for a barbecue party.


    The thought of drinking vodka onmb already made Youngho¡¯s mouth water.


    ***


    Niky¡¯s family was staying at the Arirang Hotel in Baku.


    They left Siberia and came to spend the winter in Baku since it was too cold in Siberia.


    He bought a hotel near the Arirang Hotel, and it was currently under remodeling before it could reopen.


    Since it had been a while that Youngho had met him, he invited Niky and his family to the farm for the barbecue party.


    ¡°You seem to be everywhere. You are such a busy man.¡±


    ¡°I knew you were staying at our hotel, but I couldn¡¯t even say hello to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t feel bad. Thanks for even thinking about me when you¡¯re this busy. Sevan from the Main Police Department told me there was a dinner at the Presidential Pce.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the president was there for my brother-inw¡¯s wedding, so I visited him to thank him.¡±


    ¡°I am extremely envious of you in that regard. I¡¯ve spent my entire life making money, but I had not thought about interacting with politicians.¡±


    ¡°When an entrepreneur mixes with politicians, usually his ending is not very good. You know how the political world is. It changes so much and so often. If you¡¯re an entrepreneur, you¡¯d better focus on your business alone. Sometimes, you realize that you¡¯ve been prey for the most powerful people.¡±


    Youngho regretteding this far sometimes. Although he benefited excessively from his friendship with the most powerful people, the problem was that they were not the people who acted without any benefit in return or a scheme in their mind.


    ¡°Have you had any bad newstely? It sounds like something has happened to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying so. The politicians are the ones who shouldn¡¯t be near or far away.¡±


    ¡°Baku¡¯s politicians must be different, right?¡±


    ¡°Azerbaijan is a rtively good ce in that regard. It¡¯s a very friendly ce for businessmen. Next time I have an appointment with the president, I¡¯ll introduce you to him too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s only going to be a burden to me. I want to live the rest of my life quietly. I don¡¯t want to be greedy for more money. I think being an owner of a vineyard would be a perfect life for me.¡±


    ¡°After hearing from you, I feel like everything¡¯s pointless. These days, I think I can barely afford to keep the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still young. It¡¯s great that you have a vision.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid if I achieve something, I¡¯ll want to protect it for my children no matter what.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that natural? Who wants to lose what he achieved in life? Passing down your aplishments and wealth is what everyone does.¡±


    Niky said that inheritance was natural.


    It must be the same for President Nazarbayev.


    If he considered Kazakhstan as his property, not a country for Kazakh people, he would want to inherit it to his children. If none of his children became the next president, his and his rtives¡¯ corruption would be revealed eventually. He would choose his security rather than the future of Kazakhstan. It was better to maintain the current regime, rather than take any risks. If this was the case, Youngho would indeed have to doubt the president¡¯s intention.


    ¡°I see what you mean. A businessman can¡¯t pretend to be a phnthropist.¡±


    ¡°There are sainted people who give their money to society, but those people would have been determined to do that from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°How do you think about the political leaders of the Caspian coast?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re greedy people who pretend to be nationalists. Ignorant people follow them just because they¡¯re living a little better than Soviet times. President for life in the 21st century is ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°Good grief, I shouldn¡¯t have asked. We should be careful about what we say. There are many ears hearing us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure here is better than Russia. The media here is at least alive and more trustworthy. I feel like the president here cares for the people. I¡¯m very jealous of the social security service system here.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess the president won¡¯t be changed unless the resources are dried up. He will probably pass down his position to his son, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not strange here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be good for businessmen.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing?¡±


    ¡°Of course. There¡¯s nothing to worry since policies won¡¯t change.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ***


    Youngho could not shake the feeling that the whole thing was like hitting a rock with an egg. Sacrifice was inevitable if he tried to maintain the state.


    There was no guarantee that the autonomous state would be safe either.


    If President Nazarbayev¡¯s family maintained the regime, the future was already set. Kazakhstan would be sliced into pieces soon. The central north and eastern north regions where there were overwhelmingly many vic Russians and Ukrainians lived, would fall into Russia¡¯s hands, and the southeastern region would be interfered by China.


    Minorities in the eastern mountainous region and south regions would demand autonomy.


    Since the west region was full of oil resources, Russia would also want to take over the region. Of course, the autonomous state would have been gone after bing a political victim.


    The only way to survive was to attack the president first. However, Russia would not stand a force of coup since President Nazarbayev was pro-Russia.


    Youngho¡¯s worries deepened.


    Eriksson said that he would find an alternative for the autonomous state, but he could not leave the destiny of the state to Eriksson only.


    So, he quickly went to the CIA¡¯s European chapter in Frankfurt. It was to move Michael.


    ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯m here to give you a New Year¡¯s greeting.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. I know you¡¯re not here to just say hi. We don¡¯t even have a meeting today. What is it?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to discuss the political situation in Kazakhstan. It looks very serious.¡±


    ¡°Is there a sign of a coup or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is. I think I¡¯m going to start a coup.¡±


    ¡°You are out of your mind.¡±


    ¡°President Nazarbayev looks like he¡¯s going to hand over the power to his daughter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. Kazakhstan won¡¯tst if that happens.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine with that but the autonomous state will break down with Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I see. That must be stressful. So, that¡¯s why you¡¯re talking about a coup?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for both the existence of the autonomous state and the interests of the United States. Would you just watch Kazakhstan being swallowed by Russia?¡±


    Michael¡¯s face turned serious. It was obvious that the whole of Central Asia would shake if Kazakhstan faltered.


    ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°I almost thought about giving up the autonomous state, but then the U.S.¡¯s bridgehead will be lost. Now, you don¡¯t want to lose a critical starting point, do you?¡±


    ¡°The state is a bridgehead to the CIA but the U.S. government doesn¡¯t think that way.¡±


    ¡°By the time politicians are ready to decide what to do with the autonomous state, the state will be gone. President Nazarbayev is going to make our state a scapegoat.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state is the prey to hide his daughters¡¯ corruption.¡±


    ¡°Keep going on.¡±


    <h4>Comment (0)</h4>


    COMMENT FIRSTRate this chapterVote with Power Stone<h4>Chapter 432: Portioning (3)</h4>


    Michael¡¯s face turned totally distorted.


    Any dispute in Kazakhstan was a big issue since Kazakhstan was the leading country that supported the whole of Central Asia. And the country was surrounded by two big powers, Russia and China. If a regime without legitimacy took over the country, Kazakhstan would divide into pieces.


    The ethnic minorities that had been calm under President Nazarbayev¡¯s strong rule would voice themselves iming independence, and Russia would deploy its troops to seize this opportunity. By the time the situation was stabilized, the autonomous state would have been sacrificed already.


    If the Arirang Autonomous State, was Michael¡¯s established bridgehead¡ªwas lost, his whole career would leave a stigma of failure.


    ¡°This is big trouble. Why would he want to pass down his power to his daughter?¡±


    ¡°So as Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°But Azerbaijan still goes through the democratic electoral process.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m moved right now. Chief, are you worried about me?¡±


    ¡°Stop kidding. You¡¯ll be alright. What about my career?¡±


    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re worried about yourself? What about the people of the autonomous state who could lose their homes?¡±


    ¡°Why would they lose their homes? They would be left alone in thend. You¡¯d have to escape thend and run for your life.¡±


    ¡°They only look up to me. I can¡¯t abandon those people by just giving up.¡±


    ¡°Think of an alternative way, rather than thinking of a fight that sheds blood.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that there¡¯s no other alternative, but I won¡¯t give up the autonomous state so easily.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose a foothold in Central Asia, either. I just thought about the worst.¡±


    Michael could not hide his perplexed look.


    Confusion in Central Asia was directly linked to the interests of the United States.


    ¡°The people of the autonomous state only follow me. That¡¯s the problem. I¡¯m just saying that if they rise up to defend the state, I won¡¯t be able to stop them.¡±


    ¡°Are you ckmailing me now?¡±


    ¡°How dare can I do that? It¡¯s just my will.¡±


    ¡°That means you intend to fight anyway. Do you know what that means? It¡¯s a civil war. And that would make Russia happy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I thought of a coup. If we quickly rece the regime and go through an election, Russia won¡¯t have time to slip in.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easier said. Remember that the regime that was achieved by a coup had an unhappy ending.¡±


    ¡°It would be different If the U.S. supports us.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? When did the United States jump into other countries¡¯ matters?¡±


    It would be a blind lie if the U.S. had not involved in other countries¡¯ disputes.


    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll pretend that such a thing never happened. So, I¡¯m asking the U.S.¡¯s intervention in Central Asia. It¡¯s better than Kazakhstan getting torn apart by Russia and China.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t happen. But what if I get you the support of the U.S? What are you going to give us?¡±


    Michael was going to try any political maneuvering. If the US CIA was involved, it would be much easier to clear up Kazakhstan¡¯s situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny to say this when I haven¡¯t taken over Kazakhstan yet, but I will guarantee that our state will always agree with the policies and direction of the U.S.¡±


    ¡°You came here already determined.¡±


    ¡°No, I just thought of it now. Also, I¡¯ll promise that there won¡¯t be any obstacle for U.S.panies making a foray into the country.¡±


    ¡°I see. You are going to open resources to U.S.panies.¡±


    ¡°I want to change the whole Russian weapon system in Kazakhstan. Please introduce me to an American defensepany.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to make Kazakhstan the territory of the United States?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You have to know nothing¡¯s free in this world.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan has to exist for the sake of the interests of the U.S. as well as the peace of the world.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state can be the sea of fire that will lead to a lot of bloodshed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m prepared.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that your information is urate?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what Nazarbayev has suggested to me.¡±


    The US CIA, which had already helped in the process of establishing the autonomous state through Youngho, was already involved in Kazakhstan. The U.S. would have involved in this matter even if Youngho did not ask for it.


    Youngho did not mention anything about the role of Information Agency and the British Secret Intelligence Service in his decision to overthrow the government.


    As Youngho continued his story, Michael was impressed. His eyes were widened when Youngho said that the president had offered a billion dors to invest in the development of weapons.


    Their conversation continued after they moved to Youngho¡¯s hotel room. As they drank together, Michael started to give him some pieces of advice.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already made a deal with the president.¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like you sold the autonomous state at a billion dors. How much have you invested in the state so far?¡±


    ¡°Roughly less than 400 million dors. I¡¯m getting my investment money back because the state is now making money and doesn¡¯t need my support anymore.¡±


    ¡°You are a real merchant since you¡¯re making money now.¡±


    ¡°Well, the autonomous state is not a business ce for me. It¡¯s now a home for the residents who worked to establish it. It is the home of their children for generations after generations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a small city to the Kazakh president. A city where Serbian minority lives.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason for the president to wipe out our state?¡±


    ¡°He must have seen greed in your eyes, which will be an obstacle for his daughters¡¯ future. Maybe he¡¯s hoping for you to learn how he feels now quickly.¡±


    ¡°If I was a stumbling block, why wouldn¡¯t he just get rid of me? It won¡¯t be so difficult to kill someone in silence.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a public figure now. He won¡¯t dare to make such a suspicious move. He will want to make a perfect reason to drive you out of the country with his plot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to build a weapons production nt in another city, not in the state. Also, I¡¯ll tell the president that the aircraft development will take time due to the technology transfer dy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a temporary measure.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I¡¯m aiming for.¡±


    Michael was escorted to his house with a limousine that was provided by the Arirang Hotel. Youngho recalled what he just said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mean to invest more for the autonomous state for a while.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You might have to think of leaving the state if things don¡¯t look good.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t possibly leave the residents behind.¡±


    ¡°Well, if they want to follow you all the way, you can, but people will be safe in the state. They are still a great asset to the Kazakh government. In a worst-case scenario, you will have to think about a temporary step down and a return in the future.¡±


    ¡°I see exactly what you mean.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll visit the maind soon and see if I can get the U.S. intervention in any way.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Chief. I¡¯ll be expecting good news.¡±


    ¡°Move any important valuable to Baku for now. That¡¯s to get ready for just in case.¡±


    The Kazakh government would not touch the residents but it would not leave the state¡¯s economic system that ensured high return pay alone. The Arirang Autonomous State did not require any indirect tax other than the ie tax, so residents received a lot of share in return. It would not be easy for them to live under the regr Kazakh system.


    ***


    Zeynep Wine¡¯s European distribution store was located near the Central Station. It was already over eight o¡¯clock, but the light was still on in the second-floor office. There must be a lot of work until now.


    As Youngho walked through the store door, several employees were either working on theputer or speaking with other people. They roughly nodded to greet Youngho and went back to their work.


    Youngho went up to the second-floor office where Cho Sang-chun was supposed to be working. It was empty. There were documents all over his desk. After a while, he could hear someoneing down from the third floor where Sang-chun¡¯s family¡¯s private home was located.


    It was Sang-chuning down with a tray of cup noodles on top.


    ¡°What is it? A night snack?¡±


    ¡°Oh! When did youe? I thought you¡¯deter.¡±


    ¡°Well, my friend got drunk so fast, so I didn¡¯t even get to drink as much. When will you be done?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve almost finished. I brought some snacks for the employees.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s living without your wife and children?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gaining weight because there¡¯s no one who gives me an earful when I eat too much.¡±


    ¡°Your kids are missing their dad. Why don¡¯t youe to Baku on the weekends?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so fun flying every weekend. I¡¯ll see them when the terrorism dies down.¡±


    ¡°Finish quick and let¡¯s have some drink. I¡¯ll make some snacks.¡±


    ¡°Okay, wait for me up upstairs.¡±


    Youngho and Sang-chun finished a vodka bottle in just a sh.


    As Sang-chun was getting drunk, his voice was getting higher.


    ¡°You¡¯re adding 2,000 acres to your farm? Wow, how many more bottles is that?¡±


    ¡°We will produce an additional 5 million bottles. In total, we¡¯ll make about 800 million bottles in Zeyenp Farm.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. The importers have been asking for more wine.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t expect much this year. Starting next year, we¡¯ll be able to produce more bottles.¡±


    ¡°Tell your employees to collect any grape from nearby farms. Does it make sense that we can¡¯t sell because we are short of wine? It¡¯s been so stressful.¡±


    ¡°You should take it easy. Hire some more staff and work less.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will. Hey, why did youe to Frankfurt all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an issue. The autonomous state will be in trouble for a while.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is there going to be a war in Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that our state will have to demand independence soon.¡±


    ¡°That Kazakh president is so generous. Is he going to allow it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a littleplicated.¡±


    ¡°Did you do something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡±


    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re in trouble, youe to me. Don¡¯t you remember when you entered the strange unit, right after joining the Navy? The whole family flipped because of that and I was the one who had to exin everything to your family.¡±


    ¡°For the hundredth time, it¡¯s not a strange unit. It¡¯s the Special Forces! And you didn¡¯t go to my parents¡¯ house because of me. You went there to see Yun-suh. I told you that Yun-suh is a handful, but you went head over heels for her and married her in the end!¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. I was into Yun-suh after your parents passed.¡±


    ¡°Phew, alright. Anyway, I¡¯m just giving you a heads-up. There might be bad news soon, but don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Youngho! Our lives are already better here. Don¡¯t overdo it. ¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but now it¡¯s irreversible. I¡¯m responsible for this.¡±


    ¡°Man, it might have been better for us to stay in Korea. We didn¡¯t have much but it was not so hard.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just think that this is our fate. I have no regrets.¡±


    ¡°Dude, do you know how you look today? You look liked you lived all of your life already. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°How do I look?¡±


    ¡°I just told you. You lookpletely exhausted. Why do you live such a hard life?¡±


    ¡°Sang-chun, let¡¯s just drink. I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡±

 Chapter 432 - Portioning (3)

    <h4>Chapter 432: Portioning (3)</h4>


    Michael¡¯s face turned totally distorted.


    Any dispute in Kazakhstan was a big issue since Kazakhstan was the leading country that supported the whole of Central Asia. And the country was surrounded by two big powers, Russia and China. If a regime without legitimacy took over the country, Kazakhstan would divide into pieces.


    The ethnic minorities that had been calm under President Nazarbayev¡¯s strong rule would voice themselves iming independence, and Russia would deploy its troops to seize this opportunity. By the time the situation was stabilized, the autonomous state would have been sacrificed already.


    If the Arirang Autonomous State, was Michael¡¯s established bridgehead¡ªwas lost, his whole career would leave a stigma of failure.


    ¡°This is big trouble. Why would he want to pass down his power to his daughter?¡±


    ¡°So as Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°But Azerbaijan still goes through the democratic electoral process.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m moved right now. Chief, are you worried about me?¡±


    ¡°Stop kidding. You¡¯ll be alright. What about my career?¡±


    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re worried about yourself? What about the people of the autonomous state who could lose their homes?¡±


    ¡°Why would they lose their homes? They would be left alone in thend. You¡¯d have to escape thend and run for your life.¡±


    ¡°They only look up to me. I can¡¯t abandon those people by just giving up.¡±


    ¡°Think of an alternative way, rather than thinking of a fight that sheds blood.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that there¡¯s no other alternative, but I won¡¯t give up the autonomous state so easily.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose a foothold in Central Asia, either. I just thought about the worst.¡±


    Michael could not hide his perplexed look.


    Confusion in Central Asia was directly linked to the interests of the United States.


    ¡°The people of the autonomous state only follow me. That¡¯s the problem. I¡¯m just saying that if they rise up to defend the state, I won¡¯t be able to stop them.¡±


    ¡°Are you ckmailing me now?¡±


    ¡°How dare can I do that? It¡¯s just my will.¡±


    ¡°That means you intend to fight anyway. Do you know what that means? It¡¯s a civil war. And that would make Russia happy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I thought of a coup. If we quickly rece the regime and go through an election, Russia won¡¯t have time to slip in.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easier said. Remember that the regime that was achieved by a coup had an unhappy ending.¡±


    ¡°It would be different If the U.S. supports us.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? When did the United States jump into other countries¡¯ matters?¡±


    It would be a blind lie if the U.S. had not involved in other countries¡¯ disputes.


    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll pretend that such a thing never happened. So, I¡¯m asking the U.S.¡¯s intervention in Central Asia. It¡¯s better than Kazakhstan getting torn apart by Russia and China.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t happen. But what if I get you the support of the U.S? What are you going to give us?¡±


    Michael was going to try any political maneuvering. If the US CIA was involved, it would be much easier to clear up Kazakhstan¡¯s situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny to say this when I haven¡¯t taken over Kazakhstan yet, but I will guarantee that our state will always agree with the policies and direction of the U.S.¡±


    ¡°You came here already determined.¡±


    ¡°No, I just thought of it now. Also, I¡¯ll promise that there won¡¯t be any obstacle for U.S.panies making a foray into the country.¡±


    ¡°I see. You are going to open resources to U.S.panies.¡±


    ¡°I want to change the whole Russian weapon system in Kazakhstan. Please introduce me to an American defensepany.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to make Kazakhstan the territory of the United States?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You have to know nothing¡¯s free in this world.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan has to exist for the sake of the interests of the U.S. as well as the peace of the world.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state can be the sea of fire that will lead to a lot of bloodshed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m prepared.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that your information is urate?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what Nazarbayev has suggested to me.¡±


    The US CIA, which had already helped in the process of establishing the autonomous state through Youngho, was already involved in Kazakhstan. The U.S. would have involved in this matter even if Youngho did not ask for it.


    Youngho did not mention anything about the role of Information Agency and the British Secret Intelligence Service in his decision to overthrow the government.


    As Youngho continued his story, Michael was impressed. His eyes were widened when Youngho said that the president had offered a billion dors to invest in the development of weapons.


    Their conversation continued after they moved to Youngho¡¯s hotel room. As they drank together, Michael started to give him some pieces of advice.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already made a deal with the president.¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like you sold the autonomous state at a billion dors. How much have you invested in the state so far?¡±


    ¡°Roughly less than 400 million dors. I¡¯m getting my investment money back because the state is now making money and doesn¡¯t need my support anymore.¡±


    ¡°You are a real merchant since you¡¯re making money now.¡±


    ¡°Well, the autonomous state is not a business ce for me. It¡¯s now a home for the residents who worked to establish it. It is the home of their children for generations after generations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a small city to the Kazakh president. A city where Serbian minority lives.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason for the president to wipe out our state?¡±


    ¡°He must have seen greed in your eyes, which will be an obstacle for his daughters¡¯ future. Maybe he¡¯s hoping for you to learn how he feels now quickly.¡±


    ¡°If I was a stumbling block, why wouldn¡¯t he just get rid of me? It won¡¯t be so difficult to kill someone in silence.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a public figure now. He won¡¯t dare to make such a suspicious move. He will want to make a perfect reason to drive you out of the country with his plot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to build a weapons production nt in another city, not in the state. Also, I¡¯ll tell the president that the aircraft development will take time due to the technology transfer dy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a temporary measure.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I¡¯m aiming for.¡±


    Michael was escorted to his house with a limousine that was provided by the Arirang Hotel. Youngho recalled what he just said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mean to invest more for the autonomous state for a while.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You might have to think of leaving the state if things don¡¯t look good.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t possibly leave the residents behind.¡±


    ¡°Well, if they want to follow you all the way, you can, but people will be safe in the state. They are still a great asset to the Kazakh government. In a worst-case scenario, you will have to think about a temporary step down and a return in the future.¡±


    ¡°I see exactly what you mean.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll visit the maind soon and see if I can get the U.S. intervention in any way.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Chief. I¡¯ll be expecting good news.¡±


    ¡°Move any important valuable to Baku for now. That¡¯s to get ready for just in case.¡±


    The Kazakh government would not touch the residents but it would not leave the state¡¯s economic system that ensured high return pay alone. The Arirang Autonomous State did not require any indirect tax other than the ie tax, so residents received a lot of share in return. It would not be easy for them to live under the regr Kazakh system.


    ***


    Zeynep Wine¡¯s European distribution store was located near the Central Station. It was already over eight o¡¯clock, but the light was still on in the second-floor office. There must be a lot of work until now.


    As Youngho walked through the store door, several employees were either working on theputer or speaking with other people. They roughly nodded to greet Youngho and went back to their work.


    Youngho went up to the second-floor office where Cho Sang-chun was supposed to be working. It was empty. There were documents all over his desk. After a while, he could hear someoneing down from the third floor where Sang-chun¡¯s family¡¯s private home was located.


    It was Sang-chuning down with a tray of cup noodles on top.


    ¡°What is it? A night snack?¡±


    ¡°Oh! When did youe? I thought you¡¯deter.¡±


    ¡°Well, my friend got drunk so fast, so I didn¡¯t even get to drink as much. When will you be done?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve almost finished. I brought some snacks for the employees.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s living without your wife and children?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gaining weight because there¡¯s no one who gives me an earful when I eat too much.¡±


    ¡°Your kids are missing their dad. Why don¡¯t youe to Baku on the weekends?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so fun flying every weekend. I¡¯ll see them when the terrorism dies down.¡±


    ¡°Finish quick and let¡¯s have some drink. I¡¯ll make some snacks.¡±


    ¡°Okay, wait for me up upstairs.¡±


    Youngho and Sang-chun finished a vodka bottle in just a sh.


    As Sang-chun was getting drunk, his voice was getting higher.


    ¡°You¡¯re adding 2,000 acres to your farm? Wow, how many more bottles is that?¡±


    ¡°We will produce an additional 5 million bottles. In total, we¡¯ll make about 800 million bottles in Zeyenp Farm.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. The importers have been asking for more wine.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t expect much this year. Starting next year, we¡¯ll be able to produce more bottles.¡±


    ¡°Tell your employees to collect any grape from nearby farms. Does it make sense that we can¡¯t sell because we are short of wine? It¡¯s been so stressful.¡±


    ¡°You should take it easy. Hire some more staff and work less.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will. Hey, why did youe to Frankfurt all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an issue. The autonomous state will be in trouble for a while.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is there going to be a war in Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that our state will have to demand independence soon.¡±


    ¡°That Kazakh president is so generous. Is he going to allow it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a littleplicated.¡±


    ¡°Did you do something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡±


    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re in trouble, youe to me. Don¡¯t you remember when you entered the strange unit, right after joining the Navy? The whole family flipped because of that and I was the one who had to exin everything to your family.¡±


    ¡°For the hundredth time, it¡¯s not a strange unit. It¡¯s the Special Forces! And you didn¡¯t go to my parents¡¯ house because of me. You went there to see Yun-suh. I told you that Yun-suh is a handful, but you went head over heels for her and married her in the end!¡±


    ¡°Oh, please. I was into Yun-suh after your parents passed.¡±


    ¡°Phew, alright. Anyway, I¡¯m just giving you a heads-up. There might be bad news soon, but don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Youngho! Our lives are already better here. Don¡¯t overdo it. ¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but now it¡¯s irreversible. I¡¯m responsible for this.¡±


    ¡°Man, it might have been better for us to stay in Korea. We didn¡¯t have much but it was not so hard.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just think that this is our fate. I have no regrets.¡±


    ¡°Dude, do you know how you look today? You look liked you lived all of your life already. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°How do I look?¡±


    ¡°I just told you. You lookpletely exhausted. Why do you live such a hard life?¡±


    ¡°Sang-chun, let¡¯s just drink. I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡±

 Chapter 433 - Looking One Way and Rowing Another (1)

    <h4>Chapter 433: Looking One Way and Rowing Another (1)</h4>


    After meeting Michael, Youngho¡¯s mind was lightened.


    The situation hade to the point where the United States had to be involved.


    Youngho used the autonomous state as bait, but from the standpoint of the U.S., it was only a tiny state. However, losing the entire Central Asia would be a crisis for the U.S. too. The U.S. would have to use the Arirang Autonomous State in order to stop the crisis from happening.


    He would be only ying the role of a puppet of the U.S., but it did not matter. Pride was the least thing he needed. He could recover his pride after he put out the immediate fire.


    What he had to do right now was to do buy some time by talking to President Nazarbayev.


    He intended to tell the president that it was practically difficult to build the armored vehicle assembly nt in the autonomous state and to be the sessor of the presidency. He was very curious about Nazarbayev¡¯s reaction when he said he was stepping back.


    After preparing for his trip, he soon flew to Astana.


    ¡°What brings you here in the midst of business?¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, there¡¯s nothing to be busy now. The autonomous state is so small that there¡¯s not much to look at.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Why are you diminishing the autonomous state? Did someone say that to you?¡±


    The president did not look sincere anymore, even though he had a worrisome look on his face.


    ¡°The biggest weakness of the state is that it¡¯s so remote. There¡¯s no heavy industriesplex near the state, so it won¡¯t be possible to build an armored truck assembly nt in the state even if I want to.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s your confidence? You are stepping down already?¡±


    ¡°Even if there are rted businesses nearby, there are not enough people to work for the assembly nt.¡±


    ¡°O...kay? So, is there another great site for it?¡±


    ¡°The city of Atyrau would be appropriate.¡±


    ¡°You must be bitter to let it go.¡±


    ¡°I guess it was my bad that I dared to say that I¡¯ll build the nt in the autonomous state when we can¡¯t even afford it. Still, it¡¯s great that the city of Atyrau has a refinery nt, parts, and machinerypanies nearby.¡±


    ¡°The problem of Kazakhstan is that the industrialplexes are concentrated near the Russian border.¡±


    Most of the industrial cities that were established in the Soviet Union era were built near the Trans-Siberian train tracks and mines. Since this was the region that was majorly popted by Russians, it was a ce where it was repeatedly mentioned to be an autonomous state. Youngho did not want to build the assembly nt in such an unstable ce, so he picked Atyrau.


    ¡°That¡¯s a shame. Isn¡¯t it the same with the aviation industry? You don¡¯t have any rtable business around the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true. But, there are no aviationpanies in Kazakhstan. I¡¯m nning to import semi-finished products to make aircrafts and focus on training engineers.¡±


    As Youngho said it by pretending to be discouraged, the president seemed to be convinced. He looked slightly disappointed that military supplies could not be produced in the state.


    Whether or not he was nning to cut off Youngho, the autonomous state was the best ce to build such factories since it would not be interrupted by Russia.


    ¡°I see. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to get technical partnership for the aviation industry, either.¡±


    ¡°Since there¡¯s no infrastructure, only partnership for the production of aircraft bodies will be possible. Kazakhstan¡¯s base for material andponent industry, fabrication, and assembly industry are too weak.¡±


    ¡°The field of the aviation industry is vital to Kazakhstan. Our country is too wide to rely only onnd transport. I¡¯ll give you more time. Please find a way to do it in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best. I¡¯m sure I can build a propeller ne in several years.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll look forward to the good news.¡±


    As talking to the president, Youngho was slightly relieved from tension. The president seemed to be his normal self, so Youngho asked about the issue of a sessor.


    ¡°Your Excellency, I¡¯ve been thinking about Kazakhstan¡¯s future, but I don¡¯t think I can be your sessor. I wasn¡¯t even born here and I don¡¯t have any political base. I don¡¯t want to be a scratch to your reputation.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? There¡¯s no one good as you. Don¡¯t worry about it and just be prepared.¡±


    ¡°There are so many people who could be your sessor. Someone who¡¯s venerable should lead the future Kazakhstan. I don¡¯t havepetence for the position. I¡¯m just a mere merchant.¡±


    The president looked at Youngho¡¯s face closely to read Youngho¡¯s intention. Pretending that he did not notice him, Youngho went on.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you. What do you fear?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just a foreigner and a stranger to people. I¡¯m not even a Koryoin. I only run a small state. How will I run the vastnd of Kazakhstan? Who¡¯s going to support me?¡±


    ¡°They say position trains people. You¡¯ll grow as you make your way up.¡±


    ¡°I epted your proposal previously, but I think I¡¯ve misjudged. I¡¯ll be satisfied with supporting the next leader as long as the autonomous state is safe.¡±


    ¡°You said that Russia and China are not going to leave us alone, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no argument that we should still build our military strength, but there¡¯s no point of worrying about the future that has not happened yet and that might never happen as well.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t leave Kazakhstan to anyone.¡±


    ¡°I know your concerns, but it¡¯ll be best if you can find someone suitable in the officialdom and politic world. Only then, they¡¯ll be able to get the support of the Kazakh people.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re qualified.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, thank you for your support, but someone that would be supported by the public should take the role. I don¡¯t have the qualifications for it since I¡¯m not from here.¡±


    ¡°Take your time to think about it. You¡¯re not under a rush. My health is great right now.¡±


    The president had a look of relief on his face after talking to Youngho.


    ***


    After Youngho visited the Presidential Pce, Jong-il was curious about their conversation.


    ¡°Talk to me in detail. What did he say?¡±


    ¡°I told him that the armored vehicle assembly nt will be built in Atyrau and I¡¯m not interested in seeding his position. I think I earned some time but I still couldn¡¯t figure out his intention.¡±


    ¡°The man has been in power for decades. It won¡¯t be easy to find out what¡¯s in his heart.¡±


    ¡°Then I justined for the rest of our conversation.¡±


    ¡°Phew, okay. Looks like you didn¡¯t find out much from this trip. We¡¯ll only have a shot when the monitoring equipment from the UK arrived.¡±


    ¡°There are some things to do before that. I think we need to turn the president¡¯s attention to somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way.¡±


    Youngho had a n to make the president a little busy.


    This should be done in order to drive his attention away from the autonomous state. Kazakhstan bordered six countries, so it was always sensitive to trends of the neighboring countries. Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan often had territorial disputes but since they were all Muslim countries, they did not have huge problems. However, the border area with China was always problematic.


    Since Kazakhstan supplied raw materials, such as oil and gas, and bought industrial products from China, there were active economic exchanges between the two countries. But, the border area always had trouble with the Chinese people who lived on the Kazakh side.


    Chinese people were found to have lived in a mountainous border area for a while after breaking into the region and illegally seizing the area. Because of this, the two countries were on a rough term.


    The Chinese government argued that it could not control the traveling people, and the Kazakh government insisted that it was the fault of China for giving little attention to the border.


    Youngho was going to use China to disperse the president¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stir up China¡¯s border area.¡±


    ¡°You want to disperse the president¡¯s attention?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I should. I should remind him that a weak sessor can¡¯t handle the uncertain future of Kazakhstan. The Kazakh people also think that there is no problem because the border area has been quiet. People will be rmed when there¡¯s a dispute.¡±


    ¡°Alright! How are we going to do this?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make it seem idental and it should lead to an emotional, hostile shoot-out.¡±


    The border dispute rarely developed into a local battle. Since the two countries were economically benefited from trades, they would try to wrap it up hurriedly, but a border dispute often was developed to a pride fight, which was hard to be calmed down.


    When the tension continued, President Nazarbayev would have to focus on easing the tension and increasing the national defense.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to wait and see what Michael brings, before moving?¡±


    ¡°If he finds out about the border dispute, he will move more quickly. Let¡¯s do this first and think of our next move slowly.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il went to Almaty under the pretext of going on a business trip.


    Spending a night in Arirang Hotel in Almaty, they went to Zharkent¡ªa border town, by train the next day.


    After waiting near the train station until the evening, they ran to the Chinese border.


    After panting for a while for running furiously, Jong-il pointed to a guard post on the Chinese side of the border. It was facing the Kazakh guard post on the Kazakh side of the border.


    On the second floor where there was a watchtower, there were two guards. There was a machine gun.


    The two guard posts had bright lights on which were quite unique. They seemed to disy their friendly rtionship with China. There was no tension in the atmosphere.


    ¡°If this is the atmosphere here, they¡¯ll treat our shooting as an ident. If they don¡¯t start a shoot-out, there¡¯s no point for this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to stop after today. When we do this for several more times, there will be a movement here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll cross to the opposite side. You stay here. Let¡¯s begin shooting exactly after 30 minutes from now.¡±


    After assembling sniper rifles, the two each stood about 50 meters away from the guard post of each side.


    The two agreed to fire ten shots to each guard¡¯s posts.


    Youngho could see the sight of the guard post via his telephoto lens. There was a soldier who was smoking outside of the post. Since he was close, Youngho could target his arm and leg. It was because there is no intention to kill.


    He did not install a silencer, so the sound of gunfire was spread in the night sky. The soldiers in the guard post flipped out as soon as they heard the noise.


    Since he prepared tracer bullets, they could see where the bullets wereing from. It was from the opposite side of the border.


    It was the same for the Chinese side, as Jong-il had done the same from the opposite side.


    After a while, they heard loud, consecutive exchanges of gunfire between both sides.


    Because there were casualties, soldiers were madly shooting at each other.


    The two hurried out of the site because they did not wish to get hurt by the blind bullets.

 Chapter 434 - Looking One Way and Rowing Another (2)

    <h4>Chapter 434: Looking One Way and Rowing Another (2)</h4>


    ¡°We got them started firing at each other. Look, now they¡¯re firing machine guns.¡±


    ¡°Three of them are wounded. They must be going crazy now.¡±


    ¡°Only three? I¡¯ve shot six on the Chinese side. One or two of them must be in critical condition.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why they¡¯re so stirred.¡±


    ¡°Hey, the Kazakh soldiers are getting into their armored vehicles. I think they¡¯re trying to shoot even the 20-millimeter machine guns.¡±


    ¡°This is a great development. Let¡¯s stir the other ce one more time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re done here. Let¡¯s raid somepany or battalion headquarters.¡±


    ¡°We should wait until tomorrow and see how it will turn out before we move further.¡±


    ¡°No, it has to be tonight. Any judgment made in the border area is left to the front-linemanders. If we keep making a mess, they might even mobilize artillery. If the heads of the two countries talk on the phone tomorrow, it will be the end of the situation. Then the whole point of this will be wasted.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hit one more post and attack the support unit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we¡¯ve done something like this.¡±


    The light at the guard post, about four kilometers away, was already turned off, and the sentries were all fully alerted. Youngho and Jong-il split to each side and fired at each sides. The two sides were, even more, shook and alerted. After watching the soldiers go nuts, they went over to the Chinese side to find a support unit.


    ¡°It¡¯s only apany-size unit. I don¡¯t see many soldiers. Looks like they all went to the border to back up their side.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to go through the armory first. My weapon is too weak.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just attack here with a rifle and take off. It¡¯s only fair when we attack the Kazakh side too.¡±


    ¡°You take the guard at the entrance. I¡¯m going to shoot the guy on the lookout.¡±


    As soon as he finished talking, bullets went off to designated soldiers.


    As the loud gunfire was heard, there was amotion inside the unit.


    Any soldiers that came out of their barracks became Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s target.


    If one approached the garrison and indiscriminately killed the soldiers, he must be an enemy, but not the soldiers at the Chinese and Kazakh borders were not in a hostile rtionship. They were just ced there to monitor those trying to smuggle themselves into each country without going through border checkpoints. The two sides werepletely shaken by the sudden attack of gunfire.


    That night, Youngho and Jong-il went through all of the border guard posts without sleeping.


    They came back to Zargent only after they used up their tracer bullets.


    ¡°Man! I feel alive again. My stress is all gone.¡±


    ¡°We should have gone easy on the Kazakh side. I hope we were not too hard on them.¡±


    ¡°They have been living under pressure by the Chinese border forces all along. This is the only way that they¡¯ll fight like a madman.¡±


    It was said that the most belligerent people in the world were the Cossacks, the Tatars, and the Kazakhs. The Russians of the 17th century did not even look at the Central Asian side based on the Ural Mountains because of the hostile Kazakhs. The defense bases built to the east of the Ural Mountains to stop the invasion of the Kazakh people had be what were now southern Russian cities.


    ¡°This suits us. We try hard to be the duke and baron, but I feel suffocated. It¡¯s great to be able to relieve stress. This is also beneficial for the border guards. We just trained them to be stronger.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, Karajan would love to hear that. You know how much she¡¯s proud to be a nobleman.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this on a regr basis to warm ourselves up from now on, or we can take advantage of the ring¡¯s ability to rob a bank or something.¡±


    ¡°What? Rob a bank?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying, man.¡±


    ¡°Just hold on. There¡¯s just one ce in Almaty that¡¯s tailored to your request.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The presidential vi is in Almaty.¡±


    ¡°What does the president¡¯s vi have to do with the bank?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where his secret money is hidden.¡±


    ***


    The border area between Kazakhstan and China had been a ce of dispute since the Soviet era. At that time there were pretty fierce battles, and after independence, it remained in tension for a while.


    However, China¡¯s unrequited love began whenrge-scale oilfields were discovered in Kazakhstan. China, which needed oil, put down the border issue, which had been going on for decades. With the Xinjiang Uyghur people at the forefront, China had been putting much effort to keep economic exchanges in the border areas and build a rtionship with Kazakhstan. However, the ce where Youngho and Jong-il stirred up was, unfortunately, a ce that had often been damaged by the border zoning issue before then. It was now impossible to cover it up as another idental incident because it had provoked old hostile feelings.


    ¡°Jeez, I guess we opened a can of worms.¡±


    ¡°I guess so. The fire¡¯s not ceasing even now. Sine we attacked the support unit as well, it¡¯s be a bigger issue.¡±


    After the night the two left the border area, Kazakhstan¡¯s newspapers and broadcastingpanies made a huge fuss about the border dispute. They were furious about China¡¯s action that provoked their old feelings. Media outlets urged to cut off exchanges with China and strengthen the military force at the border area. It was because the attack caused dozens of casualties and dead people.


    The Chinese side also strongly protested that it was only idental, but the Kazakhs were not going to believe it. The world press also spected that China must have started it first.


    Whether it was idental or not, the situation was getting worse.


    After waiting two more days, Youngho and Jong-il went to the border again. Since the Kazakh press broadcasted the disputed area on a map, they went to those ces to stir up more things. This time, they attacked regardless of circumstances. It was intended to stimte the pride of soldiers on both sides.


    On the first day, military leaders came forward on TV to confirm it was an idental shoot-out caused by soldiers, who were confused by the sudden situation, but after the second incident, it was clear that it was intentional.


    ¡°Now, they have nothing to me. The world press will move too, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, China has touched Kazakhstan, which is like a Russian subjugation country. This is bound to be sensitive. Frence journalists¡¯ favorite storyline is war.¡±


    ¡°Now let¡¯s visit one more ce and withdraw.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°You said we can rob the president¡¯s vi.¡±


    ¡°Are you insane? How dare you think about robbing his vi in this situation?¡±


    ¡°What about it? Isn¡¯t this the perfect opportunity? Let¡¯s just check and see how much money he has. Let¡¯s just make sure if he¡¯s a tax thief who sucked people¡¯s blood or a real nationalist. I want to see how much he collected to give to his daughters.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen after we made that sure?¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t forgive him. We can¡¯t support such a person as our president.¡±


    ¡°You know, the person who¡¯s in charge of his assets there is a Koryoin. He¡¯s the president¡¯s, right-hand man. I don¡¯t want to hurt him.¡±


    ¡°Why do you care about such a rotten man? He is protecting the president¡¯s money that was robbed from the Kazakh people. He should be punished too. Are you going to forgive a murder just because he¡¯s a Koryoin?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he was doing it to protect the Koryoin people. It¡¯s something we¡¯ll never know.¡±


    ¡°So, you don¡¯t want to do this?¡±


    ¡°Unless we have a decent n.¡±


    Since there was an emergency at the border, the police must have been alerted too. It was a big adventure when they robbed the president¡¯s vi in a situation like this.


    ***


    Jong-il whistled as he was staring up at the president¡¯s vi in Almaty.


    It was indeed a jaw-dropping sight.


    ¡°This is a vi? It¡¯s rather a castle.¡±


    ¡°This is smaller than the President¡¯s Pce in Astana.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that ce is just beyond this world.¡±


    The President¡¯s Pce in Astana was 80 meters tall and was decorated with marbles all over the building. It was said that a Turkish architecturalpany was in charge of building the ce. Since it was built for the president for life, it was indeed quite spectacr.


    ¡°Are you sure that the Koryoin property manager went to Astana?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Our agents made sure of it. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not protecting this ce. It¡¯s the security guards.¡±


    ¡°Did you get the trucks ready?¡±


    ¡°Two are waiting for our call.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡±


    The president had sent ten tons of gold bars to the autonomous state. This meant that he had much more than that hidden somewhere, which must be either his vi or the Presidential Pce, or it could be both.


    So, 25 tons of two dump trucks were ready. Youngho was ready to fill them all up with the president¡¯s belongings before taking off.


    After checking that no one was watching, the two instantly climbed over the wall around the vi. There were watchdogs in the blind spots of the security cameras, so they quickly struck them to take them down. It seemed the security was quite tight.


    ¡°These dogs look like ck leopards, and not regr dogs.¡±


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s take care of the central control center, first.¡±


    ¡°There are not many security guards. I guess they are being sloppy because their boss is not here.¡±


    ¡°Well, with those high walls, I bet they never had invaders before.¡±


    ¡°Takedown anyone you see, even sleeping guards.¡±


    It did not take them ten minutes to defeat all of the security guards of the vi. After disabling all of the security equipment, they began navigating through the vi.


    ¡°I bet he stored heavy gold bars in his basement since they would have to be moved with forklifts and trucks.¡±


    ¡°There weremps leading downstairs on the right side of the front door.¡±


    Traditionally, valuables were kept in a safe. However, as gold bars were heavy, a sturdy warehouse where forklifts could go in was the best ce to store them.


    ¡°Since we have a lot of time now, let¡¯s look everywhere thoroughly. I wonder what he¡¯s hiding here that needs security this tight.¡±


    ¡°This must not be clean wealth that the public shouldn¡¯t find out. Let¡¯s take all of them and use them for a greater purpose.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. Those paintings on the wall look expensive.¡±


    There were antique-looking paintings hung all over the hallways and stairways. Youngho did not really know about arts, but if they were real, they could cost millions of dors.


    ¡°They must be fake. Who disys expensive paintings outside?¡±


    ¡°Hey, we all know the president is rich. I¡¯m going to take them all.¡±


    ¡°Oh, just leave them alone. What are you going to do with old paintings anyway?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll maybe sell them to Eriksson. A genuine painting of a well-known artist can cost millions of dors.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. I¡¯ll go to the basement while you do your thing here.¡±


    Despite Jong-il¡¯s telling-off, Youngho carefully removed dozens of paintings on the wall.


    Since the president was filthy rich, his paintings were likely to be genuine.


    After Youngho finished taking off the paintings, he went up to the second floor expecting to find even more valuable things.

 Chapter 435 - Looking One Way and Rowing Another (3)

    <h4>Chapter 435: Looking One Way and Rowing Another (3)</h4>


    ¡°What a thief. What¡¯s all this? He stole this much from the Kazakh people but lied that he devoted his whole life for the country.¡±


    In the basement, the two found a breath-taking amount of gold bars and a wad of cash. The half of a stash of money that the president stored could create countless jobs for Kazakh local people. To think about the people who went abroad to find jobs, Youngho unwittingly uttered harsh words.


    ¡°How much do you think all of this amount to?¡±


    ¡°There are 50 boxes of gold bars. Each box would have about 1,000 bars. I don¡¯t even know how much are those euro and dor cash.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take all of them.¡±


    ¡°Um, how are we going to do that?¡±


    ¡°Even if I have a t wheel on the way, I¡¯ll make it happen.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, how can I stop you?¡±


    ¡°If left here, they will be taken to the president¡¯s overseas bank ount. I can¡¯t let that happen.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re worse than me. Don¡¯t you need to leave him some?¡±


    ¡°No, he won¡¯t blink even if we take all of this. He¡¯d have a bunch more hidden in overseas ounts and other ces.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s call the trucks. We¡¯ll figure it out as we load them.¡±


    Gold bars and cash had been stored in packages, so Youngho and Jong-il could load them onto the trucks with forklifts.


    The problem was to avoid inspection of the police outside. Thankfully, the president¡¯s vi was located in a remote ce, and it was close to a highway. Once they entered the highway, they would be fine, but they had to figure out how to get to the highway.


    It was early in the morning, so there would not be a lot of policemen, but the Kazakh police were on the emergency line of duty due to the border area conflict.


    ¡°The security cameras on the way are all disabled, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, our agents are experts at that. The problem is stopping through checkpoints. Should we just run through them?¡±


    ¡°Do you know why I told you to prepare two 25-ton dump trucks? I thought about driving in the field.¡±


    ¡°How will they stand driving on rough dirt?¡±


    ¡°You know these trucks can carry 30 tons easily. The gold bars, money, and other stuff will only be about 25 tons. Look at those tires. They¡¯repletely fine.¡±


    ¡°The cash estimate is roughly worth over three billion dors.¡±


    ¡°It will be more than that because there are euros too. I am sad that I can¡¯t take all of the antiques.¡±


    ¡°Lee Youngho, you¡¯re finally bing greedy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am. I also want to explore this ce so bad.¡±


    ¡°Is there any more to take?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a little safe on the second floor, but that¡¯s quite heavy. I don¡¯t know how to carry it.¡±


    ¡°You should roll it down from the second floor. Nobody¡¯s going to me you for being rough on the safe.¡±


    The linear distance between the autonomous state and Almaty was about 1,900 kilometers, but it was way longer in real life because of the rough roads that were not straight. Also, divers would have to eat, take care of nature¡¯s calls, and sleep, so their running time was only about 15 hours a day at maximum.


    Jong-il, Youngho, and intelligence agents of the state took turns to drive two trucks. They had to drive on rough fields to avoid police officers. It took them three full days before they arrived at the autonomous state.


    Which on the way, they checked with the agents who resided in Almaty, and they reported that there was no special movement at the president¡¯s vi. The president must be either too shocked or ignorant because this much property was nothing to him.


    Youngho checked what he had brought. There were 50 tons of gold bars, which were close to 2.7 billion dors in cash, and the total cash they brought, which included euro and dors, was worth a little more than 3.5 billion dors. It was quite shocking that the president had this much stored in his vi.


    Maybe the president could not even report it to the police since it was his secret money. Even if he did, with Kazakh police¡¯s ability, it would not be easy to find the criminal with a careful n.


    ***


    At Arirang Wharf, a car ferry was sounding the boat horn to leave. On the ferry, two trucks that carried gold bars and cash were loaded. Youngho was moving them to the Serbian ranch in Baku.


    Jong-il had a satisfied smile on his face.


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we buy some fighter jets and attack helicopters with this money?¡±


    ¡°We should be cautious or the president will suspect us.¡±


    ¡°It was a perfect crime. Who¡¯s going to doubt us? The president is too busy to pay attention to the autonomous state now.¡±


    Youngho was intrigued by Jong-il¡¯s suggestion.


    Since the president had already given a billion dors as an investment for strengthening national defense, it did not seem so crazy to buy such aircrafts. Judging by the current situation at the border, buying military aircrafts and reinforcing the autonomous state¡¯s force would be weed by the military too, especially when such aircrafts could not be delivered right after the purchase unlike tanks and armored vehicles.


    The first step to take was to train pilots and engineers for the aircrafts. The autonomous state already had nearly 200 pilots that had been training, so some talented people from them could be recruited for the fighter jets and attack helicopters.


    ¡°I should go to Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°To buy the jets?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They will take time anyway, so let¡¯s prepare them in advance.¡±


    ¡°What changed your mind?¡±


    ¡°Even if the president decides to step down easily, I don¡¯t think can I forgive him. He¡¯s been filling his stomach with the Kazakh people¡¯s money. The money we stole is only the tip of the iceberg. More money should be hidden somewhere else. I¡¯ll find it all.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going crazy over money now.¡±


    ¡°You know when people find missing money, they¡¯re rewarded with some percentage of the money they found, right? Just think of it like that. We¡¯re getting rewarded for giving the Kazakh people¡¯s money back.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to take over the whole country with the money you took?¡±


    ¡°Be quiet. People will hear you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let them all hear. Is this even a country? I don¡¯t know where to start since the whole governmental system is rotten and stinky.¡±


    ¡°If the state wants to live, the government must be overthrown.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s bring some more Special Forces junior soldiers from Korea. They¡¯re all suffering without a decent job. They¡¯de running if we say we¡¯ll hire them as our foreign soldiers.¡±


    In order to take the state¡¯s fragile military power to the next level, hiring former Special Forces members in Korea were the best alternatives.


    ¡°You want me to make a foreign legion?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If we have a civil war or a battle, there¡¯s no way we¡¯re not going to stand the whole Kazakh military force. We have to go on guerri-style non-regr warfare to win.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Contact the Union right away. Let¡¯s see how many people are willing toe. If they want to bring their family, tell them we¡¯ll also provide a house for them.¡±


    ¡°You want their families to move here too? We never know when the battle will take ce.¡±


    ¡°If their familiese along, I¡¯ll let them live at the farm in Baku. We¡¯ll expand our farms and wine factories, so we need more workers anyway. More people will apply if we let them settle down in Baku.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. The families of Zeynep Security Service employees are all living on the farm, so they¡¯ll adjust to the farm life easily.¡±


    ¡°When Kazakhstan is stabilized, then we¡¯ll let them settle down here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know when that day wille.¡±


    ¡°Oh, trust me. We¡¯ll make that happen.¡±


    ***


    From the day the ring and leather shoesnded on Youngho¡¯s hands, his fate had already been determined. When he visited Fatima after searching the streets of Istanbul, he felt some joy. The spirit of the ring led him to Fatima. It was also the power of the Ring that enabled him to make the autonomous state.


    He could not let the president use the state as a scapegoat for mere transfer of power. Various circumstances had determined that the president had no intention of giving power to Youngho. The huge amount of the slush money that came out from the vi really made his mindpletely turn around. The president was never a patriot, nor was he a leader that many Kazakh people thought he was. All he cared about was his family¡¯s wealth and preserving it.


    The news covered the border dispute as a top news item day after day, and the world was also paying attention to Kazakhstan as well.


    If Kazakhstan failed to properly protest to China, President Nazarbayev¡¯s leadership would fall to the ground.


    However, things were going in an unexpected direction. The world¡¯s media was focusing on criticizing the life of the president of Kazakhstan, which was encouraging a non-democratic system.


    For the sake of the state, this was a great sign that could cause instability in the political situation.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t mean it, but it turned out that we provoked something for the media.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m sure the president will be alert this time. The issue of long-term rule, which no one cared about, is being talked about repeatedly now. It¡¯s the beginning of the democratization of Kazakhstan. The opposition party is excited, too.¡±


    ¡°The president shouldn¡¯t be pushed too much into the corner. I¡¯m afraid it will shake up the regime.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Russia send its troops under the pretext of protecting their own people in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what worries me. When the power of the president is weakened, the demands of the minority people for autonomy wille out like a flood. Especially the entire northern industrial city where there are a lot of Russians will be shaken hard.¡±


    ¡°I hope we didn¡¯t make it too big.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a border dispute. It¡¯s always been there. The problem is the prolonged rule that the world press is talking about. If Kazakh people find out about his hidden property, they won¡¯t stay put. You know once the good guys turn their backs, they be the fiercest enemy.¡±


    ¡°When the people stand up against him, he¡¯ll have to find a ce where he can get exiled first.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll hold out with his key supporters. He might get ready for a civil war.¡±


    ¡°What if he asks for our help?¡±


    ¡°I would¡¯ve helped him before, but I¡¯ll stand on the other side of the war.¡±


    Eventually, what Youngho was worried about came to life. The European press mentioned the assets held by Nazarbayev¡¯s daughters. It revealed the title of the eldest daughter as the deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan and the astronomical wealth of the second daughter.


    The Kazakh media, which had been controlled by the government, also began to carefully cite the news from European media. The media had to deal with the news because the world¡¯s major media outlets had already aired it in real-time before then.


    Soon, the news sent shockwaves through the Inte.


    People were curious about what the president did to make his daughter¡¯s property that was worth about twelve billion dors. This was because it would have never happened if the president had not given it to her.


    Kim Chun entered Youngho¡¯s office with an excited look on his face.


    ¡°Have you seen the news, prince consort?¡±


    ¡°I saw it. Even the Kazakh media is focusing on this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s proof that the government is in a state of limbo, beyond the control of the press. The president¡¯s approval rating is also dropping sharply. There are anti-government protests in the city of Almaty.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a ce where a lot of elites live. It¡¯s not great if a civil war is triggered there...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem. Almaty has other minority people than themon Kazakh people. If they rebel against the government, no one will be able to control them.¡±


    The situation was twisted as the influence-peddling scandal involving the president¡¯s family surfaced.

 Chapter 436 - The Foreign Legion of the Arirang (1)

    <h4>Chapter 436: The Foreign Legion of the Arirang (1)</h4>


    Anti-government protests were temporarily muted in response to strong police restriction.


    However, it was like an active volcano waiting to erupt at any time.


    The unstable political situation had led to a decline in the productivity of industrial goods and daily necessities factories, which even shook the working-ss economy.


    Kazakhstan was the world¡¯srgest resource-rich country. Yet, it was still a poverty-stricken ce despite earning huge foreign currency.


    The self-sustaining industrial development had been subjugated to the economic sphere of Russia and China, as it turned a blind eye and relied on imports for most manufactured goods and daily necessities. Being a little conscious would not have led this country to such a mess. How much money would it cost to build a factory for manufactured goods or daily necessities? If only there had been a few factories built in different regions, people would not have to suffer poverty. This was because of the vicious circle of corruption in officialdom and government that siphoned off the country¡¯s money.


    However, it was a shock to President Nazarbayev that the Kazakh people who had been supporting him staged an anti-government protest. The public sector was also in a state of limbo that paralyzed their work. So, various welfare systems began to falter.


    As a result, the president, who had often been seen in national events, no longer appeared in the public¡¯s eyes. The doctors of the autonomous state went to the Presidential Pce every month to check the president¡¯s health. ording to the medical staff who recently visited there, the president had been really stressed out.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a mental breakdown.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d better give up his power now. He needs to find an asylum instead of hiding.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he doesn¡¯t have money to leave. We stole all of his money.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re funny. Why wouldn¡¯t there be anywhere to go?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to take him? Unless he owns an ind in the South Pacific or something, I don¡¯t know. By the way, the border area is quiet. The two militaries are now sorting this out, I think they¡¯ll wrap it up at this point. Should we go again to stir things up? It¡¯s now or never.¡±


    ¡°No. It worked out rather well. The border needs to be quiet for the corruption in the government to continue to be illuminated. Hey, what¡¯s going on with the n of convincing the police leadership?¡±


    ¡°A couple of mid-level officers are very favorable to our state, so we¡¯re working on them. One of them sent a sick person from his family to our hospital, and he was very grateful. We also provided his family who came as caregivers a temporary shelter.¡±


    ¡°Really? That was very good. No one would hate to take care of their family. Keep it up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my n. I¡¯m going to impress the family of the sick person while they¡¯re here. Apparently, they loved the school and hospital here and were surprised to hear that there was a medical school too. They visited the administration office and asked about their qualifications to live in the county.¡±


    ¡°Then make me live here.¡±


    The Kazakh people who originally lived in the area that was added to the autonomous state could be residents of the state, but the central government had not yet allowed epting Kazakh people from other regions to the state. The families of the Navy or the Maritime Police were only living in the state for working convenience, but they were not official residents either.


    ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to bring Kazaks under the currentw, how are we going to bring them here?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t break the rules. We have to find a way to make an excuse.¡±


    ¡°The police officers can¡¯t leave Astana, and how can he make his family live here?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you have a smart brain. Why don¡¯t you use it?¡±


    ¡°All I can think of is turning the whole family into patients.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an answer. Register them all as patients and hold them as a hostage.¡±


    ***


    Youngho and his friends gathered at the office to discuss the political situation.


    Jong-il was now reporting the Korean applicants who applied to be the foreign legion.


    ¡°How many people have applied?¡±


    ¡°Over 300 people and more people are still applying. The U.D.T. Union was worried that there¡¯s going to be too many applicants. Are all of these people really from Korea?¡±


    ¡°How much sry did you offer?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t offer a lot. It¡¯s only 42,000 dors in annual sry, plusbatmissions. I think they liked the fact that we provide houses and jobs for their families too. Many of them are not married, but they¡¯re willing to bring their parents here.¡±


    ¡°What? They want to risk their life for only that much money?¡±


    It was a huge amount of money for them, but by European standards, it was not a lot.


    ¡°What are you talking about? All applicants are in their mid-20s orte 20s. Imagine that people in their 20s get paid as a manager of a mid-sizedpany. It¡¯s never a small amount of money for them.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the initial sry for argepany is well over 34,000 dors?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s limited to greatpanies. Most people don¡¯t get that much. And you know the ex-Special Forces don¡¯t havepetitiveness in bigpanies. Many of them didn¡¯t even go to college.¡±


    ¡°It seems that Korea is not easy to live in, either.¡±


    It seemed that the applicants did not have regrets leaving Korea since they wanted to bring their parents too. Since they had no decent jobs in Korea, they wanted toe here to settle down and get married.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be expecting the beautifuldies of Caucasus.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re indeed great and pretty. Look at my wife Karajan. She¡¯s so faithful to her husband, and she keeps her radiant beauty even after having two children.¡±


    ¡°You made a great choice. You should thank me for the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°Baku girls are pretty, but they can be spiteful. I think Armenian women are a lot better.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan interrupted and bragged about his wife. Then Cha In-soo also made ament,


    ¡°A Korean woman is the best.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, boys! Stop bragging about your wife. Fatima is the best.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so proud of you for getting married to the girl you raised.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Everyone burst intoughter despite the serious situation of Kazakhstan. It was great that they could afford to make jokes andugh regardless of the situation.


    ***


    Youngho flew to Istanbul to process his ns.


    The chairman of Ko? Holding Group, Enes Kaya, weed Youngho¡¯s visit as if he had met a savior. It seemed that he was worried that all the work with Kazakhstan that he had been pushing for would be ruined because of the situations in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I feel like my worries have disappeared now that I see you. Our business won¡¯t be affected by this, will it?¡±


    ¡°The situation is bad, but the business has to be carried out ording to the contract.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh officials who are in charge of the business are not responding at all. I¡¯m stuck because I didn¡¯t get the president¡¯s approval for the establishment of a joint factory in Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯ve reached a verbal agreement with the president, and if the officials are not working on it, we¡¯ll have no choice but to set it up in the autonomous state as it was originally nned.¡±


    ¡°Will that be possible?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already received the deposit from the Kazakh government. It doesn¡¯t matter where the factory is built. I¡¯ll be responsible for it.¡±


    The Kazakh government had not yet edited the documents of the joint factory, which was originally nned to be built in the autonomous state. In other words, there were no public servants who were willing to ept such a trifle in the current atmosphere. This was a good opportunity for Youngho.


    ¡°Duke, but is it going to be alright? You said the president agreed to build it in Atyrau.¡±


    ¡°It was because Iined that there was no infrastructure in the state. The president didn¡¯t force it to build it in Atyrau, so there would be no problem. Actually, the president will be pleased to hear that I changed my mind.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing, then. We¡¯ll send our staff to the autonomous state at any moment.¡±


    Since the president was cornered now, he would not be able to take care of the factory. Youngho also had a justification that he had to act because the joint factory was on the verge of being canceled due to the failure of rted officials to follow up. Even if President Nazarbayev managed to clear the political situation, having a military tank assembly factory would not be problematic. It was because the time had already passed for the president to empower his daughter by turning the state into a threatening force to Kazakhstan. The president was not facing a more urgent problem which was to find a way for his family to survive.


    Despite the political turmoil, Youngho¡¯s self-reliant action to protect Kazakhstan¡¯s national defense was something to be praised by the public. Youngho also agreed to build a semi-finished helicopter assembly line in the state.


    The Russian aviation engineers were recovering well from alcoholism, so it seemed that they would be able to assemble a helicopter easily in the future.


    Chairman Kaya also promised that hispany would be in charge of training pilots and maintenance personnel. He was determined to actively help Youngho to speed up the current business with Kazakhstan. Since Youngho had quite a lot of money from the presidential vi, he did not worry about the fund.


    There was another assignment for Youngho.


    It was to secure the only force in the Caspian Sea, which was Kazakhstan¡¯s missile fleet.


    It would depend on how Victor Jun of the Navy would take Youngho¡¯s suggestion, but if Kazakhstan was divided, the Navy of the Caspian Sea would be left in a state of limbo.


    The Navy, which only served to defend the western coast, was nothing but useless power in the reality of confronting the Chinese and Russian borders.


    Less than one-fiftieth of the Army¡¯s force, the naval force was just old-fashioned, and Victor was always unhappy about it. If Kazakhstan was split, it would not be able to maintain the Navy¡¯s huge budget. For the Navy, the Arirang Autonomous State was the only ce to lean on. Still, it was necessary to approach carefully and ask for Victor¡¯s intention. Youngho was desperate for any armed force that would side with the autonomous state at this time.

 Chapter 437 - The Foreign Legion of the Arirang (2)

    <h4>Chapter 437: The Foreign Legion of the Arirang (2)</h4>


    All of the members from South Korean special forces that Jong-il called ¡®the Foreign Legion of Arirang¡¯ arrived at the autonomous state.


    They came all the way to Kazakhstan because of their own circumstances, but they all looked bright because of the hope for the future.


    After testing 500 applicants, 340 people were qualified to be part of the state¡¯s force. They were divided into five groups and entered Baku.


    After staying in Baku for a week to finish their paperwork for entry, they finally came to the Arirang Autonomous State by a car ferry.


    The gym was filled with the heat the soldiers were emitting.


    Cho Chul-hwan, the chief of the Countryside Force, made a brief bow and introduced each of the county¡¯s leaders.


    Youngho thought that the event would end with a handshake after the introduction, but suddenly he was forced to take the podium because Chul-hwan asked him to give an inspiring speech. Since he did not have anything prepared, he reluctantly took the podium.


    As he was introduced as a duke and the owner of the county, everyone was expecting something hopeful from his mouth. They were not here for a mission, but only for a new job and money, Youngho did not know what would encourage them.


    ¡°I¡¯m Lee Youngho, who invited you all to this ce. I and my friends standing next to me served in the Korean Navy Special Forces back in Korea. I know some of the applicants are from the Navy Special Forces and some from the Army Special Forces.¡±


    Everyone seemed surprised when Youngho introduced the leaders as former special forces.


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve had a lot of trouble applying anding to here. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re safe here because it¡¯s not a dangerous area right now, but you may have to do something tough going forward. I¡¯m not going to give an additional speech, believing that you know how Arirang was created. I¡¯ve called you here to protect the Koryoins, Serbians, and the people who live here.¡±


    When Youngho¡¯s talk became heavy, everyone became serious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re here with the intention of making money as mercenaries, but please remember that the Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s residents are weing you as a new family. From now on, you are not foreign soldiers, you are the young men of the state. If you¡¯ve left Korea to earn money, I hope this will be a good opportunity for you to step up to the world. As much as you love the state, it will do you no harm.¡±


    Youngho was going to conclude there, but he could see all the faces of the soldiers who were expecting more from him. No one looked bored. So, he continued.


    ¡°You are now residents of the Arirang Autonomous State. I can assure you that you¡¯ll never feel lonely here. You won¡¯t be forced into dangerous operations, either. You¡¯re all precious members of the Arirang state. I also left Korea with the same mindset as you. I¡¯ve been working hard, and now I¡¯ve got a city like this.¡±


    There was a brief burst of apuse at this point. It seemed that Youngho¡¯s aplishments here had touched the heart of the people who left their country for a better life.


    ¡°Your seniors, who arrived here a few years ago and settled down before you, married here and made families. And now they¡¯re all managers who get more than 70,000 dors a year. It¡¯s because they worked hard thinking that this is their second home, not a temporary ce to stay and leaveter. I want to give you that opportunity too.¡±


    This time, there was a thunderous ovation with a shout of ¡®waaah.¡¯


    As a person in the congregation shouted, ¡®Hail to the duke of the Arirang Autonomous State!¡¯, some people booed him saying that he was already kissing up to Youngho. The heavy atmosphere was quickly reversed. The mention of sry and marriage captivated them.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the one who just shouted ¡°Hail to the duke¡±?¡±


    Youngho asked and one guy raised his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you out, specially as an administrative soldier. I love people who kiss up to me. But, don¡¯tin that you don¡¯t get thebatmission.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho¡¯s joke was greeted withughter. The first face-to-face meeting with the foreign legion ended well.


    ***


    Michael came to the state with his entourage.


    After a trip to the CIA headquarters, he was supposed to meet Youngho in Frankfurt, but he appeared in the state without notice on a CIA airne. It was an urgent matter.


    ¡°What a surprise. How should I interpret this sudden visit?¡±


    ¡°You told me that I¡¯m an honorary citizen here. Should I notify you in advance when I¡¯ming home? And what are all those Asian guys?¡±


    Michael asked as he pointed to the foreign legion soldiers strolling around the runway.


    ¡°I epted former members of the South Korean special forces because I thought the state needed more force.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking ofunching a coup, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a self-defense force. It¡¯s not like anyone else is going to protect the state, so I stepped up.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to invade Kazakhstan? The border area issue is already settled.¡±


    ¡°Look at the anti-government protests. Russia could send troops to Kazakhstan at any time under the pretext of protecting its own people. Should I stay still in this situation?¡±


    ¡°You think Russia¡¯s going to attack your state? You¡¯re not taking this opportunity to be greedy, are you?¡±


    Michael was quick-witted. Still, Youngho pretended to know nothing about that. He changed the subject quickly.


    ¡°So what brings you here in this urgent manner?¡±


    ¡°Things are getting twisted. President Nazarbayev¡¯s power is falling rapidly, so he won¡¯t be able to sustain it even for a few months. So, I¡¯ve been ordered to persuade you.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t do any reckless move. Things have changed a lot since I talked to you.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. Instead, I promise you other support measures.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to give me a weak support and interfere with the decisions of the autonomous state, I¡¯d rather not receive it.¡±


    ¡°Listen, the future of Central Asia is at stake. If the Arirang Autonomous State ispromised, my career will be at stake, too. If I could, I want to make it an American satellite city.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to hear it in detail.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a drink and talk.¡±


    Youngho and Michael went to the administration office and shared some drinks. Michael, who had been savoring the scent of whiskey, took out his favorite Cuban cigar and offered it to Youngho. It took quite a while to burn up all the cigars. His gesture was an indication that the conversation would take a while.


    ¡°There was a tentative agreement with the Russian government.¡±


    When Youngho tried to open his mouth, he stopped Youngho with his hand and continued.


    ¡°We reminded Russia that although there are rtively many Russians in Kazakhstan, there are more other peoples involved in this. The U.S. and Russia have decided to only engage in external threats.¡±


    ¡°You mean, even if there are signs of brutal suppression of the people with public power in Kazakhstan, the two countries will not intervene?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is a strictly independent country. Even if they ask for troops, no one will want to jump into a civil war.¡±


    ¡°What if this government asked for Russia¡¯s help to stay in power?¡±


    ¡°Russia won¡¯t respond. That¡¯s what we¡¯ve agreed on.¡±


    It was a bit reassuring that Russia was in check for now. Russia, however, would never cease to support huge funds for the independence movements in the northern city. That could not be stopped.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to warn you not to overstep.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t matter if we act in a self-defensive manner. I mean, when the autonomous state is attacked, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course you should protect the state in that case.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why the U.S. is not considering the northern city where the majority of its poption is Russian. It sounds like it doesn¡¯t matter if Kazakhstan is split into pieces.¡±


    ¡°That is an internal matter of Kazakhstan. We can¡¯t do anything about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what happened in Ukraine. It was all taken away by Russia.¡±


    Michael looked puzzled at this point.


    The Ukraine crisis ended with the surrender of a quarter of its territory to Russia. It was also a ce where there was an overwhelming number of Russians.


    ¡°There¡¯s a limit to what we can do. That¡¯s why the U.S. is also going to secretly support the Arirang state.¡±


    ¡°I am in a position of duty to protect the Arirang state. If you¡¯re not going to give me solid support, it¡¯s better to take your hands off.¡±


    Youngho could tell that Michael came with a big offer, but he was not giving it so easily. He was cautious because Youngho might reject it.


    He was promised that the state would not act out of proportion, but he could not prevent the right of self-defense.


    The invocation of the right to self-defense included pre-emptive attacks. If there were any signs of attack from an outside force, the autonomous state could attack it beforehand. That was why the foreign legion was formed.


    After agonizing for a long time, Michael opened his mouth,


    ¡°I¡¯ll support you with patrol ships first. We¡¯re still free to go through the Russian canal, so we can give you that.¡±


    ¡°One or two ships are not enough.¡±


    ¡°First of all, we¡¯re going to support ten 500-ton ss ships that had been used by the U.S. Coast Guard.¡±


    That much reinforcement would give the power to take over the whole Caspian Sea to Youngho. Although he was exuberated, he kept his poker face and answered in a calm manner.


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of a huge conventional patrol ship? It would be better if we had a 200-ton missile ship.¡±


    ¡°The ships are equipped with a missile and a close-up defense system. This will be enough to protect the Caspian Sea and the Ural River in the worst-case scenario.¡±


    The U.S. did not want to miss out on the western Kazakhstan, where an enormous amount of oil and gas were buried. Maybe there was some kind of deal with Russia behind Youngho¡¯s back. Even so, it was not a loss-making business for him. Ultimately, it is an opportunity for the state toy the foundation for independence.


    If a security ship came in, it was like a foreign unit.


    Michael had originally intended to give five patrol ships, but he offered more after seeing that Youngho was determined to raise the self-defense.


    In terms of maneuverability and firepower, there was no such thing as abat ship.


    The ship that Michael offered was abat ship that had firepower equal to that of a battalion of the Army, even though it weighed only 500 tons. Of course, it would beparable to fighter jets armed with state-of-the-art equipment, but were conventional battles took ce, the force ofbat ships was thest straw. If it was equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles¡ªequipped with artillery, it was a great power in the Caspian Sea and Ural river.


    ¡°Is there any more?¡±


    ¡°What more firepower do you need when you have full armored vehicles?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like a weapon that would be a threat to anyone. It would be a great deterrent power.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got hidden weapons, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°How can I be bold enough to give out something that I¡¯ve stolen? We have to leave it as a hidden power.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re getting brazen. How are you going to handle itter?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t oil what America wants? I¡¯ll pay back the U.S. with oil.¡±


    When Youngho mentioned oil, Michael was intrigued slightly. So, Youngho drove a wedge in.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give you a great role as a bridgehead in Central Asia. However, we can¡¯t guarantee when the United States acts against the interests of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will ever happen. To add my personal opinion to this, the U.S. needs the Arirang Autonomous State very much.¡±


    ¡°What can you give me?¡±


    ¡°What kind of weapon do you want?¡±

 Chapter 438 - Making an Allied Force (1)

    <h4>Chapter 438: Making an Allied Force (1)</h4>


    Information gathering equipment from London had been delivered and installed in the autonomous state.


    The data from Britain¡¯s military satellite was also avable, so the state¡¯s ability to collect information increased by dozens.


    Naturally, the state gained the ability to monitor Astana¡¯s Presidential Pce and the residence of the deputy prime minister¡ªPresident¡¯s eldest daughter, in real-time. As the equipment was reinforced, Park Jong-il now mobilized agents to monitor the presidential family.


    Youngho was finally able to take a breath of relief now that he could monitor the president.


    He also received an agreement from the U.S. to support the state, and there was nothing to worry about Russia¡¯s involvement. It can be inferred that the U.S. and Russia had some behind-the-scenes agreements.


    Victor Jun of the Navy visited Youngho¡¯s office. Today was a holiday, so he called him for a cup of tea.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been so busy that I haven¡¯t been able to congratte you on your recent promotion, so I called you today. I hope your wife doesn¡¯t hate me for calling you on your day off.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... my wife is not at home right now. She went to Arirang River with the children to y on the ice.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m d to hear that. It¡¯s a little early, but could you rate the taste of the wine produced this year? You¡¯d be the first outsider to taste it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m honored to be the first one to test this year¡¯s wine, prince consort.¡±


    The wine produced in the year would not be so great, but it was still an honor for Victor Jun since he was the first one to taste it as an outsider. This was proof of their friendship.


    ¡°You know you can¡¯t say it¡¯s bad, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, if the resident of the autonomous state disparages Zeynep Wine, he is disqualified to be a resident.¡±


    ¡°Oops, I almost didn¡¯t trust a loyal resident.¡±


    As the alcohol went around, they started talking about anti-government protests.


    Victor said that it was a pity that the power of the government had fallen to the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be weird if Kazakhstan were to be torn apart into a few pieces, so soon at this rate. I¡¯m very concerned because there had been a precedent where each military authority had been divided into several republics after the copse of the Soviet Union. If the country is divided, especially the Navy won¡¯t have anywhere to turn.¡±


    ¡°In the worst-case scenario, Atyrau should take the Navy.¡±


    ¡°What about the cost to maintain the Navy? The politicians are busy filling their stomachs. They won¡¯t pay for it.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s no one else to handle, I¡¯ll take it myself. The Caspian Sea must be protected.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d cover the cost of maintaining the Navy yourself?¡±


    ¡°The Arirang Autonomous State is isted without the Ural River and the Caspian Sea. I can¡¯t just watch it being taken by outside forces.¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry if everyone feels the same as you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying this to make you feel good. There¡¯s no reason to begrudging the cost of maintaining the Navy or the Maritime Police.¡±


    ¡°Would you really be able to afford to keep the Navy in the worst case?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I just signed a document to bring in ten 500-ton old patrol boats from the United States. In times like this, we want to strengthen our power.¡±


    Victor seemed to have been moved by the news that Youngho would be bringing in ten 500-ton patrol ships. The president was busy with his private problems, but Youngho who was not even a Kazakh native was contributing to the national defense.


    ¡°I¡¯m so proud to be a Koryoin today. Just hearing your words gives me strength.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not doing this for a great cause or anything. It¡¯s just for the safety of our state. Don¡¯t think too big.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything you want from me, feel free to speak up. I¡¯ll do whatever I can to assist you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just thankful that the Navy was doing its job well, despite the chaotic political situation. Again, if the Navy or the Army needs maintenance costs, I¡¯ll be happy to support them.¡±


    ¡°Not only will I, but also the entire Navy family will join your will. I will form a public opinion in the navalmunity.¡±


    ¡°That could be misleading. In times like this, you have to be more careful.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Not only mine, but their future depends on this. They¡¯ll be d to be on your side.¡±


    After the copse of the Soviet Union, many troops and weapons were once vested into independent states because soldiers were not paid properly. That was what Youngho was after. If it was rumored that the autonomous state would provide assistance to the naval soldiers who defended the Caspian Sea in the chaotic period, the Army or Air Force would be intrigued by the story too. If done well, the military can be drawn into the state without any bloodshed.


    ***


    ¡°Listen to this. You¡¯d be shocked.¡±


    Park Jong-il brought the eavesdropping record from the presidential office. Youngho, Cho Chul-hwan, and Cha In-soo were gathered at the office.


    ¡°These people are still out of their minds. They never mention anything about working for the country.¡±


    ¡°Who the hell is the one who just spoke?¡±


    ¡°How should I know by just listening to the voice? My best guess is that he is the chief of the National Police.¡±


    One of the wiretaps strongly suggested firing at protesters.


    When he spoke, the crowd temporarily quieted down and there were a lot of sympathetic voices. There were even mixed remarks about dering martialw.


    ¡°The president didn¡¯t even clear the spections surrounding him to the public, and now he¡¯s trying to dere martialw. That means he¡¯ll send in soldiers. That¡¯s just insane.¡±


    When Park Jong-il yed another wiretap, the room became even more boisterous.


    ¡°Hey, can you go back a little? I didn¡¯t catch the detail.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I have the transcript here. You can look at it.¡±


    ¡°Man, they¡¯re trying to steal the national budget. Who¡¯s this guy?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t figured out who it is yet. What¡¯s clear is that the president is even trying to touch the national budget.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not eptable to take the money from a state-run business, and now he wants to touch the national budget? And the welfare budget too? Don¡¯t they know that the poor are flocking to the kitchen soup because the basic living expenses are not being supported?¡±


    ¡°I should notify the British intelligence service about this.¡±


    ¡°What about the US CIA?¡±


    ¡°If the CIA finds out that we have this equipment, it might cause misunderstandings. We¡¯d better keep it quiet from the CIA.¡±


    The power of monitoring equipment was huge. The intelligence department of the state could hear every inch of what was happening in the president¡¯s office.


    ¡°How¡¯s the first daughter, the so-called deputy prime minister, doing?¡±


    ¡°We should wait a few more days until we can hear from her house. But, I don¡¯t expect any better from her.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Monitor the second daughter¡¯s house too. We should find out where they¡¯re hiding the money. As soon as we find out, we¡¯ll act and take the money.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re going to take their slush fund?¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan freaked out to hear that Youngho would be stealing the president family¡¯s slush fund. It was because Youngho and Jong-il did not tell their friends about the money from the president¡¯s vi.


    ¡°The money belongs to Kazakh people anyway. We¡¯ll find it and give it back to the people.¡±


    ¡°Hey! What are you going to do when you get caught?¡±


    ¡°If the president flees from the country with his money, there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll be able to retrieve it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. How are you going to fight against their security?¡±


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re not fighting. We¡¯ll sneak in quietly and steal the money. We know some guys who are perfect for the job.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il secretly smiled since they were the ¡®guys¡¯ who were perfect for the job, and his friends had no idea.


    ¡°Alright! Listen. The Navy should be on our side now. Victor Jun said that he would talk to senior officers in the Army or Air Force too. So, maybe their view of our state will be changed soon. The problem is the generals. We should find a way to contact them. We can¡¯t rely only on Victor.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask help from Agent Smith at the embassy? It looked like he has frequent interaction with army headquarters and the Air Force headquarters in Astana.¡±


    ¡°That would be a good way. Is there any other suggestion?¡±


    ¡°I will take the local unit at the Russian border near the city of Oral? We did an operation togetherst time for the Kyrgyzstan border area. The general there had quite a great reputation by the soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever bring ipetent or corrupt generals to us. This one should have the respect of young officers and field officers. ¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. As far as I know, he¡¯s a person without a huge w.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then Chul-hwan will take care of the local unit at the border area in Oral. I don¡¯t care what you do, get him on our side. Jong-il¡¯s way works quite well.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, I should make a patient out of his family member or something?¡±


    ¡°Cha In-soo, have you got any?¡±


    ¡°I meet some police executives for the security servicepany¡¯s work but they¡¯re all corrupt. I don¡¯t think there will be any benefits for associating with them.¡±


    ¡°Huh, is there any normal government official in this country? ¡±


    ***


    Soon, there was a huge social turmoil in Kazakhstan because of the recordings of the presidential office uploaded on YouTube.


    This time, the poor people who were beneficiary of national basic livelihood protested against the government. The video of people destroying kitchen soups and making a mess in government offices filled TV screens. Some drunken people even attacked police officers who were flustered by them. Of course, this kind of thing only took ce in big cities. It was quite weird that the northern cities near the Russian border were unexpectedly keeping quiet at this moment.


    ¡°What did the agents there say about the northern cities?¡±


    ¡°They said that the Russians don¡¯t really care about what¡¯s happening in the country. They¡¯re weirdly quiet these days, when it should be crowded in bars with people who came to drink in this winter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. A few months ago, they demanded their independence from Kazakhstan. Does it make sense that they don¡¯t use this opportunity? What about the Russian Army near the border?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t show any special movement ording to the satellite images.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with them?¡±


    ¡°They must be keeping a low profile because of the attention from all over the world. Frence journalists are already all over in the cities like Petropavl, Semey, and Pavlodar, waiting for something to happen.¡±


    It was fortunate that the northern cities were unexpectedly still at this time. But, those areas would be absorbed by Russia when the people revolted against the Kazakh government since they were mostly upied by Russians. Even President Nazarbayev had almost given up those areas before.


    ¡°The CIA will give up the northern and northeastern region in the worst situation.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I got that feeling while talking to Michael.¡±


    ¡°That means we¡¯ll be giving away the whole Russian border area.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to get ahead, but there might have been a deal between the two countries.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem with that? As long as we can secure the autonomous state and other regions, we¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Just like how it happened in the Balkan Penins when the country is broken up into pieces, only minorities will suffer.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Don¡¯t most of the Koryoins live in the central and eastern areas?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re scattered, so they don¡¯t have power. The only alternative power is our state, but the problem is that we are in the far west.¡±


    ¡°Oh, poor Koryoins will suffer because of this.¡±


    ¡°Is there any clever idea to draw them to the state?¡±


    ¡°Most of them are middle ss and it is their home. Do you think they¡¯ll want to move?¡±


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll still want to live there when Kazakhstan is turned upside down?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, it¡¯s like we made it hard for them.¡±

 Chapter 439 - Making an Allied Force (2)

    <h4>Chapter 439: Making an Allied Force (2)</h4>


    The construction works that were temporarily stopped before resumed. It was because the president was no longer a threat to the state.


    From small-sizepound development building to the armored vehicle assembly nt, and even to the dock construction at the Ural River were being done at the same time.


    Although the soil was frozen and it was the rainy season¡ªas it was getting close to April, bed excavation was still at work.


    In addition, bunkers were being made at different locations around the new state borders.


    Evacuation facilities were also well prepared since the early days of the autonomous state. They would endure even if there was an atomic bomb attack.


    The daily necessities that were stored in the warehouse of the state couldst several years even if there were no outside supplies. When the expiration dates were near, those supplies were given to the residents. This time, they were given to the Kazakh people of the newly incorporatednd. They were immensely thankful to receive such supplies since the price of industrial goods from China had skyrocketed due to the recent border dispute.


    ¡°How¡¯s their reaction?¡±


    ¡°They are very grateful. It¡¯d be weird if they¡¯re not happy upon receiving themodities that they usually can¡¯t afford to buy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little ashamed that we¡¯re taking credit for giving them supplies that will be disposed of soon.¡±


    Youngho did not wish to be proud to distribute supplies that were close to expiration. He only gave them away since it would be a waste to throw them away. He was worried that people would get upset, but it was the opposite.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Even our residents love to get free stuff. In fact, there are not many Kazakhs who would be picky about expiration dates.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, they¡¯re our residents now. Please take care of them well, so they don¡¯tin about anything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, prince consort. There¡¯s no government that will pay them for their farnd at a high cost and buys their house construction materials for free. They¡¯re rather scared that they might get removed from our state.¡±


    ¡°Did you make everyone the passport and the residential card?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I gave them to everyone. They¡¯re at least not shaken because they¡¯re given such proof.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Show them that the Kazakh government and our government arepletely different.¡±


    ¡°They should know that already.¡±


    ¡°We have to emphasize that our state was not this well-off from the start. The Kazakh government had been strong about welfare policy, so they might think that the autonomous state is doing the same.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not much to the Kazakh welfare policy. Only the people in big cities got to receive benefits from it, and the majority doesn¡¯t even know what it looks like. The administrative power couldn¡¯t even reach to the remote regions. Even if they had sent support, corrupt officials would¡¯ve taken it for themselves in the halfway.¡±


    ¡°So, the people here did not receive such privileges, too?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. This was the region where the supply of electricity was terrible. There¡¯s no wonder. It was fortunate that they could use electricity made from their own generator because they¡¯re well-off than other regions since they had the Ural River near them.¡±


    There was a need to make the new residents of the autonomous state from newly incorporatednd loyal to the state. Except for a small percentage of the Kazakh people, people had no pride in their country or even a sense of belongingness. Once these people would make up their minds, they would be a quite sincere and loyal group to the autonomous state.


    They had not been taken care of by their own government, so they had been surviving on their own. Thus, they would appreciate any little favor done by the state administration.


    What was fortunate was that Central Asian people were not exclusive to other ethnic minorities since they had been living in multi-ethnic surroundings for so many years. That was why they took care of the Koryoins who came to Kazakhstan in such poor shape 80 years ago. Youngho liked to think that he was repaying Kazakh people¡¯s favor by taking care of the new residents.


    ***


    Eriksson came to visit the autonomous state unexpectedly.


    Youngho was not eager to meet Eriksson anymore since he did not expect to hear new information from him anymore. It was because the state now had better equipment and had a better informationwork than the Information Agency. Moreover, Youngho was also receiving information from the British intelligence service and the CIA. He was well aware of the situations of the neighboring nations as well.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d be happier to see me, but you look so calm. I assume that someone¡¯s helping you already, Lee.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? In the future, I¡¯ll wee you to the airfield with a banner that has ¡®wee¡¯ written on it and a brass band behind me.¡±


    ¡°Who wees people like that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this used to be a way of weing a high official or politician in Korea.¡±


    ¡°I thought that sort of things only happened in an imperialistic of the socialistic country a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Anywhere around the world where there¡¯s a corrupt bureaucracy is the same.¡±


    ¡°Well, you look very rxed today.¡±


    Eriksson found a sense of calmness from Youngho¡¯s face in a short moment.


    ¡°The situation has changed a lot. I can say that we¡¯re not being chased anymore. We¡¯re rather chasing now.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s great to hear. If you have more time to spend to prepare, you¡¯ll have a greater chance to take an advantageous position.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the fact that many events like the border dispute are caused by the intentions of other powers, but at least I¡¯m positive that we will maintain our state.¡±


    ¡°Is the US CIA involved in this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting some help from it. And, it seems like Russia and the United States are in contact behind the scenes.¡±


    Eriksson paused to speak for a moment.


    It seemed that the Information Agency had no idea about that.


    ¡°I see. So, Kazakhstan is in a position to be divided?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to jump to conclusions. There should be so many variables to it. It¡¯s just that Russia is refraining from dogmatic behavior. I think the U.S. has yed a big role, but I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with it yet.¡±


    ¡°If the U.S. were to step up, that would be a great harvest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the U.S. will interfere with domestic matters in the future.¡±


    ¡°I hope you will. When a new country is born, having a great power to support it will be the most helpful thing.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, thanks for your insight.¡±


    ¡°I came here to see if there¡¯s anything I can help you with, but it looks like you¡¯re in good hands.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I need any help I can get. Why do you think I even called in mercenary soldiers? We can¡¯t defend ourselves with our weak force.¡±


    ¡°Mercenary?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve invited about 300 Korean former special forces members.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Eriksson seemed a little nervous when he said that even former members of the special force were brought in. It was because the situation of the autonomous state was worse than he had thought ording to Youngho.


    ¡°I had to do it since I was in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy Gripen from Saab. Can you help me?¡±


    ¡°The Swedish fighter?¡±


    Sweden¡¯s Saab AB was an 80-year-old aerospace and defensepany. The fighter jets made by thepany reportedly performed better than any other fighter of its ss. The Gripen was equipped with a reverse thrust engine, which had a take-off andnding distance of only 700 meters and boasted a Mach 2.0.


    The ultimate selling point was that it could be purchased at 70 million dors which were only 40 percent of U.S. or French fighter jets.


    It was also a mid-range fighter, which some European countries, South Africa, and Brazil have adopted as their main fighters since their technical transfer was not so hard to get.


    ¡°If yourpany helps me, wouldn¡¯t it be possible to buy it at a lower price?¡±


    ¡°Did you know that we have shares of Saab?¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I had no idea. I just thought that the Information Agency would be able to get it for a cheap price.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s great to hear that you¡¯re buying a fighter jet from Sweden. How many do you need?¡±


    ¡°I think we need about ten right now. And we want another ten additional orders.¡±


    ¡°I guess they¡¯ll have to operate their production line in full.¡±


    ¡°If it takes time, it doesn¡¯t matter if you get me used ones from the Swedish Air Force. They would not be behind the main fighters of Russia or China.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to get used ones?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re in a hurry since we will have to train pilots with those jets as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll make this my priority. I¡¯ll also find ways to reduce its cost.¡±


    ¡°The words you just said are the most exciting words from you today.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Are we not on the same side? Of course, you have to think about saving money. Even a second-hand airne will be like new once they go through the reassembly process. We¡¯ll cover some of the costs for you.¡±


    ¡°You continue to impress me.¡±


    ¡°Well, just be sure to include us when you take over Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you out of personal curiosity. What were you going to do with the funding for the fighter jets?¡±


    ¡°I thought you¡¯de up with a n if I told you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m kidding. I¡¯ll just tell you that the legacy of the Archduke family is quite great. Why are you so curious about it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s well over two billion dors to arm a new jet. I didn¡¯t think that will be possible even if you used all of your money. So I wondered that you were so confident about buying 20 jets.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve also expected some of your role.¡±


    ¡°Then you made an excellent choice. Thank you for giving us the opportunity. My supervisors will be happy, too.¡±


    The price of a fighter jet was quite expensive, whether it was used or new.


    The reason why Youngho asked for Eriksson¡¯s help was that it would be a good business for both sides. Youngho would be able to buy it at a cheap price and the Information Agency would be able to make money and save its face as a major shareholder of Saab.


    If used airnes that were active in the Danish Air Force were acquired, the Air Force would have the opportunity to acquire new models after selling old models, and Saab would make profits from the performance improvement project.


    But if thepany found out that they could not sell jets because the autonomous state did not have trained pilots, it would have to pay to train pilots to sell the jets.


    That way, Youngho could also reduce the cost of training pilots. He hoped that Eriksson would negotiate this well with his superiors and bring good news soon.

 Chapter 440 - Recovery

    <h4>Chapter 440: Recovery</h4>


    The autonomous state was about 1,600 kilometers away from the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. It was a distance that took about two hours by ne and two full days by bus or train.


    The rich tourists used an airne, but ordinary people used buses and trains. However, if they had a lot of belongings to transport with them, the only option was to use a van or a truck.


    Jong-il and Youngho also were inevitably driving a truck to get there because using an airne came with a risk of exposing their identities.


    ¡°Hey, do we really have to take the hard way?¡±


    ¡°Yep. This is the only way not to get exposed. Besides, how are we going to bring money and gold bars if we don¡¯t have a truck? If we buy a truck in Astana, our identities will be exposed too. The best way to do it is to directly drive a truck. Stopining and let¡¯s change our seats now. I¡¯m getting a little sleepy now.¡±


    While monitoring the second daughter, the agents found out that she was cashing her valuables and storing the cash at her house. So, Youngho and Jong-il were on their way to steal the money. Collecting cash meant that she would soon flee to another country with her money.


    ¡°What an idiotic behavior. I would¡¯ve deposited the money in my foreign bank ount immediately instead of storing it at my house.¡±


    ¡°Even Swiss Banks doesn¡¯t deal with a bulk load of money. People open secret bank ounts all the time. Who would prefer regr bank transactions?¡±


    ¡°So, what is she worried about? The money won¡¯t go anywhere in the bank.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you idiot. She probably won¡¯t take it into the bank. She¡¯ll put it somewhere else like a personal vi in Europe or some other ce.¡±


    It was a very lucky case that the agents were able to find that the second daughter was getting rid of her domestic assets.


    The information equipment provided by the UK intelligence service used malware that could be controlled in a distance to hack into telegram, signal, and messenger services such as Whatsapp.


    Easily said, it was a device that monitored a consumers electronics device, such as smartphones,puters and TV through the inte in real-time.


    Its malicious code had a funny name which was ¡®Weeping Angel.¡¯ It allowed you to eavesdrop on people even if the electronics were turned off.


    When they hacked into the second daughter¡¯s house, they confirmed that she had already gotten rid of her stocks and valuables and kept the money at her house.


    Sooner orter, it was clear that she was going to flee the country, so the two came as quickly as they could.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we check up on the third daughter too?¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t have a lot of money in her house. I told you we have to rob the Presidential Pce¡±


    ¡°The slush funds there should be left as evidence for the president¡¯s corruption, so he won¡¯t be able to escape from it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the military here is doing. In other countries, the military would¡¯ve overruled the government already.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the evidence that they¡¯re all corrupt too. They¡¯ve been acting as the president¡¯s personal army for money.¡±


    ¡°I hope there are useful generals left.¡±


    ¡°Cho Chul-hwan said he will meet themander of the border unit, so there should be good news soon.¡±


    ¡°Are you thinking about a military coup?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t bring in wolves in order to avoid a fox. That is not a good start.¡±


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s a shame that there are no Koryoin high military officers.¡±


    ¡°Victor Jun said that there are great field officers who are loyal to their country. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    ¡°There are many Germans and Ukrainians in the military. I hope the country gets divided into pieces.¡±


    ***


    The president¡¯s second daughter¡¯s house was a grandiose mansion.


    ¡°Wow, look at this building. She daubed her money all over the building. She¡¯s just advertising that she siphoned off the country¡¯s budget.¡±


    ¡°Look at the high wall. We need adder to climb it up.¡±


    ¡°Did you check the security guards here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on inside, but there are no security guards outside. A police car asionallyes to patrol around the building.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the president didn¡¯t tell his daughter about the burry at his vi.¡±


    ¡°If so, that¡¯s good news.¡±


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s climb over the fence quickly.¡±


    The two suppressed all of the security people at the mansion and disabled the security system.


    The second daughter and his husband were flustered after waking up from their gold-framed bed.


    Many times, a knife was visually more threatening to people than a gun. Until the shots were fired, a gun was not something to fear. However, a sharp knife that reflected light caused extreme fear to people. When Youngho slit open the bedforter with a sharp knife, it was enough to make the couple shiver in fear. The couple, who would have lived a privileged life until now, had never experienced such a threat before.


    They knocked down the daughter and took only the husband. He was their guide to the safe.


    Shivering like a leaf in a storm, the husband opened the safe for Youngho and Jong-il.


    He was so terrified that he got thebination wrong two times before he could open the safe. So, he was beaten up by Jong-il for that. Usually, a safe was used to store some cash and important documents, but the couple was using it as a jewelry safe.


    After taking everything from the safe, Youngho showed a dor bill to the husband to urge him to guide them to the ce he hid the money that the second daughter cashed after selling her valuables. When Youngho threatened him by putting the knife de against his neck, he quickly understood what the two meant. Soon, he led them to an iron door in the basement. In the room, there were packaged boxes of money that looked like the boxes they found in the president¡¯s vi. After checking the money, the two knocked down the husband. Since they had not been speaking for an hour, they were getting tired of it.


    ¡°Finally, I can breathe now. We should buy more high-quality gloves and masks. It¡¯s hard to breathe in it. Look at my hands. They¡¯re sweaty as the Han River.¡±


    ¡°How much is all this?¡±


    ¡°There are 32 boxes. I¡¯m d there are no gold bars to carry.¡±


    ¡°You mean this is 320 million dors?¡±


    ¡°Yep. I guess the rest of her assets are real estate.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, how did she collect that much money? I should go and ask her.¡±


    ¡°Cut it out. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll remember our voices if we speak. By the way, we should bring the truck here to move all of these. It¡¯s not going to be easy to get rid of the police car patrolling around the building.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we don¡¯t need to bring our truck. We can use that refrigerated van over there.¡±


    Among expensive cars and motorcycles, a freezer truck was parked. It must have been used to transport food ingredients to the mansion. Thanks to the freezer truck, the two could get out of the ce without any suspicion. No police would dare to stop the freezer truck that belonged to the president¡¯s second daughter¡¯s home.


    ¡°They prepared a truck for us.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, why did we even go through the trouble of bringing that truck this far.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see any freezer truck through the satellite?¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut up.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s load them now. We should get out of the mansion before daylight.¡±


    They hurriedly loaded all of the boxes to the freezer truck. It was not a difficult job with the strength of the two. They finished the work instantly and brought other valuables from the mansion as there was more room in the truck.


    They came out of the mansion after loading all of the paintings and antiques in the house. The sun had just started rising when they hit the road.


    ***


    The basement storage of the mansion in the Serbian ranch in Baku was filled with cash and gold bars.


    ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t eat dinner, but I feel so full just by looking at this.¡±


    ¡°Hey, are we getting some percentage of this as before?¡±


    ¡°I am going to buy fighter jets with it. How about that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. What¡¯s their model?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Gripen from Sweden.¡±


    ¡°Awesome! How did you think of buying those jets? Did Eriksson suggest it?¡±


    ¡°You know about their great performance for their price, right? Eriksson told me the Information Agency is a Saab AB shareholder. ¡±


    ¡°Eriksson must¡¯ve been happy because of your order. I guess once they¡¯re delivered, our state will be a key point. There¡¯s no use if they¡¯re delivered after the whole Kazakh situation is over though.¡±


    ¡°I told him that used fighter jets from the Swedish Air Force would work too. I also made him in charge of getting the pilot training.¡±


    ¡°Lee Youngho, you¡¯ve be so free these days.¡±


    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s an honor to hear apliment from Park Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°Haha, hey, let¡¯s butcher some sheep and have a barbecue party tonight! It¡¯s a reward for our achievement today.¡±


    When they got to the farm, Leon who was covered in dirt clung to Youngho.


    Unlike Kazakhstan, where it was still winter in April, Baku was in spring. The ground was muddy everywhere due to the melted snow.


    ¡°Man, what have you been doing? You¡¯re covered in dirt.¡±


    ¡°Daddy, kissy!¡±


    Leon kissed Youngho¡¯s cheek to greet him courteously.


    As Youngho was having a father and son moment, Fatima came outside with the other kids after hearing Youngho¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Hey, I thought you said you¡¯d bete from the ranch.¡±


    ¡°I finished it quickly and came back. I brought somemb meat. Are you up for barbecue?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    The children cheered to hear that they were having a barbecue for the night. They were delighted that their father would be staying with them instead of going somewhere. Youngho felt that his fatigue had gone away when he heard his children¡¯s bright voice.

 Chapter 441 - Searching for Pearls in Dirt (1)

    <h4>Chapter 441: Searching for Pearls in Dirt (1)</h4>


    ¡°The police shot protestors in Almaty. There are already dozens of casualties now.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see that on TV.¡±


    ¡°The government must be controlling the press. Our field agents said that they could have been shot at the scene. Police tried to stop protestors with tear gas, and began shooting when the situation got more violent.¡±


    ¡°I guess the civilian protestors will be armed soon.¡±


    It was illegal to possess firearms in Kazakhstan, but this was not forced on people since any nomad had a hunting gun to protect their livestock. Without the guns, it was impossible to chase away wolves and foxes. Also, nomadic people usually liked to keep their outdated hunting guns on their wall as decoration even if they were not raising livestock anymore, so if they wanted to, they could be armed in a second.


    ¡°Did they take pictures of the scene?¡±


    ¡°They even videotaped it.¡±


    ¡°Those fools should¡¯ve kept their firearms to themselves. This will ruin the current government for good.¡±


    The clip that Jong-il showed fallen and bleeding citizens in detail.


    If the video was revealed to the public, the big greedy old president would no longer be able to keep his seat. This was an incident that was exactly discussed in the recently revealed discussion at the president¡¯s office.


    ¡°How are the protesters?¡±


    ¡°Of course, they¡¯re upset. At this rate, they¡¯ll soone out with their rifles from their home.¡±


    ¡°How about the movement of the northern cities?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re quite shaken by the shooting in Almaty. People are crowding in bars now unlike before.¡±


    ¡°I guess a martialw will be dered soon. If the president finds out that the second daughter¡¯s house was robbed too, he will make an irrational decision.¡±


    ¡°He already knows. All of the buildings in Astana are already being searched by the police.¡±


    ¡°Nothing caught in the eavesdropping?¡±


    ¡°I think they now know that someone¡¯s eavesdropping on them. They¡¯re keeping it quiet.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll probably suspect the Chinese or the Russian Embassy.¡±


    A situation like this was bound to happen anyway.


    Whether or not the autonomous state was ready, the situation was now uncontroble. The fast way to get through this was to face it. Youngho had to make the military on his side since the martialw might get dered soon.


    If the field grade officers or frontline officers protested against the martialw, generals would not be able to push thew on them.


    First, Youngho called Victor Jun from the Navy to have an emergency meeting.


    ¡°The situation is getting worse and worse. The martialw will be dered soon ording to a source.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, there could be a civil war. Nobody will follow the current president for it. The military won¡¯t cooperate, of course.¡±


    ¡°How would the military ignore the order from the higher power?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met some army officers who were very disappointed by the current government. They were furious by the fact that the president and his familymitted fraud.¡±


    ¡°But, they¡¯re not going to act individually, are they?¡±


    ¡°I exined that the future of Kazakhstan depends on the autonomous state. They wanted tomunicate with you. They¡¯re very curious about the lives of the residents here.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that I¡¯ll be avable at any time. I can show them everything about our state.¡±


    ***


    Nine field grade officers of the Navy and Army visited the state with Victor Jun.


    Since they should not be noticeable by the government, they were all in in clothes.


    ¡°I wholeheartedly wee you for visiting the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, the famous Duke of the Arirang.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s only a title.¡±


    ¡°This is a great ce as we imagined. Not anyone can create rich soil out of desertednd. That is something to be praised for.¡±


    ¡°This is too good for me. Who¡¯d givend to a stranger? I¡¯m just grateful for the residents who worked to make the state a better living environment.¡±


    ¡°We wanted to meet you since we¡¯ve heard that you work hard for the future of Kazakhstan. The current situation is so grim that we are also facing difficulties.¡±


    ¡°I only have a small state, and I don¡¯t have a grand vision for the country. I just want to have a safe and harmonious environment for all Kazakh people and the residents of our state. I want to help make that happen in Kazakhstan with the small power we have in the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve attracted so many foreign investments to our country. It¡¯s a shame that all Kazakhstan has to give you is this. We apologize for our president¡¯s behaviors.¡±


    Youngho was impressed by the officers¡¯ attitude. They were apologizing for the president¡¯s wrongdoings even though they were not responsible for them. This showed that they were genuinely patriotic people who cared for the country and people.


    ¡°I¡¯m d to meet people who still cared for Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We heard that you have power. Would you just watch this happen?¡±


    ¡°I have economic means, but I¡¯m not in the position to interfere with the central government.¡±


    ¡°When Kazahstan is divided, the future of the autonomous state is uncertain.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, can I? I have no political foundation here whatsoever. I¡¯m still a mere foreigner.¡±


    ¡°What if you had a support base?¡±


    Finally, the word that Youngho was waiting for came out of one of the officers¡¯ mouth. It was not usible if he mentioned it first since it could be seen as him being greedy for power, so he kept swallowing the words that were about toe out of his mouth.


    ¡°I fear that Russia and China might take advantage of this situation to take over Kazakhstan. I¡¯m trying to reinforce our force because of that. I have no other intentions.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re very fortunate that we have someone like you. If we joined our force together, can you help us?¡±


    ¡°What is your goal for joining your forces?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for the future of Kazakhstan. Would you be our pivotal figure?¡±


    The Army lieutenant colonel who just spoke out was Kabak who was in his forties. He looked like a typical soldier.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re saying you¡¯re going to seize power. When I step up, people will think that I¡¯ve encouraged you to act.¡±


    ¡°We only think that someone like you could lead a lot of officers.¡±


    ¡°We may be misunderstood as a subversive force for the country.¡±


    Everyone flinched at this point.


    It was something that everyone had in their heart, but no one dared to say it out loud. It was already suspicious when the military¡¯s high-ranking officers were gathered together in the midst of a national crisis without amand given.


    ¡°Our only concern is the interest of Kazakhstan. There is no future for our country at this rate. Please ept our cause.¡±


    ¡°Are you confident that you will take what we discussed today to your grave?¡±


    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t havee here without such determination in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why you decided to take me as your pivotal center.¡±


    ¡°The Koryoins in Kazakhstan are diligent and smart. They have credibility. Likewise, you share the same nationality as them, and you have devoted yourself to Kazakhstan. You took care of the needy like their your own family. No more words are needed to describe why you are the right person.¡±


    ¡°You have to keep in mind that Kazakhstan can be divided into pieces. We might have to shed our blood to fight different powers of the split nation.¡±


    ¡°Duke, we are aware of that. Kazakhstan is home to more than 120 ethnic groups, but we¡¯ve lived in harmony. It¡¯s not because we had a great leader. It¡¯s rather because we¡¯ve been living like this for thousands of years. Sometimes they split up and they regroup. If the country were to split up, we wouldn¡¯t be in a hurry. It¡¯s going toe back together someday.¡±


    It seemed that people of Kazakhstan did not indulge in small things.


    In Kazakhstan, only the people of Kazakhstan existed, and race or ethnicity was only a member of arge vessel. Youngho was touched by his words.


    ***


    Protests were taking ce day after day in Almaty, but it did not look so disorderly nheless. The protest site was confined to the former presidential pce now. Except for that, the city was still functioning the same.


    Foreign buyers were still remaining in the big city where one-tenth of Kazakhstan¡¯s total poption lived.


    ¡°They¡¯re not afraid of the cops shooting at them, are they?¡±


    ¡°They must think that the cops won¡¯t shoot a foreigner. So, they¡¯re wearing a tie as a sign that they¡¯re not protesters.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s such a weird sight. People are dying on one hand, and other people are making money.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that the protesters are only around the pce?¡±


    ¡°I think the Presidential Pce has a symbolic meaning. They seem to think that the president¡¯s authority will fall to the ground the moment the pce is taken by them. I¡¯m sure the protesters think they have to get ahead of it to win. By the way, can you exin about the person I¡¯m supposed to meet today? Is he trustworthy?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. He¡¯s just begging to meet us to ask for medical support.¡±


    ¡°We need to think about the safety of our medical staff. I mean, if the rumor was spread that we¡¯re helping the protesters, we might get in big trouble.¡±


    ¡°How long are you going to crawl under the president¡¯s power? It¡¯s time for us to take the lead. In the worst-case scenario, we¡¯ll get all the residents out of Kazakhstan. What¡¯s the matter with you? It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t have money to do this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to talk. The residents will not want to leave the ce where they poured their sweat and blood.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only saying that we should be determined. We can make anyone on our side even if we have to bribe them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need any corrupt group. They¡¯re no use. We need decent people like the soldiers who came to the state.¡±


    The person whom Youngho was supposed to meet today was the leader of an anti-government protester group.


    A local intelligence agent who acted as a foreign reporter approached the protest site and made his acquaintance.


    The protesters had requested patient treatment and funding for their demonstration.


    Youngho set aside the northern cities, but he did not want to miss Almaty in the south, so he decided to meet the leader.


    Almaty was thergest city and the center of economic culture in Central Asia. It was also a strategic point bordering Kyrgyzstan. It had arge poption too. Even if Kazakhstan was to split in half, Almaty should be saved because of its poption. Aside from the economically active poption, there were not enough people to recruit as soldiers¡ªwho were the backbone of the nation¡¯s defense capabilities.


    Almaty¡ªan important city¡ªwas at the forefront of the anti-government protests.


    Youngho had been watching the protestors closely through the state¡¯s intelligent agents, so he was more than happy to hear from the head of the protestors who wanted to meet him. If he seemed to be a reasonable person, he would support him and the protestor group fully. It was also good to see that there were people in Kazakhstan who were well conscious, and it was also encouraging that they asked for help from the Arirang Autonomous State. He was also very curious about what purpose the protestor group had.

 Chapter 442 - Searching for Pearls in Dirt (2)

    <h4>Chapter 442: Searching for Pearls in Dirt (2)</h4>


    ¡°Duke of the Arirang, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Naiman. I¡¯m sorry for making youe all the way here.¡±


    Naiman, a history professor of the Kazakh National University in his mid-thirties introduced himself to Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s alright. I¡¯m here because I¡¯ve heard that there are patients who can¡¯t seek medical treatment. I brought medicines and medical staff for them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a sad situation here, but it will not dampen the enthusiasm of our protesters.¡±


    The hospital operated by the government rejected giving treatments to patients who were involved in the anti-government protest. It was quite unfortunate.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense that they¡¯re refusing to treat the patients.¡±


    ¡°Treating them is important, but the bigger problem is that we¡¯re running out of food to support the protestors.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it since I brought plenty ofbat rations. Why are you continuing this reckless demonstration? You won¡¯tst long without support. I know some of them are married. That means their families will suffer a shortage of food too.¡±


    ¡°We just couldn¡¯t overlook the current government. I gnash my teeth when I found out the president has been cheating the Kazakh people for so many years while sitting in power. That¡¯s why some people decided to take the lead. Although they shouldn¡¯t be exposed now, some are still in a noticeable position.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t they fight in the front?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be safe when they¡¯re exposed. Instead of them, we are the action group.¡±


    ¡°If you put it like that, the Arirang state is in the same position as them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I asked to meet in secret today. I heard that you¡¯re helping the needy.¡±


    ¡°It is the right thing to do to help people in need as a member of Kazakhstan. However, we are cautious to help an anti-government protest group like you. Please understand that, since the existence of the state might be at stake if the government finds out about our connection.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fully aware of that. But no one¡¯s stepping up to help us, so I dared to make a request to you.¡±


    ¡°I used to be close to the president. I just want to be really careful. It would seem ironic that I¡¯m helping the anti-government protesters now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just so grateful that you came to support us behind the scenes. I¡¯m quite jealous of the people who live in the Arirang Autonomous State. Sometimes the monarchy system is better than democracy.¡±


    ¡°Well, our residents had been underprivileged for many years, so they appreciate the monarchy system even though it¡¯s quite old-fashioned. In the future, there will be some people who oppose our system.¡±


    ¡°In the current situation of Kazakhstan, it might be better to adopt the monarchy system. It¡¯s a shame that the people don¡¯t get any say in this.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°Just like the Western European countries where they have a symbolic monarchy system, I think Kazakhstan would be benefited by having a symbolic king. If there¡¯s a reputable king, political leaders of the country won¡¯t be able to abuse their power so easily.¡±


    It felt like somebody hit Youngho in the back of his head.


    What Naiman said was not something that coulde out of a history professor in the most prominent university in Kazakhstan in the 21st century.


    ¡°That¡¯s practically difficult to achieve. Do you think the people who experienced democracy will support the monarchy system?¡±


    ¡°Why not? The Arirang Autonomous State had shown a great example of that.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s because I put my personal fortune into building the state. I¡¯m a merchant. I did it for my own benefit. I¡¯m not a phnthropist.¡±¡®


    ¡°This will be also for our people¡¯s interests.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state, which is no different than a foreigner group, can¡¯t get along with a group that¡¯s against the present regime. I¡¯m only supporting you because you asked for help.¡±


    ¡°I understand where you¡¯reing from. We also only have the passion to change Kazakhstan. Thank you so much for your medical help and the other supplies you gave us.¡±


    Youngho could feel Naiman¡¯s genuine intention. He seemed to be a person who only cared about Kazakhstan¡¯s development and future.


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed by your work and passion. We¡¯ll continue to support your group with supplies anonymously.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much. Many people are grateful for your determination to help Kazakhstan, duke.¡±


    ***


    Naiman¡¯s eyes were filled with passion, but he was not a person who would make reckless decisions. Although the protest would have no hope if he did not get immediate funding, he did not seem to be shaken by the fact.


    Youngho told him that the autonomous state would keep supporting the anti-government protest group because Naiman seemed to be a great leader. It was also pleasant to hear that he had a great perspective for the autonomous state. However, Youngho was not yet trusting him fully.


    ¡°Man, it will be a war against the government. I want to support them with grenades or sniper rifles, but I really shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to help them?¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should help the protesters take over the Presidential Pce in Almaty?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a tourist destination. I don¡¯t know why everyone obsesses about that ce.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but since we are here, why don¡¯t we help them before we leave? I wonder how the president will react if that ce is taken.¡±


    ¡°Hey, couldn¡¯t it be that there¡¯s something noticeable in the pce?¡±


    ¡°Well, the president would¡¯ve already moved valuable items. We robbed his vi. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that stupid.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t have enough time because of the protestors and journalists around the area. I wonder if there are gold bars in the pce.¡±


    ¡°Oh, herees the gold bars again.¡±


    ¡°No, this is an educated guess.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The official gold reserves announced by the Central Bank of Kazakhstan are only about 300 tons when Kazakhstan¡¯s gold production rate is much higher than that. What we stole from the president¡¯s family¡¯s about 60 tons of gold. How would you exin that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite suspicious. So, the president might have hidden the rest of the gold in the pce?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, who would suspect it if you hid it in an open tourist destination?¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll move the agents first.¡±


    When they arrived at the Presidential Pce, it was raining and dark.


    In the aftermath of the protests, the streetmps were broken, so there was no light in the surrounding area.


    Five armored vehicles were waiting to protect the pce against the protesters, and police officers were patrolling around it despite the rain.


    The fact that they were there at night where protesters were nowhere to be seen was quite suspicious. As Youngho and Jong-il were about to get in, tworge trucks wereing out of the building with their headlights on.


    ¡°Jong-il, let¡¯s follow the trucks.¡±


    ¡°You must be crazy. We¡¯re running in this rain at this hour?¡±


    The trucks began to speed up on the deserted streets of the night.


    It was strange that the trucks were not escorted by security vehicles. It could be a disguise to not draw people¡¯s attention, or it could mean that the trucks were firmly armed.


    Thinking of taking over the trucks at the right ce, Youngho and Jong-il diligently ran to catch up with the trucks. Even at night, the roads were not empty, so it was impossible for the trucks to go over 60 kilometers per hour. It was not hard for the two to catch up with the trucks.


    If the trucks left the city, they would go right into the highway. It would be impossible to take over the trucks at that point.


    Looking for a chance to get on the trucks, they continued running in the rain.


    ***


    ¡°This is thest transport from the pce. They said the trucks visited the pce twice yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Dang, we missed them. That¡¯s why the police fired at the protesters to protect it until they pulled out all of the belongings.¡±


    ¡°So the protesters knew there were gold bars in the Presidential Pce.¡±


    ¡°Naiman didn¡¯t seem to know about it at all. Maybe he¡¯s being used by the people who are supporting the protester group from behind.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see whether the protesters¡¯ purpose was gold bars or an old-fashioned belief.¡±


    Although it was strange that the protesters were only after the Presidential Pce, Youngho only thought that this was only because the ce had such symbolic importance to it. He thought that this was a cultural thing in Kazakhstan.


    However, now that it turned out that there were tons of gold bars in the presidential pce, it was natural for anyone to question the purpose of the protesters.


    After the two trucks were seized, Youngho and Jong-il saw that each truck was carrying 25 tons of gold bars. The problem was that more wealth had already been transported from the pce twice. The drivers and armed guards were unaware of exactly what was on board.


    ¡°If you moved it two times in a bulk truck, you¡¯d have at least 100 tons.¡±


    ¡°I should have kept an eye on this ce! Phew, we missed a hundred tons of precious gold.¡±


    We need to keep a close watch on the vehicles going in and out of Astana`s Presidential Pce. The amount of gold held by the president is more than that of the central bank. I mean it¡¯s a lot.¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to say because I¡¯m dumbfounded by his great greed.¡±


    ¡°What are we going to do with the guards and drivers? If we leave them alone here, they¡¯re going to die with hypothermia.¡±


    ¡°Hey, they¡¯ll get help in time, but it¡¯s urgent to unload the gold bars.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get agents to get forklifts and some freezer trucks.¡±


    Last night¡¯s work was handled quickly by the intelligence agents of the autonomous state.


    The problem was to keep an eye on the protest group leader, Naiman.


    If he knew about the existence of gold bars already, he would not be a loyal leader as Youngho expected.


    Youngho was discouraged to think that since he was so happy to meet a pure-hearted person with such a huge passion.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you eat? If you don¡¯t want to eat, just leave.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I was happy to meet a decent guy. I don¡¯t want to be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°I think the people who are supporting the protesters behind must have an impure heart.¡±


    ¡°Tell the agents to keep an eye on Naiman. Also, identify the guys supporting the anti-government protest group from behind.¡±


    ¡°Shall we pull out the medics?¡±


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t have to do that. If Naiman is indeed a righteous person, we should keep helping him. We already provided him withbat food, meds, and even weapons. There¡¯s no point in hiding at this point. If there are people behind the protestors are not cool, let¡¯s clean up everything and take the lead in the protests.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

 Chapter 443 - Searching for Pearls in Dirt (3)

    <h4>Chapter 443: Searching for Pearls in Dirt (3)</h4>


    The intelligence agents of the autonomous state investigated Naiman¡¯s movements and confirmed who was helping him behind. Surprisingly, the former Mayor of Almaty was Dauren. He lived in a luxurious house, so it was hard to believe that the protestors were not receiving any help from him. It was a mystery.


    ¡°This is obvious. That Naiman is either a great actor or a con artist. We were both so gullible to fall for his sincere face.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to jump to conclusions. He was maybe being yed by the former mayor who lives in this house, or maybe is pretending to be fooled by him.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see? They¡¯re partners. The mayor must have known what was in the Presidential Pce and told Naiman about it, and that¡¯s why the protestors were only gathering at the pce.¡±


    ¡°If so, that Naiman guy is dead.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, how did the former mayor get so rich?¡±


    The top leaders of the country turned out to be the most corrupted people, but it was still a mystery how a mayor had acquired so much wealth. It was just stunning how luxurious his ce was even though he was not an entrepreneur, but a former civil servant.


    ¡°Well, what can I say? The whole officialdom is evenly rotten. There is no immediate solution to this problem in this country. All we can do is to teach children well and hope that they will be better. Let¡¯s not make a fuss about the fact that¡¯s not even surprising anymore.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll take him down tonight, then we¡¯ll know the truth.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il signed as they looked at the former mayor¡¯s luxury house.


    ¡°Are you kidding? This guy with a suspiciously luxurious house is concerned about the future of Kazakhstan and supports anti-government protests? No one will believe it unless he¡¯s a fool.¡±


    ¡°Yep. His house is no less than the second daughter¡¯s house. Man, he must¡¯ve siphoned off so much of the city budget.¡±


    ¡°That Naiman guy must be as corrupt as him.¡±


    Naiman, who wanted to establish the principle of the country by doing anti-government protests, had a corrupt politician watching his back. There was no doubt. There must be something that he was after, other than the anti-government protests.


    Youngho was even disgusted after he went over the fence of the former mayor¡¯s house.


    With arge pool and a garden, the house was decorated with luxurious materials and furniture. Compared to this, the Grand Pce in the autonomous state was modest.


    ¡°Hey, hey! Calm down and let¡¯s find and interrogate him first.¡±


    ¡°If all officials and politicians are like this, it¡¯ll be better to give their jobs to nomads and farmers.¡±


    The two acted as if they were intelligence agents sent by the Kazakh government.


    Dauren, who was flustered to think that he met robbers in masks, found some peace as the two introduced themselves as agents of the government.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite rude that you came to visit me at this hour when you could¡¯ve sent a formal notice.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that you¡¯ve been in contact with anti-government protesters. How can we visit you officially? We had no other choice but to climb over your fence.¡±


    ¡°The young people who are concerned about the country¡¯s future visited me to make me their pivotal center, but I already refused their request.¡±


    ¡°We already checked that Naiman had beening in and out of your house. Don¡¯t pretend that you don¡¯t know about this. Speak the truth or you will face a rough ride.¡±


    He looked slightly embarrassed as Youngho mentioned the name of Naiman.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t get him away from my house because he kept visiting me. If you don¡¯t like the fact, why don¡¯t you put policemen in front of my house?¡±


    ¡°The demonstrators are focusing on the Presidential Pce. How will you exin that?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with me?¡±


    ¡°You are one of the few people who know what is there. We know that you are the one who slipped that information to the demonstrators. Isn¡¯t that why they are focusing on the pce which is only a tourist attraction to other people? Also, a few days ago, someone took the entire contents from the pce. That¡¯s why we had to be here tonight. We¡¯d like to know where you¡¯ve taken the valuables in detail.¡±


    Dauren was devastated to hear that the gold bars, which apparently he was after, were gone. He was so stunned that he verbally asked if those gold bars were all gone, which revealed his purpose to siphon off the gold. Since then, the torture began. Knowing how Kazakh agents and police department tortured people, Youngho and Jong-il did exactly the same. They kept yelling to Dauren to tell where he hid the stolen gold bars, and Dauren, who was not responsible for the stolen gold bars, did not know what to do.


    As the people who had been talking to him in a nice manner suddenly turned violent, Dauren finally realized the seriousness of the situation.


    In front of violence, he was helpless. With tears and a runny nose, he started to answer Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s questions. In the process of examination, they found that Naiman knew about the existence of the gold bars. But, he only decided to cooperate with Dauren since he promised that the gold bars would be used to support the anti-government protest. Using Dauren¡¯s greed, Naiman attempted to secure funds for anti-government protests. However, whether he had other intentions behind his actions was still unclear.


    ***


    The former mayor turned out to be a bad guy already, but Naiman¡¯s true identity was yet to be revealed.


    As the police officers who had been protecting the Presidential Pce retreated, Naiman, moved to other sites of the city and continued to protest. As a professor of a university, he led a protest group that consisted of professors and students. It did not seem that his sole purpose was the gold bars. Youngho began to think that he was only cooperating with the former mayor as a way to obtain protest funds. Youngho¡¯s money which was given to Naiman earlier as a support for anti-government protest enabled the group to keep on their protest. Now that there were decent demonstrations everywhere other than the pce, Youngho was pleased.


    ¡°I guess they now have enough funds.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that Naiman ispletely off the hook but I¡¯m d that we have confirmed his pure passion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he wanted to hold on to anyone because he had no immediate recourse to rely on.¡±


    ¡°There are people who you can get along with and who you shouldn¡¯t. No matter how hard their situation was, it was a bad choice to get involved with the former mayor.¡±


    ¡°Hey, without money, there are no protesters. I¡¯m also sorry that they joined hands with the corrupt mayor, but we should let that go now. At least, they¡¯re doing a great job now.¡±


    Although Jong-il did not think too deeply about this matter, Youngho¡¯s idea was different. If one wanted to correct Kazakhstan¡¯s wrong government, he should distance himself from politicians who were no different from the corrupt leaders of the country. It was right to overthrow this regime at all costs, but he did not want to join hands with anyone who could be of help.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t think we can leave protests solely to professors and students. They¡¯re passionate about their country but they don¡¯t have a strategy. If they keep their ways, all sorts of trash will try to intervene with their good cause. We should act.¡±


    ¡°Are we going to take the lead?¡±


    ¡°We need to get involved systematically.¡±


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s clean up the trash first.¡±


    Jong-il was enthusiastic about Youngho¡¯s decision. He rolled up his sleeves as if he was going to act immediately.


    As demonstrations, which were limited to the Presidential Pce, took ce sporadically throughout the city, the entire city slowly began to stir up.


    Protests performed by regr citizens were bound to begin with someone¡¯s instigation, and the agents of the autonomous state took that role. Naturally, student organizations and ordinary civic organizations were linked to each other under one purpose, and citizens were now leading the protest. Student organizations now also begun to recognize that effective anti-government activities required the power of civic groups.


    Before returning to the autonomous state, Youngho met up with Naiman again.


    ¡°Mr. Naiman, civic groups are joining the protest, and they¡¯re asking for funds. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I was going to meet you to discuss it. The protest had been difficult with the strength of students only, but the civic group¡¯s involvement is a big help. We don¡¯t care if you support the civic group or the student group, as long as we can keep our anti-government protests.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very fortunate that the two organizations are supporting each other. How long can you stay focused on the protests? Some of you have to teach students at school, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t leave the student protesters to seek my ownfort. Also, I can¡¯t give up on the expectations of the people who help me from behind.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not connected to politicians, are you?¡±


    He admitted it without much agitation to Youngho¡¯s question.


    ¡°I cooperated with politicians because we had a shared goal. It¡¯s not important since it¡¯s in the past.¡±


    ¡°They could be a threat to the whole protest group.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already made a great sacrifice. Because of my stupidity to gain funding, young students were sacrificed. I¡¯m the one to me for since I made that decision. But now we don¡¯t have to work with politicians anymore. I don¡¯t have any shared interests with them.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess the politicians had a separate purpose.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s been a little bit of shameful event. They wanted to use their power to fund, and we responded to that.¡±


    It seemed that Naiman had realized that he made the wrong choice.


    Youngho did not bother to make ament because it was already in the past. He was rather thankful that he did not lose someone like Naiman for this. Naiman was someone with great potential to be his good ally, so Youngho was excited that he had found a pearl in the dirt.


    ¡°Would it be so easy to get a man? It is fortunate that the misunderstanding has been resolved. You were almost angry at all of the intellectuals of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why politicians shouldn¡¯t get involved.¡±


    ¡°That Naiman is a man with a straight mind. He will never take that route again.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Did you give away all the money we got from the mayor¡¯s house?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We gave evenly to families of those who were killed or injured during the protest, and the rest is given to fund the demonstration.¡±


    Before leaving the mayor¡¯s house, the two collected all of the expensive items and sold them at the ck market. The money was distributed evenly to young people who were killed or injured in the protests and their families.


    Naiman had been suffering from guilt, and when Youngho delivered the constion money to the casualty family, he was moved to tears.


    ¡°Man, I left him alive for no reason.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be crippled for life. That¡¯s enough punishment for him. Let¡¯s go back to the state. Looks like our work is done here. I have a lot of work to do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of some priority work at the autonomous state quickly and go to Sweden.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up there? Are the fighter jets ready already?¡±


    ¡°I need to sign a warne extradition document and discuss the establishment of an air defensework.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? An air defensework?¡±


    ¡°Our state doesn¡¯t have an air defense system at all. Even if the old Mustang shows up, we¡¯re going to get destroyed helplessly. We need to have an anti-aircraft missile system.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an awesome thought. How did youe up with that?¡±

 Chapter 444 - Recycling (1)

    <h4>Chapter 444: Recycling (1)</h4>


    Naval officers who operated battleships in the Caspian Sea had agreed to join forces with the autonomous state as Victor Jun convinced them, and the Army officers were being contacted by Lieutenant Colonel Kabak.


    He would have earned the position of a colonel, but he had been missing out on the promotion list because he was not favored by the high-ups due to his upright character.


    With the active help of Victor Jun and Kabak, it was only a matter of time until numbers of consr or junior officers were collected.


    The only problem was that the Air Force officers were not yet to respond to the call of the autonomous state. It was because they had a Russian civil aviationpany that offered to pay them billions of won in annual sry when their mandatory military service ended. The Air Force receivedmissioned training from the Russian Air Force, and the soldiers were often given contracts from Russia¡¯s private airlines during theirmissioned education period.


    They did not care about the future of Kazakhstan as they had nned to leave the country anyway. Kazakhstan¡¯s big enemies were Russia and China. Without the air force to respond to any attack immediately, the country would be helpless. Thus, Youngho had no choice but to establish an air defensework.


    Sweden¡¯s air defensework was evaluated to be almost perfect, as it was built on the premise of Soviet invasion during the Cold War.


    Sweden was still the country where Russian fighter jets made a series of deadly provocations across its airspace, so its air defensework was thought to be unrivaled.


    Eriksson was out at Stockholm International Airport.


    ¡°Mr. Lee, you could¡¯ve just called me instead ofing here. Is there any urgent matter? I thought you¡¯d stay in Kazakhstan because of the circumstances there.¡±


    ¡°I had toe. There are so many things that the autonomous state needs, so I have to almost run around to supply necessary things.¡±


    ¡°I see. Let¡¯s go to the downtown office instead of going to the main office.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d I¡¯m not getting blindfolded this time.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You know you don¡¯t need that kind of procedure anymore. You must have been pretty upset before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just kidding. It¡¯s necessary for security.¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s an informationpany, we made a fuss about our security.¡±


    ¡°Yourpany must have a perfect air defensework. Am I correct?¡±


    ¡°Our defense system?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here today.¡±


    ¡°Is there any sign that the state will be attacked?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a problem because we don¡¯t have a defense system to prevent even a light ne attack.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The Information Agency¡¯s downtown office was a five-story red brick building near the Nobel Institute in the east of the city, with a magazine sign hanging.


    Youngho was surprised that there were so many people working for a disguised magazinepany.


    ¡°This is thergest cirction magazine in Sweden. We¡¯re publishing five kinds of monthly magazines.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I thought it was just a pretend magazinepany, but it was real. When journalists travel around the world, they¡¯ll get all kinds of information.¡±


    ¡°That information is also useful.¡±


    Unlike newspaper reporters, journalists in monthly magazines often reported in-depth contents. There would be many benefits for the agency to have such journalists handy. In the reception room on the fifth floor, Basten, the representative of the Information Agency, was already waiting for Youngho.


    ¡°Good afternoon, duke. I heard you¡¯ve been having a lot of troubletely.¡±


    ¡°Well, nothing¡¯s been easy for me. I¡¯m d that I have a great partner like you to rely on.¡±


    ¡°You came a long way to get here. I should take you to dinner, but I guess business shoulde first, right?¡±


    After hearing Youngho¡¯s exnation while drinking tea, Basten nodded to express his agreement.


    ¡°You know, unless it¡¯s a multiyered defensework, there¡¯s no perfect air defense. Both radar systems and missile interceptors are important. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a fundamental solution.¡±


    ¡°Is there any alternative you suggest?¡±


    ¡°There should be a system that can strike directly against the enemy.¡±


    ¡°What if we can¡¯t do that in the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this in consideration of pilot dispatch.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Swedish air power is strong, but the soldiers have no real experience. They should gain experience somewhere, so they¡¯re looking for a ce like that.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same for other countries?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. If the Swedish Air Force pilots can practice in Kazakhstan this time, I think we will effectively prevent the threat of Russia.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that you are sending Swedish pilots to our state? How can you move the Swedish Defense Ministry? I mean, I wouldn¡¯t worry if that is possible, but I hardly see that happening.¡±


    ¡°The Swedish Air Force has a history of 80 years. It has an exceptionallyrge number of pilots who can fly fighter jets.¡±


    ¡°Will the government of Sweden send fighter pilots?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good opportunity to gain hands-on experience. Which military would deny it?¡±


    ¡°You mean Kazakhstan¡¯s Air Force is not as good.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what we assume. The bottom line is that we have confidence in our fighter jets too.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you just a shareholder of Saab AB?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ***


    The Gripen, a multipurpose fighter, could take off andnd without a runway¡ªonly if there was an unpaved road stretched about 700 meters.


    On top of that, the fighter jet¡¯s advantage was a field maintenance team consisting of only five to six people couldplete equipment recement and refueling in less than an hour from just 30 minutes.


    The ne was characterized by abat system with superior stability and an integrated electronic system, as well as ample load weightpared to flexible adaptability and size.


    It was also a good price for a fighter jet of its great performance. If pilots could be dispatched to the autonomous state, it was a jaw-dropping deal. Thus, Youngho decided to buy the second-hand aircraft used by the Swedish Air Force for 40 million dors per unit and signed a contract with the Strategic Air Command to acquire 20 units that were to be transported through two deliveries.


    In response to the dispatch of fighter pilots, he also ordered ten more JAS39 units¡ªthetest model. Finally, he signed the contract to get the Swedish air defensework system. Youngho benefited most from his rtionship with the Danish royal family when signing this deal. Sweden and Denmark were of the same northern Germanic descent, so the two countries had a strong rtionship.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be able to sleep with my legs straightened out, now that I¡¯m relieved from my worries. I really appreciate your consideration.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. A businessman doesn¡¯t make a losing deal. We¡¯re on the same boat, so I¡¯m d that I could give you discounts.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve received a big gift since I¡¯ve been promised a technical partnership and even pilots.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to see my client happy. Ourpany received a lot of praise from the government for this deal. The Swedish government was also happy that this would be their start to exporting its air defense system.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a system that hasn¡¯t been introduced overseas yet.¡±


    ¡°If it proves to work in the Arirang state, it will be a new product of Sweden.¡±


    ¡°Then I must be attacked.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I guess that¡¯s the only way we could tell the effectiveness of the system. By the way, is there a reason why you don¡¯t do bank transactions?¡±


    ¡°Banks in Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan don¡¯t keep secrets so well, so most businessmen prefer cash. It became my habit, too.¡±


    Both knew that cash transaction was quite cumbersome. It was because the receiver would have to check whether they were counterfeit or not and count all of the bills. In addition, safety measures for transportation should be prepared as they were quite bulky.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t feelfortable with cash, I have other means of payment. Would that be fine?¡±


    ¡°Is it gold?¡±


    Youngho had tons of gold bars but he could not give them away because gold was thest bastion in the time of emergency. What Youngho was trying to offer was the paintings and jewelry he stole from the president¡¯s vi and the house of his second daughter.


    ¡°Do you have any interest in paintings and jewelry?¡±


    ¡°Are they also a legacy of the Archduke?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... There¡¯s no way that the Serbians kept paintings from hundreds of years ago. It was in my private possession.¡±


    ¡°They must be great paintings if you liked them.¡±


    ¡°Mafia had them, so I bought them randomly. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re authentic.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s tempting.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send them as soon as I get back to the state. You can appraise their values.¡±


    ¡°Then did you collect the jewelry for yourself?¡±


    ¡°Some I did, and some belonged to the Archduke Family.¡±


    ¡°The Archduke Family must¡¯ve owned all of the wealth of Europe.¡±


    ¡°I heard it was an invincible, rich kingdom.¡±


    ¡°The legend of El Dorado must have been on the Balkans.¡±


    ¡°I was blessed to meet my wife. I¡¯m pretty much indebted to her family.¡±


    ¡°I should go to flea markets a lot, too.¡±


    ¡°If so, keep an eye on the little girl with a sloppy disy stand.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    It was easy for Youngho to spend this amount of money since he had more than 7.2 billion dors worth of cash from the president¡¯s vi. That was excluding his gold bars. From the Presidential Pce and the vi, he acquired about a hundred tons. Combining it with Youngho¡¯s own gold bars, they were added up to 130 tons¡ªwhich was more than the central bank of a small country would have stored. He had nothing to be afraid of now.


    Youngho finished his schedule and was going back home.


    Next to him, Eriksson was sitting. Basten sent him with Youngho because he wanted to check out the paintings and jewelry that Youngho talked about as soon as possible.


    Basten was excited that the best secret auction market of the century was about to open. The wealthiest people in Europe were proud to have famous artists¡¯ paintings because of their cultural vanity.


    ¡°If the paintings that the mafia had were fake, I¡¯d be very embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°The Russian mafia-owned paintings are authentic. Their appraisals are known to have no mistakes.¡±


    Youngho worried that there might be fake paintings since they were not from the mafias but from the Kazakh President and his daughter. Their friends or rtives might have deceived them into buying fake paintings. He only hoped that the President and his daughter had a good eye for arts.

 Chapter 445 - Recycling (2)

    <h4>Chapter 445: Recycling (2)</h4>


    ¡°What? Eriksson took all of the paintings and jewelry?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He said that they are rare paintings by a famous artist. He was also surprised to see such high-quality.¡±


    Eriksson was extremely delighted when he saw the paintings Youngho showed him. They were painted by a famous artist in the 19th century that had been traded by only a handful of people. If they were genuine, each piece would cost about tens of millions of dors. He also said that if the auction was held, it would be worth one used fighter jet per piece.


    The total number of paintings that Youngho stole was 24, and Eriksson handled them very preciously, saying that such artworks were not verymon.


    ¡°How can someone who¡¯s not even an expert know about paintings so well?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a middleman of the Information Agency and a European. He must have that much of an eye.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, that means we¡¯ll get to save our cash.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more good news than that. They told you to keep it a secret for now, but I can¡¯t because my mouth is itchy.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°I think I can get the pilots for fighter jets.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°The Swedish Air Force will dispatch their pilots to the state.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all crazy. Does it make sense for a neutral country to break into another country¡¯s civil war?¡±


    ¡°Strictly saying, they¡¯reing as an instructor. Since our pilots might get into trouble while flying the jets, they¡¯ll jump on the jets with them too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s exactly what I said. They¡¯re intervening anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we needed.¡±


    The time and cost of training a pilot were said to be over 80,000 dors, and not many countries would waste such resources to another country. That was why Park Jong-il could not believe it.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you sold all of the paintings and jewelry?¡±


    ¡°What do we do with them? They¡¯ll only get molds if we keep them in the basement. It is also a great work for humanity to find a man who can manage world-ss famous paintings. I should be nominated for the Nobel Prize.¡±


    Youngho joked as he was in a good mood, but Jong-il did not budge.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we hire pilots instead of borrowing them. You know, just like the mercenary.¡±


    ¡°You think there¡¯s a ce like that?¡±


    ¡°The East European pilots are not treated very well, so they¡¯re all busy looking for jobs in civilian airlines. I think we should try to coax them in.¡±


    ¡°Will theye here when there might be a war soon?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not give up on that too early. I will get Hong Sung-ki to contact them. Maybe some people with macho instincts might be intrigued toe.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki had been full of pride these days.


    It was because the Russian alcoholic air engineers were now functioning well in the state. No one supported his idea when he first brought the alcoholics, but because of his determination, the state now had great air engineers.


    No one would¡¯ve thought of such an idea, and he was now recognized for his driving forces and endurance. Jong-il thought that with Sung-ki¡¯s eloquence, it would be possible to coax anyone into moving to the state.


    ¡°Deputy Director Hong. Don¡¯t stand there. Come and sit here.¡±


    ¡°You make me nervous because you¡¯re acting too friendly now.¡±


    His body was already fidgeting with excitement which was quite opposite of his words. His unique gestures made Younghough.


    ¡°Sit when I speak nicely.¡±


    Park Jong-il snapped at him right away, but he did not blink.


    ¡°Director, everything about you is alright, but you still think I¡¯m your junior soldier.¡±


    ¡°You were still in high school when I was discharged from the Navy. You¡¯re just a little kiddo to me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be too harsh on me. We¡¯re all growing old together.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been so busy these days, so I didn¡¯t have a chance to beat you up. I guess now is the time to establish my authority. Don¡¯t stop him because he¡¯s going to submit to me today.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop talking nonsense. Everyone, just sit down. I don¡¯t have time to joke right now.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Youngho! That guy¡¯s just crawling up to me. We should get rid of the deputy director system at the Intelligence Department.¡±


    Hong Sung-ki was just looking at Youngho¡¯s mouth, ignoring Park Jong-il¡¯s words.


    ¡°Hong Sung-ki, we¡¯ve got a fun mission. Do you want to try it?¡±


    ¡°What is it? Is there another group of alcoholics?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a recruitment mission, but your target is Eastern European Air Force pilots.¡±


    ¡°People there are also heavy drinkers.¡±


    ¡°Yes. There are many beauties, too. I rmended you for this job, so be thankful for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I love you, Director.¡±


    ¡°E, what¡¯s wrong with you? You¡¯re not going to bring back drinkers this time, are you?¡±


    ¡°If the pilots in charge of flying fighters drink, they¡¯re not qualified for the job. I¡¯ll pick the right guys and bring them. But what¡¯s going to be the bait for the Eastern Europe pilots?¡±


    ¡°I bet Hong Sung-ki can achieve anything without a bait, but he should have good conditions to bring useful people, right?¡±


    ¡°Unless the pilot is out of his mind, he won¡¯te to our state. I need something to hook them.¡±


    ¡°You can decide it ording to the circumstances. That is my offer.¡±


    ***


    Kim Chun was panting into Youngho office hastily. He had sweats on his forehead which was not easily seen in Kazakhstan¡¯s April weather.


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡±


    ¡°I was running toe faster to tell you good news, but I was dyed because my legs were twisted.¡±


    ¡°You could¡¯ve just called.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to see you get surprised.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get surprised so easily these days. There are so many surprises in my life already.¡±


    ¡°Behold! We¡¯ve found an oil field.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park Young-sun will be back soon and report in detail.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me more.¡±


    He said that he was overseeing the recement of several trees frozen to deathst winter in front of the Grand Pce, and found Young-sun covered in crude oil. Park Young-sun was on his way to the pce, but he was blocked by Kim Chun because of the floor cleaning, so he told what he discovered. Kim Chun got too excited that he stopped what he was doing and came running to Youngho¡¯s office to deliver the news.


    Park Young-sun, who appeared in a clean attire after a while, looked like an elementary school student who just did something to be proud of.


    ¡°Doctor Park, thank you for your hard work. You managed to pull it off after digging all the way through.¡±


    ¡°I wish it was a gas field, but it¡¯s a bit disappointing.¡±


    Youngho, who was born and raised in Korea, where there was not a drop of oil, always envied oil-producing countries. Although he had a share of an oil field in Baku, it was only given because of his connection to Yaniv. Finally, the autonomous state discovered oil reserves. Regardless of the volume of the oil crude, the mere possession of the oil field had enormous power.


    ¡°What if it was a gas field and an oil field? Dr. Park, it¡¯s important that we found the oil field.¡±


    ¡°We need to check the volume of the oil deposits, but I can assume that it¡¯s quite a lot by the emitted pressure.¡±


    ¡°I should check it out for myself. It¡¯ll only feel real when I touch the crude oil myself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already getting dark. We already stopped the vents, so not a lot of amountes out now. If there¡¯s any left on the surface, it must¡¯ve been smeared to the ground already.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t just let it pass today. I should have a drink.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m quite thirsty now, too.¡±


    All of the leaders of the state, who were said to be heavy drinkers, gathered that night.


    The news that crude oil was found was like a long-waited rain since there had only been grim newstely. They felt a sense of hope.


    The discovery of crude oil would not immediately make the state millions of dors, but it was good enough of a news that blew away people¡¯s financial worries.


    ¡°What? Did you say we should start a rumor about the discovery of the crude oil?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a way to make the Arirang state look powerful. People will look up to the state as a ce where the future is guaranteed.¡±


    Everyone looked surprised at Youngho¡¯s remarks.


    It was understandable since it was a risky idea¡ªsince the state did not have the power to protect it.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the central government try to take it away from us?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have the time to do that now.¡±


    ¡°What if they still want to interfere?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ignore it without mercy. I¡¯m not going to let anyone working in the governmente near to our state.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s possible?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Sooner orter, no one will think of crossing or touching our state.¡±


    ¡°I know that you must have reasonable thought behind this, but the Kazakh government is still not dead. I feel like you¡¯re being too hasty when the president is still in power.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, if someone asked you to leave the state, would you?¡±


    ¡°No, I stressed that I can¡¯t leave even if I¡¯m dead. They¡¯ll have to bury my body here, in that case.¡±


    ¡°What are you afraid of when you¡¯re as determined as that? Did you watch the training process of the Foreign Legion?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have. I was horrified only by watching them.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s a force that tries to wipe us out, they¡¯ll go after it to the end of the and punish it. I will do my best to fight, too. So you can count on us.¡±


    Youngho was confident that the Foreign Legion of the state could paralyze the whole Kazakhstan instantly byunching a guerri attack. However, taking over the nation through military power would not get him the public¡¯s support.


    He needed to gain support from all of the departments such as the military, academia, and cultural circles to reduce the chaos.


    The Foreign Legion would be thest resort for the autonomous state.


    ¡°How far are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to take over the whole Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Why? Is there aw that says no?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s too much. I feel suffocated.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re suffocated by this? Don¡¯t you want to be the first prime minister from our state?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, even as a joke. I¡¯m going to have a heart attack.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, why don¡¯t you rx a little bit? Even if we only end up with our stateter on, what¡¯s the harm of having a big dream now?¡±


    ¡°I used to be a middle school teacher and a travel agent who lived a normal life. I met you, and I was given an undeserved title and authority. As someone who had been faithful to the autonomous state, I want to give you an advice. I hope you don¡¯t forget that the bigger your greed, the bigger your loss will be.¡±


    ¡°How can I not understand what you mean? But, the joys and sorrows of the sess of hard work must be great when your goal is high. If I can make a better environment for everyone, I¡¯ll show some greed.¡±


    Even Kim Chun was unable to reply to the remark.


    The state hade too far that it could not quit in the middle.


    ¡°If you feel that way, then I will do my best.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it. You¡¯ve done a good job so far. Don¡¯t worry about the outside world and try to keep our residents from shaking.¡±


    ¡°By the way, are you sure you want to give me the position of the prime minister?¡±


    ¡°You are doing such a great job at governing the autonomous state. Would governing Kazakhstan be any different? Of course, that is when the public supports you.¡±

 Chapter 446 - Serrated Wheel (1)

    <h4>Chapter 446: Serrated Wheel (1)</h4>


    The city of Atyrau was the administrative district of western Kazakhstan, located at the lower reaches of the Ural River and the Caspian Sea. It was the capital of the Atyrau Region and was home to 140,000 people.


    It started as a fishing hub city and now it was where petrochemicals and machinery industries were developed, and it was also well-known for its famous oil field.


    Recently, it became famous for something different because the Arirang Autonomous State was established in the region. Atyrau was also the main stage of activity for the Navy and the Arirang Autonomous State¡¯s Maritime Police.


    Even the mayor or the governor could not walk all over the Maritime Police since their role was significant in west Kazakhstan.


    It was up to the Maritime Police to inspect and search ships entering and leaving the Caspian Sea and the Ural River, so there was no restriction for the cargo that was brought in to the autonomous state through the Caspian Sea.


    The cargo that came into the Arirang Wharf today was something that would make headlines in the press but was quietly being unloaded at the dock without a word.


    The cargo was the Gripen fighter jets from Sweden. The first delivery brought in ten jets. Even though no extradition cost had been paid yet, it was possible to bring in because the appraisal of the paintings and jewelry taken by Eriksson estimated about1.4 billion dors.


    That was enough to cover the cost of 20 Swedish jets and installing an air defensework system as well as the deposit for the new Gripen models.


    ¡°If I knew this would happen, I shouldn¡¯t haveined. I take my words back for saying that the paintings were useless.¡±


    ¡°Just know that the safe from the president¡¯s vi hasn¡¯t even been open yet. For now, there¡¯s no way to open it, but when it opens, you¡¯ll have to sew your mouth shut for a while.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. Let¡¯s just move on. We should do this a few more times.¡±


    ¡°There are only a few ces left to rob.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s got to be more corrupt politicians left in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Even Youngho did not expect the paintings to cost this much. The safe from the vi was now stored at the Serbian ranch because he did not find a way to open it yet. He wondered what kind of surprising items might be in it.


    ¡°I guess Sweden must be busy these days, too. They decided to dmission a decent air force ne and reced it with new models that don¡¯t have much difference in performance?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural to choose a slightly improved version of the fighter. A slight part change could control its survival. Russia is frequently invading Finnish and Swedish airspace, they needed to be fully prepared.¡±


    The Baltic countries were on high alert after Ukraine¡¯s annexation to the Crimea revealed Russia¡¯s innermost intention. They were making a desperate effort to expand its air defensework since Russia was openly showing its intention to take over its former federal countries and neighboring countries.


    ¡°Why are the bignders so greedy? If the Scandinavian Penins had been theirnd for a long time, that would make sense, but that is not the case.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess the one that has more wants to have more.¡±


    ¡°Then, Central Asia won¡¯t be safe, either.¡±


    ¡°If other countries attack Kazakhstan despite the fact we¡¯re holding out here, they are going to have to watch out for our counter-attack.¡±


    ¡°Man, I like how you speak these days.¡±


    ***


    At the autonomous county airport, the construction of a runway specialized for fighter jets was underway. The runway would be dedicated to fighter jets that would fly andnd from time to time for future training. Separate runways were needed for the jets so that it would not disrupt the take-off andnding of civilian nes. Youngho ordered to build a hangar that was solid enough to stand a bombing as well.


    Moreover, special constructions were underway throughout the stone walls outside that went around the state.


    They were the anti-aircraft artillery and missileunch sites.


    From the time the autonomous state¡¯s city was nned, various defensive facilities were prepared, but the state was not at all prepared for attacks from the sky. Youngho started off with a technology partnership with D Drones, an American drone manufacturer, but with the level of technology of the autonomous state, it would take too long until the state coulde up with its own anti-aircraft defensive system.


    That was why Youngho wanted to introduce an air defense system to the state.


    Its primary goal was to cover the 50-kilometer range above the state, while its other goal was to build an air defensework covering more than 100 kilometers. That was what Youngho ordered from the Swedish Strategic Air Command. Considering the possible civil war, this was enough preparation.


    When he first conceived the state, he benchmarked the city of Grozny, a military city made of military facilities. So, he built stone walls and air-raid shelters from the time he drew up the city n.


    During the Chechen war, the Russian armored troops advanced to the urban district of Grozny, and only 15 of the 120 tanks and armored vehicles returned unscathed.


    In addition, Russia deployed 50,000 soldiers, but they were defeated by the Chechen Army with only 12,000 soldiers. Russia managed to win by mobilizing its air force after huge sacrifices but had since struggled with Chechnya¡¯s urban guerris. It was such a strong military city that Russia suffered such huge damage.


    ¡°Our defense system would cover the whole Air Force of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t just sit there and wait for them to strike us. If you see any signs, we¡¯ll have tounch pre-emptive attacks.¡±


    ¡°Should we slip in an intelligence agent in the Kazakh Air Force?¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no other choice but to buy someone with money. Most of the Air Force soldiers were the ones who were trained in Russia onmission. I hear most of them brag about getting a job with Russian civil aviationpanies after they¡¯re discharged from the military.¡±


    The reason that young Kazakhs entered the Air Force Academy was not because of their patriotism. It was a means to get a good job after being discharged from the military. Russian civil Aviationpanies often recruited them when they came to Russia formissioned education. This was because being a pilot was a popr job not only in Russia but also everywhere in the world. Young people did not care where they went since they were offered high sries, apartments, and even a chance to marry a Russian beauty.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that they like money. Try to buy them at all costs. Our imitation of Russia hurts our pride, but we can¡¯t help it.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t feel any guilt. We¡¯re using each other. Well, I guess it¡¯s fortunate of us to have met with Victor Jun of the Navy and Lt. Col. Kabak of the Army. They¡¯re such loyal soldiers.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the president¡¯s fault. He made the upright soldiers turn their backs on him.¡±


    ¡°His life must be hell these days. He¡¯s been robbed here and there.¡±


    ¡°So, keep a close watch on the Presidential Pce. Shouldn¡¯t we know where he had taken the rest of the gold bars and cash if we were to take them too?¡±


    ¡°What if he¡¯s already taken them overseas?¡±


    ¡°We might be able to find where he hid them if we keep watching him.¡±


    The gold bars that he took from the pce before Youngho and Jong-il arrived must be somewhere in the country since they were quite heavy to transport. If it were to be taken out somewhere, where the gold bars were hidden would be the president¡¯s key hideout.


    Whether they were in his home in Kazakhstan or abroad, Youngho was determined to take them at all costs.


    ***


    Shortly after the Swedish fighter jets were delivered, instructors, mechanics, and other engineers were dispatched to the state.


    The Swedish Air Force would send pilots when there were signs of a sudden change in Kazakhstan. As ten fighter jets for the first delivery arrived, and as rted people were sent from Sweden one after another, the residents of the state were relieved from the fear of losing their home. Knowing the situation in Kazakhstan, they had been scared about the future of Kazakhstan.


    However, the Arirang Autonomous State was not shaken by the fact. It was rather more active than ever. Various construction projects were taking ce and fighter jets were brought in regardless of the outside situation. This gave a sense of confidence in Youngho¡¯s leadership in people¡¯s minds.


    ¡°Construction Director Min, do you have enough manpower?¡±


    ¡°We have more than enough people now. The response of the Kazakh people from the newly incorporated area is amazing. They had never been paid such a high sry before.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t overwork them. They¡¯re our residents now. The safety of construction sites should be our priority.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Most of the work is done by equipment, so there¡¯s not muchbor to their work.¡±


    Most of the Kazakh people who were newly assigned to the autonomous state had been living on farming and livestock business as their main business, but after selling theirnd to the state, most of them had to find a full-time job. It was becauserge-scale farming machinery was given to them, and there was no need for that much manpower on farms anymore.


    Most of the young men were absorbed into the Countryside Force, the Vignte Army, or different factories, but it was different for the middle-aged people since it was difficult for them to learn new work. So, when it was rumored that various construction works would take ce and high wages would be given, they all snooped to the construction sites.


    ¡°We need to speed up the dock and bunker construction before anything else.¡±


    ¡°The exterior bunkers and anti-aircraft instation construction will all bepleted next month, but the dock won¡¯t be finished until autumn at the earliest. We should be satisfied with the temporary work.¡±


    ¡°If we finish the temporary dock, will you be able to start working on the railroad right away?¡±


    ¡°The roadwork has beenpleted a while ago. However, there are difficulties in the rail supply line.¡±


    ¡°Rails are scheduled to be sent from Volgograd this week, so don¡¯t worry about it. And could you make the runway construction that we¡¯ve started this time as borate as possible? Our current runway is a little rough and the nes feel shaky when taking off andnding.¡±


    ¡°It was a bit disappointing because wecked pavement skills, but our skills have improved over time, so look forward to it this time.¡±


    The runway was not too flimsy, but because of theck of experience of the construction workers, it was quite rough that passengers of the airne could feel it. Sometimes, Youngho even felt embarrassed to bring guests to the state because of it.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot of residents, and we need more shelters for them. It¡¯s hard for me to tell a good site for the shelter because most of thend is empty.¡±


    ¡°We have no choice but to build more gymnasiums. That way, we can amodate the residents all at once and save money.¡±


    ¡°If things happen, people will be harmed on their way to the gym. Let¡¯s build several smaller ones. Make sure that you build it within easy reach of each home or workce. Don¡¯t think about saving money.¡±


    Therge buildings were all equipped with their own shelters, but there were no separate evacuation facilities at the industrialplex or residential areas.


    Even if there was an underground gym in the city where the administration office was located, people could be attacked on their way there.


    Moreover, because the facility was built to target the first immigrants, it was too small to amodate the entire poption.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll get started right away. We¡¯ll discuss the locations of new shelters with themissioner and ce them in at proper locations.¡±


    ¡°We need to make it broad and solid. Keep in mind the supply for a week will be stored here too.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s make it more than enough to survive a nuclear war.¡±


    ¡°You tell me what I want to hear. We can lose money since we can make more of itter, but we can¡¯t bring back a sacrificed person when he¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    It was no better to not build a formal shelter that would copse with a single bomb or missile because it would be safer for people to stay home.

 Chapter 447 - Serrated Wheel (2)

    <h4>Chapter 447: Serrated Wheel (2)</h4>


    ¡°Min-seok, what¡¯s the matter with you these days?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing. What¡¯s the problem with doing what you¡¯re told to do?¡±


    ¡°You look troubled. What¡¯s wrong? Tell me about it.¡±


    As Youngho insisted, Suh Min-seok finally opened his mouth.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t know if I should let my parents stay here. They are worried after hearing that the fighters arrived here. They asked me if there¡¯s going to be a war any time soon.¡±


    ¡°Tell them nothing¡¯s going to happen. If they¡¯re really anxious, tell them they can move to the farm in Baku.¡±


    Youngho could see why Min-seok¡¯s parents were worried.


    Older people who had lived in the divided Korea had lived under the threat of conflict all their lives. Since Youngho made such a fuss that it looked like a battle would take ce at any moment.


    ¡°They¡¯ve already settled down here. They¡¯re not going to budge even if I push them to leave, but they¡¯re worried because the whole Central Asia is a ce full of disputes and conflicts just like the Korean Penins.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re nervous, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid, but I think you¡¯re capable enough to get through this situation.¡±


    ¡°Hooh! You mean you trust me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have much experience in the world, but you are more humane and broad-minded than any businessman or politician I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Man, you tter me with your words. Keep praising me.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say more if you bluntly ask me to do so.¡±


    ¡°I might look like a huge person to you, but I¡¯m scared of the world, too. The people I¡¯m responsible for are giving me the courage I don¡¯t have. We¡¯re already in a situation where we can¡¯t even get our feet out of it, so I¡¯m just trying to take the lead instead of just sitting back and waiting for the conclusion.¡±


    ¡°Is what you want a full-fledged ¡®independence¡¯ of the state?¡±


    ¡°I only think about how the Arirang state can survive. One way is to build up power so no one can touch it, and that power could be force or diplomacy.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, what are you going to do when your efforts are not enough to stop the conflict?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s too much, we¡¯ll leave here. Don¡¯t worry about that. I can¡¯t stand idly knowing that I¡¯m going to die. There has to be a ce for less than 20,000 local residents to stay in this vast world, don¡¯t you think? It will be hard to getnd for free like Kazakhstan, but we¡¯ll make a ce to stay even if we have to pay for it.¡±


    Knowing that Min-seok would definitely freak out to hear about a possible war, Youngho made remarks to reassure Min-seok, but he never intended to give up the Arirang Autonomous State. He would protect the county even if there was a war.


    ***


    Former members of the Navy Special Forces from South Korea were now working for Zeyenp Security Service, the Countryside Force, or the Vignte Army of the autonomous state.


    Back in Korea, nonmissioned officers of special forces were not treated very well, but in developing countries like Kazakhstan, they were skillful enough to carry out their duties in any position given. They were more skillful than the local officers who studied and trained abroad in Russia, so they had no trouble taking a senior position in military organizations.


    The guys who were assigned to the Countryside Force ranged in rank from lieutenant to major, but everyone disliked to be in an administrative position. Such a position did not require a lot of work, but they hated being on the desk and preferred to roll and run in the front line. It would be a problem if people in the positions to n operations and strategies for soldiers all fought at the front lines with guns. Even though they had enough ability to be in higher positions, they all refused to do their work.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one to serve in the logistics position or a transportation officer.¡±


    ¡°They asked me why they should do that? They¡¯d rather leave it to civilians and be in the field.¡±


    ¡°We like to do that better than sitting at the desk too. We can¡¯t me them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to roll in the field, but I¡¯m stuck on the head of my desk because of you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got no choice but to let them roll in the field. Let¡¯s leave the logistics to the state administration. But tell them they¡¯ll be demoted if they try to pass their operational authority to the administration too.¡±


    In fact, Youngho was the one who was more excited than Jong-il when they carried out a mission. The two were almost invincible when they worked together like the serrated wheel.


    ¡°I wish we had a few more guys like Hong Sung-ki and Choi Sang-ho. All we got is a bunch of guys who only want to use their bodies. How are they going to carry out operations?¡±


    ¡°You know we¡¯re not going to make them engage in regr warfare. They¡¯re experts at disrupting enemy lines working in small groups.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a problem that they don¡¯t have any real experience.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There are not many forces that had trained hard as we did.¡±


    In fact, there was nothing to worry about as long as the state could defend itself.


    If there was any sign of attack, the state¡¯s Foreign Legion wouldunch a preemptive strike in guerri-style. Youngho was confident since the British military satellite could check the surrounding situation in real-time. Still, he asked Eriksson to purchase Russian-made multiple rocketunchers, self-propelled, and tanks.


    ***


    Finally, anti-government protests began in Astana, the capital city.


    Protests had been confined to Almaty, where the Presidential Pce was, but the fact that they were taking ce even in the capital was proof that the public of Kazakhstan had gone out of control.


    Demonstrations in Astana, which had more police force than any other city, had been a violent sh between protesters and police from the start.


    In the beginning, the police used tear gas and stones only, but now they were shooting at the protesters.


    It was also at that point that news of the state of panic of the Presidential Pce was delivered. The state had been closely monitoring the Presidential Pce as it was being wiretapped in real-time, the agents of the state just confirmed that the president was packing any items and belongings from the pce. It seemed that he was going to move his valuables somewhere else.


    The only way out of Kazakhstan must be bynd through Russia or through the Caspian Sea. Given the president¡¯s situation, it was unlikely that he would go through Russia, so the Caspian Sea would be the only channel for him. That was because it was impossible for airnes to carry heavy items such as gold bars.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t figured out where he¡¯s going?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. The only proven way to know is to have agents around the pce track down huge vehicles thate out of the Presidential Pce day and night, and hope that he won¡¯t choose the Russian route.¡±


    ¡°No, all of his belongings will be found by the Russian border securities. He will surely go through the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting move for the president. Is he going to sell all of that stuff?¡±


    ¡°Judging by the fact that he¡¯s packing up ahead of time, he probably doesn¡¯t want to protect Kazakhstan anymore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he is desperate. The TV news is all about his corruption, and the public¡¯s support is running low. There¡¯s no ce for him to lean on anymore.¡±


    Youngho wondered how the president would react if all of his precious assets were stolen.


    If he used the Caspian Sea, Youngho would take the ship that would be carrying his belongings. Now, he could not help the president¡¯s secret ount overseas, but he was not going to allow the president to bring out any penny from Kazakhstan.


    Several dayster, agents confirmed that fourteen trucks came out of the Presidential Pce. The trucks were already moving to the west, as predicted. Then there was only a conclusion that the assets would escape through the Caspian Sea. Turkish-gged cargo ships had been waiting at the port for days.


    ¡°You said there were fourteen trucks in total, right?¡±


    ¡°Yep. They¡¯ll be at the Port of Atyrau tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to take them from the harbor? We¡¯ll get exposed when we take them over on the ocean.¡±


    ¡°That must be tough because of the tight security. We have no choice but to pretend to be pirates.¡±


    ¡°What? There are no pirates in the Caspian Sea. They must believe that the Maritime Police and the Navy are tightly patrolling the territorial waters.¡±


    ¡°Once they enter the international waters, who could they suspect?¡±


    ¡°There must be a lot of guards on board since the president has been robbed before. I bet this time, we¡¯re going to see some blood.¡±


    Youngho could note up with any other solution. He would have to decide ording to the situation after seizing the president¡¯s ship.


    He picked ten agents who would y the role of pirates and disguised his own yacht in a messy way since it would be funny if a pirate boat was too clean.


    ¡°Oh, how much I care about that ship, and you had to ruin it!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a ship that¡¯s going to be messed up in time anyway. Stop making a fuss about it.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the president ask the Maritime Police to escort the freighter?¡±


    ¡°No, this is his secret funds. He won¡¯t dare to openly ask for help. He would rather fear that we or the Navy would find out about his money.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a real greedy old man. I wonder how many items he¡¯s got that he needs 14 trucks to move them. He couldn¡¯t leave them behind, could he?¡±


    The president must be moving his valuables in fear that they would be taken away from him when the government was overruled. It was a good thing for Youngho. He was going to rob the Presidential Pce in the worst-case scenario, but he did not have to now that the president had packaged them nicely for him. The valuables must not be high-end furniture since no one would ce so many guards to move some furniture. It only made sense to think that they were gold bars.


    A whileter, Youngho received a call from an agent at the Port of Atyrau to report that the Turkish ship had departed.


    He left the Arirang Wharf with Jong-il and a crew of pirates on standby.


    It was easy to catch up with the freighter with a speedboat, so they did not need to rush. The Ural River, which had just thawed out, was overflowing with yellow water. They chatted on the boat looking down at the Ural River. They were not nervous at all even though they were going to plunder.


    The operation was simple. By the time they entered the open sea, they would take the cargo ship and move the goods to the car ferry that follow behind their boat.


    And if nothing else, they nned to release the cargo ship and crew at the right ce. However, if they resist severely, they would inevitably be a fish feed of the Caspian Sea. Former guards of Zeynep Security Service who came with them also looked peaceful without any tension in their faces. The raid on the cargo ship was nothing but a warm-up for them.

 Chapter 448 - Serrated Wheel (3)

    <h4>Chapter 448: Serrated Wheel (3)</h4>


    The Turkish freighter was moving slowly ahead of Youngho¡¯s speedboat.


    The ship was about 3,000 tons at best.


    Lights were on all sides, so the deck was as bright as daylight.


    Youngho¡¯s group, which was able to catch up with the freighter around evening, was closely following the freighter with all of the boat¡¯s lights turned off. Now they were crossing the open waters past the Kazakh waters. They were waiting for the night to deepen before they could start their operation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get ready. Tell them to drop the boat.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the rubber bullets will be sufficient. I¡¯ll use ammunition if I have to.¡±


    The group decided to use a non-lethal weapon¡ªbaton guns¡ªsince they did not want to fire live ammunition against innocent Turkish sailors who were only hired to transport the president¡¯s valuables. It was a non-lethal weapon, but it could cause a lot of pain for the people who were shot by it and even kill them. It had to be used carefully.


    The agents, wearing masks, helmets, and bulletproof vests, were divided into two groups. Led by Youngho and Jong-il, each group approached the freighter slowly. There were no high waves, so it was essible by a small boat. The unusually calm waves were helping them today.


    The majestic sound of engines peculiar to the freighter made the engine sound of the motorboat unnoticeable. It was almost impossible to find boats approaching in secret, as the guards of the freighter did not stand out on the deck like a battleship.


    As Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s group were close enough, all of the agents immediately climbed to the deck using hooks.


    There was no one on the deck, but there were only a few people in the steering house.


    People on the freighter did not expect anyone to secretly invade the ship. Most of them were asleep.


    While Park Jong-il¡¯s group took over the steering room, Youngho raided the crew room.


    Even the most well-trained presidential security guards would be seasick since they were not used to be on ships, so it would not be difficult to take them down.


    Youngho, who quickly overpowered the crew room, immediately took control of the engine room. He expected some resistance from the president¡¯s security guards, but it was too easy, so he felt a little disappointed by thepletion of the work. It took less than half an hour to suppress and tie-up everyone.


    ¡°How are these nd people the president¡¯s security guards?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for them to fight for their lives. Would you die to protect some cargo? They must be sick of this mission.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s their destination?¡±


    ¡°They said that there would be someone at the port of Istanbul to take over the goods. That¡¯s the end of the duty. They don¡¯t even know what¡¯s in the hold¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s check the cargo hold first and check how close our car ferry is now.¡±


    All the goods in the hold were gold bars, as expected. As soon as Youngho saw the stack of boxes, he could tell. He had not seen boxes that had 1,000 gold bars each a few times before, so he could figure it out in a single moment by looking at the box.


    ¡°Looks like the president is the biggest thief in Kazakhstan. How many of these are there?¡±


    ¡°I think there are more than 300 of them. If we sell them on the market, the price of gold will fluctuate around the world.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he didn¡¯t take all the gold out of the central bank. He must¡¯ve gathered all of his hidden gold from everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Man, he¡¯s done a hell of a job. It smells like gold. I¡¯m suffocating.¡±


    ***


    It took quite a while to move the gold bars from the freighter to the car ferry that arrivedter.


    When they were done moving a total of 350 boxes, it was almost dawn.


    The freighter was left to the securitypany¡¯s employees and the ferry carrying gold headed for the Port of Baku.


    The freighter and people inside it would be released about half a dayter.


    The yacht, dressed up as a pirate ship, would go back to the Russian waters and return to the autonomous state.


    Now, the car ferry was sailing diligently toward Baku.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to sell these?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re not. The reason why central banks are piling up gold is that they are strategic reserves.¡±


    Russia and China¡¯s sharp increase in their gold holdings were because they were anxious that their foreign reserves were too focused on dors. So now, dors¡¯ holdings against gold had been reduced from 90 percent to around 60 percent. In other words, the number of gold reserves increased by that amount.


    If dors, the key currency, fell sharply, gold was the only asset to rece it.


    That was why central banks were trying to save gold.


    Global financiers believed that it was possible for the U.S. Federal Reserve or Treasury could return to a gold standard to make up for the dor¡¯s slide. Those put countries that did not have convertible currencies of gold or gold at risk of having to pay off their huge dor debts. This meant that the country that depended on the dor system would soon be a ve. It was a structure that must be subjugated to the U.S. to prevent that, countries had no choice but to increase their gold holdings, which was also formidable.


    There were only 3,000 tons of gold produced a year around the world, and only a few hundred tons of gold left after they were used for industrial purposes.


    After excluding the volume traded in secret, only about 100 tons were officially in cirction.


    The amount was far short of what individuals and countries had in ce of the dor.


    Last year, China announced it had increased its gold holdings by 15 tons, but no one believed it. It could have increased by 150 tons.


    In this regard, each central bank was bent on buying even premiums.


    ¡°I think the president gave us a big present.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a wrong idea to have something that should¡¯ve been sent to the central bank as an individual. It¡¯s proof that he doesn¡¯t even care what¡¯s going on in the world. The foreign debts that Kazakhstan owes only believing in its resources are immeasurable. If the dor falls and we go back to the gold standard, Kazakhstan will be bankrupt in a moment.¡±


    Russia and China produced a quarter of the world¡¯s gold, and Kazakhstan produced no less than them. However, President Nazarbayev had all of it under his private property.


    Of course, there was a huge amount of underground resources as an alternative means of payment, but it was not enough to pay back short-term debts that should return immediately.


    ¡°I hope it rains gold in our state too.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already got a lot now. We¡¯ll have to keep an eye on all the high-ranking officials and any cargo going out of the harbor. If the regime changes, Kazakhstan will receive bills from abroad, so we¡¯ll need a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not responsible for it. Why do we need to pay for it?¡±


    ¡°You have to show a responsible attitude to get legitimacy from each country. As soon as you dere the default, the cross-border credit is over. We¡¯re going to get some debt relief, but we¡¯re going to end up as a rogue state forever. I¡¯m d there¡¯s a way to secure gold bars at least this way.¡±


    ***


    As soon as they arrived in Baku, they quickly moved the gold bars.


    It was convenient to transport them since they were moving Zeynep wine to the dock to export to Russia. Youngho was nervous that anyone might be nearby since he was responsible for 350 tons of gold. He was also so excited to have that amount of gold that it was hard to fall asleep at night. The number of gold bars he had gotten before did notpare to what he had now.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Volgograd right away.¡±


    ¡°Your kids will be sorry that you didn¡¯t stop by.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a few days off aftering back from Volgograd. My kids will get even more upset if I left shortly after showing my face.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re living this busy for. We can¡¯t even be good dads.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be a good fatherter all at once.¡±


    ¡°By then you¡¯re ready to be a good father, they¡¯ll be all grown up and tell you that they don¡¯t need a dad.¡±


    Sometimes Youngho regretteding this far because he felt like he was abandoning his family. It was not that Fatima or Leon asked him to build a great nation, but somehow he ended up at the autonomous state, and now he was responsible for so many things.


    Park Jong-il, who had been Youngho¡¯s close friend for a long time, now was also living a hectic life for being a good friend. Other close friends of Youngho were also living busy lives. Come to think of it, he was sorry that he had gotten everyone involved in a matter that they were not rted to because he invited them to it.


    ¡°Well, me it all on me. I guess you¡¯ve got a bad friend.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, it¡¯s good to know that you know. You¡¯ll have to make it up to us for the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°Once this is all done, I¡¯ll leave everything to you guys. You can live a rich life all you want. I won¡¯t say a thing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying you¡¯re going to control us from behind.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state and Kazakhstan should be left to the people who own it. If I try to control it, I¡¯ll be the same as President Nazarbayev. When I¡¯m done, I¡¯m just going to travel with Fatima and live a peaceful life.¡±


    ¡°Let me join the trip, too. I get a rash whenever I sit down at the desk.¡±


    Both of them liked to travel around freely.


    Even though they did not have special ambitions when they first came to the Caucasus, theplicated world was turning ordinary people into extraordinary people.

 Chapter 449 - The Martial Law (1)

    <h4>Chapter 449: The Martial Law (1)</h4>


    ¡°You said Kazakhstan is a great ce, and the president has a great character!¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mr. Yaniv, please don¡¯t rub on my sore spot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the person you¡¯ve been praising all along?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s miseducated his children. There¡¯s no indication that the president has been dishonest yet?¡±


    ¡°How do you not know that his daughters¡¯ money came from him? You¡¯ve already guessed it but you¡¯re only pretending not to know about it.¡±


    Yaniv shook his head, saying Kazakhstan had no hope since it had been under a long-term regime for 30 years. Then he praised Putin¡¯s smart strategy of switching back and forth from president and to prime minister for years.


    ¡°Howe you don¡¯t look worried? Did you by any chance find the length of his foot? You pushed Sergey to prepare the railroad tracks and now you need rebar? It¡¯s weird that you¡¯re working on construction now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just preparing our state for a possible attack.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of stopping it? I¡¯ll give you some extra money, so please get out of the desert. If you¡¯d rather settle down in Volgograd, I¡¯d tell Putin to give you as muchnd as the size of the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°You know we can¡¯t keep the Archduke system in Russia.¡±


    ¡°Hey, this is the 21st century. What are you going to do with maintaining the Archduke system? You can just livefortably. Are you now enjoying to be called the prince consort or the duke?¡±


    Being called ¡®duke¡¯ was quite pleasant for Youngho. He also thought that thebination of monarchy in a democratic system would make Kazakhstan better. At least it was worth a try for once.


    ¡°The autonomous state is going to be fine. Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Yaniv. I¡¯m afraid that President Putin will be greedy for Kazakhstan in the future. If that¡¯s what he is thinking, tell him to be careful.¡±


    ¡°Why? Do you have a nuclear bomb or something? If you don¡¯t have one, I can get you one. There are still rumors in Ukraine that tactical nuclear weapons are traded on the ck market. That¡¯s why Putin could only meddle with the Crimea and left the Ukrainian maind alone.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be an enemy to all mankind.¡±


    Yaniv mentioned about a nuclear weapon as if it was nothing.


    Youngho had never known that the reason that Russia did not touch Ukraine was the existence of tactical nuclear weapons. It was because Ukraine, like Kazakhstan, had scrapped its nuclear program. However, this meant that there could be tactical nuclear weapons developed exclusively for local purposes.


    ¡°Lee, you just have it to warn other countries. It¡¯s like saying, ¡®if you touch me, we are going down together.¡¯ Even having a few empty shells would be a deterrent. You¡¯ve got to have some guts to live with the autonomous state that might be taken away at any time.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, Mr. Yaniv. I get it. Then, could you please get me one?¡±


    ¡°Do you think the state will be safe if there¡¯s a new president? Should I ask Putin to partner with you? Since there are vic Serbians living in the Arirang Autonomous State, I think he¡¯d be intrigued.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I just hope that we won¡¯t turn against each other.¡±


    ¡°International rtions can get smooth one day and get worse another. Nothingsts forever. You get help when you need it even if you turn away from your allied countryter.¡±


    He was speaking the truth. Often times, yesterday¡¯s enemies becamerades and enemies again in the internationalmunity.


    People growled at each other even within a nation, so there was no eternal ally or enemy. Of course, there was always a tentative enemy.


    ¡°The hotel business and the wine business suits you well. You should¡¯ve just stayed a businessman. You¡¯re too much into the autonomous state these days, and it¡¯s not fun for me anymore.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of the Kazakh situation, Zeynep Wine will flourish. Did you hear that we¡¯re adding more vineyards this time?¡±


    ¡°Sergey had been busy calcting the profits from the wine business. He said that the wine business ie has been increasing since the start. You think I can sell more next year than this year?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. We¡¯ve decided to buy all the grapes from the surrounding vineyards.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. It¡¯s been a while since we drank together. Should we have a drink?¡±


    ***


    On television, Nazarbayev was issuing a statement to the nation.


    He appeared in a rather humble way as he apologized for neglecting corruption in his kinsmen and promised to dissolve the House of Representatives in order to get rid of the corruption in the officialdom and said that he would ask the public¡¯s opinion whether to revive the House or not. Still, there was no mention of stepping down as the president or reducing his term. It seemed to be only empty words, but it was enough to intrigue the general public, who were not interested in politics. This meant that a silent majority of the people will vote for the ruling party through the House of Representatives elections.


    ¡°He¡¯s being sly. Now that he doesn¡¯t have much, he is looking for a way to save more.¡±


    ¡°He must be exhausted because his pockets are empty now. All of his life savings are gone. He must be staying up at nights under pressure.¡±


    ¡°I hope he doesn¡¯t ask to return the slush fund he gave me.¡±


    ¡°On top of that, he might ask you to give him your fund. He¡¯s the one who treated the national budget like his personal pocket. He¡¯ll try to stay in power until he gets the money back.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll wait for the public¡¯s reaction for now and eventually dere the martialw.¡±


    The demonstration intensified when the statement was issued.


    Now people were asking for the president to step down. As the situation got out of control, the president, who got impatient, dered an emergency martialw.


    In reaction to the Kazakh situation, global mediashed out at the president¡¯s deration of martialw, calling it a counter-democratic act. As thew stipted for the purpose of maintaining national well-being and public order, it could not be invoked to subdue public resistance caused by political turmoil, not because of national turmoil, but because of the deration of state martialw. The martialw one of the urgent powers of the Constitution, which was to temporarily suspend the effect of the Constitution and to maintain security by invoking military power.


    Then, it was natural for a bacsh to ur. Protesters were against the martialw, saying that it was unconstitutional. They were also increasing in number as the movement was spread out to the entire nation.


    Soldiers were driving tanks into each city, but instead of supporting or disbanding the protesters, they were cooperating in takingmemorative photos against the backdrop of tanks. The emergency martialw was a case in which the word ¡°emergencyw¡± became obsolete.


    Demonstrators were also trying not to offend the soldiers.


    That was because of the work of the Arirang state¡¯s intelligence agents. Before thew was dered, the agents warned the protesters in Almaty and Astana not to provoke soldiers in any case. The big hand that had been giving funds to protesters was the state¡¯s intelligence agents. Thus, demonstrators were being amicable to the soldiers, bringing snacks and drinks and even delivering roses. This resulted in the soldiers no longer wanting to hold a gun against them?


    ¡°Good job. It¡¯s Park Jong-il, as expected.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m a natural genius.¡±


    ¡°We don`t know about other cities, but we should maintain that kind of protest culture as much as possible in Almaty.¡±


    ¡°The police are also discouraged as soldiers don¡¯t force themselves into action.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that we have to stop the dispatchedmanders from being bashed by the higher-ups. If they get reced because they can¡¯t effectively stop the protests, othermanders will be in charge and strike the protesters.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask Lieutenant Colonel Kabak of the Army for help. I need to tell him and his underlings not to be afraid of being disadvantaged right now. They need something to hold on that they believe in.¡±


    That was one way.


    If the predecessor of the newmander in charge did not stop the protests, he would think there was a reason, and if such a message was delivered, he would think that there were supporters of the protesters in the military too. He would not act recklessly if he was ambitious enough to impress his higher-ups.


    ***


    The patrol boats that Youngho requested to Michael arrived at the autonomous state.


    He originally requested ten of them, but only three of them that were ready were brought in hastily. As Kazakhstan¡¯s political situation seemed to be in a maze, the U.S. also rushed to send them. It was because it would be difficult for ships to get through the Russian canal if the situation got worse.


    The presence of three missile ships was a tremendous rise in power. Since the U.S. promised that it would send three ships at intervals of one month from now on, all of them would arrive before the summer.


    When the missile ships were brought in, Cho Chul-hwan was the most excited one. Including two South Korean-made missile ships, there were a total five that belonged to the state. The state did not fear anyone in the Caspian Sea now.


    ¡°With this much power, we can handle the enemy¡¯s aircrafts too. If we anchor them at the wharf, no one¡¯s going toe near our sky.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to get our anti-aircraft defense system soon. Just take care of the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s Victor Jun of the Navy. What are you worried about? The Maritime Police are fully prepared as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided to give some of the missile ships to the Navy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re giving away our precious ships?¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan seemed to think that it was a waste to give away ships, but Youngho thought differently. Contrary to the current government, which invested only in the Army and the Air Force, the autonomous state needed to show that it was not neglecting the Navy.


    ¡°The naval force is also our power. The president should give up his seat when the Armyes into our hands. So, convince themander at the border unit at the Russian border.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still not budging but the field officers under him are trying to persuade him now, so he¡¯ll give you some answers sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°Did you say he was strongly against the idea of involving in politics?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he was like that several days ago, but since martialw has been dered, he would¡¯ve changed his mind.¡±


    Hearing that the military and police officers who were serving as martialwmanders in various regions were showing signs of protecting the protesters, he would feel different. How could one not know that it was wrong to point guns at protesters who just wanted to correct their country?


    ¡°It¡¯s no good if a soldier is too sensitive to the current, but it¡¯s also bad if he doesn¡¯t do anything against a corrupt regime.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s known to be a great soldier and leader. He will soon have to decide which party he will have to support. All other officers below had turned to us. What would he do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t force him because I don¡¯t want to work with someone who joins us without a sense of responsibility and motivation.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t care about others¡¯ opinions of him. When I was doing an operation at the Kyrgyzstan border, I saw him ignore orders from the Army headquarters which was calling for excessive attacks. He did what he believed was the best for the situation. He dearly cares about his soldiers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good general, then.¡±


    Such a strong character was what Youngho wanted.


    Kazakhstan advocated democracy, but it was no different than a socialistic country. Only a few strong soldiers dared to defy orders from their superiors. This was because it was a ce where people could live well regardless of their ability or performance, if only they could impress the higher-ups.


    It was a funny country that even gave promotions to people for saluting well to the president. It was ridiculous to hear that, but it could happen under a dictatorship. It was hard to deny that Kazakhstan had been a private possession of Nazarbayev all along.

 Chapter 450 - The Martial Law (2)

    <h4>Chapter 450: The Martial Law (2)</h4>


    Petropavl and Pavlodar, Kazakh cities located near the Russian border, had called for independence as autonomous republics. These were the areas where Russians, Ukrainians, and Germans had an overwhelmingly high rate of residence. About two-tenths of the whole Kazakhstan¡¯s poption lived in the region, so if they became autonomous republics, Kazakhstan¡¯s poption would be drastically reduced. It was also an industrial zone, and losing it could result in a significant drop in nationalpetitiveness.


    It was strange that those cities suddenly demanded independence in time for martialw when they had been quiet the whole time while the country had been noisy. Even the central government was at a loss for public power.


    The leaders of the autonomous state, who had just gathered in the conference room, were stunned by the news. That was because what they were worried about happened too quickly. The two cities in the north simultaneously imed their own republic as if waiting. There had to be Russia¡¯s intervention.


    ¡°How can we stop the crazy government? One-twentieth of thend will be lost to Russia.¡±


    When Kim Chunmented, Park Jong-il opposed him.


    ¡°It¡¯s rather good. They had been asking for their own republic since long ago. It¡¯s better for them to disappear now for the future. For us, it¡¯s a chance to im Russia¡¯s intervention.¡±


    ¡°Russia won¡¯t be satisfied with those cities only. It won¡¯t care about international opinion either.¡±


    ¡°From the very beginning, those cities were not for Kazakhstan to handle. This was bound to happen anyway. For now, let¡¯s wait and see how the president responds.¡±


    Intelligence agents also said that their movement was unusual, but no one expected that the two cities would act this fast. They had predicted that there would be a lot of tax resistance since those cities were full of middle-ss people, but it was a quite unexpected situation. Although this could happen because there are countless ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan, the problem was that the heavy industrial base was all concentrated in the North.


    ¡°If the economic base is cut in half, only Kazakh people will suffer.¡±


    ¡°Putin must have prepared for this. No one is going to me the northern residents for rejecting corruption-ridden Kazakhstan.¡±


    There was an agitated discussion among the leaders of the autonomous state.


    It was bitter that they were about to miss out on a great industrial base. However, the Arirang Autonomous State was not in the position to stop it now.


    Park Jong-il insisted to take advantage of this event. In other words, it is an opportunity to eliminate the government that was not able to stop this. This could have been the president¡¯s scheme to get Putin¡¯s favor by separating the northern cities since he was cornered now.


    ¡°At this rate, every ethnic group of Kazakhstan will be an autonomous republic. Right now Kazakhstan is no different than anarchy.¡±


    ¡°Phew, we¡¯ll have to move the military force.¡±


    ¡°Are we doing a coup?¡±


    ¡°No, you have to fight tricks with tricks. We need to foster a border conflict. If the Kazakh military acts out regardless of the government¡¯s will, the situation will be moreplicated for them.¡±


    ¡°What if Russia intervenes?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want. I wish Russia would cross the Kazakhstan border. They will have to turn around quickly after being bashed by international opinion. Meanwhile, we¡¯ll eliminate the current president.¡±


    ¡°If the young military officers don¡¯t agree with us, we¡¯ll be in a weird position.¡±


    ¡°You think the military that consists of Kazakh people will just let the northern cities pull away from Kazakhstan especially when they¡¯re going to join Russia? They¡¯ll for sure act as a decent martialw army this time.¡±


    Russia would cross the border on the grounds that should protect its people.


    If this happened, the two countries would naturally sh. A local war with Russia should take ce to topple the Kazakh president who is trying to get Russia¡¯s support. The northern cities¡¯ demand for separation must be embarrassing to the government, but on the other hand, it could be the president¡¯s card to turn around the situation.


    There was absolutely no way to depose the president in a referendum. No matter how badly he misjudged andmitted crimes, people would vote again for him. They were innocent and na?ve but at the same time, they were ignorantly blind.


    Therefore, it was the best to overthrow the government using a chance like this.


    ***


    ¡°Are you suggesting a local war with Russia?¡±


    ¡°Are we just going to watch the northern cities separate from us? The economy is about to copse. It¡¯s like losing a national treasure. We should at least act like we¡¯re going to stop it. That way, Russia might get scared of us and drop its n.¡±


    Everyone was reticent at this point.


    Youngho looked around the audience.


    The officers present today were doubling from thest meeting.


    Among around 20 young field officers, some were wearing captain badge.


    They all came to the state upon Youngho¡¯s request despite the martialw.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, duke. If we just hand them over without any resistance, Russia¡¯s misjudgment will continue, and the general election shouldn¡¯t be held in a calm state. Unfortunately, our naive people will support President Nazarbayev again. It¡¯s time to break that vicious circle. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°I think the opposite. If there¡¯s a conflict with Russia on the border, the president will try to use it as a reverse. He¡¯s in a situation where he has to step down, but he¡¯s more likely to stay in power under the pretext of a national crisis.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to stop it by force. Those cities are not going to be absorbed into Russia right away. They were people who didn¡¯t go back to Russia when they became independent. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re not going to return to socialism. They¡¯re probably just sick of the president¡¯s long-standing dictatorship, and that¡¯s why they¡¯re demanding separation and independence.¡±


    Opinions were divided.


    As the debate grew longer, Youngho stepped up.


    ¡°Definitely the Russian government was behind them. This is what our state¡¯s intelligence agents found out. The British Secret Intelligence Service also reaffirmed this.¡±


    ¡°Do you have an intelligence department in your state?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to exin it to you to prevent any misunderstanding. It¡¯s been running for years. The original intention was to dispatch staff to read the economic trends of each city. We now have the same equipment and capabilities as the intelligence service in any other country.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    As it was unheard of that a state less than 20,000 people were operating an intelligence bureau, everyone was stunned to hear Youngho.


    There was another reason that he told about the intelligence department. It was to show the military guests the power of the autonomous state and the state¡¯s rtions to powerful nations.


    ¡°You know that our state is rted to the Danish royal family. With the help of the Danish royal family, I have been interacting with governments in Britain, the U.S. and other countries. The U.K. intelligence service promised to provide military satellites in real-time, and the U.S. intelligence service promised to provide missile ships. The reason why Western countries support us is that they want to stop Kazakhstan from being invaded by Russia. They had judged that the current government wouldn¡¯t be ountable.¡±


    The military personnel were highly motivated and intrigued by Youngho¡¯s long exnation. It turned out the state had a huge background if developed countries were helping it.


    With these countries helping the state, they, at any rate, there was a higher possibility of sess for any of the state¡¯s decision.


    ¡°I just want Kazakhstan to be strong. If I could, I want to protect Kazakhstan by using my own money. So, with the help of the Swedish government, we have signed an agreement to bring in about 30 fighter jets.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already received ten of them and we¡¯re training with them. And...¡±


    ¡°You bought those expensive fighters? How much money have you put into it?¡±


    Lieutenant Colonel Jun freaked out and blocked Youngho.


    The whole world knew how expensive fighter jets were, so it was understandable how everyone freaked out. Youngho told them everything inly, now that they were in the same boat together.


    ¡°I overdid it because I didn¡¯t think adding a few more missile ships would solve it. There¡¯s no way I was going to pull Air Force into this, so I had to build my own air force. Kazakh pilots don¡¯t care about the security of the nation, but only about themselves and the future job positions.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to say as an officer, but do you know why the Russian aviationpanies treat them so well? It¡¯s a trick of Russia. It is intended to weaken Kazakhstan¡¯s air force power and expand its own power. The Air Force pilots already know that but they still go to Russia.¡±


    This meant that civilian pilots would be the reserve forces of the Russian Air Force in case of an emergency. That was why Russianpanies gave an exceptional offer to Kazakhstan¡¯s airmen. The officers at today¡¯s meeting were not surprised to know that since they already knew about this fact.


    ¡°That¡¯s shocking. They still choose to go to Russia knowing that?¡±


    ¡°Well, if we had the opportunity, most of us would have chosen to go to Russia. There¡¯s not much hope for improvement here. If you had children, you would want to provide a pleasant environment and good educational opportunity. Of course, we don¡¯t have to do that anymore now.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean that you don¡¯t have to do that anymore?¡±


    ¡°Looking at the state of Arirang, I thought students would not have to go abroad for a better learning environment. I felt like they would grow up really well if they studied and grew up in this environment.¡±


    ¡°The autonomous state¡¯s educational system is a bit experimental. It¡¯s not desirable at all


    ¡°But it seems to be the best educational environment for us. I could tell just by looking at the children¡¯s faces. If I had a choice, I¡¯d like to raise my children here.¡±


    This remark was made by Lieutenant Colonel Kabak, the leader of the military group.


    He expressed the current situation in a stark manner, but rather confident.


    He expressed shame, but it was the reality. No wonder, that a family head wanted to provide a better environment for his family. This was not a matter to associate patriotism with. If the country wanted to force sacrifice by citing the nation and its people, it would have to give them the right treatment. It was also too much to hope to work silently where there was no future.


    In a way, the northern cities¡¯ demand for independent autonomy may also be a rejection for the hopeless non-proliferation regime. The people of those cities must have been sick of President Nazarbayev¡¯s rule and were looking for a chance, but the president had dered the martialw instead of stepping down just in time. Since Russia has got their back, they had no fear. The northern cities must be celebrating its long-cherished independence.


    It would be heartbreaking to know that the Arirang Autonomous State was plotting to crush that dream.

 Chapter 451 - The Martial Law (3)

    <h4>Chapter 451: The Martial Law (3)</h4>


    The meeting with young officerssted for a long time.


    Youngho had a lot to say, but they also had a lot of questions about Youngho.


    They wondered why he was spending a huge amount of money into increasing the force and what he hoped for it to be. Simr questions were repeated during the meeting, but the important point was like this.


    ¡°What is the ultimate purpose of your preparation for force?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan¡¯s neighboring countries are Russia and China. Do you think they¡¯ll stay still when Kazakhstan wobbles? Please be reminded that China has caused a border dispute not long ago. If Kazakhstan copses, the Arirang Autonomous State cannot survive. You can¡¯t just walk away, can you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just ask you a question. You have paid such arge sum for the well-being of the autonomous state and Kazakhstan, but don¡¯t you think of a benefit in return? If Kazakhstan is worth it, isn¡¯t there something you want?¡±


    The officer, who was present for the first time today, wanted to know what Youngho was thinking cautiously. It was perhaps natural for a young officer to question.


    It was impossible for a stranger to use astronomical amounts of money to protect Kazakhstan.


    ¡°As you know, I am from Korea. The reason why I settled down here and made the autonomous state is because of the Koryoin people here. Eighty years ago, when Koreans who were forcibly deported from what is now divostok arrived in Central Asia, they were either starving or on the verge of freezing to death. Then your ancestors gave a warm helping hand to the people of Korea. Even today, the Koryoin people have a strong rtionship with Kazakh people regardless of race or religion. I would like to thank you on behalf of them. Does this exin you?¡±


    ¡°Ah...!¡±


    All the participants seemed to be impressed at this point.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t have any personal greed. I also want to see the Arirang Autonomous State stand tall in the world alongside Kazakhstan. Shouldn¡¯t Kazakhstan be strong enough to do that?¡±


    ¡°In the long run, do you think of the independence of Arirang?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about that yet. I just hope that the prosperity of Arirang will lead to the development of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re embarrassed to see you, duke. We feel like we haven¡¯t been taking care of our country enough.¡±


    ¡°The soldiers are there for the nation and for the people. However, if your country fails to take the right path, the government fails to do its part, and other countries try to cross your territory, you should not be held captive by the status of soldiers. You should gather your thoughts and strength. When the political situation bes stable and people are able to focus on their livelihoods, then that¡¯s the time you should go back to your normal military routines.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not all of the officers who are here today, but we¡¯re qualified to represent them all. You have confirmed your concern for Kazakhstan, so I will not hesitate further. I¡¯d like to join you, even if we¡¯ll walk on a thorny path. Please lead us.¡±


    If young officers in the military decided to move around the Arirang state, Youngho had sessfully turned their minds. But there was something they needed to do first. It was to press hard on the Russian border. Shaking Russia would be the only way to put a brake on the movement of the northern cities. Even if the political situation faltered, the military needed to show itself that it was firmly guarding the border. If left neglected, Kazakhstan would lose its key economic blocs.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let the people of the northern city keep acting like that... but I can¡¯t think of a solution.¡±


    Youngho was subtly pressuring the officers.


    If he told them to start a border conflict first, he could be seen as someone who did not care about the sacrifice of soldiers. Everyone looked heavy-minded at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°I think there should be some conflict on the Russian border. Only then, those who insist on independence will change their mind.¡±


    On behalf of the crowd, Lieutenant Colonel Kabak made concluding remarks. He said something that Youngho wanted to hear, but Youngho pretended that he had not thought about it.


    ¡°If there was a fight, only innocent soldiers will be hurt.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a sacrifice we have to endure. Should we be afraid of protecting our country? Aren¡¯t we all here because we are determined to endure any pain?¡±


    Then, all agreed that there was no other option but a border dispute.


    Believing that they would have to do anything, even if they might lose the northern region in the future, they all came to the conclusion.


    ***


    On television, each news channel was busy broadcasting about the high tension in the border area. As agreed with Youngho, the young officers made disputes in the border. A militarymander even dered that he would not allow any region to im independence.


    The military leadership was also dumbfounded as young officer groups acted out alone. However, the Kazakh public supported the young soldiers trying to protect their country.


    As Kazakh soldiers began the border dispute, Russia reinforced the military power around the border and ced armored vehicles. However, when the Russian troop movements were reported to Western journalists in real-time, Russia was embarrassed. It was ignoring Kazakhstan¡¯s intelligence, but the news was spreading too fast. It was all due to the British intelligence¡¯s military satellite. It was providing frence journalists with the Russian military¡¯s movement in real-time.


    ¡°Man, now we¡¯ve set up the whole stage, all there¡¯s left to do is to start our big act.¡±


    ¡°All we need is a big stir up at the border area for a climax. That¡¯s how we¡¯re doing the right counterattack to the president. I don¡¯t think we need to make a bold move to ourselves this time. Those officers who visited our state were pretty determined. Maybe they¡¯ll strike Russia first.¡±


    Park Jong-il seemed to be getting fidgety that he was sad that Youngho and he did not get to go to the border this time. No one would ever dream of Kazakhstan¡¯s military provoking the Russian military first since its military power was no match to Russia¡¯s military force.


    ¡°Only young soldiers will get hurt. Would it be nice for an old man toe down on his own?¡±


    ¡°Would an old politician easily give up his seat? The guys next to you will whisper and they¡¯ll hold on to you. The president is their best bet.¡±


    ¡°The eldest daughter left her job as deputy prime minister. What do you think that means?¡±


    ¡°Well, her father¡¯s position is in danger now. How dare can she think of taking over the president¡¯s position next generation? She must be busy going around looking for a ce to run away.¡±


    ¡°I hope we didn¡¯t make a bad decision.¡±


    ¡°Even if we made a bad judgment, the president¡¯s corruption does not go anywhere. If he doesn¡¯t give up his position, we¡¯ll have to force him toe down from there.¡±


    ¡°What if the government still holds the election regardless of the border situation?¡±


    ¡°We should stop them from voting.¡±


    As soon as the president and the ruling party are re-elected, the Arirang Autonomous State would be the public enemy. There had been too many things that the state had done ignoring the central government or the president. How would you exin about the arbitrary entry of the fighter jets and missile ships into the county without consulting the central government or the defense ministry and the fact that the site of building a tank assembly nt had been changed without any report?


    Besides, Youngho had sought to do an event that was equally intense as a coup with young officers, and now he had no ce to back down. He had to overthrow the government without fail.


    This was less likely, but if the election was pushed ahead, he would have no choice but to take an extraordinary measure. It was for the entire world to see the news that the president had an ident. He did not want to go that far with the man whom he once was close with, but it was an inevitable step for a good cause.


    ***


    ¡°Man, their firepower is way behind. Will they be able to secure the border?¡±


    ¡°The moment Russia enter our border, the United Nations Security Council will be held. After that, economic sanctions will be imposed from each country. Will it ever cross the border in the already difficult economic situation? No matter how much Putin wants ournd, he will never do such a reckless thing.¡±


    ¡°But Russia took over the Crimea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a strategic ce to take under any sanctions. Russia needed a port to target the whole of Europe, so it still took it despite any possible disadvantage. Even if I were in Putin¡¯s shoes, I would have pushed for Crimea.¡±


    ¡°Our Kazakh soldiers are getting behind. Why don¡¯t we go and help them out?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s be patient. I¡¯ve got something in my mind.¡±


    The two military forces, which had been engaged in a war of nerves on the border, were finally fighting a battle, and the Kazakh military was badly behind.


    It was noisy because they did not directly fire at the opponent¡¯s tanks, but they were only pouring fire into its surroundings. However, it was hard for the military to withstand it. There was a kind of DMZ-like ce at the Russian border, and satellite images clearly showed that the Kazakh military had never been close to the area since it was only full of Russian troops.


    Park Jong-il, who was frustrated by the situation, was urging Youngho to go help the military force. The two could defeat the Russian military, but Youngho did not want to step in every time something happened. It was unfortunate that soldiers were hurt and even killed, but he could not be hung up on peripheral tasks. If the military was in charge of it, it was time for him to wait and see.

 Chapter 452 - Fighting with Knife against Gun (1)

    <h4>Chapter 452: Fighting with Knife against Gun (1)</h4>


    The internationalmunity was looking at the Kazakhstan border dispute in an rming way.


    The world¡¯s media were mming Russia for crossing Central Asia.


    It was around that time that articles of encouragement for the Kazakh Army began to be seen since its force fell way short against the Russian force. The sight of Kazakhstan holding out against Russia¡¯s powerful firepower with humble weapons seemed pathetic. However, it was a part of the show to gain the internationalmunity¡¯s sympathy.


    With its history of independence nearly 30 years, the resource-rich Kazakhstan bought newer weapons. However, the pictures in the Western media showed only old-fashioned weapons of the Kazakh military. Watching soldiers ring at the border and holding weapons likely to be in the War Museum were more like aedy scene.


    ¡°I¡¯ll believe if all of them are hired actors. It¡¯s quite amazing that old thing still rolls.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, you don¡¯t have any military experience, so that might look strange to you. That tank is still often used for practice in the rear bases. That still looks fine to me. Shells are being fired well. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I think it¡¯s amazing that they were able to bring that to the front, and how they still fire so well.¡±


    A television screen on the side of Youngho¡¯s office showed an old tank deployed by Kazakhstan¡¯s military on the border. The news they were watching was from CNN of the U.S. Although the screen was shaking a lot, it was vividly showing the scene of the dispute.


    ¡°I guess that the government won¡¯t talk about the referendum anymore, will it?¡±


    ¡°How is it going to even mention the referendum when the national security is on the line? There¡¯s even a rumor going around that it¡¯s President Nazarbayev who brought in Russia.¡±


    ¡°If the rumor is true, President Nazarbayev cannot live here anymore. He will have to find a ce to live overseas. It¡¯s martialw that encouraged the people of the northern cities. That was the trigger.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s true. He¡¯s even dered martialw when the people are sick of dictatorship. I¡¯m sure the president has lost all of his support now. By the way, prince consort, are you sure you¡¯re not going to meet the president? I heard he called to meet you multiple times.¡±


    ¡°It will just be embarrassing to face each other. I¡¯m just going to make an excuse that I¡¯m doing business overseas.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he have contacted you to ask for a ce for his exile?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a man who will give up so easily. He will try to use us to turn around the situation.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that the government will pressure the autonomous state.¡±


    It would be nice if the president put pressure on the Arirang state. Then Youngho could use it as an excuse to strike him. Since he had been close with the president, he still had a burden in his heart. That was why he was secretly hoping that President Nazarbayev would make unreasonable demands. That way, he would not feel guilty to overthrow the president.


    If there was an opportunity to dispel even such feelings, he would carry out the ns that he made with the young officers.


    The young military officers contacted the state that all of them would join their forces around the autonomous state. As their first step, they would make a deration of the state of affairs. The main point was to urge the president to end his long-term rule andpletely withdraw from politics for the sake of the future of Kazakhstan.


    President Nazarbayev and the ruling politicians would not sniff about it, but it would be a shock to the Kazakh people once again. The fact that the soldiers stepped up was a huge gesture.


    ***


    A few dayster, about a hundred field officers and two hundred first-level officers joined forces to make the deration. It was a few pages long, but the point was simple¡ªthe president should step down from his post.


    The impact of the deration was enormous.


    Even professors at the Kazakh National University, who had been working behind the table without being able toe forward publicly, had stepped forward to support the military¡¯s deration. When the professors joined, workers atrge corporations responded with a temporary strike, even though it was only for a day.


    ¡°Finally, the people of Kazakhstan havee to their senses.¡±


    ¡°Only the people who live in big cities are interested. The rural people are not interested in politics. Theyin that nothing has changed since the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Some people even say that it¡¯s been worsening than before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because everything is rotten from top to bottom. It¡¯s a ce wheremon sense doesn¡¯t work at all. Who¡¯s going to try to make a difference in life overnight if you can use a good bribe? We¡¯ve got to turn everything over and change the whole thing.¡±


    ***


    Railway work was underway to the newly constructed docks on the Ural River and to the administrative building.


    The railroad works were being hurried to connect the industrialplex at the mouth of the Arirang River. There was a huge amount of construction going on not only for the railroad but also throughout the state. It even made Youngho confused.


    ¡®What¡¯s that construction? Did I order that?¡¯


    While he was going around the state, he asked that to himself.


    If there was anything necessary, the state¡¯s administration had ordered to start construction immediately. That was why there were too many works in the process. If Youngho and Jong-il did not rob the president¡¯s family¡¯s slush fund, the state would not dare to do so.


    Thergest construction works among them were for thebined thermal power nt, an armored vehicle assembly nt, and a new shipyard.


    All the construction work was left to the Koreanpany, H Corporation.


    It was because Kim Joo-hyuk, the president of H Corporation, actively promoted it, but it was also because he was not in a position to leave the state¡¯s affairs to anyone else to maintain confidentiality.


    The construction cost was higher than usual because it was a private contract, not apetitive bid, but Youngho thought it as a reward to H Corporation that had been helping the Arirang state for a long time. It was also great that the construction period was faster than that of foreign constructionpanies.


    The construction of the shipyard could have been sufficiently left to the residents of the autonomous state, but the reason why it was left to H Corporation was to get South Korea¡¯s submarine-building technology transfer.


    If Russia expanded its naval capabilities in earnest in the Caspian Sea, the state¡¯s missile ships would not be enough to fight against Russia.


    If Russia blocked the Volga-Don Canal that entered the Caspian Sea, it would be impossible to bring in any ship to the state from the outside anymore. Then the Russian fleet would be the only one that could enter the Caspian Sea from the ck Sea. If the state was going to fight against the Russian Navy, Russia would naturally be in favor of the situation.


    So, Youngho wanted to introduce a submarine that used stealth as its main weapon.


    The Danish Shipyard could still make great submarines, but there was no way to bring it into the Caspian Sea in secret. Thus, it had to be built inside the state. Also, the Koreanpany was qualified to avoid exposing the construction of a submarine-only shipyard to the outside world. The sudden n to make a submarine was made because even thetest battleships with advanced radars and sonar equipment were no match for even the humblest conventional submarines. No other countries had introduced submarines yet in the Caspian Sea. The submarine was a kind of asymmetrical force of the autonomous state, as the Foreign Legion was to the state.


    When Youngho mentioned the idea of making a small-sized submarine, everyone weed the idea with open arms. Unlike fighter jets, making small submarines would not cost an astronomical amount of money, not to mention the military power that would be added to the state. Especially, Cho Chul-hwan, the chief of the Countryside Force was happy to hear it.


    ¡°If only we could have submarines, the Caspian Sea will be ours. When we appear quietly like a ghost and attack other country¡¯s ships, how are they going to stop us? You don¡¯t even have to make a big one. It can be as small as a ten-passenger submarine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still big in the cramped Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think Russia will bring in submarines if we start using submarines?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have submarines that cane into the Caspian. They make only big ones, so they don¡¯t have submarines to go through the canal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Russian military will make it in Astrakhan.¡±


    Astrakhan was a Russian port city located where the Volga River and the Caspian Sea met. Although there was a small shipyard there, it was enough to build a fishing boat or a cargo ship.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re worrying too much. Even if they make it, how are they going to operate it at the harbor that freezes during the winter? They¡¯re having a hard time because they don¡¯t even have icebreakers to cover the Caspian Sea. For the time being, we are the king at least in the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°Iined before that the Caspian Sea is as small as ake. But, I guess it¡¯s great in this sense. I feel relieved to have submarines now.¡±


    In other words, the autonomous state would have a secret weapon that could stop Russia in the Caspian Sea. Although it might not be a big deal to win against Russia in a palm-size sea, it was worth to crush Russia¡¯s pride. This was because the state had no means to deal with Russia in their present capacity. Youngho wanted to gain the upper hand in the Caspian Sea at least.


    It would be a great minus if Russia took over the Caspian Sea, which Russia imed to be ake due to the low salinity of the water. This was because only when designated as ake, the exclusive economic zone would be eliminated, and Russia would have international legal grounds for the joint development of the oil fields in the Caspian Sea. Unlike the sea, countries bordering ake were supposed to share everything that was produced on theke under internationalw.


    It was oil that drove Russia to insist that the Caspian Sea was ake because there were not as many oil fields off the coast of Russia as Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan. Although Russia had rtively fewer oil deposits than its neighbors, it still had a formidable amount of oil and gas deposits. It was only being greedy.

 Chapter 453 - Fighting with Knife against Gun (2)

    <h4>Chapter 453: Fighting with Knife against Gun (2)</h4>


    Russia was unable to move a step from the border due to the internationalmunity¡¯s opinions.


    This was inevitable because, on top of the annexation of Ukraine¡¯s Crimean Penins, Russia was being med on stretching its hand to Central Asia.


    In fact, Kazakhstan¡¯s military was the first to provoke the battle, but the target of criticism was Russia for being a major power. It was unfair, but Russia had brought in unto itself due to its past move.


    Only Kazakh soldiers, who did not retreat an inch from the border despite its rtively weak military power, stood out.


    The universal view of the internationalmunity was that the Russian government encouraged Russians in the northern cities to implement its southward policy, but the people of Kazakhstan thought the president had made a dirty backdoor deal with Putin to change the situation. In any case, Russia was only being med because of the Kazakh president. From Russia¡¯s point of view, the president was now its enemy.


    As this turned out, only the president was getting more and more cornered. The situation was far from his original intention. In addition, younger officers and professors came forward and made a deration, so he was being more pressed.


    Russia was treated as shameless by the internationalmunity for trying to take over the northern cities, taking advantage of Kazakhstan¡¯s internal turmoil. As Western media were moring for economic sanctions over Russia if Kazakhstan were to be pressed any longer, Russia had to stop right there. Putin was afraid that the economy would falter, so he pulled out his troops.


    He did not forget the lesson he learned when Russia was cornered due to several rounds of economic sanctions in the past. Countries in the West were also in a situation where they could not wait to see Kazakhstan fall into Russia¡¯s hands, as it would disrupt the supply of resources. There were so many countries that depended on Kazakhstan¡¯s underground resources.


    ¡°The atmosphere is ripe. What¡¯s the next n?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, but let¡¯s just watch it for now as bystanders. If we act now, we¡¯ll be treated the same as the northern cities.¡±


    ¡°Why are you slowing down now? Weren¡¯t you about to start something soon?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t handle Kazakhstan with our power now. We still need to build up some strength.¡±


    ¡°If the president steps down, there will be so many politicians who will want to take over the vacant spot. You¡¯re just going to watch that happen?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking it over, and we still need more support base. Our only supporters are young soldiers. It¡¯s not enough. They asked me to be the center, but they never asked me to be the next president. Also, I¡¯ll never do anything like the presidential system unless it¡¯s a constitutional monarchy.¡±


    The autonomous state could not possibly take over the entire country with support from young officers. If there was an election, the majority of voters would still support the president despite his misbehavior. That was why the state and military officers created border disputes to prevent the election from happening.


    Under such circumstances, if Youngho took power with a few soldiers on his back, would he be recognized for his legitimacy? To be recognized by the people, he would have to resort to all kinds of pork-barrel policies to gain the people¡¯s hearts, but that was not what he wanted.


    Various pork-barrel social security systems had only made Kazakh peoplezy. They did not have motivations to live better. People who had been nomadic for more than a thousand years had their own way of thinking. They were only satisfied with having homes and just enough food to get by.


    What he could do, for now, the first thing was to have the current president step down from power. Then, there would be no force to threaten the Arirang Autonomous State anymore since there was no one who would touch the state that had the military on its back.


    ¡°Tell me what you¡¯re going to do. I¡¯m so frustrated.¡±


    ¡°If he steps down, we have no choice but to go into a transitional system for the time being. We¡¯ll keep the prime minister system until we elect a new president.¡±


    ¡°And if some weirdo gets elected as president what are we going to do?¡±


    ¡°President Nazarbayev, who dreamed of permanent power, didn¡¯t even raise a sessor. He tried to slip in his eldest daughter into the position, but that¡¯s all behind us now. For now, there¡¯s no one who¡¯s talented enough to rece him.¡±


    ¡°So, since there¡¯s no onepetent enough to be the president, it¡¯s going to be your turn?¡±


    ¡°Park Jong-il seems to be losing his smartness these days.¡±


    ¡°Yes. My brain doesn¡¯t function well these days as it used to be. So give me a good exnation.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think the transitional government willst? Maybe less than a year or so? It¡¯ll just end up in the mire of corruption again. The prime minister, who had been in the corrupted political system for all his life, will not bypass the sweet taste of power. You can even tell what¡¯s going to happen, right? That¡¯s when we¡¯ll be on our way up.¡±


    Once the president was gone, Kazakhstan would have no choice but to go with a prime minister system for a while since its priority was to fix its current mess. Once its political situation was stabilized to a certain degree, corrupted officials would soon try to go back to their old habits. Politicians and bureaucrats who listened and learned from corruption would soon be snooping around the country¡¯s national budget again. Then the public who would not tolerate it anymore would riot, and that was when the military would step up and offer a helping hand to Youngho. Once the military asked him to step into power before Kazakhstan copsed, he would pretend he could not help but to help.


    However, he would make a proposal to the people. The cause of corruption was the imperial presidency, so why not switch to a constitutional monarchy like Europe? After hearing his exnation, Park Jong-il looked puzzled.


    ¡°If we think of the poor people of Kazakhstan, don¡¯t you have to act now to straighten up the corrupt system?¡±


    ¡°People will only agree to my suggestion once they¡¯ve seen trials and errors. It¡¯ll also be hard for them to cut off the old system because they¡¯re used to it.¡±


    ¡°When we adopt the constitutional monarchy, do you think corruption will disappear overnight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying I¡¯m going to change everything from top to bottom. If that¡¯s not possible, we should get rid of the government and give the role to a private institution. That will be more efficient.¡±


    ¡°Leaving the government¡¯s work to a private institution means you¡¯re going to do outsourcing.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Is there aw that says no?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy, you¡¯re leaving the government to a privatepany? I must step up and tell everyone never to support you!¡±


    ***


    All the Russian troops deployed on the border were pulled out and the border force returned to the level of a usual border guard. The reason was that Nazarbayev had dered he would step down from power.


    The president would step down as president without any strings attached when he found no breakthrough. Nevertheless, the people were looking at him coldly. By pushing hard to maintain his presidency, he took out the card of martialw, which had only caused conflicts between the people.


    He thought he had Russia on his back, but he had no ce to lean on there since Russia was being pushed back by the international media. Even if he wanted to defect to Russia, it was questionable whether he would be epted there.


    In the TV screen, the one that once had great power as if Kazakhstan was his private country, was reading a statement with a voice that asionally shook. All there was left was an exhausted, dirty, ugly old man who was trying to find a way to live.


    When the president issued his resignation, the world media weed the arrival of democratization in Kazakhstan.


    The whole country was in a festive mood as if it had met a new world. The Kazakh media, which had been controlled by the government, started pouring out articles exposing corruption in the previous administration day after day.


    There were no bureaucrats who were in key government posts that were not involved in corruption. Those who suffered unfair practices from the authoritarian regime reported various cases of corruption to the press.


    ¡°If this article is true, there will be hundreds of people who deserve to be beaten to death. I wonder how this country has functioned normally.¡±


    ¡± This is what happens when you don¡¯t actualize payments. Everyone survived on bribes to cover their living expenses.¡±


    ¡°It turns out that the Prime Minister also received money from a constructionpany.¡±


    ¡°No, this guy should stay in his seat for a while.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s reporting the specific amount that he received. He didn¡¯t receive it in cash. Since he made a bank transaction, he won¡¯t get out of this.¡±


    ¡°Jeez. It¡¯s a big deal if there¡¯s no one to settle the situation right now.¡±


    ¡°Looks like the ministers of each department are going to get fired.¡±


    If all of the ministers were to be fired, Youngho¡¯s n could not be carried out since the government would copse too quickly.


    If the government copsed before the state even prepared itself, it was more likely that Kazakhstan would split into small republics since no one would rely on anarchy. The good news was that regional governments were still there even if the central government copsed. Since the people of the central government held its power, state officials had no ce tomit a huge corruption. They were rtively clean although they were never honest bureaucrats either.


    ¡°As you said, if people fire everyone and send them to prison, the country will be paralyzed. What are we going to do? Man, it¡¯s a good thing that state officials are still there.¡±


    ¡°If things don¡¯t get resolved in the next few days, we should meet with young soldiers and make a decision. At this rate, Kazakhstan will be torn apart.¡±


    Someone had to present a vision that it would be better to remain a member of Kazakhstan to stop the country from being torn apart.


    Youngho called Lieutenant Colonel Kabak and other young officers to the Arirang Autonomous State. Since the political situation became more entangled, they all rushed to the state.


    In the meeting, there was one person to pay attention to, which was the chiefmander of the Western national border unit, Karim. He was the one whom Cho Chul-hwan and Lt. Col. Kabak had been trying to get on their side. He was the general that young officers admired so much. He was a true soldier of strong character who greatly considered his soldiers and the duty of national defense only.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you finally. I¡¯m Lee Young-ho, the leader of the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Karim, who¡¯s working at the border area. You¡¯ve invited a pathetic soldier who only cares about honor, even though I refused to join three times. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here today.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet the famous general.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just an empty reputation. I wanted to meet you today because I heard that you love Kazakhstan more than many of us do.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s been exaggerated. I just wanted to protect the Arirang state.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being modest. How can I not know that you have been going through troubles for Kazakhstan? I¡¯ve always felt ashamed because I had to sit back while someone like you is trying his best.¡±


    ¡°How is doing your duty as a soldier shameful?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed to be here, but I was forced toe because Kazakhstan is only hanging by a thread. I¡¯d like to add a little bit of strength.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear. Shall we move to the cafeteria first?¡±

 Chapter 454 - Position (1)

    <h4>Chapter 454: Position (1)</h4>


    The small banquet room in the Grand Pce wasrge enough to amodate up to 80 people at once. Gathered there were young officers from all over the ce. They were sitting while looking only at Youngho¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°You know, if we neglect the situation any longer, it¡¯s going to break down Kazakhstan. It¡¯s possible that each ethnic group will be calling for independence.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t force them to stop, can you? If we oppose it, there might be ethnic conflicts in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We have to offer an alternative to living together in the fence of Kazakhstan. They have to see some hope in this nation. There¡¯s no control over people whatsoever if the status of anarchy continues.¡±


    After Young-ho¡¯s remarks, General Kasim picked up the microphone.


    ¡°I¡¯m hearing what you¡¯re saying, duke. It¡¯s reasonable to think that if anarchy is maintained, the country will copse from the inside, but we can¡¯t find a way to resolve this on our own. Have you thought of a possible breakthrough?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way, but there¡¯s a little bit of room for action.¡±


    ¡°If the situation can be normalized, shouldn`t we do it at all costs? I¡¯d like to hear from you, duke.¡±


    ¡°I expected a transitional system where the prime minister will be in charge of stabilizing the national situation, but there`s no more hope for him and other officials under him now. I first thought of a coup, but a coup that forcibly seizes power can¡¯t change Kazakhstan. The only way to change Kazakhstan to look forward to its eventual development is a revolution, but thises with a risk that the people who were just happy to get out of the president¡¯s dictatorship will protest collectively. We have to consider our rtionship with other countries too.¡±


    When the word ¡°revolution¡± came out of Youngho¡¯s mouth, the entire hall became silent. Some officers looked again, wondering if Youngho was in his right mind. It was because a coup itself was still too much, but Youngho had mentioned a revolution, which was moreplicated.


    However, they were just staring at each other¡¯s faces, wondering if a revolution was worth a try.


    Revolution was to shake off the foundations of the state, social and economic systems, and government organizations beyond the scope of the Constitution. In addition, it was called a revolution to break customs or institutions in one fell swoop to set up something new qualitatively.


    Since the regime changed when a revolution urred, various international conventions and rtions with each country should also be redefined.


    Youngho thought it was needed especially to redefine Kazakhstan¡¯s rtionship with China and Russia since Kazakhstan hadplicated economic ties with them. A revolution was the only way to break the link from the past.


    The silence did notst long.


    Lieutenant Colonel Kabak jumped out of his seat and apuded enthusiastically. Everyone including Youngho was taken aback by his sudden action.


    Kabak, who was pping for a while, made a firm speech.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you brought it out honestly. If youunch a coup, people will only treat us as a group blinded by power. At this point, Kazakhstan needs a big change. Why don¡¯t we have an authentic change for good? We became an independent nation in an awkward way, and we had not been able to erase the remnants of the Soviet Union. President Nazarbayev was a betrayer who had been a general secretary since the Soviet era. There is no reason to keep the current system that had been wrong from the beginning. There is a bright future only when we reform the Constitution. Let all of us present at this meeting discuss the matter through the night ande to a conclusion. What is the right change for Kazakhstan?¡±


    When Kabak finished his speech, General Kasim, who had been listening to him with his eyes closed, rose from his seat. His facial expression showed even a spleen.


    ¡°If the duke had suggested a coup, I would¡¯ve left this ce at once. But he proposed a revolution. I feel like he read my mind. Unless Kazakhstan changes radically, there is no future for us. If we split into autonomous republics, each will bend on Russia and China to seek independence, only civil war will break out. We need to create a revolution and alert everyone. From now on, I¡¯ll be on the side of the duke.¡±


    Kasim, who poured out a torrent of words, took a sip of water. He looked around the crowd and added a word.


    ¡°The officers who oppose the revolution leave here now. You may go outside and tell that we plotted the revolution. Wouldn¡¯t you have to have such courage if you¡¯re disagreeing with us? I also promise there will be no disadvantagester on.¡±


    Nobody got up from their seats.


    In fact, the soldiers who had the courage to attend this meeting today were ready to ept any changes. Whether it was a coup or a revolution, it did not matter since they denied the current system and wanted any change to take ce in Kazakhstan.


    When Kasim, who was respected by young officers, agreed to Youngho¡¯s opinion, it seemed that the rest of the crowd was convinced by him too. They started asking questions and adding opinions. Among the remarks, constitutional monarchy also popped up. That made Youngho happy. He looked at the speaker¡¯s face. He was one of the officers who had agreed with Youngho from the start.


    ***


    ¡°You always make a major move when I¡¯m away.¡±


    ¡°Well, you said you¡¯d put a stop to it when I said I¡¯m going to outsource the government¡¯s job. So I had a meeting when you¡¯re away on a business trip.¡±


    ¡°Jeez! By the way, I¡¯m amazed that you guys plotted a revolution without fear.¡±


    ¡°You have to say it¡¯s a decision, not a plot. Since the young officers who will lead Kazakhstan have gathered their opinions, isn¡¯t that a decision?¡±


    ¡°And did you say General Kasim took the lead?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s more aggressive than I am. He said he will convince officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force in fifteen days.¡±


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re going to have a constitutional monarchy. Did you push it?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say a word. It¡¯s all their choice. They said it was worth dying for if I could be the monarch.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, human.¡±


    ¡°There is no reason for them to dissuade the constitutional monarchy thatplements the problems of democracy.¡±


    The conclusion was made after a heated debate that night. The military would be the main force to establish a revolutionary government, and the Arirang Autonomous State would be supporting it from behind. All parties approved the tentative n, which called for a constitutional monarchy and the head of the administration as prime minister. However, the change to a constitutional monarchy system would be in ordance with the results of the referendum.


    In order for the revolution to be achieved, the state should closely cooperate with the military in order to rally supporters and carry out the n quickly. Therefore, Kabak and Victor Jun were appointed as liaison officers residing in the Arirang state.


    Kabak was an officer under General Kasim, and the Navy¡¯s Victor Jun was a local resident of the state anyway, so they dly stepped up to help Youngho. They had set up their office in the Grand Pce and had frequent meetings with Youngho.


    On one morning, Kabak came to the office.


    ¡°Duke, I think I¡¯ll need some money.¡±


    ¡°I should have released these funds in advance. I totally forgot about that. Tell me how much you need.¡±


    ¡°Would it be possible to pay about 50,000 dors to each of our 27 branches for their revolution activity?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not enough to set up an office and gather people. Please send down about 200,000 dors for each branch. It¡¯s hard to do good work when you don¡¯t have a strong pocket.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too much. I¡¯m worried that they¡¯ll get greedy if they see a lot of money flowing.¡±


    ¡°None of the officers I saw that day would do that. Please trust me and send it, and I¡¯ll give you ten million dors separately, so please don¡¯t hesitate to use that to support any branch in need or any groups in need to help the revolution. If you don¡¯t have enough, tell me again.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think we need that much money for a revolution?¡±


    ¡°It takes money to print even a written appeal to people, and all the officers and soldiers would need to eat and drink to work. Don¡¯t worry, give them plenty of money.¡±


    Among the officers who were present that day, the heads of local revolutionary branches were chosen. There were in total of 27 branches. The soldiers were enthusiastic enough to use their own pocket money to travel to the autonomous state for that meeting, so Youngho provided ample travel expenses for their return. The soldiers had split their low sry toe to the state on a train for days from afar, so he could not just let them go.


    Five thousand dors per person was made and handed over, and the officers who checked the amount returned the envelopes. They wanted to save that money for the revolution. Some officers took out the money they had to donate for the revolution funds. The officers rather moved Youngho.


    They saw how well-off the autonomous state was, but they still wanted to help the revolution. The revolutionary forces led by these dedicated officers were sure to produce good results.


    Youngho almost forced the officers to take the envelopes. Since that day, his heart was full because of how loyal and dedicated the officers were. That was why Youngho asked Kabak to fully support the expenses of each branch.


    ***


    Now that the revolution was decided, all there was left to do was to minimize the reaction of neighboring countries and the aftermath of the post-revolutionary bacsh.


    The U.S. and British intelligence services would wee the idea and even give aid, and neither would Azerbaijan nor Turkey take issue with it.


    The problem was Russia and China.


    They had been taking Kazakhstan¡¯s resources, and if there was apletely different system introduced after the revolution, all existing treaties between Kazakhstan and them could be wiped out, which would be upsetting for them. It was because most revolutionary forces were bound to deny all existing policies. Naturally, they would try to pressure the revolutionary government by concentrating their forces on the border areas.


    It would be fine if all the treaties or contracts signed by the former regime led by Nazarbayev were maintained, but Youngho had no such intent. Unless everything was reviewed from scratch, any treaty or contract was better to be scrapped altogether because chances were high that they provided slush funds to President Nazarbayev on condition of signing unfair contracts.


    ¡°Duke, here¡¯s what we¡¯ve looked at. No matter how much I look into it, I don¡¯t know what this part means. There¡¯s a vague phrase.¡±


    Lieutenant Colonel Kabak, who obtained a contract with Russia to introduce weapons, was tilting his head as he presented the data to Youngho. It was difficult for a soldier who was not an expert on business and legal terms to understand it. When Youngho signed a contract with his business partners, he always knocked on the door of a legal office, too.


    ¡°Lt. Col. Kabak, contracts made between countries should be handled closely by internationalw firms, and that has never happened in Kazakhstan. Especially in the case of arms contractsing in from Russia, it¡¯s almost one-sidedly in favor of Russia.¡±


    ¡°I know that they¡¯ve sold old weapons and put a huge price on them.¡±


    ¡°How could this be possible? I bet any condition was epted by President Nazarbayev since he was a sell-out. I feel sorry for the people who have embraced this traitor as their president.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how his daughter had 12 billion dors in assets. If that¡¯s only officially known, how much can the unofficial assets be?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s toote to find the president¡¯s family since they¡¯re already on the run.¡±


    ¡°The president¡¯s family is probably in Russia.¡±


    A few days ago, there was an incident in which the president¡¯s family had disappeared from Kazakhstan. Several ministers, including the president¡¯s closest aides, and the staff of the president¡¯s pce disappeared along with the president¡¯s family all at once.


    After seeing that all of the high ministers of the country were being arrested, President Nazarbayev probably judged that he would be imprisoned soon too. As he had no more hope in Kazakhstan, he decided to flee from the Presidential Pce. There had been civil protester groups and the autonomous state¡¯s intelligence agents who were watching the Presidential Pce, but they still missed him. There was no way to exin it since no one noticed that they were gone. It could be only suspected that there was a secret passage in the pce. No helicopters were mobilized either. It was a mystery how the president got out of the pce.


    Jong-il was outraged.


    ¡°Man, our agents must¡¯ve been asleep when he got out. Can so many people not notice him getting out of the pce?¡±


    ¡°I`ve been found to have won a prize for Russia, but I`m not sure I`ve escaped. There must have been a secret passage.¡±


    ¡°There must¡¯ve been a secret passage and a group of helpers. They¡¯ve confirmed that the president¡¯s family was on a train to Russia.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous that a former president of a country acts like a rat.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just unfortunate how money can destroy the man who once used to be a talented man and leader. We can¡¯t be like him. Let¡¯s give away the money we¡¯ve collected from the president¡¯s family to the Kazakh people for sure.¡±

 Chapter 455 - Position (2)

    <h4>Chapter 455: Position (2)</h4>


    Some of the revolutions that had a profound impact on world history included the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the French Revolution in France, the American Revolution in the United States, and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.


    There were countless other small revolutions, and they were only called revolutions because they were sessful.


    To resonate with the world¡¯s most famous revolution, the nned revolution in Kazakhstan had to have a good cause, so Youngho was bent on finding a cause. If it were only to stabilize the political situation in Kazakhstan, it would be treated as a coup, not a revolution. He needed to find a cause that would back off its justification and convince the internationalmunity.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, did you find a usible phrase?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of usible phrases in the Russian revolution like the Bolshevik Revolution, but there is no proper phrase for a revolution that retreats from democracy to a constitutional monarchy.¡±


    ¡°Did you describe the constitutional monarchy as a retreat?¡±


    ¡°The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution took ce in opposition to the monarchy. So, it¡¯s like we¡¯re going back to the old system.¡±


    ¡°If you think that way, you should be excluded from this revolution. If there¡¯s someone who sees it negatively, it¡¯s bad luck.¡±


    Suh Min-seok freaked out. He had thought that he would be getting a high position when the revolution seeded, but now the opportunity was slipping away from him.


    ¡°Oh, prince consort! It¡¯s never a negative view. It¡¯s just an unusual revolution going back to the monarchy.¡±


    ¡°You need to throw away the prejudice that everything old is bad.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean everything old is bad. Absolutely no.¡±


    ¡°All right, then, I¡¯ll give you an assignment that¡¯s due tomorrow. Make a proper statement for the revolution. Otherwise, I¡¯ll assume you don¡¯t try hard enough.¡±


    When countless field officers from all over Kazakhstan came to the autonomous state, Min-seok got excited to think that he was witnessing a historic moment.


    It was no wonder that Min-seok felt that way. It was impossible for incumbent military officers to leave their workces without an order from the central government or the defense ministry.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, are there any politicians who are respected by people?¡±


    ¡°There are about nine members of the House of Representatives who are from ethnic minority groups. They were there because their people supported them as their representatives. They should be respected by their people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to contact them. Could you please set up an asion?¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s poption consisted of Kazakh people, which upied about 58 percent of the total poption of 17 million, and the 120 other ethnic groups upying the rest.


    Among them, there were about four million Russians, about 400,000 Uzbeks, and Ukrainians each, and about 200,000 Uyghurs, Tatars, and Germans each. There were 100,000 Koryoins who were considered to be the eighth-most populous group in terms of poption distribution. Thus, there were always Koryoin members in the House of Representatives.


    ¡°If we invite other ethnic politicians to the state, they¡¯lle at once, but I don¡¯t know how the Russian politicians would react.¡±


    ¡°We must meet Russian politicians.¡±


    Russians made up 27 percent of Kazakhstan¡¯s poption, so Youngho had to meet the politicians who represented them and ask whether the Russian cities wanted to return to the socialist country of Russia or remain a member of Kazakhstan. If they wanted a separation, there would be a longplicated battle since he could not lose Kazakhstan¡¯s territory.


    ***


    Nine members of the House of Representatives were invited to the Arirang Autonomous State, but only seven of whom epted the invitation. The Russian and Koryoin politicians were absent.


    The Russian congressman was too busy because of the urgent situation of the northern cities, and the Koryoin congressman could note because of personal reasons. Instead, he expressed his willingness to ept all the decisions made by the meeting today. He seemed to feelfortable to trust the decision of the day since only politicians of minorities attended there. Members of the minority House of Representatives who gathered in the Great Pce were very encouraged to see the development of the autonomous state. They were hoping that one day they would be able to give such a rich life to their people.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t invite us here, we wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to look around the Arirang Autonomous State. What an enviable and orderly city. I don¡¯t know if our people will ever be able to live like this.¡±


    ¡°This is highly possible if you start building factories to create jobs first.¡±


    Among them, the Tatar politician was the most envious. This was because, among some 200,000 Tatars, there were no prominent businessmen.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have such a talented economist among us. Someone has to hire a Tatar to make him a prominent figure. Also, all of the Tatars are scattered. They only live in a group of 10,000 people. No matter what we make, we¡¯ll end up with a small factory that¡¯s as small as a cottage industry.¡±


    ¡°If you want, would you like me to help you build a daily necessities factory? All of themodities industries of Kazakhstan are on the verge of disappearing due to Chinese products, so it¡¯d be great if we operate our own factories and help each other. If there¡¯s no market for the products, all the people here cane forward and help sell it, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to build us a factory?¡±


    ¡°I have some funds to spare, so I¡¯ll help you. I¡¯ll trust you and make an investment, so I just need you to pay back the principalter.¡±


    Hearing Youngho¡¯s remarks, other politicians also started asking for investment in their cities. The reason that Youngho called today¡¯s meeting was to listen to each ethnic group¡¯s intent to live as members of Kazakhstan. But, strangely enough, it was turned into a meeting where Youngho was creating jobs for each ethnic enve. Regardless of Kazakhstan¡¯s current situation, the problem of making a living was more urgent. In a way, they did not care about the current political instability. It was because the current government had not been listening to the voices of ethnic minority groups very well so far.


    ¡°The only way to a greater Kazakhstan is to strengthen ethnic minority groups. I will build factories in any areas where they¡¯re needed.¡±


    ¡°How can you take the lead in something that the government hasn¡¯t done before?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that minorities are at a disadvantage in Kazakhstan. That¡¯s what I felt when I established the Arirang state. I¡¯m trying to help because I¡¯m also in the same category. If a new government isunched soon, there will be many benefits to minorities more than ever. Now that we¡¯ve got a foothold in Kazakhstan, we¡¯ll try to find a way to live well together, so you can look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have much toin about the current treatment of minorities. We only wish that people would be given equal opportunities regardless of their ethnicity. The president has been prioritizing Kazakhs and Russians only until now.¡±


    ¡°The state of Arirang intends to enjoy prosperity with the whole Kazakhstan, and it will not tolerate any disadvantages to minorities.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re leading the movement on behalf of the minority people. It¡¯s so hopeful to hear that.¡±


    Several agreements had been reached between representatives of minorities and the Arirang Autonomous State.


    The state agreed to provide financial support for the establishment of daily necessities and industrial goods factories to help minorities stand on their own feet and to receive talented young minority people to study abroad in the Arirang state for advanced education. In return, the minority groups would give support base to Arirang.


    ¡°I hope we will have meetings like this more often in the future. We never got to voice ourselves in the House before.¡±


    ¡°Duke, if you take the lead in solving the problems of minorities, we¡¯ll unite around the Arirang state. We have to stop minorities from being discriminated.¡±


    ¡°If we can, we¡¯d like to move here because there is no discrimination between people here. I hope the whole Kazakhstan was like this.¡±


    The minority politiciansplimented Youngho and the state as they agreed to support each other. It seemed that they had been living under unfairness and deprivation of support.


    ***


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the Russian politician didn¡¯t make it.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll still inform him about the decision we made from the meeting today.¡±


    ¡°The whole north area is a factory zone. Why would Russians want to be part of us? Besides, they had been treated as the majority in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The northern cities are full of industrial parks, but they stillck daily necessities as anywhere else. Tell our agents to find great factory sites. It¡¯d be weird if they refuse to build a daily necessities factory for free.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still worried that those northern cities will be the cause of conflict in the future.¡±


    After Kazakhstan became independent, arge number of Russians left for the maind. They saw that there would be a conflict with the Kazakh peopleter on. But, four million still remained in Kazakhstan. It was because of them, their cities not only had a great economic base but also were their hometown. They were born and raised there, though of different religions and races, and there was no reason to abandon their homes and go to Russia. Going to Russia meant that they would abandon a democratic society where freedom was guaranteed and private property was recognized.


    ¡°We must secure the northern cities no matter what. It is terrible to think of Kazakhstan, where its industrial base has disappeared. How long would you hold out if you were to rely on imports for everything? We don¡¯t even have a sea near us. If Russia shuts the route, we¡¯d be doomed. At that time, our only option will be Iran or China. How are we going to deal with them?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we cross the Caspian Sea and go to Azerbaijan?¡±


    ¡°You should also think about logistics costs. We have to make Kazakhstan a self-reliant economy on the premise that the route to the outside is blocked. That¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to persuade the Russians in the northern city.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have tounch an operation at the intelligence service level. I need to make something to impress the Russians.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how much money you spend. Just make them feel like they have to stay in Kazakhstan. If you do that, I¡¯ll carry you around.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take vodka from house to house and make them fall in love with us. Maybe you¡¯ll have to carry me around sooner orter.¡±

 Chapter 456 - The Eve of the Revolution (1)

    <h4>Chapter 456: The Eve of the Revolution (1)</h4>


    If the revolution was sessful, Youngho would review all of the Kazakh government had done from scratch. The first priority was to re-adjust various unreasonable contracts with China and Russia.


    If so, China and Russia might reinforce their forces along the border to maintain what they enjoyed before. With economic losses on the horizon, would the two countries with powerful armed forces standstill?


    If a war broke out, all of Kazakhstan¡¯s production infrastructure would disappear, making Kazakhstan a dark country, but Youngho never intended to bow because of the fear of it. The reason was that the moment he did, he would not escape from the humiliating diplomatic rtionship forever.


    There was a need to sever the unreasonable rtionships with other countries, which had to be practiced under the name of the revolution.


    In the worst-case scenario, there would be a local war.


    There were people who argued that war should be prevented no matter what, but Youngho disagreed. Should we avoid war even at the risk of such losses?


    The best value was not to prevent war, but to protect the lives of Kazakhstan and its descendants. If one wanted to protect what he had, the answer was to build a force to repel threats from outside. To maintain an equal rtionship with a socialist country was a way to peaceful coexistence. That was why Youngho was obsessed with weapons and building up forces.


    The rest of the retired fighter jets from the Swedish Air Force had alle in.


    Now, if ten more new models of fighter jets were brought in, the state would have 30 fighter jets in total. In other words, the state would have a power equivalent to a quarter of Kazakhstan¡¯s Air Force.


    ¡°We need to bring in more fighters.¡±


    ¡°Why are you in such a hurry?¡±


    ¡°China is getting on my nerves. The Chinese government is offering free rail and highway construction in exchange for taking thend resources. I think it¡¯ll only be settled when we fight it once and for all.¡±


    ¡°Are you confident you¡¯ll win against China?¡±


    ¡°We have to win at all costs.¡±


    ¡°What about Russia, let alone China?¡±


    ¡°Russia can¡¯t attack Kazakhstan so easily since there are four million Russians living in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Are you thinking of holding the Russians hostage?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? They¡¯re from Russian, but they¡¯re still citizens of Kazakhstan.¡±


    The remaining Russians in Kazakhstan were the people of Kazakhstan who refused to live in a socialistic country.


    ¡°Make the Russians feel that they¡¯re going to live here forever. You said you¡¯re going to buy vodka or something, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ve already started our operation. What I¡¯m worried about is getting the media to our side. It won¡¯t be so easy. Whenever anything new happens, they start criticizing first.¡±


    ¡°If they oppose our activities blindly, that should be cut off, but if it¡¯s a healthy criticism, we should ept it. In fact, revolution is not a solution to all things. We are trying to change everything all at once, while social reform should be carried out gradually.¡±


    ¡°That will take hundreds of years. We¡¯re in an urgent situation since our two enemies are trying to swallow us any time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re taking a risk to cry for revolution. From the point of view of schrs and journalists, we¡¯ll look like people who aspire to power. There will be a day when they understand our sincerity.¡±


    ¡°Revolution is the only way to break the rampant chain of corruption. We won¡¯t get anywhere if we consider too many things. Since we¡¯re all determined, let¡¯s change the country for good once and for all.¡±


    Some people or some organizations may be inadvertently disadvantaged in the course of the revolution. It was certain that the social turmoil would continue for the time being due to such a sudden transformation. Immature civic awareness was also a stumbling block. No matter how good a car was made, it could be used as a lethargic weapon depending on the driver¡¯s skills. Likewise, a good system was useless if those who operate and participate in it were poor. In particr, it was too much to expect that Kazakhstan would change easily since it had been tamed into the evils of socialism and the long-term dictatorship for too long. A mature civil society could be expected only when people¡¯s mindset was reformed from head to toe.


    ***


    The preparation process of the revolution had elerated.


    With the generous release of the funds, the pace certainly quickened.


    Youngho used his funds to reach out to the Kazakh people in different economic sses. He even started to operate a kitchen soup in the Arirang Autonomous State as the kitchen soups in urban areas were not operating well now due to the crisis of the central government.


    He would have done it anonymously before, but now he was openly spreading the rumors on purpose. In order to appeal to the Kazakh people, the state must dig into the business under the guise of social work. However, the media reported that Arirang¡¯s move was a political gambit rather than a good one. In fact, it was aimed at improving the image of Arirang, but since it was also determined to help the city¡¯s poor, Youngho was upset to hear the news. Withoutpassion, he would not have started the kitchen soup.


    He was not the only one who was exasperated by the media reports. Lieutenant Colonel Kabak was more outraged. He insisted on taking over the press and broadcasting stations.


    Even if the media were friendly to the revolutionary force, it would have to control them, but as now the media was using the autonomous state, it was better to take them down now.


    The media, which had been under the control of the central government, should be reformed since it was now acting uncontrobly wild, carried away by the pro-democracy movement. They were reporting false provocative stories to increase the number of copies, but the real problem was that citizens were enjoying newspapers with such provocative stories.


    ¡°Duke, we can¡¯t let the media distort public opinion like this. Reporters are all rotten, just like bureaucrats.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. We should be able to take sound criticism from the media.¡±


    ¡°The media is just like a newly emerging power institution now. It¡¯s been poking around everywhere. Rumors say that mediapanies are now receiving bribes from corrupt politicians to not to write about them.¡±


    For politicians and officials who hadmitted offenses, the existence of the media would be quite threatening. How many innocent people would there be in a society where corruption was rampant? No matter who the media picked on, any government official would have something that he wanted to conceal.


    ¡°I guess we can¡¯t help it. Can you create a list of mediapanies? Let¡¯s take control of the ones on the list all at once when the operation begins. Even if we get criticized by the public, we¡¯ll risk it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s not a single innocentpany. We¡¯ll have to take control of everything.¡±


    This was because the long-standing dictatorship had not created an environment for producing proper talent. That was the case in every field. For example, doctors who studied more than people in many other fields were not paid better than others. Thus, many talented people all left Kazakhstan to work in Russia and other advanced countries. Many doctors in Kazakhstan could not even properly perform an appendectomy. It was simr in other countries in Central Asia. As a result, in Central Asia, people would have to risk their lives to undergo an appendectomy. Since all fields were busy filling the vacant seats rather than encouraging professionalism, there were only a bunch of people who were ipetent and unprofessional people in each category of work.


    ¡°We can¡¯t fix everything overnight, but we need to actualize the paychecks of government employees and professionals, otherwise the revolution won¡¯t change a thing in this country.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of funding right now.¡±


    ¡°If we manage our national businesses properly, we won`t have any difficulties in saving funds to pay people properly. Right now, national budgets are mostly focused on resources.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the money we made from exporting resources has been diverted to the wrong ce.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the state-runpanies would have been like a personal safe for President Nazarbayev. There must have been a huge amount of national wealth flowing into his secret overseas ounts.¡±


    Most of the President¡¯s gold bars were retrieved by Youngho, but he still would have managed to save quite a lot of wealth in his foreign ounts. The problem of his secret money was that he might try to deal with Russia with it.


    ¡°We must track down the money of the president¡¯s family and retrieve it.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if Russia is hiding the president and his family?¡±


    ¡°We have to make a deal with Russia too. If Russia could return illegally umted wealth from dealing with President Nazarbayev to Kazakhstan, I¡¯ll offer that Russia and I can maintain the same friendly rtionship as before. If not, we should say that we will sever diplomatic rtions.¡±


    ¡°Will Russia ever agree to such a deal?¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t want to miss Kazakhstan, it¡¯ll ept it. Embracing President Nazarbayev is too much of a political burden. If Russia helps the dictator of Kazakhstan who had been stealing the national budget, it¡¯s a gesture of ignoring the people of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Russia, which considers Kazakhstan as its subject state, will even blink to our request.¡±


    Russia would definitelyugh at the request. However, it would not be able to ignore international opinion.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re afraid of Russia at all, duke. May I ask what your reason is?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m not promising anything, but all the liberal democracies will be on our side, so just wait and see.¡±


    ¡°By the way, did the Danish royal family decide to help?¡±


    ¡°Not only the Danish royal family, but also the U.S., the U.K., and Sweden will help us.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Is there any particr reason that they¡¯ll help us?¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s say that they owe me something. I¡¯ve helped a few government figures personally before.¡±


    ¡°Is that enough reason for them to get involved in cross-border affairs?¡±


    ¡°I think so. As far as I know, they are gentlemen, but they also have great ambitions.¡±

 Chapter 457 - The Eve of the Revolution (2)

    <h4>Chapter 457: The Eve of the Revolution (2)</h4>


    A military termmonly used to indicate the time of strategic attack or operational initiation was called D-day. The most famous D-day in history was the execution of ¡°Operation Overlord,¡± a Normandynding operation during World War II.


    Strictly speaking, D-Day was a distinguished name for the operation that took ce on June 6th, 1944. There were several more eponymous nouns attached to the operation: General MacArthur¡¯s Operation to invade Leyte Ind was A-day, and the operation to invade Okinawa was called L-day. Nevertheless, people still called it D-day when something was starting new.


    When the date of the revolution was set, all the officers in and out of the autonomous state called it D-day. Leaders of the state and Youngho also looked forward to the D-day.


    ¡°These days, a day feels like a week. I don¡¯t know how time is moving so slowly now. Man, if we¡¯re ready, why don¡¯t we just get done with it quickly? I¡¯m so nervous and frustrated.¡±


    ¡°Dude, wait a little longer. We¡¯re the only ones ready. We need soldiers to take over the ministry of defense, press, and telmunicationspanies too. If we don¡¯t, it¡¯s like the Arirang Autonomous State is invading Kazakhstan.¡±


    Ahead of the operation, everyone gathered in Youngho¡¯s office for the final inspection.


    They were shaking off their nerves drinking tea before the meeting began. Everyone had a bright look on their faces, but the weight of the revolution had been extremely stressful.


    ¡°Come on. Focus. Each of you has their own mission written on the handout on the table, so be well informed.¡±


    ¡°What is it? It¡¯s only 2,000 troops are involved? And there¡¯s no soldier assigned to us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they are an elite unit. This is a lot of soldiers mobilized to take over each target at dawn. I¡¯m thinking about reducing the number of people.¡±


    ¡°What? Do I only get to take control of the National Assembly and the Integrated Government Building?¡±


    Cho Chul-hwanined that he was given easy work. Then Cha In-soo alsoined.


    ¡°Are you kidding me? I understand the broadcasting stations and newspapers, but what is the information andmunicationpany? It¡¯s not a kid¡¯s game. Is there more challenging work for me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re all talking nonsense. These are the first ones to take over when you revolutionize. We¡¯ve got to stop them from sitting around and making rumors for the public.¡±


    ¡°Can we leave the Ministry of Defense or the military headquarters in each region, and the Capital Garrison Command to the Kazakh revolutionary military forces?¡±


    ¡°I arranged that only because we might see some blood if we get in there. Since they¡¯re all Kazakh soldiers, they might be able to talk it through.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, you take control of the central bank and the headquarters of each bank in different regions. Also, unconditionally block foreign exchange transactions when you get there. I don¡¯t want any dor to slip out of the country.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be a bacsh from foreignpanies and diplomatic missions?¡±


    ¡°We just have to freeze it for one day. Foreignpanies should be relieved to see the revolutionary government¡¯s announcement. And put the president of the Senate and the speaker House under house arrest, and the prime minister and the deputy prime minister in custody.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s not written in our operation instruction.¡±


    Under the Constitution of Kazakhstan¡ªthe president of the Senate could serve as acting president if the president could not do his duty somehow. After the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives could serve as acting president.


    ¡°They are the ones who can serve as acting president. Once you¡¯ve taken control of the National Assembly and the administration, where will all the politicians who have nowhere to go gather? We should keep them away from the president of the Senate or the speaker of the House.¡±


    ¡°Okay, heck, I¡¯ll do what I¡¯m told.¡±


    ¡°Also, you three can mobilize the Foreign Legion of the autonomous state to aplish your tasks.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re just going to take control of Astana and Almaty and leave the rest of Kazakhstan alone?¡±


    ¡°If we just take control of the administrative and economic cities, the rest will follow. What can other cities do if they don¡¯t have a centripetal point?¡±


    ¡°The Northern cities are going to be a problem.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to meet with the Russian representative who is a member of the National Congress. I should decide what to do with the northern cities after making sure what the northern cities are after.¡±


    ***


    Youngho traveled to Astana to meet the Russian representative. His name was Romanova. Although he could not be considered to represent the whole Russian poption in Kazakhstan¡ªthe reason that Youngho wanted to meet him was that he did not belong to the ruling party nor the opposition party.


    ¡°Duke. I¡¯m sorry to ask you toe a long way. I just couldn¡¯t find time to travel so far.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem. It makes sense for a young man to visit. I also had things to do in Astana, so please don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you do good things for the minority groups in Kazakhstan. I¡¯m grateful that you¡¯re doing the job that our government has not been able to make it happen.¡±


    ¡°I only helped with a business mindset. If minorities are well-off, the consumer market will grow. Isn¡¯t it good to have a win-win business?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... you¡¯re as outspoken as I¡¯ve been told. That¡¯s not too bad. You¡¯re not afraid to let it go, because you¡¯re not hiding anything.¡±


    Romanov looked healthy at the age of just over 60. He was not one hundred percent vic but slightly mixed with the East and the West. He had clear eyes. Although he was someone in a high position, he was authoritative at all just as Youngho thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Arirang is making aggressive investments despite the current situations in Kazakhstan. I wonder what you believe in when Kazakhstan¡¯s future is uncertain.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Kazakhstan is not a good ce to live like others?¡±


    ¡°No way. This is my hometown. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll leave even if the situations don¡¯t get resolved any time soon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how I feel too. Kazakhstan is my second home. Even if the political situation is chaotic, I think we should still try our best to contribute to the development of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an amazing idea. But I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re the only ones who believe Kazakhstan is our home. To other people, you are only a stranger.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see it that way. Kazakh people upy the third of the total poption of the Arirang Autonomous State. They don¡¯t see Koryoins or Serbians as strangers at all.¡±


    ¡°The state of Arirang has reimed the wilderness and is recognized for its rights, but we, Russians, are different. We moved here after Russia forcibly annexed Kazakhstan. Because of that painful past, Kazakh people don¡¯t regard Russians as neighbors.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re living well together now.¡±


    ¡°But if you look inside, it¡¯s never been that great.¡±


    Russians had been doing well in Kazakhstan, taking advantage of the superior status. As a result, the Russians were the ones who had been holding Kazakhstan¡¯s economy.


    From the standpoint ofypeople, it was only natural to treat them as thieves who took what they were supposed to enjoy. Also, many Russians made money in Kazakhstan and spent it in Russia, which was unpleasant for many Kazakhs. Although Russiansined that they were being treated as strangers, they had also brought it to themselves.


    So Youngho wondered if Russians really wanted to stay in Kazakhstan. The oue of today¡¯s meeting would determine the fate of the Russians in the northern cities.


    ¡°When the former president dered martialw, I was surprised to hear that the northern cities imed independence. Don¡¯t these cities have a high status in Kazakhstan? Do Russians want to return to socialism?¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with Russia. We¡¯re trying to find our own way of survival rather than living in a shaky Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°You must have thought that was possible.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I should exin the issue of our own autonomy before we consider the impossibilities.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just wondering why the Russians in northern cities wanted to split from Kazakhstan when they are guaranteed a full life even if they remain a member of Kazakhstan. There are about 50 percent of the poption of northern cities that are of Kazakh ethnicity, and I wonder if they¡¯ll just sit there and watch.¡±


    ¡°The rest of the people living in the northern cities are not opposed to segregated independence. That¡¯s how much we¡¯re concerned about the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if Kazakhstan transformed and improve a lot better than now?¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll think differently. There¡¯s no reason to venture if the uncertainty is removed. How can we get through the tough international situation just in the northern cities?¡±


    ¡°You mean to remain a member of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Of course I want an autonomous republic, but I know it¡¯s hard to be realistic.¡±


    Youngho was stunned for a moment because of the unexpected answer.


    If this statement was true, there was nothing to worry about. It also meant that the northern cities did not seek independence based on Russia¡¯s support.


    It was a little bit suspicious that those cities asked for independence without any realistic measures, but it would be stupid to ask about details. Youngho decided to move on with the conversation for now since he had confirmed that there was no immediate obstacle for the revolutionary movement.


    ¡°If you only did it because you were worried about the future of Kazakhstan, I¡¯m relieved.¡±


    ¡°Why are you relieved? We don¡¯t have any rtionship with the Arirang Autonomous State.¡±


    ¡°I was nning to invest in the northern cities, but I was worried that the cities will im independence.¡±


    ¡°In the north?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve always felt sorry for losing the market for daily necessities to both Russia and China. That¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to build factories in minoritymunities.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re more than wee to do that in our cities. There¡¯s no reason to refuse such an offer when we can secure a stable daily necessities supply.¡±


    ¡°If you have any items you want, please let me know. We¡¯ll actively review it.¡±


    Once there was a clear need to appeal to the Russians, Youngho did not hesitate to make pork-barrel remarks. Although Romanova did not show all of his intentions to Youngho, he did not appear to be ready to be separated from Kazakhstan immediately.


    Youngho hade to Astana with the intention of excluding the north cities if they were to be an obstacle to the revolution, but there was no need to do so. Since Romanova happily epted Youngho¡¯s investment n, this meant he would watch the situation for the time being.


    It seemed that the northern cities would be stable for now. However, the problem was that it would shake Kazakhstan someday, as Park Jong-il was concerned.

 Chapter 458 - The Revolt (1)

    <h4>Chapter 458: The Revolt (1)</h4>


    The resistance of the military police protecting the Ministry of Defense building was tenacious. When the soldiers, fully armed at night, entered the building, they at first panicked and soon responded to the manual counter. The prospect of a bloodless takeover was undoubtedly shattered. The facilities to be upied by the Foreign Legion of the state led by Youngho¡¯s friends were somewhat easy to take, but the Ministry of Defense, the headquarters of the armed forces, and the Capital Garrison Command, which were guarded by armed forces, would not be as easy as they thought.


    Youngho joined the team that went to the Defense Ministry led by Lieutenant Colonel Kabak. And, there was an eventual shootout between the two forces.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got well-trained elites as your enemy, Lt. Col. Kabak.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it was going to be easy.¡±


    ¡°I heard the Army and Air Force headquarters are already overtaken, right?¡±


    ¡°They had helpers from the inside. They said that they were already waiting for them with open doors. The Capital Garrison Command and the National Police Agency had a little trouble, but I was just notified that everything is cleared up.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way to control them without hurting them. First, could you tell them to refrain from firing back for a moment?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to do it yourself, duke?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back, so just stop shooting.¡±


    ¡°No, no. I know you¡¯ve been in the special forces back in Korea, but you¡¯ve been discharged more than ten years ago. When General Kasim finds out about this, I¡¯m dead.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to know it, right? It¡¯s because we let young people getting hurt for no reason.¡±


    Kabak has been staying in the autonomous state as a liaison officer, and he once observed the training of the Foreign Legion. He was stunned to see that Youngho and other leaderships of the autonomous state were training together with soldiers. He recognized Youngho¡¯s strength to a certain extent but what was happening now was not training. It was a real scene of a fierce battle where bullets were flying.


    Youngho was hoping to finish the job safely without a single loss of life. Thepletion of the revolution was important, but the young innocent lives were also precious. They did not shoot at each other yet, but if they got hurt by blind bullets, they would lose their temper, and it would lead to indiscriminate shooting between them.


    When the revolutionary forces stopped firing back, the military police stopped firing any more. They had been moving as they were trained to do when the militants stormed the building, but they were quite confused and burdened by the situation. Kabak asked Youngho for some time to persuade the military police. Youngho felt a little rxed once the shooting was stopped.


    ¡°We are a revolutionary army. It¡¯s impressive to see you perform your duties faithfully. We don¡¯t want anyone to get hurt. The headquarters of the Army and the Air Force, as well as all other government buildings, are in the hands of the revolutionary forces. Please don¡¯t resist anymore and put down your guns.¡±


    ¡°Who are you, and which unit do you belong?¡±


    ¡°This is Lt. Col. Kabak, under General Kasim of the western border unit.¡±


    ¡°Please wait for a moment. We¡¯ll report it to our higher-ups and decide whether to surrender.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten minutes.¡±


    ***


    After a while, all the facilities were taken into the hands of the revolutionary forces.


    The Ministry of Defense was now turned into a temporary office for the revolutionary government. Youngho could not sleep since he was busilymunicating with rted people, but his head was clear than ever.


    It was announced the next morning that the revolutionary government took control of Kazakhstan in time for work, fearing that the gunfire that rang out all night might have scared citizens.


    Cha In-soo¡¯s team, which upied the national newspaperpany, made and distributed a printed copy of the revolutionary pledge.


    The pledge of revolution was simple.


    ¡°One, the revolutionary government would pursue democracy and free economy.


    Two, the revolutionary government abides by the U.N. Charter and faithfully implement international agreements.


    Three, it eradicates all the corruption and old evils prevalent in Kazakhstan.


    Four, it will hold a national referendum as soon as possible to form a new constitution and parliament.¡±


    And to prevent confusion, the revolutionary government dered that it was suspending the stock market and foreign exchange trading for a day.


    This was spread throughout the country on the air all day long.


    It also sent letters of cooperation to embassies of each country under the name of Kasim, themander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. The overnight revolution in Kazakhstan had rocked the world. Embassies in Kazakhstan were not interested in revolutionary pledges but were curious about the color of the revolutionary pledges.


    It was also important whether the revolution was a Russian-led revolution or a military revolution in which the entire military took ce.


    General Kasim, themander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, issued a brief statement to the nation,


    ¡°Dear people, we are about to have all our constitutional acts suspended as of 2 AM today. I¡¯m themander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Kasim. Today¡¯s revolution is about the aspirations of Kazakh soldiers. The aim of our revolution is to stabilize Kazakhstan, which is in danger to be in imminent peril. In order to prevent unnecessary confusion caused by the revolution, the National Assembly and the government¡¯s broadcasting service were temporarily suspended. As stated in the pledge of revolution, we will hold a national referendum as soon as possible to normalize the Constitution and the National Assembly. The military government will temporarily be in charge until the referendum isplete, and a new government isunched. To minimize the inconvenience caused by military rule, I will make sure that all daily work will be normalized starting tomorrow. Thepanies and individuals affected by the revolution will have government-levelpensation.¡±


    As soon as the revolutionary pledge was announced, Michael, the head of the CIA¡¯s European chapter called in a flurry.


    ¡°Is it your work?¡±


    ¡°Why do you ask when you already know? I only funded it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve guessed it, but you should¡¯ve let me know the date. I had a long word with the director because of this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I believe you, but I couldn¡¯t trust the U.S. administration.¡±


    ¡°Why would it interrupt your work when you¡¯re stabilizing the situation in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Would the administration let go if I told you in advance? Just say it¡¯s my dogmatic behavior.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you¡¯re asking me to write my resignation.¡±


    ¡°So please stop working for the CIA ande to Kazakhstan and help me out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. I already filed you and your friends¡¯ retirement from the CIA. If you stayed in the CIA, many people will get in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Are you in the middle of any trouble? Or is it the director of the maind? I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not the president.¡±


    ¡°All of us are in trouble. I thought the dictatorship had finally copsed and felt relieved, but I¡¯m worried that another dictatorship might be on its way.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to create a system more than a dictatorship. What should I do?¡±


    ¡°Are you making fun of me?¡±


    Michael said as if he was upset, but his voice was bright. It was a revolution led by Youngho, so if he did well, Michael would be recognized because of it. He could even be promoted to the director of the CIA headquarters. Seeing an opportunity, he felt like dancing.


    ¡°Are you trying to be the president?¡±


    ¡°The revolutionaries are urging us to go to a constitutional monarchy. So, we¡¯ll have a national referendum to decide it as soon as possible.¡±


    Michael was rather sympathetic to the constitutional monarchy without much resistance.


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯ve arranged a title for you. Do you want me to let you know in advance?¡±


    ¡°No thank you. If you do that, I¡¯ll have to resign from the CIA.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m no longer rted to the U.S. CIA anymore?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to be happy. You will not bepletely separated. You¡¯ll still keep your status as an information coborator. It means our intelligence department and yours are in a cooperative rtionship.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to do. We still need the power of the U.S. CIA.¡±


    ¡°If you need to keep the diplomat¡¯s status, I¡¯ll extend it for you.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯m an inw of the Danish Royal Family, and I¡¯m also the duke of the autonomous state. There are no more countries that will treat me recklessly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you a few dozen if you need it. Just talk to me anytime. And there¡¯s a gift from the U.S. government for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be grateful if that¡¯s weapons.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a bigger gift than that. There will be a deration today from the U.S. Department of Defense that supports the military revolution in Kazakhstan. What do you think? That¡¯s a big gift, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    It was not just a big gift, it was like the ending point of this revolution.


    Although Michaelined that Youngho did not give him the heads-up in advance, he had moved quickly to empower Youngho and the revolutionary forces. Youngho felt like he had support from thousands of troops and horses.


    The influence of the U.S in the internationalmunity was quite huge. A military revolutionary government was like a sandcastle that could copse any time. It could be turned over by other forces until new government and constitution were made because it was not justified by a referendum.


    However, if the U.S., which was like the leader of the liberal democracy, recognized the revolutionary government, all uncertainties would naturally be resolved.


    ¡°That¡¯s not just a gift. If you do that, Kazakhstan will remain the permanent ally of the United States.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you already making a political statement? That¡¯s a pleasant thing to hear anyway.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. Do you have any other gifts?¡±


    ¡°We are giving you this huge gift. Are you still going to trade only with Sweden in the future?¡±


    ¡°All right, I¡¯d like you to prepare a lot of thetest F-series fighter jets. I¡¯m thinking of buying around 30 jets or so.¡±


    ¡°You save my face. I¡¯lle to Kazakhstan in a few days. I have so much to say.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to seeing you.¡±


    After ending the phone call with Michael, Youngho asked for an emergency meeting.


    It was to encourage the revolutionary forces by notifying them about the support of the United States. It was a revolution, but it would have been nerve-wracking for everyone involved. If the results of the referendum were not supportive, everyone should just be exiled because if people did not pass the revised constitution, they all would have to be prepared to go to jail.


    When such anxiety were built up, it created discord in the wrong ce.


    All themand officers gathered in the conference room looked nervous as they waited to hear what Youngho had to say.


    ¡°The U.S. government supports our revolution. It¡¯ll be announced tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah!!!¡±


    The leaders of the revolutionary forces who attended the meeting room apuded and cheered. It was quite extraordinary that the military revolution of other countries was supported by the U.S.


    Kasim, who was excited by the encouragement, asked,


    ¡°Duke, where did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°The head of the U.S. CIA¡¯s European chapter just called and informed me.¡±


    ¡°Wow, did you have any acquaintances in the US CIA?¡±


    ¡°Not only the U.S. but also the British Intelligence Service have been helping us. I also asked the Danish royal family to help keep Russia and China in check, and they also dly agreed to help us.¡±


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the addition of the Arirang state to the revolution, Kazakhstan would have fallen into Russia or China.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got to say that it would have been very difficult for us without their support. Right now, Russia and China will focus on the crisis, but they will soon put pressure on us. I had to get help from western countries because of them.¡±


    Once Youngho¡¯s words were over, apuse broke out everywhere.


    People were encouraged by the fact that powerful nations supported their backs.

 Chapter 459 - The Revolt (2)

    <h4>Chapter 459: The Revolt (2)</h4>


    The generals excluded from the revolutionary army were bent on impressing young officers of the revolutionary army. Major General Kasim who could not see the revolutionaries suffering, came forward to speak to other generals.


    ¡°Should the military impose discipline, will the hierarchy of the military personnel be destroyed for not joining the revolutionary forces, General Kasim?¡±


    ¡°Who in the world treats generals like that?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t treat us badly so bluntly, but we can sense it. It¡¯s obvious that they¡¯re ignoring us since we were appointed by the former president Nazarbayev. Has anyone else ever done that instead of the president?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter now. The revolutionary government will review themanders of each army. Please understand that we cannot ignore the wishes of the young officers.¡±


    ¡°With what right? Aren¡¯t you too proud to have seeded in the revolution? Then there¡¯s going to be a huge bacsh from the military.¡±


    His voice was sharp. It was like saying that those excluded from the revolution could go against it. Then Kazakhstan could really be a bloodbath.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a bacsh from only a few generals. If you¡¯re trying to move the subordinate force, you should stop it now.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s not a threat. The generals who have been doing well will never be disadvantaged.¡±


    ¡°The revolutionary government has broken the constitutional order. In what qualifications are you re-examining ourmand?¡±


    It would be unfair to them. They understand that the young officers rose up and revolutionized, but now that they were going to be re-examined by the young officers, which was uneptable.


    Themand was not taken away from them now, but even the officers under them who joined the revolutionary forces were not listening to them anymore.


    ¡°The people of Kazakhstan have already recognized the existence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. You sound like an attempt to redress a corruption-ridden country is wrong. Can¡¯t you see the threat of China and Russia in your eyes? We just couldn¡¯t see our nation being ripped into pieces.¡±


    ¡°But the idea of denying generals who are higher in rank and who had been in the army longer is also problematic.¡±


    ¡°We never thought of such thing, so don¡¯t get us wrong.¡±


    Youngho interrupted the quarrel between key revolutionary forces and military generals. As it was already known that Youngho was the center of the revolutionary forces, so it was not strange that he stepped up.


    ¡°I¡¯m Lee Youngho, who leads the state of Arirang.¡±


    ¡°I am well aware of your prestige, duke. I¡¯m sorry to meet you like this.¡±


    Unlike his previous attempts to push out junior officers, he seemed to be nervous to talk to Youngho. This was because Youngho¡¯s status was high, and only when a deal with him was made, the generals could get their own way.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t stand still knowing that there are forces that want to bite off Kazakhstan from all of its sides.¡±


    ¡°It was a shock to us that you were involved in the revolution. Is the situation really that critical to the point we need a revolution?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you the details of the source of the information, but it¡¯s a very dangerous situation. Would the United States, Britain, and other Western countries support the revolutionary government if we did it only to take power?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Russia and China are coveting the whole of Central Asia. The reason the West supports the revolutionary government is to have Russia and China in check.¡±


    After the U.S. and Britain, the European Union also imed to support the democratic revolution. Only then, the domestic press was also in favor of the series of events in the revolutionary government. The Kazakh public also started responding positively to the revolutionary government¡¯s handling of the situation.


    Knowing how the situation was going, the generals were getting even more nervous.


    ¡°Who can be without mistakes? Now is not the time to argue about that. I ask you all to join forces for Kazakhstan. If you have made mistakes in the past, please do your best for Kazakhstan now. Then the people will trust you.¡±


    It was no problem to get rid of all administrative officials and hire new ones, but the military was a special case, so Youngho needed to persuade them. Mistakes could be punishedter on. For now, the military should join forces in order to not get underestimated by China and Russia. The generals, who were aggressively arguing, were softened by Youngho¡¯s remarks.


    ¡°Since the duke says so, we feel relieved and encouraged. I haven¡¯t been able to sleep well these days because I think I¡¯ve lived wrongly that I wasn¡¯t even able to join the Revolutionary Armed Forces. It¡¯d be the same for all of us. Though bted, we¡¯ll give all our power for Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your cooperation. If that¡¯s the case, our revolutionaries and the Kazakh citizens will look at you differently soon.¡±


    Youngho decided to take a step back for now since it would not solve anything if he fired all of the corrupted military generals. For now, the priority was to work together to ovee the crisis. The evaluation would be given by the people and future generations of Kazakhstan.


    ***


    As if a phone call was not enough, Eriksson flew to Astana himself to meet Youngho.


    ¡°Duke, congrattions!¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, thank you. It¡¯s still a little early to be congratted. There¡¯s a lot of work to be done.¡±


    ¡°Reform is important, but if the people fail to keep up with it, it¡¯ll be just an empty echo. Now that everyone in the West is supporting the revolution, I think we can speed it up.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to change the basics with gradual transformation, especially Russia and China are pressuring Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I think Russia would rather be rxed. You¡¯re already in a secret rtionship with Russia, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have a good business rtionship with Russia, personally, but it will change when the various treaties and contracts with the Kazakh government are shaken.¡±


    ¡°So I came running. You must not maintain a hostile rtionship with Russia for the time being. Pressure from both sides may cause Kazakhstan¡¯s new movement to lose power. It is enough to have only one enemy at a time.¡±


    ¡°I fully sympathize with your idea. But I think it¡¯s a long way from getting out of the shadow of Russia without reassessing our rtionship with Russia.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is economically and militarily inseparable from Russia. You don¡¯t have to pretend that you¡¯re done with it. Western countries are fighting for a breakthrough, but Russia is just sitting back and waiting. Now, when Russia believes that Kazakhstan is in its hands, you have to use it in reverse.¡±


    He was speaking the truth. If Russia really was determined, it would have destroyed Kazakhstan in a moment.


    ¡°Are you saying we should send a special envoy to Russia or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly. Russia needs to be exined that the reason for the revolution is to eradicate internal corruption and reestablish the nation. You¡¯d have no choice if you need the support of four million Russians living in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I wanted to clean up our rtionship with Russia. What a shame.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s never toote to do it after building Kazakhstan¡¯s strength. Establishing inner cohesion is a priority.¡±


    There was no state that the new government would make enemies out of neighboring countries in the revolutionary pledges. It only said that it would correct corruption and political instability.


    It was reasonable to listen and revise the n if it was the opinion of a middleman of the Information Agency that offered information to the whole world. Although Youngho did not like the fact, winning Russian support was also important for now.


    ¡°Do you have any special person that you can send as an envoy to Russia?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone for now. If it¡¯s not going to be me, I¡¯d like to send someone who could talk to Putin.¡±


    ¡°You mean the Mafia boss by someone who could talk to Putin?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I think that Mr. Yaniv speaks for me well. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s an unexpected figure, but he is the right person for an under-the-table work. Since he¡¯s business partners with you, he¡¯ll do just fine.¡±


    ¡°There will be a problem when Russia asks too much from us.¡±


    ¡°You should tell the Russian government that the revolutionary government has no authority to do that now. It would not be so forceful if you ask them to wait until there was a consensus of the National Assembly elected by a referendum.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if we still have to maintain a humiliating rtionship, there will be discord within the revolutionary army.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only sending a message from your side to Russia. They won¡¯t have to know about it. You can tell the others that Russia supported the revolutionary government by its own will. By the way, the reason why the U.S. government is actively helping is because of you, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a revolution involving some who used to be a CIA agent. The U.S. fears that there would be problems caused by the fact. The reason that the U.S. rushed to give a statement of support can be because of the economic benefits, but my presence must¡¯ve taken a huge role in it too.¡±


    ¡°It must have been Michael¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°Yes, indeed. He yed a big role. He must have gone through a lot of trouble for me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s pping inside because you¡¯ve been involved in this.¡±


    ¡°Well, since the U.S. was the first one to support the revolution, it might ask something big in return in the future. We have to admit that we are grateful that the U.S. has given us a lot of power.¡±


    If the U.S. intelligence agent became known for his involvement in the revolution, the U.S. would be in huge trouble. Even if Youngho had acted independently without consulting the CIA, the international opinion would be that the U.S. had something to do with the revolution. That was why it decided that supporting and helping the revolution was mutually beneficial.


    ¡°The reason Russia has yet to announce its position is because it lost its chance since the U.S. had announced first. If all Western countries are backing up the revolutionary government, there would be no point for Russia to make a state in opposition. That¡¯s why you should console Russia and build its pride back. That way, you¡¯ll be able to think about your future steps in the diplomatic rtions with Russia.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll send a special envoy.¡±


    ¡°I have one more suggestion. Would you like to hear it?¡±


    ¡°Since yourpany has a global informationwork and brain, I¡¯m willing to listen to it any time.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s good to slow down the pace of social reform by one tempo for Kazakh people¡¯s harmonious life.¡±


    ¡°That was the ultimate goal of our revolution, if we slow down the reform, we¡¯ll be dying our purpose.¡±


    ¡°To lead the political situation in a stable manner, you need the support of bureaucrats. If they don¡¯t have a prominent mistake, cover their mistakes first. I¡¯m sure the bureaucrats are very nervous right now especially when they¡¯ve heard the revolutionary pledges.¡±


    Eriksson meant that the government could strike corrupt officials once things were stabilized. The revolutionary government would lose its official support base if all of the officials were punished and reced too soon. In order to finish the national referendum well, the support from the official group was a must since there was no one who could rece them immediately.


    National unity was more important than anything else at the moment.


    If the majority of the Kazakh public supported the revolutionary government fully, it would be able to punish officials by then.

 Chapter 460 - A Quiet Reformation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 460: A Quiet Reformation (1)</h4>


    Youngho wanted to fly to Volgograd and meet Yaniv, but he could not move recklessly since he was already known to the public as a behind-the-scenes coordinator for the revolution. The world¡¯s media was paying attention to his every day move now.


    When Youngho called Yaniv, his voice was filled with joy as if he was waiting for Youngho¡¯s call.


    ¡°I should treat you with respect now, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not really good at such things. Please understand my ignorant behavior.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anyone who¡¯s treated differently in his family just because he¡¯s be a great figure.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll speak at ease. There¡¯s no one to me since it¡¯s a private conversation.¡±


    Although he said he was ignorant in his own words, he went through all sorts of rough things as a mob boss. He was now an experienced businessman. He was quite a smart person, even though he was not educated in an institute.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling for a favor. I should¡¯ve visited you, but I can¡¯t even go anywhere being unnoticed anymore. Please understand.¡±


    ¡°I would¡¯ve stopped you even if you said you¡¯de here. You are the man leading the revolutionary government, and that makes you not as free as you used to be. I¡¯d be careful if I were in your shoes too.¡±


    The call with Yanivsted about an hour.


    He was thrilled to take the role of a special envoy as a mafia boss.


    It was burdensome since the rtionship between Kazakhstan and Russia depended on their role, but he was confident that his personal ties with Putin would be useful.


    ¡°If Putin asks too much, the rtionship between the two countries will only worsen. Four million Russians living in Kazakhstan will also turn their backs on Putin.¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯ll bring a better deal out of Russia than what the U.S. is giving you.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t overdo it. I¡¯m afraid that your rtionship with President Putin will be sabotaged by this. For now, I¡¯m satisfied by the fact that Russia is supporting the revolutionary government.¡±


    ¡°If he wants to turn your back on me, I¡¯m not afraid. That way, Putin will lose Volgograd and the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know that yet? Volgograd is a ce where it used to be the Golden Horde. Unlike western Russia, it was originally ruled by Mongolia. We are proud to be descendants of nomads, too. We¡¯re part of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It would be a lot of fun if Putin treated such a ce badly.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That makes me want to have some piece of Volgograd, thend of nomads.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯ll tell Putin that. I¡¯ll have to tell him that if he doesn¡¯t listen to you, he¡¯ll see nomadic cavalrymening for him.¡±


    Yaniv firmly believed that Putin would decline his request if he was reminded that people living near Volgograd and the Caspian Sea were descendants of nomadic people.


    Youngho thought they looked a little Asian, but it never urred to him that they could be the descendants of nomads. Although their Mongolian blood was mixed with vic people¡¯s blood, it was the Mongolian spirit that dominated people¡¯s mindset.


    Whether it was true or not, Youngho was relieved that Yaniv was willing to work as a special envoy. Leaving the work of the nation to the private sector was an adventure in a way, but it was the best option for now.


    It would be embarrassing to get rejected by Russia after sending a special envoy openly. In order to deal with a socialist country that liked ndestine backdoor dealings, the normal method could be a hindrance. To survive between the two big powers that advocated socialism, it seemed like Youngho would have to get used to backdoor deals in the future.


    President Nazarbayev was good at taking advantage of China and Russia. It was a shame that someone of such talent had to be too greedy for himself.


    ***


    Eriksson did not go back to Sweden but stayed in Astana to give advice to Youngho.


    The revolutionary government,posed of only soldiers, had many trials and errors although it had prepared a lot. Youngho, who was always asking for advice from Eriksson, wasfortable but also burdened.


    ¡°It¡¯s convenient for me to have you around Eriksson, but is it okay to be away from yourpany this long?¡±


    ¡°I think I should be here for a while. May I?¡±


    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s what I wanted to ask you. Of course, you can stay longer.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of you, duke. So, take responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to pay you with gold bars or jewels?¡±


    ¡°Haha... In Sweden, when you get double pay, we pay a lot of taxes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ll give it to you in items, not in cash. I¡¯d like to thank Mr. Basten separately too.¡±


    ¡°We are trying to make a profit in our own way by helping you. Please don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Well, then. I¡¯m very happy to work with you.¡±


    There were also many talents in the Arirang Autonomous State. Even though the geology doctor Park Young-sun and the head doctor Kim Dong-sung were quite intelligent people, they were only good at certain fields. They could not help with political tasks of using various tricks and negotiation skills to make a good deal with another political entity.


    Managing a nation was an overwhelming task for Youngho even though he had been managing the autonomous state. He was looking for someone who could help him in this area, and Eriksson was the perfect person. Since he joined the revolutionary government, he resolved many issues once and for all.


    Eriksson¡¯spany, Information Agency, was almost as big as the world-wide global consulting firm, McKinsey. It was an elite group that delved into and diagnosedpanies and countries. Eriksson¡¯s advice, who gained long experience in such apany, was like long-waited rain for the revolutionary government.


    He was appointed as a special advisor to the revolutionary government for policy and anything that was announced or implemented officially went through his hands. It was because the government was trying to show clean work as much as possible, unlike the past government. If there was even a small mistake, Kazakh people would see it the same way as the previous administration.


    The revolutionary army dealt harshly with cases of uwful activities.


    It wasmon for any organization to close their eyes or reduce the level of punishment for talented employees, but it was not the case in the revolutionary army. Youngho wanted to overlook people¡¯s mistakes, but he had to be as strict as possible in order to justify the revolutionary movement.


    ¡°Duke, this is a man of talent. Of course, he made a mistake, but his dismissal is too harsh.¡±


    ¡°We have to set strict standards for ourselves. If you¡¯re stuck withpassion, you can¡¯t move forward with the reformation. Of course, it¡¯s too much of disciplinary action, but I can¡¯t help it for the sake of the whole.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I told him to be so careful... I¡¯m sorry this has happened.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame to cut off a talented soldier, but we have to set an example.¡±


    The revolutionary government had not yet taken any action for the existing bureaucracy, but it had been using a strict moral standard for the revolutionary forces. The impact of it was great. Corruption in government officials and police organizations was reduced. Those involved in the massive corruption scandal, which was subject to eradication, left the organization on their own.


    Youngho did not punish the officials who stepped down on their own. They would be investigated in the future.


    ***


    Fatima and the children left Baku and entered Astana. When they left Baku, they were spotlighted by the media, and it was the same in Astana.


    When they arrived at the airport, there was a long stretch of domestic and foreign reporters and broadcasting officials. This was because media broadcasted Fatima¡¯s story of how the descendants of thest Archduke of the Serbian kingdom had to settle in Kazakhstan, day after day. The documentary which was a usible real-time adaptation of the settling process of Serbians from the Balkans in the remote area of Kazakhstan was enough to sway the minds of Kazakh people.


    The fact that the Serbians cleared up the wilderness and helped the needy Kazakhs impressed Kazakh people. In their eyes, Fatima and Youngho seemed like people who popped out of a legend.


    ¡°It¡¯s so cheesy that I can¡¯t watch it anymore.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s so touching to make a documentary video and interviews like that. We¡¯ve had a hard time clearing the wilderness. I¡¯m almost teary to watch it. You¡¯re saying this was Eriksson¡¯s idea?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he said we have to seize Kazakh people¡¯s minds from now on if we want to start the constitutional monarchy.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a cheesy trick, but it¡¯s true that we worked hard to establish the autonomous state. I mean, all of us ate tons of sand.¡±


    In fact, the video was quite moving. He thought that only Fatima would be featured in the documentary, but his effort to attract foreign investments were also featured. It made him seem like a hero.


    The entrance of the hotel in Astana, where Fatima and the children were staying, was crowded with local people and reporters who flocked to see Fatima.


    Youngho was surprised to see them cheering for Fatima. Although the Arirang state was quite popr in Kazakhstan, it was only a state made by immigrants with a poption of fewer than 20,000 people. It was only famous for its rtionship to the Danish royal family.


    Nevertheless, the explosive reaction shown to Fatima was the power of broadcasting.


    Eriksson¡¯s diagnosis that the best way to dig into people who were still na?ve was by broadcasting. The people who gathered in front of the hotel were proof.


    ¡°Oh! Are they all here to see me?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s because of the documentary on TV. How about going out on the balcony for a moment and waving to the people?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a ruckus at Baku Airport, so I thought something was going on. You¡¯re the one who made this up, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not me. It was Eriksson¡¯s idea. Also, it¡¯s not what I made up. The documentary only told the truth.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t try too hard to make it sound good. I can see it in your face!¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m a good actor. I can hide anything.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if other people are fooled by your poker face, but I can figure it out in a minute.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to take good care of my facial expressions from now on.¡±


    Fatima looked bright as if the situation was exciting for her.


    She had been over-loved by the residents of the autonomous state so far, so she was not startled by the poprity.


    When Youngho called Fatima that he would be revolutionizing Kazakhstan, she did not look surprised at all. In fact, sheforted him for deciding to step up. Fatima was quite bold these days, sometimes even bolder than Youngho.


    ¡°I have to go out for a while. While I¡¯m gone, why don¡¯t you think of a way to appeal to the reporters and the Kazakh people? I mean if you want to be a crowned queen in the future.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the people are excited for a constitutional monarchy?¡±


    ¡°Well, they must be half-curious and half-hopeful. From now on, depending on what we look like, a new country will be born. So far, it¡¯s going as we intended, but it¡¯s going to be a bit noisy if any opposition group shows up.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll make sure the opposition group doesn¡¯t even think about showing up. Should I make a move?¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of going straight to the street. I¡¯m going to do volunteer work at the kitchen soup or do chores at hospitals. I¡¯m sure people have never seen upper ss doing such work before.¡±


    ¡°If you do that only for once or twice, people will get quite upset.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing it to show off. I hadn¡¯t been involved in outside activities because I thought I might be a burden to you. I would do that kind of volunteer work every day.¡±


    ¡°You make me a weirdo. I never asked you to stay at home.¡±


    ¡°Haha... but he never told me to go outside and work.¡±


    ¡°If anyone heard that, he would think I¡¯m a psychopath.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be outside from today, just be aware of it.¡±

 Chapter 461 - A Quiet Reformation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 461: A Quiet Reformation (2)</h4>


    ¡°We spent 1.8 billion dorsst year on defense, but actually 2.2 billion dors were spent. We haven¡¯t yet confirmed whether or not we¡¯ve added arger trade surplus.¡±


    ¡°Is the payment for soldiers improving in any way?¡±


    ¡°The treatment of the Kazakh soldiers is better than that of the Russian army. They are getting paid as they were supposed to. The problem is that we can¡¯t confirm whether the money was paid for the armored vehicles that we were trying to bring in from Ukraine and used fighter jets from Russia. The arms deals had been carried out directly at the Presidential Pce.¡±


    Youngho sighed as he was checking the military budget and weapons of the Kazakh military. Most of the weapons were used Russian products except for some.


    It was difficult to operate the weapons in the long run due to theck of parts.


    When he could not bring in armored vehicles from Ukraine and South Africa, Nazarbayev tried to make a technical partnership with Turkey, which clearly showed that he cared enough about national defense. The money that came from robbing the president¡¯s vi was probably a slush fund to purchase weapons.


    ¡°Lt. Col. Kabak, where are those old-fashioned weapons that we used at the Russian border from?¡±


    ¡°Those are weapons delivered from Russia in thete ¡¯90s. Still, they¡¯re the strongest in Central Asia.¡±


    Lieutenant Colonel Kabak replied proudly even though they looked useless to Youngho.


    Kazakhstan would be helpless with such old-fashioned weapons if it fought against Russia or China. The conventional weapons must be modernized. However, that was an unrealistic dream with less than one-tenth of South Korea¡¯s defense budget. It was barely enough to maintain what the military had now.


    ¡°If we rece all the tanks and armored vehicles with the ones that will be produced in the Arirang state, our military power will be reinforced a little.¡±


    ¡°I heard you were also nning to produce fighter jets and attack helicopters. Can you get a technical partnership?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already agreed upon. Turkey¡¯s Ko? Holding¡¯s helicopters and Sweden¡¯s Saab¡¯s Gripen fighters will be our main power. Sooner orter, the F-Series fighters from the U.S. will be brought in to reinforce our forces too.¡±


    ¡°The mere mention of that gives me hope.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll have to increase the number of Army soldiers up to 100,000, Air Force soldiers up to 30,000, and the Navy soldiers up to 10,000. That way, neither Russia nor China will treat us poorly. As of now, we can barely protect our borders.¡±


    Currently, there were 30,000 Army members, 15,000 Air Force members, and 3,000 Navy personnel. Kazakhstan was 12 times the size of the Korean Penins, 25 times the size of South Korea. With the current military strength, it was the same as begging for Russia and China¡¯s invasion.


    ¡°It¡¯s desirable in terms of war deterrence, but the expense would be too much for us.¡±


    ¡°The defense budget now is less than one percent of the national GDP. If we get rid of all the socialist social security systems, we can increase the defense budget up to three percent of GDP.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over six billion dors. How are we going to raise funds?¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t, I¡¯ll pay the rest of it, so just figure out how to recruit more soldiers.¡±


    If the defense budget was only 1.8 billion dors, Youngho could afford it even for the next several years. He also had about 480 tons of gold bars and 7.2 billion dors in cash now. Kazakhstan¡¯s GDP was 210 billion dors, it¡¯s per capita ie was around 13,000 dors, and its foreign exchange reserves were slightly over 30 billion dors, of which gold holdings were worth 6 billion dors, which was not muchpared to the gold Youngho had. The country was running without a problem because of the 50 billion dors annual trade surplus from resource exports.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to sell our resources at the right price and produce our own manufactured goods and daily necessities from now on. Then we can increase GDP by three times in a short period of time. I¡¯m confident about that, so let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    ¡°And that means we¡¯ll be paid three times more than now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just going to be a rise in sry, anymission will be the same. You can tell the reporters you¡¯re meeting tomorrow. Now we have to inspire hope in our people. We won¡¯t envy Europe anymore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d have a press meeting everyday as long as I can present this kind of vision.¡±


    If people had hope, the goal of the revolutionary government, which advocated a constitutional monarchy, would also be achieved soon. Lieutenant Colonel Kabak¡¯s expression, leaving Youngho¡¯s office, was full of confidence.


    ***


    Fatima¡¯s every activity became the main news on TV.


    TV stations had no choice but to broadcast about her because the audience ratings of the news featuring her were higher than the people¡¯s favorite TV shows.


    The news was full of the scenes of her visiting orphanages and families with single moms. When Fatima began her volunteer work, the wives of ambassadors of different countries also joined her, which made headlines of the Kazakh press.


    In Kazakhstan, people with money or high positions took it for granted to be arrogant and domineering. People were so indifferent about people in need. However, Fatima¡¯s generous activities despite her high position provoked curiosity among Kazakh people. Volunteerism was something that was only often seen in Europe, and it was interesting to see what the Archduchess of the Arirang state was doing in Kazakhstan.


    In the country where a sense of citizenship was nowhere to be found, it was natural that Fatima¡¯s activities outstood among people, especially when the former administration had only cared about economic development neglecting to change the socialist mindset in people.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you overdoing yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m having so much fun these days. The wives of ambassadors are also cooperating very well.¡±


    The wives of Western ambassadors would have joined to save their face, but there were no involvement of the wives of Kazakh high-ranking officials yet. Their reaction was cold as they thought it was a waste of time.


    ¡°You need to let the security guards rest too.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just standing stiff all day long. That¡¯s barely working. It¡¯s hard for the volunteer women because they work bending and straightening their backs all day.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not tired?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting better at this. I¡¯m also nning to go to Almaty soon.¡±


    ¡°Almaty?¡±


    ¡°If you stay in the capital only, it¡¯s really just to show off. I heard that there are slums in Almaty, so it would be a goodmunity service.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how can I stop you when you say that. I have to go to Almaty too. Let¡¯s move together.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s great. Szechenyi and Isabe areing to Almaty too.¡±


    ¡°The Szechenyi couple?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re trying to empower you. Almaty will be the center of the media¡¯s attention if Princess Isabe shows up.¡±


    If the Danish princess couple showed up in Almaty officially, the whole city would be swayed. People would want to see the princess of Europe especially when she walked around the slums to serve people in need.


    It would be an opportunity to change the minds of people who were so self-centered since they had been influenced by the socialist mindset. If they became aware that they had been self-centered, it would be their first step toward bing mature citizens.


    Only because they were caught up in a socialist society and life was difficult to make, their minds had been cold. But nomads still living in remote areas were always weing their neighbors and travelers warmly. Especially for Koryoins who arrived here 80 years ago, themon Kazakh people kindly offered help.


    ***


    Almaty, with a poption of 1.3 million people, was thergest city in Central Asia as well as the center of academic culture and economy of the nation. The city was nned from the beginning to mimic European-style cities, so it was crowded with diverse ethnicities such as Russian, Ukrainian, Germans, and Uyghurs.


    There, the city was thrilled by the visits of Fatima and the Danish princess couple.


    The revolutionary government itself was already enough of an issue, but the visit of the Danish princess and her husband was like fueling the fire.


    ¡°Greetings, duke.¡±


    ¡°You must have had a long trip toe all the way here. Did you enjoy your trip?¡±


    ¡°You sent me a private jet, so it was veryfortable.¡±


    ¡°How is Her Majesty?¡±


    ¡°She was so excited about Kazakhstan these days that she can¡¯t even sleep. She is very pleased to hear that you led the revolution to sess.¡±


    Princess Isabe, who told about the Queen¡¯s recent condition, was equally excited.


    Although she was not unhappy with her marriage to the autonomous state, it had fallen short of marrying into other European royal families. The only thing that she could brag was that the Arirang Autonomous State was rich economically, but now it was like having the whole Kazakhstan as family-inws. There was no wonder that the Danish royal family was exuberated.


    ¡°It¡¯s only the beginning. I¡¯m burdened that too much attention is drawn to this. There¡¯s still a referendum that¡¯s the biggest hurdle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here. I¡¯m going to serve in Almaty¡¯s slums tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re pregnant. Please don¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... If you feel bad, give the baby a lot of presentster.¡±


    ¡°Do you think a baby to be born will like gold or jewelry?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Sure. The baby will love it just like its mom.¡±


    As Isabe began the voluntary work in Almaty, even the wives of the leaderships of the foreignpanies in Almaty joined her to help clean up the slums. It was not that there were no local regr janitors, but the absence of civil consciousness among people had led to Almaty being seen everywhere full of garbage and filth.


    It was only clean around big roads, but if you stepped into an alley, it was a very messy ce. After seeing Fatima and the princess collecting and cleaning filth on the streets, citizens eventually began to join them. The practice of littering was eliminated, and people started to pick up discarded garbage. Just like this, the movement to keep basic order that no one else had kept before had begun. It was a spontaneous act, although no one asked people to do so. A small revolution was taking ce from the corner of the big city.

 Chapter 462 - A Quiet Reformation (3)

    Chapter 462: A Quiet Reformation (3)


    ¡°I told you not to worry.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much for your role, Mr. Yaniv. I don¡¯t know how to repay this gratitude.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need such an emptypliment between us. I¡¯m d that I yed a role in this.¡±


    ¡°I should appoint you as our formal envoy in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. People won¡¯t look at you nicely when you¡¯re involved with a mob boss. I¡¯m a person who¡¯s suitable for behind-the-scenes jobs.¡±


    ¡°Did the president have any other requests?¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯d like to get along well with the new Kazakhstan. If everything¡¯s stabilized, you might want to visit Russia first.¡±


    ¡°If we maintain a friendly rtionship, of course, I should visit the neighboring country first. Please tell him that the first stop will be in Russia.¡±


    ¡°I see. He asked me to tell you that Nazarbayev is out of Russia and you¡¯d know what he meant. What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Please tell him I know what he means. I guess President Putin didn¡¯t want any trouble caused by the former president of Kazakhstan. Since Russia already presented a statement of support for the revolutionary government, I should forget about the fact that Russia had epted Nazarbayev in exile.¡±


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s a deal then. I hope the revolutiones topletion without any trouble. Call me whenever you need anything.¡±


    ¡°Please visit Kazakhstan soon. I¡¯d like to treat you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll a burden for you if I go there now. I¡¯ll visit you quietly when it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re always wee to visit.¡±


    There was a special statement in Moscow supporting the Kazakh revolutionary government.


    Then Azerbaijan and other Caucasian countries; as well as Central Asian countries, issued a statement of support as if they had been waiting. Since a lot of their political movements were highly influenced by Russia, they had been waiting for Russia¡¯s move. They were socially and economically subjugated to Russia that they even used Russian as their officialnguage.


    Russia¡¯s statement of support meant something different from that of Western countries since Russia¡¯s support of the revolutionary government had provided them a side effect with the support of 4 million Russians living in Kazakhstan. Putin must have made the decision because he could not ignore the support of Western countries.


    As Youngho received a big gift, Putin requested not to raise a problem about President Nazarbayev who had exiled to Russia. Putin¡¯s mention of Nazarbayev meant that he was in Russia and that there must have been a deal between the two.


    Although Youngho gave a positive response to Yaniv, he intended to get the rest of the money that Nazarbayev managed to take with him. His misrule was responsible for the fact that Kazakhstan was still a developing country despite having abundant underground resources, so he must pay for his crimes. If he was clean, would his aides have dared tomit corruption? The corruption of bureaucrats prevented progress and deprived the Kazakh people of hope. It was never just a matter of shutting his eyes upon the matter.


    ¡°Duke, there¡¯s no external stumbling block anymore. An early referendum is necessary for political stability.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t had a chance to fully exin it to the people yet, so maybe we¡¯re in too much of a hurry?¡±


    ¡°We need to continue to expose it through the media so that people will get used to the idea.¡±


    ¡°If academia, culture, and the media didn¡¯t have enough discussion about new amendments. If we confirm them quickly, it¡¯ll be another source of conflict.¡±


    ¡°There is no undemocratic use in the revised constitution that we are making. People who are ignorant enough to protest without alternatives will be judged by the Kazakh public. They¡¯ll be condemned as an impure force to prevent a chance for Kazakhstan to live better and well. Also, the Russian support is very significant.¡±


    ¡°The Russian support doesn¡¯t mean that we have the support of four million Russians living in Kazakhstan. They¡¯re the ones who chose to live in Kazakhstan rejecting Russia and socialism.¡±


    ¡°So we need to let them know that the new constitution is far from socialism. What are the advantages of a revolutionary government? We have to push it now.¡±


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s announce that the referendum will be held in a month¡¯s time and promote the new constitution.¡±


    Youngho had wondered if he should advance the voting period even if it was not for Eriksson¡¯s opinion. There was not anything good about dying it.


    ***


    Although gradual reformation was intended, big corruption cases needed to be dealt with immediately. Those involved inrge corruption cases had to stand in military courts one after another. The main reasons for the revolution were the eradication of corruption and political stability, and the moment the revolutionary government failed to carry out its main purposes, it would lose the public support.


    Park Jong-il, who was watching a string of high-ranking officials standing in the court, pitifully looked at them and clicked his tongue.


    ¡°After 27 years of independence from the Soviet Union, they were bound to change a little, but is it possible that corruption has increased even more than it was during the Soviet era? I guess these are people who didn¡¯t know the concept of a country. They¡¯ve only been filling their pockets when they seized their high positions, so I¡¯m sure things have gone right.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. It¡¯s alright. We¡¯ll see our nationalpetitiveness rise twice as much as we do now if we cut off the corruption in the officialdom. By the way, how¡¯s the Kazakh national intelligence servicepared to our state¡¯s intelligence department?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about any other organization, but the intelligence department is pretty clean. President Nazarbayev gave the police a domestic intelligence job, so they¡¯ve been in the cold for a long time. Despite the poor conditions, they have consistently carried out overseas intelligence work.¡±


    ¡°What are the tendencies of the heads of diplomatic missions?¡±


    ¡°They served Nazarbayev, but they worked hard and tried to speak for Kazakhstan in other countries, except for some.¡±


    It was a relief.


    The officials who worked inside Kazakhstan were corrupt but the ones who worked overseas had no chance for corruption. They worked hard on the given tasks.


    ¡°The biggest problem was the police organization. It¡¯s so bloated that I¡¯m thinking to turn some of the police force to the Border Patrol. There are just too many policemen.¡±


    ¡°You want to give the police the job of the National Guard?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Why don¡¯t we leave only the Russian border to the police? There¡¯s no immediate threat there. Anyone can watch. It¡¯s about taking advantage of the overpowering police force.¡±


    Police were among the groups that President Nazarbayev had excessively increased to take power for a long time. It wasunched as an organization to maintain power, but it was no exaggeration to say that it was a breeding ground of corruption due to its size and low payment.


    Notorious Kazakh policemen were busy taking bribes from people by threatening them with traffic fines and other charges. It was turned into a rotten organization, and Jong-il was suggesting not to dismiss them but to use them to protect the Russian border.


    In Kazakhstan, the military had only 45,000 soldiers, while the police number was over 100,000. It was an open secret among travelers that the Kazakh police were more notorious than the Russian police. Traveler blogs always warned about Kazakh policemen.


    No matter how small the sry might have been, the organization was already rotten to the core. If they were just dismissed, it would only create so many unemployed people. It was a great idea to take this opportunity to turn them into border guards.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll talk to Maj. Gen. Kasim. Do you have anything else to talk about?¡±


    ¡°What do you think about giving domestic intelligence tasks that belonged to the police to the Kazakh intelligence service?¡±


    ¡°Of course we should. The police should be limited to patrolling. If we entrust them with intelligence work, it¡¯s like leaving the fish to a cat.¡±


    ¡°Then, I will coordinate the intelligence work of the Defense Ministry to be unified into the Kazakh Intelligence Service.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°The satellite reader has contacted us that China is moving a lot of troops to the border area. We need to know what these guys are up to.¡±


    ¡°I guess China is upset because Russia supports us. We need to send a police team to the Russian border and reinforce the forces at the Chinese border.¡±


    ¡°It takes more than a month to move from the Russian border to the Chinese border.¡±


    ¡°We should send the mechanized units first. We need to mobilize all of the armored vehicles of our state, too.¡±


    ***


    Michael arrived in Kazakhstan in secret.


    Youngho could not receive him at the airport due to the public eye, so he met Michael at his hotel¡¯s guest room.


    ¡°You look great.¡±


    ¡°Chief, excuse me for noting out to the airport when you traveled this far to see me.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, you¡¯re now in a position where you need to be cautious. By the way, it seems you finally managed to move Russia.¡±


    ¡°I mobilized Mr. Yaniv to persuade Putin.¡±


    ¡°Good job. We need to get along well with Russia for a while. Didn¡¯t Putin attach any other conditions?¡±


    ¡°He asked me to choose Russia as the first foreign country for my official visit.¡±


    ¡°I see. Putin doesn¡¯t want you to get too close to us.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess his pride was hurt when the U.S. and UK dered their statement of support first before Russia did.¡±


    ¡°If he knew that you were a CIA agent, he¡¯d freak out.¡±


    ¡°I hope he finds out about me properly. That way, he won¡¯t be able to underestimate me.¡±


    ¡°He might have some ideas already. He used to be an agent of the KGB. He¡¯s not stupid enough to know we¡¯re behind you. There¡¯s no case of revolution without a background.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, we¡¯ve had no discord against the revolutionary government so far. Thank you for your work, Chief.¡±


    ¡°If something goes wrong, I have to take off my clothes dishonorably, so I had to try hard.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯d be summoned to Langley, Virginia soon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a hassle, too. I¡¯ll probably head to take care of a farm when I retire, not the headquarters of the CIA.¡±


    That was what Michael said, but he was an ambitious man. He always dreamed of being the director of the CIA headquarters. He would certainly be the head of the U.S. CIA if it was given to him. Then, it would add another strong ally to Youngho.


    ¡°What is the situation like in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°The rotten smell all over the ce, and I don¡¯t know where to start from.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a normal country that had been freed from a socialist system.¡±


    ¡°The whole country is messed up now that we have opened the can. We need to fix the unemployment rate right now and build up the awareness of citizens so that the country can stand up properly.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. was once a mess. It won¡¯t be long before your problems are solved. Don¡¯t be so impatient.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t rx because of China and Russia. You have to change it by force, once and for all.¡±


    ¡°Russia is Russia, but China can be a huge threat. You always have to be nervous.¡±


    ¡°China is already building up troops to the border area.¡±


    ¡°I know. The Chinese government probably thinks that the revolutionary government is ignoring it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ignore it. I want to see how they¡¯d react.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to take risks now when what you need is stability?¡±


    ¡°China`s provocation is necessary for internal unity and reform. We need to give people a sense that they shouldn¡¯t stay the way they are.¡±


    ¡°What makes you so confident?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to move Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°Hooh! I want to hear about it.¡±


    ¡°Not for free.¡±


    ¡°Are you asking me to release the gift package already?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be empty-handed when you said you¡¯ll visit me, but you didn¡¯t say anything. I¡¯ve been waiting for this moment.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the Uyghurs first.¡±


    ¡°You know that mercenaries from the Serbian militia and our agents are active in Xinjiang Uyghur, right?¡±


    ¡°Then you must know that we can see that our intelligence fund is still supporting Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°I intend to supply Uyghurs withrge-scale weapons.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to move weapons there in secret?¡±


    ¡°If you can use the weapons that the Chinese army is building up, there¡¯s no need for me to move them.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re going to take their weapons?¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m from the Special Forces, right? We¡¯ve got a Foreign Legion that consists of soldiers who were discharged from the Korean Special Forces.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to do something huge like that? There could be a local war.¡±


    ¡°Why should we be nervous when it was the Uyghurs who stole the weapons? We wouldn¡¯t be so sloppy to get suspected by China. I¡¯ve never failed an operation before.¡±


    ¡°Stop beating around the bush and get to the point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know in time. If Washington¡¯s profit-oriented desk officials decide to go against China, it will end up hurting Kazakhstan only.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust me?¡±


    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you this.¡±


    Michael was staring at Youngho¡¯s face. He could not grasp Youngho¡¯s intention.


    It seemed that the poker face that did not work for Fatima but worked for Michael.

 Chapter 463 - The Birth of a Constitutional Monarchy (1)

    <h4>Chapter 463: The Birth of a Constitutional Monarchy (1)</h4>


    People from all walks of life filled the auditorium.


    Today was the day to decide on the final draft of the revised constitution, so the auditorium was heated with the enthusiasm of the participants.


    Although he promoted the constitutional amendment through the media and collected opinions from all walks of life, he had arranged public hearings several times because he thought something wascking.


    If only a few people who lead the revolutionary government decided on Kazakhstan¡¯s future, it could be another issueter on.


    Youngho was curious about the atmosphere of the public hearing, so all the revolutionary leadership, including Youngho, were present at today¡¯s hearing.


    ¡°This is a great turnout. I didn¡¯t expect such a high number of participants. Now I understand your intention to hold a public hearing, duke.¡±


    ¡°Even if it seems like a wasteful argument, it will narrow down ideas. When did you have such a democratic debate in Kazakhstan? But look, they¡¯re doing quite a nice job although it¡¯s their first time. Don¡¯t you see hope for the future?¡±


    ¡°I feel proud to see Kazakhstan¡¯s hidden power. I must reflect on my poor judgment of the Kazakh people. If we go through this democratic process, we can ept all the results of the referendum. I¡¯m going to hold a lot of hearings like this. It¡¯s an opportunity to experience how important the democratic process is.¡±


    *There is no need to take the public opinion with the things that require professional opinions. It won¡¯t be a responsible government if we ept any public decision. A responsible government should do what it supposed to do regardless of public opinion. It¡¯s not true democracy to rule out expertise because of the majority¡¯s vote.¡±


    ¡°I learned a lesson from you, duke.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything special going on, so let¡¯s just go back to work.¡±


    Just as they were about to leave, Youngho saw a professor at Kazakh State University exercising his right to speak. He was arguing that some provisions of the amendment were unreasonable. It was very impressive to see the professor and other panel members debate on an idea.


    ¡°The Prime Minister should be appointed by the king himself. While it seems reasonable for the majority party to appoint the Prime Minister, there is no safeguard against the long-term rule.¡±


    ¡°Then the king¡¯s authority will be too great.¡±


    ¡°The National Assembly can keep it in check. The prime minister appointed by the king must be approved by the National Assembly.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to resolve it when the National Assembly holds back the king on purpose and put the brakes on the government¡¯s work?¡±


    ¡°It will be judged by the people. If people see a member of the National Assembly not doing his job properly, he won¡¯t be re-elected.¡±


    ¡°Then, is there a way to control the king if he nominates someone who¡¯s not qualified? ¡±


    ¡°We need to establish institutional mechanisms to prevent the unreasonable nomination of the Prime Minister. It¡¯s going to be like a Royal Personnel Committee. Only when the nominee was approved by it, he would be passed down to the National Assembly for approval. If the personnelmittee is made up of experts from all walks of life, it will be a means of keeping the royal family in check.¡±


    ¡°The institutional safeguards are important, but they¡¯re tantamount to destroying the authority of the royal family on our own. How will foreign countries think of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°If we want to select a person who has been verified ording to democratic procedures, why would it undermine the authority of the royal family? On the contrary, the royal family will be praised for listening to the personnelmittee.¡±


    The professor at National University was making an unexpected remark.


    It was only natural that the majority party to lead the government. The king¡¯s involvement in government figures was unheard of in Europe. Even though the remarks could lead to a misunderstanding that he was bought by the revolutionary government, the panels at the hearing were being drawn into the professor¡¯s strange logic.


    ¡°What is that guy doing? Is he siding with us or is he trying to stir up trouble?¡±


    ¡°Right. He¡¯s trying to shake up the usual system. We don¡¯t want to be criticized for manipting the government.¡±


    Park Jong-il and Cha In-soo were upset that the professor said something unnecessary, making them misunderstood as if the king were coveting power. In Europe, the king was only a symbolic figure and the true power belonged to the people and government. However, the king¡¯s ability to nominate the prime minister and the existence of the royal personnelmittee would overshadow the constitutional monarchy.


    The professor even went on further.


    ¡°In order to be a constitutional monarchy, the first queen must also be stipted in the Constitution. That way, we will have a true constitutional monarchy. That¡¯s because it¡¯ll be the basis for the royal family to continue in the future.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too much? The reason for a constitutional monarchy is to keep power in check. Since we had the Archduchess Fatima, who is respected and loved by people, we aimed to develop Kazakhstan with the prince consort as a focal point. If we put her name in the constitution and vote on the monarch which is only a symbol, it would be tantamount to defaming her. Why would she even want that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t dare to defame her authority and character. I¡¯m just saying that we should put her in the constitutional amendment for the continuity of the royal family. She¡¯s from a Serbian royal family, so we should give the family legitimacy in Kazakhstan. The royal family is the only influential royal family in the multiracial country of Kazakhstan.¡±


    When his remarks were over, the audience, which had been dead silent, apuded like thunder. There was a roar of apuse from everywhere.


    ¡°Her Majesty, Fatima! Long live the Queen! Hail to the Duke!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I was named there...¡±


    ¡°Did you put some revolutionary army members in the audience?¡±


    Listening to the hearing, Youngho could not help but feel the cringes.


    The hearing was broadcasted through TV and radio stations to all cities of Kazakhstan. Thus, Fatima¡¯s appointment as a monarchy became an open secret now.


    The professor of Kazakh State University, who captured the audience and the panels with strange logic and sophistry, even stressed that the Arirang Autonomous State should be made into a royal territory and left as a permanent royal property.


    The logic was that if a royal family was rich, it would not be swept away by corruption.


    ***


    The elections took ce with a result of a 91 percent approval rate for the new constitutional monarchy out of 93 percent voter rate.


    It was phenomenal to see such a high voter turnout and approval rating. This was funny since such rates were usually only possible inmunist countries, but apparently, it could happen in Kazakhstan, too. It seemed that all people except those who could note to vote due to illness or age participated in the vote. The elections, which voted for the eptance of the Constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary elections, set a new record in the history of democracy.


    The whole nation was overwhelmed by the excitement that Kazakhstan had be a new constitutional monarchy. People were hopeful that they would join the ranks of advanced countries in the near future.


    At the same time¡ªthe revised constitution was announced in a month, Kazakhstan would establish Fatima as its first monarch and the National Assembly.


    The revolutionary government was busy needed to roughly unravel the clues of the reformation so that the new government would be able to make it as the basis for their work.


    The issue of moving the royal pce to Astana had been discussed in-depth, but they decided to leave it in the Arirang Autonomous State as the state belonged to the royal family. Fatima¡¯s opinion yed a huge role in the decision. It was natural for her since she likes simple things and did not want to go through the hassle of moving. Youngho also agreed. If the royal family was moved to the capital, the development of the barren West would not be possible. The presidential pce in Astana would be turned into a cultural space and returned to the public of Kazakhstan. Instead, a temporary pce would be built on a site just next to the Capital Garrison Command. It was because of the symbolism that the royal family was fully supported by the military


    The names of the respective militaries had changed in part. The Capital Garrison Command was changed into the Royal Armored Division, and the Countryside Force of the Arirang Autonomous State had been transformed into Royal Bodyguards. The two organizations were set up to move solely on royal orders. It was General Kasim¡¯s idea to have such a royal army. Most of the revolutionary army officers and soldiers were deployed to the Royal Armored Division. In the constitutional monarchy, where the royal family was not allowed to rule, the royal power was bound to weaken, and the royal armed forces were established as a means toplement it.


    In the case of the European royal family, usually royal guards were only symbolic and they entertained tourists¡¯ eyes. There were no royal armed forces. However, although Kazakhstan decided to be a constitutional monarchy, the royal family was given the right to nominate a prime minister and an army that was ordered only by the royal family. As far as authority was concerned, European royal families would not be able to keep up with the Kazakh royal family even when it came to power.


    ¡°If the Archduchess bes the queen, you¡¯d be the Duke of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan. There will be many restrictions on your activities in the future.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m going to travel around before the coronation.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going abroad now?¡±


    ¡°We n to visit Azerbaijan and Georgia. I think we should visit both countries in advance before the coronation.¡±


    ¡°Is there a specific reason for your visit?¡±


    ¡°This is a preparation for when the Russian Canal is blocked. We need Azerbaijan in order to go to the Persian Gulf, and Georgia¡¯s cooperation is absolute in order to the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°Ahh...!¡±


    ¡°There is a need for a new exit in case the canal is blocked.¡±


    ¡°The carrots to present to the two countries must be, of course, the resources.¡±


    ¡°For now, resources are our only weapon. Of course, I have other ideas, too.¡±

 Chapter 464 - The Birth of a Constitutional Monarchy (2)

    <h4>Chapter 464: The Birth of a Constitutional Monarchy (2)</h4>


    Baku in Azerbaijan was a city nicknamed the City of Winds in the Land of Fire.


    It was the treasure of the Caspian Sea. The mere mention of Baku made Youngho excited as it was the city that enabled Youngho toe this far in the beginning.


    Having had some time before the constitution was announced, he decided to go to Baku to meet President Aliyev.


    Even though he arrived at Zeynep Farm¡¯s simplified airport, not Baku Airport, the minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan was waiting to receive him. Since it was still before the coronation, Youngho was a little surprised.


    ¡°The Duke of Kazakhstan has arrived.¡±


    ¡°Wee, Duke. Congrattions on leading a sessful revolution in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The Coronation of the monarch has not even taken ce yet. I don¡¯t know how I should respond to such a big wee.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough. You¡¯re the one who¡¯s practically leading Kazakhstan.¡±


    President Aliyev was being respectful than ever. It was quite awkward for Youngho. Now he would have to get used to being treated with such respect, but his heart was still only a businessman.


    After finishing a big luncheon, he sat face to face with President Aliyev privately.


    ¡°How did you convince Putin?¡±


    ¡°I just asked him to get along.¡±


    ¡°You must¡¯ve given him a nice gift.¡±


    ¡°I said I¡¯d take Volgograd if he didn¡¯tply. He quickly bowed his head.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only kidding. I feel ufortable because you¡¯re acting so formal.¡±


    ¡°I want to be asfortable as I used to be, but I can¡¯t anymore. All that matters is that we are still friends.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I chose Azerbaijan as my first unofficial destination.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you. The leader of the revolutionary government came to see me first. It¡¯s an honor.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Baku is where our vi is located. Of course, I shoulde here first. Even if my body is far away, I¡¯m always an Azerbaijani citizen inside.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re always wee. The Kazakh royal family will always be honorary residents of Baku. Zeynep Farm and Serbian ranch will both be designated as royal pce grounds. Please visit us anytime.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too much of a gift.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are brothers. Can¡¯t I give that much consideration to a brother?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡±


    Theyplimented each other for a while and then got to the point.


    ¡°Mr. President, I¡¯m here to propose a railway project to the Persian Gulf.¡±


    ¡°You must be worried about the Russian canal. Isn¡¯t there another route going through Turkey?¡±


    ¡°I should go through Georgia to get to the Turkish Strait to go to Europe, but if I want to make it to Asia, that¡¯s a long way. I¡¯d like to secure another way in case the ck Sea is blocked too.¡±


    ¡°Will you go to Asia too? Then please let us join your project. I can start a state-run shippingpany right away.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we have Arirang Shipping¡¯s headquarters in Baku. How can I mistreat Azerbaijan? Since we¡¯re brotherly countries, we should work together.¡±


    ¡°What about the cost of railroading? Azerbaijan can provide loans if Kazakhstan needs funds.¡±


    With its oil and gas revenues overflowing, Azerbaijan built its wealth. Moreover, since it was a country with a poption of only nine million and a smallnd, the national budget was quite low.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a government project, it¡¯s a royal business, so it¡¯s not a burden toe up with funds. So I think we can each pay half the construction cost. Wouldn¡¯t it be easy to calcte shipping chargester that way?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed a businessman. We should be able to collect construction costs and make profits within ten years.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. And I¡¯d like Azerbaijan to take control of the railroad construction.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. We get to be paid for the construction too.¡±


    ¡°I received so much from you, Mr. President. I hope I can give back your favor this time.¡±


    The route that went through Iran to the Persian Gulf was agreed upon.


    It was a project that was proposed by Russia first before but as Russia was not able to proceed with it since it was caught in the Crimean penins, now it became Youngho and Aliyev¡¯s business. Russia would also use the railroad actively in the future, but it would have to pay high fees. Since Azerbaijan also wanted to get out of Russia¡¯s shadow, Youngho and Aliyev were d that they could start the business together.


    Youngho¡¯s visit to Baku this time had many meanings.


    Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan spoke a Turkish dialect, and both were Imic countries. Not only they had a lot of simrities but they also shared amon goal of getting out of the shadow of Russia. He wanted to reaffirm the fact that the two were brotherly countries and sought to explore the Asian market together by securing a pathway to the Indian Ocean.


    Moreover, although it was unofficial, making Azerbaijan his first trip destination after the revolution was a move to strengthen his rtionship with Azerbaijan. For Aliyev, a Kazakh leader who was pro-Azerbaijan was a strong supporter.


    ¡°If the new government isunched, would you please consider a military alliance with us?¡±


    ¡°What power does Kazakhstan have that you want to be our ally?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is a leading country in Central Asia. Kazakhstan¡¯s strength is absolutely necessary to stabilize the Caspian Sea. Also, Kazakh naval power is ahead of Russia in the Caspian Sea, am I right?¡±


    It was an open fact that Kazakhstan had invested heavily in the Navy and the Maritime Police over the past several years. Since Azerbaijan also had an intelligence service, Aliyev already knew about that.


    ¡°We are bringing in ten more missile ships this time. We¡¯ll take care of the sea of Azerbaijan too.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we have a military alliance so you can get into Baku¡¯s offshore oil fields? These days, the Russian navy frequently shows up around here. I can¡¯t stand it.¡±


    Since Azerbaijan did not have the power to fight against the Russian Navy, Aliyev was trying to draw the Kazakh Navy. Youngho had to keep his face still since he was too excited to hear that. It was not something to refuse, but something Youngho wanted to ask for because Aliyev was now offering the coast of Baku to Kazakhstan.


    ***


    After meeting the president, Youngho met Kim Il-kwon who had been staying in Baku taking care of Zeynep Farm.


    ¡°Boss, what about things on the Serbian ranch? Now that the Arirang Autonomous State has be a royal residence, why don¡¯t we move them? There¡¯s a problem with keeping it in another country, right?¡±


    ¡°So far, this ce is safer than Kazakhstan. Let¡¯s just keep the royal property here.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that we¡¯ve got too much property here.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is said to be a golden country since long time ago. If we start collecting gold this year, the Arirang Autonomous State will be filled with gold in a few years just like the Serbian ranch in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll reinforce the Serbian ranch.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already impregnable. There¡¯s no need.¡±


    ¡°The Serbian knights want to move to the Arirang state and live near the Queen.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? We won¡¯t be staying in Kazakhstan the whole time. Fatima and the children will spend the summer at the ranch.¡±


    ¡°People are shaken that the new kingdom is set in Kazakhstan. I think you should talk to the knights.¡±


    They were the descendants of knights who had been enved for hundreds of years, so they were eager to be with their monarch, Fatima. But the Serbian ranch was like thest bastion for Youngho, so it had to be protected by the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom.


    This was because no country was more geopolitically important than Azerbaijan. The ranch was where two tons of gold bars were produced every year. He was never going to give up such a ce.


    ¡°Jeez, I should have Niksice back here.¡±


    ¡°He might be able to convince people¡¯s hearts. They don¡¯t know that this is the royal family¡¯sst bastion.¡±


    Even if Kazakhstan would be swayed by foreign powers, it would not copse so easily, but there was no guarantee that it would continue in the future. The Serbian ranch was a safe haven for future generations, so it should be guarded by the descendants of the knights. He decided to invest in the railway project because he had no intention of giving up Baku.


    Azerbaijan was an emergency exit. Russia would someday use the Volga River Canal as a weapon.


    Securing the way to the Persian Gulf was a stepping stone for the asion. There was a way to get to the Persian Gulf through China, but Azerbaijan was a safer bet. For that reason, Azerbaijan was absolutely necessary for Kazakhstan. Thus, he could not leave such a ce empty.


    ***


    Although it was an unofficial visit, some people would be disappointed that Youngho did not visit them in Baku after his visit to the president.


    One of them was Sevan, the Commissioner-General of the Main Police Department of Azerbaijan.


    When Youngho called, he rushed to Zeynep Farm.


    ¡°Duke, congrattions on the sessful revolution.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still a long way to go before being congratted.¡±


    ¡°It was so nerve-racking to watch the elections on the news.¡±


    ¡°We finished the elections well because of many supporters, but the real deal is going to be from now on.¡±


    ¡°But you still got overwhelming support from the Kazakh people. It feels like the bright future of Kazakhstan is at hand.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re busy, but pleasee to Astana for the coronation ceremony.¡±


    ¡°What? Am I allowed toe?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you as a friend. Besides, you¡¯re an inw with Park Jong-il. Of course, you are more than qualified toe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s such an honor. How dare me be your friend? You¡¯ll be the Duke of Kazakhstan Kingdom soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m inviting you in advance, so please attend.¡±


    Sevan was moved by Youngho¡¯s invitation. The fact that he was close to the Duke of Kazakhstan itself was a huge backdrop, and if he attended the coronation ceremony because of a personal connection, his career path would be wide open.


    President Aliyev would not treat Sevan lightly for the sake of amicable rtions with Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you invited me to such a great event. It¡¯s an honor to my family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. I might not be able to visit Baku that often from now on, but Baku is still my home. We¡¯re going to stay in the Serbian ranch in the summer.¡±


    ¡°Did you decide to keep the vi?¡±


    ¡°Mr. President said he would designate Zeynep Farm and the Serbian ranch as the royal pce grounds.¡±


    ¡°Good for you. I¡¯ll keep the areas safe.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need. I¡¯m afraid local people will experience inconvenience because of increased restrictions if you do. Besides, who¡¯s going to try to sneak into the vi?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of my pride.¡±


    To Sevan, Youngho was like a savior. Of course, he was overly motivated to keep the royal vi safe.

 Chapter 465 - The Birth of a Constitutional Monarchy (3)

    <h4>Chapter 465: The Birth of a Constitutional Monarchy (3)</h4>


    When the Volga-Don Canal in Russia did not exist, any European goods were supplied to countries around the Caucasus through Georgia, which was adjacent to the ck Sea.


    Then in 1952, Russia connected the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea by establishing the canal between the Volga and Don rivers. The Russian canal had reduced the geopolitical importance of Georgia. However, due to the Crimean Penins crisis, it became difficult to pass the Russian canal through the ck Sea. Because of this, Georgia had just begun to be illuminated again.


    The countries of the Caspian Sea, which had toply with Russia¡¯s capricious nature in order to use the Russian canal, had begun to pay attention to routes through Georgia in case of emergency. People realized that it would be more advantageous to secure the train route connecting Georgia¡¯s Batumi port or Poti Sea Port to Azerbaijan¡¯s Port of Baku in the long run.


    At Tbilisi Airport in Georgia, the Secretary of Defense politely greeted Youngho.


    It was a little strange that the defense minister came out instead of the foreign minister.


    ¡°Wee to Georgia.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to be greeted by the Secretary of Defense.¡±


    In Georgia, the status of the defense minister was in the next rank of prime minister.


    ¡°I volunteered myself to see the duke. The president is on a trip to Europe, and the foreign minister is apanying him.¡±


    ¡°I just stopped by to discuss the railway project. But it¡¯s a surprise that the defense minister came out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here because I know why you¡¯re visiting Georgia.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess you must have been very anxious too.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we¡¯re in the same position as Kazakhstan. Amon interest makes us friends.¡±


    ¡°Shall we talk as we move?¡±


    No one knew how the stance of the new government of Kazakhstan toward Russia would change yet. However, the Secretary of Defense of Georgia was being friendly as if he knew the next steps of Kazakhstan. Georgia and Russia had now recovered their rtions. But only recently, Georgia had deployed forces to block the separation of South Ossetia by Russia in 2008. It soon had to surrender unconditionally to the Russian military. Georgians had to watch the separation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which belonged to Georgia. Naturally, Georgians were not fond of Russia.


    ¡°Duke, congrattions! We, Georgians could not hide our excitement as we watched the pro-Russian president stepping down and a constitutional monarchy being born.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your support.¡±


    Georgia¡¯s current president was known to be pro-Russian, and the minister¡¯s remarks were denying it. If it was the foreign minister, he would not have said such remarks. Usually, foreign ministers of different countries tended to use ambiguous remarks strategically not to reveal their intentions.


    But the defense minister did not use such diplomatic rhetoric. He seemed to have revealed his innermost thoughts.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Central Asia as well as the Caucasus rise from the shadow of Russia when Kazakhstan bes stronger?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just taking our first steps now. I think you have high expectations for us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important to know that we have hope. Russia is a country that we can¡¯tpete against on our own. If Central Asia joined forces together, it would be a different story.¡±


    Countries around the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea mostly did not like Russia except for Armenia since it needed Russia¡¯s support as it was in a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.


    ¡°Russia wants to influence its neighbors rather than expand its territory. There will be no more ces like the Crimea.¡±


    ¡°Georgians don¡¯t see it that way. The fact that Russian troops have been stationed in the capital city of Tbilisi is not possible unless there was an intention to annex the whole of Georgia. When South Ossetia was annexed, Georgia would¡¯ve disappeared from the map if it wasn¡¯t for the United States.¡±


    He could not possibly mean that Georgia would have a war against Russia again with its weak forces, but it was refreshing to hear such words from a Georgian government minister.


    Although Georgia was a third of the size of the Korean Penins and had less than 100,000 people, Georgians had a sense of pride to have fought against Russia.


    ¡°Kazakhstan¡¯s change and the desire to have power are for deterrence, not to have a war against Russia. But if the countries of Caucasus are under undue pressure from Russia, we will deal with it together.¡±


    ¡°Hearing such words from you is a big support for Georgia. We formed an alliance with the United States, but the U.S. was not a big help during the South Ossetia crisis because the U.S. troops were too far away from us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much we¡¯d be able to help you, but I promise to help you if there is any difficulty.¡±


    ***


    The only route recing the Russian canal was the railway between Georgia and Azerbaijan. The one that existed now was the only single track which took a lot of time to move logistics. There was a limit to digest the export and import volume of Central Asia and the Caucasus with just one open track.


    The purpose of Youngho¡¯s visit to Georgia was to encourage the railway double-track project. Georgia was, of course, interested, too, because the government would also take transport revenues from the double-track business, but it had not been able to start the project due to theck of fund.


    The Georgian government was happy to hear that Youngho would be investing in the double-track project. He would be paying half of the construction cost. As Georgia agreed to this, Azerbaijan also replied that it would proceed with the railway double-track project from its side.


    Once the double-track construction was finished, the shipping cost would be dramatically reduced, as well as the time,pared to using the Russian canal. Most of all, counties would not have toply with Russia¡¯s unpredictable policy changes. They would not have to worry about the canal being closed and high canal charges.


    Returning to Astana after a hectic schedule, Youngho began working on the social infrastructure of Kazakhstan.


    The Soviet Union had made a railwaywork that was tightly woven as a spider cob in order to take resources from Kazakhstan. So, if the old facilities were reced, Kazakhstan¡¯s transport system could be advanced up to the level of advanced countries.


    The problem was the cost of recing old facilities. The only way to aplish it was to attract private capital.


    Youngho was discussing the matter with Eriksson.


    ¡°Attracting foreign capital would lead to the outflow of national wealth, but it¡¯s also unclear to attract Kazakh entrepreneurs who don¡¯t have much capital.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we take advantage of the wealthy Russian entrepreneurs in the north?¡±


    ¡°Will they move so easily?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to easily reject the royal request. If they do, they would be losing the reputation of their business.¡±


    ¡°First, I¡¯ll keep my promise to establish a daily necessities factory in the north. That way, the rich mine owners and factory owners will respond positively to the royal family too.¡±


    ¡°Now that we¡¯re talking about mine owners, we need to control the gold mine as government level. The gold mine has been neglected for so long. The owners don¡¯t report their production rate urately and quite a lot of their production outflows to other countries.¡±


    ¡°How did you find that out?¡±


    ¡°Gold circting in Europe¡¯s underground markets is rumored to be either Russian or Kazakh. Most of the mine owners are siphoning off gold in secret. The gold collected by ourpany is mostly bought from underground markets.¡±


    ¡°How much have yourpany saved so far?¡±


    ¡°We have about ten tons. The biggest deal was the one you introduced for us.¡±


    ¡°If we nationalize the mines, there¡¯s going to be a lot of resistance. Do you have a n to deal with that?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯vemitted a crime of misreporting their production amount and distributing it out of the country. That alone is subject to judicial action. There won¡¯t be any stumbling block to nationalize the mines.¡±


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s dere that all gold mines are under state control as of tomorrow, and investigate every person involved, including mine owners.¡±


    ¡°You should start with the travel ban right now and search for their homes and workces.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell General Kasim.¡±


    ***


    Most of the gold mines in the East were scattered in mountainous areas.


    Although there were some in the Midwest, most of the gold was scattered in the form of alluvial gold in the valley or river basin, so their economic feasibility was quite low.


    It was reported that Kazakhstan¡¯s estimated gold deposit was over 30,000 tons. Given that the amount of gold produced worldwide was around 2,200 tons per year, Kazakhstan had a lot of gold buried in thend.


    Despite therge deposits of gold, Kazakhstan¡¯s gold holdings were only 250 tons, with its world ranking hovering around 20th ce. As the dor was faltering as a world currency, it was necessary to increase the gold holdings.


    Advanced countries had a lot of gold in case of emergency. The United States had 3,300 tons, Germany had 8,100 tons, Italy and France each had 2,400 tons, and China and Russia had about 1,800 tons each. In other words, they were ready to return to the gold standard one day.


    As for Kazakhstan, it had a decent amount of gold including Youngho¡¯s gold holdings, which were about 480 tons now. However, it fell far short of what the advanced countries had. The only way to resolve this issue was to actively increase their gold holdings from now on.


    ¡°You stirred up big trouble.¡±


    Jong-il spoke as he walked into Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°Should we just leave it alone when the national wealth is leaking? The intelligence department should be in charge of cleaning this up.¡±


    ¡°Why are you doing this openly?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only fair to do this in public. The people should know.¡±


    ¡°But the Chinese¡¯s reaction is funny. It doesn¡¯t matter if we nationalize it or not. Why is the Chinese government overly reacting to this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only admitting that it has been illegally buying Kazakhstan¡¯s gold.¡±


    The Chinese government bluntly expressed its opposition to Kazakhstan¡¯s nationalization of the gold mine, saying that Kazakhstan was disturbing the world¡¯s economic order. It was funny since it did not say a thing when the revolution took ce.


    The Chinese government was keeping domestic production of gold at the highest level to increase its gold holdings and focusing on buying in gold to the point where it was enough to cause the world¡¯s gold prices to falter.


    Youngho did not know how much gold was leaked from Kazakhstan to China, but China¡¯s reaction was telling that it had been quite a lot.


    ¡°Should we take this opportunity to temporarily close the free trade zone at the border? China can¡¯t say a thing when we say we¡¯re stopping the gold outflow.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait a little longer, and instead, we need to mobilize all the intelligence agents to monitor the border areas. There must be a leaking hole somewhere.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to cover the entire border area with our current number of agents. So I¡¯m going to mobilize the Foreign Legion soldiers. Is that alright?¡±

 Chapter 466 - The Kingdom of Kazakhstan (1)

    <h4>Chapter 466: The Kingdom of Kazakhstan (1)</h4>


    The leadership and members of the revolutionary government and the National Congress held a series of meetings each day over the cost of the coronation of the Queen. The cost of the event was a big issue since the economic situation of Kazakhstan was not very good. So, when the royal family said it would pay a hundred million dors for the coronation, the conference room was turned like a beehive that had been poked.


    ¡°It¡¯d be nice to have a simple ceremony, but we can¡¯t miss like the golden opportunity to bring the whole Kazakhstan people together. So I¡¯ll pay for the coronation with the royal family¡¯s money.¡±


    ¡°Duke, that¡¯s not possible. The ceremony should be held with the money donated by every ethnic group of Kazakhstan. That way, it can be a real event of harmony. All 120 representatives from each ethnic group agreed to do so.¡±


    ¡°How can we make them pay when we know that all of us are struggling to make ends meet? Don¡¯t worry, the royal family¡¯s wealth is more than enough to cover this.¡±


    ¡°No, it should be looked at from a different perspective. It is more important that we all contribute to symbolize that all people are appointing the monarch together. That kind of formality is absolutely necessary since it is our first queen.¡±


    ¡°Then, would it be alright if the Queen returns all of your expenses in the form of a royal grant after the event?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t know how much you care about the people, but we¡¯ve made our own decisions.¡±


    Nine members of the National Congress, who were the representative of 120 ethnic groups, had continued to work with Youngho since the start of the revolutionary movement.


    Youngho had purposely brought them in since their help was absolutely needed in order to get the support of the minority in Kazakhstan. As a result of such efforts, the voter turnout and approval rates for the constitutional amendment were evenly high regardless of region or ethnicity. It was very encouraging of them to take the lead in paying for the coronation, so Youngho kept insisting to give the money back.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I make a suggestion? How would you like it if the royal family built a national school or amunity hall in each majormunity of ethnic groups under the name of the Queen in the future?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good way. If the hall or school was given by Her Majesty, it¡¯d be appreciated by the people.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll consider providing institutional support to each ethnic school to teach its own culture andnguage.¡±


    ¡°If you recognize the culture and traditions of each ethnic group, the royal family and the Queen will be praise for long.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to be praised, but if it will help the minorities find their identity, I¡¯ll be happy with it. If we take advantage of the characteristics of each ethnic group, it will serve as an opportunity for further development of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We promise that we will continue to maintain our own ethnic identity and continue to do our duty as citizens of Kazakhstan more thoroughly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll also do my best to repay your hard work.¡±


    The coronation of the Queen of Kazakhstan was big enough to attract the world¡¯s attention.


    An invitation was issued to all countries that had established diplomatic ties with Kazakhstan. The fact that a new dynasty was established in the 21st century itself was intriguing news. It was also hard to understand that the constitutional monarchy was adopted at a referendum, which resulted in an extremely high approval rate. The world had spected that a coercive method would have been employed as it sounded like nonsense.


    People around the world were not interested in the Caspian Sea, as most of the countries that faced the Caspian Sea became independent in rtively recent times. Even their names were unfamiliar. They did not know that Kazakhstan was a country of 120 ethnic groups. However, the emergence of a new queen in such a country was drawing attention to the countries of Central Asia.


    ***


    As the event was only a day away, the city of Astana was bustling with diplomatic envoys from various countries, tourists, and reporters who came to cover the event.


    The original capital of Kazakhstan was Almaty in the south, thergest economic city in Central Asia. Astana started as a fortification city in the mid-19th century and began to take the form of a normal city, then developed into an administrative and transportation hub and became the capital of Kazakhstan only in 1997.


    Although it was a historical city, it was reborn as a modern city in ordance with the new city n when it became the capital. The former president was motivated to make it a global city, and it did not fall shortpared to other advanced cities in Europe.


    The coronation ceremony was held without any religious color.


    Since the secr Muslim-majority group upied more than 60 percent of the poption and nearly 40 percent of the poption believed in Russian Orthodoxy, the coronation could not be lopsided. There was no religious color and grandiose formality to emphasize national unity and harmony.


    What mattered was the pledge of loyalty of representatives of each ethnic group. Although their ethnicities were different, people had to be united under one monarch in order to be one. The ethnic representatives looked proud to receive the title awarded by the Queen after their pledge.


    Now, the official name of the country became ¡°The Kingdom of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Tens of thousands of people gathered in the square and cheered as Fatima stood on the podium and announced the official name of the country. Only then, the true festival began.


    The festival of the Queen¡¯s coronation was spreading throughout the whole country. Since festivals were only fun when there was food and things to see, Youngho decided to provide refreshments for the people of Kazakhstan in each city. Although each ethnic group had contributed to the coronation event, Youngho did not want it to be a dry event. The atmosphere should be enjoyable like a real festival. It was not fun for people who had to stand outside in dry areas without a speck of shadow.


    Ice creams and drinks were provided during the daytime and cold beer and generous food were served at night with fireworks to entertain people. Such provisions were made to give people hope that Kazakhstan would be better with the new change.


    Fireworks were held in downtown Astana. Since Youngho had never seen such fireworks before, he could not close his mouth. It seemed a tremendous amount of money was put in for such fireworks.


    ¡°How much did you pour in?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Basten sent firework technicians. So, I have no idea exactly how much this cost.¡±


    Basten, the representative of the Information Agency, was a very secretive person. He never showed up in official events. So, instead of being unable to attend, he sent the fireworks as a gift.


    ¡°How much resource is yourpany trying to take from us that you¡¯d spend this much money?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Well, at least we¡¯re paying for it.¡±


    ¡°Is there a special mineral that we don¡¯t know about buried under ournd or something?¡±


    ¡°No way. Mr. Basten will probably be a little greedy for gold.¡±


    ¡°Please tell him that we¡¯ve got plenty of gold to spend for Sweden.¡±


    ¡°There will be a purchase of gold for ourpany too. But, that¡¯ll be only a few tons.¡±


    ¡°Tell him that I¡¯ll even give away royal gold if necessary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Mr. Basten will look forward to it. But was there so much gold in Serbia in the Middle Ages?¡±


    ¡°It was a small country, but I heard it was very powerful. It was not involved in any conquest war, but I was told that it was as rich as an Empire. I¡¯ll leave the rest of the story to Eriksson¡¯s imagination.¡±


    ¡°Have those knights standing in front of the Queen kept the royal property?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re great people who are unbelievably loyal to the Queen. With the establishment of the new kingdom, they must have had their long-awaited wishe true. Now that they¡¯ve achieved their aspiration, they may vanish like dust in no time, as you can see in fantasy movies.¡±


    It was a joke, but Youngho said that because there was a subtle change in his body. When Fatima shouted: ¡°The Kingdom of Kazakhstan¡± and countless people cheered, it was like the energy of the world wasing all at once. That power filled his lower abdomen, and then it felt like it was absorbed into him.


    He should check up on his bodyter, but he felt like he became the owner of a body that was made out of iron, which could only be found in martial arts novels.


    It could not be exined if the ring did not have the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s desire of thest Archduke.


    As Youngho joked about a fantasy movie, Eriksson made an ambiguousment.


    ¡°You have a different vibe and atmosphere from yesterday¡¯s¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of an atmosphere that¡¯s hard to rte to. It¡¯s like you have the whole world in you. It¡¯s something you can only feel from someone who¡¯s lived a long time.¡±


    Youngho could not help but panic at his remark. Of course, Eriksson must have a different idea from Youngho¡¯s, but Youngho had to ask a stupid question.


    ¡°Did you feel like you were seeing a ghost from me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Duke, what¡¯s up with you today? I don¡¯t know why you keep saying weird things.¡±


    ¡°You said I seem different today.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that you look great in aplicated way.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, did you study Eastern philosophy?¡±


    ¡°No, I studied psychology and sociology.¡±


    Since he always said things like Zen riddles, Youngho thought that Eriksson might have studied Buddhism before. Anyway, Eriksson¡¯s remark was quite impressive. He said Youngho¡¯s atmosphere was changed, so Youngho decided to ask Fatimater to find out if it was true.


    The change must have been due to the ring¡¯s spirit, but it was strange that it responded to the cheers of the residents every time.


    It was kind of a wake-up call, and he did not know if it was only rted to the loud cheering. There was no other way to exin if the ring was not connected to the residents¡¯ roar.

 Chapter 467 - The Kingdom of Kazakhstan (2)

    <h4>Chapter 467: The Kingdom of Kazakhstan (2)</h4>


    Several days after the officialunch of the Kazakh Kingdom, the National Assembly was alsounched.


    The senate was made up of 14 members, one for each state, and the House of Representatives was made up of 60 members, one for 300,000 people. The nine minority representatives were promoted as senators.


    The bicameral system should, in principle, establish a bnce of power¡ªbut in Kazakhstan, the Senate was given many advantages in terms of authority and serving timepared to the House. It was to keep the House in check because young and inexperienced representatives could make rash judgments and tended to fall into corruption. National Assembly prioritized adopting the anti-corruptionw and droving out the remnants of socialism.


    Civil organizations needed to change mostly. Strict working hours were basic, and the government introduced a system of responsibility of work to revise the practice ofte handling of civil documents. Civil servants used to bezy to process submitted documents withme reasons such as; officials not in their seats during office hours, inadequate supportive documents, and etc.


    The government was trying to get rid of the chronic socialist ills.


    Officials who neglect their duties would be referred to the disciplinarymittee regardless of their position.


    As the new system was adopted, the culture of officials that took a long time to process things asking for unnecessary documents and asked money from civil petitioners slowly disappeared. It was only possible because officials started getting paid properly by the government. Of course, it was only quickly adopted because corrupt officials were removed from their posts before the National Assembly opened.


    Youngho was having hectic days with follow-up work.


    He had to appoint a prime minister to seed in the government, and other tasks were piled up as well. But, he could not find someone that deserved to be the prime minister of the country.


    ¡°Eriksson, is there any person you¡¯d rmend for the first prime minister?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about General Kasim.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if a soldier can exercise political power very well.¡±


    ¡°Since you are behind him, there won¡¯t be much problem if the government is managed well. The members of the National Assembly are all beginning politicians. They¡¯re bound to follow you. Now in Kazakhstan, politics needs someone to pursue a strong reform after a revolutionary government rather than having strong political power.¡±


    ¡°Kasim is packing to go back to the military. I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t agree.¡±


    ¡°The only person who is recognized by the people now is General Kasim. We must persuade him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if his simple personality will make it on the international political stage.¡±


    ¡°It can be an advantage because he¡¯s very simple and not greedy. Isn¡¯t it the internationalmunity¡¯s atmosphere these days to be blunt without the need for a diplomatic investigation?¡±


    Eriksson believed that Kasim would push ahead with any n because he was full in his military spirit. When people confront the ministers of the great powers, some would be intimidated and were unable to show their strength, but the former soldiers would not be intimidated at all.


    Since Eriksson used to work in the internationalmunity, his remarks were reliable. Kasim was a person who said what he wanted to say without concealing his mind, so it could be a good match.


    When Youngho was agonizing over how to persuade General Kasim, Park Jong-il knocked on the door of his office.


    ¡°Greetings, Duke.¡±


    ¡°No one is here. Please don¡¯t do that. You have a tendency to make fun of me secretly.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what should I call Duke if I don¡¯t can¡¯t call Duke, Duke?¡±


    ¡°Hey, stop it.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m doing this because I like to do so? I can¡¯t help it because I have eyes watching me. Man, I cringe whenever I say it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the reaction of the people?¡±


    ¡°I heard everyone likes the change. It¡¯s not just that civil servants that have changed, but people like that police officers are not seen so often since they¡¯re at the Russian border area right now.¡±


    ¡°Are thebat police officers working fine at the border area?¡±


    ¡°They have no choice but to work hard unless they want to lose their job.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve doubled the number of soldiers because of them. We¡¯d be able to train them for tanks or armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, we don¡¯t have enough people to cover the entire Russian border. We need at least 200,000 people to roughly block that long border.¡±


    ¡°The Russian border should be blocked with the eloquent tongue. If we develop our Air Force properly, we¡¯ll only need a few police officers on the border.¡±


    ¡°So let¡¯s rush the import of the fighter jets. Let¡¯s get rid of the former president¡¯s slush fund and strengthen the Air Force first.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s going well. Look forward to seeing the new helicopter and fighter jet assembly nts operate in the royal territory next month.¡±


    Kazakhstan shared borders with five countries. The Russian border was 6,845 kilometers long, the border with China was 1,533 kilometers long, the Turkmenistan¡¯s was 379 kilometers long, the Kyrgyzstan¡¯s was 1,224 kilometers long, and the Uzbekistan¡¯s was 2,203 kilometers long.


    In a way, it was impossible to protect the borders that were about 12.185 kilometers longbined. Since the situation was like this, the Russian border, which was the longest, should be blocked through political negotiations. However, the Chinese border should be protected no matter what. Although the Chinese border was 1.533 kilometers long, most of it was blocked by the Tian Shan Mountains, so if only some areas were blocked, China¡¯s way to Central Asia would be easily blocked. There was a mountainous path that was connected to Kyrgyzstan but it was extremely rough. The Pamir teau under it was also harsh. So, Xinjiang Uygur was China¡¯s limit.


    Youngho nned to stir up Xinjiang Uyghur so that China would not dare toe near Central Asia. If it crossed the border anyway somehow, it would be hard to have a battle in a ce where it was semi-deserted. Even before he crossed the mountain range, the special force of the autonomous state which was the royal bodyguards would take care of it.


    ***


    ¡°General Kasim, how can you not understand your wish to go back to the military? But you have to do something more important than that. Let¡¯s leave the military to junior officers and how about working on the international stage together?¡±


    ¡°The only foreign country I¡¯ve been to is Russia for studying abroad. My English is poor, so I¡¯m not suitable for the international stage. Why don¡¯t you put advisor Eriksson for that job? He has a Ph.D. and a lot of experience in the world, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°How can we put a non-Kazakh citizen in the Prime Minister¡¯s seat? And he¡¯s not fit for the position because he already belongs to another institution.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can do it well.¡±


    ¡°There will be no problem if you keep doing what you¡¯ve been doing. You¡¯ll make a good prime minister who will be remembered for generations.¡±


    ¡°I just hope that I don¡¯t make mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Governments of Europe such as Sweden, Denmark, and Britain will be able to help us, and the U.S. will be a strong background for us. The only countries we have to care about are Russia and China.¡±


    Youngho had to visit Russia immediately to put out an immediate fire. This was because he promised that he would visit Russia when the coronation took ce. It was desirable for Kazakhstan to maintain a pleasant rtionship with Russia as much as possible.


    ¡°Dealing with Russia and China will be our priority. On the diplomatic stage, words are like a bullet on the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been a soldier my entire life. I¡¯m worried that I mess up because as a soldier, sometimes my actions are faster than words. I should meet Putin soon. I don¡¯t know what to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Putin, I have a connection in Russia. He will be our middleman.¡±


    ¡°He must not be a political figure.¡±


    ¡°No. He¡¯s a mob boss of southern Russia.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Oh, my exnation was too short. He used to be a mafia boss, but now He¡¯s a big business entrepreneur.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you are close to the mafia. It sounds like you know all sorts of people.¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re in business, you meet all sorts of people. He is just one of those people.¡±


    ***


    Kazakhstan¡¯s oil reserves were the world¡¯s 12thrgest with 30 billion barrels, and natural gas was the world¡¯s 15thrgest. Moreover, all kinds of important mineral resources were stored in the country. This was why Kazakhstan was called a resource-rich country. Especially, wheat and other agricultural products from Kazakhstan were more than enough to feed the whole of Azerbaijan or Turkey.


    Youngho, who had been looking at various statistics, looked up.


    On his opposite side, someone was staring at him.


    It was Suh Min-seok.


    ¡°Duke, you didn¡¯t know Kazakhstan was a country like this?¡±


    ¡°You still didn¡¯t know I was a believer in statistics? I already knew about this since I decided to settle here.¡±


    ¡°But you had no idea about rare-earth elements. It had not been discovered until recently.¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s face looked proud like a kid. Youngho did not know about the discovery of the rare-earths. Only China and some countries were known to have rare-earths. It was good news that Kazakhstan also had it since it was a rare mineral that was used to make high-tech products.


    ¡°Are you that happy that we found the rare mineral in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I am proud that we¡¯ve got a tremendous amount of resources.¡±


    ¡°Even though other countries are trying to get us because of that?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got nothing to fear since we¡¯ve got you and our royal territory will soon have armored vehicle and fighter jet assembly nts.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve be bold since you¡¯ve been following me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve risked my life following you to revolutionize.¡±


    If someone heard him, he would think that he had joined the revolution with his own gun.


    Min-seok was reluctant to leave the office even though his work was done. So, Youngho asked why.


    ¡°What is it? What do you want to say?¡±


    ¡°You told me that I can have a wedding when the revolution was finished.¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s stopping you. What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t know what to do because In-hwa is the secretary of the Queen.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no one that says the Queen¡¯s secretary shouldn¡¯t get married.¡±


    ¡°She is afraid that her wedding will interrupt her work. Also, she doesn¡¯t want to stay apart right after getting married. She¡¯d rather have the weddingter.¡±


    ¡°I see. She wants to get married, but she doesn¡¯t want to affect the work. Then, why don¡¯t you go to the Arirang Autonomous State for a few years? Commissioner Kim needs someone to assist him anyway.¡±


    ¡°May I?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a condition in ce of that. Don¡¯t think about returning here until you have more than two children.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s not something I can do on my own.¡±


    ¡°Resources are not enough to develop Kazakhstan. People are priority.¡±

 Chapter 468 - The Kingdom of Kazakhstan (3)

    <h4>Chapter 468: The Kingdom of Kazakhstan (3)</h4>


    Finally, the new administration wasunched and the whole Kazakhstan seemed to be back to normal. It was because General Kasim, appointed by the Queen, became the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan. It was only a formality to get approved by the House and Senate after the decision of the Royal Personnel Committee. Kasim was credited for stabilizing the political situation by leading the revolutionary forces, and his character of neutrality yed a part in his approval.


    Now, it was absolutely necessary for the unity of the people, that a person with public support, regardless of individual abilities, should take the premiership. When the head of the ministry was confirmed, new ministers and vice ministers from each ministry would also be appointed to perform normal functions of the government. The next follow-up was to elect ambassadors to send to each country, the mostpetitive ce was none other than South Korea.


    Youngho tilted his head to find out such many applicants wanted to go to South Korea instead of big countries such as the U.S., Britain, China, or Russia.


    Youngho looked at Ericsson. It was his habit when he did not understand the situation.


    ¡°Your Majesty, isn¡¯t it obvious? If they go to Korea, they¡¯ll be treated differently from now on. I¡¯d also apply if I were them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been conscious of the Republic of Korea. I have no intention of treating Korea as special. But I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re doing this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what you do. It¡¯s who you are. I¡¯m sure Korea will cooperate better than anyone.¡±


    ¡°Other countries are also cooperating well.¡±


    He called out his junior soldiers, who had no jobs and were suffering from low sries in Korea, to live like a person, and he had to attract Koreanpanies to make money, but he had no memories of receiving help from the Korean government. In the early days, he traded Korean products, but with his ability, he would have earned enough money even if they were foreign products.


    He was startled since Korea became so popr just because it was his home country.


    At the same time, Kazakhstan had be a special country to Korea due to his existence regardless of his will.


    ¡°Duke, I don¡¯t know why you are turning a blind eye to Korea when it has been making love calls.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never looked away. I just think it¡¯s one of many countries. If it¡¯s going to help us, of course, we should keep a close rtionship.¡±


    ¡°For us, Korea is a very important country. It has economic power and high technology.¡±


    ¡°Would Korea offer that so easily?¡±


    ¡°If you secretly send a special envoy, Korea will give you a great gift.¡±


    ¡°Even now, Koreanpanies are doing well in many areas of Kazakhstan. I think it would be faster to deal with Koreanpanies than with the Korean government.¡±


    ¡°You distrust Korean politicians and bureaucrats.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s part of the reason, but I think we¡¯ll get more from talking to Korean globalpanies.¡±


    Youngho thought that he would rather do business with Koreanpanies than deal with politicians who were talkative and ill-advised. The moment he interacted with Korean politicians and bureaucrats, they would act as if they had helped the revolution to sess.


    ¡°Is that why you returned the Korean politicians and ambassadors who came here at the Queen¡¯s coronation without meeting them?¡±


    ¡°Korea is politically cornered these days. In that situation, shouldn¡¯t they have brought a message asking for help for Korea? What kind of conversation will I have with the politicians who only care about taking pictures with me?¡±


    ¡°Politicians in every country are the same. They think they¡¯ll get public support only when they show the evidence that they¡¯ve been involved with well-known figures. It¡¯s a political skill to innocently take pictures with other politicians when asked.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to meet people who think only of their political power putting their country and people behind them. If I had time to do that, I¡¯d rather have a drink with workers who are struggling.¡±


    ¡°I get that, but you shouldn¡¯t ignore international rtions.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll send a secret envoy to seek the technology transfer. Before that, I should meet Koreanpanies in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been waiting in line to see you for days already.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that earlier? They must be so anxious.¡±


    ¡°I did that on purpose.¡±


    ***


    Kim Joo-hyuk, the President of H Corporation, was very sorry that the chairman could note to the meeting.


    ¡°Mr. Kim. I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t been able to connect for months. I¡¯ve been so busy.¡±


    ¡°Duke, I know you¡¯ve been busy. I¡¯m d that I finally got to meet you. In Korea, you are a huge topic right now. The whole nation is thrilled to know that the one who has taken over a huge country is a Korean.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a huge misunderstanding. I just belong to one of the so many ethnic groups here.¡±


    ¡°But Koreans don¡¯t see it that way. They see Kazakhstan as another Korea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very dangerous idea.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not too much for Koreans to think so. It¡¯s a pleasant surprise to see someone achieve such a big thing since they¡¯ve been swayed by great powers for so long. You inspired confidence in Koreans. Some people are even lining up to immigrate to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d expect that the Korean-born would receive privilege here, but there¡¯s nothing I can do for them. They¡¯ll be treated equally as other people in Kazakhstan.¡±


    It was understandable to be proud that the person who took control of the ruling party of Kazakhstan was from Korea since there was no such case before.


    In Japan, there was a case where a Japanese born in Peru was elected as a president, which was a great issue. However, during his ten-year tenure, he hadmitted all sorts of irregrities that he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the end.


    Anyway, a person who was born in Korea and came to the Caucasus as a merchant was now a leader of the revolution in Kazakhstan. It was something to be proud of for Koreans. However, Koryoins in Kazakhstan and Koreans were in fundamentally different positions.


    Koryoins were still not treated as proper citizens in Korea, and that was why Koryoins were still in Kazakhstan. There was bitterness toward Korea among Koryoins in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be inviting all Koreanpany representatives in Kazakhstan this weekend. Before that, I wanted to ask Mr. Kim for some advice.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a great honor for me that you called to meet privately. I¡¯ll gather all representatives if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need for that. I¡¯m going to propose a technical partnership with Koreanpanies. I also wonder what kind of attitude the Korean government will take when I ask thepanies to participate in reconstruction projects of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The general technical partnership will depend on the circumstances of individualpanies, but the defense industry will be subject to the Korean government. However, Kazakhstan is different from just a foreign country. Kazakhstan is a foreign country, but Korean people think it¡¯s closer than that.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason for me to refuse that sentiment.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you contact the Korean government? There are many Korean state-runpanies invested by the Korean government such as the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t thosepanies called God¡¯s workce among young Koreans these days?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Most of their work is private, so they pay higher wages than otherpanies.¡±


    ¡°Are theypetitivepared to otherpanies?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying they have nopetitiveness among privatepanies.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to deal with private Koreanpanies that have internationalpetitiveness. Even if we do a partnership with the Korean government, the people who work in the field are from privatepanies. I know how it works in Korea. The government or bigpanies would attract jobs and take huge profits and hire smallpanies who do the actual work only to pay them a little.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a structural problem. It ends up as a decline in quality.¡±


    ¡°I hope that doesn¡¯t happen in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°H Corporation pays partneringpanies fairly even if they¡¯re just startingpanies. They are treated as the same as our employees.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was nervous that Youngho would say something even harsh.


    Although H Corporation would be no different than other huge Koreanpanies, Youngho decided to believe that it would be conscientious. On that day, the two had a deep discussion about the difficulties of Koreanpanies in Kazakhstan and the technical partnership.


    ***


    When the new government was established and the political situation was stabilized to a certain extent, Youngho took Prime Minister Kasim to his official visit to Russia.


    Before the trip, Kazakhstan¡¯s stance was fully exined to other countries by special envoys since it was possible that other countries might misunderstand Youngho¡¯s move.


    The world knew that Kazakhstan was geographically inseparable from Russia, and the reason why Youngho was trying to win Putin¡¯s heart was that international rtions heavily depended on personal connections of the leaders of each country.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that visiting Russia right under your nose would require thisplicated procedure, Duke.¡±


    ¡°General Kasim, there¡¯s no choice since national interests are at stake. I used toe in and out of this ce any time I wanted, but I won¡¯t be able to do that from now on.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess you and I are going instead of a special envoy.¡±


    ¡°Well, my pride is hurt but what can we do? We have to maintain a good rtionship until Kazakhstan grows stronger.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve reallye far now that I can be on a private jet.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll set up a separate ne for you now that you¡¯re the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Youngho bought a jet for the royal family to prepare for a trip abroad.


    Due to the rush to get it, he bought a used one but it was Boeing¡¯stest 747 and had a second story. The first floor was upied by unofficial entourage and reporters, and the second floor was for the royal family and public entourage.


    ¡°The government couldn¡¯t even afford to buy a jet for you. How can I think of a personal jet?¡±


    ¡°In a few years, Kazakhstan¡¯s state in the world will bepleted changed. Then, you¡¯ll have to travel all the time. Of course, you need one for yourself.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for a poor country like us to have two jets. It¡¯ll look better if I borrow the royal jet when I travel overseas.¡±


    It was actually a good idea.


    It would be seen as a cooperation between the royal family and the government. So, Youngho decided to provide a 12-seater jet for the prime minister¡¯s domestic business trips.


    Moscow International Airport was crowded with people weing the visit of two Kazakh leaders. It seemed that Putin was showing an exclusive wee.


    The moorings were covered with red carpets, with the Russian foreign minister and defense minister waiting. A military band yed music when Youngho and Kasim arrived. It was a little too overwhelming, but this was the Russian-style wee. It was Putin¡¯s strategic move to show the world that Kazakhstan was pro-Russian.


    ¡°We sincerely wee the visit of the Duke and the Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for weing us this way.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a special request from the President.¡±


    ¡°Please say thank you to the President. I didn¡¯t expect this wee at the Moscow airport.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace has a special rtionship with Russia, and it¡¯s no wonder.¡±

 Chapter 469 - An Official Trip Abroad (1)

    <h4>Chapter 469: An Official Trip Abroad (1)</h4>


    Youngho was received with a huge wee even at the Presidential Pce.


    It was quite overwhelming. Putin hugged Youngho as if he was conscious of the camera sh by reporters.


    He must have been well aware of Youngho¡¯s contribution to Russia through Yaniv, but his show seemed to be a little too much.


    It was not long ago that Kazakhstan and Russia had a shoot-out at the border. So, this kind of show was a little funny. It was obvious that Putin was putting a message to the outside world. Even the banquet that was held at the pce was quite morous.


    The next day, Youngho met Yaniv in secret while Kasim was attending a summit with Russian politicians.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, Russia¡¯s wee was quite overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°Haha. Putin was surprised to hear that you were apanying the Prime Minister for this trip. He was happy that you chose Russia as your first official visit.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I shoulde to thank President Putin since Russia supported the revolutionary government. Is that why he hugged me?¡±


    It did make sense.


    Youngho and Kasim¡¯s first official visit overseas was Russia and it made Russia looking great in front of the internationalmunity. Putin must be happy to think that Kazakhstan feared Russia¡¯s influence.


    After the summit, Prime Minister Kasim and Putin even issued a joint statement saying they would share peace and prosperity together. The Prime Minister¡¯s group went on a big city tour to St. Petersburg to show its friendship to Russia, and Youngho was having a real summit with Putin.


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. President, for supporting Kazakhstan. And thank you for helping my business through Mr. Yaniv for a long time.¡±


    ¡°It was just a business. We, Russia, benefited a lot from you too. Our government should thank you for your help in developing Siberia and attracting foreignpanies.¡±


    ¡°I joined the revolution unintentionally, but I¡¯m d Kazakhstan is now stabilized. It would have been difficult without the cooperation of Russia.¡±


    ¡°The previous administration was a little too much. Some Kazakhs provoked Russians because of the martialw. We¡¯ve had some mishap, but I¡¯m d it¡¯s all sorted out.¡±


    ¡°Because of your decision, there was no huge damage, fortunately.¡±


    ¡°The border guards misjudged that the Russians living in your country might get hurt. If I had known there would be a revolutionary government, I should have stayed put, but our military was too hasty.¡±


    Although the president said that the military at the border area misjudged, it was impossible for a general of Russia to arbitrarily intrude on another country without the president¡¯s consent. Still, Putin denied it was the general¡¯s decision, but Youngho did not ask any further since he had to maintain a secret rtionship with Russia for the time being.


    It was inappropriate to call forpensation at this time.


    ***


    They agreed to keep the development business of Siberia as a royal business, not as a Kazakh government business. The reason was that if it was changed to a state-to-state project, it would onlyplicate matters. It was Putin¡¯s strategy. He intended to keep Youngho away from the U.S.


    Putin asked to maintain a military alliance with Kazakhstan, but Youngho avoided giving an immediate answer to Putin¡¯s request under the pretext that he needed parliamentary approval for such matters.


    If Kazakhstan formed a military alliance with Russia, the Western world could ssify it as a potential enemy, and Kazakhstan would have an uneasy rtionship with other countries.


    Putin did not force any more thinking that he had already pressured Youngho by making such a request.


    ¡°It looks like Putin treats Kazakhstan like a child. If we sit still, Putin will think that he can walk all over us. How can I resolve this?¡±


    ¡°Both of you like sports. Why don¡¯t you have a go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather do that.¡±


    Youngho felt like Kazakhstan was being treated like a child, so he asked Eriksson toe up with a way to get out of this situation. His pride had been hurt since he came to Russia. It felt like he was being pressured by the topic of the military alliance.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way at this point. Russia is also a resource-rich country like Kazakhstan. For Russia, there¡¯s nothing to be desired about Kazakhstan, so there¡¯s no reason to maintain an equal rtionship. For now, much of Kazakhstan¡¯s economy is subjugated by Russia. If Russia closes its borders right away, Kazakhstan will suffer a lot.¡±


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know that? That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you for a way out.¡±


    ¡°You know, there¡¯s one childish prank we can pull off, but I can¡¯t share that with you.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Well... It¡¯s to bring Her Majesty to Moscow.¡±


    ¡°How is my wifeing to Moscow corrted with smashing Putin¡¯s pride?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Moscow will be thrown upside down just by the presence of the Queen who¡¯s an extraordinary beauty. The attention of the people of Moscow will be paid to her.¡±


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s going to happen then?¡±


    ¡°In a few days, the World Congress of the Communist International will be held in Moscow. It¡¯s a very important international conference for Russia. I¡¯m sure Putin is hoping it¡¯ll be done with a lot of attention. But wouldn¡¯t it be worth watching when the Queen appears here? I¡¯m also very curious about where the Russian people¡¯s attention will be.¡±


    Eriksson had a quite mischievous idea using Fatima.


    ¡°No thanks. I¡¯ll just hurt my pride. I don¡¯t want to use the Queen to do such cheap work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you it was childish, right? If Putin treated us like that, then we¡¯ll do the same. Also, just visiting Russia and going back to Kazakhstan is also damaging to our pride. Why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to tour the European royal families, including Denmark and Sweden?¡±


    ¡°You mean to drop by without prior note?¡±


    ¡°What kind of coordination do you have to do when you¡¯re visiting them personally? There¡¯s not going to be a summit. Now that the Queen is newly appointed, it will be weed if you want to interact with the royal family of another country.¡±


    ¡°That sounds great. Going back from a visit to Russia will be a disgrace.¡±


    ¡°Then all we have to do is to figure out a way to get her here.¡±


    ***


    Usually, when a government chief visited a foreign country, he would visit a few more ces before returning home. However, there should be arrangements between countries a few months before. It would be a diplomatic discourtesy to visit without such arrangements. However, Youngho did not want to return to Kazakhstan right away since Kazakhstan would be seen as being afraid of Russia.


    So, Youngho decided to visit other European royal families with Fatima when Kasim and other officials went back to Kazakhstan. Although it would cause confusion to other countries when a royal family showed up out of nowhere, Youngho was not in a position to be picky. It would be better to take some me for diplomatic discourtesy because the aftermath would be even greater if he only visited Russia before returning home.


    A sudden visit would be greeted without prior coordination, but it would be seen as a simple mistake of a new royal family that had no umted international practice.


    After Kasim and other Kazakh officers went back to Kazakhstan, Youngho was dawdling at the Arirang Hotel in Moscow under the pretext of dying his return for taking caring of his business in Russia. Since Youngho had many businesses in Russia, Russian authorities did not care but when the Kazakh Queen showed up, they were dumbfounded and confused by the sudden event.


    Fatima came to Russia with a reason that she was picking up Youngho in Moscow on her way to Denmark. Since Moscow was only a temporary stop, she could ignore all diplomatic procedures. When she said that she would stay for a few days in the Arirang Hotel since she was tired, it made Russian authorities nervous.


    She also waved at people on her way to the hotel from Russia on top of several department stores before she arrived at the hotel. Tomorrow was the World Congress of the Communist International, so all the media was focusing on Moscow, and that was when the Queen¡¯s surprise appearance caught people¡¯s eyes.


    Inside the private jet to Denmark, Youngho and Eriksson smiled contentedly. That was because all the attention that had been paid to the conference was focused on Fatima. The Queen¡¯s visit to Moscow received great attention not only on that day but also the day after she left Moscow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel like you¡¯ve done revenge to Putin?¡±


    ¡°It must have been a shudder for the Russian government. Since they can¡¯t even take issue with it diplomatically, so it would¡¯ve been a huge warning for them.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the response from the citizens of Moscow to be so explosive. I heard this is the first time that a queen from another country has visited Moscow.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was after. It was something to appeal to people¡¯s curiosity. It was in that context that we mobilized arge number of royal knights alongside the Queen. You¡¯re as popr as Her Majesty, aren¡¯t you? There will be a lot of Russian touristsing to Kazakhstan in theing days.¡±


    ¡°Fatima did such a great job. Because of her, we won¡¯t be ignored by Russia anymore.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell her about any detail. All I¡¯ve asked is to have frequent contact with Moscow citizens. Going to shop waspletely her idea.¡±


    Now, Fatima was sleeping with Leon in the lounge of the private jet saying that she was very tired of shopping. She had no clue of how officials of Moscow suffered a setback due to her sudden visit. She was only satisfied with the shopping that she finally had after a long time. She was always busy taking caring of her kids, so sometimes shopping was the best way to relieve her stress. When she flew to Moscow with excitement, thinking that she was going to visit Europe, she was not interested in diplomatic matters or how people of the world would see her.

 Chapter 470 - An Official Trip Abroad (2)

    <h4>Chapter 470: An Official Trip Abroad (2)</h4>


    The international airport in Copenhagen, Denmark was crowded with people who came to see the Kazakh Queen because there was no queen like Fatima who became a queen at such a young age in Europe, not to mention her beauty.


    Leon was also popr since he was a cute interracial child who had both Eastern and Western blood.


    Szechenyi and Princess Isabe were at the airport representing the Danish royal family. Countless reporters werepeting to cover the scene where Princess Isabe and her husband were greeting the Kazakh Queen.


    ¡°Hyung, you¡¯re here.¡±


    Szechenyi greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness and Her Majesty are wee to visit Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Princess Isabe, it¡¯s only been two weeks since you gave birth to the baby. You shouldn¡¯t havee.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been 15 days already. I was going to bring the baby too, but I decided not to because of all the people out here.¡±


    ¡°Szechenyi, what are you doing? You should let her stay inside for some more. It¡¯s not good for women to get outside wind after giving birth.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? She gave birth and took a shower the next day.¡±


    Mothers in Europe did not seem to think too deeply about after-birth care, unlike in Korea. It was quite confusing to Youngho since Korean women usually would not go outside for a while and keep their bodies warm after giving birth.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a lot of noise in Moscow.¡±


    ¡°You already know what¡¯s going on, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The press has been all about it. It¡¯s reported that the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties lost its shine to the queen.¡±


    ¡°I gave a little warning in front of Putin¡¯s face because he¡¯s ignoring Kazakhstan. Don¡¯t tell Fatima that, she won¡¯t like to hear that.¡±


    ¡°She has no idea?¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t havee to Moscow if she knew my intentions. She just thinks that we¡¯re traveling around Europe. Moscow was just a connecting ce, so she just had a lot of fun there shopping. Zeynep said she will join us here too.¡±


    ¡°So I heard. Zeynep will arrive at the airport tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°For the time being, the department stores in Europe will be gued by those two sisters.¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t let Fatima go shopping, she¡¯ll say she¡¯ll give up the queen¡¯s position.¡±


    ¡°Well, they were always crazy about shopping since Baku. But by the way, Putin must be grinding his teeth by now.¡±


    ¡°Russia has also been the focus of the news thanks to Fatima, so it shouldn¡¯t be too bad.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Sometimes, you can be a real viin. It¡¯s a big issue that a queen showed up at amunist country. Who¡¯s interested in Communist Party meetings these days? Moscow would be still talking about my sister.¡±


    ¡°You know how your sister is. Fatima caused a lot of scenes there.¡±


    Youngho, who was satisfied to have turned Moscow upside down, was happily heading to the Danish royal pce. Curious about Youngho¡¯s constant smile, Fatima asked,


    ¡°What¡¯s making you so happy that you¡¯ve been smiling since we left Moscow?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m sitting solemnly as always.¡±


    ¡°You think you can fool me?¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m not lying. I just love the fact that we can travel like this together.¡±


    ¡°Phew... I told you before, didn¡¯t I? I don¡¯t know anyone else, but your poker face doesn¡¯t work on me.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with you? Nothing¡¯s going on, I say. ¡±


    Since Fatima would get upset for what she did to Russia, Youngho decided not to mention a thing about her Russian visit. If she found out, she would not let hime near their bedroom.


    ¡°If we go back to Kazakhstan after visiting Russia only, the Kazakh royal family will lose face. That¡¯s why I rushed to n a trip to Europe.¡±


    ¡°I heard there was a big event in Moscow. I¡¯m afraid our visit might have caused a problem for the meeting.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no way. Moscow will thank you for shining the Communist Party conference.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Then I should visit Moscow more often.¡±


    ¡°Why would you travel to another country so often?¡±


    ¡°So we can maintain a friendly rtionship with Russia.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already close to Russia. It¡¯s a problem if we get too close to Russia. Russians will think that we¡¯re subjugated to them.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... Your face is telling me there¡¯s something going on.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m just saying we should maintain a certain distance with Russia.¡±


    Youngho shut his mouth because he would get caught if he talked to her more.


    ***


    The reception of the Danish royal family was markedly different from before.


    It was because Fatima was the monarch of the Kazakh Kingdom now. In addition, the Kazakh royal family was not just a symbolic royal family of Europe, since it had actual power over the government. Denmark¡¯s economic power was greater, but Kazakhstan¡¯snd mass andnd resources were far greater than what Denmark had.


    Youngho was now meeting the Queen of the Danish Royal Family.


    ¡°Your Majesty and Highness¡¯s visit brought Denmark into the limelight. We¡¯d have more tourists in the future.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you. We couldn¡¯t go back to Kazakhstan right after visiting Russia only, so we rushed here. If it was rumored that we¡¯re bending to Russia, it would only damage our reputation.¡±


    ¡°Any country around Russia is in the same position as you. Find, which is an allied country of ours, is on the same page as you are. It¡¯s understandable. But you made a bold move. Who would dare to think of disturbing Russia¡¯s international event?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to, but I did.¡±


    ¡°Russia must¡¯ve noticed your intention.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be all right. By the way, I couldn¡¯t bring any present because I was in such a hurry. I¡¯d like to give you another gift instead. How would you like that?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... People in Europe don¡¯t reject gifts.¡±


    If the family-inws from a resource-rich country came empty-handed, it would be a disgrace to the Danish royal family.


    ¡°We need to consult with our government officials before confirming it, but I¡¯d like to start producing Danish home appliances in Kazakhstan. Of course, it would be a plus if we had a technical partnership. If we can make them in Kazakhstan, we can target the Central Asian market as well as the Russian market.¡±


    ¡°If Danishpanies could have a way to make their foray into your country, we will actively persuade them.¡±


    ¡°I will also try to hire Danishpanies for as many constructions of infrastructure in Kazakhstan as possible.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s suggestion brightened the Danish Queen¡¯s face.


    Fatima began her tour of department stores in Copenhagen after her official schedule was over. Zeynep who flew in from Frankfurt also joined her as well as the Danish Crown Princess. The Crown Princess was well known for her vanity, but Fatima and Zeynep drew attention in a different way. It was because they were not shopping luxury brands but were buying in, modest clothes and things. It was because they suffered poverty when they were young. Youngho felt sorry for them. However, the ordinary products they bought became so popr that they were sold out the next day by the Danish public. People thought that there must be something special about those ordinary products since the Kazakh royal family bought them.


    ¡°What do you want to do with so many clothes?¡±


    ¡°Honey, if you¡¯ve traveled abroad, you should give gifts to your acquaintances.¡±


    ¡°Are you buying yours, too?¡±


    ¡°What do you think? Of course, I am!¡±


    She was making headlines wherever she went since she was also spotted picking her entourage¡¯s clothes during shopping.


    ¡°I hear you¡¯ve caused sales here to explode.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because of Zeynep. She had great eyes for picking good things.¡±


    ¡°Where has she gone to now?¡±


    ¡°I heard she¡¯s having a meeting with amunity service organization here.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t mean to donate to people in this well-off country, does she?¡±


    ¡°People are having troubles because they¡¯re well off. There are more people who are mentally ill with drugs and other things here than in poor countries. Just know Kazakhstan, though poor, has a higher happiness index than Copenhagen.¡±


    It never urred to Youngho that Kazakhstan had a happier index than wealthy Western Europe. The workers in Kazakhstan, whom he knew well, were living on less than average European¡¯s paycheck. There was nothing great about Kazakhstan¡¯s living environment, poor traffic conditions, and a slow Inte.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand that our people are happier than Europeans.¡±


    ¡°Eating well and having more things are not everything. It¡¯s more important to be satisfied with small things. The reason why our happiness index is higher than the Europeans who are materially affluent is people¡¯s small satisfaction. And there¡¯s hope that you¡¯ll live well in the future. I believe you¡¯re going to make Kazakhstan that way one day.¡±


    Youngho was so thrilled to hear Fatima¡¯s remarks. It meant a lot to him that his dear wife had full trust in him. Unconditional trust was what gave people the strength to ovee hardships in life.


    As Fatima¡¯s outing was frequent during her stay in Denmark, the poprity of the Kazakh knights who apanied her as royal bodyguards also rose. That was because they were quite handsome enough to shake the hearts of Danishdies. Zeynep evenined that they were more popr than she was.


    ¡°Oppa, are you sure you pick the knights based on their ability, not their faces, and height?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? In order to be the royal knights, they need to acquire a certain level of the Serbian knight¡¯s breathing skill.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re more popr than me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure people care more about the most beautiful princess in Europe.¡±


    ¡°Then you should treat me like a princess. The princesses from other countries have boyfriends.¡±


    ¡°What? Do you have any guy in your mind?¡±


    ¡°What if I do? Would you allow me to have a boyfriend?¡±


    ¡°Do you already have one or something? Wait, I didn¡¯t get any report from the bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°See? You¡¯re watching me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to protect you, not to monitor you, sweetie.¡±


    ¡°Let me have the freedom to have fun like everyone else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your life and I can¡¯t do anything to stop you. But I worry about what your older sister might think about that.¡±


    Youngho doubted that Fatima, who was overprotective of her little sister, would allow Zeynep to have a boyfriend. It was a mistake to bring Zeynep on this trip to Europe since he could already imagine the sisters¡¯ war of nerves throughout the trip. He wondered how Fatima would deal with her little sister since she would want the best man for her little sister.


    In a royal family, a princess often times became a victim of a political marriage, even in the current time. Youngho never wanted such an unfortunate married life for Zeynep. She should be married to her true love. Of course, Youngho should like him too.

 Chapter 471 - An Official Trip Abroad (3)

    <h4>Chapter 471: An Official Trip Abroad (3)</h4>


    The British royal family was greeted with a weighty atmosphere, not a free-spirited one like Denmark. The Foreign Secretary was there, breaking Youngho¡¯s expectation that he was going to be greeted by the royal family only since he was only visiting with the British royal family. It was a great wee and proof that the British royal family¡¯s prestige was still great.


    Youngho chose to visit the British royal family as his first destination after visiting the Danish royal family which was his family-inws because the British royal family was the most influential of the existing European royal families. He could have visited neighboring countries of Denmark such as Venice, Sweden, and Norway first, but he came to Ennd directly in order to win the favor of themonwealth countries by honoring the British royal family.


    Though not like in the past, Britain still enjoyed the status of great power. Although it was notparable to the U.S. or China in terms of military power or economic power, Britain¡¯s power was not all that was visible. There were as many as 53monwealth countries in the world. In particr, Canada, Australia, and New Zend, which adopted a constitutional monarchy as their home countries, served the British monarch with utmost sincerity, even though they were independent countries. For the sake of amicable rtions with themonwealth countries, the British royal family should be treated more honorably than other royal families of Europe.


    The ceremonial event at the Royal Pce in Ennd ended simply because of the Queen¡¯s old age.


    Youngho thought that was enough since his visit was enough to respect the authority of the British royal family, and that was his purpose. All that remained was to be spotlighted by the media and let the whole world learn about Kazakhstan¡¯s existence.


    It was up to Fatima and Zeynep, and Youngho had to work on a hectic schedule for other things. Although he was on a royal tour of Europe to show that Kazakhstan was not a subordinate state to Russia, the British government wanted to discuss various issues with Youngho. It was because Britain had enough oil and gas due to the North Sea oil fields, but it had no other resources to spare, so Kazakhstan¡¯s resources were quite attractive to Britain.


    Youngho also nned to actively take advantage of this golden opportunity to receive advanced technology. What was needed immediately was the introduction of high-tech weapons and their technical partnership.


    Britain¡¯s military power was now weakened by a sharp cut in its defense budget due to economic difficulties, but it still had nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers. There were only a few known British weapons in the world, but from Kazakhstan¡¯s point of view, any old weapon from Britain was equivalent to high-tech weapons.


    He had already exchanged information with the British Secret Intelligence Service since the Arirang Autonomous State, the technology partnership in the defense industry was agreed upon in a flurry, apparently due to the recognition that he was an ally.


    The defense industry of Britain was in a state of lockdown due to reduced defense spending. Some of them were on the verge of downsizing or shutting down their factories, so thepanies were d to hear Youngho¡¯s proposal for a local assembly nt. All of them agreed to build factories in Kazakhstan. Some of their affiliates had autopanies and steelpanies, so Kazakhstan would be able to get a technical partnership with thosepanies as well.


    ***


    ¡°Thank you so much for all your help this time, minister.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re more than happy to keep our defensepanies afloat thanks to you. To be honest, it¡¯s not much technology, but it¡¯s an indispensable basic weapon in modern warfare. If you invest a little more money in R&D, you¡¯ll have a tremendous amount of firepower.¡±


    ¡°If we want to break away from the Russian weapons system, we need to prepare from the ground up. Could you please pay attention to security? The world will find out someday, but for now, we need to keep this quiet from the outside.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Britishpanies are very heavy-mouthed.¡±


    This time, it was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that gave a lot of help to the arms acquisition and technology partnership.


    ¡°Your Highness, what is your rtionship with Central Asian countries?¡±


    ¡°Not particrly good or bad. We¡¯re neighbors that share a lot ofmon factors. These days, they seem like they¡¯re nervous about the change in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°If there is a democratic movement in the southern Central Asian country, do you intend to support it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t force another country to change like Kazakhstan. Everyone has a situation in their own way.¡±


    Having had the revolutionpleted and a new government in ce just recently, Youngho did not want to get involved in other countries¡¯ affairs. He was afraid that the secretary would ask for Kazakhstan¡¯s involvement. Moreover, it could provoke China and Russia.


    ¡°What would you do if Central Asian countries woulde into Kazakhstan on their own?¡±


    ¡°You know how dangerous it is to expand territory without any preparation. I don¡¯t want to think about it at this point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only asking because South Central Asian countries may return to socialist countries to maintain dictatorship.¡±


    ¡°As far as our intelligence department knows, there¡¯s no sign of that at all. Did you catch anything unusual?¡±


    ¡°There is room for Russia and China to encourage it. After World War II, that¡¯s how all East Europe becamemunized.¡±


    ¡°It was possible then because the Soviet army was stationed in East Europe, but is that really possible in modern times?¡±


    ¡°Anything is possible with a big ambition. Your former president may have dreamed of socialism in order to take power for generations toe. The reason he sought asylum in Russia must have been because he wanted to be supported.¡±


    It was nonsense to imagine, but the former president would not hesitate to do such a thing to maintain the administration. If Kazakhstan became a socialist country, the Arirang Autonomous State would disappear naturally. It was not eptable.


    Britain was judging that the rest of Central Asian countries, except Kazakhstan, could be absorbed into the socialist countries at any time.


    ¡°But you know it well that the democracy movement did not happen because of the fear of returning to socialism, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a guess, but there¡¯s a good reason. This is because the pro-democracy movement has intensified since Kazakhstan changed its constitution to a constitutional monarchy. Isn¡¯t that because there are some signs?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, that means there could be a civil war.¡±


    ¡°If the governments of Central Asia take a hard line, the democratic forces will arm themselves.¡±


    ¡°In Central Asia, if civilians get armed, it will be a disaster. They¡¯re already hot-blooded and courageous. They can be used by those in power.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You know that Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are at odds over the border?¡±


    ¡°I know they sometimes have a bloody affair.¡±


    ¡°If the dictators incite national sentiment to weaken the power of the democratic forces, then things might go out of hand. It¡¯s the only ce in the world where multi-ethnic people live together, and I¡¯m afraid there will be ethnic cleansing like the Balkans. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    ¡°Just be aware of the fact that we might be losing a great chance here.¡±


    ¡°Handling Kazakhstan itself is overwhelming for me now. I don¡¯t want to get involved in other countries¡¯ affairs as much as possible.¡±


    Youngho avoided an immediate answer since he did not have to get nervous about something that would not happen yet. The South Central Asian countries were living as they used to, and he did not want to step in and intervene. At this point, it was unclear whether or not pro-democracy forces had pure intentions, and Kazakhstan¡¯s intervention could foster a civil war in those countries.


    ¡°Duke, do you think China or Russia will not intervene?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a matter of time. If they stepped in, that will be the time to think about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to tell you that you have to step in actively to stop China and Russia from socializing Central Asian countries. They won¡¯t be able to move recklessly when you show your stern stance and will as a leading country of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to run the whole of Central Asia, but I can¡¯t tolerate it beingmunized.¡±


    ¡°The UK will actively support you if you get involved. The two divisions of the British Army in Germany are about to leave for Ennd. We¡¯re looking for ways to use the elite forces that are pulling out.¡±


    Youngho also knew that there was a British unit stationed in Germany to block Russia¡¯s westward policy.


    ¡°Why are you moving out of Germany when there¡¯s still a threat?¡±


    ¡°We have no choice but to withdraw due to cuts in defense costs. The intelligence service and the military are concerned that all the troops that are being withdrawn will be reduced.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to leave some of them there?¡±


    ¡°We n to keep at least a brigade there, but we have no excuse to persuade the Congress. The more ourpanies get to enter Kazakhstan, the more likely our troops will still be there.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯ll have an excuse to protect Britishpanies from China and Russia if British factories are built in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan and Britain formed a military alliance, there is a better chance that the troops will survive. It will survive in the form of a contingent for allies.¡±


    ¡°I see, you mean like military swapping.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Britain will benefit because we will be keeping our military forces, and Kazakhstan is going to get an ally. If it¡¯s an alliance with Britain, Russia and China won¡¯t mind much either.¡±


    He meant that China or Russia looked down on the British military. It was surprising that the British Foreign Secretary was saying it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a tempting suggestion. May I ask why you¡¯re suggesting this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because we don¡¯t want to miss the huge market of Central Asia. The UK is in a very difficult economic situation. If we don¡¯t find a new market, we will not be able to recover from this situation.¡±


    Although Youngho could not form or break off a military alliance with his position as the prince consort of the Kazakh royal family, he did not want to miss this opportunity to form a military alliance with a country like Britain. So, he gave the secretary a verbal promise.


    He was confident that he could convince the National Assembly since there was no reason to oppose the military alliance with Britain for Kazakhstan. The more alliances, the more free Kazakhstan from the threat of Russia or China.


    The British government also believed that an alliance with Kazakhstan, a resource-rich country, would serve as an opportunity to take a leap forward politically and economically.


    The British government aimed to gain a say in Central Asian markets as well as getting economic benefits from them at this opportunity.

 Chapter 472 - A Wind of Change (1)

    <h4>Chapter 472: A Wind of Change (1)</h4>


    The visit to Britain resulted in a remarkable achievement because the British government wanted economic and military cooperation actively.


    Britain needed Kazakhstan to solve its economic difficulties through the partnership. It was also great for Youngho, who wanted to strengthen Kazakhstan¡¯s armed forces and promote bnced national development.


    Just like Danishpanies, Britishpanies would be making their factories in the royal territory, the Arirang Autonomous State. Since it was a location with great essibility, the UK also weed to make investments in the western region of Kazakhstan.


    The West was a dry semi-desert zone, which made it difficult to farm, but it had a higher potential for future development as it had quite a lot of oil and gas deposits.


    Geologist Park Young-sun called Kazakhstan a blessednd.


    Countless conquerors crossed Kazakhstan, but thend was so barren that they left it. That was why resources could have been preserved. But there was a huge oil field beneath the desertednd, and it was now envied by many.


    ¡°Your Highness, please allow us to participate in the development of Western Kazakhstan¡¯s oil fields.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the UK also an oil-producing country, too? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not short of oil.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s produced in the North Sea, but its production environment is extremely severe. So majorpanies are turning eyes tond oil fields and to the Middle East and Southeast Asia.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wee UKpanies at any time. Is there any specific site that you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where it is.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯ve wanted to explore the entire western region, but I¡¯ll give you the opportunity to UKpanies.¡±


    ¡°Can this be decided on your own?¡±


    ¡°Our financial and technical skills are not enough to investigate the whole area, so who would oppose it? There is no other way to develop an underdeveloped western region than resource development. It¡¯s a national understanding, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Then would you like to talk to the oilpanies?¡±


    With the oil field in the North Sea, the UK was already in the ranks of oil-producing countries. It would be much easier for UKpanies to developnd oil fieldspared to the oil field in the sea. A single Britishpany in the North Sea would be able to withstand harsh conditions in western Kazakhstan.


    Major oilpanies, including BP, the world¡¯s secondrgest oilpany, had decided to participate in oil exploration and development in the western Kazakh region.


    The reason why the Foreign Secretary wanted to actively invest in the region was to seize the opportunity to keep troops in Germany, that was about to be withdrawn so that UK could prevent the weakening of its military forces due to the reduction of the number of troops and raise UK¡¯s voice in Central Asia.


    Youngho¡¯s European tour ended with a visit to the Swedish and Norwegian royal families. His performance in Sweden was also quite good.


    In Sweden, he seeded in attracting a Gripen fighter jet assembly nt and a car heavy equipment assembly nt in Kazakhstan. Since he had a technology partnership with Turkey for attack helicopters, the aviation industry seemed to bepleted.


    Sweden already had a strong rtionship with the royal family of Kazakhstan through Youngho¡¯s connection to Information Agency. Previously, Sweden had promised to send their Air Force pilots if the Arirang Autonomous State was invaded. Thankfully, it did not have to, but Swedish Air Force aviation experts were still in the Arirang Autonomous State to train pilots and mechanics now.


    The fighter jets Youngho bought from Sweden were retired jets from the Swedish Air Force; they could still be used for more than ten years since they were reformed. They would be used to protect Kazakhstan¡¯s sky along with American F series fighters.


    ***


    Kazakhstan¡¯s wee of the royal family back home from a European tour was great because it had drawn global media attention. It meant that Kazakhstan had be a free and democratic country.


    With ignorant police officers who were notorious among travelers and corruption in officialdom gone, Kazakhstan¡¯s bad image was shed. The Kazakh royal family¡¯s tour overseas was a great way to prove it and promote the country.


    The world¡¯s media outlets also enjoyed this event. This was because Fatima and Zeynep provided a lot of stories. Everywhere they went drew people¡¯s attention. Not to mention the extraordinary beauty, and the unpretentious acts of the queen and the princess were quite unconventional among other royal families.


    They were mystical and did not expose themselves to the public very often, but Fatima and Zeynep shopped with ordinary people. They bought meals in public restaurants and ate snacks in the street stalls.


    ¡°Your Highness, did you have a good trip? We¡¯ve been stuck in Kazakhstan buried under piles of work.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I heard the Earl had a wild night in Almaty with the intelligence agents but was it just a false rumor?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean.¡±


    ¡°Man, do you think I don¡¯t know what all of the Kazakh people know about?¡±


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s a normal conversation. You¡¯ve spoken rudely first, don¡¯t me me. Who in the world made such a false rumor? You know, I bought drinks for our agents who are working hard day and night. I did it out ofpassion.¡±


    ¡°Do you have to drink until you pass out?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to them, I¡¯m relieved of my stress, too.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You did a good job investigating the gold miners, anyway. Thanks for taking care of the national business.¡±


    ¡°It seems like the UK is determined this time. I hope Russia doesn¡¯t pick on us for this.¡±


    ¡°Starting next week, we¡¯ll have a survey teaming in from Britain and Sweden. Let¡¯s be extra careful to keep the security.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the secret willst long. Russian spies are everywhere.¡±


    The government had reshuffled officials, but there were still plenty of officials who served as Russia¡¯s eyes and ears. They were said to hate Russia, but in front of money, they would pour out national secrets. Until now, Kazakhstan had been recognized the same as Russia¡¯s satellite state, which made it natural for people to disclose information to Russia.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to fire anyone who spills information, regardless of rank, this time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have a personnelmittee. If you just dismiss people, we¡¯ll be told we¡¯re a dictator.¡±


    ¡°What kind of personnelmittee are you going to hold for government officials who acted as a spy? They should be d that they¡¯re not being arrested.¡±


    ¡°We should put all the weapons-rted facilities in the royal territory. If we don¡¯t have enough people to work, we should move people in east Kazakhstan to the west. It¡¯ll help Kazakhstan to develop evenly. And there¡¯s no ce that¡¯s as secure as the royal territory in Kazakhstan.¡±


    The Arirang Autonomous State, which was now the royal territory, had a perfect defense system since Youngho built advanced defense facilities and brought in high-tech weapons for that purpose. Any military secrets would be protected if only they stayed inside the territory. The problem was that the Arirang royal territory was an isted ce. It would be hard to relocate people from the East to West unless there was an artificially implemented immigration policy.


    ¡°There are many Koryoins who want to move from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Let¡¯s receive them to the state.¡±


    ¡°Koryoins?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t increase the poption fast enough if we only take Serbians who only move little by little. And in order to maintain security, the Koryoin people are the best. They hate Russia and China to the core, there¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be spies.¡±


    ¡°Okay. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult.¡±


    ¡°And mobilize the agents to find weapons-making technicians. They are absolutely necessary to improve conventional weapons.¡±


    ¡°I heard you signed a licensing agreement with British armspanies this time. What about those weapons? Are they not good enough?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re old but to Kazakhstan, they¡¯re like cutting-edge. The Foreign Secretary said that it would improve so much with a little touch. So, I¡¯d like to try. The British government will help us with it too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±


    Youngho nned to expand the state¡¯s weapons research center. The royal territory would be Kazakhstan¡¯s cradle for the development of advanced technology.


    ¡°Man! We¡¯ll spend so much money on this. Money leaks everywhere in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Well, the nationalization of the gold mine has helped us to breathe a little. If it weren¡¯t for that, we would¡¯ve sold our precious underground resources.¡±


    In the process of nationalizing the gold mines, the government found a total of 30 tons of gold concealed by mine owners and mid-distributors. Now, the process of collecting gold that was sold to foreign countries was underway with intelligence agents¡¯ help.


    The amount of gold produced in 200 gold mines in the country every year was estimated to exceed 100 tons, which was a whopping amount of over six billion dors. This money would be spent on weapons modernization in the future.


    ¡°I heard something interesting from the British Foreign Secretary this time. I think we should pay attention to it. South Central Asian countries can return to socialism to maintain dictatorship.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t hear anything rted to that.¡±


    ¡°What if China or Russia is encouraging?¡±


    ¡°People are not fools? Let¡¯s just leave it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a different story if people think it¡¯s steeper to live than it was to live in the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°There were more than 200,000 Koryoin people living in southern countries. We can¡¯t ignore this. We should get to the bottom of it.¡±


    ¡°You must be crazy.¡±


    Kyrgyzstan was unlikely to do so because its people had had a track record of driving out dictatorships, and Tajikistan was not in a situation where dictatorships would arise because of the long civil war.


    However, the problem was Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan. Although the majority of the people in Uzbekistan supported the current government, the pro-democracy movement was very strong. When a dictator trying to maintain power got into a corner, he would not know what to do. It was a ce where Kazakhs and Koryoins made up about five percent of the poption, so Kazakhstan could not allow it to fall back to socialism. If there was another hostile force under the chin, there would be more borders to guard against. It was better to take over the region rather than having trouble with the long, tedious borderter.

 Chapter 473 - A Wind of Change (2)

    <h4>Chapter 473: A Wind of Change (2)</h4>


    Youngho was back to the Arirang state after he sorted out the affairs of the capital.


    It was not desirable for him to continue staying in Astana for the sake of the new government. The new government could implement its responsibilities on its own because it had a big framework in ce. It would be seen as interfering if he kept staying in the capital city.


    When he got to the Arirang state, it was the children who weed his appearance the most. Rena and Jelyan, who could not follow him to the European trip because they were in the middle of the school year, were quite upset. When they used to go to the international school in Baku, they could skip sses during the semester, but it was not allowed in the royal territory because they were princesses. It was not usible for them to get privileges just because they were princesses.


    They med Youngho for leaving them behind, so he was punished by them severely with cries and nagging. They made him pledge that if he had to go abroad in the future, he would go when they were on vacation.


    He nned to go to the Nethends, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg royal families in the winter, so they made him promise that he would take them to the trip next time.


    Rena and Jelyan were not the only ones who hadints to Youngho. He had to get an earful from Kim Chun for rejecting redecorating the pce, which had been turned into a royal pce now.


    ¡°Your Highness, I cannot help but feel sorry for the residents of the royal territory. They collected money to redecorate the royal pce. Rejecting it will be ignoring their hearts.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, it¡¯s not right to use such money just to decorate the pce that¡¯s already in fine shape. Let¡¯s give it out to students whoe from outside to study. I know their families do not live well.¡±


    ¡°We can help them out with the state¡¯s budget. We had a great crop this year, so the ie of direct farming is quite high. So please don¡¯t refuse the residents¡¯ favor. If you refuse, I¡¯ll quit my job.¡±


    There is no such big threat. If themissioner who was in charge of the direct control of the state, quit abruptly¡ªrumors would arise that he had developed discord with the royal family. He was throwing a tantrum just like Leon who was now a kindergarten student.


    ¡°Oh, I got you. Do as you please, Commissioner. Instead, please consult with the Queen and Zeynep about the decoration.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Her Majesty wanted to fix the inside anyway. There is more than one decoration that the Crown Prince had wrecked.¡±


    ¡°Did Leon cause trouble?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing to say it with my mouth. If you take your time and look inside the pce, you¡¯ll find the prince¡¯s works since they¡¯re quite noticeable. There are some works of young princesses, so please refer to them too.¡±


    Leon was a troublemaker, but apparently, Rena and Jelyan did their part too. It was fortunate that they did not cause any damage outside the pce but caused troubles only inside the pce.


    ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t know where he got that. I¡¯m sorry for bothering you with such mishap.¡±


    ¡± I¡¯m just d that the prince is growing healthy. It¡¯s not a bad thing because everyone gets into trouble when they¡¯re young.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s done something wrong, please give him a hard time. He should be disciplined as the next monarch of Kazakhstan. If he doesn¡¯t have the dignity of a prince, he won¡¯t be the royal heir.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Even in the Constitution, he¡¯s written as the next heir of the royal family.¡±


    ¡°How can he sit on the throne if he¡¯s not qualified to lead the country?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s a dangerous idea to say that. It would be a good excuse for those who deny the royal family.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for the future of Kazakhstan. No one who is not a vessel should be allowed to rise to the throne.¡±


    ¡°If the royal family vites what is clearly stated in the Constitution, it will be hard to avoid criticism for breaking thew and order.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than the country being shaken by a clumsy king.¡±


    ***


    The royal pce of the Arirang state was built to look magnificent from the beginning. There were no buildings or facilities within a three-kilometer radius of the pce except for trees and nts. After passing through such a constructed park, there was a residential area of single houses.


    The reason for doing so was security. But now, the city nning had to change. It was because there was the fourth military training and office facilities were being built after the Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities. The fourth military facilities were for the cyber unit.


    The concept of cyberspace as the fourth territory afternd, sea, and air was spreading rapidly in developed countries.


    Since Kazakhstan was a country where even conventional weapons were short, cyber education was where Kazakhstan could catch up with other advanced countries in a short period of time. That was why the Arirang state was focusing on training people in that area.


    Cho Chul-hwan and Park Jong-il were excited to have a new unit in the state.


    ¡°It may be a littlete, but I¡¯m d you recognized the importance of cyber training even now. The U.S. military has been operating a cyber unit for ten years already. I was so jealous of them when they exined to us about electronic warfare.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve only been to the U.S. formissioned education for three months. Isn¡¯t that too old to mention now?¡±


    ¡°Oh, what about you?¡±


    ¡°This man. I¡¯ve trained for the CIA.¡±


    ¡°You received training in Germany only for a month. I was in the U.S. for a long-term education, man. I¡¯ve already had somemon knowledge about cyber units since then.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that intelligence service is inseparable with cyber education. The vicious special forces and cyber troops are ultimately different.¡±


    Park Jong-il and Cho Chul-hwan argued about where the cyber unit would belong. Cho Chul-hwan thought that it should belong to the Kazakh military and Jong-il thought it should belong to the Intelligence Department that he was in charge of.


    How formidable a cyber attack was well shown in the case of Estonia. When the Russian cyber unit attacked the ce, it paralyzed the entire nation, including banks, government offices, power nts, and mediapanies. All the systems in the Inte space stopped for a moment, paralyzing the entire nation, which meant it could prate into high-tech weapons such as missiles.


    Disabling the functions of missiles and other weapons was also a way to secure formidable forces, which could be a perfect strength for Kazakhstan with a limited military force.


    The U.N. also predicted that if World War III urred, it would be a cyber war, not the nuclear war that would be followed by conventional weapons war.


    ¡°Now you understand why I¡¯ve been telling students to keep theirputers on their sides when I built the school in the autonomous state?¡±


    ¡°You were producing hackers, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m describing it as a cyber unit. Shouldn¡¯t we be familiar with the rted weapons to disable missiles or fighter jets?¡±


    ¡°Can we start now and catch up with Russia or China?¡±


    ¡°Our children can catch up very quickly, and we¡¯ve been studying with cutting-edge educational materials, so their skills are considered to be higher than those in advanced countries.¡±


    In fact, there was a case in which a student from the Arirang Autonomous State won a prize at the International Hacking Competition. Inspired by the achievement, Youngho hired expert teachers to teach the students of the state. He did not try to be stingy when it came down to the education of the students.


    ¡°Where does the cyber unit belong to?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they be with the Department of Defense in order to get to know and study the weapons? It¡¯s kind of like abat unit, of course, it should move with the military.¡±


    ¡°No. They should be with the intelligence department. If we improve the equipment that the intelligence department has, it¡¯ll help the cyber unit. The intelligence services and cyber units are under the direct control of the royal family. There is no reason for it should be part of the Department of Defense. It¡¯s also a means of checking the government and the military if we control the information they don¡¯t know about.¡±


    Chul-hwan and Jong-il suggested respectively.


    ¡°Jong-il, you should run the cyber unit together with the Intelligence Department. Just be careful not to get involved in useless things.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! This is all for the royal family and Kazakhstan!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re just happy that you get to have more people under you.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m happy about that too.¡±


    ***


    Finally, the submarine-only shipyard had beenpleted.


    When Nazarbayev was in power, the construction was secretly processed, but with the start of a revolutionary government, it was hurriedlypleted. It would adopt a 500-ton submarine with 110 people capacity as its main focus, and contracted with H heavy industrypany to produce the submarine.


    A 500-ton was a small-size submarine that was mostly used for offshore use. It couldst two weeks underwater with its batteries fully charged. Equipped with the automation function, it could be operated with a minimal number of people. On both sides of the submarine, a midget submarine could be attached, so it was perfect for secretive operations.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m so thrilled that you¡¯re leaving the submarine unit to me. Now the Caspian Sea will be a sea of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job in this revolution. I¡¯m confident in you, captain Jun.¡±


    ¡°I received a special promotion in the Navy this time. People will get jealous that a Koryoin received such a huge role.¡±


    ¡°Well, you deserve it. Now an era where everyone can be a general and a defense secretary is opened in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Victor Jun could not hide his excitement.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got all the rest of the patrol ships from the United States, so please be sure to keep your guard at bay off Baku. It was what President Aliyev asked.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve included Baku as our perimeter patrol area already since we have to escort bulk freighters traveling to Baku anyways.¡±


    Although they were only 500-ton ss vessels, the Kazakh Navy now had 22 ships with thetest missile ships and five Maritime Police vessels, giving it more leeway in naval operations. Also, the royal family had icebreakers, so the Kazakh Navy had be the only naval force in the Caspian Sea to have an icebreaker for all-weather operations.


    ¡°Because the submarine is small, the building period is very short. As the power supply is also released at the same time, the actual deployment is possible right after it¡¯spleted. Please select naval soldiers to send to the UK Navy formissioned education.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t formed an alliance with the UK officially yet. Is it going to be all right? You should at least notify the National Assembly.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a troop dispatch. It¡¯s just amissioned education. We don¡¯t need to get the National Assembly¡¯s consent. And there are a lot of Russians in Congress. We have to keep it secret for a while. There¡¯s a lot of potential leaks.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to go to Ennd this time. Could you arrange that for me?¡±


    ¡°Why would you want to go there? You¡¯re not going to drive a submarine yourself, are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to learn some of the operational systems of the ocean navy. If the Russian canals were blocked, we¡¯ll have to advance to the Mediterranean Sea or the Persian Gulf, but I¡¯m not confident because I only operated small ships so far.¡±


    Youngho realized something when he heard Victor Jun¡¯s concern.


    The five oceans were not always peaceful. If Kazakhstan needed to send important goods from overseas through an ocean, the navy must escort the transport. In order to do that, there needed to be a military base somewhere along the way as well as huge vessels to cross an ocean.


    Huge vessels could be made in Korea or Denmark, but the key was where to ce the port for continued use.


    In order to use the ck Sea, the Kazakh Navy would require cooperation from the Georgian or Turkish governments, and in order to use the Persian Gulf, it would need cooperation from the Iranian government. If cooperation was not possible, Kazakhstan should buy an ind in the Mediterranean. It was quiteplicated to think. It was such a pain to be andlocked country.

 Chapter 474 - A Wind of Change (3)

    <h4>Chapter 474: A Wind of Change (3)</h4>


    The biggest problem in Kazakhstan had been the treatment of professionals.


    It wasmon for professionals to have secondary jobs after their primary work in order to make ends meet. Such a payment scale was unfair for many professionals. Doctors, for example, were paid at the level of ordinary civil servants. So, manypetent doctors left Kazakhstan. Most of the doctors working in public hospitals in Kazakhstan were no better than nurses in Korea. People would have to risk their lives to get an appendectomy in the country.


    For that reason, rich people would rather travel abroad to get medical attention. If there were patients that needed immediate attention at night, it was hard to find doctors since they were working at a different ce for their second job.


    What good was it to benefit the entire nation free of medical charges, when medical standards and services were poor? If people could not receive proper treatments, it would be better to activate private hospitals and let people pay for their medical bills while the government paid part of their fees.


    ¡°Dr. Kim, can we bring in more medical staff from Korea?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve asked my friends in Korea to help me. Even though they¡¯ll be paid highly here, they¡¯re hesitant about their children¡¯s education.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to build international schools in every big city. Would that help them? With a few years of their help, I think Kazakhstan¡¯s medical level will improve so much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that Kazakhstan has a much better image than before because of the recent changes that you brought here. But it¡¯s still not a very appealing ce for Korean doctors with their renowned medical abilities. We¡¯ve got no choice but to let them choose.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything that¡¯s attractive about Kazakhstan for the Korean doctors?¡±


    ¡°The educational part is the most important for them. And securing an advanced public order shoulde first. They want their children to learn from such a high-end culture.¡±


    ¡°Civic awareness is not going to happen overnight, so that¡¯s not possible. Why don¡¯t we attract world-ss universities all over Kazakhstan then?¡±


    ¡°Those universities will be reluctant to do so, even for their reputation and image. Do you think international schrs will want toe to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We should bring in a bunch of professors from Oxford, Cambridge or Imperial College of engineering. We can also bring them from Stockholm University in Sweden or Goethe University in Germany.¡±


    The reason that Youngho was confidently saying to Doctor Kim Dong-sung that he could bring in the world¡¯s leading academics was because he did favors for UK and Sweden. Not only they formed a military alliance butpanies from those countries were now making their foray into Kazakhstan. Their governments would send even exchange professors if Youngho asked. Also, Youngho had connections in Goethe University in Germany. If he offered exceptional sries and benefits to professors, they would be intrigued toe.


    ¡°There are good universities in Astana and Almaty. We won¡¯t have to build new ones. With proper support, the universities will be developed on their own. I¡¯m talking about the Royal College.¡±


    Kim Dong-sung had a better idea that surprised Youngho.


    ¡°A Royal College?¡±


    ¡°How about building it in the royal territory?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going toe to a new university with no history or tradition?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the Arirang Autonomous State became famous because of your unconditional support. If people heard that you¡¯re making a royal college, of course, they¡¯d want toe.¡±


    ¡°Well, that sounds like a good idea. This time, I¡¯ll start educational reform in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°You could also make extensive changes to the outdated educational facilities across the country this time. In ten years, you¡¯ll see big changes.¡±


    Even ten years were short.


    It would take a long time to grow talents who could achieve the Nobel Prize.


    The Nobel Prize was not an absolute standard for a good education, but it was the result of the efforts of world-ss schrs. If Kazakhstan made great investments in education, Kazakhstan would have Nobel Prize winners one day.


    ***


    Jabayev Kim, a Koryoin was appointed as a Korean ambassador and came to the Arirang state to receive the certificate of appointment. It was because external procedures, such as establishing diplomatic ties with foreign countries and dispatching ambassadors, should be approved by the monarch.


    Technically, the monarch had the power to appoint ambassadors at the same time as themander-in-chief of the armed forces, but in reality, the monarch¡¯s role was to appoint the people whom the Prime Minister, the head of the administration, had rmended, though the monarch could reject the rmendation. Without the monarch¡¯s approval, no one could be appointed as ambassadors and sent to other countries. Any practical work of the royal family was done by Youngho instead of the true monarch¡ªFatima since she did not want to get involved in political matters and business work.


    The distance from Astana, the capital, to the Arirang state was about 1,500 kilometers long. Since many officials would have to travel to the state, Youngho offered a 12-seater jet for them. It flew back and forth to the capital twice a week. Since Fatima did not want to stay in Astana, they were suffering to travel such a long distance.


    Nazarbayev¡¯s pce was now open for public, and a new one was being built in the capital now but it would take years until it would be finished.


    ¡°Ambassador. Wee. I¡¯m sorry that you had to travel this far.¡±


    ¡°No. Your Highness, I came with great ease with the royal jet.¡±


    ¡°There will be no such inconvenience when the pce is built in Astana.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s such a beautiful city standing in this barren zone. If the pce wasn¡¯t here, who would visit here? This is the first time I¡¯ve visited the West.¡±


    Kazakhstan was a huge country. Having lived on the east side, which was a developed part of the country, Ambassador Kim had never visited the west side of Kazakhstan in his life even though he was nearly 60.


    ¡°Have you ever been to Korea?¡±


    ¡°About ten years ago, I visited Korea for a week because the Korean government invited the Koryoin leaders in Central Asia. Korea had a remarkable development. I was very proud that Korea was doing well.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you feel sorry that the Korean government has not been active in restoring the nationality of the Koryoin people?¡±


    ¡°I don`t think there will be any more Koryoins who are willing to return to Korea now. Most of them in Kazakhstan are loyal to Kazakhstan and the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    It was true that Koryoins¡¯ state had changed because of Youngho.


    Although racial and ethnic discrimination disappeared with the adoption of constitutional monarchy, Koryoins were treated as a rather special group since Youngho was a Korean.


    ¡°When you go to Korea, please promote Kazakhstan to Koreans. Let them know that this is and of opportunity. We will ept both investment immigration and employment immigration.¡±


    ¡°I wonder whether or not Koreans will want toe to Kazakhstan. They live in a far better environment than us.¡±


    ¡°Because there are too many people living in a small piece ofnd, Korea is a ce of severepetition. Its unemployment rate among young people is quite high. We should try to persuade them toe here to work.¡±


    Young Koreans with high academic background andputer skills would quickly change Kazakhstan¡¯s standards.


    ¡°I understand, Your Highness. Since you¡¯re well-known to Korean people, they¡¯ll be interested in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can use my name or whatever. Please attract as many young Koreans as possible.¡±


    ¡°Would you give Koreanpanies tax exemption?¡±


    ¡°No, Koreanpanies will be treated like other foreignpanies. However, Koreanpanies are already at an advantage since they won¡¯t have anguage barrier because of the Koryoin people here. You know, this is a ce where you need to speak Kazakh in order tomunicate. English or French won¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°I should highlight that. These days, Koreanpanies in China are struggling all the time, so I¡¯m going to rmend that they move their production facilities to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It will not be easy becausebor costs are higher here than in China, but you could still rmend it. Especially, daily necessities factories are more than wee.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any other things to say to the Korean government?¡±


    ¡°Not much. Please tell them that any resources that Korea needs, we¡¯ll provide them as a priority.¡±


    ¡°The Korean government will thank you for your consideration.¡±


    ¡°I believe they¡¯re expecting your visit to Korea. When are you nning to visit Korea?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I have so many domestic schedules now. Just tell him I¡¯ll be visiting soon.¡±


    While the royal family¡¯s visit to Korea would create a great sensation, it was not the time to go on a leisurely. Russia and China were not immediate threats, but southern Central Asia was continuing to get on Youngho¡¯s nerves.


    ***


    The Caspian Sea and the ck Sea were not connected from the beginning, but the Soviet Union¡¯s opening of the Volga-Don Canal had allowed ships up to 5,000-ton cargo ships to travel the two seas.


    While it was a historic event that the isted sea could be connected to the outside world, the problem was that the canal was controlled by Russia which was always unpredictable.


    Since only trusting the canal was not reliable, Youngho was nning a separate logistics system in the Caspian and the ck Sea, assuming that the canal might get closed one day.


    So, he was trying hard to buy a beach in Georgia near the ck Sea. Um Sang-taek, who was the manager of the Arirang Hotel in Batumi called Youngho that it was not possible to purchase a beach.


    ¡°The treaty that you can¡¯t send a warship into the ck Sea unless your country shares the ck Sea¡¯s coat is the obstacle. They¡¯d let you have a royal dock, but don¡¯t even dream of a sending a warship.¡±


    ¡°Hey, if we bought an ind and make it a Kazakh territory, that¡¯ll solve the problem.¡±


    ¡°If that was possible, would the West have stayed still? They would¡¯ve bought inds a long time ago. There¡¯s no way you can bring in warships into the ck Sea unless you buy a Greek ind.¡±


    ¡°What? Can you buy Greek inds?¡±


    ¡°I need to check if they¡¯re suitable to moor warships. I also don¡¯t know if the Greek government will agree to it.¡±


    ¡°We might not even have to moor warships. We need to escort our freighters that will cross the Mediterranean or the Antic anyway. Greek inds have the perfect location for that purpose.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can buy an ind. You should solve the problem of docking warships at the government level.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for bothering you when you¡¯re busy writing your dissertation.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t help you more.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Get that freaking Ph.D. It¡¯d be nice to have a doctor friend.¡±


    Um Sang-taek went to university to learn Georgian in the first ce. He had been continuing his studies ever since, and now he was working toward his doctoral degree. It would have been difficult to manage his time since he was also the hotel manager.


    Anyway, since the ck Sea would not allow warships from foreign countries, Youngho had to give up bringing in warships. It was fortunate that Greece was selling its own inds.


    Greece had always beenshing with Turkey over the territorial issue of a small ind in the Aegean Sea that was connected to the Mediterranean. Since it was a small sea, there was nothing to do about the territorial waters. It was a pride dispute. It seemed that Kazakhstan could use the dispute between the two countries to get an ind.


    It was better to say that the royal family was buying an ind for a leisurely purpose than to say that the Kazakh government would be buying it.


    To do so, he had to find a middleman, and there was apany suitable for the role.


    It was the Turkishpany, Ko? Holding, that was dying to get uranium resource from Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 475 - A Wind of Change (4)

    <h4>Chapter 475: A Wind of Change (4)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, Congrattions on establishing a new government.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s all thanks to the people around me. I¡¯m sorry if I hadn¡¯t been able to touch base with you these days.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to be invited by you like this. I was anxious to hear that the new government was reviewing all the resources exports, but I was reassured that you were in power.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m only an errand boy now. And the new government will strictly review the contract for the resources trades. Enes Kaya, the chairman of Ko? Holding, was invited to the Arirang Autonomous State. When Youngho said that he wanted to discuss something, he hurriedly flew in.


    ¡°So, is the development of uranium mines subject to review?¡±


    ¡°As yourpany has a technical tie-up with us for the helicopter and the armored vehicle production, there is no significant difference.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that¡¯s good to hear.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all about adjusting the absurdities in trade contracts with Russia and China.¡±


    Many resource contracts with Russia and China were written in favor of them, not Kazakhstan, so the government was trying to readjust them.


    ¡°The armored vehicle and helicopter assembly nts are being built now. I think we¡¯ll be able to operate them from the beginning of next year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±


    Since semipleted products would be brought in from Turkey, the production could start as soon as the assembly lines werepleted. They were necessary to mechanize the whole Kazakh Army.


    ¡°It¡¯d be great if you could produce all the general parts from Kazakhstan, but those should be imported from Turkey for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t help it for now. Having assembly nts only will be a big boost for us. We¡¯re nning to attract parts factories in Atyrau so that we¡¯ll be able to supply parts in the future.¡±


    ¡°If so, should I connect you to Turkish partspanies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you could do that, chairman. If the Volga-Don Canal is blocked, we¡¯ll have trouble with the parts supply line.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s always disturbing to someone you can¡¯t predict around you.¡±


    ¡°So we agreed with Azerbaijan and Georgia to double-track the railroad. It¡¯d be useful when the canal is closed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very cool decision. That will also activate the train from Istanbul to Georgia.¡±


    ¡°The reason I asked you toe is to discuss the matter.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, I¡¯ll do anything.¡±


    The reason that Ko? Holding was eager to do so was because its rtionship to the Turkish president was worsening now. Thepany¡¯s business activities in Turkey were being restricted without the government¡¯s favor.


    The Turkish government was risking a lot to tame the defensepany since it let thepany produce armored vehicles for another country. It was hard to understand the government¡¯s behavior to deliberately turn a blind eye on Ko? Holding. Thepany and the Turkish government hadpletely turned into enemies.


    When Youngho told the chairman that he would buy an ind of Greece and use it as a royal vi, he read Youngho¡¯s intention quickly.


    ¡°Are you going to use it as a strategic hub?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This is the only thing I can do since our warships can¡¯t enter the ck Sea.¡±


    ¡°Then you should coordinate that with the Greek government.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to mention something sensitive now. We can negotiate once the ind is in our hands. We have plenty of things to offer to the Greek government.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Would you let me talk to the Greek government? The Greek government will do a favor for the Kazakh royal family. If the Duke and the Queen stayed at the vi, they¡¯ll have to be followed by guards.¡±


    Youngho was d to have such an ally. It seemed that Chairman Kaya and Youngho could make good friends. Even though Youngho did not say much, he already understood what Youngho wanted and stepped up to help him actively.


    ¡°Chairman, if the Turkish government keeps Ko? Holding in check, would you like to move to Kazakhstan? I¡¯ll help you by all means.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but most of ourpany¡¯s clients are in African or Southeast Asian countries. I don¡¯t think I can afford the cost of logistics if we move to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a Georgian route, but there¡¯s also a railway line under construction, which is going through Iran and into the Persian Gulf.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re building a railway to the Persian Gulf?¡±


    ***


    If Ko? Holding left Turkey, its economic loss would be enormous since the economic weight of thepany in Turkey was great. It was a megapany that had tens of thousands of people working for it, including second-hand employees. The Turkish president would be criticized for losing such a valuablepany.


    Kaya epted Youngho¡¯s offer. He decided to leave Turkey and start anew in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a hasty decision? If you need more time to think, please do so. The relocation costs are going to be huge for you.¡±


    ¡°If I sold the factory site and the office building in Istanbul, I¡¯ll have the location costs covered. I¡¯m doing this because I saw the potential for future development in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Besides, the royal family¡¯s going to have my back, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Alright. If you¡¯ve made up your mind, I¡¯ll give you an incentive. We¡¯ll give you the factory or building site free of charge if you decide to move to the royal territory. I¡¯ll also give you a tax favor after consulting with the government.¡±


    The reason why Youngho rmended the autonomous state was that it would create jobs in West Kazakhstan. It was also an opportunity to increase the number of people in the state when various factories came in.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Turkish government will turn hostile against ourpany because we¡¯re moving.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s natural for globalpanies to move their production facilities overseas to pursue more profit. Also, isn¡¯t Kazakhstan a brotherly country to Turkey? It should be celebrated instead.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that the current Turkish regime is so unpredictable.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help if the government misunderstands that we¡¯ve cajoled yourpany. It¡¯ll just be admitting its fault for not protecting and nurturing its ownpany.¡±


    ¡°It feels like Turkey¡¯s democracy is going backward. Turkey is abandoning secr Im and strengthening Imism these days. That would inevitably lead to a slowdown in our corporate activity. That¡¯s one of the reasons why I¡¯m trying to move out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about anything ande here. Kazakhstan will never put forth Imism.¡±


    The former regime of Kazakhstan also strengthened Imism in the country in order to drive out Russia¡¯s influence. However, there had been conflicts since 44 percent of the Kazakh people believed in the Russian Orthodox Church.


    So, the new constitution separated politics from religion. Now Kazakhstan, instead of using Im as a state religion, guaranteed freedom of all religions.


    ¡°We must also anticipate religious conflicts with the southern Central Asian countries. They will no longer see us as a brotherly state.¡±


    ¡°The secr Im still exists in Kazakhstan, and there are no fundamentalist Muslims in here as there are in southern Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Separating politics from religion may be a good thing, but it could be a source of conflict with the southern Central Asian countries.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re keeping an eye on them now. You don¡¯t have to be worried about any contraction in corporate activity.¡±


    ¡°Is there any sign of a conflict?¡±


    Kaya was too quick to notice.


    Since he was an ally now, Youngho decided to tell him what he knew.


    ¡°We¡¯re just worried that long-term presidents of those countries would think of dangerous ideas in order to keep their power.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid that they¡¯re going to return to socialism.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. The pro-democracy movement is quite big that if it spreads to bloodshed, China and Russia could intervene. In particr, there¡¯s plenty of reasons for China to intervene. It¡¯s invested a lot in infrastructure projects in the southern countries.¡±


    ¡°Does Kazakhstan have the power to stop it?¡±


    Kazakhstan had no such power. However, if the internationalmunity was looking at it with its eyes wide open, then it was a different story. In that case, Kazakhstan was in a better position.


    ¡°We¡¯re the leading country of Central Asia. We¡¯re going to step up before China or Russia gets involved.¡±


    ¡°The southern countries will get furious for interference in domestic affairs and China will take it as a provocation.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than having another socialist country in the south.¡±


    ¡°Are you even thinking about annexation?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get there when I can¡¯t even manage Kazakhstan.¡±


    Kaya thought for a moment. It seemed that he was calcting profits in his head.


    ¡°You must have more borders to protect.¡±


    ¡°Of course. More products from yourpany will be deployed.¡±


    ¡°From Kazakhstan¡¯s standpoint, it would cost a lot of defense money, but it¡¯s good news for an entrepreneur like me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re honest.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll help protect the lives of soldiers by making better products¡±


    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll be looking forward to it.¡±


    At one point, Kazakhstan would have to deal with China.


    The construction of Chinese viges as far as the poorly guarded eastern border mountain area should be arranged, and unreasonable resource development contracts should be worked out.


    What mattered right now was Chinese civilians who invaded the Kazakh border area, who were Han Chinese. If they were Uyghurs, it could be looked over since they were only here for farming or nomadic reasons, but if they were Han Chinese, it should be seen as an invasion of the border area since the Chinese government was turning a blind eye to its citizens, viting the border against Kazakhstan. The intention behind it must be to provoke a territorial dispute with Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan should take action on it soon.


    On top of that, Youngho was nning to fully support Uyghurs. If Xinjiang Uyghur became an independent country, Kazakhstan¡¯s border with China would naturally disappear¡ªcreating a buffer zone called Xinjiang Uyghur, so Kazakhstan would only have to worry about its border with Russia.


    Xinjiang Uyghur must be freed for the sake of the safety of Kazakhstan.


    Of course, China would not let Xinjiang Uyghur go so easily. There would be bloodshed. When that happened, Youngho would make it global news to turn it into a world-wide conflict zone. If Uyghurs moved, Tibet and Inner Mongolia would dream of independence too. China would not be able to handle all three countries at the same time. China¡¯s response to the situation would be interesting.

 Chapter 476 - Shield (1)

    <h4>Chapter 476: Shield (1)</h4>


    The Tian Shan Mountains were one of the greatest mountain ranges around the world, spanning 2,900 kilometers in length. It started in Xinjiang Uyghur and was stretched toward the border of Kazakhstan until it was turned in Kyrgyzstan. It was also a ce where the natural scenery was so beautiful that it was called the Alps of Central Asia.


    It consisted of high mountains with the highest peak reaching about 7,439 meters tall. Despite the rugged terrain, Chinese people were nesting all over the valley. They were also living in Kazakh territory.


    If it was the Chinese government¡¯s intended provocation, a war would be a matter of course, but if this was done for political reasons, it would be a little moreplicated than the former case.


    Youngho, who visited the government building in Astana, was discussing the issue with the prime minister and other cab members.


    ¡°We need to drive out the Chinese who have entered the border area this time. If you have any good idea, please give us your opinion.¡±


    When Youngho announced, the conference room became noisy with chatters. It was the most sensitive issue in Kazakhstan at the moment.


    ¡°Your Highness, we must protest strongly against the Chinese government. The Chinese government is responsible for its citizens crossing our border.¡±


    ¡°However, we¡¯re also responsible for neglecting Chinese people in our border. Will those who have reimed farnd and built houses leave easily? If they asked for political asylum, we will have toply with internationalw.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? What internationalw applies to people who upied ournd illegally? We need to force them out of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Political refugees should be treated ordingly. You can¡¯t be a member of the internationalmunity if you only react ording to your emotions.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to look at how many Han people and Uyghur people are in our territory first ande up with measures. It won¡¯t be an easy task to investigate the rough mountains, but if we don¡¯t fix the border right now, it will be a seed for conflict in the future.¡±


    ¡°In some situations, we should consider epting the Chinese as our citizens. There is also a problem with the exclusion of Chinese nationals unconditionally.¡±


    Since the government had no idea how many illegal immigrants were living inside the border, it was hard toe up with any measure for now. Since the area was so rough and extensive, the priority was to conduct a survey first.


    Although there was only a little part of the Tian Shan Mountains that was stretched into Kazakhstan, it could not be neglected since it was a strategically valuable ce for Kazakhstan. It was also a ce that boasted a very dense forest and a beautiful naturalndscape, so it was a ce not to be missed.


    There was a chance that the Chinese mountain troops were in the mountains if the Han people were already living in the border. A survey force should be thoroughly prepared in case there were Chinese forces.


    ¡°Prime Minister, it would be more effective to send the Royal Guard Corps while leaving border troops alone. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I have a rough idea about your concerns. I heard that the Royal Armored Division has been harshly trained by the Royal Body Guards.¡±


    The training was not just harsh; it was brutal and extreme. With two months of extreme training, the soldiers of the Royal Armored Division had now better capabilities.


    ¡°I¡¯ll also send a battalion of the Royal Body Guards along with the Royal Armored Division soldiers. They¡¯re going to be great out in the mountains.¡±


    ¡°You seem to expect a battle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only preparing for the worst-case scenario possible.¡±


    Since the border was too long, the mountainous area was only marked with a few signs along the line. There was no reason to put up barbed wire tightly along the mountain range since China was not a hostile country. So the border must be unclear.


    The Kazakh government nned to take this opportunity to properly finalize the border and notify the Chinese side. If so, it was inevitable to meet the issue of illegal aliens. If an illegal immigrant would refuse to return to China, he could be naturalized as a Kazakh citizen. Since it was the illegal alien who wanted asylum, the Chinese government would not be able to have a say in it.


    ***


    ¡°Our troops are in this operation?¡±


    When Cho Chul-hwan heard that the Royal Guards would join in the operation of the Tian Shan Mountains border, he was exuberated.


    ¡°The Royal Armored Division will only provide outside support. I¡¯m afraid that the soldiers are not up to the level we want them to be yet. I think it¡¯d be better for the Royal Guards to enter the mountains.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Two months of training is not enough. Tell the guards to give us onlyteral support. We¡¯ll be in the front. But it¡¯s going to be winter soon. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be harsh on our soldiers.¡±


    It was the jinx that every winter, they were involved in some kind of operation. This time, the border operation would be held in winter too. It would be advantageous to operate in winter when Chinese troops might fall back, but the severe winter weather in Kazakhstan should not be ignored.


    ¡°Just know that the Tian Shan Mountains are minus 20 degrees in Celsius usually in the winter, we won¡¯tst with the supplies we have now. You know the Kazakh Army¡¯s winter uniform is just terrible.¡±


    ¡°I already ced an order for winter uniforms from Switzend. It¡¯s the bestpany picked by the mountain troops in the Alps, so it should be good in the Tian Shan Mountains.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s suitable for the Swiss mountain troops, it will be more than enough for us. ¡±


    The Kazakh military had poor supplies because of the short defense budget. However, it would change drastically from next year. The revenue from the nationalization of gold mines reached six billion dors a year, and it was agreed that all of them would be used for national defense. Military supplies would be advanced by next year.


    And now the police and soldiers¡¯ paychecks had been actualized. It was to prevent corruption from urring, and it was directly rted to fraud, so the correction of payments was rushed.


    ¡°We need at least 200,000 soldiers to protect the border well. Is there any way we can increase soldiers dramatically?¡±


    ¡°We should adopt the unconditional mandatory conscription system and the soldiers should serve at least for three years. That way, we¡¯ll secure decentbat capability.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s conscription system was quite sloppy. People were exempt for so many reasons such as having kids or having been employed. All people had to do in order to avoid military service was to make a child or get a job anywhere. It was amazing that the Kazakh military had been maintaining its current number of troops with such ame system. In order to increase the number of troops with a limited number of people, an unconditional mandatory conscription system was necessary. Since soldiers were paid properly and well now, people would volunteer to serve in the military without much resistance.


    ***


    Greece had more than 6,000 inds, of which only 227 were inhabited. Among them, only 78 were residents of more than 100. And about ten percent of the inds were privately owned, including the uninhabited inds. Among them, an inhabited ind near Santorini Ind of Cydes which was the coastal waters of Athens was out in the market. It was an ind with only nine households with 42 residents, which Kaya, the chairman of Ko? Holding quickly found. He called to inform Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is a privately owned ind, but it¡¯s got a lot of areas and a small bay. I think you¡¯ll be able to moor a decent-sized ship. I¡¯ve sent you pictures of the ind, so take a good look.¡±


    ¡°Have you found it already? I guess there¡¯s a lot on the market.¡±


    ¡°You can buy as many as you want.¡±


    ¡°How much are they?¡±


    ¡°It ranges from a few million dors to tens of millions of dors. The new ind on sale is less expensive than 20 million dors.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s surprisingly cheap. Does the Greek government allow foreigners to own it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. There would not be a problem for you to own it. Rather, the government wants foreigners to develop the inds for it to be a tourist destination.¡±


    ¡°The one you talked about must be quite a big ind if there¡¯s a small bay. How big is it?¡±


    ¡°The area is 40 km2. It is five kilometers long from east to west and eight kilometers long from north to south.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll sign the contract right away. Can you see if other inds near it are also in the market for purchase?¡±


    ¡°There are no inds nearby. There are a few rocky islets nearby, and if you buy the ind, they¡¯ll also be included with your purchase. Should I talk about the Royal Guards fleet? I have some acquaintances in the Greek government. I was thinking to consult them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t open it yet because it¡¯s too sensitive. You can buy the ind first and discuss itter.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Would you like toe and see the ind some other day?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see it tomorrow and sign it. If it had caught your eye, wouldn¡¯t someone else be also watching it?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already arranged something ahead of time.¡±


    Youngho was going to buy the ind first and build an annex. He would then create a port and then persuade the Greek government about having warships. If a foreign warship was not allowed, he would disguise ships as merchant ships.


    Youngho flew to Athens, Greece, with Eriksson immediately. Youngho loved the ind only by looking at its photos. He did not expose his identity, so there were a few inconveniences in the entry process, but it felt morefortable to go about it secretly. This was because when Youngho visited as a royalty of Kazakhstan, there would be many officials waiting to greet him upon his arrival. Kaya was waiting for him.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve really liked the ind because you came here in such a hurry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you took pictures so artistically.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s much better than as shown in pictures. I¡¯m going to have to get a good introductory fee from the queen this time.¡±


    ¡°If we like the ind, I promise you one thing. Ko? Holding¡¯s ships will be protected by our military.¡±


    ¡°Now that we¡¯re going to be apany of Kazakhstan soon, isn¡¯t that a natural step?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯re right. Is there anything you¡¯d like from me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like ourpany to build a Royal Navy warship that would cross the oceans. How about that?¡±


    ¡°You know there¡¯s a shipyard in Denmark owned by our royal family, right?¡±


    ¡°I do. As you know, your shipyard has been specialized for icebreakers and car ferry submarines, but we¡¯ve made mostlybat ships. We¡¯re specialized in that area.¡±


    ¡°You mean Aegis.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have one that¡¯s already been designed and is in the process of building. I thought this could be used as the royal warship.¡±


    The anti-ship and anti-aircraft defense was basic. The name of the Aegis destroyer armed with all kinds of electronic equipment literally meant ¡®shield¡¯.


    At the same time, it was the best existing warship that could detect and track 200 targets and attack 24 of them simultaneously. Ko? Holding shipyard had the ability to build a 5,600-ton mid-size Aegis destroyer with stealth capabilities.


    ¡°How many ships did the Turkish government order and then cancel?¡±


    ¡°Three. Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Alright. The Kazakh royal family will buy them all.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? All three ships?¡±

 Chapter 477 - Shield (2)

    <h4>Chapter 477: Shield (2)</h4>


    South Korea¡¯s Aegis destroyer was 166 meters long and had a standard discement of 7,600 tons, whereas Ko? Holding¡¯s Aegis destroyer was 150 meters long and had a standard discement of 5,600 tons. It was a little smaller.


    Therefore, building three Aegis destroyers were expected to cost less to build and operate on a yearly basispared to operating South Korean destroyers. However, Kaya said that an Aegis destroyer¡¯s building cost was not calcted by its size like regr ships.


    ¡°The size of an Aegis destroyer is not very important. The size of the ship is nothing more than an attack weapon or a defensive weapon. The radar system, the electronic system, costs a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it cost less at least for the hull if it¡¯s smaller?¡±


    ¡°The cost of the hull could not bepared to having the Aegis system. It costs about 300 million dors to have that system installed.¡±


    ¡°I heard that it costs a billion dors to build one in Korea. How much would your ship cost?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to estimate 800 million dors per vessel with aplete weapon system.¡±


    ¡°Why is it 200 million dors cheaper if it¡¯s not about the size of the ship?¡±


    ¡°It will have about half the number of missileuncherspared to the bigger one. Also, it¡¯s because we can bring in the Aegis system cheaper than anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Aegis technology monopolized by the United States?¡±


    ¡°European technology is also very strong. The technology is by no means unique to the United States. We¡¯ve been umting our technology from all over Europe.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯d like to have a warship with better performance than the U.S. Aegis destroyer.¡±


    ¡°With only three ships, you¡¯ll have the power that¡¯s equal to having ten ships.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you 800 million dors in advance. Please start right away.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°No. Since the shipyard in Istanbul could not be moved, you¡¯ll have to think about how the Turkish government will perceive this. If you say that our royal family already has money that¡¯s the third of the total cost of the building, it won¡¯t say much.¡±


    Since Youngho had enough cash from robbing the former president¡¯s family¡¯s wealth, he could easily pay for the third of the shipbuilding cost.


    Also, starting from next year, the national defense budget collected from the nationalized gold mines would be six billion dors a year, six times as much as it was now. They had nothing to worry about funding.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make them the perfect shield for Kazakhstan. We¡¯re working on a nuclear propent in the UK. It should be finishing soon. I¡¯d like to get it on board. How would you like that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of a nuclear submarine or a nuclear carrier before, but never a nuclear-powered Aegis destroyer.¡±


    ¡°In Russia, this was adopted to cruisers a long time ago. It¡¯s a little too big that it can be inefficient, but you won¡¯t have to worry about fuel when you cruise around five oceans.¡±


    Kaya had been dying to sign a uranium resource contract. It seemed that he had been developing a small nuclear propent with a Britishpany. In Europe, it was not a new idea, since there were many products jointly produced by differentpanies.


    ¡°Is that something that can be miniaturized?¡±


    ¡°The 21st century¡¯s technology is enough to do that. Every year, it¡¯s getting smaller.¡±


    ¡°How about stability?¡±


    ¡°As far as we know, there¡¯s no detected problem.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying, you¡¯d like to put it on our vessels on a trial basis.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a demonstration, so we can bring it in at a starting price. In the future, this will be used on any ships with general purpose.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m thinking of going all over the oceans, so I¡¯d like you to put it on our boat.¡±


    ***


    Youngho loved the ind.


    It was surrounded by small reefs and low cliffs everywhere, with a small open bay. Except for the bay area, it had a perfect defense that was built naturally. Except for the small bay, vessels had no ce to moor, not to mention the natural scenery.


    ¡°Your Highness, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°It looks strange. It¡¯s like someone made it artificially.¡±


    ¡°It used to be a den of pirates dominating the Aegean Sea. It¡¯s a ce of natural defense, so I think it was picked by pirates.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing that you¡¯ve found a ce like this out of all the inds.¡±


    Maind Greece, which had a lot of mountainous areas with numerous sloppy inds, was suitable for fruit farming, but grain farming was difficult. Thus, trade with the outside world was absolutely necessary in order to get grains. This led to the development of navigation.


    As Crete thergest ind in Greece had its own civilization, each ind off the coast of Greece had its own unique culture. There was no reason to stick to normal trade with such an advanced civilization and navigation. Greeks would have roamed around the Mediterranean and got involved in all sorts of pige.


    ¡°Eriksson, how¡¯s the ind?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a real beauty, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking about the defensive function.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a fantastic topography enough to be home to pirates. I think we¡¯ll experience a lot of fun events here in the future.¡±


    ¡°Ohh! That¡¯s a suitable answer for a descendant of the Vikings.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯d like to join the ranks someday.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s weird to think that this used to be home to pirates.¡±


    ¡°It means it¡¯s as safe as that. It¡¯s a blessing to have a natural condition that you can never break-in from the outside.¡±


    ¡°A blessing...¡±


    That was the case from the standpoint of Kazakhstan, which was surrounded on all sides by powerful nations. Warm Mediterranean temperatures were a great environment for fruit trees to grow in all four seasons, and there was plenty of seafood in the sea. It was indeed a blessed ce.


    Kazakhstan and Central Asia were where the threat of the Chinese and Russia existed all times. Ko? Holding, which decided to move to Kazakhstan despite knowing about such uncertainties, deserved praise. That was why Youngho said that he would buy all three Aegis destroyers from thepany.


    It may seem that money could bring in high technologies, but trust should also be based between entities. Youngho wanted to give that trust to Kaya. In the end, rtionships determined everything in business.


    ***


    Youngho signed the purchase of the ind in Greece and returned to the royal territory.


    The ind had deep waters enough for the Aegis destroyer to dock, so he was excited. The bay was small, but anyrge cargo ships coulde and go with the construction of a proper port. When Youngho shared the photos of the ind, Park Jong-il also seemed to be satisfied.


    ¡°Do you like it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. If it¡¯s the pirates¡¯ home, it¡¯s already answered.¡±


    ¡°I fell in love at first sight. That picky Eriksson also said it¡¯s a fantastic ce.¡±


    ¡°Hey, is that why you ordered three Aegis destroyers?¡±


    ¡°A couple of Aegis destroyers are much better than buying ten poor warships.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s doubtful whether the Kazakh Navy will operate it properly with itsck of skills. It¡¯s only taking baby steps at this point.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to train them hard.¡±


    ¡°They used to operate 500-ton ships only. Do you think they can operate Aegis destroyers? The Aegis destroyer is an assembly of high technologies.¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work, we should assign students from the special school of the royal territory and train them from now on. What else can we do?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we might have a better chance with them.¡±


    The reality of Kazakhstan was that there were not enough human resources to operate the advanced weapons if they were newly introduced. Even now, the Kazakh military was not reliable that the royal guards were sent for the Chinese border mission.


    The royal guards were busy getting ready for their departure to the border area with China. Cho Chul-hwan, the captain of the royal guards, was going with them as someone in charge of the soldiers, but even Park Jong-il was insisting to apany them.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing? Shouldn¡¯t the intelligence chief be doing something else he¡¯s responsible?¡±


    ¡°You know how the royal guards can be reckless. They¡¯re only good at fighting, not thinking. They need another head who knows how to use his brain.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only trying to run away from reading troublesome documents.¡±


    ¡°What are you worried about when Hong Sung-ki is going to sign all the documents?¡±


    Although Youngho was scolding Jong-il, his heart was also fluttering. He wanted to test his changed body in this operation. There was another change in his body during the coronation ceremony, but he had been too busy to confirm it.


    However, it was impossible to leave the royal territory right now. Also, as the Duke of Kazakhstan, it was not usible to be involved in a risky mission.


    ¡°The intelligence agents who¡¯ve been collecting information about the border area have to follow them in order to finish the mission sessfully.¡±


    ¡°So, why don¡¯t I visit the border to encourage the royal guards?¡±


    ¡°Oh, be honest. You want toe too.¡±


    Despite Youngho¡¯s wish, Cho Chul-hwan and Park Jong-il left for the border area with the royal guards. Youngho could not go since he had too much work to do than to be idle enough to navigate the mountain valleys.


    This was because he had to fly to Astana right away to organize an international conference.


    This time, Fatima was supposed to go with him.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you go by yourself?¡±


    ¡°This is a big deal. It¡¯d be rude if the Queen doesn¡¯t attend the conference.¡±


    ¡°Phew, Leon has a talent show at his kindergarten. I was going to attend that...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a big problem right now.¡±


    ¡°No, this is more important to me. You should go by yourself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a gathering of representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States. You need to be there so that they feel they were treated properly.¡±


    The Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) meeting, a gathering of countries independent from the Soviet Union would be held in Kazakhstan. Since it would be attended by foreign ministers and prime ministers of each country, the president of the hosting country should greet them. However, there was no president in Kazakhstan now, so the monarch should take the ce of the president. Even so, Fatima was adamant. She was giving stress to Youngho, saying that either the Duke or the Prime Minister could take her ce.

 Chapter 478 - The Silk Road (1)

    <h4>Chapter 478: The Silk Road (1)</h4>


    The Commonwealth of Independent States conference that was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, ended without any special conclusion. There was no specific issue discussed. The conference was usually held to confirm their alliance every year.


    However, the atmosphere of the conference this year was quite heavy due to the adoption of the constitutional monarchy by Kazakhstan. This was because there was a strong pro-democracy movement in southern Central Asia. The beginning of the movement was the democratization of Kazakhstan, so the revolutionary government that overruled the previous government was not received well by other states. They did not feelfortable maintaining a close rtionship with Kazakhstan that adopted the constitutional monarchy in the 21st century. As a result, no representatives of other countries except for the ones from Azerbaijan and Georgia wanted to meet with Youngho in private.


    ¡°Your Highness, the atmosphere is strange. They seem to avoid us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re trying to avoid us. They¡¯re trying to draw the line.¡±


    ¡°If this trend continued, our status as the leading nation of Central Asia will be shaken.¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t help it. We can¡¯t please the countries that were led by a dictatorship.¡±


    ¡°I hope they don¡¯t return to socialism to keep their current regime.¡±


    ¡°We already have enemies on both sides. We can¡¯t pay attention to the south. We can¡¯t let that happen.¡±


    ¡°How about helping pro-democracy forces instead?¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was also concerned because he knew what the U.K. Intelligence Service had diagnosed. The more pro-democracy groups were in power, the more those countries would be distant from Kazakhstan because they believed that Kazakhstan¡¯s revolution had provoked the movement. However, it was risky to support the pro-democracy movement either since no one was sure who was really behind it. After overthrowing the regime, they could be worse than the current regimes if they were intoxicated by the sweetness of power. It was still too early to expect mature citizenship from Central Asians.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see. It won¡¯t be toote to decide whether or not to intervene after we¡¯ve settled the border with China.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re going to miss the right timing.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I wonder if China or Russia is already working on the south. It¡¯s because the countries at the conference seemed to avoid us already. What do you think that means? I think we should do something apart from the border issue with China.¡±


    If Prime Minister Kasim felt uneasy, chances were high since he must know how Central Asian countries were like as a native Kazakh.


    ¡°When the regime falters, it bes a catastrophe. I¡¯m worried that the whole Central Asia will be in turmoil.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the only way Central Asia will be reorganized. We can¡¯t expect stability at this rate, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if we¡¯re in a state of instability, we¡¯d better have the democratic forces in power. Let¡¯s contact and support the democratic forces in secret.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, I hear you bought an ind in Greece this time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a small preparation for the future. The five oceans won¡¯t always be as safe as now. The ck Sea won¡¯t allow naval vessels from other countries to enter, so our vessels will wait in the Mediterranean to protect our cargo ships.¡±


    ¡°I see. Commander Jun was all about the newly ordered Aegis destroyers from Ko? Holding.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of a reward to thepany for moving its factory to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I have a different opinion. Would you like to hear it?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll listen to your opinion any time, Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask you to order those ships from Korea or the U.S.¡±


    ¡°I already gave my word. Do you want me to reverse my decision?¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t sign a contract yet.¡±


    ¡°Could you exin why I should do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a former soldier, so I¡¯m confident that I know more about weapons than anyone else. Europe¡¯s weapons system still had a long way before it can catch up with U.S. technology. We need to have overwhelming firepower because our opponents are Russia and China. In terms of performance and firepower, there is nothing like U.S. weapons. Even though the U.S. is very picky about technical ties, we¡¯d be able to convince the U.S. since we¡¯d be fighting against Russia and China. In the same way, Korea is also a country that has powerful defense technology since it has continued to develop technology to keep up with its Northeast Asian neighbors.¡±


    ¡°You have a point.¡±


    ¡°It is not that Ko? Holding¡¯s ships have poor performance, but it will be better for us in terms of maintenance to order it from Korea or the U.S. rather than from apany that assembles parts imported from various ces.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was too hasty to decide.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m telling you what to do when you¡¯re using your own money to buy the ships.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m rather grateful that you corrected my mistake. I¡¯ll keep my ears open for you any time, so please speak up. I¡¯m sorry for Chairman Kaya, but I¡¯ll reconsider building the Aegis destroyers.¡±


    ¡°Tell him that an old soldier under you is stubborn. And you¡¯re not breaking your word, you¡¯re changing it.¡±


    ¡°Changing?¡±


    ¡°The defense budget for next year already includes items to build warships.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they for building small-size missile boats?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotten 500-ton patrol ships from the United States this time. So now we¡¯re thinking of building mid-size ships.¡±


    ¡°Would destroyers be suitable for the Caspian Sea?¡±


    ¡°The Caspian Sea is about the same width as the ck Sea. And it¡¯s not necessary to float in the Caspian Sea. We can ce them at the Greek ind and use them in the Mediterranean.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an excellent idea. I¡¯m sure Kaya won¡¯t be too disappointed.¡±


    ¡°Ko? Holding is now apany that belongs to Kazakhstan. We should offer other benefits at the government-level.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you, Prime Minister. Thank you for saving my face.¡±


    ***


    The Royal Body Guards and Royal Armored Division deployed near the Chinese border were operating effectively at the border despite the harsh weather.


    It was possible because the mobility of the armored vehicle was supporting the soldiers. Turkish tactical armored vehicles at the royal territory and Russian-made BTR tanks owned by the Kazakh military were all mobilized.


    Kazakhstan had about 1,000 armored vehicles and 300 Russian tanks. Although the tanks were old, they were still in good shape since they were made sturdy.


    Starting next year, the new armored vehicles would be produced in the royal territory. All of the older Russian armored vehicles would be reced with new products. Chul-hwan and Jong-il were talking as they were watching the Russian armored vehicles.


    ¡°They¡¯re still good to use. You¡¯re going to dispose all of them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s directly connected to the morale of the soldiers. Would they be happy to drag around vehicles that are more than 20 years old?¡±


    ¡°In this cold weather, the vehicles would be great for a soldier¡¯s resting ce.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that they have a lot of space inside. They¡¯re perfect as mobile posts.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s safer to use the vehicles as mobile posts rather than using a sloppy guard post. There are more than 1,100 armored vehicles like this, so don¡¯t throw them away as scrap metal. You should think about using it for other purposes.¡±


    ¡°Youngho wanted to overhaul the Russian-made weapons system.¡±


    ¡°There are no weapons as sturdy as Russian-made ones. The morale of soldiers is important, but we should also consider the natural environment of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me to use these as mobile guard posts?¡±


    ¡°Yes, frankly, they¡¯re not at the condition to be disposed of now. They can be around for another decade. So far, they have better firepower than Chinese vehicles.¡±


    ¡°Hey, speaking of which, it¡¯s weird that the Chinese mountain troops are not moving at all.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re holding back because we had an incidental disputest time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s strange that they are staying still when they saw us moving the border signs. What are they thinking?¡±


    ording to a survey of the border area, the number of Chinese nationals living inside the Kazakh border area was a little more than 2,000 in 400 households. Uyghurs and Han Chinese were living in remote areas of the Tian Shan Mountains. The size of their viges was about 10 to 20 families in bigger groups, and most of them consisted of three or four families.


    Many of them lived off collecting herbs and raising goats. Their living conditions were awful since there were no paved roads in the rugged mountains. They vited the border, so they were all caught and sent to temporary camps as of the moment.


    After evacuating them, the soldiers got rid of the viges and started to fix the border area. However, it was weird that the Chinese side did not take any action when their citizens were being captured.


    ¡°Were they just watching because they were afraid that their citizens would get hurt?¡±


    ¡°I just got a call from the intelligence agents. They said that the Chinese military stationed in Xinjiang Uyghur is on alert. The Chinese border guards were watching us forcibly take our people and burn their viges. They must be pretty upset by now.¡±


    Since so many Kazakh soldiers rushed at once, the Chinese side was unable to cope with the situation. Moreover, re-establishing the borderline, which had been tacitly recognized by the Chinese, was a huge provocation. It was a matter of pride for the Chinese side. They had not expected that Kazakhstan would take such a forceful action all of a sudden.


    Kazakhstan mobilized more than 2,000 soldiers this time and 300 more armored vehicles. It would have seemed threatening to the Chinese border guards.


    Kazakhstan had about 30,000 army soldiers, and 20,000 of them were focused on the border area with China. The forces at the border with Russia and southern Central Asia were reced bybat police now.


    The Russian government was very happy about removing army troops from the Russian border area and recing them withbat police. This was because the current administration had taken a more pro-Russian measure than the previous administration. As for Youngho, who had no choice but to maintain friendly rtions with Russia for the time being, there was no reason to ce military troops at the border with Russia.


    Youngho¡¯s aim was to make China realize that Kazakhstan¡¯s cooperation was necessary when it passed through Central Asia in order to make its foray into Europe. Without Kazakhstan¡¯s help, China could not do much.

 Chapter 479 - The Silk Road (2)

    <h4>Chapter 479: The Silk Road (2)</h4>


    Recently, China was dreaming of bing Genghis Khan in the 21st century.


    In the 13th century, Genghis Khan ran the first global empire in history. His Mongol Empire at that time held China, Russia, Persia, and Central Asia in its grasp, when China had never gone over the Tian Shan Mountains in the northwest and the Himyas.


    The reason why Genghis Khan was able to effectively dominate therge area was because of the fact that the intercontinentalmunicationwork, where he could deliver his orders effectively through horseback riders on the road like highways to other areas. He could deliver his message to Europe in a week to ten days.


    Mongolians back then had their revolutionarymunication methods of the 13th century, horses and road stations, as well as the road to deliver abundant spoils of conquests on carriages. It would not have been possible without the development of the road.


    Current Chinese leaders wanted to manipte the world just like Genghis Khan. They were working on a road project called, One Belt One Road. China was anxious to open a 21st-centurynd and sea-based Silk Road.


    There was a route that was nned to getid starting from Xi¡¯an, China, through Xinjiang Uyghur and Kazakhstan, and get to Moscow, then to the Nethends. Another route would pass Kazakhstan to Central Asia and Iran to reach Istanbul.


    Both of the routes needed to pass Kazakhstan. The reason that Youngho was getting on China¡¯s nerves boldly at the border was that he knew China needed Kazakhstan¡¯s favor desperately in order to carry out its n. If there was no agreement from Kazakhstan, China would have to travel through the sea or go to Europe via Mongolia and Russia.


    Back in the 13th century, the great country, Mongolia had nted trees along the Silk Road to create shadows for merchants traveling the road and made stone pirs in barren areas where no trees could grow, as milestones. It was questionable whether China would be able to engage in such broad-mindedness and inclusivity for other countries that were involved in its road project.


    The Chinesemander of the upation forces in Xinjiang Uyghur sent a letter of protest to the defense minister of Kazakhstan. The content was about the forced detention of Chinese citizens in the transit camp and arbitrarily redrawing the border.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s a message that they don¡¯t want to make it big since they sent it through themander of the upation forces, not from the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°Well, it shouldn¡¯t be a big deal after all. We¡¯re just removing illegal aliens and correcting the wrong border by scientific means. If China has a problem with it, it will be an infringement of sovereignty.¡±


    Before sending the royal guards to the border area, the Kazakh government had sent a copy of the scientific data of the corrected borderline to the Chinese government. It was to let the Chinese government know about the corrected border and give it a chance to protest about the border, which it did not.


    However, it was such a diplomatic discourtesy that themander of the upation forces was the one who sent a letter of protest. The Chinese government had ignored diplomatic procedures since it should have been done through the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan. Such conduct was intended to threat Kazakhstan with China¡¯s force.


    ¡°Summon the Chinese ambassador to lodge a strong protest against the diplomatic protest. Also, please let him know that we will continue with the border survey. If needed, we will have the Chinese side present when we have the survey.¡±


    ¡°What are we going to do with the illegal aliens at the camp?¡±


    ¡°The Prime Minister and the Cab should decide what to do with them ording to the rtedws.¡±


    ¡°I see. You¡¯re trying to tame China on this asion.¡±


    ¡°Well, China won¡¯t get threatened, but it won¡¯t be stubborn since we have the right cause.¡±


    It was unbelievable that so many Chinese people were living in the valleys of Tian Shan Mountains. It could not be possible in a socialist country that so many people had crossed the border without the Chinese government pushing them in. So, Youngho did not want to hand over the illegal immigrants easily. He was going to interview them thoroughly to ask their personal opinions and decide whether to expel him.


    ***


    Since the illegal immigrants were all captured, Park Jong-il had no reason to stay at the border. He returned to Astana upon Youngho¡¯s call.


    He was upset that he had toe when there were so many Chinese troops along the border.


    ¡°Do you know how many soldiers they have on the border?¡±


    ¡°About 60,000 people?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s three times more than our soldiers. They¡¯re protesting against us to have called such many of them there now. Do you think the Chinesemander in Xinjiang Uyghur has the power to do so? The Chinese leadership must¡¯ve ordered him to do that. Man, it¡¯s a shame I didn¡¯t do something about that at the border.¡±


    ¡°We have called in the Chinese ambassador to lodge a stern protest, so let¡¯s wait. If they still don¡¯t retreat the troops on the border, we¡¯ll deploy self-propelled artillery and tank units.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have a battle?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be protesting too with our armed forces. Then a special envoy will fly to Kazakhstan straight from the Chinese side.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so confident about it?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be blocking the 21st century Silk Road that China dreams of.¡±


    ¡°I see. That¡¯ll do it. If we close the border, there¡¯s no way China will have that thing called, One Belt One Road project.¡±


    It was unprecedented that a weak country like Kazakhstan would be warned by an ambassador from a powerful country such as China. However, on the news, a video footage of a Chinese ambassador leaving Kazakhstan¡¯s Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry building with an embarrassed look.


    Soon after that, the Chinese army was pulled out from the border area. China decided to take a step back for its One Belt One Road n.


    Kasim government protested under internationalw and even received an apology from the Chinese government. Something that could not happen in Northeast Asia just happened in Central Asia.


    Youngho, who received the phone call from the government administration, was a little relieved. China must be gnashing its teeth inside, but its grandiose Silk Road project was more important.


    ¡°Your Highness, are we not going to participate in the Silk Road project?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Of course, we should. That way Almaty will be a major transit point.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m a little nervous because we¡¯re getting on China¡¯s nerves too much.¡±


    Eriksson, as a European, apparently felt uneasy about confronting China, which was a giant nation.


    ¡°Well, if we treat China in a soft way that the former regime had treated it, we¡¯ll bepletely ignored.¡±


    ¡°Are you doing this to emphasize that we¡¯re a different country now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if China doesn¡¯t change its high-minded attitude, then we won¡¯t open the way for it.¡±


    Since China needed Kazakhstan¡¯s approval, it could not do anything about Kazakhstan¡¯s resistance now. China had invested heavily here and there in the hope of achieving the One Belt One Road project.


    ***


    ¡°You want to hold an arms industry exposition?¡±


    ¡°Why are you so surprised?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just weird to hold it in Kazakhstan, not Europe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking for your advice, Eriksson.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy even if you use your connection to the U.S.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯tpanies that are interested in Kazakhstan¡¯s resourcese if we promote it properly?¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s going to be a little different. There are manypanies that will be interested in Kazakhstan¡¯s resources.¡±


    There was a reason why Youngho wanted to have an arms industry exposition.


    So far, he had been secretly contacting rtedpanies to bring in weapons, so he did not have any opportunity topare products from otherpanies. Youngho was convinced to hold such an event after his conversation with Prime Minister Kasim.


    In order to buy weapons publicly, he would have to visit differentpanies and their expositions, unless he was going to buy things through connections. If he had to that anyway, it was better to hold a military industry fair in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Highness, do you know how expensive the exposition is?¡±


    ¡°Of course it will cost a lot. But it¡¯s not like we¡¯re going pay it all. We¡¯ll retrieve some of the costs.¡±


    ¡°Of course, participatingpanies will pay their fees, so you¡¯d make profits. And it will also have economic ripple effects because there will be many buyersing to Kazakhstan to attend the event.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to hold it every year. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°If we can repeatedly use the convention facility, it¡¯s not difficult to recover the cost of investment. But the problem is how manypanies will be responding to our call.¡±


    ¡°We can discuss the matter of attractingpanies. Isn¡¯t finding the venue and building the convention center should be our priority? We will advertise it in each country while we¡¯re working on the building.¡±


    ¡°I think Almaty is the best fit. Holding it in thergest city in Central Asia has a symbolic meaning to it, and since the city is well-known for tourism, there will be other ripple effects. By the way, is there any special reason that you want to hold it in Kazakhstan? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not just holding it to buy weapons.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re protesting against Russia and China. We¡¯ll let them know that Kazakhstan has developed a lot of weapons, enough to hold the arms industry exposition.¡±


    ¡°How many weapons do you have to show?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll disy as many weapons as possible even sloppy ones. If other countries want to buy them, we¡¯ll say that it¡¯s not possible because they¡¯re strategic weapons.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯re nning to disy fake weapons. But who¡¯s going to trust us if we don¡¯t even demonstrate their performance?¡±


    ¡°My strategy is to be seen as secretive.¡±


    Youngho told the press that he would hold an exhibition of the arms industry.


    He was trying to see the reaction of other nations. Although it would take about two years toplete the convention center, spreading rumors in advance was intended to attract attention from defense industrypanies in each country. Since Kazakhstan was where other industries were not developed well, they would be intrigued to hear that it was holding an arms industry exposition.


    It was also an opportunity to meet well-known defense industrypanies. If the exposition was to be held, manypanies that were interested in it would contact Kazakhstan in advance. There were many things to organize and arrange before the facilities were ready. Two years seemed to be a long time, but manypanies would visit Kazakhstan within that time frame. To think about meeting them, Youngho was rather rxed. Then he started making a few phone calls.

 Chapter 480 - The Silk Road (3)

    <h4>Chapter 480: The Silk Road (3)</h4>


    Youngho spread the rumor that Kazakhstan would hold arms industry exposition and waited to see the reaction of international opinion. It turned out that the reactions of each country were generally ignorant. It was ridiculous that Kazakhstan, which had no prominent defense industry, was holding a military fair. Despite the circumstances, the countries that had a connection to Youngho actively responded, regardless of Kazakhstan¡¯s capabilities. Militarypanies in Sweden, the U.K., and Turkey said they would participate since they already agreed to provide arms and have technical ties with Kazakhstan.


    The U.S. and South Korean defensepanies also expressed their intention to participate. The U.S. was almost an ally because Youngho was a former US intelligence agent, and South Korea was excited as if it was being held in its country.


    As some of the most prominent countries in the defense industry said that they would participate, it was setting a good foundation for Kazakhstan¡¯s conference.


    In order to preempt a good position in the exhibition hall,panies must diligently arrange their ns with the host country because where their stalls were set up mattered. They would also have to upgrade their existing weapons to participate in the fair. This was because the weapons presented at the fair became a barometer of eachpany¡¯s technology and its country¡¯s armed forces.


    Korea contacted the Kazakh government to inform that not only all of its defensepanies would participate in the fair but also the government would help Kazakhstan prepare the fair.


    ¡°Your Highness, the Korean government has informed us that it will send a working group for the fair.¡±


    The Korean government must be trying to impress Youngho knowing that he had been intentionally distancing himself from the South Korean government. The Korean government¡¯s active involvement changed Youngho¡¯s mind. There was no reason to refuse the voluntary help of the Korean government since Korea had more experience in holding international fairs.


    ¡°I know Korea has a different view of us, but I¡¯m a little hesitant to take its offer.¡±


    ¡°There will be no harm to take advantage of Korea¡¯s special perspective on us. It¡¯s your home country anyway. No one¡¯s going to think it¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°Listening to your words gives me a little relief, Prime Minister.¡±


    Youngho did not want to be seen as favoring Korea since Kazakhstan was a multi-ethnic country because that could hinder national reconciliation.


    ¡°South Korea and Kazakhstan have been engaged in economic cooperation for a long time. It¡¯s not a country that has been highlighted by your existence. Also, because the Asians are the same as us, people see it as a friendly country as well.¡±


    ¡°I know that, but the royal family must stay as neutral as possible in terms of ethnicity.¡±


    ¡°The people boast that your home country is the economic powerhouse of Northeast Asia. Also, they are rather enjoying Korea¡¯s interest in Kazakhstan now.¡±


    ¡°If it is helpful to our people, we¡¯ll keep our cultural exchange with Korea, but I¡¯m afraid Korea¡¯s dark cultures will also flow to our country at the same time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s been a problem in any multi-ethnic country. We should discuss it with the Congress and set strict standards.¡±


    ¡°Terrible night culture of Korea is already thriving in Almaty. I¡¯m afraid that businesses like that which kills beautiful and fine customs of Kazakhstan will negatively influence our people¡¯s view of Korea. Such business owners are the ones who abuse the blind spots of rted rules even in Korea.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be extra cautious so that what you¡¯re concerned about won¡¯t happen in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Korea¡¯s nightlife business owners had settled in Almaty a while ago. The Korean song room culture had turned into an illegal prostitution business here, which became a huge social issue. The song rooms that had been luxuriously built were having a st at the moment. Although they were legally licensed businesses, Youngho was going to stop them forcibly. He was determined not to let Korea¡¯s bad night culture take root in Kazakhstan.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, China¡¯s envoy wants to see you.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean? There are the Prime Minister and Cab members. Doesn¡¯t it seem to be ignoring our government?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like that. I think he wants to deliver a personal letter from the Chinese president.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a personal letter, it¡¯s even more suspicious. It¡¯s funny that the envoy is going to ignore the government and deal with the royal family primarily.¡±


    ¡°I think the Chinese government has in mind the fact that the royal family will be maintained even if the government changes one day.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t ignore the envoy that brought a personal letter. I will meet him, but our government should protest strongly against the Chinese government¡¯s disregard for our government.¡±


    Youngho was upset about China¡¯s behavior. It had been ignoring the current government after the revolution, and now it reluctantly sent an envoy because it had trouble with Kazakhstan for the border area issue.


    ¡°We already have, but I don¡¯t think the Chinese government cares about it too much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very disrespectful of China. Then why don¡¯t we disregard the envoy too?¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s the special envoy of the Chinese president. Also, China may have ignored our government, but it¡¯s not such a big disrespect. The constitution states that the monarch represents the country.¡±


    ¡°The monarch¡¯s presence is nothing but symbolic. I don¡¯t understand why the Chinese President wants to talk to us personally.¡±


    The Chinese envoy brought a lot of presents.


    Youngho was not surprised because he was familiar with Chinese gifting culture. He brought truck-full valuable items such as high-quality chinaware and decors made out of jade. He had never received such many gifts in his life. The special envoy¡¯s attitude toward Youngho was also quite respectful.


    ¡°Thanks foring all the way. I hope you didn¡¯t have any problem during your trip.¡±


    ¡°It is the honor of the house to meet the renowned Highness.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to pay respect to neighboring countries after the new government and royal family was established in Kazakhstan. I hope the Chinese government understands us with a generous heart since we still make a lot of mistakes and have room to grow.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for weing me like this. To celebrate theunch of the new royal family, I brought small presents.¡±


    ¡°If you bring so many gifts, what should I give you in return?¡±


    ¡°Although the administration has changed, we¡¯d like to maintain a strong rtionship with Kazakhstan as before. That will be your gift in return.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we should maintain a friendly rtionship. Aren¡¯t we neighbors after all?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s been some unpleasantness at the border, but it¡¯s just a small happening that frequently urs in countries that share a border. Our government wants to have a friendly rtionship no matter what.¡±


    It seemed that the Chinese government wanted to pretend that the border issue did not happen at all.


    ***


    There was not much written in the personal letter.


    Chinese President wanted to maintain good-neighborly rtions between the new royal family and the Chinese government in the future and keep various contracts based on the agreement with the former administration. It was a natural request from China¡¯s perspective.


    Youngho had to take action as the royal family since China had sent a special envoy, but he did not know what to do. He decided to listen to various opinions, so he called for a meeting with the Cab.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much written in the letter. Rather, the special envoy¡¯s remarks regarding the border issue as a ¡°happening¡± should be taken more seriously.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous that the Chinese government sees it as a happening. We took action as a sovereign state. How can this be a happening?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just not make an issue out of it since China is not making a problem out of it. We are here today to decide whether to return the envoy¡¯s visit or just ignore it.¡±


    ¡°A special envoy is just a special envoy. We don¡¯t have to respond.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? A response is needed so that China doesn¡¯t think that we¡¯ve ignored it. Do you think China sent a special envoy for nothing? They¡¯re building their cause.¡±


    ¡°Why is China building a cause?¡±


    ¡°China is the country that prides itself on being a great nation. Sending a special envoy means that China has bent its pride for once. Since China had reached out to us first, we should also respond to its gesture positively. Aren¡¯t we going to get involved in the Silk Road project too?¡±


    ¡°The envoy is not to be rted to the Silk Road project. The envoy was sent because of the border issue. That¡¯s why we should just ignore it.¡±


    ¡°That can be a justification for China. If there is a rumor that a huge project involving many countries around the world is hindered because of us, we could be isted internationally.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they can iste us. All the countries that joined the project are weak. We are self-sufficient having our allies in Europe, America, and East Asia.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s a neighboring country. We have no strength to win against China. It¡¯s a tactic to maintain a proper rtionship with it.¡±


    Although there were various opinions, the main argument was not to be swayed by China.


    It was not that Kazakhstan should not participate in the One Belt One Road project since Kazakhstan would benefit from participating in the project too. Thus, the Cab all agreed to send a special envoy to China in return for its special envoy¡¯s visit. It was because China had a reason to have sent a special envoy. There was no reason to be hostile against China when it wanted to maintain an amicable rtionship.


    If One Belt One Road project waspleted, Kazakhstan would be in the passing route of the road and railroad. The railroad and the road through Southern Kazakhstan were already underway, and construction materials were already delivered. There was no going back now.


    The problem was that Kazakhstan was only lending itsnd and China was in charge of the construction. The investment should be discussed now in order for Kazakhstan to make revenues out of shipping and transport charges in the future.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the opinions of the Prime Minister and the various ministers. The contracts made between countries are a bit unreasonable, but they cannot be broken at the moment. Instead, we¡¯ll ask for changes in some of the uses.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, what do you mean by some of them?¡±


    ¡°We should pay the cost of the road and railroad construction. That way, we¡¯ll be able to have a say in the project and make profitster.¡±


    ¡°How can we cover all the construction costs when the national budget is so tight?¡±


    ¡°The royal family will pay for it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, do you intend topletely empty the royal wealth? The royal family has paid an astronomical amount of military equipment costs so far.¡±


    ¡°Can the royal family lend funds to the government? In a few years, the government¡¯s finance will be making a surplus.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. It¡¯s just a shame that the royal family is paying for so many things for the country.¡±


    ¡°I was a businessman before I was the Duke of Kazakhstan. I don¡¯t do any loss-making business. Let¡¯s get involved in the Silk Road business with the royal funds.¡±

 Chapter 481 - The Silk Road (4)

    <h4>Chapter 481: The Silk Road (4)</h4>


    Youngho called the China¡¯s special envoy and asked for a change in the Silk Road project, saying that Kazakhstan would pay for the road and railroad construction of the Central Asian section. The envoy was flustered to hear the unexpected proposal.


    The reason why China made the road¡¯s route through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan regions was to exercise China¡¯s influence over Central Asia, but if the section was left to Kazakhstan, China¡¯s n would be scrapped.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you want to be in charge of Kazakhstan¡¯s section, that could be arranged, but the rest of the section is diplomaticallyplicated.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the Chinese government already knows that Kazakhstan is the leading country in Central Asia. But if we can¡¯t even be in charge of the railroad work, how will the southern Central Asian countries think of us?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°There are about 120 ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan. If we choose to live alone, they¡¯ll think that we¡¯ve abandoned Central Asia because all 120 ethnic groups are from all parts of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how much money the Chinese government has poured into Central Asian countries? It¡¯ll be impossible to give up on that now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that China should give up. I¡¯m just asking that you¡¯d tell our stance to the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you any answer at the moment. I¡¯ll let you know after I go back to my home country and consult with government officials.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan¡¯s delegation will visit China next month regardless of the Chinese government¡¯s schedule. Pleasee to a conclusion by then. If we can¡¯te to a conclusion, we won¡¯t participate in the project. We¡¯ll return the cost of the construction of the Kazakhstan section to the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s too premature to make such a decision. Shouldn¡¯t you give our government time to review it? Please consider theplex international dynamics.¡±


    Youngho acted as stubborn as he could, in order to give the impression that the Duke of Kazakhstan was a greedy man who was ignorant of international rtions. He had to act aggressively this way so that China would have to give in even some parts of the construction. That was the only way that Kazakhstan would be able to participate in the project in the rest of the Central Asian regions.


    China had lent a lot of pork-barrel loans to Central Asia while working on rail and road construction. Youngho wondered how China would react to Kazakhstan¡¯s sudden request to change the n.


    The Prime Minister and other ministers were excited about Youngho¡¯s action. Although Youngho¡¯s request was ridiculous and ignorant, China might be interested in his request since China could be relieved from the astronomical amount of invested funds if Kazakhstan helped.


    ¡°It was a divine move for you to hold a cab meeting while the special envoy was still here.¡±


    ¡°If I can get Ericsson¡¯s praise, I guess I can go on the international political stage now.¡±


    ¡°So far, your sess in business was only possible due to your great political sense. Your move to hold the military fair was also great as well as your request to China.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if my move would have worked without Kazakhstan¡¯s resources.¡±


    ¡°There are many other countries that have a lot of resources, but not as many countries are geographically in an advantageous ce as Kazakhstan. You¡¯re taking full advantage of that.¡±


    ¡°Well, thepliment makes me feel better. Keep going.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯ve worked out the Aegis destroyer issue smoothly as well. It was kind of an adventure for Ko? Holding.¡±


    ¡°Nothing has been decided yet. I¡¯m going to ask to build a ship to a country who actively participates in the arms industry exposition this time.¡±


    ¡°Take advantage of your home country. It¡¯s a country that can make enough weapons suitable for Kazakhstan¡¯s military. It should be a win-win business for both. You don¡¯t have to be too partial to Korea, but don¡¯t bother to exclude them. Korea will be happy as long as you have ties with it.¡±


    ***


    It was a known fact that Korea, a resource-poor country, was looking for resources.


    Doctor Park Young-sun used to be on a Korean resource exploration team before he settled down in the autonomous state after meeting Youngho. He knew Korea¡¯s situation well.


    Korea had some resources, but most of them were only produced in small quantities or buried deeply, so their prices were too high. The reason why Korea was so excited about the new government in Kazakhstan was because of the resources that Kazakhstan had. Since Youngho, who was Korean, became the Duke of Kazakhstan¡¯s royal family, Korean people were expecting some benefits from it.


    A number of Koreanpanies and bureaucrats visited Kazakhstan under the pretext of supporting the arms exposition, of which H Corporation was the most active.


    Thepany¡¯s president Kim Joo-hyuk had been pestering Youngho whenever he could, but this time he brought a car assembly nt project with him proudly.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m d to be able to return your favor this time.¡±


    ¡°Central Asia is huge, but the total poption is less than 100 million. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll lose money by building a car assembly nt here for nothing.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re thinking of producing multi-purpose vehicles. Vehicles like trucks and sport utility would be more efficient here. Of course, we n to do assemble trucks and buses here.¡±


    ¡°Would it be possible to have a technology transfer also?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not high technology. Of course, we will offer that.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of rtedpanies here, so you¡¯d have to bring in parts from Korea. How are you going to afford the transportation cost?¡±


    ¡°There are many routes to bring them to Kazakhstan. You won¡¯t have to worry about that part.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to get them through China, are you?


    Since Youngho was in the middle of taming China, he wanted to stop H Corporation from bringing parts through China.


    ¡°We can bring them in through the divostok, so it shouldn¡¯t be too much of a burden.


    ¡°I was scared that you¡¯d say you¡¯ll use the Chinese route.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re not going to cross the Chinese continent in any case.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk said it with a firm face. He could not make such a face unless there was a twisted business with China.


    ¡°China is building One Belt One Road through Central Asia right now. Anypany would want to save money on logistics. But, you wouldn¡¯t use that route?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll rather trust Russia than to trust China. Ourpany suffered huge losses because of China¡¯s greedst time.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Korean government actively intervene?¡±


    ¡°The South Korean government has no power to deal with China. We¡¯re just waiting for it to be resolved.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense that the government stays put while its ownpanies are at a disadvantage.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that the government didn¡¯t try, but what can we do when the government¡¯s arrangement is not enough?¡±


    ¡°I guess your losses were quite huge.¡±


    ¡°We experienced the sorrow of a powerless country this time. We were swayed by China, but we couldn¡¯t protest about our loss. I was so envious of Kazakhstan that raised its voice to China.¡±


    ¡°What a shame.¡±


    ¡°All Koreanpanies, including ourpany, are thinking of leaving China, but that is no easy task.¡±


    ¡°Then tell everyone toe to Kazakhstan. If Koreanpaniese in, it¡¯ll be a great pleasure for us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but we can¡¯t miss the huge Chinese market.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you make your products in Kazakhstan and export it to China?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government will make us pay the high tariff.¡±


    ¡°We can do something about that. If the Chinese government will take a tariff against Kazakhstan¡¯s products, China won¡¯t be able to touch a single resource of Kazakhstan in the future.¡±


    There was a definite benefit for being a resourceful country.


    Stopping a resource trade could be a threat to many countries that needed the resource.


    There was no need to be afraid of damage from the nonpliance of the contract. It was not Kazakhstan that would be regretful, but other countries orpanies who would be missing out.


    ¡°Your Highness, there are other reasons why we want to build a car assembly nt here.¡±


    ¡°Feel free to go on. I know that yourpany has been working hard in Kazakhstan, and I¡¯ll help you if there¡¯s anything I can do to help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to make an electric vehicle battery cell here.¡±


    ¡°Why do you have to make it here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to tap into the European market. Currently, Europe is not capable of producing battery cells. Recently, however, the European Commission announced that several European countries would form a consortium to produce batteries. It¡¯s intended to target Korea or Japan, which are battery powerhouses.¡±


    ¡°Is Korean battery so great?¡±


    ¡°As of now, the global electric vehicle battery market is dominated by businesses from Japan, China, and Korea. Among them, battery technology from L and Spanies in Korea are the mostpetitive. They are providing batteries to finished vehicles produced in Europe and the United States.¡±


    ¡°I see. Yourpany wants to get ahead in the European market, considering that other Koreanpanies are going to struggle in the future.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been preparing for this in advance. The electric car market is going to be a big trend. But since we are going to target Europe, it won¡¯t be efficient to produce them in Korea, so we¡¯d like to start from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°If you want to target the European market, you¡¯d have to put Kazakhstan¡¯sbel.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. You could say that Kazakhstan is both Europe and Asia.¡±


    Europe and Asia were geographically distinguished based on the Ural River, and in that case, the Arirang Autonomous State could be called Europe since it was located west to the river.


    ¡°With Kazakhstan¡¯s wealth of resources, we¡¯re confident that we can create innovative batteries that go beyond traditional ones.¡±


    ¡°This is good. You could start right away. I¡¯ll invest in it, too.¡±


    ¡°From the royal family?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easy to purchase raw materials that way since there are various factories in the royal territory? The necessary raw materials will be supplied to the cost of production. If yourpany¡¯s skills and our resources arebined together, we¡¯d be able to produce the best products.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m rather thankful. Also, we¡¯ve already set up a new road in Europe. You won¡¯t have to worry about transporting the products.¡±


    ¡°What does that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already started building the railroad.¡±


    ¡°You mean China¡¯s One Belt One Road business?¡±


    ¡°No. Kazakhstan has already been preparing its own Silk Road. We started the double railroad track work connecting Baku in Azerbaijan and Batumi in Georgia, as well as the railway from Baku to the Persian Gulf.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve opened a new way to the ck Sea from the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll be able to secure the shortest route to the ck Sea. It¡¯s shorter than the Russian Canal, and we can go to the Indian Ocean without going through the Suez Canal.¡±


    ¡°Russia must have a stomachache.¡±


    ¡°Russia started it first but backed up on its own due to financial problems. It¡¯ll realize that the cost of hitting Ukraine is huge.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions in advance, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little too early, but it feels great to be celebrated.¡±

 Chapter 482 - One-Way Road (1)

    <h4>Chapter 482: One-Way Road (1)</h4>


    China, which imed to be the center of the world, was bent on One Belt One Road project because it dreamed of bing the world¡¯s number one country, beating the United States.


    Since it was a chance for Kazakhstan to benefit from China¡¯s new Silk Road project, Youngho was trying to get involved in it too. He was ying greedy and stubborn, but he did not intend to drag China¡¯s project. He just wanted to make the most of this opportunity.


    One of the reasons why China was insisting on Kazakhstan was because of the city called Almaty. Located in the right side of southern Kazakhstan, it was Central Asia¡¯srgest transportation economic hub. It was north to the tau Mountains and surrounded by the Alma Atinka River. Its sceneries were so beautiful that it became a resting ce for nomads in the past.


    The Imperial Russia put efforts into establishing the city in the 19th century, so it even looked like old cities of Europe. One-tenth of the 18 million people living in Kazakhstan lived in Almaty. If such a huge city, Almaty, was excluded from the One Belt One Road project, it would be a huge loss for China.


    Almaty¡¯s ownpetitiveness was one thing, but the city¡¯s web-like transportationwork with southern Central Asian countries was something that could not be missed. In order to get to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, one must go through Almaty, so China had to earn Kazakhstan¡¯s favor.


    Youngho visited Almaty with government officials.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is the ce that was developed as a free trading zone.¡±


    ¡°And do you mean to destroy this beautiful ce?¡±


    ¡°I think China insisted on this side of the city.¡±


    ¡°I guess our former government officials just nodded to that.¡±


    ¡°We are not sure...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s strange that the Chinese government had picked this ce to set up a free trade zone out of so many other areas in Almaty. Can you identify who owns thend in this area?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to seeter from the investigation, but I¡¯m sure most of thendowners in the area are Chinese. If we participate in the Silk Road project, we are going to review all the railway lines. In particr, I¡¯ll thoroughly review the railroad lines that the Chinese government had specifically picked. Be aware of it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, wouldn¡¯t it be a problem to decide that without consulting the Chinese government?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure that the Chinese government won¡¯t touch the construction that will be done in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make a thorough investigation and give you a report on it.¡±


    ¡°And I want you to give me the list of former regime figures who were involved in this.¡±


    The Chinese government and officials had designated a free trade zone. They could not have done it without the former Kazakh government officials¡¯ help. It was clear that there was collusion between the Chinese government and former Kazakh government officials who could bend over backward for bribes.


    If the Chinese government was found to have intervened innd spection, it was a good opportunity to pressure China.


    ¡°Your Highness, thendowners of the free trade zone turned out to be Chinese like you said. The surrounding areas are also owned by the Chinese.¡±


    ¡°Is there anynd owned by Kazakh officials?¡±


    ¡°There are some.¡±


    ¡°Hand over all the data to the prosecution for a thorough investigation. And inform the Chinese government that Almaty¡¯s free trade zone will be set by us.¡±


    ¡°China will be surprised to hear this.¡±


    ¡°There must be more than one or two surprises ahead. But since China¡¯s guilty, it won¡¯t be able to say anything about it.¡±


    There were plenty of other areas in Almaty that could be set up as a free trade zone. ording to the investigation, the price of thend that China set as a free trade zone was tripled now because the Chinese had been repeatedly selling and buying thend with each other. It was a typical tactic to raise the market price.


    ***


    After thoroughly looking over the areas of Almaty, Youngho returned to Astana, the capital.


    The location of the railway construction site that he looked around this time made him think that the Chinese side picked only ces with good construction conditions. The section where only a few bridges could be built was lengthened to go around, and railroad stations were nned in ces with exceptionally good scenery. And all of those areas were upied by Chinesepanies and Chinese people. It seemed that China had intentions to take the best parts out of Kazakhstan to make most revenues. China was only trying to sell its products by making the railroad but had no intention to share benefits with surrounding countries.


    If that was the case, Youngho also intended to take advantage of China. Kazakhstan would be involved in this project by threatening China with Almaty. He could pay the construction cost since he could attract trustworthypanies using his connection to Basten, the representative of the Information Agency.


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, I¡¯ve heard Mr. Basten has a lot of friends. Is there anyone who can participate in One Belt One Road project?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to take over the Central Asian region?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like China to step back, but if I¡¯ll have to show that I can pay for the construction in order to make China yield.¡±


    ¡°Well, all of his friends like to invest in safety assets, so it won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s an unattractive business?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that it¡¯s not attractive, but that it takes longer to retrieve money than other investments.¡±


    ¡°Even though it¡¯s a goose thatys golden eggs?¡±


    ¡°They like geese that cany their eggs right away. They won¡¯t even look at baby geese.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan guarantees it, would it make a difference?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll trust the Kazakh royal family more than the Kazakh government.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to show them that the Central Asia section is a charming business.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be easy to invest because the routes involve Afghanistan or Iran. No one would be willing to pay for the path that will go through unstable countries.¡±


    ¡°We can ignore the Central Asian section and make it cross over the Caspian Sea through Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Do you know howplicated it is to usend route to a sea route then to go back onnd?¡±


    ¡°You should know that it¡¯ll shorten the distance than using and route only. It may be more convenient if it¡¯s equipped with a great transportation system.¡±


    As Youngho talked about, he was more convinced about the Caspian route. It would be much faster to cross the Caspian Sea rather than reaching Istanbul after passing through Central Asia and Iran. This would result in an increase in the number of logistics transported to and from the Caspian Sea. Then the shipyard at the autonomous state would naturally receive more orders.


    If the existing railways and roads connecting the East and West of Kazakhstan were properly repaired, they would be far more efficient than China¡¯s One Belt One Road route. Since Kazakhstan was t, the construction conditions would also be good. If Kazakhstan offered a much more attractive transportation route than the Central Asia section, would China still work on rough southern Central Asian routes?


    ¡°It¡¯s a groundbreaking route, but will the Chinese government really support it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a necessary path for us regardless of China. If China rejects a good option, it won¡¯t have the benefits thate with it in the future.¡±


    Because the route was already there, although the railways needed some repairing, it would be questionable if the Chinese government insisted on developing a new route despite its high cost.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Mr. Basten will be pleased to hear that. I¡¯ll call him to visit Kazakhstan sometime soon.¡±


    ¡°Please tell him I¡¯ll be very happy if he brought investors.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I will do that. Your Highness, you need to save resources to put Kazakhstan on top of the world. As soon as the resources are exhausted, Kazakhstan will be forgotten.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to exhaust all the resources without leaving things for future generations of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye on the transformation of the Middle Eastern countries.¡±


    The whole world knew that oil-rich Middle Eastern countries were trying to prepare for the future where they would eventually run out of oil. Youngho intended to make progress in a totally different way from them.


    Although they were beckoning the world by creating mirage-like cities that only sought mour, western countries already knew that it was only a money party after all.


    The Arabs were saying that they were creating the financial hubs, but foreigners were the ones that sustained their cities. In 20 years, their wealth would copse as they would run out of their gas since the world was desperately looking for a new energy source now. However, Kazakhstan would not be a country that relied solely on oil and gas. Most of the country¡¯snd was undeveloped yet, and it was still yet to be revealed how much resources were deposited in thend.


    The reason that Doctor Park Young-sun was traveling the whole western Kazakhstan with his exploration team was to investigate its resources and how much was left there. Kazakhstan would develop all its industries evenly to prepare for the time when all of its resources were exhausted.


    ¡°There is a limit to the transformation of Middle Eastern countries. They say they¡¯re going to be the financial center of the world, but do you think the West is going to empower the Middle East?¡±


    ¡°The world is taking their transformation as a fresh change.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the case now. However, an economic structure that relies only on imports cannot guarantee the future. The reason that Kazakhstan is still a developing country is that it has ignored the basic industry relying on its resources.¡±


    ¡°There will be a lot of difficulties in improving Kazakhstan¡¯s mindset. The idleness of the nomads could be a stumbling block for Kazakhstan¡¯s development into an industrial society.¡±


    ¡°I know it won¡¯t be easy since I¡¯ll have to change everything. I trust in the power of Kazakh people. There¡¯s only one country in the world where 120 peoples live in harmony.¡±


    ¡°If Your Highness is firm about it, Kazakhstan will definitely be the country that the whole world pays attention to. I¡¯m very happy to work in a country where the future is so bright. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you.¡±


    ¡°You givepliments so often these days.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was envious of the strange passion that Europeans don¡¯t have.¡±

 Chapter 483 - One-Way Road (2)

    <h4>Chapter 483: One-Way Road (2)</h4>


    China also did not have the right to oppose Kazakhstan when it wanted to pay for the construction of One Belt One Road in Kazakhstan¡¯s section. To China, the problem was that Kazakhstan was adamant that it would also be involved in the southern Central Asian sections. Even if Chinapleted its route to southern Central Asia, it would be meaningless if it failed to persuade Kazakhstan since it was an important location on the way to Europe.


    The previous administration of Kazakhstan waspliant with China¡¯s n of the One Belt One Road project, but now it was changed by 180 degrees. Youngho, who caused a huge problem to China¡¯s n, was now nning something else at the royal pce in the royal property with Basten and other investors.


    ¡°China ims to be the world¡¯s central state, but I want to stress that Kazakhstan stands at the core of the world.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, are you talking about the One Belt One Road project when you say Kazakhstan is in the center of the world?¡±


    ¡°It has been the center of transportation logistics from the past. I¡¯d like to remind you of the importance of Kazakhstan¡¯s role on the Silk Road in the past.¡±


    ¡°Europeans don¡¯t know about the importance of Central Asia because Europe was the destination.¡±


    ¡°You might not know that the Trans-Siberian Railway and Kazakhstan¡¯s Northeast and West North Lines are already connected. If a straight line to the Caspian Sea is added on top of that, China won¡¯t be able to resist it. It¡¯s a golden route to exaggerate a little bit.¡±


    ¡°What if China changes the course to Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan¡¯s East-West transportationwork is a route for China and Central Asian countries to go to Europe, but it¡¯s also an entry route. Southern Central Asian countries cannot go to Europe, let alone Russia unless they get through Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°You mean Kazakhstan¡¯s route is absolute.¡±


    ¡°Even if China gives up on this route, East-West trafficworks are worth saving.¡±


    Listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, Basten and the investors all shook their heads. Although it was a bit of an argument that Kazakhstan was the center of the earth, it seemed to be profitable to invest in infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan considering its bright future.


    In addition to guaranteeing the cost of the project, the royal family was also giving incentives to the investors if they started their business in Kazakhstan in the future.


    ¡°Since Your Highness is so confident about it, I don¡¯t see a reason why we should be hesitant. Now that you¡¯ve already heard the terms of your investment, your decision is all there¡¯s left.¡±


    Basten asked for other investors¡¯ intentions.


    ¡°Mr. Basten, you don¡¯t have to be in such a hurry. Time¡¯s on our side, anyway.¡±


    ¡°There is no reason to hesitate since you¡¯d be carrying out the construction regardless of China.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be toote to make decisions after our delegation came back from visiting China. We¡¯ll be able to calm southern countries¡¯ resistance when we have the justification that China had rejected our request. The southern countries are expecting that the One Belt One Road business will boost their sagging economy.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do when China says it will give up the southern route because of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°I have my own n.¡±


    South Asian countries were still under the charm of China¡¯s pork-barrel investment to their countries, not knowing China¡¯s true intentions, but there would be no leader who would put his head into the bear¡¯s mouth to earn some minimal transportation costs.


    If they would insist, Youngho was going to overthrow their governments even by encouraging the anti-government organizations of each country. He was already funding them in secret.


    Basten and European investors flew to Kazakhstan as soon as Eriksson contacted them. Kazakhstan was a very attractive investment destination for them. They would be hesitant if the Kazakh government was leading the business, but since the royal family was on the lead, they were all excited. The royal family of Kazakhstan was known to have an astronomical heritage inherited from the Serbian kingdom, on top of the Duke¡¯s own huge assets.


    Not only that, the family had full support from Kazakh people, even though it was just born.


    Kazakhstan was a prospective country that was continuing to develop. The adoption of the constitutional monarchy itself aroused curiosity, but it was now going against China¡¯s will like it was nothing. The people who visited the royal territory today all believed that there had got to be something that Kazakhstan believed in to act out so boldly against China.


    ***


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to visit Kazakhstan so soon, Mr. Basten.¡±


    ¡°How can I stay put when Your Highness wants to see me? I had toe as soon as I could.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve made a mistake for the busy man. You¡¯ve worked hard for Kazakhstan. Is there anything you need? I¡¯ll help you as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°We promised to help you, but we didn¡¯t do much.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? We¡¯ve received technology transfer of Sweden¡¯s fighter jet manufacturing technology.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you earned from having a legitimate deal. You didn¡¯t even give me a chance to move.¡±


    ¡°Can anyone make such a deal? It must¡¯ve been risky for Sweden to take such a step to deal with Kazakhstan. It¡¯s all because of you. And Sweden was the first country to respond to participate for our arms industry exposition.¡±


    ¡°I was surprised to hear that you¡¯re holding a fair. Even in the developed world, many countries don¡¯t dare to hold a global conference like that. Many times, you don¡¯t get to achieve your goal even after spending a huge budget on it.¡±


    ¡°I decided to venture out of doors hoping that the world will pay attention to Kazakhstan. Sess is a secondary goal. The fair is a lure. I was only trying to get a chance to interact with military contractors in developed countries.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You are indeed a bold guy.¡±


    It would be too much to ask if Youngho wanted the arms industry fair in Kazakhstan to be a sess. Although there was now that said not to hold such fair in Kazakhstan, the resource fair fitted the reality of Kazakhstan. But he chose the military fair to ovee the reality of being caught in the midst of great powers. There was a need to show a false attitude to achieve that. He went overboard since there was a chance to get useful weapons if he got lucky.


    ¡°Your Highness, I didn¡¯t do much to help you, but I want to ask you a favor.¡±


    ¡°Feel free to ask. I¡¯ll do anything for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy Kazakhstan¡¯s gold. Would it be possible?¡±


    Youngho had quite a lot of gold himself now. The Kazakh government was also nning to produce more than 100 tons of gold every year.


    ¡°Is there a problem in the world financial market?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll fluctuate sooner orter. That¡¯s another reason I came to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. market seems to be pretty firm now, and I don¡¯t think the European market will shake either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s China.¡±


    ¡°What? The country that¡¯s shaking the whole world for its One Belt One Road business?¡±


    ¡°China¡¯s nation¡¯s debt level has reached the highest level in the world. China¡¯s rapid growth is due to its credit expansion policy. China¡¯s total debt reached 260 percent of its GDP now. It¡¯s already at a dangerous level, but if it goes beyond this point, it can trigger an economic crisis at any time.¡±


    People said that when China sneezed, the world would catch a cold.


    Experts were pointing out that as a single country, China¡¯s debt problem would be beyond its borders, as its contribution to the global economy was the highest since China had contributed more than a third of the world¡¯s economic growth.


    ¡°It seems that China is using the One Belt One Road project to hide its internal crisis.¡±


    ¡°Do most countries know about this?¡±


    ¡°They know, but the domestic market that 1.3 billion people consume is also a formidable one, and everyone thinks that China will be able to hold up.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re the only one that doesn¡¯t believe that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing bad about taking extra caution. The dor or euro, the key currencies, could be hit hard by the economic crisis that China will bring. That¡¯s why we must increase our gold holdings in case of a rainy day.¡±


    Youngho originally nned to lower the ratio of Kazakhstan¡¯s foreign debts from next year, but he decided to have the government pay them off right away. Any gold produced in the country would be stored in the Central Bank anyway, so he nned to increase the volume of Kazakhstan¡¯s currency to boost its domestic demand. In other words, Basten gave him valuable information, not to mention that Youngho now had another card to pressure China.


    ¡°How much gold do you need?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    When Youngho suddenly asked how much gold he needed, Basten was startled.


    ¡°You said you need gold, and I told you I¡¯ll do anything for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so surprised to see you decide so quickly. Can you control the government-controlled gold?¡±


    ¡°I have some in the royal pce, too.¡±


    ¡°I need about five tons of gold, so can you do that?¡±


    ¡°I can give you a little more if you want.¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯vee to you earlier since you¡¯re so generous like this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got one condition for you though.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Can I get it in yourpany¡¯s stock, not in dors or euros?¡±


    The Information Agency was not listed on the stock market, but it was a major shareholder of the global fighter jet maker, Saab Group. Youngho said that he would get a stake of the Information Agency since he would be able to attract globalpanies to Kazakhstan if he did.


    Basten, who was lost in thought silently for a while, grinned.


    ¡°If the Kazakh royal family participates as a shareholder, we will have a strong ally, not to mention it will gain the military strength of the royal family. It is an honor to have Your Highness as a stockholder.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a huge favor. So Eriksson¡¯s staying here would not be a problem at all in the future as well.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural for arge shareholder to run his own staff.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson has been a big help to us. I¡¯d like to give some of the shares to Eriksson.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson will be moved.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you for sending me a good man.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t send him. He volunteered.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought you sent him.¡±


    ¡°He always thanked you for saving his life in Chechnya. He said he was born again that day. When he said that he would repay you for that, I couldn¡¯t stop him. And in fact, it¡¯ll be a waste of his talent if he stayed in our Information Agency, so I had to let him go.¡±


    Youngho once apanied Eriksson to Chechnya when he met Chechen rebels, and he was lucky enough to save Eriksson. It was nothing to Youngho or Jong-il, but for Eriksson, it was surviving from death. It had been years and Youngho hadpletely forgotten about it, but it seemed that Eriksson and Basten¡¯s favor to Youngho had been because of that event.


    ¡°It was an escort service to protect Eriksson. I would have tried to save anyone.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson said that he would not have been able to survive from there if it wasn¡¯t for you and your friend.¡±


    ¡°If Eriksson¡¯s staying with me just because of that, I can¡¯t have him here any longer. I always feel sorry that he¡¯s living apart from his family because he¡¯s staying in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Neither Eriksson nor I don¡¯t think that way. He wants to stay near you, so don¡¯t push him away.¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯d go back to the Information Agency one day.¡±


    ¡°Sweden is his home, and he owns a stake in thepany. Of course, he¡¯d want to return someday. But I think Eriksson is happy to be here. He¡¯s more energetic than ever, and I¡¯m jealous. I¡¯ve never seen such a bright side of him when he worked for ourpany.¡±


    Eriksson had been on Youngho¡¯s mind since he felt sorry for Eriksson for leaving his home. It was a relief to hear that he looked very happy in the eyes of Basten. It seemed that Eriksson was attracted to the dynamic side of Kazakhstan than being in the Information Agency where money was the priority. Working for Kazakhstan was giving him a sense of achievement.

 Chapter 484 - Kazakhstans Choice (1)

    <h4>Chapter 484: Kazakhstan¡¯s Choice (1)</h4>


    ¡®To build a harmonious world of peaceful development.¡¯ While reading the signboard of China¡¯s One Belt One Road project office, Park Jong-il smirked.


    ¡°Harmonious world? That¡¯s funny. It¡¯s just a huge scam.¡±


    ¡°The project promoters provided information, and the Trade-Investment Promotion Agency bought ournd. The Chinese side said that it was done stopping local people¡¯s attempt fornd spection.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like a cat caring for a mouse. Who¡¯s worried about who? Why would Kazakh people who have vastnd be involved innd spection¡ªunless they¡¯ve gone crazy?¡±


    ¡°Can we punish them with Kazakhstan¡¯sw?¡±


    ¡°What would you do by imprisoning Chinese government officials? Anyone can buy and sellnd in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s not possible, find something to nitpick on so that we can close down the Chinese One Belt One Road promoter¡¯s office.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too much? We should wait until the delegation returns from China before doing anything reckless.¡±


    ¡°China has already shown its dark side since its Trade-Investment Promotion Agency bought thend around the free trade zone. You don¡¯t think they were only involved innd spection, do you? Haven¡¯t you seen them illegally plundering diamonds in Siberia? Mobilize agents and police officers to investigate every activity of Chinesepanies in ournd.¡±


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d take a break, but these guys are making me restless.¡±


    ¡°You can rest forever when you die.¡±


    ¡°Man, I was hoping I can take advantage of having a friend who¡¯s the Duke of Kazakhstan, but it seems like I¡¯m always in the field.¡±


    ¡°You and I both are not destined to rest. Just endure your destiny.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to retire in ten years, so don¡¯t try to hold on to me.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s Intelligence Department, which now was Kazakhstan¡¯s national intelligence service, had been investigating China¡¯s One Belt One Road promoter¡¯s office. As it turned out the Chinese side was involved innd spection, the Chinese side made an excuse that it was done preventing the fluctuation of the price ofnd in the free trade zone.


    It was not illegal for foreigners to buynd in Kazakhstan, but the Chinese government¡¯s ill motives were obvious.


    ¡°If China gets away from doing this without any punishment, what would China think of us? There¡¯s no excuse for cheating Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We have already notified them that we should change our business ns, so let¡¯s take some time to sort this. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have a dispute with China.¡±


    ¡°China can never do anything about Kazakhstan. The representative of the Information Agency, Basten, says that the Chinese economy is in crisis. It¡¯s so full of bubbles that it won¡¯t be weird if it could go bankrupt at any moment. They can¡¯t afford to invest abroad, but the only way China can survive is through exports.¡±


    ¡°Really? I guess the Chinese government absolutely needs us for this project.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they have no choice but to follow as we set our course.¡±


    Then Park Jong-il squinted his eyes and approached Youngho closely. When Park Jong-il did this, he always came up with some kind of trick, not a normal way to deal with an issue.


    ¡°Why are you sitting close to me? You get freaky when you do that.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve be an expert of me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a country-to-country affair, so don¡¯t try to be clumsy.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t disappoint you, so listen to me first. I¡¯m going to get Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on our side.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government made an investmentmitment to those countries, right? But they haven¡¯t made much progress on their initial promise. We should squeeze into that gap.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°We should get the two countries to step out of One Belt One Road? We¡¯ll suggest a benefit in return for them stepping down. Wouldn¡¯t that be worth a try?¡±


    ¡°There are a thousand ces to spend money here in Kazakhstan, we can¡¯t afford that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re the center country of Central Asia. If we convince those two countries well, they¡¯ll rather choose us than to follow China¡¯s lead. Words don¡¯t resolve anything. We should actively shake them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m already funding their anti-government organizations.¡±


    ¡°That takes too long. Maybe you¡¯ll see results in 50 years. I don¡¯t know about Uzbekistan, but Kyrgyz is about to copse. Let¡¯s take this opportunity to resolve there first.¡±


    ***


    Kyrgyzstan was a country smaller than the Korean Penins, with a poption of only 5.5 million, but it was made up of about 80 multiracial groups like Kazakhstan.


    Eighty percent of the country¡¯snd was a mountainous region more than 2,000 meters above sea level, boasting beautiful natural scenery that was called the Alps of Central Asia, and only about eight percent of the country¡¯snd could be utilized. Because of that, unemployment was over ten percent of the poption, and GDP was less than 1,500 dors per person.


    When Park Jong-il told Youngho to resolve Kyrgyzstan, Youngho thought about it deeply whenever he had free time. Jong-il¡¯s words meant that Kazakhstan should take Kyrgyzstan.


    He wondered how China would react if Kyrgyzstan was absorbed into Kazakhstan. If Kazakhstan were to stand in the way of One Belt One Road project, China would take Kyrgyzstan as a secondary solution, although the route would get unnecessarily longer in distance. From Youngho¡¯s point of view, it would be annoying to have an additional 850-kilometer extension of the border with China, but it was quite tempting since Kyrgyzstan had a lot of gold as its underground resource. Even with the increase in the border, it would not be a problem since the Tian Shan Mountains would be blocking China¡¯s entry.


    ¡°Your Highness, Kyrgyzstan has a significant amount of deposits of gold, charcoal, uranium, and rare metals.¡±


    ¡°We also got a lot of resources. Is there anything else to note?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a mountainke, Issyk-Kul. It¡¯s the secondrgest mountainke after Lake Titicaca in South America.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the world¡¯s secondrgest mountainke?¡±


    ¡°It is ake that does not freeze even in winter because of its low salinity. Its length is 177 kilometers and width is 57 kilometers.¡±


    ¡°What would a mountainke do to help us?¡±


    ¡°Theke could be the most important part of Kyrgyzstan. Some parts of southern Kazakhstan are importing electric power from Kyrgyzstan now. Since theke is in the mountain, it has great potential in waterpower generation. The only problem is that it¡¯s an area that¡¯s exceptionally prone to earthquakes.¡±


    Almaty, which was close to Kyrgyzstan was oncepletely devastated by an earthquake.


    Eriksson said earthquakes often urred, but Youngho did not really care about that. The charm of Kyrgyzstan was none other than gold. He had no idea what the estimated reserves were, but gold was Kyrgyzstan¡¯s first export item.


    ¡°Currently, how much gold reserves and production does Kyrgyz have per year?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 25 tons a year which is one-fifth of Kazakhstan¡¯s. They would be able to produce an amount that¡¯s equal to Kazakhstan¡¯s if they engaged in more active gold mine development. The estimated amount of reserves is 10,000 tons.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to judge.¡±


    ¡°We have more to lose than gain if we decide to take over Kyrgyzstan, but once it gets within China¡¯s reach, we might lose Tajikistan as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not particrly in love with Kyrgyzstan, but I guess we should get involved for Kazakhstan¡¯s peace.¡±


    ¡°Kyrgyzstan may not have much, but someday it might be the world¡¯s best resort-like Switzend. Also, we don¡¯t know what¡¯s hidden in the Tian Shan Mountains unless we explore the region.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s weigh international rtions and start working on it if there are no major obstacles.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the border dispute between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyz rather than getting directly involved?¡±


    ¡°Why would we pour oil on the fire that already exists between the two?¡±


    ¡°That will give us the justification to be involved in those two countries¡¯ affairs.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re using the border dispute between the two countries, which coulde at the expense of the two people¡¯s lives.¡±


    ¡°There are still frequent armed struggles between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. If we resolve it once and for all with one big event, it could be a one-shot solution to prevent more sacrifices.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to step in and do it myself if I could.¡±


    ¡°Kyrgyzstan is a strictly independent country. We must take the role of the middleman if we think about the rtions between Kyrgyzstan and other countries around the world. Then we should encourage the people of Kyrgyzstan to choose Kazakhstan in the future.¡±


    ***


    The One Belt One Road promoter¡¯s office in Almaty was shut down and pulled out. As the prosecution and police expanded their investigation to other Chinesepanies in Almaty, the Chinese government quietly closed its office. In other words, it was the same as the Chinese government admitting to itself that there were more illegal activities going on under the table.


    Illegal activitiesmitted by Chinesepanies were countless. There were already cases of human trafficking, which was taken by a shock.


    Biracial beauties in Kazakhstan were being sold to China for cheap money. In particr, mixed-race girls of vic descent were very popr. This happened in Kazakhstan, where it was supposed to be well off in Central Asia. It would be more severe in countries like Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.


    When Youngho looked up after looking at data that Prime Minister Kasim brought, he also stared at the ceiling.


    ¡°Prime Minister, what do you mean by human trafficking under the pretext of marriage?¡±


    ¡°It means people pay to buy brides from their parents.¡±


    ¡°Is it still happening now?¡±


    ¡°With the new government in ce, we haveunched a crackdown, and all international marriage agencies were shut down. It¡¯s all happened when the previous regime was in ce.¡±


    ¡°But the Chinesepanies were involved in this kind of illegal activities without fear. Make a formalint to the Chinese government. If you don¡¯t return Kazakhstan¡¯s daughters, One Belt One Road will be gone.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as easy as you think. They¡¯re not taken by force, but decided to be sold on their own.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they would be having a normal marriage in China? Probably eight or nine out of ten girls would be sold to illegal prostitution businesses.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, the faces of Prime Minister Kasim and other cab members sitting in the conference room turned red. Such an idea was unthinkable in a former secr Muslim country.


    ¡°We need to start with a thorough investigation. The Chinese government will be stuck when we give them concrete evidence. Please inform the Kyrgyz and Uzbek governments of this too. The nations of Central Asia should speak with one voice. I¡¯m so embarrassed that I can¡¯t bear it. It¡¯s degrading that Kazakhstan¡¯s daughters have to face this.¡±


    ¡°There are many people that are protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy because of the Chinesepanies¡¯ involvement in illegal activities. This is also a great opportunity to press the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°If you have the departure data of the Kazakh girls and Chinese people who bought them, you¡¯ll be able to track them down. And tell families to report if their family members who went abroad are missing.¡±


    ¡°Many families would keep quiet rather than being embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a national problem. If we don¡¯t correct it now, our next generations will point fingers at us.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the sentiments of those who believe in Im are different from what you think. Any women who got married now belong to other families.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they don¡¯t belong to their original families anymore, but to the new government and royal family of Kazakhstan, they are still the daughters of Kazakhstan. We have to correct that wrong tradition first. Is it possible to sell people with money in the 21st century? Religious freedom is guaranteed now, but they still have ill traditions packaged in the name of religion, which must be eliminated now. Only then will we be able to take a step to be an advanced country.¡±


    Youngho was too furious that he mentioned about sensitive religious issues. However, as he was done speaking, ministers started apuding. It seemed that his mention of ¡®the daughters of Kazakhstan¡¯ had moved their hearts.

 Chapter 485 - Kazakhstan’s Choice (2)

    <h4>Chapter 485: Kazakhstan¡¯s Choice (2)</h4>


    Kazakhstan was located at the geographically important route of the Silk Road, so countless immigrants passed by it. Even now, the ce was where 1200 ethnic groups lived together harmoniously regardless of race or ethnicity.


    The concept of being a stranger is also rare. However, people were especially hostile to China and Russia. It was because of their conflicts with the two countries in history.


    People were furious as the human trafficking of China became an issue.


    To nomads, children were works and assets of a family. Sons would be workers and shepherds, and daughters were responsible for house chores, and they were treated special since the families would receive dowry when their daughters were married off. Because of such tradition, the families agreed to send daughters to China. They had no idea that their daughters would get involved in prostitution when they were sent to China.


    As the atmosphere of rallying against Chinese people in Kazakhstan had be so overheated that some Chinese were even threatened by their lives. Some of them asked for police¡¯s help, and some left the country.


    The formation of anti-Chinese sentiment was a good opportunity to shake up One Belt One Road project, but it was a problem that the antipathy toward China had spread to the boycott of Chinese products.


    Chinese goods ounted for such arge portion of the economy of Kazakhstan, and there were even signs that prices would fluctuate.


    ¡°Man, the atmosphere is strange. If we even boycott Chinese goods, we can¡¯t afford to meet the demands of daily necessities in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, do you think the Chinese merchants will just leave? They¡¯ll get rid of their products even at dirt cheap prices.¡±


    ¡°In your dreams. They¡¯d store them in the warehouse ande back to sell them in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem. I intend to change all the import lines during the absence of Chinese merchants.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to buy expensive European products. What do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already asked a Korean ambassador and Sergey in Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you? You never ask help from a Korean ambassador.¡±


    ¡°They say Koreans love Kazakhstan now. I can¡¯t ignore them.¡±


    ¡°My friends are going crazy too. Everyone wants to move here. They think they can take advantage of my title as the Director of the intelligence department.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that we are economically developing country, but a constitutional state that¡¯s tighter than Europe.¡±


    ¡°How many Kazakh women can¡¯t be reached?¡±


    ¡°More than 150 people have been reported so far.¡±


    ¡°Man, China will have toply with us for sure if it still wants to aplish One Belt One Road project.¡±


    ¡°All southern Central Asian countries epted loan from China. If China presses them financially, they¡¯ll all have to face national bankruptcy.¡±


    ¡°China is also not in great shape. China will have to dere the default first.¡±


    ¡°I wish that¡¯ll be the case.¡±


    The moment China¡¯s road passed through Central Asia, Kazakhstan¡¯s peace would break. China did not think of Asia as a transport route only. It was going to economically subjugate them first so that they would be made China¡¯s satellite states in the future. The road should be opened by Kazakhstan¡¯s power, not by Chinese capital, in order to secure Central Asia¡¯s peace.


    ***


    The issue of the border dispute between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan began to emerge in the 1920s. It was still going on over unsettled 324-kilometer section out of 1,376-kilometer-long border between the two countries. Moreover, it got even more sensitive because some Uzbeks resided in the area upied by Kyrgyz people.


    Uzbekistan was pushing it with its strong national power, and Kyrgyzstan seemed to be cornered often, it could not be resolved so easily because this was deeply rted to the existence of the current regime of both countries. The reason why they could not find a solution, even though they could draw a reasonable conclusion, was because the understanding of each country¡¯s politicians wasplicatedly interrted to this issue. The two countries were involved in numerous disputes that their regions was called the powder keg of Central Asia.


    Youngho had a meeting with the Cab members to talk about this issue.


    ¡°China¡¯s intentions have been revealed to the public, and we can¡¯t let it have its own way. Then, all of south Central Asia will go into China¡¯s hands. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will have to fight for the peace of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Intelligence Chief Park, do you think Kyrgyzstan will ask us to mediate?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do. When the IS vited Kyrgyzstan¡¯s border, the country let us cross its border to resolve it. I don¡¯t think Kyrgyzstan will ask China¡¯s help to resolve its dispute with Uzbekistan. It will be us.¡±


    ¡°If we step in, will Uzbekistan remain silent?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to inform in advance that we¡¯re going to mediate between the two. Uzbekistan will like that too since no country likes war.¡±


    ¡°So will our troops be deployed at the border?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll have to show our overwhelming force to stop the conflict.¡±


    If Kazakh military would be deployed at the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, it would be an upational force there from then on. In the meantime, under-the-table operations by intelligence agents would be persistently carried out. They would create an atmosphere among people that Kyrgyzstan should be annexed Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t like it because I think we, who own the great power in Central Asia, seem to cling to a small country. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to open a way for Kyrgyzstan to stand up alone for the sake of future generations?¡±


    The Minister of Justice, a former professor at Kazakhstan State University, touched on the most sensitive part of the issue. He was the one who insisted to give more power to the royal authority during a public hearing on the new constitution when the revolutionary government was still there.


    ¡°Minister, you have a point, but what are we going to do when Kyrgyz politicians move in a direction that we don¡¯t want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this because we don¡¯t have much to gain even if we take Kyrgyzstan. Even if China was determined to take over Kyrgyzstan, would it be possible when the internationalmunity is watching? I don¡¯t think it would be a threat to us even if Kyrgyzstan became a socialist country in the worst case. At that time, we will already be in the ranks of advanced countries.¡±


    Youngho was also concerned about that, but stopping China from advancing to Central Asia was a matter of priority. If Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan would not open ways for China, China would not be able to cross Central Asia. China could cross over Pakistan¡¯s Pamir teau, which was called the roof of the world, but it was a rough way.


    ¡°I already considered that too. It won¡¯t be an immediate threat to us, but if Kyrgyzstan bes subjugated to China, we will have China¡¯s threat under our chin. This is an absolute for the future of Kazakhstan. We¡¯ll only achieve peace when we¡¯re determined to have war.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to resolve the border issue between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan regardless of China anyway. We can¡¯t have powder keg right beneath us. Also, it won¡¯t be forced annexation of Kyrgyzstan. We¡¯ll make the people of Kyrgyzstan choose us.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, did you enjoy your honeymoon?¡±


    ¡°I came back safely thanks to your consideration.¡±


    ¡°I heard you received a great wee in Korea?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was great from Incheon International Airport. I had to do countless interviews with reporters.¡±


    Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa had a simple wedding ceremony in the royal territory, and went to Korea to have a bigger wedding with their rtives. Since they were known to have worked in the secretarial office of the Kazakh royal family, they enjoyed a reputation during their stay in Korea.


    ¡°I saw the article you guys interviewed and it seems like you pushed it too much, kiddo.¡±


    ¡°I just told the true nature of Her Majesty and Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°You made me a joke. You turned the Queen into an angel and me into a ridiculous Napoleon with no impossibilities.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. I was going to brag more, but I had to suppress my desire because I knew you¡¯d be like this.¡±


    During their visit to Korea, Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa enjoyed as much poprity as idol stars in Korea. From Tbilisi Airport in Georgia, where they first met Youngho, to being selected as royal secretary, their story was enough to wow young people. They exaggeratedly bragged that they took a leap of faith to quit a stable job at Youngho¡¯s earnest request. In addition, they interviewed that Youngho¡¯s reputation in Europe was as influential as the British and German premiers.


    ¡°You know it¡¯s a great crime to drag the royal family into your story to show off, right?¡±


    ¡°You are kidding, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Your work in the royal territory ends today. You should return to the Duke¡¯s secretarial office. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I haven¡¯t even made a baby yet. You¡¯re taking back your words that I have to make three babies before returning?¡±


    ¡°Babies can wait. Kim Il-kwon can¡¯t be away from Baku, so you need to take the position.¡±


    ¡°So, does that mean I have to carry a gun? I haven¡¯t finished my training yet, so it¡¯s too early.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not a bodyguard. You¡¯re just an assistant.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Since Youngho stayed more in the royal territory than in Astana, he made Min-seok his old job back. Suh Min-seok did not need to help Commissioner Kim in the royal territory since there were a lot of talented people who could do the job as the young generation of Serbians and Koreans in their early 20s were now taking over different job fields including administration jobs after graduating from schools.


    Some might say that important industries were only concentrated in the royal territory, but this could not be helped since there were not so many young people who were trained to work in job fields that required cutting-edge technology in Kazakhstan anyway.


    If the royal territory was to be operated properly, the ripple effects would flow to the entire nation, so it should not be too much of a concern.


    Soon, many young students from science and engineering majors in Korea woulde to breathe new life into the Kazakhstan. This was because Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa had set fire to Korean youths and charmed them.

 Chapter 486 - Kazakhstan’s Choice (3)

    <h4>Chapter 486: Kazakhstan¡¯s Choice (3)</h4>


    ¡°You know, Israel never admitted that it has a nuclear power, but most countries believe that. So I was thinking, why don¡¯t we make other countries believe that we have nuclear power?¡±


    ¡°Are you going insane finally? How do we make it look like we have a nuclear weapon that we don¡¯t have? Kazakhstan will be isted if we tried that.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to have a nuclear weapon? We¡¯re building a nuclear power nt. Don¡¯t you think we¡¯ll need a reprocessing nt anyway?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be suspected at the moment we start building a reprocessing nt. Any fuel rod from our nuclear energy nt will be disposed of without reprocessing.¡±


    ¡°The U.S., Russia, and China said they would cut back on nuclear weapons, but they still have hundreds. There¡¯s now that says only they get to have them.¡±


    ¡°We are a member of the international nuclear agreement. Even if it¡¯s made in secret, we can¡¯t let other countries know about it. It¡¯ll be useless.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be recognized as a country with a nuclear power. What¡¯s there to gossip about it? We¡¯ll just open it only in the worst-case scenario.¡±


    Everybody knew that the desert area in the middle of Kazakhstan used to be a nuclear test site in the Soviet era. Although it was said to have conducted a nuclear test underground, they did not allow people toe close within a radius of 50 kilometers from the site due to radioactivity. Despite that, animals that lived around the area were born deformed. That was why Kazakhstan dered denuclearization when it became an independent country.


    The major reason was that Russia wanted to continue using the central desert as a nuclear test site even after independence. To prevent that, Kazakhstan had no choice but to dismantle its nuclear program.


    Park Jong-il expected a little bit of a nuclear weapon hidden in Kazakhstan.


    He had visited all the secret bases scattered across the country because he had the authority to ess military secrets as much as possible by the status of the intelligence chief. They were Kazakhstan¡¯s secret bases, but in reality, they were storage areas for intercontinental ballistic missiles that were installed during the Soviet era.


    The secret bases had been maintaining its facilities due to Russia¡¯s pressure, so they were in good shape that they could be used as missile bases at any moment.


    ¡°Compared to Russia¡¯s and China¡¯s armed forces, our forcesg far behind. We don¡¯t have a lot of soldiers, and weapons are full of old stuff. Looking into them makes me feel drained.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re holding an arms industry fair and building an arms factory in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°When are we going to catch up with other countries at this rate? I¡¯m telling you, we need to prepare nuclear weapons secretly. There are lots of engineers in Kazakhstan, who used to make nuclear weapons in the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so obsessed with nuclear weapons?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying we should use them. We¡¯re just going to keep it for the sake of the future. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ll be relieved to have such weapons for just in case? You know, even after you die, Leon and my son will be safe.¡±


    ¡°What if our kids get involved with fire?¡±


    ¡°Man, is that why you can¡¯t do it? You¡¯re kidding me.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s opinion was notpletely ridiculous.


    Powerful nations had already made all of their nuclear weapons in the past and only destroyed some of them enough to make them look good, and vowed never to use the rest.


    No one believed it, but they could not do anything about such weapons now.


    The powerful nations meant to prevent countries that were out of control from having nuclear weapons, but they did not prevent Israel or Pakistan from getting their nuclear weapons.


    Even North Korea, which was insane, had conducted several nuclear tests and was urging other countries to recognize it as a nuclear power.


    If he could, Youngho also wanted to have a nuclear power. He was just worried that Kazakhstan would be isted internationally.


    ¡°It¡¯s rather simple to make them right?¡±


    ¡°Even the North Koreans are making it. It won¡¯t make sense that Kazakhstan, that has Soviet-era nuclear engineers, can¡¯t make it.¡±


    ¡°How did you know the nuclear weapons engineers were in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°I only learned about them while I was doing research on them.¡±


    He looked flustered, which was quite suspicious.


    Youngho only thought that the number of weapons research engineers in the royal territory was increased, but it was not the case. They were nuclear weapon engineers hired by Jong-il.


    ¡°When did you start preparing this?¡±


    ¡°What did I prepare? I just hired any weapons engineers who worked in the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°How good are those engineers?¡±


    ¡°I heard that the nuclear technology that time was at its peak. If it¡¯s not strategic nuclear, tactical nukes don¡¯t go into the atmosphere, so you don¡¯t need high-level technology.¡±


    ¡°Are you confident they¡¯ll keep secrets?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the secret between the royal family and us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to do experiments to test the weapons¡¯ performance? How are we going to do that?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s made with the advanced technology from the Soviet era, we should just trust its performance. You don¡¯t have to take that kind of adventure by testing them in the open air if you can prove it in theb.¡±


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯ve really studied about it.¡±


    ¡°I studied a little to convince you.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to be in charge of the production?¡±


    ¡°Cha In-soo, who¡¯s detail-oriented, will be perfect for the job. You¡¯ll know if the securitypany that he¡¯s in charge of takes responsibility and keeps a watchful eye on the production, no one will be able to sneak in like a rat. If it gets known to the outside, it¡¯ll probably be wrapped up as a nuclear power ntb.¡±


    ¡°Have you guys decided already without consulting me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, how could we deceive Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Man, this is so suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s pretend that we don¡¯t have it like Israel.¡±


    Jong-il seemed to be trying his best to make it seem that the royal family had no involvement in the development of the nuclear weapons because if it became known to the West, it would be difficult for Youngho to keep his seat.


    ***


    It was entrusted to a Koreanpany to build a nuclear power nt and the Aegis destroyer. The nuclear power nt would be known to the public, but the building of the Aegis destroyer would be kept in secret for now. The destroyer ordered in Korea this time had a capacity of 10,000 tons and cost more than 1.1 billion dors, so Youngho ordered two vessels for now.


    As for Ko? Holding, the Kazakh government ordered three 3,000-ton ss frigates. Even the frigates were not too weak at all in the ocean. During World War II, most of the convoys were about 1,500 tons. Compared to that time, ships now had an iparable strength. Frigates had the anti-ship anti-aircraft missiles function as its basic and were capable of defending submarines with anti-aircraft defense weapons, so they were low-cost, high-efficiency vessels even in the era of the Aegis destroyer.


    3,000-ton frigates were ordered to carry anti-submarine helicopters and to secure space to install missileunchers.


    The head of South Korea¡¯s H Shipyard that would build the Aegis destroyer and his staff and the head of the Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration visited the royal territory.


    ¡°It¡¯s a great honor to have the head of Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration here.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, thank you very much for leaving the Aegis destroyer to the Koreanpany. We¡¯ll repay you with the best quality.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s of the highest quality, is it possible to have a nuclear propulsion engine?¡±


    ¡°With current technology, it can only be mounted onrger ships. But even if it¡¯s not a nuclear propulsion engine, it has the ability to sail at a maximum speed of 9,900 kilometers. It is powered by a gas turbine engine and a diesel engine, so it also has a maximum speed of 30 knots.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying a separate tanker should go along with the ship if it were to go on a long-distance trip.¡±


    ¡°A nuclear engine is only suitable for a vessel that¡¯s the size of a cruiser. The UK has developed a small nuclear engine, but I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s not yetmercialized.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that. Please make a strong ship. The U.S. Aegis destroyers¡¯ bodies are said to crumple like paper when they collide with merchant ships.¡±


    ¡°The sides of a vessel are built a little weak to decrease the weight of the vessel. It¡¯s more of the fault of management, not the fault of the producer.¡±


    When Youngho saw the article that the U.S. warship¡ªthe strongest in the world, collided with a merchant ship, he suspected if U.S. defense products were really trustworthy. Later, it was revealed that naval soldiers were negligent on their duty.


    ¡°I thank the Korean government for making a difficult decision. It¡¯s like military secrets.¡±


    ¡°Korea and Kazakhstan are brotherly countries now. We¡¯ll keep any secrets for Kazakhstan. South Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration can provide missiles if you asked.¡±


    ¡°Brotherly countries...¡±


    Youngho did not like to be associated with the Korean government at first, but now as the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it¡ªit was quite satisfying to be favored that way.


    ¡°I heard that all Koreanpanies have agreed to attend next year¡¯s arms industry fair, and it¡¯s all because of the encouragement of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness¡¯ secretary couple visited Korea for a honeymoon, so I made some boastful remarks about that. They¡¯re quite intelligent young couple.¡±


    Suh Min-seok had told Youngho that he and his wife, Kim In-hwa met some officials on their honeymoon in Korea. It seemed that they contacted the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.


    ¡°Your Highness, the reason I¡¯m here is to suggest a joint arms project between Kazakhstan and Korea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re doing something that Korean armspanies are supposed to be doing.¡±


    ¡°We cannot let privatepanies deal with sensitive weapons that reveal the strength of the Korean military because it¡¯s controlled by the government.¡±


    It was very refreshing for a high-ranking Korean official toe forward himself to promote a business project. Most of the time, the job was given to a working team.


    ¡°I see. You¡¯re saying Kazakhstan is an exception.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you must already know that Korean weapons are superior.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of that.¡±


    ¡°I heard that most of Kazakhstan¡¯s weapons are Russian.¡±


    ¡°We have old-fashioned weapons that we received free of charge from Russia. So we¡¯re building a local assembly nt here in partnership with the United Kingdom in order topletely change the weapons system.¡±


    ¡°Korea wants to be part of that. Can we join?¡±


    ¡°We always wee Korea`s state-of-the-art weapons. Then, can we have a technical partnership?¡±


    ¡°We wille up with institutional devices to enable technical partnership for all, except the coreponents.¡±


    Now, Youngho had never rejected a Koreanpany wishing to make its foray into Kazakhstan. It was a little strange for the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration toe to Youngho and talk about weapons export. There must be another reason.


    ¡°You could¡¯ve talked to our ambassador in Korea to discuss this matter.¡±


    ¡°The ambassador of Kazakhstan told us to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°It must be a controversial weapon.¡±


    ¡°I should be careful even when talking loud about it.¡±


    ¡°Could it be...?¡±


    ¡°As you imagined, we¡¯d like to develop a nuclear weapon these days. That¡¯s something we can¡¯t do in Korea. Of course, it¡¯s a weapon we can¡¯t have, but we¡¯d like to have a trustworthy ally to lean on.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re going to lean on Kazakhstan. We don¡¯t have a nuclear weapon. And Korea is under the U.S. nuclear umbre, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know when the U.S. might withdraw from Korea. How can we fully trust the U.S?¡±


    ¡°Why do you think the U.S. is pulling out of Korea?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. may have a big deal directly with China over Korea. This is a scenario in which the U.S. military withdraws in exchange for North Korea¡¯s giving up of its nuclear weapons program.¡±


    ¡°Will the U.S. let Korea act independently?¡±


    Korea was in a position to y the role of a recluse in Northeast Asia. Youngho wondered if the U.S. could abandon Korea. Crucially, it was an axis of the U.S. economy, and it would also affect U.S. national interests. It was an unbelievable story.

 Chapter 487 - Kazakhstan’s Choice (4)

    <h4>Chapter 487: Kazakhstan¡¯s Choice (4)</h4>


    ¡°The U.S. won¡¯t overlook China¡¯s expansion policy and ethnic hegemony. How can the U.S. ignore Korea that¡¯s on the front line? That¡¯s never going to happen. I¡¯m saying this because I can have a better view of Korea from living abroad.¡±


    ¡°There are fewer people who are pro-Korean in the U.S. government and public now, and the rtionship with the United States is not as smooth as it used to be.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re overreacting. For order and peace in Northeast Asia, Korea is ying many roles. If you¡¯re in such a heavy position, you should ask for something more confidently from the U.S. I am worried because Korea looks like it¡¯s being dragged even by China these days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we need more force. Would China treat us like this if we had a formidable force?¡±


    ¡°Force is one thing, but I¡¯ll tell you about the economy. Without the parts brought in from Korea, China cannot produce goods either. I think that you should not be dragged around, but be strong. It¡¯s presumptuous of me, but It¡¯ll be great if Korea broadens its perspective when dealing with powerful countries.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to say since you¡¯re right. I was so relieved to see you so bold while dealing with China. It¡¯s such afort to Korea.¡±


    ¡°I will help Korea if I can. However, it is impossible to vite the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty like you suggested.¡±


    ¡°I came up with the idea because Kazakhstan was building a Korean nuclear power nt. You need a nuclear reprocessing facility and a team of technicians, don¡¯t you? There are many talented researchers in Korea.¡±


    ¡°Please, keep going on.¡±


    ¡°I heard there¡¯s a nuclear bomb test site used in the Soviet era in Kazakhstan. That¡¯ll be the best ce for it. It¡¯s an already polluted area, so you won¡¯t have to find a new ce. Do you have any intention of building a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility there?¡±


    ¡°You are familiar with our internal affairs quite well. Then, do you know that Kazakhstan has denuclearized?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of it, but the world still thinks that Kazakhstan must be keeping some of the nuclear weapons made in the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard such a wild guess before. Kazakhstan has no nuclear weapons, and we don¡¯t have any intention of developing them.¡±


    ¡°Russia and China also have nuclear weapons. The world doesn¡¯t think that former president Nazarbayev has eliminated all of the nuclear weapons. There should be at least one or two left.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what they think. We just want to be in peace with other countries.¡±


    Park Jong-il abruptly called for nuclear weapons, and now the head of South Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration was asking if Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons. If there was, Youngho would not tell him, but he wondered if President Nazarbayev had really hidden some of the weapons before. It was not an absurd idea since Nazarbayev was the one who was insecure about being sandwiched between great powers.


    If he did, only he and his close officials would know the truth.


    ¡°What I told you today is irrelevant to the Korean government. It was my personal wish for the dignity of the mothend.¡±


    ¡°I was once a Korean citizen, too. I¡¯m still hoping that Korea will do well. If something urgent happens in Korea, I will help you in any way.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate your words.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you return empty-handed since you came this far.¡±


    ¡°We received a 2.2 billion contract to build Aegis destroyers. What do you mean? It¡¯s already a huge gift.¡±


    ¡°All Kazakhstan is a natural resource. If you need any raw material for the defense industry, please let me know.¡±


    ¡°We have already asked for support through the Kazakh Ambassador in Korea. The Kazakh government was amicable to our request.¡±


    Youngho had been deliberately avoiding Korean officials because of his negative image of them, but today¡¯s conversation was enough to change his mind. It was quite refreshing and shocking that Korea was thinking about nuclear weapons in case the U.S. military pulled out from Korea. This kind of n could not be made by one person. Either there must be a supporter or it was the idea of the head of the Korean government.


    ¡°Do you fear China more than North Korea?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I was in the military for 30 years until I was appointed to head the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. How can a solider be afraid of his enemies? But I believe we need a strong force to prevent conflicts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to find someone who had the same idea as me. The only strong force is the truth. And only when you decide to fight, peace can be achieved.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great saying.¡±


    ¡°I used it once with my staff, but they didn¡¯t respond very well.¡±


    ¡°They must not have a military background.¡±


    ¡°Our country¡¯s Prime Minister was themander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.¡±


    ¡°Then the Prime Minister must believe in something else.¡±


    ¡°I just said that there¡¯s no such thing as nuclear weapons here.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I didn¡¯t mean that. He must trust you very much.¡±


    ¡°I promise you one thing. Kazakhstan will act upon it if China threatens Korea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be a great strength to us.¡±


    ¡°...And would you tell the Chief of the Bank of Korea to keep an eye on China`s economic trends?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean...?¡±


    Trade with China upied a big part of South Korea¡¯s economy. If Korea did not prepare in advance, it would suffer from a major bacsh.


    ¡°I believe that China is facing an economic crisis. If you tell that to the Chief of Bank of Korea, a group of finance experts working for him will understand what it means. I¡¯m sure they will be already fully prepared for such a case.¡±


    ¡°I see. Thank you for your valuable information. Kazakhstan¡¯s future is bright since it has you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. We are always struggling since we¡¯re surrounded by powerful nations. In order to ovee that, we chose constitutional monarchy under the name of revolution.¡±


    Although Youngho did not tell him, Kazakhstan would have nuclear weapons in secret anyway. It would give Kazakhstan strength that would ovee Russia and China. Only when it had the power to surpass Russia and China, the peace in Central Asia would be guaranteed.


    ***


    A month had already passed since it had be a new year.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s winter was always cold, but this year¡¯s winter was even more severe than in previous years. The cold weather that was so severe that even in the welfare paradise of Europe, the death toll was so huge. The harsh cold had swept the globe, causing poor families to suffer further.


    Many Kazakh people, who had high pride, tended not to show that they were out of food or firewood. Nomads could collect branches in the fields and eat sheep or goats that they had been raising, but poor people in the urban areas were not in a position to do so. Kazakhstan¡¯s welfare programs could save poor people, but as the economic situation was better than before. However, death urred during the cold season in a northern city. It must have been caused by theck of food and firewood.


    ¡°Your Highness, we have a ramen factory and abat food factory running 24 hours a day. And we¡¯re bringing lumber from Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s not enough, use Siberian timber piled up in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t use them in vain when we paid a high logistics price. We need toe up with a permanent measure. The one I can think of now is to adopt an electric heating system as the residents of the royal territory have.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. Would it be more efficient from using lumber as firewood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it will be much more efficient to install sr panels.¡±


    ¡°Call K Electronics at once. We should expand our sr panel nt right away.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t we build a few more sr panel factories in different regions?¡±


    ¡°Expanding the nt that¡¯s already there is faster than building new nts.¡±


    ¡°You know, the distance from the factory to each region in demand is too far. People won¡¯t be able to be benefited in time.¡±


    ¡°After all, the trafficwork is a problem.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true, and it¡¯s uneconomical to make roads where only a few people live. A light ne is the only way to travel in remote areas but we only have a few light airnes in each airport and the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°Ah! There is a light ne.¡±


    Although there had been many changes under the new government, there were still many ces in Kazakhstan where administrative power was to be reached. Especially, most of the nomadic people could not be benefited from basic education and medical privileges.


    Since the government could not force them to settle down in city areas, a project was underway to build schools and medical institutes in remote areas.


    The visible problem with the new government was the expansion of transportationworks that could travel between the remote areas because the government budget was not abundant enough to put roads in such ces. So, introducing light aircraft that could travel quickly between remote ces was the most efficient way to reach them. Since flying a light airne was not so difficult, it was easy to train pilots in a short period of time, and they were not too expensive. Youngho immediately ordered Suh Min-seok to contact Cessna, the airne manufacturer.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, when did the Cessna staff say he¡¯sing?


    ¡°He¡¯ll be here tomorrow. But don¡¯t expect too much. He expresses disapproval of building a local factory here, saying it¡¯s impossible to build a factory just to sell some dozens of them.¡±


    ¡°Man, those guys are so full of themselves. They don¡¯t know how big the Kazakh market is.¡±


    Youngho asked Cessna for a local assembly nt. Considering how vast Kazakhstan¡¯s area, there should be at least 300 six and eight-seater light nes.


    Light airnes should not be mistaken for poor propeller nes. The satellite navigation system controlled the ne, and there were safety devices in case of a crash, so it was safer than a car if the pilot did not make a critical mistake.


    ¡°That Cessnapany is quite snobbish because there¡¯s no otherpany like it in the light aircraft market.¡±


    ¡°These days, jet nes are so popr that the propeller ne is not so favored. I guess Cessna is thinking that we¡¯re only going to buy a few dozen.¡±


    ¡°Then are you going to buy more?¡±


    ¡°Hundreds are not enough to cover the whole Kazakhstan. How many did you say we¡¯re getting?¡±


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d deploy three or four units at each airport. So, I told him that we¡¯ll be getting a double-digit number of nes.¡±


    By the standards of Suh Min-seok, dozens of them would be huge deals since a light airne was about 300,000 to 400,000 dors per each.


    ¡°Tomorrow, you¡¯ll get to watch the surprised face of the Cessna staff. We¡¯ll have airne parts piled up in the warehouse before the cold goes away.¡±

 Chapter 488 - Peoples Choice (1)

    <h4>Chapter 488: People¡¯s Choice (1)</h4>


    After working-level officials from the U.S.pany, Cessna, visited the royal territory, Dous, thepany¡¯s CEO visited. It was because the Kazakh royal family wanted to contract hundreds of propellers, which was a lot more than thepany originally thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, the Duke of Kazakhstan. I should have visited you earlier. Please forgive me foring to see you thiste.¡±


    ¡°I thought I was a customer of yourpany, but I¡¯m afraid I was not. I was thinking of contacting Honda in Japan because I wanted to make a decision quickly.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if you¡¯re disappointed, please forgive us.¡±


    Dous¡¯ humble behavior in front of Youngho was not because of Youngho¡¯s position, it was because he was a rich customer. A multi-billion-dor project was just around the corner. It was a business norm to be humble before a customer for even a snobbish U.S.pany. In a world where jets were a general trend, it was a rare chance to sell hundreds of propeller-driven airnes.


    ¡°Honda can¡¯t even dare topare with ourpany in terms of workmanship and technical know-hows. I¡¯d like to make it up to you by building an assembly nt right away.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve forced you too much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been decided. We just took some time because we needed to coordinate with the major shareholders with this decision.¡±


    ¡°So, does that mean we can have a technical partnership?¡±


    ¡°Of course, the craftsmanship of the propeller is now universal, so there¡¯s nothing special about it. The key is how much more sophisticated parts you can make.¡±


    ¡°If so, is yourpany supplying all the special parts, and we¡¯ll be only assembling them here?¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯ll open up all the transferrable technologies for the new assembly nt. However, ourpany has to supply special parts that are directly rted to the safety of the airne.¡±


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s talk more about that part in detail as we proceed with the n.¡±


    There was no reason to insist on using Kazakh products as Kazakhstan did not have the ability to supply parts. Besides, Youngho had other requests to ask while Dous, the CEO of Cessna, was there.


    ¡°Yourpany is nning an assembly nt in China, too. I heard that any mass production model will be made in China, is that right?¡±


    ¡°Those are only ns, and they haven¡¯t been materialized yet.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan offers better conditions than China, are you willing to produce mass production here?¡±


    ¡°I just told you I¡¯d build an assembly nt here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll only produce supplies for Kazakhstan. Do you know what the economic situation is like in China?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re nning a mass-production nt for Chinese rich people regardless of China¡¯s economy.¡±


    ¡°Even if those rich people could soon lose their ability to buy a ne?¡±


    ¡°Are things looking that bad?¡±


    Youngho had heard that the Chinese government had gone to great lengths to attract Cessna. The remote areas of the Chinese continent were hard to reach, so the government had also decided to use light aircraft than to drill roads. However, Cessna must have been nning to make an assembly nt in China to target China¡¯s wealthiest people regardless of the Chinese government.


    Youngho did not mean to take away China¡¯s business, but if China jumped into the production of a light aircraft, there was a risk that the whole Central Asian market, as well as the Caucasus market, could be controlled by China. Any business that China got involved in moved the world market. For example, China, ater to the drone industry, now controlled more than 90 percent of the global drone market. It was advantageous in many ways for Kazakhstan if Cessna¡¯s factory n in China was scrapped.


    ***


    When Fatima heard that women of Kazakhstan were sold to China for prostitution under the pretext of marriage, she was pretty upset. Youngho proudly told her that the Kazakh government sent a letter of protest to China, but she scolded him for not doing more for the women. When he heard Fatima¡¯s serious concern, he came to his senses.


    He had been too careless about the Kazakh women¡¯s business since they were not his family members or friends. It would have been different if his rtives were sold as prostitutes abroad. It seemed that a more stern and serious gesture should be made to resolve this issue.


    So, he asked what Fatima would do.


    ¡°What would you do if you were me?¡±


    ¡°Is it true that Kazakhstan and China have established formal diplomatic rtions?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we have exchanged ambassadors.¡±


    ¡°Call in the Chinese ambassador right away and tell him to find out the whereabouts of the missing Kazakh girls. And we should send our police officers to China to find them too.¡±


    ¡°I can grill the Chinese ambassador, but it¡¯s not going to be easy to send our police in another country.¡±


    ¡°I heard diplomats have immunity.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with finding the whereabouts of the daughters of Kazakhstan in China if you¡¯re a diplomat?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t think of that before, but it¡¯s also not going to be so simple.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have our government officials at our embassy in China. You can send more officials to the embassy if the number of people who can work there is not limited. The Chinese government won¡¯t have authority over them.¡±


    Youngho had a few words with Fatima, and he quickly got an answer.


    If an employee at the embassy was looking for a missing person, the host country should cooperate. The reason ambassadors or consuls in other countries were ced was to do the work of the nation as a substitute, but there was also a duty to protect the lives and properties of their countrymen.


    ¡°I feel like I should¡¯ve talked to you sooner. My chest is lightened.¡±


    ¡°Get rid of the old idea that women are just going to be simple. We are as smart as men.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Fatima, I knew you were as smart as me. That¡¯s why I married you.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, the Chinese government has informed us that it will conduct an all-out investigation of the missing women.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was excited that the Chinese government was finally moving actively.


    It seemed that China was forced to raise a white g because of the Kazakh people¡¯s protest against the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Still, please send the international crime investigation unit of the Kazakh police to China and some military investigators as diplomats. We can¡¯t just rely on China to keep our back.¡±


    ¡°Would it bete if we waited until the Chinese government shows tangible results?¡±


    ¡°We have to show a firm will. We need to let them know that the new government will take a serious stance in regards to the safety of its citizens.¡±


    ¡°It is never desirable to maintain tension with China over these issues. Why don¡¯t you keep an eye on the situation for a while?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it turns into a diplomatic issue. Our people will only trust the new government when we brought back the missing women from China.¡±


    Youngho once watched a documentary on television. It was about the U.S. government spending a huge amount of money to find the remains of its soldiers killed during the Vietnamese War. Although the remains were just a few pieces of bones, the government showed the highest respect for the veterans.


    The officer¡¯s journey of bringing the remains of a dead soldier with the utmost sincerity was enough to touch every viewer¡¯s heart. The country of different races and birth was unified as one in the name of the U.S. Even though the documentary probably was directed to look that way, the U.S. showing responsibility to its citizen to the end was enough to arouse loyalty to the country. Americans¡¯ love for their country was not just created. As he saw that the U.S. took responsibility for the families of deceased veterans, it was quite impressive to Youngho. He wanted to create that environment in Kazakhstan as well.


    ¡°Your Highness is trying to save the innocent girls, and I¡¯m just ashamed that we haven¡¯t been paying more attention to them.¡±


    ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t know what was going on. Now that we know it, the nation should show a sincere attitude. That way, Kazakhstan will stick together.¡±


    Since many ethnic groups were gathered together in Kazakhstan, it was hard to find a proper view of the nation among people. They were just living in Kazakhstan because they were. It was changing since constitutional monarchy was adopted.


    The Queen of immigrants now served for the poor, and the government dared to flush against China to find the whereabouts of the missing women. It was something unimaginable before the revolution. It became a moment of awareness that they were one nation.


    ¡°The sacrifice of countless soldiers to save one soldier might seem foolish, but it could bring a greater victory in the end. Ourter generations will be the one to judge if pressuring the Chinese government to save some women was the right thing to do.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have to go that far. The public poll is already proving that you¡¯re right. People¡¯s trust in your Highness and the new government is reaching the sky.¡±


    ¡°How did the polle out?¡±


    ¡°Would you believe it if I tell you that their support for the royal family and the new government exceeded 90 percent?¡±


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s an unbelievable approval rating.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a fair amount of approval rating. The amount of money the royal family has spent on Kazakhstan¡¯s well-being is tremendous, and people are well aware of the fact that you did it for the people of Kazakhstan.¡±


    The media and people did not tend to give power to the government in the early days of the new government, but if the figure was over 90 percent, it was due to the previous administration¡¯s mismanagement, which was why the new administration looked like it¡¯s doing well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too conceited. Public opinion can change quickly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very encouraged by the result. The steady approval rate for the royal family meant that Kazakhstan had be one finally. People¡¯s absolute trust and respect in the royal family shows that they¡¯re proud of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite ttering to hear.¡±


    ¡°You deserve it. I also believe that I was lucky to have met you, Your Highness. Kazakhstan is blessed because of you.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re overdoing it.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±

 Chapter 489 - Peoples Choice (2)

    <h4>Chapter 489: People¡¯s Choice (2)</h4>


    Youngho, who was looking at foreign immigration numbers, raised his head. In front of him stood Suh Min-seok with a proud face.


    ¡°Min-seok, there¡¯s no mistake in these statistics, is there?¡±


    ¡°I checked with the immigration office several times.¡±


    ¡°How many days do they usually stay in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°They usually stay for about a week. Rather than going sightseeing, I think they¡¯re looking for a ce to invest, mostly.¡±


    The number of Koreans entering and leaving the country increased greatly that Youngho wondered what was going on. It was a natural phenomenon since Youngho became so famous in Korea now. The story ofing to the Caucasus penniless and eventually gaining astronomical wealth, as well as establishing a new dynasty in a huge country, had inspired many young people of Korea.


    ¡°Many Koreanpanies visited to participate in the e-government project that our government is starting.¡±


    ¡°Only a few Koreans will be able to withstand the cold weather here.¡±


    ¡°If we want to database all of the documents in a short period of time, our staff is far short. Until we can train enoughputer specialists in Kazakhstan, we need more specialists from Korea.¡±


    ¡°How much money did you say we¡¯d spend on digital work?¡±


    ¡°A little over a billion dors.¡±


    A project called ¡®Digital Kazakhstan¡¯ was underway in order to introduce information andmunication technology and electronic government systems, and the Kazakh government had asked formissionedputerization from the Korean government.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s administration system was in a mess. People had to wait too long to receive any permission documents from administrative offices. Officials¡¯ attitude was one reason, but most of the problem came from theck of properly equippedputerworks.


    Since the revolutionary government, Kazakhstan used Korea as its role model to correct its administration system. Korea was boasting of having the fastest administrative process in the world. In South Korea, when someone requested to open a telephone line in the morning, he could have it by the afternoon. Also, people would say that a minute was even too long to receive civil affair documents in civil offices.


    That was why Kazakhstan was trying to digitize all the data. Completion of the nationalputerwork not only increased the work capacity of public institutions but also helped the industrial productivity as well as the benefit of people¡¯s lives.


    When the administrativework, financialwork, defensework, and educational researchwork werepleted, the Kazakh people would be able to receive advanced services in all fields of life.


    The Korean government beganputerwork work at the national level from the 80s and started providing services from the administrativework in the early 90s.


    The database of resident registration,nd, and finance, which were the main resources of household management, was the first among developing countries to reach the threshold of advanced countries.


    By adopting Korea¡¯swork system, Kazakhstan would not have to suffer trials and errors as apleted system over many years would be introduced to the country.


    ¡°Youngho, building a nationalwork is important, but we need to be more thoroughly prepared for cyber terrorism.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there¡¯s no way to stop cyber terrorism except to improve the resilience of the system?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying we need to increase the number of agents who will y the role.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, you¡¯re saying 50 people you just recruited are not enough?¡±


    ¡°My research shows that at least 500 people are needed to operate thepleted nationalwork system. If the entire nation is digitalized like Korea, we need 3,000 people to restore the system as soon as it¡¯s attacked.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all money.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more important than buying weapons.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t like that I pay too much to buy weapons?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s important, but I¡¯m saying we need to add more cyber unit agents from now on to maintain and protect our nationalwork. The cyber unit not only protects but also attacks enemies too.¡±


    ¡°About 500 people will be enough?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough, but I think we can work it out. That¡¯s why we need to bring in a lot of IT personnel from Korea. We can¡¯t even get that kind of manpower in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We need the Korean government¡¯s cooperation.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary. First of all, why don¡¯t you give out a recruitment notice to young Koreans? They¡¯ll crowd in like clouds.¡±


    There was a saying that cyber attacks were more frightening than physical attacks.


    When a war broke out and the main server went down, there would be no way to move troops. If theputerwork was paralyzed, all the facilities in the country would be useless. To prevent that, manpower to defend and restore thework must be at standby at all times.


    The reason why cyber troops were being trained was because of their enormous cost-effectivenesspared to their physicalbat capabilities. The cyber units were a kind of asymmetric power. Moreover, it was difficult to trace the attacker and the forces behind the scenes, so it was easy to avoid retaliation. Even powerful nations with advancedwork andmunication technology could be helpless to strong cyber troops. Now, the days where people fought with bombs and missiles in the front lines were over.


    ***


    ¡°Hey, a recruitment announcement won¡¯t be enough. We¡¯ll have to hold a job fair. So, how about I go to Korea with Suh Min-seok?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you just want to brag about your sess to Korean people.¡±


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t even say that I¡¯m the head of the Kazakh intelligence service. It¡¯s just that if you want to bring elite young people to a country that is not so cool, an eloquent speaker like me should convince them.¡±


    ¡°Do we even have a ce for them to stay? We¡¯ve got to have a dorm or something. You¡¯re not going to make them stay in yurts, are you?¡±


    There were not many motels and pensions in Kazakhstan like Korea, so there was no ce for newly recruited Koreans to stay. Since it was winter, it was difficult to build such facilities now. It was a problem.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯reing in a few days after posting the recruitment notice. We¡¯ll figure out something meanwhile.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? If you¡¯re offering a job overseas, it¡¯s basic to tell them where they¡¯re going to stay, and how the living environments are like. They¡¯re noting to spend a week here.¡±


    Park Jong-il was right.


    Youngho could not rush people toe without any preparation.


    ¡°Then, why don¡¯t we let the recruited people stay together in Korea for the time being? Even if you¡¯re good atputers, they¡¯ll have to work together and be organized as a group before starting to work.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a good idea. We can get the South Korean cyber unit to train them onmission.¡±


    ¡°Would the South Korean government cooperate?¡±


    ¡°Who are we? We are Korean-born Duke and Earl of the Kazakh Kingdom. Koreanpanies are trying hard to make connections with us now. I don¡¯t think the Korean government will miss this opportunity to help us.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I guess you¡¯re perfect for this job. Go to Korea.¡±


    ¡°Youngho, why don¡¯t youe with me this time?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯ll be too bothersome to go to Korea and make a fuss. Jong-il, I¡¯ll make you a special envoy this time.¡±


    ¡°A special envoy?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be so powerful if you just go without any title. If you bring a personal letter from the monarch of the Kazakh royal family, the Korean government will be willing to help us.¡±


    ¡°If this is exposed to the media, the whole world will know that we¡¯re recruiting cyber unit members.¡±


    ¡°Keep a low profile as much as possible. Don¡¯t deal with the media. We don¡¯t want to spread the word.¡±


    ***


    Representatives from the Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s National United Front, which was an independent fighter group, came to Kazakhstan secretly.


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°It must¡¯ve been hard to cross the border in the cold weather.¡±


    ¡°This is what we usually do. Your Highness¡¯ support was quite helpful.¡±


    ¡°I only sent some independence funds andbat food. Considering the distress of the Uyghurs, I¡¯d like to help actively, but I can¡¯t ignore the rtionship with China.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just grateful for your support.¡±


    ¡°If you need anything else, please let me know. I¡¯ll help you as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°In fact, I have a request.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Would it be possible for Kazakhstan to receive Uyghurs?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that difficult. If they could cross the border, I¡¯d ept anyone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to make arge-scale migration to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Are you under heavy pressure of China?¡±


    ¡°China is now incarcerating intellectuals recklessly. Members of the National United Front are nervous because China is also moving Uyghurs fromrge cities to remote areas. If only the protection of our families are guaranteed, we¡¯ll be able to concentrate on the struggle for independence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard from our agents, but I didn¡¯t know it was that bad. Then, of course, I¡¯ll help you. Have you got the escape route?¡±


    ¡°If we cross the Tian Shan Mountain Range, we¡¯ll meet a path to cross the border.¡±


    ¡°But there will be China¡¯s upational force, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but their security is not too tight in the mountainous area.¡±


    ¡°We can help you to disperse their security.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to have a battle with the Chinese force?¡±


    ¡°No, we have a way. There¡¯s no need for a battle. The illegal Chinese immigrants that used to live along the border are still in Kazakhstan. If we let them go at once, the Chinese border upational force won¡¯t be able to focus on securing the border.¡±


    Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s independence must be achieved.


    It was because if Uyghur as an independent state existed between Kazakhstan and China, it would create a buffer zone for Kazakhstan. The Uyghurs did not think of Kazakhstan as a foreign country. Moreover, they had been closer since Kazakhstan became a constitutional monarchy. Intelligence agents said that they think of the Kazakh royal family as their royal family. It was because there were countless Uyghurs in Kazakhstan, and they had epted the royal family. So, even if Xinjiang Uyghur became independent, people would serve the same royal family.


    It was iprehensible by Youngho¡¯s standards, but it seemed possible due to the unique thinking of the people of Central Asia. They tended to think of the same nomadic people as their brotherhood.

 Chapter 490 - Compromise (1)

    <h4>Chapter 490: Compromise (1)</h4>


    The number of illegal immigrants from the border area was 2,000 in 400 households, 327 households among them were Han Chinese. Uyghurs among them had been already moved to various parts of Kazakhstan as immigrants, and all Han Chinese were decided to be expelled.


    There were some Han Chinese seeking political asylum, but the sentiment of the Kazakh people for them was not amicable, so there was no other option.


    The people of Central Asia were not fond of the Han people. It was because historically; they had been greatly humiliated by the Han Chinese.


    Some of them hid for political reasons, so Youngho and Cab members were having a discussion over the deportation issue.


    ¡°Your Highness, Kazakhstan has been epting any immigrants if they wanted regardless of their ethnicity. If we banish all the Chinese, the perception of Kazakhstan could change negatively.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why China sees us as too soft. We need to change from our past. If anyone can cross the border without any consequence, there¡¯s no point of having a border. Our negligence is the reason that they came in in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°We should allow political asylum at least.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about other countries, but we should not allow Chinese people to defect because of political reasons for a while. If we do, we¡¯ll give China an excuse for aint.¡±


    ¡°His Highness is right. The Chinese government, however, has refused to raise the issue of illegal residents in the border area. If we selectively receive immigrants from China, we don¡¯t know how China will react.¡±


    ¡°The One Belt One Road project will have a huge turning point depending on how China reacts when we hand over illegal immigrants. China has put a huge amount of money into Khorgas in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Kazakhstan is absolutely necessary for China to cross Eurasia. Let¡¯s wait and see if it can bend its pride.¡±


    Youngho did not feelfortable to expel all Chinese illegal immigrants unconditionally. However, he could not ignore the public sentiment toward China. Besides, there should be arge group of Uyghur people crossing the border soon, so he needed the Chinese border guards¡¯ attention focused at one ce. He wanted illegal Chinese immigrants to make trouble at the border checkpoint when they were being expelled.


    Those illegal immigrants from China escaped China to live in the valleys of the Tian Shan Mountains for many reasons. But if they were asked to return to China, they could cause a disturbance. Even if they did not, China¡¯s border guards should also be on alert, as 1,400 people were being deported.


    Since there was not much room to amodate Uyghurs who were crossing the border soon, the camps that had been upied by the Chinese illegal immigrants had to be cleared out, anyway.


    The border area where the Uyghurs would be crossing was rtively poorly guarded, so there was nothing to worry about.


    ***


    In the western border town of Xinjiang Uyghur, there was a free economic zone called Khorgas. It was built like a mirage in a desert in the wilderness between the borders of China and Kazakhstan. It was a free economic zone that China made by investing in more than three billion dors. It was now being developed by both China and Kazakhstan. There were many duty-free shops, and many buildings were still being built. There was a borderline in the middle of the free economic zone, but there was no restriction on cars and people visiting by both countries. Just like an oasis of the Silk Road, people woulde together to buy, sell, and get back on their way.


    Khorgas was an oasis on the border. Many products that came from the Chinese continent spread throughout Central Asia there, and Korean products also upied a ce there.


    ¡°Your Highness, the ce you¡¯re seeing now is the Chinese entry office and the border guard office.¡±


    ¡°Our border guards do not reside here?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t go over the border checkpoint. This is the territory of China. Only customs officers are allowed to reside here.¡±


    ¡°This is called the free economic zone, but Kazakhstan doesn¡¯t have any power over here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true. The Chinese side amodates our need because they have to move all loads to our cars in order to get connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway. If they don¡¯t provide our train, there will be a great logistical disturbance.¡±


    ¡°That must be because of China¡¯s railroad track.¡±


    Because of the difference between China¡¯s standard track and Kazakhstan and Russia¡¯s broad-gauge railroad, people would have to transfer to a different train at the border between China and Kazakhstan. Without Kazakhstan¡¯s help, it was impossible to move logistics to Eurasia.


    The two border areas of Dostyk and Khorgas, where the two trains met, were the main ces that connected the train that crossed the Chinese continent and the train that crossed Kazakhstan.


    An Army lieutenant colonel who was in charge of border security was exining the free economic zone to Youngho.


    ¡°I guess our help is absolute.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Not long ago, China provided us with train cars.¡±


    Because Kazakhstan did not supply enough number of trains, China encouraged more flow of goods by providing more trains to Kazakhstan¡¯s side.


    ¡°Can anyone freely move around in this free economic zone?¡±


    ¡°This region is a kind of extraterritoriality. Unless youmitted a crime here, no one is going to interfere with your activities.¡±


    ¡°If we bring illegal immigrants here, China will have a hard time.¡±


    ¡°If we let them go here, the whole ce will be in chaos for a while.¡±


    It was a perfect ce to distract the attention of China since this was a crowded ce with people and the huge amount of logistics cargo that China transferred.


    China and Kazakhstan¡¯s train paths were connected by Dostyk-shankou and Altynkol-Khorgas.


    The Trans China Railway (TCR) was a railway of about 4,000 kilometers that ran across from eastern to western China. It was about 25 years old since it was connected in 1992.


    ¡°I heard that there are a lot of Kazakh people living in Xinjiang Uyghur. Were they not pressured by China?¡±


    ¡°There are about 1.2 million Kazakh people living there, and fortunately, they¡¯re living freely because of China¡¯s rtionship to Kazakhstan. And these days, we¡¯re settling Kazakhs living in Xinjiang Uyghur in this region. It¡¯s because we need their help to resolve thenguage barrier.¡±


    ***


    Youngho, who secretly visited the free economic zone in Khorgas, was brainstorming with Eriksson. It was because China did not seem like it would give up on the Kazakh section of the One Belt One Road project easily because of the huge amount of money it invested in the free economic zone. Before China began the One Belt One Road project, it was already operating a trans-Eurasian train through Kazakhstan. If Kazakhstan blocked Kazakhstan¡¯s railway all of a sudden, it would sabotage Kazakhstan¡¯s rtionship with the European Union, which needed Chinese goods.


    As the amount of transported goods increased, China had made a free economic zone, and it was now nning to expand the double-track railway, but if the new government of Kazakhstan interfered with it, conflict was inevitable.


    ¡°Your Highness, China yielded to us at the free export zone near Almaty because China was at fault there, but we¡¯d have to maintain the existing route to the Trans-Siberian Railway in order to avoid a conflict.¡±


    China was pinning high hopes on the Eurasian crossing through China-Kazakhstan traverse.


    It was estimated that about 160,000 TEUs of containers would be transported through 2,000 times of trips in this section. As this was the situation, China would not give up this route.


    ¡°I guess we should keep the route to maintain good rtions with the European Union.¡±


    ¡°The route that connects to the Trans-Siberian Railway via Kazakhstan has been made official, so cooperating is also beneficial to the national interest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned because the sess of One Belt One Road and the development in the free economic zone of Khorgas will lead to less and less independence for Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°Now, no one can stop China¡¯s power. All we can do is to provide side support to Uyghur independence groups to ensure they don¡¯t fall apart.¡±


    ¡°The Uyghurs will being in like a flood of water to Kazakhstan soon. I wonder if the Chinese government will standstill.¡±


    ¡°China will rather neglect when anti-government, independence groups leave Xinjiang Uyghur. There¡¯s no reason to hold on to Uyghurs who want independence that are leaving their sight.¡±


    To China, Uyghurs were not that important since all it needed was thend of Xinjiang Uyghur. If troublesome anti-government Uyghurs were leaving the region, the Chinese government would wee it dly. From the perspective of Kazakhstan, the massive influx of Uyghurs was a shortcut to growing national power because Kazakhstan¡¯sck of poptionpared to its vastndmass. Soon, there would be an increase of open jobs in the country, and the problem would be theck of manpower. That was why young people in Korea would be brought in to work for Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t we encourage Uyghurs to immigrate to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Will the Chinese government cooperate with it? It might seem like that the Uyghurs will be taken out of the region, but it can¡¯t help the eyes of the internationalmunity.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government won¡¯t be so obvious about it, but it will secretly help Uyghurs leaving the region. There¡¯s no reason to refuse it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and observe the Uyghurs crossing the border this time.¡±


    Even though Uyghurs were immigrants, they belonged to China now. There was a need to pay attention to how China would handle its people leaving the country.


    If China closed its eyes to people who were escaping by crossing the border, that would be the answer for the Chinese insinuation. The reason was that Uyghurs were people who were ethnically ipatible with China, regardless of race.


    Although there was no freedom of religion in themunist state, the recognition of Im itself meant that China was not recognizing Uyghurs as its citizens. That was why China would not care if Uyghurs left the country.

 Chapter 491 - Compromise (2)

    <h4>Chapter 491: Compromise (2)</h4>


    Xinjiang Uyghur was wide enough to upy a tenth of China¡¯s territory.


    The total poption was about 25 million, which was more than Kazakhstan¡¯s poption. Among them, nine million people were Uyghurs excluding the Han people and three million people were ethnic Kazakhs and others. If only Kazakhstan could receive the Turkic people from Xinjiang Uyghur except for the Han people, Kazakhstan would be able to resolve the issue of poption shortage, but people would not easily give up theirnd where they lived for generations.


    Youngho was thinking of achieving Uyghurs¡¯ independence even at the cost of the sacrifices of the members of Uyghur anti-government organizations, which were receiving funds from the Kazakh government and the U.S. CIS. However, more than half of Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s territory was dominated by Han Chinese, so even if the region became independent, conflicts with Han would not be over.


    Many Uyghurs were pushed by the Han people and lived mostly in border areas, and it was uncertain whether they would be able to leave Xinjiang Uyghur to live in Kazakhstan.


    For China, Xinjiang Uyghur was on its way to the Eurasian continent, so it could not let go of the region. The Chinese government would try to secure thend even if it would have to expel all Uyghurs.


    For Kazakhstan, Uyghur was a buffer zone with China, but it was also not a foreign country since many Kazakhs lived in the region too. They shared the same sentiment historically.


    ¡°Eriksson, why don¡¯t we expand our investment in the free economic zone of Khorgas? It¡¯ll be an excuse for us to ept the Uyghurs naturally.¡±


    ¡°If you invest, the Chinese government will be encouraged. Since we have been pressuring the Chinese government for a while, it is necessary to take a more conciliatory approach.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about how the Uyghurs will perceive Kazakhstan. If we invest in the Khorgas free economic zone, it¡¯s like an act of impeding their independence.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you might disagree with this, but Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s independence is practically impossible.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    Eriksson often surprised Youngho by jumping into conclusions first without exnation.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying it¡¯s impossible at this moment. It won¡¯t happen unless there¡¯s an uncontroble economic crisis in China.¡±


    ¡°I see. There¡¯s no way to put pressure on China economically at this point.¡±


    ¡°You can block the export route, but it¡¯s such a huge country that it will be able to withstand through its domestic supplies only.¡±


    ¡°Khorgas is a double-edged sword.¡±


    ¡°Yes. If we make investments, we¡¯ll be helping China on one side but, it¡¯s also a great opportunity for us. Take this opportunity to secure Kazakhstan¡¯s trading zone.¡±


    From the early 2000s, Trans China Railway began to gain poprity from people to transport their goods, personal cargo, and cargo from Chinesepanies, and the amount of logistics volume being transported explosively increased.


    There were big global electronicspanies such as Dell, HP, and Apple located ind of China, and it was not easy for them to ship cargo to the eastern port. It would take them more than 40 to 50 days to ship their cargo to Europe if they were transported to a trading port in Shanghai or Ningbo to be shipped on arge vessel. Thus, it was two to three weeks faster for them to send their goods through Trans-Eurasia Railway than shipping at a port. With the Chinese government providing transportation subsidies,panies began to favor the Trans China Railway.


    As the volume of goods increased, the congestion in the railway became acute. There were too many cargos, but there were not enough trains in Kazakhstan¡¯s section. At Dostyk Station in the Kazakhstan-China border, the Kazakhstan Railway Administration was not providing enough trains. Cargos had to wait as long as 60 to 80 days, and exporters became anxious as cargo did not arrive on time.


    So, China made another border gate, Khorgas. The area was also a duty-free area, but it was an intermediate freight house made to relieve the chronic logistics congestion. Another purpose of the area was to create a detour route in a case when southern China¡¯s waters were blocked due to U.S. allies such as South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Australia.


    ***


    On the Kazakh side of the free economic zone in Khorgas, 1,400 Chinese people were waiting with their bags on their backs.


    As soon as they crossed over the border of Kazakhstan, they would be arrested by Chinese security guards. As they were about to cross the border in line, a few people got away from the line, and soon, all people in the line fled to all directions.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s guards who were in charge of taking them to China¡¯s side lifted their guards even before transferring the illegal immigrants to China¡¯s side. Flustered, one of the Kazakh guards panicked and fired nks in the sky.


    The Chinese guards who were waiting to take the immigrants to a bus were also bewildered by the sudden situation. Even though they were criminals who illegally stayed in the Kazakh border area, they were still citizens of China. Soon, there was a series of shes between the guards from both sides.


    ¡°Some injuries were reported, but the Chinese side seems to have refrained from fighting. We admitted that it was our guards¡¯ fault, and the Chinese side didn¡¯t make a big deal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great that it didn¡¯t be a bigger issue. In the meantime, about 100 illegal Chinese immigrants fled to our side?¡±


    ¡°There are seventeen families. We arrested them and are now protecting them as illegal immigrants.¡±


    ¡°Is there any word from the Chinese side that we should send them back?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t care about them because of the illegal immigrants scattered in the free economic zone. They¡¯ll probably ask about themter after checking the name list.¡±


    ¡°It was a bad operation, but I¡¯m d it ended well. And I heard that the Uyghurs all safely reached Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I was about to give you the number. The total number of Uyghurs who have crossed over this time are 753. Some of them are frostbite patients, but they¡¯re generally healthy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job overlooking this operation,mander. When the Uyghurs are ready, please send them to the Arirang royal territory.¡±


    Kabak, who was a lieutenant colonel during the revolutionary government, was promoted to the rank ofmander of the Royal Armed Division in the capital.


    ¡°Is there any Uyghur with a special career background?¡±


    ¡°An investigation is underway. Most of them are families of the members of independence organizations.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard there are a lot of intellectuals wanted by the Chinese government, but I don¡¯t think they¡¯ve escaped yet.¡±


    ¡°It seems like it. There will be another migration in February, maybe we¡¯ll get to see them then.¡±


    ¡°Is the escape route the Uyghurs have used this time is safe?¡±


    ¡°This is a secret passage that was only used by Kazakhs during the Silk Road era. It was maintained uncaught even during the Qing Dynasty. The Kazakhs who lived in Xinjiang Uyghur had been supplying necessary items from Kazakhstan through this route.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a ce that¡¯s been around for a long time, howe the Chinese border guards are not aware of this route?¡±


    ¡°It was built during the Uyghur Empire to invade the Tang Dynasty, and it waspleted during the Genghis Khan period. I don¡¯t know why, but it was kept a secret from the Han people for some reason.¡±


    ¡°If there was such a safe way out, we didn¡¯t have to make a fuss in the free economic zone. Let¡¯s keep the roadpletely secure from now on. Make sure to notify the people who escaped this time.¡±


    Since the Silk Road was treaded on by so many people and conquerors, such a secret path was even made. Youngho had no idea that there was a secret path in the rugged Tian Shan Mountain Range. He was curious about the route, so he wanted to explore it himself.


    ***


    China had set up arge delegation to visit Kazakhstan.


    When Youngho heard about it; he thought that only a special envoy woulde to improve the recent rtions of the two countries, but it was quite surprising that as many as 200 people, including businessmen, came by chartered ne. When the delegation visited, they also brought most of the missing Kazakh women with them too. This was quite sincere of the Chinese government.


    ¡°Your Highness. I think the new economic delegation is more interested in buying goods than in making direct investments in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather sell underground resources in China than receiving investments. I¡¯m d to hear that. China has been making an effort for Kyrgyzstan. Do you think China has noticed our n?¡±


    ¡°There was no sign of that. When our government said that we¡¯ll be solely in charge of Kyrgyzstan¡¯s section for the One Belt One Road construction, the Chinese government did not say much.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess China wants to meet us halfway. What do you think, Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason not to hold China¡¯s hand when China held it out first.¡±


    ¡°If China epts our decision, that¡¯s thepromise.¡±


    ¡°If China yields the Kyrgyz section, I think we can give up the rest of the sections to China. It¡¯s not like the construction will start right now, is it? We have plenty of time to turn things around. There has been no conclusion yet on the Turkish section either.¡±


    The biggest blow to Kazakhstan was Kyrgyzstan¡¯s absorption into China, the rest of the world was not a problem since other nations were far away from China. Youngho did not intend to take Uzbekistan even if he could. There was no reason to embrace thendmasses and itsrge poption people that would only cause trouble.


    ¡°Prime Minister, you must have little interest in Uzbekistan or the rest of the world.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I think Kyrgyzstan is too much for us unless we have an overwhelming economic power. Our power is not enough to handle therge poption of Uzbekistan. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re going to be poor together.¡±


    ¡°At the beginning of the annexation of Kyrgyzstan, we have to tighten our belts. In a few years, we¡¯ll get synergy effects.¡±


    ¡°I know you want to keep China in check, but I am worried that theter generations of Kyrgyz people will me the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°If China doesn¡¯t try to take control of Central Asia, there is no reason for us to take Kyrgyzstan. If the people of Kyrgyzstan wanted, I¡¯ll give thend back to them without any strings attached. Let¡¯s put in a statutory form if necessary.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s your will, the Kyrgyz people will praise the royal family. After hearing what you said, I feel a little at ease.¡±

 Chapter 492 - Compromise (3)

    <h4>Chapter 492: Compromise (3)</h4>


    Although Kazakhstan¡¯s recent moves dealing with its issues with China were enough to offend the Chinese government, it had been trying hard to earn Kazakhstan¡¯s favor for the sess of its One Belt One Road project. The fact that China sent a special envoy and an economic delegation to Kazakhstan was a sign that it was quite desperate.


    In Youngho¡¯s office in Astana, the Chinese envoy was nervously meeting Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, we don¡¯t know how to thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a logistics pass through our country, and of course we should be responsible for it. It¡¯s a disgrace to let China pay for all the trains and road construction costs in our country.¡±


    ¡°We understand that the economic situation of Kazakhstan in the past years had not allowed that before.¡±


    ¡°No matter how difficult the national economy is, we cannot leave the country¡¯s infrastructure in the responsibility of other countries. The same goes for the free economic zone of Khorgas. We said we would manage the area as amon area, but we haven¡¯t been able to show our responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°Our government will be happy to hear that you¡¯re offering to invest in royal funds. Can I ask how much you¡¯re nning to invest?¡±


    ¡°I can invest about 100 million dors. I hope it¡¯s not too little.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the amount of money doesn¡¯t matter. The fact that the royal family has a great interest in the free economic zones is a huge boost for us.¡±


    Youngho decided to ease the tension with China by supporting the free economic zone as he did not want any physical sh with China, but the Chinese envoy interpreted the situation in his own way. Youngho would invest several times more amount in and in Kazakhstan, but the special economic zone of Khorgas belonged to China under internationalw, although it belongs to Xinjiang Uyghur. Even if he wanted to invest more, this might be misunderstood that the Kazakh royal family was doing something that was antinomic since the more the special district became active, the more Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s independence would be farther away. From Kazakhstan¡¯s perspective, Khorgas was also a double-edged sword. When the Kazakh royal family said it would invest in a free economic zone, China epted that as a promise that there would be no further tension between the two countries in the future.


    ¡°If we improve some of the absurdities of the agreements between China and our previous administration, we will actively involve in the business with China. I¡¯d like to hear your thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Our government has also decided to proactively review past agreements with the Kazakh government. Since Your Highness has a lot of interest in the One Belt One Road, of course, we should cooperate. However, it is difficult to adjust the Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan routes as we¡¯ve already exchanged MOUs with the two governments. I hope you will take into consideration our government¡¯s difficulties.¡±


    ¡°Then, will you let Kazakhstan solely be in charge of the Kyrgyzstan line that is connected to Almaty at least?¡±


    ¡°If only the Kyrgyz government agrees, it¡¯ll be something that our government will appreciate too.¡±


    The Kyrgyzstan route was only a 300-kilometer-long pass, and it did not have much economic additional effect, so China had no reason to be stubborn. In other words, Kyrgyzstan was a country that had little appeal.


    ¡°Can you decide it on your own as a special envoy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just sharing our government¡¯s perspective. The decision is up to the Kyrgyz government. I¡¯m just concerned about whether the Kyrgyz government will give up the economic cooperation part that¡¯s previously arranged with our government.¡±


    It was not much of economic cooperation. There were no other things thanying a few railroads, bridges and creating a free trade zone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll solve that problem myself.¡±


    ¡°If you do, then our country will be spared an awkward situation with the Kyrgyz government.¡±


    As of today, Youngho had reached a majorpromise about the Kyrgyz issue with China.


    ¡°And the One Belt One Road business could be dyed due to border disputes between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. But since it¡¯s a problem in Central Asia, Kazakhstan will intervene and make a big adjustment.¡±


    Finally, Youngho brought up the most sensitive issue. It was to state that any problem in Central Asia was under Kazakhstan¡¯s influence. If the two countries engaged in border disputes, China, an economic stakeholder, would definitely intervene, so Youngho wanted to prevent that.


    ¡°China has no intention of engaging in the internal affairs of other countries. Especially if it¡¯s a border dispute, it¡¯s not a matter of further action.¡±


    ¡°The reason I¡¯m saying this is that the Central Asian countries are all members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Russia has no choice but to step in if China decides to intervene. We don¡¯t want the situation to escte from the standpoint of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that Kazakhstan is the center country of Central Asia. It would be a good thing for our country if Kazakhstan actively mediated the dispute.¡±


    It would be foolish to believe this word at once, but it was necessary to make clear that Kazakhstan would actively intervene in Central Asian affairs. If China stepped in the border issues without Kazakhstan¡¯s consent, China would have to abandon its Eurasian route.


    ***


    Jong-il had a short trip of four nights and five days to Korea, but he came back with a lot of promise.


    During his visit to Korea, he was the talk of the town, and what made Youngho happy was that Jong-il recruited young Koreans who would be a cyber unit of Kazakhstan and that he would be able to import thetest weapons from Korea without conditions.


    What Youngho had previously discussed with the head of South Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration when he visited Kazakhstan was finalized and materialized during Jong-il¡¯s visit to Korea.


    Park Jong-il, who briefly reported the results of his visit to Seoul government officials, patted his stomach and smiled only after drinking a few sses of wine in broad daylight.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you get to drink a lot in Korea?¡±


    ¡°How can the earl of the Kazakh Kingdom be drunk in Korea where all people are watching you?¡±


    ¡°I thought I was going to die of it.¡±


    ¡°I heard Korean officials drink quite a lot.¡±


    ¡°They heard that Kazakhstan was an Imic nation, so they didn¡¯t even give me pork, let alone any alcohol.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even meet your friends?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? I went there as a special envoy. I can¡¯t go anywhere I want to go. I had double and tripleyers of guards who protected me. I couldn¡¯t find a way to get away from them. Man... I spent the whole time meeting with the ministers and vice-ministers there.¡±


    Even though Jong-il wasining, he looked very bright since he brought good results from Korea.


    ¡°The Korean Army decided to send their main battle tanks and advanced trainer jets to us.¡±


    ¡°What? Tell me the details.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s the data, so read it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a big deal.¡±


    ¡°Yep. They see as a second Korea, not a foreign country. They also offered to take responsibility for training cyber unit members.¡±


    It seemed that Jong-il left the recruitment and preparation of the cyber unit members to the Korean government before leaving Korea.


    ¡°How manyputer majors did you ask for?¡±


    ¡°I said I need about 500.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s a huge number.¡±


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d need more people since weckputer experts in each military department.¡±


    The Kazakh military did not need manyputer experts because most of them only used conventional weapons. However, now it had to be different. It was time to switch to a state-of-the-art weapons system, so the current number ofputer professionals was far from sufficient.


    About 300 people would be sent to the cyber unit, 200 additionalputer experts would be sent to each part of the Kazakh military since there was a shortage of people who handled electronic equipment. It was because Kazakhstan had more people who had not even had the chance to touch theputer. While it may be hard to understand from the perspective of Korea or other advanced countries, the Caucasus and Central Asia were just like that.


    Thinking about the situation, Youngho thought thatputers should be supplied to each high school immediately.


    ¡°How many high school students are there in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°You want to use the royal fund again? How can you afford to give out aputer to each student? It is more efficient to makeputer ssrooms in each school.¡±


    ¡°Well, who¡¯s going to be theputer teacher, then?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to bring them from Korea.¡±


    ¡°Would young Koreans want to go to the remote ces of Kazakhstan, let alone thenguage barrier?¡±


    ¡°What about it? There are a lot of idle young people in Korea anyway. They¡¯d be d to have a job. And, what about thenguage barrier? We¡¯ve got Koryoins as interpreters.¡±


    There were about 100,000 Koryoin people in Kazakhstan. People who were still fluent in Korean. Mobilizing them would easily break down thenguage barrier even if countless young Koreans crowded in.


    ¡°Did you have any other orders from the Korean government?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s too many that I can¡¯t even list it all now.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else than underground resources in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Korea wants to take our resources only?¡±


    ¡°No, there are tons of businesses that have lined up to build factories in Kazakhstan, although they¡¯re declining industry. They¡¯re also thinking of making inroads into Uzbekistan or the Caucasus in the future, based on Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t build factories that cause pollution in here.¡±


    ¡°Are we in a position to pick whatever we like? We should be thankful that they¡¯re willing to build factories here, and instead of worrying about the factories, we should worry about the shortage of people who can work there.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that because I¡¯m going to receive Uyghurs and Uzbeks as well.¡±


    ¡°Would China let them go so easily?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re only problems to the Chinese government¡¯s eyes, they will rather like it if we take them.¡±


    ¡°Wow, everyone¡¯s being pushed by China.¡±


    ¡°Who else is there?¡±


    ¡°The Koreanpanies are having a hard time because of the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s been like this all the time. Why are we still hanging on to China?¡±


    ¡°Think about the amount consumed by 1.3 billion people. Can you really ignore it?¡±


    ¡°Do we have anything to target the Chinese market, too?¡±


    That was what Youngho said, but all he could think of right now was resources.


    It was a shame that Kazakhstan did not have any special thing that could dominate the Chinese market.

 Chapter 493 - To the Ocean (1)

    <h4>Chapter 493: To the Ocean (1)</h4>


    Since the dramaticpromise with China, rtions between the two countries had been experiencing an unseasonably springy wind.


    What immediately stood out was the resumption of operations by Chinese merchants in the streets of thergest market in Almaty. They were the ones who had disappeared as Kazakhstan police narrowed their investigation to arrest organizations that trafficked young Kazakh women. When Chinese merchants returned, soaring prices began to settle. Without Chinese manufactured goods and daily necessities in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, the working-ss economy did not work.


    Without Chinese goods, the economy would be paralyzed immediately. Countries were subjugated to China¡¯s economic sphere that they could not exclude China even if they wanted to. This economic structure must be stopped if Kazakhstan wanted to stand alone.


    In Astana, there was a heated debate among cab ministers.


    ¡°We rely too much on Chinese goods. But we can¡¯t build a factory for the limited number of consumers, can we? Self-production is not the only solution. Import goods from countries with low production costs is a natural phenomenon.¡±


    ¡°If we continue to use Chinese goods, all the small factories will have to be closed. But at the same time, if China does not export, our economy will be paralyzed. Companies that produce essential daily necessities or manufactured goods, even with subsidies, should be protected.¡±


    ¡°How about this? We should assign each region the items that it should produce, and we¡¯re going to make it mandatory. Then we¡¯ll be self-sufficient as much as we need.¡±


    ¡°The government¡¯s artificial intervention distorts the market. We have to leave it to the market economy to improve itspetitiveness.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re a country with only 19 million people. There should be at least 100 million people in order to make a self-sufficient domestic market. Rather than using money to set up factories and run them, we should use that to import. We need to diversify our import lines, not just using China¡¯s goods.¡±


    ¡°How can you diversify our imports when there¡¯re no goods as cheap as Chinese products? You don¡¯t mean we should bring expensive European products, do you?¡±


    ¡°There are Southeast Asian countries?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re too far away. You have to think about logistics costs.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a simple solution if we use the Trans China Railway.¡±


    ¡°Is it China again? Isn¡¯t it like we¡¯re exposing our weakness to China? What if China doesn¡¯t give us customs clearance?¡±


    ¡°Why do you think only of Trans China Railway? There is also a shippingpany that belongs to the royal family. I¡¯ve heard that it will open the Indian Ocean route soon, although it¡¯s only traveling the Antic and Arctic Seas now.¡±


    ¡°You have to have a sense of shame. How long are you going to lean on the royal family?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to do so on our own. We¡¯ve got no other option. We can pay back to the royal family if the state finances bes betterter.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim did not feelfortable listening to the conversation. This was because of the royal family had done so much for Kazakhstan, and yet, without its help, any business in Kazakhstan did not work properly.


    On the other hand, he had a deep trust in Youngho since he had shown tangible results with huge businesses in Kazakhstan. For example, the railway line through Baku to the ck Sea and through Iran to the Persian Gulf would bepleted within a few years, and it was all done with the royal funds.


    ¡°Oh! Are you saying that our ministers said that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m shameful, but I also have a tendency to lean on the royal family.¡±


    ¡°What are you ashamed for? The royal family didn¡¯t just fall from the sky. It is there because people supported it. I¡¯ll give everything for the benefit of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We are grateful for your generosity.¡±


    ¡°This is for the well-being of both the royal family and Kazakhstan. I can¡¯t be stingy on this matter.¡±


    ¡°There are only a few merchant ships belonging to Arirang Shipping that goes across the Antic. Will you be able to turn them around?¡±


    ¡°Even if we can¡¯t use our ship, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. There are a lot of shippingpanies that are idling because they don¡¯t have a lot of cargo to transport.¡±


    ¡°Still, I¡¯m worried about logistics costs because of the long transport distance. Some suggested that we should use the Trans China Train. What do you think about that?¡±


    ¡°The best way is to use the Trans China Train through the Chinese Port, but it¡¯ll be like giving China more power and control. We can use the Russian canal right now, so don¡¯t worry about it. Sooner orter, we¡¯d be receiving icebreakers from Denmark. A route to the Arctic Ocean will be open in the near future.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it inadequate with our icebreakers?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t told you yet. My shipyard in Denmark is now building severalrge icebreakers. I personally ordered one of them, but my friends also ordered several vessels. We arranged that Arirang Shipping would be in charge of operating them all.¡±


    ¡°When did you make such preparations?¡±


    ¡°A merchant must always look forward to the future. In the Arctic Ocean, there will soon be a day when our ice breakers will guidemercial vessels from each country. Look forward to it.¡±


    ***


    When Park Jong-il was told to pioneer the Antic route, he was exuberated. He said that it was finally time to go out to the ocean.


    ¡°Are the Antic and Arctic seas not the oceans, but the seas of the neighborhood?¡±


    ¡°The Indian Ocean is the ocean of the Age of Exploration. You have to cross the rough Indian Ocean to be a true shippingpany. Hey, I¡¯d like to send our ships to the Indian Ocean, and use chartered ships in the Antic route. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°We put our ship on a dangerous route?¡±


    ¡°Would we like to put our ships on a safe route and let others go to the sea full of pirates? I don¡¯t think ship owners will like to hear that.¡±


    ¡°Arirang Shipping won¡¯t be defeated by some pirates, I¡¯m confident. Our guards are from the Korean Navy Special Forces. If they can¡¯t beat pirates, they¡¯d have to go back to Korea.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate them too much and give our guards a proper education.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re okay about it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, like you¡¯re going to listen to me, Jong-il. Thepany¡¯s yours. Do whatever you like with it.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Arirang Shipping should be owned by the Kazakh royal family. It belongs to the royal family, no one will treat it with ill intentions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already left Arirang Shipping to you. What¡¯s wrong with you?¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, but if Arirang Shipping is in the form of a regrpany, we can¡¯t do it outside the country. If you¡¯re a member of a royal family, you can go in and out of any country¡¯s ports honorably. Besides, they won¡¯t make a problem out of bringing royal naval guards on board.¡±


    ¡°So, you want to take advantage of the title?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I should take anything I can get. There will be a day when Arirang Shipping will conquer all the oceans.¡±


    ¡°How can a country that has no contact with the ocean be a giant shippingpany?¡±


    ¡°We still have the Mediterranean ind.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with a tiny ind?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important that the ind belongs to the Kazakh royal family. The Greek government must also like it that the Kazakh royal family is in front of it.¡±


    Greece and Turkey had been at odds over ownership of a small ind in the Aegean Sea. Compared to Turkey¡¯s military power, Greece¡¯s power was feeble.


    ¡°Greece will rather be reluctant because we¡¯re a brotherly country to Turkey.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re pretending to be a brother just because Turkey sees it that way, but honestly we¡¯re not a brotherly country to Turkey.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    ¡°If we hold out in the Aegean Sea, Turkey will be less likely to start a dispute with Greece.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°How would Greece see us? It¡¯d be grateful to keep the prick out of the way.¡±


    Jong-il said that if only Kazakhstan could maintain a smooth rtionship with the Greek government, it could even set up a fleet of ships at the Aegean Sea. Youngho wondered if that would be feasible.


    The original n was to use the ind¡¯s topography to hide warships. However, he wanted to officially put some guarding fleet for the Kazakh royal family there. If the royal family said that it would dock a few frigates there to protect ships of Arirang Shipping, the Greek government would not refuse it. The government would rather think about it as good protection against Turkey.


    The fleet that will protect the Western or the Arctic Ocean can use Copenhagen, a country of inws, as a port. But to protect the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, we needed a foothold in the Mediterranean.


    It was the ind of Greece.


    It would be nice to have one, but if it is not coastal, warships from other countries cannot enter at all.


    ¡°Jong-il, why don¡¯t you visit Greece this time?¡±


    ¡°As a special envoy again?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Go ask if the Greek government would let us use its port or allow us to dock warships on the ind.¡±


    ¡°It may have worked in Korea, but I¡¯m not sure if that will work with the Greek government.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the head of the Kazakh intelligence service. The Greek government won¡¯t make a mistake to mistreat you since you¡¯re a practical power of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re pushing it.¡±


    ¡°If the government is interested, tell that there¡¯s a chance of buying a few more inds.¡±


    Greece had thousands of inds but was just using them as a tourist destination.


    As the government was now at the point of bankruptcy, which forced it to sell its own inds in order to survive, so it would readily ept the proposal of the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Negotiate with our natural resources too.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I go as a royal envoy, not as a special envoy of the Kazakh government?¡±


    ¡°You think you¡¯ll have more credibility if you go as Earl?¡±


    ¡°Yes, wouldn¡¯t the Greek government think twice if I¡¯m the Earl? I¡¯m in the third-highest position in the order of the royal family after the Queen and the Duke. People in Europe are very sensitive about it. Since I became Earl, I¡¯ve had quite a few writers who wanted to meet me here and there.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I guess that¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°The question is, would it be reasonable to say we¡¯ll be docking our warships to protect our royal-owned shippingpany?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s notpletely convincing... Then how about suggesting to sign a currency swap agreement?¡±


    ¡°And what if Greece is really on the verge of bankruptcy?¡±


    ¡°If Greece doesn¡¯t pay what it owes to us, then we¡¯ll ask them to cede the right port to us.¡±

 Chapter 494 - To the Ocean (2)

    <h4>Chapter 494: To the Ocean (2)</h4>


    ¡°I¡¯m going to prove the greatness of the Kazakh royal family this time.¡±


    Jong-il said as he was thinking about meeting the Greek government as the Earl of the Kazakh Kingdom.


    ¡°Do you think European aristocrats became aristocrats overnight like you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? A new noble is also a noble.¡±


    ¡°Man, European aristocrats are distinguished people. If you want to be treated as a nobleman, you have to be a nobleman from the core of your bones, and you have to be a generous and virtuous person.¡±


    ¡°If you have a moral person as much as I am, show me.¡±


    ¡°Youpletely forgot what you had done when you were a bachelor. How many women cried because of you?¡±


    ¡°This guy keeps reminding me when I¡¯m about to forget about the past. Who hasn¡¯t been in a rtionship when you were a bachelor?¡±


    ¡°But not like you. You¡¯ve changed girls as if you¡¯re eating a meal.¡±


    ¡°So I don¡¯t have the right to be an Earl?¡±


    ¡°I mean, you need to keep your dignity as an aristocrat now. Please be careful wherever you go. If you do something wrong, the whole thing will be ruined.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m already a man of noble dignity. I didn¡¯t be an Earl overnight, but I started as the baron and stepped up from there one by one...¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... What about skipping the position of viscount?¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re achievement is too big, you can skip a level or two.¡±


    A special envoy was a temporary title that was sent from a government to another country¡¯s government to negotiate on something. It was an international courtesy for the receiving government to treat the visiting special envoy as the head of sending government.


    It was because a special envoy was different from the ambassador residing in the receiving country as it was to deliver a special message from the head of the sending government. Thus, most people who were pointed as a special envoy were inevitably the closest aides of the head of a government.


    ¡°You might not get a good response from your first visit. So, don¡¯t jump to conclusions too quickly.¡±


    ¡°I should at least try my best to convince the Greek government.¡±


    ¡°Now, the Greek government is in such a dire financial situation that it will want to join the devil, take advantage of it.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan has a small number of foreign exchange reserves, so what good can it do?¡±


    It would not a lot much if two countries that did not have much would form a currency swap agreement, but the Greek government would want to take any chance it could get.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether Kazakhstan will be helpful to Greece or not. When everyone else turns a blind eye on you, you appreciate any hand that reaches out to you.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Greece a member of the European Union? I don¡¯t think the EU will abandon it.¡±


    ¡°If EU doesn¡¯t see the willingness of the Greek government, or its people to ovee the financial crisis on their own, Greece will be forced out of the European Union without mercy. That¡¯s when wee in. If the Greek government ignores Kazakhstan for not having much foreign exchange reserves, tell that the royal family can lend money.¡±


    Greece had a weak manufacturing base and consisted of mostly a third-tier industry-oriented industrial structure such as tourism and marine transportation.


    However, due to its excessive social welfare policy, its productivity was reduced, and it was on the verge of drowning due to high prices and financial costs.


    If Greece needed money, Youngho would dly lend the Kazakh royal family¡¯s money. Only then, he would be able to get a harbor ornd in Greece. This was because Greece could not afford to pay back its money under the economic circumstances of the country.


    ¡°And if you go this time, take a look at the shippingpanies that are on sale.¡±


    ¡°You want to buy a shippingpany there, not looking for charter ships?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be more convenient to take over apany of a decent size.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that doesn¡¯t sound bad.¡±


    ¡°Find apany that has newer ships.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be expensive.¡±


    ¡°I still have a lot left from the former president¡¯s slush fund. We will also use financing to take over thepany. It won¡¯t cost that much in the beginning.¡±


    Greek shippingpanies were thergest in the world, upying 18 percent of the world¡¯s ship capacity, which was 3,079 vessels. As for the types of ships, oil tankers or bulk carriers were the world¡¯s No. 1 and container ships were the fourthrgest. But even the wealthiest Greek shippingpany owners could not avoid the economic crisis, so there were a lot of shippingpanies on the market, some were at a quite cheap price. That was why Youngho nned to buy a Greek shippingpany now.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness. I¡¯ve returned safely.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, why did youe back so fast? You could¡¯ve spent some more time with your family. I gave you enough time to travel somewhere nice. I hope your family doesn¡¯t me me.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Basten urged me to go back quickly, so I couldn¡¯t stay longer.¡±


    ¡°There must be something he wants from me, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    Youngho had promised Basten some gold bars when he visited Kazakhstan with some investors from Europe. That was why he sent gold bars along with Eriksson when he went back home for the New Year¡¯s vacation.


    ¡°How did you know that? He asked me privately if he could get some more gold bars.¡±


    ¡°Has China¡¯s economic situation gone bad rapidly now?¡±


    ¡°I think there are some signs. Kazakhstan also must make every effort to manage the foreign currency.¡±


    Youngho had been making bold moves against China because Basten had informed him about China¡¯s economic situation. China was in a situation where it could risk any economic damage.


    ¡°Our economy is small enough to hold out. If there¡¯s an economic crisis, it¡¯s going to be an opportunity for us.¡±


    ¡°But we have to raise the gold rate to the dor.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve got gold mines and state-of-the-art deposition equipment all over the country, so the amount of gold in the future is going to grow exponentially. So tell Mr. Basten that we¡¯re going to send about five tons.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. You¡¯ve already given him enoughst time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting back something equally valuable in return.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to let him pay with thepany¡¯s share again?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Information Agency is a valuable information source. This is important for the future of Kazakhstan as well.¡±


    Most of the shares that Basten¡¯s Information Agency had been of thosepanies with original technology. There were defensepanies like Sweden¡¯s Saab and U.S. chemical, electrical and electronicspanies. Since Information Agency was a major shareholder of suchpanies, acquiring shares of Information Agency would naturally open the way for Kazakhstan to engage in the management of thosepanies. That meant it would be easy to transfer technology as well.


    ¡°I heard that Earl Park is going to Greece as a special envoy this time.¡±


    ¡°We n to open the ind in Aegean Sea as a military port officially.¡±


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re taking over the shippingpany as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to increase the size of Arirang Shipping. In order to diversify our import lines, we need to be able to digest all of Kazakhstan¡¯s logistics first.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re seeking a Greek shippingpany, would you like me to check it out?¡±


    Eriksson, a former agent of an Information Agency, must have some idea about the shippingpanies in Greece already since he suggested it first. He was a man who used to handle all kinds of economic information, so he could quickly get a hold of what he wanted to purchase through his connections.


    ¡°Do you know a usible shippingpany? Then why don¡¯t you apany Earl Park?¡±


    ¡°I will go to Greece with him, if you want me to. I know a wealthy person who owns a shippingpany there. If we go through him, we¡¯ll find a good shippingpany at a bargain price.¡±


    Among the Greeks, there were more than 80 families that had seeded in the shipping business. Onassis, famous for marrying Jacqueline, the widow of President Kennedy, was an internationally known maritime tycoon. There were more shipping tycoons that were even greater than him.


    ¡°The shipping tycoons, whose names you would have heard once in your life, are having a hard time these days. They ordered a lot of ships when the shipping industry was doing well, but now it¡¯s taking its toll on them.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? If they ordered ships before, those ships would be ready tounch by now.¡±


    ¡°In order to acquire the new vessels, the shippingpany owners would have to sell their old vessels, but it¡¯s difficult for them to do so because they¡¯re tied down to excessive ship financing. Now, a person with a lot of cash can be a king in the shipping industry.¡±


    This meant that Youngho could be a king in the shipping market. That was because he still had 7.2 billion dors from President Nazarbayev¡¯s secret fund and 480 tons of gold bars. Of course, he invested in the railway business in the Caucasus and paid a deposit for the new Aegis destroyers and Saab fighter jets from the money, but there was no problem since he still had a lot left and he was to keep making money from his businesses.


    ¡°How much would a mid-sized Greek shippingpany cost?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be astronomical in terms of the total amount, but it won¡¯t be too much of a burden if you do ship financing. And there is a way to own a shippingpany without having to buy one. It may take some time, but you can try M&A through stock purchase. If you have money, there¡¯s always a way.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to expand my business at the risk of hearing that the royal family took over thepany by force.¡±


    ¡°How do you know who¡¯s behind it when you take the right steps to take over apany using an agent?¡±


    ¡°People will find out about it one day.¡±


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t step in, hyenas wille to take over a copsingpany. Rather, your acquisition opens the door for its employees. Thepany hunters are only interested in money, not the employees of thepanies.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then we¡¯ll have to step up to prevent the sacrifice of the employees.¡±

 Chapter 495 - A Crisis is Another Chance (1)

    <h4>Chapter 495: A Crisis is Another Chance (1)</h4>


    Usually, the country¡¯s economic vulnerability was determined by applying the debt-to-GDP ratio. That was why each country was trying to lower its debt-to-equity ratio out of fear of a fall in its credit rating. But the debt-to-equity ratio was ignored when the 2008 financial crisis hit the world.


    Since each nation was about to go bankrupt, being in debt no longer seemed to be a big deal. As the U.S. used its key currency status to issuerge amounts of dors, euro countries and Japan increased liquidity by conducting deficit finance. China was no exception. It released unlimited funds into the market, which flowed into the real estate stock market.


    Then China¡¯s real estate business began to drive everything with a frightening momentum. It was the beginning of a bubble economy and national debt from excessive development snowballed.


    Youngho was already preparing himself, but when Eriksson mentioned it again, he was bent on how to repay the national debt at an early date. The size of Kazakhstan¡¯s economy market was small, so there would not be a major blow, but because Kazakhstan was taking baby steps now, any small waves should be avoided.


    The answer was to preemptively respond to the economic blow. So, he flew to Astana in a hurry. He was now engaged in a heated debate with Cab ministers.


    ¡°There is another financial crisising, so we need to find a way to respond in a preemptive manner. That¡¯s why I want to pay off any foreign debts early.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, Kazakhstan¡¯s foreign debt is 110 billion dors, and the total amount of foreign debt is less than 100 percent of GDP, so it¡¯s not too much to worry about. And we have a solid financial stability as the private sector¡¯s foreign debt ounts for 70 percent of the total.¡±


    The finance minister replied to Youngho as if it was nothing. It may not be a big deal in terms of statistics, but the reality of Kazakhstan was different.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal? If we have a strong economic structure like that of advanced countries, it won¡¯t be a problem even if it¡¯s over 200 percent, but for a developing country like us, over 40 percent is said to be a dangerous level. Will our privatepanies be able to withstand the financial crisis? I¡¯m worried that if privatepanies copse, there will be a lot of unemployed people.¡±


    ¡°The new government has been changing the structure of our economy, but it hasn¡¯t been so easy as it¡¯ll take some time.¡±


    ¡°When entrepreneurs organize and sell their personal assets, they will be able to pay off foreign debts. Please tell them that if they don¡¯t lower the ratio within this year, they¡¯ll be at a disadvantage,¡±


    ¡°If we push too hard, they could leave the country. Most of them are Russian.¡±


    ¡°I understand that in the meantime, we¡¯ve been even suspending tax investigation for Russian businessmen for fear of them leaving thepany. There won¡¯t be such a practice from this year where there is ie, there must be a tax. If they want to live in Kazakhstan, they¡¯ll have to fulfill their duty as a citizen.¡±


    ¡°That will ruin the industrial cities in the north.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯ll never leave Kazakhstan. Our country is a democratic country and Russia is a socialist country. There is no better ce to do business than Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Please let entrepreneurs across the country know in advance that there will be a financial crisis soon. If they don¡¯t try to reduce your debt, they won¡¯t have any government support. We don¡¯t have enough finance to cover up forpanies that don¡¯t try.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if they¡¯d be willing to sell theirpanies, why don¡¯t we consider buying it from the state?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we should make state-runpanies.¡±


    ¡°Yes, until now, the state-runpany had been neglected, but they¡¯re doing well since the new government.¡±


    The state-run industry should be limited to such as electricity and railroads.


    It had been a global trend to transfer other categories of business to the private sector. Since all the executives of state-runpanies had been reshuffled since the start of the revolutionary government, they had been returning to normal, but before then, there were countless state-runpanies that had more than 300 percent debts inx management. The government was undergoing intensive restructuring, as such negligence in state-runpanies was the main culprits of eating away at the state finances of the nation.


    However, it was against the new government¡¯s policy direction to turnrge-scale mines and heavy industries into state-runpanies.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying I don¡¯t know the importance of public enterprises, but don¡¯t forget that the economic crisis in China resulted from excessive business at public corporations.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the royal businesses are not like that, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°The business we run in the royal family and the public corporation has apletely different characteristic.¡±


    ¡°What if the royal family were to run mines and factories sold by Russian businessmen?¡±


    ¡°The business we do in the royal territory is the national defense industry, and we don¡¯t seek profit.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only telling you because there is no entrepreneur in Kazakhstan who is capable of acquiring and running a giantpany.¡±


    Here again came the weakness of Kazakhstan was revealed.


    There were no big businessmen. In other words, since there was no one to take over thepanies that would be sold, the royal family should buy them. It was quite frustrating to hear that. Youngho did not want to start a huge domestic business now. It was questionable whether all Kazakhs would regard the royal move naively, even if it was to make a profit and return it to the people.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s biggest concern was that the foreign exchange reserves in Kazakhstan were only 40 billion dors.


    To resolve this, the priority was to form a currency swap agreement with other countries. The former government had only formed it with China and Russia.


    The first things that came to mind were Denmark, a country of inws; Sweden, where Basten¡¯s Information Agency was; and Britain, a country of military alliance.


    Youngho targeted them because he thought they would feel less burdened by Kazakhstan¡¯s long-term foreign debts.


    ¡°Eriksson, I wonder how the Swedish government would react if Kazakhstan wanted to have a currency swap with Sweden.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be so difficult. The Swedish government will believe in the Kazakh royal family more than the Kazakh government, so it will agree to it.¡±


    ¡°How much are Sweden¡¯s foreign exchange reserves?¡±


    ¡°We have 125 tons of gold. Combined with euro and dor we have, it¡¯d be about 53 billion dors.¡±


    ¡°What? Sweden has globalpanies. Does it make sense that the government only keeps that much amount?¡±


    ¡°Companies and countries are different entities. Saab¡¯s own cash alone is more than 30 billion dors. In that sense, the Swedish currency report is astronomical.¡±


    ¡°I guess Denmark and Britain would have about the same reserves.¡±


    ¡°Denmark has about 60 billion dors, and UK has about 130 billion dors for its foreign exchange reserves.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. and China would have the most reserves, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°China is thergest holder of foreign exchange reserves in the world, which is about 3.7 trillion dors. Would you believe that the U.S. that actually makes dors has only about 140 billion dors? But the privatepanies of the United States have a huge amount of cash reserves.¡±


    Ten U.S.panies, including Apple Inc., had 602 billion dors in cash reserves. Apple alone held $205.5 billion in cash.


    What was notable here was the amount of gold held around the world. The U.S. had 8,100 tons, several times more than China¡¯s 1,760 tons.


    Kazakhstan, on the other hand, did not have much foreign exchange reservespared to other countries and theirpanies. Kazakhstan¡¯s gold holding was quite impressive as it was one of the world¡¯s top ten gold reserves. With 480 tons of gold that Youngho had and 220 tons of gold at the Central Bank, the total amount of gold held by Kazakhstan was more than 700 tons.


    ***


    Youngho did not have to visit other countries to sign currency swap agreements.


    ¡°The documents have arrived from the Swedish, Danish, and British central banks.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that was really nice of them. Usually, I¡¯d have to visit each country myself to achieve this.¡±


    ¡°They would¡¯ve agreed because of the royal family¡¯s money.¡±


    ¡°Hey, even so, the currency swap is not so easy to agree?¡±


    ¡°And they said that it¡¯s unlimited without a price tag.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because Kazakhstan¡¯s foreign debts are all long term.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be because they¡¯re attracted to our country because of our gold reserves?¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh central bank has only 220 tons of gold.¡±


    ¡°But the royal family has quite a huge amount of treasures, isn¡¯t that true?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? That¡¯s nonsense. Where did you get that idea?¡±


    ¡°Last time I visited the Danish royal family, I heard chatter among servants. Princess Isabe is said to have been given a huge amount of gold by the Serbian Archduke family as a wedding gift. There was a rumor that the Archduke family¡¯s inheritance is astronomical.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe that?¡±


    ¡°How can I not trust it? All the businesses that belong to the royal family told me that¡¯s got to be true.¡±


    ¡°All the money I spent on the royal property of Arirang is what I earned from my hard work. Just know it has nothing to do with the inheritance of the Archduke family.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve earned astronomical amounts of money with bare hands, but it¡¯s my calction that it¡¯s impossible to do this much work in such a short time without the inherited money.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you calcted, but you can¡¯t say that to me since I worked hard for it.¡±


    ¡°You must have a special ability to pop up here and there instantly. There¡¯s no other exnation except to say that you¡¯ve been stealing money from different ces at night with your ability. That¡¯s how you gained such wealth in a short period of time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, jeez. How can you make up such a story, Min-seok? How old are you?¡±


    Although Youngho said it as if it was ridiculous, he was stunned as Min-seok¡¯s words were right. He used to sell arms, information, and gold bars through Eriksson whom he was acquainted with when he was a CIA agent. Later, he siphoned off slush funds of President Nazarbayev and his family, so it was definitely stealing.


    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s impossible to actually mobilize such amount of funds. Your Highness was known as a veiled man.¡±


    ¡°Where else did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°Is there anyone in the world who, like you, has been a businessman who could deal with presidents of other countries at an equal level? Surely it¡¯s impossible without a superpower.¡±


    ¡°What kind of shaman or ghost am I?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no one in the history of the world who¡¯s built this much in such a short period of time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve determined to tter me today. What is it that you need? Stop beating around the bush, and just say it.¡±

 Chapter 496 - A Crisis is Another Chance (2)

    <h4>Chapter 496: A Crisis is Another Chance (2)</h4>


    When countries such as Denmark, Sweden, and Britain signed a currency swap agreement with Kazakhstan, European resource-poor countries wanted to establish ties with Kazakhstan. It was not because of Kazakhstan¡¯s status; it was because they were drawn to the fact that the Kazakh royal family had great financial resources. Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia also contacted the Kazakh government in hopes of signing a currency swap agreement and that made the Kazakh finance minister exuberated.


    He was worried that no country would want to establish currency swap with Kazakhstan before, but now he called Youngho asking to pick countries.


    ¡°Your Highness, Turkey, and Azerbaijan are brotherly countries, so we¡¯ll have to establish currency swap with them, but Georgia is a loss for us. Why don¡¯t you say no?¡±


    ¡°You have to think about when the Russian Canal will be blocked. If we want to get to the ck Sea, we¡¯ll need Georgia¡¯s help. And Georgia¡¯s foreign debt is not a lot. Georgia must¡¯ve been urgent when it reaches out to us first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it might ask for some aid.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already working together on the railroad with the royal funds, so it won¡¯t be asking too much. Honestly, I want Georgia to ask for help. That¡¯ll be an opportunity for our merchant ships to take full advantage of Georgia¡¯s ports.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was short-sighted since I didn¡¯t think of that.¡±


    It was not just those countries. Even Michael from the U.S. CIA called to ask why Youngho had not contacted him. He was now promoted as the Director of the US CIA.


    ¡°Chief, you know how it¡¯s like. We only have about a foreign debt of 110 billion dors, so having currency swap with three to four countries would cover it. And the U.S. willugh if we ask to do a currency swap with it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, our sweet Highness describes 110 billion dors as nothing. That¡¯s a bold statement.¡±


    Michael was quite upset that now he was being sarcastic. In the early days of the revolutionary government, he empowered Youngho by sending patrol ships that had been used by the US coastal guards, so he must have had thought Youngho would visit the United States first when the regime was stabilized.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve disappointed you, Chief.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am sorry. How can you put me in such trouble? I thought we were friends, but I guess it was just me who thought so.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. What¡¯s the matter? This is only a small issue, so I didn¡¯t think I should tell you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just this. Why don¡¯t you even send a special envoy to the United States when he¡¯s been everywheretely? I¡¯ve done a lot for Kazakhstan on behalf of the CIA, and you don¡¯t even respect our favor. You¡¯re making me lose my face.¡±


    ¡°Why do you need a special envoy when I talk to you so often on the phone? Please stop beating around the bush. If you need anything, please be honest. And there are no people hearing us now, why do you talk to me that way? I hate to be called ¡®Your Highness¡¯ by you.¡±


    Since Michael had been the head of the European headquarters in Frankfurt for ten years, Youngho and Michael had a long friendship. He felt very awkward to be treated with respect by Michael.


    ¡°I heard that even the walls have ears. There¡¯s no harm in being careful. I don¡¯t want people to say that I¡¯ve been rude to the Duke of the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°I know that well, but speakfortably just for today. You¡¯re like my father, so please treat me like you used to when we¡¯re alone.¡±


    ¡°Man, when you mention ¡®father,¡¯ you always drag me into something. I¡¯ve got to be careful.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything special to ask today. You didn¡¯t send your agents to spy on me, did you?¡±


    ¡°Why would I go through that? You¡¯ll find out about it immediately if I did.¡±


    ¡°Only a few people know about the special envoy to Korea or Greece, but it looks like you¡¯re informed about it already.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the Director of the US CIA. If I¡¯m not aware of such matter, I¡¯d have to resign forck of qualification.¡±


    ¡°Don`t be bothered by politics, and juste to Kazakhstan. I¡¯ll take care of yourter life.¡±


    Although Youngho said so, he wanted Michael to be in his position as long as possible, since he needed the U.S. support as much as he could get. Michael was also a person who had been a soldier before entering the CIA, and he cared for reputation and honor as his priority. He would not leave the position unless he was pushed by higher authorities. Even though Youngho had many foreign friends, there were only a few people whom he could talk openly. Michael was one of them. He valued honor, so the national interest of the United States was his priority, but he would help Youngho no matter what.


    ¡°I heard you decided to give way to China.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a road to and from Europe, and it¡¯s beneficial to us, so we had to support it.¡±


    ¡°Good job. I guess you must¡¯ve a lot in return from China for that.¡±


    ¡°We earned the Kazakh and Kyrgyz sections of the route construction. I guess that¡¯s a good deal.¡±


    ¡°I see. Do you have enough government budget?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to tighten our belt.¡±


    ¡°Should I attract some Americanpanies? But most Americanpanies would want to make a long-term investment, does that sound okay?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. If that¡¯s the case, we can run the route together. It¡¯ll be better since we also have to get a new operations management system, anyway.¡±


    ¡°I heard that Koreanpanies are also interested. Do you have room for Americanpanies?¡±


    ¡°The railroad is thousands of kilometers long. If anypany had the intention of participating, I would receive anyone.¡±


    ¡°All right. We¡¯ll send the business survey team in the near future. Good luck.¡±


    If U.S.panies invested in Kazakhstan, it would be like a kind of safety device. That was because the U.S. thought of the protection and safety of its citizens ofpanies as a priority. It would protect Kazakhstan from Russia and China¡¯s power, not to mention that this was a good opportunity for Kazakhstan to learn skills and advanced business management techniques.


    ¡°Chief, if you rmend anypany, I will ept it without a word.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust in Americanpanies too much. Check your contracts thoroughly.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much for helping. I¡¯ll send you a special envoy soon in return.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you visit once instead of sending a special envoy here?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of people in America who want to see the Queen and the Prince consort of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Greek streets were filled with demonstrators. The government had poured most of its foreign debts into shipping conglomerates and financial institutions, and it¡¯s now only relying on usury. However, people are still upset.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the government office has also been put up for sale? And it can¡¯t even pay its employees. Was that true?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem. The shippingpany and shipping financepany are eating up the nation.¡±


    ¡°Only the working-ss people are suffering.¡±


    ¡°What the hell have politicians been up to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve been buried in the money they gained from lobbies of the shipping industry tycoons.¡±


    ¡°Was there a good shippingpany that we can buy?¡±


    ¡°There are severalpanies that Eriksson investigated in advance, and all of them were fine in my eyes. I like most of the ships because they are new.¡±


    Park Jong-il was sharing his trip to Greece with Eriksson.


    Then Cha In-soo, who was listening to the conversation between the two, stepped in.


    ¡°This idiot talks like he¡¯s been living in Greece for years. Greece¡¯s situation went bad only after it joined the European Union. If it stayed still, it could have lived well with its shipping and tourism industries. Its splendid cultural heritage has been faded by its national debt.¡±


    ¡°Who in here has been to Greece other than me? My experience in the foreign world is longer than you, so be quiet if you don¡¯t know.¡±


    The situation in Greece was worse than Youngho had thought.


    He was going to lend money in the hope of getting a Greek port, but it seemed it would be a negative if Kazakhstan formed a currency swap with Greece.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t talk about the money in that situation, did you?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think I¡¯d have that much sense? I didn¡¯t say a thing. The Greek government doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s going to make trouble for us docking warships on the ind. The problem is that we have to pay taxes for the ind belongs to the Greek territorial waters.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay taxes if it¡¯s what they want. Was there any other order from the Greek government?¡±


    ¡°They asked me if we could buy a shippingpany that would be burdensome to the Greek government. Thepanies that Eriksson pre-picked were in their list, so we signed a memorandum of understanding with two shippingpanies for now.¡±


    ¡°What? We¡¯re taking over two shippingpanies?¡±


    ¡°They have only 23 ships in total.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°The number of ships is small, but most of them are 80,000 to 100,000 tons.¡±


    A 100,000-ton vessel was a huge vessel that was about the size of three ser fields. The reason Greek shippingpanies dominated the world was because they owned super-sized ships.


    ¡°What kind of ships are they?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯re oil tankers, dry bulk carriers, and container ships. Fortunately, most of them are container ships.¡±


    ¡°Why is that fortunate?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Container ships usually stop by three to four ports before returning, so it will always carry loads from port to port, and we¡¯re constantly on the job, but oil tankers and bulk carriers only stop at one destination and return in an empty ship. It¡¯s not so efficient.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, I¡¯m getting excited now.¡±


    ¡°I knew you would. Eriksson also said that container ships¡¯ profits are much better when the economy gets better.¡±


    ¡°Great job, Jong-il. Let¡¯s start with twopanies and slowly take over the whole in the future.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how much those twopanies cost this time? It¡¯s worth as much as two billion dors.¡±


    ¡°If webine with shipping finance, it won¡¯t cost us half.¡±


    ¡°Is that a small amount?¡±


    ¡°And if the Greek government is desperate, we might get it cheaper. We just exchanged memorandums. We didn¡¯t confirm the total, did we?¡±


    ¡°Hey! I thought you didn¡¯t want the royal family to be seen as stealingpanies.¡±


    ¡°When you do this, you say it¡¯s a win-win deal.¡±


    The cost of ordering a new ship was enormous, but the price of a ship that had been used within ten years would drop dramatically. Also, in the recent situation where sea traffic had declined sharply, used ships were sold at dirt cheap prices. As interest on ship financing was already overdue, the shippingpany could not say a word even if the auction was held by the financial firm. So, it was a great opportunity for Youngho to buy shippingpanies as the Greek government was eager to sell them. It would have to say yes to Youngho¡¯s request in order to sell thepanies.

 Chapter 497 - A Crisis is Another Chance (3)

    <h4>Chapter 497: A Crisis is Another Chance (3)</h4>


    Michael¡¯s unofficial invitation gave Youngho several messages. It had urged Youngho to diversify his diplomatic direction instead of only focusing on Europe, and to turn U.S. influential people pro-Kazakhstan. In a way, it meant that he should have many lobbyists. The United States was the paradise of lobbyists.


    The lobbyists were people who do many activities to persuade policymakers or legitivewmakers to make policy decisions in a certain direction. They also exerted influence on policy decisions by government officials. They belonged to a group that had interests in a particrw or were hired for the money of a group that wanted to pass or reject a particr bill.


    In the case of Youngho, the U.S. intelligence chief Michael or Edward would be his potential lobbyists. So far, Michael had been able to help Youngho to the fullest extent permitted by the intelligence service¡¯s budget, but he would not be able to do that in the future. That was because the amount of aid could berge enough to make a political decision outside the intelligence service.


    ¡°Eriksson, Chief Michael asked me not to send a special envoy but invited me to the U.S. unofficially, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite encouraging.¡±


    ¡°I thought so too. He said that people around him are dying to meet the Queen and me. I think he wants to introduce political figures to us. Do you think it¡¯s worth it?¡±


    ¡°You know that many times unofficial visits are more fruitful than official visits. Right?¡±


    Official visits of a state guest that made a lot of fuss were nothing more than a political show. It was only to announce a joint statement and dere that the rtionship was close to the outside world, and the leaders of the neighboring countries resolved everything by phone.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to visit there either if it¡¯s official. If you¡¯re going to take a few photos and announce a joint statement, why would you spend so much money on it?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... But that¡¯s what it¡¯s like when you need to show off your rtionship abroad.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be in the spotlight. I¡¯m more suitable for work behind the scenes. So, I think we should have a lobbyist in the U.S. How do you feel about that?¡±


    ¡°For Kazakhstan, a lobbyist is necessary. But you¡¯re already a lobbyist, are you sure you want to get another person that¡¯s qualified for your standards?¡±


    ¡°So far, I¡¯ve been lucky, but I think there will be a lot of issues that need the consent of the U.S. Congress in the future.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much about it. Our Information Agency has a lot of connections.¡±


    ¡°You blow all of my concerns at once.¡±


    ¡°But a necessary to find a lobbyist that will work as if he¡¯s your hands.¡±


    ¡°How about Michael?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be the best lobbyist for you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Michael¡¯s going to move as I want him to.¡±


    ***


    A prototype of a tactical light armored vehicle was made at the Otokar¡¯s assembly nt in the royal territory. In spite of the cold weather, ministers and military personnel gathered from all over the country to see an armored vehicle.


    ¡°People are so interested in the light armored vehicle now. I bet they¡¯d go crazy if we develop a missile or a fighter jet, Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also excited because I used to serve in the military. I want to drive it myself.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve increased our production n from 200 to 300 units a year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be weed in the front line. When are tanks going to be released?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in trouble after Ko? Holding moved here. It handed over the tank design technology to the Turkish government beforehand. So, I am going to make a technical partnership with a German or Koreanpany.¡±


    ¡°Most of the Chinese and Russian borders are mountainous, so Korean tanks are more likely to be suitable for the border than German ones.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to meet with the Koreanpany. And sooner orter, all of Saab¡¯s Gripen fighter jets will be assembled and produced. A fighter jet would be more powerful than a dozen of tanks.¡±


    ¡°If that happens, I won¡¯t have any more wish.¡±


    In the near future, Ko? Holding¡¯sbat helicopters and Saab¡¯s Gripen fighter jets would also be assembled and showcased at the royal territory. Strong air force was necessary to dominate the battlefield. So he nned to produce them as long as the funds were permitted.


    In order to have unlimited funds, Kazakhstan would have to find a vein of gold buried somewhere in thend, but there was no news of it even though thetest exploration equipment had been used.


    The amount of gold secured by searching homes of miners after nationalizing gold mines in the early stages of the new government was about 30 tons. This meant that the gold buried in various parts of the country could be a lot more in the vast country. Gold taken from private gold mines in the remote ces was still being traded in the underground market, which was estimated to be around six tons per year. Thend was so rich in gold resources that even gold smugglers were said to favor two countries the most, which were Siberia and Kazakhstan. Although the estimated gold reserves of Kazakhstan were 30,000 tons, it could be a lot more since that was a mere estimation.


    ¡°Your Highness, have you heard about the gold mine in the tau Mountains near Almaty?¡±


    ¡°I expected to hear some good news soon, but so far I haven¡¯t heard any news about it.¡±


    ¡°That was a few months ago. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re not very curious about the news you¡¯ll be pleased to hear.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was usually straightforward, but today, he was taking time to speak.


    ¡°Did you find a thick vein of gold?¡±


    ¡°I got a call from the head of the mine yesterday, and he had a massive vein of gold. He said he will make a report after a full exploration, but I think you can look forward to seeing something great.¡±


    ¡°Really? Let¡¯s go there now.¡±


    Since Youngho had seen how veins of gold looked like in the Serbian ranch, he could recognize arge vein of gold at a nce.


    ***


    Almaty was a city located on a high ground of 750 meters above sea level. The high elevation of the sea level meant that there were high mountains or mountain ranges around, and Almaty, which used to be a fortress in the Imperial Russian era, was on the north side of the tau.


    Located south of Kazakhstan, it was not too cold, but in winter, the temperature was about minus 20 degrees in Celsius in general. It was still minus 14 degrees even though it was February when winter wasing to an end.


    As Youngho was in the Arirang royal territory until yesterday, he felt like it was a spring day even at minus 14 degrees Celsius.


    ¡°The road to the mine is well paved.¡±


    ¡°This is only recently improved. When the ground melted, it got muddy to the point where mineral haulers could not travel anymore. It¡¯s been fixed to this extent because you¡¯ve been instructing to keep it clear around the mine.¡±


    Since Kazakhstan was a country with only resources to boast of, any mine should be properly maintained and managed, but it seemed people had no such awareness.


    The road to transport minerals was not repaired, causing dust and smoke to reach Almaty. The yearly precipitation in the region was about 750 millimeters, which was three times as much as any other region in Kazakhstan. The mine shafts on the outskirts of the city yed a role in polluting the air of Almaty. So, Youngho prioritized repairing the road leading to the mine. Behind his encouragement, was the expectation of increased productivity for underground minerals.


    When he arrived at the mine, the mine manager and the head security officer almost rolled out hastily to meet Youngho¡¯s group.


    Apart from being surprised by the fact that the Duke and the Prime Minister had appeared in the remote area, they were extremely nervous by their sudden arrival. For them, gold was only amon mineral because Kazakhstan was full of gold mines, and alluvial gold was easy to find where there used to be rivers.


    ¡°You have worked hard for the nation and the people, but I have always felt heavy-hearted because I couldn`t give you enough support. Tonight, I¡¯m treating every worker, so please feel free to eat as much as you want.¡±


    When Youngho expressed his earnest feeling, the mine officials were at a loss. They had not expected the Duke of the Kazakh royal family would be so humble in front of them.


    ¡°Kazakhstan would be an increasingly powerful country with your efforts, a ce where everyone lives without worrying. Have a drink, everyone. I¡¯d love to get drunk with you today, too.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, are you nning to sleep here today? You¡¯ll be ufortable with theck of amodation.¡±


    ¡°What do you think? The workers here stay here for a long time at the expense of the inconvenience. Spending the night here doesn¡¯t sound so bad. Mr. Prime Minister, let¡¯s loosen our belt and drink as much as we can. Isn¡¯t today a good day?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll try to get drunk with you today.¡±


    ¡°Come on! Everyone, have a ss. For Kazakhstan!¡¯


    ¡°For Kazakhstan!¡±


    The reason that Youngho was extremely excited tonight was because he had seen the mine map given to him by the mine manager.


    The vein of gold shown on the map was several times thicker than the mine in the Baku¡¯s Serbian ranch, and it has so many branches as well. Youngho was so thrilled that it was hard to breathe normally for a while.


    The gold mine in Baku also collected about two tons of gold a year, so the mine in Almaty would collect a lot more than that. Moreover, there were dozens of mines like this, and the manager said that he was expecting to find more veins in the near future. He boasted that this kind of gold vein would be world-ss.


    When he said that the mine area needed to be designated as a special district, Youngho almost cried in joy. As he drank and ate with the workers, he imagined hundreds of fighter jets flying over the Kazakh sky.

 Chapter 498 - Searching for a Vein of Gold (1)

    <strong>Chapter 498: Searching for a Vein of Gold (1)</strong>


    These days, the market price per kilogram of the gold bar was about 40,000 dors, so a ton of gold cost as much as 40 million dors. The amount of ten tons of gold could be enough to buy five of thetest Gripen fighter jets. 100 tons of gold bars could buy 50 jets, and 200 tons could buy 100 jets.


    With 100 of thetest fighter jets, Kazakhstan would be equipped with both tremendous attack power and war deterrence. Moreover, if the world went back to the gold standard, the price of gold would skyrocket, making it worth a few times more than the current price. Youngho was busily calcting this in his head.


    ¡°Your Highness, we¡¯re all here.¡±


    ¡°Have we arrived already?¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking that you don¡¯t enjoy the scenery outside?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to figure out how many more fighter jets we can get with gold bars.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of introducing fighter jets to Kazakhstan. We¡¯d better find a thick gold vein here.¡±


    ¡°I hope so, too.¡±


    ¡°This ce is a paradisepared to the West since gold is buried in such a beautifulndscape. I¡¯m sorry to have to make a tunnel through the mountainside to dig out gold, but we do not have other options.¡±


    ¡°If we just dig out the ore and smelter somewhere else, we can stop the destruction of the environment.¡±


    The tau Mountains were beautiful with the high mountains more than 3,000 meters above sea level and the ice cap. There were alsokes everywhere as well as high coniferous forests growing high. In Youngho¡¯s eyes, which had only seen the bleak fields, it was indeed a paradise.


    ¡°I hear the vein of gold is expanding here?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This year¡¯s output is likely to exceedst year¡¯s output by 30 percent.¡±


    After Youngho¡¯s group arrived at the mine, the manager of the mine escorted them to his office. He was now reporting that gold productivity had increased dramaticallypared tost year, which was quite surprising.


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°Veins of gold are not always consistent in its thickness. Sometimes it¡¯s thin and sometimes it¡¯s thick. We must¡¯ve hit the thick section of the vein this year.¡±


    ¡°I see. It is the result of you and the miners¡¯ hard work. I¡¯m d to see increased productivity, but please don¡¯t overdo your work. The safety of workers is the most important priority. I don¡¯t care how much it costs, but please maintain the pleasant working environment for them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember that.¡±


    ¡°And I think we need to make some improvements to the workers¡¯ amodation facilities. If necessary, build a residentialplex under the mountain so that workers could live with their family members. The royal family will pay for the construction. We¡¯ll expand the schools around here for the workers¡¯ children.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the most workers dearest wish. They¡¯ll all look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I haven¡¯t been improving the living and working conditions here. I apologize on behalf of the nation.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need to feel sorry, Your Highness. Even now, the workers¡¯ motivation is reaching the sky because of the much more improved working conditions.¡±


    Productivity had been boosted by better working conditions and the supply of thetest equipment than before, but the real reason that encouraged workers to work hard was the actualization of their payments.


    Youngho had experiences of mines from his experience in the gold mine in Baku¡¯s Serbian ranch, so he had been taking care of mine sites all over the country since the revolutionary government.


    Encouraging the desire to work soon turned out to be productivity gains, and that was the shortcut to increasing national wealth. The recent burst of a vein of gold was not just luck.


    ***


    After a few days of touring several gold mines near Almaty, Youngho ordered rted government officials to suggest ways to drastically improve the production methods and find new mines.


    Although the method of collecting alluvial gold from gold cers had been developing, the method of mine excavation had been done in old-fashioned ways. This was because most of the miners relied on their instincts and experiences. They recklessly dug in until the vein came out. Most of the mines near Almaty were gold-producing ces from ancient times, they had not been looking for new mines since it was extremely difficult to find gold.


    Nowadays, however, the method of exploration had been developed dramatically, so the underground facilities had been expanded by electronic exploration.


    Electromaic exploration was a physical electronic exploration technology that measured electric and maic fields within the earth and found information about the location, size, shape, and nature of minerals buried underground.


    Youngho was no expert in this field, but his friend Park Young-sun, a geology doctor was a good source of such information. As the Duke was well versed in exploration techniques, officials in the relevant ministries were awestruck.


    ¡°Your Highness, Doctor Park is here.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you bring him at once?¡±


    Suh Min-seok let Park Young-sun wait in the waiting room just like any other guests who came to Youngho¡¯s office to keep royal customs and procedures.


    Youngho tried to convince him not too, but he was stubborn because of Count Niksic¡¯s teachings.


    He found the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s royal rules from hundreds of years ago and applied to the new royal family of Kazakhstan. He was now nitpicking everything done improperly in the royal pce and making everyone follow the rules.


    While Fatima and Youngho were just letting him have his way, others were disgusted by Niksic¡¯s passion. Especially, Jong-il and Niksic now engaged in an argument on a daily basis. Niksic, who was mad at Jong-il ignoring the royal rule that he had set, even issued an entry ban to the royal pce. Despite that, Jong-il had beening to the pce every day.


    ¡°Dr. Park, you look great. I guess you had an amazing honeymoon time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m enjoying a new chapter of my life. It¡¯s great to have someone who cooks for me every day. But, I¡¯ve got to get back to the work field. I¡¯m now getting a little fidgety since I¡¯ve been home for a while.¡±


    Park Young-sun recently married a widow from the vige of Serbian ranch. The bride was the temporary maid who apanied Fatima when she and Youngho first met the Danish royal family at a Swiss ski resort.


    Knowing that the two had dated for a while, Youngho insisted for them to get married and arranged their wedding previously.


    ¡°Where are you going to run away when you¡¯re newly married? Now, you have to step down from the front line and leave the scene to other people.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯llst doing that. By the way, you¡¯re in a good mood. I guess something fun is happening, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I called you to talk to you about something good that might happen.¡±


    ¡°If you called me, it would be something about the underground resources. Did a vein of gold burst out or something?¡±


    ¡°Well, rather than bursting out, we found one.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an expression used among geologists and miners when we found a vein of gold.¡±


    ¡°I see, but how did you know that?¡±


    ¡°Your face looks brighter than when we found oil in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I was so thrilled at the time.¡±


    Park Young-sun was eager to hear what Youngho had to say.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a vein of gold, it¡¯s rather a gold field. Look at the picture here.¡±


    ¡°Oh...!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your perception on this?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm...¡±


    Park Young-sun, looking into the picture, was not giving him an answer but was just groaning. He seemed to be stunned too.


    ¡°Your Highness, as you said, it¡¯s too thick to describe it as a vein of gold. I haven¡¯t seen a vein like this in my entire life. I don¡¯t know where this is, but you should designate this special area.¡±


    ¡°This ce is the tau Mountains near Almaty. You¡¯re talking just like the mine manager.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s likely to be a unique natural treasure. It¡¯s very likely that the whole area around this ce will be a gold field.¡±


    ¡°So I visited both gold mines a little bit away from there. And those ces were where more than four tons of gold is being produced every year.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to check it myself.¡±


    ¡°Of course. You must see it. Kazakhstan has long been known for its gold and the alluvial gold that¡¯s everywhere in streams. Isn¡¯t this proof that there¡¯s a lot of gold exposed on the surface?¡±


    ¡°The alluvial gold could have been exposed because of the earthquake activities in southern Kazakhstan. Based on where the alluvial is, there¡¯s a very good chance that we¡¯ll find some of the gold veins.¡±


    ¡°I see. Dr. Park, what do you think about designating all the areas with alluvial gold as a special zone? So we could keep the areas safe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. If the government keeps the areas as special zones, people won¡¯t try to dig up gold illegally. And if you set up a voluntary foundation and continue to crack down on it, the underground gold market will disappear naturally.¡±


    ¡°Then all the gold avable in the future will be managed by the central bank.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the state control of gold means a healthy society. It¡¯s also a way to raise the international credibility of the country.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to see you today. I¡¯m nning to open a new department, so please be in charge of it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about working with government officials. I just want to be in the field.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you to take over the department so you can¡¯t stay in the field. You¡¯re not young anymore to go on an exploration quest anymore, are you? And it won¡¯t be a government agency. It¡¯ll be a royal department, so there¡¯s nothing to do with bureaucrats.¡±


    ¡°You want to keep it under the royal family?¡±


    ¡°The central bank is also a power-driven institution, and frankly, we don¡¯t haveplete confidence. So, the gold mines dered by the royal family as a special area will be managed by the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there might be a heavy criticism on the royal family.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m nning to buy Almaty¡¯s gold mine with the royal fund.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all nationalized already. How are you going to buy them?¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh government has spent a lot of royal funds. It¡¯d have to pay back somehow. I¡¯d like to get them back with gold mines.¡±

 Chapter 499 - Searching for a Vein of Gold (2)

    <h4>Chapter 499: Searching for a Vein of Gold (2)</h4>


    When the royal family said it would manage the Almaty¡¯s gold mines, none of the officials opposed it. Rather, Youngho had to sweat hard to refuse their request because they wanted the royal family to take care of all the gold mines across the country. Until now, there had been many distrust as the central bank had been one of the contributors that acted as the maid of power and pull down the national economy.


    The reason they wanted Youngho to own some gold mines was because officials were well aware that he was using a lot of royal money to increase Kazakhstan¡¯s armed power. Even now, the royal family was buying weapons with its own money.


    After the meeting, Youngho was drinking tea with the Prime Minister in his office.


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for your decision.¡±


    ¡°I was reluctant to leave Almaty¡¯s gold mines to the central bank. When you offered to take the gold mine instead of the money you lent to the government, I pped my hands in my head.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want gold mine out of personal greed, but it will inevitably look like the royal family has done it out of greed on the surface.¡±


    ¡°It was a fair deal between the royal family and the government. Rather, it may be a better option for Kazakhstan to manage in the royal family.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯d like to designate a few special areas where alluvial gold is widely distributed. It¡¯s an asset that¡¯s going to be passed on to future generations, and it¡¯s also a justification for potential illegal mining.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Kazakhstan has been cursed by illegal gold trading in the underground market. This will hopefully end it for good.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t take away the hopes of people living in remote areas since they like to collect alluvial gold for fun and for some benefits. Onlyrge distribution areas should be managed by the royal family and residents should be allowed to freely collect alluvial gold from other areas close to their homes. Instead, let¡¯s make sure that that alluvial gold would be traded in designated exchanges.¡±


    ¡°All right. We¡¯ll have guards to keep the security of the special zones.¡±


    As the owner of the gold mines near Almaty was transferred to the royal family, the surrounding areas were designated as special zones.


    When he returned to the royal territory, Park Jong-il criticized him, saying that the royal family already had 480 tons of gold in store.


    ¡°You used the president¡¯s slush fund to make all sorts of purchases, and you¡¯re now taking over the gold mines, too?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised. The gold mines are estimated to have more than 3,000 tons of gold deposits.¡±


    ¡°You really are greedy for gold.¡±


    ¡°Come on! This is for the future of our children and the next generations of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Hey, with that money, please invest a little bit in developing nuclear weapons, too. It¡¯s so expensive to do nuclear tests and experiments.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t overdo it. If the world finds out that it¡¯s not just nuclear research but it¡¯s a nuclear bomb research, we¡¯ll be embarrassed globally.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re studying nuclear weapons for peaceful purposes. You have to study it publicly, so no one will suspect you. Many countries around the world have one or two for research purposes anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡±


    Park Jong-il was finally building a nuclear research facility in the royal territory.


    Then he was now recruiting nuclear researchers. Youngho thought that he would do it more secretively, but he was rather doing it quite openly.


    ¡°So, 3,000 tons of gold is quite a lot, right?¡±


    ¡°Hey, this is a global amount. Uzbekistan¡¯s Muruntau gold mine boasts the world¡¯s best reserves, with an estimated minimum of 2,500 to 5,300 tons. Having 3,000 tons of gold is enough to change the world¡¯s gold price. Think about it. The U.S. gold reserve is about 8,000 tons.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have a lot of money in the future, so we don¡¯t need to make currency swaps with foreign countries. I won¡¯t have to do anything in Turkey, then.¡±


    ¡°When are you going to Turkey?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a royal envoy. I¡¯ll have to make arrangements beforehand before going. What if I don¡¯t get anything out of my trip?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only going there to say thank you for responding to the currency swap. What more do you want from Turkey?¡±


    ¡°In-soo is dying to resume security services at hotels in downtown Istanbul. Should I just leave it? He said that there are not enough jobs for the new junior security guards from Korea to do.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t tell Korean people that the securitypany consists of Korean Special Forces, did you?¡±


    ¡°If I did, you wouldn¡¯t have left me alone for a long time. How can I dare to do so?¡±


    For young Koreans, Kazakhstan was recognized as a pilgrimage site these days.


    Especially, former Special Forces soldiers were now dreaming of being mercenaries in Kazakhstan as there was a Foreign Legion in the royal territory.


    There were even times when former Special Forces from Korea flew to Kazakhstan after only buying a one-way ne ticket to be hired at the royal territory. Those people were determined to get hired and would not return to Korea until they seed.


    So, In-soo had been hiring them as guards of Zeynep Security Service and training them so that they could adapt to living and working in Kazakhstan. Then Cha In-soo, who became impatient, thought of resuming his hotel security business in Istanbul because he wanted to take on more security duties.


    ¡°How can you handle the resentment if we send the inexperienced guards to Istanbul and get hurt?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re quite good. They can handle a bunch of lousy terrorists.¡±


    ¡°Just tell In-soo to train them for local circumstances. We need guards to protect the royal gold mines.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯re going to leave the gold mine security to the new recruits?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to send a veteran guard with them. Ten guards in each gold mine would suffice, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Then I¡¯ll have to tell In-soo not to even dream about Istanbul.¡±


    Yongho needed more guards because he nned to designate other gold mines as special zones, not just Almaty¡¯s gold mines.


    ***


    Previously, Park Young-sun hurried to Almaty¡¯s gold mines after his conversation with Youngho. He, who went there with all sorts of exploration equipment, came back with a surprising message.


    ¡°Your Highness, I have good news! There¡¯s a tremendous amount of reserves in Almaty.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re buried in the rocks. Can you check it in a matter of days?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to find out more details about it when the weather gets warm, but we can still know the potential amount of reserves. We don¡¯t know if it¡¯s going to be gold or silver, though.¡±


    ¡°I see. What¡¯s the big news? Tell me because I¡¯m ready for it.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You¡¯re quite eager.¡±


    ¡°You said it¡¯s a huge amount of reserves.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s estimated to be more than 3,000 tons. It could be the world¡¯s best reserves.¡±


    Hearing this, Youngho had gathered the ministers to announce that the royal family would be in charge of the Almaty¡¯s gold mines.


    As Almaty¡¯s gold mines were confirmed to be owned by the royal family, Park Young-sun insisted that he would be in charge of the exploration in the freezing cold.


    ¡°Even if you went out now, it¡¯s impossible to work because of the snow. It¡¯s not toote to start when springes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to do equipment exploration. I n to listen to the stories that had been passed down among nomads living near the mines.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still going to be cold out there.¡±


    ¡°In spring, nomads move around, so it won¡¯t be easy to meet them. This is the right time. Your Highness, after listening to your words, I looked up data from the state university and I was able to get a rough idea of where the gold used to be. But in the eras of the Imperial Russian and the Soviet Union, people used new exploration techniques to mine.¡±


    ¡°Did Russia give up collecting alluvial gold?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It gave up because alluvial gold was not economically viable. And of course, the mechanization of mining equipment yed a role in the decision, too. Because of that, the government almost neglected alluvial gold mines, so they had been upied by the residents of remote areas. That¡¯s why the underground gold market was activated.¡±


    ¡°I see. Little bits of alluvial gold had be a mountain now. I guess the government had underestimated the power of alluvial gold.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t appreciate the importance of alluvial gold in remote areas so far. The oil fields were bursting all over the ce, so it did not think alluvial gold was so important. And a few years ago, the price of gold was so low that it wasn¡¯t even profitable. It was a divine move to make Almaty¡¯s gold mine as a royal property this time. The government had used so much of the royal funds, but the mines will make you at least ten times more than what the government owes you.¡±


    ¡°How much would it be in terms of the value of the Almaty gold mines?¡±


    ¡°They have an astronomical value. At this point, it¡¯s going to be about 200 billion dors. It¡¯s a strategic asset that can¡¯t only be valued by the market prices. It¡¯s worth a few times than the market value.¡±


    ¡°Phew, that¡¯s quite mind-boggling.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a blessing to Kazakhstan and to you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no personal greed at all. I¡¯m satisfied that our descendants will have a strong background to spread their wings.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying it¡¯s Kazakhstan¡¯s blessing. You¡¯re a great leader.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the former president had that kind of mind, too. He became a dictator because the government system could not support his ns and ambitions. Our royal family, in that sense, could be a real dictator.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite absurd. Administrative, legitive and judicial branches are independent and the royal family has symbolic authority only.¡±


    It was called symbolic authority, but the royal family actually held too much power.


    ¡°People of Kazakhstan will praise you for generations. Without the revolution, they would have stayed the same as a poor country. Whatints would they have when the rich royal family stepped in to guide the country when it was necessary?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like saving a stranger from the sea, and he¡¯ll turn your enemy. They¡¯ll only serve the royal family in times of need, but they¡¯ll soon change after they be well off.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said taking over Almaty¡¯s gold mines was a divine move.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I was greedy. So, I asked for it, but everyone agreed.¡±


    ¡°No one knows how much gold reserves are deposited in Almaty. The more funds the royal family has, the more the government has to rely on the royal family. If the world faces an economic crisis in the future, thanks to the gold held by the royal family, Kazakhstan willmand the world.¡±

 Chapter 500 - Almaty’s Dream (1)

    <h4>Chapter 500: Almaty¡¯s Dream (1)</h4>


    Almaty not only hadrge gold mines but also a beautifulndscape.


    Youngho was so engrossed innd development and establishing factories that he was unable to think about the true beauty of Kazakhstan, but Almaty was no less beautiful than Switzend and Austria, which were full of tourists visiting from all over the world.


    The ski resort called Shymbk was located at the bottom of the mountains and ice caps that were 3,400 meters high. It was also a favorite destination for European skiers.


    Fatima, who came to the Shymbk resort of the tau Mountains was silent at the huge scale of the ski resort.


    ¡°Oh! Almaty is as good as Switzend. I¡¯m surprised there¡¯s a resort like this 30 minutes away from downtown.¡±


    ¡°They had applied to hold the Winter Olympics here. It¡¯s an internationally known ce,¡±


    Youngho wanted to show that there was such a beautiful ce in Kazakhstan, so he brought Fatima and his children to Almaty.


    While looking around the gold mines around the city, he was fascinated by the beautiful nature, so he nned to develop the ce as a world-wide tourist spot.


    Still, Europeans thought that Kazakhstan had remnants of a dictatorial state and where police charged ridiculous prices to tourists. Even though it became a constitutional monarchy, people still had a negative perception of Kazakhstan. However, the Shymbk Ski Resort was still an internationally recognized tourist ce for many travelers.


    Leon, Rena, and Jelyan were fascinated by their first skiing experience that they did not want to leave the snowfield.


    Leon, who was fearless, insisted to go on the slopes making his guards nervous.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know whom he got that from. He¡¯s so fearless.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think? Of course, it¡¯s you. He¡¯s going to elementary school this year. I hope he doesn¡¯t cause trouble.¡±


    ¡°You know, he¡¯s only like that in front of us. When he¡¯s out, he is quite polite.¡±


    ¡°Look over there. Is that a polite thing to do? He¡¯s just stubborn.¡±


    Leon was stubbornly climbing the slope on a moving walk. Then, ski instructors and bodyguards followed him behind. Seeing that, Rena and Jelyan also went on a bar lift to climb the beginner¡¯s course.


    Youngho, who was frightened by the sight, beckoned to Rena and Jelyan, but the two did not care. They skied down the slope.


    ¡°Jeez, Leon¡¯s going to be fine, but the girls will be lying down for days.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t make such a fuss. It¡¯s not going to hurt a bit when they fall on the snow. They are not going to run into people because people have emptied this section for us.¡±


    The guards asked the resort for help, so the slopes where Leon and the girls were ying were emptied so that they could enjoy skiing. It seemed that Leon would take the front page of the daily newspaper. The royal family members did not go on a domestic outing often, so their visit to the ski resort would be an issue tomorrow.


    ¡°It¡¯s Almaty¡¯s blessing that there¡¯s such a beautiful ce near the big city.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t know Kazakhstan was this beautiful. I¡¯ve been looking at the bleak fields every day, but my eyes are blessed by the sight today.¡±


    ¡°I was surprised to find beautiful sceneries while I was on a trip to look around the gold mines. The southeastern part of Kazakhstan is a treasure. Developing such a beautiful ce as a tourist destination will improve the image of our country.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave it as it is, instead of developing it? It¡¯ll be polluted if we develop it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find a way to reduce pollution. It¡¯s a waste to hide this ce from the world. It¡¯s a great ce for Kazakh people who don¡¯t have much to enjoy.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we build a royal vi here?¡±


    ¡°I want to, but if we build a vi for the royal family here,mon people will feel ufortable here. They have the right to enjoy their time here. We should just be happy to use the hotel.¡±


    Since Youngho had seen that public ess was limited due to political figures or royal families, he did not want to take the beautiful ce away from people. Since the royal family would only visit the ce once or twice a year, it would be wise to use a hotel instead of building a vi.


    ¡°Instead, we can build a vi on the Mediterranean ind. There¡¯s no public ess, so you can do whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°Can I do as I please?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I bought it for you.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That kind of lie is always pleasing to hear.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m being serious.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but I still think it¡¯s better to build a royal vi in our country than having one in another country. We can open it to the public, so anyone can have ess.¡±


    Fatima seemed to have fallen in love with the ce.


    However, it was not easy to open it to the public because of security problems. But since she wanted to build a vi here, Youngho would have to figure out a way.


    ***


    After spending a rough day, Rena and Jelyan were tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep that night. Only Leon was sleeping well with no sign of fatigue.


    As Youngho put on his ring to Rena and Jelyan simultaneously, they fell asleep an hourter.


    ¡°It¡¯s a legacy of our ancestors, but it¡¯s really a novelty. How could they sleep so well after putting on the ring?¡±


    ¡°Zeynep¡¯s pneumonia was healed because of the ring, remember?¡±


    ¡°I thought she was going to die soon. If you hadn¡¯te, I don¡¯t know what would have happened to us.¡±


    ¡°Life is destiny. She would¡¯ve survived even if I didn¡¯te.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve changed a lot since you wore your ring.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been sensing a changetely. I think my body¡¯s changed since the locals cheered for you, but I don¡¯t know what it is yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Did that happen? Why didn¡¯t you share that with me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not a bad thing. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know what kind of power it is yet.¡±


    ¡°You should have asked Count Niksic. He probably knows the legend of our kingdom.¡±


    ¡°The knights don¡¯t know the wonders of the ring which was only handed down to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°But he might have heard something about it.¡±


    As Youngho was putting the children to sleep, he was reminded of the existence of the ring. In that sense, meeting with Fatima and her younger siblings was not a coincidence. He thought maybe the ring¡¯s power had pulled them together.


    He wondered how the ring and leather shoes could be interlinked and why the ring would only make a difference to him or Leon and Szechenyi. It was because Park Jong-il, who had been wearing the ring for about ten years, had not seen a slight change in the color of his ring. And the awakening was only happening to Youngho. There had been no such change for Szechenyi, either.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the ring only makes a difference to you. It¡¯s not going to be a problem, is it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think your ancestors left a ring that has a problem.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m still concerned about the change in you.¡±


    ¡°Count Niksic once said the ring only reacts to the royal family. That¡¯s weird since I¡¯m not rted to Serbia.¡±


    ¡°Could it be because you¡¯re married to me, who¡¯s a direct descendant of the Archduke?¡±


    ¡°Well, that could be the reason. It¡¯s been serving me well. I¡¯ve be much lighter and more sober, anyway.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no use for women in the family except for health and beauty. It says in the literature that men in the royal family used it when they go to war.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s entirely urate, either. It also said that you could jump over a mountain with the power of a ring.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever heard of that.¡±


    ¡°Everyone was dozing off when I read it out loud because it was boring.¡±


    ¡°Did I really...?¡±


    ¡°The ring must be a good item because it¡¯s true that it¡¯s the medium that connected your family and me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re saying you love me, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a weird habit of interpreting things strangely these days.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... What¡¯s wrong with that? Interpretation is up to my heart.¡±


    ***


    Park Young-sun appeared in Almaty after preparing to explore the areas where alluvial gold was distributed.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to work when we¡¯re enjoying our vacation. It¡¯s a shame on us.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s exactly why I came to see you before going to work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of being here. Why don¡¯t I apany you, Dr. Park?¡±


    ¡°The princesses and the Queen won¡¯t sit still if you did. It¡¯s been a while since you¡¯ve had a break, so take a rest. Don¡¯t feel bothered by me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to be there when I¡¯m free since it¡¯s near Almaty. I need a break from Leon.¡±


    Leon followed Youngho around from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he went to sleep. He was too activepared to his peers, so Fatima gave up on containing him. Even the bodyguards were exhausted because of Leon.


    ¡°The prince must be excited to spend time with his father. Take this opportunity to score a lot. You¡¯ve been away from your familytely.¡±


    ¡°They need their mom more than their dad now. They only look for me when they want to y.¡±


    ¡°You know, I was so caught up in my work that I didn¡¯t even have the chance to spend time with my family and child in the past. Now, I regret it the most that I couldn¡¯t be with them when I was younger.¡±


    ¡°If we didn¡¯t even have time to get along with your family, it¡¯s because of the social system that only emphasized achievements and results. It¡¯s a real shame, and it¡¯s not even so effective. So, I want to make Kazakhstan¡¯s environment where families be a priority.¡±


    ¡°If you take a break and enjoy everything you can in developing countries and not in advanced countries, when will you be an advanced country? It¡¯s time for everyone to work hard at the expense of a little.¡±


    ¡°As a developing country, that sounds like a dream.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be difficult, but if we improve the overall social system, it¡¯s going to be different. People will be more productive if you create an environment where you can focus. With the time bought from being efficient, we¡¯ll give that back to the families. Working hard is important, but taking a good rest is a way to make your work more efficient.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just stay at home for the holidays and weekends. We don¡¯t have enough environment or facilities for leisure in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m going to boost the leisure industry by creating such facilities around the big cities. We¡¯re going to start with Almaty and expand it nationwide. We need to poprize the beautiful nature so that anyone can use it. We¡¯ll build new roads and activate a public transportation system, then people wille together naturally.¡±


    ¡°That sounds dreamy, and it¡¯ll be worth trying.¡±


    ¡°To do so, we¡¯ll need money from the government, but it¡¯s hard to build infrastructure right now.¡±


    ¡°I guess I should go bust a vein of gold here and there, so I can find money for the nation.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Hahaha!¡±

 Chapter 501 - Almaty’s Dream (2)

    <h4>Chapter 501: Almaty¡¯s Dream (2)</h4>


    ¡°I think you¡¯ve nowe to your senses.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯ve been out of my mind so far?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. When youunched a new government, you should¡¯ve turned on the construction industry to create many jobs, but you¡¯ve been only focusing on the defense industry. People would have thought that was a little strange.¡±


    ¡°The defense industry, too, is nothing short of building the heavy industry.¡±


    ¡°Of course it is. But when the economy gets better, the defense industry naturally develops.¡±


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know that? Russia and China are showing their ws on both sides. How can I just watch that? We don¡¯t have the minimum defense yet.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s point was not wrong either.


    It was true that he had been focusing on reinforcing the nation¡¯s military capabilities although he also pushed for both a built-in road and a nuclear power nt. However, it was an inevitable choice because of Kazakhstan¡¯s geopolitical position.


    ¡°Do you know how envious you were when you went to Turkey this time? There were foreign tourists standing in line. The natural view of Kazakhstan is much better than Turkey¡¯s, but people are not interested ining here.¡±


    ¡°Just wait for it. Almaty will be just like that soon with the natural environment as beautiful as Switzend.¡±


    ¡°Well, in that case, it would be necessary to nurture the tourism industry in order to revive domestic consumption and attract foreigners. I heard that Kazakhstan is very popr among Korean tourists these days. Should we send an advertisement to Korea?¡±


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you target West Europe instead? There¡¯s a direct route to Europe, and it¡¯s easy to ess.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to develop Almaty first before that?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a resort around Almaty, and there are a lot of things to see. There are already enough things for tourists now.¡±


    ***


    Preparations were underway to annex Kyrgyzstan.


    Already, there had been gun battles between Kyrgyz and Uzbek troops at the border they shared, resulting in casualties. In the wake of the invasion of Kyrgyzstan by Uzbek forces, the Kyrgyz government even asked Kazakhstan for help.


    Since the Commonwealth of Independent States of Central Asia was a military-economic alliance, each country had the basis for intervention in the event of war. So, Kazakhstan¡¯s southern border troops were sent to the disputed area as a peacekeeping force.


    So, the governmentplex in Astana had begun toe up with follow-up measures.


    ¡°Your Highness, we have vowed to mediate, but there is a high possibility that Russia will intervene.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a war situation but a frequent border conflict. What¡¯s the point of intervention? And there¡¯s no justification for Russia to intervene.¡±


    ¡°If Russia was stubborn that it will mediate, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) should ept it. That¡¯s what was stipted in the alliance rules.¡±


    ¡°First, call the Russian ambassador. If necessary, I¡¯ll call Mr. Putin directly and draw a line.¡±


    ¡°We will first consult with the Russian ambassador at the government level. We¡¯ve already sent troops to mediate, so Russia wouldn¡¯t be so stubborn to intervene.¡±


    ¡°Sure. If you can¡¯t resolve this by talking to the Russian ambassador, then I¡¯ll step up myself.¡±


    In preparation for Russia¡¯s possible intervention, Youngho called in the Russian ambassador and drew the line that Kazakhstan would be the country to mediate the dispute.


    Russia said it would leave it to Kazakhstan for the time being because Kazakhstan had already sent its troops. The reason for Russia¡¯s decision in staying quiet was that it was being subject to Western economic sanctions due to the Ukraine crisis, so it was difficult to intervene even in the case of a CIS country.


    Russia was in a position where it would refuse to intervene even if it was asked to do so. Also, Kyrgyzstan was not directly bordering Russia, so even if the Russian troops were to be sent to Kyrgyzstan, there was no way to approach thend without going through Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Jong-il, I think it¡¯s time for you to step in.¡±


    ¡°I was going to appear after things got a little worse.¡±


    ¡°That will only make people¡¯s feelings worse in both countries, and I can¡¯t control thatter. It¡¯ll be for the best if the Uzbek army would withdraw from the line.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the people of both countries, but our role will stand out more when there are more casualties.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. If a lot of Kyrgyz people get hurt, it can¡¯t be easily taken care of. Once the emotional gap deepens, we won¡¯t be able to deal with that easily in the future.¡±


    Now in Kyrgyzstan, there had been constant voices criticizing the ipetence of the current government over the Uzbek military¡¯s incursion into the border. Demonstrators denouncing the government had been sweeping the streets in big cities all day long, making them nothing short of anarchy. It was a sign that the people¡¯s pride was still alive, but Kyrgyzstan could not help but lose to Uzbekistan because of itsck of strength.


    At this point, Kazakhstan¡¯s intelligence service would mediate first, followed by the presence of the Kazakh royal family¡¯s intervention. This would buy the hearts of Kyrgyz people, by showing the smooth handling of the government¡¯s work to the people disappointed by their current government. It was to increase the value of the royal family¡¯s existence.


    ¡°The Kyrgyz government has left us with the border issue, and now we have to convince the Uzbek government. Just tell the Uzbek government to back off first. It¡¯ll step down if we promise to adjust the borderline as it wanted it to be in the future.¡±


    ¡°What if the Kyrgyz people rise up against that?¡±


    ¡°We need to reach a national consensus. The ce where many Uzbek people live has always been theirnd. The Kyrgyz people understand if it¡¯s just to correct the mistakes of the Soviet Union for not drawing the border correctly. They¡¯re disputing because of their pride. If Kyrgyzstan yields a bit, Uzbekistan will suggest something in return.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll take the lead, so just give me a good support.¡±


    ¡°Suggest a partnership for the One Belt One Road project to the Uzbek government.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else besides that you can do?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a huge deal in itself. If that road is connected, Uzbekistan will make a lot of money as it will be a tourism line.¡±


    ¡°What if they want to import our military supplies?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? If they get armed, it¡¯ll be a problem for us.¡±


    ¡°Hey, they¡¯re not going to be a match for us no matter how armed they are. Let¡¯s just give them some light armored vehicles. Wouldn¡¯t that make it easier to reach a consensus?¡±


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s up to your decision.¡±


    The border issue should be taken care of very carefully because it was a matter of people¡¯s self-pride because there were Kyrgyz people living in the Uzbek viges in the Kyrgyz territory. They wereplicatedly interrted, and many would not want to leave their hometown easily.


    ***


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you withdraw the border guards and send the royal armored division?¡±


    ¡°Would the Kyrgyz people have less doubt against us if we did?¡±


    ¡°The border conflict is now starting to get resolved, and the continued presence of heavily armed border guards in Kyrgyzstan doesn¡¯t look good. Since the royal armored division belongs to the Kazakh royal family, people won¡¯t have so much wariness against them.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was calling for the withdrawal of the current border guards and recing them with a soft-looking royal armored division. That was because the Kazakh government did not intend to withdraw from Kyrgyzstan¡¯s territory.


    The border dispute between the two countries was not over, and Kyrgyzstan¡¯s domestic security was almost absent, so the Kazakh military would be staying in the territory under the pretext of keeping the status quo of the two disputed nations in the form of a peacekeeper.


    At the same time, Kazakhstan intended to make a good impression on the Kyrgyz people, by providing military aid to civil authorities and keeping the security of thend.


    Just like in Kazakhstan before, Kyrgyzs people were distrustful of their government officials and military personnel. It would be a shocking sight to see the appearance of the royal guards, who were stern and well-behaved, which would be quite contrastive to the weak troops of Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°And one of the other reasons for recing the border guards with the royal armored division is for Her Majesty to have a cause to go to Kyrgyzstan. Her Majesty will have to make an appearance to console the soldiers that are suffering in another country.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Mr. Prime Minister is blowing my troubles away at once. I was concerned about it because there was no reason for us to visit Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°If you and the Queen visited Kyrgyzstan and showed people how the royal family takes care of its people and the poor and orphans of Kyrgyzstan, you will be able to win the hearts of the people in a single moment.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else you can do to get a little bit more exotic?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you still don¡¯t know the influence of the Queen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°If you hold the power, the Queen holds the people¡¯s hearts. You will witness how influential Her Majesty¡¯s every move is to the Kyrgyz people. Also, you are only thinking about annexing Kyrgyzstan, but there¡¯s also another option to leave it as a federal state.¡±


    ¡®Was Fatima¡¯s presence so great?¡¯


    Youngho only thought Fatima as nothing more than a symbol, but it seemed people¡¯s perspective on her was different than he thought.


    Kyrgyzstan was a country full of mountainous regions, so if grain aid stopped, people would starve to death.


    In this situation, if the queen visited and showedpassion, that would be quite impressive to the people of Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, if the queen¡¯s visit to the streets of Kyrgyzstan could quiet the demonstrations, Kasim believed that Kyrgyzstan would want to be Kazakhstan¡¯s federal state. ording to him, there was no reason to get criticism from the internationalmunity by annexing Kyrgyzstan when it could be a federal state instead.


    ¡°So, you want to make sure that Kyrgyzstan serves the royal family just as the Commonwealth serves the British Queen.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. That way, we can ay people¡¯s opposition. No matter how poor it is, it¡¯s still an independent country. People won¡¯t support the annexation so easily.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you have to follow it when it¡¯s decided by a national vote?¡±


    ¡°But there must be some opposition to annexation. If the opposing group gets armed to fight against us, the meaning of annexation will be tarnished. I know you might feel hasty, but it¡¯s better for the future to resolve this smoothly and slowly as much as possible.¡±


    The remarks of Kasim seemed to have been made out of long concerning and distress.


    There was nothing to gain for Kazakhstan to annex Kyrgyzstan if there was severe resistance.

 Chapter 502 - Kyrgyzstan’s Choice (1)

    <h4>Chapter 502: Kyrgyzstan¡¯s Choice (1)</h4>


    Whether Kyrgyzstan was annexed to Kazakhstan or became a federal state of Kazakhstan, it was evident that China would react sensitively.


    Kasim¡¯s concern was that China would not just wait and see as Kyrgyzstan being merged to Kazakhstan. That was why he cautiously mentioned the incorporation into a federal state, which was not too drastic as annexation.


    He seemed to think that a federal state could avoid China¡¯s prickly eyes, but in Youngho¡¯s perspective, it was a short-lived idea. Kasim wanted stability rather than expansion. He also hinted his intention of strengthening the internal affairs with the budget for annexation.


    However, Youngho believed an aggressive attack was an active defense. China would flinch at Kazakhstan¡¯s aggressive move to annex Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°How can I not know what your concern is? But, at the same time, Kyrgyzstan borders China. If it enters the sphere of influence, the South will bepletely exposed. Then we will have to deploy dozens of times more troops than we have at the border where it is blocked by Tian Shan Mountains.¡±


    ¡°If China vites Kyrgyzstan, the whole Central Asianmunity, as well as the world, will be against it. Would china really do that?¡±


    ¡°Think of Tibet or Xinjiang Uyghur. China didn¡¯t care about the internationalmunity¡¯s support for independence. History proves that.¡±


    ¡°China wouldn¡¯t dare to have a different thought if Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were connected by the federation. After all, our country is still very weak.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, there is a great power that¡¯s not visible to many. We¡¯ll take charge of Central Asia and not allow anyone else to cross us.¡±


    Youngho believed in the power of his mystical ring.


    He did not understand how the Serbian kingdom was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire despite having mystical relics, but there must have been circumstances that led to the fall of the kingdom at that time. He could only assume that the changes in Youngho did not happen to the royal family members at that time. Otherwise, the Serbian kingdom would have run the Ottoman Empire.


    ¡°Your Highness! Do you have a nuclear bomb? I think you¡¯re determined to go to war with China if necessary.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to do that, you can¡¯t defend anything from powerful nations. As long as we exist, China cannot cross the Tian Shan Mountains forever. If anything, I want to cross Tian Shan myself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that you don¡¯t have to be too conscious of China. Central Asia hasws of its own, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what it used to be. The problem is that China has be something you can¡¯t ignore. And because of the One Belt One Road business, China is dealing with every nation in Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Chinese have never crossed the Tian Shan Mountains from the past. There was no great figure in China as Genghis Khan from Mongolia.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s confidence may have stemmed from his pride as a descendant of nomads. Central Asia was no different than Mongolia¡¯s descendants. Although there was no figure like Genghis Khan in China, there were 1.3 billion people. With such resources, the Chinese leadership was now dreaming of achieving the Silk Road as Genghis Khan did, under the name of One Belt One Road.


    He continued.


    ¡°No Chinese have ever crossed the Tian Shan Mountains. The Tian Shan Mountains were the only way to cross the border between the nomads and merchants of the Silk Road. No matter how strong China is, it¡¯s not going to be able to rule over Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°That road is now wide open. Southern Central Asia, except for Kazakhstan, is already under China¡¯s influence. I¡¯d like to change it back as it used to be.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, do you want to run all of Central Asia by any chance?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not my intention at all. We have no reason to take Kyrgyzstan if it¡¯s not for China.¡±


    Youngho did not want to expandnd mass that Kazakhstan could not handle. He thought that as much as Kyrgyzstan, which bordered China, must be one with Kazakhstan. It was not an absurd attempt since the two countries had been quite close for that long.


    It only remained to see what choice Kyrgyz people would make.


    ***


    Park Jong-il¡¯s performance forced Uzbek troops out of the Kyrgyz border area.


    It was a great concession of Uzbekistan to give up the already upied area and step down first. This meant the Uzbek side had received something great in return or had a strong conviction that it would.


    On the other hand, it was only possible because Kazakhstan was the mediator. Kazakhstan¡¯s influence in Central Asia was still great. The Uzbek military decided that it could trust Kazakhstan¡¯s offer.


    Park Jong-il, who had done such a big work, would not let it go so quietly. He was already bragging about his performance to Youngho by calling him.


    -You heard about it, right? The Uzbek army is now pulling out of the border.


    ¡°Great job. I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d budge an inch, but how did it make such a big concession?¡±


    -The leading country of Central Asia has moved. Uzbekistan had to save our face.


    ¡°Did you offer huge deals?¡±


    -How can I offer things when we don¡¯t have anything to offer?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. Why would Uzbekistan pull out its force when there¡¯s nothing to gain?¡±


    -They were just thankful when I said we¡¯d redrawing the national border that¡¯s been incorrectly drawn by the Soviet Union. This is a good chance for the current Uzbek administration to re-engage in the next election.


    ¡°Did you talk about One Belt One Road?¡±


    -That was agreed, of course. The disputed border section will be solely built by us, but over 200 kilometers of the Uzbek section will be jointly constructed together. They¡¯re not fond of China either. They said that they epted China¡¯s offer only because they needed the road.


    As for the Uzbek side, there was no reason to be wary of China because Kyrgyzstan provided a full buffer zone with China. If Uzbek had been on a direct border with China, it would not have been easy to engage in One Belt One Road business. The Uzbek people were never a country to be interfered with by other countries because they were quite belligerent and self-respectful.


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. You¡¯ve done a great job this time. Let¡¯s have a drink together when you get back.¡±


    -The head of the intelligence service of Uzbekistan wants to see me in private. I¡¯m curious to what he¡¯s going to say.


    ¡°Oh, yeah? If he needs funds, tell him that Uzbekistan will have Kazakhstan¡¯s full support.¡±


    -You are keen. I thought he¡¯d ask me that too.


    ¡°Man, who do you think you¡¯re talking to? I¡¯ve been an intelligence agent, too.¡±


    Now in Uzbek, the former president¡¯s sudden death brought the new government into office, and the nation¡¯s political situation was very chaotic as it tried to drive out the existing power.


    The sudden death of the former president, who had been in power for 26 years, was good news to Youngho who had been supporting the Uzbek democracy movement. The reason for the support of democracy forces was to prepare for the former regime¡¯s rise to socialism in order to keep its permanent rule. The idea of having Uzbekistan that was changed to amunist country like China would be quite burdensome for Kazakhstan.


    As soon as there was a new Uzbek government, Youngho gave up the thought of taking over Uzbekistan. He only hoped that it would remain as an ally.


    ¡°Jong-il! We have to resolve the migration of Kazakhs and Koryoins with the Uzbek government while you¡¯re there.¡±


    -Ah! I almost forgot about it.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be forgotten. We should take care of Koryoins.


    -I¡¯ll take care of it as a priority issue. Don¡¯t worry.


    Youngho created the Arirang Autonomous State in Kazakhstan when he met Kim Chun, who was a Koryoin travel guide back then.


    In the fall of 1937, Koryoins were forced out of the Maritime Province and settled in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. They survived the whirlpool of World War II and Stalin¡¯s oppression there.


    In thete 50s, Koryoins were given a chance to move to Russian regions, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.


    The suffering of the Koryoin people began again when the Soviet Union disbanded and Central Asian countries became independent, leaving the indigenous peoples in power.


    In the process of regainingnguage and history and establishing national identity, the newborn Central Asian countries discriminated other peoples¡ªincluding Koryoins.


    Russians, Germans, Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, Greeks, and other peoples returned to their own countries, but Koryoins were forced to remain in Central Asia because they were in a strange position where they could not return to either South or North Korea.


    That was why they called themselves ¡®Koryoin¡¯, not a South Korean or a North Korean. Now, there were about 200,000 Koryoins living in Uzbekistan.


    Having already taken root there for 80 years, it would be like their hometown, but they had been applying to immigrate to Kazakhstan, encouraged by the establishment of the Kazakh royal family and its royal territory where Koryoins gathered.


    Kazakhstan had no ethnic conflict, but Uzbekistan had been discriminating minorities terribly since independence. There was another reason for them to abandon their homes in which they had been rooted for generations and move to Kazakhstan. It was because of religious conflicts that were intensifying at hand.


    Militant Imic groups were confusing Uzbekistan now.


    The Uzbek Imic group that had been acting as a rebel group in Afghanistan had entered Uzbekistan under the new government. Because of such problems, Youngho also did not want to annex Uzbekistan from the beginning.


    ¡°Since they¡¯ve persecuted Koryoins in Uzbekistan, they¡¯d have to send them without a trouble. Otherwise, the Kazakh royal family will step in directly.¡±


    -It seemed the Uzbek side is afraid of the financial and military power of the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Make it clear that if the Koryoin people living in Uzbekistan are disadvantaged, the Uzbek people on the border will be treated the same.¡±


    -Even if you don¡¯t threaten them like that, Uzbeks will be stuck until the border is redrawn.


    ¡°But what is going on in the border area? Why is the Uzbek government so eager to take that area?¡±


    -It must be because there are a lot of Uzbeks living in there.


    ¡°There must be something even the Kyrgyz government doesn¡¯t know about...¡±


    -You think there¡¯s a gold mine out there or something?


    ¡°Yes. Send intelligence agents and find out in detail. I think there¡¯s something going on.¡±


    -Jeez, more things to do.

 Chapter 503 - Kyrgyzstan’s Choice (2)

    <h4>Chapter 503: Kyrgyzstan¡¯s Choice (2)</h4>


    When Uzbek troops withdrew, border guards dispatched as peacekeepers also withdrew from Kyrgyzstan.


    The border guard¡¯s vacancy was now reced by the Royal Armored Division guards.


    Unlike the heavily armed border guards, they were able to approach Kyrgyz residents much more smoothly.


    They received the attention of Kyrgyz residents because they were dressed differently than ordinary soldiers. They wore a short round cap, red top, and ck pants with a white line on each side of the trouser. The stylish and friendly clothes made them look more like a toy soldier than a real one. Moreover, they only had a pistol and club when they were fully armed. So, they did not look as threatening as military soldiers.


    Most of their work was service for public welfare, so they were perceived as a friendly force. They were ced in five populous cities, including the capital, Bishkek.


    The one who led the guards was Kabak, themander of the Royal Armored Division.


    At Bishkek, a temporary headquarters for the Royal guards was made.


    Kabak had been holding the phone for 20 minutes now.


    -Your Highness, we need more food supply. The price of grain has soared.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been providing enough food for the Kyrgyz government. What do you mean? They should have enough tost me until the summer.¡±


    -The officials in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry sold it to Tajikistan. There¡¯s a demonstration team who is protesting to punish those who are involved in front of the government building now.¡±


    ¡°What does the government say?¡±


    -The government is powerless without any measures. The officials are only asking me if I can¡¯t send more grain.


    ¡°First, let the protesters know that the grain will arrive soon so that they can calm down. If not, I¡¯m afraid there might be a civil war.¡±


    -There are signs of that. Even the citizens who followed the instructions well are so upset that they don¡¯t listen to us anymore. I think there should be a special action.¡±


    ¡°The Queen will visit Kyrgyzstan soon. Until then, could you pleasefort the people?¡±


    -It¡¯s dangerous for the Queen toe in at this time. I think we¡¯ll have to dy it a little.


    ¡°You have to show up at the worst to have the most dramatic effect. They¡¯ll restrain themselves if Fatima shows up.¡±


    -They¡¯re in the mood to overthrow the government right now andunch a new leader and government. It looks like there¡¯s going to be some bloodshed.


    ¡°The bloodshed must be stopped no matter what, or they will end up in a civil war.¡±


    Kyrgyzstan, with a poption of only 5.4 million, was also made up of about 80 ethnic groups.


    There were 66 percent of Kyrgyzs, 14 percent of Uzbeks, 11 percent of Russians, and the rest were ethnic minorities, with hundreds to as many as tens of thousands. Koryoins were about 10,000.


    They would not be a problem if they all lived well, but most were just making the ends meet. Now, with the price of grain jumped by several times, they were all mad at the incapable government and officials.


    In this situation, if ethnic conflicts arose in the process, Kyrgyzstan would definitely go into civil war.


    ¡°Commander Kabak, even if the Royal guards get injured by the protesters, we have to restrain from attacking them back. Hang in there for a few days. We will mobilize any train to send you food supply.¡±


    -Your Highness, the entire guards are young men. It¡¯s hard for me to control them from getting carried away by the atmosphere.


    ¡°Tell them that it¡¯s the order from the Duke. Unless people fight the guards with a rifle, they can¡¯t use force.¡±


    It would be hard for the guards, but Youngho had no choice but to ask them to refrain from using force.


    The royal guards were prepared with basic protective gear, so they could withstand violent demonstrations to some extent.


    -If it bes too violent, I will evacuate the Royal guards from the scene.


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you. Use your proper judgment. Don¡¯t forget to let people know that the Royal guards are on their side.¡±


    Citizens knew that the Royal guards were on their side to help.


    However, if the guards tried to stop their protests, they could change violently. This was because when they were carried away by the mob psychology, they could quickly turn into rioters.


    When the royal guards pointed their guns to the public, then there would be no chance for a public vote to be merged with Kazakhstan.


    To prevent the worst scenario, Youngho had to hurry to send the grain to alleviate the discontent, and to go to Kyrgyzstan with Fatima ahead of schedule. This could divert the attention of citizens.


    ***


    Fatima was delighted to hear that the royal family would be visiting Kyrgyzstan.


    These days, she enjoyed visiting ces because she was quite popr among Kazakh people. They always weed her with joy and excitement and thought that it was an honorable event to meet her. Even in Xinjiang Uyghur, where she never visited so far, her poprity was increasing day by day.


    ¡°Kyrgyzstan is a foreign country, not Kazakhstan. I hope you don¡¯t get disappointed even if people don¡¯t wee you as people do in our country.¡±


    ¡°Why would they hate me? Unless you did a terrible thing to them, did you by any chance?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m feeding them and mediating their border dispute. I even sent royal guards for their security. They won¡¯t hate you. It¡¯s just that they might not wee you like in Kazakhstan. Just remember that you¡¯re going there to console the royal guards working hard in a foreignnd.¡±


    ¡°Okay. When I go to Kyrgyzstan, I¡¯m going to visit the mosque first.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a believer of the Serbian church.¡±


    ¡°I was born in Istanbul and never went near the Orthodox Church. And it was for the Serbians that the coronation was organized by the Serbian Orthodox patriarchs. I didn¡¯t sign up for that.¡±


    ¡°What if your visit to the mosque will be criticized by the Serbian Orthodox Church?¡±


    ¡°What did I owe to the Orthodox Church? In fact, the church should rather be thankful for the royal family. If the royal family believes in a certain religion, it will be a problem for national harmony. I don¡¯t really want to be tied down to one religion.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to follow tradition?¡±


    ¡°You and Leon don¡¯t go to church either.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never had a religion anyway. I¡¯ve been to a temple a few times with my mother when I was young. If I and Leon go to church, will you follow tradition?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a real tradition, you don¡¯t really have to force it, do you? I want the royal family to remain as neutral as possible. That way, we can visit a religious ce whether it¡¯s the cathedral or the mosque freely.¡±


    ¡°Why did you think so?¡±


    ¡°The Kingdom of Kazakhstan did not seed in the Serbian Kingdom. It¡¯s a new dynasty you created. I just became the Queen on behalf of you. That¡¯s why we don¡¯t have to follow the Serbian tradition.¡±


    Fatima was not the one who would disrespect a tradition. It seemed that she just wanted to stay neutral for the sake of the Kazakh people¡¯s harmony.


    Youngho was very grateful for her heart. She was not an ordinary housewife, but a queen. She knew that the reality of Kazakhstan where it¡¯s surrounded by Russia and China, the country could only survive through uniting ethnic peoples that were as many as sand grains on the beach.


    ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s sincerity will be conveyed to the people. Punish me for behaving recklessly, unaware of your intentions.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let it go just because you are the Duke and my husband. Do as I tell you to do today without a word to pay for what you¡¯ve done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say.¡±


    ¡°Come to bed right in this moment.¡±


    Fatima enjoyed ying the medieval times with Youngho, that she wanted to continue. However, Youngho had a schedule, so he had to stop there.


    ¡°Wait! I don¡¯t think I can right now. I¡¯m going to have a beef barbecue and some Soju with Park Jong-il. Do you want to go, too?¡±


    ***


    The queen¡¯s visit to Kyrgyzstan was tumultuous from the time she left the pce.


    Kazakh¡¯s state-run broadcaster even broadcasted it live on TV. The residents of the royal territory cheered and waved their hands to the ne as she was about to leave.


    It¡¯s just a visit to the royal guards, but the reason that they made such a fuss was to attract foreign media. It was to make it seem that Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were quite close.


    If the royal guards were deployed to Kyrgyzstan, it was proof that Kyrgyzstan was just like a federal state of Kazakhstan. Although there was a dispute between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the news that it was dramatically settled by Kazakhstan¡¯s mediation had already been delivered to the world.


    After two hours of flying, the ne arrived in Bishkek, escorted by a Kazakh Air Force ne.


    At Manas International Airport, mediapanies were busy covering the queen¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°Smile brighter and wave more.¡±


    ¡°My facial muscles are stiffening.¡±


    ¡°Leon, why don¡¯t you wave your both hands?¡±


    ¡°My arms are getting tired. I¡¯m just going to go down.¡±


    Then he walked down on the ramp of the ne.


    The diplomatic event had not been started, but the six-year-old prince created a ridiculous situation where he left the ne first.


    The crew onboard the ne and the people who waited under the ramp were stunned by his action. Under the ramp were a red carpeting and foreign ministers of Kyrgyzstan and ambassadors from all over the world were also lined up.


    ¡°Good grief. I should¡¯ve left him in the pce and brought Jelyan or Rena instead.¡±


    ¡°Phew, please stop. This is rather natural. I¡¯ll take Leon with me if there¡¯s an event like this from now on. The atmosphere is lifted because of him. Look at those people¡¯s faces.¡±


    Youngho could spot Leon running into someone¡¯s arms. It was Commander Kabak, who picked him up. Since Kabak used to work in the royal territory before the revolution, the two were already close.


    Although Leon¡¯s protruding behavior ruined the diplomatic event, people had smiles on their faces as the solemnity was broken.


    Without showing any signs of panic, the Queen smiled.

 Chapter 504 - Ah! The Koryoins

    <h4>Chapter 504: Ah! The Koryoins</h4>


    The first thing the royal family did after arriving in Kyrgyzstan was to stop all official events and pay a visit to the Royal guards. It was to emphasize that the purpose of Queen Fatima¡¯s visit to Kyrgyzstan was tofort of the royal guards.


    Kyrgyzstan was rtively serene and people looked energetic.


    It was because food supplies had already arrived before Youngho¡¯s party arrived. The increase in the grain price had been back to normal. Food was a matter of survival in Kyrgyzstan, which was close to the poorest countries.


    More than 90 percent of Kyrgyzstan¡¯snd was mountainous and only seven to eight percent could be used for cultivation, so food self-sufficiency was something that could not be dreamed of.


    Even in such a ce, there was a rice farm, so the family visited it, and to Youngho¡¯s surprise, it was a vige of Koryoins.


    Even though Fatima was the Queen of Kazakhstan, the Koryoins treated her with extreme sincerity as if she was their own queen.


    From there, Youngho heard a painful history of forced migration from the Chairman of the Koryoin association.


    The forced migration began with the pre-execution of intellectuals in the Maritime Province, whereas many as thousands of Koreans who were taken without a word never returned.


    The notification of the forced migration was made only a few days before departure, so they had to leave thend almost empty-handed.


    In the midst of this, the Koryoins did not forget to bring seeds of grain because they had to farm to survive.


    The Koryoins, loaded like luggage in freighter train cars remodeled from livestock carriers, arrived in Central Asia in about a month after traveling in the midst of the harsh Siberian wind.


    The train did not provide any food, so they had to run to a store to get water or any kind of food they could eat whenever the train made a stop at a station.


    When the train stopped temporarily, they picked up branches in the field to make a fire to cook quick warm food such as ramen noodles, but the train would leave without waiting for them, so they could not even eat the ramen properly.


    This situation had naturally taken its toll heavily on the elderly and children, so countless children died of measles during the trip. During the trip, many families were also scattered across trains, causing family members to be separated and may promote numerous idents.


    When they arrived at the new settlement, there was no shelter for countless people who died during the terrible winter. Especially, the most painful period was from the winter of the first year of migration to the farming season of the following year. It was said that people made earth caves or remodeled warehouse stables to survive in.


    After the forced migration, the relocation of Koryoins was restricted.


    They were only allowed to live in certain residential areas, and they had to live in concentration camps for about 16 years after the migration.


    Not only cultural education was banned but also there were restrictions on their employment.


    Their social and political involvement in themunity was practically limited. However, they managed to survive until now. Youngho could not lift his face as he saw the old man¡¯s emotionless face describing the terrible immigration situation. Fatima, who was listening to their conversation constantly wiped tears with her handkerchief.


    The chairman¡¯s eyes were finally reddened. He stopped talking and looked at Youngho.


    The situation of forced migration of Koryoins was worse than he had ever imagined. He could not believe that it happened in real life.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been through a lot. The Kazakh royal family will take care of the pains of the Koryoins from now on.¡±


    ¡°Why would you do that? It¡¯s not your responsibility when Stalin did us wrong. And those who suffered back then do not exist in this world anymore. The story I just told you is what I heard from my parents.¡±


    ¡°The descendants of Koryoins should be rewarded instead. I¡¯ll sue the Russian government if I have to.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to do that now. We¡¯re satisfied that there is Her Majesty, the Queen, and the Duke which whom we can serve with our hearts now. It feels like we¡¯ve been rewarded for enduring the hardships. Thank you for making the Arirang Autonomous State give hope for the scattered Koryoins. I also heard that many Koryoins moved there to live happily. Your presence has given us hope. However, you should not favor the Koryoin people anymore. You have to be the father of all people in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Please know that you don¡¯t owe us anything. We didn¡¯t have a nation, but now it¡¯s like we have a nation in Central Asia. I won¡¯t feel resentful even if I die today.¡±


    ¡°So you should live longer and healthier. First of all, I¡¯d like to build a small hospital here in the Koryoin vige. You¡¯ve been neglected here and in your home country. Who would say that the Queen would be a littlepassionate to her husband¡¯s fellow countrymen?¡±


    There were more than half a million Koryoins living in Central Asia.


    The Koryoin people of this continent were an invisible force for Youngho.


    They would be an asset to the royal family for generations even after Youngho and Leon.


    Most of the Korean people¡¯s ethnic identity had disappeared, but they did not deny that they were Korean. However, they never had a fence, so they had been scattered like grains of sand.


    Now, Youngho would y the role of making them a fence, and Kazakhstan would be the real mothend of the Koryoin people.


    Jews were not the only people persecuted throughout World War II. Not to mention the maind of the Korean Penins, and the numerous Koreans who lived in the Maritime Province and North Gando killed by the guns and swords of Japanese Imperialism.


    If there were proper statistics, it would probably be more than the Jewish poption that were killed during that era.


    It was the maind Koreans who receivedpensation from Japan for the diplomatic normalization between South Korea and Japan. The Koryoins who were forced out of the Maritime Province while fighting for Korea¡¯s independence did not even receive the benefits.


    Only the Koryoins living in Central Asia and Russia were forgotten in history.


    It was the time hade to blow away even such sorrows.


    ***


    ¡°I feel so sorry for the lives of Koryoins here. Is there any way to help them as a royal family?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but if the royal family shows favor with certain people, other people may feel deprived. If that happens over and over again, other people would refuse to ept the royal family.¡±


    ¡°If so, let¡¯s help them secretly. Serbian people live well in the royal territory because you helped them, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯tpare that with the situation now. And don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re helping them under the table anyway. We¡¯re lending money at an interest-free rate from the fund we raised for Koryoin Development when we were still the autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with a few million dors?¡±


    ¡°A few million dors is an astronomical amount of money here.¡±


    ¡°If you act so carefully like this, I¡¯ll do it myself.¡±


    ¡°Do you even have the money?¡±


    ¡°Huh?! Do you have any idea how much money is in my ount right now? You had deposited money in my secret ount. Besides, there are a lot of gold bars that you put in my safe.¡±


    In case Youngho failed his business, he had been putting money in his Fatima ount every year.


    It was one million dors a year, but once he earned blind money from doing information business, he had deposited a lump sum of money. After that, he did not even think about how much money he deposited. It had been a while since he put money in her ount because it had been stable enough to no longer have to create slush funds.


    ¡°Oh, they already left my hand. Now it¡¯s your money, you can do whatever you want with it.¡±


    ¡°Really? Can I use it all then?¡±


    ¡°How much do you have that you¡¯re acting like this?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember how much you deposited?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be surprised. It¡¯s worth as much as 24 million dors.¡±


    ¡°What? Is there that much?¡±


    ¡°I thought your business is doing well enough when you stopped depositing money. I was thinking about putting the money into Zeynep¡¯s welfare foundation, but I just kept it to myself. I¡¯m going to do some good work because you told me to do whatever I want to do with it. Don¡¯t dissuade me.¡±


    ¡°Phew, I have nothing to say.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help the Koryoins first with the money. Of course, don¡¯t worry about it because I¡¯ll do it in secret.¡±


    ¡°Why do you care much about the Koryoin people?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re abandoned in their homnd, and they were also persecuted as minorities here. I don¡¯t want to help because they¡¯re your countryman, but I want to convey warmth to people who have had a terrible life for a long time. They should feel that the world is worth living.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I married you.¡±


    ¡°Aww, that is sweet, but didn¡¯t you say that people are going to make fun of you if you say such sweet things to me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just the two of us here. It¡¯s alright.¡±


    Youngho hugged Fatima hard because he was so grateful for her caring heart.


    While in his arms, she still went on.


    ¡°There¡¯s another reason to help them.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It has to do with the safety of the royal family. If we¡¯re in the worst situation, who would help us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got friends abroad who can help us. They¡¯re the ones that will be my strength for a long time.¡±


    ¡°What about Leon and the next generation? Thest bastion of the royal family is Serbians and Koryoins. I¡¯m sure the Kazakh people will also help us. But, it would be our own countrymen who would risk their lives to protect the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be too calcting of you?¡±


    ¡°You said men are blind in their own cause. I¡¯ll do it for Leon¡¯s sake. I will help Koryoins first and then start helping the poor people and people in need. One day, all people would say that they were all helped by the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ve learned something from you today.¡±


    ¡°Just think of the royal family being persecuted by some people. It¡¯s so heartbreaking.¡±


    ¡°You also have a greedy side, Fatima.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about it all of a sudden when I saw the Koryoins. Because of their powerless ancestors, they have lived a ve-like life in another country for 80 years, so there is no ce to step down anymore. They¡¯re the ones who will keep the royal family of Kazakhstan no matter what because that¡¯s the only ce they would have been epted.¡±


    ¡°But they live in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to take this ce, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Wait, how did you find out?¡±


    ¡°I have that much of an eye. I know Kazakhstan is in danger if Kyrgyzstan falls into Chinese hands. I also wanted Kyrgyzstan to be our country.¡±


    ¡°For what reason?¡±


    ¡°How can we give up such a beautiful ce to others? And the Kyrgyz people are so pure and innocent. I like them.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you already know, I can ask you a favor.¡±


    ¡°Would you like me to appear on a TV show? Or should I speak to the nation?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you! Aren¡¯t you really going to be involved in politics?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t do. If I don¡¯t like your work, I will definitelye forward to do it right. So, be aware of that.¡±

 Chapter 505 - Federation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 505: Federation (1)</h4>


    Fatima¡¯s activities in Kyrgyzstan surprised people.


    She was quiet in Kazakhstan, but she participated in all activities and events in Kyrgyzstan aggressively. She even gave all of the details of her schedule to reporters kindly, which made the queen¡¯s security team busy. Although they had to prepare and clear out the areas where the queen was supposed to visit, a few days before to remove any dangerous element. However, she also frequently changed her schedule and even made a new schedule spontaneously. The royal guards were now added to her security team to help them out.


    Kabak,mander of the Royal Armed Division, could not bear it, so heined to Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you reduce Her Majesty¡¯s schedule a little? Even the guards areining of fatigue.¡±


    ¡°If she visits only some ces and doesn¡¯t visit some when the people of Kyrgyzstan all want to see her, what would they think of her? And the police here seem to be on full security duty, so don¡¯t mobilize the soldiers anymore. There¡¯s no harm to our queen here, even if you loosen up a little bit of security.¡±


    ¡°We have to be nervous because Kyrgyzstan¡¯s security isn¡¯t like how it used to be.¡±


    ¡°The residents are volunteering themselves to do guarding duty for the Queen¡¯s safety. The rigid security team will only be a target of criticism, so just do it in moderation.¡±


    Fatima was not the queen of Kyrgyzstan, but she met any Kyrgyz people who were in need. She was loved by the people, but the security team was still concerned.


    ¡°And I¡¯m afraid that Muslim leaders seem to see Her Majesty¡¯s visit with an ungrateful eye.¡±


    ¡°I guess they don¡¯t like the Queen¡¯s visit at the mosque.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°The royal family does not represent a particr religion, and the Queen will be wearing a hijab ording to the mosque¡¯s rule. Do they still don¡¯t like her presence there?¡±


    ¡°They seem to think that the Queen¡¯s visit would damage the sacred and holy image of the mosque because of the reporters following her.¡±


    ¡°I should apologize respectfully for the inconvenience.¡±


    ¡°You have the pride of the royal family. You most certainly don¡¯t have to do that.¡±


    ¡°This is a foreign country. The royal family is just a guest here. We should apologize for any inconvenience caused by the royal events. That way, religious leaders will see the royal family differently.¡±


    ¡°Then I will issue an apology under the name of themander of the royal guards.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like it if it was made under the royal family¡¯s name, please.¡±


    When the royal family issued an apology, the Kyrgyz residents criticized the Imicmunity for making a fuss over a small issue of the Queen¡¯s visit.


    It was because religious leaders, who did not do anything when the country was in need, were now acting out over something that they could yield. Besides, the Queen¡¯s visit was rather a great move to promote their mosque.


    Religious leaders were also perplexed by the royal response. They did not expect that the royal family would even offer an apology.


    ¡°Honey, did I go too far?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The monarch could go anywhere. Those religious leaders must¡¯ve been embarrassed since a woman like you visited the mosque since it was mostly men that were allowed to be in there.¡±


    Imic leaders also stepped back, saying it was only an act of some clerics.


    ¡°The Imic leaders of Kyrgyzstan are generous. If it was in Turkey, people would¡¯ve been different.¡±


    ¡°If the country doesn¡¯t have power, religious leaders can¡¯t speak out. They don¡¯t have any power to lean on now.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying, Kazakhstan doesn¡¯t have power, so the religious people are quiet?¡±


    ¡°Why is Kazakhstan powerless? Haven¡¯t you seen China being flustered by us? And it is because the Orthodox Church and Im coexist in our country.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure China is scared of us? It¡¯s just trying to coax us to use us.¡±


    ¡°They say the thirsty man digs up the well. China is the one who needs us, so it has to do whatever to coax us. If we don¡¯t cooperate, there¡¯d be no way for China to get connected to Europe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very proud of you at this time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to say that I¡¯m bold, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Haha...¡±


    ***


    The Kyrgyz Prime Minister visited the hotel where Youngho¡¯s party was staying.


    Youngho had been intentionally avoiding meeting with Kyrgyz officials. It was because the Kazakh royal family had made sure that the Queen¡¯s visit to the country was strictly to honor the royal guards stationed there.


    That was why the queen refused to attend any official ceremonies except to meet the guards stationed in different cities and visited the mosque to asionally meet with Kyrgyz citizens.


    While Kyrgyzstan¡¯s political figures were distrusted by the people, there was no reason for Youngho or Fatima to meet them since it would be like supporting them.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m sorry that I haven¡¯te to greet you properly when you¡¯vee a long way. I made a discourtesy because domestic circumstances were not great.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯te here to be treated well, so don¡¯t worry about it too much. We just hope that the nation will be stabilized as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°At this point, it¡¯s hard to find a happy medium. Fortunately, Your Highness and Her Majesty¡¯s visit had subsided the anti-government protests.¡±


    ¡°I was really sorry to see the grain crisis this time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so embarrassed that I can¡¯t lift my face. Although the royal family and the government helped to resolve the crisis, the economic situation has worsened due to the border conflict. It¡¯s hard to predict what¡¯s going to happen in the future.¡±


    ¡°Be strong. Kazakhstan is an ally and neighbor. I¡¯ll help Kyrgyzstan as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°I am always grateful for that. But it is a concern that people don¡¯t trust the government and want a new one. It¡¯s already no different from anarchy in Kyrgyzstan now.¡±


    It was a very urgent situation for the current government. The public sentiment was so bad that the leadership would have to think about asylum depending on the situation.


    ¡°That¡¯s why the Royal Armored Division is stationed here.¡±


    ¡°What concerns our government is after the Queen and Your Highness returned home, and the royal guards are gone.¡±


    Given the prime minister¡¯s stiff face, he did not juste here to exin the situation in Kyrgyzstan. He wanted to talk more in-depth about the issue, but since Youngho gave him short replies, he could not even bring up the words inside.


    So, Youngho asked the very fundamental question for him.


    ¡°Prime Minister, how do you n to break the current situation?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s time to make a decision for the future of Kyrgyzstan. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually why I¡¯m here. I wanted to discuss that with you. I¡¯d like to hold a referendum to decide the future of Kyrgyzstan, but I don¡¯t know how the Kazakh government or the royal family would take it...¡±


    What Youngho had been waiting to hear had finallye out from the mouth of the Kyrgyz prime minister, but he gave a look that he did not know what he meant.


    ¡°Why should you consider our government or the royal family to decide your country¡¯s future?¡±


    ¡°Kyrgyzstan is a country thatcks resources and jobs. So far, it would have been difficult to run the country normally without the help of Kazakhstan. So, the president and several other officials are carefully looking at the federal system.¡±


    ¡°The federal system?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like to take the queen, who the people of Kyrgyzstan absolutely support, as our monarch if you would take us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m puzzled because it¡¯s an unexpected suggestion. Do you think that¡¯s possible in real life?¡±


    Youngho was exuberated, but he dismissed the idea as nonsense. He had to struggle to keep his face under control for a while.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been assured by the Queen¡¯s visit this time. I¡¯d agree to submit Kyrgyzstan into a federal system with the royal family at the center. If the Kazakh government and the royal family would ept Kyrgyzstan as a federation, we would vote on it in a referendum.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something that our government has to contemte about. Being a federal state is a great national burden. If we¡¯re going to ept Kyrgyzstan as a federal state, we¡¯ll need a national consensus.¡±


    ¡°Help me. Your Highness, the only way for Kyrgyzstan to survive is to be incorporated into Kazakhstan. Wouldn¡¯t the people ept Kyrgyzstan as long as the royal family decides to ept it?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d have to be prepared for somebor pains. But if the royal family would pay for some of the cost of rebuilding Kyrgyzstan, the people¡¯s minds could be changed.¡±


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re going to pay for rebuilding Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°If the people of Kyrgyzstan choose the royal family, we can¡¯t just sit still. But we¡¯d need to...¡±


    ¡°All the talk of changing the political world was lost in my mouth. If it is incorporated into a federal state, the president and politicians should step down on their own. Like Pluto, the king will have the authority to nominate a prime minister.¡±


    ***


    ¡°It was indeed gold!¡±


    ¡°See? I knew it! That¡¯s why Uzbekistan was so eager to take the border area.¡±


    ¡°The whole area is a field of alluvial gold. People there were living off collecting them from the stream.¡±


    ¡°Did the Kyrgyz government not know that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be weird if it didn¡¯t know since people had been collecting alluvial gold for hundreds of years now. I think the Kyrgyz government just neglected the ce because its administrative power could not reach there. And the output is so small, so I guess the government decided not to get involved.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s funny that the Uzbek government is so eager to take the area.¡±


    ¡°The area is quite great. There are many Uzbek people living in the area, and they can secure goldfields and water too. You know, the alluvial gold will get exhausted one day, but you need water to farm.¡±


    ¡°Well, that means there¡¯s a vein of gold somewhere in the upper stream.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s an earthquake-prone area, so it could have been destroyed in the upper reaches. Whatever it is, even if we redraw the new border, Kyrgyzstan will have most of the upper-stream part. So, we won¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, if we find a gold mine in the upper stream, that¡¯ll be a jackpot.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see. The vein could have been disconnected a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°If Kyrgyz people pass the referendum to be a federal state of Kazakhstan, the royal family would have to spend a lot of money in Kyrgyzstan. The only way to recover that is to bust a vein of gold or something.¡±


    Jong-il brought good news when Youngho¡¯s party returned to the royal territory from Kyrgyzstan.


    Kyrgyzstan¡¯s economy was only being supported by gold and uranium, but the gold mine was already depleted. If the gold mine in the upper stream near the border area was found to be productive, it would be the icing on the cake.


    Also, if Kyrgyzstan became a federal state, Kazakhstan¡¯s power shortage issue would be immediately solved because Kyrgyzstan¡¯s hydro-electric capacity was incredible. Even now, the electricity used in southern Kazakhstan was being drawn from Kyrgyzstan because it used abundant water from mountain ranges.


    The royal family¡¯s visit to Kyrgyzstan was a divine move.


    Queen Fatima had captured the hearts of the people of Kyrgyzstan at once. The Kyrgyzs weed Fatima as if she were their own queen. It was because the poverty-stricken people needed someone¡¯s warmth and care.

 Chapter 506 - Federation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 506: Federation (2)</h4>


    It was generally said as a federation when two or more autonomous countries coexisted under one political ideology.


    On the basis of the federal constitution, the central government and its subordinate governments must govern together to be a real federation. This was because only the central government exercised external sovereignty such as diplomatic and military power. In that sense, Commonwealth countries that had its own diplomatic and military power were not exactly federal states; they were rather simr to a national union.


    If Kyrgyzstan was likely to continue to be given diplomatic and military status, there was no reason for Kazakhstan to make it a federal state.


    Youngho¡¯s concern was how much power should Kazakhstan grant Kyrgyzstan when it became a federal state. So, he was discussing the matter with Eriksson, the brain of the Kazakh government.


    ¡°Do you have any more ideas?¡±


    ¡°The central government has to decide everything. The immediate cost of reconstruction is not going to be a loan but given freely. It is a regr move to a single system in which the central government exercises the right to nominate prime ministers and control diplomatic and military power.¡±


    ¡°Now, political leaders in Kyrgyzstan are betting their lives on the vote for a federal system. Of course, we¡¯ll ept this because we have the upper hand, but I wonder if they¡¯ll even call a referendum if we hold the power to nominate the prime minister. Would this be so attractive to the Kyrgyz government anymore when the federal system will take away its political life?¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t loosen federalw. You have to close your eyes and just push it.¡±


    Eriksson was stern that the whole Kyrgyz government should be shuffled since the royal family would be generously providing free aids to Kyrgyzstan. It was because the government officials could change their mind to overthrow the federal system once they were well off.


    He said that the monarch should appoint the prime minister to form an administration and other Congress members should be voted by the public to check the administration, just as in Kazakhstan. However, Youngho thought differently. Since Kazakhstan would have the diplomatic and military sectors, it did not matter who would nominate the Kyrgyz Prime Minister. It was because no matter who became the prime minister in a country with a poption of just over five million, the government would need to lean on the Kazakh government and royal family in order to survive, anyway.


    ¡°Let¡¯s give the people of Kyrgyzstan a choice. Wouldn¡¯t it be a desirable democratic system if the prime minister was nominated from a majority party that was elected by the people?¡±


    ¡°Okay. I guess we can only hope for a wise choice from the people of Kyrgyzstan. However, the nomination system for Congress members must be carried out.¡±


    What Eriksson meant by the nomination system for Congress members was a system that the royal family nominated one-fifth of all Congress members whereas the rest of the members would be elected by Kyrgyz people. It was brought in as a safety tool to check Congress members since if they wanted to write new constitutional amendments, there was no way to stop it, and the amendment could be written against the federal system.


    Of course, this should also be passed by a referendum, but it was to prevent the nation from getting chaotic in the future. People would adopt the federation system dly because the country was in bad shape, but there could be some forces that instigated confusion by promoting nationalism over the years.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the royal family having too much of power?¡±


    ¡°The royal family is paying a huge amount of reconstruction money. We should definitely take something in return.¡±


    ¡°Is there a guarantee that the people we appoint support the royal family?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve given them a stable job. If they want to keep their positions, they¡¯ll have to support the royal family.¡±


    ¡°It feels like we¡¯re doing business.¡±


    ¡°State management is also a kind of business. Once you¡¯ve started, you¡¯ve got to do a profitable business.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    After many twists and turns, a referendum was held in Kyrgyzstan.


    The referendum on adopting the federal system was passed with an overwhelming turnout of the voting rate of 83 percent and an approval rate of 97 percent.


    Generally, turnout in Central Asian countries was close to 90 percent, as those living in mountainous areas had not been able to vote. But 97 percent of the votes represented how passionate the people were.


    A referendum on the federal system went into effect immediately as well as the federalw, but the Kazakh government decided to have a transitional government system where the current Kyrgyz president be the prime minister for the time being.


    The n was to improve the insufficient part of the federal system and give the incumbent government a chance to make up for itself for one year. After a year, there would be a general election in which people would vote for their prime minister and other Congress members.


    ¡°Your Highness, congrattions.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, it¡¯s all because of your hard work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was just watching from the back. I owe it to you and to the queen.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯ll have to give the credit to the queen. I didn¡¯t even think that she would be so active in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°In that sense, the prince also yed a big role.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got into a lot of trouble that my face was burning in shame many times.¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha... The whole world knows about Prince¡¯s free spirit. Because of him, the royal family could have been recognized as friendly.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasimughed to think about what Leon had done.


    Because of Fatima and Leon¡¯s performance, the people of Kyrgyzstan gave absolute support to the federal system. Fatima¡ªunlike the people of the European royal family¡ªshowed an unconventional move, ignoring the authority and dignity of a monarch. She met residents if they wanted to meet her regardless of their positions or status and cared for their pains.


    During the month leading up to the vote, she relentlesslymunicated with the Kyrgyz people, so the federal system was able to gain full support from the people.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we send a special envoy to the neighboring countries to let them know that Kyrgyzstan has be a federal state of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°That is Kyrgyzstan¡¯s choice. I¡¯d rather have the Kyrgyz government do that to avoid misunderstanding. There is no reason to kindly exin the resolution between sovereign states to other countries. Rather, it may seem like we¡¯re asking for recognition of a federal state.¡±


    ¡°Listening to you, I¡¯m convinced that there would be some countries that might think that we are asking for their permission. Especially, powerful countries like China or Russia.¡±


    It was customary to announce the birth of a federation to other countries. However, powerful neighboring countries like China and Russia had a tendency to think that they had a say in surrounding countries¡¯ business. The problem was China since Russia was caught up in its economic difficulties.


    ¡°So I¡¯m telling you since the referendum has passed, why don¡¯t we exercise the military power under the federalw immediately? I would like to rece the border guards on the border with Uzbekistan with the Kazakh military and leave the Kyrgyz military only in charge of the border with only China. What do you think, Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. The Uzbek and Kyrgyz armies have already been hostile to each other to the point that they need to be separated.¡±


    ¡°And I heard that Kyrgyz and China had border conflicts in the past. How did it end?¡±


    ¡°I heard that the Kyrgyz government has made concessions on some areas in exchange for China¡¯s economic aid to Kyrgyzstan. But the main section is still undergoing a tense tug-of-war between the two countries.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to visit there sometime.¡±


    ***


    Kyrgyzstan was in a festive mood throughout the country.


    And the reason they were so excited was that they were hopeful that they would be able to ovee their poverty.


    The per capita GDP of the country was only 2200 dors, which was only one-sixth of the GDP of Kazakhstan, and 39 percent of the poption was in poverty.


    But now that it became a federal state of Kazakhstan, people expected that the immediate problem of living would be solved which excited them.


    Fatima, who was waving to Bishkek residents, turned to Youngho and blinked her eyes. It was her habit when she had something to say.


    ¡°What is it? Say it. Don¡¯t just blink.¡±


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t think I have to tell you now that I have money.¡±


    ¡°You are going to tell me to help the Koryoin people, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, how did you know that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you think any Asian-looking people here are all Koryoins.¡±


    Most of the Kyrgyz people were ethnic Asians different from Uzbeks, so Fatima could not tell the difference between Kyrgyz people and Koryoin people. She thought everyone was Koryoin.


    ¡°They¡¯re going to be a big help to Leon. We have to be nice to them.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to anymore, so don¡¯t worry. I already notified all Koryoins to return to their homnd.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean to have the Arirang royal territory be their homnd?¡±


    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t have to be limited to the royal territory now.¡±


    ¡°I see. Wherever there is Leon, it must be the home of the Koryoins now. I¡¯m nning on something, do you want to hear it?¡±


    ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to create a foundation to help Koryoin people. Would you join me?¡±


    ¡°People won¡¯t like it if the royal family favored Koryoins only.¡±


    ¡°It would be a foundation that helps the minority groups, not just Koryoins. But we can give more preferential treatment to the Koryoin people when we lend people business funds or settlement funds.¡±


    ¡°How much amount of donation should I give so you can be satisfied?¡±


    ¡°As much as possible. Those who receive help from the foundation will be a big support group for Leonter on.¡±


    ¡°Man, either way, my money will be gone.¡±


    ¡°Do you have to spend more money?¡±


    ¡°Our government doesn¡¯t have a lot of funds, so the royal family is going to provide the Kyrgyz government with a billion dors for free aid.¡±


    ¡°One billion dors?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that much money, considering the pressing economic situation in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s a lot of money, but don¡¯t think that it¡¯s too much. It¡¯ll alle back to Leonter.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re our people now. I shouldn¡¯t think it¡¯s a waste. But I can¡¯t just give them money, so I¡¯m nning to take over a few gold mines.¡±


    ¡°Are there gold mines in Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We never know how many are there in the Tian Shan Mountains. The ce I¡¯m going to take over this time is a private gold mine near the Uzbek border. If we get to find the original vein, it¡¯ll be amazing.¡±


    ¡°What if you don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can¡¯t help with. But if we could win the hearts of the Kyrgyz people with a billion dors, we¡¯ve done a very good business.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re sweet. It seems like you get more attractive every year.¡±


    ¡°Did you just notice that now?¡±

 Chapter 507 - Federation (3)

    <h4>Chapter 507: Federation (3)</h4>


    This visit to Kyrgyzstan was an official event after the referendum.


    The whole royal family was divided into two jumbo jets toe to Kyrgyzstan. Not only the Queen¡¯s bodyguards but also her children were here. The royal family hade to Kyrgyzstan as the head of state as the result of the referendum.


    Of course, the people weed the royal family with great excitement.


    Kyrgyzstan in May was so beautiful because all kinds of flowers were in full bloom. Unlike Arirang royal territory, which was still cold in the morning and evening, Kyrgyzstan in early May was a spring day full of greens.


    ¡°This ce feels like Almaty. The entire country can be described as a resort.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why people call this ce the Alps of Central Asia. If you go to the mountains in the east, there are lots of dazzling ces. But unfortunately, people here are too busy to make the ends meet, so they can¡¯t enjoy the beautiful sceneries. People here are suffering daily inconveniences because of the scenery that we think is beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we offer jobs in cities for the people who live in the valleys and remote areas?¡±


    ¡°Many had been fruit farming or ranching here. What are they going to do in cities? Besides, they¡¯d be reluctant to leave their hometown.¡±


    ¡°We need to create jobs in cities, or we need to develop in fields in Kazakhstan, so they can continue working and live better lives. They wished for better lives and that¡¯s why they supported the royal family.¡±


    Talking to Fatima these days made Youngho realize many things that he had missed.


    He only thought about fostering tourism, but he never considered the situation of people who lived in remote areas.


    All development projects were rted to the tourism industry. Large-scale development would inevitably lead to the loss of the local people¡¯s homes and would only offer jobs in tourism facilities, while small-scale development of small towns may be more practical for the local people, not to mention it would be less harmful to nature.


    They had been forgotten and left out for a long time. The royal family would take the lead to help them get out of the poverty cycle, and then they would be absolute supporters of the family in the future.


    ***


    The Kyrgyz public loved the royal children so much.


    Among the young people, taking photos with the three children, Leon, Jelyan, and Rena, was now a popr trend. Leon, being an interracial child was bound to be adorable, but the two princesses were also so pretty that people could not get enough of them.


    Jelyan was a princess since she was adopted by Youngho, but Rena was being treated like a princess by everyone naturally. It was because she was calling him her dad proudly in the public.


    Youngho and Fatima did not care whether such a rumor was circting or not. They already considered her as their child, anyway.


    Rena had a beautiful appearance that she got from her mother, Katya. Even though she had just entered her adolescence, her appearance was enough to catch people¡¯s attention.


    Anyway, the prince and princesses¡¯ poprity was increasing every day.


    ¡°Jelyan is upset that Rena is more popr than her.¡±


    ¡°Who dares to rank our princesses?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s search word ranking from an online search engine.¡±


    ¡°I guess people are searching for Rena¡¯s name more than Jelyan¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°I think so. She¡¯s saying that the ranking keeps changing, but she wants to keep being the first ce.¡±


    ¡°I think Jelyan is as pretty as Rena. It¡¯s a little too much topare the two.¡±


    ¡°Who dares topare the look of the princesses? It¡¯s just what teenagers do for fun. But I thought it was fun. It¡¯s amazing how the princesses are old enough to care about their appearance. It is quite remarkable.¡±


    Fatima burst intoughter.


    She seemed to be excited ever since Kyrgyzstan became a federal state.


    ¡°You look very happy when youe to Kyrgyzstan. Is that so?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I feelfortable being here for some reason. I guess it¡¯s because of the natural environment here.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you build a vi here?¡±


    ¡°No. The people of Kyrgyzstan are still having a hard time, so if we build a royal vi first, they¡¯ll point fingers at us. I¡¯ll just be happying here once in a while.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the people of Kyrgyzstan won¡¯t think that way. Having a royal vi here will be proof of how much the royal family cares for Kyrgyzstan. They all know that the royal funds have been used for the reconstruction of their country.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯d rather build a mini pce rather than a vi. The vi is used only for vacations, but another pce will be a constant reminder that we will live here as well. If you build a pce, we can enjoy summer and winter here. I think Kyrgyz people will love it too.¡±


    The summer in Kazakhstan was hot, and the winter was breathtakingly cold.


    Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, was located lower than Kazakhstan intitude, but most of thend was mountainous, so it was cool in summer and not so cold in winter except for the alpine region.


    ¡°Hmmm, alright. I know what you¡¯re up to, but I¡¯ll do that for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what are you talking about? I decided that for our children who are vulnerable to cold and heat.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course, Your Majesty. It¡¯s not because you want to be here but for our children.¡±


    ***


    On the TV screen, it was showing facial recognition cameras at a bank, and a shopping mall identifying suspicious characters. Even in gas stations, people¡¯s ID cards were scanned and even the iris recognition device was used in order to purchase gas.


    In Youngho¡¯s office, Park Jong-il and his colleagues sat together to watch CNN broadcasts.


    ¡°Look at them. Do you now believe me?¡±


    ¡°Be quiet, I¡¯m still watching. Let¡¯s talk after I¡¯m done watching.¡±


    Public security guards on the street frequently inspected citizens with equipment to find out what photos or videos they had on their smartphones.


    The Chinese government¡¯s efforts to suppress Xinjiang Uyghur for the past several years had turned the region into a prison city. ck armored vehicles and military jeeps routinely roamed the streets.


    CNN reported news of tens of thousands of people missing in the Xinjiang Uyghur region.


    Youngho, who was watching TV, swept his face with his hand. It was a habit that he used to do when he was frustrated.


    It was after the March 2014 terrorist attacks at Kunming Station in southwestern China that the Chinese government began to drastically strengthen its security system in the region.


    The Chinese government had pointed to independent activists in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region as the main culprit behind the terrorist attacks.


    An unprecedented high-tech system was introduced in the process of expanding surveince from the entranceway of the Xinjiang Uyghur region.


    The spot that was used as the Silk Road gateway in the past had turned into a public security checkpoint. Here, people went through a full-body scan, an identification check, and a facial scan. Surveince cameras were also watching every few dozen to hundreds of meters on the road.


    The census forms submitted by residents included the sections where people had to write the number of overseas trips and if they had friends or families that were inmates. ording to what was on the form, people were ssified as three-tier risk-rated figures.


    Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s surveince equipment for every 100,000 people in the Xinjiang region was said to be equivalent to the amount of equipment to watch hundreds of millions in other countries.


    Last year, education and training centers were established in the region. Those centers were where thousands of dissidents were being detained in the name of education and training.


    Rumors of mass disappearances had been raised as people had suddenly been detained.


    A CNN reporter said brainwashing programs under the guise of vocational training were in operation at the training center.


    ¡°They¡¯re crazy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing how the CNN reporter filmed it. How brave of her, but why are they broadcasting it now? So far, they¡¯ve closed their eyes to human rights in Xinjiang Uygur.¡±


    ¡°Well, because of the courageous reporter, I guess the time hase for us to act.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not saying that you¡¯re going to go to China, are you?¡±


    ¡°We should definitely sneak in there, very secretively.¡±


    ¡°Man, I thought I was finally on a break. I guess we¡¯ll get busy for a while.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s great that it¡¯s not winter anymore, just like our jinx. We always have carried out a secret operation in the winter, haven¡¯t we? Can you tell Commander Kabak to hurry up ande?¡±


    ¡°What does themander of the Royal Armored Division have to do with Xinjiang Uyghur?¡±


    ¡°Last winter, Kabak recognized the secret route that Uyghur intellectuals and families of the Independence fighter organization used to enter Kazakhstan without anyone knowing.¡±


    ¡°I overheard it, but don¡¯t you think the Chinese border guards know that route?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a passage that¡¯s been used only for Kazakhs who lived in Xinjiang Uyghur for hundreds of years. It was made in the time of Genghis Khan. Of course, the Chinese people don¡¯t know. If they knew, there would have been no reason for the intellectuals to get away from the region using that route, is there?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government doesn¡¯t care about people in the region since they¡¯re rather bothersome. I bet the government just let them go.¡±


    ¡°Do you think China will overlook their escape so easily? The people missing reported on the news are referring the people who escaped to Kazakhstan through that route. China can¡¯t say that all those people are missing now, or the world will think that the Chinese authorities have killed them in the camp.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, that means they¡¯re stuck. Then, let¡¯s manipte the media.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°There must be Kazakhs who crossed the border this time. We should ask about their whereabouts to the Chinese government. Since there are families living in Kazakhstan, we should ask that those families are wondering what happened to them. I wonder how the Chinese government will respond to that.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to make a fuss. Let¡¯s provide arms to the independence fighters through the secret route and release the royal guards to shake things up.¡±


    ¡°Then the Uyghurs will suffer.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the Uyghurs are at peace now? We¡¯re not at the point where we can just watch and wait now.¡±

 Chapter 508 - Xinjiang Uyghurs Chaos (1)

    <h4>Chapter 508: Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s Chaos (1)</h4>


    The Chinese government had been confirmed to be collecting biometric information from residents in the Xinjiang Uyghur region.


    It was collecting biometric information such as DNA samples, fingerprints, blood types, and iris recognition, along with pictures of residents under the pretext of free physical examinations.


    A wide range of residents aged 12 to 65 was targeted, and it was reported that 18.8 million people had undergone physical tests this year.


    The Chinese government was building a database by collecting biometric information regardless of age to monitor dissidents and other dangerous people in Xinjiang Uyghur.


    Of course, DNA collection was carried out on a trial basis in Shandong and Beijing, but this was a way to find missing children or to catch tax evaders, but the case in Uyghur district was different as it was widely conducted on all residents. It was an act of anti-humanitarianism that could not have been found anywhere else.


    However, the Chinese government said the tests were done voluntarily by residents in Xinjiang Uyghur. As Uyghur¡¯s reality became known to the world via CNN, international human rights groups criticized the Chinese government, but China did not budge, dismissing the criticism as the tests were inevitable to wipe out terrorist-prone organizations.


    The Kazakh government had officially asked China to find the whereabouts of missing Kazakhs that used to live in Xinjiang Uyghur. Then the Chinese government immediately confirmed that it would soon notify the Kazakh side.


    Since One Belt One Road was still underway, the Chinese government was trying its best to please Kazakhstan.


    Human rights groups demonstrated in front of Chinese embassies in each country holding pickets.


    Youngho and Cho Chul-hwan, who were in a meeting for the operation to infiltrate Xinjiang Uyghur, took their eyes off the screen.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it na?ve for people to believe China will change?¡±


    ¡°Well, they need to pressure China in some way, so that there is a slight possibility to improve the situation for Uyghurs.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think it¡¯s going to get worse.¡±


    ¡°I hope it gets worse so that our operation works better.¡±


    ¡°The royal guards are all ready, so when will be the D-Day?¡±


    ¡°The Uyghur independence organizations will take action in three days, so why don¡¯t we set our D-Day right after that? If an outsider enters downtown Urumqi now, he will get caught immediately because of the surveince cameras. After independent groups raid the central control center, then it will be safe for us to get in.¡±


    Youngho had formed the Royal Body Guard. It consisted of Foreign Legion members who were former Korean Navy Special Forces and Countryside Force soldiers. For the operation in Xinjiang Uyghur, a team of 20 members from the Royal Body Guard would be sent.


    ¡°How are you going to divide the team?¡±


    ¡°I will make five action teams of three guards. The other five guards will be on stand-by at the outskirts of Urumqi.¡±


    ¡°Tell them not to underestimate Chinese soldiers.¡±


    ¡°They know that well. The bullets dodge you, so you¡¯ll have to be careful.¡±


    ording to Park Jong-il who invested the border, the Chinese soldiers¡¯ military discipline and training were formidable.


    Especially, in border areas and ces like Uyghur where there were frequent terrorist attacks, each soldier had thetest weapons.


    ¡°There will be no mistake since we have fully mastered the area of operation with satellite photos provided by the British Intelligence Service.¡±


    ¡°Do you have the location of the camp?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t tell by the satellite images. Xinjiang Uyghur is such arge area that there¡¯s no way we can figure that out.¡±


    ¡°We must find out the location¡­¡±


    The camp was where the Chinese authorities had imprisoned Uyghur independence fighters, dissidents, and terrorists.


    Youngho needed to find it so that he would have a card to pressure China.


    Since the guards could not help the imprisoned people escape the region at the operation, they nned to record the sight of the camp to use itter.


    ***


    They had been quarantined in the water tank. Uyghur groups were carrying out attacks on all sides.


    Among them, the one with the most casualties was the Central Control Center of the Chinese Public Security Bureau in Urumqi.


    ¡°All the control center facilities were destroyed, so security cameras all over the area will be useless for the time being.¡±


    ¡°I heard a Uyghur independence fighter drove a truck there and blew it up altogether.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a rookie member and said to have volunteered to do that.¡±


    The truck was loaded with explosives. It was rushed to the central control center, which caused the building to be blown up in the aftermath of the explosion. At the expense of a courageous young man¡¯s life, Uyghur¡¯s security system hadpletely copsed.


    ¡°Chul-hwan! Find out about his family members and bring them to the royal territory. It is our duty to respect the parents of such a great young man.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to bring his family here, even if I have to search the whole Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°Did you provide proper weapons to the Uyghur independence fighters?¡±


    ¡°Yep. They¡¯ll be enough to arm a regiment. It¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t deliver a cannon or an armored vehicle.¡±


    ¡°A cannon or an armored vehicle is not suitable for fighting a guerri war. It¡¯s great that they have enough guns and bullets.¡±


    ¡°I gave them the old conventional weapons and portable rocketunchers we had in the royal territory, so they¡¯ll use them well.¡±


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you discuss with Commander Kabak and supply the personal firearms used by the Kazakh military to the Uyghur activists? We should also send the firearms that had been used by the Kyrgyz military.¡±


    ¡°You want to arm all the Uyghur people?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re fighting for independence. Anyone should hold a gun if they¡¯re able regardless of their gender. You have to have plenty of arms to get motivated.¡±


    ¡°Combat rations are more urgent than that. The amount made in the factory of the royal territory will not be enough to meet their needs. What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Contact the factory in Atyrau. That factory is as big as the one in the Arirang royal territory. It should be enough.¡±


    ¡°I checked with it already. All of thebat food produced there is being supplied to Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°What? Why Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know? They¡¯re supplyingbat food to the people in Kyrgyz remote areas.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s feeding Kyrgyzbat food?¡±


    ¡°Who do you think? It¡¯s the Queen.¡±


    Fatima was sendingbat food to the inhabitants of the remote mountain areas of Kyrgyzstan for a variety of nourishment. Grain had been supplied well, but the people of remote ces preferredbat rations since it was a high-calorie food.


    Eti the Turkish foodpany that entered Kazakhstan had been popr among soldiers as well asmon civilians since itsbat ration tasted great.


    And since the queen sent it to the people, Kyrgyz people thought that it was a precious food. The poption of people in remote Kyrgyz areas was not a lot, but Fatima nned to provide it to more than tens of thousands of Kyrgyz residents from now on.


    The supply was still low, and most residents had never seen what thebat food looked like.


    It would take months for them to receive the Queen¡¯s food supply, but as rumors had already been spread, everyone was looking forward to his turn.


    ¡°Man, I should establish abat ration factory in Kyrgyzstan, too.¡±


    ¡°They say that the development of the Kyrgyz teenagers is a lot slower than the Kazakh teenagers due to malnutrition, so it¡¯ll be great for them to have abat ration factory there.¡±


    ¡°For now, hand over everything from the Atyrau factory to Xinjiang Uyghur. I will convince my wife and tell her that I¡¯m going to build a factory in Kyrgyzstan soon.¡±


    ¡°You should think about the people who are waiting for their turn in Kyrgyzstan. They¡¯ll get upset.¡±


    ¡°The Uyghur fighters are going to starve right now. The Kyrgyz people can wait.¡±


    ¡°No, you should contact Eti the foodpany and ask for an emergency airlift supply.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, Fatima has got me in trouble this time.¡±


    ¡°She is caring for her people. Uyghurs still belong to China, but the Kyrgyzs are our people. Don¡¯t be so mean to Her Majesty.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s ambitious project could not be hampered, so Youngho was bound to ask the Eti the foodpany¡¯s help to supply the Kyrgyz residents through an airlift from Turkey.


    Since the Uyghur people were urgently in need of food at the moment, he had to send all products from the factory in Atyrau to the region.


    ¡°Honey, you¡¯ve heard about the Xinjiang Uyghur situation, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I heard a lot of people have been detained and missing. Is there anything we can do to help?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m supplying arms and funds to Uyghur independence organization. The Chinese government¡¯s food supply had been decreased causing a lot of people to starve. The independence fighters asked us to supply some food.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then I want to help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to turn thebat food you sent to Kyrgyzstan to Xinjiang Uyghur first. Instead, we¡¯re going to import all the extra supplies from Turkey, is that okay?¡±


    ¡°Of course we should send them to the Uyghurs first. It sounds like they need it urgently.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interfere with your n that you¡¯re passionate about.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother. There¡¯s a priority for work.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m nning to build a joint factory with Eti in Kyrgyzstan. It¡¯s a long way to Kyrgyzstan from here, so it costs a lot to transport the food.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Would you do that for me?¡±


    Abat food factory in the eastern region of Kyrgyzstan was essential to continuously supply food to Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang Uyghur. If it was built near Bishkek, it would be a usible location for the two regions.


    It wasbat ration, but now it had be a national food in Kazakhstan. The reason why people loved it so much was that the standard of living was still remarkably lowpared to Europe¡¯s standard.


    The question of supplyingbat food to Xinjiang Uyghur gave an opportunity to Youngho to rethink the importance of processed food.


    Since Kazakhstan was a grain exporting country, the cost of storing grain was also high, so grain that was about to be exported were usually stored at the port. However, the wheat that had been stored at the storage yard in the wharf was sometimes molded by the sudden rain, so it had to go to waste. The disaster was caused by theck of funds to build silo storage.


    There were hundreds of millions of people who starved due tock of food in the world, but it was a shame that precious grains were being abandoned due to careless storage in Kazakhstan.


    In the past, Suh Min-seok had pushed for a full-scale whole wheat production project, but it was canceled due to theck of economic feasibility. At that time, it fell through over the issue of the market, but now it seemed that it would have to be approached in terms of storing surplus farm products, not exports. This was worth reviewing.


    Youngho¡¯s hand was already reaching for the interphone.

 Chapter 509 - Xinjiang Uyghur’s Chaos (2)

    <strong>Chapter 509: Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s Chaos (2)</strong>


    The Xinjiang Uyghur independence fighters¡¯ performance was amazing.


    As simple foods asbat foods and individual firearms became avable, the scope of their activities was widened, and finally, they attacked a public security office in Xining the province of Qinghai, near Xinjiang Uyghur.


    The attack on the public security office, which was a key department of the Communist Party of China. China¡¯s public security authorities were flustered since they had not expected that the situation would get this big.


    In the meantime, the Royal Guardmandos attacked the Chinese military headquarters in Urumqi and other subordinate units simultaneously.


    China even dered a state of emergency in Xinjiang Uyghur. It was because the unit¡¯s oil storage exploded; killing and injuring about 20 soldiers¡ªdestroying the tanks and armored vehicles around it.


    It was a sessful operation without firing a single shot.


    Usually, there was no case where oil storage facilities in military units with strict military discipline were exploded due to careless handling. The Chinese military was doubtful that the military was responsible for the incident, but it could not announce that the independence fighters were responsible for it since it would like admitting the military¡¯s weak defensework.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t find the camp?¡±


    ¡°I guess our intelligence agents should be sent to find it.¡±


    ¡°I told you that our intelligence service would look into it first. We need to nt intelligence agents in the Xinjiang Uyghur region as local informants.¡±


    Park Jong-il and Cho Chul-hwan were eager to send intelligence agents, but it could be dangerous for the security checks of the Chinese guards who were very tight that the agents could be sacrificed.


    ¡°Do you have any agent who can speak the Northwest dialect or the Uyghurnguage?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Do you think that our intelligence service has been cking off? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve already prepared to ept Uyghurs.¡±


    It seemed that Jong-il had recruited and trained some Uyghurs who had immigrated to Kazakhstan already. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible for outsiders to work in Xinjiang Uyghur, with tight security in the region.


    The fact that the Chinese government hadunched a biometric recognition program was intended to prevent outsiders from engaging in activities. Even young backpackers who toured around the world had given up traveling to Xinjiang Uyghur because of it.


    ¡°Chul-hwan, tell the royal guards toe back. Things will getplicated if one of them gets hurt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to do that. I did satellitemunications yesterday, and they said that even Uyghurs can¡¯t go to the streets freely now because of the Chinese security officers are around every corner of the streets.¡±


    Once people were caught, they would be dragged to the camp and would never be seen again. So, people were afraid to go outside. Currently, the number of Chinese living in Urumqi which was the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur was more than the number of Uyghurs living in the city. So, many Uyghurs left the city one by one and lived near the border area near Kazakhstan.


    ¡°If we think of the Uyghurs as our brothers, shouldn¡¯t we have to resolve it with China?¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask the Chinese government to move Uyghurs to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°That means we¡¯re giving up the Xinjiang Uyghur region. Who¡¯s going to benefit from that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a greatnd. Just let the Chinese take it all.¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded by Jong-il¡¯s absurd suggestion.


    ¡°You are crazy. If the Uyghurs heard it, they¡¯de up to you with a knife.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government is trying to get rid of the Uyghurs from the region. If we just wait, there won¡¯t be any Uyghur left in there anyway.¡±


    ¡°The Uyghurs will never leave their hometown so easily. They¡¯ll rather prepare to die and fight for independence. Think of the militancy and pride of the Central Asian peoples. It¡¯s so obvious. They¡¯re all going to fight against China even if they die.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this in frustration. They might all be dead at this rate. We can save them now ande up with a measure in the future. It¡¯ll be a terrible waste if they fight against China now. Youngho, we need to take an action now. What¡¯s the point of talking like this if we don¡¯t do something about it? If our royalmandos can¡¯t find the location of the camp, would our agents be able to find it? The Chinese government is determined to get rid of Uyghur independence fighters. I want to go there myself, but I¡¯m not in a position to do that anymore. If it was like a year ago, we could, but I¡¯m now the head of the intelligence service of Kazakhstan. And you, you are like a fatherly figure of the whole nation of 25 million people.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s words were true.


    Although Youngho wanted to run to the scene himself, the future of Kazakhstan and even Central Asia could depend on his decisions.


    People of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also believed in Youngho when they decided to serve the Kazakh royal family. It would be a great sin against those people if he was dead.


    It was important to help Uyghurs, but he had to think of priorities first. However, he could not just sit there knowing the lives of Uyghurs were in danger.


    He must find the camp in Xinjiang Uyghur and let the world know what was truly going on there.


    ***


    The world was shocked when Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s reality began to be known in detail.


    Countries around the world sted China for what they called an ¡®anti-humanitarian act¡¯ that could not happen in the 21st century.


    The U.S. also showed a great interest in the massive terrorist attacks and military raids in the region. So, it dispatched arge number of CIA agents to Kazakhstan to check the situation. It was because the CIA knew that Kazakhstan was helping Uyghurs.


    It seemed that Youngho needed to visit the U.S. too.


    Michael had asked him to visit the U.S. several times to discuss the situation in Central Asia. Moreover, as the U.S. Air Force was stationed in Kyrgyzstan, the U.S. had no choice but to talk to Youngho about the Kyrgyz Air Force base. Since the U.S. had not withdrawn from Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan¡¯s U.S. Air Force base was necessary for the sake of the national interest.


    Although the international influence of the U.S. was weakened now, the U.S. still remained as the strongest country in the world and its economic scale was immense as well as its consumer market. It was beneficial for Kazakhstan to maintain a strong rtionship with the U.S. as long as possible.


    Considering the rtions with China and Russia, having the U.S. as an ally was a must. This was because while U.S. policies changed often ording to its national interest, Russia and its allies feared the U.S.


    ¡°Your Highness, no matter how informal this visit is, if not apanied by government officials, it would lower the dignity of the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s too much of a hassle?¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s an informal visit, the official in charge of diplomatic work must follow you. It¡¯s not appropriate for you to take care of the diplomatic business.¡±


    ¡°Fine. You can take care of that, Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little worried that there might be a problem because your visit is not prearranged.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. The Kyrgyz Air Force base is rted to the U.S. national interest. And Kazakhstan is the first line to deal directly with Russia and China. There is no reason to look down on us. Also, our rtionship with the United States is stronger than you think.¡±


    Youngho could not say that he used to be a U.S. CIA agent before, so he roughly equivocated. He continued,


    ¡°You can have that kind of confidence. We are the only country that can stop China¡¯s advance in the front line. From now on, there will be a lot of countries who will reach out to us. I¡¯m only telling you Mr. Prime Minister, but please know that the royal family¡¯s legacy is beyond imagination.¡±


    ¡°The mere mention of it gives me strength. I¡¯m so curious to ask how much property the royal family has, but I¡¯m going to hold it for today.¡±


    ¡°Yes, just be aware of it and be worry-free.¡±


    The royal money could be called a legacy.


    Youngho had secretly taken away the slush funds that the former president had kept, but since it would be used for Kazakhstan, he could say that he inherited it.


    Furthermore, it was estimated that at least 3,000 tons of gold were deposited in Almaty¡¯s mine, which was acquired by the royal family this time.


    Kasim just knew that only a major vein of gold had been found out in depth, but had no idea about the amount of reserves. These were all wrapped up as royal legacies now, and Youngho had informed Prime Minister Kasim of them.


    It was the first time that Kasim heard about royal funds through Youngho¡¯s mouth, although he was vaguely specting that the family¡¯s financial strength was great.


    ¡°Do you intend to use all of the royal funds in your time?¡±


    ¡°To put Kazakhstan in orbit, we have to put some royal funds into it. I think there¡¯s no reason to attract foreign investments when there¡¯s money.¡±


    ¡°The royal family is the power of Kazakhstan. Thates from authority and power, while money ys a part. If the money to support the royal family is gone, Kazakhstan¡¯s moving power will be lost. We must preserve the royal funds as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, the time we can change Kazakhstan is only a few years from now on. This is the most important timeline of our country, how can we hesitate at this moment?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t know yourpassion for Kazakhstan, but if you want a bright future for Kazakhstan, please consider a different option, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you. You can feel safe because we will never run out of royal funds.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you have the widow¡¯s cruse or something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your imagination.¡±

 Chapter 510 - Bargaining and Negotiation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 510: Bargaining and Negotiation (1)</h4>


    -The politicians in Washington D.C. were very interested in merging Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°We adopted the federal system. Is there any politician who thinks Kyrgyzstan was forced to be a federal state?¡±


    -Some have that view, but it is generally considered as the best option to keep China in check. It was a great decision.


    ¡°Chief, our Prime Minister is worried that I¡¯m going there without any prior pre-arrangement.¡±


    -What¡¯s the use of pre-coordination between us? There¡¯s a set agenda already.


    ¡°These days, there are rumors that the U.S. president is trying to sell weapons to allies, and the Prime Minister was afraid of that too.¡±


    -You¡¯re not even going to raise your eyebrow if I forced you to buy weapons. Our government officials are rather secretly concerned about your visit.


    When Youngho decided to fly to the U.S. for a short period of time even though he was quite busy, he had a purpose.


    Kazakhstan had already said to China that it would pay for the construction of One Belt One Road for the Kyrgyz and Kazakh sections, but the money would not just fall from the sky.


    And also, Kazakhstan was helping Xinjiang Uyghur which was keeping China in check, so if the U.S. did not try to support Kazakhstan in any form, it would be quite disappointing. Since this was also rted to the U.S. national interest, the U.S. government officials would have already tapped the calctor as well.


    ¡°I have a conscience, too. I wouldn¡¯t want anything for free since we¡¯ve received a lot from the U.S. too. However, the cost of arms purchases is too overwhelming for us because we spent a huge amount of money to stop China¡¯s advance.¡±


    -Man, I knew you¡¯d be like this. I was wondering how easy it was to make youe to the U.S., so I expected you¡¯de up with a bill. But you¡¯ll be shaking my position here.


    ¡°So why don¡¯t you just quit ande to Kazakhstan? You shoulde and look at the beautiful scenery of Kyrgyzstan. We¡¯re going to build a separate pce there, and I can build one that¡¯s dedicated to you, Chief.¡±


    This was a fabrication, but Youngho thought Michael could have one if he really decided toe.


    -Really? You¡¯re going to build my own private vi?


    ¡°Sure. You¡¯ll see a more beautiful view than the Alps every day.¡±


    -Oh! I was so excited that I made a slip of the tongue again. I¡¯ll have to hang up now before I keep making mistakes.


    ¡°Keep in mind that no matter how powerful the director of CIA is, he¡¯s talking to the Duke of Kazakhstan. It¡¯s a diplomatic discourtesy to hang up first.¡±


    -Oh, please! Okay, what else do you want?


    ¡°I just want to arrange things with you before I talk to the officials.¡±


    -You¡¯re telling me to coordinate in advance. Of course, what you want is a weapon, right?


    ¡°That¡¯s why I like you, Chief.¡±


    -We¡¯re nning to add more U.S. Air Force to the Kyrgyz airbase, so that¡¯s enough war deterrents. If you ask for more, both of us will be in trouble.


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. I¡¯d like to take over all the retired Air Force nes from the United States. Is that a difficult request?¡±


    ¡°Phew, alright. I¡¯ll try my best to arrange that, but there will be no more favor, alright?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Do you know what was in the second daughter¡¯s small safe?¡±


    ¡°Is there any jewelry?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised. It¡¯s a 30-year U.S. government bond. That¡¯s as much as 11 billion dors.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, she¡¯s stolen a lot. That¡¯s why she was on the Forbes list of rich people.¡±


    ¡°Now, did you collect most of President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. He was in power for almost 30 years. You think that¡¯s all he had?¡±


    When they robbed the second daughter of President Nazarbayev, Youngho brought her heavy safe despite Park Jong-il¡¯s nagging. It had been stored at the Serbian ranch until now since they could not open it before.


    Youngho had brought all of the valuables stored in Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel and the Serbian ranch to the Arirang royal territory this time. Moving all the gold bars and valuables to the royal territory meant that Kazakhstan was not in a stable situation now. Nevertheless, the gold bars produced in Baku¡¯s Serbian ranch from now on would be stored there in case of a rainy day. It was to leave Baku as another secret weapon and thest bastion of the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°A fifth of this money would give Kyrgyzstan and Almaty an all-over makeover.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we also invest in the national defense? I¡¯m so nervous that we haven¡¯t secured themand of the air yet.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to buy that with money?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯d give you a fighter for free?¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m thinking of haggling over dmissioning nes in the U.S.¡±


    ¡°Even old nes will be too expensive.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ll have to try to negotiate it. I¡¯m sure the U.S. is already prepared for that.¡±


    ¡°Can we deal with China¡¯s newest aircraft with old nes?¡±


    ¡°A U.S. old ne can take down a few newest Chinese and Russian airnes.¡±


    The Swedish Gripen fighter jets that would be produced in Kazakhstan could surpass Russian or Chinese fighter jets. It would not be an overwhelming advantage to bring a generation-old model from the U.S., but it could also overpower if only pilots werepetent.


    ¡°How are you going to negotiate that?¡±


    ¡°There are tons of reasons. There is no country that keeps China in check like us. The U.S. officials would be apuding inside.¡±


    The U.S. CIA had also been funding Uyghur independent organizations, but it had not been so active as to send in some directmandos. This was because it could turn into an international issue if caught because Xinjiang Uyghur was not an independent state but an autonomous province in China.


    In terms of interference in domestic affairs, China also had the power to shake the U.S. as much as possible with U.S. government bonds.


    China¡¯s foreign exchange reserves were 3.3 trillion dors, of which U.S. government bonds alone were worth 1.2 trillion dors. And if China sold it to the market, the interest rate on government bonds would bottom out, and the dor value would go down as well.


    China would also lose money by selling its national bond, but the U.S. economy would also be covered by a thick dark cloud. So, powerful countries were keeping each other in check with their economic rtionships. However, Kazakhstan could do anything since it was free from such things now.


    ***


    A Kazakh royal ne gentlynded on the runway at Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C.


    Hudson, the ne captain, announced the arrival inside the ne.


    -Captain Hudson, here. It¡¯s been a long flight. We have just arrived in the United States.


    Wee to America, Your Majesty. Enjoy your trip.


    ¡°He must still have bad feelings for me. He doesn¡¯t even mention me but you.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... So, why did you force him to get married? You pushed it with a ridiculous reason.¡±


    ¡°But they¡¯re living a happy life than anyone else now. Isn¡¯t it proof that he invited his families from the U.S. to live in the royal territory?¡±


    Youngho had put on a show to make pilots and mechanics dispatched from Cessna in the U.S. before. Hudson was one of them who had to marry a Serbian girl hurriedly because of a strict marriage tradition that Youngho pushed on him. He was now doing well in the state of Arirang. He was now hired by the royal family.


    -You can now unfasten your seat belt. Hope you have a good trip, Your Highness.


    ¡°It¡¯s better not to be mentioned. He¡¯s discriminating, or why would he say my name a while after?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Stopining now and get off. People are waiting outside.¡±


    Michael, the director of CIA, and several politicians whose faces were known were waiting for Youngho. Even though it was an unofficial visit, not a state visit, the U.S. was paying respect to Youngho and Fatima. There was a red carpet under the trap.


    The U.S. State Department¡¯s assistant secretary for European affairs came out as an official protocol officer, weing Fatima and Youngho.


    ¡°I sincerely wee your Majesty and Highness¡¯ visit to the United States.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an official visit but thank you for being so considerate. Please say thank you to the president, too.¡±


    ¡°There were instructions for the highest courtesy, even though it¡¯s not an official visit. Let me introduce other politicians who came out to see you first.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s party was honored as if they were on an official visit.


    The fact that the assistant secretary for European affairs came out in person was proof that the U.S. government cared for the Kazakh royal family. The assistant secretary was an orthodox official in the best position for a working-level official. Since he was an expert in European affairs, Youngho thought that he should keep his eye on him for the future.


    After greeting Michael and other politicians, Youngho¡¯s group headed to the guest house at the State Department¡¯s Kazakhstan bureau.


    In the case of a state visit or an official visit, ir House¡ªwhich was located opposite the White House, was offered as lodging usually for only two nights. The reason for allowing only two nights was that there were so many foreign heads of state visiting the U.S.


    Youngho and Fatima were guided to ir House, even though they were unofficial guests. In addition, they would be staying for five nights instead of the two-night rule.


    Michael, who followed them from the airport to the guest house¡ªhad been quiet the whole time, but as soon as they entered a private room, he quickly started bragging about arranging ir House.


    ¡°Do you know how much I¡¯ve worked to get ir House? You and the Queen are treated very well here.¡±


    ¡°I guess Kazakhstan is very precious to the United States.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯ve made it that way. If it wasn¡¯t for me, who¡¯d be there to promote you like this?¡±


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t there, the U.S. government wouldn¡¯t be able to have Kazakhstan as an ally. But I guess you don¡¯t have much to offer since you¡¯re bragging about the guesthouse.¡±


    ¡°You are fast-witted. Now that we have shown such high courtesy, it is our government¡¯s position to reach apromise on a reasonable basis. The economy isn¡¯t very good these days.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it natural to provide the Kazakh royal family with a guesthouse? So you¡¯re telling me that we should buy weapons from the U.S.?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not saying that, but it¡¯s hard to persuade politicians, so you have to make some concessions.¡±


    ¡°Kazakh¡¯s armament is good for U.S. interests, and if anyone is against it, he¡¯s taken over by the enemy¡¯s lobbyist.¡±


    ¡°In the United States, contact with politicians¡¯ lobbyists is legal. Don¡¯t look at it in a weird way.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t take it any other way, regardless of theplicated rtionship. The politician is our enemy. Who the hell is he?¡±

 Chapter 511 - Bargaining and Negotiation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 511: Bargaining and Negotiation (2)</h4>


    The Kazakh royal family¡¯s visit to Washington was kept secret to the media.


    The U.S. and Kazakhstan did not have to make it known that they had a secret rtionship because it was a sensitive time.


    Youngho felt sofortable without the reporters following him around. He could easily attend individual invitations from influential politicians who controlled U.S. policies, and no matter where he went or whoever he met, there was no political burden.


    Since he was not exposed to the media, he did not have to attend formal events either. Visiting National Cemetery and attending official dinners were usually routines for state visitors, but all of which were ignored. Instead, the consultations on practical affairs were arranged continuously, so he was constantly busy. He did not even have time to look around the capital city with Fatima, so he advised Fatima to look around the country separately. Since it was their first time to visit the U.S., Fatima and children excitedly toured around the city apanied by an entourage.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go with them, Suh Min-seok?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve already taken a backpacking tour of the United States before. And where would I go when I have to apany you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be alright, you can move with our government officials. I¡¯m worried that they¡¯re not good at English.¡±


    Most of the government officials of Kazakhstan who followed Youngho this time did not speak English. In Kazakhstan, only Russian was required as a secondnguage, not English.


    However, now officials were forced to learn English because Kazakhstan was now making frequent contacts with Western countries.


    ¡°But I¡¯m d at least English has been apulsory education in the royal territory.¡±


    The schools in the Arirang royal territory had been teaching both English and Russian to students as basguages on top of each people¡¯s ethnguages. Since the people of the Arirang state lived in Kazakhstan as immigrants, young generations would forget their ownnguage, so learning their ethnguage was a way to respect their ethnic identity and culture.


    In the administration office, various documents were set aside for eachnguage. It was intended to have a sense of pride in theirnguages. One day, they would visit their mothend, but if they did not speak their ownnguage, it would be funny.


    Because of this, there had been many happenings among children. The children of the state mixed differentnguages tomunicate, which made outside visitors perplexed often.


    There was a time when Youngho could not understand Leon when he was talking since he used differentnguages that he learned from friends in Kindergarten.


    Although it was a bit confusing, it was a good thing for the future of the children that they could speak a variety ofnguages.


    So, from this year, every school in Kazakhstan would get assigned English teachers and English would be a required course for any graduate.


    ¡°I felt it while I was doing an interpreter¡¯s job at the meeting yesterday, but our officials were also very good at negotiating. They engaged in intense negotiation, and they didn¡¯t give an inch to U.S. officials.¡±


    ¡°I guess they¡¯re following my direction well. I told them not to give in because the U.S. absolutely needs us.¡±


    ¡°The retiring fighters of the U.S. Air Force are still more powerful than Russian fighters if they¡¯re rearranged. Isn¡¯t it a little too much to ask for them for free?¡±


    ¡°They are already old fighters that the U.S. is trying to rece. It¡¯s nasty of the U.S. if it tries to charge its ally for such fighters. So, our officials said that they¡¯re not buying them, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The U.S. officials were also frustrated by the stubbornness. They then offered lower level fighter jets that couldn¡¯t be sold overseas, so our officials got up and left the table immediately.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re in a position tough. I¡¯m afraid this will break the deal.¡±


    ¡°Who looked more urgent at the meeting yesterday, Suh Min-seok?¡±


    ¡°I thought it was American officials.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. Even though it¡¯s just an assembly nt, we can produce Gripen fighter jets in our royal territory. We can invest more to make more Gripen jets, so what¡¯s all the worry?¡±


    The F-22 Raptor, thetest U.S. fighter jet was known to be the world¡¯s best.


    It also had stealth functions and precision exploration capabilities, so it was not a waste to use such a title. However, its price was so high that the U.S. only had deployed187 jets in total. Instead, it was focusing on F-35 production, which was considered as a model below one step.


    Youngho expressed his intention to buy the F-22 Raptor through Michael, but the U.S. government¡¯s stance on it was so stern that the deal was yet to be reached. So, he had educated the Kazakh government officials in advance to put pressure on the U.S. officials.


    He had decided to buy it unconditionally because he waspelled to do so when he heard that 12 stealth fighters shot down 108 enemy nes in an air warfare simtion. Fully armed stealth jet would cost nearly 200 million dors per unit, but having about 20 in Kazakhstan would keep Russia and China at bay. If the officials could not convince the U.S. government, he nned to pressure the U.S. by any other means.


    ***


    ¡°If we reinforce our forces at Kyrgyz Air Force base, the F-22 Raptor battalion should be deployed. Or you can sell it to me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re determined to drain me here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you because you¡¯re the director of the U.S.¡±


    ¡°The politicians think that the Middle Eastern situation is more important that Kazakhstan¡¯s situation. They think it¡¯s in the interest of the United States to deploy thetest jets over there.¡±


    ¡°Are you being lobbied, too?¡±


    ¡°Why are you saying that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure so, but the U.S. politicians are caught up with the Middle East that¡¯s not so important at the moment and ignoring Central Asia. It doesn¡¯t make sense. I¡¯m sure someone¡¯s trying to lobby the politicians.¡±


    ¡°To the U.S., the Middle East is a ce that can¡¯t bepromised.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the lobbyists are shaking American policy. Are you sure there is no lobbyist who wants to keep the Middle East safe?¡±


    ¡°Huh! Be careful with your words.¡±


    ¡°The fact that American politicians are being swayed by Jewish lobbyists is not an old idea. Why are you overreacting? It is already an open secret that Middle East policy is dominated by the U.S. politicians who are lobbied.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of that, it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯ll be easy to sell stealth fighters.¡±


    ¡°All right. The U.S. government will be in trouble if I keep insisting. Instead, you¡¯ll have to give me the retired airnes for free.¡±


    ¡°I told you we¡¯ll reinforce the strength of the U.S. Air Force in Kyrgyzstan. That¡¯s enough to deter war.¡±


    ¡°If the U.S. is going to deploy a few fighters to save its face, it¡¯s better not to have them all. That way, we¡¯re not going to rely on the U.S. military power.¡±


    ¡°How much does Kazakhstan need to be armed? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to spend the defense budget on economic development?¡±


    ¡°What if the U.S. decides to pull out all of a sudden? We¡¯re not ready for anything.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is as important as the Middle East. It¡¯s never going to happen. We can sell the F-35 model as many as possible instead of F-22.¡±


    ¡°If we decided to buy F-35, would you give us retired fighters for free?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to make that happen somehow.¡±


    Having F-35 in Kazakhstan would secure the strongest air force in Eurasia. Youngho decided to step back since Michael was in trouble and it was something that Michael could not decide.


    ¡°Thank you. And I¡¯ll empty the guesthouse. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any more reason to put you in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Oh, this guy really came with a n.¡±


    Although it had not been five days yet, Youngho moved out of ir House to a nearby hotel. It was a kind of demonstration.


    He was upset that the U.S. was reluctant to promise any retired fighters even if he bought thetest jets. Since fighter jets were not produced only in the U.S., but they could be produced in the royal territory too, Youngho had pride.


    Crucially, he felt bad because the U.S. government treated Youngho as if he was a great visitor, but the U.S. was still trying to sell stuff to Kazakhstan and make profits from it even though Kazakhstan was a country that directly dealt with China and Russia.


    As the Kazakh royal family emptied ir House, the U.S. government officials were flustered since there was no such case before.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you leave the guesthouse suddenly, you will have problems with your security or protocol.¡±


    ¡°I moved to the hotel for the U.S. government¡¯s sake. Wouldn¡¯t it be a problem if a less important visitor broke the rules and stayed for five days in the guesthouse?¡±


    ¡°That is not true at all, Your Highness.¡±


    The face of the Assistant Secretary for European Affairs turned pale. It was the first time that a state guest left the guesthouse without prior consultation.


    ¡°If there was any inconvenience, please tell me. We¡¯ll take immediate action.¡±


    ¡°What inconvenience would be there for a private visit? I¡¯m afraid our busy assistant secretary will miss out on important issues. You can send a director or chief of staff instead ofing to us directly.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is the head country of Central Asia. No matter how busy I am, I should definitelye to see the Kazakh royal family myself.¡±


    ¡°I came to America for a family trip. When the Queen gets back from New York, I¡¯ll leave to Kazakhstan right away, so don¡¯t worry about us too much.¡±


    It was an official visit, but the Kazakh royal family¡¯s visit to the U.S. was also very important to the U.S. But Youngho was saying that he would leave with any conclusion yet.


    Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs felt that something was terribly going wrong.


    Although Kazakhstan was in Central Asia, it was ssified to be part of Europe as well, and it was in a very important geopolitical position as well. It was more important than Britain for the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs.


    He thought that if he let the Duke go like this, the U.S. could have a strained rtionship with Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Highness, did anything happen? If there¡¯s anything I can help, please feel free to tell me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything you can do to help me.¡±


    ¡°I know the importance of Kazakhstan better than anyone else... and it is also rted to U.S. national interests.¡±

 Chapter 512 - Bargaining and Negotiation (3)

    <h4>Chapter 512: Bargaining and Negotiation (3)</h4>


    That day, Youngho talked with Richard, the U.S. assistant secretary of the Department of State¡¯s Bureau of European Affairs.


    Richard knew better than anyone else about the importance of Kazakhstan. He was a man who had worked in the State Department since he was young and had only been in charge of the European region, so he was as keen on Kazakhstan as Youngho.


    The assistant secretary of state was a position of power to influence other countries¡¯ affairs.


    Thankfully, he was especially fond of Youngho. It was because Richard¡¯s ancestor was an immigrant from Georgia. He knew well about Youngho¡¯s ownership of the Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel in Georgia, and his recent joint venture with the Georgian government on a double-track railway project.


    The U.S. was a country that was made by immigrants. The descendants of immigrants would inevitably have their parents¡¯ yearning for their home country or affection for their fellow countrymen. When immigrant families got into politics, it was only natural that they wanted to help their countrymen. It was no different from the Jews living in the United States helping Israel.


    This meant that it could affect U.S. policy. That was what Edwards from the U.S. Intelligence Service did. Edward, born in an Armenian immigrant family, was a member of the U.S. intelligence agency, but he frequently startled Youngho by taking care of Armenia. His mind was naturally moved toward Armenia though helping his ancestors¡¯ homnd was not beneficial to him.


    ¡°Political and government officials are well aware that if Central Asia copses, the Caucasus will be in danger. But we can¡¯t help to let Central Asia fall behind in priorities because of our policy toward the Middle East. The lobby toward the Middle East is so strong that it is controlling the U.S. political body.¡±


    ¡°I guess the politicians have no choice but toply since they would have to think about the next election.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the limit of politicians. The United States seems to be led by politicians, but without the support of bureaucracy, it is powerless. It¡¯s possible that policy consistency is maintained even when the president changes, because the bureaucracy is unshakable.¡±


    The U.S. was a country where any attempt to change the currentw or other treaties with foreign countries in order to carry out one¡¯s campaign pledge was blocked by Congress and bureaucrats. The president had the right to appoint political officials, but he could not dare to touch orthodox bureaucrats recklessly.


    ¡°China is eager to make inroads into Europe, but if the U.S. shows interest only in the Middle East, what would European countries think of the U.S. government? Right now, Central Asian countries have doubts about U.S. policy too.¡±


    ¡°What you are concerned about is already being discussed in the bureaucracy. It¡¯s just being held back by the new government. So I¡¯d like to offer you a suggestion.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got my attention.¡±


    ¡°I know you might havee here to make the most out of this visit, but what if I say you could aim for a bigger gain in the future? All I¡¯m asking is some time. Our bureaucrats need some time to persuade the appointed ministers and vice ministers from political circles.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°They are the kind of people who read and practice the president¡¯s intentions. For now, the president¡¯s election pledges wille first, but the president will slowly see the reality when he faced organized opposition from the bureaucracy. He will see that supporting Central Asia will be more beneficial for the U.S.¡±


    It seemed that Richard wanted to tame the ministers and vice ministers.


    Whether it was possible or not would be revealed in time, but Youngho had a hope in him who was an official in charge of European affairs and who knew the importance of Central Asia.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve been helped by the U.S. too. It won¡¯t be very respectful of me if I say that I can¡¯t wait that much for an ally. We all have our own circumstances after all.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already talked to the intelligence chief, but would you please help us buy 30 F-35 fighter jets and deliver them to Kazakhstan? And I hope we can buy stealth jets too someday. That is if the U.S. knows that Kazakhstan is in the frontline to deal with China and Russia.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not an issue I can promise you, but I¡¯ll do my best to convince our government. And the rest of the matter you asked will have a satisfactory result by the end of the year.¡±


    In fact, even if Kazakhstan had only thetest F-35 fighter jets, the country would overwhelm China¡¯s fighter jets. Of course, China¡¯s fighter nes had also made great strides, but they still fell short of the U.S. fighters¡¯ performance. If F-22 Raptors were added, the sky would be dominated by Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Would that include the air defenses and attack missiles?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible right away. But didn¡¯t you already decide to take Sweden¡¯s air defense system?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is a big country. Sweden¡¯s air defense system is only enough to cover Russia. The air defensework in the eastern region where we have a border with China will be perfect for U.S. products.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I see. That way, you¡¯ll be covered from top to bottom.¡±


    The U.S. air defense system was also densely packed in the Far East Asia region.


    If it was installed in Kazakhstan, it would make China¡¯s gut nervous.


    ¡°I heard you helped the Georgians living in South Ossetia.¡±


    ¡°I only supplied some daily necessities than helping them. Anyone would¡¯ve done that once they saw how they lived.¡±


    ¡°People of Georgian descent in the U.S. are very grateful for your consideration.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s weird that it¡¯s been a long time, and it¡¯s been mentioned all over again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since then. I feel weird being thanked by you.¡±


    ¡°There are quite a few people who have left South Ossetia and immigrated to the United States. It¡¯s been spread among them. They said that the hotel manager called Katya supplied the daily necessities to a Georgian vige. She¡¯s your person too, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my business partner. Well, when many people were suffering from the South Ossetia crisis, I took a business trip there, and that was the beginning of my businesses there.¡±


    As Youngho talked about the situation in South Ossetia, Richard looked serious. Then, he pulled the chair slightly closer to Youngho.


    ¡°Is there no way to bring South Ossetia back into Georgia?¡±


    ¡°If Russia fell, that would be possible.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it take at least a century to see Russia go down?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen tomorrow. If there¡¯s a sudden change, Russia should give up its own republics.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying because I am the assistant secretary for European affairs, but in fact, Russia is getting weaker. Russia is selling high-tech weapon manufacturing techniques to China, which means its economic situation is not great.¡±


    ¡°But it is still the only country that can stand up to the U.S.¡±


    ¡°If Georgia were to reim South Ossetia, would you lend a hand?¡±


    ¡°Georgia already has an alliance with the U.S. and even the U.S. military resides in the country. Would it need our help?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. can¡¯t interfere with Georgia¡¯s domestic affairs.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is on the same page. We also see Russia as a potential enemy, but would Russia stand still if it knows that we¡¯re involved?¡±


    ¡°Assuming that there will be a sudden change in Russia¡¯s circumstance, it will be more than enough if you could give side support to Georgia.¡±


    ¡°We want to help Georgia, but we have to decide first if we¡¯re willing to take the risk.¡±


    Even though Richard was a U.S. State Department official, he was asking for Youngho, who was the Duke of Kazakh royal family to help Georgia regain South Ossetia, forgetting his position.


    This was exactly what Edward did for his mothend. Although he did not forget his identity as a CIA agent, his mind was skewed toward Armenia in many ways.


    It was an ironic situation for Youngho that the U.S. assistant secretary of state for European affairs was making such a proposal to him.


    ¡°Your Highness, the reason I¡¯m asking you is because Kazakhstan is the host country of Caucasus and Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where you see the connection between the recovery of South Ossetia and Kazakhstan¡¯s status.¡±


    ¡°Most of the Soviet republics gained independence from the copse of the Soviet Union, and now they are a serious state power, but some are still campaigning for secession. Western countries have been unable to reach out to help because of Russia¡¯s existence.¡±


    ¡°How can we do the job when the U.S. is reluctant to do it?¡±


    ¡°You took Kyrgyzstan as a federal state without thinking about Russia¡¯s stance, didn¡¯t you? I gained some hope when I saw that.¡±


    ¡°Kyrgyzstan is definitely an independent country and does not border Russia. Also, it was voluntarily decided by the Kyrgyz people. However, South Ossetia was incorporated into Russia voluntarily, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°There was no reason for South Ossetia to do that since it¡¯s blocked by mountain ranges, and it would be more inconvenient for the people if it was incorporated to Russia. This was only pushed by Russia in order to make it an outpost to subjugate Georgia.¡±


    It was Russia¡¯s southward policy that separated South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia, but now it had lost momentum due to economic sanctions caused by the Ukraine crisis.


    Georgia would one day reim its lostnd. There was no reason for Youngho to be involved in that now. There would be no gain for Kazakhstan except for honor. Youngho was going to refuse it, but Richard made an unexpected offer.


    ¡°It sounds like I¡¯m bargaining, but if Your Highness is willing to help Georgia, I¡¯ll do my best to get what you want.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you thought of a case where Kazakhstan can¡¯t help Georgia because of circumstances even if it wanted to? Then your promise to help me will not be effective?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it doesn¡¯t matter. Regardless of your help to Georgia, it is my duty to help the rtion of the U.S. and other countries.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. But I wonder why you¡¯re asking me that.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve decided that you¡¯re not a political person. There was also a rumor that you were a humanist.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only learned today that I¡¯m a humanist. Well, then I¡¯ll help Georgia as far as I can. But if you push it too hard, our rtionship will get back to square one.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s a difficult task in reality. But I¡¯ll be content knowing that Georgia has a helper.¡±

 Chapter 513 - Establishment of Refugee Camp (1)

    <h4>Chapter 513: Establishment of Refugee Camp (1)</h4>


    ¡°You¡¯ve shaken up the Department of State. The assistant secretary of state for European affairs must¡¯ve been extremely surprised if he had to spend hours convincing you.¡±


    ¡°What is there to convince? We just yed chess together for a while, Chief.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t have ears?¡±


    ¡°I practiced the words, ¡®leave when people still p for you.¡¯ ording to the regtions, we can stay at the guesthouse for two days. If we stayed there for three days, we¡¯ve stayed there more than enough. We left on our own so that the house could be used by VIPs from other countries.¡±


    ¡°The Duke of the Kazakh royal family cares too much for America. How thoughtful.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. It¡¯s where you are.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you¡¯re just so good at lying.¡±


    ¡°I have to leave the U.S. soon, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going back empty-handed.¡±


    ¡°Why empty hands? You¡¯re taking a lot from us.¡±


    ¡°If I was going to pay for it, I didn¡¯t even have toe here.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that because you¡¯re paying a full price? Of course, not. Lockheed does not cut prices for our government either. But it¡¯s weird that thepany decided to give discounts for Kazakhstan only. How on earth did you make that happen?¡±


    ¡°Just remember that there are a lot of people helping me in the U.S. besides you, Chief.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I don¡¯t have anything to worry about anymore.¡±


    Michael said so, but his face was very bright. It was because Youngho¡¯s visit to the U.S. saved his face in the U.S. government. And Youngho was also lighthearted because he achieved his purpose roughly.


    ¡°But by the way, the Uyghur situation has gotten worse. I think you should be prepared...¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about therge-scale refugee situation?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We don¡¯t know how many tens of thousands of people may escape Xinjiang Uyghur, but you should be prepared tightly. We¡¯ll prepare and send relief goods in advance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we only have to ept Uyghurs escaping but cannot pressure China with this.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help it because it¡¯s possible to get med to involve in domestic affairs. Don¡¯t you dare move for a while, either.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we impose sanctions on the UN level?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be ignorant of Kazakhstan¡¯s position in this, but don¡¯t take a reckless action. If Kazakhstan started a war with China, allies of Kazakhstan will be dragged into that too.¡±


    ¡°I want to pressure China even if I have to do so.¡±


    The purpose of Youngho¡¯s visit to the U.S. had been achieved to a certain extent, and so Youngho had no more reasons to stay any longer. However, U.S. lukewarm attitude toward the Uyghur crisis was disturbing, but he could not ask the U.S. to raise a single voice with Kazakhstan against China. The U.S. was also in no position to act recklessly because of its rtions to China.


    It had been shing with China with the Far East Asian issues, so it was overlooking the Uyghur problem on purpose.


    Through this experience, Youngho learned that alliance was no use if there was no value or power to take advantage in the rtionship. In that case, Kazakhstan was a blessed ce since it had a geopolitical importance that everyone coveted.


    He also learned that bravado in the internationalmunity could be a great weapon sometimes. Because the Kazakh royal family was thought to have great wealth, it was easy to have to deal with Lockheed, which was a U.S. fighter jetpany. Because of Youngho¡¯s title and wealth, thepany offered a small discount as well as buying jets on credit.


    The U.S. government and politicians also yed a big role in this, but Kazakhstan¡¯s underground resources were also tempting to Lockheed.


    Crucially, because Youngho said that he would pay with U.S. government bonds, Lockheed did not say a word about it. It was more than 3 billion dors for 30 jets that Youngho ordered and paying it with the U.S. government bonds meant that the royal family had enormous wealth.


    ***


    Youngho, after hurriedly returning to Kazakhstan, had toe up with ns to receive Uyghur refugees as a priority.


    Due to the Uyghur crisis, refugees would inevitably crowd into Kazakhstan one day, so there was a need for measures for it in advance.


    ¡°Michael said that if the Uyghur situation is prolonged, there will berge-scale refugee immigration. I think we should prepare a camp in advance.¡±


    ¡°Is there a possibility that the U.S. had done a behind-the-scenes deal with China? How does he know it so well about what¡¯s going to happen in the future when our intelligence agents haven¡¯t even noticed it?¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, you¡¯re a very suspicious person, too. The U.S. has experience in Syria and Iraq. Isn¡¯t it natural for people to be refugees when there is a bloody rampage in the event of a war or a shooting?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t trust America any more. The U.S. always thinks of its national interests first. Maybe the U.S. is trying to overlook the Xinjiang Uyghur situation in exchange for resolving the situation in Far East Asia with China.¡±


    What Park Jong-il said was not totally absurd.


    This was because Xinjiang Uyghur was China¡¯s domestic affair, but Far East Asia was an affair of U.S. ally countries such as Korea and Japan. Since those countries had many economic exchanges, it could affect the U.S. economy as well.


    ¡°Where should be the site for the refugee camp?¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll set up about three ces on the northeastern border of Almaty, and we¡¯ll have one in Kyrgyzstan as well.¡±


    ¡°Will they alsoe to Kyrgyzstan through the rough path?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a road connected with China, I bet they wille through it¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s June now, and the weather is tolerable. People can live in tents, but we¡¯ll have to build camp buildings for the winter.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how many will being, so how should we know how many buildings are needed?¡±


    ¡°It could be from a few tens of thousands to a few hundreds of thousands. We need room for tens of thousands of people first.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too vague.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll continue to use the facilities once they¡¯re built. More people wille after hearing that we have camp buildings avable here. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Man, I want to go to Xinjiang Uyghur myself and make a mess, but it drives me crazy that I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you feeling too fidgety?¡±


    ¡°Heck yeah, I wish I was just a minor soldier. Then I¡¯ll be free to go there.¡±


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s a shame. By the way, if we use the secret route, we can evacuate more Uyghurs...¡±


    ¡°What if Chinese spies sneaked in among the refugees and found the road that had been hidden for hundreds of years? We can never open that route tomon Uyghurs except in special cases.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the Chinese will let the Uyghurs go easily.¡±


    The secret route had been allowing Youngho to feed and arm the Uyghurs independence fighters easily. The route also allowed intelligence agents and royalmandos to infiltrate in the region easily. The Chinese authorities still did not know where the weapons and supplies used by the Uyghur independence fighters wereing from.


    ¡°They¡¯ll overlook old and weak people escaping from the region, but I¡¯m not sure about young people.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m telling you. We should bring only the pre-selected ones to the secret route. It¡¯s almost impossible to do anti-government activities in Xinjiang Uyghur now.¡±


    ¡°What? They didn¡¯t put a surveince camera on the whole Uyghur area except for big cities. People can roam around freely in other regions, can¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Not really. They don¡¯t have surveince cameras, but the security check is insane. Everyone and every vehicle are being inspected. Our agents reported that they were inspected six times in 50 kilometers. Can you imagine?¡±


    Jong-il was saying that if it was difficult for Xinjiang Uyghur to be freed from China anyway, at least selected Uyghurs should be rescued.


    ***


    A n to build a camp to amodate the people wasid out roughly.


    The camp would have basic facilities for living, such as ces to sleep, cafeterias, and restrooms. Central Asia was rtively dry, so even in summer, it was cool in the shade, so air conditioning was not necessary.


    The problem was theing winter.


    Even if several heaters were installed inrge barracks, it would not stand the extreme cold, but it would be wasteful to use expensive heat-trapping materials for so many refugees.


    When Youngho was thinking about how to set the standard for the camp, the relief supplies that Michael promised arrived from the U.S.


    Michael sent himrge tents, nkets, mattresses, etc. for the refugee camp. It was an overwhelming amount of supplies that new storage buildings would be needed to store them in the refugee camps.


    ¡°What the hell was he thinking?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°This is the first installment. And they¡¯re going to send us four more times now, which would be the amount that we can use for the next few decades.¡±


    ¡°They must have expected quite a huge number of refugees in Kazakhstan. If we get all of the installments, we¡¯ll have supplies enough for at least a hundred thousand people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve estimated it to be several tens of thousands, but this is breathtaking.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have to build too many barracks since we have sturdy tents.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid people won¡¯t be able to endure the cold winter with a tent alone. Instead, we¡¯ll have to make decentmon restrooms and cafeterias. Individual cooking will be a problem. Most of the refugee camps suffer from hygiene problems.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you rece it with knockdown buildings? It¡¯s simple to install and to tear down.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about the sandwich panel?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s light and has a lot of heat resistance. It¡¯s also easy to build. We can build a single building in a week.¡±


    Eriksson said that a sandwich panel house could be used many times since it could be built fast and it was light and durable.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a production nt in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find it. Also, you can make one if you don¡¯t have it, right? It is not a high-level technology. If you build a few factories in different locations, you could supply cheap and light construction materials tomon people in the country.¡±


    In Korea, such cheap construction materials were only used for warehouse buildings and shabby factories, but those were hard to find in Kazakhstan. Since the building could be built in a short period of time, there was nothing to worry about even if many refugees were gathered as long as materials were secured.

 Chapter 514 - Establishment of Refugee Camp (2)

    <h4>Chapter 514: Establishment of Refugee Camp (2)</h4>


    ¡°What on earth is there in Xinjiang Uyghur that Chinese authorities are obsessive about it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fishy, right? Shall we go and see for ourselves?¡±


    Park Jong-il jumped up from his seat as he thought Youngho was going to Uyghur himself.


    ¡°You¡¯re still out of your mind. What can we do even if we go there?¡±


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s just that it hurts my pride to watch the situation passively like this.¡±


    The only news the two had been hearing about the regiontely was that the Uyghur independence forces were being pushed back. They did not expect the independence groups to beat the Chinese forces, but the continuous bad news was still frustrating.


    ¡°Shall we supply some more weapons?¡±


    ¡°How useful is it to supply arms to the poorly trained people?¡±


    ¡°I thought it would be better to supply something with a little bit more firepower.¡±


    ¡°Unless you¡¯re supplying cannons or tanks, it¡¯s not going to make a difference. So what can we do?¡±


    ¡°If we supply the Stinger Missiles, we can effectively prevent attacks by helicopters and airnes.¡±


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s send them first then.¡±


    A Stinger Missile was 1.5 meters long and weighed just over 15 kilograms. It was an anti-aircraft missile that could beunched on a human shoulder. It tracked heat from an engine and shot down an aircraft effectively within a radius of 11 kilometers, so it seemed that it could be effective in Xinjiang Uyghur where there were a lot of mountainous regions.


    It would not reverse the tide, but it could reduce the loss of life by countering heavy air attacks. It was the second-best option since Kazakhstan could not send Russian-made fighter jets to the region.


    ***


    Building a prefabricated amodation, dining rooms, and a bathroom with sandwich panels was not a difficult task.


    After pouring concrete for the base, walls and roof were put on top of the building. Things were being built at a fast pace because as long as the foundation of the floor, water supply, and drainage facilities were built in advance.


    There could be confusion if refugees were concentrated in a site, so the Kazakh government decided to increase the number of campsites than initially nned.


    The border with China was so long that people could enter from any point, so there was no need to build only a few campsites.


    ¡°Do we really need to fence the campsites, sir?¡±


    ¡°Wild animals show up in these regions, so we need a fence even if it¡¯s shallow. And since the camp is going to be operated autonomously, we will not have guards to protect it. We will ce only administrative personnel and medical teams there because I want to make sure that Uyghurs run it on their own.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. Giving those opportunities to the people who never had a chance to live autonomously in a controlled society will also help them adjust to living in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s a problem because we don¡¯t have enough medical staff. We can prescribe medicine to light patients, but what about serious patients? They would need to be transported to the city which is inconvenient and far away.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s build a short runway for airnes here. We will ce light nes in each campsite to transport emergency patients.¡±


    The role of Cessna¡¯s light aircraft in Kazakhstan was incredible.


    Most of the people of Kazakhstan lived inrge cities, and 70 percent of the country¡¯sndmass was where it was hard to find people, so there were no roads to connect to the ces where not many people lived.


    The construction of railroads and roads for the few residents was economically inefficient. The only means of transportation that could travel all-weather was a light aircraft. Therefore, these days, when there was an emergency situation in remote areas, light airnes were mobilized, which was a huge recent change in the transport change in Kazakhstan. It was because the six-seater and eight-seater Cessna airnes that Youngho had ordered previously were arriving in different locations one after another.


    Many people still drove cars to remote ces where there were no roads, but they were mostly merchants who bought dairy and leather supplies from nomads and supplied daily necessities to them.


    ¡°That should work fine. I¡¯ll start the short runway construction immediately. Do you have any other concern?¡±


    The Minister of Construction¡¯s voice was full of energy.


    Although people got sweaty just by standing outside in the mid-summer of Kazakhstan, he was directing all the construction works while staying at the site for more than a week.


    ¡°Minister, you should take it easy. The camp facility is looking great. I won¡¯t have to worry a bit.¡±


    ¡°Since Your Highness¡¯s passion for this project is great, how can I stay in my office? Besides, this is for Uyghurs who are like our brothers, so I should be doing my best to prepare for their migration.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very kind of you to do this. I¡¯m so happy that everyone is working hard in one spirit. When the camp ispleted, I¡¯ll treat all of the workers at the royal pce.¡±


    ¡°We should be more grateful to you for doing this for the Uyghurs. We are only doing what we¡¯re supposed to do.¡±


    ***


    After visiting the construction site of a refugee camp, Youngho visited a gold mine in Almaty, which belonged to the royal family.


    The gold mine in Almaty was being operated in full swing after Zeynep Security Service took over its security. The new residential buildings and schools under the mine site were under construction, so the townspeople looked very bright.


    It was because the area had been developing a lot since the royal family took over its ownership. The mineworkers and the townspeople already had a great pride that they were rted to the Kazakh royal family, but when the royal family built amenities, schools, roads, and railroads, they acted as if they were chosen people.


    Such pride was also shown in the mine manager¡¯s face.


    ¡°Your Highness, the vein is getting wider and wider. It looks like the mine is going to be surrounded by gold in no time.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? If that happens, I¡¯ll have to reward you and all the miners a gold medal.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s like I¡¯ve already received a gold medal. What else would I want when the working and living environment has already improved so much?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a reward for you since you had worked in such a poor environment before. In the future, everyone in the mining vige will live much better lives.¡±


    ¡°All of the mining vigers, including myself, are grateful for you and Her Majesty.¡±


    The money spent on improving the residential and work environment was nothingpared to the value of the gold that was produced at the mine. Youngho rather felt sorry because he felt that his reward was too little.


    ¡°If you need anything at the mining vige, you can frequently ask the royal staff or the head of the security team dispatched here. By the way, I¡¯d like to see the mine. How long do you think you¡¯ll keep me standing here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, jeez! Please forgive me for my discourtesy. I¡¯ll show you right away. If you go in there, it¡¯ll be so bright.¡±


    Youngho wondered how thick the vein of gold was that the mine manager was making such a fuss.


    Under the guidance of the mine manager, Youngho stepped inside the mine shaft. There were indeed numerous veins of gold all over the ce. Some were thin, and some were thick, and some united in one ce.


    ¡°Manager, have you ever seen anything like this before?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this kind before, but it¡¯s said that these were often found in the past.¡±


    ¡°How long ago was that?¡±


    ¡°The gold mines around here began to develop about 100 years ago. In the early stages, it was said that such veins used to show up at the entrance and then disappear after a while.¡±


    ¡°Then this could go away very soon, too.¡±


    Youngho was disappointed to hear that the vein of gold might soon disappear.


    However, there was nothing to be disappointed with. It was because the results of the scrutiny showed that the amount of gold deposits ranged from at least 3,000 tons to up to 6,000 tons.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s too early to be disappointed. It¡¯s because there was no case when the veins werebined together before. I heard that the gold veins in the past werepletely cut off, so miners did not try to mine them.¡±


    ¡°Well, did you recently start mining this shaft again?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we did. We dug just a little deeper from the surface in the beginning, and we found a thin vein of gold. We¡¯ve produced in small quantities so far.¡±


    ¡°Then you must have encouraged the miners to keep digging.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s great that we¡¯ve had a good result.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job. If it weren¡¯t for you, this mine would¡¯ve been given up, so you¡¯re saying thebined veins are a good sign.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not written in the text, but it was said among the miners that these kinds of veins have a huge deposit of gold. I don¡¯t mean to predict it wrong, but this could be the world¡¯s best gold deposit.¡±


    Though he was saying it cautiously, his facial expression was full of confidence.


    He seemed to have some reassurance. He hade up with a prediction ording to his experience and field expert¡¯s judgment.


    Youngho felt a certain thrill as he walked out.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m telling you; I think you should stop the public from entering this mining town. It¡¯s no good to be rumored that there¡¯s arge amount of gold buried in here.¡±


    ¡°Who dares to have an eye on the royal mine?¡±


    ¡°My personal opinion is that China might be interested in it. Haven¡¯t you scrapped the Chinese government¡¯s n to build arge logistics base near the mine before?¡±


    Youngho had scrapped One Belt One Road logistics base project near the mine because Chinese people had to buynd fornd spection purposes. However, the mine manager was saying that the logistics base might have been rted to the mines.


    Chinesepanies and individuals bought and soldnd around the nned logistics base among themselves, and the reason for doing so was to keep no one else in the area.

 Chapter 515 - China’s Ambition (1)

    <strong>Chapter 515: China¡¯s Ambition (1)</strong>


    The mine manager exined why Chinesepanies had owned too muchnd around the area that was nned to be developed as a logistics base.


    ¡°China conducted a survey of Kazakhstan and Central Asia to develop their One Belt One Road project, but in fact, Chinese authorities had done a resource survey.¡±


    ¡°Did Chinese engineerse to the mine too?¡±


    ¡°Our government didn¡¯t allow that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing.¡±


    ¡°If the logistics base hadn¡¯t been canceled, Chinesepanies would¡¯ve drilled into the mines from other areas.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°There is a high probability of getting gold if you drilled from anywhere in this area. I think China was after that.¡±


    It was unclear whether China aimed at it, but there was no possibility of it.


    If China¡¯s insistence on building the logistics base near Almaty was ultimately aimed at keeping an eye on the gold mine area, moving the logistics base to a different location was indeed a great decision.


    Youngho did not like the fact that Chinesepanies dominating the area, and he also could not allow the logistics base being built in the area because he wanted to preserve the outstanding natural scenery of Almaty. As a follow-up measure, he set the entire area as a protected nature zone. So thend bought by Chinesepanies became obsolete. This was because no development could be done within the conservation zone.


    ¡°Now that the Chinese have left, you don¡¯t have to keep the area so secure. If we restrict outsiders from entering the mining vige, it will iste the vige, and this will cause inconvenience for the residents.¡±


    ¡°Of course you¡¯re right Your Highness, but it¡¯s also a problem for anyone to get in and out of the royal estate. Why don¡¯t you set up a checkpoint at the entrance to keep outsiders away?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the residents be ufortable to have a checkpoint?¡±


    ¡°They can endure such inconvenience because their pride of living at a royal estate is great. They¡¯ll rather like to have their vige secure like that.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯d better consider setting up a checkpoint, then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a guess, but Chinesepanies would have been looking to take resources in different regions too. You should take a closer look around every ce where Chinesepanies are gathered.¡±


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t told me, I would¡¯ve had no idea. Thank you, manager.¡±


    Youngho had only thought that Chinese business people were spectingnd but had not thought that they were nning to steal resources even though he had witnessed it before at the Siberian logging site. It was great that the mine manager cautiously made a suggestion to him.


    The illegal activities of Chinesepanies should be prevented.


    Youngho had felt this many times, but China¡¯s desire for resources was great. Watching the illegal collection of diamonds at the Siberian forest was one thing. It was quite weird because most of the world¡¯s known mines were buried in China. Currently, the amount of Chinese reserves of major minerals such as coal, iron, copper, and aluminum all ranked first and second in the world. Especially, China was strengthening the monopoly of rare minerals such as rare earths¡ªwhich had recently gained global poprity, to influence other countries¡¯ economies.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, it could be seen as a crackdown on Chinesepanies.¡±


    ¡°But we have no choice but to visit each Chinesepany and take aplete enumeration survey. Any region that Chinesepanies entered, they had excessively purchasednd around it. As the mine manager pointed out, something stinks.¡±


    Kazakhstan was unable to centrally verify both thend owners and thend transactions because it had yet to beputerized.


    It can be only verified by looking at the relevant documents in each local administrative office. With the help of the South Korean government, administrativework work was beingputerized quickly, but it was still too far fromputerizing all the properties in the remote areas.


    ¡°But you should do it as secretive as possible. We need a lot of evidence to confront the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if we found illegal activities from the Chinesepanies?¡±


    ¡°We will decide to order the confiscation of property ording to the Chinese government¡¯s attitude toward this issue.¡±


    ¡°This will be a diplomatic issue, then.¡±


    ¡°This will be different from One Belt One Road business. Still, there won¡¯t be many reasons for China to pressure us.¡±


    ¡°In order to save Kazakhpanies, Chinesepanies must be driven out from here. Let¡¯s diversify our import lines at this opportunity even if we buy daily necessities or manufactured goods at a little higher price. The Greek shippingpany will soon be in our hands, so we can afford Indian or Southeast Asian products. Please investigate thoroughly and find out illegal activities.¡±


    ¡°We need to nurture basic necessities business in Kazakhstan so we can be self-sufficient.¡±


    ¡°We can take over the empty spots when Chinesepanies leave. We can adopt European technology and to have advance businesses. We are not in a position to directly help Uyghur¡¯s independence, but once the bubble in China¡¯s economy is lifted, China will be forced to take the path of falling. Then Uyghurs will be the first people to im independence among other minorities that belong to China.¡±


    Opportunities only came to people who waited patiently. Fighting against China with Kazakhstan¡¯s capabilities now was like hitting a rock with an egg.


    Right now, Kazakhstan needed to build up its strength by epting Uyghurs. When China faced an economic crisis, it would be the first opportunity to deal with China.


    ¡°I thought you were determined to take risks to solve the Uyghur crisis.¡±


    ¡°At first, I had such a reckless idea. But the U.S. government has stopped me, saying that China will never let go of Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s highly possible since we¡¯ve got Kyrgyzstan in our hands. China would feel pressured because of that.¡±


    ¡°China is very wary of us, although we are still weak, we¡¯re looking at China too softly.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because there¡¯s a lot of ethnic superiority involved. Kazakh people are proud to be the descendant of Genghis Khan.¡±


    ¡°With that kind of pride, we should be prepared to go beyond China. Kazakh people should change their minds. The old socialist practices must be reformed.¡±


    No matter how hard the royal family and the new government tried, Kazakhstan could not beat China unless the people¡¯s mindset changed. The whole atmosphere of society had changed a lot, but people still had a long way to go.


    It seemed that they needed a national enlightenment campaign.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think we need to introduce a socialistic style.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to use socialism for?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s force our people into enlightenment. We¡¯ll never get to civic awareness naturally. The only way to instill an advanced sense of citizenship is through a forced way. It¡¯s most effective to introduce a temporaryw and enforce it strongly.¡±


    ¡°If we do that in a democratic country, other countries will point fingers at us. They will say that the current regime is the same as the former one.¡±


    ¡°If only the royal family pretends that it doesn¡¯t know about it, I will push it with the government and take the me. We needed to freshen up the atmosphere because of the Xinjiang Uyghur crisis, so this is the perfect time to do it.¡±


    ¡°Should we really do that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also a good opportunity.¡±


    Kasim wanted to take advantage of the situation where the Uyghurs were fleeing from the persecution of China.


    The new administration had removed all kinds of regtions and gave more freedom to people, but the public free will had gone too far in some areas because of theck of civic awareness in Kazakhstan. Kasim believed that strong regtion and forced enlightenment would work better for people.


    ***


    Richard, the U.S. State Department¡¯s assistant secretary of state for Europe, visited the Arirang royal territory.


    It was a visit to pressure the Chinese government in a roundabout way, as the Xinjiang Uyghur situation was worsening.


    Since the U.S. government was not in a position to openly criticize the Chinese government, visiting a neighboring country was a quiet protest to China.


    It was the wheat harvest season, so Youngho was out in the field to direct the harvesting process. Richard was quite surprised to look around the farnd and industrial facilities of the Arirang state. It was because as far as remembered, West Kazakhstan was a semi-deserted zone that only produced dust.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a wilderness into rich soil.¡±


    ¡°The residents of Arirang worked hard for this.¡±


    ¡°Are you also giving a hand in the harvest?¡±


    ¡°All people including the royal family have been helping during the harvest season. This is the only chance for me to work with the residents, so I¡¯m grateful for this.¡±


    ¡°I think the future of Kazakhstan will be bright because it has a great leader.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for yourpliment.¡±


    ¡°A country where leaders take the initiative is bound to develop. As expected, I¡¯ve chosen a great person to ask a favor.¡±


    ¡°That makes me nervous.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t be burdened at all.¡±


    Youngho could feel a certain passion in Richard¡¯s eyes looking at the field.


    ¡°Your Highness. Didn¡¯t Michael talk about me?¡±


    ¡°The director of the CIA wouldn¡¯t be involved in State Department affairs, so there¡¯s no reason to mention you. It¡¯s a very different area of work.¡±


    ¡°He gave me a hard time for giving you a burden. I guess he wondered why the State Department suddenly turned to Kazakhstan¡¯s side. Our department has pushed sending military supplies to Kazakhstan this time.¡±


    ¡°Have you known Michael before?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know him well, so Michael gently pressed me to help you.¡±


    ¡°Does he know that you¡¯re a Georgian descent?¡±


    ¡°America is an immigrant country, so there¡¯s no need to hide my root.¡±


    Michael had guessed that Richard would have mentioned the Georgia issue to Youngho. When Richard asked Youngho to help Georgia, Youngho was perplexed since it did not make sense that the assistant secretary of the US State Department had asked such a personal favor to him, but now he could see why. It was because Michael had told Richard about Youngho before.


    ¡°Minister, I can¡¯t thank you enough for approving to send military supplies to Kazakhstan. How can I repay this kindness?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be thankful for. It was a decision for the national interest of the United States.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s going to be a tremendous boost for Kazakh military.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure this will be in the interest of the United States. Kazakhstan is the only country that can stop China from advancing. American officials and politicians agree with that too. If the U.S. moves, this could be expanded into a world war.¡±


    The U.S. had decided that it was better to support Kazakhstan fighting against China instead of directly involving in the conflict. This was because the U.S. would only need to supply weapons without sending troops.


    ¡°I see. By the way, how do you know the head director of the CIA?¡±


    ¡°We served in the military together.¡±


    Now Youngho could see it straight. Richard and Michael had a closer rtionship than he thought.


    ¡°Did Michael not tell you about me?¡±


    ¡°I heard you were a good man. He bragged that you and him were more than a friend, but a family. He also said that you¡¯re thest humanist remaining in the political world. That¡¯s why I asked you to do a difficult favor. If Michael finds out about that, he¡¯ll try to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to keep my mouth shut.¡±


    ¡°If you want to see me alive, please do so.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±

 Chapter 516 - China’s Ambition (2)

    <strong>Chapter 516: China¡¯s Ambition (2)</strong>


    ¡°China¡¯s ambition is big, and I¡¯d like to hear from the U.S. government whether it¡¯s going to take action on it or not.¡±


    ¡°In order to stop the Chinese to advance into the Southeast Asian Pacific, the United States is preparing for a potential naval sh in the East China Sea. We have ced additional aircraft carriers in the U.S. 7th Fleet. The U.S. will never abandon its allies. ¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the U.S. deploying too much military force in the Far East Asian region, but maintaining less than one-twentieth of the Far East¡¯s force in Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Of course that¡¯s not at all true. F-22 stealth fighters will soon be deployed at the airbase in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    It was a tempting story. This was because F-22 Raptor was a huge additional strength.


    ¡°How many units are being deployed?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a battalion-size.¡±


    ording to the Air Force¡¯s unit system, one battalion would consist of 12 to 24 fighter jets. In case of expensive stealth jets, 12 to 16 units would be deployed.


    ¡°And the F-35 jets you recently ordered will being in sequence starting from next month. Lockheed seems to be firmlymitted to supplying you the jets even though it¡¯s back-ordered now. I wonder how you managed to convince Lockheed, which is one of the most arrogantpanies in the world.¡±


    Youngho had offered U.S. state bonds when he discussed purchasing fighter jets with Lockheed. However, Lockheed wanted to be paid for something other than government bonds.


    Government bonds were worth more than cash, but thepany refused to receive it. It was because Lockheed¡¯s main focus was the aerospace industry. It wanted to use Kazakhstan¡¯s underground resources and spaceunch facilities in Kazakhstan¡¯s Baikonur Cosmodrome, which was the world¡¯srgest spaceunch station.


    ¡°I should send a little present to Lockheed.¡±


    ¡°Do you n to engage thepany in resource development?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d get resources, but what they really want is to use our spaceunch station. Our station is cheaper than the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this space center under Russia¡¯s control?¡±


    ¡°The former president stubbornly insisted that he made the space base into Kazakhstan¡¯s property. It was a good thing.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s Baikonur Cosmodrome was leased to Russia until 2050 at the price of six billion dors.


    ¡°Since Lockheed is supplying the fighters to us before other clients, we¡¯ll have to provide aunch site that only Lockheed can use.¡±


    Although Youngho would need Russia¡¯s cooperation, he was confident that he could get it.


    Once there was a property dispute between Russia and Kazakhstan due to the copse of the Soviet Union, but the Baikonur Cosmodrome was now Kazakhstan¡¯s property. Kazakhstan had signed agreements with Russia and other countries to use it as an outpost for the construction of the International Space Station.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s spaceunch station used the entire Baikonur grasnd, which was about ten times the size of Seoul, Korea. It was the world¡¯srgestunch site; with 16unchers and fiveunch control centers, aunch test site, assembly nt, 11 fuel production factories,unch track that was about 470 kilometer long and other facilities.


    An astronaut named Yuri Gagarin flew into space on a spacecraftunched here for the first time ever, and the space station Mir wasunched from there to usher in the era of the space shuttle. So far, 6,000 rockets had beenunched in the facility.


    It was not built by Kazakhstan since it waspleted by the Soviet Union. The technology of many countries had been adopted to the state and now, Kazakhstan was making money from providing the station to other countries.


    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s been a rapid increase in gold production in Kazakhstan recently.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t know how the world will change in the future, so my n is to keep as much gold as possible in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great decision. I know that as a U.S. official, I shouldn¡¯t say it, but gold will be more valuable than dors in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I had in mind.¡±


    ¡°If there is an economic crisis from China, the value of gold will be enormous. China¡¯s trying hard to make inroads in foreign countries, and that¡¯s proof that its domestic economy is not looking great.¡±


    Richard was indirectly warning of an economic crisis from China and a plunge in the dor.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m drawing a line to get out of the Chinese economy. Again, we have an excuse to expel some of the Chinesepanies from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I any case, do not rte it to Xinjiang Uyghur. That¡¯s what the Chinese government is most sensitive about.¡±


    ¡°The closure of Chinesepanies is separate from Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried that there might be a local war.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to do that at all, but I just don¡¯t want China to stop persecuting the Uyghurs.¡±


    ***


    Illegal activities were being carried out without exception where Chinesepanies entered.


    The sites of the Chinese oilpany scattered in Mangystau Region in the west were widely polluted. Some sites even blocked the inspection team sent by the Kazakh government from entering their oil field. They even had armed guards even though they were not allowed to do that without the government¡¯s approval.


    Stopping the inspection team from the oil field meant that thepany had been doing something fishy against the government. This could be that they had been reporting the production amount falsely.


    The Kazakh government notified the Chinesepany and the Chinese ambassador that it would immediately shut down oil fields involving the Chinesepany, citing a contract failure. It even filed awsuit seekingpensation.


    The Chinese authorities, who had been supplied with oil and gas from the West, were flustered at the sudden notification.


    ¡°They seem to believe that sending a special envoy will solve it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you meet him?¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, if the royal family meets him in this circumstance is an abuse of authority. There is definitely a Prime Minister and a rted minister of government. Of course, it¡¯s something the government has to deal with. Besides, his intention is quite suspicious toe to the pce when the royal family doesn¡¯t have any power to decide anything rted to this.¡±


    ¡°I think the Chinese leadership is only trying to deal with you who is the real power behind the government.¡±


    ¡°Even if a special envoy represents China, I can¡¯t overlook the fact that the Chinese government keeps ignoring the Kazakh government.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but we can¡¯t ignore the special envoy either.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why the royal family shouldn¡¯te forward. Even if the royal family has real power, it should be represented externally by the Prime Minister and the government. I¡¯ll have to take this opportunity to convey our stance.¡±


    When Youngho insisted, Eriksson did not push anymore.


    ¡°If we don`t correct China¡¯s attitude of dealing only with the royal family, our government will not be able to exercise its power properly.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to break contracts with the Chinese oilpany?¡±


    ¡°The whole country is going to be polluted if I let thepany stay in our country any longer. We have every reason to do so now. They polluted thend and cheated about the production volume.¡±


    ¡°Still, oil and gas supplies should remain the same in order to have a better bnce of trade.¡±


    Youngho did not mean to give up the profits from exporting oil and gas. If Kazakhstan did not sell them to China immediately, the damage would be severe. It was the same with China. If oil imports from Kazakhstan were cut off, the Chinese economy would also suffer a huge blow.


    ¡°China has some shares of the oil pipeline, so I don¡¯t intend to close the line down. But we will threaten the Chinesepany that we will lock up the pipeline if it doesn¡¯t admit the damage it¡¯s done to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how the Chinese side will react.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll want to invade Kazakhstan right away.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, would you like us to promote the addition of the U.S. Air Force and the deployment of new fighters in the Air Force? The oil is important enough to have war. We need to let them know that we¡¯re making some preparations for deterrence.¡±


    ¡°Well, then we¡¯ll have to move up the arms fair a little bit.¡±


    ¡°It would be more shocking to hear about the deployment of the new fighter jets than that. And then if we also install the air defense system, it will make China fear Kazakhstan even more.¡±


    ***


    The Chinese envoy ended up returning home without meeting Youngho.


    It was because there was clear evidence that the Chinese side had nothing to say.


    As for the soil pollution in oil production facilities, there was some room forpromise if thepany would improve the production environment, but there was no excuse for cheating on production. It was a grant breach of contract.


    If trust between individuals was broken, it would be irreversible, and if it was a contract between countries, it could even escte into a diplomatic issue.


    The Chinese side should feel fortunate to know that it was concluded with a broken contract and damage settlement only.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you say the pipeline will be locked for China?¡±


    Jong-il, who just came into Youngho¡¯s office, made a sudden question.


    ¡°Oh, we will gradually pressure China, if we do it too hard all of a sudden, only our border area will be noisy. The reason why the U.S. assistant secretary of state visited us was to crack down on the possibility of a conflict at the border.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that like a cat concerning about a mouse?¡±


    ¡°The tension in Far East Asia is also a lot to deal with, so the U.S. doesn¡¯t want any trouble in Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°When was this ce ever quiet? It¡¯s a windless ce.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re strengthened by the U.S. since it is deploying stealth fighters to Kyrgyz Air Force base. We should thank the U.S.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s frustrating that we can¡¯t protect ourselves on our own.¡±


    ¡°Trust me. In three years, we¡¯ll have enough strength to survive even if the U.S. doesn¡¯t help us.¡±

 Chapter 517 - China’s Ambition (3)

    <h4>Chapter 517: China¡¯s Ambition (3)</h4>


    ¡°China has historically been trampled on by minorities who lived nearby, even though it¡¯s a country of a huge poption. There are a number of factors, but they¡¯re weak people in the war. That¡¯s a relief to surrounding countries. What would you do if that huge headcount was good at war?¡±


    Youngho was meeting Kim Joo-hyuk, President of H Corporation, who came to visit the royal pce with a group of representatives of South Korean defensepanies. He was sharing his opinion on China. He sipped on water and continued to talk.


    ¡°They were ambushed and conquered by the nations of Goguryeo and Mongolia in the past. The reason that China is trying to pressure small states and minorities is that it doesn¡¯t want to repeat the shameful past again.¡±


    ¡°So, ording to your logic, China is suppressing Uyghurs because it fears them?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I think. Or maybe it¡¯s afraid of Kazakhstan behind Uyghurs.¡±


    ¡°Do you think China might be afraid of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°China has been thinking that it¡¯s the center of the world with its rapid economic growth. But would you ept a country that opposes to you directly? It would seem as a potential threat.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then, I won¡¯t have to worry about China too much. What a relief.¡±


    It was close to sophistry, but Youngho felt good after hearing Kim Joo-hyuk. He was very excited about the Kazakh government¡¯s disciplinary action against the Chinese oilpany this time.


    His logic was as follows: China was never going to give upmunism because the system determined leaders who represented the country throughpromise and mudslinging among those in power. And that was why it could not be on top of the world.


    ¡°Mr. Kim, I understand what you¡¯re saying, but the future of China doesn¡¯t matter at the moment when we¡¯ll have a lot of Uyghursing into Kazakhstan soon. China is still a threat to us.¡±


    Jong-il, who was listening to Kim Joo-hyuk, interrupted.


    ¡°You must be very frustrated by the Uyghur issue, but don¡¯t hate Chinese people just because the Chinese political system is bad.¡±


    No matter how China changed in the future, the fact that it was an enemy to Uyghurs and Kazakhstan right now remained the same.


    Kazakhstan needed strength to protect itself. That was why Youngho invited Korea¡¯s leading defensepanies.


    ¡°We invited you to join using Kazakhstan as a forward base for exploring the world market. From now on, the defense markets of Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus will grow bigger than we can imagine. Of course, Kazakhstan will be the biggest client. The factory site will be provided at no cost and the tax benefits will be exceptional.¡±


    ¡°Do you want a technology partnership?¡±


    ¡°Right now, we¡¯re not at the stage to ept Korea¡¯s technology. But within a few years, we¡¯ll have a very good workforce. And if yourpany can help us, we¡¯ll save you more time to achieve that.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s hard to find the parts we need here. We have to bring most of them from Korea, but if we have a good logistics supply, it¡¯ll be an attractive ce.¡±


    A representative of a defensepany carefully cited the reality of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°We¡¯re an ind country, but with shippingpanies, we won¡¯t have to worry about logistics. We¡¯re going to sail through the North Sea route soon. And thebor cost of Kazakhstan is one-third that of Korea. Moreover, we have inexhaustible raw materials avable here. Another advantage of having Koryoin people around is that they can speak Korean and the localnguage.¡±


    Setting up a local factory was not very exciting from the perspective of a foreignpany.


    It was more economical to sendpleted goods, but building a factory in Kazakhstan was a different story. It was an outpost to prate a market in Central Asia and Europe because it was a stopover on the Silk Road.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already decided to build a local factory here even if you don¡¯t offer such a breakthrough. But I¡¯m worried that Korean engineers will be reluctant toe here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that Kazakhstan is not an appealing ce to live for many foreigners. If necessary, we¡¯ll consider building the factory at the Arirang royal territory.¡±


    The Arirang state was developed enough to match provincial cities in Korea. It was better than the big cities of Kazakhstan in all aspects, including housing, medical care, education, security, and cultural facilities.


    For the bnced development of the country, the government nned to disperse Koreanpanies in many ces. However, there was no reason to do so by force when conditions were not favorable to Koreanpanies.


    The Arirang royal territory which had a port and railroad was the best ce to make an outpost for foreign exports.


    ***


    The Greek shippingpany had beenpletely transferred to the Kazakh royal family.


    Now Arirang Shipping would have three 50,000-ton regr cargo ships, five 80,000-ton bulk carriers, five 100,000-ton dry bulk carriers, and 13 container ships.


    However, Arirang Shipping was not immediately able to operate all of the vessels at its disposal yet. Most of the ships were signed for long-term cargo contracts, so only a few container ships were avable for now.


    Choi Sun-kil, the president of Arirang Shipping, visited Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°Your Highness, tankers must be put into the Middle East and European routes until the end of next year. The bulk carrier should be kept for the Africa-Europe route. There are only three container ships that we can use right now.¡±


    ¡°Are the three ships enough to digest the industrial products for use in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°The container ships have to go through several ports, so it¡¯s inefficient to use them only as our own. It¡¯s perfect to use all the ships going to and from the ck Sea, regardless of shipment. There¡¯s plenty of ships going to the Southeast Asian and Indian routes.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought I¡¯d use it as a private boat.¡±


    ¡°We also have to make a regr line to the Indian Ocean and seek profits. The priority is to take advantage of all the ships that are in service for the countries where we do business with, so we can move cargo in the shortest possible time.¡±


    Though the shipping industry was said to be in recession, ships fromrge shippingpanies were still actively sailing around the five oceans. Only small shippingpanies were struggling in the midst of the recession.


    The economy of scale was also being applied to the shipping industry.


    The market share of shippingpanies, which ranked among the world¡¯s top five, was high enough to ount for 64 percent of the total. If a sessfulpany ounted for nearly one-fifth of Kazakhstan¡¯s total GDP, Arirang Shipping could also do the same.


    ¡°Your Highness, the world economy is not booming, but the shipping industry seems to be heading out of recession and back to normal. We need to continue to buy small gifts for that time and grow in size.¡±


    ¡°Then keep an eye on Greek shippingpanies. Let¡¯s buy as soon as the salees out.¡±


    ¡°Not only Greece but also most Mediterranean countries have shippingpanies struggling with financial difficulties. Now, governments have put in public funds and managed to stay in the limelight, but they¡¯re going to be sold out. Nationals are the pride of the country. Would you give it to them easily?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like watering a bottomless pit. We can¡¯t revive it, but we have no choice but to sell it.¡± Talk to Earl all night and buy it at a reasonable price.¡±


    ¡°Buy it before ites out for sale, is one way. It¡¯s also an opportunity for Woo to make a strong rtionship with the government.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Create an opportunity. I¡¯ll step up to the royal court.¡±


    Most of the countries facing the Mediterranean had joined the European Union, but they were not highly benefited by it.


    For this reason, far-right parties had pledged to leave the European Union. With the European Central Bank implementing low-interest rates and quantitative easing policies, the level of real estate, stocks and bonds rose sharply, benefiting only the middle ss and the high-ie ss who had financial assets. On the other hand, low-ie families, which used to make a living by relying on wage ie, could not even afford increased house prices and living costs.


    With such reasons, the voice demanding to leave the European Union was increasing all over Europe because many people opposed it.


    ¡°I frequently use the Antic route, so I have a general feeling about the regions I travel to, but Southern Europe now is on the verge of having a revolution now. People whose jobs were taken away by refugees and immigrants have been staging a series of demonstrations to pull out from the Eurozone. We need to carefully examine whether that will be an opportunity for us.¡±


    ¡°If the European Union loses power, it¡¯s probably the nationalists will gain power, which will bring confusion. The economy might hit the bottom once again.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be an opportunity for us?¡±


    ¡°Well, they say a crisis is an opportunity, but...¡±


    The global economy was finally being pulled out of recession, but economic instability from Europe was growing.


    ¡°Then the shipping business will go down again. Is aggressive management really a good thing?¡±


    ¡°The shipping business has nothing to do with it. We¡¯ve been in a terrible slump and now restructuring isplete. Thanks to this, even old ships have been reced, making the shipping market more vital. Also, shipping orders are slowly rising in number. It¡¯s a good sign.¡±


    ¡°Then there will be more ships going through the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Your foresight in the icebreaker business will lead it to sess. I¡¯m really looking forward to next year.¡±


    Youngho had prepared icebreakers in a desire to explore the Arctic route, which was the idea sparked by the Siberian development business.


    A total of six icebreakers were currently being built at the Danish shipyard. It was because Yaniv and the wealthiest businessmen in Krasnoyarsk, Niky¡ªhad joined in Youngho¡¯s idea and ordered more icebreakers.


    Youngho could not help but smile to imagine the mere sight of the icebreaker breaking through the ice at the North Pole.

 Chapter 518 - Double-sidedness (1)

    <strong>Chapter 518: Double-sidedness (1)</strong>


    Autumn was deepening in Kazakhstan.


    Youngho had been busy ever since he settled in Kazakhstan, but this year was particrly breathtaking, so he was not even aware of the changing season. Especially, the fall of Central Asia was so short that it passed by so quickly.


    Youngho just noticed different colors on the leaves of the trees on the street. He, who was looking out of downtown Almaty through the windows of the Arirang Hotel, turned his head. Coffee was waiting on the table in the suite parlor. He was waiting for the coffee to cool down before drinking.


    ¡°Your Highness, the coffee is getting cold, shall I reheat it?¡±


    ¡°Just leave it there. If it¡¯s too hot to drink. I can¡¯t taste the unique scent of coffee.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Isn¡¯t it perfect to drink coffee when it¡¯s hot? It¡¯s best when you blow on it to cool down before taking a sip.¡±


    ¡°That is by Korean standards.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you drink when you have to blow on it because it¡¯s too hot. All you need to do is just to wait patiently for it to cool down.¡±


    ¡°I feel better when I drink hot stuff. In that sense, you certainly have a foreign mind.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve changed because I¡¯ve lived out here for so long now. You¡¯ll change like me in a few years.¡±


    Talking to Suh Min-seok made him realize how much he had changed since he left Korea. He sometimes felt like all of this was a dream. He just worked hard like other people, but he ended up bing the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    When he was thinking about it, the phone rang. The ring tone of the phone was telling him that it was not a dream.


    The phone screen was showing Fatima¡¯s name. She would probably nag why he was noting back soon.


    It had already been five days since he left the pce, so it was about time for Fatima to wonder.


    Yesterday, he looked around the construction site of Almaty¡¯s arms industry fair. It was his joy to visit the site once in two months and encouraged the workers and officials there. Since people worked even harder when they found out the Duke was interested in their work, he did not forget to visit important construction work sites.


    Now, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were in the process of transformation, so construction was going on everywhere.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok, are we supposed to visit the border campsite today?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been informed that the campsite can¡¯t have visitors today because of the road work. It will bepleted within a week. So, how about the new site for a traditional market in the city of Shymkent?¡±


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s go to Shymkent.¡±


    Shymkent was a transportation hub 690 kilometers west of Almaty. It had an oasis and had been providing a haven for nomadic people in Central Asia for thousands of years. It was the third biggest city in Kazakhstan with a poption of 650,000 people. It was only 120 kilometers away from Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and was home to many Uzbek people.


    The 120-kilometer distance in Central Asia was not considered long, so agricultural produce from warm Uzbekistan was circted into the traditional market in the city of Shymkent.


    There was a fire in the traditional market of Shymkent recently, so a new, modern market was being constructed now. The traditional market was more than ten times the size of Korea¡¯s traditional markets and was where all kinds of goods were traded.


    From fish, meat, fruits to home appliances, all sorts of goods from Central Asia were being sold in the market.


    ***


    The next stop after visiting Shymkent was the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the central state of Karaganda.


    The space station was the world¡¯s first andrgest. Its size was so huge that it was said that U.S. officials who first visited there in the 1970s could not close their mouth when they failed to look around the whole area even after flying over the sky for 15 minutes. Since it was ten times bigger than Seoul, it was quite a huge area.


    The world¡¯s first satellite Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin¡¯s first manned space flight took ce here. This was also where most of the space development, including all of Russia¡¯s manned spaceflights, moon and exploration, and theunch of geostationary orbital satellites, was conducted.


    It was still ying a big role in space development, includingunching a spacecraft to the International Space Station.


    Although it was made by the Soviet Union, having it in Kazakhstan was a great asset for Kazakhstan. Russia was paying more than 100 million dors a year to use the site that it had built.


    It was the ce where rockets were made and controlled.


    If that was the case, making intercontinental ballistic missiles would be a joke.


    Russia contracted to lease the station until 2050, so Youngho had thought about taking it from Russia¡¯s hands early, but he had to give it up since there was no way to do so. If he forcibly tried to do that, he would have to face Russia¡¯s invasion.


    Behind Russia¡¯s recognition of the new government of Kazakhstan was Russia¡¯s strategic facilities that were built everywhere in Kazakhstan. Russia had not given up on the idea that Kazakhstan was its satellite state even if the regime had changed. On the other hand, Russia wanted to use its strategic bases by gently appeasing Kazakhstan to use it as a buffer against China.


    ¡°The biggest weakness of Kazakhstan is that it had been a member of the Soviet Union for a long time, and it¡¯s an inseparable rtionship.¡±


    ¡°However, Russia is not like China, and it is fortunate that Russia is amicable to us.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? It¡¯s not amicable; it¡¯s just diminishing us as its satellite state.¡±


    Somehow, Russia and Kazakhstan were in a ratherplicated rtionship to develop into hostile rtions.


    Russia could not give up on Kazakhstan since there was a number of its strategic facilities in various parts of Kazakhstan.


    There were many Russian scientists and families living there and manypanies involved in the space industry.


    Russian strategic bases were still maintained throughout Kazakhstan, and 30 percent of the poption was Russian or European because of such strategic facilities and factories built in the Soviet-era. That was why Kazakhstan was in a position where it could not draw a line unterally against Russia. Especially when China was another potential threat, it could not have Russia against it, too.


    Maintaining a smooth rtionship with Russia, for now, was the best option. Moreover, Youngho had to do so in order to keep the Siberian development business and the North Sea route open for icebreakers.


    ***


    As expected, refugees from Xinjiang Uyghur wereing into Kazakhstan.


    Every day, dozens to hundreds of Uyghurs crossed the border area avoiding the areas where Chinese checkpoints were located. As it was a rough mountainous ce, there were even cases of people who died from falling. It was inevitable since they were noting via established roads.


    Thus, the Kazakh government informed the Chinese border troops that Kazakhstan would allow Uyghurs crossing the border seeking refuge. Since then, the Chinese border troops had not stopped Uyghurs from crossing the border. There was no reason to stop those who left because they did not like China because the empty room left by the Uyghurs would be filled by the overflowing Chinese people.


    ¡°How many people have entered Kazakhstan so far?¡±


    Youngho received a call from Commander Kabak, who was in charge of Uyghur refugee camps near the border area.


    -A little over 2,000 people. Your Highness.


    ¡°Commander Kabak, can you request the Chinese side to transport Uyghurs by truck or bus?¡±


    -Would they be so kind to move Uyghurs? It¡¯d be better for us to provide the vehicles.


    ¡°Notify the Chinese side that if it doesn¡¯t cooperate moving the Uyghur refugees, we would close the free trade zone.¡±


    -Your Highness, then we¡¯ll have a bigger blow. Right now, the livelihoods of the vendors moving in and out of the border area will be severely disrupted.


    ¡°Tell them that we¡¯ll supply industrial goods from Southeast Asia and India. They¡¯ll like it since it will be more profitable than trading Chinese goods. By the way, what¡¯s the reaction of the Chinese border guards?¡±


    Youngho wondered how the Chinese troops would react to the royal guards deployed at the border checkpoints. Unlike the Kazakh border troops, royal guards did not wearbat uniforms.


    -They seem to be very bewildered. They¡¯re busy figuring why we¡¯re epting the Uyghurs without any condition. Even themander of the Chinese upation forces in Xinjiang Uyghur came out to the border area to see what¡¯s going on.


    ¡°Have you met him?¡±


    -I didn¡¯t reach out to him.


    ¡°If you meet with him in the future, please tell him that we¡¯re epting Uyghurs from the royal family, not from the government level.¡±


    Uyghurs openly supported the Kazakh royal family since the beginning of the dynasty as if it were their own.


    -Your Highness, it¡¯s going to be winter soon if we ept Uyghurs at this slow rate. Shall I meet the Chinesemander of Xinjiang Uyghur toe up with a measure?


    ¡°Is he someone who can make a decision withoutmunicating with the Chinese government?¡±


    -Rumors say that he is a close associate of a high authority in Beijing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you full powers. Please meet him and take care of the issue.¡±


    -Thank you for trusting me. I¡¯ll meet with themander of the Chinese Army in a few days.


    ¡°I will look forward to hearing good news.¡±

 Chapter 519 - Double-sidedness (2)

    <strong>Chapter 519: Double-sidedness (2)</strong>


    In epting the refugees, Youngho made noint to the Chinese government.


    He even asked for the convenience of refugees.


    Since Uyghurs believed that the Kazakh people would ept them as refugees, their faces as they passed the border lookedfortable.


    There were multiple reasons why Kazakh people ept refugees.


    First, they were nomadic people in Central Asia just like Kazakhs, so there was an inseparable rtionship between Uyghur and Kazakhstan. This was because although the families were mixed up, they were of the same Turkic descent.


    It was also aimed at addressing the poption shortage of Kazakhstan. Taking Uyghurs would increase the national poption. The third reason was because of the perspective of the Uyghurs on Kazakhstan. The Uyghur people epted the Kazakh royal family as their own. This would mean that the refugees would serve the royal family and not turn to a threat to it in the future.


    Since there was no problem taking them as residents but only benefits, the people of Kazakhstan weed the Uyghur refugees.


    ¡°So far, most of the refugees are those who lived near the border, but soon there will be more people from the ind area. We¡¯ll soon have tens of thousands of refugees at this rate.¡±


    ¡°We can handle that much number. We¡¯ve had enough of the aid we¡¯ve received from the U.S.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. The real problem is that the Uyghur independence groups are almost destroyed. They had been fighting against the Chinese government in such reckless ways. We warned them to fall back temporarily until they restore their strength, but they didn¡¯t take our advice.¡±


    ¡°They have nowhere else to stand. They must be fighting at the risk of their lives. It¡¯s not going to be easy to convince them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried that if the independent forces are destroyed, we¡¯ll lose the momentum in Uyghurs¡¯ independence movement. We need to experience independence fighters to survive, or we won¡¯t have any future.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was worried that all of the Uyghur independence fighters would be killed soon. If then, there would be no one to take the lead when the opportunity came.


    ¡°Would they be stopped by us? We¡¯re lucky to be able to ept refugees at least.¡±


    ¡°Central Asians have been known to be tough from the past, but I¡¯ve never seen people like Uyghurs who go after death to fight for independence. They¡¯re indeed determined people.¡±


    Historically, Russia and China had treated Mongolia and other Central Asian people as bandits and avoided them.


    Russia had built a fortress over the Ural Mountains so that Central Asian nomadic tribes could not cross the mountains, and as if that was not enough, it built many fortress cities all over Central Asia.


    Contemporary Central Asians were now turned into peaceful nomads driving livestock as their once warlike temperament had disappeared from them. Their ancestors fought for their well-being and did not mind plundering other countries on their horseback rides.


    To give in would have seemed to be a weak nation in the eyes of others, and they could be forced to live a life of very by others. Their effort to survive in the barren environment would have seemed belligerent to other people.


    ¡°The courage of the Uyghur independent forces is admirable, but frankly, they¡¯re like a group of varletry. They¡¯ve never had a systematic training and are not organized. They should be d that they came this far. It would be quicker to train the Uyghur refugees whom we ept this time rather than trying to save the current independence forces.¡±


    Training those who had left their homnd with blood and tears to escape the persecution by the Chinese government would make hundred times better fighters than today¡¯s independence forces.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t given up on Xinjiang Uyghur, yet.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of my will, the refugees will get up on their own to get their homnd back. We will only be making them a chance to do so.¡±


    Since Xinjiang Uyghur did not belong to Kazakh people, Kazakhstan would not take an initiative for the Uyghurs¡¯ independence, but the Uyghur refugees would soon awake to get back theirnd.


    ***


    The Kazakh-Chinese border area was crowded by Uyghurs who were flocking to enter Kazakhstan day after day.


    As the government had already foreseen and prepared the situation, there were more refugees than expected, but it was not a problem since many campsites were already prepared for them and being built at the same time.


    The Uyghur refugee issue was not a big dealpared to the exciting, high-profile events that took ce across the country. It was because thepletion of major highways had caused a stir throughout the country.


    Two highways that had been under construction by the Korean H Corporation werepleted now. A western highway which began from Uzbekistan, passed by the Aral Sea, and connected to Atyrau, thergest city in western Kazakhstan, and Oral, the border city near Russia, was open. And, the eastern highway which began from Naryn, Kyrgyzstan, passing through Vishkek to get to Almaty, was also opened at the same.


    The opening of the two expressways had enabled more diverse logistics transport in Kazakhstan since it used to rely on the railways only. The Kazakh railways had been having overwhelming transport amounts because southern Central Asian countries had to go through Kazakhstan in order to get to Europe, China or Russia.


    The highway construction became an opportunity for Youngho and Koreanpanies to join hands.


    Moreover, trains produced at H Corporation¡¯s local factory in Kazakhstan were already being used for subways in Almaty and trains all over the country. Previous trains were brought in from Russia and had been used for decades, and they were reced with new trains.


    Those old trains used to be dirty and inconvenient. When Youngho traveled on those, he was reluctant to use its bathrooms. A long-distance trip where he had to spend a night or two on the train was quite painful. Such inconvenience was improved with new trains.


    ¡°Your Highness, when are you nning to begin the construction of the East-West Highway?¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk of H Corporation came to celebrate thepleted construction of the two highways asked.


    ¡°Are you ready for new construction already?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t want to pull out the engineers who are used to the environment here. I want to give them a chance to even think about settling down as their second home.¡±


    ¡°There are too many projects going on now, and the East-West Highway is going to be dyed. Right now, the government is running out of budget to resume the extension work on Almaty¡¯s subway system next year.¡±


    A few years ago, the subway system was adopted in the urban area of Almaty.


    It had only nine stops and a single line, and people were not using it as a public transportation very frequently because the subway was built 100 meters underground to prepare for a nuclear attack. It was quite inconvenient for them. Extending it further would establish it as a proper means of public transportation and would also help to ease traffic jams in the city.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we attract private capital instead of building it with the government budget?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. In the case of a subway, the fare will be too high if we use private investments. I think it¡¯s a little too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working with Koreanpanies, and I¡¯m sure this will be helpful for the Kazakh government.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We are afraid toy pressure on you or to the Kazakh people; you won¡¯t be disappointed. You know Koreanpanies are trustworthy.¡±


    The financial situation of the Kazakh government had been tight to build roads and subways that were not urgent right now, and it was fortunate that there was a way to build them. Since Youngho had been working with H Corporation and other Koreanpanies, he could trust them too.


    ¡°It is a tempting offer, Mr. Kim.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. We¡¯re willing to take resources instead of the construction costs.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to get paid with resources, not cash?¡±


    ¡°Most of the Koreanpanies in foreign countries are group affiliates. There are about one or two resource-rtedpanies. They are almost begging for resources in Africa and Latin America. If they could take resources from Kazakhstan, they would all wee it.¡±


    Even now, there were some Koreanpanies participating in the oil development in Kazakhstan. The oil was used within the country since there was no way to bring that to Korea.


    ¡°I have no reason to refuse it from our point of view, but wouldn¡¯t it be a huge loss for Koreanpanies if they only get paid with resources for the astronomical construction costs?¡±


    ¡°If apany can reliably secure the resources it needs, that alone ensures the future of thepany.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are a few ces where Chinesepanies have gone out this time. Would Koreanpanies be interested in those sites?¡±


    Kazakhstan was a country that lived off selling its own resources.


    In order to raise the national power to a certain level through economic development, selling resources was an inevitable choice.


    Kazakhstan had been selling resources to China and Russia mainly, but now its export targets had been expanded to its allies such as the U.S., Sweden, UK, and Denmark. It seemed that Korea would be joining in the list market soon, too.


    ***


    The Baikonur space station was exclusively licensed by Russia at the moment. In other words, if other countries were to use the space base, they must get cooperation from the Russian government.


    Lockheed, the U.S. defensepany, asked Youngho to use the space station in exchange for an early supply of F-35 fighter jets. So to discuss this, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade was sent to Moscow to get permission from the Russian government.


    Since Baikonur Cosmodrome had been co-sponsored by researchers from around the world, Russia dly epted it. So, the trade minister called Youngho to inform the results of his visit to Russia.


    -Your Highness, I have toe and tell you in person, but I¡¯ll report you by phone first.


    ¡°Oh, a phone call would suffice since you¡¯re busy. You didn¡¯t have to convince Russia so hard, did you?¡±


    -I¡¯m rather surprised because it was so easy to resolve. It¡¯s a strategic facility, so I thought Russia would be reluctant to give us permission.


    ¡°Did Russia order anything else?¡±


    -There was nothing special. The minister said that he is epting it to maintain good rtions with the West.


    For Russia, which was under Western economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, the U.S.pany¡¯s request to use the space station this time was good news.


    Russia intended to show off to the outside world that it had epted the request of U.S.pany to use its strategic facilities for the joint goal of developing space.


    ¡°It would be a gesture of reconciliation toward the West.¡±


    -That¡¯s what I think. Russian officials said they would open the space base unconditionally. He thanked us for the Americanpany¡¯s request.


    ¡°It¡¯s a testament to that financial difficulty.¡±


    Russia had yet to pay rent for using Baikonur Cosmodrome this year. Although the official reason to allow Lockheed to reconcile with the West, it would be also to make money to pay the rent.


    -And I think a Russian envoy wille to our country soon.


    ¡°A special envoy?¡±


    -He didn¡¯t say why, but he said that the envoy woulde to see the Duke of the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a diplomatic custom to tell us what the envoy ising for?¡±


    -Of course, Russia has to. The Russian government will soon go through diplomatic procedures and inform us. Isn¡¯t it a sign of intimacy to give a promise in advance?


    The reason for sending the special envoy may be that Russia was hoping that Kazakhstan would y a bridging role with the West in the wake of the use of the space station.


    It was understandable since Russia was having a hard time due to economic sanctions. If Russia expected Youngho to y such a role, he would not hesitate to do so because it would be another opportunity for him and Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 520 - Russia’s Suggestion (1)

    <strong>Chapter 520: Russia¡¯s Suggestion (1)</strong>


    ¡°It¡¯s like using a huge sword to chop tofu. Does that make any sense?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if you use arger knife, you will be able to cut off things at once. If we put in a 50,000-ton vessel, the efficiency of transportation will be several times higher.¡±


    ¡°Is a 50,000-ton ship suitable in the Caspian Sea?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just wasteful to make small ships travel multiple times. We can make 50,000-ton vessels at our shipyard. Russia is nning to expand the canal, so why don¡¯t we prepare for that in advance?¡±


    The vessel weight limit was 5,000 tons to move from the Caspian Sea to the ck Sea because of the Volga-Don Canal¡¯s capacity limit. So, in the Caspian Sea, it became like an unwritten rule for all ships not to exceed 5,000 tons.


    ¡°How would Russia expand the canal with its economic power now? And there are not many docks in the Caspian Sea to ept such a huge ship.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you can go back and forth the Port of Atyrau and Baku. There¡¯s no reason to go to another port. These days, the wind of the Caspian Sea is so strong that sailing a 5,000-ton vessel is not reliable.¡±


    A 5000-ton vessel was consideredrge in the Caspian Sea, and it could easily withstand a typhoon. Kim Chun was merely exaggerating to make his point.


    He had been insisting this ever since a Russian special envoy visited the pce. The Russian envoy shared several business projects, and one of them was the expansion of the Volga-Don Canal.


    The idea was to expand the capacity of the canal to 50,000 tons. It was not really impossible to expand the canal since there were hugekes along the course of the canal.


    It was suspicious of Russia to expand the Volga-Don Canal all of a sudden, but it would surely benefit Kazakhstan if only 50,000-ton ships could travel in and out of the Caspian Sea and the ck Sea. There would be no hassle of mobilizing multiple small ships, and logistics costs would be drastically reduced.


    ¡°Commissioner, do you see Russia as a reliable partner? Why do you think I jumped myself into the railway expansion business of Azerbaijan and Georgia as an alternative? If Russia decides to close the canal, we¡¯ll be done.¡±


    ¡°Russia has lost the trust of the internationalmunity, but it has never closed the canal before. It¡¯s because closing the canal would bring a devastating economic blow to Russia as well. And there¡¯s no reason to be so mean to us.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think Russia will stay amicable to us when Kazakhstan is on the opposite course with Russia?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not capable of making political judgments, but I think it¡¯s advantageous for us to help with the canal project in the long run. And we¡¯re doing railroad work just in case, so there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of even if the canal is closed. Ask Sir Eriksson, too. He will be on my side too.¡±


    The idea of expanding the Volga-Don Canal was to disapprove of China¡¯s fuss over the world over its One Belt One Road business and to have an alternative to One Belt One Road.


    Russia was trying to attract the Kazakh royal family since it could not afford the construction cost on its own. Moreover, the Russian government might have wanted to let the world know that it still had a strong rtionship with Kazakhstan.


    The Russian envoy had brought in other proposals as well as the canal construction. It was a request for more active involvement in Siberian development.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, Russia must be in a hurry. It would¡¯ve never reached out to Kazakhstan to ask help no matter what.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because Russia is after the royal family¡¯s wealth. Or maybe there¡¯s an intention to keep us in check because we¡¯re getting close to the U.S. government.¡±


    ¡°Russia is not in a position to pick and choose. It has already been known that the U.S. and we have been together since the revolution, so that is not the case. I¡¯m sure Russia is trying to turn the tables taking this opportunity as it allowed Lockheed to use the space station. And Russia must fear China¡¯s rapid progress with its One Belt One Road.¡±


    Youngho was discussing Russia¡¯s sudden business proposal with Eriksson.


    Eriksson said that the business proposal brought by the Russian envoy should be seen as a message that Russia was trying to turn the tide and that its foreign policy had changed.


    ¡°So, are you saying we¡¯d better join the business?¡±


    ¡°Not to pay the full cost of the canal project, but to be part of the equity capital is a very realistic and attractive proposition. I¡¯m not asking you to set the amount and invest, but I think this will be reliable since Russia had offered the canal¡¯s shares. It shows sincerity.¡±


    ¡°Russia knows we¡¯ve invested in the railway projects of Azerbaijan and Georgia. Could it be seen as a move to sabotage the railway projects?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Land transportation is an alternative to the canal, but there¡¯s nothing like the canal. And there¡¯s a way to dramatically increase the volume of logistics that we transport, so it¡¯ll be beneficial for us. It is in our interest to ept the Russian proposal even for the development of Siberia and for the Arctic route.¡±


    ¡°What does it mean for Russia to suggest us to expand the Siberian development projects that I¡¯m already involved in? China and Japan are also involved in developing Siberia.¡±


    ¡°I think Russia wants to use Kazakhstan as a way to pressure Chinese and Japanesepanies. Maybe it¡¯s trying to draw more investment from both countries by pulling us in.¡±


    Russia would probably pressure Japan and China by saying that its shares would be turned over to the Kazakh royal family if they did not expand their projects in Siberia.


    Eriksson said that Youngho should pretend not to know Russia¡¯s intention and toply with Russia¡¯s proposals.


    ¡°The canal project is a long-term project that is expected tost up to five to ten years. The annual construction costs are limited, so it won¡¯t be too burdensome. The question is whether the government or the royal family can afford it.¡±


    ¡°We have enough money. The royal family has the widow¡¯s cruse.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, then why don¡¯t you y along in Russia¡¯s plot?¡±


    ¡°Listening to you, it seems like there¡¯s not much to worry about, but I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯re missing an important point. Would Russia maintain the same attitude toward us when the construction of the canal is finished?¡±


    ¡°The Charter of the United Nations states that projects carried out in the name of joint projects between countries cannot be carried out by either party. It¡¯s because not only the two parties but also the countries would be involved. If Russia vited the international treaty, it¡¯ll have to deal with the sanctions of the Economic and Social Council. There¡¯s more loss to it than the benefit of taking the canal hostage. Of course, there are some variables depending on the situation.¡±


    ¡°I see. I guess it¡¯s time to take an adventure.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a risk if you think of it as a business, not politics. In business, only profits exist between two parties.¡±


    Eriksson meant that there would be no problem if business and politics could be separated in this project. Even if Russia closed its canal by any chance, it would allow selective vessels to use the canal ording to its national interest. After all, it was true that even hostile countries would allow trade exchanges if necessary.


    ***


    Youngho informed the Russian government that the Kazakh royal family, not the government, was interested in involving in the Volga-Don Canal expansion project.


    He delivered the message through Yaniv, who was a South Russian mob. It was because he knew Putin¡¯s intentions. Putin was deeply involved in the Volga-Don Canal, and Youngho also wanted Yaniv to join the business. If Yaniv joined, it would satisfy Putin¡¯s greed to some extent, and the business would progress smoothly.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, thank you for your help. I want to thank you in person, but forgive me for doing it on the phone.¡±


    -I feel morefortable to talk to you on the phone. It¡¯s not easy to follow the royal customs as a mafia.


    ¡°I¡¯m very curious about Putin¡¯s reaction.¡±


    -He was surprised that you contacted him through me. At first, he seemed embarrassed. Later, he asked me if I¡¯d join the business, too.


    ¡°I guess I was right. Since Volga-Don Canal¡¯s traffic is growing, he must be starting to get greedy.¡±


    -I had a hunch that Moscow¡¯s greedy people are interested in it, but Putin is quite obvious about it.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, why don¡¯t you be a little greedy, too? How long are you going to go after the politicians? Will they ever thank you?¡±


    -I should even lick their sole if I want to protect my property that I acquired illegally. And what good would it be if I increased the mountain further? I have more than enough already. I¡¯m sure only Sergey will get to live off of my wealth when I¡¯m gone.


    Youngho felt sorry to hear Yaniv slurring the end of his sentence.


    Yaniv had worked hard when he was young and had no chance to get married and have children. Though he raised his friend¡¯s son, Sergey, as his own, and made him his heir, he was not a blood-rted son.


    He was especially fond of little Zeynep because he had no grandchild.


    ¡°Do you know what they say in Korea? Life begins at 60. You¡¯re only in your mid-60s, you can start anything.¡±


    -Oh, you¡¯re determined to get me involved in the canal project. You¡¯re worse than Moscow¡¯s greedy men.


    ¡°Are you determined to participate in the canal project? If you don¡¯t participate, I¡¯ll drop out, too.¡±


    -You¡¯re threatening me now. I don¡¯t know why people don¡¯t let me just be.


    ¡°You have to be involved to clear the traffic. If you don¡¯t, the Russian investors will ignore the signal and just skip in front of me¡ªif you know what I mean. I can¡¯t stand that. I¡¯d rather take the wheel.¡±


    -Hahaha... You¡¯re indeed a bold man. That¡¯s what Putin said, too. He liked that you decided to make a direct investment without setting up the government at front. Well, in return for your involvement, Putin will increase the site for the Siberian development project further for you. Come to Volgograd secretly soon. Putin¡¯sing to Volgograd, too. He said that he had a favor to ask of the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°That¡¯s great that he invited me. Just let me know the date. It takes less than two hours to get there by a jet ne.¡±


    -I¡¯ll have luxury vodka ready.


    ¡°I¡¯ll prepare some snacks then.¡±

 Chapter 521 - Russia’s Suggestion (2)

    <h4>Chapter 521: Russia¡¯s Suggestion (2)</h4>


    Eriksson said Putin¡¯s offer to secretly see him in Volgograd was a good opportunity.


    Unlike Western countries, Kazakhstan had not joined Russia¡¯s economic sanctions so it could engage Russia in economic cooperation regardless of the U.N.¡ªthat was also why Putin offered it to Youngho.


    Russia¡¯s worsening economic situation had created many problems in Russian society as a whole. It was so bad that in the previous news, it was reported that a Russian woman working as a kindergarten teacher had been involved in prostitution as part-time work. She would make only about 3,000 rubles¡ªabout 47 US dors¡ªfor overnight prostitution, but the economic difficulties were so severe that people like her had to hit the streets to earn money.


    Putin¡¯s greed for swallowing the Crimean Penins in the ck Sea was driving Russia to copse. It would not be recovered unless he returns it to Ukraine. Thus, he had to join hands with anyone that could be of help and Kazakhstan was a tempting partner at the moment.


    ¡°Putin won¡¯t ask me to give more money, but we have limitations to our participation in economic cooperation. I don¡¯t know what Putin¡¯s intention is.¡±


    ¡°This is a point when Putin needs a supporting role to shine on his leadership. He wants to show off that he¡¯s achieved economic cooperation despite the West¡¯s economic sanctions.¡±


    ¡°So, we¡¯ll be ying a symbolic role.¡±


    ¡°If he wants us to take that role, let him get it, and we¡¯ll make a profit out of it.¡±


    It was not Youngho¡¯s first time to do business in Russia so Putin could have requested it publicly, but he sent a special envoy to request it and asked him to meet in secret. There must be another intention in his mind.


    Even now, Youngho and Yaniv¡¯s hotel business in Moscow and the warehouse business in divostok were doing well. He also aggressively joined in developing Siberia that he even built a vodka factory in Krasnoyarsk, but yet, Putin was asking more from Youngho. He wondered what else was on Putin¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Eriksson, you say Putin wants a symbolic investment, but I don¡¯t think so. I suspect Putin is trying to bring the royal family in to make up for personal weakness.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a slight chance of that. But it¡¯s also aimed at oveing the falling domestic economy.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s bound to be a limit to the amount of money we invest.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s already targeting the business that has been invested in already. For example, he might want to open up a North Sea route off the coast of Siberia. Then he can ask you to join the Arctic business.¡±


    Only the part of the North Sea route that belonged to Russian territorial waters of the Siberian coast belonged to Russia and the rest of the route was managed by the Arctic Council, which was a political consultative body of the Arctic countries established to discuss issues rted to the North Pole. The United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Find, Sweden, and d were the eight Arctic countries, and there were 12 non-Arctic countries as observer states.


    This was evidence that many countries were showing interest in the North Sea route.


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s interested in our icebreaker business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be d if so. It¡¯ll be safe if I did business with Putin. Russia has the most ice breakers in the world. It even has nuclear-powered icebreakers.¡±


    Having an icebreaker in itself meant a maritime power.


    Russia had 32 icebreakers; six of which were nuclear-powered icebreakers while the Arctic Council countries and twelve observer states had only one to eight icebreakers each.


    This was because using the North Sea route reduced the operation time of ships entering Asia via the Suez Canal by ten days and dramatically reduced fuel costs. Russia could collect money for various reasons, including tolls, icebreaker fees, and visas.


    Also, having icebreakers helped to take the initiative in the Arctic¡¯s waters and resources based on topography. The value of oil, natural gas and fishing rights in the Arctic was so enormous that Russia was enjoying its topographic advantage.


    Because of such advantage of the Arctic, there had been a territorial dispute in the Arctic Ocean as well. Norway and Russia had been in territorial dispute for 40 years in the Barents Sea, the lower part of the Arctic Ocean. For this reason, Russia had deployed a total of 6,000 mechanized infantry brigades in the Novosibirsk Inds and Murmansk region.


    The quiet war for preupation in the Arctic Ocean had already begun in the past.


    Youngho would also join the North Pole route once the icebreaker at the Danish Shipyard waspleted next year.


    ¡°Without Russian cooperation, the Arctic shipping business is virtually impossible. The reality is that there is no country in the Arctic Ocean that can keep up with Russia¡¯s military. The U.S. has only one icebreaker so it can¡¯t send an aircraft carrier to the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Russia would think that we could lend the U.S. an icebreaker at any moment.¡±


    ¡°It could. The U.S. can make an icebreaker if it wants to, but not right away. It takes about two to three years to make an icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Putin is going to propose, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to give a definite answer or refuse to do so.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to make a judgment ording to circumstances. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll apany you this time.¡±


    ***


    At the international airport of Volgograd, a 12-seater jet gentlynded on the runway. It was a ne that carried Youngho¡¯s group.


    Flights that had been stranded were rushing into the runway as the Kazakh royal jet hadnded. Several nes were spotted preparing for takeoff on the airport taxiway. Youngho, who was looking out through the window, shook his head.


    ¡°They say that too much courtesy is no courtesy. It¡¯s too much wee.¡±


    ¡°Our ne seems to have caused the airport to be temporarily paralyzed. It¡¯s not bad manners.¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, I didn¡¯t know you like to be authoritative.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I love the way the Russian authorities are treating the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    Even though it was supposed to be a secret visit, Volgograd Airport was heavily guarded for protection. It was a respectful gesture for the royal family, but Youngho thought it was too much. From the moment the jet entered the Russian airspace, four Russian airliners escorted it to a standstill and it was the same in the airport.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a burden...¡±


    ¡°This shows how important your visit is to Putin.¡±


    ¡°Socialist wee is a no-no.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s verymon in the West to ban takeoffs andndings for a while when important people use airports.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s understandable to do that in an airport, but isn¡¯t it too much to do that from the airspace?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The Volgograd in mid-November was colder than the Arirang royal territory.


    He could see little snow piles on the side of the field leading from the airport to Yaniv¡¯s mansion as if it had snowed a few times already.


    Temporary checkpoints were set up all over the road and Russian police officers looked alerted than usual. It seemed that they were nervous for a VIP¡¯s visit. Otherwise, they would not havee out in the cold weather.


    The limousine drove off unhesitatingly, under the escort of the leading police motorcycle.


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to have you in my mansion, your Highness, how was your trip?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been treated so well that I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±


    ¡°President Putin said that he will pay particr attention to your visit this time.¡±


    Yaniv was treating Youngho courteously as there were many people watching the two.


    ¡°I should thank the president for his consideration.¡±


    Youngho and Yaniv, who greeted each other hurriedly moved to Yaniv¡¯s private study.


    Both felt too awkward to continue this kind of clich¨¦d conversation.


    ¡°Why did you have to be the Duke and make me do cheesy stuff?¡±


    As soon as he entered the study, Yaniv grumbled.


    It was a pain for someone who had been a mafia all his life to be set up in such a courteous situation.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re perfect for such a setting. You¡¯ve been so respectful, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how much I¡¯ve practiced that? What happens if I make a mistake in front of Putin? I¡¯ll be in so much trouble.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem? Putin already knows that we¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re a dictator, you always have a scapegoat in mind near you in case things go wrong, and that might be me.¡±


    Even if he turned into a businessman, Yaniv was a man as influential as Putin in southern Russia. Russia was a ce where public authority was no use before the mafia, but he was unusually nagging this time. It was proof that he had many things to protect.


    ¡°It¡¯s scary to hear that someone like you is making suchments. I guess time changes everything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being cautious because of Sergey. I¡¯m worried if he¡¯ll be able to escape the arrows of Moscow¡¯s greedy people.¡±


    Even though Sergey was more of a brain in Yaniv¡¯s business, he had been working under Yaniv for decades now, he would do great even if Yaniv was gone.


    ¡°He¡¯s a businessman. And he¡¯s been learning under you for many years, do you not believe that he will be able to take care of politicians? If he deals with legal and proper businesses only, there won¡¯t be any problem.¡±


    ¡°When a businessman is righteous in Russia, he¡¯ll easily be the target of other businessmen and politicians. You need to be on both sides.¡±


    ¡°If this ce doesn¡¯t suit Sergey¡¯s character, you can tell him toe to Kazakhstan and start a business.¡±


    ¡°Leaving Volgograd is like a failure anywhere else. If you can¡¯t endure in a ce where nothing is impossible when you get your hands dirty and smile, you¡¯ve got to doubt your ability as a businessman.¡±


    Russia was like heaven to business people when they could maintain a good rtionship with those in power.


    ¡°Lee, I have a rough idea of what Putin¡¯s going to ask for tomorrow.¡±


    Yaniv continued.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°From what I¡¯ve learned from my friends in Moscow, I think he¡¯s going to put up a fictitiouspany for this canal project.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by a fictitiouspany?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s apany that only exists in the document. The owner will be Putin¡¯s closest ally.¡±


    ¡°I guess the practical owner would be Putin himself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s transferred all of his shares in the Canal Project to him, so Putin¡¯s now a major shareholder of thatpany.¡±


    ¡°But doesn¡¯t the canal belong to the Russian government?¡±


    ¡°Russia is Putin himself. He¡¯s dreaming of bing a Russian Tsar.¡±


    ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°In order to do so, he needs a lot of funds to govern.¡±


    ¡°Could that be an opportunity for me and you?¡±


    ¡°Who knows if it will be an opportunity or a drag? I have a hunch that Putin¡¯s offer to meet you here is not necessarily a good thing.¡±

 Chapter 522 - Russia’s Suggestion (3)

    <h4>Chapter 522: Russia¡¯s Suggestion (3)</h4>


    Russia¡¯s desire was taking shape in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, but the West was barely responding to it with economic sanctions.


    Russia invaded Georgia¡¯s autonomous republic of South Ossetia in 2008 and recently annexed Crimea, and the West had failed to stop it once again. This was because Crimea had been under Russian influence for a long time.


    It was a problem because the precedent for the secession of Crimea could be applied to Moldova and Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia where many Russian residents lived.


    However, there was no country that would start an all-out war with Russia that had nuclear weapons, on the grounds that it sought separation independence.


    Also, European countries were suffering from the shortage of natural gas due to Russian economic sanctions, and they would not be able to block Russia¡¯s economy forever.


    Putin, who dreamed of bing an emperor of Russia, wanted to epass all the countries that were under the influence of the former Soviet Union.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv said that Putin dreams of bing a Russian Tsar.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing new. It¡¯s something that Western countries were already predicting.¡±


    Youngho was sharing the conversation he had with Yaniv and Eriksson.


    ¡°We can predict what card Putin is going to pull tomorrow, but the problem is not the business. It¡¯s about Russia trying to exert its influence everywhere.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t be able to touch the Northern Kazakh region where Russians live. Putin knows they¡¯ve sworn allegiance to our royal family.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that Putin might interpret it arbitrarily and push it down,¡±


    Youngho wanted to secure a safety device about northern Kazakhstan through this deal with Putin. His promise would not bepletely trustworthy, but having him sign a document that wrote he would not touch the northern region would at least build a ground to stop Putin if he tried to take over the regions.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about other countries, but if Kazakhstan is in trouble, its allies won¡¯t stay put.¡±


    ¡°What if Russians in the region ask for separation independence under Putin¡¯s encouragement? It will be a domestic issue and the allies won¡¯t want to get in between that.¡±


    Whilemon conflicts could be helped by allies, it was difficult to intervene in the issue of separation independence of ethnic groups.


    That was exactly what Putin was aiming for.


    He would push ahead within the Russian people of Kazakhstan and hold a referendum to support the separation of their residential region. Other counties could not stop the separation if most of the residents had agreed to it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I have to go along with Putin¡¯s dream of being Tsar.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, this is the reality of old satellite states of the Soviet Union. You have to build your strength while maintaining a good rtionship with it. If you have overwhelming or equal power with Russia, then you can say something.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to add a little bit of power to Putin.¡±


    ¡°In the case of the canal, he only makes a toll profit, but our interests are dozens more than that. And the same applies to all the projects that we participate in Russia. When Putin is satisfied with his pennies, we¡¯ll be making a fortune.¡±


    The business with Putin was only making Youngho¡¯s mindplicated. Until Putin arrived at Yaniv¡¯s mansion, Youngho and Eriksson would be busy calcting gains and losses.


    ***


    Putin returned to Moscow after staying only a half-day at Yaniv¡¯s mansion.


    Youngho had lunch for half a day and drank vodka with him.


    It was quite shocking that the most powerful man took half a day toe directly to Volgograd for a secret meeting with Youngho. Especially in the position of running a huge country called Russia, Putin would have to split every second to do his work since he had a dictator-like authority even though he was called a president. And for a dictator, all authority was concentrated, so his subordinates did not have much discretionary power.


    Putin mentioned the canal project and the Siberian development part, and he hurried to thank the royal family for participating directly in the project, not as the Kazakh government.


    He brightly said that his approval rating and the public sentiment of him would improve if the Kazakh royal family participated in the canal project.


    He exined in detail about why he called Youngho for a secret meeting at Yaniv¡¯s mansion.


    It was, as expected, about the development of the Arctic route and the Arctic development.


    There was no reason to meet secretly, as this was an issue where he could ask for cooperation through special envoys.


    When Youngho was still wondering about that, Putin offered to drink vodka at the end of the day although he was known not to drink often. He then began to put forth his innermost thoughts.


    Talking to Putin that day made Youngho realize how much Putin had studied and how outspoken and articte an economist he was. The bottom line of his story was to ask for cooperation in wanting to be called Tsar.


    He wanted to regenerate Russia, but hecked the power to do so at the moment, so he asked for Youngho¡¯s help. In exchange, he promised to make sure that he would pay back someday.


    He said that from now on, Youngho could go through Putin to do any kind of business in Russia. He was bold and confident in any way and did not even bother to hide his collection of funds for governing.


    Putin continued to share his memory of the night when the Berlin Wall copsed in 1989. Putin called Moscow to ask for emergency relief, but no one answered. The Soviet Union was already falling apart.


    After its fall, the Soviet Union fell into the pit of chaos and instability due to corruption, unemployment, and intion.


    Putin felt insulted and shamed, and could not even sleep with misery.


    He studied and studied to contemte on how to restore the country.


    Finally, he was elected as the president. At the beginning of his regime, he showed no mercy to those who resisted him. He saved Russia just before it was torn apart.


    From the early days of his inauguration, he began to develop Siberia and the Far East in earnest.


    He said that he wanted to keep the U.S. in check and embrace Europe and join Asia to make the Great Eurasian Union of the 21st century, which would seek new order in the Old World.


    Putin was hoping to be remembered as a leaderparable to the 18th century¡¯s Czar, Peter the Great. That was why he wanted to be called Tsar.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I knew that he was a knowledgeable person, but he is quite outspoken and ambitious.¡±


    ¡°I see Putin differently now, too. He¡¯s shown his innermost thoughts. This means he will leave the decision up to us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s secretly meeting all the leaders of the old satellite countries one by one and scaring them. He¡¯s strangely forcing us to join his idea. I came here because I wanted to know what Putin was thinking, I feel better now that I found out what it is.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°I realized once again that if we don¡¯t have strength, we¡¯ll be taken one day.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be safe for the time being only if we hold Putin¡¯s hand, and take profits from it.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of him?¡±


    ¡°He put out his mind because he was wary of me too. He wants to coexist.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean he¡¯s recognizing the power of the Kazakh royal family?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because we are no match to him. His message to us is to stay out of the way unless you¡¯re going to help.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re rather calm.¡±


    ¡°Russia is stronger than Kazakhstan. I¡¯m not too stupid to admit that. Right now, we don¡¯t stand a chance, so we need to stay low.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to invest?¡±


    ¡°I should. Putin¡¯s promise to pay back means that Kazakhstan will be safe as much as I have invested. That is of course for a while.¡±


    Yaniv looked at Youngho absurdly.


    Even though Putin shared his great ambition as a threat, Youngho did not seem to be shaken a bit.


    ¡°You are quite bold.¡±


    ¡°I want to watch if Putin¡¯s ambition will seed. I¡¯m rather excited since being next to someone strong will make me stronger too.¡±


    ¡°I want to see if Putin¡¯s ambition will seed. I¡¯m looking forward to being strong when I¡¯m next to someone strong.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re going to invest in this, there won¡¯t be a trouble.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to invest too?¡±


    ¡°Putin is forcing it to us, how can I step back? If I want to live in Russia without trouble, I have to invest. But, I¡¯m going to have to set up a safety device too.¡±


    ¡°You can establish yourpany in a foreign country. Sergey would know about it well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s sweet honey for now, but one day I¡¯m going to get caught for it.¡±


    ***


    ¡°You also thought of running Central Asia, didn¡¯t you? And you absorbed Kyrgyzstan. Putin is a man who has arms, manpower, andnd. It¡¯s not strange to have such ambition for a president of such power.¡±


    Eriksson said it as if it was nothing.


    ¡°I was surprised by it, but you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal.¡±


    ¡°The Scandinavians are still under the threat of Russia. There¡¯s nothing to cry about. You know to achieve big, you¡¯ve got to aim high.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t think of me the same as Putin. As long as Kazakhstan is safe, I have no intention to take another country.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sure you have a simr dream, or you wouldn¡¯t have taken Kazakhstan. You did it to achieve peace of the autonomous state and you will do it again to keep Kazakhstan¡¯s peace. When the world pushes you to do so, what are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying I have no such ambition. Putin¡¯s offer is too overwhelming for now.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, maybe we¡¯ve got a good chance. Let Putin chase his impossible grand dream and we can pursue practicality.¡±


    Youngho had to agree that a leader of such big country could have such ambitions. Even China was trying hard with its One Belt One Road. Still, there was no guarantee that one¡¯s dream woulde true.


    ¡°The dice are already rolled. If Putin has expressed his intention, whether he believes in us or not, he has epted Kazakhstan as apanion.¡±


    ¡°You mean a best man, not apanion.¡±


    ¡°What about a best man? We¡¯re the only ones who need to stay alert.¡±

 Chapter 523 - Follow-Up Measures (1)

    <h4>Chapter 523: Follow-Up Measures (1)</h4>


    There was no immediate development of the project because of an agreement between leaders. Specifically, only the expansion of the canal project and the Siberian project were agreed upon while the remaining economic cooperation was only a derative agreement.


    Rted officials should rify what projects Russia wanted to coborate on.


    Since the royal family decided to cooperate with Putin, there was no reason to wait until Russia contacted it first. Waiting for news from Russia and being dragged passively would also hurt Youngho¡¯s pride.


    So Youngho immediately formed and sent a team of officials to Moscow. It was to materialize the expansion work of the Volga-Don Canal. The Kazakh royal family¡¯s involvement in the canal expansion project was exciting news for Russia since its economy was failing. The royal family¡¯s swift move was also immediately responded to by Moscow.


    The Volga-Don Canal construction had been set at five years and the royal family would be contributing 35 percent of the construction costs.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother the construction minister who is busy with the royal family¡¯s affairs.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the royal affairs are the work of Kazakhstan. You don¡¯t need to be sorry. All people know that the royal family is struggling on behalf of the government. I¡¯m rather grateful that you called me.¡±


    The minister was the one who received much praise from Youngho for the construction of the refugee camp. The mere fact that Youngho called him to the pce personally would raise his shoulders.


    There was a sense of relief on his face. This was because officials in Kazakhstan believed that they could keep their positions only when they were favored by their superiors, rather than working ording to their convictions.


    It was a sad thing that the Kazakh officials still could not shake off their old beliefs. Officials were supposed to work autonomously with their convictions, but working to please their bosses was not a usible phenomenon.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to your hard work. Since you¡¯re busy, I¡¯ll get to the point first. Did you get the area estimate for the canal expansion work that I asked for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the drawings and construction details here. The total cost of the construction is about three billion dors but what you¡¯re going to pay is one billion dors.¡±


    The Volga-Don Canal, which connected the Caspian and ck Seas, waspleted in 1952 as a canal connecting the Volga and Don Rivers. It became the first water route to carry the grain and resources of Central Asia.


    The Volga-Don Canal was 101 kilometers long and had 13 dams, artificialkes, and rivers.


    There were 13 floodgates, and 55 percent of the expansion works dedicated to floodgates or artificial canal ways.


    ¡°Minister, please direct the whole construction portion of the Kazakh side.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for trusting my ability for this huge work. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    ¡°Please consider this business as Kazakhstan¡¯s business, not as royal family¡¯s only.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve involved in our ind canal when I was younger. It¡¯s a short experience, but I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. With that experience, I¡¯m sure you are the right person for this job. While you oversee the canal work, you should also get involved in the Siberian development project at the government level. Although the royal family owns the project, it is directly rted to the national interests of Kazakhstan.¡±


    The construction minister who was entrusted with two major tasks, could not hide his excitement.


    The fact that Youngho made him in charge of two Russian projects meant that he was recognized for his skills. People were bound to be loyal to those who recognized their abilities. Given the nature of Youngho who trusted people until the end, he would not have to think about losing his position until the canal project was over.


    Youngho had a reason for putting Kazakh officials into the canal project or the Siberian project.


    It was to let them gain experience by participating in international projects. There had been numerousrge-scale projects in Kazakhstan in the past, but they had never been involved in any cross-country projects. In order for Kazakhstan to step up to the global level, an experience like this was necessary.


    ***


    Sergey visited the Arirang royal territory.


    When Youngho visited Volgograd, he was absent due to something else, so he rushed to see Youngho for a follow-up.


    ¡°Brother, it¡¯s hard to see you these days. If I had time, I would¡¯ve stayed in Volgograd for a few more days to see you, but it didn¡¯t work out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honored to hear that your Highness has wanted to see me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just two of us here. Please feel free to getfortable. We said we¡¯ll be brothers. Are you going back to your words now that I became the Duke?¡±


    ¡°There are only two of us, but it¡¯s an official visit. I¡¯mfortable like this, please don¡¯t push me.¡±


    ¡°Phew! You¡¯re so particr. Then I¡¯ll have to call in Park Jong-il for vodka. This is so awkward that I can¡¯t talk at this point.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding now? My heart has shrunk because of this. I heard Putin almost forced you to participate in the project.¡±


    ¡°I mean, Mr. Yaniv cut to the conclusion without giving you the details again. Would you have forced the Duke of Kazakhstan if you need economic cooperation from him?¡±


    ¡°And I also heard that Putin wants to be called Tsar in the future?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so misleading. Putin said that he dreams of Great Eurasia. If he achieves that he would be like Czar Peter the Great.¡±


    ¡°That is the same as Tsar. He can¡¯t even resolve the economic difficulties now, but dreaming of taking Asia and the Pacific is insane.¡±


    Sergey, who had a Ph.D. in business administration could never understand Putin¡¯s idea of the Great Eurasia which ignored the reality of the nation. He also criticized the president for being delusional, saying that Russia would only be torn apart for his impossible dream.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it a fresh idea? If China¡¯s One Belt One Road business is its own business, then Putin¡¯s Great Eurasia project is going to epass Europe and Asia.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve been charmed by Putin¡¯s magic in that short time, but I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re so willingly involving in this project.¡±


    ¡°This is for Kazakhstan¡¯s well-being. If you have a strong dictator who thinks his dream is great, then sympathizing with him is the way to survive. But it¡¯s not a losing business for us either.¡±


    ¡°After hearing that, I understand a little, but I feel like we¡¯re walking on a tightrope. Putin¡¯s crazy greed will one day shake the world again.¡±


    ¡°Seeing you upset like this proves that you love Russia from the bottom of your heart.¡±


    ¡°If Russians don¡¯t love Russia, who would? Putin may have imed he had saved Russia, but he is mistaken. Russia would¡¯ve survived on its own without him. He only dyed democratization for Russians.¡±


    ¡°As a patriot, you must¡¯ve felt upset since I said that I¡¯d use Russia to make money.¡±


    ¡°Russia will prosper only if many foreignpanies invest in Russia. The canal project and the Siberian development project are essential to Russia. The problem is Putin, he will use all the money that¡¯s collected for his vain dream.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so upset about something that did not happen. By the way, how much does Mr. Yaniv n to invest in the canal project?¡±


    ¡°I heard that the royal family would invest 35 percent of the whole cost. We will invest about 20 percent.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv is also very good at mobilizing cash.¡±


    ¡°Where on earth did you get such a huge amount of funds?¡±


    ¡°I guess you don¡¯t believe me since I told you that it¡¯s the legacy of the Serbian Kingdom multiple times before.¡±


    ¡°You want me to believe that much money has been kept by the descendants for hundreds of years?¡±


    Youngho also knew that his story was ridiculous, but there was no other excuse.


    To Sergey, who was well aware of Youngho¡¯s businesses and financial ability, the most appropriate reason was to describe it as a legacy.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I became the son-inw of the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s heir and founded a dynasty in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°What a mystery.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be curious about other people¡¯s wealth, but please tell me how much Mr. Yaniv can afford to invest, brother.¡±


    ¡°All right. We¡¯ve got some to spare.¡±


    ¡°Well, then. Would you like to buy a shippingpany? The Arctic shipping route is about to open, but I think we¡¯ll have a synergy effect if we did a joint venture.¡±


    ¡°Is that in line with Putin¡¯s idea?¡±


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s a connection since it¡¯s about opening up the Arctic route. But it¡¯s our own business anyway.¡±


    ¡°Since the Duke wants us to invest, we will have to trust him. Wouldn¡¯t the Kazakh royal family take care of us if it goes wrong?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s great to hear. Now, let¡¯s have some vodka and talk about it in detail.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s call Park Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°Hees running at the sound of opening a bottle. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s already prepared snacks to drink since he knows that you¡¯reing.¡±


    ¡°Awesome! Let¡¯s drink all night long, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    ***


    Most people in the Kazakh royal family knew Sergey since he had been doing business with Youngho for a long time.


    Most of the people who attended the drinking party tonight had a close rtionship with him. Kim Chun, who had been supplying products of the Arirang residents, such as carpets, high-end hunting guns, and wolf skin products was also a good friend to Sergey.


    As he joined the party, it became boisterous.


    ¡°Mr. Sergey, we¡¯re not going to be able to supply wolf skin products this year.¡±


    ¡°No way, you¡¯ve received our orders already. What are you talking about, Commissioner?¡±


    ¡°Please protest against His Highness. He has made aw that prevents us from hunting too many wolves. We can¡¯t catch wolves unless theye down to our residence.¡±


    ¡°What? Moderate hunting is directly rted to nomadic people¡¯s lives. Why did you make such aw?¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t stand the pressure of the animal rights groups.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the shepherds will soon arise to protest against it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to incite cattle ranchers. This is for our residents who live off from making wolf skin products. If his Highness kicks me out of here for that, would you take me in Volgograd?


    ¡°If it¡¯s for Commissioner Kim, you¡¯ll always be weed.¡±


    The two chatted in a jokingly manner.


    Everyoneughed at Kim Chun¡¯s exaggerative talk. People were having a great time together since a friend that they knew well was visiting.


    Park Jong-il got so excited that he took the microphone and started singing.


    Youngho also had fun casuallyying down his position as the Duke of Kazakhstan in a long time. The long winter night at the Arirang royal territory was deepening.

 Chapter 524 - Follow-Up Measures (2)

    <h4>Chapter 524: Follow-Up Measures (2)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, Russia is nning arge vacation spot along the Volga-Don Canal.¡±


    ¡°What? A vacation spot, not a logistics base?¡±


    Youngho doubted his ears as he was listening to the construction minister¡¯s report about the consultation with Russian officials about the canal expansion. It was quite surprising that Russia was nning a touristplex, not a logistics base.


    He was also expecting to hear about the Volga-Baltic Waterway since Putin was dreaming of the Great Eurasia. The Volga-Baltic Waterway was long enough to be one of the world¡¯s top five canals with a length of more than 1,100 kilometers, and its economic value was great as it was directly connected to the Antic Ocean. If Youngho could also get his hands on the expansion of the Volga-Baltic, there would be a tremendous synergy with the Siberian development project.


    ¡°They asked us if we¡¯d join their project since they have chosen a scenic spot along the canal to build amodations and recreational facilities.¡±


    ¡°Did you mention the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway?¡±


    ¡°The Russian officials said that they decided not to get their hands on it now because it¡¯ll cost them an astronomical amount of money.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difficulty in digging up the existing canal and building bridges? Isn¡¯t it too premature for Russia to give up?¡±


    The Volga-Baltic Waterway was a direct waterway to the Antic and Arctic seas. If this canal was expanded,rge ships could enter the Caspian Sea through the Baltic Sea.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s too early to be disappointed. Russian officials do think that the Volga-Baltic should be expanded sooner orter, but they can¡¯t afford to worry about the construction costs now, so instead, they want to draw us into the Volga-Don tourist project as they wish.¡±


    ¡°If they can secure the construction costs, would they still think they¡¯ll expand it?¡±


    The opportunity was not lost yet.


    If they could enter the Caspian Sea through the Baltic Sea, many countries would be intrigued. European countries were so aware of the importance of a canal, so Youngho could attract their investment if he promoted it well, but he would have to find a way to avoid economic sanctions that were already applied to Russia.


    ¡°Please tell the Russian officials that we can¡¯t participate in the recreational facilities. It¡¯s not a business of our nature. We can¡¯t afford to spend the royal family¡¯s funds into the tourist entertainment business.¡±


    ¡°The economic partnership on the Volga-Don is already been promised orally, isn¡¯t it? It could be misleading.¡±


    ¡°Tell that the Kazakh royal family is only interested in the infrastructure industry for the development of the two countries, so we¡¯ll actively consider it if it was for if it¡¯s the Volga-Baltic Waterway.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the waterway is too big of a project if it¡¯s only us that participate in it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask to open the way for Europeanpanies to participate.¡±


    ¡°Ah...!¡±


    This kind of project would quicklye to a conclusion only when the private sector participated, and it was a project that would make Europe¡¯s best-in-sspanies drooling.


    It was still premature for European Union countries to break through the barriers of economic sanctions at the government level.


    The participation of European privatepanies would depend on what safeguards Russia had in ce to guarantee the interests of privatepanies.


    Putin did not ask Youngho openly, but what he meant was to attract Western privatepanies.


    ¡°Since our side has been going to Russia for this project only, let the Russians alsoe to us.¡±


    ¡°Russia is the host country, wouldn¡¯t it be easy to for us to go there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s less than two hours away by ne. It¡¯s also faster for them to get here than going to divostok. It won¡¯t be so difficult for them. Tell them that the royal family has invited them, then some Russian businessmen will also apany them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a government-led business. Do you want to involve private businessmen?¡±


    ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in the project when Mr. Yaniv of Volgograd is part of it already?¡±


    Youngho wanted to meet Putin¡¯s close associates so that he could understand Putin¡¯s n more thoroughly. He was curious if Putin really sought to be an emperor or was he only doing it out of his personal greed.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Eriksson, what would be the right offer to attract Europeanpanies to the Volga-Baltic Waterway project?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Putin should promise safety and transparent management first and foremost for them. There won¡¯t be anypany that wille forward if the management was left to Russia only.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s already been promised to us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a canal that¡¯s different in size from the Volga-Don Canal. We have to leave management to investment consortiumpanies to advance.¡±


    ¡°It would be easy to talk to Putin because he knows about the economy and management well.¡±


    Putin would probably offer a benefit in return for the investingpanies as well since many Westernpanies had been encouraged to invest in Russia as they received incentives of resource development and other business in Russia.


    ¡°I wonder if Basten of the Information Agency would be interested in this.¡±


    ¡°It would be difficult for him to invest in Russia since thepany is Sweden-based. Even now, Russia is threatening Scandinavia, so he won¡¯t be able to openly invest in the project, but I¡¯m sure he has other connections who¡¯d be interested in it.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to talk to him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d love to hear it. But Your Highness, are you able to invest in two canal projects?¡±


    ¡°Eriksson, I¡¯ve told you a few times there¡¯s a widow¡¯s cruse in the royal family. You really don¡¯t believe it, do you?¡±


    Eriksson seemed to be worried about Youngho¡¯s financial strength just like Sergey in Volgograd. However, Youngho could not say that he had robbed President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds.


    ¡°I have enough funds, so don¡¯t worry. And even if I don¡¯t have anything, I shouldn¡¯t be backing off on a great opportunity. The Korean proverb says that there is always a way out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting saying. Well, why don¡¯t youe with me to Sweden since you don¡¯t have much domestic work these days?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you after hearing Russia¡¯s confirmation. Putin has expressed his will to use me, so I¡¯ll y along with his n.¡±


    ¡°That sounds great. With Russia¡¯s affirmation, you¡¯ll get rid of uncertainty. Then Russia won¡¯t touch Kazakhstan for a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, I hope so.¡±


    ¡°When the construction of the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway begins, Russia will have to actuallye back to the internationalmunity. It must have learned the painful fact that you can¡¯t do anything when being a maverick.¡±


    ¡°Putin still has ambition, so he¡¯s still a person to be careful about.¡±


    ¡°The more regrpanies enter Russia, the more Russians will wake up. Even the greatest dictator can¡¯t ignore the people¡¯s aspirations.¡±


    ***


    Russian officials came to the Arirang royal territory less than a week after Youngho mentioned about the Volga-Baltic Waterway.


    In other words, they seized the opportunity.


    They also brought all the materials about the waterway and briefed Youngho before leaving. It seemed that Russia had thoroughly prepared for the expansion of the waterway. The 1,100-kilometer Volga-Baltic Waterway was eleven times the size of the Volga-Don Canal, with its huge size, it would be a huge project.


    Russia had been preparing this for five years and spent a lot of money on the basic design but could not proceed with the n due to its economic difficulties.


    This was proof that Russia was thirsty for Western capital.


    As the waterway management performance continued to remain in the surplus, Youngho was convinced that the surplus would expand further if the waterway was expanded and the capacity was increased. It would have a great synergy effect if advanced management techniques were introduced to the waterway.


    So Youngho made a proposal to form a waterway operationpany into a consortium and waited for Putin¡¯s answer.


    -Your Highness, I¡¯m sorry to have made you wait this long. Mr. President¡¯s letter will arrive soon.


    ¡°What do you mean a personal letter?¡±


    It was a call from a businessman who was Putin¡¯s close associate who visited the Arirang state with the Russian officials recently.


    -Mr. President has authorized the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, which you suggested.


    ¡°He¡¯s made a difficult decision.¡±


    -So he mentioned the affirmation of transparent management directly in the letter.


    ¡°You mean it¡¯s a personal letter that can be shared.¡±


    -That¡¯s right. It¡¯s Russia¡¯smitment to the waterway project because it specifies not only institutional safeguards for Westernpanies investing in but also the benefits in return. So, it can be recognized as an official document.


    ¡°Please say thank you for his decision.¡±


    -It¡¯s still unclear whether foreignpanies will participate, but we appreciate that Your Highness has opened the door for Russia. Regardless of the result, President Putin says he owes you a great deal.


    ¡°No problem. Kazakhstan will also greatly benefit from the waterway development. The Volga-Baltic Waterway is a business that will appeal to everyone. It will happen no matter whoes forward.¡±


    -I look forward to the good news.


    ¡°I¡¯ll contact you after meeting my friends in Europe,¡±


    Willingness to even use a hand-written personal letter was evidence that Putin was greatly eager for this project.


    It was because Youngho¡¯s participation opened a possibility of the waterway project which could not be processed under Russia¡¯s economic power.


    No matter what effect his letter might have on Western businessmen, it was important that he left Youngho in charge of the project for now.


    Youngho came to see Eriksson after he finished the call.


    ¡°Eriksson, I wonder if Westernpanies would ever trust Putin even if he sent them a personal letter.¡±


    ¡°The Westernpanies would want to hear that Your Highness will be responsible for this project.¡±


    ¡°Trying wouldn¡¯t do any harm. Just tell them that the royal family will be responsible.¡±


    ¡°If this goes wrong, our royal family should be held ountable. Wouldn¡¯t it be risky?¡±


    ¡°Even if the Kazakh royal family is in charge of it, the business is still in Russia. I¡¯d rather dissuadepanies from jumping in without a full awareness of that.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you seem to believe that the waterway project willst forever.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no permanent thing in business. Sometimes, you¡¯ll have sess. And sometimes. it¡¯s rather important to know what you earned from the business.¡±


    ¡°So, are you saying it¡¯s like an adventure?¡±


    ¡°The waterway project has to be handed over to the Russian government after a certain period of time, anyway. I don¡¯t know how long that period will be, but as long as the multinationals do business in Russia, Putin wouldn¡¯t make less trouble.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m doing business with a troubled teenager, so I¡¯m nervous.¡±


    ¡°If Putin heard it, he¡¯d be sorry.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s your intention, I feel much less burdened. I hope we could get something else out of this business regardless of its sess.¡±

 Chapter 525 - The Waterway Business (1)

    <h4>Chapter 525: The Waterway Business (1)</h4>


    The road from the Caspian Sea to the Baltic Sea was not just a single canal.


    Starting from the upper reaches of the Volga River, it met with the Moscow River, and then again the waterway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg was connected to it, and it led to the Baltic Sea.


    It was a long stretch from the south Caspian Sea to Saint Petersburg, but due to natural rivers andkes along the way, there were not many artificially made waterways.


    That waterway expansion was just a job connecting theke and the river to a water channel, but because of Russia¡¯s hugendmass, it was more than 1,100 kilometers long.


    When Youngho contacted Basten of the Information Agency, he invited Youngho to meet in Frankfurt, Germany.


    In his heart, he wanted to invite investors from all over the world to Kazakhstan, but Eriksson actively stopped him. He worried that it could be misleading to the foreign countries and investors if the royal family had an investment briefing in the royal territory since Youngho was already in charge of the Russian waterway project.


    ¡°Russia left it to us because it¡¯s not in a position to do it on its own. Would they think that Kazakhstan is a subordinate state of Russia or something?¡±


    ¡°You have to think about the positions of our allies, the United Kingdom and the United States.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already fully exined the situation to the intelligence and State Departments of both countries, but should we still be cautious?¡±


    ¡°Even if you¡¯ve done some behind-the-scenes work, don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re investing in a country that¡¯s under economic sanctions. The politicians in both countries could be haunted by the media because of this, so it¡¯s better for the sake of the future to do this quiet in a foreign country.¡±


    Youngho knew what Eriksson was worried about, but the Russian waterway expansion project was a must-have project for Kazakhstan to advance into Europe.


    There was an ovend route through Azerbaijan and Georgia, but there was no better transportation than the waterway to transport huge amounts of grain andnd resources. Compared to trucks and trains, the volume of goods carried by ships was iparably greater. Youngho rather thought that the expansion was for Central Asia and Europe, not for Russia.


    ¡°Since you are worried, I won¡¯t be making a fuss, but it might not be so promising to investors if we keep it a low-profile.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal family is at the forefront of the business, so trust is guaranteed. Russia is in a situation where it won¡¯t be strange if it went bankrupt now.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it favor us if Russia went bankrupt?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s convenient for us to have the business go smoothly.¡±


    ¡°The waterway project is bound to work regardless of the economic situation in Russia.¡±


    ***


    There were no vacancies in therge meeting room at the Arirang Hotel in Frankfurt, with big businessmen from each country. They were Basten¡¯s connections who were interested in the waterway project.


    There could not be much disagreement because they had reviewed the n that Youngho sent to them beforehand.


    When Eriksson finished his briefing, people raised their hands for questions, but they were about peripheral issues. Their faces all looked bright as they had already made their decision.


    Among the participants, a representative of a Frenchpany asked an unusual question, so Youngho was answering him with a microphone.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway was not proposed by the Russian government but by the Kazakh royal family. Is there any chance that the Russian government will veto midway?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t ever happen. The project has a huge impact on the domestic economy, Russia can¡¯t refuse it because of its economic situation now.¡±


    ¡°Putin¡¯s letter is the only document that secures that the waterway will be run by a multinationals consortium, not by itself in Russia. Is there any other safety device?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you all here because you have the desire to stick with the project even if it had little risk? You have to risk some when you invest in a socialist country.¡±


    ¡°Can we get the specifics of the benefits in return that Putin offered?¡±


    ¡°It depends on your own ability. Of course, our royal family will be around, but I¡¯ll tell you that there are limits.¡±


    ¡°Are you confident that this project will seed?¡±


    ¡°Russia has nned to expand the Volga-Baltic for many years, but it had been dyed due to the current economic situation. The current waterway is already making surplus profits. I strongly believe that there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll fail if we adopt advanced management techniques.¡±


    There was more talk after that, but the whole meeting ended sessfully.


    Thepanies that were present today were nine, including the royal family, and everypany decided to invest without exception. The total cost was tentatively set at 5.2 billion dors which were estimated by the Russian side.


    The royal family had agreed to contribute a billion dors, while the eightpanies that were present today would contribute 300 million to 600 million dors each at least.


    Now, the only work left before the contracts were signed was to send a due diligence team to Russia to check the appropriateness of the construction cost.


    When that was over, the royal family would sign a memorandum of understanding first with the Russian government.


    They also agreed to have the consortium¡¯s operating office in Frankfurt.


    ¡°I guess Putin must¡¯ve been hasty since he put the Kazakh royal family in the front.¡±


    ¡°He would¡¯ve thought that the royal family is the most easygoing partner.¡±


    ¡°Do you think so?¡±


    As soon as the meeting was over, Basten almost dragged Youngho to a guest room and asked all kinds of questions. Since he was the representative of the Information Agency, he must have had a lot of information he should know about this project.


    He was curious about what Putin¡¯s intention was.


    ¡°Putin is using Kazakhstan as a hidden card. Just by doing joint projects with the only Central Asian country that the United States and Europe support, Russia can increase its national credibility.¡±


    ¡°Duke, what do you see as Putin¡¯s goal?¡±


    ¡°Russia¡¯s economic revival should be his priority. Through the waterway, he wants to boost domestic demand. Ultimately, he wants to get the European logistics through the waterway. The rest of the traded goods will be covered by a Trans-Siberian train.¡±


    ¡°He must be dreaming of the Great Eurasia as we expected.¡±


    ¡°As you must¡¯ve heard from Eriksson, Putin¡¯s dream is just a dream. Couldn¡¯t a leader of a giant country have such a dream? When a multinational consortium takes over waterway management, he¡¯lle to his senses.¡±


    Russia could not afford the project due to its bad economic situation now, but this was a project that Russia would get its hands on even if no one came forward to invest now. If that happened, people would have to pay a high toll to use the waterway.


    It would be unfair, butpanies would pay such high tolls since they could transport a lot of goods at once through the waterway. For apany, this was such a tempting and a much faster route than to bypass the Antic and Mediterranean seas.


    Since it was obvious that that would happen in the future, it was better for Youngho and otherpanies to take the lead in co-management by paying for the waterway project now. Youngho wondered how much management shares of the waterway Russia would give if he paid 5.2 billion dors.


    From now on, a tug-of-war between the Russian government, and the participatingpanies would be waiting for them.


    ***


    Since Youngho was in Frankfurt, he did not want to leave without seeing his sister¡¯s family and Zeynep. He called them to the Arirang Hotel to avoid the hassle of security.


    Cho Sang-chun nagged that he was too busy due to Zeynep Wine¡¯s growing poprity in the European market. The premium wine produced by the royal family in Baku was established as a favorite in the upper European society.


    It tasted delicious, but the rare value of the royal wine was also a selling point.


    Despite everyone¡¯s excitement, Zeynep and Park Seo-young were eating quietly on one side of the table.


    They had grown up as bigdies now that it was hard to talk to them easily. They were eating only a small portion of food for diet.


    ¡°Don¡¯t y with your food and eat properly. Otherwise, you¡¯ll go back to your room and eat ramen at midnight.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? We are full already, and we¡¯ve been eating well.¡±


    ¡°Look at your waist! If you¡¯ve eaten well, you must look healthier than that. Do you only live on water?¡±


    ¡°Wahaha, do we look that thin?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like a stick. Are you seeing some guytely?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I hope I have a guy. Because of the security guards, no man wants to be around me.¡±


    ¡°That means they¡¯re doing a great job! I should reward them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not funny. I¡¯m not going toe and see you at all during the summer break if you keep being protective like that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t scare me, Zeynep. You¡¯ll be crawling back for allowance, anyway. Hey, it¡¯s your break soon. Aren¡¯t youing to the pce?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m nning a trip to Spain with Seo-young...¡±


    ¡°Stop by home before you go. Your sister and the kids miss you so much.¡±


    ¡°I saw them a month ago, and... I¡¯ve already bought a ticket.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The head of the security team applied to use a small jet for your trip already. Don¡¯t try to get out of this. Also, you need the security team for your trip. Spain is not a safe ce.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Zeynep ruffled her hair with her hand and began to scoop up the food from her te. It seemed that she wanted to show off her body at a beach in Spain, but all of her ns would fall through if the bodyguards would be surrounding her.


    ¡°Spain is cold in winter, so you¡¯ll have to stop thinking about wearing a bikini on the beach.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me. I¡¯m going to give up on my diet from now on.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Youngho¡¯s teasing of Zeynep seemed like that of a father and daughter.


    He felt rxed as he got together with his family. It seemed that he had been missing this little happiness for a while.


    While he was teasing Zeynep, he was drinking with Cho Sang-chun for a long time. Park Seo-young and Zeynep also asked for sses as they were adults now. Youngho had so much fun with them that he lost track of time as he drank.


    He got fully drunk that night, forgetting theplicated and busy reality.


    The next day, he woke up and began to recall what had happened the night before. He was surprised because he knew that he had promised something to Zeynep and Seo-young while drinking, but he could not remember what it was.


    Since Zeynep was an borate person, she would have recorded it on her smartphone.


    She must have had set it up for Youngho in order to get her way. It was obvious that he had fallen for their cute trick.

 Chapter 526 - The Waterway Business (2)

    <h4>Chapter 526: The Waterway Business (2)</h4>


    Kazakhstan also had a canal.


    It was created in thete 60s to foster Kazakhstan¡¯s agricultural and livestock industries, which was now 451 kilometers long.


    It was the waterway that brought the Irtysh River to the central ind province of Karaganda. The Irtysh-Karaganda canal was a channel for developing agriculture and livestock, so it was awkward to call it a canal. The width and depth of the river were jagged, so it was not enough to sail a ship and carry logistics.


    However, the waterway had dramatically increased the area of agricultural cultivation, making Kazakhstan¡¯s production more advanced than Ukraine¡¯s.


    Many wanted to expand the waterway to use it as a canal, but it was a route to North and South, so it was irrelevant to East-West trade, which was actually worth the investment. Moreover, it was an ind waterway that was not connected to the sea.


    If a proper canal was built in Kazakhstan, it would be more economical to connect deep ind with the Ural River, which was connected with the Caspian Sea. The Ural River was the river adjacent to the Arirang royal territory.


    The river was as long as 2,534 kilometers. It originated in the Ural Mountains and flowed southward, then in the Russian border town of Orsk, it veered away. From Oral region of Kazakhstan, it turned to south again and flowed to the Caspian Sea, dividing Western Kazakhstan into north and south.


    Eighty percent of the river¡¯s flow was snow-melt water in the Ural Mountains. Peoplemonly referred to the river as the boundary dividing Asia and Europe.


    In fact, some part of Kazakhstan was Europe and some part of it was Asia, and the Arirang royal territory was part of Europe.


    On the way back to the pce after visiting the royal shipyard, he stopped his car for a while and looked at the river.


    In the middle of the river, there was already an icebreaker cutting through the ice.


    Usually, the river got frozen in December, but the early cold this year had already frozen the river solid even though it was only the end of November.


    Youngho quivered in cold and turned around to return to the pce, but Kim Chun, who was standing next to him, said that he would buy a drink. He was being overly chatty because Youngho had just ordered two 30,000-ton and 50,000-ton ships each at the shipyard.


    He hastily ordered those ships in advance in preparation for the Russian waterway expansion. Since Kim Chun had been nagging Youngho to buy a 50,000-ton ship to sail into the Caspian Sea, he was happy to hear the news.


    ¡°Commissioner, now that we can digest all of the grains produced in Kazakhstan, please don¡¯t ask further.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, people will think that I wanted to order big ships out of my greed if they heard you. Wait and see, you¡¯ll need a bigger ship in the future.¡±


    ¡°The Volga-Don canal is fine, but even if the Volga-Baltic is expanded, 50,000-ton ships are too high to go through it because of the bridges everywhere.¡±


    Due to so many bridges in the Volga-Baltic Waterway, it was concluded that the vessel to be used could not be over 30,000 tons because the height should be lowered as much as possible.


    ¡°Your Highness, if we set up some floodgates in the Ural River, we can transport goods to the Oral region.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be economic because we don¡¯t have a huge volume of logistics going into the region.¡±


    ¡°If you go about 100 kilometers up to the river, we don¡¯t even have many 1,000-ton-ss vessels. It¡¯s a shame. Why don¡¯t we investigate its feasibility just in case?¡±


    The distance from the Arirang state to the city of Oral was about 500 kilometers. Even though it was a long stretch, the water there was abundant. It would be a valuable waterway if they could fix a few ces along the way. However, sedimentary soil had umted on the riverbed, so they must be removed, and its economic value must be examined.


    ¡°In order to develop the West, we should make roads or canals, but it¡¯s doesn¡¯t seem so economical because we don¡¯t have a lot of logistics.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the logistics naturally increase if we make a waterway avable? Just a rough dredging would give you plenty of room for shallow-draught ships for canals.¡±


    ¡°A canal ship?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if the ship is only going to sail around the ind waterways, not to the sea, wouldn¡¯t it be okay to have a t bottom?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t thought of that before. There are no waves, so you don¡¯t have to worry about the resilience. If wee up with a canal vessel, we won¡¯t even have to do much dredging work.¡±


    Youngho had never thought about vessels with a t-bottom even though many ships that sailed around the world¡¯s big rivers were made that way. Such ships would not be able to sail to the sea, but having canal ships would decrease the construction cost of the canal if it was too excessive.


    Kim Chun¡¯s idea just opened the possibility of the Ural River waterway project for Youngho.


    ***


    Kulibayev, the construction minister of Kazakhstan, had been working hard these days.


    Although it was not a government-sponsored project, he was recognized by the Duke and selected to lead the Russian canal project.


    In addition, he was asked to pay attention to the Siberian development project.


    Except for the prime minister and the defense minister among government ministers, he was most likely the only minister who received the attention of the royal family.


    At the beginning of the new government, the royal family was only interested in the national defense, but he was able to be in the spotlight as he was needed for the construction of the Uyghur refugee camp, and now he was in and out of the royal pce every week on the royal jet.


    Today, he was on his way to the pce again after receiving a call that the Duke needed him in a hurry. As he visited the pce often, even Serbian knights guarding the pce said hello in a friendly manner as they got to know him.


    Kulibayev, who was saluted by knights and happily stepped into the pce, was even exchanging light jokes with Suh Min-seok in the secretary¡¯s office.


    ¡°Wee, minister. How was your flight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kind of worried that I won¡¯t be able to fly on a regr ne again because the royal jet is sofortable.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get scared of a small ne?¡±


    ¡°Oh, what are you talking about? I would¡¯ve been on a domestic airne and go through the hassle if it wasn¡¯t for the royal jet. I¡¯m just grateful for Her Majesty and His Highness¡¯s kindness.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to pretend that you like the flight. I know how it is...¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Was it too obvious? By the way, do you know why the Duke was suddenly in such a hurry?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because of the construction of the Ural River waterway. His Highness will tell you about it in detail.¡±


    ¡°A waterway construction on the Ural River?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness is waiting for you. You can now enter his room.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Am I thest visitor today?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Should we taste the Ural trout after we¡¯re done?¡±


    ¡°Sounds great!¡±


    Kulibayev diligently recalled data about the Ural River in his head as he opened Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I call you here too many times these days. I was going to talk to you on the phone, but I¡¯ve been pushing you so hard these, so I wanted to serve you some Ural trout tonight.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so grateful for your gesture. I¡¯m only doing my job as a public servant.¡±


    ¡°It takes a while to dress the trout, so I¡¯d like to hear your expert advice while we wait.¡±


    ¡°Ask away, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°What can I do to make good use of the Ural River? Do you have some ideas?¡±


    ¡°Secretary Suh just briefly told me about the waterway construction. The Ural River basin is so vast that it¡¯s a little overwhelming, but I¡¯ll study about it. As you may well know, the river that rises during the thawing season is flooding the area frequently. Thanks to this, thend nearby is fertile and agricultural productivity is higher than in other areas. If you¡¯d develop the waterway, you¡¯d have to endure farmers¡¯ resistance too.¡±


    ¡°Could you find ways to develop the waterway without disrupting agricultural production?¡±


    Youngho quickly added because he feared opposition.


    The Arirang territory was also an area where the water from the Ural River was used to farm and create pasturnds. Agriculture could be greatly affected by the development of the Ural River. However, there were plenty of other farnds in Kazakhstan that were not near the Ural River.


    ¡°In order for ships to travel on a waterway, dredging is essential, and with dredging work, the river will be lowered in height. Except for the thawing season where there¡¯s a lot of flow, irrigation-dependent farms would be affected by the construction. That¡¯s why I dared to say it¡¯s a little bit overwhelming work.¡±


    ¡°What if we set up floodgates? The water level won¡¯t be lowered in the dry season, and it won¡¯t disrupt agriculture.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, but there¡¯s the hassle of building a bank. The banks can cause an ecological disturbance.¡±


    ¡°I see. I only thought of dredging and installing floodgates, but after hearing your words, this is more work than I thought.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s nothing to be negative about. All of Kazakhstan¡¯s rivers andkes now are already destroyed by Soviet Union¡¯s overdevelopment and the spread of pesticides, so they won¡¯t get any worse. Rather, waterway development can help heal the environment.¡±


    ¡®What is this guy telling me? So can we do it or not?¡¯


    ¡°Minister, I feel like I¡¯m going up and down listening to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to confuse you, Your Highness. I have to put it simply, but I guess I¡¯ve been beating around the bush.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave it open and investigate it in depth?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ll leave it to me, I¡¯ll work my best to take a look at the scene ande up with the best result.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t overdo it. If the Construction Minister, the backbone of the country, gets sick, that¡¯s a national loss.¡±


    He looked moved because of what Youngho¡¯s said.


    Although he said it to encourage him, he really meant it since the construction minister was doing so much work passionately. There would be trouble if he got sick.


    Youngho needed such loyal people around him now. He nned to encourage other ministers this way as well.


    With Youngho¡¯s trust, the construction minister would be going in and out of the area of the Ural River excessively from now on.

 Chapter 527 - The Threshold (1)

    <h4>Chapter 527: The Threshold (1)</h4>


    With the participation of the royal family in the expansion of the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway, Youngho was confident that there would be no Russia¡¯s hostile action against Kazakhstan for the time being.


    It did not mean that it was not a threat anymore. Russia was different from China, but it was still one of Kazakhstan¡¯s tentative enemies as long as Russia did not turn into a democratic state.


    Apart from Russia, there was a problem that had been getting on Youngho¡¯s nerves. It was the Uyghur refugee problem.


    With the number of Uyghur refugees already reaching over 20,000, there was a high possibility that they would turn into scourge in Kazakhstan.


    Although they were a member of the same race with the Kazakh people and were epted by them, they were merely a group of idle people now, but they were not in a position to immediately engage in economic activities.


    Youngho was agonizing over them since he could not drive them into the streets.


    Most of the Uyghurs were in agriculture and livestock business because Chinese people drove them away from the cities.


    Polls were frequently conducted to refer to the management of state affairs. And as Uyghur refugees grew in the country, Kazakh citizens began toin about their taxes being used on the refugees. Many also worried that having Uyghur refugees would provoke China.


    Because the results of the polls were so serious, Youngho rushed to the capital to settle the situation.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, isn¡¯t this due to theck of publicity about government policy?¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to say. It¡¯s our fault.¡±


    ¡°If public opinion is negative, then we should ask for their understanding first. I¡¯ll try to persuade them because it would only get worse if the government came forward and tried to persuade them. The Uyghur refugees in the camps must be also ufortable. We need to encourage both the people all together.¡±


    ¡°That must be true. The Uyghurs must be paying attention to the public opinion toward them...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we need to calm it down in the early stage. In order to live harmoniously in the future, Kazakh people should show generosity toward Uyghurs now by enduring them.¡±


    If Uyghur refugees were aware of the public opinion about them, they would be deeply saddened.


    They crossed the border risking their lives and it would be extremely discouraging to know that they were not weed by the public.


    This was not good for Kazakhstan either since Uyghurs¡¯ anxiety and anger could turn into a potential social anxiety.


    ***


    The capital of Kazakhstan was originally Almaty, but it was too far south, so President Nazarbayev picked the northern province of Astana as the nation¡¯s administrative capital in 1997. Now it had a poption of more than 700,000 people.


    In the process of switching the capital and making it thergest city in Central Asia, 18.5 billion dors of oil money was put in. It was an amount that was worth nearly 40 billion dors in the current time.


    He dreamed of a financial and transportation hub city like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but because he focused on building magnificent structures and sculptures, it did not have homely and cute structures as European cities.


    If the money had been invested into national territory development, high-tech industries, and education research, Kazakhstan would have be an advanced country already.


    Still, people were very proud of Astana. There was a sense of pride in creating such a global city in such a short period of time.


    Astana had arge number of exhibition halls and buildings, one of which was the Presidential Pce. For security reasons; the surrounding area was empty and only the magnificent building stood tall alone.


    The government rmended that the presidential pce be used as a royal pce, but Youngho firmly refused and returned it to the public. Instead, a small pce was being built inside the royal guards¡¯mand.


    There was a long way to go before the pce waspleted, so Youngho was now announcing a public statement in the temporary office of themand building.


    There was not much content in the public state.


    It was all about appealing to the hearts of the public. However, the Kazakh citizens were touched by the fact that the Duke of the royal family was exining the situation in detail and asking for people¡¯s understanding.


    Youngho first said that as a leading country of Central Asia, Kazakhstan should defend its dignity by taking care of its neighbors in need. Then he exined how more poption was needed for the bnced national development. In that context, receiving Uyghurs would benefit the Kazakh people. In the end, he stressed that Kazakhstan could be on the threshold of bing an advanced country within a few years.


    He sent a message of hope that Kazakhstan would guarantee decent jobs, a nation of integrity, and the right to live like a human being, where freedom was guaranteed.


    As the camera lights went out, Prime Minister Kasim consoled Youngho for his hard work.


    ¡°Your Highness, how can you raise the national ie to the level of advanced countries in such a short period of time?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Mr. Prime Minister, you are mistaken about what I said. I promised an advanced country, not to be an economic powerhouse.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you¡¯re saying?¡±


    ¡°Well, it depends on how our people epted it. Now we have to start improving people¡¯s civil awareness to be an advanced nation.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I intend to make a booklet of what the real developed world means and distribute it to the entire nation as a textbook. I think that in order to be an advanced country, economic independence is a natural thing and that freedom, equality, magnanimity, and tolerance must be included. These are the first priority.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s idea of advanced country was not about wealth, it was about a country that was developed evenly, epassing national ie, industrialization standards, politics, society, and culture in order to be recognized as an advanced country by others. Education levels, living standards, and quality of life would also be considered.


    ¡°I see. It would be a great country if all people had that sense in their minds.¡±


    ¡°In the beginning, we will intentionally put the idea in people¡¯s minds, and if the royal family and the government be their role models, we will foster civic awareness in a short period of time.¡±


    Economic development was not a huge issue since it could be achieved within a short period of time. Fostering people¡¯s civic awareness and their standards were more important in bing an advanced country.


    In Kazakhstan, people¡¯s minds should be reformed in order to achieve that.


    ¡°Choosing you and Her Majesty is probably the best thing our people did in history.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t tter me too much. I didn¡¯t say I have that consciousness. I¡¯m a greedy businessman.¡±


    ¡°There should be no tolerance for the enemy, you are endlessly generous to your own people. Where in the world is the royal family offering all its wealth for the people? Our people are really blessed.¡±


    Youngho felt shameful since his money was only from President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds. However, he was pleased to hear Prime Minister¡¯s praise to the point where he actually thought about spending all of his wealth for the people of Kazakhstan.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness! Public opinion has changedpletely. State support has increased by six percent. In addition, the negative view of Uyghur refugees has almost disappeared.¡±


    Suh Min-seok excitedly reported the results of the recent poll.


    As the royal family stepped up to issue a public appeal, the public was pleased by it. Also, his assurance that the country would be an advanced country in the near future was quite appealing.


    ¡°Only up by six percent?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an extreme growth. It¡¯s normal for the state guidance to fluctuate 2-3 percent. You¡¯ve got 89 percent of the state support rate now. Foreign media won¡¯t even trust these figures.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a shame that it didn¡¯t reach 90 percent. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Youngho said it to tease Suh Min-seok, but he looked down. It was because he was too excited for the growth rate, but Youngho did not approve of it.


    ¡°Min-seok, you should focus on making a booklet about advanced civic awareness from now on. Don¡¯t do anything else. If necessary, contact humanity professors for an expert advice.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it is possible to foster an advanced mindset? That¡¯s a social issue. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be easy for the Kazakhs to change from books. They¡¯ve been living a nomadic life for a long time. You¡¯d need to force the basic order.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t restrict them. It should be left to them freely. If we continue to promote it, they¡¯ll follow the order in embarrassment. We need to put a lot of examples of advanced countries and let them wake up to themselves.¡±


    It is also too much to expect a change overnight.


    The idea of making a booklet was a bit childish, but most people were so ignorant that they needed some guidelines.


    Enlightenment was a big deal, but Youngho was hopeful since he heard that Kazakhstan¡¯s civic awareness changed greatly after the Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan.


    In order for them to live like a decent human being, the country also needed to create decent jobs.


    Social security could not raise the economic level of all the people.


    The government had been giving away excessive social security measures to people with its oil money, and it had made people lose motivation for work and in life.


    It is absurd to want a normal life while not working. People could only live a satisfactory life when they had a rewarding job that gave them a sense of aplishment. Only a man who had worked hard could enjoy his spare time and spend it well because he would know how precious the leisure time was.


    Then there should be adequate recreation facilities everywhere for people to enjoy, but there were not many of them in the country yet.


    The royal family had just begun building vacation facilities near Almaty or in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.


    Youngho¡¯s mind got busy because he mentioned about the advanced country to the Kazakh public already. The only person whom he could discuss was the Minister of Construction.


    When he called, he rushed to the pce. These days, he was almost living in the royal territory because of the construction of the Ural River waterway.

 Chapter 528 - The Threshold (2)

    <h4>Chapter 528: The Threshold (2)</h4>


    ¡°I think we should make you a ministerial office in the royal pce.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you for your consideration, Your Highness, but Secretary Suh has set up a separate office for me at the administration building. It¡¯s ratherfortable there because I have to have frequent meetings with working-level officials.¡±


    ¡°I asked you toe to see me because I wanted to find sites to build some leisure facilities. It¡¯s sad that our people don¡¯t have many facilities for leisure activities.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is a vast country that there are too many fields and mountains. Transportation is quite inconvenient even if people wanted to go enjoy leisure activities.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to build such facilities all over the nation. If they¡¯re near your home, you don¡¯t have to go far, do they?¡±


    ¡°With the exception of the eastern and southern parts of the country, we don¡¯t have any special scenic spots. Midwest and West are only filled with wilderness, and there¡¯s no ce to go. The only ce to see would be the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°The Caspian Sea can be a sight to see? ¡±


    ¡°Most of the Kazakhs are people who haven¡¯t even seen the sea. The same goes for people in other countries in Central Asia. If we build a recreational facility where the Caspian Sea is right in sight, we can also do marine sports. It will be a fine facility.¡±


    The fact that the Caspian Sea could be a national recreation facility was good news because Kazakhstan¡¯s coastline of the Caspian Sea was twice as long as other adjacent countries¡¯ coastlines such as Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.


    The international waters of the Caspian Sea were also the ce where the Kazakh Navy exercised the overwhelming force of all.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just fine. With amodations, it¡¯ll be a great resort in itself.¡±


    ¡°This is your chance to showcase the naval capabilities to our people. People will feel infinite pride when they look at the overwhelming naval power.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal with a few missile ships, but it¡¯s true that we have no opponent in the Caspian Sea since we¡¯re also guarding the waters off Azerbaijan.¡±


    Even though Russia wanted to build up its naval power in the Caspian Sea, it was unable to do so because of its economic power.


    In the meantime, Kazakhstan introduced three 500-ton-ss missile ships and brought in about missile ships modified from retired U.S. coastal patrol boats. If Russia knew that even small-sized submarines were secretly being built, it would flip out.


    ¡°Minister, can you search for a suitable ce for a vacation spot along the coastline?¡±


    ¡°I don`t know if there is a suitable site because most of the coastline is covered with an offshore oilfield. Some of the beaches will be polluted.¡±


    ¡°I heard that many Chinesepanies participated in offshore oil fields, right?¡±


    ¡°They took over Canadian and U.S.panies this time after being restricted from developingnd-based oil fields due to environmental pollution. They haven¡¯t started production yet, but there¡¯s a good chance that it will be a source of pollution.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been working recklessly on oil development, but I¡¯m going to put environmental issues first. If they don¡¯t meet our environmental standards, make sure to shut them down.¡±


    ¡°I will contact the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Environment immediately to implement your message.¡±


    ¡°Please ask them toe to the royal territory too. Let¡¯s have a tour along the coastline on a car ferry icebreaker.¡±


    Youngho nned to meet with rted ministers to effectively develop the coast of Kazakhstan while also cracking down on the status of maritime oil fields.


    If Kazakhstan wanted to enter the league of the advanced world, it should pay attention to environmental issues from now.


    The environment had been neglected to the point where there was even a saying that the snow falling in the mining area of the northern region was ck.


    ***


    All ministers from each ministry of Kazakhstan gathered at the Arirang royal territory¡¯s wharf. Youngho had only called the energy minister and the environment minister, but the rest of the ministers also crowded in.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, aren¡¯t you busy?¡±


    ¡°The budget bill for next year has already passed the National Assembly, and it will be our end of the year holiday soon. I thought I¡¯d take the chance to catch a cruise ship, rather than goofing around at home.¡±


    Because of the harsh winter weather, Kazakh people generally had the perception that resting at home was a vacation. Especially the temperature of Astana, the capital, went as low as minus 30 degrees in Celsius in winter. It would be boring to spend the whole winter sitting at home.


    ¡°It¡¯s unusually cold this year, the north of the Caspian Sea is already frozen. Would the car ferry icebreaker work?¡±


    ¡°The ice is not as thick as the Arctic Ocean¡¯s, so the car ferry is enough. Ice less than 50 centimeters is just a piece of paper.¡±


    ¡°Who dares to think ofunching an icebreaker in the Caspian Sea? You¡¯ve got great insight.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense to be stuck for three months when you can sail on it if you break the ice. It¡¯s also an economic loss that we have to give up in the winter.¡±


    The two icebreakers that belonged to the royal territory made it possible to transport grains in the winter, which helped stabilize winter grain prices in Turkey and Azerbaijan.


    The 3,000-ton and 5,000-ton icebreakers were not only active in the Caspian Sea.


    From early spring tote fall, they did a great job of carrying Siberian timber around the Siberian coast.


    Since they broke the ice on the Volga and Moscow rivers with other Russian icebreakers, the Russian government also appreciated ships from Kazakhstan.


    On the deck of the car ferry, all ministers came out despite the biting wind to see the scene where the ice broke apart. It was a spectacr sight to see 30 to 40 centimeter-thick ice broke off.


    Prime Minister Kasim, who was watching the interior of the car ferry slowly but steadily breaking through the ice, came up to Youngho, with his eyes glistening.


    ¡°Your Highness, the car ferry is quite well-armed for a private ship.¡±


    ¡°You recognize it immediately since you had been in the military for long. The Director of Intelligence Service, Park, insisted on setting it up, but he went a little too far.¡±


    ¡°Do all the private ships that the royal family owns have this much defense?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s only because there are pirate ships in other waters. It¡¯s enough to deal with any coast guard.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I guess there will be no one that will threaten us in the Caspian Sea. By the way, the royal shipyard had a restricted area. Is that where you are building the submarine you¡¯ve been talking about?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we will be able to test drive it by the end of next year. We think we¡¯ll make some more of it and deploy them on the Mediterranean ind.¡±


    ¡°Can a submarine pass through the Volga-Don Canal when Russia is watching?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll be small enough to be carried on a cargo ship. I don¡¯t think Russia will inspect royal ships.¡±


    ¡°I see. You¡¯ve already had a n.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll hide it to other countries as long as possible even if it¡¯s an ally, to avoid any misunderstanding. I just hope that there would be no situation where we should use our submarines.¡±


    ¡°I wish other countries are just like us. It¡¯s unfortunate that we¡¯re surrounded by greedy powers.¡±


    ¡°On the bright side, we are always on our guard because of them. It also brings our people together.¡±


    ***


    It took two full days to look around Kazakhstan¡¯s waters.


    The sail was rtively slow because the ship broke the ice and was dyed a bit because the environment minister frequently stops the ship to see if there was any contamination around the offshore oil field.


    It was difficult to see things in the icy waters, but the minister was someone with great motivation, so Youngho did not stop him. Until now, Youngho had to take the lead, but it was time for the ministers toe forward.


    They must have not kept their mouths shut because they were inferior to Youngho. It was because they were afraid of Youngho¡¯s position. It was a learned behavior because the previous regime was so authoritative and powerful. However, it was about time that they took the initiative to work with their own beliefs.


    It was a big harvest just to spend the night together on the ship, have a time discussing the development of Kazakhstan with the ministers and to find out about five suitable ces for national recreation by two days of sailing.


    In the Caspian Sea; there was usually a severe winter wind, but there was no wave due to the frozen waters, so they had a rtively rxing voyage.


    The ministers¡¯ faces after arriving at the Arirang wharf were brighter than ever.


    ¡°The ministers were very encouraged by your presence, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t nned, but it turned out to be great. I¡¯m just happy to learn that the ministers are now running state affairs on their own initiative and beliefs. Thank you so much for taking them this far, Mr. Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan¡¯s future is the same as it is today, there¡¯ll be nothing to envy about.¡±


    ¡°I should say thank you to China and Russia for creating the proper tension that we need.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m excited to know that our national power will be built soon that everyone will envy us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared even if other countries provoke us now. If they do, they¡¯ll be the ones to be shamed.¡±


    Young-ho¡¯s thought that other countries would not be able to touch Kazakhstan because of the geographical location and geographical resources.


    Unless Kazakhstan was to be taken by force at a gulp, any country that provoked Kazakhstan would have a lot to lose at the same time.


    Recently, he re-realized the fact that Kazakhstan¡¯s potential was infinite. It had every resource buried in itsnd that it was easier to find what was not there.


    Moreover, it was a great mystery what was buried at the foot of the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan, a federal state of Kazakhstan.


    His heart leaped at the thought of it.

 Chapter 529 - The Threshold (3)

    <h4>Chapter 529: The Threshold (3)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, the pilots who had left to Russia and elsewhere said that they are willing toe back. I think we can get rid of Astana¡¯s manpower shortage soon. There are already about 20 people who applied to return to Kazakhstan in the second half of the year.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim seems to have great news, but Youngho was not very impressed.


    This was because those people had abandoned Kazakhstan and left before, and now they wanted toe back as situations in the country looked better.


    Still, it was a good thing that former Kazakhstan Air Force officers and pilots were returning since it was extremely difficult to find pilots in the country. The pilots who were dispatched from Sweden and Britain had reced pilots that left the country due to the shortage of such workers. A third of the pilots of Air Astana, which was the g carrier of Kazakhstan were British.


    This was because a British defense firm, Bae Systems, owned a 49 percent stake of Air Astana while the Kazakh government had 51 percent of the airline¡¯s stake. Britain had been working hard on Kazakhstan even before it started associating with Youngho.


    Based in Almaty, thergest city in Central Asia, Air Astana was operating 23 international routes linking Europe, Russia, China, Southeast Asia, the United Arab Emirates, Korea and so on.


    Mid-sized propeller nes were still often seen throughout the 21 domestic routes, but for international routes, the newest airnes were used in making the airlines best among the Commonwealth of Independent States countries. It was only possible because it was a joint venture with Britain.


    ¡°Why would they want toe back when they¡¯d be treated less than in Russia?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the return of young elites a sign that there is hope for the future?¡±


    ¡°I hope so. By the way, I still didn¡¯t hear that the medical personnel are back from Korea.¡±


    ¡°Korean medical people came inrge numbers, so it won¡¯t be a problem even if they didn¡¯t return.¡±


    Many Korean doctors and nurses moved to Kazakhstan as the Kazakh government promised exceptional treatment and promoted it officially.


    Combining professionalism and skill, they blew a new wind into the medical world of Kazakhstan where even appendectomy was an operation to risk life. Now Almaty and Astana had many Korean doctor offices that people from the Commonwealth of Independent States frequently visited for medical attention.


    In particr, the Royal College Hospital of the Arirang royal territory had been undergoing even highly intensive organ transnt operations sessfully that many rich Russians visited often. Most of the Russian upper sses usually visited European hospitals, and now they were turning to the Arirang royal territory as it was rumored that it offered advanced medical technology and services.


    ¡°Is the renovation of the general hospital in the northern border city of Petropavl finished?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alreadypleted, but the air pollution is so bad that medical people are reluctant to move there. Not only there, but also Karaganda¡¯s pollution is terrible due to the operation of steel mills.¡±


    The situation was very serious and embarrassing because Karaganda, an industrial city in the central part of the country was recently had ck snow. The findings showed that the Karaganda region had nearly 600,000 tons of harmful substances released annually, with the concentration of hydrogen sulfide exceeding 11 times the international standard.


    The steelpany was owned by Arcelor Mittal, an Indian multinational steelpany.


    ¡°If thepany doesn¡¯t improve its facilities, shut down the factory.¡±


    ¡°It can turn into an international problem. We have to be more cautious.¡±


    ¡°There is no need to be careful about punishing the main culprit of the environmental pollution ording to the regtions. If they want to dig up our resources, tell them to solve environmental problems first. It is a problem that is directly rted to the health of the Kazakh people, and that is the most important thing to us.¡±


    It may have been overlooked until now, but Youngho was not going to let it happen anymore. Robust research was underway in every industrial area where multinationalpanies were located. If they failed to meet environmental standards, they would be suspended from every production work.


    The situation of the environmental pollution in Kazakhstan was near disaster as the ck snow had never happened before.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, air pollution is a problem, but ten years are too short to recover from the contamination of the soil. And most of the people near the contaminated soil turned out to have skin diseases. We¡¯ll need to do a more thorough examination, but it¡¯s a serious situation.¡±


    Youngho, who was being briefed by the environment minister was too shocked that he was not angry. It was the government¡¯s fault that the environment waspletely ignored while digging up iron ore and operating a steel mill for decades now.


    ¡°Shut down the factory and move the residents first. People¡¯s lives will be at stake at this rate.¡±


    ¡°That would eliminate a lot of jobs, and there should be measures to deal with that.¡±


    ¡°Our social security system allows us to secure people¡¯s basic needs. The priority is to get them out of the polluted environment right now. Let¡¯s y our part now even though we may have been neglectful before.¡±


    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll report to the Prime Minister and try to find a solution.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame, but please let the press release about it in detail. We need to alert everyone.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, why don¡¯t we be as quiet as possible? It¡¯s an international disgrace if you let the press know about it.¡±


    ¡°Now the people should know what¡¯s going on. The situation will not be improved if we take it easy.¡±


    ¡°This could also have a huge impact on the national economy when the people¡¯s antipathy toward multinational corporations grows.¡±


    ¡°Even if the economy slows down temporarily, we should solve the environmental problem first. What is more important than the health of the Kazakh people? It won¡¯t have a terrible impact because our economic system has improved a lot.¡±


    If factory operations were stopped, it would immediately disrupt the livelihood of sried workers. In addition, the management of state affairs would be affected as well by the less collected tax. Nevertheless, the reason for taking such a drastic measure was that it was a good opportunity to escape from pollution. Since the Soviet era, thend had been too abused too much due to the disorder of various pollution factories and reckless farnd remation. It was obvious that dust and soil pollution would inevitably contaminate groundwater. Kazakhstan was already a water-starved country, but if underground water was also contaminated, it would have to import water from abroad.


    ¡°Let the construction minister push ahead with the development of the Ural River waterway, only after thoroughly assessing for environmental impact. I don¡¯t want to harm the environment for convenience.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Also consider granting jurisdiction to environment ministry officials. If the environmental officials can have jurisdiction, we¡¯ll be able to crackdown thepanies more effectively.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°From next year, consider nting trees in the semi-deserted areas, with all the avable funds. The Arirang royal territory will set a good example for that.¡±


    People who first saw the Arirang state thought that grassy fields existed originally in the semi-deserted region, and no one thought it would have been a wastnd before.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it. In the beginning, the residents had a lot of trouble to form grasnds and farnds. It¡¯s a rare sessful case.¡±


    ¡°If you nt trees around small reservoirs and dug to make hills, we can slow the evaporation of water. As a result of such efforts, the air of the Arirang state has changed beyond recognition. In the winter like this, it used to be hard to get out because of the dusty wind.¡±


    The dust wind was calmed down of the formation of grasnds. The residents of the Arirang state had dug deep into the earth and used sr energy to pump up underground water, and created trees and oasis in various ces.


    They did not store much water, but the amount was only enough for trees to grow, not to lose a lot of water from evaporation.


    Now, woods existed in various areas of the state and farming and ranching businesses were going on in the areas where fields were formed due to nearby underground resources. The winter of the royal territory, which was famous for its strong wind, had be cozier now, as windbreakers and stone walls were made.


    ***


    When the factories that caused pollution were stopped or shut down, opposition was also rampant.


    The workers who lost their jobsined, and multinational corporations even filed internationalwsuits to the Kazakh government instead of improving their facility systems. This was proof that they had been underestimating the Kazakh government.


    ¡°It¡¯s so disappointing that even thosepanies based in advanced countries are acting this way.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s imperative to stabilize the workers first.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t the workers care about their and their families¡¯ health?¡±


    ¡°I thinkpanies are encouraging workers to shake the government¡¯s policy.¡±


    ¡°Please do a full investigation on thepanies that filed awsuit and find out the details of the environmental damage.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to figure out with the capabilities of the Ministry of Environment. We¡¯d like to get help from the intelligence service. We need to look into thepanies secretly because they¡¯ll try to cover up any fault.¡±


    ¡°I hope mobilizing the intelligence service doesn¡¯t get a bacsh from thepanies.¡±


    At the request of the environment minister, Park Jong-il of the intelligence service was proud to take the role. This was because he had already investigated multinational factories and mines in Korea while investigating the environmental pollution of Chinesepanies.


    ¡°Who was the minister thatined about the high budget for the intelligence service?¡±


    ¡°Why do you ask? If you knew, would you go and ask yourself?¡±


    ¡°Of course, this case could not be identified by the Ministry of Environment¡¯s ability. Ministers only think that it¡¯s best to cut the budget without knowing anything.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Now that you know, investigate more thoroughly. We¡¯ll sue thosepanies for the damages they caused.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so cautious about a multinationalpany? If there¡¯s a mistake, we can rule it with our own domesticws.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that the power of a multi-national corporation is stronger than the government of a country? You have to collect firm evidence to win against it.¡±


    ¡°Man, these guyse into another country and pollute ournd and air but without any sign of regret. It¡¯s awful.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s proof that they see Kazakhstan as an underdeveloped country. Also, the former regime must have not dealt with it properly before.¡±


    ¡°Why is Kazakhstan an underdeveloped country? We¡¯re a developing country.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see the workers are protesting at the instigation of thepanies? Is that what people who are conscious enough do?¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded by people who did not care about their families and neighbors suffering from environmental pollution but only cared about reviving their factories, which also caused damage to the workers of the factory.


    Such a level of consciousness would be difficult to pass the threshold of the advanced country.

 Chapter 530 - Crocodile Tears (1)

    <h4>Chapter 530: Crocodile Tears (1)</h4>


    ¡°There was a protest from the Chinese government. They want us to figure out how to deal with the pollution from Central Asia being brought into China.¡±


    ¡°China and we¡¯re blocked by the Tian Shan Mountains. That¡¯s nonsense.¡±


    ¡°They say that the pollution is being carried in by the westerly wind.¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded when he was briefed by Prime Minister Kasim.


    If that was the case, what would China say to Northeast Asian countries suffering from heavy metal fine dust mixed with yellow dust originating from China? Instead of appreciating Kazakhstan¡¯s efforts to reduce pollution, China was trying to take advantage of the current situation.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a protest against the fact that we drove out the Chinesepany before when other multinationalpanies were warned by us first.¡±


    ¡°Ha! China should be lucky that we didn¡¯t sue them for the damage its oil-producing facilities caused. It¡¯s annoying us because Kyrgyzstan became a federal state.¡±


    The economy of Kyrgyzstan had beenpletely subjugated by China, but now it was taken away for good as it became a federal state of Kazakhstan. Of course, the Chinese government was not happy about it.


    When Kyrgyzstan was incorporated into Kazakhstan, China began pressuring the Kyrgyz government by demanding to repay all of its loans at once, so Youngho warned China that Kazakhstan would lock up all the pipelines leading to China.


    The reason for such a strong gesture was because it was ambiguous to call all of the money a loan. China¡¯s investment in the construction of One Belt One Road was included in the money China was saying was a loan. As a result, China stopped pressuring Kyrgyzstan since oil supply was important.


    However, now that Kazakhstan was troubled bywsuits of multinational countries that caused pollution in the country, China began insisting that polluted wind was flying to China through the west wind.


    ¡°Tell them toe up with evidence and cite specific damage cases. Pollutants don¡¯t onlye from Kazakhstan but also from Europe and Russia.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we just ignore it? China is making an unreasonable demand to see our reaction.¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t respond, it¡¯s like admitting it to them. In the meantime, the pollution emitted by Chinese businesses operating in Kazakhstan has also damaged us. Gather up our cases of damage. China¡¯s self-made pollution is huge that it¡¯s considered as the world¡¯s chimney; we won¡¯t let this go easily either.¡±


    There were not many factories in Kazakhstan, and it was unreasonable to think China was polluted by winds blown from Kazakhstan. The polluted regions were only nearby where the factories were, so Youngho was confident that Kazakhstan could easily win against China¡¯s almost unreasonable protests.


    ¡°China is acting this way because it is still looking down on us.¡±


    ¡°Hearing your words, I¡¯m convinced that we can¡¯t just leave it alone. We will actively deal with China.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of China¡¯s protests, the eastern atmosphere is very bad because of the semi-deserted areas in the West and Central regions, so we have to take countermeasures. If we leave it as it is, the desert area will get wider and wider. Ask the cab members for advice on whether they have a good n about this.¡±


    Youngho had ordered the Minister of Environment to undertake arge-scale arbor project starting from next year, but turning such a vast area into grasnds or woods would take more than decades. It was questionable if securing water supply was possible in those regions.


    No matter what, this should be stopped at any cost for Kazakhstan¡¯s future.


    His head was throbbing as he thought about it. It was because even a hundred years did not seem enough.


    ***


    -Duke, Putin called to see you in Moscow to discuss the Volga-Baltic expansion. Can you make time?


    Yaniv called in a voice full of excitement.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d take a break, but I guess it¡¯s not the time. He must¡¯ve decided to leave the management to the consortium.¡±


    -It¡¯d be strange if he refused when the Kazakh royal family is taking the lead.


    ¡°Is Putin going to take a step in the Volga-Baltic Waterway, too?¡±


    -Of course, I mean why not? It¡¯ll be easier to talk that way.


    ¡°I also wanted Putin to step in. You must join us too, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    -I¡¯m good with the Volga-Don Canal. It¡¯s not great for a former mafia to get involved in too many government projects.


    ¡°It¡¯s a great opportunity that globalpanies participate. Don¡¯t just give me the mafia title, but take this opportunity to bring Sergey to the front this time. I¡¯ll support you.¡±


    -It¡¯s the limit of being a mafia. In that sense, Sergey is not free either. I shouldn¡¯t have dragged him in. He would have been better off being a professor in a university or something.


    ¡°Why do you say that? No matter where youe from, you¡¯re a businessman who supports the Kazakh royal family from behind. If Russia mistreats you, pleasee to Kazakhstan. I¡¯ll give you a nobleman title.¡±


    -I¡¯m happy just to hear that. I¡¯ll discuss it with Sergey, but it¡¯s not an easy decision. Putin might start to hate me if I step in because his portion will be decreased when I do.


    ¡°Worry about thatter and get involved first. Russia¡¯s canal should be supported by Russia¡¯s businessmen. If only foreignpanies are involved, public opinion might be negative.¡±


    The reason that Youngho was trying to get Yaniv involved was that he needed someone to calm Putin¡¯s greed. There must be someone to clean up traffic in such a big business.


    Even Putin, the most powerful ruler, would step back in front of a mafia because, in Russia, politicians and the mafia were inseparable. After all, there were even worse people than the mafia among the powerful people in Moscow. Compared to them, Yaniv was more like a gentleman. Of course, he had been nice to Youngho only.


    -Putin was so happy that he didn¡¯t know what to do. He said that the Duke scratched his itch spot right away.


    ¡°Oh, tell him to thank Russia¡¯s ancestors. Thanks to the people who built the canal in difficulties. I¡¯m also benefiting from the canal.¡±


    -He seemed relieved to have you on his side. When the Kazakh government changed, he was a little nervous, but you¡¯re a much better neighbor than he thought.


    ¡°I guess he was concerned by Kazakhstan.¡±


    -Of course. The Commonwealth of Independent States was in a state of disintegration when the former Kazakh president disappeared, so he barely managed to sleep back then.


    ¡°So please warn him a little. Tell him that I¡¯m someone who will take reckless actions when I get upset.¡±


    -Hahaha... You can be reckless sometimes. You must be the only businessman who shot mafias in divostok.


    In the early days of the warehouse business in divostok, Youngho had to protect theplex from native mafias or thieves with a gun.


    Back then, he was fearless and trusted the power of the ring, but if someone told him to do the same, it would be hard to decide easily since he had so many things to protect now.


    ¡°I did it because you had my back.¡±


    -Putin already knows the nature of the Duke of the Kazakh royal family. He said that you¡¯re a difficult person to deal with because you¡¯re fearless in front of Russia.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m only relying on you, Mr. Yaniv. How would Britain and the U.S. help us from afar when there¡¯s an emergency?¡±


    -Putin had been having a hard time after taking the Crimea. He won¡¯t do any reckless thing for the time being.


    ¡°You mean he¡¯s going to do it one day.¡±


    -Would you stay still when you dream of bing Tsar? But I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going toward Central Asia.


    ¡°If he¡¯s not interested in Central Asia, he¡¯s interested in the Baltic, and that¡¯s a big deal. If things went wrong, there will be World War III.¡±


    -Let¡¯s hope he can be wiser than that.


    Although Yaniv said that Putin would not be interested in Central Asia, Youngho did not believe it. It was because the Baltic was too dangerous to touch, as the world would try to stop Russia from taking over the region.


    Central Asia was not at the center of the world¡¯s attention, but it was so important geographically. Since it was not in the spotlight, Putin would try to prey upon it when the world was not paying attention. Russia would not easily give up Central Asia for its abundant resources and geographic advantage.


    Russia was crying like a crocodile, but the tears of a crocodile should not be taken seriously. Russia was only crying because it could not digest the Crimean Penins now.


    When a crocodile ate its prey, it shed tears because the nerves in its tear nds and the nerves in the mouth were connected. It was not because it was sorry for the prey.


    ¡°Well, I hope he really doesn¡¯t care for Central Asia. By the way, when does he want to meet?¡±


    -Can youe to Moscowter this week?


    ¡°Can I meet him officially now?¡±


    -It¡¯s open to the public now, so you won¡¯t have to keep a low profile. He must be anxious to show off to Russian people. He wants to sign a memorandum of understanding as soon as possible.


    ¡°The sooner the better. I¡¯ll see you in Moscow in three days.¡±


    -Great. I like how easy going you are. I¡¯ll bring Sergey with me.


    ¡°Are you going to put him at the front this time?¡±


    -Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re going to back us up?


    ¡°Of course, if it¡¯s Sergey, he¡¯ll be a great partner.¡±


    -I don¡¯t have many funds now. Can you lend us money this time? I heard your wife¡¯s family is very rich.


    ¡°I¡¯ll lend you as much as I can if Sergey is in charge.¡±


    It would be a lie if the godfather of the Southern mafia was out of funds. Yaniv was trying to keep each other tied up.


    Youngho had just made sure that Sergey¡¯s connections surpassed that of Yaniv. He would be a good ally as Yaniv was to Youngho.

 Chapter 531 - Crocodile Tears (2)

    <h4>Chapter 531: Crocodile Tears (2)</h4>


    Russia¡¯s vice foreign minister greeted Youngho weingly at Moscow¡¯s airport.


    Since Youngho¡¯s visit was not an official one, it was quite a treat for the vice foreign minister toe out. It was natural since he was investing in the Volga-Baltic Waterway expansion project despite the West¡¯s economic sanctions on Russia.


    Putin¡¯s surprise did not finish there because he even mobilized the media to take pictures of Youngho¡¯s visit. Leaving behind camera shes, Youngho left the airport on the limousine that had been waiting for him. It took him to the Kremlin pce at a high speed.


    In the car, Eriksson was sitting next to him. He whistled to express his surprise.


    ¡°Your Highness, Putin is giving you a huge wee.¡±


    ¡°Last time, he sent fighters to escort the royal jet, and now he mobilized the media. I think the Russian public has its eye on the waterway project.¡±


    ¡°Well, it must be because it¡¯s a huge investment of more than five billion dors. It¡¯d be weird if the Russian people stayed quiet since it¡¯s a project that will save Russia¡¯s economy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be an opportunity for Putin¡¯s leadership to be recognized by the people.¡±


    Putin¡¯s approval rating would go up by a lot because of this project.


    This was because it was such arge construction project. It would also create a lot of jobs for the Russian people and improve the domestic economy. Moreover, most of the materials and manpower for the waterway expansion would be supplied from Russia.


    ¡°Putin seems to have made a big decision, but it¡¯s about how much share he¡¯s going to give us. I hope he doesn¡¯t get too greedy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good opportunity for foreign capital. He¡¯ll probably yield to us a hundred times. It¡¯ll be Russia¡¯s one day, so why would he be hasty?¡±


    ¡°He might change his words when the work is done. Isn¡¯t that the exclusive characteristic of a socialist country?¡±


    ¡°Even a socialist country can¡¯t make a decision on the waterway run by a multinational consortium. By the way, I¡¯m going to suggest to Putin that we¡¯d like to increase the development area of Siberia.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re very greedy, too, Your Highness. Don¡¯t tell me you want to take over Russia too.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should be greedy for proper things. But I don¡¯t want Russia even if Putin wants to hand it over to me. Even for the waterway project, I¡¯ll step down after making a decent amount of profits. If I get greedier, only my rtionship with Russia will get worse.¡±


    There was a limit to foreign investment in a socialist country.


    The best thing to do was to collect the principal and return it to the country.


    ***


    The meeting at the Kremlin went well in a great mood since they did not have to negotiate anything.


    It was agreed that the transparent spending of investment funds and waterway management should be left to the consortium.


    Since it was agreed that the waterway shares would be distributed ording to international appraisers after they assessed the value of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, there was nothing to argue about.


    After the exchange of memorandums of understanding waspleted, Putin invited Youngho¡¯s group to the banquet room. Yaniv and Sergey were also present there.


    ¡°Your Highness, let¡¯s toast again.¡±


    Putin kept on asking for a toast.


    ¡°Mr. President, aren¡¯t you drinking too much today? I heard you don¡¯t like to drink too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually a good drinker, but I had been in the intelligence service for a long time, so I tried to stay away from drinking. Don¡¯t worry about it. Yaniv told me that you¡¯re a great drinker.¡±


    ¡°I can stand it because I¡¯m young, but I¡¯m afraid drinking too much might be harmful to your health.¡±


    Putin was 67 this year. Although he had as much stamina as a young man, time could not be fooled.


    ¡°I heard that you used to be in a Special Forces unit in Korea. Would you like to exercise with me someday? I¡¯ve never been beaten by anyone so far.¡±


    Youngho did not know what kind of training Putin had gone through at the Soviet KGB, but he was quite confident about himself.


    ¡°I have to see you often for the waterway project anyway, so give me a chance sometime.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s good. Many good things will happen if two leaders get together often.¡±


    You could be friends with Putin as long as he treated him this kindly.


    However, a socialist country and a dictator would not change. Putin was only being friendly to Youngho because he needed him, and Youngho was helpful for his n now.


    In the end, it would be like water and oil that could not be mixed.


    ¡°Your Excellency has entrusted us with the waterway project and management. I¡¯ll try my best to produce good results. If you could just provide us with the supply of materials and manpower, we won¡¯t have much trouble with the waterway project.¡±


    ¡°Only the best quality materials will be supplied for the waterway project. Don¡¯t worry about that. Let¡¯s just drink freely tonight.¡±


    ¡°Given the situation, I¡¯m nning on an early stage construction. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your hurry? Time is on our side.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that thepanies in the consortium will change their minds about the investment when the world economy is recovered, and many other business projects to invest in are created.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. It¡¯s the sooner the better for Russia too. We can¡¯t miss this opportunity since this can be the beginning of our economic recovery.¡±


    The mood instantly changed when Youngho mentioned that the consortiumpanies might change their minds. Putin would not be able to lift up his face to the Russian people when the project fell through.


    The construction of the waterway could wait until the appraisal of the value and distribution of the shares werepleted, but Youngho nned to start it early regardless of it because the project could fall through even ifpanies had signed a memorandum of understanding.


    Kazakhstan was the country that benefited the most from the expansion of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, and it was also rted to the Siberian development business and the North Pole route project. There was no reason for Youngho to dy it.


    ***


    After two days in Moscow, Youngho¡¯s private jet made a brief stop in Volgograd.


    It was because Yaniv and Sergey insisted that he should stay one day in Volgograd.


    They did not have time to talk deeply in Moscow, because Youngho was there as the Duke of the Kazakh royal family. So they got together as friendsfortably at Yaniv¡¯s mansion.


    Upon arriving at the mansion, Yaniv already had set up a drinking table for Youngho.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t invite me to such an ufortable setting again. I was so frustrated that I almost died.¡±


    ¡°Did I call you? Putin called you. And you should endure such inconvenience because you¡¯re setting a way for Brother Sergey¡¯s future.¡±


    ¡°Oh, if I have to do that two more times, I¡¯ll die in suffocation. I feel powerless when I get out of Volgograd.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even make eye contact with Putin at the banquet. Why would you do that?¡±


    ¡°I talk to him freely when we go hunting, but it¡¯ll be rude to talk to an autocrat at an official setting until you¡¯re spoken to first.¡±


    ¡°It was the same with a private setting. I don¡¯t get you.¡±


    ¡°I know where I belong well. Didn¡¯t you notice? Putin¡¯s closest associates also didn¡¯t interrupt when Putin was with you. They know that Putin is not a very generous man.¡±


    There was a reason why there were no useless people around a dictator. It was because dictators were obsessed with keeping their authority.


    The closest associates of the dictator could not correct him even if he was wrong because they were afraid of his power and authority. They merely butter up the dictator to survive. Some would idolize the dictator either by force or by self-will.


    To a dictator, there was no friend because he would have to remain as a dignified figure.


    Yaniv, who was said to be a friend of Putin, was even being extremely careful around Putin. Seeing that, Youngho thought that Putin¡¯s regime would notst for long.


    Youngho looked at Yaniv once again because he never talked like this before.


    ¡°Oh, I can guess why you¡¯re looking at me like that.¡±


    ¡°I just thought that there¡¯s hope. If I¡¯m lucky, I would be able to continue to maintain the waterway management rights.¡±


    ¡°Would you interpret it that way? Putin told you that he dreams of the great Eurasia. Was that all a lie?¡±


    ¡°Well, he will try it when he gets a chance. He¡¯s opening the way with the waterway project right now. The foreign investmentpanies could be his prey. I can roughly guess what he is hiding behind his face. I¡¯m not so gullible to be deceived by the crocodile¡¯s tears.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It might be rude to say this to someone who has a personal rtionship with the president, but ten years might be long for Putin¡¯s regime. He must be trying to save up personal funds because he¡¯s insecure about something.¡±


    ¡°Hmm! The dictatorship will end someday. So, do you think the politicians and entrepreneurs who served as the sewers of the dictatorship will be able to survive through that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be up to their own actions. Whether you made money illegally by the power or properly will be revealedter somehow.¡±


    ¡°Will my messy past be erased?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already washed your hands, haven¡¯t you? And you have an inseparable rtionship with the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have such a great background.¡±


    Yaniv¡¯s face was eased to hear that he was supported by the Kazakh royal family.


    It seemed that he felt sorry about his rough past.


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s a good thing you distributed all of your businesses to your subordinates and left them behind. I know you do a lot of phnthropy these days, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t call it charity work when I give some petty money because Zeynep¡¯s pushing me.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, there¡¯s no one kind as among people who used to be mafia. We¡¯ve been on the same path for ten years now. Even though I became the Duke of Kazakhstan now, I never felt ashamed of you and your past. So don¡¯t be ashamed about your background as a mafia. You had to do that to make a living in Soviet times.¡±


    ¡°I always appreciate you for that. I wouldn¡¯t have med you even if you pretended you didn¡¯t know someone like me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you not to dwell too much on the past. You¡¯re helping the world more than anyone else right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve heard all thepliments of my life now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve paid the most for Zeynep¡¯s social welfare foundation, and of course you deserve it.¡±


    ¡°I fell for her charm. I didn¡¯t do it out ofpassion or good cause.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not easy to do that for everyone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying I was forced to do so.¡±


    ¡°By the way, how much have you been ripped off by Zeynep so far?¡±

 Chapter 532 - Resource Sales (1)

    <h4>Chapter 532: Resource Sales (1)</h4>


    As rtions with Russia had be more amicable than what the previous administration had, Russians, who lived in Kazakhstan, also actively responded to the government.


    Russians living in Kazakhstan mostly immigrated from Russia or the Soviet Union, so they belonged to a privileged ss. Many owned a mine, a factory, or arge yarding from the beginning of their settlement because the Russian authorities offered them various favors.


    In other words, most Russians living in Kazakhstan had a middle to high-ss life.


    Having better economic power than normal Kazakh people gave their children a rtively high chance to receive a higher quality education.


    Then, when Kazakhstan gained independence, Russian people were no longer given special treatment as they became ordinary citizens of Kazakhstan.


    Even though they had a chance to return to Russia, arge number of them refused to move to their home country because the democratic system came as a charm to them as most of them were businessmen.


    On the other hand, it would have been regrettable to leave their hometown as well as the site where they lived for nearly a hundred years. They now became one of many ethnic groups that were assimted into Kazakhstan.


    They also weed the constitutional monarchy since it came after defeating the dictatorship and was based on a free democracy.


    ¡°The survey results showed that the approval ratings for the royal family and the government among the Russians in the northern industrial cities had a slight increase. This is the aftermath of the waterway project with the Russian government. I think maintaining a strong rtionship with their native country Russia seems to have given them a sense of psychological stability.¡±


    ¡°I see. They would¡¯ve been insecure if Kazakhstan was on bad terms with Russia.¡±


    ¡°There has never been a case in which Russian business owners, who used to evade taxes, voluntarily paid them before.¡±


    ¡°Russians may have been benefited in the past due to their historic background. But let¡¯s apply strict standards to everyone from now on, regardless of race.¡±


    ¡°I think they are now realizing that rampant bribery doesn¡¯t work anymore. We expect to see a huge increase in tax revenues next year.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was greatly relieved that Russians actively cooperated with government policy because most of them, who run mines and factories, had been evading taxes bluntly.


    They thought that the Kazakh government could not touch them because of Russia. However, the world had changed for them now. Since a clean government that did not tolerate illegal activities was introduced, there was no way to get away with illegal activities for them now. In other words, they realized that if they did not fulfill their duty as citizens, they would be penalized by applying strictws.


    ¡°Your Highness, should we ask the National Assembly for a supplementary budget from the Ministry of National Defense when we expect more tax revenue?¡±


    Even now, the annual defense spending had exceeded 6 billion dors, which was five times more than the previous defense budget. And of course, the expensive fighter jets and Aegis destroyers were bought with the royal funds.


    ¡°Do you think the National Assembly will agree to that since we¡¯re already paying an excessive budget for national defense budget?¡±


    ¡°Compared to China and Russia, it is not even a lot. The royal family is paying the cost of purchasing fighter jets now. And you¡¯ve invested two billion dors in the Russian canal projects already. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to run out of royal funds at this rate.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if we run out of royal funds if I can spend them for Kazakhstan. Besides, we have enough to spend for the next few years.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the royal poweres from funds. I¡¯d like you to save as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted the royal family to be loved by the people. What do you want more?¡±


    ¡°I would be satisfied as long as the royal family is in favor of the Kazakh people.¡±


    Youngho had President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds and had even managed to get ownership of the gold mine that might be the world¡¯s best reserves. He was confident that he could afford to spend billions of dors on defense every year.


    ¡°Your Highness, every time you invest in arge project, I am ashamed.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, I have no intention of getting the funds I spent from the government back. This is because such work is also necessary to keep the royal family alive. I know what you¡¯re worried about, but I¡¯m also prepared for emergency situations.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you take more gold mines?¡±


    Youngho almost got caught a look of joy.


    It was because Youngho was crazy about gold that he would jump up in his sleep if someone mentioned about gold.


    ¡°People will say that the royal family takes the lead in stealing what¡¯s ssified as a national strategic mineral.¡±


    ¡°All people of Kazakhstan know that the royal family has spent an astronomical amount of money for the well-being of the country. The government cannot pay the royal family back with its current economic power. If the government pays the royal family with gold mines, the public opinion about the government will get better.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m burdened with the gold mine I own now. I don¡¯t want to keep any more...¡±


    Since Youngho already owned a few gold mines already, he did not want to be seen as greedy. So he stepped back first.


    ¡°It¡¯s better for the government if the royal family took care of the mines. When the royal treasury runs out, it¡¯s a misfortune for the nation. The government can change, but the royal familysts forever. You know how they were poorly managed by the previous government.¡±


    ¡°You mean I should take care of them well and open for Kazakhstan when it needs money.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... How dare I say that to the royal family?¡±


    ¡°The mines will eventually be used for Kazakhstan anyway, so I guess it doesn¡¯t matter who owns them. I¡¯ll take them.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was saying this because he was not aware of the potential value of the gold mines. Most of the gold mines in Kazakhstan were world-ss.


    ***


    ¡°What? The government promised you to pay with a gold mine?¡±


    Youngho thought he made a wrong decision because Eriksson seemed perplexed by it. However, he did not mean it that way.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t the government officials too simple to give away such important national treasures? It¡¯s a little ridiculous how easily they give up on the gold mines. It¡¯s fortunate that the royal family will own them, but what if they had fallen in others¡¯ hands? The officials are toocent.¡±


    Listening to him, it worried Youngho that too. Kazakh officials tended to treat their strategic assets recklessly since Kazakhstan was full of resources.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it mean that the government officials trust the royal family enough?¡±


    ¡°That may be the case, but I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll be asx in our resource deals with other countries in the future.¡±


    Youngho nned to go to Europe for resource diplomacy in the New Year with other officials, but if they dealt with European countries so loosely with Kazakhstan¡¯s overflowing resources, it would be a huge problem.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ve forgotten about the value of the resources.¡±


    ¡°You approach things as a businessman in any case, but bureaucrats don¡¯t have that kind of mindset. We¡¯ll have to take this opportunity to educate them firmly. Or they¡¯ll give away the most valuable resources at a bargain price.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to mention that at next week¡¯s Cab meeting. I was so excited about getting gold mines that I almost missed something important.¡±


    ¡°If necessary, I would like to attend the Cab meeting as an observer. If I exined in detail how fierce the resource war among the European countries, the cab members will also be on their toes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, too. I¡¯ll talk to the Prime Minister to arrange your position as an observer. As the policy advisor of the royal family, you should be qualified to enter the meeting.¡±


    Since the Cab meeting was the government¡¯s top decision-making body, even the royal family with the right to nominate the Prime Minister did not have a say in its decision. Youngho would be viting its rule if he entered the meeting without permission.


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough to emphasize a hundred times that we have to think carefully when we sell our resources to foreign countries. From expelling the Chinese oilpany from Kazakhstan, we¡¯ve learned enough how difficult it is to withdraw international contracts once they¡¯re signed.¡±


    ¡°I humbly ept your advice, Eriksson. I admit that I¡¯ve been underestimating our resources.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made great a deal that¡¯s made a few times as much profit. Both Ennd and Sweden must have admired your negotiation skills.¡±


    ¡°Do you think so? I thought I yielded to them by far.¡±


    ¡°You did money-wise, but all the deals were followed by a strategic weapons technical tie-up.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ttering me even though they¡¯re not great technologies.¡±


    ¡°It may not be big technologies for the developed world, but it¡¯s an essential skill for us because such technologies are more advanced than what¡¯s applied to Chinese or Russian weapons.¡±


    Weapons technology that Kazakhstan earned in partnership with Britain and Sweden were great technology from a global perspective, but Kazakhstan still had a long way until it could absorb it.


    It was frustrating to see the fact that the finished products were purchased and used, but Kazakhstan did not have the technology even to rece parts in them.


    Even if it was a good technology, it was useless when the receiving party was not able to properly use it.


    ¡°There is no way to ovee the absolute shortage of engineers. Is there any way to attract technology workers from Europe?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be difficult, but we have no choice but to expand our workforce in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I know that Kazakhstan is not a very attractive ce, but I¡¯d like to kidnap them from Europe if I could.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you bring them from your home country?¡±


    ¡°Most of the members of the Cyber Unit and the medical staff are from Korea. Isn¡¯t it a problem if we¡¯re too focused on Korea?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re a multi-ethnic country with 120 ethnic groups. I don¡¯t think people will care about many Koreans being brought in. It¡¯s actually a great idea to bring them from Korea because Korea is full of highly educated workers, and I also know that Korea¡¯s unemployment rate is high.¡±


    Kazakhstan had brought in Uyghur refugees to get out of the poption shortage, but most of them were farmers. So it was difficult to find engineers and technicians among them. So Youngho was contemting on how to attract Europe¡¯s technical personnel during the uing resource diplomacy trip.


    ¡°Let¡¯s figure out a way to promote Kazakhstan to people.¡±


    ¡°Shall we do propaganda like the East Asian countries?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t even have a lot of tourist attractions. Is there anything to draw attention to?¡±


    ¡°We have toe up with something. What would European engineers like to hear?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a method I used before the Arirang autonomous state became the royal territory, but I don¡¯t know if it will work. Do Europeans like gold, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone who hates gold, regardless of their origin. But what¡¯s your n?¡±

 Chapter 533 - Resource Sales (2)

    <h4>Chapter 533: Resource Sales (2)</h4>


    In the early days of the Arirang Autonomous State, Youngho called Korean medical workers to settle in Kazakhstan and work in the hospital.


    Although they were given many benefits and off days, they could not get away from the autonomous state even on their vacation because the moment they went outside the stone wall, they would be greeted by wild wolves, and when they got out of the Arirang state, other cities were full of police officers who were trying to rip off foreigners. They could not dream of traveling within Kazakhstan, so they had to go overseas during long vacations, such as Azerbaijan or Georgia.


    That was why Youngho had opened the cer mine near the Koryoin town where old Kim Sung-chan used to live.


    Korean medical workers and their families loved to collect alluvial gold regardless of their age. It was not a lot of gold even if they collected for a whole day but they had their fantasies about collecting private money, and it was a fun experience for them as well.


    They did not have to use panning bowls because there was a grain-sized alluvial gold everywhere, which people could just collect by their hands as they walked through the stream.


    Eriksson, who was listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation,ughed out loud.


    ¡°Hahaha... Was that your idea, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember who suggested it but the gold collecting was attractive enough for people to stay in the autonomous state. They even spread the word to their friends in Korea, and more medical workers from Korea decide to move eventually.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea but it won¡¯t have asting effect on European technicians.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. I guess I should call Koreans who like gold.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll apany you for this resource sales trip and actively promote it to Europeans.¡±


    In terms of resource diplomacy, the leader of resource-poor countries usually visited resource-rich countries, but Kazakhstan was the opposite. Youngho would take money and technology in exchange for the nation¡¯s rich resources.


    Eriksson said that Kazakhstan would be a great power in the world because it was now a constitutional monarchy and the internationalmunity viewed it differently now. As the country advocated free democracy, not just constitutional monarchy, it was now no different than other European powerful countries.


    Youngho was ttered to hear it, so he added some words,


    ¡°In fact, Kazakhstan is a country that is a mixture of Europe and Central Asia because it is located along the Ural River. Europeans would know that Europe and Asia are generally distinguished by the Ural River.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that, but Kazakhstan is a member of Central Asia, no matter what.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Europe, I say!¡±¡®


    ¡°Alright, if you say so.¡±


    Eriksson did not ept Russia as Europe even though he was a European. The boundary between Europe and Asia was amorphous because the boundary was historically and culturally intertwined. It was usually distinguished by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, and the Bosporus Strait in Turkey, but Eriksson thought it was meaningless.


    ¡°The size of Western Europe is simr to that of Kazakhstan. That little Europe is not so great. In fact, many Europeans adore Asian cultures.¡±


    ¡°Asians admire Europe too and think that they have a lot to learn from Europeans.¡±


    ¡°Do you think so too, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Well, I said we¡¯re already a member of Europe, so why should I admire Europe?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s insistence, Eriksson did not say anything in response.


    ¡°And I go to Europe for a resource sale, and I have to insist that I¡¯m a member of Europe.¡±


    ***


    The purpose of going on a resource sales trip was to highlight the Central Asian market more.


    Although Central Asia was close in distance from Europe, there were many restrictions. Except for airnes, there was a significantck of essibility in Central Asia. It had the Caspian Sea, but because it was an ind sea, vessels had to use a canal to get in.


    Even though there was a railway from Georgia which was adjacent to the ck Sea, it was extremely ufortable due to old facilities.


    It would get a little better if the railroad double-track project waspleted, but it would take a long time until it could be used because the double-track project was dyed due to the Georgian government¡¯s economic situation.


    That was why Youngho was actively pushing the Volga-Baltic Waterway since it had great essibility from Europe and the West. The purpose of resource diplomacy this time was to promote the Volga-Baltic Waterway by guaranteeing its safety by the Kazakh royal family.


    It was a little funny that Youngho was going to promote it instead of Russia, but it was all for Kazakhstan¡¯s future.


    Park Jong-il, who had been to the Uyghur refugee camps teased Youngho to hear that he would be engaged in sales diplomacy in Europe.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so diligent. Putin will soon deliver a que of appreciation to you soon.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to tease me from the morning. How was the refugee camp?¡±


    ¡°Man, there are so many frostbite patients in the camps. It¡¯s because the Chinese side is not responding to our request to provide transportation.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, Commander Kabak said he had a deal with the Chinese side? They said that they¡¯ll transport the refugees on a truck or bus to the border.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese military said that it¡¯ll offer vehicles near the border only. People walk three days to a week to get to the border. Who¡¯s going to be in perfect shape after walking for so long in this cold?¡±


    The Tian Shan Mountains¡¯ basic temperature was minus 2 to 30 degrees Celsius. Plus, there was heavy wind, it almost felt like one¡¯s skin would fall off.


    People wanted to bring their cars, but most of their belongings were taken away at the checkpoints before they left Xinjiang Uyghur. So, they had to walk the long distance to get to the border.


    It was such an unfair treatment of them.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have been only receiving patients who are dying. The Chinese people are doing it on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say that we¡¯d provide vehicles?¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t insist anymore because the Chinese authorities flipped out saying that we¡¯re making false usations of them. I had no choice but to back off because I was afraid that they¡¯d change their minds for sending Uyghurs.¡±


    ¡°You said it was weird when you insisted that the pollution was sweetening to China.¡±


    ¡°Does Commander Kabak know about it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but what can he do?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, I should¡¯ve known when China insisted that pollutants are blowing from Kazakhstan. They¡¯re determined to pull us down.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fools to have believed them. We shoulde up with a solution.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s protest to the Chinese ambassador and if the Chinese government ignores it, we¡¯ll call back the Kazakh ambassador from China.¡±


    ¡°You want to provoke China?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible. Right now, we¡¯ve got Russia on our back. I¡¯m thinking of stronger measures.¡±


    The reason why Youngho was trying to take a strong action was that Kazakhstan was now in good terms with Russia. Russia had no choice but to remain allies until the end of the waterway project involving the royal family.


    ¡°What is a stronger measure?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell them that I¡¯ll lock the pipeline to China.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, calm down, Your Highness. We¡¯ll be in trouble for that. The pipeline is Chinese property. And if you don¡¯t fulfill the terms of the contract, you¡¯ll have to pay for damages.¡±


    ¡°I went over the contract carefully. ording to the contract, but if we can¡¯t produce oil or gas due to a natural disaster, the terms are not applicable. It¡¯s kind of an exception.¡±


    ¡°When was there a natural disaster in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make it happen.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The harsh weather is also a natural disaster. If the cold-resistant Uyghurs got frostbite, it¡¯s due to the extreme cold weather. We have full evidence.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a little far-fetched, but not absurd.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, go into the Xinjiang Uyghur and get more evidence.¡±


    ¡°I already have proof. What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°We need to collect evidence and tell the world about how China is treating Uyghur refugees.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. That kind of work is a piece of cake.¡±


    ¡°But make sure that intelligence agents don¡¯t get in contact with the Chinese military in any case, okay?¡±


    ¡°Our agents have that much self-control. What are you worried about?¡±


    ¡°Hey, what if Chinese soldiers bothered Uyghur girls in front of you? Would you let it pass?¡±


    It might not happen, but it seemed that Chinese soldiers would not be so kind to the people who were leaving them voluntarily.


    ¡°We¡¯d have to withhold it no matter what. Don¡¯t worry about it, our agents are trained to even endure tortures.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you the most. You¡¯ll be the first one to take the Chinese soldiers down if you saw that happening.¡±


    ¡°Man, it feels like something¡¯s going to happen.¡±


    ¡°So stick to the n and make sure they don¡¯t collide.¡±


    ¡°Would you call Prime Minister Kasim and summon the Chinese ambassador first?¡±


    ¡°The government should not take action, but the royal family should take the initiative first. It will be humiliating if the Chinese government rejected the Kazakh government¡¯s request.¡±


    ¡°What about the royal family?¡±


    ¡°The royal family is not an official authority of Kazakhstan. Also, the Chinese government respected the royal family as a priority rather than the government before. It might be easy to get a positive answer if the royal family stepped in.¡±


    ¡°If it was so easy like you say, we won¡¯t have to collect evidence from Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°No, we must have a proof for the sake of the future.¡±


    ¡°Are you still thinking about locking the pipeline?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I told you that I¡¯m going to lock up the pipeline, but it won¡¯t be so easy as I have said. We¡¯d have to think about the national interest of Kazakhstan.¡±

 Chapter 534 - Resource Sales (3)

    <h4>Chapter 534: Resource Sales (3)</h4>


    While busy preparing for the resource diplomacy trip, the Uyghur refugee issue had caused a war of nerves with the Chinese government.


    Youngho¡¯s head hurt to think about theplicated situation.


    He could not afford to do as he wanted to do because Kazakhstan might suffer a great national loss if he did. After agonizing over it for a while, Youngho decided to persuade the Chinese government politely.


    He called the Chinese ambassador in Kazakhstan and asked to take care of the Uyghur refugee problem. The ambassador replied that he would do so in front of Youngho, but he did not look so pleased to hear it.


    ¡°Ambassador, I¡¯m not in a position to tell you about what the Chinese government decides to do, but Kazakh Uyghurs are finally returning their home now. They say they suffer from frostbite as they walk to the border in the heavy snow and cold. Please take good care of them.¡±


    ¡°How can I not pay attention to your earnest request? But Chinese people don¡¯t have a good feeling toward Uyghurs because they¡¯re abandoning China.¡±


    ¡°Most of the refugees are Kazakh descents, and native Uyghurs are still living well in China. So I hope the Chinese government will pay more attention to their leaving.¡±


    Although Chinese authorities locked Uyghurs in concentration camps and secured their biometric information under the pretext of a medical check-up, Youngho encouraged him by saying that the rest of the Uyghurs were living well in Xinjiang Uyghur. It was to convince him and keep Uyghur refugees as healthy as possible until they arrived at the Kazakh border.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your message to the president and try to let Uyghurs leave as conveniently as possible.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, ambassador. I¡¯ll count on you.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, can I ask you a favor as well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like you to ease some restrictions on Chinesepanies.¡±


    The Chinese ambassador listened to Youngho¡¯s request carefully and tried to make a deal.


    He meant that the Kazakh government should release its heavy sanctions on Chinesepanies in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°The environmental impact of not only Chinesepanies but also multinationals is serious. Kazakhstan will be a ce where no one can live at this rate. I didn¡¯t impose sanctions aiming only at Chinesepanies.¡±


    ¡°Chinesepanies only made mistakes because they have not much experience in doing business abroad. Shouldn¡¯t you give them a chance to recover their mistake?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d know well that the royal family can¡¯t interfere with what the government does. However, I¡¯ll deliver the message to Prime Minister Kasim.¡±


    ¡°Please keep in mind the position of the Chinese government that is overlooking the Uyghurs leaving the border and providing them somefort.¡±


    The ambassador said it as if the Chinese side was a victim when the Uyghurs were true victims in Xinjiang Uyghur. It was upsetting to hear such words, but Youngho had to let it go to think about Uyghur refugees¡¯ health.


    ***


    ¡°You did a great job of being patient. There¡¯s nothing good about colliding with the Chinese government now. If we achieve overwhelming military power, China will be more cautious to us.¡±


    Eriksson was consoling Youngho, who just sighed after sending out the Chinese ambassador from his office.


    ¡°I¡¯m upset that I¡¯m going to live with that for many years.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the reality of a small country. I don¡¯t know how long China will be so strong-headed, but it will crawl to us.¡±


    ¡°Are you speaking of China¡¯s economic crisis?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I mean. The bubble in the Chinese economy will be cleared within a few years.¡±


    Eriksson said as if he was certain about it.


    ¡°I hope there¡¯s a way to advance the timing.¡±


    ¡°Economists believe that even if China ovees the economic crisis, the Chinese economy willg behind for at least ten years. If that happens to a country with a huge poption like China, it is the same as the end of themunist system.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be even scarier if China became a democratic country?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If various suppressed sses of China express their demands andints, it will also slow down economic growth. In addition, the huge poption of 1.3 billion can also be a stumbling block to economic development.¡±


    It was a relief to hear that the enormous poption could be an obstacle to China when it had been China¡¯s main power throughout history.


    ¡°Your Highness, may I call Prime Minister Kasim? We can¡¯t ignore what the ambassador has asked about lifting sanctions on Chinesepanies. From now on, we have toe up with measures.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean to ept the proposal to make a deal as they hold Uyghur people hostage?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the Chinese government is not a terrorist group. It¡¯s just suppressing minority groups.¡±


    ¡°To me they are. China made it so difficult for Uyghurs to live and made them choose to leave Xinjiang Uyghur, but now it wants to make a deal on taking advantage of Uyghur refugees. Do you think this is normal?¡±


    ¡°Since the royal family has stepped in, we can¡¯t cut off the conversation here. Think about the forest rather than focusing on a tree.¡±


    At Eriksson¡¯s words, Youngho was unable to insist further, so he called in Prime Minister Kasim and Cab ministers.


    The meeting went on for a long time as the measures for China¡¯s demands, resource sales, and technician imports were discussed.


    This was because of the fundamental reason for China¡¯s request was to get resources from Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Sir Eriksson says we¡¯re toox about our national resources but negotiations are not as easy as it sounds.¡±


    The Secretary of Energyined to Eriksson,


    ¡°European countries hire privatepanies to negotiate for resources. They are quite tactful that even those who majored in psychology are mobilized to achieve what they want. Keep in mind that if you don¡¯t wake up, you¡¯ll just have a huge outflow of resources.¡±


    ¡°Then we should mobilize a group of negotiation experts too.¡±


    ¡°Is there a group of negotiation experts who have negotiated with foreign countries in Kazakhstan? Most of the time, we just leave negotiations up to officials. Why don¡¯t we hire foreign negotiators this time?¡±


    ¡°Is there a group that can handle this as its own work?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this, but there are so many consultingpanies that are going to do much better than our best efforts. It¡¯s going to cost you, but I suggest contracting with a global consulting firm specializing in negotiation at the government level.¡±


    All the Cab members nodded to Eriksson¡¯s idea as they agreed to have been neglectful about rich national resources.


    ¡°After hearing from you, I realize that all resource negotiations have been done in an old-fashioned way. Let¡¯s train negotiators in Kazakhstan from now on and hire consulting firms forplicated negotiations. I think it would be reasonable to leave both matters to Sir Eriksson.¡±


    As the meeting was dragged on, Prime Minister Kasim stepped up and hurried to reach the conclusion because there remained a more important discussion than resource sales.


    ¡°I can¡¯t allow the Chinese side trying to negotiate with our royal family while holding Uyghurs as a hostage.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was furious about China¡¯s behavior.


    ¡°So you¡¯re just going leave the Uyghurs alone? The royal family just gave an announced statement to the public under the name of the Queen. If we neglect them, only the royal family¡¯s prestige will be damaged. We can dy our answer to China, but it¡¯s not ideal to refuse it immediately.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like the robbers are holding the hostage and asking us to give them the money. Should we be dragged around by this? You know how the internationalmunity treats a country that negotiated with such a group.¡±


    As the Prime Minister raised his voice, Youngho interrupted to calm him down.


    ¡°The authority of the royal family is not very important, because we exist for our people not for China. But we need to give hope and trust to the Uyghurs who are crossing the border. The only way is to negotiate for their safe transfer with the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we¡¯d have to think about Kazakhstan¡¯s national interest. We can¡¯t yield too much to China for Uyghurs.¡±


    Kasim replied to Youngho¡¯s argument.


    ¡°As you said, Prime Minister, we can¡¯t give in unconditionally to China. I¡¯m thinking that we should suggest the right amount of benefit and wait for China¡¯s reaction. And we will present our environmental standards and apply them rigorously.¡±


    ¡°How about allowing offshore oil fields that China recently acquired from foreignpanies first? Due to the freezing of water, the operation period will be limited and the sea pollution prevention standards are quite strict. Chinesepanies won¡¯t be able tost long.¡±


    ¡°If we are ying along with the Chinese government¡¯s n one by one, the situation will go back to the way it was soon. Why don¡¯t we tell the world about how China is taking Uyghurs as a hostage and stop China? If we listen to China¡¯s demands, we will continue to be dragged around.¡±


    ¡°And then you¡¯ll have to give up Uyghur refugees. If we don¡¯t help Uyghurs, we¡¯ll lose our position as the leader of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s show them we¡¯re still the head of Central Asia. Our military is ready to deal with China at any time on the border.¡±


    The defense minister kept insisting to exercise force in China. It seemed he gained confidence in the national military strength as Swedish and American air defenseworks were ced all around the country and high-tech fighter jets were brought in to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°What? Kazakhstan is now on track for economic growth, do you mean we should go to war?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for war, but we need to show our strength. China is trying to negotiate with us because it¡¯s looking down on us.¡±


    ¡°China does that with Russia and the U.S. frequently.¡±


    ¡°As soon as we ept the deal, China will misjudge that we are powerless. So I¡¯m trying to keep the tension at the border to warn China.¡±


    The defense minister had a point.


    If Kazakhstan had an overwhelming force, China would not have used Uyghurs to make a deal with it. In the end, what China was after was Kazakhstan¡¯s resources.


    After a long meeting, they decided to open several offshore oil fields to Chinesepanies.


    And instead, if they vited a single environmentalw, they would be expelled right away. This was notified to the Chinese government soon.


    Of course, the offshore oil fields that would be developed by China would be under close monitoring by environmental groups.


    Not long after that, China also promised to provide transportation to the Uyghurs.

 Chapter 535 - Resource Sales (4)

    <h4>Chapter 535: Resource Sales (4)</h4>


    After seeing how China treated Uyghurs, Youngho thought that he should draw a clear line after all refugees crossed the Kazakh border.


    Since China was advocating nationalism, there was no way that Kazakhstan would be amicable to China.


    Youngho was going to take a break at the end of the year, but it had be a new year already as he was busy with the Uyghur refugee problem.


    Fatima and the kids, who had been excited to celebrate the New Year with Youngho were upset that they could not go on a trip because of his busy schedule. Zeynep, who returned to the royal territory to spend family time, alsoined.


    ¡°Your Highness has ruined my winter break again! How are you going to repay me?¡±


    ¡°Grow up, little girl! How can we enjoy a family trip when the Uyghurs are risking their lives to cross the border?¡±


    ¡°Our welfare foundation has donated money to help Uyghurs. Also, we had many volunteers to go help them, but we weren¡¯t allowed because of the security problem. It¡¯s sad that they¡¯re suffering, but we have our life too!¡±


    Zeynep had a point.


    In the poorer countries of the Third World, there were people who starved to death because they had nothing to eat right away when some people around the world were enjoying their lives and spending money on vacations instead of helping poor people. It was unfortunate, but it also sounded unfair if people had to give up their joy in life to help poor people. If they had helped poor people with some of their money, they had done their social duty.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go on a resource sales trip to Europe in a few days. I¡¯ll take all of you there. You can enjoy your winter vacation there.¡±


    ¡°Are you also going to France?¡±


    ¡°Of course. This trip is for the countries of the Mediterranean coast.¡±


    ¡°Awesome. You¡¯re going to give me enough money to go shopping, right?¡±


    Zeynep already knew that Youngho was nning on a resource sales trip. She pretended to be upset to get more allowance from Youngho.


    ¡°By the way, how much have you ripped off Yaniv, Zeynep?¡±


    ¡°What? Why do you say I ripped him off? Grandfather Yaniv voluntarily gave it to me.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t force him to do so?¡±


    ¡°He called me to say hello, so I just told him about our foundation.¡±


    ¡°And he gave you money on his own?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but how did you know about it?¡±


    ¡°I heard he paid you because you pushed him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that grandpa is so funny. I stopped him, but he insisted to pay more.¡±


    ¡°How much did he payst time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only three million dors.¡±


    No matter how rich people were, it was not easy for them to pay such a huge amount for charity. Youngho was certain that Zeynep had pushed Yaniv.


    ¡°Make sure you include his name when you build a school or a particr building.¡±


    ¡°Does he want buildings dedicated to his name?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just to show that his money is being spent on society. It will make him happy because Mr. Yaniv is quite regretful about his past mafia life. That¡¯s why he is being more generous to the foundation.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, that means I can ask for some more. Should I ask Mr. Sergey to pay too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t. They¡¯re like a family, and if you keep pushing them, they won¡¯t answer your calls anymore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that. Pretend that you don¡¯t know a thing.¡±


    Zeynep was living a stressed life because she became a member of the Kazakh royal family. She could not even enjoy the romance of college life since she was surrounded by bodyguards.


    She said that her only joy was to see the money collected on her foundation. It seemed Sergey would also suffer from her joy.


    Sometimes she said that her old life at Baku¡¯s farm was better. Bing a royal family was great for the family, but it was an ufortable life for her.


    Youngho thought that he had been too insensitive for his family that had to sacrifice their privacy as part of the royal family.


    He expressed his apology for messing up Zeynep¡¯s hair as he used to in the past.


    His wallet would be wide open for Fatima and Zeynep on this trip since shopping was a form of deviation and stress relief for the girls.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve got a message from Korea.¡±


    Suh Min-seok hurriedly entered Youngho¡¯s office.


    It was not a surprise because the Kazakh ambassador in Korea, the Korean government, and defensepanies frequently contacted the Kazakh government and the royal family.


    ¡°What is it that you¡¯re making a fuss?¡±


    ¡°The Korean governments asked how many Korean college graduates can the Kazakh government receive.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Does that mean that they can send any number of Korean workers if we asked?¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s what it means. There will be a lot of graduates and job seekers. So we informed that we don¡¯t have a quota.¡±


    As part of the expansion of technical manpower, Kazakhstan had decided to ept Korea¡¯s outstanding human resources and asked for the Korean government¡¯s help.


    Although Youngho was being admired by young Korean people as he became the Duke of Kazakhstan as a Korean, Youngho worried that Kazakhstan was not an appealing ce for Koreans. However, there were a huge number of applicants.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to hear that. Korean young people are quite adventurous to apply to work in this remote ce.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness has set up a good example for them, so it¡¯s not an adventure for them. Probably my case is close to an adventure.¡±


    ¡°You sure had an adventure. You bet your life in an uncertain future. Don¡¯t you think you made a great decision?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It was the best decision in my life. I¡¯m honored to serve you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten a lot better with your ttery these days. You want to take a vacation to go home or something?¡±


    ¡°The family members of In-hwa have also decided to settle down here soon, so I don¡¯t have to go back to Korea anymore.¡±


    ¡°Did you find a house for them?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim has assigned them a house near the pce.¡±


    These days, it was very difficult to get housing allocations because many people wanted to live in the Arirang royal territory.


    Now, the state did not pay for people¡¯s houses. It only providednd and people would have to pay for the construction cost of their houses. The area near the royal pce was quite saturated already. It was because the construction of buildings is strictly restricted for security purposes. Most of the people who lived near the pce were civil servants.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d like to suggest something about the Korean young people.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I was wondering if we could grant them a green card on the condition that they get a job in Kazakhstan. There is a high chance that they will go back to Korea because they won¡¯t receive any medical or educational benefits with their resident visa.¡±


    ¡°Do they need educational benefits too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure there will be a lot of people who will want to go to graduate school here. Many of them want to move to Kazakhstan because many of them can¡¯t pay for their tuitions anymore in Korea.¡±


    With the inauguration of the new government, Kazakhstan had been covering all tuition fees from elementary schools to universities. However, foreigners were the only exception.


    Any foreigner who had obtained a permanent residency was exempted from tuition bills as it was part of an effort to resolve poption shortage and induce foreign settlement.


    Foreigners could easily settle down if they wanted to, but in order to receive permanent residency, people must meet certain conditions set forth by the government.


    Suh Min-seok wanted to issue a special green card to encourage the settlement of young Koreans.


    It was good news for Youngho to hear that many Koreans had applied toe to Kazakhstan, especially because he had been trying to attract European people during his trip to Europe for resource sales. That meant he would not have to sell resources at a lower price in exchange for workers.


    ***


    Arge jumbo jet took off the royal territory¡¯s airport.


    Leon and Jelyan cheered as the ne soared into the air. Rena went to South Ossetia for her winter break, so she could not be together this time.


    Although their dad was on his way to work, the children thought that they were on a vacation trip. Since they could not go outside the pce due to the harsh cold for a while, it was exciting just to get on an airne.


    When the ne reached its normal height, Leon and Jelyan got up from their seats and began to walk around downstairs and upstairs.


    Fatima, who had been scolding them, shrugged her shoulders as she looked at Youngho to ask for help.


    ¡°Leave it. The attendants downstairs will take care of them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know from whom he got that from. Were you so busy like him when you were little?¡±


    ¡°Why are you looking at me? He might have gotten that from you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he might not grow up to be a reliable prince. I¡¯m going to discipline him very strongly from this year, so don¡¯t even say a word.¡±


    As Youngho never scolded his kids, he was a hindrance to their discipline.


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s going to calm down in time. A kid is bound to act like a kid.¡±


    ¡°No, you should leave our children¡¯s discipline to me one hundred percent.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. You¡¯re bing scary, Fatima.¡±


    As the two were discussing who should take a lead to discipline the kids, Suh Min-seok came to inform Youngho that ministers were gathered at the conference room.


    ¡°Report that we have gathered in this conference room.¡±


    For this trip, Eriksson, Commander Kabak, the minister of energy, and the industrial technology minister, foreign affairs, trade minister Government and other officials apanied Youngho.


    Negotiations between governments would be done by working-level officials, but the negotiations with the Europeanpanies were left to the Information Agency. At the earnest request of the royal family, the Information Agency had hurriedly formed a consulting team.


    There were many world-ss consulting firms, but it was hard to find a trustworthypany, so Youngho asked a favor to Basten, and he readily epted it. It was a relief to know that there was a great negotiation team that knew about Kazakhstan¡¯s situations more than any otherpany.


    ¡°Commander Kabak, please stop by the national defensepany and see if you can test its weapons performance.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if France is going to open its advanced weapons to us very easily.¡±


    ¡°They should. They¡¯re the ones who can supply weapons to the country that supports terrorism if they can make money. It¡¯s their chance to get resources, so they¡¯ll open most of their technologies to us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be great if they¡¯re so cooperative, but I only hope that they don¡¯t make any unreasonable demands.¡±


    ¡°Be confident as a resource-rich country. When the waterway is expanded, we¡¯ll have a direct route to Europe. Kazakhstan is no longer andlocked country. The royal family also has the right to manage the Volga-Baltic Waterway, so you can be as loud as possible.¡±


    As the first stop of their trip would be France, Youngho was educating the ministers about France. Since Kazakh ministers had little experience in negotiating with foreign countries yet, Youngho tried his best to encourage them.

 Chapter 536 - Pulling and Hauling (1)

    <h4>Chapter 536: Pulling and Hauling (1)</h4>


    The French presidential residence was the Elysee Pce.


    Situated on the Faubourg Saint-Honore Street in Paris¡¯ eighth arrondissement, the splendid pce was particrly central to the French modern and contemporary history.


    In thete 18th century, General Murat was said to give this mansion to Emperor Napoleon under the name of ¡®Elysee-Napoleon¡¯, and after many twists and turns became the French presidential residence of Elysee.


    Youngho and his group arrived at this historic pce.


    They unpacked their belongings on the official residence for visitors of the Elysee Pce.


    Fatima, who was looking at the pce through the window, shrugged her shoulders and said,


    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, but it¡¯s not as grand as our royal pce. It looked bigger a few years ago.¡±


    ¡°You mean our royal pce is better than the Elysee Pce?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is no pce that can withstand a nuclear war. It¡¯s more like a fortress, not a royal pce.¡±


    Youngho was not sure whether or not Fatima was being sarcastic for the Kazakh royal pce.


    He did not want to spend money to decorate his pce because he was someone who cared about efficiency and security the most rather than being fancy. If Fatima insisted, he would have to give in. He began to add reasons because of nervousness.


    ¡°It¡¯s because Commissioner Kim and Jong-il insisted to build it strong. If you put a red stone on the exterior of the pce, it¡¯ll look as good as the Elysee Pce.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Don¡¯t worry too much. I didn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t like our pce. I would¡¯ve dissuaded you if you asked me to build it luxuriously. We have enemies around us that have us as a target. We always have to keep the war in mind.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of war?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s to worry about when a strong man like you are always around. I¡¯ve already known how strong you are since the day I came to Baku¡¯s vineyard.¡±


    Her remarks were surprising because he said that he fired at a wolf to chase them away that night, but Fatima must have known that Youngho was after thieves.


    He recalled the day when the Fatima siblings first visited Zeynep Farm, which was just a grape farm back then. Zeynep nagged to stay the night at the farm, so they all decided to sleep in the unfinished management quarters, but Youngho had to use his pistol to chase away the thieves who hade to steal the farm equipment.


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°Did you forget that we used to live in Istanbul¡¯s slums? It¡¯s a ce where all kinds of idents and crimes continue every day. I¡¯ve heard several shots, and I knew it was not a wolf.¡±


    ¡°You were not scared about it?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t afraid because I¡¯ve learned the power of the ring and leather shoes. And you were guarding us, so I wasn¡¯t afraid. I thought it was fun.¡±


    Youngho rather felt bad that he had been treating Fatima like a precious flower, not knowing that she was such a fearless and bold woman.


    ¡°What else do you know that you haven¡¯t told me?¡±


    ¡°There have been a few suspicious activities, but after learning that you were a CIA agent, I didn¡¯t have any fear. You will save me no matter what happened, won¡¯t you? So I¡¯m not afraid of war.¡±


    There would be no men who would say no in this situation. She ttered Youngho so much that he wondered where she had learned such skill.


    ¡°If you envy Elysee Pce, I¡¯ll make you a decent pce.¡±


    Herpliments made him vulnerable to any request. He could do anything for her at that moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s not because I¡¯m jealous; it¡¯s because I¡¯m so proud of us. I can¡¯t believe we are invited to the Elysee Pce as official guests.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You¡¯ve been the Queen of Kazakhstan for a while now. This is only natural. Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re the Queen of a powerful nation.¡±


    ¡°Can we really be a powerful nation?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we can. Our stay at the Elysee Pce is proof that France recognizes us.¡±


    De Gaulle Airport¡¯s courtesy to the Kazakh royal family and ministers was amazing.


    This was proof that France was thirsty for resources from Central Asia, and it was also an unspoken pressure for Kazakhstan to release more resources for it.


    No matter what anyone said, France was a great power and the center of world culture, and it was quite impressive that France which had high self-esteem gave such a courteous treatment to the royal family and ministers of a developing country.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about politics or the world, but I¡¯m secretly worried. I think we¡¯re wasting too much of our resources which should be preserved for future generations.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help it now until we reach a certain level of power. If we don¡¯t have power, we¡¯ll eventually be robbed of our resources.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t we have great allies such as the U.S. and Britain that can help us?¡±


    ¡°They need us now so they¡¯ve be our allies, but I honestly don¡¯t know whether they will send troops for us in case of war. A proper resource deal is also desirable for the safety of our country. As long as we have friendly countries who want to use our resources around, we¡¯ll be protected.¡±


    Fatima seemed to ept Youngho¡¯s exnation, so he added more.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that we have to sell resources in order to join the ranks of advanced powers. But I¡¯m not going to have too much resource sales to the point where you should be worried. I¡¯ll leave enough resources for Leon and his generation to use.¡±


    ***


    The French government wanted various resources from Kazakhstan.


    African countries of Gabon, Congo, Senegal, and Chad were also Frenchmunities that had many resources. Even though France did not have to be obsessed with the resources of Kazakhstan, it was strangely being obsessive about them.


    ording to the Minister of Energy, who was negotiating with the French government delegation, once the Volga-Don Canal waspleted, France would be able to travel directly to the Caspian Sea from the southern port of France through the ck Sea, which was quite a charming idea. Its calction was that taking resources from Kazakhstan rather than Africa would save logistics costs.


    The Volga-Baltic Waterway was also attractive, but the Volga-Don Canal was France¡¯s best interest because it was a direct route to all countries around the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea.


    To Mediterranean countries, the fact that the Kazakh royal family was investing a billion dors to expand the Volga canal was a great selling point.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think our aggressive investment in the two canals has been a key factor. French officials are very amicable to us. I feel like they¡¯ll easily hand over some high-tech weapons and technology transfers. They emphasized that they have better weapons than what the U.S. can offer.¡±


    Commander Kabak was encouraged to think that Kazakhstan would get some French-made weapons.


    ¡°Were there outstanding weapons?¡±


    ¡°There are pros and cons, but French weapons don¡¯t seem tog behind the U.S. weapons, and they¡¯re cheaper.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take French officials¡¯ words as they are.¡±


    ¡°What... What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Commander Kabak, you don¡¯t know about France very well. There¡¯s a reason why many countries that had weapons deals with France turned their backs. They not only provided underperforming weapons but also vited or ignored the delivery deadline. Don¡¯t believe it unless you see it with your own eyes.¡±


    ¡°How dare you do that when it¡¯s a cross-country deal?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just France. Israel, Korea, and many other countries have been victims of that. So we must make sure to do performance testing and set detailed terms for a technical tie-up.¡±


    France recently made it in the top five weapons provider in the world.


    Although France focused on quantity rather than performance in the beginning stage, many clients still bought weapons from it since its weapons were great, and France¡¯s defense prowess was global.


    Kazakhstan had already decided to bring in personal firearms and conventional weapons such as artillery from Britain, and Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, on top of the air defense system from the U.S. and Sweden. Although it was not necessary for Kazakhstan to bring in French weapons, Youngho was willing to ept them because it wanted to have ess to advanced weapons. It was an opportunity to learn about weapons so that Kazakhstan could produce its own one day. There was no reason to refuse to do technical tie-ups.


    ¡°France is desperate for our resources, so please maintain your ambiguous attitude as much as possible when negotiating. They¡¯ll then give us the technologies we need automatically. They know we¡¯re already transitioning two weapons systems of the U.S. and in the U.K., so they¡¯ll be eager to sell weapons.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know France had been so disrespectful to other countries.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it was only a bad deal. So we¡¯ll learn from history and pursue practical interests. Keep in mind that technology transferes first and then a resource exportter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to check the weapons performance and leave the rest of the consultation to a consulting firm.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, too. Let¡¯s take a look at the Swedish consulting firm¡¯s skills. The Swedishpany I know will get anything we want from France.¡±


    ¡°Is thepany that good?¡±


    ¡°Sir Eriksson is also from thatpany.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered why such a smart man is here with you. Of course, he must¡¯ve been attracted to your character but is there any other reason?¡±


    ¡°I happened to help Eriksson from a dangerous situation.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s here with you to repay your kindness?¡±


    ¡°Not only for that reason, but he had been very helpful because hispany sells and buys information. I know all about France because of Eriksson¡¯s advice.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll just check the weapons¡¯ performance without worrying about negotiations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a fun country, so let¡¯s take this opportunity to observe and learn from it.¡±

 Chapter 537 - Pulling and Hauling (2)

    <h4>Chapter 537: Pulling and Hauling (2)</h4>


    France¡¯s Mistral portable surface-to-air missile weighed only 40 kilograms, making it an anti-aircraft weapon that could be operated while carrying a small number of tactical vehicles.


    It came as a scare for many pilots flying fighter jets and helicopters as the missile threatened them at speeds above Mach 2.6 after liftoff.


    In the past, the South Korean government¡¯s purchase of the French weapon had been marred because the French government provided the wrong version of the Mistral missile.


    The French government¡¯s response to the Korean government¡¯s protest was also terrible since it said that the government could not get involved in the affairs of privatepanies.


    In addition, the French government did not keep its promise to return Korean cultural heritage¡ªJikji¡ªwhich was the oldest book printed by the world-first movable metal-type invented in Korea that was stored in the National Library of France, after the librarian stopped it with full force. The French government¡¯s reason was that it could not ignore an individual¡¯s will.


    There had been many other unpleasant incidents like this with the French government, so other countries were very cautious when making a contract with France.


    Kabak who had been listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation was lost for words as he was dumbfounded.


    It was not sure where France¡¯s arrogance of breaking deals between countries came from, but this time, Youngho was determined to show Kazakhstan¡¯s power.


    ¡°There has been a case of Israel against France. Israel was disadvantaged by the French government, so it sent intelligence personnel to steal the French fighter¡¯s blueprint.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if they¡¯re ying with that kind of prank, then we¡¯ll have to take their technology, too. And yet, I wonder why you still want to do business with France.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s diversity. If we are biased in the internationalmunity, our ce will be shaken. France is a great power and has a high voice in the internationalmunity. Maintaining a good rtionship with France will be beneficial for Kazakhstan¡¯s national interest, so I want to make ties under the name of resource diplomacy.¡±


    ¡°I see what you mean by that. Then, we must show Kazakhstan¡¯s tenacity this time.¡±


    Kazakhstan had persistently survived despite the harsh given environment.


    They sometimes took belligerent character and sometimes were just vulnerable nomads to endure thousands of years to survive tenaciously. Youngho was curious about how the French people would react to the Kazakh people¡¯s tenacity.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about bringing some alcohol to this evening¡¯s dinner for the president?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to put out vodka, right? If you do that, you¡¯ll be in big trouble.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like a reward for inviting us. I was going to bring Zeynep Wine and the vodka we produced in the factory in Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many French officials are going to drink strong drinks at the official dinner table.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re high-esteemed people. They wouldn¡¯t want to lose to us.¡±


    Kabak smiled as Youngho mentioned about a drinking match.


    ¡°I wonder how much vodka they¡¯ll be able to drink since they¡¯re wine drinkers.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll be a great news story after drinking heavily?¡±


    Journalists would be happy if the Kazakh team created a good story for them.


    They would treat the Kazakh delegation team differently from then on.


    ***


    While Youngho and other Cab ministers were busy for resource diplomacy, Fatima and Zeynep were having a st.


    They had been visiting various shops in Paris, where all the world¡¯s famous goods were gathered. As it became inconvenient to go around due to security problems, they even disguised themselves and went on a pilgrimage to department stores.


    It was tiring for Youngho since the two always showed what they bought from shopping for him at night.


    ¡°Oppa, I thought I¡¯d choose your clothes, but there were none for your body type. I¡¯ll find one next time.¡±


    Zeynep was excited as a little girl.


    ¡°I¡¯m a standard type. Any outfit looks good on me so just bring it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you really don¡¯t know about yourself.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I was told that I have a Western body type in Korea.¡±


    ¡°And you believed that? That kind ofpliment is just the lip service of the salespeople.¡±


    Zeynep probably had no time to pick clothes for Youngho for being too busy to pick her own.


    ¡°By the way, Oppa. Why don¡¯t you open an Arirang Hotel in France?¡±


    Thend price of Paris was a little expensive. Most of the best ces were owned by foreigners, so it was hard to find a good site.


    ¡°Why do you want an Arirang Hotel here?¡±


    ¡°You have to be in Paris to be a global hotel chain. Also, it¡¯ll be good for friendship with France.¡±


    Listening to her, Youngho was convinced that it was a good idea to have the finest Arirang Hotel in Paris, the center of Europe.


    This was because it had a symbolic meaning regardless of profit. The hotel run by the royal family would soon be famous, so there would be no damage.


    ¡°Is this for the friendship with France or your personal greed? Tell the truth, then I¡¯ll consider it.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, Your Highness. I¡¯m just giving you an earnest advice for Kazakhstan¡¯s future. Do you really think that I¡¯m doing this because I don¡¯t have a hotel room to go to in Paris?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean it? So you¡¯re saying you don¡¯t care about the hotel at all?¡±


    ¡°Fatima, look! Your husband doubts me, too.¡±


    Fatima answered to Zeynep.


    ¡°It seems like he has grown a victim mentality because other nations are being greedy for the resources of Kazakhstan. Try to understand with a big heart, Zeynep.¡±


    The two sisters were busy making fun of Youngho. Now they turned him into someone with paranoia.


    ¡°Do you have any site in mind for the hotel building?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Zeynep was stunned for a moment when Youngho gave in so easily.


    She then disyed a satisfied look on her face. Now, she would have an excuse toe to Paris.


    ¡°Oppa! Are you sure you¡¯re going to build it for me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not yours. Why are you saying it like it¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... I guess I got too excited that my tongue slipped. It¡¯s really for the friendship between the two countries, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°How can I stay still when Zeynep is so concerned about Kazakhstan? I should build a nice hotel and make it andmark in Paris.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop ttering me. It just popped up in my mind. If you¡¯re going to build it, please make it look antique-like like the one in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to make it modern-like?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the pride of Kazakhstan. You know how others still see us as an uncivilized, nomadic country. I think we should show ss.¡±


    That was how most of the European countries saw Central Asia.


    Since they saw Central Asia as a ce where nomadic people were, TV documentaries usually showed only such a side of Central Asia, not global cities like Almaty.


    It was necessary to correct such misconceptions on Central Asia now.


    ***


    When Youngho said that he wanted to build the Arirang Hotel in Paris with the royal fund, Cab ministers were as happy as Zeynep.


    The reason why they liked the news was that the Kazakh royal family-owned hotel in Paris, which was the center of Europe, would be a symbol for Kazakhstan. It would also improve the image of Kazakhstan to many tourists.


    Kazakhstan had not been working hard to improve its national image to the globalmunity; it was still being considered as a backward ce.


    French people paid little attention to the Kazakh royal family¡¯s visit to France now. However, if a British royal family visited, they would have reacted differently.


    Including Youngho, all of the ministers hadplicated feelings about that.


    Although there was not much they could do with the state fund, they believed that the Kazakh royal family¡¯s fund could build dozens of hotels in Paris.


    They all looked at Youngho with some anticipation.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s going to cost you a lot of money to build a hotel. Is it necessary to build one?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I was offended that French officials seemed to ignore us. It¡¯s rather a great opportunity. When our people¡¯s ie rises, they will travel to Paris frequently, right? Think of how proud they would be to see our royal hotel.¡±


    ¡°I think the Minister of Energy makes sense. In the internationalmunity, money is justice.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that power is justice, but it¡¯s my first time to hear money is justice.¡±


    ¡°We have to promote Kazakhstan to improve our nation¡¯s image.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we also have to highlight the fact that we are a constitutional monarchy. Our country is the only one that founded a new dynasty in the 21st century, right? It¡¯s something to be proud of.¡±


    As the discussion seemed to go on forever, Youngho interrupted them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop now and check on the task at hand.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, what you say is more important than building a hotel in Paris to symbolize Kazakhstan? The resources negotiations are in the final stages, so we can leave it up to rted officials.¡±


    When the Trade Minister asked Youngho to talk more about the hotel project, even Eriksson stood by to help.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s the right time to buy the site. It¡¯s the winter offseason, so thend price in Paris has dropped a lot, and there are plenty of sites in the market.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯ve heard that most decentnd is owned by foreigners these days.¡±


    ¡°The decline in oil prices has probably given us lots of vacantnd and buildings that the rich Middle Easterners had. I¡¯ll check it out.¡±


    ¡°Would you do that? It would be great to buy one on this trip.¡±

 Chapter 538 - Pulling and Hauling (3)

    <h4>Chapter 538: Pulling and Hauling (3)</h4>


    The ministers were pleased to hear that Youngho would immediately make a decision on the hotel¡¯s site.


    ¡°Your Highness. As for its size, how about building it as big as the hotel in Frankfurt?¡±


    ¡°Sure. It takes more than 300 rooms to save our face. We¡¯d like to secure as muchnd as possible.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll contact the branch office of the Information Agency to check it out.¡±


    ¡°Right. There must be a branch of the Information Agency here, too.¡±


    Youngho had forgotten that Basten¡¯s Information Agency¡¯s branch was in Paris.


    Thepany had its branch offices or business partners in important cities in the world so that it could collect, buy, and sell information.


    To think about that, an idea popped in his head.


    It would be a great coboration if Basten¡¯s Information Agency and the Intelligence Service of Kazakhstan formed a partnership. Since the Information Agency was an elite group with a huge informationwork and umted know-hows, the Kazakh Intelligence Service could learn from it and provide a military force in exchange.


    Basten was envious of military power since the days of the Arirang Autonomous State, so the n seemed to be feasible.


    ¡°Lord Eriksson, doesn¡¯t Mr. Basten hate the winter cold in Northern Europe?¡±


    ¡°Do you have something to tell him in person? Everyone in Northern Europe is sick of it. Shall we call him toe to our next destination?¡±


    The next destination after France was Spain, so it would be rtively warm. It was a ce many wealthy people visited in the winter.


    ¡°What do you think about having coboration between our intelligence service and the Information Agency?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Mr. Basten will like it. He used to say that he wanted military power whenever he had the opportunity, so he would never refuse your offer.¡±


    ¡°If you get a chance, can you ask him toe to Spain if he liked my suggestion?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call him right away. He¡¯ll fly to Spain as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Also, let him know that I¡¯ve got a nice drink and some snacks ready.¡±


    ¡°Then maybe he will fly to France right away.¡±


    Eriksson guessed it right.


    Basten flew to Paris the next day. It was certain that Youngho¡¯s proposal fascinated Basten.


    ¡°I told you to meet me in Spain. Why are you in such a hurry?¡±


    ¡°What formality do I need when it¡¯s between you and me? You¡¯ve suggested something great, so I had toe as fast as I could. I must thank you that ourpany continues to develop after you¡¯ve be a shareholder of ourpany.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be weird if thepany doesn¡¯t do well when you, the representative of thepany, cares about shareholders this much.¡±


    ¡°And rumors say that some shareholder even offers military power to thepany, too.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I should¡¯ve suggested it earlier.¡±


    ¡°When I heard from Eriksson, I thought it was a joke. Who would believe that we could use the military power of the Kazakh royal intelligence service? You know how difficult it is for a privatepany to acquire force, don¡¯t you? Even if we try hard, we can only have security guards.¡±


    ¡°And if you need, you can also use Zeynep Security Service as well.¡±


    ¡°If we could do that, I¡¯ll be able to sleep with my legs stretched out.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯re in agreement.¡±


    ¡°Surely.¡±


    ***


    Eriksson rmended three promising hotel site candidates.


    They were not emptynds or old buildings that had to be destroyed immediately but were traditional hotel sales.


    All of the hotels on sale were built less than 20 years ago, and what Zeynep picked among them was the Renaissance La Defence Hotel.


    The reason was that it was only 30 minutes away from Orly Airport and was close to the city center, so it had good essibility. Also, it was close to shopping centers.


    She wanted an antique-looking hotel before, but now she was into the stylish, modern-looking hotel.


    So Youngho decided to buy the Renaissance La Defangs Hotel for 250 million dors.


    This showed France that Kazakhstan not only sold resources but also had an ability to invest in businesses. To Youngho, who signed the contract without hesitation, Eriksson praised it, saying that it was a very good deal.


    ¡°This is a hotel that a Chinese billionaire tried to buy. He was trying to cut the price, but he missed it because of us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of rumors that Chinese businessmen are not only taking over hotels but also luxury houses in Paris. It must have been a big problem for the French government.¡±


    ¡°I guess it is not only the Middle Eastern royal people that love Paris but the Chinese people as well.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if there is another reason.¡±


    ¡°How could you pressure the French government by buying a lot of the properties here?¡±


    ¡°It would create a natural opportunity for the Chinese toe in. That¡¯s why Chinese people buy real estates all over the world.¡±


    Youngho heard that Jeju Ind in Korea was suffering from the real estate boom among Chinese people, and the same thing was happening in France.


    ¡°Your bold purchase of the hotel will be very favorable to the French government.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same to the French government since it¡¯s sold to a foreigner?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a hundred times better than being sold to another Chinese. There¡¯s no institutional way to stop it but at least a purchase by a European.¡±


    ¡°You finally admit that Kazakhstan is part of Europe now.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I meant the Queen is a European descent.¡±


    The schedule in France went smoothly.


    One of the most notable aspects of the schedule was the negotiations to build additional nuclear power nts in the country, which were linked to uranium exports and also a transfer of the French technology rting to nuclear waste for reprocessing facilities.


    As a country known for its independent activities without caring about the internationalmunity¡¯s view, France had no hesitation about nuclear technology transfer.


    Park Jong-il would have loved to hear it if he was there because he had finished the preparation to make nuclear weapons in the royal territory¡¯sboratory.


    Theboratory would be able to manufacture a few nuclear weapons within a month if it wanted to now.


    ***


    After fulfilling the purpose of the visit to France, Youngho¡¯s group traveled to Spain, Italy, and Greece in a row and finally arrived in Turkey.


    There were many minor episodes while going through various countries, but overall, resource sales went generally smooth.


    Each country weed the Kazakh royal family and ministers and promised to engage in economic exchanges with Kazakhstan since those countries all desperately needed resources from Kazakhstan.


    It was helpful to have studied the trading styles of southern European countries.


    Because of that, the Kazakh ministers were confident all the time and kept their poker face.


    If there was an excessive demand from officials of such countries, they postponed their discussion to the next day, and if there was an item that Kazakhstan needed, they persistently and obsessively asked for it until it was provided.


    Southern European officials, who pretended to be noble at first, blushed in stress and embarrassment.


    The officials who followed Youngho on this trip were happy to save the face of Kazakhstan.


    It was a great achievement for their first diplomacy trip.


    When they got off at the Istanbul airport, they had a confident look on their faces.


    Another reason for this was that the royal family had bought top-of-the-line hotels in Spain and Greece as well.


    ¡°Your Highness, the Greek government seems to be expecting too much from us, but nothing has been fixed yet, so I feel burdened.¡±


    Greece had urged Turkey to help it get oil from the Caspian Sea through the BTC pipeline¡ªBaku, Azerbaijan-Tbilisi, Georgia-Jayhan, Turkey.


    As if Youngho¡¯s verbal assurance was not so promising, the Minister of Energy¡¯s face was dark with worries.


    He seemed to have decided that Turkey and Greece were never easy to deal with because they often growled over territorial issues on small inds in the Mediterranean Sea. He worried about how Kazakhstan could persuade Turkey.


    ¡°Minister, you don¡¯t have to worry too much. The owner of the oil in the pipeline is Azerbaijan. The two countries are brotherly countries to us. Do you think they will refuse our request? And the amount of oil that Greece consumes is not that much, so there¡¯s no pressure for them. If they refused, we will send it directly through the Volga-Don Canal.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the Azerbaijan government be reluctant to do so because of Turkey?¡±


    ¡°President Aliyev is not a very easy man. Also, Turkey can¡¯t pressure Azerbaijan since it¡¯s using Azerbaijan¡¯s oil. It¡¯s a waste to get oil from the Middle East across the Mediterranean when you can use oil from the field right next to you.¡±


    The Greek government promised to sell its financially troubled shippingpany if Kazakhstan would help it to get oil supply. It was an opportunity to buy arge shippingpany at a cheap price.


    Moreover, Youngho also believed that Turkey would not refuse it.


    It was because he was nning an underwater pipeline in the Caspian Sea. The pipeline to Europe via Russia was already saturated, so it was necessary to expand it.


    Russia wanted to expand it, but Youngho wanted to build Kazakhstan¡¯s own at this opportunity.


    The construction of the submarine pipeline between Kazakhstan and Baku would enable the existing BTC pipeline to be connected to Europe. Even if Russia opposed the idea of prating the Caspian Sea, the oil could be carried to Baku, Azerbaijan by a tanker since Turkey was only two hours away from Azerbaijan.


    ¡°Since Turkey use oil from Kazakhstan, it won¡¯t be able to refuse our request so easily.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little relief to hear that, but I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll miss this precious opportunity because of Turkey¡¯s high pride.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re also interested in the shippingpany, too, Minister.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a chance for our royal shippingpany to be a major yer. Kazakhstan must be the only country that has two shipyards and icebreakers even though it¡¯s not touching the ocean.¡±


    The Minister of Energy¡¯s praise was proof that the Kazakh royal family was being politically sessful in Kazakhstan on top of the sky-high support of the Kazakh people.


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed to say this, but I was very proud to be a Kazakh on this tour.¡±

 Chapter 539 - Istanbul (1)

    <h4>Chapter 539: Istanbul (1)</h4>


    Istanbul was home to the Fatima siblings. The memories of their childhood lied in there.


    It was a ce where they spent their childhood in dire poverty in which they had to worry about each meal, so it might be a ce where they would rather forget about.


    Despite that, Zeynep smiled brightly as she got off at Istanbul Airport saying that it smelled familiar. Fatima had aplex look of emotions on her face.


    Youngho also felt strange looking at the two. It was because it reminded him of the siblings¡¯ slum life in the past. If Youngho had not gone looking for Fatima at that time, what would have happened to the siblings¡¯ lives?


    Zeynep would have died after suffering from a disease, and Fatima, who was such an outstanding beauty, might have turned to prostitution to make money for her little brother.


    The thought made Youngho shiver. It would be heartbreaking to have that happened.


    Yet, the siblings were bright and contented despite their past.


    Fatima, who was walking down the air trap with Youngho, grasped Youngho¡¯s hand and said,


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, we wouldn¡¯t have survived. Coming to Istanbul reminds me of how great a giant you were to us back then.¡±


    ¡°I knew that the tanned, skinny girl I saw at the flea market was going to be such a beautifuldy.¡±


    Youngho made a joke since Fatima was about to tear up.


    ¡°Thank you. You gave me a new life, and I¡¯m so grateful for our child, Leon. If we haven¡¯t met you at the flea market, we would¡¯ve been dead by now. We didn¡¯t even have food to eat, and I wouldn¡¯t have been able to give Zeynep medicine for her pneumonia. Because of that medicine, she was able to hold out until you came to look for me at the slums¡±


    ¡°I just helped you because of pity, but it was fate to meet you. If you weren¡¯t on the market that day, I¡¯m sure I would have been single until now and only focused on expanding my business.¡±


    ¡°I believe that it was fate, but I don¡¯t trust your second word.¡±


    ¡°How dare I lie to you, Your Majesty? It was the best luck of my life to have met you.¡±


    Youngho tried to change the mood with a light conversation, but Fatima could not easily let go of her emotions.


    ¡°It was only a small sum for you, but it was a lifeline for us.¡±


    ¡°You looked desperate when I first saw you. The moment I found you squatting with a nk look in the middle of the market ce, I somehow wanted to help, and I don¡¯t know why I did it, but I think I was just attracted to you.¡±


    Youngho could never forget the day he first met Fatima.


    The image of a little girl who had spread old leather shoes, rings, and kettle on a cloth on the ground amid numerous stands was still vivid.


    He still felt sorry for the siblings to think about their house in a slum when he found themter. Zeynep was nothing but skin and bones. That was why he was always weak in front of Zeynep.


    However, the girl from a slum of Istanbul now turned into the Queen of the Kazakh Kingdom and returned to her old home today.


    The Turkish government treated Youngho¡¯s group special because of it.


    Kazakhstan and Turkey had a brotherly rtionship historically, and now the Queen was known to be from Turkey. It was bound to be special to the Turkish government.


    At the airport, there were too many people who came to see Fatima.


    ¡°It¡¯s a big crowd. It would have been a shame if we had excluded Turkey from this trip.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what I didn¡¯t expect. I can¡¯t believe the people voluntarily came out to see her, not arranged by the government.¡±


    Eriksson was dumbfounded by the huge weing crowd. Youngho was surprised as well.


    He did not expect the poprity of the royal family to be so much. Istanbul residents cheered as if Fatima was their queen.


    ¡°Your poprity is sky-high.¡±


    ¡°They must be curious that thest descendants of the Serbian Kingdom¡¯s royal family are from the slums of Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°You seem to enjoy this kind of wee nowadays.¡±


    ¡°Of course, regardless of their reasoning, I¡¯m ttered to be weed like this.¡±


    ¡°If the diplomacy visit to Turkey is sessful, just know that it¡¯s because of me.¡±


    Since Kazakhstan had been engaged in resource exchange, there was not much to talk about except for the request of Greece. It seemed that it would not be a problem as well in this weing atmosphere.


    ***


    After a grand weing ceremony at the airport, Youngho¡¯s group unpacked their belongings at Four Seasons Hotel.


    Four Seasons Hotel was a ce where the Turkish government served state guests.


    It showed the highest level of mour since it was used to be near a pce where the Ottoman Empire¡¯s sultans lived. The hotel was facing the Bosporus Strait.


    Since there was still time until dinner, he was taking a walk around the hotel with Eriksson.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense to use such a beautiful building as a hotel instead of leaving it as a cultural heritage.¡±


    ¡°It would be more economical to use it as a hotel rather than leaving it as a cultural heritage.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that Kazakhstan doesn¡¯t have ruins like this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got nature of paradise in the east and in Kyrgyzstan instead. I prefer to have a clean nature than historical treasures. The ruins will be gone one day, but nature will stay.¡±


    ¡°I agree with you. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not going to touch Kyrgyzstan¡¯s resources as much as possible. I think it¡¯s better to just do the exploratory work and preserve it.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to protect nature?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Kyrgyzstan is a small country, and how many resources could it be in there?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to give it up even if there¡¯s a gold mine?¡±


    Youngho had to hesitate at the mention of the gold mine.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to have to think about that a little bit. In that case, I¡¯ll have toe up with a measure that won¡¯t damage nature as much as possible while getting gold. Once the gold standard is restored, it will be a strategic asset.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You just can¡¯t refuse gold. It¡¯s a good idea to just do a resource survey and leave it there for the time being. Kazakhstan¡¯s resources are enough to supply the needs of both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°I want to preserve Kyrgyzstan as much as we can and show it to people around the world. Seeing the remains of Turkey, I feel convicted to do so. I wish I could turn the world¡¯s attention to Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°The priority is to expand its airport. And we also need to build a lot of decent amodations. Then visitors wille naturally.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that our effort to improve the mountainous viges in Kyrgyzstan now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s important, but we¡¯ll have to establish a lot of luxury facilities that Europeans could enjoy.¡±


    ¡°Well, then we should also improve Kyrgyzstan¡¯s roads.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s expensive to build roads in the mountains, and there¡¯s a high risk of safety idents. It¡¯s more economical to put lots of airfields all over the ce so that you can travel by light airnes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ***


    Besides Greece¡¯s request, Youngho wanted to have the technology transfer of Turkish white goods from Turkey.


    Turkey¡¯s white home appliance sector, along with its auto industry, was the country¡¯s main industry. Electricity and electronics in Turkey were developed around white appliances, with refrigerators, dishwashers, three tables, and ovens topping the list of European countries in terms of annual production.


    This would be a good technology for Kazakhstan because most of the Turkish white goods were medium and low-priced products and their specifications were not tooplex.


    The ministers of Kazakhstan discussed the appliance technology transfer with the issue of oil exports to Greece. The conductor of the negotiations was Eriksson as it had always been.


    ¡°Your Highness, Turkish officials asked to increase our grain exports a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s something we can do.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t have much disagreement about sending oil to Greece. However, Turkey wants to participate in the submarine pipeline project.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping that. It¡¯s a little bit too much to build it on our own, so it¡¯s a relief if Turkey would participate.¡±


    Although Russia would care a little if Turkey stepped in, Youngho thought it would be safe because it would involve a Turkish privatepany rather than the Turkish government.


    ¡°Then I think it¡¯s safe to build a white appliance manufacturing nt in Kazakhstan. The government was quite excited about the submarine pipeline, so the rest of the negotiations were nothing but a piece of cake.¡±


    ¡°That was surprisingly easy.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s poprity also yed a part. The government seemed to be under a lot of pressure because of the Turkish people¡¯s attention to Her Majesty.¡±


    Turkey had been going through a lottely.


    It had almost started a war against Russia at the ck Sea, and even a coup took ce, making the whole nation go disorderly. And after being targeted by various terrorist attacks and fighting the IS, the Kurdish residing in Syria were now reinforcing its militarization against it.


    The Turkish people, fed up with such a windless domestic situation, cheered the Queen¡¯s visit fanatically. The fact that the Queen¡¯s hometown was a slum in Istanbul shook the people¡¯s spirits, and they wondered what made Kazakhstan improve so much after the new government and the royal family were established as they heard that Kazakhstan had taken a leading role in the canal business with Russia. Since Turkey had numerous disputes with Russia historically, the Kazakh leadership contrasted with the ipetence of the current Turkish administration.


    ¡°The Turks¡¯ interest in the Queen is kind of like a syndrome. They¡¯re quite out of control.¡±


    ¡°Is there any reason the Turkish government would feel frustrated about that?¡±


    ¡°I think Turks are trying to ease their frustration over the current government by going fanatic over the Queen.¡±


    ¡°It must be embarrassing for politicians. Wouldn¡¯t it be polite if we were to leave in a hurry?¡±


    ¡°Even if you leave, Her Majesty¡¯s poprity won¡¯t go away easily. It¡¯s going to get bigger and bigger. I think this will develop into a movement to serve our royal family.¡±


    ¡°I feel like we¡¯re involved in something I don¡¯t want. I¡¯m not sure we¡¯re just causing trouble to Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fun? Her Majesty¡¯s existence is powerful enough to even shake Turkey. This phenomenon will have a positive impact on us, too. Turkey will not be able to treat Kazakhstan recklessly from now on.¡±


    ¡°We have a friendly rtionship anyway.¡±


    ¡°It used to look down on us until not so long ago.¡±


    Until now, Turkey was considered the older brother and Kazakhstan was the younger brother in their rtionship, but the Queen¡¯s presence turned this around. It could be an impossible dream, but Youngho could not help but to imagine all the neighboring countries including Turkey, which would be Kazakhstan¡¯s federal states one day.

 Chapter 540 - Istanbul (2)

    <h4>Chapter 540: Istanbul (2)</h4>


    The visit to Turkey was the best part of the diplomacy trip.


    The official schedule was two days in Istanbul, but Youngho¡¯s party stayed for two more days.


    Unlike other countries, Turkey was so familiar, especially because it was Fatima¡¯s hometown.


    They eased tensions of a tightly scheduled trip at the Four Seasons Hotel which was quite nice and rxing. Turkey treated the Kazakh royal family and ministers with honor by sending the Turkish Foreign Minister to the hotel to pay respects as they stayed in Istanbul more than expected.


    ¡°Your Highness, you must be very pleased with the city of Istanbul.¡±


    ¡°This is like a mother¡¯s home to the Queen and her siblings, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Turkey is Her Majesty¡¯s hometown.¡±


    ¡°Then I must be Turkey¡¯s son-inw.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I ran here to treat you a nice lunch meal.¡±


    ¡°In Korea, a son-inw is treated very honorably by the parents of his wife. I guess, so does Turkey.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not really true, but any parents who have a daughter must have the same heart. Well, I hope I¡¯m not bothering your free time with family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re fine. I feel atfort since the day I arrived in Istanbul. Every day here is like a vacation, so no worries.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief to hear that from you. I¡¯m worried that the huge attention drawn to you by our people might have been stressful for you.¡±


    It seemed that the minister had something important to say but was being reluctant.


    ¡°Your Highness. If you don¡¯t have an afternoon schedule, could you spare me an hour or two?¡±


    ¡°Do you have something to say?¡±


    Turkey was now in a very difficult situation both internally and externally.


    On the inside, it was relentless due to the opposition forces¡¯ coup. And on the outside, it was being criticized by the internationalmunity for bombing Kurdish-upied areas in Syria.


    It was a huge threat to Turkey that armed Turkish militia was residing in Syria, so the Turkish government attacked the Kurdish militants to break through the unstable domestic political situation, and because of the government¡¯s armed provocation against the Kurds, Turkey now had strained rtions with the United States which was a NATO ally.


    ¡°The U.S. public support for Kurdish forces has forced us tounch airstrikes against Kurdish forces in Syria as a self-rescue n. But that resulted in a harsh reaction of the Middle East countries. We¡¯re facing a situation where oil supply might be cut off. ¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Turkey also produce its own oil and also get supply from Azerbaijan?¡±


    ¡°What we can produce is only a little, also, the oil supplied through the BTC pipeline is shared with other countries like the U.S., U.K. and so on.¡±


    ¡°I see. That means you won¡¯t be able to afford to supply Greece in the worst case.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We might not be able to keep the promise we made to your country.¡±


    It seemed that it would not be easy to supply oil to Greece, given the strained rtions between the two countries. Youngho expected to return home without a worry, but now his n would not be carried out as it was supposed to, due to Turkey¡¯s airstrikes on Kurds in Syria. In fact, the Middle East countries were criticizing Turkey altogether now.


    Turkey was relieved that the Kazakh royal family and ministers visited the country when they were most troubled. Their visit was an encouragement for the Turkish government which was isted internationally now.


    Youngho¡¯s purpose of the visit was to supply oil to Greece so that he could take over Greece¡¯s shippingpany, and if oil was short, he should even consider sending oil from Kazakhstan through the BTC pipeline. Then Turkey would put more pressure on the Kurds without having to be conscious about the Middle East countries. Only the Kurds would be in trouble as a result.


    ¡± You¡¯re also a multi-ethnic country, but you must be very reluctant giving autonomy to the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°Kurds upy 20 percent of Turkey¡¯s poption. As soon as we give them autonomy, they¡¯ll dere an independent country. How can I do that when I see the results clearly? There¡¯s no Turk who wants Turkey to split in half.¡±


    Most Turks did not care about the Kurdish groups residing along the border with Syria or Iraq because it was a semi-deserted and poor ce. But what politicians thought must be different. The decision to give autonomy to Kurds could only be a political burden. Rather than taking that burden, politicians wanted to suppress the Kurds with military forces.


    ¡°Your country won¡¯t be in trouble for oil or gas deficiency. We already have sufficient oil from Azerbaijan, but in the event of a contingency, we¡¯ll supply oil from Kazakhstan as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have pipelines from Kazakhstan right now.¡±


    ¡°You can transport it to the Port of Baku on a tanker, and transfer it to the BTC pipeline there.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a way.¡±


    The foreign minister¡¯s visit today was to find a measure in case the Middle East did not supply oil to Turkey.


    The reason that the U.S. was supporting the Kurdish militiamen was to keep the IS at bay, but Turkey had defined the Kurdish militia as an ouwed militant group and had been carrying out air strikes day after day only to provoke the Middle Eastern countries and the U.S.


    To Turkey, the Kurdish armed forces were never good news.


    Kazakhstan had jumped in the middle of this strange situation. The Foreign Minister¡¯s weing words said that it was the mother¡¯s home to Fatima was only ttery.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, the timing of our visit to Istanbul is great. It¡¯s also a chance for us.¡±


    ¡°I agree with Sir Eriksson. We don¡¯t need to be wary of the Middle East, so there¡¯s no problem supporting Turkey. We¡¯re going to use it to show our existence.¡±


    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s also a way to increase grain exports so that Turkey can keep the Middle East countries in check with its grain. Realistically, supplying Kazakh oil to Turkey is a bit overwhelming for us.¡±


    It was a lot of work to carry oil to the Port of Baku on a tanker because all of Kazakhstan¡¯s oil and gas were supplied through pipelines to Russia and China.


    ¡°I doubt that the Middle East will cut off oil going into Turkey, especially when Turkey is the most powerful country in the region.¡±


    ¡°Middle Eastern countries are also quite prideful nations. Now that Iran is criticizing Turkey, the situation worsened.¡±


    ¡°Can Turkey¡¯s military power handle Iran or Saudi Arabia?¡±


    ¡°Inparison, both countries are no match for Turkey. Turkey is the world¡¯s eighthrgest military power.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s going to be boisterous in Syria at least once. The problem is that airstrikes are already beginning.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, wouldn¡¯t Turkey ask for our help?¡±


    ¡°Turkey has high pride. I don¡¯t think it will ask a favor to us so easily. Also, this is none of our business. No matter how strategic rtionship we have with Turkey, the Kurdish issue is between Turkey and the Kurds.¡±


    The independence of the Kurds was a domestic issue of Turkey only.


    Youngho also was reluctant to get involved in the Kurdish problem since Jelyan was a Kurd. She was now his daughter, but she used to live in Syria.


    He met her at the Kurdish refugee camp in northern Iraq.


    Jelyan, who lived in Syria, lost her parents in an IS attack and was orphaned.


    For hundreds of years, the Kurds were scattered around neighboring countries as the Ottoman Empire was separated into Turkey, Iran, and Iraq.


    They were able to establish their strongholds in northern Iraq and parts of Syria thanks to their leading role in fighting the IS.


    As of now, the Kurds were gradually expanding its political power as it secured control over Iraq¡¯srgest oil field in negotiations with the Iraqi government.


    ¡°Your Highness, the Turkish government is at a position where it can¡¯t make a decision. It had already attacked the Kurds, so there should be a closure, but it won¡¯te easily. Someone should step up to mediate that.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to stand up for it when Turkey is so strong-headed that it doesn¡¯t even listen to the U.S.?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. is not fit to y a mediator¡¯s role because it supported Kurdish forces. Why don¡¯t you step up and y the role of a mediator?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Someone has to do it and Princess Zane is a Kurd from Syria. Don¡¯t you think both sides will be convinced if you stepped in?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too far-fetched for us, especially when we¡¯re not even a neighboring country?¡±


    ¡°Turkey is a brother country to us, and we have a tie to the Kurds since we have Princess Jelyan. Let¡¯s find out the Turkish government¡¯s intentions. It is the best if the Kazakh royal family take an initiative in this since it doesn¡¯t have direct interests with the Turkish government and the Kurds. Don¡¯t you have an emotional tie with the Kurds anyway?¡±


    The only link to the Kurds was the orphans. Youngho took the Kurdish orphans to Baku and gave them afortable life in middle-ss families in the past.


    Among them, there was Jelyan, who was the Princess of Kazakhstan now. She had forgotten about her past due to war trauma and the memory of losing her little brother.


    But Eriksson was now saying that this was a chance for Kazakhstan to be in the spotlight. It was a good time to elevate the status of a new constitutional monarchy.


    ¡°The Kurds now live like migratory birds all over the mountain. They are asking to be an independent state not only to Turkey but also to Iran and Iraq. The problem is that they¡¯re only focusing on physical protest.¡±


    ¡°How would our presence change that situation?¡±


    ¡°The neighboring nations are now concerning about epting the Kurds as an autonomous state since they have suffered and protested for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Then the dispute might be over soon. Would the Kurds be stopped so easily when they¡¯re so bitter-hearted and resentful? Also, there¡¯s no guarantee that Turkey would allow it to be an autonomous state.¡±


    ¡°Turkey doesn¡¯t want this tost forever. It is in a state of civil war due to Kurds, and this will only be a hindrance to its economy. I¡¯m sure Turkey will have no choice but to turn around.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a relief to have Princess Jelyan, but I¡¯m concerned that this might encourage the Kurds to move here.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be a good thing for both the Kurds and Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°There is no other country in the globalmunity that has a multi-ethnic mix like Kazakhstan. This is a ce where the government even gives money to find the identity of each ethnic group. If the Kurds move to Kazakhstan, they will be assimted easily. It¡¯s a way to grow in poption and to have a skilled fighting force.¡±


    ¡°Skilledbat power?¡±

 Chapter 541 - Istanbul (3)

    <h4>Chapter 541: Istanbul (3)</h4>


    Kurds were brave people that had been strengthening theirbat power through guerri warfare for its independence for decades.


    They were so powerful that they were put at the front line to repulse the IS.


    Eriksson assured that it would be a huge force if Kurds with suchbat power came into Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s a world with state-of-the-art weapons, but the battles are done by soldiers. You know the difference between a soldier who¡¯s been trained with no actual experience and a soldier who¡¯s been in action. If the Kurds want to move to Kazakhstan, don¡¯t hesitate to ept them.¡±


    ¡°It can be a headache if they grow up to be a new force in Kazakhstan and then wake up to find their oldnd in Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Some of them will still say that they¡¯ll find their home country. But most Kurds will soon assimte and opt forcency.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s consider the matter with time. No matter how much it¡¯ll be beneficial to our poption shortage, we must be extra careful about the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much because Princess Jelyan could be their focal point. They¡¯ll be an absolute loyalist to the Kazakh royal family because of her.¡±


    ¡°That sounds quite appealing.¡±


    It was estimated that 2.5 million Kurds lived in northern Syria.


    Since Syria gained independence from France, the Kurds had survived the oppression of the Syrian government countless times. In 2014, the Kurds had dered an autonomous government when the Syrian civil war happened, effectively breaking away from the Syrian government¡¯s control. But after the IS was defeated, the U.S. tried to turn northern Syria into a buffer zone. It supplied weapons to the Kurdistan Regional Government and it became a source of trouble.


    In addition, the furious Turkish government began to strike northern Syria to neutralize Kurdish forces.


    ¡°The Kurds of Syria are experienced fighters in the Syrian civil war and the war against IS. Without the brave Kurds, the IS would still be on the rise.¡±


    ¡°If Turkey¡¯s airstrikes stop, the Kurds will be left as a reserve force.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but there is another variable. I wonder if the Syrian government will still recognize the Kurdistan Regional Government when the Syrian civil war is over. It had done so when fighting against the IS, but it must¡¯ve changed its mind.¡±


    ¡°It would be disturbing to leave them together. I should pull them apart somehow.¡±


    Eriksson was certain that when the Kurds found out that there was a new ce to live safely and peacefully, and that the Kazakh princess is one of them, they would change their mind.


    The Kurds were estimated to be 37 million, which was the most populous ethnic group in the world without an independent state. The neighboring countries did not want them to be independent since their size was huge and their residing areas where the oil fields were located.


    The Kurds had never had a unifiedmunity. Even in Turkey, they were divided into extreme independent groups and self-governing groups, which fought against each other to death. Moreover, living separately for a long time had made their cultural and regional difference gaps so big, that they had regional conflicts with other Kurds.


    The Iranian-Iraq war ended in conflict because Iran supported Iraq Kurds and Iraq supported Iranian Kurds.


    Iraq¡¯s Kurds were developing their own autonomous government, but this transition had not been helping Kurds in other countries at all.


    ***


    The Turkish government, which was initially doubtful about Youngho¡¯s intervention between Turkey and the Kurdish people, weed him after learning about the rtionship between Youngho and Jelyan.


    The Kurds rejected tomunicate with the Turkish government at all because they had long been oppressed by Turkey. They were only focusing on armed struggles for their independence. If Jelyan was known to be a member of the Kazakh royal family, the Kurds might be willing to ept the mediation of the royal family.


    Nevertheless, the Turkish government was divided over whether the intervention of the royal family, which had little weight in the internationalmunity, would be effective.


    Since the Turkish government had rejected the U.S. efforts to mediate between the two, if it took the Kazakh royal family as a mediator, it would be a direct refusal against the U.S. and its rtionship with the U.S. would worsen.


    Ever since the foreign minister came to the Four Seasons Hotel and gave a puzzled look, Youngho had already seen through his heart. It was because Eriksson had informed this in advance.


    ¡°Mr. Secretary, there is a way to restore the Turkish government¡¯s rtionship with the United States. Would you like to hear about it?¡±


    ¡°I know Your Highness has many friends in American politics, but if we show that we¡¯re being dragged by the United States, our people will protest against our government.¡±


    ¡°The Syrian Kurds didn¡¯te to Turkey first, did they? We need to think about the position of the U.S. to resolve this. If the U.S. State Department and intelligence service could be mobilized, they wille up with a solution. They will answer shortly.¡±


    ¡°When the U.S. intelligence servicees forward, things will get even worse.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. intelligence service muste forward to persuade the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I understand there are many casualties on both sides of the Turkish military and Kurdish forces. The Kurdish militia is still furious, and no matter what I do, it can still attack the Turkish force. My job is only to appease the Kurds with Princess Jelyan, but coordination has to be done by the United States. The Kurdish militia will listen to the U.S.¡±


    ¡°Please make our position clear to the U.S. The U.S needs to make a promise that it will not support the Kurds in any way.¡±


    ¡°But are you really stopping the attack on Kurdish forces?¡±


    ¡°The operation has to go on until the ceasefire is confirmed.¡±


    Even now, CNN was broadcasting the bombardment on the Kurdish enve in Syria.


    There were countless casualties in the region. Turkey seemed to aim at neutralizing Kurdish forces by attacking them as much as possible until thest minute of the negotiations.


    Even if the ceasefire took ce, the two sides would remain hostile to each other at this rate. It was obvious that the Kurdish militia wouldunch terrorist attacks on Turkey to appease the souls of the victims.


    ¡°In this situation, no mediation will work. Even the U.S. won¡¯t be able to persuade the Kurds. You should stop the airstrikes at least in civilian areas.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help that anymore. The Kurds will try to take down Turkey anyway, so we need to neutralize their force as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s hard to have a cease-fire with Kurdistan. It¡¯s not a fight of pride, it¡¯s a matter of survival. This situation arose because the United States acted too rashly. The U.S. will have to understand Turkey first before persuading Kurds.¡±


    The Turkish government had no intention of making any concessions.


    It was not something that could be resolved in a short time. Youngho decided to return home for now.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go back to Kazakhstan for now and talk to my American friends. I¡¯d like to mobilize not only our royal family but also the internationalmunity if I can prevent the bloodshed. The U.S. also admits that it has overreacted because of the IS, so I hope it will be settled smoothly with the U.S.¡±


    ¡°Your effort is very much appreciated. But we cannot allow armed guerris to operate in Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how the U.S. Department of State reacts. I¡¯ll make sure to convey your message. This is important to Turkey, Kurdistan, and my daughter, Princess Jelyan, too. I wonder how she¡¯d react if she learns about the pain of Kurds when she grows up.¡±


    Youngho subtly warned the minister using Jelyan as an excuse.


    When the princess grew up to be an adult, Kazakhstan might have be the most powerful nation in the world. Although Turkey was a brotherly country, its stubbornness could lead both countries to drift apart from each other.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s group left Turkey for Astana, the capital, instead of going straight to the royal territory. It was because Kasim asked them toe to Astana to be celebrated by the Kazakh people for their first sessful resource diplomacy trip.


    The ministers were tired after going on the fifteen days of diplomacy trip, but their faces were bright. Kazakhstan¡¯s status in the internationalmunity was insignificant before, but they were now treated differently by the officials of the world.


    Since the revolution, Kazakhstan had been developed tremendously.


    On top of taking the lead in expanding Russia¡¯s ind canal, it had conducted sales diplomacy with south European powers as a stepping stone, which drew attention from the world¡¯s media.


    As the ne entered the airspace of Kazakhstan, Youngho gave a speech to encourage all of the ministers on the trip.


    ¡°Thanks for your hard work, we have a good rtionship with each country in Europe. I don¡¯t want to be full in the first step, but I¡¯m confident that this trip has paid off.¡±


    The most important thing about this trip was the cab ministers and working-level officials had gained confidence, and the memory of having equal negotiations with strong nations will serve as the foundation for diplomatic rtions with them in the future.


    ¡°This time, it was mainly about selling our resources and attracting technology, but in the near future, European investors will also be rushing to the Kazakh market. The purpose of this trip was to create not only resource diplomacy but also to inform other nations that Kazakhstan is a stable investment destination.¡±


    ¡°It was a sessful trip just to revamp our image. The world would have been surprised by the hospitality shown to us in Turkey. Which country¡¯s royal family would receive such a wee? I didn¡¯t know their interest in our royal family was so high. I¡¯ve got goosebumps all over my body.¡±


    Kabak said he was shocked by the reception in Turkey.


    ¡°That¡¯s a result of our hard work. Just in time, Turkey asked us to intervene in the Kurdish issue. If we intervene well, we will be able to stand tall as a head state of Eurasia. Please gather your wisdom for this. Moreover, Princess Jelyan is from Kurdistan, and we are going to ept the Kurdish migration since they have no ce to go.¡±


    ¡°You must be talking about the Kurds living in Syria or Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re living a harder life than the Kurds in Iran and Iraq.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there will be no problem since there are some Kurds living in Kazakhstan. Kurds are also nomadic and they¡¯ll be able to adapt to it in the semi-deserted regions.¡±


    ¡°I remember hearing about them. When did theye into Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°They came from Armenia during the Soviet era, and now they¡¯re assimted enough to be Kazakhs. They¡¯re less than 10,000 people, but they are enthusiastic enough to attend every minority contest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see them.¡±

 Chapter 542 - Saving the Kurds (1)

    <strong>Chapter 542: Saving the Kurds (1)</strong>


    In downtown Astana, people bearing the national and the royal gs weed Youngho¡¯s group despite the cold weather.


    Watching their diplomacy trip through the news, people realized that the world had finally changed for Kazakhstan. It was because broadcastingpanies of the world rushed to air every move of the royal family. It was quite surprising how Youngho single-handedly dealt with many issues.


    Kazakhstan had never been the world¡¯s news focal point. Turkish people¡¯s hospitality was also remarkable.


    Kazakh people were exuberated that their Queen was greeted with such a warm wee as if she was the queen of Turkey.


    Not only the public of Kazakhstan but the senior officials including Prime Minister stood in line along the road to wee the cars that the Queen, royal family, and other ministers and officials were on.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. Don¡¯t tell me you mobilized people on this cold day.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I only informed them of the time of the Queen¡¯s arrival at the airport.¡±


    In Astana, the daytime temperature was minus 20 degrees Celsius, but citizens did not seem to care about the cold.


    ¡°They must have been standing in this cold for a long time. I feel sorry for them. I would like to offer warm tea or snack for all of them. Can we arrange that?¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be difficult. I¡¯ll contact the police chief to make sure that he supplies it free of charge at the teahouse or restaurant downtown.¡±


    ¡°The cost will be paid by the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we¡¯ve got enough government budgets.¡±


    ¡°They came out to see the Queen. We¡¯ll pay for it today.¡±


    Those who came out to take a good spot to see their Queen better must havee out early. They would be tired and hungry to have borne the cold for so long, and most people were not well off that even buying tea was a burden. Warm tea was perfect to warm their bodies.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve heard the exnation over the phone, but can we really resolve the old problems of Turkey and Kurds? Rather, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll get a bacsh for this.¡±


    ¡°It looks like a difficult job, but Jelyan¡¯s existence will be our great help. Our role is to arouse the Kurdish people¡¯s feelings. If we can give them a little hope, that will be a sess.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then the key would be how the Kurds will ept Princess Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, their national sorrow will ease a little bit through Jelyan. I hope the Kurds will be proud of her.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a strange connection with the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to meet the leader of the Kurds living in Kazakhstan. Could you arrange that please?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send the Kurdish leader to the royal territory immediately.¡±


    ¡°Hurry up, please. Even now, the Turkish air force is attacking northern Syria day after day, and the situation is getting worse. At this rate, Kurds will be wiped out without a trace.¡±


    The Turkish government¡¯s attacks had led to civilian casualties, and the situation must be stopped as soon as possible. As long as the Kurds in Syria decided to move to Kazakhstan, the Turkish government would also refrain from attacking.


    In the past, Youngho met Jelyan when he went to survey the railroad site at the border of Iran and Iraq. He took her in after seeing her focusless eyes from war trauma. He just could not forget about her eyes.


    As he took care of her as an adopted daughter, she became his beloved child just like Leon.


    He had no intention of using Jelyan for a political reason, but he just wanted to give the Kurds some hope by informing them that Jelyan was a Kurd as well.


    If Kurdish fighters moved to Kazakhstan, they could be a strong supporter of the royal family. He also had a vague expectation that they would fight for the royal family if the royal family was in a critical situation, at least to protect Jelyan.


    ***


    Prime Minister Kasim immediately sent the Kurdish leader to the royal pce.


    Zagros, a man in his 50s and a third-generation resident of Kazakhstan, was the leader of more than 10,000 Kurds living in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Thank you foring a long way.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to see you, Your Highness.¡±


    After shaking hands, they had a casual conversation before talking about the urgent matter.


    ¡°Can you reach the Kurds living in Syria?¡±


    He seemed to be briefly embarrassed when Youngho asked bluntly.


    ¡°Did you already know that?¡±


    Youngho looked at him with a questioning look, and he continued, ¡°The Kurds who live abroad have been providing military funds to the Kurdish militia. The same thing applies to the Kurds in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I see. So you mean you have contacts with them?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I can contact them right away.¡±


    People of many ethnic minorities of the world did not hesitate to send money to their own country in difficult situations. For example, Armenia was one of the most prominent countries where it was sustained mostly by the money sent by its people overseas.


    Somehow, Kurds living abroad were also helping Kurds who were fighting scattered in different countries.


    ¡°As government officials have told you, the Kurds in Syria are in critical condition. The way to stop the Turkish government from attacking them is for them to disarm or leave Syria. They must choose between the two.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sorry about that, too, but they¡¯re not going to make any choice because they¡¯re prepared to die.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be any different if there was a way to live without making any more sacrifices?¡±


    At this point, Zagros almost forgot that he was in the royal pce. He sat close to Youngho and then backed down in surprise. He was eager to hear how the Kurds could survive.


    ¡°Your Highness, if there is any way, please let me know. I¡¯m going to run to Syria and persuade them right away.¡±


    ¡°Please persuade them toe to Kazakhstan. It¡¯s a peaceful ce without ethnic conflict.¡±


    ¡°Would you approve of the Kurdistan Regional Government?¡±


    Youngho had no intention of epting an autonomous government.


    All ethnic groups were equal and should live only as ordinary people. They also should be loyal to the royal family.


    ¡°Kazakhstan is a ce where every ethnic group lives with its own traditions even without its own sovereign state. There¡¯s no need to form an autonomous state. And there is also Princess Jelyan. The fact that Princess Jelyan is in the royal family will be a great power for the Kurdish group.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I didn¡¯t mean it that way. We know better that this is a ce where we can keep our people¡¯s heart and soul together without a sovereign state, but I¡¯m concerned about it because the Kurds living in Syria or Turkey may want autonomy because their dream is to be independent.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal family epts the Kurds on a humanitarian level. I want to make it clear that only those who want to live as a member of Kazakhstan to be loyal to the royal family will be epted. And I¡¯m not going to take anyone unconditionally just because he is a Kurd. The hard-line Imic militant group or militia groups that want to base their armed struggle in Kazakhstan will have to stay where they are now.¡±


    Zagros, who had long thought about Youngho¡¯s words, answered cautiously, ¡°I understand what you mean. We will take the lead in stopping what you¡¯re concerned about. And most Kurds would be grateful to be able to move to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It would be better if the Kurds woulde to the Arirang royal territory, where Princess Jelyan is.¡±


    ¡°To the royal territory? Are you serious?¡±


    Youngho wanted to keep the Kurds near him in case of an emergency because they were trained warriors. They would be a great addition to the royal force.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m very proud of Princess Jelyan for being a Kurdish-born princess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to be able to help the Kurds. Jelyan must be happy to hear that too.¡±


    Zagros, who looked like a traditional Kurd with his blond hair and blue eyes, had tears in his eyes as he said it.


    ¡°Your Highness, the Kurds will be loyal to the royal family and Princess Jelyan for the rest of their lives. I¡¯ll show you that the Kurds are a people who know grace and never know treachery.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Please inform the Kurdish militia in Syria and persuade them to stop the armed struggle. It¡¯s only if they don¡¯t fight back that the Turkish attack will stop.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Chief, have you been at peace?¡±


    -My, what¡¯s the Duke of Kazakhstan calling for?


    Michael answered the phone pretending to be rxed even though he must have been stopping himself from calling Youngho first.


    ¡°Oh, I know you¡¯re only bluffing. You answered the phone as if you¡¯ve been waiting for it.¡±


    -The Duke must have changed his job now and became a forteller. Have you mastered a skill to read people¡¯s mind?¡±


    ¡°How can I read your mind if I don¡¯t get to see your face? I know you¡¯ve been spying on my every move. Don¡¯t pretend that you don¡¯t know.¡±


    -Oh, you think the U.S. CIA doesn¡¯t have much to do? You¡¯re far below our priority. By the way, have you had any sess in your recent trip to Europe?


    ¡°I saved my face, but it was no better than my visit to the U.S.¡±


    -Hahaha... Now you recognize the power of the United States.


    ¡°I admit that. But the Kurdish militia support wasn¡¯t very smooth. You should have asked for the understanding of Turkey. The Turkish government is quite upset to think that the U.S. has ignored it. I wouldn¡¯t have done that kind of amateurish thing if I was still with you at the European chapter.¡±


    -Well, you¡¯re tantly criticizing me now. Turkey is overreacting.


    ¡°Chief, I have a good idea. Would you like to hear it?¡±


    -I assume Turkey will step back.


    He was fast-witted enough as the director of the U.S. Intelligence Service.


    As Youngho traveled all the way to Turkey, Michael guessed that he might have had some in-depth discussion with the Turkish government. He must have already prepared a gift for Youngho if he could take care of the issue.


    ¡°I¡¯ve spoken with the Turkish government. If the U.S. promised not to support the Kurds anymore, they will stop the airstrikes.¡±


    -Jeez, what are you talking about? That can be promised only after the Turkish government stops its attack on the Kurds.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about taking Kurds from Kazakhstan.¡±


    -Did Turkey agree to your idea?


    ¡°It is not agreed upon yet. I was going to inform Turkey after talking with you.¡±


    -Would they be willing to leave Syria that easily?


    ¡°We have to make them leave. We¡¯ll be in contact with the militia, so could you please support us?¡±


    -Turkey must like to hear it.


    ¡°Please tell the militia to refrain from counterattacks. Then Turkey won¡¯t make the air raid too bad either.¡±


    -We¡¯ll be talking to Turkey. How about that?


    ¡°Do you want to steal our credit?¡±


    -We¡¯re in a bad ce right now. You should take the brave warriors, and we should save our face.


    ¡°This is the time for Kazakhstan to shine.¡±


    -Oh, please. We¡¯ll make sure the Kurds go to Kazakhstan safely.


    ¡°All right, we¡¯ll just have to notify the Turkish government.¡±


    -Okay. I owe you this, so I¡¯ll give you something great in return.


    ¡°Can I choose that gift?¡±


    -Man, I shouldn¡¯t have brought it up. Don¡¯t even bring up a request that I can¡¯t do.


    ¡°Can you exercise strong trade protectionism against China?¡±


    -Wait a minute, did I hear you wrong? Are you talking about a trade war? Are you really saying this with a sound mind?


    ¡°The President opened the door to it already through public trade imbnce, didn¡¯t he? Why don¡¯t we move that forward?¡±


    -Are you doing this to free the Uyghurs?


    ¡°Don¡¯t expand this too much. China is developing too fast these days, and I¡¯m afraid that if we leave it alone, it¡¯s going to be dangerous for all of Central Asia. I want to slow it down.¡±


    -It¡¯s not that we didn¡¯t discuss that, but we¡¯re hesitating because we¡¯re afraid of escting tensions in Northeast Asia.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not good enough, I have another option for my gift. Would you like to hear about it?¡±


    -I¡¯ve got a scheduled meeting, so I¡¯ve got to go.


    Michael hurriedly hung up the phone to think that Youngho would make an unreasonable demand. For now, that was enough for the U.S.


    Now it was time to ask the Turkish government for cooperation.

 Chapter 543 - Saving the Kurds (2)

    <h4>Chapter 543: Saving the Kurds (2)</h4>


    The Turkish government happily weed Youngho¡¯s offer by saying that if the Kurds could get out of Syria, it would offer help.


    The government needed an excuse to stop its attack as it was being bashed by the internationalmunity for a long time. It was greatly appreciated that the Kazakh royal family was willing to ept the Syrian Kurds from Kazakhstan.


    When Youngho asked for a reason to persuade the Kurds, the government immediately stopped its airstrikes. If the Kurds in the Syrian enve were gone, the Kurds in Turkey would not be able to use their power either.


    It was a win-win deal since Turkey would get rid of the problematic Kurdish militia, and the Kazakh royal family would be getting an additional military force.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve seen a sudden increase in Kurdish groups¡¯ visit to the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°Why does it matter when our people are visiting here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because they¡¯reing here to see Princess Jelyan.¡±


    The Kurds living in Kazakhstan had just found out that Jelyan was a Kurd as well, so they were crowding in to see her. It was a rare asion since people usually visited to see the pce, not a princess.


    The fact that Princess Jelyan, who was loved by the people of Kazakh public, was something to boast about for the Kurds.


    It would take two days for the Kurds in the eastern part of Kazakhstan to get to the royal territory, but they hade to see her anyway spending their money to travel in this cold.


    It was impossible to see Jelyan since she did note out of the pce often in the cold, but they did not care.


    ¡°People who havee a long way are going to waste their time. Commissioner, can you please offer them somefort?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to show them the princess, do you?¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s no problem with safety, I want to allow them to meet her at a distance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the princess will be shocked.¡±


    ¡°She already knows that she¡¯s a Kurd.¡±


    After years of psychiatric treatment, her lost memories hade back to her gradually.


    She suffered identity confusion when she regained her traumatic past but overcame it all with the love of Youngho and Fatima.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that. I just worry that such huge attention might be hard for the little princess to endure.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the only hope for the Kurdish descents. I would rather encourage them if they were to gather taking Jelyan as their pivotal point. Just like the Koryoins and Serbs, they will be a great stepping stone that sustains the royal family.¡±


    ¡°I see, if that¡¯s your intention, I won¡¯t worry anymore.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for understanding. So people who don¡¯t have much moneye all the way here only to see her, please provide them with amodations and food for free. It¡¯s all for the royal family and Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°Again, the royal family will go broke soon because of your spending.¡±


    Kim Chunined, but he was smiling.


    He was proud that he had met a master who did not hesitate to help others in need.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be taking my money when I die. I¡¯d like to spend some to do good things.¡±


    ¡°People are praising you everywhere in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, do you have a favor to ask? I¡¯m scared whenever you tter me like that. You rarely givepliments but scold me so often.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how dare me to scold you, Your Highness? Don¡¯t make up a story. If people heard that, I¡¯ll be stoned.¡±


    ¡°Then please take good care of the Kurds. How are you going to handle it if Jelyan is not happy with your treatment to the Kurds?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. It¡¯s not because I feel bad about spending money, so please don¡¯t say anything to Princess Jelyan. I¡¯ll be in trouble if she heard it.¡±


    ***


    As Turkey stopped its attack on the Kurds in Syria, they began to divide into two groups who agree and disagree to moving to Kazakhstan. Hardliners opposed it and moderates were willing to move in and settle. Not to mention a hundred years of being tossed around and yet, they still were in conflict.


    The moderates argued that Syria would not leave them alone if the civil war was over.


    The hardliners were mostly enthusiastic Muslims, and they would be a source of conflict in the future even if they were brought into Kazakhstan. There was nothing to be gained by forcibly persuading them to move, anyway.


    It would be great if the hardliners could refrain from fighting for the duration when the moderates moved to Kazakhstan, but they tried to control Kurds leaving Syria in worry of exhaustion ofbat supply when people left.


    Despite the efforts of the U.S. Intelligence Service, they resisted.


    It was problematic because if the decision was dyed, Turkey would resume their airstrikes and more civilians would be sacrificed.


    ¡°Your Highness. If this continues, there will be a civil war between Kurds. If you¡¯re willing to ept the moderates, I¡¯d like you to directly intervene.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like a force intervention. If we do that, all the Kurds could turn their backs on us.¡±


    Park Jong-il insisted on a direct intervention.


    In the conference room, the royal core officials were discussing the safe way to move the Kurds from Syria.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to fight, but the hardliners have gone too far. The moderates who have decided to move are now our people. Shouldn¡¯t we help them?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s trust the ability of the U.S. Intelligence Service for now. The hardliners¡¯ ims are not at all absurd either. I also agree with them to some degree.¡±


    The hardliner Kurds had their own reasons for stopping their people from moving.


    It hadpletely taken control of the northern part of Syria and dered an independent government, and if the residents left, the efforts that had been made so far would be in vain. It was not easy to let go of their ce that they had worked hard for.


    Even though Syria was not their country, they did note from anywhere else. They were indigenous people who lived there for a long time ago. It was heartbreaking to lose it just because it was a dangerous ce.


    ¡°What if the hardliners have no alternative? For the safety of the moderates, we should use a little coercive method.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the worst-case scenario.¡±


    ¡°We might lose our chance if we wait until thest minute. We don¡¯t know how long the Turkish government will wait. They don¡¯t have much patience.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that Director Park¡¯s opinion is wrong, but we can¡¯t act on it recklessly. Let¡¯s hope the Turkish government respect its promise to us.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this then?¡±


    Eriksson came forward and offered two alternatives as Youngho was having a hard time.


    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s imperative to keep the Turkish government in check. We have to present our own pressure card so that it doesn¡¯t resume its attack. The next step is to persuade the hardliners by visiting Syria and confronting them.¡±


    ¡°I agree to directly talking to them in Syria, but do we have any cards to pressure Turkey?¡±


    Park Jong-il seemed intrigued by Eriksson¡¯s alternatives.


    ¡°Director Park, you¡¯ve visited Turkey as a special envoy before. Are there still any politicians you are personally acquainted with?¡±


    ¡°I know a close associate of the president, but he doesn¡¯t have much influence. He doesn¡¯t get involved in politics very much.¡±


    ¡°He must be a moderate in Turkey, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but what does it have to do with that?¡±


    ¡°Turks have been fed up with the war on the IS, the Kurds, and the ongoing terror attacks. Fortunately, the battle is now on hold. People are no longer being killed or injured. The Kurds are refraining from it as well.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we should use the moderate politicians to put pressure on public opinion?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. The Turkish economy has no chance of restoring itself with war funding. We need to let politicians know that their economy is the priority rather than putting pressure on the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that our grain and oil may not go as far as Turkey?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed the Director of Intelligence. On one hand, you should also stimte the sentiment of moderate politicians.¡±


    Fight back with Turkey by pressuring it could be poison to this issue depending on how it would be delivered.


    Eriksson pointed out that it was a rather reckless strategy, but at the same time, he said that such pressure was possible because it was Kazakhstan, which had Jelyan as its princess.


    On the surface, it was known that Kazakhstan had to be involved in this because of the princess. As the Turkish government already knew about Youngho¡¯s personality, it would be more understanding of Kazakhstan¡¯s move.


    Eriksson continued, ¡°You have to put Princess Jelyan on the front. The world knows how much you care about Princess Jelyan, right? Let¡¯s make it known that the Duke of Kazakhstan has decided to ept the Kurds after failing to resist Princess Jelyan¡¯s request.¡±


    If Kazakhstan was to go against the will of Turkey, which was a brotherly country, some kind of scene should be plotted.


    Park Jong-il would y a role in encouraging public opinion while staying in Turkey.


    ¡°What a tant operation you have, Eriksson.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, a childish operation, you know, is to catch the opposite party off guard.¡±


    ¡°If the U.S. Intelligence Service has wiretapped our meeting today, they¡¯ll beughing so hard.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a childish idea, but given the dire situation of the Kurds, we should even pull dirtier tricks than this. If we can get them to Kazakhstan, we¡¯ll have to put up with it a little bit because there¡¯s more to gain than to lose.¡±


    Eriksson was confident that the Turkish government wouldply with Kazakhstan¡¯s decision. Thus, the rather childish operation began.

 Chapter 544 - Saving the Kurds (3)

    Chapter 544: Saving the Kurds (3)


    ¡°Do you think it makes sense?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a fresh idea. What¡¯s wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a kid¡¯s joke. You think Turkey¡¯s going to buy it?¡±


    ¡°It is like a tantrum, but there¡¯s no other way. Is it because you don¡¯t want to go to Turkey?¡±


    ¡°Man, if the Director of Intelligence says that, it would look ridiculous. What on earth was Eriksson thinking?¡±


    ¡°Who would know that you¡¯re the Director of Intelligence if you don¡¯t say it? The Jelyan excuse is going to work.¡±


    There was no other obvious way to slow down Turkey¡¯s attack a little further. Before that, it would be fortunate if the U.S. intelligence agency could persuade hardliners to get the moderates out of Syria.


    ¡°Is there one or two countries that have rtions with Syria? Russia is also involved. It¡¯s overlooking Turkey¡¯s attacks. I think Russia is determined to give the U.S. a hard time.¡±


    ¡°We just need to get the Kurds. We don¡¯t care what others do after that.¡±


    ¡°Before that, ask a favor to Russia. You are in good terms with Putin these days, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Phew, guess I have no choice but to ask a favor. I didn¡¯t want to do that.¡±


    ¡°The canal project started already. Putin can¡¯t refuse your request at the moment. Also, Russia should be d that we¡¯re taking Kurds who are troublesome to Russia too. You should use Yaniv to talk to Putin.¡±


    If only Turkey promised that it would not strike Syria again, the Kurdish hardliners might change their mind. The hardliners must also be aware that the local government could not survive permanently. In the future, when hard-liners could not hold out in Syria anymore, they would have no choice to move to Kazakhstan where moderates would have moved there already. If they had the possible future in mind, they would not act so recklessly against Kazakhstan.


    ¡°If the U.S. can¡¯t convince the hardliners, we¡¯ll have to send in our royal guards and bring the moderates out.¡±


    ¡°Now we¡¯re talking. I¡¯ll first go to Turkey and Syria.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d go to Syria?¡±


    ¡°Is there anyone else besides me who¡¯s going to meet the hardliners?¡±


    ¡°Why are you going to such a dangerous ce?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going there as an uncle of Jelyan. Who else would you send?¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s involvement was appreciated, but it would be a problem if the Director of Intelligence of Kazakhstan fell into danger in Syria. Youngho was worried.


    ¡°When you go to Syria, notify the Turkish government in advance before you move, or they might resume their airstrikes.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll take responsibility for the Kurds, so make a vige for them in the royal territory.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, how are you doing?¡±


    -The Duke of Kazakhstan always cares about this old man, so of course, he¡¯s fine.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re still in your prime.¡±


    -I¡¯ll be 70 soon. Some of my friends from my youth are already gone. I guess I¡¯ve lived for long.


    ¡°You¡¯d live more than 100 years if you cut down on alcohols and cigarettes.¡±


    -If I quit my only hobby, I¡¯ll die in stress. So don¡¯t care about me but you can cut back on your drinking.


    ¡°I¡¯m so busy these days that I don¡¯t even have time to drink. Princess Jelyan¡¯s people are making me busy.¡±


    -Jelyan? You mean the adopted child? What country is she from?


    ¡°It¡¯s the Kurds.¡±


    -Kurdish. That must be a headache.


    Yaniv was fully aware of the situation in Syria.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask the president for a favor, please.¡±


    -Do you need mercenaries? Or do you need daily necessities?


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can handle by myself. We need to earn some time so that we can get the Kurds to Kazakhstan.¡±


    -The Kurds to Kazakhstan? Do you want me to move Putin?


    As expected, Yaniv, the mafia boss, was quick-witted. It would have been a necessary skill to survive as a mob for such a long time.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I need. Please encourage President Putin to join us in the good work.¡±


    -You¡¯ve be a little close to Turkey these days. So would it be fine if only the Kurds could get out of Syria safely?


    ¡°It will take time to convince even those who want to stay in Syria. Some will decide to stay there regardless of our efforts, but it¡¯s an inevitable choice.¡±


    -I¡¯ll inform Putin about it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Jelyan will thank you forever when she¡¯s grown up.¡±


    -She must¡¯ve begged you to save the Kurds. Your kids are always busy running away from me when they see me, but maybe I¡¯ll get to have a kiss on the cheek for this.


    He also meant Zeynep when he mentioned ¡®Kids.¡¯ He was not happy that she was always cold to him. It was a shame because he would give anything to Zeynep if she was nicer to him.


    ¡°Jelyan still has no idea. I just had to act because I don¡¯t want her to me me in the future.¡±


    -Tsk tsk. Please take the lead in something that will make you money. It¡¯s not like anyone would recognize you for doing such a difficult job.


    ¡°Jelyan is my daughter. It was her national affair, and I couldn¡¯t overlook the situation. I think I should do that as a parent.¡±


    Youngho did not say anything about the Kurds¡¯ force but appealed to Yaniv¡¯s pity. That way, Putin would have a reason to say something to Turkey.


    What should Turkey do if it heard that the Kazakh princess had requested it? If even Putin stepped forward to help the Kurdish refugees, the Turkish government would not be able to begin its attacks on Syria anymore.


    The world would be rocked by the story of Jelyan, who was once an orphan and refugee and was now turned into a princess after being adopted by Youngho¡¯s family.


    -Right. That¡¯s the same since I can¡¯t refuse Zeynep¡¯s request. All right, I¡¯ll tell Putin exactly what you¡¯re feeling. He¡¯s someone who loves his daughter, too. And this can improve Putin¡¯s image a lot, so he¡¯ll dly do you a favor.


    Yaniv said it was a chance for Putin to show his humane side.


    People would praise him if he helped to move the Kurds in Syria safely to Kazakhstan because he could not overlook a neighboring country¡¯s little princess¡¯ request.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll only make President Putin a humanitarian through this.¡±


    -Hahaha... I¡¯ll deliver your message to Putin. Don¡¯t worry.


    ¡°Tell him that the Volga-Don Canal and the Baltic Waterway will bepleted earlier than nned if he helped us.¡±


    -That¡¯s great news. Is there any other news?


    ¡°Also, the pipeline running toward China can be narrowed and the pipeline on the Russian side could grow bigger.¡±


    Increasing the supply of oil to the Russian side rather than China was a little too far-fetched, but what would China say if Kazakhstan said that the oil output was down? It was not like China woulde to Kazakhstan to check production.


    -That¡¯s more pleasant news. Putin¡¯s going to love to hear that.


    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you then.¡±


    ***


    For those who have spent their entire lives dreaming of independence, losing their goal would be tantamount to death.


    The Kurdish militia, which had been training and fighting to make a Kurdish nation, Kazakhstan¡¯s involvement in the current situation was no good news.


    They had managed to dere a self-governing government in northern Syria, which, even temporarily, was a Kurdish-only country, but this might be taken away by Kazakhstan¡¯s involvement.


    The news that a native Kurd became a Kazakh princess after getting adopted by the Kazakh royal family greatly shook the Kurdish people in Syria, especially because the Kazakh royal family had offered them a new ce to settle.


    Anticipation arose among them that Kazakhstan would not treat them badly when there was a Kurdish princess who was beloved by the people.


    In the midst of all that, the Turkish military¡¯s airstrikes were stopped.


    Many of them were now starting to believe that they had new hope for survival since Kazakhstan had stopped stubborn Turkey. It was hard to believe.


    Then there was another news that excited them. It was the emergence of Russia.


    Putin had publicly called on Turkey to cooperate with Kurdish migration on humanitarian grounds.


    Youngho thought that Putin would work quietly from below, but he publicly held a press conference thinking that it was a great opportunity, and what was funny was that he almost put on a show to appeal to the press. Putin said that when he heard Princess Jelyan¡¯s story, it moved his mind.


    As the issue of Kurds¡¯ migration was publicized, hard-line Kurds and the Turkish government had to give in. It was because the painful story of a Kurdish princess who was adopted by the Kazakh royal family had hit the world.


    The Turkish government stated that it would not use any force if the Kurds¡¯ migration began. With Putin¡¯s assurance, the government could trust the migration of the Kurds.


    Hard-liners who tried to prevent the move were not able to do anything about it since their self-government would be condemned if it forcibly stopped its own people who decided to move on their own.


    When this happened, Park Jong-il flew directly to Syria instead of stopping by Turkey first.


    ¡°Eriksson, it looks like your operation worked.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. Because you mobilized Russia, it will take credit. I didn¡¯t know he would pull a humanitarian act to the press. I¡¯m sure the U.S. would be upset about this.¡±


    ¡°Michael from the U.S. Intelligence Service is going to make a fuss about getting hit on the back of his head. How should I manage this?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... No need to worry about that. The U.S. was bound to lose its face. It was a mistake to have the Kurdish forces leave the northern part of Syria and even arm them. There was a justification for preventing the IS from re-forming, but it was an unreasonable attempt. It only worsened the rtionship between U.S. and Turkey.¡±


    ¡°I wish it would be smooth sailing from now on.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy for the people to leave their own homnd. That¡¯ll be the biggest obstacle.¡±


    The danger element was removed to some extent, so only Park Jong-il¡¯s negotiation in Syria remained. The hard-liners were somewhat convinced by Putin, but they would be in a troublesome position as they needed to lead the self-government which was like an empty shell after so many residents would move away.

 Chapter 545 - A Feint Operation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 545: A Feint Operation (1)</h4>


    With the Kurds migration issue, Youngho had not paid attention to domestic affairs for a while. Now things were cleared up and he was being briefed by Suh Min-seok.


    ¡°What? We¡¯ve got additional 24 tons of gold bars in the pce vault?¡±


    Youngho had to ask because about 10 tons were reported to be received two months ago.


    ¡°We expect the amount to increase exponentially. The new gold mine along the Uzbek border is also producing a ton a month. It¡¯s far below the Almaty gold mine, but it¡¯s still a massive reserve.¡±


    This referred to the border area where Uzbek and Kyrgyzstan used to fight for. The Uzbek enve on the border was a private gold cer, and due to the cer, vigers could maintain their middle-ss life. So, just in case, Youngho ordered to explore the upper mountains, and it turned out that there were more than a mine that had gold deposits more than a thousand tons.


    ¡°I guess there¡¯s no mine bigger than Almaty¡¯s gold mine.¡±


    There were nine royal gold mines, including the Almaty gold mine, which boasted world-ss reserves.


    ¡°Dr. Park Young-sun boasted that the royal mines produced more than 60 tons of gold a year.¡±


    60 tons of gold was a whopping 3.3 billion dors in terms of current market value.


    If banks in advanced countries that were buying gold, then they would readily take it even if Youngho called a price of four billion dors.


    ¡°And we¡¯ve been informed that the Royal Guards who work in the Kyrgyz and Uzbek border gold mine area will rotate every two months.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I think they found it inefficient to rece them on a one-month basis.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they have a good reason for that.¡±


    Zeynep Security Service was in charge of guarding royal mines, but for the Kyrgyz gold mine, which was in the border area, was guarded by a toon of Royal Guards.


    There were many gold mines scattered along the Kyrgyz border with Uzbekistan, so the Royal Guards were dispatched in the area. The reason why Youngho sent the Royal Guards was because the Uzbek government did not pay much attention to them. The Guards were considered only symbolic of the authority of the Kazakh royal family.


    Of course, border guards also existed near the border, but they were only acting as inspectors to check smuggled goods and to find owners of lost animals on the streets.


    This was because the existing Kyrgyz border defense forces had been deployed to the Chinese border area. After Kyrgyzstan became a federal state of Kazakhstan, and the border was clearly redrawn, no tension could be found between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The people of both sides of the border also traveled freely without the sameplicated procedures as before.


    ¡°And why don¡¯t we have the arms industry fair, which is scheduled to be held in October this year, about a month early? In October, the weather will get so cold, so I was worried that the visitors might note.¡±


    ¡°Tell the government to decide the matter on its own. I turned it over to the government. Give them the list of defensepanies from all over the world who were in contact with the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Do you also want to give information about the ones that are in the royal territory now?¡±


    ¡°Of course they will attend too. It¡¯s no longer a secret, so it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°I see. And finally, about the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway, their groundbreaking ceremony will be held next month. We should let the Russian government know if you¡¯re attending.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister can attend the ceremony for the canal, and I can attend one for the waterway. I¡¯ll call him directly on that. Is there anymore to discuss?¡±


    ¡°The rest is not very important. You can check it sufficiently by just looking at the report.¡±


    As the canal project had already begun, the ground-breaking ceremony was only an event to inform both inside and outside of the country. The shares of the Volga-Don Canal had been settled, but the shares of the Volga-Baltic Waterway had yet to be settled with Russia, so Youngho decided to attend the Baltic ceremony.


    ¡°And congrattions on your wife¡¯s pregnancy. Kim In-hwa is slowly getting full.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a littlete, but fortunately we seeded.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. Having a child is the road to patriotism in Kazakhstan. Tell her to take a while for maternity leave and take good care of herself at home.¡±


    ¡°In-hwa wants to work next to you until she is eight months pregnant.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t want people to me me for exploiting a pregnant woman.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll convince her.¡±


    ¡°You should take paternity leave, too.¡±


    ¡°Both In-hwa and my parents are all living in the royal territory, so I don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave it all to your parents. You should also take some time to raise your child. That way, you¡¯ll know your parents¡¯ heart.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Youngho called Suh Min-seok who was just about to leave the office.


    ¡°I forgot. I ordered to start the construction of the Kurdish refugee camp in the royal territory, so please check the progress.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but there¡¯s still a lot of undevelopednd on the west side of the river. I don¡¯t understand why we¡¯re building the residential ce for the Kurds at the east of the Ural River. It would be very inconvenient to cross the river.¡±


    The Kurdish refugee camps would be established on the west side of the river which was an uninhabited area, but their residential viges would be built on the other side of the river.


    The reason for that was the east side of the river, which faced the royal territory was an uninhabited area, so Youngho wanted to develop the ce.


    That way, even if the Royal Guards did not guard that area, the Kurds would be on guard at the east side of the river, and the pce would be protected from any side.


    A bridge would be built in the river so that people could easily go back and forth without inconvenience.


    ¡°You are the Chief Secretary, but you still can¡¯t read my mind.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The Kurds were born to be warriors. If they live across the river, the royal territory bes a full-fledged fortress. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I see it now.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, if the Kurds move in, why don¡¯t we create a special unit?¡±


    It was Eriksson.


    ¡°A special unit?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you build a special unit of Kurds and use it like the Royal Guards?¡±


    ¡°I was just thinking ofbining them with the Royal Guards, but your idea sounds good too. We can turn them into a mobile force or a mountaineer. The question is, will they enter into a war of other people¡¯s country?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ironic that we¡¯re receiving them to give them peace away from armed conflicts, but we should ask for understanding as we also have our own battles.¡±


    Russia was a self-proimed ally for now, but China had been always considered a potential adversary of Kazakhstan. If a mountain unit consisting of Kurds was built and deployed along the Chinese border, it would be a great deterrence force.


    ¡°I think it would be a good cause for them to fight for Princess Jelyan, but it¡¯s not going to be easy because the militia officers with a lot of experience are sticking with their self-government and won¡¯t migrate to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you this. Wouldn¡¯t they leave Syria if you promised that you would let them maintain their forces even after moving to Kazakhstan? Let¡¯s give them some sort of hope.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think they¡¯ll be a threat to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°As long as the royal family exists, there¡¯s absolutely no danger of that, I think. For them, Princess Jelyan is the center point and the government. Also, it is inevitable for them to be assimted into Kazakhstan after a while.¡±


    Eriksson suggested this because Kazakhstan¡¯s military capabilities were weak.


    Absorbing the Kurdish forces would increase the number ofbatants in the military by a quarter. In terms of individualbat capabilities, the Kurdish forces were equivalent to that of the whole Kazakh army.


    ¡°If the public learns that the Kurds have been absorbed into the Kazakh military, it will be a deterrent to war.¡±


    Just because the Kurdish forces joined the Kazakh forces, it would not be China¡¯s counterpart. However, if there were tens of thousands of people who were strong in mountaineering and guerri warfare, the story was different.


    Youngho was intrigued by Eriksson¡¯s suggestion because the Kurdish forces¡¯ fighting power was very strong and the number of Kurdish militia members in Syria was close to 30,000.


    That was why the U.S. Intelligence Service chose Kurdish forces to stabilize northern Syria.


    They were good at guerri warfare and mountain warfare. They were only lightly armed, but they repelled the IS forces that were heavily armed.


    If only Kazakhstan could have a loyalty pledge of the hard-line militia members, Kazakhstan¡¯s fighting power would be almost doubled. And as long as the royal family existed, it was not an organization that would harm Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I also contemted epting the hard-liners. I¡¯m afraid that if radicalse to Kazakhstan, they¡¯ll make a lot of conflicts, but it¡¯s true that I want their fighting power.¡±


    ¡°You can trust the hard-liners if they swear to be loyal to the royal family. It¡¯s also shown in the Kyrgyz precedent, right?¡±


    The hard-line Imic leaders of Kyrgyzstan, despite their strong opposition, voted to fully support the royal family as the public of Kyrgyzstan took in the Kazakh royal family as its own.


    Fortunately, the Kyrgyz Muslims were epted as Kazakh members without any dispute because they were almost secr Muslims. If they were extremists, Youngho would have never taken them in. Likewise, the Kurds pursued secr Im just like the Muslims in Kazakhstan. Compared to other Muslims, religion did not ount for much of life, and women¡¯s status was rtively high and their social participation was quite high too.


    That was why there were a lot of women in the Kurdish militia, and they were known to be as brave as men. Even the IS forces gritted their teeth by the mention of the Kurdish women warriors.


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s try to convince them. Kurds are said to be the people who know how to repay a kindness, so we¡¯ll have to trust them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll be too loyal to the royal family. I think they might all choose to be career soldiers for Princess Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that will be perfect if they do. How many Kurds do you expect to migrate?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be over one million.¡±


    ¡°What? One million?¡±


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s at least. If the hard-liners join us, then we must assume that all the residents who follow them will alsoe.¡±


    At the most, Youngho expected between 600,000 and 700,000 people, but Eriksson expected more than a million people. The n to establish a settlement only on the east side of the Ural River might have to be re-done.

 Chapter 546 - A Feint Operation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 546: A Feint Operation (2)</h4>


    Young Koreans were pouring in dozens of people every day on direct flights.


    Between Almaty and Incheon, Air Astana had been operating a flight twice a week, but now it was operating six flights a week since the two countries had more exchanges.


    As that was not enough, even K and A airlines in Korea each provided jumbo jets three times a week going back and forth from Korea to Almaty, and Astana. Other airlines were increasing their lines to Kazakhstan as visitors in Kazakhstan, which had been increasing since the new government was established. It was because of the construction work of roads and railroads and the building of power nts and factories that were increasing in various parts of the country.


    Merchants and businessmen also frequently visited the country as daily necessities factories were also being built everywhere.


    The goods produced in such factories were cheaper and better quality than Chinese imports. It was a positive phenomenon, even though it would take a few more years to dominate the market against Chinese goods.


    When the nationalputerization work waspleted, public services were several times faster than before, and Inteworks were established in most areas except for the remote areas where nomadic people lived.


    Even in the remote areas, sr panels had been supplied, so people could watch TV using satellite antennas.


    For the education of the children of nomadic families, schools were built in certain areas for educational benefits, so that no one would be left out.


    With this expansion of public infrastructure, the country absolutely needed people with advanced education, so the Kazakh government offered to provide young Koreans with permanent residency if they got a job in Kazakhstan.


    For young Korean people suffering from unemployment, Kazakhstan¡¯s offer was good news. With Kazakhstan¡¯s permanent residency, people could receive any benefits such as education, medical service, and even social welfare except for the voting right. So, people would even receive living expenses if they were unemployed.


    Youngho, who was looking at the number of applicants for permanent residency, raised his head to his surprise when he saw that there were a considerable number of people in their 30s and 40s.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, did you ept those in their 30s and 40s?¡±


    ¡°I epted them all because, in most of the cases, the whole family was moving. People in their 30s and 40s who are experienced will be helpful for us. They¡¯ve alle from goodpanies in Korea.¡±


    ¡°Well, that means there will be a lot of demand for new homes.¡±


    ¡°Korean mid-sized constructionpanies havee in and are building apartments, so that won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Please make sure Korean constructionpanies have reasonable apartment prices. If necessary, put a price cap on the amount.¡±


    Youngho gave a brief ount of what he remembered as a Korean resident who felt rtive deprivation due to the spective boom in Korea and excessive housing prices.


    In order to prevent the overheated housing market from spiraling to surrounding new homes, prices needed to be tied down by a policy from the beginning.


    In a country withrgend like Kazakhstan, one could build a single house rather than living in an apartment building. But if a multi-family residential building in the city center was built and sold at a high price, social losses would be huge. It was not intended to penalize Koreanpanies, but to maintain stability in housing prices.


    ¡°Although apartments are convenient, they are too uniform. They hurt the city`s view. Try to encourage the construction of townhouses outside the city rather than apartments.¡±


    ¡°There are some examples of Korea, so I will encourage rted ministers toe up with the best n. And we need to operate anguage school for Koreans, but we don¡¯t have enough facility even if we used all of the rooms in the state university.¡±


    Although Koryoins could work as interpreters, not many of the 100,000 Koryoins could speak Korean freely.


    Koreans entering the country would need to learn some Russian and Kazakh anyway.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather ask them toe here after learning thenguage from Korea. Isn¡¯t it an opportunity for Kazakh people to enter Korea asnguage teachers, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to consult with the Korean government.¡±


    ¡°Thenguage problem will be resolved with time. Even if it¡¯s a little inconvenient, you learn thenguage as you live here. The important thing is to understand the culture of Kazakhstan. I hope there¡¯ll be no conflict between Koreans and Kazakh people.¡±


    The influx of Koreans was hardly worrisomepared to the eptance of the Kurds.


    The number of Syrian Kurds was about 2.5 million, of which nearly two million were in the northern region alone.


    Not all of them would migrate, but it was a huge number of over a million, even half of them decided to move. It was an overwhelming number, but there was no way to increase Kazakhstan¡¯s poption without such an opportunity.


    Especially, when they were a great additional force for Kazakhstan and the royal family, they should be received at all costs.


    They would be more than any physical barrier to the royal territory if they were settled on both east and west along the Ural River.


    In addition, the migration would boost economic growth by one to two percent for Kurds alone as there would be new buildings, development ofnd, and new factories.


    The mere thought of it made him full.


    ***


    ¡°Tell hard-liners that they¡¯ll keep the Kurdish forces if they decide to move to Kazakhstan.¡±


    -What are you talking about all of a sudden? I thought we¡¯d stop the hard-line kids froming.


    ¡°Tell them that we¡¯d be making a separate, special unit that consists of only Kurds. I¡¯m nning to leave the Chinese border to them. That way they can keep their own military power going.¡±


    -That¡¯s tempting, but how are you going to handle all these Kurds?


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to increase our poption if it¡¯s not now. I think it¡¯s better to ept them at all costs.¡±


    -That must be Eriksson¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Stress that if they swear loyalty to the royal family, they will be free to live in Kazakhstan.¡±


    -They¡¯re not 100,000 to 200,000. It¡¯s a million units. It¡¯s like a national migration.


    If such huge number started moving, they should move under meticulous nning like military operations. They could not be introduced in a month or two, but it would take at least half a year.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready, so don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s make contact first. We should sugarcoat the migration as much as we can so that they¡¯ll change their minds.¡±


    -All right. Let¡¯s do it. To make the world turn upside down.


    The movement of Kurdistan, which stood at one million or two million, was a matter of the world¡¯s attention.


    If a country other than Kazakhstan epted Kurds, it would be unreasonable, but Kazakhstan did, and it would be different because of the fact that Kazakhstan was already a country of 120 ethnic groups and that there was Princess Jelyan, who was also a Kurd.


    ¡°The U.S. made a lot of efforts with the Kurdish forces in Syria. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s in trouble because Russia got in-between. The U.S. might try to take away the weapons it supplied to the militia.¡±


    -I sure hope not. The weapon is not flowing elsewhere, but if it is taken to Kazakhstan, it will be used to check China and Russia.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to convince Michael. He¡¯ll take our side, but I¡¯m afraid the high-ranking officials are going to be stubborn.¡±


    -You said that there¡¯s a Georgia assistant secretary in the State Department. Can you ask him to do something?


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to be able to do anything about this because this issue is directly rted to U.S. national interests.¡±


    -Still, we¡¯d better try.


    Whatever weapon the U.S. supplied to the Kurds, Youngho was nning to take all of them when they withdrew from Syria.


    ¡°And if you can bring the hard-line leader to the royal territory, please bring him with you when you return.¡±


    -I haven¡¯t even met him yet. It¡¯s too early to tell.


    ¡°If you say that Jelyan wants to meet him, he wille. And when he sees the royal territory, he will change his mind.¡±


    -Okay. I¡¯ve got an appointment, so I have to go out. But start with the Assistant Secretary of State.


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Richard from the Department of State and let you know how it went.¡±


    Youngho intended to give the militia and hard-line leaders a position that would fit the Kurdish poption. They shoulde into the system so they would be seen more often to high-ranked officials and Youngho, and then they would soon realize the reality of life and grow high self-esteem as members of Kazakhstan. If they had a role to y in the country, they would naturally assimte into the new world.


    The position of the assistant secretary of state for European affairs was nothing short of a leader of a decent country.


    He had another diplomatic power that was different from the U.S. Intelligence Service, so Youngho was not in a position to talk to him freely, but Youngho had a unique rtionship with Richard.


    He was a friend to Michael, the Director of Intelligence Service, as they were military colleagues. Also, because he was born in a Georgian immigrant family, he was personally looking forward to the recapture of South Ossetia.


    ¡°Minister, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    -Your Highness. I was about to call you anyway.


    ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t embarrass the United States. Michael must be in a lot of trouble, so I¡¯m hesitant to call him.¡±


    -The intelligence department has blushed with Turkey, but it doesn¡¯t matter to us because Turkey still has a smooth rtionship with the State Department.


    ¡°Are you moving apart from the Intelligence Service?¡±


    -I¡¯m sorry to hear that you¡¯ve put the State Department on the same line with those ignorant fellows.


    ¡°If I told this to Michael, the two departments will drift apart from each other.¡±


    -Hahaha... It doesn¡¯t matter. I keep telling them, but they never get it. Even the Kurdish issue is resolved because of you, not the Intelligence Service.


    ¡°I requested here and there to try to control Turkey¡¯s airstrikes, and Turkey took it as if it had been waiting.


    -That¡¯s the kind of diplomacy I want to learn from Turkey, too. Now, the situation in Syria is getting a little bit better. But you don¡¯t believe that Turkey has stopped the airstrike because of Putin, do you?


    It seemed that Turkey did not promise to stop the airstrike only because of Russia.


    On the outside, it looked like Putin had a big part in the decision, but on the inside, Turkey satisfied both the U.S. and Russia by gauging the timing of the ceasing of the attack.


    In other words, it had employed a proper diplomatic strategy.


    ¡°Richard, we need your help to move the Kurds.¡±


    -You heard my answer already. The Turkish government didn¡¯t just decide it at the request of Russia. You yed a big part too. The United States will cooperate fully with the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be any problem if we took the weapons of the militia when theye out of Syria? Those weapons are given by the U.S.¡±


    -That¡¯s none of the State Department¡¯s business, and what¡¯s already been given are considered as expendables to us anyway.


    ¡°Thank you for your cooperation. When Kurdish migration begins, please visit Kazakhstan. We have a lot to talk about.¡±


    -I look forward to the day.

 Chapter 547 - Exodus (1)

    <h4>Chapter 547: Exodus (1)</h4>


    -Duke, how can you do this to me? Tell me why Russia is acting like a mediating country right now.


    ¡°You got me wrong. Mr. Yaniv has stepped up to convince Putin on his own because he felt sorry for Jelyan.¡±


    -That old mafia has ruined everything for me.


    Michael hastily called Youngho after hearing the news from Richard of the U.S. State Department.


    ¡°I think most of the Kurds will be moving, and it has nothing to do with U.S. interests, right? We¡¯re going to convince even the hard-line militia members.¡±


    -Only our intelligence service¡¯s status has fallen to the bottom. I¡¯m so embarrassed to carry my face around these days that I¡¯m stuck in my office.


    His voice, however, was not that dark.


    The U.S. intelligence agency also seemed to have some sort of deal with Turkey.


    ¡°I¡¯ve felt so bad for fear that you might be in trouble.¡±


    -Oh, you¡¯re worried about me, but you talked about weapons with Richard?


    Michael must have heard it all from Richard.


    ¡°I just checked if the weapons supplied by the U.S. were expendable or not. If you feel bad, you can take it all. Then, I¡¯m going to tell the whole world that you armed the Kurdish forces with the U.S. CIA¡¯s budget.¡±


    -It¡¯s no time to be kidding. You just eliminate the force that will stop the IS from rebuilding. Likewise, Iran¡¯s forces can¡¯t be held back.


    ¡°There is a Kurdish government in Iraq too. If you help them, you can effectively check the IS or Iran. I want to be at the forefront, but I¡¯m not in a position to be.¡±


    Since the railway from Baku to the Persian Gulf passed through the Iranian section, Youngho had to maintain good rtions with Iran. It would be stupid to provoke Iran at a time when it was under a high-cost railroad project.


    -Why take the hard-line militia when you said you only want to take the Kurdish civilians?


    ¡°The militia is also Kurd people. Besides, I¡¯m just saying that they will be epted if they decided toe. How can I forcibly make them move?¡±


    -Do you think I¡¯m a fool?


    ¡°The Syrian Kurds are now citizens of Kazakhstan because most Kurds want to move to Kazakhstan. So it would be faster for you to find the answer in Iraq¡¯s Kurdish Autonomous Government.¡±


    -Helping the Iraqi Kurds is like jumping into another war. I don¡¯t want to get involved again, but I have to think about the national interest of the U.S. This is a headache.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure some Kurds will stay in Syria.¡±


    -How can I form a buffer zone with only a handful of forces?


    ¡°And the arming of the Syrian Kurdish forces was on in its preparation stage. Why are you agonizing over it?¡±


    -Do you know how much money have we spent on them? And it¡¯s not easy to find suchbat power, either.


    ¡°Then we can throw the weapons of the Syrian Kurds to the Iraqi Kurdish militia.¡±


    -Huh?


    Michael showed a great interest in Youngho¡¯s words.


    Youngho kept on adding,


    ¡°In exchange, how about providing weapons for the Kurds once they moved into Kazakhstan?¡±


    -You¡¯re saying it like the US CIA¡¯s money is yours.


    ¡°If the hard-line militiaes to Kazakhstan, we will deploy them on the Chinese border. Is there any ce more important in geopolitics than there?¡±


    -Well, that ce is as important as the Middle East.


    ¡°It¡¯s a ce that¡¯s many times more important than the Middle East in terms of U.S. national interests. You¡¯re not saying that we should keep China in check with Kazakh forces only, are you? The US CIA won¡¯t be in trouble because you have a good reason to supply weapons.¡±


    -Jeez...


    Michael groaned in agony.


    While he was in favor of the Syrian Kurds moving to Kazakhstan, he was in a position to use Kurds to influence northern Syria.


    ¡°If all the militiamene to Kazakhstan, we will hand over their weapons to the Iraqi Kurdish forces. Then you can save your face, right? The president will even praise you for making a good decision.¡±


    -All right. I¡¯ll decide after seeing how many forces will stay in Syria.


    ¡°But do you think the Kurds will be able to easily give up the weapons? You know I can¡¯t push them too far, right?¡±


    ***


    Some Kurds were flocking from Syria¡¯s Afrin to the Turkish border city of Antakya, although the migration was not yet officially dered yet. It was because they were anxious not knowing when Turkey would resume airstrikes despite Turkey¡¯s promise. So, Kazakh officials were also sent to Antakya to look over the Kurds.


    It was about 25 kilometers from Antakya to the port of Seleucia in the Mediterranean Sea, so it was the shortest route toe to Kazakhstan. Of course, there was a route to Batumi, Georgia via Turkey, but it was a very cumbersome one, as people would have to be on a bus for two full days and transfer to a vessel to sail on the Caspian Sea.


    The preparation was notpleted yet, but migration was already beginning, which was overwhelming.


    If it was an official migration, Kazakhstan could offer buses for the Kurds, but for now, it was an illegal migration.


    The Turkish government did not offer convenience to Kurds leaving Syria, except for opening the border for them to pass.


    That was why Kazakh officials and Kazakh embassy staffs had to rush to get to the city.


    The royal car ferry was also hurriedly dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as other car ferries from Turkey, and three new car ferries that had just beenunched from the Danish Shipyard.


    The urgent fire was put out with those ships, but more efforts must be put when the official migration of the Kurds began.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think we need toe up with fundamental migration measures. It takes five to six days to go back and forth from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. If you overburden the car ferry ships with a capacity of 400 people, you can have about a hundred more people on board. And if we mobilize ten of them, we can only transfer 20,000 people a month.¡±


    Eriksson simply presented the figures and shook his head.


    This meant that it would take 50 months if a million people moved. Anything could happen during the period, so more ships would have to be mobilized to shorten the migration period.


    ¡°First of all, we have to limit the number of people getting out of Syria.¡±


    ¡°It has to be an all-out exodus. If the people around you leave one by one, there¡¯s a lot of anxiety among people, so it¡¯s best to move them at once.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to transport some of them bynd route. We need to consult with the Turkish government to figure out a way to get the train to Georgia.¡±


    ¡°Then the Kurds in Turkey can join the migration group too.¡±


    Youngho felt suffocated by Eriksson¡¯s remark because more than 15 million Kurds lived in Turkey alone.


    On the one hand, however, the route through Turkey could be wide open because of the Kurds in Turkey.


    ¡°Eriksson, will the Kurds in Turkey join the Exodus?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness!¡±


    Eriksson looked back at Youngho as he was dumbfounded.


    ¡°My ears can hear just fine, thank you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I yelled at you. I was just so surprised that I yelled without realizing it. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to ept the Kurds in Turkey too.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to ept them right now, but I have a hunch that they¡¯lle into our arms one day. Let¡¯s first use thend route in consultation with the Turkish government. It¡¯s a day¡¯s journey to Baku, Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°Phew, you almost got me there.¡±


    ¡°Turkey fears the armed Kurdish militia with U.S. weapons, not Kurdish civilians. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s nothing wrong with epting Kurds in Turkey.¡±


    ¡°I think some of them can join the migration, but the Turkish government will not allow the Kurds to return ever, once they left. Would the Kurds want to leave their hometown forever?¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be many people who want toe back to Turkey since they had been in conflict for all their life. If some decided to join, we¡¯d better ept them as well. Combined with the Syrian Kurds, it¡¯ll be a massive blessing for us.¡±


    ¡°We need to see how much we can afford to receive in advance. We need to carefully examine the impact on our economy.¡±


    Eriksson then sat down in front of aputer and started to calcte some numbers.


    While Eriksson was on it, Youngho also came up with his result. He made a joke as Eriksson¡¯s expression was brighter than before.


    ¡°Do you want me to say it first?¡±


    ¡°Did you also calcte in your head, too? Your face tells me you¡¯ve reached the same conclusion as me.¡±


    ¡°There are more positive factors than negative ones. Right now, if the poption grows, we can improve ournd and boost our domestic economy a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    Youngho shrugged. He was not an economic expert, so he had no other ideas. Still, he could say one thing with confidence.


    ¡°I can tell you one thing. If two million people moved, I think we can increase our military force by another 20,000 soldiers, right?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness is right. It¡¯s just like an expert that you limited military personnel to less than one percent of the migrants.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t praise me for the rough answer, what is your conclusion?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve made a big fuss about the numbers, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s going to be any problem if we take up to half a million immigrants this year. After two years, we can take twice the number of immigrants.¡±


    It would not be toote to judge whether the Kurds were well adapted to Kazakhstan, after receiving only some of Turkey¡¯s Kurds when Syrian Kurds came this year. Turkey¡¯s Kurds were not as desperate as those in Syria.


    ¡°Well, I guess we should ept some Kurds in Turkey. If there¡¯s a rumor that everyone lives satisfactory lives in Kazakhstan, then the rest will automatically follow.¡±


    ¡°The Syrian Kurds are a humanitarian issue, but we need a national consensus to ept the Kurds of Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure people will be a little sensitive because they have to share what they have. If it doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll dere that the royal family will pay for the immigrants.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s beyond what the royal family can pay. It¡¯s going to cost an astronomical amount of money.¡±


    ¡°You may have heard of it, but the royal gold mine can produce about 60 tons of gold bars a year. I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll be enough.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking of giving it all up?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a job to secure millions of people who will be the royal family¡¯s strong background. I don¡¯t think gold is the matter here. Also, I am nning to expand the royal territory to make it a production base for electronic appliances.¡±


    ¡°Oh!...¡±

 Chapter 548 - Exodus (2)

    <h4>Chapter 548: Exodus (2)</h4>


    ¡°As you know, as the Kurdish forces in Syria strengthened their armament, they had judged that it could hinder the export of oil to Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government.¡±


    The Kurdish leader Abduh  exined in a calm tone to Youngho.


    He was the hard-line leader that Youngho asked for Park Jong-il to bring when he returned from Syria.


    ¡°So the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey have a secret rtionship because of oil.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a shame, but our own people are holding us back. And they must be afraid that we¡¯re linked to the Kurds in Turkey.¡±


    The Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq had a huge oil reserve, so it shared interests with the Turkish government.


    In order tobat the IS, the U.S. had deployed about 2,000 troops to Syria and cooperated with the Kurdish militia and sessfully recaptured northern Syria. To prevent the IS from re-establishing, it also encouraged the creation of a Kurdish border garrison in northern Syria.


    However, if the Kurdistan Regional Government took over Syria when there was already one established in Iraq, it would be a huge pressure for Turkey since it had 15 million Kurds living in its territory.


    That was why Turkey began its attack on Syria although it was against the will of the United States and despite the huge international bacsh.


    ¡°Are you ipatible with the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re also hostile to the Kurds in Iran. That¡¯s why we can¡¯t approve of them.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think Syria¡¯s Kurdish government will survive?¡±


    ¡°What do mean?¡±


    ¡°You must know that neighboring countries don¡¯t want Kurdish people¡¯s independence. It is difficult to predict the future of the Kurds here. So I¡¯m suggesting this. Why don¡¯t you all move to Kazakhstan and start a new life?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°How long do you think the current map of the world willst? I expect that it will change a lot within 30 years. When that happens, you can make your own country on your nativend. I will help you.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we have received many such promises from the great powers during the two World Wars, but we¡¯re still wandering from ce to ce.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you my word in the name of Princess Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe what you say, it¡¯s that once we settle down in Kazakhstan, our will to achieve independence will disappear. Not to mention, the Kurds scattered around different countries are already losing their identity.¡±


    Youngho was inwardly surprised at his remark because he said it as if he had peeped into Youngho¡¯s heart. When people settled down in Kazakhstan and lived infortable environments, they would assimte naturally, and that was what Youngho intended.


    ¡°Do you and other supporters of the Kurdish autonomous government intend to stay in Syria?¡±


    ¡°Even if there were only a few left, we will still have a Kurdistan Regional Government in Syria. I can¡¯t leave because all the blood that had been shed for thisnd will be a waste if I did. But I will not stop the militias and the residents from leaving Syria to go to Kazakhstan. Please help them live there happily.¡±


    ¡°If you look around the Arirang royal territory, you can see that there is a river. The Kurds will live around it. Kazakhstan is home to many ethnic groups, and even though we don¡¯t allow their autonomy, we respect each ethnic group¡¯s identity. If you change your mind, you¡¯ll be weed here any time.¡±


    ¡°I will never forget your kindness to all Kurds.¡±


    He did not seem like he would change his mind so easily, so Youngho did not try to persuade him anymore.


    It was unclear how many Kurds would stay in Syria, but there was only a rough future for them. It was questionable whether the Kurdish regional government could be maintained with a small number of militias and residents, but Youngho had no choice but to wish the best for such a determination.


    ¡°Kazakh is always open. And if you need any help, please ask through the U.S. Intelligence Service. I¡¯ll help you as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°Are you connected to the U.S. Intelligence Service?¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of friends in America. They¡¯ve been very helpful this time, too.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, the expression of  turned a little bright.


    It could be a small connection between the Kurdish regional government and the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°When the migration is over, the Turkish attack will resume. Please pay special attention to civilian injuries. I don¡¯t want to see Princess Jelyan suffer.¡±


    ¡°If we can¡¯t hold out much, I¡¯ll send people to the Mediterranean.¡±


    ¡°Please contact me if you change your mind even before that. I¡¯ll try to persuade the Turkish government to dy the attack.¡±


    ***


    The biggest reason for the hard-liners¡¯ insistence on the regional government in Syria was that there were unexpectedly few applicants for migration.


    Youngho or Eriksson expected at least 1.5 million applicants, but so far, the number fell slightly short of a million. It was because Kurds were scattered around the country, not only living in northern Syria.


    The Kurds who lived in northern Syria were united in their determination to keep their regional government. They were about to leave when the Turkish attacks seemed that it would never cease, but now that there was no attack, they took this as an opportunity to reorganize themselves.


    ¡°They earned time, so they must be thinking to build air-raid shelters or something.¡±


    ¡°Maybe so. They are nning to put all the facilities underground and prepare for uing battles.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not forcing people toe, so I¡¯m going to have to leave the rest to the US CIA. Michael will love to hear the news.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met people who want to stay, but they¡¯re determined to die. They¡¯re unstoppable.¡±


    This time, Turkey would also act harsher. It may even mobilize weapons of mass destruction.


    ¡°You should go to Turkey.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I need you to make some time by inting the number of migrants.¡±


    ¡°Turkey also has an intelligence service, so the government must have a rough estimate of migrants.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just exaggerate and say that we¡¯re expecting two million people. Turkey won¡¯t resume the attack when the migration is still going on.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Director of Intelligence¡¯s job is lying everywhere.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better for us to ept even one more person by extending the migration duration.¡±


    What needed to be rushed was building a temporary camp in the royal territory.


    Although it was early March, Kazakhstan was still in the middle of winter.


    People would easily get sick in this weather since they were from rtively warm Syria. To prevent that, the sandwich panel assembly building was better than usingrge tents. The experience of receiving Uyghur refugees was good news for the Kurds.


    ¡°Take our agents with you, too. I want to put some of them among the Kurdish militia as people in contact.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. There are quite a lot of U.S. soldiers, so they can stay with them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call Michael for help. I have to deliver the good news that the hard-liners will be staying in Syria, anyway.¡±


    After Park Jong-il left, there was an emergency at the royal territory.


    It was urgent to build temporary camps and prepare relief supplies for hundreds of thousands of migrants.


    The wheat produced in the royal territory had always been in stock for years, but the problem was daily necessities such as clothes and nkets. Kazakhstan was now barely self-sufficient, so the prices would rise if all of them were supplied from the domestic market.


    That was why Youngho was going to ask the U.S. for help. The U.S. was the only country that could supply such a huge amount of goods.


    The Kurdish migration issue was not just a matter for Kazakhstan but also was in the interests of the U.S., so the U.S. would have to help.


    ***


    Michael¡¯s prediction was met as he had previously said that he would decide whether or not to pass on weapons to the Iraqi Kurdish forces based on how many Kurds would be left in Syria.


    -Your Highness calls me frequently these days. Have you met the Kurdish leader yet?


    ¡°He¡¯s a fine man. He said that he won¡¯t object the moderates¡¯ migration. And I think the Syria issue is resolved the way you wanted.¡±


    -What are you talking about?


    ¡°The hard-liners will stick to the regional government in Syria. I think about half of the militia will be left.¡±


    -Ha! I knew they¡¯d make that decision. They worked so hard on the regional government. It won¡¯t be easy to abandon it now.


    ¡°I¡¯ve also decided to help the Syrian Kurdish militia. I¡¯d like the U.S. intelligence service to be our medium.¡±


    -That¡¯s very nice to hear. So we¡¯re back together like old times.


    ¡°Please help us put our agents in the U.S. base there.¡±


    -Of course, we¡¯ll provide convenience. I¡¯ll call the army.


    Michael weed Youngho¡¯s joining.


    It was an opportunity to make up for what had been interrupted by Turkish air raids.


    ¡°The Kurds will take some time before migrating to Kazakhstan. Would there be enough for the Kurdish militia to prepare?¡±


    -How long can you dy the migration process?


    ¡°We n to move 100,000 people a month. It takes about a year.¡±


    -All the Syrian Kurdish militia will be able to go underground during that period.


    ¡°As long as the militias are safe, can you press the Kurds to encourage more civilians to move?¡±


    -I should do that for you in return for your cooperation. But will your rtions to Turkey be fine? It¡¯s like stabbing Turkey¡¯s back.


    ¡°The national interest is the priority even though Turkey is our brother country.¡±


    -You¡¯ve be more like a politician now. You don¡¯t care about your ally when ites to your national interests.


    ¡°Hey, I won¡¯t be so obvious since that¡¯s also rted to our national interest.¡±


    -Hahaha...


    Michaelughed for a while then continued.


    -Duke, the Kurds had been fooled by the great powers. They¡¯ll be touched by even small considerations. So try to earn their hearts.


    ¡°I need to provide them with more daily necessities to do that, but our daily production capacity is far short. We need help from the U.S. government or the U.N.¡±


    -It¡¯s something to be praised for epting refugees. We won¡¯t be an ally if we can¡¯t help you with that, I¡¯ll even arrange a loan if necessary.


    The fact that even a loan was mentioned meant that he knew how much money it would take to ept refugees. Since Kazakhstan had a weak economic structure, spending such huge money would deeply affect its economy.


    ¡°A loan? How much are you thinking?¡±


    -I should discuss it with the government. The U.S. should also save its face at this opportunity.


    ¡°I assume you¡¯ve reached an agreement with Turkey already.¡±


    -What are you talking about? Haven¡¯t you seen how Turkey acted against our will?


    Strong negativity was said to be positive.


    Youngho was talking on the phone, but he could tell that Michael was waving his hands to deny Youngho¡¯s spection.


    ¡°So if it¡¯s not a satisfactory loan, I¡¯ll continue to think that you had a deal with Turkey.¡±


    Providing an unwanted loan meant that the U.S. and Turkey might havee to a conclusion to drive the Kurds out of Syria as soon as possible.


    It was a deal that could not be harmful to Kazakhstan in any way. Turkey would remove its old problem, and Kazakhstan would be getting brave Kurdish warriors.

 Chapter 549 - Kurdish Immigrants (1)

    <h4>Chapter 549: Kurdish Immigrants (1)</h4>


    A car ferry carrying migrants was just docking at Arirang Wharf.


    The ferry, which exceeded its maximum passenger capacity, went through the ck Sea at its full speed through the ice and snow-covered canals; it finally arrived at the royal territory.


    The Kurds, who were interested to see the ferry breaking the ice on the Ural River had to get inside their cabins after a few minutes because the unbearable cold air almost felt like it would freeze one¡¯s lungs.


    After getting through the cold, the faces of those who got off the cafe were almost blue.


    There were about 600 people in the passenger waiting room.


    They looked nervous, but their frozen body and mind melted a bit after seeing the warm faces of Kazakh officials and volunteers weing them. They had never seen such a warm smile in Syria.


    It was not until they got on the train leaving the wharf that everyone got a little bit relieved that they started to have conversations on board.


    Youngho was observing them while acting as one of the officials in the royal territory.


    The Turks were easily frightened by a loud noise and other external stimuli because they had lived in war for all their lives. It was trauma.


    ¡°Your Highness, it looks like our kindness is opening up migrants¡¯ hearts¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because our bureaucrats have been kind to them from Turkey. Please pay special attention to them though. I feel sorry for their past.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a relief that they didn¡¯t suffer much on the Turkish border.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Director Park had a lot of trouble. I told him and officials not to think about returning home if any of them fail.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Did you arrange the medical staff on standby, Commissioner Kim?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re ready to meet their patients. They said they¡¯ll start with vinations and people in need of immediate attention.¡±


    ¡°Everybody¡¯s only skin and bones. They¡¯ve been dependent on aid, so they¡¯re not well-nourished.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. If they eat well for a few days, they¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°They might get sick if they eat greasy food all of a sudden.¡±


    ¡°The medical staff created and distributed a new diet. There were a lot of diarrhea patients even during the trip because they couldn¡¯t adapt to a new diet. The medical team ordered not to give them anything other than the food they specified.¡±


    Immigrants from Syria had not been able to eat proper food for a long time, so everyone was not in their best conditions.


    They had lived for decades in a ce full of flying bullets and eating properly was vanity to them. Fresh vegetables or meat for a good meal would have been a luxury, like soup, canned meat, and dried bread must have been their usual relief food supply.


    ¡°We¡¯ve built the assembly building in a hurry, but I don¡¯t know if they can stand the cold. We can¡¯t let them into the hotel or dorms because they are too many.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got enough heaters and heated nkets. I¡¯m sure they will survive.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not ustomed to the low temperature like us yet, so you¡¯ll get a lot of cold patients.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Highness. All of the administration staff are taking extra care, and we¡¯ve also got many volunteers. We¡¯re fully prepared.¡±


    As the train moved, Jelyan, who had been silent all the way while holding Youngho¡¯s hand, left him to approach the children huddled in the corner of the train.


    Earlier of the day, Jelyan heard that the Kurds would arrive at the port, so she followed Youngho to see them.


    Most of the children sitting on the train were in their teens.


    At a nce, the children seemed that they had not been cared by adults. Food stains were all over their clothes, and they were looking around their surroundings with anxious eyes.


    Jelyan went up to the tallest girl there and talked to her in French. At first, the girl seemed nervous, but soon, she opened her mouth to Jelyan¡¯s friendliness.


    Youngho went over close to them to see what was going on.


    ¡°Dad, they are orphans. They used to be at the U.S. military camp in Syria, but they migrated this time.¡±


    ¡°Did they have a guide?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. military took them to Turkey, and our people helped them from the harbor.¡±


    ¡°I guess they had less trouble.¡±


    ¡°But she said it was too cold.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The car ferry must have had the heater on, and this train is hot.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too cold to go outside because they don¡¯t have underclothes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve checked something very important. Did she tell you how long they were in the U.S. military camp?¡±


    ¡°They stayed there for about two months. They lost their families when the Turkish bombing destroyed their residential area.¡±


    Telling the children¡¯s story, Jelyan¡¯s eyes were turning red.


    She must have remembered her time in the past. Youngho patted her shoulders tofort her.


    Her painful memory that had long been forgotten was brought back after she saw those orphans.


    Jelyan also suffered extreme fear and pain and was given a long psychiatric treatment before she could recover.


    ¡°Jelyan, you have to be strong in these times. Those kids and the Kurds came all the way here, trusting you.¡±


    ¡°Dad, thanks for helping the Kurds. My heart aches when I see them, but I¡¯m okay because I have a father.¡±


    Even though she grew bigger as she entered her adolescence, she was still a little girl in Youngho¡¯s eyes, but she was talking like an adult now.


    ¡°Yes. I will always remain a strong supporter of you, Jelyan. Those orphans will forget their pain and live happily ever after in the royal territory from now on. Let¡¯s do our best to make that happen.¡±


    By the time Youngho finished speaking, the train had arrived at the royal territory¡¯s temporary camp and was slowing down.


    ***


    When Youngho, Jelyan, and Kim Chun got off the train, the royal guards saluted them.


    Youngho was about to get on the waiting car after tapping on the shoulders of the guards suffering from the cold weather. The girl Jelyan met on the train opened the window and talked to Jelyan, so Youngho turned his head. As Jelyan responded in fast French, the girl almost shouted at the people on the train.


    Seeing it, Jelyan covered her mouth and smiled.


    ¡°Does she need anything?¡±


    ¡°No. She asked if I was a Kurdish princess, and I said yes, then she shouted to the people on the train. She said the princess was on the train with them.¡±


    The migrants, who had not yet gotten off the train, were all peeking out of the windows of the train to see the outside view but were confused by what the girl said.


    Jelyan did not know what to do as people cheered for her.


    ¡°Jelyan, you have to wave your hand. They¡¯re cheering for you.¡±


    ¡°Dad. I¡¯m so embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going to be our residents now. What¡¯s the shame? It¡¯s a courtesy to wave your hands to them.¡±


    The train was in an uproar as she waved back at them.


    They looked discouraged and nervous when they left the wharf, but now they were apuding and shouting. It was almost a frenzy.


    Some of them were even seen wiping away tears with the back of their hands.


    Youngho could not just leave in this situation so he hesitated, but Kim Chun suddenly told them to pay respect to the Duke and the princess of the Kazakh royal family.


    The migrants immediately began to get off the train and surrounded Youngho and Jelyan.


    ¡°Long live Your Highness, long live the princess!¡±


    They eximed in French.


    Fearing a possible safety ident, security guards protected Youngho and Jelyan, but the Kurds were left helpless in the midst of the outbursts of emotion.


    Even though they were excited, they did not get close to Youngho and Jelyan, so Youngho stopped the guards and raised his hand to wait for the migrants¡¯ feelings to subside.


    As the moment passed, Youngho gathered the power of the ring to raise his voice.


    ¡°I am the Duke of the Kazakh royal family. My daughter next to me, Jelyan, yed a big part in the decision of epting you. I¡¯ll do my best to help you settle down here. You are not a people without a country now. Keep in mind that Kazakhstan, where Princess Jelyan is, is your home country from now on. I sincerely wee you into the country.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    There should be cheers and apuse at this point, but everyone was silent. It was because Youngho talked in English. The French-speaking Kurds of Syria could not understand him.


    Youngho looked at Jelyan to see if she could interpret his words for him. There were other people who could speak French, but he thought it was best if it coulde out from Jelyan.


    As Youngho gestured her to interpret, she took a loudspeaker from the guards and started talking to the people.


    Although Youngho only said a few words, she talked for a long time. She seemed to have added a little extra words to his speech, but since Youngho had no idea what she was saying, it was a bit frustrating. At the same time, it made him proud that she had so many words to say to her people.


    When Jelyan was done, the migrants began cheering again.


    ¡°Long live Your Highness! Long live Princess Jelyan!¡±


    ¡°Commissioner Kim, I think the trantion is a lot longer than what I said.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen that side of her before. She¡¯s all grown up. I think she expressed her personal wish. She¡¯s tearing up.¡±


    ¡°My Jelyan is quite emotional today.¡±


    When Jelyan came to Youngho¡¯s side after she was finished, Youngho wrapped his arm around her.


    Seeing the friendly gesture of father and daughter, people raised a thunderous roar again. Despite the cold, the atmosphere was warm enough that it seemed people could stand outside for hours. They did not want to go back to the train.


    After saying goodbye to the migrants, Youngho, who got into the car, hugged Jelyan who had stood in front of the hundreds of people. As a girl who was only 15 years old, it was a lot to take in. Youngho encouraged her.


    ¡°You did very well today. Daddy is very proud of you, Jelyan.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Jelyan burst into tears as mixed emotions crossed her mind.

 Chapter 550 - Kurdish Immigrants (2)

    <h4>Chapter 550: Kurdish Immigrants (2)</h4>


    Kazakhstan¡¯s April was still sub-zero in the morning and evening, but this year¡¯s April was a lot warmer than usual, and people in the royal territory were relieved by the warmer weather.


    It was because the Kurdish immigrants who just moved were not fond of cold. They were from a warmer climate, and it was hard for them to withstand even the spring chills of Kazakhstan.


    The Arirang royal territory was busy because of the influx of Kurds. Officials were distributing the Kurd migrants into different buildings, but the facilities were not enough to hold them. So construction workers were from the city of Atyrau to work on more buildings.


    The good news was that the Kurds were dly helping the construction process.


    They decided to build a camp only on the west side of the river where the royal pce was located but close to one million.


    In the beginning, it was nned to build camps on the west side of the river only, but because of theck of facilities, the construction department decided to also build camps on the east side of the river as well. Right now, a street bridge was currently being built to connect the east and west sides of the river.


    The massive immigrants would lead to development in the domestic economy, and in the near future, there would be arge city like Almaty in Western Kazakhstan as well.


    Originally, it had nned to do stream-bed cleaning works and embankment works along the river to enable shipping to the midstream of the Ural River, but the canal work was not able to start because the results of the environmental impact assessment were not avable yet.


    In summer, melted snow from the Ural Mountains flooded the riverside, so banks were necessary for the area to be served as residential areas.


    If both sides of the river were developed, it would inevitably affect the environment, but the construction would be done anyway because the semi-deserted area was not going to be affected heavily, anyway.


    ¡°Construction Director Min, I don¡¯t know if the banks of the rivers will have any adverse effects on the ecosystem.¡±


    ¡°There will be an impact, but in the process of urbanization, such sacrifice is inevitable. I¡¯ll try to find the best possible way to minimize the damage.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re only building temporary camps in the residential areas. The city nning is not evenpleted yet, wouldn¡¯t it be an interruption to the future city n?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why the temporary camps are only limited to residential areas. You won¡¯t have to worry about the city nning being affected by it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to hurry up the construction of the camps in the West. Could you encourage the workers?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in a hurry. We¡¯ll have an outline around next month.¡±


    ¡°This n should be carefully put together so that we won¡¯t have a problem for at least a hundred years from now.¡±


    ¡°You can count on it because the constructionpany is a globally renowned one.¡±


    Since the city would contain more than a million people, the nning wasmissioned to a British designpany.


    ¡°Which country do you think would be the right fit to work on the power generation in the eastern part of the Ural River?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to make a Germanpany do it this time. It¡¯s also an opportunity to take on their technology.¡±


    Min Nikevich, the Director of Arirang royal territory¡¯s construction department, was always fond of Europeanpanies because he had a firm belief that their technology was superior topanies from other countries.


    ¡°The cost of building a German power nt would be high.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little bit higher than a Korean one, but I want to give more credit to the Germanpany considering its priority of environment and technology.¡±


    ¡°They put the environment first?¡±


    ¡°Running the power nt will inevitably contaminate the environment. The Germanpany offers a low generation cost but also minimizes pollution around the nt. And the technology transfer is promised already. The Germanpany staff wanted to visit you soon, so please consider it after meeting him.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason why I should meet an individualpany?¡±


    ¡°For some reason, he was very eager to see you. He said that he will apany a German government official as well. Would you like to see him in person?¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re interested in Kazakhstan, I should meet him. I¡¯m also interested in meeting German government officials.¡±


    ***


    With the arrival of Kurds, many changes had been made to the royal territory.


    With the inclusion of the eastern part of the Ural River, the total territory area had increased by 4,800 square kilometers, so in total, it was close to 8,400 square kilometers. It was a littlerger than Korea¡¯s Chungcheongbuk-do Province.


    The Kurds¡¯ settlement would be built on both sides of the river, and thend that was included to the royal territory this time would be developed into a residential area,mercial area, light industryplex, and farnd.


    To get to the western side of the river where there was no pce, people would have to cross the river. So two regr bridges and one railway bridge were nned to be built.


    The facilities would be constructed to take about 40,000 Kurds in the residential area of the original royal territory and 600,000 Kurds in the newly incorporated area.


    As for now, there were about 5,000 Kurds who had moved from Syria.


    Most of them had lived in the border area and crossed the border illegally because they thought it would be an opportunity when Turkish airstrikes stopped.


    More than 50,000 Kurds would be pouring starting from May, so many of the building materials and daily necessities for migrants were piled up at the wharf.


    Most of the supplies came from Volgograd, and sooner orter, relief supplies woulde from the U.S. because the U.N. promised to send emergency relief supplies.


    Moreover, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives were also reviewing loans. Likewise, the World Bank and the International Mary Fund informed Kazakhstan that they were considering an aid loan.


    This meant that the world was paying keen attention to the ¡°Exodus¡± of the Kurds. In this atmosphere, the safety of Kazakhstan and Kurds was almost guaranteed for the time being.


    ¡°Phew! We only received about 5,000 people, but this is overwhelming.¡±


    Jong-il, who returned from Syria, looked around the busy dock and sighed.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job, Jong-il. Thanks to you, we saved many lives.¡±


    Because of Park Jong-il¡¯s work in Syria and Turkey, the refugees, who had crossed the Turkish border illegally, could be brought to Kazakhstan safely without any trouble.


    ¡°By the way, tell me what Istanbul shippingpanies are asking for more. What is their problem?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t get me started. I had to suppress my temper in front of them. They¡¯re trying to make a fortune on this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Have you spoken to the Turkish government?¡±


    ¡°They said the government can¡¯te forward and tell privatepanies what to do.¡±


    ¡°I mean, they could help us through a policy.¡±


    ¡°I think it would be faster to exclude Turkishpanies and seek Greekpanies.¡±


    ¡°Why Greekpanies?¡±


    ¡°The reason why Turkish shippingpanies are calling for higher charter fees is that they don¡¯t want to take the lead in moving the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°Is it ethnic sentiment?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so.¡±


    To charter Istanbul¡¯s shippingpanies¡¯ ships to transport refugees, Jong-il talked to manypany representatives, but they were asking for excessive fees. The Turkish government was no help in this either.


    ¡°The Turkish government is in an awkward situation, too. Turkish Kurds are agitated.¡±


    ¡°Is there any sign of armed conflict?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no sign of that, but the Turkish Kurds think that the government is forcibly driving Kurds out of Syria.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. Maybe that¡¯s why the Turkish government is reluctant to help us. Do you think this will affect the migration?¡±


    ¡°Well, there is a good side and a bad side to this.¡±


    ¡°The bad side must be the possibility of the Kurds in Turkey¡¯s armed conflict. What is the good side?¡±


    ¡°The Turkish government won¡¯t be able to interrupt us. Even now, the government is being wrongly criticized to have forced Kurds out of Syria. It won¡¯t be able to resume its attack on Syria for a while.¡±


    ¡°Then we don¡¯t have to rush the migration. We can¡¯t take it because there are too many peopleing at once.¡±


    ¡°No. The migration should be processed as scheduled. Those who decided to move are eager to move out of there. Even if we have troubles here, I think it¡¯s better to bring them here first.¡±


    ¡°Transporting about 50,000 people a month is the best we can do. More than that is a little too much.¡±


    ¡°You can think of that much more work. If we can supply construction materials and daily necessities on time, I think it¡¯s not bad to overdo it.¡±


    ¡°Just think that we¡¯re getting more manpower. If we can supply daily necessities in time, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a minus for us.¡±


    The Kurds, who had just arrived, were also working at various construction sites.


    As they were being paid for their work, they were quite excited that they could engage in economic activities on their own. They were relying on free supplies, but they also had desires to buy things they wanted. Having jobs satisfied their needs and desires. It was also directly rted to their self-esteem and sense of independence.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s ept all of those who want toe. It¡¯ll be much better than having to leave them there and agonize over them.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go to Greece and see if I can rent ships. So just build as many facilities in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you overdoing yourself now? Tell me if you need a break. I¡¯ll send someone else.¡±


    ¡°I should work hard if I want to be a duke one day. Write down how hard I¡¯ve been running around.¡±


    ¡°Oh, jeez! Stop talking nonsense and get out of here.¡±

 Chapter 551 - Kurdish Immigrants (3)

    <h4>Chapter 551: Kurdish Immigrants (3)</h4>


    The increase in the number of poption was not all good.


    There were as many different people as much as the increased poption.


    Since the Kurds entered the royal territory, weird things that had never been experienced started to happen.


    Beginning with petty thieves, big and small crimes began to ur. People¡¯s bad habits from Syria did not disappear just because they moved to a different country.


    The aftermath of the years-long war had changed people¡¯s mindsets.


    In Syria, the first person who saw the remains of a building copsed by the artillery attack became the owner of them, and this kind of perception was a moral hazard to them. It would have been only natural for them to be in the middle of war, but this was where thew was alive.


    ¡°How could the most naive people in the world have changed this bad? It¡¯s a pity that their environment turned them this way.¡±


    ¡°It means that they¡¯ve had such a hard time. They may have done it without your knowledge, so we should give them a warning for the first and second times of their criminal acts.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too optimistic. We should punish them harshly so that others wouldn¡¯t think ofmitting any crime.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, that¡¯s what happened in the early days of the Arirang Autonomous State. Remember? Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯spletely different from the Serbs. There is a widespread custom of taking other people¡¯s things. The problem is that there is no sense of guilt. Without a special measure, the authority of the royal territory could be undermined.¡±


    The Arirang royal territory became an orderly ce because of Commissioner Kim Chun¡¯s guide and efforts. If that order was broken because of the Kurdish immigrants, this could shake the authority of the royal family as well.


    Until the Arirang state became the current royal territory, Kim Chun had put much efforts. Not a single piece of grass or a rock was left untouched by him. It was very upsetting that the fruits of such efforts were turned into disorder by outsiders.


    ¡°I understand your concern, Commissioner. But if you think about the Kurdish people¡¯s past lives, you have to understand a little. They¡¯ve lived in awless world with no control. They don¡¯t even know what the basics are, so the punishment can¡¯t be the best solution for them. Please follow my lead this time. And let¡¯s continue to educate the residents and let them know whyw and order are needed.¡±


    ¡°I admit Icked effort, but I¡¯m afraid the Kurds will follow us.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll have to take it since there is no going back for them. At least they deserve to be praised for their loyalty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on them as you said. Although there is a moral problem, it is fortunate that they think our royal family is everything in the world.¡±


    The Syrian Kurds were never the ones who had lived normal lives. They needed more attention and education until they could return to civilization. However, Youngho was relieved because their loyalty to the royal family was higher than any other people in Kazakhstan.


    ***


    The Kurds, who met Jelyan on the first day of their arrival, were hoping Jelyan would visit the camps more often. The reason was that the atmosphere in the camps got much better whenever she visited them.


    They adored Jelyan. It was amazing to see how they recognized her as their royal princess and respected her.


    Sensing such an atmosphere, Jelyan was also frequently visiting the campsites holding Leon¡¯s hand, giving the migrant people hope to live.


    As usual, today, Jelyan, had visited the camps with Rena who had returned from South Ossetia and Leon. She was being chatty at the dinner table.


    ¡°Dad, we helped distributing food to people today.¡±


    ¡°Leon, too?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Leon worked on handing out apples, and the migrants were very grateful.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s something I never expected from him. Leon, working with your sisters has made you more like a grown-up.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s praise, Leon smiled as he was ttered.


    ¡°Dad, but the kids are very bored because they don¡¯t have any amusement facilities.¡±


    Jelyan¡¯s remark came as a shock. Even though Youngho was also a father of three children, he had not cared about the Kurdish children at the camps. There were no facilities for teenagers and children.


    ¡°Then what do the children do for fun?¡±


    ¡°When theye back from the temporary school, most of the time they¡¯re just ying around the camp buildings. Daddy, please make them a yground and a ce where they can y with a ball.¡±


    ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll make one for them immediately. I¡¯ll build an auditorium so I they can exercise indoors.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Dad.¡±


    Youngho was rather grateful for Jelyan because he would have missed an important thing if it were not for her.


    The children who would lead the royal territory in the future were left on the bare ground without a proper y area.


    Youngho had been so busy epting migrants that he did not care about the more important things. Not just for the children, but most of the adults who were not working had nothing to do at the moment, and maybe that was why small andrge crimes were frequently happening.


    The Kurdish adults who were not working were not just fooling around. Theirnguage barrier andck of skills had stopped them from actively engaging in different activities in the royal territory.


    In Syria, industries had not developed properly because of frequent battles, and people had no chance to learn work skills.


    So, creating jobs were necessary to reduce peoples¡¯ crimes.


    Youngho nned to make the royal territory a ma for Central Asian electronics in a few years from now, but for now, developing farnd and public works alone would create tens of thousands of jobs.


    The priority was to create jobs that would allow the Kurdish migrants to devote themselves to. Construction and Civil Engineering were projects that could providerge-scale jobs, but they were only a temporary measure.


    The fundamental solution was to foster manufacturing.


    ***


    After hours of pondering with Eriksson, Youngho concluded that he would attractbor-intensive industries to the royal territory.


    High-tech electric and electronic industries would only be profitable when technological manpower was secured, so the idea was to focus on self-sufficiency and domestic demand by making everyday items such as textile and clothing industries and shoe factories that would provide many jobs.


    Typicalbor-intensive industries were food and beverage manufacturing, textile manufacturing, clothing and fur products manufacturing, bags and shoes manufacturing, and furniture manufacturing. Fortunately, they were not polluter industries and did not requireplex facilities. Nor it did require any special skills, so it would be a great job for Kurds in need of a job.


    Although such industries were only prevalent in developing countries, it was a necessary part of everyday life and there was a possibility for such industries to create luxury brands.


    ¡°Eriksson. These are items that advanced countries are reluctant to produce. I hope we don¡¯t get criticized for taking advantage of Kurds¡¯bor force.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, what does it matter when you don¡¯t use them to seek profits? We can¡¯t give them a lot of money, but it¡¯s important that they will be able to work. For many of them, this would be their first proper job. I¡¯m sure being able to work and support their own family will be a great experience for them.¡±


    People had been relying on relief goods and had not made money on their own. Eriksson was saying that everyone needed to experience what it felt like to make money on their own, even if their pay would not be great for now.


    ¡°And building proper education facilities is a priority. Themunity education and technical education should be centered around them as well. Camps should have amusement facilities, but schools should also have sports facilities to encourage children¡¯s involvement in school naturally. And we also need to create Kurdish security forces and administrative organizations. Building and cultivating a new city with their own hands will make it easier for them to get ustomed to the new environment.¡±


    ¡°That could get out of control.¡±


    ¡°They cannot dream of such a thing. Their loyalty to the Kazakh royal family and Princess Jelyan is the best in Kazakhstan. They won¡¯t disappoint you. Although they¡¯remitting small andrge crimes now, it¡¯s just a process. They want to steal because they couldn¡¯t own anything back in Syria. If they can make money and get involved in economic activities, it will go away naturally.¡±


    Eriksson also did not give much meaning to crimesmitted by the Kurds just like Youngho. It was just a transitional phenomenon that would naturally dissipate over time.


    ¡°Please calcte if we can pay the minimum cost of living for people when two people are doing one person¡¯s job.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s nothing to pay for. We¡¯ll recover the cost of establishing facilities and then we can pay people with that money. It will go well beyond the minimum wage.¡±


    Although the intensive industry was said to be an industry of an underdeveloped country, it had been used by advancedpanies as a way to take advantage of it in less developed countries. It was good for creating employment.


    ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s build two light industryplexes on each side of the Ural River.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check out on the establishment of facilities. We have a lot of facilities in Europe right now.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they all moved to India, Southeast Asia, and Africa?¡±


    ¡°There are also factories in Western Europe that produce a small number of high-end products.¡±


    ¡°Really? Well, then why don¡¯t we also produce high-end products?¡±


    ¡°We can do that if we have people with great hand skills. The more products that need people¡¯s handling, the more expensive they are.¡±

 Chapter 552 - Gold Exchange (1)

    <h4>Chapter 552: Gold Exchange (1)</h4>


    Among the Kurdish immigrants, there were quite a lot of people who had worked in the militia and quit due to personal reasons.


    Most of them had to give up being in the Kurdish militia group unintentionally to help their struggling families. They were ssified as a reserved force to go out and fight with a gun in times of emergency even though they no longer worked for the militia.


    After settling down in the royal territory, former militiamen showed great interest to Royal Guards as the safety of their family members was no longer their concern of living.


    It was good news to Cho Chul-hwan, themander of the Royal Guards, as former militia members with experience inbat were volunteering to join. He was keeping quiet because it was a little too early to ask the Kurd immigrants to join in Royal Guards and form their own special unit, but he was excited that they hade to him first.


    Cho Chul-hwan cautiously mentioned about epting Kurdish militiamen at the royal territory¡¯s regr leadership meeting.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s a waste of resources if we don¡¯t use the people withbat experience. It¡¯s a little early, but I¡¯d like to assign them as security guards first and select the best fighters to incorporate them to Royal Guards.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too hasty to do that now?¡±


    ¡°But there are a few reasons to hurry. They used to be in war, so it¡¯s difficult for them to adapt to normal life. I highly doubt that they can work as regr workers in factories. If anything, they¡¯ll just be a distraction to other workers. And when they get soaked in afortable life, their fighting power will drop dramatically because their tension will naturally drop. I don¡¯t want to lose great fighters.¡±


    As Chul-hwan¡¯s opinion had a point, no one in the room made an opposition.


    ¡°Okay. Then try to selectively ept them and form their own security force. Also, you¡¯ve got to set a high standard for applicants. Don¡¯t just ept anyone.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if there are any applicants, I¡¯d like to confirm their qualifications. It¡¯s unclear how many of the former militia fighters will being in because most of the militiamen are hard-liners who chose to stay in Syria.¡±


    ¡°There will be hundreds of times more migrants in the future than the Kurds who settled down here already. There will be at least 10,000 more militiamening in. If you can¡¯t recruit enough former militiamen, let¡¯s recruit young Kurdish people too.¡±


    ¡°Then I will make a Kurdish security force first.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Please target people who can speak English as much as possible.¡±


    Although the whole Kazakhstan was a conscription system, the Kurds who just moved to Kazakhstan were excluded from it. Since they did not speak Russian, the government also saw them as unhelpful.


    ***


    German government officials visited the Arirang royal territory.


    The governments of developed countries in Europe usually did not get directly involved in helping individualpanies win orders abroad. However, it was a bit of a peculiar case the German government acting with a localpany trying to make it to Kazakhstan. The fact that the German government offered to help an individualpany win orders was intended to create a link with Kazakhstan.


    Even though it was an unofficial visit, there were strangely many high-rank officials who came to the pce. There was the vice foreign minister, the deputy finance minister and the deputy chairman of the central bank. The fact that vice-ministerial-level officials were here meant that there was a matter to be discussed in secret.


    ¡°Thank you foring all the way to see me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. Please forgive me for not taking the official procedure to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s official or unofficial. You¡¯re here for a purpose, and I hope you return home with an achievement.¡±


    ¡°You must already know the purpose of our visit.¡±


    Youngho could roughly guess the purpose of their visit, but he kept quiet.


    Eriksson had told him that German banks were secretly collecting gold bars these days.


    It was an open secret that the Kazakh royal family owned a lot of gold mines. These days, buying gold bars was getting more and more difficult, so central banks had been asking the Kazakh government to increase the sale of gold, but the government had not responded to them on the pretext of the royal family.


    ¡°As you may have guessed, the purpose of our visit is to buy gold. I contacted the Kazakh authorities, but they said that the royal family controls the gold. So, I came to see you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t give you the answer you want to hear. We can¡¯t afford to export gold to a foreign country because we¡¯re increasing our gold reserves.¡±


    Youngho rejected their request first because he could guess what they would be offering him in exchange for gold.


    Although gold trading was said to be active these days, the amount traded between countries was only a few dozen tons at best. The central banks of each country were bent on collecting gold to try to reach a deal of that much. It was evident that there was so much distrust in the dor or euro, which was the key currency.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the royal family has gold in stock, and if you sell some to us, I¡¯d like to offer some benefits in return.¡±


    ¡°Benefits in return?¡±


    ¡°Yes, our government recently found out that Kazakhstan is working hard to improve its defense capabilities. So, we¡¯d like to offer the technology transfer of our defense industry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s tempting to hear about Germany¡¯s advanced defense technology.¡±


    ¡°Not only that, we can help build a new city. In other words, the German government is willing to offer a loan.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. government and the World Bank have already promised us loans.¡±


    ¡°Can you handle a million Kurds with that alone? It should be backed up with a construction that costs at least ten billion dors. Spending such money could hinder your n to strengthen Kazakhstan¡¯s defense power.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but we have enough money for that.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be safer if more foreign capitals can be brought in?¡±


    Although Youngho had enough money from the former president Nazarbayev¡¯s and his daughter¡¯s slush funds and from gold mines¡¯ production, it was true that it was like insurance to bring in a lot of foreign capital no matter how much money he had.


    ¡°To my knowledge, your country¡¯s gold holdings are second only to the U.S. I¡¯d like to hear why you¡¯re trying so hard to buy gold.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a policy to reduce the portion of cash in our foreign currency reserves. It doesn¡¯t mean much.¡±


    It was a tantly stupid answer.


    The limits of the key currency were slowly revealed and each country was scrambling to secure gold in order not to lean further against the dor due to the U.S. protectionist trade policy. Germany¡¯s gold reserves stood at some 3,300 tons but were no longer increasing since 2016.


    This was because the number of customers looking for gold bars increased a lot, and it became more difficult to buy gold.


    ¡°Kazakhstan is also trying to reduce the portion of the dor just like Germany. Is the situation bad enough for you toe here to get more gold?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm.¡±


    When Youngho raised a question, the vice finance minister looked troubled.


    He seemed to have underestimated Youngho¡¯s knowledge of the world¡¯s economic situation.


    ¡°There are not many gold mines in our country. We wouldn¡¯t have to do this if we had global gold deposits like Kazakhstan. We won¡¯t have a promising future once we spend all of our gold holdings for industrial use. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you for a favor.¡±


    ¡°How much do you need?¡±


    The German ministers had already suggested benefits in return, so Youngho did not want to reject them too many times. If they could be satisfied with a reasonable amount of gold, he was willing to sell it for the sake of the friendship between the two countries.


    ¡°We need about 300 tons.¡±


    ¡°300 tons at once?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. We¡¯d like to get it over a five-year period. Would it be possible?¡±


    Germany would try to buy gold not only from Kazakhstan but also from other countries. It was in to see how much gold would be secured if it did so.


    ¡°That¡¯s worth to discuss with our government.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan decided to sell gold to us, we¡¯ll purchase it at 130 percent of the market price.¡±


    130 percent of the market price seemed to be high, but because the dor was constantly falling, it was not much of a deal. As Youngho was not satisfied, he was quiet. Then the vice foreign minister continued,


    ¡°We will transfer our technology in the defense industry that Kazakhstan wants, including our submarine technology and tank technology.¡±


    Germany seemed to be in a hurry to get gold since German conventional submarines and tanks were the best in the world.


    ¡°What would you do with a submarine in the Caspian Sea?¡±


    ¡°Submarine technology is going to be necessary for both military and civilian purposes. If you secure technology for submersibles capable of operating in deep waters will help develop the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    The bait of submersible technology sounded quite tempting to Youngho.


    The Caspian Sea, let alone the Arctic Ocean, still had plenty of ces to explore.


    Kazakhstan had been pumping up oil, and it was yet to confirm other resources buried beneath the sea. Korea had also adopted Germany¡¯s submarine manufacturing technology.


    ¡°As you know, we¡¯ve already signed military technology agreements with our allies, including Sweden, Britain, and the United States.¡±


    ¡°Of course, U.S. and British products are also. But if our precision technology is transferred, Kazakhstan¡¯s technological power will be multiplied.¡±


    ¡°This is not a one-sided decision by the royal family. It should be discussed with the government.¡±


    ¡°I hope to hear good news.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a great opportunity for us to get the advanced technology from Germany, but the gold export unit price is just not what we¡¯ve expected.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re offering defense industry technology.¡±


    ¡°New technology doesn¡¯t guarantee a sudden defense strength.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We need a factory to produce products based on that technology. Will it be possible?¡±

 Chapter 553 - Gold Exchange (2)

    <h4>Chapter 553: Gold Exchange (2)</h4>


    As the U.S. protectionist trade policy caused U.S. led world order, China picked Central Asia as a stopover for its One Belt One Road project to tap into Europe and the Southwest Asian market, but as Kazakhstan, which was a secret partner of China, turned into a constitutional monarchy after the revolution. China could not do anything without Kazakhstan¡¯s cooperation.


    For China, there was no other way but to persuade or force Kazakhstan to support its project, but it was not easy because of the strong air power and air defense system of the U.S. and Kazakhstan.


    For that reason, Youngho had been focusing on air power and air defense expansion after taking power. That was the only way to overwhelm China¡¯s conventional weapons and its 2 million troops.


    By the time there were voices ofints that Kazakhstan was focusing too much on airpower, it had a deal with South Korea to produce self-propelled guns and tanks locally in Kazakhstan, and now the Army was able to be armed with weapons that were produced in Kazakhstan.


    On top of that, Germany had proposed a technology partnership in the defense industry as a means to secure gold.


    Prime Minister Kasim and other rted ministers seemed to wee Germany¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°Your Highness. Germany is also increasing its gold holdings, so shouldn¡¯t we also do the same?¡±


    ¡°We consume about 20 tons of gold a year. And the weight of gold against the foreign exchange reserves is over 60 percent. If we can have a strong rtionship with Germany, giving away 40 tons a year is not an overwhelming amount to spend. Instead, you can rest assured that the gold produced by royal mines will be preserved.¡±


    Everyone seemed relieved that the royal family would keep its gold separately.


    This was because they believe that the royal family¡¯s gold was an asset to the country.


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we ask for precision machinery or electronics technology this time? We already have a technical partnership with Korea¡¯s defense industry.¡±


    ¡°However, it¡¯s a great opportunity to introduce superior weapons of Germany. There¡¯s no need to refuse it. I at least want to get some of the finished products.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you should get some, but if you turn to private sector cooperation, you¡¯ll get more out of it. That¡¯s what the German government has in mind when it mentioned about a private submarine enterprise. It¡¯s more beneficial for us to receive many technology transfers from the general industry instead of getting a few from the defense industry. It¡¯s also a great opportunity to develop Western Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying we should attract an assembly nt?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Starting with an assembly nt, we can naturally learn advanced technology.¡±


    China had also learned cutting-edge technology while serving as a factory of the advanced countries. The world was now almostpletely lost without Chinese products.


    ¡°First of all, we have to decide how much gold we¡¯re going to supply to Germany.¡±


    ¡°300 tons in five years is a little bit too much for us. Why don¡¯t you make a counterproposal to provide 400 tons in a period of ten years?¡±


    If the contract period was extended, Kazakhstan would be able to take advantage of Germany to the full extent. And if the production of gold increased dramatically, it could supply more gold to Germany.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Then let¡¯s send our government officials to finalize the gold deal.¡±


    ¡°And do you have any intention of receiving a loan from Germany to use it for Kurdish settlement funds?¡±


    ¡°I have rejected it, but I will ept it if Germany insists. If the officials go to Germany this time, they should also discuss that.¡±


    There was no reason to refuse loans since Germany was offering it on humanitarian grounds. It was a debt, but it would work as a safety device for Kazakhstan if a lot of foreign capital came in because no country wanted its debtor country to go wrong as a creditor.


    ***


    Around the time the German officials left the royal territory, Youngho heard that China was bent over to buy Uzbek gold mine. Uzbekistan was known as the country that had the world¡¯s best gold deposits.


    China had been producing 500 tons of gold a year, but because it also consumed a lot of gold, it¡¯s gold holdings were only about 1,700 tons. Some economists believed that China had 10,000 tons of gold holdings, but officially, it took the world¡¯s fifth ce in gold holdings.


    Since Youngho was concerned about China¡¯s movement, he discussed it with Eriksson.


    ¡°Eriksson, the G7 countries¡¯ movements are suspicious. They¡¯re all over the ce to secure gold.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we already have foreseen this and prepared in advance. We don¡¯t have much to worry about.¡±


    ¡°I know that, but China¡¯s drooling over Uzbekistan¡¯s gold. I¡¯m afraid Uzbekistan is going to sell a gold mine to China or something. We should do something about it, shouldn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°The Uzbeks should be aware of the circumstances of the world, but will they be swayed by the Chinese government?¡±


    It was questionable how long the Uzbek officials would be able to hold out against China¡¯s pork-barrel offers and bribes.


    It was already well-known that Central Asian countries had less integrity than Africa. Since the Soviet era, officials who had been rampant in bribery had cared nothing about national interests, but only about individual wealth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to regret itter, so I¡¯ll have to do something in advance.¡±


    ¡°Shall I go to Uzbekistan then?¡±


    ¡°By yourself, Eriksson?¡±


    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve heard what you said, I think it¡¯s better to give a word of warning to Uzbekistan. We need to share information as an ally.¡±


    ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you go there as a royal special envoy? Let¡¯s inform Uzbekistan why other countries are so busily seeking gold. If Uzbek officials don¡¯t listen to their friend¡¯s advice, I¡¯ll think of a stronger method to deliver the message.¡±


    Eriksson had never moved this directly. He must have felt something fishy, too.


    Youngho continued,


    ¡°In the worst case, I¡¯ll consider adding more troops to the Uzbek border.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness!¡±


    Eriksson was stunned by the word that he would even use force. Given Youngho¡¯s character, he was a man who could easily do so.


    ¡°Do you know how much money Uzbekistan owes China? China will threaten Uzbekistan to pay it back immediately. If necessary, we should also consider offering Uzbekistan a loan.


    But if it still doesn¡¯t listen, we¡¯ll have to do something about it.¡±


    Uzbekistan¡¯s gold mine must not be taken away by China no matter what.


    China would be furious if Kazakhstan pressured Uzbekistan, but that was something that Kazakhstan could do as the head country of Central Asia.


    Youngho intended to protect the Uzbek gold mine even if he had to drag Russia in it. If Russia wanted some gold, he was willing to give it since stability in Russia was directly linked to the stability of Kazakhstan.


    30 percent of Kazakhstan¡¯s poption was Russian, and if it became ufortable with Russia, Russian people in Kazakhstan would be shaken.


    Moreover, maintaining good terms with Russia was necessary in order to continue the Siberian project, the Arctic route, and the canal project.


    ***


    Eriksson immediately went to Uzbekistan after Youngho informed the Uzbek president that he would send a special envoy.


    It was only a two-hour flight from the royal territory to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, so his trip did not take long.


    His face was bright as he came to report about his trip to Youngho.


    ¡°Eriksson, you came back.¡±


    ¡°I had a cup of coffee on the royal jet and I arrived at Tashkent. I came here in a hurry because I didn¡¯t want to keep you waiting.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I could wait for another day. Since you¡¯re already here, why don¡¯t we have dinner together and talk?¡±


    ¡°My stomach isn¡¯t feeling well because I¡¯ve been nervous the whole time. How about a drink instead?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ve been nervous too.¡±


    Since Uzbekistan¡¯s fate was at stake on Eriksson¡¯s visit, Youngho had been nervous too.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m d that I hurried to visit there today. The Uzbek government was about to exchange memorandums of understanding with China soon.¡±


    ¡°What kind of offer did China make?¡±


    ¡°It offered ten billion dor worth of loans in addition to the purchase of the gold mine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a big offer. When you get that money, you¡¯ll be reduced to a Chinese puppet...¡±


    ¡°I think the Uzbek government wanted to ept it for the sake of national economic development. Fortunately, the officials decided to put it on hold after receiving your letter and listening to my exnation.¡±


    ¡°You mean they can change their mind depending on what we offer them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they said that they don¡¯t want to lean on China, but they can¡¯t afford to lose the opportunity to develop their national economy. So, I warned them a little bit.¡±


    ¡°You bluffed?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so surprised. How dare can I interfere in international affairs? I¡¯ve only hinted them about what you were thinking.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t say we are going to use force, did you?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... So you had no intention of using force at all?¡±


    Since the two were talking in a private setting, they were joking about using force, but using force was the veryst means when nothing would work and Uzbekistan still decided to deal with China.


    ¡°The Uzbek president and the economic officials know your character very well, as a humanitarian who decided to ept nearly a million Kurdish refugees.¡±


    ¡°Then do Uzbek people expect us to give them something for free as well?¡±


    ¡°I told them Your Highness has stepped up to help Uzbekistan, but if they continue to do business with China, they won¡¯t get any benefit from us.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to help Uzbekistan?¡±


    It was more of a sweet talk than a bluff. It meant that Kazakhstan would not overlook Uzbekistan¡¯s economic difficulties.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about. We need to ask to share the burden with advanced countries that fear China¡¯s advance. We should request them to contribute since we¡¯re trying to protect Uzbekistan from China.¡±


    ¡°Will they step up for Central Asia?¡±

 Chapter 554 - Gold Exchange (3)

    <h4>Chapter 554: Gold Exchange (3)</h4>


    Taking over Uzbekistan¡¯s gold mine was the fastest way to secure Uzbekistan.


    When Youngho expressed his intention to actively participate in Uzbek economic development, the Uzbek government responded that it would hand over the gold mine to the Kazakh royal family.


    While Kazakhstan was struggling with economic development, it was ridiculous that Kazakhstan would help Uzbekistan¡¯s economic growth, but Youngho had a solution to this. He nned to attract Western European powers who opposed China¡¯s attempt to take over the European market. They were also bent over to increase their gold holdings like Germany, so he would use gold produced from the Uzbek gold mine to attract European countries.


    If Kazakhstan promised to give them a certain amount of gold, no country would hesitate to invest in Uzbekistan.


    This was a win-win business that would bring the Uzbek economy to life and improve Kazakhstan¡¯s rtionship with European countries with gold produced in Uzbekistan.


    Uzbekistan, which was the country of the world¡¯s fifthrgest gold reserves, was producing about 70 tons of gold a year.


    The gold mine in Muruntau, thergest mine in the world, was rich enough to reach about 5,000 tons of gold deposits.


    What Youngho was after was the open gold mine that China wanted. Since it was an open mine, it could keep production going indefinitely with modern equipment. China had alreadypleted a thorough investigation on the mine before offering 4.5 billion dors to the Uzbek government, so itsmercial viability was tantamount to guaranteed. If there were not many gold deposits, why would China spend such arge sum on it?


    Looking at the map of the Uzbek gold mine, Youngho sipped on his vodka in a ss.


    Eriksson also followed Youngho and drank his ss, but soon he started coughing. He had forgotten that it was a strong vodka that he was drinking. He was too excited to remember that.


    ¡°Eriksson, don¡¯t you automatically want to drink when you look at this map?¡±


    ¡°You are right. I want to drink too. I guess I¡¯m just as crazy as you when ites to gold.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Not long ago, Youngho showed Eriksson gold bars, dors, and U.S. treasury bonds that were kept in the pce vault. It was because Youngho now had full confidence in Eriksson.


    Also, Eriksson should know exactly what the royal property was so that he could manage it effectively in ordance with Youngho¡¯s ns.


    Youngho had never told him about stealing slush funds from President Nazarbayev¡¯s family, but now he thought that he could open it as a legacy of the Serbian Kingdom.


    When he showed the vault, Eriksson almost fainted as there were more than 500 tons of gold. He was also shocked by the fact that about sixty tons of gold were piling up every year, plus more than two tons of gold a year in Baku¡¯s gold mine in Azerbaijan was being produced.


    ¡°Well, Uzbeks are very encouraged by your eptance of the Kurds. They believe that you are showingpassion regardless of nationality.¡±


    ¡°But I won¡¯t help a country that is well-fed and doing well.¡±


    ¡°Most of the Uzbeks are suffering from working asborers overseas. I¡¯m envious of the Kirghiz returning to their homnd because they can¡¯t afford to see more jobs and better off living as they be a federation of Zach.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think Uzbekistan should be our federal state, do you? They¡¯re too tough for us to handle.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just regr Central Asians who are no different than us except for hard-line Muslims.¡±


    ¡°Their sense of independence is exceptionally strong. They may be defeated, but they are the kind of people who will never bow their heads. And they¡¯ve been disadvantaged by Kazakhstan¡¯s nationalist policies in the past.¡±


    Until now, Uzbeks in Kazakhstan had been frequently penalized. Although the former president had sessfully revived the characteristics of a multi-ethnic nation, he did not show generosity toward ethnic groups of the neighboring nations in the country because Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs had plotted their own autonomous states before.


    Their reason for iming autonomy was not at all absurd. Most of them were separated from their homnd because of the wrong border drawn during their time in the Soviet era, so their im was reasonable.


    The new government readjusted the borderline, and if they still wanted to remain in Kazakhstan, the government allowed them to stay. This had given the Uzbek people a good image of the new Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Now times have changed, and they think the royal family is the center of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°So, they want me to help them whenever they reach out their hand for help?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s why the Uzbek government withheld the deal with China after receiving your letter. If we can¡¯t help Uzbeks on our own, we should borrow some power from our allies to help them. That¡¯s the only way Uzbeks could be incorporated into Kazakhstan in the future.¡±


    ¡°I can take Tajikistan, but Uzbekistan is not going to be easy.¡±


    Tajikistan was a country that was a little smaller than Kyrgyzstan, and it bordered China and Afghanistan. It was another barrier to China¡¯s advance, so Youngho had his eye on it even before then.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to do so, it doesn¡¯t matter as long as Uzbekistan will remain under our absolute influence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to subjugate it economically and take advantage of it. If we can live as strong allies, that¡¯ll be the best.¡±


    ¡°Uzbekistan is already under the Southern Kazakh economic bloc. Its economic interaction was so active that the border was meaningless. It¡¯s proof that Uzbeks trust us that much.¡±


    ¡°If what you¡¯re saying is right, how can they weigh us on the same lines as China?¡±


    ¡°They have to do so since their national interest is on the line. We are in the position to help Uzbekistan anyway, so why don¡¯t we use it to our own advantage? Helping Uzbekistan is helping Kazakhstan.¡±


    ***


    As Youngho stepped forward to help Uzbeks after Kurds, Western European countries also soon joined him to help out Uzbeks. Some countries stepped up because they were feeling threatened by China¡¯s advance, but many were also expecting to get some of Uzbekistan¡¯s gold.


    Germany was the first one that said it would provide loans to Uzbekistan. It wanted to actively get involved to get more gold. As a response to its decision, the Kazakh government sent arge delegation to Germany. It was a gesture of showing its intention to seek economic cooperation with the German government.


    As Kazakhstan jumped in on Syria¡¯s Kurdish problem and began closely consulting with European countries to prevent Uzbekistan from bing subjugated by China, the U.S. had no choice but to get involved in Central Asia¡¯s situation.


    The U.S. could not watch its influence be diminished in Central Asia. Despite Russia¡¯s check, it had been supporting Central Asia through military cooperation, but now as many European countries were involved, the U.S. position as the world police was being threatened.


    Michael of the US CIA came to see Youngho in Kazakhstan to discuss this.


    ¡°These days, the status of the United States has fallen to the ground due to the Kazakh royal family. You should¡¯ve let me first when you were going to get Europe involved.¡±


    ¡°The Uzbek gold mine was about to be turned over to China, so I had to put out the immediate fire first.¡±


    ¡°Since when have you been so close to Germany? I¡¯m quite upset.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s just the beginning. I was going to call you and discuss it.¡±


    ¡°Can I believe that?¡±


    ¡°Of course, which country can match the power of the United States? We are just contacting Germany because of our gold deal.¡±


    ¡°We knew China was eyeing Uzbek gold mine, but we are not in a position to put pressure on the Uzbek government, so we¡¯ve stepped back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re saying you were not holding back because of their fear of China? The U.S. didn¡¯t say a word when China was shaking Uzbekistan, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°What was Kazakhstan doing then? Don¡¯t you call yourselves the head country of Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°We were waiting for the right time, so we can catch China off guard.¡±


    ¡°Are you turning your back on U.S. by any chance? Did you make a deal with Putin behind my back? Did he promise you to look after Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve done plenty of deals like that with him. Which deal are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. China¡¯s recent movement is serious. The Chinese government thinks that Kazakhstan is holding back every move it makes.¡±


    ¡°We just acted to defend ourselves. We couldn¡¯t watch China take the gold mine from Uzbekistan.¡±


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t push it too hard. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s going to lead to armed conflict.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like the U.S. is not going to join when there¡¯s an armed conflict. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to ignore us.¡±


    Michael¡¯s face hardened as if Youngho pointed out his intention.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you don¡¯t help Kazakhstan. If there were any problems, China would have to deal with the whole of Central Asia. Moreover, it will lose its rtionship with all the Commonwealth of Independent States.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to prevent that from happening. Northeast Asia is also in danger, so we don¡¯t want any conflict in Central Asia. It¡¯s not like we can intervene either because we can¡¯t ignore our economic rtionship with China.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not saying you want me to make concessions, are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you to do it in moderation.¡±


    ¡°We just won an openpetition over an Uzbek gold mine against China. Resource development is a gunless war.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government won¡¯t openlyin because it still needs your help for its One Belt One Road, but it should be looking for any chance to pay back to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re trying to attract European countries. There¡¯s no reason for China to be wary of expanding investment and lending loans to Uzbekistan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to be involved, too. Our involvement will suppress China from making any dangerous move.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. It will also help the U.S. national interest.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already discussed it with the Uzbek government, so you should take it a little more easy on China. There¡¯s conflict everywhere, and we can¡¯t afford to look over them all.¡±


    This meant that if Kazakhstan and China were in a tense situation, the U.S. would be in trouble too.


    China was also disputing with India over the resort ind of Maldives in the Indian Ocean, causing tension in the surrounding waters.


    The U.S. was paying keen attention to the situation by deploying additional aircraft carriers to the U.S. 7th Fleet in case of a collision. When the tension reached Central Asia, it would be a huge burden to the United States.


    That was why Michael made a hurried visit to Kazakhstan to prevent it from happening.

 Chapter 555 - Gold Exchange (4)

    <h4>Chapter 555: Gold Exchange (4)</h4>


    The ownership of the gold mine of Uzbekistan was finally transferred to the Kazak royal family. Strictly speaking, the Uzbek government and the royal family each held a three to seven stake of the mine. The stake purchase was 2.1 billion dors. Since the Chinese government had offered 4.5 billion dors for it, there was some difficulty convincing the Uzbek government as it wanted to receive an amount of money that was close to what the Chinese government offered.


    However, because of the investment that Youngho brought from European countries and the United States, the Uzbek government did not insist to receive such a huge amount anymore. Moreover, having 30 percent of the mine stake could be more profitable for the Uzbek government in the future.


    When the ownership of the gold mine was transferred to the royal family, the geological survey team led by Doctor Park Young-sun immediately wanted to see why China offered such arge amount of money. Also, without knowing the number of gold deposits, Youngho could not offer gold to the countries that were providing loans to Uzbekistan.


    Whatever the annual production might be, the royal family would not sell 30 percent of its production but keep it in the royal family. At first, Youngho nned to pass all of the produced gold, but Eriksson convinced that he should hold at least 30 percent of the production.


    ¡°Your Highness, the 40 tons sold to Germany every year should also include the production of the Uzbek gold mine. You can¡¯t offer more even if Germany asks for separate gold.¡±


    ¡°One of the reasons Germany is offering loans to Uzbekistan is to buy more gold. How can we ignore that? The German government must be looking forward to it.¡±


    ¡°The reserves and production there should be kept secret. We don¡¯t have any reason to open it to the public. If you can be stern for a moment, soon, it¡¯ll go away. Germany is lucky to be able to buy 40 tons of gold every year, and that¡¯s enough. Would the German government insist and ruin its rtionship to a stable supplier to get a couple more tons of gold? I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°You seem to be crazy about gold much more than me, these days.¡±


    ¡°We also need to stock up on more gold. In the next few years, there will be a financial crisis that we¡¯ve never experienced before. We have to be prepared for that.¡±


    If Eriksson was making such a fuss, economists and governments of other countries must also know about it. Developing countries would not be able to prepare because they could not afford to buy gold, but Russia, China, and other developed countries were preemptively collecting gold for such a crisis.


    ¡°We have only resources to trust. I¡¯m afraid the new era ising in which resources will be weapons. In particr, if the key currency copses, gold may be a means of payment. That¡¯s why we need to develop the gold mine in Kyrgyzstan as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m scared to hear that. Are you saying that the gold we produce now alone is not enough for us?¡±


    ¡°The royal gold holdings are enough, but we need to increase the Central Bank¡¯s gold reserves further.¡±


    Kazakhstan had 260 tons of gold, and it was an overwhelming amount for its size of economy. However, if President Nazarbayev had not stolen gold bars, there would have more than 700 tons of gold.


    Those gold bars were now under the custody of the royal family. 700 tons was equivalent to Japan¡¯s gold holdings, which was the world¡¯s eighthrgest gold holder.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s gold holdings ranked 21st in the world with 260 tons of gold. Youngho was puzzled to hear that such an amount was not enough.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got strong gold reservespared to our foreign exchange reserves. Why do you say that it is not enough?¡±


    ¡°Over the next few years, our economy will grow three times more than what it is now. We should be prepared for that.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we reduce the amount of gold sold to Germany, then?¡±


    ¡°Exporting gold to Germany is also helpful for our country. Our gold trade gives us a chance to learn about advanced technology and culture in Germany. Furthermore, we can possibly make a currency swap with Germany. Germany would be willing to do so with us because there are only a few countries in the world with an annual production of nearly 200 tons of gold.¡±


    Even if it was not for Eriksson¡¯s suggestion, Youngho was going to explore the whole Kazakhstan and find hidden gold. Now there was apelling reason to do so as Eriksson said that there would be a global financial crisis. And Kyrgyz gold mine would be also developed gently so that it would not damage nature.


    ***


    April was still winter in the Kyrgyz-Chinese border area of 1,500 meters above sea level.


    Except for the sunny ces, it was snow and ice that made it seem difficult for soldiers to guard. On the other hand, the tactical armored vehicles of Turkey¡¯s Otokar, which moved its headquarters to Kazakhstan, were prevalent in the area that soldiers¡¯ mobility was dramatically enhanced.


    The border line with China was more than 2,400 kilometers. Except for the 1,100 kilometers of the Tian Shan Mountains section, where it did not need to be guarded, 1,300 kilometers of the borderline should be guarded. Despite that fact, only 12 regiments under the province¡¯s four brigades were deployed and soldiers were located sparsely that it was hard to spot one at the border. This was because the area that bordered China was too long.


    Before Kazakhstan became a constitutional monarchy, only five regiments stood on the border. Back then, Kazakhstan had a more friendly rtionship with China.


    Since Youngho took control of Kazakhstan, the border troops at the Russian Border and Kyrgyz border were moved to China¡¯s border areas, creating a slightly tight border.


    The Russian border area had no regr army as they were reced withbat police. After that, Russia also reced their border soldiers withbat police as well.


    It was because it was funny that the military would be deployed against a country that was not an enemy. Besides, whether Kazakhstan¡¯s rtionship with Russia was good or not, there was no way to protect Kazakhstan with its long, 6,800-kilometer border against Russia, so Youngho sent 50,000 troubled police officers to the Russian border.


    The only armed means to target Russia were three air defenseworks introduced by Sweden in the royal territory. In other words, Kazakhstan¡¯s gesture was a promise that it would not provoke Russia.


    Youngho visited the headquarters of the four brigades at the Kyrgyz-Chinese border region and was now about to visit thest regiment. The unit was located at the far end of the northeast of Kazakhstan, and the area bordered Russia, Mongolia, and China in parts.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is thest unit.¡±


    ¡°It must be hard to keep a close eye on this ce because it¡¯s an opennd.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the other way around. It¡¯s very easy to work because they¡¯re on the lookout with Russian forces.¡±


    ¡°You mean the Russians are guarding our territory?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a battle of pride with the Chinese military.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°This is where there was a border conflict with China during the Soviet era. The Chinese army was defeated at that time. So the Chinese troops here are at their best and heavily armed. During the period of independence, our forces were so terrible that we kept the Russian army stationed here, and that tradition still continues in this ce.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese side doesn¡¯t make a problem out of it?¡±


    ¡°Including Mongolia, it¡¯s where four countries are facing each other. Russia and Kazakhstan are Commonwealth of Independent States, so there¡¯s nothing strange about joint security. Also, since China deployed a lot of troops to make up for its past shame, it can¡¯t say anything about it.¡±


    There was a strange area in the front line of the northern part of Kazakhstan. It was a ce where one could feel a heavy tension that it would not be strange if one heard a gunfire at any moment.


    Themander of the Russian military¡¯s regiment came to greet Youngho. When Youngho spoke in sound Russian, he excitedly exined the troop deployment situation.


    It was a little weird that the Russianmander had stepped forward to greet Youngho despite the Kazakh unitmander, but it was a natural move for themander because Russia and Kazakhstan were maintaining an amicable rtionship now.


    This scene most definitely would be seen by the Chinese troops, and it would be reported immediately to the military headquarters in Xinjiang Uyghur. The Russian militarymander was probably aiming for this.


    Rather than provoking the Chinese military, it was more like showing off Russia¡¯s rtions with Kazakhstan.


    Youngho wondered how China would interpret the fact that the Duke of Kazakhstan was briefed by a Russianmander at the border during this time of peace.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a breach of agreement for Chinese troops to be so close?¡±


    ¡°So the Russians are forward-deployed as well.¡±


    ¡°Since when did the Chinese armed forces were deployed this close?¡±


    ¡°The agreement has not been kept since the very beginning. It is a ce where the pride battle between China and Russia was so intense that they don¡¯t budge an inch.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t deploy our border troops forward because Russia and China had done so. We should observe the agreement for our justification. You should pay close attention, Commander.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    The brigadier general responded with a loud voice. He was relieved that he did not listen to themander of the Russian military.


    ¡°Have you had any shes with each other?¡±


    ¡°There have been asional physical shes between China and Russia, but we haven¡¯t had any shes yet.¡±


    If it did, a report would have been posted immediately. There was no way it could have been hushed. Had Youngho not traveled around the border area this time, he would not have known that such a ce existed.


    He wondered if the Russian government in Moscow knew about this. This was a ce where a minor sh could lead to big battles.


    This was the right ce if China decided to pay back Kazakhstan for stopping its purchase of the Uzbek gold mine. If the road to Europe was also blocked, it would use this ce as an opportunity to provoke pressure on Kazakhstan.


    Youngho had been careless, but his visit to this ce alerted him. He was certain that something could happen here, the northeast front.


    He thought that he should persuade Russia to retreat to a certain distance since this was an important time when Kazakhstan could not be involved in any dispute. Until all Kurds moved and settled down, the country should be in a stable state.

 Chapter 556 - Kazakhstan’s Rearmament (1)

    <h4>Chapter 556: Kazakhstan¡¯s Rearmament (1)</h4>


    Kazakhstan was a leader of Central Asia and had the strongest military force. This was due to Russia¡¯s unrestricted provision of surplus military supplies.


    Russia did so because it was the only country that could effectively stop China.


    In particr, the deployment of Russia¡¯s five S-300 surface-to-air missiles to the Kazakh-Chinese border was Nazarbayev¡¯s great work, and even Youngho was deeply grateful. The former president was aware that the border was too long for the 30,000-troops to cover. All Kazakh men were basically subject to the conscription system on the condition of a one-year military service, but it was not strictly carried out as in Korea.


    Children, students, and office workers might not go to serve in the military as long as they wanted, and society did not take issue with it. It was perceived that the military was a ce where young people who had nothing to do went. However, young people were continuously joining the army because there was a benefit for veterans when applying to be a police officer and a firefighter.


    Since the adoption of the constitutional monarchy, the military service period of all targeted conscripts were changed to two years. Except for special reasons for an exception, if people did not serve in the military in Kazakhstan, they were treated as physically defective, so it was socially undesirable.


    The Kazakh military was founded in 1992 and was divided into the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense Force. In the beginning, there were 30,000 troops, 15,000 air force, 3,000 navy, and 3,000 air defense forces. Since its change into a constitutional monarchy, the military had strengthened its mandatory military service and now there were 70,000 troops, 25,000 air force, and 8,000 navy.


    Army equipment included 300 T-72/B tanks, 450 self-propelled guns, and 1,400 towable field guns, while 300 Russian-made and U.S. multiple rocketunchers were deployed in front.


    There were about 500 Russian-made BMP-2s, 400 Turkish Otokar tactical light armored vehicles, and 300 other armored vehicles. Moreover, there were 17 separate air defense units, 14 battalions in the Chinese border area and three in the royal territory.


    Due to the strong air defensework, it was almost impossible for the Chinese Air Force to cross the border of Kazakhstan.


    The Air Force had some 80 Mikoyan fighters, 57 Sukhoi fighters, 45 Swedish Gripen fighters, 30 of America¡¯s newest F-35 fighters, 120 attack helicopters, and transport nes.


    The Navy had five Yoon Youngha-ss missile ships and 21 missile ships, which were modified U.S. coast patrol boats, and 38 small vessels in 300 and 500-ton ss. With such power, Kazakhstan was the strongest in the Caspian Sea.


    In fact, Kazakhstan was the strongest in Central Asia, but this was not enough to handle China¡¯s military might.


    If the Gripen fighter jets and tactical armored vehicles would continue to pour out of the assembly nts in the royal territory, and Leopard tanks from Germany and Korea¡¯s K2 tanks were produced in Kazakhstan in the near future, conventional weapons alone would be able to stop China.


    It wouldn¡¯t be a big deal if China came at its full force. Youngho was not too afraid because he had a hidden card.


    It was that the royal territory had prepared conditions for making tactical nuclear weapons at any time. The nuclear physicists and engineers at the royal territory were confident of making any number of nuclear warheads within a month if two nuclear power nts were in operation and nuclear waste disposal facilities were built.


    And despite the fact that there were no nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan, other countries assumed that the nuclear missiles made during the Soviet era would be hidden there somewhere, so even if Kazakhstan were to develop them, it would not be so strange. Just as Israel was unofficially recognized as a nuclear power, Kazakhstan was being ssified as an unofficial nuclear power.


    Even Eriksson was wondering if nuclear weapons existed in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Highness. Does our country have nuclear weapons, too?¡±


    ¡°There is and there is not.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°There might be Soviet-era nuclear weapons lying dormant somewhere, and if we like, we can arm ourselves with nuclear weapons at any time.¡±


    ¡°So the rumor was true.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the rumor?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that we have a nuclear weapon that we can use immediately. We even got a Kazakh nuclear deal request at ourpany.¡±


    ¡°Then, has the Information Agency traded nuclear weapons so far?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. It¡¯s an organization that¡¯s involved in anything, but we never got ourselves involved in nuclear deals.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t found a Soviet-era nuclear weapon yet, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s one.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do any nuclear experiment yet.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already seeded in hundreds of nuclear tests.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was not done physically, but it was also a sessful experiment when it was done withputers hundreds of times in theboratory.


    ***


    There was no guarantee that the standoff between Russian and Chinese troops on the northeastern border of Kazakhstan would remain calm forever, and it was not something to be left alone if there were frequent shes that provoked each other. The fight for pride between the two countries would lead to a major battle, and Kazakhstan would be affected by it.


    In Kazakhstan¡¯s territory, the Kazakh military should be in charge of border security, not the Russian Army.


    So, Youngho dispatched the defense minister to Moscow to discuss this issue with the Russian government. The migration of Uyghur refugees was going smoothly, and if a conflict urred at the border, it could affect the Uyghur refugees¡¯ migration. Either Russia stepped aside or withdrewpletely from the border. If Russia would back down a certain distance to respect the border agreement, Youngho would not ask for aplete withdrawal.


    When Kazakhstan asked Moscow to move the Russian troops on the border, Russia epted the request without resistance.


    Russia had been only holding out because of its pride, but now that the Kazakh government made a request, there was finally a good reason to step back.


    The Defense Minister andmander of the Royal Guards, Kabak, who had been to Moscow, reported the results of their diplomatic trip.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite unexpected for Russia to back down without a say.¡±


    ¡°The Russian military seems to have been under a lot of pressure, too. They seemed to be d to hear our request, but they want to keep their rear air defense unit.¡±


    ¡°Is there an air defense unit?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is. Most of our air defense units are in the south-central part of the country, so the Russian military has two separate air defense units stationed there.¡±


    ¡°It must have cost a lot of money. Wouldn¡¯t it be better if we operated our own air defense unit?¡±


    ¡°The Russian military¡¯s pride was hurt by Kazakhstan¡¯s recent deployment of an air defense artillery battery that we brought in from the U.S. They said that they¡¯re going to deploy a new surface-to-air missile that¡¯s no below than the U.S. air defense system.¡±


    Even when Kazakhstan and Russia had an armed dispute along the border right before President Nazarbayev stepped down from power, the Russian Army did not pull out its force from the northeastern border. This meant that this border was also an important ce for Russia. Russia¡¯s waist would be pierced if the defense of the border fell.


    ¡°What if we take over the air defense unit there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an air defense unit to defend Russia¡¯s home country, so they won¡¯t give in. It would be better to provide some of the cost of stationing and ask them to deploy a new ground-to-air missile.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine now because we¡¯re on good terms, but if our rtions with Russia get worse, we¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±


    ¡°If that happens, wouldn¡¯t it be okay to force a freeze on the facility since it¡¯s in our territory?¡±


    Since the air defense units were usually located in the rear, there were not many guards, so the facilities could be easily overpowered by Kazakhstan if it wanted to. The Defense Minister was pointing this out.


    Even if Russia became a hostile country in the future, the air defense facilities should be left alone because it protected Kazakhstan¡¯s airspace now.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s talk to the Army about the air defense unit to process what we just discussed.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll also watch the Chinese military¡¯s movement carefully. If the Chinese Army continues to vite the agreement even though the Russian forces are stepping down, it would be a serious issue.¡±


    ¡°If Chinese troops continue to march close to the border, ce our forces where the Russian Army used to guard. Also, tell them to consider deploying more reservists in the border area. We only have about one-third the size of the Chinese army there. It¡¯s a shame.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let the Army Staff know about your concern.¡±


    China had an army air force of 100,000 in Uyghur alone, which was about three times the size of the Kazakh troops at the border which was 30,000. Although their armed strength was weaker than the Army in the Beijing area, their strength could not be ignored as they went through modernization.


    That was why Youngho was trying to deploy the troops scattered all over the country to the Chinese border. In the case of the Army, about 40,000 more troops were added than before.


    And since most of the money spent on air power and air defense was paid by the royal family, the defense budget could easily cover the deployment of the reservists at the border.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d like you to increase the strength of the Royal Guards. I¡¯d like you to reconsider.¡±


    They were called the Royal Guards because of its symbolism as a royal direct force, but it only had two regiments. Also, its armament was insignificant, having only some tactical armored vehicles. It was not as good as a battalion¡¯s armament at the border.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it only cause a conflict? The Royal Guards in the capital city will not be put into the front line, anyway.¡±


    ¡°We need at least one artillery battalion and one attack helicopterpany to save ourselves as the Royal Guards. In the event of a sudden change, the use of the Royal Guards will give a huge impact on the soldiers¡¯ morale.¡±


    ¡°Really? The soldiers seem to have great confidence in the Royal Guards.¡±


    ¡°They think it¡¯s the royal power.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this opportunity to realign your unit to the brigade level. And let¡¯s establish a mechanized battalion and attack helicopter battalion. The cost of the armament of the Royal Guards will be paid fully by the royal family. I¡¯m sure the National Assembly won¡¯t take issue with it, right?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we can be fully armed with our defense budget. Why would you pay for it again?¡±


    ¡°The defense budget is made from the tax paid by the people. We should try to save every penny if we could. Also, it¡¯s not arge sum. I can do this much for Kazakhstan.¡±

 Chapter 557 - Kazakhstan’s Rearmament (2)

    <h4>Chapter 557: Kazakhstan¡¯s Rearmament (2)</h4>


    It was true that Youngho yed a huge role in developing Kazakhstan¡¯s defense capabilities, but the efforts of the former president Nazarbayev could not be ignored.


    Even though Kazakhstan was an independent country, he voluntarily subjugated the country as a Russian satellite, so it could be armed with Russian weapons.


    Unlike other Central Asian countries, President Nazarbayev had achieved a bnced economic development of Kazakhstan while he was in power for nearly 30 years. Because he did not take his illegally umted wealth abroad, it couldnd in Youngho¡¯s hands. It was fortunate in a way since with his slush fund, Youngho could strengthen Kazakhstan¡¯s force in a short period of time.


    After Commander Kabak¡¯s suggestion, he immediately began building attack helicopter battalion, mechanized warfare battalion, and mobile air defense battalion to arm the Royal Guards.


    ¡°The Royal Guards are flying with new armament, but the Royal Bodyguards only has two transport nes and three attack helicopters. What do you want us to do with this kind of power?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t light-armored vehicle count as a mechanized unit?¡±


    When it was rumored that the Royal Guards were arming at the level of a brigade, Cho Chul-hwan, themander of the Royal Bodyguards, got jealous.


    Otokar¡¯s Cobra 2 light-armored vehicle was a tactical armored vehicle capable of operating anti-tank and surface-to-air missiles such as 12.7-millimeter machine guns, 20-millimeter machine guns, TOW, or Spike. There were more than 80 light-armored vehicles in the royal territory.


    ¡°Light-armored vehicles just increase mobility, but we can¡¯t call it a heavy machine. Don¡¯t you think you think we need at least an assault helicopter battalion to call ourselves the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°Why do you skip the Gripe fighter squadron?¡±


    ¡°That belongs to the Air Force crew, not a member of the Royal Bodyguards. And the West is so vulnerable to the enemy. We never know how long our good rtions with Russia willst.¡±


    Even though Russia was categorized as a virtual enemy, there was only a little defense against it because most of the forces of Kazakhstan were deployed at the Chinese border.


    Only about 50,000bat police were deployed in the border area only for formality, but all their armament was tanks and armored vehicles. It was inevitable since the border with Russia stretched more than 6,800 kilometers long. It was impossible to cover the border even if there were 200,000 troops. It would be a great crisis if Russia turned its back on Kazakhstan when Kazakhstan¡¯s majority of forces were deployed at the Chinese border.


    ¡°Can you stop Russia just by introducing a squadron of attack helicopters? Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll maintain good rtions with Russia no matter what.¡±


    ¡°I wish things would go the way we want them to, but let¡¯s be prepared for any situation in advance.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter when we have the U.S. Air Force stationed in Kyrgyzstan?¡±


    ¡°Will the U.S. take an active part if there¡¯s a dispute here? It¡¯s not going to be easy when the U.S. national interests are at stake. We have military exchanges, but the U.S. Air Force in Kyrgyzstan is not ountable.¡±


    After hearing Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s story, Youngho realized that he had been thinking toocently.


    There were three air defense battalions in the royal territory, but it was nothingpared to Russia¡¯s armed forces.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re making me nervous for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Wait and see. If Jong-iles back from Turkey, he¡¯ll give you more trouble about it than I am.¡±


    Youngho intended to build one or two more armed divisions when all the Kurds came in, but for Kurds to form their own separate forces, it was only possible after they had fully settled down in Kazakhstan.


    He would have to wait a few more years for the time toe, and it would be a problem to leave the Russian border empty for the meantime.


    ¡°If you have a way to re-arm ourselves without provoking Russia, tell me.¡±


    ¡°You requested Russians on the northeast front to step down to the side, right? If Russia is wary about China to that extent, wouldn¡¯t it wee our armament? The reason Russia has only been watching us arm ourselves so far is because it trusts us.¡±


    Although Kazakhstan had been arming itself, Russia had not even sniffed at it.


    Russia did not see it as an armed force aimed at it. And of course, Kazakhstan¡¯s force was no match to Russia¡¯s force.


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s the point of introducing attack helicopters?¡±


    ¡°The Russian border and the Chinese border are mostly mountainous, so helicopters are more effective than fighter jets. The day before yesterday, the Defense Minister told me that it would maximize the strength of the border if we introduced a few attack helicopters.¡±


    Hearing that the Royal Guards would be getting attack helicopter squadron, he must have envied it too. Since attack helicopters were too expensive to buy with the government defense budget, he told Cho Chul-hwan what was on his mind in hope that Youngho would pay for the helicopters since he knew that Cho Chul-hwan would talk to Youngho.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if there is a proper attack helicopter in Europe.¡±


    ¡°How about the American Apache helicopters?¡±


    ¡°Boeing has been criticized to have sold them at excessive prices.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s expensive, but it¡¯s hard to find a helicopter with that much performance. The rumor that a single helicopter destroyed a brigade came out of nowhere. That helicopter is great in night operations and is specialized in ultra-low flying and mountain warfare.¡±


    It seemed Chul-hwan had examined each country¡¯s helicopters in advance. It sounded quite tempting. Although Italy¡¯s Mangusta helicopters were produced in the royal territory, it was uncertain when they would be deployed as they were only in the early stages of production.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already figured it out. So, how much it is for one?¡±


    ¡°If we negotiate well, we¡¯ll be able to get it for about 45 million dors. We could ask for Chief Michael¡¯s help.¡±


    ***


    -What made the Duke of Kazakhstan call me?


    Michael¡¯s voice was still sour when he answered the phone. He probably was still feeling sorry about the Uzbek gold mine.


    Youngho responded to him innocently,


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your voice? Would you like me to send you a royal doctor?¡±


    -Are you kidding me? Because of the Duke of Kazakhstan, I might have to step down from the CIA¡¯s Director position. We¡¯re providing you with loans, but what does the U.S. get?


    ¡°What do you mean that you¡¯re not getting anything? You¡¯re going to maintain a strong rtionship with Kazakhstan. If you need any resource from Kazakhstan, take it any time.¡±


    -Oh, you say it like you¡¯re giving it away for free.


    ¡°Germany also promised to offer a huge amount of loan, but it can¡¯t take many resources, either.¡±


    -You think I don¡¯t know the details of your agreement with Germany?


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything if you ask, so don¡¯t give me a random shot. It¡¯s not like you.¡±


    When Youngho hit the nail right on the head, Michael just made a groaning sound. He was going to shake Youngho by taking the initiative, but when Youngho said that he would tell all of the negotiations between Germany and Kazakhstan, he had nothing to say.


    ¡°I¡¯ve prepared a present to save your face, Chief. Would you like to hear it?¡±


    -I¡¯m sure it¡¯s another arms purchase.


    ¡°There is a rumor that the U.S. president is forcibly selling weapons, but you don¡¯t like to hear about it? Shall I turn to Europe instead?¡±


    -Who¡¯s selling them forcibly? We¡¯re just helping our allies arm themselves. What kind of weapon is it that you¡¯re making such a fuss?


    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy an Apache helicopter from Boeing, can you please connect me to thepany?¡±


    -How can the government interfere in private business dealings?


    ¡°Can anyone buy an Apache helicopter?¡±


    Although arms products were produced by a privatepany, selling tactical weapons should be approved by the government, especially when dozens of weapons were being traded.


    -I¡¯m saying there¡¯ll be no problem when Kazakhstan¡¯s purchasing them.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to buy it in arge quantity. We have to bring them in prior to other countries again since we¡¯re in a hurry. That¡¯s why I need your help.¡±


    -Do you know how much an Apache helicopter costs? It¡¯s too expensive for our government to buy. How many of them do you want to buy?


    ¡°We¡¯re nning to build five helicopter battalions.¡±


    When Youngho was done, Michael was quiet for a while.


    The quantity was much higher than he had expected.


    Attack helicopter battalions usually consisted of 12 to 24 units depending on its performance. In the case of Apache helicopters, which were strong arms, 12 units could form a battalion. Preparing a squadron of fivebat helicopters meant purchasing 60 helicopters.


    It was a huge amount equivalent to 2.7 billion dors in sales alone.


    -Are you going to spend all of your defense budgets just to buy Apache helicopters?


    ¡°That¡¯s the only way I¡¯ll sleep with my legs stretched out. I¡¯d like to ask the U.S. government to station an Apache helicopter squadron at the Kyrgyzstan¡¯s Air Force base, but I can¡¯t possibly ask that.¡±


    -You know we can¡¯t do that because it will provoke China.


    ¡°If it¡¯s difficult, there¡¯s no choice for us but to arm ourselves. I¡¯d like to adjust the price a little bit if it¡¯s possible...¡±


    Youngho did not cling to ask for a discount because the U.S. government should tap the calctor and consult with Boeing if Youngho slightly hinted at his intention.


    It was also good news for the U.S. as it would effectively prevent Russia and China if Kazakhstan¡¯s military was reinforced. And an order for 60 helicopters was a mouth-watering contract for the U.S. government, and a little price adjustment was a natural step to avoid losing the deal to Europe.


    -The orders are backed up and it¡¯ll take years for you to get the quantity you desire. So, who would like to cut the price?


    ¡°What if we put it together locally?¡±


    -You want a technical partnership? You think Boeing¡¯s going to let you in?


    ¡°Even if we could get the technology for free, it can¡¯t be handled by Kazakhstan¡¯s technology level. We¡¯re just trying to assemble and produce the helicopters here because you said thepany¡¯s behind on orders. We¡¯ll be behind schedule.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s intention was to learn assembly technology.


    The royal territory already had Ko? Holding¡¯s helicopter assembly nt in operation, so if Apache helicopter¡¯s advanced assembling technology was brought in, it would raise the assembly nt¡¯s capacity.


    -The assembly nt should be a good talker. I¡¯ll be able to ask for an adjustment to the selling price.


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to deploy one battalion on a trial basis. Would you help me with that?¡±


    -It¡¯s not a difficult request. I¡¯ll see what I can do.


    ¡°Can I hear the answer right away?¡±


    -I¡¯ll let you know within a week. Can you tell me the payment terms? If you ask me to pay with resources, I might refuse.


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay you all in cash.¡±


    -Youined about not having any money, but I guess you¡¯ve got slush funds.


    ¡°The former president had a U.S. treasury bond. Thanks to him, it¡¯s been handy for me.¡±


    -I see. The former president left without taking any slush funds.


    ¡°He had been trying to build up the nation¡¯s defense capabilities while he was in power, so he must have cared for Kazakhstan.¡±


    -Did you happen to find any gold?


    ¡°Hahaha... I have nothing more to say.¡±

 Chapter 558 - Kazakhstan’s Rearmamant (3)

    <h4>Chapter 558: Kazakhstan¡¯s Rearmamant (3)</h4>


    Michael, the U.S. Intelligence Chief, was quick to seal the Apache helicopter deal with Boeing for Youngho.


    Unfortunately, building a local assembly nt was not epted. Instead, Boeing promised to deploy Apache helicopters early and build a maintenance depot, so it was not a huge disappointment.


    When the U.S. government approved the sale of its tactical weapons, its national interests were directly rted, so there was no case in which it was decided overnight. However, the U.S. did not want to miss a big deal to sell as many as sixty expensive helicopters. Also, this showed how important the location of Kazakhstan was in terms of geopolitics.


    As evidence, an Apache helicopter was being unloaded at the royal port. On top of that, Boeing sent flying instructors and maintenance technicians.


    Patting the helicopter¡¯s body, Park Jong-il continuously eximed,


    ¡°Man, it¡¯s good to have money. Look at this gorgeous body. The armor¡¯s great too. It¡¯ll be fine even if it was shot by a machine gun.¡±


    ¡°The armor is supposed to withstand a 20-millimeter bullet although it will detect the enemy¡¯s machine gun even before it¡¯s fired.¡±


    ¡°This guy¡¯s like an Aegis in the air. You¡¯ve brought a real thing here.¡±


    ¡°The Defense Minister was bent over to get this.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan smirked to hear Youngho and Jong-il¡¯s conversation.


    ¡°Do you like it?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? This will defeat even a decent fighter. If this hides in a valley or around the cliff and fired a missile, a fighter will be helpless.¡±


    ¡°By the way, since when did you guys know about the Apache helicopters so well?¡±


    ¡°This ismon sense. Did you forget that I and Chul-hwan are still serving in the field, Mr. Duke?¡±


    If the intelligence chief or themander of the Royal Bodyguards did not know about the weapons of allies or enemies, it would be a problem. They should know about any new weapon.


    Youngho was relieved that his friends were feeling a sense of pride to be in the field. On the other hand, he was grateful that they did notin even though they were extremely busy as the heads of two defense divisions.


    ¡°You¡¯ve had a hard time outside the country for a month, but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d have to go to America again. We need to finalize our contract with Boeing and stop by the U.S. Department of State and the Intelligence Service.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll go. But that Chief Michael will be making a lot of orders...¡±


    ¡°If he needs cooperation at the intelligence service level, we should provide it. But please shush about President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush fund.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Michael wouldn¡¯t budge when I nagged that I don¡¯t have money, so I said I¡¯ll pay it with cash. I said I had some U.S. treasury bonds from the former president in my custody, and he asked me if Nazarbayev had any gold stored.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I won¡¯t say a thing.¡±


    ***


    After Park Jong-il signed a charter boat contract with Greek shippingpanies, Kurdish migrants began pouring in many numbers.


    There were 24 car ferries that left the port of Seleucia in the Turkish city of Antakya, so nearly 10,000 people could be transported once. The charter ships were contracted under the condition where it would sail once a week, so 40,000 Kurds would be transferred in a month.


    It was breathtaking if 10,000 Kurds arrived at the royal territory a week, but Youngho and the Kazakh government were greatly excited to receive the huge number of refugees since there would be no other chance to have an explosive increase in poption unless otherwise. Since the royal territory was prepared to receive up to 60,000 to 70,000 refugees for now, there was nothing to worry about.


    When the refugees arrived, they took a three-day break from the designated area, and then they were immediately sent to work. This system was adopted so that the migrants would adapt to the new environment easier. As they made money for their hard work, they dly took jobs.


    Due to the attention of the world on the Exodus of the Syrian Kurds, there were many foreign journalists in the royal territory now.


    The reporters were most interested in whether the refugees were being treated properly by the Kazakh royal family. Naturally, Jelyan¡¯s move was covered by the media. People wondered how Jelyan was epted by the refugees and what she thought of her fellow countrymen. Since young Kazakh prince and princesses were often seen doing volunteer work, this was a great issue for journalists.


    After school, the children, led by Jelyan, had been doing volunteer work in the refugee camp, and their poprity was so high.


    Although the Kurds were aware of the fact that they were epted unconditionally, they were still insecure about living in the newnd. But, seeing the princess and the prince working hard for them gave them a new hope. Such reassurance soon became the impetus to bring refugees together. They were actively changing from their usual stance of relying on relief supplies to finding work on their own.


    ¡°This looks good. I thought the residents of the royal territory would find the new refugees annoying and cumbersome, but they don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve all experienced it before as immigrants. There¡¯s a feeling of brotherhood.¡±


    After the Serbs migrated in the beginning, it was not easy for Koryoins to settle down in the Arirang State. Of course, there were some conflicts, but they were easily assimted after admitting that they were in a simr position. Without such process, the residents would not have understood the Kurdish refugees¡¯ hearts.


    ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯ve been through a lot, too, Commissioner. Now I think the title of mayor would be more appropriate than the title ofmissioner.¡±


    ¡°What kind of mayor would I be when I don¡¯t have the ability to do it? I¡¯ll be contented to be here with you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re already doing a mayor¡¯s job. Nothing will change except that you¡¯ll be leading more people, so just take the job. You need the experience of leading a bigger group to be a governor and even the prime minister.¡±


    Kim Chun was stunned when Youngho mentioned about the prime minister.


    ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re not trying to carry out what you said like a joke before, are you? I¡¯d rather move to another country if you¡¯re going to make me a governor. There are plenty of smarter people to take that role.¡±


    ¡°They say office changes manners. What are you worried about when you¡¯ll be receiving aids and supports from smart subordinates?¡±


    Youngho had a strong belief that Kim Chun would lead the Kurds well.


    ¡°I think the title of themissioner should also be given to the Kurds. It¡¯s time for them to create their ownmittee.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too early? I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯re not prepared enough to do so.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be too difficult for them if the administration of the royal state will help. It won¡¯t be an independent administrative organization, but the Kurdishmittee will just y a role to collect opinions from residents and fix small civil issues.¡±


    Youngho nned to have the Kurdishmittee as an affiliate of the administrative office and themittee members as council members as representatives so that all opinions of the residents would be delivered through their representatives.


    The Syrian Kurds were those who had not lived in a normal society due to the continued civil war and the war against the IS. Even when there was no war, the Kurdistan Regional Government did not receive any help from the central government. What kind of normal human life could they have when they had to carry guns if they had strength?


    ¡°They¡¯re so ignorant they have to be taught everything from one to ten. It¡¯s not because they¡¯re unsophisticated. It¡¯s because they¡¯ve never had a normal life like this before.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. Fortunately, it¡¯s not a problem because they firmly believe that this is where they will live for generations. Above all things, Princess Jelyan¡¯s presence encourages them. They will get through any difficulties as long as the princess is with them.¡±


    ***


    There was an incident that showed how the Kurdish immigrants perceived Princess Jelyan.


    Young Kurdish men had formed an escort group for Jelyan even though she was already guarded by the descendants of the Serbian knights.


    No one ordered them to do so, but they voluntarily waited for her to show up and followed her like a shadow whenever she left the pce. What was funny was that they even prepared a Kurdish uniform to stand out as Jelyan¡¯s escort. It showed their will to protect Princess Jelyan no matter what.


    Since Youngho did not want to ignore their voluntary effort, he ordered the Serbian knights to train the Kurdish escort group.


    Then, Kurdish young men who were not even in the escort group began to snoop to the Royal Bodyguards. They believed that they could be like the knights who protected the royal family.


    Cho Chul-hwan, themander of the Royal Bodyguards, was excited by the unexpected reaction of the Kurdish young men. He had not been able to ask to form the Kurdish special force since it was too premature, but the Kurds were willing to do anything for the royal family.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because the Kurds have something to be loyal to, but what if they all wanted to be soldiers?¡±


    ¡°What are you worried about? We can ept them all. Considering the length of our borders, it won¡¯t be enough even if hundreds of thousands of soldiers join the army.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a problem even if the poption of military personnel is too high. How are we going to pay for their wages? You think money just falls from the sky?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a few hundred thousand more people. We can handle that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you mean the royal family is going to pay for them, not the Kazakh government.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re the shield for Europe. Why do we spend our precious money when we¡¯re doing it for the countries of Europe? We¡¯ll have them share the defense.¡±


    ¡°Would they do that for us? We¡¯ll have to do it with our own power.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make the U.S. pay since I¡¯ll be visiting there this time.¡±


    ¡°Man, if that¡¯s as easy as it sounds, I will say that too.¡±


    Listening to the conversation between Jong-il and Chul-hwan, Youngho also agreed with Jong-il.


    In a way, Kazakhstan was protecting Europe from China¡¯s advance. European countries were offering loans to prevent Uzbekistan from being subjugated to China¡¯s economic sphere, but it was only a means to get gold from Uzbekistan.


    If he asked European countries to contribute to the rearmament of Kazakhstan, it would not be an absurd request. Rather than asking to arm Kazakhstan, he would ask European countries to help to arm the Kurds, which would be more agreeable.


    In fact, helping the Kurds to get armed would be helping Kazakhstan, so that it could keep China in check, although arming Kurds would be bad news for Turkey.

 Chapter 559 - Spring of the Royal Territory (1)

    <h4>Chapter 559: Spring of the Royal Territory (1)</h4>


    Now, the Kurdish young people who volunteered to be the Royal Bodyguards were motivated, but they were not trained at all. Instructors were struggling because they did not understand military terms.


    Even though they were from the militia, they only used personal equipment and had never seen heavy equipment. They had only used conventional weapons as they focused on guerri warfare only. Theycked basic military knowledge that it was difficult to teach them.


    No matter how great a weapon was, it was only a scrapped metal to a soldier who could not operate it.


    Although the militiamen who had plenty of battle experience were learning faster, other Kurdish young people who only learned how to read needed basic education.


    Cho Chul-hwan shook his head, saying that the Royal Bodyguards had be a school, not a military training institution.


    ¡°When do you think they¡¯ll be a proper soldier? Jeez, it¡¯s a problem that I can¡¯t kick out the adult volunteers to go back to school.¡±


    ¡°If they study hard for a year or two, they¡¯ll be great soldiers. They can be a reserve forceter, so don¡¯t be anxious.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s frustrating that I can¡¯t even speak to them freely without an interpreter. We¡¯ll be the only military that pays, gives amodation, and teaches soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. We were all like them when we were in the training camp. We were just a bunch of silly young guys.¡±


    ¡°But they couldmunicate with us. Instructors are stressed since it¡¯s like talking to a wall.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you choose Kurdish-speaking assistants? Maybe they can be trained to be instructors for the Kurds. I think that¡¯ll be more efficient.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, I guess that¡¯s a good way to do it. They can get training now, but most of them can¡¯t even control simple equipment. Can you believe that most of them can¡¯t even drive a car?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been living in a ce that¡¯s almost like a battlefield. How can they learn to drive? I bet none of them owned a car. If they can write their name, that¡¯s a lucky case.¡±


    The Syrian Kurds should not be viewed from a general perspective. Other than theirck of education and basic knowledge, because they were people who lived their whole lives in war, they were emotionally unstable as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s a nation that¡¯s never been treated properly. We can¡¯t expect too much from the Kurds right now. Time is the only solution, so stop grumbling. Now that they¡¯ve be our people, we should take good care of them, and they¡¯ll pay us back someday. Their loyalty to the royal family is higher than any other ethnic group.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only training them because they¡¯re so eager to protect the royal family. If they were not, I would¡¯ve sent them back home already.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re innocent people. Why would anyone want to get a hard training? It¡¯s because they¡¯re faithful and loyal people. Be nice to them. They¡¯re going to take over our backs someday. I trust Serbs and Koryoins, but it¡¯s hard to meet people so unconditionally loyal like them.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. I¡¯ll train all of them no matter how long it takes, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Is there any other problem?¡±


    ¡°I hope we can build a proper training center... We¡¯ll also need amodation and a lecture hall.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going to have the training center?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a ce that¡¯s 70 kilometers from the new town east of the Ural River. It¡¯s surrounded by hills, so it¡¯s perfect for a shooting field.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know there were hills in the newly incorporatednd.¡±


    ¡°I took a light ne and looked over it, and the hills were a lot higher than what the royal pce site, so it would be the best ce to defend the entire royal territory. There were plenty of grasnds and bushes.¡±


    Having been so busy, Youngho had not yet explored the newly incorporated area.


    Cho Chul-hwan stressed that the hills were much higher than the one at the royal pce site. The royal pce site was too far from being considered a hill, but it had risen more than 50 meters from the ground.


    If he was right, it meant that the terrain at the newly incorporated area was high overall.


    Since it was rare to find hills at the Arirang royal territory, Youngho was intrigued to hear that there was a new high ground because even a little bit of a high ground was useful in many ways.


    When Youngho said he would be exploring the newly incorporated area with Cho Chul-hwan, Kim Chun followed him. He was also curious to hear that there were hills around the area when most of West Kazakhstan was t.


    ¡°If there was a mountain in the east, I would have rmended it to you. Commander, you are not mistaken, are you?¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, Korea is where 70 percent of thend is mountainous. I¡¯ve been living on hills and mountains all my life. How can I mistake a hill for a mountain?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of mountains in this area.¡±


    ¡°The royal territory is as big as 8,400 square kilometers. If you take a closer look, you¡¯ll find dozens of such mountains.¡±


    ***


    Fields of Kazakhstan in May were full of wildflowers and all kinds of grass.


    As snow melted in the winter rain, spouts showed their heads through wet earth. They would live for about two months and then dry up in the hot sun and summer drought, but the sight at the moment was beautiful that it could not be thought of as a semi-deserted ce.


    The light-armored vehicle that was being driven by royal bodyguards, that was ahead of Youngho¡¯s group, drove without a hitch.


    There was not so much dust because of the grasses all over the ce, so Youngho was enjoying the spring breeze with his side of the window open.


    While sticking out his head through the window, he was startled as the vehicle ahead slowed down. A gentle hiss was starting about 500 meters ahead of him.


    It took about ten minutes to reach the summit on a gentle slope of the huge hill. It was so gentle and huge that it could be mistaken as tnd from a distance.


    It was more like a huge hilly country than a hill, but all the surrounding areas were below it.


    On the other side of the area, there were some trees growing.


    In western Kazakhstan, the only ce to see trees was around the Ural River, or the small riverside areas belonging to its tributaries, and it was almost a miracle that trees were found in this ce. It was a special case that trees grew on hillsides.


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing to be able to see wild trees at the royal territory. We usually can¡¯t grow trees or grass without a spring there. We need to take a closer look.¡±


    Kim Chun and some of the guards drove down the hill and came back to report that there was a little spring. It was a miracle for a spring to form in a semi-deserted area. Curious, Youngho also drove down to check.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a lot. It¡¯s not even a low-lying area, but it¡¯s amazing to see watering out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s proof that there¡¯s waterway under the ground. It must be full of water toe out like this. If you build a training camp in a ce like this, you won¡¯t have to worry about water.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was satisfied to see water and to establish a training camp here.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we have to preserve the ce if there¡¯s a spring instead of building a training camp? Does it make sense to build a training camp and shoot guns in a ce like? By the power of the Commissioner of the royal territory, I strongly oppose building a stronghold here.¡±


    ¡°The Duke here also agreed to it, and if you oppose it, it would be a mutiny.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this ce to be this beautiful and big. Your Highness, this is an area that must be preserved.¡±


    Youngho also thought that it would be wasteful to use it as a training ground for soldiers.


    ¡°Commander, do you think it¡¯s possible to make this ce a military base only and do as little damage as possible?


    ¡°Oh! I knew you¡¯d do this. This is a location directly rted to the security of the royal territory. If you build a stronghold at the summit, it bes an impregnable fortress. The training camp can be built somewhere else, but the stronghold should be here.¡±


    ¡°Establishing a stronghold here will damage the nature. I don¡¯t know about strategy, but in today¡¯s era of cutting-edge weapons, there¡¯s no physical front and rear. Why would you force to build a stronghold here? Commander should make concessions this time.¡±


    ¡°Even in these days, where fighters and missiles are the dominant forces, infantrymen are supposed to sweep the streets at the end. If the enemy were to enter this area, it would be the case that the entire country has already been subdued, but it is the soldier¡¯s duty to protect the country until the end. And having a stronghold here will also have a psychological effect on the enemy too. They won¡¯t underestimate us this way.¡±


    When Cho Chul-hwan persuaded him quietly, Kim Chun no longer strongly opposed it.


    Kazakhstan needed to build a perfect defense system because its enemies were everywhere. Knowing that Cho Chul-hwan was strongly insisting to have a stronghold even though it was a scenic spot.


    Youngho thought that it was a great blessing to have friends who gave their youth to him in such an uneasy ce. He looked at his friend with a strange look as he was sorry and thankful at the same time.


    ¡°Your Highness, the way you look at me today is giving me goosebumps.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the Commander of the Royal Bodyguards looks great today. Why don¡¯t we go share a drink tonight?¡±


    ¡°If we drink alone, Park Jong-il will get upset. Would that be alright?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s probably drinking with someone in the U.S. right now.¡±


    Seeing the two chattering as if everything was resolved, Kim Chun snapped at the two.


    ¡°You two are going to develop this ce no matter what.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, you have to give in a little. I think the Commander has a point.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you at least look for another ce for training?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can yield. As long as we can have the stronghold construction done, I¡¯ll try my best to preserve nature.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was no longer stubborn about it because the purpose of the project would be achieved if a stronghold could be built here. Training centers could be built anywhere if it was not here.


    ¡°I think we¡¯vee to an agreement. Let¡¯s go back and have a drink. Please join us today, Commissioner. Have you been drinkingtely?¡±

 Chapter 560 - Spring of the Royal Territory (2)

    <h4>Chapter 560: Spring of the Royal Territory (2)</h4>


    Youngho was sleeping in from the aftermath of the previous day¡¯s drinking when Leon came into the bedroom and woke him up. After filling his stomach with the spicy chopped noodle soup that Fatima made him, he headed to his office even though it was Saturday.


    It was customary for every leader of the royal territory to get together for supper and a drink on Friday nights, but these days, they had not been able to gather as they got too busy since the Kurdish migration began.


    That was because some 10,000 new migrants wereing in every week, and those who had settled in were already over 40,000 people. So the administrators and leaders were always on edge.


    Evenst night did notst long because Kim Chun gave them an earful when they were about to loosen up and drink some more. His reason was that Park Jong-il was returning the day after, and they would drink again anyway.


    Suh Min-seok, who was waiting for Youngho at the office, greeted him.


    ¡°Your Highness, did you sleep well? The number of Kurdish immigrants arriving today is 12,247.¡±


    ¡°Why are there so many today?¡±


    ¡°The Turkish government supported five car ferries. It seems that there are so many refugees at the harbor that the Turkish government was forced to help.¡±


    ¡°They were being stingy, but I guess they couldn¡¯t help.¡±


    As the weather got warmer, the number of people crossing the border suddenly increased, and the Turkish government was struggling with it since it was difficult to control the influx of Kurds. So the Turkish government officials showed up in person to hand out the stamps. Then, refugee camps were now suffering from overcapacity. Due to too many people in the camps, hygiene issues were marred. It would be a disaster if contagious diseases were to ur, so the Turkish government was forced to send the Kurds to Kazakhstan as quickly as possible.


    ¡°The Turkish government is going toe up with a bill in the near future.¡±


    ¡°The decision was made unterally without consulting with us. We won¡¯t have to pay for it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to please the Turkish government for the sake of the remaining Kurds. How would the Turkish government deal with the Kurds if we ignored it?¡±


    ¡°Would it persecute the Kurds when the whole world is watching?¡±


    ¡°Conflicts between nations are dominated by emotion. Nationalism makes you lose sight when you¡¯re obsessed with madness.¡±


    It would have been nice if the Turkish government opened itsnd route to Georgia, but it was only allowing maritime transportation because it feared it would provoke Kurds living in southeastern Turkey. It was an inevitable choice for Turkey.


    Kurds living in Turkey were on the verge of an explosion to think that their own countrymen were being forced out of Syria by their own people. A little bit of stimtion could make them go out of control, so Youngho could not make a strong demand to open thend route to Turkey.


    ¡°Please contact the Embassy of Turkey and notify them that we will pay for the use of the ship and toll fees through the Volga Canal. Also, ask them if they can mobilize more car ferries.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it necessary to go through the Department of Foreign Affairs?¡±


    ¡°The Turkish government won¡¯t feel burdened if the royal family deals with it. If the government intervenes, it can¡¯t im money because of the face of the brotherhood.¡±


    ¡°Very well, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°But let the Foreign Office know that you spoke to the Turkish Embassy. The Foreign Ministry should know what the royal family is up to. By the way, did you say Dr. Park Young-sun is returning today?¡±


    ¡°The ne must have arrived at the royal territory¡¯s airspace by now.¡±


    ¡°As soon as hends, bring him here.¡±


    ***


    Park Young-sun had been away to Uzbekistan to investigate the Uzbek gold mine. Upon arrival at the airport, Park Young-sun was dragged by Suh Min-seok.


    ¡°It¡¯s great to see you. I was going to see you in the evening, but I got impatient, so I asked to bring you here as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d be waiting for me. So to begin with, it turns out there¡¯s about 1,200 to 1,500 tons of gold buried there.¡±


    It was an eye-opening remark.


    ¡°How much do you think it¡¯s going to produce per year?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s widely distributed, so it¡¯s expected to be 40 to 50 tons a year. It¡¯s a tremendous amount for a single mine.¡±


    ¡°That is quite exciting to hear, but to be honest, that¡¯s less than what I expected.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there is more. It¡¯s too early to be disappointed. It¡¯s not just an open pit, but gold is scattered in rocks as well, so if you dig a shaft, we¡¯ll have a bigger production rate.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean there¡¯s a separate vein of gold?¡±


    ¡°Yes, because it¡¯s a rock band, mining is difficult, but we can have hope. Even if we don¡¯t find the vein, the area we¡¯ve studied so far will be a strong force for our royal family since it¡¯s a world-ss mining area.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s face was brightened to hear that the Uzbek mine would be the strength of the Kazakh royal family.


    It was great news that Kazakhstan would be able to get fixed gold for decades at this time when even advanced countries were rushing to store as much gold as possible.


    The gold production should be divided with the Uzbek government at the ratio of three to seven, but the additional vein of gold found in Uzbekistan was enough for the Uzbek government¡¯s portion, so it could be said that 40 tons a year belonged to the royal family.


    In dor terms, it was equivalent to 2.1 billion dors, which was an amount that could buy a new fleet of state-of-the-art fighters every year.


    ¡°There¡¯s not only gold but also silver deposited in the area. These days, everyone says gold is the best, but the utility of silver is very high, so you can look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°There is silver, too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is. Silver is a precious metal in itself, and it¡¯s very useful for industrial use, so it¡¯s a valuable asset.¡±


    Silver was used for making coinage of course, and because it was a high-conductivity metal, it was used for various purposes. Its value was rtively lowpared to gold, but it was still a valuable metal.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t sign any memorandum of understanding for mining silver. We should consult with the Uzbek government specifically about this.¡±


    ¡°Do you intend to disclose the fact about the silver to the Uzbek government?¡±


    ¡°I have to make it public. I wish I can keep it a secret and take all the silver for free, but it wille to light someday. What would the Uzbek government think of us if they found out that there was arge amount of silver deposits there? No matter how important our national interest is, I have no intention of doing anything cheap.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I was also convinced that doing so would be beneficial to both countries¡¯ trust.¡±


    Youngho wanted to be greedy at his heart, but he did not want to do such a shameless thing, not because he was afraid of being caught and humiliatedter, but to avoid damaging the national prestige of the head country of Central Asia. That way, Kazakhstan would be able to earn the trusts of other countries in Central Asia as well.


    ***


    ¡°So I blindly asked if we could get the license to produce the ckhawk helicopters. Then he said that if we can pay the money to build an assembly nt, he will consider doing that for us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why that lie sounds true. Is what you just said real?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, are you kidding? Do you think I¡¯m talking nonsense after I came back from the United States?¡±


    ¡°You always exaggerate things, you know.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan and Cha In-soo could not believe what Jong-il just said.


    The Apache helicopters were a great addition to Kazakhstan¡¯s force, but if the ckhawk helicopters, which could make a full-fledgedbat team on the front line, were brought in, it would be like having wings.


    The ckhawk helicopters were being pushed out by new ones these days, but they still boasted of great stability and power that many nations still prefer to buy them.


    The ckhawk was used for aerial assaults, evacuation of wounded soldiers, and delivery of goods. Its new models were equipped with electronic systems and were continuously being produced now.


    As a proof that the model was still popr even though it had been 30 years since it was first introduced, the Taiwanese government recently purchased 60 ckhawk helicopters.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the U.S. government took the lead in selling us ckhawks just because we bought some Apache helicopters, but you can make the deal, I¡¯ll carry you around.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t believe me either.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not saying I don¡¯t trust you, but I just don¡¯t understand why Lockheed is acting like this.¡±


    ¡°Come on, there¡¯s plenty of reason why Lockheed must be interested in Central Asia. It¡¯s a hugend to begin with and not to mention the long borders. They think ckhawks are the only vehicle that can be used for an effective operation with only a few soldiers. Lockheed must be trying to sell a ton of it by producing it locally. Well, they¡¯ll be in charge of sales, so why don¡¯t we learn their technology with this opportunity?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s good news, but...¡±


    ¡°Lockheed officials said they¡¯de to Kazakhstan in a few days, so you¡¯ll see for sure by then.¡±


    ¡°What did Michael say?¡±


    ¡°He bragged that he was the one who convinced Lockheed to sell ckhawks to us.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Could it be possible that the ckhawk is getting discontinued?¡±


    Park Jong-il snapped at Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s remark.


    ¡°You b*st*rds really push me to the end. You can see how popr it is if you search the Inte. Does it hurt your stomach that I achieved something great?¡±


    ¡°Oh, what do you have that we should be jealous of?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you just being jealous because I¡¯m going to be a duke soon?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You wish!¡±


    If Kazakhstan could license such a popr helicopter, not only Kazakhstan¡¯s military power but also the whole of Central Asia¡¯s military power would be increased. It still remained to see whether Lockheed would really give the license to produce ckhawk to Kazakhstan, but Jong-il was confident about his achievement. He made a big fuss about this saying that he was one step closer to bing a duke.

 Chapter 561 - A Mega Project (1)

    <h4>Chapter 561: A Mega Project (1)</h4>


    There was spring in Kazakhstan, too.


    However, even though it was called spring, it came and disappeared quickly like a short sun shower.


    Although spring did notst long, the royal territory¡¯s field was usually extremely busy due to wheat nting and tree nting work.


    This year, however, spring had gotten much more rxed because the Kurdish immigrants joined the work.


    Wheat nting did not need many hands since most of its work relied on farming machines, but other ntation work depended entirely on humanbor. With thousands of Kurds helping, the process had been shortened by a lot.


    Kurds were not only involved in ntation work but also in the construction of city-building and temporary residences, and their willingness to work was great even though they did not have much skills for such work.


    It was because they would rather work than spending free time in the camp absent-mindedly, and not to mention, they earned money from working.


    Even the school-age teenagers sometimes came to work, so they had to be sent back to a temporary school.


    Whenever Youngho saw teenagers who wanted to work, he felt sorry. In Syria, where people had to rely only on relief supplies, many Kurds could not have any opportunity to touch cash, so any Kurds who moved to the royal territory were excited to make their own money.


    Although there were only manualbor jobs at the moment, there would be more jobs avable for Kurds since various factories would be in operation soon. It was because the administration of the royal territory was bringing in factories in developing countries to create more jobs for Kurdish immigrants.


    The new factories include rubber, stic, leather shoes and bags, clothes, and food and beverage factories.


    Suchbor-intensive factories were perfect for providing jobs for countless people without special skills.


    Building manymodities factories was also essential to reduce Kazakhstan¡¯s reliance on Chinese products.


    Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, relied mostly on Chinese products because even basic necessities were not supplied on their own.


    To break the vicious cycle of bringing in cheap Chinese products, more daily necessities factories should be built.


    So top officials of the royal territory gathered in the conference room for a heated debate over the construction of factories.


    ¡°Your Highness, the daily necessities factory we¡¯re working on now has only 60,000 jobs. We need to create more or add more jobs to reach 100,000.¡±


    ¡°When we extend facilities, the factories would be so tightly built together, and it would be environmentally problematic. We should rather add another industrialplex. We have plenty of time to build a new industrialplex because it¡¯s going to take a year and a half for all Kurds toe in.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve got enoughmodities factories. Now we have to pay attention to machinery and electronics as well. If there are too manymodities factories scattered all over the country, our factories could be surplus facilitiester on.¡±


    ¡°Building a factory is important, but we need to find a way to solve the housing crisis. It will take forever for the Kurds to build their own houses if we insist on single houses only.¡±


    Among many opinions and suggestions, Kim Chun came up with a real problem.


    Jobs could be created as many as they wanted in the future, but Kurds would need houses to settle since they were living in the temporary camp.


    ¡°Your Highness, how about building apartments or townhouses?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we should build apartment buildings when ournd is this vast?¡±


    ¡°The Kurds don¡¯t have big families, so it¡¯s much more economical to move them into apartments than to single houses. Also, apartments could be built in a short period of time.¡±


    Although apartments or townhouses were not desirable in the royal territory, they were the best options for Kurds since it was too much to ask them to build their own houses after distributing themnd since they could not afford it yet.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to build high-rise apartments here. Let¡¯s consider building townhouses. It¡¯s going to be arge-scaleplex. I don¡¯t know if our construction department can handle it at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we ask an experienced Koreanpany to build it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, too. I will get some advice from Kim Joo-hyuk, the president of H Rotem of H Corporation.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a multi-billion dor project, and I don¡¯t know if H Corporation alone can handle it.¡±


    ¡°H Corporation is not the only constructionpany in Korea. We¡¯ll get manypanies involved so that the construction period can be shortened. It¡¯s also an opportunity to take Kazakhstan¡¯s construction materials industry to the next level.¡±


    If arge-scale construction project began, it could also be a breakthrough in the national construction materials industry. In addition, the domestic economy would be rattled by the mega-project.


    ***


    Kim Joo-hyuk of H Corporation flew to the Arirang royal territory apanied by working-level officials as soon as Youngho called him.


    ¡°No, weren¡¯t you in Korea?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve looked for me. Of course, I shoulde immediately.¡±


    He seemed to be looking forward to it because Youngho exined about the mega project roughly over the phone.


    When Youngho said he wanted to discuss a multi-unit dwelling project that could amodate more than 300,000 people, Kim Joo-hyuk asked again if he heard the number right. It was not a size that H Corporation could solely handle; it was something that needed dozens of Korea¡¯s leading constructionpanies¡¯ involvement.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a mega project to house a million people, but first, we¡¯re nning to build a multi-unit dwellingplex that will amodate 300,000 people as soon as possible. Since it¡¯s beyond our capacity, I wanted to discuss it with you.¡±


    ¡°As soon as I heard that, I doubted my ears. As you know, the new city of Bundang in Korea¡¯s Gyeonggi-do province was nned to amodate 400,000 people, and it took ten years for the city toplete the project. Your project is also not a short-term project, and it will cost an astronomical amount of money, so how are you nning to finance it?¡±


    ¡°We have enough money. There¡¯s money in the royal family, and there are a lot of countries that want to loan Kurdish settlement funds.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then you don¡¯t have to worry about your finances. The problem is that we need to prepare a huge amount of construction materials, and we¡¯re worried that the construction materials industry of Kazakhstan is still in its infancy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯d like to have a partnership with Korean constructionpanies. I¡¯d also like you to consider producing various construction materials here.¡±


    ¡°From the sanitary ware to the wallpaper aluminum sands, there¡¯s a myriad of items, and you¡¯re going to produce them all here?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t rely on imports forever. We need some help from Koreanpanies.¡±


    Kazakhstan had been importing most of the construction materials from abroad, except for heavy items such as cement and steel pipes.


    Until now, there was not much demand in the country, so importing did not seem to be a burden, but now,bined with Kyrgyz and Kurds, the number of people was over 25 million. And if other Central Asian countries could be future target customers, there would be enough demand.


    ¡°How about building low-rise apartments rather than high-rise apartments? It will drastically reduce the construction period.¡±


    ¡°Why do you have to shorten the construction period when this project needs to be digested in the long term?¡±


    ¡°All the Kurds wille in two years. Imagine that a million people will stay in the temporary camp. We need to get them settled as soon as possible so that the Arirang state can be stabilized. We can¡¯t afford to put off the housing issue.¡±


    ¡°I understand your concern. Even if it¡¯s a falling shack, if you own it, you¡¯d be willing to take care of it.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m not a big fan of apartments. Is there another option?¡±


    The director of the headquarters of H Construction, who followed Kim Joo-hyuk, then went on to borate.


    ¡°There is nothing like apartment buildings that can resolve a housing problem in a short period of time. Fortunately, the royal territory has plenty ofnds, so you can n a pleasantplex. If you change your existing city n a little bit and build three-story vis, you can create an atmosphere of a townhouseplex. And if you mix it with single house units, I think you¡¯ll get a good residential area view.¡±


    ¡°The former president has introduced a modr DFMA construction method to provide housing for the citizens. Please review that construction method too. It will dramatically reduce the construction period.¡±


    DFMA housing method¡ªDesign for Manufacture and Assembly¡ªwas a construction method to apply factory-like conditions on construction buildings. This was introduced inrge cities such as Almaty and Astana in an attempt to curb the terrible housing prices.


    Because it was printed inrge quantities from factories, it was able to drastically reduce costs andplete the construction period in 15 days for a single house.


    ¡°We already know that technique. Since 80 percent of the construction is built from the factory and they are assembled locally, it sounds like the most usible method for the royal territory¡¯s case. We¡¯ll review the modr approach if you let us be in charge.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯m satisfied with that. Could H Corporation be a lead manager for this project?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Your Highness. Thank you for entrusting us with the responsibility. I¡¯ll never let you down.¡±


    Korean builders were highly trusted toplete the massive nt and civil construction projects they won overseas, albeit at a loss.


    Being well aware of the trust and technical skills the Koreanpanies had umted while receiving losses from overseas, Youngho was going to entrust H Corporation with the mega project. This was his payback for H Corporation¡¯s help from the days of the autonomous state. The connection made by the train project was now leading to a megaproject.


    Instead of building houses and providing them to Kurds for free, Youngho intended to sell them and offer long-term installment financing. It would not be cherished if it was freely given.


    However, considering the price andbor costs of the houses, Youngho could not help but sigh.


    The cost would go down further if the factory was modrised and Kurds were sent to work, but added urban infrastructure such as water supply and roads would increase the cost. The cost of building 80,000 houses was as much as 4.3 billion dors.


    It had yet to be determined how much loans would be provided by other countries, so Youngho would have to pay it from the former President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds for now.


    Although he would get it back from Kurds in the long term, it would take at least ten years.


    It was worrisome since he needed money to purchase weapons and build factories.


    Since he owned gold mines, he had extra money, but if anything urgent happened in the meantime, it would be a disaster.


    Although he had already predicted it when he decided to ept the Kurds, he felt a little bit sad when it was time for him to pay.


    Considering the tangible and intangible benefits of Kurds, snobbery was creeping out of his heart when it came to money.

 Chapter 562 - A Mega Project (2)

    <h4>Chapter 562: A Mega Project (2)</h4>


    ¡°Eriksson, what do you think about our mega project?¡±


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t have to say a thing because you¡¯ve made a perfect decision. It¡¯ll feel like an excessive amount of fund is used in the beginning, but you¡¯ll, in fact, save money in the end.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m ttered to hear yourpliment.¡±


    ¡°Also, please make sure to produce tap and sanitary wares at the royal territory. They are items that can be export-driven products if their designs are great.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°In advanced countries,bor costs are too expensive that they can¡¯t make products locally. But we have a huge workforce, don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t discriminate against them and treat them just like other residents, they will be a great power for us someday.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they will because they¡¯re given a new life because of you. Western Kazakhstan and the Arirang royal territory will be the hometown of Kurds.¡±


    ¡°The problem is when more than a million people have settled here. I hope they don¡¯t ask for an autonomous state or independence.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about that at all. Kazakhstan is the only country in the world where more than 120 ethnic groups live in a single state system without any conflict. The Kurds will also learn about that soon. And the bottom line is that Princess Jelyan is also a Kurd. The fact that there was a kinship in the royal family means that this is a Kurdish country as well. Over time, they¡¯ll have a stronger perception of being a citizen of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Just like what Eriksson said, the Kurds were quickly finding stability because of Jelyan.


    Nevertheless, there must be some people advocating nationalism, so Youngho could not put down his guard until the Kurds were fully assimted here.


    That was why he was rushing to build a multi-unit residence.


    If they had a home, a job to look after their family, and a school for their children, they would make this their second home even if they did not want to be attached to the royal territory.


    The longer they lived in the camps, the lower their quality of life would be, and they would not feel that they were residents of the state.


    ***


    It was less than a week after confirming the partnership with Kim Joo-hyuk that South Korean builders came to the royal territory. Each of the leading Korean constructionpanies was lobbying to supply a little more supplies with their project ns.


    Even though it was already announced that the lead manager was H Corporation, they believed that they could get more work if they targeted the leaders of the royal territory.


    It was natural to think so since the project was paid directly by the Kazakh royal family, not by the financial sector.


    Suh Min-seok was also one of the main targets of Koreanpanies. He wasining that there were too many requests for a meeting to the extent that he could not even focus on his duties as a secretary.


    ¡°Your Grace, why don¡¯t you make an open bid? They even came to my office to bother me which is enough to paralyze my work.¡±


    ¡°Is H Corporation not doing its job as a lead manager?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true, but otherpanies are all working to get more orders because the royal family is financing the mega project.¡±


    ¡°Summon President Kim. I¡¯ll decide after hearing what¡¯s going on.¡±


    In some cases, bidding for openpetition could only raise the unit price of supplies through collusion, andpanies could even lower the quality of building materials.


    Although Youngho was not in a position to interfere with the situation, he worried that thosepanies might have approached Park Jong-il to lobby him if they approached Suh Min-seok.


    Park Jong-il, who still had a lot of connections in Korea and Koreanpanies, would find it difficult to refuse requests from them. Then, only the Kazakh royal family would suffer from a bad reputation.


    ¡°Your Highness, I have no words to say. Thepetition for overseas orders is so intense that I can¡¯t control thepanies these days.¡±


    ¡°If we can¡¯t control it, we have no choice but to have an open bid.¡±


    If there was no answer to thepetition among Koreanpanies, Youngho was going to attract other foreignpanies as well.


    When ¡°open bidding¡± was mentioned, Kim Joo-hyuk¡¯s expression was solidified at once. He got eager to think that he would lose the state of being the lead manager of the mega project.


    ¡°We¡¯ve agreed to set the construction volume by construction capacity, but it seems like somepanies are trying to get more.¡±


    ¡°Please let me know whichpanies are breaking their promises. I¡¯ll rule them out.¡±


    ¡°If you give me another chance, H Corporation will take responsibility and control this. Please take into consideration the fact that somepanies are suffering from job shortages.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to do charity work to help out Koreanpanies that have been hampered byx management, so please take care of this situation by tomorrow.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk, who had never seen Young-ho speak so firmly before, was very embarrassed.


    ¡°Your Highness. The unsavory situation will be sorted out this time. Let go of your anger. I¡¯ll clean up the traffic by tomorrow.¡±


    The situation in the Korean construction industry, which was thirsty for overseas construction orders, was serious.


    The reason was that the business environment deteriorated extremely due to unrest in the Middle East and Europe.


    Looking inside, however, wasrgely due to the chronic over-the-toppetition among Koreanpanies over overseas project orders.


    First of all, thepetition to win and lose work and reckless low-priced orders were causing huge losses and even a management crisis.


    Now, they were bent over to make money over the multi-trillion-won project held at the royal territory.


    If Korea¡¯s economy faltered, it would affect Koreanpanies in Kazakhstan, so Youngho wanted to help Korean constructionpanies but seeing their behavior made him sigh.


    After many twists and turns, 14 Koreanpanies took charge ofrge and small blocks and signed construction contracts with the royal family.


    Eachpany had won 400 million to 200 million dors in order to build residential areas. Since there would be a series of other projects after the first part of the mega project, thepanies seemed to expect more from the royal family, but Youngho did not mean to put the work on the Koreanpanies alone.


    After the first housing construction waspleted, the second city construction should also be given work to countries that had provided loans for the settlement of Kurds.


    The first order was not only given to Koreanpanies since some civil engineering projects such as roads and water supply works and the two-block housingplexes were given to Kazakh constructionpanies.


    For them, this would be an opportunity to learn Korea¡¯s advanced civil-building techniques while working with Korean constructionpanies.


    By increasing the capabilities of domesticpanies, Youngho was nning to winrge-scale domestic construction and overseas work.


    Some people might wonder about the capacity of Kazakhstan¡¯s builders, but they had been participating in various nt projects and construction projects in the country.


    Foreignpanies operating in Kazakhstan were required to have Kazakh constructionpanies as their own contractors as their business partners, so they were diligently acquiring advanced technologies.


    If more engineers and technicians would be trained with advanced construction methods, Kazakh constructionpanies would not lose their construction business to foreignpanies.


    ***


    ¡°What? When did that happen, and why hasn¡¯t anyone approached us? Dang, I missed a chance to get a free drink.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve avoided us because they thought we¡¯d all be like you, ignoring them after only getting a free drink.¡±


    Park Jong-il casually said.


    ¡°Certainly. Who here would fall for such a trick?¡±


    ¡°What would you do if your brothers in Korea asked a favor?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Why are you talking about my brothers?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the builders know our personal information? They¡¯d find a way to connect with your brothers in Korea somehow. Would it be easy to say no if your friends followed you and asked you for help?¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. I don¡¯t know about my first brother, but the second brother will definitely fall for it. But is the situation that bad for Korean builders?¡±


    ¡°Thepetition in the industry ruined it for all. Some of thepanies that participated this time are said to be in a situation where they have to close down if they didn¡¯t win our order.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have to stay away from suchpanies? If they were about to shut down, we don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be able toplete our order.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was a waste to let go of skills and know-hows umted for decades. I¡¯d like to put my hands on them after seeing their work here.¡±


    ¡°You want to take over thosepanies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about it.¡±


    ¡°Would the situation change when you take over apany that¡¯s copsing? Let¡¯s not take defeatist-ridden people and think about giving them a decent paycheck but make a newpany instead. If you create a constructionpany in the royal family, talent will flock like clouds.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s opinion sounded quite usible as Youngho had only thought of taking over constructionpanies but did not think of creating a new one.


    However, establishing a newpany was a lot of work. Just because construction-rted engineers were gathered, there was no guarantee that it would work.


    Eachpany had its know-how, and such know-how and teamwork that was built from working together with each other for a long time could not be ignored.


    That was why Youngho was trying to see if there were any constructionpanies that could be useful.


    Aside from the housing project that was ordered this time, construction-rted work pushed by the royal family was overflowing.


    There was also a canal project in Russia and a Siberian development project.


    Moreover, the docking and base work on the Greek ind should be done. Such military facilities were a secret to the outside world and could not be entrusted to just anyone.

 Chapter 563 - Marine Forward Base (1)

    <h4>Chapter 563: Marine Forward Base (1)</h4>


    The royal-owned ind in Greece¡¯s the Aegean Sea had been purchased for 20 million dors under Ko? Holding¡¯s arrangement.


    The area was about 40 square kilometers, about five kilometers east and west and about eight kilometers north and south.


    It was such a historic ce that pirates used to be based long ago because of its small bay.


    The ind was one of the numerous inds on the road connecting the Mediterranean and the ck Sea. So, it was lucky that the Kazakh royal family got to own it.


    The reason for buying the ind was to use it as a forward base. It was a marine forward base that to use it as a military port for escort ships to protect merchant vessels of Kazakhstan.


    It was not easy to set up a marine base in the waters of another country, but it was possible because the royal family took over failing Greek shippingpanies that had been holding back the Greek economy and promised a strategic partnership with Greece on the condition that oil from the Caspian Sea would be supplied through Turkey, which the Greek government desperately needed.


    Youngho took advantage of the fact that Turkey and Greece were in a hostile rtionship. For that reason, the royal ind became a buffer zone of Greece and Turkey.


    Recently, it was also agreed to use it as a home port of the Navy which belonged to the Kazakh royal family with Park Jong-il¡¯s efforts, so the construction of the pier was being sped up.


    The Greek ind¡¯s pier, runway, and other facilities construction were being organized by the royal constructionpany, Arirang Construction.


    The start of Arirang Construction was triggered by the eptance of employees of N Builder, a mid-sized South Korean constructionpany.


    ¡°Your Highness, N Builder¡¯s employees are not thinking of going back.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t our contract end because their Korean headquarters went bankrupt?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over. But the staffs here insist onpleting the construction here on their own.¡±


    The Construction Director of the royal territory, Min Nikyevich, looked troubled.


    The workers of the royal territory and N Builders had spent several months sweating together, so it was difficult for Min to kick them out when they insisted to stay even though their contract was over. It was strictly a breach of contract, so this had to be dealt with in principle.


    N Builder took part in the project for the Kurdish settlement, but it went bankrupt due to bad management at its Korean headquarters, which also halted the construction work and forced the dispatched employees to withdraw from the site.


    The contract between the royal family and Koreanpanies was not an option, as it required them to return the construction rights without conditions if they could not carry out the work due to bankruptcy.


    ¡°How is thepany¡¯s construction technical skill?¡±


    ¡°As far as I can see, thepany has great know-how. It has carried out a lot of big projects overseas and is recognized for its construction capacities. And most of all, the employees are very loyal to thepany. They say they¡¯ve made a lot of effort to save thepany. I heard that they mostly stayed at thepany without even being paid for several months.¡±


    ¡°That is a rare case in the current time.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. It¡¯s a waste to let go of a skilledpany and its executives and employees. Can¡¯t we take it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not talking about taking over a bankruptpany.¡±


    ¡°I mean, let¡¯s ept the executives and employees. We wouldn¡¯t envy a world-ss constructionpany if we had advanced construction techniques and engineers.¡±


    ¡°Taking them means that we should take them as citizens of Kazakhstan. Would they leave a good ce like Korea and bring their family to this poor ce?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d think differently if they can live in the royal territory. Isn¡¯t our state better than big cities in developed countries?¡±


    ¡°Well, we have pretty good medical, education, and cultural facilities, but the weather is not quite right.¡±


    After conversing with Construction Director Min, Youngho decided to ept only executives and employees of N Builder and created a new constructionpany for the royal family. As a result, 150 executives and employees were epted at the royal territory.


    The fact that they had been loyal to theirpany yed a huge role in epting them with ease. They would be bringing in their families as well, as soon as their properties in Korea were sorted out.


    Outside the Arirangmand, life was like Korea¡¯s in the 70s and 80s. However, Kazakhstan had a more leisurely life than Korea, which was in infinitepetition. That was why the employees of N Builder chose Kazakhstan although it was still a developing country.


    The only problem would be the harsh weather of Kazakhstan. Youngho wondered if they would survive through the harsh winter here.


    It¡¯s too cold to put out a face in winter, and it¡¯s too hot to breathe in the dusty wind in summer.


    ***


    The Greek ind had its own name, but everyone called it the Arirang Ind.


    Park Jong-ilined about the name ¡°Arirang¡± being used repeatedly, but it was not forced by anyone but naturally named so.


    ¡°The name of the river at the royal territory is Arirang, the shippingpany is Arirang, and the hotel is Arirang. Can¡¯t wee up with a better name? Isn¡¯t it a bit weird now that we¡¯re putting the name of Arirang everywhere?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Arirang? I heard that foreigners find it easy to pronounce and memorize.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kind of bored because I¡¯ve heard it so much. I¡¯d rather have it named after Leon or Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already being called Arirang Ind. Why should we change it? Just call it the Arirang Ind.¡±


    ¡°With a bad naming sense...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking nonsense and let¡¯s take a break. I feel sweaty.¡±


    Park Jong-il and Youngho, who visited the Arirang Ind to find out the progress of the construction, were also heading toward the beach to cool off.


    On the ind, employees of Arirang Construction were working on the pier, the runway, and other facilities.


    The Mediterranean Sea in September was sweltering with hot temperatures which went up to 35 degrees in Celsius. Because of this, the workers jumped into the sea from time to time.


    Even though the beach was right next to the construction site, the seawater was so dark in the shade of a reef that people needed the courage to get in the water. If there was a shark hiding between the rocks, they would be helpless from its attack.


    ¡°Shall we get in?¡±


    Some of the workers who were familiar with the sea even collected seafood from diving deep, so Youngho was curious about what was in the sea.


    As he was about to enter the seawater, an employee who was collecting seafood was rushing out to the beach, surprised by something.


    ¡°What is it? Is there a shark?¡±


    The construction crew assiduously swam all the way to Youngho and Jong-il and shouted that there were old waste ships and facilities that looked like historical sites in the sea.


    It was already well-known that the Mediterranean was a treasure chest of undersea artifacts.


    There were already more than 300 ports in the fourth century B.C., and from the Bronze Age to modern times, the number of sunken ships was estimated to be 100,000. Moreover, they were not affected by heavy waves that they were in good condition.


    In particr, the early-developed Greek waters were dotted with ruins and countless ships that were sunken because of the Aegean Sea¡¯s numerous reefs and pirates¡¯ activities.


    Considering such historical facts, it would not be a surprise if underwater relics were found but it could be difficult to develop due to the historical site. If it turned out to have an archaeological value, it would be a matter that should be consulted with the Greek government. Thus, Youngho was hoping it would be just a site that was not worth much for attention.


    ¡°Call some of the royal bodyguards. Tell them to bring some scuba gear.¡±


    ¡°You want to get in there yourself?¡±


    ¡°Of course, what else do we need to do? Let¡¯s check it out with our own eyes.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll get my body warmed up in a long while.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know it¡¯s not much of an exercise.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of sharks in the Aegean Sea. This could be dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a shark here before. What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard it yet. A while ago, a boat of refugees was attacked by a group of sharks. You have to pack an electric shocker or a harpoon.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Why do you say that now? We have to stop the construction workers from entering the sea.¡±


    It would be shocking to hear that employees who had no idea there were sharks at the sea.


    As Youngho announced that there could be sharks in the sea, all of the workers did not enter the sea anymore.


    It would be nice if there were any streams, but unfortunately, there were only little springs on the ind, so they were only used as drinking water.


    The problem immediately arose when hundreds of construction officials rushed in while the residents were running out of water. No civil engineering work could be done if there was no water. Besides, workers could not wash their sweaty bodies with the seawater.


    So the instation of the desalination system was rushed, but it would be ready only in few months. Arirang Construction was forced to bring water from thend.


    Although some inds developed as tourist destinations had been receiving water from thend by ship, the Arirang Ind was not a tourist destination and had not many residents, so there was no such benefit.


    Youngho arranged a water supply ship to deliver water every day for industrial and household water, and the few residents loved it, saying that they were blessed by the pier construction. Thanks to the royal family¡¯s purchase of the ind, the inders were also benefiting from it.

 Chapter 564 - Marine Forward Base (2)

    <h4>Chapter 564: Marine Forward Base (2)</h4>


    Excavation of the underwater site at the Arirang Ind revealed ancient residential-style remains scattered in the Aegean Sea, but it was fortunate that there were no temples or statues from ancient times.


    However, it was additionally discovered that there were too many sunken ships near the harbor, preventing warships with a deep water lineing in and out of the harbor. The sunken ships remaining in the water were rtivelyrge because they used to carry goods along with the Silk Road hundreds of years ago. Although their sizes were huge, they could be easily crushed and destroyed by explosives as they were made out of wood. Youngho was going to salvage anything useful or blow them up in the water.


    So, the process of dmissioning was going on in the sea now.


    Among them, a carrack ship that was built around the 17th century was decided to be pulled out and disyed on the ind. It was not a difficult task to salvage a sunken wooden ship that weighed 300 tons for the royal bodyguards who used to be in Korean Navy Special Forces. They only needed to be careful with the ship as it was old and easily breakable.


    Except for the carrack ship haling team, the rest of the royal bodyguards were salvaging underwater artifacts.


    Youngho and Jong-il were spending most of their time at the salvage site in case there were any valuable artifacts.


    Even now, they were looking forward to seeing objects that were being pulled up to their ship with a as most of the relics were well-preserved.


    ¡°Hey! What are those?¡±


    Jong-il shouted as he saw two chest boxes covered with barnacles and mussels as they were pulled out of the.


    ¡°Knock it out. You¡¯re making a fuss whenever you see anythinging out of the water.¡±


    ¡°This one is different. That box looks like as it was made yesterday. Don¡¯t you think there must be something special about it?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll return to the Arirang royal territory if that one turns out to be nothing, all right?¡±


    ¡°I got you. Still, let¡¯s just open one or two more boxes before going.¡±


    Even though Jong-il was excited, Youngho had not much expectation since he had not found any useful or valuable item so far. As he had a lot of work to do at the royal territory, it seemed to be a waste of time to wait for all the relics to be pulled out.


    ¡°Look at that. The same boxes keeping up. Let¡¯s go ahead and open one of them.¡±


    Rectangr chest boxes that looked like the first one kepting up, and both of them got curious. Park Jong-il tried to open the box with an iron lever, only to break the lid halfway before opening it.


    The chest was filled with rusted coins.


    Jong-il, who took out one of them, rubbed it on his clothes and popped it out in front of Youngho.


    ¡°Youngho! Isn¡¯t this a gold coin?¡±


    ¡°It looks like a copper coin to me. What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°How can this be copper coin? You can¡¯t wipe copper coin so easily like this. Once copper coins get discolored, it¡¯s the end of the story.¡±


    Although the word ¡°gold coin¡± caught Youngho¡¯s eye, Youngho did not believe it. In any case, gold coins or copper coins were worth a fair amount in themselves, so he was diligently calcting the number of boxes and the amount of coins in his head.


    At the end of the day, a total of 23 chests were recovered from the sea.


    There were so many sunken ships around where they found the chests that it was still unknown how many more boxes they would be able to find in the future. Youngho could not hide excitement from his face.


    It was unknown why there were so many sunken ships on the ind, but that was not important. Youngho and Jong-il were now discussing what to do with the relics.


    ¡°You know, just because we found them at the sea from Greece does not mean they are the property of the Greek government.¡±


    Park Jong-il said.


    ¡°Are you saying that we should hide the discovery of the artifact from the Greek government?¡±


    ¡°Hide what. We found them in the territorial water of our own ind, so they¡¯re ours. These ships must be from the countries of the Mediterranean coast. I think they were sunken by pirate ships. So at least you can¡¯t insist that they belonged to Greece. And it¡¯s an international custom that ownership of undersea artifacts belongs to the one who salvages them.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s words were tempting as he said the owner of underwater artifacts was the one who first found them. However, the story would be moreplicated if the owner of the items was a powerful country such as France or Italy.


    The Russian government had been consistently iming ownership of 150 trillion Korean won worth of gold bars and gold coins in the sea from Ulleungdo Ind, Korea. They were from a cruiser that sank during the Russo-Japanese War. The fact that Russia nailed it as its property meant that it would not recognize the sunken ship¡¯s ownership even if it was salvaged by another entity, regardless of the international custom.


    When Youngho exined that customs andmon sense did not work in matters rted to the great powers, Park Jong-il made a ridiculousment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s melt them all into gold bars, so we won¡¯t have to think about them anymore.¡±


    ¡°Are you out of your mind? If we restore them well, their worth will be multiplied. Do you have any idea how much an archaeological value sells?¡±


    ¡°Hey, chill out. You said that it¡¯ll be a headache if powerful nations intervened. So, I¡¯m just saying there¡¯s a simple solution.¡±


    There were plenty of excuses to go around, though a littleplicated when a great power intervened in the matter of ownership.


    ¡°We are the royal family of the Serbian kingdom. What will they do if webeled the relics as legacy of the kingdom?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good enough. So what are you worried about?¡±


    ¡°The mint is estimated to have been in the 15th and 16th centuries after the Serbian Kingdom copsed. It¡¯s because I¡¯m a little shy to insist that it¡¯s a legacy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop caring about everything. Don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s leave the matter to Eriksson. He should know what to do with these.¡±


    ***


    Upon returning to the royal territory, Youngho told Eriksson what happened on the ind and was asking for advice.


    ¡°The ind of the Aegean Sea you bought randomly is giving us a big gift.¡±


    ¡°It remains to be seen whether it will be a gift or a problem.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing much to worry about the artifacts found in the sea.¡±


    ¡°Could it have been war funds if they carried so much gold on a ship?¡±


    ¡°Maybe they were. We need to know the exact year to figure out what they were for, but right now we need to think about how to deal with the gold.¡±


    ¡°The Director of Intelligence Department says we should just melt everything into gold bars.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a decision that Earl Park would make. That¡¯s a simple solution, but gold bullion and gold coins from the Age of Exploration contains a lot of impurities that it would not worth a lot if you melt them. In terms of the scarcity value of gold coins, it is a hundred times more profitable to circte than to melt them.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be a problem if we just sold them?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing big to worry about. It would be ridiculous for a country to im the ownership of the relics recovered from the sea that most ships had sailed by in the past era.¡±


    ¡°Then we should advertise it as a legacy of the Serbian Kingdom and sell it on the market.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll do it. At the time Serbian Kingdom was to be absorbed by the Ottoman Empire, it might have helped the countries of the Mediterranean coast. It would be sensible to say that the relics are the legacy of Serbian Kingdom since there had been many secret deals between royal families that were not known to the world in the past.¡±


    ¡°In that case, do you think we should keep the gold coins or put them up for auction?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to take a closer look at the coins, but if they¡¯re of archaeological value, you could try keeping them to sell themter. Also, if you put them up for auction, you can get two or three times the price of a gold bar of the same weight. If they¡¯re in great condition, you can get more out of them.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they be less valuable if there is no scarcity value?¡±


    ¡°No matter how many gold coins there were in the old days, it would be hard to satisfy the collectors¡¯ greed.¡±


    ¡°What if there¡¯s more?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying there¡¯s more than you¡¯ve collected now?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in the middle of a search, and we¡¯ll probably get a few to a few dozen more.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start by studying what happened in the past from the coast of the Arirang Ind. I can¡¯t stand it because I¡¯m so curious.¡±


    The dy on the Arirang Ind left so much work for Youngho in the royal territory.


    There was a lot to be settled, and the most urgent task was to prevent Kurdish young people from rushing to join the military. The Kurdish young people were so eager to enter the military without thinking much. Money could solve the problem of migration and housing construction, but too many Kurds wanting to be soldiers had been a headache.


    Young people ought to be fascinated by a new culture that they had never experienced in Syria, but it was a problem because they all tried to carry guns as before because they were royal to Princess Jelyan and wanted to protect her. The numerous factories were being built to give jobs to the Kurdish immigrants, but they did not seem to care so much about other jobs.


    Initially, it was nned to ept 10,000 Kurdish soldiers, but at this rate, the number was likely to jump well over 50,000. It needed to be slow down somehow as it was difficult to handle so many recruits at once.


    On the other hand, considering the long borders of Kazakhstan, the soldiers were still in absolute need, which had always been a concern, but now the Kurds¡¯ eagerness to join the military could be a way to resolve it in one fell swoop.

 Chapter 565 - A Multi-Ethnic Nation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 565: A Multi-Ethnic Nation (1)</h4>


    The assembly nt for Cessna¡¯s eight-seater and 16-seater light airnes waspleted recently. Youngho was excited to hear the prototype would soon be avable.


    Although the light airnes were still the best means of transportation linking the short-range sky route to remote ces, the local production of the light airne would allow people to travel at a lower cost.


    Originally, thepany nned to produce six-seater and eight-seater nes, but it changed its n following a survey that found that there was a high demand for 16-seaters.


    If necessary, the nt was prepared to make 2-seaters or 4-seaters as well, as long as parts were procured.


    As the assembly nt of the light airne waspleted, the royal territory quickly emerged as the ma of Kazakhstan¡¯s aviation industry.


    It was because of the Gripen fighter assembly nt, the Mangus helicopter assembly nt, and the Apache helicopter repair base had already been established now.


    Moreover, an SUV assembly nt and apact truck assembly nt were underway, which excited residents as about a hundred cars would be scheduled to be produced every day in earnest in the first half of next year.


    If a hundred units were to be produced a day, 35,000 units would be produced a year.


    There was also a Russian assembly nt in the eastern part of Kazakhstan, so the country was looking forward to entering the era of individually-owned vehicles in a few years without having to rely on imported cars.


    The residents¡¯ self-esteem was sky-high as such factories were being built and put into operation or nned. Compared to the developed world, it was only a minor step forward, but there were some who believed Kazakhstan could catch up with Europe in a few years.


    There was another exciting news. From the first half of next year, Kazakhstan¡¯s industrial good, the battery cell for electric vehicles, would be exported to Europe.


    Although the product was not solely made by Kazakhstan¡¯s own technology, it was worth to note that it would bebeled as ¡°Made in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Korean battery cells for electric vehicles were dominating the European market at the moment. And since H Corporation was jumping into the market as ater, it decided to locally produce its cells in Kazakhstan to break through high barriers in the European market. This was the case because there were no tariff walls when goods produced in Kazakhstan were exported to the U.S. or Europe.


    The reason Youngho had attracted these factories in the royal territory was to develop the underdeveloped western city of Kazakhstan. With the Kurdish immigrants joining the country, thebor shortage was resolved. This opened the air not only to the necessity forbor force needed but also to the recruitment of soldiers. The military recruitment office was filled with people who wanted to join.


    The Kurdish migration, which began in earnest in May, went on throughout the whole summer and there were already 230,000 people in the royal territory now.


    There were lots of ups and downs in taking in arge number of people, but so far, it was going smoothly without major idents.


    Housing construction projects were also on track, with three-story row houses taking their shape around the new city.


    As Korean builders, who were well-known for their fast-paced hands, had been involved, the pace of the construction had inevitably been fast.


    Another reason for the fast-paced construction was that the weather had been very helpful.


    This was because the summer in Kazakhstan was dry and there was no rain.


    Becausebor costs ounted for a high percentage of construction work, the money invested by the royal family was partially given for Kurdishbor. And, soon, a virtuous circle in which the money was returning to the royal territory began as the Kurds began economic activities with their wages.


    Also, as a lot of construction materials were bought in Kazakhstan, most of the money spent was returning back to Kazakhstan. Only the cost of purchasing construction materials that are not produced in Kazakhstan and the profit margin of constructionpanies were taken out of the country.


    ¡°Eriksson. I felt sorry about having to spend money for construction, but in the end, most of the money that I spent ising back to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I told you that building houses on arge scale can be cost-saving and improving the domestic economy. Thanks to that, the economic growth rate for this year will also rise by a big margin.¡±


    ¡°Would you expect economic growth to rise by the end of the year just by releasing a billion dors?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because the construction industry¡¯s economy affects other rted industries as well. The construction has an effective value that is tens of times the amount of money we spent.¡±


    In other words, since Kazakhstan¡¯s economic power was weak, a slight release of money would boost the economy.


    ¡°I feel good, but the size of the economy is too small to boast about.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to be full with your first spoon of your soup? This year will be different and next year will be different. Consumption has shrunk because the money we¡¯ve earned from resource exports hasn¡¯t gone evenly to the people, and now we¡¯re going to see a different pattern.¡±


    ***


    In September, Kazakhstan was busy with various events.


    In the city of Almaty, an arms industry fair was being held, and ethnic festivals began in various parts of the country.


    Most of the events in Kazakhstan were held in September and October after the harvest season because after that period, people had to start preparing for the winter.


    The reason why the military fair was moved forward to the end of September was because it would get colder already in October.


    The royal family was required to attend the events of each ethnic group to honor it, but there were about 30 folk festivals scattered around the country that the royal family could not attend all of them together. So, the family decided to attend events separately. Every ethnic event was attended by Youngho, the Queen, Szechenyi, or even Zeynep.


    After experiencing the first year of attending ethnic events, Youngho realized that this was impossible to do in the future since it was exhausting and time-consuming.


    Thus, he was discussing with Prime Minister Kasim to hold a national convention once a year for every ethnic people of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Thanks to the efforts of the royal family, including Her Majesty and Your Highness, the morale of the minorities is very high. Even if it¡¯s a hassle, it¡¯s necessary for you to continue to attend each event.¡±


    ¡°We were lucky to have attended every event this year, but I can¡¯t guarantee next year. I don¡¯t want to let down the people who might be expecting us. So, why don¡¯t we get together at a certain ce and hold a national convention?¡±


    ¡°A national convention?¡±


    ¡°How about holding a sportspetition and a folk performance by each ethnic group, which will help us get to know each other?¡±


    ¡°The event will be huge if all the peoples gather together, and the cost of the event will be enormous. I don¡¯t think the government will be able to handle it. The previous administration attempted to do so, but it stopped because of the cost.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan¡¯s national power will continue to grow in the future. I bet we¡¯ll be able to afford it somehow. If it¡¯s difficult to secure the budget, we¡¯ll pay for it from the royal family.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re willing to pay the cost of the national convention?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s something that the people can unite in, will the cost matter? Ask the Cab members for their opinions and consult with each ethnic group¡¯s representative. Mr. Prime Minister, it¡¯s not just because it¡¯s a hassle to attend each ethnic event. I felt something this time. So far, minorities have responded well to the government¡¯s policies, but we want to keep it that way. It¡¯s a time when they need a sense of solidarity as a member of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I understand your concern. I¡¯ll consult with the cab members ande up with a good n. By the way, most minorities live in the east, but if you decide to host the event in the east, there will be resistance from the people living in the west.¡±


    ¡°The majority of the people living in the west are ethnic Kazakhs, Russians, and Uzbeks, and they have very few poptions. Also, since those people are also living in the east, what would matter?¡±


    ¡°Well, how about this? We can hold one in the spring in the west and another one in the fall in the east.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you and the ministers to decide. I will abide by the decision of the Cab meeting.¡±


    The conversation they had that day was the beginning of the annual World National Convention in Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 566 - A Multi-Ethnic Nation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 566: A Multi-Ethnic Nation (2)</h4>


    Kazakhstan recognized the characteristics of many ethnic groups as they were, and the government was even taking the lead in helping them find their identity.


    Central Asian countries had historically been in a geopolitical position where many people were forced to coexist, so it was also unreasonable to insist on being identified as a particr ethnic group.


    ¡®Kazakhstan¡¯ meant ¡®thend of Kazakhs¡¯ but Kazakhs only upied a little more than half of the poption. Moreover, because Kyrgyzstan became a federal state recently, the Kazakh people were less than half of the whole national poption. Naturally, some called to change the name of the country.


    The problem was the reaction of the ethnic Kazakh people.


    This ce had long been thend of Kazakh people, no matter how many other ethnic groups came in.


    In the wake of such a move, Youngho flew to the capital to convene a ministerial meeting.


    It was not the time to waste national energy on such useless disputes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who asked to change the name of the nation, but it¡¯s only going to split the public opinion. It is uneptable to y public opinion on the matter that needs social consensus. Thisnd is Kazakhstan period.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. Calm down. The name change was mentioned during the previous presidency. It¡¯s a matter that we¡¯ve approached in a very specific way although it didn¡¯t fall through because of the sudden change of government.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it before.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry to mention the former president, but he used various channels to gather opinions to change the name to ¡®Kazakh Eli¡¯ after judging that the nation is being disadvantaged by the name ending in ¡®stan¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how Kazakhstan was disadvantaged by its name.¡±


    Former President Nazarbayev was said to have always disapproved of the nations of Central Asia ending in ¡°stan¡± and tried to remove ¡°stan¡± to differentiate Kazakhstan from other impoverished Central Asian countries.


    However, the name ¡®Kazakh Eli¡¯ which meant ¡®the homnd of the Kazakh people¡¯ invited criticism from representatives of other ethnic groups in the nation.


    ¡°So why is it being brought up again if it¡¯s a finished discussion? Isn¡¯t somebody trying to divide our national opinion? Isn¡¯t it only natural to call it Kazakhstan as it has been? Changing the name of the country doesn¡¯t make much difference. Please sort this out immediately.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it has already risen to the surface, and it won¡¯t just go away. Why don¡¯t we take this opportunity to make a public statement? I think we can have a consensus with a few valid names.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of issues. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll get caught up in changing the country¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this now that Kyrgyzstan has be a federal state. Kyrgyzstan still has a status of an independent state in the international society, so it will be great if there¡¯s a name to call both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s listen to the people¡¯s opinions. We should never do it hastily. If anyone is against it, you should fully exin why we should change the name so that we can eliminate any troubleter on. Then we¡¯ll put it to a referendum and decide. And let¡¯s announce this time that we will hold an annual national convention in the future.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s too expensive. It is also a national loss to bear the heavy expense of the royal family each time. Please reconsider it.¡±


    ¡°The cost can¡¯t be a problem when creating a ce for all ethnic groups to unite. The Royalty has plenty of money, so don¡¯t worry too much. If there is a way for Kazakh people to be one, I will give up anything.¡±


    At the end of Youngho¡¯s words, all the ministers at the meeting stood up and pped. While Youngho was puzzled by their reaction, Prime Minister Kasim came forward to thank him.


    ¡°Your Highness, thank you for leading us to the light. It is a great blessing for our Cab members to work with you. If all ethnic groups unite as one, the future of Kazakhstan will be secured.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you embarrass me. I¡¯m only doing this to show off our unity to other nations.¡±


    The reason why he wanted to spend his precious money and set the stage for national unity was because he wanted to show it to the world. No country would dare to cross a country with a united people.


    ***


    As Kazakhstan regained stability throughout its society, each ethic group began to move actively. Among them, a significant number of Kazakh people who lived overseas began to return to their homnd. It was good news that arge poption ising in.


    This meant that Kazakhstan was bing a better ce for them to live.


    Youngho was looking at the report submitted by Suh Min-seok and found something unusual.


    ¡°What do you mean North Afghans applied for immigration? Are you saying that ethnic Kazakh people are living there as well?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Your Highness. It turns out there are about 30,000 people living there. They¡¯ve applied for migration since the previous government, but it¡¯s been ignored, so they applied again.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t the previous government ept them?¡±


    ¡°They left the time of the Soviet Union to avoid the persecution of Im. Maybe that¡¯s why the previous government didn¡¯t ept it.¡±


    Most of them would be literate if they were to turn their backs on their home country because they did not like themunist system. President Nazarbayev must have not wanted to ept such a defiant group under his dictatorship.


    ¡°Call Director Park. The intelligence service must be checking the status of overseas Kazakhs.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already asked. He said that there¡¯s not much information about the Afghan Kazakhs.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we send our agents to Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re only deployed to the areas where the IS groups are, so we don¡¯t know anything about the people living in the northern part of the country.¡±


    ¡°There must be any group or rtives who remit money there? I¡¯ll ask Director Park myself. Meanwhile, you should visit the Arirang Ind. Find out how much progress has been made in the work of the relic collection. Bring all of them when you return home.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ll go at once.¡±


    His response was unusually swift. It seemed that Suh Min-seok was expecting to get a few gold coins himself.


    ***


    North Afghanistan was a region that had been firmly withstanding the Soviet Union¡¯s invasion of Afghanistan since 1979. It was where the coalition of the Afghan opposition forces were located as the area hadunched joint operations with the U.S. and British forces against the Afghan government, which refused to extradite bin Laden.


    For that reason, the previous government refused to ept the immigration request from Kazakhs who lived in Afghanistan. Russia was also not fond of them either.


    Kazakhs living in northern Afghanistan had also been members of the Northern Alliance for decades.


    Afghanistan was known as a fierce country that had broken away from being a British colony early on and defeated Soviet aggression.


    In any case, they should be taken as a matter of course that Kazakhstan was now stable.


    Since they left the country in opposition to dictatorship, they must be a helpful force in the current political system. It was clear because they still chose toe although the country had adopted a constitutional monarchy now.


    What intrigued Youngho the most was the people¡¯s fighting power that had been umting for a long time.


    ¡°You need to hope for something more feasible. How many Afghan residents do you think would have yed asbatants?¡±


    ¡°They survived decades of civil war and prevented Soviet aggression. This might be a chance for us to get greatbat power.¡±


    ¡°Of the 30,000, only 3,000 must bebat-experienced. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be an addition to our military. Somehow, they¡¯re our people, so we should take them anyway, but don¡¯t expect too much.¡±


    The fact that they were able to deter the formidable armed forces of the Soviet Union only with rifles and portable rocketunchers was probably due to their good use of the terrain, but without the determination to defeat their enemy, it would not have been possible.


    There must be a reason why the U.S. and British regr forces had partnered with the Northern Alliance to carry out the operation to arrest bin Laden, who led the 9/11 terrorist attacks.


    ¡°You sent agents to the area, right?¡±


    ¡°I sent them right after hearing from Suh Min-seok, so we¡¯ll be hearing from them soon. I told them to find out their religious and political tendencies. If they¡¯re a hard-line Im, they¡¯ll be just a pain in the neck even if they¡¯re brought here.¡±


    ¡°They left because they didn¡¯t like themunist system. And they¡¯ve tried toe back to their home country repeatedly.¡±


    They were forced to flee their homnd and take root in civil war because they were in northern Afghanistan and wereter forced to fight Soviet troops. If they had lived with deaths all around them for decades, it was about time to get sick and tired of war.


    Although Park Jong-il dismissed them as a fewbat forces, Youngho believed that their experience of numerous battles over death would be more powerful than any other weapon.


    Although the Kurds were enrolling in the military inrge numbers, Youngho was still feeling hungry for the weak military power of Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 567 - A Multi-Ethnic Nation (3)

    <h4>Chapter 567: A Multi-Ethnic Nation (3)</h4>


    ¡°Afghanistan¡¯s civil war is spreading because of divisions within the political force. Civil war is killing about 10,000 civilians a year. The damage is particrly severe in the north, so people there need to be evacuated immediately.¡±


    ¡°Did you say that all of Afghan Kazakhs wanted to move here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. They seemed to be desperate to request for their migration.¡±


    ¡°Does the leader of the ethnic Kazakh in there know me?¡±


    ¡°Of course. They seemed to have a very good grasp of the situation here.¡±


    ¡°How is the leader¡¯s character?¡±


    ¡°He looked like a schr to me. And it¡¯s my subjective judgment, but I felt like he was a moderate.¡±


    ¡°In what way?¡±


    ¡°He was a very serious man. His eyes were also very clear. The Kazakhs living in northern Afghanistan have a strong respect for him. I think he won¡¯t hurt us.¡±


    ¡°How are they armed?¡±


    ¡°There was nothing remarkable, but their will to protect their viges was strong. They all know how to handle weapons, both men and women.¡±


    The head of the intelligence agents deployed in Afghanistan had returned to the royal territory and was reporting to Youngho about the situation in Afghanistan.


    The Afghan Kazakhs could not withstand the civil war anymore and requested for migration, so agents had been sent to find out what was going on in North Afghanistan.


    ¡°What do you think, Director Park? If we¡¯re going to bring people from where the civil war is going on, we¡¯re going to have to send troops. Would the Afghan government allow it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible if we go through the U.S. government. If we say we¡¯re going to send troops, the U.S. government will take the lead in helping us with anything.¡±


    ¡°Which would be more efficient, to approach from Uzbekistan or Tajikistan?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better to approach from Tajikistan. It¡¯s only a day¡¯s ride from Kyrgyzstan. We will be able to evacuate all the Kazakh people within a month.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to hurry to get them all before it gets cold. Call the Army Chief of Staff and tell him to prepare.¡±


    ¡°Is the Kazakh Army going to be mobilized this time?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m talking about the Kyrgyz Army. They¡¯ve been idling around the Chinese border these days. Let¡¯s make them work out at this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Give Her Majesty¡¯s directive. Then I¡¯ll make an order right away. The Chief of Staff of the Kyrgyz Army would be excited.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to call Chief Michael after a long time.¡±


    ¡°Just ask for a lot of money for the troop dispatch.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re only staying there for a little while. How can I charge them for the Army¡¯s stay?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? While they¡¯re there, they¡¯ll have to work as a peacekeeper.¡±


    ¡°What? Why would we involve in another¡¯s civil war?¡±


    ¡°That way, we¡¯ll have a reason to keep our troops in Tajikistan. Are you going to throw that away?¡±


    Tajikistan was a poor country and the Kazakh government had been providing some loans, grain, and daily necessities since the new government.


    Tajikistan stretched over 3,000 meters above sea level, and its farnd was absolutely scarce due to 93 percent of its territory being mountainous.


    Although the world did not pay attention to the country, it was where a lot of earth resources such as gold, silver, coal, and aluminum were and was a very important ce in geopolitics. That was why the Kazakh government had been working on it.


    On the east side, it was bordering China¡¯s Xinjiang Uyghur and Afghanistan on the south, so Kazakhstan was helping it as a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.


    On one hand, it was also aimed at keeping a close eye on China who was eyeing Tajikistan as well.


    ¡°Are you trying to transfer the country into a federal state?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of choice for the people of Tajikistan, but it¡¯s a very important strategic ce. So why not? We have to take control of the Pamir teau to pressure China.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to Michael. He ordered us not to provoke China...¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to be wary of China because the Afghan civilians and the hard-line Imic groups are looking over Tajikistan.¡±


    ***


    Youngho immediately called Michael in the United States.


    -Are you saying you¡¯re going to send troops to Afghanistan?


    ¡°Yes, Chief. We n to stay there only until the Kazakh people withdraw, so will it be possible?¡±


    -Then we¡¯ll have to cooperate. We will persuade the Afghan government, so if you want to send troops, make them work as a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan for a while. That¡¯ll be a breather for our intelligence service. What do you think?


    ¡°We¡¯ll also consider a long-term upation on the Tajikistan border as long as the civilians are safely withdrawn from Afghanistan.¡±


    An answer that Youngho wanted to hear came out of Michael¡¯s lips.


    Michael seemed to think that there was a good justification for stationing troops in Tajikistan.


    -It¡¯s not going to be so effective if you¡¯re stationed only in the border area. I¡¯d like you to have some presence in Afghanistan as well.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be so difficult. We¡¯ll actively review it.¡±


    -Great! The Duke of Kazakhstan is finally saving my face.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been indebted to you every time. I¡¯m d that I can pay you back.¡±


    -Then I will consult with the government to fully cover the cost of stationing troops in Afghanistan.


    The U.S. and Britain were the only countries to send peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan, and it had been getting out of their hands. Due to such a situation, Michael was happy to hear that Kazakhstan was going to deploy troops as well, so he was luring Youngho by saying that the U.S. would cover the expense.


    The fatigue of U.S. forces there must be high. In Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers may be targets of attack, but there was no force to take hostile action against Kazakhstan.


    So Michael¡¯s suggestion was intended to promote the safety of U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan as well.


    ¡°Chief, even if our troops are deployed, we won¡¯t be out of the North.¡±


    -Let¡¯s have that discussedter. I¡¯ll visit the royal territory soon with good news.


    ¡°You¡¯re always wee here. First of all, could you make an arrangement to ensure the safe evacuation of the Kazakh people in Afghanistan? We are nning to send escort troops through Tajikistan. I¡¯d like you to open up some borders there.¡±


    -I¡¯ll call the Afghan government in advance. Do you need anything else?


    ¡°Is there any way to stop the fighting between the rebels and the government for the time being? I¡¯m afraid civilians will get hurt while they¡¯re on the move.¡±


    -We can¡¯t guarantee that because the North is beyond our control. I¡¯ll ask the Afghan government to cooperate, but it won¡¯t be easy because the fighting forces are so furious.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be helpful if the word could be spread out that the Kazakh Army is escorting overseas Kazakhs.¡±


    ***


    While Youngho was still discussing with Park Jong-il at his office after he was done talking to Michael on the phone, Cho Chul-hwan stepped in to discuss the royal bodyguards as Youngho ordered to pick some to be deployed in Afghanistan as well before.


    ¡°Did you pick the royal bodyguards who will be stationed in Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me. All of them are fighting over about who gets to go. So I¡¯ve formed three squadrons. We need to deploy one squadron in the area where the Kyrgyz Army is stationed as well. They¡¯re so excited to think it¡¯s an opportunity to build their hands-on experience.¡±


    ¡°Tell them not to underestimate Afghanistan. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll get caught up in the fighting, so make sure to train them strictly before you send troops.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to go there too. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°What? You think it makes sense that themander of the Royal Bodyguards is going to vacate his authority?¡±


    ¡°I need to learn how the situation is like there. I¡¯m quite worried.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan and Park Jong-il tried to get out of the royal territory whenever they had a chance because they hated sitting at their desks as the head of each department.


    It was the same with Youngho, but since it would be risky if the chief executive was exposed to danger, he was holding back as much as possible.


    ¡°Is your body getting itchy now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not suitable to be a head person.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you think someone is born to be that person? You two still want to be on active duty even though you¡¯ll turn 40 soon. Know your age, dudes. And also, think about your family waiting at home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to take a breath of fresh air there ande back. I¡¯m the captain of the Royal Bodyguards. I should know the local atmosphere where my underlings are deployed.¡±


    ¡°Then contact the Kyrgyz forces in advance and move with them. Don¡¯t linger there bute right back.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t stay long. I¡¯m just going to check the route where the migrants will be using and return. I¡¯m honestly worried that there are battles going on everywhere.¡±


    Both the decision to send troops to the disputed area to escort the civilians and the reason for making an obvious movement was part of the strategy for national reconciliation. What would the majority of Kazakhs think of the royal family and the government if they were to take risks and pursue overseas Kazakhs in Afghanistan?


    In line with changing the name of the nation, the national opinion would be unified, and trust in the royal family and the government would soar.


    It was a risky operation but also necessary for national harmony and a golden opportunity to win the hearts of ordinary people.

 Chapter 568 - Tension in the Pamir Plateau (1)

    <h4>Chapter 568: Tension in the Pamir teau (1)</h4>


    Tajikistan faced China on the border over the huge Pamir teau, which was in the middle of a border dispute with China, with as many as 28,000 square kilometers ofnd that China imed to be its territory.


    China had recently unterally halted border disputes in order to not provoke Tajikistan for its One Belt One Road project expansion through the Pamir teau. Going through Tajikistan was also the only way to advance to the Middle East from China¡¯s position. As a result, roads built in China werepleted in the Pamir teau, where all the daily necessities of China began pouring in. The fact that Tajikistan was home to gold, coal, and even gas and oil was another reason to buy Tajikistan¡¯s favor for China.


    However, there was an unprecedented tension in the Tajikistan border region when there was a rumor that Kazakhstan-led forces were going through Tajikistan to Afghanistan. The Chinese border guards were staging a show of force as they sharply increased the number of troops.


    As the situation was urgent, the intelligence and defense ministries of Kazakhstan were proposing to send an army to Tajikistan in a hurry.


    ¡°The movement of the Chinese army is serious?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Your Highness. There¡¯s been a report that Chinese troops are being added to the Pamir teau.¡±


    ¡°What is the reaction of the government of Tajikistan?¡±


    ¡°The Russian army in Tajikistan has deployed a battalion along the border, and the Tajik police officers have joined the border patrol in a hurry.¡±


    Russian troops were stationed in Tajikistan on a regr basis. Most of them had been withdrawn now and only about the size of a battalion-scale army and air defense unit were left.


    ¡°What? Does it make sense to send police forces to protect the border?¡±


    ¡°The Border Patrol is also a paramilitary militia.¡±


    To hear that the border guards were a militia group, Youngho felt bad. Tajikistan was known to have the worst military power among the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The country had been relying on Russia¡¯s military power.


    ¡°We cannot remain silent as a military ally because we are the one who have created the tension at the border. Please notify the Tajik President that our military will be deployed there soon.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we should let Russia know?¡±


    ¡°We should. Russia has been reducing its forces in Tajikistan sincest year due to the cost of stationing. Please notify the Russian side that our troops will be stationed instead of their troops.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to get some surplus munitions in exchange from Russia. China fears the Russian air defensework deployed in Tajikistan. If Russia takes it when its troops withdraw, it¡¯ll be a problem.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Russia will demand a high price for leaving it behind.¡±


    A withdrawal from Tajikistan meant that Russia would let go of its influence over the country, so there was no reason for Russia to leave an expensive missile air defense facility behind.


    ¡°Do you n to station our forces there on a regr basis?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We need to stop both China and the Afghan hard-liners from entering the fragile Tajikistan border. If Tajikistan is breached, the Kyrgyz border will have to be strengthened, and eventually, that will cost us more.¡±


    Words like gunfire, terrorism, poverty, and despair that were heard asionally in the city should be reminiscent of Syria, but unfortunately, it was Tajikistan that had such a dishonor.


    Tajikistan became famous because of the Pamir teau, but it was slowly dying down due to its ruggedness. No further development could be expected as it was the Pamir teau, where it was tougher than Tibet or Nepal.


    In addition, the ethnic conflict that coincided with the copse of the Soviet Union had made the ce more regressive than it was during the Soviet era.


    Officially, the civil war was over, but unofficially, it was still going on. Without Moscow¡¯s narrow support and aid, it would not have been strange to be erased from the map.


    For Russia, Tajikistan had been a pain in the neck, as it had been like filling a bottomless vessel that showed no signs of improvement no matter how much aid it gave.


    With Russia¡¯s economic difficulties, it was now in no position to help Tajikistan anymore.


    ***


    The tension, sparked by the increase of Chinese troops in the Pamir teau, culminated with the dispatch of Kazakh forces to Tajikistan.


    Soldiers from three countries, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan were crowded at the border.


    Meanwhile, a squadron of Kyrgyz border guards was on standby in the Tajikistan-Afghan border for Afghan Kazakh evacuation operation.


    It was waiting for the U.S. to intervene because Kazakhstan could not unterally send troops to Afghanistan because it was not a military alliance.


    To secure the migration route from Afghanistan and Tajikistan, a special train was arranged early on using the railway between the two countries.


    Although Tajikistan was said to be economically underdeveloped, the interstate and rail links to neighboring countries had been restored. It was because China had its eye on Tajikistan¡¯s underground resources.


    China had poured hundreds of millions of dors into building the Pamir Highway and restoring tunnels and bridges that were destroyed and damaged by the civil war.


    China, which had been so rxed that it had all the gold mines of Tajikistan in its hands for the various construction costs that it paid to restore Tajikistan¡¯s roads, was devastated by the news like the bolt from the blue.


    It was a big deal for China, which thought it could seize Tajikistan at any time if Russian troops withdrew.


    In addition, Kazakhstan was now holding it back. China had never dreamed that the Kazakh military would rece the vacancy of the Russian troops after they were withdrawn. Its efforts to take Tajikistan were about to be wasted.


    ***


    The migration of Kazakhs living in Afghanistan was proceeding without much trouble, but tensions in the Pamir teau, the border area of China and Tajikistan, grew bigger day by day.


    The U.S. was also perplexed when problems red up in an unexpected way.


    It was expected that China would respond sensitively to the situation, but the U.S. had no idea that China would be so furious at the stationing of the Kazakh military in Tajikistan.


    Even though Tajikistan was a member of a Commonwealth of Independent States, China was ironically heated as if foreign troops had been forced into its territory.


    Michael¡¯s arrival at the royal territory was at the time when the militaries of both sides were increasing their number of mechanized units along the border.


    ¡°It¡¯s such an unexpected situation that we didn¡¯t even think about.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that the U.S. Intelligence Service didn¡¯t expect that much.¡±


    ¡°What surprises me is that China did not pour a huge amount for restoring Tajikistan. It¡¯s acting too sensitively.¡±


    ¡°It could be an emotional reaction or a show. ¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, Duke?¡±


    ¡°China has lost the gold mine in Uzbekistan because of us, and maybe it¡¯s worried about losing it again in Tajikistan, so it¡¯s overreacting.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be. As far as we know, the entire Tajik gold mine has only five hundred tons of reserves. Would China risk that much for such an amount of gold reserve?¡±


    ¡°You know in detail about other countries¡¯ resources.¡±


    ¡°You think the US CIA doesn¡¯t have that much information? I also know that Tajikistan has 60,000 tons of silver and 1.4 billion tons of coal.¡±


    ¡°It looks like the U.S. is as greedy as China.¡±


    In response to Youngho¡¯s remark, Michael seemed to be asking why Youngho was acting as if that was something unnatural. In many cases, the U.S. had been providing military aid and loans to take resources from less developed countries at cheap prices. This was also a basic strategy for many other developed countries.


    Each country¡¯s intelligence services were also turning into an organization that ced more importance on the economic side than on political maneuvering as they did in the past.


    ¡°Listening to you, China seems to be suffering from delusions.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s noughing matter. We don¡¯t know what China¡¯s next step would be over this matter. I don¡¯t know why you are not worried. Maybe you trust Russia on this, but we¡¯re not the same as we used to be. Now the U.S. has decided not to be nosy in other countries¡¯ matters and interfere anywhere unless it¡¯s necessary. That¡¯s why I rushed here. China¡¯s power should not be ignored. You need to know that it¡¯s a country you shouldn¡¯t bump into as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just fulfilling ourmitments among the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States.¡±


    ¡°The treaty between countries is often ignored by higher powers.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that if it interferes with China¡¯s interests, the Commonwealth of Independent States is none of China¡¯s business.¡±


    ¡°That is highly possible. There¡¯s a high chance that you¡¯ll have to fight each other this time.¡±


    In modern times, there was nothing much about a struggle between countries. It would be the level of conflict on the border at worst.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the U.S. is not in a position to be involved if there was a national war.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, our direct intervention will be difficult. Instead, we will provide real-time information about the area via our military satellites.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not enough. We need more air defenses. We¡¯re fighting China on behalf of the West. You¡¯re not asking me to handle it alone, are you?¡±

 Chapter 569 - Tension in the Pamir Plateau (2)

    <h4>Chapter 569: Tension in the Pamir teau (2)</h4>


    Hearing that Afghan Kazakhs were leaving Afghanistan, Kurdish Afghans in neighboring viges followed the migration.


    They were also strangers in Afghanistan.


    The endless civil war was getting tiring for them as well. Knowing that Syrian Kurds were moving to Kazakhstan, there was nothing more to hesitate about leaving their own viges.


    Moreover, the fact that there was a Kurdish princess in the Kazakh royal family was another reason that made them decide to move.


    Although the Kurds living in the northern Afghanistan were fewer than 10,000, they were fierce that they did not let the government forces or rebel forces get close to their viges as they were known to take vengeance to any group that harmed their people.


    ¡°So, there are Kurds who are living in Afghanistan, too?¡±


    ¡°Most of them have moved from Iran to Afghanistan.¡±


    It seemed that the Kurds who did not have their own country were pushed out of Iran and settled in Afghanistan.


    It was fortunate that the ethnic Kurds and Kazakhs in Afghanistan had been helping each other to survive. Otherwise, it would have been noisy with the issue of epting Afghan Kurds. Although they were Kurds, they were quite different from the Syrian Kurds.


    Thenguage was different, but even the living culture was very different.


    ¡°Can you find out if there¡¯s another Kurdish force in Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°Even if there is, it¡¯s not easy to get them to the North. The country is too dangerous to even move freely. We have no choice but tell them to make it to the Tajik border area on their own after the civil war has calmed down a little.¡±


    ¡°Are the intelligence agents out in Afghanistan safe?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always concerned about them since they¡¯re always in danger. But they can take care of themselves.¡±


    ¡°When the evacuation is over, call them in, too. We don¡¯t need to collect information from Afghanistan anyway.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t you need our agents if our forces are to work as the peacekeeping force there?¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be any hostile force against the peacekeepers in Afghanistan.¡±


    ¡°What did Chief Michael say?¡±


    ¡°He wanted us to station arge army there but I drew a line. The U.S. won¡¯t be able to intervene even if there is a regional war in the Pamir teau. If so, there is no reason for us to remain in Afghanistan because the U.S. says it is difficult to intervene.¡±


    Michael was confident that there would not be a major conflict with China in the region, but Youngho did not think so.


    ¡°He at least confirmed that China won¡¯t stay still.¡±


    ¡°He said there would be a provocation in some way. It means that China will no longer sit idly by and watch us hold them back every time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to hurry up and get our forces ready. We can¡¯t get everything from a military satellite, so we need to send more agents to Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of making a position right now if theyunched an offensive now? It would be faster to make a deal with Russia. Russia is also feeling burdened by the direct confrontation with China, so I¡¯ll ask the Russian government to support only the air defensework. If we say we can handle Tajikistan, it won¡¯t refuse.¡±


    ¡°What if Russia withdrawspletely? They¡¯re pulling out their forces even now.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Russia will give up Central Asia that easily?¡±


    That would mean abandoning its duty as a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and no matter how much a toothless tiger Russia was, it would never give up its influence on the member states of the region.


    ***


    Migration of Afghan Kazakhs and Kurds was processing in a prompt way.


    It was because it would not be strange if a battle broke out at any time on the Pamir teau.


    When the migrants crossed the Tajik border and reached Kyrgyzstan, they stayed in pre-arranged temporary camps for a while until they entered Kazakhstan.


    Migration of 40,000 people was not a difficult task because Kazakhstan had experiences that had been umting. If there was a shortage of temporary camps, they were transported to Uyghur¡¯s temporary camp near Almaty.


    The domestic atmosphere was very warm as people were even fund-raising campaigns across the country to helppatriots from Afghanistan


    People were also joining the rumor that the royal family was paying for the relocation.


    Meanwhile, operations were also underway to introduce nomadic people living in the Pamir teau to Kazakhstan. It was because the Kazakh government decided not to leave civilians in danger zones.


    In the empty spots where the nomadic people had left, the Kyrgyz mountainbatants took ce. They were rtively well adapted to the Pamir teau as they had been training and traveling the hignds of the Tian Shan Mountains with ease in Kyrgyzstan.


    The residential areas of the Pamir teau that were left behind were built to ovee harsh climate conditions and could not be better for soldiers to stay. As their houses were built of thick earth walls and stones, they were almost sturdy as bunkers rather than houses.


    Nomadic tribes in the Pamir teau had been living without the concept of nationality or border since they were living in the mountains.


    Although Tajik militia had been guarding their territory, China imed it was itsnd because there were also nomadic Uyghurs in the area.


    There, Tajikistan workers and militias had currently built a base.


    Youngho and other leaders of the Kazakh Army were touring the scene under the guidance of the leader of the Tajik militia.


    October on the Pamir teau was already in the middle of winter, so everyone was wearing thick winter clothes.


    ¡°You¡¯ve had a hard time in a ce like this. How are you holding up in the middle of winter when it¡¯s already this cold?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not too cold for us since we¡¯ve lived our whole life in this condition. This year, I will not be aware of the cold weather thanks to the winter gear gifted to the whole militia by the Kazakh royal family. Thank you again for your consideration.¡±


    ¡°Of course I should help. We are allies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m grateful for the winter gears but I¡¯m more than happy because of the heavy weapons. We¡¯ve been ridiculed China¡¯s border guards for our meager armament...¡±


    ¡°In the future, we will provide light-armored vehicles and tanks in the border.¡±


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re going to supply us with the new armored vehicles that Kyrgyz mountaineers drive?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be necessary for you to patrol in the winter, so I¡¯m going to deploy about 20 units first. And we¡¯ll rece your personal equipment with new ones right away.¡±


    ¡°If you do that, I won¡¯t have a wish.¡±


    The only weapons of the Pamir teau militia were AK rifles and portable rocketunchers.


    There was a multiple rocketuncher, but it was not ssified as a heavy firearm. Due to its old age, its operation was highly doubtful, so it was used only for exhibition purposes.


    For such a humble armed militia, the tactical light-armored vehicle produced in Kazakhstan was like dream equipment, especially when their only means of transportation were horses and yaks.


    In addition to that, the helmets with headset and night-vision goggles also served as a protection against the cold as well as bullets, the militiamen were so excited.


    Thebat ration that the Kazakh forces brought was also an extraordinary thing. It was because they had never heard of any food that could be cooked in an instant with its own heat. It was different from oat bread, which they got hungry not long after they ate it.


    Watching themander of the militia, Youngho and his party were smiling to each other.


    It is like winning the hearts of the Tajik people if they could capture the minds of the militias.


    At this point, Youngho drove in a wedge.


    ¡°Do militiamen get paid regrly?¡±


    ¡°Even ifte, we normally get paid fine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this because I know what¡¯s going on in your country, so don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯d like to give a special allowance to the militiamen from the Kazakh government, at least during the joint operations in the border area. What do you think of it,mander?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re offering us an allowance?¡±


    ¡°I know the militiamen¡¯s families are having a hard time, and I just want to give a little help. My men are in charge of the militia, so I don¡¯t want them to worry.¡±


    Although they were working in the worst conditions, they had high self-esteem as they were guarding the border with a sense of mission and duty. Youngho did not want to hurt their pride, so he expressed his intention to indirectly help their soldiers under the pretext of helping Kyrgyz soldiers.


    At Youngho¡¯s words, the militia leader¡¯s expression brightened immediately. He seemed willing to ept it if he gave a helping hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame to even say, but the sry of soldiers in Tajikistan is only enough for them to avoid starvation. We can¡¯t even dream of feeding our families on the payroll of a militia. No one would stay here without the will to protect the country. I¡¯m thrilled to hear that you¡¯re concerned about our living conditions even though you¡¯re providing high-tech weapons to us. Without shame, I will be grateful if you showpassion to the needy militia.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d you didn¡¯t refuse. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m not doing this because I want something from you. I do this to ensure the safety of our soldiers.¡±


    ¡°How can I not know your deep consideration for us? If you would do that, the morale of the militia will soar. I¡¯m just grateful for your consideration.¡±

 Chapter 570 - Tension in the Pamir Plateau (3)

    <h4>Chapter 570: Tension in the Pamir teau (3)</h4>


    The construction to move the Russian air defense artillery battery was now in process at about 50 kilometers rearward from the frontline of the Pamir teau. It had been deployed along the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan until recently.


    Russia, which invaded Afghanistan during the Soviet era but retreated after years of heavy damage due to fighting, was no longer able to set foot in Afghanistan after the U.S. intervened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.


    Russia intended to keep U.S. troops in check by keeping Russian troops in Tajikistan on a permanent basis, but it was also daunting due to its national economic difficulties.


    That was why Russia handed it over when Kazakhstan said it would rece the role.


    Russia was not the only one to do so quickly.


    The U.S. also promised to provide two air defense artillery batteries in response to Youngho¡¯s request.


    The reason that the two superpowers were not directly operating their air defense batteries battalions but providing them to Tajikistan was that they felt ufortable dealing with China directly.


    This was proof that China¡¯s power had be stronger.


    Youngho, who knew what was behind the two countries¡¯ decisions, felt rather rxed.


    There was little to lose in exchange of fire in a deste ce where there was not a grain of grass. He was confident that the air defensework was enough to neutralize China¡¯s air force.


    That self-confidence was based on the very existence of the mountain troops.


    The reason for the deployment of mountain units along the Chinese border in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was not to prevent ground troops from invading the country, but to deter fighter jets or attack helicopters.


    The mountain unit had thetest Stinger portable surface-to-air missiles.


    The Stinger missiles earned fame for their great work in Afghanistan.


    The attack helicopter ¡®Hind,¡¯ deployed in 1979 by the Soviet Union with the invasion of Afghanistan, was notorious as it was known as a ¡®butcher¡¯ in Afghanistan. It was seen as a symbol of fear to the local Mujahideen guerris, but with Stinger which the guerris were provided with by the U.S. Intelligence Service, they could shoot down not only the ¡®Hind¡¯ but even fighters.


    Stinger was a missile capable of aiming at an altitude of 3,500 meters with a maximum effective range of 5.5 kilometers, which could be carried by an infantryman. It could also track the target on its own after theunch, boasting a high hit rate regardless of the shooter¡¯s ability. It was an excellent weapon operated by 20 countries including the U.S. as a major defense official even after 25 years of deployment.


    This was why Youngho was full of confidence because the mountain unit was equipped with a lot of Stinger missiles.


    ¡°Your Highness. Please leave one battalion of mountaineering troops behind when the Russian troops leave and pull back all of the other troops to the rear.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the Chinese forces notice it soon?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you to pull back. We need them to believe that we didn¡¯t leave much of a force here. That¡¯ll get us to the target area more easily.¡±


    ¡°Can you stop the Chinese army with only mobile missiles and rocketunchers?¡±


    ¡°It is possible because the ce where the militia is located is on a hignd. Our soldiers can easily hide from the enemy¡¯s eyes. A little support from the air defense and artillery units in the rear will give them a high chance of sess. If the camp is found, we can retreat to a secret cave, so we don¡¯t have to worry about the soldiers getting hurt.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the tactic that the Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan used to deal with the Soviet army.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re going to fight guerri warfare because we¡¯re outnumbered.¡±


    The militiamander, who exined the general operation n to Youngho, looked confident. He showed a strong will to directly deal with the Chinese military.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about the few that will be left behind at the front. They¡¯ll be seriously outnumbered.¡±


    ¡°For us, it¡¯ll be more effective to move with a few best soldiers. And as you know, the Pamir teau is so far from maind China that the supply route is long, and winter is just around the corner, which is advantageous for us. I don¡¯t know how great China¡¯s equipment is, but there aren¡¯t many of them to survive the winter here. Likewise, this is a ce that can¡¯t be tolerated by any man unless you¡¯re familiar with the teau. In the winter, you get only about 30 minutes of activity time outside.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean no high-tech equipment is going to work in the Pamir teau?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll still work, but it won¡¯t perform to its best capability. Of course, we¡¯re in the same position, but this is our home. In Pamir, which is almost the pr region, the battle has to be fought in the Pamir way.¡±


    Youngho had to agree with the militiamander since the militia was the backbone of Tajikistan.


    Over 3,500-5,000 meters above sea level was where nature denied human ess in the first ce. In a ce like this, the answer to survival was to follow the words of the people who had been living there.


    Youngho could physically feel it because his toes were frozen despite the mystical ring¡¯s power and winter gears even though it was only the end of October. He wondered how many Chinese soldiers would be able to withstand the biting cold and high altitude.


    ¡°We have enough battle food, so don¡¯t spare it when you distribute it to the soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, can we possibly get morebat food?¡±


    ¡°I thought a sufficient amount was being supplied. Are you¡¯re saying that¡¯s not enough?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed but I¡¯d like to send some to the families of our militiamen.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll be paid for their work soon, but is that not enough?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just we can¡¯t buy these nutritious foods even if we had money. The soldiers are saving their supplies and sending them home. They feel bad for their family members.¡±


    ¡°What? I can¡¯t let the soldiers starve because they¡¯re worried about their families in the back. It¡¯s something to be governed by militaryw, but after hearing the story, I can¡¯t help it. Tell them to send some home because I¡¯ll supply enoughbat food.¡±


    Youngho knew Tajikistan was a poor country, but he did not imagine that the degree would be this bad. It made no sense to reduce the amount ofbat rations given to individual soldiers to send them home.


    It was also a shock to hear that even with money, it was not easy to buy food in the area.


    It was surprising that people were suffering from a food shortage despite the grain sent to Tajikistan as an aid. This meant that the grain received in aid was not being properly distributed to residents. It was evident that the Tajikistan government was corrupt or that public officials were not doing their jobs properly.


    If that was true, local people would not feel sorry even if the government was overruled.


    There was now another reason to absorb Tajikistan.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, please get as muchbat food as you can and send it to the Pamir teau.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a big deal. The Kurdish settlers have been asking forbat food, so we have not met the demand for the royal territory in time. We need to expand thebat food factory again. The Siberian market is also asking for more supply.¡±


    ¡°Keep what¡¯s being sent to the city of Krasnoyarsk and hold off on supplying it to the Kurds for a while. We have to turn to Tajikistan first. It¡¯s more urgent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll contact Eti the Turkish foodpany to check if we can import finished products.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and I¡¯d like you to discuss the extension of the factory with Eti, too.¡±


    Combat food was literally a snack for soldiers operating in the field, but Central Asian people thought of it as a delicacy.


    They lived in a ce where there was so little to eat that the nutritious and high-caloriebat food was in the limelight as a great meal. This meant that their lives had been difficult.


    Thebat food was not the only concern.


    The lightweight, heat-resistance winter clothes were popr among not only soldiers but alsomon people, so they ran out of stock as soon as they were produced.


    Although there was a uniform made of animal skins, it was rugged and heavy, which had significantly reduced people¡¯s activity.


    ¡°We need to prepare more winter clothes. How¡¯s the situation at the factory?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re operating very slowly because we don¡¯t have enough skilled workers. It won¡¯t be able to produce until after a few more months.¡±


    The royal territory was operating a clothing manufacturing nt to provide jobs for the Kurds, but because they were not as skilled as expected, the royal territory could not supply clothes to spend for the Kurdish settlers¡¯ demand.


    ¡°We need to build some more clothing factories in Kazakhstan. We can¡¯t even handle domestic demand.¡±


    ¡°The reason is that most factories have been shut down due to Chinese products. There¡¯s no pricepetition. We have to reduce our imports, even by imposing tariffs on Chinese products.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still too early to do that with our current economy. We have no choice but to use Chinese products until the domestic industry is revitalized.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying we¡¯re going to impose tariffs on all items, but let¡¯s test out somepetitive products.¡±


    Kazakhstan would have a poption of 20 million if all Kurds moved.


    If the poption of Kyrgyz and Tajik people were added, it would be 33 million, so domestic consumption alone could turn the economy around.


    However, domesticpanies, which had lost apetitive edge due to cheap Chinese products, were not able to hold out.


    In order to foster the domestic industry, imports of Chinese products should be prevented, but artificial blockages could cause side effects of rising prices.


    It was evident that the impact of Chinese products on the economy of the working ss was so great.


    Other Central Asian countries were no exception. If there were no daily necessities from China, problems would arise immediately.


    Since there was not even enough number of domestic factories to meet the domestic need, there was no way of beating Chinese products. When thinking about how to drive out the Chinese products, Youngho could not help but sigh.


    <h4>Comment (0)</h4>


    COMMENT FIRSTRate this chapterVote with Power Stone<h4>Chapter 571: A New Ally (1)</h4>


    ¡°ording to satellite reading, they have 26 tanks and 52 armored vehicles. I think they¡¯re doing a proper show of force, so why don¡¯t we do the same in response?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s make them suffer in the cold for a while. As soon as they approach the teau, half of their equipment will stop working because of the severe cold. By the way, what is the result of the Tajik government¡¯s protest against the Chinese government?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government yed innocent by saying that it¡¯s only a normal military training.¡±


    ¡°I knew it. China wouldn¡¯t have even sniffed.¡±


    It was spotted by military satellites provided by the United States and Britain that Chinese troops in Xinjiang Uyghur that were stationed along the border had been moving along since several days ago.


    Since there were too many tanks and armored vehicles for a routine training, Park Jong-il suspected if the Chinese force was nning to immediately push in.


    ¡°What if they push in without notice?¡±


    ¡°Of course, weunch an attack if they crossed the border.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to fight against China?¡±


    China may be judging that the Tajikistan coalition would not respond immediately by its intimidating armed protest.


    ¡°I¡¯m so ready for it.¡±


    ¡°There is no guarantee that it will end in a local battle. Why are you so rxed?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don`t worry, even China will not do anything thoughtlessly. It¡¯ll be foolish of it to make a border dispute of a full-scale war. It¡¯ll be an international problem for China to have provoked a weak country. And what about its One Belt One Road business?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned that the border conflict in the Pamir area is not just going to be today¡¯s problem.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid it¡¯s going to be a prolonged conflict?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If the boring battle continues in the middle of nowhere, it only adds to our fatigue. China is not going to get damaged by a lot because of its size, but not us.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not thinking to give up some of the borders, do you?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to make apromise than to take a pristine wastnd and waste our time and resources?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to continue the tedious battle there. When we make apromise, we have to act strong. That will make our negotiation easy.¡±


    It was easier to find apromise when both parties confronted each other strongly.


    A boring war of attrition only deepened the emotional bonds of each other.


    Rather, it was necessary to take an aggressive action to surprise the world. Then someone woulde forward and mediate, and the best scenario was to pretend that you could not help butply ande up with an appropriate agreement.


    The reason why Youngho insisted on even fighting against China was to take Tajikistan.


    The royal family would stand out only when battles, big or small, took ce in the Pamir teau.


    It was important to be seen that Kazakhstan had tried its best to protect Tajikistan even at a time when Russia, which was a blood ally of Tajikistan, was withdrawing. It was a good promotion of Kazakhstan when it was known to have poured huge amounts of money into protecting Tajikistan, as it would appeal to the people of Tajikistan that Kazakhstan protected it at the expense of an economic loss.


    The issue of incorporation into a federal state would naturally arise only when the situation was led to a turmoil in which Tajikistan could not support the country with its own ability.


    If the public epted the reality that there was no choice but to rely on Kazakhstan economically and militarily, the Tajikistan government¡¯s raison d¡¯etre would disappear.


    Relying on foreign powers for national defense would be the government itself admitting to being ipetent. It would be sorry for the Tajik people, but it was the reality.


    ***


    ¡°Eriksson, are gold coins that valuable?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s well-preserved, it¡¯ll cost higher.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be worth less if it were to be released in bulk?¡±


    ¡°There is a scarcity value, so no matter how many are released in the market, that won¡¯t happen.¡±


    The gold coins found on the Arirang Ind in the Aegean Sea of Greece had beenmon in Europe since the 15th century.


    The gold coins, which have been minted and circted many times, were not as clear as new, but collectors were turning their eyes over to possess them.


    It was the power of time that raised the coins¡¯ value.


    Since limited supplies and fictitious demands were added, it was natural for prices to go up.


    Youngho could not help but be pleased that the auction price was set at 20 times more than the current value of pure gold. The high price was caused by the collectors¡¯petition.


    ¡°But we will not be releasing more coins in the open market. Since it¡¯s already known that we possess gold coins of the Age of Exploration, collectors who want to buy them themselves wille to us.¡±


    ¡°You said that the prices will go up throughpetition, but you want to do direct sales now?¡±


    ¡°Among the collectors, there are bankers and entrepreneurs. Arab royal families are also there, too. They want to keep the artifacts regardless of price since it also makes a very useful business gift.¡±


    ¡°I see. So, they¡¯ll pay whatever the price is.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯lle to buy so as to show off their high social position.¡±


    Royal families in oil-producing countries in the Middle East were big hands with enormous purchasing power.


    They would purchase yachts that cost hundreds of millions of dors if they wanted and even professional sports clubs that would easily cost them billions of dors to make money.


    Likewise, vanity to show-off their purchasing power of the billionaires of India and other developing countries could not be ignored.


    Any wealthy people who had acquired global corporations after starting from nothing would want to show off their economic power.


    ***


    Prince Al-Sarki of the United Arab Emirates visited the royal territory, as Eriksson predicted.


    Prince Al-Sarki was the man who controlled the intelligence department due to the influence of his father, one of the seven UAE rulers.


    Royal family members of the United Arab Emirates usually had a luxurious home and several wives around the world, but Crown Prince Al-Sarki was living as if he had built a wall with such things. To put it simply, he was the most sensible Arab monarchy among others.


    Such a figure made a surprise visit through the Kazakh Intelligence Service to inform his intent to visit and made a move in less than two days.


    No matter how greedy for the gold coins he was, Youngho was curious why he moved such urgently.


    Youngho would be facing the prince and his family, who entered the royal pce in the morning, at the dinner table this evening.


    ¡°Your Highness, Crown Prince Al-Sarki wants to have intelligence exchange with us.¡±


    ¡°To buy a gold coin was only to show to the outside world.¡±


    ¡°That is most likely. Of course, he won¡¯t hide his desire for gold coins, but the purpose is to have an exchange with our royal family. For your information, Crown Prince is also a major customer of the Swedish Information Agency.¡±


    ¡°It looks like he has a wide circle of acquaintance.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s also personally quite close to Mr. Basten.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t understand why they¡¯re trying to share information with us because we don¡¯t have much contact with the United Arab Emirates.¡±


    ¡°They already know that we¡¯ll be making a foray into the Persian Gulf through Iran. He probably has military exchanges in mind.¡±


    The Southern railroad construction which started in Baku was nearing its end and would be in operation next year.


    Then, Kazakhstan would be able to advance directly to the Indian Ocean without having to use the Suez Canal through the ck and Mediterranean Seas.


    So far, Kazakhstan could only deal with the European and North American markets but the Indian and Southeast Asian markets would also be pioneered, allowing the market to be diversified.


    ¡°Great. We¡¯ve been looking for a safe harbor for our ships in the Persian Gulf. Iran¡¯s port alone is not enough to cover the volume.¡±


    ¡°Director Park said he would discuss the port issue with the prince. He¡¯s looking around at the helicopter assembly nt with the Crown Prince and hispany, so we should have some good news by evening.¡±


    ¡°But is there an oceanic navy in the United Arab Emirates?¡±


    ¡°There are about ten coast guard ships, two corvettes, and two minyers. That¡¯s why they¡¯re paying attention to our navy.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re interested in our naval power, which consists of only three frigates and two Aegis destroyers?¡±


    ¡°Will you be satisfied with that amount of power?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we need to increase it further, but it¡¯s a childlike forcepared to other powerful nations.¡±


    ¡°He must be expecting our naval power to be stronger in the future. He wants to join hands with us to influence the Persian Gulf.¡±


    ¡°I know they¡¯re in a territorial dispute with Iran. Wouldn¡¯t it be getting into trouble if we joined hands?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t happen unless we turn Iran into an enemy ourselves. There are no countries in the Middle East that don¡¯t have conflicts on their borders or territories, and they are eager to attract each other as allies.¡±


    ¡°At any rate, it¡¯s a matter of careful attention.¡±


    ¡°But his interest in us is a good opportunity for us because Abu Dhabi and Dubai are Middle East financial hubs. And because it¡¯s a pro-Western country, it¡¯s going to be a strong ally.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have an answer when I meet him for dinner in person tonight.¡±

 Chapter 571 - A New Ally (1)

    <h4>Chapter 571: A New Ally (1)</h4>


    ¡°ording to satellite reading, they have 26 tanks and 52 armored vehicles. I think they¡¯re doing a proper show of force, so why don¡¯t we do the same in response?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s make them suffer in the cold for a while. As soon as they approach the teau, half of their equipment will stop working because of the severe cold. By the way, what is the result of the Tajik government¡¯s protest against the Chinese government?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government yed innocent by saying that it¡¯s only a normal military training.¡±


    ¡°I knew it. China wouldn¡¯t have even sniffed.¡±


    It was spotted by military satellites provided by the United States and Britain that Chinese troops in Xinjiang Uyghur that were stationed along the border had been moving along since several days ago.


    Since there were too many tanks and armored vehicles for a routine training, Park Jong-il suspected if the Chinese force was nning to immediately push in.


    ¡°What if they push in without notice?¡±


    ¡°Of course, weunch an attack if they crossed the border.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to fight against China?¡±


    China may be judging that the Tajikistan coalition would not respond immediately by its intimidating armed protest.


    ¡°I¡¯m so ready for it.¡±


    ¡°There is no guarantee that it will end in a local battle. Why are you so rxed?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don`t worry, even China will not do anything thoughtlessly. It¡¯ll be foolish of it to make a border dispute of a full-scale war. It¡¯ll be an international problem for China to have provoked a weak country. And what about its One Belt One Road business?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned that the border conflict in the Pamir area is not just going to be today¡¯s problem.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid it¡¯s going to be a prolonged conflict?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If the boring battle continues in the middle of nowhere, it only adds to our fatigue. China is not going to get damaged by a lot because of its size, but not us.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not thinking to give up some of the borders, do you?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to make apromise than to take a pristine wastnd and waste our time and resources?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to continue the tedious battle there. When we make apromise, we have to act strong. That will make our negotiation easy.¡±


    It was easier to find apromise when both parties confronted each other strongly.


    A boring war of attrition only deepened the emotional bonds of each other.


    Rather, it was necessary to take an aggressive action to surprise the world. Then someone woulde forward and mediate, and the best scenario was to pretend that you could not help butply ande up with an appropriate agreement.


    The reason why Youngho insisted on even fighting against China was to take Tajikistan.


    The royal family would stand out only when battles, big or small, took ce in the Pamir teau.


    It was important to be seen that Kazakhstan had tried its best to protect Tajikistan even at a time when Russia, which was a blood ally of Tajikistan, was withdrawing. It was a good promotion of Kazakhstan when it was known to have poured huge amounts of money into protecting Tajikistan, as it would appeal to the people of Tajikistan that Kazakhstan protected it at the expense of an economic loss.


    The issue of incorporation into a federal state would naturally arise only when the situation was led to a turmoil in which Tajikistan could not support the country with its own ability.


    If the public epted the reality that there was no choice but to rely on Kazakhstan economically and militarily, the Tajikistan government¡¯s raison d¡¯etre would disappear.


    Relying on foreign powers for national defense would be the government itself admitting to being ipetent. It would be sorry for the Tajik people, but it was the reality.


    ***


    ¡°Eriksson, are gold coins that valuable?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s well-preserved, it¡¯ll cost higher.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be worth less if it were to be released in bulk?¡±


    ¡°There is a scarcity value, so no matter how many are released in the market, that won¡¯t happen.¡±


    The gold coins found on the Arirang Ind in the Aegean Sea of Greece had beenmon in Europe since the 15th century.


    The gold coins, which have been minted and circted many times, were not as clear as new, but collectors were turning their eyes over to possess them.


    It was the power of time that raised the coins¡¯ value.


    Since limited supplies and fictitious demands were added, it was natural for prices to go up.


    Youngho could not help but be pleased that the auction price was set at 20 times more than the current value of pure gold. The high price was caused by the collectors¡¯petition.


    ¡°But we will not be releasing more coins in the open market. Since it¡¯s already known that we possess gold coins of the Age of Exploration, collectors who want to buy them themselves wille to us.¡±


    ¡°You said that the prices will go up throughpetition, but you want to do direct sales now?¡±


    ¡°Among the collectors, there are bankers and entrepreneurs. Arab royal families are also there, too. They want to keep the artifacts regardless of price since it also makes a very useful business gift.¡±


    ¡°I see. So, they¡¯ll pay whatever the price is.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯lle to buy so as to show off their high social position.¡±


    Royal families in oil-producing countries in the Middle East were big hands with enormous purchasing power.


    They would purchase yachts that cost hundreds of millions of dors if they wanted and even professional sports clubs that would easily cost them billions of dors to make money.


    Likewise, vanity to show-off their purchasing power of the billionaires of India and other developing countries could not be ignored.


    Any wealthy people who had acquired global corporations after starting from nothing would want to show off their economic power.


    ***


    Prince Al-Sarki of the United Arab Emirates visited the royal territory, as Eriksson predicted.


    Prince Al-Sarki was the man who controlled the intelligence department due to the influence of his father, one of the seven UAE rulers.


    Royal family members of the United Arab Emirates usually had a luxurious home and several wives around the world, but Crown Prince Al-Sarki was living as if he had built a wall with such things. To put it simply, he was the most sensible Arab monarchy among others.


    Such a figure made a surprise visit through the Kazakh Intelligence Service to inform his intent to visit and made a move in less than two days.


    No matter how greedy for the gold coins he was, Youngho was curious why he moved such urgently.


    Youngho would be facing the prince and his family, who entered the royal pce in the morning, at the dinner table this evening.


    ¡°Your Highness, Crown Prince Al-Sarki wants to have intelligence exchange with us.¡±


    ¡°To buy a gold coin was only to show to the outside world.¡±


    ¡°That is most likely. Of course, he won¡¯t hide his desire for gold coins, but the purpose is to have an exchange with our royal family. For your information, Crown Prince is also a major customer of the Swedish Information Agency.¡±


    ¡°It looks like he has a wide circle of acquaintance.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s also personally quite close to Mr. Basten.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t understand why they¡¯re trying to share information with us because we don¡¯t have much contact with the United Arab Emirates.¡±


    ¡°They already know that we¡¯ll be making a foray into the Persian Gulf through Iran. He probably has military exchanges in mind.¡±


    The Southern railroad construction which started in Baku was nearing its end and would be in operation next year.


    Then, Kazakhstan would be able to advance directly to the Indian Ocean without having to use the Suez Canal through the ck and Mediterranean Seas.


    So far, Kazakhstan could only deal with the European and North American markets but the Indian and Southeast Asian markets would also be pioneered, allowing the market to be diversified.


    ¡°Great. We¡¯ve been looking for a safe harbor for our ships in the Persian Gulf. Iran¡¯s port alone is not enough to cover the volume.¡±


    ¡°Director Park said he would discuss the port issue with the prince. He¡¯s looking around at the helicopter assembly nt with the Crown Prince and hispany, so we should have some good news by evening.¡±


    ¡°But is there an oceanic navy in the United Arab Emirates?¡±


    ¡°There are about ten coast guard ships, two corvettes, and two minyers. That¡¯s why they¡¯re paying attention to our navy.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re interested in our naval power, which consists of only three frigates and two Aegis destroyers?¡±


    ¡°Will you be satisfied with that amount of power?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we need to increase it further, but it¡¯s a childlike forcepared to other powerful nations.¡±


    ¡°He must be expecting our naval power to be stronger in the future. He wants to join hands with us to influence the Persian Gulf.¡±


    ¡°I know they¡¯re in a territorial dispute with Iran. Wouldn¡¯t it be getting into trouble if we joined hands?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t happen unless we turn Iran into an enemy ourselves. There are no countries in the Middle East that don¡¯t have conflicts on their borders or territories, and they are eager to attract each other as allies.¡±


    ¡°At any rate, it¡¯s a matter of careful attention.¡±


    ¡°But his interest in us is a good opportunity for us because Abu Dhabi and Dubai are Middle East financial hubs. And because it¡¯s a pro-Western country, it¡¯s going to be a strong ally.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have an answer when I meet him for dinner in person tonight.¡±

 Chapter 572 - A New Ally (2)

    <h4>Chapter 572: A New Ally (2)</h4>


    The dinner with Prince Al-Sarki, who was rather quite easygoing and free for such a royalty with high pride, ended in a cordial manner.


    When the dinner was over, Park Jong-il went out with the prince to escort him to his room.


    ¡°Director Park seems to like the Crown Prince. I guess he is trying very hard to be promoted and win a new title. It looks like he¡¯s trying to make a difference by getting something out of the prince.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s the big deal about a mere title?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I think it¡¯s time for our royal family to expand the scope of the title of nobility a little bit. What do you think? If you grant peerage to the Prime Minister and other Cab members, it will encourage their pride, not to mention it will serve as a reason to be loyal to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t other European royal families look down on us if we give out so many titles? Families who have worked for the nation and the people for generations should, of course, be properly respected, but I think it is too much to give titles to our close aides or cab ministers without any hesitation...¡±


    Since even the criteria for conferment of titles were not clearly established, Youngho was a bit hesitant to ept Eriksson¡¯s advice. This was because there was a possibility that public opinion would be divided over this issue.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably natural to give a high title to a nation¡¯s founding contributors. In the European royal families, it is customary to give titles of those close to royalty when a new king takes office.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then let¡¯s discuss the title issue in depthter.¡±


    Since Eriksson said there would be no problem with rewarding titles, he had no reason to be stubborn anymore. Several people, including Prime Minister Kasim, who was one of the founding members of the new government and the Kazakh royal family, had yet to be honored.


    It seemed that the issue could be brought up once the Tajikistan issue was over.


    Thanks to the Crown Prince¡¯s visit, Park Jong-il would be receiving the title of marquis that he had been singing about. Imagining this made Younghough because he was very curious about how Park Jong-il would react.


    He would be boastful of the title for months.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re imagining something funny now.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    The Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates served as an opportunity to broaden Youngho¡¯s horizons.


    Kazakhstan had been only focusing on its alliance with Europe and North America due to Russia and China¡¯s influence, but he had never imagined that there would be an Arabian country that was interested in Kazakhstan.


    He had overlooked the fact that among Arab countries, there were pro-Western countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.


    ¡°Man, we should be incorporated into a capitalist country quickly. I don¡¯t feel very proud that Kazakhstan is being called a Third World even though it is at the edge of Europe.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s better to be in the third world for diplomatic purposes. How many developed capitalist countries are in an antagonistic rtionship with China? The U.S. and Japan seem to be that way, but they¡¯re really taking all of the advantages and benefits they could get in the back scene. I think India and Vietnam are the only ones that truly raise their voices.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been actually thinking about cooperating with India which has a border dispute with China these days. Is there any way?¡±


    ¡°Do you intend to cooperate militarily?¡±


    ¡°We should cooperate if we can. Once the railway is opened, we will go to the Indian Ocean, and we must make sure that India is our economic partner.¡±


    ¡°I have an important customer from India at the Information Agency. May I introduce you?¡±


    ¡°Is it an Indian businessman?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a globally famous person from India, but he lives in Ennd now.¡±


    ¡°An Indian businessman living in Ennd?¡±


    ¡°Most sessful people in the Commonwealth countries are proud to send their children to study in Britain. There¡¯s a joke that most of the owners of London¡¯s luxury houses are from Commonwealth countries.¡±


    ***


    Lakshmi Mittal, who was known as the King of Steel of India, visited the royal territory less than a week after Eriksson mentioned him.


    Lakshmi Mittal was the world¡¯s third wealthiest man with 25 billion dors in assets. Living in Ennd, he was a big spender who splurged 65 million dors on his daughter¡¯s wedding.


    He was born as Vaishya in the social order and always had a pride in his Indian heritage.


    The reason why he was even described as the King of Steel was that he had steelpanies all over the world.


    Hispany¡¯s crude steel capacity was over 100 million tons a year, nearly twice the production capacity of China and the world¡¯s secondrgest.


    Hispany¡¯s crude strength was directly linked to the size of its manufacturing and defense industries. Hispany¡¯s capacity was seen as a gauge of India¡¯s military might. India¡¯s military might wasrgely veiled, and some were evaluating it to be on par with China.


    India¡¯s border tensions with China were recently being escted.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to meeting you, Your Highness. It¡¯s an honor that you invited me here.¡±


    ¡°It is my pleasure to meet you, Lord Mittal. You¡¯vee a long way. I¡¯m sorry to have made youe.¡±


    ¡°Lord Eriksson took care of everything quite nicely. I didn¡¯t feel diforting here at all.¡±


    Mittal, who was knighted by the British royal family, was ingrained with aristocratic etiquette.


    India was an independent country, but for some reason, it still remained a Commonwealth country. It was a great honor for many Indians to receive a title from the British royal family.


    In the case of Mittal, he made a private contribution of submarines and fighter jets to the Indian government, and the British royal family, which thought Indian armament was the power of Britain, issued a knighthood to Mittal to honor him as a nobleman.


    Mittal himself wanted to be called a Lord rather than a chairman.


    ¡°I live in Ennd because of my business, but my mind is always in India. Watching the recent border conflict between India and China, there was no way to contain my anger. I know a mere businessman¡¯s help could only do so much, but I¡¯d like to add even a little strength.¡±


    ¡°How can I believe that the world¡¯s steel giant, Lord Mittal, is powerless?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. I was lucky enough to get to where I am today. And that¡¯s not because of my own ability but because of the help of a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. You can¡¯t do it all by yourself. I asked to meet Lord Mittal because I was wondering if there was any way for India to join forces with Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything I can do to help, I¡¯ll help you by any means. It¡¯s because China¡¯s behavior is bing more and more intolerable now.¡±


    ¡°We maintain tension with China in different regions, but we believe that we can pressure China enough if the two countries cooperate. Will you be able to be a bridge to the Indian government?¡±


    Pressing both sides at the same time would make even the most powerful¡ªChina¡ªwince.


    India had been suffering greatly from border disputes with China in different provinces.


    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to help you if you would leave it to me. I have close acquaintances that can influence the government¡¯s policies.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan will press China first in Pamir, so I¡¯d like India to pressure China after a while. If Indiaes out first, there is a risk of it being a major conflict, so we¡¯re going to go first.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean who will be the first in pressuring China. India is already ready to go to war.¡±


    Mittal said he was only a businessman, but he already knew the Indian government¡¯s countermeasures against China. This meant that he was already deeply involved in Indian government policy and knew its internal situations.


    ¡°We¡¯d like to attack first because there¡¯s not much to lose even if there¡¯s a battle in Pamir because the people there have already evacuated.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. India is on the same page. The most contentious area will be Bhutan¡¯s territory. Since it¡¯s in uninhabited mountains, there is not much pressure for us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that it¡¯s a deserted ce. Then can you arrange a meeting with your military chief?¡±


    ¡°We can do that right away. Please select the person in charge who will go to India with me.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to India yourself, Lord Mittal?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too big of a deal for me to just sit back and wait after introducing you. I¡¯d like to be involved in the process myself.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Lord Mittal¡¯s hard work will be repaid separately by our royal family.¡±

 Chapter 573 - A New Ally (3)

    <h4>Chapter 573: A New Ally (3)</h4>


    Eriksson and Kabak,mander of the Royal Armed Division, left for India with Mittal.


    Normally, Park Jong-il would be the one who would be in charge of this kind of asion, but because he had gone to the United Arab Emirates, Kabak followed them.


    Kazakhstan and India had already established ambassador-level diplomatic rtions, but there had been only a few exchanges. It was because there were not many political and economic exchanges between the two.


    However, the two countries¡¯ rtions were rapidly escting due to a border dispute with China.


    Youngho, who acquired a new card to pressure China, felt more rxed now.


    Since the U.S. and Russia were not in the position to take the lead, he thought it would be Kazakhstan¡¯s fight alone, but he had met another strong ally in an unexpected ce. Now he did not need to lean on other strong powers to check China.


    ording to Mittal¡¯s words, India was even willing to go to war against China.


    China would be in a position to digest border disputes in both Pamir and Bhutan.


    The Chinese leader would not be able to neglect any border.


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to share our cooperation with India with the Cab members. I¡¯d like to keep this between me and the Secretary of Defense only.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust other ministers, but I think it would be better for us and for India to keep it as confidential as possible for now. If our cooperation is known to China, it could be a fatal blow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it quiet if that¡¯s what you¡¯ve decided, Prime Minister. We need to make sure that it is kept quiet by the royal officials.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim, who had been a military leader for a long time, recognized the importance of the cooperation and wanted to carry it out cautiously.


    As Prime Minister Kasim was cautious and responsible in every given work, Youngho was able to leave state affairs to him while he did other businesses outside the country.


    The smooth rtionship between the government and the National Assembly was also possible due to persistent efforts by Cab ministers under Kasim, and it was entirely Kasim¡¯s credit that Youngho had been able to lead the political situation without a single discord since the first day of the revolutionary government.


    ¡°Your Highness, the issue of changing the name of the country mentioned earlier has been reduced to one name at a public hearing. Out of many proposed names, ¡®the United Empire of Central Asia¡¯ has the highest approval rating.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an Empire, not a Kingdom? Great Britain, which has a lot of federal states, also calls itself a Kingdom. Isn¡¯t Empire too grand? It could be seen as we¡¯re greedy for all of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a problem because it depends on how you interpret it. You know Russia was used to be called Imperial Russia too. In fact, it¡¯s not too much to call us an empire in terms of our size. Kyrgyzstan has already be our federal state, and sooner orter, Tajikistan will be our state, too. Since Uzbekistan is almost economically relying on us, it would be safe to name our nation ¡®the United Empire of Central Asia.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t expect too much from Tajikistan. The border dispute with China is still not resolved yet. I¡¯d like to dy the name change a little more. It¡¯s too premature for us to use that name.¡±


    ¡°I understand your concern.¡±


    In a narrow scope, Central Asia consisted of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Xinjiang Uygur. In a broader scope, it also included Tibet, Mongolia, China¡¯s Qinghai Province, and Afghanistan.


    Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s scope of the United Empire of Central Asia was a narrow view excluding Turkmenistan and Xinjiang Uyghur.


    ¡°Your Highness, no matter what, Uzbekistan must be included in the union.¡±


    ¡°Tajikistan is still far away. We¡¯ll be overwhelmed if we incorporate Uzbekistan.¡±


    ¡°Uzbekistan has a poption of 30 million. Isn¡¯t that a tempting number?¡±


    The sound of 30 million people widened Youngho¡¯s eyes.


    Billions of dors were being poured into settlement funds to ept a million Kurds, and if Uzbekistan could be made a federal state of Kazakhstan, the poption would grow by 30 million people at no cost. If that happened, Kazakhstan would have a poption of more than 60 million, which would pave the way for a great nation in name and reality.


    ¡°And the cab members decided to have a nickname for our nation since the United Empire of Central Asia is quite long. Would you like to hear it, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve alreadye up with a nickname for our nation? What is it?¡±


    ¡°It is the Arirang Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°You want to use ¡®Arirang¡¯ as a nickname for our nation?¡±


    ¡°The name of the royal territory is Arirang, and all the hotels, shippingpany, and the ind owned by the royal family are named Arirang too.¡±


    ¡°We just picked that name because it was convenient.¡±


    ¡°All cab members agreed that the name also goes well with the sentiment of Central Asian people.¡±


    If Park Jong-il overheard this conversation, he would make fun of their naming sense.


    Still, Youngho felt good hearing that the word ¡°Arirang¡± suited the sentiment of Central Asian people.


    Having been living in Kazakhstan for a long time now, Youngho realized that thenguages of Kazakhstan were quite simr to the Koreannguage. It was widely believed that the invasion of Genghis Khan brought in Mongolian. Whatever the truth was, it was exciting that there were somenguages that had simr sounds and meanings to Korean.


    That was why Cab ministers did not feel ufortable giving the nickname ¡®Arirang¡¯ to the United Empire of Central Asia.


    ***


    Park Jong-il, who returned from the United Arab Emirates after apanying Crown Prince Al-Sarki, was proud to report that Kazakhstan would be able to use the port of Abu Dhabi as a designated port for the Kazakh Navy.


    ¡°Did he say that he will offer a dedicated dock?¡±


    ¡°How many times do I need to tell you? The UAE government was eager to announce it to the public, so I struggled to dissuade the officials to keep it a secret.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the government of the United Arab Emirates was trying to announce it to target Iran.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think so too.¡±


    The United Arab Emirates was currently in dispute with Iran over the sovereignty of an ind in the Persian Gulf, and it wanted to lean on Kazakhstan¡¯s naval power rather than reinforcing its frail naval forces. They intended to use their rtions between Iran and Kazakhstan as Kazakhstan needed a naval port and the United Arab Emirates needed a shield.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give Iran a little heads up. If we ce two Aegis destroyers there, Iran might take it as a provocation.¡±


    ¡°The Iranian government must know the Kazakh Royal Navy is there for the protection of merchant ships going back and forth between the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Would it really take it as a provocation?¡±


    ¡°We have nothing to lose for being careful. We need to get rid of any misunderstanding in advance.¡±


    ¡°I know the man in charge of the Iranian intelligence service, so I¡¯ll make a call.¡±


    ¡°What on earth is there on that ind that the two countries are fighting each other?¡±


    ¡°It turns out it¡¯s where a lot of oil and gas are buried.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Why do you look so surprised?¡±


    ¡°The Persian Gulf must be a safe zone for us, so we can continue to use it. If Iran and the Arab world kept shing with each other, we¡¯d better look elsewhere. Why don¡¯t we take this opportunity to mediate this situation?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been offended by the territorial issue for a long time. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll listen to anyone now. And the Arab is a powder keg. Let¡¯s not get in the way as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°You know you always make more out of a risky business. Hey, I know you¡¯ve been out, but I need you to go back to the Middle East now. Go visit each side and convince them. If arbitration goes well, you¡¯ll be a global celebrity.¡±


    It sounded like an impromptu n, but Youngho was only adding a few words to Eriksson¡¯s words.


    Eriksson suggested using the current situation where Iran, which had been ufortable with Western countries over its nuclear armament attempts, was boldly giving up its nuclear weapons and offering a reconciliatory gesture.


    With the lifting of sanctions targeting Iran, it had been trying to develop its economy, which had been heavily under-funded. The oil fields that had been developed were slowly bottoming out, so Iran needed to develop a new one.


    However, it was not easy to develop a new oil field. This was because the chances of sessful gic exploration were only 20 percent.


    Likewise, the United Arab Emirates spent a huge amount of money on building super-rich cities¡ªincluding Dubai¡ªand was in need of funds.


    It was the best for each side to develop and share an ind where it was confirmed to have a great amount of oil reserves.


    Eriksson¡¯s analysis was that the two countries were waiting for someone to mediate their dispute.


    Saudi Arabia, the regional stronghold, was less qualified as a mediator as it was leaning toward the Arab world, and it would only cause more confusion if Western countries stepped in as there had long been hostile rtions.


    That was why Kazakhstan could be the most suitable mediator.


    The Kazakh Royal Family and Iran had already been partners due to the railroad project to the Persian Gulf, and the United Arab Emirates had be a new partner as it provided its port to the Kazakh Navy.


    Now that both countries had be allies of Kazakhstan, Youngho must make sure that the two countries reconcile for Kazakhstan¡¯s sake.


    There were only a few cases in which either side made concessions in borderline disputes or territorial disputes. This was because most of the areas that contributed to the conflict were ces where the history of the two countries was still alive and well.


    While either party made outrageous ims, most of them felt irrevocable because they once had their own past.


    If it was a ce of economic value that anyone would aspire to, it was inevitable that each country would risk national fortune for it.


    While Third World countries would resolve this through armed conflicts, Western European countries solved it by co-prosperity. They would choose to share each other¡¯s benefits rather than continuing to have an ufortable rtionship along the border. Of course, many preconditions must be followed for that to happen.


    The idea that territorial disputes between Iran and the United Arab Emirates could be resolved was seen as possible by Youngho because he was positive that it could be resolved in a way that the two countries could share their interests as in the case of Europe.


    It was also calcted that if the agreement was reached in a smooth manner through the intervention of Kazakhstan, the benefit in return would be enormous.

 Chapter 574 - Change of Plan (1)

    <h4>Chapter 574: Change of n (1)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, the Indian government is adamant that there can be no concessions.¡±


    ¡°Does the Indian government have a strong force to speak so boldly like that?¡±


    ¡°It has an army of more than 1.1 million troops. It ims to have improved Soviet tanks and missiles, and some of their equipment is way ahead of the equipment of China. Since both sides have nuclear weapons, they won¡¯t go to an all-out war, but it¡¯s going to be quite severe at the border battle.¡±


    After visiting India with Eriksson, Kabak,mander of the Royal Armored Division, believed that India would never lose ground in fighting China even if there was a battle at the border.


    ¡°How do you beat China when Indian defense spending is only a quarter of China¡¯s? I doubt that they¡¯ll have high-tech weapons with such spending.¡±


    ¡°India is a country that operated aircraft carriers before China did. It has a lot of new and improved missiles. It turned out that we did not know much about India¡¯s military strength.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like the military strength of India is a little bit exaggerated. It¡¯s hard to believe that India could have an equal strength with China.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to check the truth of their im. That is what India has to deal with. The problem for us is that if China attacked us at the Pamir teau, India can¡¯t pressure China just because we¡¯re attacked because India would not want to provoke China first.¡±


    ¡°You mean the cooperation with India won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re going to have to move independently apart from India.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m prepared for that. It¡¯s a separate fight although India has a border dispute with China, too.¡±


    That was what Youngho said, but he was quite disappointed to hear that as he calcted that he could pay less attention at Pamir if India pressured China, but that expectation seemed to have to be put aside.


    He had a hunch that if there was a battle in Pamir, it would be a lonely and difficult fight for Kazakhstan. It was because border disputes usually would not end easily as each nation¡¯s pride was at stake. The problem was that there could be a temporary suspension of the dispute, but there would be no fundamental solution.


    If Kazakhstan would be dragged into a boring war of attrition instead of ending in a short period of time, it would be very troublesome.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and get ready. Let¡¯s provide enough ammunition and equipment for our army at the Pamir teau and prepare for a long-term battle.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, shouldn¡¯t we switch to an emergency exhibition system?¡±


    ¡°Once we switch to a war system due to border conflicts, others willugh at us.¡±


    ¡°No matter what others say, we need to give the impression that we¡¯re going all out. If you show signs of weakness, they will underestimate us. Let¡¯s take this opportunity to show our strength to them.¡±


    ¡°China will shrink from the beginning of the war so just look forward to it. We¡¯ll destroy all the mechanized units across the border.¡±


    Youngho was confident as he was looking forward to the performance of the mountain battalion and the Tajik militia armed with Stinger missiles and portable rocketunchers.


    This was because there would be only a few Chinese equipment that would withstand missiles and rockets fired from hidden covers. There were also three air defense battalions installed in the rear. Air defense artillery batteries provided by Russia and the U.S. were capable of disabling intercontinental ballistic missiles.


    Youngho¡¯s mind was getting busy as India¡¯s cooperation was not promising anymore.


    If Park Jong-il was here, he would have suggested a brilliant idea by now, but he was vacant as he left for the United Arab Emirates and Iran in secret.


    So, Youngho called Cho Chul-hwan and Cha In-soo and was grilling them toe up with an idea. As the two hated to think deeply, they insisted that they should go to the battle site immediately.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d have a slightly decent idea but you two are unbelievable.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? We need to visit the site to brainstorm our ideas. They say the answer to all problems is always at the scene.¡±


    ¡°You are the chief of the Royal Guards. Don¡¯t you have some idea after looking at the map?¡±


    ¡°You think Jong-il would have a better idea than us? He¡¯s just the same type as we are. In fact, he¡¯s more ignorant than us.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if you don¡¯te up with anything after visiting the site, you two would have to face China and prevent its forcesing at us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great to hear. I wish we can be at the frontline when the battle happens.¡±


    ***


    The Pamir teau was suffering from a severe cold spell that it was even hard to breathe.


    It was midday, but the temperature felt below minus 40 degrees Celsius.


    Cho Chul-hwan and Cha In-soo were already exhausted from the weather as it was their first time at the Pamir teau.


    ¡°It is impossible to fight in this cold.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan, who just went outside of the light-armored vehicle for a while to pee, came back and spoke with an affirmation.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be bearable if you¡¯re in an armored vehicle?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯tst much eating and sleeping in a cramped vehicle. You can¡¯t even dream of sleeping in a field-tent in this weather.¡±


    ¡°Given the maneuvers the Chinese side has been carrying out these days, it looks like they¡¯re going to break into the border before this year ends...¡±


    ¡°If there is a military leader who wants to attack this ce in the winter, he is a madman. You¡¯re more likely to freeze to death than to be shot to death.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was hard to live even for those who had lived in the Pamir teau their whole life. In this severe cold, people could not take a few steps or even put their fingers on the trigger outside.


    Cho Chul-hwan imed that even if the Chinese forces crossed the border, they would retreat within two days.


    Youngho, who was visiting the ce for the second time, also felt that this was much colder than half a month ago. The weather in November was this bad, so December was going to be terrible.


    If China had the intention to provoke Tajikistan, it would have done so already before winter came.


    ¡°It¡¯s a war we have to win no matter what. Don¡¯t be so impatient. Tell them toe if they want toe over. All our soldiers have to do is enjoy the fire at the camp while watching them retreat over the cold.¡±


    Following Cho Chul-hwan, Cha In-soo was making a joke.


    Judging from the weather in Pamir, the two were certain that there was nothing to worry about even if the Chinese forces crossed over the border.


    ¡°Let¡¯s pay respect to the soldiers who are suffering in the cold and go back. Now that I¡¯ve heard from you, I¡¯m not worried anymore.¡±


    ¡°See? If they cross in this weather, our soldiers don¡¯t have to put their best efforts. They can just pretend to fight the enemies. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s reasonable to stationrge-scale troops here. Why don¡¯t we re-station some of our troops at the rear and greet the enemies with artillery fires?¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a good n. We can leave a few scouts and attack groups here and take the rest to the rear and train them hard. Like you guys said, I think it¡¯s right for us to get the soldiers ready for next spring.¡±


    ¡°I told you. The answer to the question is always on the spot.¡±


    ¡°All right, all right. I made a slip of the tongue. I¡¯ll treat you a big drink when we get back to the pce.¡±


    Youngho felt much more rxed after making up his mind.


    There was a Korean proverb, ¡®an illness is fixed quickly if you spread the word, and a problem is resolved easily if many heads are gathered.¡¯ After all, it was great that he brought two friends here.


    ¡°As far as the battle is concerned, ask us for advice.¡±


    Youngho and his two friends¡¯ faces became brighter as they left the Pamir teau in a light armored vehicle.


    ***


    The number of Kurds¡¯ enlistment had suddenly increased after the rumor that Kazakhstan was joining the border dispute between China and Tajikistan, which was its ally. The Kurds, who thought their new home¡ªKazakhstan¡ªcould be in danger, wanted to protect it.


    Behind the scenes, they also thought that bing soldiers was much better than working in a factory as a wage earner.


    ¡°Your Highness. I¡¯m worried that all the young people will be soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Other countries have one or even two million soldiers, but we¡¯re gaining only a few thousand more. Why are you making a fuss?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t care if there are more than a billion people in Kazakhstan like China and India. What if all the young men that should be in the workforce joined the army? Our poption is only a little over 20 million.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll only have to serve for two years. It¡¯s also a great opportunity to learn anguage for them so just look on the bright side, Commissioner. Please encourage people¡¯s enlistment as much as possible for the time being. If not now, we might lose the opportunity to increase the number of soldiers.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all in a rush to join the army now, but in a year, the number of applicants will drop significantly. If your life is stable andfortable, would they evere close to serve in the military on their own where they¡¯ll go through physical distress?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Even if Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistane into our arms, we don¡¯t know if their people will join the military. This may be ourst chance to increase our forces.¡±


    ¡°I guess I did not think that through.¡±


    ¡°Your concern is normal, Commissioner. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m very greedy.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You always give what you have to the people of our nation.¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been greedy fornd. After we epted Kyrgyzstan, I now want Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to be our federal states. Because of that, our border is increasing and we have more areas to protect...¡±

 Chapter 575 - Change of Plan (2)

    <h4>Chapter 575: Change of n (2)</h4>


    It was the day after Youngho returned from the Pamir teau that Park Jong-il returned to the royal territory. He was proud that he drew positive answers both from the United Arab Emirates and Iran. The two governments agreed in principle to jointly develop oil fields around the ind as both countries needed the oil and gas buried around the ind.


    This was a great achievement for Kazakhstan as it had resolved not only the Kurdish refugee problem but also the tension at the Persian Gulf now. If this were spread to the globalmunity, Kazakhstan would soon be called the troubleshooter of the Middle East.


    ¡°We intervened at the right timing. Of course, I yed a key part in this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job. Who else would solve such a difficult task? Man, it¡¯s going to be hard for me to see you from now on, Jong-il, because you¡¯ll get famous.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who was smiling broadly at Young-ho¡¯s praise, erased his yful look and showed a worried expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s just the beginning. Those countries will now start fighting over who¡¯s going to take the lead in the co-development project.¡±


    ¡°We should take care of it till the end. They won¡¯t reject our intervention.¡±


    It could rather be easily resolved because both the United Arab Emirates and Iran wanted to get out of the tiring territorial dispute.


    ¡°The question is whether the two sides will trust us.¡±


    ¡°Say that we will not take any interest but just act as a mediator. It¡¯s a ce where major oilpanies have to stick together in order to develop it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll ever let us y that role.¡±


    ¡°You have to make it happen. The person who started it is supposed to take responsibility until the end.¡±


    ¡°Man, the head of the Intelligence Department has to act as a manager, too?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing much to it, anyway. Don¡¯t you have to use your experience of a joint venture with Yaniv, anyway? Where else would you use that?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The scale of oil field this time is iparably huge.¡±


    ¡°The size doesn¡¯t matter. Eriksson will support you from behind. You should be fine.¡±


    ¡°Just remember that I yed a big part in this one.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll remember for sure, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯re going too far in other people¡¯s business when we also have a lot to do.¡±


    ¡°The border dispute has always been there. Also, the business of the Persian Gulf is not others¡¯ business. It¡¯s the only way to make inroads into Indian and Southeast Asian markets. We definitely need to be involved in this matter.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a good harbor in Oman, too. We have no reason to be hung up on the Persian Gulf. When the Hormuz Strait is blocked, the Persian Gulf will be no different than a prison.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s concern was not a groundless fear.


    In order to enter the Persian Gulf, vessels needed to go through the Hormuz Strait, but there was always a chance for the conflict to resume.


    Jong-il, who paused for a while, continued,


    ¡°What if we could use Iran¡¯s port?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already agreed to use the port of Bandar, thest stop of the Baku-Bandar railway.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s just a port in the Persian Gulf, too. If there¡¯s a port that goes directly to the Arabian Sea, we won¡¯t have to be involved in potential trouble.¡±


    ¡°Will Iran easily surrender such a port for us to use as a military port?¡±


    ¡°When I visited Iran this time, the government officials¡¯ opinions were leaning toward opening their port to us.¡±


    ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the port of Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman.¡±


    The port of Chabahar was located at the Gulf of Oman, where it led to the Strait of Hormuz.


    It was at the end of the Arabian Sea, where vessels could enter the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, whether Hormuz was blocked or not. Recently, the Indian government was developing the port of Chabahar with a 500-million dor investment.


    As the Chinese government developed the neighboring port of Gwadar, Pakistan, the Indian government was also developing the port of Chabahar in haste, which was intended to check China¡¯s advance to the Middle East.


    Thepletion of the pipeline linking Pakistan¡¯s port of Gwadar to the Chinese continent would save huge transportation fees for the Chinese government.


    ¡°How about investing in the port of Chabahar to pressure China? If we asked, the Indian government will, of course, open the port for our navy. It will be overwhelming for India alone to keep China in check.¡±


    ¡°China is making a harbor in Pakistan?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government is nning to station the Chinese Navy there all the time. That is why the Indian government is investing in the port of Chabahar. If we add our naval strength to the Indian government, China will feel enormous pressure.¡±


    ¡°All right. Can you contact the Iranian and Indian governments and reflect our intention to use the port of Chabahar as our military port? If they agree, we will deploy more Aegis destroyers.¡±


    ¡°What? You want to buy more Aegis destroyers?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of buying three more.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s exciting except that they cost a lot.¡±


    ¡°Since we still have enough money from President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds, shall we order a multi-purposending ship?¡±


    ¡°What? Do you mean the light aircraft carrier?¡±


    A multi-purposending ship was a warship that could carrynding forces, helicopters, tanks, and high-speednding. Youngho and Jong-il decided that such a vessel was needed in order to pressure China. After discussing over which country to ce the order this time, they tentatively decided to pick the Danish Shipyard.


    ***


    As Kazakhstan was spying on China, China also sent a number of intelligence sources around Central Asia to monitor neighboring countries.


    It was self-evident that the movements of Kazakhstan would be reported to the maind by the minute, and based on that information, China¡¯s operations would change from time to time.


    The cooperation with India at the Pamir teau in fighting against China now did not mean much after learning that China was not in a position to escte the conflict along the Indian border. So, Jong-il had an idea to take advantage of that situation. It was to spread false rumors.


    So, the intelligence agents of Kazakhstan began to spill the official cooperation with India little by little. Cooperation with India was leaking in a clever yet maniptive way, being treated as if it were a great secret so that China would believe.


    ¡°Let the Indian government know in advance to avoid any misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already informed the Indian intelligence service. The Indian government doesn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°We have also decided to withdraw most of the troops from the teau and leave only a few on the alert. We figured that we don¡¯t have to tremble in Pamir in the snow.¡±


    ¡°I already heard that from In-soo and Chul-hwan. They were proud that it was their idea.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Yeah, they said you¡¯d have thought the same.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a great idea. You don¡¯t have to let our soldiers crouch in the cold for weeks. They can wait for the Chinese forces toe rxingly and wee them with artillery fires when they cross the border.¡±


    ¡°China may not evere this winter.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The Chinese military is reportedly encouraging its soldiers, saying that China will im the territory within this winter.¡±


    It was absurd for China to im its ownership over the Pamir teau as it had been thend of Central Asian people since the beginning of history. China was irrelevant to it.


    ¡°That¡¯s funny. Since when Pamir has been China¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, no one has ever been the master of the Pamir teau or the Tian Shan Mountains. The first one to im it was the owner. In fact, Pamir was a ce shared by Uyghurs and Tajiks.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to make a moderatepromise and share it, like the ind in the Persian Gulf?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so great about Pamir to share? I think it¡¯s best to leave it as a buffer zone.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s view of the border dispute on the Pamir teau was very casual. He did not understand the fuss about the barrennd that was hard for humans to live.


    Mountain goats, wolves, and snow leopards were the owners of Pamir. In the first ce, it was a ce that refused people walking in. It was a miracle in itself that the nomads lived there.


    Youngho wondered what kind of rough situation had pushed them toe to Pamir to live. If they were driven to the heights where a short walk would get them breathless, they would have been in the period when the logic of power dominated the world.


    It would be a great sin of mankind if the smell of gunpowder would fill the well-preserved Pamir teau, and if China took over the ce, it would exploit the whole area to collect resources. For China, Pamir was just a resource treasure.


    This was one reason that Youngho could not yield the Pamir teau to China.

 Chapter 576 - Change of Plan (3)

    <h4>Chapter 576: Change of n (3)</h4>


    While the destroyer hull could be built at the Danish Shipyard that Youngho owned, the Aegis system and weapons must be brought from the U.S.


    In fact, the U.S. government, which was aware that Kazakhstan had already ced orders for two Aegis destroyers in South Korea, and would wee it if Kazakhstan reinforced its naval power since Kazakhstan was its ally.


    The U.S. had been demanding its allies to strengthen their forces because it could not bear heavy defense costs and because of the high number of American soldiers being killed or injured overseas.


    In any case, U.S. technology was necessary to build a destroyer worthy of the name of God¡¯s shield.


    Youngho called Michael to discuss this matter.


    -Duke, your recent decision to lead arbitration between the United Arab Emirates and Iran was a divine move. Now that you¡¯ve achieved something great, I think you can raise your voice in the internationalmunity. Why don¡¯t you reconcile with China this time, too?


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to do that if China doesn¡¯t insist to im Pamir. We didn¡¯t want to bump into each other anyway, so we pulled our forces back.¡±


    -That¡¯s great to hear. I hope you can resolve your conflict preferably through conversations.


    ¡°Why are you so sensitive about issues with China?¡±


    -It¡¯s been years since I¡¯ve been with you, Duke. I¡¯m worried because I know the nature of your personality. China is a country that will never be tamed. You know better than me that you are no match. Right now, you need to ensure Kazakhstan¡¯s internal stability. Conflicts with China will be resolved automatically if you have enough power.


    ¡°Even if the royal family or government wanted, our people will not condone yielding to China. You know how Central Asians are, don¡¯t you?¡±


    -Hear me out. Persuade your people and take a step back. That¡¯s the best decision for the desirable future.


    ¡°If you¡¯re so worried, why don¡¯t you retire from the US CIA, ande and help me?¡±


    -Are you serious now? I can help you because I¡¯m serving in the intelligence service. I wouldn¡¯t be much help to you if I can¡¯t get any information. Anyway, there will be some movement in China in the near future. China will want to have a good rtionship with Kazakhstan. Don¡¯t reject it.


    ¡°Is this what China asked for from the U.S?¡±


    -Not necessarily, but I¡¯m just letting you know because I believe Chinese officials want the message to be delivered.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. I¡¯ve never refused to talk to China before. I don¡¯t understand why they have to go through the United States.¡±


    -It¡¯s true that since you took power, Kazakhstan has be a little estranged from China. I think the Chinese side also knows that something¡¯s not right.


    ¡°If they really wanted to talk, they would have stopped the show of force in the Pamir Mountains already. If Chinese forces are pulled back, I¡¯ll be ready for a serious conversation.¡±


    -I will convey your message to the Chinese side. So, what are you going to do if China retreats from Pamir?


    ¡°There is no reason to be so happy for what should have been done already. Pamir was not something that China should have been imed in the first ce. Whatever China does, the fact that I don¡¯t trust China will never change.¡±


    Youngho could hear Michael¡¯s moaning from the other end of the line.


    -Oh, you¡¯re just a stubborn child. I¡¯m warning you. Don¡¯t underestimate China, or you will get hurt.


    ¡°So I¡¯m going to build more naval power. Help me build three Aegis destroyers and onerge multipurposending ship.¡±


    -What are you going to do with all that power? Are you trying to push into Northeast Asia and try topete with China?


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. Wouldn¡¯t it be less tiring for the U.S. if Kazakhstan¡¯s naval power in the Middle East is reinforced? ¡±


    -Well, of course, we¡¯ll appreciate that.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a joke. We have to do it for the sake of the security of the Middle East.¡±


    -It¡¯s good to see you on the U.S. side, but I don¡¯t know what the government will think because it has a track record of breaking the bnce in the region. You know, the Chinese Navy doesn¡¯t have an Aegis destroyer. By the way, where are you nning to station those?


    ¡°Our navy will be mostly active around the Arabian Sea. We can¡¯t just stand by when the Chinese Navy will be stationed in Pakistan¡¯s port of Gwadar. I know the U.S. Navy is there, but I¡¯m sure it will not protect other countries¡¯ cargo ships or vessels including Kazakhstan¡¯s. Isn¡¯t that correct?¡±


    Michael was silent.


    The U.S. Navy, which operated in the ocean, had its own mission, and it was impossible for the U.S. to escort ships from other countries unless they were in danger.


    ¡°We need military power to keep peace in the Middle East and China¡¯s progress in check. Please help me purchase the Aegis radar system and missiles. We¡¯ll order three ships altogether, so I¡¯d like to lower the price a little bit.¡±


    -I¡¯ll talk to the relevant department first. Since it is for the purpose of arming our allies, exporting equipment and weapons won¡¯t be hard, but I cannot guarantee the price issue because it is decided by individualpanies.


    ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll be in direct contact with the price issue.¡±


    -I can¡¯t help you with that from the governmental level, but I¡¯ll personally help you.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that. You might get in trouble for thatter.¡±


    -Oh, you don¡¯t need to worry about that. I¡¯m a great lobbyist, you know.


    ¡°If you say so, you¡¯re always weed. You know there¡¯s room for your family at the vi we¡¯re building in Kyrgyzstan, right? You can use it anytime.¡±


    ¨C Anything else but a boarding pass?


    ¡°What about the knighthood given by the Kazakh Royal Family?¡±


    -I don¡¯t want to be on the news.


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Michael¡¯s active involvement in preparing equipment and weapons systems that were applied to Aegis destroyers would speed the process. Now, the key was whether the design capability of the Danish Shipyard could handle such high technology.


    ***


    As Michael assured, the Chinese military also pulled its troops backpletely from the Pamir teau.


    China had made quite a concession but Kazakhstan could never let its guard down against China for pulling back troops deployed on the border. ording to satellite data, the troops retreated only about 50 kilometers from the border, which was a distance of only a day¡¯s walk.


    ¡°What is this situation? They were acting like they will attack us at any time, but now they all fell back. We prepared everything for them. It¡¯s like we¡¯ve been dancing for them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a blessing in disguise because we¡¯ve been able to pull Russian troops out of Tajikistan and deploy our forces.¡±


    ¡°Chinese troops just stepped down temporarily because of internal Chinese affairs. It¡¯s not aplete withdrawal since they are only 50 kilometers away. They¡¯re stepping down because they realize the winter¡¯s harsh weather is too extreme to bear. We¡¯ll see, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll definitely make another provocation when the weather clears up.¡±


    ¡°Let theme all they want. I¡¯m confident that I can handle any number of them.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, it seems that the head of the Royal Guards has somebody behind him. Did you receive many Kurdish applicants?¡±


    ¡°Yup. We¡¯ve got more than 5,000 people already. I¡¯m confident that we can fight against China here only with the number of soldiers in the royal territory.¡±


    Youngho, Jong-il, and Chul-hwan were chatting about Chinese forces¡¯ withdrawal at Pamir.


    Everyone felt a little out of ce as it was so sudden and they actually wanted a battle at heart. It was frustrating to see that nothing happened while they were fully prepared.


    There would be casualties and economic losses in the event of a battle, but there was a reason to take it nheless.


    Youngho had intended to impose restrictions on imports of Chinese goods, citing border disputes, but the excuse for that was now gone. And another reason was that it was a good opportunity to integrate Tajikistan into a federal state.


    ¡°Everyone, listen. Since China has withdrawn, let¡¯s put a barbed wire there and mark it as Tajikistan¡¯s territory, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°Are we trying to provoke China in reverse?¡±


    ¡°What kind of provocation is that? I¡¯m just trying to rify the border section.¡±


    ¡°Will China stand still?¡±


    ¡°We will proceed no matter what.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? Let¡¯s hear what the hell you¡¯re thinking.¡±


    ¡°If we want to take Tajikistan early and create an opportunity to drive out Chinese goods out of the nation, we have to force a dispute with China.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re finally going to do it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the U.S. intervened, but it¡¯s only a stopgap measure because they only pulled out about 50 kilometers back. I¡¯m saying, let¡¯s get China when its guard is still down.¡±

 Chapter 577 - Double Check (1)

    <h4>Chapter 577: Double Check (1)</h4>


    Barbed wire fence was only used to mark territory, not as a defensive means.


    However, it would be enough to embarrass the Chinese side.


    This was the reason why Youngho wanted to install the fence, to put psychological pressure on the Chinese forces. No country would cross a border easily unless it intended to invade the other country.


    The Tajikistan militia weed the idea of installing a barbed wire fence on the border. The militiamen all agreed that China would not have made a reckless move if there were any signs marking the border in the first ce. The border had been unclear so far because Tajikistan did not mark its territory due to theck of economic ability.


    Youngho was discussing this matter with themander of the Tajik militia.


    ¡°Your Highness, instation of the barbed wire is a great decision for Tajikistan. The government had been neglecting it so far because of its cost.¡±


    ¡°Has there been an attempt to mark the border?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve requested several times to build a stone wall and make a boundary, but unfortunately, the government has not been able to afford it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that anymore. I ordered barbed wire, so all the materials will be here soon. When the weather clears up, we¡¯ll mobilize workers and start right away.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we do it right away?¡±


    ¡°How are we going to do it in this cold?¡±


    ¡°We are the militia, aren¡¯t we? This cold is nothing to us. And if you called workers from outside, most of them will notst long because they can¡¯t adapt to high acidosis.¡±


    ¡°Still, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to start it in this weather...¡±


    ¡°We can do it during the daylight hours. It¡¯s embarrassing enough for us having nothing to do while still receiving paychecks. Please allow us to work.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Fighting is not the only duty of a soldier. Standing by in the rear is also your mission.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we might lose the chance by waiting until spring. What if China decides to cross the border when the weather is warmer? You know well that there is a huge difference between having the fence and having nothing.¡±


    Even themander of the militia, who was born and raised in Pamir and had not seen the outside world, knew the symbolism of barbed wire.


    If there was barbed wire on the border and even a single guard post, people would not dare to cross it without some courage. Barbed wire was a psychological Maginot line since crossing the drawn boundary meant that you were going to go to war.


    ¡°Would you be able to work now if I provide barbed wire?¡±


    ¡°Any of the militiamen who had been living in Pamir can do so.¡±


    The militia leader was right. It was for the better when the process of marking the boundary was hastened.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay bonus payments if the militiamen take part in the work.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we¡¯ve already been paid by you. Besides, it is our duty to establish the border as Tajik citizens. If you pay us for this, we¡¯ll be ashamed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the money I was going to spend anyway. Don¡¯t turn it down because it¡¯s for the struggling militia.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just grateful for your consideration, Your Highness. We¡¯llplete it as fast as we can. We will mobilize all men in the rear.¡±


    ***


    The work on barbed wire was proceeding fast as even heavy equipment was used.


    It was convenient to move such heavy equipment and materials, thanks to the mountain road that the Chinese government made as part of its One Belt One Road project.


    The Chinese troops, who backed down, were not yet aware of what was happening in Pamir. Since the withdrawal, even Chinese border guards had left the area, so it was not guarded.


    This was the evidence that the Chinese side was underestimating the Tajikistan and Kazakhstan allied forces. The Chinese authorities would never imagine any of them would provoke China first. When the fencing work waspleted, China would feel like it was back-stabbed by the Kazakh and Tajik allied forces.


    Youngho was secretly hoping that China would provoke Kazakhstan over this incident. If that happened, only the Kazakh royal family, which solidified the border, would appeal to the Tajik people. Then, it would serve as an opportunity to move closer to the goal of merging Tajikistan into Kazakhstan.


    The sudden withdrawal of Chinese troops had led to unscheduled barbed wire work, but so far it had been moving as he intended. Youngho was much more rxed now because if nothing terrible happened, the wire work could bepleted roughly during the winter.


    He had only one concern. If China overly reacted to this underestimating Kazakhstan. Given that the U.S. or Russia could not intervene recklessly, China¡¯s overreaction was likely to happen.


    ¡°I hope China responds as we expect...¡±


    Jong-il spoke to Youngho as the two were talking about the barbed wire project at Pamir.


    ¡°The Chinese side won¡¯t just watch the new boundary. It will probably carry out a full military action.¡±


    ¡°If China responds too aggressively, we won¡¯t be able to handle it alone. So why don¡¯t we sign a military agreement with India? If we hold out on our way to the Middle East, China will wince. Wouldn¡¯t it be burdensome to turn us into enemies?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a great idea. Even if China wanted to walk through Pamir¡¯s barbed wire, it¡¯s hard to act recklessly if they want to make it to the Middle East in the future.¡±


    A military agreement with India would automatically resolve the issue of joint development in Chabahar. Iran¡¯s port of Chabahar was controlled by the Indian government, which was the main developer.


    The Iranian government had agreed in principle for the Kazakh royal family to use the port as its naval port. And, it would not be so difficult to form a military pact with the Indian government, as the Kazakh government had already agreed to cooperate with it to fight China.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we should tell UK in advance? Military cooperation with the Commonwealth of Ennd would also be sensitive to the British government.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right! There was UK. Why didn¡¯t I think about it before? Hey, inform the British Intelligence Service about this right away and ask for its cooperation. UK will probably be more active than we are.¡±


    Because India was a Commonwealth country, its military moved as part of the UK military.


    Kazakhstan and Britain had already signed military agreements and had agreed to receive part of the British troops withdrawing from Germany in the future. Also, under the military agreement, the British defense industrypanies had made into Kazakhstan and had been operating for a while.


    ¡°India is an independent country. Do you think the UK military will have influence over its decision?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about anything else, but I know the Indian military has been working closely with Britain.¡±


    Because of the support from Britain, the Indian Navy was able to have the aircraft carrier, which was the exclusive possession of a powerful nation. It was only possible because the British Commonwealth¡¯s armed forces were thought to be part of Britain¡¯s armed strength.


    If Kazakhstan and India were to join forces in the Indian Ocean as a means of pressuring China, Britain would not hesitate to offer other assistance.


    ***


    At the earnest request of the Tajik militia members,bat food was being distributed throughout Tajikistan as a substitute for winter food for their families.


    However, a problem urred when thebat food that was distributed free of charge was being traded at a high price. It was because the families of the militiamen did not eatbat food but sold it through wholesale and retail dealers.


    ¡°Your Grace, if they sell something that¡¯s distributed for free, there¡¯s no reason for us to supply it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, if you want to take Tajikistan, you have to release morebat food. How would you look at Kazakhstan if you¡¯re given the hope that you could eat such high-quality food at your heart¡¯s content? You¡¯ll feel the poverty of Tajikistan. That¡¯s why we have to distribute more and morebat food.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a little different from the way we took Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°While Kyrgyzstan had a problem of political instability, Tajikistan has a problem of poverty.¡±


    Tajikistan was an extremely poor country.


    Gross domestic product was only six billion dors, and per capita GDP barely made 700 dors. 60 percent of the total poption was ssified as poor, and there were no jobs enough for people as the unemployment rate exceeded 35 percent.


    Despite this dire economic situation, the nation had been spending decades in civil war and power struggles. The people¡¯s minds had been alienated from political and powerful figures.


    ¡°However, it would be too much for our economy to endure Tajikistan. Do you have any solution?¡±


    ¡°Do you know why China covets Tajikistan? Because Tajikistan has as much water power as Kyrgyzstan. ording to the report, there is boundless potential for hydro-power alone, which is the eighthrgest in the world. The infinite production of clean energy without the use of fossil fuels means you don¡¯t have to worry about the future.¡±


    ¡°I suppose Tajikistan would be able to generate unlimited electricity if you block a dam-like one in Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes. In the future, the Tian Shan Mountains and the water power nts of the Pamir teau will be our strategic assets.¡±


    Another reason to embrace Tajikistan was that the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan was tooplicated. Theplex border could be a seed of conflict due to the distribution of water resources. If Tajikistan was subjugated to China, it would also disrupt electricity production in Kyrgyzstan.


    After listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, Kim Chun finally nodded.


    ¡°So I¡¯m blessed to be living in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m grateful to the former president, Nazarbayev, for taking care of the economy and the Ministry of National Defense, even though his long dictatorship has regressed democracy.¡±


    ¡°I just can¡¯t understand that Tajikistan is still so poor with that much potential.¡±


    ¡°Political leaders ruined everything while jostling for power. Tajikistan has been going backward rather than forward. Now, its name should be changed.¡±


    ¡°Do you n to overthrow it by force?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a country that will copse even if it¡¯s left alone. If China provokes us as intended, the Tajik people will give their entire country as a whole to us voluntarily. That¡¯s why you need to diligently release thebat ration. Then they¡¯lle into our arms by themselves.¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll turn the shipment to Siberia to Tajikistan first.¡±


    ¡°I guess you are bing greedy too, Mr. Commissioner.¡±

 Chapter 578 - Double Check (2)

    <h4>Chapter 578: Double Check (2)</h4>


    The signing of a military agreement with the Indian government was processed quickly as the British government joined.


    The British government was very pleased to hear that the Kazakh military would be bringing in additional Aegis destroyers and multi-purposending ships. The British navy was not in a position to help its allies with recent cuts in the defense budget, so it was like the Kazakh military was ying Britain¡¯s role. Britain also promised to provide support for old battleships to help the Indian government. Although older, the battleships were weed by the Indian government as they would still be usable when some equipment was reced.


    The Indian government showed its appreciation to the Kazakh royal family for signing the military agreement as it was able to further reinforce its naval capabilities. It was a natural response as it was able to reduce the cost of construction of the development of the Chabahar port with the royal family¡¯s joining in the project.


    When the announcement that India and Kazakhstan would sign a military agreement and also jointly develop the Iranian port, China was startled. The withdrawal of troops from Pamir was ordered to maintain a smooth rtionship with Kazakhstan, but the Kazakh government was moving in apletely different way from China¡¯s intentions.


    This could not happen unless Kazakhstan was hostile toward China.


    ***


    Youngho was nning to station a shear-type mobile fleet each in the North Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.


    The Northern Sea Fleet would use a port in Denmark since it was the nation of the royal family¡¯s family-inw, while the Mediterranean fleet would use the Arirang Ind in Greece as its home port. And finally, the Arabian fleet would be based in Iran¡¯s Chabahar port and its supporting fleet would be based in the United Arab Emirates¡¯ Abu Dhabi port.


    Each fleet would consist of one Aegis destroyer, three frigates, and one supply ship.


    The remaining two Aegis destroyers and multi-purposenders of the Kazakh royal family would operate as support vehicles and remain as emergency forces.


    Because Youngho had such an idea, he needed six mid-sized destroyers and four more supply vessels which were ssified as frigates.


    However, with the capacity of the Danish Shipyard owned by Youngho, the building of the Aegis destroyer and the multi-purposending ship that was currently under design was overwhelming. So, for frigates, it would be better to bring in and repair the old destroyers and make them as supply vessels.


    If his n could be carried out without difficulty, Kazakhstan¡¯s naval power would neverg behind the naval forces of any other country.


    When Youngho shared his idea with Jong-il, he looked concerned.


    ¡°I like your idea, but what are you going to do about the immediate shortage of Navy officers and engineers to run the Aegis destroyers?¡±


    ¡°The troops to be sent to the Korean Navy from January next year have already been selected, so don`t worry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they will be able to operate high-tech warships like Aegis destroyers just because they¡¯ll be receiving strong training in Korea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m thinking about bringing in some retired officers and nonmissioned officers from the Korean Navy. We need a lot of instructors to use to operate submarines.¡±


    At this level of strength, the Navy should have at least 10,000 men, but it was very hard to find skilled soldiers.


    Contemting over this, Youngho and Jong-il thought of recruiting those from discharged Korean Navies.


    Most of the officers and nomissioned officers who served in the Korean Navy usually worked on a ship for overseas service or fishing boats because many were not able tond jobs due to the global shipping industry¡¯s slump.


    If former Korean navies could be recruited, it would serve as an opportunity to naturally introduce the Korean Navy¡¯s advanced battle techniques to the Kazakh Navy. Moreover, former Navy officers were well-educated enough to be called high-level engineers, which would help the development of the Kazakh Navy.


    Compared to Korea, Kazakhstan could not offer better treatment, but if Kazakhstan offered payments more than enough to live in Kazakhstan, Youngho was certain that former officers would crowd in like a flock. He was also willing to ept the active-duty soldiers, not as civilian workers, if there were more applicants than expected.


    ***


    China¡¯s special envoy visited Kazakhstan when about a third of the border fence work on the Pamir teau waspleted.


    The Chinese military at the border area had just discovered the construction of a fence. It was because no one imagined that the fence would be built in such a severe cold weather.


    China¡¯s embarrassment was much greater than when Kazakhstan signed a military agreement with India. It was also quite bold of Tajikistan for pushing ahead with the construction despite knowing that it would be a cause of conflict.


    All China could do was to protest against the Tajik government and scare it as if China would go to war at any moment, but it dared not to act. Surprisingly, the Tajik government insisted that it was not involved in the construction of the military.


    ¡°I tly refused his request to take the fence down right away. When I said it was China¡¯s intervention in domestic affairs to tell us what to do with our economic assistance at the request of our ally, he couldn¡¯t say any more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you went through the trouble for me, Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°He requested to see you. When I asked why the royal family¡¯s mentioned in the matter of government-to-government consultations, he said that he should deliver a personal letter from Xi Jinping. So I said I¡¯d deliver it for you and sent him back.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese dispatch of special envoys is to build a cause.¡±


    ¡°I think so. His insistence on seeing you also seems to have an intention not to take the Kazakh government seriously. Since Xi Jinping thinks of him no less than an emperor now, he¡¯d rather talk to the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    The Chinese National Congress unanimously passed Xi Jinping¡¯s long-term regime and ended. As long as nothing terrible else happened, the Xi Jinping regime wouldst for a long time. This was signaling that China¡¯s move would be more outspoken in the future than it was now. It would not make any concessions in border disputes or territorial disputes and would speed up its One Belt One Road project based on its huge foreign exchange reserves.


    The letter brought by the envoy was full of rhetoric that Xi Jinping hoped the bteral rtionship would be more intimate. There was no mention of the one-sided barbed wire fence work in the Pamir teau. This was only mentioned through the mouth of the special envoy.


    Anyway, it was true that the Chinese government was inwardly surprised by Kazakhstan¡¯s recent moves. The special envoy could havee to see Kazakhstan¡¯s response after learning through the media about Kazakhstan¡¯s participation in Iran¡¯s development of the port of Chabahar, as well as military cooperation with India.


    China must be feeling that its influence stood powerless in Central Asia although it was great in neighboring countries of Northeast Asia


    ¡°Your Highness, the military agreement with India was a divine decision. I think China just realized that if we and India blocked the road, it won¡¯t be able to make its way into the Middle East.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese leadership made a big mistake. As they¡¯ll seeter, they¡¯ll certainly regret the loss caused by starting a border dispute with a neighboring country. Its greed over a small desertednd will be huge.¡±


    It would not take much time for China to realize that thecent thoughts of the Chinese leadership, which thought it could tame its neighbors by mobilizing forces, had actually blocked the important export routes.


    It was because Youngho was nning to deploy fivebat ships, including Aegis destroyers and frigates, in the Arabian Gulf next year as soon as they arrived. If China pushed its way to the Pamir teau, the Kazakh Navy would not standstill.


    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve sent a special envoy, we¡¯ll deploy our forces to the Pamir Mountains.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able toe in winter. They¡¯ll decide whether to continue to the border disputes in Pamir and India during the winter.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t we have to prepare more?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. That¡¯s why I sent the royal bodyguards to Afghanistan as a peacekeeping force.¡±


    Although Youngho sent troops to Afghanistan at the request of the U.S., the ultimate goal was to station troops in Tajikistan and possibly prepare for a conflict on the Pamir teau.


    That was why he epted the U.S. request.


    ¡°Then, are you thinking of sending additional troops besides the royal bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°Of course I will. There are nearly five thousand Kurdish enlisted men. We will send them to Tajikistan as soon as their training is over.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that they¡¯re still learning the Kazakhnguage. Wouldn¡¯t there be a problem if we can¡¯tmunicate with them well?¡±


    ¡°What do you need to say on the battlefield? They just need to know a few terms. Unless it¡¯s about dealing with precision weapons, they¡¯re going to fight more bravely than our soldiers.¡±


    ¡°The whole world knows about the bravery of the Kurds. But that was the case when they risked their lives to win independence, wasn¡¯t it? I wonder if they¡¯d be so enthusiastic about Kazakhstan¡¯s matter.¡±


    ¡°Wait and see. You will find out that such concerns are not necessary.¡±


    The Kurdish soldiers are ssified as the Kazakh army, but they were also assigned as the royal bodyguards. It was their great pride since they wanted to protect Princess Jelyan and they were grateful for the Kazakh royal family for saving them.


    This was why that enlisting among young men became popr even though no one forced them. Another reason was that they knew that they would be given good weapons, ample supplies, and a great sry to support their families.


    Youngho was certain about the Kurdish soldiers¡¯ performance in the military because of the temperament of Kurds. They fought for independence for a long period of time and lived in insecurities. Such circumstances had changed their temperament. Once they were on the battlefield, they were persistent and determined that they would not leave the scene until they achieved victory unless they were killed.

 Chapter 579 - Gender Imbalance (1)

    <h4>Chapter 579: Gender Imbnce (1)</h4>


    Since the full-fledged migration began in May, a little more than 400,000 Kurds had so far nestled in the royal territory. As this became global news, Kazakhstan¡¯s global image was greatly improved resulting in more tourists in the country.


    There were many minor idents while hundreds of thousands of people were moving, but it was fortunate that there were no safety idents.


    Europe, which had been gued by Syrian refugees, provided one billion euros in aid from the European Union as soon as Kazakhstan epted the Kurds, and under the initiative of the U.S., the United Nations provided 2 billion dors as refugee settlement funds.


    Apart from that, the U.S. and other northern European countries had daily necessities and building materials.


    Among them, the country that provided the most aid was the United States since it had even sent 100-million-dor worth of relief goods.


    Unexpected subsidies and daily necessities had greatly reduced the burden of the royal family.


    As the Kurds settled down, many jobs were created to support them, and the most popr of which was being a soldier. It was perhaps a natural choice for Kurdish men as they were used to the concept of armed fighting.


    As the number of soldiers increased, the existing guards automatically became officers.


    Cho Chul-hwan and Foreign Legion soldiers from the Korean Navy Special Forces were happy to have more soldiers under them at first. However, it soon turned into a problem as they could notmunicate with Kurdish soldiers. Since the Syrian Kurds spoke French, the Kurds who arrived at the royal territory were no more than half-mute.


    Cho Chul-hwan wasining about this.


    ¡°We need to increase the training period a little more. I can¡¯tmunicate well because of thenguage barrier, so themand doesn¡¯t work well.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re still in the training camp for 12 weeks. It¡¯ll be a great stress for them if we keep Kurdish soldiers in training camps for a longer period. They¡¯ll learn thenguage in time. Why are you so eager?¡±


    ¡°I think it would be better to force training and education for about four months. The ones who joined the army in May are still not useful because they can¡¯tmunicate with us. So, I was thinking, why don¡¯t we designate them as an autonomous military unit which is a special unit?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°Just like the Royal Bodyguards, let¡¯s train the Kurdish soldiers as special forces.¡±


    Youngho was intrigued by Chul-hwan¡¯s remark.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s borders were almost entirely blocked by mountain ranges from Russia to China. Most of them could not be essed by tanks and armored vehicles.


    As for attack helicopters and fighter jets, they would have to fly low in the air due to the mountainous geographic, but they could be an easy target of missiles. The better the capabilities of individualbatants, the more likely they were to survive in Kazakhstan¡¯s borderline.


    That was why the mountaineers were recognized as special forces.


    It seemed that the brave Kurdish soldiers who had been waging guerri warfare on the mountains could do a great job at the borderline.


    ¡°Do you think they can digest the intense training?¡±


    ¡°If we can let them participate in the training voluntarily, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible. How about air-to-air training as well as all-weather training?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I was a little reluctant, but your n is quite appealing. Can you also see if any of the Kurdish soldiers are interested in the Navy?¡±


    ¡°Why? Do you want to build a naval training camp here, too?¡±


    ¡°To be reborn as an oceanic navy, we need to train a lot of proper officers and engineers.¡±


    ¡°Hey, how about building a Navy Special Forces?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, too.¡±


    ***


    Kurds were known to have overwhelmingly more women than men, this phenomenon had beensting more than half a century now.


    The reason was that all men were expected to take part in the war with guns. So, Kurdish women were said to be rather sad when they gave birth to a boy.


    The most gender imbnce was among Kurdish generations in the early 20s and 30s because most of the men were victimized by recent battles with the IS.


    Although these days, Kurdish women were also said to be joining the militia, a significant number of men were still being forced to join so far.


    Syrian Kurdish women were on the battlefield because Muslims believed that they could not go to heaven if they were killed by a woman, so they freaked out when they saw women with guns. How many IS members would be willing to walk around in front of women warriors knowing that they could not go to heaven if they were killed by women even if they prayed five times a day, bowing down their heads at the direction of Ma? It was believed that more than 10,000 women went to the battlefield with guns in theter period of the war.


    In any case, Kurdish women were also known for their strong livelihoods, having to raise livestock and farm instead of men on the battlefield. For that reason, Syrian Kurds, who moved to the royal territory, also had an overwhelming number of Kurdish women as well.


    After migration, they did not have to work outside as they were given indoor jobs in factories. Now, they were rarely exposed to the sun away from hard physicalbor and were living ratherfortable lives and restoring their beautiful selves.


    Kurdish women were beautiful perhaps because of their ethnic characteristics. Even Youngho found so many eye-catching beauties while walking on the streets.


    However, for the young Korean men who worked at the royal territory, their beauty was like pie in the sky and pain. There were no French-speaking young people, so they could not speak to the Kurdish women.


    After 6 PM when the factory closed, downtown was full of young Kurdishdies, and young Korean men who left work at that time also flocked downtown. However, most of them left after drinking beer in pubs or spending time in cafes, not being able to associate with thedies.


    The reason why there were so many young Korean men in the royal territory was that there were many military personnel such as members of the Royal Bodyguards, Foreign Legion, and the cyber unit, and technical personnel who came here to transfer their skills.


    No marriage could happen as Kurdish young men were reluctant to meet rough Kurdish women with a strong lifestyle, while Kurdish women were reluctant to meet men from other ethnicities.


    ¡°Your Grace, you have toe forward. At this rate, young Korean men and Kurdish girls will be single forever.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t force them to change their custom of marriage. Why don¡¯t you convince them and make a bridge for them?¡±


    ¡°If you say one word, it¡¯ll all be settled.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    It was a difficult issue.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s principle was to respect each ethnicity¡¯s identity, so Youngho could not force the Kurds to change customs. Besides, he could not force young people¡¯s affairs even though he was the Duke of the Kazakh royal family.


    Also, things could be even worse for two different people after getting married due to cultural differences, so he was very careful to step up. He knew it so well as he was also in an interracial marriage.


    Kim Chun, who did not know Youngho¡¯s heart, urged him to intervene.


    ¡°The Kurds are the ones who support the royal family like their parents. If you can only say that you would allow people of different ethnicities to socialize and marry each other regardless of their race, things will be a lot different from now. I¡¯m only asking you because this could be expanded to the productivity problem of our city. Imagine that young Korean men not working properly as they¡¯re captivated by Kurdish women. They¡¯d go crazy. What other hope can they find in this deserted ce?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s frustrating. I think Count Park has more experience in this kind of matter than I do. How do you feel about making him in charge?¡±


    ¡°A lot of dating experience isn¡¯t going to solve it. It is time for you to say something that will help break down the walls between people. I¡¯ll take care of everything if you hand down the message.¡±


    ¡°Well, then, do what you want to do. If even that doesn¡¯t work, you can talk to the Kurdish leader, too.¡±


    ¡°You are the Kurdish leader now. And after you is Princess Jelyan.¡±


    The next morning, it was announced on the radio that the Duke had allowed exchanges and marriage between different ethnicities. It was announced while the Wedding March was ying as a background song.


    Fatima asked what this was all about on the breakfast table.


    When Youngho told Fatima about his conversation with Kim Chun yesterday, Fatima felt bad about the situation that the Kurds were facing.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that there was such a problem. Is there anything we can do to help as the royal family?¡±


    ¡°In fact, why don¡¯t you step up and take this job yourself? I really don¡¯t want to get myself into this too much.¡±


    ¡°Then, Countess Park and I will be in charge of this matter. The Countess will be a great fit since she managed a matrimonial agency before.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think of that. Commissioner Kim has been grilling me so much that I didn¡¯t even have time to think.¡±


    ¡°By the way, do Kurdish women like Korean men, too?¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t that eventually happen when young people get to meet and exchange nces?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Although Jelyan is the center point, it¡¯s also a great opportunity for two people to bond together. There are at least tens of thousands of Kurdish women. Can you bring in more young Korean men?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m confident I can bring as many of them as possible. I have a n to build a naval school.¡±

 Chapter 580 - Gender Imbalance (2)

    <h4>Chapter 580: Gender Imbnce (2)</h4>


    One word from the Duke was taken like a gospel to the Kurds in the royal territory.


    The Kurdish people, who were forced to marry their fourth cousins, finally had a chance to break the cycle of the bad tradition now. The rmendation that the royal leadership and elders made for the sake of harmony among people was like an order to the Kurds because they valued authority more than traditions.


    As the invisible barrier between people copsed, Kurdish youngdies began to pursue men actively as they were so excited to break the tradition of pre-arranged family marriage which was a marriage between n families.


    Restaurants, pubs, and coffee shops in downtown were flooded with Kurdish women who were old enough to get married. Aside from the family marriage tradition, the Kurds encouraged marriage between Kurds because as part of the movement to give birth to many Kurds to make their own country.


    Kurds living in Turkey and other countries had maintained a high birth rate, giving birth to more than one child in order to have a bigger poption of Kurds in the future to pursue the goal of forming their own country. But for the Syrian Kurds who moved to the Kazakh royal territory, such goals were inevitably tarnished. It was because Princess Jelyan who was also a Kurd was already in the royal family.


    Since Kazakhstan, home to arge number of ethnic groups, was proof that different people could live in harmony, the Syrian Kurds also had a different stance from Kurds living in other countries.


    ¡°Your Highness, it looks like Kurdishdies are more fond of this than others. We might have to get ready for a joint wedding soon.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason why Kurdishdies are attracted to Korean men?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know that Kurds have a history with Korea? Korea is a special country for Kurds. Sixty percent of the Turkish troops that were dispatched to the Korean Penins during the Korean War were Kurds. They have a strong affinity to Koreans because they think they share blood with Koreans.¡±


    Youngho felt like he was struck by lightning to hear the history between the Kurds and Koreans. He was not a nationalist, but he had a good feeling about the countries that sent troops to help South Korea during the Korean War. He praised the noble decision of those countries to shed blood for Korea. Whether voluntarily or not, their blood and sweat enabled Korea to survive as a free and democratic nation.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great coincidence. epting the Kurds has been paying back their grace.¡±


    ¡°I think there are quite a lot of people who think that. The Kurds are very proud of that connection with our royal family.¡±


    ¡°I thought our connection started from Jelyan, but it started from the Korean War.¡±


    ¡°I thought you already knew that. That¡¯s why I thought you were taking care of the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°It had nothing to do with Korea. The situation of the Kurds and our need to increase the poption matched well. Of course, the fact that Jelyan is a Kurd yed a big part.¡±


    Women in the Kurdish society had a very high statuspared to other Muslim regions.


    In particr, because of the rtively secr nature of the Kurds, they did not impose hijabs on women and allowed them to be actively involved in social activities.


    They were also famous for their fast learning and adapting characteristics as they had to adapt themselves to live in different countries for generations. Being quick-witted also meant being smart.


    This was something one could see right away from theirnguage skills.


    There were various ethnic groups living under the Arirang royal territory, including Serbs, Kazakhs, and Kurds, and eachnguage was different from each other, so the officialnguages of Arabic and Russian must be mastered as basis.


    Learning English was also necessary because the royal territory had many foreignpanies and English was a must for students to study abroad, unlike other regions of Kazakhstan.


    It would have been confusing to the Kurds as they moved to the royal territory where so manynguages coexisted. Nevertheless, Kurds¡¯nguage skills developed surprisingly fast. The Kurdishdies who gathered in downtown already spoke English to the extent that they couldmunicate with Korean men. For French-speaking Kurds, English was not such a difficultnguage, just as Europeans spoke English rather easily than people in other regions of the world.


    ¡°Wow, they had been ignoring Korean guys so far even though they couldmunicate with them.¡±


    ¡°You know Korean guys are not so fluent in English, and they are quite shy. That didn¡¯t really help either.¡±


    It turned out that the Kurdishdies were interested in Korean guys in the first ce, but they were reluctant to associate with them because of their marriage tradition.


    The wall between them fell apart after Youngho¡¯s announcement, and now streets, cafes, and restaurants were full of young people who enjoyed dating despite the cold weather.


    Soon after that, Park Jong-il¡¯s wife, Karajan, opened a marriage agency business and led a group to a blind date, and it received explosive interest among young people.


    Since a soldier or civilian worker in the military would automatically receive a home if married,dies were attracted to such perks, too.


    ***


    The end of the year was already closing.


    However busy Youngho was, he spent the end of the year with his family, so this year he decided to take a short vacation on the Arirang Ind in the Aegean Sea.


    Construction of the docks and rted facilities were still in full swing, but the royal vi and runway were roughlypleted, so it was not inconvenient to stay there for a while.


    The royal family¡¯s travel was usually apanied by many guards and entourages, but the travel to the Arirang Ind did not need such a fuss as the ind was safer than the royal territory. Fatima, who hated hassles, loved to have a private and cozy family trip.


    ¡°Fatima, did you hear from Zeynep?¡±


    ¡°She will arrive tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Why is she noting home already? What¡¯s so fun in Denmark?¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s into watching Szechenyi¡¯s kids. You know how she loves children.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not dreaming of getting married yet, is she?¡±


    ¡°She said she will live freely and will get married after 30, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°What? Live freely?¡±


    ¡°Haha... Why are you so surprised? Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s such a good girl, and don¡¯t bother interfering because she¡¯s an adult now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say that I¡¯m interfering in her life. It¡¯s because I¡¯m really worried as if I let an infant go by herself outside.¡±


    ¡°She knows that, and she is very careful about her actions. Can¡¯t you tell that already? I mean, she doesn¡¯t even have a boyfriend yet.¡±


    She had been in college for three years already, and it sounded like a problem if she never had a boyfriend yet.


    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not because she¡¯s not popr.¡±


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s surrounded by guards all the time. Who would dare to approach her? So please loosen it up for her a little bit.¡±


    ¡°I must have been too strict on Zeynep.¡±


    At that moment, the life of Kurdish women shed across his mind. They were forced to


    marry men whom they did not love because of their tradition. He felt sorry that he had been too strict on Zeynep¡¯s life.


    When Zeynep arrived, the royal family left for the Arirang Ind on a small jet.


    It was a trip of a little more than four hours, and Leon and Jelyan were not still even for a second throughout the whole time although they were on a narrow ne.


    Jelyan, who was now bing ady, acted like a child whenever she was with Leon. Moreover, Zeynep¡¯s joining had added even more excitement to the trip. As they met their aunt after two months, they had to make a noise.


    Rena was on vacation, so she had gone back to South Ossetia to be with her mom.


    Looking at Jelyan¡¯s bright smile, Youngho smiled.


    ¡°Jelyan has grown so much.¡±


    ¡°She grows so fast. This time, Jelyan connected a Kurdishdy to a Korean man.¡±


    ¡°What does she know about marriage?¡±


    ¡°Among the Kurdishdies who volunteered to assist Jelyan, there is a girl who has lost her parents and brothers. Jelyan thinks about her dearly, and she introduced her to one of her bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°Huh! She¡¯s quite a matchmaker.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all. You won¡¯t even imagine how much she takes care of war orphans. She asked Zeynep¡¯s foundation for support for the underage orphans.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°She thinks of orphans like family. You know it wouldn¡¯t feel like others¡¯ business to her.¡±


    Fatima was in tears, but she managed to end her sentence.


    Considering the horrendous situation she experienced in Istanbul¡¯s slums, she was not different from Jelyan and the other orphans. Youngho hugged her silently as she sobbed.

 Chapter 581 - Reminiscence (1)

    Chapter 581: Reminiscence (1)


    Although the trip was hastily scheduled, the bodyguards and the royal staff had already arrived at the ind and were fully prepared. The royal vi was notpletely finished, but it was enough for them to stay for a few days.


    ¡°Oh! I remember my first visit to Zeynep Farm in Baku.¡±


    When the vi, which had yet to bepleted, caught her eye, Zeynep eximed, saying that it reminded her of the old days.


    Next to the vi¡¯s stone wall was a long, narrow path, where a short vine was nted at a distance of two to three meters. Although it was a warm ind, it was still winter, and the bare branches reminded them of the earlier days of the Baku farm.


    At that time, Zeynep liked the farm and nagged to stay the night, so Youngho had to buy several mattresses as temporary beds for the Fatima siblings to stay. This became an opportunity for them to settle in Bakuter. It was a long time ago, but for Youngho and the siblings, it remained clear like it just happened yesterday. It was great that they had memories to share.


    When Zeynep talked about the farm, Fatima and Jelyan seemed to be reminiscing about it as they both had memories of the farm, too.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have mattresses ready here today.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, do wolves and other animals live here too?¡±


    The memory of that first day was longsting.


    When they first slept on the Baku farm, Youngho shot his gun to scare the thieves who came into the farm. He lied to the siblings that it had been wolves because he did not want to scare them.


    ¡°There are no wolves, but instead there are sharks in the sea, so stop thinking of going into the sea.¡±


    ¡°What? There¡¯s a shark? Oppa, catch me one. Let me tame it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, silly. What kind of pet is a shark?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I saw a movie, and people even ride on sharks.¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded by Zeynep¡¯s silly idea, who was already an adult. Even the young Leon would not think of taming sharks. His anxiety about Zeynep bringing her boyfriend one day and marrying him was gone in an instance.


    Youngho looked puzzled, and Fatimaughs at his face. She had read many thoughts crossing in his mind through his expression.


    ¡°Hahaha... What¡¯s that look on your face?¡±


    ¡°Phew, I think I had enough silliness for today. Let¡¯s unpack our luggage and take a look at the relics we found.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have anything left if you take them along.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to take so many gold coins because they are heavy.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Oppa, you don¡¯t mean me when you say ¡®they,¡¯ did you? I deserve to have some because it¡¯s the gold coin of the Serbian kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we just said so because it will be a problem if we said we found the relics out of the sea of Greece.¡±


    ¡°It will cost you some to stop my mouth.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Zeynep, don¡¯t you belong to the royal family, too?¡±


    ¡°I heard you¡¯re an outsider when you get married.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal family is an exception. From now on, every son-inw of the royal family should move to the royal territory once you get married, alright?¡±


    Youngho suggested an idea as a joke, but after spitting it out, he thought it would be okay to adopt that system. If a smart man joined the royal family as Zeynep¡¯s groom, it would be a big boost to the royal family.


    When Fatima heard that, her eyes twinkled. This look was a habit of her¡¯s when she liked something.


    ¡°Oh, my word! Are you serious? Are you saying that Zeynep doesn¡¯t have to leave the royal family when she gets married?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess we can make a royalw that says so. We¡¯re epting refugees to increase our poption, so shouldn¡¯t we increase our royal members as well?¡±


    ¡°Wow, Zeynep. You should make it clear when you have a boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. There will be guys from great families lining up to join our royal family, don¡¯t you think, oppa?¡±


    ¡°Well, Zeynep, it doesn¡¯t matter who you choose. Just choose the one you like.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Youngho spoke words that were not true to his heart, but it was Zeynep¡¯s life. He wanted to at least try to let her go.


    ***


    The pier construction on the ind had only progressed by fifty percent. It was because there was not enough space for a transport ship carrying the construction materials.


    The barge floating near the beach was acting as a temporary dock, so the workers could make this much progress.


    Oil storage and seawater desalination equipment had already been transported to the ind, and instation work was in full swing. They had been brought in aspleted products, so they only needed to be connected to the pipes.


    The reason for such a grand construction was to ensure the safety of the Arirang shipping line that ran between the Mediterranean and the ck Sea.


    The Arirang Ind was home to the Mediterranean mobile fleet, which had one Aegis destroyer, three frigates, and one supply ship on standby all the time.


    The Greek government had agreed with the royal family to have such ships since it thought the Kazakh royal family¡¯s Arirang Ind would be a buffer zone between Greece and Turkey.


    In the sea to be used as a port, however, there were old wooden boats sunken in the past, and they were preventing big vessels from entering the ind. As workers cleared the obstacles to build the harbor, they found old relics and gold coins.


    After agonizing over how to handle the coins, Youngho turned it into a relic of the Kingdom of Serbia and was selling it at a high price now. If it was known as the undersea artifact, there would be a dispute with the Greek government over the ownership of the relics, so he had yed a trick.


    Most treasure boxes were collected already, and only the coins that were scattered around the sea bottom were left. The gold coins were almost recovered now, and only a few were being brought up from time to time by the construction workers.


    Having just found some gold coins on one side of the barge, Zeynep held them in her hand excitedly.


    ¡°Huh! Even though you¡¯re a princess, you can¡¯t take royal property recklessly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to take a few. You can get a lot of donations if you give it as a gift to influential people.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, if that¡¯s the purpose, take as much as you like, Zeynep. We¡¯ve collected enough already.¡±


    ¡°More than this?¡±


    ¡°In the beginning, we found them in boxes.¡±


    ¡°Well, then can I take all of these? We¡¯ll support the orphans that Jelyan takes care of from our foundation.¡±


    Zeynep¡¯s business mind was behind her request. She wanted to make connections with influential people and receive more contributions for her foundation. This would lead them to get connected to the Kazakh royal family, so Youngho also liked the idea.


    ¡°You can melt, sell, or make gold bars out of the gold coins. I will give you more if they can achieve something.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... Make sure you keep that promise.¡±


    After confirming with Youngho, Zeynep encouraged the divers to retrieve more gold coins. She told them that she would introduce a beautiful Kurdish woman to the one who retrieved the most gold coins.


    As Youngho was pleased to see Zeynep¡¯s action, Fatima held his arm and asked for a walk.


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you? You never link our arms.¡±


    ¡°There are not many people who are watching us here. Let¡¯s take a little walk up the path near the harbor.¡±


    ¡°As youmand, my queen. Shall we walk?¡±


    ¡°I love this ce. It¡¯s quiet, and it¡¯s not crowded. It reminds me of the early days of Zeynep Farm in Baku.¡±


    ¡°You and Zeynep have been talking about the Baku farm for a while. Don¡¯t you like our life in the pce?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a luxurious life, but I sometimes want my simple life back.¡±


    ¡°Would it have been possible for me to live such a simple life with my greed?¡±


    ¡°It would¡¯ve been possible if we stayed in Baku. Well, now we can¡¯t go back anymore.¡±


    Although she became the Queen, Fatima still had the heart of a poor girl in Istanbul.


    She did not like the hustle and bustle of things and felt burdened by the attention of people. She envied a normal and simple life and thought of their past life on Zeynep Farm in Baku as the best.


    Feeling sorry to burden her because of his goals, Youngho held her hand tight.


    ¡°If life like this is too much and difficult, you can always tell me. I¡¯lly down everything and leave to a remote ce for our family.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. You can¡¯t beat the hopes of those who trust our royal family. I¡¯m just going to take it as fate.¡±


    ¡°But you still have a desire to hand over the throne to Leon?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I do. I can¡¯t just give up the royal family you¡¯ve worked so hard for.¡±


    ¡°But you still dream of a simple life?¡±


    ¡°I just want to go back to being a normal woman and a wife. Please make time for our family often like this. Then I¡¯ll be satisfied with that.¡±


    ¡°Should I build a separate pce here as well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you did. Still, I really want to visit Zeynep Farm once a year.¡±


    ¡°Why there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s where our memories are.¡±

 Chapter 582 - Reminiscence (2)

    <h4>Chapter 582: Reminiscence (2)</h4>


    For the Fatima siblings, Baku was a ce with a special sentiment.


    It was the birthce of Leon and Jelyan¡¯s first home as well.


    Youngho¡¯s heart was also warmed when he thought of the memories there. It was a ce where he had all kinds of affection because he started out with nothing from there. Everything he built was rooted in Baku.


    The Azerbaijani government had devoted some of itsnds to the Kazakh royal family, and the descendants of the knights of the Kingdom of Serbia were still living in the farm and ranch, so it was like home for Youngho and his family.


    ¡°My heart flutters at the mere mention of Baku.¡±


    As Youngho made a remark, Fatima smiled.


    ¡°You¡¯re not having a strange idea now, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°What strange idea?¡±


    ¡°I just wondered if you¡¯re trying to do anything about Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how greedy do you think I am?¡±


    ¡°What about Central Asia then?¡±


    ¡°We are trying to protect Central Asia from the threat of China. I¡¯m not trying to take over countries out of my personal greed. Besides, I wanted to help because people in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were in a difficult situation.¡±


    Of course, that was not all, but he did not want to disappoint Fatima. He could not say that he coveted underground resources, particrly gold.


    Fatima looked surprised as Youngho replied vaguely.


    ¡°If China were greedy for Central Asia, wouldn¡¯t Russia be greedy for Azerbaijan? Azerbaijan is a ce that everyone would covet.¡±


    ¡°Russia can¡¯t afford to do so, but if it crosses the three main Caucasus countries, it¡¯ll have to be ready for war.¡±


    He answered casually, but Fatima had a point.


    This was because Russia¡¯s southward policy was still ongoing.


    Now it was caught up in the Crimean Penins, but he knew that Russia would be greedy about in the Caucasus one day. His heart sank at the thought of it.


    He hoped that Azerbaijan would remain as peaceful as possible, but as Fatima put it, it was a tempting prey for powerful nations.


    ¡°So if Russia wants to take over Azerbaijan, you have to protect it. I never want to lose Baku.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen, so rest assured. We¡¯re growing the power of Central Asia and it is ultimately for the Caucasus too.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s too much to buy weapons, should I help you a little bit?¡±


    Fatima looked like she was going to give money any minute.


    Since they lived on Zeynep Farm, Youngho had been putting in one million dors a year into Fatima¡¯s ount as a slush fund for a rainy day, so she was offering that money.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you spend all your money to help poor Kyrgyz people?¡±


    ¡°The money you gave me was more than enough, so I still have some left.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t buy a fighter with that money. You can spend it for your personal reason. Do you happen to know how much money I have?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered...¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll find outter, even if you don¡¯t tell me.¡±


    ¡°How is that so?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Leonter. Aren¡¯t you going to hand it all over to Leon anyway?¡±


    ¡°You sisters are always one step ahead of me, too.¡±


    ¡°Hoho...¡±


    ***


    At the opposite side of the beach where the dock construction was underway, was rocky without sand. It was not a cliff, but was a gentle slope of rocks, so people could walk down to the water on it.


    Youngho went fishing with his children after hearing that royal bodyguards who were collecting relics had been fishing there in their free time. Youngho did not believe when they said that all the fish in the Aegean Sea were there, but it turned out to be true as his party caught fish full of his cooler in less than an hour.


    There was no bait on Leon¡¯s small fishing rod, but there some fish were caught with the empty needle. This meant that it was a ce that had been out of reach for a long time.


    ¡°Oppa, I guess the fish decided to go on a tour of thend as a group. Leon swipes an empty fishing rod and they bite it. But what¡¯s up with me and Jelyan? They don¡¯t evene near us.¡±


    Zeynepined.


    Come to think of it, only Leon and Youngho were catching a lot of fish. Youngho handed over his ring to Zeynep just to check if it as the ring¡¯s effect.


    ¡°Put this ring on and try it.¡±


    ¡°Is it the power of the ring?¡±


    ¡°Try it first. I¡¯m also curious, too.¡±


    As soon as Zeynep put on the ring, finally fish started to gather around her and Jelyan.


    The fish were attracted to the hooks due to the supernatural powers of the ring.


    It seemed that the power of the ring was transmitted through the fishing rod to the water, or its effect was reaching a certain area.


    The reason for that presumption was that Zeynep and Jelyan were fishing together at a certain distance from where Youngho and Leon were.


    Even though Youngho had no ring on, he was still catching fish because of Leon¡¯s ring.


    The energy from Leon¡¯s ring was covering a certain area.


    At that moment, Youngho felt a thrill like thunder. While thinking about the ring, Zeynep and Jelyan continued to catching fish.


    ¡°What is this, oppa?¡±


    ¡°Well, the power of the ring seems to reach a certain area, but I don¡¯t exactly know what this means.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, I can¡¯t fish anymore because I¡¯m scared. It¡¯s so creepy that the fish are driven by the power of the ring.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just invisible power.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t fish anymore because I¡¯m getting goosebumps.¡±


    Youngho was also taken aback, so they decided to stop fishing at this point. Youngho was not sure how Leon or Jelyan would ept this phenomenon.


    ¡°Goodness! Did that really happen? What a strange phenomenon.¡±


    Fatima was rather curious, let alone surprised, to hear about the unusual phenomenon that had taken ce in the fishing area.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get goosebumps or feel scared?¡±


    ¡°Why do you get goosebumps when it¡¯s a unique specialty of our family? You should be proud. The ring didn¡¯t do anything wrong with you or Leon, and it didn¡¯t hurt other people, either.¡±


    It was true. The ring had never harmed people. It had just enhanced his body so far.


    In fact, it had done only good things for Youngho. He was fortunate to meet Fatima because of the ring. If it were not for the mystical rings and leather shoes, he would have never returned to see Fatima in Istanbul.


    ¡°Would we have met if it wasn¡¯t for the ring?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? If we were destined to meet, we would have met if it weren¡¯t for the ring.¡±


    ¡°I have a question for you, can you be honest with me?¡±


    ¡°Of course. There¡¯s nothing to hide between us.¡±


    ¡°I always wondered what my first impression was when we first met at the flea market.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t forget the memory of you walking toward me. You had a mysterious glow.¡±


    ¡°What? Aren¡¯t you just making up a story?¡±


    ¡°I was in a desperate situation because no one cared about the items that I hadid out to sell at that time, so I was very excited to see you walking towards me. I got a vague feeling that you were interested in me. That made me see a halo from you.¡±


    ¡°I guess you imagined it because you were in a desperate situation.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. You were my knight on a white horse.¡±


    ¡°Still, you don¡¯t tell me I was handsome.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Fatima, whoughed for a while, sat close to him and saying that there was a more important matter to say.


    ¡°I can¡¯t describe the shock I had when you visited the slums to look for me. After I met you at the flea market, I dreamed of you every night. There was a vague hope that we¡¯ll meet again someday, but I didn¡¯t expect it toe so soon.¡±


    ¡°What? You dreamed of me every night?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did. I had a hunch that you¡¯re going toe back and take care of us. It¡¯s embarrassing, but I thought I¡¯d marry you if you show up again.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, you were a very precocious girl.¡±


    Youngho responded with a joke, but he felt great inside. He felt like he became the Daddy Long Legs from the novel.


    ¡°Hoho... Girls all mature dreaming such things toe true. Especially girls in the slums try to forget about the tough reality with such hopes.¡±


    ¡°I tried hard to find you, too. It would have been different if I was a littlete. Just thinking about that makes me dizzy.¡±


    If he had not visited her then, Zeynep could have been wrong as she was dying with her illness. She could recover as Youngho took her to a hospital and put on the magical ring on her finger for fast recovery.


    ¡°Zeynep sometimes talks about it. She said if you hadn¡¯t found us, she wouldn¡¯t have been in this world now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t say that. She would¡¯ve survived because she¡¯s a tough girl.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sure she would¡¯ve been gone. If you hadn¡¯te then... it was a good thing you made it in time.¡±


    As she said that, tears welled up in Fatima¡¯s eyes. Youngho hugged Fatima feeling sorry that he dug up her sad past. The winter vacation on the Arirang Ind wasing to an end, reminiscing about their past.

 Chapter 583 - Zeynep’s Secret Business (1)

    <h4>Chapter 583: Zeynep¡¯s Secret Business (1)</h4>


    Although it was a short trip, Youngho and his family enjoyed it as it was a close time for the family in a long time.


    Youngho thought the children would be bored, but after learning the new joy of fishing, they went to the beach every day.


    Fatima and Zeynep also enjoyed the quiet time on the ind that they wanted toe to the ind more often.


    Since they were not on a tourist destination but a small ind, Youngho had many conversations with the family members.


    Leon was now old enough to have decent conversations, too.


    Even though he still held onto Zeynep or Jelyan¡¯s skirt, he was straightforward and bold to express himself, unlike other eight-year-olds.


    ¡°He likes his sister and aunt better than his mom or dad.¡±


    ¡°Oh, honey. Are you jealous that he doesn¡¯t y with you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this because he likes to y with toys more than ying outside.¡±


    ¡°Why, he¡¯s be calm and I love it. I¡¯m rather proud of him focusing on toys. You know there are not many peers in the royal family. I always feel sorry for him¡±


    ¡°If only Szechenyi¡¯s family joined us, it would have been a little more fun...¡±


    It would have been better if Szechenyi and his wife had attended, but they were busy since their second child was born less than a hundred days ago, and a long-distance travel was too much.


    ¡°Well, Szechenyi¡¯s family will join us next year. It will be a lot more crowded.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if it gets crowded but I wish we had more family members in the royal family. I¡¯d also like to make a sibling for Leon.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be too impatient about it. The doctor said that we¡¯re both healthy. We¡¯ll have another child, soon.¡±


    ¡°Some people worry that there is only one prince in the royal family.¡±


    ¡°What can we do? This is our family¡¯s characteristic. Besides, Leon will be safe because the ring protects him.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that the ring is the cause of not being able to have Leon¡¯s sibling?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way to exin it. That¡¯s probably true since the history of the Serbian kingdom also supports it.¡±


    Youngho and Fatima strangely could not have another child after Leon.


    The couple went to see a doctor for a checkup but both were perfectly normal.


    It was only recently that Youngho had a vague idea of why the second child did not ur. Historically, the Serbian kingdom¡¯s royalty had several princesses from generation to generation, but only one prince was born in each generation.


    He figured that the ring had been artificially controlled the number of princes to prevent power struggle between brothers. Fortunately, there were no restrictions on the number of princesses, so he expected to have a pretty princess someday.


    ¡°You know we can still have princesses without restrictions, so let¡¯s look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that it will happen now since it hasn¡¯t been happening so far.¡±


    ¡°I think the power of the ring has beenpletely absorbed by me, so I might be able to lift that restriction now.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. There are Jelyan and Rena, but they¡¯re all older sisters, so Leon has grown into a baby boy. I¡¯m just thinking that if he had a younger sibling, he would be more mature.¡±


    ¡°You know he acts like a baby boy in front of her sisters, but acts in a mature way outside. There¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°I guess the ring doesn¡¯t know that times have changed.¡±


    ¡°Well, times have changed, but people¡¯s minds haven¡¯t changed.¡±


    ¡°Why are these things handed down only in our family?¡±


    ¡°Other royal families and other peoples in Europe may have something of this kind. Do you know who¡¯s controlling the world right now? They¡¯re Jews. When I think of books like Talmud, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something about Jews.¡±


    Talmud was a book that has served as the spiritual pir of the Jewish people.


    Talmud contained scriptures and proverbs, as well as literature, wisdom of life, and the art of life.


    ¡°Is that why Jews live so well?¡±


    ¡°They had been teaching their generations well with the wisdom from Talmud. Most of all, Jews are smart. That¡¯s why I wondered if there was something unique about the Jewish people.¡±


    In particr, Talmud had something like an internationalw that regted the wide range of economic activities of Jews, even mentioning the Jewish responsibility for non-Jews, which was quite specific and surprising.


    Talmud¡¯sst page was empty. From the time of its first publication until now, thest page had always been left nk. It was meant to write the reader¡¯s own views. Leaving thest page empty suggested a lot.


    ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s why the Jewish people¡¯s sense of elitism is so strong because of that. But can that also mean that they also have mystical relics like we do? If so, wouldn¡¯t other kingdoms that lived in the same period of the Serbian Kingdom also have simr relics?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be some kind of alchemy? The Jews now control the world economy. Maybe they have the ability to make gold.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you go far with your imagination.¡±


    ¡°Oh, was that apliment?¡±


    ¡°In Korea, people say such things are said to live in the fourth-dimensional world.¡±


    ¡°Haha... I guess the ring makes us live in the fourth dimension.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Anyway, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re the only ones to have a legacy that¡¯s capable of magic.¡±


    ***


    Zeynep had collected quite a lot of gold coins from pushing the royal bodyguard divers at the ind.


    ¡°You¡¯ve collected quite a lot of gold coins now, haven¡¯t you? What are you going to do with them?¡±


    ¡°These coins are not preserved well like the ones you collected in boxes but they are just right for a gift.¡±


    ¡°Who the heck are you trying to go after?¡±


    ¡°Well... Even to you, I¡¯ll have to keep it a secret because it¡¯s a business secret. I¡¯ll let you knowter, so be patient.¡±


    Since the establishment of the social welfare foundation, it had affected not only the improvement of the corporate image but also the sales of wine and the Arirang Hotel.


    It also made the Kazakh royal family¡¯s reputation better due to its vigorous activities to help people in need, and Zeynep was doing a great job managing the foundation.


    ¡°Oppa, can you help me with some business under our foundation¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°What kind of business would the inexperienced foundation staff do? You just have to manage the contributions well.¡±


    ¡°If we did some business with the contributions made, we can multiply our assets.¡±


    ¡°How much money do you have in your foundation?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡±


    Youngho initially thought that the foundation¡¯s assets were about 30 million dors, but it seemed that the total assets were bigger than what Youngho imagined. She must have managed to receive a lot of contributions from many people.


    ¡°Who are you going make in charge of managing the funds?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he help when I leave it to Szechenyi?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can trust Szechenyi, but why don¡¯t you tell me what you¡¯re trying to do with that kind of money?¡±


    ¡°I will use it for the purpose of our foundation. Of course, we need to help the poor and the orphans.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t exin well. What are you trying to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it now... Can we talk about itter?¡±


    ¡°Is that another secret?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a secret, but I won¡¯t tell you because I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be fun to know in advance.¡±


    Saying it was not a secret, Zeynep still refused to tell him.


    Youngho was curious but he knew that she would tell him one day because when she needed help, she would definitelye to ask for help.


    ¡°She¡¯s very motivated to multiply her foundation¡¯s assets. Do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... You¡¯ve been wondering all along?¡±


    The tired children and Zeynep were sleeping soundly on the royal jet, so Youngho asked Fatima as he thought this was his chance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why she¡¯s hiding it from me.¡±


    ¡°She told me a rough idea and it¡¯s not yet been materialized. I think she¡¯s trying to build a hospital.¡±


    ¡°A hospital?¡±


    ¡°You know she was almost dead for sickness when she was young. She probably wants to help other children in a simr situation like her.¡±


    ¡°If she wants to build a hospital, why would she hide it when I can help her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll need money continuously when she opens a free clinic in a poor area. How can she ask you for help every time?¡±


    ¡°I guess she¡¯ll be building clinics in several ces.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. She said she¡¯d build it in just one ce.¡±


    ¡°Her foundation and financial ability must be capable of setting that up right now.¡±


    ¡°I think she¡¯s dreaming of a major hospital.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Smaller clinics work better in the slums.¡±


    There may be nond to build arge hospital in the slums, but usually,rge hospitals were built at a distance from the slums because of its bad environment. For those in need of immediate treatment, having several smaller clinics was more efficient than building arge hospital.


    ¡°How did she look when you asked?¡±


    ¡°Why, does her expression matter here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just tell me.¡±


    ¡°She looked a little shy.¡±


    ¡°Look at that. She knows that you might oppose her idea, so she¡¯s trying to hide it from you.


    She must be devising something unusual, so if you¡¯re curious, just hang in there.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not telling me either after all? You made me curious.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Zeynep will take care of it herself, so be patient for a while.¡±

 Chapter 584 - Zeynep’s Secret Business (2)

    <h4>Chapter 584: Zeynep¡¯s Secret Business (2)</h4>


    Prime Minister Kasim and other Cab ministers came to say a new year¡¯s greeting at the royal territory when Youngho and his family returned from the family trip.


    It did not end there. Other military chiefs and governors of the country also visited the pce, so the banquet hall was crowded for several days in the New Year¡¯s season.


    After bing a constitutional monarchy, this had be an annual event even though thew did not say anything about visiting the royal family in the New Year.


    Politicians and high officials were careful to show respect to the royal family so that they would not lose the favor of the Kazakh people as they endeared the royal family.


    ¡°Your Grace, did you enjoy your vacation?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, I¡¯m sorry that only the royal family went on vacation while the government members were working hard. I wish I could have taken you on our trip to the Greek ind.¡±


    ¡°Well, the cab ministers wouldn¡¯t have been able to leave their seats anyway since we¡¯re quite busy. Besides, I¡¯ll get to have rest when I retire from the position of the Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Oh, bless your heart. Mr. Prime Minister, you won¡¯t be able to rest.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯ll have to run another term in your position after your current term is over. The people want it, and I want it. You can¡¯t be retiring already. I have a lot to do with you in the future. You¡¯ll have to serve one more term. That¡¯s what the Queen wants, too.¡±


    Even though Prime Minister Kasim was not a politician, to begin with, he had been a great leader of the country with his calm and firm personality since the revolutionary government.


    Kazakhstan was yet to be stabilized as a country, in this transition period, Kasim, who was a strong leader who had been a soldier all his life was more qualified than any other politician since policies andplicated economic issues could be handled by someone like Eriksson, who was elite.


    ¡°Your Highness. There are so many talented people in Kazakhstan. You need to recruit people with fresh ideas.¡±


    ¡°The head of state should not be changed in order to maintain consistency in government policy, either. I beg you to stay. Other Cab members will also stay in the same position, too.¡±


    When the Duke mentioned about leaving everyone in their office, the faces of the Cab members at the banquet were brightened at once. It was because it was usually natural to appoint a new Cab minister when his term expired, but not doing so meant that every minister had done their job well. It was a greatpliment.


    ¡°Stagnant water is bound to rot. That¡¯s why we rotate any level of officials from top to bottom every three years. It wouldn¡¯t set a great role model if the ministers stay in their position.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re worried about corruption, we can simply prepare a proper safety device institutionally.¡±


    ¡°If officials have worked for a certain period of time, we can consider sending them abroad for about two years to give them a chance to study new things for their professional development.¡±


    ¡°That is a little burdensome to the government because of budgeting. I doubt whether the National Assembly will approve the budget.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have enough budgets, the royal family will pay for ministers¡¯ education, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Youngho thought if officials could study in developed countries for about two years with their family members and return to Kazakhstan, it would create a new wind in the civil servicemunity. Moreover, it was obvious that their loyalty to the Kazakh royal family would be strengthened.


    ¡°Your Highness. Why don¡¯t we expand that to include not only ordinary civil servants but also those working in special jobs?¡±


    Park Jong-il, who was listening to their conversation next to Youngho, interrupted them.


    The special job he described must be referring to intelligence agents and soldiers.


    ¡°Would the Director of Intelligence be interested in this project? I know you haven¡¯t even finished your studies at Baku University yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how can I leave Kazakhstan when I¡¯m in the position to support you. In particr, the Army needs new education. New weaponse out every day, and we can¡¯t really utilize them with our existing operational concept.¡±


    No matter how good a state-of-the-art weapon was introduced, it was useless if soldiers were not educated to operate it.


    ¡°From what I hear, we should start with the Army. It would be very helpful for soldiers and intelligence personnel to have an advanced education for about six months. Defense Secretary and the Director of Intelligence, please select agents that need to be sent for education of the operational concepts of advanced countries. The royal family will pay for the cost.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s Air Force or Navy had already been sending soldiers to Sweden or South Korea to learn how to operate thetest fighter jets or warships, and foreign instructors wereing directly into Kazakhstan to teach advanced technology. But the Army did not even have a chance to do so, so it was urgent to send soldiers to acquire advanced technology and its operational skills.


    ***


    -Hyung, Zeynep is ordering something strange. Do you know about this?


    ¡°I¡¯ve already heard that she¡¯s going to invest money in an asset managementpany.¡±


    -This is not something of that sort. She is going to order a ship from the Danish Shipyard, so I wondered if you¡¯re aware of this.


    ¡°Did she ask for a yacht?¡±


    -I wouldn¡¯t have called you if that¡¯s the case. She asked about the cost of building a hospital ship.


    Youngho had a sh of thought in his mind when he heard it. Fatima tipped him off about Zeynep wanting to build a hospital.


    ¡°I heard she was going to build a hospital. Was that a hospital ship?¡±


    -I think so. She¡¯s such a free soul. I don¡¯t know what she has in mind, but the size of the hospital ship that Zeynep is asking for was too big.


    ¡°How big was it?¡±


    -It¡¯s a hospital ship that can amodate 300 people at once. I checked with the shipyard that a ship of that size should be at least 20,000 tons.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s not 30 people, but 300 patients? She¡¯s going too big. What the heck is she going to use such a big ship for?¡±


    -She didn¡¯t say much about the details.


    It seemed that Zeynep wanted to build a hospital ship equipped with wards and medical equipment that would travel around the world to treat people in the ces where medical service was not provided well.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s up to something. Give whatever she asks for. Zeynep is not a child, she must know what she¡¯s doing.¡±


    After talking to Szechenyi on the phone, Youngho went to see Zeynep, but she left him hanging, saying that she needed to go do volunteer work at an orphanage. She wanted to talkter at the dinner table.


    She knew exactly why Youngho was there, knowing that Szechenyi would have told about their conversation already.


    It was clear that she wanted to buy time. So, Youngho asked Suh Min-seok to find out if there were any countries that operatedrge hospital ships.


    ¡°Your Grace, there are no privately operated hospital ships, but the navies of the United States, Russia, and China have it.¡±


    ¡°Howrge are the hospital ships owned by the U.S. Navy or other countries?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. operates 70,000-ton ships and has two hospital ships that have modifiedrge tankers. It¡¯s like a general hospital with 1,000 beds and dozens of operating rooms each. And the Chinese navy has 20,000-ton ship, and the Russian navy has 12,000-ton ship.¡±


    Youngho could not keep his jaw closed at the size of the U.S. hospital ship which could easily exceed the level of decent general hospitals.


    To maintain a ship of that size, only thebor costs of medical staff and maintenance personnel would be extremely high.


    It was also surprising that Zeynep was nning a ship of such size.


    Listening to it made Youngho even more curious about what Zeynep was up to.

 Chapter 585 - Better Safe Than Sorry (1)

    <h4>Chapter 585: Better Safe Than Sorry (1)</h4>


    ¡°Now, Zeynep. Tell me what the heck you¡¯re thinking.¡±


    ¡°Oppa, doesn¡¯t this side dish taste a little strange?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t keep me hanging here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you too. Finish the meal first and talk.¡±


    Youngho waited for Zeynep toe home, but she had no intention to answer him.


    ¡°I can¡¯t focus on eating when I¡¯m curious.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... Well, I¡¯m d you¡¯re showing great interest in my project, oppa.¡±


    ¡°Which charity group would think of creating a hospital ship? I just don¡¯t get it.¡±


    ¡°I was watching the Kurdish migration this time and thought about it. Also, it would be helpful for your dream of building an ocean marine.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a tentative enemy at the sea, and one day we might have a battle with it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is a high probability of a naval sh in the ck Sea or the Arabian Sea sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°I thought that if soldiers were injured, treating them on a hospital ship would save more lives since they won¡¯t have to go so far.¡±


    ¡°Okay, and what¡¯s next?¡±


    Youngho was satisfied with Zeynep¡¯s answer. It was quite brilliant of her to think of something like that for her foundation and for the Kazakh Navy.


    ¡°In usual time, it can be used as a royal general hospital that travels around to help people in need. Wouldn¡¯t that earn a great reputation for our royal family?¡±


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m impressed. I¡¯ll make one for you right away. If you want to reduce the time to make the hull, we can even renovate an existing bulk carrier or tanker.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s too big, maintenance costs will be high. A size that has a capacity of 300 people is perfect.¡±


    When Youngho excitedly responded to Zeynep¡¯s idea, Fatima burst intoughter.


    ¡°Why are youughing? Zeynep has such a brilliant idea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. So stop now and finish your meal.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t eat now because I¡¯m too excited. I¡¯ll call my friends over for a drink. I¡¯m going to have to show it off.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to brag about?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? There¡¯s no one in the world who cane up with this kind of idea except for Zeynep. I¡¯d like to give you kisses and hugs but I¡¯m holding back.¡±


    ¡°No, oppa! Are you treating a growndy like a child?¡±


    ¡°You are still a child in my eyes. Did you forget about the past? You used to kiss me and hug me all the time.¡±


    ¡°I was young back then and thought you were the most handsome person.¡±


    ¡°What about now?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. This pce is full of better-looking guys than you everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, I was considered handsome back in Korean.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Since Youngho suddenly called them, his friends came to the pce quickly, asking what was going on. They were surprised to hear Zeynep¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Are you saying that Zeynep really thought of this?¡±


    ¡°I know, right? I was so thrilled that I had to call you at dinner time. We should celebrate tonight.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe she came up with this idea. I still feel like she¡¯s a kid, but I guess she¡¯s grown up.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s grown into a thoughtful and mature woman.¡±


    ¡°It is really a great idea. It¡¯s like a moving general hospital. It helps refugees and our soldiers and even improves our image. Man, she deserves a big prize for this.¡±


    Park Jong-il and the others praised Zeynep in unison.


    The more Youngho thought about it, the more wonderful it was. He was so happy that he drank untilte that night.


    It was also gratifying to think the girl he raised had grown up into an amazing woman.


    ***


    asionally, Youngho came across a ce that felt familiar even though he had never been there before. It was like a deja vu.


    That was what Youngho was seeing at the moment.


    ¡°Have you and I ever been here together, Dr. Park? I don¡¯t know why, but I feel like I¡¯ve been here before.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you feel too? I was feeling a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, too. I just thought that I¡¯m confused because I¡¯ve been to so many ces to do geological surveys. If you feel the same way, this must be a very strange ce.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even understand that there is a huge empty underground cave. It¡¯s rare unless it¡¯s a region with lots of limestones.¡±


    Areas with limestone reserves were more likely to develop caves, but the royal territory had no limestone reserve, so if there was a cave, it could only be exined in two ways. It was either man-made or where underground water used to be.


    Park Young-sun found a huge empty cave while conducting a geological survey of the newly incorporated area, so Youngho had followed him to check it out.


    ¡°How big is the cave?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 9 km2 in area.¡±


    It was an unimaginablyrge cave, so Youngho pondered upon its size for a while.


    It was amazing that it was kept intact for a long time even though it was such a huge cave. This meant that the upper part of the cave was made up of solidyers of rocks.


    ¡°Is there any way to utilize this cave at 150 meters below ground?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll have to explore it a little more, but we can possibly use it as an air-raid shelter. If it¡¯s not connected to other areas, we can make it a water or oil tank after stabilization work.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to make a path for people to enter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get to it as soon as the equipment arrives.¡±


    ¡°Is there any possibility that it was made artificially?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s unlikely with technology back then. I think it must be a ce where underground water used to be.¡±


    Although Park Young-sun disagreed, Youngho was still doubtful.


    People in ancient times used to dig deep and go underground to survive from outside threats such as meteor showers. His imagination was unlikely to be true, but he still thought there must be a secret to this cave because of the weird d¨¦j¨¤ vu-like feeling the cave had.


    ¡°Dr. Park, doesn¡¯t d¨¦j¨¤ vu sound too broad?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way to exin how I feel about this ce. But it seems like you and I are creating an illusion because of some supernatural phenomenon. If I¡¯m forced to exin this, I¡¯d say maybe the maic field is flowing through this area.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess my imagination has gone too far, seeing that you use difficult terms all of a sudden. Anyway, let¡¯s examine this ce thoroughly and decide whether it should be preserved or not.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha....¡±


    Although Youngho stepped back, he believed that naturally urring caves could not be sorge. Anyway, the mere presence of a huge cave was reassuring. This could be used as a shelter in case of an emergency. With some work, a pathrge enough for cars to enter could be made.


    When he returned to the pce, he called in Kim Chun to discover the history of the region, but he could not find an answer.


    However, he learned that the ce used to be a forested area and that meteorites had fallen at the beginning of this century.


    Siberia and Central Asia were known for their unusually frequent meteors, but it was only more noticeable than other ces because of theirrge area. In fact, meteors weremon everywhere in the world.


    ¡°Your Highness, meteors fall everywhere, but from the 18th century, statistics show that meteors have been unusually a lot. I remember the academic report that the presence ofrgekes all over the world was caused by meteorites.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then we need to investigate that. Couldn¡¯t the meteors have fallen in the old days with decades of cycles?¡±


    ¡°I know there¡¯s an 80-year cycle and a 150-year cycle meteor. I¡¯ll contact the relevant department to request rted information. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s nothing bad about investigating it.¡±


    ¡°Please do so. After checking out the unusuallyrge cave, I really want to find out the cause. I have a hunch that the cave will be of tremendous help to us.¡±


    These days, the earth¡¯s maic field was causing a reversal; the news report said that it was very unusual. It got Youngho curious.


    If there had been frequent meteor showers in the past, it could also happen in the modern world. It would not hurt to prepare in advance.


    If a meteor fell, certain areas would be devastated, but if the royal territory was not hit directly, the cave could serve as a great shelter.


    It was the same with atomic and hydrogen bomb attacks.


    There was no ce like an underground cave to avoid the aftermath, fall-outs, and half-life of post-explosion radiation.


    So Youngho decided to develop the cave fully over time.


    A total area of about 9 km2 was a space that could amodate a huge number of people.

 Chapter 586 - Better Safe Than Sorry (2)

    <h4>Chapter 586: Better Safe Than Sorry (2)</h4>


    ¡°Sir Eriksson, I want to buy an excavator. Which country¡¯s product is strong and fast?¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with an excavator?¡±


    When Youngho informed him about the underground cave that Park Young-sun found, Eriksson also showed interest.


    ¡°TBM is the most well-supplied drilling machine. I¡¯ve heard that there are various excavation calibers, so you can drill with any size you want.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to use it to drill a path to the underground cave. I think it can serve as a shelter facility. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°If you build such a facility, I¡¯m all for it. Kazakhstan is blessed that the cave was found.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Advanced countries are already preparing a lot of underground facilities. They can serve as an emergency shelter from threats from space and for a possible World War III. They usually cost a lot because many of them are made by artificially drilling into mountains. So finding a natural underground cave that¡¯s 150 meters long is indeed a blessing.¡±


    ¡°In that case, it¡¯s truly a blessing since we can save time and money.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we need to expand such facilities across the country.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t worry about that. Kazakhstan was once Russia, remember? There are many such facilities in the eastern cities already. Even Almaty has subway built 100 meters below the ground level under the former regime¡¯s guidance.¡±


    Russia had prepared such facilities well during the Cold War era, so they were scattered across the country. Since the royal territory was a new city, it did not have such a facility yet.


    ¡°Preparations for the future must be made no matter how much it cost. It was fortunate that we found a natural cave.¡±


    Youngho wished there were more of such caves, but there was little chance of finding a cave that was as great as this one. So he was hoping that the newly discovered cave would turn out to be even deeper. If it was where underground water used to flow, it would be connected to other caves as well.


    ¡°North Europe also has a lot of mountainous areas, and they use a lot of tunneling equipment. If you want, we can order equipment right away from there. If I talk to the Information Agency, they will arrive in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Please do so. I want to see the cave as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Haha... I got you.¡±


    ¡°And Zeynep has a n to run a hospital ship. Could you also look for medical staff and equipment?¡±


    ¡°You know I was quite impressed when I heard about that. How could the princess have such a grand idea?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t our Zeynep awesome?¡±


    Eriksson smiles at Youngho¡¯sment.


    ¡°Your Grace. Do you n to build only one hospital ship?¡±


    ¡°Zeynep wants 300 beds, so we¡¯re going to start with that. Do you have a different opinion?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d have to have that kind of hospital ship to amodate arge number of people, but there are many medical blind spots in Central Asia and the Caucasus, so it has to be easily essible. Shouldn¡¯t we build one that can get through the canal?¡±


    ¡°You mean we need a medium-size ship.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re doing volunteer work to promote the royal family¡¯s image, it will be better to operate two small hospital ship lines, each with 50 to 100 beds.¡±


    A ship of that size should weigh between 3,000 tons and 5,000 tons.


    The minimum size of ships going in and out of the ocean should be big enough to weigh more than 3,000 tons to withstand heavy waves and carry enough materials for long-distance trips.


    ¡°The 300-bed ship can be operated when there arerge-scale victims or in war-torn areas while smaller ships can be operated during normal times. Within a few months of the operation of the Kazakh royal hospital ships, it will gain global fame.¡±


    ¡°There should be a minimum of armament.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Most of the ces the hospital ships visit will be out of administrative power or have ethnic conflict.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried that Zeynep will board the ship too.¡±


    ¡°The royal guards will protect her.¡±


    ¡°Well, then the problem will be recruiting medical teams. If the working environment is a hospital ship, everyone¡¯s going to shake their heads.¡±


    ¡°You can adopt a rotation system. If they¡¯re only on the ship for a month or two a year, they¡¯re going to love it since they can travel on the ship.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, I found the entrance to the cave.¡±


    Dr. Park Young-sun appeared at the office looking scruffy as if he just came back from the cave.


    ¡°Great. Is it big enough for people to get in and out?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still digging it, so it¡¯s a little too premature to say that, but it looks like a ce where the surface water used to flow in. It¡¯s likely that there used to be a lot of forest here.¡±


    ¡°It must have been before Christ.¡±


    ¡°Probably. We believe that the groundwater has been exhausted because there has been no inflow of surface water.¡±


    ¡°You mean it¡¯s not an artificial cave after all.¡±


    ¡°Are you disappointed that it was not what you expected?¡±


    ¡°I was expecting a bigger secret. Still, wouldn¡¯t there be more paths that surface water used to flow in?¡±


    ¡°There could be arger flow path somewhere. Maybe that¡¯s where people came in and out of the cave.¡±


    ¡°Your face is telling me not to expect anything special. Alright, I won¡¯t imagine anything crazy anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Your Highness, it¡¯s too early to conclude anything. We might find some things that would not disappoint your imagination.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to cheer me up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go down there soon so that I can give some answers to your questions.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you wonder why I¡¯m so interested in the cave, Dr. Park?¡±


    ¡°I assumed that it¡¯s because our neighboring countries are potential threats to us. Who will protect us if we don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but don¡¯t you get nervous since I look like I¡¯m preparing for war all the time?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve so thoroughly prepared our nation, so what am I to worry about? In fact, I¡¯m relieved that you¡¯re not invading neighboring countries yet.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Do you seriously think that I will do such a reckless thing?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you have power, you shouldn¡¯t bow down to other powers. You¡¯re preparing Kazakhstan with state-of-the-art weapons, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯re not only for defense, am I right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to sit back and wait if there¡¯s provocation. The best defense is offense after all.¡±


    ¡°Of course you should. I support you 100%.¡±


    Park Young-sun whom Youngho thought was a quiet geologist showed another side of him today. Having to live in Kazakhstan for a long time, he was now bing a Central Asian. No, he was aplete Central Asian now.


    ***


    Szechenyi in Denmark informed Youngho that he had found a vessel that could be converted into a hospital ship. It was decided to remodel a ship to shorten the time instead of building a new one.


    ¡°How old is the ship that will have 300 beds?¡±


    -It¡¯s about 15 years old. The hull¡¯s in very good shape. It will survive for the next 20 years if we change our internal facilities. Officials at the Danish Shipyard also said the ship was in good condition.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t a ship in the 25,000-ton ss too big?¡±


    -That is only big enough to go back and forth across the oceans without being supplied in-between.


    ¡°Okay, what about the ship to be converted to a mid-sized hospital ship?¡±


    -I can¡¯t find suitable ships in the 3000-ton ss, but 5,000-ton ships are overflowing. Considering safety, wouldn¡¯t a bigger ship be better?


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going back and forth to the ocean.¡±


    -There is little difference in the price of the hull and the cost of the repair. I think this size would be great for a rainy day. You have to think about thefort of sailors and medical workers. And even though it¡¯s a hospital ship, shouldn¡¯t it be armed to a certain extent for protection?


    ¡°An armed hospital? Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s a vition of internationalw?¡±


    -Come on, you always stressed that. There should be at least one hidden room.


    Youngho emphasized self-defense as he taught Szechenyi since he was young. He used to say that there should be a hidden trick to protect one¡¯s self and his family. Having learned from Youngho, Szechenyi was also emphasizing it now.


    ¡°Well, old destroyers will be arriving from Ennd in the near future. Make sure you keep your security tight and make it well.¡±


    -Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already arranged that. I¡¯ve also found a dock that will be dedicated to the Royal Navy.


    ¡°Won¡¯t the Queen or the Crown Prince of the Danish royal family worry about that?¡±


    -Not at all. They actually loved that their armed forces are strengthened because of us. They¡¯re saying that if the two navies join forces, it will be the second most powerful next to Britain in this area.


    ¡°It¡¯s just one Aegis destroyer and three frigates. I hope they don¡¯t get disappointed to see them.¡±


    -They¡¯re state-of-the-art missile-equippedbat ships. What are you talking about? Also, we have a backup squadron there. Who¡¯s going to take us for granted?


    ¡°It sounds great to you, but it¡¯s nothingpared to the Russian navy.¡±


    -With a multi-purposending ship and a support fleet of two Aegis destroyers, the navy will be invincible.


    ¡°The support unit is not a static force. It will mostly be stationed in the Persian Gulf.¡±


    -Hyung, please station them in the Danish port for my sake. You can quickly get into the Persian Gulf from here, right?


    ¡°What on earth did you say to the Danish royal family?¡±


    -I didn¡¯t say anything bad. I just said that you are nning to manage the Arctic Sea route while using our port as the base.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡±


    -But you¡¯re actually going to do that, aren¡¯t you? You told me a man should know how to act boldly at the right time.

 Chapter 587 - Better Safe Than Sorry (3)

    <h4>Chapter 587: Better Safe Than Sorry (3)</h4>


    Although Kazakhstan was arge country, most of the areas were semi-desert, so the country had traditionally been dominated by nomadic life rather than farming.


    However, during the Soviet era, even semi-desert areas were developed in order to grow food supplies, forcing people to farm.


    Due to the dry environment, people used water from nearbykes and rivers as agricultural water, causing side effects such as lowering the water level in the Caspian and Aral Seas.


    After the copse of the Soviet Union, most of the farnd was left unattended, elerating desertification especially in West Kazakhstan, where rainfall was absolutely scarce, causing it to turn into barrennd.


    Before the development of farnd, even semi-desert zones could grow grass fields for cattle to graze in the spring due to the influence of the winter rainy season, but fields disappeared due to the excessive use of agricultural chemicals. Even so, the region along the Ural River could remain as farnd as the energy of thend was revived by frequent flooding of the river.


    This was where the Arirang royal territory was located. Since thend was t without mountains, it was easily utilized for residential areas and factories.


    Although it was still winter, preparation to grow grasnd had begun, so they could grow livestock.


    ¡°Your Grace, an unexpectedlyrge number of Kurds have offered to farm or raise livestock.¡±


    Because they would be offered long-term rentals without interests, many Kurds volunteered to farm or raise livestock. Since they had always lived as if they were being chased without a country of their own, they never had a chance to farm or raise livestock in peace. To raise farming or livestock meant that they have already settled in the royal territory.


    ¡°Distributend and livestock resources appropriately while keeping in mind of future migrants. It¡¯s a problem if people whoeter receivend too far from their home.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯d like to develop a small residential area, too. This will be necessary for the bnced development of our city. It¡¯s because there¡¯s only a limited amount of farnd or grasnd near the current residential areas.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Consult with the construction director and decide what to do. And I would prefer to develop more grasnd rather than farnd. The production of agricultural products in Kazakhstan has exceeded the proper level already. Kurds are also more familiar with livestock farming than with farming.¡±


    The grain reserves were overflowing even after exporting them to foreign countries and supplying leftovers to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.


    The reason why Youngho was trying to encourage livestock to be raised was that there was far too little meat to makebat food. There was surging demand for it, but theck of food ingredients was causing a setback.


    ¡°Your Grace, we are also nning to develop grain-basedbat food. It¡¯s time to find a substitute because people are only looking for processed meat products. It¡¯s also a way to store the grain for a long time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great proposal. If we can process the grain and store it for a long time, we won¡¯t have a problem even if there¡¯s a sudden change.¡±


    The grain storage period was limited by one to two years at most, and all the grains that passed the preservation period were being used as feed for livestock.


    No matter how much people wanted to stock up on grain, they rotted quickly without preservatives. Food made from preservative-covered grains was not encouraged since it was like a poison.


    ¡°Sterile vacuum packaging can also be a solution, and we¡¯ll look for ways to seal the powder-dried grains. Still, you can store them up to three to four years only.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you eat it at all after the storage period?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. If you cook it as soon as it¡¯s out of the package, it won¡¯t cause a problem.¡±


    ¡°Find a way to extend the storage period as much as possible. We need to keep it in stock for a rainy day.¡±


    ¡°I know it can be kept for up to seven years if you can it, so I¡¯ll figure out a way. But how much of grain do you want to have in stock?¡±


    ¡°For now, we need a year¡¯s worth of stock for the whole residents of the royal territory.¡±


    Kim Chun could not keep his mouth shut when he heard the amount. It was not a small number.


    ¡°No, what on earth are you going to use that much for?¡±


    ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? We¡¯re prepared for a sudden change.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, have you thought about how much it will cost us?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the cost. It¡¯s for survival.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask you what kind of risk you¡¯re assuming?¡±


    ¡°There will be cases of air pollution to the extent that people can¡¯t go outside freely, or the farnd is polluted to the point where it cannot be harvested immediately.¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t have to use the stock we¡¯ve created, we¡¯ll have to dispose of it all.¡±


    ¡°Why do you dispose of it? You can make a certain amount every year and rece it with one that has a short shelf life. The recements are circted in the market so that the costs are recouped.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to buy such old processed food?¡±


    ¡°Ourbat foods are selling like hotcakes, aren¡¯t they? If they¡¯re nutritious and delicious, we won¡¯t be able to sell them because they¡¯d be sold out immediately.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°So encourage the rted officials to make legitimate long-term storage food. I¡¯m nning to expand this project all over the country.¡±


    Kim Chun was dumbfounded by Youngho¡¯s remarks. Even though he could not say it openly, he must be thinking that Youngho was crazy. Although the Chinese border area was a bit unstable, it was not bad enough to have food in reserve.


    ¡°Commissioner, one day a great disaster will hit the Earth. Whether it¡¯s a war or a threat from outside the Earth. We never know if our efforts will be worthy, but we shouldn¡¯t bezy in preparing for a rainy day.¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re saying. I don¡¯t agree with youpletely, but I will trust your insight. I will let the public know about this. More heads in this matter will give us many good ideas.¡±


    ***


    Even though Kazakhstan was the world¡¯s ninthrgest country, most of the country¡¯snd was barren, and there was a limit to its growth as it was an ind-like ce onnd.


    So Youngho was thinking of going out to the ocean. That was why he focused on building up the country¡¯s naval power despite the limitations of an ind country.


    When it came to trade with the world, everyone could be an enemy or an ally.


    Allies had no choice but topete with each other fiercely for their own economic interests, which could sometimes lead to armed conflict due to excessivepetition. This could turn into a trade war, so he was investing in naval forces. Although science had developed and opened the way for the sky, it was still true that the man who controlled the sea still dominated the world.


    ¡°Your Grace, the number of permanent residency applicants from the former Korean Navy is now over 200. I¡¯d like to receive the first group of immigrants now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a smaller number than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Most of them prefer to work on ships for overseas service or deep-sea fishing vessels. How many people would want to re-enlist themselves in the navy of another country when they¡¯ve already been discharged from it?¡±


    The Kazakh government and the administration of the royal territory had decided to receive former Korean navies to operate Aegis destroyers and submarines. However, fewer people applied than expected.


    Cho Chul-hwan, themander of the Royal Bodyguards, mentioned this issue at the royal regr meeting. He also showed disappointment over the small number of applicants.


    ¡°Do all applicants have experience in rted ships?¡±


    ¡°We have already confirmed that with the cooperation of the Korean government. Most of them have more than two years of experience on Aegis destroyers or submarines.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯ve worked for more than two years, they must be nomissioned officers or officers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t help it. I guess we have no choice but to hire them as instructors so that our navies can learn their skills.¡±


    ¡°We will be able to fill some of the empty spots with troops dispatched to the Korean Navy for education.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be able to operate state-of-the-art equipment properly after training for only half a year.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we tell the Korean government to send engineers until our soldiers are skillful enough?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what we can do through the embassy.¡±


    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll check it out myself. I think it would be better if I ask the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.¡±


    Youngho was going to use his connection to the Korean head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, who had visited the royal territory before. He would be willing to help since he was a guy ambitious and daring enough to dream of nuclear armament.


    ***


    ¡°How are you, Director?¡±


    -Your Highness. I¡¯m doing fine. No, I¡¯m excited by just looking at thetest news of Kazakhstan. It makes me want to drink with you.


    ¡°Have we done anything wrong that¡¯s making you want to drink in bitterness?¡±


    -Oh, don¡¯t pretend that you don¡¯t know about it. Thanks to you, I feel so refreshed these days. Who will make a decision to go against China like that?


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s natural for any sovereign nation to deal with a country that¡¯s threatening your territory and people that way.¡±


    -Not many countries can react as strongly as you are doing. We are always careful to watch China¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°That¡¯s why China thinks of Korea easily and treats it bad. You have to say whatever you need to say. Look at Vietnam. China put down its tail because Vietnam aggressively rips at China.¡±


    Vietnam¡¯s force was not even a handfulpared to China, but it was speaking out its voice without being daunted. So China could not push harder on it either, not because it was scary, but because it was difficult to deal with.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling because I have a favor to ask of you.¡±


    -What is it? I¡¯ll do anything for you for any reason.


    ¡°Great to hear that. We¡¯d like Korea to send engineers to Kazakhstan until our navies master the operation of Aegis destroyers.¡±


    -It¡¯s not a particrly difficult request. Of course I will. Do you have any other requests?


    ¡°Thank you for epting my request. That will be an enough favor from you.¡±


    -May I ask you to do me a favor as well then?


    ¡°Of course, whatever you ask.¡±


    -I¡¯d like to visit you. Is that possible?


    ¡°You¡¯re weed here any time. But can I ask you in advance what it is for?¡±


    -I can¡¯t talk to you over the phone. I¡¯ll just say it¡¯s helpful for the development of both countries.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case,e to the pce. I¡¯ll share the drink I¡¯ve been saving for an important asion for you.¡±


    -It¡¯s an honor to be weed by you with such treatment. I¡¯ll visit you before long.

 Chapter 588 - Mutual Cooperation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 588: Mutual Cooperation (1)</h4>


    Wondering about what the director of the Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration was up to that could help the development of both countries, Youngho asked Suh Min-seok to research upon any news about the Korean defense department.


    ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s not much news about developing a new weapon, but only that Sweden¡¯s Saab Airlines is currentlypeting with the U.S.pany regarding the order of South Korea¡¯s Navy patrol aircraft.¡±


    Saab was apany that produced Gripen, which was now the main aircraft of the Kazakh Air Force. It was also apany that the Information Agency held a major stake of. Since Youngho was also a major shareholder of the Information Agency, this meant that he was also a shareholder of Saab.


    ¡°Saab is going to supply naval patrol aircraft to Korea?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it has offered a lower price than Boeing in the U.S. The Korean government seems to be weighing the twopanies now.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... Okay, is there any other news?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to find out more, but don¡¯t expect too much. These days, even web surfing can tell us all about each country¡¯s new weapons development.¡±


    Suh Min-seok was both right and wrong.


    Sometimes, armspanies would openly advertise their missile range improvement or newly developed battleships on purpose so that anyone could see it. It was to show off that they could make a lot of such as well. In the case of Korea, even if there were new weapons developed, there was a high possibility that it would hide from neighboring countries.


    Only when you have power, you have power in your voice.


    Without power, many people cannot be treated properly even when they go abroad.


    Whatever it was, Youngho was eager to meet the Korean director and find out what he was going to say because he had a hunch that something revolutionary would emerge.


    Korea¡¯s high technology level could make amazing weapons, after all.


    The royal territory had been developingser guns, which advanced countries were already using in fields, for several years, but they were still in limbo.


    Theser gun, currently being tested, consumed 150 kilowatts of electricity per shot. This was enough to destroy even small boats and unmanned aircraft. However, only when the power could be raised to at least 300 kilowatts had the power to shoot down a missile moving at high speed.


    In other words, it was a weapon that could intercept all iing objects and neutralize them beyond the scope of targets. Laser weapons were more than 5,000 times the speed of intercontinental ballistic missiles.


    Although the cost of its equipment was expensive, maintenance costs were almost zero once installed, and the process from detection tounch was quite easy.


    Not long ago, the U.S. and Russia announced that they had already deployedser guns in action, making Youngho¡¯s mind more frustrated. The U.S. Navy even released footage ofser missile system operation onnding ships.


    With the advent of theser gun, the Zircon, with a speed of Mach 8 developed by Putin over two decades, had be nothing more than a toy.


    The U.S.ser gun system cost 40 million dors and it boasted of a cheap price about a dor for each shot fired. Russia then announced that it would mount aser gun on itstest fighter jet to be sold to Egypt.


    Given this situation, Youngho¡¯s mind was busy as he knew theser guns would dominate the battlefields of the future.


    ***


    ¡°Your Grace, Korea has developed the world¡¯s first technology to bend light at will.¡±


    Suh Min-seok brought Youngho news about Korea¡¯s new technology.


    ¡°You can control the direction of the light at will? Do you mean that a straight lineser can be curved?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. The technology is currently used in the medical field, including ophthalmology.¡±


    It was awakening news.


    If aser gun that moved only in a straight line could bend, it could neutralize an enemy¡¯s camp that was hiding. Weapons with such technology applied would be the most powerful among other arms.


    Could this be the reason why the head of the Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration wanted to see him? Kazakhstan could develop any weapon without considering other powerful nations, so there was no reason for anyone to quarrel if Korea said that it imported finished weapons from Kazakhstan. South Korea¡¯s weapons were being controlled by the U.S., even its missile range, and the government would have thought of using Kazakhstan as an excuse.


    Youngho, who was swelled to imagine that, was now nning to step into South Korea¡¯s maritime patrol aircraft acquisition project.


    ¡°Lord Eriksson, Korea is looking forpanies to buy maritime patrol aircraft, and Saab of Sweden and Boeing of the United States arepeting with each other to get this order. I¡¯d prefer Saab to get the business. Is there any way to assure that?¡±


    ¡°If so, of course you should step in. You¡¯re a major shareholder.¡±


    Eriksson was busy for a while, making calls to Sweden, and soon found out about the situation.


    ¡°Your Grace, the Korean government is buying 1.7 billion-dor worth of patrol aircraft, but Saab has offered to supply 10 more aircrafts than Boeing at the price.¡±


    ¡°Then Saab is likely to get the job.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Korea has been purchasing U.S. weapons traditionally to buy U.S. favor because of U.S. troops in Korea. And most of all, Boeing¡¯s patrol aircraft is considered the best in the world, so it¡¯s unlikely that Korea will take Saab¡¯s offer.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then let¡¯s do this. The Korean government would be interested if we show our intention to have a technology partnership. Can you see if the Korean government might be intrigued by our suggestion? I¡¯ll also make calls.¡±


    The Korean government, which was desperate about original technologies of the defense industry, would favorpanies that promised technology transfer.


    No matter how great Boeing¡¯s patrol aircraft was, Saab had been producing airnes since the 1930s and was now a defensepany recognized globally.


    It also produced submarines, so Saab understood weaknesses of submarines, and its maritime patrol aircraft evolved to effectively detect other submarines, so thepany was not far behind Boeing.


    It had already been proven that Saab¡¯s fighter jets performed brilliantly in World War I and II.


    It was better to have ten Saab patrol nes floating than to having six Boeing patrol nes in South Korea, which had three sides of the sea to protect.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be easy if Your Highness activelye forward in this matter. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll see Saab can have a technical partnership with Korea.¡±


    ¡°The head of Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration will visit soon. Before that, we¡¯ll have to propose a technical partnership. The head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration will know our intention if he heard about the partnership.¡±


    ¡°I will then make the technology partnership with Saab a work of yours. We should also let the Korean government know that you¡¯re a major shareholder of Saab.¡±


    ¡°Is there a need to open that?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The Korean soldiers would be proud to know that you, another Korean, runs a country that can stand tall against other powers. There is no such leader in Korea. Most of Koreans will be surprised to find out that you¡¯re a major shareholder of a global defensepany. They will probably want toe to work in Kazakhstan as well.¡±


    When Youngho tried to mobilize Saab in the hope of getting a new technology, Eriksson was thinking about promoting it in a different way. Youngho did not want to be promoted or praised that way, but if promoting him could be of use in getting the partnership, it would be a good idea after all. The more favorable Kazakhstan was, the more young talent woulde from Korea. The skills of Korean non-technical officers were as good as those of experts.


    ***


    The Korean government epted the technology partnership offered by Saab Airlines.


    Thepany did notg far behind Boeing in price-to-performance, and also liked the irresistible condition of technology tie-up.


    Most of all, the fact that Youngho was a major shareholder of Saab yed a major part.


    When it was revealed that a major shareholder of a global defensepany was Youngho, the Korean media was fast to draw a public opinion.


    Officials involved in the selection of maritime patrol aircraft, let alone other conditions, could not ignore public pressure. Because they already knew the products of bothpanies, and they were leaning towards the public opinion, Saab was able to be chosen as the supplier of the patrol aircraft without any trouble.


    The media had been talking about Saab as if it were owned by the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°The Korean press seems to be going too far, and I¡¯m afraid Saab¡¯s leadership is going to be upset with me.¡±


    ¡°I think Saab¡¯s officials are more than happy about it since they got the job. Maybe they¡¯re pping their hands while watching the news.¡±


    Eriksson was right to say so.


    Due to its image as apany that the Kazakh royal family invested in, its stock prices had been rising everyday. The reason was that just the stable possession of raw materials by a defense industrypany would attract attention from institutional investors.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing.¡±


    ¡°The world is now in a war of resources. How hard are globalpanies working to secure resources? It¡¯s like you¡¯ve given power to Saab now because Saab¡¯s rtionship with you was revealed by the Korean media. You¡¯ll see. Sooner orter, Saab¡¯s staff wille to thank you.¡±

 Chapter 589 - Mutual Cooperation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 589: Mutual Cooperation (2)</h4>


    The fastest way to export resources to South Korea was through China.


    However, it was not safe to deliver them through China since it could not be trusted. There had been countless events when China tried to make trouble against its neighbors.


    It tried to tame Japan with rare earths and stopped Chinese people from visiting Korea due to the THAAD deployment issue while making a big push against Koreanpanies operating within China.


    If Kazakhstan demanded China to open up a route for resources export, it was eminent that it would ask for a benefit in return. It was better to look for other routes than dealing with the Chinese government.


    ¡°It¡¯s a problem that we don¡¯t have the right export route to send our resources to Korea. We can use the Arctic Ocean when the canal project is finished, or use the Persian Gulf when the railroad work from Baku is finished, but for now, our resources are just pie in the sky for Korea because of the high cost of logistics.¡±


    Youngho was willing to provide any amount of support if Korea wanted resources. Currently, using the Trans-Siberian Railway to go to divostok was the best export route, but it was extremely difficult to get allocated train cars for freight due to heavy logistics.


    ***


    The U.S. asked if Kazakhstan could increase the number of troops in Afghanistan as the U.S. government was nning to increase its military presence there to take advantage of Afghanistan¡¯s mineral resources. Among many countries, U.S. had to choose Kazakhstan because of its troops stationed in Tajikistan.


    The U.S. was far away from Afghanistan, but Kazakhstan was just around the corner of the country.


    The reason why the U.S. was suddenly doing this was because Afghanistan had at least one trillion dor worth of resources such as titanium, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth.


    These materials were essential materials for electronic equipment, batteries for electric vehicles, and lithium-ion batteries.


    Since Chinesepanies controlled most of these metals, so it had hampered U.S. supply and demand. China had been showing interest in Afghanistan, so the U.S. needed to increase its troops to prevent China¡¯s advance. But sending thousands of troops to faraway ces was also a burden, so it was asking for Kazakhstan¡¯s help.


    ¡°Chief Michael, I think I understand what you must¡¯ve been feeling a little bit because I¡¯m now in a position to be asked for a favor now while I was in a position to ask for favors every time.¡±


    -I¡¯m very d that the Duke of Kazakhstan understands my feelings now. Do you understand how much trouble I¡¯ve been having?


    ¡°But they were fair deals. Has the U.S. lost anything from dealing with us?¡±


    -Just know that I went through hardship for you to close a deal for non-tradeable items. It¡¯s not a joke.


    ¡°All right, all right. By the way, how much additional U.S. troops are you nning to increase?¡±


    -It¡¯s not safe to say it over the phone, so I¡¯ll send you the details through the diplomatic team.


    ¡°Chief, in order for our troops overseas, I have to persuade our National Assembly. Please give me a good excuse.¡±


    -Of course, our government should address such concern of yours. Don¡¯t worry about the cost of stationing additional troops. And I¡¯ll arrange in advance so that Kazakhstan can also participate in resource development in Afghanistan.


    ¡°Did you forget that Kazakhstan is a resource-rich country?¡±


    -Your Titanium resource is the world¡¯s number one, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much cobalt or rare earth in Kazakhstan, aren¡¯t I right?


    ¡°We have more than enough to meet our needs.¡±


    It was not like Michael to use resource development as a bait to Kazakhstan which had all kinds of world-ss metal and nonmetallic resources.


    -Does that mean the U.S. can develop all resources in Afghanistan alone?


    ¡°You¡¯re well aware that what Kazakhstan needs is not resources. I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re going to deployser guns in action this time, but don¡¯t you n to deploy them on a trial basis to your ally?¡±


    -For what purpose do you needser guns that only fit on naval vessels?


    To emit over 300 kilowatts of power output, a fairlyrge power generation capacity, and auxiliary facilities were necessary, and at the moment, such devices could only be applied torge vessels.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a multi-purposending ship and an Aegis destroyer, which Kazakhstan will be operating in the future, do it?¡±


    -Personally, I¡¯d like to hand it over to Kazakhstan, but I can¡¯t persuade the politicalmunity because it¡¯s a nuclear bomb-grade strategic weapon.


    Youngho knew better than anyone else that it wasn¡¯t a weapon to hand over just because he asked. Nevertheless, making excessive demands were intended to get something else from Michael.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no choice for us but to develop it ourselves. I¡¯m confident that I can make something better than the U.S.¡±


    -I wish you could achieve that. It is always wee for the U.S. to have our allies to acquire its own defense industry technology.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me to lend it to youter.¡±


    -Oh, I thought I was a friend of you, but I¡¯m sorry to hear that. Doesn¡¯t our rtionship deserve more than this?


    ¡°Hahaha... I haven¡¯t even made it yet, but you¡¯re trying to secure it in advance. Okay. We¡¯ll share the technology when we make it. Instead, the U.S. will also have toe up with some stealth technology.¡±


    -Of course, we have to work together. Then I¡¯ll let the government know that you¡¯re also going to deploy more troops in Afghanistan.


    ***


    After finishing the phone call with Michael in a good mood, Youngho told Eriksson about the conversation.


    ¡°Your Highness, the United States will never give up on Kazakhstan not only for its resources but also for its location which is strategically important. So there¡¯s no reason to benefit the U.S. alone. We have to jump into resource development in Afghanistan.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want more when we¡¯re already having trouble dealing with what we have now?¡±


    ¡°For future generations, we should save resources within the country. Keep in mind that no matter how much resources we have, they will run out someday.¡±


    Eriksson suggested participating in the resource development in Afghanistan. The U.S. already investigated the resources buried in Afghanistan, so it was a good opportunity to get a free ride.


    ¡°You know, we¡¯re not getting them for free. It would be a rightful thing since we are sending troops to dangerous areas.¡±


    ¡°So you have to jump in. Because you can influence Afghanistan without having to suffer too much. Northern Afghanistan is traditionally a ce fond of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Resource development would be unthinkable if Kazakhstan were to be stationed in Afghanistan alone, but with the U.S., it would be a stable business.


    Eriksson also mentioned that Kazakhstan¡¯s involvement in Afghanistan¡¯s resource development would open a way to exert influence on neighboring countries, such as Iran because there were eight million Kurds living in Iran. If Kazakhstan could buy their favor, the Iranian government would have toply with Kazakhstan.


    ¡°The world already knows that the Syrian Kurds have sessfully settled in the royal territory of Kazakhstan. And I¡¯m sure everyone knows that the Kurds in northern Afghanistan have epted it.¡±


    ¡°I know that the Kurds will favor us, but I¡¯m still not sure about how the Afghans see us. We are full of resources but we¡¯re being greedy for Afghan resources, how can we say that we are the head country in Central Asia?¡±


    ¡°How many current Afghanpanies have enough capital to develop resources? It¡¯s rather for Afghanistan that we jump in. We¡¯re not just trying to drain resources like they do in the developed world.¡±


    The U.S. was, after all, greedy for Afghan resources and would continue to stay there.


    It was not for Afghanistan either. The U.S. did not promise to protect it from China, so everything was for its national good.


    That was what the world was all about, though.


    When a country spent a great amount of money on other countries, it had already calcted that there would be profits in the future. Although the U.S. may havee to Afghanistan in retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, but it was true that it was all about resources now.


    If there were no resources in Kazakhstan, would the U.S. ever consider being an ally of Youngho? No matter how important in geopolitical position Kazakhstan was, it would be different from now.

 Chapter 590 - Mutual Cooperation (3)

    <h4>Chapter 590: Mutual Cooperation (3)</h4>


    It was decided that Kurdish members of the royal bodyguards would be sent to Afghanistan. The dispatch of royal guards or regr troops in the capital city would require parliamentary consent, and there could be empty spots in the regr military if they were sent, so the Royal Bodyguards was mobilized.


    No matter how cooperative the National Assembly was with the government, the troop dispatch issue was bound to be sensitive, so it was intended to avoidplications by sending the Royal Bodyguards.


    On the other hand, Kurdish soldiers were mostly familiar with guerri warfare as many of them used to serve as Syrian militia, so the leadership of the royal territory had decided that it would be a great opportunity for Kurdish soldiers to build operational experience of regr troops.


    One of the reasons for the decision to send the Royal Bodyguards was that all infantrymen in Kazakhstan were familiar with vehicles such as multipurpose armored trucks and armored jeeps, but Kurds were still inexperienced in vehicle maniption. So this was a good chance for them to fully familiarize themselves during the dispatch period.


    Unlike Syria, where the Kurds used to be guerri soldiers by arming themselves only, Kazakhstan was a vast ce, so they could not do anything without vehicles.


    It was not easy to use vehicles in some of the ces of eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan as they were mountainous, but mobility was required to guard the thousands of kilometers of border with limited forces.


    Moreover, in order to cope with bomb attacks in Afghanistan, armored vehicles and jeeps were necessary, so driving lessons were in full swing all over the royal territory at the moment.


    ¡°Chul-hwan, how¡¯s the driving lesson going?¡±


    ¡°So far, we have half of them learned, but we¡¯re still far from being done.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be that difficult because all vehicles are automatic.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve never driven cars before, and they¡¯re afraid of unfamiliar machines. When they sit in the driver¡¯s seat, they get frozen, and it¡¯s driving me crazy.¡±


    ¡°The Kurdish fighters who are famous for their bravery are afraid of machines?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re brave on the battlefield, but they¡¯re afraid to deal with modern conveniences. And they are really careful because they know it¡¯s expensive equipment.¡±


    There were some Kurds who knew how to drive, but the majority of them were unfamiliar with vehicles. They freaked whenever they sawplicated equipment and tried not to touch it at all. In other words, there were all technology illiterate.


    The number of troops to be sent this time was 2,000, one regiment-size.


    ¡°How do you n to get to Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°It would be convenient to go by train, but it¡¯d be better for them to drive as part of the training.¡±


    ¡°The distance they will be traveling in Kazakhstan itself is not short. The roads in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan can be quite tough, so what are you going to do when they get into idents?¡±


    The straight distance from the border of Kazakhstan through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan was only 500 kilometers away. However, the distance the troops would be traveling within Kazakhstan was even longer. It was because the distance from the Arirang royal territory to the Kyrgyz boundary was over 1,900 kilometers long.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about that, too.¡±


    ¡°You might have a serious damage in your forces while trying to drive in this winter. They¡¯ll be extremely exhausted to travel that far. Just go by train.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan, who tried to push the idea of training in winter, soon nodded at Youngho¡¯s words. It was overwhelming to think about camping and eating in the middle of the road in the winter of Kazakhstan, but he still wanted to leave some room to his thought.


    ¡°Since we still have a month left, let¡¯s think about it. The situation will be probably better than what we think since they¡¯ll be traveling down to the south.¡±


    ¡°Are you still thinking about making the Kurdish warriors as the main force of the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°They train two times longer and harder than the regr Kazakh troops, so why not raise them as special forces? It¡¯s a shame if we let these fierce warriors go to waste.¡±


    ¡°Are they that great?¡±


    ¡°When I see them training, I just automatically nod my head.¡±


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s make the troops we¡¯re sending this time a trial group, but I have one condition. They all have to serve for the long-term.¡±


    When Youngho gave his word, Cho Chul-hwan left the office excitedly.


    ording to Chul-hwan, it seemed that Kurdish soldiers were doing a surprising job despite the harsh training. They dly participated in training to think that they would be protecting Princess Jelyan, and the fact that the monthly paycheck was an unimaginable amount in Syria also yed a part.


    ***


    The visit of the head of South Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Korean military personnel at the royal territory coincided with the time the training period of the Kurdish soldiers who were to be sent to Afghanistan. To an outsider, the atmosphere of the royal territory seemed as if the soldiers were about to go to war.


    The director of the Korea¡¯s Defense Acquisition Program Administration asked with a worried look,


    ¡°Your Highness, is everything all right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, did we startle you? The troops to be sent to Afghanistan under adjustment training.¡±


    ¡°You are sending troops to Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°I guess you haven¡¯t heard the news. We already have our troops spread in Tajikistan and some of them are in the U.S. upational camp in northern Afghanistan as well.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I just envy Kazakhstan that you can act so boldly without having to think about China or Russia¡¯s eyes. You know, South Korea is in no position to act without powerful neighboring countries and the U.S.¡¯s agreement.¡±


    ¡°You know, those countries can¡¯t stop us because they need us too for their interest. Korea should also be involved in lobbying in the U.S. actively instead of getting swayed by U.S. decisions, or your position as an ally will be shaken as well.¡±


    ¡°I agree with your opinion 100 percent, but there are no governors or politicians who would take such bold steps. That¡¯s why we came to see you.¡±


    Then he took out a document from his briefcase.


    ¡°This is a weapon¡¯s technology that is a little bit too much for us to develop. If the neighboring countries knew about this, Korea wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it, so I¡¯d like this to be produced in Kazakhstan. It¡¯s the next generation ofser guns that can bendsers.¡±


    He seemed to be expecting Youngho¡¯s excitement as he brought a new technology, but he soon looked a little disappointed when Youngho remained calm after hearing him.


    It was not surprising to Youngho as he had already expected it.


    ¡°We have also been working onser gun technology for years now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of that. But the technology that we¡¯ve brought in is a generation ahead of what the U.S. and Russia have introduced. Isn¡¯t it amazing how you can bend aser at your disposal?¡±


    As Youngho¡¯s response was more lukewarm than expected, the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration was trying to exin it and persuade Youngho with all his might.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you produceser guns in Korea?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that we can¡¯t, but it¡¯s a destructive weapon that¡¯s going to break the bnce in the region, so there¡¯s going to be a lot of checks from neighboring countries. Also, if this will encourage neighboring countries to develop simr-level weapons, which will end up provoking an arms race.¡±


    ¡°You mean there¡¯s no problem if you import it from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What would other countries say if Kazakhstan made them? We can¡¯t do so much in Korea with the reality we are facing now. We¡¯re also worried about technology leak.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the intelligence agency, but the technology is still getting out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. There¡¯s nothing money can¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan also suffers from technology leaks.¡±


    ¡°But I heard that the Arirang royal territory is not the case. Although it¡¯s a multi-ethnic country, I think Kazakhstan is the only country that has united around a royal family. South Korea, though it is a single ethnic nation, is not able to show that. We¡¯re only busy making conflicts among us.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? The excellence and strength of the Korean people are known to the whole world. The only problem is the corrupt politics.¡±


    As a Korean, hearing about Korea¡¯s reality saddened Youngho. Korea could not even start producingser gun weapons that it developed because of other countries¡¯ pressures. It was a shame that the government was not acting more boldly but rather passively in the global society.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m intrigued, but how can we develop this in Kazakhstan? You know our technology level is not up to Korea¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°We are willing to send Korean scientists and rted engineers here. It¡¯s only possible if you say yes.¡±


    It would be strange to refuse high-quality scientists and even production engineers.


    ¡°So, the only things we need to provide would be research and production facilities.¡±


    ¡°We will also pay for the equipment and devices that will go into the production facilities from Korea. Instead, but in exchange, we would like you to supply the core raw materials from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what raw materials you need, but if it¡¯s a resource we don¡¯t have, it won¡¯t exist on Earth.¡±


    ¡°Then are you agreeing to this?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I have to. I¡¯ll make sure that we¡¯ll make it happen no matter other countries try to pressure us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll report to my home country and work on it right away. We¡¯re rather in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anything urgent hase up new. It must be probably because of North Korea and China.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re facing a situation where it won¡¯t be strange if a war breaks out anytime. If we don¡¯t have the power to protect ourselves, the future of the Korean Penins will be grim.¡±

 Chapter 591 - Provocation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 591: Provocation (1)</h4>


    The construction work to secure the entrance pathway to the newly found underground cave was underway in spite of the winter when the excavator arrived at the royal territory.


    It was because Youngho was eager to reveal the inside of the cave. He would only be able to see after a few months because the excavator would have to dig down a diagonal line, more than a kilometer, to reach the depth of 15 meters, but his mind was already in the cave. There was also the possibility that the time could be shortened, as there was a long-dried water route connected to the cave.


    He became more eager when he heard that there could be a sudden change in Korea at any time. The sudden change in Northeast Asia could also affect Central Asia like a domino effect.


    Also, he had to prepare for the unpredictable¡ªTrump¡¯s possible attack on North Korea. If that happened, given North Korea¡¯s rtions with China, China would try to intervene in any form and try to divert the attention of U.S by pulling Central Asia into it.


    To find ways to deal with potential national threats, Youngho was putting heads together with Eriksson.


    ¡°North Korea will not easily give up its nuclear weapons, and U.S. will certainly intervene. Then, China¡¯s involvement is inevitable as a military ally. Even Russia coulde forward in this matter.¡±


    ¡°Russia, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll step in to increase Russia¡¯s influence on the Korean Penins.¡±


    ¡°Would the U.S. do anything reckless?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a war that takes ce in the U.S. maind. It¡¯s a way to prevent nuclear proliferation, but it¡¯s also a way to tame China. It¡¯s likely that the U.S. will choose the Korean Penins to achieve its will.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a big deal.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in danger, too. We¡¯ve been provoking China.¡±


    ¡°How can China care about us when it¡¯s busy dealing with the Korean Penins?¡±


    ¡°China might make a provocation to disperse the attention of U.S. before U.S. does it first. Because of our stance against China, it has plenty of cause now.¡±


    Eriksson was referring to the establishment of barbed wire fence in the Pamir teau. Despite the ongoing work on barbed wires to provoke China, it had been silent so far. However, if China were to make a provocation in the Pamir teau before the U.S. provocation on the Korean Penins, the fence construction would be more like helping China since it gave a fantastic cause.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be an all-out war in Pamir, but it¡¯s going to be the same level of provocation that will keep the U.S. from moving forward to Northeast Asia.¡±


    ¡°Did we make a mistake without considering the global situation?¡±


    ¡°It was supposed to happen anyway. In fact, we did a good job for the Korean Penins. However, we should be prepared for a provocation that is beyond our expectations. That¡¯s the only way China can turn the attention of the U.S.¡±


    ¡°It looks like only unrted people will suffer from this.¡±


    ¡°Did you catch any such nuances when you spoke to Director Michael on the phone?¡±


    ¡°He told me not to provoke China as much as possible, but our major issue was reinforcing troops in Afghanistan...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he nned to increase the forces in anticipation of conflict in Pamir. The troops seem to target both Afghanistan and Tajikistan.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so. If that¡¯s what we¡¯re expecting, wouldn¡¯t the U.S. have expected it, too? It¡¯s just weird because he usually drops a hint when there¡¯s any sign of such a big incident.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s judged that you¡¯re fully expecting it already. The fact that you¡¯ve built an air defensework in Tajikistan and barbed wire fence in Pamir means you¡¯re ready for war.¡±


    ¡°We need to strengthen the border.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about military operations, but our border is more powerful than ever. Not only air power but also air defenseworks, there¡¯s plenty of defense. The problem is that China will also take economic retaliation.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is somewhat out of China¡¯s economic subjugation, so there will be no major blow.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t just think about ourselves. The Central Asian economy, which has yet to break away from the Chinese economy, will be directly hit. Then, Kazakhstan will be affected as well.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll build additionalmodity factories and run our existing ones around the clock. Some items can be imported from Russia and Europe, too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned about the countries that live off exporting resources to China. It¡¯s the question of whether they can ovee it.¡±


    ¡°We have to help. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are already holding out with our support. We just need to take care of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.¡±


    With less than 70 million people in Central Asiabined, Youngho was confident that Kazakhstan¡¯s supply was enough to supply the demand for daily necessities in Central Asia.


    The problem was that without the dors from the export of resources to China, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan would face a risk of national default.


    It was unpredictable whether it would develop into World War III or end up as a regional war if the U.S. attacked North Korea. The U.S. maind might be safe, but countries bordering China were likely to take the full impact of it.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s body felt strange since morning.


    He had the feeling of uneasiness without a cause, so he asked Zeynep and the children not to leave the pce today. It seemed that the ring¡¯s power had been activated. Other than that, there was no way to describe such anxiety to continue to weigh on his mind.


    He ordered the alert level at the royal territory to be raised and went to his office to look at documents, but Park Jong-il soon came inside to see what was going on.


    ¡°Is everything okay?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯m exceptionally nervous.¡±


    ¡°Is it not because you¡¯ve been working hardtely?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly, but it feels like the ring is releasing its power.¡±


    Park Jong-il was surprised to hear that the ring¡¯s ability seemed to have been activated. For he, who knew about the ability of the ring better than anyone else, it was not something he should overlook.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be about China? You said China might provoke us in the near future.¡±


    Even Youngho had not thought of it before, but Park Jong-il¡¯s mention of China made him think of Pamir for a moment, but he soon shook his head. It was because he felt like danger was very close to him.


    ¡°Man, now you¡¯re making me nervous. I feel like danger is near us.¡±


    ¡°The ring is no toy. If you felt the need to strengthen our alert level, I believe you. We need to tighten the security of not only the royal territory but also the pce.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make a fuss. Just move quietly.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll have to tighten checks and see if there are any strangers who are staying in our city for a long time.¡±


    ¡°The military nts and research facilities should also be secured.¡±


    After hearing Park Jong-il¡¯s words, Youngho¡¯s anxiety began to take shape.


    Russia and China lost their influence over the world since Youngho and the Kazakh royal family appeared, especially China. China had been hindered in everything it had achieved in Central Asia, including its One Belt One Road project.


    It had invested and worked hard in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but it lost its influence due to Kazakhstan¡¯s intervention. Moreover, Youngho took the gold mine in Uzbekistan that China had coveted, neutralizing its n to advance to the Pamir. It was no wonder Youngho and the Kazakh royal family was an annoyance to China.


    When Youngho¡¯s head wasplicated with all kinds of thoughts, Park Jong-il burst into the office door without knocking.


    ¡°I had a report that the long-term European guests staying at our hotel are suspicious.¡±


    ¡°On what basis?¡±


    ¡°They said that they are here for a trip, but they¡¯ve been seen hanging around the pce for three days. It¡¯s on the pce¡¯s CCTV, and they¡¯ve also captured several photos of the pce.¡±


    ¡°If you suspect such activity, we¡¯ll have to investigate everyone who took pictures of the pce.¡±


    ¡°No, this is different. They¡¯re caught on every security camera on the way to and from the pce. There¡¯s no reason to visit the pce for three days. Given our current situation, I think we need to investigate every suspicious activity.¡±


    The situation was unfolding quite differently from what Youngho expected, but he could not stop Park Jong-il¡¯s insistence. If China had intended to do something, it would have sent a great deal of power. There was no way China would have sent stupid agents, who went around the pce in circles. It was hard to shake off doubts altogether, but he decided toply with Park Jong-il as he seemed to be certain.

 Chapter 592 - Provocation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 592: Provocation (2)</h4>


    ¡°What? They attempted to kidnap Jelyan?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you. They belong to a human trafficking ring in Romania.¡±


    It was well known through media that many women in Romania and Bulgaria had been the target of human trafficking and sold to the red-light district of Hamburg, Germany.


    Even so, it was ridiculous to think that such human traffickers had targeted Jen, a princess of Kazakhstan. The royal territory¡¯s security was almost perfect, and Jelyan was being guarded by her personal bodyguards.


    ¡°I think I should give them an award for challenging the impossible. But it¡¯s so suspicious that they¡¯ve acted this obviously.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also watching them because it¡¯s a little strange. As soon as we captured them, they all admitted that they came to kidnap Jelyan, but none of them knows who ordered it. This might be the enemy¡¯s tactic to trigger tension in our side.¡±


    ¡°You mean this is some kind of message?¡±


    ¡°I have a hunch that it could be. They¡¯ll make a stronger provocation next time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to limit foreign tourists and journalists in the royal territory from now on. The alert will be tightened, and it will be stressful for many people. Well, if it¡¯s an enemy¡¯s dirty tactic, it will work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re after. Targeting a significant figure on our side is like a direct message of provocation.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay it back once we confirm who¡¯s behind all this. Let¡¯s do things as usual until we have solid evidence.¡±


    ¡°All right. Just alert the pce guards and Royal Bodyguards.¡±


    Which entity would benefit from kidnapping Jelyan if the kidnappers were sessful? It must have attempted to shake Kurds¡¯ public opinion about the royal family


    Once the Kurds¡¯ migration waspleted, they would be more than one million people and be the key support that would sustain the Kazakh family. If Jelyan were to be wronged, the rtionship between the Kurds and the royal family would shatter. When the foundation support for the royal family disappeared, the whole Kazakhstan would also have its impact.


    China was the country that would wee such a situation the most. Further, Russia would also be benefited from such a situation.


    Youngho had another suspect in mind. It was former president Nazarbayev and his family, who wanted to take over Kazakhstan forever. Although it would be impossible to retrieve its power over Kazakhstan anymore, the family must have a terrible grudge against Youngho and the royal family.


    However, it was true that China was still the strongest suspect so far. Even if it was not responsible for this, Youngho wanted it to be since he needed a good cause to pressure China.


    ***


    ¡°It makes sense to hear what you¡¯re saying. But I can¡¯t help but wonder if the Chinese government really did such a clumsy operation.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes childish operations can exhaust the opposite party. These are the methods that had been used for a long time. You can throw one tiny stone, but its repercussion can be enormous. Do you realize that our city¡¯s tension has been raised since yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... That¡¯s true. Even I have been looking back when I see a strange face in the streets. I¡¯ve been on alert unconsciously.¡±


    Eriksson nodded as he agreed to Youngho¡¯s idea. He was wary of everyone without noticing it.


    ¡°It¡¯s like fixing the cowshed after cows are lost, but it¡¯s like we¡¯re only buying ridicule from others by raising our guard. There will be internal criticism in our country for not filtering out suspicious people in advance and letting them walk around the royal territory for days.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°This is the first step in getting yed by the enemy¡¯s desired method. This could also lead to an internal divide. It¡¯s no more than an appearance of clumsy kidnappers, but it can cause a huge disturbance among us.¡±


    The abduction ofmoners could cause a great disturbance in society, let alone a princess.


    Thus, the royal territory¡¯s high alert soon went back to normal.


    The royal kids and Zeynep soon involved themselves in outside activities as if nothing happened. Of course, tight private security was in action, but it was done secretly so that people would not notice.


    It was to show that they would not be swayed by the enemy¡¯s plot. The royal territory seemed at peace on the outside.


    It was only Youngho¡¯s friends who were suffering to stage such a scene. Although it looked peaceful on the outside, the Intelligence Department, the Royal Bodyguards, and Zeynep Security Service were all hung up on this matter to find out the cause and keep the security tight. Since his friends were in charge of those organizations, they were all paranoid by Youngho¡¯s grilling.


    ¡°All of you can¡¯t dream about sleeping at night until this is resolved.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you not to worry. Not even an ant can get into the royal territory without being noticed by us. If they targeted Jelyan, our kids¡¯ safety is also at stake. How can we sleep in peace?¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan, who also was shocked by the incident, had been grilling the Royal Bodyguards for days.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re extremely stressed out by this, I guess the enemy¡¯s tactic was great.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our chance to tighten our security. Let¡¯s reinforce the alert at the arms production nts and technology research. Especially, we can never let theser technology we received from Korea to leak. At this opportunity, we should also adjust the police. I¡¯m thinking about forming a security intelligence team to collect information within the royal territory. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I like the idea. We can let the police be in charge of intelligence service for domestic matters.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who was directly rted to the intelligence service as the director of the Intelligence Department, agreed with ease. It was because the department was suffering a shortage of intelligence agents, so it was difficult to give full support to agents deployed overseas.


    ¡°Well, back to the point. It is also urgent to find out who is behind the incident. There¡¯s going to be a second abduction attempt, and we can¡¯t wait passively for it to happen. We have to be proactive.¡±


    ¡°If any of you have a good n, please say something. I want to see who¡¯s behind this right now.¡±


    ¡°We need to investigate the human trafficking organization in Romania. It won¡¯t be easy with our intelligencework¡¯s capability only.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s ask the U.S. and British Intelligence for cooperation. I¡¯ll also check with the Swedish Information Agency. They¡¯d know all sorts of dirty information.¡±


    Their first priority was to dig up roots.


    Youngho needed to know the enemy to retaliate for its crime.


    He had no intention to protest against the gang to protect further crimes in a leisurely manner. The gang that epted the abduction request would bepletely wiped out, and if it was requested by a country, he would not be afraid to go to war. Messing with Kazakhstan meant that the enemy should be ready to pay the price.


    ***


    Hong Sung-ki, the deputy intelligence chief of Kazakhstan, had formed a team to go to Romania to investigate the human trafficking ring that tried to abduct Jelyan.


    It was up to Hong Sung-ki¡¯s team to identify from whom the abductors had beenmissioned and then erase the organization.


    For this work, the cooperation of the U.S. Intelligence Service was necessary.


    When Youngho called to ask for help, Michael was more furious than him.


    -Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll mobilize the European headquarters to get to the bottom of this. It¡¯s an unthinkable idea to kidnap a princess of a country. A criminal organization wouldn¡¯t even dare to think about it.


    ¡°You also think that someone¡¯s behind it.¡±


    -Of course. No matter how bold a gang is, there¡¯s no way it¡¯s going to get involved in a matter that will destroy the whole group. They must have been forced to do so for some reason. Does the Duke have any idea who it might be?


    ¡°I suspect China. I think they intended to shake the royal family behind this act.¡±


    When Youngho mentioned China, Michael remained silent for a while.


    If it was really China, he knew that Youngho would not standstill. If China was really behind the scenes, things would get out of control, and the world would fluctuate from it.


    -If China is found to be behind this, what will you do then?


    ¡°China will never admit it even if we have hard evidence. We expect that.¡±


    -And then what?


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your imagination, Chief.¡±


    -Hmm. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to go to war...


    ¡°How can a powerless Kazakhstan dere war against a powerful nation? But they would surely pay for what they¡¯ve done in some way.¡±


    -You mean you won¡¯t share your findings with China.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point of opening it to China if it¡¯s not going to admit to its crime. I¡¯m not even going to try and get stressed for nothing.¡±


    -In order to prevent it from bing big, I guess we have to get rid of the criminal organization first, so it won¡¯t be a problem.


    ¡°Hahaha... Don¡¯t worry too much. We don¡¯t even know it¡¯s China yet.¡±


    -When dealing with a nation, you should judge rationally rather than acting out of your emotions. There¡¯s no turning back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. I¡¯m in a position to consider the whole of Central Asia. How can I make a reckless decision?¡±


    -I¡¯m relieved to hear that. Let¡¯s start with the criminal organization in Romania.


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯d like you to send the Serbian agents. I think they¡¯re suitable for operations in Romania.¡±


    -These are agents who had already obtained U.S. citizenship. They¡¯ve already be expert agents. They don¡¯t have to be involved in these assignments.


    ¡°I know they had already left us, but they¡¯re still loyal to our Queen. I think if they work with our agents, there would be a great synergy. It¡¯ll be of great help to the U.S. Intelligence Service, too.¡±


    Youngho was referring to the former Serbian residents of the Serbian ranch in Baku, who joined the U.S. intelligence service on Youngho¡¯s rmendation.


    The two were now veterans recognized by the European headquarters, but their inherent limitations had made it difficult to get promoted to higher ranks in the group. In order for them to achieve something big as Youngho did, they needed someone¡¯s help.


    Especially in Russia, Kazakhstan had more agents than the U.S. or Britain¡¯s intelligence services, so Youngho had plentiful high-quality information. If such information about Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus was provided, their future would be wide open.


    If they could be in higher positions in the intelligence service, they would be a great source of high-quality information in the future even when Michael¡¯s term ended.

 Chapter 593 - Collecting Evidence (1)

    <h4>Chapter 593: Collecting Evidence (1)</h4>


    Although Youngho tried his best to keep the current situation quiet, Fatima and Zeynep, who had sensed something, kept asking him about the current change.


    ¡°Why in the world has the pce security been tightened?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a routine check. I¡¯m just trying to make sure there¡¯s no one cking.¡±


    ¡°Honey, I know your lying face, so be honest or I¡¯m going to get mad.¡±


    ¡°Fatima, I¡¯m telling you. It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°Oppa!¡±


    It was Zeynep who was listening to their conversation.


    ¡°Why are you yelling at me?¡±


    ¡°You shoulde clean because we know all about it.¡±


    It was Zeynep¡¯s typical bluffing to make Youngho talk.


    ¡°Tell me what you know. I¡¯m rather curious.¡±


    ¡°You told us not to go out for a few days, didn¡¯t you? Do you know how serious your face was when you said that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the wind and the sandstorm, and the only thing I was serious about that day was an issue regarding the deployment of our royal bodyguards to Afghanistan.¡±


    ¡°Come on! What is it really?¡±


    Despite Youngho¡¯s excuses, Fatima asked again.


    Judging by her serious face, it did not seem that she would let it go easily. He had no other choice but to be straightforward. He did not want to tell his family since he did not want to make them worry, but they needed to know.


    ¡°In fact, a Romanian human trafficking ring showed up at the royal territory, so we arrested them. They target girls, so I wanted to be cautious just in case.¡±


    ¡°But why is the pce security tightened, and there are so many security guards around Jelyan and me? Are we the ones they¡¯re after?¡±


    It did not take long for the quick-witted Zeynep to figure out the truth.


    ¡°I¡¯m just preparing for a rainy day. You are my precious girls. We¡¯re trying to be careful about everything, so don¡¯t go out alone without bodyguards.¡±


    Any further conversation would reveal the truth, so he cut the conversation short in the middle and quickly got off the table.


    If Zeynep found out that the human trafficking organization was mobilized to shake the royal family, she would make a fuss and try to use her personal connections to find out who was behind it. She had made connections with influential people in Europe while running a social welfare foundation. Youngho did not want to make it big and ruin the operation.


    ¡°Are they really not targeting our children?¡±


    Fatima chased Youngho to the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth and urged him.


    ¡°I said that¡¯s not it. What kind of organization will start a war against the Kazakh royal family?¡±


    ¡°But it is still uneptable that it has targeted our people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to root them out, so don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re going to send agents to Romania soon.¡±


    ¡°How can they underestimate Kazakhstan like this?¡±


    ¡°They must have done it for other purposes.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think there¡¯s someone behind all this, do you?¡±


    Youngho flinched at Fatima¡¯s word, and Fatima did not miss it.


    ¡°You have a lead.¡±


    ¡°Please keep it to yourself and don¡¯t tell the children.¡±


    Youngho told everything to Fatima as he could not hide it anymore.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that they targeted our poor Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°They may have mentioned Jelyan with the intention to confuse us, so it¡¯s too early to make a conclusion.¡±


    ¡°It is not eptable to mention Jelyan with any intention. Be sure to find the main culprit and punish him, so this won¡¯t ever happen again.¡±


    ¡°We will do that for sure, so don¡¯t worry. For now, we¡¯re going to make it seem that nothing has happened. If we get shaken, we would be giving in to the enemy¡¯s plot.¡±


    ***


    There were dozens of human trafficking rings in Bucharest, Romania¡¯s capital, ording to the statements of the criminals directly involved in the case. The arrested criminals were members of thergest ring.


    So far, it was revealed that there was a client who ordered them.


    The raid on the Romanian human trafficking ring was carried out covertly.


    Based on the information provided by the U.S. CIA¡¯s European headquarters and the criminals¡¯ statements, the human trafficking ring¡¯s location was identified.


    Although the ring had moved to a second location as their members did not return from Kazakhstan, it was not difficult to find out the second location due to the help of the local agents of the U.S. CIA.


    ¡°I told Hong Sung-ki¡¯s team to wait until they can capture the high rankers of the ring there.¡±


    ¡°Good job. Tell them not to miss a single member. And since we can¡¯t let the local police find out about their deployment, they¡¯ll have to limit their gun use as much as possible.¡±


    Youngho told Hong Sung-ki to find out about the people behind the scenes and demolish the whole group no matter what. That was why he sent well-trained agents who could assassinate human trafficking ring members even without guns.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He said that the local CIA agent gave them pistols with a silencer attached.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, I guess Michael¡¯s determined to help us with this job. But I can¡¯t believe they really thought about kidnapping Jelyan. It¡¯s ridiculous. Fortunately, the royal territory¡¯s security was perfect. It would¡¯ve been a disaster if it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Right. If they had rather sent an assassin to kill you, I would¡¯ve understood, but I still don¡¯t get why they tried to kidnap the princess.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess they wanted to cut off the ties between the Kurds and the royal family than to assassinate me.¡±


    If the gang members tried to assassinate Youngho, it would have been obvious that China was behind it. It was because China was the only country that would benefit the most from Youngho¡¯s disappearance. However, if that was the case, the Kazakh government would not have been silent. A war would definitely happen no matter what. Knowing that, China would not have dared to do so.


    If Jelyan disappeared, the ties between Kurds, the main support base of the royal family, and the Kazakh royal family would be cut off, and the royal power would weaken. It was the most affordable method to remove its opponent for China.


    ¡°I¡¯m certain that China is behind all this. Think about how we¡¯re going to serve these guys.¡±


    ¡°Well, I also think so, but we don¡¯t have any hard evidence yet. Isn¡¯t that a hasty decision?¡±


    ¡°Hey, China is the only country that will benefit by damaging the royal family. Let¡¯s think about how to get even with China once we find the evidence.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... Then why don¡¯t we use Xinjiang Uyghur?¡±


    Most of the Uyghurs, who intended to move to Kazakhstan, had crossed the border already. Park Jong-il was proposing to support the Uyghur rebels in the region to shake up China.


    ¡°Will the Uyghur rebels be able to get back on their feet when they are almost destroyed?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to support them so that they can reorganize themselves. Uyghurs¡¯ independence is a long way off, but we have to give them hope.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re an untrained group. Do you think they¡¯re going to be a match for the Chinese army? It¡¯s like we¡¯re just going to waste precious lives.¡±


    ¡°The rest of the people in Xinjiang Uyghur are prepared to die and fight against China. We¡¯ve been careful because of the Uyghur migrants, but now that the migration is over, why don¡¯t we support the rebels again and try to get them back on their feet?¡±


    Using Uyghurs seemed to be the most desirable way to get back at China at the moment.


    Now was the best time to counterattack, as the rebels had been quiet for some time and the Chinese army was also at ease.


    Youngho readily agreed, as he was already determined to punish China in his heart. Even if he wanted, neither him or Jong-il could cross the border by themselves for this job now.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to reform the rebels because all the Serbian mercenaries had been pulled out already...¡±


    ¡°There is a Uyghur government in exile in northern Afghanistan called Turkistan Imic Party. If we support them, we can get connected to Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°Can an asylum organization use its power to the maind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been in contact with our agents. They said there¡¯s still a militia group left in Xinjiang Uyghur.¡±


    ¡°Good. Then we can send Russian conventional weapons to our troops in Afghanistan.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we have the Uyghurs trained in Afghanistan?¡±


    It was possible because Afghanistan bordered Xinjiang Uyghur of China.


    Although there was heavy inspection, people could sneak in and out if they traveled through the Pamir teau.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to Michael and get some of the Uighurs¡¯ training expenses covered.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯s a good idea. The U.S. intelligence agents said that the CIA is funding Uyghur militias, but they had not seen any achievement so far. They¡¯d rather like it if we take charge in training them.¡±


    ¡°All right. Let the US CIA know that our troops deployed there are going to train the Uyghurs and also supply them weapons.¡±


    ¡°From now on, the Chinese leadership won¡¯t be able to sleep well.¡±


    ¡°Yep. They¡¯ll start having nightmares in no time.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to give you a taste of Kazakhstan¡¯s drones.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve developed a new product, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, look forward to it because it has a satellite navigation system that can be operated from a few kilometers away.¡±


    ¡°Can you carry a bomb and drop it too?¡±


    As he said this, Jong-il¡¯s eyes were glistening.

 Chapter 594 - Collecting Evidence (2)

    <h4>Chapter 594: Collecting Evidence (2)</h4>


    Some things were quite different from what they looked like on the outside. This implied that there was an element of surprise.


    That was exactly what Jelyan was to Youngho.


    Jelyan, who was indirectly warned by Fatima to act cautiously, carefully asked Youngho about the situation.


    ¡°Dad, I heard that this attempted kidnapping is not only about adults, but also about young girls.¡±


    ¡°Who said that? Young women are the target, not young girls like you. And don¡¯t worry, they won¡¯t be able to get involved in the crime in Kazakhstan. They were arrested before they attempted to abduct someone.¡±


    ¡°I was worried because mother told me to be careful. I¡¯m a princess and I¡¯m safe because I have bodyguards, but I¡¯m more worried about the Kurdish kids at the Kurdish camp.¡±


    ¡°You can rest assured because the Kurdish people have their own security forces and police officers are also patrolling now. Why are you so worried about the Kurdish camp? Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s a bit of a problem at the camp. I heard that some of the migrants are a little worried because there are a lot of idle men. It¡¯s said they¡¯re more dangerous than human traffickers.¡±


    It seemed that this problem had been happening frequently since it went into Jelyan¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Can you tell me about that in detail?¡±


    Jelyan was helping Kurdish women in the Kurdish orphanages whenever she had time to help Kurdish war orphans who moved to the royal territory. There, she often saw and solved the difficulties of the migrants.


    The migrants who knew Jelyan was doing volunteer work at the orphanage were using it as an opportunity toin about their difficulties since if they went through Jelyan, problems were resolved quickly.


    It would be strange if there was no problem where millions of people had just settled down.


    There was a bad marriage tradition that still frequently happened in Kazakhstan, but the Kurds were also suffering from it. There was frequent abduction of women to get married. When a woman spent a few days in captivity in a man¡¯s house, the woman¡¯s side of the family was forced to agree to a marriage. It was a horrible custom, but the real problem was that even young girls were targeted.


    Women¡¯s voices were rtively high among the Kurds than other neighboring nations, but it was ridiculous that such absurd custom was still alive.


    ¡°Daddy did not care about the Kurds enough. We have to punish the perpetrators byw. I¡¯ll make sure that it doesn¡¯t happen again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m making you worried. I know it¡¯s none of my business.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Jelyan, you are my daughter and you don¡¯t have to be sorry. Besides, you are a princess of Kazakhstan and of course, a princess should listen to the voices of her people. Keep in mind that your presence is a great force, especially for the Kurds. If there is any part that I miss, you should tell me like today. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    Youngho gave her a big hug as he was proud of her. She was behaving so maturely like a fully grown adult already.


    ¡°My pretty girl, is there anything you want or want to do?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Jelyan smiled but hesitated to speak. She seemed to want something but was too embarrassed to say it.


    ¡°Tell me. I¡¯ll do anything for you. If you want to study abroad like Aunt Zeynep, I¡¯ll consider that, too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere. I just want to stay with mom and dad.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything you want to get?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need anything special because mother does everything for me.¡±


    It seemed she wanted something but it was not something she could ask Youngho. A girl at her age would need a mother¡¯s help more than her father¡¯s. So, Youngho decided not to say anything anymore. He would just have to tell Fatima about itter.


    ¡°Daddy¡¯s study is always open, soe and tell me if there¡¯s any other issue.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Dad.¡±


    Youngho had a gentle smile on his face looking at Jelyan¡¯s back as she walked away in a gentle manner. She was so lovely.


    ***


    When Youngho told Kim Chun what he heard from Jelyan, he was shocked.


    ¡°What is wrong with those guys? Others are eager to serve as soldiers and at other workces, but they¡¯re useless. The princess must have been very hurt. I¡¯ll get on it right away.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, please punish them properly this time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If there are any victims, we willpensate them and punish the assants heavily.¡±


    ¡°I was embarrassed to hear this from my daughter. She seemed to be quite shocked by this. Would you please keep it a low profile when you resolve this?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s not something we¡¯re proud of. It¡¯s a disgrace to all of us that this is happening in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°And how are the traffickers doing in jail?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯reparatively cooperative. It¡¯s because we told them that they¡¯ll be excused if they help us. But how do you want us to deal with them? Since they¡¯re Romanians, we¡¯ll be limited to punish them.¡±


    If they were to be released easily, they would keepmitting the same crimes over and over and there would be more victims.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to send them to the Siberian logging site. That way, they won¡¯t be able to be released back to the society.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be a problem in the future?¡±


    ¡°They must havemitted so many crimes so far enough to deserve the death penalty. Apart from thew, they should be kept away for the sake of peace and repent until they die.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good. It¡¯s hard for anyone to escape that ce.¡±


    Among the Kurds who moved to the royal territory, some men went to work in the Siberian logging site. For them, Siberia was not a ce of punishment, but a ce where they could make as much money as they suffered.


    There was trouble working in the cold, but the intensity of the work was not so high, and the people who had visited once were willing to go again because they were paid greatly.


    The working environment was also great as the amodation for the workers was well constructed and it was not inconvenient to live there.


    Once they were in, there was no way to escape bynd. The only route for escape was through the Yenisei River, which made the logging site a great ce for house criminals.


    Criminals did not need to be managed separately because if they behaved badly, they would be banned from their quarters, which was a great punishment itself.


    If they were kicked out of their quarters, they would have to survive on their own. They would starve to death soon because it was an isted site that they could not be found by people. Even if they were lucky enough to meet the natives and get food, the next problem was surviving the cold, wolves, bears, and even tigers.


    It was by far the best prison for criminals.


    ***


    ¡°Are you saying that the boss doesn¡¯t even know who requested it?¡±


    Youngho asked back to Jong-il who just delivered the report from the agents in Romania. They were investigating the human trafficking ring.


    ¡°I heard that our agents had interrogated them for 24 hours, but they still couldn¡¯t get an answer. It seems that they really don¡¯t know their clients.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing more toe out of those scumbags, tell them to destroy them.¡±


    ¡°Man, we¡¯re going to get dirty blood on our hands for this.¡±


    ¡°Think of this as a war. If we don¡¯t get rid of them now, we¡¯ll only have another victim.¡±


    Since the Kazakh Intelligence Department was already exposed to the human trafficking ring, erasing them was inevitable. If they lived, they would make other victims ande back to the royal territory for retaliation.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know the main culprit, but we¡¯ve only hunted the small fry.¡±


    ¡°We have identified the person who called the ring to request to capture Princess Jelyan, so we¡¯ll be able to track him down in the near future. We¡¯re already on a 24-hour watch. They told me that he doesn¡¯t seem to know that it has failed yet.¡±


    ¡°What makes you so certain?¡±


    ¡°He is allegedly walking around openly. I don¡¯t think the human trafficking ring has told him that it has failed. Don¡¯t you think he would¡¯ve hidden already if he knew that the operation failed?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush too much. Even if it takes time, we must find the person whomissioned him.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. Won¡¯t he notice if we took down all of the human trafficking ring members? If he can¡¯t reach them, he would know that something¡¯s not right.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s keep the boss alive and keep an eye on him around the clock. I¡¯ll also contact Yaniv since the ring might have something to do with the mafia.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let Hong Sung-ki know about this.¡±

 Chapter 595 - Retribution (1)

    <h4>Chapter 595: Retribution (1)</h4>


    -Duke, I got a call from Romania. It looks like he¡¯s also a mafia.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, does a mafia connect with human trafficking organizations these days?¡±


    -It can¡¯t be. Mafia has pride. I don¡¯t do such a shameless thing.


    ¡°Is Romania beyond your power?¡±


    -Even though I¡¯m out of the front line, I¡¯m not that weak. The Romanian mafia won¡¯t be able to ignore my request because the mafia in Hungary is under my power and it can reach Romania.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ve bothered you for this.¡±


    -I¡¯d be very sorry if you hadn¡¯t told me. We¡¯re going to find out who the client is, so leave it up to me. Only the mafia can deal with another mafia.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was going to do. Then I¡¯ll just trust you and wait to hear from you.¡±


    Youngho had asked for Yaniv¡¯s help because his agents could not get a lead even after days of close investigation.


    After hearing all about it, Yaniv was quite upset and within a few days, he found out that the person who called the human trafficking ring was also a mafia.


    It was good news that Yaniv was willing to take the case since it was a burden to have dozens of agents stationed in Romania.


    It was also foolish to insist on finding evidence as the circumstances were already telling that it was China¡¯s doing.


    When Youngho hung up the phone, Park Jong-il pulled the chair close to the front of the table. This meant that there was an important story.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the situation straight. If he¡¯s a mafia member, can we judge that he wasmissioned by China¡¯s Triad or ck Society?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. From now on, we need to find a way to punish him no matter who¡¯s involved.¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯re going to fly drones and drop a few things? We won¡¯t risk much if we use drones.¡±


    ¡°All right. How should we do this then?¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to attack, we should drop a few big shots.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re limited in weight to attack with drones. How many big shots can you carry?¡±


    ¡°We can use high explosives.¡±


    ¡°Then, determine the subject of your attack and ways to move drones and bombs.¡±


    ¡°There should be no visible mark on the drone. The manufacturer should not be identified when it falls.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I told them to make it so no one would be able to identify where it was made. You don¡¯t think they would know that we attacked, do you?¡±


    ¡°On what basis? We didn¡¯t publicize the discovery of the human trafficking ring, and the royal territory is as quiet as usual. China may suspect that it¡¯s a terrorist attack by Uyghurs, but it won¡¯t be easy to find any evidence.¡±


    It seemed that there was no point in pushing back the retaliation operation anymore.


    China would not be able to find out about the attacker anyway. China could suspect the Uyghur rebels, but it would only end there since the Uyghurs did not possess the ability to develop such weapons.


    The destruction of the human trafficking ring would also be known as a power struggle among Romanian mafia members, resulting in the failure of the request to abduct Princess Jelyan.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you strike them from all over the ce, so we can confuse them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but would the secret route to Xinjiang Uyghur be safe if we do so?¡±


    ¡°The Uyghurs will never speak about it even with a knife against their throat. It¡¯s theirst lifeline to cross the Tian Shan Mountains.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to keep this secret from the Uyghur independence fighters. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. There¡¯s nothing good for them to know about it.¡±


    ***


    When Youngho used to run the clothing business in Baku and work as a U.S. Intelligence agent, he jumped in all sorts of field operations without hesitation.


    However, he had refrained from directly going into action as much as possible since he became the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    The sense of responsibility as the Duke dragged his feet whenever he wanted to act recklessly. No matter how well the ring¡¯s ability protected him, bullets would not avoid him. He was not afraid of getting injured, but usually, sending agents and security guards were enough toplete assignments.


    Youngho had to remain in his position safe and sound for the future of the Kazakh royal family and the nation.


    As a result, he could not help but envy Park Jong-il¡¯s back every time he left for an operation.


    When Youngho said that he wanted to be directly involved in this mission, Jong-il scolded him,


    ¡°What? Are you doing this because you don¡¯t trust me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tired of sitting at the desk all the time. I want to enjoy the sense of being in action after a long time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t give me such a ridiculous reason. Don¡¯t mention it again, or Fatima will kill me.¡±


    ¡°Come on, friend! Are you really going to be this strict with me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t allow it even if someone holds a knife to my throat. I¡¯ll be impeached for dragging the Duke in a dangerous operation.¡±


    ¡°Why are you impeached when I give you orders?¡±


    Park Jong-il stopped Youngho with his bizarre logic.


    He was opposing Youngho because he thought that Youngho should never be revealed to have provoked China in the worst-case scenario.


    It was a problem taking drones and bombs to Uyghur as they were heavy. Since the Uyghur area was heavily bounded and such equipment could not be moved by a vehicle. Youngho wanted to help since adding one hand was a shortcut to the sess of the operation, but Jong-il did not budge an inch.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to help because you need more manpower.¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Just know that you can¡¯t go, either. If the head of the Intelligence Department is caught in the scene running with a gun like a working-level official, that would be a story for impeachment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just check the situation near the border ande back, so don¡¯t even dream about it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be responsible if I lose my ssified sense.¡±


    ¡°Your abilities don¡¯t go anywhere. Throw your likes somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I had to try. Do it yourself. Instead, don¡¯t let the guards or intelligence agents detect the power of the ring.¡±


    ¡°The Queen lent this to me to protect the royal family, so how can I mistreat it? Don¡¯t worry about it. This operation will mark a new milestone in the history of war, so look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re opening a new chapter in the history of terrorism, not of war.¡±


    ¡°That kind of retribution is the best way to retaliate such cheap crime.¡±


    ***


    He has been frantic for days, selecting agents to take part in Operation Uighur and setting targets for attacks.


    A phone call came from Yaniv while he was loading the car with assault material to be moved to Uighur.


    -Duke. We found out who the client is.


    Yaniv sounded very excited to deliver the news.


    ¡°What great news, Mr. Yaniv. As expected, right?¡±


    -You¡¯re right that the kidnapping request was made in China, but the client is among the leadership of the Chinese ck Society.


    ¡°The Chinese government must have requested it to the ck Society.¡±


    -I think we can conclude so.


    ¡°Do you have any connection to the ck Society?¡±


    -Not at all. I only know that it has been protected by the Chinese government recently.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done an excellent job. Knowing that is a big deal.¡±


    -What are you going to do now?


    ¡°Well, nothing happened so far, so what can I do? We¡¯ll have to be careful in the future. The Chinese government won¡¯t even raise an eyebrow if weined.¡±


    -That¡¯s unlike you.


    ¡°I can¡¯t go to war against China for this. I¡¯ll wait for the right time to retaliate in the future.¡±


    -That¡¯s a good idea. Even if you¡¯re angry, you have to put up with it right now. We can pay it backter.


    He had no need to show his innermost thoughts to Yaniv, so he did not say anything about the secret operation.


    He was nning to blow up the Chinese government¡¯s property in Xinjiang Uyghur, too.


    Even without the abduction, the suppression of the Uyghurs alone was every reason to attack. Now that there had been objective evidence, the burden had also been reduced.


    When Youngho told Yaniv¡¯s finding to Jong-il, he was rather unexpectedly calm.


    ¡°It was already foreseen. I felt a little ufortable for this operation, but now that I know for sure, I feel refreshed.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, seeing you this calm, is giving me the creeps. What¡¯s wrong with you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been patient and now it¡¯s my chance to get even. You¡¯ll see, I¡¯m determined to do anything to keep the Queen alive.¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯m scared. People around me are turning so cold these days.¡±


    ¡°Who else is like me?¡±


    ¡°Fatima gave me a death stare the other day, telling me toe clean.¡±


    ¡°I guess she noticed what happened to Jelyan, huh?¡±


    ¡°I told her everything in the end because I thought she should know.¡±


    ¡°Jeez! You should¡¯ve kept it quiet. What is she going to think about the Intelligence Department now? She¡¯d think we¡¯re useless.¡±


    ¡°Oh, are you worried about Fatima or your promotion?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just embarrassed that she found out. How can I keep my head up in front of her now?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re worried about everything. You can do this operation well and show the evidence that we¡¯ve paid it all back to China.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another reason to attack China, now.¡±


    ¡°I wish you the best luck. It¡¯s winter, so the security will be sloppy.¡±


    ¡°It seems our winter jinx is real, seeing that we are busy every winter.¡±


    ¡°Good for us. It¡¯s historically proven that a country that makes good use of winter has won every war. It¡¯s not a jinx, but rather a blessing that these sorts of things happen only in the winter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good interpretation.¡±


    ¡°The ones who touch Kazakhstan in the future will have to have a very cold winter. I¡¯m only going to attack in the cold, so be prepared for it.¡±


    ¡°Are we not cold when we attack?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a history. Who would dare to deal with us when Kazakhstan¡¯s cold is as cold as Siberia?¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t get used to this cold, period.¡±

 Chapter 596 - Retribution (2)

    <h4>Chapter 596: Retribution (2)</h4>


    Although it was the end of February, it was snowing once in two or four days as the wet season just began in Kazakhstan.


    It had been three days since a regiment of troops was deployed to Afghanistan and special soldiers of the Royal Bodyguards left to punish China. They must be suffering hard because of the snow on top of the cold weather.


    The troops that went to Afghanistan took a train to Kyrgyzstan and used armored vehicles or trucks to get to Afghanistan. It must be difficult for them to move in mountainous regions as they camped outside.


    Although the soldiers deployed to Afghanistan were honored by people before they left as they were going under the name of peacekeepers, the special Royal Bodyguards did not even get such cheers as they had to sneak out the royal territory like sneaky cats.


    It would be best if they came back safe and sound, but it must not be easy.


    Looking out the window, Youngho¡¯s mind was busy.


    Although the precipitation was not heavy, the roads turned icy and the traffic was paralyzed due to small andrge idents.


    ¡°If there had not been the median strip in the middle of the roads, there must have been a lot of casualties.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, we need to bring in plowing equipment since the traffic load has increased.¡±


    Kim Chun got anxious as the road was congested.


    ¡°We have more frequent snow this year. It¡¯ll be a blessing if it is like this every year. I¡¯d take this much inconvenience at any time.¡±


    Youngho and Kim Chun had just been to the groundbreaking ceremony of the textile factory in the newly built Kurdish settlement vige.


    Since all drivers were driving carefully, there were only minor idents with no major injuries.


    Hoping for more snow in the royal territory, Youngho was patiently waiting for the traffic congestion to clear up. Rain or snow was a gift from heaven in dry Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Grace, should I call the police?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just leave it alone. Our guards are clearing the road. Since they¡¯re minor idents, it will be cleared soon.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not suitable for the authority of the royal territory that you¡¯re traveling this simply even in the royal territory. You should have more guards and cars following you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d agree if it was the Queen¡¯s visit, but I¡¯m fine just like this. Besides, if we have more guards and big entourage, it will cause inconvenience to residents. Besides, I visit ces multiple times every day. How can I stick to formality every time? Please don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°You need to think about your security, too. You won¡¯t lose anything for doing so. We just had criminals walking on the streets in our city, remember?¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t worry about that anymore. Thanks to them, the security of the whole region of Kazakhstan is perfect now.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m thankful for that. I want to give them a reward for that.¡±


    After the Romanian criminals¡¯ appearance in the royal territory was discovered, the security system of airports all over the country was improved and security and inspection equipment were reced. It was processed secretly from the public¡¯s eye.


    Especially, Chinese people who lived in big cities such as Almaty were under a close watch. It was because the members of the ck Society, the notorious gang group in China, were connected to Chinese merchants as they were in Kazakhstan disguising themselves as employees of Chinese businesses. To root them out, all the Chinese were being closely watched.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t give you a heads up on the current operation.¡±


    ¡°No worries at all. This kind of operation must be kept secret. In fact, you shouldn¡¯t have told me until the end.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim seemed surprised to find out about the deployment of special Royal Bodyguards to Xinjing Uyghur but soon he was relieved as no news about Kazakhstan being rted to Xinjiang Uyghur was heard.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you understand, but I thought that ministers in the diplomacy and national defense line should know about this in case of unexpected situations...¡±


    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s going to be hard for them to keep their poker face when the Chinese government suspects us. I¡¯ll keep it to myself for a while.¡±


    As strong terrorist attacks urred in Xinjiang Uyghur consecutively recently, the tension at the borderline was intensified than ever. Since the Chinese government was afraid of other Central Asian countries¡¯ intervention in the region, rather than Uyghur people, it reinforced border security whenever there were incidents in the region.


    Worried about the potential negative impact of the tension at the border, Kasim visited the royal pce.


    ¡°The current attacks are intended to give hope to Uyghurs rather than to retaliate. From now on, Uyghur rebels who are going to be trained in Afghanistan will start their independence movement. I don¡¯t want war against China, but I don¡¯t want to be passive against China, either. Although we are weak, I¡¯m not afraid as our people are united with one heart.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kind of worried about how China will react but I¡¯m very excited about our active measure against China. It¡¯s quite different than our past government. Hopefully, China will learn about the new Kazakhstan, soon.¡±


    ¡°Even if our involvement in the recent attacks on Xinjiang Uyghur is revealed, I¡¯m not afraid. If not war, we¡¯re capable of local battles. We¡¯ll soon have such power.¡±


    ¡°Hearing your words gives me confidence. Are you talking about theser technology transferred from Korea when you say ¡®such power¡¯?¡±


    ¡°That is one thing, but we¡¯ll soon have another, too.¡±


    What Youngho was talking about was the nuclear bomb.


    The technology to make a nuclear bomb was already umted in the royal territory¡¯s weaponsb.


    There was a nuclear nt in operation already, and Kazakhstan had the second most uranium resource deposits in the world, which was the base material for nuclear power generation.


    If Kazakhstan fell into danger, he was ready to order to make one regardless of other nations. Neighboring nations already assumed that Kazakhstan had one, so it would not be a matter if Kazakhstan had one. Of course, it would stir up disputes, but the country was already surrounded by nuclear states. There was a rational cause which was to protect national underground resources. Since Kazakhstan was a resource-rich country, other nations eventually would have toply with the Kazakh government and royal family to get resources.


    ¡°Are you talking about what you mentioned before?¡±


    ¡°You are right. Other nations won¡¯t be able to do anything since they already think we didn¡¯t destroy nuclear missiles that were made during the Soviet era.¡±


    ¡°There will be heavy pressure.¡±


    ¡°Well, wouldn¡¯t developing one be the same as announcing what we already had? In order to survive against China or Russia, we should let them know that we are a threat to them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried but strangelyforted by your assertiveness. Could there be nuclear weapons left somewhere In Kazakhstan since others guess that?¡±


    ¡°I wish that was true. We mobilized our intelligence agents and military, but couldn¡¯t find one.¡±


    ¡°We should thoroughly investigate it. The former president is someone who¡¯s likely to have such weapons kept secret in somewhere. He was no less than you when it came to national defense as you know well.¡±


    When Kasim leaned toward the possibility of the existence of nuclear weapons, Youngho was also excited. If a regime changed properly, there would have been transfer of duties and information, but this was not the case in Kazakhstan as the former president Nazarbayev had fled hastily. Because of this, there were a lot of difficulties in the early days of the current regime.


    Especially, the former regime had so many secrets since it had been in power for twenty years. So there were numerous mysteries that had not been solved yet in the previous government¡¯s conducts.


    There might be another safe existing somewhere in Kazakhstan for Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds.


    If he wanted to keep his regime forever, would he not have done something about nuclear weapons that were not imed? If it were Youngho, he would have snuck out a few of them already.


    He must be a peacenik if he did not covet such strong weapons that could cover the weak defense power of a newly formed nation. Moreover, if they were already made, it would not have been easy just to give up and destroy them.


    ¡°If those weapons exist somewhere we don¡¯t know, we should take a big bow to Former President Nazarbayev.¡±


    ¡°He must¡¯ve left a few since Kazakhstan used to be a nuclearb of the Soviet Union.¡±

 Chapter 597 - Retribution (3)

    <h4>Chapter 597: Retribution (3)</h4>


    Kazakhstan¡¯s defense sector would one day stand shoulder to shoulder with China or Russia if Kazakhstan prepared steadily.


    It was not only China or Russia but also all other countries that could be potential enemies as they envied Kazakhstan¡¯s resources.


    Prime Minister was certain that there must be slush funds or nuclear weapons from the former president Nazarbayev.


    His words were tempting, but Youngho did not have high hopes. Even if there were no nuclear weapons, Kazakhstan would be able to make one or have a power that was equal to having a nuclear weapon with its umted technology.


    Perhaps the reason why China did not treat Kazakhstan recklessly was that it believed there was a formidable weapon of nuclear power.


    Youngho expressed his thought on the importance of nuclear weapons to Kasim.


    ¡°I will take any criticism if we can have war deterrent by having nuclear weapons.¡±


    ¡°Who would criminalize us? We are in the advanced guard to protect the free and democratic world. Other countries should indeed support us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to have formidable weapons of our own. We must protect our security or who would? Even allies turn their backs on countries that don¡¯t try. We have to have strength and power. That way, they¡¯ll try to join hands with us. If we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll end up being abandoned.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, will our national power grow so much?¡±


    Kasim looked at Youngho with doubtful eyes. It was because such a story was just a dream for now.


    ¡°I aim to move beyond the limits of the ind country and make our ships sail through the five oceans.¡±


    ¡°How can we be a maritime power as an ind country?¡±


    Kasim¡¯s eyes were widened when Youngho mentioned the five oceans. It did not seem realistic even though the royalpany had several ships since Kazakhstan was an ind country.


    ¡°Even now, Arirang Shipping¡¯s sales have been doubling every year. We¡¯re expecting to have revenue when the Russian canal expands in the future.¡±


    ¡°Oh! There was the Russian canal. We¡¯ve got ind logistics and there are logistics for the Caspian Sea as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how we¡¯ll grow. When the shipping industry develops, rted industries will also see the light. My primary goal is 10 billion dors in annual sales,bining the shipping industry and the shipbuilding industry.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m full already just hearing that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a baby step. My inws in Demark own the world¡¯s number one shippingpany, and it is reaching more than 11 billion dors in annual sales.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe onepany can make such a huge amount of sales.¡±


    Since it was not easy for a singlepany to raise sales that were equal to one-tenth of Kazakhstan¡¯s annual exports, Kasim was stunned to hear it.


    ¡°Wait and see. Although we are now holding out on our own orders, the Danish Shipyard which the royal family owns has its original technology and there will be rapid progress in the future. The world¡¯s leading shipping lines and shipyards have been closed because of the recession, and that will be our opportunity. When the shipping industry recovers, where would all the logistics go?¡±


    ¡°I was always curious about your contribution to the shipyard, but you had all of this in mind already.¡±


    ¡°If we only rely on our resources, ournd will be deprived soon, and our people will suffer for it. Also, we¡¯d have to leave our resources for our future generations.¡±


    ¡°What would we have done if Your Highness did not reform Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m blushing. Would you like to drink?¡±


    ¡°Of course. How can I go back to the capital without drinking in this mood? May I stay here for the night? I feel like our drink will taste great tonight.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should tell the kitchen to get our snacks ready.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ***


    China¡¯s media were reporting the terrorist attacks in Xinjiang Uyghur in detail as never before. It was a far cry from the fact that the media had been restricting any mention of terrorist attacks.


    Although the scale of the current attacks in Xinjiang Uyghur was different than previous rebel activities, it seemed that the Chinese government was going to use this as an excuse to oppress Uyghurs.


    The attacks not only destroyed facilities such as factories and public security buildings but also killed many people. As the attacks were tantamount to an air raid, the Chinese government had no choice but to find someone to me it.


    The media vaguely guessed that Uyghur independent fighters were running wild on outside orders. There was no sign of outside attacks as there were only sudden drops of bombs. Security cameras could not tell where they were from, as they did not face the sky. If they were intercontinental ballistic missiles, they would have been caught in the air defense system. The Chinese government did not have a clue that drones would have done it.


    ¡°Still haven¡¯t heard from him, Chul-hwan?¡±


    ¡°Man, he must be determined to melt our hearts. The attack is still going on, so everyone seems to be safe...¡±


    They could only have a rough idea that everything was going well from the news in China.


    ¡°He is not even trying to make satellite calls because China¡¯s technology isn¡¯t what it used to be.¡±


    Youngho could only wait in frustration until Park Jong-il came back to report on the situation at Xinjiang Uyghur.


    ¡°He entered Xinjiang Uyghur. I thought he said he¡¯d only stay at the border area.¡±


    ¡°I told him to move on his own judgment there. You won¡¯t have to worry about the soldiers¡¯ safety since Jong-il is with them.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? He¡¯s not immortal.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan did not know of the ring¡¯s abilities yet, so it was probably a natural response. Youngho did not mean to keep it a secret, but he did not have a chance to talk about it yet.


    Cha In-soo knew about it since he had worn it for a while when he was in Baku¡¯s farm, so he naturally learned about it, but since Cho Chul-hwan had no such chance, Youngho did not bother to let him know.


    ¡°Well, you should admit that Jong-il is frankly a little swifter than all of us.¡±


    ¡°He was not my match when we were instructors for the Armenian militia, but he must¡¯ve been drinking some kind of elixir or something.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that might be right since he¡¯s enduring the cold out there. But since the bombs they took are almost exhausted, it¡¯s about time for them toe back home...¡±


    ¡°Hey, the head of the intelligence service runs around the scene himself. Wouldn¡¯t it be a disgrace that themander of the Royal Bodyguards cooped up in the royal territory? Can I go back to Afghanistan for a while?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I knew you¡¯d be saying something like that. You want to make an excuse for Jong-il¡¯s case and go to Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°Arge number of troops have been deployed. Shouldn¡¯t the captain visit there, too? It¡¯s also about the morale of soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Make sure Jong-il gets back before you move. You have something else to do.¡±


    ¡°You have a job for me?¡±


    Chul-hwan was excited to hear that he had a job. Having no job throughout the winter, he was getting bored.


    ¡°Take it easy. Man, everyone seems to be looking for jobs even when they¡¯re on a break.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know you can rest when you get old. Tell me what it is.¡±


    ***


    When Youngho showed the prototype of a submarine, Chul-hwan and In-soo¡¯s mouths were open wide. The 300-ton ck hull, 35 meters long, was showing its prowess.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finished it. I¡¯ve been wondering about when it will be done.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a small but powerful fellow.¡±


    ¡°Is this what we call the tractor in the sea, the shark-ss submarine?¡±


    ¡°Even a tractor is definitely a means of transportation. You get injured if you¡¯re crushed by it. Even 16th-century rifles can kill people in the 21st century. It¡¯s small, but it¡¯s capable of carrying four torpedoes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be used at the littoral sea. Can it be active in the ocean?¡±


    ¡°We could carry this around on a multi-purposending ship or a bulk carrier. Then that will be our off the coast.¡±


    ¡°Ha! This is a good-looking fe. How many of these are you going to produce?¡±


    ¡°The target is ten vessels. We¡¯ll deploy two each in the Caspian Sea and the Aegean Sea, and the rest in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and at the Danish base.¡±


    ¡°We are finally going out to the ocean.¡±


    ¡°First of all, protecting our merchant ships will be a priority, but we will also conduct joint operations with our alliester on. If necessary, we¡¯ll also develop super-sized submarines that will move to and from the Arctic Ocean, so look forward to it.¡±


    That would have to be a nuclear submarine, but it was still a long way off.


    For now, the small-sized submarine was good enough because none of the other vessels were as efficient as this for asymmetric power.


    No matter how advanced a destroyer¡¯s sonar technology was the chances of detecting a submarine crouching in the sea were only 30 to 40 percent.


    In addition, in areas where different seawater flew in, the sound waves were distorted and destroyed, making it harder to detect submarines.


    If a submarine stayed in front of an enemy port, the harbor would be potentially blocked and there would be the effect of blocking the logistics movement at the source.


    It could also attack mine instations, ships, and even destroyers.


    The small-sized submarine hadparatively poor performance, but it would notck enough to carry out a given mission.


    Cho Chul-hwan, who was listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, asked why he was not making more of them.


    ¡°This number is enough. We will continue the production in the future, but I¡¯m nning on making a submarine that¡¯s more than 1,500 tons that can be independently active in the ocean.¡±


    ¡°How do you get out of the Caspian Sea if you make something so big?¡±


    ¡°We should make it at the Danish Shipyard. The shipyard in the royal territory will be specialized in small-sized submarines and deep-sea submersibles.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re from the Navy too. Shouldn¡¯t we try riding the submarine?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you ride as much as you wantter. There¡¯s something you need to do from now on. We¡¯ll have to pick submarine agents from the Royal Bodyguards or Kurdish soldiers.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you are asking for them to learn how to operate a submarine now. You¡¯re talking about infiltration agents, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll be able to rotate them on duty if we had about 100 people.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good! Now let¡¯s take a look inside the submarine.¡±


    All of them looked like children with a new toy in front of them.


    The three entered the submarine and did note out for a while. They were fascinated by the authenticity of the state-of-the-art diesel attack submarine.

 Chapter 598 - Economic Reforms (1)

    <h4>Chapter 598: Economic Reforms (1)</h4>


    ¡°How many times did youunch the strikes? What¡¯s on the news must be just the tip of the iceberg.¡±


    ¡°Probably. I heard that the attacks were reported by the Chinese media. I don¡¯t know why they didn¡¯t control the press. Did you see the refinery attack, too?¡±


    ¡°What? That wasn¡¯t on the news.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Chinese government couldn¡¯t put it on the news.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a primary refinery in Xinjiang Uyghur. We came a little behind schedule because we destroyed the refinery first.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t even in the initial n.¡±


    ¡°It was right on our attack route. It would¡¯ve been a waste if we just left it behind, so we had to go around our schedule a little bit. The Chinese soldiers would¡¯ve been freaking out for that.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what if you were caught by the checkpoint?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. We flew drones from 50 kilometers away. We¡¯ve already been out of there a while ago.¡±


    ¡°I guess you didn¡¯t retrieve the drones.¡±


    ¡°What do you have to worry about retrieving it? We dropped drones together with the explosives.¡±


    ¡°What a waste. They cost a lot.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan cringed at Jong-il¡¯s gaze while he was feeling sorry for the lost drones.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hundred times better than putting yourself in danger. What if we get caught trying to retrieve the drones? From that day on, it¡¯s war with China. Man.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a good judgment. Getting out of there is a priority. Ignore him because he thinks equipmentes first over human life.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d be in a frenzy if we did that. Take out the drone¡¯s price from Chul-hwan¡¯s sry.¡±


    Chul-hwan pped Jong-il¡¯s back for hisst remark. Everyone already had a few drinks and was makingments as they listened to the story of Jong-il¡¯s journey.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear what the h*ll you¡¯ve been doing there.¡±


    ¡°Oh, just like this? I¡¯m not that cheap, you know. Pour some drink in my ss first.¡±


    Park Jong-il and 25 members of the Special Forces entered the secrete route in the Tian Shan Mountains that was connected to Xinjiang Uyghur.


    As they carried drones and bombs and had to travel only on foot, their target of the attack was the city of Kucha, about 200 kilometers from the border. The n was to destroy major facilities within a 100-kilometer radius around the site.


    It took them five days to get there, and it was a lot of trouble because they had to go only on mountain roads to avoid inspection.


    There was also the border town of Aksu nearby, but they went further since it was too close that they might get suspected of involvement.


    And Kucha was a great target because of the presence of a Chinese military border unit that controlled the border areas of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Attacking such militarymand could startle the Chinese government rather than attacking other facilities.


    However, theyter found that there was an oil refinery located in the expected route, so they had to change their n as blowing up the refinery would have a great impact as it would maximize the effects as the oil would burn.


    Jong-il continued on saying that his team blew up the refinery first and then attacked other facilities consecutively that was initially nned.


    ¡°Good job. It was like fighting against a rock with an egg, but it¡¯s a great achievement to have startled the Chinese government.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Youngho, why don¡¯t we strengthen our borderlines just in case? The Chinese government will eventually find out that it¡¯s not the attack from Uyghur independence fighters.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve already issued a heightened alert for the border troops because I informed Kasim of the situation.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim would have already issued a warning.


    That was because China would suspect Kazakhstan even if there was no evidence.


    When human trafficking rings were discovered, Youngho and Jong-il also immediately thought of China as well. However, without evidence, China would not be able tounch retaliatory strikes on Kazakhstan.


    ***


    Almaty, Kazakhstan¡¯srgest city and economic capital, was home to Central Asia¡¯srgest wholesale market, Baraholka and Zelionyj Bazaars, a small and medium-sized wholesale market.


    Generally, traditional markets were limited in handling items such as groceries and clothing stores, butrge traditional markets in Almaty dealt with everything necessary for daily life.


    There was a flood of food and daily necessities from all parts of Central Asia. Among them, Chinese goods had overwhelming numbers. This meant that there were many Chinese merchants as well.


    There was a separate market only for Chinese merchants, and since every transaction was done in cash, there was no way to check their sales at all. In particr, they preferred U.S. dors as it was a means to take money out of the country easily.


    Chinese merchants were also known for not being involved in banking. Despite the potential danger of having a lot of cash, the reason for this was to pay less or no taxes. The previous regime also yed part in their decision not to trust the Kazakh banking system because it tried to recklessly look into personal bank transactions.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s Inte had rapidly elerated under the new government.


    Even though advanced financial transactions such as credit card transactions and Inte banking were being carried out without inconvenience inrge cities, sticking to cash transactions was tantamount to trying to make data-free transactions.


    It was difficult to identify the volume of goods the Chinese merchants brought in because they were bought from vendors who traded goods from the free trade zone by the border.


    Although other vendors also used the same route, only Chinese merchants in traditional markets were sticking to cash transactions.


    Small and medium-sized gangsters in China, who yed down the weaknesses of such merchants and had a symbiotic rtionship with the merchants. The gangsters were working with Chinese merchants on the pretext of serving as middle merchants between free trade zones and protecting the Chinese merchants from the unfair treatments from local merchants.


    When Youngho spat out a groan while looking at the report data, the atmosphere in the conference room cooled down.


    A cold wind was blowing in the conference room of Almaty City Hall, where the head of the National Tax Service, incumbent mayors, and police chiefs was present.


    The local police chief, who was reporting that there were more than 100 Chinese gangs in Almaty, was sweating.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to hear why they¡¯ve left alone so far.¡±


    ¡°The first reason is that we can¡¯t apply domesticw unless theymitted a crime. The second is that our merchants are getting low-cost supplies from them, and if we press them, there might be domestic intion.¡±


    ¡°If a gang doesn¡¯t use violence, they won¡¯t be ssified as gangs. What is the reason for their ssification as gangs, not dealers or brokers?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because they worked as gangs in China. We don¡¯t know why, but they haven¡¯t been involved in violent activities in Kazakhstan yet.¡±


    ¡°Since when?¡±


    ¡°There has been a case where Chinese organizations were beaten up by Russian mafia members before, and I think that¡¯s the starting point.¡±


    Youngho once came to root out the Chinese gangs in Kazakhstan because they came to Baku, and it seemed the police chief was referring to that time. He would freak to hear that it was the Duke of Kazakhstan who made a mess with the Chinese organization at that time.


    ¡°No matter what, I don¡¯t understand that gangs have been quiet so far. Well, I¡¯m d that they¡¯re not causing any trouble now. Let¡¯s keep an eye on them for now. But I can¡¯t watch the Chinese merchants evading tax any longer.¡±


    ¡°If we start an investigation, we should also investigate our merchants.¡±


    The head of the National Tax Service replied with a troubled look on his face.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you are foreigners or Kazakhs. We will track down all tax sources. The traditional markets had never been taxed properly since the beginning. As far as I know, the giant wholesalers in the Baraholka bazaar make more than mid-sized enterprises.¡±


    ¡°It is true that we have been negligent in tracking the revenue sources in the wholesale and retail markets. And the backward financial system yed a part. We¡¯re improving little by little since the new administration emerged.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking to change it in a day, but I think the efforts of tax authorities had beencking. You need to work hard. Where there is ie, there must be tax to be a fair society.¡±


    The bureaucrats sitting in the conference room crouched as the Duke, who had always maintained softness, berated them as never before.


    They had no words to say since Youngho¡¯s words were true.


    ¡°In the future, the royal family will set up an example for all. The royal territory is the ce where it has its own tax system, so it can¡¯t be involved, but some of my earnings from overseas royal-owned businesses have not been properly reported, so I¡¯ll pay it to this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness! What are you saying? Kazakhstan had been growing only because of your investment and the royal funds made from your small andrge businesses around the world. Why do you say such a silly thing when the government owes the royal debt? Please take your word now. We will correct the absurdities immediately.¡±


    This was exactly what Youngho was after.


    As soon as the royal family took the initiative, the entire nation would be in a hive.


    If so, no one, whether business or self-employed, could be an exception. It would be a stormy affair for the whole nation.


    ¡°Of course, tax reform should be carried out slowly, or there will be a lot of resistance. But if you¡¯re afraid of it, you can¡¯t fix it forever. If you¡¯ve benefited from the state as a citizen, of course, you have to pay your taxes.¡±


    ¡°We understand what you¡¯re saying. I will try to persuade people to get it right. So please withdraw your offer to pay the taxes. The royal authority will fall to the ground.¡±


    ¡°I told you before, didn¡¯t I? Where there¡¯s ie, there must be taxes. The money that the royal family has provided for Kazakhstan was also intended to ensure the royal family¡¯s stability. But taxes have to be dealt with separately. If the royal family agrees to pay taxes, no one should be given preferential treatment.¡±


    Finally, he spoke hisst words and left the conference room.


    The reason why Youngho visited Almaty was to stop the previous administration¡¯s wrongful practice of selling resources and distributing them to the public in a wasteful and reckless manner.


    The previous regime¡¯s approval rating had exceeded 90 percent only because the former president managed the country without even collecting taxes properly as part of his pork barrel policy.


    No matter how much money Youngho invested into the nation, what good would it be if it failed to correct the moralxity of the people? Now that the new administration had stabilized, there would be no major bacsh even if the government wielded knives for reform.

 Chapter 599 - Economic Reforms (2)

    <h4>Chapter 599: Economic Reforms (2)</h4>


    Kazakhstan had about 60 percent of its total consumption in cash transactions.


    Therge amount of cash transactions also affected the formation of the underground economy, which ounted for about 30 percent of the total economy.


    Economic reform was intended to bring such underground economies to the surface to secure tax revenues and ultimatelyy the foundation for economic growth.


    In order to draw cash from the underground market, Youngho and the Kazakh administration decided to use a card called currency exchange.


    Behind the reason for doing so was the confidence that each family¡¯s household finances were stable, so there would be minimal impact from currency exchange.


    The savings rate was high at around 30 percent, while household debt was low at around 10 percent. Compared to the OECD average savings rate of 5.7 percent, its stability was quite high.


    It was a shocking measure, but as growth was expected in many ways in the future, there was room for the national ie to rise.


    The job market was also stable that people in other Central Asian countries rushed to Kazakhstan in search of work, contributing to the currency exchange.


    The economic reforms announced by the government this time included reform policies in a wide range of fields, including mary policy, industrial policy, tax policy, environmental policy, immigration policy, education policy, and social security policy.


    In short, it was a major innovation thatpletely changed Kazakhstan¡¯s constitution.


    People were dumbfounded by the sudden economic reforms as they were carried out without notice, and the aftermath was indeed huge.


    The currency exchange was conducted immediately as it was arranged under careful nning for a long time.


    The measure was taken to make the current Kazakh currency avable only for the next three months, and if it was not exchanged for new bills, the tenge, the old ones would be a piece of paper.


    It was situated so that any ck money would have to be exposed.


    And what was crucial was that when it came to goods sales, all transactions traded in dors would be considered illegal unless it was dealt in tenge. This would essentially block the dor¡¯s cirction.


    Foreign investors who entered Kazakhstan would have to exchange their money in tenge to trade or use credit cards. And regardless of whether they were Kazakhs or foreigners, anyone who needed to bring out or bring in the amount of more than 5,000 dors to and from the country must only do so by banking transactions.


    A person with a lot of cash could not circte more than 5,000 dors in any case without going through a bank.


    The Chinese, who dominated the traditional markets in Almaty, was in the same position.


    ¡°What is the reaction of the people?¡±


    Asked by Youngho, the head of Kazakhstan¡¯s central bank, Murat, changed his stance.


    ¡°Most people wee the currency reform because it is not a currency reform but an exchange, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d have a lot of trouble, but I¡¯m surprised.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s evidence that there were many people who felt a rtive deprivation because there was too much ck money going on. They say this is the right kind of reform.¡±


    ¡°Was there ever been a reform before?¡±


    ¡°The former administration has vowed to improve the underground economy, but for some reason, it has always been canceled. So every time, the people were disappointed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the former president didn¡¯t carry out the currency reform. Our economic scale is quite small that we can do as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that evidence that the leader and his aides had so much dark money? The bureaucracy was very much opposed to the reform as well.¡±


    ¡°All of them must have stored dors or tenges in their homes, too.¡±


    ¡°The current reform must be keeping them up all night. If they don¡¯t bring the money, they¡¯ll lose everything they have. So is the dor.¡±


    Central bank Governor Murat seemed to be enjoying the current reform.


    High officials in the former administration had all been stripped of their positions, but no legal action was taken against their irregrities. It was because all officials in Kazakhstan would also be put behind bars if legal actions were taken against them, so the current administration stopped after only disclosing their irregrities open to the public.


    Some of them wanted to leave Kazakhstan but they had to stay since there was no way for them to take their assets out of the country.


    ¡°In the meantime, please have a thorough understanding of how much old cash has been issued and recovered to the bank.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re looking at it closely. I¡¯m sure many of those who are reluctant to reveal their dirty linen will turn their money into scraps without reporting it.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that affect our economy?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t appreciate or devalue the currency, but it¡¯s a one-to-one exchange, so there¡¯s no problem at all. We can issue extra money if we¡¯re short of money. And with most people saving more than 30 percent of their ie, there is little confusion.¡±


    The usual currency reform was aimed at raising funds for economic revival, as well as a reform to control the overblown currency and subsequent intion on the market.


    However, the current Kazakh government was not trying to reform the currency but to retrieve the old money through exchange and bring the underground market out. In a way, it was an exquisite policy.


    Since all of the money that flowed into neighboring countries would also be exchanged, it also had the effect of preventing data-free transactions that had been rampant.


    There was nothing as good as this to get rid of the underground economy.


    ***


    ¡°Your Grace, I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d make an announcement so hastily.¡±


    ¡°When will it be possible if we held a public meeting and listened to opinions from all walks of life? It¡¯s best to be abrupt.¡±


    Eriksson, who came back from his week-long vacation in Sweden, shook his head as he talked about the reforms.


    He was surprised to see that Youngho had announced a currency exchange policy so abruptly which he thought would happen by the end of the year after looking at the economic situation.


    ¡°If it were me, I¡¯d never have tried.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s so much I know that I would¡¯ve put off doing it all the time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that not having too much economic knowledge was rather brave?¡±


    ¡°I think so. It¡¯s also great that economic officials didn¡¯t oppose it.¡±


    ¡°You know there¡¯s a saying that ignorance is brave.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I guess that¡¯s right. By the way, I heard the royal family said they would pay the taxes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been paying for it so far, but it¡¯s nothing new.¡±


    In fact, the royal family had been paying taxes to the royal territory for all businesses it ran. Youngho just announced it to the public to emphasize the importance of paying taxes and be a role model for all Kazakh people.


    ¡°It was a timely announcement. The people should know what the royal family is doing. Why don¡¯t we take this opportunity to open up the royal family¡¯s defense spending?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯d rather not.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that you should brag it to the people, I mean to let the neighboring countries know. It would be frightening for them if they knew about the cost of arms from the royal treasury, in addition to the government¡¯s budget.¡±


    Last year alone, the royal family spent more than 10 billion dors on arms purchases.


    It was the first year, so there was excessive spending, but foreign countries would believe that about the same amount would be put in every year for defense.


    Eriksson encouraged Youngho to let the people know to target such effects.


    ¡°Well, alright. If so, give it a try. There¡¯s no reason to hide our power.¡±


    ¡°It has the effect that is equal to bringing in a few fleets of fighter jets without spending money. I¡¯ll announce that most of the money went into reinforcing air force and air defenseworks.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to hide our naval power?¡±


    ¡°We should keep our hidden card hidden. Wouldn¡¯t other countries also follow us to increase their number of warships? We¡¯re better off the ocean when we have fewerpetitors.¡±


    ***


    Tax reforms were also carried out.


    The corporate tax rate had been shed to 9 percent from the current 16 percent, improving the investment environment of domestic and foreign investors.


    And the unemployment insurance rate was raised from 5.5 percent to 7 percent.


    The resulting deficient tax revenue was to be collected from the so-called wealth tax. For high-ie earners with an annual ie of more than 150,000 dors, the highest ie tax rate was raised to 35 percent now.


    In addition, the probationary period for new employees was extended from the current six months to one year due tobor market reform and unemployment measures while job training programs for youths were also strengthened.


    Moreover, annuity insurance was actualized.


    This reflected the reality that a few pennies of annuity insurance did not bring the lowest living standards, which only led to the slumming of the elderly poption.


    Lastly, the government had also strengthened measures to support families of children and encouraging births in preparation for low birth and aging poption.


    Since at least 100 million people were required to join the ranks of superpowers, the policy of poption had been pushed by Youngho who believed the poption was a national power.


    Starting next year, the government would pay a monthly basic parental allowance of 300 dors to all childbirth families and a maximum of 800 dors per month for twelve months if any parent needed to take a maternity or paternity break.


    It was one-third the levelpared to advanced countries in Europe, but it was a great aid measure considering the country¡¯s gross national ie.


    In another measure, the government would be spending about one billion dors on expanding childcare facilities to expand all-day schools, reducing the burden of double-ie couples with jobs by expanding the scope of ie deductions for child care fees and improving the conditions for childbirth for women.


    It seemed to be a huge reform, but it was only a more realistic version of what was already in ce.


    ¡°I thought about your suggestion, Eriksson. I don¡¯t know if foreign investors would find this fascinating. Shouldn¡¯t we give more benefits to foreign investors?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan has a geographical advantage since it is close to Europe. It¡¯s a huge benefit just to provide freend and infrastructure. No other country in Europe will be able to providerge-scalend for free.¡±


    There must be other countries that providend for free to attract globalpanies and to create jobs, but Kazakhstan¡¯s unlimited supply of raw materials at affordable prices would be quite attracting to foreign investors.


    Another advantage would be that the time to bring goods to Europe would be shorter than in Southeast Asia or India.


    Eriksson was adamant that the geographical advantage of Western Kazakhstan was enough to make globalpanies drool.


    Although it did not have a richbor market like China or Southeast Asia, he was confident that thebor shortage could be ovee with an automated system.

 Chapter 600 - Economic Reforms (3)

    <h4>Chapter 600: Economic Reforms (3)</h4>


    There was tension in the conference room of the governmentplex in Astana. It was because Youngho had joined the conference on the day when there was a joint briefing of each ministry.


    The cab ministers were getting in a sweat about the seemingly indifferent questions obviously asked by the Duke and Prime Minister.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why there¡¯s still express charge in government offices even though all process is faster now that governmentputer does everything that has beenputerized, and payments had been actualized.¡±


    ¡°The practice has been going on for a long time, and it¡¯s not like civil servants required them. People just leave express money at the offices and leave. We think that they¡¯re afraid that they¡¯d be disadvantaged in their next visit.¡±


    ¡°If the people feel obligated to pay express charge, this must be because of the authoritative attitude of civil servants. Please make sure to get it right.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to carry it out.¡±


    The deep-rooted bad habits still remained even though a new country had been created and corruption had been wiped out.


    The sries had been actualized to prevent corruption, but there were no signs of improvement.


    It seemed privatization was the only answer at this point.


    Since government institutions could not be outsourced, government-affiliated organizations and state-run businesses would have to be handed over to the private sector. Only then would civil servantse to their senses, or there would be no hope.


    If privatized, the era of unlimitedpetition would open up because nopany would benefit from exclusive protection or budget support as public institutions.


    They would have to earn money by themselves and pay employee sries and invest in more facilities ording to the market principle.


    Then there would be the overall management needs of efficiency, speed, and flexibility, and when these economic factors joined the market, the private economy would also be active.


    Thepanies would have to force themselves to work harder to pioneer new markets to gain more profits. As a result, they would pay more sries to attract talent, and the domestic economy would be revitalized as their increased ie would lead to increased consumption.


    That would naturally lead to an increase in the middle ss and lead the economy with domestic demand alone, even if the country encountered unfavorable external conditions.


    ¡°I have discussed this with His Highness, but I¡¯d like all of you to transfer any state-run businesses or affiliatedpanies of each ministry to the private sector. At this rate, we won¡¯t have anypetitiveness or meet the people¡¯s standards. Ministers, I urge you to submit a private transfer n as soon as possible.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s remarks were tantamount to a bombshell announcement, so the conference room was stirred up.


    In particr, the face of the Minister of Energy and Industry was turning yellow.


    The Ministry of Energy and Industry alone had about 40 government-invested or state-runpanies, but it did not seem that was not the only reason why he was startled.


    Aigerim, the minister of energy and industry, looked at Youngho¡¯s face and cautiously voiced an opposition,


    ¡°Your Highness, Mr. Prime Minister. I understand that government-invested or affiliatedpanies are not highlypetitive, but I wonder if domestic privatepanies can do their job properly. Please reconsider this.¡±


    The minister did not seem to trust the private sector.


    Kasim, who pondered upon the energy industry minister¡¯s remarks, made an even strongerment.


    ¡°If so, do you have confidence in improvingx management of the government organizations and state-runpanies? Then I¡¯ll withdraw this announcement at any time.¡±


    ¡°It is true that they had been wasting state coffers with their poor management, but under the new administration, they made some progress. I¡¯m saying this because the sudden transfer to the private sector has a risk of an organized bacsh.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just changing the status of our employees from civil servants to civilian employees. If you work hard, you¡¯ll get better pay. What¡¯s your concern?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s obvious that most people will go astray the moment they move into the private sector. I¡¯m afraid only a small number of employees survive in privatepanies.


    This is bound to result in a high rate of unemployment, so why don¡¯t we take time until the final decision?¡±


    The remnants of socialism were so deep-rooted that it would be nothing short of a shock to employees who worked only moderately, but they had enough chance to improve and change their ways of working since the new government. Any more grace would only gnaw nationalpetitiveness.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we need to drag out upetitive institutions because of ipetent employees? If you¡¯re worried about them, at least retrain them. You¡¯d have that much budget for such a task.¡±


    ¡°People are also embarrassed by the sudden change.¡±


    ¡°The people who are embarrassed are not the people, but the civil servants and employees of public corporations. If you have any intention of serving your country, you should wee the change. Tell them to work harder and build up their skills to stay in position.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Perhaps because Youngho was backing him up, Kasim¡¯s voice was getting stronger and higher than ever.


    As Prime Minister Kasim did not seem to budge, Cab members in the room finally quieted down.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, I think I pushed it too hard. When I looked at the expressions of the cab ministers, I could tell that they¡¯re not confident in this. I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s going to be a lot of resistance from the management.¡±


    After the conference, Youngho chatted with Prime Minister Kasim over tea in the minister¡¯s office.


    ¡°This is what you¡¯ve been saying since the beginning of the new administration. And some ministries were already preparing to transfer their subsidiaries into private entities. As for the Minister of Energy and Industry, there are so many agencies and public corporations that he must not have any clue about where to begin.¡±


    ¡°Some of them will need a lot of help from you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Minister Aigerim works very hard, but he has a lot of sense of authority. It would be very difficult for him to get rid of the public corporations and affiliated organizations because he must have his people scattered in them. He¡¯s been abusing his power of human resources, and now it¡¯s time for him to leave all that behind. We would¡¯ve started this since the beginning.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we have to transfer to the private sector and bepetitive. No matter how much we¡¯ve changed, there¡¯s still a long way to go from my perspective. If they knew how thepanies owned by the royal family make profits, they¡¯d all fall out of their chair.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just ashamed. I¡¯d have no more wish if state-run businesses can do their job only about a tenth of what thepanies owned by the royal family can do. Does it make sense that even our resource exploration is done by a foreignpany?¡±


    The royal family¡¯s shippingpany that did businesses all around the world was always busy around the clock because it would be pushed out of thepetition if it wasx.


    Zeynep Wine which produced premium wine could take it easy by now, but master artisans were still working all night setting the temperature of the mature room for better quality.


    In order to survive in an era of unlimitedpetition, anypany must make strenuous efforts or it would give up the lead at any time.


    However, the public corporations had not put in such efforts since the beginning of the country. That was why Kazakhstan did not join even the ranks of middle-power countries despite its abundant resources.


    ¡°Your Grace, I think we need to add more resource researchpanies. Foreignpanies alone are not enough.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought it was going well.¡±


    ¡°Currently, we¡¯ve only done one-fifth of the research in the central part. It¡¯s going to take another ten years to make the national resource distribution map.¡±


    ¡°Would you please rmend apany, Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°Whatpanies would I know? There¡¯s a domesticpany, but honestly, I don¡¯t trust it. Couldn¡¯t the geological surveypany in the royal territory work on it?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not much of apany. There are only a few experts and staff.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you expand the investigation team a little bit? Wouldn¡¯t it be like we¡¯re leaking state secrets to foreign countries if we let foreignpanies handle the research? I heard your resource exploration team is very talented. Wasn¡¯t there a groundbreaking research result in the royal territory recently?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m looking forward to it. I learned that there¡¯s such capability with bentonite only this time.¡±


    What Prime Minister Kasim said was about the other functionality of bentonite.


    Bentonite had been found to purify contaminated soil and promote the growth of nts, as well as its use for cosmetics and medicine.


    Even though a small amount of bentonite was sprayed on thend, it resulted in the fast growth of nts.


    ¡°Is it harmless to the human body?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no harm. It turned out that it boosts the strength of the soil as well as nt growth.¡±


    ¡°Then we could probably restore thend that had been contaminated by pesticides during the Soviet times.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite possible.¡±


    ¡°How much bentonite is buried under the royal territory?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s inexhaustible. It¡¯s hard to quantify because it¡¯s all over western Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I guess the key would be refining.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be terribly hard with modern technology.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I used to me our ancestors who settled in this barrennd, but it was, in fact, a huge gift from them.¡±


    Although Kasim said Kazakhstan was barren, it was, in fact, a blessednd.


    All kinds of minerals were buried at a world-ss level, including oil and gas which were the source of money that made dors right away.


    The crude oil deposit was the world¡¯s ninthrgest as there were 39.8 billion barrels of confirmed oil and an estimated 124.3 billion barrels.


    Gas also ranked 17th in the world, while zinc, tungsten, uranium, lead, chromium, copper manganese, and others boasted the world¡¯s first or secondrgest reserves.


    In addition, most of the minerals on Earth were buried inrge quantities, so it was yet to know how many more would be found in the future because the estimated volume of reserves was increasing year by year.


    As Kazakhstan was such a ce, Youngho was eager to make a domestic resource map.

 Chapter 601 - New Silk Road (1)

    <h4>Chapter 601: New Silk Road (1)</h4>


    The economic reforms proposed by Youngho were implemented immediately.


    There was no reason to hesitate because it was intended to make economic development.


    As the United States and China were snarling as if they were about to start a trade war, Kazakhstan needed to act fast.


    When the giants of the world economy were frozen in a trade war, there would be disruption in exports of raw materials. Who would buy raw materials when goods exports were sluggish and the economy was shrinking?


    In this case, Kazakhstan must take preemptive action by actively engaging inmerce with other countries.


    Just as it happened, the railway line to the Persian Gulf and the line connecting Georgia to the ck Sea werepleted, and a ceremony was being held in Baku.


    The construction of the section leading to the Persian Gulf waspleted because Azerbaijan and Iran went all out. Iran, which had been suffering from economic difficulties due to economic sanctions, had also actively sought to avoid losing its chance.


    The use of existing routes was another factor that allowed the construction time to be shortened.


    There were not many logistics to the Persian Gulf at the moment, but informing that a new trade route connecting Central Asia and the neighboring countries of Caucasus was most necessary to let the world know that a new possibility was open in the age of uncertainty.


    If making a foray into the Persian Gulf was a strategic point of view, the Georgia route was a guarantee of stable logistics.


    Up until now, Russia¡¯s Volga-Don Canal was the only way to go to the ck Sea, but as another route was open, Russia would not be allowed to fool around taking advantage of the canal¡¯s existence.


    At Baku Station, President Aliyev and other ministers of Azerbaijan, the king, and his wife, and numerous citizens were present to celebrate the opening ceremony.


    Many of the residents hade to see the Kazakh royal family.


    President Aliyev had a big smile on his face as he was very happy to see such a big crowd.


    ¡°Your Grace, this opening ceremony will be remembered in history. Who would¡¯ve dared toplete this epic?¡±


    ¡°Everything was possible because of your determination, Mr. President. Now Baku will be the logistics hub of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Congrattions on thepletion of the railway.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? It was all possible because you were in the lead, Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°I am more proud than ever that we are brotherly countries. Would there have been a day like this if you hadn¡¯t pushed it?¡±


    Sitting on the stage, Youngho and the President were busy ttering each other.


    There was no such thing as ¡®too much use of rhetoric¡¯ on a day like this.


    ¡°I¡¯m most pleased to see how the opening of the railway brings the two countries closer. But I¡¯m afraid that Russia is going to try to get a free ride...¡±


    ¡°Russia won¡¯t be the same as before. Wouldn¡¯t it have toply with us if it wanted to make it to the Persian Gulf? We¡¯ve got a weapon to deal with Russia.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more than happy that we¡¯ve got a great ally, Kazakhstan, against Russia.¡±


    Azerbaijan also seemed to maintain a secret rtionship with Russia, but the problem was that the majority of its people disliked Russia. Since Youngho used to live in Baku, he knew all about it very well.


    ¡°If Russia continues to stick to its southward policy, we will have to face it. But if it is just trying to secure a trade route, it will be most desirable for our coexistence.¡±


    ¡°It is dreaming of its past glory. I¡¯m not sure if it will stay quiet.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t act easily since it needs our help. And aren¡¯t we a free democracy? The West is holding behind us, so it will have to be careful.¡±


    At the mention of democracy, Aliyev went silent.


    Azerbaijan was a democratic country, but dictatorship had been going on for generations. It was awkward for him to call it a democratic country.


    In any case, free and democratic countries that kept a close rtionship with Russia were only a few, including Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. It would be foolish of Russia to turn back against the two countries.


    If Putin dreamed of Tsar, he would never achieve his dream by just trying to absorb neighboring countries. Only when Russia showed its effort to co-exist with neighboring countries, it would be able to regain a part of its past glory.


    ***


    ¡°I don¡¯t think these people are here to celebrate thepletion of the railway but to see Your Highness and Her Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Prime Minister¡¯s poprity was no less than ours. I guess the Caucasian countries indeed like people who used to be soldiers.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the charm of an old soldier?¡±


    ¡°Well, your power yed a huge role in developing Kazakhstan. You convey the image of an honest and trustworthy soldier. It¡¯s a great blessing to have someone like you in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? I¡¯ve done nothing. I only walked on the carpet youid. It¡¯s Kazakhstan¡¯s blessing to have met someone like you, Your Grace.¡±


    The two wereplimenting each other excessively, but such praise was not too much today because the enthusiastic response of Baku¡¯s citizens was proving that.


    The crowd of Baku was more enthusiastic about the Kazakh royal family than President Aliyev.


    It seemed the people of Azerbaijan thought of the royal family as their own. It was natural as they thought the roots of the royal family were Baku. It was safe to think so, as the royal vi was still located in the northwestern part of Baku, and Zeynep Farm and Serbian ranch were still alive and well.


    ¡°I hope Mr. Aliev doesn¡¯t misunderstand this.¡±


    ¡°I sure hope he doesn¡¯t. You have made his regime more stable. Your quick investment has turned Baku into a logistics hub resulting in increased public support. He should be grateful.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t hurt to be careful, though. It is not desirable for the people of Azerbaijan to look up to our royal family too much. Besides, I have no desire to take over Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s natural to lean toward power when you¡¯re tied up with an economic belt. You don¡¯t have to feel too much pressure if you¡¯re not going to take over Azerbaijan.¡±


    Youngho felt burdened because Fatima and Zeynep were especially in love with Baku.


    After leaving Istanbul¡¯s difficult life, they found stability in mind as living like a human being in Baku. Thus, Baku was a ce full of affection for them.


    Although they were now based in Kazakhstan, they frequently said that they missed life in Baku. If Baku were to suffer unhappiness, they would not sit still.


    ¡°It¡¯s a big burden for me that the Queen, even Princess Jelyan are too much in love with Baku.¡±


    ¡°How can I not understand the feelings of the Queen and princesses? It¡¯s their home. I¡¯m sure they want Baku to stay sessful and safe.¡±


    ¡°So I wish Azerbaijan would be more sessful. We need to empower the Azerbaijani government if necessary, but I¡¯m afraid people will say that I protect dictatorship.¡±


    ¡°How can the people don¡¯t know your generosity over Kazakhstan? I don¡¯t think it should be your concern. We are trying to deal with the threat of the great powers together and co-exist for the future, not for a specific regime. And it¡¯s also encouraging to see the progress of democratization. In that sense, the people of Baku will have to thank the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    It would be best if everyone thought so, but the problem was that President Aliyev¡¯s regime thought that it had the royal family on its back.


    Now was not the time to be considering such things. Since the new Silk Road was now wide open, the key was how to use this line.


    ¡°Your Grace, wouldn¡¯t there be a trouble to use the railroad right now, even though Russia didn¡¯t block the canal?¡±


    ¡°Right. Although the railroad ispleted, it doesn¡¯t mean that the shipping route to Georgia or the Persian Gulf will not change right away. It¡¯s an emergency exit. It will be the most efficient to use the sea route through the Russian canal forrge amounts of logistics anyway.¡±


    ¡°In order to recover our investment, the railroad would have to be popr...¡±


    ¡°There will be enough logistics to recover our investment, so don¡¯t worry. The volume of logistics in the Caucasus is also very heavy.¡±


    ¡°But shouldn¡¯t there be a lot of supplies going to the Persian Gulf?¡±


    ¡°Even if the operating profits from the Persian Gulf route are small, there will be a profit because we can sell our resources to the Middle East or Southeast Asia.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s what it¡¯s going to be. Finally, there¡¯s a way to export it directly, not through intermediary trade agencies.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Our shippingpany will move our resources directly now. But there is something more important than that. The Royal Navy will be stationed in ports in the United Arab Emirates and Iran.¡±


    For any ship, it would quite a great deal if it could confidently travel to India and Southeast Asia under the protection of the Royal Navy.


    Although their waters were not too dangerous, it would be most effective if countries or shippingpanies could mobilize warships directly without borrowing the strength of other countries¡¯ navies when danger ured.


    The most dangerous ce was around the Gulf of Aden, where the navies of each country were constantly guarding it, but they were still under constant attack from pirates.


    However, as pirates were also along the coast of West Africa, it was difficult to expect effective security as warships from each country were dispatched scatteringly.


    It had been revealed that there was a limit to the task of the naval forces of each country dispatched to the far waters.


    It was nonsense to send one or two warships to guard the vast waters.


    However, the Royal Navy would block such problems from the source as it would be stationed in both the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea as its base ports would be right there.


    ¡°Your Grace, I can¡¯t stop admiring your foresight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to hear that from you, Mr. Prime Minister. Even I think it was a very good decision.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    Listening to Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s pleasantugh ttered him.


    ¡°Wait and see. You¡¯ll see that it was a great decision to deploy the Navy. The Arabian Sea will soon be the mostpetitive ce.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you put an astronomical amount of money into the naval power.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the beginning. From now on, we need to put in more money than we¡¯ve ever put in before to take the lead.¡±


    ¡°Do you n to take outside security jobs?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t hesitate if other countries ask for help. The United States is a big police force in the world but it will still have to pay to be guarded by us.¡±


    If any country requested coast guarding as a member of the United Nations, Kazakhstan Navy should have to deal with it, but if the individual request was made, the Navy would ask for a charge. After all, nothing came free in the world.

 Chapter 602 - New Silk Road (2)

    <h4>Chapter 602: New Silk Road (2)</h4>


    A celebration banquet for thepletion of the railway was held at Baku¡¯s presidential pce.


    Iran and Georgia, two interested parties, were unable to attend this time due to domestic circumstances. Domestic circumstances were only an excuse for them. The real reason behind was that the railway construction costs were mostly paid by Azerbaijan and the Kazakh royal family, it was like other people¡¯s party for them.


    President Aliyev, who kept his satisfied smile throughout the banquet, ttered Youngho by openly saying that Zeynep Wine was the official banquet drink.


    ¡°Long time ago, Duke had brought me the wine from the first produced batch as a gift. I thought it was just one of themon wines, but now it became a global brand and promoted Baku to the world as well.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you, Mr. President, because of you we are now in the ranks of premium wines. Please continue to love our products.¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s one of the few specialties that shines our country. Our people are also very proud that the Kazakh royal wine is being produced in Baku.¡±


    It was not just a made-up story since Zeynep Wine actually boasted of its great quality.


    The Caucasus Mountains were the first ce to make wine, which prompted curiosity among European wine lovers. It was also famous for its unique taste and aroma, as it was cultivated without spraying pesticides and naturally matured deep in caves which maintained a constant temperature and humidity.


    Zeynep Farm was also equipped with an oak-cask manufacturing factory. As oak barrels were changed frequently, the wine gave much more luxurious taste than wine from other vineyards.


    ¡°Your Excellency, will it be wine alone? Any business in Baku that went through the hands of the Duke ended up being sessful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Minister Sevan is right. Baku is a blessed ce.¡±


    Sevan, who was listening to the conversation, interrupted.


    Sevan, the Chief of the Main Police Department, had now been promoted to the Minister of Home Affairs in Azerbaijan.


    Although he may have excellent work skills, his friendship with Youngho had a lot of influence on his promotion.


    ¡°I¡¯m flushing because of yourpliments. My business sess is all because of Your Excellency and the Minister¡¯s help in various ways. That¡¯s why I¡¯m still keeping my status of the honorary Baku citizen.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal families are actually citizens of Azerbaijan. If you¡¯re here at the time of the election, you can exercise your voting rights.¡±


    Sevan even encouraged Youngho toe to the vote.


    This meant that the Kazakh royal family and Azerbaijan were inseparable.


    ¡°Hahaha... How dare would I think to vote? The fact that Baku is home to all members of the royal family is important enough. You know how just hearing about your hometown makes you excited.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is the home of the Kazakh royal family. In particr, the Crown Prince was born here and is a resident here forever. Wouldn¡¯t that be why the Kazakh Royal Navy is protecting our coast?¡±


    Even the president stepped up to stress Azerbaijan¡¯s close ties with the Kazakh royal family, calling Baku Leon¡¯s home. He was happy that the Royal Navy was protecting the waters off Baku.


    The Caspian Sea had been dominated by the Russian Navy, but it slipped back when the Kazakh Royal Navy deployed about 50 warships, includingrge and small missiles and patrol ships. Russia¡¯s economic difficulties had made it difficult for its navy to keep its force in the Caspian Sea.


    ¡°Do you have any ns to build up your naval capabilities?¡±


    ¡°Your naval forces alone fully guarantee the safety of the Caspian Sea. I won¡¯t be able to help it if you give up off the coast of Baku.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sorry to give up on the shore of my hometown. In order to protect the logistics to and from Baku, the Royal Navy should act as police in the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we focus on fostering economic power rather than defense since we trust the Royal Navy.¡±


    President Aliyev¡¯s trust for the Kazakh Royal Navy was a high strategy.


    As he thought of protecting the sea was overwhelming, he fully entrusted it to the royal family. This was only possible because he had faith in the Kazakh royal family that it would never betray Azerbaijan.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to deal with other powers alone. It would be less burdensome for us if Azerbaijan put a little effort into its national defense. If we can add our forces together, we can have enough deterrence, Your Excellency. If you would consider that, we¡¯d like to supply high-tech fighter jets and armored vehicles.¡±


    Youngho was not going to demand a share of defense costs, but if Azerbaijan provided a certain amount of force, it would give some leeway to the Kazakh Navy.


    ¡°Do you mean it? Would you hand over high-tech weapons produced in your home country?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about sharing the burden, so supplying high-tech weapons is not a problem. We¡¯d only be able to take a sigh of relief if Baku, the logistics hub, is safe.¡±


    ¡°We wee it, then. We¡¯ll deal with the details at the summit meeting tomorrow.¡±


    ***


    It would have been impossible to set up a bridgehead to advance to the Persian Gulf this time without Iran¡¯s cooperation.


    The reason Iran, called the heresy of the Arab world, had joined Youngho for the railroad project because it was so thirsty for economic development. Iran, which had been in hostile rtionships with its neighbors, needed a breakthrough to break away from international istion.


    The reason for Iranian government officials not being able to attend thepletion ceremony was that it paid fewer construction fees, but it was also because it was ufortable to bring their faces to the internationalmunity.


    As the development of nuclear weapons, which had been pursued to gain hegemony in the Middle East, began to take a full swing, the internationalmunity was at odds with Iran to prevent it, making it isted.


    That was why it had to suffer from long-term economic sanctions. With its great oil exports, it once seemed to enjoy the old Persian Empire¡¯s glory, but now it had just turned into an indifferent country.


    Iran¡¯s oil reserves were the world¡¯s thirdrgest, amounting about 138.4 billion barrels, and its one-day output was 3.97 million barrels, the fourthrgest in the world. This was such a huge output that it ranked second in output within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).


    However, most crude oils were exported only through the sea, so if the sea road was blocked, the export route would disappear.


    Youngho had been eyeing such a structural problem and was nning to lure Iran into the Caucasian belt.


    If the oil delivery line was connected only to Baku, there was a way to export crude oil to Europe without having to go through the sea.


    This was because the BTC pipeline from Baku to Turkey was already connected.


    Kazakhstan also carried crude oil to Baku by an oil tanker, but it nned to build an undersea pipeline soon, so it was not far away from exporting crude oil or gas to Europe without going through Russia.


    With this in mind, the railway connection with Iran was just a small starting point.


    Iran, with its pride, had once reigned over the world as a Persian Empire and had endured international economic sanctions, but now it was anxiously awaiting someone¡¯s hand as the government could not stop the people¡¯s democratic fervor.


    However, as China was digging into that gap, Youngho was quick to step up.


    It was his idea of a new Silk Road.


    The next day, Youngho did not attend the bteral summit at the presidential pce.


    Representing the Government of Kazakhstan was Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s party, not the Queen or the Duke. Instead, he decided to deal with the delicate issue that he could not address at the summit with President Aliyev in an exclusive meetingter.


    Aliyev¡¯s father also served as a president, so his son became a president with overwhelmingly support. He was running a state-run oilpany when his father was a president and was appointed as the prime minister. Later, he was elected president in 2003 and still in power.


    Although his long-term rule was undemocratic, he was a figure who was still receiving great public support through fair ie distribution policies, solving poverty problems, and increasing social welfare.


    In arge reception room at the fancy Presidential Pce, only the two men, Youngho and Aliyev, were left.


    ¡°I admire your bravery, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of oil in Iran, and I can¡¯t miss it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the Iranian government will appreciate your decision.¡±


    ¡°The question is whether we can afford to build a pipeline.


    ¡°Since the pipeline route to Baku is rtively short, why don¡¯t you and I pay for the construction and take care of it with crude oil instead of money?¡±


    This would not be a bad deal for Iran.


    There was no reason to oppose the opportunity to sell overflowing crude oil and gas bynd.


    The cost of the pipeline and its interest would be paid with oil and gas, and Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan could make future transportation fee revenues as well.


    ¡°Duke, I only have one concern. Won¡¯t we have to make a Western oilpany join us to be safe? I¡¯m afraid Iran wouldn¡¯t want to agree with your n.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I¡¯ll tell you why.¡±


    Youngho exined in detail his involvement in the recent territorial dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Iran and the process of developing the port of Chabahar, which was linked to the Gulf of Oman. He also did not forget to say that he dreamed of an oceanic navy.


    ¡°No way, you¡¯ve been nning all this all along? Then it would be rather strange for Iran to reject your offer.¡±


    ¡°I luckily happen to have the opportunity to reconcile the two parties.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not luck, it¡¯s your excellent bargaining power. And Iran must have been in such a hurry if the port was opened as a military port.¡±


    ¡°Well, I just added a hand to what the Indian government does. Since the Arabian Sea is a dangerous ce, we decided it¡¯s better to have our forces stationed in the Persian Gulf. It will be a middle ce where products of Central Asia and Caucasia will pass in order to reach the world.¡±


    ¡°I am most grateful to you for taking care of Azerbaijan as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t you think the powerless countries should unite?¡±

 Chapter 603 - Internal Stability (1)

    <h4>Chapter 603</h4>


    <h4>: Internal Stability (1)</h4>


    Youngho also shared his n of forming an Oceanic Navy to President Aliyev.


    He was quite surprised to hear such a grand n. He even jumped out of his seat to hear thatrge icebreakers would soon beunched for a route across the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve been a frog in a well all along. I¡¯m ashamed that I hadn¡¯t been thinking about the world while you¡¯ve dreamed of dealing with the world.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Your Excellency¡¯s economic development has inspired Kazakhstan¡¯s economy. What humility do you mean when you get overwhelming support from the people?¡±


    ¡°If I can¡¯t make the money flow, the approval rating will go down very quickly. It¡¯s a shame... So, I would like to invest in your shippingpany personally, would that be possible?¡±


    ¡°Not as the Azerbaijani government but personally?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Someday, I¡¯ll have to step down from power. I¡¯ll have to think about my future, too.¡±


    Whether it was the government or an individual, there was no reason to reject investment.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m d you trust my business.¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t believe the Kazakh royal family, who would I believe in? There¡¯s even a safety device in Baku just in case it goes wrong.¡±


    The safety device he said was the business establishment of the Kazakh royal family in Baku.


    ¡°If you¡¯d like Zeynep Farm, tell me. I¡¯ll hand it over to you, but you¡¯ll have to be prepared for a high price. However, I don¡¯t want to sell the ranch at all, so don¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... How dare would I try to take over the farm? I will leave it alone even if you abandon it because our people love the Kazakh royal family. I will lose their favor if I didn¡¯t.¡±


    Aliyev was quite sensitive about people¡¯s approval.


    Youngho did not really mean to sell the farm but had to ask to see Aliyev¡¯s intention. It was a relief to hear that he did not want to take over any business that Youngho had in Azerbaijan. Rather, he wanted to keep Youngho¡¯s businesses in Azerbaijan for people¡¯s favor.


    Zeynep Wine¡¯s reputation was rapidly growing now. If he wanted, Youngho could hand it over to him because he could make another vineyard in Kazakhstan. Moreover, Aliyev would not be able to use the brand of Zeynep if Youngho left. If so, it was questionable whether the farm would be able to maintain its current reputation.


    ***


    The meeting with President Aliyev ended in a friendly atmosphere.


    A rough sketch for the New Silk Road had been drawn, and now the only thing left was to convince Iran to get involved.


    That would be easily resolved with Park Jong-il¡¯s brief visit to Tehran.


    Since it would be like blowing its nose without touching it, Iran would dly agree in any case.


    After the official event was over, Youngho stopped at Zeynep Farm and the Serbian ranch to spend time with people after a long time. While doing so, someone followed Youngho on his way back because he earnestly asked, so Youngho agreed as he felt bad. It was Kim Il-kwon, who was left as the chief executive of the Zeynep Farm and Serbian ranch in Baku.


    Kim Il-kwon¡¯s role, though he was said to be in charge, was nothing more than symbolic in Baku. It was because there were professional managers in Zeynep Farm and the Serbian ranch and the gold mine where the royal vi was located were controlled by the descendants of the Serbian knights. There was virtually nothing Kim Il-kwon could do.


    It would be a waste if his strength and skills were not used, and he was eager toe to Kazakhstan with Youngho and protect the royal family himself.


    ¡°It may have seemed that there¡¯s nothing for you to do in Baku, but nothing happened because you were there guarding it. Why do you want toe to the royal territory?¡±


    ¡°Your Grace. I heard that Princess Jelyan was a target of abduction. Does it make sense that no one knew about it while the criminals were out there? It¡¯s like there¡¯s a hole in the security. We need to reform the security office this time.¡±


    ¡°They have been on alert ever since.¡±


    ¡°Being on alert does not guarantee safety. It¡¯s important to block the risk factors in advance.¡±


    With the advent of Kim Il-kwon, the royal pce security service would suffer for some time.


    This was because Kim Il-kwon said he would take charge of the security office.


    So far, the security of the royal pce had been shared by the security guards of Zeynep Security Service and the descendants of the Serbian knights, but he wanted to make a separate security team out of them.


    Youngho had to agree to Kim Il-kwon¡¯s idea as it would improve the security of the royal pce and because the royal well-being was directly rted to the well-being of the royal family.


    Kim Il-kwon was the right person for the job.


    Youngho was well acknowledged about his keen sense from his past special training as a spy of North Korea. Without the ability of the ring, Youngho would have been beaten by Kim Il-kwon with his exceptional strength and skills.


    ¡°Your Grace, don¡¯t think you¡¯re going anywhere without me in the future. You must take the lead and cooperate with the security service.¡±


    ¡°Why do you care so much about security all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°After the case of abducting Princess Jelyan, I figured this is not going to stop after one attempt. There could be an assassin targeting you directly. I know better than anyone else because I received special training in North Korea, and I was also trained to assassinate someone.¡±


    ¡°Somebody sends an assassin to kill me? Who would do such a stupid thing? It¡¯s going to draw the attention of the whole world.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been continuously blocking China¡¯s advance. If I were the leader of China or Russia, I would have thought to do so already. Please forgive me for saying something rude, but I will do whatever it takes to serve you.¡±


    ¡°I guess you think I¡¯m rusty because I¡¯m the Duke now.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re stronger than me, but you can¡¯t take care of other people around you when you¡¯re so busy. Also, if you have a lot of thoughts, you¡¯re bound to miss the danger around you.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I can protect the whole royal family because I only think about the family¡¯s safety.¡±


    The reason why Kim Il-kwon was so loyal to Youngho was because of his gratitude for allowing him to live a new life at Zeynep Farm, but Youngho did not want it to be a burden for him.


    ¡°Il-kwon. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re doing this. You¡¯ve paid me back more than enough for what you¡¯ve done for me since you came to the farm. If I¡¯m in danger, you¡¯d be in danger too. You don¡¯t have to put yourself in danger.¡±


    ¡°Boss, without your care, our family wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive until today. How many people in the world could risk taking me and getting my family here from North Korea? If I already forgot about that, I¡¯d be an animal disguised in human form. Please don¡¯t say such things because my goal is to protect you and your family until I die. I¡¯ll raise my kids to do the same as well.¡±


    Youngho was moved not by Il-kwon¡¯s words but by the way he called him, ¡®Boss¡¯. It reminded him of the past days. People used to call him ¡®Boss¡¯ not ¡®Your Grace¡¯ or ¡®Your Highness.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you know how to move people¡¯s hearts.¡±


    ¡°Did you think I¡¯m an emotionless beast?¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯d be a cold-blooded person with no emotions if you had such harsh training, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the cold-blooded man of the past anymore. I¡¯m a normal person so feel safe.¡±


    ¡°So let it go. If you¡¯re not good enough, I¡¯ll kick you back to Baku.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to get away from the pce from now on.¡±


    ¡°Then bring your family here. Your wife and children need a father.¡±


    ¡°That will be a disruption to my work.¡±


    ¡°What if I insist?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If your parents can¡¯t leave Baku because they¡¯re so attached to it, at least bring your wife and children. That is an order.¡±


    ¡°All right. Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Report your moving to Jong-il and get the equipment you need. I¡¯ve seen a lot of useful toys in the intelligence department these days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried he¡¯ll try to grill me. I was being used of squandering in Baku when the abduction incident happened here.¡±


    Park Jong-il must have called Baku in distress when the royal territory suffered from the human trafficking ring.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re already on top of his mind. You won¡¯t lose.¡±


    ¡°He uses his fist first, so that¡¯s a problem.¡±


    ¡°Should the head of the security team be beaten by the intelligence chief? Anyway, sort it out with him well. Don¡¯t drag me into it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll have to buy him a drink tonight. In fact, I should get everyone together tonight to report my return.¡±


    It seemed that there would be a drinking party tonight.

 Chapter 604 - Internal Stability (2)

    <h4>Chapter 604: Internal Stability (2)</h4>


    The new export route was named the ¡®New Silk Road¡¯ but there was a long way to export Central Asia¡¯s underground resources and grains.


    It was a matter of months to get the right benefits from theck of transportation infrastructure, and it was not a big benefit for Kazakhstan either.


    There was an inconvenience of having to cross the Caspian Sea, although there would be a reduction in the cost of transportation due to the new railroad transportation.


    Still, Russia¡¯s Volga-Don Canal was serving as the main export and import route as the volume of logistics carried by sea was overwhelming, rather than bynd.


    The immediate priority was to improve the transportation infrastructure in Central Asia.


    However, it was not an easy task to connect the distance that was about two-fifths of China¡¯snd area like a spider¡¯s web.


    Kazakhstan, which was the wealthiest in Central Asia, was still like this, not to mention other countries. They were busy making ends meet so improving the transportationwork was always pushed aside.


    After epting Kyrgyzstan as a federal state, Kazakhstan had invested heavily in its development, so now its living infrastructure level could now match Almaty¡¯s level.


    Kazakhstan was now investing in Tajikistan, but it was such an underdeveloped area that there were so many ces to work on.


    The problematic area was the Uzbek section. It was almost impossible to know where to start.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you use the skyway to move logistics?¡±


    It was Eriksson¡¯s sudden suggestion.


    ¡°Do you think using airnes is suitable for Central Asian economic conditions?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a propeller ne, not a jumbo jet, it¡¯s not much of a burden.¡±


    ¡°Can we digest the logistics with that?¡±


    ¡°We can carry enough daily necessities by nes. That way, we will dramatically reduce traffic since we can distribute passengers and cargo by ne. That would give us some room on the existing tracks and roads.¡±


    Given the reality of people relying only on roads and railroads for everything, it seemed that distributing the logistics would have a great impact.


    Central Asia was where people had to risk their lives to drive because the traffic culture was not established. Poor driving culture and idents were making the already poor road conditions worse.


    ¡°There is not a lot of room for cargo on a 16-seater or 32-seater ne.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we produce a cargo ce?¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to change the passenger ne to a cargo ne?¡±


    ¡°Of course we need to produce both. That¡¯s how we can maximize traffic distribution.¡±


    ¡°The transportation costs will definitely be expensive.¡±


    ¡°We need to take advantage of an oil-producing country. If you lower the price of aviation oil to production costs, anyone can use it without any burden. People will be happy to open their wallets if they could shorten the two to three days¡¯ distance to a few hours.¡±


    Crossing Kazakhstan by car only required two days of traveling. Considering the cost of going to the destination, it would be rather profitable to pay for a slightly higher airfare.


    It was funny that they were nning to produce outdated aircraft instead of jumbo jets in the 21st century, but there was no other alternative for cheap transportation.


    Of course, it was not too burdensome because production costs were low.


    ¡°I admit that production costs and maintenance costs are cheap, but I feel like we¡¯re going backward.¡±


    ¡°There is also the advantage of a propeller over a jet. It¡¯s safer and not to mention¡ªcheaper. In our reality, there is no better transportation than that. If we can introduce thetest propeller nes, we will also guarantee its safety.¡±


    A jet should have a perfect runway system to prevent foreign bodies from being sucked into the engine, but a propeller could float and drop anywhere t, so it cost a little to maintain. The propeller runway could be easily made by ttening and paving the ground.


    ¡°It sounds like a good idea. Then, I¡¯d like you to map out specific ns. Let¡¯s discuss the cargo ne production with Cessna.¡±


    ¡°Cessna will be active because it¡¯s an opportunity to enter a new business.¡±


    The old-fashioned technology, the propeller, was treated as a declining industry, so Cessna would wee Eriksson¡¯s proposal as he stressed that it was a market of more than 100 nes per year in Central Asia alone. Furthermore, it was an opportunity to target the Russian market.


    ***


    Talks between Cessna and Kazakhstan on the production of the cargo ne went smoothly.


    Thepany had nothing to lose because producing propellers was a generalized technology that could be produced by anyone with sufficient technical skills. Cessna was happy to have the old technology back on track.


    Cessna executives¡¯ visit to Kazakhstan came less than a week after the proposal was brought up. They came to figure out how many more production facilities should be built.


    There were signs that they were in a hurry to discuss the matter as they thought that the royal family would have otherpanies in mind.


    ¡°Can you build a production line right away?¡±


    ¡°We need to fix the passenger production nt a little bit, but it¡¯s not going to be a problem. With today¡¯s production system, we¡¯ll be able to make enough 20 units a year, but ultimately we¡¯ll need to focus on assembly nts that can produce 100 units a year. And we need more hangars to store the finished goods.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s going to be resolved in the immediate future at the royal territory. Importing most parts from the U.S. is also expensive, so we¡¯d like to increase the number of items avable in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easily possible. If you can only meet our quality standards, we¡¯re nning to procure engines from here.¡±


    ¡°If you can transfer technology, I¡¯d like to make it in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a great technology, and it¡¯s an item that we¡¯ve been working with the royal family, so we¡¯ll actively consider technology transfers. Thanks to the royal family, the propeller, which had been ssified as a declining industry, can maintain its reputation and make profits, so what more can we ask?¡±


    Although Youngho expected some resistance for technology transfer, it rather surprised him that the executives of Cessna dly epted his request. It was not a huge technology for Cessna, but it was an advanced technology for Kazakhstan.


    When Cessna said it would consider technology transfer, it was Eriksson who was most pleased.


    ¡°I guess I should have asked Cessna to transfer jet engine technology.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t afford that kind of high technology, but the propeller engine is the right technology for the level of Kazakhstan. And while the propeller market is a declining industry, it also has the advantage of being in high demand. Recall that most of the military transport aircrafts are propeller-driven.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯re not in a position to choose.¡±


    ***


    The excavation work on the slope leading to the underground cave was carried out earlier than scheduled with thepleted work underway.


    Originally, it was estimated that one kilometer of digging was needed to reach the cave, but the natural cave that connected to the cave from one-third of the site was discovered soon, saving time and effort.


    Worknterns were lit all over the cave, shining inside.


    Youngho, who rushed to see the cave, was inwardly disappointed when it turned out to be a natural cave. He had expected something mysterious to be revealed.


    ¡°Dr. Park, this must have been a water route in the past.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I think it was a pretty big one. Theser probe showed a small gap, so we went down this way. We were lucky to meet the cave.¡±


    ¡°Then this means that there was plenty of precipitation here in the past...¡±


    ¡°Considering that it was created tens of thousands of years ago, Central Asia probably wasn¡¯t as deserted as it is today.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t an artificial cave either.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... There¡¯s no recording that says there was a high civilization in Central Asia, so don¡¯t expect anything.¡±


    The cave was made out of solid rock and there was no fear of copse. The square-shaped underground space of about 9km2 was perfect for an evacuation shelter in case of an emergency.


    Park Young-sun said that the cave could be expanded as much as possible.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the cave copse if we identally touch something while trying to expand it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that at all. Most of the cave is surrounded by granite, so it is quite strong. You can think it¡¯s harder than concrete.¡±


    ¡°A little bomb won¡¯t affect this ce.¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be a problem if the atomic bomb falls since this is deep underneath the ground.¡±


    ¡°I intend to make sure that many people can stay here, so talk to the construction director to make it more efficient.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll also consider continuing to expand along the waterway if necessary.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s safe, expand it no matter how much it costs. And extend the entry into the cave to allow vehicles to enter, and make sure that we have entrances of the cave spaced out at regr intervals.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to make it a fortress.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to prepare for an emergency situation. It¡¯s reassuring to know that such a safe shelter exists.¡±


    ¡°We should also consider housing space and warehouses then.¡±


    Park Young-sun drew a rough blueprint for the cave.


    Youngho was nodding to the meticulousness of mentioning air purification systems and excrement treatment facilities. It seemed that it would be a perfect shelter.


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯ll try to convert it into a shelter that people can stay for a year. It¡¯s too much to live underground for more than a year. If I have to stay here for a year, it¡¯s going to feel like the end of the world for me.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if we had a device like the artificial sun?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, but what¡¯s the point of being more alive when the whole Earth is dead?¡±


    ¡°Come on, we have to survive even in that situation. There¡¯s natural healing power, so it¡¯ll be purified someday.¡±


    Although the Earth was not immediately going to fall apart at all, preparing for a rainy day made Youngho happy. It was a luxurious thing to do. If the royal territory was poor, it would not have been able to focus on such a cave.


    There was a leisurely smile on the face of Youngho as he left the cave.

 Chapter 605 - Internal Stability (3)

    <h4>Chapter 605: Internal Stability (3)</h4>


    Construction work of semi-airports was being carried out in various parts of Kazakhstan following the introduction of a cargo turbo propeller. Although the runways for light aircraft had been built, the construction to equip them with sturdy runways and ess roads for cargo nes tond and take off.


    Even small cities would be equipped with an airport to fly andnd flights.


    This included the intention to have fighter jets used in case of emergency.


    Uzbekistan was also active in Kazakhstan¡¯s proposal for air logistics since it would greatly decrease the transfer time of logistics. Besides, Uzbekistan was not in a position to refuse Kazakhstan¡¯s proposal.


    Uzbekistan had actively cooperated with China¡¯s One Belt One Road business, but was distancing itself from China under pressure from Kazakhstan. The Chinese government put economic pressure on Uzbekistan, so it was in desperate need of help.


    Without economic aid from Kazakhstan, the nation would face a national bankruptcy, so there was no reason not to cooperate.


    As the production infrastructure of two or four-seater light airnes and mid-sized propellers with 16 or more passengers and 32 or more were already in operation, the cargo ne prototypes wereing out next month.


    As it was being processed quickly, it was now imperative to train pilots.


    It was decided to build pilot schools that had been only built in the royal territory, Almaty, and Astana, the capital, in Aktau and Atyrau in the west, in the southernrgest city of Shymkent, and in Pavlodar in the northeast.


    The light aircraft pilot training was only about a month, but in order to fly mid-sized cargo nes, pilots mustplete about a hundred hours of training in total including three months of theoretical training and simtion training. This was a short period either, but it would be enough as the opportunity would be only given to those who already had a pilot license.


    Their training was different than military pilot training, but in an emergency, they could receive intensive training to fly jets as well. So they were potential strength to the national defense.


    As the pilot emerged as a new high-ie job, young Kazakh people were busy applying to enter flight schools.


    The qualifications to be admitted to the pilot school were high. They needed to speak English and Russian, which was the officialnguage of Central Asia. There were also physical and mental requirements as they needed to have normal eyesight and physical strength and no mental history.


    The royal territory was crowded with young people, who came to apply for the pilot school.


    In particr, Kurdish young adults¡¯ interest was quite explosive. However, since they could not speak Russian, let alone English, they were trying to get a license to fly a light airne first.


    ¡°Your Grace, I think the pilot school is receiving too much attention.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t set the standards too tight, but ept qualified young people first. You can use them as civilian aircraft and fighter pilotster on. If they have qualifications, it would be a good idea to send them to the Air Force Academy. If they¡¯re good enough to get a light ne license, that¡¯s a possibility.¡±


    ¡°You have a point, but we need a fundamental solution. Why don¡¯t we take this opportunity to set up an aviation university with full-time flight training?¡±


    ¡°University of Aeronautics?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the University of Aeronautics, where you can train not only aeronautics but also pilots and technicians and flight attendants.¡±


    Youngho was stunned to hear Kim Chun¡¯s suggestion.


    He had only thought of the training of pilots but not the training of aviation engineers.


    It was not just an issue to let go of when aviation-rted technology could rapidly develop if young people could receive education at the private level.


    ***


    ¡°Erickson. I need some help from Sweden.¡±


    Eriksson was also pleased to hear that Youngho wanted to create an aviation university.


    ¡°I know a professor of aeronautics at the Malmo University in Sweden. I¡¯ll try to get some advice and see if he cane to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We are nning to create the best aviation university in Central Asia.¡±


    Malmo University in Sweden was a famous university in Europe for aeronautics. If only a few influential professors could be invited, it would be a windfall for Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I intend to upgrade it to a Royal university if necessary.¡±


    It would be very meaningful if a royal family name was given to the university, so Youngho wanted to make it special to attract great professors.


    ¡°It¡¯s a big surprise if it will be a royal school. I¡¯ll contact him right away. Shall we call Saab, too? I¡¯m sure some of its executives and employees are qualified as a professor. You know, practice is as important as theory.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. The theory is important, but it would be okay to advocate an aviation university that prioritizes practical education.¡±


    Rather than teaching only theory, it was realistic to study under a professor who was both practical and theoretical. That was because Kazakhstan needed people who could be put in the front line of the flying business right after graduation.


    The establishment of the Royal Aeronautics University in the royal territory again stirred the nation.


    Even Prime Minister Kasim called to check if this was serious.


    -Your Grace. I should¡¯ve talked to you in person, but I¡¯m calling because I¡¯m in a hurry. It¡¯ll be a great development for Kazakhstan, and I admire you for thinking about such an idea, but I had one concern. Are you going to fund it all on your own without government support? Don¡¯t you think the cost of building a school will be burdensome for you right now? Aviation is a special university that is needed at a national level. Why don¡¯t you get the education department¡¯s support out of its budget?


    ¡°I know the financial situation of the government, so how can I receive such money? If it¡¯s what it takes to train talent, I¡¯m not afraid to spend money.¡±


    -If it is a special university, I think it would be better to make it a national university. It¡¯s also a matter to discuss with the Ministry of Education.


    ¡°I see. I guess I¡¯ve just missed the basic procedure because I was in a hurry. We will be recruiting new students from September of this year, so please proceed with the establishment process and rted procedures.¡±


    Kasim made the call because he feared that the royal family would process the admission on its own. Although the royal family was the absolute power of the nation, the establishment of schools and recruitment guidelines for new students must be approved by the Education Ministry under the currentw.


    -It¡¯s an educational project that will promote the national well-being. I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m being stubborn with procedures when we can¡¯t give you budget support.


    ¡°No, Prime Minister. I almost made a big mistake if you didn¡¯t call me. If I¡¯m going to be too motivated to ignore the procedure in the future, please remind me. You have to keep thew no matter what.¡±


    -Thank you for your understanding, Your Grace.


    ***


    ¡°A total of 703,000 people moved in yesterday, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Now it¡¯ll be over with 300,000 more.¡±


    ¡°But the intelligence department says there¡¯s a chance the Kurds, who decided to remain in Syria, might move in additionally as well.¡±


    Suh Min-seok was reporting on the situation involving Kurdish migrants, saying that there was likely to be additional migration.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯re very insecure about the escting Syrian civil war and the addition of Turkish troops at the Turkish border. There was a sudden increase in the number of immigration applicants.¡±


    ¡°They were determined not toe, but I¡¯m d to hear that they changed their mind.¡±


    If more Kurds were willing toe, it was good news. There was no sign of an increase in the poption in Kazakhstan, no matter how much effort was put in, so Youngho was d to hear that the people who were loyal to the Kazakh royal family would being in.


    There would be a problem of having to build additional settlement viges, but it was only a matter of doing so. No matter how many more people would move in the future, there was enoughnd to spare.


    ¡°Min-seok, can you send an official letter to the European Union?¡±


    ¡°What should I write?¡±


    ¡°Tell that Syrian civil war created additional refugees and ask if EU is willing to receive them.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Since the European Union had been suffering from Syrian refugee troubles, it would probably suggest to financially supporting the Kazakh royal family under the condition that it would take the refugees as it had done before. This was a win-win business as Kazakhstan would increase its poption, and Europe would have fewer refugees in Europe.


    ¡°Do you have any idea how many more migrants there will be?¡±


    ¡°If you look at the number of applicants now, there will be at least 100,000.¡±


    ¡°Please set a time limit and for applications. That way, we can buy time to prepare.¡±


    ¡°The Syrian civil war is not going to end easily, and even the hard-liners, who dreamt of bing Kurdistan, will lose power. I guess most of the Kurds in Syria wille. That¡¯s my personal opinion.¡±


    Although Suh Min-seok humbly said it was an individual opinion, it was an obvious conclusion. What kind of country would they build on the battlefield between the government forces and rebels? If either side won, would they ever try to recognize the autonomous government of Kurds?


    There would be another war waiting for them, let alone the pressure from Turkey.


    The hard-line Kurdish militia, which insisted on staying in Syria, would deepen its woes.

 Chapter 606 - The Era of Ocean (1)

    <h4>Chapter 606: The Era of Ocean (1)</h4>


    The long-awaited Aegis destroyer finally was delivered to the Kazakh Royal Navy through the Abu Dhabi Ports in the United Arab Emirates.


    The prestige of the 8,000-ton Aegis destroyer was great.


    Youngho and ministers of the Kazakh government who entered the vessel at the Port were guided by Captain Victor Jun. He was exining the specifications of the Aegis destroyer in a very excited voice.


    ¡°The name ¡®Aegis¡¯es from the chest armor that Zeus, a Greek god, wore. This vessel is a perfect attack weapon with a triple air defense system with Aegis radars that monitor 360 degrees around the vessel, missiles, and machine guns, and it¡¯s also often called God¡¯s shield.¡±


    Engrossed in his exnation, everyone was nodding.


    ¡°We can find aircraft or missiles up to 1,000 kilometers away, and we can track 900 targets at the same time. We can detect the trajectory of ballistic missiles and it has the ability to adapt and control the enemy¡¯s guided missiles, aircraft, submarines, etc. at sea.¡±


    Victor, after stopping to take a moment to breathe, spoke again,


    ¡°Not only that, it is equipped with two Lynx anti-submarine helicopters, so, we¡¯re not afraid of nuclear submarines.¡±


    ¡°You mean there are two, not one?¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim and Air Force Chief of Staff were asking again with a look of surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we call it the Aegis destroyer. The aircraft carrier would have to be a little nervous if it meets the Aegis destroyer.¡±


    As exined, with a single warship was enough to overpower a number of aircraft, warships, missiles, and submarines, it was a truly important strategic weapon.


    As it was such a powerful weapon, its construction cost was a billion dors and maintenance cost was also astronomical, which made it hard for many countries to own one.


    Currently, only five countries had Aegis destroyers¡ªthe United States, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and Norway¡ªbut Kazakhstan now was also on the list.


    However, only South Korea and Kazakhstan had the strongest firepower in their ss.


    That was because of the difference in the verticalunch pad.


    The two Aegis destroyers, which were acquired this time, boasted 175-meter length, 23-meter width, 8,200 tons of drainage, and a maximum range of about 11,000 kilometers, with about 300 onboard crew member capacity.


    It also had 130 verticalunchers, more than 40 more than its equivalent Aegis destroyers.


    And with thetest Aegis system, it was able to attack up to 20 targets, found by its radar, simultaneously with ship-to-air missiles.


    If there were any aircraft or cruise missiles that passed this, the Ram missile would intercept them in two stages.


    Finally, the ¡°Goalkeeper,¡± the hydrant shield of the triple air defensework, would destroy the targets by shooting 4,200 machine shells per minute.


    ¡°Your Grace, my heart was exuberated throughout the voyage.¡±


    Victor, who was drinking tea with Youngho in the captain¡¯s room, looked full of amazement.


    He was touched by the fact that a country like Kazakhstan could own strategic weapons that even advanced countries could not possess.


    ¡°I¡¯m also amazed to finally meet the Aegis destroyer. Now the crew must have mastered the Aegis, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We are confident that we will neutralize any enemy that appears.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to give you a break because you¡¯ve had a lot of trouble, but the situation in Syria is serious.¡±


    ¡°The fact that you came all the way here and weed us has lifted all my fatigue. I¡¯m just sad that I¡¯ve entered the Caspian Sea and haven¡¯t been able to show it to everyone.¡±


    ¡°In the next two years, we¡¯ll have three more Aegis destroyers and a multi-purposending ship, so you¡¯ll be even busier. I hope you will go out to the ocean confidently in the name of the Kazakh royal family and the people of your country.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to y such a big role, Your Highness.¡±


    Victor Jun, who participated in the deployment of the Aegis for six months in Korea, was promoted to captain and took over themander position of the Aegis destroyer.


    ¡°After looking at the Aegis, the frigates look like toys.¡±


    ¡°Thetest frigates have formidable force, so they are invincible in the coastal waters. If they can be protected by Aegis destroyers, they¡¯ll be quite powerful in the oceans, too.¡±


    Three frigates built in Turkey had already beenpleted and handed over to the Royal Navy, but they had not been deployed as their operational capabilities were still in doubt.


    ¡°Is the coboration between the military and our navy going well?¡±


    The Korean ship servicemen of the Aegis destroyer of the Korean Navy were epted as members of the armed forces at the Royal Navy to make up for the poor performance of the royal navy soldiers.


    ¡°Our soldiers respect the Korean soldiers because they¡¯re so generous in passing down what they know. Some of them are even calling each other brothers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. We n to hire them as instructors at the Naval Academy and the nonmissioned officer¡¯s school when the contract period is over, so please help them learn thenguage quickly.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got soldiers one-on-one, so a year should be enough to learn thenguage.¡±


    Since the Kazakh Navy Academy was not even established yet, officers or nomissioned officers were being trained in Korea formissioned education since the previous administration. The acquisition of the retired Chamsuri-ss high-speed boat from Korea had led tomissioned education in Korea.


    However, Kazakhstan could not keep leaning on others forever.


    It was a basic problem that there were no marine education institutions despite dreaming of an oceanic navy.


    The need for military academies and nonmissioned officers¡¯ schools had emerged as Kazakhstan now had dozens of missile ships, including Aegis destroyers and frigates.


    So from this fall, the Navy Academy and the Nomissioned Officer School were scheduled to open in the royal territory, so experienced working-level officials from South Korea were now being hired.


    ***


    Two Aegis destroyers sailed proudly in the Arabian Sea, and on one of it, Youngho, Prince Al-Sarki, who was in charge of the United Arab Emirates¡¯ intelligence service, and the UAE¡¯s defense minister.


    Youngho had invited them to show off the destroyers and also to discuss business with them.


    He approached Prince Al-Sarki, who was gazing at the scene where the pilotunched ship-to-air missile flew, and the scene of the 127-millimeter warship and Goalkeeper machine gun.


    As Youngho approached, the prince fired questions as if he had been waiting for this moment.


    ¡°Your Grace, This is a great scene. I can hardly feel the vibrations of a missile beingunched. It must be true that no fighter jets or ships can touch this ship.¡±


    ¡°The firepower I¡¯m showing you is only a small fraction. If all the firepower of the Aegis destroyer is used, one city will be devastated.¡±


    ¡°Do the frigates ships anchored in Abu Dhabi own this level of attack or defense?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as great as the Aegis, but it has great firepower, too. But why are you so curious about the frigates?¡±


    ¡°I want our navy to have a frigate, too. I¡¯ve been focusing too much on air power, but I think it¡¯s time to pay attention to naval power. A frigate will be enough fire power in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea although I think it¡¯d be better if there¡¯s a smaller missile ship.¡±


    The purpose of bringing the prince on board the Aegis destroyer was being achieved.


    ¡°Then shall I help you?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness? Can you build a battleship in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°The shipyard in the royal territory makes small-sized missiles and special ships. And at Danish Shipyard is currently building an Aegis destroyer as well as renovating the frigates. Both are owned by the Kazakh Royal Family.¡±


    ¡°But, isn¡¯t this ship made in Korea?¡±


    ¡°The Korean Aegis destroyer had stronger firepower and we alsocked design skills, but now all those problems have been solved.¡±


    The prince was very surprised to hear it.


    ¡°How many tonnage vessels can you build at your shipyard?¡±


    ¡°We can build a 300-ton-ss missile ship and a special ship.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by a special ship?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say it because it¡¯s military secrets. I hope I¡¯ll be able to tell you one day.¡±


    Youngho did not share about making a submarine since he knew that the United Arab Emirates was not interested in buying submarines.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Can I visit the shipyard some time?¡±


    ¡°You can visit any time you want. Our shipyard can also provide any weapons systems you request. For us, Sweden¡¯s weapons systems are easy to bring in.¡±


    The slip of Sweden was a remark aimed at Saab, the Swedish armspany.


    ¡°What does Sweden have to do with you?¡±


    ¡°Our royal family is investing in Saab. Didn¡¯t you know our main fighters are American and Swedish Saab¡¯s Gripen?¡±


    Youngho emphasized Saab because he had a strong intention to supply air force aircraft as well as to boast of the royal family¡¯s financial resources.


    ¡°Your Highness, why are you so obsessed with naval power?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I know the limits of Kazakhstan. What if a country with only its resources is blocked from exporting? Wouldn¡¯t you have to open up a sea path? No one¡¯s going to protect our cargo. If we let other powers do the job for us, they¡¯ll do it for a huge bill that we can¡¯t afford.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. It¡¯s amazing how we can¡¯t even dare to take such a step when we¡¯re surrounded by the sea.¡±


    ¡°The reason why other countries want to interact with Kazakhstan is because they want our resources. If you have a lot of things, you have to have the power to keep them so that a fair deal can be made. It¡¯s a shame that our resources had been sold at a price that was too low.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something we need to take into ount. Resources are going to run out one day, and I think we¡¯ve been wasting a lot of them.¡±


    ¡°The Arab Emirates has invested so much money that it has be the financial hub of the world. Your transformation will be a model for all developing countries.¡±


    ¡°It seems morous on the outside but there have been many problems internally. Our people want to livefortably without moving their fingers, so nothing can be done without foreign workers.¡±


    The overflowing oil dor had made the people of the United Arab Emirateszy. They imported people to cook, clean, and drive for them.

 Chapter 607 - The Era of Ocean (2)

    <h4>Chapter 607: The Era of Ocean (2)</h4>


    After checking out the Aegis destroyers at the Abu Dhabi Ports that flew to Copenhagen apanying Kim Il-kwon and Suh Min-seok only.


    It had been a while since he visited Denmark. It was because he did not have toe since Szechenyi was looking after all royal businesses in Denmark. Also, he was not fond of all the formalities of meeting the Queen and the Danish royal family if he visited. Nevertheless, he had toe to Copenhagen this time.


    It was because there was aunching ceremony of an icebreaker at the Danish Shipyard.


    With this ice breaker on the lead, it soon would be followed by thepletion of Yaniv¡¯s three 20,000-ton-ss icebreakers and Niky¡¯s two icebreakers. Since the two icebreakers would be operated by Arirang Shipping and the revenue would be shared with Yaniv and Niky, it was like Youngho was the owner of the vessels.


    With Princess Isabe¡¯s breaking of a champagne bottle, the icebreaker moved its way into the water for the first time.


    Youngho watched the ceremony with an amazed look on his face. The era of the North Sea was finally opening.


    ¡°Hyung, how do you like it?¡±


    ¡°What have I done? It¡¯s nothingpared to what you and Fatima are doing at home.¡±


    ¡°Now that the shipyard is in position, please take it easy. Your health is the most important. By the way, what¡¯s she doing instead of attending this ceremony? Didn¡¯t you tell her that Isabe has to take it easy now?¡±


    Youngho was talking about Zeynep. She was supposed to take the role of breaking the champagne bottle at theunching ceremony today instead of Princess Isabe, but somehow she stayed in Frankfurt saying that she had an important business.


    Isabe was now pregnant with another child, so she was supposed to refrain from outside activities.


    ¡°She said that she had an appointment with the doctors who will work for the hospital ship. The ship design is finished just now but she¡¯s making a big fuss already.¡±


    ¡°Make her a small hospital ship first. I¡¯m afraid she¡¯ll take it out on me.¡±


    ¡°There are no empty docks at the moment. We are not able to digest other orders now. There¡¯s no way we can start with a big hospital ship.¡±


    Youngho could already see what must have happened in his head. Zeynep must have been grilling Szechenyi about the hospital ship.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to build a small hospital ship at the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ll do that, we will be able to take a breath at the Danish Shipyard.¡±


    Even a small hospital ship is 1,000 tons, so it takes quite a long time to dry.


    Youngho was also looking forward to this project because it was a project that JIFA was pushing for as a focal point and it can enhance the image of the royal family.


    ¡°Other than that, I need to extend the dock further.¡±


    ¡°Did you get a new order?¡±


    ¡°I got an order for five 3,000-ton frigates from the Arab Emirates. The weapons system is going to be Saab¡¯s products, so send a shipyard official to Sweden and the United Arab Emirates to exchange a memorandum of understanding.¡±


    ¡°Five 3,000-ton frigates?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, after seeing our naval ships, Prince Al-Sarki was so smitten that he ordered it right away.¡±


    ¡°You get 30 percent of the Danish Shipyard¡¯s ship orders.¡±


    ¡°Are you surprised at that? We¡¯ll need to secure more ship engineers because we¡¯re going to have more orders in the future.¡±


    ¡°We can have more technicians anytime if our shipyard can grow.¡±


    ***


    As it was an official visit, Youngho had to visit the Danish royal family.


    Queen Margrethe was looking forward to Youngho¡¯s visit.


    Her hospitality for him was rather burdensome, as it was too much.


    Not only had Denmark¡¯s chronic resource supply issue had been solved due to the Kazakh royal family, but also Denmark¡¯s economic situation was getting better, so the Queen was grateful for Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness. Does the food suit your taste?¡±


    ¡°Your salmon dish is excellent. I think I¡¯ll keep thinking about it even when I go back home.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... My family has criticized me for my poor cooking, but you are a gentleman.¡±


    ¡°No. I really enjoyed it. If I have time, I would like to visit your pce every day and eat your salmon.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... A meal with the gentleman is always wee.¡±


    The name of the salmon dish, which was one of the representative foods of Denmark, was Grax. It was a favorite food of the Danish people, and since Youngho loved fish, he loved the dish.


    ¡°Your Highness, may I ask you a difficult favor?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s your request, I¡¯ll do anything. Don¡¯t feel bad to ask.¡±


    ¡°Usually, the royal family does not get involved in government affairs, but I had to step up since I couldn¡¯t just watch it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The world is in a very unstable situation as the world is in a trade war, and there are difficulties in managing foreign exchange. So the prime minister and the central bank governor requested me to ask you for help.¡±


    Although she said that it was foreign exchange management, it seemed to mean an intention increase in gold holdings.


    When he met the queen in the past, he secretly boasted that the Kazakh royal family had tons of gold bars in store from the legacy of the Serbian Kingdom. It seemed she remembered that.


    ¡°Do you mean gold?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. They said each country is bent over to increase their gold holdings but it¡¯s not easy to find even with money.¡±


    Denmark, despite having a muchrger economy than Kazakhstan¡¯s, did not have much gold in its holding. Its neighbor, the Nethends, had 612 tons, but Denmark had only about 67 tons, ranking 40th in terms of the world¡¯s gold holdings.


    Since it was smaller than 600 tons held by the Kazakh royal family, it wasparatively quite little.


    ¡°Tell me how much gold you need. Our royal gold mine produces about 60 tons a year. I think we can split some of it for you if we need to. If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have signed a gold deal with Germany.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. May I ask how much gold you contracted to give to Germany?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be supplying 400 tons within the next 10 years.¡±


    The Queen was silent to hear such amount. Then she soon found peace and expressed her gratitude with respect.


    ¡°Your Highness. Thank you very much for doing this favor. This saved our royal face before the Prime Minister and the Central Bank governor.¡±


    ¡°I should, of course, help my inws. I¡¯m d to see Your Majesty this happy.¡±


    The next day, Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark and the head of the central bank sat in front of Youngho to discuss the price of gold.


    ¡°Your kindness has saved Denmark¡¯s economy.¡±


    ¡°No problem. By the way, I have a question for you, Mr. Prime Minister, may I ask?¡±


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t understand how Denmark had not gathered much gold with its economic power.¡±


    ¡°It was a mistake of our government to have been sticking to a policy that values cash reserves for a long time. Denmark is not a resource-rich country, and it¡¯s dependent on trade, so that was why we chose that way.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Up to how much gold do you n to increase?¡±


    ¡°We n to increase it to about 200 tons. We¡¯re continuing to increase it, but it¡¯s been so slow that we¡¯ve asked the Queen for help.¡±


    ¡°Our royal family is also increasing gold holdings, so we don¡¯t have much to spare, but I think we can spare about 20 tons a year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough to make us breathe. May I pay for the gold in euros or dors?¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of cash. Do you have any other means of payment?¡±


    ¡°We have no alternative because we are in a position to reduce our cash reserves.¡±


    ¡°Can you pay with a share of the state-ownedpany, Dong Energy?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do that. We should give in something as you¡¯re giving in something for us as well.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll start supplying gold this year. Please don¡¯t forget it¡¯s a secret transaction.¡±


    Dong Energy which Youngho said he would receive in stocks as the proceeds from gold trading, was the main force in the power industry and also produced crude oil and gas in the North Sea, making Denmark an oil exporter.


    The reason he wanted Dong Energy¡¯s stocks was because it developed oil fields in the North Sea, which was known for its harsh weather. Having thepany¡¯s shares would be helpful in the future as he develops businesses in the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°Prime Minister, you know that three Aegis destroyers and a veryrge multi-purposending ship will be built at the Danish Shipyard, soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware that, Her Majesty has been very proud about that. So we already have a dock for the Kazakh Royal Navy in Copenhagen.¡±


    ¡°Those ships could be deployed in Copenhagen, depending on the situation. It¡¯s a deterrent to conflict in the development of the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d wee that if that¡¯s true. That means they¡¯d be in charge of a lot of our armed forces, too.¡±


    ¡°I want stocks to jump into the Arctic Ocean business with the Danish government.¡±


    With no connection to the development of the Arctic Ocean, Dong Energy was absolutely necessary.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s why you wanted the stocks. Then what do we need to do to help?¡±


    Prime Minister Rasmussen understood Youngho¡¯s intention at once.


    ¡°Please help us anchor our navy ships in Greend. Then, I¡¯ll take care of Denmark¡¯s back.¡±

 Chapter 608 - The Era of Ocean (3)

    <h4>Chapter 608: The Era of Ocean (3)</h4>


    The Arctic Ocean had been quiet for a long time. It was that way because no one dared to touch the ocean covered with ice.


    The Arctic region consisted of 1,200-meter-deep ocean covered by ice and ciers and was connected to the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait and to the Antic Ocean through the Kennedy Strait. It was impossible to sail through due to the ice one to fifteen meters thick in the winter and floating ice and ciers in the summer.


    From tens of millions of years ago, the Arctic Ocean was the sea of ice, and Greend was thend of ciers.


    However, since the Industrial Revolution, the average global temperature had risen steeply as greenhouse gases umted in the atmosphere, and it was the Arctic Ocean where global warming most notably progressed.


    The Arctic Ocean was almost covered with ice during the winter, but by mid-September, the ice area would be reduced to a minimum. Compared to more than three decades ago, ice had now been halved. At this rate, many predicted that people would not be able to see ice in the Arctic Ocean in the summer in a few years.


    Thus, from a few yearster, Arctic shipping would be possible for more than 100 business days a year. With icebreakers, they may be able to sail year-round, regardless of the season.


    It had been revealed that the Arctic Ocean was not only an optimal route to shorten sailing time but also a ce with inexhaustible resources as 13 percent of the world¡¯s oil reserves and 30 percent of natural gas were buried.


    In other words, it was a treasure chest of resources that everyone could aspire to.


    Many countries had coveted the resources in the Arctic Ocean, and there were eight countries that formed the Arctic Council, including Russia, Norway, Find, Sweden, d, Denmark (Greend), Canada, and the United States.


    However, when China proposed to make the Arctic Ocean amon sea, maritime powers, which had no connection to the ocean, began to rush in one step after another.


    So, after many twists and turns, there were 12 countries that qualified as members of the permanent observer of the Arctic Council, which were South Korea, the Nethends, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Britain, Italy, India, Japan, China, Pnd, and France.


    Thus, global warming had invited the world to the Arctic Ocean.


    Youngho, who had no connection there, was also taking a step using the icebreaker as a weapon.


    Only a few countries in the world had icebreakers, either for military or scientific purposes.


    However, Youngho had been building icebreakers for years with the intention of using the Arctic routemercially.


    It was to make money, not to make the dreame true of the human being. The free voyage of the Arctic route between the Pacific and the Antic had been a long-cherished dream of mankind.


    This was because the northern hemisphere was home to 90 percent of the poption and 67 percent of thend.


    Efforts to break through the Arctic Ocean had been made concrete, and it was said that the fleet of purification also went to the Arctic Ocean during the Ming Dynasty¡¯s Yongle Emperor¡¯s time.


    Recently, two vessels from a German shippingpany seeded for the first time in July 2009 in themercial operation of an Arctic route linking divostok, North Pole, and Antic-Rotterdam with the help of an icebreaker. It was a splendid journey, shortening 7,408 kilometerspared to going through the Suez Canal.


    The reduction in sea distance was tantamount to a logistical innovation that drastically reduced transportation costs and transportation time.


    ***


    After hearing Youngho¡¯s hour-long exnation, Prime Minister Rasmussen and the central bank governor agreed to Youngho¡¯s opinion on the importance of the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°Your Grace, it seems like you know the Arctic Ocean better than we do, so I have nothing to say.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t study particrly, but I¡¯vepiled what I¡¯ve been hearing from here and there.¡±


    ¡°I have no doubt that your big dream wille true soon. We have Greend, thergest ind, but we¡¯ve always been passive. Now that Kazakhstan is backing us up, we¡¯d be more confident.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want our Royal Navy to use Greend as a regr base.¡±


    ¡°But I think having a naval base in Greend is going to provoke Russia...¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is very free in that regard. Because it¡¯s blood alliance with Russia. Russia might rather wee our navy to anchor in Greend. Russia will think of the Kazakh Royal Navy as another card to pressure the West.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister, is Denmark not willing to strengthen its military strength?¡±


    ¡°How much strength would we increase with a poption of only five million? It¡¯s better to keep the basics and rather strengthen nationalpetitiveness at that cost.¡±


    Who would dare to harm to Denmark when it was a NATO member?


    Youngho was envious of Denmark¡¯s geopolitical situation in which it could feel at ease even though its security was left to their allies.


    ¡°Do you share the cost of defense?¡±


    ¡°Of course we are. But it¡¯s much more economical than arming ourselves.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this sounds funny, but Kazakhstan is nning to have more naval power in the future. So your cooperation is very precious.¡±


    ¡°It would beplicated to ept foreign troops but if it¡¯s Kazakhstan¡¯s force, lending our port won¡¯t be difficult.¡±


    ***


    To develop into an oceanic navy, arge, multi-purposending ship that could carry leafletmands and supplies was most necessary.


    However, it would take too long for it to be deployed if he ordered a new vessel now as it at least took three years for ships in the design to bepleted.


    So, Youngho was thinking about buying thending ship ssified as a reserve force in other countries. There were a few options, but they were so old that the repair cost was close to the cost of building a new one.


    While visiting Szechenyi¡¯s financial investment advisorypany to talk about such concerns, a n to make a breakthrough came up.


    ¡°Hyung, shouldn¡¯t we have to renovate it even if we purchase a foreign sphericalnding ship anyway?¡±


    ¡°Of course. We must renovate it to create a structure that suits our taste.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you renovate rtively new freighters then? We can get as many bulk carriers of about 15 years of service.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we should buy a cargo ship and renovate it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be too difficult. If we just ovey the flight deck for helicopters and vertical take-off andnding fighters, the upper part will be closed. The lower part of the room is empty, so you just need to partition it as you like.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a good idea. Alright. Call an official from the Danish Shipyard first.¡±


    Hourster, the Design Manager of the Danish Shipyard visited the office.


    Hanson, a blonde man in histe 50s, was outstanding enough to be considered unique in the field.


    Knowing why he had been contacted, he was outspoken in his knowledge.


    Polite but sharp questions followed.


    ¡°Duke, is it anding ship or a light aircraft carrier that you want?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Dr. Hanson¡¯s intentions are for asking such a question.¡±


    ¡°I asked you because you have to choose between a multi-purposending ship and a light aircraft carrier to maximize your power.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you meet them both?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s going to make a ship that¡¯s neither here nor there. Multipurposending ships are supposed to carry firepower that can literally deploy forces onnd. Light aircraft carriers, let¡¯s say, have to focus on air power. The facility itself needs to be different to achieve its desired purpose.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that a multi-purposending ship could beter converted into a light aircraft carrier, but I guess that¡¯s not the case.¡±


    ¡°This raises the question of cost and time. If you¡¯re nning to make another alteration, I¡¯d like to dissuade you. It will only increase the fatigue of the hull. To maximize attack power, it¡¯s better to make it a light aircraft carrier. But if you consider thend battle, a multi-purposending ship with helicopters andnding gear would be better.¡±


    Youngho was going to use it as a multi-purposending ship and renovate it if necessary, but Hanson insisted that it was better to distinguish it from the beginning.


    Youngho thought for a while, but the agony did notst long.


    The most urgent thing for the Navy was the multi-purposending ship, which was both amand ship and a supply ship.


    ¡°Please transform it into one of the best multi-purposending ships in the ss.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Then we¡¯ll have to set up a missileunchpad. We¡¯re going to make room for a small submarine to be stored. Don¡¯t you think you should have that much if you want to call it the best in its ss?¡±


    ¡°You carry a submarine on a multi-purposending ship?¡±


    The idea of carrying a submarine on a multi-purposending ship was quite new.


    This was because the multi-purposending ship, in Youngho¡¯s mind, was less than 20,000 tons.

 Chapter 609 - The Era of Ocean (4)

    <h4>Chapter 609: The Era of Ocean (4)</h4>


    Dr. Hanson offered a variety of opinions.


    He said that Youngho would have to renovate a cargo ship of at least 30,000 tons to serve as amand ship and supply ship to lead the leaflets.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a 30,000-ton ship be too big?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not too big if it¡¯s themand ship to sail a long-distance and also the supply ship that supplies food and fuel ammunition for the entire fleet. It can be a bit inefficient because we¡¯re renovating a cargo ship, but it can be a big advantage to have space for cargo and forrge-scale personnel.¡±


    ¡°How many troops can be on board?¡±


    ¡°At least 1500 people. It can carry quite a lot of materials and supplies, so if a multipurposending ship is added, you can go anywhere in the world without any additional reinforcements.¡±


    At Hanson¡¯s remarks, Youngho was intrigued. It would be a huge vessel, but it would have its own advantages as Hanson described. Such a level of capability was necessary to sail around the ocean.


    ¡°Dr. Hanson, you seem to know a lot about military vessels and insights. What¡¯s your view on opening an Arctic route and developing the Arctic Ocean? I¡¯d like to hear from you, would you?¡±


    Then he took a sip of cold coffee and narrowed his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he brought up a surprising story.


    ¡°Your Highness. Do you think this is the first time global warming has urred?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know that much.¡±


    ¡°The cial epoch and intercial epoch have been there for tens of millions of years. But the Earth is still in a little ice age.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with the Arctic Ocean development?¡±


    ¡°Every time the earth was in the little ice age, there¡¯s been a lot of chaos in the globalmunity. This is what I¡¯ve studied from old literature while majoring in shipbuilding engineering. Even if there is a slight difference in timing, it should be almost urate.¡±


    ¡°People were worried that the Earth is warming and the water level is rising...¡±


    ¡°The warming caused by industrialization is only temporary. When a volcanic eruption covers the stratosphere, the Earth¡¯s temperature will go down in no time. Remember that the recent winter was very cold, with no such cause.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to suffer from hunger due to abnormal temperatures.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s inevitable. It¡¯s important that small andrge war could ur because of that.¡±


    The little ice thatsted nearly 500 years had a tremendous impact on mankind.


    During this period between modern times and the Middle Ages, food production declined, and in Europe, many people starved to death or died of infectious diseases.


    As the famous gue, the ck Death, swept through Europe, Europe¡¯s poption shrank by a quarter from before.


    Many people died causing abor shortage, which prompted industrialization to kick-start.


    But the industrialized scientific civilization fueled each country¡¯s greed to the end of World War II, and to this day, the world was still experiencing the most conflict ever.


    Dr. Hanson was concerned that the Arctic Ocean, when opened, would be a venue for major powers, and that rationalpromise would be easily reached where each country¡¯s interests were at stake.


    He said that he even got goosebumps because the current situation, where the globalmunity was suffering from abnormal temperatures, was so simr to the 1900s.


    Saying that historical facts suggested that there could be another war because of the Arctic Ocean, he strongly suggested that Denmark should follow Youngho¡¯s readiness to deal with the situation ahead of time.


    ***


    After meeting Hanson, Youngho stopped thinking of stirring up the Arctic Ocean with the imperfect naval power.


    If there was no power that no one could touch, it was desirable to prepare formercial operation quietly.


    He intended to station the navy¡¯s main fleet at Copenhagen as a parent port and project only a covert force that was not noticeable in Greend.


    There was no reason to bother to step up and create tension.


    ¡°Hyung, I think you are more interested in Greend than the Arctic route.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both my concerns. They¡¯re ces where a lot of resources are buried. If we want to save Kazakhstan¡¯s resources, we need to find untapped resources overseas from now on. These ces are thest unexplorednds on Earth.¡±


    ¡°And since Greend has an independent country status other than foreign affairs and defense, will it be easy to meet our demands when we have to consult with the local government about resource development?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like the Danish government¡¯s influence won¡¯t work at all. We have to force them to listen.¡±


    ¡°Why would you do that?¡±


    ¡°China is already getting involved. They didn¡¯t go in there themselves, but they¡¯re putting the Britishpany in front of them, so everyone just doesn¡¯t know about it yet.¡±


    ¡°Where there are resources, there are Chinese people.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s going to get noisy in the Arctic Ocean, but it coulde as an opportunity for us.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Have you ever seen China develop resources around the world and care about the environment? Sooner orter, it will be kicked out of Greend for environmental problems. We intend to take on that role.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to make that happen?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make the Danish Queen ask for my help.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t she ask for NATO¡¯s help, not ours?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way that NATO would move since it¡¯s not like Denmark was attacked. There¡¯s not enough cause.¡±


    ¡°What about a cause for us to get involved?¡±


    ¡°Wait and see. We¡¯ll make the cause.¡±


    Greend was governed by its autonomous government in areas other than national defense and diplomacy.


    It was thergest ind in the world but had a poption of only 50,000 people.


    Thend of Greend was receiving attention because it was known to be rich in various jewelry, rare earth, and iron ore.


    However, thend was rarely developed due to technical difficulties and high costs as it was covered with 150-meter-thick ice.


    Nevertheless, China had just begun to develop thend. China was already working on a mining project in Greend through a Britishpany. The Danish government was also in a state of panic because it could not influence the local government on resource development. The reason for Denmark¡¯s panic was that it was worried about the potential pollution of the environment of Greend which was an untouched, clean region.


    ***


    Although his official schedule was over, Youngho decided to stay another day to settle the Greend issue with the Danish Queen. So, he ordered Suh Min-seok to arrange a visit to the pce.


    Since he heard China¡¯s involvement in Greend, he wanted to actively intervene in this matter while he was in Denmark. It was also for Denmark as he promised to take care of Denmark¡¯s back with the Danish Prime Minister.


    When Youngho visited the queen, she greeted him with a bright smile.


    ¡°Duke, your consideration saved our royal family¡¯s face.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that I¡¯ve been of help.¡±


    ¡°I prepared a salmon dish as a token of our gratitude.¡±


    She prepared a Danish traditional food again for him. It did not taste as great as before, but Youngho still ate it all quickly.


    When he ate up the salmon dish, the queen was impressed.


    ¡°You¡¯re the most wonderful gentleman I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just a country boy. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve be a gentleman after I met you, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Oh, who dared to call you a country boy? I guess they have poor eye for people.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you allowed me to be a gentleman, I want to be a knight to help Your Majesty. How do you like that?¡±


    ¡°Even for an olddy, the escort of knights is always exciting. Is I or Denmark in danger?¡±


    Her face even blushed as Youngho said that he would be a knight for her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that China is developing resources in Greend with a Britishpany.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? What about it?¡±


    ¡°We all know that the problem of environmental pollution is inevitably mentioned in the resource development projects involving China. I¡¯m thinking of developing the Arctic Ocean, but when the Chinese governmentes in, the environmental pollution is inevitable. In fact, we¡¯ve had some bad resource development cases in Kazakhstan involving Chinesepanies. If left unchecked, the pollution in Greend is only a matter of time.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I see. I certainly don¡¯t want to see Greend being damaged since it¡¯s a clean area. The Danish government can¡¯t intervene in this matter as it would be ignoring the self-governing government. Do you have a solution?¡±


    ¡°Forgive me for telling you this even though it¡¯s not really my ce to do so, but I couldn¡¯t help because I don¡¯t want to see environmental pollution.¡±


    ¡°No. How would I have known if you didn¡¯t tell me? If you¡¯ve raised the question, there must be a solution. Please advise.¡±


    ¡°I understand that resource development is up to the Greend local government, but the mere mention of your concern could possibly stop it.¡±


    ¡°I mean, the governors of Greend will hear my concerns, but they must have already signed a contract. How can they stop the development?¡±


    The queen was right, but there was a way.


    ¡°I think we can take care of the issue with environmental pollution. We¡¯re going to have to mobilize the world¡¯s media as well.¡±


    ¡°But will China stop developing and step back nicely?¡±

 Chapter 610 - The Era of Ocean (5)

    <h4>Chapter 610: The Era of Ocean (5)</h4>


    ¡°China is also a member of the internationalmunity. It won¡¯t be overlypliant, but eventually, it is going to step back under pressure. The only ce on Earth that¡¯s clean is Greend, which would be a means of pressure.¡±


    ¡°The Greend government was too hasty. I don¡¯t know what kind of profit they wanted by involving China. I have to say something.¡±


    The queen was rather exasperated.


    Although it was an autonomous government, the foreign and defense ministries belonged strictly to the Danish government.


    Selling resources should also be approached cautiously in conjunction with foreign and defense ministries, but the autonomous government had acted out ofmon sense.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to take the role as your knight. Shouldn¡¯t Denmark deploy a bit of force in Greend as a countermeasure for China¡¯s potential show of force as resistance?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but if the Danish army is stationed, it¡¯ll rm the neighboring countries...¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal family has a securitypany. It¡¯s apany known internationally as well. If you mobilize the securitypany, it won¡¯t be a matter to the neighboring countries. It¡¯ll just be apany hired to protect Danish royal property.¡±


    If the Royal Bodyguards of the Kazakh royal family were disguised and sent as Zeynep Security Service¡¯s employees, no one would find out. Officially, it would be known that the Danish royal family had entrusted the security of its facilities to Zeynep Security Service.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you have apany that specializes in facility security and private security, but is it that big?¡±


    ¡°It consists of former special forces soldiers, so I can confidently say that it has the military power of a small country.¡±


    Youngho bluffed a little bit to impress the queen.


    ¡°I guess Princess Zeynep is the owner of the securitypany.¡±


    Queen must have thought the owner was Zeynep as thepany was named after her.


    ¡°In the beginning, I used the name of Princess Zeynep without a special reason, so she¡¯s been grilling me to pay the copyright fee for her name value. But now it¡¯s known as a global securitypany, so I can¡¯t change the name even if I wanted to. Instead of paying Zeynep for her name value, I created a social welfare foundation for her and make contributions to it every year.¡±


    On the brandbel of Zeynep Wine, which also had her name, Zeynep¡¯s side profile was drawn on it, so it was natural for her to im the copyright loyalty.


    ¡°Hohoho. Princess Zeynep has pretty good business sense. I¡¯ve heard that the Duke cares a lot about the princess.¡±


    ¡°I knew her since she was young, so I care a great deal about her.¡±


    Youngho could not help but smile to think of Zeynep as he was answering her question.


    ¡°Szechenyi bragged about his family¡¯s tight rtionship. It¡¯s like your face is proof of that.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Did it show? I think it¡¯s because we¡¯ve been living together since they were young. I can only exin that the Queen and her siblings were destined for me.¡±


    ¡°Zeynep is such a dear princess for you, but would it be rude if I find a good man for her?¡±


    ¡°Princess Zeynep said she¡¯d choose her own man, so I haven¡¯t been able to do anything in that area. I should respect her choice.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my! It¡¯s a royal wedding. It could be aughing stock if we don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t your Crown Prince marry amoner as well?¡±


    ¡°Phew! I still regret not being able to dissuade the marriage.¡±


    The queenined about the Crown Princess and how her vanity was damaging the reputation of the royal family for a long time, saying it was a secret between the two.


    Herint was endless but as Youngho imed to be the queen¡¯s knight, he was forced to listen since he intended to fulfill his purpose to station the Kazakh troops in Greend.


    Excited to have met a gentleman who listened to her story for the first time in a long time, she did not want to let him go for a long time.


    They had aplex rtionship, and it was not afortable setting, but for her, it was fun to talk with a person of a simr rank.


    He could leave the room after listening to her for two hours.


    ¡°Hyung, thank you for your hard work.¡±


    Szechenyi smiled at Youngho, who was loosening his tie. It seemed Szechenyi often suffered from the Queen¡¯s long chatting too.


    ¡°Man, I won¡¯t ever shove your sister into the Queen¡¯s office. If I do that, she¡¯ll grill me for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Did Her Majesty agree?¡±


    ¡°Zeynep Security Service is going to take over the security of the Danish royal family.¡±


    ¡°Great. That would be a fantastic cover.¡±


    ¡°She decided it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Zeynep Security Service to make inroads into Greend. The more we talked, the more she felt like a great general.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s absolutely rational. But on the other hand, she can also be hot-blooded. If she hadn¡¯t been born a princess, she would have been a prime minister.¡±


    ***


    Dr. Hanson from the Danish Shipyard asked to meet Youngho once more, so Youngho decided to stay another day in Denmark.


    ¡°Your Highness. I¡¯ve asked you to meet me because I have some concerns.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart sank by Hanson¡¯s remark since he was an expert.


    This meant that serious problems had urred, and they were enough to slow down the schedule of the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°It may be a simple issue, but it¡¯s definitely something to address as a shipping engineer. It¡¯s a matter of the safety of the merchant ships that will be going to and from the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about guarding them. We are confident that the ships will be protected by our securitypany.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m worried about. The first concern is whether the merchant ships can withstand the ice and icebergs, and the second is whether sensitive cargo, such as electronics, can withstand extreme temperatures.¡±


    Last year, it was decided that the route would be secured by using an icebreaker to break the ice from fall to spring, and ships could travel on their own during the ice-free period. However, the problem was that the ice and icebergs appeared in the summer which was supposed to be the ice-free period.


    ¡°You mean ships have to be able to stand it when they hit an ice sheet or an iceberg.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. To minimize damage, hull reinforcement should be prioritized. Especially, it¡¯s essential to reinforce the front part of the vessel. To do that, shippingpanies would have to spend more money, and if they know that, they¡¯d try to stay away from the Arctic route.¡±


    ¡°Would it be resolved if we just reinforce the front?¡±


    ¡°Yes. One good thing is that modern radar technology has developed, so icebergs andrge ciers can be identified in advance.¡±


    ¡°But you think it¡¯s never an easy route.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. And if you¡¯re going to take the Arctic route, you¡¯re going to have to pay a lot of premium. It¡¯s a dangerous route. Wouldn¡¯t the insurancepany require an extra premium?¡±


    ¡°If we prove safe sailing, there will be no further increase in insurance premiums.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to prove that. There are many different types of ships that have to travel the route, but I don¡¯t think there are that many luxury containers that can travel through the Arctic route without high insurance premiums.¡±


    Who would choose the Arctic route if it would cost more to use it to reduce shipping costs?


    If the cost of reinforcing the hull and the insurance premium were increased, no one would be looking for the Arctic route anymore.


    ¡°So, the alternative is the reinforcement of the hull. How much would it cost to reinforce the hull?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the type of ship. Thetest super-sized ships that have dual-body structure will be fine, but it¡¯s going to be a problem for ships over a decade old.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that radar technology allows ships to avoid obstacles in advance?¡±


    ¡°You may findrge ciers or icebergs, but small ones will continue to threaten the hull.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a ship of at least 50,000 tons of weight easily withstand that amount of ice?¡±


    ¡°If such thing hit the hull often, the hull¡¯s bound to be scratched. It¡¯s directly rted to the life of the ship. That¡¯s why the route is very likely to be shunned by shippers.¡±


    Global warming caused ice to melt, but not all ice in the Arctic Ocean melted.


    This was becauserge chunks of ice did not melt easily in cold seas.


    For now, there was no choice but to hope that ship owners and shippers would prefer the Arctic route.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no alternative at all. Maybe we should prove that it¡¯s a safe sea route to attract customers.¡±


    ¡°If you have that will, the concerns I have will be no problem.¡±


    And another problem was that containers carrying sensitive electronic devices should also have heating to withstand extreme temperatures.


    ¡°These days, many containers with heat-retaining function are being mass-produced to protect freezing of containers or electronic devices.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, won¡¯t it be expensive? It would be unreasonable to attach a heating and cooling system to all cargo containers.¡±


    ¡°Once a container is made, it can be used for more than 10 years, so it won¡¯t be too burdensome. If you have precision electronics or machinery to ship in that kind of container, I bet the shippers would be willing to pay special costs for transportation. Since they get to reduce the transport time, they won¡¯t mind it.¡±


    ¡°The judgment should be left to shippers and shippingpanies. It¡¯s just your vague hope at the moment.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying the Arctic route development is aplex job because of the extra cost.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a mere opinion as a shipping engineer. From an economic point of view, there may be other judgments, so just take it as a side view.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for bringing up important issues. Thanks to you, I¡¯ve solved another problem.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like you to reinforce our naval ship¡¯s hull a little bit more as well.¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll use my humble technology to make it as strong as I can.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very lucky to meet you on this trip, Dr. Hanson.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed. I¡¯m sorry to hear that my vague concern has disturbed your spirit. Please forgive me for being too presumptuous.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I don¡¯t know how much you¡¯ve helped me with your insights. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you feel we have a problem.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just grateful for your generosity.¡±


    ¡°If you ever take the time toe to Kazakhstan, I¡¯ll treat you with an Ural trout.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor. Your Highness.¡±

 Chapter 611 - Bridgehead (1)

    <h4>Chapter 611: Bridgehead (1)</h4>


    Cha In-soo and Cho Chul-hwan both eagerly wanted to be in charge of the force to be sent to Greend.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the order under the name of the securitypany and also, it¡¯s actually a facility security job, so the securitypany should y the key role. If they¡¯re led by a bunch of rough Royal Bodyguards, wouldn¡¯t they be spotted by others right away? It¡¯s a no-brainer.¡±


    ¡°Why does it matter if they¡¯re going to be undercover? Ultimately, the Royal Bodyguards will be stationed in Greend. It¡¯s a hundred times more effective for us toe out from the start.¡±


    Even though it was colder than Kazakhstan, they both wanted to go to Greend.


    ¡°Hey, hey! The Royal Bodyguards have a lot of work to do, so why don¡¯t you leave it to us? You shouldn¡¯t keep trespassing other people¡¯s territory.¡±


    ¡°Why is that the realm of the securitypany? It¡¯s the Royal Bodyguards¡¯ territory.¡±


    ¡°You are so ignorant. How can youpare the securitypany and the military agents?¡±


    Youngho, who was watching the two¡¯s bickering, opened his mouth.


    ¡°Oh, please shush! Externally, it is disguised as a facility security operation, but we¡¯re going to station the troops for the purpose of establishing a bridgehead anyway, so the Royal Bodyguards should be in charge of it. It¡¯s true that we don¡¯t have enough manpower in the securitypany.¡±


    ¡°There must be a limit to undercover. Wouldn¡¯t there be a problem if the securitypany guards are overly armed?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if the Danish government permits it. It¡¯s going to be okay because I mentioned it as an international securitypany, and I said in advance thepany team is as good as military forces.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you build a civilian militarypany then?¡±


    Cha In-soo suggested creating a separate militarypany as it would resolve the problem of armament.


    ¡°You mean a mercenarypany?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like a mercenarypany. The civilian military can operate independently unlike a mercenarypany. Especially if it¡¯s a sensitive area with national interests, there¡¯s not much political pressure.¡±


    Usually, the cost of protecting global entrepreneurs and securing facilities forpanies was more than ten million dors a year.


    Entrepreneurs with more than ten billion dors in personal assets never hesitated to spend the expenses for their families and for the safety of theirpany.


    In particr, to protect businesses in conflict zones, they entered security service contracts with private militarypanies.


    This was because suchpanies had stronger firepower than regr securitypanies.


    So it had already been a long time since private militarypanies earned more than 100 million dors a year.


    It was ironic that the U.S. military entrusted a private militarypany to protect its troops in Iraq. But if this was the way to reduce the cost of sending troops, it was not iprehensible on the other hand.


    ¡°If the Kazakh royal family took the lead in creating a private militarypany, would it be more like a joke?¡±


    ¡°I just thought of it since we have to disguise the Royal Bodyguards as a securitypany. Just know that we have an option to do so. No one can know who thepany belongs to if it¡¯s based in a third country.¡±


    ¡°Is it? Find out what operations have been carried out by civilian militarypanies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already researched them. It seems like they only contract to fight organizations or countries that would harm humanity. They never move for money.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting more and more attractive.¡±


    ¡°They have a very different standard than that of a mercenarypany. They never respond to any morally reprehensible requests. That¡¯s why the assessment of private militarypanies is also very positive.¡±


    Private militarypanies carried out wars on behalf of certain countries, but if they could maintain high morals, the day was not far away when they would be spotlighted as a new business.


    In this regard, Kazakhstan was one of the ces that had all the necessary conditions to build a private militarypany. It was because there were a Kurdish militia group and a group that had just started out as mercenaries.


    Kurdish people¡¯s morality yed a part in the idea of using them as militia.


    Although they had lived a rough life of militiamen, they never did anything morally reprehensible.


    Rather, they had done a great job of driving the IS out of Syria or Iraq.


    Creating a private militarypany based on them would be like providing stable jobs for the Syrian Kurdish militiamen who were stilling into Kazakhstan.


    ***


    Although Youngho was eager to set up a bridgehead in Greend, military facilities already existed in Greend.


    To the northwest of Greend was the Air Defense Radar Base, the core of the U.S. maind¡¯s defense.


    The military base was the ¡°Thule Air Defense Base,¡± located 1,600 kilometers from the North Pole and was the northernmost U.S. base.


    The radar early warning system for the U.S. missile defense system was established there.


    However, the maintenance of U.S. military bases was supposed to be left topanies based in Denmark and Greend, but the problem was that thepany that was in charge of the work was only a paperpany, and in fact, the U.S. government was in charge.


    Recently, Greenders took issue with it and called for a base relocation.


    The reason was that there should not be such a military facility in a clean country like Greend.


    Since the issue had emerged in this sensitive time, the U.S. was in a very difficult position. If the base was moved, the air defenses in the north would be gone.


    However, when the queen spoke, the possible bacsh from residents disappeared. On top of that, Queen Margrethe also sternly said that Zeynep Security Service would be responsible for the maintenance and security of American air defense units.


    One word from the queen, who rarely opened her mouth, had a tremendous ripple effect.


    As it was a securitypany owned by the Kazakh royal family, the Greend government officials did not oppose it. If they opposed this decision, it would be tantamount to challenging the authority of the Danish royal family. It was because opposing the queen would never help Greend¡¯s future as the autonomous government of Greend¡¯s one-third of the budget came from Denmark.


    ***


    ¡°I resolved your problem in one shot, Chief.¡±


    -Do you know how much economic gain the Greend people get due to our base there? They must be opposing our base to increase thend fee. Or perhaps the Chinese government has yed a trick.


    ¡°Whatever the reason is, it is true that if I had not persuaded Queen Margrethe, the U.S. air defense base would¡¯ve been removed from Greend.¡±


    -I¡¯m not refusing to acknowledge your efforts, but we had already discussed it with the Danish government, and the Greend residents made unreasonable demands.


    ¡°It¡¯s a key U.S. air defensework, isn¡¯t it? But I¡¯ve heard that the U.S. has been using it for almost nothing.¡±


    -Huh! That¡¯s nonsense. What are you talking about when we paid the amount ording to the agreement with the Danish and Greend governments?


    ¡°Very well. I understand your position. How about talking about the reward for me?¡±


    -You have a bridgehead in Greend, and you¡¯ve benefited from the full use of our ports, so what do you want from us? Then I¡¯ll be the only one who gets in trouble.


    ¡°How can I put a man like my father in trouble?¡±


    -Oh, what on earth do you want?


    ¡°I¡¯d like us to use the Greend base together. We¡¯ll keep the facility safe in exchange.¡±


    -It¡¯s an unreasonable demand. We¡¯ve never let another country to be in charge of the security of U.S. military facilities.


    ¡°I know there has been a precedent in Iraq where a private militarypany protected the U.S. troops. In Korea, guards guarding U.S. military bases have been civilians since long ago.¡±


    -You¡¯ve done a very thorough investigation.


    ¡°Well, when I was a child, I just saw civilians guarding the Yongsan Garrison with guns. By the way, I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t doubt Zeynep Security Service¡¯s capabilities, do you?¡±


    -Do you really want to leave the security to the securitypany?


    ¡°If the U.S. wants to, we can send the Royal Bodyguards under the guise of employees of our securitypany. You know they¡¯re all from special forces, right?¡±


    -Then it¡¯ll be easy to talk about it.


    Michael seemed relieved to hear that Youngho would send his troops undercover.


    -Okay. I¡¯ll talk to the Department of Defense and let you know the results.


    ¡°I hope this has a good ending.¡±


    This paved the way for a perfect bridgehead in Greend.


    For the U.S., the Thule air defense base was a strategic base that could not be abandoned. In any case, the intervention of the Kazakh royal family, which was an ally of the U.S., was always wee.


    -I have a few things I need to discuss directly with you, Duke. Are you avable?


    ¡°Shall Ie to America?¡±


    -Things will get bigger if you visit the U.S. Instead, I¡¯ll move secretly.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Afghanistan?¡±


    -It¡¯s also rted to Afghanistan.


    ¡°China is ying with it again.¡±


    -That¡¯s a little serious to call it ying. We¡¯re also looking at a variety of issues but this is rted to the whole of Central Asia. Why don¡¯t we meet in person and discuss it?


    ¡°I¡¯m staying in the country for a while, soe visit me any time.¡±


    -I¡¯ll visit the pce as soon as possible.


    ¡°All right. We¡¯ll be preparing your favorite Ural trout.¡±

 Chapter 612 - Bridgehead (2)

    <h4>Chapter 612: Bridgehead (2)</h4>


    Within a few days of speaking to Youngho, Michael visited the royal territory.


    Michael¡¯s face, sitting opposite to Youngho in the royal pce office, was grim.


    ¡°Something must be going on.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s not important about dealing with information? Every day is full of things that dry your blood.¡±


    ¡°You have to think about your age. What if you get sick...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it because I still can handle it. But did Kazakhstan ever get involved inst winter¡¯s Uyghur crisis?¡±


    The sudden question made Youngho surprised. He hesitated to answer for a while as he was not sure what the old man¡¯s intention was.


    Maintaining his calm, he made a joke.


    ¡°We¡¯re providing weapons and funding to the Uyghur independence fighters, so I can¡¯t say it has nothing to do with us.¡±


    ¡°Your face is telling me that you did not get involved.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, it¡¯s like we intervened.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s argument made Michaelugh because it looked like Youngho was only insisting to show off.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say you were involved. That¡¯s not the problem, but did you hear the announcement that China is building a new wall for the entire Xinjiang Uyghur region?¡±


    ¡°Do you think the elementary school student-like idea that no one can cross a stone wall just because it¡¯s there makes sense? We¡¯re ignoring it.¡±


    ¡°It would be a psychological barrier if it were built-in practice. The intention behind it is to break the will of Uyghurs and Tibetans¡¯ independence.¡±


    ¡°How on earth does it make sense to build a wall in the 21st century? These days, the U.S. also said it would build a wall along the Mexican border, and China seems to be mimicking it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a desperate attempt to stop illegal immigrants from Mexico.¡±


    ¡°Then what about us? It¡¯s rather us who have to build a wall to stop illegal Chinese immigrants.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.¡±


    Michael flew in a hurry because China announced that it was building a 5,700-kilometer wall along its border with Xinjiang Uyghur.


    It was part of a n to prevent radical Imist forces in Central Asia from flowing into China through Afghanistan.


    The n to build a massive wall, which was a little shorter than the Great Wall, also appeared to have something to do with the recent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang Uyghur.


    China believed that radical groups in Central Asia joined forces in the attack of Chinese government facilities in Uyghur. It imed that the continuing terror attacks in the Xinjiang Uygur region were attributed to radical Imic groups being transferred to Uyghur.


    China announced that it was intended to prevent it from happening at its source, but its purpose was to undermine the will of Uyghurs and Tibetans who wanted independence.


    ¡°Then, this is a sign that China will build a wall and stay inside. I¡¯m rather d that China has decided so. It¡¯s something to celebrate that China has abandoned its desire for Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Duke. It¡¯s not the time to joke. It means that China will secure itsnd and run to take over outside.¡±


    ¡°On the one hand, I think it¡¯s a good thing since it¡¯s going to make the Pamir teau safe.¡±


    ¡°We believe there will be an attempt to rearrange the current border before building the wall.¡±


    If so, China would try to recover all of its territories.


    In other words, it is not going to let go of the fenceid by the Tajikistan militia during the winter. There was no way China would recognize the arbitrarily drawn border for fear of conflict.


    Michael was sure that there would be a border dispute.


    ¡°We¡¯re already prepared. If there¡¯ll be a provocation, we have to counterattack.¡±


    ¡°China will use strong means. It might involve a nuclear weapon to break your will. Then there¡¯s no answer but surrender. I don¡¯t want to think about it after that.¡±


    ¡°What if we had a formidable weapon to counter China?¡±


    ¡°Did you ever develop theser weapon?¡±


    ¡°Dear Chief, Kazakhstan was a Soviet-era nuclear weapons experiment site, and it was the site of an intercontinental ballistic missileunch base. Do you think the former president has discarded it all unless he is a fool?¡±


    When Youngho¡¯s words were over, Michael seemed to be freaking out.


    ¡°Duke. Do you possibly have a nuclear weapon?¡±


    ¡°I am only guessing because the former president didn¡¯t handover any information to us when he fled the country. We¡¯ve been searching everywhere so far, but we haven¡¯t found it yet.¡±


    Youngho left some room in his answer in case of a rainy day.


    ¡°Duke. What are you going to do if you find nuclear weapons?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about it yet. If it¡¯s found, I¡¯ll have to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Personally, if you find a hidden nuclear facility, don¡¯t open it to the world ever. Just don¡¯t say yes or no as you do now. It¡¯s for your own good. Don¡¯t open it to me, either.¡±


    It would be burdensome for Michael to know that. That was because as the U.S. intelligence chief, he was in a position to persuade Youngho to give up nuclear weapons.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ve told you everything so far, but I¡¯ll keep that a secret.¡±


    Listening to Youngho¡¯s answer, Michael had a veryplicated look on his face.


    It was not detrimental to U.S. national interests, but it was right to oppose it in terms of preventing nuclear proliferation.


    ¡°Anyway, the local conflict will be determined by the timeline of the wall¡¯spletion. but you need to prepare yourself in advance. Let¡¯s hope China doesn¡¯t touch the dangerous card.¡±


    ¡°If China were to build a wall, would Uyghurs or Tibetans be still?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already a fully-coordinated area, so I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re going to do. Don¡¯t expect too much.¡±


    ¡°Do you want us to step up and encourage them?¡±


    ¡°Is there a way?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m confident.¡±


    ¡°Duke. Are you sure you have nothing to do with the recent Uyghur terrorist attack?¡±


    ¡°Why do you talk about it again when you didn¡¯t believe when I said we were involved?¡±


    ¡°Oh, never mind... I get it. That¡¯s what I¡¯ll find outter on. We have a more important issue to discuss. Let¡¯s just figure out a way to drive China out of Greend.¡±


    ¡°How would Kazakhstan resolve that if America can¡¯t do it?¡±


    ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking?¡±


    ¡°Okay, but there is a condition. I would like Kazakhstan to be qualified as an observer in the development of the Arctic Ocean, so please give me some help in the United States. If we qualify as an observer, we¡¯ll do the security of the Thule base free of charge.¡±


    When Youngho put forward the condition, Michael nodded as if he already guessed what Youngho would be asking.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to im your connection to the Arctic Ocean with one icebreaker?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan will have six icebreakers within this year. Don¡¯t you think we¡¯ll qualify now?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got it all ready.¡±


    ¡°From this fall, there will bemercial routes in the Arctic Ocean. If you opened a route that no one had touched, you¡¯d be eligible, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more than enough. I¡¯ll talk to the authorities and try to persuade the Arctic Council.¡±


    ***


    Kazakhstan had finally got into Greend as a total of 100 Royal Bodyguards began security operations at the U.S. Thule base in Greend.


    The guards were dressed as securitypany guards, so there was no fear of being exposed.


    This marked a step forward in the Arctic Ocean.


    The next task was to qualify as an observer by the Arctic Council countries.


    It was possible for anyone to use the Arctic Ocean, but the reason why Youngho wanted to gain observer status was that he wanted to take a step in developing the North Pole.


    Having icebreakers and opening the firstmercial route to the Arctic Ocean would help in gaining the observer status.


    The Danish government had also begun to disapprove of the Greend government¡¯s mining development.


    Everyone was in agreement because it was intended to prevent environmental pollution in thest clean area left on Earth.


    Then, it was strongly opposed by the U.K based Chinesepany that contracted to develop the Greend region. Although it insisted that environmental damage was inevitable in resource development, neither Denmark nor Greend backed down.


    China had alsoe up with countermeasures, including filing aint with the International Court of Justice, but it faced the wrong variables.


    Greend residents also strongly protested the project by holding rallies against the development of the city.


    Still, China was holding out without budging an inch since it would be a shame to miss Greend¡¯s quality rare earth.


    Cho Chul-hwan, who visited Greend with the Royal Bodyguards, also watched the situation and contemted to think of a stronger measure


    -The residents are so loose that this will only waste time. What should I do?


    ¡°Make an event for a bigger conflict. Of course, we don¡¯t want huge damage.¡±


    In Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s phone call, Youngho also sensed that an intervention was needed.


    It was better in many ways to drive the Chinesepany out of Greend as soon as possible. It was because the Chinese were already filing for immigration systematically, so it was better to stop it now.


    In many ways, it was convenient to sort things out early, as China was bound to be a nuisance not only to capture Greend¡¯s geopolitical location but also to seize its resources.


    So Youngho and Chul-hwan decided to use the most effective way to damage the Chinesepany.


    They decided to have an operation to induce bloody shes between rally participants and Chinese workers at the mine.


    As if the Royal Bodyguards disguised as Greenders and participated in rallies to make a conflict, it would be easy to change the situation.


    If there was bloodshed between residents and the development body, China would have no choice but to withdraw from Greend for now.


    ***


    ¡°Well done. Are our guards hurt?¡±


    -I¡¯m worried that this is going to get big. Many residents and Chinese workers are hurt.


    ¡°What do you worry about?¡±


    -It¡¯s not that easy. You know the devices people carry these days. Images and photos of our guys must¡¯ve taken. It¡¯s only a matter of time before the local authorities find out we¡¯re involved.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll call the Danish Government in advance.¡±


    -I don¡¯t know if the Greend authorities would ever listen to the maind¡¯s order.


    Several members of the Royal Bodyguards were put in the residents to attend the opposing rally, leading them to sh.


    The next was a piece of cake.


    Furious Chinese workers attacked the residents, and the resident who responded to them even carried hunting guns.


    ¡°Tell the members who joined the rally to stay in the base for the time being until the Chinesepany ispletely withdrawn.¡±


    -I already told them that.


    The media had been moring about the brutality of a Chinesepany and the only thing left for thepany was to withdraw.


    The situation seemed to be over, given that people were told to cut off electricity and water supplies to the mines.


    Now, there was no need to worry about China anymore.

 Chapter 613 - Bridgehead (3)

    <h4>Chapter 613: Bridgehead (3)</h4>


    The Kazakh royal family announced that it wouldunch an icebreaker to and from the Arctic Ocean in Greend.


    When the port of Nuuk, the capital of Greend, was said to be a base, Greend¡¯s residents weed it with open arms.


    Up until now, four icebreakers owned by Denmark had been opening sea routes around Greend but failed to effectively remove the ice.


    Icebreakers owned by the Danish government were not as big as the icebreaker owned by Arirang Shipping that would cross the Arctic Ocean, but the Danish government did not have arge icebreaker as it having a huge icebreaker was not economical.


    Therefore, Denmark never dreamed of going out to other seas because only the waterways to Denmark were open during the freezing season. However, as the Arirang Shipping¡¯s icebreaker was in the 20,000-ton ss, it was free of restrictions and was able to travel the Arctic Ocean anytime throughout the year.


    An icebreaker with such expectations appeared at the port of Nuuk today.


    However, not only the icebreaker but also two warships appeared on the sea, so the residents crowed on the pier like clouds.


    The two warships were Aegis destroyers belonging to the Kazakh royal family, which were training in the Arabian Sea.


    On the side of the ships, the numbers 1001 and 1002, respectively, were written in Arabic, and on the stern, it read, ¡°Aleksandar¡± in English.


    Aleksander was the first name of the Kazakh Queen, Fatima.


    The sea off Greend in May was still covered with floating ice.


    ¡°Commander Jun, I guess the winter¡¯s still not over here.¡±


    As Youngho said it in a worrisome voice looking back at Commander Jun, he responded as if it was nothing.


    ¡°It is reported that ice and icebergs appear on a regr basis during the summer months as well. They won¡¯t have much impact on the icebreaker¡¯s hull. We¡¯ve searched the area with radar, and stationed guards at the bridge so we won¡¯t miss them.¡±


    ¡°Yes, nothing is as urate as the human eye.¡±


    Various suspended goods, such as fishings and fishing grounds, were not detected by radar, so the arrangement of guards on the deck was necessary. It was especially so because the performance of radar could deteriorate in bad weather.


    As the Royal Navy decided to sail to the Arctic Ocean for the first time with the icebreaker and two Aegis destroyers, Youngho joined the journey from Copenhagen to Greend despite others¡¯ opposition. He decided so because he trusted the power of the warships nicknamed as God¡¯s shield, and he also wanted to check the situation of the Arctic Ocean.


    The North Antic Ocean in May was extremely wild.


    Youngho could endure it because of the ring¡¯s power, otherwise, he would have suffered from seasickness. Since he would not have known the situation in the North Antic if he had not followed along this voyage, he thought that it was a good decision to have joined it.


    During the voyage, there were various shooting exercises in international waters, and the warships¡¯ precision of urately targeting imaginary targets was impressive. They clearly proved to be great strategic weapons.


    No matter where the fleet containing the Aegis destroyers went and carried out the operation, there seemed to be no need to worry. Perhaps that¡¯s why the soldiers¡¯ morale was very high. As Aegis destroyers were not shaken by the high waves that they had never seen in their life raised the morale of the soldiers.


    When the fleet was leaving the Baltic Sea, it met an Aegis destroyer that belonged to the U.S. Navy¡¯s Antic Fleet. Surprisingly, the U.S. fleet showed respect to the Aleksandar ships of the Kazakh Navy by firing a salute. This made the pride of the soldiers soar in the sky.


    A gun salute was a typically fired when a warship entered a foreign port. It usually put up the country g of the foreign port and fired a gun salute. Getting such respect from the world¡¯s most powerful U.S. Navy was an exciting moment for the Kazakh soldiers.


    It seems that the U.S. Navy made a surprise show because the Kazakh Royal Navy informed neighboring countries in advance of the fact that the naval fleet was going to Greend.


    Anyway, it was a great pride that this happened on the Kazakh navy¡¯s first voyage. It would be a historical event of the Kazakh Navy.


    ¡°Your Highness, under these sea conditions, it was an excellent decision to build a bridgehead in Greend.¡±


    Although the harbor was small and did not have the capacity for many ships, being able to stop in Greend allowed sailors to unwind from hard work and restore their tired bodies from the Arctic waves. This was a major maritime transportation hub that ships could dock for a short time and get ready to enter the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°The port needs expansion, but it doesn¡¯t look easy with the given port situation.¡±


    The ice was melting and the earth was exposed, but the downside was that the ground was still frozen and the ground was weak to build more facilities on the ground.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take time to figure out how we can do so. But isn¡¯t it still great that we can dock here?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯d be great if we can have such a bridgehead in the Indian Ocean as well. That way, our merchant ships will be able to go a little further, could you find such a ce?¡±


    ¡°I think Madagascar, southeast of Africa, is a good candidate. After this voyage, I will travel to that route to see if it¡¯s a good fit.¡±


    ***


    The port of Nuuk was small, so the icebreaker and the Aegis destroyer stayed outside the port. Youngho arrived at the port with a high-speed boat from the Aegis destroyer.


    Hearing the news that the Duke of Kazakhstan arrived at the dock, all the residents came out to greet him. Cho Chul-hwan also greeted Youngho at the pier, apanied by about ten members of Royal Bodyguards dressed as securitypany guards.


    ¡°Your Highness, wee to Nuuk.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have toe out here to greet me. I would¡¯ve gone to the Thule base to see you. I wonder if the guards are doing well at the base?¡±


    ¡°The Thule base is such a well-equipped facility that everyone started work right away after unpacking their belongings. It was rather more difficult to set up a liaison headquarters here. We don¡¯t have a proper building to live in, so we¡¯re waiting for the City Hall to offer us a site.¡±


    ¡°I brought prefabricated building materials and technicians on the icebreaker, so you could use themter.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡±


    ¡°You look great, Captain. Do you like this ce?¡±


    Commander Jun also greeted Chul-hwan.


    ¡°Commander Jun, you must¡¯ve undergone a lot of trouble on the rough sea, haven¡¯t you? I¡¯ve only gained weight because I¡¯ve been sofortable here.¡±


    Later, Youngho and Cho Chul-hwan met up privately at the temporary office of the security team at the port of Nuuk.


    ¡°Is there any ce to use as a bridgehead around the port of Nuuk?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have a liaison office here and concentrate heavy weapons on the Thule base.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to your judgment. And what else?¡±


    ¡°I need about two light nes. I think we need private nes to get around the Thule base and this ce freely.¡±


    ¡°Would 4-seater and 8-seater nes be enough?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. And I¡¯m thinking about how to adjust the duration of the soldiers¡¯ dispatch here.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say it¡¯ll be a six-month shift?¡±


    ¡°These guys are asking for it to be a year-long shift.¡±


    ¡°They want to extend their dispatch further?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been here for a couple of weeks, and it¡¯s been amazing. It¡¯s not much different from Kazakhstan in terms of the weather. People here are na?ve and nice. Some married guards want to move here at all. I think the first reason is that they get paid a lot if they worked here, and the second reason is that education here is better than we thought. Besides, the living standard here is much higher than the one in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°In that case, you could arrange that only for the crew who desire to do so. Since Greend is our bridgehead, we¡¯re nning to stay here for even a few decades, if nothing happens.¡±


    Youngho and Chul-hwan initially thought that Greend was a harsh ce to live, but it turned out that it was not so bad at all. The winter weather in Kazakhstan was not much different from the winter in Greend as it was 20 to 30 degrees in Celsius below zero, except that winter was longer here.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they having too much fun hunting seals?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also undeniable, too.¡±


    ¡°Or are they falling in love with girls in Greend.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be more fortunate. We won¡¯t have to try to get married.¡±


    ¡°Is there something else?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an open alluvial mine around the Thule base that anyone can take, and that could have yed a part in that. It seems that the guards here have also changed to be like a particr person I know.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was referring to Youngho.


    Although Youngho¡¯s ears were suddenly opened to hear about alluvial gold mine, he managed to maintain hisposure.


    ¡°Do I look like a person who¡¯s crazy for gold?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s your word, not mine.¡±


    It seemed that the royal bodyguards were also fond of gold. As far as Youngho knew, he had never seen anyone hate gold.


    ¡°Man, you are acting weird today. What¡¯s wrong with you?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Hey, by the way, howe you didn¡¯t bring anything I asked you to do?¡±


    He seemed to be looking forward to something from Youngho and was grumbling because Youngho was not releasing it quickly.


    In cold ces like Greend, native people tended to rely on alcohol, so the government of Greend was strictly restricting the sale of alcohol. Thus, the onlyint of the guards deployed here was that they could not enjoy drinking that they loved.


    Youngho bought some drinks in Copenhagen, but he was careful to show it to Chul-hwan as it could be seen as disrespect to the local rule.


    ¡°I thought so, so I brought some emergency medicine.¡±


    ¡°Then you should have told me already. You¡¯ve been making me sick.¡±


    ¡°Divide properly. I don¡¯t want any trouble among the guards.¡±

 Chapter 614 - Bridgehead (4)

    <h4>Chapter 614: Bridgehead (4)</h4>


    The Aegis destroyer Aleksandar 1001 and 1002 left Greend and sailed through the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean to the sea off Arirang Ind in the Sea of the Aegean Sea.


    Arirang Ind was a Mediterranean bridgehead and served as the headquarters of the Kazakh Royal Navy as it was owned by the royal family.


    The two Aegis destroyers proudly entered the port with the Kazakh g, as it was negotiated with the Greek government to use the ind as a naval base for the Kazakh royal family.


    The destroyers were being anchored at the dock with the help of a tugboat. Large ships needed help from tugboats to prevent them from damaging the hull while trying to reach the dock.


    ¡°Wow! The boats at the Arirang Wharf off the Ural River dock themselves without tugboats, but these destroyers are indeed huge.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan expressed his admiration for the destroyers being docked at the pier with the help of a tugboat.


    ¡°If you see a multi-purposending ship, you¡¯ll faint.¡±


    ¡°What made you think you¡¯re going to build a vessel of 30,000 tons in weight? My head spins when I think of the cost of maintenance. Compared to the Army, the Navy is just a big headache.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing like a ship that can transport huge troops at once. And if you carry about ten Apache attack helicopters there, it¡¯s like carrying the firepower of several army divisions.¡±


    ¡°This will only do a favor for the U.S. or European countries. If there is a conflict zone, they will ask for our help.¡±


    The internationalmunity required countries to y a role ording to its level of economic power or force. The higher the status of a nation, the more natural it was to be demanded to y a role as a member of the internationalmunity.


    However, socialist countries such as China and Russia were subject to criticism because they are solely for their own interests.


    ¡°I have that in mind, too. If we act loyally as a member of the U.N. then, it won¡¯t ignore us when something happens to uster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. But I¡¯m worried about Russia, but what can we do?¡±


    ¡°We should avoid conflict areas involving Russia as much as possible. Considering that 30 percent of the Kazakh poption is Russian, we have to maintain an inseparable rtionship with Russia.¡±


    When the ship was docked, the ind¡¯s guards and a handful of residents weed Youngho and his Navy.


    The people living on Arirang Ind were the existing Greek residents and families of the members of the Royal Bodyguards.


    As the number ofmercial owners increased, kindergartens and mini elementary and secondary schools opened for the children of the Royal Bodyguards and residents. Then the native Greek people who were engaged in fishing soon opened restaurants, shops, and taverns to continue their livelihood.


    The entire atmosphere of the ind soon became lively.


    Residents who had lived for a long time enjoyed the most benefits when the ind became the property of Kazakhstan¡¯s royal family.


    They were allowed unlimited use of drinking water and electricity, which had been cited as the biggest inconvenience. And with the establishment of educational facilities, they were able to escape the economic difficulties of sending their children tond.


    Various amenities and medical services for the Royal Bodyguards were also avable for them. The Kazakh royal family also promised to provide some money for education if the ind¡¯s children went to higher schools onnd.


    This series of measures was intended to induce favoritism for the Kazakh royal family.


    The Aegean Sea had a myriad of inds, and the water was very precious except for the residents of a few inds. Most of the Aegean inds were made up of rocks, and did not have much precipitation, which caused water shortages.


    Besides the water shortage, the life far fromnd was bound to have difficulties in ess to many resources.


    Arirang Ind overcame its natural environment with desalination facilities and was envied by other inders. The ind residents expressed gratitude saying that the poor life that has been epted as fate for generations now felt rewarded.


    Such a word had spread out making the ind famous for a source of drinking water.


    These days, people from nearby inds came to Arirang Ind to get water if the water supply ship did note on time from thend.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, that¡¯s the ind you see over there.¡±


    Park Sung-won, the director of the Arirang Ind base, was exining to Youngho, pointing to the ind across the street.


    He was looking through a telescope at the highest point of the ind because an ind one kilometer away from Arirang Ind was on the market.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little bigger than Arirang Ind. How¡¯s the situation on the ind?¡±


    ¡°There are 854 residents in 257 families. They¡¯re suffering from drinking water shortage these days.¡±


    ¡°Some residents may have private property. Is there a way to solve it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been in touch with the inders and they said they would agree to the sale without condition if the Kazakh royal family is the buyer.¡±


    ¡°For sale without condition? That¡¯s great. Is the harbor a private property for the residents?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Even if you buy all thend owned by the Greek government, it¡¯s hard to use a port without the consent of the residents.¡±


    As the Kazakh royal family¡¯s desalination system made Arirang Ind better, it seemed that the residents of the neighboring ind favored the Kazakh royal family as they suffered from continuous drought due to the recent abnormal temperatures. Although they had requested for drinking water to the Greek government, it was a difficult favor to do as the government struggled financially.


    ¡°Great. Go ahead with the purchase of the ind.¡±


    The pier on Arirang Ind was small and slightly damaged to be used as the headquarters of the Oceanic Navy, so this was a chance to have an ind twice the size of Arirang Ind.


    Youngho¡¯s group traveled to Meltemi Ind near Arirang Ind.


    It was a kilometer away from Arirang Ind, so it took less than five minutes on a speedboat.


    When they arrived at the ind, all but a few elderly people came out and weed them.


    A dark brown-haired man in his 50s, the chief of the ind named Lajos, greeted Youngho with great respect. The weight of the Duke of the Kazakh royal family was making Lajos pay respect to Youngho.


    ¡°Chief, please make yourself at home. Formality makes me ufortable.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how can I? Your Highness, it¡¯s an honor to have youe to our ind.¡±


    ¡°I visited because I heard that you¡¯re suffering from drinking water shortage these days. I want to help.¡±


    ¡°The director of the base is helping us out. All thanks to you, Your Highness. On behalf of the vige, thank you again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need to. We Kazakhs always help our neighbors in need. I¡¯d be criticized if I try to show off for giving you a little water.¡±


    Word hovered in his mouth that he hade to buy the ind, but Youngho did not say so.


    ¡°I¡¯m so embarrassed because we get not only drinking water but also daily necessities. I will repay you for this kindness in some way someday.¡±


    ¡°This hospitality alone is a great treat.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯vee all the way here to the ind, I¡¯d like to make a difficult request.¡±


    The words Youngho was looking forward to finally popped out of Lajos¡¯ mouth.


    For them, the fate of the ind depended on the decision of the Kazakh royal family. It was because they had no idea how long the drought wouldst.


    ¡°If there¡¯s any other inconvenience, I¡¯ll help you out as much as I can. Please feel free to ask.¡±


    ¡°Are you not interested in our ind?¡±


    ¡°I think the ind is very beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Meltemi Ind has a muchrger bay than Arirang Ind, which is good to use as a port. Also, there is plenty of fish in the area.¡±


    Chief was trying hard to promote the ind to Youngho.


    ¡°I really liked the harbor with the wide bay. The vigers also seem so kind that I felt sofortable.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, it would be an honor if you bought our ind.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to offer me such a beautiful ind like this?¡±


    ¡°I bragged about the ind a little while ago, but it¡¯s hard for us to stand on our own terms. If you would let our people continue to live here like the residents of Arirang Ind, we will support the Kazakh royal family with all our hearts.¡±


    On the way back, Youngho took a quick tour of the ind on a speedboat.


    As he circled around Meltemi Ind, a smile did not leave his mouth.


    The more he looked, the more he liked the ind.


    Now, the Kazakh Navy could finally make a proper bridgehead in the Aegean Sea.


    It was a bit of a hassle to ept the inders, but on the other hand, it seemed to be better in terms of sentiment than to fill the ind with all military families only.


    Maintaining the residents was beneficial because they could be used as a card to persuade the Greek government when purchasing the ind.


    There was no reason for the Greek government to refuse it because it also needed the Kazakh royal family to serve as a buffer for the Aegean Sea.


    Turkey, which had always threatened Greece, would refrain from provocations as the Kazakh royal family was in the middle.

 Chapter 615 - An Inviolable Base (1)

    <h4>Chapter 615: An Invible Base (1)</h4>


    Buying Meltemi Ind was processed in a snap.


    As the Kazakh royal family was personally buying the ind, there were noplicated steps although it was buyingnd of Greek sovereignty. There had been many cases where the inds off the coast of the Aegean Sea were sold to foreigners.


    The construction of the military facilities, however, was a touchy part, but the Greek government actively agreed, as the Kazakh royal family imed to act as a buffer against Turkey.


    Turkey pressed Greece with its power to im some of the inds of the Aegean Sea as its territory. Lately, the situation of the sea had been tense, and Greece was getting tired of Turkish provocations.


    The U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean had been trying to defuse tensions over the Aegean Sea, but now the Greek government was willing to trust the Kazakh Royal Navy to take over the baton.


    The U.S. government had already agreed to give the role to the Kazakh Royal Navy as it would take off the burden from the U.S.


    ¡°Your Highness. Are you satisfied now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I feel like we¡¯ve been renting a ce to live in until now, but it¡¯s great that we can finally build a proper base.¡±


    Looking at the ind of Meltemi, Youngho felt satisfied.


    Even if he had the right to use the port of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates or the port of Chabahar in Iran, he was only borrowing those ces.


    ¡°Meltemi Ind is bigger than we thought, and we can expand the port, so it would be great to use it as a ship repair shop and ammunition distribution base. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°What? You want to use it as a repair shop and ammunition supply base?¡±


    Eriksson made a bold and refreshing suggestion even though he did not have a military base.


    ¡°Were you going to send every ship with minor repair needs to the Danish Shipyard?¡±


    Even the best-made electronic or mechanical equipment was bound to have small andrge failures due to defects in the manufacturing process or poor handling.


    It would be ridiculous to drag a ship operating in Arabia to Denmark to fix it. Even if they could do so, the absence of ships being repaired would also lead to a huge power gap.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that before.¡±


    Youngho flushed to think that he missed something really important.


    ¡°I thought you were buying an additional ind with that in mind.¡±


    ¡°This is why I have to listen to many people¡¯s opinions. If Lord Eriksson hadn¡¯t told me, I would have been flustered when the problem urs.¡±


    ¡°New vessels won¡¯t have problems right away, but we¡¯ll soon have parts to rece. Now that the ships in operation, it¡¯s not toote to prepare.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to build a dockyard, I¡¯d like to make it up to the level where precision weapons and electronicponents that can be repaired.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It may not be the level of technology that makes a finished product, but it needs to be simrly leveled to prepare for an emergency.¡±


    ¡°If there is a weapons repair shop on the ind, we should also look for a ce to test-fire.¡±


    ¡°I think the priority should be to choose where to put the ammunition storage. We have to keep our missiles and artillery, which is a lot of firepower.¡±


    Weapons such as missiles that were highly explosive could not be left out in the open.


    It wasmon knowledge to store weapons and ammunition in concrete structures or in a solid cave.


    ¡°It seems we have more work to do. In order to have to mount missiles, there must be a weapon room where experts reside.¡±


    ¡°I guess we have to find engineers to live there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s worrisome. Who woulde forward to relocate to a ce where cultural facilities werecking? That¡¯ll be hard to expect from white engineers. We¡¯ll have to call the technicians from the royal territory. It won¡¯t be easy.¡±


    Although the royal territory was not a big city, it was now equipped with great facilities and cultural amenities such as a department store and a few big theaters for people to enjoy.


    However, people in Meltemi Ind would have to travel to the ind of Crete, which was thergest ind in Greece, to enjoy their cultural life. It took a lot of time to travel by ship, so people would have to visit Crete on a propeller ne, so which technician would live on the ind at the risk of such inconvenience?


    ***


    If Arirang was a rectangr ind, Meltemi was stretched out like a worm.


    There were three or four ports, and the survey showed that only two of them would be usible to use.


    The majority of the residents lived near the eastern port with sandy beaches and shallow waters. It was on the side of the Arirang Inds.


    There was another port in the west on the opposite side, but it had been shunned by residents due to itsck of sandy beaches and deep water.


    Small fishing boats were also unable to dock due to its topographic position where it was not protected from the Mediterranean wind.


    The ships owned by the Kazakh royal family would not be affected by the waves and winds, but a breakwater along with a dock was essential for effective ship repair.


    So Youngho was head-to-head with the manager of the shipyard in the royal territory to select the location of the ship repair shop. The manager, after looking at photos of the ind taken by satellite and drones, nodded and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Your Highness, there is a t site on the right side of the bay, so I think it would be okay to make a dock for ship repair here.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too much to make a dock and a full ship repair shop on a small ind?¡±


    ¡°It is very useful to have a dock facility to build a trap repair shop. I¡¯ve heard that the Danish Shipyard is overwhelmed with ship orders and not able to handle ship repairs now. How can it fix the urgently needed warships in time? If we¡¯d be increasing the number of warships, we can¡¯t expect the Danish Shipyard to do all the jobs for us. A dedicated repair shop is essential.¡±


    ¡°But if we¡¯re going to build arge repair shop on the ind of Meltemi we¡¯re going to have to start by attracting engineers right away.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good ce to approach with ships operating in the Baltic and Arabian seas. I believe there are elements that the shipbuilding engineers of the royal territory will love.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Most of the engineers of the Arirang Shipyard are from Georgia. Just think about it. They are the people who were born and raised in ces as warm as here.¡±


    Arirang Shipyard¡¯s engineers were from the coast of southwestern Georgia, facing the ck Sea. When the shipyard they had been working for was on the verge of bankruptcy, they were forced to move to the royal territory.


    Since they had never seen snow all their lives, they had a hard time adjusting to the harsh weather in Kazakhstan. Still not adjusting to the cold, the work performance became poor when the weather began to get colder.


    They worked to live on, but most of them still went on a vacation to the ck Sea during the Christmas season.


    Engineers from Georgia were still missing a warm ce.


    For that reason, even if the ind was isted without cultural facilities, they would be willing to volunteer toe.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯d want to go to a ce where there are no educational and cultural facilities.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about young people, but old people like me who are about to retire wouldpete with each other to go. It¡¯s hard to adjust to the cold weather.¡±


    ¡°Great. Then, let¡¯s get volunteers.¡±


    If this would work, his biggest concern would be easily solved.


    There were plenty of ship engineers and engineers who worked at the weaponsbs and various ammunition factories in the royal territory.


    Anyone who had tasted the harsh winter in Kazakhstan would not mind the ind of Meltemi even for some ufortable living conditions.


    ¡°Your Highness. Can I go to Meltemi Ind, too? Now, I¡¯d like to leave my job to someone else and go serve the ind, so please allow me.¡±


    The manager showed his intention to step down carefully. He said that no one would mind a warm ind, and it seemed that he was one to think so.


    ¡°If you go, who will lead the shipyard in the royal territory?¡±


    ¡°The size of the shipyard has be too big for me to manage. I think it¡¯s time for me to step down. I¡¯m not a man of extraordinary skills. I¡¯ve only been there because of your kindness.¡±


    ¡°It must have been very hard for you to bear the cold here, too.¡±


    ¡°That ys a part too, but I¡¯m asking you this because it¡¯s a new ce that¡¯s just starting. I think it¡¯ll need help from someone like myself.¡±


    ¡°That sure is an important ce. I¡¯d be relieved if you would serve there. If you have anyone in mind who can rece your current position, please make a rmendation.¡±


    The ind was a strategic base of the Kazakh navy, so someone trustworthy should be in charge of it. The person who had been in charge of the shipyard in the royal territory was the right person for the Meltemi Ship Repair Center.


    Meltemi and Arirang Inds were thest bastions of Kazakh royal naval forces, so they should be managed by someone who knew Youngho¡¯s heart well.


    The U.S. once called Greend an unsinkable aircraft carrier, but the two inds in the Aegean Sea would be the invible aircraft carriers of the Kazakh royal family.

 Chapter 616 - An Inviolable Base (2)

    <h4>Chapter 616: An Invible Base (2)</h4>


    As the n was set, the construction of the Meltemi Ind facility proceeded very fast.


    First of all, the construction of the runway, desalination facilities, and amodation began.


    Large cargo would have to be moved by ship, but it was more efficient to use airnes as much as possible. Just like in Central Asia, Youngho was nning to open the era of propeller nes in the Aegean Sea.


    In the inds of the Aegean Sea, ships were the only means of transportation, and it was very inconvenient for the residents of the inds with a small poption because they did not even have a ferry.


    Because the Arirang royal territory produced its own light aircraft, passenger and cargo twin-motored aircraft, it was possible to supply the necessary nes at any time.


    The sky path connecting the Aegean inds was perfect for a propeller ne with a short take-off andnding distance.


    The existing port vige, which was mostly used by residents, would be made into a small town for residents and workers who would reside there, while the western port on the Mediterranean side would be built with military-rted facilities such as a military port and a ship repair shop.


    The work was getting bigger as various facilities were nned to be made to use the most area of the ind.


    ¡°You want to build a tourist amodation on an ind?¡±


    ¡°The Arirang Ind is small in size and has a royal vi, so it won¡¯t be suitable, but the Meltemi Ind is muchrger, so I figured we can build such a facility there.¡±


    ¡°Commissioner, that¡¯s the Kazakh Navy¡¯s strategic base. But if touristse in and out, they will reveal our military secrets to the whole world.¡±


    ¡°The purpose is to make it avable only to our people. That way, the people on the ind assimte with the maind without feeling isted.¡±


    It was a usible but uneptable n for now.


    The presence of the Kazakh Royal Navy base in the Aegean Sea was not yet known to the world, except for a few countries, including Greece and Turkey.


    One day, it would be known, but it was not Youngho¡¯s intention to spread it to the whole world now.


    Kim Chun mentioned tourist amodations, but Park Jong-il made everyoneugh when he suggested installing a cable car linking the ind to another ind.


    Such various suggestions from people were their proof of interest in the ind.


    It was a new territory in the Mediterranean, out of the maind. The Aegean Inds were enough to excite the leaders in the Arirang royal territory.


    It was so because Kazakhstan was in a geopolitical position where people could enter the Caspian Sea only through the Volga-Don canal.


    People paid high fees to Russia to use the Volga-Don canal, but now the royal family had an ind that was exposed to the sea, and the navy could be in and out at any time without reporting it to anyone.


    Youngho wanted to buy all the inds off the Aegean Sea, but he suppressed his desire as he did not want to get suspected by the Greek government. Its cooperation was absolutely necessary because this was within Greek territorial waters. He was contemting a n to tie down the Greek government.


    ¡°Jong-il. I think you should visit Greece.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°We intend topletely tie down Greece in case the territorial issue wille up in the future.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still us who persuaded Turkey to supply oil to Greece. Is there a bigger weapon than that?¡±


    ¡°Oil and gas can be brought in from the Middle East without our help. We need toe up with something else to make us irreceable to Greece.¡±


    ¡°What about us ying the role of a buffer from Turkey¡¯s provocations?¡±


    ¡°If the two countries suddenly decided to reconcile, our naval base could be ufortable to both. What if Greece asked us to shut down the military facility when we were supposed to use both inds forever as a naval base?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Is there a good solution?¡±


    ¡°I intend to take over the Port of Piraeus, Greece¡¯srgest port.¡±


    ¡°What? Who¡¯s going to sell it to you?¡±


    Greece was privatizing state-ownedpanies to prevent national bankruptcy.


    The privatization also included the Port of Piraeus.


    ¡°Eriksson brought some information.¡±


    ¡°Really? What do I have to do?¡±


    ¡°Make a higher offer than China.¡±


    The Port of Piraeus was Greece¡¯srgest logistics hub port, west of Athens.


    It was also one of thergest ports in the Mediterranean.


    It connected North Africa with Europe and the Balkan Penins, and it was the gateway to the ck Sea, where all kinds of logistics were concentrated.


    ording to Eriksson¡¯s information, a Chinese state-run shippingpany was eyeing the port.


    The Greek government was trying to sell its 67 percent stake in the port of Piraeus for 430 million dors, but only China was interested in it. China was about to win the bid.


    There was still an opportunity left for Youngho as further steps such as shareholders¡¯ agreement and the approval of the Hellenic Parliament did not take ce yet.


    So Youngho nned to intercept the purchase.


    If the port had thergest logistics hub in Greece, it would be also useful as a bargaining chip to pressure the Greek government in the future.


    Youngho intended to suggest 500 million dors as a purchase price to beat China.


    This was his second sh with China after the Uzbek gold mine, but Youngho did not intend to give up the ind because if the port of Piraeus was taken over by China, it would be like giving up its waters. And the Port of Piraeus was also a major hub for Arirang Shipping, so if China held managerial rights, it could expose the Aegean Sea¡¯s bridgehead to China.


    ***


    -We got it.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Youngho knew what Jong-il meant, but he asked again since he wanted to enjoy this moment.


    -You know what I mean. That means we¡¯re the owner of the Port of Piraeus.


    ¡°Whoa, tell me all about it.¡±


    -The port sale just passed the Parliament


    Youngho almost screamed, but he suppressed it because Min-seok, who came to get Youngho¡¯s approval for a document, was staring at him.


    ¡°How did the Chinese react?¡±


    -They were not happy about the decision.


    Even if the Kazakh royal family offered the same price, the Hellenic Parliament was in a position to support the Kazakh royal family.


    If the port was bought by China, Arirang Shipping may leave the Port of Piraeus, but Arirang Shipping ounted for a significant portion of the port¡¯s revenue sources.


    -I¡¯m d we got it, but I feel uneasy about the reaction of the Chinese.


    ¡°What are they going to do?¡±


    -I think they might take it out on something else.


    ¡°Are we the only country in the world to win a bid against China?


    -I¡¯ll finish things up here and be back soon. Anyway, be careful. I have a bad feeling about this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. Just finish it well.¡±


    -The border area is already prepared, so I don¡¯t worry about that, but I¡¯m afraid something¡¯s going to happen in the wrong ce. Just listen to me and tighten up on the pce security.


    ¡°Why are you scaring me?¡±


    -The Chinese were furious. It¡¯s like we ruined their food when everything was ready for eating. They were already chosen as a negotiating partner, but we suddenly showed up and offered a higher amount of money.


    ¡°They must¡¯ve thought that we interrupted them on purpose.¡±


    -Yeah, and the Chinese corporate officials have already left Greece. It¡¯s weird that they gave up so easily and left.


    China could hold a grudge especially if the opponent was the Kazakh royal family.


    Not only did China lose Uzbek gold mines to the Kazakh royal family but also its influence on Uzbekistan. There was a high possibility that there would be retaliation in any way, whether immediately orter.


    Park Jong-il was worried, but Youngho was fully prepared to counter any provocation, and the only ce for provocation was the Pamir teau. China was bound to be deeply ashamed if it approached the ce thinking it would be easy since Tajikistan militiamen had set up shelters everywhere and even prepared a secret strike as the snow melted. To get through it, China would have to deploy several mechanized divisions.


    By taking over the Port of Piraeus, the uncertainty about the two inds, Arirang and Meltemi, waspletely eliminated.


    The two inds, owned by the Kazakh royal family, could be considered harmful to Greece and the Greek government might demand the withdrawal of troops in the future, so the Port of Piraeus would be the royal family¡¯s hostage as a safety device.


    In other words, it was insurance against the change of government in Greece and when an unpredictable figure became its leader.

 Chapter 617 - Heightened Security (1)

    <h4>Chapter 617: Heightened Security (1)</h4>


    Following the sale of Greece¡¯srgest port, Piraeus, to the Kazakh royal family, the secondrgest port of Greece also fell in the hands of foreign capital soon as Hellenic Parliament passed a deal to sell its shares on the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki.


    Greece, which was on the brink of sovereign bankruptcy, was forced to sell its major national assets, starting to privatize state-runpanies and reform its economic structure at the request of creditors. This left Greece with the loss of control of its first and second ports.


    The Port of Thessaloniki was fiercely opposed bybor unions and opposition parties during the sale, but the previously sold Port of Piraeus ended in an unusually quiet manner. It was because the Kazakh royal family had silenced opposition.


    The Kazakh royal family not only helped to supply crude oil and gas but also bought bankrupt Greek shippingpanies helping Greece¡¯s national economy.


    Thus, there was no reason to oppose it. Rather, as the financially powerful Kazakh royal family took over the management, people of Greece were rather relieved to get out of the anxiety of losing their jobs.


    It was because the Kazakh royal family promised to make additional investments as part of the normalization of management.


    The investment was to expand the container field further so that it could receive more logistics, and to drastically reduce the time of loading and unloading containers by introducing thetest type of crane.


    Upon hearing that the Port of Piraeus¡¯ normalization and development, foreign shippers who turned a blind eye to the port before soon returned.


    Eriksson was in charge of the advancement process of the port. He stayed in Athens, Greece to oversee the whole process of expanding the crane yard, installing new crane, and introducing an advanced logistics system.


    The reason was that the port should be normalized as fast as possible to quellints from interested parties. One of them was China, which was originally a subject of negotiation.


    China was continuing to pressure the Greek government, ming and questioning the sale process, not including the Greek anti-China sentiment caused by China¡¯s aggressive measure to take over the port.


    Youngho was on the phone to talk to Jong-il who went to Greece to meet Greek government officials.


    ¡°What is the stance of the Greek government?¡±


    -Well, the officials of the government said that they have repeatedly stressed that it will only take effect when the Parliament approves it. They also asked the Chinese side not to provokebor unions or public sentiment, but they pressured the government mentioning the emergency management system, so the government was forced to feel burdened.


    ¡°I guess China is ming the Greek government for their fault.¡±


    -It must be upset because it missed a ce that would be an important business hub for One Belt One Road project. They need a scapegoat for their failure.


    ¡°If the Greek government is in trouble, tell them we¡¯ll help them.¡±


    -I¡¯ve already told them that.


    ¡°Look closely to see if China has any other joint ventures with Greece.¡±


    -I don¡¯t think we¡¯re in a position to argue about a business that the two countries have already started, but if the Greek government is in trouble, I will find a way to help.


    ***


    Youngho had no chance to see Park Jong-il¡¯s face since Jong-il had been too busy after he came back from Greece.


    It seemed that the recent strengthened security of the royal pce and immigration control was Park Jong-il¡¯s work.


    He only showed up at Youngho¡¯s office with tired eyes upon Youngho¡¯s call.


    ¡°Jong-il, what on earth are you doing these days?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell a busy man toe because he¡¯s ying hard to keep the royal family and Central Asia safe, Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t interfere if it¡¯s something that can be solved by running around alone. Why are you doing this by the way?¡±


    ¡°I told you. The Chinese won¡¯t stand still. I feel like my eyes will pop out checking satellite images in real time.¡±


    ¡°Is there any indication?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll respond to any kind of movement immediately, but I¡¯m very nervous because these guys aren¡¯t moving. I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re up to. They¡¯re the ones who mobilized a human trafficking ring. I think they¡¯ll do anything to tame us.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you¡¯ve tightened the security here?¡±


    ¡°I did it just in case. They¡¯re not going to get through this time.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to trust the ring¡¯s ability yet.¡±


    ¡°Well, the ring works only when something is about to happen, but a man¡¯s judgment is ahead of it. It¡¯s my way of cracking down in advance.¡±


    Jong-il had been working on strengthening the security of the royal territory so secretively that it took a while even for Youngho to notice. His effort was quite impressive.


    All organizations under the Arirang royal territory were stable.


    About 70,000 Kurds were still moving in every month, but there was no sense of clutter as settlement was taking ce naturally. The first settlers were helping the new settlers adjust to the royal territory, and it was going smoothly.


    A yearter, the first Kurdish settlers hadpletely melted into the royal territory.


    Most of them, though temporary, got jobs, and young people were either entering the path of bing soldiers or learning new skills in vocational schools.


    Such a stable settlement in a short period of time was a phenomenal case that had not been found anywhere else.


    ¡°Youngho, we once said China was likely to readjust its boundary before building a wall in the Xinjiang Uyghur area. That keeps on bothering me. I don¡¯t think the provocation will end only in the border area.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean it¡¯s not likely to end only in the border area?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because Il-kwon said something that the Chinese might be after the royal family. It keeps on getting on my mind, and I can¡¯t get my hands on work. So, I¡¯d like to bring Zeynep and Yunsuh¡¯s family here for a while. What do you think?¡±


    Youngho also knew what Kim Il-kwon was worried about.


    After bing the head of the security team in the royal territory, he tightened the security of the pce and the personal guarding of the royal family members scattered around.


    Even Szechenyi and Isabe in Denmark and Yunsuh¡¯s family in Frankfurt were protected strictly by bodyguards.


    ¡°They have bodyguards with them, so what are you worried about?¡±


    ¡°The best thing to do when it rains is to avoid it as much as possible.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s n to bring the family members living overseas seemed a bit too much, but there was nothing wrong with being cautious.


    ¡°All right. Call them in if you think it¡¯s necessary.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making a good decision here. Now I¡¯ll stretch out my legs and get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be too d when Yunsuhes here, would that be all right?¡±


    Jong-il had a history of making Yunsuh¡¯s friends cry, so the two bickered with each other whenever they met.


    ¡°It¡¯s easier to listen to Yunsuh¡¯s nagging than to be afraid that something will go wrong. In fact, I should thank her for reminding me of beautiful memories in the past.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what memory? You seduced innocent girls and made them cry.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m sure they¡¯d think of it as great memories. How proud must they be to think that they once were lovers of the Count of Kazakhstan¡¯s royal family? Maybe they¡¯ll mention it to their children as well.¡±


    ¡°You shameless jack*ss!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a memory of your youth. I pity a man who doesn¡¯t even have such beautiful memories.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡±


    Effective security was almost difficult because security targets were inevitably exposed in ces other than the royal territory. Especially Zeynep¡¯s security was the hardest.


    She was a free soul and often seen wandering off her guard line, making her an easy target.


    Youngho did not want to imagine what would happen next if something unexpected happened.


    Yunsuh¡¯s family and Zeynep soon returned to the royal territory without dy when Youngho asked them.


    It would be inconvenient to stay in the royal pce where they had to follow the royal code, but it was better than to fidget about every day with anxiety.


    The person who was most dissatisfied with her return was Zeynep.


    ¡°So, you mean this is all Jong-il oppa¡¯s doing?¡±


    Zeynep was sour as she imed that she was called in for nothing.


    ¡°Zeynep, would he have made up a story just to make youe? It¡¯s time to be careful.¡±


    ¡°And if I can¡¯t graduate, you two are responsible.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    She was trying to take advantage of this situation since she never studied hard as she was busy with her Social Welfare Foundation¡¯s work.


    If he answered poorly here, he would be caught up in Zeynep¡¯s trick, so Youngho shut his mouth.


    ¡°Hohoho... It doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t live in society without a college diploma, so it¡¯s okay.¡±


    She then answered on her own.


    ¡°Do you have any ns to graduate?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to go to a graduate school.¡±


    Youngho was shocked because this meant that Zeynep would stay in Frankfurt longer.


    Aside from the cost of security for her, her bodyguards were extremely fatigued due to her lifestyle, and special measures needed to be taken.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you settle down and go to college here?¡±


    ¡°What? The royal territory¡¯s college doesn¡¯t even have my major.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you major in nursing at the Royal Medical College? I¡¯m rmending you this since it¡¯ll be helpful when you work at your hospital ship.¡±


    To keep Zeynep in the area, Youngho had to do something to get her hooked, and as she was into the hospital ship she was building these days, he put it up as bait.


    Then her eyes glistened momentarily. This meant that she liked Youngho¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°You mean you don¡¯t mind if I go around the world on the hospital shipter? Do you mind if I go to a dangerous area?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t mind. If you go to the Royal Medical College, I¡¯ll allow you to do whatever you want.¡±


    Zeynep was skeptical because Youngho had never made such an unconventional offer before.


    Youngho was not worried about her being on the hospital ship as bodyguards would be around the ship anyway. By then, the Kazakh Navy would be equipped with power that no other force couldpare.

 Chapter 618 - Heightened Security (2)

    <h4>Chapter 618: Heightened Security (2)</h4>


    ¡°Is it true that Zeynep is transferring to the Royal College? You didn¡¯t force her to do that, did you?


    Fatima asked again and again as she could not believe it.


    She was dying to know what kind of offer Youngho made to convince the stubborn princess, Zeynep.


    ¡°Oh, you know she¡¯s not the one to be forced even if I forced her. It¡¯s a decision she made on her own.¡±


    Fatima was also relieved to hear that Zeynep was staying at the royal territory. She was always worried about Zeynep¡¯s security as the whole world knew that the Kazakh princess attended Goethe University. Anyone could harm her if they wanted to.


    ¡°There must have been some kind of deal that made Zeynep decide to attend the Royal Medical School.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I did make a deal. I promised to get her on the hospital ship in the future.¡±


    Fatima frowned slightly at the word, ¡®hospital ship¡¯.


    It was a look of discontent.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that equally dangerous to staying in Frankfurt?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s after a few years of studying nursing. By then, the Royal Navy¡¯s force would be next to the United States, Britain, and France. Imagine a task fleet moving along the path of the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Is the Navy going to be that strong?¡±


    ¡°Not only the navy but also the Air Force and the Army will be second only to China and Russia.¡±


    Youngho imed confidently not wanting to worry Fatima.


    ¡°The hospital ship goes to dangerous ces like conflict zones and in underdeveloped countries where security is unstable... I don¡¯t know why Zeynep is always choosing dangerous things.¡±


    ¡°In the next year, a proper fleet of strategic maneuvering ships will roam the Antic and Indian oceans. Then even if Zeynep goes anywhere and does volunteer work, you won¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    ¡°I just want her to go to medical school and get married to a good guy. You make her do that.¡±


    ¡°Let her be. We never know when her mind will change again.¡±


    Although Youngho said so, he did not believe that Zeynep would change her mind about the hospital ship. She had already recruited a medical team to work under her social welfare foundation¡¯s name.


    ¡°I¡¯m d that she will stay in the royal territory. Children would love to have their aunt Zeynep back.¡±


    ¡°Considering the situation, I¡¯d like to ask Yunsuh¡¯s family to stay here too. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think my sister-inw will want to stay here because she has a passion for education. If they are safe in Frankfurt, just let them be.¡±


    Yunsuh and Sang-chun were in love with Germany¡¯s advanced education system, and the reason why they insisted on Germany was because of their children¡¯s education.


    Yunsuh¡¯s family was never been particrly noticed because they had never imed to be the sister and brother-inw of the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    They were the European distributor of Zeynep wine, but that was because they were connected with the business.


    However, if one dug deep enough, it would soon be revealed that they were rted to the Kazakh royal family. That was what worried Youngho.


    So, Youngho increased their security staff and moved their residence from the third floor of the distributor¡¯s agency to another ce.


    As there was a lot of trouble with China, he had no choice but to strengthen the security of his family members just in case.


    ***


    Security work could not rx even in the safest ce in the world as it was a task to assume and prepare for the worst.


    As a result, the security guards always suffered from fatigue. Recently, however, the security team found someposure as the number of security guards increased dramatically after the bodyguards protecting Zeynep and Yunsuh¡¯s family returned to the royal territory.


    There were nine guards on Zeynep¡¯s as Youngho and Kim Il-kwon were concerned about her to a great extent.


    Zeynep¡¯s bodyguards, who returned to the royal territory, looked alive. They were drained of their energy due to the uncontroble subject of protection. It was understandable that they were cheered by the news that Zeynep would no longer stay in Germany.


    As the number of royal guards increased, Kim Il-kwon, who had always been on his alert, also looked more rxed.


    ¡°Your Highness, I would like to include the knights guarding the royal pce as part of the security team.¡±


    ¡°Their priority is always the safety of the queen and Leon.¡±


    It was not the Middle Ages, but the descendants of the Serbian knights still thought that their mission was to protect the queen and her sessor.


    Even their attire was out of date as they insisted on antiquity.


    Since it was a symbolic organization of the Kazakh royal family, it moved separately from the security team. However, Kim Il-kwon was saying that he wanted to absorb such an organization into the security team.


    ¡°The martial arts of knights are unusual. Their senses are ahead of our agents. When they¡¯re put in charge of security, they can do their job much more efficiently.¡±


    ¡°The problem is whether Earl Niksic should agree... but I don¡¯t know if I can beat his stubbornness.¡±


    The efforts of Old Niksic, who struggled to establish the royal tradition and authority, were great. It was no exaggeration to say that the Kazakh royal family had now settled down due to the efforts of Niksic.


    These days, Niksic lived at Baku¡¯s Serbian ranch.


    He insisted that he should stay for the sake of the status of the royal vi at the ranch. Another reason for him to move back to the ranch was that he suffered from poor health due to the severe cold in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°When I came to the Arirang State, I discussed the issue of integrating the security office, and at first nce, he seemed to agree.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s unlikely of the Earl Niksic that I know.¡±


    ¡°He knows the times have changed. He¡¯s been stubborn because he was determined to correct the royal dignity first.¡±


    ¡°Well, then try to tie the two groups together. I¡¯ll ask Earl Niksic¡¯s consent.¡±


    Niksic, who believed royal authority came from the knights, was running the knight organization in his own way.


    Everyone acknowledged the knights¡¯ extraordinary loyalty to the royal family, and Youngho did not interfere with the knights.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this on behalf of me. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. He¡¯s an elder of the royal family, and I should respect him as one.¡±


    ***


    After talking to Il-kwon, Youngho called Niksic.


    ¡°Sir Niksic. How is your health these days?¡±


    -I¡¯ve been getting better after taking the herbal medicine you sent me. I can¡¯t believe you paid so much attention for this old man.


    ¡°How can I ignore it when you¡¯re so important in the royal family? Don¡¯t worry and let me know any time you need anything. We¡¯ll be happy to send you some medicine.¡±


    It seemed the herbal medicine made by a Korean herbal doctor suited his body well. His voice was as powerful as it used to be.


    Youngho was always sorry that he hurt his health while busily setting up the royal tradition, but now it was relieving to hear him doing better.


    When Niksic, who had been maintaining great health with the breathing skills handed down only to the Serbian knights, said he would go back to Baku for health reasons, Youngho was shocked.


    The knights and descendants of the knights of the Serbian Kingdom survived through hundreds of years in very and hardships with their own breathing techniques.


    ¡°The weather here now is a little hot during the day. I¡¯ll send you a private jet so you cane here and get a health checkup.¡±


    -Then I¡¯ll dare to take your word. I¡¯d love to see you, Her Majesty, and the Crown Prince.


    He was d to have a chance to visit the royal territory.


    He wanted to assist Fatima and Leon closely, but he withdrew himself to Baku because his health did not allow him to stay.


    He had recovered his health but had no excuse toe back, so he had been anxious toe. As Youngho invited him, he agreed without hesitation.


    ¡°Leon often talks about Lord Niksic.¡±


    -Really? The Crown Prince has not forgotten me?


    He was very touched when Youngho said that Leon remembered him.


    ¡°Of course. Wasn¡¯t Lord Niksic the most secure shield for him? You were generous to all his troubles, so how can he forget you?¡±


    -Oh, I¡¯m so grateful to hear that... Then I¡¯ll go straight to the royal territory...


    He could not even continue his words as he was extremely thrilled.


    Though old, it was very pleasant to have someone who still needed him.


    In particr, the rtionship between Niksic and Leon was like a great grandfather and great-grandson. He was particrly fussy about taking care of Leon as he was the heir to the royal family, and Leon followed Niksic like his grandfather as well.


    Youngho waited a while for Niksic to subdue his emotions and then brought up the point.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling to hear your opinion on the idea of integrating the royal security service.¡±


    -I¡¯m just sorry to make you call. This old man¡¯s stubbornness has disrupted the royal security work.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. How can I not understand Lord Niksic¡¯s heart? Thanks to your hard work, we have been able to revive the royal tradition.¡±


    -Thank you for understanding my heart.


    ¡°I recently decided to strengthen the security in the royal pce because of the unstable surroundings. So, I¡¯m going to put the knights in the security service. Their senses would be of great help.¡±


    -Your Highness. Is everything all right?


    ¡°Princess Zeynep and my sister and her family in Germany are back at the Arirang royal territory.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Niksic seemed greatly surprised.


    The withdrawal from Germany meant there was a threat to the royal family.


    -Is someone targeting our royal family?


    ¡°There is nothing concrete yet. It¡¯s just a precaution.¡±


    -But there must be some sign of it. Isn¡¯t that why you¡¯re reinforcing defense like this?


    ¡°There has been some conflict with Chinately. That¡¯s why we¡¯re strengthening our vignce because we don¡¯t know China might do as retaliation.¡±

 Chapter 619 - Preemptive Strike (1)

    <h4>Chapter 619: Preemptive Strike (1)</h4>


    After finishing the phone call with Niksic, Youngho was preupied for a long time.


    He had been shing with the Chinese government several times now that it seemed overwhelming, especially because China was not an easy opponent.


    While thinking about that, Park Jong-il walked into the office.


    ¡°What¡¯s that serious look on your face?¡±


    ¡°I just got off the phone with Earl Niksic, and he mumbled something strange.¡±


    ¡°Is that old man upsetting you again?¡±


    Jong-il and Niksic always growled at each other when they met, so Jong-il always had a grudge against him.


    ¡°Oh, stop him. He¡¯s not a stranger, you know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a crazy old man who can¡¯t stand me, but you want me to be nice to him? Anyway, what did the old man say?¡±


    ¡°When I said we had some trouble with China, he said we couldn¡¯t stay in the same sky with China.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, it¡¯s been a long time since he said the right thing. He¡¯s not being nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Niksic probably means we need to be able to stand against China.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just an empty remark, why do you give a heavy meaning to it?¡±


    ¡°I want to give a meaning to that guy¡¯s words.¡±


    Park Jong-il glistened his eyes at Youngho¡¯s words.


    He had realized what Youngho¡¯s remark meant.


    ¡°Are you crazy? Are you going tounch a preemptive strike against China?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t do. There¡¯s a way to attack without getting noticed by anyone. How would you know if we were tounch a cyber-attack? Nobody knows we¡¯re operating a cyber unit, right?¡±


    Intrigued, Jong-il leaned forward toward Youngho.


    ¡°Nobody except for a few military leaders know. But you¡¯re really going tounch a cyber-attack? Don¡¯t take your word backter!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we can¡¯t go on like this. We¡¯ll have to buy some time to turn around China¡¯s attention. But do you think our hackers who used to be white hackers do well?¡±


    ¡°White hackers and ck hackers are all capable. There¡¯s still a question of legal or illegal. If they do their job on orders, they¡¯ll be more excited because they don¡¯t have any mental burden.¡±


    It was amon view amongputer security experts to recognize white hackers as the guardian of justice, and ck hackers as criminals whomitted illegal acts.


    The cyber unit under the royal territory consisted of all white hackers.


    ¡°But our orders will include illegal activities that ck hackers do, I wonder if our agents will respond to such orders easily.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve sworn allegiance to the royal family. Their families also moved here from Korea. They will try to take the lead in attacking any target.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d if so. Whatever it is, I trust you that you¡¯ll convince them. They¡¯re still pure guys who haven¡¯t done anything tough yet.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re worried about everything. It¡¯s like a war, just without guns. They¡¯ll do better even because of their sense of duty.¡±


    If people heard that Kazakhstan, which was only a developing country, operated a cyber unit, they would be surprised as it was difficult to trainputer experts and the cost of maintaining the unit was extreme.


    The cyber unit under the royal territory was an organization that Youngho made bold investments to prepare for future war.


    Some 500 young Koreanputer-experts were recruited to form a cyber unit equivalent to the Fourth Army, after Kazakhstan¡¯s Army, Navy, and Air Force.


    The initial goal was to operate a cyber unit of about 1,000 Korean experts, but it was not easy to recruitputer-majoring high-skilled workers, so Youngho hired young people from the royal territory to fill the members. It was still a no match to cyber units of powerful nations, but it was an overwhelming size for Kazakhstan.


    The cyber unit even had a supeputer worth just over a hundred million dors.


    The Swedish supeputer, which was purchased through the Swedish Information Agency, boasted the world¡¯s ninthrgestputing speed.


    ¡°Which target will make the most impact?¡±


    ¡°I guess shaking the bank¡¯sputerwork will work best.¡±


    The job of a cyber unit was mostly defending attacks from the outside world. Cyber-attacks and intelligence warfare on the national infrastructure of enemy countries were rather rare.


    One of the hardest-hit cases of cyber-attacks was the U.S. and Israeli cyber troops attacking Iran¡¯s nuclear facilities, which broke down a uranium-enrichment reactor, setting back Iran¡¯s nuclear program for a few years.


    Iran made no protest although it was roughly guessing the attackers because it failed to provide clear evidence.


    ¡°Can we get through China¡¯s security system?¡±


    China officially imed there were no cyber troops, but military experts believed that it had about 20,000 cyber agents.


    ¡°They say it¡¯s hard to stop a hacker with 1,000 security experts. We won¡¯t know for sure unless we try.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start the operation. I don¡¯t know how much confusion we¡¯ll cause to China, but it¡¯s better than staying still.¡±


    So far, Youngho always waited for China to make provocations first.


    However, he decided not to be dragged around passively anymore after talking to Niksic.


    They said that an attack was a defense


    It was also a way to keep China from turning its eyes to the outside world by throwing it into chaos. There seemed to be no better way to buy time than that.


    Even the greatest of China would eventually shake if he kept knocking on its door.


    ***


    ¡°They¡¯re pretty good. It¡¯s not easy to break through their security.¡±


    Jong-il appeared in a few daysining.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it that we¡¯re not good enough?¡±


    ¡°They are my best guys in Korea. They¡¯ve been in the top list of the international hackerpetition before.¡±


    The fight between the informers and the blockers had been going on all over the world, and it had been holding variouspetitions to train security experts and attract the attention of the talented, and one of them was the International Hacking Competition.


    Korean youths were sweeping such internationalpetitions, but the Korean government did not provide a great environment and treatment to those talented people, so many of them were leaving the country.


    So, the Arirang royal territory had recruited such smart people to use them as cyber soldiers andputer instructors treat them with an annual sry of hundreds of millions won.


    The world was suffering every day because of the gunless war, but South Korea, which was trying to get on the threshold of advanced countries, still tended to treat security experts as criminals.


    ¡°I guess China has been also preparing a lot for cyber terrorism.¡±


    ¡°Yes, looks like it. But by 10 a.m. tomorrow, something shocking will happen.¡±


    ¡°Did you seed in nting a malicious code?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve had sess every day. It was a problem that they found out in less than a few hours when we nted a malicious code. I¡¯m confident so far, but we won¡¯t know until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the target?¡±


    ¡°You have to start with small things to keep our activities hidden. First of all, I¡¯m going to try to paralyze Peking Station.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s next?


    ¡°Phew, you have a lot of greed.¡±


    When Youngho pressed him, Jong-il shook his head.


    ¡°Next time we¡¯re going after the refinery and the power nt.¡±


    ¡°Then the security will get stronger.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter because we¡¯ll nt malicious code in advance and only have different dates to be implemented.¡±


    ¡°If you seed, I¡¯ll have to pay the bonus. It¡¯s not a crime, it¡¯s for the country. If they work under the cyber unit they¡¯re definitely on the path of bing a soldier.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s rather just a good job for them. It¡¯s like a yground for them where they get paid a lot of money and good treatments.¡±


    No matter what the cyber troops thought, they were strong allies for Youngho.


    The main reason for raising cyber troops was to defend the country from enemy attacks. He did not intend tounch cyber-attacks like this. However, if this was a sess, it would be a great idea to shake China often in this way from now on. There was no reason to say no as this was better than shooting missiles since it did not cause huge security damages and human casualties.


    ¡°Go to Korea and bring more cyber troops.¡±


    ¡°For that kind of job, I won¡¯t need to step forward. People who used to y withputers get along with each other. If the conditions are right, they¡¯ll bring dozens of good friends, too.¡±


    ¡°Then tell them to go ahead. You don¡¯t need to be Korean, so tell them to bring all the friends who made their names as hackers. I promise to give them a house and introduce girls to date.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be interested in thedies here.¡±


    Central Asian men and women had a peculiar charm because many ethnicities had been mingled together for a long time.


    Because of such beauty, there was even an incident in which Chinese merchants in Kazakhstan bought virgins for money and sent them to China. It did not happen anymore and Youngho rooted those criminals out as soon as he found out about it.


    Korean rural bachelors had often sought to wee Central Asian virgins as brides. However, since the Kazakh economy improved, the poprity of Kazakh girls to Korean rural bachelors had declined. Not many girls now would go to Korea to get married.


    These days, hundreds of talented and handsome Korean young men wereing to Kazakhstan every day. This was because Kazakhstan was like a liberation zone for young Koreans looking for jobs.

 Chapter 620 - Preemptive Strike (2)

    <h4>Chapter 620: Preemptive Strike (2)</h4>


    These days, the most popr marriage partners for Kazakh or Kyrgyz girls were by far the Korean young men.


    It was because they were highly educated, made good money, and had good manners.


    By appearance, young Koreans had improved their physique so much that they were no different than Central Asian men with European blood.


    Unlike Central Asian men who were steeped in male-dominated Imic culture, Korean men were considered the best husband because they were so kind to women and had financial abilities.


    Perhaps that was why Korean men who traveled to remote viges were often devastated.


    There were frequent asions where the parents of daughters in small viges forced marriages of their daughters to young Korean men who visited their vige, which was a ridiculous skit.


    All of this happened because there was a rumor that if they married a young Korean man, they would take care of your family.


    Park Jong-il jokingly said that pure Korean blood would soon disappear.


    ¡°At this rate, we won¡¯t have any pure Koreans left here.¡±


    ¡°Isn`t it funny to stick to the same ethnicity in the age of globalization? We also have a foreign wife, but we didn¡¯t have any problems.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s because we¡¯re so good. If they¡¯re not as cool as we are, they wouldn¡¯t be able to live confidently. They should know that there are thorns in a pretty rose.¡±


    ¡°What? You mean you don¡¯t like having Karajan as your wife?¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, I didn¡¯t say that. I¡¯m just warning that they can¡¯t be charmed only because of girls¡¯ pretty looks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a little fishy. I¡¯ll have to warn Karajan to be careful.¡±


    ¡°Why are you trying to create a disturbance in a healthy family? I can¡¯t live a day without her!¡±


    ¡°Is that a lie or is it the truth? Don¡¯t struggle with happiness, live as if you were dead. You¡¯re not going anywhere to meet such a nice and pretty wife, and you know it¡¯s all because of me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you so much that I feel like I should bow to you every day.¡±


    ***


    ¡°It¡¯s a sess. Chinese news is all about this now.¡±


    The operation to paralyze Peking Station seemed to have seeded.


    The station¡¯sputerwork was jammed, so both the vehiclesing into and out of the station stopped. Beijing Station was in a state of chaos because of many stranded tourists. It was fortunate that there was no train collision.


    The attack was intended to embarrass the Chinese authorities and not to hurt innocent citizens, so Youngho was relieved to hear that.


    ¡°With thework down, they can¡¯t operate anything.¡±


    ¡°Look at them. There are thousands, not hundreds. Now they need to take care of everything with human hands.¡±


    One might think that people can do theputer ticket business with hands, but it would be impossible to deal with thousands of people. The number of travelers using Peking Station was enormous beyondmon sense.


    Even if they managed to fill out the number of passenger cars and seats by hand for each train hour, how would they get the train to leave when the system that controlled the train was down?


    If one tried to control the train that departed and arrived every few minutes, it would most likely cause a major ident.


    ¡°I¡¯m d there was no train ident. I didn¡¯t expect that.¡±


    ¡°Me neither. The damage is not so huge because Peking Station is divided into several stations.¡±


    ¡°Wait, look. I think the train is moving...¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯ve already restored the system? How great is their ability that they can get them back to work soon?¡±


    A picture of the train pulling out of the station was broadcasted on the news.


    The Chinese government quickly normalized its station.


    ¡°Look at this. I don¡¯t think it hit them that hard.¡±


    ¡°Sure. They¡¯ll be more frightened when the oilpany and the power nt stop tomorrow morning after taking a breather. Look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°Tell our agents to control their speed because we don¡¯t want to hurt innocent people.¡±


    ¡°There are just no gunshots but we¡¯re at war now. If someone were to be harmed, all they can do is to me that they¡¯re born in China.¡±


    Looking for excuses, Park Jong-il also seemed to feel ufortable.


    ¡°By the way, is everything all right with the Pamir teau?¡±


    ¡°Pamir is perfectly prepared, so we can stop any provocation. The problem is that the royal territory is too cluttered.¡±


    ¡°Il-kwon told me the security here is perfect.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried because of Kurdish immigrants. Most people are from different regions and they don¡¯t know their neighbors¡¯ faces. They have not lived in a normal society and they can be too ignorant to be easily seduced.¡±


    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve found a new life, they can¡¯t do that unless they¡¯re crazy.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know people¡¯s heart. It¡¯s a world in which people who you believe in are often backstabbing.¡±


    No matter how well the security was strengthened, there was no way to stop an insider¡¯s betrayer.


    The Arirang royal territory had to be cluttered as tens of thousands of Kurds move in every month. The new immigrants were quickly melting into life here because the people who had already settled were helping them out.


    ¡°While they live in a temporary camp, we need to educate them thoroughly and let them know the atmosphere here. And you are missing out on the fact that the Kurds are loyal to Jelyan.¡±


    ¡°When do you train all the tens of thousands of people every month?¡±


    ¡°When they get jobs and settle down, they¡¯ll be the most loyal group, and somehow we¡¯ll get them to understand our situation.¡±


    Three months after moving in, the migrants would move into their houses, at which point their affection for the royal territory was high.


    However, after moving into a house and getting a job, they tended to obsess with money unlike when they lived in groups. It was because they learned that if they worked hard, they could live well.


    It would have been difficult for them to engage in proper economic activities amid the saturation of the war.


    People who did not even have a sense of citizenship might have the wrong idea that once they knew the taste of money, they just had to make money whatever they did.


    That was what Jong-il was worried about. It could be groundless thought, but it would not hurt to be careful.


    ***


    The next day, contrary to Youngho¡¯s expectations, the thermal power nt near the border was operating normally, and the refinery at Dalian Port stopped operating.


    However, the refinery was restored after half a day and started normal operation.


    It was one sess and one failure, and Youngho still considered it a good achievement for the first attack.


    But the fact that China had enormous potential made his hair stand on edge.


    It was surprising that it had the ability to detect and restore hidden malware.


    ¡°Both our agents who seeded in the attack and the Chinese government that stopped it are amazing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting goosebumps, too. I didn¡¯t expect China to be prepared this thoroughly. I guess we¡¯ve been thinking about China too easily.¡±


    It was a case where they met a huge wall that could never be ovee.


    ¡°I hate to admit it, but for now, it is too much to deal with China.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to stop the cyber-attacks?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. It¡¯s the only way to shake China and we have to keep digging. We¡¯ll continue cyber-attacks even if we have to recruit global hackers.¡±


    Cyber-attacks were not all about shaking up state-runputerworks, public facilities, and strategic facilities. There was a way to make ck propaganda using SNS. Such attacks could be more effective sometimes.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we will get hit in reverse if we get caught while doing the attack.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re prepared, too¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re only at a baby steppared to China.¡±


    ¡°But do you want to be scared and give up now? Even now, we need to hire more talented people and shake China in other ways. I want to try how thick the wall is.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the time to joke. Since it¡¯s not China that we¡¯ve known so far, we have to stay alert.¡±


    ¡°I know. So let¡¯s just pour in the money and get ready.¡±


    ¡°I am a little shaken because to think that we¡¯repeting with so much power.¡±


    ¡°Jong-il, why do you keep your tail down? It¡¯s not like you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re dealing with China. They¡¯ve been preparing this for decades. I¡¯m frankly scared that I have to keep living with that kind of opponent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to start an obvious war with China, so don¡¯t worry. We still maintain normal national rtions with China.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re going to stay put when we sh on so many asions outside. Don¡¯t we have to try to recover our rtions with China and use an appeasement policy from now on?¡±


    ¡°Have you turned from hawks to doves?¡±


    ¡°Cyber-attacks won¡¯t buy us enough time. They¡¯re already all set, but it¡¯s hard to catch up right now. I¡¯d rather buy enough time by appeasing them.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s suggestion was rational, but the new policy of appeasement required the opening of Central Asia, which was only going to give China wings.


    Now that Central Asian countries were slowly getting out of China¡¯s economic sphere and entering the path of self-reliance, it was not a good time to do so. It would be like destroying a hard-worked tower.


    If one was forced to live with a dangerous neighbor, it would be best to think of it as fate and persevere.


    ¡°Hey, what turned the Director of Intelligence so timid?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you must have forgotten that there¡¯s no fear in Park Jong-il¡¯s dictionary.¡±


    ¡°I started life with my bare hands. After all, there¡¯s nothing to lose. There¡¯s a saying, ¡®if you will to live you¡¯ll die, and if you will to die, you will live.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re talking about, but if you¡¯re dealing with someone you can¡¯t help, giving him candy and soothing him is another way. If you know the power of the other person and you still go for it, that¡¯s just reckless.¡±


    Normally, Jong-il was a reckless person, but he was very careful today.


    Park Jong-il¡¯s words were so strange that Youngho was staring at them.


    ¡°What are you looking for me? It¡¯s proof that I¡¯m getting old.¡±


    ¡°Is Karajan pregnant or something?¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°I felt like there was something about you being so careful as you never did before. You don¡¯t want to see Kazakhstan get into a war when a child is going to be born soon.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily, but after meeting an invincible wall, I want topromise as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the situation of walking on thin ice, either. But this is because China¡¯s greed is endless. Just keep trying cyber-attacks to buy a short time. Restoration of the rtionship with China is a matter for the future.¡±

 Chapter 621 - Compromise (1)

    Chapter 621: Compromise (1)


    The Chinese government was thrown into confusion when theputer systems of public facilities were attacked.


    This was an unprecedented situation in which malicious codes were detected and treated in advance in more than 20 facilities, not one or two locations, and some of the facilities¡¯ operations were suspended.


    Upon learning that they were systematically attacked from the outside, the Chinese government dered a state of emergency. The Chinese government was making all-out efforts to determine the cause of the attack, judging that it was the work of those who were unhappy with its policies, rather than viewing it as an attack by a specific country.


    It was natural as no country would dare to do such a job against China as it was a risky gamble. If caught, it would have to prepare for an all-out war.


    Considering the level of the attack, it did not affect the overall industrial facilities. China did not think it was a national attack.


    But even with such a sloppy attack, China was very stirred.


    Some evenined that the result did not live up to the nation¡¯s astronomical expenses on cybersecurity.


    The Chinese government tried to prepare security measures, but already, it had been revealed that theputer securitywork was sloppy, and ck hackers started to peer at the Chineseputerwork frequently.


    The attack was, overall, not very ineffective.


    It was not until Youngho heard from intelligence agents that the Chinese government was in a hurry that he found the impact of the attack was enormous.


    The fact that the Chinese government was so embarrassed by the temporary paralysis of theirputer system itself was a good harvest.


    The Chinese government, which wielded unbridled power and coercive policies, was also very sensitive to public discontent.


    ¡°Look, the Chinese government is all flustered.¡±


    Hearing that the Chinese government was concerned about cyber terrorism, Youngho got excited.


    Park Jong-il, who delivered the news, also tilted his head at the unexpected result.


    ¡°It¡¯s an unexpected situation. I¡¯m a little puzzled.¡±


    Cyber-attacks did not just cause paralysis of work. The chain reaction of its ramifications had been more than imagined.


    The news of the Chinese government¡¯s embarrassment was like a rain in drought.


    ¡°Looks like we chickened out for nothing. I was going to listen to you and change my China policy a little bit.¡±


    ¡°I still think we should keep things amicable with China to buy time. That doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re going to stop the cyber-attacks.¡±


    ¡°I also want to buy time in many different ways. I¡¯m just a little hesitant because we don¡¯t have the right card to deal with China. Why don¡¯t we send a special envoy to China to figure out what the intent of the Chinese government is?¡±


    There had been no change in the policy toward China.


    Kazakh crude oil and gas were still exported to China through pipelines. It was a means to earn foreign currency.


    Sending a love call to China would be part of an operation to ease internal tensions and buy time. It was an effort to ease the strained rtionship due to the royal family¡¯s recent purchase of the Greek port, Piraeus.


    Such a thing would be more smoothly solved by having a mediator than by the direct parties.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have the best result if we can mobilize Michael, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. He¡¯s been telling us to have an amicable rtionship with China anyway. He seemed to beining about not focusing on Afghanistan these days.¡±


    This was about the deployment of many Kazakh troops near the Tajikistan border without going deep into Afghanistan while working as peacekeepers. There was no other choice as Youngho was not sure when China would attack the Pamir teau.


    ¡°What are you talking about? We guarantee the security of the U.S. military in Afghanistan. The Kazakh Army is peacekeepers.¡±


    The number of anti-government organization¡¯s attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan had decreased significantly since the Kazakh troops were dispatched.


    This was because the Kazakh military, which was Muslim the same as Afghanistan people, was stationed with the U.S. military. For the U.S. military, the Kazakh military was like a strong shield.


    Then, the U.S.panies, which had joined the resource development in Afghanistan, also became active as the site of the geological exploration, peace-keeping vehiclesposed of Kazakh troops were always there.


    ***


    -Hello, what makes the Duke of Kazakhstan call me?


    ¡°I just thought I¡¯d say hello in a long while.¡±


    -You don¡¯t have that much leisurely time to call me without a reason, but I¡¯m d you are thinking of me.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling to tell you the good news.¡±


    -I¡¯m starting to feel nervous when you say that.


    Michael responded defensively as Youngho seemed to be always asking for an unbearable request. It was a burden for Michael.


    ¡°Hahaha... I am the one who makes you tired.¡±


    -I won¡¯t deny it.


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one I can talk to. So, what should I do? When you retire, I will serve you well in Kazakhstan.¡±


    -When a senior U.S. government official leaves office and go to live in Kazakhstan, it will only create bad rumors about me.


    Although Michael seemed to draw the line, everyone knew that he was a pro-Kazakh figure in American political circles.


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯m thinking of restoring rtions with China.¡±


    -Whoa, is the sun going to rise from the west tomorrow? What made you change your mind atst?


    ¡°I¡¯m tired of being in constant tension. How do you like the idea of taking the credit for this?


    -You¡¯re asking me toe forward after all.


    Michael¡¯s voice, which had been low all along, brightened.


    ¡°I need your help.¡±


    -That¡¯s true. Are you willing to cooperate in China¡¯s One Belt One Road project?


    ¡°We are still cooperating very hard. It¡¯s just that the subject of the business has changed to us.¡±


    -You know the Chinese government is in a mess these days.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right except the temporary suspension of several public institutions from cyber terror attacks.¡±


    -You¡¯re well aware of it. You didn¡¯t get involved, did you?


    ¡°If I had that kind of power, I wouldn¡¯t have thought of reconciling with China.¡±


    -I¡¯m d you didn¡¯t get involved. The Chinese government has asked us to cooperate.


    Michael¡¯s words were a warning not to make reckless decisions toward China. Michael came out of nowhere that Youngho felt a prick inside.


    ¡°Kazakhstan doesn¡¯t have the ability to do that. And I don¡¯t allow my pride to do something like that to hurt innocent citizens.¡±


    -The world knows you¡¯re a gentleman, but I made a slip of the tongue.


    He said so, but he did not seem to have much confidence in Youngho¡¯s words. No matter what Michael thought of him, Youngho went straight to the main point.


    ¡°The Chinese government seems to be very disappointed about the bid for the Greek port of Piraeus. There was also the Uzbek gold mine problem.¡±


    -There must be a lot more than that. From the point of view of the Chinese government, Kazakhstan must be quite annoying. Kazakhstan¡¯s smooth rtions with China also help U.S. foreign policy. To be honest with you, you know we have no choice but to remain neutral even if there is a dispute between the two parties. China is the secondrgest trading partner of the United States after Europe after all.


    ¡°I know what you mean. No matter how important Central Asia is, China is more important to the U.S. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you toe between us.¡±


    Only when the U.S. stepped up as an arbitrator, China would engage in a sincere manner as it was looking down on Kazakhstan.


    -If the U.S. were toe in-between, we¡¯d have to have a good material forpromise.


    ¡°If it¡¯s an agenda to ease the tension in Pamir, wouldn¡¯t it be quite important?¡±


    -That¡¯s a good offer. Then, can you make the kind of concessions that China wants?


    ¡°If it¡¯s reasonable, I¡¯ll consider it.¡±


    -Okay. Please make sure that the Tajik government doesn¡¯t speak out in the wrong way. I¡¯ll contact the Chinese government right away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ***


    The Tajik government had entrusted the Pamir teau border issue entirely to Kazakhstan as there was no intention to dispute with China over and that had been abandoned until now.


    China also had no choice but to take up the proposal to discuss and resolve the tension in the Pamir teau.


    A breakthrough was needed because the recent paralysis of public facilities raisedints from the Chinese people.


    To show off the government¡¯s diplomatic prowess, China¡¯s interest was to resolve the Pamir border issue amicably.


    ¡°Getting the U.S. to mediate was an excellent choice. There must be a mediator in this. It can only hurt your feelings, let alone agree.¡±


    Eriksson said it was a very good decision upon hearing what Youngho suggested to Michael.


    As a matter of fact, there was no guarantee that the negotiations with China would proceed smoothly even if Kazakhstan took the initiative.


    The border issue was a matter of pride rather than national interest, and if it was negotiated by the direct parties, they would note to a conclusion and could turn away from their feelings.


    The border of the Pamir teau was too wide of a distance between Tajikistan and China, and they had not been able toe to a clear agreement until now. In particr, China¡¯s sentiment was at its zenith, as Kazakhstan took the lead in building barbed wire fence.


    Youngho was considering demolishing the barbed wire fence to open up the conversation with China.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you¡¯re determined to buy time, you should build up China¡¯s pride with a big concession. Offer to step out of the area that each country ims its ownership.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°And let it be a buffer zone. That could guarantee both Tajiks and Uyghurs¡¯ freedom to live a nomadic life.¡±


    ¡°A buffer zone?¡±


    ¡°If the border is not going to be set anyway, we should propose each country to step aside and put a middle ground to the area that both sides im. Wouldn¡¯t China give in as well? It¡¯ll think that it can get it back at any time because it has power. It¡¯s the same with us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the second-best solution that could be controversial in the future.¡±

 Chapter 622 - Compromise (2)

    Chapter 622: Compromise (2)


    Michael rejoiced at Youngho¡¯s words.


    He repeatedly made sure Youngho¡¯s decision to destroy the fence at the Pamir teau as he could not believe it.


    -Duke, are you serious about that?


    ¡°Yes. Wouldn¡¯t the recement of the barbed-wire fence attract the Chinese side?¡±


    -It¡¯ll be a tempting offer for China. Do you know what China cares most about? It is the barbed wire fence.


    ¡°For us, removing the barbed wire is a huge burden. It¡¯s like disarming ourselves.¡±


    -That¡¯s not true. The barbed-wire fence had been putting a political strain for China and if you remove it, China will naturally agree to recognize the buffer zone. If nomads would be allowed to travel around the area freely, it would be enough to quell any internalints.


    ¡°If China builds a wall, we have to make sure that it¡¯s out of the buffer zone.¡±


    -Don¡¯t worry. With your promise, the biggest stumbling block is gone, and China won¡¯t overdo it either.


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of waiting. I don¡¯t believe in China¡¯s promise.¡±


    -Nobody believes in promises in international rtions. It¡¯s important that we earned justification.


    ¡°I think money is more important than justification.¡±


    China responded immediately to the U.S. mediation.


    The proposal to discuss easing tensions in the Pamir teau was good news for the Chinese government.


    For the Communist Party of China, which had been criticized as an ipetent government that seemed powerless in cyber-attacks, it was a golden opportunity to divert public attention.


    The border dispute on the Pamir teau had been also viewed negatively by the Chinese people, out of concern that it might further intensify Uyghurs¡¯ struggle for independence.


    That was why the Chinese government was not able to use force against the troops in the Pamir teau. On the other hand, it could not ignore the Kazakh military¡¯s air defensework.


    Although it would not escte into an all-out war, the damage on both sides would be inevitable due to the fierce intensity of firepower for the local war.


    If that happened, Kazakhstan would immediately block its oil exports, and the next step would be blocking the railway to Europe, making it difficult for Chinese logistics to move.


    China could not give up its economic gains just to have a piece ofnd as good as a wastnd.


    The negotiations went smoothly.


    The area, which each side imed to be its own, was to be remained as the Demilitarized Zone, and it was discussed that nomads would be allowed from both sides to enter and exit freely.


    ¡°Are you saying we should rece the fence right now?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. says it¡¯ll be in charge, so we should trust it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we worked so hard in the winter, and now we¡¯re going to get rid of that precious thing?¡±


    ¡°What should I do when our chief of Intelligence Service wants us to chicken out?¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey! I didn¡¯t say that. What I meant was to take some time to catch our breath before starting to fight such a high wall.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re turning me into a coward.¡±


    The concession was not made just because Jong-il said so.


    It was done so because now was the time to build strength.


    The impact of China¡¯s trade volume on the Kazakh economy could not be ignored, either.


    Military power that was not based on economic power was like a house of cards.


    All fields must be developed evenly to ensure that even quality munitions were properly supplied.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re trying to buy time, we need to show a big concession.¡±


    ¡°Alright, if we can¡¯t help it, we can¡¯t help it. After all, it¡¯s not a concession because it¡¯s a restoration since there was no fence in the beginning. So, why don¡¯t we take time to remove the fence? I feel like it¡¯s a waste to just step back.¡±


    ¡°What mischievous work do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to hide my ace in the hole for the sake of the future.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do when you can¡¯t use it anyway?¡±


    ¡°This is going to be a ce where only nomads wille in and out. So, why don¡¯t we build secret defense facilities while removing the barbed wire fence.¡±


    ¡°One shot of bomb, everything will go away. Leave it alone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it myself.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Pamir teau first. We have to convince the Tajik militia anyway.¡±


    ***


    There was no difficulty in removing the fence which was set up on columns and was put on frozen ground.


    Youngho and Jong-il also watched the removal of the barbed wire fence.


    Construction of a stronghold was also in full swing at the ce where China imed its ownership.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of making a stronghold on the ridge?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a defense facility.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese military is looking down everything with satellites, man.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Youngho. That¡¯s exactly why we¡¯re making it. This is proof that Tajikistan effectively controlled this ce rather than China. We¡¯re making a new history.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to get rid of the anti-tank mines. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have ordered to put the mines.¡±


    ¡°Why did you bury the mines? The artillery units in the rear and air defense units are enough to clean up the Chinese mechanized units that enter the open space.¡±


    ¡°It says in the battle code that the mines are more frightening. Imagine a mine buried in thisrge area and how long it would take to get rid of them all? No matter how tough the Chinese army is, they won¡¯t be able to move forward in this area recklessly. It¡¯s a pre-modern way, but it¡¯s a real drag for the enemy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, who can stop you? Is that mine going to explode even if people step on it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a new mine model, so it only responds to a ton of weight or more.¡±


    In other words, it was not dangerous for people.


    ¡°Really? Then the nomads won¡¯t be hurt if they step on it.¡±


    ¡°I guess it will withstand a decent-sized cart as well.¡±


    The nomads, who raised livestock in the Pamir teau, did not use vehicles because they carried their belongings on carts and on the back of a bison.


    In other words, there would be no problem if they left the mines under the ground.


    ¡°You know exactly where they¡¯re buried?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve marked them all on the military map, so feel safe.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then don¡¯t remove them, just leave them alone, and let China know that the mines are buried.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say you¡¯re having trouble locating them because we buried them randomly. That way, they won¡¯t dare to move mechanized units around here in the future.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯ll do it. That¡¯s a brilliant idea.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ve paid for it, you have to use it in any way.¡±


    Youngho was going to tell the Chinese side that the anti-tank mines were buried out of fear of China¡¯s advance.


    He would also show images of the mine removal work and convince China that the Kazakh troops tried its best to remove all of the mines while kindly informing the detailed specifications of the new anti-tank mines.


    Not knowing where the mines were buried, this news would be shocking to the Chinese military. However, it would not be able to protest against Kazakhstan.


    In military operations, using anti-tank mines was not something to be criticized because it was one of the ways to slow down the advance of mechanized forces.


    Jong-il, who thought he would be criticized for doing unnecessary things, was happy that this turned out to be a blessing in disguise after all.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this what foresight is all about?


    ¡°Oh, you want to take credit? Then, how about this? I¡¯ll tell the Chinese military that it¡¯s Park Jong-il¡¯s work. The Chinese military will grit its teeth because of you.¡±


    ¡°But do you think they¡¯ll trust us when we say we can¡¯t locate the mines?¡±


    ¡°Say that the Tajik militia buried them recklessly. China also knows the poor level of Tajik militia very well.¡±


    ¡°Well, the militia is going to get med for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Inform the captain of the Tajik militia about this. This is part of an operation.¡±


    ¡°Great. He was upset that the mines were going to be removed. He¡¯d rather love to hear about it.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Looking at them, it¡¯s like they¡¯ve built a wall against the modern world. They don¡¯t seem to have any worries.¡±


    ¡°The only concern for nomads is the appearance of wolves and the decline of grass.¡±


    Nomads¡¯ only possession was livestock, and they were not greedy for other materials, so why would they worry about other things? Even basic supplies would be a luxury for them.


    It seemed like they were living a very poor life, but they were not worried that much because the byproducts of livestock alone would supply everything they wore and ate.


    ¡°It¡¯s a world that people go to the moon, but it¡¯s quite amazing how they still hold on to life as it was hundreds of years ago. For them who think raising livestock is everything, what we¡¯re doing must feel like a joke.¡±


    ¡°Well, we all have our own lives.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me there are spies in them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please.¡±


    The Uyghur nomads, who had been unable to enter the Pamir teau due to barbed wire fence, brought livestock immediately as if they did not want to miss the fields in June.


    The buffer zone had yet to be fixed, but the animals were brought to the teau when rumors surfaced that the fence would be removed.


    The border meant little to nomads.


    It was also a spectacr sight in the 21st century to seerge yaks, tents, and groceries.


    No matter how much civilization developed, this figure was bound tost for a while, or how would they climb steep mountain paths?


    The roads to and from the Pamir teau were rough, but once they reached the Pamir Mountains, thend was almost t, so there was no restriction on movement.


    It was a difficult journey, but as there was plenty of high quality grass everywhere, people could stay in one ce for a long time, which was a reason to visit Pamir.


    However, it was a misunderstanding to think that all of Pamir was grasnd.


    There were also many barren areas where not a single nt could grow.


    Still, the reason why they insisted on Pamir was that livestock that endured high-altitude areas were sold at higher prices as their meat was said to be better.


    It was not too much to say that most of Pamir¡¯s fields were herbs. They said that just three months of living here increased the meat of livestock more plump than anywhere else.


    The nomadic tribesmen, who had been stocking on the Pamir teau every year, brought in more livestock this year as if to make up forst year¡¯s failure toe to the teau due to the deployment of troops from both sides.


    Family nomads from Xinjiang Uyghur were installing yurts at a distance of several kilometers from each other.


    They did not even care if the fully armed Tajik militiamen walked around.


    This was because although the Uyghurs were Chinese, they thought of any people in Central Asia as their countrymen.


    The nomads even provided freshly squeezed yak milk to soldiers walking by.


    There was no guarantee that this peace wouldst for long, but with the negotiation with China this time, Pamir would find peace for the time being.

 Chapter 623 - Compromise (3)

    <h4>Chapter 623: Compromise (3)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness. Do you know what China¡¯s defense budget is for this year? That¡¯s as much as 1.1 trillion yuan. It¡¯s 7 percent more than theirst year¡¯s budget. They¡¯re pouring in an amount that we can¡¯tpare to, and it¡¯s almost impossible to keep up with.¡±


    Eriksson was trying to persuade Youngho to reduce its arms sales costs, citing China¡¯s defense budget.


    ¡°That¡¯s indeed beyond our grasp.¡±


    ¡°In dors, it¡¯s about 230 billion.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was such a huge sum that Youngho calcted for a long time.


    ¡°It¡¯s 23 times more than our defense budget. What¡¯s fortunate for us is that our ally, the U.S. spends over 600 billion dors for its defense.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess China¡¯s budge would go into equipment modernization and troop maintenance.¡±


    ¡°Not just that. In fact, more is being spent on defense than the Chinese government has announced. Experts think that it¡¯s about 400 billion dors in truth.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°The booklet published by Stockholm International Peace Research gives us very specific figures.¡±


    It sounds like he was suggesting not to dare to provoke China, which had a defense budget dozen times more than Kazakhstan, so Youngho made a sourment.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we should keep our mouth shut andy low.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you this because you¡¯re sensitive to statistics.¡±


    ¡°I knew there was a huge gap with China. That¡¯s why we took a step back from Pamir to buy time.¡±


    ¡°China won¡¯t think we made a concession. It will think that we have sumbed to its power. So I¡¯m telling you, you have to strongly demand a military alliance with the United States.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. is already our ally. They sell military weapons to us without conditions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the level of a military alliance in which the U.S. can automatically intervene in the event of war.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. policy puts Europe before Central Asia. And we have a military alliance with Russia, so China is somewhat in check.¡±


    ¡°I doubt if Russia will be active in the event of such a situation.¡±


    Russia saw China as a tougher opponent than the U.S. as it bordered China. War with China was a matter directly rted to its national security.


    ¡°I can¡¯t agree that Russia won¡¯t intervene. Russia has a lot to lose if we are out of the picture. Besides, there are millions of Russians living in Kazakhstan, too. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to abandon them.¡±


    ¡°Russia is a socialist country. It¡¯s not going to lift an eyebrow even with the expense of millions of people to keep the nation alive.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s no use pouring money into our defense. But would the U.S. form a military alliance to such an intense degree when we don¡¯t have much appeal to them?¡±


    Youngho became frustrated as Eriksson¡¯s suggestion seemed impossible to achieve even with the help of Michael, the director of the U.S. Intelligence Service.


    ¡°Your Highness, it is possible if youe forward and persuade them. Kazakhstan has epted nearly a million Kurds on humanitarian grounds. That¡¯s what¡¯s going to have the most impact.¡±


    Although Youngho knew China had arge defense budget, the reality that Kazakhstan could not keep up no matter how hard it tried had weighed on his mind.


    He felt like he was standing in front of a huge wall that could not be ovee.


    ¡°No matter how strong China is, it won¡¯t dare touch Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Is there any reason China should be afraid of Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°If we have nuclear weapons, it won¡¯t treat us lightly.¡±


    ¡°Are you nning to bring in nuclear weapons from Russia? Russia says it¡¯s not afraid of the world¡¯s attention, but it¡¯s never going to sell it. If you¡¯re thinking of developing a nuclear weapon, please reconsider. As soon as we develop nuclear weapons, we will be the world¡¯s public enemy and bepletely isted.¡±


    ¡°How many nuclear-tipped missiles do you think were deployed throughout Kazakhstan at the time of the Soviet copse? Do you think they were all terminated?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Eriksson¡¯s face became stiff at the moment.


    Youngho¡¯s words were like saying that they were in possession of nuclear weapons.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too surprised. We haven¡¯t found it yet. Michael told me to keep it hidden if I found it.¡±


    ¡°Has Michael advised you that?¡±


    Without answering Eriksson¡¯s question, Youngho changed the subject.


    ¡°I heard that in the near future, all Northeast Asian countries will have nuclear weapons. When that timees, we will also be a nuclear power.¡±


    The only way to stop China¡¯s advance was nuclear.


    Although Kazakhstan was now developingser weapons, nuclear weapons that were traditionally known as formidable, were the greatest existing fear to all.


    ¡°Do you really believe there are nuclear weapons somewhere in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. Regardless, Kazakhstan is already known as a potential nuclear power. Maybe that¡¯s why China can¡¯t touch Kazakhstan so easily.¡±


    ¡°You mean we should act like we have it even if you don¡¯t have a nuclear weapon.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we should neither be positive nor be negative. China will have to figure out what makes Kazakhstan act so fearlessly, or they¡¯ll use international agencies to check it out.¡±


    Eriksson looked dumbfounded for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of Soviet-era nuclear physicists are in the royal territory. They must have already developed nuclear weapons.¡±


    ¡°In ab, you can develop it as much as you want. It¡¯s about whether you actually made it or not. I¡¯ll make it clear that we don¡¯t have nuclear weapons so far.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have nuclear weapons, then there¡¯s nothing to worry about. Then, should I make a rumor?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to make you a liar. Why don¡¯t you ask the Swedish Information Agency to spread the rumor?¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that leaking uncertain information will damage thepany¡¯s image.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t matter since it¡¯s not doing a business with information. Creating rumors is one of the things that intelligencepanies do. Based on that, investors often make money.¡±


    ***


    The border issue on the Pamir teau was closed with both sides¡¯ agreement to keep the disputed area as a buffer zone in which no military action was allowed.


    However, the anti-tank mines, randomly scattered by the Tajik militia, were to be taken down by Kazakhstan within the year.


    When they saw the images of the Tajik militia and Kazakh troops demolishing anti-tank mines, the officials of China even stormed out of the conference room in a rage, but what was done was already done, so they were determined to hold Kazakhstan ountable for what it did.


    They seemed to be not expecting much, either, knowing that mine removal was not an easy task. Perhaps they were relieved that Kazakhstan confessed to having buried mines.


    If they deployed troops unknowingly, they would have lost their precious and expensive tanks.


    If necessary, the Chinese side also offered to add hands, so Youngho agreed.


    The Chinese government, which thought it had received much of the concessions from Kazakhstan, was quite proud. The Chinese media was busy praising the government¡¯s political power, as Kazakhstan appeared to have caved in even without any military pressure.


    ¡°I almost dashed through the door of the conference room but held it in because of the dissuasion of the U.S. side.¡±


    Though Park Jong-il, who had wrapped up negotiations with China in Geneva, was speaking as if he was angry, his face was brighter than ever.


    After finishing the Pamir issue, he felt much more rxed.


    ¡°You looked happy in the picture.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I was just trying to keep my cool.¡±


    ¡°So, I heard the mine issue was a hot potato.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it was not just a hot potato. The negotiation was almost called off. They said we intentionally scattered thendmines.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯smon in conflict areas. Don¡¯t they use it?¡±


    ¡°They said that nobody uses such a dirty weapon these days and that wars also have sses. I put up with it. If it were anyone else, he would¡¯ve quit already.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re funny guys. Since when did they y so gentlemanly?¡±


    Chinese officials must have pretended to be gentlemen because the world¡¯s attention was being focused on the negotiation.


    ¡°I think we removed the barbed wire fence too fast. They were just full of themselves.¡±


    ¡°Oh, let them be. We¡¯ve earned time thanks to them.¡±


    ¡°What do we do even if we have more time? There are no weapons to beat China.¡±


    ¡°The ink has not even dried on the agreement papers yet, but you¡¯re already in a hurry. Theser weapon is about to bepleted, so wait.¡±


    ¡°Really? Will you open it when it¡¯s developed? We need to scare the whole world.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ll keep it a secret. It will do no good if China learns about it. They¡¯ll imitate it soon.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to keep it a secret, it¡¯s not a war deterrent.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to open at thest minute because we¡¯re going to be known for something else.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Eriksson will make rumors about our nuclear weapons through the Information Agency. It¡¯ll be worth seeing. I wonder what China¡¯s reaction would be like.¡±


    ¡°How will you bear it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? We don¡¯t have it anyway. There¡¯s nothing to defend.¡±


    It was unclear how Eriksson did it, but the rumor that Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons slowly begun to spread.


    Despite official denials from Kazakhstan¡¯s government, inquiries came from all sides to confirm the truth.


    Michael from the U.S. intelligence service was no exception.


    -You just spilled the rumor on purpose.


    ¡°I¡¯m also trying to find out why there¡¯s such a rumor. Someone seems to be making malicious rumors to get Kazakhstan in trouble.¡±


    -Why is that malicious? Isn¡¯t it what you wanted all along?


    ¡°It¡¯s unfair to have nuclear weapons you don¡¯t have.¡±


    -So, you didn¡¯t intentionally spill the rumor?


    ¡°If I have it, I¡¯ll have to keep it hidden. Didn¡¯t you tell me to keep it a secret if I had one?¡±


    -Your operation seems to have seeded for now. You¡¯ve got an amazing skill to wrap it up as if you had nuclear power.


    Michael seemed to be already assuming that it was Youngho¡¯s work but Youngho remained calm until the end.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of bing a subject of gossip?¡±


    -I don¡¯t know who started the rumor, but China is very sensitive about it.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    -That¡¯s why I said you seeded. Sooner orter, the United Nations will officially request confirmation.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a rumor, isn¡¯t it?


    -As it¡¯s just a rumor, it¡¯s highly likely that it will end with an official statement of confirmation. If you don¡¯t have a clear statement, you¡¯ll need a special nuclear inspection from the International Atomic Energy Agency.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of fun.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s intentions seemed to have worked.


    Even though the media reported that the Kazakh government did not possess nuclear weapons, the rumors were growing, let alone subsiding.


    Youngho was exuberated to hear that China reacted sensitively toward the rumor. There would be no provocation from China until the rumor was confirmed to be false.

 Chapter 624 - Bravado (1)

    <h4>Chapter 624: Bravado (1)</h4>


    These days, the business and development ns announced by the Kazakh royal family were much exaggerated. Anything was said to be a world-ss facility.


    The Royal Aviation College, which opened in September, was advertised that way as well.


    The Naval Academy and the Non-Commissioned Officer Technical School would be opened soon, but it was not advertised broadly.


    There was a reason why people believed in royal facilities. It was because of the royal medical school and the hospital was actually a great sess. Especially, the hospital had be thergest facility in Central Asia. Even Russia¡¯s wealthy people visited the country for medical tourism. The building was equipped with more than a thousand beds and state-of-the-art medical equipment. On top of that, the talented medical staff that enabled high-level operations became extremely popr.


    Whether global or not, the Kazakh people went wild when the royal family announced any new project. They wanted to brag about it because it was a country that had little to boast about.


    ¡°Mr. Commissioner, what kind of world-ss aviation college is it when the headquarters building is not even built properly?¡±


    Kim Chun had oversold the Royal Aviation college to reporters who visited the Arirang royal territory, so Youngho was embarrassed.


    ¡°Your Highness, as far as I can tell, we¡¯re the only aviation school with a factory that produces propeller nes as well as fighter jets and helicopters next to it. It¡¯s a college with a full testboratory. Isn¡¯t that a great title? Besides, Kazakhstan¡¯s Baikonur Cosmodrome is already famous as a world-ss ce. So, we can even call it a space college.¡±


    The Baikonur Cosmodrome was built during the Soviet Union and was still being lent to Russia, so technically, it could not be called Kazakhstan¡¯s.


    ¡°The faculty line-up is still not confirmed, so you should not make a fuss now, or we¡¯ll only be humiliated.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re inviting the aviation professors from Russia?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting on answers from most of them.¡±


    As professors invited from Malmoe University in Sweden did not seem to be enough, professors in Russia were also being recruited at the moment.


    In the past, Russians never would have considereding to Kazakhstan, but now as the Kazakhstan¡¯s situation got better with the emergence of the new government and the royal family, their reluctance had been greatly reduced. Also, the fact that there were many Russians living in Kazakhstan was an appealing element.


    ¡°Your Highness, if we could ease the conditions a little bit, we¡¯d be able to ept more. If we asked them to change their nationality, who would want toe here easily?¡±


    ¡°We need to show our core facilities without filtering them. We need that level of safeguards. Changing their nationality doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re going to be on our side right away, but they¡¯re going to feel the psychological burden.¡±


    Youngho had demanded a condition for professors from Russia, which was to acquire Kazakh nationality. It was widely intended to keep them under the royal territory for a long time. It was because Russia¡¯s space technology was globally outstanding.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s technological prowess was nothing more than bringing in parts and assembling airnes, so Russian researchers and technicians were needed to produce Kazakhstan¡¯s own engines and ne bodies.


    ¡°Your Highness, theye here to escape the rigid Russian society. If they¡¯re forced to abandon their Russian nationality and obtain Kazakh citizenship, they will think Kazakhstan is no different from Russia. And even if they want to leave Russia, they just hate the social and political system, not Russia itself.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    There was nothing to argue about Kim Chun¡¯s remark.


    Although it was a defense industry, it was only an assembly nt.


    It was also too much to force talented people to change their nationality for fear that a secret would be leaked to the outside world although it was more of a way to keep them within the country.


    ¡°I overlooked that point.¡±


    ¡°The Russians living in Kazakh are nearly one-third of the whole poption. They¡¯reing because they know that the Russians are living here freely.¡±


    ¡°As you say, I¡¯ll withdraw the nationality issue. But I¡¯m not sure about at which level we should treat them. We have no choice but to differentiate their treatment with the Swedish professors...¡±


    It was inevitable given the economic level of the two countries.


    ¡°If we treat them equally as the teachers in the royal territory, that should be more than enough. That¡¯s a few times as much as what they¡¯ll get paid in Russia. It would be better if we even offered a house for them.¡±


    In the beginning, people invited to the royal territory were given a house for free, but these days the administration of the city only provided housing sites and cement as providing houses for all people was also a big burden.


    Except for the site and cement, people paid for other materials andbor costs to the administration to build their own houses. With the exception of Kurds, other people came to the royal territory had some money with them.


    However, professors and engineers from Russia were suffering from financial difficulties that Kim Chun was asking for housing support for them.


    ***


    A monthly meeting was being held in the royal conference room.


    Everyone was speaking up about the exaggerated advertisement of Kazakhstan¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°Your Highness, did you just say you want to let the press know the size of the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan jumped up from his seat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to hide it. If they knew the size of our guards, who are trained as special forces, it will be a deterrent.¡±


    There were already more than 10,000 guards.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the purpose, I¡¯ll put together the reserve forces and announce it altogether as the Royal Bodyguards.¡±


    Since the reserve forces included the civil guards of the royal territory, Chul-hwan meant to exaggerate the number of the Royal Bodyguards.


    ¡°Present both the Apache helicopters and the F-35 fighter jets as part of the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯ll be too much. That¡¯s the equivalent of the total power of a decent country.¡±


    ¡°Come on, no one¡¯s going toe here to confirm it. Except for the Royal Navy, other forces we have can be known to the public. Royal Navy¡¯s strength should be strictly kept secret.¡±


    With Kazakhstan¡¯s nuclear power being debated, it would be worth seeing Chinese government officials if the power of the Royal Bodyguards was announced bigger than it was. It was a strategy to make the world think that Kazakh regr military would be formidable if the Royal Bodyguards had that much strength. This was only a fraction of strengthpared to China, but it was also a power that could make China reconsider any military advance toward Kazakhstan.


    If Kazakhstan¡¯s asymmetric power exceeded 10,000, it would be something to be feared for. Special forces was a power that could prate a city with only a small number of troops causing chaos.


    ¡°What if the United Nations asks us to deploy our troops to areas of conflict because of our strong forces?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an opportunity to build experience, of course, we have to send our troops. In fact, we have to volunteer to go.¡±


    There was a gap between soldiers who had been in battles and who did not have real-life experience. The soldier, who experienced a bloody battlefield, would have ovee his fears to some extent, so he would be prepared for a mess to some extent.


    It was like the difference between soldiers who opened their eyes wide to the sound of guns and soldiers who closed their eyes tightly.


    ¡°Your Highness. You should also keep the potential damage to our troops in mind.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re building a hospital ship. No matter where our troops go in the world, the hospital ship will always be at a short distance. I won¡¯t let anything go wrong because they can¡¯t get medical treatment in time. I¡¯m talking about Princess Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship. In peace, it¡¯s going to be used for areas thatck medical attention, and in the event of war, it is going to be used to treat the wounded, regardless of whether they are allies or enemies.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re adding on too much of our troops. Don¡¯t you think Chinese spies will find out about the truth soon?¡±


    It was Park Jong-il who made such ament.


    ¡°Since fighter jets and helicopters are moved from ce to ce, I think it¡¯s safe to say that their power belongs to the area where they are at the moment. In that case, we¡¯re not adding on. And we¡¯re going to bring in more aircrafts by the end of the year, so there¡¯s nothing wrong with it.¡±


    ¡°Are we bringing in more F-35 fighters and Apache helicopters?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a huge number since we have to deploy them in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and even on our multi-purposending ship.¡±


    If China was focusing on the army, Kazakhstan was focusing on air power.


    The border with China was blocked by the Tian Shan Mountains, so ground warfare could not have much effect.


    No matter how strong China¡¯s mechanized division was, there was a limit to the number of troops deployed through the Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir teau with their geographical features.


    If Kazakhstan was overpowered with its powerful air defensework and air force in the early stages of the war, even China would lose its fighting spirit.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of the multi-purposending ship. We can project naval power anywhere even on the East China Sea but China can¡¯te from the Caspian Sea. That¡¯s an advantage of an ind country.¡±


    ¡°So try to find a way to maximize the benefits of an ind country. And I intend to pursue a deeper military alliance with the United States. We¡¯re already working together in Afghanistan, so we won¡¯t have a big problem.¡±


    ¡°Do you intend to break up the military alliance with Russia?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯ll maintain it.¡±


    ¡°There has never been a military alliance with a free democracy and a socialist country at the same time.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s a funny situation but we formed an alliance with Russia due to our historical rtionship with it. We will consult this with Russia in advance, but it will rather support our military alliance with the United States. Russia is the country that fears China¡¯s advance more than anyone else.¡±


    In Youngho¡¯s guess, Russia could not lose Kazakhstan as it was Russia¡¯s buffer zone from the world and especially China.


    ¡°Will the United States actively engage in a military alliance with us?¡±


    ¡°We are on the way to Europe and the Middle East. The U.S. will not be able to neglect Kazakhstan, which serves as a buffer, to exert its influence in Europe and the Middle East.¡±


    As Youngho tried to persuade the leadership of the royal territory, he could realize how important Kazakhstan¡¯s position was.


    It was the first soldier to block China¡¯s westward policy and Russia¡¯s southward policy.


    It was making all-out efforts to deal with the two superpowers. If the U.S. did not want to establish a military alliance, it should provide defense funds or even give weapons free of charge.

 Chapter 625 - Bravado (2)

    <h4>Chapter 625: Bravado (2)</h4>


    China was stirred as rumors circted that Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons.


    In particr, China¡¯s state-run media were making a fuss, saying that if the existence of nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan turned out to be true, Kazakhstan would be in vition of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The media even got furious that Kazakhstan had scammed against the world, saying nuclear weapons could not be epted as a member of the internationalmunity.


    ¡°The Chinese government is going frenzy about our nuclear weapons.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s funny since they have nuclear power for themselves anyway.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s clear that our operation has worked, right?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the nuclear research facility in the royal territory be a problem?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s an organization that studies nuclear power for peaceful purposes. There¡¯s no plutonium reprocessing nt for nuclear waste. Rather, I¡¯ll have to file a civilint to the Atomic Energy Agency and ask for a special nuclear inspection to bother it.¡±


    ¡°The existence of our nuclear power is a hot issue in the globalmunity now. Even the U.N. Security Council has been summoned.¡±


    ¡°This is more than a sess.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the time to joke. What if China overthrows our agreement about the Pamir teau because of this?¡±


    Park Jong-il seemed to be worried that the hard-won Pamir agreement would be scrapped.


    If the rtionship between the two countries worsened again due to nuclear weapons, the two countries would face a tense situation.


    ¡°The Chinese government is only trying to take advantage of this situation. It¡¯s just afraid we¡¯ll develop additional nuclear weapons after we¡¯ve been recognized as a nuclear power.¡±


    ¡°So it doesn¡¯t believe that we actually have weapons yet?¡±


    ¡°Whether we have it or not is not important.¡±


    ***


    Leaving the issue behind, Youngho carelessly left for Greece with Eriksson.


    These days, Eriksson mostly stayed in Greece as there were many pending issues such as construction to expand the container field and the instation of a new crane.


    The management of the Port of Piraeus was left entirely to Eriksson and he apanied Youngho on a tour of the ind of Meltemi.


    The Port of Piraeus also had a great strategic value for Kazakhstan as part of it was nned to be used as a military port while with the expansion of the container field.


    The port would be home to a multipurposending ship and arge hospital ship.


    This was because the docks of Arirang Ind or Meltemi Ind were too small to contain huge vessels. Youngho could force the expansion of those ports but he did not want to damage beautiful natural resources for immediate convenience.


    Various works on Meltemi Ind were underway as scheduled.


    The most demanding construction was building a dock, and because of good equipment and weather, it was going well without any major problems.


    The Mediterranean summer was hot in the sun, but it was easy to work because it did not rain.


    The workers of the royal constructionpany were staying makeshift barracks and all looked bright despite their shabby quarters. When Youngho inquired, they answered that they like the environment as the weather of the Aegean Sea in July was much more pleasant than the Kazakh summer. It was difficult to stay outside in the Midwest region of Kazakhstan in the summer due to the murderous heat that showed the pattern of desert weather. That was not the only thing that made the construction workers happy. They also genuinely enjoyed fishing at the beach after their daily shift was over.


    ¡°The people on the Mediterranean coast are blessed to live in such a nice ce.¡±


    ¡°Good life means there are so many people who envy it. How could the mighty kingdoms have not bothered this beautiful ce? Also, geographically, it was a ce to be coveted. It¡¯s a gateway to Africa and Europe.¡±


    ¡°In that sense, there¡¯s no geopolitical significance like Kazakhstan, but the climate was so harsh that other nations didn¡¯t bother it very much.¡±


    ¡°Any ce that is humble and insignificant looks attractive to conquerors. Kazakhstan used to be swayed by other powers many times. It didn¡¯t have the power to fight against foreign powers.¡±


    In other words, the truth still availed in the past and until now. Treasures were useless without national power.


    ¡°A beautiful ce like this or a ce with many resources like Kazakhstan is always something to be coveted.¡±


    Youngho had forgotten about Kazakhstan aftering to Greece, but Eriksson reminded him of domestic problems. History proved that a country without power always suffered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve blown up Kazakhstan¡¯s arms as a bluff, but I don¡¯t know if neighboring countries will believe it.¡±


    ¡°How can they not believe it when our royal family¡¯s financial strength is known to be astronomical? On top of that, in the Soviet era, we used to study and experiment with nuclear weapons. No matter how many times we deny that we don¡¯t have one, they will think that there is a hidden card.¡±


    Even Eriksson believed that the Serbian royal heritage was enormous.


    ¡°The fact that China is acting up, I think our intentions are working.¡±


    ¡°Now, do not be conscious of China and push ahead with what you are trying to do. China will be stuck with nuclear weapons for the time being. Even if China moves the internationalmunity, they won¡¯t be able to find nuclear weapons we don¡¯t have.¡±


    ¡°I guess I just need to settle the issue of forming a military alliance with the United States then.¡±


    ¡°You should also put pressure on Western European countries. If you¡¯re on a free ride, you should at least pay for gas.¡±


    Youngho was surprised to hear Eriksson¡¯s remark. It was as if Eriksson looked into Youngho¡¯s head. He was determined to demand European countries to provide defense funding or weapons.


    ¡°They¡¯ll say that I¡¯m acting recklessly believing in nuclear weapons.¡±


    ¡°Of course, if you have nuclear weapons, they¡¯ll tell you to dispose of them immediately. But Western countries would think that even if we had Soviet-era nuclear weapons, it could be under control since we are recognized as democratic and rational as Europe.¡±


    For a democratic nation, the royal authority was a little strong.


    Nevertheless, Western countries had not hesitated to call Kazakhstan a democratic state.


    This was because the royal family was in power due to the immature mindset of politicians and civic awareness.


    Youngho also intended to put down his power someday when Kazakhstan found stability although he had no idea when it would be.


    ***


    The construction of a cable car linking Arirang Ind to Meltemi Ind was underway.


    The agenda thrown by Park Jong-il was adopted, and the review concluded that it was sufficiently economical.


    The distance between the two inds was only one kilometer, so it was more efficient to travel by cable car than by a small ferry.


    The cable car could carry up to 20 people and two tons of weight.


    There was little difference in the time it took to and from traveling on a ship, but nothing was as convenient as a cable car to move small supplies or people. It was because the cable car could be operated in bad weather as well.


    The waves were not too strong, but they often changed to the point where small boats could not travel. However, it was also difficult to fly light airnes in bad weather, and not economical to userge ships.


    ¡°Is there any other problem?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any problem at all thanks to the meticulous care from the administration of the royal territory. Some of my colleagues are struggling in the Siberian logging site, so I even feel sorry that I have such afortable job.¡±


    Park Sung-won, the chief of the base who oversaw the two inds responded,


    ¡°You¡¯ve been through a lot in Siberia, so just think that you¡¯re taking a break. And while you¡¯re here, you can find a girl to date.¡±


    ¡°The native girls here all go to work in Athens during weekdays, so I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be easy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you should get hold of them when theye home on the weekend. Or should I arrange a match?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll take care of it myself.¡±


    Since Park Sung-won worked at a Siberian logging site for the past two years, Youngho gave him a job at the warm Arirang Ind and Meltemi Ind to be the chief of the base as a reward, but Youngho felt guilty that he still did not find a girl to date. It was because he was the one who called Korean ex-special forces soldiers to Kazakhstan and sent them to work in remote areas.


    Now, many had found their wives in foreignnds but there were ones who were shy and passive like Park Sung-won.


    ¡°What¡¯s the height of the cable car?¡±


    ¡°The lowest part of the cable is exactly 125 meters above the water.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure there will be no disruption to the ships traveling below.¡±


    ¡°The Greek Maritime Affairs also approved that there will be no problem if it was more than 80 meters.¡±


    ¡°You said that a Swisspany was in charge of building it, right? How is it going?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a smooth process. I think the cable car will be installed next year. We don¡¯t think there¡¯s going to be a problem in the operation because thepletion of it coincides with when the small thermal power nt will bepleted.¡±


    While trying to solve electricity only with a simple power nt, Youngho was forced to build a small thermal power nt on the ind of Meltemi to operate arge ship repair shop.


    ¡°Has anyone tried to enter the ind with impure intentions?¡±


    Since it was not a tourist destination, with only non-regr contact ships would travel, outsiders were automatically restricted from entering the area.


    ¡°People haven¡¯te to the inds after they were known to belong to the Kazakh royal family, but sometimes people on personal yachts reach the inds drawn by its scenery and our patrol boats kick all of them out. But since it is small, patrolling is difficult in bad weather. I think we need a bigger patrol boat for effective vignce.¡±


    Two 100-ton patrol boats from the royal territory were moved to the inds, but when the waves were a little high, they seemed to be trapped in the harbor.


    ¡°We need to deploy a 500-ton patrol ship and a small submarine.¡±


    ¡°That will cover the area well.¡±

 Chapter 626 - Resource Exploration (1)

    <h4>Chapter 626: Resource Exploration (1)</h4>


    Therge screen of the conference room at the governmentplex in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, showed maps of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and then Kazakhstan.


    The head of the National Territory Resources Management Agency, who was exining the amount of each country¡¯s resource reserves and the status of its resource exploration, stopped exining when Youngho raised his hand.


    ¡°Chief, how many mines and exploration sites have you been to?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It seemed that he had not been to the exploration site at all as he could not answer Youngho¡¯s question.


    Although work between working-level officials and the chief executive were separated, Youngho thought that a leader should be equipped with sincerity to visit at least a few key sites.


    The head of the National Territory Resources Management Agency only delivered the report written by working-level officials like a parrot. He was clearly unaware of the situation on the site.


    ¡°Is the Director of Practice present?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I was not told to bring him here.¡±


    Youngho did not ask because he did not know that the director of practice was not present.


    It was a kind of reprimand.


    ¡°Do you know why I travel to Siberia, Greend, Greece and so on? I¡¯m trying to be aware of the situation in the field. That way, you can see the scene clearly even if you¡¯re sitting at your desk.¡±


    At the words of Youngho, the conference room was as silent as death.


    The tension was eased slightly by someone¡¯s cough. He must have been chocked while swallowing his saliva out of nervousness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel burdened by it but go to the sites frequently. Listening to the voices of the field workers is also a virtue. You can correct any absurdities when you visit the field.¡±


    Youngho continued his remarks with determination.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean that ministers or chiefs of ministries are not making efforts. If you¡¯re trying hard, run to the scene yourself. If the country is small, it wille at a nce, but think about the size of ournd. It¡¯s so vast that you can¡¯t even visit all the sites while you¡¯re in office.¡±


    After the meeting, the prime minister and other cab ministers were having a dinner prepared by the royal family.


    After making such a heavyment, Youngho wanted to release the tension among them a little.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, I think the Cab members are too rigid. Should I prepare some entertainment?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we¡¯d better keep this atmosphere going for a while. The future ministers were so proud that people¡¯s approval ratings for the royal family and the government were soaring, but in fact, the government approval rating is high because of the support rate for the royal family.¡±


    ¡°I regret having stepped into the work of government when you are there.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness is the highest personnel authority in Kazakhstan. Who will me you?¡±


    ¡°If I am involved in government affairs, I think it will be difficult for you to manage state affairs.¡±


    Rather than the prime minister¡¯s words leading the government, other ministers might be only trying to look like they were working hard because of the Duke of Kazakhstan. That was why Youngho was only talking to Prime Minister Kasim at the dinner table.


    This was because the government would operate well when Prime Minister Kasim had more authority.


    ¡°But is it okay to leave the exploration work to only a few foreignpanies? We need to give Kazakhpanies a chance to improve theirpetitiveness.¡±


    ¡°Ourpanies still haven¡¯t fully rid of the remnants of socialism andck a lot of responsibility. We can¡¯t trust them to do this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really worried that our people will lose all their jobs to foreigners.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s fortunate is that the Koreans and Kurds who moved to our country were also showing signs of being diligent, so the Kazakhs seemed to have been motivated.¡±


    In addition to the idleness unique to nomadic people, the excessive social security system had made the peoplezy.


    The new administration had continued its enlightenment campaign and their lifestyle had improved at least, but it used to be terrible before.


    ¡°The drama is good, but it could turn into a social problem. Since it is a multiracial country, we need to make sure that there are no alienated peoples.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much because people don¡¯t envy the immigrants because they are well-off. They take it all as Ah¡¯s will.¡±


    Muslims described everything as Ah¡¯s will, good or bad.


    Kazakhstan, like Turkey and Azerbaijan, was a secr country that did not have Im as a state religion, so its people freely believed in the Russian Orthodox Church and Im.


    However, ironically people liked to express their excuses in an Imic way, regardless of their religion. It seemed they wereforting each other whether they lived well or not, it was Ah¡¯s will.


    ¡°If there arepanies that want to explore resources, the government should provide them with exploration equipment. When are we going to go through thisrge piece ofnd with a fewpanies? A lot ofpanies have to be mobilized anyway. Then, we¡¯ll be able to filter goodpanies from the bad. If we could support more goodpanies, and start getting rid of the bad ones, wouldn¡¯t we have a globalpany one day?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what Your Highness wills, I will consult with the relevant ministries and work out a n.¡±


    ¡°Look out forpanies that specialize in gold mining.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I wondered why you haven¡¯t brought up mining yet. If the royal family¡¯s interested in it, allpanies will want to step in.¡±


    ¡°Ifpanies supported by government funds find gold mines, I¡¯ll donate the gold found there to the central bank.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the central bank governor will be very excited because the government already owes so much to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°You can pay back the money that the royal family provided for the governmentter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better to rece it with gold mines. We¡¯ve had a little bit of budget left sincest year because of that, so we¡¯re going to increase our defense spending, how does that sound?¡±


    Since the government debt to the royal family was reced with gold mining rights, it could save some budget.


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Try to persuade the National Assembly.¡±


    ***


    The resource exploration organization, led by Park Young-sun, consisted of seven teams, with two teams scouring the existing gold mine areas and the rest of the teams conducting exploration in the Altai Mountains in the northeastern Russian border area.


    As the volunteer exploration members led by Park Young-sun stayed in the Altai Mountains, Youngho visited the area. Since it was a cool area, Youngho wanted to avoid the heat from the royal territory as well.


    As it was his first time visiting the Altai Mountains, he was fascinated by the vastness of nature.


    ¡°This is amazing. I knew it had ice caps and cier, but I didn¡¯t know they were scattered around thisrge area.¡±


    The view from the airne waspletely different with its view from the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s a mountain range over 4,000 meters above sea level. This is what we used to call the Golden Mountains. There is still a lot of gold in the valley.¡±


    When Park Young-sun called it the Golden Mountains, Youngho unwittingly swallowed down his saliva.


    Kazakhstan was a ce where gold was produced a lot, but people did not openly described mountains as a golden mountain.


    Neither Almaty¡¯s royal gold mine nor Uzbek¡¯s world¡¯srgest gold mine received such a title, so Youngho¡¯s expectation of the Altai Mountains grew big.


    ¡°And this area had been preserved so well.¡±


    ¡°For some reason, the former administration designated it as a nature reserve and banned its development.¡±


    ¡°Is it because they worried about a conflict with Russia?¡±


    ¡°The Russian territory is over the mountains. It has nothing to do with this ce.¡±


    Youngho began to get interested as he listened to Park Young-sun.


    It was strange that President Nazarbayev banned development only to this area among the Altai Mountains. It was a man who had dug up a gold mine near Almaty¡¯s Shymbk Resort, known as Jungfrau of Central Asia.


    ¡°Where is the department that manages this ce?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little weird. If it¡¯s a nature reserve, it should be under the jurisdiction of the local government of Pavlodar, but it¡¯s managed by the National Territory Resources Management Agency. So I inquired to the Resource Management Administration and it said that there should be no problem of exploration by the royal family.¡±


    ¡°The former regime must have put a restriction to this area to keep something a secret. There¡¯s something that the public shouldn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking and that¡¯s why I wanted you to visit this ce.¡±


    If it was under the jurisdiction of the National Territory Resources Management Agency, it was more likely to be a mineral.


    ¡°All I can think of is gold.¡±


    ¡°I wondered why you didn¡¯t say that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me a gold digger.¡±


    Park Young-sun smiled at Youngho¡¯s response.


    ¡°It¡¯s the golden mountain range, so there¡¯s a good chance there¡¯s a big gold mine here. The residents here said that they found a lot of gold in the valley.¡±


    ¡°So are you saying that the previous administration left it as a protected area regardless of the existence of a gold mine?¡±


    ¡°I think so. I think they intended to use it as a private gold safe for the president.¡±


    ¡°What do you think as an expert?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ve found a lot of gold in the valley, the probability of having a vein somewhere upstream is 100 percent.¡±


    A geological expert like Park Young-sun could not make such remark unless he was sure.


    Youngho was exuberated inside but he tried to hide his excitement.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not gold, I hope we at least find a lot of minerals.¡±


    ¡°The resource exploration team that I¡¯m leading will put finding the gold as a priority. It¡¯s the only mineral that¡¯s going to build up national power in one breath, and I can¡¯t think of anything else.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to it.¡±


    ¡°I want to designate a few more ces as protected areas, not just here.¡±


    ¡°If you have a ce in mind, please mark it on the map. We can ask the Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, is it possible to make the protected area into a royal property? That way, we can still produce the gold in the royal family without having to inform the government, even if we find it.¡±


    ¡°You say I¡¯m greedy, but youpletely ignore domesticw.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we use it for Kazakhstan anyway? I think it¡¯s more efficient to operate where the royal family needs it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll discuss it with the Prime Minister. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s possible to designate this ce as a royal property right away.¡±


    ¡°Then please send security guards to guard the area.¡±


    Park Young-sun was asking security guards as if he was about to find the vein of gold at any moment.

 Chapter 627 - Resource Exploration (2)

    Chapter 627: Resource Exploration (2)


    The midsummer in Kazakhstan was as harsh as winter, and it was hard to stay active.


    But no matter how hot the sun was, people could stand it if there was a shade, thanks to dry weather.


    Although the entire Kazakhstan was scorching hot, the Altai Mountains were cool enough that it was necessary to wear long-sleeved clothes even during the day.


    It was because of the hightitudes and elevation above sea level, and the effects of ice caps.


    It also made people forget that it was summer because the water that flowed through the deep woods and valleys cooled its surroundings.


    It was no different from the coolness Youngho felt when he traveled to mountainous countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.


    While Youngho was in the Altai Mountains, the royal family was also enjoying the summer at the royal vi at theke of Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.


    He had promised to join his family after a short visit to the Altai Mountains, but it had already passed two days since the day he was supposed to leave.


    Kim Il-kwon, who was walking through the valley with his bodyguards, raised his head and looked puzzled.


    ¡°Your Highness, we didn¡¯t find anything for two days now. Why don¡¯t you pull out now?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just look further today and leave for Kyrgyzstan if we don¡¯t get any results.¡±


    ¡°So you mean you¡¯ll stay here longer if we find something? Yesterday, I made a rough excuse to Suh Min-seok, and now I have no more excuse.¡±


    The royal family that arrived at the royal vi was looking forward to Youngho¡¯s arrival.


    It was because they nned to take a tour of theke when Youngho came.


    ¡°If the chief of the security office is stumped by the chief secretary, who¡¯s going to believe it? Aren¡¯t you just making excuses because you want to see your kids?¡±


    Kim Il-kwon¡¯s family had moved to the royal territory leaving his parents behind Baku¡¯s farm. That was why his family apanied the royal family on the trip to Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been away only for a few days. It¡¯s not an excuse. Suh Min-seok is driving me crazy acting like he¡¯s my senior.¡±


    ¡°Is he giving you a hard time because he¡¯s been in the royal pce longer than you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s even trying to teach me these days.¡±


    Min-seok often nagged Kim Il-kwon, who often made mistakes because he was not familiar with the royal rules.


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s leave after searching for a couple more hours.¡±


    Youngho and the security team were looking for gold apart from Park Young-sun¡¯s exploration team. If a huge lump of gold was found, it would be proof that arge-scale gold mine was in the upper reaches of the area.


    He light-heartedly thought that it would be found easily, but as there were no findings, the team kept on looking for days. As many as ten guards searched the valley and found quite a few gold beads the size of a child¡¯s fingernail. This was already proof that there was a vein of gold somewhere upper stream, but Youngho had been too greedy.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is indeed the golden mountain range. It¡¯s unusual to find this many gold grains.¡±


    ¡°Right? If a gold grain of this size is everywhere, there may be a vein of gold beyond our imagination.¡±


    ¡°If it was as great a vein of gold as Almaty¡¯s gold mine, it would have scared the former president.¡±


    If President Nazarbayev kept this ce in a protected area, it meant that he had found a great vein of gold. He kept it hidden because he did not have the power to protect it, but he was withdrawn from power in a revolution.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s an enormous amount of reserves to shake the very existence of Kazakhstan. Maybe he tried to develop it after growing national strength.¡±


    ¡°How much gold can shake the nation¡¯s existence? I can¡¯t calcte it through my head.¡±


    ¡°Maybe if there are tens of thousands of tons buried. If you hold this ce in your grasp, you canmand the world with your money. Anyone would have wanted that even by force.¡±


    ¡°Can gold do such a great thing?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing like gold. If the key currency system, such as the dor and the euro, copses and returns to the gold standard, it will be a huge national power.¡±


    Even now, advanced countries were trying to increase their gold holdings, but they were not able to secure as much gold as they wanted due to theck of supply.


    There were not a few countries that offered to give more than 30 percent of the market price to buy gold. This was because the key currency was faltering.


    That was why Germany imported gold from Kazakhstan in exchange for a technical tie-up in the defense industry.


    ***


    The royal vi at theke of Issyk-Kul was not as grand as it sounded that even tourists who visited theke were often surprised.


    It was only a simple two-story stone building and a log bungalowbined with a banquet room. Rather, the nearby security guards¡¯ quarters looked more luxurious.


    Thewn of the vi was crowded with children ying ball.


    Youngho, who sat under a patio umbre and chased the children with his eyes, yawned loudly. It seemed the aftermath of the long trip had yet to go.


    The back door of the vi was opened, and Fatima was seen bringing coffee, so he changed his posture because she mightin that he looked tired.


    ¡°You look tired, at least take a nap.¡±


    To Youngho¡¯s surprise, Fatima seemed to have caught Youngho¡¯s condition.


    ¡°You¡¯re treating me like a patient.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a patient right now. You¡¯re the guy who¡¯s lost his soul to gold.¡±


    ¡°Ah! You know someone might hear you and think that¡¯s true.¡±


    He felt a prick at his heart. It seemed that Kim Il-kwon had confessed everything to Fatima to her grilling.


    Youngho usually did not break his promise to his children, but he had to suffer a lot foring a few dayster this time.


    ¡°Is it true that the Altai Mountains are covered with gold?¡±


    ¡°There was a lot of gold in the valley. So I¡¯m sure the former president has designated it as a protected area and kept it out of course.¡±


    ¡°Is the reservation off now?¡±


    ¡°I asked the prime minister to designate it as a royal property.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Then we can go and collect gold, too?¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Zeynep, and Park Seo-young, who else? No, we shouldn¡¯t be alone. Szechenyi and Isabe and their children are alsoing to the vi tomorrow, so I¡¯d better take Isabelle, too.¡±


    Although she did not say it, it seemed Fatima was also as crazy as Youngho when it came to gold.


    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous because it¡¯s deserted and the terrain is rugged.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going there to help Seo-young¡¯s dad.¡±


    Park Seo-young was the daughter of Doctor Park Young-sun, who was in charge of the exploration of the Altai Mountains. She was Zeynep¡¯s best friend who was the same age as Zeynep and went to Goethe University together.


    Youngho was dumbfounded by Fatima¡¯s sudden request that he was quickly searching for an excuse not to bring them.


    ¡°Well... I wish there is a nice ce for you to stay, but we can¡¯t take the kids there and sleep in tents.¡±


    ¡°I heard the scenery of the Altai Mountains is as beautiful as here.¡±


    ¡°What does it matter?¡±


    ¡°Our children are going to lead the country in the future, and it¡¯s going to be a great learning opportunity if we show them the mountains. Camping in the wilderness would be a great experience.¡±


    Youngho felt that he was being dragged by Fatima¡¯s intentions.


    After spending enough time at theke, the family was getting tired of it, and Fatima just found a custom yground.


    ¡°Do you have such pure intention only?¡±


    ¡°Hey, do you think we¡¯re like you?¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, Princess Isabe has a weakness for gold. Do you really want to take their babies to camping?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s even better. You and Szechenyi can babysit the children. We¡¯re going to help Seo-young¡¯s dad.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Oppa, can I keep what I find?¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with some gold beads? I¡¯ll give you a gold bar in the royal pce if necessary.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for the Kazakh people. How can I use that?¡±


    ¡°It belongs to the royal family. Why the people?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to use it for Kazakhs, it¡¯ll be a disgrace to use it for personal purpose.¡±


    Although she was making a great remark, she was already fidgeting to collect gold. As Isabe and Szechenyi were ahead of her, she was anxious as if she would run at any minute.


    In the end, the royal family, including Youngho, all came to the Altai Mountains together.


    Youngho thought that the kids would only stay at theke for a vacation, but when he told them he was going to the Altai Mountains, they were excited to go to a new travel destination.


    When Youngho said that they could even collect gold, even Jelyan and Rena¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    When the royal family said that it woulde to the Altai Mountains, many people were mobilized to make temporary lodgings at the entrance to the mountain range.


    Youngho hoped that his family would not get in the way of exploration work, but it seemed like his family was only postponing their process.


    As soon as they arrived yesterday, kids wandered around the campground, and this morning they were making a fuss to go to the valley for gold.


    ¡°Oppa, if the Altai Mountains are really gold-covered, that means our royal family is blessed.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been already blessed from the moment we came to Kazakhstan. You know Almaty¡¯s gold mine boasts global reserves, right?¡±


    ¡°You said thousands of tons are buried there. Does that mean there are more in the Altai Mountains?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯s enough buried to surprise the whole world. Because Dr. Park Young-sun said it was highly possible.¡±


    Zeynep seemed to be excited and her expression changed as if she was dreaming.


    ¡°So, Kazakhstan will be the richest country in the world? Perhaps we can live better than America or Europe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can. That¡¯s why the former president kept this ce a secret. He probably thought that it could be taken away by a powerful country without the power to protect it.¡±


    ¡°That grandfather president was very careful. He must have loved Kazakhstan very much given the fact that he hid it so tightly.¡±


    Not only Zeynep but also the Kazakh people still had nostalgia for President Nazarbayev.


    He was a terrible dictator, but he loved Kazakhstan more than anyone else.


    ¡°I was a great nationalist. It was a problem because he was so drunk with power.¡±


    ¡°He must be upset having to leave this ce without knowing how much gold is buried.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to check how much gold is buried, and you guys are interrupting it.¡±


    ¡°Why are we interrupting? We are helping to find the vein of gold more quickly.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯d rather not say anything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. But there¡¯s an empty military base around here. Is this a dangerous area?¡±


    ¡°Troops must have been deployed here since it¡¯s near the Russian border. When the new government was established, they were all pulled back to the Chinese border.¡±


    Even though Russia could not move south because it was blocked by the Altai Mountains, there was arge military presence in the area. If it was meant to protect the gold mine, it could have been controlled by just putting up a sign and setting up some policemen. While answering Zeynep¡¯s question, Youngho had no choice but to tilt his head.


    ¡®Why on earth did the army stay here?¡¯

 Chapter 628 - Resource Exploration (3)

    Chapter 628: Resource Exploration (3)


    ¡°Chief Kim, find out why a battalion of military units has been deployed here.¡±


    Kim Il-kwon looked puzzled when Youngho suddenly asked.


    ¡°Your Highness, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°The Altai Mountains are a ce that no one could have crossed, and there¡¯s no reason to have a military presence. It¡¯s not a particrly dangerous ce. Isn¡¯t it strange?¡±


    ¡°You are right. I¡¯ll find out right away.¡±


    Kim Il-kwon made several phone calls and soon found out the situation.


    ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s something a little strange about it. The troops who were stationed here were also on guard, not knowing what they were doing.¡±


    ¡°Who in the world gave an order like that?¡±


    ¡°It was a special order from the presidential pce. They were ordered not to let anyone in or out of the area designated as a nature reserve.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Were there any routes into the mountain range?¡±


    Something popped in Youngho¡¯s head.


    Despite the rugged Altai Mountains, he remembered that there was an unpaved road.


    If it was to conceal the presence of a gold mine, it would have been normal not to have even made the way into the mountain range, but it was strange.


    ¡°The resource exploration teams also used the route to enter the mountains.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they did. We¡¯ll have to mobilize drones to look around.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Park¡¯s team always carries drones. Shall we contact him now?¡±


    ¡°If we reach him, tell him to stop the exploration work ande here right away.¡±


    When Youngho asked to tell Park Young-sun to withdraw without exnation, Kim Il-kwon tilted his head.


    ¡°I think there might be more than a gold mine hidden here.¡±


    ¡°You mean nuclear weapons?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t rule out the possibility of that.¡±


    ¡°How can they store nuclear weapons with suchx vignce? Wouldn¡¯t it be too dangerous?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not going to use it right away, hiding that in an unlikely ce like this is also a good way.¡±


    Park Young-sun immediately left the scene and returned to the temporary quarters when Youngho asked him to withdraw.


    ¡°Your Highness. What made you ask me to withdraw?¡±


    ¡°I have something to discuss. It¡¯s weird that there¡¯s been a military presence here. I guess the military was trying to protect it. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s just a gold mine. It doesn¡¯t make sense without the presence of strategic weapons.¡±


    ¡°You said all the military units were pulled out even though those weapons were still there?¡±


    ¡°The stationed troops had no idea what they were guarding. They were just following orders, and when the new government forced all troops to withdraw, they just moved without a doubt.¡±


    ¡°Then it makes a little sense. But does it make sense that even military leaders don¡¯t know about it? Shouldn¡¯t strategic weapons be handled more thoroughly?¡±


    ¡°If it was a weapon that could shock the whole world, it¡¯s highly likely that the information was ssified to only the top leaders of the former administration.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you talking about a nuclear weapon?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s premature to say it, but I think there¡¯s a possibility.¡±


    Park Young-sun remained silent at the mention of nuclear weapons.


    ¡°This could get Kazakhstan into aplicated problem.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I asked you to withdraw. It¡¯s something that shouldn¡¯t be found by any of the explorers.¡±


    ***


    For security reasons, Youngho secretly called the organization in the royal territory only, without informing any government or military officials.


    If a nuclear weapon was found after making a fuss for nothing, it would be a huge problem.


    ¡°Is it really a nuclear weapon?¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s expression was veryplicated as he asked.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t understand that they managed nuclear weapons so poorly, and I don¡¯t understand the military presence even more if it¡¯s a gold mine. Let¡¯s investigate it secretly for now.¡±


    If it turned out to be nuclear weapons, President Nazarbayev¡¯s bold move should be admired. Who would suspect that there were nuclear weapons here?


    It was even appalling that he used human psychology to hide the weapons this way as they were almost neglected.


    The investigation was conducted in a confidential and swift manner.


    Every ce of possibility was searched without exception. The investigation was primarily focused on ces where there were signs of a rough road since they could not have been transported without the use of vehicles.


    And based on the idea that the trail could have been erased, the search was also concentrated on rtively gentle ces and where the rock walls existed. This was because it was highly likely that a rock wall was chosen to pierce a cave or build a concrete structure.


    Drones were also mobilized to search the region.


    Not knowing this urgent situation was taking ce, the royaldies, preupied with collecting gold, were alert to the emergence ofpetitors.


    ¡°Hey, why did Jong-il oppa and Chul-hwan oppa bring a bunch of royal bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°They are here to protect you.¡±


    ¡°Huh! I don¡¯t believe that. They¡¯re here to collect gold! Somebody must have spread the word that there¡¯s a lot of gold. Is it Il-kwon oppa?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Chief Kim. I told him toe. It¡¯s so hot at the royal territory now, so I thought it¡¯d be great if he and his family could take a summer vacation and help the exploration team.¡±


    ¡°Then tell them to stay away from where we are.¡±


    ¡°Why? Did you have some fun there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±


    It seemed they had found a field of gold. Youngho had heard a few shouts of joy from where the family was collecting gold.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll keep no one from going there, but promise me you won¡¯t get into the woods.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    Zeynep cried out an okay as if Youngho would change his mind soon.


    ***


    ¡°Hyung, is that true?¡±


    Szechenyi was worried because he knew about the situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to say. I¡¯m just looking into this ce because it¡¯s strange that the former regime has takenplete control of the ce.¡±


    ¡°Then what made the world¡¯s media assume we¡¯re nuclear-armed?¡±


    ¡°That was something we dropped on purpose. It¡¯s a bluff so no one will mess with us. Did you see that China is in a rage?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I see. The Queen of Denmark asked me if Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons or not.¡±


    ¡°If Kazakhstan were a nuclear power, wouldn¡¯t Denmark be assured?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but she was concerned that the world will treat Kazakhstan as a rogue state.¡±


    ¡°Please tell her not to worry. The Kazakh government has no intention of possessing nuclear weapons.¡±


    ¡°Hyung, will you open it if the nuclear weapons are found this time?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to hide them like the former president. And besides, we¡¯re ready to make nuclear weapons any time, so we don¡¯t even need to find the ones already made.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a gold mine with a scale that the former regime couldn¡¯t handle.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better then. Gold is as destructive as nuclear weapons.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to use it for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to use it to build up the force right now. The air force has reached some level, but the Navy is still a long way off. We could even buy apleted battleship.¡±


    ¡°What? The Danish Shipyard is building new Aegis destroyers and frigates, and remodeling the British destroyer now. Yet, you still want to buy more?¡±


    ¡°Reworking a used ship hurts our pride.¡±


    ¡°The hull¡¯s fine, even if it¡¯s used. If we just change the inside and install the new weapon, it will be fine for the next 20 years.¡±


    The Royal Navy acquired nine retired frigates from the British Navy, and they were currently being renovated at the Danish Shipyard.


    They were old-fashioned destroyers that became victims of the British government¡¯s drastic cuts in defense spending.


    Although the ships had retired, their hulls and engines were still fine, so they could be used for more than ten years if they were equipped with internal facilities and state-of-the-art weapons.


    Early next year, all of them would be deployed to the field, but Youngho felt a little ufortable as they were secondhand.


    Although it would not matter if they had thetest version of thebat system, he still insisted on having new ships, fearing it would damage the reputation of the Kazakh Royal Navy.


    However, if the U.K. frigates worked well after they werepleted, he would consider receiving retired cruisers from the Russian Navy.


    Although the era of the great guns and vessels were nearing an end, once they were converted into missile cruisers, then they would have their own strategic value.


    ¡°Does Princess Isabe ever tell you to return to Denmark?¡±


    ¡°She loves this ce so much that she wants to build a log bungalow.¡±


    ¡°The scenery here is like the Alps. But it¡¯s not just the view, is it?


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s also fun to collect gold.¡±


    ¡°I guess they¡¯ve done a pretty good job of collecting gold. Zeynep warned me to stay away from her site.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... There¡¯s apetition between the two. Isabe hasn¡¯t told me how much she collected either.¡±


    ¡°What are they going to do with such little gold?¡±


    ¡°Isabe wants to make a gold ring and give it to the Queen.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then I¡¯ll also add some.¡±


    ¡°Have you collected anything?¡±


    ¡°Your sister gave me an earful for being a few dayste. I was collecting gold. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve got quite a collection.¡±


    ¡°Then give that to Isabe. She said he¡¯d brag about how much gold there is in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Chief Kim has put away all the gold the guards and I collected. Talk to him and give it all to Isabe, but don¡¯t tell anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Of course. If Zeynep finds out, you and I won¡¯t be able to live up to our time.¡±

 Chapter 629 - Legacy (1)

    Chapter 629: Legacy (1)


    ¡°Nobody would have thought there was a concrete structure there. If it wasn¡¯t for the idea of finding a cave or structure, we could have just passed it by.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was moring for the discovery of a concrete structure in the forest.


    Finally, the Royal Bodyguards discovered one of the causes why the former regime had made the area a nature reserve.


    Decades after its construction, the reinforced concrete structure was cleverly located in an irregrly scattered area of huge rocks, which was so densely wooded around it that it was hard to find.


    If a guard had not gone into the woods to handle his urgent needs, they would not have been able to find it for months. Even drones could not have caught it due to the thick woods.


    The concrete was discolored and covered in moss, so people had thought it a natural rock. When concrete structures were found, they searched the area for more simr facilities, but no other facilities were found.


    ¡°We should reward the guard who was in urgent need of a toilet.¡±


    ¡°I already promised a special promotion. But we need a welding cutter to open the iron door right away...¡±


    ¡°Contact Dr. Park Young-sun. The exploration team will have all kinds of equipment.¡±


    ¡°And what the hell would it be in there?¡±


    ¡°With that size of concrete, it wouldn¡¯t be a regr bomb, would it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that the former regime had nothing to do and hid the bomb in this mountain for fun. It¡¯s definitely a nuclear weapon. I mean think about that tight seal.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. How can a country leave nuclear weapons so sloppyly?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is that country, dumb*ss, and it¡¯s called a tactic.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it makes sense unless it¡¯s a mad organization? It probably is not a big deal if there were guards.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan and Park Jong-il were arguing about the existence of nuclear weapons.


    ¡°Hey, they said that they¡¯ve been guarding it and were pulled out when the new government formed.¡±


    ¡°Then, that means when President Nazarbayev was in office, it used to be maintained. But look at that. Is that a managed facility? Don¡¯t expect too much because it¡¯s not nuclear at all.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was insisting it was nonsense as it did not make sense to neglect such valuable weapons. Youngho and Jong-il also agreed, but they were certain that this was not a usual storage.


    When President Nazarbayev became a president, he would have hidden all existing nuclear weapons from the Soviet era as having such power was necessary to protect the country. If the country wanted to be a member of the internationalmunity, it had to dismantle all nuclear weapons, but he might have thought that he would sneak some of them away anyway.


    It was a chaotic time when the Soviet Union copsed, so it was possible to steal a few if he wanted as it was a time when people did not know exactly how many weapons the Soviet Union had.


    The heavy iron door was opening slowly.


    It was the first time in decades that President Nazarbayev¡¯s treasure had seen the light. Only a few key figures, including Youngho, attended the site.


    When the iron gate was fully opened, the party went inside, each holding a shlight.


    The smell of a stale fungus stung his nose, but Youngho did not care.


    Inside the 10675 sq. ft. room stood many columns densely, and between the columns were rectangr steel boxes measuring 50 centimeters by 2 meters.


    The number of steel boxes was 100.


    With only 100 steel boxes in such arge area, everyone looked dumbfounded as it was something they did not expect.


    Although it had been a long time, the iron boxes were only covered in dust and did not even rust.


    ¡°This must be a special alloy. It¡¯s been decades, and it hasn¡¯t even rusted.¡±


    ¡°Can you open the lid?¡±


    As soon as Youngho spoke, Cho Chul-hwan tapped the lid of a steel box and carefully lifted the lid using a crowbar.


    ¡°Why is it so easy to open?¡±


    Then the iron lid was put aside lightly and fell on the floor with a crash, which made everyone frightened.


    ¡°Hey! Be careful!¡±


    Park Jong-il yelled.


    When the iron cap fell on the floor, dust on the floor rose, but no one was aware of it as they were nervous to find out what the boxes were all about.


    ¡°Don¡¯t yell, man. I was scared to death.¡±


    His voice echoed inside the room.


    Still, Cho Chul-hwan, who opened the lid first, carefully lit the shlight and looked inside the iron box and made ament in a rxed voice.


    ¡°It looks like a small missile.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t touch it.¡±


    ***


    ¡°They had more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the Soviet era. There were about 2,000 strategic nuclear weapons and the rest were tactical nuclear weapons. The tactical nuclear missiles stored here are mounted on fighter jets or helicopters.¡±


    Park Jong-il was exining the number of Soviet-era nuclear weapons.


    President Nazarbayev¡¯s legacy was small tactical nuclear missiles with a 10 kiloton weight of 300 kilograms.


    Strategic nuclear weapons wererger than megaton-level nuclear weapons mounted on ICBMs that traveled between continents, while tactical nuclear weapons were small-scale nuclear weapons designed for local or small-scale war purposes.


    ¡°I wish it was a strategic nuclear weapon.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? We can¡¯t afford to have that anyway. Just know that this alone is stronger than the firepower of one mechanized division.¡±


    Still, Cho Chul-hwan seemed he could not believe it.


    ¡°Think of dropping it on an industrial park or military base. Industrial parks will be in ruins, and a few divisions of military units will be disabled.¡±


    The nuclear weapons deployed in Kazakhstan were returned to Russia in the mid-1990s under pressure from the U.S. and NATO, but it seemed like President Nazarbayev had intercepted some before they were returned.


    The 100 tactical nuclear missiles seemed to be in good storage enough to be used right away. They should, of course, go through the hands of weapons experts but just looking at it made Youngho feel secure.


    The question now was how to deal with the missiles.


    It could neither be left there nor left to the military. It would be better to keep it a secret even to government ministers since it should not be known to the world.


    ¡°We have to develop a gold mine here right away, so let¡¯s move everything to the royal territory for the time being.¡±


    ¡°How do we move them?¡±


    Park Jong-il was worried about transportation.


    ¡°We have to use nes.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to make a temporary runway.¡±


    When the gold mine was activated, a simple airport was also needed to move gold.


    This was because it was a whopping 2,400 kilometers from the Altai Mountains to the royal territory. Air transportation was the most efficient mean of transportation in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you all know this, but we¡¯ll have to watch our mouth. Let¡¯s just keep it to ourselves and not mention it if it¡¯s unnecessary even to each other.¡±


    ¡°Of course. The problem is, I don¡¯t want us to ever use that stuff...¡±


    Even elementary school students knew the formidable destructive power of small nuclear missiles, although they were only tactical nuclear weapons.


    If a fighter was equipped with this missile, someone would have to face a painful situation.


    ***


    The northeastern region of the Altai Mountains was home torge cities such as Pavlodar, Semey, and Oskemen, which were located along the Irtysh River.


    They were big cities in Kazakhstan, but they were not as big as Western cities. They were big by Kazakhstan¡¯s standard.


    Most cities had developed meat, milling, woodworking, various nonferrous metal smelting nts, and construction materials industries based on a wide grasnd area along the Irtysh River with a poption of around 300,000 people.


    More than 60 percent of the residents were Russians, generally showing pro-Russian tendencies, but after Kazakhstan became a constitutional monarchy, many ethnic walls were torn down. It was because there were expectations for the Kazakh royal family.


    The Russians in the northern cities were peculiarly more confident in the monarchy than in socialism or democracy.


    The rise of these cities started from the Imperial Russian fortresses, and people had not yet forgotten the nostalgia of the Russian Empire.


    Since they were people with such tendencies, the residents weed the rumor that a royal vi would be built in the Altai Mountains. They were d that the royal family expressed interest in the northeastern region when the royal family had only been paying attention to southern Kazakhstan. The news that the royal family would build a vi in the Altai Mountains and begin a volunteer exploration traveled fast.


    Youngho was asking Park Young-sun how much minerals were being produced in the Altai Mountains.


    ¡°Are they producing this much even though they are only mining based on what was investigated during the Soviet era?¡±


    The bottom of the deposits should have appeared after years of digging already. Even though the exploration techniques of the Soviet era were poor, they still produced endless supplies of aluminum, titanium, zinc, and lead.


    ¡°It¡¯s proof that they are buried all over the ce.¡±


    ¡°Then there must be a lot of minerals other than gold in the ces designated as the royal property.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already identified aluminum and titanium deposits.¡±


    ¡°How much are the number of deposits?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to even estimate. It should be a global level. Kazakhstan is a global ce.¡±


    For Park Young-sun, who spent his life wandering the world looking for minerals, Kazakhstan was a wonder.


    ¡°So we have to have power to protect what we have. Doctor, I ask you to keep quiet about the object we found.¡±


    What Youngho said was referring to nuclear weapons.


    He and the others who knew about it including Park Jong-il and Cho Chul-hwan agreed to refer to it as ¡®the object¡¯.


    ¡°Well, at first, I was a little puzzled, but now I think we are very lucky to have such a weapon. Will China and Russia leave a country with such inexhaustible resources? I¡¯m sure they¡¯d want to take over Kazakhstan somehow, but we have a weapon to stop it. It¡¯s all good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d you have a positive perspective on it.¡±


    Youngho was worried that Park Young-sun might not like the idea of having nuclear power.


    ¡°Of course. We have the power that nobody else canpare. If time permits, I¡¯ll also look for uranium.¡±


    ¡°Are there any more uranium deposits?¡±


    ¡°The uranium we¡¯re mining right now is all we¡¯ve explored in Soviet times. With modern technology, we can find more mines than we have now.¡±


    ¡°Then we can look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°I expect to find not only uranium but also other special minerals.¡±


    ¡°For now, goldes before other minerals.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Don¡¯t worry because gold is always at the top of the list.¡±

 Chapter 630 - Legacy (2)

    <h4>Chapter 630: Legacy (2)</h4>


    Cessna¡¯s twin-engine propeller transporter produced in the Arirang Royal Territory had a maximum take-off weight of 20 tons with a maximum speed of 670 km/h, a cruising speed of 400 km/h, a constant distance of about 6,000 km and a maximum climb altitude of 8,000 meters.


    With this type of aircraft, it could travel 2,400 kilometers from the state of Pavlodar, where the Altai Mountains were located, to the royal territory without refueling.


    Youngho took a breath while looking at a twin-engine ne take off a temporary runway that was hastily built to carry tactical nuclear missiles.


    ¡°Phew, it¡¯s finally over.¡±


    ¡°We could¡¯ve moved it in two times but we did it three times for nothing.¡±


    ¡°You have to calcte the weight of the ne, too. And how are you going to handle the turbulence if you meet one? That thing is more precious than gold bars to me.¡±


    Each nuclear missile weighed 300 kilograms and with 100 of them, it weighed 30 tons, so it could not be handled carelessly. Since they had been neglected for decades, Youngho and the guards just sent them to the royal territory while carefully treating them like babies.


    ¡°Whoa, it won¡¯t be weird if the sun came up from the west tomorrow since Lee Youngho refuses to ept gold bars.¡±


    ¡°They will act better than gold in the future. Man, in my mind, I want to take a picture of them and spread it on the Beijing sky.¡±


    It would be shocking for the Chinese government if the photos of Soviet-made tactical nuclear weapons produced in the 1970s were shown.


    ¡°Man, you can be evil sometimes. Who would they suspect if that thing came into the world? Of course, they will doubt us.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too naive. There were numerous tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Brus and Ukraine. They¡¯ll think it¡¯s one of them.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. I just thought of a good idea now that you say Ukraine. If we are caught to have tactical nuclear weapons, we can make an excuse that they¡¯re from Ukraine.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il were excited like kids after sending thest tactical nuclear weapons to the royal territory.


    In his excitement, Park Jong-il came up with a slightly far-fetched idea.


    ¡°Why do you think we¡¯ll get caught? No one will find out about it if we hide them well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said ¡®if.¡¯ We can say that we got one from the Ukrainian ck market.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t all of Ukraine¡¯s tactical nuclear weapons get recalled?¡±


    ¡°No one knows exactly how many were deployed in Ukraine.¡±


    ¡°The Soviet-era nuclear management department must know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a problem because all management departments work individually and even Russia doesn¡¯t know the exact number. The Soviet Union suddenly copsed and the nuclear power fell into the hands of each independent state. That¡¯s why the world turned upside down.¡±


    ¡°Man, let¡¯s just try our best not to get caught.¡±


    ¡°If something goes wrongter, my words will pop up in your head.¡±


    ¡°It almost feels like you want things to go wrong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying we need to prepare for a rainy day instead of panicking when it became reality.¡±


    ¡°OK, just think of a ce where we can keep the nuclear weapons safe.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a ce we¡¯re making right now.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The world¡¯srgest underground shelter! Wouldn¡¯t it be the safest ce? Cars can be in and out of 150 meters below the ground, so we¡¯ll be able to use the missiles in case of emergency.¡±


    Jong-il was referring to the underground cave shelter in the royal territory, which was discovered by Park Young-sun previously.


    If vehicles could enter and exit the cave, helicopters could also get in as long as the propeller was folded.


    It was also being developed as a shelter for any attacks.


    ¡°Right, we had a cave. It¡¯s safer than any other ce.¡±


    ***


    Work was underway to expand the ess passage of the underground cave. It was to make it easier for Apache helicopters equipped with strategic nuclear weapons to enter and exit.


    Kim Chun looked back at Youngho with a satisfied smile as he watched the TBM¡ªa tunnel boring machine¡ªoperated with a loud noise.


    ¡°Your Highness, I feel like I¡¯m already full without a meal. Who would you have known that the former president had left this legacy behind?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. It¡¯s ironic that I¡¯vee to praise the man who was the subject of criticism. A leader needs that level of guts. I would¡¯ve supported him if he was not a dictator...¡±


    When Youngho blurred his words, Kim Chun shook his head.


    ¡°Now forget the past. If it wasn¡¯t for the revolution, he would never have stepped down. Your Grace is beginning a new history in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m doing well. I don¡¯t even know having this weapon will be a good thing for Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what we developed. We only need to keep it in a safe ce.¡±


    ¡°Well, I just hope that we won¡¯t ever get to use them.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, do you intend to keep our entire fighter jets and Apache helicopters in the cave?¡±


    ¡°Yes, since this ce won¡¯t be used for now, I will use it as a military base. It¡¯s so wide that I think one corner will give us enough room.¡±


    The underground cave was being prepared as a shelter for residents in an emergency, but it would be a waste if the huge space was left alone only for a rainy day, so Youngho nned to use it as storage for reserved supplies and military facilities.


    As the temperature inside was kept constant throughout the year, it was also perfect for storing military supplies, daily necessities, and grains that were sensitive to changes in temperature.


    The fighter jets and helicopters were able to move in and out of it on tow trucks as long as the wings and propellers were folded, making it possible to deploy them in the event of an emergency.


    ¡°I¡¯ll resent it if nothing happens after pouring such effort to prepare all this.¡±


    ¡°Even though it seems like a great waste, we should not bezy to maintain our defense capabilities. It has a function as a deterrent. We have no choice but to spend it even if it¡¯s a waste.¡±


    ¡°Phew! You have to meet good neighbors, but we weren¡¯t that lucky.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s be d that President Nazarbayev left something to use.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a mess, too. How did he think about stealing nuclear weapons?¡±


    ¡°If he is in front of me, I would like to carry him on my back.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Director Min. Do you think we¡¯ll be able to finish dredging and embankment work of the Ural River by next year¡¯s thaw season?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going so fast that I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll lead to a defect. It¡¯s because we have more than enough manpower.¡±


    The Kurds, who moved to the royal territory, were overcrowding, leading to massive civil engineering projects.


    ¡°We must stop the flooding of the Ural River to make use of thend nearby.¡±


    The Ural River was always inundated by melting snow from the Ural Mountains during the thaw season.


    In the past, people would have liked flooding as it would make thend fertile, but now the people were working to dredge and raise river banks because it threatened Kurdish settlements amounting to one million.


    ¡°I heard that dredging sand is useful for manure.¡±


    ¡°We distributed it to farnd for a test and the crops are growing very well. I think we won¡¯t need fertilizer from now on.¡±


    ¡°Great. There are many ces where the ground is dying from over-spreading fertilizer and pesticides during the Soviet era, so please supply them with dredge.¡±


    The high-quality sediments from the upper reaches of the stream were not only used for fertilizer but also for saving sicknd.


    If they were added with the bentonite waste together, it seemed it could save the semi-deserted western region.


    The biggest challenge in western Kazakhstan, where there was the Arirang Royal Territory, was to prevent desertification.


    To avoid the ever-present sandstorms, there was no choice but to reduce the semi-deserted areas.


    The effort to prevent desertification was not only limited to using such sand as fertilizer. There had been other efforts such as developing grasnds, windbreaks, and small repairs as a way to change the course of dry winds.


    ¡°Continue dredging and embankment work even to the areas outside the royal territory. That way we can use the waterways to get to the City of Oral.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. Ten years is even too short if we want to connect to the city of Oral.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like anyone¡¯sing after us, so let¡¯s take it slow and easy.¡±


    When Youngho, who had always been in a hurry for anything, appeared rxed, Construction Director Min was looking back again at Youngho¡¯s face.


    ¡°What¡¯s on my face?¡±


    ¡°You look more rxed these days.¡±


    ¡°Something happenedtely. I received a pretty big legacy.¡±


    ¡°Is there any more inheritance of the Serbian Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got to say that the whole Kazakhstan is a legacy for all of us.¡±


    ¡°We are indeed blessedpared to the past when Kazakhstan was shunned as a barren ce.¡±


    ¡°We have to keep this ce safe so that we can pass it down to our future generations, right?¡±


    ¡°Since the royal family stands firm, there will be no threat to us. The people of Kazakhstan and I don¡¯t even have that concern.¡±


    Youngho was not sure if it was fortunate that the people of Kazakhstan had no concerns about neighboring countries¡¯ threats.


    Such an attitude was quite strange to him.


    In a situation like Korea, no one knew when the war would break out, and such tension was the driving force behind economic prosperity. The DNA of Koreans who struggled to survive in a small lump ofnd was just right for this era.


    This was how Korea had been able to grow into an economic power without any special given resources.


    For Youngho, who had to live on the edge of his seat to survive, the mindset of the people here, who were rxed even with the great powers around them, had yet to be understood.

 Chapter 631 - A Kurdish Transfer Operation (1)

    Chapter 631: A Kurdish Transfer Operation (1)


    As the summer temperature fluctuated between 35 degrees to 35.9 degrees Celsius day after day, there were not many people out in downtown of the royal territory during the day.


    There were some people sitting on the benches under the shade of trees and under the umbres of open-air cafes.


    The yellow field waiting for its harvest was swaying by the wind.


    While enjoying the midsummer scenery outside the window in his office, Park Jong-il saw his smartphone as soon as he heard the phone ringing.


    The screen showed the number of Hong Sung-ki, deputy director of the intelligence service.


    Hong Sung-ki was out in Turkey to spearhead the Kurdish migration.


    -Sir, the situation in Syria is very bad.


    ¡°Are government forces bombing rebel areas again?¡±


    -That won¡¯t be surprising. They set off a gas shell in rebel territory.


    ¡°What? Has the Kurdish town that is arranged to move this time also been damaged?¡±


    -The site is a little away from the Kurdish vige. They¡¯re fine now. But I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s going to be a big battle because of the gas shell. We need to evacuate the Kurds as soon as possible. I¡¯ll have to forcibly evacuate them to Turkey.


    ¡°Contact Turkey¡¯s car ferry shippingpany and see how many ships can be mobilized. I¡¯ll figure it out on the Greek side.¡±


    -All right. And I think we¡¯ll need armed forces to escort the migrants safely. Our local agents asked it since we don¡¯t know how the government forces are going to turn their stance.


    ¡°You want me to send Royal Bodyguards to Syria? What right do we have in Syria?¡±


    -The Kurds who have decided to move are like the Kazakhs. So it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have any justification. If there is a major battle between the rebels, the Kurds could have a major damage. I think our agents need to go and help right away.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t take any action but wait. We should also consult with the Syrian government to see if we can send our force.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who had been enjoying the most rxed days in recent years since the transfer of tactical nuclear weapons to the royal territory, was in a state of chaos.


    He was thinking about drinking a cold beer with Cho Chul-hwan on the way home from work, but he was irritated because the Syrian government forces were breaking his peace.


    Syrian government forces had been prideful with Russia on their backstely, and finally, they started something.


    ¡°They are insane. Why are they spraying poison gas all over?¡±


    -Sir, we don¡¯t have time to waste.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll let you know the results right away, so wait patiently.¡±


    -Instead of that, please send the Royal Bodyguards stationed on the Arirang Ind first. The situation is very urgent. You¡¯ll have to hurry if you don¡¯t want to make Princess Jelyan sad.


    ¡°Are you ckmailing me?¡±


    -It¡¯s not that. Turn on the TV now. I¡¯m not in a hurry for nothing. If the princess sees the broadcast, she¡¯ll find you first.


    Hong Sung-ki sounded quite urgent.


    When Hong Sung-ki mentioned Jelyan, Jong-il also flinched.


    Jelyan was a special child to him as well since he had known her from the refugee camp in Iraq. He always felt sorry for her, so he used to take care of her every time he met her, so he would not let tears flow from her eyes.


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s hang up for now. I¡¯ll let you know as soon as I talk to Youngho.¡±


    ***


    It was less than half an hour after the royal territory was put on alert.


    The Aegis destroyer 1001 and the frigate 901, which were anchored at Arirang Ind, were deployed to the waters off Syria.


    There were many intelligence agents of Kazakhstan stationed in the Kurdish-dominated area in Syria, so if Syrian forces showed any sign of taking offensive actions in the Kurdish town, those ships could attack with a ship-to-ground missile.


    Although Kazakhstan was not in a position to attack Syria arbitrarily, the Kurds were already considered the Kazakh people, so Youngho thought that they could exercise their right to self-defense.


    Even if Kazakhstan acted independently, it would not be med as the Syrian government¡¯s use of poison gas was being criticized in the internationalmunity.


    Youngho also informed the U.S. Navy Mediterranean fleet that the Kazakh Royal Navy was entering Syrian waters.


    A meeting between Youngho and his friends was taking ce in Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°We can¡¯t cross the border without Turkey¡¯s cooperation. But it¡¯s impossible tond directly in Syria at the moment.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it when we¡¯re moving our own people? Ask the Syrian government to cooperate formally.¡±


    Youngho was taking an aggressive measure as never before.


    ¡°The Syrian government is losing its mind. Would it care about the refugees?¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t their first time. Syria is determined to take the offensive, trusting Russia¡¯s support.¡±


    ¡°It seems to me that the Syrian government intends to leave uncooperative people alone rather than trying to capture the rebels.¡±


    ¡°First of all, we need to get the Syrian government¡¯s promise for Kurdish security. And contact all our warships in the Arabian Sea toe over. We¡¯ll have to do an armed protest.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too hasty? I mean the U.S. is being still.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. Mediterranean fleet is also going to the waters of Syria, so don¡¯t worry. If we deploy into the Mediterranean, the U.S. will be more than happy.¡±


    ¡°It would¡¯ve been great if we had a multipurposending ship at a time like this. We could just bring people straight from the beach in Syria.¡±


    ¡°Not going through Turkey?¡±


    ¡°There is now that says we need to cross the border of Turkey. Whatever way that¡¯s the fastest way to bring out people from Syria, that¡¯s the best way.¡±


    So far, civil war had been raging in Syria, so Youngho had not considered using the Syrian port. Now that the Royal Navy was holding out off Syrian waters, direct transport from the Syrian port was not impossible.


    The migration of the troubled Kurds to Kazakhstan was something that Syria should be grateful for as well. There was no reason that the Syrian government would not cooperate, and if it did not, the Kazakh Navy intended to achieve its purpose even by demonstrating force.


    ¡°Okay. From now on, we¡¯re not going through Turkey, but we¡¯re carrying Kurds directly from the Syrian port. Anyone has an objection?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we¡¯ve had this kind of huge operation. I¡¯ll go, so just supply me with Royal Bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°Why is the intelligence chief going there? I have to go, the captain of the Royal Bodyguards!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Does it make sense for the captain of the Royal Bodyguards to vacate his duties?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, you two. Don¡¯t forget that you are the heads of key organizations of the royal territory. You two have to issue operational orders from headquarters. Howe you want to act like low-rank soldiers and shoot at the front line?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s remark, the two became quiet. They were too excited to be deployed to the field that they had forgotten about important duties. It was a shame.


    ¡°Gather all the car ferries we can use to rally them into the Syrian waters. Jong-il, inquire how many ships can be mobilized by the Greek shippingpany and In-soo, you can figure out about the Turkish shippingpany.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll take a lot of time for the Royal Bodyguards to get ready to leave from the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°Get a squadron of the Royal Guards on the Arirang Ind ready and tell them to board the Aegis and frigatesing from the Arabian Sea.¡±


    How could Youngho have known that the stationing of troops on the Arirang Ind would be used like this? When Cho Chul-hwan demanded to send three squadrons of forces to the ind, he scolded him saying that there was no need to have that many forces there. Cho Chul-hwan insisted that there should be a certain amount of troops to be used as quick-reaction forces, so Youngho had toply.


    ¡°Look at that. Aren¡¯t you d that we have stationed troops on the Arirang Ind?¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. You were right.¡±


    ¡°Are you jealous of my foresight?¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. Good for you!¡±


    ***


    Commander Victor Jun was looking through a telescope at the Syrian coast from the bridge of the Aegis destroyer 1001 of the Kazakh royal fleet.


    Now, one Aegis-equipped destroyer and one 3,000-ton frigate of the Kazakh Royal Navy entered the Syrian Sea two hours ago and were on standby.


    They were waiting for the arrival of the U.S. Aegis destroyers; Ross and Porter from Naples, Italy to do a joint operation with them.


    The two Aegis destroyers from Naples belonged to the U.S. Mediterranean Fleet, the 6th Fleet of the U.S. Navy.


    As Syria was only 20 hours from the Arirang Ind, they had quickly arrived in the Syrian waters to watch the situation.


    After receiving the coordinates of the regionalmand of the Syrian government¡¯s military from Kazakh intelligence agents who were in the Kurdish vige, the Navy was ready to attack but had to wait as the U.S. Navy requested not to operate independently.


    ¡°Commander, we received a word again.¡±


    ¡°What is it about this time?¡±


    Victor Jun¡¯s voice was full of irritation. He was not fond of the U.S. Navy, which seemed to be enjoying a leisurely vacation at its Naples base despite knowing that the situation in Syria was urgent.


    ¡°It states that if there is any sign of government troops entering the Kurdish vige before the U.S. Navy arrives, we can go ahead with our own independent operation.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, the Duke finally made it happen! International cooperation is important, but the security of the peoplees first. Reply that we got it.¡±


    ¡°We have additional words.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. Navy has also sent coordinates to the chemical nt that manufactures poison gas. For this one, they asked to cooperate with the U.S. Navy.¡±


    ¡°Good. Reply that we are confident of a precision strike without civilian damage.¡±


    The leadership of the royal territory made this decision because it would take a full day for the U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer to arrive, but the situation in Syria was not looking good.


    The suspicious movements of the Syrian government forces were detected by military satellites. The Kurdish vige was in imminent danger.


    In response to the order, Commander Jun stationed everyone on board for action.


    Meanwhile, he was in real-time contact with agents in the Kurdish vige.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going there?¡±


    -There are no special movements.


    ¡°The Syrian government¡¯s movements seem quite serious. First of all, we should stop the Syrian army from advancing. Is there a ce to do that?¡±


    -There is a mountain road five kilometers from here. If we hit there, it¡¯ll be difficult for government troops to enter the town.


    ¡°Then the Kurds¡¯ way out will be blocked.¡±


    -It¡¯s okay because there¡¯s a path on the other side.


    ¡°Is it possible to enter there on vehicles?¡±


    -You have to walk down the mountain path for about three hours to meet the road.


    ¡°And why do they live in a mountain vige?¡±


    -When the civil war broke out, they fled to the mountain vige.


    ¡°Has the vigers been linked to the rebels?¡±


    -That¡¯s right. They did the IS subdue operation with the rebels.


    ¡°Jeez... How many residents in total are to move out?¡±


    -There are 246 residents and the number of livestock is 3,200.


    ¡°Are they trying to move livestock as well?¡±


    -What can we do? To them, their livestock is like family.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to fire the missile an hour from now. Keep the vigers away from the mountain path.¡±


    -Hold on, Commander Jun. The vigers who are driving the livestock have yet to return.


    ¡°What? Don¡¯t they know the current situation?¡±


    The shepherds don¡¯t even care about the war. The priority is to feed the cattle.


    ¡°It¡¯s driving me nuts. So how long do we have to wait?¡±


    -We have two hours until sunset. Please wait until then.


    Captain Jun made a groaning noise unwittingly.


    ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll start the operation in two and a half hours from now.¡±


    Exactly two and half hours after that, a ship to the ground missile from the Aegis destroyer 1001 of the Kazakh Royal Navy was soaring into the sky with a sh.

 Chapter 632 - A Kurdish Transfer Operation (2)

    Chapter 632: A Kurdish Transfer Operation (2)


    When the joint operation with the U.S. in Syria ended sessfully, Michael called Youngho to congratte it.


    -Duke, all Syrian chemical factories and government armories have been confirmed destroyed. The Kazakh Navy did a great job.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think the Kazakh Navy is a lot more reliable than the U.S. 6th Fleet that¡¯s enjoying a leisurely vacation in Naples?¡±


    -Even if you get in a war, you need to give your soldiers enough rest, or there¡¯s going to be a problem with soldiers¡¯ morale. Always keep that in mind when you run the Kazakh military.


    ¡°But don¡¯t we have to rotate them for resting in case of emergency? We were lucky to have our warships in the Aegean Sea, but we almost lost our faith in the U.S. So, I¡¯m telling you, why don¡¯t you pay for ten ship-to-ground missiles we poured out to destroy the chemical nts?¡±


    -Hahaha...


    At Youngho¡¯s demand, Michaelughed for a long time.


    ¡°If we had waited for the U.S. Navy, our people¡¯s lives would have been in danger. If it¡¯s a joint operation, I was going to let it go, but the U.S. had not done anything in this.¡±


    -Of course, we should pay for that since thanks to the Kazakh Navy, we have punished Syria properly. Thank you on behalf of the United States.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just thank me, but reward me in kind.¡±


    -Phew, all right. Take as many Tomahawk missiles as you want from Naples¡¯ 6th Fleet base.


    ¡°You have to give them cheaper than Korean-made missiles. They¡¯ve been produced for years anyway.¡±


    -Duke. You know there¡¯s no expiration date on the missile. You should be d to give Tomahawks at the factory cost.


    Youngho was going to getpensated for ten missiles the Kazakh Navy used and buy 300 additional missiles from the U.S. so he was trying to negotiate it with Michael.


    The traditional missiles used by the Kazakh Navy were supplied from Korea, but Tomahawks had a longer range, so Youngho was going to rece all of the missiles.


    ¡°I nned to actively participate in the Syrian operation in the future, but I¡¯ll have to reconsider.¡±


    -Okay, I got it. I¡¯ll let you know in consultation with the Secretary of Defense. How many missiles do you need?


    ¡°I¡¯ll just need 300 for now.¡±


    -What are you going to do with all those missiles? Are you going to go to war?


    ¡°It¡¯ll only be used for the safety of ourselves and allies.¡±


    As the U.S. was in a position of being helped by the Kazakh military in Afghanistan and Syria, the U.S. would not be able to refuse this.


    -Duke, that amount can¡¯t be determined by the Pentagon. It is convenient for each other to deal with small portions.


    ¡°If you¡¯re ufortable, I¡¯ll make a concession. By the way, Chief, we still have a business to do.¡±


    -I¡¯m scared to hear that.


    ¡°It¡¯s also about helping the U.S. military, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    -Are you going to send troops to Syria?


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bring the Kurds directly to the Port of Latakia. It¡¯s too dangerous to cross the Turkish border. So we¡¯re nning to temporarilynd the Royal Bodyguards.¡±


    Michael was well aware that the Royal Bodyguard troops were special forces.


    If such troops came to Syria, it would be a big boost for the U.S. military as well.


    -How can I help you?


    ¡°Can you help our warships and car ferries to enter the Port of Latakia?¡±


    -How many troops do you n to send?


    ¡°We will send arge contingent of troops for now. If things don¡¯t work out, we¡¯re considering sending a battalion force.¡±


    -Dukes, instead of that, do you have any intention of a long-term presence as a member of the Allies? That would also help the Kurds¡¯ safety.


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to deploy troops for the long-term. It¡¯s not like Kazakhstan can afford that.¡±


    The cost of sending troops was not a penny or two, so he took a step back.


    It was a hassle to start with the creation of a base.


    -We will pay for the stationing costs if Kazakhstan sends troops. We have a customized base, so we could provide it to the Kazakh Army.


    Syria, which had been in a civil war for seven years, had also put a heavy political burden on the U.S. In this situation, the dispatch of ally forces was a boost to the U.S. government.


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s look at it positively. I need some time to get an agreement of the National Assembly.¡±


    -If you send troops, we can make good progress on the sale of Tomahawk missiles.


    At Michael¡¯s tempting offer, Youngho agreed immediately.


    Youngho promised that he would send twopanies, Michael was exuberated because the twopanies of the Kazakh Royal Bodyguards were more powerful than the equal size of troops in the regr fighting force.


    ***


    It was spectacr to see ten tactical light armored vehicles carrying 240 soldiers, five Leopard II tanks, ten armored trucks and ten Humvee vehicles provided by the U.S. military.


    This was the equivalent of the firepower of armor battalion firepower with a strong defense capability equipped with portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.


    After arriving at their destination three hours after departing from the port of Latakia, Syria, the Royal Bodyguard troops were taking over the base from the U.S. military and unpacking their luggage.


    The base, which was used by the U.S. military, was to be transferred to the Kazakh military.


    The base was built to repel the IS, 15 kilometers from the city of Aleppo, where Kurdish fighters used to be.


    U.S. troops were also considering pulling out of Syria after rebels and Kurds withdrew to al-Hasakah, near the Iraqi border. With Russia and Iran helping Syrian government forces, it was also very burdensome for the U.S. military to be stationed in the city of Aleppo.


    As the U.S. military stayed there for several years, the facilities at the base were the best. It was a proper base with a strong fence and even a high watch.


    Captain Han Joo-ho looked satisfied as he toured the military base equipped with various amenities.


    ¡°It would be fair to say that this is a coalition headquarters, not a temporary one.¡±


    ¡°Captain, look here. We even have a full gym.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, are they here to wage war or to rest?¡±


    ¡°A well-off country is indeed different.¡±


    ¡°What are you so jealous of when our Royal Bodyguards is as well-equipped as the U.S. military? Don¡¯t just look around at the facilities but put the guards on the line right away. And check the water supply facilities and fuel tanks. We need to refuel now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ll check.¡±


    The Royal Bodyguards, who received the location, immediately began patrolling nearby areas.


    As the Kazakh forces were peacekeepers, the Syrian government did not have any hostility toward them. Although it was a bit ufortable to have fired ship-to-ground missiles from the naval vessel 1001, it was a minimal act of self-defense for the safety of the Kurds.


    ***


    Some 200 residents of the Kurdish town, located 80 kilometers northeast of the Syrian city of Aleppo, were moving along a steep mountain path carrying their respective belongings. Behind the residents was a herd of goats.


    The Syrian government forced them to leave as it assumed the town as a rebel stronghold and notified that there would be disadvantaged if they did not withdraw immediately.


    The leader of the migration group was Jamal, a Kurdish-born Kazakh intelligence agent.


    He had been staying in the Kurdish town until now, but when the situation became urgent, he persuaded people to withdraw. Jamal was in a hurry as the Royal Bodyguards stationed in Aleppo were alsoing to join the group after his call.


    It was about three hours to get to the road, and the migration procession, which included children and the elderly, moved at a snail¡¯s pace.


    Jamal freaked out when people tried to take care of the goat herd that followed them.


    ¡°It would be a disaster if the soldiers who came to meet after withdrawing before we arrive. There¡¯s no time to take the livestock.¡±


    ¡°They followed us around. How can we let them go? They can¡¯t stand a few days in the wild because they¡¯ve been domesticated.¡±


    ¡°People are more important than goats. What if the Syrian government forces catch us and hurt our people?¡±


    ¡°Who dares to treat us, Kurds recklessly?¡±


    One of the old people of the vige asked boldly, but he did not look too confident.


    ¡°Mister, Kurdish militia is no longer here. Do you think the Syrian government doesn¡¯t know that? The Syrian forces have been under the influence of the militias, and what if they now want to get even with us?¡±


    ¡°We have weapons to fight against them.¡±


    All they had were just a few AK rifles.


    The old man¡¯s voice was already weak, even though he tried to sound firm.


    ¡°Then men can take the back. I¡¯ll lead the women down first.¡±


    The Kurdish militia had been holding out so far, so the government did not dare to touch the Kurds. But now most of them had moved to Kazakhstan and had managed to maintain their presence only in the northeastern region of Al-Hasakah, near the Iraqi border.


    The area near Aleppo, where Kurdish fighters disappeared, was now controlled by Syrian government forces.


    It was not until dark that they could meet the guards waiting under the mountain.


    When Jamal met the Royal Bodyguards, he almost fell to the ground in relief. Han Joo-ho, who came out to meet Jamal, stepped forward.


    ¡°Are you Agent Jamal? I¡¯m Captain Han Joo-ho of the Royal Bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°You must be the Captain of the stationary force. It¡¯s my first time seeing you. This is Agent Jamal.¡±


    Jamal¡¯s emaciated and shameless appearance clearly showed how much he had gone through.


    ¡°You did a great job of transporting the vigers. Everyone got here safe because of you. His Highness and Princess Jelyan told us to treat you well.¡±


    When Han Joo-ho mentioned the Duke and Jelyan, Jamal blushed. It was almost like being rewarded for having suffered so far. He was moved by how much the Duke and the Princess cared for him.


    ¡°As you can see, they even brought a flock of goats.¡±


    ¡°Those people are quite determined. They¡¯re bringing the livestock with themselves.¡±


    ¡°They followed us. No matter how hard we tried to chase them away they didn¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s drive them to the base. Our troops will love to be served with fresh milk and meat.¡±


    ¡°Is there no problem?¡±


    ¡°From here on, we¡¯ll have roads and there are not many risk factors. Let¡¯s first send the vigers to the base and follow them slowly.¡±

 Chapter 633 - A Kurdish Transfer Operation (3)

    Chapter 633: A Kurdish Transfer Operation (3)


    The Aleppo base was nned as a battalion-level base, more than enough to amodate the people of the Kurdish mountain vige.


    The livestock was handed over to the Syrian government forces stationed in Aleppo.


    It was to buy some time until all Kurds left for Kazakhstan.


    The purpose of the Kazakh military presence was to help the Kurds move, not to be peacekeepers. The U.S. wanted a long-term presence, but Youngho had no intention of doing so.


    There was no reason to jump in between Russia and the U.S. and there was no reason to be hostile toward Syria, which was being amicable to Kazakhstan.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s foreign policy had priority in Kazakhstan¡¯s national interest just like how the U.S. had a priority in its interest.


    In order to have a better say in the Middle East, Kazakhstan should refrain from physical conflicts with Middle Eastern countries as much as possible.


    The people of the mountain vige who had spent several days at the base were immediately taken to the port of Latakia.


    The port of Latakia had no room to step on as not just the people of the mountain vige but also the Kurds who flocked from all over Syria.


    The use of poison gas in rebel-held areas by government forces had unnerved the Kurds, so now almost all Kurds in Syria had decided to move to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Put tags on all bags and bundles and leave them on the dock.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all my property. What if I lose it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. We¡¯ll return it to you when we get to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Then let me carry the small bags.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s safer to leave it to us. We can¡¯t take responsibility if you lose it in the cabins.¡±


    There were constant scuffles between migrants and car ferry staff.


    The migrants were nervous to leave their properties. They struggled to carry their belongings to the port, and they did not want to lose them.


    It would be better if they couldmunicate freely, but they were at odds everywhere due to poormunication between the French-speaking Kurds and Turkish and Greek car ferry staff.


    A handful of the administrative staff of the Kazakh royal territory had been guiding people using microphones, but the situation was not controlled as there were just too many people.


    To get out of Syria, there was no other way but to cross the Turkish border or go out into the sea, and the Turkish border area, which had been a safe route, had also be so dangerous that the migration line would have to risk people¡¯s lives due to fierce fighting between government troops and rebels. Thus, the Turkish government had told the Kazakh royal family that it could not guarantee the safety of Kurds crossing the border.


    The reason why the Turkish government was so kind was that if the Syrian Kurds went wrong, it would affect its rtions to Syria, so it hoped to end the migration without a problem. This was also because there were Kurdish people in Turkey.


    The Kazakh royal family was struggling with the screening process for Kurds trying to escape Syria as not just Kurds but Syrians in conflict-ridden areas were trying to escape. Birth certificates or passports were not issued properly in Syria, where the civil war had paralyzed its administrativework.


    The methods of distinguishing Kurds were several, such as whether they could speak the Kurdishnguage and the dark blondes and blue eyes that were characteristic of Kurds only.


    Even this had a problem, though, with the majority of Kurds having been lived in Syria for long, they married Syrians, and their unique characteristics had faded, and many of them did not even know their ownnguage.


    So far, there was no such problem as the Kurds who had moved before were the Kurds in northern Syria, and the Kurds who lived ind moved on a vige-by-vige basis.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We can¡¯t issue you a certificate of migration.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? My family must be Kurdish. Before the civil war, he definitely lived in the North.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help you because you don¡¯t have any Kurdish characteristics.¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to do when my family members had been married to Syrians for generations?¡±


    ¡°If your im turns out to be false, you will be deported from Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so unfair. I want you to do a medical test and prove that I¡¯m a Kurdish descent.¡±


    ¡°OK. I¡¯ll issue you a certificate of migration first.¡±


    While most Syrians were quickly exposed with a few words of conversation, some had argued strongly that they were Kurdish as in the case of marriage with Kurds, they could be recognized as Kurds.


    ***


    ¡°There is a very slim chance that the person who just stepped out is Kurdish.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you issue the migration certificate?¡±


    ¡°He must be desperate to leave Syria to be insisting like that. If his family can¡¯t get on the ship today, they¡¯ll go be stowaways. I couldn¡¯t put him to death, so I issued a certificate. If they live in the royal territory, their children will also have a marriage rtionship with Kurds, and that will naturally make them Kurdish.¡±


    Those who wished to leave Syria would risk their lives to go to Europe putting themselves on a stowaway ship, and most of them often were abandoned in the Mediterranean Sea and became fish feed before they even reached their destination.


    Even if they got lucky and arrived in Greece or Italy, they would be ssified as illegal immigrants and were locked up in prison camps and deportedter.


    ¡°If they¡¯re caught in the royal territory, they¡¯ll be sent back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s their luck. If they have any exceptional skills, they¡¯ll be recognized as refugees.¡±


    ¡°When I was living in Syria, I hated the fact that I was Kurdish, but now I am proud to be Kurdish.¡±


    ¡°Of course. We should be proud. The Kurds in Syria are blessed. Especially for us, we should be grateful to death. We were chosen as intelligence agents, and we could help other Kurds. If we hadn¡¯t migrated in the early days, our bodies would be rolling around on the ground in a valley of northern Syria by now.¡±


    Some talented former Kurdish militia members were selected and hired as intelligence agents, and it was their case.


    To work in Syria, they had to be able to speak French, so the Kurds were the only alternative as they knew the local situation well.


    The activities of Kurdish intelligence agents were shining everywhere.


    In addition to helping their countrymen, Kurdish intelligence agents were willing to risk their lives.


    ¡°This will be thest withdrawal.¡±


    ¡°The royal family says this is theirst chance. I was told to drag any Kurds even by force, so let¡¯s finish the screening and return to Aleppo.¡±


    ¡°So are we going to be stationed in the Al-Hasakah area, too?¡±


    ¡°I think the royal family gave up Al-Hasakah because the hard-liners are adamant.¡±


    ¡°Oh! What a bunch of stupid people. With less than half a million inhabitants, will the Kurdistan Regional Government be maintained?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve got an oil field, so they¡¯ll hold up for a while. I doubt the Syrian government will allow it, though. The Kurds in Aleppo have all moved out, so the Royal Bodyguards will be withdrawn soon.¡±


    Al-Hasakah was a transportation hub with a river, where Syria and Iraq bordered each other. Since arge-size oil field was found here recently funding hard-liners¡¯ activities, but it was also an area where free Syrian forces, which were funded by Turkey, and Kurdish hard-liners were battling every day.


    ***


    ¡°Make sure the oil pipes are properly connected. The U.S. Navy is watching, so move fast.¡±


    The captain of the Naval fleet, Victor Jun, wasmanding naval soldiers from the bridge of Aegis destroyer 1001.


    On the outside of Latakia, two Aegis destroyers and three frigates belonging to the Kazakh royal family were receiving refueling from the U.S. Navy¡¯s 6th Fleet oil supply ship.


    Oil could also be supplied at the port of Latakia, but the reason for the oil supply from the U.S. Navy supply ship was part of the maritime exercise.


    It was the first time for vessels to fluctuate due to waves to maintain a certain distance and receive oil supplies, so soldiers were very nervous.


    ¡°Chief, I¡¯vepleted the fleet¡¯s oil supply.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get ships 901 and 902 on the move. 15 car ferries just left from the Port of Latakia, so tell them to escort the ferries to the Sea of Azov.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not escorting them just to the ck Sea? They said the Russian patrol boats no longer bother them.¡±


    ¡°How can we believe what the Russian government says? You can¡¯t rest until those ferries get into the canal, so make sure we watch the whole process.¡±


    The Azov Sea was a Russian sea area next to Crimea in the northern part of the ck Sea.


    Russian patrol boats were taking little money from Turkish shippingpanies entering the Azov Sea.


    That was why the Kazakh naval vessels were escorting the car ferries as the Russian patrol boats would not dare bother the Kazakh Navy.


    Originally, the navy could not enter the ck Sea unless it belonged to the ck Sea coast country, but the Kazakh Navy was recognized as an observer state to enter and exit the ck Sea.


    ¡°They¡¯re not beggars, and I don¡¯t know why they do that.¡±


    ¡°This is thest week, so we won¡¯t have anything to do with those patrol boats in the future. When I meet them in the Mediterranean, I¡¯ll teach them a lesson.¡±


    Captain Jun was gnashing his teeth.


    As it was nasty for the Russian patrol boats to collect tolls on car ferries with migrants on it.


    ¡°Car ferries departing tomorrow morning will be escorted by vessel 903, and we will return to Arirang Ind.¡±


    ¡°Captain, the U.S. Navy has not arrived in the Syrian waters yet.¡±


    ¡°Just ignore it. It¡¯s not our fault that the U.S. Navy iste, again.¡±


    The Kazakh Navy was supposed to wait until an Aegis destroyer from the U.S. Mediterranean Fleet shifted the mission to the U.S., but it had not arrived yet even after the promised time had far passed.


    Captain Jun was trying to leave without waiting, as the U.S. Navy broke the mission shift time every time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we have to let them know that we¡¯re getting out of the Port of Latakia?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t make any difference. Just notify the U.S. military supply ship and leave. Our mission has been roughlypleted, and we don¡¯t have anything to see here from now.¡±


    ¡°Our guards haven¡¯t pulled out from there yet.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to pass through the Turkish border without using the sea route, so we can pick it up from Georgia.¡±


    The Royal Bodyguards in Aleppo decided to withdraw bynd a month from now.


    That was because most of the Kurds living in Syria had moved to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Prepare for departure!¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye, sir! Each department, get ready to sail! 15 minutes before departure!¡±


    Soon afterward, the sound of the warship¡¯s distinctive whistle sound echoed in the outer port.


    Momentster, two Royal Navy¡¯s Aegis destroyers slowly exited the port of Latakia.

 Chapter 634 - Siberian Business Management (1)

    Chapter 634: Siberian Business Management (1)


    ¡°This year¡¯s wheat crop is about 350 percent higher thanst year. Some areas have tripled in size. It¡¯s all thanks to the three or four times of rain we had this summer.¡±


    Rain on drynd was a blessing, and even on barrennd, a lot of rain could make a huge difference.


    On top of more rain, there was another reason why the wheat crop was 350 percent the previous year¡¯s crop. The farnd had tripled as morend was distributed to the Kurds.


    Younghoughed to hear about the unexpected good crops of wheat.


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t think we can afford to increase our farnd area anymore.¡±


    ¡°There is no guarantee that next year will be as good as this year. There are a lot of ces to export. Why are you worried about everything?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no ce to store wheat harvested just now. And we have to make more silos to keep the surplus wheat, which is quite expensive.¡±


    ¡°Is there anyw that we should keep it in Kazakhstan? Grain silos in Greece, Azerbaijan, and Turkey will be empty now. Also, we can send some to the Vodka factory in Krasnoyarsk. And if we distribute the grain to the Kurds in advance, there¡¯s no need to build additional silos.¡±


    If the Kurds, who had been starving in the midst of the fire of war, were given a year¡¯s worth of food, all their worries would disappear.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯ll do.¡±


    ¡°Min-seok, you¡¯re a smart guy. These days, it seems like your mind is somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been hectic because the Kurds came all at once.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a vacation?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s all right now.¡±


    ¡°No, you couldn¡¯t even go on a summer vacation. The ck Sea is still in summer, so go to Batumi and take a few days off. Since the harvest is over, it¡¯s not going to be that busy. I don¡¯t know what else will happen at the end of the year, so rest in advance now.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that then.¡±


    Being Youngho¡¯s secretary was not an easy job.


    It would not be fun if Min-seok had to work for 365 days.


    Although Kurdish migration had officially ended, the Syrian crisis was not yet over.


    It was still unclear now what would happen in the near future, so he would better rest at his leisure like now.


    ¡°Your Highness, do I have to go to Batumi for vacation?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you and Kim In-hwa say you like Batumi? That¡¯s why I rmended it. Our hotel can save your money on vacation as well. If you want somewhere else, you can take care of it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to just y around on my vacation, so I¡¯d like to go to Siberia to look around our work site.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. Don¡¯t worry about anything. Everything will be fine while you¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°I heard September is the perfect time to travel to Siberia. I¡¯m going to take a look at the vodka nt and the lumber mill that is going into operation.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you act like a faithful servant. Tell me honestly. Is it not about Krasnoyarsk?¡±


    ¡°In-hwa has been talking about the Trans-Siberian Train for a long time. I¡¯d like to take a short ride, too.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to take your child on a trip like that? It¡¯s an inconvenient trip even for adults.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving my child with my parents.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s just you two, it¡¯s worth traveling on a cross-train.¡±


    It had been a long time since Youngho visited the Siberian work sites, and if Min-seok went, he would not have to visit.


    ¡°Take bodyguards with you instead. Shouldn¡¯t the chief secretary of the Kazakh royal family be with some guards at worksites? It¡¯s for the sake of your safety and the face of the Kazakh royal family. I¡¯ll give you plenty of money for the trip. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Phew, I shouldn¡¯t have told you that I wanted to go to Siberia.¡±


    ¡°The executives of the Royal Secretary Office are going on vacation without telling the location? Hey, you two are notmon employees now. Since you two know all sorts of royal family¡¯s secrets, you could be the main targets of enemies. Even if you go on vacation from now on, you have to be guarded by the security office. Keep in mind that you cannot travel in private now.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was short-sighted. I¡¯ll be careful from now on.¡±


    ¡°You are now members of the royal family. If it helps, just think of yourselves as celebrities.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Hey! Sir Secretary. It must be great to travel with bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°Oh, stop teasing me, Chief. I heard you¡¯ve assigned all the bodyguards we¡¯re going with.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I chose only very tough ones. This trip will be very tiring. As soon as you get out of their guard lines, you¡¯ll get stares, so stay alert.¡±


    With Kim Il-kwon¡¯s sternment, Suh Min-seok did not know what to do. He had no idea whether Kim Il-kwon was teasing or ttering him.


    ¡°I have no idea why this is such a fuss.¡±


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s assisting the Queen and Duke of the Kazakh royal family. Think about it, you know all the secrets of the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If I kidnap you, I can tell you all the secrets of the Kazakh royal family, and do you think the enemies will want to leave you alone? How can we let you go out there without any protection?¡±


    At the mention of ¡®kidnap,¡¯ Min-seok¡¯s face turned white. He had no idea that he was such an important person.


    Il-kwon seemed not confident that Min-seok could endure tortures.


    ¡°Do you think I have a big mouth?¡±


    ¡°Ha! Look at you. Are you confident of enduring torture? For you, not even torture is necessary. You will bber when you¡¯re stuck in a closed room for 10 minutes.¡±


    It was not that Il-kwon did not trust Min-seok, but anyone who did not receive torture training would not be able to endure such a situation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not a tough person, but my loyalty is as big as yours. Even if a knifees into my throat, I will keep royal secrets.¡±


    ¡°These days, torture is not necessary. They have a shot of drug that can make you spit words.¡±


    ¡°Do you have such a drug?¡±


    ¡°Is there such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just a start. Anyway, be careful all the time. Also, keep this capsule with you and return it when you get back safelyter.¡±


    When Kim Il-kwon popped out a capsule the size of a pill, Min-seok freaked out.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a poisoned capsule, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you imagine too much. You think I¡¯d ask you to bite a poison pill and kill yourself in an emergency? Don¡¯t worry because I never expect that. It¡¯s an electronic device for location tracking. If you get kidnapped, swallow this. Then we¡¯ll go and get you. We can just make some lies and earn some time until we get there. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Oh, jeez. I shouldn¡¯t go on a trip or anything. How can I like this? It¡¯s too scary.¡±


    ¡°Man, that¡¯s why you¡¯re so important. And does Kim In-hwa know the secrets, too?¡±


    ¡°No, we haven¡¯t talked about ssified matters in a long time.¡±


    ¡°Great. Don¡¯t tell the secrets of the royal family even to your wife unless it¡¯s shared officially. That will put her in danger, too.¡±


    ¡°Okay, please don¡¯t scare me.¡±


    ¡°I mean be careful anyway. If you follow the orders of the bodyguards, you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    In the very worst situation, even bodyguards could not prevent, the two would have to be dealt with ording to the rules of security, which would be sacrificing the two. This would sound shocking, but the two, especially Min-seok, knew so many things the world should not know, including the location of the royal vault and the amount of gold, not just the information about nuclear weapons.


    Kim Il-kwon did not mention that.


    This was because the weak-minded Min-seok and Kim In-hwa would go crazy if they heard it.


    ¡°Rule one. Never act individually. Rule two. Don¡¯t get out of the way of the guards. Rule three. When kidnapped, swallow the capsule unconditionally.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. What if ites out of my body when I poop?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get to you before that. It¡¯s traceable by satellite. It¡¯s made by the British Intelligence Service.¡±


    ¡°Ha...¡±


    ¡°Listen to the end. You¡¯re not the only one going through this procedure. I recite this to the Duke all the time before traveling.¡±


    ¡°And yet he stays still?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a promise we make for his security. Of course, he cooperates.¡±


    ¡°Okay, go ahead. Please let me know the rules I have to follow.¡±


    When Il-kwon told him about the security rules for about half an hour, Min-seok took his tongue out and asked,


    ¡°I¡¯d rather stay in prison than go on a trip.¡±


    ¡°Hey, this is also a drill. I¡¯ve been trying to educate you before, but I¡¯m only doing it now since I didn¡¯t want to pressure you. Everyone in the royal family should know the basics. You can tell your wife because I¡¯m afraid she¡¯d be too shocked to hear this. I bet other countries would do the same for their leadership and families. With China and Russia surrounding us, we need to be extra careful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind and cooperate from now on. I¡¯m sorry I have been acting childish.¡±


    Min-seok finally knew how hard the security office was trying to keep the royal secrets from leaking.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been very helpful because you¡¯ve been around the Duke all the time, but Princess Zeynep is something. She always gives our guards a hard time.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s understandable. She¡¯s such a free-spirited person and also she¡¯s been a student.¡±


    ¡°Of course. She always keeps the royal dignity even if she seems to act childish. So you should also act with the weight of the royal family in mind. Don¡¯t be so hard on me because I give you an earful.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t. Come to think of it, you look like you¡¯re born to be a security guard.¡±


    ¡°No, you just learn when you face death a few times.¡±


    ¡°Again, don¡¯t scare me. I will have to cancel my trip if you continue.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t go. It¡¯s such a hassle.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯ll have to go just to give you a hard time.¡±


    ¡°Jeez...¡±

 Chapter 635 - Siberian Business Management (2)

    Chapter 635: Siberian Business Management (2)


    The authority of a leader was regarded as abination of factors, such as whether he was respected and loved by the people, his influence, and financial ability and so on.


    The Kazakh royal authority was mainly in people¡¯s respect.


    The Kurds, who migrated to the royal territory, believed that the royal authority had transcendent and legitimate, as well as being powerful.


    It was natural to think so because no one in Kazakhstan objected or voiced their concern, even though the royal family took the lead in epting as many as 1.3 million Kurds.


    There should be a bacsh, considering that the Kurdish migration, which ounted for nearly 10 percent of the whole poption of Kazakhstan, but there was no sign of such a trouble.


    This was because the Kazakh people were supporting the royal family, which increased jobs with bold investments, rather than slowing economic growth due to the Kurdish migration. In other words, the Kazakh royal family had proven to be not only powerful in authority but also in financial ability.


    The source of this power began with the secret slush funds of the former president, Nazarbayev, and his family, but royal wealth was now supported by the gold produced in the royal gold mines. Also, the money earned from the Siberian development project was also contributing to the royal estate.


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving for Krasnoyarsk tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°In that case, meet Sergeenko, the mafia boss. Ask him why the diamond supplies have decreased these days, and if he seems to be messing with it, warn him a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Me? Is that all right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going instead of me, so what¡¯s to worry about? You¡¯re going as an ambassador plenipotentiary, so you can say whatever you have to say.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s a local mafia boss. I¡¯d be lucky if I don¡¯t get beaten up.¡±


    ¡°Should the ambassador of the Duke of Kazakhstan be afraid of a local mafia? Tell him we¡¯ll stop dealing with him if we smell something wrong.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I got it.¡±


    ¡°Keep in mind that you have the Kazakh royal family behind you. You can be confident. You know well that no one can touch Kazakhstan now.¡±


    As the whole world now thought that Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons, Kazakhstan could act more aggressively.


    ¡°Chief Kim told us to swallow a capsule with a satellite tracking device in it if we were kidnapped. Are we also targets of our enemies?¡±


    ¡°What? Kidnapping? Hahaha... Kidnap you for what? I guess Kim Il-kwon tried hard to scare you.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the information I know is very ssified.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But what do you use that information for? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any country that will bother to use it.¡±


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s going to change even if you told such secrets of the royal family. Don¡¯t worry about it and just rx. There is no country or organization that will harm you without the intention of going to war with Kazakhstan.¡±


    Suh Min-seok left Youngho¡¯s office with a puzzled look on his face. Perhaps he would run to Kim Il-kwon to confront him.


    ¡°His Highness said that to reassure you. Do you believe everything he said?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been fond of me. He¡¯d be most heartbroken if I was put in danger, but would he send me to a dangerous ce?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. Then why would the bodyguards go with you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯ll be meeting mafia.¡±


    ¡°With one royal guard, we can deal with the whole local mafia. So why did we arrange three of them together? One person is enough.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    When Kim Il-kwon exined in detail, Suh Min-seok stood silently.


    ¡°He said it because you seemed to be really nervous. So be on your toes.¡±


    ¡°I already feel exhausted. Don¡¯t scare me now. How will you handle it if I get promoted to Chief of staffter?¡±


    ¡°Would I stay idle until you get promoted? I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll have a higher position.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back safely anyway, so keep up with His Highness.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Our next Chief of Staff.¡±


    ***


    Upon arriving in Krasnoyarsk, Min-seok began his schedule by stopping by the Vodka nt and the lumber mill first.


    He nned to meet the regional mafia boss, Sergeenko,ter after his official schedule was over.


    There had been a lot of industrial diamonds supplied in Siberia.


    But if the Russian government decided and tried to crack down on it, all of the diamonds would be gone.


    Therefore, it was the opinion of the royal leadership that it would secure as much diamond as possible if there was a chance.


    The diamonds supplied by Lt. Col. Klimov,mander of the regional military, and by Mafia Sergeenko.


    However, as the demand for industrial diamonds would grow rapidly as the Kazakh economy developed in the future, the royal family was determined to secure as much as possible.


    After visiting the vodka nt to check the operation status of the nt, Min-seok asked a factory official about the production and sales volume and checked the supply and demand of raw materials.


    ¡°Are we getting enough raw materials?¡±


    ¡°Of course, since Kazakhstan is a grain exporter, we have enough tost for this winter.¡±


    Wheat and malt, both raw materials of the vodka nt, were supplied from Kazakhstan, so the raw materials were overflowing.


    Vodka was a drink that could also be made from potatoes, corn, barley, and wheat.


    ¡°Is there any problem with the mafia having a monopoly on sales?¡±


    ¡°Production doesn¡¯t keep up with demand, but it doesn¡¯t matter who sells it.¡±


    ¡°Has there been any unreasonable request?¡±


    ¡°We only need to convince the city officials and tax authorities in Krasnoyarsk. We¡¯ve been withstanding for that level of bleeding, so it¡¯s fine.¡±


    If anyone wanted to do business in Russia, he must have to deal with the bureaucracy, which meant bribing. It was because the bureaucracy was as demanding as the mafia. The police were even worse.


    Suh Min-seok, who was fully informed of the current situations before meeting the Mafia boss, entered the Hilton Hotel apanied by only one bodyguard.


    Although he wanted to bring all of the bodyguards when meeting Sergeenko, he brought only one to save his face. Besides, the meeting was at a luxury hotel in downtown in broad daylight, he did not think that anything bad would happen.


    But when he entered the hotel, there were a lot of big guys all over the ce.


    He screamed inside. He wanted to go back to his hotel and bring back the rest of the bodyguards.


    Trying to calm down his mind, he sat in front of Sergeenko.


    He had met him before when he apanied Youngho, but it was his first time to directly deal with him.


    Sergeenko¡¯s appearance was quite tough that it already intimidated people.


    Min-seok heard that Sergeenko was friendly despite his look, but he did not ever want to get close to him.


    ¡°Mr. Suh, is His Highness doing well?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to your concern. He¡¯s doing well. You seem like you¡¯re in better shape than before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to the Duke.¡±


    ¡°His Highness was concerned that the supply of diamonds is much lower than before these days.¡±


    The word ¡°concern¡± meant ¡°displeased.¡±


    Upon hearing such words, Sergeenko¡¯s face quickly stiffened.


    ¡°Chinesepanies are picking up the ck market again, so the supply has been cut by half.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I heard Chinesepanies pulled out of the ck market.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know the current atmosphere of Krasnoyarsk these days, do you? It¡¯s apletely different world. China has been given several times the area it used to develop and three woodworking nts. It¡¯s not too much to say that Krasnoyarsk thrives with the money that China spends here.¡±


    ¡°So China is again dominating raw diamonds from the ck market? Who would believe that the Russian mafia was pushed out by China?¡±


    Sergeenko¡¯s eyebrows wriggled as Min-seok questioned the mafia organization.


    He could knock down this skinny secretary, but he suddenly realized that there was the Kazakh royal family standing behind him, and then there was also Yaniv.


    If he sent this skinny secretary like this, he would suffer the wrath of the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Mr. Suh, we¡¯re in a very difficult situation, too. The Russian authorities are limiting our activities. We had to avoid the imminent risk first. But we¡¯ve been selling vodka andbat food sessfully, haven¡¯t we? The distribution of stones has decreased significantly not only because of China¡¯s dominance but also because of the authorities.¡±


    Suh Min-seok¡¯s fear soon disappeared after seeing Sergeenko¡¯s low attitude toward him.


    Sergeenko¡¯s expression of active exnation was proving that he was not ying a trick. He also softened his expression as he felt that pushing too hard would provoke a bacsh.


    ¡°His Highness even considered discontinuing his trade with you? I¡¯ll go back to the pce and convince him, so please show us some tangible results.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you could just exin what you saw here. Now I¡¯m not the same type of guy who punches people around like I used to be. I have a lot of men to feed, so I need to keep doing business with the Kazakh royal family. Please tell him that I will never let him down.¡±


    As his sincerity was visible, Min-seok nodded.


    In this part, he said something that Youngho did not even say to encourage Sergeenko.


    ¡°His Highness regards you as a brother. He said that we are a race of the same ancestry. Even if the royal leaders haveined about giving favors only to you, you should know that he ignored all of them.¡±


    Sergeenko was a descent of Evenki, the Siberian native.


    At the words of Min-seok, he seemed very impressed.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware of his grace. I¡¯ll do anything to be of help here.¡±


    Atst, Sergeenko gave the answer that Min-seok wanted to hear.


    He was coached by Youngho that he should wait until the opposite party showed willingness to do something on his own.


    ¡°The Kazakh royal icebreakers will begin a full-scale business in the North Sea route in the near future. Of course, they wille and go through the Yenisei River. His Highness wants to take Siberian timber. As you know, the western part of Kazakhstan is a semi-deserted zone, so wood is very precious.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you take enough wood before?¡±


    ¡°How many timbers could we have transferred with 5,000-ton ships? When bigger shipse, the authorities will try to meddle, and that¡¯s what His Highness is worried about.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with this Sergeenko looking after his business? Please bring any ship with you. I¡¯m confident I can fill it up to the max.¡±


    Russia was strictly banning the taking of raw wood overseas. It was intended to save resources and to create jobs for local Russians as foreignpanies would have to set a processing nt in Russia. So, Chinese and Japanesepanies were building lumber factories all over Siberia.


    However, this meant a high cost for raw materials.


    That was why Youngho had been illegally transporting the trees so far.


    The only way to take the timber from the harbor by the Yenisei was to borrow the mafia¡¯s power or buy bureaucrats. Suh Min-seok smiled to hear Sergeenko promising to take the lead himself.

 Chapter 636 - Siberian Business Management (3)

    <h4>Chapter 636: Siberian Business Management (3)</h4>


    Lt. Col. Klimov,mander of the Krasnoyarsk region, had been in the region¡¯s base for years.


    The reason for remaining in the cold Siberia where wintersted for 7 months was because he was after money. While working at the border would give him a chance to get a promotion, he was having a lot of fun making money.


    If he suffered here for the next few years, he could buy a nice house in Moscow, open a coffee shop in downtown, and spend hister yearsfortably. That was why he was eager to do any business with the Kazakh royal family.


    His duty of monitoring illegal logging and hunting in the taiga region of Siberia had long been on the back burner, and even his troops had been involved in the diamond collection and hunting.


    His soldiers also considered serving in the Krasnoyarsk garrison as ax and easy job. There was not much training, and all they had to do were collecting stones by the riverside in the summer and hunting animals for their skin in the winter.


    In addition to that, it was widely regarded as the best ce to work, as they received more money than soldiers at a higher level ofmand and given more abundant supplies and better facilities.


    ¡°You would¡¯ve been weed even if you came empty-handed. Why did you bring these? How¡¯s the Duke?¡±


    Klimov was delighted to see a box of vodka and cigarettes. The favorite gifts of Russian soldiers in remote areas were vodka and cigarettes by far.


    ¡°The Duke couldn¡¯t make it because of the Syrian matter, so I came here on behalf of him.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s now a politician recognized by the world, and it¡¯d be rather strange if he visited this remote ce himself. Maybe you coulde here from now on, Mr. Suh. Let¡¯s hunt together in the forest and build our friendship.¡±


    Min-seok freaked to hear his suggestion to go hunting in the woods. He had no choice but toe to Siberia because he said he would go first, but now Klimov was asking him to be the point of contact and to go into the woods and hunt with him.


    ¡°I¡¯m here for this time. Also, since I service His Highness, it¡¯s not good for me to leave my office so often. Besides, I don¡¯t have much of a hobby in hunting.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea how thrilling it is to hunt wolves or bears in the woods. I¡¯ll tell you what. Let¡¯s go out right now.¡±


    Klimov looked like he was going to go hunting right away, which drove Suh Min-seok crazy as he was someone who could not even catch rabbits, let alone wolves.


    He was in trouble as it was also impolite to refuse Klimov¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°I have another schedule here, so I don¡¯t have time to leisurely hunt. We need to take a rain check.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bummer. I was going to show you the beauty of hunting. Then, next time you visit, let¡¯s go hunting together.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of hunting, could you supply more taiga fox skins?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to catch them, and there are not a lot of people looking for fox skins. You know Russian women prefer wolf fur than fox fur, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Almost all processed fur-skin products from Kazakhstan were exported to Russia, as Russian women especially love wolf skins. They especially loved the brown wolf fur produced in Kazakhstan as they made them look stronger.


    Russian women attempted to be as strong as men, preferring rough wolf hair to soft fox fur when picking fur.


    ¡°We¡¯d like to export it to Europe. Ladies in Europe prefer fox fur.¡±


    ¡°I guess Europeandies don¡¯t know how warm the wolf fur is. Then, we will target foxes as well in this winter. It¡¯s hard to collect diamonds in the winter anyway.¡±


    Min-seok was not sure if he was talking to a merchant or a soldier. In fact, Klimov was closer to a merchant than a soldier.


    ¡°Lieutenant Commander, I¡¯ll take the liberty of asking you. Doesn¡¯t the military send you inspectors to conduct an on-site inspection?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I know why you are asking this. Don¡¯t worry about anything. Who wille all the way to this remote area? In the summer, there are mosquitoes waiting in the heat, and in the winter, there are severe colds waiting. Even if they visited us, they¡¯d be busy going back without staying for even a few hours.¡±


    Except for frontline units, the Russian military did not provide a lot of supplies to troops and pay a lot of attention to them.


    ¡°Then I guess I can rest assured.¡±


    ¡°I intend to end my military career here. His Highness is behind me, so I don¡¯t have to go serve in another location. Five more years of service will lead me to the retirement age. I¡¯ll find someone to seed me.¡±


    The idea of seeking a sessor meant that he was determined to work for the Duke of Kazakhstan. He knew that the Duke would reward him for such a job as the site here was like a goose thatid golden eggs.


    ¡°His Highness thinks of you as a special person. If you need anything, please tell the person in charge of the logging site at any time. We¡¯ll arrange for immediate help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting a lot of help now, but could you give me morebat food this winter, too? If you could, it would also help encourage the soldiers who need to hunt.¡±


    He was demandingbat food even though there were supplies. It must be either because of theck of supplies or he was siphoning them for personal use.


    ¡°We will provide enoughbat food. By the way, do you have any stones collected during the summer? The logging manager said he hasn¡¯t gotten it yet.¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t mobilize many soldiers because of the maintenance of our camp. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll be able to meet our goal by next month.¡±


    ¡°I see. As soon as we receive it, we will make an appraisal and deposit it into your personal ount.¡±


    Most of the diamond stones collected by Klimov¡¯s unit were high-quality ones that were processed for jewelry.


    As the unit was in charge of the region, the soldiers were able to navigaterge and small rivers that stretched like cobwebs across the taiga region.


    ¡°Please thank the Duke for me.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I almost got dragged to the hunting ground.¡±


    -Hahaha...


    ¡°It¡¯s not aughing matter. You know how big the wolves and bears are in the taiga region.¡±


    -You¡¯ve practiced shooting at the Royal Bodyguards¡¯ training ground. And you¡¯re scared of wolves?


    ¡°Was that a firing drill? I didn¡¯t even shoot a few times but just did physical drills. I¡¯m not going to go for shooting training again.¡±


    -So why did you go to Commander Klimov¡¯s unit? It wasn¡¯t on the schedule.


    ¡°Since I¡¯m in Krasnoyarsk, I should look around. I was there to represent His Highness. So, wouldn¡¯t it be bad if I didn¡¯t show my face there? Well, now that I¡¯m done here, I¡¯m going to take the Trans-Siberian Train.¡±


    -Sorry to break this to you, but I think you should revise your n. You¡¯ll have to take the train another time. His Highness will be visiting Moscow soon. You have a lot to prepare here, so you have toe back.


    ¡°But Chief Kim, I¡¯m on vacation.¡±


    -I know, but if you were on schedule, you should¡¯ve already taken the train and been preparing toe back.


    ¡°It got dyed in Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    -So why are you visiting a military unit when you don¡¯t need to? Stop talking and get back here.


    ¡°No. If I do that, I¡¯ll get your hair pulled out by In-hwa.¡±


    -That¡¯s your situation.


    ¡°Oh! You can¡¯t do this. When does His Highness leave for Moscow?¡±


    -He¡¯ll be there in a week.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s plenty of time. I¡¯ll take the train for two days and go right back.¡±


    -Hey, are there only one or two things you need to do in advance from the secretary¡¯s office before His Highness leaves for Moscow? Just take the half-day ride ande right back.


    ¡°Why are you telling me this suddenly?¡±


    -Are you saying His Highness has to fit in with your schedule? We gave you enough time off but it¡¯s your fault for not taking advantage of it fully. I¡¯m going to Moscow to discuss security services in the morning of the day after tomorrow, so do as I say, okay?


    ¡°Wow! This is driving me crazy.¡±


    -Hahaha...


    Min-seok revised his ambitious n to ride the Trans-Siberian Train for a few days and had to return to the royal territory after a half-day ride.


    There was a lot of work for Min-seok if the Duke went to Moscow. He had an earful from In-hwa on the way back, but he felt a sense of achievement as he finished his duty in Krasnoyarsk well this time.


    There were not a few things to show off to the Duke.


    He followed the path Youngho had already paved, but his visit had aplished a lot. He even built up the status of the Duke of Kazakhstan by making up words.


    ***


    ¡°You went through a lot of trouble. I heard you did a great job this time.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done much since you¡¯ve already set the business connections there. From now on, I¡¯ll take your ce.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate that. But you said you only took the Trans-Siberian train for a little bit?¡±


    ¡°With only half a day, I could enjoy the atmosphere of Siberia to the fullest. When the trans-Siberian train is modernized, we n to ride for the entire section.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably have to wait another 10 years for that to happen.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, how do you view the Siberian Railway business? If we invest in the Far East railway as a royal family, we may be able to modernize it more quickly, and the logistics of Kazakhstan will be much better.¡±


    The Trans-Siberian Railway, which began in divostok, was in a hurry to modernize from the outset because the Far East section was the most backward, but due to Russia¡¯s economic difficulties, the modernization work was slow.


    It was not sure what he heard during his trip to Siberia, but Min-seok was now proposing a railroad project in the Far East.


    ¡°Oh! You want to invest in the Trans-Siberian Railway? Is there any economy?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think there is enough economics. First of all, if H-Rotem Kazakh factory produces and supplies electric cars, the transportation cost will be reduced and the price will be the same as delivering to Korea since Russia doesn¡¯t charge tax.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very good idea. We might be able to work out a contract when we go to Moscow this time.¡±


    Youngho needed a carrot to throw to Putin for the use of the White Sea-Baltic Canal.


    If he presented a carrot that he would invest in the Siberian railway project, he might easily secure the right to use the White Sea-Baltic Canal.


    The White Sea-Baltic Canal was a canal built in the 1930s by the Russian Navy to help ease the inconvenience of traveling around the Scandinavian Penins.


    It was also a canal that was made for military purposes and was not avable to anyone.


    Youngho was going to try to persuade Putin as it was a necessary canal for his Siberian business. If he could travel the canal, he could save as much as 4,000 kilometers of traveling distance.

 Chapter 637 - Negotiations in Moscow (1)

    <h4>Chapter 637: Negotiations in Moscow (1)</h4>


    The Trans-Siberian Railway Modernization Project proposed by Min-seok was as attractive as the canal project as modernization of the Siberian railway in the Far East was not only good for Russia but also Kazakhstan could benefit from it.


    The railway of the Far East section was still connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway, but it was having difficulty moving logistics due to the bottleneck phenomenon on the Far East Siberian side.


    ¡°Your Highness, one concern is whether Russia would ept foreign capital for the Siberian railway project.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible to modernize the Siberian railway with Russia¡¯s economic power alone. But it¡¯s not easy for foreignpanies toe in. Russia¡¯s investment environment is unstable, so who¡¯d want to jump in?¡±


    However, if Kazakhstan got involved, the story would be different.


    This was because forming a consortium as it did in the case of the Volga-Baltic Waterway could reduce risk factors.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t Russia eager to attract foreign investors?¡±


    ¡°What kind ofpanies would rush in when Russia¡¯s policies and investment environment are changing every morning and night? Only if we take the lead will foreignpanies snoop around. To preupy Siberia, we must also win the railway modernization project.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Do you think Russian would leave Siberia alone if its economy develops? It¡¯s not going to open up any more of the resources. That¡¯s why China and Japan are taking risks to get the upper hand. So are we.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Russia force to take back the Siberian work sites we or other countries leased for the long-term?¡±


    ¡°How can it nullify the rights guaranteed by international or Russian domesticw? If it forcibly revises thew, foreign investors will rush to leave like the low tide. Then Russia¡¯s economic development is off the charts. Putin, who dreams of being a tsar, would never do that.¡±


    The reason for the continuous investment in the Krasnoyarsk region was to preempt the Siberian region.


    Putin, who was eager to revive the economy, was struggling to attract foreign investors.


    Youngho was nning to advance to the tundra region as well as the taiga region if conditions permitted.


    The reason why he participated in the project to expand the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Waterway was because the trans-Siberian trains were unable to digest all the logistics that were increasing due to the development of Siberia. Youngho was able to invest in the project because he had enough money at the time, and as a result of investing in the canal project, he was able to have a close rtionship with Putin. A more solid wedge was needed, and it was to invest in a project to modernize the Trans-Siberian Railway.


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I¡¯m arriving in Moscow in three days. When will you arrive?¡±


    -I¡¯m meeting Putin tomorrow. When I roughly exined your idea, he seemed to be very pleased. He was exuberated saying that the Siberian railway project has been slow and he had been worried about it. Besides, if you, not anyone else, wanted to invest, it would be weird if he refused.¡±


    ¡°Then there won¡¯t be a big problem with this negotiation. You¡¯re going to join us, right?¡±


    Before meeting Putin, Youngho left the pre-coordination to Yaniv.


    Although it was more urgent for him to confirm whether the Baltic-White Sea Canal could be used or not, he had intended to bait Putin with the Trans-Siberian Railway project and demand the use of the canal as a benefit in return.


    It seemed Putin was interested in Youngho¡¯s idea.


    -Of course, I would invest, too. It¡¯s a project you¡¯re getting involved, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about. First of all, we can invest about five or six hundred million dors. I¡¯d like to invest a billion dors, but I don¡¯t have much room because I invested in an icebreaker.


    Even though Youngho got Yaniv involved in the icebreaker business, he was always sorry that it was a business that could generate immediate revenue.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be until the next year when the icebreaker business will be profitable. It¡¯s bad that the ship is just stuck in the harbor. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll make a big profit in time, either. I¡¯d rather take over.¡±


    -Then, you¡¯d lose money.


    ¡°We need several icebreakers to sail between the coast of Siberia and the Yenisei River. It¡¯s our own business, and we have nothing to lose.¡±


    Even in order to transport the wood with therge bulk ships, the icebreaker was necessary.


    -I left it to amission and it¡¯d be embarrassing if I sold it because there¡¯s no immediate profit. Even if there¡¯s a little blood loss, I¡¯ll have to take it.


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to take a loss. Investing in the Trans-Siberian Railway project is much more advantageous than the icebreaker project. The icebreaker business cannot expect much profit for the time being. My prediction missed a lot. I brought you in and I¡¯m responsible.¡±


    For Youngho, who was running a country, needed to have an icebreaker as a long-term investment, but for Yaniv, a businessman, would lose other investment opportunities. Knowing that Youngho could not force him to sacrifice it.


    -You don¡¯t have to do that. We¡¯d make less profit from the railway business. I don¡¯t want to obsess in money since I won¡¯t carry money to my coffin.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I need it, so don¡¯t feel pressured. I¡¯ll pay for the interest of the meantime on top of the icebreaker¡¯s price and send it to you. I have some extra money in the royal family.¡±


    -If it¡¯s the Duke¡¯s decision, I can¡¯t help it. I¡¯ll tell that to Sergey. By the way, I¡¯m meeting Putin tomorrow. Do you have any other requests?


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to be seen as requiring a condition, but I¡¯d like to ask if we could use the Baltic-White Sea Canal. I don¡¯t know if Putin will grant it.¡±


    -It¡¯s a canal that can¡¯t be used during the winter. He won¡¯t be so insistent about it.


    ¡°But it¡¯s like the main entrance of the Russian fleet. Would he give in so easily?¡±


    The Baltic-White Canal was a 227-kilometer-long canal with19 floodgates built in the 1930s.


    It was quite a long canal, but the ground between the two waters was t and connected to severalkes and waterways, making it easier to build than other canals.


    It was a military canal designed to ovee the isted situation of naval forces in the White and Baltic seas.


    It was used by Soviet naval forces to avoid NATO surveince during the Cold War and was still home to a Russian submarine base.


    The canal was a route that could cut 4,000 kilometers from the starting point of Saint Petersburg to the Arctic Ocean, as it led to the White Sea after passing threekes.


    -I¡¯ll mention it to him. It won¡¯t make sense if he can¡¯t pay that much to Kazakhstan for investing in the Siberian railway project. Besides, Kazakhstan is no stranger. Duke, I¡¯ll do everything I can. See you in three days at Arirang Hotel in Moscow.


    ***


    While visits to the United States or Europe were full of tiring work, with many things to coordinate beforehand and protocol procedures to be considered, visits to Russia did not require suchplicated procedures.


    In Russia, a socialist country, one word from Putin¡¯s mouth could change anything.


    That happened during Youngho¡¯s visit to Moscow.


    Putin personally came out to greet Youngho¡¯s group at the airport.


    It was such an unconventional surprise.


    It was rare for a nation¡¯s top leader toe to the airport in person to greet someone.


    No matter how unofficial the visit was and how close their rtionship was, the president usually waited for the visitor at the presidential pce, Kremlin.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you came out to the airport to greet me.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t sit in my room when my friend is bringing a big gift. And there¡¯s not much to do in the Kremlin.¡±


    His words did not match him who was a man engaged in various low-key activities in Ukraine and the Middle East.


    ¡°What kind of gift would it be when it¡¯s an investment for the development of both countries?¡±


    ¡°I was failing to deliver my promise to the people. If you n to invest, it¡¯s a big gift for me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. The modernization of the Siberian Railway helps Kazakhstan, too. I¡¯m d I can contribute to that.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, you made a big decision that you could boast about. On behalf of Russia, I am grateful.¡±


    They had not exchanged memorandums of understanding, but they were saying as if the construction had already begun.


    It was Putin¡¯s verbal pressure.


    As the total cost of construction was close to 6 billion dors, the Russian government had invested only about a fifth of its cost and the project had been adrift.


    The total cost of construction was calcted by the Russian government, so it was likely to increase further.


    In any case, Youngho had yet to decide how much he would invest, so Putin¡¯s loud wee felt very burdensome.


    The two talked candidly, riding a limousine prepared by Putin to the Kremlin Pce.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep, how happy I was to hear your decision.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m proud to hear that your Excellency was pleased.¡±


    ¡°How many leaders can talk in Russian without trantion? It¡¯s still amazing that we¡¯ve be allies.¡±


    Youngho was not sure where Putin was headed with this conversation as he was mentioning about being allies.


    ¡°Of course. Only when Russia is rich can Kazakhstan develop together. As we start with the canal project and we get more and more cooperative projects, the Russians in Kazakhstan will be happy too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Russians in Kazakhstan respect the royal family very much. I guess they had a good reason for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s apliment. As a multi-ethnic country, there is no other way than to pay close attention to all people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard these days that you¡¯ve been working hard to build up your navy. Is it necessary to do so? If necessary, our Russian navy can be of assistance at any time. I know it takes an astronomical amount to operate and maintain the Navy.¡±


    ¡°The royal merchant ships are under threat in the Gulf of Aden or the Strait of a. So, we¡¯veunched some of the naval vessels for protection. That¡¯s not a lot of power.¡±


    ¡°Not much power of the Aegis that operated in Syria? It was amazing to see the joint operation with the U.S. military.¡±


    ¡°We were forced to get involved in the safety of the Kurds. We couldn¡¯t let the Syrian government force targeting anyone regardless of rebels or the Kurds ¡±


    ¡°Our Air Force could have been damaged.¡±


    Youngho knew this story woulde up someday.


    The Kazakh navy focused on chemical nts, while the U.S. military concentrated on Syrian military units.


    ¡°I was worried about that, too, so I told you to move the Russian Air Force to another airfield in advance as I had a hard time getting the U.S. military¡¯s understanding.¡±


    The U.S. military airstrikes were made by giving the Russian Air Force time to get out in advance.


    The U.S. also provided Russia with information on the idea of preventing the esction of war, although it seemed to be a proxy war.


    ¡°You pulled out of Syria in a sh.¡±


    ¡°Our purpose was to transport the Kurds safely. The U.S. has called for a continued presence, but I didn¡¯t intend to get involved in Syria¡¯s political situation in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a wise move. We¡¯re getting involved for nothing, and we¡¯re not getting anywhere.¡±


    Putin¡¯s im was not true.


    The world knew that Russia was using Syria to raise its voice in the Middle East.


    But it would not matter to Kazakhstan if Russia did not do anything to hurt Kazakhstan, no matter what it did in the Middle East. Youngho did not want to be a policeman in the world like America.


    Right now, achieving economic development was a priority.

 Chapter 638 - Negotiations in Moscow (2)

    <h4>Chapter 638: Negotiations in Moscow (2)</h4>


    Upon arrival at the Kremlin, Youngho was escorted to Putin¡¯s personal library.


    Officials from the Russian military were also present.


    The fact that military officials attended the meeting was probably because they wanted to talk about the Baltic-White Sea Canal.


    ¡°Your Highness, I heard you wanted to use the Baltic-White Canal. But our military leadership was reluctant to do so because of our submarine base in the White Sea.¡±


    In an era where satellite images could capture most of the movements, it was not persuasive to use military bases as an excuse. It would be more reasonable to argue that Kazakhstan had allowed a U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan and had a joint operation with the U.S. in Afghanistan and Syria.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you know that military exchanges and military alliances are different, don¡¯t you? Currently, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States are the only military allies of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Looking at the Russian generals present, Youngho showed an expression of being clueless.


    They were well aware of that fact, but Putin was displeased with the Kazakh royal family¡¯s pro-Western policy. Nevertheless, he was not able to bluntly tell Youngho to stay away from the U.S., so he was subtly pressuring him with an excuse of the Russian military.


    ¡°These guys tend to cut things out of context not thinking thoroughly. They misunderstood the attack on Syrian government forces.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I hope you don¡¯t forget that we¡¯ve worked hard enough to inform you of our targets in Syria in advance.¡±


    In fact, there was no damage from the Russian military during the punitive operation against the Syrian government¡¯s distribution of poison gas.


    Kazakhstan had informed the Russian Air Force of its targets in advance and allowed the Russian Air Force to avoid them.


    ¡°And the withdrawal of Kazakh troops from Syria, even though the Kurds had notpleted their migration, was in consideration of the positions of Russia and Iran.¡±


    ¡°How can we not know that? However, our military leaders are ufortable to open military facilities to Kazakhstan which is in military cooperation with the U.S. I can¡¯t ignore the voice of the military either.¡±


    It was never true that a dictator with absolute power needed the military¡¯s permission for a decision. The military was just an excuse, but Putin just wanted to know Youngho¡¯s mind.


    For Putin, it was important whether the Kazakh royal family still considered Russia an ally.


    In order to revive Russia¡¯s beleaguered economy, investment by the Kazakh royal family must be made, but if Kazakhstan was leaning toward the U.S. so that it could shake Putin¡¯s power.


    Because of Putin¡¯s policy on the Crimean Penins, it seemed that there was no way out of Russia¡¯s economic recession no matter how much resources were sold out of the country.


    Putin¡¯s opponents were even protesting to leave Crimea alone again and get out of economic sanctions.


    When Youngho gave a straight answer without hesitation, Putin turned the conversation back to the canal.


    ¡°But some sections of the Baltic-White Sea are shallow so that arge cargo ship can¡¯t get around.¡±


    ¡°If a warship or a submarine could travel, wouldn¡¯t it be possible for any merchant ship to travel around? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a problem because the water line of warships runs deeper than the merchant ships.¡±


    The battleship¡¯s water line was deep because its lower part was made pointy to increase its speed.


    ¡°How big would a warship be? When the battleships go through the artificial waterway, we increase the water level of the floodgates as much as possible so that they can pass. But I don¡¯t know if it can be applied torge cargo ships.¡±


    ¡°How many shallow sections are there?¡±


    ¡°We have prepared a data for that. Would you like to take a look?¡±


    Putin brought out the data he had prepared to show to Youngho.


    The reason why he invited Youngho to his private study was because he wanted to talk about such matters.


    ¡°There will be slight differences between sections, but it is essential to expand about 50 kilometers of the waterway to secure safe passage. We wanted to expand the canal to allow cargo ships to travel, but we left it there because we couldn¡¯t afford it.¡±


    This meant that if Youngho wanted to use the canal, he had to expand it himself.


    It would be clearer with a survey, but if the height of the floodgates was higher, the water level could be raised.


    Most of the Volga-Baltic canals were man-made, so most of it had to go through construction, but for the Baltic-White Sea Canal, the issue could be resolved by raising the gates and banks of the artificial waterway section asrgekes were located throughout the canal.


    ¡°We have to conduct a due diligence, but I think we can solve it by raising the floodgates and building the banks higher.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... That could be a breakthrough.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President. Military facilities may be important, but think about the economic benefits of opening the canal.¡±


    Putin began to show interest when Youngho mentioned economic benefits.


    If the Baltic-White Sea Canal was opened, Russia would end up rolling in money just by making profits from the canal, and there was no way that Putin was not aware of it.


    ¡°Then Russia will take the initiative in opening the era of the Arctic Ocean. Don¡¯t you know better how opening the Baltic-White Canal will affect the economy?¡±


    ¡°The icebreaker is essential to travel through the White and Arctic seas which are frozen for 7 months a year, and is there a way for you to deal with it?¡±


    ¡°You know, we have icebreakers, too. We¡¯ve prepared this to remove the ice from the Caspian Sea and make it to Greend. We¡¯ve got 4rge and 2 small icebreakers.¡±


    You could not say it was made for the purpose of taking Siberia¡¯s resources.


    The best excuse was Denmark. Even elementary school students knew that the royal families of Kazakhstan and Denmark were inws.


    ¡°I see. You seem thoroughly prepared. Then you must be very interested in nuclear icebreakers, too¡±


    The mention of an atomic energy icebreaker meant that he could sell one of them too.


    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯d like to sell nuclear icebreakers?¡±


    ¡°We can sell whatever you want, whether it¡¯s a new ship or an existing icebreaker.¡±


    This remark was tantamount to a proposal to join the Arctic Ocean era.


    The nuclear icebreaker was a ship that had the power to crush winter ice near the North Pole. He could not possibly suggest using such a ship at the Pacific Ocean.


    ¡°I¡¯m very interested, but unless the Arctic route had started in earnest, it would be too premature for me to buy it.¡±


    ¡°Considering the drying period, I rmend that you prepare it from now on. Please take the time to consider it.¡±


    The reason why Putin rmended buying nuclear icebreakers was that Russia could not afford the maintenance costs of icebreakers in Russia.


    ***


    Youngho and Putin discussed pending issues for about three hours and ended the first day of the meeting.


    Yaniv weed Youngho when he arrived at Arirang Hotel, where Youngho would be staying.


    ¡°What did you talk about that you stayed there until thiste?¡±


    ¡°Well, there were tons of things we talked about. Later, he even rmended buying an atomic energy icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°Putin must have been in a hurry, too. He tried so hard to win the reputation of having the world¡¯s only nuclear-powered icebreakers but now he is eager to sell them.¡±


    There were a total of 32 icebreakers in Russia, of which six were nuclear-powered icebreakers. Maintaining that many icebreakers were also a daunting situation for Russia at the moment.


    ¡°He rmended a new icebreaker on the surface, but it seemed like his true intention was to sell old ones.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been pushing himself to build nuclear-powered icebreakers out of your desire to monopolize the Arctic Ocean, and now he can¡¯t handle it. Why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to secure an atomic energy icebreaker?¡±


    ¡°I think I should thoroughly go over this and decide. If we buy your icebreaker, we can sail the Arctic Ocean without a hitch.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. That much is more than enough. How about the Siberian railroad project?¡±


    Youngho and Putin shared an in-depth view on the Trans-Siberian Railway project in private, after the military leaders left.


    ¡°The Siberian railroad project alone costs more than 6 billion dors. So I asked him to allow foreignpanies to participate.¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, the total cost of construction is 6 billion dors. What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°It is by Russian government standards. Russia worked on some of the sections already, so it is estimating the remaining construction costs at around 6 billion dors.¡±


    ¡°Phew, those government officials are working by the rule of thumb.¡±


    ¡°It has to be. It¡¯s all muddy in the summer and freezing in the winter. It wouldn¡¯t have been easy to estimate the construction costs.¡±


    ¡°Will foreignpanies try to get involved easily?¡±


    ¡°Just like the canal project, it would be possible if the Kazakh royal family guaranteed profits.¡±


    ¡°And then what if Putin changes his mind and nationalizes all the facilities?¡±


    ¡°Then Russia will be cut off from the world. And over time, it¡¯s going to copse from the inside. When the economy copses, even the most loyal people are supposed to turn their backs.¡±


    ¡°Then Putin probably won¡¯t risk it.¡±


    ¡°I wish that¡¯s the case.¡±


    ¡°I feel like your move is bold and relentless. Have you gotten something behind you, Duke?¡±


    Youngho wanted to spill that he had secured tactical nuclear weapons, but he kept quiet.


    ¡°Of course. What would I worry about with you and Sergey in Russia?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a man of no foundation. I didn¡¯t hesitate to kill for profits. Can you really trust me?¡±


    ¡°Whatever you¡¯ve done in the past, I only believe in the present. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s selfish, but you¡¯re always nice to me. I think I can fully understand even if you turned your back on me. You¡¯d probably have a good reason to do so.¡±


    ¡°Oh, now I have no words to say.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, don¡¯t think too much. You¡¯ve been able to survive every single time you¡¯ve risked your life. I, who is leading Kazakhstan, also am walking on a dangerous tightrope. In order to survive, I¡¯ll do anything.¡±


    ¡°Listen to you, the Duke of the Kazakh royal family sounds more like a mafia than myself.¡±


    ¡°When you run a country, you have to be worse than the mafia. The mafia is more like a gentleman.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯ve never heard of a mafia being a gentleman.¡±


    ¡°The internationalmunity is where you¡¯d do anything for the sake of the national interest. Yesterday¡¯s enemies be friends and enemies again, right? Mafia would rather be loyal.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no loyalty to a gang. It¡¯s the mafia world that eats treachery for survival.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you for such a long time, so when I think of mafia, I think about a sense of duty.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Now you¡¯re saying that I can¡¯t even think of turning my back on you.¡±

 Chapter 639 - Negotiations in Moscow (3)

    Chapter 639: Negotiations in Moscow (3)


    A fancy dinner was being held at the Kremlin Pce for Youngho¡¯s party.


    Putin¡¯svish dinner was not only because he had strengthened his political position but also because this project to modernize the Trans-Siberian Railway would provide an opportunity to address economic difficulties. It created a breakthrough in logistics improvement, and its economic impact was so great that it was hard to estimate.


    It was decided that the Russian government would take a 10 percent stake in the investment, and the consortium led by the Kazakh royal family would own 90 percent of the investment.


    They also nned to build arge logistics base in divostok in the Far East and Saint Petersburg, located in the Gulf of Find, which would contain container bases and cold storageplexes.


    As therge picture was painted, the rest was up to the Kazakh royal family to form a consortium.


    Youngho agreed to invest two billion dors in joint investment with Yaniv, and the rest would be invested by foreign investors.


    For Putin, he agreed without a murmur to Youngho¡¯s proposal, fearing that he might lose the opportunity while showing his pride for nothing.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m going to have to drink a little bit today.¡±


    It seemed Putin was quite happy to offer to drink since he usually did enjoy drinking.


    ¡°Thank you for your decision, Mr. President. All I have left is my job. And I¡¯m going to exclude certain foreignpanies that participate in the consortium, so please understand even if you hear some issues.¡±


    ¡°You mean Chinesepanies?¡±


    ¡°Yes. As I have told you before, Chinesepanies are illegally taking over resources in Siberia. Since we have to form a consortium ofpanies that we can trust, I¡¯ve decided to exclude them.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese government is going to be very resistant¡±


    ¡°There is no reason to protest if we present difficult conditions such as performance or whether they have a new technology. If you have a foreignpany in mind, please rmend it. We will actively reflect your opinion to our selection.¡±


    ¡°For us, we prefer apany with funding rather than technology.¡±


    He seemed to be concerned about future businesses with those foreignpanies even after this project wasplete.


    ¡°We n to supply all the new trains from Kazakhstan. Korean electric train maker is operating a local nt in Kazakhstan, which could save money.¡±


    ¡°Then give Russianpanies a chance to participate in the delivery of the train.¡±


    It was questionable whether Russianpanies would be able to meet the level of quality and durability that Youngho wanted.


    ¡°If they can match the price and quality, we will give them the opportunity to deliver. But is there apany in Russia that canpete with foreignpanies?¡±


    ¡°We need to make thempetitive, even by partnering with advancedpanies.¡±


    Youngho had a rough idea of what Putin was worried about.


    This was because it did not help the economy much by putting in basic construction materials and personnel such as cement and steel bars for the construction although therge-scale construction was going on in the country.


    Russia¡¯s industrial products had been staying at the level of the 1990s, although its defense industry and space aviation had shown remarkable technological prowess that even surprised Western countries.


    ¡°I know what your concerns are. But, would thosepanies be able to acquire advanced technology in a short time?¡±


    ¡°Please do your best to build a joint factory in Russia just like you have in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Eventually, what he was asking Youngho was to help attract H Corporation¡¯s H-Rotem¡¯s assembly nt in Russia as well.


    In the past, Youngho and Yaniv tried to set up H Rotem¡¯s joint factory in Russia but were forced to quit as Russia faced economic sanctions after taking over Crimea.


    It was a project which was almost finished, but the Korean government was reluctant to proceed.


    Putin was asking because the Kazakh royal family could invest independently of economic sanctions.


    That would reduce Kazakh interests a little, but on the other hand, it was an opportunity to indebt Russia.


    Since Youngho was promised the rights to use the Baltic-White Sea Canal, he readily agreed.


    ¡°Korea`s H-Rotem has been trying very hard to make inroads into Russia. If Kazakhstan takes the lead, it¡¯ll be aplished regardless of economic sanctions. If we set up a local factory in Russia, it wouldn¡¯t mind a technology partnership.¡±


    H Corporation¡¯s establishment of a power train assembly nt in Kazakhstan was a strategic move aimed at Russia as well as Central Asia.


    In other words, the efforts made so far had finallye to light.


    If President Kim Joo-hyuk heard the news, he would fly to Kazakhstan in a single breath.


    ¡°Thank you for making such a big concession. We will make a specialw so that there will be no problems in the establishment of the local nt.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Russia¡¯s economic prosperity will soon lead to Kazakhstan¡¯s prosperity.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Yes. We are brotherly countries after all.¡±


    In response to Youngho¡¯s answer, Putin smiled loudly and put his arm on Youngho¡¯s shoulder as if to show it off to those at the banquet.


    It might be a diplomatic discourtesy at first nce, but it was Putin¡¯s impulsive act that came out of his excitement.


    The amicable appearance of the two leaders made the participants of the two countries feel better, and they exchanged vodka here and there.


    ***


    Youngho and Putin walked out of the dining room and sat opposite to each other in the reception room.


    Putin did not enjoy drinking, so he briefly left the room to avoid disturbing the much-excited participants.


    Youngho talked about the Chinesepany¡¯s illegal diamond collection in Siberia.


    ¡°Mr. President. The Chinesepany¡¯s illegal collection of diamonds is tantamount to the destruction of the forest. The damage will not only be to Russia but also to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°We want to sternly punish Chinesepanies formitting illegal acts in Siberia, but if China withdraws, Russia will be in great trouble.¡±


    China¡¯s investment had been the only breathing point for Russia, and if it withdrew without an alternative, Russia¡¯s economic blow would be immense.


    The Russian government was forced to turn a blind eye to the illegalities even though it was aware of it.


    ¡°If you keep turning a blind eye to the illegal act, China will be more and more prideful. It would be difficult to restore the damaged taiga forest again.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help it because it has more economic benefits for Russia than a little bit of damage to the forest.¡±


    ¡°If we abandon China in Siberia, I will take the lead in helping Western countries fill China¡¯s empty seats.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since forests were damaged in the process of harvesting forest resources. Is there anything wrong with having a little scratch in the broad Siberia?¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. I¡¯m sure your Excellency has your own thoughts behind this decision, so I won¡¯tment anymore.¡±


    Illegal diamond extraction could be regted.


    Youngho did not expect Russia to turn its back on China, but as he mentioned this first, Putin would not have a good feeling about China, and if China and Kazakhstan run into each other in Siberia, Putin would not take sides with China.


    With Putin on his back now, there were endless ways to deal with China in Siberia.


    This was because Youngho had the regional military unit, government officials, and even the mafia under his control.


    ¡°Duke, what can I do to repay you for your help in many ways for Russia?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I wouldn¡¯t have done so if there was no profit. I have to invest more for the sake of the friendship between the two countries, but it¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t do more.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re reducing my burden a lot.¡±


    ¡°We will continue to invest in Russia as long as the royal family can.¡±


    As the atmosphere matured, Putin looked around and carefully opened his mouth even though it was only the two of them.


    ¡°China made a fuss about the fact that you have nuclear weapons. Is it true that you still have nuclear weapons from the Soviet-era?¡±


    The nuclear weapons issue had finallye up.


    Putin would have been extremely curious, but he could not ask because of his face.


    Maybe he had recently heard from the former Kazakh president, Nazarbayev, who was hiding in Russia.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that something you should know better? We know that all nuclear weapons were destroyed with the U.S. lead, and the rest were retrieved in the mid-90s, so there can¡¯t be more. If the former regime somehow hid some nuclear weapons, the former president, Nazarbayev, who¡¯s in exile in Russia would know better. It would be faster if you asked him.¡±


    Putin immediately closed his mouth when Youngho mentioned President Nazarbayev.


    It was Putin who allowed him to seek asylum and hide in Russia.


    ¡°If you need nuclear weapons, tell me. If you want nuclear weapons, I¡¯m willing to hand them over.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m suggesting because I trust that Kazakhstan won¡¯t do anything reckless even if it has nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are the only alternative to keep China in check.¡±


    At first nce, he may be trying to keep China in check, but on the other hand, he was trying to see Youngho¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Kazakhstan already has the technology, and we can build nuclear weapons whenever we want to.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The technology of making nuclear weapons was no longer one of the great technological pirs. At Youngho¡¯s words, Putin remained silent.


    ¡°If ites to the existence of Kazakhstan, I might take your suggestion, but I¡¯m confident we can keep China in check enough when ites to local warfare.¡±


    ¡°What a great sense of self-confidence. China is not a country to be trifled with.¡±


    ¡°If China uses nuclear weapons for local warfare, we are ready to respond immediately. I¡¯ll just tell you that we can neutralize a nuclearunch in China immediately.¡±


    The remark was confusing since it was unclear whether Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons or developed other new weapons to neutralize nuclear weapons.


    This meant that Russia should not even dream of making provocations.


    ¡°You always seem to react boldly against China, but I guess there was something. I¡¯m very curious, but I won¡¯t ask you anymore. I hope we can share it with you when we get the chance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing but a trifle to Russia which has strategic nuclear weapons.¡±


    Putin would have understood by now. With his confident attitude and bluffing, Youngho was warning Putin as well not to underestimate Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 640 - Negotiations in Moscow(4)

    Chapter 640: Negotiations in Moscow(4)


    As he was getting drunk, Putin poured out several requests to Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, I will actively help you be an observer country of the Arctic Council. Instead, I want you to support Russia in the development of the Arctic Circle.¡±


    Kazakhstan already had icebreakers and bridgeheads in Greend, so it had all the necessary and sufficient conditions to qualify as an observer to the Arctic Council.


    But if Russia opposed it, it would be unclear to qualify as an observer.


    ¡°If we¡¯d be free to navigate, there won¡¯t be anything else I¡¯d want. But I wonder what kind of support you want.¡±


    Putin began to roast from then on.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling it only to you, but there¡¯s something really funny going on. Well, they¡¯re putting a ridiculous requirement to make it an exclusive economic zone to an area where the continental shelf is extended regardless of the distance.¡±


    Russia was the country exposed to the Arctic Ocean the most, and in such a case, it would have to yield a lot of ground, which Russia disapproved of.


    ¡°It¡¯s not an issue I can promise prematurely, but I¡¯ll be very active in finding apromise.¡±


    Under international maritimew, up to 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers) fromnd territory was the territorial waters of the country concerned. Up to 200 nautical miles was ssified as an exclusive economic zone that could be imed exclusive rights to resources.


    However, the Arctic Ocean was also connected to the continental shelf in areas more than 200 nautical miles away from the five coastal countries (Russia, Canada, the United States, Norway, and Denmark).


    These countries were iming sovereignty under the exception of internationalw, which stated that if and was connected to a continental shelf, it could secure power more than 200 nautical miles.


    The cause had been attributed to Russia¡¯s blocking of the Arctic Ocean. This was because Russia had be too greedy.


    Putin was asking Youngho to give Russia a boost in exchange for him helping Kazakhstan be an observer state.


    ¡°The development of the Arctic Ocean is difficult by Russia¡¯s power alone. I hope that we can work together to develop the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate what you mean. But if you push it unterally when the interests of many countries are at stake, we won¡¯t find agreement so easily. Can¡¯t wepromise on a reasonable level? If you¡¯re willing to do that, I¡¯ll stand on Russia¡¯s side and try to arbitrate for more concessions.¡±


    It was time for someone to mediate, and the opportunity for the Kazakh royal family to step forward finally came.


    If the Baltic-White Canal was put out as bait and if the royal family proposed to limit the continental shelf section to 200 nautical miles, it seemed apromise could be reached.


    ording to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Arctic had 13 percent of the world¡¯s oil reserves and 47 trillion cubic meters of gas, which was estimated to be a third of natural gas reserves of the world.


    Areas bordering Russia, Canada, and Greend were rich in nickel, iron ore, aluminum, copper, uranium, and diamonds.


    In addition, the Arctic route was about 7,000 kilometers shorter than the current Far East-Siberian coast-Europe route, which dramatically reduced transportation costs and time.


    ¡°So far, Russia has managed the Arctic Ocean. Now, we cannot tolerate them wanting to start an exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. If they continue to insist on epting it at all costs, Russia will not refuse to exercise its capabilities for the rights of the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    Putin¡¯sments meant he was willing to ept some of the Western countries¡¯ demands.


    The rest of the member countries, which insisted that the continental shelf was an exclusive economic zone to the point where it was connected, were referring to exceptions stipted in internationalw to prevent Russia from monopolizing the region.


    ¡°Mr. President. Opening the Baltic-Back shipping line can reduce transportation distances by 4,000 kilometers.¡±


    ¡°What does it have to do with developing the Arctic Circle?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying you could send a love call to the West. You¡¯ll provide a shorter route and in exchange, you can ask them to make concessions. It¡¯ll probably work. On the other hand, it¡¯s an opportunity to raise the toll without spending any money on the Baltic-White Sea Canal.¡±


    There were so many countries that would use the Baltic-White Sea Canal.


    This was because if the Arctic route was added, it would reduce transportation distance by 11,000 kilometers.


    Putin was momentarily preupied with the tempting proposal.


    He knew well that it would be difficult to deal with a majority no matter how hard he tried.


    It would be a good business if the Baltic-White Sea Canal could be opened, and he could take benefits from it. And there was a person sitting in front of him, who could do the job instead of him.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good offer, but can you persuade those greedy countries?¡±


    ¡®If you lose your greed, everything will all work out.¡¯


    These words were hovering in Youngho¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯lle forward and mediate. We have to contact European countries soon to selectpanies to participate in the Trans-Siberian Railway anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. We¡¯ll have the Arctic Ocean Council in a month, and I¡¯ll be looking forward to seeing some tangible results by then.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, I¡¯m d you and I seem to agree on a lot today. Wouldn¡¯t you like to hang out for a while, since the banquet hasn¡¯t ended yet?¡±


    ¡°Good. I have a hunch that we¡¯ll have some vodka tonight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve gotten drunk, but tonight, I¡¯ll let myself go.¡±


    Youngho was also a little excited because the Arctic Council¡¯s observer status was just around the corner.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to announce the Trans-Siberian Railway development n tomorrow. Is that okay?¡±


    ¡°A verbal promise is also a promise. If no other country will intervene, the Kazakh royal family will also be in charge of the construction.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You just don¡¯t know when to stop, and I like it!¡±


    ***


    When the Russian government announced that the Kazakh royal family would invest in the project to modernize the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Russian people reacted with great excitement. This was inevitable because there have been no national projects that people could feel with their skin.


    While projects such as the canal project and the development of Siberia were projects that did not reach much of everyday life, the Trans-Siberian train had been a means of transportation for all Russians. They were more enthusiastic about turning old trains into modern ones than the fact that it would save their traveling time.


    As anyone who had ever taken the Trans-Siberian Train knew, people were fed up with the inferiority of toilets and washbasins. No matter how short a traveling section was, it usually took two days and one night, and people could not avoid using the bathrooms and the washbasins, but the mere thought of using them made people sick.


    Some of the foreign tourists using the Trans-Siberian Train were even rumored to have dder inmmation because they refused to use the bathroom.


    On top of that, there was nothing people could do about the terrible unfriendliness of train crews and the tedious journey of seven nights and eight days.


    However, news that foreignpanies were participating in train operation as well as modernizing the train had been reported, it was received with a great wee.


    Min-seok, who had experienced the Trans-Siberian Train for half a day, was exining the hygiene of the train while conveying the response of the Russians.


    ¡°In-hwa also refused to go to the bathroom.¡±


    ¡°I hear it¡¯s gotten bettertely, but I guess that¡¯s not true either. It was worse when I rode it a few years ago.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever taken the Trans-Siberian Train?¡±


    ¡°We had to take the train to divostok because of frequent hijackings. I rented a special room, but I couldn¡¯t help with the bathroom.¡±


    The memory of the Trans-Siberian train remained at its worst, as he even met train robbers at the time.


    ¡°We were in a special room as well, but we couldn¡¯t get used to it. The surrounding scenery was also tasteless.¡±


    Everyone who rode the Trans-Siberian Train expected it to be great, but after three or four hours of excitement, it got boring and the same as all they could see was empty fields after fields.


    Anyone who had experienced it would rmend an airne over a trans-Siberian train.


    All they did for eight days and seven nights were only eating and sleeping. The only thing to do was to see the asional city of Siberia from a distance and drink vodka secretly from the crew.


    ¡°Would it be tolerable if only the train is clean?¡±


    ¡°I think we should add other services, too. It¡¯s like torture if you¡¯re just eating and sleeping for seven nights and eight days.¡±


    ¡°Come up with some good ideas.¡±


    ¡°Just changing the train won¡¯t do any good. If the service doesn¡¯t improve, it¡¯ll be messy no matter how many new cars you put in. We need to change the train crew or retrain them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to meet Russian railroad officials before I go back home. Make an appointment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still before the formal contract, but would it be alright?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ve exchanged the memorandum of understanding, it¡¯s like you have a contract. Besides, it¡¯s already announced by the press. If you contact the presidential secretariat, they¡¯ll set up an appointment right away.¡±


    ¡°Where shall we go for the appointment?¡±


    ¡°Let theme to the Arirang Hotel.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s an honor to meet you in person. My name is Oleg Belozerov. I¡¯m in charge of the National Railroad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have made youe here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I was going to visit you anyway. His Excellency has asked us to help you finish the Trans-Siberian Railway project over the next ten days.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to meet you not only because I wanted to know the demand for new cars that need to be reced immediately. We need to rece the aging trains first, so the public will feel that something is changing. And I wanted to talk to you about the site for the train assembly nt.¡±


    ¡°If you could do that, I wouldn¡¯t wish for anything else. I¡¯ve always been ashamed of not being able to provide a great service.¡±


    ¡°The aging of passenger cars is a problem, but the train crew¡¯s attitude is not very desirable. Is there a countermeasure?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame but if the payments could be actualized, it would be resolved immediately. If a foreignpany participates in the management, the sries will have to be fixed immediately. That¡¯s the only way to get our employees motivated. We¡¯ve had a lot of service training, but it hasn¡¯t really worked.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Kazakhstan used to be like that until a few years ago. I¡¯ll make that a top priority. I believe that just by improving the staff¡¯s treatment, the service will be better.¡±


    ¡°And how about divostok for the car assembly nt?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great site. Is the previous factory site still empty?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still there, same as before.¡±


    A few years ago, the area where H Rotem was going to build a train car factory was near the warehouse area of the Kazakh royal family.


    In divostok, the security-free Kazakh royal storage area was the most suitable ce for a new factory because there were so many robbers.


    For H Corporation, it was easier to transport parts from Korea as the port of divostok was nearby.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Let¡¯s confirm divostok as the factory site.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll make sure there¡¯s no inconvenience.¡±


    ¡°I also have a question. I know there is a railway between divostok and North Korea. Does the train regrly operates in this section?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s irregr, but we ship goods several times a month. But do you have any special orders?¡±


    ¡°If the Trans-Siberian Railway can be connected to South Korea, we can achieve a logistics innovation. I don¡¯t know if North Korea will ever pass it though.¡±

 Chapter 641 - The Arctic Council (1)

    Chapter 641: The Arctic Council (1)


    Kim Joo-hyuk of H Corporation came to the royal territory immediately.


    ¡°Your Highness, congrattions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not ready to pop the champagne yet, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any other variable. Prepare to set up a local factory in divostok.¡±


    ¡°Building a local factory in Russia was already ready a few years ago, so there is nothing to be done about it. And our working-level officials have already left for divostok. There was a request from the Russian Railway Administration for an on-site survey.¡±


    ¡°The Russian officials, who are famous for being slow, are moving pretty fast.¡±


    ¡°The official document said that President Putin and the Duke of Kazakhstan had discussed it. The Korean government is quite surprised by this. This time, Korean railroad officials requested to apany our workers, and we had a hard time refusing them.¡±


    ¡°What about the Korean Railroad?¡±


    ¡°I hear you¡¯re considering linking Korea to the trans-Siberian train.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite premature to think that.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you requested to the Russian government?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve asked the head of Russia¡¯s National Railroad, but the question is whether North Korea, which holds the key, agrees...¡±


    Russia was also moving fast, knowing that connecting the Trans-Siberian train to the Korean Penins would have a huge synergy effect.


    Their intention must be to make full use of Youngho¡¯s Korean origin and put the South Korean government to take charge of the railroad construction in the North Korean section.


    South Korea would naturally wee the offer, and North Korea would not be able to easily reject Russia¡¯s suggestion.


    North Korea would not even sniffle at the request of other countries, but if it upset Russia, it would have to be prepared to lose its back. However, it would also be an attractive suggestion for North Korea because it was an opportunity to simply pass the train and earn profits.


    The Russian government was quickly working on Youngho¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Your Highness, our group was developed from a constructionpany. To be honest, just supplying trains to the Trans-Siberian Railway business is not enough. We also want to participate in the railway business ourselves, so please help me.¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask your group anyway. But since it¡¯s a long-term investment project, I¡¯m a little hesitant to actively rmend it.¡±


    It was hard to rmend the project because the invested money would be recovered throughout 20 years from the train¡¯s operating ie. This was all the more so because Russian policies for investors often changed.


    ¡°Korea¡¯s constructionpanies can form a consortium and spread the risk.¡±


    ¡°That would be one way. Then, you should organize it and create a separate joint venture.¡±


    Companies of the U.S., France, and Germany could participate individually because they had plenty of money, but Korean builders could only grow in size if a number ofpanies joined together.


    ¡°We are currently coordinating in Korea. It¡¯s such a big project that we don¡¯t even have topete among domesticpanies. Of course, we do it together with financial institutions, but without basic physical strength, it¡¯s hard to survive for 20 years.¡±


    ¡°We were going to rule out excessivepetition between Koreanpanies, but fortunately, you came up with a reasonable n in your group.¡±


    ¡°We decided not topete with domesticpanies for big projects abroad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. How long will itst?¡±


    ¡°Most of the projects we¡¯ve won from abroad resulted in loss, and we can¡¯t afford it anymore.¡±


    ¡°If you regain your strength, you¡¯ll bepeting again.¡±


    Kim Joo-hyuk was also not able to resist what Youngho said.


    The Trans-Siberian train project was a 20-year-long project, so thepanies would be careful with their investments, but they wouldpete inrge construction projects that were ced elsewhere. There was just an infinite race to survive.


    ¡°If Koreanpanies are united in the Trans-Siberian Railway project, we will take a lot of Korean builders intorge projects in Russia. But please don¡¯t let me down.¡±


    ¡°Is Russia nning to ce many orders for big projects in the future?¡±


    ¡°Think of Russia¡¯s area. It has tremendous potential for development. When the Trans-Siberian Railway is activated, work is bound to pour in. That will lead to normal construction orders, whether it¡¯s paid in cash or raw materials. Even then, you¡¯d be made fun of if you lose due to excessivepetition.¡±


    ¡°You mean to refrain from individual contact with Russia.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t just target construction orders, get paid the right price for them. If youpete for blood and embarrass Kazakhstan, we wouldn¡¯t let it go.¡±


    It was kind of a warning.


    This meant that Koreanpanies could do whatever they wanted in other countries, but they should notpete with each other in Russia or Central Asia.


    Youngho had seen many cases where builders that won low-priced orders from abroad recover their losses by export policy funds or long-term low-interest policy financing.


    In the end, it was the same as recovering it with tax.


    If they repeated such low-priced orders, which only made the ordering organizationugh, Youngho wanted to block them even by exercising his ability.


    Kim Joo-hyuk was surprised when Youngho took an unprecedented tough stance.


    He could understand the meaning of refraining from low-priced orders but forcing to stop selfpetition was tantamount to interference in management.


    This was because constructionpanies sometimes received low-cost orders even if they would lose money to improve their cash flow or improve their reputation.


    ¡°Your Highness, it may be natural forpanies topete to survive. You may be misunderstood as viting the management rights of Koreanpanies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only talking about the projects where the Kazakh royal family is in charge. And we will make sure that Koreanpanies get a fair profit. On the other hand, it means that our royal family will not suffer damage.¡±


    ¡°We will send a letter of cooperation to Koreanpanies to prevent them from taking individual actions. But there may be somepanies that don¡¯t listen.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯m going to respond as I said.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If Koreanpanies push into low-priced orders despite the fact that they have secured a foothold in Russia, the status of the Kazakh royal family will be reduced. I¡¯m not going to sit idle on that.¡±


    ¡°I see what you mean. We will fully cooperate with the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ***


    The consulting for the Trans-Siberian Railway project had been entrusted to the Swedish Information Agency which held great consulting capabilities and showed excellence at attracting investmentpanies.


    Naturally, Eriksson was in charge ofmunicating with the Information Agency and selecting investmentpanies.


    However, Youngho was not free either.


    Persuading individual members of the Arctic Council was left to him.


    If any of the eight members of the Arctic Council objected, things would go wrong, so he had to move very carefully.


    Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Find were the only countries that were close to the Arctic Ocean after Russia, and Denmark was the only ce where territorial waters were in contact.


    The other countries were the United States, Sweden, and d.


    It was almost impossible to solve it with Youngho¡¯s ability because it was a politically sensitive issue. This could only be solved if the U.S. took the lead.


    So, he had to ask Michael for help. It was also the fastest way.


    -You¡¯ve been frequently mentioned by the presstely. What made you call me, Duke?


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be interested in my business, but I guess you¡¯ve been watching closely.¡±


    -How can I not as the Director of the U.S. Intelligence when you¡¯ve been meeting with Putin? I hear you are in charge of the Trans-Siberian Railway project.


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not the purpose, right?¡±


    -I¡¯m not even a forteller. How can I know what¡¯s inside of your mind?


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the good news first. Russia is opening the Baltic-White Sea Canal.¡±


    -Is that true? How can Putin make such a decision without losing his mind?


    ¡°I have another piece of good news. He¡¯s not going to insist on other things any longer except for the exclusive economic zone.¡±


    -I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s up to after all that stubbornness. Or did you drug Putin?


    Michael was very surprised.


    The development of the Arctic Circle had been parallel because of Russia¡¯s stubbornness, but it was doubtful that Putin suddenly changed his mind.


    The reason Russia was lukewarm about developing the Arctic Ocean was that it might create loopholes in its security.


    That was why it maintained a powerful military presence in the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°It¡¯s a rational decision. If the rest of the member states don¡¯t insist on the continental shelf, Russia will make concessions.¡±


    -That¡¯s great. Canada is nning to set up a military base in the Arctic Ocean, but we need to stop it. You can¡¯t break the good mood.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t the U.S. take the lead in this atmosphere? I¡¯d like to take this opportunity to tie the knot.¡±


    -Of course, we should take the lead. But I think there¡¯s a reason why you¡¯re trying so hard to make this. Whether the members of the Arctic Council agree doesn¡¯t have anything to do with Kazakhstan. What is it?


    ¡°It¡¯s all about using the Baltic-White Sea at our convenience. And it¡¯d be better if we could be an observer of the Arctic Council.¡±


    -Are you sure that¡¯s all?


    ¡°If we use the canal, we can cut the distance by 4,000 kilometers, and that in itself is a huge deal.¡±


    -Kazakhstan already qualifies as an observer state of the Arctic Council, what do you mean?


    ¡°Well, I guess I want to get nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.¡±


    -Hahaha...


    ¡°By the way, it seems that the pressure of the Arctic Council members to make it an exclusive economic zone as far as the continental shelf can reach made Putin change his mind. He probably couldn¡¯t endure it any longer¡±


    -You¡¯ve persuaded Putin well. Anyway, thanks to you, the countries involved will be able to cool off now. So now the ball hase to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve called you. Please take the lead in persuading the rest of the member states.¡±


    -Well, we didn¡¯t do much in this, but we¡¯d be taking the credit.


    ¡°It¡¯s also the most important job. And I hope Americanpanies will participate in the Trans-Siberian Railway project, too. Please rmendpanies with funding.¡±


    -It¡¯ll be a shame if the U.S. gets involved when it is at the forefront of economic sanctions.


    Even with economic sanctions, European countries had long been doing business with Russia for oil and gas. Also, a globalpany in the U.S. was already operating a daily necessities nt in Russia with the introduction of Youngho.


    ¡°If Russia had made that concession in the Arctic Ocean, wouldn¡¯t the U.S. have to give in something equal?¡±


    -I¡¯ll discuss it with the politicalmunity. We are very interested in Siberia, too. With this job, there will be no problem with Kazakhstan bing an observer of the Arctic Council.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. If the cargo ships of Arirang can freely sail through the Arctic Ocean, we will be satisfied with that.¡±


    -If anyone hears about it, they¡¯d think the Duke of Kazakhstan is an angel.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see if I¡¯m an angel or a devil.¡±


    -Oh, well, stay as an angel as much as possible. I don¡¯t want to see you turn into a devil.


    ¡°So please advertise that you shouldn¡¯t mess with me. It¡¯s a hassle to exin everything.¡±


    -I¡¯ll let the Arctic Council members know. See you soon in Troms?, Norway.


    ¡°In Troms?? Why do you want to meet there?¡±


    -Don¡¯t you know there¡¯s a permanent secretariat of the Arctic Council?


    ¡°Is that so? There¡¯s a pr developmentpany of the Kazakh royal family as well.¡±


    -When did you make an office there?


    ¡°Our cargo ships going to Siberia receive supplies from Troms?. So I set up a pr developmentpany a few years ago.¡±


    -It¡¯s kind of creepy to call it a coincidence. Do you have any foresight?

 Chapter 642 - The Arctic Council (2)

    <h4>Chapter 642: The Arctic Council (2)</h4>


    The Kazakh Royal Pr Development Company, which operated in Troms?, Norway, only had a grand name but was in fact only serving to supply cargo ships to and from Siberia.


    The reason why he set up thepany in advance despite that there were no shippingpanies to use the Arctic Ocean route was to present to other shippingpanies that the Arctic Route was well-prepared.


    Surprisingly, Youngho just found out from Michael that there was also a permanent secretariat of the Arctic Council in the region.


    The Arctic Council held a ministerial-level meeting every two years, and the director-level meetings were held twice a year, and because the eight members of the board took turns to chair the meeting, Troms? was acting as a liaison office.


    This year¡¯s chair country was Norway, so a ministerial meeting was to be held in Troms?.


    -There¡¯s no ce in the world where your hand has not touched.


    ¡°I thought I had to have a stopover in Siberia, so I decided to use Troms?. It¡¯s just a coincidence. Well, I guess I¡¯m just a lucky person.¡±


    -I admit that you¡¯re a lucky guy, but please remember that all things don¡¯t just go your way. Be especially careful of Putin. He is a very greedy person.


    ¡°It¡¯s easier to deal with greedy people. You just need to satisfy their greed.¡±


    -What if he¡¯s greedy about Kazakhstan?


    ¡°Russia can¡¯t possibly covet Kazakhstan. I warned him already. I said we can easily control China even if there¡¯s a local war. Putin seemed very surprised.¡±


    -Did you mean nuclear weapons?


    ¡°You¡¯re well aware that Kazakhstan has no nuclear weapons. I just said that there was a secret weapon.¡±


    -Putin probably thinks that you have nuclear weapons.


    ¡°It would be fortunate for us if he interpreted it that way. I¡¯ve made it clear that Kazakhstan is not to be meddled with, no matter what.¡±


    In international rtions, it was sometimes necessary to be ostentatious as a way not to get underestimated.


    -The Syrian operation must have made him feel ufortable. What did he say?


    ¡°We¡¯ve done enough. What¡¯s to argue about? I exined it to him, and he understood.¡±


    -No politician in the world can get close to Putin, but you¡¯re doing amazing.


    ¡°It¡¯d be weird if he doesn¡¯t like me when I scratch his itchy spot whenever he needs it.¡±


    -Thank you on behalf of the member countries of the Arctic Council.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just thank me, but give me a nice reward. Something like a military alliance with the U.S...¡±


    -If you don¡¯t want to break the secret rtionship with Russia, it¡¯s best to stay as it is with the United States. Even if we didn¡¯t have a military alliance, we wouldn¡¯t just watch Kazakhstan go wrong.


    Would Michael make such remarks only because of his personal friendship with Youngho?


    He was referring to the U.S. government¡¯s policy toward Kazakhstan.


    Considering Kazakhstan¡¯s geopolitical position and inexhaustible underground resources, the U.S. would never want to lose Kazakhstan.


    ***


    The interests of countries in the Trans-Siberian Railway business were enormous.


    Thanks to that, the airport staff of the royal territory was so busy these days because of the exclusive nes of globalpanies taking off andnding every hour.


    Usually, foreigners visiting Western Kazakhstan arrived at the Atyrau International Airport located in the Caspian Sea coast and transferred to a domestic line toe to the royal territory, but private jets usually came directly to the royal territory without such a cumbersome procedure.


    Although the airport was dedicated to domestic flights with no national g, it had been ying the role of an international airport in recent years.


    This meant that the status of the Kazakh royal family had increased.


    ¡°Your Highness, we need to build more runways, or the Air Force won¡¯t be able to fly for training.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to move thebat flying squad to another location. We didn¡¯t expect so many foreign aircraft to visit.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we build a new international airport? The existing airport is optimized to be an air base, and the cost of relocation is prohibitive.¡±


    These days, Kim Chun had be bolder in spending money. He was also proposing to build an international facility now. He used to be a man who used to count the pennies.


    The airport started off as a temporary airport and was switched to military use at some point. There were fighter hangars and anti-aircraft weapons all over the airport, so it was no ordinary matter to relocate. Also, Saab¡¯s fighter jet assembly nt andbat helicopter assembly nt were near the airport, so it was hard to use it as a civilian airport.


    Although the poption had suddenly grown due to the Kurdish migration, it would take a few more years for them to have the economic power to travel abroad. But an international airport was necessary for the future¡¯s sake.


    Fighter jets only asionally flew in training, so there was no problem using the airport now, but civilian nes flying in and out caused unbearable noise as hundreds of nesnded and took off a day.


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s true that we need an international airport for this poption. Please find a suitable site.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a perfect ce, and I¡¯ll take pictures of itter with a drone and show you.¡±


    ¡°Please decide the site for the international airport with Construction Director Min. Just let me know the size of the construction costter.¡±


    ¡°We will n and report on the most economical scale to the best location.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t n too badly because you have the honor of the royal family, and ask a world-ss architect to design it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, would it be okay if it costs a lot?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be an international city in the future, so let¡¯s make it bigger and more stylish. We have that much money left.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, may I refer it to thepany that designed Batumi¡¯s Arirang Hotel?¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯ll do. Thepany will do a great job. Please contact it, Commissioner Kim.¡±


    ¡°As for construction, I¡¯d like to do it with our technical skills. At the level of the Royal Construction Company, any tricky design could be fully constructed.¡±


    ¡°Of course it should. It has enough skills and experience. We¡¯re also going to put it into the Trans-Siberian Railway project.¡±


    The investment made by a joint venture with Yaniv was worth two billion dors. If the Royal Construction Company could be in charge of it, the construction alone would make it reborn as a world-ss constructionpany.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, this data is ourpany¡¯s track record. As you can see, it¡¯s not too much to say that the railroad business is unrivaled.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Martin. The world knows your construction capability and know-how in railway operation. The question is whether we can immediately transfer technology to Russia.¡±


    Using the Trans-Siberian train allowed traveling between Asia and Europe in just 10 days, but the Trans-Siberian train was being shunned by shippers.


    The arrival of cargo a littleter than the set time was already expected, but how anxious would it be if they could not even locate their containers carrying the goods? So much so that the Siberian railway operation system was backward and the service was terrible.


    ¡°Your Highness, wasn¡¯t the consortium running the railroad?¡±


    ¡°The consortiumpany will operate it for the time being, but I don¡¯t intend to run the Trans-Siberian Railway for 20 years. I will settle construction costs with the Russian government at the right time and hand over management control. That¡¯s the best choice for each other. If a foreignpany has the right to operate the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is Russia¡¯s pride, at some point the Russian government or its people will be displeased.


    So I was thinking of settling the ount at the right time and handing over management control. That¡¯s why I think about technology transfer from the beginning. We need Russian employees to adapt to the new technology as soon as possible to improve its business conditions.¡±


    ¡°Then how long do you consider the payback period?¡±


    ¡°ording to a Swedish consultingpany, seven to eight years is enough. After that, profits are going to be generated. It¡¯s a golden egg business, but I don¡¯t want to be greedy. At that point, we have to hand over management rights for a reasonable amount of money and take benefits in return.¡±


    ¡°It sounds more trustworthy as you say so. We also went over that in depth. We expect the Russian government intervention to intensify from the break-even point.¡±


    It was impossible to tell what variables there would be in ten years.


    It was necessary to provide details of the risk-taking for investors who were only thinking about the favorable future.


    Profit was important, but it was also important to pull out at the right time.


    Globalpanies were also well aware of the concerns of Youngho because they checked the number of possible cases when investing abroad.


    ¡°I will make it clear that our royal family cannot be held responsible for the sudden change in Russia causing the recovery of the investment to be uncertain.¡±


    ¡°Of course. We are aware of that. I mean, what kind of risk-free business is there in the world?¡±


    ¡°If the damage is caused by the mistake of the Kazakh royal family, we will give you a chance to make up for it in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Despite Youngho¡¯s caution, Martin, the CEO of Spain¡¯s ACS, was also greedy for other businesses, saying that hispany would need to take high risks to generate high profits. He was anxious to make aggressive investments as he had taken over HOCHTIEF, a once world¡¯s best German constructionpany.


    ¡°Your Highness, Our ACS is the world¡¯s No. 1 constructionpany for five years in a row. ording to our information, the Baltic-White Canal and the formation of arge logisticsplex were also processed under the Kazakh royal family. So, if the investmentpany has not been decided yet, we would like to participate alone.¡±


    ¡°The Baltic-White Canal has yet to be inspected, so we don¡¯t know how much it will cost. And unlike the railroad corporation, the Kazakh royal family is not the main operator. You have to know that¡¯s a big risk.¡±


    ¡°We believe that Russia can recover from the worst-case investment, although it has many variables.¡±


    He must be making these suggestions because he had tapped the calctor in his own way. There was no reason to dissuade him from pushing himself to invest, even though he had fully been informed about risks.


    ¡°Very well. Then please present your estimate of the construction cost for the Baltic-White Sea Canal and the logistics base. I will notify the Russian government that your technicians will visit the site for a due diligence.¡±

 Chapter 643 - The Commercial Operation of the Arctic Route (1)

    <h4>Chapter 643: The Commercial Operation of the Arctic Route (1)</h4>


    A 2,000-TEU container ship, 50,000-ton bulk cargo ship and an icebreaker were entering the waters of Okhotsk.


    On the side of the container ship and the cargo ship were written ¡®The Arirang 5¡¯ and ¡®The Arirang 9¡¯ in English respectively and the name ¡®Kazakhstan 1¡¯ was visible on the icebreaker.


    These ships were merchant ships belonging to the Kazakh Royal Shipping Company, which departed Copenhagen, Denmark, and were passing through the Okhotsk Sea, east of Russia, after a twelve-day voyage.


    The voyage was a test to run through the Arctic Ocean to the South Korean port of Busan.


    Convincing European shippers, Youngho had received orders of 500 20-foot and 40-foot containers, while the bulk ship was loaded with wheat produced in Kazakhstan.


    Most of the shipsing back from Busan to Denmark would be carrying only empty containers, so it was difficult to expect revenue.


    Due to the perception that it was a dangerous route that had yet to be verified, many shippers had not yet entrusted the cargo.


    For that reason, the shipping insurance fee was also set higher than the Southern route going back to the Suez Canal, and if this journey was safelypleted, the proper insurance rate would be applied in the future.


    ¡°Captain Park. Thank you for your efforts. We will sail to the East Sea. I¡¯ll contact you when I depart from Busan. Please rest in divostok until we get back.¡±


    -We haven¡¯t done much, but I feel embarrassed to take a rest.


    ¡°We need an icebreaker to go back. Make yourself at home for that.¡±


    During the journey from Copenhagen to the Sea of Okhotsk, there was only some floating ice, so they did not have to break the ice.


    -Yes, Boss. Please sail safely to Busan. And please bring some Korean soju when youe back. I miss Korean soju very much.


    ¡°Hahaha... All right, I¡¯ll see you when I get back.¡±


    At the container bridge, the chief executive officer of Arirang Shipping, Choi Sun-kil, and the icebreaker captain, Park, were talking tumultuously.


    Their voices were bright as the ships passed through the Arctic Ocean without any mishap, and then across the Kamchatka Penins in the Okhotsk Sea,pletely out of the Kuril Inds.


    ¡°Captain Kim. Let¡¯s hurry to Busan. Captain Park mentioned about soju, and it makes me want to have raw fish. Let¡¯s get to Busan and have a nice drink.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a few years since you went to Korea, right?¡±


    ¡°Right. I feel like I¡¯m returning home in glory.¡±


    Choi Sun-kil used to own a shipping business, but it was directly hit by the economic slump.


    But he became the president of Arirang Shipping by bing associated with Youngho at a Danish tavern.


    Arirang Shipping, which started with a few ships, had been continuing its surplus streak for years as globalpanies had been keeping to entrust their cargo to thepany.


    There had been efforts, but the premium as a Kazakh royal shippingpany also yed a huge part in the rapid growth of thepany.


    ¡°Mr. Choi. Shippingpanies must be interested because we have proved that icebreakers will not be needed until November by this test voyage.¡±


    ¡°There was also an effect of unusually high temperatures this year.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s like this every year, transportation costs will definitely decrease. Would it get any colder when they say that ships could travel on the Arctic Ocean without the help of an icebreaker by 2030 for global warming?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to run the icebreaker diligently until them. Icebreaker does not cost a penny or two.¡±


    The 20-foot container shipped on a 2,000 TEU-ss container ships was usually 70 dors on the Arctic Route, but the price soared to 150 dors if the ship was guided by an icebreaker.


    Still, it was cheaper than passing through the Suez Canal, but the effects of the weather were huge as shippers would feel burdened to use the Arctic route.


    Since this journey would be a barometer of the Arctic Route, Choi Sun-kil came out to the bridge to check the sea conditions every dawn.


    The reason why they insisted on Busan was to show that it would only take 14 days for the Arctic Route when it usually took 24 days to sail to the southern route (Busan-Suez-Rotterdam, Nethends).


    Although it had already been proven, it was important that the ship made its firstmercial voyage with cargo.


    That was why Youngho invited mediapanies from all over the world to Copenhagen, Denmark, even before embarking on the voyage.


    ¡°Do you think there are presspanies at the Port of Busan as well?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a historic moment, and the press can¡¯t miss it. His Highness has booked an entire luxury hotel in Busan and invited world mediapanies, so most of the mediapanies must have arrived by now.¡±


    ¡°It would be great to enter the Port of Busan.¡±


    ¡°As the news focuses on us, please remind our crew to be extra careful about their actions. We are the face of Kazakhstan.¡±


    The Kazakh royal family was even mobilizing the media to publicize the advantages of the Arctic route. Now that the Russian government had approved, it could startmercial operations with customers.


    That¡¯s why Youngho worked hard on calling the media to promote it.


    ¡°You should dress up well in case your face appears on TV.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re handsome, so you don¡¯t have to worry, but I¡¯m not sure about me.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, boss?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been told since I was a child that I look like a thief. How can I be on TV? I don¡¯t want to disgrace the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, people who have the sea as their home looks all the same.¡±


    It was a pleasant voyage that they exchanged jokes with each other.


    They watched the night sea, thinking that if this feeling had continued every day, there would be nothing more to be desired.


    ***


    Hundreds of reporters from Korea and abroad were vying for news coverage at the container terminal at Sinseondae in Busan.


    It was a huge issue because those ships had sailed the Arctic Ocean.


    Korean reporters were much more enthusiastic than foreign journalists.


    ¡°Thank for your exnation that the Arctic Ocean is economically viable. And tell me how you felt about being the first Korean to sail the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    The reporter from a Korean newspaper, who liked to use big modifiers such as ¡®best,¡¯ ¡®first,¡¯ and rgest¡¯ wanted to write an article about the excellence of the Korean people.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re mistaken, so I¡¯ll correct it. I was born in Korea, but now I am a citizen of the Kazakh kingdom. And I¡¯m the queen¡¯s servant, who was knighted by the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll correct it. Please tell me how you feel about your first voyage to the Arctic Ocean in the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°I want to say it was the best route. The ice blocked the waves and we sailed veryfortably.¡±


    ¡°I heard that you can only sail with the help of an icebreaker in the winter, so could it be called the best route?¡±


    ¡°As I told you a little while ago, that¡¯s the case in terms of economics.¡±


    ¡°Safety of ships and luggage is important, but isn¡¯t the safety of the crew neglected?¡±


    Foreign journalists were intensively asking economic aspects such as how much oil costs were saved and how much shippers would pay for the passage, with Korean reporters emphasizing only safety.


    ¡°Today¡¯s ships are designed to withstand decent impacts. Nevertheless, we put icebreakers ahead to avoid unknown risks.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see the icebreaker. Where is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s standing by at the port of divostok.¡±


    ¡°They say the insurance fee is quite burdensome for traveling through the Arctic Route. Is there an alternative?¡±


    ¡°When proven safe passage, insurance fee will go down. Even if the premium doesn¡¯t go down, it¡¯s 10 days shorter than the Southern route, so it¡¯s a good way to offset the insurance burden.¡±


    ¡°There are concerns about whether we will use the Arctic route with high premiums and high risk, even though cargo using maritime transportation is not a matter of urgency.¡±


    ¡°Please let me know who in the world is so worried about that. Have you been asked to ask questions from the Egyptian government?¡±


    Choi¡¯s reply was greeted with pent-upughter from all over the press conference.


    It was not worth answering the question of the reporter¡¯s own thoughts as if they were wrapped up in public opinion, but he still retorted by asking if he was ordered to ask such a question from Egypt, which would suffer losses from the Suez Canal due to the Arctic Route.


    ¡°And the Arctic Ocean is the only route that takes 14 days from Denmark to Busan port. Shouldn¡¯t we do anything to reduce our sailing time from 24 days to 14 days? With oil running low, using the Arctic route is also desirable for humanity. As you know, Kazakhstan has four icebreakers, so please use them because they have no problem traveling on the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    Momentster, another Korean reporter raised his hand.


    ¡°Is there any inconvenience for ind Kazakhstan to enter the ocean without port facilities?¡±


    ¡°Most of us know Kazakhstan is an ind country, but the Caspian Sea is a sea, and it¡¯s connected to the ocean through a canal. And the Kazakh royal family has the management rights of the port of Piraeus in Greece as well. We also have our own docks in Copenhagen, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and elsewhere.¡±


    At least, it wasmon sense to fully research the subject beforeing out to cover it.


    If those journalists took a little time, they would have already learned about such minor information, but the reporter who came up with no basic knowledge was pathetic. Yet, Choi Sun-kil did his best to answer their questions. However, there were not one or two such reporters, so the exnation was getting longer.


    ***


    ¡°Come on, Captain! Have another drink.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Choi, you can¡¯t even wake up if you drink anymore. Stop it.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t drink on a day like today, when would you drink? His Highness has given us a bonus payment forpleting this voyage safely.¡±


    After the press conference, Choi Sun-kil and his crews sat down at a luxury raw fish restaurant in Haeundae and pouring drinks down their throats.


    Having safely arrived at Busan port and fully informed the reporters at home and abroad of the advantages of the Arctic route, there was nothing more to do now.


    In addition, he was so proud that he was praised by the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    At the height of the atmosphere, a strange number showed up on his phone screen.


    Upon receiving the call, the other party introduced himself as the shipping policy director of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry¡¯s shipping and logistics bureau.


    He was scheduled toe to Busan tomorrow with the head of the shipping and logistics bureau and was asking if he could meet Choi Sun-kil.


    A director of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry would be a grade II-A official. As such a high-rank official wanted to see him, Choi Sun-kil had no reason to avoid it. He dly agreed.


    The next day, Choi Sun-kil met two men in their 40s in a suit at the caf¨¦ of a hotel he was staying in.


    ¡°This is Kim Byung-doo, director of shipping and logistics of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. You must have been surprised by my sudden call.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. Any representative of a shippingpany should meet a potential customer. It may be a customer, whether it¡¯s a country or an individual.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for making time for us. The reason why I wanted to see you is none other than this. I wanted to see if you could bring the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and industry officials on board when you return home this time. Is that possible?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a difficult job. But I wonder why you want to get on our ship.¡±


    If officials from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the shipping industry wanted to board the container ship, their purpose was obvious, but Choi Sun-kil still asked to be polite. They probably were wishing to see the Arctic Route with his own eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed to ask this, but we wanted to experience the Arctic route. I¡¯m asking because I believe the Kazakh royal family is notpletely irrelevant to Korea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why we set our first voyage to Busan. I will guide you through the journey. I¡¯m sure the royal family will agree.¡±


    ¡°Is there any problem getting through Russian waters?¡±


    ¡°You know the rtionship between the Russian government and our royal family is amicable, don¡¯t you? Nothing will go wrong, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Good thing. We¡¯ll give you a list of people that will follow the Arctic route.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you safely to your destination, Copenhagen, Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this ship sailing to Kazakhstan?¡±

 Chapter 644 - The Commercial Operation of the Arctic Route (2)

    <h4>Chapter 644: The Commercial Operation of the Arctic Route (2)</h4>


    Choi Sun-kil was dumbfounded for a while after being asked whether the ship¡¯s destination was Kazakhstan.


    The head of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry¡¯s shipping and logistics bureau would know where the Caspian Sea was.


    If so, he must not be well aware of the size of the vessel that could pass through the Russian canal. Korean shippingpanies would never use the canal, so it was understandable that he did not know about it, but it was a courtesy to find out about the logistics system of the other country before a meeting.


    ¡°A ship this big cannot enter the Volga-Baltic Waterway. In the next couple of years, ships in 50,000-ton-ss would be able to get in and out of the waterway.¡±


    Choi Sun-kil was going to say that the 5,000-ton ss was the limit, but he did not say anymore because he did not want to embarrass the director.


    ¡°I see. The canal is not functioning fully yet.¡±


    When he said something unnecessary again, a department manager corrected him.


    ¡°Director, it¡¯s a fully functioning canal where 5,000-ton-ss ships travel through.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Really? That¡¯s just not going to help with logistics.¡±


    If Putin heard his remark, he would have put up a gun toward the director.


    Choi Sun-kil was going to get up since he thought that it would be a waste of time, but the director caught him.


    ¡°Mr. Choi. You¡¯ve done us a favor. I¡¯d like to serve you a meal. I¡¯ve reserved a restaurant already, so why don¡¯t we eat together?¡±


    The director suddenly asked for a meeting, so Choi Sun-kil had postponed his other schedule, but now the director was asking to go to a restaurant unnoticed. He might be a great authority in Korea, but such unteral rudeness was not allowed in a foreign country.


    ¡°I have a n that¡¯s been arranged ahead of time, so I don¡¯t think I cane with you. I wish I can have dinner with you next time when I get a chance.¡±


    Choi Sun-kil refused without hesitation, on the pretext of a n. It was because he felt like he would get sick if he ate with a high-ranking official full of himself.


    When he was about to get up from his seat, the shipping policy department manager who followed the director was earnestly soliciting with a look of desperation.


    ¡°Mr. Choi. I know you¡¯re busy, but for the development of your shippingpany and Korea¡¯s shipping industry, could we at least talk a little bit more even if we don¡¯t have a meal together?¡±


    Choi Sun-kil could not resist the department manager¡¯s earnest request.


    Only then did the director, who grasped the situation, hurriedly asked to sit.


    He recognized that he had been rude to Sun-kil by treating him like a local shippingpany staff because he had a Korean background.


    ¡°Mr. Choi, I made a mistake because you are from Korea and you¡¯d be familiar with this culture and asked to eat together one-sidedly without asking. Please forgive my discourtesy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. It¡¯s my mistake that I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d have dinner with you after our meeting today. You came all the way to Busan to see me, so I¡¯ll reschedule my n.¡±


    ¡°No, please forgive us foring with a short notice.¡±


    ¡°In addition to exploring the Arctic Ocean, let me know if you have anything to discuss with the Kazakh royal family. I was told by the Duke to actively cooperate with Korea for any business together.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough. The Duke has not forgotten Korea.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s from Korea and how can he forget about his home country? That¡¯s why we set our first destination to Busan. It is also our royal wish that all Far East Asian logistics will be driven to Busan Port.¡±


    Although it was Choi Sun-kil himself to insist on Busan Port this time, he gave all of its credit to Youngho.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we wanted to ask. If you can make Busan harbor the starting point and the ending point, it will be a new opportunity for us to take off to another level. If the trans-Siberian train ister connected to Korea, we believe Busan port will be the world¡¯s best port.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not too long before the Trans-Siberian traines to Busan port. Everyone thought it would be impossible, but the Duke has moved the Russian government.¡±


    ¡°I am very proud that he is Korean. I¡¯m amazed to hear that he already thought of Busan as a logistics hub even though we didn¡¯t ask. If the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries can be of help, please let me know.¡±


    ¡°We will use Busan Port more often in the future, so please amodate for us if possible. That doesn¡¯t mean we want special favors. It¡¯d be great if things are taken care of quickly when our ships enter and leave the port.¡±


    ¡°Of course we will. We¡¯ll see if we can discount or waive port fees and other misceneous fees for Kazakh royal ships.¡±


    ***


    News of the Kazakh royal ships¡¯mercial operations in the Arctic Ocean attracted shippingpanies around the world.


    It was because the royal shippingpany announced that it would open a regr route linking Rotterdam, Copenhagen, divostok, and Busan from December.


    Youngho and Kasim, who attended the Arctic Council meeting in Troms?, Norway, were also smiling with satisfaction at the news.


    ¡°Our ships arrived at Busan port at the right time.¡±


    ¡°Right. Everyone seemed to be envious when we opened amercial route as well as bing an observer member of the Arctic Council. It¡¯s all thanks to Your Highness.¡±


    Kazakhstan also became an observer state at the Arctic Council meeting.


    And the problems of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, which had been the challenges of the Arctic Ocean, were cleared up.


    The Kazakh royal family, which persuaded Russia this time, was again in the media spotlight.


    Interest in the Kazakh royal family was further amplified when it said it would startmercial services on the Arctic route as soon as Kazakhstan obtained observer status.


    To attract the attention of shippers, the royal shippingpany announced that it would not charge for the icebreaker service for the first two months. Then there was a flood of calls from shippers. For them, it was probably natural to use routes that could shorten the time at a lower cost of transportation.


    ¡°Prime Minister, we need dedicated docks for icebreakers in divostok and Troms?. Please make a n for that.¡±


    Until the construction of the Baltic-White Sea waspleted, ships would have to go through Norway, so a port for icebreakers to stay was needed in those regions.


    ¡°Then I will seek cooperation from the governments.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please do so. I¡¯ve always felt bad about taking the work of cab ministers away, but I¡¯m d there¡¯s work for the government.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness has designed it out, and the cab members should finish it. They¡¯re very proud of the royal family and their morale is high.¡±


    Kasim and other ministers were impressed by the royal family¡¯s achievement this time. There were no other countries that could convince Russia, but the royal family had solved all problems for the Arctic Council by convincing Putin. No country had ever been able to untie a twisted knot in the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°We¡¯ll soon have tons of shipping orders. In order to arrange all that, there are many national issues such as the use of ports in other countries, but the Kazakh government does not have the Ocean Shipping Policy Department. Could you consult with the Cab members to review it ande up with a new department?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s order, Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s face brightened.


    The increase in the number of government ministries meant that higher prime minister¡¯s status. The role of the government had been dwindling as it had handed over government-affiliated officials to the private sector.


    ¡°How big would you like it?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t there be a minister-level department to attend the Arctic Council?¡±


    ¡°We will establish a new department as soon as we return home.¡±


    ¡°Officials from the Korean Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries are visiting to experience the Arctic Route, so you could get some help from them.¡±


    ¡°Great. We have an inseparable rtionship with Korea, so we can benchmark it.¡±


    Korea¡¯s ocean policy began in the 1960s and had many experiences in oveing many failures, so there was a lot to learn. South Korea was also the country that would use the most Arctic sea routes, so working together would have a great synergy effect.


    ¡°Your Highness. There have beenints about Spain¡¯s sole participation in the Baltic-White Sea expansion project, but are you considering receiving additionalpanies?¡±


    ¡°Russia is also determined to operate the canal itself. I think the Russian government already figured out that it¡¯s going to have huge revenues from canal toll fees in the future. It¡¯s obvious since it¡¯s asking for 50 percent of shares.¡±


    ¡°The expansion is handled by our royal family and a Spanishpany, but it seems Russia is only getting a free ride.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily the case. The canal is owned by Russia. Rather, we are in a position of being benefited by it. If Russia could afford it, it wouldn¡¯t mind direct construction.¡±


    Since the canal could cut the travel distance by 4,000 kilometerspared to circling the Scandinavian penins and given the cost and time, each shippingpany would not mind expensive tolls.


    Because the Baltic-White Sea Canal was more attractive than the Trans-Siberian Railway, ACS in Spain also insisted on participating independently.


    The reason why the canal, which used to be used only by domestic ships and the Russian navy, was open to all was due to economic efficiency. Economic logic had opened up a militarily important canal. Russia was so thirsty for foreign currency.


    ¡°Instead, our royal family only pays 40 percent of the construction cost and shares are the same as Spain. It¡¯s only possible because the Russian government is favorable to us.¡±


    Spain¡¯s ACS Corporation was anxious to take the share of the Baltic-White Sea Canal as much as possible.


    It took 25 percent of the canal¡¯s operating rights and agreed to pay 60 percent of the construction cost on condition of its sole participation.


    Youngho secured 25 percent of the rights on condition that the remaining 40 percent would be paid by the royal family.


    The container terminal business, which was a logistics base, also had the same conditions, so Youngho dly epts them.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that globalpanies were capable of this much. They invest billions of dors without any hesitation.¡±


    ¡°Globalpanies have better investment power than many countries. Manypanies have tens of billions of dors in cash.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s no match for our royal family. It¡¯s hard to tell the value of the gold mine you own by yourself, Your Highness.¡±


    The Kazakh people, as well as Kasim, had great pride in the assets held by the royal family.


    Without cashable assets in the royal family, could Kazakhstan have raised its defense capability to the level of advanced countries in a short time?


    As its defense capabilities became stronger, people did not fear China or Russia anymore.


    When the public¡¯s anxiety was resolved, it soon turned into a productivity boost and a springboard for economic growth.

 Chapter 645 - Collision in the Arabian Sea (1)

    <h4>Chapter 645: Collision in the Arabian Sea (1)</h4>


    The U.S. government delivered 300 cruise missiles to the Kazakh Royal Navy, which it had originally promised to sell.


    As the issue of the Arctic Ocean was settled amicably through mediation by the Kazakh royal family, the U.S. handed them over at half price, calling it a gift.


    It even announced to the media that it would hand over cruise missiles to Kazakh naval forces.


    The series of measures were taken with an intention to inform Russia and China. The U.S. wanted to show its involvement in the armament of the Kazakh Navy.


    The reason why Kazakhstan was able to purchase missiles, each costing nearly a million dors, at half price was because it was in line with the U.S. Navy¡¯s policy to dispose of inventories of the Mediterranean fleet. They were old-fashioned, but their performance had not changed much.


    For Kazakhstan, which had yet to produce long-range precision missiles, it was not in a position to select what they could receive. The Aegis and frigates without missiles were nothing short of scrap metal.


    The cruise missiles, which were delivered from the U.S. naval base in Naples, Italy, were moved to Arirang Base in the Aegean Sea.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been informed that we¡¯ve moved all the missiles to the ind. I¡¯m not sure if those missiles¡¯ performance is still great since they¡¯re outdated.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was reporting that all the cruise missiles were moved as he entered Youngho¡¯s office.


    ¡°The U.S. Navy said there will be no performance problem for the next few years, so we should trust them. I brought it for less than half the price, and it¡¯s hard to expect it to be fresh.¡±


    ¡°I feel very ufortable. I feel like we received bad quality missiles.¡±


    ¡°We should test them out and return them if they¡¯re no good.¡±


    ¡°You bring in missiles that are as good as free and return them? Is that possible?¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do when we say we¡¯re going to return it?¡±


    ¡°This kind of matter can¡¯t be done just because we nag. We should get it fixed on our own and use them since we brought the surplus weapon at a bargain. No, we have to develop long-range missiles quickly so we won¡¯t have to rely on foreign countries forever. It¡¯s only our loss if those items are banned for export.¡±


    ¡°The projectile technology has been already passed down from the Soviet era. But the precision guidance system is the problem.¡±


    ¡°Shall we ask the Korean government to transfer technology?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d be in thepletion stage of development soon, so let¡¯s wait for now. If the performance is not good, we will either work together on technology or bring inplete precision guidance devices at least.¡±


    The technology of the Korean surface-to-air missile, Cheongung, and the ship-to-ship missile, Haeseong, boasted the world¡¯s best.


    The missile technology, which had been developed with huge development costs for more than a decade, could not be easily handed over to Kazakhstan even for their strong rtionship with Korea.


    ¡°It¡¯s no use having a projectile technology because of the poor electronics.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just ack of precision, but it¡¯s not useless at all. If we¡¯re in a hurry, we can put them in action.¡±


    ¡°What good is it to have no precision?¡±


    ¡°The explosive power is about the size of a football field. I guess we can roughly take down the target.¡±


    If an urgent situation arose, Youngho intended to ignore the precision and use the missiles as a bluff. Just having intercontinental projectiles was a big threat to the enemy.


    A projectile could carry out more precision strikes if precision electronicponents were bought and installed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what China is up to these days but it¡¯s been quiet.¡±


    ¡°They were moring that they built a second aircraft carrier this time. It looks like they¡¯re going to station the previously imported aircraft in the Indian Ocean. I met Michael in Troms?, Norway, and he was pretty serious. That¡¯s why he was quick to deliver cruise missiles to us.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think they¡¯ll ever cross the Indian Ocean? There¡¯s a U.S. Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain.¡±


    The 5th Fleet belonged to the Indian Ocean fleet, and its headquarters were in the western part of the Middle East such as, the Gulf of Arabia, the Persian Gulf, Oman, and the Gulf of Aden.


    ¡°China is not a threat to us, but the problem is the pirates. To escort Arirang shipping vessels from the Mediterranean to India, I think we should deploy a frigate in the Persian Gulf now to the Arabian Sea.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s the U.S. 5th Fleet and the naval ships from 23 countries on guard, and what kind of crazy pirates woulde at us?¡±


    ¡°These days, pirates are armed with heavy weapons. We can¡¯t deal with them with the weapons that our security teams have.¡±


    ¡°If you threaten arge vessel with a heavy machine gun, it will be difficult for you to withstand it even with the fastest speedboats.¡±


    ¡°Why not bring in the frigates in rotation to build our operational capabilities?¡±


    ¡°Discuss it with Commander Jun. If the Kazakh navy deploys a destroyer in the Gulf of Aden, our allies will wee it. Ask them to do their guard duty on a trial basis.¡±


    Recently, Arirang Shipping also pioneered regr container routes to and from Indian and the Mediterranean countries, but because of the pirates still active in the Gulf of Aden, safety could not be guaranteed.


    ***


    The vessel Astana 901 was on patrol in the middle of the Gulf of Aden and Arabian waters after a mission swap with the vessel 903.


    The captain of the 901 was Lt. Col. Diaghilev, a former missile ship captain in the Kazakh Navy.


    Diaghilev took office as captain of the Astana 901, a 3,000-ton frigate of the Royal Navy, when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.


    He himself was full of dreams of taking office as captain of the Aegis destroyer, which would beunched at the Danish Shipyard a few yearster.


    Looking at the morning waters of the Gulf of Aden, he was dreaming a rosy dream, and an emergency report was made by amunications officer.


    ¡°Sir, this is an emergency report from the Arirang 11 container ship that has just passed through the Red Sea. It¡¯s being chased by an unidentified ship.¡±


    ¡°Arirang 11... Isn¡¯t that an 8,000-TEU container ship?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s right. Captain.¡±


    The 8, 000 TEU-ss container ship was a 300-meter-long, 43-meter-wide, 25-knot-speed vessel with 80,100modity weight tons.


    Since it was a huge ship with a high hull, pirates could not easily get on board.


    ¡°How many security personnel is on board?¡±


    ¡°There are two members of the Royal Security Company on board.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯ll be all right. It¡¯s equipped with a 12.7-millimeter heavy machine gun. Who¡¯s going toe after it?¡±


    The ship also had several personal firearms in addition to heavy machine guns.


    ¡°The unidentified ship is not a high-speed boat, but a patrol boat size of over 100 tons.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a Somali government patrol boat? How can pirates get around on that big boat?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t exactly know how they do it. The crews asked about its identity, but they did not get any answer, so they are considering it an enemy vessel and are sailing at full speed, but they said they¡¯ll catch up to it in an hour.¡±


    ¡°Is there no other country¡¯s warship around?¡±


    ¡°Our ship is the closest to the container ship.¡±


    The Gulf of Aden was located on the side of the Suez Canal, the world¡¯srgest maritime transportation hub linking Europe and Asia.


    Also, the Gulf of Aden was home to oil-producing countries, which were frequented by oil tankers from around the world.


    It was home to Somalia, which had experienced a long civil war and an area infested with armed forces such as pirates.


    Somali-based pirates often attacked foreign vessels with maneuverable small ships, holding sailors hostage and demanding ransom, prompting a joint operation by a 23-nation navy fleet to drive pirates out of the Gulf of Aden.


    ¡°How far is our ship from the container ship?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 300 kilometers away. It¡¯s a five-hour drive at full speed.¡±


    ¡°Thenunch the Lynx helicopter first.¡±


    The 3,000-ton frigates were equipped with Lynx helicopters to search and attack submarines.


    The Lynx helicopter had a maximum flying distance of 630 kilometers and a maximum flying time of three hours, so it was a sufficient distance to travel back and forth to the container ship.


    The Lynx helicopters had heavy machine guns, torpedoes, and air-to-ship missiles, so they had the power to deal with decent enemies¡¯ attacks.


    ¡°Why not figure out the coordinates and subdue them with a ship-to-ship missile?¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea how much it cost to purchase each missile? We don¡¯t want to waste it on a small patrol boat. And there¡¯s no guarantee that it¡¯ll get the target. It¡¯s more effective to send a helicopter. It¡¯ll be there in an hour, so contact them and make sure they can hold out until then.¡±


    The size of a 100-ton patrol boat may also be armed with 20mm cannons or 40mm guns.


    Of course, it would be carrying RPG missiles as well.


    RPG missiles could attack any object within 500 meters of distance.


    It didn¡¯t mean a huge container ship would be ruined just by being fired by with a portable anti-tank gun, but it would be fatal if it went straight to the bridge.


    No matter how well-trained security guards were guarding the ship, it was difficult to repel machine guns and portable missiles fired by more than 10 people.


    ***


    Lieutenant Janelle, the Lynx helicopter pilot, and Lt. Nardin, the co-pilot, were flying to the designated coordinates after being ordered to move.


    The gauge on the dashboard was pointing at 340 kilometers per hour.


    When they were 10 minutes away from the container ship, they could be in directmunication with the Arirang 11.


    ¡°Arirang 11.¡± Can you hear me? This is 901 ship Lynx helicopter. I¡¯m the captain of the pilot.¡±


    -This is Arirang 11. It¡¯s amunication operator. We¡¯re engaged with a mysterious ship.


    ¡°How far is it from the enemy?¡±


    -It¡¯s about 1.5 kilometers away. The enemies are firing 20-millimeter machine guns.


    ¡°Is there any damage to our side?¡±


    -No one¡¯s hurt yet. The machine gun is pointing at the bridge, so we¡¯re circling at the moment.


    ¡°Are our security guards attacking, too?¡±


    -We are firing to warn the enemies and keeping the enemy from approaching. When will the helicopter arrive?


    ¡°We¡¯ll arrive in about seven minutes. We will attack the enemy ship as soon as we arrive.¡±


    -Roger.


    Upon finishingmunication, he increased the output from the helicopter.


    The dashboard pointed at number 400 in an instant. In other words, the speed was the highest. The good thing about Lynx helicopters was their mobility.


    ¡°Captain Janelle. I¡¯ve identified the right target.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a high-speed patrol boat. There¡¯s no way pirates could be riding that thing, and it looks like the Somali Navy, so why is it attacking our container ship?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost caught up with our container ship. Shall weunch the attack?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a waste of air-to-ship missiles. Fire a threat with a heavy machine gun. If the boat belongs to the Somali government, we¡¯d get into troubleter.¡±


    As soon as the order was made, a 12.7-millimeter heavy machine gun was fired, a high-speed patrol boat approaching the container ship was seen steering for evasion.


    The helicopter continued to follow and fire threatening shots, but soon, a machine gun from the enemy boat was held up high and it began firing at the Lynx helicopter.


    ¡°They¡¯re attacking?¡±


    ¡°Is the camera working?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve got everything on camera.


    ¡°Then turn off the camera and finish them.¡±


    Even though he gave them a chance to escape with threatening shots, they fired back at the helicopter, leaving him no choice but to sink the boat as a defense.


    Momentster, a heavy machine gun was turning an unidentified patrol boat into a beehive.


    There was no ship that could withstand heavy machine gun firing 600 shots per minute from the sky.


    The enemy ship was quickly devastated and mes began to rise on the bridge.


    Then, the container ship, which was watching, was also firing heavy machine guns.


    It was revenge for making the crews suffer for over an hour.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look around and go back. The oil is tight, so we should fly back without wasting time.¡±


    ¡°All right. It seems to havepletely lost its function as a ship.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s 901 Lynx helicopter. Captain, we¡¯re done eradicating the enemy¡¯s vessel. Fire and smoke are currently leaking from the enemy¡¯s ship. We only have fuel left to return, so we need to pull out of the field.¡±


    -Thanks. I just got amunication from Arirang 11. Return immediately. Our ship is 200 kilometers from the scene.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll get back to you 10 minutes before arrival.¡±


    When the 901 Lynx helicopter turned around, the container ship sent the Lynx helicopter back with a loud whiff of ships.


    The crew apuded it for sessfully neutralizing their enemies with relentless attacks.


    The Lynx helicopter left the scene at a rapid pace after circling the container ship once in response.

 Chapter 646 - Collision in the Arabian Sea (2)

    <h4>Chapter 646: Collision in the Arabian Sea (2)</h4>


    So far, Somali pirates had often followed oil tankers or container ships passing through the Red Sea on high-speed boats and kidnapped or attempted kidnapping crew members.


    As such incidents happened all the time, foreign media outlets these days had paid little attention to the abductions in the Gulf of Aden or the Arabian Sea.


    The attack on a Kazakhstan royal family container ship could also be treated as amon attack. However, after questioning a soldier who survived an impassable patrol boat due to the Lynx helicopter attack, the finding shocked the whole world.


    Survivors at a Somali coast guard post testified that they attacked a container ship of the Kazakh royal family after being ordered by their superiors.


    He confessed that he had nned to sink the container ship instead of just kidnapping the crew.


    A new type of terrorism was being attempted that went beyond the standard level of piracy.


    When the Kazakh intelligence agents, who were informed by the survivor, raided the home of the superior who ordered to sink the Kazakh royal vessel, he was already killed by someone else.


    As the container ship attack failed and the survivor was found, someone already took measures to shut his mouth.


    In other words, those who instigated the terrorist attacks had proven to be an organized group. Judging from this fact, it also meant it was not a one-time attack, and it added to the growing tension.


    Youngho was also bummed to hear that the retaliatory operation did not work.


    As a new form of maritime terrorism broke out beyond the level of simply kidnapping sailors for ransom, the 23 countries that dispatched warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea were on their alert.


    In particr, the Kazakh Royal Navy was monitoring the Gulf of Aden 24 hours a day with Aegis destroyers which used to be stationed in the Aegean Sea.


    With only a flurry of spection, only intelligence personnel from each country were busy.


    Among them, Kazakh and U.S. intelligence services were the busiest.


    Kazakhstan was looking for a de facto power to retaliate for several times while the United States was also looking for the power to reduce the economic losses it would incur from tensions in the Arabian Sea.


    If oil prices rose due to tensions in the Arabian Sea, it was obvious that the world economy would fluctuate.


    The U.S. intelligence service and the Kazakh intelligence service were working together to find out who was behind the terrorist attacks, but the U.S. intelligence agency was also operating at its full capacity, seeing the matter as critical.


    -Duke, don¡¯t be surprised. I think the forces behind it are not Somali rebels, but they¡¯re from outside.


    ¡°Have you figured out who they are yet?¡±


    -Not yet. We¡¯re trying our best, but there is a suspicious organization.


    ¡°Who are the suspects?¡±


    -I suspect it¡¯s the remnants of the IS organization. It tried to throw the Gulf of Aden into chaos and show off its presence, but the Kazakh navy stopped it. I think Arirang Shipping¡¯s vessels will be targeted in the future, so be extra careful.


    The IS and Kazakhstan had had several contacts, and it had bad rtions with the Kurds. The Kurdish militia yed a crucial role in the copse of Syria¡¯s IS stronghold, and the IS members might have special opposition toward the Kurds. Since Kazakhstan epted 1.3 million Syrian Kurds, it would be fair for the IS to treat Kazakhstan as enemies.


    ¡°Do you know where the remnants are now?¡±


    -They scattered into mountains, so there are no specific ces.


    ¡°Phew, if I knew where they¡¯re gathered, I¡¯d go and take care of them, but I guess we just have to be careful from now on. Now, our merchant ships will have to carry guns.¡±


    -With security guards armed with heavy arms just like this time, you¡¯d be able to deal with them.


    ¡°It¡¯s was a terrorist attack, and it was not enough with the weapons carried by our security guards. If the Lynx helicopter had arrived a little bitte, it would have been dangerous.¡±


    Usually, pirates would retreat when warning shots were fired, but the organization that attacked the Arirang cargo ship did not return even though heavy machine guns were fired.


    Since the captain of the frigate had not sent a Lynx helicopter with his quick judgment, the situation could be contained.


    -Everyone must have learned how dangerous the Suez Canal is by now. Thanks to that, the Arctic route will get more attention from shippers.


    ¡°The southern European and Southeast Asian routes are the most economical to use the Suez Canal. Who¡¯s going to go around using the Arctic route?¡±


    -Far East Asian countries will use the Arctic Ocean. Shipowners and shippers put safety before economics.


    To Youngho¡¯s knowledge, that could not be true.


    Southeast Asia and Mediterranean countries would stick to the Suez Canal by all means.


    Using the route going around Cape Town in South Africa was like the tail wagging the dog.


    And countries in Southeast Asia or Northeast Asia, which were supplied oil from oil-producing countries near the Red Sea, were also forced to use the Arabian Sea.


    The Arctic Ocean was a route mainly used by Far Eastern Asian countries and ship owners to and from northern European markets.


    After finishing the phone call with Michael, Youngho was still preupied.


    Was the IS really behind this?


    Although the IS was willing to act recklessly to show its presence, it was strange that the speedboat was only armed with a 20-millimeter cannon which was not enough to sink arge vessel. Also, the IS would have already shown off its doing to the whole world if it was their doing.


    Youngho could not help but suspect that there might be other forces.


    What if it used Somalia to diminish the Kazakh royal family¡¯s reputation?


    Could China have ordered it? China even mobilized a human trafficking ring in Romania before, and it could mobilize terrorists as well.


    The swift removal of the person responsible for ordering the attack was not like the IS¡¯s usual behavior.


    The more he thought about it, the more suspicious China was.


    China might be nning to use this as a cause to deploy its naval forces in the Arabian Sea as it became a stage for pirates and terrorists and Chinese ships would be in danger.


    Then another attack would be nned.


    Since there was no evidence, the only way to prevent it was to get fully prepared to neutralize terrorist attacks.


    ***


    The Kazakh Navy¡¯s Aegis destroyer 1001 was checking even fishing boats that roamed the waters around the Gulf of Aden.


    It was on full alert and if a ship was sailing at a faster speed than a fishing boat, it was flying a Lynx helicopter.


    Two helicopters were deployed on the Aegis destroyer, so there was little fatigue from the pilots as they took turns.


    The reason for this tension was that two oil tankers in the Arirang shipping line, which were loaded with crude oil, had started sailing at the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.


    If a situation arose, ships and tankers couldst an hour with security guards on board, but if the attack weapon was a portable missile, they would not be able to handle it.


    ¡°Sgt. Zenkevich, what are you doing not paying attention to the radar? Can¡¯t you see the vessel moving at high speed on the screen?¡±


    ¡°Sir, they all look about the same speed to me?¡±


    ¡°Oh dear, there¡¯s a ship approaching the tanker fast.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I see. There¡¯s a boat that¡¯s a little fast.¡±


    ¡°Check the distance and calcte the speed.¡±


    ¡°It is estimated that the distance from the tanker is 20 kilometers and the speed is 30 knots.¡±


    ¡°Check it again. It looks like it should be at least 40 knots at a nce. Stay sharp!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Among the countless dots on the radar screen, one of the dots was noticeable as its speed seemed faster than the others.


    It was a difficult difference to spot for an unskilled person, but it could not escape Park¡¯s eyes.


    Park Sung-won, a former South Korean Navy officer, served in the Aegis destroyer Sejong the Great before being discharged as a sergeantst year and was employed in the Kazakh Navy as a civilian-military officer.


    He was one of more than 100 people who joined the Kazakh navy as a military officer after oveing fiercepetition.


    After hearing that he could get Kazakh citizenship and a job in the Kazakh navy after a year of ship service and four years of instructor duty in the Kazakh navy, he chose to go to Kazakhstan and was able to get a job on the Aegis ship.


    Working in the Aegis radar room was so easy that he felt like he was taking a vacation every day.


    All he had to do was teach job duties to Kazakh naval soldiers and learn Russian.


    It was a great job with no on-call duties or overtime duties.


    Since he was a civilian employee, not a soldier, no one interfered with him after he finished his duty.


    Although it was inconvenient to live in a narrow ship, this was enough inconvenience to bear.


    Recently, after finishing operations in Syria, he was spending time fishing on the Greek ind of Arirang while on standby, but he had toe to the Gulf of Aden when an unexpected order of action was given.


    -Officer, it is Park Sung-won, a civilian worker on duty in the radar room, reporting. There is a speedboat running at 40 knots of speed about 80 kilometers from our ship. The speedboat is heading in the direction of the tanker.


    ¡°What¡¯s the distance from the tanker?¡±


    -The distance from the tanker is 20 kilometers. At this rate, I think it¡¯ll be in contact with the tanker in 30 minutes.


    ¡°All right. Military personnel Park Sung-won, please keep checking on it.¡±


    Upon hearing Park¡¯s message, the official on duty issued an order to deploy thebat troops without dy.


    ¡°Officer on duty, order actualbat deployment.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye. Sir.¡±


    ¡®Beep beep beep...¡¯


    A loud emergency bell was ringing in the Aegis destroyer.


    Soon, the order was issued to the airwaves.


    ¡°Actualbat deployment. Actualbat deployment.¡±


    The atmosphere inside the vessel was tense to hear the order for actualbat deployment for the first time although there had been frequent trainingbat deployments.


    The chances were almost 100 percent that the unidentified ship, which approached the tanker at a speed of 40 knots, was either a pirate or a terrorist ship.


    If they hesitated in this situation, things could go wrong.


    Even if it turned out that the ship was not a pirate ship, fast action would be praised and it was not something to be criticized.


    The officer on duty had the authority to order abat deployment before reporting it to the captain in case of a situation.


    The order was to report to the captain after taking the first action.


    ¡°Sir, there¡¯s a high-speed ship out there. This ship is 80 kilometers away from us and 20 kilometers from the tanker. The high-speed boat is heading in the direction of the tanker at 40 knots an hour. It¡¯ll be in contact with the tanker in half an hour.¡±


    80 kilometers was a distance that would take an hour and a half even if the Aegis destroyer moved at its highest speed.


    ¡°Who found it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Park Sung-won, a civilian worker on duty in the radar room.¡±


    ¡°He must have seen it urately. Are all the Lynx helicopters back?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Both are back and on standby.¡±


    ¡°You said it was 80 kilometers away from our ship, right?


    ¡°That¡¯s right, sir.¡±


    ¡°Then have both Lynx helicopters on the go.¡±


    Victor Jun, the captain andmander of the Aegis Destroyer 1001, noted Park Sung-won¡¯s report, who used to be a South Korean Navy.


    The fact that he reported it directly, not going through other soldiers, was a sign of urgency.


    ¡°This is a naval officer on duty at the bridge. Prepare emergency departure of Lynx helicopters 1 and 2. The target coordinates are the 80-kilometer Arirang tanker in the northeast.¡±


    -Lynx 1 and 2. We¡¯re ready for takeoff.


    ¡°Please be on the scene within 20 minutes. Evaluate whether an attack shall be carried out ording to the situation on the site.¡±


    -Lynx 1 and 2, we received the order. I¡¯ll get back to you in the field.

 Chapter 647 - Collision in the Arabian Sea (3)

    <h4>Chapter 647: Collision in the Arabian Sea (3)</h4>


    ¡°I¡¯m the aircraftmander of the Lynx helicopters of the vessel Aleksandar 1001. Security team, please stop firing. We¡¯ll deal with the enemy boat.¡±


    -Roger that. It looks like the enemies have portable missiles, please take caution.


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    The Lynx helicopters arrived at the scene less than 20 minutes after taking off from the Aegis destroyer.


    There was already an exchange of fire at the scene.


    Security personnel on the tanker were firing menacing shots with 12.7-millimeter heavy machine guns to keep the unidentified ship away, while the unidentified boat was circling outside the range of the machine gun and watching for an opportunity to attack.


    The mysterious boat was scurrying to take a turn at the loud rotor noise of the Lynx helicopters.


    The two Lynx helicopters that caught up with the boat started firing machine guns immediately without warning shots.


    The Lynx helicopter¡¯s machine-gun attacks soon devastated the boat.


    The boat stopped running as if a bullet had gone straight through the steering house.


    There was no ship that could withstand 12.7mm heavy machine guns with an effective range of 2km and 600 shots per minute.


    The enemy vessel was firing back asionally, but it was not enough tobat the Lynx helicopters.


    ¡°This is the aircraftmander of the Lynx helicopters. The unidentified vessel is unable to navigate now. We have no more threats, so we will withdraw.¡±


    -Thanks. Our ship is approaching the scene at about 50 kilometers of distance. Are there any survivors?


    ¡°We only attacked the steering room and the machine guns. We estimate there will be a number of casualties and survivors.¡±


    -All right. Please pull out.


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    It was 10 minutester that the Aegis destroyer which sailed at its full speed and the Lynx helicopters reunited.


    20 minutes after the Lynx helicopters arrived, a high-speed boat aboard the Aegis destroyer rushed off the destroyer with special forces on board. They were sent to capture the survivors on the unidentified ship. It was another chance to seize evidence.


    For this reason, the Lynx helicopter pilots also focused on neutralizing the enemy ship rather than sinking it.


    The pilots¡¯ proper judgment had allowed them to secure arge number of survivors.


    ¡°Captain, this is Lieutenant Choi Joon-hyuk of the Special Forces. We just took over the ship.¡±


    -Was there any resistance?


    ¡°No, there wasn¡¯t. They were all out of it, so we could subdue them easily.¡±


    -What about the survivors?


    ¡°There are seven survivors, including the injured. There are five dead.¡±


    -What is the extent of the injury?


    ¡°Three have minor injuries, and two are seriously injured. It¡¯s a dangerous situation because they¡¯ve lost a lot of blood.¡±


    -All right. We¡¯ll be arriving soon, so give them first aid.


    ¡°Yes, I got it.¡±


    If the casualties could survive until the Aegis destroyer arrived, they could find a way to live.


    The Aegis destroyer had a captain-level medical officer on board, so blood transfusion was basic as it was even equipped with medical equipment for operations.


    Although he did not have much intention to keep the wounded prisoners alive, he was going to treat them to get important information out of them.


    The operation was a good opportunity to promote the Kazakh Navy¡¯s status as they captured survivors and the enemy¡¯s ship.


    The performance of the freshly born Kazakh Royal Navy would be an example for other countries as well.


    ***


    ¨C Are you saying that the enemy only targeted our ships again this time?


    ¡°Your Grace, I¡¯m sure of that. There were oil tankers besides our ships nearby. Even though the attackers must have known that our ships were carrying heavily armed security personnel, it only tried to target our ship. So, we were forced to attack back.¡±


    -I understand. We can¡¯t just send back an enemy who¡¯s determined to do harm to us. How are the prisoners?


    ¡°They are cooperating rtively well. They¡¯re eating well and answering questions well. But there is not much highly ssified information. How should we handle them?¡±


    -If it looks like we can¡¯t get any more out of them, notify the Somali government to take over them. It¡¯ll only be a problem if we take them to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll take care of that.¡±


    -There¡¯s going to be more attacks in the future. So, from now on, we¡¯re not going to be so passive, we¡¯re going to have to take extraordinary measures.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d like to search the waters of Somalia myself, but can I?¡±


    -Let¡¯s wait and see. And don¡¯t hesitate to attack any high-speed boats or patrol boats that try to reach our ships next time. We should scare them away so that they can¡¯t approach our ships.


    ¡°Your Highness, do you mean we can sink those ships? Then we could be used of being inhumane.¡±


    -If they engage in hostile acts without disclosing their identity, you may sink them. If there¡¯s a problem, the royal family will take responsibility.


    ¡°What happens on the scene is my responsibility as amander. I¡¯m afraid the Kazakh royal family will be in trouble because of our decision.¡±


    -If there is a country that criticizes our legitimate actions as a means of self-defense against terrorism, it will be regarded as a country behind the scenes of terrorism. The position of the Kazakh royal family is clear.


    ¡°All right. I will carry out what you say.¡±


    -But don¡¯t overdo it. Make sure the Lynx helicopters are thoroughly overhauled to prevent any idents.


    The Lynx Wildcat helicopter was an optimized helicopter to operate at sea.


    Developed as the next generation of naval operations and mobile helicopter by the British military, it could detect submarines¡¯ periscope or snorkels urately from a distance with sea search radar.


    -Commander, Jun. How do you feel about using the Lynx helicopters?


    ¡°The Lynx Wildcat is the best. The maintenance is rtively simple, so there are few minor problems. I love this helicopter.¡±


    -I¡¯m d to hear that then. We¡¯ve been very active this time. Why don¡¯t we apply them for Arirang Shipping, too?


    It was impossible for the royal navy to follow around every time Arirang Shipping ships sailed. Rather, it was more efficient if the Lynx helicopters were provided to merchant ships to avoid the danger on their own


    ¡°It seems to be a very effective vignce duty. It¡¯s hard for Aegis and frigates to keep up with merchant ships sailing long distances. I have to refuel outside the Indian Ocean.¡±


    -Then there are two Aegis destroyers each, so please apply for one for Arirang Shipping Co. I¡¯ll instruct you to sail Arirang Shipping¡¯s ships in a fleet as far as possible.


    ¡°Do you run now?¡±


    -There¡¯s no reason to be embarrassed. The ship is equipped with a flying deck, so run it right away.


    ¡°I only have two helicopters to support, and I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll work.¡±


    -You can bring in more Lynx helicopters if necessary. How long will you be passive about targeting us?


    ¡°Then, I will talk with Arirang Shipping and support the Lynx helicopter right away.¡±


    ***


    Commander Jun, who ended his call with the Duke, called the Lynx helicopter pilots into the captain¡¯s room.


    Now that he knew clearly what the Duke wanted, he was trying to carry out preemptive attack-oriented operations rather than passive defense.


    ¡°As exined so far, you can judge on the spot. His Highness ordered tounch a preemptive attack rather than using passive defense strategies. This means that even if there are errors in your judgment, you won¡¯t be held ountable. His Highness has vowed not to sit idle to any more provocations. It¡¯s going to be a burden, but I want you to go into the operation with the idea that it¡¯s for the national interest of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. We¡¯ll do as you said.¡±


    ¡°And one helicopter will be deployed to support Arirang Shipping, so I will let you know who will be dispatchedter.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re being put on a civilian ship for the time being?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, until the situation is over. This operation is called sterilization operation. We¡¯ll root the enemies out this time. If there are no questions, the operational meeting is dismissed now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    The pilots¡¯ faces became gloomy after hearing that they would have to decide what to do with the enemies. If they remained on the Aegis destroyer, it would not be too much of a burden to act as they would be ordered by the captain, but if they were sent to a civilian ship, they would have to decide, only consulting their co-pilots to end the situation.


    The need to use firepower against the pirates, who were not fully armed, was a great burden.


    ¡°Commander, if we act too aggressively, it could cause even greater opposition. Can¡¯t we just threaten them and send them away?¡±


    ¡°Do you see pirates or terrorists as normal people like us? They are kidnapping and even killing sailors without any guilt. Don¡¯t you know that once you¡¯re a pirate, you repeat the same crimes with pleasure? We¡¯re going to act hard on them to break the vicious circle.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Think about how the Russian navies treated the pirates in the Gulf of Aden. They don¡¯t even try to negotiate hostages in the first ce. It¡¯s just punishment. I mean, the pirates were afraid of retribution, so they took the Russian ship off their attack list.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. I guess we¡¯ve been socent. We will carry out a sterilization operation as ordered.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s a burden, but it¡¯s for the national interest, and it¡¯s kind of a war, too. I don¡¯t think pirates or terrorists should be treated humanely. Western countries¡¯ humanitarian treatment has increased the number of such criminals. We should show them that we¡¯re cold-blooded. If you¡¯re not confident, tell me. I¡¯ll take you out of this operation.¡±


    The fact that active-duty soldiers were excluded from important operations meant that they should take off their uniforms.


    ¡°No, I will certainly carry out the sterilization operation.¡±

 Chapter 648 - The Force Behind (1)

    <h4>Chapter 648: The Force Behind (1)</h4>


    Everyone was surprised when the Kazakh royal family said they would deploy Lynx helicopters for maritime attacks on their own private vessels.


    Taking security guards on board was not enough, but carrying a Lynx helicopter was excessive and excessive.


    It was intended to inform both the home and abroad that it would no longer sit idle inpliance with pirates or terrorists no matter what others say.


    It was wee from the perspective of shippers who put their cargo in charge of Arirang Shipping.


    Then it turned out to be the effect of leaving more cargo to Arirang Shipping than before.


    Container ships and bulk carriers passing through the Suez Canal, as well as oil tankers carrying crude oil and gas from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, were required to make a fleet of ships.


    One Lynx helicopter was assigned to the fleet.


    The Lynx helicopter had a radius of 300 kilometers, so ships from other countries tried to stick to the Arirang fleet.


    When there is a pirate attack, you can ask for help from the Arirang fleet.


    It is now possible for naval vessels to conduct effective defense and attack without having to follow each civilian vessel.


    Young-ho borrowed five Lynx helicopters from the British government.


    There was a reason why Britain readilyplied with the request of the Kazakh royal family.


    When we said we would consider leaving the European Union, it was time for the pound to plummet and an exit strategy was needed.


    Britain wanted to advance to Russia by using Kazakhstan as its medium.


    Russia is always growling, but for economic development, there is no enemy or ally in international rtions.


    On the other hand, he did not forget to ask more Britishpanies to participate in Kazakhstan¡¯s resource development.


    Even now, many Britishpanies are actively engaged in business activities in Kazakhstan, so Young-ho was happy to ept it.


    ¡°The reason why only the Kazakh royal ships were targeted in the Gulf of Aden is not because they epted Kurds or because they destroyed ISIS, which had previously entered Kyrgyzstan. The king received a third power saver, which he was vaguely specting about.¡±


    Just when ites to China, we talk about where it gets infected byplicated simple words.


    ¡°Lord Eriksson also doubts China.¡±


    ¡°I just said third power.¡±


    If Eriksson was also China, Youngho would not measure back and forth and retaliate.


    Eriksson was worried about it and was saying it was a third force.


    ¡°Then how should we deal with it?¡±


    ¡°We have to be careful until we have the evidence. Your operation so far has been excellent. If we keep this tone in the future, we won¡¯t be harmed. The backstabbing is bound to get tired of itself someday.¡±


    Eriksson, who returned from his busy schedule in Greece, was pestering the case, saying it would be over at the right time.


    He praised Young-ho, saying, ¡°The current operation is very appropriate for fear that he might make a sudden move.¡±


    I knew he was going toe up with a big n because he had such an extraordinary head, but Young-ho, who was looking forward to it, was exhausted.


    ¡°Sir Eriksson. I won¡¯t act rashly, so let me know what you¡¯re thinking. It¡¯s been years since I¡¯ve been with you, so don¡¯t you have the hint?¡±


    ¡°I have no other intention. I¡¯m just saying you¡¯re dealing with it. Just in time, Ennd sent us a Lynx helicopter.¡±


    ¡°When we were in a hurry to search for a Lynx helicopter, we were on the same wavelength. It¡¯s never free.¡±


    ¡°Britain is trying to empower our royal family.¡±


    ¡°Really? You didn¡¯t do it for your own good?¡±


    ¡°It has many implications that we were willing to give up our naval assault weapons at the most sensitive time. The fact that the U.S. has given up 300 cruise missiles and is supporting Lynx helicopters to the U.K., is a warning to the people behind the scenes. It means no more provocations in the Gulf of Aden.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty good interpretation. When great powers give something to a small nation, they think about the opposite side of the world, and they don¡¯t just act out of kindness.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it in aplicated way, just take it at face value. Your Highness is so sensitive.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure IS is not. There is no country but China that would do such a shameful thing.¡±


    ¡°There are many countries, if not China, that would hurt Kazakhstan well.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t do that because we have a stomachache, but we¡¯re targeting us as a cover to advance into the Arabian Sea. You didn¡¯t expect our agility to be this great.¡±


    China and Russia have failed to intervene in the alliance of allies in the Gulf of Aden, also known as the ¡°Portal Freedom Operation¡± and the ¡°Somalian Sea Battle,¡± which Young-ho suspected that the Chinese navy was plotting terrorism as an excuse to advance into the Arabian Sea.


    In the Gulf of Aden, Russia, a strong military power, did not have enough warships of themunist state to show up and operate and return home only when its ship was hijacked.


    This is because it is not the U.S. that will allow hostile vessels to hover in the Indian and Arabian seas.


    To justify entering the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Aden must be in such a dangerous area that it can naturally


    So he believed he orchestrated the attack.


    He would have pointed to a Kazakh royal ship as his target.


    You must have thought Kazakhstan¡¯s vessels were the mostfortable than those of other countries.


    ¡°Your Highness, even if you have evidence of diarrhea, you should avoid direct protests and take a roundabout route. Now, the U.S. is too strong to handle China. You should avoid direct confrontations.¡±


    ¡°You mean let¡¯s just let it go, even though there¡¯s conclusive evidence?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not even a country to admit to having evidence. But you want to go to war?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true What country is China?


    ¡°If China turns out to be behind this, we can retaliate. There are plenty of ways to retaliate without leaving any evidence.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Even if you know it, you won¡¯t have to go to war, and you won¡¯t have to scratch it. We¡¯ll have to pay more attention to the anti-piracy operation when we¡¯re trying to find out what¡¯s behind it.¡±


    ¡°You named the Gulf of Aden Operation Sterilization, did you decide?¡±


    ¡°The former captain of the Aegis destroyer and the pilots had a meeting, and what they said about sterilization became solid. But what¡¯s wrong with the operation name?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be very upset if you had a back-up. I think it¡¯s a proper psychological operation. I mean, who would love to mean that way?¡±


    The name ¡°bear¡± and ¡°wolf¡± are only a bit cute, but the name of the operation to exterminate germs is very much a p in the face of the other


    ***


    The U.K. has maintained close ties with Young-ho since the days of the Arirang Autonomous Prefecture.


    After bing a constitutional monarchy, the British Army, which was withdrawing from Germany, had formed a military alliance in northern Kazakhstan, and a conventional weapons nt was also relocated to Kazakhstan to help Kazakh defense.


    In addition, it is a close ally in Europe that is second only to Denmark and Sweden, as Kazakh intelligence agents helped to be elite and provided military satellite information in real time.


    When Kazakhstan was in a critical situation in the Gulf of Aden this time, it readily supported the Lynx helicopters.


    Behind the support of Lynx helicopters, the Kazakh royal family said it would purchase 30 of thetest helicopters.


    It was an unusual mass order to order as many as 30 units at a time from a single country.


    The reason why we purchased 10 more Lynx helicopters than we would deploy to Aegis destroyers, frigates and multi-purpose amphibiousnding ships was to deploy them to Arirang shipping vessels that make up the fleet.


    The pirate-infested waters included not only the Gulf of Aden, but also the waters of Ghana in western Africa, Indonesian waters and the Strait of a.


    Recently, the Strait of a was emerging as one of the mainly pirate-ridden waters.


    The Strait of a is the shortest route between Asia and the Middle East and Europe and a strategic point where 20 percent of the world¡¯s trade volume passes.


    It is one of the most important routes in the world, along with the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.


    The piracy in Southeast Asia, especially in the Strait of a, was also a great threat to Kazakh maritime transportation businesses.


    The Strait of a is a narrow channel between the Mysian Penins and the Indonesian ind of Sumatra.


    It is about 1,000 kilometers long from Singapore in the southeast to Andaman in the northwest and only 2.8 kilometers wide in the narrowest part.


    The water is only about 25 meters deep.


    There are 80,000 ships passing through the area annually.


    This is because detouring Sumatra Ind is 1,600 kilometers away and it takes three more days to sail.


    So almost all the ships were flocking here.


    The downside is that the water is shallow and there are too many reefs to speed up properly.


    In the low tide, we should also be careful of stranded idents, but the bigger headache was pirates.


    The number of pirates in the world has been on the decline thanks to thebined naval escort operations, but the number of pirates in a has been on the rise.


    In the past, pirate idents in Southeast Asia were mainly about breaking into ships waiting at ports and burial sites and stealing supplies.


    Recently, pirates linked to organized gangs and rebel groups were seized with weapons and using high-speed boats to hijack tankers to rob highly-mary oil.


    Last year, 200 of the 246 pirate attacks around the world took ce in Southeast Asian waters, including the Strait of a.


    Pirates were hiding in swamps and harassing merchant ships with about 10 tons of small boats.


    By the way, terrorists from Imic militants have begun to participate systematically.


    The use of tactics acquired by terrorist organizations made it harder to defend.


    Therefore, there was a call for a canal to be breached in Thand, the waist part of the My Penins.


    The 130-kilometer-long canal construction cost an estimated $28 billion, with China seeking to expand its energy security and maritime influence showing willingness to invest.


    However, Singapore and Mysia, which have relied on port and tourist imports, were strongly opposed to the construction of the canal.


    This is because losing the geographical advantage of the Strait of a will deal a heavy blow to the national economy.


    When I asked Min-seok to investigate and report on pirate movements in Southeast Asia, he knew this in detail.


    ¡°Where is the area where China says it wants to break through the canal?¡±


    ¡°This is Thand¡¯s ¡®Cra¡¯ area. Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°How many Chinese live in Thand?¡±


    ¡°It ounts for 14 percent of the 64 million poption. The economic power is mostly concentrated on the Chinese side.¡±


    China¡¯s distribution of the n to cover the construction cost of $28 billion, even though it may be considering securing a Southeast Asian route after failing to take the Arctic Ocean route.


    On the one hand, it was envious of China, which is sweeping the world¡¯s major ports, businesses and mines based on its huge foreign reserves amounting to $3.1 trillion.


    He said that envy means losing, but that is because he is buying the world based on his enormous financial strength.


    I wondered what was sitting in the head of the Chinese leadership, which has such an economic scale and chooses all kinds of petty things rather than helping the world.¡±


    The economic strength of 14 percent of the Thai poption is also formidable, and the Southeast Asian route was feared to be dominated by China if the canal was breached.


    On the other hand, if the canal was breached, it would be wee from the perspective of Arirang Shipping.


    ¡°There¡¯s no ce where China hasn¡¯t applied acupuncture.¡±


    ¡°Even if the canal is breached, it is unclear how many ships will be used. They say the canal fee will be expensive, considering the huge construction and maintenance costs.¡±


    ¡°Who gave you such a rosy outlook?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the data from Sweden¡¯s intelligence agency says.¡±


    ¡°When did you ask him to consult with you? That¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    Heplimented me because he asked a consulting firm to present detailed data without conducting a fist-of-the-hand investigation.


    ¡°There is a reduction in shipping distances to clear the canal, but there is a focus on getting out of the pirates¡¯ threat. If pirates can disappear or fight effectively, the canal bes useless. China will only spend a huge amount of money and it will be hard to expect operating profits.¡±


    Min Se-seok, who reports, looked as if he was going to die by filing aint.


    This is because Arirang Shipping ships armed with Lynx helicopters have no reason to use the canal.


    They also said that if ships of our allies follow the Arirang shipping fleet, who would pass the expensive canal?


    There was something that came to mind from the report by Min-seok.


    The sudden emergence of more than pirate organizations in the Gulf of Aden was not intended to make inroads into the Gulf of Aden, but rather to pre-empt the canal project in the Strait of a.

 Chapter 649 - The Force Behind (2)

    <h4>Chapter 649: The Force Behind (2)</h4>


    Mysia and Singapore, which were living on the profits made from businesses of the Strait of a, had fiercely opposed the canal since 2004 when Thand was nning it.


    If the canal was breached in Thand¡¯s ¡®Kra¡¯ area, Singapore would lose all of its profits from the port.


    With the opening of the Suez Canal, Cape Town, South Africa, had lost all of its advantages as a stopover, and Singapore would be the same.


    In the early days of nning the canal, Japan and South Korea were also interested in the construction, but the project did note to light as Singapore and Mysia fiercely protested.


    Over the years, however, the need for a ¡°Kra¡± canal had resurfaced as pirates had been rampant in the Strait of a.


    This was because the pirates¡¯ presence had raised ship insurance premiums and cost a lot of money to send warships to the Strait of a.


    In this situation, China offered to provide capital to Thand¡¯s Kra Canal Construction.


    He cited the safety of trade routes in the name of canal construction.


    The reason was that pirates were threatening China¡¯s trade goods that passed through the Strait of a.


    The cause was usible.


    ¡°Sir Eriksson. ording to Min-seok¡¯s data, China is drooling over the canal project in the Strait of a. It¡¯s insisting with a reason that pirates are back on their feet.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t get rid of the idea that China has orchestrated the Gulf of Aden¡¯s tensions to win the work on the Kra Canal.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s too much to conclude that it¡¯s China. Strangely enough, but there¡¯s no reason for China to take such an irrational risk. The Kra Canal is the territory of Thand. It¡¯s not even in its own territory.¡±


    ¡°China knew that Thand couldn¡¯t afford the huge cost of construction. Would China, which wants to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, begrudge the cost?¡±


    ¡°Then why is it bothering us in the Gulf of Aden, not the Strait of a?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s intended to call attention to each country and a warning that a will turn the same soon. On the other hand, it would have included a desire to advance into the Arabian Sea.¡±


    ¡°After hearing your words, I have a rough outline.¡±


    ¡°China is trying to catch two rabbits at once. It wants to make inroads into the Arabian Sea and expands its influence in Southeast Asia.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, then we can persuade Thand.¡±


    ¡°Why are we persuading Thand?¡±


    He asked again what this was about.


    ¡°If Thand doesn¡¯t want to work on the canal, wouldn¡¯t it be back to point zero?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want that to happen. The canal project must be made with Chinese capital. Instead, we have to make the canal useless. If pirates could not exert their powers, ships don¡¯t have to pay expensive fees to use the canal.¡±


    ¡°You mean we Kazakhstan will take the lead in the fight against a¡¯s pirates?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to. Our ships can go around armed like they are now. If the Lynx helicopters escort our fleet of ships, we can cope with even the smallest warships. That means you don¡¯t have to use the canal.¡±


    ¡°Now I know what your intentions are. That would make the costly canal useless.¡±


    ¡°From now on, we are going to make a big fuss about investing in the canal project.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure China will try to monopolize it. It¡¯s trying to influence Southeast Asia, so it¡¯s not going to share its stake.¡±


    ¡°Of course it will. So, I¡¯m going to just fall back at the crucial moment. I¡¯m sure Korea and Japan are very interested in the canal project, so they¡¯ll be snooping around, too. Then China would be anxious and rush at it.¡±


    He intended to trick China into making a huge investment in the canal project that would be useless in the future. With this scheme, it might end up spending more than it nned to.


    ¡°China has a huge foreign exchange reserve, so would it be bothered by spending more costs?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a loss as it is. And the canal project won¡¯t go smoothly either. Mysia and Singapore could use force. Is there any country that can afford to stay still when the new canal reduces its national ie? They¡¯re going to try to sabotage it. They¡¯re not the countries to be underestimated.¡±


    The military strength of Singapore or Mysia was strong enough that China could not recklessly treat either.


    In particr, Singapore¡¯s air power was the strongest in the world.


    Of course, China¡¯s armed forces were much stronger, but it had to fight against the disadvantage of being in waters far away from home.


    And the U.S. would not just wait and see China making inroads into Southeast Asia.


    Simrly, the Kazakh Royal Navy would also advance into the Strait of a in the name of protecting its ships.


    China would face numerous difficulties both inside and outside even before the canal project began. The chance to avenge the terrorist attacks in the Gulf of Aden was slowly approaching.


    ***


    There was no further terrorist attack on the ship belonging to the Kazakh royal family, as the Kazakh navy relentlessly attacked the suspicious ships. Instead, its allied warships were being targeted by the terrorists. On top of that, the pirates started to act out again.


    The Kazakh navy had been able to deal strongly with other ships because they were targets of terrorism, but the warships of thebined fleet had only been lukewarm about the pirates as they only chased them away. It was because of the international norm that suted killing in any situation.


    Despite that, the Kazakh navy did not hesitate to sink the pirates in the sea in the name of preventing terrorism.


    Then, a funny situation urred. Thebined fleet informed the Kazakh navy of the pirates they had found. This meant that since they could not deal with the pirates, they wanted the Kazakh navy to take care of them instead.


    Now, even fishing boats avoided the Kazakhstan g in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. If they wandered around for no reason, they would be mistaken as pirates and would be punished.


    The Kazakh navy had long ignored the international human rights groups.


    It had long been rumored that the Kazakh navy was ruthless, and even the Kazakh royal ships were armed with heavy machine guns and 20-millimeter guns. In addition, the fleet was equipped with Lynx helicopters.


    Commander Jun of the Aegis 1001 on guard duty in waters near the Gulf of Aden was boisterous in a telephone conversation with the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Yes. Your Highness, I think we can withdraw the Aegis destroyer now. There are no more attacks on our ships. We can send frigates in rotation for the guarding duty just in case.¡±


    -Then head straight to Copenhagen. The Arctic Ocean fleet is leaving in a week, so you can join it.


    To test whether the Aegis destroyers could ovee the winter in the Arctic Ocean, it was decided that the destroyers would join the Arctic fleet. The Russian government also made clear in advance that two Kazakh royal warships were sailing in the Arctic Ocean.


    ¡°The Russian navy has called for a joint operation in the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    -I guess Russia was also very curious about our Aegis destroyers.


    ¡°Russia asked if the visiting officers can be on board during the joint operation, and I¡¯m wondering what to do.¡±


    -Get them on board and show them everything. If they experience our intelligence, they¡¯ll fear us even more.


    ¡°Do you mind if we reveal our strength?¡±


    -We intend to show our strength rather than hiding it. That way, they won¡¯t treat us recklessly in the future.


    ¡°I see what you mean. I¡¯ll do as you say.¡±


    -Show off our Lynx helicopter¡¯s operational capability and anti-air defense capabilities. You could show off ship-to-ship missiles if necessary.


    ¡°You mean to fire a missile?¡±


    Commander Jun was stunned to hear that he couldunch a missile that cost close to a million dors.


    -Let¡¯s show the capabilities of our navy. Don¡¯t begrudge spending it. Only by showing that, can we tten the nose of Russia.


    Youngho wondered what the response would be if the training was conducted as if it were a real game without sparing the cost. Russia was in such a dire situation that it could not even shoot a gun for a test because of its economic difficulties, so it would be worth seeing if the Kazakh Navy fired a million-dor-worth missile in front of the Russian officers.


    ***


    On the deck of the Aegis destroyer, sailors were breaking frozen ice.


    Thick ice was formed on the deck and railing because of the spray of water overnight.


    Just six days earlier in the area on the Gulf of Aden, they were operating air conditioning but ever since they entered the North Antic, the weather got cold that they could only withstand it by operating a boiler.


    Commander Jun, who watched the sailors in thick uniform freezing in the cold, told them to withdraw from the deck and looked at the sea map.


    The sea map marked 18 degrees east longitude and 69 degrees northtitude.


    This was off the coast of Norway¡¯s Troms? port.


    It was nned to meet the Arirang shipping fleet in two days, which departed from Copenhagen, Denmark, so there was some time to spare.


    For now, he reported to the Kazakh Royal Pr Development Company in Troms? that Aegis 1001 and 1002 ships had arrived. He intended to replenish oil and drinking water and allow soldiers to go out for a short time.


    As two giant warships floated off the coast of Troms?, people on herring fishing boats took pictures hovering around the warship as if they had never seen anything like that before.


    -Captain. You may enter the port. There¡¯s still room at the dock. But there¡¯s only a room for one vessel left, so we¡¯ll have to moor in parallel.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that there¡¯s a ce to moor. Thank you, Branch Head. Let¡¯s go in and have a drink.¡±


    -We¡¯ve already given the entrance notice, so the tow ship should be there any minute. I¡¯ll see you at the pier.


    When he was done drinking a cup of coffee after finishing the call, crude towboats arrived.


    Towboats came at the front and back of the Aegis destroyer and led it to the harbor.


    The Branch Head of the Royal Pr Development Company was waiting at the dock.


    ¡°Captain Jun. It¡¯s nice to see you. It must¡¯ve been a long voyage.¡±


    ¡°Compared to you struggling in the cold, it¡¯s like going on a cruise.¡±


    The Aegis destroyer was a ship with perfect facilities that could bepared to a hotel, rather than a warship. It had a medical room, a fitness center, a PX, aundry room, a barbershop, a library, and even a guardhouse inside the ship.


    ¡°There¡¯s a rumor going around that you¡¯ve done a great job in the Gulf of Aden. Reporters will be interviewing you soon. Will you ept that you¡¯reing?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll ept any interview. It¡¯s a great opportunity to announce the prestige of the Kazakh Royal Navy.¡±


    This was a good opportunity to promote what punishment the Kazakh Royal Navy had imposed on the terrorists who threatened Arirang Shipping in the Gulf of Aden.


    The more Kazakh Royal Navy promoted its ruthless action for pirates or terrorists, the more the shippers who used the Arirang shippingpany would feel security as the ships roamed the five oceans.

 Chapter 650 - Matador (1)

    <h4>Chapter 650: Matador (1)</h4>


    ck propaganda was often referred to as the ¡°matador,¡± a strategy that created and propagated groundless information that did not reveal its source or was not based on facts, thus intentionally putting the other person in trouble.


    The original meaning came from the Spanish word ¡°matador,¡± which meant bullfighter.


    The matador was a bullfighter who was in charge of killing a bull in the end by putting a knife on the top of its head after several bullfighters took the spirit out of it.


    In Germany, the matador referred to the best trump of a card game and the most surface-to-air missile used in modern warfare because the meaning of this was a move that could decide a victory or defeat.


    Youngho decided to y the matador against China.


    There was nothing better than media y to make China impatient.


    He told the world¡¯s leading news agencies that Kazakhstan would enter into Thand¡¯s ¡°Kra¡± canal project with its experience and know-hows that led to the expansion of the Russian canal project. He also said that although it was possible to build the project independently, he was willing to form the consortium if Asian countries participate.


    Meanwhile, he made a fuss about sending proposals for joint projects to South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan.


    It was only natural that the Chinese government was upset.


    It questioned why a Central Asian country which had no connection to the project China had proposed first to Thand was stepping up.


    Youngho responded by suggestingpeting openly in Southeast Asian waters as it was under a route used by both European and Asian countries.


    The Mysian and Singaporean governments, which felt a sense of crisis, opposed, saying they might sever diplomatic ties with countries participating in the canal project.


    Despite that, he made a fuss by sending a team of inspectors to the canal project as if he were to participate in the canal project at any time soon.


    The ties of the Central Asian countries and the Southeast Asian countries were only symbolic anyway and there were not much economic exchanges except for asional travelers between countries.


    Kazakhstan, which still did not have diplomatic ties with many countries in the globalmunity, had not even been hit by a brief diplomatic dispute with some Southeast Asian countries. This could be recovered after the work was finishedter.


    ¡°Your Highness. Shouldn¡¯t we send a diplomatic letter to both countries? If we really cut off our diplomatic ties, our ships could be penalized for passing through the Strait of a.¡±


    Min-seok had a serious look on his face as he delivered Singapore¡¯s diplomatic documents from the foreign ministry.


    ¡°Is there aw against merchant ships from countries that had no diplomatic rtions? ording to international maritimew, it is not allowed to refuse entry unless prohibited items are transported.¡±


    ¡°Our ships can be disadvantaged if they want.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about, as they¡¯re supposed to give humanitarian relief for vessels that want water, oil, and food. And it is also a diplomatic discourtesy for the royal family to step up to protest against our government. Just staying still is a way to help.¡±


    If a diplomatic letter was sent to the Kazakh royal family, Youngho would have to give a proper answer, but he was rxed because those letters were sent to the Kazakh government.


    The Kazakh royal family mentioned the ¡°Kra Canal¡± case, but protesting against the Kazakh government without protesting against the royal family was a diplomatic gesture.


    ¡°This will be over soon. We do not participate in the canal construction in any case. It¡¯s just a counterattack.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you let them know about it?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think any Mysian or Singaporean politician or bureaucrat has a line with the Chinese government? As soon as we tell them what we¡¯re up to, the n will go useless.¡±


    ¡°Even so, it won¡¯t be easy to restore diplomatic rtions back to the way they were...¡±


    ¡°In the worst case, I don¡¯t care if we can¡¯t recover them. You have to be prepared for that kind of loss to trick China.¡±


    Singapore or Mysia had no choice but to react aggressively because it was a matter of national destiny.


    Maybe they sent a diplomatic letter not only to Kazakhstan but also to all countries interested in the canal.


    However, if the canal project was pushed ahead, they would not make such a fool of themselves by disconnecting their diplomatic ties with those countries. It would find an alternative to cope with the situation.


    It was impossible for a country that earned a living through trade to sever diplomatic rtions with other countries.


    If China showed its willingness to participate in the canal project regardless of a diplomatic break, it would rush to sign the contract without fail.


    That was what Youngho was after.


    ***


    At a time when Asia was dealing with the issue of the canal project, the Thai foreign minister secretly visited the royal territory.


    He was frustrated as a Thai minister and wondered why Kazakhstan was causing a disturbance when it was not even a Southeast Asian country.


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.¡±


    Minister Prayut, a short, dark-skinned man greeted Youngho politely.


    ¡°Thank you foring all the way.¡±


    The purpose was already told in advance, so they went straight to the point after a handshake.


    ¡°Your Highness, I havee to ask that the Kazakh royal family no longer intervene in the canal issue.¡±


    Youngho already predicted what he was going to say, but he was slightly embarrassed because he was so direct.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t our royal family be more favorable to your country if we intervened? We have the canal technology ahead of China. I¡¯m sure you know that we¡¯re working on a canal project in Russia.¡±


    ¡°We are not questioning the technical skills of the Kazakh royal family, but it¡¯s because of our neighboring countries. As the Kazakh royal family stepped forward, neighboring countries are pressuring us. It¡¯s been a secret project with China for years, and now it¡¯s a fait apli.¡±


    The Mysian and Singaporean governments were pressuring Thand with a break in diplomatic rtions.


    ¡°The Strait of a is not just a route for a specific country, but for East and West to manage together. I thought any of the interested parties in the Strait of a could participate, but I¡¯m very disappointed that you¡¯ve already made an agreement with China.¡±


    ¡°The Strait of a won¡¯t shut down even if the canal is opened, but everyone seems to be too sensitive.¡±


    ¡°From what I know, your home country reviewed the canal project in 2004 and did not proceed with it. But I suspect that the re-emergence at this point reflects China¡¯s position to seek exclusive status. So, are you also participating in the canal management, too?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The foreign minister was not able to answer questions from Youngho.


    How could Thand participate in canal management when China was paying 100 percent of the cost? It would only be getting a small portion of canal revenue.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing to open the canal, but I think we should also consider neighboring countries that are disadvantaged by the canal. Then, if you open a way for Mysia or Singapore to participate, I think there would be less opposition.¡±


    ¡°We want many countries to make an investment rather than China¡¯s sole investment. But when will the canal open if we do that? The canal project must be implemented as soon as possible, to ease our country¡¯s economic difficulties.¡±


    Youngho could see why Thand was trying to give China the canal project.


    China would have promised economic aid on the condition of canal construction.


    ¡°I don`t mean to interrupt your home event, so don`t get me wrong. If countries show interest in the canal project, you will be in a more advantageous position.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s toote to discuss now. I¡¯m here to tell you about our country¡¯s stance.¡±


    ¡°I understand. If Chinese investment is dyed, please let me know. I¡¯m thinking of investing right away. It¡¯s an attractive business that Singapore or Mysia can endure even if they y out their diplomatic cards.¡±


    Youngho acted as if he was going to invest immediately if China was lukewarm.


    When the foreign minister returned home, Thand would surely deliver this fact to the Chinese government.


    China would have no choice but to hurry to stop the Kazakh royal family from jumping into the canal project while being readily willing to break diplomatic ties with Southeast Asian countries.


    ***


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Thand will budge no matter what conditions we offer.¡±


    ¡°No, it won¡¯t. Domestic political strife has been a drag on Thand¡¯s economy, which once recorded negative growth. China¡¯s aid will be vital because Thand¡¯s manufacturing and infrastructure are so weak. Recently, the economy has been reeling from flood damage. I think China has cleverly prated the gap. How urgent would it have been that the foreign minister came after you and asked you not to intervene in the canal?¡±


    ¡°I heard the royal authority of Thand is great, but I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s still before the military coup.¡±


    ¡°Although the royal family is absolutely respected and followed by the people, it is not enough to fundamentally adjust the friction between political forces. The problem is that it doesn¡¯t have any money like our royal family. Politics also requires money. In that case, I¡¯m proud of our powerful royal family.¡±


    ¡°Well, is that apliment? I¡¯m ttered. By the way, since we¡¯ve smoked this smokescreen, China must be anxious, too.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t we make ast move? Why don¡¯t we spread the rumor that China¡¯s technological prowess is questionable whether it could afford to doplex canal construction.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to do so?¡±


    ¡°We need to use the Asian countries that are concerned.¡±


    ¡°Asian countries will note forward easily because they are afraid of China.¡±


    ¡°The Strait of a ounts for 20 percent of the world¡¯s shipments. They are the countries most troubled when China takes control of the Strait of a. We need to use the media to shake China one more time. I¡¯ll take care of it myself.¡±


    If Eriksson stepped up, he would probably mobilize the Information Agency. The use of consulting branches of the agency in all countries could make a global temporary issue.


    ¡°I¡¯m curious about the method.¡±


    ¡°Since Singapore and Mysia are most sensitive about the canal, shouldn¡¯t they add a hand? They have to take the lead in wiping out pirates, the danger of the a Strait. We should encourage them to create an environment where they don¡¯t need a canal.¡±


    ¡°How can the two countries wipe out pirates?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible, so we¡¯re going to encourage it. And even if the pirates temporarily disappear, the canal project is bound to start. This is because China invests in Thand¡¯s infrastructure before the canal project. It won¡¯t be able to pull out so easily.¡±


    Eriksson said that China would not be able to pull out because of the money it spent on Thand.


    ¡°Then we can dy the construction in another way so that we can drain China¡¯s strength. Let¡¯s see if the canal operates well after its construction isplete.¡±


    There was still an assignment left to make many ships use the Strait of a even after the canal was opened.

 Chapter 651 - Matador (2)

    Chapter 651: Matador (2)


    As Kazakhstan focused its attention on the Thai canal, China took on the issue of Kazakhstan¡¯s nuclear weapons although Kazakhstan had already dered the termination of the nuclear program sessfullypleted in the past.


    China probably wanted to confirm whether Kazakhstan had nuclear weapons since it could only threaten Kazakhstan with force as thest resort only if Kazakhstan did not have nuclear weapons.


    ¡°Man, China must be dying to know. It¡¯s because I answered vaguely to the media¡¯s questions.¡±


    Park Jong-il said bringing in China¡¯s document requesting the International Atomic Energy Agency to re-operate Kazakhstan¡¯s nuclear waste program.


    When China openly asked for an inspection of Kazakhstan¡¯s nuclear arsenal, Park Jong-il made a strange remark through the media. He said that only the former administration must know whether the thousands of nuclear weapons deployed throughout Kazakhstan had been properly disposed of. In addition, he had said that Kazakhstan was still looking for nuclear weapons hidden in Soviet times, which increased China¡¯s curiosity.


    ¡°Good job. China must be freaking out.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to tell that we have nuclear weapons, but I held it back because it would make more noise.¡±


    An intelligence chief should also be good at psychological warfare, which confused the enemy with ambiguous words. It was also an admirable ability if one was capable of draining the enemy¡¯s energy without firing a gun.


    ¡°Phew, I wish we could¡¯ve done that. I want tounch a missile right away. China¡¯s now trying to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway project.¡±


    China slipped in after Russia pushed to extend the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Korean Penins.


    As the connection of the Trans-Siberian Train via the Tumen River¡¯s Najin-Hasan was being processed, China took the initiative to suggest the existing railway linking Sinuiju and Dandong near the Yalu River.


    China¡¯s suggested project would greatly shorten the travel distance than going around divostok. Then the Trans-Siberian Train Modernization Project would lose its power.


    If there was a route to Mongolia through Sinuiju-Dandong or to Irkutsk through Harbin, which shipper would take the Maritime route that took the longer time?


    Upon China¡¯s suggestion, the Russian government also threatened that no cargo passing through Mongolia could be on the Trans-Siberian Train. For now, the issue was quieted down, but it would surface again in the near future.


    ¡°China collides with us every time, so it must be looking for ways to get us. We should also find a way to shake China.¡±


    ¡°I will try.¡±


    Not only Kazakhstan but also many parts of the world were now having a hard time because of China¡¯s insatiable greed. The U.S. immediately raised retaliatory tariffs against China to improve the trade imbnce issue, and then China started to control imports of U.S. agricultural products.


    Such China was not going to be concerned about weak countries such as Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to find a way to quiet China, or it¡¯s going to think that it¡¯s on top of the world.¡±


    ¡°You said you could screw China with the Thai canal. Isn¡¯t that enough?¡±


    ¡°It will be years before the canal opens. I can¡¯t wait until then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll know we¡¯re responsible if we make a clumsy retribution move.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to make it, so they can¡¯t even guess.¡±


    ¡°What the hell are you going to do? If you need someone to do the job in the field, I¡¯ll take the lead.¡±


    ¡°There is a way to disturb China without even moving our fingers, but I wonder if they will listen to me.¡±


    ***


    After days of contemtion, Youngho visited Volgograd.


    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t be more than happy to see youing in person who¡¯s always busy. If you move yourself to meet someone like me, what will the face of the Duke of Kazakhstan be?¡±


    Despite his words, Yaniv looked very pleased to see Youngho. A single visit of the Duke of Kazakhstan would raise his status.


    Youngho usually refrained from taking such a light step, but he did not hesitate to make a sudden move if it would bring a good result.


    Although he was said to be a powerful figure in Kazakhstan, he was not the head of the government nor the king.


    ¡°How can I lose face when I visit as your friend Lee Youngho, not as the Duke?¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re at my house, let¡¯s have a drink and talk.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still midday, and you want to drink already?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that Russian men look forward to wintering? Winter is the season that you don¡¯t have to watch the time to drink vodka, so it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    The act of drinking vodka in winter had an excuse for warming up one¡¯s frozen body, so it was easily justified.


    ¡°This Siberian vodka suits my taste very well. This guy¡¯s made me drink more.¡±


    ¡°Brother Sergey asked me to supply vodka, and I guess that was all for you to drink.¡±


    Vodka produced at the Kazakh Royal Liquor Factory in Krasnoyarsk was treated as a high-quality that did not have a bad hangoverpared to other Russian vodkas.


    ¡°Moscow¡¯s greedy people are all happy when they receive the Kazakh royal vodka and hunting gun as gifts. They¡¯re great gifts.¡±


    ¡°Think of your health and drink only a little. When the Trans-Siberian Train ispleted, won¡¯t you have to test ride it yourself?¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m going to lose to vodka?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried that something worse than vodka appeared.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it. I heard that China is pushing for an n-Ude or Irkutsk route rather than going through divostok.¡±


    ¡°Then, we can¡¯t recover the cost of the project in the Far East section. It¡¯s a big blow to us.¡±


    ¡°So I called Putin and asked him if the Siberian railway was owned by China, and heughed for a long time. China is raining on our parade.¡±


    No wonder Yaniv was upset.


    He agreed to invest as much as a billion dors in the Trans-Siberian Railway project.


    He did not spend all of his wealth, but it was still a lot of money and a risky business. He made a bold move since there was a safety device called Youngho, and before it even started, China was trying to ruin it.


    ¡°What did Putin say?¡±


    ¡°Putin promised never to link any other cargo other than those produced in China to the Siberian train, but if travelers are connected in China, then that can¡¯t be helped.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all we need. It would be great if this tone is kept until we get our investment back.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Putin will neverpromise with China because since he¡¯s also expecting a lot from the Trans-Siberian Railway.¡±


    ¡°I see what you mean, but are you going to let China act like this?¡±


    ¡°The Russian economy is at rock bottom, and Putin is not messing with China either.¡±


    The contract for the Trans-Siberian Railway would be signed after the consortium¡¯s investment firmspleted their on-site inspection.


    However, if the Chinese route was left alone to be processed, it would save losses if the Far East Siberian section was left untouched.


    The reason why Youngho visited Yaniv this time was because he wanted to find a way to stop China¡¯s business in Russia and confirm whether to construct the Far East Siberian route.


    ¡°If the Russian government can¡¯t do it, shouldn¡¯t you take action? You know what Chinesepanies are doing in Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. If you leave it as it is, your old subordinates will have no ce.¡±


    ¡°You mean to wage a war with the Chinese?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We can¡¯t just stand there losing money, can we? I¡¯ll help you.¡±


    ¡°There is a lot of feeling built up with China, but if we overdo it, our organization may copse. Did something happen that I don¡¯t know about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because everything China does gets in the way. It¡¯ll also damage our business.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should call for a boss meeting in a long time.¡±


    ¡°Have you decided to take action?¡±


    ¡°I have no choice but to make up my mind for what¡¯s happened. You¡¯re not a mafia if you don¡¯t do anything when there¡¯s an enemy in front of you.¡±


    ¡°Will your old subordinates listen to you when you¡¯ve already taken your hands off the mafia group?¡±


    ¡°Even if you wash your hands, once a mafia is forever a mafia.¡±


    Younghoughed unknowingly as Yaniv¡¯s remark reminded him of the Korean phrase, ¡®Once a marine forever a marine.¡¯


    ¡°There is an organization in Korea that says the same thing. I guess such phrase ismon across the world.¡±


    ¡°It must be an organization as bad as the mafia.¡±


    ¡°Not really but they are the people who stick to their old uniform even if they be grandfathers.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal family will help you from behind.¡±


    ¡°There is nothing the mafia can¡¯t do in Russia. My men have proposed for a long time to deal with the Chinese, but I couldn¡¯t take action because of the officials of Moscow. I guess now is the time to do something.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that diminish your position?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask Putin¡¯s understanding in advance. Putin is so furious this time that he won¡¯t object. It¡¯s about the level of the action.¡±


    When the mafia moved to Russia, everything could be resolved.


    This was because the Russian mafia was an organization that could not be controlled even by public power.


    Putin had given up the war against the mafia, and now he was even mobilizing the mafia in the conflict zone.


    If the mafia could take over what the government could not do, Putin would turn a blind eye on it.


    ¡°The funds will be paid by our royal family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! You don¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°I have a personal feeling, too. If you need weapons, just tell me. We¡¯ve got old-fashioned weapons in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°All right. It¡¯s more reliable if the Kazakh royal family supports us.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going to start?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care where we start as long as it¡¯s where Chinesepanies are.¡±


    ¡°Please leave Krasnoyarsk to us. All I have to do is make a statement to Sergeenko.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Sergeenko is your man, so he will follow.¡±

 Chapter 652 - Matador (3)

    Chapter 652: Matador (3)


    As Sergey joined, the pace of drinking became faster.


    Yaniv, who was drunk, began toin that Russia was no longer hopeful.


    ¡°Russia will be torn apart, or it will be an indifferent country at this rate. The old socialist system has changed the national character, so there is no hope anymore. I¡¯m jealous of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The same goes for Kazakhstan. Fortunately, it¡¯s a little better because the government and the people are working hard to shake off the remnants of socialism.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why I say I envy Kazakhstan? This is because you, the Duke of the Kazakh royal family is in power. Sometimes you seem to be colder than the mafia, but you are a leader who shows a very humane side to the people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. I look like that only on the surface, but I¡¯m just a selfish and greedy person.¡±


    ¡°Everybody has a selfish side, but the people who have absolute butw-abiding power are bound to be happy. It¡¯s unfortunate that we don¡¯t have such a leader in Russia.¡±


    Since Yaniv was speaking at a slightly dangerous level, Sergey freaked out and tried to hold him back.


    ¡°Boss, you look very drunk, so why don¡¯t you go to bed early?¡±


    ¡°Sergey, do you know why I¡¯m saying this? Because I¡¯m worried about your future. Russia is no longer hopeful. If things go on like this, everything will fall apart. It¡¯s so unclear that I can¡¯t see 20 years from now.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, Russia is still young. If a new system is adopted, it will stand up like a fire. Why should you be afraid when you have the world¡¯srgestndmass and inexhaustible underground resources?¡±


    ¡°Duke, we won¡¯tst more than ten years from now if things don¡¯t change, or Russia will be reduced to a mere dictatorship. Help Sergey if he wants to settle in Kazakhstan. That way, I¡¯ll feel at home when I¡¯m gone.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will do anything to help Brother Sergey if he wants, but now, I¡¯m rather in need of help.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s reassuring to hear you say that. Russia will manage for about a decade, but then there will be chaos. There are so many problems inside Russia that it¡¯s hopeless. People like us should survive, but it¡¯ll be very difficult for normal people to live in.¡±


    His words were too clear for a drunk person.


    As it was the words of a man who had been living in tension all his life, it was weighty. It was all the more impressive because no one knew Russia better than Yaniv.


    ¡°The biggest harvest I¡¯ve ever had living more than 60 years is meeting Sergey and you, the Duke of Kazakhstan. Sergey is like my son even though I¡¯m not his father, and you saved my life, and now I can call you family. Is that only what I think?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a once-in-a-lifetime blessing to have met you and Sergey. You are no different than my own blood.¡±


    ¡°There must be no one who¡¯s blessed like I am as a mafia.¡±


    ¡°You became a mafia in order to live, not for entertainment or pleasure. Mr. Yaniv, I consider someone like you as a big tree.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kind words. Since I¡¯m getting old, people say good words to me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying it just to tter you. I think I can leave my back to you and Sergey.¡±


    If one had a friend to trust his back, it would be a sessful life. How many people in the world would have such friends?


    ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m jumping into the Russian government¡¯s business? This is because you took the lead. Even Putin can¡¯t touch you recklessly. Do you think Putin will let go of my assets that I have umted both by illegal and legal means? I¡¯m investing in you for such case.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, no matter how powerful Putin is, he can¡¯t take your private property.¡±


    ¡°Duke, don¡¯t forget that this is Russia, a socialist country under a one-man dictatorship. Putin will never relinquish power even if Russia fails. I want to leave Russia, but I love Russia too much.¡±


    He had power to siphon off his assets and leave Russia, but he was moving stubbornly based on Russia.


    While most mafia leaders were siphoning off their wealth overseas, Yaniv had been a rather unusual mafia, investing in domestic and overseas businesses and distributing the wealth he had to his subordinates.


    After sending drunken Yaniv to his bedroom, Youngho and Sergey sat down to discuss pending issues.


    ¡°Brother, Mr. Yaniv seems to be much weaker than before.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s getting old. He can¡¯t be the same.¡±


    ¡°If you want to rest your mind, pleasee to Western Kazakhstan. You could even start a business in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°Should I? What can I do there?¡±


    ¡°What do I rmend when you are an expert? Do whatever you want to do. It¡¯s good for Kazakhstan, too, when factories and farms are built.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to give special treatment because I¡¯m an acquaintance of the Duke of Kazakhstan, are you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you can expect that from someone else. I¡¯ll charge you full tax.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯d have to build a factory tofort my boss soon and don¡¯t visit here for a while. If Chinesepanies and the mafia get involved, you might get dragged into it.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll just be in charge of Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get in touch with Sergeenko. There will be wind of blood in quiet Russia soon.¡±


    ¡°Consider it¡¯s a way for Russia¡¯s good. If the government does note forward, the private sector should step up. It¡¯s going to happen one day.¡±


    ¡°Maybe this war will be the biggest andst war in the history of the Russian mafia. The aftereffects will be huge. Putin would try to draw a line with the mafia, even for the sake of the face of China.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Do you think it will affect Mr. Yaniv too?¡±


    ¡°The government will try to make a political deal with mafia bosses. Since Mr. Yaniv funds Putin¡¯s political funds, he won¡¯t be able to touch Mr. Yaniv so easily.¡±


    ¡°The middle bosses and the action crew must suffer.¡±


    ¡°In Russia, the mafia must be cleared up. It would be a relief if we could organize it like this.¡±


    Russia had more than half a million mafia members in 6,200 organizations and so was the number of people who were involved with the mafia.


    The fall of the mafia, which controlled 40 percent of Russia¡¯s economy, would also have serious impact.


    ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t cause a disturbance in peace for nothing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a rite of passage that we have to go through for the future of Russia. This will significantly reduce the mafia¡¯s power. Instead, it will be an opportunity to wipe out some of the disgraces that happened. It¡¯s about winning the reputation of punishing Chinesepanies. Russian people are not fond of China, you know.¡±


    One axis supporting Russia¡¯s economy would copse causing temporary chaos, but it would ultimately turn out to be a positive effect.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Mr. Yanive forward.¡±


    ¡°He was in a position to divide Russia into three equal parts. You think he¡¯s less influential because he stepped out of the front line? And even mafia could be patriotic, even though they¡¯re doing dirty work in the dark.¡±


    Yaniv would have no choice but to get involved in one way or another.


    From the moment he thought about the war with Chinesepanies, the dice had already been thrown.


    Although Yaniv and Sergey knew that there would be huge damage, they were willing to get involved in a war against China to show their patriotism for Russia.


    As for Youngho, it no longer mattered whether the pranks in the Gulf of Aden were done by Chinese. They needed to be sorted out for his Russian business anyway.


    He would be acting as a ¡®Matador¡¯ who would stick a knife into the top of the head of an ox after ying with it. His retribution was ripe.


    ***


    Sergeenko, Krasnoyarsk¡¯s mafia chief, had been preupied for a long time after he finished a phone conversation with Yaniv.


    It was because he sensed that the biggest turning point in his life hade.


    Yaniv finally gave him a title of ¡®boss¡¯ and called him one.


    This meant that Yaniv recognized his group as an independent organization, and now Krasnoyarsk had be his own stronghold.


    No one could me him even if he called himself a godfather.


    Of course, there was a condition attached, but that was a privilege that could not be called a condition.


    It was a condition to help the Kazakh royal family, so he almost screamed during the call.


    Co-operation with the same mafia would be a bit tricky but to help the Kazakh royal family meant to sit on a pile of money.


    After putting his thoughts together, Sergeenko called Suh Min-seok of the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Mr. Suh. It¡¯s Sergeenko, is everything all right?¡±


    -Hello, Mr. Sergeenko. What¡¯s the asion?


    ¡°I¡¯m calling to pay my respects to the Queen and the Duke because I was wondering if they¡¯re doing all right.¡±


    -Of course, they¡¯re fine. They¡¯re blessed people since someone thinks of them.


    ¡°Has the Duke been to Volgograd this time?¡±


    -How do you know that?


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv told me.¡±


    -Oh! I see. But I wonder why he informed you of His Highness¡¯ whereabouts.


    ¡°They told me to only make business deals with the Kazakh royal family in the future.¡±


    -...


    ¡°Has His Highness ever said anything? I¡¯m calling to let you know that I can now operate independently from Volgograd.¡±


    -Oh! Congrattions. Mr. Sergeenko. I look forward to working more with you.


    ¡°Thank you. I am quite excited to work with the royal family more in the future. Mr. Suh, let me know when His Highness is most free. I¡¯d like to visit the pce.¡±


    -His Highness will be staying at the royal territory for a while since it¡¯s almost the year¡¯s end. You cane any time, but no one should know that you areing here.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll visit in private.¡±


    -I¡¯ll tell His Highness.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the royal territory, then.¡±


    Min-seok, who ended his phone call with Sergeenko, knocked on the door of the Duke¡¯s office.


    ¡°Your Highness, I just got a call from Sergeenko in Krasnoyarsk. He¡¯ll visit the pce soon.¡±


    ¡°Did you tell him toe quietly?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I warned him.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he sound excited?¡±


    ¡°He told me that he doesn¡¯t take orders from Volgograd anymore, but he sounded generally calm.¡±


    ¡°He could be overwhelmed, but I guess he knows how to control his emotions. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking what you felt on the phone today.¡±


    ¡°His voice didn¡¯t have arrogance at all. Rather, he seemed to act more polite than before.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he should be. If he acts disrespectful to you, the actual power of the royal family, he¡¯s a man with no wit. He¡¯s a serious person, so he won¡¯t act recklessly. He has the strength of the Evenki people.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve never thought that I¡¯m the actual power of the royal family.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s joke, Min-seok ears turned red.


    ¡°You¡¯re on the right track. You¡¯ll be ruling Krasnoyarsk with Sergeenko.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying you should work with Sergeenko.¡±


    ¡°He seems too rough and frankly. I¡¯m afraid to be with him.¡±


    ¡°I know the environment and the mind that he has grown up in. If you treat him humanely, he¡¯ll give you everything he has, so keep up with him.¡±

 Chapter 653 - Ostentation (1)

    Chapter 653: Ostentation (1)


    ¡°Officer on duty, what¡¯s the temperature outside now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s currently negative 28 degrees outside, Commander.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand that the Arctic Ocean is warmer than ind.¡±


    Commander Jun tilted his head as he heard that the outside temperature was negative 28 degrees.


    He just spoke to the Astana-based Kazakhstan Defense Department and its temperature was negative 32 degrees.


    ¡°Commander, couldn¡¯t it be just this year?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s irregr, but it¡¯s a sign that the Arctic Ocean is getting warmer.¡±


    The fact that the speed of the preceding icebreaker was simr to the speed of ship sailing in the unfrozen waters was evidence that the thickness of the ice was not great.


    The fleet of Arirang Shipping was sailing on the Arctic route for the third day after it entered the Arctic Ocean through Norway.


    The Arctic Ocean, covered with pure white ice, had no waves due to the ice, with only the fierce wind blowing.


    Whether one was a sailor or a navy, he was always used to wobbling little by little, but it was rather unnatural to be on a ship sailing as if it was gliding.


    Despite the smooth sailing, it was not quiet.


    The noise made by pieces of ice hitting the hull of the ship was heard in the cabin, so the crew was always on edge for fear that the hull might get damaged.


    Although two icebreakers were ahead for therge fleet, it was the first time for Commander Jun to sail through the ice, so his mind could not rest during the entire voyage.


    ¡°Officer, where the hell is the North Sea Fleet? Isn¡¯t it about time we met it already?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be here in an hour. They¡¯re following the sea path we¡¯ve made.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t even have icebreakers?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been following the route we¡¯ve been through since the White Sea.¡±


    Upon hearing the Kazakh royal family sailing with two icebreakers ahead, they apparently followed along without an icebreaker.


    ¡°Whoa, they can¡¯t save on something like this. Can¡¯t they even support an icebreaker when they said they wanted to have a joint drill?¡±


    It was said that they were refraining from training the navies due to economic difficulties, but Victor Jun did not know if they could not even support the icebreaker in joint drills with foreign forces.


    ¡°Commander, our ship should now stand by here.¡±


    ¡°Let the fleet proceed and leave one icebreaker here for standby.¡±


    If the sea froze again after the training, they could get stuck on the sea.


    No matter how warm the Arctic Ocean was, it still went down 30 degrees below zero.


    In this weather, the broken ice quickly froze.


    Ships with weak propulsion could fail because even weak ice could be overwhelming.


    If a ship was damaged or the engine was overburdened, it must be prepared for huge repairs. It would suffer even bigger damage to save some money for operating an icebreaker.


    Momentster, a Russian fleet appeared with a huge cruiser ahead.


    Three Russian vessels responded with loud horn sound as the Kazakh Aegis destroyer weed them with g signals.


    The Russian warships participating in the joint drill were one Kirov-ss cruiser and two Sovremenny-ss destroyers, all of which were missile ships.


    While the Aegis destroyer was only armed with a 127-millimeter gun and goalkeeper machine gun, Russian warships were full of all sorts of armament here and there on deck


    ¡°Russia has deployed all the weapons. I wonder if those heavy warships can even speed up properly.¡±


    Armaments on deck alone weighed so much that it seemed no icebreaker was needed.


    It was said that none of the existing warships could defeat the Kirov-ss by one-on-one.


    The nuclear cruiser built to deal with U.S. aircraft carriers was the Kirov ss.


    It was the monster boasted a speed of 30 knots with 230-meter-long and 28-meter-wide body, 726 crew member capacity and 24,300 tons of discement.


    As for weapons, it was equipped with 20 ship-to-ship missileunchers, 12 ship-to-air missileunchers, two 130-millimeter guns, eight anti-aircraft guns, two anti-submarine missiles, ten torpedounchers, two anti-submarine rocketunchers, and even an anti-submarine helicopter.


    ***


    ¡°Ship-to-ship missileunch!¡±


    -Aye, aye, sir! Ship-to-ship missile fired!


    In two Aegis warships, missiles were flying into the sky, sting mes.


    Despite the cold and harsh winds, Russian sailors from the North Sea Fleet were out on deck to watch the missiles fly. They seemed to be envious of the Kazakh destroyers which wereunching two missiles although it was just a drill.


    Russian officers aboard the Aegis destroyer were also keeping a close eye on the series of missileunches, taking notes.


    Soon after, the goalkeeper machine gun, which boasted a firing speed of 4,000 shots per minute, blew fire, and everyone was speechless.


    When the goalkeeper stopped shooting, the 127-millimeter gun started firing. It had a range of 23 kilometers and fired 40 rounds per minute.


    When the firepower demonstration was over, Russian officers were smiling brightly, waving their thumbs.


    They seemed to think that it was fortunate that Kazakhstan, which had such a great warship, was an ally, not an enemy.


    ¡°Commander Jun, that was great. I salute the Kazakh Navy.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. With the Russian Navy, no one will ever dare to confront us.¡±


    Victor was speaking with Russian naval officers in fluent Russian.


    The atmosphere was more amicable as they were speaking the samenguage.


    Kazakhstan used Russian as its officialnguage, so there was nonguage barrier between the two navies.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we have regr joint drills in the Arctic Ocean in the future?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s wee anytime. I think we¡¯ll be able to get more warships involved in the future.¡±


    ¡°I understand that there are only a few warships in Kazakhstan...¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard the news yet. There are a dozen frigates being remodeled at our Royal Shipyard in Denmark. It will be delivered to our Navy next year with a multipurposending ship. Three more Aegis destroyers will be delivered next year, so it will be a proper joint exercise.¡±


    Commander Jun bragged to the Russian officers as it seemed like a good opportunity to tten Russian officers¡¯ noses.


    The Russian officers, who did not respond much to his remark at the mention of frigates, seemed very surprised when they heard about the multipurposending ship and Aegis destroyers.


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re building more Aegis destroyers?¡±


    ¡°There are only five ships in total. We will increase the number of Aegis destroyers to ten and deploy four more multipurposending ships in the future, and soon, we¡¯ll be introducing a hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°I really envy the wealth of the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still a childpared to the Russian navy. I envy the Russian Navy more. It has six such great cruisers.¡±


    The Russian navy had six cruisers, including the Kirov-ss and va-ss, which were undergoing a repair process.


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re a pain in real life. We can¡¯t afford the maintenance cost, so they are stuck in the harbor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important to have warships like that. We wouldn¡¯t have a wish if we had such a warship.¡±


    ¡°You envy everything. They¡¯rerge that it does not fit into modern warfare. Small and medium-sized missile ships are more substantial than cruisers, which only cost a lot of money.¡±


    Commander Jun listened to the officers carefully as they had been in the Russian navy for decades.


    It was imperative to keep in mind the problems of the Russian Navy from the active officers. It was because Russia could be an enemy one day although it was an ally now.


    ***


    After the joint drill, the Russian North Sea Fleet hurried back.


    It would be a disaster if the sea path made by the Kazakh icebreaker froze solid again.


    The powerful thrust of the nuclear cruiser could break the ice, but if the engine was overpowered, it would need repair which would cost a lot and be tied to the port without a deadline.


    They were not able to train properly due to ack of budget at the moment.


    As the paint was not supplied in time, Russian naval vessels would sail with rusty spots on their bodies. This time, as there was a joint drill with the Kazakh navy, the Russian Navy had hastily painted their warships. It was obvious that they had coated the body without even peeling the rust.


    ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve loaded the Russian ships withbat rations. They took it dly.¡±


    ¡°If I had known, I would have brought more food.¡±


    When Commander Jun asked to have a meal to the Russian naval officers, they refused as they needed to hurry to go back. As they were very disappointed by the fact, he gave thembat rations and cigarettes, which they happily epted.


    ¡°The morale of the soldiers would be ridiculous, considering that even officers are pleased withbat rations.¡±


    ¡°They seem to be underpaid. I must have bragged too much about Kazakhstan¡¯s wealth.¡±


    ¡°Since they now know exactly what the Kazakh Navy is like, they won¡¯t underestimate us.¡±


    ¡°The Russian Navy was once the world¡¯s best force, but it¡¯s now a paper tiger.¡±


    ¡°But still, their warships are great weapons.¡±


    ¡°It would be great if their missileunchers are loaded with missiles. I wonder if they¡¯re carrying empty shells.¡±


    Victor Jun, who saw the fall of the Russian North Sea Fleet with his own eyes, was proud.


    In the joint drill, Russia showed only three or four guns and failed to show other firepower due to ack of budget.


    The use of expensive weapons was burdensome as it was only a drill, not an actual situation. The phrase ¡®joint training¡¯ was overshadowed by the fact that the Russian navies onlymunicated with each other after failing to properly demonstrate using fires.


    The Russian navy came to see the operational capabilities of the Kazakh Navy.


    ¡°I would rather not do this kind of joint exercise. I think we just hurt their pride. They¡¯d envy you at first, but they¡¯ll be jealous after a while. I think we shouldn¡¯t show off more.¡±


    ¡°You worry about everything. We even fired missiles to make them feel envious. We have to show that we are untouchable.¡±


    ¡°There was a reason why the Russian navy can¡¯t be aggressive in the Caspian Sea. It was because of our small missile ships.¡±


    Russian naval forces, which operated mainly on warships, had a rtively weak armament of small coastal vessels.


    It was burdensome to even mount missiles on small ships.


    So in the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan¡¯s naval forces were overwhelming.


    Even so, Russian naval forces were still second only to the U.S.


    It was because it had a nuclear-powered submarine that carried intercontinental ballistic missiles.


    ¡°Chief, the Caspian Sea is not even a disputed area, and it is also a loss of power to leave five Yoon Young-ha-ss missile ships in the Caspian Sea. Bringing them to the ocean would definitely increase our power.¡±


    ¡°When I return home, I¡¯ll propose to His Highness that we pull them out of the Caspian Sea.¡±


    The Yoon Young-ha ss was thetest advanced missile ship brought in from Korea with abined discement of 570 tons and a length of 63 meters. It also had four anti-ship missiles in addition to the 76-millimeter and 40-millimeter guns, so it could be operated in the ocean if forced.


    The Yoon Young-ha ss had four powerful engines, two gas turbine engines and two diesel engines, that could generate a speed of more than 40 knots.


    Since there was no screw because of the water jet propulsion system, it was a ship that could change the direction of the outlet and freely change the direction of progress.


    Even without Yoon Young-ha, Kazakh naval forces were still at their strongest in the Caspian Sea.


    This was because there were about 30 speedboats under 300 tons that were built in the royal territory and 20 missile patrol ships acquired from the U.S.

 Chapter 654 - Ostentation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 654: Ostentation (2)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, the Russian North Sea Fleet is heading for the Bering Strait after the joint training.¡±


    ¡°How many warships were there?¡±


    ¡°One nuclear-powered cruiser and two 7,000-ton missile destroyers of the Russian North Sea Fleet attended the two hours of joint training.¡±


    Suh Min-seok reported the result of the joint training to Youngho.


    ¡°But what kind of training ends in two hours?¡±


    ¡°The North Sea Fleet didn¡¯t demonstrate much firepower and had no icebreaker.¡±


    A nuclear-powered cruiser was a warship that had enough strength to break the ice.


    The Russian Navy must have hurried back not to overpower the engine for breaking the ice.


    The joint drill was only an excuse and was intended to watch Kazakhstan¡¯s Aegis destroyers¡¯ capabilities.


    ¡°The Russian Navy must have not revealed its firepower because of the financial burden.¡±


    ¡°Our Navy showed a variety of firepower demonstrations, including missiles.¡±


    Commander Jun would have shown all sorts of weapons.


    This was a great opportunity to demoralize the Russian navy, so it could not be overlooked.


    He also needed to show that he was authorized tounch expensive missiles without hesitation, so to show that he could use such firepower at will in the field if there was a situation.


    ¡°There is now a free passage for the Kazakh Navy in the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°So from now on, can our warships could go around at any time?¡±


    ¡°Is it a normal country if you treat an ally as hostile?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s strange to have an alliance with Russia.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t drained the water of Koreans.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. It¡¯s a little awkward to me.¡±


    ¡°By the way, where is Sergeenko. I haven¡¯t seen him.¡±


    Sergeenko, the Mafia boss of Krasnoyarsk, was staying in the royal territory secretly since yesterday.


    ¡°He went to take a look around the Kurdish settlements with Commissioner Kim.¡±


    ¡°Why there?¡±


    ¡°He went to see if it¡¯s a good ce for Evenki people to live as well.¡±


    ¡°Siberian nomads settle in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°There are quite a lot of Evenki people who live in the city of Krasnoyarsk. But most of them are living as lower sses and they¡¯re not treated very well.¡±


    ¡°Did Commissioner Kime for drinking yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Those two are about the same age, so they quickly became friends.¡±


    Kim Chun, who spoke fluent Russian, joined the drinking tablest night to entertain guests, but apparently he and Sergeenko got along well.


    Then, it was obvious what would have happenedst night.


    Kim Chun must have told Sergeenko to bring all the Evenki to the city.


    ¡°So he told to bring all the Evenki people.¡±


    ¡°How do you know so well? He¡¯s confident you won¡¯t oppose it, either.¡±


    ¡°Has he? Then I¡¯ll have to oppose it. I wonder how he would react.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you have to pretend that you don¡¯t know about it. If themissioner finds out that it was me who told you, I¡¯d be in trouble.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid of Commissioner Kim more than I am.¡±


    ¡°You know how he¡¯d hold a grudge for a long time once a thing goes wrong.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...Right. He acts sensitively because he means well for the royal territory and the royal family, so be generous to him. He doesn¡¯t spare himself for a job.¡±


    ¡°I know that well.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, that mafia is something.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s quite humane for a mafia. He takes care of his own people.¡±


    Min-seok also hung out with Sergeenko for a day yesterday, and how he wasplimenting him.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness. If you give the Evenk a smallnd and they will die for the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sergeenko. We do not force loyalty to all people living in the royal territory. This is where everyone lives on their own free will.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be better if there are more people loyal to the royal family?¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll be able to settle down here. I¡¯m telling you this because I¡¯ve seen Kazakh nomads going back to their nomadic life after trying to settle in cities.¡±


    It was no easy task for nomadic people who had been nomads for generations to settle in one ce.


    In a life where eating and sleeping could be solved only with livestock and leather, life in the city was more like asking to die.


    There was nothing for them to do in the city due to their short learning.


    ¡°Even though the Evenki are nomadic, they are well adapted to their residential lives. However, because of the short learning, life in the city is difficult because there are no suitable jobs. There are so many jobs here, wouldn¡¯t the problem of making a living be solved?¡±


    ¡°Hmm... Then did you ask for their will?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even have to ask. They¡¯ll trust and follow wherever I rmend.¡±


    ¡°You seem to have your kinsmen who are Evenki since you¡¯re so confident.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because it includes my men¡¯s families. My men will cheer up if their families settled in a safe ce.¡±


    ¡°You mean the Evenki people who live in the city joined the mafia?¡±


    ¡°They have no choice but to wander around in the back alley because they have to make a living somehow. I gathered them to prevent them from going astray. It¡¯s been possible because you¡¯ve helped me in many ways.¡±


    His logic was that the mafia was less bad than the back street gangster, but Youngho was not sure whether the mafia was cleaner.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember helping you much... What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Not only did you buy diamonds from me, but you gave us exclusive ess to vodka andbat food distribution, which helped us a lot.¡±


    ¡°So you haven¡¯t been involved in anything illegal?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been so busy in distribution business that I didn¡¯t have time to look at anything else.¡±


    Sergeenko¡¯s remark somehow slightly touched Youngho.


    Youngho thought he was the leader of a greedy mafia region, but he was a very humane man as Min-seok said.


    ¡°How many people are moving?¡±


    ¡°There are about 60 families right now. I bet we¡¯ll find a hundred households in no time.¡±


    ¡°Are there so many Evenki living in the city?¡±


    ¡°There are quite a few people who give up nomadic life because of Moscow¡¯s education policy. The whole family moved into the city because they couldn¡¯t leave their children city alone.¡±


    It was the result ofpulsory education conducted as part of the Russian government¡¯s policy to assimte immigrants.


    ¡°Okay, if they¡¯ve already met civilization, it won¡¯t be that difficult to settle down here. Migrate them to the royal territory at any moment. Soon, with an icebreaker at the front, our car ferry will go to the Yenisei River. The immigration documents will be prepared by our royal family, so all you have to do is to get them ready to leave.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ll pay you back for your generosity through the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Now that we¡¯re in the same boat, we¡¯re like the same family. There are plenty of jobs, so there won¡¯t be any trouble making ends meet. And there¡¯s nothing to worry about a ce to sleep right now. Isn¡¯t that right, Mr. Commissioner?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Your Highness, for starters, they can live in temporary lodgings. If they get jobs, I can show them the site for their houses.¡±


    When Kim Chun said he would even provide the site for their houses, Sergeenko was very excited. Then he carefully asked if it was possible to live as a group.


    ¡°Commissioner, may the Evenki live together?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that if you want. It¡¯s not that difficult.¡±


    ¡°Well, all we have to do is prepare the money to build houses.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. The city administration will provide housing financing. It¡¯s an interest-free, long-term loan, so if you¡¯re diligent, you¡¯ll be able to pay it back in five years. There¡¯s no ce like this in the world.¡±


    Kim Chun was anxious to show off how good the royal territory was.


    There were 1.3 million people living here, but so far they were doing well without any problems. If they were diligent, they had nothing to worry about.


    ***


    Sergeenko, who looked around the housing site the next day, looked very pleased.


    This was because Kim Chun showed a residential area near the river.


    There was also a light industrialplex nearby, makingmuting easy.


    ¡°How is the residential area that Commissioner Kim showed you? If you don¡¯t like it, tell me because there are other ces. There are many small residential areas for the Evenki people to live in.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough for people who don¡¯t have anywhere to go. It¡¯s a great blessing for the Evenki people to have a ce to move anytime. Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°I hope they like it here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they can adapt well here. In Russia, minorities don¡¯t have many choices even though Siberia is obviously and of the natives.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to help them adjust.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. Thank you. My men would love to have their families settled in a ce where there is no discrimination. Then your n can be carried out sooner.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to draw them into anything dangerous. But I¡¯d like to protect their homnd, Siberia. Please don¡¯t do anything reckless. The safety of your organization members is a top priority.¡±


    ¡°If you collide with Chinesepanies, we will have to suffer some sacrifice. We have to have a scapegoat to create a situation so that we can bring out the anger of the citizens of Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    Sergeenko was also a person who has usuallyined about Chinesepanies¡¯ illegal activities.


    When Yaniv recently promoted the Krasnoyarsk branch to a new organization and ordered him to help the Kazakh royal family, he understood what he meant at once.


    He knew all too well that the creation of a new organization would soon be a stage for testing one¡¯s capabilities.


    So he was trying to be more active and take the initiative in resolving the situation.


    ¡°First, we should delve into all the illegal activitiesmitted by Chinesepanies. This is to prepare for a conflict that could result in an intervention. And we should bring out the anger of the citizens so that they can protest against Chinesepanies.¡±


    ¡°You must have a scapegoat to do that. That¡¯s how we can promote conflict.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like that we have to sacrifice someone.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll try to do it in moderation so no one gets hurt.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t spare any money for this operation. We¡¯ll be happy to support you.¡±


    ¡°We also have funds for our activities.¡±


    ¡°Please distribute the funds to the families of the members who settle here. That way, the members of your organization will be loyal to you. I¡¯ll fill you in on the money you¡¯ve spent.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a royal service for the Evenki people who settle here, so please don¡¯t refuse. And arge number of our intelligence personnel will be dispatched. Please don¡¯t be upset that they interfere with you, but cooperate as much as possible. It¡¯s to make sure we seed.¡±


    ¡°Of course. We will only follow the instructions. It¡¯s easier to use your body than to use your brain.¡±

 Chapter 655 - Natural Enemy (1)

    Chapter 655: Natural Enemy (1)


    It was not until news broke that a canal project contract had been signed between the Thai government and the Chinese government that the Russian operation began.


    The reason for the dy was that Youngho wanted to make sure to move after seeing China fully get involved in the canal project.


    The project intended to use Russian anti-China sentiment without directly attacking the Chinese factory.


    The generalmand of the Krasnoyarsk operation was given to Sergeenko and Hong Sung-ki, the intelligence deputy chief, who rushed to Krasnoyarsk without looking back, saying that he was sick of sitting in his office.


    They both had known each other for a long time, so they did not have any trouble working with each other.


    ¡°Mr. Sergeenko. We need to take those guys out. They¡¯re acting too obvious. It¡¯s like advertising that they are Evenki.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you already know that they are Evenki, Deputy Chief, but Russians can¡¯t tell the difference between Asian descents at all.¡±


    ¡°There are only a few tens of thousands of indigenous people in a million people, can¡¯t the police find them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll believe it if we say you¡¯re an Evenki too.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? The Russians might consider me an Evenki?¡±


    ¡°Ask anyone walking on the street. They¡¯ll say that you¡¯re an Evenki. Frankly, I feel like you or the Duke of Kazakhstan are my own kind.¡±


    ¡°Well, you have a point.¡±


    ¡°The reason why I believe that the Evenki people will easily assimte into the royal territory when they move is because there are many Koryoins living in the royal territory. If there are people who look alike, even a new settlement wouldn¡¯t be that strange.¡±


    ¡°So those guys will be provoking Russians to start something?¡±


    ¡°Before joining the mafia, they worked for a Chinese woodworkingpany. Since they can speak a few words in Chinese, they are likely to misunderstand.¡±


    ¡°They look a little different from Chinese to me.¡±


    ¡°As I told you, Russians can¡¯t tell the difference between Asians.¡±


    It was an operation to send Evenki people to pretend to be Chinese workers in the downtown area, where Chinese workers are particrly frequented and to make trouble by picking on Russians in public. Then they would pull out after causing a scene.


    It was a childish operation, but if it happened in broad daylight, it would cause resentment among the Russians. The hot-tempered Russians would use their fists before calling the police.


    Although it was a shameful operation that stimted cross-ethnic sentiment, Hong Sung-ki had no choice but to nod his head because the operation sounded quite persuasive.


    ¡°Our agents are nearby, so they can help the operation, too.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. Next is up to the back alley gangs. If we give them a little bit of money and they¡¯d do anything we say. I¡¯ll make them pretend to be ordinary Russians and punish Chinese workers for their doing.¡±


    ¡°There will be security cameras all over the street, so be careful not to get caught.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that either. I¡¯ll have it fixed a day in advance.¡±


    It was two dayster that the incident took ce.


    A few of the mafia members from the Evenki tribe picked on people walking by in the city, and backstreet gangsters who had been hired in advance stepped up to punish the Chinese workers so that the incident would get bigger.


    However, even Chinese workers who were nearby joined them to beat up gangsters.


    The unexpected attack left the gangsters helpless.


    In the end, the Chinese workers were driven away by angry thugs who joined the scer and fled to their quarters.


    The gangsters, who thought that it was a simple job to punish Chinese workers, were left alone in the middle of a sudden attack, and they began to attack the Chinese in an indiscriminate manner, wandering around the streets.


    The Chinese also systematically fought back against gangsters who attacked them. Since that incident, the Russians¡¯ anti-Chinese sentiment grew bigger. The hostility between the two groups got even more serious.


    Frightened by the threat of life, Chinese workers carried weapons, and on the streets were frequent incidents of wielding weapons. A gang fight between Chinese workers and thugs here and there began a spate of injuries.


    The situation was expanding out of control.


    ***


    While that was going on in Krasnoyarsk, dirty battles between the mafia moved by Yaniv and Chinesepanies were going on in other regions of Russia.


    Factories invested by the Chinese government were being burned down and an armed conflict between Chinese workers and the mafia was taking ce everywhere.


    The Russian government had no choice but to intervene.


    ¡°Sergeenko, what time is the rally scheduled for tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, and I don¡¯t think the weather will give us much response. The temperature is dropping and it¡¯s expected to snow a lot until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we prepare hot coffee or vodka?¡±


    ¡°Vodka?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a rally to drive out Chinesepanies, so what would anyone say if there was some hot drink? It¡¯s not an anti-government protest, and the police won¡¯t mind.¡±


    A civic convention was nned to be held to say that the illegal activities of Chinesepanies were destroying forests.


    The cause was the Chinese workers¡¯ deviant behavior, but since that was not enough to drive out Chinesepanies out of Russia, it was to be turned into a civic movement to protect Siberia.


    The illegal activitiesmitted by Chinesepanies in the taiga forest had been aired on the Krasnoyarsk TV station, and citizens were outrageous.


    That was why Hong Sung-ki and Sergeenko decided to hold a rally to oust Chinesepanies, which was a good cause for everyone to see.


    ***


    The rally at the general stadium, which even mobilized chartered buses had provided warm drinks and vodka, was attended by many citizens.


    The city governmentid hundreds of police around the rally, fearing it might escte into a riot, but the rally ended without a single mishap.


    The request from the civic rally would be sent to the city government of Krasnoyarsk and to the presidential pce in Moscow, and the rally would be continued if there were no visible measures.


    The Moscow authorities would not be able to ignore the voices of thousands of citizens who gathered for the rally.


    The rally ignited deep-rooted anti-Chinese sentiment among Russians.


    The Russians applied a conspicuous ethnic lynch to the Chinese, and Russian daily necessity shops did not sell products or food to Chinese workers.


    Chinese workers were not even able to go out at all, and Russian workers at Chinesepanies were noting to work.


    Soon, reporters from Russian broadcasting stations came to cover the situation and many Russian people started protesting against Chinesepanies in Russia.


    -Duke. The Krasnoyarsk Operation worked. Mr. Putin has just announced that he will not stand Chinesepanies¡¯ illegal activities from now on. The mafia will soon be patriotic heroes. hahaha...


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I heard there were casualties in other areas. Is that okay?¡±


    -The issue of Krasnoyarsk has covered our problem well. I¡¯m worried that young Russians will want to join the mafia now.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably not going to happen. There is a possibility that Putin will issue a crackdown of the mafia because he does not want rtions with China to get to the worst. If he only punishes the Chinesepanies, the Chinese government will be furious.¡±


    -Then my purpose is roughly fulfilled.


    Yaniv predicted that the mafia in other regions would be wiped out, but the mafia organizations will slowly build their power back.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, I think you¡¯d better get your hands off this project now. Our purpose seems to have been achieved because the citizens have taken it.¡±


    -What do you mean? We have to be persistent until Chinesepanies withdraw.


    ¡°Now that Putin has moved, we have to step back. Any further armed conflict will only be a hindrance.¡±


    More armed conflict that disregarded public authority would only make it more difficult for the Russian government.


    The Chinese government would not just sit back and watch what happens in Russia either.


    It could be seen as ignoring Putin¡¯s authority if Yaniv acted out now.


    Officially, Putin said he would investigate the illegal activities of Chinesepanies, but if the bloodshed continued; he would think his authority was ignored and for that, he would not stand idly about it.


    ¡°Putin is a person who values authority. If he thinks his authority has been challenged, your position could falter.¡±


    -Still, it doesn¡¯t feel like we¡¯ve done enough. Russia is the only enemy of the Chinese, and if we roll our tail down here, we¡¯ll lose our face.


    ¡°It¡¯s like the situation is already over. The Russian people won¡¯t stand still anymore even if we don¡¯t do anything now. The fire is already made. You can leave it alone and it will burn brightly.¡±

 Chapter 656 - Natural Enemy (2)

    Chapter 656: Natural Enemy (2)


    While Moscow¡¯s investigation was underway, rallies were being held across Russia to oust Chinesepanies.


    In principle, the gathering of people in a socialist country should be regarded as an expression of discontent with the government, so the government would prevent such rallies from being held at the source, but this time it seemed to be neglected by the Russian government. It was intended to fundamentally block China¡¯s opposition by taking advantage of the current public sentiment.


    Putin said he would shut down anypanies thatmitted illegal activities.


    He was confident that the foreignpanies and the Kazakh royal family participating in the Trans-Siberian Railway project and various canal projects would fill in the empty spots after Chinesepanies left.


    He expected that Kazakhstan would invest in Russia and attract other foreignpanies as well since Kazakhstan was a blood ally and neighbor.


    Putin made a call himself to Youngho to discuss this issue.


    ¡°Mr. President, I know what your concerns are. But you¡¯ll have toe up with a better safety device. There is a limit to what our royal family can guarantee.¡±


    -We¡¯ve already got good examples of the canal project and the Trans-Siberian Train Project, and the taiga forest business in Siberia. Are they not enough?


    ¡°They were public projects, but individual investment is a different story. Multinational corporations seem to still find the investment environment of Russia tricky. If you apply Russian domesticw to them, they have no choice but to hesitate to invest.¡±


    It was up to Putin to create an investment environment so that multinationalpanies would invest with confidence.


    -All right, I¡¯ll enact a specialw to make sure we don¡¯t have any obstacles for foreign investment.


    ¡°Thank you for your decision. Then my friends in Europe would love it. They¡¯ll be in Russia soon.¡±


    -I¡¯ll look forward to it. By the way, how much would you invest?


    Putin asked because investment from the Kazakh royal family was necessary to attract multinationalpanies¡¯ investment.


    ¡°Our Royal Family will be in charge of the Krasnoyarsk area. However, as long as we have Chinesepanies, we¡¯ll have a limit to investment.¡±


    -You won¡¯t see Chinesepanies at least in Krasnoyarsk. I decided to ept the petition of the people there.


    ¡°Very well, then the province of Krasnoyarsk will be a measure of Siberian development in the future. I will do my best to make it happen in our royal family.¡±


    The Krasnoyarsk region was ten times the size of the Korean Penins, slightly smaller than Kazakhstan, and was equivalent to 13 percent of Russia¡¯s total area.


    The Krasnoyarsk region was where the Yenisei River flowed, which was connected with the Arctic Ocean.


    The Yenisei River was a huge river that stretched 4,130 kilometers.


    The Evenki called the river Johannessi (a big river), which was why Youngho put his efforts into the Krasnoyarsk region. A ship that sailed from the Yenisei River through the Arctic Ocean would reach Far East Asia and Europe in only seven days. It was a ce where logistics could be moved at any time even without the Trans-Siberian Train.


    And the region was estimated to have valuable resources, such as coal and iron, non-ferrous metals and oil and gas as well as Youngho¡¯s favorite gold and diamonds.


    -This incident brought the Russian people together. People¡¯s support for the government has also increased a lot.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know the Russians hated China so much.¡±


    -We¡¯re both socialist countries, but we can¡¯t mix like oil and water. Your Highness has taken the lead, and it seems to have ended well.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. All we¡¯ve done is to provide transportation and a little drink to the people who attended the rally.¡±


    -Soon, many of the Chinesepanies that have entered Russia will be withdrawn. I hope we can fill the vacancy quickly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Mr. President, we¡¯re going to collect investors and visit Krasnoyarsk soon.¡±


    -Thank you. I¡¯ll visit Krasnoyarsk if my schedule permits.


    Putin, who was known for his strong self-respect, thanked Youngho. This probably meant that it was burdensome even for him to abandon Chinesepanies.


    ***


    ¡°He left the development of all the forest region of Krasnoyarsk to our royal family?¡±


    Eriksson asked back with a look of disbelief.


    ¡°That¡¯s what Putin promised.¡±


    ¡°How can you handle all that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that big if you exclude the tundra area and the cities around the Yenisei River.¡±


    ¡°Putin¡¯s going to demand it back one day.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not ours anyway. Putin offered it because he had the confidence that he can retrieve it at any time.¡±


    ¡°Is there any other thing that caught your eye in the region apart from diamonds and forest resources?¡±


    Eriksson was pinpointing Youngho¡¯s innermost thoughts.


    ¡°There is a lot of gold. Chinesepanies, too, were digging through the forest to collect gold, and found the diamonds out of the blue.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, it was gold.¡±


    Eriksson seemed to understand Youngho¡¯s interest in the region at once when he heard about gold. Youngho was the one who could wake up in his sleep when someone mentioned gold.


    Eriksson¡¯s face made Younghough.


    ¡°Hahaha... Do I look like a crazy person?¡±


    ¡°No, I know better than anyone why you¡¯re obsessed with gold.¡±


    Kazakhstan was in the attention of the West, was also because it had a huge reserve of gold.


    Germany, not to mention Denmark, was also offering its original technologies to take gold.


    ¡°It has a lot of gold as well as minerals, so it is a very attractive ce for investment. We¡¯re not going to develop that ce only with our own strength. If we have a good business partner, we should do it together.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the development of Siberia still has plenty of time. It would be better to develop it within our reach. Wouldn¡¯t Putin hate it if we developed it too aggressively?¡±


    ¡°I have a slightly different opinion. We won¡¯t be able to develop thatrge area on its own even if a hundred years passed. It runs counter to Putin¡¯s policy of economic development as a top priority. If we attract the right investors, Putin will be relieved.¡±


    ***


    All living things in the natural world had natural enemies.


    The natural bnce was achieved by preventing the unbridled reproduction of the other creatures.


    Judging from that, it seemed that Kazakhstan was the natural enemy of China.


    This was because Kazakhstan had been putting brakes on China¡¯s businesses.


    The incident had caused most of China¡¯s development projects in Russia to stop.


    Only manufacturing-based businesses remained.


    Youngho had no idea that Russia would act so quickly.


    It was time for Youngho to show something visibly.


    So, he invited representatives from Spain¡¯s ACS Corp., France¡¯s Vinci Corp. and the U.S.¡¯s Bechtel Corp. which were the most activepanies in the Trans-Siberian Railway project.


    As the project to modernize the Trans-Siberian Train had just started, the expectations for Russia had risen considerably, so when Youngho proposed, they dly offered to invest in the Siberia development.


    This was because investing in Krasnoyarsk was not signing a contract with the Russian government, but with the Kazakh royal family.


    The representatives of thosepanies apanied by working-level officials rushed to the royal territory. The fact that they were apanied by working-level officials was that they intended to tour and survey Siberia immediately.


    ¡°Mr. Martin. It¡¯s not a direct contract with the Russian government, so the profits would be halved, are you okay with such a disadvantage?¡±


    ¡°I think of it as I¡¯m insured by the Kazakh royal family. It¡¯s hard for us to deal with the Russian government, and we don¡¯t want to invest individually anyway since Russiacks safety features for foreign investors.¡±


    Martin, CEO of Spain¡¯s ACS, said.


    It was the same for the American and Frenchpanies.


    Although Putin said to reassure foreign investors by enacting a specialw, trust issues in Russia still remained.


    ¡°Very well. Our royal family won¡¯t take any ill-gotten gains either. I will receive only ten percent of the remaining business profits except for the Russian government¡¯s shares. Instead, I promise to protect youpletely from the Russian government.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your unconventional proposal.¡±


    From the perspective of the investors, it was an unconventional proposal.


    For the Kazakh royal family, however, it was like making a profit without touching anyone else¡¯snd.


    ¡°We haven`t signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian government yet, but the Kazakh royal family already has a development area in Krasnoyarsk. If you¡¯d like to see the taiga region, I¡¯ll be happy to show you around.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness will go there in person?¡±


    ¡°I think we should do that. I think President Putin will be there, too.¡±


    ¡°President Putin is quite proactive with this business.¡±


    ¡°He is in great need of foreign investments. That¡¯s because Chinesepanies will be pulling out soon.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Will Chinesepanies step down gracefully?¡±


    ¡°Because of all the illegal activities they havemitted, they can no longer do development projects in Siberia. The public sentiment is also deteriorating and Putin is forced to let go of them.¡±


    ¡°The idea of listening to the voices of the people in a socialist country...¡±


    ¡°Putin cannot ignore the voices of the people. Although he is a dictator, he is also an elected president.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, is there any way to take over the Chinesepanies that are pulling out?¡±


    Bechtel CEO Johnson asked carefully.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be difficult. They¡¯ll probably sell thepanies because there¡¯s no guarantee ofing back.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. Please let me know if you have any information on the Chinesepanies in Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    When the staff of the royal family distributed the data collected, the representatives busily scanned it.


    This was because it was an opportunity to shorten the time to build new factories if they acquired Chinesepanies¡¯ facilities.


    All they could do at the moment in Siberia was wood and pulp businesses.


    ¡°The forests don¡¯t only have forest resources. There¡¯s a lot of other resources buried.¡±


    They did not seem to be paying attention to Youngho¡¯s words as they were looking through the data.


    Youngho, then, made a shockingment.


    ¡°Do you have resource developers in yourpany¡¯s affiliates? I wish there is apany with any experience in oil drilling.¡±


    Surprised, the representatives who had been rxing with their legs crossed, pulled themselves right in front of the table.


    ¡°Drilling for crude oil? You mean there¡¯s oil buried in Krasnoyarsk?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know yet? We¡¯re going to test-drill the tundra since we¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s a lot of oil and gas.¡±


    ¡°Then there is a possibility that there is oil in the forests of the taiga.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait and see. Are you interested?¡±

 Chapter 657 - Natural Enemy (3)

    Chapter 657: Natural Enemy (3)


    Officials at Krasnoyarsk International Airport were busy preparing for the visit of the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    This was because the Duke of Kazakhstan said he would visit Krasnoyarsk with the representative of leading globalpanies.


    Rumors had already spread that if Chinesepanies withdrew, the Kazakh royal family and Western multinational corporations would fill the vacancies.


    Despite the freezing weather, the airport was heated by media outlets that flocked from all over Russia.


    ¡°I¡¯ve invested a lot abroad, but it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve been weed like this. It¡¯s strange that Russians wee foreigners like this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s proof that expectations are that high. If you don¡¯t make an investment promise, it won¡¯t be easy to return home. Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, ourpany will never go back empty-handed, so don¡¯t worry. We can¡¯t just turn around when there¡¯s oil.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t expect too much. You might be disappointed if it turns out the reserves are less than you thought.¡±


    Johnso, the president of Bechtel Corp had been following around Youngho ever since he heard that oil was buried in Krasnoyarsk asking if he could join the project.


    The fact that crude oil could be transported to the Arctic Ocean through the Yenisei River was more attractive than anything else.


    He was attracted by the promise that the Kazakh royal family, which owned four icebreakers, would regrly deliver oil through the Yenisei River even in winter.


    ¡°We would love to have an icebreaker, but I don¡¯t know if the Russian government would open the route for us.¡±


    ¡°Russia will not be as picky as it used to be. Especially for ships belonging to the private sector, the Arctic Ocean Council promised to fully open the Arctic shipping route. If you invest in Krasnoyarsk and contribute to regional economic development, there will be no obstacles to using the Arctic Ocean and the Yenisei River.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, when will President Putin arrive?¡±


    ¡°He said he¡¯d be here in two days. We¡¯ll be free until then, so why don¡¯t we visit the taiga forest?¡±


    ¡°Can we go to the forest even in winter?¡±


    ¡°Winter is the busiest time in the taiga forest. It¡¯s the best season to work if you can stand the cold.¡±


    The word ¡®taiga¡¯ meant ¡®forest of swamps¡¯.


    The forest turned into swamps in the summer.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous because of wolves, bears, and tigers in the forest?¡±


    ¡°There is no danger at all because we have light-armored vehicles ready. If we have a chance, we should go hunting wolves together.¡±


    ¡°Can a foreigner hunt here?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong because I contacted the head of the local military unit.¡±


    Entering the forest without a gun in Siberia was tantamount to suicide.


    It was not illegal to shoot animals for self-defense.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a myth that the Kazakh royal family has taken control of this ce.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not true. We¡¯re just strangers here.¡±


    ¡°How easy is it to give all sorts of favors to strangers? It¡¯s all possible because it is the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ***


    The party could not keep their mouths shut while they toured the forest along the forest path, as the forest was full of all sorts of trees.


    Even after a few hours of driving, the forest was still nowhere close to the end.


    ¡°This is the taiga forest.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the tip of the iceberg. I haven¡¯t seen where it ends even by going around for hours in a helicopter. This is the forest that provides one-third of Earth¡¯s oxygen, so we shouldn¡¯t be cutting the trees down randomly.¡±


    ¡°Then, how is the Kazakh royal family logging?¡±


    ¡°We only harvest trees that have grown for more than 100 years, and we cut down trees in certain areas in the form of a belt to prevent forest fires.¡±


    It took more than a dozen years for trees to grow into a small seedling in the taiga forest.


    It would be a big mistake to think of trees growing in temperate and tropical areas.


    The trees that could be cut down included birch trees around 80 years old, cedar trees that had grown for more than 120 years, spruce trees, and pine trees.


    It was a sin against humanity to cut down hard-grown trees that withstood the cold weather seeing only one or two months of daylight a year.


    If the forests were destroyed, the Earth¡¯s lifespan would be over.


    Lt. Col. Klimov,mander of the Krasnoyarsk troops, weed Youngho¡¯s group.


    His hospitality was of utmost sincerity, as the unit had never been visited by such huge visitors before.


    ¡°Your Highness. It¡¯s an honor to have youe all this way to this ce.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time. I hope I didn¡¯t cause you a lot of trouble in this wintertime when the soldiers should rest.¡±


    ¡°No, sir. The soldiers love to have precious guests.¡±


    The soldiers must like to have Youngho since he brought gifts for them.


    They knew that when the Duke of Kazakhstan visited, they could have enoughbat rations and cigarettes.


    Serving prepared refreshments, Commander Klimov exined the state of the forest using a map.


    ¡°As you know, the development zone of the Kazakh royal family is marked with the red line. It is connected to the Yenisei River.¡±


    ¡°Is the area marked with blue the Yenisei River? How big is the width of the river that it¡¯s this huge on the map?¡±


    Martin, president of ACS in Spain, asked Klimov.


    ¡°It¡¯s broadly marked because it floods and expands in the summer. Based on the freezing winter, the river is only 10 kilometers wide.¡±


    The representatives could not shut their mouths to hear that the area was ten kilometers wide in the mid-stream area.


    Youngho added a little more to it.


    ¡°If you go down to the tundra, it¡¯s usually about 20 kilometers wide, and the river downstream near the Arctic Ocean is about 30 kilometers to 40 kilometers wide.¡±


    ¡°Is that a sea or a river?¡±


    ¡°In Siberia, everything is huge. If you have a chanceter, you could see it for yourself on a freighter.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. How long does it take from here to the Arctic Ocean?¡±


    Johnson, president of Bechtel Corp, showed his interest.


    ¡°It takes about three to four days. It¡¯s so much fun when you fish on board that you won¡¯t know that much time has passed.¡±


    ¡°Have you traveled there yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only been to the downstream. I went there with my crew to explore the tundra.¡±


    Everyone looked at Youngho with wonder.


    They were surprised that Kazakhstan¡¯s top official went to explore the rough ce himself.


    It was because they had had a lot of trouble beforeing to Siberia in the middle of winter.


    They reluctantly followed as the Duke of Kazakhstan asked, but they originally intended to send only working-level officials.


    This was a reminder of why Kazakhstan had be a strong country.


    ¡°Your Highness. I think we need that experience. Please create an opportunity for us.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to suffer that much. We have video recordings, so if you look at them, you can experience them indirectly down the tundra and Yenisei River.¡±


    ¡°Is it hard for you to experience it yourself?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d need arge expedition team, and you¡¯d have to have the strength to withstand long journeys. If you¡¯re willing to take it, I¡¯ll take you myself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can.¡±


    Johnson, who was close to being overweight, announced his intention to give up early.


    On the other hand, Martin, president of ACS in Spain, had his eyes glistened.


    He thought there was something about Youngho¡¯s visit to the tundra.


    ¡°I want to experience it in person at any time. Give me a chance.¡±


    ¡°When the investment is decided, any time will be fine. I also have friends from the Evenki tribe there.¡±


    ¡°Do you know the natives, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little acquainted. They are pure people who live far from civilization. They live off of reindeers.¡±


    They did not seem to believe Youngho¡¯s words. He wondered how they would react if they learned that the Mafia families from the Evenki tribe were moving to Kazakhstan.


    ***


    After touring around the forest, they rushed to downtown Krasnoyarsk.


    This was because Putin arrived a day earlier than scheduled.


    Three civil-use armored vehicles carrying Youngho¡¯s group tried to enter the city, but the inspection was beginning at the entrance.


    With Putin¡¯s arrival, the city was heavily guarded.


    Although traffic to and from the gate was moving slowly, cars carrying Youngho¡¯s group were speeding along the streets, guided by a police patrol car.


    Bechtel¡¯s president, Johnson, looked worried as he saw hundreds of police and soldiers walking around heavily armed.


    ¡°Your Highness. Does Russia have terrorism, too?¡±


    ¡°There are Chechen rebel attacks now and then. It¡¯s been a little slow these days.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they target foreignpanies or factories?¡±


    It was a concern for foreign entrepreneurs.


    ¡°That¡¯s not happening, so don¡¯t worry. Even if there was a terrorist attack, it was mainly in the border area of Moscow. The rebels are quiet these days. I think they¡¯ve lost their strength.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another problem with Russia.¡±


    Everyone was silent at Johnson¡¯s remark. He seemed to have met an unexpected ambush while dreaming of a rosy future. Youngho¡¯s heart sank when he saw their faces.


    It was like a red light was on for foreign investment. Any problem in the consortium could be resolved together, but the Kazakh royal family could not stop terrorism. Russia was a country that had so many conflicts and disputes between people that nothing was predictable. From Chechnya, which was famous for terrorism, to Ukraine, it was a ce where terrorism was rampant.


    ¡°Your Highness, are the officials in Krasnoyarsk transparent?¡±


    It was a difficult question to answer because the Kazakh royal family was also offering some bribes to the authorities. When Youngho hesitated, he asked again, ¡°Is it still a ce where bribes are rampant?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s less than the rest of Russia, but the officials wouldn¡¯t dare to ask directly. It¡¯s embarrassing to say it, but the Kazakh royal family also has been paying the officials a little money. You have to think of it as lubricant here. Think of it as a tribute to the underpaid bureaucrats. It¡¯s different from the state business, so we can¡¯t do anything about it.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the mafia here? I¡¯ve heard rumors that the mafia has symbiotic rtionships with bureaucrats.¡±


    It was a ce where rotten bureaucrats and mafia lived together. However, Youngho had much to say about the mafia members. This was because the mafia here was like Youngho¡¯s hands and feet.


    ¡°In Russia, the mafia and bureaucrats are natural enemies but have symbiotic rtionships, but the mafia here is a natural enemy of bureaucrats.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The mafia here is the one that scolds officials who are in collusion with Chinesepanies. The Mafia in Krasnoyarsk is special. It¡¯s getting pretty good reviews from citizens. Mafia members are cleaning up all the back alleys and gangsters, so they are more trusted than the police.¡±


    ¡°You mean the mafia even acts as the cop?¡±


    ¡°The mafia makes order in the back alleys that are not within a public authority. It happens often in Russia, and I¡¯m not proud of it, but the Mafia of Krasnoyarsk is on the Kazakh royal family¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the Kazakh royal family has joined hands with the mafia?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. Think of it as being under our control. They will also be of great help to your business.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to bribe the mafia as well as the bureaucrats.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need that because we¡¯re only in a business rtionship with the mafia here. The mafia sells vodka andbat food produced by the royal family exclusively. If officials make excessive demands, let the mafia know, and it¡¯ll be solved right away.¡±


    ¡°What a strange ce.¡±


    ¡°This is Siberia. It has its ownws, so it¡¯s more convenient to do business after you get used to them.¡±


    ¡°Is there anotherw in Siberia?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m disappointed that the CEOs who want to do business in Russia don¡¯t know thews of this area.¡±


    Everyone stared at Youngho not knowing what he was talking about.

 Chapter 658 - The Black Water of Tundra (1)

    Chapter 658: The ck Water of Tundra (1)


    ¡°The schedule has changed so quickly that I¡¯ve confused you. You nned a wolf hunting, but it¡¯s canceled because of it? Then why don¡¯t we go on a brown bear huntingter in Kamchatka? It¡¯s my gesture of apology.¡±


    The CEOs had agreed to go on a wolf hunting almost forcibly, but their faces were bleached white at Putin¡¯s remark.


    Seeing their faces of disapproval, Putin seemed to ask Youngho for an exnation.


    ¡°Mr. President, they have never hunted before.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ll guide you. To catch the brown bear, you need the guidance of an experienced person.¡±


    Putin did not deliberately propose a bull hunt to make an impression, but it was rather a gesture of goodwill.


    If they knew that there were people standing in line to go hunting with Putin, they would have toply immediately, but everyone was hesitating, which made Putin wonder.


    It was because presidents of multinationalpanies felt burdened by the fact that they were meeting Putin. They were leading the multinational conglomerate, they were the ones who judged everything by business, not by any means politically motivated.


    They were professional managers, not owners.


    ¡°Then, you could build your experience here with a wolf hunting and then go to Kamchatka.¡±


    The idea of bear hunting in Kamchatka following wolf hunting meant Putin was willing to maintain asting rtionship with the CEOs.


    For Putin, he was asking to invest in Russia indirectly, giving up his pride.


    At Youngho¡¯s nce, Bechtel¡¯s Johnson responded quickly, ¡°I would be happy to join the hunting in Kamchatka if your Excellency would allow me to.¡±


    Then Putin looked pleased.


    To apany him to Kamchatka for hunting also meant that he would invest.


    As the atmosphere matured, Youngho made a remark.


    ¡°Mr. President. If you allow thesepanies to sail through the Yenisei River to the Arctic Ocean, the investment would be even more worthy for them.¡±


    ¡°The Yenisei River is a midpoint in Russia, so I¡¯m cautious... Is that a prerequisite for investment?¡±


    Putin was cautious because it was directly linked to Russia¡¯s security.


    ¡°Not necessarily. I¡¯m proposing that the Trans-Siberian Railway project will achieve its original purpose if the logistics are dispersed through the Yenisei River.¡±


    The Trans-Siberian Railway should focus on the role of an aorta linking the East to the West. The sess of the Trans-Siberian Railway project was in shortening logistics travel time. However, if the logistics from Krasnoyarsk were involved in the shipment, the logistics move would naturally be dyed. If multinationalpanies carried outrge-scale investments, logistics would inevitably increase.


    ¡°You have a point. It doesn¡¯t fit the purpose of modernizing the Trans-Siberian Railway, but we can¡¯t ignore the military¡¯s concerns.¡±


    ¡°I know what your concerns are about. Please remember that the Kazakh Royal Navy is also active in the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    Youngho meant that the navy would y a role as an ally.


    The two countries even conducted joint drills in the Arctic Ocean, and Putin would know what Youngho meant.


    ¡°If you had judged so, you would have looked at it from multiple angles. I¡¯ll try to persuade the military.¡±


    Putin, who wielded absolute power, also controlled Russia¡¯s military. His remark was a politicalment. He meant that since he would boldly give up the most sensitive security area, he wanted to see something in return from the CEOs as well.


    ¡°Mr. President, the three representatives apanied the working-level officials on their visit.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You visited the working groups together?¡±


    That meant concrete investment was underway.


    ¡°The investment in Krasnoyarsk will be carried out as nned. We also n to expand our investment to other provinces as long as there is a usible investment environment.¡±


    Putin¡¯s lips twitched at Youngho¡¯s words. He was very satisfied.


    ¡°Okay. The door is always open in Russia. We¡¯ll create the investment environment as you want. I¡¯m going to make you say it¡¯s better than any other country.¡±


    When Putin¡¯s unconventional promises came out of his mouth, everyone¡¯s face brightened.


    The remark came from the mouth of the nation¡¯s most powerful man, and no one would doubt it. In Russia, no one would go against Putin.


    The officials present at the meeting seemed to be diligently taking notes of Putin¡¯s words, so there seemed to be tangible action soon.


    ***


    The first face-to-face meeting with Putin seemed to have ended well, though it would be a surprise to know Putin¡¯s desire to dream of the tsar.


    It remained to be seen how long Putin would keep today¡¯s promise, but Youngho only hoped he would not disappoint foreign investors who would strengthen his power.


    As there were even multinationalpanies involved, Putin would not be greedy for the time being.


    ¡°Putin doesn¡¯t makepromises easily. This unconventional promise proves that foreign investment is urgent. If we invest in such a situation, the Russian government will not disappoint us. You¡¯ve already preempted Russia. Make the most of this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°If the Kazakh royal family takes the lead, we willply without saying anything.¡±


    ¡°I told President Putin that I would take over the Chinesepanies in Krasnoyarsk, so I relieved him of the political burden. That¡¯s why I think it¡¯s better to keep the scale of the lumbering business that Chinesepanies have been doing.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any other ns?¡±


    ¡°I would like to rmend a project that can maximize your business interests and actually help Russia.¡±


    Nothing was better than the development of oil fields to achieve noticeable results right away. Of course, there was a chance of failure, but Youngho had faith in its sess.


    ¡°You mean the oil field development?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It is reported that the oil is buried where the taiga forests meet the tundra. The natives spotted smelly ck liquids everywhere.¡±


    It was quite believable because the local mafia, Sergeenko, told him.


    The Evenki people lived in Siberia alone for more than a dozen centuries. They followed the reindeers around, so they knew Siberia better than anyone else.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d like to check right away, but is that possible? I can send a survey team to see if there is crude or not.¡±


    ¡°You can do as much as you like. Just now, there¡¯s a car ferry of the Kazakh royal family on standby. If you take a light armored vehicle with you on the ship, you won¡¯t have much trouble moving around. Our staff and the Evenki people will guide you.¡±


    ¡°Is the car ferry equipped with the ice-breaking function?¡±


    ¡°An ice-breaking car ferry is essential to travel through the frozen Caspian Sea and the Russian Canal in winter.¡±


    ¡°You were preparing thoroughly to develop Siberia. I¡¯m sorry we seem to be riding for free.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a difficult decision, and I¡¯ll serve you that much. It would be nice to wait for a dedicated icebreaker to arrive, but let¡¯s try the ferry first since our schedule is tight.¡±


    The Yenisei River in the middle of winter was as thick as the Arctic Ocean, but they would have no problem navigating. They could sail only to the point where the ship could navigate, and from there, they could reach the destination by using a light armored vehicle.


    The ferry, which would carry the Evenki people who would move to the royal territory, was waiting for the private icebreaker to arrive, so Youngho was going to utilize it


    There were no airfields in remote parts of Siberia, and there was no way to replenish the oil even if people tried to use a helicopter, so they had no choice but to usend routes near their destination after traveling on the Yenisei River.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave the survey to the survey team, and let¡¯s go for a wolf hunting with Putin.¡±


    ¡°He must be so busy with national affairs. Would he have time for leisurely wolf hunting?¡±


    ¡°The Russian government will take care of it. In Russia, no one can fault Putin for his hobby. Now you have a chance to get close to Putin, so make sure you make the most of it. Just hunting with Putin makes you someone who can¡¯t be touched in Russia.¡±


    ¡°I think we are in a strange country.¡±


    ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? This is Russia. If you try to understand it by Western standards, you will never understand.¡±


    ***


    The hunt in the forests of taiga, which was forced by Putin¡¯s suggestion, ended well.


    The CEOs of multinationalpanies with no hunting experience had to be satisfied with watching without even touching their guns.


    It was because Putin¡¯s bodyguards would not let them near their guns after learning that they were beginners. It was to protect Putin from safety idents.


    However, for the presidents of the multinationalpanies, it was still a meaningful trip since they could build friendship with Putin.


    After the hunting, there was an exchange of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Kazakh royal family and the Russian government on the development of Krasnoyarsk. Multinationalpanies were mentioned in the MOU.


    Although the Kazakh royal family was in charge of the business, ACS in Spain, Vinci in France and Bechtel in the United States were given the status of observer.


    ¡°Your Highness, we seem to have unexpectedly qualified as observers.¡±


    ¡°We believe that oil exploration is impossible without your help, so we inserted yourpanies¡¯ names to jointly develop it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for letting us participate.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve got you involved because I might be in trouble for being too greedy.¡±


    The reason why he opened the tundra¡¯s crude oil without monopolizing it was because the Russian government or Putin would not treat the consortium poorly, as it was a collection of differentpanies.


    ¡°Your Highness. Why are you so careful, even though Kazakhstan¡¯s national power has be stronger?¡±


    ¡°Has there been good results historically when a nation took advantage of the difficult situation in its neighboring country? If it¡¯s important to us, it¡¯s important to them. History has taught us how coveting other countries could end up in a conflict between the people of the two countries. I think anything should be done at the proper level. If you find something you can¡¯t handle, it¡¯s better to bury it in the ground for each other¡¯s good.¡±


    The reason why Youngho said this to representatives of multinationalpanies was that he warned them not to be too greedy to go long in Russia. Evenpanies that sought profits should do it properly concerning the time and ce.


    ¡°I¡¯m learning a lot from you today.¡±


    ¡°A professional manager shouldn¡¯t get that kind of realization. Don¡¯t you have to y for the benefit of the shareholders, no matter what you do?¡±


    ¡°Ridiculous benefits are always followed by responsibility. I think that¡¯s a counterweight to the interests of the shareholders.¡±


    ¡°If all three of you think that way, business will go smoothly in Krasnoyarsk. I wish you a long business life in Russia. You won¡¯t be ostracized by the Russians in other provinces of Russia if you do business with that kind of mindset. Russians are hot-tempered but surprisingly vulnerable to affection. They¡¯re quite naive in that sense. Anyway, keep in mind that there arews in Russia, and there arews in Siberia.¡±

 Chapter 659 - The Black Water of Tundra (2)

    <h4>Chapter 659: The ck Water of Tundra (2)</h4>


    The illegal activities of Chinesepanies had snowballed as the investigation progressed.


    The area of the taiga forest that was destroyed by the Chinesepanies to collect diamonds was about 32 square kilometers. Such an area was about four times the size of Yeouido in Korea.


    Every part of the earth was overturned, making it almost impossible for nts to grow in the future.


    Once damaged, the forests would take more than hundreds of years to be restored, as the cold weather turned the soil into acidic soil.


    In such a poor environment, it was almost impossible to restore a destroyed forest.


    It was Lt. Col. Klimov, who was punished as he failed to prevent illegal activities of Chinesepanies in the forest. Whatever the reason, what excuse would he have when he had not performed his original duties properly?


    Not only the military unit but also all Krasnoyarsk officials who turned a blind eye to the illegal activities of Chinesepanies had been subject to punishment.


    Klimov, who was desperate, asked Youngho for help, but he was unable to do anything about it. It was because Youngho was the one who encouraged Putin to punish Chinesepanies thatmitted illegal businesses in Russia, and a scapegoat was needed to drive Chinesepanies out of Krasnoyarsk.


    In order to quell the Chinese government¡¯s bacsh, Russia needed to show that even Russian officials and authorities were equally punished.


    Klimov had umted some wealth by supplying diamonds and fur to the Kazakh royal family, but he could not stop here.


    He was begging Youngho to spare him from stepping down from his position.


    ¡°Your Highness, what should we do about Lt. Col. Klimov? He keeps calling us.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a mess, too. If he holds out more, he could be subject to judicial action, but he doesn¡¯t know when to stop.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s asking to get a hold of you.¡±


    ¡°He could open a usible cafe in Moscow with the money he¡¯s earned like he wanted. I told him that if he keeps being clingy like this, his subordinates will also get hurt, but it looks like he¡¯s losing his mind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve told him that too, but he believes you can save him. He¡¯s been begging for three more years in his seat. What should I do?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just crazy for money. Tell him to take off his uniform quietly if he doesn¡¯t want to lose everything he has. If he really wants to stay there, let me know that we¡¯ll employ him in one of our business sites.¡±


    ¡°What would you use a rotten Russian soldier for? Considering that he¡¯s been condescending to be a regionalmander, I¡¯d like to sue him. He¡¯s probably siphoned off quite a lot of diamonds.¡±


    ¡°Of course. He¡¯d be a fool if he hadn¡¯t thought about selling them himself. The recent drop in supply may be due to that reason. You didn¡¯t know that?¡±


    ¡°Did you already know?¡±


    ¡°Secretary Suh Min-seok, wouldn¡¯t you do the same if you were in his shoes?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Suh Min-seok just blinked his eyes. He must be agreeing with his remark.


    ¡°So, begging for three more years probably means that he wants to fill his other pocket with diamond stones.¡±


    ¡°Give him thest warning, and if he still doesn¡¯t listen, then we should scare him by saying we¡¯d be taking special measures.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    It was time to break off the link with Klimov.


    After the Chinesepanies withdrew from Krasnoyarsk, the whole taiga forest was in charge of the Kazakh royal family, so Youngho could secure diamonds without having to lean on the local military¡¯s power.


    However, it did not mean that he was nning to engage in illegal activities such as China, but enough quantities of such stones for industrial use could be obtained just by collecting stones in the streams or swamps with human hands.


    Youngho¡¯s ultimate goal was not diamonds but gold.


    It was possible to collect as much alluvial gold as possible if a special vessel was used to sweep the gold scattered along the Yenisei River.


    It was a way to get gold without damaging the forest.


    ***


    It was thest weekend of January when representatives from Spain¡¯s ACS Corp., France¡¯s Vinci Corp., and the U.S. Bechtel Corp. re-visited the royal territory.


    They rushed as the identity of the ck water at the entrance to the tundra area was revealed. The ck liquid that leaked to the surface was crude oil.


    It was believed that arge amount of crude oil was buried, although precise drilling operations were still needed for urate measurement.


    They were eager to test drill the area immediately.


    This was the perfect time to move and excavate equipment during the winter, but it would look suspicious to the Russian government if the oil field was found shortly after signing the memorandum of understanding.


    Even if it did not show such a hint, Youngho could not tell how the Russian government would react to the existence of the oil field. It was not enough to get things done just by trusting a delicate memorandum of understanding (MOU).


    Even after exchanging a memorandum of understanding, the contents of the contract could change depending on the oue of the negotiations, and sometimes the contract could be scrapped because the MOU was not legally binding.


    ¡°I know you are all eager, but I just exchanged a memorandum of understanding. We need to get started after we sign a proper contract or the Russian government can step back.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. That¡¯s why we rushed to see you. We believe the Russian government will also be in a hurry if we deposit funds to take over Chinesepanies and investment for Krasnoyarsk at the Alfa Bank in Moscow.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. Please remain silent until the contract is signed.¡±


    ¡°So we can¡¯t deploy the probe?¡±


    ¡°We can do that as much as we want. Pre-survey before signing a contract is also necessary, but you shouldn¡¯t look like you¡¯re in such a hurry. Don¡¯t forget that Russia is a socialist country. A memorandum of understanding could always be a piece of paper.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I almost missed the most important thing in my hurry. That¡¯s why you always have the upper hand against Russia.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big know-how. It would make sense to remember that Kazakhstan belonged to the Soviet Union. It would get you if you think ofmunist countries on the same page as ordinary countries. It¡¯s not like the oil field in Siberia is going anywhere, so let¡¯s just take it easy. First, prepare exploration equipment. We¡¯ll carry them to Siberia and set them for use.¡±


    ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll do as you say.¡±


    ¡°Since you are here, why don¡¯t you take a look around Kazakhstan? It¡¯d be better than going back empty-handed.¡±


    They were professional managers who needed to show immediate results to shareholders, so they were quick to see what Youngho meant.


    Their faces were brightened.


    ¡°Is there anything ourpanies can do in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just as resource-rich as Russia, so what can¡¯t you do?¡±


    Although thepanies brought in to run businesses in Siberia, their investment capacity was better than that of a decent country.


    Youngho was not going to let this opportunity slip.


    ¡°If you rmend something, I won¡¯t say no.¡±


    Kazakhstan was a much more stable investment destination than Russia.


    It was a democratic country that investors would not have to fear losing their investment.


    ***


    Youngho introduced the region of Mangystau to the representatives of multinationalpanies. It was an oil field in the southwestern part of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan.


    It was home to Kashagan, thergest oil field found in the world in thest ten years.


    ¡°I was going to leave it to major energypanies, but I¡¯d like to present this to you as a gift because you made a bold bet in Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, no matter how great the Siberian oil field is, would it be bigger than this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to be excited. I¡¯m going to give you the right to develop one district each.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have to extract as much crude oil as you can for economic development?¡±


    ¡°Economic development is good, but the reason for doing so is for the Caspian Sea¡¯s environment for future generations. We¡¯ve got a lot of oil onnd, so I don¡¯t want to hurt the ocean¡¯s environment anymore.¡±


    He said it was for environmental conservation, but the bigger reason was to prepare for the oil crisis in the future.


    Considering the current oil consumption currently, it was expected to be exhausted in 50 years, so the government was trying to save oil.


    It would be fortunate ifrge oil fields were found in Siberia or elsewhere, but after a while, oil would disappear from the Earth. The U.S. was also buying crude oil from outside, preferably without producing its own for the future.


    ¡°By the way, this is not the only business you can do in Kazakhstan.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes twinkled in expectation.


    ¡°But I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re only interested in oil fields, so I don¡¯t know if I can rmend it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, that¡¯s not true. A businessman would say yes to any business that would make him money.¡±


    ¡°How about arge tourist resort, then?¡±


    ¡°Is there a ce in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°You know that Kyrgyzstan is a federation of Kazakhstan. There is a ce called the Eastern Alps. It¡¯s a lot more beautiful than the Alps, I think.¡±


    Kyrgyzstan was a ce that was looked away because of itsck of enough tourism infrastructure and essibility.


    ¡°You won¡¯t regret it when you see it. I¡¯m telling you because I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d me me for not introducing it to you ahead of time.¡±


    When the Duke who usually did not boast of things rmended it with a confident face, Polo, CEO of the Frenchpany Vinci, asked if he could see the site immediately.


    Then representatives from ACS Corp. and Bechtel Corp. also showed interest. They did not want to miss a good opportunity.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a resort business, Bechtel has a lot of know-hows with it. The resort businesses at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii and the Rocky Mountains are also our work.¡±


    Martin, CEO of Spain¡¯s ACS, was also added.


    ¡°As for the resort business, ourpany is number one. Most of the resorts along the Mediterranean have been built by us.¡±


    ¡°You two didn¡¯t look very interested, but now you want to join? I don¡¯t know if you know Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country. Our Vinci group has built ski resorts and resorts all over the Alps. It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that we¡¯re specialized in mountainous areas.¡±


    Polo, CEO of Vinci, made the remark as if he had taken the lead.


    Representatives of multinationalpanies werepeting before they even saw the site.


    Given that representatives from eachpany werepeting against each other, it was likely thatrge investments would be made in Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°Please calm down because there are too many ces to develop a resort. It¡¯s not toote to decide after visiting Kyrgyzstan. The royal family has already begun to develop the resort, but I¡¯d like to give you opportunities since we¡¯re in the same boat in Siberia.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s words were like adding fuel to the fire.


    Representatives of eachpany were more interested in the business as they knew that the Kazakh royal family did not invest anywhere.


    From the railway project between Azerbaijan and Iran to the canal project in Russia, to the acquisition of Greek port of Piraeus, to the Trans-Siberian Railway, and to the Arctic Ocean project, there had always been the Kazakh royal family at the center of global businesses.

 Chapter 660 - Switzerland in Central Asia (1)

    <h4>Chapter 660: Switzend in Central Asia (1)</h4>


    Kyrgyzstan was a mountainous region where 80 percent of itsnd was higher than 2,000 meters above sea level.


    Comparing its height with mountains of Europe, the Alps¡¯ highest peak, Montnc, was 4,807 meters, but Kyrgyzstan¡¯s highest peak, Pobeda Peak, was 7,439 meters.


    The existence of high mountains that could only be seen in the Himyas was also a great thing to boast about, and small andrge mountainkes and streams of the valleys from the icecap were also beautiful.


    Despite such a beautiful nature, Kyrgyzstan was unknown to the world.


    With four distinct seasons and an average annual rainfall of 700 millimeters, there were distinctively dense forests in Central Asia as neighboring countries did not have such amount of precipitation.


    In addition, there was ake called ¡®Issyk Kul¡¯, which was the size of Chungcheongbuk-do in Korea, which was the secondrgestke after Titicaca in South America and 12 timesrger than Leman in Switzend.


    That was why this ce was nicknamed as the Switzend of Central Asia because of its great natural environment.


    It waspared to Switzend which was famous for its natural environment, but in Youngho¡¯s view, Switzend was nowhere near as beautiful as Kyrgyzstan.


    The heads of multinationalpanies who toured such ces on the royal nes looked totally incredulous.


    They wonder why such a beautiful ce was not known to the world.


    Some even joked that if it were known, the number of people visiting the Alps would be halved.


    Then when Youngho invited them to the royal vi by the Issyk Kul Lake, they could not close their mouths.


    They were overwhelmed by ake asrge as the sea could be.


    It was also surprising that the basin, which was the edge of theke, was sparsely dotted with nomadic yurts, and that the mountain range that was surrounding it like a folding screen was preserved in its primitive state.


    There was a small amusement facility located at one corner, but it was not enough to receive tourists, which made them even more surprised.


    If it was in the West, big resorts would have been everywhere already.


    ¡°Your Highness, it is so unfair that only people of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan enjoy the scenery of these beautiful ces. We must build entertainment facilities so that anyone cane. How on earth has it been so well preserved?¡±


    ¡°If you know why, you¡¯ll probablyugh.¡±


    When Youngho exined that the reason ce was preserved so far was because the ce was restricted to be used as a site for torpedo tests during the Soviet time, everyone was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Well, we should thank the Soviet authorities for their job, then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a great thing to be thankful for now, but it would¡¯ve been horrible news for the people who lived around thiske at that time.¡±


    Lake Issyk Kul was rich in fish resources.


    After thousands of years of fishing and nomadic activities near thergeke and basin, the natives were all driven away under the pretext of protecting military facilities.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve been to all the good ces, but there won¡¯t be a few ces left on Earth where nature is so well preserved like this.¡±


    ¡°Kyrgyzstan has been a poor country with less than 1,000 dors per capita ie. Under such circumstances, would a view like this has been a matter to the people? It¡¯s been preserved so far because they couldn¡¯t afford to develop it. It¡¯s proof that life in Kyrgyzstan is just tight.¡±


    ¡°I heard Central Asia was poor, but I didn¡¯t know it was as poor as some ces in Africa.¡±


    ¡°Socialism has made it that way. In a ce where corruption is rampant and politics is a mess, it¡¯d be even admirable that a country¡¯s been maintained. It¡¯s been a lot better since it became a federation of Kazakhstan.¡±


    It was not long after being incorporated into a federal state that per capita ie approached 10,000 dors.


    The government¡¯s efforts to reduce foreign debt and defense spending to put them into state-run facilities had spurred economic revitalization. Attracting various light-industry nts to increase jobs, and realizing wages also contributed to raising national ie although the ie level was still less than half as much as that of the Kazakh people.


    The heads of multinationalpanies were excited to start the Kyrgyzstan resort business right away.


    If essibility was improved, it would be a greater tourist destination than Switzend.


    The conditions they hade up with were the expansion of basic infrastructure, such as roads and airports that would allow ess to mountain resorts.


    Youngho dly promised their conditions since roadworks were already underway to develop gold mines scattered in mountainous areas.


    ***


    All of the heads of the multinationalpanies wanted to develop resorts around the Issyk Kul Lake.


    It was understandable that they were greedy for the Issyk Kul Lake.


    As the Terskey tau Mountains on the south side of theke and the Kunkey tau Mountains on the northside rose 3,000 to 3,600 meters above the surface of the water, and the icecap was a spectacr sight.


    Theke was 177 kilometers east-west and the widest part was 57 kilometers long, so the scenery was hidden everywhere, and it was 1,600m above sea level, so it was cool in summer and warm in winter due to the effects of hot springs.


    This meant that water sports could be enjoyed with all weather conditions.


    The Issyk Kul Lake and its surrounding basin were 250 kilometers east-west and 100 kilometers wide, and there was plenty to eat as the native people who returned were not only fishing but also growing fruits and vegetables, and raising livestock.


    Lake Issyk Kul had all the necessary conditions for a perfect resort.


    The multinationalpanies that had done a lot of resort construction work could judge exactly when they could recover their investments.


    ¡°I¡¯ll believe it if you say it¡¯s the sea because of the waves. It would be spectacr to float a yacht here. I think we need to build arge-sized resort from the start.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying all threepanies are going to build resorts here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just one corner of theke. Even with dozens of resorts, we can still have a huge operating profit.¡±


    The transportation to the Issyk Kul was already fully prepared with railroads and roads, and its basic infrastructure for electricity and telmunications were rtively good.


    It was also close to Almaty, Kazakhstan¡¯srgest tourist destination, so linked tours were possible.


    ¡°Will globalpanies only invest in the Issyk Kul Lake?¡±


    ¡°How could we? In the mountainous region like this, you need a ski resort toplete the tour. I¡¯m thinking of a four-season resort on Pobeda Peak.¡±


    The remark was made by Polo, a representative of the Frenchpany Vinci.


    Kyrgyzstan¡¯s resort investment project was a sess because he first wanted to join, and he was also at the forefront today.


    Sure enough, presidents of ACS in Spain and Bechtel in the U.S. also shed their eyes.


    The remark was thrown by the head of apany that had done resort business at the Alps. They seemed to trust his decision.


    Pobeda Peak was Kyrgyzstan¡¯s highest mountian peak, reaching 7,439 meters above sea level. Unlike the 7,000-meter peaks in the Himyas, the mountain had a gentle slope, making it an eligible area for a ski resort. The only problem was that the rough terrain made it difficult to ess.


    ¡°If essibility is a problem, let¡¯s see if we can put the rails.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, will you open a railway for the resort?¡±


    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t put a road on that rough terrain.¡±


    Switzend also built rail tracks rather than dangerous roads on steep mountains, and thanks to the rail tracks, tourists enjoyed a safe trip. Compared to that, constructing a railway to Pobeda Peak was no big deal.


    Just as in Kazakhstan, the Sovient Union build cob-web like railroads everywhere in Kyrgyzstan to move various resources. It would be resolved if the railway line, which was connected to the city of Karakol, was extended.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not possible to put a railway, I¡¯m thinking of installing a simplified airport in the ski resort. Moving on a propeller ne will save us time and we can see the spectacr view of the Tianshan Mountains from the sky.¡±


    Propeller nes had slow speed, but they couldnd and take off anywhere because they did not need long runways. Because safety was guaranteed, it would be a great tourist attraction.


    Traveling around the Tian Shan Mountains on a light ne would also be fun to experience here. It would feel like going back to the past in a time machine.

 Chapter 661 - Switzerland in Central Asia (2)

    Chapter 661: Switzend in Central Asia (2)


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that Kazakhstan was producing propeller airnes.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re working together with Cessna to make sure there¡¯s nothing wrong with our safety. The propeller you were on yesterday was also manufactured in Kazakhstan.¡±


    At the mention of producing propeller nes which was a declining industry, Polo, CEO of Vinci, was looking at Youngho with a curious look.


    The Duke of Kazakhstan was a character who suddenly appeared as if he had fallen from the sky one day.


    Creating a constitutional monarchy in the 21st century was a novelty, and the leadership that made Kazakhstan the leader of developing countries in a short period of time was also a mystery.


    Polo was bing increasingly interested in the Kazakh royal family over time.


    When the Kazakh royal family was said to be in charge of the Trans-Siberian Railway project, he thought that Kazakhstan was ying Russia¡¯s puppet.


    However, after observing Youngho, he found that the rtionship was never like that.


    Not only did the Kazakh royal family not trust Russia, but it also provided safeguards to prevent multinationals from being penalized while making its own profits. It was obvious when Youngho made the threepanies invest in Kazakhstan, which was never a n, after attracting them to invest in Siberia.


    He had already made up his mind when he found himself being dragged around by Youngho. So was the resort business.


    Despite being able to develop and monopolize the businesses, the Kazakh royal family was attracting the threepanies, so he was wondering what Youngho was up to. He could not resist anymore, so he finally asked the question.


    ¡°Your Highness, I wonder why the royal family wants us to participate in the resort business when it can do it independently.¡±


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d wonder. The reason I¡¯m trying to get you involved is because I¡¯m trying to get more tourists toe here.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    No matter how amazing tourist attractions were created, it would be useless if there were no tourists.


    If the Kazakh royal family alone built the resorts and tourist facilities, it would be questionable if tourists from all around the world would be interested. Even if each country¡¯s broadcasting media promoted Central Asia, there was definitely a limit.


    But it would be a different story if globalpanies were investing in the resort business in Kyrgyzstan. People would think that there was something special enough to make suchpanies invest hundreds of millions of dors.


    Then, the rumors would be more and more amplified and reporters of global mediapanies woulde during the construction process to inform the world of Kyrgyzstan.


    Multinationalpanies would also promote the resort sites to save their investments, saying that Kyrgyz was better than Switzend.


    This was what Youngho was after.


    After listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, the representatives of multinational corporations were dumbfounded.


    ¡°You need us for a publicity stunt.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I wouldn¡¯t have introduced it to you if it¡¯s a bad business. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will be promoted thanks to your globalpanies, and you¡¯ll be making money. You¡¯re a very lucky person. Kyrgyz resort business will definitely be a goose thatys golden eggs.¡±


    ¡°If we hadn¡¯t visited this ce, we¡¯d have never known. I look forward to working with you.¡±


    ¡°If you join the resort business, I¡¯ll also help you. I¡¯ll do my best to make you winners in both the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Siberian Development Project.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ***


    It was a divine move to attract multinational globalpanies when an oil field was found in the tundra area in Siberia as well as persuading them to invest in Kazakhstan.


    Although the Kazakh government had invested heavily in establishing tourism infrastructure in Almaty and other cities, people around the world had been turning a blind eye to Central Asia, while only visiting Europe.


    However, after multinationalpanies showed interest in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan¡¯s Almaty became a ce of interest, too.


    It was only an hour¡¯s flight from Issyk Kul Lake and there was an international resort.


    The Frenchpany Vinci leaked to the media that it was building arge-scale resort near the Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan.


    When he said he was nning arge-scale resort in a country where people around the world were not familiar with, leading broadcasters also came to Kazakhstan to cover it.


    Rumors that not only France¡¯s Vinci but also Bechtel and ACS were investing in the resort business were enough to attract media attention.


    The media was curious about why multinationalpanies would invest in a totally unknown remote area.


    As a result, it was revealed that the Kazakh royal family was at the center, and naturally, tourist attractions in Kazakhstan were mentioned.


    ¡°Your Highness. The Tourism Bureau has released a press release. Would you like to take a look?¡±


    ¡°Our Tourism Bureau has issued a press release?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it did.¡±


    Youngho, who was looking at the data handed over by Min-seok, smiled.


    This was because the press release promoted Kazakhstan¡¯s royal family more than introducing tourist sites in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.


    In other words, the purpose of the press release was to promote the business performance of the royal family and thepanies that the royal family owned.


    It was intended to let the world know that any project invested by the Kazakh royal family was sessful.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a tour guide, it¡¯s a promotion for the royal family.¡±


    ¡°When I asked why this was distributed, the official said it was to attract more investors.¡±


    It was because otherpanies made a decision to invest because of the Kazakh royal family


    ¡°That makes sense. Whose work is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an idea of a department manager of the Tourism Bureau.¡±


    ¡°Now our officials know what business is. But aren¡¯t they bragging too much about the royal family?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s ratherte. From now on, we will actively let the world know about our royal family.¡±


    Suh Min-seok asked for permission to form a public rtions team in the secretary office of Duke.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you have done enough as a member of the internationalmunity by epting more than 1.3 million Syrian Kurds. No country in Europe has ever epted so many refugees.¡±


    ¡°We had a reason to ept the Kurds because of Jelyan, but Germany epted more than 500,000 refugeesst year even though it had no connection. In addition, we received the help of the internationalmunity when epting the Kurds.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it is important that 1.3 million refugees have been epted for whatever reason.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Oh, I thought you only thought about war.¡±


    Fatima was very pleased to see Youngho engage in the development of tourist attractions by inviting multinationalpanies to visit Kyrgyzstan.


    ¡°Huh! You are treating me like a warmonger. We traveled around European tourist attractions whenever we had a chance. That was all to prepare for this.¡±


    ¡°The public likes you because you are interested in the tourism industry. There is no other ce as beautiful as our country.¡±


    ¡°Only the north and the east are beautiful. Central and western parts are desert areas, so what is there to see?¡±


    ¡°What! Tell them how charming the semi-deserted zone is. Zeynep remembers that the night she spent in the desert was the best of her travels.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because she likes unique things.¡±


    ¡°I like the semi desert area too... Why don¡¯t you develop a desert area as a tourist item?¡±


    Youngho never dreamed that a special environment of semi desert could be a tourist attraction, ash thought only a ce with mountains,kes, and thick forests would be a good ce to visit.


    Although tourists would not flock to the area in an explosive manner, it seemed to be quite okay if there were linked products.


    If people could stay in the semi desert for a while and move to Almaty Resort, it would be a week-long travel package.


    ¡°The idea of a desert bing a tourist attraction is very refreshing. But don¡¯t women generally hate to travel to such an ufortable ce?¡±


    ¡°You should also know that women unexpectedly enjoy being wild.¡±


    ¡°Does it also apply to you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I want to go hunting and drive a four-wheeler around the desert.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe someone like you has that idea.¡±


    Youngho was surprised to hear that someone so quiet like Fatima wanted to hunt rabbits and wolves and enjoy speed driving in the desert.


    ¡°Honey, you¡¯re not stressed out these days, are you? Or do you haveints about me?¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart sank because he was wondering if he had been neglecting his family while because of his work. Sincest summer, he had been on business trips so frequently that he felt guilty.


    ¡°Hohoho... Our royal family has no problem if Leon doesn¡¯t cause trouble. In particr, I never, ever, haveints about you, so be assured.¡±


    It was strange that she emphasized ¡®never¡¯, but he did not want to dig in a matter that she just denied, so he quickly changed the subject.


    ¡°I thought you were just interested in fashion and beauty, but I¡¯m surprised.¡±


    ¡°When will you take the time to travel in the desert with me? Let me show you how wild I am.¡±


    ¡°How can a queen present her like that?¡±


    ¡°We can tell our guards and entourage to stay far away. They won¡¯t know. I¡¯m not worried because you¡¯d be near. If that worries you, don¡¯t step away an inch from me.¡±


    It was a refreshing suggestion to make a tourist attraction in the desert, but she definitely seemed to have aint when she said he should stick right next to her.


    She was saying that she would relieve umted stress while racing through the desert.


    This was a red light signal she was sending to Youngho. He needed to soothe Fatima quickly.


    ¡°You look beautiful today. I¡¯m free today, shall we have some wine in the study?¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... Why do you want to drink with me today, don¡¯t you only drink with men? Well, that doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯d like to get a little drunk today, too.¡±

 Chapter 662 - A Happy Occasion (1)

    Chapter 662: A Happy asion (1)


    Fatima¡¯s proposed tour of the desert made an unexpected oue.


    A tourism product thatbined desert experience and Caspian sea voyage and an item that allowed people to enjoy skiing on the ice of Almaty resort were sold like hotcakes.


    Such a great reception was only possible because Kazakhstan was re-illuminated by the announcement ofrge-scale resorts being built in Kyrgyzstan by global conglomerates.


    It would take years to build the resort, but the world already had a growing perception that Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were as much a ce as Switzend


    Fatima, who proposed the desert tour package, and Zeynep, who had already had experience in the desert, frequently visited the semi-deserted zone.


    It was Fatima who was gone more often than Youngho now.


    As a result, he spent most of his time babysitting with Leon.


    Leon, who made Fatima give with his troubles, was increasingly in trouble now that Youngho was taking care of him because he felt it was an opportunity as Fatima was gone.


    He insisted on flying a light airne even though he was only an elementary school student.


    ¡°Who the hell does he get that from?¡±


    ¡°Who would it be? The great Duke of Kazakhstan. I heard you were a mess in the old days.¡±


    ¡°What did I do? Who says that?¡±


    ¡°Yun-suh told me everything. I heard you lost your clothes at the beach and came back to your grandmother¡¯s house in your swimming pants only.¡±


    It was a shameful history that Youngho really wanted to erase from his life, but it was still being talked about.


    He was an elementary school student.


    Since Youngho¡¯s grandparents on his mother¡¯s side were in Gangneung, he used to nag his parents to send him every break.


    It happened when he went to Gyeongpo Beach with friends he used to hang out with when he visited his grandparents¡¯ house.


    They wasted all of their money on junk food when they were supposed to use it for the paid dressing room and shower, so they were forced to bury their clothes in the sand and y.


    Anyone could guess what would have happened next.


    They only thought of burying their clothes, but the problem was that there were no peers who clearly remembered where they had buried the clothes.


    After a lot of fun, they could not find a ce where their clothes were buried, so they wandered around the sandy beach.


    No one would ever understand how miserable it was to return home, which was a long way, wearing only swimming pants in shabby shape.


    When it got dark, he finally got home and opened the gate to his grandparents¡¯ house. Then his grandmother and Yun-suh who were eating corn in the front yard rolled on the floor inughter at the sight of Youngho.


    For Youngho, it was something he did not want to remember again, but for Yun-suh, it was a memory to share, so it seemed she had shared it with Park Jong-il.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even remember that. Yun-suh must have made it up. Man, she¡¯s good at imagining things.¡±


    ¡°No novelist could describe it as so real. Yet, are you sure you don¡¯t know who Leon gets that from?¡±


    ¡°Well, I said I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s Fatima.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let it go for now. By the way, I guess the Queen is enjoying her drive in the desert.¡±


    ¡°She said she likes wild things.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been going out with Zeyneptely, and her face looked like she feels alive. Did something fun happen?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be exciting to have so much fun when someone who¡¯s been locked up every day in the pce.¡±


    ¡°Have you noticed anything else?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by anything else?¡±


    ¡°Remember what it was like when she was pregnant with Leon.¡±


    ¡°I only remember trying to dissuade her because she was more active than ever, let alone morning sickness. In Korea, a pregnant woman would stay home, but I thought maybe women in Europe get more active when they are pregnant.¡±


    In the early stages of pregnancy, some women would turn down their favorite foods and be tempted to eat foods they did not like before, but Fatima did not have such a problem. It might have been the ring¡¯s power, but she had a healthy pregnancy period.


    ¡°How insensitive. But you still don¡¯t understand what I mean?¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute? Is she pregnant with Leon¡¯s sibling?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t dy and regret itter but call the royal physician right away. Man, this could be a celebratory asion for the whole country.¡±


    ***


    It turned out that Fatima was pregnant with the second child that Youngho had been waiting for.


    The news of the Queen¡¯s pregnancy was enough to stir Kazakhstan and all of Central Asia.


    The Queen¡¯s secretariat was extremely busy answering congrattory calls from everywhere.


    Youngho also could not hide his excitement.


    Ever since Fatima¡¯s pregnancy was revealed, she had been stuck in the royal pce.


    She could get around freely during her first pregnancy on Baku¡¯s farm, but now she was the Queen of a country and had to be in the royal pce in a calm manner.


    When Fatima became pregnant, Park Jong-il returned the ring he had been wearing, saying that there was no immediate situation for him to borrow the ring¡¯s power and it was reasonable to return it to the owner of the ring.


    Anyway, Fatima¡¯s pregnancy had given the Kazakh people another hope.


    The more heirs to the throne, the more the royal family would be secured.


    ¡°Your Highness, we have so many giftsing from all over the ce that it¡¯s hard to just pile them up.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s food, give it away to people in need and keep the rest. And don¡¯t forget to send a thank-you note in the name of the royal family to those who sent the gifts.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will do as you say.¡±


    When Min-seok turned his back to leave, Youngho suddenly remembered something and called him.


    ¡°General Secretary Suh, can you check what kind of special event other European royal families hold when the Queen is pregnant?¡±


    ¡°In the Joseon Dynasty, if there was a royal celebration, they had a special event like a state exam to recruit ranking officials... But I¡¯ve never heard of doing such a thing in Europe. Somepanies make souvenirs for royal celebrations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a happy asion, shouldn¡¯t we have to do something to reach the people so that they can remember?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s appropriate to grant special pardons to people whomitted misdemeanors?¡±


    ¡°Examine anything that will remain in people¡¯s memories. Ask the Cab if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll get down to it right away.¡±


    ***


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, so just focus on your work. I¡¯m more concerned because you¡¯re just wandering around me for no reason.¡±


    ¡°What husband in the world is going to turn outside when his wife is pregnant? You have to stay with her for the fetus.¡±


    ¡°Well, then, take me to the desert. I¡¯m a little impatient to drive through the desert.¡±


    ¡°Is that a form of morning sickness, too? You¡¯ll get all the weird morning sickness in your life.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... I think I have a unique constitution. Or it¡¯s proof that our baby¡¯s very healthy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s all because of the ring?¡±


    ¡°What effect would it have on me when Count Park has had it on until now?¡±


    ¡°No, even if you don¡¯t have a ring on you, it¡¯s possibly because you¡¯ve been around it. Either I or Leon has been near you. Zeynep also said that she¡¯s been feeling very light-weight ever since she came to the royal territory from Germany. Also, you said sometimes it feels refreshing when you sleep with Leon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is possible.¡±


    Other than the ring¡¯s reasoning, the strange morning sickness of Fatima could not be exined. It could not be described as morning sickness, but Fatima and Youngho took it as a phenomenon that only applied to the Serbian royal family.


    ¡°There will certainly be a pretty princess who looks like you. What should I name her?¡±


    ording to the Serbian royal tradition, only one prince was born and the rest were princesses. It was written in history as well.


    ¡°What if that doesn¡¯t happen? Don¡¯t expect too much.¡±


    Fatima was worried that Youngho might be disappointed when a boy was born. Frankly, Youngho would be a little disappointed if it was not a girl.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, I¡¯lle up with a feminine name because there are many great heroes with feminine names.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a name in mind?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet. If you¡¯re a princess of the Kazakh royal family, you should have a grand name.¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t be the heir to the throne, so just name her inly.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? The princess is also the heir to the throne.¡±


    ¡°We have Leon, but do you think she¡¯d have a right, too?¡±


    ¡°If Leon is not qualified as a king, I don¡¯t think we should hand over the throne to Leon.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t our royal family following the eldest son¡¯s session system?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if he has the qualities to lead a great country, he will inherit the throne, but if you pass it on to the wrong person, the royal family will be over. I can¡¯t allow Kazakhstan to descend because of the wrong king.¡±


    Maybe Youngho was expecting too much from Leon who was only an elementary school student.


    When Youngho¡¯s will seemed so determined, Fatima frowned in worry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too serious when you don¡¯t even know what Leon¡¯s quality is yet.¡±


    ¡°Although Leon is a naughty boy, I believe he can do well because he has mature sides too. But I¡¯m worried that he¡¯s getting too proud because all the people around him raised him. I hope we¡¯ll have a great Crown Princess who can control Leon. ¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you trying to find the Crown Princess already? So I¡¯m going to be a grandmother soon?¡±


    ¡°Oh, grandmother? I¡¯m just trying to give him some responsibility. Usually, boys are pretentious in front of their girls. Anyway, we should raise him strongly. Let¡¯s not spoil him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, who¡¯s talking about who? Leon keeps getting spoiled because of you.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m strict on him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no chance.¡±


    There was a reason why Fatima was teasing Youngho.


    Although Youngho always said they should be strict on Leon, he always gave in when he saw Leon¡¯s cute face.


    ¡°So, who can be Leon¡¯s bride?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to see who could be his potential wife for future¡¯s sake.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to leave it to Leon¡¯s choice, so don¡¯t even try.¡±

 Chapter 663 - A Happy Occasion (2)

    Chapter 663: A Happy asion (2)


    ¡°Your Highness, congrattions. It¡¯s the joy of the royal family and of the whole nation.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for visiting us even though you are extremely busy in this new year¡¯s season, Mr. Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I should visit the Queen. I think it¡¯s the first time that we have this kind of celebratory event since we became a constitutional monarchy.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s true. I have mixed feelings because I¡¯ve waited for this for ten years.¡±


    Youngho had a big grin on his face.


    Such congrattions were pleasant to hear at any time.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you give your people a little hope for such a happy time?¡±


    ¡°If you have any good ideas from the government, please let me know.¡±


    ¡°I think the special amnesty proposed by the royal secretariat is the best way, so far, no special pardons have been granted in Kazakhstan. If we take this opportunity to do it selectively, all the people will wee it.¡±


    ¡°Very well, please set standards for special pardons so that as many people as possible can be pardoned and reinstated.¡±


    The government officials, who visited the royal territory, were not only Prime Minister Kasim and Cab ministers but also military officials.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think each chief of staff is very busy. Is the Chinese border all right?¡±


    ¡°Our military is a royal army. No matter how busy we are, we can¡¯t skip congratting such a happy asion, and there are no Chinese weapons at the moment that will pierce the near-perfect air defensework, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Kasim showed a lot of confidence.


    The Kazakh military was an absolute loyal group to the royal family as it was the main force along with Youngho that brought down the former regime.


    Prime Minister Kasim, who was formerly a military general, was also deeply trusted by the royal family, so the military¡¯s pride was high.


    Since bing a constitutional monarchy, the military¡¯s sense of inferioritypared to Russia disappeared, as the base of the nation¡¯s self-defense had beenid out by realizing the wages of long-term service workers and modernizing barracks facilities and purchasing high-tech weapons.


    Perhaps that was why the number of military service, which had been shunned by young people, had increased dramatically, and now the regr army easily surpassed 100,000.


    The fact that the military leaders ran to royal territory immediately to hear the news of the Queen¡¯s pregnancy was also a direct indication of how much support the Kazakh royal family received from the military.


    ¡°Although China continues to provoke us, each military should be confident in any case. The secret weapon that will shock China will soon be ready.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, is the development of theser weaponplete?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be deployed soon. It¡¯s a weapon of the future that no one can imitate.¡±


    Further development was still needed forser weapons to be deployed in practice.


    Nevertheless, the reason why Youngho was loudly saying that Kazakhstan had the power to neutralize any attack was that he trusted the power of hidden tactical nuclear weapons.


    Today¡¯s remarks would soon be made known to the Chinese side as there were Chinese spies among Kazakh politicians.


    His remark was kind of a warning and a gambit.


    One might wonder what a great weapon it was that the Duke of Kazakhstan mentioned it at the celebratory event for the Queen¡¯s pregnancy.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you openly demonstrate theser weapon? Wouldn¡¯t China freak out?¡±


    ¡°Oh, we don¡¯t have to be so kind as to do that. It¡¯s better to make China more curious about it. It won¡¯t be able to move for a while when the new weapons are deployed.¡±


    ***


    Perhaps because it was a child in nearly a decade, Youngho was in a good mood every day. Jong-il, In-soo, and Chul-hwan, who were chatting next to him, told him to stop smiling like a fool.


    ¡°Man, you¡¯re smiling like a fool every day. You¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s had a second child.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you all have two or three children already, but we¡¯re having the second after a decade. Do you know how it feels to see ater? Oh, why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to make someters?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even start it. My house is like a war zone every day.¡±


    Park Jong-il and Cha In-soo had three children and Cho Chul-hwan had two.


    Considering how it was hard to handle Leon alone, Youngho could tell what his friends must be going through.


    However, those from Korea tended to have fewer babies.


    Serbs and Kurds had jaw-dropping birth rates.


    Although Eastern Europeans were particrly prolific, they started to give birth to two or three more babies than average as their lives were stabilized after settling down in Kazakhstan. In addition, Kazakhstan was offering birth incentives to increase the poption in any way, which was another reason for their high birth rates.


    ¡°There¡¯s something I felt now that we are having a second child.¡±


    Everyone turned his head to hear what Youngho was about to say.


    ¡°I was tempted to try something for my newborn child. I mean, didn¡¯t you guys want to challenge yourself to do something new when your kids were born?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so busy with my current job that I can¡¯t think of anything new. We never thought of that before, so don¡¯t count on us.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you tempted to have biggernd to pass on to your children?¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you¡¯ve got quite a greed fornd. Do you need morend when you¡¯ve got Siberia which is the size of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and is going to be our federation soon?¡±


    ¡°Siberia is a ce that will be returnedter, and it¡¯s not much even if webine Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It also bugs me because China is interested in Uzbekistan again these days.¡±


    ¡°You want to merge Uzbekistan?¡± Cho Chul-hwan asked excitedly to think that it would be an annexation by force.


    ¡°Annexation? Get that idea out of your head. Do you want war?¡±


    Then Park Jong-il snapped.


    ¡°Then, shall we start maneuvering?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll have to clean it up with secret maneuvering. If we leave it alone, it will be gulped down by China.¡±


    He had recently received information that China was continuing to target Uzbek politicians.


    Uzbekistan was a traditional ally and recently entered Kazakhstan¡¯s economic bloc, but unstable domestic politics were stimting Youngho¡¯s nerves.


    There was a pro-Kazakh political party, but there was also a party that was pro-China.


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to expose the corruption of politicians who take the pro-China line to the media first. That would end their political life. We can also encourage anti-government rallies more violently than now by providing more funds to democratic groups.¡±


    ¡°Okay, there¡¯s enough justification for us to intervene in the event of a bloody conflict. What will they say about us trying to protect the Kazakh royal property? In-soo, beef up the security at the royal gold mine in Uzbekistan, and Chul-hwan, deploy the royal bodyguards secretly to Shymkent in the South.¡±


    There had been a behind-the-scenes operation against Uzbek political forces.


    Since Uzbekistan was an ind country that could only be essed bynd, there was no way for China¡¯s weapons to enter Uzbekistan if the roads from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were blocked.


    China could go through Turkmenistan, which faced the Caspian Sea, but that was also not possible due to the Kazakh navy, which controlled the Caspian Sea.


    Uzbekistan bordered Kazakhstan, and if China made its way into Uzbekistan, it would be a threat to Kazakhstan. If it were not for the rivalry between China and Kazakhstan, it would not matter whatever the internal political situation was, but Uzbek politicians, who were still pro-China despite Kazakhstan¡¯s help for its economy and social welfare, could not be overlooked. Uzbekistan would im it was equidistant diplomacy, but Youngho could never tolerate it.


    He wanted to get rid of the source of trouble that might break the peace in Central Asiater.


    ***


    The number of Royal Bodyguards had swelled to 25,000 in the meantime due to the enlistment of Kurdish youths.


    The expanded Royal Bodyguards included not only the Army but also the Air Force and the Navy, which were organized and operated separately from the Kazakh government¡¯s military forces, with 15,000 troops, 3,000 airmen, and 7,000 sailors.


    The reason for the increase of navies was that there were 16bat ships waiting to be fully operational in the future. It was also nned to increase the number to 10,000 in theing years as multipurposending ships and submarines would be added.


    Whenbined with regr military forces, Kazakhstan would have about 130,000 troops.


    Although the number of troopspared to the time of the previous administration had doubled, it was still a lot short given the widend area and long borders.


    The Royal Bodyguards were nned to increase the number of troops to 200,000 within a few years and operate 300,000 in the long run, all of which were attributable to China.


    ¡°Commissioner Kim. Wouldn¡¯t this year¡¯s operating budget for the Royal Bodyguards be insufficient?¡±


    ¡°The maintenance cost is sufficient with our budget, but if we were to buy weapons, we wouldn¡¯t have enough, but since the royal family usually buys weapons, we didn¡¯t set the budget anyway.¡±


    ¡°The barracks looked a little old, won¡¯t that have a bad impact on our soldiers¡¯ morale?¡±


    ¡°I talked to the head of the Royal Bodyguards, and he said he could use the Kurdish settlement camps. I was going to discuss it with you.¡±


    ¡°Using temporary camps?¡±


    Although built temporarily, the camps were not shabby facilities.


    It was because they couldst several years and were equipped with good auxiliary facilities.


    They were too good to be torn down just because they were no longer needed as the Kurds now had their own houses. Such empty facilities were being considered to be used as barracks.


    ¡°The size was too big for the Royal Bodyguards to use, so we have to tear down the rest except the facilities to be used as military units.¡±


    ¡°Look for ways to turn temporary camps into light industry nts. It¡¯s a waste to get rid of them as they¡¯re equipped with roads and water and sewer systems.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to consider that as well. If you take advantage of the amodation or the dining halls, we will be able to turn them into a small daily necessities factory.¡±

 Chapter 664 - Power Struggle (1)

    Chapter 664: Power Struggle (1)


    Today was the opening day of the second semester of the Naval Academy and amission ceremony for nonmissioned officers.


    The cadets entered their sixth month of school, and nomissioned officers had been undergoing intensive training.


    The Naval Academy was originally a four-year school, but it now adopted a two-year system, while the nonmissioned school was a six-month curriculum. A short-term education program was adopted to deploy officials that were shorthanded.


    ¡°All attention! Guns high for His Highness!¡±


    ¡°Salute!¡±


    In line with themander¡¯smand, the shout of 400 cadets echoed in the auditorium. The voices of 150 Navy cadets and 250 nonmissioned cadets were really loud.


    Young-ho¡¯s heart was filled with pride looking at the cadets who chanted in a powerful voice.


    It was partly because the eyes of young people, who were just 20 years old, were as bright as starlight, but it was more satisfying to see their genuine loyalty for the royal family and Kazakhstan. The pride in their eyes and will to protect Kazakhstan and the royal family was visible.


    Nonmissioned officers, whopleted six months of basic education, were directly ced on the front line, but there was a high bar for cadets at the Naval Academy.


    Although it was a two-year system, they had toplete the same credits as a four-year one. They could get a degree only if they managed a tight schedule without taking a break.


    Youngho gave rank to nonmissioned officers and shook their hands today. This was an unforgettable moment for them.


    Although they were only low-rank officials, it was the first graduation ceremony of the Naval Academy, and that was why Youngho was there congratting the graduates and shaking their hands.


    The Navy, which had rtively no presencepared to the Army and Air Force, had now be a military organization in name and reality.


    There had been only about 3,000 Kazakh naval forces, but since bing a constitutional monarchy, the number of naval forces had increased to more than 7,000.


    It was time for the Navy to also have a chief of staff.


    The promotion was to be announced within the Navy, but everyone already knew who it would be.


    For this reason, Captain Jun, the Royal Navy¡¯s Commander, was also required to attend the ceremony today, but he could not make it because of a joint operation with the U.S. Navy¡¯s Indian Ocean Fleet in the Maldives.


    They were on alert because China¡¯s No. 27 and the South Sea Fleet had entered the eastern Indian Ocean.


    The Chinese navy, which entered the Indian Ocean, had one 30,000-tonnding ship, three 20,000-ton supply ships and sevenbat ships of 052-ss 054-ss.


    The U.S. Navy¡¯s Fifth Fleet and the Kazakh Navy were beginning a joint operation with the aim of pressuring Chinese naval forces in the waters between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipgo.


    The Kazakh Royal Navy was also able to act as a helper to the U.S. Navy because it recently formed a task fleet with five warships.


    Two Aegis destroyers and three frigates had been converted into a task fleet and were operating in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, and they went to participate in a joint operation in the waters of the Maldives at the request of the U.S. Navy.


    Five 500-ton Yoon Youngha-ss missile ships and five coast-to-coast missile ships took over the empty spots of the Aegis destroyers and frigates as they were deployed to the Maldives.


    Because the excessive naval presence in the Caspian Sea could provoke Russia, those ships had been sent to the Aegean Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Persian Gulf. Although they were small vessels, they had great mobility and were being used to fight off pirates more effectively.


    The 30 to 40 knots-per-hour, small-sized missile ships shed out of nowhere in the narrow waters and were a terror to pirates as they fired at their targets without warning shots.


    ***


    Two Aegis destroyers and three frigates from the Kazakh Royal Navy were operating about 150 kilometers away from the USS George H. W. Bush, themander ship of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.


    ¡°Commander Jun, the Indian Navy¡¯s oil tanker and two Aegis destroyers from the U.S. 5th Fleet areing in our direction.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s finallying. We almost ran out of gas. It¡¯s quite frustrating. We should deploy multi-purposending ships and supply ships in action as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say we¡¯re going to have them deployed within this year?¡±


    ¡°The situation will be all over if we wait until then.¡±


    ¡°Sir, do you think the Chinese are going to step down that easily? Our conflict willst long.¡±


    ¡°You have a point. By the way, why is the Chinese Navy acting out here not staying in Southeast Asia? Is China going to buy an ind country now?¡±


    The ind nation of Maldives, which was about 700 kilometers away from southern India, had been India¡¯s military and political sphere since the 1960s.


    But with the incumbent administration in power, it was rapidly leaning toward pro-China.


    The Chinese government started to invest heavily in the Maldives, a key route to the One Belt One Road maritime Silk Road, and growl with India.


    Maldives¡¯ dependence on China was so severe that 70 percent of the Maldives¡¯ foreign debts were Chinese, and it was even rumored that a Chinese military base would be built in the Maldives.


    For India, the Maldives, a half-century ally, was on the verge of turning into a de aimed at its neckline.


    ¡°Captain, if the Chinese naval base is built in the Maldives, we will be hit hard.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy because the Indian government is willing to go to war. I don¡¯t think the U.S. is going to stay still, either.¡±


    ¡°They say the US intelligence service is controlling the Maldives civil war.¡±


    ¡°Who says that?¡±


    ¡°My friend at the intelligence service tipped me off.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite possible. It would be terrible for the U.S. if China enters the Indian Ocean.¡±


    ¡°I hope we can take this opportunity to get some control over the Maldives.¡±


    ¡°You seem to resemble the Duke as time goes by, Deputy Captain.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... His Highness will be sorry if he heard that. He¡¯s been working hard to buy an ind off Somalia.¡±


    ¡°If there are many inds like Greece, it would be easier, but would Somalia easily sell its ind under Saudi Arabia¡¯s pressure?¡±


    The Kazakh Navy was using Abu Dhabi port in the Persian Gulf, but it was urging the Somali government because it was a long way to reach the Gulf of Aden from Abu Dhabi port.


    The question was whether dealing with the corrupt government was really effective. It would be a fiasco if a new government came into officeter and imed the deal was invalid. The Saudi government was also secretly keeping the Kazakh Navy in check fearing its influence in the Red Sea might get diminished.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a reason why the U.S. let us join in the Maldives operation? Don¡¯t you think it slipped us in so that we can get benefits from this situation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if the U.S. thought of us like that, but I think this is an urgent matter that they needed immediate help. The U.S. thinks we can pressure the Chinese Navy if we worked together.¡±


    The U.S. strategy was to pressure China on the outside without being able to intervene openly between China and India.


    The Maldives crisis was escting into an increasinglyplicated situation after the pro-China and pro-Indian opposition parties urged China and India to intervene, respectively.


    China then tried to deploy arge number of its warships in the Indian Ocean, while India counterattacked it with massive military exercises and a series of ballistic missileunches.


    ¡°I hope they¡¯ll provoke us first, then we can strike them back.¡±


    ¡°What a terrible thing to say. Their 052 ss 054 ss destroyer is also Chinese type Aegis destroyers. Their missiles are also formidable.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no match for our Aegis destroyers.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t underestimate them. There must be a reason why they made it to the Indian Ocean despite the presence of the U.S. Navy.¡±


    The official reason for China¡¯s n to build a military base in the Maldives was to protect its oil tankers sailing through the Suez Canal, but it was really intended to secure a strategic military base in the Indian Ocean.


    Recently there was another surprising incident: China signed a ten-year contract with Djibouti in the Red Sea to use a military base.


    China was stressing that it would provide resting ces for its soldiers operating in the Gulf of Aden, and it would only be used as a logistics base.


    ¡°The U.N. resolution is the problem. China and Russia are now legally allowed to operate in the Gulf of Aden¡±


    China kept quiet when the pirates and terrorists in the Gulf of Aden became active, and as their activities became scanty, China came forward with a U.N. resolution and said it would participate in the Gulf of Aden peace-keeping operations.


    On the surface, it was stressing that it would protect civilian ships as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force from pirates, but no one believed it.


    ¡°The U.S. intelligence service is no longer a big deal. Does it make sense that it didn¡¯t know until Djibouti in the Red Sea gave up a military base to China?¡±


    ¡°Well, it might be taking it easy because other countries¡¯ military bases are also in Djibouti.¡±


    ¡°We and the U.S. are the only countries that sent the Aegis ships, so what help can the navies of other countries give?¡±


    The U.S., France, and Japan already had military bases in Djibouti.


    China, which, despite so many multinational navies residing in the country, imed it was only a military base to fight piracy.


    The construction of China¡¯s overseas military bases was in fact about expanding its influence on Africa. The move was part of China¡¯s One Belt One Road project and its ¡°Pearl Ne¡± strategy.


    What the pearl ne meant was that if all the ports that had the Chinese base along the sea route from the Middle East to the South China Sea were connected, it would be in the form of a pearl ne.


    If Djibouti in the Red Sea was connected with the port of Gwadar in Pakistan and the Maldives, the Arabian Sea belt would beplete.


    On top of that, if the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka, the port of Sittwe in Myanmar, the port of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, and the port of Kota Kinabalu in Mysia, the shape of a pearl ne would be formed.


    That was why the Indian government said it would develop Iran¡¯s port of Chabahar to check China¡¯s pearl ne strategy.


    Youngho also invested in the port of Chabahar with the understanding of the Indian government, in order to keep it in check because the port of Gwadar in Pakistan was highly likely to be China¡¯s second overseas military base.


    Iran¡¯s port of Chabahar was only 90 kilometers from Pakistan¡¯s port of Gwadar.


    ¡°Commander Jun, all ships are supplied with gas.¡±


    ¡°Prepare for departure.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye, sir! Listen, entire fleet! We¡¯ve got 15 minutes until departure. Each ship, heave in!¡±


    When the order to sail was issued, each vessel was busy hoisting the anchor.


    The U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer, which was waiting next to the Kazakh navy vessels, responded with a loud horn sound.


    The reason why the Aegis destroyer of the 5th Fleet visited the Kazakh Navy was to watch the Chinese fleet pass through the southern waters of the Maldives along with the Kazakh navy.


    Commander Jun was very excited to encounter the Chinese navy for the first time today.


    Meeting the Chinese fleet in international waters was in some ways very dangerous, but he was not too worried. That was because he had a deep trust in the royal Aegis destroyers, the 1001 and 1002.


    Currently, the Aegis destroyer owned by Kazakhstan was considered the strongest in its ss.


    This was thetest new vessel to bemissioned, as well as a warship that had reinforced all of the weaknesses of previous models.


    ¡°Only the radar rooms go on emergency duty while other departments operate normally!¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye, sir! Informing the whole fleet. Only each ship¡¯s radar room will go into the second phase of its guard duty, while other divisions will rest except for duty officials.¡±

 Chapter 665 - Power Struggle (2)

    Chapter 665: Power Struggle (2)


    When the Kazakh naval fleet had just passed through the uninhabited ind in the southernmost part of the Maldives after three hours of the voyage, the radar room reported that a fleet believed to be Chinese was spotted.


    A patrol ne that took off the USS George H. W. Bush also confirmed that it was the Chinese navy.


    ¡°Commander Jun, we have identified one Yuzhao-ss amphibious assault ship, three believed-to-be supplier ships, four Hangzhou-ss destroyers, and three Lanzhou-ss air defense vessels.¡±


    ¡°I thought they¡¯d take on old Liaoning¡¯s aircraft carrier, but there was someone in the Chinese navy who had a sense.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of a carrier? It can¡¯t be called a real aircraft carrier if it doesn¡¯t have an early warning system or an electronic ne. I don¡¯t know why anyone would be obsessed with a carrier that¡¯ll be useless with a single missile.¡±


    There was a reason for China to be so hung up on the possession of aircraft carriers, as the U.S. carrier battle group once entered the Taiwan Strait without anyone¡¯s restriction during the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis.


    At that time, the Chinese military suffered the indignity of all surface-to-ship missiles in China¡¯s maind being useless due to the activities of electronic warfare aircraft from U.S. naval aircraft carriers, which made the Chinese Navy insist on having the carriers.


    Based on its economic strength, the Chinese leadership was building its second and third Liaoning-ss aircraft carriers.


    However, such aircraft carriers would be helpless before the U.S. Ford-ss carrier strike group as Chinese carriers had weaknesses in their defense.


    While the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier¡¯s airborne early warning and control aircraft could track about 2,000 targets within about 650 kilometers at the same time, Chinese aircraft carriers were only able to track only 30 to 40 targets in the range of about 150 kilometers.


    ¡°The distance between the Chinese fleet and our ship is 90 kilometers. It¡¯s sailing our way, so we¡¯ll meet in an hour.¡±


    ¡°You said you had three supply ships, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Commander.¡±


    ¡°The fact that they¡¯re carrying three supply ships proves that they¡¯re exploring all the pearl-necked routes.¡±


    ¡°Shall we receive the Chinese Navy? Deputy Captain, I want you to issue abat deployment.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye, sir! All fleet, actualbat deployment!¡±


    ¡°All fleet full-speed advance.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Every ship advances at full speed.¡±


    Two U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers were also busy issuingbat deployments and speeding up when the Kazakh Navy suddenly issuedbat deployments.


    The seven allied warships were making a full march toward the Chinese fleet, cutting through the current.


    ***


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they knew we were approaching. They seem to be embarrassed by our appearance.¡±


    An hourter, the Chinese fleet, which the allied fleet encountered, began to be on alert, rapidly slowing down its navigation speed.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way their radar didn¡¯t work. The floundering since the enemy appeared is a sign of a significantck of operational capability in the oceans.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way they don¡¯t know that this is the U.S. Navy operation zone, but they¡¯re too rxed.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to be nervous because it¡¯s not the Indian Navy. Get in touch with the Chinese fleet. Find out its destination.¡±


    It was natural to ask about the order or destination of the vessel because it was a U.S. military operation zone.


    After a while, the deputy captain, who was trying tomunicate with the Chinese fleet, came up to Commander Jun with a shrug.


    ¡°Chief, we¡¯re having troublemunicating.¡±


    ¡°Send a light signal. It must know the Morse signal.¡±


    Every warship in any country had a light for the light signaling on its bridge, the highest point on the ship. If themunication device was broken or if there was a chance of an enemy¡¯s interception, warships could blink lights to send a Morse signal and exchange opinions with each other.


    Now that there was amunication problem, they were trying tomunicate with a light-emitting signal.


    ¡°Commander Jun, they¡¯re on their way to the Port of Male, Maldives.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like a lie.¡±


    ¡°I think the Chinese fleet is on high alert.¡±


    The Maldives was a ce where the U.S. Navy¡¯s Indian Ocean Fleet, and Pacific Fleet¡¯s security zones ovepped, so it was natural to be nervous if it was not for the navies of allies. It was more so if four Aegis destroyers and three 3,000-ton frigates were blocking the way in such waters.


    Any abnormal action could be considered an act of aggression and could lead to an armed conflict.


    The speed of navigation should be reduced and any rapid change was forbidden, and of course, the guns should not be operated as the use of guns could be taken as an attack.


    There was international maritimew, but an armed conflict between warships in high seas was a prew issue. So, it was customary to show that there was no intention of attacking sailing in parallel at low speeds.


    The Chinese fleet, which was well aware of what capabilities the Aegis destroyer, was sailing at low speeds.


    Commander Jun did not show his nervousness because of the officers and soldiers on the bridge, but he was half worried before meeting with the Chinese fleet.


    This was because the Chinese Navy¡¯s armament was not made public, so it could have appeared with a new weapon that he was unaware of.


    But seeing how the Chinese fleet wasplying well with the allied fleet, he was no longer worried.


    The fleet of both sides moved slowly toward the Maldives¡¯ port of Male.


    ***


    ¡°It makes me feel great to hear that the Chinese fleet freaked out.¡±


    -They were flustered when four Aegis ships appeared.


    ¡°I heard there were assault ships on the Chinese side, is that true?¡±


    -There were some helicopters, but they weren¡¯t enough to threaten our fleet.


    ¡°It must¡¯ve boosted our soldiers¡¯ morale.¡±


    -That¡¯s right. Everyone was very proud.


    Commander Jun¡¯s exnation ttered Youngho as if he had carried out the operation himself.


    It was all thanks to the Kazakh Aegis destroyers that the Chinese fleet kept a low profile in international waters. Although Kazakhstan was still far behind in the army or air force, its naval powers were great.


    -Your Highness. If you supply the refueling vessels, the radius of our fleet¡¯s activity will be much wider.


    ¡°Don¡¯t our allies supply oil?¡±


    -They do, but operations were often disrupted because fuel was not avable in time. If we have a 20,000-ton fuel supply ship, such a problem will be easily resolved. I don¡¯t want to show any weakness, especially to the Chinese navy.


    When Commander Jun mentioned the weak point of the Kazakh Navy, Youngho was alerted. He never wanted to be underestimated by showing weakness to enemies.


    ¡°How long will the fleet hold out if a 20,000-ton fuel supply ship is supported?¡±


    -A full month¡¯s activity is possible withoutnding at the port.


    ¡°Then we¡¯d need to get fresh food supplies to the soldiers...¡±


    -We can endure inconvenience until a multi-purposending ship is deployed, Your Highness.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll put it on the wanted list right away. We have to keep your pride as an oceanic navy.¡±


    -Thank you. Your Highness, it will raise the status of the Royal Navy. I hope I¡¯m not being too greedy.


    The oil supply ship was a necessary strategic asset in the future, so Youngho was pleased to ept Commander Jun¡¯s request.


    ¡°Greedy? No way. If you¡¯re amander, of course, you should try to correct any w of the Royal Navy.¡±


    -I¡¯m sorry to have drained the Caspian Sea of power, but I¡¯m asking for more and causing you a headache.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think of that before when the small missile ships are doing so well in the Gulf of Aden these days. If you hadn¡¯t suggested it, I would¡¯ve just been wasting such precious power.¡±


    At the suggestion of Commander Jun, Youngho had taken out some of the Yoon Young-ha ss missile ships and the coast ships delivered from the U.S. and deployed them in the Gulf of Aden.


    Smaller ships of less than 1,000 tons were doing a great job in the Caspian Sea.


    -The Caspian Sea is an important area for us. Because of the amicable rtionship we have with Russia, we were able to pull out the power, but ultimately we have to replenish the power.


    ¡°The power we have now is a bit too much in the Caspian Sea. Don¡¯t worry, the submarine can cover the empty spots enough.¡±


    Even though it was a small submarine, it was a covert force that even Russia did not know about, so it was a hidden card in the Caspian Sea.


    -Your Highness. We need arge submarine to set foot in the ocean. We need at least one unit to maximize power.


    ¡°Would one be enough? There should be at least three or four units. Let¡¯s review it together when you return home after the operation.¡±


    -Thank you for your consideration for the navy, Your Highness.


    ¡°I should thank you. It¡¯s about the Kazakh Navy¡¯s power. Don¡¯t worry about the cost.¡±


    -I¡¯m afraid the Army may be jealous.


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s something you should take if you want to be greedy, and please take it easy in the Maldives operation.¡±


    ¡°I will do as you say, Your Highness.¡±


    Sooner orter, India and China were supposed to face each other in any way in the Maldives.


    While neither the U.S. Navy nor the Kazakh Navy could justify its intervention in the dispute between the two sides, it would have a role of pressuring China.


    The Kazakh Navy had done enough to y a role as an ally by just hanging around nearby.

 Chapter 666 - Power Struggle (3)

    Chapter 666: Power Struggle (3)


    ¡°Commander Jun, we have a message that says the Indian Navy is blocking the port of Male.¡±


    ¡°India must have been anxious, too. I wonder if the Maldives, an independent nation, would be silent about this.¡±


    ¡°What would a powerless country do? It¡¯s not like us, Kazakhstan. Our government is supported by the powerful royal family.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re indeed blessed. As long as there is the royal family, the future of Kazakhstan is solid. If we getrge submarines in the future, no one will touch Kazakhstan in the ocean, so look forward to it.¡±


    ¡°I heard His Highness said he would build three or four ships, not one.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a big spender. It¡¯s good for our Navy, but I¡¯m afraid the Army will be jealous.¡±


    ¡°The Army has also built a huge missile defensework and introduced three Apache helicopters, and they have a conscience, they can¡¯t be more greedy. What are you worried about? Besides, His Highness also used to be in the Navy. He favors the Navy. Wouldn¡¯t he back us up more?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a point. Should I ask for more then? It¡¯ll be great if we had an aircraft carrier, too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, now you¡¯re being greedy, but an assault ship is a hundred times more efficient than an aircraft carrier.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Any other orders from the U.S. Navymand ship?¡±


    ¡°There was no special order. I think we¡¯re just going to wait and see.¡±


    The U.S. Navy was only standing by without special action because it believed that the Chinese Navy would not be able to use force recklessly, as such action could lead to political, military, and economic conflicts. It was especially so because the U.S. and China were the biggest trade partners to each other.


    ¡°The Chinese people who are crawling into a ce that is like a courtyard of others are very quite crazy. They want to keep the world in their palm. Why is the U.S. keeping quiet?¡±


    ¡°Do you think the U.S. is just watching? If China goes on like this, it¡¯s like encouraging China¡¯s behavior.¡±


    ¡°Well, since the U.S. is in charge, it¡¯s none of our business.¡±


    ¡°Commander, I don¡¯t think you are very interested in this.¡±


    ¡°His Highness told me to take it easy, but personally, I¡¯d like tounch a missile to the Chinese fleet near the port of Male. It¡¯s all because of them that we missed the firstmission ceremony of the Naval Academy.¡±


    ¡°But I hope you feel better now that we have shown the status of our navy, properly to the Chinese navy.¡±


    ¡°In that sense, we gave our hand to India and the U.S. in the Maldives, and we¡¯ve shown our navy¡¯s status to China, so we¡¯ve killed two birds with one stone. We¡¯ll have a lot to say when we get home.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be enough to talk all night. I¡¯ve got it all recorded in a video, so I¡¯ll show it off to everyone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Sometimes this kind of power struggle without an actual fight has a greater propaganda effect than winning a small battle.¡±


    ¡°I hope the operation will be over soon.¡±


    ¡°Why? To return to the royal territory and show off?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we should brag about it. We must also let the public know about their morale.¡±


    ¡°Well, just take a lot of usible footage.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, the Chinese navy sneaked out as the Indian Navy disyed its will to fight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so nd. Well, I guess it¡¯s better to be patient with each other.¡±


    ¡°The situation is not over yet. Seventy percent of the Maldives¡¯ foreign debt is owed to China. If you pay off the Maldives¡¯ debts, it would change. At this rate, the Maldives will be gulped down by China.¡±


    Suh Min-seok disyed the data he retrieved about the Maldives.


    ¡°Is this from our intelligence service?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. It also details the activities of the opposition party of the Maldives. The politicians of the opposition party are strongly opposing the current administration for selling the Maldives to the Chinese government.¡±


    With China ounting for more than 70 percent of the Maldives¡¯ external debt, China was rushing to hand over management control of its ports and other infrastructure facilities, just like Sri Lanka, instead of debt repayment.


    China¡¯s colonial looting was already well-received.


    This was a typical way to take overnd or infrastructure and operate if the debt could not be paid back.


    ¡°The U.S. intelligence is working on it, so it¡¯ll be taken care of. If it released part of the intelligence service budget, the amount of Maldives¡¯ debt is not a matter.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s true that the Maldives is under Chinese influence. The fact that China¡¯s leadership visits the Maldives in person and the President of the Maldives recently visited China does not seem to be normal.¡±


    Although it was a small ind country, it was a strategic point that China or India was so hung up on it.


    ¡°It¡¯s known as a country with a lot of inds. How many are there?¡±


    ¡°The data shows that there are 1,190 inds and only 200 of them are inhabited.¡±


    ¡°Since the ind of Somalia is not an answer, should I buy an uninhabited ind in the Maldives?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t China be in a rage?¡±


    ¡°Maldives is still an independent country. India is trying so hard, so let¡¯s give it a hand.¡±


    Youngho had been thinking about this since he was told that the Kazak naval vessels needed oil supply. This was because if a base was in the Indian Ocean, it could operate more efficiently.


    ¡°Your Highness, Our task force can stay in the Indian Ocean without provoking China. There is an Indian military base in Seychelles, north of Madagascar. The data shows that port construction and runway construction are currently underway.¡±


    ¡°Really? There is a military base in India in Seychelles?¡±


    Seychelles was an ind country about 1,650 kilometers east of the African continent.


    India¡¯s ambitious military base on Assumption Ind in Seychelles, a small ind country in the Indian Ocean, was built to counter China¡¯s One Belt One Road.


    India was keen on China¡¯s advance into the Indian Ocean because there was an important route that ounted for 50 percent of the world¡¯s oil supply.


    About 40 million barrels of oil a day were passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of a, and the strait south of the Red Sea between the Arabian Penins and the African continent.


    Also, more than 70 percent of India¡¯s trade volume was carried out via the Indian Ocean. Thus, the construction of a Chinese military base in Maldives was a threatening move for India.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to leave it up to Mittal. Secretary Suh, call Mittal¡¯s secretary¡¯s office and check if he¡¯s avable now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ll check it out immediately.¡±


    The reason why Youngho suddenly wanted to visit the steel king of India was that he was close to Indian politicians.


    Mittal, who tied India and Kazakhstan to military cooperation, also helped Youngho to take a step in the development of the Iranian port of Chabahar.


    Youngho remembered Mittal when he heard that there was an Indian military base in Seychelles.


    ¡°King of Steel¡± would remind people of Carnegie in the United States, but the steel king of the 21st century was Lakshmi Mittal, the chairman of the world¡¯srgest steelmaker.


    Thepany¡¯s annual production capacity currently stood at 113 million tons, more than double that of Nippon Steel Corp which was the secondrgest steelmaker.


    He was ranked third to fourth in the world in terms of wealth, which was equivalent to that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.


    A friendship with a man of enormous financial strength was necessary for Kazakhstan as well. This was because Mittal would invest more in Kazakhstan.


    Another reason why Youngho wanted to include Mittal was that he was patriotic to his nation, India. He would thank Youngho for including him for a political matter.


    After busily making a phone call and talking, Min-seok handed over a phone to Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Mittal. It¡¯s been a long time since I talked to you.¡±


    -Your Highness. How have you been? The Kazakh navy is very active these days. Thank you on behalf of India.


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed to be thanked for nothing. Of course, we should help each other.¡±


    -India also has a lot of praise for Kazakhstan¡¯s Royal Navy. The Kazakh and U.S. navies backed us up and drove out the Chinese Navy from the Maldives.


    ¡°The captain of our fleet said that our fleet didn¡¯t do anything except for sailing around the waters of the Maldives.¡±


    -It¡¯s because such great ships were around that the Chinese Navy didn¡¯t attempt to do anything reckless.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that no armed conflict has urred, but I¡¯m worried about the future.¡±


    -Well, we can¡¯t help it. The Indian government will never sit back and watch China make inroads into the Indian Ocean. I heard that the reason why the Indian Navy refrained from attacking the Chinese fleet was because it did not want to be disgraceful to our allies.


    India must have been very determined as Mittal said it and even expected an armed conflict.


    ¡°Kazakhstan is very supportive of the Indian government¡¯s free navigation policy. In the future, we will often see our navy¡¯s activities in the Arabian and Indian seas.¡±


    -Thank you. Your Highness, I must convey your message to the Indian government. Do you have any other needs?


    Mittal was indeed a merchant.


    He knew that Youngho did not just call to have a small talk.


    ¡°There¡¯s a military base in Seychelles. I¡¯d like to use it for our navy, but I need your help.¡±


    -If that¡¯s the case, you could¡¯ve talked to the Indian Prime Minister directly.


    ¡°Yes, but wouldn¡¯t it be smoother if you stepped in?¡±


    -Thank you for involving me in this important work. If the Kazakh Navy were to use it as a military base, the Indian government would wee it. We wee a strong ally, and there is no reason to oppose it. I¡¯ll have the ambassador based in Kazakhstan visit you tomorrow.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. If the chairman opens the door, we¡¯ll formally request it from the Indian government.¡±


    -All right. The use of the Seychelle Base is a done deal, so don¡¯t worry.


    The fact that he showed confidence for a job that had yet to be epted by the Indian government was that he had the ability to control the Indian government with his influence.


    What would Kazakhstan mean by requesting to share a naval base? It would mean to see China as amon enemy. This arbitration meant much more than that, so the position of Mittal in India would be strengthened.


    -Your Highness. You gave me this big gift. What should I do in return?


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect anything, but would you like toe to Kazakhstan if time permits?¡±


    -If you request it, then I shall visit you before any work.

 Chapter 667 - Collectors (1)

    Chapter 667: Collectors (1)


    When the Kazakh Navy requested to share India¡¯s military base in the Seychelles, the Indian government dly weed the request.


    This was because of the Kazakh Navy¡¯s task floti which had two Aegis destroyers joined the Indian naval forces, it could more effectively deter China from advancing into the Indian Ocean.


    Furthermore, there would be five task flotis together when the two navies joined forces, so the Indian government offered to take a step further and formally form a military alliance.


    So far, military cooperation between India and Kazakhstan had been a loose military rtionship that was applied only temporarily depending on the issue.


    The military alliance with India, a leading country in the Indian Ocean, was the one Kazakhstan had hoped for, so the alliance was formed without hesitation.


    Usually, a military alliance with a conflict-ridden country should be considered, as it carried a heavy-duty to guarantee security for the parties that signed the treaty.


    This was because there was a possibility that the country could be involved in arge-scale war. However, considering India¡¯s unlimited potential, the military alliance would soon lead to economic cooperation, so the political burden could easily be borne.


    This was a high-risk high return.


    Youngho could not miss the opportunity to squeeze into India¡¯s market that had a huge poption of 1.2 billion.


    As the military alliance with India was formed, Mittal, who had served as a messenger between the two countries, came to visit Youngho in the royal territory.


    Despite his age of 67, Mittal was an active person like a young man.


    ¡°A younger man like me should have visited you first. I¡¯m sorry I made youe a long way to see me.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. It¡¯s a great honor that you invited a mere merchant to the royal pce. I hope that Kazakhstan will soon be reborn as a great empire.¡±


    It was such a big greeting that Youngho was embarrassed as he had never received such greeting words.


    Though wealthy enough to be listed as the world¡¯s top three and four wealthiest men on Forbes. Mittal was never arrogant. He said that he became the best businessman by his own effortsing from a poor family in a rural vige but he never lost his beginner¡¯s mind.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a modest man, Chairman. Thanks to your efforts, we now have a military alliance with the Indian government. I prepared a small gift as a token of my gratitude, but I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ll like it.¡±


    The biggest gift to a businessman would be to introduce a lucrative business.


    ¡°You let me be involved in the national matter although you did not need my help. I should be the one to thank you. The Indian government is calling me a hero to the rescue. India is exuberated to have the powerful naval forces of Kazakhstan as its ally.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Is that so? I¡¯m d I put you ahead of me.¡±


    ¡°But I will not decline your gift.¡±


    Mittal was looking forward to hearing what the Duke of Kazakhstan would say next.


    ¡°You know that our royal family is developing Siberia. There was a lot of iron ore buried there. Thepanies we¡¯re working with are focusing only on oil fields, so I¡¯d like to propose a steel mill construction project to you.¡±


    ¡°You mean to build a steel mill in Siberia, not in Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°We already have yourpany¡¯s steel mill here, so if you make more mills in Kazakhstan, how will ourpaniespete with yourpany? You need to spread your ambitions in a bigger ce.¡±


    ¡°The Siberian project is tempting, but we cannot afford to hire people from remote areas, and the biggest problem is that we are concerned about logistics. If we were to increase the size of the steel mill in Kazakhstan, we could do more than that.¡±


    Although Siberia was a ce of a bigger market, Mittal was hesitant to Youngho¡¯s proposal.


    The issues Mittal pointed out were naturally expected.


    The reason why Siberia¡¯s development had been slow despite its inexhaustible underground resources was that it was hampered by theck of smooth logistics, severe weather, and the supply of workers to work in remote areas.


    But that problem was before Kazakhstan¡¯s icebreakers were active on the Yenisei River.


    ¡°Would I have rmended building a steel mill in Siberia without taking those issues into ount? First of all, there is the Yenisei River that could be used as a transport route of logistics, so it can be fully covered. Icebreakers are being deployed to allow four seasons of operation. Raw materials and finished goods would be more efficiently transported than using thend route if we used the Yenisei River. And there¡¯s no need to worry about manpower supply and demand. The city of Krasnoyarsk has a million people.¡±


    ¡°Are you thinking of putting icebreakers in the Yenisei River?¡±


    ¡°You must be aware that the North Pole route has recently been opened. There¡¯s no need to worry about logistics because our icebreakers operate everywhere, whether it¡¯s the Yenisei or the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been already prepared for this.¡±


    ¡°Unless you intend to build a steel mill in the very remote part of Siberia, we can do anything.¡±


    ¡°I never thought of the Yenisei River and the city of Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    A ce full of workers was Krasnoyarsk.


    And using the Yenisei River could transport more raw materials and finished goods at a lower cost than onnd.


    ¡°Your Highness. Can we make this unteral decision without consulting the Russian government?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we have to sign an equity agreement with the Russian government. The right to resource development in Krasnoyarsk belongs to our royal family, so I¡¯ll arrange it for you.¡±


    ¡°You are the only one who can make this kind of a deal with Putin, who is known for his particrity. I¡¯ve been called M&A all my life, but I¡¯m embarrassed to be called that before you.¡±


    ¡°I was just lucky. It was because of the limitations of the ind country that led us to enter the canal project.¡±


    In fact, when he entered the Volga-Don Canal expansion project, Youngho himself thought it was reckless. It was a kind of adventure to invest in Russia, which might change at any moment. He also did not have other choices because the canal was the only way to the ck Sea.


    When no one was willing to participate, the Kazakh royal family took the lead, opening the door for foreign investment in Russia.


    That gave Putin absolute trust in the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the only attraction for Krasnoyarsk¡¯s investment. Would you like to hear it because it¡¯s more attractive?¡±


    Eager to hear Youngho¡¯s suggestion, Mittal leaned forward toward Youngho.


    ¡°In Krasnoyarsk, Chinesepanies are no longer allowed to step in. They damaged the natural environment too much.¡±


    ¡°Since when has Russia been so sensitive to environmental issues?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... It¡¯s like a specialw that only applies to Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s new to me that there are no Chinesepanies anymore.¡±


    ¡°The citizens of Krasnoyarsk have a unique environmental awareness. They drove out Chinesepanies.¡±


    ***


    Mittal immediately called in his staff from the headquarters to the royal territory.


    It was a great business opportunity in Russia. He would be reluctant to start a business in Russia but now that the Kazakh royal family was supporting him, he was confident that the royal family would be his safety device.


    ¡°Your Highness, March weather in Kazakhstan is still as cold as winter. Then Siberia, which is in the north, must be even colder.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not until April that Kazakhstan will start warming up because it¡¯s affected by the continental climate. It¡¯s not much different from the weather in Siberia, so be assured.¡±


    ¡°I was born in India, so I had a hard winter in London even though it didn¡¯t fall below zero, but it was nothingpared to here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s cold, but it¡¯s tolerable when you get used to it. I prefer the winter here. It¡¯s hunting season. Here and in Siberia, the wolf hunt is legal, so when do you think you can join us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more interested in viewing stones than in hunting.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s great. You can pick up viewing stones in the taiga woods. If you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll also get diamond stones and meteorites.¡±


    ¡°Really? Are there such precious things buried in the woods?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯d like, would you like to take a tour of the taiga forest with your survey team? I will have my local staff guide yourpany. Siberia is still winter, so it won¡¯t be easy to find them because the snow hasn¡¯t melted, but there must be some things that locals keep in their possession.¡±


    Youngho suggested it because he knew that Mittal had a hobby of collecting unusual items.


    Many rich people would collect and disy all sorts of unusual things in their houses, and so was Mittal.


    ¡°It¡¯s an irresistible temptation. If I can find diamonds and even meteorites, I¡¯d rather ignore other schedules and go to the taiga forest anytime.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to Russia, too. Why don¡¯t youe with me?¡±


    Chairman Mittal was excited that Youngho was going to Russia soon.


    ¡°Will it be all right for you to vacate the pce?¡±


    ¡°I had a n to go to Moscow anyway. I can stop by Krasnoyarsk for a moment. Let me introduce you to a local person who can help you with your collection.¡±


    Mittal could not hide his excitement as being introduced to a local person to help his collection which was equivalent in getting the collection he wanted.


    The reason why Youngho was visiting Moscow was that the consortiumpanies for the Trans-Siberian Train Project hadpleted due diligence on the site, they decided to sign the contract in Moscow.


    If the deal was signed, the development project for the Krasnoyarsk would be able to start immediately.


    The development of the taiga region was stopped because Youngho was waiting for foreignpanies to seal the deal to modernize cross-country trains. If unexpected problems were found during the on-site inspection, some of the consortiumpanies could give up.


    Now that the Trans-Siberian Railway project was sealed, the stumbling block was almost gone.


    Although three of thepanies involved in the Siberian development project were observers, they could start the project only after Youngho signed the contract because the Kazakh royal family was in charge of the Siberian development business.


    After signing the contract, thepany nned to start taking over Chinese machinerypanies and developing oil fields.


    However, if Chairman Mittal started the steel mill business at the same time, Putin would be exuberated.


    Since the Crimean crisis, foreign investors were nowhere to be seen due to economic sanctions in the West, but since the start of the canal expansion project, foreign investment had been flooding into Russia.


    Considering the recent rise in Putin¡¯s approval ratings, the return of foreign investors also yed a part in the role.


    It was all thanks to the Kazakh royal family. On top of that, if a steelmaking business began, Putin would dance with joy as steelmaking was a business that required arge number of workers. It would lead to job creation for many Russians.

 Chapter 668 - Collectors (2)

    Chapter 668: Collectors (2)


    Apart from doing business with Mittal, Youngho leaked some of the secrets of the taiga forest to stimte his collector¡¯s obsession.


    Most collectors were a little obsessivepulsive. If they did not get what they wanted when they wanted, it made them frustrated and nervous as they thought the item they wanted could fall into someone else¡¯s hands.


    So the rabid collectors would run regardless of price or distance to get their hands on the things they wanted.


    ¡°Do you have diamond stones or meteorites, too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a hobby of collecting them, but I keep them because I identally got some in my hand.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if you don¡¯t mind, can I take a look?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t seen the meteorite yet, but we have some diamond stones. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re good enough for your standard.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Let me at least take a look.¡±


    Despite his age, he looked like a child eager to get his hands on a new toy.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s really nothing. I¡¯ll give it to you as a gift if you like it.¡±


    Youngho asked Min-seok to bring me some stones, and Mittal fidgeted around in Youngho¡¯s office for a dozen minutes waiting.


    After a while, Mittal, who held a fairly thick diamond stone brought by Min-seok, seemed satisfied as if he had the whole world in his hands.


    ¡°They say they¡¯re low-grade diamonds for industrial use.¡±


    ¡°Collectors don¡¯t buy jewelry. It¡¯s valuable as a collection only if it stayed as a gemstone. Because what looks trivial in the eyes of ordinary people looks different in the eyes of collectors. It¡¯s the eye that recognizes the pearl in the soil.¡±


    ¡°Take them with you, if you like. They¡¯re of little use to me. In the eyes of people like us, jewelry is more important.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure I can have items so precious like these?¡±


    Even though the gemstones were ssified for industrial use, Mittal treated them so preciously that it made Youngho wonder. It was also strange because Mittal was able to get his hands on such stones at any time if he wanted to with his financial ability.


    ¡°Chairman, you can get as much of these as you can with your powers. Am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°Every stone has its own characteristic. So collectors are only looking for raw stones. But the problem is that it¡¯s hard to find such rare raw stones. It¡¯s because people can make more money when they process the stones and sell them in the market.¡±


    ¡°Is there any stone in your collection?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I have a lot of stones. But I still find it pleasurable when I meet new stones.¡±


    Youngho thought that he had such an odd hobby.


    Mittal had a lot of things, but yet, he kept looking for new ones.


    It was understandable since Youngho was the same in a sense. His love for gold mines was great and he always looked for new mines even though he had enough gold mines.


    ¡°Do you collect paintings, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really interested in things that are difficult to store. I¡¯m collecting permanent and invariable things as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    As expected, Mittal showed the same interest as Youngho.


    Youngho was not really interested in paintings, he was only interested in gold or diamond stones.


    He believed that a real collection was a collection of what he could store and use whenever he needed to.


    ¡°Then you must be interested in gold bars, too.¡±


    Mittal sparkled his eyes when he mentioned gold bars.


    It would be strange if a wealthy entrepreneur was not interested in gold bars.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you anyway, but I was being hesitant. I heard the Kazakh royal family has a lot of gold.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a great amount. I guess it has been exaggerated by people who like to talk.¡±


    Even though he said he had not much, Mittal still asked to buy gold bars from Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness. Will you give me a chance, too? I¡¯m willing to pay more than the market price.¡±


    ***


    Mittal said he had as much as five billion dors in cash, apart from his real estate andpany shares.


    While Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, was said to have 76 billion dors in assets, which included all the stock value, Mittal¡¯s wealth, five billion in cash excluding real estate and stocks, surprised Youngho.


    Even if hispany went bankrupt and its shares were wiped out, Mittal would be able to recover from it easily with the amount of his own cash.


    It was not muchpared to Youngho¡¯s cashable assets, but it should be considered great if an individual had that much cash.


    Even after buying fighter jets and Apache helicopters and building numerous warships, Youngho¡¯s still had more than nine billion dors.


    The reason why much cash was still avable was that the shares of globalpanies owned by Youngho and profits from shipyards, hotels, shipping business, winepanies, and thepanies under the royal territory exceeded two billion dors a year.


    In addition, the gold reserves totaled about 720 tons, including gold bars collected from the family of the former president, Nazarbayev and gold produced so far.


    And even now, the gold produced in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, exceeded 80 tons a year.


    The annual output was about 4.4 billion dors at today¡¯s prices, but central banks in advanced countries, which bought gold ording to their policies, saw 80 tons of gold worth more than six billion dors.


    It was evident that the currency had fallen by that much.


    Otherwise, why would they buy gold 1.5 times more expensive than the market price?


    Mittal said he would have no wish if he had ten tons of gold.


    He said he was afraid to hold onto the dor and the euro, which were falling daily.


    As he was getting older, he was bing more scared of the uncertain future of his business and personal wealth.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ll pay you a billion dors. So give me a chance.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t charge you twice as much as the market price. What would anyone think of me if they knew about it?¡±


    Youngho could see why Mittal would buy gold at an exorbitant price.


    The price was skyrocketing because there was a lot of demand for gold.


    ¡°It would be cheaper to buy in small quantities on the ck market.¡±


    ¡°How much gold can you buy in the ck market? It would take years to get the amount of gold I want. And it costs more to collect gold and buy it in silence. If there¡¯s a rumor, I won¡¯t be able to carry my face.¡±


    ¡°Our royal family doesn¡¯t have that much gold. In the meantime, we¡¯ve been selling too much to cover the defense budget.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I heard there are about ten royal gold mines and dozens of tons produced in a year.¡±


    ¡°Well, although the production of royal gold mines has increased dramatically in recent years, it is a strategic asset that needs to be stockpiled for the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Then let me make a suggestion. There¡¯s a resort craze in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan these days, but it¡¯s not our group¡¯s area of expertise, but I¡¯d like to invest in it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I still don¡¯t think...¡±


    Although Youngho showed unwillingness, he was d to hear it.


    It was a bit unexpected for a steelmaker to enter the resort business, but it was not an outrageous investment because the resort could be used as a training center for employees even if the business was slow.


    These days, many globalpanies lent famous resorts and provided rest areas for their executives and employees.


    ***


    When Mittal said that he would invest in the resort business on the condition of buying gold, the tug-of-war ended in a nd manner.


    It was the condition of selling ten tons of gold for a billion dors in cash and on top of 300 million dors of construction investment for a resort.


    Mittal also believed that he had benefited from the deal.


    The central banks of each country were basically giving extra money to secure gold and even promised currency swaps in some cases.


    In such a situation, it was impossible for an individual to get ten tons of gold bars.


    Mittal, who finished the contract, looked very satisfied. He had just added gold to his private collection.


    ¡°You know, if you¡¯re rumored to have gold in your possession, you can be a target, so be careful at all times. If you don¡¯t have a ce to keep the gold, we¡¯ll keep it for you in our royal pce.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... It¡¯s very satisfying to look at the collected items, are you trying to take that joy away from me? My safe is not as strong as the royal family¡¯s safe, but it is still quite strong.¡±


    ¡°Haha... I almost ruined your hobby. It¡¯s twice the pleasure if you keep your collection close by.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. I can¡¯t be full with my first bite, so I¡¯d like to visit you often and talk candidly about it. Would that be okay?¡±


    Mittal meant that he wanted to buy more gold bars in the future.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say no, given your role as a bridge between our country and the Indian government. But, please keep the facts of our transaction to yourself.¡±


    ¡°Of course. You will see that I can keep a secret.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. We¡¯ll give you a ton a year from now on.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Highness, I will repay the kingdom of Kazakhstan with more investment.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t invest. Your interest in Kazakhstan is a huge boost. I¡¯d be grateful if you could help boost economic exchanges between the two countries in the future.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s most urgent problem was addressing a shortage of manufactured goods.


    Although it had been building countless factories to escape Chinese manufactured goods,plete self-sufficiency had been difficult.


    That was why securing an import ship that could reliably supply cheap and high-quality manufactured goods was necessary, and India was a perfect fit for Kazakhstan¡¯s needs.

 Chapter 669 - An Unexpected Variable(1)

    <strong>Chapter 669: An Unexpected Variable(1)</strong>


    Youngho and Mittal¡¯s group arrived in Krasnoyarsk. They toured the right site for the steel mill and sailed along the Yenisei River to the tundra area, checking the transit distance between the iron ore producing area and the steel mill.


    The mafia boss, Sergeenko, made all the visit schedules arranged perfectly, leaving only a tour of the Yenisei River when Youngho was about to leave for Moscow.


    ¡°Your Highness, I hear that Sergeenko is the mafia boss. Is it safe to be seen working with him?¡±


    ¡°Here, the mafia acts like the cop.¡±


    ¡°What? You mean the mafia is in charge of security?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Well, you can¡¯t actually say that, but the mafia clears the gangs and scumbags in the back alley. Have you heard of the Russian mafia?¡±


    Although Mittal was a world-renowned businessman, he did not seem to know about the Russian mafia.


    In Russia, the mafia was in charge of maintaining order in the blind spots that the police could not take care of. It was to prevent any disadvantage and chaos from any disorder in the back alley.


    ¡°I knew it was affecting the Russian economy, but I¡¯ve never heard of it recing the police.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not disparaging the Russian police, but there are some areas where they¡¯re worse than the mafia. There are cops who rob ordinary citizens and tourists.¡±


    Mittal nodded his head.


    Most of the ces where Mittal¡¯s steel mill was located were in developing countries, so he knew how corrupt local police and officials were.


    In order for the steelmaking business to run smoothly, he had to bribe countless officials from top to bottom.


    ¡°Is the Mafia involved with the Kazakh royal family in Krasnoyarsk?¡±


    ¡°No, but the mafia is controlled because we do business together. Sergeenko¡¯s organization is working in a legitimate way. It is correcting the order in the back alleys. If there¡¯s anything difficult for your business, it¡¯ll be easy for you to solve through Sergeenko.¡±


    ¡°I would be relieved if the mafia is controlled, so through Sergeenko, can we also get meteorites or diamond stones?¡±


    ¡°It is possible, but you should refrain from buying too much to break the ck market order, and you shouldn¡¯t even be thinking about mobilizing people to dig through the forest. That¡¯s why the Chinesepany was kicked out.¡±


    Youngho warned Mittal to prevent him from acting greedy.


    Kazakhstan-based Mittal¡¯s steel mill had also suffered from environmental pollution for some time, so he would understand what Youngho¡¯s words meant. He knew that Youngho would not allow any business to damage the environment harshly.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be overambitious because I only need to meet the little pleasures of the collector. My purpose is to build a steel mill here, not to collect stones.¡±


    He seemed toply in front of Youngho, but Youngho did not believe it. There was no end to one¡¯s greed. Since he had given Sergeenko his word in advance, Sergeenko would only make a deal within appropriate levels.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way we can get our hands dirty here because they do the dirty work for us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted. Then I¡¯ll have to give Sergeenko a job rted to the steelmaking business.¡±


    ¡°Sergeenko would appreciate it. I¡¯m leaving for Moscow tomorrow, so I want you to work out the rest of the schedule as nned. There will be an icebreaker waiting to guide you and your party to the Yenisei River.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I hope I¡¯ll do a lot of work in the development of Kazakhstan and India.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to your role. I hope you have a pleasant trip.¡±


    The Yenisei River had a regr arrangement of icebreakers belonging to the Kazakh royal family now.


    Now residents of Krasnoyarsk did not have to worry about the river being frozen in the winter as the royal icebreakers were frequently breaking the ice on the Yenisei River.


    As a result, the vicious cycle of rising prices due to seasonal factors had disappeared this winter.


    Thanks to the icebreaker¡¯s performance, the flow of water in the Yenisei River was maintained like it was summer.


    It was only possible because the logistics of the Trans-Siberian trains were dispersed into the water route of the Yenisei River.


    With the introduction of icebreakers, residents received daily necessities and food supplies at a priceparable to when it was summer, which made them praise the Kazakh royal family.


    The reason why the icebreakers were put into service despite the fact that the Siberian development project was not in full swing was to sign the contract in favor of the royal family.


    The service was intended to make the people feel how the Kazakh royal family¡¯s investment in Krasnoyarsk province was affecting them positively.


    ***


    Martin, president of Spain¡¯s ACS Corp., was waiting for Youngho at the Moscow Airport.


    ¡°You could¡¯ve waited at the hotel, why did youe all the way here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course, I shoulde out to greet you at the airport. I¡¯m here on behalf of the consortiumpanies.¡±


    It did not seem right that he hade out on behalf of all thepanies.


    Since the trip to Moscow was an official visit, Russian officials were already at the airport to greet Youngho, so he did not have toe out.


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°It turns out that the amount of the project would be much more than expected. Russian media havee to the airport, and I wanted to make sure to give you a heads-up to prevent any misunderstanding and rumor. I think we should talk in-depth with the consortiumpanies and then make an announcement to the press. The priority is to persuade them.¡±


    ¡°I see. The participatingpanies are faltering.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little serious.¡±


    This was exactly what Youngho was worried about.


    If construction costs were exorbitantly higher than the amount proposed by the Russian government,panies thatcked funding would give up, which turned out to be the reality.


    ¡°Is there apany that is willing to abandon the project?¡±


    ¡°Somepanies are worried about theck of funding.¡±


    ¡°Then we should put some pressure on the Russian government.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy because of Russia¡¯s economic conditions, but it¡¯s still a problem for the Russian government to share some of the construction costs. If the Russian government were to participate in the operation of the Trans-Siberian train, there would be no stopping it. This will also disrupt the recovery of principal and operating profits. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s apany that would like that.¡±


    Youngho felt frustrated.


    If the Trans-Siberian Railway Project slowed down, the Siberian development project would also face difficulties.


    After finishing the diplomatic event at the airport, he hurried to the hotel where all the representatives of consortiumpanies were waiting.


    He called representatives from Spain, the United States, and France, the most heavily invested of the consortiumpanies, to the conference room.


    ording to the report, the cost of the project, which was calcted as a result of the due diligence, amounted to 10.5 billion dors, not 6 billion dors that Russia had originally proposed.


    Largepanies were also burdened by the scale far exceeding their initial expectations.


    ¡°The Russian government¡¯s initial survey was so bungled.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t trust the Russian government¡¯s data from the beginning either.¡±


    ¡°We cannot rule out the possibility of further increases in business expenses in the future.¡±


    Everyone seemed upset, so they were pouring out their thoughts at once.


    ¡°Please calm down and listen to me. I came up with a resolution urgently. Why don¡¯t we divide the railway sections and build them sequentially?¡±


    ¡°Will the Russian government agree?¡±


    ¡°I will take responsibility and persuade the government. First of all, let¡¯s set the first section of the project that¡¯s close to the original construction cost and proceed with the construction. Roughly speaking, it would include the Far East Siberian section and parts of Central Siberia.¡±


    ¡°That will cause another problem when the Far East section is modernized. If you get bottlenecks on the rest of the sections, it will be a useless business.¡±


    ¡°Not really. Since there are many industrial parks on the Central Siberian route, the Russian government has improved the railroad. There are many branch lines from there, so I don¡¯t think it will have much impact on logistics. Let¡¯s also study ways to reduce the cost of first section construction. The cost is still not confirmed yet just because you¡¯ve done due diligence, isn¡¯t it? There may be variables in the actual construction. If we can reduce construction costs in the first section, we can start the second section early.¡±


    Youngho was also in a hurry and was offering whatever came to his mind, but it was a reasonable suggestion.


    This was because Youngho knew Russia better than anyone who was there. Besides, there was no reason for the Russian government to oppose the idea of dividing the construction section as it was only paying ten percent of the cost of the project.


    ¡°Your Highness, your method will do the trick, but what if the Russian government takes this opportunity to interfere with the railway operation?¡±


    ¡°The Trans-Siberian Railway has a structure that allowspanies with more stakes to have more control over it. We¡¯ll sign the contract to ensure that, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the Far East Siberian section is the most expensive part of the project. At least seven billion dors should be spent. I¡¯m not sure if we can afford the secondary construction after spending such a huge amount.¡±


    He had a point.


    The cost of construction increased but not diminished.


    Siberia was an extreme environment in which many variables were lurking.


    After agonizing for a while, Youngho came up with a new proposal.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s put it this way. How about dividing the sections between the Russian government and the private sector? The consortium can be in charge of the construction and operation of the sections to the Krasnoyarsk section and the Russian government can be in charge of the rest. Then the Russians wouldn¡¯t be disappointed either.¡±


    ¡°Is the pride of the Russian people so important?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Russians should never be judged bymon sense as we know it. All they have is pride.¡±


    If that were to be sorted out, the n to run the Siberian railway project for only ten years could change. The reason for pulling out of the railway project only after ten years was because the pride of the Russian government and the Russians was at stake.


    How many Russians would love to have the Trans-Siberian Railway in the hands of foreigners?


    However, if that was resolved, there was no reason to back down early.


    ¡°Do you mean we should divide sections and run them separately? Will the Russian government ept it?¡±


    Hope was in the eyes of the participants.


    ¡°Strictly dividing the private and government zones will rather be apetition of good faith, and service may get better. The Russian government has self-respect and will try topete.¡±


    ¡°If railway operations are dualized, there will be many logistical problems. If you select only the right cargo and put it first, the logistics business, where time is life, can be challenged. The Russian government can do that.¡±


    At this point, Youngho surprised the participants with his new suggestion.


    ¡°I think building arge logistics base in Krasnoyarsk will solve that problem. From there, you can transfer to the Kazak railway.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a day¡¯s train ride from Krasnoyarsk to the Kazakh border. The route from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to the city of Volgograd in southern Russia is modernized already. That could make the logistics to Europe much faster than through Moscow.¡±


    If logistics were stagnant in the Russian government¡¯s section, it was possible to divert supplies to Kazakhstan. The use of railways would also generate profits for Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Oh yeah, we could run it on a separate line.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Even if Russia is unable to start the project due to ack of funds, our profits will remain unchanged because we have a recement line. I believe that will make the logistics business with Central Asia and South Europe smoother.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, to my knowledge, Kazakhstan also has a railway connection with China. Won¡¯t logistics leading to China create bottlenecks?¡±


    ¡°That may be the case, but we will put our logistics first.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we get in trouble when the Chinese government won¡¯t stand still?¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is also nning more railroads, so that won¡¯t happen.¡±

 Chapter 670 - An Unexpected Variable (2)

    <h4>Chapter 670: An Unexpected Variable (2)</h4>


    Theplete construction of a modernization facility for the Trans-Siberian Railway was five years away.


    Until then, construction of the railway modernization project in Kazakhstan would beplete, so even if the Russian government¡¯s railway section became saturated, turning it to a bypass from Krasnoyarsk would open up a way for the railway logistics.


    If that happened, Kazakhstan would not have to stop Chinese logistics because passing China¡¯s logistics would make Kazakhstan huge transportation fees.


    Although it had been confronting China everywhere, Kazakhstan would cooperate with China as well if it was beneficial to the national interest.


    Because the Chinese government was worried that the Kazakh railway, the shortest route to Europe, would be blocked, it was trying to stay amicable with Kazakhstan even though it had had undesirable confrontations with Kazakhstan.


    So it was building an exit through Afghanistan to Iran in preparation for not being able to use the Kazakh route.


    ¡°I¡¯m so relieved to hear that there¡¯s a bypass line. Now it¡¯s about whether Putin agrees.¡±


    ¡°There is no reason for Putin to object, so don¡¯t worry. If he can take advantage of the railways across Russia, he¡¯d be more than happy to.¡±


    Even if the logistics were transported through Kazakhstan, it would eventually have to pass through Volgograd again, so there was not much damage to Russia.


    ¡°People were worried about the increased cost of construction, but it seems to have been a blessing in disguise. If you hadn¡¯te up with a solution, we would have been devastated.¡±


    That remained to be seen, but for now, the construction up to only Krasnoyarsk was less of a burden for Youngho, too.


    ¡°The Trans-Siberian Railway project will certainly be a golden goose so wait and see.¡±


    ¡°If that turns out to be true, I will invest in Kazakhstan as well.¡±


    ¡°Are you interested in the new railroad section? This is a branch line connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway. As I said earlier, I think your line will be quite active in the future.¡±


    Then, everyone at the conference was intrigued.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t all thepanies investing in the Trans-Siberian Railway participate? It¡¯s an extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. It¡¯s about securing a new line, so I¡¯ll actively consider it.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m on a roller coaster. My mind still doesn¡¯t know where to lean toward.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... There will be good results tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll trust you and wait, Your Highness.¡±


    ***


    Consortiumpanies¡¯ proposal to divide the construction sector and its management was epted as Youngho said.


    As for the Russian government, what it was concerned with was resolved by this proposal, so it had no reason to oppose it.


    Public opinion was rife that the Trans-Siberian train would be handed over to foreignpanies, but now a way for Russia to manage the key railway section, from Krasnoyarsk to Moscow, was open.


    On top of that, it was an easy business for Russia as the most difficult section to modernize the Trans-Siberian Railway was from Central Siberia to Far East Siberia.


    Putin was very pleased and weed Youngho who visited the Kremlin.


    ¡°I looked at the report, and there were clear signs of your suffering. Thank you for all your hard work.¡±


    ¡°We willplete the construction of the Far East Siberian section no matter how much it costs. The consortiumpanies were about to give up the construction, so I had to drink vodka quite a bit with them to turn them around.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Your Highness has brought me another big gift. I received a report from the Krasnoyarsk market yesterday. I hear you¡¯re building a steel mill.¡±


    ¡°I tried to present it to you first, but the mayor took the initiative and visited the site first. If you give us your final approval, we will start the development as soon as possible, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°The cross-country railway project has been cleared up, so let¡¯s sign this contract right away.¡±


    ¡°Great. You¡¯ll never be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to thank you. We¡¯ll set up a legal measure to start the development business right away.¡±


    It was obvious that Putin was in a hurry, fearing that Youngho might change his mind.


    Since Putin took power, there had been no investment projects of this size.


    When he was re-elected president this time, he promised to revitalize the economy, and the way to achieve his pledge in the near future was finally open.


    At this rate, he could even win the next presidential election.


    ¡°Mr. President. I¡¯m thinking of offering some of the profits of the Far East railway project as a governing fund for you. Would you like that?¡±


    Putin¡¯s eyes got bigger at the sudden suggestion, but he soon nodded since Youngho was also the ruler of Kazakhstan and understood Putin¡¯s struggle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, sir. While running many businesses in Kazakhstan, I found that I needed a lot of money besides the official budget. I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯ve been in trouble like me.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you scratch the spot where it itches most for me.¡±


    Saying that he scratched the itchy spot meant that he would ept Youngho¡¯s offer.


    The reason why Youngho made such a proposal was because it was the cost to go to Putin in any way. Thus, he was going to deliver it to him directly so that he could get credit and build Putin¡¯s trust.


    ¡°I can rte to you, and we are on the same boat. If you get in trouble, our business is in trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, it¡¯s hard to create a slush fund as it was before. The opposition parties and civic groups are not ordinary.¡±


    In order to save his slush fund, Putin had to be cautious since he had many eyes on him.


    The world knew that Putin was involved in various projects in Russia, but as he was ruling a huge country like Russia, there would be more than one or two ces to spend his money.


    In particr, the pockets of his followers should be filled for a long-term dictatorship. Money made them loyal.


    Under such circumstances, if the Duke of the Kazakh royal family offered to give money to him, why would he hesitate?


    ¡°And I will also provide you with a governing fund from the operating profits of the Volga-Don Canal, but it¡¯s a problem because the Russian Navy is making trouble in the Sea of Azov.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really embarrassing. That¡¯s what¡¯s happening because we¡¯ve been unable to properly support the Navy due to ack of budget. We will instruct the ck Sea Fleet to prevent further illegal activities.¡±


    The Russian ck Sea Fleet in Crimea had a grand name, but it did not have much power beyond the ck Sea.


    Perhaps, that was why it was only active in the Sea of Azov and the northern ck Sea, next to Crimea.


    Because of theck of budget, the fleet often demanded bribes from cargo ships passing through the Volga-Don Canal, which was a shame as the fleet belonged to the Russian Navy, not pirates.


    The expansion of the Volga-Don Canal would allow 50,000-ton cargo ships to and from the area, whereas only up to 5,000-ton of ships could travel through the canal before.


    Youngho mentioned the navy¡¯s problem to Putin to prevent further mishaps of the ck Sea Fleet. Only by preventing Russian naval forces from engaging in activities could the canal significantly increase logistics volume and generate a lot of revenue.


    ***


    When the main contract for the Trans-Siberian Railway project and the Siberian Development Project were signed, the Russian government immediately announced it both at home and abroad.


    It was advertised thatrge-scale investments were made because it provided legal and institutional safeguards for foreign investors.


    The rapid move was not only to give hope to the Russian people but also to receive new foreign investment in the future.


    It was a message to relieve foreignpanies since globalpanies and the Kazakh royal family also made investments.


    In fact, the Russian government and parliament promised to enact and pass rted bills as follow-up measures under the main contracts.


    On the surface, it seemed to have perfect safeguards but few believed it.


    This was because it was a socialist country that could change its policy at any time.


    Still,panies participating in the Trans-Siberian Railway project seemed to be relieved that uncertainties had been removed.


    ¡°Your Highness, now we can finally start the construction.¡±


    ¡°Yes, to do so, please deposit the contracted amount of investment at the time you promised.¡±


    ¡°Of course. It will be deposited into the joint business ount on a quarterly basis.¡±


    Expecting total construction costs of seven billion dors, the Kazakh royal family and Yaniv contributed two billion dors together.


    In addition,rgepanies of Spain and the U.S., and France would invest a billion dors each, and the remaining two billion dors would be invested by ten otherpanies from different countries including Korea.


    The stakes in the Far East section of the Trans-Siberian train were 100 percent invested by the consortiumpanies.


    Russia decided to build the Moscow section from Krasnoyarsk and operate independently.


    Although the Russian government said it would do the construction, how could the Russian government, whichcked budget, pay for the construction? If that caused logistics bottlenecks, it would be the consortiumpanies that suffer.


    So, the alternative was to use a detour route in Kazakhstan.


    Consortiumpanies had also decided to invest in the Kazakh detour route.


    ¡°Your Highness, I wish there were no more variables, but would that be feasible?¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be many variables in the meantime. Whether Putin stays in power or not, legal safeguards are in ce, and we have a blood alliance with Kazakhstan and Russia. Even for our rtionship, Russia will not break our promise.¡±


    ¡°Is there a measure for when the promise is broken?¡±


    It was a very difficult question to answer.


    It wasmon for countries to break their promises, what could privatepanies do against them?


    If Youngho failed to convince them in this part, it was obvious that thepanies participating in the consortium would feel insecure.


    ¡°I have a measure for nonpliance with the contract, but I¡¯d rather not share them right now. Instead, if you are disadvantaged by the Trans-Siberian train project, the Kazakh royal family will offer a counter-payment. Under no circumstances will yourpanies lose.¡±


    Now that the contracts were signed, Youngho had no fear of Russia. It would be Russia that would be sorry if Kazakhstan turned its back on it.

 Chapter 671 - Counterattack Operation (1)

    <h4>Chapter 671: Counterattack Operation (1)</h4>


    ¡°Is that true? Russia and China are discussing nuclear submarine technology transfer, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. That¡¯s what CNN¡¯s China correspondent covered.¡±


    Suh Min-seok reported to Youngho after watching CNN News.


    ¡°What¡¯s the specifics?¡±


    ¡°This technology is rted to silencing the noise of nuclear submarines, and the Japanese government is furious about this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s worthy to be furious. We should say something, too.¡±


    ¡°Will Russia ept our opinion?¡±


    ¡°It will have to listen if it wants to make the Trans-Siberian Railway a sess.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a different matter...¡±


    ¡°If the Chinese nuclear submarine solves the noise problem, it could be a deadly situation for our Navy. We can¡¯t sit still. As an ally of Russia, we definitely have the right to intervene.¡±


    China¡¯s nuclear-powered submarine had been humiliated due to chronic noise problems.


    There was a humiliating incident in the past. The Chinese nuclear submarine was operating secretly in the Senkaku Inds of Japan and was tracked down by the Japanese Navy. Eventually, the submarine surfaced only after two days.


    A nuclear submarine was a strategic weapon that could operate under the surface for months, but the Chinese submarine was said that it was no more than a diesel submarine.


    While diesel-powered submarines could go undercover for up to 15 days, nuclear submarines were treated as strategic weapons because they could operate without being floated for six months.


    The biggest problem, however, was that the pump must be turned at all costs in order to supply cooling water for the reactor.


    And the steam turbines used to spin the screws were noisier than expected, making them less than diesel submarines.


    Conventional submarines using electric motors could move very quietly except snorkeling at the surface to recharge electricity, and it was undetectable once the engine was stopped.


    The Russian and U.S. nuclear submarines had technically ovee such noise problems, so China was eager to buy such a technology.


    ¡°Call Commander Jun. Tell him toe to my office if he¡¯s not busy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±


    Victor Jun, the royal fleet¡¯s captain, was returning to his duty afterpleting the Indian Ocean operation.


    In the Caspian Sea, there were naval bases in two ces, Atyrau and the royal territory, which was serving as naval headquarters as the residence area for military personnel and their families and the naval and nonmissioned schools were in the royal territory.


    Upon receiving the call, Commander Jun entered the office.


    ¡°Your Highness, did you look for me?¡±


    ¡°Wee. Did you hear that Russia and China are partnering to transfer nuclear submarine technology?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard. China¡¯s acquisition of Russian technology doesn¡¯t solve its problem. It will be difficult if it doesn¡¯t remodel the hull because there will be noise to cool the reactor anyway.¡±


    ¡°But if we keep quiet, it¡¯s fatal for our navy, so I¡¯m going to put pressure on Russia to stop technology transfer.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure we need to do that? It¡¯s a technical exchange between the same socialist countries, and there will be room for a misunderstanding when you step forward...¡±


    Commander Jun seemed to hope not to hurt Russia¡¯s pride


    ¡°So you¡¯re confident our navy can beat a Chinese nuclear submarine?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m confident we can detect any Chinese submarine. We have Aegis destroyers equipped with sonar and two helicopters to prepare for the anti-submarine warfare. We have a well-trained task team as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great, but what if you have an advanced diesel submarine? Will you be able to effectively cope with it?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯tpare to a nuclear submarine, but I¡¯m confident I can keep it in check.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we get a mid-sized submarine. We¡¯ll have to decide which country to bring in the submarine from.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you get it from Sweden¡¯s Saab where you¡¯re a shareholder or Germany?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking of getting it from Korea. I heard that Germany, which transferred submarine technology, is also impressed by Korean technology.¡±


    ¡°I think that should be fine. It¡¯ll be easy to integrate the force if we brought it from Korea, and we can ask the Korean Navy to provide training for our staff, so it¡¯ll be like killing two birds with one stone.¡±


    ¡°All right, but before we do that, I¡¯ve got to address the nuclear technology transfer issue. I can¡¯t let it go.¡±


    ***


    Despite Commander Jun¡¯s concern, Youngho felt he had to do something, so he called Yaniv.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv, as I have described, you need to know that the sophistication of China¡¯s nuclear submarines could hamper Russia in the future. I¡¯m afraid Russia is being dragged around by China these days.¡±


    -I guess the nuclear submarine technology is not something to be underestimated.


    ¡°Of course. Imagine China¡¯s submarine hiding in the deep sea for six months. It¡¯s a monster with strategic nuclear weapons. Wouldn¡¯t it be threatening?¡±


    -Would Putin transfer technology without considering such an issue?


    ¡°Of course, he must have decided on technology transfer after careful consideration, but if Russia thinks of Kazakhstan as an ally, please tell him to reconsider.¡±


    -Then don¡¯t stress over it. Why don¡¯t you order a nuclear submarine from Putin? I think Putin promised thatst time.


    Yaniv suggested to Youngho to buy a nuclear submarine from Russia.


    For the Kazakh Navy, which had been operating small submarines in the 300-ton-ss, a nuclear submarine was a huge step forward. One nuclear submarine had more power than three or four mid-sized diesel-powered submarines.


    ¡°If Putin offered an affordable price for sale or lease, I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    -Are you serious? Shall I really tell that to Putin?


    ¡°Even if we are blood allies, would Putin give the national strategic weapon so easily?¡±


    -You¡¯ve done so much for Russia. I¡¯m sure he will grant such a request. Besides, it¡¯ll be strange if he doesn¡¯t like that since you¡¯d be taking care of the nuclear submarines rusting at the harbor, and if the Kazakh Navy is strengthened, it¡¯s also good for Russia.


    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t embarrass myself by asking for a submarine shamelessly. Would you quietly mention it to President Putin for me?¡±


    There were only about ten Russian nuclear submarines that were actively operating due to Russia¡¯s economic difficulties.


    There was also a rumor that the 40,000-ton nuclear submarine, which was built during the Cold War era, would soon be dmissioned due to the difficulties of its maintenance.


    Under such circumstances, it would not be so difficult to buy a nuclear submarine from Russia.


    -I know your concern. Just wait and see, I¡¯ll make it happen.


    Youngho called Yaniv to express his regret for Russia¡¯s nuclear submarine technology transfer to China, but he was instead encouraged to buy a submarine from Russia.


    If he bought a nuclear submarine, China would be the most sensitive about the news.


    It would be a great deterrence and be a frightening factor to the Chinese naval forces if it sometimes disappeared without a sound after being anchored in the Seychelles or Abu Dhabi ports. It would be just for relocation of its port, but to Kazakhstan¡¯s enemies, it would be quite concerning.


    ***


    After the phone call with Yaniv, Youngho called in Commander Jun hurriedly.


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv told me to ask for a nuclear submarine if we wanted to check China¡¯s submarines. If Russia sells or rents a nuclear submarine, can we operate it?¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Commander Jun got so excited that he even stuttered.


    ¡°Your Highness, can you buy a nuclear submarine?¡±


    ¡°Putin once told me that he would even build one for me if I wanted one. If he hasn¡¯t forgotten, I think I¡¯ll be able to buy one.¡±


    ¡°If you do interior repairs and rece the equipment with a new model, you¡¯ll have the strongest submarine in the world. The West has acknowledged what a formidable object it is.¡±


    ¡°Is it that strong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a submarine that can go down to the depths of the ocean, not to mention the deterrence of war. In short, it¡¯s the best submarine.¡±


    ¡°Well, then, shall we postpone our n to get a diesel submarine?


    ¡°Yes, sir. With one nuclear submarine, we can beat any diesel submarine.¡±


    ¡°You mean any nuclear submarine can help power.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Imagine that wherever you go, the Task Force follows you secretly in the water for months without refueling. We won¡¯t have to be afraid of any enemy protesting in front of our eyes. The enemy will have to face a torpedo that it doesn¡¯t even know where it¡¯sing from.¡±


    Commander Jun excitedly exined as if he feared that Youngho might change his mind. Nuclear-powered submarines were a dream of any navalmander.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that it¡¯s more useful for the joint operation with a task team rather than operating it alone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, we need to instill an awareness that we¡¯re always attached to the task team. That way, the Chinese Navy will be alerted.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t expect too much since it hasn¡¯t been decided yet.¡±


    ¡°Will it be easy for Putin to reject what you have asked for?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Mr. Yaniv will mention it to Putin soon. So please keep it to yourself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to eat for the time being until the nuclear submarine acquisition is confirmed.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Take this opportunity to go on a diet, then. You¡¯ve been gaining weight. Maybe it¡¯s because your life on the ship is getting longer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Grace. Soldiers shouldn¡¯t be like this, but when I go out to sea, I have a great appetite and eat twice as muchpared to the time when I¡¯m onnd.¡±


    Although the Aegis destroyer wasrge, it was still a small ship less than 200 meters long.


    There was an exercise facility for soldiers, but it would be difficult for soldiers to exercise to the full extent.


    All the men on board the warship were on duty for four hours at a time, but as there was no day or night for them, even their biorhythm would be broken, so it was hardly a normal life.


    In particr, task forces operating in the Indian Ocean were less active because they had to remain stranded on ships for several months because they could not stop at ports but had to rely only on supply ships.


    The hard work of those working on a narrow ship was visible to Youngho¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°For the health of the soldiers, we should hurry to build a naval base in Seychelles.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if you¡¯re starting construction, could we also build a submarine base?¡±

 Chapter 672 - Counterattack Operation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 672: Counterattack Operation (2)</h4>


    ¡°Mr. Yaniv said he¡¯d ask Putin to sell a nuclear submarine?¡±


    Park Jong-il reacted the same way as Victor Jun did before.


    ¡°Are you deaf? How many times do you need to ask?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I can¡¯t believe it. If we have a nuclear submarine on top of Aegis destroyers, we wouldn¡¯t worry even if the Chinese start a war.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just one submarine.¡±


    ¡°Nuclear submarines are a great thing. It¡¯s a strategic weapon that makes you formidable even if there¡¯s only one.¡±


    A nuclear submarine was something that one could not have even with money.


    The world would be surprised if a small and weak country like Kazakhstan possessed a strategic weapon that was perceived as a relic of the great powers.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how the International Atomic Energy Agency will react to this.¡±


    ¡°You worry about everything. India but Brazil are building nuclear submarines. And it doesn¡¯t matter if we¡¯re not making it ourselves. We¡¯re bringing a second-hand submarine. It¡¯s a great opportunity. Great powers don¡¯t care to sell their strategic weapons. It¡¯s only possible because we¡¯re close to Russia.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese will put all the pressure on Russia.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure. Why don¡¯t you tell Putin yourself instead of leaving it to Chairman Yaniv alone?¡±


    ¡°If Putin refuses, it¡¯ll might get awkward. It¡¯s better to have someone in-between. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be burdensome even for Putin to sell a nuclear submarine.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s like a cat thinks of a mouse. Since when do you consider Putin¡¯s position like that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to make things between us difficult by asking a favor that¡¯s hard to ept.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and just push it.¡±


    ¡°And why are you so excited?¡±


    ¡°Do you know how much the intelligence chief in a country with a nuclear submarine has a great pride? I¡¯d like to join the league, too.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? That¡¯s the stupidest reason I¡¯ve ever heard.¡±


    ¡°They say that there are three men whomand the world, the president of the United States, the president of Russia, and the captain of a nuclear submarine. It¡¯s a joke but how great would it be to have a nuclear submarine?¡±


    ¡°Well, then Commander Jun should be the one to be proud, not you.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. We¡¯re all in the same field.¡±


    Following Commander Jun, Jong-il also was eager to get a nuclear submarine. It also made Youngho want it more.


    ¡°I wonder how the U.S. will react...¡±


    ¡°It will stick to the principle of non-interference because the U.S. has said it will not deliver nuclear submarines to other countries in any case, although it was forced to transfer nuclear submarine technology to Britain only to fight the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The evidence is that the U.S. did not interfere when the Indian government borrowed a nuclear submarine from Russia. It must¡¯ve judged that it was a force to keep China in check in the Indian Ocean. So if we said we¡¯ll buy a nuclear submarine, the U.S. will be more than wee.¡±


    As the intelligence chief, Park Jong-il was quite knowledgeable about world military situation.


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    With India¡¯s case, there seemed to be little problem with bringing in a nuclear submarine from Russia.


    ¡°An Oscar-ss nuclear submarine would be perfect for us. The new Oscars are 15,000-ton supertankers.¡±


    ***


    It was only two days that Youngho received a call from Yaniv.


    -Duke, you should buy me a vodka.


    ¡°I guess you have good news from Putin.¡±


    -He told me to take it right away because an Omsk submarine just came into the 402 Naval Shipyard to be repaired, and he will sell it at a very low price.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say it¡¯s an Oscar?¡±


    Youngho had already received nuclear submarine data from Park Jong-il, so he guessed it.


    This was because 402 Naval Shipyard was mainly used to handle Oscar-ss nuclear submarines.


    Yaniv was surprised to hear Youngho¡¯s remark.


    -You are almost a forteller. Putin said the Duke would not be satisfied with submarines below the level of the Oscar. Since he can¡¯t treat India and Kazakhstan as equals, so he¡¯s thinking of offering it. How do you like that?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can handle such arge submarine.¡±


    -That¡¯s the size you can keep China in check.


    It was a strange situation. Russia was selling nuclear submarine technology to China and was now handing over its nuclear submarine to Kazakhstan, which was in a rage by the fact that China would have the technology.


    Would Russia have predicted this situation?


    ¡°I was going to lease it, but if it¡¯s a purchase, it could be a financial burden...¡±


    -When I mentioned leasing at first, Putinughed. He said he knows the wealth of the Kazakh royal family, and it will be a shame to rent it. He¡¯ll give you a good price, so take it.


    ¡°I hope he is not trying to pass on a submarine close to its retirement.¡±


    -He said the Oscar-ss nuclear submarines are rather new.


    ¡°As far as I know, most of the oscar-ss submarines are old-fashioned submarines produced in the mid-¡¯90s.¡±


    -Oh! What are you talking about? They say it¡¯s been tested in the Pacific Ocean and it¡¯s a perfectly fine submarine.


    The new submarines often caused trouble during the test-driving process, so it may be better to get the second-hand product that had been tested and proven to be wless.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that¡¯s fine. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Yaniv.¡±


    -You should let me the lead in this kind of work. I¡¯ll take care of it and give you the best bargain price. Putin won¡¯t be so greedy.


    It was a great decision to go through Yaniv.


    He was a man who had been a mafia and lived a rough life all his life.


    He was capable of buying a nuclear bomb if he willed. Of course, it was possible because it was Russia.


    ¡°Maybe I should have dealt with the Russian Ministry of Defense.¡±


    -It would have been possible if it had been the time of the Soviet Union¡¯s copse, but now you won¡¯t have a chance. I think it¡¯s better to give Putin some extra money and buy it cheaply. So you can ask him to make it look like new.


    With the deal, Putin also intended to save his slush fund.


    Under the guise of supplying weapons to the blood alliance, he will likely to save his face by selling it cheaply.


    ¡°Tell him we won¡¯t take it if coreponents are missing.¡±


    -Putin loves you and he won¡¯t do such a thing. Putin¡¯s approval rating has risen recently thanks to you.


    ¡°It¡¯s no use liking me. I¡¯m not interested in men.¡±


    -Hahaha... So now, how do you feel about taking a nuclear submarine?


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll take it. I will finally have a weapon to check China.¡±


    -Can you take on China with only one nuclear-powered submarine?


    ¡°It¡¯s just the beginning. I¡¯m confident I¡¯ll make three or four simr ones in the near future.¡±


    -If you ask Putin, he might also hand over the key technology because he seems to be leaning a lot towards Kazakhstan these days.


    ¡°Then I guess we can make it public that we¡¯re taking over the nuclear submarine.¡±


    -Putin¡¯s already made up his mind, so it¡¯ll be okay.


    ***


    Commander Jun could not hide his excitement when Youngho mentioned about the Omsk ship.


    ¡°Your Grace, the Omsk submarine is a nuclear-powered submarine that has been deployed as a member of the Pacific Fleet and has recently entered a repair shop for maintenance. It¡¯s a submarine that¡¯s never been in trouble.¡±


    ¡°You know it well.¡±


    ¡°Western countries treat Oscars as big nuclear submarines, but there is a great secret behind them.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°This is a double hull with a space of 3 meters between the outer and the inner hull. A missileunch tube is installed in that space, so it has the advantage of having a spacious room inside the submarine.¡±


    Most submarines, due to their narrow interior space, crew members felt highly fatigued during long-term operations. However, the 15,000-ton Omsk submarine was known for its low fatigue level for crew members on board even during a long-term operation, as it also had helpful facilities such as a fitness center.


    It was a legendary submarine that had a history of not surfacing for 120 days. It was proof of how easy it was for the crew to be active.


    ¡°It also has strength because it generates very little noise, which usually is a chronic problem with nuclear submarines. They put special rubber film on the outside of the hull and adopted a seven-lobe screw to dramatically reduce noise. It is known as Tiger because it looks like a Siberian tiger that approaches its prey without any sound.¡±


    The former colonel¡¯s eulogy of an Oscar-ss nuclear submarine was continuing endlessly.


    ¡°I must bring an Omsk submarine or you¡¯d be very disappointed in me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Grace. I guess I¡¯m too excited.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Amander should be a little greedy for weapons.¡±


    Bringing in a nuclear submarine would raise the morale of the entire military as well as the Navy.


    ¡°It¡¯s a verbal promise, but in the near future, the nuclear submarine will be ours. So pick up crew members to board a nuclear submarine in advance. Choose soldiers who are fluent in Russian as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°All right. Your Highness, I¡¯ll make a good selection.¡±


    ¡°And think about the armament to be mounted on a nuclear submarine.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    The rumor would soon spread to all sides.


    That was why Youngho ordered the recruitment of crew members to be rumored.


    It soon became an issue that Kazakhstan was taking over a nuclear submarine from Russia.


    It was not the first time for Russia to hand over a nuclear submarine to a foreign country, but the fact that Kazakhstan, an ind country, had a nuclear submarine had drawn keen attention.


    ¡°Your Highness, journalists from all over the world are asking for more information. What shall we do?¡±


    ¡°Leave it to Commander Jun. Now, he has to practice dealing with the media, too. Tell him that he can reveal the rest of the power that¡¯s to be increased in the future.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little reluctant to have an active officer brief.¡±


    ¡°What do you think? It shows the confidence of the Kazakh Navy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he will say something unnecessary since he doesn¡¯t have political sense.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m letting him take the lead.¡±


    The intention to expose Commander Jun to the media was to promote the Kazakh Navy, which was active in the Indian Ocean.


    If the captain of the task force briefed the Kazakh naval power, he would face all kinds of questions. Commander Jun, who was known for his pride for the Kazakh Navy, would not hide any power from the reporters.


    Sometimes it was better to show off your strength by exaggerating rather than hiding it.


    Youngho wondered how China would react if the power of the Kazakh Navy was revealed.


    China would certainly try to block sales by putting all kinds of pressure on Russia.


    If China interfered too much, it could be a blow to Putin¡¯s pride.

 Chapter 673 - Counterattack Operation (3)

    <h4>Chapter 673: Counterattack Operation (3)</h4>


    As expected, China had begun pressing Russia to reconsider its nuclear-powered submarine sale. It even threatened to withdraw various joint projects with Russia, but Youngho countered it by saying that the Kazakh royal family could rece any joint venture that Russia had with China.


    Putin also knew from several experiences that it would be better for Russia to be with the Kazakh royal family than to have a joint venture with China since the Kazakh royal family had proven to be useful in attracting globalpanies¡¯ investments.


    On top of that, it not only improved Russia¡¯s image due to the involvement of Westernpanies in Russian projects but also helped in increasing public support for the government. Even though Putin was a dictator, he could notpletely ignore the public approval rate for the government.


    Thus, the sale of a nuclear-powered submarine was processed despite China¡¯s intervention.


    Youngho hurried to Moscow for a nuclear submarine deal at Putin¡¯s request.


    The visit was an informal one, so there were no noisy ceremonies.


    Upon arriving at the Kremlin, Youngho had a chat over tea after signing a submarine acquisition contract at Putin¡¯s office.


    Both were much more rxed because the contract was already closed.


    ¡°I had to hurry because China was starting to pressure us. The deal came sooner because of public opinion fearing that China was interfering in domestic affairs.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to your courage, Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because our people love the Kazakh royal family. The public opinion favors Kazakhstan, and it helped to ease the burden on our government.¡±


    ¡°President Putin, I brought the funds I¡¯ve prepared separately. I wanted to add more, but I was just showing a little bit of my sincerity because I thought it might be misleading.¡±


    ¡°Duke, I don¡¯t know what to say. Thank you so much.¡±


    The envelope Youngho gave contained 50 million dors in U.S. government bonds.


    This amount was a huge amount of money for personnel management, but it was not a waste because it acquired a nuclear submarine at an affordable price.


    The cost of building a new Oscar-ss nuclear submarine was around 1.8 to 2 billion dors, but thetest acquisition of the Omsk submarine was only 700 million dors.


    The Indian government was also trying to buy a Kiev-ss nuclear submarine that it rented from Russia, but it was rumored to be priced at 600 million dors.


    Kiev was only about 8,000 tons while the Oscar was about 15,000 tons.


    It was a gain of more than 30 million dors after giving 50 million dors in the back.


    The Kazakh royal family was not the only one benefiting. Putin also had the cause of helping the blood alliance.


    ¡°Mr. President, I need to ask you a favor. We need a weapon that can be mounted on the submarine, but Kazakhstan¡¯s technology is so simple that there¡¯s none we can do.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. If it¡¯s not a nuclear warhead, I¡¯ll give you as much as you want. As you know, we can¡¯t just give them to you for free because of our economic situation these days... But I want to stress that our missiles are almost wless once-equipped, so they are semi-permanent.¡±


    The strength of Russian weapons was well known as they were famous for cost-effectiveness. Third World countries were eager to buy Russian weapons.


    ¡°I won¡¯t question the cost. I would just be happy if I could use the nuclear submarine to the best of its capabilities.¡±


    ¡°You are our blood alliance, so we¡¯ll give it to you at the factory cost.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Mr. President.¡±


    Putin readily epted Youngho¡¯s request.


    ¡°By the way, I¡¯d like to know how you¡¯re going to cope with a vacancy of the nuclear submarine when it goes under regr maintenance repair.¡±


    It was not that Putin was worried about Kazakhstan¡¯s military strength. This remark was intended to encourage more purchases.


    Putin then continued.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take another one now that the whole world knows about your purchase of the nuclear submarine?¡±


    Youngho was surprised by Putin¡¯s honesty.


    ¡°Two submarines will be burdensome...¡±


    ¡°Duke, I know your strong financial power. We¡¯ll offer it cheaper than the Omsk submarine. We¡¯ve got many just rotting in the harbor. We¡¯ve made so much in the Cold War era that we can¡¯t deal with them.¡±


    ¡°Then how much...¡±


    ¡°What if I offered it at 500 million dors? Would that be a burden to you?¡±


    Putin was asking for only half the price of an Aegis destroyer.


    No matter how used it was, it was a strong nuclear submarine that could be used for another 20 years or so.


    ¡°I¡¯m thrilled to hear your advice.¡±


    ¡°Then, shall we decide right here? You only need to fill in the additional details on the contract we just signed.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll buy one more.¡±


    Although it was forced a little bit, it was a chance to get another nuclear submarine, so Youngho did not hesitate.


    ***


    Kazakhstan¡¯s military was stunned when it was reported that Youngho had signed two nuclear submarines.


    In particr, the Army argued that ballistic missile operations personnel should be put on board a nuclear submarine with a reason that the Army was the main body for long-range missiles.


    The Kazakh Army was operating a ballistic missile with a range of 5,000 kilometers, which was deployed from the Soviet era to pressure China.


    Russia¡¯s continued presence in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, since independence, was due to a border dispute with China, but after it withdrew, the Kazakh Army took over and had been managing long-range ballistic missiles.


    The Army, which had such weapons, was insisting that the submarine must be equipped with ballistic missiles to pressure China.


    With thetest acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine, Kazakhstan¡¯s military morale was sky-high. In particr, Commander Jun of the Navy weed it the most.


    ¡°Your Highness, not one, but two nuclear-powered submarines are the forces that will reshape the governance of the five oceans.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you exaggerating that a bit too far?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. Once the nuclear submarine ispletely ours, it¡¯s quite possible.¡±


    ¡°Putin urged me to sign the contract, but I couldn¡¯t tell if it was the right decision.¡±


    ¡°It will soon prove to be an excellent decision. China is already alerted by it.¡±


    China was eager to nullify the nuclear submarine deal itself. It was insisting that Kazakhstan did not have the skills and abilities to operate nuclear submarines to the whole world.


    ¡°The Chinese leadership has not yet figured out the nature of Putin. If you hurt Putin¡¯s pride, he won¡¯t stand you.¡±


    ¡°If the deal is already in effect and Russia will have to pay double the contracted cost if it can¡¯t implement it. In either way, we won¡¯t be harmed.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we can¡¯t leave China alone like this. It¡¯s humiliating Kazakhstan and the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You mean how it¡¯s saying we¡¯re not good enough to use a nuclear submarine? It¡¯s not even funny.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a matter to be looked over. That¡¯s how Kazakhstan is portrayed to the world, which means it¡¯s looking down on the whole of Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not going to let it slide. Let China pay the price for what it says.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we need to get an apology from China even with a show of force.¡±


    ¡°A show of force is not going to help our economy either. There are countless ways to scare China. Look forward to it.¡±


    ***


    In order toe up with measures against China¡¯s nonsense, Kasim and the foreign minister were called to the royal territory.


    Kasim,ing from a military background, wanted to show a strong action.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is the time to stop China¡¯s nonsense.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to invade China.¡±


    ¡°The military is ready to take a swipe at the border if you allow it. I think we need to take strong action for the morale of the military.¡±


    ¡°In this situation, we need to be reasonable and cool-headed. If we were strong, would China have provoked us like this? It¡¯s because it underestimated us. We have no choice but to build our strength. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll make China regret doing so one day, so let¡¯s try something else now.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, why don¡¯t you close the border and stop Chinese logistics?¡±


    ¡°Then, we¡¯d lose a lot of money because our freight rates will decrease. We also have to take into ount the bacsh from European countries doing business with China. Even when we were in a border dispute with China, we didn¡¯t stop it because of its impact on our economy.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, how about this? We should summon the ambassador to China and expel the Chinese ambassador from Kazakhstan. It will be the strongest diplomatic means of protest.¡±


    The Minister of Foreign Affairs made a fairly usible proposal.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. What do you think, Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a message as powerful as a show of force, but you¡¯ve never heard of countries expelling ambassadors even during a war...¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s first summon the ambassador to China and embarrass China.¡±


    In protest against China¡¯s denunciation of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh ambassador in China was summoned and the Chinese ambassador in Kazakhstan was expelled.


    China tried to put out the fire, saying the military¡¯s remarks were reported in the media without any filter, but the Kazakh public already was agitating and arguing that Kazakhstan should cut off diplomatic rtions with the country.


    The media had begun to report every illegal activity the Chinesepanies had engaged in Kazakhstan.


    Public opinion was even mentioning the pride of Central Asia and encouraging neighboring countries to respond although except for only the two countries, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The entire Central Asia had already responded.


    Then, Uzbekistan responded immediately.


    There was a separate reason for Uzbekistan¡¯s quick response.


    Uzbekistan was in a state of anarchy, but the Kazakh royal bodyguards were stationed in the border city to protect the gold mine.


    Thus, the Uzbek government feared that the Kazakh royal forces would take over the power. With anti-government rallies by democratic groups, the Uzbek government had almost lost its power already.


    Pro-Chinese political party trying to get close to China and was leaving Uzbekistan one by one.


    Therefore, the government had no choice but to lean on the Kazakh royal family for survival.

 Chapter 674 - Counterattack Operation (4)

    <h4>Chapter 674: Counterattack Operation (4)</h4>


    Fatima, who stayed like a sunflower in a terrace chair, fell into a deep sleep.


    She was five months pregnant, and these days, she liked to take a short sleep during the day, probably because she was not able to have a deep sleep at night because of her growing stomach.


    Fatima, soon, opened her eyes surprised by the small movements of the fetus.


    It was the first time that her fetus moved.


    When Leon entered his 18th week, she immediately felt his movements, but this time, it was still quiet even after 20 weeks. Just when she was feeling something might be wrong, the fetus finally made movements.


    She looked around as she felt it was strange that her fetus made a sudden movement since normally the fetus was quiet when the mother was asleep. Then she found Youngho carrying a nket to cover Fatima to keep her warm.


    Despite his quiet approach not to wake her up, Fatima opened her eyes and looked around, so he stopped his steps.


    ¡°I think the fetus is reacting to the father¡¯s footsteps. It¡¯s the first time the baby moved.¡±


    ¡°Really? Does it already know the father is here?¡±


    ¡°Leon was also very active when you came near.¡±


    ¡®Are the ringsmunicating with each other?¡¯


    How else would a fetus know of a father?


    So many strange things had happened since Youngho found out the existence of the ring, so he was not surprised.


    ¡°Shall we take a walk together since the sun is good and there¡¯s not much wind?¡±


    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s gotten into you? Asking for a walk.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be driving out the light armored vehicle again.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... My belly is full so I can¡¯t wear my seat belt. How can I drive?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Our baby¡¯s got my back.¡±


    ¡°When I heard you were worried every time I went out, I decided to refrain from it. I thought you were indifferent, but you care a great deal about me.¡±


    ¡°Huhh! Who do you think I am? I¡¯m a man who lives only for you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess you have so far. I hope that¡¯ll be the truth in the future as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be damned if I don¡¯t cherish a kind and beautiful girl like you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then I guess I can invite Ms. Katya with peace of mind.¡±


    Not sure why she was mentioning Katya in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia so suddenly, Youngho asked carefully.


    ¡°Is everything okay with Katya?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong. Rena wants to invite her mom. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°All right. Tell her toe. Sometimes I talk to her on the phone, but I haven¡¯t seen her in a while. She must be curious about the environment where Rena lives. When you invite her, tell her toe with Rena¡¯s grandmother, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what was going to do. She¡¯s been wanting toe here so much, but I guess she hesitated because she was afraid that rumors might start. And don¡¯t mind her because she¡¯s noting to see you. She¡¯sing to see me because she appreciates me for taking care of Rena.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me... but is it alright if shees now?¡±


    ¡°Now Kazakhstan has be a strong country, so it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°China is disgraced because of the tongue. That¡¯s the proof that our royal power is great, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem too worried about the future of our royal family anymore, do you?¡±


    ¡°Well, what are you afraid of when these loyal people are guarding the royal pce? You bought two nuclear submarines, and now who can¡¯t mess with us?¡±


    ¡°Where did you hear the news?¡±


    Youngho rarely talked about outside business with Fatima, so he wondered how she figured it out. Kim In-hwa must have told her about what Min-seok said out of pride.


    ¡°Secretary Kim told me. I heard that even China is nothing to us, now.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got the power to make any nation silent if it tried to cross us. Putin gave us a nice present.¡±


    ¡°It was a gift? You didn¡¯t pay for it?¡±


    ¡°It cost us some money, but you know that a nuclear submarine is hard to get even with money. Even the United States, our ally, does not give us nuclear submarines. How can it transfer such a weapon when we might turn into a weapon that will target the U.S. neck in the future?¡±


    Even a long-time ally could sometimes turn into an enemy, and if the public sentiment was added, diplomatic rtions could be irrevocable.


    ¡°Then why did Russia sell it to us?¡±


    ¡°Many of their submarines are left unattended in the harbor due to Russia¡¯sck of budget, so it was a great opportunity for us. Also, Putin believed that the rise in our forces would also help Russia¡¯s security. China¡¯s provocation to intervene in Russia¡¯s decision also yed a role since it really scratched Putin¡¯s pride.¡±


    If China had not stepped forward, Putin would not have offered Youngho another submarine. The Chinese naval forces would be in more trouble as two nuclear submarines were sold to Kazakhstan because the Chinese government hurt Russia¡¯s pride.


    ¡°Hohoho... So thanks to China, we have two nuclear submarines. I should thank China.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be sarcastic. You know it¡¯s not good for the fetus.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s about building Kazakhstan¡¯s strength. Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s good for the fetus if the mother feels good?¡±


    ¡°Then I shall make you happier for the baby.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please make more happy asions.¡±


    ¡°Soon. Tajikistan will be included in our federation. There¡¯s a referendum next month, and there¡¯s no dissenting voice in the local mood except for politicians and followers who advocate nationalism.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! That¡¯s good news, too. But wouldn¡¯t you have a strong opposition force in the future?¡±


    Several politicians trying to maintain their vested rights were instigating people on the pretext of nationalism, but they were not well received by the Tajiks. It was because those politicians were the main culprits who made Tajikistan as poor as some remote African countries.


    The Intelligence Department was doing an operation, but if the country was incorporated into the Kazakh federation, the politicians would resist harshly.


    Youngho was nning to expel the hard-liners if they would not recognize the referendum¡¯s result.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give them a few chances, too. If they want to live as a member of the federation, they have to either pay the price or leave Tajikistan.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think they¡¯re going to bother us with the struggle for independence? I¡¯ve heard that there are quite a few Tajiks living abroad, and it¡¯s going to be a problem if they rally them.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve informed the Tajik people living abroad to participate in the referendum. Even though they live abroad, being a Tajik remains the same. It¡¯s to get rid of the potential trouble.¡±


    Overseas Tajikis werevishly sending money to their rtives living in the country despite the difficult conditions, with the money they sent taking on one of the pirs of the Tajik economy.


    They were working abroad because they had no way to make ends meet in Tajikistan, but most of them were given hard and undesirable jobs in foreignnds due to ack of education andnguage barriers.


    When they remitted the money they earned from such rough jobs to the country, they might hope that Tajikistan¡¯s situation would get better. But it would be disastrous if the country gave up its independence and became a federation of Kazakhstan.


    So the idea was to give overseas residents a chance to vote.


    By the Kazakh Intelligence Department, they were informed about how the recent situation in Tajikistan had improved.


    Had it not been for the Kazakh royal family, it could not have handled its snowballing debt to China, and the Pamir teau would have been seized by China.


    Above all, the Kazakh royal bodyguards yed a major role in maintaining stability in Tajikistan, which was tantamount to anarchy at the moment.


    And the Kazakh royal family was rumored to be nning a full-fledged investment, and hopes were beginning to rise.


    With the intelligence service¡¯s operation in ce, overseas Tajik had no choice but to think that bing a federation of Kazakhstan would be a way to save the country.


    ***


    ¡°Commander Jun. How many crew members for the nuclear-powered submarines have you selected?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve selected 350 crew members, and they are in the middle of basic training.¡±


    The new 15,000-ton, 18 meter-long Oscar-ss nuclear submarine could board 110 crew members. If 350 people were selected, the navy secured about 130 reservists, on top of the number of people on board the two submarines.


    ¡°I paid the Russian Navy formissioned training, so get them to the Severodvinsk Shipyard right away.¡±


    Severodvinsk was also called 402 Naval Shipyard. It was a port city off the coast of the White Sea in northwestern Russia.


    Here, Russian strategic nuclear submarines were mostly built or undergoing repairs, and the Kazakh nuclear submarine crew members were scheduled to undergo training.


    There was also an educational site for Russian submarine crew members.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d like to go with them to get training.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to drop the fleet captain¡¯s task and be a submarine captain?¡±


    ¡°I think I need to know the basics about nuclear submarines so I can makemands more effectively.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    It was also problematic for themander, who led the task force, to conduct the operation without properly grasping the special features of the submarines.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the three-month training will help us operate the nuclear submarine properly.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Even though small, they¡¯ve operated submarines before. Their experience will be of great help.¡±


    There was a difference in the maneuvering of small andrge submarines, and the 300-ton diesel-powered submarines and the 15,000-ton nuclear-powered submarines were too different.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you operate them with submarine experts for the time being? It would take at least a year for our soldiers to master the operation.¡±


    ¡°Just like the Aegis destroyer?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If we recruit Russian veterans who had been discharged from the Russian Navy as advisers, they¡¯d be a great help.¡±


    ¡°We have to change our policy if we want civilians aboard our submarines.¡±


    ¡°There will be quite a few people who would like toe if we give them a proper treatment.¡±


    How could Russian soldiers find a decent job after they were discharged from military service with Russia¡¯s current economic situation? Most of them would be idling around.


    If they were invited in the form of military advisers, they would dlye to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°The soldiers all speak Russian, so I don¡¯t think there would be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Well then, please process it.¡±


    ¡°All right. Your Highness, and may I rmend the captain and deputy captain to board the nuclear submarines? I want to select them based on capability, not rank, as they will deal with ballistic missiles.¡±


    ¡°I was going to leave it to you anyway, so if you have any people in mind, please make a rmendation.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Highness, I will never let you down.¡±


    ¡°From now on, I will leave any matter of the Navy to you, so leave your personal preferences and recruit all your talent. You should always keep in mind that human resources are everything. If soldiers¡¯ints about the change of personnel gets higher, they can¡¯t be patriotic to their country.¡±


    ¡°I will take your word as gold and do my best to ensure that no one is inconvenienced.¡±


    ¡°The Army¡¯s personnel manual seemed to be pretty good. If you do a review of personnel by going through the personnelmittee, everyone will ept the result.¡±


    ¡°I will do my best not to cause you any trouble.¡±


    ¡°But you also need to take into ount the specific nature of nuclear submarines... I wonder what the selection criteria for nuclear-powered submarinemanders are.¡±

 Chapter 675 - Tajikistan, A Federal State (1)

    <strong>Chapter 675: Tajikistan, A Federal State (1)</strong>


    ¡°Prime Minister. How are the Tajiks taking it?¡±


    -We have a higher approval rate than we expected. Exit polls show 87% of the approval vote.


    Prime Minister Kasim was pleased that there was a higher approval rate than expected.


    ¡°13% is against federal incorporation.¡±


    Those who voted against might be patriots who think national self-reliance was a priority over meeting appropriate standards of living or those who were privileged wanting to maintain their lives.


    Even if it became a federal state, it would be a self-governing state maintaining its national identity, as well as enjoying the same social security benefits as the people of Kazakhstan in the future, except that it would lose its authority to exercise its defense and diplomatic rights.


    -Wouldn¡¯t there be natural opposition? I thought it would be a good thing to have a 70% approval rate, but 87% is amazing. It would be difficult to overturn the results, no matter how many overseas residents vote against it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see the results. If the approval rate is lower than we thought, the problem could beplicated.¡±


    The results of the vote, announced the next day, showed 85% in favor.


    The approval rate was down about 2% from the exit poll in the aftermath of opposition votes from overseas residents.


    Even considering the Uzbek people, who ounted for 15% of the poption, and Russians who made up 1.1%, the approval rate was very high.


    This made Tajikistan a federal state of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan.


    Being a federal state did not mean that its economic situation would be well off right away, but the people of Tajikistan would be able to enjoy Kazakhstan-level welfare.


    The poor country with less than 800 dors in national ie was being relieved of the burden of its foreign debt as well as receiving social security systems amounting to nearly 20,000 dors.


    This was because Tajikistan¡¯s foreign exchange reserves were only 300 million dors, and it could not pay the interest properly in the meantime.


    The foreign debt was only 1.7 billion dors, but it was an astronomical amount for Tajikistan¡¯s capacity.


    The Tajik people were in a festive mood after watching the results of the vote.


    Now, even if they went abroad, they could proudly say that they were from the Kingdom of Kazakhstan and if anything happened abroad, everything would be easily resolved through the Kazakh Embassy.


    This was because the royal family did not tolerate embassies that had neglected Kazakh citizens. The embassies would provide convenience for Kazakh citizens if they lost all their money and were in a situation to beg for food and money so that they can return home. Considering that only advanced countries provided such benefits, Kazakhstan was rumored to be taking care of its citizens regardless of race or ethnicity.


    While the level of approval was overwhelming despite 18% of the 7.6 million people being of foreign ethnicities, Youngho was not very happy with the results.


    He was expecting an approval rating of over 90% at the heart.


    So, he was grilling Park Jong-il in his Oval Office.


    ¡°Have you done the operations properly?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the kind of approval you can only see in a country with dictatorship. That¡¯s not a possible figure in a democracy.¡±


    ¡°Did you find out who was against federal incorporation?¡±


    It was a secret vote, but Youngho did not care about it.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too greedy? Why? Are you going to kick out those who opposed it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because they¡¯re highly likely to be a rebellious party.¡±


    ¡°I checked the votes of each polling station, and there were a lot of dissenting votes in the Uzbekmunity, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about. The Uzbek people who live in Tajikistan had been at odds over the border.¡±


    Although it was almost a piece of wastndnd, the pride of nations had been at stake, and Central Asian countries had been growling at each other ever since their independence.


    Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan¡¯s border issue was cleared by Kazakhstan, but the border dispute between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan still remained.


    ¡°Then you want to be part of the Kazakh Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Of course. They wanted to separate from Tajikistan, so why would they wee a more powerful upying force?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... What do the Uzbek people living in Tajikistan think of our royal family?¡±


    ¡°There are no Central Asians who don¡¯t like the Kazakh royal family. The opposition vote was because they fear that the Kazakh government will interfere. There¡¯s no other reason, so we don¡¯t have to consider them a rebellious force.¡±


    ¡°I see. What about the Tajiks living abroad?¡±


    ¡°68% approved while 32% was against it.¡±


    ¡°Which country had the highest approval rate?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Tajiks living in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan. It¡¯s on the European side where there¡¯s a lot of opposition.¡±


    Youngho had a rough idea of why that happened.


    Those living scattered in Central Asia wereparatively poor people who wanted toe back to Tajikistan immediately to receive the benefits from the Kazakh royal family.


    People living on the European side were probably well off, so it was natural for them to want national independence.


    ¡°At this rate, there are very few disgruntled people about federal incorporation. If we persuade politicians and nationalists who had been the mainstream, Tajikistan shall be just like Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to persuade the corrupt politicians since they will face the consequences, or they will have to seek political asylum.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we use a softnding operation to reform state affairs as we have to maintain a transitional government for the time being?¡±


    ¡°Is this the judgment of the Intelligence Department?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The national support rate is high, but we can¡¯t ignore the psychology of the people. If you use the hard-line policy, people might reject us.¡±


    ¡°Okay, the intelligence service should be in charge of that then. However, spread rumors that thew will be strictly applied to politicians and officials after the general elections.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯ll leave on their own anyway.¡±


    ***


    As Tajikistan became a federal state, the conference room in Astana¡¯s governmentplex was as noisy as a stirred-up hive.


    There was a heated debate between the two groups calling for a Kazakhstan-level social security system to be implemented immediately and the group calling for a gradual expansion in line with the Tajik reality.


    ¡°It¡¯s only about 7 million people, and it¡¯s not too much of a burden even if the Kazakh-level social security is implemented. The Tajik people voted to be a federal state because of their desire to live a better life, and if we ignore it, will they follow our policies?¡±


    ¡°You have a point. I¡¯m concerned about the moral hazard. There will be people who just want to receive unemployment benefits not trying to work.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know how diligent the people of South Central Asia are? They survived the harsh conditions for thousands of years. They¡¯ll never be satisfied with unemployment benefits.¡±


    ¡°Considering the price of Tajikistan, you can live a luxurious life with Kazakhstan-level unemployment benefits. Considering the economic situation, the Kazakhstan-level social security is nonsense.¡±


    ¡°It would be reasonable to meet their standards, but the Finance Ministry believes that if we bring it up to Kazakhstan¡¯s level, economic growth will go up sharply.¡±


    It was ambiguous to side with either side because both had a point.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Tajik people want any visible changes right now. Even if they get the right benefits for Tajik¡¯s economic conditions, they can get out of the bad environment like now, so it would be better to implement policies focusing on the vulnerables and gradually expand them. We are one of the pirs of well-being in Central Asia, but we don¡¯t stand outpared to Western European countries.¡±


    Kasim opened his mouth to clear out the arguments.


    Kazakhstan also had so many asions to spend money, and its pork-barrel policy on Tajikistan could have a negative impact on Kazakhstan¡¯s economy.


    Kasim, who had finished speaking, looked at Youngho to seek his approval.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a great point. Too sudden changes can cause confusion, so I think it¡¯s better to expand the benefits gradually. We have to consider the impact on our economy. We need to increase our defense spending right now, so we can¡¯t sacrifice our budget just to win the hearts of the residents.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, that would be a great disappointment to the residents.¡±


    ¡°What the Tajik people want is the hope that they can live as well as the Kazakh people. There is one way to make sure of it. It¡¯s by increasing the number of jobs.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, it will inevitably cost us money to build factories.¡±


    ¡°The construction of the factories will be covered by royal funds. In the meantime, we¡¯ve earned enough money from the royal gold mines.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, that can¡¯t happen again!¡±


    Kasim looked shameful.


    Without the help of the royal family, the Kazakh government¡¯s reality was frustrating.


    ¡°I¡¯m not just giving, I¡¯m saying I¡¯m going to invest. The royal family will eventually recover the invested amount from the profits generated by the factories. Could you find out what kind of factories would be usible in each region?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed to lean against the royal family every time. Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t mind it. The Tajiks are our own people now.¡±


    Youngho thought that it would be better for the royal family to step out because if it was left for the Kazakh government, it would take too long to process it.


    He had reformed Kazakhstan¡¯s bureaucracy several times, but he still did not like it.


    Of course, it had changed beyondparison with other countries in Central Asia, but it had been frustrating for Youngho, who was ustomed to Korea¡¯s fast-track work.


    It was fortunate that the corruption had disappeared, but it was still frustrating to see how slow the officials processed things.


    Rather than leaving it to such officials, the royal family should step in for the benefit of the Tajik people.


    Tajik residents did not vote for the Kazakh government but chose the Kazakh royal family, which had no political color.


    Central Asian countries were said to be poorer than they used to be in the Soviet era.


    The reason was that the people¡¯s livelihood was on the back burner due to power struggles between corrupt officials and politicians. The local bureaucrats hade to power in the wake of the copse of the Soviet Union, so it was hard to expect that they would work properly as what they saw and learned was corruption.


    Even if the society was in a chaotic transition period after the copse of the Soviet Union, it should have been cleared of its past a long time ago.


    It was a littlete, but it was now time to fix it.

 Chapter 676 - Tajikistan, A Federal State (2)

    <h4>Chapter 676: Tajikistan, A Federal State (2)</h4>


    ¡°Intelligence Chief. You should begin an internal investigation into the power elite group in Tajikistan. Freeze the domestic assets of those involved in corruption who have already left the scene.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s order, Park Jong-il answered without hesitation for a second, ¡°I will do as you said.¡±


    The conference room was chilled in an instant.


    This was because the bloodbath that urred in Kazakhstan in the early days of its rise as a constitutional monarchy would soon ur in Tajikistan.


    ¡°Your Highness, isn¡¯t that a little premature?¡±


    Kasim, the Prime Minister, tried to dissuade Youngho.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, if we don¡¯t settle it now, our chances will be lost forever. Now that Tajikistan became a federal state, its past corruption should be washed clean. It¡¯s what the Tajik people want as well.¡±


    ¡°There may be a bacsh.¡±


    ¡°Intelligence Chief, please exin what you know.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. I can¡¯t go into details here, but we discovered a group that is unhappy with the results of the vote and is secretly moving. The intelligence service believes that if we don¡¯t respond preemptively, it will develop into a bigger force.¡±


    When Park Jong-il briefed it quickly, questions poured in from all over the ce.


    ¡°Is it a political group or military group?¡±


    ¡°The military is already under the control of the Royal guards and Royal Armored Division. Besides, it was cooperative from the start.¡±


    ¡°After all, you were a politician, but it¡¯s strange that they agreed to the referendum.¡±


    ¡°They thought that they could maintain their positions even if the country was incorporated into the federation.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t we need carrots to stop the potential bleeding?¡±


    ¡°Such a strong bacsh from the establishment helps stabilize Tajikistan early. I think people will eventually turn their backs on leadership.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the bloodshed will damage our royal family.¡±


    ¡°We are well aware of the concerns of many Cab members, but this is something that we have to figure out for once.¡±


    Park Jong-il was making the armed conflict a fait apli.


    This meant that there were those who oppose the inclusion, big or small.


    Although the name of the nation had not changed, there would also be systematic resistance from the nationalists as its status as an independent nation no longer existed.


    Tajikistan had been independent from the Soviet Union, but its defense had been left to Russia, and now Kazakhstan took it over and was defending it from China due to Russia¡¯s economic difficulties.


    The country was poor with less than 7.8 billion dors in gross national ie and had maintained diplomatic rtions with only a few countries. In such a situation, there was no advantage in keeping the corrupt establishment intact.


    The new wine would notst until it was put in a new bag.


    If the government did not drive out corrupt and ipetent politicians and vested interests, no matter how much money was poured into the people¡¯s welfare, it would only lead to fulfilling the belly of those who already had more than enough.


    ***


    ¡°How can you announce that openly when we don¡¯t know if any of the Cab members are connected to the leadership of Tajikistan?¡± Returning to his office after the Cab meeting, Youngho asked Jong-il.


    ¡°Of course, it was meant for them to hear.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We have already taken control of the presidential security forces, the military, and the police, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°What about the members of the hard-line Imic Party?¡±


    ¡°Most of them became members of the party because they can¡¯t make ends meet, and in fact, they are the ones who stood up to oust existing political forces. In a way, they are true patriots.¡±


    ¡°In the end, they are hard-line nationalists united in the name of religion.¡±


    ¡°It is a little vague to call them nationalists because they are aplex group epassing many ethnic groups. I found out that it was surprisingly favorable to our royal family. If you think about the fact that there are quite a few of them in the militia too, it¡¯s more like a friendly force to us.¡±


    It was surprising that the Imist party, known as the hardliners, was in favor of the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°You said there are about 170,000 members, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Most of them are young people. How about we take them as our royal family¡¯s force?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all right, but... how do the residents see the Imic Party?¡±


    ¡°Despite the party¡¯s name, it has very little religious color. It is like a civic group that is led by young people and is determined to wipe out corruption in the country.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Meet the leader of the party and see if we can use it as a royal force.¡±


    ¡°Would you fund it, if he¡¯s a good fit?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will, and take a look at the movement on the Chinese side as well.¡±


    China was by far the most sensitive country to the Tajikistan referendum.


    It had gone to great lengths to manipte pro-Chinese politicians from behind to thwart the referendum, but its effort had gone to waste.


    Considering that it had worked hard on Central Asia, it could not be in favor of Kazakhstan.


    If it was in Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia, it was impossible to establish a federal-state rtionship centered on a main country.


    Central Asia, however, was a ce where numerous ethnic groups had long coexisted, allowing countries to be incorporated into federal states.


    Kazakhstan alone had about 120 ethnic groups, and the rest of the Central Asian countries consisted of dozens of ethnic groups.


    ¡°It¡¯s quiet on the Pamir teau¡¯s side, but I have no idea what¡¯s going on there.¡±


    ¡°Request British Intelligence to get ind data.¡±


    ¡°Eek, I have to ask for it again...¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Doesn¡¯t Britain provide military satellite data?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a limit to getting a free pass every time. Originally, we have to pay for the use of military satellites...¡±


    ¡°Did Russia ask us to pay a fee for using it?¡±


    ¡°No, but it hurts our pride to borrow it.¡±


    ¡°So, shall weunch a military satellite?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a penny or two. It¡¯s better to lose face.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about our face. We have nuclear submarines and Aegis destroyers, and it¡¯s time we have our own military satellites. We need to look all over China, too.¡±


    ¡°It would cost a lot, and there should be satellite projectiles...¡±


    ¡°We have a Baikonur Cosmodrome. What¡¯s the matter? Talk to Russia and ask tounch a military satellite. I sold nuclear submarines, but I don¡¯t think military satellites would be too much of a burden.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯ll do.¡±


    ¡°If we invested a little more, we can use it for multiple purposes such as telmunications and weather, so let¡¯s have a satellite of our own.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, we have an answer from Russia.¡±


    Suh Min-seok entered the office with a document from Russia in his hand.


    ¡°Already? How much is theunch cost?¡±


    ¡°The projectile is 120 million dors and the satellite is about 200 million dors on average, depending on the type of satellite. Theunch date is six months from now.¡±


    ¡°The satellite will bepleted in six months? It¡¯s the time when we take over the nuclear submarines.¡±


    The delivery of the two submarines currently under repair at the White Sea 402 Naval Shipyard was six monthster.


    There was enough time toplete the training of submarine crew members and turn them into full-fledged workers until then.


    ¡°The time has been cut because the Russian government gave up a satellite that was being assembled.¡±


    ¡°There are more than a hundred satellites floating in space. It¡¯s not exactly giving up.¡±


    ¡°They just said it to show off.¡±


    Only recently did Youngho found out the number of satellites in space¡ª786 from the United States, 139 from Russia, 203 from China, 44 from Britain, 50 from India, and 65 from Japan.


    South Korea also had eight satellites, but it had yet to have a military satellite.


    In the case of Russia, only about ten military satellites out of 139 satellites were known.


    ¡°It¡¯s cheaper than the U.S., so I¡¯ll have to get the Russian one.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. will be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help it. It¡¯s much cheaper to shoot from our space station.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, there are several military satellites¡ªsurveince satellites,munications satellites, and navigation satellites. You have to choose one of them.¡±


    ¡°Choose what? We have to fly all of them at once. Without any one of them, we would be like a body missing a limb. We have to shoot them all at once to save money. Call Director Park.¡±


    Park Jong-il rushed to the office like a bullet, hearing that military satellite data had arrived.


    ¡°You already heard from Suh Min-seok, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯ll fly all of them.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we need all of them, or it won¡¯t beplete. We would save money if we shoot them all at once. We have a mobile fleet, so we need amunications satellite and a navigation satellite.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to cost a lot of money...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for security¡¯s sake. It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have any money.¡±


    ¡°When can we use them?¡±


    ¡°Russia is offering us its satellite.¡±


    ¡°I guess Russia is in such a hurry, too, seeing them concede military satellites.¡±


    ¡°Well, it probably made a concession because it doesn¡¯t need it right now. If there¡¯s a security breach, would you have given up its satellite?¡±


    ¡°No. I think Russia is really having a difficult time. It¡¯s relying too much on us these days.¡±


    ¡°Well, anyway, let¡¯sunch all three of them because if anyone of them is missing, there will be a hole.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s wee by me.¡±


    ¡°The data says we can even identify license tes on personal vehicles, so you can utilize it for many purposes. Also, see if there¡¯s any other way to use it in addition to military use.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but who¡¯s going to be in charge of the management?¡±


    ¡°Since the original purpose is for military purposes, why not let the Intelligence Department and the Defense Department be the main body and the private sector ess only themunications satellite?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you make a new department instead? If the management entity is dualized, it will be hard to rify who¡¯s responsible, and there is a possibility of a leadership struggle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to tell Prime Minister Kasim in advance.¡±


    ¡°Now the satellite era is finally open.¡±


    ¡°In the future, we need to acquire the technology tounch our own satellites, but try to recruit Russian engineers.¡±


    ¡°Russia won¡¯t like it if we steal its engineers...¡±


    ¡°There must be quite a few engineers who have been pushed out of the mainstream, just like the time when you recruited air engineers from Russia.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to bring along the ballistic missile technicians together, right?¡±


    ¡°Why is the ballistic missileing out of here?¡±


    ¡°We have tounch the satellite ourselves.¡±


    ¡°All right. I don¡¯t care how much it costs, so just bring it in.¡±

 Chapter 677 - Playing the Innocent (1)

    <strong>Chapter 677: ying the Innocent (1)</strong>


    China was furious when Russia said it would provide Kazakhstan with military satellites following nuclear submarines.


    It was exerting diplomatic pressure by summoning even the Chinese ambassadors residing in Russia.


    It was, of course, nerve-wracking for China to think that surveince satellites, which could offer a glimpse into China, were floating right above it.


    ¡°It¡¯s not even funny. The satellite China put up is fine, but we can¡¯t do it? So, are they now telling us that we need China¡¯s permission when trading strategic goods?¡± Park Jong-ilined.


    ¡°Why are you making a fuss with the obvious response? Didn¡¯t you say we shouldn¡¯t provoke China before?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same situation as it was then. We even have nuclear submarines. There¡¯s nothing to fear anymore.¡±


    ¡°Alright. How is Russia reacting to this?¡±


    ¡°The Russian media is furious about China¡¯s reaction too. I don¡¯t think Russia is pressured by China. The Russian government is also considering summoning its ambassadors in China.¡±


    ¡°Great. I hope this leads Russia to cancel the trade of its nuclear submarine technology to China.¡±


    ¡°If the situation continues to escte, that is highly possible.¡±


    ¡°Shall we take this opportunity to take it to another level?¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask the Russian government to upgrade the nuclear submarine under repair.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it already at the level that can overwhelm the armed forces of China?¡±


    ¡°I heard it from Putin during our private meeting...¡±


    ¡°Heard what??¡±


    Anxious to hear the rest, Park Jong-il urged Youngho.


    ¡°When I said we need a weapon, he said he could offer anything but a nuclear warhead, so go find out what¡¯s the most urate missile in the Russian Navy these days.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to do another research. I already know one but... Alright, I think the Sineva missiles are the best of them. It has a range of more than 8,000 kilometers and can be hit with precision.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, sounds great. Then shall I ask for it? I¡¯d like to see China¡¯s reaction to it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a ballistic missile. Will Putin give it to us?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s not nuclear. He promised he would offer any weapon at a factory cost.¡±


    With a range of 8,000 kilometers, it was an attack weapon that could target all of China even from Southeast Asian waters. For China, it would be appalling.


    ¡°When Chinaes out like that, Russia will hand over the weapon without a word. We have to push it when they¡¯re upset with each other. I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to have a great chance like this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. We have nothing to lose.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see how furious China would be when we mention the Sineva missiles.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Let¡¯s see.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bring it in no matter what, so look forward to it. It would be worth seeing if we secure a ballistic missile following military satellites.¡±


    ¡°It would be awesome if we put tactical nuclear warheads on it.¡±


    ¡°Hey! What are you talking about? Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°If anything happens to fly a ballistic missile, the situation is already out of control. Who will find out if we put a couple of nuclear warheads just in case?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to get them quietly so as not to be rumored.¡±


    ¡°It would be iplete if a nuclear submarine doesn¡¯t have that kind of missile.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Mr. President. Thank you for the nice gift.¡±


    -Thank you very much for giving Russia a chance. Thanks to this, our economic situation will be relieved a little.


    It was hard to believe that the country would recover its economy just by an order of a few satellites, but it was something that would not end with just one purchase order. The satellite must be reced and kept in orbit to get more information.


    ¡°How can I trust other space stations when we have Baikonur Cosmodrome?¡±


    -Hahaha... Thanks to you, I¡¯m sleeping with my legs straight these days.


    ¡°Then we shouldunch more satellites.¡±


    -You already know you would need more satellites eventually.


    ¡°...¡±


    -One of the navigational satellites we¡¯vemissioned won¡¯t cover the entire area. The Science and Technology Department says that there should be at least four or five satellites. And you know that each satellite has a different life span, so you have tounch one from time to time.


    Youngho knew that the amount of information that could be obtained from satellites changed by their number.


    Only when the information was received in real-time could the government take proper action, and what Kazakhstan was going to have was not enough.


    ¡°Well, please make three more, but is it okay if China is trying to intervene like now?¡± Curious to know how Putin would react, Youngho asked.


    -China has been so proud these days, and it¡¯ll regret it someday. How dare it interfere in our domestic affairs...


    Putin seemed to be very angry, too. In this atmosphere, the two countries¡¯ rtions would continue to be cold for the time being.


    ¡°So I¡¯d like to ask you a favor. I¡¯m thinking about putting a ballistic missile on a nuclear submarine that¡¯s currently being overhauled.¡±


    -What kind of missiles do you need? Let me know if you have anything in mind.


    ¡°I need a long-range missile. I¡¯m interested in a missile called the Sineva, and it has a range of over 8,000 kilometers.¡±


    Putin might not be fully aware of Russian missiles, so Youngho even recited them to the range.


    -A missile with such a long range might be a little difficult to sell. If Kazakhstan had the missile, it would scare Western countries as well as China.


    ¡°It¡¯s just for deterrence. I have no intention of using it in real life.¡±


    -You¡¯ll have to do that. The moment you use it, the world can be in danger.


    It was a weapon that could lead to a world war if used incorrectly.


    Putin was also warning not to mess with Russia with it.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re saying. The Kazakh royal family will remain a Russian ally in any case.¡±


    -You touch me with your words, Your Highness. I heard that the friend who stays when you are in need is a true friend.


    ¡°When Russia goes down, Kazakhstan will also get in trouble. You don¡¯t have to thank me.¡±


    Youngho was being modest, but it was the fact that Russia was having a hard time, and Kazakhstan had helped it greatly.


    -I reached out to China because I didn¡¯t have anywhere to lean on, and it¡¯s trying to crawl to the top of my head. The Kazakh royal family is quite different from the Chinese government.


    ¡°I hope China will realize that one day.¡±


    -Great expectations lead to great disappointment. China will be increasingly greedy. The reason why Russia helps Kazakhstan arm itself is because we know China¡¯s greed. You did a great job of bringing Tajikistan to the federal government this time. If it weren¡¯t for Kazakhstan, all the weaker countries in Central Asia would have fallen into the hands of China.


    ¡°It¡¯s a loose federal system that only helps with defense and foreign affairs. Once Tajikistan can stand up on its own, it will go its own way.¡±


    In front of Putin, Youngho could not say Kazakhstan would hold on to the federal powers until the end. In fact, it was Russia that had spent a lot of money and worked hard to stabilize Tajikistan.


    -Rumors have it that the Tajik people voted for the Kazakh royal family. Would they want to go back to the way they used to be?


    ¡°If they want to return it to a sovereign state, I¡¯ll help them, but if it¡¯s because of the greed of some politicians, I¡¯ll leave it to the choice of the majority of the people if they want to.¡±


    -Although Russia has been working hard on Tajikistan, it is fortunate that Kazakhstan took it over, not China.


    It must have been hard for Russia to pay attention to other countries in the face of overwhelming domestic demand.


    Tajikistan was still pro-Russian enough to have Russian troops after bing an independent state, which was forced to leave and withdraw leaving it to Kazakhstan because of the worsening economic situation.


    Judging by the fact that Putin was d that Kazakhstan took over the country rather than China, it was obvious that Russia was wary of China.


    China almost panicked when Russia said it would provide ballistic missiles to Kazakhstan. Chinese media attacked Russia and Kazakhstan day after day for undermining military bnce in the region even though the military bnce had never been achieved so far.


    ¡°It¡¯s a sight. The Chinese government is saying it¡¯s proud to have reduced their forces. Wasn¡¯t it part of the military modernization that they reduced their forces?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not funny that they have two million elite soldiers and say that we have a military bnce.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan, who entered the office, was watching the TV screen with a look of surprise.


    ¡°Are you here to watch TV or to report?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I forgot about that. The underground shelter is almostplete, so look around and check if there¡¯s anything missing.¡±


    ¡°You take care of that.¡±


    ¡°I put everything you ordered, but I just wanted to double-check. I should listen to a lot of people¡¯s opinions. Now that we have it ready, I think it would be nice to use it as a bunker, too. What do you think? I¡¯m saying we should keep important facilities there and use them on a regr basis. You can use it as a satellite station as well.¡±


    ¡°Is there enough space?¡±


    ¡°Even after building warehouses and residential spaces, there is still plenty of room left. I was wondering if we could move the key facilities there.¡±


    ¡°Then shall we take a look around?¡±

 Chapter 678 - Playing the Innocent (2)

    <h4>Chapter 678: ying the Innocent (2)</h4>


    Located about 30 kilometers from the royal pce, the underground cave was 150 meters deep from the ground and had an area of about 9 square kilometers.


    The width of a wide part was one kilometer long and a narrow part was about 100 meters long. It was originally a long and winding space, but after some work and reinforcement, an evacuation facility that would allow 10,000 people to stay for about six months was established. It also stored emergency food depots for the entire poption of the royal territory to eat for a year.


    Such evacuation facilities were also being built throughout Kazakhstan and the royal territory.


    The entrance gate to the underground cave was built in the widest section of the cave, and Apache helicopters and light armored vehicles coulde in and out of it.


    Even if the world were to be turned upside down by a sudden change, the cave wouldst several years. Youngho was inspired to develop such facilities as he was inspired by Switzend¡¯s countless shelter facilities.


    Inspecting the cave with a pleased look, Youngho came up to the ground after ordering several things to the construction director, Min.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there plenty of room for utilization?¡±


    The power generation facility and air purification facility were perfect and the artificial sun function seemed usible for people to stay underground for a long time.


    ¡°I think it would be okay to set up major facilities here.¡±


    ¡°Do we really need to bring such facilities underground?¡±


    ¡°I mean we should install a satellite control system or supeputer here. Then we won¡¯t have to rush around even if an emergency happened.¡±


    ¡°Nobody would want to work under the ground.¡±


    ¡°The future war depends on who makes good use of the electronic equipment. When the ground is devastated, you can¡¯t get anything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such things. It¡¯s bad luck.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying we should be prepared for any situation. There will be nothing to worry about if we can do it now.¡±


    ¡°Discuss it with Director Min. If such a facility is possible underground, let¡¯s make it a contingency facility.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to use it regrly?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a hidden bastion but if there¡¯s a lot of people in and out every day, it won¡¯t be a secret anymore. It will be a reserved facility.¡±


    ¡°Jeez... I argued for nothing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than nothing. Just know that developed countries spend astronomical amounts of money building dozens of such facilities. It¡¯s never a waste of time to prepare for the future, even if we never get to use it.¡±


    ¡°Phew, alright. Can I say another thing?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°How about training young people of the Imic Party of Tajikistan as a separate unit of the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°You heard it from Park Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°I heard it¡¯s a pretty useful organization. If we wee them as the Royal Bodyguards, they will be a strong supporter of the royal family...¡±


    ¡°Will they be our people after training?¡±


    ¡°When the Queen visits Tajikistan, she can ask them to watch the outer perimeter. We¡¯ll see how they react.¡±


    ***


    Although it was still a chaotic time for Tajikistan, the queen¡¯s march was another hope for the Tajiks, so she decided to go ahead.


    For the poor, it was more important to give hope for the future than immediate economic assistance.


    Until now, Tajikistan had been dominated by the establishment, and the gap between the rich and the poor was widening further year by year.


    Youngho thought that even a small amount of attention would make them turn into a loyal group as people had been left with no safety at all.


    One of the reasons for the hurry to visit Tajikistan was to upset China, which had been interrupting from all sides.


    Prior to the Queen¡¯s visit, Park Jong-il had gone ahead to survey the current situation and came back to report the situation.


    ¡°The Imic Party said it would be in charge of the perimeter guarding. It will have the role of a crowded wall. When the Queen visits, they would also y a role in creating an atmosphere.¡±


    With 170,000 party members, thousands of them would be seen as a huge support force.


    The mobilization of men was one of the ways of using crowd psychology.


    ¡°What did you think of the leader?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s about our age and he¡¯s very smart. He knew our royal family very well. ording to him, constitutional monarchy is best suited in Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°Does that man have no self-respect? It¡¯s like his people are losing sovereignty, but he is fond of our royal family.¡±


    ¡°He said the group supported the idea of a federal government since the only choice left to correct corruption in the establishment was an armed uprising. What¡¯s more, they¡¯ve been watching how Kyrgyzstan has changed and what our royal policies are, so they became very supportive. Aside from that, I think we were meant to be together anyway. He graduated from Kazakhstan National University.¡±


    ¡°Really? If he came to Kazakhstan to study, his family must¡¯ve been well-off.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s from a very poor family in the mountains, but he must have stood out because he was so smart.¡±


    ¡°I guess none of the officials in Tajikistan are right-minded. They are not interested in nurturing talent.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case for all. We need to carefully sort out good officials from corrupt ones. Also, somepanies have been forced to finance and provide convenience to politicians, so we should take a deep look at them.¡±


    Youngho did not intend to touch privatepanies from the start.


    This was because he was well aware of the inevitable structural problems in less developed countries. Privatepanies had to cater to the tastes of the government and bureaucrats who held the right to set uppanies or factories.


    It would not be easy to identify the jade stone from pebbles during a short survey period.


    ¡°Leave badpanies alone for the time being. If there¡¯s a mistake, we can fix it. Tajiks alreadyck jobs. If we get rid ofpanies, the situation will get worse.¡±


    ¡°How many jobs would be created by a factory in the form of a domestic handicraft industry that takes even minors and overworked them?¡±


    ¡°If such factories close, it will be difficult for people to make ends meet.¡±


    ¡°For those people, we should selectively implement social security.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...How many such factories are there?¡±


    ¡°They should not even be called factories since they¡¯re small, but there are more than a hundred. They don¡¯t have much economic feasibility.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Be thorough with your research.¡±


    ***


    About 800 people apanied the Queen on the train to Tajikistan.


    Such a number of people were mobilized to show the dignity of the Kazakh royal family.


    Even the royal knights, the Royal Bodyguards and the honor guards of the Royal Armed Division apanied the trip.


    As the train route from the royal territory was now connected to the Atyrau-Oral mainline, they could travel to the entire Central Asian region as well as Europe.


    Youngho was going to take a leisurely tour of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as there was a train dedicated to the royal family.


    With the queen¡¯s move, the media¡¯s attention was enormous.


    World-renowned media outlets also followed the way of the visit, as the visitmemorated Tajikistan¡¯s bing a federal state.


    As the entire Central Asia was agitated, China would look into it in real-time if it had eyes and ears.


    The royal train arrived only two full days after passing through southern Kazakhstan to Almaty.


    After a day in Almaty, it took only eight hours to travel through Kyrgyzstan to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.


    If it had been a straight course like Kazakhstan, it would have taken five hours, but the railway lines of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were connected to winding mountainous regions, so it took a lot of time.


    This train trip would cause a rapid rise in rail travel products.


    They were rail products across Kazakhstan¡¯s Great ins and a trip to the mountain regions starting from Almaty.


    The reporters who apanied the queen recorded the journey. Even if it was advertised, it was clear that the route would be loved by people around the world in the future.


    What Kazakhstan needed to do was to provide luxury bed trains for European travelers to ridefortably.


    The view around the railroad was simply spectacr.


    Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in May were so beautiful that the Alps could notpare to them.


    It was a long trip, but it was not too tiring because of thefort of the private train.


    They could have used nes to travel but decided to use the train because Fatima had entered the sixth month of pregnancy and traveling by ne could be a little overwhelming.


    But the train ride was surprisingly pleasant, and Fatima seemed to be enjoying the trip as well.


    Although it was not easy to stay in different cities for as long as 30 minutes or two hours to respond to the weing ceremony of residents, Fatima was as alert as usual.


    ¡°She¡¯s more lively even though she¡¯s pregnant.¡±


    ¡°I know she won¡¯t like to hear this, but I think she won¡¯t have a problem giving births to three or four more children in the future.¡±


    Park Jong-il whispered in a small voice, lest he should be heard.


    ¡°You want me to have more children when I¡¯m already tired by one?¡±


    ¡°Look at her. It¡¯s strange that a pregnant woman can be so active like that.¡±


    Fatima, who waved her hand to the countless crowds gathered in the square in front of the train station and did not look tired at all for someone who had just finished her long trip.


    She was glowing.


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s only acting lively because she is the Queen and so many people are looking up to her.¡±


    ¡°I feel like the royal blood is different. She¡¯s like someone who was born to be a queen. Doesn¡¯t she look more conspicuous because we¡¯re standing nearby?¡±


    As Jong-il said, Youngho could almost see a halo behind Fatima.


    The person who was so quiet and had little presence in the royal pce looked so noble and bright in an important setting like this.


    ¡°You should be nice to her if you should have more heirs. A lot of princes and princesses are needed to stabilize the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, didn¡¯t you know that the Serbian royal families in the past only had all daughters except the first son?¡±


    ¡°What a strange thing. Isn¡¯t it strange that in the 21st century, what is likely to happen in fantasy novels is happening in real life?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. If we live hard in our given situations, we¡¯ll find outter.¡±


    ¡°This riddle will never be solved in our lifetime.¡±


    ¡°What if I can¡¯t solve the riddle? It¡¯s important that we were chosen.¡±

 Chapter 679 - The Status of the Royal Family (1)

    <h4>Chapter 679: The Status of the Royal Family (1)</h4>


    The Queen¡¯s party, visiting Tajikistan, had been making headlines wherever they went.


    Not only the Queen but also Jelyan, Leon, and Rena were at the center of the talk.


    Leon, who used to make troubles at the royal pce, was shamelessly dignified as if he had ever been like that, while Jelyan and Rena thrilled residents with the fresh charm of adolescent girls.


    The cuteness of Leon, as he was half Asian and half European, was enough to shake the Tajik girls¡¯ minds.


    Tajikistan was an ind country located in the eastern part of Central Asia and had a total area of about two-thirds of the Korean Penins.


    Northwest of it was Uzbekistan and to its northeast, Kyrgyzstan was located. China to the east and Afghanistan to the south, it had a border that was 3,700 kilometers long in total, of which about 400 kilometers was shared with China.


    Most of thend consisted of the Trans-y Mountains and the Pamir teau, which was 5,000 meters above sea level, with 93 percent of thend being mountainous.


    As they were traveling around each city to meet the Tajik people, Fatima and Zeynep could not help but exim seeing amazing natural views.


    ¡°Oh! How can there be such a beautiful ce? It¡¯s as pretty as Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be more surprised to see the Pamir teau.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go to the Pamir after the tour.¡±


    Zeynep interrupted when the Pamir teau was mentioned.


    ¡°You will be fine, but your sister can¡¯t go. There is no railway connected to the teau, so you need to use a vehicle. We have Pamir Highway, but it¡¯s too rough and will cause motion sickness.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. If not now, when will I go there?¡±


    Fatima was also agreeing with Zeynep.


    Youngho regretted talking about the Pamir teau. Not only did the unscheduled trip raise security concerns, but another problem was that the border area of the Pamir teau was a disputed area. If the royal family visited, it could provoke China.


    Usually, it was customary for a head of state not to visit the territorial dispute area.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a great idea because it could provoke China.¡±


    ¡°The whole teau is not in dispute. Why should we provoke China when we visit our territory?¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    Fatima¡¯s question left him in need of an answer.


    Even if a political figure was only hovering around the Pamir teau, China would make it an issue, but the queen¡¯s official visit meant that she would not recognize the Pamir teau as a disputed territory, which was hard to ignore from China.


    For China, it would be like the head of the other country was visiting its territory without any notice.


    Visiting a territorial dispute area was such a sensitive issue.


    Youngho wished that she would visit there in private, but it did not seem to be eptable to Fatima.


    ¡°Besides, I¡¯m sure Tajik residents live there, so I¡¯ll have to look around. I don¡¯t want to hear that the royal family only visited the cities and doesn¡¯t care about remote viges. You¡¯re not afraid of China, are you?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be. I just wish we don¡¯t create a disturbance.¡±


    ¡°I love it here. So, I¡¯d like to build a royal vi in the Pamir teau, too. What do you think?¡±


    A visit to the Pamir teau was threatening enough, but she wanted to build a royal vi there. What kind of a vi could be in a ce where there was no tree and electricity or water supply?


    Apart from that, that could lead to Chinese military¡¯s deployment of its troops again.


    Youngho had to make excuses.


    ¡°I want to build a house for you, but the Pamir teau is a ce designated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, so you can¡¯t have artificial facilities.¡±


    ¡°Well, you built a military instation on the World Natural Heritage site.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a military facility and is a temporary facility. It¡¯s dangerous since some ces havendmines buried under the ground. Let¡¯s think about it when all the roads are pavedter.¡±


    ¡°Dear! There are mines buried? That means the nomads who live there are in danger.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a tank mine, so it¡¯s okay. It takes a very heavy object to explode.¡±


    Now he was in trouble for usingndmines as an excuse.


    Whatever the case, he managed to stop Fatima¡¯s visit to the Pamir teau, under the pretext ofndmines.


    ***


    ¡°It¡¯s great to finally meet you. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I¡¯m Rabiev, the head of the Imic Party.¡±


    Rabiev in his early 40s was a rtively thin-bodied man, typical of Iranians.


    Youngho thought he would be a sharp look because of the preconceived notion that he was a very smart person, but he felt quite easy-going in person.


    ¡°The Muslim party yed a huge role in the queen¡¯s journey. Her Majesty asked me to say thank you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing to be thanked for. Her Majesty is taking a difficult step, and of course, we shoulde forward and wee her.¡±


    The party members guarded each area of the Queen¡¯s visit and created a usible atmosphere to wee her.


    Rabiev was not seeking to be rich by making a connection with the Kazakh royal family. He just thought the Kazakh royal family was the lifeline to ovee Tajikistan¡¯s poverty.


    As there was a sessful case of Kyrgyzstan before, he did not hesitate when Tajikistan became a federal state of the Kazakh Kingdom. His Kazakh friends, who he met while studying abroad in Kazakhstan, also praised the Kazakh royal family that came in power after a coup.


    Kazakhstan, which had transformed itself into a constitutional monarchy, and Kyrgyzstan, which had been incorporated as a federal state, quickly took the lead among developing countries.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that some of the militiamen are party members. We¡¯ve been operating together in the Pamir teau. They¡¯re very brave soldiers.¡±


    ¡°We were united to try to change Tajik, but we were not strong enough. If Kazakhstan hadn¡¯te forward, we¡¯d be in a civil war again.¡±


    ¡°Were you thinking of a coup?¡±


    ¡°So far we¡¯ve been in despair. The only way to restart was a coup.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel about that now?¡±


    ¡°Because we know the good changes Kazakhstan brought in Kyrgyzstan, we think we now have hope.¡±


    ¡°Great expectations lead to big disappointments... ...you know, it¡¯s hard to make a difference just with the royal effort.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I ask you to use our force as yours. I¡¯d like to add a little strength to Tajikistan¡¯s wave of change. That doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m greedy for power. I¡¯ll be satisfied to help with your policies in the outskirts.¡±


    ¡°It makes me feel like I¡¯ve got a thousand warriors and horses since your party is willing to help us. Then why don¡¯t you be the Royal Guards instead of staying outside to help?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite an offer. We are not well-trained soldiers. I don¡¯t know what to say...¡±


    It was such an unconventional proposal that Rabiev was at his wit¡¯s end. He knew the status of the Royal Bodyguards too well.


    ¡°I think that the Imic Party has more than enough qualifications. How many members of the party are in their early 20s?¡±


    ¡°About 5,000 people.¡±


    The number was unexpectedlyrge.


    Most young people were bound to be indifferent to politics, but they had all stepped up as the reality of Tajikistan was gloom.


    Having such arge number meant it was an organization with a coup in mind.


    In order to stabilize Tajikistan at an early date, Youngho had obtained such an organization under his control. It would be hard to bear when it became a hostile force to the royal family.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get them trained in the Royal Bodyguards and the rest can be used to enlighten the people.¡±


    Taking the role to enlighten the Tajik people meant that they could act as the mouth of the royal family.


    ¡°If you leave it to us, we will do our best to help you.¡±


    ¡°If they were to join the guards, they have to swear allegiance to the Queen. Would there be no rejection?¡±


    ¡°It will never happen. Our party members¡¯ trust in the royal family is great.¡±


    After meeting with Rabiev, Youngho discussed the issue of supporting the Imic Party with Park Jong-il.


    ¡°We need to give a proper name for the party if we want to use it.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we name it the Tajik Contingent of the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a nice name, but wouldn¡¯t the Tajiks reject it? And if the anti-federal group were to use it of being a royal puppet, the scope of the groups¡¯ movement will be reduced.¡±


    ¡°That group is subject to purging anyway.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re corrupted, but we shouldn¡¯t treat them inappropriately. Think about the status of the royal family. Do not use coercive methods in any case.¡±


    ¡°Reform will be difficult then. There should be a bloodbath at least one time. The residents supported the royal family in anticipation of that, but if we punished them with only a flick of a finger, they would doubt if we are willing to reform.¡±


    ¡°If we spread the rumor that there¡¯s going to be a major reform, corrupt ones will leave on their own. Then we don¡¯t have to get blood on our hands. We can freeze their funds in their banks to prevent them from getting out of the country before they leave.¡±


    ¡°Would they have kept illegal funds in the country? They must have already taken them overseas.¡±


    ¡°Think of President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush fund.¡±


    It was highly likely that most of the funds were kept in the country, believing that the Kazakh royal family was never going to use coercive methods as it was not a dictatorship.


    But what if the immigration at the airport or at the border was managed as well as freezing assets?


    There would be no way to take away the hidden property.


    In the end, if they wanted to avoid punishment, they would have no choice but to escape the country.


    ¡°How much gold is stored in the central bank? I saw gold in the Tajik minerals export list.¡±


    ¡°The central bank didn¡¯t have any gold.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a country that can¡¯t even pay the interest of its foreign debt. We even paid for its Chinese debt.¡±


    ¡°I know there are quite a lot of gold mines, but does it make sense that there is no gold stored in the central bank?¡±


    ¡°I heard that China has taken all the gold as interest.¡±


    ¡°Take control of the gold mines right now. That¡¯s the only way to get the funds back.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the Tajik government resist?¡±


    ¡°Then tell it to pay back the Chinese debt paid by the royal family. I don¡¯t think they thought it was free.¡±

 Chapter 680 - The Status of the Royal Family (2)

    <h4>Chapter 680: The Status of the Royal Family (2)</h4>


    With the royal family¡¯s visit to Tajikistan, the people¡¯s minds werepletely tilted to Kazakhstan. It was because the Queen and her family visited even small towns.


    Some even said the Queen looked like an angel from heaven.


    When Youngho delivered the news of Tajikistan¡¯s atmosphere, Fatima smiled.


    ¡°The residents of Tajikistan have a great eye for people. You should be careful, too. If you don¡¯t like the angel from heaven, they won¡¯t be easy on you.¡±


    ¡°If only they knew how I tried to find you in the slums of Istanbul, they won¡¯t treat me badly.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already been widely rumored. It¡¯s been adapted to a different story in which you followed me around to buy my affection. Hohoho...¡±


    ¡°One day I¡¯ll have to get the facts right. If they know what the truth is, they¡¯ll be praising me for finding you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about such a small matter and retrieve the Pamir teau to its original status. Then the Tajik people will even build your statue.¡±


    ¡°You are upset because you couldn¡¯t visit there.¡±


    ¡°I thought the Chinese had buried thendmines, instead of our side, but it was a lie! Please get rid of all the mines. I hear you know where they¡¯re buried.¡±


    Fatima was preupied with thendmine problem all the way through, as nomads were likely to get hurt.


    She eventually found out the truth about thendmines after inquiring to many rted people upon arriving at the royal territory. She gave Youngho an earful for a long time.


    ¡°It was the only way to hold China back. Sooner orter, we¡¯ll be back to normal as soon as we finalize border issues with China.¡±


    ¡°Will China move ording to our demands?¡±


    ¡°In fact, I can make any concessions if it was a territorial dispute with the Uyghurs, but I held back because China had stepped up. Even now, in the summer, the Uyghur nomadse to the Pamir, and once the border is finalized, they can¡¯t cross over. Would that be okay with you?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a concern, but if it¡¯s a time bomb that might explode at any moment, it¡¯s better to settle with China quickly. The buffer zone could get noisy again someday.¡±


    Now that Tajikistan had be a federal country, Kazakhstan could take the lead in negotiations and negotiate with China.


    Since the teau was not an important piece ofnd both in terms of resources and strategy, giving up was not a matter if China could offer a good benefit in return.


    ***


    ¡°Why did you think of making concessions?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a concession, it¡¯s Uyghurs¡¯nd, so I¡¯m returning it. If it wasn¡¯t, I would never give in.¡±


    Youngho was head-to-head with Park Jong-il to clear up the border dispute issue of the Pamir teau.


    ¡°If we ask to negotiate first, wouldn¡¯t the Chinese people think we¡¯re giving in?¡±


    ¡°If the Chinese government makes a preposterous demand, we will say that we¡¯d stick to the Soviet-era border and that there will be no more negotiations in the future. We¡¯ve done enough to make concessions, so have justification.¡±


    What China had been iming to be its territory was only a small area of the Pamir teau.


    However, the dispute had been expanded to the entire Pamir teau.


    ¡°If it¡¯s half of the buffer zone, I think China will agree to the negotiations, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°You want to make that much concession?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 1,100 square kilometers. Compared to the Pamir as a whole, it¡¯s only a small portion.¡±


    If he gave up that much, China would secure a t area.


    The reason for doing so was that he knew what China was after. The purpose of China was to secure a t area of the Pamir teau to station their troops, but it would still be helpless before the Kazakh troops.


    ¡°Okay. Try to set a border at that line.¡±


    ¡°It would be better to approach it at the intelligence level than at the government level, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t want to make an international issue. Please finalize it quietly.¡±


    The Chinese leadership believed that a t area was strategically more important than slopes, but that was not true.


    A t area was rather a weak point and it would be easily seen and quickly destroyed by the opposing forces.


    In a world where horses or tanks were on the front burner, the ce would be perfect to camp, but in a world where missiles, fighter jets, and attack helicopters were dominant, it was rather disadvantageous. It was a testament to the fact that the Chinese military was still unable to get out of its volume-oriented conventional war mentality.


    ¡°Tell them to give up all of their holdings of Tajikistan in exchange for the buffer zone.¡±


    ¡°You paid back all the bonds that Tajikistan borrowed from China.¡±


    ¡°We paid back the principal, but the business interest remains intact.¡±


    ¡°Wow, they were smart to do that. In that case, I¡¯m d we have something to get out of this deal.¡±


    It would be an equal exchange if China gave up its interests in Tajikistan.


    All China had invested in Tajikistan was railways and roads, but if not rified now, there was a possibility of conflict in the future, so Youngho was trying to package it into border-area negotiations.


    In fact, Tajiks were not very interested in the Pamir teau.


    It was just a ce where diligent nomads stayed for a short time in summer to feed their animals some quality grass, nothing more or less.


    ***


    Tajikistan was a ce with abundant gold reserves.


    With the increasing demand for gold, a safe asset, amid growing global economic uncertainty, China, whose gold reserves ounted for only five percent of the world, had also begun to turn to gold mines abroad.


    China¡¯srgest gold producer, Golden Group and Zijin Mining Group, had previously entered Tajikistan and investigated for feasibility, but were forced into exile due to the Pamir teau crisis.


    The gold mines in Tajikistan, which the Chinesepanies had investigated over the years, was estimated to have about 2,000 tons of gold reserves.


    In addition, silver and aluminum reserves were considerable.


    Anatole, the Kazakh Minister of Industry and Technology, showed Yongho a report on the Tajikistan gold mine investigation.


    ¡°Your Highness. Thergest gold mine is in the northern city near the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It is also the closest mine to the royal gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, so this would be a good ce to manage.¡±


    ¡°You said there was a gold mine in the Pamir. Isn¡¯t that a border area?¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with the Chinese border. It is around the northern part of the Kyrgyz border and the southern part of the Afghan border. In particr, the South is famous for its alluvial gold mines, and it is shared with Afghanistan across the river, so if you want to develop it, an agreement of the two countries is necessary.¡±


    ¡°If we have an agreement, can we collect the gold?¡±


    ¡°Not a chance. The rivers around the Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir teau are all deep valleys and rapids, so it is inessible. It¡¯s mostly for tourists who want to enjoy extreme sports.¡±


    Tajikistan had 947 rivers.


    The river had a total length of 28,500 kilometers and was very rich in water resources.


    Having 1,300kes and 8,476 square kilometers of ciers, the nation was as beautiful as Kyrgyzstan.


    If Kyrgyzstan was called Switzend in Central Asia, Tajikistan could be called the Alps in Central Asia. It was enough to steal Fatima and Zeynep¡¯s hearts at a nce.


    If there was alluvial gold in such a rapid stream, how could it be retrieved?


    Although it was nothing but a pie in the sky, the existence of gold itself was important to Youngho. Because of these scattered gold, China was covetous of Tajikistan. There was a reason why the Chinesepanies invested the whole Tajikistan.


    ¡°How about gold mines in northern Pamir?¡±


    ¡°There is no exact data because the Chinesepanies pulled during the probe. There are several mines that produced gold in the Soviet era, so I think we should examine them closely. They¡¯re a ce where gold has been found since ancient times although production has been on and off over time. Some of them are dead mines.¡±


    Youngho was intrigued by the mention of dead mines.


    The mines at the Serbian Ranch in Baku, Azerbaijan, was also a waste mine, but he had found a new vein of gold eventually, so there was a chance that he could find another one in Tajikistan.


    ¡°Did they get abandoned because the vein of gold was broken?¡±


    ¡°With the technology at the time, it was dangerous to mine anymore, and I think they stopped because there were plenty of other gold mines that were more productive.¡±


    ¡°Is the Tajik government interested in those gold mines?¡±


    ¡°The government only cares about a mine located on the border of the three countries, but it doesn¡¯t care about the rest of the mines because of poor transportation and mining environment.¡±


    Youngho could choose Tajik gold mines in exchange for his payment of the Tajik government¡¯s debt to the Chinese government. Though Youngho coveted the mine that the government was managing, which was estimated to have more than 200 tons of gold reserves, it seemed better to take the mines in the Pamir teau which were out of people¡¯s interest. It was because he did not want the royal family to be seen as greedy.


    ¡°Tell the Tajik government that we will take Pamir¡¯s gold mines in exchange for paying the government¡¯s debt.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you could ask for the government¡¯s gold mine, but why do you ask for these abandoned mines?¡±


    ¡°Should we be told that the Kazakh royal family is the same as China?¡±

 Chapter 681 - The Status of the Royal Family (3)

    <h4>Chapter 681: The Status of the Royal Family (3)</h4>


    Although the Tajik people were fond of the nation¡¯s new change, there were a few groups of people who were opposed to the change.


    Such covert forces were hiding, but the former Imic party members, which was now renamed as the Tajik Contingent of the Royal Bodyguards, which was operating in all parts of Tajikistan targeted them.


    They turned into small-scale demonstrators and harassed such forces.


    Holding pickets and handing out handouts, they used people of corruption in detail in public.


    Even after its renaming, people still called it the Imic Party because it had a more friendly image, and it gained even more poprity for its activist work for the royal family.


    It was the day when young members of the Imic Party, who were in their 20s, officially joined the Kazakh Royal Bodyguards.


    About 1,200 young party members, excluding those who had family affairs or did not want a soldier¡¯s path, gathered in a vacant lot outside Dushanbe, Tajik¡¯s capital.


    The site was where a temporary training camp was built after being roughly cleaned with heavy equipment.


    After a week of basic training there, they would go straight to the training center in the royal territory and undergo four months of intensive training.


    When the training was over, they would return to Tajikistan and work there.


    Because the young people gathered in the vacant lot were excited about their future rather than feeling mental burdens on training as they would receive high wages which were hard to imagine in Tajik economic standards.


    ¡°Everybody, stand in lines! Raise your hand if you don¡¯t speak Russian.¡±


    Russian was the officialnguage of Tajikistan and if they could not speak it, it meant that they had never been schooled.


    Although poor, Tajik people¡¯s enthusiasm for education was the highest in Central Asia, and they would never leave their children neglected.


    When no one was raising a hand, the Royal Bodyguards¡¯ senior officer continued on speaking.


    ¡°We wee your entry to the training camp of the Royal Bodyguards. As you all know, the Royal Bodyguards is a special unit that is loyal to the Queen and protects the Kazakh royal family. Your top priority will be the royal family apart from your nation and people. A week¡¯s education here is not much. After receiving only simple meal training and what to do in the royal territory, you will move there by train. It may be inconvenient because it is a temporary facility, but when you return from the training, there will be decent barracks waiting for you. And you will feel how proud you are of having been a member of the Royal Bodyguards even after you are discharged. So even if it is a bit tough, I hope you finish your training safely. From now on, go to the supply barrack on the left to receive military uniforms and supplies and enter each toon¡¯s interior unit to change. And after changing clothes, have dinner at a set tent cafeteria and get back together here by seven. We will be watching a documentary film about the Royal Navy¡¯s activities in the Indian Ocean. That¡¯s all.¡±


    About 1,200 young people cheered at the end of the officer¡¯s exnation.


    The attitude was different because they were not forced to join the Royal Bodyguards but volunteered. Their will to endure the hard training was visible in their eyes.


    The Royal Bodyguards were already well-known in Central Asia, and it was popr for young people, regardless of nationality. Since not anyone could enlist, the young members of the former Imic Party were excited.


    ***


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it inconvenient to travel long distances? I should¡¯ve gone to greet you at the airport, but I couldn¡¯t because of the eyes on me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I¡¯m Jekaterina Tatiana Georgievna from Tskhinvali.¡±


    Katya was floundering in front of Fatima.


    Coming from an ordinary family in Volgograd, she had never met a person in such a high position. Although Rena was adored by the royal family, Katya had no rtion to the royal family.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about Miss Katya through the Duke. I¡¯ve wanted to meet you so much, and I¡¯m quite excited to see you finally. There was a reason why Rena was so pretty. She looks exactly like you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a bit too much. Your Majesty, please forgive me for not visiting you after leaving Rena to you.¡±


    ¡°You had a reason to do that, but I¡¯m rather sorry. I should have invited you much earlier to the pce. I¡¯ve been very lonely because I don¡¯t have many friends around, but I hope we can be friends while you¡¯re staying at the pce.¡±


    When Katya saw Fatima¡¯s gentle expression, her trembling heart calmed down a little.


    Rena¡¯s biological mother, Katya, and her maternal grandmother came today to the royal Territory on a royal jet ne.


    Only a handful of people knew of their visit to avoid the media¡¯s attention on Rena and Katya.


    Although Rena was known as a foster daughter, rumors were circting that she was the child of Youngho¡¯s out-of-wedlock. Thus, if her biological mother was known to being in and out of the royal pce, there would be more gossip about her. It would be best if she visited quietly.


    ¡°It must¡¯ve been hard for you to trust us and send Rena here.¡±


    ¡°No, Your Majesty. Thank you very much for taking care of her. I don¡¯t know how to repay your favor.¡±


    Katya was very hesitant to visit the royal territory this time.


    She could not sleep well with the worry that she might cause any trouble or noise to the royal family and Rena. Of course, she knew well that the Queen had a kind heart, but she also knew that such strange rumors must be very upsetting to hear.


    But the Queen weed her as if she did not care about such rumors.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. I know Miss Katya is a very strong person who has ovee difficult situations. I wonder if someone as weak as me would have endured them, and I should thank you for sending Rena to the pce. Rena needed a father and I needed a pretty daughter. Thank you so much for trusting us.¡±


    Tears welled up in Katya¡¯s eyes at Fatima¡¯s words.


    It felt like all the hard work that she had been through had melted away. She was also worried about Rena all the time, but it seemed that she was in good hands.


    Fatima patted Katya on the shoulder, handing her a handkerchief.


    The two women¡¯s chatter began when their emotions were settled to some extent and the atmosphere was smoother.


    ¡°I heard Tskhinvali¡¯s hotel is in full swing, and also, you¡¯vepleted the expansion work this time.¡±


    ¡°His Highness almost forced me to add more facilities, so I overworked it. Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s run by Rena¡¯s mother, a princess of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan. Of course, the hotel can¡¯t look sloppy. If I had known, I would have expanded it further.¡±


    ¡°I also did not want to shame the name of the Arirang Hotel, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°The Duke told me all about it, and he said he¡¯d leave the hotel in Tskhinvali for Rena.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m grateful enough for what you¡¯ve already done for me, so please take that back. I can¡¯t be that shameless.¡±


    The Arirang Hotel Tskhinvali had now be as popr as other luxury hotels.


    With the premium of running directly by the Kazakh royal family, Russian wealthy people were flocking to the hotel.


    ¡°Now, Rena is the Princess of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan. Although she¡¯s not an heiress of the throne, the fact that she¡¯s a member of the royal family remains unchanged. For the sake of royal status, it should be reborn as a more elegant hotel. It¡¯s all for Rena, so don¡¯t feel pressured.¡±


    ¡°I will follow your order.¡±


    Fatima, who was looking at Katya sitting quietly, asked carefully, ¡°Ms. Katya. Don¡¯t get me wrong. You are still young and beautiful. Do you have any thoughts of remarrying?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, as the princess of the Kazakh royal family, Rena¡¯s biological mother, I never wish to make reckless decisions and make rumors, and I¡¯m satisfied with one marriage. I¡¯m happy being alone.¡±


    ¡°Do you still like the Duke?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s absurd. I have a grateful heart for helping my mother and daughter, and I have never dared to have such a thought.¡±


    ¡°Hoho... It wouldn¡¯t upset me even if you liked him secretly. It¡¯s rather sad that the Duke looks so unattractive.¡±


    Katya had no choice but to give an honest answer.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I once secretly admired him for his great kindness, but I¡¯ve long erased those trivial feelings. I can¡¯t dare look at him that way now that he is in such a high position. I¡¯m just grateful that he volunteered to be Rena¡¯s father. I will never give you any further trouble.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he give you a room much?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. He was like a stone.¡±


    ¡°... I see.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s face was brightened to hear it.


    The two women were talking about something that would embarrass Youngho if he heard it.


    Although the beauty of Katya was outstanding when Youngho first met her, he had no room for her as he was already into Fatima by then.


    ¡°Well, then. I¡¯m a woman who lives with a stone-like man. Hohoho...¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, that¡¯s not what I meant. That means he is not someone who¡¯d be shaken by other women.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was the only one who didn¡¯t know that. Hahaha...¡±


    Relieved to hear that, Fatima¡¯sughter was getting louder.


    By talking to Katya and getting to know her, Fatima was certain that she was never a person who would break a family.


    ¡°Your Majesty will fall in love with the Arirang Hotel in Tskhinvali... It¡¯s such a beautiful ce that people who visit the hotel can¡¯t help but visit again.¡±


    ¡°I heard that South Ossetia¡¯s economic situation is very difficult. Are there so many visitors?¡±


    ¡°Most of the tourists are rich Russians.¡±


    ¡°The Duke says it¡¯s as beautiful as Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°I want to show you the beauty of Tskhinvali one day, but I¡¯m embarrassed to invite you because of the inconvenience of transportation. We¡¯ve been using a military helipad, and we can¡¯t get a big ne in and out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask the Duke to build an airfield. Then you can go back and forth morefortably than now. That will also attract more hotel guests.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to cost a lot...¡±


    ¡°Never mind that. So, let¡¯s hear more about Tskhinvali¡¯s situation.¡±


    Their chattersted for a while.


    Fatima was more entertained as Katya shared the time when Park Jong-il came to Tskhinvali.

 Chapter 682 - Negotiations in the Pamir (1)

    <h4>Chapter 682: Negotiations in the Pamir (1)</h4>


    Youngho felt as if he were walking on thin ice until Katya left the royal territory.


    He did not do anything wrong, but he was concerned about Fatima as there could easily be a misunderstanding.


    Youngho intentionally avoided Katya while she was staying in the royal territory. He only saw her at the family mealtime. He did not need to talk to Katya as he always talked to her all the time on the phone for business updates anyway.


    He did not want to make the pregnantdy, Fatima, feel ufortable, but Katya¡¯s provocative eyes made him feel nervous.


    From what he heard from Fatima, she said she was satisfied with her life and only living for Rena, but she did not look so in Youngho¡¯s eyes.


    It could be described as a look that still had the fire that never went out.


    ¡°I feel like I finally took out my sick tooth. I got in trouble trying to keep an eye on Fatima.¡±


    ¡°You have a look of emptiness. I think Katya still adores you.¡±


    Jong-il teased Youngho.


    There was no way that Park Jong-il, who was quick-witted, could not have missed the eyes of Katya.


    ¡°Oh, stop the nonsense and just tell me what the Chinese reaction is like.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re saying the Pamir teau problem and Tajikistan investment interest issue are separate... I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll take some time.¡±


    ¡°Did you tell them that there will be no more negotiations?¡±


    ¡°I did but would China budge?¡±


    ¡°The Chinese ambassador is vacant, did the Chinese government say anything about it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s killing me to coordinate without any lines from China. Officials begged me to get the ambassador back to Kazakhstan, please.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to leave it vacant for longer then.¡±


    Kazakh ambassador to China had been summoned after the sale of its nuclear submarine and had yet to return to China.


    ¡°I said I would keep it vacant if there was no official apology, but the Chinese side mes us for asking so since it¡¯s not an official request from the Kazakh government, and it ims that China made a big concession for expressing regret.¡±


    ¡°They haven¡¯te to their senses yet.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen China admit to their wrongdoings against another country? Since they expressed their regret, why don¡¯t we let it go? To resolve the problem of the Pamir teau, we need to restore the ambassador to China. If we take too long, we might miss our chance.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell Prime Minister Kasim. Alright, intelligence service can pull out now. Let¡¯s get this over with fast. Let¡¯s see how they react when we talk about resource exports, too.¡±


    ¡°That sounds great.¡±


    Up until the previous administration, China was the main export destination of Kazakhstan, but now it was exporting crude oil to Europe through Russian pipelines, and it was exporting raw materials to the Far East Asian region through the Arctic Ocean, so exports to China were not affected much.


    China was the only one to regret if it failed to import raw materials from Kazakhstan.


    This was because the amount of raw materials that 1.3 billion people needed to consume was tremendous.


    ¡°The Chinese side wants to keep using the Pamir Highway. What should we do?¡±


    ¡°That means they can¡¯t give up their investment interest.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. It must be in a hurry because the road to Afghanistan is blocked.¡±


    ¡°It can enter through Pakistan. Why does it have to go through there?¡±


    ¡°To do that, China has to rebuild existing roads from the Chinese border to Afghanistan, but the ground is weak, and it often copses. It¡¯s a ce known as a way to hell.¡±


    The reason for China¡¯s construction of the road despite the rough mountainous paths of the Pamir teau was because of the risky old road near the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan.


    So it was taking the Pamir Highway from Xinjiang Uyghur and using the route to Afghanistan at the end of the Pamir teau, which was another One Belt One Road project to make its way to Europe through Afghanistan and Iran.


    So if Kazakhstan blocked the Pamir Highway, allnd routes to Europe would be blocked for China.


    ¡°If they just agree on the border issue and the stake in Tajikistan, we can let them use the route, but we¡¯ll strictly charge them the cost of passage.¡±


    ***


    The Chinese leadership was unhappy with the Pamir border issue brought by the Kazakh royal family.


    It should remain a disputed area, but the n to take control of the entire Pamir would be derailed if it was settled early.


    However, it could not help but actively engage in negotiations.


    Otherwise, it would be in a dilemma as Kazakhstan would close its way to Europe as well as blocking the export of raw materials. Its whole One Belt One Road project was shaking.


    Knowing China¡¯s situation, Kazakhstan was pressing China all the way.


    Returning to Beijing, Kazakhstan¡¯s ambassador, Murad, kept his strong stance.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t reach a conclusion like this, we have no choice but to judge that you are not willing to solve Pamir`s problem. This could allow us to stick to our existing borders.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening my country?¡±


    Foreign Minister Wang Yi was furious at Ambassador Murad¡¯s remarks.


    ¡°Why is that a threat when we¡¯ll have our territory at our disposal? It was a very peaceful ce until your country started a conflict.¡±


    ¡°So did you secretly bury thendmines in a peaceful ce?¡±


    ¡°Your side dragged a mechanized division into the border first, so should we have just sat there and watched it? Why would you argue against the defense of your country? It¡¯s like interference in domestic affairs.¡±


    Thinking that it was his opportunity to press, Murad poured out hisints.


    He responded more strongly because there was also an order from the Duke.


    As he aggressively argued, Foreign Minister Wang Yi was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Our government has acknowledged the radical actions of the hard-line military and is now working on mine clearance. Then I must tell you that you have made a reckless remark that we are an immature country, but we haven¡¯t heard any apology for that yet.¡±


    ¡°We expressed our regret clearly, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s going to end with just a regretful expression. Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s an insult to the whole of Central Asia? You still don¡¯t understand the seriousness of the situation even though I was summoned home.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long Kazakhstan has been so stiff.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I can¡¯t say what I¡¯m supposed to say because we are not a subordinate to your country. Let¡¯s focus on the Pamir border issue now. If you don¡¯t want to negotiate, I¡¯m going to have to tell my government that.¡±


    In response to Ambassador Murad¡¯s reply, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi put his hand on his forehead and was controlling his anger.


    ¡°If you keep on upsetting our country, it¡¯s a big mistake.¡±


    Wang Yi tried to scare the ambassador, but he soon realized that he made a mistake.


    He was reminded that Kazakhstan was an opponent that China could not exercise its force recklessly.


    ¡°Why are you trying to demonstrate force again? Give it a try. I¡¯m very curious to see how it will turn out.¡±


    ***


    Younghoughed out loud when he heard from Ambassador Murad.


    Murad, who had been to Beijing, was exining in detail his war of words with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.


    ¡°Then, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he woulde to a conclusion by next week. Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°You dealt with him quite well.¡±


    ¡°I was very nervous inside, but I tried to be as strong as you ordered.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just say that the power of the royal family is more than you think. So, I hope you don¡¯t get dragged around by China and be confident in dealing with it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Soon, two nuclear submarines willunch operations in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Is that not enough to exin?¡±


    ¡°Do we have nuclear warheads by any chance?¡±


    ¡°Well, there is and there isn¡¯t.¡±


    Whoever asked, the answer would be the same.


    It was an armed force that both existed and did not exist.


    Youngho intended to obscure the existence of nuclear weapons in any case until he used them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve acted out, but I¡¯m very worried about how China will respond.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s nothing tough about. Don¡¯t forget that the current Chinese regime is stronger than any other regimes in history.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also true for Kazakhstan, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Do you really have a weapon against China?¡±


    ¡°Well, all I can say is that even if we only have rifles, it¡¯s like we only have nuclear weapons, and if we only have nuclear weapons, it¡¯s like we only have rifles.¡±


    Murad, who was pondering Youngho¡¯s answer, nodded and got up.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m going back to Beijing tomorrow, and I¡¯ll continue to be strong as you say even if I meet Xi Jinping. Now I have a vague idea where our poweres from.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say much, but I wonder what you guessed.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a saying, ¡®pretend to have more when there¡¯s none and pretend to have none when there¡¯s a lot¡¯. Didn¡¯t you mean that?¡±


    ¡°I will take what you just said as a sign that you will not lose your nerve in Beijing.¡±


    ¡°There is no doubt about it. Your Highness, please wait for the result. I¡¯ll end it even if I have to grab Wang Yi by the cor.¡±


    ¡°And when the Pamir negotiations are over, please shake China once again with export volume.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to limit crude oil exports?¡±


    ¡°Including mineral resources. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to impose restrictions to meet the European countries¡¯ demand.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, please reconsider the crude oil. That willplicate the Indian Ocean, which should be dyed until we have the nuclear submarines.¡±


    ¡°Theplexity of the Indian Ocean means China¡¯s faster advance. Are you saying that?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s going to have a base in the Maldives before we get ready. Then there will be a head-on collision with India.¡±


    In other words, Kazakhstan had no choice but to intervene automatically because it had formed a military alliance with India.


    Youngho suddenly felt a chill. If oil exports from Kazakhstan to China were restricted, there would be a war on the wrong Indian Ocean.


    It was just like the saying that a butterfly in a jungle in South America would cause tornadoes in the southern part of the U.S.

 Chapter 683 - Negotiations in the Pamir (2)

    <h4>Chapter 683: Negotiations in the Pamir (2)</h4>


    -We¡¯re almost done, but we won¡¯t be able to make it until August. It¡¯s not like we are building a sailboat.


    When Youngho asked Szechenyi in Denmark toplete the multi-purposending ship early, heined.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you work around the clock?¡±


    -The Labor union may protest. There are norgepanies in Denmark that require overtime work. Labor allowance is not an issue, but people avoid working at night. Danish workers think it is more important to spend the evening with their family than money.


    ¡°Kazakh workers would work night shifts if they¡¯re paid more. I¡¯ll have to send some senior shipyard workers to work on it then.¡±


    -We need to understand European workers who value home and quality of life. Please let the workers here finish up because the quality may be poor if workers change. You know there is a saying, ¡®go around when you are more urgent.¡¯


    ¡°Alright. I can¡¯t help it then. Encourage them to hurry up instead.¡±


    -Hyeong, what¡¯s the rush for? If you have a nuclear submarine, you would be fine.


    ¡°India and China will soon have a conflict in the Indian Ocean. We have to intervene because we are India¡¯s ally, but if we deploy a nuclear submarine, we¡¯ll have the potential to go to war. A multi-purposending ship capable of operating attack helicopters is needed.


    -No military alliance has to intervene in disputes outside the maind.


    ¡°I¡¯m just preparing for a rainy day.¡±


    The Indian naval base on the Seychelles Inds in the Indian Ocean was being used together, so there was a high chance that the Kazakh Navy would get caught up in the conflict. There were no facilities for the Kazakh navy yet, but the navy had been making frequent visits there.


    -We¡¯ll need a hospital ship if there¡¯s a battle.


    ¡°Right. How far has the construction progressed?¡±


    -The hospital ship can beunched in August. It¡¯s now being equipped with various medical equipment. Because Zeynep continued to request different things, it is getting dyed.


    ¡°Do whatever Zeynep wants if you don¡¯t want to hear a lectureter on. Looks like we¡¯ve got a rough list of doctors for the hospital ship.¡±


    -It¡¯s getting dyed because the medical staff is asking for all kinds of facilities. They think of a hospital ship as a hotel.


    ¡°They have to work long hours as civilians, not soldiers. We have to understand that. I¡¯m sure Zeynep had promised to offer all sorts of things.¡±


    -Anyway, we¡¯ll encourage workers to save as much time as possible.


    ¡°If they can shorten the period, they¡¯ll get a special bonus. Wouldn¡¯t Danish workers be greedy if there was a prize?¡±


    -I think honor is more important than money for them, so it would be better for you toe and cheer them up.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if Princess Isabe or the Queen of Denmark visited them?¡±


    -Oh! You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t want to ask the Queen, so I¡¯ll have to ask Isabe. I¡¯ll have to rely on the workers¡¯ chivalry spirit.


    Youngho would restrict crude oil exports to China when the Pamir teau border issue was resolved.


    China, which would have no choice but to bring in more crude oil from the Middle East, would try to create more bases in the Indian Ocean.


    A sh with India, which was nervous about China¡¯s advance into the Indian Ocean, was almost inevitable.


    It was unlikely that there would be any immediate problems within this year, but considering the time it took for force integration and test operation, it should be hurried.


    The reason for the hurriedunch of the multi-purposending ship was not only because it could be equipped with attack helicopters but also with a 300-ton submarine built in the Royal Shipyard in the royal territory.


    Some might say what kind of power a small diesel submarine could exert, but if unlucky, even the Aegis destroyer, called the shield of God, could be sunk by a humble submarine.


    If a small diesel submarine appeared in the area where a multi-purposending ship was seen, the Chinese navy would be immensely pressured not knowing when and where a torpedo would fly in. Then the soldiers¡¯ fatigue would be extreme.


    ***


    Youngho, who finished talking to Szechenyi, called Zeynep to his office.


    These days, Zeynep was taking nursing lessons at the Royal College, not studying to act as a professional nurse, but learning medical fundamentals to operate her hospital ship efficiently.


    ¡°Did you call me?¡±


    ¡°I just spoke to Szeechenyi, and heined about the frequent design changes of the ship.¡±


    ¡°Dear! Why does hein about a few more amenities? He told you about it? He¡¯s such a little boy.¡±


    ¡°They finished up the interior, but because of your changes, it has to be torn apart again. It¡¯s costing me double.¡±


    ¡°I asked for a nurse¡¯s lounge in a ce with a good view from the start, but he got rid of it to install a goalkeeper or something. I would¡¯ve let it go if that was it, but what¡¯s the point of having bedrooms that can keep toon soldiers for days? I don¡¯t know why we have to arm a hospital ship.¡±


    Zeynep was pouring herint out like a shotgun.


    ¡°There should be a minimal defense system on the hospital ship. That¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m also thinking of deploying a frigate and a supply ship to escort the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my! The destroyer follows the hospital ship?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all because of you, so don¡¯t add a word.¡±


    Hearing that it was all arranged for her safety, the ends of Zeynep¡¯s mouth were raised. Her mood suddenly changed.


    ¡°Oh, my. How burdensome.¡±


    ¡°And the hospital ship will be traveling to the areas of conflict. Of course, you should have troops to guard the medical staff when you stay there. Nurses will love it if young soldiers work together with them on a hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... Most of the nurses are single, so I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t hate it.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s your nursing study going?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so much fun. I should have majored in it from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. I hope you stay on that path.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... What if I win the Nobel Peace Prize for this? Shall we go to Somalia as the first pilot project?¡±


    Youngho freaked out to hear the word Somalia.


    Pirates roamed the sea and thend was still a mess due to the civil war.


    ¡°That¡¯s never an option. Do you know what that ce is like? Somalia is the ce that the Doctors Without Borders gave up. If you¡¯re going to try it out, go to Madagascar Ind. Then I¡¯ll give you full support.¡±


    ¡°Really? I just randomly said Somalia. Hehe...¡±


    It seemed Youngho was caught in Zeynep¡¯s trick.


    Surprised by the word Somalia, he suggested Madagascar as an alternative, so now he should really send her there.


    There was a Seychelles archipgo just above Madagascar, so sending her there was not too much of a burden.


    ¡°Our naval base will be established in the Seychelles, so you can do the volunteer work with peace of mind.¡±


    ¡°I heard about it. Then I¡¯ll start the volunteer work from there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. The Seychelles government will love to hear about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m suddenly getting busy. The medical staff hasn¡¯t filled in yet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be forced to hire them from the outside. Look for applicants at the Royal General Hospital. We¡¯ll even have apetition if we give them navigation allowances and special work bonuses.¡±


    ¡°Should I? I¡¯ll have to ask the hospital director.¡±


    ***


    The crew of the multi-purposending ship was already on anding drill.


    In the midst of this, the troops were stirred up by the mention ofbat troops to board the hospital ship.


    The 20,000-ton hospital ship had up to 300 beds of hospital rooms, all kinds of amenities, plus an environment of more than 100 nurses.


    As most of the nurses were women, young soldiers were excited.


    Thepetition was bound to be fierce because only one toon had a chance.


    Cho Chul-hwan was shaking his head over a special squad to be sent to a hospital ship.


    ¡°Man, they are lining up to volunteer to board the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°They can take turns and get on board one toon at a time.¡±


    ¡°They have to be on board for at least six months to get used to the ship, so they¡¯reining that they will never get their turn.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they mistaking a hospital ship for a cruise ship?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing strange to think it¡¯s a cruise ship. It¡¯s like a flower bed.¡±


    ¡°Why are they making a fuss? There are so many pretty Kurdish girls in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re tired of daily training at the royal territory.¡±


    It was only natural that soldiers trained every day.


    However, the training intensity of the Royal Bodyguards was different.


    Recently, they were even undergoing parachute training, and they were being reborn as an asymmetrical force in name and reality.


    A great stir was brewing when Zeynep recruited nurses to work on the hospital ship


    If the soldiers were dreaming of ying in the flower bed, the unmarried nurses at the royal hospital were dreaming of traveling abroad.


    Dr. Kim Dong-sung jokinglyined, saying that the hospital¡¯s work was almost paralyzed.


    ¡°Princess Zeynep has made a fuss about getting on the hospital ship, and everyone wants to board it. I¡¯m afraid that they won¡¯t be able to focus on patients. We need to hurry up and close the recruitment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have made you worried. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s because of the high allowance.¡±


    ¡°They are already getting a good sry here. They support the idea of traveling abroad.¡±


    ¡°Did you tell them they¡¯d be going to hotter and more dangerous ces than here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still going abroad. When I said it¡¯s an ind on the continent of Africa, and it looks like they think it¡¯s safari.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°By the way, I¡¯m telling you this because I think you should know about it too, but there will be a conflict in the Indian Ocean soon. China and India are bound to bump into each other.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°We n to limit oil exports once the border issue in the Pamir teau is resolved. I¡¯m saving oil resources for future generations. That means China has to increase its imports of Middle East crude oil, and eventually, India and China will have to fight for supremacy in the Indian Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Then Madagascar and Seychelles must be in danger, too.¡±


    ¡°The Arabian Sea and the Maldives would be dangerous, and the rest of the waters will have minimal impact.¡±


    It was highly likely that the conflict would ur in the Gulf of Aden or the Arabian Sea as they were main routes for tankers.


    As China was also building a naval base in Pakistan, chances were low that it woulde to a distant ocean.


    This was because the U.S. Navy was lurking in the Indian Ocean.


    ¡°There¡¯s an Indian naval base on a Seychelle Ind, but it¡¯s not going to be affected?¡±


    ¡°Even if there werebat situations, it would happen at sea. So, it¡¯d be great if you could let the medical staff know about the situation in the Indian Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t think there will be any volunteers.¡±


    ¡°You should also let them know that we have a nuclear submarine. Unless they¡¯re out of their minds, there won¡¯t be any soldiers who will attack the hospital ship, and let them also know that there is also a frigate ship escorting the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°You mean a destroyer?¡±


    ¡°We can guarantee the safety of the hospital ship because we¡¯ve got enough force to defeat decent-sized enemies.¡±

 Chapter 684 - Negotiations in the Pamir (3)

    <strong>Chapter 684: Negotiations in the Pamir (3)</strong>


    The border issue of the Pamir teau, which had been repeatedly on a tug of war, was settled in a package ording to the original n Youngho had envisioned.


    The agreement was reached on the condition that the Pamir buffer zone of 1,100 square kilometers would be yielded to China, and that China would give up its stake in Tajikistan¡¯s facilities.


    The negotiation process was never smooth, but it relieved stress when the agreement was finally reached. There would be little less of a mental burden from now on because there would be no idental shes on the border.


    If there was a provocation, Kazakhstan could fight back with its full force, but Kazakhstan would suffer a huge economic damage if that happened as China still had much bigger army forces.


    That was why Youngho was growing the royal forces, an asymmetric force, to counter China¡¯s powerful regr forces.


    China was also very sensitive about the existence of the royal forces.


    When it was mentioned by Ambassador Murad, the Kazakh ambassador to China, who returned from negotiations, Youngho smiled.


    This was because he had a rough idea of what China¡¯s concerns were.


    ¡°The Chinese side expressed interest in the royal guards?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they already had a pretty good idea about the royal forces.¡±


    ¡°China has about 50,000 special forces, and we¡¯re nothingpared to that.¡±


    The number of special forces of the royal family was way smaller than that of China, but it was a very high number whenpared to the total size of regr soldiers.


    Of the two million Chinese troops, there were 50,000 special forces, but Kazakhstan had 15,000 royal special forces out of its 120,000 troops. In addition, there were 20,000 special forces in the Army. It was naturally a bothersome number to the Chinese military.


    ¡°I told them that the royal guards are mainly used as peacekeepers, and they were only half convinced.¡±


    ¡°That means asymmetric power is fearsome. It¡¯s a power that can instantly paralyze the city¡¯s functions if it¡¯s dropped to a city.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese side seems to be concerned about that, too. I think it¡¯s going to propose a trteral disarmament agreement with Russia soon.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Suggesting a disarmament consultation?¡±


    ¡°They are probably worried about long-range ballistic missiles and the royal forces.¡±


    ¡°Was that all?¡±


    ¡°They also mentioned that they would also adjust the quantity of nuclear weapons with Russia.¡±


    It was proof that China was in a great hurry.


    This revealed China¡¯s intention to hold a disarmament consultation.


    They must be suspecting that Russia had deployed nuclear weapons to Kazakhstan to check China¡¯s advance policy. They seem to expect that the disarmament consultation would lead to the withdrawal of nuclear weapons deployed in Kazakhstan, which was far off the mark.


    ¡°Your efforts have been great.¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. The intelligence service has already provided us with a tform, so it wasn¡¯t that difficult.¡±


    ¡°The Chinese side even gave you a nickname this time.¡±


    ¡°Because I have a loud voice... I hope I didn¡¯t harm the grace of the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry about that. Thanks to your brilliant performance, the negotiations went well. The Queen was also very happy to hear your performance. She said she is going to give us a big award.¡±


    Since Ambassador Murad was so stubborn, those who appeared on the negotiating table called him a hard head, but Youngho was very proud of Murad who boldly pushed China without budging an inch.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know what to say. I¡¯m very grateful.¡±


    ¡°You did an amazing job, but ambassador, you will have to work hard again.¡±


    Now that the border issue had been resolved, it was time to reduce raw material exports.


    ¡°Are you trying to reduce oil exports right now?¡±


    ¡°The quota system for export volume must be implemented. Do you think October is a good time to start?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be too early?¡±


    ¡°By then, we¡¯ll be all set.¡±


    New ships, from nuclear-powered submarines from Russia to a multipurposending ship from Denmark to frigates from Britain were getting ready to be brought in.


    The multi-purposending ship and frigates were nned to be deployed in the Indian Ocean to operate the task forces in two groups.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want our country to intervene in the Indian Ocean dispute as much as possible, but would that be possible?¡±


    ¡°We intend to refrain from aggressive intervention as much as possible, but if the U.S. intervenes, it¡¯s hard to fall back.¡±


    Murad¡¯s expression was very dark as the naval battle in the Indian Ocean was fully anticipated.


    If there was an armed conflict, the ambassadors of the parties should be called around.


    It would be encouraging if they were winning, but it would be frustrating if their troops were being beaten badly.


    ¡°Your Highness, our armed forces are not yet to overwhelm China. Do you have any intention of reconsidering the export quota system which will definitely have a butterfly effect?¡±


    ¡°We will lose our ce if we continue to be dragged away for fear of China. Do you think China will be satisfied no matter how much we give? That¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to confront it, even though it¡¯s a small force. If we fight back aggressively, it will definitely shake China. As I said before, Kazakhstan is not as weak as it used to be, so don¡¯t worry about anything and push the export quota.¡±


    ***


    After the meeting with Ambassador Murad, Youngho thought for a long time.


    No matter how hard he thought about it, it was right to restrict exports of crude oil and other resources.


    It was not his fault even if the butterfly effect blows blood and wind in the Indian Ocean. It was only a situation that would be triggered by China¡¯s endless desire for resources.


    After thinking for a while, he got up from his seat, sweeping down his face.


    If the problem was solved by pondering, he would wrap his head around it, but this was not a problem that would be solved by sitting on his desk contemting.


    The answer was always there. It was something that could be known only when faced with the situation.


    Long nights would only bring more dreams. Whenplicated by useless worries, drinking with friends could be the best way to cool down.


    When Youngho said that he had not drunk in a long time, it was not just Park Jong-il, but Kim Chun and Dr. Kim Dong-sung joined the gang too.


    There was a reason why Kim Dong-sung joined the drinking party.


    Kim Dong-sung, who hadined about getting too many medical volunteers for Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship, now wanted to board the hospital ship.


    The first reason was that he was free because he was away from the medical care line, and the second reason was that an experienced person should be in charge of the medical staff of the hospital ship in the beginning.


    Heined that the position of the head of the Royal Medical School was not suitable for him as it was only an honorary position. Since he was a surgeon, he wanted to work in the field.


    ¡°Dr. Kim. I know you¡¯ve been cutting back on your drinkstely. Are you starting over?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to get used to drinking again if I want to have a rough sea life. And now I¡¯ll be back in the front line as a surgeon, so I¡¯m going to have to go back to the old days. If you refuse to drink, you¡¯re not a surgeon.¡±


    ¡°At that age, life on board can be overwhelming. Why don¡¯t you stay here and foster the next generations of medical experts?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there are many great doctors who will teach juniors. I want to spend the rest of my life volunteering, so please allow me.¡±


    No amount of persuasion could have been made.


    He always had a serving heart for others, and that was what brought him to Kazakhstan. If it were not for his sense of service, he would not havee even if he was given a million dors.


    During the time of Arirang Autonomous State, Kim Dong-sung and his medical team were able to do medical service in remote viges of Kazakhstan, but as the hospital grew bigger and the number of outside customers continued to flock to the royal territory, he had to settle down.


    Now that medical schools and hospitals had been established, he intended to resume volunteer work.


    Youngho could not beat his stubbornness, so he made apromise.


    ¡°Let¡¯s say you only travel for a year or so. If you could just take care of it for a year, wouldn¡¯t the hospital line be in ce?¡±


    When Youngho yielded, Kim Dong-sung¡¯s face lit up.


    It was important that he received the consent because it was hard to get on the ship in the beginning, but once he was on board, he could increase his service period with excuses.


    However, there was no way Youngho could not read it from Kim Dong-sung¡¯s expression. So I drove a wedge in firmly.


    ¡°Only for a year. No more. Even the sailors who live on the sea find it hard to live on board. I can¡¯t yield any more for your health.¡±


    No matter how big a ship was, it was just a leaf in front of the waves of the Indian Ocean.


    It was hard even for young people to work under such waves. Of course, the ship would work at the harbor more, but it would be exhausting to live on-board for an extensive time.


    Youngho also had a short shipboard life during his naval life, but he was not able to withstand waves, so he decided to go to the special forces unit, UDT, instead of having to suffer the sea life.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you¡¯re sending the ship to Madagascar for volunteer work, why don¡¯t you build a small hospital there? It¡¯s a very underdeveloped ce, so they¡¯d be very happy to have a hospital.¡±


    Kim Chun suddenly asked to build a hospital in Madagascar, and everyone looked puzzled. It was because the hospital ship was being deployed in Madagascar for that very reason.


    ¡°The hospital ship is there only for a short period time to time, but I¡¯m saying this because the hospital can continue to take care of its residents. It¡¯s a very attractive country from our point of view since we are an ind country.¡±


    Madagascar was the fourthrgest ind in the world and itsndmass was twice the size of the Korean Penins. It was as deste and barren as Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Well, if Kazakhstan made its foray into Africa, it¡¯s in a position to be a great bridgehead.¡±


    ¡°Since this is the first volunteer area of a hospital ship, why don¡¯t we do a preliminary survey?¡±


    Thinking it was an opportunity, Park Jong-il also added to Kim Chun¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°Please leave it to our intelligence service. We¡¯ll send a team of investigators to find a port for the hospital ship to dock, and to look for areas to build a hospital. It¡¯s great since I thought wecked preparation before Princess Zeynep visited the area.¡±


    It was not a civil war zone or a ce where terrorists were prevalent, but for the safety of medical personnel, security conditions and regional atmosphere should be checked beforehand.


    Youngho readily agreed as he had already intended to have the investigation conducted in advance in worry of Zeynep.


    It was an opportunity to secure a bridgehead to advance into Africa.


    ¡°Let¡¯s send an investigation team because we need to coordinate with the Madagascar government in advance and understand the security situation. Please set up an investigation team under the guidance of the Intelligence Department.¡±

 Chapter 685 - New Settlers (1)

    <h4>Chapter 685: New Settlers (1)</h4>


    With Syria¡¯s civil war continuing for more than five years, the issue of Syrian refugees fleeing to survive was emerging as a global problem.


    Currently, about ten million of Syria¡¯s poption had left their homes and wandered around here and there in Syria¡¯s domestic and neighboring countries, of which four million had fled the country.


    But Turkey and other neighboring countries, unable to handle the pouring Syrian refugees, hade to seal the border, while the helpless Syrians were heading to Europe by boat, causing the European refugee crisis.


    Many Syrian refugees using ships died in subversion idents in the Mediterranean.


    Even if they were lucky enough to set foot in Europe, they had to wait for a country that would ept them in poor refugee camps for an indefinite period.


    Countless inds scattered in the Aegean Sea were also gued by refugees, with Arirang and Melthemi inds owned by the Kazakh royal family being no exception.


    Chief Lajos had a troubled look on his face today, guiding some 50 refugees who had arrived on the beach to the refugee camps in maind Greece.


    If there were Kurds among the refugees, they could be sent separately to the royal territory, but most of them were Syrians and were forced to be sent to refugee camps.


    However, they were not epted easily in maind Greece or Italy as they were reluctant to receive more refugees because they were already saturated.


    Since the inds were a naval base of the Kazakh royal family, it was inevitable to send them somewhere else for security purposes. Instead, the royal family provided them with plenty of relief supplies.


    Park Sung-won, a basemander on Arirang Ind who had been gued by refugee issues with Chief Lajos, was reporting the situation to Cho Chul-hwan, themander of the Royal Bodyguards.


    ¡°Sir, the number of refugees has already exceeded 400. The refugee camps on the maind of Greece are also saturated and they say it is difficult to ept refugees on our ind. And the Greek government is also saying since Arirang Ind is a Kazakh royal decree, it can¡¯t intervene with our affairs.¡±


    -There¡¯s no such aw. The inds are definitely in the Greek waters.


    ¡°The Greek government¡¯s argument makes sense because the ind is an extraterritorial region. I don¡¯t think it would be a problem to treat refugees who enter the inds with our own domesticw.¡±


    -The idea of applying our domesticw is to review domestic migration, but it¡¯s not an easy approach. It¡¯s not that 400 refugees are too much, but if we set a precedent, the Greek Coast Guard could continue to push them into our direction.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s the case, given the recent influx of refugees to our ind.¡±


    Greece was in a hard situation that it could not even solve its domestic economic problems on its own and it could not be bothered with the additional refugee issue.


    That was why the Greek coast guards were pushing refugeesing to their shores to nearby countries.


    -Syrian refugees aren¡¯t hard to ept because they are rted to the Syrian Kurds, but I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll keeping. They¡¯re the ones who came to our inds, so we¡¯ll have no choice but to ept them. I¡¯ll send a ferry after consulting with the Duke.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We seem to have failed to preemptively respond, and now it¡¯s be a bigger problem.¡±


    -Why are you sorry? The Syrian government is to me. There are cases where Syrians snuck into the royal territory during the Kurdish migration, so it doesn¡¯t matter. So if there are any refugee ships drifting nearby, rescue them and let them stay on our inds for now.


    ¡°I¡¯ll follow your instructions.¡±


    Upon hearing what themander of the Royal Bodyguards, Park Sung-won had a look of relief on his face. Whenever he saw a refugee ship floating dangerously in front of Arirang Ind, he wanted to run and rescue it right away.


    Many times, the refugees were sitting on the roof of the steering room after exceeding the ships¡¯ capacity, and he had to listen to their sound of fear when the ship was inclined toward one side as if it was about to tip over in a small wave. He used to watch them until they were about to sink and run to save them.


    Now that themander said he could save as many refugees as he could, he felt a lot better.


    ***


    Youngho was talking to Chul-hwan after he reported on the refugee issue on the royal inds.


    ¡°Most of the refugees¡¯ desired destination must be Europe. Will they want toe to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°They will be just grateful to have somewhere that will ept them since they just fled Syria in fear of getting killed.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to bring the refugees from Arirang and Meltemi Inds to the royal territory. It looks like the Kurds are also weing the Syrians to move.¡±


    The Syrian Kurds and Syrians once lived in Syria as their homnd, so they had no resistance to each other. They shared the same culture and officialnguage, French, so there was no sense of difference.


    The Syrian refugees seemed to be secretly weing the Syrians to their new home.


    They wanted to show off their well-fed and well-off life in Kazakhstan.


    When they lived in Syria, they were treated as a minority, but since they moved to Kazakhstan, they had been recognized as precious. It was because of the influence of Princess Jelyan, who was also a Kurd.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a rumor, everyone will want toe to Kazakhstan...¡±


    ¡°The European countries have no intention of epting refugees anyway. We will ept them and let those countries pay for the migration.¡±


    As epting refugees would solve chronic poption shortages and increase the number of economically active people, so this was also a benefit for Kazakhstan.


    ¡°We need to build another factory then.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care how many light industry nts there are if we can drive out Chinese goods. Because it isbor-intensive, it will create a lot of jobs. It¡¯s another opportunity for Central Asia to stand on its own feet.¡±


    ¡°How much are you willing to ept?¡±


    ¡°If any of the refugees scattered all over Europe areing here, let¡¯s ept them all. Instead, countries that send refugees from their own countries will have to pay a certain amount of money.¡±


    Western European countries, gued by refugee problems, would certainly wee the Kazakh proposal with open arms to get rid of the social anxiety factor even if they had to pay to move the refugees in their countries.


    ¡°I hope they don¡¯t use us of doing business with the refugees.¡±


    ¡°Just spread the rumor. Ambassadors from each country will flock to the royal territory right away.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s, in fact, the best time for migration. We have plenty of time until winter.¡±


    ¡°We are the ones who have settled more than a million Kurds. We already have group residential areas, so all we need to do is to build a factory.¡±


    ¡°First of all, I think we should go to Greece. Most of the refugees flocked toward Greece, so the Greek government is greatly suffering.¡±


    ¡°Since the economic situation is difficult, Greece won¡¯t be able to give us cash. I should ask them to pay it with an ind.¡±


    ¡°Is there a good ind near Arirang Ind?¡±


    Since the royal family had established a good rtionship with the Greek government, the deal would be epted without any resistance.


    The countries that would pay the most would by far be Germany, France, and Britain because these countries were on the verge of splitting public opinion over the refugee issues.


    First of all, they had security issues caused by refugees.


    The refugees from underdeveloped countries were not ustomed to the advanced order, and their disorder often adversely affected the whole society.


    Especially since the refugees were from Syria where there was a continuous civil war and terrorism, many were used to general crimes.


    The next problem was the work.


    With the exception of Germany, economies in Europe were in dire straits, and people were bing increasingly dissatisfied with the idea that low-paid refugees were taking away their existing jobs.


    If they had not epted refugees, this would not have happened. So voters who believed the politicians were raising social unrest due to a political error were even campaigning for their removal from power.


    Governments threatened by public opinions hade to dere that they would no longer ept refugees.


    Lastly, social expenses such as education, health, and housing issues were soaring.


    When Kazakhstan said it intended to ept refugees to Europe, which had been having such problems, diplomats from various countries flooded the country with inquiries as predicted.


    Meanwhile, European countries advertised Kazakhstan as if it was legendary El Dorado to the Syrian refugees. It was not too much to say that, given the fact that the Kurds who settled in the royal territory lived happily.


    Europe was also well aware of how much effort Kazakhstan made to stabilize the Kurds.


    This was because Europe also provided some of the funds for the Kurdish settlement.


    For that reason, European countries encouraged refugee¡¯s migration to Kazakhstan, advertising that it had plenty of untappednds, new towns, and jobs.

 Chapter 686 - New Settlers (2)

    <h4>Chapter 686: New Settlers (2)</h4>


    ¡°Germany has epted 500,000 refugees from around the world, and 300,000 have applied to go to Germany this year alone. There were only a few hundred thousand people who applied for Britain and France. That¡¯s why the German government has drawn a line and said no more than 50,000 refugees.¡±


    ¡°Only Germany has been suffering in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister Merkel has been taking the lead in refugee issues, but he had no choice but to give up due to the opposition party¡¯s aggressive resistance. So, other European countries will now have to share the refugees, but Britain has already dered to leave the European Union, so the rest of the European countries are in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Then we should not deal with the European Union, but negotiate with individual countries to see how much they can pay.¡±


    ¡°Right. I think we need to meet the needs of individual countries to make it easier for us to get support from the European Union.¡±


    Youngho, who was looking at the data brought by Suh Min-seok, reached the final conclusion.


    ¡°Okay. Find out how much each individual country can pay, and then see if we can get EU-level assistance.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s a little problem. If we force the already settled refugees to move to our country, it could lead to a systematic protest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what each country has to deal with. And when they get here, they¡¯ll realize quickly that it¡¯s better than Europe.¡±


    Syrian refugees who had settled in Europe had been treated like a nuisance.


    Having no jobs avable for them, they were also socially ssified as a temporary criminal group. Even if they settled down in a stable manner, they knew that it was almost impossible to enter a mainstream society.


    As Kazakhstan had no such high social barrier, Youngho thought that they would easily be attached to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Distribute promotional materials for Kazakhstan and the royal family to every European country. If necessary, we can advertise on TV, too. That way, the refugees will be stirred and the Europeans will press the government to relocate the refugees to Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The cost of getting on European television is very high. Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll recover our spendings soon. Each country will pay us at least two to three billion dors easily.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s another problem. If we say we would only selectively ept Syrian refugees, there will be another opposition.¡±


    ¡°The ce in the Middle East that pumps the most refugees is Syria. They should be thankful if we ept them since they¡¯re exceeding 100,000 people already. What are they going to do if we don¡¯t want refugees?¡±


    Large numbers of refugees from a single country were also a social destabilizing factor, so countries were avoiding them, which was the case with Syrian refugees. It was out of control because it exceeded the proper size.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Syrian refugees show anti-social tendencies like other state refugees?¡±


    ¡°You are thinking too much. They didn¡¯t leave Syria for religious oppression or political reasons, but because they escaped for fear of war and death, they are the ones who will adapt the fastest when life stabilizes. Besides, many Kazakh people are Muslims. The Syrian refugees won¡¯t have any hindrance to be part of our society unlike in Europe.¡±


    ***


    The French government had been mostly active in sending the Syrian refugees to Kazakhstan. It said it would pay 10,000 euros to the refugees for their settlement.


    It was only a couple of months¡¯ living expenses in European standards, but for refugees, it was a lot of money. If 10,000 people applied, the French government would lose as much as a hundred million euros, but it was not such a waste for France because it was the only way to reduce refugees.


    It was a great temptation for refugees who were short of money, and to many of them, Kazakhstan was also an appealing ce because life in Europe was too hard.


    In particr, Syrians who moved to France on the grounds that they could speak thenguage were unable to endure the coldness of the locals.


    No matter how much the world had changed, ethnic chauvinism once swayed Africa and the Middle East remained everywhere even though their ancestors¡¯ past wrongdoings were part of the reason that made many Africans and Middle Eastern people current refugees.


    Thus, many refugees would rather leave France than living in such humiliation every day.


    ¡°Germany said it would provide 2 billion euros and France announced it would provide 500 million euros to us.¡±


    France reduced the amount provided to the Kazakh government on the grounds that it would pay 10,000 euros to each refugee.


    ¡°Is there no word from Ennd, Belgium, Italy, etc yet?¡±


    ¡°The rest of the world is about to announce the amount of aid.¡±


    If only Syrian refugees were dealt with, they could calm the worsening public opinion in their countries. This was the proof that there were so many Syrian refugees in Europe.


    ¡°They seem to be ying a mind game.¡±


    ¡°Most European countries, except Germany, are not very well off. No wonder they¡¯re trying to pay less money.¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t want to pay then we should let them do it on credit.¡±


    ¡°How can we call it a credit when it¡¯s a free loan? If we do that for no reason, we may be mistaken that our royal family only seeks money.¡±


    Suh Min-seok blushed and looked at Youngho as if he was suggesting a ridiculous condition. It would be embarrassing in a way to be seen as doing business against Europe, which had epted refugees on humanitarian grounds.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to keep their debt that way. Even if they can¡¯t keep their promise, we¡¯ll bring their daily necessities.¡±


    It was a bit far-fetched, but Youngho could not just let them go free of charge just because their economic situation was not good.


    ¡°The refugees may misunderstand that our royal family made their move a business.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re being treated in Europe and they won¡¯t have such a leisurely idea. Where does all that money go anyway? It¡¯ll be used for their settlement. Don¡¯t worry about useless things and notify the countries again. Tell them toe up with the number of refugees to be sent to Kazakhstan within 15 days.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Britain, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Sweden also promised special loans based on the number of refugees.


    The aid totaled four billion euros, which was more than expected, so the Kazakh government was having a hard time maintaining its poker face.


    It was the amount of money European countries promised forcibly since they would have no choice if Kazakhstan changed its mind.


    Either way, the number of Syrian refugees who were to move to Kazakhstan from Europe reached 210,000.


    The total number of Syrian refugees that entered Europe was approaching 300,000, and two-thirds of them wereing to Kazakhstan.


    There were not as many Syrian refugees in Europe as Youngho initially thought.


    This was because Greece, which was the gateway to Europe, had effectively blocked Syrian refugees from entering Europe, so there had not been much inflow.


    In fact, Lebanon, a neighboring country, was the one that received the most Syrian refugees as it had epted 720,000 people to stay in refugee camps.


    It was an uneptable number for Lebanon¡¯s economic situation, but this result was due to the failure to control the flood of refugees in the early stages. It had been able to sustain the high number of refugees only because of the aid from U.N. human rights groups.


    Likewise, there were 460,000 people in Turkey, 510,000 in Jordan and some 100,000 in Egypt and Iraq, respectively.


    The Syrians who crossed over to neighboring countries were determined to return to their home as soon as the civil war was over, so they did not leave for Europe or North America.


    The first country to send Syrian refugees was France, which even promised individual settlements.


    Immediately under mounting public pressure, the refugees were rushed to Kazakhstan, using ships to pass through the ck Sea and even chartered nes.


    The Syrian refugees who flew in on chartered flights were those who had settled in Paris and had been working closely with the Parisian citizens and tourists. They were mainly engaged in 3D industries shunned by Parisians, such as doing chores at hotels and cleaning the cities and restaurants.


    Syrian refugees whonded on the temporary runway of the royal territory¡¯s International Airport, where finishing work was underway, were surprised several times.


    The Syrians, who left the temporary immigration office, were surprised by the scorching hot weather, which felt like it would burn their skin, and were surprised at the mountainless great ins.


    When would they ever have seen such a in in Syria?


    ¡°What is the reaction of people who entered the temporary camps?¡±


    ¡°They were quite surprised. They couldn¡¯t believe the temporary camps were built as assembly buildings, not tents.¡±


    ording to Kim Chun who observed the new Syrian refugees, they were very satisfied with the perfect temporary camps because they lived in tents even when they first arrived in France. Besides, they were amazed by the fact that the Kurds who had formerly migrated to the royal territory had already built houses and settled in less than a few years after they left Syria.


    When they lived in Syria, they lived in small, shabby apartments, but now they had a four- or five-room detached houses. Besides, the Kurds¡¯ bright faces gave them hope of life in Kazakhstan.


    That was how life in Kazakhstan began, beginning with surprise and envy. It was not the Kazakhstan they knew.

 Chapter 687 - New Settlers (3)

    <h4>Chapter 687: New Settlers (3)</h4>


    When Syrian refugees entered the royal territory, the Kurds, who had already settled down, began to step up and take care of them voluntarily. It was because they used to be in a situation, and their sympathy was aroused.


    The Kurds, who took root in the royal territory, were mostly living a stable life, and some owned a decent restaurant or store.


    Syrians who emigrated from France were rxed because they received a grant from the French government.


    Having received as much as 50,000 euros based on the five-member family, each family could build a temporary home, but as soon as they saw the temporary camp, they realized that they did not have to build a temporary sloppy house.


    They did not know that the temporary camp was not a tent but an assembly building and that it was also equipped with various amenities and temporary schools.


    In addition, the administration of the royal territory promised to provide housing for migrant families soon.


    As housing andnd costs would be given under an exceptional condition of interest-free long-term repayment, they were inevitably surprised.


    It really felt like they were in the legendary Eldorado, as the French government advertised.


    Gaby Masho, a Syrian girl from Hama who spent five years as a building cleaner in France, persuaded his parents and brothers to go to Kazakhstan this time and was very confused when she arrived at the royal territory.


    It was because she could not help but wonder how the Kazakh royal family¡¯s financial resources could create a better temporary camp than France, the front-runner among advanced countries, and even provide homes and jobs for the refugees.


    She initially thought that the royal family was going to exploit her people eventually.


    But after spending a few days in the temporary camp, she immediately found out that all those ideas were wrong.


    Gaby used to dream of making a great airne her own by majoring in mechanical engineering.


    Such a dream disappeared in a moment due to civil war.


    As the civil war grew into a proxy war for big powers, her parents quickly escaped from the country, judging that Syria was no longer hopeful, and was able to settle in France before others.


    But life in France was also not hopeful but gloomy.


    Even if she wanted to go to college, no opportunity came for her.


    After her parents got into a car ident, she had to take their ce and work as a building cleaner.


    Gaby, who dreamed of bing a mechanical engineer as a teenager, was struggling to make ends meet, let alone n for the future before she became a 22-year-old.


    Then one day, she heard the good news.


    The opportunity came to her, who spent five years in Paris.


    Not only did Gaby get a chance, but her whole family also.


    When she heard the French government¡¯s announcement to give 10,000 euros per refugee if they moved to Kazakhstan, she decided to leave France so that her younger siblings could go to school and have a better life than her.


    The 50,000 euros paid by the French government to Gaby¡¯s family was the family¡¯sst hope.


    After spending a few days in a ce called the Arirang royal territory in Kazakhstan, she had the hope that she could materialize the dream.


    Within a few days after she moved, her younger siblings were able to go to school.


    If they just studied hard, they could go to the Royal Medical School or the Royal College, and they could even enter the specialized school, as well as bing an engineer after graduation.


    When the younger siblings¡¯ schooling issue was resolved, Gaby was also contemting whether to join the Royal Bodyguards like young Kurdish men.


    She had already passed the age of going to college, but she did not have to worry about her family¡¯s livelihood if she became a member of the Royal Bodyguards.


    ***


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t know how to thank you for epting my family. I¡¯m Ranim Muhammad. I was a freshman at the University of Aleppo before I left Syria.


    I chose architecture for my major because I wanted to create a simple world instead of theplex reality that we live in. I had this big dream, but the world had a bigger challenge for me.


    I was an honor student in my first semester of college. Before the war in my hometown of Aleppo, I was a very passionate and decisive person. I can¡¯t forget what I felt just before the war on Aleppo broke out.


    The day when the war began was just like any other day. I stayed up all night preparing for an exam and my brother drove me to school. I did well on the test. And at 1:00 p.m., I had the biggest shock of my life as the school was attacked by someone. I can never forget the screams of people running to survive.


    I survived that day. But something in me didn¡¯t survive. The me in my heart that I always thought I lived with had disappeared.


    When I saw the list of casualties in Aleppo, I thought, ¡®My name will be on the list next time.¡¯ It felt like I was in aa.


    Imagine an 18-year-old girl is feeling this way instead of being filled with dreams, hopes, precious friends, expectations, and excitement.


    It¡¯s my father who gave me strength. My father told me not to worry. His words had always given me strength. Music also gave me a lot of strength. Whenever I felt trapped, I held my guitar in my hand. Guitar became my best friend, and it was the only way I could stand in this dark world, but even this had to be put down soon.


    One night. Dad woke us all up and shouted, ¡®We have to go now.¡¯ It was the first time I had ever felt such a deep fear in my father¡¯s voice. A violent war hit the city, and we had to leave the house behind.


    I felt like I was having a nightmare, but it wasn¡¯t a nightmare, it was a reality. When I left, I found my guitar and my father said I couldn¡¯t take it. I left my best friend, the guitar, behind, carrying my clothes on my back. I remember getting in the car and looking back at the house for thest time.


    For two years, we moved from ce to ce aimlessly, and I always wondered if I could see my friends again or touch my guitar again.


    Thest ce we settled in was Paris, France, where we spoke the samenguage, but there was nothing we could do. There was no future, and because of the problem of making ends meet, my parents and big brother had to work from dawn tote at night leaving my younger siblings and I home.


    One day, a man I met on the street rmended me to be a model, but actually, it was not modeling, it was prostitution against tourists. I was going to do it in spite of my parents¡¯ and brother¡¯s opposition. At that time, the French government suggested moving to Kazakhstan, so I was able toe here.


    We were worried that another harsh refugee life was waiting for us, but contrary to our concerns, we found that the royal territory was a very kind ce and a good ce to live. I was able toe here and y the guitar again, and I was able to meet my scattered rtives and friends again.


    I think it all stems from the warm hearts of Her Majesty and the Duke, who have pitied the Syrians. Kazakhstan is now our second home.


    When I finish studyingter, I want to be a small help for the Kazakh royal family and Kazakhstan. I learned ¡®humanitarian love¡¯ after watching people dying in misery and realizing the dignity of life while helping each other.


    Please understand that my writing has be a rambling one since I haven¡¯t written in a long time. If I get the chance, I¡¯d like to study at the Royal College...¡±


    The letter continued after that, but Jelyan could not read anymore.


    She, who was reading the letter, was already in tears and could not keep reading.


    It was a in letter, but it was a story that one could not hear without tears.


    Fatima, Zeynep, and Rena, who were listening to the story together, were all in tears.


    A Syrian refugee girl who recently emigrated from France sent a handwritten letter to Youngho, so he asked Jelyan to read it in the evening, which stimted everyone¡¯s tear nds.


    Many young Syrians, who spent more than seven years in Syria¡¯s civil war since 2011, were growing up oveing the pain of losing their families and friends and holding themselves together.


    ¡°Dad, I really want to meet this girl named Ranim. I think she¡¯s a very courageous person.¡±


    ¡°There are many people like her. They¡¯ve made it through difficult times.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask the Kurds to be more active in helping the new Syrian people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, no Kurds would dare disobey you. If there¡¯s anything you can do for the Syrians, I¡¯ll support you. I¡¯m so proud of them for thinking of this ce as your second home, regardless of nationality and religion.¡±


    ¡°If Dad hadn¡¯t saved me from the Iraqi refugee camp, I would have gone through all sorts of hardships like them. After reading this letter, I can see how lucky I was.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Dad and you were already connected by the thread of fate. If it weren¡¯t there, we would¡¯ve met somewhere else anyway. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    Jelyan was crying again, so Youngho quickly gestured to Fatima for help.


    ¡°Of course, she¡¯s been with us since our previous life. Jelyan, you are the pride of our royal family. Your dad and I would have found you no matter where you were.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m always thankful for you, but if we had met earlier, my brother wouldn¡¯t have died...¡±


    She sobbed as she was recalling her painful memories after reading the letter.


    For Jelyan, the escape route from Syria to Iraq remained an indelible pain.


    After barely appeasing her, Youngho promised to leave the work of helping Syrian refugees to Jelyan.


    To erase painful memories, the only cure was to confront Syrians and understand each other¡¯s pain.


    ¡°Jelyan, can you treat Kurds and Syrians alike?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they used to speak the same Frenchnguage, and both people are from Syria.¡±


    ¡°This time, we received a lot of funds from Europe. It is going to be used to settle down the Syrians, so try to get a good look at what they need and help them settle down here quickly.¡±


    ¡°Dad, I¡¯m going to be absent from school for a while, and you have to understand that.¡±


    It was fortunate that Jelyan was showing desire.


    If she recalled her painful memories because of Syrian migrants and was affected by them, Youngho would be distressed.


    To heal Jelyans sore wounds, the Syrians must also settle down quickly.


    If they failed to settle down, the way to heal her pain would nevere to rest.


    In order to help the refugees to be assimted into Kazakhstan¡¯s life, they needed a sense of pride that they were needed in themunity.


    Fortunately, the presence of a Kurdish Syrian princess in the Kazakh royal family would also help the Syrians settle down, but another way was for them to join the Royal Bodyguards. Having a sense of duty installed in their mindset would speed their settlement process.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you encourage young people who dropped out of colleges in Syria to join the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    There were many young people who were well over the age of being admitted to college due to their long refugee life. For many of them, joining the military was a more preferable option than working in the factory.


    ¡°Is it okay for women to join the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°If people want to join, of course.¡±

 Chapter 688 - New Settlers (4)

    <h4>Chapter 688: New Settlers (4)</h4>


    Kazakhstan had been at the center of the news these days among Europeans.


    Although Kazakhstan was already well known, this time it attracted people¡¯s attention by offering to receive Syrian refugees from European countries, which made up to 210,000 refugees.


    Some people were worried that Kazakhstan would divert money collected to be used for refugees to other ces since Kazakhstan had no reason for epting 210,000 uneducated refugees, which only caused problems to many European countries.


    But the Europeans did not know how hard Kazakhstan was trying to increase its poption. In the past, each family used to have more children, but now they were satisfied with one or two children only. The age of nomadic people, whose children used to be considered their property, had passed.


    And theck of people to work for the overflow of jobs yed a part, too.


    In order to drive out Chinese products, light industrial parks were being built everywhere, including the Arirang royal territory.


    Decent jobs in Kazakhstan¡¯s economic standards were waiting for the refugees. Kazakhstan, in general, had low prices, so people¡¯s living cost was a fifth of Europe¡¯s living cost.


    ¡°Young people in Syria want to join the Royal Bodyguards rather than get a job at a factory.¡±


    ¡°How many applicants do you have now, Commissioner Kim?¡±


    ¡°There are more than 1,000 young people out of 20,000 refugees, who want to join the guards. It¡¯s gotten quite popr among young women also.¡±


    Since the mandatory service period was three years, young people were dreaming of making a decent amount of money after their enlistment. They also wanted to protect their families and rtives as they were regretful that they could not have done so back in Syria.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because they have a grudge. Just ept them. We need more troops anyway. If people have royal bodyguards in their families, they¡¯ll have more affection for Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame. The fact that young people have to give up their dreams and hold up their guns.¡±


    ¡°We have to make sure that they don¡¯t stop pursuing their dreams. I¡¯d like to provide education to military personnel and allow them to study whatever they want to study. They¡¯ll soon realize it was a good decision to have chosen Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Now that they belong to the Kingdom of Kazakhstan, I hope everything goes well with them. I will also do my best to help the Syrians settle down quickly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to leave you with such a troublesome task every time.¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. As the poption grows more and more, I feel very energized. Compared to the early days of my county, I want to dance now.¡±


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t met you, would this ce have changed like this? I¡¯m always grateful to you for enduring the difficulties.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, that¡¯s not true. All this was possible because you generously gave to our people. Your colleagues also suffered a lot.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always sorry for my friends. Would they not be greedy, but they would not spare themselves for Kazakhstan¡¯s future...¡±


    Although Youngho¡¯s friends, Park Jong-il, Cho Chul-hwan, Cha In-soo, and Um Sang-taek, came to Europe thanks to Youngho when they were not making much money in Korea, he could not have been there without his friends backing him up, and they had far exceeded Youngho¡¯s expectations, not to mention the fact that they neverined despite the intensity of their responsibility and work.


    Of course, they trusted each other, but no man was free from greed.


    It might not be known how long the rtionship wouldst without any conflicts, but Youngho thought he needed toe forward and talk about it at least once. This was because smallints would lead to great conflicts if piled up.


    ***


    When the migration of Syrians living in Europe began, the regime under Prime Minister Kasim also brought in support measures.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you want to amodate all 210,000 refugees, why don¡¯t you spend a government budget too? I doubt that four billion euros in aid will be sufficient.¡±


    ¡°We cannot reduce the benefits that will go to the existing residents to help the refugees, and the aid is enough if we don¡¯t use it anywhere else.¡±


    In fact, four billion euros in settlement aid was a huge amount for Kazakhstan¡¯s economy.


    ¡°It¡¯s all about the future of Kazakhstan. The people know why we are epting refugees. We¡¯ll not be too narrow about helping refugees. We¡¯re looking forward to it because we saw a two percent increase in economic growth by epting Kurds in the past.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anyints about the decision being too arbitrary in the royal family?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be weird to haveints. Who wouldin when our national power grows with the poption growth?¡±


    ¡°Hearing that from you is very encouraging, Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we, Kazakhstan, are home to more than 130 ethnic groups. We have lived together and will continue to coexist. The arrival of one or two more people will not shake the country.¡±


    1.3 million Kurds and 210,000 Syrians were by no means a small number, and there could be more Syrian refugeesing in in the future.


    Because of the Kazakh people¡¯s unique affinity with nomads, they were able to be together without discord even though they epted numerous ethnic groups.


    ¡°Syrian young people are in fiercepetition to join the Royal Bodyguards. Do you think there will beints from the military? Since you used to serve the military, please speak candidly from the military¡¯s perspective.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so idle when two million Chinese troops are waiting for you? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s enough to ask the whole nation to be militarized.¡±


    Although the Royal Bodyguards were within the control of each military, no military leaders dared to defy the royal decisions. However, if the authority ofmand and control were not properly exercised,ints were bound to arise.


    ¡°So, how about we have a joint training session with the regr forces and the royal forces to quell any possibleints?¡±


    ¡°The military must be very happy to hear it. The joint exercise will also bring together the two groups.¡±


    ¡°Then I will instruct the captain of the Royal Bodyguards to arrange the joint training. By the way, how many times a year should we have the joint exercise for it to work?¡±


    ¡°To match soldiers hands and feet, we need to train quarterly to maximize their power. When I was a militarymander, I had several joint operations with the Russian military, and it didn¡¯t work very well with one joint exercise a year.¡±


    ¡°I should have discussed it with you earlier, but I missed the timing because I was only trying to increase the number of troops.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s not toote. Whether it¡¯s the Royal Bodyguards or the regr forces, they¡¯re all going to move like one body in no time, because they all have a goal of protecting Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡±


    ***


    Dr. Park Young-sun had returned after exploring a gold mine in northern Pamir teau, Tajikistan.


    The Kazakh royal family paid off the Tajik government¡¯s debts owed to China, and the Tajik government offered a gold mine in the northern part of Pamir teau in exchange.


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Doctor Park.¡±


    ¡°It was so cool there that I didn¡¯t want to return to Kazakhstan. I think I¡¯ll have to spend my next summer there.¡±


    Park Young-sun¡¯s mention of going back there meant that he found something.


    ¡°Looking at your expression, you must have had good results.¡±


    ¡°If I had any good news, I¡¯d let you know right away by satellite phone. I found a broken vein of gold, but it wasn¡¯t enough, and the waste mines were at risk of copse, so they couldn¡¯t be explored. However, the existing mines that are being drilled will have enough reserves to recover the royal family¡¯s spending.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I can¡¯t be content with that. The gold buried in Central Asia is beyond our imagination or how could there be a golden statue in the museum from the past? I¡¯m sure we will find something great if we can restore the waste mines because they had been mined for over a thousand years. I don¡¯t know how the old people knew there was gold there, but don¡¯t be too disappointed because I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a huge vein of gold waiting for us somewhere.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to good news since you are so sure.¡±


    ¡°You can look forward to it. Even if we¡¯re going to dig a few hundred meters underground, we¡¯ll find it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it. I don¡¯t want you to stress over it andpromise your health. Stay healthy until we dig out all the gold in Central Asia.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to live another hundred years to fulfill your requirements.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be more grateful if you did. Please stay alive for all the generations of Leon¡¯s sons so the gold supply won¡¯t dry up. I¡¯ll take care of your health, so you can live a long life.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m old enough to see a grandchild, and you want me to work my whole life?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even dream about retiring early. Besides, your daughter, Seo-young, is also trying to get on the hospital ship as a nurse. I think you won¡¯t have to worry about having a grandchild for a while.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I¡¯ll have to tell the princess to take responsibility for this.¡±


    Park Seo-young, the daughter of Park Young-sun, went to Goethe University in Germany with Zeynep before and joined the Royal College of Medicine to study nursing.


    She followed Zeynep, saying the thread should go where the needle goes.


    ¡°You still have a long way to go before bing a grandfather, so why don¡¯t you focus on finding gold with me for now?¡±

 Chapter 689 - Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (1)

    <h4>Chapter 689: Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (1)</h4>


    Youngho¡¯s second child was born on thest Wednesday of August, whenst-minute heat was in full swing and wheat harvest was just beginning.


    As expected, it was a princess.


    The princess was named ¡®Ljubica¡¯ after Princess Ljubica, who was the wife of Milos Obrenovic, the Serbian Archduke.


    The family did so because it was Serbian Kingdom¡¯s tradition to name princesses after famous female ancestors.


    When Ljubica was born, Syrian refugees also recognized her as their princess. They mimicked the Kurds who recognized Jelyan as their princess.


    Their reason was that Princess Ljubica was born at the time they moved to the royal territory. It was a bit far-fetched, but it was a point where the desperation of the Syrians was revealed.


    Although they found rest after wandering from here and there, they must have wanted to lean on the newborn princess as they lived in a strange ce. They were determined to live a stable life and end their weary life as refugees.


    When Ljubica was born, the whole country was in a festive mood.


    The people rejoiced over the royal birth as if it were their own.


    The people were happy because the number of heirs to the throne had increased by one more stabilizing the royal family.


    After Kazakhstan became a constitutional monarchy, the whole country and individual lives changed, and people did not want to live in the same political system and undemocratic world as before.


    They believe that the stability of the royal family was their happiness.


    When Ljubica was born, so many congrattory gifts were sent to the royal pce to the point that there was no more room.


    There were various kinds of gifts, and some nomads near Shymkent sent live goats as gifts and made everyoneugh.


    Youngho, who had spent happy days answering congrattory phone calls from various parts of the country after the princess was born, now returned to his daily life.


    Today, Kim Chun and Youngho were at the docks of Arirang Wharf to greet new refugees.


    The number of refugees increased dramatically in August, making the administration busy.


    Kim Chun was also busy taking care of Syrian refugees as well as the royal celebration, and his fatigue was visible on his face.


    ¡°Commissioner, take it easy. You¡¯ll get sick.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should. I must have been born with a blessing of work. We just need to be busy this year, so I¡¯ll try my best to stay focused.¡±


    ¡°Please hold on for a little while. I¡¯ll give you a good break at the end of the year. I heard a lot of people came in August.¡±


    ¡°There have been 70,000 refugees so far. Over 40,000 people came in during the month of August.¡±


    ¡°The European countries are working hard.¡±


    ¡°I think they are going to finish the migration before winteres.¡±


    When it got cold, there was more to be supplied to refugees, and the European countries were trying their best to avoid such a situation.


    ¡°I hear the refugeesing from Greece have increased now.¡±


    ¡°The Turkish and Jordan governments have closed their borders, and many of them are using ships to flock toward Greece. We might end up getting more refugees than we expected.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help it. We told the Greek government that we would ept them unconditionally.¡±


    Since the Kazakh royal family had agreed with the Greek government to receive a Greek ind on the condition that it would ept Syrian refugees in Greece unconditionally. It was because Greece was in no condition to pay for refugee¡¯s settlement in an economic crisis.


    The ind to be received this time was an ind east of Crete past the Aegean Sea, which had now been turned into an uninhabited ind because Greece¡¯s administrative power was not within its reach.


    Kasos Ind, with the size of the Meltemi Ind, was close to the Suez Canal, so it would make a perfect spot for the intermediate stop.


    It was only about 750 kilometers from the ind to the portside of the Suez Canal, which was a good location to pass the Red Sea and approach the Arabian Sea.


    Youngho nned to use the Meltemi Ind, which was attached to Arirang Ind, only as a ship repair station and an armory, and the Kasos Ind as a forward base.


    Because the ind¡¯s location where the power in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean power could easily bebined in the case of emergency, Youngho had pointed out the remote ind that the Greek government did not even care for.


    It would also serve the purpose of disguising the inds of Meltemi and Arirang as normal inds. It was also a bit risky for naval ships toe and go in the inds where tourist-carrying cruise ships and fishing boats frequently passed by.


    He also did not want to provoke the Greek and Turkish navies.


    ***


    A strange scene came into the eyes of Park Sung-won, the head of Arirang Ind¡¯s base, who was touring Kasos Ind bought by the Greek government with a small missile ship.


    The Greek and Turkish coast guard vessels were fighting a war of nerves.


    It was a serious situation facing an imminent fire.


    Near the coast guard vessels, two old fishing boats were swaying around in the waves, full of people who appeared to be refugees.


    He could tell what the situation was at a nce.


    The two countries¡¯ coast guard vessels were pushing the refugees¡¯ boats into the other¡¯s waters to prevent them from entering their waters.


    He wanted to intervene, but it would provoke a bigger problem if he did as the Kazakh navy was only a third party in this fight.


    The waves caused by the high-speed maneuvers of the two countries¡¯ coast guard ships were likely to tip over the small boats at any moment.


    The confrontation would have been over if it had been a power that leaned heavily on either side, but both sides had no concessions, as they were of an equal size of 1,000 tons.


    On the one hand, both sides seemed to mistake that the Kazakh Royal Navy would stand on their side as it was nearby. It was because Kazakhstan was ally to both Greece and Turkey.


    ¡°Base Commander, I think we¡¯ll have to get out of here to end the situation. They seem to think we¡¯re going to help them.¡±


    Captain Yeom Dong-chan, the captain of the ship suggested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think either side will take care of the refugees if we leave...¡±


    Although the basemander, a lieutenantmander, was superior and had a high rank, he could not force the captain since he could judge everything and issue orders on his warship.


    ¡°They are strongly misunderstanding that we will side with them. I feel like we¡¯re going to make it worse if we stay around.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we step back toward Greek waters for now? If we get out of here, they¡¯ll go their separate ways.¡±


    When they had just turned around to leave, they spotted old fishing boats filled with refugees also turned around to follow the Kazakh missile ship.


    If they followed them, they would be entering the Greek waters only troubling the Greek coastal guard.


    Since they could not help it, they stopped turning around the ship and stayed in open waters.


    ¡°What should we do? If the refugee boats follow us, the Greek coast guard will leave them to us alone.¡±


    ¡°This is frustrating.¡±


    The refugees on the high seas were under no one¡¯s jurisdiction, so they did not know what to do.


    The refugees that were now being epted by the royal territory were Syrians who were staying in Europe, not directly escaping from Syria.


    They hade to see the new ind, but now they were caught up in other countries¡¯ conflict.


    Turkish and Greek coast guard vessels were struggling to keep the refugee ships out of their waters, and the refugee ship continued to follow the missile ship¡¯s tail, apparently thinking it was the only way to live.


    ¡°Communicate with both coast guard vessels. Tell them that we can no longer sit idly because their fight is intimidating private ships in international waters.¡±


    ¡°Commander, I could warn them as part of a multinational force if we were in the Gulf of Aden, but it will be a problem if we meddle with other countries¡¯ vessels in the Mediterranean. And now all the ships have juste into Greek waters. This is the case of a Turkish coast guard vessel intruding into Greek waters.¡±


    As the waves washed over, all the ships had already been pushed toward Greek waters.


    This would happen frequently when people did not take close attention to the sea because there was no boundary line in the wide sea.


    Usually, friendly cases could be fully understood by either side, but the vessels were in a standoff now.


    The Turkish coast guard ship was stepping back in a hurry to find out that it had invaded Greek waters.


    ¡°The Turkish vessel is going back on its own.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s making a rapid manoeuvre. I guess they just found out that they had crossed the territorial waters.¡±


    While watching the Turkish coast guard ship scurrying, the refugee boats were already close at hand.


    ¡°What the hell are they doing? Why are they so close to our ship? What if they get hit by our ship pushed by the waves?¡±


    As the old refugee boats¡¯ hulls were old FRP, the hull would crack as soon as they hit the missile ship that was almost like a lump of metal.


    However, the reason why they came so close to the missile ship was to get drinking water.


    Sailors were forced to throw small water bottles over the refugees¡¯ boats to help them.


    ¡°Oh well... I just have to me myself for choosing the wrong date toe. Let¡¯s bring those refugees with us.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we get in trouble and get reprimanded for taking them without the consent of the higher-ups?¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t help them, the refugee ships will certainly be overthrown by the end of the day. You want me to ignore this situation for fear of reprimand? Even the superiors in the royal territory won¡¯t tolerate such conduct.¡±


    ¡°Then we have no other choice. First, we¡¯ll have to hand out some food and get some of them on our boat. They¡¯ve already exceeded the number of people on board, so I¡¯m afraid the boats will flip over.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll buy you a drinkter.¡±


    ¡°You have to keep your promise. I¡¯ll be d if we didn¡¯t get med for this.¡±


    ¡°His Highness willpliment you for your decision. There¡¯s no one to me, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°It would be a headache if we built an advance base on the Kasos Ind. All sorts of refugees from North Africa and Syria will pass by it.¡±


    Kasos Ind was the southernmost ind in the east of the Mediterranean Sea, so there was an advantage of being close to the Suez Canal.


    On the other hand, from the standpoint of refugees, it was the ind where they first met after floating aimlessly.


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to enter the ind because of the naval vessels. Besides, by the time the port ispleted, the Middle East will be stabilized to some extent.¡±


    ¡°Will there ever beplete peace in the Middle East? It looks like there¡¯s going to be a world war starting here. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good idea to set up a base here for nothing.¡±


    ¡°We Kazakhstan are an ally to many countries around the world, so we¡¯re not going to barge in so recklessly.¡±

 Chapter 690 - Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (2)

    <h4>Chapter 690: Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (2)</h4>


    The Kazakh Navy had epted former South Korean Navy officers as civilian military personnel due to theck of the number of nomissioned officerspared to its increasing number of vessels.


    Captain Yeom Dong-chan had also joined the navy as a civilian worker at first but switched to active duty.


    He was discharged from the Korean Navy as a first lieutenant, but he became the captain of the Yoon Youngha-ss missile ship, which could only be handled by a lieutenantmander, because of a shortage of Kazakhstan¡¯s naval officers.


    Lucky cases like himself were verymon in Kazakhstan.


    Therefore, many young Koreans with the Kazakhstan dream were flocking to Kazakhstan these days.


    This was because they were treated far better in Kazakhstan than in Korea.


    Captain Yeom was sailing cautiously back with the refugee boats from the Kasos Ind.


    About 120 people were aboard the two refugee boats, with about 50 women and elderly and weak people having been already transported to the Kazakh missile ship as it was not safe to be on the old fishing boats.


    ¡°If we sail like this, we won¡¯t arrive until tomorrow. Can¡¯t we move all those people on our ship?¡±


    Frustrated, Park Sung-won, the basemander of the Arirang Ind, suggested.


    It was because a battleship would not sink even if the maximum capacity was exceeded.


    ¡°We can, but the problem is that we have to put them on deck, and I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be able to withstand the scorching sun.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been exposed to the sun for days. I¡¯m sure they can endure a few more hours.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯d better give up the fishing boats? They¡¯re too old.¡±


    ¡°The captains of the fishing boats are likely to return to Syria. They¡¯re doing business against refugees by transporting them.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then let¡¯s send them back here without having to take them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the captains of the fishing boats.¡±


    Momentster, the captains of the fishing boats, after being supplied with drinking water and food, returned some money to the refugees and then turned to Syria.


    They were supposed to give them a ride to their destination, but they returned part of the boarding fee because they were caught by the coast guards in the middle.


    ¡°At least they still have a conscience.¡±


    ¡°They would have been forced to give up the money because of us. What kind of conscience would they have when they offered to make money against those in desperate need? They¡¯ve probably buried a lot of people in the ocean. Some people juste out to the open sea for money and threaten refugees with a weapon, toss them a rubber boat and leave them.¡±


    ¡°Then we can¡¯t let them go so nicely.¡±


    ¡°What can we do since we don¡¯t have any evidence right now? I hope they didn¡¯t do that. Besides, because of boats like these that transport refugees to Europe, there are so many refugees in Europe.¡±


    Such crimes were happening frequently in the Mediterranean.


    As a self-rescue n, the refugees on the boat carried weapons, and this got them in trouble when they entered a new country as they were caught during the investigation. Some countries even sent them back for having weapons.


    How absurd would it be to be turned down in Europe upon their arrival after going through a deadly trip? As such, the refugees were in trouble onnd in the sea.


    ***


    ¡°Dear Commander, I¡¯m sorry to make thingsplicated every time.¡±


    ¡°What else could you have done in that situation? You did what you had to do. Hundreds of people won¡¯t make a difference when we¡¯re epting thousands of refugees. The problem is that Greece and Turkey continue to be tense because of maritime refugees.¡±


    ¡°Yes. There is a war of nerves to keep the refugees out of their waters, and there is a concern of a major maritime ident. If we don¡¯t offer relief after seeing the refugees in danger in front of us, we will be criticized by the internationalmunity. We might get caught up in a bigger problem.¡±


    ¡°Only help the refugees and don¡¯t get involved in any case. And in the future, we¡¯ll film everything and prepare for problemster on.¡±


    ¡°Dear Commander, I think it would be better to exclude the Kasso Ind area from our patrol boundary for the time being. Then we won¡¯t get involved in a conflict.¡±


    ¡°All right. Better avoid showers. Then, instead of patrolling the open waters, send in troops to manage the ind. If we leave it alone, it can be a headacheter on.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Then we¡¯ll send two squads to do guard duty.¡±


    Park Sung-won immediately dispatched two squads to the Kasos Ind as ordered by Cho Chul-hwan as further dy could cause refugees to mess up the ind.


    Recently, North African refugees were also migrating inrge groups. The ind of Kasos was also a stopover for North African refugees.


    There was much to prepare for the presence of two squadrons, but they were quickly dispatched first with only two light armored vehicles and supplies to stay about 15 days.


    Unable to reach the shoreline, the supply ship had to be flown several times in an amphibious light armored vehicle.


    Upon arrival at the temporary garrison, the two squadrons were setting up tents.


    ¡°Sgt. Jani Beg. Pull that line more in your direction.¡±


    ¡°Captain, why don¡¯t we take a break?¡±


    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to rain soon, so let¡¯s get it over with and get into the sea.¡±


    ¡°I hope it rains. This is too hot. I think this ce is hotter than Arirang Ind. I wish the 2nd squad would find a stream somewhere.¡±


    It was unlikely to find a stream in such a short time with only ten soldiers even if they traveled the whole area of 80 square kilometers. But since this was an ind once inhabited by people, they had a faint hope that there would be water somewhere.


    ¡°What do you expect? They say the water dried and all the people left.¡±


    ¡°The depleted spring water may rise again.¡±


    Greek inds not only had little rainfall but also consisted of gneiss and limestone, so even if it rained, water would not seep into the ground but flow down to the sea. Therefore, water was precious.


    While most inds boasted a beautifulndscape with emerald-colored seas and caviar stones, most remained uninhabited because they allcked drinking water or springs.


    The reason for therge-scale desalination facilities on Meltemi and Arirang inds was also due to a shortage of drinking water and living water.


    That was why while the first squad was building a makeshift barracks in the scorching sun, the second squad went out to look for spring water.


    If they were lucky enough to find the spring water, the Kasos Ind would be a perfect ce for a naval base.


    ***


    ¡°You really found a spring?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it has enough water for more than 100 people to use. But there were about a dozen human skeletons around. They are in a terrible condition, but they don¡¯t seem to be very old, so I feel ufortable.¡±


    Sergeant Constantine, the captain of the second squadron was famous for being fearless, had a look of disgust on his face.


    If something terrible had happened recently, it was likely to happen again.


    Abudga, the squadmander of the whole dispatched team in the first squadron, felt his hair stand on end.


    Although this was a remote ind, an uninhabited lighthouse was installed and it was regrly administered by the Greek government, so it was hard to understand that people came in and conducted such a cruel offense.


    ¡°Have the refugees been here?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to attack the refugees since there¡¯s nothing to gain from them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d have to be a pretty big ship toe to this remote ce. There¡¯s no organization nearby that operates arge ship...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a guess. The skeletons are severely damaged, so I think they were killed by people who had a grudge against them.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s report this to the base for now. It¡¯s not something we can just pass by.¡±


    Ever since the discovery of the skeletons, the beach where the temporary shelters were, began to fill with a sense of tension.


    The soldiers who had been rxing at the thought ofing to a paradise ind and to do an easy duty were on guard, and the two squad leaders were busy contacting Arirang Base.


    No matter how great the forces of the 20 armed guards were, there was no way to prevent the enemy from attacking while they were off guard.


    -So you¡¯re saying they don¡¯t look like they died gracefully?


    ¡°Yes,mander. Some had their limbs cut off and some had their heads cut off. I don¡¯t think they died fighting each other, but they were killed unterally.¡±


    -Why do you think so?


    ¡°There are no personal belongings left around. I think they were brutally murdered naked.¡±


    -So it must be a massacre out of a grudge or to set an example. If you have any pictures taken, send them right away. If we send them to the intelligence service, we¡¯ll find out something.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    -We¡¯re sending a 503 missile ship and supply ship to your location now, so stay right in the makeshift shelter and wait. Be sure to use the light armored vehicle in case of an emergency.


    The ind was mostly t with the highest part of the ind only 280 meters tall and only a few trees, so they had brought light armored vehicles.


    Otokar¡¯s Cobra light armored vehicles were now being produced in Kazakhstan, serving as the foot of Kazakhstan¡¯s army.


    The reason why Kazakhstan called the Army a mechanized unit was because it had deployed Cobra light armored vehicles in every infantry unit.


    The 10-seat light armored vehicle weighed 12 tons and had a powerful 360 horsepower, allowing it to roam freely, whether in fields, hills or rivers.


    It was equipped with a 20-millimeter machine gun and could be equipped with portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles if necessary.


    With two such light armored vehicles on the beach, there was nothing to worry about, but the problem was that they did not know who their enemy was.


    ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous. Does it make sense that the soldiers of the Kazakh Royal Bodyguards are scared of mere skeletons?¡±


    ¡°If you saw them in person, you¡¯ll see why. Looking at the damage, I feel like the IS might have done it...¡±


    ¡°Then you should have reported it to themander just now. Why didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a mere guess. And why would the IS idlye all the way here and have their ritual? The intelligence service will figure it out soon when they see the damage to the skeletons.¡±


    ¡°The pirates are said to be acting out in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, so maybe it¡¯s them.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. Whoever they are, juste close. I¡¯m going to baptize them with 20-millimeter machine gun shots.¡±


    ¡°What kind of lunatics woulde here where troops are stationed?¡±


    ¡°The lunatics who cruelly damaged people¡¯s bodies. It¡¯s been a shocking day in many ways. I bet I can¡¯t sleep tonight.¡±


    ¡°Did you think we can get some sleep? Don¡¯t think about going to bed. Let¡¯s stay alert all night. If the 503 missiles and the supply ship arrivete and release additional troops, I¡¯ll sleep then. Did you hear everyone? We¡¯ll be on high alert tonight. Two soldiers should be on each vehicle and patrol around our temporary garrison and rotate the shift every two hours. I and Sergeant Jani Beg will be in charge of the first squadron while the 2nd squadron will be under Sergeant Constantine and...¡±


    Sergeant Abudga, who had finished arranging the shift teams and had dinner roughly withbat food, lit a cigarette.


    ¡®Darn. I was going to have a beach party on the first day I came to paradise. It¡¯s far from paradise. It¡¯s like I stepped on the poop.¡¯


    The smoke of Sergeant Abudga¡¯s cigarette was dispersing in the slowly darkening night sky.

 Chapter 691 - Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (3)

    <h4>Chapter 691: Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (3)</h4>


    ¡°Who the hell did this on the ind?¡±


    ¡°The IS are the only ones that damage the body like this. The condition of the skeletons suggests that, but there¡¯s no reason that they wille to a remote ind in the Mediterranean and do this in a leisurely manner. If they did it, wouldn¡¯t they have broadcasted this process?¡±


    As he was saying this, Park Jong-il shook his head.


    ¡°Are there pirates in the Mediterranean too?¡±


    ¡°No pirates will dare to act out in the Mediterranean. This is either a war of nerves between crime groups or one of the possible crimes against rich refugees.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s guess was usible at first sight, but there were unanswered questions.


    There was a simple way to drown them in the sea, but why did they bring them to the ind and kill them brutally?


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to go through all that trouble when you can just drown them in the ocean.¡±


    ¡°There must be a story behind. A power struggle between crime groups would¡¯ve needed a good example to show off, and if the skeletons are refugees, they must¡¯ve been killed by a crime ring in Syria involving the ship owners. They could have targeted the refugee¡¯s property.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that it can happen in the future again.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll try again because they know Kasos is an uninhabited ind. We¡¯ll have to get ready in advance and get them all at once.¡±


    Youngho could not help but feel ufortable as it happened on an ind that was recently incorporated as royal property.


    If what Park Jong-il had conjectured was correct, then such traces would remain throughout the ind.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we make a big search of the ind? If it didn¡¯t happen only one time, there must be evidence elsewhere. And we should notify the Greek government to see if there¡¯s any record of peopleing in and out of the ind. It would be better if there was a surveince camera on the unmanned lighthouse.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I didn¡¯t think of the surveince camera.¡±


    The Greek government would have installed surveince cameras around the unmanned lighthouse in case it was broken or damaged.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the Greek government have set up cameras to monitor Turkish Navy and Coast Guard vessels since they frequently intrude into territorial waters?¡±


    ¡°That could be true. I¡¯ll check with the Greek government right now. And I¡¯m going to send a forensic expert over there to check out the skeletons again.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t contact the Greek police but use the intelligence line. I¡¯ve heard that the police organization is symbiotic with a criminal group.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Talk to the rotten police and it¡¯ll get into the gang¡¯s ears that day.¡±


    Corruption among Greek officials was considered the highest level among European countries.


    Tax evasion and corruption were rampant to the extent that it was said that the Greek financial crisis was due to ¡°Fakki,¡± which meant bribery.


    ¡°What if they ask for money, too?¡±


    ¡°No way. We¡¯re asking for help as the intelligence department of an ally.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think the state bankruptcy urred in the first ce?¡±


    ¡°Give it to them if they ask.¡±


    ¡°It would be faster. If we don¡¯t pay them, they¡¯ll take the time saying that they are following legal procedures.¡±


    ¡°Check if there¡¯s a surveince camera first and make contact.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they took good care of the cameras even if they exist. I¡¯ll have to ask Park Sung-won to find out.¡±


    ***


    When orders were issued to make a major search of the Kasos Inds, the basemander, Park Sung-won, rushed to the scene himself.


    ¡°Look everywhere that¡¯s suspicious based on the data from the drone. And especially if there are abandoned houses, mark them on the map.¡±


    ¡°Base Commander, the map of the ind from the Greek government is not precise enough to disy the details.¡±


    ¡°Just refer to the map and check the difference between satellite images. If there is a difference, we need to go check the scene no matter what.¡±


    The reason for the fuss of using drones and satellite images was that there were no surveince cameras in the unmanned lighthouse on Kasos Ind.


    The first crew tond on the ind scoured the lighthouse and its surrounding area, but no surveince cameras were found.


    Since there was no need to talk to the Greek government, the guards were conducting their research based on satellite data and drone images.


    As the investigation progressed, more skeletons were found in various parts of the ind.


    Some of the skeletons were believed to be children, which made the guards feel sorry.


    The fact that the bodies of children were also there meant that there was a high possibility that they were refugees.


    When as many as a dozen bodies were found, the royal guards notified the Greek government and were authorized to investigate surrounding areas as well.


    So three 100-ton high-speed boats to patrol the area and an oil tanker which served as a temporary dock were deployed to the Kasos Ind in a hurry.


    The Kazakh Navy¡¯s 100-ton high-speed boat, produced in the shipyard in the royal territory, was mainly active in the Caspian Sea, but recently, ten of them were deployed to the Arirang Ind.


    The boats boasted of 170-ton discement and a speed of 45 knots and were equipped with two 20-millimeter Vulcan automatic cannons and one 40-millimeter short-range anti-ship rocket despite their small size.


    ¡°No matter how hard the economy is, I don¡¯t understand that the Greek government has been so neglectful about this ind. It¡¯s strange that officialsing to manage the unmanned lighthouse couldn¡¯t have found the bodies. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no sign of outsidersing in or out.¡±


    Park Sung-won also agreed with his subordinate¡¯s report.


    There were signs of outsiders¡¯ intrusion all over the beach, and it was strange that lighthouse keepers did not report it to the higher-ups.


    Moreover, the lighthouses on other uninhabited inds were not functioning properly due to theck of management, and it was a bit strange that only the lighthouse on Kasos Ind was managed exceptionally well.


    ***


    Three high-speed boats deployed on the ind of Kasos were taking turns patrolling the waters.


    Today, the high-speed boat 203 was patrolling the northern waters of the Kasos Ind, so it had been circling the area for hours.


    Lieutenant Sultan came out on the deck and stretched his body rxingly.


    Nothing had happened for days, and it was getting boring.


    He was thinking about going fishing when he got back to the temporary base after his duty.


    But Sergeant Denise in the radar room broke his sweet dream.


    ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve got two very fast ships on the radar. We¡¯ve been tracking it for 20 minutes, and it¡¯s a little weird.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the speed?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s about 30 knots.¡±


    ¡°Can yachts make such a high speed?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, but it doesn¡¯t make any sense given that the ind is far away from the maind. With that speed, there won¡¯t be any oil left to go back to the maind.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re probably yachts that came out for sightseeing from the nearby inhabited ind.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense, boats that came out for sightseeing continue to sail for about 20 minutes at such a high speed.¡±


    ¡°How far is it from us?¡±


    ¡°These boats are running parallel to us on the left side. If we go at the highest speed, we¡¯ll confront them in about ten minutes.¡±


    Lieutenant Sultan, who had been contemting the words of Sergeant Denis, immediately ordered to prepare for a battle.


    This was because such a high speed of two regr boats, not one, in a ce far from the maind was abnormal.


    ¡°All prepare forbat deployment! Track the unknown vessels at top speed.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir! Action stations!¡±


    When the order was issued, the high-speed boat, boasting a speed of 45 knots, dashed like a bullet.


    As they sailed at its full speed for about 10 minutes, they could see two boats running side by side in the front.


    The boats¡¯ appearance was not special, but being able to achieve that speed meant they were equipped with high-speed engines.


    Although it was customary for the majority of civilian ships to slow down if naval vessels were approaching fast, they were speeding up rather than slowing down.


    ¡°Make amand for anchorage!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    The piercing sound of the boat horn was reverberating over the sea at regr intervals.


    No matter how loud the boat engines were, it was enough to be heard.


    Still, the two boats showed no sign of slowing down.


    ¡°Warning shots with machine guns!¡±


    As soon as the order was issued,bat-deployed soldiers fired close to the unknown boats.


    White foams rose when the bullets hit the sea.


    The boats still did not stop after several machine gunshots.


    Lieutenant Sultan whose face was already reddened issued another order.


    ¡°Raise the Vulcan cannons to the front and fire threatening shots.¡±


    This could be quite threatening as the 20-millimeter Vulcan cannons could fire more than 3,000 bullets per minute.


    ¡°Captain, this could turn into a diplomatic issue.¡±


    ¡°This is the Greek territorial sea. We were legally authorized to patrol the waters by the Greek government. And it doesn¡¯t make sense that those boats are running away from us like this. Fire the Vulcan guns. I¡¯ll be responsible for this.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye, sir! Start threat shooting ahead of the unknown boats with Vulcan cannons!¡±


    The empty shells fell on the deck as the bullets were fired with a loud noise.


    Two boats slowed down and waved white towels, which showed no intention of resisting, as the shots continued for about ten seconds.


    Still, the royal ship slowly approached the side of the boat after another menacing shot.


    ¡°Tell everyone toe out to the deck after turning off the engine.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if they will understand English.¡±


    Most of the people on the deck looked clean, and there were also little children on the boats.


    Most of the refugees in the Mediterranean or the Aegean Sea were dressed in shabby clothes and were usually skinny and exhausted.


    But that was not the case with the people on the speed boats that sailed at 30 knots.


    ¡°Captain. This is strange. If they¡¯re a refugee, they don¡¯t have to go through the Kasos Ind. If they go along the Turkish coast, they¡¯ll get to their destination faster... I think it¡¯s an organization that only carries rich refugees.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is strange. The men in the front don¡¯t look like a refugee either.¡±


    ¡°I think they were running away from us after seeing us near Kasos Ind.¡±


    ¡°Give personal firearms to the crew and let¡¯s go near to the boats.¡±


    ¡°You want to get on the boats?¡±


    ¡°They look suspicious. Of course, we¡¯ll search for them.¡±

 Chapter 692 - Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (4)

    <h4>Chapter 692: Tension in the Mediterranean Sea (4)</h4>


    The crew scoured the unidentified boats quickly.


    Each speed boat was about 25 meters wide and had 25 people aboard each.


    Usually, it wasmon for a refugee ship of this size to carry at least 50 to 80 people on board at the risk of sinking.


    However, if only about 20 people were on board, it would be an organization dealing with rich refugees.


    In fact, all people on board seemed to be an upper ss at a nce.


    After searching the ship, the crew seized two handguns and several blunt knives that looked like jungle knives. Jungle knives in the sea were a terriblebination although the pistol could be used by a captain for self-defense. But having tough knives like those did not make sense.


    ¡°Captain. I think they¡¯re the ones. All the bodies found on the ind of Kasos have been cut off or decapitated.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not sharp enough, but can they cut people¡¯s body?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t do if you swing it like an ax. Looking at the knife, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll break easily. Forensic scientists who examined the bones said there were signs of several strikes.¡±


    Lieutenant Sultan also remembered hearing about the condition of the bodies.


    The act of stabbing a corpse was like a ritual that criminal organizations oftenmitted for the solidarity of their members.


    And the unusual thing was that most of the skeletons on Kasos Ind were men and children.


    ¡°For now, give them water and food so they can rest assured. And lure the captains to our ship for a simple investigation.¡±


    ¡°Their boats are full of food. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll receive our food.¡±


    ¡°Throw me some water then. They already know we¡¯re not the Greek Navy, so they¡¯ll be less wary.¡±


    ¡°We already threatened them with fires. Will it work?¡±


    ¡°Tell them we¡¯ve mistaken them as pirate ships. We couldn¡¯t help it because they were sailing at 30 knots.¡±


    There were three crew members on each boat besides the captain, all of whom had strong physique and a vibe of backstreet gangsterism.


    Relieved to hear that they were mistaken as pirate ships, the captains crossed over to the royal high-speed boat.


    The Kazakh Navy was already rumored to treat the refugees exceptionally well, so they did not doubt it very much.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for unintentionally firing warning shots. I am Sultan, the captain of the royal vessel 203 of the Royal Navy of Kazakhstan. I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re on your way to Greece with Syrian refugees.¡±


    ¡°You took us by shock. How can you shoot a gun at us? We were just going at full speed not to be caught by other coast guards because Turkish and Greek coast guards had been kicking out refugees from their waters.¡±


    ¡°Captains, ignoring the warship¡¯s order is also a mistake, too. I¡¯m sorry again. We recently got a report that there are active pirates around this area. To make an excuse, your ships were fast enough to be misunderstood.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯tin because we are also hiding from the coast guards, too. We¡¯ll pretend that this didn¡¯t happen. If you don¡¯t have anything special to look into, we¡¯ll be on our way.¡±


    ¡°I have to leave some record that we¡¯ve searched and inspected unidentified boats, so please write down some simple personal information here.¡±


    Then Captain Sultan slipped out some papers.


    Then the speedboat captains pulled back.


    ¡°As you can see, we are Greek. Carrying refugees is illegal, so you cannot expose our identity. If the Greek government finds out, it¡¯ll be a headache. It¡¯s a kind of career, and if our names are released, we can¡¯t continue our business.¡±


    ¡°There is nothing to notify the Greek government. Our regtions only require to know the information of all ships thatply with the inspection. If you fill out this form, it¡¯ll be very helpful when you pass through this area in the future. Because the Kazakh naval vessels share information, you won¡¯t be caught by the Kazakh Navy again.¡±


    ¡°You really put me in trouble. Please consider our position a little bit. And we are Greeks. There is no reason toply with the inspection of other countries¡¯ navies in Greek territorial waters. As you can see, there¡¯s no reason to answer your question since we are not pirates.¡±


    Lieutenant Sultan was also speechless when one of the captains protested in a loud voice.


    If it went on like this, he would have to let them go even though they were obviously suspicious.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing we can do. Then I¡¯ll ask you one more question and let you go. I¡¯m curious about the use of the knives that look like jungle knives.¡±


    When asked by Lieutenant Sultan, a captain shamelessly answered that they were to fight against sharks around the area.


    ¡°There are so many sharks in this area that we carry them around for self-defense.¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you one more question. Have you evernded on Kasos Ind?¡±


    ¡°The dock is so small that it¡¯s hard to moor the ship. Besides, why would we go to the uninhabited ind?¡±


    ¡°You know about Kasos Ind very well.¡±


    The captain flinched at Lieutenant Sultan¡¯s words.


    He knew exactly that there was a small dock even though he said he had no reason to go to a deserted ind.


    ¡°Every Greek sailor knows well about the nearby inds.¡±


    ¡°But the unmanned lighthouse surveince camera shows the same boat like this one being moored at the dock. Can you exin why younded on the ind?¡±


    ¡°Was there any surveince cameras on the uninhabited ind?¡±


    Startled, the captain was asking a question he should not have asked.


    If he had notnded on the ind, why would it matter if there was a camera or not?


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know there were cameras. The Greek government has installed some to protect the lighthouse in case the Turkish Coast Guard intrudes into its territorial waters.¡±


    When Sultan¡¯s words were over, the captains were very upset.


    The look on their faces clearly showed that they hadnded on the ind of Kasos.


    The captains of the speed boats were hesitant and were unable to make any more excuses, so Sultan gave orders to his guards.


    ¡°Bring over all the remaining crews on the boats. If they resist, you can fire shots.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. We¡¯ll implement it immediately.¡±


    ***


    The rest of the members also came out intimidated by the royal guards.


    The captain and crew were both members of a Greek criminal group specializing in human trafficking and organ trafficking.


    There were countless organizations that went back and forth between Greece and Syria to do business against rich refugees. Their crimes against refugees included extortion of money, human trafficking, and organ trafficking.


    The reason why they brought refugees to the ind without letting them drown in the water was to sell women into brothels and get organs from men and children.


    In short, they were human scums, but there was no way to deal with them.


    What could the Kazakh royal family do about a Greek crime ring? It was a domestic matter.


    The Royal Navy was forced to hand them over to the Greek police in order to wipe out the weak organizations in Greece.


    Whether the rotten Greek police would properly investigate the case was questionable, and it was evident that they would not be punished severely as they deserved, but the Kazakh royal family had no choice but to watch.


    What was fortunate was that the media had made headlines over the issue, preventing criminal organizations from doing this to refugees for the time being.


    Lieutenant Sultan wanted to deal with them himself, but there was no way. The only thing he could do to vent his anger was to beat the criminals before sending them away.


    The Greek press was also condemning the shameless conduct of criminal gangs day after day.


    The press was also on the Greek criminals and government¡¯s side but since it was socially controversial, it was just treating it as a big deal.


    ¡°This is all a show, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Youngho said as he was watching the news on TV.


    ¡°Are you kidding? It¡¯s not only yesterday or today¡¯s matter. They won¡¯t even blink for such crimes. Human trafficking and organ trafficking in the Balkans and southern Europe can never be eradicated. At least the refugees heard the rumor, so they wouldn¡¯t just board any ship. It will slow down for a while, but I¡¯m worried about how long it willst. There are rumors that Syrian crime organizations are also linked to Greece. They¡¯re going to find another way to resume their business.¡±


    ¡°Some Kurds must have been victimized by them. I¡¯m a little sad that we had let them go nicely.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve done the work, but only the Greek police are showing off. I¡¯m sure only the higher-ups of the crime rings will be released and only the subordinates will rot in their cells. Should we spread some rumors in Syria, too?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t care about such rumors in the middle of a civil war. Instead, strengthening maritime patrols andpleting naval bases quickly is a shortcut to prevent such crimes. If necessary, I¡¯d like to buy the whole archipgo of Kasos. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°If we do that, it¡¯s like we¡¯re taking control of the southeast Mediterranean. But will the Greek government agree?¡±


    ¡°We should try. Why don¡¯t we use the press that¡¯s on the show now? If we bribe the press, ying with the public opinion won¡¯t be hard.¡±


    It would not be burdensome for the Greek government since it would be selling inds.


    Rather, it would have a chance to use the Kazakh royal family to quell Turkish provocations.


    The Greek government with its current economic standing, it was impossible to effectively manage the Kasos Inds 300 kilometers from the maind anyway.


    As proof, the Greek government had no idea what was going on in the Kasos Ind. It was a shame.


    This was also why Turkey raised the territorial issue of the inds in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Seas.


    The inds, which were in the Greek territorial waters, were remote from maind Greece, but they were just around the corner on the coast of Turkey.


    Since there were so many such inds, endless territorial issues were holding the two countries back.


    ¡°If Greece can¡¯t handle it, we will take over instead. If we take over this area, Greece won¡¯t have any more territorial issues with Turkey and we get to prevent crimes.¡±


    ¡°Will Greece give in so easily?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been neglectful of the inds and look what happened now. What an international disgrace this is. Can this happen in a normal country?¡±


    When the world learned that Greek crime ringsmitted horrible crimes against refugees, tourists visiting Greece were on the decline.


    Of course, there was no guarantee that a crimemitted against refugees would not bemitted against tourists.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll go to Greece at once and discuss it.¡±

 Chapter 693 - Royal Fleet (1)

    <h4>Chapter 693: Royal Fleet (1)</h4>


    The Greek government immediately epted the Kazakh royal family¡¯s offer to manage the whole Kasos Inds.


    Leaving the management of its inds to another country meant that it had no strength to protect its own waters, and the Greek government was desperate for help.


    Since the royal family of Kazakhstan had been effectively managing the port of Piraeus after buying it from Greece, the Greek government could trust the royal family.


    Kazakhstan needed a forward base close to the Suez Canal, and Greece needed a country that could keep Turkey at bay.


    Turkey and Kazakhstan were allies, so there would not be any conflict. The existence of a buffer called Kazakhstan was an opportunity for Greece to escape from the tiring territorial dispute against Turkey, so it did not matter whatever Kazakhstan was going to do with the inds.


    This mutual understanding led to the Kazakh royal family managing the waters around the Kasos Inds.


    Park Jong-il looked proud when he entered Youngho¡¯s office after his visit to Greece.


    ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s my diplomatic skills that got us the Kasos Inds at no cost. This isn¡¯t something anyone can solve.¡±


    ¡°Great job. I didn¡¯t know the Greek government would ept it unconditionally.¡±


    ¡°The Greek government is very appreciative of our royal family. They said we¡¯re the only country that actually helps out Greece while others are trying to take advantage of its problems. By giving us the Kasos Inds, they expect a corresponding role from us. Turkey keeps making territorial provocations, so we should be responsible to stop it, but I don¡¯t know if Turkey will hear us out.¡±


    ¡°Turkey is also in a position of regret without Kazakhstan¡¯s raw materials, ranging from grain to oil.¡±


    If Turkey would press to take over the stone inds in the Aegean Sea, it would have a conflict with the Kazakh royal family, potentially risking raw material imports from Kazakhstan. Moreover, it could risk its rtionship with Kazakhstan¡¯s other ally, Azerbaijan. So, it was very unlikely that Turkey would oppose the Kazakh royal family¡¯s ownership of the Kasos Inds.


    ¡°The Greek government would have been after that, too. The government officials definitely seemed to want to use our rtionship with Turkey.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rather good. Wait and see, the more the Greek government relies on us, the more our position in the Mediterranean will be strengthened.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already gained a solid footing. The U.S. government orpanies have never owned ports or inds in Greece.¡±


    ¡°What would you describe U.S. naval bases all over the Mediterranean? When European countries give their ports to the U.S., there¡¯s a reason. That¡¯s because they have a debt to the U.S. since it helped them get out of hunger and achieve economic development before and after World War II with its support.¡±


    The United States was the country that liberated Europe during World War II.


    If the U.S. had not intervened, the war would have been prolonged indefinitely, or some of Europe would have fallen into the hands of Germany.


    For that reason, European countries were heavily indebted to the United States.


    Europe was quickly able to heal the scars of the war with U.S. support.


    Of course, the U.S. had done so for its own benefit, otherwise, it would not have moved at all regardless of the war.


    Likewise, Youngho was moving with a thorough profit-and-loss calction, even though he seemed to be involved in a wide range of things.


    If the Greek government used the Kazakh royal family as a shield, it would have to pay that price.


    Youngho was not going to lose the power to influence the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean that he had acquired.


    Until raw materials and industrial goods produced in Kazakhstan spread to the world through the Mediterranean Sea, he could not be satisfied.


    ***


    ¡°My princess is always asleep every time Ie home. How beautiful are you going to get?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a saying that beauty sleeps a lot.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! So you¡¯re saying I¡¯m not a beauty since I can¡¯t sleep well?¡±


    Youngho did not mean it that way, but Fatima was taking it in the wrong way.


    ¡°Honey, of course, you are a beautiful woman.¡±


    Fatima was having a hard time because of Ljubica¡¯s changed sleeping habits.


    Even a good-natured Fatima had be cranky when shecked sleep.


    Youngho hugged her andforted her quickly as he was not able to help her babysit their baby daughter.


    ¡°She must have no idea how her dad looks like. It¡¯s obvious since sheughs when seeing Leon or Jelyan but cries whenever she sees you.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? She woke upst night, so I lifted and hugged her, and she was trying to talk to me, let alone crying.¡±


    ¡°Huh! She must have not seen who it was because of the dark.¡±


    It seemed he needed to be with Fatima today.


    Even if he had a lot of things to do, if Fatima¡¯s mood was terrible, it would impact his outside work. Peace in the family made the outside work better.


    ¡°Shall we take the children out to the Ural River?¡±


    Fatima¡¯s expression brightened a little when he asked.


    ¡°Are you not going to the office today?¡±


    ¡°Looking around the royal territory is also my duty. When I go out with you, it¡¯ll be like inspecting around the river.¡±


    ¡°You seem very busy these days. Just go to work. I¡¯ll take the kids on a yacht to the Ural River.¡±


    ¡°I need to take a break, too. I need to y with the kids.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but what about Ljubica? You can¡¯t take a sleeping child.¡±


    ¡°How can we go on our own? We will take her anyway. She will wake up by the river wind.¡±


    When the royal family said they were sailing on the Ural River, the royal knights and the security officers were on alert.


    The queen, the crown prince, and the princess were going out all at once.


    The great security status of the royal territory was well-known in Kazakhstan, but it was always nerve-wracking from the standpoint of the security guards.


    Recently, Syrian migrants had just entered the territory, and their actions were unpredictable.


    The Kurds were united under Princess Jelyan, but the Syrians were forced to migrate to the royal territory after being pushed away from Europe. That did not mean they were hostile, but it was just unpredictable.


    There were several docks on the Ural River with thergest dock dedicated only for cargo followed by the secondrgest dock at the royal shipyard.


    The next was the Royal Navy¡¯s dock, and there was a dock for fishing boats, which served as a forward base for domestic fishing. Lastly, there was a general dock where boats and yachts could be moored.


    The royal yacht, which Youngho mainly used for fishing, was ced in the naval dock.


    The naval base was very busy weing the queen¡¯s party.


    Commander Jun, who had just returned to the royal territory, was also there.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to move the yacht moorings somewhere else. If you greet us this loudly, doesn¡¯t that mean we shouldn¡¯te sailing?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Your Highness and Her Majesty have visited the naval dock in a long time. Of course, I should greet you.¡±


    ¡°What do you think? Is submarine education worth it?¡±


    Commander Jun had been briefly educated at a submarine base in the Russian White Sea.


    In order to lead arge-scale mobile fleet, he insisted on learning about nuclear submarines even though he would not be in the submarine.


    ¡°Two week¡¯s education was just a smattering. I wanted to get trained until the end with the rest of the crew, but I had to take a look around the Mediterranean inds of Kasos and Seychelles, so I hurried back home.¡±


    As the conversation with Commander Jun was prolonged at the dock, Leon, Jelyan, and Rena, who were already on the yacht, called Youngho toe quickly.


    ¡°Your Highness, let¡¯s talk about businesster and get on the yacht. Her Majesty is watching.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s face sagged when he promised to take a day off and kept everyone waiting for work again.


    ¡°Commander Jun, why don¡¯t youe with us and steer the yacht today? That way we can continue our talking.¡±


    Then Victor Jun asked Fatima for an understanding.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯ll be your escort today. Would it be okay if we went downstream?¡±


    ¡°Goodness. It¡¯s good to have a veteran navigator steering our yacht, but aren¡¯t we bothering you on a busy day?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s never a bother to serve you.¡±


    ¡°Then I won¡¯t feel bad to have you on the yacht with us today.¡±


    When the royal yacht left the dock with a loud engine noise, two 100-ton high-speed boats escorted it in the front and back.


    In the sky, an Apache helicopter was circling in the distance to escort the royal yacht.


    When the yacht departed, the children and Fatima settled by the window and were busy looking at the scenery along the Ural River.


    Sitting side by side in the cockpit, Youngho and Commander Jun were continuing to talk about work that had been suspended.


    ¡°Your Highness. We¡¯d like to ce one of our nuclear submarines at the inds of Kasos, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°You were supposed to deploy both vessels to the Seychelles Inds, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Strategically, we believe that there should be one in the Mediterranean. The Indian Ocean has an Indian submarine and an Aegis destroyer, so we don¡¯t have to deploy two nuclear submarines. Since it¡¯s close to the Suez Canal, a submarine at the Kasos Inds could have an impact on the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like a good arrangement. Submarines on the Seychelles Inds only need to be in control of the Indian Ocean and African Seas.¡±


    ¡°We n to deploy three of the frigates that will be ready next month on the Seychelles Inds and operate them as two mobile fleets on a trial basis.¡±


    There were a total of nine used frigates acquired by the British Navy, which were being retrofitted to missile ships with thetest equipment sequentially mounted at the Danish Shipyard.


    Three 5,000-ton frigates were also being built at a shipyard of Ko? Holding in Turkey.


    If three Aegis destroyers built by the Danish shipyard wereunched additionally, it would create a powerful navy that was untouchable.


    ¡°The multi-purposending ship will be integrated next month, and it won¡¯t have much role.¡±


    ¡°The multi-purposending ship is of no immediate use, so I¡¯m thinking of using it as a support ship for the Indian Ocean mobile fleet. It¡¯s so big that we don¡¯t have to operate a supply ship separately. I will write out the n and submit it to you soon.¡±


    ¡°We are transforming as an oceanic navy. Now it¡¯s time for the Navy to have an admiral in ce.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, did you say Admiral?¡±

 Chapter 694 - Royal Fleet (2)

    <h4>Chapter 694: Royal Fleet (2)</h4>


    The Kazakh Navy and Royal Bodyguards had yet to have an admiral and a general.


    In the Navy, generals were usually described as admiral, not formally in office or rank.


    Two nuclear-powered submarines and a 30,000-ton multipurposending ship were soon to be deployed and the absence of an admiral would be directly linked to naval morale, so this time, Victor Jun would be promoted.


    Likewise, it was problematic that themander¡¯s rank barely remained in the colonel¡¯s ranks even though the number of the Royal guards was approaching 20,000.


    When the first admiral of the Kazakh Navy was born and the promotion ceremony of generals of the Royal Bodyguards was held, the prime minister and other military chiefs of staff attended the ceremony.


    The Queen directly gave the certificate of rank at the ceremony as themander-in-chief of the Kazakh Kingdom was the Queen.


    And Kazakhstan¡¯s generals were awarded a general¡¯s sword bearing the queen¡¯s autograph, which they saw as a great honor.


    It was something that the previous administration did not try, but they were proud that the military was a favored group by the queen.


    Existing generals had also taken vows of loyalty to the queen and received a general¡¯s sword after bing a constitutional monarchy, and it was taken with great pride.


    The generals attending the official event wore the swords and made everyone who did not have it envy.


    This promotion to the Navy admiral had a significant meaning.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s navy could finally stand shoulder to shoulder with other countries¡¯ navies at joint operations now.


    The reality was that even though a country had a weak national power, those with high ranks were still treated better and those with lower ranks would be looked down upon.


    Cho Chul-hwan was promoted to general this time, allowing him to establish his status as a captain of the Royal Bodyguards.


    He smiled as he sat down at the celebration reception after the promotion ceremony.


    ¡°I can see all of your teeth, so stop smiling.¡±


    ¡°You guys must be envious of me.¡±


    ¡°I will not change the position of the intelligence chief of Kazakhstan even if you promote me as themander of the Royal Bodyguards ten times. When would you put up four stars? Will it be possible when you are 60?¡±


    As Park Jong-il kept teasing him, Cho Chul-hwan also snapped.


    ¡°Just say it out loud if you are jealous. Why are you trying to ruin my mood?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I said I won¡¯t ept the post of themander of the Royal Bodyguards no matter what.¡±


    When the two quarreled, Cha In-soo stepped up.


    ¡°Boast about your positions for a hundred years. You all know I¡¯m in a more substantial position. There¡¯s no Chief of Staff above me, and I don¡¯t have anyone to report my progress.¡±


    ¡°The president of the securitypany, just stay out of this. It¡¯s not your ce.¡±


    ¡°Learn that mercenaries who don¡¯t care about rank are above you.¡±


    The securitypany operated by Cha In-soo had a private militarypany as its subsidiary.


    A private militarypany was an organization that could deploy soldiers to a politically sensitive local war where regr troops could not be deployed.


    Though called mercenaries, they were as armed as regr soldiers of a country of great size and would soon prove their worth.


    The mercenaries of thepany were now gaining experience in Syria, operating legally on a formal request from the Kazakh royal family.


    The Kazakh royal request was a call to wipe out Syrian crime rings linked to Greek crime rings.


    The Greek government was not able to deal with its own criminal organizations effectively, so the Kazakh royal family was trying to wipe out the Syrian criminal organizations linked to them first. Since the Kazakh military was unable to send its troops because it had officially withdrawn from Syria, it referred the job to a private militarypany.


    The private militarypany, a subsidiary of the Zeynep Security Company, was not affiliated with the Kazakh royal family, as it operated based in Baku, Azerbaijan.


    Even if the royal family was exposed, it could be politically free because it was a private enterprise.


    Most of the mercenaries were from South Korea¡¯s special forces, Kurdish militia, and Uyghur militia.


    They, who were mostly single and had no special skills, joined the mercenarypany in a desire to experience rough living and touch their share of money in a short period of time.


    ¡°Educate them strictly. Don¡¯t embarrass the royal family for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Officially, it has no rtion to the royal family, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    The employees of the private militarypany were very rough-tempered and caused trouble if they were released a little bit.


    ¡°I mean, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying. It¡¯s the most troubling organization in the royal territory, so please tighten up their discipline.¡±


    ¡°They only identally broke some equipment when they got drunk. If they insulted women, I wouldn¡¯t have let it go.¡±


    ¡°Such things happen because you, who are in charge of them, are soft-hearted. So far, they¡¯ve been free but from now, I¡¯ll put them in the guardhouse if they get in trouble, so be sure to warn them.¡±


    ¡°Give me a break, they¡¯re poor friends. Drinking is the only thing a single person can enjoy after work. They wouldn¡¯t have jumped into such a tough job with their lives as coteral.¡±


    ¡°Nobody forced them to do that. If they¡¯re willing to make more money, they should save on their drinks. Send them to the Royal Guards formissioned training. I¡¯ll refresh their minds.¡±


    After interrupting their conversation, Cho Chul-hwan shed hismander-in-chief badge.


    ¡°It looks like you think everyone is under you after putting on a star. Just know that the training of the Royal Bodyguards is nothing but a yground to our mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see how good the mercenaries are.¡±


    In the corner of the banquet hall on the day of the promotion ceremony, Youngho¡¯s friends were raising their voices, saying their group was better than each other.


    ***


    ¡°Szechenyi, where is Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship that I don¡¯t see?¡±


    ¡°It went out to the Antic Ocean for a test navigation.¡±


    ¡°The Antic Ocean in October... Isn¡¯t it too rough? It went so far out for a test navigation.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s 25,000 tons, so what are you worried about? The Antic wave is nothing.¡±


    Youngho was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend theunching ceremony of the multipurposending ship and frigates and was looking around the shipyard after the event.


    There were four warships that would beunched this time, one multipurposending ship and three frigates.


    The remaining six frigates would also be deployed next month.


    If that happened, a total of 12 frigates would be deployed to the Royal Navy, including three existing frigates.


    Four frigates would be deployed in the Mediterranean Sea and the rest would be deployed to the Indian Ocean¡¯s task force.


    An Aegis destroyer and four frigates would be assigned to one task force, and a multi-purposending ship would follow them as a support ship.


    The Indian Ocean fleet would consist of two task force groups and a nuclear-powered submarine now.


    ¡°The Aegis destroyers willunch next July, right?


    ¡°Sure. We¡¯ve finished renovating the frigates, so we are quite free, so it could be a month or two faster.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job.¡±


    ¡°I heard nuclear submarines will be deployed at the end of the year. So the ocean navy is about to bepleted?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s by our standards, but it¡¯s not even close to other powerful nations¡¯ feet. We need to secure more multipurpose assault andnding ships and have about ten mid-sized submarines to be the size of other oceanic navies.¡±


    ¡°Some will say thendlocked country is being too greedy. Her Majesty sometimes asks why is a country that doesn¡¯t have an adjacent sea trying to strengthen its naval power so much?¡±


    ¡°The ocean doesn¡¯t belong to anyone. Who do wein to if the sea was blocked? We have to protect the path that our merchant ships travel on our own.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a member of the United Nations. Do you think it¡¯ll turn a blind eye to us?¡±


    ¡°Well, how long will they remain allies? It is the internationalmunity that today¡¯s allies be enemies tomorrow and today¡¯s enemies be allies tomorrow. You need the power to protect yourself to be treated by others.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re building naval bases in the Mediterranean?¡±


    ¡°The ships that cross the Indian Ocean are bound to pass through the Suez Canal. If we watch the Suez Canal at its entrance, no one will be able to mess with Kazakh ships. That¡¯s why we secured the Kasos Inds this time. Though they are shabby, uninhabited inds, once the Kazakh naval base is built, the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Sea will be in our hands. Imagine a strong naval force there. Just imagining it makes me feel good.¡±


    ¡°The powers have military bases all over the ce, and we¡¯ve only now managed to have a dedicated base in the Mediterranean. From now on, it¡¯s time to make a dedicated port aimed at the Arctic Ocean.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a Kazakh dock at Copenhagen Harbor, and our ship can dock in Greend, too. Southern European countries can¡¯t even dream of it.¡±


    ¡°We owe it to you since you married a princess of Denmark, but you need to know that we can put the Danish royal family in a difficult position. International rtions aren¡¯t always like a textbook. When the Arctic Ocean¡¯s logistics amount reaches the amount of the logistics of the Indian Ocean in the future, Copenhagen Harbor will be moreplex than it is now. Then we have to leave on our own.¡±


    If the Danish political circle judged that the existence of the Kazakh royal family was annoying, it would mess up the Kazakh royal family and Danish royal family¡¯s rtionship.


    Youngho did not intend to do anything stupid that would put his inws in a difficult position.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re targeting somewhere other than Copenhagen?¡±


    ¡°Not right now, but I¡¯m just getting ready to leave one day. I don¡¯t want to put you in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    How could he not care about Szechenyi who was like his younger brother?


    If he did not do so, he would not be able to live to his destined years because of Fatima and Zeynep¡¯sints.


    ¡°It¡¯s about you, I can¡¯t help but care. Either way, we have to empty the harbor on our own before the Danish government asks to clear it. I don¡¯t want to develop a strained rtionship with Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Denmark can¡¯t begrudge our royal family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that¡¯s the case now, but I¡¯m saying that there will be a change one day. Just know that there is no failure for someone who always has the worst case in mind.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I see what you mean. So, in case that happens, should I look for an ind that our royal family can use exclusively?¡±


    ¡°No inds in Denmark. That wille as a burdenter on.¡±


    ¡°I know that much.¡±


    On the day the Indian Ocean fleet waspleted, Youngho was thinking of creating another naval base in the North Antic Ocean.


    Until now, he had strengthened the Kazakh Navy¡¯s mobile warfare to keep China in check in the Indian Ocean, and now, it was time to speed up preparations to exert power in the Arctic Ocean.


    He could take a breath when one wasplete, but his mind became busier.


    As a Korean businessman preached, ¡°The world is wide and there are many things to do.¡± And Youngho felt exactly the same.

 Chapter 695 - Royal Fleet (3)

    <h4>Chapter 695: Royal Fleet (3)</h4>


    Used frigates bought from Britain were remodeled in the Danish Shipyard and were now deployed to the Kazakh Navy, increasing the number of ships operating in the Indian Ocean to 11.


    One Aegis destroyer and four frigates were grouped into one task force group and the total of two task force groups deployed in the Indian Ocean. The multipurposending ship was serving as amand ship and a support ship for the groups.


    Four frigates had also been deployed on Arirang and Meltemi inds, cing the southeastern Mediterranean region on the border.


    Then, the U.S. Navy also withdrew two Aegis destroyers that had been deployed forward near the Suez Canal to the central Mediterranean Sea.


    It was because four frigates of Kazakhstan¡¯s Navy were deployed in the southeastern waters, and there was no reason to duplicate the forces.


    However, the Kazakh navy was not doing it for free of charge.


    Youngho also did not forget to take the benefit in return, citing that the Kazakh Navy, which had rtively weak national power, was operating as a multinational force.


    The U.S. Navy had decided to provide cruise missiles in exchange for some of the work of the Kazakh Mediterranean fleet.


    When two task forces were formed in the Indian Ocean after Victor Jun was promoted to admiral, he was on board a multi-purposending ship tomand the first maneuvers.


    The scene of the maneuvers in the Indian Ocean between Seychelles and the Maldives was being filmed by a photographer from the armed forces information and education division of the Defense Ministry. He was moving around the deck swiftly not to miss any of the movements.


    The training footage taken today would soon be broadcast throughout Kazakhstan and the federal states. This was because it was a good material that would instill pride in the people of the Kazakh Federal Kingdom.


    Despite being ind, the Kazakh Navy had capabilities that were unrivaled to many bigger nations.


    Such national promotional films were often created for the people of the Kazakh Kingdom, and so far, they loved to watch them. They were proud of their country.


    ¡°Get everything in the film. All the people should see it, and His Highness and Her Majesty are very interested in this too.¡±


    ¡°Admiral, this sight is so spectacr that the whole nation will be thrilled by it. Would they have dreamed of traveling across the ocean with such arge fleet? It¡¯s all the power of our royal family. I¡¯m even getting goosebumps.¡±


    ¡°I feel the same way as you do. Don¡¯t get excited and make a great video.¡±


    Victor Jun was now experiencing mixed feelings.


    When he just became an officer, he was in charge of a retired 100-ton Chamsuri-ss patrol boat from the Korean Navy, and only a while ago, hemanded an Aegis destroyer, and now he wasmanding a 30,000-ton-ss fleetmand vessel. It felt like he was still dreaming.


    If a nuclear submarine was deployed next month, the fleet would be invincible in the Indian Ocean.


    The 30,000-ton multipurposending ship was huge, with 240 meters long and 37 meters wide flight deck.


    The deck in front of the control tower, which stood tall on the right side of the flight deck, was equipped with 20 vertical missileunchers and even a goalkeeper, so the vessel had its own anti-aircraft defense capability.


    In addition, a dock was installed on it so that a submarine weighing less than 500 tons produced in the royal territory could be docked and used if necessary.


    Now it was a supply ship, but when it came tonding operations, it could carry 12 attack helicopters, 10 tanks, 15 amphibious armored vehicles, 10 trucks, and two hovercrafts, on top of 1,500 troops.


    In addition, the water and oil carried on thending ship were enough for one mobile fleet to use for a month.


    He had never thought that his friendship with the Duke of Kazakhstan since the days of the autonomous state would continue this long.


    He thought it was a joke then when the Duke asked him if he would want to be the Minister of National Defense, it was slowlying to reality.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the pilot of the helicopter that justnded? I don¡¯t know how a man wandering on this wide flight deck cannd on an Aegis destroyer or a frigate.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s excited to have such a wide space since he has been using narrow decks.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot that. If the Duke sees it, he won¡¯t like it.¡±


    Helicopter pilots werending roughly without any tension because the flight deck was so wide.


    It was the first exercise and both task force groups attended, and the helicopters that were yet to be installed on the multi-purposending ships were training to take off andnd on the ship¡¯s flight deck.


    ¡°Assistant, check which ship the helicopter belongs to. We have no choice but to reprimand the captain.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Thending ship¡¯s bridge was as noisy as a beehive, as a small-sized submarineunching exercise was going on as well.


    Thending ship¡¯s bridge was equipped with control tower functions, so about 20 officers would be working on it, so it had to be noisy.


    It was natural that their voices rose when they were trying to do something unfamiliar to their hands.


    With themander of the fleet watching the drill, it seemed as if they were on a real operation with high tension.


    Such training should be repeated dozens of times so that soldiers¡¯ hands and feet would get ustomed to the maneuvers of their work, and mistakes would be reduced.


    Admiral Jun¡¯s voice grew louder and louder as he thought the joint training for 15 days was a way to improve the survival of the Kazakh Navy.


    ***


    The Kazakh Navy¡¯s mobile fleet entering the Indian naval base on Seychelles was in perfect order. This was the result of the hard training of 15 days.


    The Seychelles base was anchored by an Indian naval destroyer, so only themand ship¡ªthending ship¡ªwas moored at the pier, while the rest of the vessels anchored at the outside port and stood by.


    The Indian Navy looked surprised at the arrival of thending ship, which was nicknamed Almaty.


    The unusual type ofnding ship modified from a used cargo ship with a new painting looked like a new one.


    At first nce, it was easily mistaken for an aircraft carrier, not anding ship.


    Themander of the Seychelles base courteously greeted the admiral of the Kazakh Navy.


    Regardless of rank, when a foreign warship visited, it was treated as a special presence, unlikemercial vessels. This was because the warships of each country were symbolic of the dignity and sovereignty of the country.


    ¡°We sincerely wee your visit.¡±


    Colonel Asam, themander of the Seychelles base, weed Victor.


    After seeing the aircraft carrier-ssnding ship, he seemed nervous.


    ¡°Thank you for your wee. You¡¯ve built a great base. An aircraft carrier would be able to make it easy if our ship did so.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. This is just the beginning. It will be thergest naval base in the Indian Ocean if a dedicated dock for the Kazakh Navy is built.¡±


    ¡°Our Queen and Duke are also very grateful for giving up your room for our navy. His Highness sent me some vodka from Siberia to thank you.¡±


    ¡°A gift directly from the royal family. It¡¯s quite an honor...¡±


    India was also a Commonwealth country, so Indians were very respective of any royal family.


    ¡°Until we finish the construction, we¡¯re in a position to share your base. Thank you again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. We have a military alliance. It¡¯s right for us to help our ally in need.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s less burdensome since you say so.¡±


    Not everyone in India weed the military alliance with Kazakhstan, although they were said to have formed a military alliance.


    Colonel Asam was one of those people.


    Since it was an alliance with a small country, he felt a little contemptuous.


    After checking the ally¡¯s armed forces with his own eyes, however, he realized how wrong he was.


    The Kazakh fleet had brought Aegis destroyers which India did not even have.


    Captain Asam confirmed his faith in the Kazakh Navy after seeing the greatmand of the mobile fleet.


    Normally, when entering a foreign port or base, it wasmon to disy all the nes on the flight deck and show them off. It also meant disarming the other side by showing off its military power and showing that there was nothing more to hide.


    However, because there was not a single helicopter or ne on the deck of the multipurposending ship, as none was deployed yet, it was mistaken that it had been moved to a maintenance shop under the deck by an airne elevator.


    Either way, Captain Asam, who saw the greatness of the Kazakh Royal Navy, was paying keen respect to Admiral Jun.


    ¡°Admiral, are you going to continue to stay at Seychelles Base, too?¡±


    ¡°I n to stay here for the time being. We¡¯re going to have a nuclear submarine at Seychelles Base next month, so I should stay there until we can operate smoothly.¡±


    ¡°You mean you are deploying a nuclear submarine in the Indian Ocean?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a military secret of our country, but I¡¯m telling you this because I think you should know, so please be extra careful about security.¡±


    ¡°Of course. But what kind of submarine is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Oscar-ss submarine. The other one will be operating somewhere else and join the Indian Ocean if necessary.¡±


    Captain Asam was so surprised at the mention of the Oscar-ss submarine.


    ¡°You mean you have two Oscar-ss superrge nuclear submarines?¡±


    China had already made a fuss to prevent Russia from exporting nuclear-powered submarines, so it was already well known.


    ¡°I guess you didn¡¯t know that our country has acquired nuclear submarines yet. There will be two nuclear-powered submarines operating in the Indian Ocean.¡±

 Chapter 696 - A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (1)

    <h4>Chapter 696: A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (1)</h4>


    The voice of Captain Asam got more confident as if he gained strength when Admiral Jun told him about the nuclear-powered submarines.


    ¡°We will do our best to make sure that your troops will not be ufortable in the future. I¡¯m so proud that you¡¯re our ally.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m encouraged by your kindness. When I get back home, I¡¯ll make sure to report your hospitality.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. It is for the friendship between the two countries, and I am very proud to be able to help as a basemander. We¡¯ll make it as convenient for you as possible.¡±


    The Kazakh Navy, which participated in this operation, had just over 2,600 members.


    The Aegis destroyer and multi-purposending ship each had about 300 troops and the frigates had a capacity of about 220 people.


    It was twice as many as the number of Indian soldiers working in the Seychelles Inds.


    About a quarter of the Kazakh Navy participated, and any sailor who had ever been out to the sea was deployed to this operation.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s reality was that its naval forces were far short of the increasing number of vessels. Starting from just 3,000, the number had now barely passed the 10,000 mark.


    About one-twentieth of them were those who served as nomissioned officers or officers in the Korean Navy.


    Those who were discharged from the Korean Navy after serving in an Aegis destroyer or submarine unit, who became civilian military officers of the Kazakh Navy on condition ofnd duty after a year of ship service, were ying a pivotal role in the operation of the vessel.


    It was no exaggeration to say that most of the important equipment was operated by their hands, so it would be impossible to operate a ship without the former Korean naval officers.


    As time went by, the role of civilian military personnel increased, and some even re-enlisted as officers.


    Whether they were nonmissioned officers or barely just officers, they were unconditionallymissioned as officers if they were fluent in Russian.


    This was because the navy still had to wait another two years to produce officers at the Royal Naval Academy.


    Since there was no need to have all of the two task force groups at the Seychelles base, Youngho was nning to build Kazakhstan¡¯s own naval base in the port of Mahajanga, Madagascar.


    As Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship would be voluntarily working in Madagascar, it would be the first step toward his n.


    This was because the presence of escort ships was necessary to protect the hospital ship and exert influence on eastern Africa.


    Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship would be escorted by the Mediterranean fleet, so the tanker must follow it as intermediate refueling was essential to sail from the Mediterranean to Madagascar, the southernmost ind of the Indian Ocean.


    The hospital ship was 25,000 tons and had arge tank of oil, so it could travel without refueling, but the 3,000-ton frigates had a range of only 7,000 kilometers and must be refueled. This was because the distance from the Mediterranean Sea to the port of Mogadishu, located in the northwest of Madagascar, was over 9,000 kilometers.


    If the supply ship did not follow, there was an inconvenience of receiving oil from the port of Djibouti or Mogadishu.


    ***


    ¡®The Zeynep,¡¯ the 25,000-ton hospital ship, was sailing at an average speed of 17 kilometers per hour.


    In the front, a 3,000-ton frigate, ¡®the Ural¡¯, was escorting the hospital ship and a supply ship was seen following behind the hospital ship.


    Afterpleting the test run, the hospital ship embarked on a full medical service journey, and the first destination was the port of Mahajanga in Madagascar.


    The hospital ship departed from Copenhagen, Denmark, joined with ¡®the Ural¡¯ in the Mediterranean, then passed through the Suez Canal, passing the Red Sea and just got into the Gulf of Aden.


    When it was ordered to reinforce the alert from the preceding vessel of Ural, a toon of the guards assigned to the hospital ship was removing the packaging of the 20-millimeter machine guns ced all over the deck.


    Watching the scene, Zeynep tilted her head.


    She did not understand the fuss of the guards as there were armed frigate and supply ships in the hospital¡¯s front and back. As it was hard to believe that the dozens ofrge ships sailing through the Gulf of Aden were still targets of pirate attack, she squinted her eyes.


    ¡°Princess, have you called me?¡±


    Lieutenant Shim Eun-seop, the captain of the Royal Bodyguards who boarded the hospital ship, was a former Korean Navy¡¯s special forces sergeant who became a naturalized Kazakh.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing a great job, but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why you are making such a fuss and making everyone nervous when there aren¡¯t many risk factors. I¡¯m getting a lot ofints about keeping no one on deck.¡±


    Zeynep was also stuck in the cabin¡¯s office because they kept no one on deck during the operation.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It was our first voyage, so we had to overrun our operation. You just have to wait for about 10 minutes.¡±


    When Zeynep seriously protested, Lieutenant Shim was at a loss of what to say.


    He was only following the order of the frigate captain to tighten the security but he was embarrassed when the arrow of Zeynep¡¯sint pointed at him.


    ¡°No pirates will attack us with two big ships escorting us. If you create tension, our medical staff will be shaken.¡±


    ¡°All right, Your Highness. I¡¯ll report to the captain of the frigate and clear the perimeter immediately.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Wasn¡¯t it your order?¡±


    ¡°No way. We must follow the instructions of the frigate at sea.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯m sorry that Iined to you when you were not responsible for it.¡±


    ¡°No, princess. We had a special order from the Duke, so I was going to strengthen our vignce anyway.¡±


    ¡°His Highness made a special order?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he did. He said in any case, your safety is the top priority. Please understand if we extend our vignce a little bit too much. His Highness was very concerned about your personal security too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, gee. I¡¯m on the hospital ship. Why would I need personal security? He still thinks I¡¯m a clumsy kid. I¡¯ll have to be stuck inside the ship to ease Lieutenant Shim¡¯s worries.¡±


    As she replied to Lieutenant Shim, Zeynep twisted her body as she was ttered.


    It was a good feeling that everyone was trying hard to protect her. She added.


    ¡°Lieutenant Shim, please make it seem less noticeable for our medical staff. Thank you.¡±


    When Zeynep thanked him in a slightly nasal voice, he left the office with a blushed face at Jayep¡¯s cuteness.


    Soon after Lieutenant Shim left, the deck was freed.


    But the guards were still on the alert, shing their eyes.


    When the nurses made coffee and handed it to the guards, the young men¡¯s hearts were warmed.


    They wanted to show off their strength to the nurses, but sadly the sea was at peace and they had not much to do.


    Looking at the scene, Zeynep smiled. It seemed that there would be many new couples after this medical service.


    ***


    As they moved out of the Gulf of Aden and into the Arabian Sea, the guards loosened their vignce.


    While the frigate received the oil from the supply vessel, the hospital ship continued to sail diligently. Due to the slow speed of the hospital ship, other ships had been sailing like a turtle so far, so it was done to save a little time as waiting for the frigate to be refueled was meaningless.


    Less than half an hour after the hospital ship began its solo voyage, there were two boats that quickly followed the hospital ship.


    Sergeant Azadi, who was on duty, quickly rang the emergency bell when he discovered the existence of two boats while looking around with a telescope.


    The guards on the hospital ship were on a two-hour patrol mission at the steering room, so they were able to respond quickly.


    As the emergency bell rang, the rest of the guards rushed to the 20-millimeter machine guns installed all over the deck.


    Shim, who looked through a telescope at approaching boats about one kilometer away, realized that they were not visiting the hospital ship for friendly purposes.


    Each boat had five or six sturdy men on board, all armed. At a nce, it seemed they were also carrying a portable missileuncher.


    He felt his short hair stand on its end. The confusion was brief and the guards began to move ording to the maritime manual.


    ¡°Load each machine gun and fire warning shots if they get closer. If they fire back, firing at them is allowed.¡±


    This was ordered to every soldier on each machine gun and the situation was also delivered to the escorting ship receiving oil supply at a distance of 30 minutes.


    -Captain, they are approaching quickly to the rear side of the ship. What should I do?


    ¡°Fire warning shots immediately!¡±


    Shots were fired from a machine gun in the rear side of the ship.


    A momentter, the boats which were rushing at the sight of a slow hospital ship, were seen scaring and making a sharp turn.


    ¡°Enforce aimed fire.¡±


    -Aimed fire, sir?


    ¡°Who is this? The one who¡¯s asking without identifying himself?¡±


    -This is Sergeant Azadi, 23rd machine gunner.


    ¡°Was it you, Sergeant Azadi? I¡¯ll let it slide for today because you¡¯ve done your watching duty well. Don¡¯t ask anymore and do as I say.¡±


    -Yes, sir.


    The boat approaching at about a distance of 500 meters soon became a beehive.


    Smoke was seen rising from the boat¡¯s engine room.


    ¡°Cease fire!¡±


    The two boats showed no more movements.


    It would be a miracle if anyone was alive on the two boats that were shot by a machine gun in rapid session.


    The hospital ship only followed the maritime manual. In principle, all Kazakh ships sailing around the Suez Canal should attack unconditionally regardless of whether there was a provocation or not if they were determined to be pirate ships.


    That was because if they waited until the pirates reached the ship, all lives on board were at risk of immediate ughter by guns or portable missileunchers.


    While the navies of other countries were busy kicking out pirates, the Kazakh Navy and merchant ships wiped them out without mercy.


    The best option for pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea was to avoid ships of Kazakhstan unconditionally, but today was a case of bad luck.


    The hospital ship did not register its nationality because it belonged to the Zeynep charity foundation.


    The pirates¡¯ n to attack the hospital ship and secure the hostage was shattered.


    Who would have imagined that a hospital ship would be armed and there would be such a devastating attack?

 Chapter 697 - A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (2)

    <h4>Chapter 697: A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (2)</h4>


    ¡°You mean there are no injuries?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Princess, the pirates came so fast that we had to attack in self-defense. Unfortunately, no one survived.¡±


    ¡°That is unfortunate, but your response is admirable. How can you subdue them so quickly in that short period of time?¡±


    ¡°The pirates were no match for our royal guards. It was their fault that they underestimated the hospital ship.¡±


    Lieutenant Shim¡¯s voice was full of confidence.


    He was proud of the fact that he easily guarded the hospital ship against the encounter of pirate boats.


    Zeynep knew something had happened because of the sudden emergency bell sound and the loud sound of machine guns. She was stuck in the cabin in horror and just found out what happened from Lieutenant Shim.


    So she was asking if there were any injuries.


    The hospital ship had a chance to y its part, and the force of the Royal Bodyguards was so strong that it left no injuries.


    The principle was that a hospital ship would save any life even if it was an enemy.


    The captain of the frigate ship, The Ural, was in a bad mood.


    It was getting refueled while the hospital ship was encountering pirates, but the situation had already been concluded when it finally caught up with the hospital ship.


    Fortunately, the ship overpowered the enemy without harm, but the fault of letting the hospital ship sail alone was not eliminated.


    Thinking about being reprimanded by Admiral Jun, who was known to be stricter than the Duke of Kazakhstan, made him dizzy.


    So he hurriedly got off his ship and headed for the hospital ship.


    This was because he had to make things right with the princess to avoid harsh reprimand from Admiral Jun.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a big deal, but I think you¡¯re more surprised, captain.¡±


    ¡°Princess, this isn¡¯t a small issue. The problem is that the pirates targeted the hospital ship. I feel like I¡¯ve been to hell. It¡¯s my fault that I judged that we¡¯ve passed the danger zone.¡±


    ¡°In fact, any ship is rxingly sailing in Arabian waters. It¡¯s the pirates¡¯ fault for trying to hijack the hospital ship. How could it be your fault?¡±


    ¡°The problem is that in any case, the hospital ship has be their target.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hard on yourself. We had the ability to defend ourselves, so we sailed alone. We actually sank two pirate boats.¡±


    ¡°Princess, you must be in a terrible shock to hear such loud gunshots. Can you continue sailing like this?¡±


    Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov, captain of the Ural, was on edge.


    He could bear a severe reprimand for this, but he was more worried about the princess¡¯s condition.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of when we have you and a strong crew. And even if a stronger enemy attacks, the frigate can suppress them easily. I found the battle very interesting.¡±


    He knew Princess Zeynep was bold but he was still dumbfounded as she said she was not afraid but rather, interested in the situation.


    ¡°We¡¯ve reported our encounter with the pirate ship to the Indian Ocean fleet, so there will be an order soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my! Do you have to report every little thing that happened during the voyage?¡±


    ¡°We need to let them know that the waters in Arabia are not safe, so they can prevent other damage. We have to tell them to sail in international waters instead of following the coastline because of this mishap. We need to report in detail to share information.¡±


    As soon as the report was made, the cause of such an incident should be revealed.


    The hospital ship moved alone, and that was the reason that the pirates made it a target.


    Ivanov, who allowed the ship¡¯s solo voyage, should make clear of his mistake.


    ¡°Don¡¯t write it in your navigational log, just move on. You¡¯re going to have a hard time because of a little happening. If you really need to report it, report that the ship made a solo voyage because I was stubborn.¡±


    He appreciated the consideration of the princess, but he could not write a false report.


    ¡°I have already reported to themander of the fleet that it was caused by my misjudgment. Pirates¡¯ approach to the hospital ship is not something to be ignored.¡±


    ***


    Admiral Jun was stunned when he heard that the pirate boats had targeted the hospital ship.


    -What? Why would pirates attack a Kazakh ship?


    ¡°It looks like the pirates targeted the hospital ship because it didn¡¯t mark its nationality on the hospital ship.¡±


    It was not until Jun heard Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov¡¯s exnation that there was no indication of nationality on the hospital ship.


    -The ship will have to wear a g on the mast from now on.


    ¡°Yes, sir. Commander.¡±


    -How is the princess?


    ¡°She said it was rather interesting.¡±


    -She can endure it because she¡¯s a bold person, but if anyone else would have said it, then she should go back right now. If the Royal Bodyguards weren¡¯t stationed there, it could have been a disaster. Never make such a mistake in the future again.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have troubled you. The crew was on board, and I was a little careless as we entered safe waters.¡±


    -Be on your guard at all times.


    An Aegis destroyer, which was taking a rest, was dispatched right away to escort the hospital ship.


    It was a little too much to send an Aegis destroyer because of a mere appearance of pirate ships, but it was to be considerate of Princess Zeynep in case she was surprised.


    It was a good thing that guards were on the hospital ship.


    If the Duke of Kazakhstan had heard this, it would have been extremely distressing for him.


    He would probably go to war with Somalia as a whole if the princess was kept as a hostage.


    The mere thought of it made Admiral Jun dizzy. He could not sit still unless he took action.


    Thus, he decided to attack a pirate vige near Kismayo, another stronghold of Somali pirates.


    It was about 1,600 kilometers from the Port of Victoria on Seychelles to Kismayo, a port south of Somalia.


    It was a good distance to reach in 30 hours by sailing at 30 knots.


    He was considering a n to send a frigate lounging around in the Port of Victoria to devastate the pirates.


    Pirates also had a mother ship that carried boats, and sinking it alone would make it difficult for the pirate boats toe out far and operate.


    He could not wipe out piratespletely, but if the mother ship was destroyed, the pirates would be inactive for the time being.


    It may turn into an international issue, but Admiral Jun put his n into action without a blink of an eye. Themander of the Kazakh Royal Navy¡¯s fleet had the authority to carry out such operations independently.


    ***


    Two frigates that received Admiral Jun¡¯s order were sailing toward Somalia¡¯s Kismayo.


    The frigates, which were newly dispatched this time, were thetest version made in a Turkish shipyard and boasted a maximum speed of 35 knots.


    Sailing at about 25 knots per hour on average, the two ships arrived at Kismayo Beach in 35 hours.


    Kismayo was a port city located in the southern part of Somalia, about 400 kilometers from Mogadishu.


    The home to pirates was located about 30 kilometers south of the Kismayo port, which had about 5,000 active members.


    Pirates usually moved into three groups, with two hijacker groups and one support group, and the payment for the release of the hostage was based on the principle of equal distribution to the three groups.


    The hijacking of ships by Somali pirates was known to be borate and deliberate.


    Pirates usually waited on a mother ship capable of ocean navigation before intercepting themunication of foreign vessels throughnd-based radio stations or nned to hijack passing cargo ships that stood out.


    Once a target ship was set, the groups were divided into three high-speed boats and arrived at the target, threatening with rocketunchers and upying the steering room before securing the hostages.


    Then, they quickly entered Somali territorial waters to negotiate the release of the hostages to avoid the pursuit of the multinational fleet.


    They were not interested in cargo and aimed only to hostage the crew and receive payment for their release in cash.


    The main weapons used by pirates include portable rocketunchers, M60 machine guns, and AK rifles.


    What was unusual was that in Somalia, one of the jobs young people were envious of is piracy.


    Because pirates had luxury vis and luxury foreign cars, many Somali women wanted to marry a pirate.


    ¡°Captain, I suspect three 500-ton ships floating near the beach.¡±


    Lieutenant Commander Azuka, the deputymander of the frigate 902, said as he turned the telescope over to the captain after examining the beach.


    Then Lieutenant Colonel Almaz, themander of the frigate 902, shook his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s a fishing boat.¡±


    ¡°There can¡¯t be such a big fishing boat in Somalia. Can you see four small boats hanging from the deck? This is not a tuna fishing area, but there are too many small boats. If it¡¯s not the mother ship of pirate ships, there¡¯s no reason to dock here. This is likely to be the Punnd or the Merca group of 12 Somali military cliques.¡±


    The Punnd group, a military clique operating off the coast of Kismayo Port in southern Somalia, had about 10,000 members, while the Merca group, a military clique operating off the southern port of Merca, had 5,000 members.


    Usually, it was rare to see a fishing boat that weighed more than 500 tons in poor Somalia, and there was no reason for that ship to anchor and dock on a beach where there was no suitable port.


    ¡°Get in touch with the 903. If they also have the same opinion as us, let¡¯sunch an attack unconditionally.¡±


    Upon the captain¡¯s order, Lieutenantmander Azuka diligentlymunicated with the frigate 903 to determine if it was the mother ship of pirate ships.


    ¡°Captain, the 903 agrees with us. Themunicator of 903 said that there can¡¯t be a fishing boat of that size here.¡±


    A ship of such a big size should enter a port to carry ice, but it was suspicious that it was on such an isted beach.


    There was no freezer to store the fish and the facilities to supply oil or water either.


    ¡°Look through the telescope again. If you see anything suspicious,unch the attack.¡±


    ¡°Captain, they¡¯re suddenly floundering up the anchor. I think they found our ships.¡±


    There were tworge warships just a kilometer away, but the pirates were not too worried. It was because warships from other countries could not enter the area without permission and attack even if they were proven to be pirates as this was in Somali waters.


    But there was something they did not know.


    The Kazakh Navy was a group thatpletely ignored such clumsy internationalws.

 Chapter 698 - A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (3)

    <h4>Chapter 698: A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (3)</h4>


    Threerge and small vessels, presumed to be the pirates¡¯ mother ships, were heading northward at full speed as soon as their anchors were raised.


    They sailed at about the speed of 20 knots, so the two frigates could follow it with ease.


    ¡°Deputy captain, what they have in their hands are portable rocketunchers, right?¡±


    ¡°Captain, there are others with AK rifles.¡±


    The two captains, who were watching the mother ships through the telescope, were certain that they belonged to pirates. Any fishing boat should not have that kind of weapons on board. There was a slight chance that they belonged to a southern military clique, but it was still worth following them.


    Somalia had been virtually in anarchy due to a long civil war. It was where wars had been perpetuated by the struggle for leadership of 12rge and small military cliques.


    Pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden or northern Arabian waters were linked in some form to those cliques as they directly operated pirates or paid them to do kidnappings.


    The military cliques were also forced to be active in piracy as it was a channel to raise funds to run their organization.


    Familiar with the situation, Kazakh navies had been relentless in attacking ships suspected of being pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.


    Today, they finally found suspicious ships.


    ¡°Captain, I think we have enough evidence to attack them.¡±


    ¡°All right. Call the 903 and tell them to attack the two leading ships. Our ship will be in charge of the big ship that¡¯sgging behind.¡±


    As they were convinced, they were mother ships of the high-speed boats that attacked Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship and they did not hesitate.


    Even if they were not pirates, armed Somali ships could turn into pirates at any time, so they must be sunk as a precaution. This was because the internationalmunity ssified Somali military cliques as potential pirates.


    ¡°Captain, we have to fire first warning shots, or it might be a problemter.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already in Somali territorial waters, so what¡¯s to worry? And I¡¯ve never seen the Somali government take issue with that. The government is busy taking care of itself.¡±


    ¡°Okay, sir. We willunch an attack immediately. This is the bridge. Can you hear me, 127-millimeter main gun?¡±


    -Aye, aye, sir!


    ¡°Take aim at the rearmost vessel ahead!¡±


    -Aye, aye, sir! Launching the main gun.


    A few momentster, with a loud ¡®bang¡¯ sound, the gun went off.


    However, there was only a loud foaming at the back of the pirate ship ahead as if it had missed.


    ¡°Main gunner, wake up! You can¡¯t even get that?¡±


    Soon, the runched shell hit the ship¡¯s rear deck.


    The old, shabby vessel was sinking into the water in an instant when it was shot directly by a shell.


    When a 127-millimeter shell was fired directly, even a warship made of iron could be damaged, so civilian vessels would be shattered by it.


    The vessel 903 also fired three or four shells at the ships, quickly sinking two of the leading ships.


    The explosive power of the shell was so great that even a slight flick of the shell destroyed everything.


    The navies circled around the scene of the sinking to find survivors, but all they could find were misceneous items and debris from the ship.


    The human body, vulnerable to the powerful tyranny in the event of an explosion, had no ability to withstand it.


    ¡°Operation closed! Good work everyone. We go back to Seychelles.¡±


    Two frigates turned in the eastward direction when the order of the senior captain, Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov, was issued.


    This was because if they wandered around for no reason, they could easily be seen in the eyes of a passing fishing boat.


    Although smaller than the Aegis destroyer, the size of the frigates was also huge.


    The impact must be serious since two such huge warships entered Somali waters and sank three civilian ships believed to be the mother ships of pirates.


    It was clear that those mother ships had contacted their bases while being chased by the warships. However, they did not have time to escape as it happened so quickly.


    ***


    Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship at the Port of Victoria on Seychelles was a spectacle.


    Not only because of its huge size and weight of 25,000 tons but also because it belonged to a charity foundation run by a Kazakh princess.


    Asam, the head of India¡¯s naval base in Seychelles, was busy watching the hospital ship and weing the princess.


    ¡°We sincerely wee your visit.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your warm wee. I hope the sudden visit didn¡¯t bother you too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always ready to greet such a beautiful princess like you. Please think of our base as a royal annex and make yourself at home.¡±


    At Captain Asam¡¯s words, Zeynep smiled sweetly.


    ¡°If I had known that Seychelles was such a beautiful ce, I would have visited earlier. Admiral Jun mentioned it many times, and he was speaking the truth.¡±


    ¡°You must be tired of long-distance sailing. Freely take a tour around here and relieve yourself.¡±


    ¡°I want to take a few days off here, but I have to hurry because the residents of Madagascar are waiting for our hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Princess, there are surprisingly many people who don¡¯t get medical benefits in Seychelles. If you do volunteer work here, you will hear a lot of praise for the Kazakh royal family. Our Indian navy will be grateful for that.¡±


    Captain Asam intended to hold on to the princess for the time being.


    If she was on her way to medical service anyway, it would not matter if it was done in Seychelles or Madagascar.


    Since Seychelles was already used as a naval base, doing volunteer work on the inds would be beneficial for both India and Kazakhstan.


    ¡°It¡¯s a popr tourist destination, so I thought the residents have a decent living.¡±


    ¡°But the gap between the rich and the poor is severe, and because it¡¯s mostly made of inds, there are surprisingly many medical blind zones.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Then I¡¯ll have to do some volunteer work here for a while. We can¡¯t just pass it by since you shared your naval base for us.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a great decision. When you go to the ind for volunteer work, the Indian Navy will support you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you would.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rather an honor to help you.¡±


    The official name of Seychelles was the Republic of Seychelles, which belonged to the Commonwealth.


    It was an ind country located about 1,100 kilometers north of Madagascar, 1,800 kilometers east of Kenya, near the equator of the West Indies, and consisted of 116 inds.


    On Mahe, thergest ind in Seychelles, there was thergest port of Victoria, which was the capital.


    It had a poption of around 90,000.


    As a tourist destination, the per capita ie exceeded 15,000 dors and was called the Indian Ocean¡¯s Last Paradise.


    ***


    Seychelles wasrgely home to the main inds of Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, and Curieuse, of which Zeynep chose Praslin Ind as her first volunteer work area.


    The ind was home to many mixed-race natives and one of the favorite tourist destinations, and most of the natives worked as employees of amodations.


    It was crowded with Western tourists on all sides.


    The emerald sea of the Indian Ocean, the blue sky, the strange granitendscape of light gray, and thendscape that varied in every direction of the sun were indescribable.


    Upon arrival at the wharf on Praslin Ind, Zeynep was so silenced by the beautiful scenery.


    The hospital ship was unable to enter the Praslin Ind marina, so it docked at the outer port and arrived at the marina with four 20-man boats attached to the ship with medical personnel.


    A red cross was clearly visible on the whiterge ship hull floating on the outer port.


    At the news of the visit of Princess Zeynep, the younger sister of the Kazakh queen, the whole local residents, and tourists who wanted to see her gathered at the dock.


    Seychelles was an ind frequented by celebrities around the world, where the families of U.S. President Obama and Britain¡¯s Prince William and his wife, also stayed.


    However, Kazakhstan¡¯s princess was drawing more public attention because her purpose was not tourism but medical service, not to mention her outstanding beauty.


    The interest in the princess was explosive as local media made headlines that she was handing out herpassion to the poor, who were being neglected despite her high status.


    To escort the princess, the guards were dressed in civilian clothes and surrounded her, but they were not able to stop all the crowdsing to see her.


    Only by joining the local police, the princess¡¯spany could escape the dock.


    Zeynep was surprised to get this much attention from abroad.


    ¡°Oh, my! What¡¯s the big deal about volunteering? Lieutenant Shim and the guards had a hard time because of me.¡±


    ¡°No, thanks to you, we are happy to see the ind.¡±


    ¡°Please take care of the medical staff rather than me. We have to start the medical service soon.¡±


    Located an hour¡¯s drive from the dock, the native vige was lined with modern houses and the streets were rtively well organized.


    The preconceived notion of living in shabby houses was shattered.


    But she spotted children in front of houses with cigarettes in their mouths.


    When she arrived at the vige hall, she asked a local police officer.


    ¡°Officer, even children smoke here, but no one stops them.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Were you wondering about that? Anyone can smoke here. It¡¯s rather strange to have to restrain it.¡±


    ¡°Smoking in adolescence is extremely bad...¡±


    She tried to keep talking, but she, soon, shut her mouth.


    What could she do in a country that lives off tourism?


    Tourists visiting here were rich Western tourists and those who grew up watching their freewheeling lifestyles.


    They admired tourists because they depend on the tips they received from the tourists.


    To the people of Seychelles, it was natural to take care of the tourists.


    Children also preferred to follow tourists around and run errands rather than going to school because of the culture they encountered every day.


    Perhaps because of this, most of the residents who visited the clinic had bad teeth, and there were surprisingly many who suffered from venereal diseases.


    She felt bitter to have discovered the dark side hidden behind the colorful tourist resort.

 Chapter 699 - A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (4)

    <h4>Chapter 699: A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (4)</h4>


    Zeynep, who had been to Praslin Ind for volunteer work, wasining to Doctor Kim Dong-sung, the head of the hospital ship.


    She was shocked to see the smoking of children in their early teens and the prevalent sexually transmitted diseases(STDs) among the natives.


    ¡°Princess, the current status of tourist spots everywhere in the world is no different from here. In particr, Seychelles was a British colony until the ¡¯70s, so there was widespread defeatism. Rather than trying to do something for their future, people are focused on stimting the immediate peripheral nerves. We can¡¯t help it because the low culture of tourists who dream of breaking away from their daily lives at tourist destinations is affecting the residents.¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s the case with STDs, the scene of children smoking cigarettes keeps bothering me.¡±


    ¡°What would people born in tourist attractions learn and grow up to? And even though they¡¯re independent, they still have the colonial mentality. It¡¯s a ce with only 90,000 people, so it¡¯s embarrassing to call a country, but it¡¯s rolling because it has tourism revenue.¡±


    Seychelles was relying on tourism revenue for most of its state tax revenues and national ie because of itsck of human and physical resources and its own production capacity. Therefore, tourists were their hope.


    It was an economic structure that could only be sustained by struggling to meet the needs and tastes of tourists visiting the inds.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to His Highness and ask him to run a resort here. Wouldn¡¯t there be any change if Arirang Hotel were to be built here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. It would be nice to set up a clinic at the resort and take care of the residents as well.¡±


    ¡°As for providing medical service, the hospital ship can regrly stop by time to time and treat people, but I think when the royal naval base is built here, it would be nice to have a hotel as a resting ce here for the medical staff of the hospital ship going in and out of Madagascar.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very appealing idea. You have my full support. In fact, I¡¯ll take the lead in suggesting your idea to the Duke. It would be nice to have Arirang Hotel in this beautiful ce.¡±


    Zeynep thought that investing for Seychelles would strengthen Kazakhstan¡¯s position as Seychelles was sparing its room for the Kazakh naval base.


    ¡°Doctor, it was indeed a good decision toe with you on the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. So please withdraw the one-year deadline of my service on the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my! That¡¯s beyond my authority. I heard that you have a lot of work to do in the royal territory...¡±


    ¡°I have to stand on the back burner so that the juniors can have a ce. You¡¯ll be treated like a greedy old man if you don¡¯t yield your position for nothing. It¡¯s my dream to do volunteer work in remote areas, so please help me.¡±


    ¡°Hooray... Okay, I¡¯ll be on your side, so please support me, too.¡±


    Zeynep and Doctor Kim Dong-sung hit it off quickly.


    Fascinated by Seychelles¡¯ natural scenery, Zeynep wanted to make it a base for the hospital ship, which would be working in Africa.


    She also hinted about her intention to build the Arirang Hotel in Seychelles to Admiral Jun. However, he gave a negative opinion, saying Seychelles was too small a country.


    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, but the harbor is so small that it¡¯s hard to amodate all the mobile fleet. Why don¡¯t you look around Madagascar and decide?¡±


    ¡°Oh, my! The Indian base looks so big, but are you saying it¡¯s hard to amodate all of our fleet?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. Even with our own dock, only one mobile fleet can dock. I¡¯m not saying we should give up the base, but the underlying problem still remains. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve asked His Highness to build a base in Madagascar. It would be a stronghold for the Indian Ocean fleet. From a long-term perspective, it also helps Kazakhstan¡¯s national interests. This ce will be moreplicated when the Indian Navy deploys more vessels in the future. Well, Madagascar is also a ce of volunteer work, so please take a look around. There must be a ce that you¡¯ll like.¡±


    Zeynep could not argue back as Admiral Jun was right.


    When the princess looked disappointed, he continued, ¡°Madagascar is as beautiful as here. It is the setting of the novel ¡®The Little Prince¡¯ and home to the lemur monkey which is a character in a Disney movie. They say it¡¯s a very interesting animal. Why don¡¯t you invest in the area with the potential for future development? Soldiers will love it when the resort is built there.¡±


    Zeynep, an animal lover, was intrigued to hear that it was the home of the lemur monkey.


    ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed to hear what you just said. I overlooked the importance of Madagascar. Madagascar would be a good ce to provide friendship between the two countries and rest for soldiers.¡±


    When the princess let go of her will, Victor Jun was relieved.


    He was inwardly worried about her being stubborn.


    But the princess was a bright and wise girl who could make reasonable decisions.


    ***


    The burial of three pirates¡¯ mother ships in waters off Somalia seemed to have been forgotten quietly, but with the appearance of a fishing boat that witnessed the shelling near the site brought the world¡¯s attention to the issue.


    The frigates did not bear the Kazakh g, but it was obvious they belonged to the Kazakh Navy through the images of the hundreds of satellites in the sky.


    The only warships operating in the southeastern African waters were the Kazakh Navy and the Indian Navy.


    The U.N. Human Rights Council took issue with the Kazakh Navy¡¯s merciless sweep of the pirates saying that pirates also had human rights.


    ¡°Your Highness, the U.N. is going crazy against us for breaking internationalw. The problem is that we entered Somali territorial waters arbitrarily.¡±


    Admiral Jun was at a loss of what to do as an unexpected situation urred.


    -It¡¯s like a nt government. Who do you notify before entering the sea? They should thank us for wiping out the pirates¡¯ home base instead. Don¡¯t be intimidated and drive out the pirates harder. Our Foreign Ministry will continue to be unresponsive. It¡¯ll get quiet over time.


    ¡°Yes, sir. We will implement it without any setbacks.¡±


    The behavior of the U.N. Human Rights Council was reprehensible.


    It was the Human Rights Council, which issued only a brief statement in the face of the civil war, which resulted in numerous refugees and kidnappings of refugees for long-term trafficking and human trafficking, but it was now ming Kazakhstan for attacking Somali pirates.


    To Youngho, the act of attacking the hospital ship was uneptable.


    That was why when Admiral Jun btedly reported that he had wiped out the pirates¡¯ mother ships in southern Somalia, he praised his action.


    If there was no punishment despite the attack, the pirates¡¯ reckless provocations would have never ended.


    Youngho was considering dropping out of the U.N. Human Rights Council.


    It was a pity that he was paying an organization that could not show any responsible behavior.


    The U.S. recently withdrew from it as well.


    This was because it was tired of the council, which only held back the government¡¯s decision far from helping it.


    After the call with the Duke, Victorunched the operation for hunting down armed vessels in and out of Somali waters. He had nothing to hold back as the Duke said he would ignore the rmendation of the U.N. Human Rights Council.


    As the Kazakh Navy deployed vessels in the Indian Ocean to clean up piracy, the U.S. and Indian navies joined the effort.


    The attack on a hospital ship in Kazakhstan had now started a bigger movement.


    The navies of the three countries began to deal with the military cliques behind the pirates.


    Twelve military cliques took control of some Somali areas, and they not only did piracy but also other vicious acts to highlight their existence.


    Somalia had long been a state of anarchy, with individuals and military cliques shooting and killing anyone as long as they were armed with guns.


    Even the Doctors Without Borders had been withdrawn from Somalia, making it a nation shunned by the whole world.


    This was a legendary area where Al-Qaeda came to set up a branch but withdrew after an unexpected RPG rocket bomb blew up and caused casualties, saying that the security in the area was very poor.


    Even terrorist groups were worried about the absence of security, so it was a mess.


    ***


    It was no exaggeration to say that all ships floating in the sea off Somalia were sunk except for fishing boats.


    In the course of such sweep operations, thebined fleet was also hit by pirates who fought back with AK rifles and portable missiles.


    The two sides were injured together in a gunfight that took ce while investigating pirate vessels.


    Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship stopped treating residents and was devoted to treating soldiers as the number of total casualties surged.


    ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you, Princess. The wounded soldiers will never forget the hospitality of our hospital ship.¡±


    The reason Zeynep wanted to operate a hospital ship was to do volunteer work, but it first came to her when she heard that Kazakhstan¡¯s military¡¯s work abroad was increasing.


    Soldiers operating abroad had no way to be treated.


    In the event of peace, the ship would offer medical services for the people of remote regions, and in the emergency, it was meant to treat wounded Kazakh soldiers on the battlefield. Although she had never dreamed that it would be needed this quickly, it was time for the hospital ship to shine and do its function.


    ¡°Head doctor, if we send the Somali pirates back after treatment, they¡¯ll join the pirates again.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? They should be punished for their crimes.¡±


    ¡°Will they ever be different even if we punish them? They¡¯repletely different from us.¡±


    They could treat the injured Somali pirates, but it was unclear what to do with them afterward. It was ambiguous to bring them to Kazakhstan for a trial. There was no reason for Kazakhstan to y such a kind role.


    The best way was to hand them over back to the U.S. or Indian troops.


    Strangely enough, however, the Kazakh Navy did not bring any pirate casualties.


    The navies took them down on the spot to avoid having to worry about such things.


    It could be called cruel, but it was a punishment for their crimes.


    This was because such drastic retribution was the only way to reduce thepliance of pirates.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask Admiral Jun.¡±


    ¡°Princess, he would send all of them back to Somalia.¡±


    ¡°If the person in charge decides to do that, we have to follow. There¡¯s no reason to take on things we can¡¯t handle. I think it¡¯s presumptuous to take a political burden.¡±


    ¡°If you think so, I agree. I think it¡¯s right that we focus on the treatment and not in the rest.¡±


    When asked, Admiral Jun said that he nned to send all prisoners back to Somalia after treating them. He said he was lucky to have treated them.


    ording to him, the Somali warlords and pirates were human scum, so they could not be changed.


    He stressed that the priority now was to create an environment in which pirates could not operate freely by mobilizing powerful force.

 Chapter 700 - A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (5)

    <h4>Chapter 700: A Hospital Ship in the Indian Ocean (5)</h4>


    Madagascar was an ind located 400 kilometers southeast of the African continent on the Indian Ocean.


    It was the fourthrgest ind country in the world by size.


    With a poption of 26 million and per capita ie of only 460 dors, it was a country with far lower national ie with a rtively small poption.


    Tourism revenues were not so high as in Seychelles here, even though it was a country with beautiful natural resources.


    After being isted for hundreds of thousands of years, this ce was filled with bronze and nts that mankind had never seen before.


    It was said that about 2,000 years ago, people from Southeast Asia arrived here in seasonal winds.


    Maybe that was why the people looked simr to Southeast Asian people.


    The country¡¯srgest export product was coffee, ounting for 45 percent of its total exports due to its industrial structure centered on coffee farming.


    Since the ind was sorge, the weather varied widely depending on the region, with December to April being the rainy season in the north, May to October being dry, and the southern half of the ind with semi-desert weather.


    When it came to Madagascar, the first thing that came to people¡¯s minds was the baobab tree and the lemur monkey.


    They were well-known in a novel and cartoon, so it was also a favorite ce for tourists to visit.


    Kazakhstan had long been eyeing Madagascar as a bridgehead to advance into the Indian Ocean.


    What was unusual was that other ind countries in the Indian Ocean were that other countries were oddly not reaching out to Madagascar when they were interested in other inds. It was because of its low national ie and arge number of indigenous people still living uncivilized lives, and other countries decided that it did not have much benefit.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s intelligence service had not missed such an opportunity and worked hard on the Madagascar government.


    Madagascar, like most countries in Africa, was suffering from the scarcity of food, so Kazakhstan provided its overflowing grain to improve its rtions with Madagascar.


    In less than a year, Madagascar saw Kazakhstan as a great ally.


    The aid was for countries with potential for development, not just anywhere, but Kazakhstan was the only country that provided grain aid with no strings attached.


    Although it was a geopolitically important location, Madagascar had been rtively unnoticed because of Seychelles or Mauritius ind around it.


    When the nation started to favor Kazakhstan, it was rocked by Princess Zeynep¡¯s visit, apanied by a hospital ship for volunteer work.


    As if to reflect such an atmosphere, Prime Minister Ntsay personally greeted Zeynep at the Port of Toamasina, an export-import port on the Middle East coast facing the Indian Ocean.


    The reason why the prime minister came to the port was the Kazakh Navy¡¯s Indian Ocean Fleet¡¯s visit, which was more important than the princess¡¯ visit.


    Madagascar had just agreed to the Kazakh royal family¡¯s request to use the Toamasina port as an advance base for the Indian Ocean fleet because arge investment was naturally expected to take ce when the fleet base was built.


    Prime Minister Ntsay, who greeted the princess and the Kazakh Navy with such expectations, had to be surprised when he saw the 11 superrge warships floating in the outer port.


    Without a strong enemy, there was no need to maintain such a huge military presence.


    It was immediately clear that building an advance base for the Indian Ocean fleet was also aimed at preventing forces he did not know.


    ¡°I sincerely wee Princess Zeynep¡¯s visit.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency hase out to greet me personally. I¡¯m so honored.¡±


    ¡°The president tried to greet you in person, but I came out instead because I was afraid it would be too much.¡±


    ¡°Oh, your presence is more than enough of a wee.¡±


    ¡°Considering Kazakhstan¡¯s help and interest in our country, this is a weak wee. Thank you for solving the difficulties of our country.¡±


    Prime Minister Ntsay, a kind-looking person with dark skin, was a former senior U.N. International Labor Organization¡¯s official who was recruited by President Hery himself to quell political turmoil.


    Zeynep, who met Prime Minister Ntsay face-to-face, was also relieved.


    The first impression in a meeting with a person was more important than anything else, and Prime Minister Ntsay seemed to be a warm person.


    ¡°The Queen and the Duke of Kazakhstan also hope that this visit will serve as a chance to strengthen the friendship between the two countries.¡±


    ¡°Of course it will. Most countries are not interested in our country, but Kazakhstan was different. I¡¯m very grateful to be able to resolve some of the food shortages with your help.¡±


    Madagascar was an agricultural country, but it was suffering from food shortages on a regr basis as it was mainly focused on coffee production.


    Under such circumstances, Kazakhstan¡¯s grain aid was like rain in a drought.


    ¡°If it were close to the distance, we could have sent as much grain as we wanted... His Highness was very sorry. From now on, if there¡¯s anything we can do to help, we¡¯ll do whatever we can.¡±


    ¡°You are already helping us. I never thought you¡¯d bring such a huge hospital ship. I don¡¯t know how to express my gratitude.¡±


    When he heard a charity hospital ship run by a Kazakh princess would be sent, he thought it would be a ship of a few thousand tons. But when a giant 1,000-bed hospital ship appeared before him, he could not believe it.


    ¡°I would like to build a hospital here, but I n to do some volunteer work at a mobile hospital for the time being because the foundation is still financially weak. There are many other ces in Africa that are waiting for us, and it¡¯s hard to focus too much on this area. I hope you understand.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only grateful for your noble work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. We started because there were willing medical staff who joined us. I¡¯m just an errand girl.¡±


    ***


    While the medical staff were busy serving the people of Madagascar, Zeynep was on a busy schedule, visiting the presidential pce in the capital city of Antananarivo along with the fleet¡¯smander, Admiral Jun, and looking for a ce to build the resort.


    Though it was a busy schedule, she was able to use the presidential train, so she could travelfortably throughout Madagascar.


    Although Madagascar was an ind, it was nearly three times the size of the Korean Penins.


    However, due to the long economic difficulties, construction investment such as roads, the national backbonework, had not been made.


    In the colonial days, the trains were the only feet of the residents.


    It was not connected like a spider¡¯s web all over the country, so people had to use old buses or trucks on unpaved roads where there were no railroad tracks.


    This resulted in frequent serious traffic idents. Most of the traffic idents were major like people falling off a cliff.


    Most of the patients, who came to the hospital ship after first aid, were due to traffic idents.


    Looking around the famous ces, Zeynep was able to choose several sites.


    ¡°Admiral Jun. How about there?¡±


    ¡°The scenery is amazing. It¡¯s rtively close to the port of Toamasina, but we have to build a new road, too.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think about 10 kilometers off the main road will be that much of a burden. With that kind of scenery, it¡¯s perfect for a resort.¡±


    The resort site proposed by the princess was located on a hill attached to the shore. Arge sand fieldid below.


    If the resort was built while keeping the natural scenery alive, it would be better than any other ce in Seychelles.


    Zeynep, who followed Youngho around and learned, was pretty good at choosing sites for resorts.


    ¡°If we build the resort on a hill, people will have to work hard to walk down to the beach.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the East Coast storm can be quite severe. A long time ago, a powerful storm almost destroyed the Port of Toamasina, so I¡¯m trying to build it on higher ground.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it. Then we should endure the trouble of going up and down the hill.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to buy extra for resort buildings and amenities on the beach. Princess, this is going to cost you a lot of extra money.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I¡¯m thinking of buying all thend, including the beach. His Highness told me to secure a little morend than I should buy.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been looking around a lot, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a ce like this. Shall we choose this ce?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to do that right now, but I¡¯ll listen to other people¡¯s opinions and then decide. There could be parts that we¡¯re missing.¡±


    Zeynep liked the ce and wanted to sign and contract right away.


    However, she did not intend to make a decision arbitrarily.


    This was because soldiers and medical staff would be the main customers, and their opinions mattered.


    The beach was a nice location but it could be inconvenient for people as it was a remote location in the city.


    ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s ask for opinions from Dr. Kim and the captains of each ship.¡±


    After inquiring opinions of the military personnel and medical staff, they agreed to build the resort at Zeynep¡¯s favorite site south of Toamasina.


    It was located some distance from the city, but it was only about half an hour away if roads wereid and shuttle buses were operated.


    After deciding the location of the resort, the Duke¡¯s approval was soon received.


    The rest of the steps were processed quickly.


    Madagascar¡¯s government weed it with open arms, as it was to attract another investment project following the port expansion project.


    If the area was developed, there would be more stable jobs and other foreignpanies would also express their interest.


    Despite having better natural conditions than Seychelles, there was no reason for it to be shunned by the world.


    As Madagascar¡¯s government became more aggressive, Zeynep could sign a contract to buy thend for the resort including the beach with satisfaction.

 Chapter 701 - Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (1)

    <h4>Chapter 701: Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (1)</h4>


    The long-awaited Volga-Don Canal was reopened after the expansion.


    The opening was rushed because the logistics of the Caspian Sea coastal countries had be saturated.


    The canal expansion project, which began with Putin¡¯s proposal, was carried out through the investment from the Kazakh royal family and Yaniv. Without their participation, the canal project was difficult to start. Russia¡¯s economic situation could have not afforded the canal project.


    No Westernpanies were allowed to participate because Russia was under economic sanctions for annexing Crimea.


    Thanks to the Kazakh royal family, foreign investments in the form of a private sector could have been attracted.


    The Volga-Don Canal, the only channel linking the Caspian Sea to the ck Sea, used to have the clearance limit up to 5,000-ton ships, and now 50,000-ton ships were allowed to travel.


    The reason for the canal expansion project was that the countries around the Caspian Sea could not afford the growing volume of supplies. On the other hand, Putin wanted to keep the logistics going through the Baku-based railway in check.


    The Volga-Don Canal would lose its significance when the Baku, Azerbaijan-Batumi, Georgia, connecting to the ck Sea, and the Baku-Persian Gulf railway routes werepleted soon.


    However, even if new railway routes were created, it was no match for the volume of goods transferred by ship.


    There was nothing to rece the ship as a means of transport to digest many cargoes at once.


    Besides, the trade targets of the Caspian Sea coastal countries were mainly European countries, forcing them to use the Volga-Don Canal.


    Putin, who was well aware of the situation, suggested the canal expansion project to Youngho.


    With the volume of shipments to Kazakhstan more than five times more than before due to explosive economic growth, Youngho, who knew the limits ofnd logistics, weed it with open arms.


    The Volga-Don Canal was a 101-kilometer-long waterway connecting the Volga River to the Don River, consisting of 13 gates, three pump stations, and artificialkes.


    The ceremony at the Port of Rostov-on-Don, the lower city of the Don River which was connected to the Azov Sea, was packed with people who flocked to see the historic opening ceremony despite December¡¯s cold weather.


    Local residents were very happy to attend the ceremony, as some expected the expansion of the canal would boost the local economy.


    After the canal-opening tape cutting, Youngho and Putin chatted over the stove in arge tent set up to prevent the cold.


    ¡°Duke, I¡¯m so impressed. Would I have been able to achieve this without your help? Thank you again.¡±


    ¡°All I¡¯ve done is to provide a little funding. It would¡¯ve been impossible if it weren¡¯t for your suggestion. The Caspian Sea coastal countries will forever praise your decision.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. After Crimea, the Kazakh royal family was the only country that was friendly to Russia. I will never forget about it. The Russian economy was able to pick up little by little starting with canal investment.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Your Excellency helped us strengthen our armament.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan and Russia are blood allies.¡±


    From Putin¡¯s expression, he seemed to really mean it.


    ¡°I guess you and I get along very well.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... That¡¯s right. You¡¯ve made Central Asian countries a federal country, and that¡¯s great.¡±


    Putin swallowed Crimea despite opposition from neighboring countries, and Youngho swallowed Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, so they could be considered to have the same tendency.


    Although the Crimean case was imed by the West as a forced annexation, the decision to join Russia was decided by a vote of Crimea residents.


    However, the Ukrainian government refused to recognize the vote of the residents of Crimea, who were mostly Russians, and then Russia mobilized force to enforce it.


    Come to think of it, little had been said about Kazakhstan¡¯s annexation of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as federal states.


    Kazakhstan was in charge of foreign affairs and national defense, and the rest of the government¡¯s functions were kept intact, and on the other hand, there was a general understanding that Kazakhstan had incorporated them to keep China in check.


    With such great public opinion, Kazakhstan was probably benefiting from China.


    ¡°Mr. President, how¡¯s your project to build a resort around the canal going?¡±


    Putin initially suggested the resort project, but Youngho refused because he was not interested.


    However, asrge ships were allowed to enter and exit the Volga-Don Canal, the tourism industry was considering theunch of cruise ships to the Caspian Sea.


    It was not sure if Putin had expected that when he suggested the resort project, but he was indeed a step ahead.


    ¡°When I heard that you were not very interested, I gave up my n. How can I start with something that can¡¯t even attract the attention of a great businessman like you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a good judgment. The Volga-Don Canal is rtively short, and there was no guarantee that tourists would get off in the middle.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad, though.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, there¡¯s not much to see here, but when the Volga-Baltic Waterway reopens, the city around the waterway will see a noticeable increase in tourists. We predict that it will trigger an explosive response if we link it to the Trans-Siberian Railway.¡±


    The reason for this assurance was that it was based on reasoning from the consulting firm, the Swedish Information Agency.


    It even seemed obvious to Youngho who was an outsider. If a medium-sized cruise ship would operate in the Volga-Baltic Waterway, tourists would increase.


    The huge Russia was a spectacle on all sides.


    ¡°Your Highness makes me happy today. Have you done a survey of the area?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a result after requesting it from a leading consulting firm in Sweden, so you can trust it.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Russia the only one that gets all the benefits? I¡¯m quite sorry about this. Hahaha...¡±


    Putin was smiling nonchntly as he felt better to hear an unexpected good insight.


    ¡°Not necessarily. It was found that there would also be touristsing to the Caspian Sea. There are also tourists visiting Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan to see the Tian Shan Mountains, so don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll have a drink with Your Highness today. I¡¯m not a good drinker, but I can¡¯t let it go.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to be treated by you anyway. Are you paying for the drinks today?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... All right, I¡¯ll take care of it today.¡±


    Putin was someone who did not enjoy drinking very much, but he only suggested it first to his close friends.


    This proved that he was so fond of Youngho.


    The amicable atmosphere inside the makeshift tent even affected the guards of the two countries, who were on guard from outside.


    They were showing off their camaraderie by offering coffee to each other, cheering each other who were suffering in the cold.


    ***


    Until now, the freezing of the Volga-Don Canal had often led to the suspension of the shipping business.


    But that had not happened since the canal expansion.


    This was because icebreakers from Russia and Kazakhstan regrly broke the ice.


    There were two icebreakers in Kazakhstan working in the Caspian Sea.


    The 3,000-ton car ferry and cargo ship were those, and they had been responsible for the ice on the Caspian Sea and the Volga river in winter, as it was necessary for Kazakhstan¡¯s ships to travel through the canal and the sea.


    However, as the canal expanded and canal revenues increased exponentially, the Russian government also actively participated in Kazakhstan¡¯s effort to break the ice.


    Failure to operate ships could result in a sharp drop in canal revenues.


    Until now, the Russian government had not been paying much attention to the freezing of the water because the canal did not operate in the winter.


    But now it was directly rted to ie, so it had been very keen on icebreaking.


    Russia had an overflowing number of icebreakers anyway.


    In Russia, icebreakers were like necessities because every sea froze in the winter, blocking all ports of import and export.


    Originally, the main purpose of the icebreaker was to help the warships¡¯ ports of entry and exit.


    ¡°Your Highness, we need more small icebreakers, and we need three more to dry. Once the Volga-Balt Canal is open, it¡¯s not enough with what we have.¡±


    Kim Chun, who was d to have more royal business due to the re-opening of the canal, suggested putting more icebreakers to break the ice since it was directly rted to the royal ie.


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem right now, is there?¡±


    ¡°If you break the ice in the artificial waterway and the dock, the icebreaker is only about 50 kilometers long, so two icebreakers will be enough.¡±


    ¡°Can we build an icebreaker at our shipyard?¡±


    ¡°The canal¡¯s ice is only 50 centimeters long. That much icebreaker will be possible with our technology.¡±


    ¡°I heard that orders for bulk carriers are flooding these days. I doubt that we could make the icebreakers in time. I¡¯d rather buy a used icebreaker.¡±


    ¡°I looked into Russia, and they were reluctant. Russia alsocks small icebreakers, so it has toe up with more.¡±


    Small and medium icebreakers were not made in high quantities because they could not function properly in the sea.


    ¡°We can¡¯t help it. If we¡¯re making it, why don¡¯t we make it 5,000 tons?¡±


    ¡°As the weight of the icebreaker increases, it costs more to build. Why don¡¯t we buy a used bulk carrier and reinforce its hull?¡±


    ¡°No matter how strong the hull is, it¡¯s useless if the power to break the ice is weak. To build the icebreaker, we need not only the ability to build but also the ability to design.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we don¡¯t have the design capacity in our shipyard, what do we do?¡±

 Chapter 702 - Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (2)

    <h4>Chapter 702: Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (2)</h4>


    The royal shipyard developed into the secondrgest shipyard in the Caspian Sea.


    Before that, the Baku shipyard in Azerbaijan had built most of the vessels operating in the Caspian Sea, but now the royal shipyard had the capacity to build 20,000 to 30,000-ton freighters.


    Shipbuilding engineers who moved from Georgia had embraced Korean and German technology and built not only small-sized submarines but also high-speed boats.


    ¡°Your Highness, I will ce an order in the shipyard right away.¡±


    ¡°Yes, go ahead. First, contact the Danish Shipyard for a blueprint for the icebreaker. That way, we¡¯ll be able to save time.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll ept it because of the technicians¡¯ pride.¡±


    ¡°The icebreaker can be only designed with long experience. Our technical skills are not enough. And it¡¯s a long way to go before we can finish the model experiment. Although it¡¯s not that I¡¯m ignorant of the pride of engineers, we must acknowledge the current status of the royal shipyard, which does not even have a shipbuilding institute.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ll say it¡¯s your instructions.¡±


    Changes resulting from the canal¡¯s reopening could be seen everywhere.


    This was because the amount of goods carried through the canal had increased dramatically.


    As the amount of logistics that used to be shipped many times on 5,000-ton ships could be shipped in a few ships in tens of thousands of tons and the shippers¡¯ reaction was explosive.


    As a familiar example, the size of Kazakhstan¡¯s grain ships exported to Turkey got bigger, and it was calcted that it would take about a month to transport all whereas it took several months to deliver before.


    Then, as a follow-up to the reopening of the Volga-Don Canal, the Russian government formally promised safe passage rights for ships using the canal.


    The n was to grant free passage rights, as in international waters, to the canal although it was within Russian territory.


    This meant that it would not restrict the use of the canal, even for a ship belonging to a hostile country.


    Reasons for these unconventional measures were to attract more tourists and shippers to the soon-to-be-opened Volga-Baltic Waterway.


    The Volga-Baltic Waterway was another starting point for Russia to make aeback.


    Youngho yed a huge role in Russia¡¯s open attitude.


    Whenever he met Putin, he had repeatedly stressed that the establishment of a safe investment environment for foreigners must be preceded.


    Kazakhstan was also able to easily cross the threshold of a middle-power country because its policies that boosted the domestic economy also yed a part, but the creation of an environment for foreigners to invest with ease also yed a major part.


    The changes caused by the canal were not limited to the coastal countries of the Caspian Sea and Russia.


    Ports along the ck Sea coast were also enjoying the benefits, especially Turkey was its biggest beneficiary.


    Turkey had the Bosphorus Strait, which linked the Mediterranean to the ck Sea, under its jurisdiction, and the ships that had sailed breathlessly through the Mediterranean Sea had to be recharged at Turkish ports before crossing the ck Sea through the Volga-Don Canal to enter the final destination, the Caspian Sea.


    For this geopolitical reason, Turkey had been enjoying itself as a mid-term destination for logistics into the Caspian Sea.


    ***


    The construction minister and working-level officials, who were touring the west coast of Kazakhstan, were expressing regret.


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad we haven¡¯t been able to expand the harbor yet.¡±


    ¡°Minister, but if webine the port of Atyrau and the docks of the royal wharf, we can handle about ten 50,000 ton-ss ships.¡±


    ¡°In the long run, it is unfit to be an export and import port. It¡¯s hard to afford dredging because of the Ural River soil. Aktau is the best ce for such a purpose. I¡¯ll suggest building a new port in Aktau.¡±


    The northeastern coast of the Caspian Sea was a coastal reservoir consisting of sedimentaryyers, along with the lower reaches of the Volga River.


    Even if the port was built near the city of Atyrau, which belonged to the coastal londs of the Caspian Sea, the Ural River¡¯s deposits would continue to pile up, so maintenance costs would be high.


    Although there was the royal wharf, the river¡¯s water volume varied in seasons, sorge ships could not enter all the time.


    The Volga-Don Canal was expanded because it was aimed at improving the volume of goods, but Kazakhstan could not benefit from it.


    There had to be a new port to serve as a gateway to Kazakhstan and Central Asia.


    That was why the Kazakh government started looking for ces to build arge port in cities around the Caspian Sea.


    After a thorough survey and consideration, the city of Aktau, which was a southwestern region of western Kazakhstan.


    The city of Aktau was 320 kilometers south of Atyrau, also famous for itsrge-scale uranium enrichment nt during the Soviet era.


    Most of all, the beach there was a limestone area on the edge of the Ustyurt teau, and the depth of water off the coast was very deep, making it the best location for the port.


    Since the Soviet Union had a uranium enrichment facility, there were port facilities and railways and roads connected to the rest of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°There are surprisingly many fishing boats.¡±


    ¡°The oil fields in the North have been polluted a lot, and all the fishing boats have been driven to this area. Things have just settled here and the fishermen are worried about redeveloping the port.¡±


    ¡°The existing dock can continue to be used by fishing boats and ordinary ships. The port dedicated to exports and imports will be newly developed nearby.¡±


    ¡°Then the fishermen will be less worried.¡±


    The mayor of the city, Zhanburshin¡¯s face brightened at the remark of the Construction Minister.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why people insist on fishing when the uranium enrichment nt expansion created a lot of jobs.¡±


    Aktau was also an economically wealthy city because it had been home to a uranium enrichment nt since Soviet times.


    ¡°There¡¯s a rumor that arge uranium mine has been found near the Southern Karatau Mountains and the nt will be moved there.¡±


    Natural uranium could not be used as nuclear fuel by itself, but could only be used after the uranium enrichment process.


    With the growing nuclear industry worldwide, the uranium industry was also developing, and Kazakhstan had about 800,000 tons of uranium mines, which was the world¡¯s secondrgest reserve.


    Recently, when massive uranium mines, equivalent to 15 percent of the world¡¯s use, were found in the southern part of the country. Residents there were insisting that enrichment nts should be built on production sites.


    ¡°What do you mean, we¡¯re considering building a nuclear materialb and a uranium enrichment nt expansion here? There¡¯s no reason to move the factory away with the port of import and export just around the corner. I don¡¯t know who¡¯s making such a strange rumor.¡±


    ¡°I think people are trying to attract an enrichment nt where arge uranium mine was found.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a mountainous region, so it¡¯s not a good location for factories. Besides, there¡¯s no infrastructure at all.¡±


    There were no people who wanted to go to remote areas where transportation was inconvenient, not to mention educational and cultural facilities.


    Living in big cities would solve such problems. Thus, the factories would never move to remote areas in any case.


    ***


    The expansion of the Volga-Don Canal was not just in Kazakhstan¡¯s favor.


    Azerbaijan was also one of the beneficiaries.


    This was because while the volume of ovend shipments from Baku to the ck Sea via Georgia had remained the same, the volume of cargo transported through the canal had increased significantly.


    In particr, the export of crude oil was the target, and the way to export crude oil to Europe was opened whereas it was only supplied to Turkey through the BTC pipeline before. It was possible because a 50,000-ton tanker was able to travel in the canal now.


    European countries were to receive the Caspian Sea crude oil at a much lower price than those from the Middle East or North Sea.


    The poprity of Caspian Sea crude oil had increased as insurance premiums were low as there was an external threat at the short distance route.


    Not only Azerbaijan but also Iran had been enjoying oil exports.


    Until now, crude oil sold to Europe had only been avable through the Suez Canal, but now, the way for direct oil exports was opened in the Caspian Sea.


    The problem was that European countries were reluctant to buy Iranian oil either because of the U.S. economic sanctions imposed on it for developing nuclear weapons.


    To ovee such a problem, Iran¡¯s oil minister, Bijan Zangeneh, secretly visited the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Your Highness, congrattions on the reopening of the canal.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. I had to get my hands on all sorts of things to survive.¡±


    ¡°We are just jealous of Kazakhstan. We want to use the canal, but we don¡¯t have a ship in the Caspian Sea, so it¡¯s only a pie in the sky.¡±


    It was only natural that Iran, which was in the Arabian Sea, had not paid attention to the Caspian Sea.


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t have a national ship, can¡¯t you use a chartered ship? You can use our shippingpany if you need to.¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s the use of borrowing oil tankers when Western countries don¡¯t even give a glimpse of our oil? So I¡¯m here to discuss it with you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. Can¡¯t you take care of the oil of our country instead?¡±


    Since direct export was difficult, he was trying to export oil through Kazakhstan.


    ¡°As you know, our country is also an ally of the United States. I know that the U.S. is being a bit stubborn, but we¡¯re not in a position to ignore it at all.¡±


    Helping Iran would be also burdensome for Kazakhstan.


    Iran¡¯s oil was still being sold, although the United States imposed strong economic sanctions against Iran as it took issue with Iran¡¯s nuclear dismantlement program.


    ¡°The U.S. has notpletely cut off frommunicating with our country either. And it¡¯s not forcing other countries to join the economic sanctions.¡±


    ¡°You mean, the U.S. is overlooking indirect exports?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. We figured that the U.S. won¡¯t interfere with internal trade between the Caspian countries. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you.¡±


    If he made such remarks, it was likely that there was some kind of backdoor deal with the U.S.


    ¡°Do you have a separate conversation window with the United States?¡±


    When asked by Youngho, the oil minister looked surprised at how he knew that.


    Even warring parties fought while exchanging talks, so it would be weird if there was no dialogue window when the country was under economic sanctions.


    ¡°Yes, there is. They say that if it¡¯s a deal between the Caspian Sea countries, they also have justification to step in.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±

 Chapter 703 - Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (3)

    <h4>Chapter 703: Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (3)</h4>


    Iran had virtually no way out of the tight of U.S. economic sanctions.


    This was because the U.S. put the same standard on countries that did business with Iran.


    However, the Iranian oil minister was saying that the U.S. overlooked Iran¡¯s deal with the Caspian Sea and coastal countries.


    From the U.S. perspective, the U.S. was trying to maintain its dialogue channel with Iran, and at the same time, used it as an opportunity to impress the Caspian Sea coastal countries.


    When the U.S. had evenid out the route, there was no reason to refuse it. It would save both the U.S. and Iran¡¯s faces if he proceeded with the Iranian oil deal.


    There was a high possibility that the U.S. had encouraged the Iranian government to contact the Kazakh royal family to sell its oil.


    Since brokerage fees for Iranian oil sales, oil tanker charges, and canal imports were guaranteed, Youngho was celebrating inside.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll dispose of your oil for you.¡±


    When Youngho said he would receive Iranian oil, the oil minister took a step further.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d like to deliver Iran¡¯s crude oil by the BTC line, is that possible?¡±


    It was an absurd idea. If the BTC line (a pipeline between Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey) was used for Iranian oil, there would not be any canal revenue.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to work. It will be impossible to persuade the Azerbaijani government. As you know, the majority shareholders of the BTC pipeline are Western multinationals, and we have to convince them. There can be a lot ofplications.¡±


    Bypass exports were meant to be handled quietly without a sound rumor, but using the BTC pipeline was bound to be rumored.


    Then even the U.S. would not be able to let it go even if it wanted to.


    As a result, the rtions between the Caspian Sea and the U.S would worsen.


    Of course, Youngho could try to fix it, but it did not seem to be a great gain for Kazakhstan.


    However, the Iranian oil minister, Zangeneh, was still lingering.


    ¡°I heard there¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the power to control the BTC pipeline. And Kazakhstan could be disadvantaged by the U.S. I can¡¯t risk damaging Kazakhstan¡¯s credit because of Iran.¡±


    When Youngho went strong, Zangeneh also stepped back.


    As of now, Kazakhstan was the only country that could dispose of Iran¡¯s oil, and there was nothing good for making the Duke of Kazakhstan feel ufortable.


    ¡°I think I put you in trouble. I¡¯m sorry for asking too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not being active in helping our neighbor. Please understand the position of our country.¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. Just opening the way for our oil¡¯s bypass exports is a great help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that.¡±


    ***


    Shortly after the Iranian oil minister left, Youngho called Michael, the intelligence chief of the U.S.


    It was to confirm what the Iranian minister said. Before taking any further steps, it would be safe to check the facts first.


    And this time, he certainly needed to put the U.S. in debt.


    This was because it was time to bring in more advanced U.S. weapons.


    However, unlike Youngho had expected, Michael did not budge an inch.


    -Duke. The United States never gets involved in the internal affairs of other countries.


    It was a blunt lie.


    ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. So even if we say Iranian oil is from Kazakhstan, you¡¯re not going to argue.¡±


    -Of course. I¡¯m not in a position to control issues between countries. However, we have to pay close attention to countries that do business with rogue states.


    Youngho was not sure whether Michael was encouraging or discouraging him from dealing with Iran.


    ¡°Chief, please don¡¯t beat around the bush and just be honest with me.¡±


    -I¡¯m not in a position to offer an official statement. What are you trying to hear?


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing the U.S. Intelligence Service doesn¡¯t know.¡±


    -It¡¯s the job of the Ministry of State Affairs. How should I know?


    If Michael responded this much, this meant that the intelligence service was not deeply involved in Iranian oil deals.


    ¡°Okay, then I won¡¯t take any Iranian oil. I don¡¯t want to go into anything unconfirmed.¡±


    -Since when have you been so conscious of the United States? And there¡¯s no reason for you to be wary about the U.S. for trades between the Caspian Sea countries. The U.S. is not free enough to interfere with such deals.


    Michael was now indirectly implying that there would be no problem in dealing with Iranian oil.


    This meant that the problem of dealing with Iranian oil was a sensitive issue.


    It was evident that the U.S. was making a fuss over Iranian economic sanctions on the outside but was working hard to do behind-the-scenes deals.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying you¡¯re going to wash Iranian oil and export it through Kazakhstan. It feels like we¡¯re being used.¡±


    -Duke. Why are you acting like an innocent girl? It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know about international rtions. For Kazakhstan, it¡¯s like blowing its nose without touching it, so just move on.


    ¡°Chief, then you owe me this time.¡±


    -I owe you? It has nothing to do with us. In fact, you owe us for this.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even put in my bill for helping the U.S. Navy in the Indian Ocean yet, but it keeps piling up.¡±


    -Hahaha...


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Michael broke into augh.


    ¡°Chief, it¡¯s noughing matter. We¡¯re the only ones who will feel wrong if we just move on quietly now.¡±


    -What¡¯s the advantage of the U.S. for crossing Kazakhstan? It will only harm the national interest of the United States.


    ¡°Soe up with an ensured safeguard. Otherwise, I won¡¯t cooperate with this.¡±


    As Youngho kept urging him to do so, Michael finally gave in.


    -Duke, what the hell do you need that you are this persistent?


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you think I¡¯m bothering you. I¡¯m just saying I¡¯m going to listen to the official U.S. position.¡±


    -Okay, okay. Just tell me now. Let¡¯s hear what you need.


    The reason why the U.S. political circle chose Kazakhstan as Iran¡¯s oilundering window was that the two countries knew each other too well.


    The U.S. pushed Iran¡¯s back because Kazakhstan was an ally that would not turn its back on the U.S., and Youngho epted the offer understanding it.


    In this case, Michael would have been prepared for Youngho¡¯s request for benefit in return.


    What else would Kazakhstan need from the U.S. other than high-tech weapons?


    The reason why Youngho was grilling Michael was the multi-purposending ship¡¯s armament.


    The multi-purposending ship, which was deployed in action this time, failed to function properly and served as a supply ship, so the n was to build a proper helicopter carrier.


    ¡°You¡¯re familiar with the deployment of a multi-purposending ship, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    -So?


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any attack helicopters in Kazakhstan to deploy on the multi-purposending ship.¡±


    -Isn¡¯t it just anding ship?


    ¡°It¡¯s multi-purpose, but our goal is to make it a helicopter carrier.¡±


    -Do you want the nes on our Navy¡¯s Wasp-ss ship?


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t need such grand nes. We only need six Apache helicopters and threerge-scale military helicopters.¡±


    -The Apache helicopter again? Do you know how many Apache helicopters have been delivered to Kazakhstan?


    ¡°We only have about 60 of them.¡±


    The power of 60 Apache helicopters was actually enormous.


    A single Apache helicopter was powerful enough to destroy a division of the Army.


    -Phew, I understand what you mean. I guess what you need more than helicopters is the know-how to operate the helicopter carrier.


    ¡°You¡¯re the best. When you retire ande to Kazakhstan, you will receive the highest medal from the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    -I should just live in America after retirement. I won¡¯t be able to rest in my old age because of your fuss.


    ***


    Iran was nning a pipeline all the way to Baku in Azerbaijan to diversify its oil exports, and in fact, pipeline construction was underway to parts of northern Iran.


    This was because if it was connected to the BTC pipeline, the oil export routes were secured in a stable manner even if the Arabian Sea entered a tension-ridden situation.


    However, the problem of connecting to the BTC line was realistically difficult due to the rtionship with the U.S.


    That was why it was working on a pipeline to the Caspian Sea to export oil through the Volga-Don Canal.


    But there was another problem. The U.S. was imposing economic sanctions again, saying that Iran¡¯s nuclear dismantlement program was not progressing.


    Then thepanies that were carrying out the construction stopped and pulled out, and Iran was trying toplete the construction on its own, but the construction had to slow down.


    The construction cost of local builders was higher when the local workers¡¯ capacity was lower than that of Southeast Asian workers.


    Like most Middle Eastern countries, Iran had achieved economic growth with the power of huge oil dors.


    Until now, not only did the infrastructure of the country¡¯s ports, airports, and roads, but even housing construction work was left to foreign constructionpanies.


    Pipeline construction was also dependent on overseas constructionpanies and Southeast Asian workers, but the U.S. economic sanctions forced foreignpanies to leave the country.


    In a nutshell, Iran¡¯s technological prowess had not been able to carry out high-level construction.


    They wanted to export oil through the Caspian Sea, but they were frustrated because they could not connect domestic pipelines to the beach.


    It was not a grand construction. All they needed was a simple graft to connect the pipeline to the sea and to allow the tanker to moor.


    ¡°Your Highness, Iran has requested the royal family to work on pipelines and ess facilities.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying Iran is not capable of any construction?¡±


    ¡°There has been no Iranianpany involved in the work that required technical skills. Even if it had the capacity to build a building, it was much more affordable to leave it to a foreignpany.¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded.


    It was a country that had nuclear weapons but did not have basic construction skills.


    It had been leaving everything from oil drilling to production to foreign countries.


    ¡°Korean builders could have saved construction costs with their low-cost orders. Of course, it would have cost less than the original budget.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There are a number of Koreanpanies that won low-cost orders but didn¡¯t get paid in time.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Korean government charge the Iranian government for the construction?¡±


    ¡°No Korean regime in history has done such kindness.¡±


    ¡°But how do you know so well?¡±


    ¡°I have collected otherpanies¡¯ cases when I worked for S Corporation because there were uncollected construction costs. There were a lot of builders that didn¡¯t even get paid for the construction done in the ¡¯90s.¡±


    ¡°They must have either gone bankrupt or given up on the construction.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they did. I think we should be careful because Iran could do that to us.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Iran can do that to us, too?¡±


    ¡°Is there any business that can ovee the continuous dy?¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can take Kazakhstan¡¯s money and sleep with your legs stretched out?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying it¡¯s okay if the diplomatic rtionship gets worse for debt?¡±


    ¡°If Iran did that to us, it would have to give up the Caspian Sea. Not only that but also the northern part of the country where immigrants live.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was to help out a neighbor, but Youngho would have nevere forward if there were no benefits to Kazakhstan.


    But Iran dying payment of construction costs was nonsense.


    ¡°If you want to rewrite Iran¡¯s history, so be it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯d rather not take Iranian oil.¡±


    When he heard what Youngho said, he looked very scared.


    ¡°Tap the calctor again and talk about how much we¡¯re going to benefit from Iranian oil, you poor man.¡±

 Chapter 704 - Administration of Internal Affairs (1)

    <h4>Chapter 704: Administration of Internal Affairs (1)</h4>


    The ministers, including Youngho and Kasim, were enjoying the winter of the Caspian Sea on a ferry icebreaker.


    After a New Year¡¯s ceremony at the royal territory, ministers were on their way to tour Aktau, a newly designated port of import and export.


    There were several waterways made by an icebreaker in the frozen sea, withrge and small cargo ships passing in a row along with it.


    However, all of them looked rusty. It was because the paint on ships sailing in the winter would peel due to the ice, so they were not repainted in the winter.


    And most of the ships in the Volga-Don Canal were over 15 years old, so people would neglect ship maintenance.


    There were not many shipments entering or exiting the Caspian Sea through the Volga-Don Canal, so the ship owners in the ck Sea were turning a blind eye to them.


    If it were a new vessel, it would operate the ck Sea or the Mediterranean Sea, not the Caspian Sea.


    ¡°It seems that all second-hand cargo ships from the Mediterranean and the ck Sea have entered the Caspian Sea. They are all rusty and ugly to look at.¡±


    ¡°The ship owners have yet to recognize the importance of the Caspian Sea, but they will soon deploy new ships.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim confidently said that the Caspian Sea would soon be in the spotlight, but the reality was that thebined economic power of the coastal countries of the Caspian Sea was no better than that of a single Western European country.


    Even though it was winter, ships were seen traveling in the Caspian Sea because of Kazakhstan¡¯s grain and underground transportation.


    ¡°The Caspian will only be noticed if our economy grows enough to overwhelm Western Europe.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s a great improvementpared to a few years ago. Until now, Kazakhstan has changed all the economic indicators recorded by the world¡¯s most important countries. If this conditionsts only 10 years, no one will look down on the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to the Prime Minister¡¯s good leadership in the government.¡±


    ¡°No. It was all because of the Kazakh royal family¡¯s effort and generous support. The government is forever indebted to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? The royal family received Kazakh gold mines, so the calctions are already done. Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°They were old mines close to exhaustion. I¡¯m sorry that all we can offer are them.¡±


    The amount of gold produced from the gold mines were kept strictly confidential.


    Kasim had no idea how much the royal family was making, but if he knew, he would have been quite surprised.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. We need Kazakhstan to have the royal family. We will fully support the government and the people of Kazakhstan still the same.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we havee to the point where our government can support itself enough. It¡¯s time to save royal funds. The people want a royal family of wealth and not a poor one. Your Highness has done much for Kazakhstan. The people know it well. It¡¯s time for the government and the people to stand alone. It is also not desirable to rely on the royal family for the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    Youngho was relieved to hear Kasim¡¯s remarks.


    He had been getting anxious as the former president Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds had been decreasing, but now Kasim, the head of the government, was saying he should save the royal funds. This was majorly because it was no longer necessary to provide royal funds.


    With the government budget, the royal family only needed to provide assistance when purchasing overwhelmingly expensive high-tech weapons.


    The government had built up its defense capabilities with Youngho¡¯s releasing almost all of President Nazarbayev¡¯s slush funds so far and with the royal family¡¯s support. Now, it could get away from the huge burden of defense spending and go all-in on economic development.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s economy was now strong enough to roll itself.


    ¡°Prime Minister. The royal family is not that poor.¡±


    ¡°I know it very well. In the meantime, it¡¯s done as much as it could do, and it¡¯s a shame to put more pressure on the royal family. In fact, the Royal Bodyguards and the Navy should be paid by the government. It¡¯s a true shame. I¡¯ve never seen any European royal family do that.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. I don¡¯t think the government is stable yet to manage the defense budget. That could lead to a totalck of defense capabilities.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true at all. If this year¡¯s economy stays the same asst year¡¯s, we can dramatically increase our defense budget for next year.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m unaware of your concern for the royal family, but we¡¯ll continue to support a certain portion of the defense budget for our military¡¯s strength. I will let it go if there are no risk factors anymore.¡±


    ***


    While talking to Prime Minister Kasim, the ferry icebreaker arrived in waters off the city of Aktau, their destination.


    The sea in front of Aktau Port was covered with thin ice.


    Based on the Ural River, southern waters did not freeze very often, but this winter¡¯s unusual coldpared to previous years had frozen the southern waters of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°This much ice won¡¯t hinder big ships¡¯ sail.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. Your Highness, even if the ice is thin, it puts pressure on the hull. Iron wires would only get scratches, but it could be fatal to FRP (fiber reinforced stic) vessels.¡±


    ¡°You mean the fishing boats are stuck no matter what.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to fish in this weather. This is originally an area where ice doesn¡¯t freeze...¡±


    When asked by Youngho, Yessimov, minister of agriculture and fisheries, seemed nervous as if it was his fault.


    ¡°What if we support the icebreaker?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t help much except for the role of making waterways.¡±


    ¡°You mean you can¡¯t fish in the winter anyway. If the ice is frozen this year, there is a high chance that it will continue to freeze...¡±


    ¡°The catch in the Caspian Sea is bing less and less. So we n to reduce the number of fishing boats. When we build the port of import and export, it¡¯s hard to do the fishing anyway.¡±


    ¡°Would people who have been fishing all their lives change their profession easily?¡±


    ¡°Even now, people are having a hard time without government support. So we¡¯re going to induce them to do agriculture.¡±


    Kazakhstan had a vastndmass for farming.


    The problem was that most of the western part of the country was semi-desert, and therefore not suitable for farming unless it was near water like the Ural River.


    ¡°If they don¡¯t agree with it, don¡¯t force it. We don¡¯t have enough fish resources now, but things might get better.¡±


    ¡°I will respect the opinions of the fishermen as much as possible. But I think we should stop providing subsidies for fishing. Some people are only resisting to receive government subsidies.¡±


    ¡°The Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry should take care of such matters. But I hope we can find a way to selectively support them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure of that.¡±


    ¡°The reason I¡¯m saying this is because the fish resources of the Ural River are still abundant, unlike the Caspian Sea. I heard that fishermen living in the royal territory can¡¯t handle it because there are too many fish.¡±


    Many said that the Ural River was made of half water and half fish.


    People might ask why people in Central Asia did not eat fish when there were so many, but it was because nomadic Central Asians did not prefer eating fish.


    ¡°How can I not know Your Highness¡¯s concern? However, if we don¡¯t adjust the fishing poption now, the construction of the port of import and export will not be easy. The government has no way of dealing with the fishermen once they start demandingpensation.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Since the inauguration of the new government, there has been a growing number of civic groups that have hindered the government¡¯s policies. They gather if they can take advantage of it. When civic groups join forces, we cannot help butply with their demands. We can¡¯t force them to disband because they report rallies and start taking collective action ording to due process.¡±


    ¡°Is that happening a lot?¡±


    ¡°You can say it¡¯s everywhere because you haveints.¡±


    ¡°What do they live on?¡±


    ¡°They know if they protest on behalf of the ignorant people, they can share a certain portion of thepensation money from the government. People who join civic groups live on doing protests. They¡¯re professional protesters.¡±


    This would have never happened under the previous administration.


    Seeing civic groups sprouting up on the wind of democratization, Youngho believed they were healthy critics, but they were using civic group activities as a way of life, not as a means to correct wrong policies.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. Does that happen often, as Minister Yessimov said?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true. Under the revisedw, a number of civic groups havepleted registration, and some of them have gone too far in their acts of deviation.¡±


    ¡°Did you take any action on them?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help it because thew stiptes that civic groups should participate in government policies. It¡¯s only natural to listen to sound criticism...¡±


    ¡°Have you looked into what kind of people they are?¡±


    ¡°How can we investigate if there is no legal basis for private inspection?¡±


    There could not be a civilian inspection as the new administration prioritized human rights by eliminating the evils of the iron-fisted rule of the previous administration.


    However, strange groups were wriggling up through this gap.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s the freedom to speak your own voice, but this is more than freedom, it¡¯s almost self-indulgence.¡±


    ¡°I should have reported it before it festered further, but I missed the timing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not toote now. We will take action and resolve this once and for all.¡±


    To renovate the previous Kazakhstan, which was fed up with its long-standing dictatorship, the new regime had put human rights first and allowed the people to express their opinions freely.


    In the early days, civic groups yed their part.


    As more civic groups looked into government policies and corrected wrongs, the government hade to subsidize them.


    However, as time went by, there were people who did civic group activities professionally.


    It was hard to live only on government subsidies, so they intervened in various interests to raise funds. Those groups were now transformed into groups of professional protesters who dyed social advancement.


    Thinking that it would be a big problem in the future, Youngho called in Kasim quietly.

 Chapter 705 - Administration of Internal Affairs (2)

    <h4>Chapter 705: Administration of Internal Affairs (2)</h4>


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, if we leave them like this, government policies will be shaken by poor amateurs. We¡¯re going to have to set up a model case to warn them.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s your will, there¡¯s always a way to control the prevention of civic groups, but we can¡¯t be free from criticism that we¡¯re going back to the old days.¡±


    If the government, which advocated human rights first, pulled out its sword, there was no doubt that people would protest. Still, a harsh measure was needed to stop wrong civic activities.


    ¡°I can take that kind of criticism as much as I want. Isn¡¯t it right to use coercive methods to weed out immature civic groups?¡±


    Sound criticism was good, but if it was abused, it would only confuse society.


    ¡°May I have a private inspection, then?¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim mentioned the private inspection as if he had been waiting.


    ¡°I¡¯ll allow it temporarily. Get help from the Intelligence Service if necessary.¡±


    ¡°If we mobilize the intelligence service, we¡¯ll have problemster. For now, I¡¯d like to make the most of the police organization, and I want to restart the police intelligence department this time. Recently, there has been a growing number of disobedient people criticizing the royal family. It¡¯s not a simple issue to overlook. I think they¡¯re getting outside support. The police organization is the best way to dig it out.¡±


    ¡°External support?¡±


    ¡°It seems like they are trying to divide our public opinion.¡±


    Who would benefit if Kazakhstan fell into disarray?


    What immediately came to Youngho¡¯s mind was the former president¡¯s forces and China.


    All they wanted was internal division in Kazakhstan.


    When false rumors were rampant, the royal authority would naturally fall, making it lose people¡¯s loyalty and support.


    ¡°If the police organization bes bloated again, it¡¯s no different from the previous administration. I¡¯d rather have the intelligence service find out in secret.¡±


    Youngho had yet to believe the police in Kazakhstan.


    Though it was said to have turned over a new leaf, its old habits would still linger.


    Even now, corruption scandals involving police officers had been caught frequently.


    While most of the leaders were changed when the new administration took over, not all police officers were changed.


    If such an organization was given intelligence service, it would abuse it.


    Nevertheless, Kasim insisted on reviving the police intelligence organization.


    ¡°Your Highness, we border China and since bing a federal country, the border has been longer than before. In order to fight against potential psychological warfare, we have to operate and strengthen the police intelligence service on top of the regr intelligence service. The police should also be able to gather information because it is the organization that works closest to the people. Of course, the police organization will be bloated, but if we strengthen inspections to keep it in check, we can minimize any unsavory incidents such as human rights vitions.¡±


    ¡°Do you think China is behind it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but China is the only country that will benefit the most from our chaos. Please trust the Kazakh police because it is not the same organization as it used to be. It will achieve more than its given roles.¡±


    The police organization had an intelligence department even now, but it was operating to prevent crimes.


    Under the new administration, private inspections had been forbidden, but Kasim wanted to revive them.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to do a civil inspection at all costs, but I can¡¯t help it. I can¡¯t trust the police organization, but since you are so confident that¡¯s is for the well-being of Kazakhstan, I¡¯ll trust your judgment.¡±


    ¡°I know very well what you¡¯re worried about. We will minimize the side effects by creating an inspection agency under my guidance.¡±


    Kasim also knew that there could be side effects inevitably, so he was saying he would minimize them.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the council won¡¯t like the idea. If other ministers argue with you, tell them the royal family has approved it if necessary.¡±


    ¡°I should let them know that Your Highness was against it instead. The royal family is the centerpiece of Central Asia. You can¡¯t be faulted in any case.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? If you put the royal family on the line, the council will give you a break. Let¡¯s take it easy. This is not a matter of saving the face of the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Please leave the matter of reorganizing the police organization to the government. I¡¯ll sort it out myself.¡±


    Kasim was determined to press hard.


    Although the government had been reflecting the opinions of the parliament representing the people¡¯s will as much as possible when selecting policies, he intended to stick to the government¡¯s will to work rted to the well-being of the nation.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. No matter how much the Congress is against you, it must be resolved through dialogue. There is nothing wrong with the country right now. You cannot win the support of the people by using coercive methods. Public sentiment should be your priority.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I think I went a little too overboard.¡±


    ¡°That means it¡¯s important enough to upset you. However, public support is more important than anything else to mobilize government authority. Why don¡¯t you make public promotional materials tobat the false rumors instead?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve made a lot of promotional material and made it known through the media. Still, rumors are circting. It¡¯s time to take stronger action. Sometimes you need to be tough.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim was determined to wield public power.


    Youngho decided toply with his idea. He did not want to be seen as interfering with the Prime Minister¡¯s authority.


    ***


    Even though the congress strongly protested, Kasim pressed the congress to pass the reorganization of the police, saying it was the matter of the nation¡¯s existence. He recognized that the ill effects of false rumors caused by wrong civil activities were overwhelming.


    Whether it was a mature civil society, unconfirmed conspiracy theories or rumors were bound to exist all the time.


    However, the list of all kinds of conjectures and conspiracy theories were even embarrassing to speak.


    Rather than finding the source of the rumors, the Kasim government focused on informing the notorious police intelligence organization had resurrected in hope of scaring the people who spread the rumors and eventually making them shut up. This was because absurd rumors would die out naturally over time.


    The effect of the police reorganization was shown in no time.


    When the intelligence police said it was searching for the origin of rumors circting in the country, groundless rumors quickly disappeared.


    Rumors said that people would be punished severely if they were caught spreading unconfirmed words.


    Somehow rumors had caught rumors.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. The scaremongering has washed away.¡±


    ¡°Police Chief, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re washed away, they¡¯re all silent because they¡¯re afraid of the police. That¡¯s how much people fear the police. This proves how terrifying the former police was.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, all the seniors who used to wield public power recklessly during the previous administration have either been fired or pushed out to the Russian border.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the case of the leadership, but the front-line police are the problem. Even now, residents avoid police whenever they see them. Does this make sense?¡±


    Police chief Kaliyev, who came to report that the rumors had disappeared, was getting an earful from the prime minister.


    Since he had been proud of the police as it had beenpletely changed since the emergence of the new regime, he thought that it was a little bit unfair, but he had no words to say because the police acted as a maid of power when President Nazarbayev was in power.


    ¡°Chief Kaliyev. Keep your head straight. It is a mistake to think that the status of the police has increased or gained strength by taking charge of the public information. In any case, when I hear it has vited human rights, you¡¯ll have to be prepared to leave. Keep in mind that the Duke is watching the police closely.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, don¡¯t worry about that. We operate an inspection group that keeps an eye on all leaders and police officers randomly at all times. If anything unpleasant happens, I¡¯ll be responsible myself.¡±


    Despite Kasim¡¯s bluff, Kaliyev, the police chief, was full of confidence.


    He was confident that he did not do anything shameful since his first day at the police academy.


    This was because during his 25-year police career, he did not work at the central government office, let alone at key posts, but he devoted himself solely to the well-being of the people in the front line.


    ¡°You seem quite confident. I like that.¡±


    Kassim smiled at the way he was so proud.


    He had no choice but to let go of his stern expression, as he was always fond of Kaliyev, who was only focused on his work like a bulldozer.


    ¡°Your Excellency, you are walking on the right path, so how can I think of another way? Please throw away your prejudices against the police organization.¡±


    ¡°How can I believe when police corruption is still rampant? Please make sure the organization is squeaky clean.¡±


    ¡°It takes a few more years to shuffle and change the entire police organization. Please be patient with me. I¡¯m going to transform it into an amazing organization.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see your confidence. Please don¡¯t let the Duke down.¡±


    ¡°Leave the security of Kazakhstan to me. We¡¯ll do our best.¡±

 Chapter 706 - Administration of Internal Affairs (3)

    <h4>Chapter 706: Administration of Internal Affairs (3)</h4>


    ¡°Is it true that false rumors are produced in Chinese residential areas?¡±


    Kasim also had his own information line, so he knew where the false rumors originated.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t found any evidence to confirm that yet. We¡¯re gathering information right now, and we¡¯ll report it to you soon.¡±


    That was the answer from Kaliyev the police chief.


    ¡°Even if you get concrete evidence, look more carefully. We have managed to improve rtions with China, but if there¡¯s any noise, there will be trouble.¡±


    Chinese people living in Kazakhstan also lived in Chinese viges.


    All kinds of false rumors and conspiracy theories were found to have originated from the streets of the Chinese viges, but no concrete evidence had been found yet.


    ¡°Is it your will or the Duke¡¯s will?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who¡¯s will it is. If the rumors don¡¯t escte, it¡¯s better to cover them up. For the sake of Kazakhstan¡¯s development, there should be no conflict with China for the time being.¡±


    Kasim thought he was lucky to have reorganized the police organization and put it into operation, but Kaliyev¡¯s idea was different from him.


    ¡°Your Excellency, covering up or reducing the problem will not make it disappear. You might think that it won¡¯t provoke China, but if China¡¯s behind it, it might have aimed at it. If there is conclusive evidence, we should not protest against China, but rather, expel the Chinese, which is the best option. Would the Chinese government be reckless to protest us for deporting foreigners who vite domesticws?¡±


    Kasim did not think of such a way. If Chinese people who were involved in spreading false rumors were deported, it would not matter whether or not the Chinese government was behind it.


    ¡°Chief, could there have been any other ways to spread the false rumors?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°If China intentionally spread these rumors to target Kazakhstan, precisely the current regime and the royal family, there must have been other strategies, too, in case their initial n didn¡¯t work out. I think they might have reached out to the opposition party.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Send emergency orders across Kazakhstan right now. It¡¯s been quiet these days, it seems like the enemy is distracting us by making us believe that the rumors are subdued and plotting something else in the back.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, aren¡¯t you jumping to a conclusion too quickly?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. If our policy changes to an emergency system, China will notice, so whatever the n is, it¡¯s more likely that it¡¯s going to stop right away. Let¡¯s go for that.¡±


    Kasim may have misjudged, but Kaliyev immediately invoked the emergency decree upon order.


    With the first emergency decree issued to police, inspections were intensified across Kazakhstan, and most of the police officers were deployed on the streets to watch any suspicious movements.


    If anyone tried to do something in Kazakhstan, it was bound to shrink.


    ***


    As Prime Minister Kasim took the lead in this, the administration of the royal territory was also holding a meeting to check the situation.


    Park Jong-il, the intelligence chief, argued.


    ¡°Your Highness, our intelligence service hasn¡¯t even figured out anything yet. I think Kasim has overreacted in this. He went too far.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister Kasim is also from the military and has an animal-like sense. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s got something.¡±


    ¡°While the opposition party is heavily in check with the government, the majority of those take the lead in proposing the bills when ites to national interests. Besides, they don¡¯t reject our royal family¡¯s secret political funds. I think Kasim¡¯s being absurd.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust the opposition party but our enemy.¡±


    ¡°Looking at oppositionwmakers, they are not people who will be swayed by any proposal made by China.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see since Prime Minister Kasim is determined and issued a warning. He might have triggered an rm since there have been problems everywhere. Please hand over the information of the opposition parties investigated by the Intelligence Service to the Prime Minister. Then he will judge for himself.¡±


    Such vignce was sometimes necessary, even in a way that would call attention to the residents. People had been loosenedtely as the nation was so peaceful.


    ¡°Sure. We will now report on the investigation into the recent trouble-making civic groups.¡±


    ¡°Secretary Suh! Put the data on the beam project.¡±


    Suh Min-seok quickly disyed the data at Park Jong-il¡¯s instruction.


    ¡°As you can see, there are 520 civic groups registered with the central and local governments. Fourteen of them are deeply involved in various mass petitions.¡±


    ¡°Only 14 of them are in trouble?¡±


    ¡°Yes. ording to the investigation, the rest of the civic groups are like social groups.¡±


    It was a little surprising to hear that only 14 civic groups were hindering government policy.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re saying that if we only take care of those 14 groups, the rest of them will be fine.¡±


    ¡°Yes. If we punish them, it will establish a good model case for the rest and the Kazakh people.¡±


    If Park Jong-il took such a light view, it seemed to be a small problem.


    ¡°Then hand this data over to the government and the Intelligence Service can take its hands off.¡±


    ¡°We are about to. If the intelligence service is involved in such a pathetic cause, it will be a joke, but I want to take care of just two ces. These two ces stink bad...¡±


    Although Jong-il said it was a trivial matter, he wanted to deal with the two ces himself. It probably meant that there was something bad going on.


    ¡°Is it at a dangerous level?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll report to you privatelyter after the meeting.¡±


    None of the people sitting in the conference room were light-mouthed, but he was being very careful.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s conclude that we¡¯ll sing along to the tunes of the Prime Minister¡¯s operation. We¡¯ll wrap up the meeting now if there¡¯s no other opinion.¡±


    Youngho was eager to hear from Park Jong-il, so he hurried to finish the meeting.


    ***


    ¡°What wasn¡¯t told to me in the conference room?¡±


    As soon as Youngho entered the office, he asked questions.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a breather. They¡¯re already in our hands, so there¡¯s nothing to be busy about.¡±


    ¡°Come on, tell me. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Look at this. I¡¯ve tracked these guys¡¯ ounts, and they¡¯ve been continuously receiving remittances from abroad.¡±


    It seemed the Intelligence Service had traced the ounts of civic groups in that short period of time.


    Park Jong-il¡¯s data showed that the civic groups received 100,000 euros in monthly remittances from abroad.


    It was arge sum for the money that civic groups received from a specific person overseas. If they had received it on a regr basis every month, it would be hard to see it as a donation.


    ¡°It¡¯s from Singapore? Do you have other evidence?¡±


    ¡°Most of the members of the civic groups didn¡¯t show any special movement, but we found that some of them go abroad often. The travel destination is strangely Singapore.¡±


    It was suspicious as Singapore did not have much connection with Kazakhstan unlike Europe.


    Besides, most Kazakhs had never been abroad in their lifetime, and it was impossible to travel abroad several times a year without someone¡¯s financial help.


    ¡°Is there anything special in Singapore?¡±


    ¡°There are many Chinese people living there. They are also the rich Chinese merchants deeply connected to the maind.¡±


    ¡°There must be something about Singapore.¡±


    ¡°It stinks bad, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re being sponsored by China and following its orders.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also arge group of spies that systematically move.¡±


    The ¡®spies¡¯ reminded Youngho about Korea.


    Kazakhstan could also have spies.


    In the past, in Korea, the issue of spies was a regr menu that appeared around the time of every election.


    It was a tactic that was often used to distract the public.


    While it was only natural for the divided states to send spies to each other in hostile situations, the problem was that they were used as a way to maintain power.


    Those memories made him bitter.


    ¡°The Chinese government must be the only country that can spend this much money.¡±


    Since the money was transferred from Singapore, Youngho thought it was deeply rted to China.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll find out when we look into it, but it¡¯s very likely to be China.¡±


    ¡°What about the domestic figures connected to the organization?¡±


    ¡°There are quite a lot in politics. I¡¯m still trying to figure it out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the people will believe me if we arrest them.¡±


    ¡°So we have to get the hard evidence. Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯ll take the time to investigate thoroughly and make sure there¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±


    This was China, which had massive foreign reserves.


    China, which was obsessed with the One Belt One Road project, was creating public opinion in favor of its own country by distributing money to political figures and civic groups.


    ¡°But the timing when they received money is a bit tricky.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°It was after the regime changed. It¡¯s about the time when we took over China¡¯s business in our country. Remember the logistics base near Almaty?¡±


    The Trans-Kazakh Railway project had been going on with Chinese capital since the previous administration.


    Likewise, Chinese people were buyingnd around logistics bases in Kazakhstan.


    China would naturally feel threatened when it stopped.


    The reasoning was that the civic groups would have been recruited at that time.


    ¡°At that time, some civic groups protested saying that China¡¯s One Belt One Road should be kept on, and I thought it was strange.¡±


    No one doubted the civic groups¡¯ actions. It was because back then, everyone expected China to improve the domestic economy.


    ¡°If they¡¯ve been secretly connected to China from then already, it would have been hard for them to pull out even if they learned China¡¯s intentionster on since they already knew the taste of Chinese money.¡±

 Chapter 707 - Administration of Internal Affairs (4)

    <h4>Chapter 707: Administration of Internal Affairs (4)</h4>


    It was natural for a normal country to send intelligence agents to rival or hostile countries or to use locals as informants.


    Kazakhstan also had intelligence agents in each country and mobilized hackers to gather information. Thus, China could also recruit Kazakhstan¡¯s civic groups and politicians for information or create public opinion in favor of China.


    Information warfare was like a war without gunfire.


    No matter how much national defense capabilities were strengthened, even high-tech weapons and equipment would be useless if the information boundaries of a nation were broken.


    There was a gap somewhere, so China had easily infiltrated into the Kazakh people.


    ¡°It feels like we have holes all over our defense system.¡±


    Youngho said to Park Jong-il.


    ¡°We can¡¯t lock down our country in the era of globalization. It¡¯s not like we can look into every single one of tourists and migrants that are flooding in.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just frustrated because I think this can happen any time. To prevent it more effectively, we need to expand the police intelligence department.¡±


    In Korea, a proverb said, ¡®ten people cannot stop one thief¡¯.


    Even so, any possible measures should be taken to protect Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I wish the Intelligence Service would provide legal grounds for doing domestic work...¡±


    ¡°I think the Intelligence Service should focus on foreign affairs as it is now. We need to reinforce the police intelligence department to strengthen civilian surveince.¡±


    ¡°I hope we¡¯re not being too sensitive.¡±


    ¡°If we have strong vignce, our enemies will not dare to underestimate us. If there¡¯s no hole in our defense, they can¡¯t be rash. As much as we make a fuss, China will be careful.¡±


    ***


    The Chinese government seemed to have determined that Kazakhstan¡¯sx intelligence system would never discover its actions.


    It apparently assumed that the Kazak Intelligence Service would not be able to catch its money transfer into Kazakhstan from Singapore.


    The Chinese government had not known that Kazakhstan had already developed aputerwork of advanced countries by partnering with the Korean government to build a nationwidework of administrativeputers and introducing supeputers.


    The internal investigation of civic groups revealed that they had received funds directly or indirectly from China, such as receiving money through secret ounts or visiting Singapore.


    As the investigation progressed, political figures involved with civic groups were also caught.


    In some cases, politicians received entertainment or political funds from civic groups, and in some cases, they sided with civic groups to strengthen their political standing.


    They would have never been involved with them if they knew the civic groups were funded by the Chinese government.


    The executive groups of two civic groups that spearheaded various rallies were arrested for espionage.


    Ordinary members who acted ording to the executive groups¡¯ orders also were punished with detention or disciplinary action ording to the nature of their crimes.


    When the spy civic groups¡¯ case was revealed through the media, the entire country of Kazakhstan was thrown into chaos.


    People were furious to learn that the spies disguised in civic groups had been active by China¡¯s order.


    They treated the people involved in the civic groups as traitors. Some even argued that they should be deported from Kazakhstan.


    Various rallies were being held to denounce the Chinese government, and some media outlets set fire to this movement, saying that the government should consider severing diplomatic ties.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. With this kind of atmosphere, I don¡¯t think there would be any objection to further strengthening the police intelligence department.¡±


    -I think it went your way, Your Highness. We will make sure that safeguards are in ce to prevent human rights vitions. I¡¯m worried about Kaliyev being too ambitious, but I¡¯ll keep him alert so that he won¡¯t do anything overboardedly.


    ¡°He must be feeling a lot of pressure. Don¡¯t be too tight and leave him to his own discretion. I regret not believing in the police organization the whole time.¡±


    -He¡¯s very nervous because Your Highness is showing interest in the police. You can look forward to it since he said he¡¯ll definitely show a different side of the organization.


    ¡°We shall see.¡±


    -It¡¯s an organization that¡¯s unrivaled in terms of counter-espionage. If the police were alive, this wouldn¡¯t have happened in the first ce.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this opportunity to create a new organization that can give people trust. The royal family will also consider raising the morale of the police.¡±


    -The police will be grateful if you show a little interest.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to modernize the police equipment as well.¡±


    Modernizing the equipment alone would naturally change the organizational structure.


    After all, it was not an era where people found information only by physical survey and investigation.


    -We will set some extra budget to modernize police equipment.


    ¡°If you¡¯re short on your budget, please let me know. The royal family will also support it.¡±


    -It¡¯ll only be a joke on the government if you fund police equipment. Instead, why don¡¯t you take some time to visit the National Police Agency? I think it¡¯ll help with their morale.


    ¡°Should I?¡±


    ***


    Until now, Youngho had visited all government ministries and agencies except the National Police Agency.


    To be honest, he was not a big fan of the organization.


    On the day of Youngho¡¯s visit to the National Police Agency, all the top police officers, including Kaliyev, were gathered in the building.


    The Duke of Kazakhstan¡¯s visit to the National Police Agency was a huge deal for the police.


    ¡°To His Highness, gun up!¡±


    When themander¡¯s order was dropped, police officers dressed in uniforms lifted up their rifles in unison at the police station¡¯s training ground.


    All Kazakh police officers were given a personal rifle as they were also responsible for the unusually long border of Kazakhstan.


    Simply put, they were given a task close tobat police and were armed to the level of soldiers.


    Youngho also returned a salute to hundreds of policemen.


    As the event hosted by the National Police Agency wasplete, Youngho headed to Kaliyev¡¯s office with him.


    ¡°You must have felt sorry that I haven¡¯t been paying attention to the police, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. I know that the former police organization deserves it. I¡¯m just very grateful for your visit now.¡±


    ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve been reluctant toe because I didn¡¯t trust the police organization, but that didn¡¯t make me feelfortable. I¡¯ve watched your desperate attempt to save and reform the organization. Indeed, it changed a lot thanks to your efforts.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve only managed to clean its image, it¡¯s nothing to beplimented.¡±


    Kaliyev wanted to hide somewhere out of embarrassment.


    The notorious organization was well-known for its wrongdoings. People thought of it as bullies that harassed them.


    How bad was it that even the Duke refused to visit it?


    The royal family, who seized power in a coup, should not have neglected the police, one of the key power organizations when it could be the royal family¡¯s hands and feet.


    When Kaliyev was nominated as police chief, he was full of motivation and passion.


    To meet the expectations of the new regime, he had been trying hard to cut out the rotten parts and renew it.


    But the only thing that came back was cold and contempt, so he was thinking about quitting recently.


    However, as the police returned to the spotlight due to the spy scandal, he had a private meeting with the prime minister and now, the Duke was visiting the National Police Agency in person to encourage the whole organization.


    ¡°Chief, the Prime Minister also praised you for your hard work. Thank you for your hard work. I¡¯lle visit you often from now on.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Highness!¡±


    At Duke¡¯s word praise, Kaliyev felt that all his troubles were gone in an instant.


    ¡°I know well that police morale should live to ensure the well-being of the nation. Now, show your newfound self to the people. If you remove the stigma of a power-driven organization, we will support you always.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I want the police to be an organization of the people, not of the royal family and the government. Please make a confident organization that doesn¡¯t get swayed by any pressure.¡±


    Few police could remain politically neutral even in advanced countries.


    Nevertheless, Youngho was asking not to be swayed by power but to be the police on the side of the people. This was because an institution of authority must be at the center if a country was to stand upright.


    ¡°I will take your words to heart, but I don¡¯t think I can follow all your orders. If the people degrade the royal family, who will defend the royal authority? I would like to tell you that we are the police of Her Majesty before we are the police of the people.¡±


    At Kaliyev¡¯s fair words, Youngho could not help but be pleased inwardly.


    Such ttery was something he never refused.

 Chapter 708 - Administration of Internal Affairs (5)

    <h4>Chapter 708: Administration of Internal Affairs (5)</h4>


    The public was also awakened by the recent spy scandal.


    People recognized that they should not give any loopholes to the enemy as much as the soldiers and police.


    Perhaps that was why they seemed to ept the revival of the police intelligence service without much objection.


    The reason why the government failed to detect the spy civic activists early was because of such loopholes.


    Many people started to autonomously report suspicious acts to the police or public offices. It was quite unusual as Kazakh people naturally did not like to be involved in other people¡¯s affairs. They now began to take an interest in their surroundings.


    It was proof that the Kazakh people¡¯s view of the country was firmly in ce.


    After his visit to the National Police Agency, Youngho visited the temporary pce of the Royal Armored Division on the outskirts of Astana.


    Shortly after his arrival, Prime Minister Kasim and several other Cab members came to see him. They were too curious about the result of today¡¯s event to wait until tomorrow.


    Prime Minister Kasim greeted Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, I hope we are not interrupting your rest. I heard that the event went well today.¡±


    ¡°I should have visited the National Police Agency early. I regreting alone without the queen. It was nice to see the spirits of the police alive. I could read the determined willingness of the police officers in their eyes.¡±


    ¡°Your visit itself must have been a morale booster for them. I¡¯m sure they wanted to show you something.¡±


    ¡°They should be recognized by the people, not me. I hope their determination stays that way.¡±


    ¡°The police have no choice but to look at the power. The key is how we control and use the organization.¡±


    ¡°I told Kaliyev to stand by the people, and he said he would be loyal to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Well, it is the basic position of a government official to support the will of the authority. It¡¯s only natural to say that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also worried that Kaliyev seems too power-oriented.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, what¡¯s the matter when he wants to be loyal to the royal family? It¡¯s inspiring. Kazakhstan and Central Asia are still in a transitional period, and it¡¯s a great force to have an organization willing to be loyal to the royal family. The more loyal the royal family, the more stable Kazakhstan will be.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that too much power is concentrated in the royal family?¡±


    ¡°If the regime stabilizes, the people will be relieved. It¡¯s rather fortunate. The military and police are double-edged swords, and I think it¡¯s encouraging if both organizations are loyal to the royal family. If we can only control the two organizations effectively, then there¡¯s no more worry about it.¡±


    ¡°It was a great decision to visit the National Police Agency this time. You gave the police a sense of pride. Your Highness, why don¡¯t you give the police a small gift?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re asking me to reward them for nothing in particr?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying we could give the police a mark with a royal pattern, like the Royal Armored Division or the Navy, to give them a sense of pride as the Royal Police. It would be a great honor to be given the title of the royal police officer at this time.¡±


    Kasim meant to give the police a boost of encouragement by renaming the organization as Royal Police.


    Since it was not a difficult thing, Youngho dly agreed.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll talk to the queen.¡±


    ***


    The task of changing the name of the police, one of the government-affiliated organizations, as the Royal Police was easily done by revising rtedws.


    The police would still be funded by the people¡¯s taxes and a government¡¯s organization.


    ¡°Would it make any difference if its name is changed to the Royal Police?¡±


    It was Kim Chun¡¯s words.


    He had deep distrust in the police organization as it had been worse than backstreet bullies since the Soviet era.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be the same as before because it¡¯s been reformed.¡±


    ¡°Only the leadership has changed, but the working-level officers are the same. Some people worry that they will start to be arrogant again with the royal family on their backs.¡±


    The public view was that it was possible to change the police that had beenmitting irregrities.


    ¡°It¡¯ll do well because of the weight of carrying the name of the royal family. Let¡¯s keep an eye on it.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. The police have been a pure embarrassment of Kazakhstan.¡±


    The former regime had more than 100,000 police officers for a poption of less than 20 million.


    The reason for therge number of police officers was to maintain its authority as it worked under the former regime.


    So as soon as he took power, Youngho started with reforming and shuffling the police organization.


    Except for 40,000 officers, the minimum number needed for security, the government had deployed the rest of the officers to the Russian border to protect the border.


    ***


    The atmosphere of the police organization had changed drastically since they were named royal police officers.


    The police were starting to take pride in themselves.


    There was nothing to say about the public security as it was known to be great already, andw and order naturally took their ce when the police worked in a strict manner.


    It was a change in just a few weeks, and the public could feel it.


    Previously, police officers were busy nitpicking people¡¯s petty affairs, but simple vitions of the basic order were handled only by a warning or a simple reprimand.


    Although it was only a small change, the impact on the whole of society was huge.


    As the basic order was slowly being taken care of, the sense of citizenship was also bing more sophisticated.


    ¡°Look, it only changed its name, but it feels like the world has changed. Now I¡¯m relieved.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s voice was brighter than ever at the royal conference room.


    Despite concerns surrounding the area, the police organization proved its worth to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I think the Police Chief Kaliyev is determined.¡±


    Kaliyev visited the royal territory every single day to report on the police¡¯s work and progress.


    The reason why he visited the royal family was that although it was a government-affiliated institution, it was now called the Royal Police.


    The fact that the police chief could hold an exclusive meeting with the Duke frequently meant that he would report domestic information. It was strengthening the royal family as well because the duties of the police were endless.


    In addition to domestic intelligence service, police engaged in all sorts of things, such as policing, preventing crimes, guarding major facilities, and maintaining social order.


    ¡°Your Highness, there is a lot of talk about the police chief pressing too aggressively because of your support. Why don¡¯t you keep a little distance?¡±


    ¡°The intelligence chief seems to be keeping the police chief in check too much these days. The police organization is like a young seedling. Let¡¯s help it grow. If the police are cooperative with the royal family, it¡¯ll be convenient for the Intelligence Service, too.¡±


    Park Jong-il was worried that too much power was being given to the police organization.


    It felt like leaving a knife to a child.


    ¡°It¡¯s so bad that the intelligence officers at each agency are in trouble. The police aren¡¯t even an inspector, but I think they went too far.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s because it hasn¡¯t found its ce yet. Intelligence Chief, you should coach the police organization. The Intelligence Service is superior in the governmental system.¡±


    Youngho was going to let it pass if it was not causing harm.


    It was because the Prime Minister was in charge of the organization.


    ¡°The police are independent, so the Intelligence Service can¡¯t be involved... I think it¡¯ll work faster if Your Highness gives a warning message to the police. If there¡¯s a problem, it¡¯s better to fix it right away than to wait.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it up to the government since the Prime Minister is in charge. If the intelligence service has any problems with the police, please let him know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there will be a word that says the Intelligence Service is wary of the police.¡±


    These days, Park Jong-il had a lot of problems with the police intelligence department.


    This was because the status of the Intelligence Service had shrunk since the police intelligence department was activated.


    Since there were ovepping tasks and police officers were overwhelmingly involved in handling information, causing both organizations to sh with each other.


    Although the Intelligence Service was said to be solely responsible for external affairs, there was no external issue that was not linked to domestic affairs.


    ¡°Do you have any information exchange between the two agencies?¡±


    ¡°The police intelligence agency is a new institution, and the police agents are not well-trained enough. It is desirable for the national interest not to disclose information that may be leaked to the outside world.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t believe in police intelligence.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, yes. It doesn¡¯t have elite intelligence agents, and we know that their system is not organized.¡±


    ¡°Then how about training the police intelligence department at the Intelligence Service? If both organizations work together, it will be more efficient.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet with Kaliyev to find a way.¡±


    It was only then that Park Jong-il¡¯s expression was slightly rxed.


    This was because he was told his Intelligence Service could train the police intelligence department.

 Chapter 709 - Fruitful Results (1)

    <h4>Chapter 709: Fruitful Results (1)</h4>


    ¡°Is this all you can do? It makes no sense that you¡¯ve been police for decades, and you¡¯re behind the new recruits at the Intelligence Service.¡±


    By the instructor¡¯s rebuke, the faces of the police officers at the Police Intelligence Department became stern.


    They came to the Royal Intelligence Service to receive advanced intelligence education, but the hard physical training always followed after the morning job training session.


    ¡°Instructor! Let¡¯s cut it short. How many people can do this kind of physical training at the age of 50?¡±


    ¡°If you still have the energy to talk, you can do this. Your fitness is getting better and better, I¡¯m very happy. This time, we¡¯re going to do the guerri exercise for eight times.¡±


    The South Korean military¡¯s guerri exercise was being introduced in Kazakhstan and forced not only to soldiers but also to government officials who received physical training.


    The intelligence police and staff members of the National Police Agency who participated in the intelligence job training were no exception.


    They had been training for days, so many of them wereining.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m dying. How long do I have to do this exercise? I think that the instructor determined to get us good... ¡±


    ¡°Director, isn¡¯t the Intelligence Service trying to establish discipline?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t overthink. The intelligence agents are also training with us. Just hang in there! Let¡¯s see who wins.¡±


    ¡°How can we endure this infamous guerri exercise at our age? It¡¯s even hard for young soldiers toplete.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t nitpick and follow the instructions. If you fall behind here, you¡¯re disgracing the entire police force.¡±


    Al-Sabah, head of the National Police Agency¡¯s main intelligence division, was now deeply regretful.


    It was a mistake to ignore his colleagues¡¯ments on the intelligence training.


    He snorted when his colleagues, who formerly attended the training, advised him to strengthen his basic physical strength in advance, thinking it was just a simple drill.


    He wanted to leave if he could, but this was a training ground for the Royal Intelligence Service. Quitting would be such a dishonor to the whole National Police Agency.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even remember what I learned at the job training because I was too tired from the physical training the day before. This physical training is useless.¡±


    ¡°Have you not heard that His Highness oftenes to this training ground to train with others? You have to hang in there. This will be good for us.¡±


    ¡°Gee, I applied to the Intelligence Department for no reason! That instructor is killing me.¡±


    ¡®Ahmadi¡¯, a section chief of the Police Intelligence Department, cried.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about getting promoted if you don¡¯t pass this training.¡±


    ¡°Director, you should get promoted first, so I can get promoted, too. Don¡¯t stand in front of your juniors and get promoted already.¡±


    ¡°You know this is rude, right?¡±


    ¡°The bottom line is what that instructor is doing is rude. Please save your subordinates by pressing him down with your position.¡±


    ¡°Hey, instructor! Let¡¯s take a break for a while. You don¡¯t even give me time to smoke?¡±


    ¡°The Police Chief also quit smoking during the training period. You are no exception.¡±


    Everyone was silenced by the instructor¡¯s remarks that the Police Chief was no exception either.


    ¡°Oh, he wants us to stay quiet.¡±


    ¡°We just have to endure the next two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Director, you are no help here.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on!¡±


    As everyone seemed to be exhausted, the instructor smiled and gave an order.


    ¡°We will dismiss after running around the training camp five times!¡±


    ¡°What?! He¡¯s determined to kill us. Fiveps is two kilometers...¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he being extra harsh on us? You¡¯ve been picking fights with him, haven¡¯t you?


    ¡°Oh, you are dumping it on me, now? You asked me to do something.¡±


    ¡°You should have done it in a more sophisticated way. You kept on getting on his nerves, Director.¡±


    Since they had been working with each other for more than a decade, they were close enough to insult each other without hesitation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you after the training.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll all just pass out after this training. You can carry us on your back to reprimand us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut up. Just do as you¡¯re told.¡±


    ¡°Director, please fix it quickly. After fiveps, we¡¯ll all die.¡±


    At the intelligence service training ground, the staff of the National Police Agency continued to groan.


    ***


    ¡°How¡¯s the training going?¡±


    ¡°Everybody¡¯s following well. There¡¯s no one who¡¯s fallen behind yet maybe because of their pride.¡±


    Park Jong-il was surprised when he had hoped for a fall-out, but no one fell behind yet.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of talk about how hard the training is...¡±


    ¡°The intensity is less than one-twentieth of what our intelligence agents get. You can¡¯t condescend to handle intelligence without being able to digest that much physical training.¡±


    Intelligence agents must be trained hard as they were given tough tasks sometimes risking their lives, but the police intelligence agents mostly spent their time at their desks.


    The fact that such people had been following the hard training well even though it was hard, it simply meant that they were very determined.


    ¡°So, did the police change their attitude clearly?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I thought it was a mess, but when I opened the lid, it seemed pretty good. If this atmospherests for a year, the image of the police will have a huge turn.¡±


    ¡°Right. The police haven¡¯t had any sense of honor before.¡±


    Kazakhstan once had so many police officers that there were more than 150,000 as the police institution only existed to maintain dictatorship. Of course, there was no honor in this as it worked on to get in the favor of the power elites.


    Likewise, those in power were turning a blind eye to corruptionmitted by government officials, a group loyal to them.


    Only the personal sess, not the service persons for the nation and the people, was the best good.


    It took five years just to change that mindset of civil servants.


    And thest one was the police.


    Youngho had given up the organization before, but now, a new wind of change hade.


    When the police were born again, which was the organization most closely working with the public, it seemed like a warm breeze was blowing across Kazakhstan.


    When the police changed, other government ministries began to change as well.


    ¡°What is the cleanest organization in our country?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a military organization. And I don¡¯t want to admit it, but the police are right behind it. It¡¯s like the prodigal son.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s a hugepliment. Is it a personal judgment or the intelligence service¡¯s view?¡±


    ¡°Both. It¡¯s true that the police are changing fast, obviously. The people feel the same way.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    At times like this, it was necessary to reward the organization. Many times, a prize had a stronger effect than a whip


    ¡°Looking at your face, you look like you¡¯re going to give them a gift.¡±


    ¡°For a good organization, you should praise and award.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d love it if you modernized their equipment.¡±


    ¡°The government is working on it. What other equipment?¡±


    ¡°Looking at the police training, I figured they¡¯ll need thetest intelligence equipment.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too early?¡±


    ¡°I think if the police work hard like they do now, they¡¯ll show off a perfect police cordon.¡±


    If Park Jong-il praised the police this much, it meant he was getting high-quality information through the police informationwork.


    ¡°Is that what Kaliyev asked for?¡±


    ¡°No, but he looked at our equipment and was very envious. He said if the police can have such equipment, they will be able to track down and catch spies all over the country.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s saying that the police used to boast perfect security but became terrible under the new government.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true though. We can¡¯t deny that we were letting go of the domestic intelligence business.¡±


    ¡°He must have had a lot ofints.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been keeping quiet in the corner, but he said he was quite frustrated.¡±


    ¡°That Kaliev... He seems to be quite a patient and insightful person. He¡¯s very different from the way he looks.¡±


    Kaliyev seemed to be a quiet andpliant person, but he was a man of leadership.


    ¡°He knows how to wait for the right time. And I felt like he had a great judgment and knows how to act quickly in situations.¡±


    ¡°In a good way or a bad way?¡±


    ¡°A good judgment means he¡¯s smart and has a good eye for the current. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a matter of dichotomy.¡±


    Youngho tended to judge people as either good or bad, but Jong-il, who did not trust people easily, gave a roundabout answer.


    ¡°Somehow, the change in the police organization has improved the overall atmosphere in our country, so we should give a prize.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to hand down the equipment that the Intelligence Service has used.¡±


    It seemed Park Jong-il wanted to improve the Intelligence Service¡¯s equipment at this opportunity, as new equipment was being released quickly day after day.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to rece the Intelligence Service¡¯s equipment. Why didn¡¯t you ask before?¡±


    ¡°Well, we already spend a lot to maintain and operate the organization, so how can I ask for more? The equipment and tools still work fine, too.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. So, are you saying you¡¯re going to keep using them?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d rather have a new type of equipment if we were to improve our efficiency. You know, we need to catch as many spies as we can.¡±


    ¡°Okay. If you have any equipment you want, submit a request. The same goes for personal equipment.¡±


    ¡°Now I get to save the Intelligence Service¡¯s face.¡±


    Youngho felt sorry that he had never been paying too much attention to the Intelligence Service. It was because Park Jong-il, his trusted friend, was in charge and he was good at it.


    So, he decided to give a boost to Park Jong-il as well.


    ¡°Buy a small jet dedicated to the Intelligence Service. It¡¯s not a good sight to see agents fly in and out of foreign countries in the public¡¯s eye.¡±


    ¡°A private jet?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you need at least a 16-seater jet to transport the operatives?¡±

 Chapter 710 - Fruitful Results (2)

    <h4>Chapter 710: Fruitful Results (2)</h4>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Kaliyev will like to receive used equipment.¡±


    ¡°There are not enough agents in the Police Intelligence Department to operate the new equipment. The police agents also received job training at the Intelligence Service, so it would be easier to use familiar equipment. We are supposed to share the information anyway, so I¡¯m nning to send our agents to the police, too.¡±


    The fact that the Intelligence Service had changed so proactively toward the Police Intelligence was probably due to its unexpectedly great capabilities. If it was no help to the Intelligence Service, Park Jong-il would have never cooperated with the police organization.


    ¡°If the heads of the two organizations agreed so, it¡¯s a desirable situation for the nation. Make the most of the police organization.¡±


    ¡°The Intelligence Service has made a hundred concessions. It¡¯s not a good organization, but we work together because it has a lot of manpower. Do you know how hard it was to train them this time?¡±


    ¡°Since there is no organization that has domestic information like the police, cooperate with it well. The National Police Agency is below the Intelligence Service in rank anyway.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°By the way, how¡¯s China¡¯s recent move?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as quiet as a mouse.¡±


    The Kazakh government did not protest against the Chinese government even after discovering it had been controlling some civic groups to shake Kazakhstan.


    China would not have admitted it anyway.


    Kazakhstan was also engaged in intelligence activities against China, so both countries were the same.


    China should be ashamed to be caught spying in Kazakhstan.


    If it were a decent intelligence organization, it should not have been caught so easily.


    On the other hand, Kazakh agents, which were active in Xinjiang Uyghur, had never been discovered by Chinese police.


    It was something to beplimented. Although the Chinese government allowed part of the capitalist system through reform and openness, China was still a closed socialist country. In other words, it was a difficult environment for foreign intelligence organizations to step in.


    If Kazakhstan¡¯s Intelligence Service had not been caught while working in such a ce, it was quite an achievement.


    ***


    Zeynep, who went to do medical service, returned to the royal territory.


    The mediapanies that apanied the hospital ship made headlines for its medical service activities.


    The Kazakh people were also very proud of the fact that Kazakhstan had be a country that could help other countries.


    Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship was able to reach the Caspian Sea through the expanded Volga-Don Canal.


    If the Volga-Don Canal had not been expanded and opened, it would have been forced to operate from either the port of Copenhagen in Denmark or the port of Piraeus in Greece as its parent port, but there was no need to suffer such inconvenience.


    There was no room to step on the docks of royal territory with crowds weing the medical volunteer staff.


    ¡°Doctor, thank you for your hard work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it wasn¡¯t hard work at all. In fact, it was like going on a cruise. The princess and the medical staff did a lot of hard work.¡±


    He was tanner but looked healthier than before he left the country.


    His goodplexion was proof that the trip had been rewarding even though long-term life on the ship and medical activities in a foreign country were never easy.


    ¡°I heard you¡¯ve done a great job.¡±


    ¡°The princess has done a great job. The government of Madagascar was very grateful. It¡¯s because we not only provided medical service to the residents who had no medical benefits but also our Navy had cleared all the pirates that operated in the surrounding waters.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve also been briefed about pirates in the waters of Madagascar.¡±


    ¡°Madagascar is also not a safe zone as pirate mother ships are bingrger these days. Although our Navy has wiped out all of them this time, I think we should continue to pay attention to them. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to bepletely eradicated until African countries get back to normal.¡±


    Due to the pirates who approached the hospital ship as a target of hijacking, the Kazakh Navy had eradicated Somali pirates as well as the pirates in eastern Africa.


    In eastern African waters, the Kazakh Navy was so notorious as to be called the grim reaper.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to the admiral.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s done an amazing job this time.¡±


    Getting off the ship, Zeynep was as lively as a fish in the water.


    She greeted her nephew and nieces with hugs and kisses as they had not met in a long time.


    ¡°Great job.¡±


    ¡°Well, it was a good experience. I¡¯m not even tired. Maybe it¡¯s because I did something worthwhile.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t the hospital ship ufortable to stay in?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quitefortable like a hotel. The medical staff is very satisfied.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything to improve, tell me. We can improve it in our Royal Shipyard.¡±


    ¡°Instead, give the captain of the frigate and the soldiers a special break. They were supposed to rest at the Greek base, but they worked hard to escort us to the Caspian Sea.¡±


    ***


    ¡°You mean no more guards are needed for the hospital ship?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. As a matter of fact, there was a situation.¡±


    Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov, themander of the frigate, the Ural, borated on what happened when the vessel was getting an oil supply at the Gulf of Aden.


    Youngho had already been reported by Admiral Jun.


    ¡°That means the troops on the hospital ship are enough.¡±


    ¡°With the royal guards on the hospital ship, even pirates can¡¯t be a threat. If you arm the patient transport helicopter on it, you will be able to handle even smallbat ships.¡±


    The hospital ship was equipped with a helicopter for transporting emergency patients.


    Ivanov wanted to utilize the helicopter for defense.


    ¡°It¡¯s for transport. You want to arm it¡±


    ¡°If the ship does volunteer work in a dangerous area, the helicopter can be used for reconnaissance purposes. Most of the areas where the hospital ships operate are unsafe. We need a multi-purpose helicopter to prepare for that. I¡¯m telling you this because we¡¯ve put our anti-submarine helicopters in the volunteer medicalmunity, and they¡¯ve worked better than we thought.¡±


    The deployment of the newest frigate to escort the hospital ship was rather too much, as it was like a small Aegis destroyer.


    ¡°Is there any other reason?¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. I¡¯ve discussed it with themander of the fleet. It¡¯s inefficient to have a warship following a hospital ship when it¡¯s supposed to be a part of the fleet operation. And there¡¯s also the hassle of having to move along with the supply ship because the frigate has a short range. It¡¯s especially dangerous because it¡¯s defenseless when it¡¯s being supplied with gas.¡±


    ¡°Hmm! I see, there was such a problem. But I can¡¯t help feeling uneasy.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve seen the activities of the Royal bodyguards, so I think they are enough to protect the hospital ship.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your opinion. Let¡¯s try to use the new frigate more efficiently then. But I heard there¡¯s a portable missile on pirate ships. Can youbat that with a 20-millimeter machine gun?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite possible. It would almost perfect the defense if the goalkeeper mechanic was installed.¡±


    ¡°The moment you arm the ship, it¡¯ll be ssified as a warship.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s such a big ship that there are plenty of ces to hide. You don¡¯t have to expose them.¡±


    The goalkeeper was a defensive weapon that could neutralize even ship-to-ship missiles. There was no reason to decline it if the ship could be armed secretively.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯ll do.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯d like you to deploy additional troops to escort the traveling medics to remote areas. Although Madagascar is a safe zone, there have been cases where indigenous people who live far from civilization are hostile to health care workers.¡±


    ¡°You mean one toon is not enough.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. There¡¯s plenty of room on the hospital ship, so it¡¯ll be safe to carry two toon soldiers and three or four light armored vehicles.¡±


    The hospital ship had a separate entrance to and from the side of the ship for ambnces. Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov was trying to use it.


    ¡°But is Madagascar dangerous enough to mobilize light armored vehicles?¡±


    Youngho was surprised to hear him.


    If it was dangerous enough to mobilize light armored vehicles, medical service should not be given in the area. He did not want to expose Zeynep and the medical staff to danger.


    ¡°It is because there are many unpaved roads and a lot of times, you have to cross a river. The light-armored vehicle is the only thing that will protect the medics and soldiers, and the radius of activity will be extended much more.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s what it was for. But how do you know all that in detail?¡±


    ¡°I heard that Princess Zeynep was participating in a long-distance volunteer work, so I went to the expedition with the crew of the Ural. That¡¯s why I¡¯m reporting to you based on my short experience. If we minimize the armament of the light armored vehicles produced in the royal territory and convert them into a space for medical personnel, we can ensure the princess and their safety wherever they go.¡±


    Ivanov was saying what Youngho liked to hear.


    He was speaking the truth.


    Light armored vehicles were not too expensive and did not take up a lot of space, either.


    While Zeynep would not apany remote trips every time, there was nothing more than a light armored vehicle for the safety of the physically weak medical staff.


    ¡°As I talked to you today, I guess I can stop worrying about the hospital ship. You¡¯ve been having a hard time escorting it, so I¡¯ll give the crew of the Ural a special week off. When the vacation is over, return to Arirang Ind. I¡¯ll look forward to the future of the Mediterranean mobile fleet.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Highness, I will show the world the power of the Kazakh Royal Navy. You can look forward to it.¡±


    Ivanov walked out of the office with a splendid salute.

 Chapter 711 - Fruitful Results (3)

    <h4>Chapter 711: Fruitful Results (3)</h4>


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we couldn¡¯t bring our nuclear submarine through the canal because of its shallow depth.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I didn¡¯t think of that when we were working on the expansion. I watched the footage of the submarine in operation, so that¡¯s enough.¡±


    A nuclear submarine was at least more than ten meters underwater even if it was not submerged in water.


    The depth of the canal was limited, so the submarine could not reach the Caspian Sea, which Admiral Jun regretted as he could not show it to Youngho.


    He came to report the results of the acquisition of nuclear submarines from Russia and the deployment of them on the Greek ind of Meltemi and the Seychelles Base in the Indian Ocean, respectively.


    ¡°Other ces were fine, but they couldn¡¯t get through the gates.¡±


    ¡°If a nuclear submarinees into the Caspian Sea, it¡¯ll be a shock. I¡¯m going to take the time to visit the ind of Meltemi and Seychelles.¡±


    ¡°If you visit in person, the morale of the soldiers will soar.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I got seasick. By the way, how do you feel about operating with a nuclear submarine in the Indian Ocean?¡±


    ¡°I have nothing else to say. I¡¯m just proud. We¡¯ve been ying hide-and-seek among ourselves, and ten warships couldn¡¯t find the submarine no matter what.¡±


    Nuclear submarines usually had a cooler running 24 hours, which was bound to be noisy, but that did not seem to be the case.


    It was surprising to hear that even tentest Aegis destroyers and frigates could not catch it.


    The Kazakh Navy, which had two such submarines, was now invincible.


    Youngho was pleased to hear such news.


    ¡°Is the submarine too good, or are the battleships not enough?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, these are not simpleparisons since they are built for different purposes. Although we didn¡¯t find the submarine, the battleships could effectively keep it stationary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Now I¡¯m not envious of any navy.¡±


    ¡°If we turn the multi-purposending ship into a helicopter carrier, we¡¯ll be the strongest force in the Indian Ocean except for the U.S. Navy, although I¡¯m a bit concerned about the Chinese Navy¡¯s advance.¡±


    ¡°We have decided to leave the armament of the multi-purpose amphibiousnding ship to the U.S. Navy. From the U.S. point of view, the deployment of a helicopter carrier in the Indian Ocean will be a relief.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if you¡¯re going to arm it, why don¡¯t you have a few vertical take-offs andnding crafts onboard?¡±


    ¡°Can we operate a vertical take-off andnding ne with our ability?¡±


    ¡°I think we should make it special rather than making it a regr one. It¡¯s too slow and big for a multipurposending ship.¡±


    ¡°I was actually nning to deploy more assaultnding ships, but that¡¯s great. Let¡¯s operate the currently deployednding ship as a helicopter carrier. The next assault ship will be built with a slight reduction in size.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Highness, if we had a helicopter carrier, we wouldn¡¯t have any enemy in the Indian Ocean.¡±


    There was no reason for Kazakhstan to operate a super-sizednding ship when it had no reason to invade a foreign country.


    A new assaultnding ship with a smaller size would be enough to operate.


    ¡°Then take the multipurposending ship to the United States and make it a helicopter carrier. It¡¯s already arranged. The U.S. is going to teach our navy how to operate a helicopter carrier. I ordered only attack helicopters andrge-sized helicopters for troop transport, but if you need to, mount a vertical take-off andnding craft.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    ***


    The Kazakh royal family had been suffering losses after taking over the Greek Port of Piraeus, but finally, it turned into a surplus after the new year.


    Although the amount was smallpared to the amount poured in, the fact that it started making revenues was important.


    It was mostly Eriksson¡¯s effort. After putting the port of Piraeus on track, he pulled out of port management and returned to the royal territory.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a great job. I thought it would be back to normal in a few more years, but I¡¯m surprised.¡±


    It was hard to believe that the port was making profits even after partially offsetting the cost of modernizing the port.


    ¡°The strike by the port union had worsened management, but the remaining conditions were the best.¡±


    ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t ask you toe back when you wanted to stay longer.¡±


    The Port of Piraeus was a colorful tourist city equipped with all sorts of infrastructure. It was iparable to the royal territory.


    ¡°My wife and children also wanted to return to the royal territory. There are demonstrators and police everywhere. It¡¯s scary to be staying in ces where tear gas and rocks fly. I was so nervous that my wife and children couldn¡¯t even go out.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s still better than the royal territory with bitter cold and dusty storms, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    It was not enough to talk all day long to praise Greece.


    There were beautiful cities near an emerald sea like a painting and warm sunshine in every season.


    ¡°It¡¯s a warm and beautiful ce. However, the social order has copsed and you can¡¯t expect to see the Greece of the past. Staying there for a vacation is fine, but living there is definitely not a good idea. The educational conditions were much worse than here, so I didn¡¯t get attached to the ce. The royal ce is much colder and deste, but there¡¯s no ce in the world that¡¯s safer and morefortable than here.¡±


    ¡°It makes me feel good to hear that from you, Sir Eriksson.¡±


    It was a bit funny to say that it was a good ce to live, but the Arirang royal territory was a more vibrant and dynamic ce than any other European city, regardless of the weather and nature.


    It was also an educational city with all kinds of educational institutions, not to mention policing.


    In addition, it was an industrial city, which housed numerous defense and light industry factories.


    The poption of the city had already topped 1.5 million.


    However, it was not too crowded. Due to the hard work of nting trees and forming water reservoir systems, it had turned into a ce with numerous oases withrge and smallkes and forests all over the city.


    ¡°Now I think the royal territory is where I¡¯m supposed to be. I¡¯m saying this because I can¡¯t think of anywhere else to live.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you sound like you badly missed this ce. It¡¯s pleasing to hear that you praise this ce so much. Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve gained some insights while living abroad.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°How long do you think Kazakhstan will be on a roll?¡±


    Eriksson suddenly took the smile off his face and asked with a serious look. Youngho could not find an answer.


    ¡°Your Highness, the world I saw here and the world I saw from Greece were so different. The world is fluctuating greatly. If we get pulled into that whirlwind, we won¡¯t even be able to step on the threshold of bing an advanced country, and we¡¯ll just remain an ordinary country. Kazakhstan is doing well now, but we have to be even more careful. Maybe we¡¯ve been lucky all along.¡±


    ¡°Is it that serious?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. We need to prepare a lot.¡±


    Just as the frog in the well could not see the wide world, it was Youngho who had been on a roll in Kazakhstan and had not experienced much failure and frustration, so he always thought it would always be the same as today.


    Come to think of it, he had been terribly lucky so far.


    Because he went on a business trip to Armenia, he could have be a local agent of the U.S. intelligence service and obtain a vineyard in Baku, Azerbaijan.


    If he had not met Fatima in Istanbul, he would neither have been able to be master of the mystical ring and shoes, the relics of the Serbian Kingdom, nor able to establish ties to the Serbian royal family.


    He also made great connections with good people who helped him along the way.


    ¡°I think luck is also your ability. That¡¯s because luckes to those who give their very best. I¡¯ve never been arrogant in my life. I will never rx until Leon is grown up and takes over the throne.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not concerned about the royal family, but I¡¯m saying we need to bring the people of this country together.¡±


    ¡°Our people have changed a lot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but people are overspending and real estate prices inrge cities are skyrocketing because they think the country is bing rich and stable. It¡¯s a typical bubble phenomenon, and the fact that the number of civic groups registering and in action is growing is another sign. They are not hungry or feel in danger anymore. Greece was in the same situation just before it went downhill.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t corruption of officials and politicians the cause of national bankruptcy in Greece?¡±


    ¡°Workers who don¡¯t work and demand only high wages yed a part. Civic groups instigated and encouragedborers to lower their activity costs.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°They liked to see foreign capitaling in, shaking the stock market and buyingnd for good tourist attractions as an investment. Yet, they didn¡¯t even know they¡¯re being reduced to employees of the foreign investors.¡±


    Eriksson once again stressed the need to tighten the belt, saying to put the case of Greece as a teacher.


    It was quite rming to hear as Youngho had never doubted that Kazakhstan would end up that way.


    The royal family was firm and the clean government was carrying out the right policy, and the underground resources were inexhaustible, which the world envied.


    No country in the world had achieved such brilliant results in such a short period of time.


    Still, Eriksson said only the prepared would survive in this world.


    Youngho knew the world had entered a state of economic war now but wascent thinking that Kazakhstan was an exception.


    It was more persuasive as it wasing from the best brain of the Swedish Information Agency, which was run by an elite group.

 Chapter 712 - Further Efforts (1)

    <h4>Chapter 712: Further Efforts (1)</h4>


    As Eriksson asked, Kazakhstan also began to prepare for the aftereffects of the global economic war.


    Now, Kazakhstan¡¯s economic power, which had entered the ranks of middle-power countries, could hardly easily weather the high waves of economic war.


    However, the leaders of Kazakhstan should try their best to prepare for it.


    To strengthen the weak economic constitution, fixing the property prices, the main culprit behind the overspending, was necessary.


    ¡°You said we should set a real estate price, do you think that¡¯s artificially possible? Rising consumption and rising real estate prices are proof that the economy is improving, but if the administration adjusts it, it¡¯s like a socialist country.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, Kazakhstan is the ninthrgest country in the world, but isn¡¯t it strange that real estate prices are skyrocketing? It is because the development ofnd is concentrated only inrge cities and foreigners are driving property prices by buying buildings in the suburbs of big cities at random. We need to hurry up and cool down this overheated overspending trend.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t foreigners investing more because Kazakhstan¡¯s economy is stable?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s highly likely that they are spectors who just raise the price and then slip away at some point.¡±


    ¡°Spectors?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t rule out the possibility of a foreign force behind them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to take a closer look at foreign real estate transactions. Ask the Ministry of Home Affairs for data.¡±


    ¡°We have already asked for foreigners¡¯ property transaction data.¡±


    ¡°Sir Eriksson. What measures do I need to take to tackle the real estate price?¡±


    ¡°We should build satellite cities around big cities. That will naturally lead to a drop in property prices. It¡¯s one of the ways we can pull out those who caused the prices of buildings andnd soar. It¡¯s also going to improve the environments of the overpopted cities.¡±


    ¡°I guess we should start building satellite cities near Almaty and Astana first.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not enough. To prevent ballooning effects, we need to include both the federal capital and the second city.¡±


    As in any country, announcing the development n of a new city n would reduce the attractiveness of existing cities by half.


    If satellite cities of the capital and second cities of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan, spectors¡¯ intention would lose its power.


    ¡°Your Highness. You have to announce the development of new towns to the press first. We need a little show to cool down the hyped-up property market. They¡¯ll believe because you have a history of establishing a residential town for 15 million people in a short period.¡±


    The world¡¯s media described the creation of the city for Kurdish and Syrian refugees as a miracle of the Ural River.


    No other country in the world had ever created a residential area in such a short period of time.


    Although construction was still underway, most of the residential areas had beenpleted.


    ¡°Really? Then I¡¯ll talk to Prime Minister Kasim and announce it right away.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the way to go. If there¡¯s a new investment destination, people will save money. Naturally, overconsumption will decrease.¡±


    ***


    These days, Kazakhstan was like a construction site all over the country.


    With economic indicators improving, the government budget also had some leeway, so construction work was underway for railway projects, highway projects, and tourism development projects.


    In particr, the tourism development project was led by the royal family and world-ss constructionpanies, so the process was very smoothly progressing.


    The future of Kazakhstan was uncertain to rely on exports of the underground resources, and there were limitations in building factories to make high-tech products due to theck of high-quality manpower, so the country turned to the tourism industry.


    There was nothing like the tourism service industry as a way to make money without ravaging the country with resources development.


    In European countries, tourism was a big part of the national economy.


    This was because the natural scenery alone could raise the ie of residents without the need forrge-scale investments like factories.


    The natural scenery of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan was as beautiful as Switzend and Austria.


    The mountain areas of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were especially jaw-droppingly beautiful. Not to mention the mountains and valleys covered with thousands of meters of snow that were untouched by humans, and the mountainouskes called for awes.


    Although the scenery was beautiful, there was ack of roads or railroads to approach it. However, the tough geographical features did not allow people to construct infrastructures without idents, injuries, and high costs as there were frequentndslides and road maintenance costs.


    So, a simple alternative was suggested, which was to build airfield facilities that allowed the ess of propeller nes with a short take-off andnding distance.


    Youngho and Eriksson were at Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan.


    The first thing Eriksson did when he returned to the royal territory was to look around Youngho¡¯s business sites to see if there were any problems.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think it would be better to target Southeast Asian tourists than European tourists.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think European tourists are going to spend more money?¡±


    ¡°South Asian tourists spend more than European tourists. I¡¯ve been watching tourists in Greece, and generally, Southeast Asian tourists were the people who spent the most.¡±


    ording to Eriksson, Europeans tended to make thorough tour ns, eventually spending little or no extra spending, while Southeast Asians tended to be more spontaneous, carrying their travel expenses with them leisurely.


    Eriksson meant to promote Central Asia to Southeast Asia.


    ¡°If you promote snow and ciers in Central Asia, they will flock like clouds.¡±


    ¡°Even if there are crowds of tourists, there are no direct flights.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m telling you, I think we should also operate our national airline to Southeast Asia.¡±


    ¡°South Asian people prefer Europe. Will theye here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible if wepete with cheaper tour packages, but I don¡¯t mean to make Central Asia a cheap tourist destination. It¡¯s important to attract tourists first. When theye and experience Kyrgyzstan, soon it will be widely known through word of mouth.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to cost a lot of publicity.¡±


    ¡°You have to be prepared for that. It¡¯s not even known to the ck Sea or the Caucasus countries. It¡¯s to promote our country to the world. Fortunately, we have a rtively advantageous position because the royal family exists. If you take advantage of its fame and fantastical factor, there will be people who visit Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Do we have to put the royal family in front?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s about generating revenue. And to dispel the perception that Central Asia is underdeveloped, the royal family muste to the fore. There are no poor countries in Europe where the royal family still survives.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The existence of the royal family is like having a superior culture. In fact, Kazakhstan is where fairytale-like stories live and breathe.¡±


    ¡®Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re opening a love story between me and Fatima.¡¯


    If Youngho did that, he would suffer a lot from Fatima.


    This thought popped in his head, but the wrong response came out.


    ¡°It¡¯s promoting Kazakhstan, and of course, the royal family should take the lead.¡±


    Eriksson went through all the details and made up for problems.


    He managed to establish an environment to elongate tourists¡¯ stay by nning things such as building mountain railways and cable cars of the 60-kilometer section from Issyk Kul Lake to steep peaks.


    The same was built in other tourist spots of Kyrgyzstan.


    Youngho epted it because it was cheaper than opening roads, but he was busy tapping the calctor.


    Youngho was bitter as his pocket would be empty when he was done developing Tajikistan as well.


    ¡°Your Highness, you look very sorry. That doesn¡¯t even cost you a couple of fighter jets.¡±


    If it were to buy weapons, Youngho would have no hesitation to spend money, but he did not want to invest so much in tourism infrastructure that did not bring oue right away.


    ¡°Who said it was a waste?¡±


    ¡°Then I understand that you allowed it.¡±


    After making sure, Eriksson¡¯s move was unhindered.


    ***


    Eriksson, who had been pouring out orders for the tourism project, did not say anything since the two reached the Pamir teau.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is a perfect ce for trekking. There¡¯s nothing else to develop. I think Europeans will like it if we build a few cabin hotels around here.¡±


    Although there were four seasons here, it was as if only winter and summer existed here as spring and fall were short. Wintersted eight months and summersted only two months.


    It was ridiculous to say that Europeans would like such a graceless ce.


    ¡°Will theye to a deste ce like this without a tree?¡±


    ¡°Europeans tend to enjoy nature more than artificial ces. Europeans prefer adventure if Asians seek convenience. It would be a big hit if we offered a tour package allowing them to trek around the mountain while watching the Marco Polo sheep.¡±


    The Pamir teau was also home to the world¡¯s rare mountain sheep, Marco Polo.


    Even in the winter, the sight of mountain sheep flocking on the steep rock wall was spectacr.


    It was amazing that Marco Polo sheep could be a tourist product.


    Youngho had no idea that the sheep he spotted every time he came here was the rare Marco Polo sheep.


    ¡°Are they such great mountain sheep? I was going to hunt one and stuff it to decorate my wall.¡±


    Eriksson gave Youngho a dumbfounded look and moved on to another question.


    ¡°I heard that there are wolves and snow leopards here. Have you ever seen them with your own eyes?¡±


    ¡°The militia that used to protect this ce said they¡¯ve beening out from time to time. I don¡¯t know about the snow leopard, but I¡¯ve seen wolves a few times.¡±


    ¡°Then they must be still living here.¡±


    ¡°Of course they are. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re hiding now because of the sound of the engines of the armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°Then Pamir has a great travel package in itself. Europeans will surely love this ce.¡±


    ¡°Many people have worked hard to protect the Pamir teau, and I guess it was worth it.¡±


    ¡°The Pamir teau will change the tourism industry in the federal country of Tajikistan.¡±

 Chapter 713 - Further Efforts (2)

    <h4>Chapter 713: Further Efforts (2)</h4>


    With the world economy maintaining a low-interest rate for ten years, ample floating funds were driven into real estate, and real estate prices in developed cities continued to soar.


    Kazakhstan was no exception, and especially the real estate prices of Almaty, Kazakhstan¡¯s economic capital, soared to the point where they were higher than the prices of Paris and New York.


    It was because foreign investors flocked in Kazakhstan expecting its economy to improve.


    However, when the announcement of the new city development n was made, there were sudden sell-offs in the market, and real estate prices in downtown areas began to fall gradually.


    In other words, the development of new cities had made it impossible to expect any more profits from existing cities.


    The announcement that six self-sufficient cities to inhabit 300,000 people each rattled Kazakhstan.


    The rise in prices of urban buildings fell ordingly.


    This meant that the fictitious demand was disappearing and the market was reshaping with the focus of the real demand.


    It also had the effect of eliminating the rtive deprivation that sried workers who had little cash assets would have felt, reviving the desire to work.


    This was because the rise in housing prices had caused frustration that no matter how hard they tried, they could not buy their own house.


    This gave hope andughter back to middle-ss families.


    On the contrary, foreign spectors were stamping their feet.


    If the real estate sales were smooth, they would have sold all properties out quickly, taking into ount the surrounding situation, which would cause a temporary shortage of foreign exchange in Kazakhstan, but they could not, as no one was buying properties at the moment.


    As real estate prices, which had been fluctuating, stabilized, the government immediately raised interest rates.


    It was intended to lure liquid funds released on the market into savings.


    It was to encourage safe interest ie rather than risky real estate spection.


    When the lost liquid funds returned to the bank, the bank could afford to invest in the manufacturing sector, andpanies that were struggling with short-term foreign debts began to breathe.


    Thanks to the economic growth, the government¡¯s foreign debt had almost been paid off, but manufacturers¡¯ short-term foreign debt had been increasing quite a bit due to increased investment.


    Therefore, the government decided to pay off short-term foreign debts ofpanies first with stocks as coteral.


    ¡°Your Highness, we need to expand support topanies with technical skills. Even among exporters, we¡¯ll have to sort out some of the resource-focused exporters.¡±


    In the resource sector, the opposition would be formidable, as it was mainly centered on state-runpanies, but the n was topletely eliminate nonpetitive state-runpanies.


    ¡°Sir Eriksson, please select viable businesses.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a relevant department, but can the royal familye forward?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s against supporting and nurturing smartpanies with technology andpetitiveness? The question is whether ourpanies can survive the aftermath of the economic war. It¡¯s quite threatening to see Turkey¡¯s case.¡±


    The firestorm was affecting Europe as the U.S. and China were fighting for their pride.


    Turkey was the most troubled country.


    Of course, political conflicts with the United States also yed a part, but excessive facility investment by manufacturers was the underlying cause.


    When the value of the currency plunged 45 percentpared tost year, the Turkish government began excessive foreign exchange defense, causing a dor shortage.


    Kazakhstan was forced to step up because it had signed currency swaps with the Turkish government.


    ¡°Your Highness, please wait a little longer before giving a hand. The priority is our people.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a cross-country agreement. I can¡¯t postpone it one day or another.¡±


    ¡°There is enough justification. Turkey has ten billion dors in foreign reserves but has 35 billion dors in foreign debts. How can we help it with our five billion dors in foreign exchange reserves? We can¡¯t.¡±


    The reason for currency-swapping was for an emergency like this, but Eriksson wanted to break it.


    ¡°Turkey has currency swaps with other countries as well, so if they help, it can get through the foreign exchange crisis.¡±


    ¡°A foreign exchange crisis cane not only for Turkey but also for us. The current situation is very serious.¡±


    The amount of currency swap was only five billion dors, and Youngho could not damage Kazakhstan¡¯s rtions with Turkey to save such money.


    If Kazakhstan fell out with Turkey, it would be ufortable using the Bosphorus Strait, the only way out to the Mediterranean Sea.


    Not only that, but it could also disrupt the export of oil through the BTC pipeline, forcing Kazakhstan to be entangled with Turkey in one way or another.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not saying we shouldn¡¯t help, but let¡¯s just give a little bit of support and wait and see. It¡¯s not toote to fully help if we decide there¡¯s no big risk.¡±


    ¡°We have gold. What are you worried about?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it. I wondered how you could give five billion dors lightly.¡±


    ¡°It would be frightening to know that we have such a huge amount of gold. I want to show off here and there.¡±


    ¡°Gold is like thest bastion. When you use it, the world will be in a state of chaos.¡±


    An expert like Eriksson also said that the current situation could not be predicted.


    There was a certain trend in the economic flow, which had been broken.


    Although Kazakhstan¡¯s economic situation was at its peak, it should also be careful as the future was uncertain.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you make a public statement?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we just going to confuse people by making the people nervous?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to be alerted by the fall of Turkey. The people will rather trust and follow it if the royal family asks to be economically careful and to save rather than to spend.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying we should make Turkey¡¯s situation as a teacher.¡±


    This was because the crisis in the neighboring country could be more alerting to the people.


    However, no government action was necessary. When Turkey was in a financial crisis following Greece, the people began to recognize that Kazakhstan also was not a safe zone.


    Sensing through the news that the world economy was serious, the people began to take caution.


    It was a huge shock that Turkey, once a big star, was reeling.


    To the people of Kazakhstan, Turkey was like a big brother.


    ***


    Azerbaijan had been a rich country around the Caspian Sea since the time of the Soviet Union.


    The source of wealth was oil.


    Although oil reserves were not asrge as those in the Middle East, they were a lotpared to its poption.


    However, the military funds spent for border disputes with neighboring Armenia was holding Azerbaijan back.


    As the country¡¯s economy depended on oil exports, it could face a crisis if crude oil prices fell due tock of a manufacturing base.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s Achilles¡¯ heel was the economic structure that fluctuated ording to oil prices.


    Youngho had maintained a strong rtionship with Azerbaijan through joint railway projects. Apart from that, Azerbaijan and the Kazakh royal family were inseparable.


    Azerbaijan was like the mother country that made the present Youngho.


    Having a separate pce in Baku was also part of his determination not to forget Azerbaijan.


    The time when Youngho visited Baku was when the situation in Turkey was getting out of control.


    Azerbaijan, like Turkey, was facing a foreign exchange crisis, so Youngho visited to help President Aliyev.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s foreign reserves were only 4.8 billion dors.


    The size of foreign debt was about 30 percent of GDP, so it was not a situation to be much concerned about, but it had set aside too little foreign reserves.


    With such worries, President Aliyev could not help but be d to see Youngho¡¯s visit.


    ¡°Your Highness, I would have visited you if you hadn¡¯t. I¡¯m having a headache these days. I can¡¯t even sleep well. We are going to have to get an IMF relief loan because of ourck of foreign reserves.¡±


    Azerbaijan¡¯s foreign exchange reserves had also sharply decreased sincest year as it had been trying to defend its exchange rate.


    ¡°I was assuming you had a lot to worry about.¡±


    ¡°With the IMF bailout, the nation¡¯s credit rating will decline. Due to theck of manufacturing infrastructure, we rely solely on imports, but a drop in credit poses problems for raw materials supply and demand. Your Highness, please help us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a brother country, so of course I should help. How much do you need?¡±


    Eriksson said Turkey was not facing immediate danger with its manufacturing-based economic structure, but Azerbaijan was in a more dangerous situation.


    If the Caspian Sea nation faltered, it would affect Kazakhstan as well, so helping Azerbaijan was a priority.


    So, Youngho hurried to Baku, and, sure enough, President Aliyev asked for help.


    ¡°First of all, I think we can get rid of some of our short-term foreign debts with about 1.5 billion dors.¡±


    ¡°As you already know, our government¡¯s foreign exchange reserves are not veryrge. And the Turkish government has requested assistance, too. I can¡¯t neglect Turkey because of Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Our government is not in a situation to help you directly, but I think we¡¯ll be able to provide support from the royal family.¡±


    Azerbaijan was in a situation where Youngho could help personally as much as he wanted.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m d to hear that. With the support of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan, we won¡¯t be pressed hard by our creditors.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d I could help you.¡±


    ¡°But how many years can you spare since we¡¯re not in a position to repay the loan within this year?¡±


    ¡°If you pay me back in cash, you¡¯ll have another crisis. What are you going to do then? I¡¯d like to get it with oil. How about that?¡±


    ¡°I should be thankful for it from the perspective of our country, but the previously developed sea oil fields are already in use...¡±


    ¡°How about discovering new oil fields in the untapped waters? We¡¯ll do the exploration. That doesn¡¯t matter, does it?¡±

 Chapter 714 - Fishing in Troubled Water (1)

    <h4>Chapter 714: Fishing in Troubled Water (1)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness, the development of the offshore oil field area off Baku is already almostplete. Even if we have a new oil field, I can¡¯t give it to you because I¡¯m not confident in the amount of reserves.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to make a profit while helping a friend in trouble, but I can¡¯t just lose money. I¡¯d like to try exploring a new oil field. It would be good for the future of both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to explore an oil field.¡±


    Youngho was following Eriksson¡¯s advice to ask for an oil field off the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan, in exchange for lending money.


    It was a ce 30 kilometers northeast of Baku invested by Jewish bankers in the 1930s, which they gave up because of theck of technology at the time.


    It was rtively shallow in-depth and highly probable oil reserves, ording to initial research.


    ¡°But if you don¡¯t oil, you¡¯ll be devastated.¡±


    ¡°If there is no oil there, I¡¯d appreciate it if you spare me somend in Baku.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯ll give you the Caucasus Mountains beyond the royal special district if you want.¡±


    Aliyev was willing to givend as much as Youngho wanted.


    It did not matter as Youngho could not takend from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan.


    ¡°You¡¯ve solved Azerbaijan¡¯s problem in a heartbeat, and I¡¯ll be criticized by the people if I only repaid you with an untapped oil field. You know how much our people love the Kazakh royal family, right? I need to offer some tangible measures to convince the public or our government will be told to be shameless and ungrateful. Please let me know if there¡¯s anything you want in particr.¡±


    Youngho did not want to take advantage of the desperate situation, which would be a disgrace. Instead, it was enough for the Azerbaijan people to remember his favor for a long time.


    It was because Baku was a precious ce for Youngho and the Fatima siblings, and Youngho wanted to maintain a strong rtionship with Azerbaijan as much as possible.


    Besides, this was also a kind of investment and transaction. It was winning the hearts of Azerbaijanis and getting a potential offshore oil field.


    ¡°It¡¯d be weird to want something in return for helping a brotherly country. Think of it as a reward for the Baku people¡¯s love of our royal family.¡±


    Aliyev stung at Youngho¡¯s words.


    He had that much money in his possession, too.


    He could have used his own slush funds to free the Azerbaijani government from the foreign exchange crisis but he could not release slush funds recklessly.


    It would reveal his activities of creating illegal funds and put his political life in danger as soon as it was exposed to the public or the opposition party.


    ¡°You love Azerbaijan more than Azerbaijanis love Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my second home. Who wants his hometown to go wrong?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really ashamed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please don¡¯t be. Kazakhstan could also face a foreign exchange crisis one day. I¡¯m just trying to help you so that you could help us in the time of hardship.¡±


    Aliyev expressed guilt indirectly because of his slush funds.


    Of course, Youngho knew about it.


    The creation of political funds by those in power had been there for a long time. However, no power had yet been able to use it properly.


    Because slush funds were used for personal use, most powerful people faced an unhappy end.


    ¡°Mr. President. When the oil is found in the new field, we will share the profits with Azerbaijan by 5-to-5 stake.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. It¡¯s like selling a mine anyway, so does it make sense if we profit from it?¡±


    ¡°It could serve as a political burden for you. Would the people easily agree if there was a huge amount of oil or gas deposited there?¡±


    A man¡¯s mind was different in the morning and in the evening.


    Aliyev was appreciative of Youngho at the moment, but as soon as it turned out that a huge amount of oil reserves were found, he would be sorry. The same went for the people of Azerbaijan. There was bound to be conflict.


    ¡°But who would say anything if the contract clearly stated it?¡±


    ¡°It would be better to share the profits half-and-half for the sake of the friendship between the two countries. Please ept it as a sign that we should prosper together.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The reason for giving up the half was to eliminate the possibility of future conflicts as


    Youngho was sure there was going to be a huge amount of oil.


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of crying out for brotherhood only in words? We should help in times of need and share as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Your Highness is determined to impress me today.¡±


    ***


    President Aliyev announced the agreement with Youngho to the press.


    He could just use it as a political achievement, but judging by the fact that he announced it was the favor of the Kazakh royal family, he seemed to have a bit of conscience left.


    The announcement by the press made the citizens of Baku go wild as if the Kazakh royal family had be their own.


    Who was there to provide huge amounts of dors in these difficult times?


    Besides, Kazakhstan was not as well off as the U.S. and Germany.


    They believed that the Kazakh royal family was helping Azerbaijan because it cared for the people.


    Some were voicing the need to bring the Kazakh royal family back to Baku.


    They even criticized the government for its ipetence for letting the royal family go.


    Youngho was embarrassed by such responses of the public.


    The situation was going strangely, even though he intended to maintain the image of the Kazakh royal family in moderation and take only practical benefits, not to win the support of the people of Azerbaijan.


    Although this incident raised President Aliyev¡¯s support for state affairs, people¡¯s attention was focused on the Kazakh royal family.


    A mere 1.5 billion in loans could not be the only reason to make citizens go crazy.


    It was a time of disillusionment with the long-time presidency, so the Kazakh royal family¡¯s move was remarkable to the Azerbaijanis.


    ¡°I¡¯m not too happy to see the enthusiastic response from the people of Baku.¡±


    ¡°I was only going to take a little profit, but I didn¡¯t count on the citizens¡¯ responses. We¡¯ve put a strain on the government of Aliyev.¡±


    The poprity of the Kazakh royal family soared to the point where it could falter Aliyev¡¯s regime.


    ¡°The poprity of our royal family is not very wee for the Azerbaijan government...¡±


    Youngho and Eriksson were troubled by an unexpected problem.


    It could be misunderstood by many as Kazakhstan had been annexing its Central Asian neighbors into federal states.


    The poprity of the Kazakh royal family was a shortcut to the federation as it was preceded in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.


    ¡°Lord Eriksson. Shouldn¡¯t we draw the line first?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it look even more strange? I think it¡¯s better not to care at all.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re the only ones in trouble because of President Aliyev¡¯s bbering on the press.¡±


    Both expressed shame, but they were happy at the same time.


    It was better for the public to like Kazakhstan than to hate it.


    ¡°Your Highness. What do you think of Azerbaijan?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this because the way the Baku people look at the Kazakh royal family is unusual. How many countries are there on earth that allow the long-term presidency and dictatorship? How long do you think the people of Azerbaijan will tolerate it?¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about annexing it?¡±


    ¡°I think you should consider a broad-based federal inclusion.¡±


    Youngho had not dreamed of taking over Azerbaijan.


    Even if the people of Azerbaijan wanted, he would have refused as the political pressure was too burdensome.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a very appealing idea.¡±


    ¡°The people of Baku already ept the Kazakh royal family as their own. I think it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a burden if it remained symbolic. It¡¯s just like the Commonwealth. We can maintain a loose form of federation.¡±


    The fundamental reason for integrating Central Asia was to prevent China from overtaking Central Asian countries with weak economic power.


    There was no profit or gain to Kazakhstan as it meant more problems to handle.


    The increased borders had only increased defense spending since it became a federation and the only economic benefit had been nothing but an increase in the number of royal gold mines so far.


    That was why Youngho was dying Uzbekistan¡¯s transition to the federal state.


    The poption of Uzbekistan was 32 million which was difficult to deal with Kazakhstan¡¯s current economic power.


    Uzbekistan¡¯s poption was as many as the poption of the three countries, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan,bined. This could be a dangerous move that could put all state¡¯s people in poverty.


    Eriksson, however, was suggesting that Azerbaijan be incorporated into the federation.


    Although it was a mouthwatering proposition for Azerbaijan¡¯s potential, there were too many problems with it to readily reach out.


    There was also the question of how the internationalmunity would view it, and the burden of intervening in territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan followed.


    No matter how loose the federal system was, if a conflict broke out, it was only a matter of time before the Caucasus area became a new powder keg.


    The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was over, but there remained another Azerbaijan territory, Nakhchivan, between Armenia and Turkey.


    ***


    ¡°Honey, did you hear that, too?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°The people of Baku are asking us to stay at the royal vi in the Serbian Ranch for at least two months a year.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something thates up every time, but it¡¯s nothing new. If you don¡¯t have a problem, go stay there with the children for a while. I heard that Azerbaijan¡¯s economy is very difficult these days, so your visit will be helpful.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯reing with me, right?¡±


    ¡°I visited there a few days ago, so this time, just visit with the kids¡±


    Although the timing was a bit strange, the Queen¡¯s visit to Baku had always been there.


    When the Queen of Kazakhstan visited Baku, Baku¡¯s tour packages were also sold like hotcakes.


    The Queen¡¯s trip to Baku was also positive for the economy of Baku.


    ¡°Hoho... I think I¡¯ll have to get paid separately from now on.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we get tax exemption in Baku. That¡¯s a lot.¡±


    Zeynep Farm and Serbian Ranch in Baku were legally recognized as special royal districts and Kazakh territory in Azerbaijan.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s government had also exempted taxes and given the royal family the right to have its own security forces.


    ¡°I¡¯m nning on staying there for about ten days this time, but if it¡¯s good for the people, I¡¯ll have to do a car parade, too.¡±


    ¡°Good grief. Are you trying to be crowned as the Queen of Azerbaijan?¡±


    ¡°That would be better. That means Baku will be my home.¡±


    Fatima answered without a second of hesitation.


    ¡°Do you like Baku that much?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Why, do you not like it?¡±

 Chapter 715 - Fishing in Troubled Water (2)

    <h4>Chapter 715: Fishing in Troubled Water (2)</h4>


    How difficult it was to form a federal partnership among countries with disparate political systems.


    Nheless, Fatima was saying why Youngho found it soplicated.


    ¡°Let the people of Azerbaijan do so if they want our royal family. And if we just form a symbolic federal partnership, we won¡¯t interfere with Azerbaijan¡¯s internal affairs. It wouldn¡¯t be too much for President Aliyev to ept the federal system.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll get involved in a territorial dispute with Armenia.¡±


    ¡°Why would you get into a conflict when you don¡¯t interfere? Rather, we need to reconcile the two countries.¡±


    It was not a simple territorial dispute as the situation was at odds over persecuting other peoples in the areas that were colonized.


    The big powers that had interests in it had stepped in to make the problem moreplicated.


    ¡°So far, so many countries and the internationalmunity havee forward to reconcile the two countries, but no one has solved it.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t arrange the reconciliation. They were just trying to figure out the benefits out of the dispute.¡±


    Fatima, an outsider in politics, was looking at the problem correctly.


    One of the reasons the U.S. and Russia took turns supporting Armenia was intended to keep Turkey from swallowing Armenia. However, the arms supplied to Armenia were used against Azerbaijan, oddly enough.


    ¡°If Azerbaijan bes our federal state, we have no choice but to be tied to our interests.¡±


    ¡°Try to concede one step at a time. It¡¯s easy to make concessions on the powerful side.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to say. Do you think countries that have conducted ethnic cleansing against each other can reconcile so easily?¡±


    ¡°So you should step up and break the chain of dispute. There¡¯s also a precedent for resolving territorial disputes between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.¡±


    Fatima believed that there was nothing Youngho could not solve when he stepped up.


    It was ttering that she regarded him as a great being, but a solution could be only seen when there was a good bnce of interests.


    ¡°If you go to Baku this time, try to set the mood. If we have full support from the citizens, I¡¯ll consider the federal incorporation.¡±


    ¡°This time I go to Baku, I¡¯m going to look everywhere I haven¡¯t been. You can make a decision after I see with my own eyes whether the people of Baku treat our royal family just out of curiosity or really want it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it. You might end up in gossip for nothing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also a Baku citizen. I have the right to go anywhere. What¡¯s the big w in living as other normal citizens? I won¡¯t be so loud, so don¡¯t worry too much. I¡¯m not that tactless.¡±


    The visit by the Kazakh queen could trigger a democratic movement.


    Still, the reason for sending Fatima to Baku was to alert President Aliyev.


    Only then, he would reach out to Youngho on his own.


    ***


    The airport in Baku was crowded with people who came to see the Queen of Kazakhstan.


    The scene of people chanting and waving at the queen was spectacr.


    The weing heat was hotter than ever, although it was something that happened every time she visited Baku.


    The citizens of Baku were grateful that the Kazakh royal family gave a hand for Azerbaijan¡¯s foreign exchange crisis without turning a blind eye to it without taking advantage of it.


    Although the foreign exchange crisis had not beenpletely resolved, the existence of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan, a strong ally for helping hands at any time, was a great force for Azerbaijan.


    Those who voluntarily gathered at the airport had their reasons toe.


    They were on the verge of sitting on the street if Azerbaijan did not prevent the foreign exchange crisis in advance, so they were very grateful for the queen.


    The Queen was waving to the assembled citizens as her party drove out of the airport.


    ¡°Stop the car for a moment. I¡¯ll have to pay my respects to the citizens.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, there may be confusion in security. It¡¯s hard to control people.¡±


    ¡°Then slow down the vehicle as much as you can. We should show our faces to the citizens. They¡¯ve been waiting for us since the morning. You can¡¯t just pass by.¡±


    The people were exacerbated as the Queen showed her face to greet them after lowering the car window.


    Despite the police¡¯s restraint, they were moring to see her up close.


    As the car slowly progressed at a speed of about ten kilometers per hour, Fatima could see the expressions of people lined up in detail.


    Some people bowed and greeted her, while others were seen stamping their feet in ce and waving the gs of the two countries vigorously.


    There were even women who were moved to tears just by the sight of the Queen¡¯s face.


    ¡°Stop the car. I think I¡¯ll have to get out of the car for a moment.¡±


    There was a need to get out of the vehicle for a while even though it could cause a little confusion. This visit was intended to create dramatic scenes as she was determined to win the hearts of Baku citizens.


    When the car with the queen stopped, Baku police and bodyguards quickly surrounded the vehicle and guarded her from all directions.


    There was no one here to harm the Queen, but it was to prepare for the influx of people at once.


    The wee crowd grew louder as the Queen got off the vehicle.


    Fatima held the hands of several citizens along the route.


    Those who held the queen¡¯s hand were at a loss. They never imagined that the Queen would hold their hands.


    When Fatima boarded the vehicle again, the sound of ¡°Long live the Queen¡± was louder than before.


    The car, which stopped several times on the way, left the airport shortly after.


    However, that was not the end.


    Entering downtown, the queen and her party had to get out of the car at all.


    This was because there were dozens of times more citizens lined up on the road.


    Fatima stepped out of the car and began walking downtown.


    Fatima¡¯s face was blushed as she was moved and excited by the great wee.


    She felt that they were truly respectful of her, not just curious to see her face.


    Fatima answered every citizen¡¯s wee.


    Only the police and bodyguards, who were guarding her, were suffering from exhaustion.


    ***


    On the road leading to Zeynep Farm, traffic jams were caused by vehicles of political figures in Azerbaijan who wanted to meet the queen.


    Most of them wanted to see her to make a good impression of themselves.


    They already knew that if they were close to the Queen or earned her support, they would win the support of the citizens of Baku automatically.


    Until now, Fatima had never allowed any politician¡¯s visit to the farm as she only stayed there quietly. However, she was taking a different course of action by meeting politicians on her visit, which had invited many spections.


    She was even actively responding to interviews with media outlets which was never done before.


    ¡°Your Majesty, thank you for your interview. Do you have any special reason that you are meeting citizens more often than you used to?¡±


    ¡°Baku is Prince Leon¡¯s hometown and my second home. I¡¯m meeting my hometown people, so why would I need a reason? I¡¯d like to thank the Baku citizens for loving our royal family so much.¡±


    ¡°The Kazakh royal family helped Azerbaijan this time, but we are still worried about the country¡¯s future. I was wondering if the royal family would continue to support us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not my business to be involved in political and economic affairs, but the royal family will never sit back and watch Azerbaijan go down.¡±


    Without an inch of hesitation, Fatima replied that the Kazakh royal family could help if Azerbaijan was in trouble. After all, she was determined to win the hearts of the Baku people.


    When the interview with the media was over, there was a meeting with social welfare organizations without even a moment to catch a breath.


    As their purpose was to receive donations from the royal family, she ended it after promising to provide a certain amount of donations each year from the royal family.


    This was followed by a hectic photo session with political figures.


    In the evening, she attended a dinner hosted by Baku businessmen and returned to the mansion on the farmte in the evening.


    As such, Fatima managed a murderous schedule from morning to evening.


    ¡°Your Majesty. Aren¡¯t you tired?¡±


    Fatima¡¯s secretary, Kim In-hwa, asked with a worried look on her face.


    She worried that Fatima would get sick with such a tight schedule.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Secretary Kim. You are going through a lot because of me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to arrange your schedule tomorrow. I think this is too much.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... Secretary Kim, you don¡¯t know much about our family¡¯s physical strength yet. Look at Leon. Have you ever seen him sick or tired?¡±


    Come to think of it, Leon¡¯s activity was unrivaled.


    Even after ying hard all day, he was never seen tired the next day.


    On this trip, Leon was also digesting his own schedule as a crowned prince, let alone tired.


    Whenever he was out of the royal pce, he transformed himself into a well-behaved royal prince, which made everyone who knew him well enoughugh.


    ¡°Prince Leon is in his most active age, but I don¡¯t know where you get that kind of physical strength. You don¡¯t even exercise separately.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... We have our own health secret.¡±


    Who would believe it even if she told the secret power of the ring?


    There was no other way to exin than exining it as special health tips from the Serbian royal family.


    ¡°Your Majesty, but I think this schedule is too much.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Please keep the schedule.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you like Baku?¡±


    ¡°How could I not like such a beautiful city? It¡¯s a ce I want to stay in. I¡¯m d there¡¯s a royal vi in a ce like this.¡±


    Kim In-hwa had no idea why the Queen was asking this question.


    ¡°Well, then I guess you¡¯ll have to be busier from tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Come on! Now go to bed and get some rest so you can follow tomorrow¡¯s schedule.¡±


    The visit certainly marked the presence of the Kazakh royal family to the people of Baku.


    Fatima had a hunch that a little more work would make the royal vi a political number one spot.


    At Fatima¡¯s urging, Kim In-hwa shook her head as she went up to her bunk bed.


    Because a murderous schedule was waiting for her tomorrow.

 Chapter 716 - Fishing in Troubled Water (3)

    <h4>Chapter 716: Fishing in Troubled Water (3)</h4>


    The queen¡¯s visit to Azerbaijan showed an unprecedented move.


    The meeting with civic groups and welfare organizations was not particrly noteworthy because it normally happened in a ceremonial manner, but it was shocking that she epted the visits of political figures.


    The fact that the queen met political figures alone and epted invitations to dinner by the businessmunity despite the fact that the Duke of Kazakhstan was not with her was surprising.


    The Kazakh queen¡¯s visit was a boost to the Azerbaijani government. It was because she said she would not sit back and watch the crisis of Azerbaijan in an interview.


    When the Queen¡¯s interview was announced through the media, the exchange rate rose, and creditor banks, which had demanded repayment of the principal, dered a grace period.


    They had no reason to rush as the Kazakh royal family promised to support Azerbaijan.


    If the Kazakh government and the Kazakh royal family intervened, Azerbaijan¡¯s foreign debt would be nothing.


    Even though Kazakhstan¡¯s foreign exchange reserves were only 50 billion dors, its potential as a vast resource-rich country was unquestionable, and its assets were beyond measure.


    This series of changes resulted from the Kazakh royal family, and the minds of Baku citizens were alreadypletely tilted toward the Kazakh royal family.


    The Baku residents¡¯ minds also represented the whole Azerbaijani citizens¡¯ minds.


    Baku was home to a quarter of Azerbaijan¡¯s poption, so it served as a barometer for the entire Azerbaijani people¡¯s opinion.


    Rather than the government¡¯s efforts to ovee the financial crisis, a word from the Kazakh royal family was working to bring the crisis back to square one.


    The political movement had subtly changed.


    Politicians who were dying to earn President Aliyev¡¯s heart began to change.


    How could they trust and follow the president when his inability to even resolve the financial crisis was revealed?


    It was already evident that the public¡¯s sentiment had beenpletely tilted toward the Kazakh royal family.


    However, President Aliyev¡¯s approval rating was not down, either.


    Although it was a long-term dictatorship, his efforts for Azerbaijan¡¯s development and the people were still recognized.


    But would he still be able to maintain the current approval rating if the people found out about the huge slush funds he had stored?


    He would have to step down from power immediately and seek asylum abroad to save his life. Although the people of Azerbaijan were naive, they showed an uncontroble tendency once they were angry.


    Anyway, the people of Baku were thinking of the Kazakh royal family as if it were their own.


    It was not new that the rtionship between the two countries was close.


    And Kazakhstan was no better off than Azerbaijan a few years ago.


    However, it had achieved tremendous economic development since it became a constitutional monarchy, and its military power had also surged rapidly, making it the strongest country except for Russia around the Caspian Sea and the ck Sea coastal countries.


    They were paying attention to the fact that Kazakhstan could achieve so much in a short period of time because of the existence of the royal family.


    A recent rumor had it that the Kazakh Navy introduced nuclear-powered submarines and a small aircraft carrier, and with such enormous power, it was active in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.


    In addition, the royal family had alone pioneered the Arctic route and opened the way to Far East Asia in the shortest time.


    While Kazakhstan was developing rapidly, Azerbaijan, the richest country in the Caspian Sea, was facing a financial crisis.


    Had it not been for the help of the Kazakh royal family, the government would havee to face the humiliation of receiving IMF bailout funds.


    The people of Azerbaijan were envious of Kazakhstan, which epted such a capable royal family.


    While the queen was staying in Baku, all sorts of rumors swirled around the nation.


    Words were circting that if Azerbaijan did not ept the Kazakh royal family, the future of the nation would not be guaranteed.


    Some Azerbaijani were shocked by the fact that the national ies of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which used to be poorer than Africa, became higher than the national ie of Azerbaijan after bing federal states of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan.


    At this rate, some even said that Azerbaijan may soon fall short of Armenia.


    Public opinion was increasing that Azerbaijan should also be incorporated into the federal kingdom of Kazakhstan.


    ***


    ¡°Doctor, did you get the results of the sample survey?¡±


    When Dr. Park Young-sun came in from the door of his office, Youngho started asking questions even before he sat down.


    ¡°Your Highness must have been very curious. I amte to report because the satellite phone suddenly went dead.¡±


    A team led by Park Young-sun went to do a sample survey of a new offshore oil field off Baku and returned.


    Youngho had been looking forward to hearing good news from now and then, so he was eager to ask about the results of the exploration.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way the satellite phone would go down. You didn¡¯t mean to rend my heart?¡±


    ¡°No way. Their radio wave disturbance was especially severe in that area.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t hesitate and tell me the results first. I¡¯m very curious.¡±


    The reason for his eagerness was because it was an area that was attempted to be drilled during World War I, with the techniques at the time.


    For whatever reason thereafter, it had been forgotten from public interest.


    The Swedish Information Agency tipped him off, so only Youngho and a few people knew about it.


    The Caspian Sea would be another area of world attention if there wererge amounts of crude oil or gas deposits.


    ¡°We found a smallyer of gas in several ces even though it was just a basic survey of drilling about only 70 meters down. Whether or not there are reserves, we have confirmed that it¡¯s economical enough in terms of development costs.¡±


    If ayer of gas was found, it meant that there was oil or gas underneath it.


    It was especially impressive to detect gas only at a depth of 70 meters.


    Most of the oil and gasyers were buried hundreds of meters deep in the ground.


    ¡°How does the gas distribution look?¡±


    ¡°You know, I didn¡¯t get to report back to you early because I had to survey more areas. Gas was found all over the region, so I needed to make sure.¡±


    Park Young-sun¡¯s face was brightened, which was telling everything.


    ¡°You mean they were all found in a wide area? That would be a lot.¡±


    ¡°It is difficult to predict recklessly because it may be spread across a wide area between strata. I can say that I¡¯m hopeful.¡±


    It was good news.


    This meant that therger the gap between strata, the more crude oil was likely to be.


    Youngho jumped up from the sofa and gazed at the map upying one side of the wall.


    It was a detailed map of the oil field development station that was put together after an agreement with President Aliyev.


    ¡°Can you roughly mark the area where you found the gas on this map?¡±


    When Youngho finished speaking, Park Young-sun drew a rough sketch of the area he surveyed with a colored pencil.


    The section marked seemed quite wide on the map.


    ¡°It¡¯s not urate, but it¡¯s probably about this much.¡±


    ¡°What is the actual area?¡±


    ¡°The area we roughly surveyed was only about 10 square kilometers, and I think it¡¯s going to be a wider range.¡±


    Youngho tilted his head as he could not measure its size in his head.


    ¡°Can youpare the size with something?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s four times the size of Yeouido in Seoul.¡±


    The size would not be veryrge if it was for farnd, but if oil was buried, it was a different story.


    Youngho calmed down his excitement and sat back down again.


    Come to think of it, he had not even offered tea yet.


    ¡°Oh, where are my manners?! I was so excited that I didn¡¯t even serve a cup of tea to the person who has been working hard for the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I remember when oil was found in the royal territory. You were very excited at that time, too.¡±


    It was quite a shock to find oil reserves in a country without a drop of oil.


    ¡°The globalmunity is running out of oil, and it¡¯s a blessing that we can still find new reserves. That¡¯s more wee than finding a gold vein.¡±


    ¡°We still need a thorough investigation, but the scope might be expanded. I think we shouldn¡¯t have offered to split the revenue in half with Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°If you give up greed, ites back with the greater good. The proposal to split is actually working for us.¡±


    Park Young-sun was not yet fully aware of the situation in Baku.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean...¡±


    Youngho exined to Park Young-sun how the people of Baku were looking at the Kazakh royal family these days.


    ¡°It has be a situation of snowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. Even if the crude oil we find is shallow, it¡¯s going to bring in several times the profits we lent from our royal family.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more important to win the hearts of the citizens of Azerbaijan than to gain that kind of benefit.¡±


    ¡°Do you intend to ept Azerbaijan as a federal state?¡±


    ¡°We should consider it if the people of Azerbaijan want to.¡±


    For Park Young-sun and her daughter, Baku was like a second home.


    He even remarried with the woman he met there, so it was of course, special.


    ¡°Even though it¡¯ll be a loose federal rtionship, the people will have high expectations for the royal family. If we don¡¯t settle that well, it¡¯s not worth having a federal rtionship.¡±


    Though Park Young-sun was not a politician, he did not sound empty because he was a man of knowledge and wisdom.


    People would expect all the worries of the world to disappear if they epted the Kazakh royal family, but Youngho did not have an answer to the question of how to resolve such expectations.


    ¡°If we want to reassure the establishment and the politicalmunity, we have to start with a loose federal system. We¡¯ll be disappointed if we expected the nation to change overnight. I¡¯m willing to take that much.¡±


    If Azerbaijan demanded a federal system first, the royal family would only y a pivotal role.


    Then, it would gradually change the Azerbaijani political system to a democratic one without bloodshed.


    ¡°Great expectations make a great disappointment. We have to get rid of it so that our royal family can settle in Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t do anything about the politicalmunity right now, but I think we can give the people enough economic satisfaction.¡±


    What Youngho expected depended on the results of the drilling.


    If there were reserves enough to surprise the world, his proposal to split the revenue in half with the Azerbaijan government would be a divine move.


    This was because the Kazakh royal family had asked to develop a specific ce.


    If he already knew about the huge oil reserves and still wanted to share the development benefits, the people of Azerbaijan would praise the royal family and approve of its loyalty to them.


    ¡°Your Highness, you must expect the oil we find will y its role for sure.¡±


    ¡°So, can I look forward to it?¡±

 Chapter 717 - A Sudden Windfall (1)

    <h4>Chapter 717: A Sudden Windfall (1)</h4>


    Youngho let the Azerbaijani government know the investigation results handed over by doctor Park Young-sun¡¯s team, which was soon announced to the public.


    The unexpected news made the Baku citizens excited since they were depressed by the foreign exchange crisis.


    Oil was not first discovered in Azerbaijan, nor was it depleted, but the citizens were especially excited as it was rted to the Kazakh royal family which decided to share profits with Azerbaijan when it did not have to.


    Many also believed that the Azerbaijani government would not have tried to explore the offshore field if it were not for the Kazakh royal family.


    As public opinion increasingly leaned toward the Kazakh royal family, President Aliyev¡¯s woes were deepening.


    He had a sense of crisis that he would not be able to maintain his administration if he made a mistake.


    To ovee this crisis, the leaders and cab members of the ruling party were gathering at the presidential pce in Baku.


    ¡°Your Excellency, the opinion polls show that the people want the country to center around the Kazakh royal family. Fortunately, they¡¯re not so negative about your long-term rule, but I think our government has to ept its failure to cope with the financial crisis.¡±


    Aliyev moaned at the prime minister¡¯s report. It was because he had brought this situation to himself. It was him who urged the media to reveal the discovery of a new oil field. He thought the public opinion would praise his decision for attracting the Kazakh royal family, but it turned to a different direction.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell how public opinion will change if we don¡¯t ept the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°Bing a federal state of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan means to give up sovereignty on our own.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem with maintaining the same shape as the Commonwealth countries. The Queen of Kazakhstan will be appointed as a symbolic head of state, and there won¡¯t be any obstacle to exercising sovereignty.¡±


    The way to calm public opinion like wildfire was to join the federation, but a Commonwealth-like form would not be too much of a burden.


    Aliyev was relieved a little to hear it.


    ¡°Will the Kazakhstan royal family ept it? There¡¯s no benefit for Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°The royal family values honor and loves Baku. It will be difficult to deny the approval of the people of Baku, and our government should also be proactive in persuading the Kazakh royal family. With the royal family on our back, Azerbaijan will prosper again under your regime for a long time.¡±


    To live up to public opinion, he had no choice but to ept the Kazakh royal family.


    The people¡¯s demand was not to democratize or ask him to step down from power but to strengthen nationalpetitiveness by weing the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Well, then it¡¯s our priority to let the Kazakh royal family know what we want. Let¡¯s respond ording to the reaction of the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°Sure, Your Excellency, but before we reach out to the Kazakh royal family, it will be great to hear the people¡¯s opinion first at a public hearing.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. I think we should ask for the people¡¯s opinion. What do you think?¡±


    The Azerbaijani government had proposed the royal family to be the head of the state, so Youngho was discussing it with Prime Minister Kasim.


    When Baku¡¯s public opinion was generally taken care of, President Aliyev sent a special envoy to the royal pce to politely ask for its intention.


    If the Kazakh royal family epted the demand of Baku citizens, there would be a referendum to amend the constitution.


    ¡°It¡¯s not an agreement between governments, so why do we have to hold a referendum? It¡¯s a business between the royal family and the government of Azerbaijan, and if the royal family decides, the Kazakh people will follow suit.¡±


    It was not that Kazakhstan was subjugating Azerbaijan, it was just the Queen of Kazakhstan would be crowned in Azerbaijan as the head of state.


    However, the public¡¯s opinion could not be ignored at all.


    It was because the royal family was first recognized in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Prime Minister, but I still want to hold a public hearing like Azerbaijan did. If the royal family alone decides on such a serious matter, it is tantamount to ignoring the people. I don¡¯t want to make decisions against the will of the people.¡±


    ¡°If your will is so, I will try to hold a public hearing, but there¡¯s no reason for people to refuse it when the royal influence is getting bigger. It¡¯s like a windfall to be able to incorporate Azerbaijan as a federal state.¡±


    If Azerbaijan became a federal state of the Kazakh Kingdom, Kazakhstan would not only be a major power in the Caspian Sea but also permanently secure a bridgehead to southern Europe without passing through the Volga-Don Canal.


    In addition, it would be able to raise its voice in the Caucasus region following Central Asia, so it was indeed a windfall.


    ¡°Even if the people oppose it, the royal family should push hard. It¡¯s to secure a bridgehead in Azerbaijan.¡±


    ¡°Would the people of Azerbaijan like it if our people were against it? We can get a bigger windfallter if we can get both peoples¡¯ approval.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Kasim was curious about the bigger windfall that Youngho just mentioned.


    If Azerbaijan were to be a federal country, Youngho did not intend to make the royal family stay merely symbolic.


    This was because he had confirmed that there were great treasures buried in the waters off Baku.


    Although Dr. Park Young-sun¡¯s team was still conducting a thorough investigation, Park Young-sun said he was certain that there would be more oil buried than any other oil fields found in the Caspian Sea.


    If that was true, both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan would be rich when the oil field¡¯smercial production began.


    Considering this and that, it would be a waste if the royal family was to just sit there as a symbolic being.


    When Kasim heard the exnation so far, he had to nod his head.


    ¡°We were lucky. I think the Queen¡¯s visit haspletely turned the public¡¯s attention.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily luck, Your Highness. It should be said that it started from the time Your Highness and Her Majesty lived in Baku. Azerbaijanis are making an excellent choice to demand for the royal family. Likewise, the people of Kazakhstan weed the royal family, which was the best choice since the nation was formed.¡±


    ***


    The eptance of Azerbaijan as a federal country was also fully supported by the people of Kazakhstan.


    It was an opportunity to expand the nation¡¯s scope to the Caucasus following Central Asia, so it would be strange to oppose it.


    When the Kazakh royal family epted the federal membership, Azerbaijan hurriedly decided to hold a referendum to amend its constitution.


    ¡°So, Did you find out more about the Azerbaijani government?¡±


    ¡°We are still gathering information, but we think the government decided that if it puts our royal family at the forefront, it can continue to stay in power.¡±


    Park Jong-il was checking the Azerbaijani government¡¯s move in real-time from intelligence agents.


    After analyzing the information, the intelligence service of Kazakhstan was able to figure out what the Aliyev government was aiming for.


    It was hurrying the referendum with the intention to maintain the government after making the royal family as its puppet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s y with their tune first. I don¡¯t know how long that¡¯llst though.¡±


    ¡°All you have to do is wait a little. We¡¯re looking into the source of Aliyev¡¯s slush fund, so it¡¯ll be revealed soon.¡±


    The British daily Guardian reported that Aliyev¡¯s slush funds managed through a British-registered corporation were 2.5 billion euros.


    The president¡¯s two daughters were also listed on ¡°Panama Papers,¡± a list of tax haven property holders.


    Aliyev had countered that the slush fund report was false information and an attempt to smear Azerbaijan, and that the Armenian government was behind it.


    ¡°That¡¯s only what¡¯s revealed so far. Our investigation has found that he is hiding more than seven billion euros. I wonder what it would be like to expose this to the media.¡±


    ¡°The press should never know. I¡¯ll use it as a bargaining chipter.¡±


    Most of the slush funds were illegally raised.


    It should belong to the people, and Youngho could not allow Aliyev to flee with all of it.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to let him get away, are you?¡±


    ¡°I should if I need to. He can take some, but not the whole.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of Aliyev¡¯s supporters in the military, so there could be a huge opposition.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯d rather induce asylum. If his supporters resist, it could lead to bloodshed.¡±


    The corruption of the establishment in Azerbaijan was as severe as the one used to be in Kazakhstan.


    The creation of illegal funds by the president¡¯s family had already been known through foreign media, but it was only the tip of the iceberg.


    The Kazakh Intelligence Service found that part of the oil sales fund had been funneled to the president¡¯s family.


    When Aliyev¡¯s father was president, Aliyev managed a state-run oilpany, and it turned out that he was still turning a blind eye to some corruption to induce loyalty from his aides.


    Nevertheless, the people of Azerbaijan were overwhelmingly supportive of President Aliyev, thinking that a stable government would be better than a powerless regime to confuse the nation.


    This was because people had seen many countries independent from the Soviet Union fall into chaos and their nationalpetitiveness plummet badly due to political strife.


    As a result, presidents wielding long-term dictatorships were supported.


    The power of the Aliyev family was behind the two generations of long-term rule, but the absence of rivals in the opposition camp was also ying a part.


    ¡°We can¡¯t deal with him with just spections, so get the perfect evidence.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s enough evidence. We could siphon off the slush funds if we wanted to.¡±


    ¡°How? Don¡¯t tell me we have to go steal it ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we are past that phase. I think it would be possible if we secretly asked the British government for cooperation...¡±


    Jong-il apparently intended to take back the slush funds by freezing them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything until the country officially bes a federal state. If we make a fuss now, he will erase all the evidence.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re ignoring our intelligence service¡¯s ability too much.¡±


    ¡°Come on. Why would you touch the bushes and scare the snake? We just need to keep the evidence one by one.¡±


    The idea was to slowly take control of the power institutions.


    First of all, it was first to meet with Sevan, themissioner-general of Azerbaijan¡¯s National Police Agency, and examine his intentions.


    Once the police were in control, the rest of the power institutions were supposed toe into Youngho¡¯s hands naturally.

 Chapter 718 - A Sudden Windfall (2)

    <h4>Chapter 718: A Sudden Windfall (2)</h4>


    The referendum on constitutional amendment in Azerbaijan was passed with overwhelming approval ratings.


    The turnout was 87 percent and the approval rating was 95 percent.


    This was the approval rating that would only be avable in themunist country.


    Under the revised constitution, the status of the Kazakh royal family was the head of state, but Azerbaijan¡¯s status as a sovereign state with its core of national defense and diplomacy remained unchanged.


    Since federalw did not exist, it could be seen as a form of a national union.


    This meant there was no change in the current administration.


    As soon as the referendum was passed, the constitution took effect immediately.


    Now, Azerbaijan¡¯s perfunctory head of state was the Kazakh queen.


    ordingly, Youngho¡¯s farm and ranch in Baku were designated as royal territories.


    This vi on Serbian Ranch was now to be called a royal pce.


    Although the Kazakhs royal family was only symbolic in Azerbaijan, no one thought the royal family was powerless because it was Kazakhstan¡¯s living power.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s inclusion as a federal state of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan had been a constant topic in the world¡¯s media.


    Some even said that it was a second Commonwealth.


    What could not happen in the 21st century was happening between the Caspian Sea coast countries.


    ¡°Your Highness, this is the list of names who will attend the event in Baku with the royal family this time.¡±


    Youngho frowned as he looked into the list given by the secretary¡¯s office.


    ¡°What is it? All the generals and chiefs of staff are attending?¡±


    ¡°The government submitted the list of attendees. They said that each military honor guard and chief of staff should be present because it is an event attended by the Queen.¡±


    No matter how many prominent cab members attended, soldiers in uniform were bound to stand out.


    Apparently, it was Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s idea, who was a former military general.


    He seemed to think it was a matter of pride if the Queen¡¯s group was too small at Azerbaijan¡¯s historic event of bing a federal nation.


    It was to show off that the military was absolutely loyal to the queen.


    On one hand, he wanted to show off Kazakhstan¡¯s powerful force to Azerbaijan.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s number of generals alone was five times more than that of Azerbaijan.


    Youngho felt that there were too many military personnel, so he asked Kasim over the phone to reduce the number.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister. Wouldn¡¯t attending the Baku event with all the generals be provoking the Azerbaijan government?¡±


    -Your Highness. It¡¯s a celebration of Azerbaijan¡¯s membership in the federation. We should show the government and people of Azerbaijan that the Kazakh military is absolutely loyal to the royal family. I¡¯m doing this for the status of the royal family.


    ¡°They¡¯re not that ignorant. They epted the royal family on their own. How can they treat us carelessly?¡±


    Under the newly revised constitution, the royal family was only symbolic.


    There was no reason to check the royal family without the right to appoint the government¡¯s personnel.


    -Your Majesty. The presence of the Chief of Staff and generals on the Queen¡¯s visit is a good example of the royal authority.


    Kasim insisted that the military should attend the event.


    ¡°But why do we need to mobilize the generals stationed in the border area?¡±


    -Our border is perfectly solid. Military discipline does not waver even in the absence of themanders. We need to show inside and outside that we are confident in border defense.


    In the end, Youngho had to give in to Kasim¡¯s stubbornness.


    ***


    All the citizens poured into the streets of Baku as if they were holding a festival.


    Their faces looked as if they had gained the world.


    They were very proud to be a federal country of Kazakhstan that owned huge territory and defense that even China was afraid of.


    Even more, they felt so lucky to have a powerful royal family with great financial abilities.


    Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan had been brothers only in words, but now that they shared the same royal family, they had be true brothers.


    Azerbaijan was not a federal country subject to federalws such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but it was true that it was now a federal country in the Kingdom of Kazakhstan.


    In addition, the new discovery of the giant oil field brightened the future, so the faces of the citizens of Azerbaijan looking at the queen were full of confidence.


    They now had the hope that Azerbaijan would be able to dream of bing an advanced country.


    From Kazakhstan¡¯s perspective, the bridgehead on the other side of the Caspian Sea was finally set up, so it gave a sense of security.


    In addition, Azerbaijan¡¯s membership as a federal state of the Kingdom of Kazakhstan left currency swapping with Turkey in limbo.


    This was because the new federal incorporation was to defuse the foreign exchange crisis in Azerbaijan. As it was seen that dealing with Azerbaijan¡¯s crisis was overwhelming for Kazakhstan¡¯s economic power, there was no room to help Turkey.


    The federal transfer event was held in a grand fashion.


    On the stage behind the podium, foreign ministers and ambassadors from each country sat in a row, while on one side were upied by Kazakhstan¡¯s military chiefs and generals in colorful uniforms.


    The Queen and Duke reviewed the honor guards of the two countries first. The event was peaked by President Aliyev¡¯s reception of a new letter of appointment from the Queen, who was now the head of state.


    As the Constitution stipted, a ceremony was necessary for the Queen to deliver her letter of appointment to the chief executive of a federal state.


    Though symbolic, the president would not be able to exercise his control unless he went through such a procedure.


    In a way, it was the only authority the royal family could exercise to the Azerbaijani government.


    When the event was over, a car parade was held in Baku downtown.


    The people weed the queen, waving the Azerbaijani g and the royal g at the same time.


    ¡°The citizens look very happy.¡±


    Fatima was trying to conceal her excited look.


    ¡°I think you like it more than them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to hold it in. How did you know?¡±


    ¡°When you presented the President with the letter of appointment earlier, you seemed to be enjoying it, too.¡±


    Aliyev, who received the queen¡¯s letter of appointment at the ceremony, seemed quite nervous, which was unexpected for a dictator like him who wielded unrivaled power.


    ¡°Hohoho... You¡¯ve noticed. The president¡¯s expression was so solemn that I forced myself to hold back myughter.¡±


    Aliyev had a solemn face all the time throughout the ceremony.


    On the inside, it was not like that, but on the outside, he looked like he had so much respect for the Queen, the head of the federal government.


    The reason for such a solemn expression was because he knew too well how the people of Azerbaijan saw the royal family. He had to act respectfully as much as possible.


    ¡°I¡¯m relieved that I got to make your wishe true.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... Thank you.¡±


    Fatima¡¯sughter was clearer and higher than ever.


    It was natural as she missed Baku all the time.


    She was born and raised in Istanbul but only had dark memories there.


    Baku¡¯s life on Zeynep Farm was like a dream to her.


    She had so many warm memories in Baku, so even when she became the Queen of Kazakhstan, she had been visiting the ce frequently under a pretext that she had to look after the royal vi.


    Though she loved Kazakhstan, her heart had always been in Baku.


    But now, she coulde here at any time without so many procedures.


    ¡°I will stay in Baku in the summer and winter from now on, just for your information.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, you know how short spring and fall are in Kazakhstan. Are you going to make me like a widower?¡±


    ¡°You can work here, too. You know there is a thing called the Inte.¡±


    The royal family was only a symbolic presence here, but Kazakhstan was a ce where direct management was required.


    Kazakhstan would shake if the Duke was absent frequently.


    ¡°Then the people of Kazakhstan will be disappointed and betrayed. They are going to say that the Queen is dumping her own house.¡±


    ¡°Hoho... Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be prudent. You can stay in Kazakhstan.¡±


    After arriving at Baku, Fatima was in a good mood. She really felt like she was home.


    ¡°Do as you please.¡±


    ***


    By the time the dinner at the presidential pce was over and the queen¡¯s party arrived at the mansion on Zeynep Farm, it was already past 9 p.m., but the residents of the farm and ranch who were gathered to celebrate were still eating, drinking, and dancing.


    Fatima and Youngho also mingled with the residents.


    Earl Niksic burst outughing as he gave drinks continuously to Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s like a dream. The Serbian Kingdom copsed, and we were brought to very, but we finally stood tall in Azerbaijan. All of this was due to your outstanding leadership, so we could have such a happy day. I¡¯ll thank you on behalf of my ancestors.¡±


    At the words of Niksic, the descendants of the Serbian knights around him knelt in front of Youngho to pay respect.


    ¡°Earl Niksic. Why are you doing this all over again? Everything is the result of your efforts.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed at the sudden event but could understand what they must be feeling.


    They lived hundreds of years as ves, but they still did not forget their roots and a sense of purpose.


    Niksic felt as if he was dreaming.


    How could their fathers have predicted that this day woulde, but their ancestors never neglected to remind and train their descendants.


    They reminded of tradition so that the descendants would not lose self-esteem as knights and also kept the secret of gold mines where they worked as ves.


    However, even if there were such preparations, it would have been of no use if they had not met Youngho.


    When they met Youngho, they were able to meet theirst royal princess, Fatima.


    It was a wonderful fate to think about it.


    ¡°Your Highness, I won¡¯t live that long, but I must see youmanding the world.¡±


    Niksic was dreaming of a new future beyond hope.


    ¡°Earl Niksic, you will have to live a long life. We still have a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll live to see our kingdommanding the whole world.¡±


    In that short period of time, a new dynasty was established in Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan became substantially dominant.


    That meant Azerbaijan could also be like them in the near future.


    That was because the Duke, whom Nixic knew well, was not the one who would have a federal rtionship with Azerbaijan without thinking about it.


    Youngho seemed to be a good-willed person, but Niksic knew well that he was moving under a strict calction.

 Chapter 719 - Aliyev’s Choice (1)

    <strong>Chapter 719: Aliyev¡¯s Choice (1)</strong>


    ¡°Your Highness, this is very surreal. I never imagined this day woulde.¡±


    It was three days after the ceremony of Azerbaijan¡¯s federal transfer when Sevan, who was now the Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, visited the royal pce in Serbian Ranch.


    After the event, Youngho and the royal family stayed at Zeynep Farm and moved to the Serbian ranch today.


    Fatima and the children were attached to the farm and hated leaving the ce, but the farm was crowded with residents, workers on the farm and factories.


    There was a security problem, so they had to move.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t youe to see me at once? Earl Park and Karajan missed you badly.¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s wife, Karajan, was a cousin of Sevan.


    ¡°I have eyes around me, so I was a little self-conscious. I came to see you upon hearing that you moved to the ranch.¡±


    ¡°Is it that serious?¡±


    He was politically checked because he was rted to Park Jong-il, the influential figure of the Kazakh royal family.


    Only the people of Azerbaijan looked up to the royal family, but the establishment did not like it.


    The appearance of the royal family, no matter how symbolic it might be, was bound to be, as they had been enjoying a peaceful life in their own league.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just being careful not to cause trouble to the royal family. Now that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are like one body, we¡¯ll be able to resolve a lot of disparate parts.¡±


    The disparate parts referred to the changes entailed from the nation¡¯s change from a presidential-centered state to a constitutional monarchy.


    ¡°Are secret police officers still active these days?¡±


    Sevan looked embarrassed at Youngho¡¯s question.


    Under his leadership, the secret police force had a separate reporting line at the presidential pce.


    His hesitation to respond immediately represented everything.


    ¡°There is nothing we can do because Armenian spies are out there. We can¡¯t guarantee Azerbaijan¡¯s well-being without the presence of secret police because operations to undermine the government are still going on.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not spying on the royal family, are you?¡±


    ¡°No way. If I received such an order, I would have stepped up and stopped it.¡±


    Azerbaijan people often said that there were ears on the ground.


    This was because people who criticized the dictatorship were frequently captured secretly by the secret police force. It was a powerful force closely rted to the administration.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame to say this as soon as I meet you, but I don¡¯t think there should be any more vition of human rights. I need your cooperation. Can you help me?¡±


    Allowing vition of human rights would be a disgrace to the Kazakh royal family, which was known for its impartiality.


    ¡°I know very well what you are concerned about, but I hope we don¡¯t sh with the government as much as possible.¡±


    Sevan lowered his voice and spoke cautiously, ¡°You mean the royal family should just stay as a puppet?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. If your demand is not epted by the Aliyev administration, it will only undermine the royal authority. The power of the regime is so strong that it is better to just watch for the time being and wait until we have a chance.¡±


    Sevan seemed to be on Youngho¡¯s side to give such advice. He was bound to be as he was rted to Park Jong-il, and he was good friends with Youngho since he was a mere director of the Main Police Department.


    President Aliyev appointed Sevan as interior minister for a smooth rtionship with the Kazakh royal family, which now came back as a huge setback.


    He never dreamed of Azerbaijan bing a federal state.


    However, he could not fire the interior minister he appointed because if he dismisses him with a reason for having a close rtionship with the royal family, it would clearly reveal how the current administration viewed the royal family.


    ¡°What chance are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°There will be over-the-top human rights vitions soon. Since we became a federal nation, democratic civic organizations had been very active.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°They campaign for President Aliyev¡¯s retirement. The unprecedented appointment of the president¡¯s wife as vice president has angered civic groups.¡±


    Aliyev recently made a bad move of appointing his wife as vice president to strengthen his regime, which angered civic groups in Azerbaijan.


    Monitoring the movements of civic groups disgruntled with the regime was tantamount to saying that the government would soonunch a massive arrest operation.


    With such an operation, the police¡¯s human rights abuses were bound to happen.


    Sevan asked the royal family to intervene when that happened to cut the chain.


    ¡°That would make it hard for you to avoid criticism.¡±


    ¡°The National Police Agency has been persecuting anti-government groups. We are prepared to take responsibility if we face any problemster.¡±


    Sevan¡¯s face was grim.


    He was determined to take responsibility for his past sins if necessary.


    Even so, he had no choice but to serve as a maid of power.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that. So please stop persecuting the people opposing the current regime. There¡¯s always a way to deal with it without reporting it to the higher-ups.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you must never defend me. I don¡¯t want to trouble the royal family because of me. What we¡¯ve done so far won¡¯t go away no matter what. I can only me the fact that I was born in the wrong era, and I¡¯m ashamed to turn my back on people who were on the same boat.¡±


    With such a determination, it seemed it would be easy to breathe fresh air into the police organization. He was willing to receive punishment for the organization¡¯s past crimes.


    ¡°If we can correct it now, we should. Don¡¯t me the times. The people will understand if you show them efforts to change. Only by showing the courage to reject unjust instructions can we reverse our mistakes.¡±


    Youngho assiduously persuaded Sevan.


    However, he did not intend to cover up his past wrongdoings.


    He was a friend but also one of the corrupt officials.


    The only way to get rid of the power of the Aliyev government was to hold the powerful organization in hand, and it was hard to find anyone as qualified as Sevan.


    ***


    ¡°You know, you were the one who took the lead in offering bribes and entertainment to government employees in the early days, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°Why are you bringing up the past? I just followed directions. I¡¯m sure keeping our mouths shut won¡¯t hurt our longevity.¡±


    ¡°I thought you did it because you liked it. You drank with the officials together all day and night.¡±


    ¡°Oh, are you now ming me?¡±


    Park Jong-il snapped.


    There were no government officials in Baku who did not get along with Park Jong-il.


    Some were still maintaining close ties with Park Jong-il.


    ¡°Just give me a list of officials who were bribed and entertained by you then.¡±


    ¡°What? Why on earth do you need that list?¡±


    ¡°We need someone to be our hands and feet.¡±


    In addition to the police, Youngho needed officials to be the hands and feet of the royal family.


    There was no gap to squeeze in in the government in President Aliyev¡¯s grip.


    That was why he was trying to bring even government officials who took bribes from Park Jong-il to side with the royal family.


    ¡°If we open up what the intelligence service has found out, everything will be solved. Why are you trying to take the hard way?¡±


    ¡°What would people think of our royal family if they find out that the Kingdom of Kazakhstan¡¯s federal state was stained with all kinds of corruption? And if the Azerbaijani government finds out that the intelligence service was mobilized, our enemies will only increase. First of all, we need an internal ally, so make secret contact with officials who are close to you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the fastest way to open Aliyev¡¯s slush funds...¡±


    Jong-il insisted on releasing Aliyev¡¯s slush funds to the press.


    ¡°What if he denies it? Aliyev must have his own scenario ready for something like that already. That¡¯s why I¡¯m trying to shake it from the inside. He¡¯ll feel a crisis if his followers keep falling apart. Soon, he will have to seek asylum or make apromise to save himself.¡±


    ¡°Then should we encourage more pro-democracy protests?¡±


    ¡°No, that will only put Sevan in trouble. The police are the ones who are going to sh with the demonstrators.¡±


    When the royal family left Baku, the massive arrests would happen, and that was why Youngho wanted to prevent shes between people and police as much as possible.


    Sevan might have been a notorious interior minister, but he should be seen as the interior minister who put human rights first from now on.


    Should the only power institution standing on Youngho¡¯s side be shaken?


    These days, Aliyev had be more worried.


    Joining the federal government and bringing the royal family to the forefront was expected to stabilize the regime, but anti-government groups were calling for democracy more severely than ever before and staging demonstrations throughout the country.


    He wanted to capture all of them immediately, using them as spies from Armenia, but the Kazakh Queen and Duke had not yet returned to Kazakhstan, so he had not been able to act.


    It was because he was told that the royal family was particrly interested in human rights, so he only waited for them to leave.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to find out what Aliyev is up to. A source says that he is preparing for a dangerous game.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°It was said that he was working on a n to connect Nakhchivan with the maind.¡±


    The territory of Azerbaijan, which existed like an ind in western Armenia, was Nakhchivan.


    It was a ce bordering Iran, where residents of Nakhchivan traveled to and from the maind through the Iranian border.


    The idea of connecting Nakhchivan with the maind was tantamount to taking away part of the Armenian territory, which meant war.


    ¡°Why is he trying to stir up a disturbance when the Iranian people don¡¯t even have a problem with the movement of residents of Nakhchivan?¡±


    As far as Youngho knew, roads and railways were connected along the Iranian border from Nakhchivan to the maind, so it was not too inconvenient to go back and forth.


    ¡°He must be trying to divert the public¡¯s attention to quell the demand for democracy. It¡¯s also a way to condemn anti-government groups as spies.¡±


    ¡°Spies? Would people believe it?¡±


    ¡°Azerbaijan is an absolute dictatorship. What can¡¯t he do if he can divert the public¡¯s attention?¡±


    Now that the country has managed to get over the foreign exchange crisis, it was an important time to struggle to revive the economy, but Aliyev was putting it on the back burner and nning the wrong thing because of his political purposes.


    ¡°What does he believe in when the country has just gone through a financial crisis in close proximity? Is he out of his mind?¡±


    ¡°You think he cares about the economy when his regime is shaking because of our royal family? Maybe he believes we¡¯ll clean after his problems.¡±


    ¡°He must be dying toe down from power to do that.¡±

 Chapter 720 - Aliyev’s Choice (2)

    <h4>Chapter 720: Aliyev¡¯s Choice (2)</h4>


    Aliyev was moving under borate calctions.


    The battle with Armenia was a necessary card to quell calls for democracy and maintain power.


    This was because the Kazakh royal family would also be in great trouble if war broke out, so it would naturallye forward to resolve the situation.


    Park Jong-il was making his own diagnosis by listing the number of cases.


    ¡°Aliyev decided we¡¯d help if the conflict with Armenia escted.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t help him even if we want to. Russia will get involved if we do.¡±


    ¡°What would Azerbaijanis think of the royal family if there was a war and it doesn¡¯t reach out to help? Their favor will turn into hatred.¡±


    As the people of Azerbaijan¡¯s demand was met when the country became a federal state of Kazakhstan, Aliyev now was ying with fire to divert the public¡¯s attention toward his regime from the royal family. A royal family that was bing more and more popr was just a nuisance to his administration.


    ¡°He¡¯s pretty smart. I was going to wait for a while, but he¡¯s making a provocation first.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a guess, but so far, that¡¯s the closest we¡¯ve got.¡±


    Youngho knew that Aliyev would never be easy.


    He would not just watch the royal family take away his power and glory.


    Azerbaijanis and Armenians had deep grudges and hatred toward each other.


    Armenia, a Christian Orthodox church, and Azerbaijan, which were overwhelmingly Muslim, were like opposite poles.


    The Kazakh royal family was brought in-between the two people in this situation, and Aliyev was trying to take advantage of it.


    The foreign exchange crisis in Azerbaijan, one of the oil-exporting countries, had many factors which included defense spending.


    It was pouring 7 percent of its gross national production ie into defense spending. Last year alone, it spent more than 4.5 billion dors on arms expansion.


    National defense spending was growing 7-8 percent annually, but it increased its defense spending by 37 percentst year alone, which shocked the world.


    This seemed to fit the puzzle roughly.


    ¡°I think Aliyev is a step ahead of us?¡±


    Aliyev was already preparing step by step for the war against Armenia.


    And at the same time, he joined the Kingdom of Kazakhstan at the request of the people. Perhaps joining the federation was Aliyev¡¯s winning shot.


    ¡°He¡¯s an old politician, maybe, but he¡¯s misreading the situation.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t count Russia. And I don¡¯t think he put our royal family¡¯s rtionship with Russia in the calctions.¡±


    Armenia and Azerbaijan had so far been fighting for disputed areas where the majority of their own people resided. But the war Aliyev was nning was to take part in Armenia¡¯s territory regardless of the nationality of residents.


    It was a situation that would lead to an all-out war.


    If an all-out war took ce, Russia would have to intervene automatically.


    This was because Armenia and Russia had separate military agreements independent of the Commonwealth of Independent States Alliance.


    If it was a war in which Russia intervened, the Kazakh royal family could not intervene no matter how much Azerbaijanis asked for help as the security of Kazakhstan would be at stake.


    Kazakhstan would also lose too much as it would have to give up the numerous joint ventures in Russia and the development of Siberia, Arctic shipping routes and military cooperation against Chinese aggression.


    It should never happen.


    ¡°We have to think of the worst case, right?¡±


    ¡°Should I reveal his slush funds?¡±


    ¡°We should consider that, too, along with other ways. He¡¯s the one who¡¯ll turn the Caucasus into a sea of fire if he maintains his power for longer.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out more about the weaknesses of the Presidential Pce. We also have to be prepared for bloodshed.¡±


    Jong-il glistened his eyes. However, Youngho wanted to avoid the situation where he would have to physically drag down the head of the federal government as much as possible.


    ¡°Just wait. I¡¯ve got a good idea.¡±


    ***


    If five more years were given, Kazakhstan would not only be on the threshold of an advanced country but also have a strong defense capability that no one could match.


    Until then, no variables should ur inside Kazakhstan and Central Asia.


    Likewise, if a local war took ce in Caucasus, Kazakhstan¡¯s economic development would be put on hold.


    This would sabotage Youngho¡¯s goal, which he could not allow to happen.


    Azerbaijan was a federal country, but its status as a sovereign state remained intact, so Youngho could not be involved in foreign affairs and national defense.


    Of course, some pressure could be exerted with the royal authority, but there was no clear evidence yet to pressure Aliyev.


    Thinking of external influence as a means of deterring Aliyev¡¯s actions, he decided to ask for help from a strong nation, Russia.


    He immediately called Putin.


    -Is that true?


    ¡°Our intelligence service has found that it¡¯s very likely.¡±


    Putin, who was listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, also sighed deeply.


    Russia was just getting out of the economic crisis, but if a local war broke out in the Caucasus, the economy would face a dark cloud again.


    There was still a long way to go before it could get out of the economic crisis, and involvement in the Caucasus conflict would lose foreign investors in Russia.


    -What are you going to do, Duke?


    ¡°I also can¡¯t do only so much. No diplomatic or defense involvement is allowed for the royal family, and there is no clear evidence, either. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you for help.¡±


    Putin, who had been lost in thought for a while, gave the answer right away.


    -I¡¯ll have to invite the President of Armenia to Russia or I¡¯ll have to move myself.


    He judged that showing his active exchange and solid rtions with Armenia was the way to prevent Aliyev¡¯s misjudgment.


    ¡°If you do that, I¡¯ll find a way to block Azerbaijan.¡±


    If Armenia and Russia held a sudden meeting, Aliyev would have no choice but to falter.


    Then Youngho woulde forward and warn Aliyev. Since Aliyev knew the rtionship between Youngho and Putin better than anyone else, he would understand.


    -I don¡¯t see Aliyev¡¯s behavior as a sudden measure. It¡¯s about time the two countries burst the festering wound. They have deep bad blood.


    ¡°You mean it¡¯s a war that¡¯s bound to happen, if not now.¡±


    -You can think of it as a wrong legacy of the Soviet Union. I¡¯m ashamed to say it, but I have no choice but to admit that Russia was wrong.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you correct that right now? We need to find a way to fundamentally solve these problems once and for all, or it will continue to bother us.¡±


    -First of all, we¡¯ll have to drive a wedge to prevent misjudgment. Then why don¡¯t you and I intervene and persuade the two countries?


    Afraid of Russia¡¯s economic trouble due to the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Putin was ready toply with Youngho¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to resolve this if you do that.¡±


    -The Armenian president will be visiting Moscow soon. And I will write to Aliyev the result of the Armenian president¡¯s visit.


    ***


    Putin acted quickly. The Armenian President and his party visited Moscow less than a week after he talked with Youngho.


    It was hard to find a precedent for a country¡¯s president to visit so quickly without prior coordination.


    Putin was aware that the current situation was that serious.


    When the Armenian president visited Moscow, the movement in Baku also became serious. It was an unexpected variable for Aliyev.


    Putin¡¯s personal letter was subsequently delivered to him, which stunned him.


    He was shocked to find out that Russia knew every detail of his moves.


    He had thought that if Azerbaijan became a federal country of Kazakhstan, Russia would not get involved in its domestic matters, but that was not the case.


    It was less than two days after Putin¡¯s letter was received that Aliyev visited the royal pce in the Serbian Ranch.


    He must have been worried deeply with his close associates, but he could note to any conclusion, so he finally came to Youngho.


    ¡°Your Highness, Russia is deeply involved in the affairs of our country and Armenia. He even sent me a warning letter. He¡¯s interfering with the internal affairs of our country.¡±


    Aliyev¡¯s weighty appearance was nowhere to be seen. He seemed flustered and embarrassed by Putin¡¯s personal letter.


    ¡°What do you mean Putin sent you a warning letter? How dare he interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state? Apart from that, oppressing Azerbaijan is a way of ridiculing the Kingdom of Kazakhstan. Why on earth did Putin send such a letter?¡±


    Youngho acted as if he had no idea and made a gesture of agitation.


    ¡°He said Russia would not stay still if Azerbaijan invaded Armenia.¡±


    ¡°Did you dere war against Armenia? Otherwise, why would he...¡±


    Youngho did not know exactly what the letter was about, but it probably was a letter of threat, judging by Putin¡¯s personality.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s provocation to Armenia was a direct threat to Russia¡¯s economy. Putin would not have used a diplomatguage in such a situation.


    The look on Aliyev¡¯s face was enough to predict that Putin would have done so.


    ¡°A deration of war? No, that can¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°Then did Armenia provoke us?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Aliyev could not continue since Armenia had been still all along.


    ¡°If not, make a strong protest against Russia. How can he intimidate a sovereign state without any reason? I¡¯ll have toin to Putin. We¡¯ll have to say that we¡¯ll reconsider economic cooperation with Russia.¡±


    When Youngho said he would stop economic cooperation with Russia, Aliyev hastily stopped him, realizing that things were getting bigger than he thought.


    The idea of targeting Armenia was now out of his mind.


    This was because it seemed that Putin would not stand if the business cooperation with the Kazakh royal family in Russia failed.

 Chapter 721 - A New Wind Blowing in the Caucasus (1)

    <h4>Chapter 721: A New Wind Blowing in the Caucasus (1)</h4>


    Putin¡¯s letter had devastated Aliyev¡¯s n.


    On top of that, rumors were circting that the Kazakh royal family would strongly protest against Putin and reconsider its business partnership with Russia, without any time to spare.


    This would make Putin move, so Aliyev was preupied with sorting this out.


    He sent a personal letter to Armenia saying he would not make any provocations, and he even made a direct phone call to exin it.


    Persuading the Duke of Kazakhstan was the hardest.


    The Duke was furious, saying that Putin touched the pride of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan.


    The world knew that Russia was relying on the economic power of the Kazakh royal family, but when the rtions between the two countries went sour, this would lead to situations around the Caucasus out of control.


    However, despite Aliyev¡¯s efforts, the Duke¡¯s rage was unrelenting.


    ¡°Your Highness, please ease your anger and reconsider your cooperation with Russia. President Putin also said it was out of a misunderstanding.¡±


    Aliyev looked extremely stressed.


    ¡°Your Excellency, this is not going to end with just exnations. How dare he send a threatening letter to us? He thinks Azerbaijan is under his feet. If there is a regional war with Armenia, wouldn¡¯t he try to wipe out Azerbaijan, then?¡±


    ¡°Our country is going to focus only on defense even if Armeniaunches a preemptive strike. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    Aliyev was spitting out what Youngho wanted to hear.


    ¡°Are you sure you feel that way?¡±


    ¡°What can I do? So I think it would be good for both of us if you keep working on the joint venture with Russia.¡±


    ¡°If you make that concession, I¡¯ll consider it. It¡¯s a matter of pride, but I have to make the best decision for the peace of our federal country.¡±


    Youngho insisted on peace, which was a silent pressure not to dream of a war.


    Aliyev¡¯s expression, which had been stiff, was also slightly loosened at Youngho¡¯s words. It was only now that the problem was seemingly being settled.


    ¡°Mr. President. If you don¡¯t want this to happen again, why don¡¯t you sign a non-aggression pact with Armenia?¡±


    Now was a good chance to make Azerbaijan sign a peace treaty with Armenia.


    It was best to keep it organized when Aliyev was at the corner. Besides, the political burden would be on Aliyev¡¯s shoulders, not on Youngho¡¯s.


    ¡°What are you talking about...?¡±


    ¡°You know howrge thend area is owned by our federation. We can provide Kazakhstan¡¯s arablend if you want. Instead of fighting for small pieces ofnd with Armenia, why don¡¯t you take Kazakhstan¡¯snd and settle the issue with Armenia? I¡¯ll tell Putin to persuade Armenia. He will have to work hard to make up for the mistakes he made to our federal government this time. If our demands are not met, I will reconsider our economic cooperation for certain.¡±


    Aliyev¡¯s face hardened in a single moment as Youngho mentioned abandoning economic cooperation with Russia again.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you provoke Putin with economic cooperation as a weapon, it could be a disaster.¡±


    ¡°We are not allies if we only care about our own interests. If it weren¡¯t for our royal family, Russia would not have escaped the economic crisis. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡±


    Aliyev was at a loss as Youngho was pushing his idea.


    What would he say if Youngho wanted to put the interests of Azerbaijan before its rtion to Russia?


    There was nothing to hesitate about, as a peace treaty was something that could be broken any time.


    Aside from everything else, he did not want to have bad blood with Russia.


    Even now, his neck was stiffened to think about the fact that he stayed up for several nights due to Putin¡¯s letter of threats.


    ***


    ¡°If you let Armenia sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, you will even be able to win the Nobel Peace Prize.¡±


    Youngho was on the phone with Putin.


    -Hahaha... Is that how it works?


    Even for the iron-fisted dictator, it was a ttering idea to earn a Nobel Peace Prize.


    If he won the Nobel Peace Prize, the image of himself at home and abroad would improve, and foreign investors would pour into the country.


    ¡°So far, no one has solved the dispute between the two countries. The world would be surprised if you did that.¡±


    Calling in the Armenian president was not a difficult job for Putin.


    He did not even inform the Armenian president about Azerbaijan¡¯s move.


    He only held a meeting between the leaders to promote friendship between Russia and Armenia.


    -I only did what you asked me to do, Duke.


    ¡°What do you mean? It was only possible because it was you.¡±


    Youngho ttered Putin.


    Because no one was offended by praise. They said apliment could make whales dance.


    Putin had stepped up because it was beneficial for Russia when the Caucasus was quiet, but Putin was not going to side with either side, so there was little political pressure on him.


    Both were satellite states of the Soviet Union and were still using Russian as their officialnguage.


    He was helping the rtively weak Armenia, as they would point guns at each other at every chance.


    He also did not want Armenia to go wrong as it bordered Turkey.


    -Has President Aliyev epted the peace agreement?


    ¡°It will be sealed sooner orter. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going toe back to me with good news. I don¡¯t know what your letter was about, but he was very upset.¡±


    Not only was he embarrassed, but he came to Youngho with a frightened face.


    -I didn¡¯t ask for any favors except that I wanted the stability of the Caucasus.


    ¡°He was in a lot of trouble... I thought you made threats.¡±


    -Azerbaijan is clearly a self-reliant country. But how dare I interfere in its internal affairs?


    Aliyev was also close to Putin because he studied abroad in Moscow during the time of the Soviet Union.


    In his early days in power, he openly boasted his close ties with Putin, and if such a person was scared, it was understandable how harsh the letter must have been.


    ¡°Mr. President, when President Aliyev is ready, please persuade Armenia to sign a peace treaty.¡±


    -I already mentioned it when the president of Armenia visited Moscow this time. I said I don¡¯t want any more bloodshed in the Caucasus, so Armenia must be getting ready, too.


    Now that Youngho and Putin had thrown the ball to both countries, all they had to do was wait.


    Once fully deliberated internally, the two sides would hold four-way talks mediated by Russia and Kazakhstan for final agreements.


    The question depended on whether ethnic groups scattered on both sides would agree.


    How many people would want to leave their hometown easily?


    The crux of the matter was there.


    ¡°On the territorial issue, it should be decided after fully listening to the two countries¡¯ positions. If you sign it forcefully, another ethnic conflict will happen sooner than we think.¡±


    -I know what you¡¯re worried about, Duke. Not all will be satisfied, but we will try to get the best results.


    If Putin showed such a forward-looking attitude, the oue could be seen optimistic.


    Russia was trying to be a responsible member of the internationalmunity.


    If the Armenian and Azerbaijan issues were resolved well, the internationalmunity would see Putin from a different angle.


    When did Putin ever watch the internationalmunity?


    His dominance had brought a 20-year retreat in Russia¡¯s economy.


    The Kazakh royal family yed a key role in his change.


    Without the Kazakh royal family, massive foreign investment would have been unthinkable.


    Of course, it was only possible because Putin made concessions.


    Putin¡¯s efforts to get out of the swamp of economic stagnation were great.


    ***


    ¡°Oh, my! Really? Then I don¡¯t have to worry about war anymore. If I knew, I wouldn¡¯t have hurried back from Baku.¡±


    Fatima was delighted to hear the current situation from Youngho.


    It had been several days since she returned to Kazakhstan, but she was again talking about Baku.


    ¡°Kazakhstan is also your kingdom. If you stay too long in Baku, the people of Kazakhstan will be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°Kazakhstan is operating without any problems. We should focus on Baku more since it¡¯s in trouble.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s look was telling him that she would be going to run to Baku again in a few days.


    Baku in May was full of green.


    In addition, the trees in the street would bloom beautifully.


    It was the same with Zeynep Farm.


    The full bloom of small flowers on numerous grape trees was spectacr.


    It was an iparable ce to the stark of West Kazakhstan.


    He thought Fatima and the children had grown attached to Kazakhstan, but it seemed they still could not forget Baku.


    Knowing her heart so well, he felt sorry.


    ¡°You said you¡¯d stay in Kazakhstan for spring and fall?¡±


    Just a few days ago, she promised that she would stay in Kazakhstan in spring and fall.


    ¡°There are exceptions. This is the time to encourage the people of Baku.¡±


    ¡°What can I do if the Queen says she will take care of the people in need? I should let you go.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... You certainly gave me permission. Don¡¯t say otherwise elseter.¡±


    ¡°If you visit this time, don¡¯t stir Baku too much. It¡¯s a very sensitive time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know what I¡¯m doing. This time, I¡¯m only going to move informally. I think it would be necessary for the citizens to have amon understanding if the country is going to sign a peace treaty with Armenia.¡±


    Youngho wondered what this meant. He thought Fatima was just going to enjoy Baku¡¯s spring, but she had another purpose.


    ¡°Common understanding?¡±


    ¡°A peace treaty doesn¡¯t just happen. Do you think the people will just follow the politicalmunity¡¯s decision?¡±


    The conflict with Armenia was a territorial issue, but also a matter of national pride.


    Persuading the Alliev government alone would not solve everything.


    A national consensus should be formed and anyone should be able to ept the contents of the peace treaty.


    If not, one day, the peace treaty would be useless in no time.


    ¡°I was missing something really important.¡±


    ¡°Hear me out.¡±


    Fatima stressed that a national consensus must be formed to prevent another dispute.


    She meant to persuade Azerbaijanis, as Azerbaijan was rtively stronger than Armenia. Peace could be settled only if Azerbaijan made concessions.


    She wanted to remind the people that without such concessions, the war was inevitable and the future of Azerbaijan was grim.


    She was absolutely right.


    If the four-way talks were to be sessful, there should be public consensus and willingness to make some concessions.


    ¡°You should stay in Baku for a while to persuade the people of Baku. You¡¯re the only one who can do it.¡±


    ¡°Hooray... Did you just find that out? I¡¯m going to Baku for a while, so if you want to see the kids or me, you cane over on the weekend.¡±


    Fatima looked excited.


    ¡°You are going to stay in Baku all summer, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±


    He would have to live a lonely, widower-like life again.


    Whether Youngho¡¯s face was distorted or not, Fatima disappeared, saying she was going to pack.

 Chapter 722 - A New Wind Blowing in the Caucasus (2)

    <h4>Chapter 722: A New Wind Blowing in the Caucasus (2)</h4>


    The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was due to the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian autonomous province within Azerbaijan¡¯s territory since the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991.


    Therge-popted Armenians caused a conflict as they rejected the Azerbaijani government and advocated the autonomous republic.


    So, many Azerbaijanis living in Nagorno-Karabakh were forced to leave their homnd, and the Azerbaijani government ended up fighting a fierce war for it¡ªabout two years before a cease-fire.


    And there had been countless small and big battles ever since.


    Although the area had recently been annexed to Azerbaijan, there were still many Armenians living there, so the cause of conflict had always remained.


    There was another reason why the conflict existed.


    It was because Armenia upied some areas essible by Nagorno-Karabakh, isted like an ind, and had yet to return them to the Azerbaijani government.


    Nakhchivan was also in a simr situation. It was a territory of Azerbaijan near the border with Armenia and Iran.


    Because of that reason, the residents had to use airnes, railways, or roads along the Iranian border to travel to and from the maind.


    The reason why President Aliyev was going to invade Armenia was to secure a passage connecting the Nakhchivan and the maind.


    The reason why the two countries¡¯ territory issue still existed was because the territories of the two countries were randomly divided during the Soviet era.


    This was the result of the policy of recognizing arge number of people among different ethnic groups living in the same area.


    Had it not been the copse of the Soviet Union, this structure would have been maintained and no ethnic conflict would have urred.


    But since the world changed and the independence of the Commonwealth countries, such territorial plots had been a source of conflict.


    Until now, major powers had made efforts to mediate between the two countries¡¯ ethnic disputes, but no one hade up with a proper solution and only instigated emotions from both sides.


    Russia was maintaining a strategic partnership with Armenia to increase its influence in the Caucasus region.


    Georgia and Azerbaijan were holding Armenia down in response to the pro-Western foreign policy.


    Due to this, Armenia¡¯s reliance on Russia was great that the Russian trade volume ounted for 43 percent of Armenia¡¯s trade volume.


    For Armenia, isted in the Caucasus, Russia was the only ally.


    In other words, if Putin asked, Armenia would have no choice but toply.


    Youngho brought Russia into y to make full use of Armenia¡¯s weaknesses.


    In any case, it was all thanks to Aliyev that the two countries¡¯ problems were able to develop rapidly.


    Would the opportunity havee so quickly if he had not nned to invade Armenia?


    If the two countries signed a peace treaty, Armenia could also get out of istion, and Azerbaijan would not have to spend an excessive defense budget.


    It was nonsense for a tiny country to spend 4.5 billion dors a year on defense.


    If the huge amount of defense spending was spent on economic development, Azerbaijan could soon join the ranks of advanced countries.


    The level of awareness of Baku¡¯s citizens, in Youngho¡¯s opinion, was already surpassing that of middle-power countries.


    It was a problem, however, because the level of politicians and bureaucratsgged behind.


    Baku was like the final destination of the Silk Road and was a ce where all cultural objects were collected, so it also had superior culture.


    There remained pride that it had been amercial city of the world for more than a thousand years.


    Either way, if a peace treaty was signed, the Aliyev government, which had enjoyed much fun due to the conflict with Armenia, would lose its power.


    That meant the fall of the Aliyev regime.


    Fatima, who had revisited Baku, was again pushing ahead day and night.


    This time, she met religious leaders, by visiting the Orthodox Church and the mosque.


    Azerbaijan had an overwhelming number of Muslims, but it advocated secrism, so other religious activities were also possible.


    Muslim leaders were very pleased with the queen¡¯s visit.


    The fact that the queen visited the mosque alone was tantamount to opening a door for religious reconciliation.


    Fatima met with religious leaders and appealed to them to find ways to live in peace without antagonizing Armenia.


    Although secr, the voices of religious leaders were as powerful as the president in Azerbaijan, where 93 percent of the people were Muslims.


    Fatima visited not only religious facilities but also universities and met with professors to stress how important peace with Armenia was for Azerbaijan¡¯s future.


    This was because they could persuade students, and persuading students naturally would persuade their parents.


    Because of these efforts, Azerbaijan¡¯s public opinion gradually began to lean toward peace rather than war.


    There was a growing consensus that Armenia was a victim of a dark history just like Azerbaijan.


    Such an atmosphere was also felt in Armenia.


    As a mood was being created to resolve the bteral rtionship peacefully, a public opinion was also created in Armenia to cut off ethnic antagonism and live in peace.


    Russia¡¯s strong request also yed a big part in why such an atmosphere could have been formed.


    Putin was very active in encouraging such a mood recognizing the reality that the stability of the Caucasus was in Russia¡¯s interest.


    On the other hand, it was also a golden opportunity to increase Russia¡¯s influence in the Caucasus region.


    He calcted to reduce U.S. influence through improved rtions with Georgia and Azerbaijan.


    ***


    When Michael, the director of the U.S. CIA visited Kazakhstan, the atmosphere of peace in the Caucasus was in full swing.


    ¡°Duke. How can you leave the U.S. out of this? How much effort has our government put into the Caucasus region so far?¡±


    The U.S. was in considerable urgency as the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan was under the leadership of the Kazakh royal family and Russia.


    If this continued, the U.S. influence in the Caucasus was likely to hit rock bottom.


    ¡°Why do we have to go all the way to the U.S. when Russia, the original source of the problem, is willing to solve it? A peace treaty doesn¡¯t mean Georgia or Armenia will neglect the United States. As they say, too many cooks spoil the broth.¡±


    ¡°Our intelligence service is in a very awkward position. I¡¯m getting a lot of pressure from the administration. If Russia takes the initiative and solves this, the United States will be mocked by the world.¡±


    The look on Michael¡¯s face was not just a bluff.


    The U.S. was worried that the coordination of the peace treaty would increase Russia¡¯s influence in the Caucasus.


    Armenian immigrants who moved the U.S. government were pressuring the U.S. government that there would be no peace treaty led by Russia.


    They were afraid that Russia might exert its influence on Armeniater for this.


    The same was true for the United States. The U.S. had provided billions of dors in loans to Armenia under the rise of Armenian politicians, and all such efforts would go down the drain.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let the position of American politicians spoil this. Caucasian countries will solve the problem on their own.¡±


    Michael flew in a hurry to persuade Youngho but when Youngho came out so determined, he looked disappointed.


    However, he was not in a position to protest, so his face was stiffened.


    So, Youngho came up with a way to save Michael¡¯s face withoutpromising his pride.


    ¡°I will instead discuss with Putin so that the United States can participate as an observer.¡±


    ¡°An observer doesn¡¯t have a say. We¡¯d rather not participate than be the best man.¡±


    ¡°Our kingdom and Russia are only going to observe as well. I don¡¯t want to be in-between the two countries. They¡¯ll eventually me it on us when things get messed up.¡±


    No matter how good you were at this kind of work, you would be criticizedter.


    This was because there was no negotiation that satisfied everyone.


    ¡°Hmm. That arrangement should convince our Congress and the administration.¡±


    In the end, the U.S. intention to intervene was due to Russia.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what people who are so interested in the Caucasus have done so far. Didn¡¯t you encourage Armenia in the end so that it would only be eager to prepare for war?¡±


    The provision of billions of dors in loans to Armenia enabled Armenia to be armed.


    That was not it.


    The CIA had hired Youngho and his friends to be in charge of military training of the Armenian militia in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as supplying military supplies.


    ¡°Past is past. We just need to think about what¡¯s going to happen.¡±


    It was a convenient way of thinking, but since Youngho also took part in it, he did not say anymore.


    ¡°Chief, please refrain from further intervention. I¡¯m sure you know better than anyone else that the well-being of the Caucasus is directly rted to the future of Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you sound like you¡¯re going to me the U.S. if things go wrong.¡±


    ¡°You know that public opinion maniption here is a piece of cake, right?¡±


    Youngho jokingly warned Michael.


    It was because the involvement of the U.S. could make Armenia ask for unreasonable demands trusting the U.S.


    Although it was afraid of Russia, it was possible for Armenia to turn a deaf ear to Russian advice as Armenian Americans were actively supporting the country.


    Then all the efforts that had been made would go to waste.


    That was why Youngho was so serious about the U.S. getting involved.


    ¡°Some people in our administration are worried that you¡¯re getting too close to Russia these days. Have you really turned back on us?¡±


    ¡°How close can a democratic country be to a socialist country? it¡¯s all about political acts between two neighboring countries.¡±


    Although Kazakhstan seemed to be on a honeymoon with Russia, Russia was the second most dangerous country after China.


    Youngho was only watching Russia closely to prevent any future threat.


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that but I can¡¯t help paying attention to the Russian influence. The U.S. is looking forward to peace in the Caucasus. We want oil in the Caspian Sea to stabilize global oil prices.¡±


    Youngho pondered for a long time about what Michael had just said.


    It seemed the U.S. wasing out so aggressively because of the offshore oil field he found recently.


    ¡°Is it because of oil? You¡¯re afraid it¡¯ll flow over to Russia?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help but worry. It¡¯s hard to believe that Russia has suddenly offered to help the Caucasus region.¡±


    It was Youngho who got Russia involved, but he did not say anymore.

 Chapter 723 - A New Wind Blowing in the Caucasus (3)

    <h4>Chapter 723: A New Wind Blowing in the Caucasus (3)</h4>


    These days, Youngho stayed in Azerbaijan more than he did in Kazakhstan.


    He had a lot of work to do in Azerbaijan, but the most important reason was that he could not sit still in the Arirang royal territory because he missed his second child,


    Ljubica would be one in August and was already growing fast enough to walk while leaning on the wall.


    He frequently visited Baku under the pretext of fine-tuning the peace treaty because, but it was in fact because of Ljubica who was too cute in his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, my! Are you here again?¡± Fatima asked.


    ¡°Oh, I guess you¡¯re not even happy to see me anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho... No way. The kids are happy when youe.¡±


    ¡°Looking at your face, I can tell you feel bothered. Ljubica is the only one who wees me.¡±


    When Ljubica, who was in Fatima¡¯s arms, saw Youngho, she struggled to reach him with open arms.


    Youngho held her and kissed her.


    Fatima, who was wiping Youngho¡¯s face covered with Ljubica¡¯s saliva, carefully asked how Armenia responded, ¡°They are d to end the long and boring war, but the problem is that Armenians living abroad are not happy with the peace treaty. Armenia is a country that is supported by remittances from overseas Armenians, so we can¡¯t ignore their voice.¡±


    Armenians had more people living abroad than the poption living in the country.


    Most of them were living above the middle ss in the U.S. and Europe and supported their poor country, Armenia.


    Thus Armenian politicians could not ignore the voices of theirpatriots abroad and the problem was that they advocated war rather than peace.


    ¡°Oh my! What about the pain of the mainders? War only brings pain.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, it¡¯s not something we can¡¯t understand. They left their homnd like they were being chased. They had been supporting their country with that kind of pain.¡±


    ¡°But I still can¡¯t let the poor mainders suffer from a pointless war.¡±


    Fatima was upset to hear that Armenian overseas were turning a blind eye to the suffering of the people in the maind.


    ¡°Well, no matter how loud they speak, public opinion herees first. Thepatriots¡¯ demands are just wishful thinking.¡±


    No matter how many Armenian overseas wished for war, the mainders¡¯ opinions were most important as they were the ones to directly suffer from war.


    ***


    While a peace treaty with Armenia was underway, three Aegis destroyers wereunched at the Danish Shipyard.


    Youngho and Fatima could not make it, so Szechenyi and Admiral Jun presided over theunching ceremony.


    With them, the total number of Aegis destroyers owned by Kazakhstan rose to five.


    With this kind of power, it could be considered invincible except for a few countries that were strong in the oceans.


    Youngho was building up naval strength as without such forces, the future of Arirang Shipping, which traveled around the five oceans, was uncertain.


    The world was now stepping up efforts to expand its naval capabilities as well.


    Among them, he was concerned the most about China which were not only active in Southeast Asia but were also looking to the Indian Ocean.


    Although the North Pole route was now open, most of the logistics were still transported through the Indian Ocean, so naval forces were also necessary for self-defense.


    That was why he thought that he would need an overwhelming force.


    No other country in the Indian Ocean could follow the Kazakh Navy.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s influence was increasing in the Indian Ocean, based on such a remarkable naval presence.


    ¡°Zeynep wanted to attend thisunching ceremony, and she must be very disappointed.¡±


    ¡°Well, she must be more into doing the medical service than theunching ceremony.¡±


    Usually, a shipunching ceremony involved the ship owner¡¯s daughter or wife popping champagne or cutting a rope when floating a newly built vessel on the water.


    Cutting the rope meant the birth of a ship, which was the same as cutting the umbilical cord connected between the mother and the baby when the fetus was born.


    ¡°Why is she taking the hospital ship instead of flying back?¡±


    She could have attended theunching ceremony if she flew in since the hospital ship had finished its volunteer work in Madagascar for the first half of the year, but Zeynep insisted on returning by a hospital ship.


    ¡°Hoho... You don¡¯t know yet? She¡¯s trying to enter the port of Baku herself. She said it would have a dramatic effect.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, a dramatic effect?¡±


    ¡°She wants to help the peace agreement with Armenia, saying that she¡¯s an apostle of peace or something.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    It was quite a cute idea, so Youngho could not helpughing.


    If a hospital ship came into the port of Baku, it would certainly draw a lot of attention.


    ¡°What do you think? Sounds good, huh? How will the people of Baku react when the hospital ship appears?¡±


    ¡°Zeynep¡¯s pretty smart. When the hospital ship enters the port of Baku, we¡¯ll have to prepare a big weing ceremony.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s enough publicity to just let the media know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make it a little loud. It¡¯s not something to brag about, but it¡¯s not something to hide. I¡¯m sure the people will be very proud of such activities.¡±


    Even rich advanced countries could not dare to operate a voluntary hospital ship.


    Of course, social welfare organizations in advanced countries and meaningful doctors did volunteer work in remote areas, but most of them had been only temporary.


    ¡°Zeynep would not like to be too loud...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about time for her to make her name known to the world.¡±


    If the port held a raucous event, visitors to Azerbaijan would also be able to see it, and word of mouth would be spread through them. Then she would naturally be exposed to the global media.


    ***


    The port of Baku was crowded with people who came to see Zeynep¡¯s hospital ship.


    Youngho had informed the media of the arrival of the hospital ship in advance.


    When a huge white hospital ship docked at the pier, everyone could not keep their mouths shut.


    Previously, such a huge vessel could not have entered the Caspian Sea, but the expansion of the Volga-Don Canal allowed easy ess for a 25,000-ton-ss vessel.


    When citizens crowded out of the dock, tourists who visited Baku also came out to see what was going on.


    They were as surprised as the residents as they had never thought of seeing such arge hospital ship in Baku.


    Zeynep looked very healthy despite her long service and voyage.


    ¡°Good job. I¡¯m d you look healthy.¡±


    ¡°The hospital ship is better than a decent hotel, so I feel like I¡¯ve been on a cruise, but what¡¯s all this about? Why are there so many people out here?¡±


    She was very embarrassed when she saw the crowds at the pier.


    ¡°They¡¯re here to wee you.¡±


    ¡°What? Then you should¡¯ve let you know in advance. I would¡¯ve dressed up more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but don¡¯t you think it would be weird for people who have done volunteer work to dress up too much? I¡¯d rather have a modest look like you have right now.¡±


    Even while talking with Youngho, Zeynep was busy greeting Fatima and the children.


    Interior Minister Sevan and other government officials approached the site where the royal family was greeting each other.


    Then, political figures who had been watching from one side also flocked to the site.


    They hade out upon hearing that the Queen and the Duke woulde out to meet the hospital ship today.


    These days, politicians and bureaucrats in Baku were eager to establish friendship with the Kazakh royal family. It was because the public sentiment was directed only to the royal family even though it was only symbolic.


    Those at the dock struggled to get a step closer to the Queen and the Duke.


    The scene of politicians shaking hands with the Queen¡¯s group was being filmed as each came with a cameraman.


    The photo was like proof of their friendship with the royal family.


    This was their survival strategy, so Youngho did not stop them.


    These days, the most influential official in Azerbaijan was by far, Sevan.


    Today¡¯s event was also organized by Interior Minister Sevan.


    If there was a royal event, hundreds of police officers must be mobilized, so he was the person who made the most contact with the royal family.


    Sevan had changed a lot since his recent meeting with Youngho.


    Now, he had begun his own way without taking notice of President Aliyev.


    Since the peace talks with Armenia emerged, the current administration had already been out of steam.


    Youngho approached Sevan who was giving instructions to the police chief.


    ¡°You are working hard again today, Minister.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t get tired at events like this. Look at the citizens¡¯ faces. They are all proud of the royal family.¡±


    Numerous people gathered, but they followed the police¡¯s control rtively well, and the atmosphere was like a festival, as they gathered in groups and took pictures against the hospital ship.


    Police on duty also treated citizens with a gentle look.


    For citizens, this change in the police was simply a novelty.


    When did Baku¡¯s police ever be so kind like this?


    They were like demons to the citizens, taking bribes, making mistakes over citizens, and making human rights vitions.


    However, at some point, the police hadpletely changed.


    ¡°It looks good. It¡¯s because you made a big decision.¡±


    ¡°I feel at ease these days because I put everything down.¡±


    Putting down the sword of power was not only a matter of self-determination as there must be a lot of political pressure on him. Nheless, he stood firm under all that.


    ¡°Well done. Someday, we¡¯ll have a day tough together, remembering today.¡±


    This meant that Youngho would continue to be together and prevent whatever storm they might have in the future.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to take my uniform off at any time.¡±


    Sevan looked very determined.

 Chapter 724 - You Reap What You Sow (1)

    <h4>Chapter 724: You Reap What You Sow (1)</h4>


    The atmosphere of Baku was hot as the sun of August as the signing of the peace treaty was nearing.


    The peace agreement with Armenia now had only a signing ceremony left, and the people of both countries were already excited as if peace had arrived.


    If a peace treaty was signed, people from both sides would be able to freely visit each side and the trade volume would also increase, helping the two countries develop their economies.


    Various military instations and heavy weapons deployed forward along the border would also be nominal or moved to the rear side, and military spending would be immensely reduced.


    The budget could be used as a driving force for economic development and growth of each country.


    Through working-level negotiations, the two sides agreed to guarantee each other the right to pass to and from Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan, which had remained like inds in the two countries.


    Then they decided to return the areas each had upied and to withdraw the military forces deployed in those areas.


    After the biggest problems were resolved, the peripheral issues were quickly settled.


    There would be a buffer zone in the border area, which would be temporarily stationed peacekeepers that consisted of Russian troops and the Kazakh Royal BodyGuards.


    It was to prevent idental shes in advance.


    The signing of a peace treaty did notpletely resolve the two countries¡¯ national sentiment.


    There were still deep grudges between the two countries.


    How many lives had been lost due to countless wars and ethnic cleansing in upied areas? It would be resolved in time as such heartbreaks healed and memories faded.


    Over the years, the painful memories would be diluted, but history would never disappear.


    It was never their own fault to have suffered this.


    It was a pain that every powerless nation that had to live in the midst of great powers would have suffered since they were unable to keep up with the world.


    Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, which weremonly called the three countries of the Caucasus, were ces with innocent people and natural resources.


    Despite their beauty, the reason why people around the world shunned the ce was because Armenia and Azerbaijan had maintained a hostile rtionship.


    Tourists, who traveled to either Armenia or Azerbaijan, were denied entry to the other country and not given visas just because they had traveled to a hostile country.


    Who would visit this ce if they could even be used as spies?


    Youngho was the living witness.


    After visiting Nagorno-Karabakh, he was mistaken for a spy in Azerbaijan and suffered hardships by the militia.


    If all such restrictions were lifted in the future, tourists were expected to flock in again.


    Tourism ie alone might even be able to feed the entire ce as its nature was untouched so far.


    The peace agreement between the two countries heralded such a number of changes.


    Now there was no need to send husbands or sons to war, and there was no need to be wary of going to see rtives in different regions.


    When rtions between the two countries were normalized, people would reach their destinations in three to four hours whereas they had to go around through Georgia for two days.


    It would have a huge impact on the economy, which would be a turning point in the lives of both people.


    The effects would be demonstrated immediately by the supply and demand of energy.


    This was because by receiving oil from Baku directly from the Middle East, there would be huge savings due to the reduction of transportation distance.


    That was a great benefit for Armenia.


    The same was true of Azerbaijan.


    When the pipeline that bypassed around Georgia went through Armenia directly, the pipeline would be shorter, dramatically reducing maintenance costs.


    Major oilpanies, major shareholders of the pipeline, also lent their support for the peace treaty, as peace between the two countries would bring huge benefits to them.


    The tangible and intangible benefits of such a peace treaty between the two countries were enormous.


    Although they were just small countries, they had been a shortcut and a strategic location that connected Asia and Europe.


    Of course, it was due to this geopolitical position that they had to suffer tragic pasts.


    ***


    The signing ceremony of the peace treaty ended nd only in 30 minutes.


    By the signing of the agreement by the presidents of the two parties, it immediately came into effect.


    Youngho felt empty as it finished in such a short time. What could have ended so simply had been dragged for too long killing countless lives.


    Interference by interested parties and politicians of the two countries¡¯ political ambitions were the reasons behind the growing antagonism between the two countries.


    They were finally able to achieve an agreement by making concessions little by little.


    There had been ups and downs in the negotiation process, but today¡¯s signing ceremony was possible due to the strong desire of both people for peace.


    After the signing ceremony, the leaders shook hands with each other in a bright manner, and the dispute between the two countries was fading into history.


    Every citizen, male and female, of all ages, was pouring out into downtown Baku to celebrate the historic day.


    Restaurants and cafes on the streets added to the festive mood by offering free food and drinks.


    The royal family also set up stalls here and there to provide free food and beverages throughout the city.


    Food and beverages were also distributed in the temporary tent in front of the Arirang Hotel, located in the old town, and there were more kids than adults.


    Youngho and other royal family members also monopolized the hotel lounge to celebrate the historic day and were busy looking around the streets.


    They wanted to enjoy it with the citizens if they could, but they had to stay at the hotel because of security issues.


    Fatima, looking down to see outside, smiled and grabbed Youngho¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Hohoho... those kids will be stuck at the temporary tent all day. That boy in the blue shirt has been there three or four times already.¡±


    She had been watching at the temporary tent carefully.


    The food provided by the hotel was bound to be tasteful.


    ¡°It looks like he¡¯s taking it to his family.¡±


    ¡°Then I should have prepared more food.¡±


    The old town was home to the poor and themon people.


    As was the case with many ces where lower ss people resided, there were exceptionally many children.


    ¡°Even a mountain of food will soon be gone.¡±


    In Baku, which was also a tourist city, young kids could not be underestimated.


    The city¡¯s children were as clever as adults.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not on this day, when are they going to try hotel food? I want them to eat as much as they want. When I lived in Istanbul, we used to walk to downtown to get food on festival days. When we got delicious food, Zeynep was the one who liked it the most.¡±


    Fatima¡¯s eyes twitched slightly when she said the words.


    It reminded her of the slums of Istanbul.


    ¡°You took the sick kid there?¡±


    ¡°No, it was just me and Szechenyi.¡±


    Having nothing to eat, Fatima siblings had to walk all the way to get free food.


    Since they had no money to use public transportation, they must have grabbed their hungry stomach and walked three or four hours to downtown where the festivals were held.


    Hearing her made Youngho imagine the little Zeynep, who would have waited in a dark, cold shack until her sister and brother returned.


    It was even extravagant to say that the living conditions of the siblings Youngho visited in Istanbul¡¯s slums were poor.


    Even now, he could not help but feel sorry when he thought about the time he met the siblings.


    He wrapped his arm around Fatima¡¯s shoulder.


    Then he called in the manager of the hotel and ordered him to pack food from the tent in front of the hotel.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    When Youngho ordered this and that, Fatima smiled beautifully.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it. Why didn¡¯t you mention it earlier?¡±


    ¡°I was reminded of it just now when I saw that boy. I¡¯m sure any of those kids will get to meet the Daddy Long Legs like me, right?¡±


    The ¡®Daddy Long Legs¡¯ Fatima mentioned was a character from the novel, Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.


    At the time he met her at a flea market, Fatima was a small skinny girl who was shabby because ofck of nutrition.


    Youngho, who was over 185 centimeters tall, must have looked like a giant, not just a tall uncle.


    That day, Youngho was feelingzy because of the alcohol he drank the day before, and it was almost an impulsive act to buy the ring and the leather shoes thatid open on a cloth on the ground.


    And if the ring had not shown any power, he might not have gone all the way back to Istanbul to find her.


    Of course, he made a fuss and gave out his business card and too much money, but he believed that it was because he was still not sober from the alcohol.


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the money you gave me that day, we siblings would have made an extreme choice. You forcibly gave that much money, so you could hold on until you found us, I was able to have the hope that the world wasn¡¯t all that bad.¡±


    ¡°I had some extra money then.¡±


    It was an impulsive act, but now that he thought of it, he was lucky.


    It was just around the time he was making so much money, so he could have spent it recklessly, but if he had not, could he have offered a few hundred dors?


    ¡°I think some of those kids can have hope because of the food we gave them today.¡±


    Only those who had had difficulty could look back on others.


    The Fatima brothers must be especially altruistic because they had a very poor childhood.


    ¡°The future of those children will be bright because our royal family has brought peace to the Caucasus. I¡¯ll make sure to provide that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very proud of you.¡±


    Youngho was ttered to hear her praise.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you. If I had known you were a royal daughter, I should have given you more.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho...¡±


    As the two were talking, Zeynep intervened.


    ¡°What? I hope you¡¯re not talking bad about me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sweetie! Why would we waste time talking about you?¡±


    Fatima answered with an absurd look.


    ¡°Oh, so you don¡¯t care about me?¡±


    As Zeynep approached Youngho with a look of excitement, he tried to get out of the way, but she clung close to his arm.


    ¡°Why are you acting like a little girl,dy?¡±


    ¡°Oppa, is there anything I can help you with?¡±


    Youngho knew that it was best to avoid Zeynep when she acted this way. It was because she acted friendly like this when asking for favors that were difficult toply with.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, since the royal family has entered the Caucasus, I was wondering if there¡¯s anything I can do to help.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... There¡¯s a lot of social work to be done by the welfare foundation. Would you like to take that?¡±


    Since he just saw kids around the hotel in the old town, he empty-mindedly mentioned it.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, too. I¡¯m nning to go to Armenia and Georgia for medical service. What do you think? I think it¡¯ll also serve as an opportunity to promote our royal family.¡±


    ¡°We can approach Georgia through the ck Sea, but Armenia is an ind country, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a way.¡±


    ¡°We can use the train. I heard that Georgia and Armenia also have a lot of areas in need of medical service. The road conditions are very bad, but I think using the train will work.¡±


    The use of trains to offer medical services was a groundbreaking idea.


    ¡°Use the train?¡±


    Because of the rugged Caucasus Mountains, there were too many remote ces in Armenia and Georgia that were out of reach of civilization.


    Some did not even have electricity.


    Fortunately, there was a railroad track that had beenid in the Soviet era, which offered a transport route.


    ¡°I only need a few hospital train cars for the hospital wards and operating rooms. We can stop at way stations and offer service.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    The main factor behind the peace treaty was the Kazakh royal family, no matter what.


    However, active exchanges between two countries could not be expected yet because ethnic sentiment had yet to be healed. So, if the royal family came forward and offered medical service, they could shake off the grudges more quickly.


    The royal family needed to show continued interest in Armenia, but there was no clear way.


    Medical service was the best way to approach people.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll build you a medical train right now.¡±

 Chapter 725 - You Reap What You Sow (2)

    <h4>Chapter 725: You Reap What You Sow (2)</h4>


    It usually took a lot of time to build medical train cars.


    In particr, surgical cars were required to provide a stable power supply, and if they relied only on the power of lotives, they were likely to cause medical idents.


    Building the medical passenger cars weremissioned to H Rotem, which had factories in Kazakhstan, while those to be deployed in Armenia and Georgia would be made out of already existing train cars by renovating them.


    When royal staff made a fuss looking forpanies to repair and construct train cars, Azerbaijan¡¯s businessmen rushed to offer trains. It was because they knew that the royal family was the real power that ran Azerbaijan, not the government.


    ¡°Zeynep, how many trains did you say you needed?¡±


    ¡°Five or six are enough for the medical staff to stay in.¡±


    Zeynep, who was just pushing food into her mouth, answered carelessly.


    ¡°Hey, hey! You¡¯re a bigdy now. Where are your manners?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just too delicious. It¡¯s better to chew with your mouth full.¡±


    Then Rena and Jelyan scolded her for being disgusting.


    No matter what, Zeynep still mumbled with food in her mouth, ¡°Somepanies have lined up to renovate trains and donate them, but I still haven¡¯t decided yet.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, how strange of them! They never showed any interest in my welfare foundation before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the power of having power.¡±


    ¡°Then get a lot of train donations. The more the better.¡±


    ¡°I ordered the Kazakh train factory to build a new medical train. I don¡¯t believe the modified train will perform better than a properly built train.¡±


    Youngho believed that nothing came free even if it was for free donation.


    Getting donations was like debt, so it should be paid back in some wayter.


    ¡°Everything should be useful.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to operate several teams?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m going to station several trains at way stations. They¡¯ll be like hospitals. It¡¯ll be easy to do volunteer work if we can also put extra trains in Madagascar.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... That could work. I guess you¡¯ll need more medical staff?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to recruit extra staff. For the Caucasus region, the local medicalmunities promised to offer help.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t if I were you. People here even have to risk their lives for an appendectomy. How can you trust the medicalmunity of the Caucasus?¡±


    Medical standards in Central Asia and the Caucasus were so terrible beyond imagination.


    Even the most basic appendectomy could not be entrusted with reassurance.


    ¡°Hohoho... Don¡¯t worry. Doctors who will help us with volunteer work are already proven to be skilled.¡±


    This was probably only possible because the royal family was taking the lead in the political situation.


    If the high-end medical staff decided to join the voluntary medical service even though they were not paid, it was evidence that they were doing it to save face before the royal family.


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. By the way, when did you contact the medicalmunity here?¡±


    ¡°They came to the hospital ship. They said they wanted to participate in the noble work, so I talked about the train and they were delighted.¡±


    It was a change brought about by the peace treaty with Armenia.


    As the world changed, people¡¯s consciousness was slowly changing.


    It was a positive change, but it remained to be seen how long it wouldst.


    In order for this change to be maintained, the royal family must continue to lead.


    If the core power was cut off, the hard-won peace treaty would also be scrapped.


    ***


    There was a saying in Korea that a footless word goes a hundred kilometers.


    The medical staff led by Zeynep simply quietly visited the remote vige of Armenia for medical treatment.


    As medical trains had not yet been deployed, the group anchored the hospital ship at the port of Batumi, Georgia, and traveled around Armenia using vehicles.


    But the news of medical volunteer work was spreading rapidly.


    Armenians were fully grateful that the peace treaty freed them from the horrors of war and allowed them to travel freely around Nagorno-Karabakh, where their rtives resided.


    The Kazakh royal family dispatched medical staff to the remote viges of Armenia to take care of the people quietly.


    Surprised by the fact, some people even said that the Kazakh royal family might even be greedy for Armenia. They could not shake off their negative view toward simple kindness.


    Despite this reaction, medical service continued.


    What surprised the Armenians was happening elsewhere as well.


    ¡°Did all Azerbaijan troops in Nagorno-Karabakh withdraw?¡±


    ¡°Our agents have confirmed it. Only the police force remains in the area. Should I urge Minister Sevan to withdraw the police, too? Our agents alone can secure security.¡±


    Park Jong-il responded to Youngho¡¯s question confidently.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. Let¡¯s trust the Aliyev government for now.¡±


    It was more than a month after the peace treaty was signed, and the withdrawal of troops deployed along the border was still being dyed. Without their withdrawal, the two countries¡¯ peacekeeping forces, the Russian military, and the Royal Bodyguards could not enter the border.


    The two militaries were engaged in a war of nerves.


    If either sidestepped out first, the other side would follow, but no one had so far initiated it.


    Fortunately, however, it was relieving to hear that Azerbaijan¡¯s troops had withdrawn from the Armenian residential area, Nagorno-Karabakh as it was the most sensitive area for both countries.


    It was shocking for Armenians that Azerbaijan, which did not yield an inch, pulled out its troops first.


    ¡°Please send the Royal Bodyguards troops to be sent to the Caucasus to Baku first.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, we haven¡¯t had any specific consultations with the Azerbaijani government yet.¡±


    ¡°This is what is stated in the peace treaty. Just push it. That way, the troops on the border area will be pulled back. First, send an advance team to take control of the Georgia border.¡±


    Youngho wanted to deploy the Royal Bodyguards first before the Russian military could take its spot.


    Although Kazakhstan and Russia were allies and peacekeepers, it was important to take over a more important location.


    Each force decided to send 500 troops to the border, and Georgia, a rtively t area, was better than the rough Caucasus Mountains.


    There were several reasons to deploy troops in Georgia.


    This was because the Georgian government made a request in advance.


    Now it was in peace, but Georgia was not fond of Russia at all.


    For Georgia, the fact that Russian troops would be hovering in southern Georgia, near the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, was extremely threatening.


    Although Russia would not move recklessly, Putin still remainedmitted to subjugating Georgia.


    Therefore, the Georgian government hoped that the Kazakh royal guards would first take over the border area to keep peace of the three countries.


    For Georgia, which lost its territory, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, to Russia, Russia was an enemy.


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t youmunicate with the Russian government in advance? I don¡¯t think it won¡¯t make concessions for the Northside.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s words had a point but now was a transitional period.


    It was not a matter that could be overlooked as it would be difficult to change the deployment location of troops once they were settled.


    ¡°Now is the right time. Russia won¡¯t take issue with us if we say we deployed our troops early to pull out Azerbaijan¡¯s military forces.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll notify Azerbaijan¡¯s military and push it forward.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Azerbaijani military will protest very much. Recently, a number of people from the military visited the royal pce in Baku. They were very concerned about reducing the number of troops.¡±


    Azerbaijan was operating too many troopspared to its national power.


    Same went for Armenia.


    In order for peace negotiations to be maintained, the number of troops must be reduced.


    It would be great if both troops could start reducing their number at the same time, but it was not easy as it sounded as both did not trust each other.


    Therefore, the royal family had rmended reducing the number of troops in Azerbaijan, which was rtively more armed, first, but the military¡¯s bacsh was formidable.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we suggest reducing the number of troops, but maintain the firepower in the rear for the time being?¡±


    Park Jong-il suggested keeping the attack weapons that the Azerbaijani government had ambitiously prepared.


    Kazakhstan and other Central Asian weapons systems were defense-oriented weapons, so Azerbaijan¡¯s strong offensive weapons were coveted by others.


    Jong-il said that Azerbaijan¡¯s firepower should remain the same as deterrence against Russia¡¯s misjudgment since it would take time to introduce high-tech weapons in the event of an emergency.


    The cost of introducing weapons by the Aliyev government had been astronomical.


    They were to keep Armenia, Russia, and Iran in check.


    ¡°Would Armenians trust us just because we pull back the firepower?¡±


    As Armenians could not travel freely to the border, this meant the Armenian government and military could see Azerbaijan¡¯s military movement as well. They would not approve it even if the weapons were pulled back on the rear side.


    ¡°If the rear side is Kazakhstan, wouldn¡¯t they be fine?¡±


    ¡°You want to take them to Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°The only thing that counts right now is taking them out of the Caucasus. What would they say if we put them across the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan?¡±


    Park Jong-il¡¯s suggestion was great.


    If people confirmed with their own eyes that various weapons were sent to Kazakhstan on a ship, what more would they say?


    ¡°Then let¡¯s discuss it in detail with military officials. It¡¯s also a way tofort the shaky military.¡±


    In order to speed up Armenia¡¯s disarmament, the Azerbaijani military must show a reduction in its military power.


    As a follow-up to the peace treaty, various offensive weapons should be discarded or turned back, or they would inevitably hamper the maintenance of the peace treaty.


    After a regr meeting at the royal pce, Youngho and Jong-il hurriedly flew to Baku as they found a way to persuade Azerbaijan¡¯s military.


    Youngho would ask to reduce the number of soldiers but keep the nomissioned officers and above as they were the backbone of the military organization.

 Chapter 726 - You Reap What You Sow (3)

    <h4>Chapter 726: You Reap What You Sow (3)</h4>


    Azerbaijan¡¯s military weed the proposal by the Kazakh royal family.


    This was because it was a groundbreaking way to maintain the actual military power while showing a reduction in troops externally.


    As Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were already a federation, the military leadership seemed to trust Kazakhstan.


    Youngho and Jong-il were at the meeting with the military leaders of Azerbaijan.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. Would military assistance be possible if Armenia or Russia turn hostile toward us after our troop reduction?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen. Russia and our royal family have strong ties, so Russia will not y with fire against Azerbaijan, a federal state of Kazakhstan. I¡¯m confident it will never happen as long as our royal family exists.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking this in case of a contingency.¡±


    Although the Azerbaijan Constitution stipted the Kazakh royal family¡¯s non-intervention in the diplomatic and military sectors, there was also a royal pce in Azerbaijan, so it was not a problem for Kazakh forces to be stationed there.


    ¡°The troop dispatch goes against the Azerbaijan Constitution. If the royal family does not abide by the principle of non-intervention in military diplomacy, will the people remain silent?¡±


    The generals at the meeting were clearly disappointed by Youngho¡¯s answer.


    Knowing the Kazakh royal family¡¯s strong military power, it was regrettable for them if they could not be used in case of Azerbaijan¡¯s emergency. Some generals even went so far as to beining about the ridiculous constitution.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to amend the constitution again, but wouldn¡¯t it work if a new treaty between countries is signed?¡±


    ¡°How long has it been since the peace agreement was signed? We can¡¯t start a new military agreement that will provoke neighboring countries. Also, the Kazakh royal family has the role of the peacekeeping troops, how can we sign a military partnership with Azerbaijan?¡±


    Then the faces of military leaders became very rigid.


    Youngho¡¯s words meant that he would not mobilize the Kazakh royal forces so easily.


    ¡°If it¡¯s only based on defense, wouldn¡¯t it be alright?¡±


    ¡°If that happens, of course, we¡¯ll have to help. But ultimately, we¡¯d need legal grounds in order to do so. However, you must be familiar with the royal pce in the royal territory in Baku. This means that the troops guarding this ce are the Royal Bodyguards. If the pce is attacked, the guards wille forward, and we will send more troops in that case. That¡¯s the only intervention the royal family can do.¡±


    Everyone did not seem to be convinced by Youngho¡¯s words.


    They were not familiar with the royal guards.


    ¡°Your Highness, how many Royal Bodyguards troops do you have?¡±


    ¡°About 20,000.¡±


    In response to Youngho¡¯s reply, the military generals who at the meeting were all dumbfounded.


    The forces of the Royal Bodyguards had not been publicly specified so far.


    Everyone, who thought that it was a battalion at best, was surprised to hear the number of royal guards.


    At the same time, they were relieved to think that this level of troops could be sent by the royal family alone.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. May I ask why the royal family has so many troops?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re mainly used as an overseas contingent.¡±


    As the Royal Bodyguards belonged to the royal family privately, it was free from political purposes.


    ¡°The troops to be sent overseas should be almost like a special force...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. They did a great job in Afghanistan and Syria. It¡¯sparable to the Navy Seal. It¡¯s also China¡¯s most feared force.¡±


    The generals seemed to be shocked by the Duke¡¯s remark.


    The generals, who had been struggling with Armenia, were well aware of the use of special forces.


    In general, the power used in war was divided into symmetrical and asymmetrical forces.


    Asymmetric power included weapons capable of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons, and ballistic missiles.


    Armed forces prating underground tunnels, surprise attacks through submarines, and non-regr forces such as guerris were also collectively described as asymmetric forces.


    Symmetric power, on the other hand, referred to weapons used in actualbat such as tanks, warships, fighter jets, artilleries, missiles, and guns.


    It took a lot of time and money to build conventional power, but it was called symmetrical power because it was effective as much as it was invested, and it was called conventional power as such weapons were traditionally used.


    Therefore, asymmetric power was a frightening power because it exerted superior power in killing human life and could target the opponent¡¯s weaknesses as much as possible.


    That was why countries with more to protect reacted more sensitively to the other side¡¯s asymmetric power.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s generals left the conference room with a look of encouragement.


    It was very reassuring to hear that the Kazakh royal family had such a great asymmetric power, believing that they had no opponent to fear.


    ***


    Youngho did not want the Aliyev regime to copse immediately.


    For the time being, it was convenient for Kazakhstan if things were maintained the same in Azerbaijan.


    Already, the public sentiment waspletely tilted toward the royal family as well as the military of Azerbaijan, so there was nothing to be busy about.


    He hoped that the atmosphere would be maintained for the time being as the political burden would be reduced if Aliyev was put on the front burner.


    Aliyev did not try anything reckless as if he recognized his position. He was crawling on his own.


    The evidence was the fact that he had been cleaning up his surroundings these days.


    He withdrew his wife¡¯s appointment as vice president and was quietly clearing up stakes of the presidential family since it had invested in various rights projects.


    Reducing the number of troops in the military also yed a part in this.


    After the National Police Agency sided with the Kazakh royal family, the military was hisst remaining supporters, but he lost power when the military leaders agreed to reduce the number of troops.


    It was a necessary decision to keep the peace treaty because the Kazakh royal Bodyguards and Russian troops had already agreed to serve as peacekeepers, and maintaining the current military force could not be justified.


    Fortunately, the military¡¯s weapons could be moved to Kazakhstan without dismantling.


    In order for such weapons to be brought back, there would have to be an unexpected change in the Caucasus. As long as the Kazakh royal family was holding out, no country would dare to provoke Azerbaijan.


    There was no country that was willing to fight against Kazakhstan for a palm-sized Azerbaijan.


    These days, Aliyev had been under a lot of stress.


    He even prepared an institutional mechanism so that he could serve as president for generations and hold permanent power, but he could not resist the surging waves of change.


    So in frustration, he requested a private meeting with the Duke of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. Now that the era of peace hase, I think I¡¯ve lost my job. I¡¯m very disappointed that my supporters are turning their backs on me.¡±


    Aliyev, an old-fashioned politician, looked a few years older just in a few days.


    Youngho was also nervous when Aliyev said his situation without hesitation.


    It seemed he hade to negotiate something.


    If Aliyev was to the point of bringing this up, he must have prepared a lot.


    ¡°Your Excellency, why are you saying this? Who on earth has turned back on you? How dare there be anyone in Azerbaijan who disobeys your word?¡±


    Youngho was careful tofort Aliyev because he did not know what he might be hiding behind.


    ¡°Even the power seemed eternal had lost its power before time. I lost the hearts of people. How can I not know that? People are just supporting me because they don¡¯t have any alternative now.¡±


    ¡°Your approval rating is the same and the people are following your regime well, so what¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m having a hard time after the peace treaty. It¡¯s hard to get people together in the presidential pce.¡±


    It was Aliyev, who had gathered his aides every day to hold parties and distribute money and valuables.


    However, now his aides did not respond well to his invitation.


    This was because high-ranking officials and military leaders also felt a sense of crisis. Knowing that staying with Aliyev would not save them, they were slowly keeping a distance from him.


    That would not mean that corruption would be eliminated, but they were trying to keep away from immediate bribes.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a transition period? It¡¯s probably because everyone is busy and trying to get ustomed to the new changes. Who will they listen to if they don¡¯t listen to the one who has appointed them? If you don¡¯t like it, just let it go.¡±


    ¡°How can I swing my sword when the people are watching? I thought it was time for me to slowly get ready to leave, so I came here to hear your advice.¡±


    Youngho felt like he was struck in the back by Aliyev¡¯s sudden remark.


    Aliyev should still be in power. There was no suitable alternative to rece him yet, so if he left, who would do his job?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what makes you so depressed, but don¡¯t forget that the people still support you. The royal family will do its best to help you. So cheer up.¡±


    When Youngho said he would help, Aliyev¡¯s expression changed slightly.


    He had gained a small hope.

 Chapter 727

    <strong>Chapter 727: Envy (1)</strong>


    China was the country that envied Kazakhstan¡¯s relentless moves the most.


    It was using Kazakhstan of absorbing and integrating powerless neighboring countries with its usible packaging of a federation.


    It was like the pot called the kettle ck, but China had a good reason.


    Azerbaijan nned to purchase J-20 fighter jets produced in China but withdrew its purchase n with the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia.


    It was not possible to purchase Chinese fighter jets at a time when the peace treaty required the reduction of its troops.


    A deal worth billions of dors was broken, so it was no wonder the Chinese government was upset.


    The J-20 fighter was a stealth fighter developed by the Chinese government after several failures.


    China¡¯s defense industry had grown to the point where foreign countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, were showing willingness to purchase its fighter jets.


    Either way, for China, Kazakhstan was a thorn in its side as the project which it had been putting efforts in for several years was scrapped.


    The Azerbaijani government was very embarrassed by the Chinese government¡¯s protest.


    China had been at odds over what to do, saying that the fighter jets to be delivered to Azerbaijan was already being manufactured in factories.


    It threatened Azerbaijan that the fighter jets in production would be wasted if the export failed. It was not true, as China could export those fighter jets to another country in the future.


    China¡¯s reckless move was to take the deposit paid by the Azerbaijani government.


    In this difficult situation, the Azerbaijani government requested the Kazakh royal family¡¯s help.


    Since the economy was still recovering from the foreign exchange crisis, the Azerbaijani government wanted to get the deposit back to help the national economy.


    Under such calctions, Azerbaijan¡¯s prime minister rushed to the Kazakh royal pce in the Arirang royal territory.


    Youngho, who was visited by Prime Minister Rasizade, was at a meeting with him and Jong-il.


    ¡°I understand your situation, Mr. Prime Minister. So, the Azerbaijani government would like to get at least a part of the ten percent down payment for the fighter jets, but China is pressuring to take over the finished product unconditionally.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Grace. China is pressing us to pay a penalty if we can¡¯t buy it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a funny situation. It¡¯s like China wants war in the Caucasus.¡±


    The Azerbaijani government paid 120 million dors to China as a down payment for 30 jets.


    It was also a waste to not get the deposit back, but China was even demanding a penalty for breach of contract.


    Moreover, China was threatening the Azerbaijani government that if the penalty was not paid, China would stop various development projects it promised to invest in Azerbaijan as well as preventing Chinese tourists from visiting the country.


    ¡°What does the president say?¡±


    Youngho wondered what Aliyev was thinking.


    It was a contract made before the peace treaty, and he could bring in jets using China as an excuse.


    Aliev had every reason to bring in fighter jets.


    However, in the aftermath of the introduction of fighter jets, the Caucasus would again enter a tense phase.


    ¡°The president said he would give up the purchase of fighter jets. Cab ministers think the same way as the president. We can¡¯t do anything to dampen the peace mood.¡±


    It was relieving to hear that the president would give up the fighter jets.


    ¡°Then can you delegate this matter to our royal family?¡±


    Prime Minister Rasizade¡¯s face quickly brightened up at Youngho¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°If Your Highnesses forward, China will dare not do anything. It¡¯s a shame, but our government¡¯s capacity has not been able to deal with China¡¯s pressure.¡±


    He seemed to think that China could not do anything to the Kazakh royal family as its power was great enough to move even Putin of Russia.


    ¡°The royal family should help a hundred times if necessary. The people trust the royal family, so how can we sit back when the country is in trouble?¡±


    Youngho confidently said, but he did not have any n to deal with China.


    He was going to face it first and deal with it by adapting to the situation depending on China¡¯s response.


    ***


    ¡°Why did you ept it?¡±


    The two were on their way back from the airport after seeing off Prime Minister Rasizade.


    Park Jong-il, who had been silent throughout the meeting with the Azerbaijani prime minister asked.


    ¡°He came all the way here to ask for help. Of course, I should help.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to put me ahead, do you?¡±


    Park Jong-il drew a line in advance just in case Youngho decided to send him.


    ¡°Hold on, that was a good word. I was going to move the ambassador to China, but I guess you can go to China.¡±


    ¡°Gee, I knew this would happen.¡±


    ¡°Think of saving Azerbaijan¡¯s economy and work hard, alright?¡±


    ¡°Aliyev¡¯s slush funds will improve the economy at once, so why do we need to convince China? We can just ignore the penalty. Just because Chinese tourists don¡¯te, it doesn¡¯t mean the country will copse.¡±


    Park Jong-il had been urging to retrieve Aliyev¡¯s slush funds.


    ¡°If we touch Aliyev now, there will be bloodshed. I¡¯m just trying to figure out where he¡¯s hiding the money.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s invested more than three billion dors in the U.K. alone. Azerbaijan¡¯s economy will be able to breathe if we just retrieved that.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying it because you¡¯re not confident in dealing with China?¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t return the deposit just because we ask for it. How do you deal with those who want to even collect penalties?¡±


    Youngho also did not want to say anything to China for just 120 million dors.


    But there was nothing like this as a way to show the power of the Kazakh royal family to the people of Azerbaijan.


    The Aliyev government had to pay the penalty, but if the royal family came forward and retrieved the down payment, the status of the royal family would be higher than ever.


    ¡°We have a big weapon, too. What would China say if we would close the railroad that goes through Kazakhstan?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve just normalized rtions with China, and you want to make it worse again for Azerbaijan?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our federal state, so there¡¯s a cause.¡±


    ¡°They think we¡¯ve destroyed the sale of fighter jets. They¡¯ll hate us.¡±


    ¡°But they can¡¯t ignore it at all. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll like it if we suggest activating the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.¡±


    Kazakhstan previously made the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was formed by China in the center, and it was meaningless.


    Russia and China were the only ones left as the members, as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were not active after being incorporated into the Kazakh Kingdom and even Uzbekistan became inactive due to Kazakhstan¡¯s influence.


    ¡°I wonder if China will like our royal family¡¯s intervention.¡±


    ¡°Inform the Chinese government that I have a n to visit China. Then the reaction will be different.¡±


    China had recently been making foreign policy a top priority.


    This was because of its One Belt One Road project to expand China¡¯s influence in all directions.


    However, the Chinese government was embarrassed by Kazakhstan¡¯s unfavorable attitude toward it while other countries were acting in China¡¯s favor.


    In this situation, the Duke of Kazakhstan¡¯s visit to China was definitely desirable.


    ¡°You want to meet the president of China, just to get the deposit back?¡±


    ¡°No, what is there to ask when the leaders of neighboring countries simply meet? I just want cooperation.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if China will really wee you. I¡¯ll be d if they don¡¯t do anything harmful to you since Kazakhstan has been in its way every time.¡±


    ¡°We will see. Don¡¯t worry, no matter how ignorant an organization is, they won¡¯t harm the leaders of other countries.¡±


    ¡°You must really want to go to China.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m going to go and meet the president of China. If they treat the Kazakh royal family badly, there will be a cause to turn back on China.¡±


    If the Queen and the Duke of Kazakhstan went to China and were not treated properly, how would Central Asian people see China?


    ¡°I see a problem brewing, why don¡¯t you just stay here than regretter?¡±


    Rather, it was what Youngho wanted.


    He wanted to draw a clean line with China. China was the one to regret if the ties were broken, not Kazakhstan.


    For Central Asia, China was no help anyway.


    China was the country that was draining Central Asia¡¯s money with its cheap daily necessities, but now the production of daily necessities in Central Asia was on track enough to endure the people¡¯s demand without Chinese products.


    Thus, Youngho was confident that Kazakhstan was in an advantageous position in dealing with China.

 Chapter 728 - Envy (2)

    <h4>Chapter 728: Envy (2)</h4>


    There was a reason why Youngho was so confident.


    This was because theser gun that had been developing in the Arirang royal territory was nowplete.


    Currently, it was at the level of what the U.S. and Russia already had, but there was a high potential that it would be an unprecedented attack weapon if it was further improved.


    Combining South Korea¡¯s new technology, theser gun could shoot down missiles or stealth fighters flying at supersonic speeds.


    ording to a research, it was expected to attack a target beyond the horizon if it could be improved to have more than 100 kilowatts output.


    Currently, theser gun developed in Kazakhstan had a range of 4 kilometers with a 30 kilowatts output, which had also drastically reduced the size of the power generation equipmentpared to the existingser gun.


    Reduced size of equipment meant that it was also portable, which meant it could also be deployed in the Tian Shan Mountains near the border with China.


    It was not a weapon with a wide range of destructive power, but it was a great defensive force with its high precision.


    Having such a secret weapon, Youngho had nothing to fear against China¡¯s threats.


    ¡°You¡¯re too confident, aren¡¯t you? The gun¡¯s performance hasn¡¯t been proven yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s made after dozens of failures. From now on, all there¡¯s left is to increase the range and the destructive power.¡±


    It was a project that had been developed for more than three years and had been invested for more than five years in terms of the preparation period.


    There were tactical nuclear weapons, but those could not be used unless Kazakhstan wanted a world war to break out, which was not wee whatsoever.


    That was why Youngho put all his energy into the development ofser guns.


    Meanwhile, Youngho bought state-of-the-art fighter jets and attack helicopters with the aim of showing off to the outside world and powered multi-purposending ships with the help of the U.S. as well as Aegis destroyers and nuclear submarines.


    Such efforts were a warning to neighboring countries not to misjudge recklessly.


    ¡°Then we should ce a bunch ofser guns in the front.¡±


    ¡°Of course. If necessary, I¡¯m nning to deploy it closely, even with reduced performance. They are the best for defense.¡±


    ¡°It will devastate the Chinese Navy struggling in the Indian Ocean.¡±


    Aser gun was an intangible weapon with no sign of an attack.


    It could fly at the speed of light to shoot a target without any error, and the shooters did not even have to worry about how many shots were left since it used electricity, which was also cheap.


    Like the viins who had interesting toys on their hands, Youngho and Jong-il were even warming up over where to ce them on the border with a map.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the range is only 4 kilometers.¡±


    ¡°It is a great achievement for our technology. We will improve it little by little.¡±


    ¡°The problem is ballistic missiles. They fly hundreds of thousands of kilometers and fall vertically. Even if we can take them down in the air with ourser guns, the aftermath of their explosion will be enormous.¡±


    ¡°Our tight air defensework is in ce, so we can deal with it. Also, we¡¯re going to elerate theser¡¯s performance and turn it into an unprecedented weapon. So don¡¯t worry and use it as a bargaining chip against China.¡±


    ¡°Then are we in charge of collecting bonds?¡±


    Kazakhstan was not taking the money it lent but was in the position of acting on behalf of Azerbaijan.


    The fighter jet contract between China and Azerbaijan stated that the contract could be withdrawn in the event of a natural disaster or a corresponding situation, and there was no provision for a penalty or forfeiting the deposit ordingly.


    However, China was pressuring Azerbaijan to choose between fulfilling the contract or paying a penalty for the withdrawal of the contract, iming a peace treaty with Armenia was not equivalent to a natural disaster.


    ¡°The two countries, which have been at war for decades, have signed a peace treaty. Of course, it is equivalent to a natural disaster...¡±


    ¡°What are you worried about? From our point of view, it was a huge event like a natural disaster. No one expected peace toe to the Caucasus. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if there was a war right now, but peace came at once. That¡¯s a natural disaster. Besides, I¡¯ll finally visit China after all these years, of course, China should be thankful. I mean after you visit China first, Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. I will visit China for you, but I doubt that the Chinese government will thank you.¡±


    If the Duke of Kazakhstan visited China, China would use it as a tool for promoting its regime.


    Such matters were not Youngho¡¯s concern.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s next move was up to how the Chinese government would react toward the royal family¡¯s visit.


    The fundamental purpose of his visit to China was not to improve rtions but to inform the people of the Kazakh federation of the behavior of Chinese political leaders.


    ¡°One way or another, we¡¯re not going to lose anything. So, be confident.¡±


    ¡°Man, I¡¯ll be drinking quite a lot of mao-tai.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t drink too much and ruin all things before we even get to visit.¡±


    ¡°You know Chinese officials like to bepetitive in drinking. I¡¯ll never lose to that! There is no defeat in this Park Jong-il¡¯s dictionary especially when ites to drinking.¡±


    Whenever Jong-il visited China, the one who he dealt with was the head of the Ministry of State Security, and the two always engaged in a war of nerves by showing off their drinking capacity to each other.


    The Ministry of State Security was equivalent to Kazakhstan¡¯s Intelligence Department and was a huge organization with 17 spy agencies and about 10 administrative support agencies.


    It had a huge range of activities and capabilities to collect all information on the globalmunity.


    With its vastness, the organization ran its ownpanies and businesses.


    ¡°This time I¡¯m going to ask the Queen to lend me her ring before I go, so I can beat the Chinese minister for good, and he won¡¯t ask me to drink ever again.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. Never lose your face in the drinking contest.¡±


    ***


    Upon hearing that the Queen and the Duke of Kazakhstan would visit China, the Chinese government weed them excitedly.


    Whether Youngho¡¯s visit had an impact or what trick Park Jong-il yed was unclear, the issue of Azerbaijan¡¯s fighter jet purchase cancetion ended with China¡¯s return of the half amount of deposit. There was not even a mention of the penalty.


    The visit of the Kazakh royal couple was more important for China.


    China was urging the Kazakh royal family to visit the country as soon as possible, saying it could put off even a visit to the heads of state promised in advance.


    Youngho did not want to ruin the Chinese president¡¯s visit schedule, so he said he would visit after consulting fully, but the Chinese government insisted that there was no problem. It was because the Chinese government did not want to miss the chance and was worried that the royal family would change its mind if it took too long to arrange a visit.


    However, in order to make an immediate visit, it would have to take the form of a working-level visit, not a state visit or an official one, ording to diplomatic practice.


    It was because a state visit was a visit as a big guest of the nation after a prior formal invitation was given, which required two countries¡¯ full consultation and preparation in advance. It was quiteplicated.


    The easiest thing to do was to make a working-level visit for public affairs as its protocol process was not very difficult because it was equivalent to attending an international conference held in a particr country.


    ¡°Your Highness, we must have a sufficient preparation period and take the form of an official visit. If you visit now, it¡¯s like a business visit. Your Highness and Her Majesty are not only heads of state in Kazakhstan, but also heads of state in the Federal Kingdom.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim urged that the royal family should not rush its visit to China just because the Chinese government rushed it.


    ¡°I¡¯m rather targeting that. The Chinese government rushed to invite us because I expressed my intention to visit first. China has no time to look into protocol or courtesy why it¡¯s in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to use it as an opportunity to sort out our rtionship with China. If it is decided that we will have no future with China, I have no intention of pursuing an amicable rtionship with it. It was very upsetting that the Chinese government requested Azerbaijan for a penalty knowing the Kazakh royal family is behind it. I can¡¯t let it slip away.¡±


    As long as China still considered Central Asia its own courtyard, there could be no equal partnership.


    China had been spreading false rumors of the Kazakh royal family that it was encroaching on the surrounding area by force.


    Youngho had been enduring such reckless actions, but now he had reached the limit to his patience.


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to do that while diminishing the prestige of the royal family. Kazakhstan is not the same as before. We have the strength to deal with China alone.¡±


    ¡°It is essential to interact with neighboring countries. But the Chinese government is eager to suck our blood without treating us as we deserve. We can have a war against China with our military power, but Chinese people are still dominating our economy. Our economy is improving, but our money is still slipping away into China. We can¡¯t stop China from rushing in the normal way. That¡¯s why I¡¯d like to approach it in a special way.¡±


    Just because Youngho was trying to clean up the national rtionship with China, he did not mean to be hostile toward it.


    The move was aimed at preventing China from using Central Asia as a yground.


    One of the reasons why Uzbekistan had yet to join the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan was because of China¡¯s sabotage, although it was also being dyed as taking in Uzbekistan would be burdensome to Kazakhstan, with its enormous poption of over 30 million.


    However, China¡¯s involvement in the affairs of Central Asia itself was not to be overlooked, so he was determined to fix it for good.


    Youngho continued.


    ¡°It hurts my pride to force a good rtionship with a country that is no help to us. China may have been enjoying this kind of situation so far, but I¡¯m trying to create an opportunity to break that loop.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s your will, I will help you to my best ability. If necessary, I¡¯ll secretly create the public opinion.¡±


    Kasim said he would not hesitate to manipte public opinion.


    ¡°So, if wee back from a visit to China, we have to reduce exchanges with China in some way. Set up legal and institutional mechanisms to prevent any national wealth outflow.¡±

 Chapter 729 - A Tooth for a Tooth (1)

    <h4>Chapter 729: A Tooth for a Tooth (1)</h4>


    There had been various interpretations of the Kazakh royal family¡¯s visit to China.


    It was a natural reaction of the globalmunity as the Kazakh royal family had been uncooperative to the Chinese government since the beginning.


    Some spected that if the Kazakh Queen, the head of state of the federal kingdom, made a quick visit, it would be a move to resolveplicated issues between the two countries.


    Countries around the world were paying keen attention to the Kazakh royal family. They were nervous as depending on the course of the Kazakh royal family, a resource-rich federal kingdom, the world economy could fluctuate.


    Since the reason for the royal visit was unknown to the world, the news of the Kazakh royal family¡¯s visit to China was as much of a concern as the trade war between the U.S. and China.


    A section chief from China¡¯s foreign ministry was at the Beijing airport to greet the royal family.


    It was not a discourtesy in diplomatic practice because it was not an official visit, but it was an apparent neglect to show respect as it was the visit of the heads of the Kazakh federal kingdom.


    Although it was a sudden visit, it was a clear disregard for the royal family to invite them and treat them like this.


    In addition, the Chinese president greeted the Queen¡¯s group at the Forbidden City, not at the presidential pce, which was said to be an unconventional protocol, but the general view was that the Kazakh royal family was being treated as an inferior state of China.


    Although Youngho hoped for such treatment, he could not help but feel upset. He managed to keep it all inside because if this situation was fully disclosed to the media, anti-Chinese sentiment would rise like wildfire across Central Asia.


    The Chinese government¡¯s neglect did not end here.


    No high-ranking Chinese officials or economic figures attended the dinner at the presidential pce, and not even diplomats from each country were invited.


    Only the president couple and the Kazakh royal couple had a simple meal together.


    Returning to the guest house, Youngho talked to Eriksson who apanied the royal family on this trip.


    ¡°They¡¯re openly being condescending.¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯re determined to embarrass our royal family. I think it¡¯s retaliation against Kazakhstan for holding China back so far and to show off China¡¯s status to the world.¡±


    ¡°Huh, they¡¯re very mistaken if they think we¡¯d bepliant to them if they embarrass us like this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for this, but the status of the royal family has be ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°We just have to make them regret it in the future.¡±


    ¡°But I thought there would be at least some talk between the leaders, but there¡¯s nothing to this visit.¡±


    Eriksson, who rarely got angry, was also blushing.


    In principle, however, the royal family and the Chinese government had no reason to sit face to face at a meeting.


    Working-level visits were not special issues, nor was the royal family a ce to hold a meeting between the leaders, as they could not be seen as an official window of Kazakhstan.


    Although the royal family had the authority to nominate the prime minister, it was only an internal situation in Kazakhstan.


    It was Prime Minister Kasim who represented Kazakhstan externally as he was the leader of the Kazakh government.


    Even so, it was very upsetting since the whole world knew who the real power of Kazakhstan was, but the Chinese governmentpletely ignored it.


    China¡¯s One Belt One Road seemed to go well in the early days, but it was facing problems everywhere.


    The countries that agreed to this projectined that they used up their national power in unnecessary construction projects that had little benefit to their interests.


    Since they were processed in the form of a joint venture, China lent the construction cost that they could not pay up. in the form of a loan.


    As the principal and interest of the non-essential loans could not be paid, countries that participated in the One Belt One Road project even handed over state-owned industries to China.


    Anti-Chinese sentiment rose like wildfire as the economy was subjugated to China and became tougher than before.


    At a time like this, the Chinese government seemed to have projected that the countries involved in One Belt One Road would cease theirints if the Kazakh royal family, which had interfered with China¡¯s One Belt One Road, was neglected at its visit to China.


    It was to show that if any country was disliked by China, it might be neglected like the Kazakh royal family.


    ***


    Anti-Chinese rallies began to take ce across the country when Youngho returned from China.


    It was in the form of a behind-the-scenes control demonstration by the Kasim government, but more people attended voluntarily.


    The reason for holding anti-Chinese rallies was that the Chinese government had disregarded the entire federal kingdom of Kazakhstan by disrespecting the royal family.


    Those who attended the rallies called for the withdrawal of the nation¡¯s Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the closure of the border, even calling for an end to diplomatic rtions.


    Crowds were held not only in Kazakhstan but also in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan.


    The rallies in Azerbaijan were especially severe as the people protested in front of the Chinese Embassy.


    The Chinese government began to panic when the embassy¡¯s work was paralyzed.


    As the public opinion was not something that could be resolved politically, the Chinese government was embarrassed by the situation.


    Such a reaction from Kazakh federal states was not expected. If the border was closed as the people requested, imports of raw materials such as oil and gas from Kazakhstan would be blocked, as well as immediate disruptions in import and export activities with Europe.


    In addition, a boycott of Chinese goods could make China lose its market in Central Asian and the Caucasus, not to mention the businesses of Chinese overseas in such areas would be damaged.


    Soon, Chinese traveling to Central Asia and the Caucasus were also suffering from a tricky immigration process.


    In response, the Chinese government, which was in a state of confusion, sent a special envoy to take care of the situation, but only antagonized the people.


    This was because the special envoy denied the Chinese government¡¯s mistreatment of the Kazakh royal family.


    Prime Minister Kasim, who came to report the results after the envoy¡¯s visit, was sitting face to face with Youngho in the royal office to discuss follow-up measures.


    ¡°The Chinese government still hasn¡¯t figured it out yet.¡±


    ¡°It was deeply obsessed with its sense of superiority. It assumed that everything would be okay just because it sent a special envoy. The envoy wanted to meet the royal family, but I didn¡¯t allow it.¡±


    ¡°Good job. Even if he came to the pce in person, I wouldn¡¯t have met him.¡±


    Meeting the envoy itself was tantamount to epting China¡¯s will.


    ¡°It seems the Chinese government thought it could get over this easily.¡±


    ¡°It must have thought so because the neighboring countries ept a humiliating rtionship with China every time.¡±


    Only countries that would suffer political and economic damage if they went against China endured humiliating diplomacy, but Kazakhstan was not in such a position.


    It might affect the supply and demand of daily necessities immediately, but Kazakhstan could withstand that much.


    ¡°This is what the people want, so how can we just ignore it?¡±


    Perhaps, it was natural for the royal family and the government to follow the will of the people.


    If the government implemented policies that went against the will of the people, its foundation of existence would be shaken.


    ¡°Of course. If the royal family or the government doesn¡¯t understand the people¡¯s will, it¡¯s not worth it. It¡¯s time for the government toe up with measures.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister, if you have a good idea, let me know.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. Chinese goods have already lost ground due to the boycott of Chinese goods. We are nning to increase the production of domesticpanies while importing the insufficient amount from Russia so that there will be no inconvenience in our people¡¯s daily lives, and we¡¯re going to drastically reduce our exports of oil and mineral resources to China in the future. I¡¯m going to start a show to persuade the public by publishing a national statement.¡±


    ¡°Now it¡¯s not a show, but it¡¯s a national sentiment.¡±


    Kasim would make a public statement saying that there would not be a diplomatic rupture because of this as it would result in increased tensions on the border and fluctuation of Kazakhstan¡¯s economy.


    If that happened, there would be a public uproar and more severe rallies as the people could not stand the government¡¯s humiliating diplomatic measures.


    Then the Kazakh government would have something to say to China that it was forced to close the border because of the public¡¯s resistance.


    ¡°The mass rallies will continue after the national statement is released.¡±


    Kasim meant that the government would continue to conduct secret government-controlled demonstrations in the future to avoid political burden over this issue.


    ¡°Please also take care of Chinese merchants¡¯ tax evasion investigations and vitions of the Foreign Exchange Control Act.¡±


    The exclusion of Chinese capital must be made.


    This was because only short-term investment funds, not long-term investment funds, wereing in, distorting the market.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s economy had improved enough to withstand without Chinese capital.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already begun an investigation. Sooner orter, the results wille out. I n to take legal action ording to the case. If necessary, we¡¯ll even consider expelling them and stripping them of their permanent residency.¡±


    ¡°That would hurt the Central Asian people living in Xinjiang Uyghur...¡±

 Chapter 730 - A Tooth for a Tooth (2)

    <h4>Chapter 730: A Tooth for a Tooth (2)</h4>


    Deterioration in rtions with China would soon lead to the persecution of ethnic Central Asian people, including the Kazakh people living in Xinjiang Uyghur.


    Even now, the lives of the Uyghurs were like those in the cage, but it was clear that it would get worse if rtions with Kazakhstan deteriorated.


    Until now, the Chinese government had been wary of Kazakhstan¡¯s rtions, but if the border was closed, it would suppress the people even more harshly.


    Although many Kazakh families living in Xinjiang Uyghur had escaped, there were still more than one million people living there.


    The reason why they remained in there was because it was their home in which their ancestors had settled and generations afterward lived.


    Youngho was concerned about that.


    ¡°Closing the border will bring bloodbath to Xinjiang Uyghur again.¡±


    ¡°What can we do if they don¡¯t want to move even though we pleaded multiple times? If they get more persecuted by the Chinese government, they¡¯lle by themselves. We cannot afford to take care of the safety of those who will not return to their homnd. We have no choice but to tackle border closures and illegal remittances by Chinese merchants to prevent any immediate outflow of national wealth.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim seemed determined.


    He insisted that the sacrifice of the Uyghurs was inevitable in order to put out the fire immediately.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried that if the border is closed, the people won¡¯t be able toe over even if they want to.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. If they request to leave Xinjiang Uyghur, the Chinese government will take them to the border. It¡¯ll be good news to China if anti-Chinese forces want to leave on their own.¡±


    It would be fortunate if the Chinese government did so, but that was doubtful.


    If the Chinese handed over enemy-like forces to Kazakhstan, they would be threatening forces to China again, so there would be no point in sending them nicely.


    Rather, it would be more convenient for the Chinese government to get rid of them unknowingly.


    Sending them was only good for Kazakhstan, so it was undesirable for China.


    It was China, which was engaged in some kind of operation to exterminate the Uyghurs.


    To date, the Chinese government had been conducting anti-humanitarian physical tests on Uyghurs aged between 12 and 65 forcibly, including DNA samples, iris scans, fingerprint recognition, and blood type tests.


    It was said to be a physical examination for the promotion of Uyghurs¡¯ health, but a passing dog wouldugh if it showed such kindness to non-Chinese people who were fighting for their freedom from China.


    Everyone knew what a secret andpulsory medical checkup meant.


    It was no different from Germany¡¯s branding of Jews.


    It was clear what kind of ending would be waiting for the Uyghurs being raised like animals.


    ¡°That¡¯s very unfortunate. Kazakhstan¡¯s fate is at stake, but they are Central Asians as well. Let¡¯s at least help Uyghur independence organizations live on their own by increasing their arms support.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, why don¡¯t you support Tibet then?¡±


    ¡°Is there an armed independence organization in Tibet? I heard there¡¯s an exiled government in India.¡±


    The Tibetan government-in-exile was strictly adhering to the nonviolent independence movement despite Chinese oppression.


    It would be difficult to change the decades-old nonviolent movement tendency overnight.


    Youngho had to be cautious because his involvement in Tibet¡¯s independence could hold him down if it turned out negatively.


    ¡°It¡¯s to disperse the pressure on Uyghurs. Tibet¡¯s peace-oriented independence is as good as gone. There¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to get involved deeply in it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d agree if it¡¯s a support to just instigate the people. I don¡¯t want to be more involved. Since neither India nor Western countries officially recognized the Tibetan exile government. I don¡¯t want to expose our involvement at all.¡±


    ¡°If we send the Uyghur independence group in Afghanistan to Tibet, we won¡¯t be exposed.¡±


    In Afghanistan, Royal Bodyguards were working with U.S. soldiers on peacekeeping operations.


    For that reason, Uyghur independence organizations were being provided with military training and weapons in Afghanistan with the help of the Royal Bodyguards.


    If Uyghur independence groups supported Tibet¡¯s independence, the cause would be usible.


    Who would point fingers at the idea of fighting against China together?


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯ll check with Uyghur independence groups if they can work in Tibet. If there¡¯s an armed uprising in Tibet, the Chinese government will be flustered.¡±


    If armed protests urred in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet alongside the closure of the Kazakh border, China would be overwhelmed, but it was still doubtful whether the independence forces would be able to fight properly against the Chinese military. Besides, if China found out about Uyghurs¡¯ involvement, the aftermath would be immense.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to let the Uyghurs know this could be theirst migration opportunity.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re determined to die in Xinjiang Uyghur. I don¡¯t know how many will decide to move. Only strong-willed people are left, so it would be helpful for us to train them as forces against China. Our job is to supply them with weapons and hope that they will survive on their own.¡±


    ***


    It was now difficult to get back to the old rtionship with China.


    This was because anti-China sentiment among the people of the Kazakh Federal Kingdom was uncontrobly prevalent to the point where they were showing signs of a campaign to oust the current administration if it did not take action in any way.


    On the outside, the Kazakh royal family and the government showed gestures to calm the people¡¯s furor by consoling the public with a national statement and expressing concerns that this was not an emotional matter. It was to show their efforts to keep rtions with China from deteriorating.


    Nevertheless, the anti-China sentiment was unabated.


    There was an incident that fueled it, where bloodshed broke out in Xinjiang Uyghur, leaving hundreds of Uyghurs injured or killed.


    The cause of the incident was due to excessive inspections toward Uyghurs at parks and traditional markets in Urumqi.


    In order to prevent Uyghurs from gathering, Uyghurs were searched thoroughly when they entered parks and traditional markets.


    If they were traveling, they had to undergo more rigorous inspections. Not only their luggage was searched, they even had to loosen their belts or take off their shoes to scan the soles of their feet.


    It was not the case for other Chinese, but only strictly for the Uyghurs in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.


    Crowds in Kazakhstan and other parts of Central Asia were furious and even became violent as bloodshed broke out in Xinjiang Uyghur.


    It was because not only the Chinese government had insulted Central Asia by mistreating the Kazakh royal family but also tried to exterminate the Central Asian people of Xinjiang Uyghur. People wanted to take this opportunity to im Uyghurs¡¯ independence from China.


    In response, the Kazakh government expressed its concern to China over the Uyghur incident.


    Although the region was said to be China under internationalw, the majority of the people in Xinjiang Uyghur were Central Asians.


    Kazakhstan, the leading state and federal kingdom of Central Asia, should naturally be involved in such a matter. The Kazakh government said that it would take special measures if the Uyghurs were persecuted any longer.


    China, however, did not even snort, saying it was interference in domestic affairs.


    As China reacted like that, the Kazakh government immediately countered by shutting down its border against China.


    As the border was closed, Chinesend transportation to and from Europe was immediately disrupted.


    It was forced to use the Trans-Siberian Railway, but this was not possible.


    The Trans-Siberian Railway was currently being modernized by a foreign consortiumpany led by the Kazakh royal family, as the consortiumpany controlled the operation of the railway in the Far East Siberian section.


    Although Russia would notpletely block China¡¯s logistics, there were endless ways to make trouble, such as dying the containers to and from China for a long time at the logistics base.


    If the necessary goods did note and go in time, trust would copse.


    In the end, the way to transport shipments to and from Europe was by sea, but it was a long way around going through the Suez Canal.


    Meanwhile, the closure of the border with China meant Kazakhstan¡¯s raw materials could not be sent to China.


    It was a great problem for China which had been stably supplied with oil and gas as well as mineral resources from Central Asia.


    The Chinese government tried to pressure Kazakhstan by filing aint with the World Trade Organization, saying it vited the contract, but the Kazakh government did not even lift its eyebrows.


    Even if the World Trade Organization made a ruling against Kazakhstan, the regrettable party was China, not Kazakhstan because Kazakhstan¡¯s dependence on the outside world was not so high that sanctions would not hurt much.


    Even if it was isted from the world, there were few economic difficulties because there was a sufficient foundation for self-reliance.


    Kazakhstan, which was called the world¡¯s mineral exhibition hall, could make anything with its overflowing raw materials.


    If there was a country sympathetic to China, it should not consider purchasing raw materials from Kazakhstan in the future.


    Perhaps, any sensible member of the World Trade Organization would not dare to go against Kazakhstan.


    China has begun to rally troops along its border against Kazakhstan for another round of pressure.


    The Kazakh government had also deployed rear-end troops along the border and issued a mobilization order for reserve forces, showing its intention to fight against China if necessary.


    As the situation turned urgent, military operations meetings were held frequently in the royal pce¡¯s conference room.


    ¡°Your Highness, we havepleted the forward deployment of the Unmanned Attack Air Vehicles(UAV).¡±


    The number of unmanned attack aircraft produced by the drone factory was more than 300.


    ¡°Thank you all for your hard work. Sooner orter,ser guns will be supplied, so our soldiers will fight more safely.¡±


    Mass production ofser guns allowed for their deployment in the Army.


    At present, vessels above the Navy¡¯s frigates were fully equipped with guns, and all of thendser guns would be deployed within a month.


    ¡°Your Highness, Uyghurs¡¯ independence could even be possible with our force.¡±


    Everyoneughed wildly at Prime Minister Kasim¡¯s joke.


    It seemed like war would break out immediately, but the atmosphere of military leaders was surprisingly rxed.


    ¡°Prime Minister. I guess there¡¯s not much to worry about on the federal border, but the problem is the safety of the Uyghurs. How¡¯s the support for the Uyghur Independence group you mentioned earlier going?¡±


    Just because troops were deployed along the border did not mean that a war would break out immediately.


    Even if there was a small dispute, it would not exceed the level of local warfare as neither Kazakhstan nor China would be able to handle it if it became more intense.


    Assuming that, the Kazakh government was an armed uprising in Tibet.


    ¡°The Uyghurs independence fighters are being trained in Afghanistan. Some munitions have already been moved. By the end of the year, armed fighting will take ce in Tibet.¡±


    As Tibetan exiled government was still lukewarm about the armed struggle, Uyghur independence groups had decided to stage a guerri struggle in Tibet thinking that Tibetans would participate if the situation escted.


    It was difficult to operate in Xinjiang Uyghur because the Chinese security authorities were guarding it closely, so tackling them in Tibet was the best option.


    If an armed uprising broke out in an unexpected ce, the Chinese government would be embarrassed.

 Chapter 731 - A Tooth for A Tooth (3)

    <h4>Chapter 731: A Tooth for A Tooth (3)</h4>


    Kazakhstan¡¯s closure of the border was big news.


    Western countries criticized China over the Uyghur bloodshed, saying that economic sanctions could be considered if the anti-humanitarian persecution on Uyghurs continued.


    In response, the Chinese government reacted angrily, saying that eradicating anti-government forces was a matter of internal affairs.


    In any case, China, hit by Kazakhstan¡¯s ban on mineral resources and oil exports, sought to diversify its import lines, but it had not been easy to find a supplier as close and as convenient as Kazakhstan.


    It had to be satisfied with Mongolia, which had been a close country to China.


    When the supply of mineral resources was cut off, some factories began to cut operations, which could lead to the shutdown of factories and the damage to secondary and tertiary processing industries in a chain.


    China¡¯s biggest blow was in the energy sector, including oil and gas, which used to be supplied stably through pipelines connected to Kazakhstan.


    They could be brought from the Middle East, but there was no better supplier than Kazakhstan.


    Oil was also produced in China, but it was not enough for 1.3 billion people to use.


    November of the Arirang royal territory was the time to begin the break after winter preparation, but this year, people were more energetic than ever.


    Despite the colder weather, the road was filled with noise from numerous container vehicles traveling to and from the light industrialplex.


    Factories that used to operate only 8 hours a day to control the volume of daily necessities produced in the light industrialplex were running 24 hours a day now, so the vehicles were busy to transport the supplies.


    This phenomenon was not limited to the royal territory, but to all industrialplexes across the country.


    The reason why factories were operating 24 hours a day and logistics was increasing was because Chinese daily necessities were not allowed in Central Asia anymore.


    Despite all the efforts to prevent the flood of Chinese products, Chinese daily necessities still dominated the market in Central Asia.


    If there were no border closures, Central Asia could not have been freed from cheap Chinese products forever.


    ¡°Your Highness, thankfully, it seems that we have given us a little breathing space in the supply and demand of daily necessities. I think this is a great opportunity to lower the market share of Chinese goods.¡±


    Although the Minister of Industry, who was reporting on the market share of Chinese daily necessities, Kazakhstan was still relying heavily on Chinese imports for major products.


    As the demand for high-end products was limited to the poption, the more factories were operated, the more there were to lose.


    It would be different if the poption of Kazakh Federal Kingdom exceeded 100 million, but it was only 30 million, so the industry could not be maintained for domestic consumption alone.


    ¡°Minister, most of the writing tools we use in this very conference room are from China. Without alternative products, we have no choice but to use Chinese products. Please find ways to improve the quality of our products.¡±


    In order to drive out Chinese products that had prated into every corner of life, high-quality products of various items must be continuously produced, but Kazakhstan¡¯s industry-level had yet to reach that level.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a closer look. Right now, we have no choice but to appeal to the public for the use of domestic products. We stillck advanced technicians...¡±


    ¡°Do you have any intention of releasing additional funding for technology improvement at the government level?¡±


    ¡°The moral hazard of the factory owners is the problem. It¡¯s hard to expand it anymore because many factory owners use it for other purposes in the belief that its blind money. Moreover, there are not enough public officials who have the ability to identifypanies and factories that are expected to improve their technology.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯ve diverted technology funding elsewhere, isn¡¯t it proof that thosepanies are small? We need to increase the size of thepanies and factories with the potential to grow even with bold support, and if we turn free aid into paid aid, moralxity will be eliminated.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go over it carefully and report it to you again.¡±


    Youngho did not intend to get involved in what the minister was in charge of, but he had to urge it because Kazakhstan would be eroded by Chinese products in the future if it did not prepare now.


    ¡°It¡¯s important to be determined to outpace Chinese goods. Someday, the Chinese border will be reopened. We have to be prepared for that.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. Are you thinking of improving rtions with China?¡±


    ¡°Not right now, but one day we¡¯ll have to resume our exchanges. There¡¯s no eternal enemy or ally in the internationalmunity.¡±


    ***


    Early Kazakhstan¡¯s defense capabilities were based primarily on defense-oriented strategies which meant airpower was rtively weakpared to China.


    However, after bing a constitutional monarchy, it continued to invest funds in expanding its air power by assembling Gripen fighter jets from Saab, Sweden, in the country and introducing the U.S. F-35 fighter jets and Apache helicopters.


    Recently, the government had introduced aerial tankers and early warning systems, which were considered equal to or superior to China in terms of airpower.


    This assessment was amon diagnosis by global military critics.


    The reason why Youngho was not afraid of China was based on this assessment on top of Kazakhstan¡¯s newly arranged weapons.


    Kazakhstan had not only tactical nuclear weapons but alsoser guns and unmanned attack drones.


    Unmanned attack drones had been the result of exhausting research and development since the early days of the Kazakh Kingdom.


    China, which was a drone powerhouse, had also developed unrivaled unmanned attack drones, but they were not up to what Kazakhstan had.


    Chinese troops deployed along the Kazakh border were mostly engaged in reconnaissance activities or construction of camps.


    It was proof that they felt a sense of crisis.


    China had not necessarily strengthened its borders because of the confidence that it had a military advantage of a powerful force and the rugged Tian Shan Mountains reced the border.


    On the other hand, Kazakhstan prepared thoroughly for China¡¯s invasion, including the construction of steel-rebar concrete trenches in various parts of the Tian Shan Mountains to ovee the rtive inferiority of its troops and the ease of troop movement by prating mountain roads.


    Recently,ser gun units and unmanned attack drones were deployed in rtively t areas aimed at neutralizing fighter jets and deterring mechanized troops from advancing.


    Theser guns had a range of only 4 kilometers, but it was fired at the speed of light without a sound, so it was not detected by radar.


    This meant that the only way to avoidser guns was to fly high.


    Although rtively low destructive power, direct attack of aser gun would result in temporary loss of function and incapacitation of tanks or fighters as there were no modern weapons without electronic devices.


    Chinese fighter jets going on a reconnaissance flight without knowing that such a secret weapon was hiding would be the first to be sacrificed to aser gun.


    When Chinese fighter jets approached the border, Kazakhstan¡¯s air force would alsounch in response.


    However, after theser guns were deployed, no response wasunched, which was a trick to induce the Chinese aircraft to invade Kazakh airspace.


    It was a n to fire aser gun as soon as they crossed the Kazakh airspace.


    On the afternoon of November 28th, when the temperature suddenly dropped sharply, a Chinese fighter jet deliberately entered the Kazakh airspace while on a reconnaissance flight as usual. It was going in and out of the Kazakh airspace over and over again.


    Lieutenant Erhan, the chief of theser gun units, was continuing to track down the Chinese fighter jet captured by the radar.


    He was already fully prepared tounch aser gun, so he pressed theunch button the moment it invaded the airspace for the third time.


    The Chinese fighter jet, which was directly hit by theser, seemed to be flying for a while but soon lost its direction and began to shake.


    The pilot tried to control the fusge but decided that he could not do anything, so he tried to separate the canopy and attempted an emergency escape only on the brink of a crash.


    The fighter jet crashed into the mountainside and exploded, and the pilot was seized by Kazakh mountaineers.


    It was the result ofser gun practice against drones.


    In the process of capturing the pilot, there was a gun battle between soldiers of the two countries, but there was no further expansion because the area where the jet crashed and the pilotnded was Kazakhstan¡¯s territory, which meant the jet clearly invaded the Kazakh airspace.


    Prime Minister Kasim called to report the shooting down of a fighter jet.


    Youngho could not help but hide his smile when he heard the news that a fighter jet was neutralized by theser gun.


    This was because his efforts so far had not been in vain.


    In the case of unmanned attack aircraft, they caught it because of its slow speed, but the fighter¡¯s speed was noparison to that.


    ¡°What happened to the pilot and the fusge?¡±


    -The pilot only suffered a slight bruise whennding with a parachute. The fusge exploded as soon as it touched the ground, and we are currently collecting its debris.


    ¡°What are you collecting that for? Only soldiers suffer in cold weather, so tell them to quit.¡±


    China¡¯s fighter jet was not a secret weapon nor was it high-tech, so there was nothing to collect carefully.


    Only shes with Chinese troops would ur during the search for the wreckage.


    -We must find a ck box with flight records. If we study it, we can figure out how theser gun affected the fighter. We needed to umte data to further develop theser gun in the future.


    Kasim, a former soldier, was calcting all that.


    ¡°You think ck box is still intact even though the missile on the fighter exploded?¡±


    -The ck box is strong enough to withstand minor shocks and explosions, and it is necessary to deal with China in the future. It¡¯s also the only evidence of invasion of our airspace and territory.


    ¡°China could argue that it was an idental crossing.¡±


    -They can¡¯t cover up the fact that they¡¯ve invaded our airspace. It¡¯s all recorded on our air defense radar and satellite.


    ¡°The Chinese military will make a fuss to figure out the cause. Was there any request for the return of the fusge and the pilot from China?¡±


    -We can¡¯t just return them just because they requested. We will check thoroughly and send them back after receiving a promise to prevent a recurrence.


    ¡°Are theser gun units well camouged?¡±


    -Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯spletely disguised so you can¡¯t find it even if youe near just around the corner.


    Now, Chinese drones and fighter jets wandering near the border were likely to be hunted by sight.


    Watching its own fighter jet crash for no reason, the Chinese military would be stunned.


    However, it would be hard to find theser that had no sound and no substance.

 Chapter 732 - A Battle (1)

    <h4>Chapter 732: A Battle (1)</h4>


    The border of the Kazakh Federal Kingdom against China covered about 2,700 kilometers.


    Among them, the Kyrgyzstan and Tajik sections were blocked by the Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir teau, so they could not be crossed.


    Although there were mountain roads leading to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, there was no way to get to Central Asia if the roads were blocked.


    The most essible area was the eastern border of Kazakhstan, where two-thirds were blocked by the Tian Shan and Altai mountains.


    In fact, the only areas facing China were part of the Pamir teau and the Kazakh border which was about 500 kilometers long.


    Although Chinese people had been living there without permission, the border area was no longer crowded except for soldiers because it was sorted out in the early days of the constitutional monarchy.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s mountain soldiers built bunkers and were stationed in areas where the Chinese used to live without permission, and nowser gun units and unmanned attack drone units were stationed as well.


    One of them was theser gun unit that neutralized a Chinese fighter jet this time.


    All members of theser gun unit that shot down the fighter jet and the mountain unit that captured the pilot were also given a medal and bonus for their achievement.


    ¡°Captain, why don¡¯t we take down another fighter jet and ask for a group vacation?¡±


    Captain Erhanughed at the soldiers¡¯ words.


    ¡°That¡¯s only possible in your dreams. Don¡¯t you know that we¡¯re in a wartime?¡±


    ¡°But that fighter jet costs about 40 million dors. It¡¯s 80 million dors for two, so the rewards should be a lot.¡±


    ¡°You guys know nothing but money. We were lucky to shoot down one fighter jet, but a chance like that won¡¯te again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the mountain soldiers say that this area has been frequented by Chinese fighters for a long time. So there¡¯s plenty of chance. We were probably deployed here for the very purpose.¡±


    The Chinese fighter was famous for having many problems, so the Chinese side also thought that the recent fighter jet crash was also because of its defects.


    Chinese troops no longer flew reconnaissance flights after the crash.


    Instead, it was monitoring the border area with unmanned aerial vehicles.


    ¡°Captain, we¡¯ve just spotted a flying object on the radar. It¡¯s approaching us at about 200 kilometers per hour.¡±


    Captain Erhan, who briefly looked into the radar screen, immediately issued abat deployment.


    ¡°Run the generator at once. I think it¡¯s an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.¡±


    He also did not forget to announce the appearance of an unmanned spy ne on otherser units.


    A momentter, an aircraft, one-third the size of ordinary fighter jets, came into view.


    Flying at an altitude of about 3 kilometers, it was conducting reconnaissance activities, narrowly avoiding Kazakhstan¡¯s airspace.


    Captain Erhan, who agonized for a while when it came within range of theser gun, issued an order to shoot it down.


    ¡°Fire theser!¡±


    ¡°Captain, it¡¯s out of our airspace.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an unmanned aircraft. Just shoot it down. They won¡¯t even know why it fell down with their skills.¡±


    The unmanned aerial vehicle, which was directly hit by aser gun that flew at the speed of light, faltered for a while and soon began to plummet to the ground.


    Since that day, all Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles patrolling near the border had been shot down.


    Kazakhstan¡¯sser gun units were using China¡¯s unmanned aerial vehicles as targets forser gun firing practice.


    As the unmanned aerial vehicles continued to crash without even knowing the cause, the Chinese military began to panic.


    So, border-based Chinese troops started to watch drone flights closely.


    However, they were soon dumbfounded after seeing drones, which were flying well, suddenly crashing in front of their eyes without any signs of attack.


    ***


    The Chinese military was shocked recently when its fighter jet and unmanned aerial vehicles crashed without any clear cause.


    It did not seem Kazakhstan¡¯s militaryunched any attack on the outside.


    If there was any evidence, it would report to Beijing ande up with countermeasures, but there was no clue.


    It requested to send back the wreckage of the crashed fighter jet and other aircrafts, but the Kazakh military did not even snort.


    It only responded that it would decide their release after investigating why they vited Kazakhstan¡¯s airspace without permission, and rather called forpensation for forest fire damage caused by the recent crash of a fighter jet and unmanned aerial vehicles.


    It also argued that the Chinese side sent defective nes to induce provocations on purpose.


    It was a mockery that Chinese fighter jets and unmanned nes were not great.


    Zhao, themander of the Western Front, sat on the sofa in his office and was in agony.


    He was feeling a sense of crisis that the current situation might jeopardize his position.


    He was running out of time because he would be branded ipetent if the situation stayed this way.


    In order to make up for the mistake of losing a fighter jet and 10 unmanned aerial vehicles even though the battle has yet to begin, he must achieve even a small achievement and save face.


    Standing up from his seat, he took a closer look at the map of the western border, which upied one side of the wall.


    His eyes, which were looking into the Kazakhstan border, were facing downward.


    Soon, he picked up the phone as if he had made up his mind.


    ¡°Administrative officer! Put me on the phone with themander of Xinjiang District.¡±


    Although Beijing¡¯s order to never be rash while the call was connecting came to his mind, he had a sense of self-confidence that the Pamir teau could be easily obtained by the current force.


    He would be able to earn the Chinese government¡¯s favor if he took over the Pamir teau in a surprise move.


    As soon as Kazakhstan closed its borders with China, it also reinforced its forces in the Pamir teau, which was considered the most vulnerable.


    The Tajik militia, known for its bravery, was also reconvened there to prepare for any eventuality.


    This was because the Pamir teau was an alpine region where only nomadic people could engage in normal activities as it was their home.


    It was difficult for ordinary people to even breathe normally when they moved at 3,000 meters above sea level.


    In some cases, people suffered from high-acidity symptoms due tock of oxygen.


    In other words, not everyone could cross the Pamir teau.


    However, Chinese troops stationed in Xinjiang Uyghur were slowly flocking to target such a ce.


    Although it was an order, the natural environment would not be easily ovee by military discipline.


    The immediate cold in the teau was also another problem.


    Zhao, the Chinesemander of the Western Front, only thought of the fact that the region was a rtively vulnerable area, but overlooked the harsh natural environment.


    Chinese troops were struggling from climbing the Pamir teau, but after arriving at the teau, they were stuck adjusting to the alpine environment.


    Since they had already vited the territory of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan without permission, it was basic to strengthen its vignce and search the area to see if there were any enemies.


    However, underestimating the Kazakh military, the Chinese troops were neglecting their guard.


    The Tajik militia and Kazakhstan¡¯s mountain soldiers, who were looking into the situation in detail, used all avable firepower tounch attacks.


    There was nothing to be desired by the enemies who invaded their territory.


    The Chinese army, which advanced to the teau, was a regiment-level force, mainly a mechanized unit.


    When the attack began, the Chinese military was busy flustering, let alone responding.


    Although all the firepower was mobilized, the Kazakh military¡¯s firepower deployed in the area was not that great.


    Even if there was a battle in the hignds, it was a battle against nature rather than against fire, so whoever endured longer would have a better chance of winning.


    The Chinese troops rushed from Xinjiang Uyghur to the Pamir teau after receiving a sudden dispatch order were already in a state of exhaustion, but they were confused when shells poured from all sides.


    However, the Chinese military had also begun toe to its senses and strike back. The Kazakh military also had to slow down for a while as the Chinese military¡¯s tanks, self-propelled guns, and armored vehicles poured out their firepower.


    In terms of firepower, the Chinese military was overwhelming.


    Nheless, it was only for a while.


    The Kazak side resumed its targeted attack on Chinese tanks.


    The Chinese military¡¯s attack was more like a wildfire than a target shooting.


    It failed to deal a major blow to the Kazakh troops, which had been attacking while thoroughly covered up.


    As the Kazakh troops focused on attacking special trucks carrying shells as the top priority for the attack, other vehicles in the radius of their explosion were affected.


    ***


    -Your Highness, we¡¯ve been informed that the number of prisoners, including the wounded, is about 450. The rest of them were killed in action.


    ¡°They don¡¯t have the guts for surrendering so easily.¡±


    -It is said that they lost their fighting spirit because of the fierce spirit of our forces.


    ¡°We¡¯ve had a great result, then.¡±


    The regiment level usually consisted of about 2,000 troops, but about 1,300 troops came into the Pamir teau, led by mechanized troops.


    It was a fierce battle against two infantry squadrons, 30 tanks, 12 self-propelled guns, and 50 armored vehicles, and half of them were down.


    -It¡¯s andslide victory.


    ¡°What about the damage on our side?¡±


    Asked by Youngho, the Army Chief of Staff, Khasan, hesitated for a moment.


    -Well... It¡¯s... 57 injuries and 92 deaths.


    It would be a great record to only have this level of damage even after dealing with a regiment level of troops, but the Pamir teau was the home turf.


    Suffering this much damage even though the troops waited in trenches in their home turf, it was a matter ofmander¡¯s qualifications.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how much damage we¡¯ve done on the Chinese side. What good is it if so many of our soldiers are killed and injured? Who was in charge of this operation?¡±


    -The localmander ordered the annihtion operation.


    ¡°What a stupid thing to do! The other side would have retreated if we just had let them be because of the natural environment. Or you should have attacked moderately and then fell back. If you sacrificed your troops like that, what¡¯s the point of winning?¡±


    If themander was in front of him, Youngho would have hit him once in anger.


    -Your Highness, themander is also on the death list.


    ¡°What? Themander was killed? Why would you die leaving your men alone?¡±


    -Your Grace, please calm down. Themander took the lead in attacking and was the first victim. So the soldiers lost their cool that they missed the timing to fall back.


    ¡°Is it true that he was the first victim?¡±


    Precious lives had been lost for Kazakhstan.


    It was hard to imagine the hearts of the soldiers who lost theirrades andmander. They would have attacked the Chinese soldiers with such sorrows, and the Chinese would have surrendered under the pressure of that momentum.


    Youngho could not help but burst into tears at the thought of them, who had been ready to die and fought fearlessly.

 Chapter 733 - A Battle (2)

    <h4>Chapter 733: A Battle (2)</h4>


    It was perhaps a miracle to catch as many as 450 prisoners in a single battle in the modern war.


    Especially when multiple rocketunchers, self-propelled guns, and towed artillery guns fired precision shots from afar, and portable missiles wereunched to attack from up close, no soldier would have survived.


    It was only possible as the Kazakh soldiers fought against the mechanized troops mainly, but the situation would have been worse if they had fired on infantry that had no defense at all.


    The infantry unit, which had rtively weak firepower, quickly lifted the white g, so they could save half of the Chinese troops.


    The victory was possible because the Kazakh military tracked the Chinese military¡¯s movement in Xinjiang Uyghur with a satellite from the time the troops started moving.


    The satelliteunched with the help of Russia was of great help.


    The movement of the Chinese Uyghur troops was informed by local intelligence agents, so the Kazakh military started satellite tracking and found that their destination was the Pamir teau, so it could be fully prepared.


    It attacked the Chinese troops when they were at rest after struggling to climb the slope with heavy equipment.


    Nevertheless, it was a failed battle that 149 young men under amander were killed or injured.


    Of course, it was due to the death of themander in the early stages of the battle, but if themand system had been solid, themander of the next lower rank could havemanded the unit.


    The troops lost their cool and had many deaths or casualties while attacking the enemy forces directly when they were dealing them with multiple artillery guns and self-propelled guns outside the range would have sufficed since the Chinese troops could not have been able to withstand the harsh battle environment of the Pamir teau anyway.


    Still, it was a huge aplishment to win a huge victory against a powerful mechanized unit at such a cost.


    The Chinese military and the Chinese government were in a panic.


    It was the biggest defeat since the border conflict with the Soviet Union, which was an operation that resulted in an indelible defeat by themander¡¯s misjudgment.


    With this worst-case scenario, themander of the Western border was somehow still in ce despite the fact that 800 Chinese soldiers were hurt, killed, or captured.


    As expected, it was like the Chinese leadership did not care about mere soldiers¡¯ lives.


    Not wanting to see such a reaction for long, Youngho quickly returned the prisoners to the Chinese side because holding on to the wounded and prisoners would only cost Kazakhstan their medical treatment and food.


    Also, it was better to send them to China as soon as possible for the future since there was no guarantee of how long this dispute wouldst.


    He needed to show some generosity to China to leave some room for reconciliation and negotiations.


    That was not to say that he was trying to improve rtions with China, but nothing should be rushed without thinking about an exit strategy.


    Either way, this battle was worth a page in modernbat history.


    Far from sympathy, the world did not hesitate to criticize China, even though China suffered near annihtion by the Kazakh military while advancing to Pamir.


    The reason was that China abused its power to attack a weak country first. Such criticism was made because if left unchecked, China would project its power elsewhere.


    In response, the Chinese government insisted it was the victim, saying that it


    was just a show of force, but the Kazakh militaryunched a surprise attack without dering war.


    From the Kazakh side, that was nonsense as the troops only defended its country when the Chinese troops invaded the territory. If the Chinese troops had not crossed over, there would have been no deaths either in the Kazakh military.


    No matter what China said, Kazakhstan remained unresponsive.


    The reason for sticking to the principle of non-response was to express its intention to attack unconditionally without prior warning if its territory was vited.


    Although the royal family and the government were silent, the world and the people of Kazakhstan insisted on criticizing and attacking China respectively day after day.


    With the victory in Pamir, the people of Kazakhstanpletely shook off their fear of China, which was not desirable either because the Kazakh side only won this time due to the Chinese side¡¯sck of preparation and strategy.


    Even so, Chinese forces were not to be overlooked.


    China would certainly provoke in any way to avenge its defeat in the Pamir teau.


    The evidence was that themander of the Western border was not reced.


    This would mean that he was given a chance to avenge and recover his name.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s military was fully prepared, expecting a stronger attack.


    Since closing the border, the border had been strengthened fully.


    Intelligence agents working in various parts of China were also checking the movements of Chinese troops, and China was being scrutinized with military satellites.


    The Chinese military would also check the Kazakh military¡¯s movements in detail through satellite, but there was nothing to pay particr attention to because the military had already deployed all the necessary troops at the border.


    Now, it was necessary for Kazakhstan to stir up other ces to disperse the Chinese military¡¯s nerves before it provoked Kazakhstan first.


    ***


    The Uyghur militia members trained in Afghanistan infiltrated Tibet through the Pamir teau in Tajikistan.


    They picked Ngari, the capital of the Tibetan bordend that bordered Tajikistan as their base of armed protest so that they could travel to Tajikistan and Afghanistan at any time to suit their needs.


    It was not only an area where military supplies were easily supported but also the only Muslim-dominated area in Tibet, a Buddhist country.


    Tibet in December, like a teau, was quite cold in winter, but this cold was nothing to the people from Xinjiang Uyghurs.


    Compared to Xinjiang Uyghur¡¯s cold weather, the weather in Tibet was like a spring day.


    Although the Uyghur militiamen could endure cold well, they were wearing winter uniforms that were given by the Royal Bodyguards.


    Uighur militiamen, who entered the city under the cover of darkness, breathed heavily and watched a building which was clearly lit up by security lights.


    Their goal today was the building of the People¡¯s Armed Police Unit in Tibet.


    At themander¡¯s beck and call, the crew quickly disappeared into the opposite alley.


    All the crew were moving in perfect order, having already rehearsed several times.


    They were only armed with portable missiles and private rifles, but it was nothing for them to raid on a police unit.


    That was because the local security was sox.


    There had been frequent peaceful protests calling for independence in Tibet, but never at the request of the Di Lama¡¯s government in exile, which used nonviolent independence movements as its motto.


    The People¡¯s Armed Police Force or the Tibetan militarymand in Tibet was an organization that checked India or Bhutan, not an organization that monitored Tibetans.


    That was why the security was unusually not tight.


    On a moonless night, fires were seen from weapons prepared by some 20 Uyghur militiamen.


    It was the moment when the curtain of armed independence struggle went up in Tibet.


    Roaring portable missiles broke the windows of the building and destroyed the building.


    The building quickly burst into mes when the explosion urred every few seconds.


    People¡¯s armed police, who were sleeping inside the building, fled the building in confusion, but AK rifles were waiting for them.


    Loud gunshots, like the sound of roasting beans, woke up Tibet¡¯s winter night.


    It was such a sudden attack that no rm bells or sirens rang, but the sound of gunshots were telling people what was going on.


    The Uyghur militia, whichpletely devastated the building, left without a sound.


    Such attacks did not only ur at the People¡¯s Armed Police Unit.


    The same situation happened at government offices across the city of Ngari.


    However, there were no people there because it was ate night.


    It was about 10 minutester that the emergency bell rang at the Tibetan militarymand.


    When the Chinese troops stationed in Ngari showed up at the scene, fire engines were putting out fire after arriving.


    At that time, troops stationed in Ngari were also under attack by Uyghur militiamen.


    Dozens of Uyghur militiamen¡¯s portable missiles and hundreds of bullets flew into the empty space where most of the troops left the unit on alert.


    It was not an attack to kill anyone, but to destroy the unit, so they immediately withdrew when the Chinese military responded.


    Confused Chinese troops fired back, but they did not dare toe out of the unit as they were lost in the sudden attack.


    While the Chinese officials and military leaders were in confusion, the Uyghur militiamen, who escaped the city with ease, were reviewing whether there was a mistake in today¡¯s operation in a prebuilt hideout outside the city.


    ***


    Tibet¡¯s young blooded people thought they had finally opened a new chapter in the armed struggle for independence in Tibet.


    They had been envious of the Uyghurs¡¯ struggle for independence.


    Finally, in Tibet, meaningful people began to fight for independence.


    They were desperate because their non-violence independence movement led by the exile government seemed to be pointless.


    This was because China would not even flinch its eyebrows even if Tibetans fought non-violent independence for a hundred years.


    Neither the world nor even the Indian government, which had an exiled government itself, did not recognize the Tibetan exile government, as if they believed Tibetans had the will to be independent.


    Considering what the government in exile, which had sustained for more than 50 years, has done so far, it was clear that its policy was not working.


    Only when there were bloodshed and armed struggle, could people around the world pay attention and help since there was no country that would help Tibetans who did not show a strong will for independence.


    On the other hand, the Uyghurs were different. They were supported by each country thanks to their steady armed struggle for independence despite China¡¯s oppression.


    Following Tibet, armed fighting resumed in Xinjiang Uyghur as well.


    Some of the Uyghur militiamen trained in Afghanistan infiltrated into Xinjiang Uyghur and instigated an internal struggle by encouraging local forces.


    Uyghurs¡¯ anger caused by Chinese armed police¡¯s forced suppression of a recent demonstration to stop excessive inspections led to an armed struggle.


    China¡¯s military, which was only concerned about the Kazakh border, was not able to recover its senses after Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur rose up against it all at once

 Chapter 734 - A Battle (3)

    <h4>Chapter 734: A Battle (3)</h4>


    While China was distracted, an intercontinental ballistic missile test was carried out in the Indian Ocean from an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy.


    The result was sessful as expected.


    The missile tested this time was a projectile that was preparing tounch its own satellite.


    The Indian Ocean was chosen as the venue for the test-firing because Kazakhstan was an ind country without an ocean, and if aunch test failed and fell onnd, a catastrophe would ur.


    This gave the tactical nuclear weapons, which President Nazarbayev left, a projectile capable of flying them beyond Shanghai, China.


    The test-firing was conducted publicly.


    It was intended to confirm Kazakhstan¡¯s capabilities were.


    There was no state to dispute for flying intercontinental ballistic missiles as there were no restrictions on the range of missiles, so it was open to the public. It was done this way as there was nothing like this that could scare the enemy.


    It was like saying that all Chinese vessels operating in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific, as well as maind China, were within the range of Kazakhstan¡¯s ballistic missiles.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. Why don¡¯t we take this opportunity to reveal the existence of theser gun? China is also developingser guns, so they must¡¯ve guessed the existence of our guns to some extent.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim, who came to discuss pending state affairs as well as to deliver the news of the sessfulunch of a ballistic missile, asked.


    ¡°There is no reason to be so kind. If the Chinese army doesn¡¯t wander at the border, no one is going to get hurt anyway.¡±


    ¡°I would like to open it as a deterrent. If they know what they¡¯d be facing if they get caught near the border, they won¡¯t dare to provoke us. It¡¯s to prevent damage to our army.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense if we think about the soldiers who were killed this time, but I¡¯d like to wait and see for the time being. I¡¯d like the Chinese military to suffer more for a little bit. I don¡¯t want to throw away the opportunity to publicly disgrace the Chinese army, which boasts of being the strongest in the world. It¡¯s going to be a good opportunity to demoralize the enemy troops.¡±


    If the Chinese attempts of attack failed a few times in a row, the morale of the Chinese military would hit rock bottom.


    On the other hand, this would serve as a good benefit to the Kazakh Army.


    ¡°Listening to your word, I think it would be okay to wait a little longer. I¡¯ll leave it as a secret weapon for now.¡±


    ¡°Tell the army to be consistent with defensive warfare. We can¡¯t beat China with our capacity. It¡¯s the way to preserve our forces by refraining from excessive attacks.¡±


    The mysterious fighter crash and the painful defeat in the Pamir teau had a tremendous impact on the morale of the Chinese troops.


    In addition, armed independence struggles were taking ce in Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur, which inevitably caused confusion.


    Especially in Tibet, which had been stable, armed struggle for independence broke out and countless soldiers and police were dead or injured.


    Not knowing where to focus, the Chinese military was suffering a huge turmoil.


    Kazakhstan had been making a big fuss over China¡¯s mishap, and the world had been criticizing China¡¯s inhumane behavior day after day, and these also yed a role in affecting the Chinese soldiers¡¯ morale.


    In the southern district of the Chinese military, the South Sea Fleet, which was in charge of the South China Sea and Southeast Asian waters, was also stationed, with its forces included one aircraft carrier, three tactical nuclear submarines, 25 conventional submarines, 24 small and medium-sized destroyers, 11 amphibious vessels, and 18 missile patrol boats.


    At first nce, it seemed to be a great force but it was far below the force of Kazakhstan¡¯s Indian Ocean Fleet.


    This was because the Kazakh Navy¡¯s vessels were all thetest missile ships.


    In particr, the Aegis destroyer boasted the strongest of its ss.


    China¡¯s Southern Fleet had recently been expanding its sphere of activity into the Indian Ocean, and the conflict between China, which was trying to build a naval base in the Maldives, and India was deepening.


    It would not be strange to confront each other right away.


    The Kazakh Navy, which was operating in the Indian Ocean, was also wary of the Chinese Navy¡¯s movements with great tension as the border between Kazakhstan and China had been closed.


    Until now, the Chinese Navy¡¯s navigation tendency had shown a pattern of moving close to the Indian Ocean.


    This was partly aimed at saving fuel costs by shortening the range of the voyage, but on the other hand, it was a strategic move to stimte the Indian Navy.


    The reason behind the action was the confidence that the country¡¯s naval power was ahead of India.


    Although the Indian Navy was furious about China¡¯s actions, it could not take any action because Chinese vessels were skillfully sailing in the international waters.


    After being informed that China¡¯s southern sea fleet was heading for the Maldives from the South China Sea, the South Kazakh Navy and the Indian Navy began tracking it down.


    Admiral Jun had received a full text from his subordinate two days ago, so he was agonizing over how to strike the Chinese fleet.


    Once again, if it were to sail close to the Indian Ocean, he nned to draw it from international waters into the Indian territorial waters.


    It was a little dangerous, but if the Kazakh vessels could push the Chinese fleet to the Indian territorial waters by sailing close to the Chinese fleet and luring it, there would be a cause to attack the vessels withser guns.


    Theser guns ced on the Kazakh ships were fixed and boasted high power of 100 kilowatts, which was far greater than what the Army had.


    This was because frigates and Aegis destroyers had great power generation capability.


    China¡¯s fighter jet, which was shot down at the Kazakhstan border recently, more did so because of the pilot¡¯s panic rather than aser gun.


    A thorough analysis of the collected fighter jet debris showed that theser gun did not have a direct impact on its crash.


    Unlike the mobile type possessed by the Army, theser gun mounted on ships exerted the power of a rocketuncher.


    That much power could sink a small boat right away and damage a destroyer with a sturdy hull.


    The most vulnerable ce in the warship was the bridge, and if the bridge was destroyed, the warship would be useless.


    In the open sea where it was led to the Indian waters northeast of the Maldives, three 052C Lanzhou-ss air defense destroyers and three Jiangdao-ss frigates were moving.


    The Lanzhou-ss vessel was equipped with a pivoting type radar and a fixed phased array radar, but the surveince distance was short and it was not capable of tracking many targets at the same time.


    At that level, it was a little better than the Kazakh Navy¡¯s new frigates as they also had radarsparable to the Lanzhou-ss, and had a number of missile verticalunchers.


    The Chinese fleet began to panic when three frigates of the Kazakh Navy, which discovered the Chinese fleet, approached the international waters where the Chinese fleet was located, out of the Indian Ocean.


    The Kazakh Navy was rushing straight toward the Chinese fleet.


    If there was any intention to attack, the vessels had fired missiles, but there was no such sign, which put the Chinese ships into confusion.


    Chinese warships immediately began to evade the attack as they thought the Kazakh vessels were running with the collision in mind.


    The Chinese side intended to avoid armed conflict as much as possible because the vessels were dispatched with the aim of going to the Maldives.


    Also, they could not attack recklessly because not only the Kazakh Navy but also the Indian Navy were lined up nearby.


    As the Kazakh warships, which had been rushing recklessly straight ahead, stopped at about three kilometers from the Chinese fleet, the Chinese Navy also aimed at the Kazakh ship in response.


    Even though the act of pointing a gun at the other side in international waters was considered hostility, the Chinese fleet did so to protect itself.


    If so, the Kazakh Navy could also respond.


    However, the Kazakh Navy¡¯s frigates were circling around the Chinese fleet, keeping only a reasonable distance, rather than responding.


    And after a while, there were no signs of attack, but the bridge of six Chinese destroyers exploded in an instant.


    Six Chinese warships lost their sense of direction when all the ship¡¯smand died and the function of the ship¡¯s navigation tform was paralyzed.


    The Indian Navy was also at a loss as to what had happened.


    It was strange to see the bridge being blown up like that, even though no missiles were fired.


    The Chinese warships were shaking along with the tide as they lost the ability to steer, and when they entered Indian waters, the Indian Navy stepped forward and disarmed the Chinese Navy.


    The situation was so absurd that the Chinese Navy could not resist.


    With themand gone, they no longer had the ability to hold out.


    A smile hung around the mouth of Admiral Jun, who was watching the series of events.


    It was a situation that no one could doubt.


    All the Chinese naval sailors were also watching.


    Who could exin the situation in which the bridge burst at the same time as if it were a promise?


    If there¡¯s anything suspicious, it was that the Kazakh frigates came close about three kilometers away from them.


    Theser gun had a range of four kilometers, and that was why they had maintained that distance.


    For China, something crazy had happened.


    There were no battles, but six warships were captured, but they could notin.


    It was because the warships had trespassed into Indian waters without permission.


    Who would believe if the warships that vited foreign waters lost the ability to sail?


    It was a mistake to sail close to the Indian sea leaving the wide-open waters.


    With explosions without a known cause, it only seemed that the Chinese fleet brought it to themselves by entering the Indian waters.


    As for the Indian Navy, it was a windfall.


    Six Chinese warships and 1,500 sailors were captured.


    The benefits in return for handing over warships and prisoners to China would be enormous.


    The Kazakh Navy did not get involved in any of India¡¯s events.


    The Navy insisted on its stance that it was only operating on the Indian Ocean and that it had nothing to do with the incident.


    It was done so, as it would only be troubled for revealing its involvement in the Chinese warships¡¯ explosions.


    The capture of Chinese naval forces in the Indian Ocean by Indian naval forces surprised the world.


    It did not make sense that the Chinese Navy, which would have fought rather than being captured after its invasion in the ocean, was disarmed by the Indian Navy.


    On the other hand, The Kazakh Navy, the main yer in the incident, was pretending that it had no idea, saying that it was interesting as it happened during a joint operation with the Indian Navy, but was not aware about the incident that much.

 Chapter 735 - A Battle (4)

    <h4>Chapter 735: A Battle (4)</h4>


    The incident that incapacitated the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean excited the Kazakh Army¡¯s leadership and Prime Minister Kasim.


    It seemed Kazakhstan was likely to be able to win from China at any moment.


    ¡°Your Highness, it has proved that the power of theser gun in the trap is great. China is no longer our match.¡±


    Prime Minister Kasim looked as excited as ever before.


    He had been going back and forth between the capital and the Arirang royal territory about two or three times a week these days as Kazakhstan was in a conflict with China.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to operate more covertly in the future. We¡¯re improving the range of ourser gun so that it can attack a target beyond the horizon.¡±


    Even now, the royal family was investing quite a lot in the Laser Gun Research Institute to improve the weapon¡¯s performance.


    ¡°If we do that, it¡¯s going to be an icing on the cake, but we can defeat the enemy with just what we have now.¡±


    ¡°It has to be an unrivaled weapon that no one can follow. If China finds out about the presence of theser gun, it will soon catch up with our technology. That¡¯s why we have to be one step ahead of China all the time.¡±


    China was also currently working hard to developser guns. It was still in the rudimentary stage, but if it used all of its capabilities, it would be able to deploy the guns in practice as early as next year. Before China followed, Kazakhstan must make a more improvedser gun.


    ¡°If theser guns deployed to the Army were as powerful as the Navy¡¯sser guns, we could stop tanks and armored vehicles. It¡¯s a shame.¡±


    With a power generation facility on naval vessels capable of producing 100 kilowatts of power, theser gun was as powerful as a portable rocketuncher. However, that level of power generation facilities required the deployment of several fixed or special power generation vehicles, which increased the chances of being detected in the eyes of Chinese troops. If such facilities stood out at the border, China would soon find out about them and apply them to China¡¯s weapons technology to produce its ownser guns.


    ¡°It would be possible if there were a lot of power-generating special vehicles. The problem is that they¡¯re so big and loud that they¡¯ll be easily spotted.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be possible if we can disguise them and find a way to reduce the noise of generation? And it¡¯smon even for China to run a mobile generator in a forward unit, so it won¡¯t be suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s test them out. Put a high-poweredser gun in front of the forward unit.¡±


    ¡°The Army must be very pleased to hear that.¡±


    When Youngho took it positively, Kasim was going to boast to the military right away.


    This was because the top Army leaders, who had seen the Navy¡¯s performance, had been bothering Kasim to deploy such powerfulser guns to the Army as well.


    ¡°And please pay more attention to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. Their activities had been immensely helpful in disturbing China.¡±


    ¡°Have you decided to get involved more deeply?¡±


    Kasim said this because originally Kazakhstan only nned to get its hands off Tibet only after instigating their armed conflict.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to go all the way to the end. It seems like the U.S. will be helping us, too.¡±


    Learning of Kazakhstan¡¯s involvement in the Tibetan armed protest, the U.S. CIA contacted Youngho to offer some help. This was also an opportunity for the U.S. as the Chinese government was in turmoil. It was in a position to put China in trouble in any way as it was engaged in a trade war with China these days.


    It was a few days ago. Michael, the director of the U.S. CIA called in hurriedly after an armed uprising broke out in Tibet.


    -Duke. Are you trying to ignore our intelligence service now? It¡¯s a shame you left us out of this.


    ¡°I thought you already knew, Chief. I don¡¯t think you don¡¯t know that Uyghur militiamen are being trained by us in Afghanistan...¡±


    -Who doesn¡¯t know that? You never intended to shake Tibet, did you? I¡¯m sorry that you didn¡¯t inform us about such a big decision.


    ¡°Do you want me to set you up now?¡±


    -You would have pretended not to know if I hadn¡¯t called. The higher-ups already think that our intelligence service has also had a role in this. So, if anyone asks, the Tibetan operation is a joint operation with us no matter what. If I get kicked out of my position as the head of the intelligence service, you¡¯ll be held responsible for it.


    There was no organization other than the U.S. CIA that would map out an armed uprising in Tibet, so the president of the United States had asked Michael implicitly, and Michael would have been flustered and answered that the intelligence agency had intervened. Otherwise, he would have been branded an ipetent intelligence chief.


    Michael was trying to get a free ride, but given his rtionship with him, Youngho could let it slide.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll say thank you when I meet the presidentter.¡±


    -I can¡¯t thank you enough. Thank you for saving my face.


    ¡°You know it¡¯s not free, right?¡±


    It was not Lee Youngho if he just let it go. Kindness without counter-payment was rather inconvenient for the other party.


    -Hahaha...


    Michael would have already guessed, but he was trying to let it slide with a smile.


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to send your agents.¡±


    Michael cut off Youngho¡¯s words as if he was anxious.


    -I was thinking we could provide some information about China¡¯s weaknesses. What do you think?


    ¡°No other country knows China¡¯s weakness better than we do. Our submarines are already standing by in the South China Sea.¡±


    -No way. Are you aiming for maind China? This will inevitably lead to expansion. I¡¯d like to dissuade you.


    Michael¡¯s voice shook slightly in surprise.


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not going to happen, don¡¯t you? A nuclear submarine is just a bluff to stop the expansion.¡±


    -Please be honest with me. I can¡¯t wait anymore because my heart is pounding.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of taking this opportunity to provide the foundation for Uyghurs and Tibetans¡¯ independence.¡±


    In order to avoid Kazakhstan¡¯s all-out war against China, Youngho had already instigated armed uprisings in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. He was going to push this further and help them achieve their independence. There was no reason for the U.S. CIA to hesitate to add one hand. Kazakhstan alone could not afford to take care of Tibet¡¯s independence, but if the U.S. intervened, it would not only ease the burden but also create excusester. If everything failed, at least it would have a way out. The U.S. also needed a shield called Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan was in the same position.


    The rest just unraveled smoothly. Therefore, Michael agreed to send Kazakhstan special vehicles for power generation in order to increase the output ofser guns first, and it was also promised that the U.S. CIA would provide all expenses of training and supplies for Uyghur and Tibetan independence fighters, which would be done in Afghanistan. It was up to Kazakhstan to recruit young people who were willing to be independence fighters and bring them to Afghanistan. It seemed easy, but bringing them through China¡¯s surveincework was hard enough to risk lives.


    Between India and China, there was a dispute over the treatment of Chinese warships and sailors captured in waters northeast of the Maldives. The Chinese government was demanding the release of their ships, saying that the ship¡¯s steering rooms were identally swept away by currents after the unidentified explosion, so that they vited the Indian waters. Although the steering rooms were said to have exploded, themunication rooms were fine, so the naval soldiers transferred the entire incident to their home country while being seized by the Indian Navy. There was no attack, but China acknowledged that the steering room, the bridge, exploded on several warships.


    Only when the warships were returned could they investigate the bridge and see what kind of attacks were there, but the Indian government would not return them. The Indian government also protested harshly. It was because the country¡¯s naval vessels were also at the scene, so the Indian side was more aware of the situation. The naval soldiers witnessed explosions in Chinese warships despite no external attacks.


    It was suspected that the Chinese Navy intentionally caused the explosion to y tricks to get a cause to create a dispute in the Indian Ocean. As the tension between the two countries heightened, the Indian government sent back Chinese naval soldiers first, but it did not return the seized warships. If the warships were sent back as China would probably destroy the evidence if it did.


    The Indian government had thoroughly investigated the cause, but it had not been easy to find out what destroyed the bridges of Chinese warships. If there was an explosion, there should have been traces or fragments of gunpowder, but none was found.


    The Kazakh Navy seemed to have done something, but its consistent ignorance was driving the Indian government crazy. After much effort, the Indian government made the hypothesis that it was an explosion by aser gun, but the Indian government remained silent. It had found an unidentified object that was always wrapped on the middle deck of each Kazakh warship, but since the Indian government was an ally of Kazakhstan, it did not want to expose Kazakh Navy¡¯s secret weapons, so it did not return the seized Chinese warships despite Beijing¡¯s protests. Besides, there was no reason to abandon the opportunity to capture more Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean in the future.


    After failing to get the captured warships back, the Chinese Navy began tounch an armed exercise in the Indian Ocean. China had made strong moves to send Liaoning-ss aircraft carrier fleet into waters off the Indian Ocean. However, the Indian Navy was also a country with an aircraft carrier acquired from Britain, and Kazakhstan had also deployed a small carrier, forcing the scope of Chinese naval operation to be narrow. Moreover, the Chinese Navy could not do anything as the U.S. Navy¡¯s 5th Fleet, which had no rival, was holding out as well. All the Chinese naval forces could do was to conduct an armed protest in the western waters of the a Strait. Although the Chinese aircraft carrier¡¯s air defense destroyer and frigate came a little further for guard duty, they avoided the Indian and Kazakh naval vessels unconditionally if they encountered them. Whenever the Kazakh warships chased the Chinese fleet, they were busy running away, which was not understandable. Perhaps, they were tired of chasing the Chinese Navy, the captains gathered in themand ship asked for a more efficient attack.


    ¡°Chief Commander, do you think the Chinese Navy already noticed?¡±


    ¡°I think they might be thinking something¡¯s fishy, but they couldn¡¯t have found out about ourser guns. If they knew, they wouldn¡¯t have sent such a small fleet.¡±


    It was impossible to know what kind of attack damaged the warships without a close investigation. The Chinese Navy was probably just avoiding the Kazakh and Indian Navy for caution.


    ¡°Why did theye to the Indian Ocean when they are so busy running away?¡±


    ¡°Because of the face of the Communist Party of China. It hurts their pride to just wait for India to dispose of their naval vessels, so I guess they want to show off their force. It¡¯s something to show to the people as well.¡±


    ¡°Sir, what if we approach the Strait of a? Then won¡¯t Chinese aircraft carrier fleet return to the South China Sea or even fight against us?¡±

 Chapter 736 - A Battle (5)

    <h4>Chapter 736: A Battle (5)</h4>


    Admiral Viktor Jun of the Navy contacted Youngho to report that he would expand the Kazahkh Indian Ocean Fleet¡¯s operational scope to the Strait of a.


    It was because the Chinese aircraft carrier fleet was staging a show of force near the Strait of a.


    It was an opportunity to catch the Chinese Navy, which had been avoiding confrontation with the Kazakh Navy.


    -Your Grace. We need to get an advantageous position in the beginning. The Chinese Navy is in low spirits now. Otherwise, the opportunity will be wasted soon.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little hesitant because it¡¯s a risky operation. We can¡¯t ignore the fighter jets on the Chinese fleet.¡±


    -The Chinese Navy is no match for us. We can defeat it with fleet-to-air missiles.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll allow it if you promise not to get too close to them trusting theser guns too much. If you judge the situation is not easy, just retreat.¡±


    -Your Grace, we¡¯ve been training practically as if we were in a real battle. We are confident that we will mobilize all avable firepower to make sure that the Chinese military will never look down on us again.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll fully trust you on your judgments in the battle. I hope there¡¯s no damage to our Navy.¡±


    -Thank you. Your Highness, I¡¯ll bring you good news soon.


    ¡°And ask for cooperation from Indian and the U.S. Navy.¡±


    -Yes, sir. I¡¯ll notify the Indian and the U.S. Navy in advance.


    The Kazakh military small aircraft fleet included ten vertical takeoff andnding aircrafts, seven attack helicopters, and tworge helicopters for troop transport.


    That alone was not enough to deal with the Chinese carrier.


    Liaoning-ss aircraft carrier with a standard discement of 55,000 tons could be equipped with 46 fighter jets, 4 rms, and 18 helicopters.


    Of course, it was based on the case that it was loaded fully, but anyway, it carried more aircrafts than the Kazakh Navy¡¯s carrier.


    That was why Youngho requested to cooperate with the U.S. Navy as insurance.


    Naval officers of the Indian Ocean Fleet, under Admiral Jun, were determined to take this opportunity to beat China since the Chinese Navy had been trying to avoid provocations.


    As Kazakhstan was already in a battle with China, it was better to attack Chinese troops first upon encounter.


    No country had dared to raise its voice against China or engage in direct military action so far, no matter what kind of absurdity the Chinese government hadmitted.


    In the Cold War era, the Soviet Union exercised its ability on the border, and in the 21st century, Kazakhstan was the only country that was directly against China.


    Except for the trade war, the U.S. was also refraining from substantial armed shes.


    It was to avoid it getting expanded to world war, but the two countries were avoiding it because they had too much to protect.


    Kazakhstan was breaking such unwritten rules.


    It was not because It was fearless but because it could not stand it anymore.


    When the Chinese naval power was suffering like now, it was Kazakhstan¡¯s best chance to suppress China.


    Since the Chinese Navy suffered massive damage in the previous explosion at sea, China would not dare to expand the battle to the border as it would be also burdensome for China to have an all-out war.


    ***


    In the 200-kilometer high-sea waters east of a, warships belonging to Kazakhstan¡¯s Indian Ocean Fleet were sailing in two groups five kilometers away from each other.


    They were moving at full speed on each side.


    With the recent addition of three Aegis destroyers, the power of the Kazakh Indian Ocean Fleet had been doubled as well as its defense.


    The Kazakh Navy had been in abat deployment since an hour ago when it found that the Chinese carrier fleet was 80 kilometers ahead.


    At this distance, the Chinese fleet would have already noticed the Kazakh Navy¡¯s presence.


    Currently, the Chinese fleet was receiving oil and food materials from its own supply ships. As the warships would be defenseless, the Kazakh Navy wanted to attack them at this moment.


    Admiral Jun was nning a major operation to destroy the aircraft carrier fleet by pouring out all avable firepower at once.


    Such a massive attack on the border would lead to an all-out war, but the battle in the Indian Ocean was not too burdensome.


    Thebined fleet of Indian and U.S. naval forces was right behind it, making it hard to tell whether the Kazakh Navy was the one that attacked or the Indian or U.S. navies attacked the Chinese warships.


    There were a total of 12rge and small targets on the radar.


    Big targets would be aircraft carriers and small targets would be air defense destroyers and frigates that were escorting the aircraft carriers.


    And although invisible, China¡¯s nuclear and diesel-powered submarine might also be roaming somewhere nearby.


    Taking care of the submarine would be up to the Indian Navy and the U.S. Navy.


    Once the submarineunched a missile, it would have to suffer from a torpedo attack by a destroyer because its location would be revealed at the moment.


    As theunch order was issued from themand ship, which allocated each target, the Kazakh warships made a loud noise in unison as missiles went up to the sky at once.


    Dozens of missiles flying toward the Chinese aircraft fleet beyond the horizon were simply spectacr, and two more rounds of missiles were fired in unison.


    Enemies were also prepared for the existence of a close-range defense system.


    If they were lucky, they would survive.


    The Kazakh warships, whichunched three attacks, left the scene without dy.


    The rest was for the Indian and U.S. navies to check.


    This was because if they dallied around in the field, they would be exposed to attack by the Chinese submarine.


    Even though he was curious whether the attack was sessful, Admiral Jun did not look back and ordered the entire fleet to sail away at full speed.


    China¡¯s Liaoning aircraft carrier was not expected to be neutralized by this level of attack.


    If the flight deck was not damaged, the Chinese Navy would fly fighter jets.


    No matter how great the Kazakh warships¡¯ defense system was, the attack power of fighter jets was not to be underestimated as they could damage the Kazakh vessels.


    Such concerns turned out to be a reality.


    Several ship-to-ship missiles fired from China¡¯s aircraft carrier fleet flew in.


    When the Kazakh Navy fired a counter-missile and entered an evasive maneuver, this time, a China¡¯s fighter jet approached.


    It would have been a fighter jet that left the aircraft carrier for routine guard duty before the missileunch.


    A fleet-to-air missile was fired at the jet. It would not even be able toe near the fleet as it would be stuck in the water soon.


    Given a series of circumstances, it might mean that the missile attack on the Chinese carrier fleet failed to have a major blow.


    However, Admiral Jun was not too disappointed.


    There was no way that all 80 missiles fired could have failed.


    ***


    News of the destruction of the Chinese carrier fleet hit the globe.


    The Liaoning fleet, a member of China¡¯s South Sea Fleet, was unable to sail except for an aircraft carrier and two air defense destroyers.


    Even though the aircraft carrier and the air defense destroyer survived, it was not that they remained intact.


    The aircraft carrier was directly hit by missiles on the flight deck and side, while the air defense destroyer was also hit on the rear side and the middle deck.


    Fortunately, only the steering and engine rooms were fine.


    The attack on the carrier fleet was not a failure as Admiral Jun was worried about, but it was a sess.


    The Chinese aircraft carrier fleet sent to bring their captured destroyers back from the Indian Navy had to be towed back to China without even making any significant attacks.


    In this naval battle, the Chinese Navy was regarded as a small force as it lost horribly in this battle.


    Even though it was a sudden attack, it was true that the Chinese Navy was not prepared for such a situation.


    The Lanzhou-ss warship, which boasted of being thetest Aegis destroyer, was proven to be just a warship not equal to an Aegis destroyer.


    From this incident, it waster revealed that some Southeast Asian countries that tried to purchase Chinese air defense destroyers hade to withdraw their contracts.


    Admiral Jun and other captains below him each received a congrattory phone call from the Duke of Kazakhstan in a row and were ttered.


    ¡°Chief Commander, the Duke must be very excited. He¡¯s congratting us one by one.¡±


    ¡°No wonder. He has put so much affection for the Royal Navy and it defeated China. It¡¯s also not burdensome to have a battle at sea rather than onnd.¡±


    Youngho was so happy to hear that his strategy to confront China at sea worked.


    This was because China, whose pride had been hurt, would be obsessed with winning at sea in the future to avenge the defeat of the carrier fleet.


    Also, maritime battles had little possibility of escting into a war as it only took ce in international waters. There was no need to worry about expansion.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s no exaggeration to say that this dispute will be won at sea.¡±


    ¡°You got it right. I¡¯m sorry to say this to you, but keep in mind that our navy must be the main force of the war if the maind¡¯s borders are to be quiet.¡±


    Admiral Jun, who was well aware of the concerns of the Duke, expressed his intention to continue the operation even if there was a sacrifice.


    ¡°I¡¯m d we¡¯re the main yers of the war. It will hurt our pride if we don¡¯t get to use our great naval power. The soldiers¡¯ morale is very high in this battle, so you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    The Kazakh Navy¡¯s morale was skyrocketing at the moment.


    ¡°Remember that the Chinese warships we will meet in the future are different from what we have seen so far. They know that preemptive strikes are a shortcut to victory. Don¡¯t let your guard down for a moment.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sir. We are confident that we will find them before they find us.¡±


    What Admiral Jun was concerned about was that unlike the Kazakh Navy, the Chinese Navy operated an early warning aircraft.


    Of course, the Kazakh Aegis destroyers had a three-dimensional phased array radar, capable of tracking hundreds of targets at the same time, but the early warning aircraft could monitor a wider range, which could affect oceanic battle¡¯s sess to a degree.


    ¡°Okay. From now on, we¡¯ll reorganize the unit into three fleets. Two Aegis destroyers and three frigates will be assigned to a fleet, and only one Aegis destroyer and two frigates will follow themand ship. Sink every Chinese vessel. The Duke said he would be held responsible with every action.¡±

 Chapter 737 - A Battle (6)

    <h4>Chapter 737: A Battle (6)</h4>


    As the battle at sea intensified, the Kazakh border was quieter than ever.


    The Army was waiting for China to provoke after drastically increasing the capacity ofser guns, but it became idle as the Chinese military did not move.


    However, it could notunch an attack first like the Navy because a preemptive attack could be expanded as an all-out war.


    The reason why China could not make any further provocations on the Kazakh border was that the armed struggles in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet had gone too far.


    Uyghurs had long been terrorizing across China in parallel with armed struggles, but the armed independence movement in Tibet was unthinkable.


    As the Tibetan armed struggle, which had been calling for non-violent independence, spread like wildfire, the Chinese government was in a hurry to figure out where to start.


    The Chinese government imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. throughout the Tibetan area, but it was not enough to stop the Tibetan militants from engaging in protest activities.


    After imposing the curfew, more frequent attacks on military units and police stations were done because it was easier for the militants to operate when there was no one in the streets.


    Anyone moving during the curfew period was the Chinese military and police only, so they were a good prey.


    They were amazingly sessful in their armed protests as the armed forces attacking the Chinese Army were Tibetan militiamen who were trained by the Royal Bodyguards in Afghanistan.


    As the armed struggle for independence broke out, news spread throughout Tibet that militiamen were secretly being recruited, and young people who wanted to participate in the independence movement were recruited en masse.


    In the meantime, about 1,200 Tibetan returned to Tibet after a short two-week training session in Afghanistan.


    Although it was only a short period of training, they learned how to handle various weapons and simple killing techniques, they were enough for their armed struggle.


    Due to the well-trained armed forces, the Chinese military and police in Tibet were in trouble.


    As time went by, even the Tibetan residents began to join.


    ¡°The U.S. CIA wants to free Xinjiang Uyghur first, but I think Tibet will be much faster. What do you think?¡±


    Park Jong-il failed to answer Youngho¡¯s question.


    It was because he had pondered about it for days and days, but he could note to any conclusion.


    The will for independence was stronger in Xinjiang Uyghur, but it was never easy because the Chinese government was fully in control of the region.


    On the other hand, Tibet, unlike Xinjiang Uyghur, was a ce where non-violent struggles had been prevalent, the Chinese government managed it a little loosely, but now that it had started an armed struggle, China would soon try to control it with its full force.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure which is in a better situation, so I¡¯m still thinking about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of sending our Royal Bodyguards to Tibet at the right timing. I started the fire anyway, so I¡¯ll have to finish it.¡±


    Youngho was going to send the forces in the form of mercenaries, not regr troops.


    It was calcted to ease the political burden even a little bit.


    If the dispute with China had been settled at an appropriate level, he would not have thought of this idea, but now there was no way this would end nicely.


    It was difficult to return to the same old rtionship unless the Communist Party of China dropped power, as the Liaoning aircraft carrier was destroyed in the Indian Ocean and a series of small naval battles as well.


    That meant Kazakhstan had no choice but to maintain a hostile rtionship.


    At this point, the best option was to make Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet independent.


    It would not be easy at all, but if the globalmunity intervened, there was a possibility.


    ¡°Even though we¡¯re winning at the moment, we will be the only ones at a disadvantage if we get caught up in a long-term war...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not fighting on our border, so there¡¯s no pressure. We¡¯ll ask for help from Western countries. They don¡¯t want China¡¯s dominance anymore, so they have no choice but to lend a hand.¡±


    If there was a best time to push the independence of Uyghurs and Tibetans, it would be now.


    It was because China was much discouraged by the defeat at the sea and confused by the spontaneous armed struggles and a dispute with Kazakhstan.


    ¡°Is China going to roll its tail so easily?¡±


    ¡°It will try to show its power over us, but how can it attack us if it doesn¡¯t want war with us? But even so, I hope Chinaes forward to attack us first.¡±


    ¡°There are many ways to make China overdo it. If we spill the news that we are behind the armed struggle in Tibet, the Chinese will immediately cross the border. The only way for the Chinese military to retrieve its pride is to beat us, so they won¡¯t miss their chance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little bit risky, but let the rumors spread. The Kazakh government should deny the spection no matter what though. Then there will be a reaction in any way.¡±


    As rumors circted that Kazakhstan was involved in Tibet¡¯s independence, the Chinese government was furious.


    It threatened Kazakhstan that it would pay the corresponding price if it did not withdraw its hand immediately.


    However, the Kazakh government denied its involvement as it responded by saying that it was unreasonable of China to draw Kazakhstan into its domestic issues.


    In addition, it did not forget to advise the Chinese government to return Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet to their people as they were clearly independent countries.


    Then the whole of China rose against Kazakhstan.


    The Chinese people bashed Kazakhstan as unforgivable.


    For the Chinese government, it was a weing movement since it became a good reason to be hostile against Kazakhstan that was mocking China.


    As if it had been waiting, the Chinese military sent more troops to the border area.


    Kazakhstan, which was ready for such a sudden change, was never embarrassed.


    It had already spent an astronomical amount of money in preparation for the uing sh with China.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s border unit was a mountain unit with mobility as its top priority, followed by a powerful air defense battery.


    More rearward, thetest fighters and attack helicopters were ready tounch at any time.


    It was Sunday morning, February 21, when Chinese troops appeared in the border area with Kyrgyzstan.


    It was where China built a highway across the Tian Shan Mountains as part of One Belt One Road project, which was recently blocked by the border closure.


    It was perhaps made a target as China thought the defense was rtivelyx.


    A mechanized unit, escorted by the Chinese Air Force, was proudly approaching the border, and clearing obstacles ced on the border.


    When three Chinese tanks had just broken down the border fence and crossed it,ser guns were fired from the Kazakh side.


    As three tanks in the front suddenly stopped, the following tanks, self-propelled guns, and armored vehicles stopped one after another.


    Then, multiple rocketunchers were fired in the back, and soon, missiles began to fall down like hail from the sky.


    In the air, Kazakhstan¡¯s F-35 fighters were already prematurelybating Chinese fighter jets.


    After the missile attacks by long-range artillery and rocketunchers from the air defense unit ended, an Apache attack helicopter squadron appeared and began shooting at the Chinese Army.


    The Chinese fighter jets were already overpowered by Kazakh fighter jets, so they were flying all over the ce randomly shooting the remaining Chinese tanks and armored vehicles.


    Such a battle was also taking ce on the eastern border of Almaty, Kazakhstan, where China was devastated at the border without taking a single step forward into Kazakhstan¡¯s territory.


    It was the Chinese military¡¯s mistake to make acent operation, thinking that this level of attack was enough to shake Kazakhstan.


    It would have been otherwise if China had used ballistic missiles to attack.


    However, not wanting to expand the war, China made a timid move.


    He thought it would be all he had to do if he vited the border area and attacked, but that did not mean Kazakhstan had a perfect victory.


    Five fighter jets and seven Apache helicopters crashed in two battles in an attack by the Chinese military, and the price of various weapons that were poured to deter the Chinese military was astronomical.


    However, the battle, which sacrificed two mechanized divisions and three squadrons of Chinese fighters, ended with writing another page of modern warfare.


    Having suffered a great defeat, China was no longer at the border.


    Instead, it had begun to strengthen its maritime power.


    It was an expression of his willingness to fight for revenge anywhere.


    The aftermath of the battle also caused a shuffle inside the military.


    Several were reced, including themander of the Western Front and themander of the South Sea Fleet.


    As if it was not enough, it made a fuss that it would temporarily hold an unscheduled National Congress.


    Originally, it was held once every five years, but it was held temporarily at the request of the Central Committee, but the timing was strange, drawing global attention.


    This was because the National Assembly was a very important voting body that decided the overall history of China, including the selection of the next top leaders to lead the country.


    So, it inevitably drew close attention of the globalmunity to whether there would be a new wind in China.


    Yeongho also ordered the Kazakh Navy to refrain from fighting at sea until the national congress was held.


    This was because the direction of war could also vary depending on which person became a central military member.


    He was also curious about what the oue would be.


    However, the armed struggle for independence continued in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.

 Chapter 738 - Cementing (1)

    <h4>Chapter 738: Cementing (1)</h4>


    Several Korean scientists living in Germany had asked for migration to Kazakhstan.


    Seeing the recent dispute with China, they wanted to offer a small helping hand to Kazakhstan.


    Originally, they were nning to go back to Korea, but were hesitant to return home due to cultural differences between Korean and Germany and decided to move to Kazakhstan.


    The reason why they decided toe to Kazakhstan was that they saw hope when Youngho, a Korean, joined Central Asia and expanded his reach to the Caucasus.


    Another reason was that the rtionship between Kazakhstan and Germany was stronger than other countries.


    They believed that if so many ethnicities lived well together without inconvenience in Kazakhstan, they would also adapt to Kazakhstan with ease.


    The scientists who were willing to settle down in Kazakhstan were distinguished in various fields, including new materials, physics, and chemistry.


    When Korean residents in Germany suddenly showed interest ining to Kazakhstan, Youngho asked the Intelligence Department to investigate them.


    Although they would be of great help, he did not understand why they were making such a choice to live in hardships. This was because Kazakhstan was not such an attractive ce for capable scientists who had been living well in an advanced country like Germany.


    ¡°Was Kazakhstan such a charming ce?¡±


    ¡°No brainer. Most immigrants think it has a huge potential to grow big. That¡¯s how those Korean German scientists feel, too. They said that they want to focus their capabilities on developing Kazakhstan, which is in its infancy.¡±


    Park Jong-il answered after finding out the purpose of the Korean German scientists.


    ¡°You said they were descendants of those who went to Germany as workers, right?¡±


    ¡°Listening to them, they suffered a lot in childhood. They said that they sent small sries to Korea and covered their school expenses with the money they worked part-time during weekends and holidays.¡±


    Their parents were miners and nurses, who were considered a lower ss in Germany. Because of their parents¡¯ hard work in a foreignnd Germany which was far away from home, they were able to study and make it as scientists.


    ¡°I heard that most of the first generation parents in Germany went back to Korea.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they went back home, but I think the second generation Koreans lived in Germany because it was their hometown.¡±


    The scientists who wanted toe to Kazakhstan were children of workers who went to Germany as miners or nurses in the 1960s.


    Miners and nurses who left for Germany in the early 1960s were in the middle ss or ss of literacy at that time.


    Even though anyone who had never crossed the school gate could dig inside a mine, anyone who was to go to Germany was demanded a minimum degree of education on the condition.


    The reason was that the Korean government wanted to present Korea as a highly educated country so as not to undermine its national prestige.


    It was like thest pride of an underdeveloped country.


    As a result, intelligent college graduates were registered to work as miners, and those who went out as workers borrowed money and wore suits and ties to get on the ne.


    Due to the economic conditions of Korea at that time, it was impossible for people to be educated in a secondary school if they were not rich or if they were very smart.


    It was almost a luxury for ordinary people who were busy filling their stomachs after the Korean War to send their children to school.


    Likewise, most nurses had well-off parents.


    At that time, women were considered overeducated even after they graduated from elementary school.


    Nurses with their own expertise in Korea which was underdeveloped at the time chose to go to Germany rather than stay, and going to Germany was like being chosen because not everyone was able to go abroad.


    Also, Korea¡¯s poor economic situation, in which people could not make money despite having expertise, drove them to Germany.


    If they could sacrifice themselves for the livelihood of their families, they were willing to work abroad.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to hear that people who have established their names in their field of career want toe, but I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll get used to this ce.¡±


    ¡°We have to treat them properly. Either give them a teaching position at the Royal College a research position at a research institute.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think of ways to apply their knowledge. It¡¯s a waste of time to leave world-ss schrs in schools and research institutes...¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t many students who are willing to learn from them, so that¡¯s a problem, too. The natural sciences aren¡¯t very popr.¡±


    As Kazakhstan was a developing country, people had a tendency to look down on basic science that did not seem to help real life directly. The people of Kazakhstan liked practicality, and even students majoring in rted studies did not like to learn basic science in depth as with only learning basic science could not keep up with advanced countries. Besides, it was the time of war against China, so who would care about basic science? It was a shame since such knowledge was the shortcut to bing an advanced country.


    ***


    The Arirang royal territory was busy preparing for the immigration of the Korean scientists from Germany for a while.


    The importance of the basic science field had been highlighted, and the heads of government research institutes had visited the royal territory for a while.


    Although it was chaotic in and out of the country, the atmosphere of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan was still dynamic.


    Conflicts with China never caused abnormalities in the function of the country or made everyday life ufortable.


    There was also a sense of security that it would not lead to an all-out war, and neither the royal family nor the government made much fuss.


    The country was able to deal with it as usual because it was always prepared for it.


    Meanwhile, armed independence struggles were still taking ce in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet, gunfire had stopped at the border of Kazakhstan and the Indian Ocean.


    The National People¡¯s Congress of the Communist Party of China was still going on, so Kazakhstan was still paying close attention to its results.


    The leaders of Kazakhstan were mapping out exit strategies in case newly elected Central Military Commission members were moderates, not close aides of the current Chinese regime.


    Military experts said that China¡¯s bid to target Central Asia would result in enormous sacrifices, as Kazakhstan would be impregnable if it blocked only a few border areas.


    That meant an all-out war was not easy.


    Even if troops climbed the Tian Shan Mountains breathlessly and crossed the border, all there would be waiting for them was death.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s national defense was strong and solid.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s military, which was thought to be weak, turned out to be a well-sharpened sword, had shocked the Chinese military.


    Not only that, but the Chinese government was also struggling in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.


    Although it was known that the number of Chinese soldiers and armed police deployed in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet would be higher than that of locals, they were still not preventing terrorism properly.


    For China, a more urgent task than fighting against Kazakhstan was to prevent independence struggles.


    At this rate, Tibetan and Uyghur independence would take ce with ease.


    The continuation of the war against Kazakhstan was unlikely for China.


    In the conference room of Kazakhstan¡¯s governmentplex, there was a war of words between the pro-war party, which wanted to continue this atmosphere, and the pro-peace party, which wanted to use China¡¯s internal situation to find an exit at an appropriate time.


    Youngho, who was watching the Cab members¡¯ opinions without saying anything, raised his hand to calm the crowd.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard your opinions well. I don¡¯t want to continue the war because I like war. Weunched excessive attacks on the sea to make China never look down on us again. So how did the resulte out? I think you¡¯ve seen China flinch.¡±


    It was an event that gave a lesson that attack was the best defense.


    Ministers were all silent because they were so well aware of that.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. If the war situation is favorable, would you cross the border?¡±


    It was a question from Cab members belonging to the pro-peace party.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to do anything that we can¡¯t handle. Beyond our borders are Uyghurs and Tibetans. What can we expect from them? I¡¯d like to help them achieve their independence, but our military will not cross the Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir teau.¡±


    If the regr forces crossed over and fought with the Chinese forces, it would imply an all-out war. Also, Youngho had no intention of taking over Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet¡¯s territory. He only needed them to stand alone and strong as a buffer zone between China and Kazakhstan.


    When it got quiet in the room, Youngho poured out his heart to Cab ministers without filtration.


    Emphasizing that it was time to go back to the original intentions, he persuaded them to keep pushing ahead again.


    He stressed that Kazakhstan was able to win consecutive victories not because it was strong, but because of China¡¯s pride only, and that Kazakhstan would be severely damaged if the fighting continued in the future.


    The reality was that China could fully digest a long-term war, with its size of troops and capital, but Kazakhstan could not.


    Now was the time to build up strength.


    In order to do so, the foundation should be strong and the whole society should be developed evenly.


    Only then could Kazakhstan ovee China.


    It must increase the poption, nurture talent, and foster the defense industry.


    He ended his speech by saying that now was an opportunity to narrow the gap with China when it is shaken by the trade war against the U.S.


    At the end of Youngho¡¯s talk, the ministers responded with a standing ovation.


    This was because they agreed to the criticism and order made by the Duke.


    Kazakhstan gained a lot from the recent conflict.


    It served as an asion for the people to unite as one, which was soon expressed in pride for the nation.


    That was the patriotism to take the lead in protecting the country.


    Patriotism soon emerged as a social order, and social order soon led to a mature civic consciousness.


    Mature civic awareness had also affected the entire industry.


    People recognized that working their best in their field was loving their country.


    It was shown by productivity improvement and product quality.


    Now, if it was made in Kazakhstan, it was recognized as a cheap and sturdy product by both Central Asian and Caucasian countries. The only problem was poor designs that were not aesthetic. However, if there was no inconvenience in daily life, such a level of the w could be ovee.


    Since when had Central Asia been such a rich ce?


    It was a ce where people would still have to live a nomadic life if there were no underground resources.


    In a way, it was no exaggeration to say that all this was due to China.


    People could stay alert because there was a strong enemy around.


    In order to continue such an atmosphere, reminding people of where Kazakhstan was located geopolitically was necessary.


    They had won only a few battles because if they got carried away with such pride, the country would be eaten by China someday.


    The only way out of China¡¯s direct threat was the independence of Uyghurs and Tibetans.

 Chapter 739 - Cementing (2)

    <h4>Chapter 739: Cementing (2)</h4>


    The Communist Party of China¡¯s National People¡¯s Congress announced its results both at home and abroad.


    More than half of the Central Military Commission members had been reced.


    On the surface, it looked like a big change, but that was not true on the inside.


    The foreign policy that came out of the meeting was to continue its stance so far, and the somewhat unfamiliar announcement that it would be a responsible member of the internationalmunity only drew attention.


    It was an indication that foreign policy would be somewhat more flexible from now on, but Western media were interpreting it as a remark with the trade war with the U.S. in mind.


    On the other hand, the Chinese government expressed its willingness to speed up the One Belt One Road business.


    But there was no mention of Kazakhstan, which was currently in dispute with the country.


    The Intelligence Department led by Park Jong-il interpreted the move as an attempt to maintain a hostile rtionship with Kazakhstan, which was a stumbling block to the business.


    Many interpretations were divided over this result, but the only conclusion that coulde out was that China would never change as long as the current regime was in power, which Youngho thought was a shame.


    Youngho had some hopes in the National People¡¯s Congress, but it seemed the Chinese government would remain arrogant. Moreover, it deliberately ignored the dispute with Kazakhstan and failed to make a single word about Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.


    If so, Youngho did not want to end it nicely either.


    ¡°Should we provide more firepower to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet?¡±


    Perhaps after reading Youngho¡¯s thoughts, Park Jong-il brought Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet out of nowhere.


    ¡°Yes, and I intend to start hunting the Chinese fleet again in the Indian Ocean.¡±


    ¡°When are you going to deploy the Royal Bodyguards and mercenaries?¡±


    ¡°The Royal Bodyguards will be sent at thest minute when either side¡¯s independence looks certain. Michael agreed that it¡¯s effective to send mercenaries in at the moment. The cost will be borne by the United States.¡±


    The subsidiary of Zeynep Security Service, the PMC, was apany that acted on behalf of war-rted affairs such as directbat, intelligence activities, logistical support, and military exercises. In one word, it was a modern version of a mercenary.


    Former Korean special forces were the main employees, and recently, Russian mafias joined.


    So far, it had been active in Syria and Afghanistan, starting with the U.S. military radar base in Greend.


    Rather than directbat, it had served as military support and protection for U.S. troops.


    It was funny, but the U.S. hired privatepanies to protect its soldiers. The reason was that it would cost too much if regr soldiers get hurt or killed, so it was using civilian-militarypanies to prevent them from getting hurt in nonbat tasks.


    It was a case in which a civilian-militarypany guarded regr soldiers, in a way, a very reasonable way of thinking. Nothing could be better than this as a way to maximizebat power in case of troop deployment to dangerous areas.


    In addition, the U.S. was actively utilizing the private militarypany to target certain regions as it could reduce the political burden.


    Likewise, from Kazakhstan¡¯s point of view, it was desirable to send a civilian-militarypany rather than to have a political burden by sending the Royal Bodyguards to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.


    That was why the Kazakh leadership wanted to send a civilian-militarypany to those ces.


    Kazakhstan seemed to be at war by making money because the U.S. CIA said it would pay for the cost.


    ***


    When Youngho called in Cha In-soo, who was in charge of Zeynep Security Service and its subsidiarypany, he hurriedly appeared in his office.


    The look on his face seemed to want to y on the battlefield at any moment, but Youngho drew the line quickly.


    ¡°Throw away the idea of crossing the Tian Shan Mountains in the first ce.¡±


    Cha In-soo flinched at Youngho¡¯s words.


    Then Park Jong-il, who was also expecting some fun, showed a long face.


    ¡°Are you saying we shouldn¡¯t even go watch how the militarypany soldiers fight in the field?¡±


    ¡°Are you in your 20s? How many kids do you have? And you still want to go to a ce like that? Besides, you¡¯re already busy ordering operations here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the mafia members would cause trouble.¡±


    Cha In-soo made ame excuse.


    Would not mafia soldiers know that they might die if they did not follow orders on the battlefield?


    They only became mercenaries to make money, but their own lives were precious to them as they were to other soldiers.


    ¡°Well, then we should take them out of this operation. If you think the soldiers who had been training so far are out of control, they¡¯re not qualified.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Cha In-soo groaned and buried his hips on the sofa.


    His desire to travel through the battlefield seemed to be strong.


    ¡°Though the mafia is rough...¡±


    In-soo admitted that the mafia soldiers were controble as opposed to what he just insisted.


    ¡°Do you still want to shoot that much? You are in your 40s.¡±


    ¡°Just know that my mind is always in my 20s. When I roll with the young trainees every day, my blood springs up.¡±


    Currently, there were more than 500 mercenaries belonging to the private militarypany run by Cha In-soo.


    The number included only regr employees. Thepany often hired temporary workers as needed, so it was easy to collect 1,000 people in a single phone call.


    In other words, there were many young people who wanted to work in private militarypanies. It was because if they suffered for a short while in a rough environment, they could easily make enough tost a year or two.


    Of course, they were making money on their life¡¯s security, but even temporary workers were treated properly by thepany, not considering them as bullet baits.


    ¡°First of all, we should send 200 people each to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I send temporary mercenaries?¡±


    It meant subcontracting to other private militarypanies.


    In-soo thought it was a waste to send his employees to a dangerous ce because he had put a lot of effort into training them.


    ¡°It¡¯s to help the independence movement. There is also a security reason. We might have spies or lose important information. We can outsourceter if everything¡¯s settled down.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the main mission?¡±


    ¡°Our priorities are logistical and intelligence jobs. If necessary, we can also take on military drills for local militia there.¡±


    He looked relieved to hear that his soldiers would not be participating in battles.


    However, it would not be so easy to carry out intelligence operations against the tight boundaries of the Chinese military and police.


    ***


    Although sending only 200 mercenaries in the wide Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet seemed to be hopeless, it was wrong to think so as the force of civilian-militarypany was unimaginable.


    It was because each mercenary was like a human that each mercenary unit could take down a squadron of the regr army. They were as strong as French Foreign Legion as most of whom were from special forces, and they had always remained at their best with constant training.


    They, whose bodies were property, used only state-of-the-art personal equipment.


    Their teamwork was also extraordinary because they were trained to trust theirrades to increase the survival rate.


    If one mercenary was assigned to a group of 20 local militiamen each, armed independence groups would be as good as having wings.


    Although the mission was limited to logistics and intelligence work, there were always variables in reality.


    There would always be obstacles along the way.


    Even if they wanted to supply weapons to the independence groups, they might have to fight against Chinese troops, which would greatly confuse the Chinese military.


    If an organization was stronger than the armed independence groups, would the Chinese military be able to deal with it?


    Armed fighting intensified in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet as In-soo¡¯s civilian-militarypany intervened and the supply line was open.


    Previously, supplies such as weapons were delivered to the armed forces in a pre-modern way, but now, groundbreaking transportation methods were mobilized when the civilian-militarypany joined.


    It used drones, light aircrafts, and sometimes they just dropped weapons from the sky using parachutes.


    In the process, some supplies were damaged or lost, but they did not even blink because of their abundant financial resources since the U.S. was paying for the whole cost.


    As the supply went smoothly, the morale of the local militias skyrocketed.


    The local fighters were inspired by the fact that Kazakhstan, which was the same ethnic group, and Western countries stepped up to help their independence.


    It was not a lonely struggle for independence, but an independence struggle supported by powerful countries.


    Hopes for independence were rising.


    As a result, there was a flood of people trying to enter the militia.


    Cha In-soo and Cho Chul-hwan asked to do military drills in Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur.


    It was difficult to digest the trainees in Afghanistan because there were more than thousands of applicants who wanted to join the militia.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you just teach them how to handle guns locally and give them executive training in Afghanistan?¡±


    ¡°Would a few months of executive training be enough? If we send inadequately trained soldiers, they¡¯ll have nothing but friction with local militias.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be better to have at least some executive training?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of training the local militia by the private militarypany. It¡¯s a bit of a burden to send the Royal Bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°Is there a good ce for training? They¡¯d have to have a ce to fire guns at least, but what if the Chinese military finds out?¡±


    ¡°They have to go into the depths of the Tian Shan Mountains. What other choice do they have? There should be a ce to use as a training ground in the huge mountain range.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s up to you. What are you going to do with the issue of integrating armed independence and armed groups?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been following well so far without any friction, so I don¡¯t want you to bother with it. Independencees first.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a very important matter. It can ruin everything at the veryst minute.¡±


    Uyghurs¡¯ armed independence forces had been operating separately by several groups.


    The problem was that extremely radical Imic forces were the main force, so they could be a problem in the future. Otherwise, it would be as if having potential terrorists on your side.

 Chapter 740 - Cementing (3)

    <h4>Chapter 740: Cementing (3)</h4>


    May¡¯s Tian Shan Mountains were only warm in the daytime and went below freezing point in the evening.


    A group of men who were climbing the mountain letting out white breaths in the cold hid themselves inside the woods at the hand signal of the leading guide.


    ¡°I think there are Chinese troops at the front.¡±


    ¡°Why are they roaming around in the mountains in this early morning?¡±


    The man who let out thement in frustration was none other than Cha In-soo.


    ¡°They probably are the search party looking for the militia training ground.¡±


    The young Uyghur man who was appointed as a guide of the group exined in his fumbling Kazakhnguage.


    Cha In-soo was on his way to visit the second Uyghur training camp out of ten.


    He nned on visiting the campgrounds as they were close to the Kyrgyz border, but the Chinese troops were searching for the militia training camp here again.


    So far, the training camps found by the Chinese troops were three.


    They were on a subjugation operation by finding the militia camps using a satellite and drones.


    Luckily, the second training camp could survive as it was located deeper in the mountains than other camps, but it was frustrating as there was no guarantee that it would not be found. In fact, it would be found soon if the Chinese military continued its subjugation operation.


    However, it was nonsense to abandon the camp, so the only way was to reduce the camp or train the militiamen quickly and send them out.


    ¡°How far are we from the camp?¡±


    ¡°We need to go at least for three more hours.¡±


    In-soo sighed to hear that he still had three hours to go even though his group set off early in the morning when it was still dark.


    In this difficult situation, the supply line would be hindered by the Chinese troops as well.


    His private militarypany was in charge of the logistics, training, and medical support for the Uyghur militias, but the task was not easy because of the tight security of the Chinese military and police.


    Using aircrafts and drones was not easy as before, so thepany gave money, instead of supplies, to the militias active in cities so that they could take care of needed supplies on their own.


    ¡°Team leader Pyeon! We can¡¯t help it anymore. Get rid of them now!¡±


    In-soo ordered Pyeon Sung-hwan to get rid of the Chinese search party ahead, who was the security team leader set off together from Kazakhstan, the Uyghur militia guide stopped him in rm.


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that, President, or the Chinese military will focus on subjugating this area. Then it will only be a matter of time until the second camp will be revealed.¡±


    ¡°They will soon find it anyway. It¡¯s best to bring the news to the camp as soon as possible after getting rid of them now.¡±


    After a moment, a few mercenaries with guns equipped with silencers ran toward the troops in the distance. Some dull noise continued for a while, and the team leader Pyeon waved from afar signaling that everything was taken care of.


    Cha In-soo, who arrived at the scene after a moment, asked.


    ¡°Is it a regr army force?¡±


    ¡°Judging from their attire, they seem to be armed policemen. There were 14 in total.¡±


    ¡°There must be more around in the search party. Let¡¯s get out of here fast. Call the camp with the satellite phone and tell them to prepare for pull out.¡±


    The armed policemen had camping equipment as if they had been searching for days in the mountains. It meant arge-scale search was being carried out possibly knowing that the second camp was around the area.


    This could mean that some militiamen who were trained in the second camp leaked the location after being caught and tortured.


    ¡°President, the second camp said that it¡¯s already preparing to pull out judging that the ce is already exposed. They are getting ready to go to the fourth campsite. I think we should join the second camp first and move together.¡±


    It seemed the second camp had not been negligent on their guarding duty.


    In-soo frowned to think that he would be roaming around the mountains for several more days.


    ¡®I should¡¯ve listened to Youngho.¡¯


    He insisted on visiting the camps against Youngho¡¯s earful.


    The third camp had already been exposed, so their next destination was the fourth camp. It was unknown what was ahead on the way to the fourth camp either.


    ***


    The fourth training camp they met after camping outside for the past four days was an impregnable fortress.


    It was a natural-born fortress with t areas despite its location in the deep mountains, and the huge rocks and trees that stood as if they were going to poke the sky hid the site from being discovered from the sky.


    It was crowded with the joining of the trainees from the second camp, but the wide site was more than enough to handle hundreds of men.


    The soldiers from the second camp were relieved to have arrived at a safer ce.


    Although they hastily pulled out of the camp as if they were being chased, no one was sacrificed along the way, thanks to the great drill instructors.


    They met Chinese troops and armed policemen a few times, but the instructors took them down with ease every time.


    The Chinese forces had been a wall that could never be climbed to the Uyghur militias so far but seeing how easily they were defeated brought hope to them, which soon turned into high morale.


    If they could be trained by such instructors, they would not have to worry about fighting against Chinese forces.


    Their trip to the fourth camp slowly turned into going on a pic from a panic.


    Although they were tired from days of camping out, they looked around the new camp here and there excitedly.


    Their eyes were full of pride as they joined the militia dreaming of independence, abandoning their professions.


    Cha In-soo was also exhausted but was lifted up because of the vital atmosphere of the camp.


    Although he was in his 40s, he was able to travel with young soldiers since he had been training everyday with young mercenaries and security guards, which he was thankful of because he would have been a burden to all if he had not.


    ¡°President, you could go take some rest in the lodging. You must be tired.¡±


    Worried about In-soo¡¯s age, team leader Pyeon Sung-hwan asked him to rest.


    ¡°Oh, you think I¡¯m physically behind you, team leader Pyeon?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, but you should save some strength to go back to Kazakhstan. The returning trip won¡¯t be easy either.¡±


    ¡°Will it be as difficult as this pull out mission?¡±


    The Chinese government was bent over backwards to root out the militias judging that the increased number of militia forces and their improved armament level was due to the help of outside forces. The only way was to find their training camps in the mountains and destroy them.


    On top of that, even Uyghur civilians were helping the militias, so it was arresting any suspicious people and torturing them.


    It was a warning to all not to help the militia activities, but the Uyghurs were not afraid of the suppression of the Chinese government.


    Rather, they were proud to be prisoned for the independence movement.


    The high-handed policy was making them more united, so the Chinese government soon had to change its policy to appeasement, but such a shallow strategy could not turn back the Uyghurs¡¯ hearts.


    Such a phenomenon was not only happening in Xinjiang Uyghur but also in Tibet.


    Independence movement was stronger than ever under the help of Kazakhstan.


    ***


    Not returning to Kazakhstan right away, Cha In-soo nned to look around the rest of the surviving camps in Xinjiang Uyghur and the training camps in Tibet, too.


    Any underlying problems of the camps could not be resolved quickly if he was sitting at his desk in his office.


    He knew that the answers were always found at the scene.


    Pyeon Sung-hwan¡¯s face almost turned teary at Cha In-soo¡¯s words.


    The trip was supposed to end after visiting one campsite, so he came to guard Cha In-soo with his team members without thinking too much.


    However, on the first day of the trip, he had to facebat with Chinese armed police.


    He went through the trouble of pulling out with the trainees at the second camp and traveling to the fourth camp, but it was daunting to think that he would have to travel to Tibet going through the same trouble.


    ¡°President, the Chinese forces¡¯ vignce is too tight. We don¡¯t even have a transportational means to get there.¡±


    ¡°There are several training camps down the mountains. We will stop by each of them to see how things are running, what¡¯s the problem? We will hunt down some enemies who stick out on the way.¡±


    ¡°President! You said we will be back after visiting the second camp. If we dy your return, ourpany¡¯s work will be dyed, too. His Highness will also be worried greatly if you don¡¯te in time.¡±


    Team leader Pyeon made Youngho as an excuse thinking that In-soo would budge since even though they were close friends, they were officially in a hierarchic rtionship when it came to work.


    ¡°To His Highness, I will have to make a personal call. Now is not the time to go back to the royal territory and think of the situation in a leisurely manner.¡±


    ¡°But you need to go back and be in charge of the logistics task...¡±


    ¡°Thepany is running well without me. I¡¯m checking it in real-time. What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I also have a lot to do. We need to supply things in time from the rear side in order to reduce the sacrifice of the militias.¡±


    ¡°Oh, did you follow me in a breath when I said I¡¯m going on a business trip even though you were that busy?¡±


    Pyeon had to give in as no excuse worked on Cha In-soo.


    ¡°Just know that I asked you to return. I¡¯ll report this to His Highness and the Intelligence Chief as soon as we get back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do you want to take over my position?¡±


    ¡°Well, of course, but would His Highness give me that spot so easily?¡±


    The two had been working together since the beginning of the Arirang royal territory, so they were good friends, not to mention, as they had the same background of Korean Naval Special Forces, they had a lot inmon.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to give all you got to get this position. Go tter His Highness more, alright?¡±


    Pyeon shook his head as a sign of giving up.


    On the other hand, In-soo¡¯s mind was busy.


    Since many training camps had been found by the Chinese forces, he needed toe out with a measure quickly not to lose the hard-earned momentum of the independence struggle in Xinjiang Uyghur.


    Finding a solution was the priority.


    ¡°It will be overwhelming to get to Tibet with our team only. I¡¯d like to reinforce the team.¡±


    ¡°The training camps arebined, so there should be some instructors avable. Recruit some of them. Let¡¯s stir some things up on the way to Tibet.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Team leader Pyeon, you also said you were sick of the desk job. Why don¡¯t you show off some skills that you¡¯ve been training hard for?¡±


    ¡°Oh, when have I ever trained? Look at my belly that¡¯s been growing while working at the desk.¡±


    ¡°You worked out hard before the trip.¡±


    ¡°Does working out for a few days count?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a crying baby and schedule our trip. Think about where to shake to scare the Chinese troops. I need to give a little help to the militias on the way down.¡±

 Chapter 741 - Cementing (4)

    <h4>Chapter 741: Cementing (4)</h4>


    Cha In-soo and the security guard team could get out of Xinjiang Uyghur after visiting a training camp in Tarim Basin at the end and could rest at the Tibetan training camp in the Kunlun Mountains, Tibet, which was near the Pamir teau.


    While traveling to Tibet, they conducted some operations, such as attacking the oil field near the Tamakan, to turn the eyes of Chinese forces from tracking down Uyghur camps.


    When the oil field was attacked, the Chinese government¡¯s operation to root out Uyghur militias seemed to flinch, but it was only for a moment.


    The battle between the Chinese forces and the militias continued without ceasing.


    The militias used to be busy running away from the Chinese forces before, but they now showed bold moves like attacking battalion-size troops unhesitatingly, which startled the Chinese side. Not only that, but they also showed strategies and firepower equal to that of a regr army.


    No matter how many troops were mobilized, it was difficult to root out the militias appearing and vanishing out of nowhere in the mountains with their guerri warfare.


    The performance of Tibetan armed militias was no less than that of the Uyghur militias.


    They were ying the Chinese forces that were not yet adapted to the environment of the hignds with their guerri warfare.


    Moreover, with the joining of Cha In-soo¡¯s private militarypany¡¯s mercenaries, they were winning against the Chinese forces.


    Originally, the mercenaries were to be in charge of the logistics only, but they soon became in charge of training the militias, but now their scope of activities was expanded to directly participating in battles.


    It was because the local militias they trained were greatly defeated initially, so they had to step forward to show how everything was done.


    When the warriors that were specially trained joined, victories from here and there began to be shouted out though they were small-scale battles.


    The most outstanding ce was the Southwestern Tibet.


    It was where so many people were sacrificed from the end of the ¡¯50s and the beginning of the ¡¯60s due to public uprising.


    As the voluntary militias there were highly motivated, they performed amazingly when weapons and training were given. They attacked the Chinese troops and police without fear to repay the past sufferings.


    It seemed Tibetans had beenpliant with the Chinese government¡¯s policies, but it turned out they were more fierce than the Uyghur militias.


    Since the armed struggles began, there had been many casualties from the Chinese side as well as the militias¡¯ side.


    It was indeed overwhelming to fight against the forces of the Chinese Army with the militias who only trained for a week or two.


    Nheless, the reason that they were able to fight equally against the enemy was their will of freedom that did not fear death.


    They felt ashamed that they bowed down to the Chinese government¡¯s oppression for the past 60 years. As the Western countries and Kazakhstan were fully supporting them, it was theirst chance to be independent.


    Their identity as a nation was bing unclear. As they would have to live as Chinese forever at this rate, they were fighting viciously.


    ¡°It looks like the sacrifice of the militiamen is too much. Aren¡¯t they overdoing it?¡±


    Although no battle could end with zero casualties, Cha In-soo wanted the militiamen to do it moderately as it was such a waste to lose men who could use weapons.


    The already outnumbered militiamen were decreasing and the gap was getting bigger.


    ¡°No matter how much we warn them, they be reckless when in battle. When theirrades are down or killed, they rush to the enemy without hesitating.¡±


    The employee of Cha In-soo¡¯s militarypany shook his head as he exined.


    Despite their short training period, their will was stronger than any other regr soldiers.


    Their reckless and daredevil-like attacks were able to intimidate the Chinese troops so far.


    ¡°What about their families? They will me us to have overly driven them when they¡¯re dead.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. There had been women volunteers who applied to be a militia to avenge their rtives. They don¡¯t me us.¡±


    ¡°Even women are applying?¡±


    ¡°Their number is increasing, so many people are applying that we gotints from the farming industry that there are not enough left to farm. In rural areas, people don¡¯t even have enough food to get by. I think we should supply evenbat rations.¡±


    ¡°Did you request assistance from the headquarters?¡±


    ¡°They said they sent a ne, but the quantity won¡¯t be enough. They can only send so much by a propeller ne.¡±


    It was a lean year in Tibetst year, Tibetans were suffering poverty as the Chinese government did not provide food supplies. Moreover, Chinese troops were even intentionally burning crops.


    It was intended to stop food supplies to the militias, but it became a crucial reason that allowed Tibetans to turn their backs on China.


    ***


    ¡°Man, is this dude determined to live in Tibet forever? And why is he asking to send so manybat rations?¡±


    Youngho, who was reading thebat ration request lifted his head.


    ¡°I told you not to let him go alone. You thought In-soo woulde back soon as it was nned with his personality? If I were with him, I would¡¯ve dragged In-soo back home after spending a reasonable time looking around.¡±


    Park Jong-il had a long face as he also wanted to go with In-soo from the first ce.


    ¡°Oh, I doubt that. You two think you are still in your 20s, but just know that you¡¯d be a burden to the young people.¡±


    As Youngho snapped, Jong-il changed the subject.


    ¡°So, what do we do with the starving people from the shortage of food? Shouldn¡¯t we inform the global society and get assistance?¡±


    ¡°Who will step up freely? Everyone¡¯s afraid of losing China¡¯s favor.¡±


    The U.S. was giving financial aid only, but it was hard to expect Europe¡¯s participation in the independence of Uyghurs or Tibetans. It was because there would be economic damage if countries lostmerce with China.


    ¡°They won¡¯t get anything when the Uyghurs and Tibetans be independent in the future.¡±


    Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet had abundant underground resources, so if they became independent, many countries would be interested in them.


    ¡°That¡¯s forter. First, find a way to sendbat food. Get help from the US CIA if you can.¡±


    ¡°The US CIA only needs to pay. We¡¯ve got enough quantity here.¡±


    ¡°There would be too much loss if we send them by ne.¡±


    nes were under anti-aircrafts guns, and many times, supplies were damaged and lost.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to mobilize nomadic people. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°How much can the nomads carry? Also, would Chinese troops overlook them?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been able to keep our exchanges with the local militias because of the nomadic people who were adapted to the alpine region. Besides, neither the Chinese troops know the routes that are used by the nomads nor they were essible by vehicles. It¡¯s hard to even breathe, so how can the Chinese troops endure it?¡±


    Most of the Tibetan territory was not developed and many of them were uninhabitable.


    Two-thirds of the territory had an elevation of 4500 meters, so even the oxygen was thin.


    Nomadic people who had adapted to living in such sterile areas still lived grazing their livestock. Tibet was a hard ce to be active for people who had not been adapted to the alpine region.


    It seemed possible to use the nomadic people for logistical reasons.


    ¡°Can they digest the amount needed for Tibetans?¡±


    ¡°If we give enough money, we¡¯d be more than wee. We¡¯ll at least have to try.¡±


    ¡°Then we can also utilize the nomadic people around Xinjiang Uyghur as well.¡±


    ¡°If we have sess in Tibet, we shall do that.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯m going to operate thebat ration factories all over the country at their full capacity, and you can recruit nomadic people to be in charge of logistics.¡±


    Regardless of the quantity of the supplies, it was a job to give hope to Tibetans and to show a willingness to help them until they achieved independence. It was an encouragement reward.


    ***


    It was decided that the supplies and food would be moved by the nomadic people.


    Although not arge quantity was transported at a time, when they were supplied to Tibet through the Pamir teau, Tajikistan, it allowed a breathing room for the people, giving them hope.


    Such hope soon turned into anger toward the Chinese government.


    It was because a rumor was spread that the Chinese government was nning to wipe out Tibetans. It was because it had burned Tibetan crops, which was a huge mistake.


    Then the world media began criticizing its inhumane conduct, saying that it was the holocaust of the 21st century.


    Regardless of independence, as Tibetan people who were struggling with a shortage of food, all joined the protest against China.


    As a result, a suicide bombing terrorism urred. Some people chose death over ethnic annihtion.


    On the other hand, Chinese who had been dominating markets in Tibet were suffering, too.


    Violence against the Chinese in the streets continued and the stores and restaurants run by Chinese were frequently burned down.


    The rage of Tibetans was going extremes and out of control.


    This movement was soon spread to ethnic minority groups in Western China.


    Although they were minor ethnic groups, they were more than Uyghurs or Tibetans in number.


    As minor ethnic people acted out, the Chinese government was embarrassed.


    They had been thought to have been assimted into the Chinese culture, but it was not true.


    They were forced to adapt to Han people¡¯s culture under the disguise of the government¡¯s positive discrimination policy.


    It was good news to Youngho because when the Chinese government¡¯s focus was divided, the independence struggles in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibetan would not be as difficult as before.


    However, the problem was that the method of the independence struggle was corrupted.


    Youngho and Park Jong-il was contemting over the issue of terrorism.


    ¡°We should refrain from terrorism as much as possible if we want to be recognized by the globalmunity... At this rate, they¡¯d be treated as radical Imists or Buddhists.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing like terrorism to let the world know China¡¯s ethnic obliterate policy. They¡¯re only doing this against the Chinese military and police, so that¡¯s a relief.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t allow any terrorism against civilians.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They¡¯re acting rationally at least for now.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think the situation is ripe. Consider sending the Royal Bodyguards there.¡±


    ¡°We should disguise them as mercenaries, right?¡±

 Chapter 742 - The Private Military Company (1)

    <h4>Chapter 742: The Private Military Company (1)</h4>


    Although there had been small and big gunfights at the border between Kazakhstan and China, the morale of the army in charge of defense remained as high as the beginning.


    The shoot-outs these days were intended to disturb the Chinese side by provoking the military in order to send supplies to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.


    The soldiers had been cooperating well as the independence of Uyghurs and Tibetans were directly rted to the future of Kazakhstan.


    They were tired as the tension was prolonged, but they knew that it was not going to expand to an all-out war.


    As themanders of the army did not conduct unreasonable operations and having such trust directly contributed to the soldiers¡¯ high morale and pride.


    With suchbined factors, the Kazakh Army could stay fierce and proactive.


    The Chinese military reinforced its guard at the border region, its attention was divided as the Kazakh military provoked it here and there. As a result, it was not aware of the supply line carried out by the local nomadic people.


    Even if it did, it was hard to grasp the traffic lines of the nomads as they freely traveled through alpine regions. It was because there were not many Chinese troops who could guard such a region when it was even difficult to breathe.


    Even so, without heavy weapons, militias¡¯ performance against Chinese troops had limits, and they could not fully corner the Chinese side.


    As it seemed to be the right timing, Youngho decided to send the Royal Bodyguards disguised as mercenaries.


    At the same time, Cha In-soo¡¯s private militarypany also requested mercenary deployment to private militarypanies in different countries.


    The first country to respond was the UK.


    Kazakhstan once helped the UK to move the British Army stationed in Germany was about to be disorganized and to repay for the past assistance, it introduced Gurkhas in Nepal.


    Gurkhas were a Mongolian minority tribe living in the mountains of central and western Nepal, and Gurkha mercenaries referred to those from this tribe.


    Gurkha mercenaries were currently serving as mercenaries in India, Brunei, Singapore, and Mysia, as well as Britain, with their uniquebat power, bravery, and excellent physical conditions such as lung capacity from living in alpine regions.


    In particr, there were about 3,000 Gurkha mercenaries who were active in the UK, and they were so active that they were responsible for a certain portion of the British Army¡¯s force.


    The British Army¡¯s selection criteria were based on a difficult test in which applicants were required to get through 5 kilometers in the Himyan mountainous region within an hour while carrying a 25-kilogram pile of stones.


    In Singapore, there was also a separate organization called the Gurkha Police Force.


    About 1,800 Gurkhas were dedicated to special security and private security as well as anti-terrorism missions, and Singapore was picking second-highest-ranking officials who did not pass the British military¡¯s enlistment test.


    They could be hired as Singaporean police officers after receiving high-level special training and passing a review of their dedication and job suitability.


    As such, Gurkha mercenaries were gaining poprity in each country, and it was proof of their bravery.


    Cha In-soo, who had returned from Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet, visited Nepal to recruit Gurkha mercenaries.


    Despite having to digest the tight schedule of traveling to such ces, he did not seem tired at all.


    ¡°How can you be so energetic? What have you been eating?¡±


    ¡°I dug and ate some wild ginseng in the Tian Shan Mountains, and now I¡¯m full of energy. Why do you ask?¡±


    Park Jong-il, who could not apany In-soo on the visit to the Uyghur camps, smacked his lips as if he was jealous.


    ¡°Man, you didn¡¯t go to look after the training camps but to collect mountain herbs.¡±


    ¡°Dude, I suffered so much camping out in the mountains and fighting against Chinese troops. I should have something in return at least. You¡¯ll see if you spend some time in the Tian Shan Mountains.


    ¡°I can only go when someone sends me. I feel like getting sick spending so much time at the desk.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be such a cry baby. I almost died!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. By the way, how many Gurkha mercenaries can we bring?¡±


    Youngho interrupted their conversation.


    ¡°If randomly recruited, we can bring about 300. Good ones don¡¯t even consider us since they¡¯re going to join the British Army.¡±


    ¡°Randomly picked? That means they¡¯re not good enough.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a little difference. All of them have been training their bodies for long in order to be mercenaries.¡±


    As they could make money to live in Nepal for the rest of their lives if they worked as mercenaries for several years, Gurkha boys prepared themselves to be mercenaries from their teenage years.


    Also, young Gurkha men worked hard to enter the British Army because they were guaranteed pension even after they were discharged once they entered the army.


    ¡°But it means they fall short of the recruitment standard of the British Army. How are theypared to the Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°Their shooting skills or operational skills mayg behind, but their physical and mental capacities should be ahead of the royal guards.¡±


    ¡°Then the guerri warfare must be perfect for them. If they¡¯re loosened in Tibet, the Chinese troops will be frightened.¡±


    Park Jong-il exined how good the Gurkha mercenaries were at guerri warfare in length.


    ¡°But still, bullets don¡¯t discriminate.¡±


    Even the bravest warriors could not avoid bullets.


    Each would have to be trained to use all kinds of guns and learn the concept of operations in order to be reborn as real warriors.


    ¡°Let¡¯s decide to hire them. It¡¯s hard to find warriors like them.¡±


    ***


    Following the Gurkhas, leading militarypanies ckwater and Sandline showed interest in participating in the independence struggle of Uyghurs and Tibetans.


    The fact that private militarypanies showed an intention to enter the war meant that there was a chance of winning in the independence struggle.


    Although they seemed to bepanies only chasing money, they cared about causes and rarely participated in battles that did not have a chance of winning, especially when fighting against regr armies with remarkably stronger firepower.


    Generally, suchpanies only entered unofficial wars.


    Despite this, the reason that they wanted to join was that the Kazakh government was behind it.


    Each country viewed that Kazakhstan would not be the only country supporting the independence of Uyghurs and Tibetans.


    It was impossible if it was not discussed with the U.S or Russia, or there might be a hidden variable tobat China.


    The American militarypany, ckwater, was especially hoping to enter the war in the Tibetan region as it was already going to enter the civil war in Afghanistan instead of the U.S. Army.


    ¡°Is it true that ckwater is stronger than the U.S. Army?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s tricky. How can a privatepany be bigger than the regr army? But it¡¯s military experts¡¯ diagnosis that it has enough capacity to carry a small-scale unofficial war. You can say it¡¯s the world¡¯s most powerful private militarypany.¡±


    Youngho asked the question because ckwater offered to carry out an anti-rebel operation in Afghanistan instead of the U.S. Army.


    As the U.S. Army was spending so much in Afghanistan, it was positively considering it when a private militarypany wanted to take over its job.


    The U.S. was in Afghanistan to preupy Afghanistan¡¯s underground resources and to stop China¡¯s advance in Afghanistan.


    ¡°How is thepanypared to our Royal Bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°Of course, our guards are far ahead in terms of its firepower and warpetency, but why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°The U.S. administration is looking into deploying a private militarypany now. I was wondering if we can take that job.¡±


    The forces of the Royal Bodyguards were too precious to send to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. Thus, it was better to let the mercenaries take care of the independence struggle and send the royal guards for the anti-rebel operation in Afghanistan.


    Since the Royal Bodyguards were operating in Afghanistan at the moment, if they were disguised as a privatepany, it would also be highly profitable.


    ¡°We are getting money from the U.S. government for their presence there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the least amount the U.S. gives to its ally.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m intrigued. If we offer a lower price than the Americanpany, we might have a chance.¡±


    Park Jong-il immediately understood Youngho¡¯s intention.


    The Royal Bodyguards were already deployed in Afghanistan, and they could not be pulled out even to preupy the country¡¯s underground resources.


    If so, it would be a win-win for both countries if the royal guards could be utilized to their maximum. As they were not technically a regr army, there was no huge political burden either.


    Even for the U.S. government, it would be a relief to lean on the Kazakh Royal Bodyguards than on a privatepany with risks.


    ¡°The Americanpany would¡¯ve lobbied the U.S. administration already. Will it give it to us so easily?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to grill Michael. It¡¯s going to be hard for him to refuse since he¡¯s had so many free rides on us.¡±


    Although Youngho had pulled him in for he needed the U.S. backup, it was his regard that the U.S. CIA was able to participate in the peace process of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the independence struggle of Uyghurs and Tibetans.


    ¡°Should I go to the U.S.?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you? You never volunteer.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look good if the Duke of Kazakhstan moves. The Americanpany will also be on its edge.¡±


    ¡°It could¡¯ve been already confirmed. I hope we¡¯re not doing this for nothing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually better. What is it going to say if we insist on dividing the area? Or we can say that we¡¯ll pull out from Afghanistan.¡±


    Youngho, who was the Duke of Kazakhstan, could not obstinately ask for the impossible for his face, but Jong-il would do anything to get his way.


    It was because he would be going as a working-level negotiator.


    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll get to see your masterpiece again, Jong-il.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try to call Michael, alright? Or, he will try to do some tricks on you and wiggle his way out of it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a piggyback ride if you beat him this time.¡±


    The U.S. military spent about 50 billion dors a year in Afghanistan.


    If Kazakhstan could get one-fifth of that amount, it could buy about 60test fighter jets, which would make the Kazakh Air Force an impregnable force.


    With such calction in mind, Youngho smiled contentedly, and Jong-il tilted his head.


    ¡°What¡¯s that face? Why do you look so evil?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think ofing back to Kazakhstan when you go to the U.S. this time without any fruits, or you can even steal some fighters on the way.¡±


    Park Jong-il clicked his tongue to Youngho¡¯s absurdity.


    ¡°You are blinded by money, and now the independence of Uyghur and Tibet is on the back burner.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m going to drive the Afghan rebels to China. Then the independence of Uygurs and Tibetans will be put forward.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? Then we should convince the U.S. administration with that.¡±


    It would be weed by the U.S. if a Kazakh militarypany operated in Afghanistan since the U.S. could support Tibet without trouble.


    It was also killing two birds with one stone as it cost less.


    The U.S., which always put its national interest first, would not refuse such an opportunity.


    ¡°Anyway, get some more information on thispany called ckwater. See which politicians it is rted to. If they are tycoons, see if they have personal corruption. You can also draw them to our side using that as bait.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t even have to take that difficult route. If everything¡¯s already confirmed, we will lobby to divide the area. There won¡¯t be any good for us by stirring up the American political circle.¡±


    ¡°You can decide that on your own. Just make it happen no matter what.¡±

 Chapter 743 - The Private Military Company (2)

    <h4>Chapter 743: The Private Military Company (2)</h4>


    The Royal Bodyguards were originally nned to be deployed to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet, but it was on hold, as it would be sent to Afghanistan only.


    It was not a problem because mercenarypanies offered to help.


    When the American and British militarypanies joined, apany from afar in South Africa showed interest in participating in the war as well.


    It was good news. It would be a burden to send the Royal Bodyguards, and if it was exposed, Kazakhstan would have to face an all-out war.


    Of course, Kazakhstan had already crossed the line, but officially, it was only supporting the militias who were fighting for independence, not directly participating in it.


    China was pressuring Kazakhstan, saying that it would take a special measure if it got involved in the independence struggle, but the Kazakh government maintained its stance that there was no problem for a democratic country giving humanitarian aid to a group of people through a private means.


    Even so, it did not forget to reinforce its border to prepare for any unexpected military action from China.


    The independent struggle in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet temporarily came to a state of a lull.


    It was because the militias¡¯ fatigue was high and troop supply and demand were not going smooth, so it was a temporary time to catch a breath.


    Militias¡¯ activities were reduced, but the anti-Chinese struggle among the civilians was intensified.


    Spontaneously formed student forces frequently burned Chinese stores and bothered Chinese people.


    Such activities were a warning for the Chinese to leave theirnd.


    Not only student forces but also religious people and other civilians began to be involved.


    Religious people did not directly involve in the independence struggle but helped the fighters by providing medical treatment or hiding ces for them.


    As for civilians, they provided food and supplies to the militias out of their own pockets.


    When the independence forces grew big with all kinds of help from civilians, the Chinese government could not keep its high-handed policy. If it did not, it would have to persecute and imprison all civilians, and inevitably, there would be a huge bloodbath.


    This would iste the Chinese government from global society.


    It was in the position to allow the independence of Uyghurs and Tibetans in order to make apromise with the global society.


    Chian, which had to think about the worst, was caught in the middle of a dilemma.


    Mercenaries from private militarypanies were continually being deployed to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. 1,000 mercenaries were already waiting at the main footholds for the D-day.


    The Gurkha mercenaries were being trained in Afghanistan waiting to be deployed to Tibet.


    There would be an operation soon in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. It was to capture a foothold city in each region to make them as outposts.


    Only then could military supplies be supplied using sky ornd routes.


    Capturing foothold cities had a great meaning, which could be a watershed of the independence struggle.


    The militias would have hope by securing stable bridgeheads, and the civilians would have an opportunity to live freely and autonomously away from the rule of the Chinese government.


    Having experienced such sweet freedom, the civilians of both regions would stand up again against themunist government even if they were defeated this time.


    As a matter of fact, it was taking over a foothold city that brought a chance to win independence or rebel forces historically.


    That was why Youngho nned on taking over cities.


    ¡°Use all the firepower we¡¯ve got and supply unmanned attack aircrafts, too.¡±


    ¡°If the cities are captured, the Chinese military will attack with its full force... Then only the civilians will be harmed.¡±


    Cha In-soo was worried about the civilians of each region.


    However, there was no way to evacuate them before the operation, or it would be exposed to the Chinese forces.


    ¡°Well, what can we do? We need to push it even if we have to sacrifice. The only way to shake China is to secure cities.¡±


    The Chinese military would not be able to perform arge-scale attack if cities were taken. It was because it could notunch missiles or shells to popted cities just to catch militias.


    If it was not determined to fight against the global society, it would have to reduce its options.


    There were already frence war correspondents in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet.


    They came in through the routes used by the nomadic people and were busily reporting the situation.


    The Chinese government, which was pushing One Belt One Road project, would not be able to choose to be isted in the world.


    ***


    The operation to capture foothold cities was a huge sess.


    Most of the Chinese troops were deployed in valleys and rural areas where militias were active, there were only little forces left in cities where rear headquarters were located.


    The Chinese military was caught off guard.


    It took only three days to take over each foothold city using a full force and heavy firearms.


    It was only possible because it was so unexpected.


    The militias so far fought with small-scale terrorist attacks such as burning buildings and bombing, so the Chinese government did not see that they would try to take over a whole city.


    It was an all-out attack before Chinese troops could arrive from other parts of the regions.


    The Uyghur city captured was Kashgar, an oasis city, near the Kazakh border.


    It was blocked by Tian Shan Mountains above and the Kunlun Mountains below. To its east was Tamakan Desert and to its west was the Pamir teau.


    It was a fortress from all sides.


    Because of this geopolitical position, it was an area where people continuously suffered from outside forces historically.


    Consequently, Uyghurs in this area were known for their fierce temperament.


    Kashgar was called home to all Uyghurs as it was a sacred ce for them. It was because there was Id Kah Mosque, the biggest mosque of Uyghurs.


    On every Friday, Muslims all over Xinjiang Uyghur gathered at the courtyard of Id Kah Mosque.


    Since such a ce was taken over by the Uyghur militias and mercenaries, the Chinese government became anxious.


    Since there were about five million Uyghurs living in Kashgar, it would definitely be a base for their independence struggle.


    This meant that half of the Uyghurs would be the forces of the militia.


    Ngari Prefecture, a western region of Tibet was also captured this time. It was located between the Kunlun Mountains and the Indian border.


    It was not a city, but as it bordered India, it was not easy for the Chinese military to sendrge-scale troops.


    If Tibet was said to be the roof of the world, Ngari Prefecture could be called the top of the roof with its high altitude.


    With an average altitude of 4,500 meters, it was not a desirable ce to travel even for many Tibetans, but the Gurkha mercenaries from Nepal had conquered the ce.


    It was not difficult as there were not a lot of Chinese troops in this region anyway.


    This was a ce where the ancient kingdom of Guge was, and it had Mount Kash and Lake Manasarovar which were sacred ces of pilgrimage formas and Hindus.


    It only had a poption of 100,000 people, but it had its significance. It was because it was even possible to get Indian government¡¯s help if the independence struggle was based on this ce.


    The mercenaries and militias of Uyghur and Tibet, who secured a foothold in each region, began preparing for a long-term war by establishing and strengthening defense positions.


    The Chinese military would soon carry outrge-scale attacks to retrieve the areas.


    It was a must for China since more Uyghurs and Tibetans would gather and could permanently im the areas as time went by.


    That was not the only concern China had.


    The two areas each adjoined the Kazakh border and the Indian border, which meant it was easy to transport supplies.


    Soon, China¡¯s concern became a reality.


    As prepared, the Kazakh military was sending conventional weapons from the Soviet time to the two areas through the two border areas.


    From cannons to multiple rocketunchers and armored vehicles were being sent in sequence.


    The militias, who had been fighting with personal weapons only, fought more vigorously as such weapons were given, and they now wanted to expand their area of activity to the east. It was to cut off the Chinese military¡¯s entry to the area to pin down the front line.


    The Kazakh military, on the other side, fully supported their struggle by letting out all the weapons from the Soviet era that had been idle in the warehouse and by recruiting more militias.


    The area of Kashgar captured this time was upied by five million Uyghurs, so it was easy to reinforce necessary troops.


    Further, Uyghurs from other regions came to Kashgar upon hearing the region was now under the control of the independence forces.


    The migration line of Uyghurs, who were trying to reach Kashgar avoiding China¡¯s watch, was endless.


    ¡°Your Highness, we¡¯ve used all of the Soviet weapons now. Can we send thetest style weapons?¡±


    These days, Youngho had been staying in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to do administrative work.


    It was because the independence struggle in Uyghur and Tibet came to a turning point.


    Youngho was discussing pending issues with Prime Minister Kasim in his office.


    ¡°Do you think the militias can handle new types of weapons?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking of providing them to the mercenaries. They¡¯d be able to effectively utilize them.¡±


    If they were armed with thetest weapons, they could fight equally with the Chinese military with simr firepower.


    Conventional Soviet weapons were suitable for the militias, whose training period was only a few weeks, but the mercenaries who received special training could handle any type of weapons.


    ¡°Then provide unlimited supplies. We can get aid from the U.S. anytime we want now.¡±


    The U.S. CIA, which was skeptical at first about the sess of the independence struggle, became eager to have active involvement as the foothold area of independence was secured, not wanting to give all the credit to Kazakhstan.


    This was a good chance to get as much U.S. military supplies as possible.


    It was because the U.S. only supported funds, and all the work had been done by the Kazakh government and royal family so far.


    Even the conventional weapons given to the militias belonged to the Kazakh government.


    As the Soviet weapons were about to be exhausted, there was enough justification.


    The U.S. would also know that a tremendous amount of weapons should be sent to protect the new foothold. It was even doubtful that the militias could hold out if China conducted arge-scale attack.


    First, Youngho nned to provide weapons in Kazakhstan to the militias and receive newer ones from the U.S.


    Thinking hard to get both funds and military supplies from the U.S., he picked up the phone to call Michael.

 Chapter 744 - The Private Military Company (3)

    <h4>Chapter 744: The Private Military Company (3)</h4>


    Michael groaned at Youngho¡¯s call.


    -Director Park and you are taking turns to pick on me.


    ¡°That¡¯s not why I called since I already left that issue to director Park. Would Kazakhstan, an ally of the U.S., have stepped forward if it¡¯ll cause a loss to it? I¡¯m only asking this because this will benefit both of us.¡±


    -This is a sensitive issue in the political circle, so I can¡¯t give you a firm answer. It must be being lobbied in all sorts of ways.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d like to make it clear that the U.S. military will save a tremendous amount of money if the Royal Bodyguards take that job instead of leaving it to the Americanpany.


    It was a deal of tremendous money, so lobbying must be intense.


    However, if an ally like Kazakhstan could work instead of the U.S. military, it would be helpful for its national interest as there would be a less political burden and it would be like doing a favor to Kazakhstan.


    -Well, let¡¯s cut to the chase.


    Michael tried to change the subject since it would only trouble him if they stayed on the subject for longer.


    ¡°I must¡¯ve dragged it too long in front of a busy person like you. Alright. You know we¡¯ve already invested all of our conventional weapons now.¡±


    -Yes, I heard that you even handed over the weapons that belong to the border troops.


    ¡°We decided to deploy our weapons to the militias¡¯ footholds because the U.S. promised to support us. Then our border strength was loosened so much that I can¡¯t even sleep well at night.¡±


    Michael would have understood the meaning of Youngho¡¯s nagging.


    -Well, congrattions on your great achievement in Uyghur and Tibet. If you need any supply, tell me. We¡¯ll support you fully.


    Youngho was puzzled as Michael gave in so easily. He always had a tug of war before agreeing to Youngho¡¯s requests.


    ¡°Huh? Are you saying it doesn¡¯t matter even if we ask for items that the CIA can¡¯t provide?¡±


    -It¡¯s for an ally. Just say it.


    ¡°I guess we really did a great job on securing the footholds¡±


    -You¡¯re right. Nobody would¡¯ve thought that Uyghurs and Tibetans would secure foothold regions. The Chinese government is also shaken very much. It¡¯s preparing for a full attack, but it¡¯ll be hard to put that into action. The CIA thinks that it might even give up the captured areas.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded as he never thought the Chinese government would give up the areas.


    When Youngho could not continue his words, Michael hurriedly made an excuse.


    -It¡¯s just what the CIA spectes.


    ¡°I hope the CIA is not negotiating with China behind our back. If so, I¡¯ll be greatly disappointed.¡±


    There was a little possibility, but the U.S. could be working under the table with the Chinese government.


    The U.S. might be embarrassed that an unexpected situation had unfolded now.


    It was expecting that the independence struggle would be prolonged, but it had not foreseen that the militias would take over foothold regions from China.


    If this continued and if maind China was vited, there would be arge-scale battle leading to a world war. This was an undesirable scenario for the U.S., so it could be trying to mend the mess.


    -You imagine too much. The U.S. wants the independence of Uyghurs and Tibetans more than anyone else. Also, we never makepromises with a faulty country.


    Youngho did not evenugh. The U.S. had been overlooking even the dictatorship for its own interest.


    ¡°I trust your words, but I don¡¯t believe politicians¡¯ words.¡±


    -Duke, I¡¯d like you to slow down the tempo just for a bit now. This is too chaotic as it¡¯s getting out of our predictions.


    Michael came clean.


    It seemed the U.S. political circle was in trouble because the independence forces in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet conquered some Chinese regions.


    ¡°Are you saying we shouldn¡¯t help the independence struggle? Or do you mean we shouldn¡¯t expand the foothold regions?¡±


    -Don¡¯t you think the regions captured now are enough to make Uyghurs and Tibetans as independent countries?


    ¡°If we stop at this point, are you going to make apromise with China?¡±


    -No, but the U.S. thinks that we should leave some room for negotiations.


    ¡°Hmmm...¡±


    Youngho¡¯s guess was right.


    The U.S. did not want war esction.


    The foothold areas were barren, but they were not inadequate for each people to live autonomously.


    As for the Uyghurs, they took an area about one-tenth of the whole Xinjiang Uyghur, and Tibetans almost took over one-fifth of the country including the northern area which was uninhabitable.


    Since China¡¯srge-scale attack would be overwhelming, Youngho also wanted to reach a ceasefire agreement soon. The Uyghurs and Tibetans would have a chance to expand theirnd in the future.


    It would be extremely difficult to retrieve the entire territories from China, as it would be unfavorable for the independence forces if the struggle was prolonged.


    ¡°Then we should secure some more strategic locations. You need to give me some more time.¡±


    -Thank you for dly agreeing with me. Then I guess I should give you a gift. I¡¯ll do my best to give the agency business to Kazakhstan when the U.S. military is pulled out of Afghanistan.


    Since all the efforts put in so far for independence could be lost when the Chinese government could not take it anymore, someone muste forward to mediate the two sides.


    It would be a disgrace for the Chinese government, but it would be usible if it could drive all the troublesome Uyghurs and Tibetans into certain regions and forget about them.


    It would be half-achieved independence, but it was better for both sides to end it early.


    ***


    With Youngho¡¯s verbal agreement, the U.S. would probably contact the Chinese government unofficially.


    Thus, there was no time to waste.


    Now was the only time to expand the footholds.


    There was no guarantee that rich soil would wait for the independence forces, but both people would only be able to have a chance in the future when the secured areas were advantageous for defense.


    He rushed great deals of military supplies to both footholds.


    The independence forces of both sides were struggling to expand their footholds, but the Chinese forces did not back off.


    This continued for many days.


    However, both sides refrained from using thetest weapons by only using conventional weapons as much as possible. It was only intensified randomly by dropping bombs through unmanned attack aircrafts.


    This was an unspoken promise that both did not want it to be expanded as a full-scale war.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say the Korean Army and the Chinese Communist Army fought day and night like now at the time of the Korean War near the truce line?¡±


    Park Jong-il and Cha In-soo were at Kashgar which was recently captured by the Uyghur independence forces.


    From a distance, a shoot-out was going on between Uyghurs and Chinese troops to take a more advantageous position at the final stage of the battle.


    ¡°It¡¯s said to be fiercer. It was right before the truce, so it would¡¯ve been even more severe. We still have some time. The Chinese side should also let it all out now. Then it will leave this area aler.¡±


    ¡°Are they trying to save the face of themunist party leadership?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. This much fire attack should be carried out to show that the Chinese government hadpletely quelled the independence forces.¡±


    The Chinese side did not advance anymore but was focusing on firefight only.


    It meant that a negotiation under the table with the U.S. was definitely going on.


    It was intended to dere a ceasefire first and then find another chance next time.


    ¡°The militias say that we must get that mountain under our territory. Is it all necessary?¡±


    ¡°There is ake over the mountain and we need to secure that. That¡¯s the only drinking water resource near this area. I heard the nomadic people asked to secure theke specifically, or they can¡¯t continue their nomadic life.¡±


    Kashgar would be useless without water no matter how muchnd it had.


    Although areas near Tian Shan Mountains had streams of water melting from ice caps, they were quickly soaked into the ground in the semi-dry climate without a trace.


    Water that disappeared little by little would spring up hundreds of kilometers away, and such ces became oasis orkes.


    Theke the militias were fighting for was formed that way.


    Since it was like the water of life to livestock that grazed on chippy grass, the militias were pouring enormous firepower to capture it. So as the Chinese troops.


    ¡°Let them give up if they can¡¯t handle it. It will be cheaper to make a waterway in Tian Shan Mountains or Kunlun Mountains than to spend all the shells. Thatke is only a little bigger than an oasis.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea. It¡¯s a smallke, but do you think it¡¯s easy to find ake that doesn¡¯t dry up after thousands of years and keeps providing fresh water like that? Even an oasis would disappear in hundreds of years in Kashgar. Thatke is a sacred ce for the people here. We must take over the ce. Only then, we won¡¯t have a bacsh from the people when we stop fighting in this situation.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying the people won¡¯t take truce if we can¡¯t capture that?¡±


    ¡°That is highly possible. It¡¯s a sacred ce for the Uyghurs.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to send special forces instead of firing artillery.¡±


    ¡°The mercenaries will soon get to work. I promised a bonus pay.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, then we¡¯ll get to make the Uyghurs¡¯ wishe true if it works out.¡±


    ¡°That area is not only important for the Uyghurs but also for us. Beyond that area is likely to be an oil field.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then the Chinese government must know that too since the troops are fighting for life.¡±


    ¡°No, the Chinese government doesn¡¯t know it yet. There was a fire there a long time ago and it¡¯s said that the fire wasn¡¯t put out for several months. That might be why the people here think it¡¯s sacred.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that the Chinese government doesn¡¯t know such information.¡±


    ¡°They say that the people of Kashgar did not inform the Chinese government. They kept it quiet after seeing an oil field development in Tamakan Desert.¡±


    If that was true, it was a region to capture by all means.


    The ce had a potential to be the lifeline for the Uyghurs if the frontline became permanent.

 Chapter 745 - Baby Steps (1)

    <h4>Chapter 745: Baby Steps (1)</h4>


    Kashgar, the foothold of the Uyghurs recently captured, was initially chosen as the foothold because it had the advantage of bordering Kazakhstan, not because of a special reason.


    Now that it turned out that there was a potential oil field, this was a ce to defend by all means.


    The possibility of oil or gas reserves in the region of Kashgar was very likely because oil was being produced in the Tarim Basin nearby.


    It was already confirmed by the media that the oil underground reserves in Xinjiang Uyghur only upied one-third of the whole Chinese oil underground reserves. Not only that, but the region was also rich in dozens of other underground resources such as coal, iron, manganese, gold, lead, and zinc.


    It was also a cultural andmercial center for the Uyghurs as the region was already upied by the Uyghurs. It would have been unfortunate if another ce was chosen as an Uyghur independence forces¡¯ foothold.


    On the other hand, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet did not get a lot of attention.


    It did not have many benefits as it was a barren and high ce that was difficult to live in. It only had a symbolic meaning as a foothold.


    However, Tibetans were still grateful for it.


    They did not mind living on the top of mountains if they could live freely from China¡¯s rule.


    Now that the battle frontline was being static, the Chinese government was suffering a huge bacsh in and out.


    Encouraged by Uyghurs and Tibetans, other ethnic minority groups were also shaken, and many trustedpanies went bankrupt due to the trade war with the U.S.


    Due to such internal and external shocks, the current regime was even losing people¡¯s approval.


    Thus, the government was bending over backwards to retrieve the areas captured by independence forces.


    It was necessary for the current regime to show off its undiminished ability.


    For this reason, the military was driven to the battle, but the already exhausted troops were stopped by the independence forces every time.


    It was only natural that the Chinese soldiers could not exert their full strength as they were deployed from all over China and had moved by train and truck for many days to get to the battlefield.


    Especially to get to Kashgar, they traveled on unpaved, rough mountainous roads.


    It was because the militias had cut off all the roads and railroads to prevent Chinese troops¡¯ transfer.


    Having taken a topographically advantageous position, the militias and mercenaries continued expanding its foothold toward the east side.


    The independence forces aggressively expanded itsnd defeating the Chinese forces.


    If only the Chinese forces had known what was buried in the middle of the wilderness, they would not have pulled back so helplessly.


    It was reaching August after a long dispute when the independence forces could advance to a little beyond theke in the east of Kashgar.


    In order to do so, countless militias were killed or injured, but the Uyghurs did not care about it. As there had been more people sacrificed by the Chinese government so far, this much damage did not seem so big.


    Rather, they focused on retrieving the ce that could be called the home of the Uyghurs.


    The second biggest city of Uyghur and the center of culture andmerce, Kashgar was a hub that connected West and East.


    The Chinese government was flipped to have failed to protect such a ce, but on the contrary, Uyghurs were in a celebratory mood saying that the return of Kashgar was the re-establishment of East Turkistan.


    ***


    The U.S. government was trying its best to wrap up the situation by negotiating with the Chinese government.


    It was a negotiation that did not include Kazakhstan, which was a major participant in the current independence struggle.


    It was because China did not want Kazakhstan¡¯s involvement at all as it was trying to reduce the independence struggle of ethnic minority groups so that Kazakhstan would have no say in it.


    It wanted to end the situation only by giving autonomous status to the captured areas.


    From the Chinese point of view, it was not a bad deal. Even if those areas were given autonomy, they would still be Chinese territory. Of course, such autonomy could be taken back any time upon necessity.


    Youngho already knew China¡¯s intention, but he did not mind it because he was confident that the captured areas would be permanently set.


    Although the Chinese government would insist that they were autonomous regions, Uyghurs and Tibetans would think that they were independent nations.


    Youngho would make them establish diplomatic rtions with other nations and grow their troops so that the current front lines would be turned into national borders.


    If they were willing to ept the Kazakh royal family as Azerbaijan did, he could also take them as federal states of Kazakhstan or form military alliances.


    It was because even if they became independent countries, they were powerless without Kazakhstan¡¯s help.


    The only exit that did not pass through China for them was Kazakhstan.


    It did not mean he wanted to interfere with their domestic affairs. He was satisfied that there were buffer zones between Kazakhstan and China.


    As the under the table negotiation progressed, the fire exchanges at the front lines decreased.


    The Chinese government then began promoting its generosity to the people through the media, saying that it decided to give autonomous status to ethnic minority groups of China.


    It was, in fact, not a big deal for China to do so since there were already some regions with autonomy.


    Such regions had low poptions that they were not huge threats to the Chinese government.


    Also, it could take it back if it wanted.


    When the truce negotiation began, the leadership of Kazakhstan was gathered at a conference room to discuss the situation.


    ¡°Your Highness, are you really going to back up now?¡±


    It was the Minister of National Defense. He was not fond of the current situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate, but we have to ept the mediation of the U.S. If this escted, it can lead to world war.¡±


    ¡°But I still think it¡¯s such a waste to end it just like this. It¡¯s obvious that the Chinese side will break the truce in the near future...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll deal with it when it happens. We won¡¯t have to worry if we¡¯re fully prepared any time.¡±


    ¡°Then how about stationing our troops in each region when the truce is signed?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not actually going to be a truce. Officially, it will be in the form of the Chinese government assigning autonomy to each region. If autonomous states drew in other national troops, it would be canceled right away.¡±


    ¡°Then are you going to entrust the borders to the inadequate militias? How on earth can they be our buffer zones with such power?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to maintain our border security the same way for a while. I intend to refrain from any activity to provoke China and help the two states to strengthen their power for now.¡±


    Then the minister shook his head in disapproval.


    ¡°We¡¯ll at least have to station mercenaries from a private militarypany to be safe.¡±


    Youngho agreed to his opinion as he was already nning to station mercenaries in the two regions for a while.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. The U.S. also thinks that private militarypanies¡¯ help is needed until the two regions stabilize, but I was hesitant because of the cost.¡±


    ¡°The U.S. is not funding them anymore?¡±


    ¡°When they be autonomous states, the U.S. can¡¯t give aids anymore even if it wants to, or it¡¯ll offend China and the whole deal will be off. But since the royal family has a private militarypany, we can forge documents as much as we need.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that the regr army won¡¯t be deployed in any case.¡±


    ¡°That is right. Our regr army can never step its foot in either of the states in any case. When the autonomy is given to the states, they¡¯ll try to im to be independent states, and China will provoke them again. If the Kazakh Army is deployed in each border in that situation, the situation will get out of control.¡±


    If the Uyghur and Tibetan states try to im independence, the Chinese military would not refrain from crossing their borders.


    In order to stop such variables, it was necessary to persuade the leaders of the two states not to take reckless actions.


    It gave Youngho a headache to think about the problems that would be poured out when the truce was dered.


    However, such an inconvenience was nothingpared to the benefits of the two states; Kashgar in Uyghur and Ngari Prefecture in Tibet would bring to Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 746 - Baby Steps (2)

    <h4>Chapter 746: Baby Steps (2)</h4>


    As a result of the negotiation between the U.S. and China, Kashgar in Xinjiang Uyghur and Ngari Prefecture in Tibet were designated as special autonomous republics.


    The Chinese government gave itself a lot of credit as it announced it, emphasizing that there had never been a designation of special autonomous republics before, except for autonomous regions.


    It was promoted so as to emphasize that those autonomous republics were still Chinese territory.


    However, such a decision was only limited to the Chinese government¡¯s thought.


    The Uyghurs and Tibetans who now thought that the foundation for independence was set began moving into Kashgar and Ngari respectively.


    Only then, the Han people living in those areas left like a fall of tide.


    Even so, the Chinese government did not stop people from moving in. Rather, it weed such a move. It had decided that containing the two groups that called for independence causing troubles in those two regions was the best option since such a small poption was no threat to China.


    Whatever China¡¯s intentions may be, Kashgar the Ngari, which were already like independent countries, had begun to buildplete walls against China, including building defense lines on the border.


    They were determined not to engage in any exchanges with China.


    New roads were nned along the border with the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan, and various construction materials and daily necessities provided by the Kazakh government were being supplied to the two regions.


    Although they did not regain their full territories, the two peoples were cheerful at the fact they were free and they could live together.


    However, Kazakhstan had to help from one to ten, as those onlyid the foundation for independence and were not ready for self-sufficiency.


    Some of the militias were helping with security and administrative work, but they were not enough, so officials dispatched from the Kazakh government were the main yers to take care of the inconveniences of the residents.


    In the case of Uyghur, the heads of independent forces were in charge of the provisional government because there was no leader, but so far, the influence of the Kazakh government had been fully reflected.


    Tibet was in a better situation as the exiled government in India would return soon.


    The exile government led by the Di Lama could lead Ngari Prefecture with just economic support as its poption was only 100,000.


    ***


    Kazakhstan became even busier than the two areas designated as special autonomous republics.


    Kazakhstan had to stabilize the two regions that were just taking baby steps and focus on their borders.


    With such a reason, the conference room in the integrated government building in Astana where each minister was gathered was boisterous with all sorts of opinions.


    ¡°Everyone, calm down. His Highness is here. Please maintain your etiquette.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister, it¡¯s difficult to spend the amount the minister of the interior just asked for. It hasn¡¯t been budgeted. He¡¯ll have to request it to the national assembly to arrange that.¡±


    ¡°We can get the national assembly¡¯s agreementter after putting out the immediate fire. We should have made our independence a fait apli and reflected it in the budget in advance. Does it make sense to deal with the budget now?¡±


    ¡°If we had publicly set aside independent funds, would China have stayed still? We¡¯d have been in big trouble.¡±


    Since everyone had his own opinion, everyone was raising his voice.


    They all had a point.


    Nobody predicted that independence would be achieved this fast, so it caused a huge confusion.


    When everyone had his say and it got quiet, Youngho opened his mouth.


    ¡°We achieved a little victory because of each and everyone of you. We could win partial independence, but the real problem starts now. Supporting the two regions is supporting the future of Kazakhstan. We¡¯ve finally be a country where our future generations can live without worries now that we have a buffer zone. We need to put our heads together to make wise decisions. And as for the funds, the royal family will pay it first considering the time to get the approval of the national assembly.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you shouldn¡¯t have to do that. If we ask for an extraordinary session, the national assembly will agree.¡±


    For the time being, Kashgar and Ngari would need funds from the Kazakh government.


    At least for Kashgar, it would be able to support itself after some time with its developed culture andmerce, but Ngari Prefecture in Tibet had no solution.


    Since the Kazakh government had been funding both regions slicing its limited budget, the ministers had a lot ofints.


    That was why Youngho offered royal funds. It was also because there were some extra independence funds supported by the U.S. CIA.


    ¡°Please handle the government budget as normal and rece it with royal funds first. The priority is to put out the urgent fire right away. Now, even if we openly support the regions directly, China won¡¯t oppose it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, how should we handle the munitions from the United States? The militias won¡¯t be able to manage them even if we handed them over.¡±


    The defense minister wanted to keep the weapons from the U.S. in Kazakhstan.


    Although they were not thetest product, they were enough to deal with China.


    Kazakhstan was yet to hand over various artillery, tanks, and missiles from the U.S., as the militias with their ability could not handle them yet.


    ¡°The Royal Bodyguards will operate them. Right now, they are on the move from the royal territory to both regions, so they will be deployed to Uyghur and Tibet within 15 days.¡±


    In order to protect the borders of the autonomous republics from the Chinese military, Youngho decided to send the Royal Bodyguards.


    The defense minister shut his mouth when Youngho said so.


    Although the Kazakh regr military was an overwhelming force, it could not follow the Royal Bodyguards whenparing individual soldiers.


    ¡°As for our regr military, I think the troops need a break from guarding. Lower the alert level and allow vacation and outing.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, shouldn¡¯t we wait and see the situation?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time to get back to normal. How long should we care only about China¡¯s movements? It¡¯s time to focus on the economy. And our front line will be the Uighur and Tibet Autonomous Republic border, so all we have to do is pay attention to the central and northern borders that face China directly.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    The defense minister was apparently disappointed as he answered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too disappointed, we¡¯re nning to send regr troops to Afghanistan soon.¡±


    This was decided with the intention to win U.S. favor by increasing the number of troops to Afghanistan. Only then could Kazakhstan¡¯s private militarypany easily win the jobs there.


    So far, the Royal Guard had been in charge of sending troops overseas, and when Youngho said that the regr forces could also go to Afghanistan, the defense minister was so excited that he even jumped out of his seat.


    ¡°Minister, you seem to be excited.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Highness, overseas troop dispatch was essential for our soldiers¡¯ morale. They¡¯ve been expecting to go back to Uyghur and Tibet again, so they were all prepared, but when it didn¡¯t work out, they were very discouraged.¡±


    He seems to have suffered greatly from generals.


    ¡°Even if they go to Afghanistan, don¡¯t expect them to be engaged in direct battles. That will be carried out by the private militarypany.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m just happy to be able to send regr troops abroad.¡±


    The defense minister wanted to show off that the regr forces were strong enough to work overseas. However, the regr military was not great enough to do so.


    Although it was unreliable yet, it was necessary to send it forter purposes to gain experience.


    Directbat would be carried out by the Royal Bodyguards disguised into mercenaries of private militarypanies, so it was not a very dangerous mission for the regr forces.


    ¡°Minister, I hope our military forces can grow through this experience.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness. We are well aware that our level is not up to the forces of developed countries. We won¡¯t be satisfied with the present and will move forward. I promise that we will build a stronger army.¡±


    ¡°I admit our army has the best morale, but don¡¯t be conceited. This must be noted to each militarymander.¡±


    ¡°I will deliver it as your special instruction.¡±


    It sounded like a lecture, but Youngho had to say it because he was worried about the soldiers who were being deployed overseas for the first time. It would be a great loss if any one of them was lost during the operation due to theirmanders¡¯ misjudgment.


    ¡°Also, the Queen will personally give an award to the troops who have made contributions in the Pamir teau and Kyrgyzstan, so please send the troops to her in the royal territory.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Your Grace, we¡¯ll arrange a special train for the troops.¡±


    Today, the defense minister had so much to thank.


    The mere fact that the royal family cared so much about the military made him feel better.


    ¡°Now we¡¯ve just taken a small step. Keep in mind that Kashgar and Ngari are ces where there will be an unbearable storm. All of the ministries should cooperate with each other to stabilize them early. Only then can we prevent China¡¯s advancement. And I¡¯d also like you toe up with a solution for immigrants from all over China to those regions.¡±


    When Youngho started to talk, various measures poured out.


    ¡°We will first supply construction materials to build temporary housing before the winter.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we build daily necessities factories locally?¡±


    ¡°If we hurry up and develop the oil field, we can build a foundation for self-sufficiency early and reduce our burden.¡±


    Several opinions were then presented, but they all could be resolved only when huge amounts of money were invested.


    It cost too much to get a buffer zone.


    Youngho wondered if he should ask help from the U.S. again.


    As the two regions became special autonomous republics, the U.S. was slowly stepping out as if it had done its job.


    Kazakhstan also spent a huge amount of money, although the U.S. funded the independence struggle.


    In a way, the U.S. had a ride free of charge thanks to Kazakhstan¡¯s work.


    It seemed Youngho had enough reason to ask for a favor in return.

 Chapter 747 - Baby Steps (3)

    <h4>Chapter 747: Baby Steps (3)</h4>


    The amount of daily necessities and construction materials being supplied to Kashgar and Ngari Prefecture this time was enormous.


    Along with it, the internal economy of Kazakhstan was improved.


    All sorts of factories were operating 24/7 already due to the special war demand, and Kazakhstan had to supply all the necessary materials to both republics as the migrants to both regions increased.


    Not only the daily necessity and the construction material industry but also the military industry had a high demand.


    In order to establish new defense lines in Kashgar and Ngari, conventional weapons were greatly needed.


    It was because the defense strategy to set the regions that became autonomous republics as the first defense line and the original border of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan as the second defense line was established.


    At the first defense line, the forces of the Royal Bodyguards and the militias were stationed. They had already made strongholds out of reinforced concrete equipped with towed guns and self-propelled guns.


    This was only where it was seen from the outside, but the real power was the attack helicopters and missile air-defensework in the rear side.


    Perfect defense line was established as the troops were deployed even to the Kunlun Mountains which blocked Kashgar and Ngari Prefecture.


    Since the already exhausted supplies needed to be refilled, the factories rted to the defense industry were running around the clock.


    When Kazakhstan¡¯s economy rose, so did the economy of Kazakh federal countries.


    It was because the self-manufactured products started to fill in the vacancy of Chinese goods as the imports of Chinese products werepletely stopped.


    People, who were used to Chinese goods, were not in favor of Central Asian products whichgged behind the Chinese products. They had to follow the government¡¯s policy that banned Chinese imports.


    There was also a side effect of the forced patronization of domestic products.


    Often the quality of domestic products did not meet the standards of people as they were sold well anyway regardless of their quality.


    Manufacturers of daily necessities were too busy to meet the high demand to improve their products¡¯ designs and quality. Such inconvenience was inevitable in a transitional period.


    Those were sold at the factory price to the regions of Kashgar and Ngari as the people still did not have the normal economic ability yet. However, they still loved the products despite theck of quality because they were cheap. There was a good reason behind their love for Kazakhstan¡¯s products.


    Until now, the daily necessities provided from maind China were bought at high costs because of the long distance from the maind. Not to mention, they went through a confusing distribution process by the Han people, making the costs even higher.


    It was the Chinese government¡¯s trick to preclude ethnic minority groups from amassing wealth. As many ethnic minority groups lived in small remote viges, the logistics cost of goods was almost murderous. It had been subtly defoliating ethnic minority groups in order to make a country centered around the Chinese people.


    ***


    ¡°This is terrible. The Chinese government must¡¯ve been determined to slowly kill down the Uyghurs.¡±


    Park Jong-il was exining how the Chinese government had been treating the two people based on the intelligence service¡¯s research.


    ¡°Does the health checkup conducted to the Uyghurs have the same reason?¡±


    ¡°Well, they did gic tests on people and anyone who had Uyghur blood was monitored. I wonder what they were afraid of to do such things. They probably feared the Uyghurs and were determined to annihte them eventually.¡±


    ¡°We should report all Chinese government¡¯s wrongdoings to the international society. It¡¯s no different from treating ethnic minority groups like animals.¡±


    There were so many wrongdoings the Chinese government had done to ethnic minorities. It would not shake China even if those were reported to the international society, but there was a good reason to inform the Uyghurs.


    Knowing such vitions the government did to them, the Uyghurs would have a strong desire to seek revenge and to retrieve the areas that they had not yet retrieved yet.


    Many Uyghurs thought the health check-ups were done for their benefits, but the real reason behind them was to collect their biometric data to monitor them.


    ¡°Has something like that happened to Tibet, too?¡±


    ¡°No, there was no need because Tibetans had been quiet.¡±


    ¡°Okay. We need to get to the bottom of this and expose the bare face of China.¡±


    Human rights vitions were less prevalent in Tibet.


    It was because the Tibetans could not carry out an armed struggle because the exile government imed non-violence independence struggle.


    However, looking back, Tibetans should have been willing to take any risks for independence.


    Part of Tibet became an autonomous republic all thanks to the Uyghurs. Many independence organizations were actively engaged in the struggle in Uyghur and that brought Western countries¡¯ support leading to the current achievement.


    On the other hand, Uyghurs¡¯ ethnic temperament that did not want to be dominated by other people yed a part.


    As descendants of Gokturks and the pride of the people who ruled the world with Genghis Khan could not allow China¡¯s dominance.


    ¡°I hope the Tibetan exile government won¡¯t insist on non-violence struggle anymore.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t unless it¡¯s out of its mind. They achieved this with a lot of people¡¯s sacrifices. Let¡¯s leave Tibet to the exile government and see. Since they have Di Lama as their anchor, they¡¯ll do fine. The problem is Kashgar...¡±


    As there were so many independence organizations in Uyghur, each was raising its voice. Thankfully, people were acting carefully due to the existence of the Kazakh government. It was because without Kazakhstan¡¯s support Kashgar could notst more than a few months.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we put a government service group in the front until they can operate alone? The interfactional dispute is already severe there and if we left them alone, the tiny ce will be divided.¡±


    Youngho also badly wanted to interfere.


    However, the people had just gotten out of China, and if Kazakhstan was to interfere with them again, it would be funny.


    It was also doubtful that the Uyghur people, who were known for their pride, would ept such a measure.


    Besides, such a level of discord in a transitional period was natural and understandable.


    ¡°It¡¯s still in the period of transition. It¡¯s natural that each organization wants to take the initiative.¡±


    ¡°What if hardlines take the initiative? They¡¯ll try to free the whole Uyghur. How are you going to take it?¡±


    It would be unstable, but it was time when strong leadership was needed.


    ¡°It¡¯s better to have strong leadership rather than a weak one. People will only unite under a strong will and goal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there will be a dictator.¡±


    ¡°If wee up with a safety device to prevent prolonged rule, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    People, who experienced freedom, would demand all sorts of things from the independence government forgetting their reality.


    If the internal unity was destroyed, the Chinese government might try to interfere under the pretext of keeping the order of the autonomous republic.


    It was because Kashgar was China¡¯s territory under internationalw.


    ¡°Again, it¡¯s my opinion that a hardliner leader is needed in the early stages of independence. Of course, there shouldn¡¯t be any oppression against opposition parties.¡±


    Park Jong-il finally nodded in agreement.


    ¡°There are two hardliner groups. One is an organization that conducted terrorism without hesitation and the other is aparatively rational one, but we¡¯re not in a position to side with one.¡±


    ¡°Contact both organizations now. If they want to be epted, they need people¡¯s support. Ask them to establish a constitution first and have a referendum.¡±


    ***


    Park Jong-il acted quickly and returned after meeting all leaders of the Uyghur hardliner organizations.


    ¡°They both agreed to have a referendum for now. The problem is that the people still don¡¯t know about democracy and election.¡±


    ¡°Well, we need to make a promotional flyer and distribute it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that the illiteracy rate is high.¡±


    ¡°Then can¡¯t we broadcast it?¡±


    ¡°To do that, we have to restore the destroyed power system and broadcasting stations.¡±


    ¡°Oh, man. That¡¯s a can of worms.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say there¡¯s a thermoelectric power nt in Kashgar?¡±


    ¡°The militias destroyed all the important facilities to stop the Chinese military. We supply a lot of emergency power, so theputer work is processed during the day, but it¡¯ll take months to restore the power nt.¡±


    The power supplied by maind China was discontinued and the whole region entered into darkness at night. Broadcasting facilities were useless in this situation.


    It was a mistake made in the process of capturing the area.


    The militias had randomly destroyed facilities even though they were the ones to use them.


    Restoring facility-based businesses was necessary before starting to establish anything within the country.

 Chapter 748 - Post-War Readjustment (1)

    <h4>Chapter 748: Post-War Readjustment (1)</h4>


    Kashgar was an oasis city just below the Pamir teau west of the Tarim Basin, with an average altitude of 1,100 meters, an average temperature of 11 degrees in Celsius, and an annual rainfall of 120 millimeters. Such figures indicated that it was a truly barren desert.


    It was possible for people to live in such ces because the ice caps of the Tianshan Mountains melted and wet thend.


    The eternal snow in the Tianshan Mountains became the mainstream of the Kashgar and Tarim rivers, and they flowed through the Tarim Basin enabling nomadic and cotton farming.


    The Tarim Basin was about 700,000 square kilometers, about three times the size of the Korean Penins, with a distance of 600 kilometers north and west, 1,500 kilometers east and west, and an average altitude of 800 to 1,200 meters.


    It was surrounded by the Pamir teau on the west, the Tian Shan Mountains on the north, and the Kunlun Mountains on the south, and slopes from west to east.


    The Tamakan Desert in the center of the basin was the drying up of prehistoric indkes.


    Kashgar was a city that had been spotlighted as a mid-stop on the Silk Road as a city below the Pamir teau in the westernmost part of the Tarim Basin. It was developed into a center ofmerce and culture as it was where Eastern and Western cultures met.


    Countless ethnic groups were gathered and had a lot of dissonance.


    With such a background, people¡¯s temperament was very rough and pride was strong.


    To tame such a ce, China had also experienced great suffering. Most of the terrorist attacks in China weremitted by Uyghur independence groups.


    Although designating Kashgar as a special autonomous republic would have hurt the Chinese government¡¯s pride, on the other hand, it could have been relieving as if a sick tooth was taken out.


    Nevertheless, the Communist Party of China, which was forced to give up thend, stifled Kashgar with economic blockade.


    In Kashgar, where Chinese goods disappeared, people were suffering from a shortage of daily necessities.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s daily necessities supplies were not enough for millions to use abundantly.


    This was because there was a limit to logistics supplied through Pamir Highway.


    Theck of daily necessities could be fundamentally resolved only when a daily necessities nt was built in Kashgar, which has been hampered by theck of infrastructure.


    This was due to the fact that the Chinese government intentionally had not provided infrastructure.


    It did not allow Uyghurs to set up factories to prevent them from umting wealth and allowed only Chinese people to qualify for wholesale business.


    It was part of a policy to dismiss Uyghurs with a strong temperament.


    Kashgar was generally known as the contact area of East-West culture and the center of East-West trade.


    As a trade ry between India and Central Asia, cotton, raw silk, fruit, livestock and leather goods were actively traded.


    It was one of the most important routes to Central Asia and a shelter for travelers.


    Since China¡¯s effective control, railways and roads to northern and southern Tian Shan had been opened, making it a transportation hub in southwestern China.


    Although it was a transportation hub, it was 1,473 kilometers from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur, it still took a whole day to get to Kashgar.


    Cities on the Silk Road with a colorful past had disappeared into the back of history, but Kashgar remained a crowded city to this day.


    The reason was that it was located in the Tarim Basin, whererge quantities of crude oil were known to be buried.


    The Tarim Basin and Kashgar, the only metropolis on the remote west, were still in their limelight as a forward base in the oilfield.


    The amount of crude oil buried in the Tarim Basin was enormous, equal to one-third of China¡¯s total.


    The area where the final battle was fought until thest minute by the Uyghurs was also the area where crude oil was believed to be buried.


    If the Chinese government had known, it would not have backed up so easily, but thankfully, it was only passed down to the Uyghurs by word of mouth and kept hidden.


    Anyway, the Chinese government had unknowingly given away a great ce to the independence militias.


    In areas where crude oil was believed to be buried, drilling was in full swing in the harsh winds of the desert.


    Engineers under Kazakhstan¡¯s oil agency had targeted not only the area designated but also other areas captured this time.


    The reason for the rush of drilling was that even if China found out that oil was buried there, it would not be able to interfere too much because it was in the early stages of the ceasefire.


    Since the ink on the agreement had not even dried up yet, China would not be able to provoke first, even because of the political burden, or it would not be able to avoid international criticism.


    If China designated the region as a special autonomous republic and vited it first, which country would believe in China and maintain friendly rtions?


    Another reason for the survey was that Kashgar needed an economic base to be stabilized, so it was rushed to create conditions for self-sufficiency.


    Kazakhstan could not keep helping it forever, so it was pushing ahead even though this could provoke China.


    It was difficult for Kashgar to be self-sufficient because its main industries were agricultural and livestock industries such as cotton, wheat, livestock, and leather.


    In order toy the foundation for self-reliance, underground resources had to be developed quickly.


    If oil was found, millions of Kashgar residents would be rich.


    The Royal Bodyguard forces were on high alert around the area where drilling was underway.


    It was only 30 kilometers away from the border of the special autonomous republic, so the guards did not let their guards down to counter any possible provocations.


    The Chinese military and militias built a defense zone close to the border, and shes betweenrge and small had frequently erupted, forcing them to be nervous.


    The Kashgar border was a ce that would not be strange if a local war broke out at any time.


    The Chinese military also wanted to fight because of revenge, as the troops had suffered a painful defeat before.


    It was a ce where people coulde and go at will until just a few days ago, but now it was blocked by barbed wire and drilling was underway, which was definitely upsetting for the Chinese side.


    Kazakhstan engineers, however, were working hard even when Chinese troops were just around the corner.


    Even if China kept provoking, they believed that the royal guards could sufficiently prevent them.


    The militias were stationed all at the frontline with a symbolic purpose of protecting the border rather than for defense.


    If Chinese troops provoked first, the militias would not respond directly but would pull back, and the shells from the rear side would beunched and the attack helicopter unit would suppress them. Since they could target from a long distance, it was the best way to reduce the damage to the militias.


    The border area was busy with the drilling process, and the thermoelectric power nt in Kashgar was crowded with people to restore the facilities. Most of the facilities needed recement.


    Public offices, broadcasting stations, local newspaper offices, and any Chinese government¡¯s properties were burned or destroyed.


    Thankfully, some administrative data remained intact and administrative work was in progress with inconvenience.


    Uyghurs, who worked in Kashgar public offices, were helping it, but the people did not like them as they had worked for the Chinese government.


    It was a problem to clear once as it could be a potential problem of the unity of the Uyghurs.


    ***


    ¡°How many people worked as the Chinese government¡¯s officials?¡±


    Youngho frowned reading through a report handed over by Suh Min-seok.


    ¡°There are 170 people. They only worked as assistant tasks at public offices. It¡¯s not that they sold their country to China.¡±


    ¡°How are the people seeing them?¡±


    ¡°Allegedly, the Uyghurs think that those who cooperated with the Chinese government don¡¯t deserve to be called a Uyghur. Some want to deport them out of Kashgar.¡±


    It was unlikely that the Chinese government gave high positions to the Uyghurs, they would have been given only simple tasks and trantion work for Chinese workers who could not speak the Uyghurnguage.


    Since the Uyghurs could not ept them, they needed to leave Kashgar.


    ¡°I guess we can ept them from Kazakhstan if they didn¡¯tmit a heavy crime.¡±


    ¡°I think we should. There is now in Uyghur now, and they¡¯re likely to be beaten up to death by the Kashgar residents.¡±


    ¡°We need to judge the weight of their crimes well if there are any. Find out what they are doing now. And call Director Park to my office.¡±


    Since innocent people could get hurt, Youngho wanted to give this assignment to the intelligence department.


    Park Jong-il, who received a call from Suh Min-seok, rushed to Youngho¡¯s office.


    As if he had already heard about the case from Min-seok, he refused the job, saying that it was not the job the Intelligence Department should handle.


    ¡°It¡¯s to prevent deporting innocent people. Investigate them subtly at the intelligence service in detail.¡±


    ¡°Leave the Uyghur problem to the Uyghurs. There¡¯s a limit to what we can do. The locals must¡¯ve determined that they were betrayers for a reason.¡±


    Knowing that interfering with these kinds of social issues could be a risky business, Jong-il tried to avoid it if possible.


    ¡°Some people might have served in Chinese government offices for the independence of the Uyghurs. If we leave this to the Uyghurs, this will be a public sentiment problem, and they will irrationally deploy all. I want to check if they deserve such treatment. They don¡¯t even have a constitution yet. How are they going to judge the victims?¡±


    ¡°You know there¡¯s something calledmonw.¡±


    ¡°Talking aboutmonw? You¡¯ve be a real Kazakh. Remember that we are civilized men.¡±

 Chapter 749 - Post-War Readjustment (2)

    <h4>Chapter 749: Post-War Readjustment (2)</h4>


    If Kashgar was to be an outpost of Kazakhstan, the discord within its society was not to be neglected, or it would be like providing an excuse for China.


    Kashgar was not an independent country, but a self-governing republic of China.


    If internal conflicts urred, China would try to interfere, and that was why Kashgar could not be solely left to the Uyghurs at this point.


    Understanding the situation from Youngho¡¯s exnation, Park Jong-il no longer resisted.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get the intelligence service involved, but we need something to appease the hard-line militia leader.¡±


    ¡°If they want to create a political party, tell them you¡¯re going to fund it.¡±


    It should be seen that the Uyghurs were leading and shaping Kashgar.


    In order to do so, the Kazakh government must provide them with political funds and let them melt into the desired system.


    ¡°Okay, Kashgar will be taken care of that way, but what about Tibet? Don¡¯t you really care about it anymore? Geopolitically, it¡¯s important, too.¡±


    It seemed Jong-il thought it was a shame that Kazakhstan was only focusing on Kashgar, not Tibet.


    If it contributed to Tibet¡¯s independence, it should receive some benefits in return, but there was no action.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it like Kashgar. When the exile governmentes in, the Indian government will take care of it. I¡¯d like to get our hands off Tibet at the right time.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? After all the hard work, we are giving the credit to the Indian government?¡±


    ¡°India is our ally and it will do well on its own. I¡¯d like to make the Kunlun Mountains a joint security zone and share the burden.¡±


    Even though Ngari Prefecture had less than 100,000 people, the border to defend was very long.


    It was also difficult to station troops to most of the area due to the high altitude of over 4,000 meters.


    And Kazakhstan would not have to be involved anyway, as it would be symbolically dominated by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Di Lama.


    If it existed only as a buffer zone with China, it would not be a waste to pass it on to the Indian government unless it was in a grave danger of being captured by China again, but China also seemed to be not interested in the alpine region.


    For China, it would be more efficient to focus on Kashgar than to deploy forces to recapture a useless ce.


    And because of its geographical location closer to India than Kazakhstan, it was right for the Indian government to look after it.


    ¡°It¡¯s like giving away your hard-cooked meal to a dog. India had no role at all, but you¡¯re not just throwing it away, are you?¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have any benefit for keeping it under our control. Even the Indian government is only interested in it for Pakistan and China. It¡¯s a burdensome ce.¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t seem to care about it.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who was deep in thought for a long time, asked to entrust this matter to him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to the Indian government first. The Indian government will have interests in this matter, too. I need to get something out of it.¡±


    ¡°The moment the Indian government takes a part in Tibetan issue, there will be a lot of political burden. We¡¯re in fact tossing the burden to it. What are you going to get out of it?¡±


    Since India was in a conflict with China over the border, the Tibetan issue could be a source of trouble. If the Indian government would still take care of Tibet with such a burden, Kazakhstan would have to thank it.


    ¡°What do you mean? India will gain a buffer zone because of Ngari Prefecture, and it will upy a position to pressure Pakistan from the side.¡±


    There was a variable called Pakistan.


    India¡¯s help in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, would have the means to pressure Pakistan, which was most cooperative in China¡¯s One Belt One Road project.


    Kazakhstan could also press the project if it expanded its territory a little further from Kashgar.


    ¡°Then contact the Indian government immediately. If necessary, mobilize Chairman Mittal.¡±


    India¡¯s steel king, Lakshmi Mittal, would cooperate if he heard about this.


    ¡°Hahaha... Now you¡¯re talking.¡±


    Park Jong-il rushed out of the office with a creepy smile on his face.


    ***


    As expected, Mittal flew to the Arirang royal territory at once.


    He excitedly shook Youngho¡¯s hand as if it was already confirmed.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, on behalf of India, I thank you first.¡±


    ¡°Chairman Mittal, aren¡¯t you getting ahead of yourself when we haven¡¯t even consulted with the exile government yet?¡±


    ¡°Your will is the most important. The Di Lama will also be pleased with it. Ngari Prefecture is a sacred ce for Tibetans and for Indians. Giving such a ce unconditionally is a big gift for Tibet and India.¡±


    ¡°The Tibetan militias wanted to go after it first. There have been many sacrifices to capture the area. Their sacrifice wasn¡¯t in vain.¡±


    Youngho did not say it to show off the role of Kazakhstan.


    It was a rtively easy upation, but it was also true that there were many sacrifices during the battle.


    It was a roundabout way of saying that it was not free.


    Chairman Mittal quickly got a sense of what Youngho meant by saying this.


    ¡°I will never forget the sacrifices of countless people. Who would have done such a thing if it were not for the Kazakh royal family? That¡¯s why I¡¯m thanking you on behalf of India. I will be a messenger to convey your intention to the Indian government. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have a satisfactory result.¡±


    At this level of reaction, there was nothing more to say.


    The dice had already been thrown, so he just had to wait for the results.


    Even if the results were not satisfactory, the Kazakh royal family would remain unique to Indians.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to gain anything by helping them fight for independence. I just came forward because I couldn¡¯t tolerate the inhumane actions China hasmitted against minorities, and the independence of Uyghur and Tibet was also a long-cherished desire of the Central Asian people. It¡¯s a shame we couldn¡¯t acquire it fully.¡±


    ¡°I understand the great cause of the Kazakh royal family better than anyone else. I admire you for that.¡±


    A justified war could be praised this way even after many sacrifices.


    Kazakhstan had gained both cause and practical benefits, although it did not jump into the struggle with a noble spirit without considering national interests.


    ¡°I am ttered. I had no choice but to jump in because we border China. We were lucky enough to upy a small area and end it early, but it almost turned into a big war.¡±


    Mittal, who briefly meditated on Youngho¡¯s words, opened his mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to make a suggestion to Your Highness, would you like to hear it?¡±


    He would not say it if Youngho did not want to, but Youngho wanted to hear even just for his curiosity.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t say between us? Don¡¯t hesitate to speak.¡±


    He was also Youngho¡¯s business partner, so Youngho took it lightly.


    ¡°It reminds me of a way to make China quiver.¡±


    He seemed to be telling the story that he had in mind for a long time because he thought it was an opportunity.


    ¡°I¡¯ll listen.¡±


    Since then, Mittal¡¯s story continued for about an hour.


    Whether it was his own idea or the Indian government¡¯s internal policy toward China, Mittal delivered a surprising message.


    Mittal¡¯s argument was that the Chinese misunderstood that the Communist Party had unified China, but it was not true. He said that China was rather divided by the Communist Party.


    The reason why Taiwan and Mongolia were separated was because they were difficult to be together based on the activities of the Communist Party of China, and the reason why the independence movement took ce in Tibet and Uyghur, which had been under China¡¯s umbre, was also attributed to the tyranny of the Communist Party of China.


    In this regard, the biggest culprit behind China¡¯s division was the Communist Party of China.


    He said that if Communist tyranny persisted, the future China was very likely to be divided.


    He stressed that a split in public sentiment could soon lead to a division of territory, as shown in this example in Uyghur and Tibet.


    ¡°So I¡¯d like to keep shaking China so that the Communist Party of China will keep its misadministration. What do you say?¡±


    Although he talked long, the conclusion was to shake the Communist Party by alienating the public sentiment.


    ¡°Can the Indian government join us in shaking China?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we have to do joint operations, just like we do in the Indian Ocean.¡±


    It was true that the Indian Navy was guarding the back when the Kazakh Navy was fighting against Chinese vessels.


    In the end, he meant thatrge-scale troops could be sent to Tibet.


    ¡°For the time being, I was thinking of taking a break to umte power.¡±


    As Youngho did not respond positively, Mittal immediately stepped back.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that we should carry it out right now. It¡¯s my personal opinion, so I have to ask the Indian government¡¯s intentions and get the consent of the Di Lama, too.¡±


    It was not the official position of the Indian government, but it would not refuse Mittal¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll think about it if the Indian government will be responsible for Ngari Prefecture.¡±


    If the Indian Army were to be stationed in Tibet, Youngho would dly ept Mittal¡¯s suggestion.


    The presence of Indian troops in Tibet would be a crucial decision to risk a war with China.


    ¡°I knew you would agree.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Let¡¯s wait for the Indian government¡¯s decision.¡±


    Youngho did not mean to maintain the status of half independence as it was now.


    One day, the entire territory of Uyghur and Tibet would have to be restored, and Youngho was going to help.


    The timing was uncertain, but today¡¯s talks with Mittal seemed to bring the timing forward somewhat.


    This would also encourage the Uyghurs living in Kashgar. There would be no Uyghurs who would be satisfied with where they were now.


    He was worried if they ran ahead of their passion when they were not even ready, but if there was a powerful ally called India, there would be less burden.

 Chapter 750 - Post-War Readjustment (3)

    <h4>Chapter 750: Post-War Readjustment (3)</h4>


    Mittal left for India with Park Jong-il after spending two days at the royal territory.


    Mittal¡¯s proposal would be implemented in the future when the Indian government would take the initiative, instead, the two decided to focus on the issue of Indian troops¡¯ presence in Tibet for now.


    The Indian government would also wee it, but it could never be a light decision as it was uncertain how China would take it if Indian troops were stationed in Ngari Prefecture.


    In order not to provide an excuse for Chinese intervention, the Indian military would also need to disguise itself as a militia, but it seemed unlikely. It was because of the Indian government¡¯s pride. It would not want to look like it was bending over for China.


    In terms of objective military capability, military experts assessed that Indian troops were somewhat behind Chinese forces, but it was highly likely that they would choose the standard method to keep up with their self-esteem.


    It was clearly shown in the way the Indian government approached the Bhutan border issue in dispute with China.


    No matter how many times China snarls, it was worth knowing one thing about its pride when it saw China making a stand-off without blinking.


    If such an Indian Army protected Tibet, the Kazakh royal family would have a wider range of operations.


    This is because China would not act recklessly because of the Indian military.


    Anyway, the cooperation with the Indian government was good news to Kazakhstan as well as the Indian government which would get a new card to pressure China.


    It had wanted to take part as it was rted to Tibet, but no opportunity was given, but now, Kazakhstan had sent its intelligence chief to discuss the issue of post-war readjustment.


    It was a great gift if Kazakhstan yielded the recently captured region to India even if it could exert its rights on it.


    If Indian troops were deployed, it would put Indians in a position of opposing China, but there was no better position than Tibet that could pressure both China and Pakistan at the same time.


    Perhaps due to this situation, Park Jong-il, who arrived in India, was given generous treatment by the Indian government while the negotiation was in progress.


    It was already confirmed with the Tibetan exile government, so there was nothing to coordinate, and several meetings with senior officials of the Indian government determined the issue of the Indian military presence in Tibet without much disagreement.


    It may be burdensome due to rtions with China, but the Indian government made a quick decision as if it had waited.


    It may have been the influence of the apanying Chairman Mittal, but this was not an issue to be decided quickly.


    The Indian government¡¯s decision has drastically reduced Kazakhstan¡¯s burden. Now, all it had to do was to focus on Kashgar.


    In fact, Kashgar alone was too much for Kazakhstan¡¯s economic conditions.


    However, considering the situation, the money poured into Kashgar was not a waste because Kazakhstan would continue influencing it.


    This was because the stronger Kashgar became, the safer Kazakhstan became.


    And even if it became an independent country, it was never a losing business because it would remain inseparable from Kazakhstan.


    ***


    The U.S., which seemed to be pulling out of the country, was also paying close attention to the participation of the Indian government.


    It was evident because Michael, the chief of the U.S. CIA, hastily called Youngho.


    Despite the fact that Kazakhstan had yet to announce it, the capabilities of the CIA were great. It had a rough idea of what was going on between the two countries already just by studying Mittal¡¯s move alone.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve put a lot of informants in our royal family.¡±


    -Hahaha... That¡¯s a misunderstanding. It¡¯s easy to figure out when you analyze the movements of important figures. And since Kazakhstan is one of the few countries where our intelligence agents can workfortably, don¡¯t you think we can figure out that much?


    As Kazakhstan was the center of Central Asia and Caucasus, spy activities were quite prevalent in the country, and there was nothing to hide, so it was also a ce where it was generous for the intelligence agents of allies.


    However, it was also a ce where key secrets were kept hidden tightly.


    ¡°Did you have any priormunication with the Indian government?¡±


    -It¡¯s our ally and a neighboring country of Tibet. It¡¯s natural to have frequent exchanges of views.


    ¡®That¡¯s right. Without priormunication, the Indian government couldn¡¯t have decided to dispatch troops so quickly.¡¯


    There was a reason why the Indian government was willing to join hands as if it had been waiting. This meant that the U.S. and India were predicting that Kazakhstan could not afford to operate both ces.


    ¡°You¡¯ve taken a good ount of Kazakhstan¡¯s situation. I can¡¯t thank you enough. Thank you for your consideration.¡±


    Sensing the bitterness in Youngho¡¯s words, Michael made an excuse.


    -Don¡¯t feel too ufortable. India is also a stakeholder.


    ¡°That¡¯s understandable.¡±


    Kazakhstan may have been a puppet after all, but it was a tolerable part.


    If the U.S., India, and Russia were not behind Kazakhstan, it would not have won concessions from China. In fact, China would never have given up Kashgar and Ngari.


    -Duke, it was a great decision. Our administration is also very encouraged by the Kazakh government¡¯s decision.


    ¡°I guess the U.S. was worried that we might stir up some trouble. I thought the U.S. was no longer involved.¡±


    -You must have a misunderstanding. How can the United States neglect the affairs of its allies? It was a little loud internally.


    ¡°Has anything happened to the American political circle?¡±


    -It happens all the time, so you don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s all gone now.


    The U.S. must have be threatened as Kazakhstan discussed the Tibetan issue with India without the U.S.


    It was impossible for the U.S. to be excluded from China-rted affairs.


    ¡°I just asked India for help because we are not capable enough. I guess it¡¯s causing trouble for our allies.¡±


    -I would have helped you if you had discussed such a problem with me. Fortunately, I was relieved because my opponent was India.


    ¡°Come on. I¡¯ve been in and out of your mind a few times. Be honest and take it all out on the table, Chief.¡±


    -Oh! I guess I can¡¯t even lie in front of the Duke of Kazakhstan. In fact, the administration was very concerned. There were also voices of concern that the Kazakh royal family might lead to a world war.


    ¡°The Indian government has been very active, so I was relieved. It was a little too much to carry Tibet on our back.¡±


    Youngho could say this because it was Michael, but he would not have been able to say this to anyone else because of his pride.


    -That¡¯s why I like you. Sharing a burden in international rtions reduces risk that much. And thank you for making the U.S. a cause to step in.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you can makepliments.¡±


    -Oh, don¡¯t say that. I¡¯m not even in a position topliment you. You made a great decision, indeed.


    It seemed Michael was immensely thankful that Youngho did not act greedy with the issue of Tibet. In any case, the decision to pass Tibet over to India was a divine move.


    ¡°Chief, can you tell me how far the U.S. government is going to get involved?¡±


    ***


    India¡¯s involvement was weed by the United States as well.


    The new variable, India, had made the United States less politically burdened. It also meant that there were other means to pressure China.


    Likewise, Kazakhstan could be shifted away from China¡¯s focus, easing the burden.


    China now had to deal with Kazakhstan and India at the same time.


    In order to attack Tibet, it would have to deal with India, and in order to attack Kashgar, it would have to face Kazakhstan.


    For that reason, Youngho was humming inside with relief.


    China, which had suddenlye under pressure to deal with India, would be torn.


    Knowing that Kazakhstan was behind the change, it would try to retaliate in any way.


    Youngho was hoping that the Communist Party of China would go far.


    This was because the more the current administration faltered, the more the people¡¯s sentiment would be divided.


    ording to Mittal, China¡¯s division would begin with the public sentiment.


    Of course, China would not copse for such a reason, but the administration should be severely shaken, and it might bring an end to the prolonged rule of the current regime.


    There was no way that the U.S. and others were unaware of this.


    This was why Youngho asked Michael how far the U.S. would intervene. He wondered if the U.S. government could support India, which was rtively weaker than China.


    Michael then said he was willing to help the Indian military¡¯s rearmament.


    The U.S. government could also step in without any burden because Kazakhstan had conceded the Tibetan Ngari Prefecture to India.


    Unlike Kazakhstan, China could not argue if the U.S. helped Indian troops rearm.


    Until now, most of the U.S. military¡¯s weapons donations had been monopolized by Kazakhstan, which had raised concerns in the U.S.


    In addition, it was believed to have led to a military imbnce in the Central Asian region by selling huge weapons such as thetest fighter jets, attack helicopters, and air defense missiles.


    The general view was that as a result of Kazakhstan¡¯s strong military power, Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus had entered the shadow of Kazakhstan.


    The U.S., even knowing that Kazakhstan had a role to stop China from the front line, was anxious about the situation.


    However, this time, it was shocked by the adventurousness of Kazakhstan, which was engaged in arge and small regional war with China.


    It was forced to rmend a cease-fire atst.


    This was because China¡¯s sharp fall was never beneficial to the U.S.


    Although it was in a trade war with China, the clock of the U.S would stop if there were no parts produced from China.


    Most of the electronicponents of important weapons used by the U.S. military were from China.


    Even a retired general of the U.S. military once said that if China did not export military-rted parts, the U.S. military¡¯s operations would disappear in the future.


    China was a thorn in the eye, but if China copsed, it would greatly affect U.S. national interests.


    In other words, China¡¯s influence on the world was enormous.


    If so, it had to stop China from emitting power to the outside world at a proper level.


    When the U.S. was looking for a way to stop China, Youngho threw customized opponents called Tibet and India. The U.S. was bound to be grateful for that.

 Chapter 751 - Gouging Out (1)

    <h4>Chapter 751: Gouging Out (1)</h4>


    ¡°I¡¯ve looked into the articles that have been stered by The Times, but I¡¯m too embarrassed to even speak. The entire Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan is going to be transferred to wholesale. I¡¯ll have to take this opportunity to shuffle everyone.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who entered Youngho¡¯s office, was in high spirits.


    A few days ago, the wealth of Azerbaijan¡¯s state-run bank president¡¯s wife in London was disclosed in The Times, and her excessive consumption was under fire. It seemed the couple had siphoned off national money overseas.


    He said in rage that even the royal family would be embarrassed by this.


    ¡°Did you ask the British government to confiscate her property?¡±


    ¡°The government of Azerbaijan hase forward, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be resolved until we do. They say they can¡¯t ept the government¡¯s request with a high corruption index.¡±


    ording to an article in The Times, the wife of Hajiyev, president of the International Bank of Azerbaijan¡¯s state-run bank, spent 150,000 pounds, equivalent to 224 million Korean won, in a day in Harrods, a famous department store in London, and spent over 16 million pounds, equivalent to 23.9 billion Korean won, over the past decade.


    In addition, it was revealed that she owned a 15-million-pound mansion and golf course near Knightsbridge, not too far from the department store, and a dedicated dock for two yachts and a 42-million-dor Gulfstream jetliner.


    ¡°What the hell did Aliyev do while the president of the state bank did that?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s on the same boat, so he must¡¯ve been able to control it. How much money must have been lost since Hajiyev has been the head of the state-run bank for 22 years.¡±


    While President Aliyev was in power for a prolonged period, his close aides had beenmitting all sorts of corruption. He was not able to stop it because he was afraid that his corruption would be revealed.


    Of course, the bank president and his wife imed that they did nothing wrong and asked for the intervention of the European Court of Human, saying that the president¡¯s wealth was umted by working hard before bing the president, not embezzling bank money.


    However, Britain¡¯s National Crime Agency countered that Hajiyev was not in a position to amass that much property, saying he was just a staff member of a state-ownedpany from 1993 to 2015.


    Embarrassingly, it was the first case in which Britain¡¯s new anti-corruptionw, ¡°Unexined Wealth Order,¡± was applied.


    Thew was created to prevent corrupt foreign officials and others fromundering money in Britain.


    Under thew, assets with the source that could not properly be exined were allowed to be seized, which was highly likely to be returned to Azerbaijan¡¯s state coffers.


    However, the UK court was reluctant to return it to the current government of Azerbaijan which had a high corruption index as It could bring a severe bacsh from the people of Azerbaijan.


    Despite the difficulty of oveing the foreign exchange crisis with the help of the Kazakh royal family due tock of dors, the power elite only cared about themselves. It was quite upsetting.


    The royal family also took the lead in solving the penalty problem of the Chinese fighter jets when the Azerbaijani governmentcked money.


    Even Kazakhstan was in a situation where the entire nation was tightening its belt due to the war with China. Youngho hoped that Kazakhstan¡¯s federal states would at least be mindful of such a situation, but this was no longer eptable.


    ¡°How¡¯s Aliyev¡¯s approval rating?¡±


    ¡°Still in the 70 percent range. I don¡¯t even believe that poll anymore. I think it¡¯s all a fabrication.¡±


    Although it was a democratic country, the Aliyev regime was no different from a socialist country as it led to a father-to-son session after the copse of the Soviet Union.


    That was why polls could also be manipted.


    ¡°But we can¡¯t ignore the response of the people of Azerbaijan at all. There¡¯s a hard-core support group that could cause a disturbance.¡±


    No matter how ugly a leader was, there was bound to be hard-core supporters who blindly trusted him no matter what.


    ¡°What are you talking about? If it weren¡¯t for our royal family, it could have been a vegetable government. Then shouldn¡¯t they havee to their senses? If we¡¯ve given me a chance to get rid of the rotten branches, they should at least pretend to do so.¡±


    Youngho was waiting because he needed a cause.


    Now there was enough justification umted that even the hard-core support group would turn its head.


    If the corruption of the Aliyev regime was exposed in detail, the people would ept it.


    ¡°We should get rid of him finally, don¡¯t we?


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been saying. We need to remove him. It¡¯s turned into a situation where our royal family has protected the Aliyev regime.¡±


    Youngho also wanted to get rid of him, but President Aliyev was struck right after Azerbaijan became a federal state, there would have been a bloodshed.


    In the process of dispersing hard-core supporters, coercive methods would have been used, and then it would have drawn people away from supporting the royal family, let alone encouraging national harmony.


    And the president was left in his position because Kazakhstan needed a puppet to put forward when signing a peace treaty with Armenia.


    If the Kazakh royal family became a negotiating party, it wouldter act as a political burden.


    It was a case in which Kazakhstan was forced to carry the Aliyev regime.


    Park Jong-il had been displeased about it for a long time.


    ¡°Hahaha... You really hold your grudge for a long time.¡±


    When Youngho teased him, Park Jong-il gushed.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this only for the royal family. Only the royal reputation has gone bad because of these thieves.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows about the corruption of the Aliyev regime. Who would think there was a connection between Aliyev and the royal family? Nobody has written about the Kazakh royal family so far when covering the corruption in Azerbaijan.¡±


    In the article in The Times this time, the Kazakh royal family was not mentioned at all.


    Only the Aliyev regime, which passed down power by father-to-son session, was under fire.


    Anyway, the long-awaited opportunity finally came, so the two began to think head-to-head about how to use it.


    ***


    The Kazakh Queen and Duke and his children visited Baku at the same time after several months.


    Even at a sensitive time with China, Azerbaijan residents weed themrgely, not caring about it.


    Citizens lined up in the streets weed the Queen¡¯s visit more enthusiastically as if representing the current atmosphere of Baku.


    Disillusionment with the incumbent government was expressed in reverse with expectations for the royal family.


    Citizens were demanding change, as people did in Central Asia, hoping the royal family to step up and end the dictatorship and corruption.


    ¡°Oh my! Honey, did you see the picket people were holding?¡±


    Fatima looked back at Youngho with a look of surprise.


    ¡°I saw it, too. It says, ¡®overthrow the dictatorship¡¯.¡±


    The fact that they carried such a picket when weing the royal family¡¯s visit was to represent the citizens¡¯ current minds. It was a message to change Azerbaijan.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you suddenly asked me toe to Baku. I didn¡¯t expect the situation here to be this bad.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯ve brought that out, it must have taken a lot of courage.¡±


    No matter how much Azerbaijan police had changed, it was inconceivable to dare toe out with pickets with anti-government slogans, considering the old notoriety. It was because the Aliyev regime was still alive and well.


    Youngho thought there would be some changes if he gave Aliyev some time, but it was not enough to control the power of his aides. Maybe Aliyev had too many weaknesses to control his aides.


    ¡°Fatima, I need your strength.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. Would it suffice if I visit around the country?¡±


    Fatima quickly understood what Youngho meant.


    The Queen¡¯s national tour had happened before.


    Nothing was better than that as a way to win the hearts of the public.


    ¡°Given the situation, I¡¯lle along if I can.¡±


    ¡°No, you take care of your Baku. I can just go around with the kids feeling like I¡¯m traveling with them.¡±


    By showing that the royal family was deeply interested in Azerbaijan, the move was aimed at softening the bacsh of possible Aliyev followers.


    This was because the citizens were well aware that many changes had taken ce in Azerbaijan since bing a federal state of Kazakhstan.


    When the threat of war against Armenia, which had always been around, disappeared, huge defense spending disappeared too, and as the cost was spent on economic development, people were bing more well-off.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have a talk with Aliyev if I find out that the public sentiment ispletely turned to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be opposition?¡±


    Fatima¡¯s expression showed concern.


    She was worried that there might be bloodshed.


    ¡°We hold Aliyev¡¯s weaknesses. He¡¯ll have toply or he¡¯ll have to stand in court.¡±


    Youngho would give Aliyev two final options.


    He would either have to give up slush funds and seek asylum abroad or choose to be humiliated at Azerbaijan¡¯s court.


    Then, he intended to push for a constitutional revision so that the Kazakh royal family would have diplomatic and military power.


    In order to effectively counter China, the two-way federal system needed to be changed.


    Azerbaijan with its presidential system was not mixing well in themonwealth, so he wanted to change that.


    ¡°Will the self-respecting people really want to be ruled by our royal family?¡±


    The Caucasus was a ce where nationalism was unusually prevalent.


    The three countries of the Caucasus had differentnguages and different religions, even though the whole Caucasus was a littlerger than the Korean Penins.


    This meant that the people had such strong self-esteem.


    ¡°If we show a vision that they can be better than they are now, they¡¯ll agree.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to make a promotional video or something.¡±


    The moral hazard of the Azerbaijani government had even stained businessmen.


    Although there was no soil for apany to use after independence from the Soviet Union for only 30 years, it only produced insolventpanies that had grown up with illegal loans using corrupt politicians.


    Perhaps it was natural for ck money toe and go in the process.


    In addition, bigpanies equivalent to the nation¡¯s key industries were bing increasingly insolvent inx management as Aliyev and his aides directly intervened in the process of selling state-ownedpanies to the private sector or seeking private interests putting third parties in the front.


    Companies that could close down at any time had been able to maintain their reputations because of the continued transfusion of public funds on the grounds that they were national infrastructure industries.


    In other words,panies that would have closed down already without huge oil dors were still operating with taxpayers¡¯ money.


    In the process, such things as the recent international disgraceful use of public funds were raised.


    If Azerbaijan had not been a member of the Kazakh Federal Kingdom, Youngho would have overlooked it, but it was no longer a matter of others.


    During the financial crisis, the Kazakh royal family supported funds and conceded a stake in the new oil field, but even that funds would have slowly disappeared into the hands of greedy politicians.


    Of course, the Kazakh royal family was also enjoying huge profits from receiving offshore oil fields in exchange for dors, but that was before it became a federal state.


    A new oil field found in waters northeast of Baku was a golden goose boasting the world¡¯s best reserves in a single oil field.


    Although the royal family was supported by Baku citizens because it gave up its 50 percent stake to the Azerbaijani government, if it was not used for economic development, the meaning of giving up its stake would fade.


    The Kazakh Intelligence Department believed that the corruption was connected by a link from the top to the bottom, so it was not easy to organize the political circle.


    Aliyev was not the only problem. It was necessary to investigate all public officials andpanies.


    It was obvious that there would be a bloodbath in the process.


    Perhaps it was necessary to wipe out the whole upper sses that were equivalent to vested interests.


    In order to do so, public support was essential.


    Fatima qualified for such a role.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s inclusion in the federal kingdom and a peace treaty with Armenia werergely attributed to Fatima¡¯s nationwide tour.


    Every word from the Queen¡¯s mouth led to public opinion and became a public sentiment.


    This time again, Youngho intended to use public sentiment to drive out all the corrupt vested interests.


    In order not to get blood on his hands, he pushed back to keep the Aliyev regime afloat, but it had be a difficult situation to expect something good from Aliyev any longer.


    National GDP was barely 6,000 dors, but if the establishment siphoned off public funds and spent millions of dors overseas, it would never be a normal country.


    In order to make Azerbaijan a normal country, he had to get his hands dirty.

 Chapter 752 - Gouging Out (2)

    <h4>Chapter 752: Gouging Out (2)</h4>


    Baku¡¯s presidential pce, regardless of theplicated national issue, was still showing off its splendid figure.


    In front of the presidential pce, Youngho nced at the surrounding view and stepped forward as he was greeted by Aliyev.


    President Aliyev, who saw Youngho¡¯s stern expression, took away a smile off his face.


    He prepared everything to wee the Queen and the royal party, but it was unusual for Youngho to visit the presidential pce alone.


    After a while, only the two sat in the reception room of the pce without any attendees.


    By the time the silence between the two was getting too long over tea, Youngho opened his mouth.


    ¡°Mr. President. Did you hear what happened in Ennd?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed.¡±


    Aliyev was ashamed of the situation.


    Aliyev¡¯s position was shaken for a while after Azerbaijan became a federal state, but it was stabilized because of the support of the Kazakh royal family so far.


    However, the whole world was talking about his close aide¡¯s issue, so he could not raise his face. The media argued that if a bank presidentmitted such irregrities, he had the protection of his superiors.


    His approval rating was also plummeting, so he had been restless these days.


    ¡°Your Highness, I am very sorry for what happened. I trusted my aides, but I didn¡¯t expect them to do this. I¡¯ll take immediate legal action and freeze the bank president¡¯s property.¡±


    It was a typical move of cutting one¡¯s own tail off.


    There were more than one or two people involved in the matter, but he was trying to cut off the bank president and conclude the case.


    Freezing his property would also be meaningless. If he had siphoned off public funds, he would have used different international banks to divide his money or bought real estates in all parts of Europe, not only in London.


    Rted countries were likely to squirm without returning money like Britain.


    It would only be partially recovered after a bitter legal battle, but not before Azerbaijan¡¯s reputation fell on the ground.


    Youngho, who sighed, uttered a word as if he was making a sentence.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s time for you to take responsibility. It¡¯s not going to be solved at the level of the royal family. If you understand the people and think about Azerbaijan¡¯s future, you should make a decision. The Queen is traveling around the country to try to win the hearts of the people, but the public¡¯s response is not the same as before.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Aliyev¡¯s face was stiffened.


    He was so shocked that he was out of breath.


    This was because Aliyev was well aware of the reaction of the people.


    The evidence was that the approval rating, which once stood at more than 80 percent, fell to the 70 percent level by the time the nation was incorporated into the federal system and was now less than 50 percent.


    But if the royal family was giving up, there was only one answer.


    ¡°Your Highness, I can¡¯t back down like this. Don¡¯t you think I should be the one to take responsibility for what I have made?¡±


    Aliyev probably needed time tounder the money he had been stealing, not to fix his wrongdoings.


    He was not going to back down quietly.


    In that case, Youngho needed to be a little harsher.


    ¡°You¡¯ve had plenty of time to reform, and we¡¯ve had enough of your close associates¡¯ corruption. The people seem to think you have no will to reform.¡±


    Although Youngho was putting the people first, this meant that the royal family was on the same page.


    Aliyev¡¯s hands were shaking from the shock.


    Youngho kept on.


    ¡°Make a decision when you have a chance. If you do something wrong, you may be judged by the people. The reason I visited the presidential pce today is to deliver that message.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you help me a little?¡±


    ¡°Our royal family is in a truce with China. We can¡¯t just keep looking after Your Excellency when we don¡¯t know when another war will break out. And we need to help the independence of Uyghur and Tibet.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you know, I¡¯ve been burning my passion for Azerbaijan. But if I step down in disgrace, I will be remembered as a sinner in history.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this in advance not to be a sinner in history. You can save the lives of countless people in your decision. If your hard-core supporters resist, Azerbaijan will retreat 10 years.¡±


    In a way, it was also an opportunity for Aliyev to get out.


    He could be brought to court if he insisted on being in power.


    If he apologized to the public and stepped down quietly, he might be able to rely on the people¡¯s sympathy, but the whole family would be humiliated as soon as he became greedy.


    Youngho hurried out of the presidential pce because he thought he had given enough warning.


    In case of an emergency, the Royal Bodyguard forces in Baku surrounded the presidential pce, but no such unsavory event happened.


    ***


    Fatima showed off the dignity of the Kazakh royal family at home and abroad, visiting not only Azerbaijan but also Georgia and Armenia.


    It was intended to revamp Azerbaijan¡¯s image, which had been tarnished by recent unsavory events, and instill pride in its people.


    Both countries enthusiastically weed the visit of the Queen of Kazakhstan.


    Zeynep¡¯s hospital train yed a big role in shaking off the resentment toward Azerbaijan by going around Armenia and other remote viges in Georgia for medical service.


    While Fatima was traveling both at home and abroad, Armed Forces Day events proceeded as scheduled in Baku.


    The royal guards also contributed to the festive mood by entering the port of Baku inrge numbers under the pretext of Armed Forces Day events and participating in the march of the city.


    However, for the Aliyev government, the participation of the royal guards in the events would have been seen as a show of force.


    As pressure was put on both inside and outside, Aliyev finally raised his hand to surrender.


    Aliyev secretly visited the royal vi at Serbian Ranch.


    ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s no ce for me and my family to go. What should I do?¡±


    He was seeking an asylum as he was determined to put down his power.


    He may want to go to an advanced country, but if he did, he may be repatriated to Azerbaijan under the extradition treaty.


    However, he could not go to Middle Eastern countries or Africa.


    ¡°Do you have anything to say before that? I think we need to do something that the people can understand so that you can stayfortable even if you defect to another country.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Aliyev flinched.


    He did not bother to ask what he would do with the slush funds, but how could he not understand Youngho¡¯s words?


    Aliyev, who was looking at Youngho¡¯s face, opened his mouth with determination.


    ¡°You¡¯d know if you check, but I¡¯ve already put any funds illegally collected in the national treasury. And the real estate and deposits that my family has overseas have been made by their efforts, so there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.¡±


    He was trying to cover the sky with his hands.


    Even children would know that the wealth was created by the unparalleled power of the president.


    ¡°The reason why we didn¡¯t track former Kazakhstan¡¯s President Nazarbayev when he went to exile was because his wealth was in the country. We pretended not to know when he defected to Russia with only some cash. There was a lot of public opinions that we should take all of his money back, but I stopped it.¡±


    It was a warning for him to leave everything behind.


    It was also a promise that Youngho would protect his life in exile regardless of the public opinion.


    No country would be able to protect the Aliyev family if the Kazakh royal family was determined to take measures to retrieve them.


    Aliyev was devastated by the possibility of the royal family releasing intelligence agents and royal forces to harm his family.


    ¡°Your Highness, please help me out for all the friendship we had.¡±


    Aliyev sat close enough as if he were to cling on Youngho¡¯s trousers.


    He finally realized that the Kazakh royal family was already preparing for this.


    ¡°Okay, I rmend Russia for asylum. I have a special rtionship with Putin, so he¡¯ll do me a favor. But please tell us all about your family¡¯s slush funds and corruption of your aides. Keep in mind that all the money belongs to the people of Azerbaijan. Then I¡¯ll make sure you spend your old agefortably with your family.¡±


    Knowing that there was no more way out, Aliyev lowered his head and was preupied for a long time.


    After a while, he looked morefortable.


    From the look of his face, he was determined to put everything down.


    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you since you promised to look after my family. I just hope that the people don¡¯t forget that my father and I did so much for the development of the nation.¡±


    ¡°People already know that you¡¯ve worked so hard for Azerbaijan following your predecessor. And history will recognize your beautiful exit. You¡¯ve led Azerbaijan this far in transition. Thank you for your hard work.¡±


    Tears streamed from Aliyev¡¯s eyes when Youngho finished speaking.


    It could be a tear of remorse or self-pity to let go of power.


    He would not have let go of power this vainly, but because he knew so well that he could not do anything against the huge wall of the Kazakh royal family, he had no choice.


    Youngho felt sorry for Aliyev¡¯s tears, but he deserved it considering the harmful effects of his long-term dictatorship. Countless people were disadvantaged and killed by dictatorship.


    It was for Azerbaijan, but in the end, it was the president and his followers who were busier to take care of their own interests.


    Aliyev, whose emotions had subsided after a while, opened his mouth cautiously.


    ¡°Your Highness, do you happen to have a cklist?¡±


    Youngho was puzzled at his question.


    ¡°There is no such thing. We only have the list of people involved in corruption that our intelligence agency investigated.¡±


    Aliyev seemed to want to take care of even a few of his aides, but that could never happen.


    Since he was the president, he would be allowed asylum for national harmony, but the rest would be judged byw.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to save some people.¡±


    It was just as expected.


    ¡°Your Excellency, I was determined to face a bacsh for letting you go only for national reconciliation. As you know, there is no royal authority in Azerbaijan. Further intervention by the royal family will also cause problems with your safety. Also, I¡¯m asking you to seek asylum because I don¡¯t want Azerbaijan to lose its national prestige if you stand in court. If the royal family is found to have stepped up and sought asylum, I honestly don¡¯t have the confidence in what to do next. But I still decided to help you.¡±


    COMMENT


    ¡°...¡±


    If Aliyev stood at court, the bacsh from his followers would be extreme.


    There could be bloodshed.


    It was rather better for the Aliyev family to go abroad to help Azerbaijan.


    ¡°I understand your situation. Thank you for your help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d I could help you.¡±


    Aliyev, who emotionally thanked him, left the royal vi with his shoulders drooping.


    Youngho, who saw Aliyev off, was also in a mixed mood.

 Chapter 753 - Gouging Out (3)

    <h4>Chapter 753: Gouging Out (3)</h4>


    Youngho called in Sevan, the Azerbaijan secretary of the interior.


    From now on, it was a battle of time.


    This was because Aliyev might y with fire.


    He seemed toply in front of Youngho, but it would not be easy to put down his authority.


    If his aides, whose situation was at stake, encouraged him, he might withdraw his asylum.


    Azerbaijan still had many of Aliyev¡¯s followers and many of them were in the military, which could be a potential problem.


    If he could not get help from the royal family, he would have no choice but to help himself.


    He was not impeached by the National Assembly, nor there had been massive protests calling for his resignation.


    Legally, he was still the president of Azerbaijan, so what could he not do?


    There was another card for Aliyev to use.


    It was to divert his aides out of the country.


    This was because he could buy any number of inds in Greece or the South Pacific with his wealth.


    Sevan¡¯s expression as he listened to Youngho¡¯s story became more and more stiff.


    As far as he knew, Aliyev was not someone who would put down power so easily.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, the first priority is to ban those involved in corruption from leaving the country, and the police should prevent the movement of military bases by an emergency order.¡±


    ¡°But can the police force stop the army?¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t bring tanks, we can probably stop them.¡±


    Azerbaijan had so many police officers that it was no exaggeration to call it a police state.


    This was because it was an organization that was formed by armed police in preparation for the war against Armenia. It also had armored vehicles.


    ¡°If we contact the generals who are in favor of the royal family, we can prevent their troops from moving in advance, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, military generals who are well aware of the current situation won¡¯t move recklessly. They know the power of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan and the force of the Royal Bodyguards better than anyone else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple to think about. I¡¯m sure there are soldiers who don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to keep their positions if Aliyev left.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that if the president deres martialw, the military has no choice but to follow orders. Then the police can¡¯t stop it.¡±


    Aliyev had another card called martialw promation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call the generals I know. Most of them are friendly to the royal family.¡±


    Since Sevan also had a military background, he was closely associated with the generals in their current post.


    Youngho was lost in thought for a while, and Sevan kept on.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, I would like you and your family to stay in Georgia for the time being just in case. There¡¯s no reason for you toe into the country right now, and I¡¯m afraid President Aliyev might harm you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do that.¡±


    ¡°And please call any general who is on your side. We need to mobilize everyone we know to stop him.¡±


    All the cards must be used to cut off Aliyev¡¯s hands and feet.


    It was because this could stimte Armenia.


    If Aliyev dered martialw, Armenia would also be on high alert because Aliyev could provoke Armenia as a way to turn the people¡¯s attention and get through the situation.


    Although the two countries signed a peace treaty, the two countries still remained bitter toward each other.


    The massacre of Azerbaijani residents in Nagorno-Karabakh before the war still remained unsolved, which could be a seed of conflict at any time.


    It was such a huge incident in which hundreds of Azerbaijani people were massacred that it was not something that could be easily sealed.


    That was why the Kazakh royal guards and Russian troops were stationed as peacekeepers despite the signing of the peace treaty.


    However, if Aliyev provoked Armenia, the public¡¯s attention would have to be drawn to it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know a lot of generals, but I¡¯ll try to get in touch with them. But can you issue an emergency order to the police independently?¡±


    ¡°Under the currentw, there is no legal obstacle for me to invoke the emergency decree.¡±


    It was fortunate that Sevan could issue an emergency order.


    ¡°Then consult with the top police officers of the National Police Agency and make a preemptive move.¡±


    There was nothing to hesitate about.


    It was because something could be going on at the presidential pce by now.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll exin the situation to my military friends and ask for their cooperation.¡±


    Sevan was also in a hurry.


    A little twist here would not only bring a massive bloodshed but also ruin the peace treaty with Armenia.


    He picked up his phone first as he was leaving the royal vi.


    ¡°Director! I¡¯m on my way to the National Police Agency, so see you there. Please keep my visit a secret.¡±


    At that time, Youngho was also calling Cho Chul-hwan.


    ¡°You need to send two battalion troops of the Royal Bodyguards to Baku.¡±


    -What¡¯s going on? Did something go wrong with Armenia?


    ¡°I gave Aliyev an ultimatum, but I feel ufortable because it seems like it¡¯s going too easy.¡±


    -Don¡¯t you think too much force would provoke Aliyev?


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve already provoked him.¡±


    He had already pressured Aliyev by deploying a battalion of royal guards who participated in Azerbaijan¡¯s Armed Forces Day events.


    That was enough troops to surround the presidential pce.


    It was a great force only when there was no opponent, but if Aliyev mobilized the army, it would be different.


    -Whoa, okay. I¡¯ll get them ready right away and set off. Do you want us to carry heavy weapons?


    If heavy weapons were used, it would really provoke the other side.


    ¡°The increase in the number of guards is just for pressure. I¡¯m just trying to keep the military from moving.¡±


    ***


    Youngho told Aliyev that the royal family could not intervene recklessly, but if there were signs of rebellion, he would have no choice but to intervene under the pretext of protecting the royal territories in Baku.


    After finishing the phone call with Cho Chul-hwan, Youngho also contacted Park Jong-il at his safe house in downtown Baku.


    ¡°What is the presidential pce¡¯s movement?¡±


    -There¡¯s not much movement yet.


    Intelligence agents were looking around the presidential pce with their eyes wide open.


    ¡°No one goes in and out of the presidential pce?¡±


    -If there¡¯s a secret passage, we wouldn¡¯t know. It¡¯s still quiet.


    There was no presidential pce without a secret passage, but Aliyev, who had strong self-esteem, would not escape like a rat.


    But it was strange that it was too quiet.


    If he decided to leave the country and asked for asylum, his aides shoulde and go even for the worry of their future.


    Could Aliyev have moved independently without consulting anyone? It also did not make sense.


    It would be natural for him to consult with his aides in advance and even n to pursue future affairs.


    If not, his aides could have already noticed and left Baku.


    ¡°Are there any president¡¯s close associates who have already gone abroad?


    -Nothing¡¯s going on yet, but do you think they¡¯ll give up their position so soon? No, I think Aliyev is moving alone.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that¡¯s better...¡±


    Nevertheless, the unpleasant feelings still lingered.


    He could not shake off the feeling that something was definitely going to happen.


    ¡°Jong-il! Would Aliyev make an extreme choice by any chance other than physical methods like martialw?¡±


    -He can never be such a man. There are more slush funds that we haven¡¯t figured out yet. He won¡¯t leave all that behind.


    ¡°Just investigate more thoroughly just in case. If there are any strange signs, contact me right away.¡±


    -If you¡¯re so anxious, visit the presidential pce and cheer him up.


    Assuming that he was willing to run Azerbaijan with his own hands, an extreme choice was possible at all costs.


    But what if he still held the slush funds without putting it in the state coffers?


    It also bothered Youngho that he did not respond much when he rmended Russia as an asylum.


    If he did notmit suicide, there was only a night escape.


    ¡°Was there a private jet owned by Aliyev?¡±


    -Of course, he does. Why? Are you thinking he would run away at night?


    ¡°Where are his wife and two daughters now?¡±


    -They stayed in London and went to Estonia.


    Something was very suspicious.


    Aliyev might havee to Youngho to make him believe that he would lose everything, but he could flee the country without even telling his close aides to keep his slush funds.


    ¡°How much money did the Aliyev family spend in Ennd?¡±


    He asked because he had a rough idea.


    The link between Ennd and Estonia was strange.


    This was because he remembered an article on British tabloid that imed Aliyev family¡¯s slush funds had beenundered through Estonia.


    -It¡¯s known to be about 2.5 billion euros, but no one knows the exact amount. It¡¯s untrackable because he¡¯sundered money from all over the ce.


    ¡°Mobilize all agents and try to track it down. Ask the cooperation of the British intelligence service if you can. I have a hunch that we¡¯re being yed.¡±


    -So you¡¯re saying Aliyev¡¯s putting on a show?


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying he could be.¡±


    Such an assumption was possible if the presidential family were not currently in Baku.


    -I¡¯ll have to ban their travel right now.


    ¡°Sevan is already taking care of that.¡±


    -Baku is still full of Aliyev followers. That¡¯s not enough.


    ¡°First of all, check where the president¡¯s family is now. That¡¯s the priority.¡±


    -What if the president leaves in secret?


    Youngho was worried about that.


    It was possible that the president might leave the country for a while due to personal reasons.


    Who would find fault with it and stop him when he was still a powerful president?


    If the royal guards or the police stepped up, the president¡¯s security guards at the presidential pce would not wait and see.


    If it was defined as terrorism against the president, this would be another huge trouble.


    Aliyev¡¯s followers would rise up like bees.


    No matter how hard he thought, there was no answer.


    If Aliyev said he would leave the country immediately, there was no way to control it.

 Chapter 754 - Filling in the Vacancy (1)

    <h4>Chapter 754: Filling in the Vacancy (1)</h4>


    The Aliyev family, which led Azerbaijan for more than two decades, had done something truly shameful.


    As Youngho feared, the president fled the presidential pce surrounded by bodyguards and defected to Estonia on a small jet waiting at the airport.


    A satellite tracking the flight tracks revealed that Estonia¡¯s Tallinn Airport was the final destination.


    Estonia was one of the three Baltic states and was an independent country from the former Soviet Union.


    It was a bit strange that Estonia, which had a strained rtionship with Russia, was considered an asylum, but it must have been because he had other ns.


    In any case, Aliyev¡¯s asylum seemed to have been unknown to even his aides.


    The president¡¯s sudden defection rattled Baku.


    Citizens of Baku were furious to learn the rumors circting that he sought asylum to keep the slush funds collected by the president¡¯s family.


    Some civic groups said they would organize amando unit to chase the Aliyev family.


    Since Estonia had not signed an extradition treaty, even if they were caught, they would not be repatriated to Azerbaijan. The Aliyev family chose to go to Estonia for that reason.


    Of course, he would be sneaking into a third-ce from there.


    If he had to live in hiding for the rest of his life, it would be better to give up slush funds and live in exile in a fair manner.


    However, Aliyev made such a choice not to give up the slush funds.


    Park Jong-il had quickly sent intelligence agents to Estonia to secretly chase the Aliyev family.


    He hurried since if the Aliyev family was caught, the Kazakh royal family would gain huge royal funds.


    ¡°He¡¯s such a rat. He moved so secretly that even the Estonian government didn¡¯t know about it.¡±


    ¡°How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°He entered the country under apletely different name, and there were 4,000 travelers who entered Estonia that day.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot of arrivals in such a small country.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a popr tourist attraction these days. We looked at the airport record and found out that they arrived at the airport early in the morning and left the airport at the busiest time when there was the highest number of arrivals. It¡¯s been thoroughly nned.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush and track them down step by step. They won¡¯t budge if they know we¡¯re tracking them. We have to make them go careless, and don¡¯t forget to talk to the British government and freeze the Aliyev family¡¯s assets.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t have the assets under their names. They must have changed the name. The same goes for deposits.¡±


    ¡°Tell the British government to freeze any suspicious ount if it doesn¡¯t want to cross our royal family.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t agree. For now, it would wee any foreigner who pays taxes properly.¡±


    Britain had made relevantws to limit foreigners¡¯ moneyundering, but it was not exerted at any time.


    This was because foreign investors would exit the country like a low tide if it did.


    ¡°We still have to try. I¡¯ll ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The British government won¡¯t be able to reject it if we put pressure on it from all directions.¡±


    ¡°Most of the money must¡¯ve been siphoned off to somewhere already. His wife and two daughters had been in and out of London frequently recently. It would have been because of property disposal.¡±


    Aliyev¡¯s asylum was the copse of a long dictatorship and the starting line for a new democracy in Azerbaijan.


    The absence of the president did not paralyze state affairs although there was a temporary confusion, it soon went back to normal.


    Youngho was even thankful that there was no obstacle in getting rid of corrupt officials.


    Many corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen were used and arrested in the act.


    It was worrisome that the government or the economy would be paralyzed because there were so many targets of punishment.


    The amount gathered in the process of seizing the properties umted in fraud was close to Azerbaijan¡¯s annual budget as they were collected through decades.


    Apart from the real estate, cash and gold bars poured out during the search and seizure process were also enormous.


    As in most countries that became independent from the Soviet Union, the ck collusion between bureaucrats and businessmen was no exception to Azerbaijan.


    More and more irregrities weremitted everywhere because of the overflowing oil money.


    The irregrities under the guise of the welfare of the citizens to weapons purchases made by partnering withpanies were immeasurable.


    Generalpanies were used as moneyundering channels for bureaucrats and they received easy bank loans for a return, which was in fact, public funds. It was simply a mess.


    The government budget was blind money, and Azerbaijan was the ce where people would be treated like idiots if they did not take it.


    This was possible because Aliyev, who was obsessed with a long-term rule, turned a blind eye to it.


    It was to maintain the loyalty from bureaucrats, soldiers, and police organizations, the strong pirs of a long-term rule.


    From the minor official to the chief, moral hazard was at its peak.


    ***


    ¡°There is no answer unless we have to reform people¡¯s minds.¡±


    ¡°We used to be like them, remember?¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il were also the party that handed out envelopes to low-level government officials and working-level officials in order to settle down in Baku in the early days.


    ¡°Is paying a little money for bribing the same with stealing people¡¯s money? At least there was friendship.¡±


    The friendship imed by Park Jong-il was about drinking with the officials and bing friends, although he bribed them.


    ¡°Is that even friendship? We had no choice but to bribe them because that was customary. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has ruined them. I don¡¯t know where to start.¡±


    As Aliyev¡¯s absence staggered the government, Youngho was forced toe to the fore.


    There was no legal basis for the royal family to step up, but the public wanted the royal family to step up.


    ¡°Compared to how the officials in Kazakhstan used to be, the officials here are clean.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who was presenting various data, sighed.


    ¡°How¡¯s the legal circle?¡±


    ¡°Phew! It¡¯s been kissing up to the regime, but it¡¯s better than other branches.¡±


    Youngho found something strange while looking through the data.


    The gold mine, a strategic material, was owned by an individual, a businessman who was put on the list of people in connection with political rtions.


    In addition to oil, Azerbaijan hadrge deposits of iron ores and gold mines.


    One of them was the dead gold mines in Serbian Ranch.


    ¡°Look at this. He personally owns a gold mine.¡±


    ¡°The businessman is a close confidant of the president, and he reportedly took over the gold mine from the state 10 years ago. He was charged with bribery this time.¡±


    Park Jong-il replied as if it was not a big deal, but he smiled when he looked at Youngho¡¯s expression. He knew that Youngho was crazy for gold.


    ¡°He¡¯s just a miner who produces around one ton a year. I¡¯ve searched, but there¡¯s no circumstantial evidence of siphoning gold. All he did was to give gold to political figures as a gift.¡±


    A ton of gold bars was worth more than 50 million dors at market prices.


    It was not muchpared to the amount held by the Kazakh royal family, but it was a mine that would be ssified as a gold mine with sufficient profitability.


    Of course, considering the cost of production, it was not great enough to bribe people here and there.


    Nevertheless, if he had bribed politicians for such a gold mine, it was proof that there was something special.


    When Youngho¡¯s expression changed strangely, Park Jong-il looked back at the document, wondering what it was.


    ¡°The gold produced at the Serbian Ranch is also around two tons. It¡¯s the amount that they drill quietly not to be caught, but he¡¯s producing one ton there even though he has five gold mines.¡±


    Park Jong-il picked up the phone as if he had missed something and ordered intelligent agents to investigate deeper.


    He was just reminded of the production rate of gold mines in the Caucasus and Central Asia.


    ¡°It seems that the police of Baku didn¡¯t get it right either. I¡¯m sending our agents, so they¡¯ll get some evidence. You are indeed keen when ites to gold. It¡¯s like you can smell it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m crazy about gold.¡±


    At the lowest estimate, the amount produced by the five mines should be more than five tons a year.


    If it had been reported to have produced only one ton, it was highly likely that the owner would have lobbied officials for silence.


    ¡°It¡¯s too much for him to take it out of the country. It must have been hidden somewhere.¡±


    Azerbaijan was a police state and a ce where entry into and departure from the country was extremely thorough.


    Then, of course, the gold bars should be in the country if it did not involve President Aliyev.


    ¡°Tell them to investigate secretly and look into the presidential pce as well, and we also have to look at the data from the police more thoroughly. It¡¯s full of holes everywhere.¡±


    Starting from the gold mine case, the two began a full reinvestigation into the crimesmitted by those involved in corruption. It was because they could not trust the Azerbaijani police yet.


    Youngho¡¯s interest was by far the hidden gold and gold mines.


    Given the current global economic trend, gold was a cashable asset with high prices because holding gold was safer than holding the key currency, the dor or the euro.


    Youngho¡¯s busy mind was transferred onto Park Jong-il.


    ¡°Has the resultse out yet?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re doing a thorough investigation. Please wait. Your Royal Highness. Patience is a virtue.¡±


    His response was telling him that the result was not as clear as expected.


    Youngho was anxious because the gold miner could transfer the gold to somewhere else at any moment if the investigation was prolonged.


    ¡°Use a high-handed way if you need to. It¡¯s not because I¡¯m greedy for gold but because Azerbaijan¡¯s national wealth is leaking.¡±


    Azerbaijan¡¯s economic situation was still not stable enough to the point where it had to deal with China not to pay the fighter purchase deposit 120 million dors.


    Even a few tons of gold bars could cost hundreds of millions of dors, so Youngho had to do everything to secure such an amount.


    ¡°I¡¯m gently coaxing the rted officials under the condition of giving them a pardon. If there¡¯s no oue, I¡¯m thinking of getting the mining right at least.¡±


    ¡°The mining right?¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t get a confession, we can check if we mined and produced gold ourselves, and the production amount is clear. That¡¯s hard evidence.¡±


    ¡°You think the mine owner willply?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense if he tries to hold onto it when he said the mine only produced a small amount. It¡¯s only natural to sell it if someone offered a good price. If he doesn¡¯t, he¡¯d have to rot in a cold cell, so why wouldn¡¯t he?¡±


    Even if Youngho was the gold miner, he would ept the offer if he could receive a pardon to reduce his sentence.


    ¡°That¡¯s a very good idea. I¡¯ll have to reward him.¡±


    As soon as Young finished his word, Jong-il stretched his hand toward him indicating that it was his own idea and urging Youngho to give the reward.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather get that in cash!¡±


    ¡°Gee. Okay, I¡¯ll give the entire intelligence service a bonus. Just make sure all Azerbaijan¡¯s personal gold mines are brought to the royal family.¡±

 Chapter 755 - Filling in the Vacancy (2)

    <h4>Chapter 755: Filling in the Vacancy (2)</h4>


    There was not a grain of royal authority set forth in Azerbaijan¡¯s constitution.


    But in substance, it was the pivot of the people of Azerbaijan, and naturally, the vacancy of Aliyev was naturally offered to the royal family.


    Although it was a vague role that wielded enormous power without stipted authority, the political situation quickly returned to the top when the Duke of Kazakhstan stayed at the presidential pce.


    Those who blindly followed Aliyev also returned to their daily lives, leaving their sense of despondency behind.


    They never dreamed that the president would abandon them and run away at night.


    In addition, his aides, who believed in him, all panicked as if they were hit by the back of their heads.


    Now they had to be raided by the police, which became the hands and feet of the royal family, and were ced under house arrest and awaiting judicial action.


    It was a sudden misfortune for them, but it was good news to the people.


    It was because they, who had seized power and controlled Azerbaijan for decades, were unable toe out of their homes, holding their breath.


    The sudden democratization was a bit awkward to the people, but they believed that the Kazakh royal family would protect them no matter what.


    They had deep trust for the royal family as it had made Kazakhstan powerful enough to fight against China and solve the financial crisis in Azerbaijan.


    ¡°He¡¯s covered the presidential pce with money. Did you see the toilet sink and toilet? It¡¯s all gold.¡±


    At Park Jong-il¡¯s fuss, Youngho just smiled.


    It was gold-ted, but not pure gold.


    It would be difficult to decorate the presidential pce in such a splendid way without thinking to remain as a president for his whole lifetime.


    ¡°It¡¯s a family that seeded the president from the father to son. Perhaps, he was nning to make one of his daughters president. Just by looking at the fact that he appointed his wife as vice president, it¡¯s obvious.¡±


    ¡°Even if he thought that, what kind of a madman would appoint the firstdy as vice president? Aliyev has dug his own grave.¡±


    ¡°So we must find the Aliyev family and retrieve the slush funds. With that money, Azerbaijan can leap forward in one go.¡±


    The country had huge oil resources despite the small poption, and now a peace treaty with Armenia had allowed it to cut defense spending.


    Without corruption by bureaucrats and public corporations, Azerbaijan would be a rich country.


    Even though Aliyev and his aides siphoned off the nation¡¯s money, Azerbaijan had a strong economic base, thanks to the president¡¯s constantmitment to economic development.


    ¡°I wish the British government would cooperate. It knows better than anyone else that real estate invested under borrowed names came from Aliyev¡¯s pocket, but it¡¯s not budging.¡±


    Park Jong-il habitually recounted Aliyev¡¯s wealth invested in Britain.


    ¡°Since I asked the foreign minister for a favor, there will be tangible action soon. It¡¯s a matter of time anyway, so stop reciting and look for their family in Estonia.¡±


    ording to research, Aliyev¡¯s assets were estimated to exceed tens of billions of dors considering his involvement in various rights projects during his term in office.


    It was the money of the people, so it must be retrieved from the Aliyev family.


    There were about 20 gold mines owned and privatized by the Azerbaijani government, and all of them were bought by the Kazakh royal family this time.


    Dozens of gold mines were scattered throughout the Caucasus Mountains, and government-owned gold mines were still actively being mined.


    ording to central bank statistics, the amount of gold mined from government-owned gold mines was close to 15 tons a year.


    In other words, it was more than the amount of gold produced from private gold mines, but it did not make sense.


    This was becausepanies that prioritized profits would not mine less than government-affiliated organizations.


    This could only mean that they were reporting reduced amounts of gold production to the government.


    Private-owned gold mines were sold en masse 10 years ago on the grounds of poor profitability, but it was hard to say thatpanies bought gold mines with no economic feasibility.


    This was only possible because the ck deal was made.


    Youngho called in Doctor Park Young-sun¡¯s team tounch a gold mine investigation.


    However, ording to a random survey conducted by an exploration team led by Dr. Park Young-sun, all gold mines sold to the private sector for poor economic feasibility had high-quality gold veins.


    ¡°What a thief! Dr. Park, how much gold do you think is reserved?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know the exact amount, but if the current gold vein is maintained, at least 500 kilograms of gold will be produced annually from one mine, and there¡¯s gold that¡¯s sometimes found in lumps, so it can be more.¡±


    If so, the annual output of one ton was false, as reported by the mine owner who had been caught as a corrupt businessman.


    Since he had five mines, it meant that he had produced as little as two tons or as much as five tons.


    He could have gifted the rest of the produced gold to someone else or kept it for himself.


    ¡°Jong-il, we have to get back to him under house arrest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m about to do that. I¡¯m going to get to the bottom of this this time.¡±


    If he had produced dozens of tons for 10 years and reported only one ton a year, how many gold bars would he have siphoned off?


    One gold miner would do this, so it was clear what other miners would have done.


    ¡°Investigate the rest of the mine owners. We need to find out where all the gold went.¡±


    If privatepanies were estimated to have siphoned off at least 50 tons over a decade, the amount was about 3 billion dors.


    If such money could be retrieved, it would be like the country had exported tens of millions of barrels of oil and gas.


    It meant that there was no need to extract oil by polluting the waters off Baku.


    This might not be the only injustice caused by decades of dictatorship, but gold must be collected in order to secure strategic assets.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s important to find gold bars hidden by privatepanies, but I think we should also look at gold mines that are directly managed by government agencies. I could tell that they were being poorly managed at one nce. It¡¯s like leaving a fish shop to a cat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to meet with the prime minister and make this public. If necessary, we should consider buying the mines at a reasonable price as the royal family.¡±


    ¡°The officials of Azerbaijan will ept if they learn how the Kazakh royal family is running its gold mines in Kazakhstan and other countries.¡±


    Gold produced from royal-owned gold mines scattered in Central Asia was strictly managed.


    The royal gold was equal to Kazakhstan¡¯s national power as it would be loaned to the central bank if there were low foreign exchange reserves.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Every official hasmitted a crime, so they won¡¯t be able to refuse.¡±


    ¡°Haha... That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°It turns out you¡¯re as greedy as me, too, Dr. Park.¡±


    ¡°Baku is as precious as Kazakhstan. Isn¡¯t it thest bastion when the worstes to worst?¡±


    Park Young-sun loved Baku as it was the ce of his first affection.


    People who lived together at Baku¡¯s Zeynep farm, including Fatima and the siblings, Dr. Park Young-sun, and his daughter preferred Baku over Kazakhstan.


    Even though he lived in Kazakhstan for 10 years now, he wanted toe to Baku whenever he could.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted toe because it¡¯s like my hometown.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my hometown, too. It¡¯s a beautiful ce, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The climate and living conditions there were much better than Kazakhstan, but what Park Young-sun missed was the time of living on Zeynep Farm. During the harvest season, people from all walks of life gathered to pick grapes together.


    The Serbian Ranch in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains was also afortable ce to live, with its ranch, vige, and vi, which were impregnable due to the natural geographical features. That was why it was called thest bastion.


    ¡°Now it¡¯s not going to be a symbolic federal state, it¡¯s going to be a real federal state. The obstacle has disappeared on his own, so on the other hand, I¡¯m thankful.¡±


    It was regrettable that the slush funds were not retrieved, but it would have been a headache if Aliyev had staged a sit-in with his followers, but it was fortunate that he disappeared on his own.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m relieved that we took over the regime quietly without bloodshed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. It would have pitied him if he gave up slush funds and left for asylum, but he left with all of my sympathies with him.¡±


    Youngho had known Aliyev for more than a decade.


    Aliyev helped him many times, so Youngho was neverfortable when he suggested asylum.


    If Aliyev had not helped him along the way, the current Youngho would not have existed. It was because Aliyev gave exceptional treatment for Youngho that Zeynep Farm could have been established, but it would never be easy to give a huge piece ofnd to a foreigner.


    ¡°I wanted to help him because I was sorry, but he¡¯s given that up, so I don¡¯t have any regrets. He is regarded as an enemy of the people, so we have no choice but to trace him to the end. I¡¯m only telling you this, but if Aliyev made a better choice, I would have helped him make hisst yearsfortable. If he wanted, I was going to give him a vi in a beautiful ce like Kyrgyzstan.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I think I can understand your mind. I¡¯m sure you feel different because you¡¯ve received a lot of help from him in the beginning, but now it¡¯s irreversible. You have to think about the Federal Kingdom first, instead of the human sorriness.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as easy as you think. I¡¯d like to have a drink with you and Count Park today.¡±


    After a while, as the drinking party took ce, a series of memories flowed out.


    Youngho was exceptionally talkative today.


    That was because he put a lot of thought into President Aliyev¡¯s future.


    At least he thought he should not be called ungrateful, so he wanted to keep pushing the regime, but Aliyev¡¯s political life ended because he could not manage his aides and humiliated the nation. This made him even upset.


    But consequentially, it was like he had thrown the president away from his position.


    Youngho¡¯s heart, sitting in that empty seat and drinking alcohol, was bitter.

 Chapter 756 - Siphoning Off (1)

    <h4>Chapter 756: Siphoning Off (1)</h4>


    The Kazakh royal family¡¯s taking over Azerbaijan¡¯s government-owned gold mines was a smooth sail.


    At first nce, it could be seen as coercive, but there was no procedural problem as there was a precedent for selling gold mines to the private sector before.


    When the royal family said it would manage gold mines as foreign exchange reserves, ministers who were able to keep their posts because of their minimal irregrities weed it.


    It was because even the central bank, which had been in such a mess to the point of causing the foreign exchange crisis, could not be trusted.


    And there was no justification to oppose it knowing that royal funds were the foundation of Kazakhstan¡¯s spectacr economic growth.


    It was a time when Azerbaijan¡¯s real power moved to the royal family, so whatever it was, politicians were in favor of the royal family as the public sentiment leaned toward the royal family.


    As the investigation into the private sector gold mine owners progressed, hidden gold bars came to a bright light one after another.


    It was processed in an extremely secret manner, so the police bureaucrats did not even notice.


    The gold miners hid about 3 tons of gold, but the gold hidden by the powerful, who received it from the miners, amounted to as much as 15 tons.


    Even the central banks of underdeveloped countries would not have this much gold.


    A huge amount of gold was found, but considering the output so far, the whereabouts of more than 30 tons of gold bars were still unknown.


    When the shocking amount of gold poured out, Youngho urged the intelligence service to find the rest quickly.


    ¡°Search all of their inws¡¯ assets, too.¡±


    ¡°What if we get caught? If ordinary people or bureaucrats find out, we have no choice but to hand it over to the central bank.¡±


    ¡°What are they going to do when we say we¡¯re looking at the hidden gold collected in a dishonest way? The Azerbaijani government has so far neglected such irregrities. I won¡¯t give them in.¡±


    ¡°ording to our intelligence service, private miners have been mining without anyone¡¯s interference for 10 years and have paid a certain amount of money to power elites. Strictly speaking, it¡¯s like the government officials shared state-owned gold mines with the private sector. In principle, the owner of the gold mines is the country. They say they bought and sold mining rights, but there¡¯s no evidence of how much they paid for such rights. They can¡¯t say anything even if we take them away for the reason of unauthorized mining. The state abandoned the supervision of mine management a long time ago.¡±


    The Aliyev regime and his aides, who suddenly took power after the copse of the Soviet Union, were blinded by self-interest and recklessly disposed of the people¡¯s property.


    This would not be limited to the gold mines only.


    It was safe to say that all the projects implemented by the state were marked by ck transactions.


    ¡°If you dig up the roots, there will be no more public officials left.¡±


    ¡°Almost all public officials, big or small, were involved in corruption.¡±


    It was right to change everything, but that would paralyze state affairs and shake the economy.


    Even so, it was time for special measures to break the rampant corruption and the link to bribery.


    ***


    It was the Queen of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan who could confer a letter of appointment to the president under the authority set by Azerbaijan¡¯s Constitution.


    It could be said that it was the only official authority of the royal family. So, the prime minister was immediately appointed as the person acting for the President as the position was vacant.


    When the acting president was appointed, the appointment of ministers from various ministries waspleted and a full-fledged democratic government was born.


    It was 29 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union


    Of course, there would be a constitutional amendment and a vote for a presidential election soon, but unless there was an unusual situation, the chances were high that the current president, named by the royal family, would be elected.


    Despite his hectic schedule in Azerbaijan, Youngho also did not forget to urge Park Jong-il to find the whereabouts of the rest of the gold bars quickly.


    Jong-il began not showing up at all in front of Youngho who was so eager. Finding gold bars was also important, but there was a lot of work to be done before that.


    One of them was to track down the Aliyev family.


    ¡°Your Grace, the Intelligence Service has found a clue.¡±


    Suh Min-seok came into Youngho¡¯s office and breathed heavily.


    As Baku¡¯s presidential pce was way bigger than the royal pce in Kazakhstan, it felt like he was working out all the time.


    ¡°Walk slowly. You¡¯re out of breath. By the way, what kind of clue did it find?¡±


    ¡°The Aliev family is in Tallinn, the port city of Estonia.¡±


    The city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, was located in the Baltic Sea. It was a historic city with a distance of only 80 kilometers from Helsinki, Find.


    As a country that gained independence from the Soviet Union, bureaucrats were appropriately corrupt, so even criminals could live like normal people if they had money.


    It was a ce where one could go anywhere in the world with a ship.


    In other words, there would be traces left if traveling by ne, but one could disappear without a trace if traveling by ship.


    In addition to minimizing exposure, using a ship had the advantage of transferring a lot of cargo such as heavy gold bars.


    ¡°Put Director Park on the line.¡±


    Younghoplimented Jong-il for his effort when he was connected after a moment.


    ¡°Jong-il, you¡¯ve done a great job.¡±


    -Don¡¯t even get me started. The paperwork I¡¯ve been through to figure it out will be a truckload. He bought a super-sized yacht under the name of his close associate recently.


    Park Jong-il¡¯s excited voice was heard through the phone.


    He went all the way to Estonia and was leading the investigation himself.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s a good chance that his family had already escaped Estonia.¡±


    -I haven¡¯t confirmed that yet. We¡¯ll find that out if we keep a close eye on big yachts.


    ¡°Do you want me to support the navy?¡±


    If the Aliyev family moved, chances were high that they would use a ship.


    Youngho proposed to mobilize the navy because it would be less problematic to raid Aliyev¡¯s ship when hees out to international waters, not at a port of Estonia.


    -That¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll seize the yacht and take it to the Caspian Sea directly.


    After calling Park Jong-il, Youngho contacted Admiral Jun of the Navy to prepare for the operation.


    ***


    Captain Dmitry, the leader of the North Sea Fleet of the Kazakh Navy, was carefully studying how to seize the yacht while repeatedly reading the order issued by the fleetmand.


    It had been a month since he returned to the Port of Copenhagen, Denmark, after the Indian Ocean naval battle. He was about to get bored when a new order was issued.


    It was an operation to seize the yacht that belonged to President Aliyev¡¯s family who fled from Azerbaijan.


    The mission of the Kazakh Navy¡¯s North Sea Fleet was to protect the safety of the Arctic route, but there was nothing much to do as the Russian Navy was looking over the Arctic route.


    Since Russia was an ally, the Kazakh Navy did not have to go to the Arctic route often.


    The order to capture a yacht was like a children¡¯s joke, so he felt like going on a pic.


    However, he would have to be careful as it would be problematic if the captain of the yacht sent a rescue signal during the capture process. It was because the Kazakh Navy could not be exposed during this process.


    In order to seize the yacht, the naval ships would have to get close, overpower it with force, and then forcibly drag it. However, if a warship was near, who would stay still?


    After suffering alone, he called in his staff for deliberation.


    ¡°Captain, if the warship can¡¯t get close, we¡¯ll have to fly the Lynx helicopter to approach it. I think we¡¯ll be able to capture the yacht by dispatching only a few special agents on board the Aegis destroyer.¡±


    COMMENT


    Although it was an innovative proposal, it was also a dangerous operation that could lead to casualties because the armed forces of the former president¡¯s security guards were also not to be overlooked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, but there¡¯s a risk of casualties. Think of another way. It might be troublesome if both parties get hurt.¡±


    While everyone was thinking about it with their heads wrapped up, Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr, the captain of frigates, came up with a brilliant idea.


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re saying if the captain of the yacht sends a rescue signal, we¡¯ll be exposed and be in trouble, right? Then why don¡¯t we let neighboring countries know we¡¯re on the move as a rescuer?¡±


    As the Kazakh Navy was dispatched in the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and the Arctic Ocean, fugitive Aliyev would think of Kazakhstan just by looking at a warship.


    His yacht was bound to flee if the warship came up for inspection.


    Of course, he would send a rescue signal, but it would be a different story if that warship suddenly turned into a rescuer.


    ¡°That means we have to tell the neighboring countries that we¡¯ve dispatched our force.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Who would suspect our warships? Would they believe a private yacht or the internationally trusted Royal Kazakh Navy?¡±


    ¡°Of course they¡¯ll believe us.¡±


    ¡°So let¡¯s not worry about it and go with the standard rule. It¡¯s about catching federal criminals, so what¡¯s the concern?¡±


    His answer was so simple, but would not the higher-ups have thought about it as well?


    When being asked to refrain from exposure as much as possible, it meant that the yacht was as important as Aliyev.


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason when you¡¯re told to be extremely careful by the higher-ups.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this is being extremely careful. This is the best way to operate without loss of life. Or we can use a helicopter to capture the yacht.¡±


    When the results of the operation meeting were notified to the fleetmand, an order was issued to operate in a flexible manner ording to how the situation unfolded at the scene.


    In any case, the decision was made to seize the yacht early by threatening it with a Lynx helicopter and warships.


    As they were in a hurry to prepare for the dispatch, intelligence agents in Estonia reported that the yacht was about to leave the port.


    Two frigates and a supply ship were put into operation.


    If a yacht was seized, it shall be towed to the Caspian Sea, so a supply ship was essential.


    Although the naval officers expressed reluctance to have two frigates dispatched over just one yacht, the fleetmand in the royal territory strictly said that two ships should escort it unconditionally.


    ¡°What the hell is on the yacht?¡±


    If 30 tons of gold were loaded, it would be worth 1.6 billion dors, and if more was loaded, it would be an amount to build a new light aircraft carrier.


    The amount was estimated by roughly calcting the gold production volume. So, of course, it was a yacht that had to be strictly protected.

 Chapter 757 - Siphoning Off (2)

    <h4>Chapter 757: Siphoning Off (2)</h4>


    Two 3,000-ton frigates, led by Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr, were moving rapidly into the Baltic Sea after getting out of the Port of Copenhagen.


    It was to track down the super-sized yacht that the Aliyev family was said to be on board.


    Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr, looking at the Baltic Sea from the bridge, frowned as he was deep in thought.


    The operation should be carried out without causing any casualty, but the yacht was armed as well.


    However, as Aliyev¡¯s security guards had personal firearms and even portable rocketunchers, it would be difficult to get close to them.


    Another variable was a small helicopter on a yacht, which was troublesome because the former president and his family could try to escape with it.


    The frigates also had Lynx helicopters that could track it down, but they could not shoot it down.


    It was worrisome because he was strictly ordered not to sink the yacht in any case. He only hoped that the helicopter would not be able to fly due to heavy waves.


    Although five special agents apanied him this time, it was questionable whether they would be able to take over the yacht by themselves.


    The mega yacht was a luxury ship equipped with a small helicopter that was often owned by Arab princes or world-ss rich people, and it was funny that Aliyev had such a yacht.


    It was easy to spot the mega yacht in the Baltic Sea as few people floated yachts in the winter season.


    As it was being tracked since its departure from Estonia by the intelligence agents of Kazakhstan, it was quickly spotted by the frigates¡¯ radar.


    Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr, who had no intention of operating in the narrow Baltic Sea, began tracking the yacht down from a distance until it entered the Antic Ocean.


    He nned to raid it after it was being exhausted by the high waves of the Antic Ocean.


    The yacht moved slowly for hours out of the Baltic Sea.


    High waves awaited them as they entered the Antic Ocean.


    When it entered the Antic Ocean, high waves greeted it.


    The Antic¡¯s winter waves were overwhelming for any yacht no matter how big it was unlike the Kazakh warships.


    Anyway, the slow yacht was sailing along the western coast of Europe, beset by waves for hours.


    At this rate, most people in the yacht would have been exhausted by motion sickness.


    It would take at least three or four hours for a person once troubled by the waves to return to normal, but the waves were getting even higher, so everyone on board the yacht would be exhausted except for a few.


    The waves, which had been raging, began to subside as the ships entered French territorial waters.


    ¡°They must be exhausted by now. Get the Lynx helicopter ready for dispatch.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye. Sir!¡±


    Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr who smiled in satisfaction ordered theunch of a Lynx helicopter and to sail as far as the yacht could be seen with the naked eye.


    The Lynx helicopter circled around for about a dozen minutes above Aliyev¡¯s yacht and demanded a stop while the frigates slowly went close to the yacht.


    The people on the yacht, who had been lying around due to the exhaustion from the seasickness caused by the high waves, were frightened to see a helicopter followed by warships out of nowhere.


    Tired to the extreme, they did not know what to do with their judgment lost.


    In the meantime, the special agents, who quickly came down from the helicopter on a rope, quickly began to take control of the deck and the bridge.


    Soon, a boat from a frigate neared the yacht that was overpowered without time to respond, and fully armed soldiers climbed onto the deck.


    All was done in less than 10 minutes.


    The panicked security guards on board were not able to respond and were just grimacing.


    Even if they responded, it was obvious that they would be buried with a single attack from the warships.


    ***


    ¡°The Aliyev family was on a yacht, as expected?¡±


    Youngho, who confirmed it again from Suh Min-seok, had a subtle smile around his mouth.


    It was because he had finally found Aliyev who had hidden enormous slush funds.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true, Your Highness. And the news you¡¯ve been waiting for was delivered too. The gold bars on the yacht are as much as 40 tons.¡±


    ¡°That much on a single yacht? How big is the yacht?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s 70 meters long, so it¡¯s close to 1,000 tons.¡±


    If a president of a country, who was neither a businessman nor an Arab prince, had such a luxurious yacht, how much would he have siphoned off from the country?


    It would have been more expensive to buy it in secret.


    Gold of 40 tons would cost nearly 2.1 billion dors in market value.


    It was also the amount that European banks would have to pay more to secure if they wanted to purchase it for a political business.


    Aside from the gold on board, Aliyev had more slush funds hidden somewhere.


    Deposits and real estate in the names of his wife and two daughters alone were known to cost more than 10 billion dors.


    The arrest of Aliyev was kept secret.


    There was no reason to re-introduce him to the public when his name was already erased from the minds of the people.


    Some of the followers of Aliyev still remained, and it would be better for the royal family to efficiently manage the slush funds than to return them to Azerbaijan.


    If Aliyev¡¯s slush funds were recovered, it would not only cover the war expenses the royal family spent in the battles with China but also secure funds to bring in more advanced weapons, including thetest fighter jets, which made Youngho excited.


    Youngho, who was tapping the calctor in his head, had a headache when he thought about the handling of the Aliyev family.


    They could never be exposed to the public or they would have to be put in court and open all the slush funds.


    It would be better to let them stay in Kazakhstan until all funds were retrieved, and then deport them out of the country.


    Youngho called Admiral Viktor Jun of the Kazakh Royal Navy and ordered the frigates to escort the yacht only to the ck Sea. This was because thebination of a luxurious yacht and warships sailing together was bound to be noticeable.


    Most of the ships passing through the Volga-Don Canal in the ck Sea were cargo ships and ferries, so the emergence of luxury yachts was a hot topic.


    The arrival of the frigates into the Caspian Sea could also provoke the Russian Navy.


    The yacht¡¯s escort would be taken over by the Kazakh Coast Guard, which was waiting in the Azov Sea.


    Originally, the coast guard could not operate in the ck Sea unless it belonged to one of the coastal countries, but it was recognized as an exception.


    The Volga-Don Canal connected the ck Sea and the Caspian Sea, so Kazakhstan was given the same status as the ck Sea coastal countries.


    Partly it was because Turkey and Russia, which were the two main powers that divided the ck Sea, considered Kazakhstan as their ally, and on the other hand, it was because they expected the presence of the Kazakh Royal Navy to serve as a neutral power and buffer between the two.


    ¡°Admiral Jun. The frigates don¡¯t have toe all the way to the Caspian Sea. Escort the yacht to the ck Sea and hand it over to the Coast Guard.¡±


    -Then I¡¯ll escort it to the entrance of the Don River. It will probably arrive in 3 days.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to make sure all navies who were in this operation keep their mouths shut.¡±


    More than 400 sailors were on board the two frigates, and if they talked about Aliyev, the entire Baku would get boisterous.


    -I¡¯ll train them thoroughly. If I say it¡¯s about the royal family, the soldiers will watch their mouths.


    The Navy had extraordinary loyalty to the royal family.


    This was because it was the only one of the three armed forces of Kazakhstan to use the title ¡°The Royal Navy.¡±


    The title of the Royal Navy was naturally given, as the royal family invested so much in the naval armament and bought Aegis destroyers, warships, andnding ships.


    People even treated the Navy as the Royal Bodyguards.


    Since it had such pride, it would follow suit regardless of the reason if the royal family ordered it to be silent.


    ¡°See you in a few days at the royal territory.¡±


    -Do you want to withdraw from Baku?


    Baku was also quite stable now, so Youngho was nning to return to the Arirang royal territory. There was a lot of work to be done on the maind.


    ***


    Returning to his post, Youngho made all-out efforts to collect slush funds from the Aliyev family.


    The yacht also carried various precious valuables and expensive paintings, which amounted to hundreds of millions of dors at market prices.


    The Aliyev family had distributed deposits of dors and euros in several ces, including the British Virgin Inds, the Cayman Inds, and the Bahamas, which were tax havens.


    Money deposited in these areas alone amounted to as much as 17 billion dors.


    In addition, real estate bought in foreign countries was enormous.


    Luckily, it was easy to track them down because the Aliyev family¡¯s deposit and real estate list was found on the yacht.


    In particr, thergest amount of money was deposited in the British Virgin Inds, which was also their final destination.


    Virgin Inds was the generic term for about 80 small inds at the eastern end of the West Indies, divided into British and American territories.


    British territories were 36 inds located inside the Caribbean Inds east of Puerto Rico, which were militarily valuable because they were close to the Anegada passage, the shortest course linking the Antic, Caribbean, and Panama Canal.


    The British Virgin Inds was a ssic tax haven as a self-governing province that received little interference from its home country, Britain, with low taxes and little regtion.


    Virgin Ind was loved as a hideout for illegal funds, with about 120,000 paperpanies.


    The Aliyev family also owned arge-scale real estate there, which was an ind.


    Park Jong-il was proud to show Aliyev¡¯s property list.


    ¡°How about that? Our intelligence service has done it again!¡±


    ¡°I paid a bonus to all troops and agents who were in the operation. The operation was carried out without a single injury, so I directly called Captain Pyotr to thank him.¡±


    ¡°Sweet. So what the hell do you think he was going to do with all this money? Did he n to build a new country or something?¡±


    ¡°His aides had gathered more than he did. It¡¯s not that surprising.¡±


    ¡°I hope Virgin Inds¡¯ real estate and the yacht will not be disposed of. Instead, can the royal family keep them?¡±


    ¡°What are you going to use them for?¡±


    ¡°That yacht is a masterpiece and it will be a shame if we sell it. If we add more weapons, it¡¯ll be stronger than a decent warship. And I think we can use the ind as a royal resort.¡±


    Like the inds in the Mediterranean, it would not be bad if there was a royal foothold in the Caribbean as well.


    The royal family had yet to establish a suitable base in the Antic.


    It was British territory, so it could not be used as a military base, but it was a ce that could be used for any other purposes, so Youngho was intrigued by Jong-il¡¯s idea.

 Chapter 758 - Siphoning Off (3)

    <h4>Chapter 758: Siphoning Off (3)</h4>


    With the help of Kazakh intelligence agents, all of Aliyev and his family¡¯s money deposited in tax havens were withdrawn and real estate in each country was disposed of.


    Apart from gold bars, abined 19.4 billion dors were collected from cash and real estate sales even though the Kazakh royal family was yet to find out all the real estate and investment funds purchased under the names of Aliyev¡¯s aides.


    Despite harsh interrogations, the Aliyev family still did not open their mouths to any unlisted real estate or deposits.


    Although the intelligence agents threatened the family that it could not leave the royal territory unless they confessed what they knew, they did not budge.


    It was because Aliyev knew that the more time he took, the safer such properties would be as it would give time for his aides to dispose of them.


    Aliyev¡¯s jet, super-sized yacht, and the ind in the Virgin Inds were not disposed of but registered as royal property.


    They would not be sold at their proper prices anyway, so they would be used for external business purposes.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you meet Aliyev in person since he¡¯s not opening his mouth?¡±


    Park Jong-il, who had been struggling with Aliyev for days, asked Youngho for help as no further progress was made.


    ¡°If Ie in, he will be too ashamed to open his mouth.¡±


    Aliyev had promised Youngho to leave with dignity, but what he did was theplete opposite.


    ¡°It¡¯s because over time, his aides will dispose of the properties arbitrarily.¡±


    ¡°All of his aides are under house arrest or serving jail time, so just take your time and persuade him and his family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d then, but we can¡¯t keep them here forever. It would be fatal to the royal family if the word spreads out.¡±


    The Aliyev family was staying at a safety house at the Arirang royal territory.


    Although it was to be kept secret, many people were involved to monitor the Aliyev family, so rumors could spread over time.


    It would not have been a problem if they had been arrested and taken to Azerbaijan right away, but the royal family would be in trouble if it was rumored to have taken the Aliyev family in secret. People could think that the royal family had a secret political deal with Aliyev.


    ¡°If it¡¯s that disturbing, move them to the royal vi in Kyrgyzstan. Also, scare them that they will never be able to leave Central Asia if they don¡¯t open ounts or real estate under borrowed names.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just make apromise and tell him that we will preserve a certain amount of property for him?¡¯


    ¡°We¡¯ve been more generous than enough not to tell the whole world about his crimes, but you want me to pay them, too?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying we should give them a lot, but wouldn¡¯t they change their mind if we promised enough money to spend their old agefortably?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... That¡¯s a way... Well, I¡¯ll leave that up to you.¡±


    Aliev¡¯s properties under borrowed names must be secured, even if Youngho had to make apromise.


    The money found so far was an astronomical amount of money, so the wealth Aliyev umted under borrowed names would be formidable as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start buying fighter jets with the slush funds we¡¯ve seized this time.¡±


    Youngho wanted to buy more F-35 fighters through Michael from the U.S. CIA.


    Kazakhstan had been continuing to bring in fighter jets, but this time he was nning to buy more aircrafts to establish up to three fighter squadrons and two more attack helicopter squadrons to increase Kazakhstan¡¯snd deterrence which wasparatively weakpared to the naval deterrence.


    ***


    As a result of the increased money from Aliyev, the royal family increased the amount invested in Krasnoyarsk.


    The Russian government also weed the development of Siberia which was pushed back among Kazakhstan¡¯s priorities due to the battles with China.


    Soon after, the Volga-Baltic Waterway would also open, so Putin was eager to develop Siberia.


    This was because mineral and forest resources in Siberia must be developed to benefit from the opening of the canal.


    Putin was anxious when the development slowed down due to the circumstance, but when the Kazakh royal family spurred the development, he was immensely thankful.


    When 500 million dors was deposited into Russia¡¯s Alfa Bank from the Kazakh royal family, Putin immediately called Youngho.


    -Your Royal Highness, I see you deposited funds into Alfa Bank.


    ¡°I heard that your foreign exchange situation is a little difficult these days. It¡¯s a small amount, but I hope it helps. Sooner orter, more money will be deposited into the Bank.¡±


    -I¡¯m so grateful... Thanks to you, foreign investors would have been relieved of a lot of anxiety.


    ¡°The opening of the Volga-Baltic Waterway will give Russia wings. European countries that need raw materials will never turn away from the canal.¡±


    When the canal was announced to open soon, the interest of European countries was great.


    If the volume of trans-Siberian train was added together, the volume of the canal would be beyond imagination.


    If that happened, Europe would also benefit as well.


    Europe was also struggling in the swamp of recession, so expectations for the canal were very high.


    -It¡¯s all thanks to you.


    If Putin, who was known for his pride and arrogance, expressed his gratitude this much, he was being frank.


    ¡°It was possible because you made a proactive decision. Also, I¡¯m investing because it¡¯ll be profitable for me, too.¡±


    -Anyway, thanks to your support, we¡¯ve been able to dilute the image of a rogue country by a lot. I¡¯ll be preparing a separate gift as a token of gratitude.


    Putin¡¯s praise continued after that.


    Although Youngho was embarrassed, Youngho epted Putin¡¯s debt because it was desirable for Kazakhstan¡¯s well-being.


    ¡°Your praise makes me feel a bit proud. How did you know that I¡¯m very weak atpliments? I can¡¯t wait to see what kind of gift it is.¡±


    -Hahaha... Yaniv told me that Your Highness is very greedy fornd. Russia has plenty ofnds, right? It might not be very useful, but I¡¯d like to give it to you.


    There was no uselessnd.


    Even the abandoned Siberia turned out to have all kinds of inexhaustible underground minerals and oil.


    ¡°No gift is as precious asnd to me. It¡¯s also an opportunity to attract more Western capital into Russia. All you have to do is hold your hands behind your back and rx.¡±


    -Hahaha...


    Putin¡¯s smile was especially frequent today.


    How could it not be weed? The more foreign capital came in, the higher his approval rating would be.


    -With your involvement, the rtionship between Russia and Kazakhstan is getting stronger. Let me know if there¡¯s anything we can do to help. I¡¯ll do everything I can.


    It was what Youngho wanted to hear.


    Russia was the next country after the United States in terms of military power, although it had recently been reduced to a paper tiger.


    Even if China was pouring huge military spending, it could not keep up with Russia, which had formidable destructive power.


    Thinking that it was an opportunity, Youngho hinted at Putin.


    ¡°Your Excellency, as you know, China and our country can no longer go back to the way it was before because of the Uyghur and Tibet incidents. Of course, international rtions can change but it will be quite difficult to restore our rtionship. Our country can no longer step down as well. So I¡¯m telling you, China and our country are likely to sh.¡±


    From the moment Youngho mentioned China, Putin listened without replying.


    Although Russia¡¯s rtionship with China was not very good, he was in a position to speak for China in the internationalmunity because both were socialist countries.


    It was also a very burdensome story for Putin.


    ¡°There may be times when our rtionship with China may put you in trouble. If that happens, could you take a neutral stance?¡±


    As long as Russia would not side with either side, Kazakhstan could focus its force on China only.


    -I understand what you mean. As far as the two countries are concerned, I will take a neutral stance in any case. I fully understand your position in supporting the independence of Uyghur and Tibet.


    ¡°Thank you for understanding. Tibet handed over the ball to India, so we¡¯re not burdened, but we have to help Uyghur because it is of the same people. We can¡¯t ignore the public sentiment.¡±


    -I understand. You couldn¡¯t have allowed the suffering of the same people.


    Putin seemed to fully sympathize in following the public sentiment.


    Putin was also keen on the direction of public sentiment.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to run Uyghur. I¡¯m going to be satisfied by helping the people be independent and providing a foundation for their self-reliance.¡±


    Putin would be afraid that the neighboring country Kazakhstan was bing bigger and bigger as a federal country.


    This would definitely be an obstacle for Putin, who dreamed of bing a tsar.


    That was why Youngho mentioned that he had no intention of absorbing Uyghur.


    -Russia has made it a rule not to get involved in the affairs of neighboring countries. We would be happy to give a boost to Kazakhstan, once our federal state, but we won¡¯t give a boost to China.


    Seeing that he made quite sensitive remarks, Youngho thought he should deposit more investment funds in Moscow¡¯s Alfa Bank soon.


    The dor would be more weed than the friendship with China for now.


    ¡°Just by listening to your word, I feel like I¡¯ve won thousands of troops and horses.¡±


    -Our countries have been blood allies since the Soviet era. It¡¯s still the same. Will your arms be bent inward or outward? Russia will always support Kazakhstan.


    Since Putin made it clear to his support for Kazakhstan even by citing a blood alliance, Youngho added what Putin wanted to hear.


    ¡°I will visit Moscow with my foreign friends at the opening ceremony of the Volga-Baltic Waterway.¡±


    -You are wee anytime. I¡¯d like to hold a ceremony by the end of this year. Does that work for you, Your Highness?


    Putin was eager to have Youngho¡¯s visit soon. It seemed his approval rating had fallen a lot these days.


    ¡°It¡¯s the final stage, so we can have a ceremony within this year. Then I¡¯ll see you in Moscow next time.¡±

 Chapter 759 - Putin’s Proposal (1)

    <h4>Chapter 759: Putin¡¯s Proposal (1)</h4>


    Youngho came to Saint Petersburg to attend the opening ceremony of the Volga-Baltic Waterway.


    As Russia¡¯s secondrgest city, Saint Petersburg City was a nned city built on both banks of the Neva River, along with 101 inds at the mouth of the river.


    Having well-established streets connected by some 500 bridges ced in dozens of tributaries, including the Neva River, had been called the capital of North Russia.


    It was a high-altitude area with atitude of 60 degrees north and had a mild oceanic climate, which was warmer than Moscow in the south.


    The Neva River and the sea off the coast froze in winter, but the sea route was maintained almost all year round by icebreakers.


    It was also the endpoint where the ind canal, which began from the Volga River, met the Baltic Sea.


    Today, Saint Petersburg was celebrating the opening ceremony of the canal, with countless citizens pouring into the streets despite the cold weather.


    Previously, the canal failed to function as a logistics route because only ships up to 5,000 tons were allowed, but it was now a historic day for Russian logistics because it could now allow cargo ships up to 50,000 tons to travel.


    As the opening of the Volga-Baltic Waterway offered Siberia¡¯s shortest-distance course to Europe, people¡¯s expectations were high.


    Unlike the Volga-Don Canal, the operator of the canal consisted of a foreign consortium, including the Kazakh royal family.


    Arge number of foreign investmentpany owners and professional managers attended the opening ceremony.


    Youngho urged them to attend, but Putin¡¯s interest in the project to create tourist attractions around the canal had made the whole area a new investment destination.


    The low investment risk for tourism service businesses also yed a part.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a dream. We initially nned to start the canal expansion work right after the copse of the Soviet Union.¡±


    Putin put on a look of emotion.


    It was because Russia¡¯s economy after the breakup of the Soviet Union was so messed up that it was said that it was worse than it was during the Soviet era.


    ¡°I hope the canal will bring a lot of changes in Russia.¡±


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. You¡¯ve helped every time, but I haven¡¯t been able to express proper gratitude.¡±


    After recalling Putin¡¯s words that he would give a gift, Youngho pretended to be modest.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I emphasize that it is also beneficial to Kazakhstan. I¡¯ll receive your heart graciously, and that¡¯s enough. I¡¯m satisfied that the two countries are closer than ever.¡±


    ¡°You embarrass me with your words. I couldn¡¯t even help you when you had trouble with China. Please let me know if you have any munitions you want. We¡¯ll support you with advanced weapons.¡±


    Youngho doubted his ears.


    No matter how much Russia had degenerated into a paper tiger, was it not a country that had a lot of unique technologies in the world?


    Even the U.S. recognizes its military and space sciences.


    Russia had a wide range of weapons, ranging from the best supersonic cruise missile to the Sukhoi Su 57 stealth fighter jet.


    The Sukhoi Su 57 fighter jet wasparable to the F22 Raptor, which the U.S. had yet to export to Kazakhstan.


    It was a tempting offer as the jet boasted a speed of Mach 2 and a flying distance of 5,000 kilometers.


    ¡°Since you say so, I have no choice but to ask you a favor. Will it be possible to produce a license for cruise missiles and Sukhoi Su-57? I¡¯m willing to make a big investment in Russia if you promise me technology transfer.¡±


    There was no hesitation because Youngho had Aliyev¡¯s slush funds.


    Putin, who was briefly lost in thought at Youngho¡¯s suggestion, opened his mouth.


    ¡°How much would you be able to invest?¡±


    ¡°We can afford to invest about five billion dors at a time.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s answer, Putin breathed heavily.


    This was because investment of five billion dors at once was unprecedented in the world.


    It was practically impossible to draw as much as 5 billion dors in investment from a single country.


    Youngho shook Putin further by adding some more words.


    ¡°Given the situation, we can increase our investment.¡±


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. As you well know, the Sukhoi Su-57 is a stealth jet that Russia boasts. China wanted it so badly, but we didn¡¯t export it.¡±


    Youngho leaned backward in his chair in a rxed posture, as he had already read Putin¡¯s expression. It was obvious that he wanted to get more out of Youngho even though he was refusing on the outside.


    Putin smirked as if he was embarrassed when Youngho¡¯s expression did not change.


    ¡°I guess I can¡¯t shake you. With that kind of investment, we should go beyond everything and help with technology transfer and license production, right?¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much. Sooner orter, you¡¯ll find that your decision is never made in vain.¡±


    Putin also seemed to be tapping the calctor diligently in his head.


    He knew the Kazakh royal family had a lot of money, but this much investment was unexpected.


    If so, additional investments could be expected as long as the two countries¡¯ rtions were solid.


    In addition, how many follow-up investments would be made by Westernpanies triggered by the Kazakh royal investment?


    Putin, who felt better the more he thought about it, drew Youngho¡¯s hand to have a drink at the Winter Pce built at the time of Imperial Russia.


    Then, Youngho pleased Putin even more by asking toe with the chairmen of the consortiumpanies and executives of foreign investmentpanies who attended the event.


    The thought that he had a chance to tell the foreign investors about what he discussed with the Duke today made Putin¡¯s steps lighter.


    If the Kazakh royal family announced its n to invest five billion dors at once, they would be interested in making investments thinking that there was a great business opportunity.


    ***


    The Winter Pce, where Putin invited Youngho and foreign investors, was so spectacr that it dazzled.


    The pce was built for Empress Elisabeth and was one of thergest pces in Europe with more than 1,000 rooms.


    Today, a banquet was held at the State Hermitage Museum, which was built by the famous Nichs I, attached to the Winter Pce.


    Putin finished his brief greeting and immediately came to the table where Youngho was at.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. Would you mind if I share about the investment we just talked about?¡±


    It was just a verbal promise, but Putin wanted to make it a fait apli.


    It was proof that Russia¡¯s foreign exchange situation was difficult enough that it needed investment funds immediately.


    ¡°A verbalmitment is also amitment, and my investment decision remains unchanged. Do as you please.¡±


    There was nothing to hesitate in acquiring the technology of thetest Sukhoi Su fighter jets and cruise missiles.


    When Youngho dly agreed, Putin announced to the foreign guests that there would be arge-scale investment by the Kazakh royal family.


    The investors of globalpanies were surprised by Putin¡¯s announcement.


    This was because the Kazakh royal family¡¯s investment was like insurance that guaranteed safety.


    As soon as Putin¡¯s words were over, foreign investors immediately flocked to Youngho¡¯s table.


    If the Kazakh royal family had decided to invest, something worthy of investment must be going on.


    A smile of satisfaction rose around Putin¡¯s mouth watching this.


    Although Youngho was surrounded by global investors, he was only excited to mass-produce the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jets.


    The cost of Sukhoi Su-57 was also cheaper than U.S. F-35 jets as well.


    From the perspective of the U.S., which used to be so proud of its military advantage, it would be a bit bothersome, but what could it do?


    If Michael of the U.S. CIS had heard of it, he would be embarrassed.


    If Kazakhstan¡¯s weapons system was changed to the Russian system, it would be a huge loss for the U.S. as well.


    In order not to lose the huge market of Kazakhstan, it could also offer its Apache helicopter technology transfer.


    This was because Kazakhstan¡¯s purchasing power, which was in conflict with China, was so enormous.


    Considering the size of Kazakhstan¡¯s federal kingdom and its length of the border, which was 12,000 kilometers, it was quite obvious.


    Youngho, who had been reluctant to ept the greetings of the global investors because of these thoughts, quickly returned to reality as Putin approached him with a ss of wine.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. You saw the atmosphere. Isn¡¯t the interest of global investors great? I guess the Kazakh royal family is like an insurance policy to them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how attractive the Russian market is. It has to be attractive because it has a lot of raw materials and high-quality manpower. There is no ce like Russia when you think about logistics costs. The opening of the canal changed everything. Congrattions again.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I guess everything ends up with the canal.¡±


    Although it was in an economically difficult situation, Russia¡¯s potential should not be ignored.


    Considering the hugend area that included inexhaustible underground resources and the proper poption, it was a country that could be called a giant.


    Considering the huge Siberia, Kazakhstan should maintain a strong rtionship with Russia.


    Siberia¡¯s raw materials were essential to save the resources that would eventually run out.


    And Russia was also the shortest-distance course to export Kazakhstan¡¯s goods to the world, so it must remain an ally with Russia unconditionally.

 Chapter 760 - Putin’s Proposal (2)

    <h4>Chapter 760: Putin¡¯s Proposal (2)</h4>


    Rted officials were sent to Moscow to process the technology transfer of Sukhoi Su fighter jet and the maximum speed cruise missile.


    As it was already promised vocally and announced at a public event by Putin, Youngho decided to speed things up.


    He would be signing a contract if the license production cost was usible and send five billion dors to the Alfa Bank in Moscow.


    His fast action was to show a willingness to keep his promise and to earn Putin¡¯s trust.


    The Moscow government weed the Kazakh officials¡¯ visit and the negotiations for the license production smoothly progressed.


    It was China and the U.S. that were most surprised when the word about the Sukhoi Su-57 license production was spread.


    The U.S. administration was being troubled by a protest from F-35 producer Lockheed Martin, while Boeing, an Apache helicopter producer, was urging it to approve license production and technology transfer to Kazakhstan so as not to miss its one of the biggest customers.


    China almost panicked when it was caught stealing Russian technology and failed to introduce Sukhoi Su, and the technology was transferred to its enemy, Kazakhstan.


    This was because not only the gap between China¡¯s air forces and Kazakhstan¡¯s would gradually widen, but no air defensework could stop the cruise missiles, which boasted the highest speed.


    Youngho was satisfied watching the movements of the two countries.


    The U.S. government would have no choice but to lower its barriers to overseas exports and would have to offer technology transfer to Kazakhstan so that it would use the F-35 as its main fighter jet.


    When the license production and technology transfer of the defense equipment was signed, Youngho immediately sent five billion dors to the Alfa Bank.


    Youngho made a bold move as he had no further ns to use Aliyev¡¯s slush funds for the time being.


    Putin was exuberated to see the feasible funds being deposited as he had been troubled by foreign exchange problems.


    He wanted Youngho toe to Moscow immediately.


    As logistics increased dramatically with the opening of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, canal imports also increased, and tourists were visiting Russia despite the winter, so he wanted to keep this atmosphere.


    In the case of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, the Russian side¡¯s stake was small, but Russia was encouraged by the increase in the number of tourists using the canal.


    In this situation, if the Kazakh royal familyunched a big business, the investment atmosphere would revive, and the domestic economy would likely revive as consumption increased due to expectations.


    Putin must have been anxious because the Kazakh royal family was not taking any action after depositing the investment money.


    For Youngho, he kept his promise for now, so there was no reason to hurry.


    He was dragging his feet hoping for Putin to make a counterproposal.


    Putin, who was anxious, even mobilized Chairman Yaniv to hurry Youngho¡¯s visit to Moscow.


    -Duke, Putin must be fretted a lot over this. He asked me to check your intentions.


    Yaniv, who had not called Youngho in a long while, sounded as energetic as always.


    His health seemed to have improved as he retired after leaving everything to Sergey and was said to be spending his days on hunting trips.


    ¡°You sound great. I heard you left for Kamchatka. When did youe back?¡±


    -I came back because of Putin¡¯s fuss. He is very proud that the atmosphere of Moscow has changed a lot.


    ¡°It¡¯s not been a long time since I visited Moscow. How can I go to Moscow again this soon? I have a lot of domestic work to do.¡±


    Youngho made an excuse because he could not ask for something in return bluntly.


    -Stop ying a mind game and visit Moscow even for a short time. I think Putin has something in mind.


    ¡°Did he mention anything to you?¡±


    -Oh, I¡¯ve retired now and became a countryman. What is he going to tell me? He just asked me to escort you to Russia. He¡¯s dying.


    ¡°If he didn¡¯t tell you about it, he must have a business he¡¯s working on in absolute secrecy. It¡¯s intriguing.¡±


    -There were not only one or two projects he wanted to begin but wasn¡¯t able to because of theck of funds. I think he¡¯s determined to persuade you and start something.


    ¡°It¡¯s bing even more interesting now. I wonder what Putin is up to. Anyway, tell him that I¡¯ll visit Moscow as soon as I finish my domestic work.


    -Thank you, Duke. Now I get to save my face in front of Putin.


    There was a need to mobilize the intelligence service to figure out what Putin was up to. If it was a business that would help Kazakhstan¡¯s national interest, he would, of course, take the offer.


    ***


    Youngho was discussing this matter with Park Jong-il.


    ¡°Well, there are so many unfinished businesses that Putin initiated. The canal and Trans-Siberian Railway cases were aplished because of our help, and he¡¯s benefiting from our North route project as well.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Just tell me what you found out.¡±


    ¡°ording to what our agents found out, Putin¡¯s been wanting to develop the Arctic Circle, but among them, the Yamal Penins¡¯s development has not been progressing so well, and it¡¯s troubling Putin. There¡¯s Chinese capital invested in the LNG development in Yamal. Other projects are not so special.¡±


    ¡°Development of the Arctic Circle? He can¡¯t do it alone unless there¡¯s an agreement from the Arctic Council.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a region that has nothing to do with the Arctic Council because it¡¯s the permanently frozen region and coastal waters. The problem is that most of the development funds are Chinese capital. If Putin has that in mind, it¡¯s very likely that he¡¯ll propose pipeline construction.¡±


    The Yamal project in the Arctic Circle was an LNG project that China invested about three billion dors and the project that was supposed to provide 80 percent of the amount of Chinese annual gas use.


    As development was already underway, it was not in a situation to keep China out of it, so if Putin envisioned a Russian pipeline as an extension that crossed the continent, there was a possibility that he would propose this to Youngho.


    Without pipelines, it had to go through the frozen Arctic Ocean, but if it was transported only by ships, transportation costs would exceed production costs, significantly reducing economic feasibility.


    The answer was to build a pipeline across Siberia.


    However, pipeline construction across Siberia was a difficult project to push ahead because of the huge cost of construction.


    If the construction could bepleted safely, the transportation business alone could reap huge profits.


    Judging that there would be no particr variable at any rate, Youngho left for Moscow.


    When Youngho arrived in Moscow, Putin weed him in excitement.


    It was a strange experience as Putin was known to maintain his poker face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do as your Excellency greets me this hugely.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it only natural? You¡¯ve deposited huge funds for investment. If I don¡¯t greet you like this, I¡¯d be med.¡±


    ¡°Well, I heard you sought me, so I came over not even finishing up my domestic businesses. What is going on?¡±


    ¡°We have something going on all the time. I only wanted to see you to finish what I started but haven¡¯t been able toplete because now I¡¯ve got the investment funds.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, I used to be a merchant. I never jump into a business that is not profitable.¡±


    Youngho drew the line first as not to be swayed by Putin¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°Huh, what¡¯s gotten into you? I know how bold you are as a businessman. When you¡¯ve deposited that much money, I¡¯m sure you wanted to achieve something in partnership with our country.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... You leave me no room to back out. All right. I¡¯m very curious to hear about the reason you wanted to see me.¡±


    As soon as Youngho finished talking, Putin¡¯s secretary came in and ced a map on the table. Youngho peeked at the map, and he could see the Arctic Ocean and the Siberian region at a single nce.


    As Park Jong-il said, the Yamal region was marked with red and a long line was drawn below it.


    He already knew what it was but asked, pretending not to know of anything, ¡°That region is where our country and foreignpanies are developing already. Are you nning to develop additional regions?¡±


    It was a map that anyone could tell that indicated a pipeline.


    The line was going through China.


    ¡°If that was my concern, I wouldn¡¯t have asked you toe.¡±


    Then for the next hour, Putin exined the construction cost of the pipeline and future shipping profits.


    Youngho listened to him without showing any interest.


    He did not like the fact that Kazakh funds would be used to benefit China. After all, it was a country that battled against Kazakhstan not long ago.


    Reading Youngho¡¯s face, Putin carefully put his thoughts into words.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, it¡¯s a great misconception if you think the pipeline only goes to China. We¡¯re nning to connect this to the Far East region along the Trans-Siberian Railway. And even if we send gas to China, wouldn¡¯t it profit your country? I want you to see the big picture here.¡±


    If what Putin said was true, it was a formidable project.


    Considering the enormous amount of gas and oil reserved buried in Yamal, the gas line would one day arrive in the Far East area as well.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Chinese side sound out the construction of the Siberian region¡¯s pipeline?¡±


    ¡°I refused it. The pipeline will cross ournd and if the Chinese capitales in, we¡¯d have to leave its management to China as well. Would you have allowed it?¡±


    It could never happen.


    The Chinese government would gradually encroach the nation under the pretext of managing the pipeline. How could he watch that happen?


    Youngho was well aware of the cost of epting Chinese capital.


    That was why he bought all the Chinese stakes from the Chinese pipeline constructed in Kazakhstan when the former regime fell after a coup.


    Knowing what the Chinese government was doing in other countries, Youngho could never allow something like that.

 Chapter 761 - Putin’s Proposal (3)

    <h4>Chapter 761: Putin¡¯s Proposal (3)</h4>


    Yamal, the northernmost part of Siberia, meant a vige at the end of the earth in the localnguage.


    The Ural Mountains, which divided Asia and Europe, was stretched toward the Arctic Ocean, and the Yamal Penins was the end of the mountains.


    It was close to the Yenisei River, which was being developed by Kazakhstan.


    COMMENT


    There was a huge amount of oil and gas buried in this area, so Putin ambitiously rolled up his sleeves and started developing it.


    However, Russia¡¯sck of ability to carry out development projects with its economic power had attracted French and Chinese capital.


    China could not be ruled out of this project unlike other projects going on in Russia as China had invested more than three billion dors. If Russia did so, it would have to pay for development funds and penalties which it could not afford.


    It was estimated to have 230 million tons of natural gas buried in Yamal and 290 million tons of crude oil.


    The Yamal project was a n to produce 16.5 million tons of natural gas annually from a gas field in the Yamal Penins to use it as a stepping stone to escape economic sanctions.


    The stake in the Yamal project was 50 percent owned by Novatek, Russian gaspany, 20 percent by Total of France, and 30 percent by China.


    Now in Yamal, LNG production had just begun and its first export to China was made.


    However, as the sea would freeze off the Yamal Penins as it was the northernmost part of Siberia, powerful icebreakers or icebreaking LNG carriers were needed.


    It was a problem because the ice was almost two meters thick in coastal areas, so it could not be handled by a normal icebreaker.


    So Novatek would ce a second order following the first icebreaking LNG carrier order, but the problem was that the price of the icebreaking LNG carrier was close to 300 million dors per ship.


    The biggest beneficiary of the Yamal project was none other than South Korea¡¯s D-Chosun, which won the first order of all 15 ships.


    Thinking that the second-order would be on a simr scale, D-Chosun was trying hard to win Novatek¡¯s favor.


    Korea¡¯s H Corporation and S Corporation were also targeting the Yamal project by establishing a joint venture with the Zvezda shipyard under Russia¡¯s state-run Far East shipyard, respectively.


    In any case, until the pipeline was built, they had no choice but to rely on LNG carriers for the time being.


    Since using the pipeline would be the most economical way to transport gas to other nations of the world, Putin was hoping the Kazakh royal family would take part in the pipeline construction.


    Listening to Putin¡¯s story, Youngho diligently calcted the benefits of the project in his head.


    The pipeline project was also as attractive as the oil extraction, but construction conditions across the frozen soil were not easy. He was hesitant to give an agreement.


    ¡°Your Highness, what do you think? Isn¡¯t this a mouthwatering business? Isn¡¯t it more attractive than doing icebreaker business in the Arctic Ocean?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a tempting proposal, but it won¡¯t be easy to pass through the tundra.¡±


    The tundra region was a cold zone with a weak ground.


    Also, as the region turned into swamps in the summer, the construction work would be more difficult than working on the Trans-Siberian Railway.


    If the pipe was twisted, crude oil would flow down, which would be close to disaster.


    In addition, the working environment of employees that managed pipelines was also poor, making it difficult to recruit people.


    ¡°It¡¯s called a high-risk high return. It¡¯s difficult to build and manage the pipeline, so you can charge more shipping costs.¡±


    It was Putin who made it more tempting.


    ¡°Do Russian state-owned enterprises also participate?¡±


    ¡°I believe they should.¡±


    Putin was looking forward to the pipeline construction.


    People would prefer using the pipeline as it would be cheaper than normal shipping cost.


    ¡°If the Kazakh royal family is involved in pipeline work, I¡¯m willing to do gas field work in the second district of Yamal with the royal family, too.¡±


    Youngho looked at Putin wondering what he meant.


    Was there another gas field in the Yamal area?


    Youngho sat close to the table.


    ¡°This offer is really mouth-watering.¡±


    ¡°I knew it. Russia never forgets the help of our friends. All the gas and oil in the Yamal region will be drilled in the next 20 years or so. With that much amount alone, it¡¯s a bit of a waste to build a pipeline. We¡¯ve also found that amount of reserves nearby. That¡¯s why we¡¯re trying toy pipelines.¡±


    ¡°We will actively review your proposal. We will first send a working group to conduct a feasibility survey for the pipeline construction, but may I invite some foreign friends?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. If multiplepanies are involved, the burden on Russia will be reduced that much.¡±


    ***


    Returning from Moscow, Youngho invited major oilpanies to Kazakhstan.


    It was because they had a lot of experience with pipeline construction.


    Major oilpanies had also built underwater pipelines, so the construction in the permafrost would not be too burdensome.


    Mostpanies would participate if the Kazakh royal family guaranteed their profits.


    Youngho, who had been busy with his schedule after visiting Russia, called Park Jong-il out of curiosity about the situation of the Aliyev family. It was because he now had many ces to spend money.


    ¡°Did you find any additional slush funds from the Aliyev family?¡±


    ¡°Is that all you can ask from me?¡±


    It seemed Aliyev was giving him a hard time.


    ¡°It¡¯s because there are not one or two ces to spend money in.¡±


    There was still some money left from Aliyev, but Youngho wanted more.


    ¡°Jeez. He¡¯s quite heavy-mouthed. Fortunately, he¡¯s starting to open up after I convinced him that we¡¯ll give a certain amount back, but that¡¯s not everything. If we hold onto him a little longer, he will confess. I told him that his aides will swallow everything over time, and he got very upset.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any lingering feelings for him now, so force him to open his mouth. He¡¯s had enough chances.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to mention your name.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d be scared to hear that the patience of the Duke has run out. Then he won¡¯t be able to hold out any longer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be d if you can let him talk that way.¡±


    ¡°Hey, by the way, who¡¯s going to manage the pipeline section if we get involved in the pipeline project?¡±


    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about turning the direction from Yamal to the Yenisei River. That way, it oveps with the section we¡¯re developing, so I think we¡¯ll be able to manage the pipeline. And if youy it along the Yenisei River, you¡¯ll save construction costs, too.¡±


    ¡°If we can cut construction costs, we should do that. For now, I¡¯ll ask major oilpanies to consider that section when they do a feasibility survey.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. Managing the pipeline means that you can preupy the area soon, and I heard that there will be a pressurization facility in the oil transfer nt. They say the employee size will be huge. So, why don¡¯t we take charge of it? Wouldn¡¯t it be possible because we¡¯re the main contractor? We can take charge of security and development of the area.¡±


    Since it was a frozen area, it would save construction costs by exposing it to the ground instead ofying it underground.


    In that case, there should also be security personnel responsible for the safety of the pipeline, and personnel for management should also be stationed. This meant that the royal family could upy the area.


    Park Jong-il wanted to prepare for the future.


    That would not be Kazakhstan¡¯s territory, but it could be a ground to im the preemptive rights in the event of a sudden change in Russia.


    ¡°That¡¯s a very good idea. We can¡¯t do construction with our technology, but we can provide people to manage and secure the pressurization facility and the pipeline. Cha In-soo will like it.¡±


    It would be an opportunity to grow his securitypany.


    ¡°It is killing two birds with one stone because we can utilize the surplus manpower of the private militarypany as well as the securitypany.¡±


    If Cha In-soo heard it, he would jump up and down in excitement.


    He had been expecting that he would be able to grow the private militarypany when the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan but was discouraged as the U.S. government¡¯s decision had been dyed.


    The pipeline length was about thousands of kilometers, one or two hundreds of people would not be enough to guard it.


    Even if Russia took charge of the Chinese border section or section with military facilities, the pipeline investors should be responsible for the rest of the section.


    ¡°The construction conditions are terrible, so will major oilpanies do well?¡±


    ¡°We have a lot of experience in Siberia, so we should help in guiding the construction. Engineers and workers who haven¡¯t been there will run away without holding out for a few days.¡±


    The tundra and taiga regions were freezing in winter and muddy in summer.


    It was the worst construction condition especially for workers who had no experience in such environments.


    Kazakhstan already had a lot of experience in Siberian development, so the workers had been adapted to the region.


    Sergeenko, the local mafia boss, was also a great business partner of the royal family, and the native Evenki people were also acquainted with Youngho, so there was plenty of room for help.


    ¡°It was a good thing that we preupied Siberia.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there were the Evenks and the mafia. Sergeenko is also an Evenk, so he¡¯ll do well if we let him be in charge of the pipeline management.¡±


    ¡°Great. Man, we¡¯ll be taking over Siberia at this rate.¡±


    The project had not started yet, but Youngho and Jong-il were already dreaming big.

 Chapter 762 - Siberian Exploration (1)

    <h4>Chapter 762: Siberian Exploration (1)</h4>


    Yamal¡¯s second project that Putin proposed was the same scale as Yamal¡¯s first project.


    Yamal¡¯s second project was to develop a gas field worth about 30 billion dors buried on the Gydan Penins opposite the Yamal Penins.


    Given that more than 200 million tons of gas was buried in the primary oil field, as an amount that could be drilled for more than the next 50 years, assuming that both regions would produce about 500 million tons each.


    Since it was a gas field of this level, Russia took the risk of national luck on the first and second Yamal projects.


    If Putin suggested jointly developing the Yamal 2 Project if the Kazakh royal family participates in the pipeline construction.


    Putin suggested to co-develop the second Yamal project if the Kazakh royal family would participate in the pipeline project.


    With this under the table deal with Putin, Youngho wanted to get major oilpanies¡¯ involvement. It was because the project required at least 15 billion dors in capital.


    Youngho had already confirmed how attractive the pipeline project was, and was making it a fait apli to participate in the second Yamal project.


    He wanted to check the situation in Siberia himself, but he was forced to send Cha In-soo to Siberia due to the dissuasion around him.


    Sergeenko confirmed that field conditions were okay to take a survey because it was winter.


    Now was the best time to explore the tundra area, as it would turn muddy in the summer.


    Sergeenko, a Siberian local mafia boss, was eager to help hearing that a new job would be avable.


    A total of 40 members of the field survey team, headed by Cha In-soo, were made up of officials from major oilpanies and the employees of Zeynep Security Service.


    Arriving in Yamal by an icebreaker, the group met with Sergeenko and Evenki guides who were waiting there.


    The team traveled along the expected pipeline route, divided into eight civilian amphibious armored vehicles.


    Eight armored vehicles were mobilized because they had to carry food, fuel, and camping equipment.


    The Evenks were a great help in the Siberian region as there were no roads and it was safer to use the path that reindeers usually used.


    They sometimes had to cross a small river and met a blinding snowstorm, the veteran Evenki guides made it rtively easy to move.


    After five days of struggle since they set off from Yamal toward the Yenisei River, they were able to meet the Yenisei River.


    ¡°Mr. Cha, it would be convenient toy pipelines along the Yenisei River, but there is a risk of exposure to early summer floods. You¡¯ll have to make sure that the engineers who came with you are aware of it.¡±


    Sergeenko exined the local situation to In-sooo.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a multi-purpose dam upstream of Krasnoyarsk that serves as flood control?¡±


    During the thaw, the Yenisei River was flooded every year as snow or ice melted all at once.


    Although there was no problem with flooding because there were no people living in the taiga forest or tundra areas in the lower stream, the Russian government was controlling the flow rate by building a dam upstream for hydroelectric power and Siberian development.


    ¡°Recently, abnormal temperatures have caused the flow rate to explode, and even with a dam, flood control is not avable unless the weather goes back to the way it was.¡±


    Building pipelines along the riverside was advantageous in many ways, but it was impossible without the flood control capability.


    When Cha In-soo was deep in thought, Sergeenko offered his own alternative.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it necessary to have temporary port facilities and roads for construction materials and workers whether you build the pipelines along the river or ind? In some cases, construction conditions are better ind. It¡¯s not that muddy even in the summer. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a bad idea to have roads ind to link them to the development of the Krasnoyarsk region anyway.¡±


    Sergeenko said that it was not a big deal to get out of the river a little bit.


    In order to develop the Krasnoyarsk region, roads should be constructed anyway, so building pipelines ind could reduce development costs.


    ¡°What¡¯s the range of the flood?¡±


    ¡°The flood range downstream of the Yenisei River is about ten kilometers from the riverside.¡±


    The river was tens of kilometers downstream, and the flood range was about ten kilometers from there.


    As thendmass wasrge, natural phenomena beyondmon sense were taking ce in Siberia.


    ¡°We can take that much distance as long as we can use the Yenisei River. We can carry pipes made at a steel mill in the city of Krasnoyarsk along the river.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that after the flood, swamps, andkes are created everywhere, making it difficult to open roads from rivers to construction sites.¡±


    ¡°We can cover that with modern technology. By the way, Mr. Sergeenko, I heard that there are more and more Evenks who don¡¯t raise reindeer anymore. What are they doing to make a living?¡±


    As the development was taking throughout Siberia, it reached the level that threatened the survival of the Evenki people, who had continued their lives as reindeer nomads.


    They also could not afford to raise reindeer as freely as they used to because of the abnormal temperature.


    ¡°Most of them have stopped the nomadic life because of their children¡¯s education, but they don¡¯t have any specific skills, so they¡¯re barely making ends meet.¡±


    Although the Russian government had long carried out a policy of assimtion of minorities, the Evenki people who moved to cities were no more than strangers.


    As they were not properly educated, all they could do was simplebor to survive.


    ¡°If pipeline work starts, would they try toe back to the tundra?¡±


    Sergeenko, who was a descendant of the Evenks, awoke at Cha In-soo¡¯s words.


    It seemed that there would be work for the Evenks, who were treated as a nuisance in the city. It was because no city people would volunteer to work in rough Siberia no matter how much money was offered, except for the Evenks who used to live in the tundra and taiga regions as their home.


    ¡°They¡¯ve felt the difficulties of living in the city, so they wouldn¡¯t refuse if you promise to treat them properly. There are no other people that knows Siberia as well as our people, the Evenks.¡±


    ***


    On the campfire, the reindeer meat was being cooked.


    It was a wild reindeer caught by the Evenki people who were in charge of guiding the exploration team.


    Despite the biting weather, the group, equipped with winter clothes, was enjoying the winter of Siberia, eating reindeer meat and drinking vodka


    ¡°There are quite a bit of wolves around here.¡±


    Security guards fired threatening shots at wolves hovering around them, but the wolves, who were infatuated with the smell of grilling meat, did not leave the area.


    As wolvesrger than wolves in Kazakhstan¡¯s ins showed up, the group was on high alert.


    ¡°They smelled the meat. They don¡¯t rush into people recklessly, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    As if it was insignificant, Sergeenko chewed on his reindeer meat.


    The Siberian wolf was about 150 centimeters long and weighed 75 kilograms, and was characterized by its white fur all over its body.


    The wolves usually lived in groups of seven to ten and rarely to 20 wolves with each wolf¡¯s lifespan usually up to ten years in the wild. Usually, they hunted reindeer or walruses.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a wolf pack of that size attack people when they don¡¯t have enough food?¡±


    ¡°There is no Siberian wolf that attacks the Evenki people. They just want to hunt tamed reindeer. They think of the Evenks as symbiosis.¡±


    It was nonsense, but in Siberia, where all kinds of strange things could happen, such a story could not be dismissed as absurd.


    It seemed the wolves would survive on Evenki people¡¯s tamed reindeer if they could not even catch a wild reindeer. One reindeer would feed the whole pack the power to endure a few days.


    ¡°You mean the Evenks are special.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the only people who have survived in Siberia.¡±


    It was still not clear exactly where the Evenks originated.


    It was even more difficult to find their origins because there were few relics or artifacts left as they lived nomadic life following the reindeer.


    Since it was a living environment where people could not stay in a specific space for a long time, it was inevitable to live as a n or family unit, so there was little culture to them.


    There were numerous hypotheses, but some schrs argued that the simrities between the Evenki people and Korean people¡¯s appearance and body shape, and thenguages indicated that they were somewhat rted to the origin of the Korean people.


    All that had been revealed so far was that they had been distributed intensively in the ancient Baikal River and the Amur River regions.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand, but the wolves must recognize the Evenks since they survived in this environment.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s one strange thing. I was quite surprised by the fact that the Evenks and Koreans are so simr that it was hard to tell each other apart. I was very astonished when I first saw His Royal Highness of Kazakhstan. I thought he was an Evenk.¡±


    Cha In-soo had also heard such a story from Youngho, and he could not help but nod his head as he was looking at the Evenki people who followed the team as guides.


    Only their costumes were unique, but if they spoke Korean, he would have thought they were Korean.


    Sergeenko looked a little different because he had the blood of the vic people as well.


    ¡°I have to admit that you are right. The origins of the two peoples must be rted to each other. If we share the same origin, I won¡¯t have to be afraid of Siberia as a Korean.¡±


    ¡°Even if we don¡¯t share any blood, we, the Evenks, will help the Kazakh royal family. We¡¯ve been immensely helped by the Duke.¡±


    Since the Evenki poption in Siberia was about 100,000, if only some percentage of them participated, the pipeline construction of tundra would be easy.


    There were only a few people on earth who could endure rough work in this cold.


    In-soo was enjoying his conversation with Sergeenko, but the wolves, unable to withstand their hunger, started approaching the camp to break the fun.


    After suffering from wolves all night, the group began to clean up after having ate breakfast.


    It was because the wolves messed around the camp while eating the reindeer meat the group had left behind.


    Because of the Evenks, they could not kill the wolves and had to sleep ufortably in the armored vehicles.


    They could not hunt after learning that the Evenks and wolves coexisted.


    Everyone looked tired, but as afortable bed was waiting at a distance of two more days, they hurried the way.


    At the midstream of the Yenisei River, an icebreaker belonging to Arirang Shipping was waiting for the group.


    Although the area could be thoroughly identified by satellite without having to conduct due diligence on the site, there was a reason why they came to the site.


    And in addition to conducting due diligence on the site, the purpose of the expedition was also a kind of production to show to Putin.


    It was like silent pressure to keep the verbal promise of Yamal¡¯s second project, not to mention the pipeline construction.


    Major oilpanies were looking forward to winning the second Yamal project by the Kazakh royal family as its involvement was a guarantee for a safe and sessful business.


    Cha In-soo¡¯s group, that suffered from the cold for two more days, was able to meet Arirang Shipping¡¯s icebreaker, which was waiting on the riverside of Yenisei.


    ¡°Look at your face, Mr. Cha. You don¡¯t look like a person who suffered in the cold at all.¡±


    Choi Sun-kil, who was waiting for the exploration team on the icebreaker, joked when he saw Cha In-soo and his party.


    ¡°It was bearable because I ate reindeer meat. But didn¡¯t you say you¡¯re going straight from Yamal to the royal territory?¡±


    ¡°The Duke asked me to pick up some stuff from Krasnoyarsk.¡±


    If it was Youngho¡¯s errand, it would be diamond or gold.


    In Krasnoyarsk¡¯s ck market, gold and diamonds were still pouring out.


    In the meantime, diamonds and gold obtained from Krasnoyarsk had been enormous.


    It was abundant that most of the profit of the Siberian business came from both gold and diamonds.


    ¡°I guess the amount is quite a lot this time again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 60 kilograms of gold bars.¡±


    Although this amount seemed insignificantpared to the amount produced from a single gold mine owned by the royal family, it was also a huge amount to collect in the ck market for months.


    Its market price would be over 30 million dors.


    ¡°Mr. Cha, did you find anything this time?¡±


    ¡°What do you find in the frozennd? It won¡¯t be noticeable until the thaw season.¡±


    One of the reasons why the Evenki guides were hired was to find a ce where many shiny stones were distributed.


    What the Evenki people called as shiny stones were none other than diamond gemstones and lumps of gold.

 Chapter 763 - Siberian Exploration (2)

    <h4>Chapter 763: Siberian Exploration (2)</h4>


    In Siberian taiga forest and tundra areas, fist-sized gold lumps were often found along rivers andkes.


    Likewise, many diamond stones were found, which the people of Evenki described as shiny stones, referring to the stone¡¯s reflection of the sunlight.


    The Evenks, who did not know the value of the jewels, did not really pay attention to them other than keeping some of them as souvenirs. Their only priority was to find ces with many mosses, the food of reindeer.


    Even if they knew the value of shiny stones, it would have been a hassle to carry heavy stones around because they moved around from time to time as nomads.


    They knew where the shiny stones were spotted, but they did not pay much attention.


    This was because the shiny stones had made their lives more impoverished.


    All kinds of humans had searched and harmed the Evenks in search of shiny stones in the past, so they prated deeper into the tundra to avoid people¡¯s eyes.


    This was why Cha In-soo¡¯s exploration team was apanied by Evenks, but there was no special ce on the way from Yamal to the Yenisei River.


    Thinking of Youngho, who must have been looking forward to it, In-soo¡¯s forehead frowned.


    After days of deep rest in the icebreaker, the team prepared again and entered the taiga forest.


    As it was a trip to survey the areas where the pipeline would pass, the rugged areas were filmed with drones, and the rest of the sections were searched to check the geological conditions and surrounding conditions.


    When the Evenki guides told where the shiny stones were, the team marked the coordinates on the precision map and went through the taiga forest.


    They could arrive at the Kazakh royal family¡¯s logging site by the time they were fed up with the endless forest.


    Taiga was a name for a huge woond that surrounded the north side of the earth.


    The coniferous forest, which covered the northern hemisphere like a nket, was called the boreal forest, and the Russians called it the taiga.


    The crown-shaped coniferous forest surrounding the northern hemisphere of the Earth was usually covered with snow from November until April.


    The average temperature here was -35 degrees Celsius, but one would be surprised to learn that the average temperature in July was 25.5 degrees Celsius, simr to the northern coast of the Mediterranean.


    There were more trees than the tropical rainforests in the taiga area, which served as a carbon storage that absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.


    If the forest was destroyed, it would cause a ¡°carbon bomb¡± phenomenon in which massive amounts of carbon stored in the permafrost were released into the air, which would be catastrophic for the Earth.


    Therefore, the logging site of the Kazakh royal family was working hard on nting trees as well as logging.


    Cha In-soo¡¯s group was in the second day of entering the forest that was being developed by the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Whew! It¡¯s still a mess. What were those guys thinking?¡±


    Cha In-soo, who was looking around the scene where diamonds were illegally collected previously, said swear words.


    The Kazakh royal family took over the ce where a Chinesepany left after disturbing the natural environment. Thend was turned over so much that it was still difficult to restore thend even years after.


    Although the trees ntedst summer settled down, it was questionable whether the overturnednd would be restored only by nting of trees.


    Sergeenko, who was looking around the area, was also upset.


    ¡°They¡¯re really bad guys. We don¡¯t touch the taiga forest either. They¡¯ve turned the ground upside down, and this ce no longer has a chance.¡±


    Cha In-soo smirked to hear that the mafia cared for the environment. Was it not a group that could do anything for money?


    ¡°Even though there are diamonds in the ground?¡±


    ¡°No matter how blind the mafias are with money, they only collect diamonds exposed on the ground, not turning thend upside down. We know that if the nutrients in the soil disappear, the forest dies.¡±


    Water was used to find diamonds, but the organic matter and microorganisms in the soil were also washed away in the process.


    The earth of the taiga region was formed through thousands of years, so it was hard to recover it in a short period of time.


    The huge area was suffering from the illegalitiesmitted by a Chinesepany.


    ¡°It was fortunate that we banned all the Chinesepanies from the area, but if it was neglected a little longer, the whole forest would have been destroyed.¡±


    ¡°I am grateful to the Kazakh royal family for that. The only ce that¡¯s doing a good job at logging in the area is probably the Kazakh royal family.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little bothersome, but it¡¯s what we have to do for future generations. Even if otherpanies that have been granted logging permits in Siberia abandon their conscience, it¡¯s His Highness¡¯s will to set an example for all. It¡¯s also to buy the Russian government¡¯s favor so that we can keep our business for a long time.¡±


    ¡°I hope the Kazakh royal family will continue to manage the Krasnoyarsk region. Then the Evenks will have a way to live, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re struggling like this. You¡¯ll see. Once pipeline construction begins and the Trans-Siberian Railway ispleted, the Russian government will want us to stay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°His Highness thinks of Mr. Sergeenko as a partner, so now you¡¯d have to go beyond helping.¡±


    Sergeenko was d to hear Cha In-soo¡¯s words.


    He was a mere local mafia, and it was a huge deal to be favored by a royal duke.


    ¡°Please say thank you for me. If he thinks so highly of me like that, I¡¯ll do my best to achieve his goal.¡±


    ¡°You just have to do what you do now. In the future, yourpany and Zeynep Security Service will work together on pipeline construction and security services.¡±


    When In-soo even mentioned specific business ns, Sergeenko looked as if he had the whole world.


    This was because no Russian mafia boss would be as sessful as he was.


    The fact that he carried the Kazakh royal family on his back was more than enough, but now he was given even a bigger role in a huge project.


    ***


    As Cha In-soo returned from Siberia with the expedition, the pipeline business began to take shape.


    Thepanies that previously participated in the Trans-Siberian Railway Modernization Project wanted to join the project, so the royal territory was crowded with them.


    Major oilpanies would focus more on Yamal¡¯s second project, yielding the pipeline project to the consortium that led Trans-Siberian Railway Modernization.


    It was because as a result of the on-site inspection, it was decided that thepanies who had experience in the construction of the Far East section of the Trans-Siberian Railway would be more suitable for the pipeline project.


    In this way, two consortiums were formed in the Yamal project.


    As the consortiums were formed, negotiations with the Russian government for construction contracts were quickly made.


    The Russian government had no choice but to rush because it was a golden opportunity for economic revival.


    After working-level negotiations such as stake participation were concluded, Youngho visited Moscow again to sign construction contracts for the pipeline construction and Yamal¡¯s second project.


    ¡°Hahaha... I should set up a separate office for you at the Kremlin, Your Highness.¡±


    Putin, who weed Youngho, was extremely delighted as two mega projects were signed at the same time.


    ¡°It¡¯s a waste of timeing and going. If Your Excellency would, I won¡¯t say no.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Now that we closed the contracts, we should at least have a ss of wine to celebrate.¡±


    Putin, who usually did not drink much, frequently set up a drinking table after learning that Youngho enjoyed drinking.


    ¡°If this is only for me, you shouldn¡¯t have to do this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been drinking better, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    After some time passed since the two started to drink, Putin opened his mouth.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to decide so soon.¡±


    Putin was surprised that the project wasplete only after two months since Putin proposed it.


    ¡°There¡¯s a Korean proverb that says, better strike while the iron is hot. I¡¯ve already decided to invest, so there¡¯s no reason to dy it. And I was in a hurry because I thought there might be a Chinese sabotage.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, the response from Korea and Japan is good, but the Chinese government is making a fuss about this. Anyway, thanks to you, Russia¡¯s economic recovery will be hurried.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, I invested because I saw profits on the way. Rather, I should thank you for the opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I know better than anyone else that Russia¡¯s investment environment is not good. Because you took the lead, we could attract foreignpanies in it. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency has made a bold decision and handed over state-of-the-art weapons technology. Please think of this as a reward.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to go beyond that and transfer even higher technologies, but I¡¯m afraid your rtionship with the United States will be affected.¡±


    It was surprising to learn that Putin was worried about Kazakhstan¡¯s rtionship with the U.S., but he seemed to be honest.


    There was no military alliance with the U.S., so there was nothing to be burdened about.


    If he could buy good weapons cheaply, Youngho was willing to buy weapons from China as well.


    He could roughly guess what Putin¡¯s concerns were.


    Recently, when Turkey purchased Russian air defense missiles, the U.S. government was furious.


    The U.S.ined that it was impossible for members of the North Antic Treaty Organization to purchase weapons from Russia, which was like an enemy country.


    COMMENT


    However, it was nothing short of a thief to force U.S. weapons without transferring technology.


    Now, the U.S. was embarrassed to learn about the recent agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan on the technology transfer and license production of the Sukhoi Su fighter jet. It could not protest openly, but Youngho could feel the pressure.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been buying expensive weapons from the U.S. only because I thought the U.S. would transfer technology, but now I think I¡¯m at my limit.¡±


    Youngho said this to Putin to get another defense technology transferred by saying that he could let go of his rtionship with the U.S.


    Russia¡¯s defense technology was so excellent that even the U.S. coveted it.


    ¡°We are ready to cooperate as much as you want. The problem is that Kazakhstan can¡¯t still digest our technology.¡±


    ¡°I understand that we don¡¯t have great technology. Nevertheless, we are recruiting talented people from many countries, including Korea. We should be ahead of others in assembly technology at least.¡±


    Even if Kazakhstan started from the basics now, it could not catch up with advanced countries.


    Basic materials were overflowing, and the application power to create new things based on them was the only way to Kazakhstan¡¯s survival.


    In fact, Kazakhstan had sess in developing a powerfulser gun by repeatedly applying and developing already existing technologies.


    No matter how many times one tried to make a fire with a pile of wet firewood, it would not catch fire. Likewise, if Kazakhstan forced itself to produce better weapons with its limited skills, it would only produce fake weapons like China.


    As he talked to Putin, Youngho¡¯s mind was busy with the idea of making an applied weapon.

 Chapter 764 - A Deputy (1)

    <h4>Chapter 764: A Deputy (1)</h4>


    Youngho and Putin were having an in-depth conversation while emptying two bottles of wine.


    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting idea topete with advanced countries by developing assembly technology. I guess you¡¯d be thinking of something simr to aser weapon.¡±


    It seemed Putin already knew about theser guns which were Kazakhstan¡¯s secret weapon somehow.


    Since he already found out, Youngho admitted.


    ¡°Oh, we only got lucky while we were trying to make a distinguished weapon.¡±


    When Youngho admitted, Putin¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see its operation someday. Our country recently developed a next-generation tank and I¡¯d like to test it against our tank. If we open our new weapons and test them together, it¡¯ll help to find and correct any w.¡±


    Youngho was relieved to hear Putin¡¯s proposal. He wanted to share technology rather than coveting Kazakhstan¡¯sser weapon. If he liked theser gun¡¯s performance, he could even trade the technology Russia¡¯s next-generation tank for theser gun.


    Youngho agreed without hesitation.


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised to see it with your own eyes, but aren¡¯t you afraid of possibly leaking the Russian tank¡¯s weakness?¡±


    ¡°We will only have rted officials to the demonstration, so what¡¯s to worry about? We have nothing to hide from each other.¡±


    The reason why Putin was helping Kazakhstan¡¯s armament was because China¡¯s rapid progress was relentless.


    With itsrge foreign-currency holdings, China was reinforcing its defense rapidly that even Russia feared it.


    So, Russia helped Kazakhstan¡¯s defense reinforcement by transferring technologies for Sukhoi Su fighter jet and a cruise missile and promising their license production.


    However, the Chinese government protested against this, saying that it would reconsider its investment in Russia, pressuring Putin.


    Thankfully, the Kazakh royal family deposited five billion dors easing the economic stress and this time, it resolved the pipeline project and the second Yamal project at once.


    All was achieved without Chinese capital, and Putin was pleased inside.


    So, he was ready to transfer a new weapon technology despite China¡¯s disapproval.


    The weapon Putin wanted to test out was T-14 Armata, a next-generation battle tank known to be equipped with an active defense system that could withstand anti-tank attacks such as anti-tank rockets and high-explosive anti-tank missiles.


    It could easily destroy an enemy¡¯s tank that was 1 kilometer away.


    Experts said that considering the effective range of Abrams tanks in the U.S. was 3-4 kilometers, at least Armata tanks could defeat their counterparts three times as far away.


    Armata was considered to haveid the groundwork for battle tanks to evolve intoplete robot tanks, with itsputer technology, speed, and operational performance.


    In addition, the turret was capable of turning 360 degrees and had a 30-millimeter anti-aircraft gun and a 12.7-millimeter machine gun that could shoot down helicopters and drones at a distance.


    And Armata¡¯s main gun was 125 millimeters long, 15-20 percent higher in uracy than the existing T-90, and had automatic shell loading and aiming functions.


    The strongest point was that it maximized soldiers¡¯ survival by making an unmanned turret and boarding three crew members in the front-facing armored capsule.


    If what Russia imed was true, there was no battle tank that could beat T-14 Armata at the moment.


    However, it was known that only 100 units would be test-produced due to difficulties in mass production caused by economic conditions in Russia.


    ¡°Your Excellency, instead of using the tanks as a test target for ourser guns and exposing them to the outside world, why don¡¯t we build an attack systembining the two weapons?¡±


    No matter how secretively a test was done, it would be leaked to outside someday if rted officials of the two countries gathered for a military test.


    Youngho thought that there was no need to expose one¡¯s own weaknesses.


    Whether Kazakhser gun destroyed T-14 Armata or T-14 Armata destroyed the Kazakhser gun, it was not desirable to have a test that would expose either weapon¡¯s weaknesses


    Youngho¡¯s suggestion meant that he would transferser gun¡¯s technology if Putin would transfer T-14 Armata¡¯s technology.


    ¡°Now that I think of it, it¡¯s a little stretch topare the performance of two weapons with unique strengths. Then I guess you are saying you can open theser gun technology to us.¡±


    ¡°I heard that Russia has already developed aser weapon, but if you want, I¡¯ll provide you with our technology.¡±


    There was not a huge difference between Kazakhstan¡¯sser gun and the one developed in Russia, but Kazakhstan¡¯s gun was proven to be effective in real battles.


    Russia would make one as great as Kazakhstan¡¯s in the near future, so Youngho wanted to have a deal with it instead of holding onto it.


    It was not an original technology but an applied technology anyway.


    ¡°Very well. Then we, Russia, will provide the T-14 Armata technology, but there are some problems. Some of theponents can¡¯t be produced in Russia, so we have to import them, but we have an issue with imports. This is dying the mass production of our tanks.¡±


    Youngho knew Putin had another intention for approving a technology trade so easily, and now it was revealed.


    Russia wanted to import Western parts as it was difficult to produce mainponents such as night thermal imaging equipment, but it was not easy because of the economic sanction due to the dispute with Ukraine.


    ¡°We can import those main parts in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. If Kazakhstan can buy theponents, we can ovee the Western economic sanctions.¡±


    Putin¡¯s proposal to test Kazakhstan¡¯sser gun performance was just a bait.


    Russia did not needser gun technology but needed Kazakhstan¡¯s help to import mainponents for its new tank. It wanted to use Kazakhstan as a purchase deputy.


    Regardless of the reason, a way to license-produce Russia¡¯s next-generation tank, which was developed over five years, was open to Kazakhstan now.


    ***


    As Kazakhstan¡¯s rtionship with Russia grew closer, the royal territory¡¯s airport was frequently overwhelmed by the officials and techniciansing in and out of it.


    ¡°Your Highness, there was a proposal to develop a direct route to Russia from Russia¡¯s Aeroflot.¡±


    Suh Min-seok excitedly reported this to Youngho.


    It was a big deal that Russia¡¯s airline wanted to establish a direct route in the royal territory.


    Although there was an international airport in the royal territory, there was no regr international flight line.


    Despite the increased poption, there were not many residents who were well-off enough to take overseas trips regrly.


    ¡°Do we have that many passengers visiting Russia?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the recent increased investment projects in Russia. Now is the time to make a separate regr flight route in the royal territory because the Atyrau International Airport is overwhelmed. Aeroflot offered to operate a flight three times a week.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the airline that has a lot of old nes?¡±


    Russia¡¯s airlines were known to have a lot of declining civil aircrafts and there were frequent idents. Youngho could not trust it.


    Rather than taking a risk, it would be better to use Air Astana, the g carrier of Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I heard it introduced a lot of new generation nes. Also, we can require the newest airnes as a condition when we sign a contract.¡±


    In the report, there were 450 travelers going to Russia on average. It seemed a direct flight was necessary.


    ¡°Notify the Transportation Bureau and ask if it¡¯s okay to open a direct route to Moscow in the royal territory. I don¡¯t want to get anyints that the royal family unterally decided it.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I doubt that there are idle nes in Air Astana. It established a direct route to Krasnoyarsk recently. Instead, why don¡¯t we make a royal airline this time?¡±


    ¡°You want to run a civil aviation business in the royal family?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Technically, Air Astana is not a national airline. Russia is going to be the golden route, so there¡¯s no reason to leave it to others.¡±


    Air Astana had about 28 nes and a Britishpany had 49 percent of its stake.


    For a national airline, the number of aircraft owned was small, which was not enough to connect people to all parts of the world.


    As there were not one or two joint projects with Russia, and if the economic power of residents of the royal territory in the future improved, overseas travel would explode, so the aviation business seemed to be able to generate some profits.


    ¡°Hmmm! Then conduct a market research. If it¡¯s proven to be profitable, we can start with a few nes. There is plenty of flight demand to ces in Russia such as Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, and divostok.¡±


    ¡°It may be more efficient if the royal airline takes over international flights and Air Astana takes over federal and domestic flights. Some international flights are not spared the deficit, so the government is paying a certain amount of money topensate for that.¡±


    Many European routes wereunched on a policy basis due to Kazakhstan¡¯s national status, but because of theck of passengers, Air Astana could not avoid losses.


    It was done by the former government to increase tourism profits, but so far, there had been little use by Europeans due to ack of tourism infrastructure.


    It would be a golden route when therge tourist resort was built in a year or two.


    ¡°All right. Check and see if the Russian flight route is economically feasible first.¡±

 Chapter 765 - A Deputy (2)

    <h4>Chapter 765: A Deputy (2)</h4>


    ¡°There¡¯s a rumor going around that the royal family will own an airline.¡±


    Youngho was drinking tea with Park Jong-il, who came to the office to report his work.


    ¡°Suh Min-seok suggested it, so I asked him to look into it.¡±


    ¡°We should have done it already. It doesn¡¯t make sense that we don¡¯t have an airline when we are producing propeller nes.¡±


    ¡°Even if we set up an airline, we won¡¯t touch the route to federal states and domestic flights. The royal family should operate only non-redundant international flights because I don¡¯t want to vite the existing airline¡¯s territory.¡±


    ¡°I heard a Russian airline offered to open a direct flight. What are you going to do about it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to push ahead with it, too. I don¡¯t think many people will use the Russian airline, which is old andckspetitiveness.¡±


    ¡°I see. But by the way, Putin is determined. He likes our royal family so much that he thinks of opening a direct air route.¡±


    Despite the fact that there was already a direct route between Astana and Moscow, it was surprising to open a separate route in the royal territory. This meant that Putin was working hard on the Kazakh royal family.


    ¡°Even if I were Putin, I would try to do that much. It¡¯s kind of a client management thing, isn¡¯t it?


    ¡°He already impressed me enough by letting us have the license to produce the next generation of tanks.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because it¡¯s easier to put us forward than to deal directly with China.¡±


    ¡°He might ask us to fight a local dispute instead of Russia.¡±


    The royal family already owned a private militarypany, so fighting for Russia was not an unimaginable thing.


    The U.S. also often jumped into international disputes as long as it was beneficial to the country.


    From now on, international disputes would also be dominated by proxy battles between private militarypanies.


    In a way, Kazakhstan might also be ying a mercenary role for Russia.


    ¡°If we get unlucky, there could be a proxy war between Americanpanies and ourpanies.¡±


    This might be possible because Kazakhstan was helping Russia, the enemy of the U.S.


    ¡°We can worry about itter. Is there anything you want to say to me? I think Aliyev would have said something by now.¡±


    Youngho was curious about Aliyev¡¯s recent situation.


    ¡°I was wondering why you are not saying that. We¡¯ve also recovered a lot of borrowed-name property from the Aliyev family. It¡¯s mostly real estate, and it¡¯ll be about 150 million dors at the market price.¡±


    ¡°Great. Now I guess we¡¯ve recovered most of his slush funds. Why don¡¯t we pick the right ce for him and his family to settle?¡±


    ¡°How much do you want me to give him in his hand?¡±


    If he lived in poverty, it could be more noticeable to the public.


    Aliyev should be given enough to live infort, or he could be more noticeable to the public. Also, his whereabouts and movements should be consistently managed as well since he could be still hiding something.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we give a certain amount of money every year? If we give a lot at a time, he might end up plotting something using it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we should. He should be under our close watch anyway.¡±


    Aliyev served as the president of Azerbaijan and could leak national secrets if he was not watched. It was dyed, but the Aliyev family problem was finallying to an end.


    Thanks to the slush funds collected by the Aliev family, Kazakhstan introduced thetest weapons from Russia and invested in the gas field development and pipeline business, so there was some gratitude.


    Youngho wanted to let them livefortably for the rest of their lives.


    ***


    As the introduction of the T-14 Armata tank became visible, it created a tremendous sensation both at home and abroad.


    In particr, China vehemently criticized arms cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan.


    It threatened to fully review economic cooperation with Russia, iming it was an irresponsible act that would break the military bnce in the region.


    Meanwhile, it suggested a spection that Russia could have been behind the Uyghur and Tibet armed struggles and their independence movement by encouraging Kazakhstan.


    Such a reaction from China was because it was afraid of Kazakhstan¡¯s rising defense capabilities, but China¡¯s voice was nothing but an echoless cry because the Russian government did not respond at all.


    Since it was fun to wait and see China getting embarrassed, Youngho was nning a visit to Kashgar to stir the Chinese government some more.


    He had nothing to fear because he already confirmed through the intelligence service that Putin was deeply offended by China¡¯s ridiculous spection.


    Kazakhstan was being sabotaged as Russia¡¯s second-tier squad anyway.


    This was because the more China and Russia grew apart, the greater would be the scope of movement for Kazakhstan.


    Youngho was head-to-head with Prime Minister Kasim in his office over his visit to Kashgar.


    ¡°Mr. Prime Minister, the Russian government is neither positive nor negative toward the Uyghur issue. I think it¡¯s safe to ept it as a sign of its involvement in it.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Russia trying to get a free ride now that we¡¯ve done all the work?¡±


    Kasim, who particrly did not trust Russia, did not like Russia¡¯s current stance.


    He used to be a militarymander at Kazakhstan¡¯s western border and had gone through a lot of trouble due to Russian troops, so he had hostile feelings toward Russia.


    He also did not like the fact that Russia was hiding the former president of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev.


    ¡°Russia is also a stakeholder since it borders China, too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but I can¡¯t trust it. It¡¯s not like Russia has given up its southward policy...¡±


    ¡°Let alone the southward policy, Russia is in the position of being afraid of China¡¯s advance to the north.¡±


    As for Russia, it was like getting a free ride since if Kashgar became independent, there would be a buffer zone between Russia and China.


    ¡°China won¡¯t sit back and watch when you visit Kashgar. Should we provoke China for no reason?¡±


    Kashgar was an autonomous republic but it was officially Chinese territory.


    If the Duke of Kazakhstan visited Kashgar without China¡¯s consent, it would be a kind of provocation.


    ¡°It¡¯s given the status of an autonomous republic, but it¡¯s an isted, hostile country in reality.¡±


    Although Kashgar earned the status of an autonomous republic, it maintained the status only because its troops were pointing guns at Chinese troops at the border.


    There was no physical exchange with China at all.


    ¡°China will of course oppose your visit, but it will be better for the future if you move after taking a diplomatic measure.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if we need a cause, I will notify my visit to China through a diplomatic channel before making a move.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if China conducts an armed protest, I¡¯d like you to reconsider your visit to Kashgar. The Chinese government will try to stop you using any means.¡±


    ¡°If I give up my visit to Kashgar because of China¡¯s protest, it¡¯s only going to drag down our status.¡±


    When Youngho insisted on his n, Kasim frowned. He knew that Youngho¡¯s stubbornness was notorious.


    ¡°Your Highness, the border has just been stabilized, but if the tension at the border intensified again, it will be harmful to our economy.¡±


    It was not that Youngho was unaware of the issue, but he could not step back because of China¡¯s threat since the problem of Uyghur was directly rted to Kazakhstan¡¯s future.


    It was because China could try to retrieve Kashgar as soon as it was out of global attention.


    ¡°I believe our economy is strong enough not to be shaken by such an outside threat. Has there been a stability in global society? Every day is like a battle.¡±


    ¡°Phew! Very well. I can never wear you down.¡±


    Kasim gave in as he learned that Youngho could not be convinced.


    ***


    When Youngho announced his visit to Kashgar, China was even more stirred up andined that Kazakhstan was intervening in another country¡¯s domestic affairs for no special reason.


    China also threatened Kazakhstan by saying that if Youngho visited Kashgar without China¡¯s consent, Kazakhstan would have to be responsible for the aftermath of its action.


    ¡°This is concerning.¡±


    Even Park Jong-il showed his concern as China¡¯s reaction intensified.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just making a fuss to target Russia since it gave us the second Yamal project and next-generation weapons. China has been controlling Russia like it¡¯s its own with its endless capital, but it¡¯s furious now that we disturbed that cycle.¡±


    COMMENT


    ¡°But do you really have to go? We don¡¯t want to provoke China too much...¡±


    ¡°You know this is why we have to provoke China more. China can¡¯t act out because of Russia, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Youngho was forcing his trip to Kashgar because he had a back-up.


    He learned that Putin was thinking of Kazakhstan as a rival horse against China, thus it was providing its newest weapons.


    As Russia needed Kazakhstan to stay strong, it would help Kazakhstan more if China protested harder.


    As long as Russia had Kazakhstan¡¯s back, China would never think of crossing the border likest time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we have to strengthen our border then?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be afraid just because China isining hard. It¡¯ll stop if we ignore it. China can¡¯t start another war with us, you know.¡±


    The morale of Chinese troops had plummeted already because of the recent battles against Kazakhstan and the militias of Uyghur and Tibet.


    The Kazakh military also proved its worth against Chinese troops.


    This was another reason that Youngho did not think much of China¡¯s threat. He believed that he had strong troops that could protect the country against any provocation.


    In order to break China¡¯s intention to defoliate Kashgar by not allowing anyone¡¯s ess to it, Youngho must visit Kashgar.

 Chapter 766 - Growing Bigger (1)

    <h4>Chapter 766: Growing Bigger (1)</h4>


    Although the Chinese government was intensely against the Kazakh Duke¡¯s visit to Kashgar, it could not do anything when Youngho visited it.


    It was because Youngho did not have to cross China to get there but only needed to cross a Kazakh federal state, Tajikistan.


    Although it was an autonomous republic within Chinese territory, Chinese administrative power could not reach it.


    Youngho stayed there only for two days, but its aftermath was enormous.


    His visit to Kashgar spread the awareness that Kashgar was a separate entity from China and proved that Kazakhstan was a country that was not interrupted by Chinese pressure.


    While Youngho was there, he also publicly made it clear that Kazakhstan epted Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as a partner, which was quickly issued by the media.


    The Chinese government did not know what to do as Kazakhstan took such reckless actions before it knew it.


    There was nothing China could do as everything already happened in a quick manner. All it did was to denounce Kazakhstan to the UN.


    It would have conducted an armed protest at the border in the past, but now it would not be a threat to Kazakhstan. It was because any exchange with China was broken already when the border was shut down.


    However, Kazakhstan could not let its guard down as the Chinese government would retaliate in any way.


    The entrance security of the Arirang royal territory was tightened all of a sudden.


    Not only the police but also royal bodyguards were patrolling all over the territory, so Youngho asked what was going on to Cho Chul-hwan.


    ¡°Why did you heighten the security all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a routined heightened security training.¡±


    It was the first time police and the royal bodyguards working together in guarding duty since the armed dispute with China, so it was less convincing to say it was a routined training.


    ¡°You¡¯re only scaring the residents. Why don¡¯t you ease the security?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Chinese guys will let it slide so easily since we provoked them badly this time.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan was worried about a potential Chinese unpredictable move.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we are reacting too sensitively? There¡¯s no military movement at the border. I don¡¯t want to be seen as being wary about China.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better safe than sorry. There are so many foreignersing in and out of the royal territory these days. It¡¯s also to alert the residents, so just follow my lead. Haven¡¯t you thought about this from the perspective of the Chinese government? It won¡¯t have any further problems if only the Duke of Kazakhstan can be removed.¡±


    ¡°I get that, but we have to think about how this will affect the economy of the royal territory. Why can¡¯t you do it more subtly?¡±


    If the rigid atmosphere continued for long, people¡¯s daily activities would be limited. They were bound to feel ufortable when random inspections were conducted frequently.


    ¡°There is a need to deliberately show that our security is heightened as a preventive measure. I don¡¯t want to say this, but what if the Chinese government is nning an assassination? This is the least I can do.¡±


    Chul-hwan¡¯s concern could be needless, but there was nothing wrong with preparing for a rainy day.


    ¡°Okay. If you¡¯d feel relieved by doing so, do as you want.¡±


    ***


    When Russia¡¯s technology transfer began, the U.S. government also began to move quickly.


    As it became anxious, it gave consent for establishing Boeing¡¯s Apache helicopter assembly nt in Kazakhstan.


    It was because the Kazakh Federal Kingdom¡¯s arms demand was great and the U.S did not want to lose its big customer to Russia.


    The recent change in the constitution of Azerbaijan by the national referendum also yed a big part as it allowed the Kazakh royal family to intervene in Azerbaijan¡¯s foreign affairs and defense.


    This indicated the stretch of the Kazakh border followed by high arms demand.


    Also, most of the Kazakh border consisted of rough mountainous areas, so attack helicopters were most effective among other defense equipment.


    Not wanting to lose such a big market, Boeing proactively lobbied the U.S. government to get its consent to establish an assembly nt in the Kazakh royal territory.


    Cho Chul-hwan was assigned to represent the royal family and to be in charge of the construction of the nt. He was at a meeting with Boeing representatives.


    ¡°Kazakhstan is the biggest client of yourpany, but you¡¯ve been neglectful so far.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan let out aint as soon as he sat down.


    ¡°Commander, I have no words to say, but please understand our position. We are a privatepany, but we can¡¯t ignore the U.S. government¡¯s policy. It¡¯s a huge achievement of our lobbying that we¡¯ve been able to get the consent of the U.S. government this time.¡±


    Alex, who was the vice president of the helicopter department of Boeing, made excuses with an embarrassed face.


    There were not many countries that could purchase more than 30 Apache helicopters every year.


    ¡°The Russian side is willing to sell Havoc helicopter to us and we¡¯re in the middle of negotiations. I¡¯d like to hear about yourpany¡¯s suggestion.¡±


    Chul-hwan mentioned Russian Havoc helicopter (Mi-28) since it was the only helicopter that was equal to the Apache helicopter.


    It was a kind of a show since there were no such negotiations with Russia going on.


    Upon hearing about Havoc, Alex was flustered.


    Hispany¡¯s radar had been receivingints from clients, and if Kazakhstan disappeared from its client list, he would have to worry about next year¡¯s sales.


    ¡°If we start the assembly production in Kazakhstan, we¡¯re nning to greatly reduce the price of the helicopter, and we will transfer our main technology boldly as well.¡±


    Hearing what he wanted to hear, Chul-hwan smiled inwardly, but he kept his stern face.


    ¡°I assume you know about Russia¡¯s technology transfer of Sukhoi Su stealth jet. Our defense department thinks that we won¡¯t have to buy more attack helicopters if we have that technology.¡±


    At Cho Chul-hwan¡¯s response, Vice President Alex jumped up from his seat.


    He was anxious to think that the deal would be off.


    ¡°Commander, you¡¯d know it well, but attack helicopters have their own function. Also, in order to maintain the best condition of preexisting attack helicopters, you¡¯d have to disjoint and reassemble them once in a while. For such a purpose, you¡¯d need an assembly nt. Not to mention that you¡¯d have to rece worn-outponents frequently.¡±


    ¡°I guess the repair nt we have is not enough to maintain the best condition of the helicopters. Then are you saying we made a useless investment?¡±


    Alex just realized that there was a preexisting repair nt while emphasizing a new assembly nt, but he could not take it back.


    ¡°Commander, you know very well that Apache helicopters are far better than Russian Havoc helicopters.¡±


    ¡°I believe Havoc is better in terms of pilot¡¯s viability.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan slowly began driving the wedge in.


    As far as he knew, Havoc helicopters¡¯ strength was in the maximized viability of pilots.


    ¡°Ourpany¡¯s product¡¯s pilot viability is also higher than that of other helicopters.¡±


    Alex argued as hard as he could, but frankly, he was not confident in the issue of pilot viability.


    The negotiation went on, but there was nothing to say anymore as the ball was already in Kazakhstan¡¯s side.


    No matter how great the performance of Boeing¡¯s Apache helicopters, it was notpetitive against Russian Havoc helicopters in terms of the price, defense, and pilot viability.


    Especially in a country like Kazakhstan, which prioritized the lives of its troops, it would focus on viability rather than performance, so Boeing had to make concessions.


    Thus, Boeing decided to increase the viability of pilots for the helicopters that would be assembled in Kazakhstan even though their speed would be decreased due to increased weight, not to mention the reduced cost of the helicopter.


    Hearing about the negotiation result, Younghoughed out loud.


    ¡°You should go to foreign negotiation tables from now on instead of Jong-il.¡±


    At Youngho¡¯s words, Jong-il teased Chul-hwan.


    ¡°They say that every man for his own trade. I guess you are good at something too. But this negotiation was rather an easy one because Russia was behind us.


    ¡°What? Are you kidding me? It¡¯s not as easy as you think.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha....¡±

 Chapter 767 - Growing Bigger (2)

    <h4>Chapter 767: Growing Bigger (2)</h4>


    The Sukhoi Su fighter jet assembly nt and Boeing¡¯s Apache helicopter assembly nt would be built in an industrialplex on the left side of the military wharf in the royal territory.


    The industrialplex was already a ma of Kazakhstan¡¯s aviation industry housing a Swedish Saab¡¯s Gripen fighter nt, Cessna¡¯s light aircraft nt, and Ko? Holding¡¯s helicopter nt.


    It was about ten kilometers from Arirang royal territory¡¯s administrative city, which was designated as an ess control area.


    But today, all military leaders, including Prime Minister Kasim, gathered there.


    It was to celebrate the first day of construction of Russia¡¯s Sukhoi Su fighter jet assembly nt.


    ¡°Your Highness, it feels strange. We used to use old-fashioned weapons from Russia, but now we¡¯vee to the point of assembling thetest weapons ourselves. Isn¡¯t it evidence that Putin considers our country that important?¡±


    Not all of the Russian weapons supplied by the previous administration were bad, but it was still thrilling to have thetest weapons that Russia was using at the moment.


    This meant that Russia recognized Kazakhstan as an equal country, not looking down on it as a federal state like it used to.


    It was truly a moment triumphant for Kazakhstan.


    ¡°This also represents our economic power. If we were a country that relied only on raw material exports like before, we wouldn¡¯t have been treated the way we are now.¡±


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. I¡¯m so proud to be a Kazakh. Even though it¡¯s only an assembly nt, we can now make stealth fighters here.¡±


    Kasim, who looked emotional, repeatedly eximed.


    ¡°Are you that happy?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I know that our technology can¡¯t handle this. Russia has made a huge concession for us, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Kasim had been anxious inside because Russia could change its mind and dy technology transfer if it wanted to.


    ¡°Russia won¡¯t act recklessly because we are helping it buy the critical parts. Also, Russia can¡¯t do that even to keep doing joint ventures with us.¡±


    ¡°I see. Your Highness, with all due respect, I can¡¯t help but wonder where the royal family¡¯s moneyes from. I mean you¡¯ve been relentlessly investing in all sorts of projects.¡±


    Anyone would be curious about that.


    Although there were many royal businesses, it was not easy for even its most profitablepany to make billions of dors a year.


    None of the royalpanies that Kasim knew made that much money.


    ¡°There¡¯s a little bit of a legacy of the Serbian royal family left.¡±


    Since Youngho could not say anything about the slush funds taken from President Nazarbayev and Aliyev, he just disclosed the source of the money as a legacy of Serbia¡¯s royal family.


    Still, Kasim seemed to be skeptical, so he added a word.


    ¡°The profits from the royal family¡¯s business are also formidable. We also run some secret businesses that you don¡¯t know of.¡±


    One of the secret businesses was taking the former president¡¯s slush funds.


    ***


    As Russia¡¯s Armata tanks and Boeing¡¯s Apache helicopters were licensed, the Kazakh Army also decided to drastically change its arrangement.


    It decided to increase the number of mechanized brigades by two more and expand the Army¡¯s Air Force to the brigade¡¯s size.


    China¡¯s view of Kazakhstan¡¯s military reorganization was not favorable.


    The expansion of the mechanized division and the Army Air Force was based on the premise of an attack rather than a defense.


    The Chinese government seemed to have taken it as a preliminary step to free the entire Uyghur.


    It was continuously publishing articles about such spection about Kazakhstan¡¯s Army reorganization.


    Even a ridiculous spective article was published that Kazakhstan was aiming for the western part of China, which was nonsense.


    Jong-il, who was reading Chinese articles at Youngho¡¯s office,mented, ¡°I think China has enough ground for misunderstanding. It¡¯s a military reorganization right after your visit to Kashgar after all.¡±


    Kazakhstan continued to shake China¡¯s pride, and in a way, it could have been considered a provocation.


    ¡°Usually people who suspect others are the ones who have different thoughts behind people¡¯s backs. Publishing such an article encourages the Chinese people to antagonize Central Asia. It¡¯s a trick to divert the shaking public sentiment in our direction.¡±


    While talking, Youngho realized that there were many suspicious points.


    What would be the real reason that the Chinese government was mobilizing its state-run media to spread such rumors?


    Maybe it was building a cause. It could try to take over Kashgar or Tibet in the name of blocking Kazakhstan¡¯s provocations in advance.


    ¡°Jong-il. Have there been simr cases in Chinese media? Do you think we can find out what might the Chinese Communist Party be after by making such a noise through the media?¡±


    ¡°Err... I¡¯m not sure. I have no statistical data about that...¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to do with statistics. Just check out recent articles published in China thoroughly and try to find some patterns. There must be a huge scheme going on. This could be a groundwork to recapture Kashgar or Ngari Prefecture.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, that could be true. From now on, I¡¯ll have to recruit guys who majored in psychology in the Intelligence Department.¡±


    ***


    The Intelligence Service led by Jong-il found several cases shown in Chinese media that revealed the Chinese Communist Party¡¯s intentions.


    The approach to the Bhutan border issue and the sovereignty of the South China Sea inds coincided with the current situation.


    At the time of South Korea¡¯s deployment of the THAAD missile, the fierce tone of the Chinese media was a simr example.


    ¡°When China had a dispute with a foreign country, the tone in Chinese media in advance was simr to this one.¡±


    In other words, the Chinese government was using the same pattern for Kazakhstan¡¯s situation.


    If so, it meant that it would start its operation somewhere soon.


    The Bhutan border issue or the South China Sea inds were already in development, so Uyghur¡¯s Kashgar and Tibet¡¯s Ngari Prefecture would be the next target.


    China was hurt by the loss of two ces and its pride more than enough to ignore the U.S. arbitration and naturally think about recapturing the regions.


    Otherwise, people¡¯s support would hit rock bottom.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to inform the interim government of Kashgar to make sure it gets ready for any Chinese provocations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be great if we can find out how much time is left.¡±


    ¡°Figure out the movements of the Chinese military with satellites and release all the intelligence agents.¡±


    Even if Youngho was in the Chinese leader¡¯s position, he would be desperate to recapture Uyghur¡¯s Kashgar and Tibet¡¯s Ngari Prefecture regardless of the means.


    It was impossible to losend after being defeated by minority militias even though China had 2.3 million powerful troops.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we let the Indian government know?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the Indian government would believe it if we say we learned about Chinese mischief in advance through the Chinese media.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s the right thing to do to inform the Indian government first whether it believes or not...¡±


    The Indian government might think that it was a ridiculous story as there was no proof.


    Youngho hoped that China would not touch Kashgar at least, but if Ngari Prefecture, which hadid the foundation for Tibetan independence, was lost, it would be a disaster as well.


    However, it could also be a needless concern since it was still questionable whether China would deal with the burdensome Indian military.


    ¡°Ngari Prefecture is mostly useless, but Kashgar is goldennd where oil is produced, and wouldn¡¯t China try to target the easy Kashgar rather than Ngari Prefecture where the Indian Army is guarding?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible because the Chinese government doesn¡¯t know that the Royal Bodyguards are deployed in Kashgar.¡±


    There were a lot of worries, but it was also funny to worry about India when its power was not less than Kazakhstan.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got enough problems in our hands. The Indian government is in charge of Tibet, so it¡¯ll be up to the Indian government.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯ll still sneak a word to the Indian intelligence service.¡±


    Since the Indian government was a close ally, Park Jong-il could not let it slide.


    The information to be obtained from India was also formidable, so he had to let the Indian intelligence service know whether it believed it or not.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you to figure out. Just find out the movements of the Chinese Army first.¡±


    The Chinese troops on the Kashgar border were also two divisions, so it was too much to say that they would attack with that amount of troops alone.


    However, China would probably put in additional troops for forestalling.


    ¡°But should we help Tibet if China attacks it first?¡±


    Although the management of Ngari was left to the Indian government, Kazakhstan could not be free from the Tibetan issue, so it would be forced to intervene in any way.


    That was because if Ngari Prefecture copsed, China could focus its military on Kashgar.


    ¡°If India wants, we should intervene... for Kashgar, too.¡±


    The Kunlun Mountains were located between Kashgar and Ngari, so even if Ngari Prefecture went wrong, it was not a big threat, but it was not something to ignore either.


    If Ngari Prefecture was attacked, help should be provided to get help from Indiater.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t we do a joint operation with the Indian government at all?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy before Chinese attacks first.¡±


    If the two countries moved over something that might be happening, it would only provoke China.


    It would be best for each country to work alone for now.

 Chapter 768 - The Buffer Zone (1)

    <h4><strong>Chapter 768</strong>: The Buffer Zone (1)</h4>


    ¡°Your Highness. We¡¯ve decided to change our economic growth rate goal to 8.3 percent.¡±


    Youngho looked at Kasim, doubting his ears.


    Even for a developed country, having a 4 to 5 percent of growth rate would be surprising, and 8.3 percent was a tremendous rate.


    In the current era, onlymunist countries would show such a rate as they could fabricate the rate.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s growth rate goal this year was set at 7.5 percent, which was aiming for the stars, but the actual rate seemed to have gone up beyond that. It was an explosive rate of growth.


    ¡°Prime Minister, are you serious? Did we produce many products that were globally sold? If that¡¯s not the case, did we find a huge oil field or something?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case, but it¡¯s because the industrial products produced in Kazakhstan had been sold to our federal states and the Kashgar and Ngari regions.¡±


    Although Kazakhstan¡¯s were not of great quality, people had to use them forcibly as Chinese goods were cut off.


    It was also because Central Asian people¡¯s ie had increased.


    As people made more money, their consumer desires burst out.


    The domestic economy was skyrocketing when people bought all sorts of things they wanted and involved themselves in various civilized activities.


    It was good news, but such a high growth rate meant that the size of the economy was small.


    Advanced countries would not show this high growth rate.


    Anyhow, this was all possible because the domestic demand rose at an explosive rate and the export market was strong.


    This also meant that the government did not waste the national budget, which was admirable.


    ¡°The economy could¡¯ve been stabilized despite the armed struggle with China. This is all thanks to you Mr. Prime Minister and other ministers.¡±


    Kasim waved his hand as if he was embarrassed.


    ¡°No, Your Highness. We were able to reduce our defense budget and that allowed us to invest in the overall industry. It would¡¯ve been impossible if the royal family did not invest in the national defense.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I meant to praise you but I¡¯m beingplimented instead.¡±


    Youngho was embarrassed, but he was ttered.


    It was something to beplimented, but all was to establish the royal family¡¯s position.


    The royal family could only exist when Kazakhstan stood strong.


    ¡°What kind of a royal family would strengthen the country¡¯s defense with its own money? It¡¯s not only I, but all the people are deeply grateful for the royal family. Everything is all because of your selfless work. The economic growth rate represents it all.¡±


    Kasim¡¯s praise continued for a while.


    ¡°It was a great turning point of my life when I met you. I am indeed a lucky man.¡±


    As it continued, Youngho looked at him wondering what was going on.


    ¡°Oh, you put me on the clouds with yourpliments. It¡¯ll hurt if I fall from there.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯d like to suggest something. Why don¡¯t we recruit new cab members and prime minister?¡±


    This was shocking news.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I feel like it¡¯s been stagnant for too long. Please recruit young and capable talent to lead Kazakhstan.¡±


    Kasim had been a perfect leader of the Kazakh government without a w or corruption.


    Apart from his capabilities, it was someone whom Youngho trusted wholeheartedly, but he was saying that he would pass on his position to someone else.


    Youngho could not ept it.


    Kazakhstan was still in a transitional period. It needed a leader like Kasim who was trusted by the military as well.


    ¡°With all due respect, I cannot ept your suggestion. If you leave your post at a time when China is trying to find a way to push in, internal solidarity will copse. Give way to your juniors when the situation with China is settled.¡±


    Although Kasim was not a professional administrator, people continued to trust him as he led state affairs in a clean manner.


    It was not easy to have someone like him around.


    ¡°Your Highness, our current rtionship with China is bound to continue. It¡¯s time for me to leave and make room for others.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about that. We¡¯ll get it sorted out with China soon.¡±


    When Youngho assured him, Kasim tilted his head as if he did not understand him.


    There was no way to stop China¡¯s continuous attempt to dominate Central Asia unless the country was torn apart into pieces.


    ¡°Are you thinking about the whole Uyghur region?¡±


    ¡°Yes. There is no guarantee that the Kashgar autonomous region will be maintained. How long should we remain being insecure about it? I think now is the opportunity.¡±


    It was a dangerous n that could risk an all-out war.


    Kasim could not exhale after breathing in because he was shocked to hear about Youngho¡¯s n.


    Despite that, Youngho continued.


    ¡°If the whole Uyghur bes independent, Kazakhstan will be safe for generations as there will be a stable buffer zone, which must happen. Until that dayes, I¡¯d like you to lead Kazakhstan, Mr. Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°This could be escted into an all-out war. Would you still take the risk?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that we¡¯ll be on the frontline, so there won¡¯t be an all-out war with China. I¡¯m going to mobilize the Kashgar militias. There¡¯s not a problem.¡±


    ***


    Numerous military supplies were being secretly transported to Kashgar.


    Most of the weapons shipped this time were attack weapons rather than defensive weapons.


    All of the old-fashioned Russian weapons remaining in Kazakhstan¡¯s military were mobilized.


    Although not new, the tanks and armored vehicles were enough topete with the Chinese troops deployed in the Uyghur region in terms of firepower and mobility.


    At the same time in Kashgar, the recruitment of militias was taking ce extensively.


    People in their 17s to 40s were participating in the recruitment of militias, both male and female, with arge number of young women participating.


    Although the Muslim Uyghurs traditionally disapproved of women¡¯s advancement into society, the atmosphere in Kashgar was not so at all as all Uyghurs longed for independence.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think we¡¯re going to have 200,000 militias at this rate. It takes a lot of money to train and arm them all.¡±


    Kasim, who visited Youngho¡¯s office, was worried about preparing military supplies.


    ¡°It¡¯s an opportunity to get rid of aging military supplies that only consume maintenance costs.¡±


    There were still many old-fashioned Russian weapons left in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan as well as Kazakhstan.


    Such weapons were kept just in case, so Youngho was going to use them all up this time.


    The decision was made because Kazakhstan could now produce state-of-the-art weapons.


    ¡°We still have a long way to go before starting a full production of the new weapons. Although they¡¯re old-fashioned weapons, their performance is second to none.¡±


    ¡°How long are you going to keep them for? Now the federal forces must be re-armed with new weapons. Don¡¯t worry, the cost of rearmament will be covered by the royal family.¡±


    In fact, unlike Kazakhstan¡¯s military, the federal military was poorly armed.


    It was leaving the federal border unattended because the Kazakh military covered it all, but ultimately, all must be modernized.


    Kasim no longer insisted as Youngho promised to fund the rearmament from the royal family.


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed to rely on the royal family every time.¡±


    ¡°If you feel ufortable, I¡¯ll send you an invoiceter, so the government can pay us back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to pay you back if you¡¯d ept it as Uyghur¡¯s gold mine. I know there¡¯s quite a lot of gold mines there.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I¡¯m kidding. Besides, what kind of ally is it if you lend help with a bill?¡±


    ¡°Nothinges for free of charge. We¡¯ve helped Uyghurs¡¯ independence struggle.¡±


    It was, in fact, normal for a government to pay back if it was helped by another country in its struggle of independence.


    ¡°We¡¯re making enough profits when Uyghur bes a buffer zone against China.¡±


    ¡°Under Uyghur¡¯s circumstances, we¡¯ll have to take resources instead of money.¡±


    Kasim had made Uyghur¡¯s independence a fait apli and was writing a bill already.


    ¡°Then we¡¯re no different from China, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°All we have to do is keep the line that doesn¡¯t break the good rtionship. It¡¯s a very natural demand since we sacrificed our soldiers in Uyghur¡¯s independence struggle.¡±


    ¡°If the Uyghurs gain full independence, they won¡¯t even be able to afford to breathe in an arms race with China. We can¡¯t approach this too rationally since Uyghur will y a role in dealing with China instead of us. We¡¯ve got to remember Kazakhstan has more to gain from Uyghur¡¯s independence.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, just turn a blind eye to this matter. I¡¯ll have a detailed discussion with the people of the interim government of Kashgar. Maybe rather than blindly helping them, saying that we will bill themter can save their pride and ease their anxiety.¡±


    Kazakhstan was helping Uyghur because it was the same Central Asian nation, but this could be another seed of conflict as the Kazakh government could be seen as interfering in Uyghur¡¯s internal affairs even after independence.


    Rather, the im for the cost of independence could help the good-neighbor friendship between the two countries.


    No country would blindly help other countries.


    Of course, if one knew a bill would fly in the future, he would feel less burdened to ask for more help openly.


    ¡°Listening to your words, it¡¯s also about raising the pride of the Uyghurs. Anyway, unlike our government, they have to consider that the royal family is helping them with pure intentions.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... Of course. They need somewhere to lean on. The government will take the viin¡¯s role.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t ask too much from them since Putin might give a hand, too. We have to leave some for Russia in that case.¡±

 Chapter 769 - The Buffer Zone (2

    <h4>Chapter 769: The Buffer Zone (2)</h4>


    Even from Russia¡¯s point of view, Uyghur¡¯s full independence would be gaining a buffer zone against China. For this very reason, Russia was a stakeholder.


    Both Russia and China were socialist states, but as they were in apetitive rtionship over the supremacy of the region, they were bound to maintain a tense rtionship.


    There were times when they spoke in the same voice in the global society, but internally they defined each other as a potential enemy.


    The troops at each side of their border were its proof.


    Given such a circumstance, Russia would be d if Uyghur could be a buffer zone that was located at the western border with China.


    Even though Russia could not intervene directly, it could possibly provide military supplies to Uyghur.


    It was hard to ask for help from the U.S. as it was already upied with the trade war against China and it was the one that arbitrated a negotiation with China to give Kashgar and Ngari regions the status of an autonomous republic.


    Knowing Putin¡¯s mind so well, Youngho was not going to miss this opportunity.


    ¡°Mr. President, forgive me for not visiting you but calling you instead. I didn¡¯t want to draw too much attention.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that? It¡¯s between us. We can ignore the formality. Don¡¯t feel bad because I know very well that Your Highness is always busy.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for understanding. Then I¡¯ll get to the point right away. China¡¯s movement seems a bit concerning these days, so we¡¯ve been providing military supplies to Kashgar.¡±


    ¡°Is that true? We¡¯ve been watching China too, but we didn¡¯t find anything special.¡±


    ¡°This is what our intelligence service found out in secret.¡±


    ¡°Then, I guess Kazakhstan shouldn¡¯t be seen as directly helping Kashgar.¡±


    ¡°You are right. So, we¡¯ve been letting out our military supplies idling in our warehouse, but we don¡¯t have enough weapons left.¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. I guess we could lend a hand.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mr. President. That will be of great help.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. They¡¯ve been a nuisance anyway since they cost us a lot for maintenance.¡±


    Putin understood what Youngho meant immediately.


    All old weapons in Kazakhstan¡¯s warehouse were Russian so Putin knew that Youngho was asking for military supplies.


    Russia seemed to be suffering the same issue with Kazakhstan. There were not only one or two kinds of old weapons in the warehouse that had nowhere to go but cost too much for maintenance.


    Putin was d that they could be used to build a stronger rtionship with Kazakhstan and Kashgar.


    ¡°The interim government of Uyghur will also thank you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for opening a way for our country to participate, I promise that we will be a good ally of Uyghur as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear from you. I¡¯ll pass your word to the interim government.¡±


    ¡°Call me anytime if you need other things. I will support you to my best ability.¡±


    Putin made an offer that Youngho did not even expect. It was a natural response as Russia would be benefitted without directly involving in the issue.


    ***


    In the meantime, Youngho was spending a busy time checking Uyghur¡¯s situation, Fatima said she would visit Baku with the children.


    It was spring and flowers were in full bloom in Baku, and Fatima wanted to enjoy the warm weather after a boring winter.


    Although it was also spring in Kazakhstan, it was still cold.


    Since Youngho also wanted to refresh his mind too, he decided to go with his family.


    When the royal family visited, the whole city of Baku turned busy.


    People of Baku loved the royal family of Kazakhstan as it was the main reason that Azerbaijan could end a long dispute with Armenia and dictatorship.


    Also, after the revision of the constitution, the royal family was now involved in Azerbaijan¡¯s diplomacy and defense.


    It was all thanks to the Kazakh royal family that Azerbaijan established a ground for the end of the long dictatorship.


    Looking at the people on the streets weing the royal family and waving at them, Fatima opened her mouth in excitement.


    ¡°The people¡¯s faces are bright.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been stuck in a long, dark tunnel for a long time and now they¡¯re free. Of course, they are happy. As long as our royal family exists, there will be no more war. And the absence of the dictatorship gave them a sense of autonomy as well.¡±


    ¡°I am proud of you for easing their pain.¡±


    Youngho felt mixed emotions at Fatima¡¯s praise.


    He got himself involved in Azerbaijan¡¯s matter only because of Fatima¡¯s wish.


    She especially loved the city of Baku and always felt sorry for the people suffering from the territorial dispute with Armenia and the influence of dictatorship.


    ¡°It looks like you are happier than the residents of Baku.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I love it since we cane to Azerbaijan anytime we want now. I want to stay in Baku all year long, but I know that¡¯s not something feasible.¡±


    ¡°If the Queen loves one region, the federal citizens will be sad.¡±


    ¡°Baku is my first love. No matter how much I try to like Kazakhstan more, it just doesn¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you are suffering that much.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll go anywhere as long as you are there.¡±


    Youngho felt sorry and appreciative at the same time.


    He had been married to Fatima for a long time, but she was still lovely and thoughtful.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I gave you Baku.¡±


    If people of Azerbaijan heard it, they would be upset but he was in front of Fatima. He could say anything.


    ¡°Hohoho... I must be the only girl who could receive a gift of this huge size.¡±


    ***


    Secretary of the Interior Sevan visited the royal vi in Baku without a notice, which meant that there was something going on.


    ¡°Is there something going on?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s rude of me to visit you like this, but there¡¯s something... I don¡¯t know where to begin.¡±


    Youngho visited Baku to take a break, but it seemed that he would have to work.


    As Youngho frowned, Sevan felt more ufortable.


    ¡°Your Highness, we detected a movement of anti-government forces.¡±


    It was shocking news to hear since the royal family¡¯s approval rating was sky-high.


    ¡°Are they also against the royal family?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t exactly define them as an anti-royal family for now, but we are sure that they are against the current government.¡±


    It was unusual that Azerbaijan¡¯s new change was epted too smoothly, but it seemed there were also forces who refused constitutional monarchy.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you talk to the anti-government forces instead of forcefully holding them down? That will only be a temporary solution.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, most people wee and ept constitutional monarchy. In order to prevent this from recurring, I think we have to punish them. If we let this go half-heartedly, they¡¯ll continue to raise their voice against the current government and the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Are those the remnants of the former government?¡±


    ¡°No, they are hard-line nationalists. Some people are being stirred by their incitement.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not armed, are they?¡±


    ¡°If they were, I would have mobilized the police already and taken them down. So far, we¡¯ve only been monitoring them.¡±


    It was fortunate that they were not armed.


    ¡°Can I get in touch with them?¡±


    Since there was no armed struggle yet, Youngho wanted to meet and talk to them.


    It was important to first learn what they were after by overthrowing the current government.


    ¡°We have suspects, but we haven¡¯t figured out who their leader is yet.¡±


    This meant that the leader of the anti-government forces was not openly active but secretly moving. Youngho wondered how Sevan found out about this.


    ¡°Minister, are the secret police still active?¡±


    Sevan flinched at Youngho¡¯s question.


    Sevan¡¯s reaction showed that the secret police organization was still being maintained.


    Azerbaijan¡¯s secret police was notorious for punishing the people for making innocent crimes.


    The secret police was an organization created to catch spies because of a dispute with Armenia but had been disbanded since the peace treaty was signed, at least Youngho thought it was, as the huge police organization was said to be reduced.


    ¡°It was a chaotic time when the constitutional monarchy was adopted, so I was going to take time to overhaul the organization rather than dismantle it right away. Fortunately, we were able to find out about the anti-government forces because we kept the secret police organization.¡±


    Saying so many excuses, Sevan did not seem like he would disband the secret police.


    ¡°I know you will take care of it, but you have to know that ignoring the eyes of the people will bring a disaster.¡±


    Since he was the head of a police organization with no particr checks, his desire to keep his power by running a secret police organization was understandable, but Youngho had to make sure that Sevan would not go overboard.


    ¡°Your Highness, I will never have such an unfaithful heart, but I¡¯m only keeping it for the meantime because I can¡¯t allow any forces that challenge the authority of the royal family.¡±


    Sevan denied it hard, but Youngho could tell that he wanted to be in power and authority.


    Since it would not be helpful for the royal family if he was left with power, Youngho drew the line.


    ¡°I understand your loyalty, but please abandon the idea of solving problems using coercive methods. That can really shake the public sentiment.¡±


    It was certain that Sevan wanted to punish anti-government forces using authoritative power like he used to. This also would give him a cause to maintain the secret police.


    However, such a coercive method could be a seed to a civil war in the future, so Youngho emphasized to use a more moderate way to Sevan, who was sweating in front of him even though the interior temperature was not even warm.


    ¡°Very well. Please find out about the leader of the anti-government forces. I am going to resolve this matter through conversations, so please treat him well. We will be able to reach a midpoint as we talk.¡±

 Chapter 770 - For Each One’s Own Interest (1)

    <h4>Chapter 770: For Each One¡¯s Own Interest (1)</h4>


    Less than a few days after Youngho asked Sevan, the Secretary of Interior of Azerbaijan, to find the head of the anti-government forces advocating nationalism, the police arrested the leaders of the organization. They were treated well and politely because Youngho wanted to persuade them through dialogue.


    When the Duke of Kazakhstan said he wanted to talk to the nationalists, they responded positively.


    As Youngho entered the conference room of the royal vi, the nationalists who sat down stood up in unison to pay respect.


    He was relieved since they did not seem to deny the royal family despite their denial of the current government.


    They also did not seem to have been intimidated by the police or Youngho, despite being in custody for denying the system chosen by the people.


    Their confidence drew Youngho in and he was eager to talk to them and find out their reasoning.


    After sitting down at his seat, Youngho spoke in a gentle manner.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard your arguments through the Secretary of Interior. I hear you are gathered because you deny the current system. Do you think constitutional monarchy undermines the identity of the Azerbaijani people?¡±


    When Youngho cut short and went straight to the point, the nationalist leaders flinched for a short moment.


    He continued knowing they would not be able to answer easily.


    ¡°It¡¯s a system that most people have chosen. Don¡¯t you think they have considered it enough just like you have? I believe that they chose it because the existing system had no progress. Do you want to ignore those who voted for the constitutional monarchy and make Azerbaijan your own country? The principle of democracy is to follow the decisions of the majority. That doesn¡¯t mean that we will ignore the voice of the minority. That¡¯s why I¡¯m talking to you today. I hope you will speak out. I promise whatever remarks you make today won¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    Encouraged by Youngho¡¯s words, the parties then began to speak carefully.


    ¡°Thank you very much for your consideration, Your Highness. My name is Nizami Zapparov, the leader of this organization. As you know, it is true that we are denying the current system. That¡¯s because the adoption of a constitutional monarchy has dampened the hopes of Azerbaijani people living in neighboring countries.¡±


    Youngho knew that the number of Azerbaijani people living scattered in Turkey and Iran was much higher than the poption of the ones living in their home country.


    It was both absurd and dumbfounding to hear that the constitutional monarchy turned down their hopes.


    So, he raised his hand and cut off Zapparov¡¯s words.


    ¡°Then what do you think? Do you think this system, chosen by the majority of the people, is wrong?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. We generally wee the constitutional monarchy that brought peace and ended dictatorship. But I think it¡¯s a little bit too much to decide on the future of Azerbaijan just by the will of the people living in the country.¡±


    ¡°Then it sounds like you¡¯re saying that the opinions of expatriates are more important than those who live in your home country. I wonder what they did for Azerbaijan. And after Azerbaijan gained independence from the Soviet Union, did they help in the conflict with Armenia? If they did anything for Azerbaijan, of course, we should reflect their opinions.¡±


    ¡°Of course, expatriates didn¡¯t provide material assistance for their home country. But that didn¡¯t mean that their minds left their home country. They¡¯ve been looking forward to their country¡¯s well-being better than anyone else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t understand where they stand, but does the current system harm their families? Or we stop expatriates from moving into the country? I don¡¯t understand why the current system turned down their hope. I¡¯m not saying we should ignore the opinions of our countrymen living abroad, but I wonder why you thought so. I can¡¯t help but doubt you have a different purpose.¡±


    Everyone was silent at Youngho¡¯s words.


    ¡°In addition, our royal family has devoted all its energy to restoring national identity, epassing many ethnic groups in Kazakhstan. I want to tell you that no ethnic group has been disadvantaged since then.¡±


    Azerbaijanis living abroad might have feared that Azerbaijan would one day disappear if the constitutional monarchy continued.


    They must be concerned because they did not know the true nature of the Kazakh royal family yet.


    It seemed those Azerbaijani overseas incited and funded the nationalists in the homnd to try to withdraw the country from the federal kingdom.


    It would be clear if the police looked into people who were funding from abroad.


    Further conversation revealed that some people from abroad encouraged them, rather than being inspired by nationalism.


    On that day, Youngho treated them well.


    It was because they were also one of the people struggling for Azerbaijan.


    ***


    Youngho called in Park Jong-il to Baku.


    There were forces that had been weighed down by the Aliyev regime until now but were slowly raising their heads now, so they had to be dealt with in some way.


    This was because a small hole could bring down a riverbank.


    The overseas supporter of the anti-government forces could be someone who defected abroad during the previous administration, or they could have been the remnants of Aliyev¡¯s regime.


    Even if they were true patriots, they could act as a variable that would shake Azerbaijan, which was now in a period of stability, so for the country¡¯s well-being, they must not be allowed to intervene in domestic politics.


    Park Jong-il came to Baku as soon as possible and began to unravel what he had investigated.


    ¡°There are plenty of forces that have been holding their breaths. It¡¯s just that they can¡¯te to the front because people¡¯s support for the royal family is hitting the sky.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying they¡¯re not followers of Aliyev.¡±


    It would have been troublesome if they were followers of Aliyev, so it was a relief that they were not.


    There were still a number of former regime¡¯s figures in Azerbaijan¡¯s political circles.


    Even the person who was nominated as the prime minister was also from the former government.


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to feel relieved. Anti-government figures living in foreign countries are more troublesome. How long would you have waited for this day if they have escaped the country to seek asylum abroad to avoid Aliyev?¡±


    That was true.


    It was an opportunity to build up power as much as possible in the current political environment.


    After the copse of the Aliyev regime, they could use it as an opportunity as party political activities were allowed now.


    It was an environment in which a person who was pushed out in the middle of the struggle for democratization could be reborn as a big force if he or she had financial power.


    ¡°Whew, it¡¯s like we¡¯ve given them wings¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. No one in Baku has a good opinion of Azerbaijani politicians. You know why they supported the royal family.¡±


    It was the Caucasus and Central Asia that had no proper leaders because they gained independence from the Soviet Union without any preparation.


    That was why people who worked as chief secretaries of the Communist Party were able to take control of the regime.


    With a poor support base, they were forced to use coercive measures, which were so corrupt and ipetent that they were said to be inferior to those of the Soviet Union.


    People were disgusted by such politicians because they did everything to maintain their regime.


    ¡°Then they¡¯d be willing to do anything to strengthen their positions. There¡¯s going to be a lot of rumors about the royal family going around trying to discredit it.¡±


    It was the beginning of spring in the political movements in Baku.


    The nationalist organization was only the tip of the iceberg.


    ¡°The recent anti-government nationalist forces must be on the good side of the roadpared to other groups. When the general election starts soon, all kinds of pork-barrel policies will pour out. It should be taken for granted that they¡¯ll undermine the royal family.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s head was throbbing to think that it would be apletely different game than what happened in Kazakhstan, where it took a military coup to overturn the existing regime.


    If it were a military coup, it would have been possible to form a transitional government, but Aliyev suddenly fled the country, which ruined everything.


    When Youngho was struggling, Park Jong-il opened his mouth again


    ¡°I think it¡¯s rather fortunate that Sevan kept the secret police without disbanding it. I think there will be a breakthrough if we make effective use of the police organization.¡±


    ¡°What? We don¡¯t want to act like Aliyev.¡±


    Youngho did not want to mobilize the secret police because he knew what it was so well.


    COMMENT


    However, Park Jong-il wanted to use the secret police just like Sevan did.


    ¡°Whatever the method is, if it¡¯s for Baku¡¯s well-being, we should make use of it. Why don¡¯t wee up with a control device instead?¡±


    It was easy to say, but the police organization was bound to gain power especially when the royal family empowered it.


    ¡°Phew! Do we really have to?¡±


    ¡°What else can we do? It¡¯s a mountain that we have to conquer. We haven¡¯t gone through it yet, so let¡¯s get this over with now. Let¡¯s take this opportunity and shake it off.¡±


    There was no choice but to hold a general election, and after opening the lid, the confusion was as clear as fire.


    The support base for the royal family was thick, but the people would be shaken by politicians¡¯ deceitful tongues.


    ¡°The democratization craze is not always good.¡±


    ¡°I told you not to worry. Even if a new political force gains ground, it¡¯s all the same. Do you think they can get public support like our royal family? There¡¯s no way.¡±


    Youngho did not know why Jong-il was so confident, but he was indeed reassuring.

 Chapter 771 - For Each One’s Own Interest (2)

    <h4>Chapter 771: For Each One¡¯s Own Interest (2)</h4>


    While being worried, Sevan was hustling around as he was given permission to mobilize the secret police.


    It was natural because he was the Secretary of Interior who was the final decision maker above the Commissioner-General.


    ¡°See? He¡¯s given justification and now he¡¯s running wild.¡±


    Youngho wanted to summon and warn Sevan directly, but he was waiting because he did not want the royal family to be rumored as interfering with Azerbaijan¡¯s domestic affairs too much.


    Park Jong-il denied Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°He¡¯s doing fine so far. What are you worried about? His force is intimidating, but it¡¯s not exerting any physical restrictions on politicians. I think Sevan is ying it smart. Who will resist when the police are just following politicians around to watch for illegal campaign activities? It¡¯s not like their activities are interrupted.¡±


    Sevan was subtly disturbing anti-government politicians¡¯ activities to deal with anti-government forces.


    The police inspected all politicians regardless of their political parties under the pretext of preventing rigged election.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s too obviously supporting the politicians who support the royal family and the current regime. Don¡¯t you think the other politicians will notice that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the royal family that has power. If they support us, don¡¯t you think we should return their favor? There¡¯s nothing wrong with helping them a little bit. Should we do some intelligence maneuvering, too?¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. If people find out that the royal family intervened in the domestic political circle, we¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±


    Although Youngho did not approve, Park Jong-il insisted.


    ¡°Azerbaijan is in a transitional period where true democracy is just taking ce. We need to stabilize the political situation first. I¡¯ll be responsible for it and talk to Sevan. Even if there¡¯s a problem in the future, I¡¯ll make sure that the royal family will stay out of it. The advance of the politicians in the opposing party is too outstanding.¡±


    Park Jong-il insisted that Azerbaijan could not be left in the hands of the politicians who were opposed to the royal family as the country¡¯s economy was just being stabilized after the end of long dictatorship.


    ¡°What do you mean? Are you going to distribute political funds or something?¡±


    ¡°If necessary, we can support politicians with clean images active in ces where opposing politicians are gaining poprity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not positive, but it¡¯s better than seeing the opposing party rise to power.¡±


    ¡°All right! I¡¯ll call Sevan immediately. He should have a good idea about who to support already.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give him too much power.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not saying this because he is my inw, but he¡¯s not an ambitious person.¡±


    ¡°I know I¡¯m getting ahead of myself, but there will be people around who want to gain something from him. If they make a hero of him, he can have a second thought. We need to be extra careful since he¡¯s tasted authority and power.¡±


    ¡°I will make sure to warn him enough.¡±


    Park Jong-il knew exactly what Youngho meant.


    Sevan became the Commissioner-General due to Youngho and Aliyev¡¯s secret rtionship, and now he was the Secretary of Interior.


    He was now rumored to be a trusted person of the royal family, so no one treated him badly.


    He was one of the people who gained the most power when Azerbaijan became a federal state of the Federal Kazakh Kingdom.


    ¡°Look around Sevan, too. There should be ambitious schemers who want a piece of his power. Even if Sevan is wless, he could get into a scandal because of those people.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what if we make him run in the general election? It¡¯ll be great if we make him the head of the forces that support our royal family. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? What if he bes greedy?¡±


    ¡°What can a head of a political party achieve more than the Chairman of the National Assembly? It¡¯s better than letting him be the Prime Minister.¡±


    Park Jong-il suggested making a political party to represent the royal family and let Sevan be in charge of it.


    If he became a politician, there would be much more he could do to help the royal family.


    When asked to enter the political arena, Sevan could not be happier.


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t know if I can represent the royal family properly and lead a political party since I don¡¯t have any political experience.¡±


    Youngho smirked inside as Sevan was worried about the future rather than rejecting the offer.


    It seemed he secretly wanted to be a politician as many were joining the political arena in Azerbaijan, but if the royal family supported him, it was highly likely that he would be elected.


    ¡°Minister Sevan, you are the only one that our royal family can trust.¡±


    Youngho asked genuinely and Jong-il also added words, ¡°Brother, His Highness made this decision after a long deliberation. If you ept our offer, I will also support you from behind in secret.¡±


    ¡°Hey, brother. I can work for the government, but I¡¯m not confident about politics, to be honest. It¡¯s not an easy job to lead a political party, and I¡¯m afraid that I might cause trouble for the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Minister Sevan, please don¡¯t worry about other things and gather political figures who are amicable to the royal family. We don¡¯t want just anyone but people with rtively a clean past and image.¡±


    Sevan¡¯s face brightened as Youngho said not to worry about other things.


    He was certain that the royal family would release enormous funds.


    ¡°How can they be good at the affairs of the state? They don¡¯t even have organizations and a lot of experience.¡±


    His opinion had a point, but the current Azerbaijan needed politicians with clean images because they would be used to check those who were opposed to the government policy.


    ¡°Brother, even if they don¡¯t have organizational power and political capabilities, we can make them to be elected. We only need clean people who will run for election in the regions where the opposing party is dominant.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Sevan looked back at Jong-il.


    ¡°When the regions to run for office are decided, we will announce development ns for relevant regions to raise residents¡¯ approval rating.¡±


    At Park Jong-il¡¯s words, Sevan got excited as he pped his knee.


    ¡°Oh! If you could do that, we will definitely have a chance of winning¡±


    Since development only took ce in big cities after independence, many areas were still underdeveloped and reminded of the ¡¯70s in South Korea.


    ¡°So, please make a political party no matter what. This is a good opportunity for you.¡±


    Sevan was relieved to hear Park Jong-il¡¯s reassurance.


    There was nothing he should fear if the support of the Kazakh royal family and intelligence service was behind him.


    ¡°I am grateful that Your Highness has been helping me so far, but now that you have given me the opportunity to work for the royal family, I will do my best until I fully serve my purpose.¡±


    ¡°Minister, where do you want to run for office?¡±


    ¡°What? I haven¡¯t even gathered the party members yet, but it¡¯s kind of hard to mention where I¡¯m going to run...¡±


    ¡°You have to preupy the region in order to get people¡¯s attention. Please tell me if you have any area in mind. If you¡¯ve already decided, you have to move fast.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to choose the western Baku, where Siberian Ranch which is a royal territory is located? It also doesn¡¯t make sense if someone else would run for an election where the royal courtyard is located.¡±


    If someone ran for office in an area with a royal territory, he could win the election without putting much effort.


    People in the western Baku area had been receiving many benefits from the royal family, so they were very fond of the royal family.


    It was an area that any pro-government political figure would covet.


    ¡°Brother, this is where anyone can be elected, but someone as important as you should go where the big shots of the opposition camp run.¡±


    Park Jong-il stopped Sevan.


    ¡°What if I lose by doing so? How can I be the head of the party?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no rule that says you can¡¯t be the head of a political party if you are not a member of the National Assembly. You should let someone with little recognition run here andpete with a big figure in the opposing party.¡±


    Sevan looked troubled at Jong-il¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°Hahaha... Minister, don¡¯t worry too much because I¡¯ll make sure you get elected wherever you run. Which region will turn you down when they know we are behind you?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... If your Highness says so, I¡¯ll jump into enemy¡¯s territory.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Now. Let¡¯s talk about the practical stuff. I was thinking about leaving three floors of a building under royal assets in Baku empty. Will that be enough for the party¡¯s office?¡±


    From now on, it was time to discuss preparations for the founding of the party.


    A political party would not be made in a day, so they would have to work day and night to prepare for the uing general elections in four months.


    ¡°If the party office is too fancy and grand, would the people look at it with a good view?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t people know that the royal family is behind you? It¡¯s not legally a problem for the royal family to help a healthy political force. What are you worried about? I¡¯m thinking of funding the opposition party too.¡±


    In order for politics to be bnced, sound opposition parties must also be fostered.


    If necessary, Youngho was nning to provide political funds to the opposing politicians as well.


    That way, the royal family would not be caught up in disputester on.


    ¡°Your Highness, may I mention the royal family when recruiting talent?¡±


    ¡°You can, but do it in a moderate way. If you advertise that the royal family is behind it too much, you could be bombarded by opposition parties. Just be careful about that.¡±


    ¡°I understand. With this level of support, I¡¯m confident that I can win the general election against any other party.¡±


    ¡°If our party members can take more than half of the total seats, that¡¯ll be sufficient. If you win by an overwhelming number of votes, you¡¯d be told it¡¯s a rigged election.¡±

 Chapter 772 - For Each One’s Own Interest (3)

    <h4>Chapter 772:</h4>


    <h4>For Each One¡¯s Own Interest (3)</h4>


    Baku was rattled by the announcement that the royal family would provide political funds to all political forces.


    The royal family¡¯s provision of political funds was taken as a sign that it would block the inflow of illegal political funds.


    It was a stern warning to those who support illegal political activities.


    Since this was a fair action for every political party, people were fond of this decision.


    Some nationalist political forces who were against the royal family rejected the political funds provided by the royal family, but they were under heavy public criticism.


    Refusing to ept campaign funds provided by the royal family was seen as a sign that they did not recognize the existence of the royal family.


    There was another reason why the people were fed up with nationalism.


    This was because even during the Aliyev administration, the people were disgusted by the practice of advocating nationalism without any clear policies.


    As a result, the conflict with Armenia led to the death or injury of countless people, and the economy was devastated by the massive spending on national defense to prepare for war.


    Fortunately, Azerbaijan could get out of the foreign exchange crisis because of the support of the Kazakh royal family.


    Other opposition parties were equally disorganizedpared to the ruling party¡¯s strides.


    And while the ruling and opposition parties had no political experience, opposition figures, in particr, failed toe up with useful development pledges or policy pledges.


    It was the result of a long dictatorship.


    Aliyev left no soil for talent to grow due to the suppression of opposition parties under the dictatorship.


    Even if they presented good pledges, people had no choice but to focus on the ruling party, which was the only one capable of keeping their promises.


    Sevan resigned as the Interior Minister and embarked on the process of creating a new party as an interim leader.


    He was very excited about this encouraging news.


    ¡°Your Highness, at this rate, we won¡¯t even have to have an election. I was scared for nothing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too early to say that. Don¡¯t let your guard down until the end. There¡¯s still a lot of time left, so we don¡¯t know what kind of variables might ur.¡±


    ¡°But I think it¡¯s like we¡¯ve already won. It seems that the opposition parties have lost momentum because the royal family is providing political funding.¡±


    ¡°Even if we don¡¯t have anyone special to watch, the exile figures who will return soon will be different. They have both financial and organizational capabilities, so we can be counterattacked.¡±


    Sevan seemed a little nervous at this point, but he was still full of confidence.


    ¡°Your Highness, not all exiles are clean people. They¡¯re mostly criminals.¡±


    ¡°Was the ruling made during the dictatorship fair? I doubt how many people would believe it, and if you push that, you could lose people¡¯s approval, too. It¡¯s better to win with policy and developmentmitments.¡±


    He was a former police chief and knew all kinds of information, but that would not be helpful in this election.


    If something went wrong, the royal family could be damaged too.


    It would be like the royal family supported a rotten politician, and the aftermath was bound to be enormous.


    This was the weakness of Sevan.


    Although he was known as a clean man from the former regime, he had a weakness ofing from the notorious Azerbaijan police organization.


    He had a long history of serving as a servant of the former administration, so it would be a headache if the opposition parties attacked from that side.


    Youngho had no choice but to choose Sevan, so they had to be extra careful in taking every step.


    Sevan, who was well aware of Youngho¡¯s concerns, was also deep in thought.


    ¡°Your Highness, I am afraid that I will cause trouble to the royal family.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long time ago. I know you didn¡¯t have anything that will be a major problem, so don¡¯t be too depressed. And there¡¯s nothing to worry about. You did many things to prevent human rights vitions while serving as the Secretary of Interior.¡±


    Youngho said it as if he wanted to reassure himself.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we assign someone else to be the head of our party?


    ¡°There¡¯s no one who ispletely innocent. The royal family will block the mess, so let¡¯s make sure we don¡¯t make any more mistakes.¡±


    If this would cause a w to Sevan¡¯s career, Youngho was going to say that he was a Kazakh royal family¡¯s man nted in the Aliyev regime.


    In fact, Youngho and Pak Jong-il had a close rtionship with him since the early days of living in Baku, and Sevan was Park Jong-il¡¯s rtive through his wife, so there was enough justification.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a disgrace to the royal family. I think it¡¯s better to put down the party leader¡¯s position in advance.¡±


    Youngho thought Sevan would be greedy, but he acted unexpectedly innocent.


    Surprised by Sevan, Youngho stopped him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t jump to conclusions yet, and let¡¯s watch the trend first. I think we can handle it if the royal familyes forward. There¡¯s no one as important as you are, Minister Sevan.¡±


    As if Youngho¡¯s persuasion worked, Sevan did not insist anymore.


    ¡°I guess I shouldn¡¯t have jumped into politics. It would have been better to help the royal family while keeping my minister post.¡±


    ¡°When the new parliamentes in, people will have no confidence in the current cab. It could¡¯ve been a better choice to quit now than to be pulled down in the future.¡±


    ¡°I will do my best not to cause trouble for you. I will surely win the election and repay the grace of the royal family.¡±


    Youngho was pleased to see Sevan bing more strong-hearted.


    If one was in politics, one should be this determined anyway.


    Although he was extremely busy, Youngho made time to visit Kazakhstan because there was a lot to deal with there.


    In the meantime, Azerbaijan¡¯s electoral atmosphere had reached its peak.


    He expected that all kinds of false rumors and absurd rosy pledges seemed to be rampant, but the process was rather proceeding calmly and fairly.


    Among them, there was a ce where opposition candidates were far better, but it was only a typhoon in a teacup.


    Most of the weighty candidates were those who returned from exile during the Aliyev regime.


    They were active in small and medium-sized cities, and the public¡¯s view of them was also very favorable.


    However, it was not enough to target the supporters of the ruling party candidates, who promised various development ns with the royal family on their backs.


    The exiled politicians should have targeted metropolitan areas, but they made a mistake.


    They could not beat the ruling camp that promised to make progress in developing underdeveloped areas.


    They appealed to the people, using nationalism as there was not much progress but failed to win the favor of the residents.


    It was a repertoire people had heard so much since independence from the Soviet Union, and they knew better than anyone that it would be expressed as the war against Armenia in the end.


    ¡°This is going to bring down the oppositionpletely. That would never be good for the royal family either.¡±


    Park Jong-il frowned as he was worried about the current situation.


    If the ruling party won andslide victory, a political group without checks was bound to be arrogant, and it was hard to control when arge group fell into collective selfishness.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve overdone makingmitments. How are you going to handle it all?¡±


    In the case of less-known candidates, they were making excessive pledges, believing in the wealth of the royal family.


    They were not even the development ns coordinated with the royal family in advance.


    Although they were clean candidates, some of them turned out to be more ambitious than expected.


    It was the result of poor verification due to the busy recruitment of candidates.


    ¡°So, I would like to exclude candidates who promise outrageous development pledges. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be very helpful even if they are elected.¡±


    ¡°Then the party leader¡¯s position would be shaken...¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a big problem because it¡¯s just to rm other candidates.¡±


    ¡°And there¡¯s another problem, and there¡¯s someone I¡¯d like to keep an eye on who came back to Azerbaijan this time.¡±


    After taking a sip of coffee and taking a break, Park Jong-il brought up a surprising story.


    ¡°It¡¯s a man named Mohasses, who¡¯s back from Iran, and from what our agents have figured out, he seems to be getting support from the Iranian government.¡±


    Youngho was dumbfounded.


    Why would the Iranian government support an opposition figure?


    ¡°Why Iran? It¡¯s been engaged in economic cooperation with us, and there¡¯s no problem.¡±


    Youngho asked back, but he could roughly guess the reason.


    It was one of the countries that was concerned about the rise of the Federal Kazakh Kingdom.


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious. What could it be? Iran is trying to keep us in check because even Azerbaijan became our federal state.¡±


    The Iranian government must be hoping for the opposition party to win andslide victory and loosen Azerbaijan¡¯s rtions with the Kazakh royal family.


    On the other hand, it could be intended to divert attention from the Azerbaijani people living in northwestern Iran.


    There were 12 million Azerbaijanis living in northern Iran, which was more than the people living in the maind.


    They were secretly pushing for independence from Iran.


    Under these circumstances, the Iranian government was worried that the Kazakh royal family might demand the northern part of Iran.


    ¡°But something doesn¡¯t add up. It¡¯s a little strange that someone who should lead the independence of the Azerbaijanis living in northern Iran has a secret rtionship with the Iranian government.¡±


    ¡°The people there don¡¯t have a strong will for independence. They should be considered Iranians.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s more usible to say that he¡¯s being supported by pro-Iranian Azerbaijanis who live in Iran.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because there are Azerbaijanis in the key posts of the Iranian government. I checked the source of the funds, and it¡¯s from Tehran.¡±


    Azerbaijanis living in Tehran alone ounted for 30 percent of the poption.


    It was the root of the anti-government forces.


    When Youngho heard the story, he could piece things together.


    The Iranian government must be afraid as the power of the Kazakh royal family grew bigger.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll have to break the chain.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°You should go to Iran. Tell them our royal family is not interested in the future of the Azerbaijani people living in Iran.¡±


    Central Asia and the Caucasus were where many ethnic groups lived together.


    This ce would not be peaceful if they all wanted a county for themselves and independence.


    If they had lived so far, they could live there as their hometown since they could not turn history back now.

 Chapter 773 - For Each One’s Own Interest (4)

    <h4>Chapter 773: For Each One¡¯s Own Interest (4)</h4>


    Azerbaijan¡¯s political circles were noisy with election fever, but the economy was doing as well as a sailboat of a fair wind.


    This was because crude oil and gas were beingmercially produced in a newly discovered oil field near Baku, which doubled the volume of exports than before.


    Recent oil prices had been rising little by little, so the country was making great profits.


    Since the money earned from oil and gas was not wasted in the wrong ces, but most of it was used only for economic development, the domestic economy improved as well.


    Various factories had been built to produce daily necessities that used to depend solely on imports, and the national infrastructure had begun to be overhauled. For example, unpaved roads that turned muddy when it rained or snowed were paved, and winding and narrow roads were straightened and widened.


    And as bridges were being built in various ces, traveling distances between small viges were shortened.


    Electricity was returned to isted remote mountain viges as well.


    Social welfare expanded as unnecessary spending disappeared, and everyone praised the incumbent administration¡¯s policies that supported the development of national infrastructures such as roads and electricity.


    It was the result of the new administration after a long dictatorship.


    Thanks to this, only candidates on the ruling party¡¯s side were benefiting.


    The government was already working on long-cherished projects for the people before the candidates evenmitted to regional development with election pledges.


    In addition, the ruling party¡¯s candidates, who had one or two big development projects in their back pockets, were stepping up their pledges if they felt they were losing ground.


    The results of the election were so obvious that Youngho did not have to pay much attention to the general election.


    Unless there were any special variables, the ruling party¡¯sndslide victory was natural.


    And the Iranian government¡¯s anxiety over the Kazakh royal family¡¯s federal policy was all resolved by Park Jong-il¡¯s visit to Iran as a royal envoy.


    The Azerbaijani people living in northern Iran were interacting with their home country through the border without any inconvenience, and they did not want an unnecessary bloody conflict for independence.


    In fact, those who imed independence and instigated locals were exiles who had left Azerbaijan and settled in Iran.


    Of course, the Iranian government was partly involved in fear of the advance of the Kazakh royal family, but it was up to a level that could be overlooked.


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯re real nationalists? They are so blinded by power that they even take advantage of theirpatriots.¡±


    It was Sevan who came to see Youngho. He was upset to hear about the exiles. He continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that most exiled politicians are criminals? They vited domesticw and fled the country. Even when they were here, they instigated the people and left when they were at a disadvantage. They left for Iran and Turkey, and now they¡¯re only pretending to be great nationalists because we are now democratized. We should immediately arrest them as criminals in the act, who tried to overthrow the country.¡±


    ¡°Minister, please calm down. Director Park went to Iran to learn more about it. We can use them properly in the election and drop themter. It¡¯ll be better for the future to defeat them by votes rather than byw.¡±


    There was no need to get blood on their hands during the campaign period.


    It was a problem of the politicians who wanted to pursue their own sess taking advantage of their supporters, but it was also a problem for the Azerbaijani overseas who wanted to control the country¡¯s affairs.


    If the ruling party won the election, who would dare to dispute it?


    The most desirable way was to win by election to keep unnecessary rumors out.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s kids loved it as his family stayed in Baku for the long term.


    By now, it was time for sand dust to rise in Kazakhstan due to the influence of the westerlies blowing from the Caspian Sea.


    The dry Atyrau area always suffered from it in spring.


    Although trees had long been nted and cultivated in and around the royal territory, they had not been a fundamental solution.


    It was not until summer when the field crops grew that such a problem could be somewhat relieved.


    The children, who came to Baku¡¯s royal vi from such a ce, were happily enjoying the peaceful weather.


    Leon was still young, but Jelyan and Rena, who were already in their mid-teens, had been poking around downtown Baku like children every day.


    Although they had to pretend to be calm in Kazakhstan, Baku was a tourist destination and not many people recognized them, so they were more excited.


    It was worth it because it was a ce full of things to stimte the girls¡¯ curiosity.


    Fatima, who was looking at the whispering children who were already thinking about going somewhere in the morning, smiled and opened her mouth.


    ¡°They must be thinking about where else to go.¡±


    ¡°How can you allow that? Tell them that they must study in the morning if they want to stay in Baku, or I¡¯ll bring a tutor to the vi.¡±


    They were at the age where they needed to study hard, but they had been enjoying their break because they were in Baku, so Youngho was thinking of getting a tutor.


    ¡°Oh my! Honey, please. Please let them go free for a while. Do you know how hard it is to be a princess? Think of Zeynep. How frustrated she was with her royal life.¡±


    The status of a princess was an intolerable constraint on an active teenager.


    For the children who had been living somewhere like no less than a prison without bars, Baku was a heavenly ce.


    In Kazakhstan, they were followed by bodyguards anywhere they went.


    They had bodyguards here as well, but not many people recognized the princesses, so they could go to public ces such as movie theaters and cafes with friends like children of their age.


    ¡°Is Baku that good? They¡¯repletely distracted when theye to Baku.¡±


    ¡°Just know that it¡¯s good for me as well as for the kids.¡±


    He also said, ¡°I like Baku, but what more words do I need?¡±


    There was nothing to say about Fatima¡¯s counterargument, so he said the wrong thing.


    ¡°Whew, then I must defend Baku no matter what.¡±


    Fatima, who did not understand Youngho¡¯s words, blinked her eyes and sat close to him.


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Fast-witted Fatima sensed something wrong and asked back.


    She had a tendency to stick to her question until the end, so he was forced to talk about the election atmosphere these days.


    ¡°Oh, my word. Are there still people like that? Then, are people who have protected the country in suffering so far fools? They should know why people chose to be a constitutional monarchy in the first ce. I hope the ruling party is not at a disadvantage, is it?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, would I have had time to sit around and chat with you like this? There was a little problem early in the campaign, but it¡¯s all taken care of. You don¡¯t need to be worried.¡±


    Youngho calmed Fatima down quickly, but she came up with a shocking idea.


    ¡°I have to do something¡­ I can¡¯t let the blood wind blow again in this beautiful city of Baku. If anyone¡¯s going to throw Baku into confusion, I¡¯d better step up and stop him.¡±


    ¡°When did the blood wind blow in Baku?¡±


    ¡°The nationalists can use the conflict with Armenia again to stay in power. If we provoke Armenia, it¡¯s a war again, so that¡¯s going to be another bloodshed, and you¡¯ve brought peace and ended dictatorship in Azerbaijan, but what are they trying to achieve by pursuing nationalism?¡±


    ¡°Some people advocate nationalism with the help of ethnic Azerbaijanis abroad, but it¡¯s just a political move. After all, they¡¯re just worn-out politicians.¡±


    ¡°The people of this government are very kind to let them have their way. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s just watching those people go around.¡±


    ¡°The people all see it the same as you do, so don¡¯t get too upset. It¡¯s like we¡¯ve already won anyway.¡±


    ¡°There are always variables. From now on, I¡¯ll roll up my sleeves and help, too.¡±


    It was no exaggeration to say that Azerbaijan became a federal state under the Kazakh royal family mostly because of the role of Fatima.


    Because she visited all regions of Azerbaijan to gain people¡¯s hearts, the royal family could shake the Aliyev regime.


    Likewise, if Fatima came forward, the election would be a piece of cake.


    Even if the ruling party was in a disadvantageous position, the queen could turn the tide of the election just by going all over the country.


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean to help the election openly, do you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not that ignorant. I know the royal family should remain neutral. I¡¯m just going to travel around the country with my children, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Fatima was well aware of the ripple effects of her tour around the country.


    Would a wise woman like her directly intervene in the election without being sensible?


    ¡°Haha¡­ There are many excuses for traveling.¡±


    He could not help but allow the trip.


    It would be nice to leave her with a certain role.


    The mere fact that she had her own role would make her motivated too.


    The early summer of the Caucasus Mountains boasted a spectacr view which was picturesque.


    When Youngho lived in Baku, he used to travel all over the country, but he had not been able to afford such a leisurely trip these days due to the overwhelming workloads.


    He wanted to follow his family, but he had no choice but to fall back because it was election season.


    The children were all happy about the trip.


    ¡°You¡¯reing with us? Are you?¡±


    Jelyan blinked her pretty eyes and waited for Youngho¡¯s answer, which felt more like a pressure.


    ¡°I¡¯m busy with my schedule, so I think I¡¯ll be able to join you by the end of the trip.¡±


    Jelyan weed Youngho¡¯s answer by pping her hands.


    He looked at her, wondering why she was so happy.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯reing to Batumi, Georgia, too. We decided to go to the beach there. Mom said I could wear a bikini.¡±


    It would be summer when Fatima and the children would arrive at the Arirang Hotel in Batumi after traveling around Azerbaijan.


    She wanted to show off her figure as a teenage girl.


    Surprised to hear it, Youngho unwittingly stopped her.


    ¡°No? What kind of a princess wears a bikini? All kinds of paparazzi would follow you around. You don¡¯t want to have anything to do with the tabloid papers.¡±


    ¡°Dad, it¡¯s everyone¡¯s swimsuit. What¡¯s wrong with that? Aunt Zeynep is alsoing to Batumi.¡±


    It was obvious Zeynep talked them into this.


    Then Fatima would also wear a bikini swimsuit, which concerned Youngho.


    He wondered how conservative Muslims would react if a picture of a queen in a swimsuit was published in the newspaper.

 Chapter 774 - For Each One’s Own Interest (5)

    <h4>Chapter 774: For Each One¡¯s Own Interest (5)</h4>


    Fatima and the kids¡¯ domestic travel was not so loud as they quietly traveled around Azerbaijan on a royal train.


    What was special about it was that Fatima stopped by all stations and met with local residents for a short period.


    Since she had been meeting the residents of Baku as the queen of the federal kingdom, it was not a new idea to her.


    However, the residents of small towns took it differently as her visit was the biggest event ever since the birth of their towns.


    They were thankful that the queen hade to visit them after several trips by Princess Zeynep on a hospital train.


    This was a huge honor because not even regional administrators visited them before.


    On her visit, Fatima never made a single politicalment but listened to local people¡¯sints and inconveniences in their regions.


    It was a simple job for her, but it was not the same for her entourage.


    They had to check all theints and what the queen promised to them, so that they could figure out how to resolve them and carry out her promises.


    It was because the queen asked them to let her know about the results of improvementster.


    As most of the civilints were rted to the construction of various infrastructures, they had to support the ruling party as they would be resolved only when the current ruling party was maintained.


    The infrastructures were close to none existence in small towns until now, which was why Zeynep was continuing to operate a moving hospital train.


    The poption was high, but there, the number of the hospitals was far short to amodate them, and the quality of medical service wasgging.


    It seemed like the cities and viges around the Caucasus Mountains still remained in the 19th century.


    There were viges that could notmunicate with the viges across the valley due to theck of roads and ces where people kidnapped female travelers to use them as surrogate mothers.


    Some remote viges were still living lives simr to that of the Middle Ages.


    There were plenty of ces that were not benefited by civilization due to the rough mountains.


    The people¡¯s view on the queen who visited those remote towns were bound to be warm.


    The politicians in the ruling party who were reported of the queen¡¯s travel route were d to hear about her movement.


    It was because they did not have to worry about the election anymore. It was like they had already won.


    It was like they were receiving votes every step the queen took.


    Sevan, who visited Youngho¡¯s office, showed a big smile.


    ¡°Minister, you should maintain your poker-face.¡±


    Youngho joked at Sevan¡¯s happy face.


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to say a word against the queen¡¯s move? We have to deport such disloyal people. If there are any.¡±


    The public poll result also showed the people¡¯s high preference for the ruling party, so Sevan was confident.


    ¡°The Queen says she was helped a lot by you and your cousins Karajan and Gerhardt when she first came to Baku. She always wanted to pay you back for your favor.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. How can I repay her grace?¡±


    ¡°Minister Sevan, we are not strangers. We are a family, so why do you keep mentioning grace? You don¡¯t have to do anything for us.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, how can someone like myself be a member of the royal family? It¡¯s nonsense.¡±


    Sevan¡¯s cousin sister Karajan was Park Jong-il¡¯s wife, so he had been supported by his background so far, but he never thought that he was included in the royal family.


    However, when the Duke said he was family, he felt much pressure.


    He was not confident to present himself as a member of the royal family.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Prince Leon and the princesses call Director Park their uncle. He¡¯s a friend closer to my own brothers to me as well. Then, you are not a stranger to me either.¡±


    Youngho was mincing words and warning him to behave carefully by saying that he was part of the royal family.


    Listening to him, Sevan showed various emotions on his face.


    He could neither agree nor disagree with Youngho¡¯s words.


    Seeing him deciding how to react busily in his mind, Youngho had to bite his lower lip to hold hisughter.


    ¡°Hahaha... Sevan presents himself like a snake, but sometimes he can be so innocent. If he¡¯s told to be a royal member, he can be just happy, but why did he have to be so nervous? That¡¯s so funny.¡±


    When Youngho told Jong-il about what happened with Sevanter, heughed for a while.


    ¡°He won¡¯t look sideways from now on. He looked pressured when I told him Fatima was traveling to help him.¡±


    Even if Sevan won the election by an overwhelming number of votes, he would not be able to say that he won with his own efforts. He would have to be loyal to the royal family for such a reason.


    ¡°Of course, he should feel pressured. We made him the head of the party, funded him, and helped his campaign. He should bow down to us.¡±


    ¡°But we are here because of Sevan, too. It feels like we are repaying his favor now.¡±


    Youngho and Jong-il could settle down in Baku because of their connection to Sevan. It was him who helped Youngho start a grape farm after all.


    ¡°He was a director of the police agency and we made him the Secretary of Interior. Honestly, he doesn¡¯t deserve such a huge position.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the saying that the position makes a man? Sevan is a totally different person than who we used to know.¡±


    Sevan¡¯s attitude and way of talking were already changed to suit the head of a political party already. He was quite well adapted to new changes.


    ¡°Even so, there are limits to a person. When he finally realizes his quality, he will understand that he was only able to go up there because he was lucky ande down on his own at the right time.¡±


    ¡°We will see. What I¡¯m sure of is that he needs some checks and pressures to a certain extent, so we need to give him that.¡±


    Since he was Park Jong-il¡¯s inw, Youngho did not feel easy to talk about him in this way, but he had to make it clear.


    He chose Sevan because there were no better options, but Sevan was an unpredictable person, who should always be kept in check.


    When the air became heavy due to the hard talk, Park Jong-il switched the mood talking about taking a break.


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we take a break now that the election is already leaning toward us?¡±


    Youngho was puzzled since Park Jong-il never had ever asked to take a break before.


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡±


    ¡°When am I going to take a break if it¡¯s not now? When the election is over and once we go back to Kazakhstan, it will be hectic all over again.¡±


    ¡°We are sort of taking a break now.¡±


    ¡°Jeez, you don¡¯t know how to enjoy your free time. I¡¯m saying, we should not think about anything else but focus on resting. Why don¡¯t we go goat hunting? It¡¯s been forever, and we can have a barbecue party with a drink, too.¡±


    ¡°If we do it by ourselves only, you know others willinter.¡±


    Youngho thought of Cha In-soo and Cho Chul-hwan. They could never dream of going on a vacation as they were the busiest people in Kazakhstan these days along with Youngho and Jong-il.


    ¡°Let¡¯s call them and maybe they can stop by. Let¡¯s gather together for a long while and drink all night long. There is no one to give us an earful now.¡±


    Since Fatima was gone, there was no one toin even if Youngho drank until he passed out. Likewise, Karajan also left with Fatima, so Jong-il saw an opportunity.


    ¡°Gee. Look at us. We are always worried about our wives.¡±


    Youngho said so, but his heart partly felt empty without his family.


    Sometimes he could not tell why he was working so hard without a break.


    When he lived in Baku, he used to have a goat leg barbecue on a bonfire with people he loved whenever he could.


    The time when he had an oil-dripping barbecue and exchanging of sses filled with alcoholic drinks seemed to be so long ago.


    When Park Jong-il suggested a barbecue party, Cha In-soo and Cho Chul-hwan flew to Baku immediately.


    By the time the goat they caught after wandering in a mountain for about two hours was roasted into the right color, Cho Chul-hwan said something random.


    ¡°Are you sure this is a mountain goat?¡±


    ¡°What the heck are you saying when we are serving you hard-won meat? Does it look like pork to you?¡±


    At Park Jong-il¡¯s rebuke, he made a strangement.


    ¡°I was just wondering if it¡¯s human flesh by any chance.¡±


    ¡°Why are you talking so strangely? You¡¯re going to make me lose my appetite for a drink.¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve heard that the Chinese people are treating the Uyghurs like sheep with two legs and now everytime I see meat, I can¡¯t shake off the thought. This is from the Uyghurs who crossed the Chinese border recently, and they said that the political prisoners in the Chinese political prisoner camp are missing. The rumors say that they are sold for human flesh.¡±


    There was a saying that everything except chairs was a food ingredient in China, but would it make sense that people still treated human flesh in the 21st century?


    Chinese cannibalism was so prevalent that it was recorded 200 times in Chinese political history from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.


    Especially during the Tang Dynasty, human flesh was said to be sheep with two feet, and human meat dishes became popr.


    Eating human flesh in this age was not seen as such a sin.


    Even the Chinese representative medical book ¡®Ben Cao Gang Mu¡¯ (Compendium of Materia Medica) recorded the medicinal effects of each human part in detail, and the book Gyereuk(úaÀß) in the Song Dynasty even described how to cook human flesh.


    Marco Polo¡¯s The Travels of Marco Polo also introduced Chinese cannibalism as human flesh was bought and sold openly.


    If, as Chul-hwan said, such a culture was still secretly practiced in China and its victims were Uyghurs, it would be ridiculous.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s valid information?¡±


    If this was true, Kazakhstan would have to intervene for sure as this would be one of the ways to carry out the policy of ethnic extermination.


    ¡°It¡¯s a rumor going around in Uyghur. It¡¯s not yet to be proven, but it¡¯s still weird that the political prisoners keep disappearing.¡±


    ¡°We were going to take a break for a few days, but you are not helping. We need to start an investigation on this immediately.¡±


    Park Jong-il, who already lost his appetite, did not say anything.


    He never cared for such ridiculous rumors before but only paid attention to the Chinese military movement.


    ¡°Why would the Uyghurs remain still if such a thing really happened?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no hard evidence and what can they do even if they know? Anyway, the rumors must¡¯ve started from eyewitnesses. We need to dig into this.¡±


    There had been rumors that human flesh was sold in secret in China, but Youngho did not believe them.


    However, if cannibalistic culture was still preserved, the Uyghurs were likely to be victimized by it.


    In Uyghur, there were a few political prisoner camps, and they said that it was hard to get out of it once one went in there. The prisoners could be used in any way.


    If this turned out to be true, Kazakhstan would have a good reason to free the whole Uyghur.

 Chapter 775 - Uyghur’s Pain (1)

    <h4>Chapter 775: Uyghur¡¯s Pain (1)</h4>


    Youngho had to leave Baku for Kazakhstan because of the Uyghur problem.


    It was not something that could be overlooked.


    The Chinese government was conducting an organizational extermination policy against the Uyghurs and if he turned a blind eye to it as a leading state of Central Asia, the Kazakh royal family would be med by the federal citizens. This could shake the whole federal kingdom.


    The result of an investigation found that there were at least 500,000 to a million political prisoners in Xinjiang Uyghur. Hearing such a shocking result, he could not stay at peace in Baku.


    ording to a disclosure of an institution under the UN, the Chinese government spent about 2.4 billion dors to establish camps. If such an amount was invested, it could be said that the whole region of Xinjiang Uyghur was a political prisoner camp.


    However, the Chinese government insisted that those camps were vocational training centers for the Uyghurs.


    It was aughable excuse as the Chinese government could not do such a big favor for the despised Uyghurs ignoring the unemployed Han people crowding to big cities.


    Also, if such vocational training was going on, the employment rate of the Uyghurs should have gone up, but there were no statistics showing such a result.


    It was obvious what kind of treatments were given to the Uyghurs who were locked in the political prisoner camps which were human rights blind spots.


    Youngho deployed intelligence agents to capture what kind of crimes were beingmitted against humanity.


    The agents inquired here and there to meet people who were luckily discharged from the camp and investigated on human flesh transactions after sneaking into those camps.


    Despite such efforts, they could not find hard evidence.


    ¡°We can¡¯t just rely on rumors. Even if there was evidence, the Chinese government will feign innocence, so we need to have tangible proof that can trap them.¡±


    Jong-il seemed troubled at Youngho¡¯s words.


    No matter how hard his agents tried, it was difficult to find the proof of human flesh dealings.


    Since it was an illegal activity, it was not going to be performed openly at the political prisoner camps.


    ¡°It must not be conducted at the level of the government but should be dealt between camp staff and food manufacturers.¡±


    Youngho was convulsed with anger as he was having an unspeakable conversation.


    It did not make sense that there were food manufacturers who dealt with human flesh as if it was animal skin.


    ¡°Those people must operate in a point organization and nevere out to the surface. What kind of people eat human flesh unless they¡¯re not insane?¡±


    Youngho did not get why people would eat human flesh unless there was a bad famine.


    It was proof that there were some people who liked to eat strange things for their health and beauty.


    There was no way that themunist government that watched every move of the residents did not know of such illegal activities.


    ¡°Should I inform the autonomous government in Kashgar and ask for their help? Wouldn¡¯t they want to help if their countrymen are being sold for their flesh?¡±


    If the Uyghurs in Kashgar knew, they would lose their reason and go wild against the Chinese government. If terrorist attacks were performed all over the ce, it would only give a chance for the government to hide any evidence.


    ¡°If we stir things up now, the Chinese government will erase all the evidence.¡±


    ¡°Then it will stop such wrongdoing in fear of such rumors. Shouldn¡¯t we have to stop it to prevent more people from being victimized?¡±


    Park Jong-il had a point.


    Detailed evidence was necessary to expose the Chinese government¡¯s anti-human crimes, but the priority was saving the victims.


    In order to stop the Chinese government frommitting such a crime any longer, a strong action should be taken.


    Not clinging to the evidence, it was time to announce it to the world as if it had already happened.


    It was because unspeakable things were happening somewhere in Xinjiang Uyghur right now.


    ¡°Okay. Inform the media first. Mobilize all broadcasting stations of each country and interview people who escaped Xinjiang Uyghur. We need to pressure China.¡±


    ***


    When an article exposing the situations in the political prisoner camps in Xinjiang Uyghur, the world was shocked.


    The ethnic minority people living in Xinjiang Uyghur were about ten million, but it was shocking to know that one-tenth of them were forcibly sent to the camps that were so-called vocational training centers.


    Obviously, they were being persecuted under the ethnic minority extermination policy.


    Global human rights groups rose together to pressure China, but the Chinese government did not budge an inch. Instead, it criticized the Kazakh government for publicizing it.


    ¡°I knew it. It¡¯ll be weird if they admit it. What are we going to do now? What is the Kashgar government doing about this?¡±


    Park Jong-il was outrageous.


    ¡°Just wait and see. I¡¯m going to mobilize the Kashgar militias as soon as their training is finished.¡±


    If the U.S. and Russia would promise to back it up, Youngho was going to enter an independence war for the Uyghurs.


    Since there were a lot of ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Tajiks, and other ethnic minorities of the federal kingdom residing in Xinjiang Uyghur, Kazakhstan had enough justification to intervene. He was not going to mobilize the Kazakh military but was going to mobilize the private militarypany and the Royal Bodyguards disguised as the Uyghur militias.


    While Youngho was thinking about this, the Chinese government was still bashing on Kazakhstan. It also made a threat by saying it would take a special measure if Kazakhstan kept bothering with Xinjiang Uyghur.


    The Kazakh military leadership could not hold back upon hearing the Chinese government¡¯s stance, the Kazakh military leadership urging the Kazakh government¡¯s strong response.


    They did not want apromise this time as the Chinese government¡¯s provocation was continuous.


    When the military was enraged, Kasim hastily visited the royal pce.


    ¡°Your Highness. The military¡¯s atmosphere is concerning. I¡¯m afraid our military might provoke the Chinese side first if we leave it alone.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying our military will take an action ignoring the government¡¯smand?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not likely, but it could cause a collision on purpose and make it a stepping stone to push a battle.¡±


    There was a high possibility that it could happen as the Kazakh border forces could take action before first and report itter when there was a battle.


    It could even use missiles or fighters to target the enemy¡¯s side.


    ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying. I should meet the military leadership right away. Can you please summon a meeting?¡±


    This happened because Youngho¡¯s intent was not delivered clearly.


    The military leadership of Kazakhstan misunderstood that the Kazakh royal family was intimidated by the Chinese government¡¯s hard-line policy.


    ¡°Your Highness, please don¡¯t rebuke the military leadership at the meeting. Our military was regrettable that thest dispute with China ended without a closure because of the U.S. intervention. The military leadership wants to thoroughly punish China if it provokes again so that it won¡¯t underestimate Kazakhstan again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we will have a closure for sure this time and there will be nopromise whatsoever. I¡¯m with them.¡±


    ***


    The atmosphere of the meeting with the military leadership was heavy.


    It was because Youngho said not to act recklessly to the military that was insisting war.


    Military leaders were not fond of the Duke¡¯smand to sit still and watch the Chinese side even though Kazakhstan¡¯s defense power was enough tobat the Chinese military.


    Prime Minister Kasim did not know what to do in the middle.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness. Themanders are not saying they will fight the Chinese side for no reason, but they just want to charge without limits if they provoked us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t know your hearts, but how far are you going to go? You want to go to their maind? What do we gain from it? It doesn¡¯t make sense to have an all-out war just to recover our pride. I want to make sure to be more cautious unless we are going to take over Uyghur. The Kazakh troops won¡¯t cross the Chinese border.¡±


    If there was no support from Kazakhstan, how would Uyghur fight for independence?


    The Army Chief of Staff made an opposing opinion at Youngho¡¯s remark.


    ¡°Your Highness, the Uyghur militia alone can¡¯t win independence against China.¡±


    ¡°If we intervene, China will naturally expect an all-out war which will be prolonged. If that happens, our economic power won¡¯t be able to handle it. If our troops cross the Chinese border and directly fight the Chinese troops, there will be an irrevocable situation. I don¡¯t want to bet our nation¡¯s luck on the Uyghur problem, but our military will y a role of an invisible hand.¡±


    The military officers were intrigued at the mention of an invisible hand.


    They waited to hear more about it from Youngho.


    ¡°As all of you well know, our military strength is far short of that of the Chinese troops at the western border. There is no n B if we lose our regr troops, so I¡¯m thinking of unconventional warfare. We will help the militias from behind.¡±


    Unconventional warfare meant that special units would be mobilized for guerri warfare.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s asymmetric forces were the forces of the Royal Bodyguard forces, and as they were not regr forces, there was no political burden.


    Only then did militarymanders nod their heads.


    The military leaders were only ahead of their will, but they forgot about the reality of the Kazakh military for a while.


    Militarymanders tended to underestimate China, intoxicated with a couple of local victories against China even though they could not be sure if China properly prepared for war and crossed the border.


    ¡°I think we troubled you with our opinions that were not well thought out. We¡¯ve forgotten the reality of our military for a moment. I apologize on behalf of the entire military.¡±


    The Ministry of Defense apologized to Youngho immediately as having a military conference like this against the royal family was insubordination to the royal family.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s rather my fault. I should¡¯ve discussed my n with the military leadership in advance. I¡¯m sorry for such a mistake, and by the way, I am very proud for all of you.¡±


    Everyone looked puzzled as the Duke did not rebuke them for their mishap butplimented them.


    ¡°I thank you for showing the will to risk an all-out war against China even though you are aware of our military¡¯s reality. You are loyal defenders of our country.¡±


    Sometimes, apliment rather than a rebuke could make a person more embarrassed.


    The military leaders were flustered as they did not know what to say.


    ¡°We are sorry that we didn¡¯t understand your profound thoughts early enough.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s caused by theck ofmunication and it¡¯s on me. Please understand my stance. I had to keep it a secret in order not to expose it to the enemies.¡±


    After discussing and organizing the further ns, the meeting was processed like a smooth sail.


    The militarymand also decided to send mountain troops to Uyghur, hoping to deploy them to unconventional warfare.


    Uyghur had many mountainous areas, so mountain troops could operate more efficiently than the Royal Bodyguards¡¯ forces.


    The Chinese military would have to face another uphill battle against asymmetric forces.


    Any operation was meaningless to the determined and aggressive opponent.


    The unconventional warfare in China¡¯s territory, not on the border, would be an insurmountable chaos even for China especially if the opponent was a special force dressed up as Uyghur militia.

 Chapter 776 - Uyghur’s Pain (2)

    <h4>Chapter 776: Uyghur¡¯s Pain (2)</h4>


    Kazakh intelligence agents finally collected tangible evidence in Uyghur.


    They confirmed human flesh and organ trafficking dealings.


    As for the organ harvesting and trafficking, a Chinese criminal organization was involved, but what was funny was that the Chinese government had been supporting it.


    Not only that, but there had also been cases where Chinese rich people had bought pretty Uyghur virgins as their trophies.


    Aside from what rich people did, on top of frequent kidnapping, women imprisoned in political prisoner camps were frequently siphoned off and sold as sex ves or prostitutes.


    Every year in China, about 300,000 people waited for an organ transnt surgery, and because legal organ transnt donors were only about several thousands of people, illegal organ trafficking crimes by criminal organizations were rampant.


    Kazakh intelligence agents could confirm the connection between food manufacturers and criminal organizations.


    When the criminal organization harvested Uyghur prisoners¡¯ organs and passed the flesh to food manufacturers, it was processed as human meat and sold to all regions of China.


    It would not make sense if the Chinese government was not aware of these crimes when the political prisoners continuously disappeared in a brazen manner.


    Anywhere there was a money transaction, a representative of themunist government was there.


    ¡°It¡¯s bing worse. On top of organ trafficking, they are kidnapping Uyghur girls? What b*st*rds...¡±


    Youngho could not continue talking when he heard the findings of the intelligence investigation from Jong-il.


    He knew that the Chinese government had collected DNA samples and fingerprints from the Uyghurs and collected biometric information such as iris and voice information, and wondered if all those efforts were for this.


    ¡°There are not many Uyghurs crossing the border anymore. The Chinese government is arresting all attempted-defectors and sending them to prison.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why the Uyghurs are still silent. Don¡¯t they have to at least protest?¡±


    ¡°What can they do when the whole region of Uyghur is a prisoner camp? In cities, a watch post is installed every 500 meters and they inspect people¡¯s identification cards even when they enter traditional markets.¡±


    Xinjiang Uygur was the world¡¯s most heavily guarded area.


    The Chinese government introduced data collection and surveince technology based on advanced information andmunication technology, closely monitoring every move of the residents.


    Any Uyghurs were regarded as potential terrorists or anti-state forces.


    The government said that it had no choice but to monitor Uyghur militants because they were linked to Imic extremist groups.


    Thus, although the political prisoner camp was called a vocational training program, Uyghurs trapped there were reportedly forced to learn Chinese and receive brainwashing education close to mental reform.


    ¡°Recently, the Egyptian government has also deployed Uyghur students studying in the country. I think the Chinese government is very determined.¡±


    Under pressure from the Chinese government, the Egyptian government was forcing Uyghurs to leave the country although they were the same Muslim people.


    ¡°What? So what did you do about that?¡±


    ¡°The Uyghurs are Chinese citizens, so what can we do?¡±


    Kazakhstan should prevent the repatriation of the Uyghurs to China by informing the special nature of Uyghur because the students who were forcibly repatriated would surely be sent to the camps.


    ¡°We should sternly protest against the Egyptian government, saying that they are Chinese nationals but are no different from the people of Kazakhstan. Warn them if they continue to banish the Uyghurs, we won¡¯t stand still. Notify the Egyptian ambassador in Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem. My source says that these days in Uyghur, all government officials in the region are staying at Uyghur families for a week, forcing them to learnmunist ideology.¡±


    ¡°Oh, jeez... Why does the Chinese government hate the Uyghurs so much?¡±


    ¡°Over ten million Han Chinese have moved to Uyghur. Considering it is the only region where the Han people moved in on such arge scale, I assume they are afraid of the Uyghurs.¡±


    ¡°This is ridiculous. Could it be that China is pressing this with the intention of recapturing Kashgar?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    When asked by Youngho, Park Jong-il looked puzzled.


    It seemed that he could not find the connection between the pressure of the Uyghur maind and the recapture of Kashgar.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying, don¡¯t you think the Chinese government is pressuring the Uyghurs in Kashgar to give up its independence to save the people of Xinjiang Uyghur?¡±


    ¡°Have you been reading fantasy novelstely? That¡¯s nonsense.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s nonsense about it?¡±


    ¡°The pressuring of Uyghur is not new. It has nothing to do with Kashgar.¡±


    Not being able to let go of his thoughts, Youngho struggled for a long time.


    ¡°Let¡¯s think about it.¡±


    ¡°The recapture of Kashgar is what it is, and the Uyghur extermination policy has not changed. What if it¡¯s connected? We¡¯re already thinking of freeing the whole Uyghur anyway.¡±


    Park Jong-il was right, but Youngho could not agree.


    ¡°Most of the Uyghurs in Kashgar would have rtives in the Uyghur maind. Think about how the people of Kashgar would react if they knew what was going on in Uyghur.¡±


    ***


    Only human rights groups and the media around the world were making a fuss about the Chinese government¡¯s crackdown on Uyghurs, but governments of each country remained silent as if they had made a pact.


    They were in a position to consider trade and diplomatic rtions with China, so they feared worsening of the diplomatic rtions with China.


    In addition, knowing that taking part in defending human rights against a socialist country, would not solve anything, they had no reason to participate.


    However, the situation in Uyghur was not getting out of the spotlight as civil organizations and media around the world criticized China day after day.


    The Chinese government was still harshly criticizing Kazakhstan, insisting that it was creating a fraud against the world by fabricating the facts that did not exist.


    ¡°I can¡¯t help butugh because I can¡¯t believe it although I didn¡¯t expect much.¡±


    Youngho was discussing China¡¯s situation with Prime Minister Kasim over tea.


    He stopped by at Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on his way back to the royal territory after checking the border¡¯s condition.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think it¡¯s time to stir up the Uyghur militants and cause some confusion. If you want to keep Uyghur in the limelight, don¡¯t you think we should move the Uyghurs?¡±


    ¡°All the armed groups are in Kashgar and are being trained, so there is no right group to take the lead. And it will only have a negative impact because it will reverse the armed struggle to terrorism.¡±


    It would be great if the struggle for independence could be achieved through terrorism, but things in the world did not go that way.


    Such an act conducted by the Uyghurs rather denounced them as an extremist group linked to the IS.


    In fact, some countries saw the Kashgar government as a terrorist group.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I think the seeds of the Uyghurs will dry up if we leave them alone. Recently, groundless rumors have been circting in Guangdong Province that Uyghur men are sexually harassing Han Chinese women, and national sentiment has exploded. Perhaps the Chinese government is stepping in and amplifying the rumors.¡±


    ¡°I know that Uyghur men don¡¯t even care about Han women, but it¡¯s a terrible scheme.¡±


    Unlike maind China, Uyghur had a simr gender ratio, so why would Uyghur men bother Han Chinese women?


    It would make sense if it was the other way around.


    The Chinese society had 70 million more men than women as a result of its one-child policy and preference for boys.


    Unmarried Chinese men who were grown old as bachelors all their lives, and sexual assault had been a social problem due to those who had not found a mate.


    Therefore, young Han Chinese people were looking abroad to find a bride.


    Some poor Uyghur women were sold for money to the Han Chinese to marry, which upset the Uyghur society.


    The beauty of Uyghur women with Western appearance was well-known in China.


    Likewise, Uyghur men¡¯s masculine appearance was popr among Han Chinese women.


    ¡°We must make sure that the Chinese government pays for the human trafficking of Uyghur women and human flesh trade for negligence.¡±


    Youngho cares about the Uyghur issue because of his responsibility as the Duke of Kazakhstan, but Kasim¡¯s affection for Uyghur was special.


    Like most Central Asians, many ethnic groups in Central Asia thought they had the same roots.


    Perhaps that was why the Kazakh people were so sad that the Uyghurs were persecuted by the Chinese government.


    ¡°I agree with you, Prime Minister. I¡¯ll make sure they pay.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I don¡¯t think we need to free the whole Uyghur area if we have an independence war. The eastern Uyghur region is already upied by Han people, so it doesn¡¯t mean much to the Uyghurs. The Uyghurs cannot afford to manage such a huge territory and we cannot rule out the possibility that there could be a long-term war.¡±


    ¡°There are Uyghurs living there, aren¡¯t they? And there are a lot of underground resources buried in the region, but do you want to give it all up?¡±


    ¡°The West alone is enough for the Uyghurs to live. And there are a lot more resources in the western region that borders us.¡±


    Kasim suggested to give up the eastern side that was mostly upied by the Han Chinese people as it would lead to a long-term war.


    He was right. It was most desirable to propose a ceasefire after upying the areas where only Uyghurs were concentrated.


    If a ceasefire was made through the mediation of the U.S. or Russia, China would ept it because two-thirds of Uyghur¡¯s territory would still remain in its territory, and the upied area could be restored as much as possible if it waited for the right time.


    If the war was stopped at that point, it would be a less burdensome war.


    ¡°The question is whether the Uyghurs will be convinced.¡±


    ¡°They will. In fact, they don¡¯t have a problem living in the current Kashgar Autonomous Republic alone. However, the Uyghurs are also distributed in the Midwest, so if we just sort it out up to that region, we¡¯ll sessfully establish a buffer zone against China.¡±


    He was right.


    There was a cause to help the Uyghurs, but practically, Kazakhstan was helping them because it needed a buffer zone against China.


    If Kasim did not remind him, he would have overdone it which could end up in a long-term war.

 Chapter 777 - Fatima’s Role (1)

    <h4>Chapter 777: Fatima¡¯s Role (1)</h4>


    The whole Central Asia was rattled by the Uyghur issue, but the general election in Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea was processed without any problem.


    As expected, it was the ruling party¡¯s, which was the royal family¡¯s party¡¯s side as well, andslide victory.


    It seemed the future regime would have a stable foundation as over 80 parliament seats, 61 were filled by the ruling party.


    Having more than two-thirds of the seats on the ruling party¡¯s side meant that it had the power to dismiss a cab.


    Along with the victory, the royal family¡¯s status also rose. It was because the party¡¯s head was Sevan, and the royal family was behind it.


    The Azerbaijani would have to cope with the royal family¡¯s policy in this situation since the royal family would have the power to dismiss a cab.


    The citizens of Baku were in a celebratory mood when the ruling party won.


    They were relieved that the government would lead the nation in stability centered around the royal family. It was good news as the royal family was pro-peace and against war with Armenia.


    Youngho, who made a short time to visit his family in Baku, had to have an earful from Fatima.


    It was because he could not keep his word to spend time with the kids at the beach in Batumi, Georgia.


    However, he could not tell her that he was busy with Uyghur issues. If she knew what was really going on, she would be greatly shocked.


    Because Youngho had been extremely busy, Fatima and the kids could have a long break around the Caucasus region for three months.


    The kids did not even want to go back to Kazakhstan as they loved the convenient life in Baku.


    ¡°Don¡¯t they miss the royal pce in Kazakhstan? If the Kazakh people knew, they¡¯d feel sorry.¡±


    ¡°Is there a rule that says that the royal family should stay in Kazakhstan? All are the same federal states.¡±


    As Youngho was worried, Fatima wanted to stay in Baku.


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t the people in other regions be sad if you insist on staying here?¡±


    ¡°Baku is not stabilized yet. I want to watch it for a while before returning.¡±


    Youngho¡¯s heart would be at peace if Fatima and the kids stayed in Baku as there would be a battle against China soon, but the people¡¯s view would be different.


    If the country was in danger, the queen should secure her position and be the people¡¯s psychological support, but if she stayed in Baku only, it would be seen as her neglecting Kazakhstan.


    So, Youngho told her that he was willing to get involved in the Uyghurs¡¯ independence.


    Fatima roughly knew what had been going on, but when she frowned upon hearing about the detailed situation from Youngho.


    ¡°Oh, how can people do such dreadful things to other people? I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    Fatima was tearful as she pitied the Uyghur people.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been busy in Kazakhstan. This will be a long and hard fight. Many young people will be sacrificed as well.¡±


    ¡°What am I doing here? I should go back to the royal territory and encourage our people.¡±


    Fatima knew what she had to do knowing that her whereabouts could be an issue when the fight began in Uyghur.


    ¡°Would you be okay with that? Aren¡¯t you afraid of war?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the queen of the Federal Kazakh Kingdom. Would it make sense if the queen hides in fear when the young people are dying in the battle against injustice? Besides, you will keep us safe no matter what, so why would I be worried?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your decision. I will protect our family and Kazakhstan no matter what.¡±


    Youngho was speaking the truth.


    The defense power of Kazakhstan was not as weak as before, and the country had developed into a huge federal kingdom.


    He was confident that it would not lose to China.


    Besides, as long as the power of the Serbian Archduke¡¯s ring existed, he could keep his family safe in any situation.


    ¡°Are you trying to lean on the power of the ring by any chance? Just know that we are not in the Middle Ages anymore. Don¡¯t think about using it,¡± Fatima said as if she read Youngho¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Have you gained the ability to look into people¡¯s minds or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh, how long have we been together? I can read your face. The ring is good enough as the symbol of the royal family. Don¡¯t think of using it to fight against the enemy. Nothing good wille out of it if it gets known to the world. Please just keep it as a sign of our family.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... Okay. I will do as you say if that¡¯s your will. It¡¯s not like you can change the world with the power of the ring anyway.¡±


    The old literature described that the ring had the power that lets its owner skip over huge mountains, but Youngho had not found such power yet after gaining some enhancements in his physical abilities.


    Also, he always felt like he was cheating when he used the ring. Unless his family was in grave danger, he would not use the power of the ring from now on.


    When Fatima said she would be returning to Kazakhstan, the kids were quite disappointed.


    It was a natural reaction since they would have to go back to a strict study schedule if they went back to the pce.


    Jelyan and Rena were especially bummed.


    As teenage girls, they were more interested in outside activities and beauty, far from school life.


    Although Fatima was concerned that her kids were not interested in school, she had to admit that the strict royal environment had pushed them away from liking it.


    ¡°All girls at that age are like that. If they find what they like to do in college, they will work hard.¡±


    ¡°They think they don¡¯t have to study because you are always so soft with them. Don¡¯t try to meddle a thing about their academic life, will you promise?¡±


    She scolded Youngho when he asked her to let them study strictly at least for the morning when they came to Baku, saying that the life of a princess was already hard enough, but now she wasining that they were not studying enough.


    ¡°You gave me an earful about forcing them to studyst time...¡±


    ¡°Ehem... But I¡¯m d that Leon seems to be fond of studying these days.¡±


    Leon showed a great focus on studying, which made both of their parents feel relieved.


    He was only an elementary student, but when he was focused on reading, they anticipated him to be a great schr.


    It was what most parents dreamed of, but Youngho and Fatima also wondered if Leon was a genius.


    He used to get himself in trouble a lot with his mischievous activities, but now they were hopeful since he was showing interest in different subjects.


    ¡°He¡¯s surely changed a lot. My mother, who¡¯s passed away now, told me once that I used to be a troubled kid when I was young, but I picked up a book one day. The next thing you know is that I grew up to be an awesome man you know of so well.¡±


    ¡°Hohoho...¡±


    It seemed that she did not believe his story that much as she was onlyughing, not saying anything back.


    ¡°I¡¯m speaking the truth. I¡¯ve been an outstanding student since I entered high school.¡±


    ¡°You mean you were a terrible student before then.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Back then, I was establishing a foundation as a decent person, and I didn¡¯t pay much attention to my grades.¡±


    Her face was still in full doubt.


    Youngho realized that there was no point in trying to convince her anymore.


    ¡°Whew! It¡¯s because of Leon that my adore for study and diligence lose their light.¡±


    Fatima burst intoughter and grabbed her stomach at Youngho¡¯s words.


    ¡°Oh, honey. I¡¯m not ming you. I know how brilliant Leon is. He¡¯s full of curiosity, and that¡¯s why he caused so many troubles, and it¡¯s not anyone¡¯s fault.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally admitting that he¡¯s brilliant because he resembles his father.¡±


    ¡°Haha... Let¡¯s say that for now. Anyway, I don¡¯t worry about him, but as for Jelyan and Rena, they might bring down the royal family¡¯s prestige if they don¡¯t study too much. So, please leave it all up to me, okay?¡±


    ¡°All right. I always leave the kids¡¯ matters to you. You are so good at dealing with such things.¡±


    When Youngho was about to leave the living room, Fatima called him back, ¡°Oh, darling! Should I draw a huge amount of attention since I¡¯m returning to Kazakhstan after months?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You know the people must be enraged because of the Uyghur issues. Shouldn¡¯t I say a word as the queen of the federal kingdom? I also want to have a press conference when I leave Baku.¡±


    She wanted to inform the people why she was leaving Baku so suddenly and make a public statement as well when she arrived in Kazakhstan.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be great. A word from the queen will cause a lot of variables.¡±


    A word from the queen¡¯s mouth would have a great ripple effect, and Fatima was well aware of it.


    Making such a public statement would draw the world¡¯s attention.


    Informing the Uyghur issues to the world would rify Kazakhstan¡¯s justification and bring up the troops¡¯ morale.


    ¡°I will speak as a mother of kids, not as the queen.¡±


    Even if it would only have a derative purpose, people¡¯s sentiment would be different.


    It would be more dramatic if the message was sent from the mother¡¯s point of view, not from the queen¡¯s point of view.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say we shouldn¡¯t let the enemy hurt Uyghur mothers¡¯ hearts anymore. Can I do that?¡±


    ¡°You want to say that, who would dissuade you? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re saying something that doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    It would be a great help to the people if the Queen returned to Kazakhstan, even though a battle might start in Uyghur soon.


    Kazakhstan was behind the Uyghur independence fight, and the Chinese government would not sit idly by it, so there would be an armed conflict at the Kazakh border, too.


    Officially, it was a struggle only between the mercenaries of private militarypanies and Uyghur militias, but China was aware that Kazakhstan was helping behind the scenes.


    ¡°I hope I¡¯m not encouraging the people to go to war.¡±


    As the Royal Bodyguards would enter the war, even though not the Kazakh regr forces, she was worried.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you are not encouraging them. The only thing left to do is to do what we¡¯ve already decided.¡±


    With just one or two more months of preparation, the troops would be ready for deployment.


    Three civilian militarypanies had already been contracted to participate, while Royal Bodyguards and mountaineering units had also disguised themselves as militias and were already on standby at the Kashgar border.


    ¡°But it¡¯s too much to hope that no one gets hurt in the war, right?¡±


    ¡°The Uyghur militia will be more damaged than our troops. They should be prepared for that if they want to achieve independence, and I¡¯m never going to overdo it.¡±


    It was already pre-arranged with the Kashgar government that the Kazakh forces would pull back if the situation became too much to handle.


    Although Youngho hoped that kind of situation would never happen, he had to prepare for the worst situation possible. After all, it was war.

 Chapter 778 - Fatima’s Role (2)

    <h4>Chapter 778: Fatima¡¯s Role (2)</h4>


    Before leaving Baku, Fatima invited a number of domestic and foreign journalists to hold a press conference.


    She talked about the suffering of Uyghur at the conference and urged China not to hurt Uyghur mothers¡¯ hearts anymore.


    The Queen¡¯s interview caused a tremendous sensation.


    It drew more attention because it was a statement made by the Kazakh Queen, who was usually quiet about such social matters.


    She did not just target China but called out the countries that shared the same root with the Uyghurs to stop neglecting the situation.


    There was an immediate reaction.


    Countries that had been turning a blind eye to the Uyghur issue began to show interest.


    Turkey was one of them.


    As Turkey had been insisting that it was the origin of Central Asia or Caucasus countries, it had to be involved in any way and save face.


    The Turkish government called on the Chinese government to stop viting human rights against Uyghurs immediately and expressed its willingness to work with the Kazakh government to resolve the Uyghur issue.


    Youngho was also slightly startled because he did not expect the Turkish government to react like this.


    Opinions were also divided within Kazakhstan over Turkey¡¯s response.


    Prime Minister Kasim ordered the Kazakh ambassador in Turkey to find out the Turkish government¡¯s intention and visited the royal pce.


    ¡°Wee. Mr. Prime Minister, I¡¯ve been very curious. Why did the Turkish government suddenly change its stance? Has our government had any priormunication with it?¡±


    Youngho asked a question before Kasim even sat down.


    ¡°I have already instructed our ambassador to Turkey to find out what the Turkish government¡¯s intention is. Perhaps the Queen¡¯s speech has stirred some things in Turkey. She¡¯s never openly involved in any politically sensitive business before.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Turkish government¡¯s move should be a good sign for us.¡±


    It was Turkey, which imed to be the origin of the Turkic people but did not pay much attention to Central Asia.


    It must have responded because of the Queen of Kazakhstan¡¯s press conference asking for attention to the Uyghur issue, but this meant that Kazakhstan would have another country¡¯s support.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a conflict with China, it¡¯ll shut its mouth again. I don¡¯t expect much.¡±


    Kasim saw Turkey¡¯s interest as temporary.


    This was because the Turkish government kept silent during Kazakhstan¡¯s previous dispute with China.


    Considering the fact that it used to emphasize being a brother country to Kazakhstan, its previous conduct was disappointing.


    ¡°It would have been difficult for it to get out of its way because of its rtionship with China since it was not a stakeholder.¡±


    ¡°Even the Indian government, which has little interest, sided with us, but Turkey, which ims to be a brotherly country ignored us. I just hope it doesn¡¯t interrupt our way in the name of arbitration.¡±


    Kasim was disappointed that U.S. mediation prevented Kazakhstan from taking over the Uyghur region further.


    He worried Turkey could be in Kazakhstan¡¯s way this time, following the U.S. step.


    ¡°If you think so, I¡¯ll have to draw a line in advance. We can say that we refuse if it wants to y the role of a clumsy mediator. It¡¯s important that we exclude any potential threat to Uyghur¡¯s independence.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness is looking forward to Turkey¡¯s help, and I hope I¡¯m not being too negative.¡±


    ¡°No, there is a limit to what other countries can do to help Uyghur politically and militarily. It would be better than expecting something good and getting disappointedter. The stakeholders to the Uyghur issue are just us and Russia anyway.¡±


    The independence of the Uyghurs was also important, but the purpose of building a buffer zone against China was more important. In that sense, Kazakhstan and Russia were only stakeholders in this issue.


    ¡°But let¡¯s listen to the ambassador to Turkey first ande up with a measure.¡±


    Kazakhstan¡¯s ambassador to Turkey returned home and visited the royal pce.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve been very busytely, Mr. Ambassador.¡±


    ¡°No, Your Highness. I¡¯m d that I can be of help to my country.¡±


    Al-Shabin, a former military general, was appointed ambassador to Turkey because he was also the main figure in the coup, and he had been serving as ambassador to Turkey for several years now as he was good at resolving issues between the two countries.


    Youngho looked forward to hearing more from him as his face looked bright.


    ¡°Have you confirmed why the Turkish government is suddenly eager to get involved?¡±


    ¡°I think it was motivated by the Queen¡¯s speech.¡±


    ¡°Then, are you saying it¡¯s willing to help us purely without any other intention?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s decided that helping us is in its own interest. The recent increase in oil supplies and the production of Russia¡¯s state-of-the-art weapons in our country seem to be a few reasons why Turkey moved.¡±


    In international rtions, strong defense and economic power spoke for everything.


    This was because no one would listen to the voices of powerless nations as there was nothing to gain from them.


    As Kazakhstan¡¯s national defense and economic power had shown remarkable growth, Turkey was interested in gaining benefits from helping Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I guess the Turkish government wants something from us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness, Turkey was very interested in the fighters that we produce.¡±


    ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t want the Russian Sukhoi Su stealth fighter.¡±


    Russia¡¯s Sukhoi Su stealth jet, which Kazakhstan just started producing, could not be sold to other countries, so it would be a problem if the Turkish government asked for it.


    ¡°Thankfully, Turkey was currently interested in Swedish Gripen fighters right now.¡±


    ¡°Saab has the Gripen fighter¡¯s original technology, so we¡¯re not in a position to get involved... And I wonder why it¡¯s trying to get us in-between.¡±


    ¡°It knows that our royal family is a major shareholder of Saab. The Turkish government wants to produce Gripen fighters on its own.¡±


    The Turkish government seemed to have decided that if the Kazakh royal family stepped up, it would be possible to be promised technology transfer on favorable terms.


    For Youngho, it was not difficult to ask Saab for a favor.


    However, technology transfer and license production were issues that had to be agreed upon between the parties.


    ¡°I understand what you mean. It¡¯s not a difficult favor to do. Were there other requests? I assume the Turkish government would not risk its rtionship with China just for that in return.¡±


    ¡°There was nothing else. Rather, the government said it would actively review any of our requests.¡±


    This meant that it would actively jump into the Uyghur problem as well as that the foreign policy of the Turkish government had changed recently all of a sudden.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening in Turkey that we don¡¯t know recently? It¡¯s such a sudden change that I¡¯m a little puzzled.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing special going on except that its rtionship with the United States has deteriorated a little. I think it¡¯s inspired by the development of our country and seems to think it doesn¡¯t matter if the Uyghur issue will make it fall out with China.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm... There¡¯s no reason to refuse it when it is willing to help us in a good way. I¡¯ll give you a personal letter, so please deliver my gratitude for supporting Kazakhstan.¡±


    Youngho hurriedly called Park Jong-il after his meeting with Ambassador Al-Shabin was over.


    This was because the words of the ambassador only were not enough to convince him.


    He wanted to listen to the perspective of the head of the Kazakh Intelligence Service.


    When he exined what he had discussed with the ambassador in private, Park Jong-il responded casually, ¡°Asking for help with the fighter jet acquisition project is a huge benefit in return. Would it be that easy for Turkey to step up and ask for technology transfer? And given the Turkish temperament, the people think it¡¯s important to keep the Brotherhood. Just take it as a pure intention to help.¡±


    Listening to Jong-il¡¯s story, Youngho felt embarrassed that he became too worn out to see everything with innocent eyes.


    ¡°I was in a political arena full of tricks, and now I¡¯m a snob.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? You and I used to be snobs in the first ce, and we still are. Maybe there¡¯s a more hideous dictator in our hearts than President Aliyev or President Nazarbayev.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. Do you have to put it that way?¡±


    ¡°Haha... I¡¯m kidding. All I¡¯m saying is that don¡¯t look at everything by our standards but take it purely.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen purity work in the internationalmunity? You will be gulped down in a second.¡±


    ¡°If you really want to find out Turkey¡¯s intention, why don¡¯t you visit it? Then you¡¯ll know right away. It¡¯s also a way to visit Western Europe on the way to Turkey to discuss the Uyghur issue.¡±


    Jong-il¡¯s suggestion seemed to be a good idea.


    Unless there was a hundred-percent chance in the Uyghur independence fight, to make the atmosphere favorable to Kazakhstan would be a good strategy.


    If the Kazakh royal family officially made a tour in Europe, it would be the focus of the news.


    On the other hand, Youngho had high hopes for Fatima.


    That was because he had never felt her presence and influential power more these days.


    It was Fatima who yed 120 percent of her role as queen, politician, and mother.


    Even though she seemed to be a vulnerable and sweet woman born in heaven, she was even bolder than Youngho when she was willing to protect her own things.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll serve as a servant to the Queen.¡±


    If he were to tour Europe, he was going to put Fatima on the front thoroughly.


    In some ways, Fatima¡¯s influence was greater than that of Youngho.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to Turkey as yourst destination? If we win the support of the European Union, Turkey won¡¯t have a second thought. There¡¯s a European Union leadership meeting in Brussels soon. If you¡¯re going to attend as an observer, you¡¯ll probably get epted.¡±


    It would be worth seeing if the Uyghur issue was addressed at a gathering of all 28 EU member states.


    The European Union sometimes adopted a joint statement on global issues, not just on European issues, so it was worth looking forward to.


    ¡°If the European Uniones forward with the Uyghur issue, there will be enough justification. Countries will have no choice but to help us.¡±


    Park Jong-il hurried as if he would make an immediate trip to Europe.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we have to prearrange our visit?¡±

 Chapter 779 - Fatima’s Role (3)

    <h4>Chapter 779: Fatima¡¯s Role (3)</h4>


    Usually, countries that wanted to join the European Union could attend the EU meeting as observers.


    This time, the three Caucasian nations, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia, attended as observers.


    As Azerbaijan was a federal state of Kazakhstan, it was natural for the Kazakh royal family to attend the European Union conference.


    Fatima¡¯s poprity in Brussels was great.


    Younger and better-looking than any living European royal queen, wherever she went, she was bound to be a target of journalists¡¯ attention.


    Fatima received more spotlight than any leader who attended the European Union conference in Brussels.


    The higher their interest in Fatima, the greater the ripple effect of a word from her mouth.


    When she was given a chance to speak, she first mentioned the human rights issues of poor women in Eastern Europe and urged member states to continue to pay attention, which drew a lot of people¡¯s attention.


    Then she went on to address the issue of children¡¯s and women¡¯s rights in poor countries in Eastern Europe.


    Since bringing up the Uyghur issue at the conference might not be appropriate and there was no guarantee that it would be received well, she did not mention it.


    However, she had another n which would lead to publicizing the Uyghur issue through firstdies of each country¡¯s leaders.


    She worked hard to spread the story of the anti-humanitarian activities in Uyghur by inviting them to have tea time from time to time while she stayed there.


    In this way, she drew attention from the firstdies by naturally bringing out the horrors that took ce in Uyghur after setting the mood from the inside.


    Through their mouths, husbands became interested, and atst, publicly denounced China¡¯s anti-humanitarian behavior.


    As a result, EU member states decided to adopt a joint statement urging the Chinese government to stop Uyghur¡¯s human rights vitions.


    Prime Minister Kasim, who came with the royal couple to Brussels, was surprised at the Queen¡¯s move.


    He thought that she was a person who was not interested in politics at all, but she showed off bold political moves as if she was an experienced politician.


    ¡°Your Highness, Your Majesty is very influential. The adoption of the European Union¡¯s joint statement will indeed scare China.¡±


    When Kasim praised Fatima, Youngho also felt proud.


    She has achieved something that even Youngho or Kasim could have achieved.


    ¡°I asked her to do it, but I didn¡¯t know she would achieve this much. The Queen seems determined to gain the cause to intervene in Uyghur¡¯s independence.¡±


    Fatima truly performed well to her best ability on this trip.


    She informed the EU members of the reality of Uyghur that she knew.


    ¡°I wonder how China will react.¡±


    ¡°The adoption of the joint statement will not make it easy for China to change its Uyghur policy, but it will definitely flinch.¡±


    Individual participation could worsen rtions with China, but urging caution in the name of the European Union would be less burdensome.


    This was because China would not be able to pick a fight against the entire European Union.


    Until the beginning of the Uyghur¡¯s independence war, it was necessary to put pressure on China to reduce the sacrifice of the Uyghurs even by one person.


    If people mored here and there urging China to stop anti-humanitarian behavior, the Chinese government would have to be cautious as the Chinese economy also depended on the trade with many other countries.


    ¡°Your Grace, I have more work to do here, so I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t assist the Queen to the end.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. We can visit Turkey on our own.¡±


    Now that they achieved their desired goal in Brussels, all they needed to do was to find out what the Turkish government¡¯s intention was.


    ¡°Your Highness, I heard that the Turkish government is interested in purchasing thetest weapons, but what if it makes an uneptable demand?¡±


    On the surface, it mentioned the Gripen fighter jet, but Youngho guessed that Turkey would be interested in the Russian Sukhoi Su stealth jet.


    It was a matter of concern because it was not something that the Kazakh government could not handle arbitrarily.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how it goes. It ims to be a brotherly country to us, so I hope it won¡¯t be so harsh on us. Don¡¯t worry, if that happens, I¡¯ll give you a t refusal.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you offer an option first? If we promise to provide more crude oil that¡¯s been in full productiontely, it won¡¯t make any other demands.¡±


    ¡°You and I have the same mind. The Turkish government will love it if we expand the oil supply.¡±


    National defense was important, but the economy came first.


    This was because if the economy improved through the import and export of goods, and if the nation became rich, any weapon could be bought with its wealth.


    ¡°You could also make a generous offer by saying we¡¯re willing to export mineral resources as well. We don¡¯t have the market to sell the resources from Uyghur¡¯s Kashgar region yet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a way. I heard Turkey is interested in importing mineral resources. It would like it.¡±


    Turkey also had underground resources, but the amount was only enough to suffice the domestic demand. However, due to the increase in the domestic production unit price, it was dependent on imports.


    It was also very active in exploring overseas resources because it wanted to save domestic resources as much as possible.


    ¡°If we ask them to take it directly from Kashgar, we can aim for killing two birds with one stone since it¡¯ll be like recognizing Kashgar as an independent state.¡±


    Youngho admired Kasim¡¯s wisdom.


    It was a means of attracting Turkey naturally.


    If it signed a mineral import contract with Kashgar, it would have no choice but to engage in Uyghur issues to maintain the import line.


    That meant that other European countries could be drawn in with the same means.


    The Kazakh Queen¡¯s party, which moved directly from Brussels to Turkey, was treated well by the Turkish government.


    Turkey would not have favored the Kazakh royal family this much a few years ago, but it was the result of Kazakhstan¡¯s increased national power.


    Istanbul was the ce where the Queen of Kazakhstan was born, so the eyes of the citizens toward her were very warm.


    ¡°They would never have thought that a girl from a slum would return as a queen.¡±


    Fatima looked refreshed.


    She did not have good memories of Istanbul, but the fact that it was her hometown had not changed.


    ¡°It¡¯s an unforgettable ce for me too. Why don¡¯t we visit the flea market after the official schedule?¡±


    Fatima blushed when Youngho mentioned the flea market.


    It was all the more so because it was a ce where she showed her bare reality to Youngho at a time when she had nothing and could not afford even a single meal for her and her siblings.


    ¡°I wonder how it has changed. Do you think the ce where I sat and opened a stall in the past remains?¡±


    Istanbul had not changed much since the past except that the slum where the siblings used to live was redeveloped and disappeared.


    It was because Zeynep¡¯s social welfare facility was established there.


    One of the first things Zeynep did after establishing a social welfare foundation was to build a social welfare facility in the slums of a Jewish vige to help children in poverty.


    Youngho also helped her both materially and mentally, knowing how much she regretted living in poverty.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look around the slums where you lived if we get a chance.¡±


    Fatima gave a faint look and nodded quietly.


    Many years had passed, but one¡¯s poor childhood could never be forgotten.


    If she had not met Youngho then, she and her siblings would have died of hunger.


    ¡°Thank you so much for reaching out to me then. Otherwise, my siblings and I would have had a terrible ending.¡±


    ¡°Come on. You say that every time. I guess we shouldn¡¯te to Istanbul from now on.¡±


    ¡°How can I forget about it?¡±


    ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t meet me then, you would¡¯ve found your ce since it was destined, so don¡¯t say that anymore.¡±


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t shown up, such fate would have been spared.¡±


    If Youngho had not drunk like a mess the day before inmemoration of bing sworn brothers with Mustafa, he would not have gone to a flea market.


    In other words, alcohol and Mustafa were a medium between him and Fatima.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about nagging me about drinking in the future. I¡¯ve met you because of alcohol.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Not understanding what he meant, Fatima only looked at Youngho with a puzzled look.


    The meeting with Turkish President Erdogan ended in amity.


    Just in case, Youngho summoned Eriksson, who was staying in Greece, to prepare for the talks, but there was no demand for the export of Sukhoi Su fighter jets as he feared.


    It could be because he offered an unlimited supply of crude oil and mineral resources before the government made such demands.


    President Erdogan expressed great satisfaction when Youngho promised to support the licensing and production of the Gripen fighter jet and mineral resources export.


    They also agreed to use Kazakhstan¡¯s railways to transport the mineral resources of Kashgar to the Caspian Sea.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think Erdogan supports us because he has been in power for a long time and needs internal solidarity.¡±


    Erdogan won both six general elections and two presidential elections, but it was a time when internal unity was needed more than anything else.


    Not long ago, there was a military coup, and there was widespread discontent among hard-line Imic nationalists due to antipathy against the secr-oriented government.


    So, he tried to turn the public¡¯s attention to Uyghur even at the expense of uneasy rtions with China.


    ¡°Your view on it is probably right, Lord Eriksson. As we have seen in the presidential election, Erdogan¡¯s approval rating is not very high.¡±


    Winning a majority of votes in a democratic country was also a remarkable thing, but considering Erdogan¡¯s approval ratings in history, it was declining in a rapid way.


    After realizing that his support base had weakened only after the presidential election, Erdogan turned to foreign countries for internal solidarity.


    The target was Kazakhstan.


    If it was in the name of helping a brother country that struggled alone with China, the people of Turkey would not ignore it with their peculiar Turkish temperament.


    It was especially because the Queen of Kazakhstan was from Istanbul, Turkey.


    With a good excuse and a big gift of economic cooperation, Erdogan might want to dance right now.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I think we should not be the only ones to give it away, but also get military support from the Turkish government.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy for Erdogan to decide on that alone. There¡¯s a subtle stream of air flowing between Erdogan and the Turkish military.¡±


    In the aftermath of the failed military coup, many soldiers had to go to jail or get fired.


    Some of them were dealt with unfairly, so the militaryints from the military remained harsh.


    It was highly likely that sending such soldiers out of the country would be another headache for the president.


    This was because a separate government in exile could be set up on overseas military bases.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Turkish domestic issue, and we don¡¯t have to consider it. We should strongly request Turkish military assistance if Turkey wants to secure a stable supply of Kashgar¡¯s mineral resources.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to meet again tomorrow, so I¡¯ll take my chances, but don¡¯t expect too much.¡±


    Just derative support was a great help.


    The adoption of the European Union¡¯s joint statement was smooth because Turkey supported Kazakhstan first.


    It would be a cherry on top if Kazakhstan could also get military aid from Turkey, but it would not be easy for the president because of the political burden.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to divert public attention somewhere else. If it were for us, the Turks would wee it greatly. Tell President Erdogan that it¡¯s a way to raise his approval rating as well.¡±


    The main agents of the Uyghur¡¯s independence war would be the militia and civilian militarypanies.


    However, when it came to the end of the war and a cease-fire, the forces that would stick to the borderlines would be necessary.


    If that was not the Kazakh military, but the allied forces, it would be a more solid boundary.


    In this case, it would be possible if the European Union or the Turkish military came forward in the name of preventing expansion and solidifying a cease-fire.


    ¡°He indeed seemed to be bending over backward to increase the support rate...¡±


    ¡°He was re-elected as president, but he must have been very shocked to have barely passed the majority. Of course, he has no choice but to be eager for the approval rating.¡±


    On the one hand, Youngho was convinced.


    He himself was quite sensitive to approval ratings.


    If the royal family¡¯s approval rating fell slightly, he did not hesitate to mobilize Fatima or his children to boost the approval rating.


    This was because even with strong authority, without the public¡¯s approval rating, it would be like a castle on the sand.


    He nned to suggest a way to increase Erdogan¡¯s approval rate when he met him tomorrow.


    It would probably be of great help if he mobilized Fatima.

 Chapter 780 - Fatima’s Role (4)

    <h4>Chapter 780: Fatima¡¯s Role (4)</h4>


    The flea market in Beyoglu, Istanbul was still crowded as before.


    Especially when the Kazakh Queen was said to visit it, citizens and tourists gathered into the point that there was no room left to step in.


    The mere fact that she was born and raised in Istanbul stimted the people¡¯s curiosity to a great deal, and when it was known that she used to sell things in the flea market, it became a world-ss tourist spot.


    All merchants at the market were promoting theirmercial goods with a sign that said it was where the Kazakh Queen used to have a stall.


    The citizens were proud that Turkey was a hometown of the Kazakh Queen and a brotherly country to Kazakhstan.


    The story that thest Archduchess of the Serbian Kingdom used to live in the slums of Istanbul was like a fairytale, and Fatima and Youngho¡¯s love story became famous and popr and even ys about it were regrly held.


    Fatima in those ys often became various main characters like the ugly duckling, the match girl, and even the girl in Daddy Long Legs.


    She became a symbol for the Turks, who survived through all sorts of sufferings in life.


    Of course, Youngho became a male protagonist along with her.


    Istanbul was crowded by young people who dreamed of such fairytale love, and the flea market became a romantic ce where countless Fatimas appeared and disappeared.


    The Turkish government and the bodyguard team were troubled over the Queen¡¯s security when she decided to visit the crowded market, but they could not stop her will to visit it where her past was still alive.


    ¡°Hohoho...¡±


    ¡°Why are you so happy?¡±


    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t it just funny? If I were the match girl, that means I¡¯m already dead.¡±


    Fatima seemed to be very excited and pleased to hear that the people of Istanbul had made her a fairytale character.


    ¡°You know the ugly duckling didn¡¯t die. Also, in a Disney movie, the match girl returned.¡±


    Fatima who had a reminiscing look on her face repeatedly looked around the flea market.


    With her innocent look, she seemed to have gone back to the girl of the slums.


    ¡°Darling, do you still remember? I think that¡¯s the spot.¡±


    No matter how hard he tried, Youngho could not tell the difference between spots, but Fatima surprisingly found the spot where she used to be.


    Feeling a surge of emotions, she did not leave the stall nearby for a long while.


    There were many coffee shops nearby as if to show off Fatima¡¯s poprity.


    ¡®Has there been this many coffee shops before?¡¯


    Youngho really could not tell if this was it.


    It was too long ago, and he was hung over the day he met Fatima for the first time, so he did not remember much about it.


    When the Queen stopped her way and looked at a particr ce, the clicking sounds of journalists¡¯ camera shutters were heard here and there.


    It seemed the ce would be in chaos due to the merchants who would try to preupy this spot.


    ¡°I heard this ce has be popr because of you, and all I see is new coffee shops.¡±


    ¡°You know at least I¡¯ve done something for Istanbul.¡±


    Although Istanbul was a ce of frequent terrorist bombing attacks, it was continuously crowded by tourists, and one of the reasons was Fatima¡¯s influence.


    ¡°Then should we help President Erdogan? His approval rate has gone down these days and he¡¯s troubled. If you say a word about him, he will get back up in no time.¡±


    When asked for military aid at the second meeting with Erdogan, he was concerned about his rtionship with the military and his approval rating.


    So, Youngho decided to stay in Istanbul longer, dying his return schedule.


    The longer Fatima stayed in Istanbul, the higher Erdogan¡¯s approval rating was bound to rise.


    The people were also actively supporting the government¡¯s move, as it signed significant economic cooperation with Kazakhstan and agreed to cooperate on the Uyghur issue.


    Since the arrival of the King and Queen of Kazakhstan in Istanbul, the tone of the media had also changed.


    ¡°We promised that much economic cooperation. Wouldn¡¯t his approval rating rise naturally? I don¡¯t want to support him since he¡¯s no different than a dictator. Don¡¯t you know that he ignored poor people during his service as a mayor of Istanbul and the prime minister? Our siblings almost died because of that although it¡¯s because that I was able to meet you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It was because of the indifference of the Erdogan government that Fatima did not receive any support when he lived in the Istanbul slums.


    If her family had received some medical benefits, she and her siblings would not have lost their parents, and if their parents were alive, the siblings would not have been in poverty.


    Fatima still shuddered when she thought about those times. If it were not for her neighbors¡¯ help, she would have been long gone.


    Even when Zeynep was making a fuss to build welfare facilities in the slums, she tried not to pay her attention, because she still had a grudge and disappointment against the Turkish government.


    Although Erdogan¡¯s government was said to be empowering Uyghur¡¯s independence, Fatima¡¯s personal feelings did not want such help.


    She was well aware that he was not really helping Kazakhstan but was trying to consolidate his political position.


    ¡°I want to do you a favor, but there must be people who are living as if they are dead just like our siblings did somewhere in Istanbul. I am reluctant to step up to help the Erdogan government that is ignoring such people.¡±


    Youngho could not say another word.


    He felt sorry that he was using her for his greed.


    He had forgotten how painful Fatima¡¯s past must have been for her.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve been forcing my thoughts on you when you don¡¯t have many good memories of Istanbul. I¡¯m sorry to keep reminding you of your painful memories.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll do what I have to do as a queen. I¡¯m done with my personal feelings.¡±


    ¡°No. Justing to the flea market today would have been a great help to Erdogan. Let¡¯s go home now. The interests of the royal family and the state are important, but you are more important to me.¡±


    One could take his livestock to the waterfront, but could not force them to drink.


    The same logic was applied to people. Once could not force another to do something against his will since it would only hurt their rtionship.


    ***


    Youngho¡¯s heart continued to feel heavy pondering upon what he talked about with Fatima even when he returned to Kazakhstan.


    He was regretful to think for whom he was doing all this.


    Feeling that he had been forcing his goals and thoughts for everyone around him, he med himself.


    Eriksson, who had been watching him, bluntly asked.


    ¡°Your Highness, do you have concerns?¡±


    ¡°I just have a lot to think about.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, I could be presumptuous, but can I say something?¡±


    Eriksson was not about to let it go.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°You know, most of the conclusions youe up with alone are not carried out well. You seem to have a lot of concerns. I¡¯ve been serving you for years now, and I feel like I can read your mind just by looking at your eyes. I don¡¯t know if I can be a good conversational partner to you, but would you mind telling me what¡¯s in your heart?¡±


    Youngho could not refuse it since Eriksson was being so earnest, so he came clean about what he had felt from his talk with Fatima.


    ¡°For whom are you doing this? Why do you ask such a bad question? Your Highness has been living for the people until now. You¡¯ve taken righteous ways but you didn¡¯t reject adopting expedients asionally as well. Such expedients are no ws because you thought of the bigger cause first. There would be no one who could me you for that. I also agreed to most of your decisions. Would you have chosen this difficult path if you wanted to be well-off alone? You¡¯ve carried a huge burden, and that¡¯s not what you wanted for yourself. It was forcibly given to you and you only wanted to share that burden with the people around you. Why do you think you¡¯ve forced that? It was for everyone¡¯s good.¡±


    When Eriksson saw the Duke being carried away by his emotions, he stepped up to help as he knew it was not right.


    In life, there were many times when people would have doubts about themselves.


    However, depending on how they dealt with such feelings, life would take different turns.


    Life was built up by feeling all sorts of emotions such as shame and joy, but in Eriksson¡¯s eyes, Youngho seemed to be caught up in minor emotions.


    That was why he decided to encourage him.


    ¡°Lord Eriksson, how can you wrap my life so nicely? You need to tell me the know-how.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯ve only told you objective facts. I have neither added nor subtracted any more, so please forget all the feelings you are having these days. You have a lot of work to do right now, but doesn¡¯t the fact that you are having such leisurely thoughts mean you have a room in your heart? If there¡¯s one thing I can learn from you, it¡¯s this.¡±


    It was a worn-out praise, but Youngho felt better.


    ¡®Have I been thirsty for praises?¡¯


    ¡°After hearing your words, I seem to have forgotten for a moment that I am the Duke of Kazakhstan. I¡¯ve already decided to walk this path, but I was having a second thought because I was obsessed with trivial feelings. It¡¯s an irreversible situation, and I have to see the end in some way anyway.¡±


    Eriksson smiled all over as Youngho seemed to have gotten out of mixed feelings.


    It was because he confirmed that the two finally had the same idea.


    This was why it was important for someone to confirm that what one was doing was never wrong. It was also about restoring confidence.


    ***


    Uyghur¡¯s independence was a matter of immediate concern to Kazakhstan¡¯s well-being.


    It was because it was a matter of having a buffer zone against China.


    To achieve it, Kazakhstan had to crack down on its own territory first.


    If it tried to attack China, ignoring borderlines with holes everywhere, it might soon face a counterattack.


    After settling down his emotions, Youngho began to strengthen the internal stability.


    Although the Kazakhstan border troops were not sloppy or poorly trained, he ordered them to check the soldiers and re-train them to eliminate their weaknesses one by one.


    It was designed to look like usual heightened alertness from China¡¯s view.


    In this way, the border area was reinforced watertight.


    While mping down on military personnel, he also carefully took care of pending economic issues.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s economy was concerning due to the tensions with China.


    Kazakhstan was now just at the entrance of a developed country.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s economic constitution was weak enough for the economy to falter with just a small external factor.


    When he was busy with this matter, the news that he had been waiting for was delivered.

 Chapter 781 - Descendants of Nomad (1)

    <h4>Chapter 781: Descendants of Nomad (1)</h4>


    At the royal security area, where royal military production nts were concentrated, the government and military officials and domestic and foreign reporters, including Youngho, were watching the test-firing of missiles.


    Looking at the missiles flying at supersonic speed, everyone pped his hands in awe.


    In fact, Kazakhstan had been licensed to produce advanced weapons such as fighter jets and helicopters, but this was the first time that all technology from projectiles to keyponents had been transferred.


    They were pleased to see the result of it.


    In a way, it was also an unconventional move to invite domestic and foreign reporters to reveal the test-firing scene.


    It was Kazakhstan¡¯s pride to disclose both internally and externally that the current fastest cruise missiles would be produced in Kazakhstan. On the other hand, it was also a protest aimed at China.


    It was a warning that Kazakhstan could produce unlimited weapons that could target maind China at any time.


    Still, it was announced in front of domestic and foreign reporters that those weapons would be used only for defense, not attack.


    Such an announcement also implied that Kazakhstan would not use the advanced weapons if China did not use them in the event of a border dispute.


    Usually, these weapons were supposed to be kept as hidden weapons, but revealing their power to the public meant that Kazakhstan would keep them only as a deterrent to war.


    China must have noticed Kazakhstan¡¯s innermost stance quickly.


    The message of refraining from using missiles, which could be seen as weapons of mass destruction, was a warning that China should not use such weapons in local warfare, such as border disputes.


    The Russian-developed cruise missiles could fly at supersonic speed, so it could not be stopped by a decent air defensework.


    The supersonic missile, named Kalibr, had already been deployed in action. It wasunched at a secret Syrian rebel cave base 1,500 kilometers away from the sea,pletely destroying it without a single error.


    Kazakhstan now had its own missiles, which it was considered better than any other Western missile in speed and precision.


    The fact that Russian-provided missiles were to be produced in earnest meant that Sukhoi Su stealth fighters and next-generation tanks would also be produced soon, which had drawn keen attention from overseas as well.


    There had been various predictions and spections about why Russia recently decided to empower Kazakhstan.


    Le Monde, a leading French daily newspaper, published an article titled ¡°The Honeymoon of Russia and Kazakhstan,¡± saying that the era of the New Cold War had arrived in Central Asia.


    As this was from a newspaperpany that usually did not publish provocative articles, it attracted global attention.


    The intelligence service, which had been screening global news every day, also made a fuss about the ridiculous article.


    ¡°They¡¯ve written pretty good fiction. What¡¯s up with that?¡±


    Youngho did not pay too much attention to this article mentioning the new Cold War since continuous Western attention on Central Asia and Uyghur was important.


    ¡°The new Cold War era? It¡¯s encouraging war. They¡¯re trying to use the tensions in Central Asia to sell their weapons.¡±


    Park Jong-il was concerned about the problematic article.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter when it¡¯s us that want to start war? And I will reject French weapons even if the government offers them for free. Then Putin will be sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that Le Monde is setting the mood, but isn¡¯t the expression that ¡®the New Cold War era is here¡¯ a little bit off?¡± Shouldn¡¯t you protest strongly against it?¡±


    ¡°Protest for what? Make it keep writing fiction. A lot of interest in Kazakhstan is proof that it¡¯s an important area.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that¡¯s not what they intended. Haven¡¯t you read the full article? It describes how French weapons are better than Russian ones at the end.¡±


    Most countries had little interest in the well-being of Central Asia.


    The French newspaper was probably aiming to use the tension between Kazakhstan and China to promote its own interests.


    It was only natural for a country to seek its benefits from another¡¯s war.


    Kazakhstan also absorbed nearby countries into the federation and generated profits by taking advantage of the chaos in neighboring countries, such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.


    Ultimately, it was for Kazakhstan¡¯s national interest.


    Youngho liked France¡¯s aggressive attitude through the media since it was at least doing it openly.


    Likewise, the reason that the EU at the recent European Union leaders¡¯ meeting in Brussels adopted the joint statement was probably intended to take a step toward the future.


    It would be in the interest of the European Union to empower resource-rich Kazakhstan.


    If Uyghur became independent, China would lose that much power, and that would be in the interest of the European Union.


    That way, European necessities, which were suffering from encroachment by Chinese goods, would have a breakthrough.


    ¡°What are the reactions of the other countries?¡±


    ¡°Most European media outlets argue that Kazakhstan is bleeding excessively to keep China in check. They are raising concerns that this might cause our economy to falter.¡±


    They were worried about Kazakhstan¡¯s economy. Rather, they would wee it.


    If government funds were exhausted due to huge defense spending, Kazakhstan, which had been cutting back on its mineral resources, would further increase its exports.


    More exports would lead to lower prices, and European Union countries that relied on imports would automatically benefit from it.


    If the tension between the two countries did not spark a fire in Europe, those countries would hope that this atmosphere would continue.


    ¡°Raising concerns? Ha! Europe will only benefit from the confusion in Central Asia. Anyway, it¡¯s fine since it was our wish that we¡¯d be at the center of the news.¡±


    When a war broke out, countless neighboring countries would benefit from it.


    However, it would be very disappointing for Europe to know that the Kazakh royal family had enough money to wage war.


    ***


    Youngho persuaded the Kasim government to significantly increase the export volume of minerals, oil, and gas.


    Of course, it was just a temporary increase in exports, but European Union countries excitedly weed it, thinking Kazakhstan was increasing export volumes after failing to cover its huge defense spending.


    Although the unit price of exports was still at the previous level, they were even adjusting the volume of imports expecting that the prices would fall soon, which made Younghough.


    It was because their intention was so obvious.


    In a highlypetitive situation, the misfortune of another country was other countries¡¯ happiness.


    Still, European Union countries had been epting all of Kazakhstan¡¯s increased resources so far because their mineral resources were so poor.


    Otherwise, they could miss the chance to buy resources at cheaper pricester.


    This was if they fell out of Kazakhstan¡¯s favor by being ignorant when it was having a difficult time, Kazakhstan might control the volume of exports by country.


    At times like these days, ignoring a country with resources could be a disaster.


    This was an era where resources were national power.


    Given that Arab countries dominated the world with crude oil as their weapons.


    Youngho had been staying in Astana these days to check the economic situation.


    So, he had tea time with Prime Minister Kasim everyday.


    ¡°Your Highness, as you have predicted, the European Union is very conscious of us. Thank God our n worked.¡±


    Kasim was worried that the unit price of exports would fall as the volume of exports increased.


    However, European countries were continuously digesting export volume without anyint, so he was feeling relieved.


    Once the resource price went down, it was difficult to raise it back to the previous price.


    Even if the production cut policy was established, production would have to be made at the expense of losses due to the volume already contracted.


    ¡°I think we should give them hope for the time being. They¡¯re probably going to try to slowly adjust the volume expecting the unit price to go down.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to say we¡¯ll start to reflect adjustments for next year¡¯s exports.¡±


    Having been the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan for years, Kasim had be a great businessman as Youngho now.


    ¡°Please also tell European countries that we don¡¯t have enough government budget. That way, they¡¯ll trust our promise.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha...¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯ve recently received reports of unusual movements by the Chinese military, and I¡¯m hesitant about how to deal with it. ording to a survey conducted by the intelligence service, more Chinese troops are being added to the Uyghur area. It seems that China has noticed something. So, we are nning to dy our action into Uyghur a little bit, so please exin this situation to the military. The troops had been looking forward to it day after day receiving intense training, I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll be disappointed.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get a lot ofints about this. They were looking forward to crossing the border soon.¡±


    It was normal to be afraid of war, but Kazakhstan¡¯s military seemed to be looking forward to it.


    Considering Central Asians¡¯ aggressive temperamenting from their nomadic nature, it was natural.


    Even at the time of Imperial Russia, the Russians established fortress cities in various ces because they were wary of Central Asian people.


    Even with Russia¡¯s powerful force, the Kazakh people were not suppressed easily with their belligerence and bravery.


    In fact, some of the nomads were like bandit groups who used to plunder others.


    For them, there was no choice but to barter or plunder to save grain.


    Their fame also shone in the Battle of Stalingrad, the current Volgograd, during World War II.


    At that time, the force that led to the victory of the Volga River battle was not the Red Army, but the conscripts of Kazakhstan.


    So even now, the Russian government often praised Kazakhstan as a blood alliance, as countless soldiers from Kazakhstan were sacrificed in the Battle of the Volga River.


    The German troops lost their fighting spirit due to the recklessness of Kazakhstan¡¯s soldiers, who jumped into their enemies like fire moths as if their lives were nothing.


    The nomadic people were belligerent and brave because their lives resembled Mother Nature.


    Such gic factors had been ingrained in their DNAs as they had lived for thousands of years in the lives of constantly fighting against Mother Nature and caring for livestock and family members from predators.


    As they always had death by their sides, they had a unique conception of death.


    Nomadic people thought that only things that moved were alive and that they were moving because they were alive.


    The sun, moon, water, wind, birds, and animals were all alive because they moved.


    Stopping movement meant death.


    Livestock or people who were injured while on the move were no longer able to move, so they had to get out of the party.


    It was because others in the party could risk their lives if the groups¡¯ travel was stopped due to the injured person.


    That meant taking death naturally, and they did not give much meaning to death as death only meant one that stopped moving.


    The reason why Kazakhstan¡¯s soldiers were brave during World War II originated from the nomadic mentality that they should move constantly.


    To remain motionless and still was to be a failure waiting for death.


    And because even death was epted in nomadic ways, there was no fear of bullets or shells, and they were able to jump into enemy positions like fire moths.


    Youngho was confident that Kazakhstan¡¯s soldiers with this nomadic temperament would win against China no matter how many high-tech weapons it mobilized.

 Chapter 782 - Descendants of Nomad (2)

    <h4>Chapter 782: Descendants of Nomad (2)</h4>


    The nomads of Central Asia were a people who lived in poor natural conditions.


    In the process of oveing the barren environment, they became strong and for thousands of years, they were tempered under foreign influence. Their gic factor naturally permeated the bodies of their descendants.


    They searched for grasses to fatten livestock, raised offsprings, and protected the grasnds so far by fighting against the invasion of immigrants.


    They regarded horses as the most precious livestock because moving was part of their life.


    Horses were a means of transportation to and from the grasnds and a great tool of war, so horses were inseparable from nomadic people.


    In the eyes of invaders, people of Central Asia would have been like demons, appearing and dispersing in a sh, causing dust.


    They might have looked like demons without blood or tears, but it was a struggle to live.


    They had to show their bravado with a small number of people to intimidate their opponents with a loud appearance, and a little bit of cruelty was added to prevent them from attacking again.


    Due to their life environments where they had to continuously move in order to live, horses were part of their life.


    They also had the ability to turn the bodypletely backwards while riding a horse and shoot an arrow, and such flexible bodies were the result of riding horses every day.


    Perhaps that was why most of Kazakhstan¡¯s soldiers were like special marksmen.


    The gene from their ancestors, who used to boast of shooting arrows taking down their enemies urately even on a shaky horse, remained in their bodies, so they were good at shooting guns.


    There was no other way to exin the Kazakh soldiers¡¯ shooting ability otherwise.


    As this trait was passed down to posterity, the Central Asian people were perceived as belligerent and courageous.


    For this reason, even during the period when China was strong, it did not dare to attack Central Asia.


    The only time it was conquered was by Genghis Khan of Mongolia.


    Central Asians had no chance against Genghis Khan, who conquered Europe like a flood.


    Uyghur was annexed to China in the 19th century after the Qing Dynasty established Xinjiang Fortress.


    Up until then, Uyghur had maintained its reputation as a member of Central Asia.


    Uyghur was home to all ethnic groups in Central Asia, including the Kazakh, Uzbek, Tatar, and Kyrgyz, as well as the Uyghurs.


    In particr, Uyghur was an area with an unusually high percentage of immigrant residents among its own other autonomous states of China, and there was not even a connection between Uyghurs and the Chinese people, including theirnguage, religion, and western appearance.


    Uyghurs had no reason to be called as Chinese, so they were constantly demanding independence.


    Since Uyghur had a strong connection to Central Asia, the Uyghur issue became the main focus of Central Asia, and Kazakhstan helped the Uyghurs to establish an autonomous region in Kashgar, Uyghurst time.


    However, the Chinese government¡¯s recent Uyghur policy did not hesitate to engage in anti-humanitarian acts as if it intended to wipe out all Uyghurs.


    In this situation, Kazakhstan would not overlook such acts.


    Kazakhstan was the leading country of Central Asia. If it refused to y its role as a leading state, the federal citizens would stand against the government and royal family, causing the federal to be shaken.


    On top of the nomadic and ethnic connection to Uyghur, there was a reason why Kazakhstan should be involved in war against China to free the Uyghurs.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s national interest was directly rted to the Uyghur issue as well as it needed a buffer zone called Uyghur against China for national security.


    For these reasons, Uyghur¡¯s independence must be won.


    It did not have to be the whole Uyghur territory, but could be the areas bordering China were enough.


    ***


    The Royal Bodyguards organized in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan began secretly moving into the Kashgar region of Uyghur.


    The move was a response to intelligence reports that Chinese troops were gathering in Uyghur, just in case such a move was aimed at targeting Kashgar.


    Kazakhstan¡¯s regr forces were nned to be sent in the form of peacekeepers in time for the armistice, so they could not be mobilized now, but the royal guards were not tied to such a political burden.


    There was nothing much to worry about as the mercenaries of private militarypanies had already been deployed along the border, but the reason the royal guards were sent to Kashgar was because they volunteered to get involved.


    As the descendants of nomadic people, they wanted to contribute.


    Anyway, the deployment of some 1,500 royal guards disguised as militiamen eased some of the anxiety over Kashgar.


    Of course, if China attacked with all its might, it could recapture Kashgar, but it would have to be prepared for a huge loss of troops.


    The Kazakh Intelligence Service judged that China would not be able to attack so easily because of that.


    As such, Kashgar was the ce where the pride of both countries was at stake.


    Youngho was weighing the timing of the Uyghur independence fight, Putin secretly requested Youngho to visit Moscow, so he flew to Moscow right away.


    Putin¡¯s urgent request at such an important time like this meant that he had something to advise or something had happened.


    Youngho entered the Kremlin with worry.


    Putin greeted him with pleasure.


    ¡°You cooked the European Union well. I didn¡¯t know European greedy people would even adopt a joint statement against China. You are indeed a great diplomat.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee. No special diplomatic effort was required. It¡¯s because our interests are in sync. The EU will be writing its bills to us soon.¡±


    Everything about diplomatic rtions was profit.


    Even though the European Union seemed to have risen up for the human rights of Uyghurs, it was done after a careful calction for benefits in return.


    Likewise, the reason why Putin was empowering Kazakhstan was because it was directly rted to Russia¡¯s interests.


    ¡°By all means, you seem to have earned enough cause externally. The Chinese authorities will be very upset. But I¡¯m a little concerned that China is rallying its forces in Uyghur. It¡¯s going to be a tough fight.¡±


    Putin was also scrutinizing China¡¯s move.


    It was not a matter of finding out such a thing through Russia¡¯s intelligencework.


    However, he became deeply concerned because he thought it would be a dispute that would go beyond the scope of the initial calction.


    Youngho confessed that he had mobilized the royal forces to reassure Putin.


    ¡°We are thoroughly prepared for that. Civilian militarypanies are participating and non-regr troops are being deployed. We¡¯ve recently mobilized some of the federal royal forces.¡±


    ¡°We believe that we can never achieve our goal with that scale of troops. Shouldn¡¯t we take Uyghur away from China for sure? That¡¯s why I wanted to see you. I was thinking about deploying some civilian resources, too.¡±


    It seemed Russia also wanted to be deeply involved, but Youngho was not sure whether there were civilian militarypanies in Russia as well. He looked at Putin to listen to his next words.


    ¡°I also heard it all about Yaniv. You¡¯ve mobilized mercenaries consisting of mafia groups.¡±


    Youngho was startled by Putin¡¯s remark, but he acted as if it was nothing.


    ¡°Well... I used to do this and that, but now I think that the organization has been dismantled and only a part of the group are working in our private militarypany.¡±


    Youngho did not know how Putin figured it out, but he came clean to him as he seemed to know about it all.


    ¡°It was a very fresh idea. Who could have thought of using the trouble-prone mafia as mercenaries? When I heard that, I was quite surprised.¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, are you thinking of a mercenary made up of mafia members?¡±


    ¡°The way to help you is to deploy regr troops, but it seems like it¡¯s going to be a big fight with China, so I thought about using the mafia.¡±


    It was no exaggeration to say that Russia was a mafia paradise.


    There was no ce where the mafia did not intervene, so Putin even dered war on the mafia.


    However, that was an external political move only, and he did not seem like he despised mafia groups.


    ¡°Now that you are willing to lend a hand, I feel like I¡¯ve got thousands of troops.¡±


    If the mafia, known for its roughness, yed an active role, it would be a great help to the military power.


    ¡°And besides the mafia mercenaries, there are Serbian militias. They helped us a lot during the Ukraine crisis. If it¡¯s too help Kazakhstan, they¡¯ll probably roll up their sleeves to help. You know, Kazakhstan¡¯s Queen is Serbian, too.¡±


    He was going to attract all sorts of mercenaries into this as he could not deploy regr troops.


    Serbia was so pro-Russian that it was even called another Russia in Eastern Europe.


    This was due to the bond between the two countries as they were the same East vic people.


    Serbia also volunteered to help Russia during the Ukraine crisis.


    With such a track record, Putin said mobilizing Serbian militias was not a problem.


    Although they were not properly trained, they could be helpful and they had experience in conducting a battle close to guerri warfare.


    Since Kazakhstan needed any help it could get, Youngho did not refuse Putin¡¯s offer.


    ¡°The Serbian militia that has a lot ofbat experience is wee anytime.¡±


    Youngho was thankful, but in a way, Putin was risking a lot by helping Kazakhstan.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you might be in trouble for this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m prepared for that. If you suffer, it will be a big blow to Russia. Also, the Uyghur issue isn¡¯t just about Kazakhstan.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a high-risk, high-return, right? I have to take some risk in moving for the national interest. You don¡¯t have to feel too much pressure. Think of it as a payback for defeating Germany in the Battle of the Volga River with the help of Kazakhstan¡¯s soldiers during World War II.¡±


    In other words, it meant that they were in a mutual rtionship, and Youngho and Kazakhstan would owe Putin.


    This was why Putin was mentioning World War II, which was more than half a century old.


    ¡°Just not forgetting the hard work of Kazakhstan¡¯s soldiers will make the people of our country proud. I¡¯ll be sure to pay you back for this.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I told you you don¡¯t have to feel pressured. We are still blood allies before and now.¡±


    Youngho was not sure what Putin was really after by doing this, but for now, he needed Putin¡¯s help.


    ¡°Mr. President, you know we can¡¯t let this day just go without a small celebration, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... I knew you¡¯d say that, so I¡¯ve already prepared it for you.¡±


    Putin knew that Youngho was a drinker, so he prepared a drink after the private meeting.


    Putin, who usually did not enjoy drinking, arranged a drinking party for Youngho.


    It was only a minor favor, but this meant he valued his rtionship with Youngho.

 Chapter 783 - The Central Asian Union

    <h4>Chapter 783: The Central Asian Union</h4>


    ¡°And why would you go there? You are the generalmander who must look at the whole battle situation and direct it.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan had been insisting to go to Kashgar himself to conduct the operation for thest few days, giving Youngho a headache.


    Cha In-soo was in a position to lead private military mercenaries, so he needed to go regardless of his will, but Cho Chul-hwan was in a position of a generalmander who should look at the whole scene from behind.


    However, it was perplexing because he insisted that he must lead the team on the spot.


    ¡°This will be the biggest war in this century. Of course, I must direct it at the scene. The royal guards are deployed, and the generalmander can¡¯t direct it from behind. Even for the morale of the troops, I should be in the front.¡±


    ¡°Oh,e on. I understand you want to participate in history, but there have been many wars since the 21st Century. You can never go there. What if you get shot? If the generalmander dies, the war is over.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to run around with a gun myself but will be sitting inside a bunker. What¡¯s wrong? I always told my troops that the answer always lies at the spot, so how can I sit back in the rear side?¡±


    ¡°This is different. You know the importance of supporting from the rear side.¡±


    The victory or defeat of war depended on meticulous operations and the morale of the soldiers.


    Being on the spot could narrow one¡¯s view of the whole battle.


    It was not easy to see the whole thing in a ce full of flying bullets and to make rational judgments.


    To direct the overall war, themander should look at it from a distance.


    Of course, it was also important to hear the voices from the soldiers in the spot directly.


    However, now they were living in an era where they could see the whole picture without having to be on the battlefield.


    In the 21st century, with early rms, telmunications, and satellites, the battle site could be identified from the rear as much as possible.


    ¡°If you¡¯re really curious about the situation there, go ahead now. There may be some unfinished parts, so look at them with your own eyes. Also, you can check the training situation of the mafia mercenaries and Serbian militias.¡±


    With Putin¡¯s cooperation, the mafia mercenaries and Serbian militias had already arrived in Kashgar and were busy training.


    Youngho was not aware of it when he discussed it with Putin, but the mafia mercenaries turned out to be an organization that yed an active role in upying the Crimean Penins.


    At that time, the Russian government announced that the locals had voluntarily participated, but behind the scenes, even the mafia had been mobilized by the government.


    ¡°Can I really go to Kashgar? They are an important power to us, so of course, I should check their training.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll never start the war until youe back, so don¡¯t even think about staying there.¡±


    ***


    No matter how important Uyhgur¡¯s independence war was, nothing was more important than the economic development of the Federal Kingdom of Kazakhstan.


    Mining cities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were facing an untimely peak to meet the suddenly increased export volume of mineral resources.


    Collecting mineral resources was not an automated system like making electronics, so manpower must be mobilized. Thus, many jobs had been created.


    Kazakhstan, which suffered from theck ofbor force due to little poption, had to be supplied from the outside, and Uzbekistan was the easiest ce.


    Uzbekistan boasted thergest poption in Central Asia, with as many as 33 million people, which was about the number of all poptions of Kazakhstan¡¯s federal statesbined.


    Although there were nomadic people, it was an agricultural-based economic structure, and the poption growth rate was faster than other regions due to abundant agricultural products.


    As the people of Uzbekistan had a hard time finding a job due to the country¡¯sck of an industrial base, many people found jobs abroad.


    They had been employed mostly in the Far East and the Middle East, but they recently flocked to Kazakhstan as there were a lot of jobs avable in Kazakhstan.


    Even the mining area, which was short-handed, could be in full production because of the Uzbek people.


    ¡°Your Highness, I think we should sign a memorandum of understanding with the Uzbek government. There are so many illegal workers, and it¡¯s going to be a social problem.¡±


    Kasim mentioned the illegal employment of Uzbek people when he came to report on his work.


    There were many cases of hiring Uzbek people who came on general visas because Kazakhstancked hands.


    As logistics between the two countries were customs-free and markets were open in border cities on a regr basis, people were rtively free to travel.


    Uzbek people also spoke Russian as an officialnguage, so they were weed anywhere in Kazakhstan.


    As a result, people often passed their legal stay period, and unintentionally became illegal immigrants.


    However, bad business owners were even taking advantage of such a situation as a pretext to cut wages.


    ¡°Then, are you saying that all Uzbek people are illegal employees?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. There are many cases where peoplee after getting a work visa. However, our work visa issuance has a high bar, and it¡¯s limited because if we expand the issue of the work visa too much, it could threaten the employment opportunity for our people. There is a possibility that our mainstream society will be encroached upon.¡±


    No matter how many jobs were overflowing, giving work visas to any foreign workers could threaten the jobs for young and middle-aged people of Kazakhstan.


    As most Central Asians did, Uzbek people had an exceptionally strong ability to maintain their livelihood.


    They were also famous for their passion for education and the ability to easily settle down and adjust well wherever they went.


    Prime Minister Kasim was worried that a flood of Uzbek people would shake Kazakhstan¡¯s mainstream society.


    Money outflow was also a concern.


    ¡°Theck of workers is the problem, so will it be fundamentally solved by limiting the number of employed people? Why don¡¯t you open our countrypletely?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Kasim only nced at Youngho as if he did not understand them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can¡¯t afford to have Uzbek employees. And one day, Central Asia will be integrated into one, so I¡¯m suggesting to open the door freely in order to prepare for that time. If we had a little institutional arrangement, it wouldn¡¯t be a big threat.¡±


    Even now, both countries were tied up in one economic bloc, and so it was a little unfair to separate it by nationality.


    There were high-quality jobs in Kazakhstan, and artificial blocking of hiring Uzbeks could worsen the people¡¯s rtionship.


    If economic integration took ce first, political integration would take ce naturally.


    What Youngho envisioned was a unified kingdom that was more advanced than the European Union.


    Even if it was a national wealth outflow, the money would still be circted in Central Asia.


    ¡°I always thought about Uzbekistan separately, and I didn¡¯t think about it that way.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have such concerns, who will? If our people are threatened by theck of jobs, we¡¯ll do whatever we can to help them.¡±


    ¡°I will discuss with relevant ministers and gradually release our visa for Uzbek citizens. If we break down the border first, Uzbekistan will follow.¡±


    ¡°Great. By the way, Prime Minister, how is the perception of the Uzbek government and its people about the recent Uyghur crisis? I know there are a lot of Uzbek people living in Uyghur, but it¡¯s strange that they¡¯re staying still.¡±


    The interest in Uyghur human rights was growing that even the European Union adopted a joint statement, but only Uzbekistan seemed to be unusually quiet.


    ¡°The people¡¯s exasperated, but what can they do from a far-off perspective? They don¡¯t even share a border with China and can¡¯t threaten China with its economic power. All they can do is boycott Chinese products.¡±


    It was fortunate that they were at least showing interest.


    A small country could not even protest even if its people were persecuted abroad.


    If they bordered China, they could protest by a show of force, but they had no border with China, and they could not impose economic sanctions due to Uzbekistan¡¯s weak economic power.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t we try to get in touch with the Uzbek government at the government level?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like that¡¯ll be much help, and I¡¯ve ruled it out because we could risk an early exposure to our n.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to give the Uzbek people a chance to have pride in their contribution to Uyghur independence as a member state of Central Asia. Even though a pro-China government would not make a fool of itself when ites to its own people¡¯s ethnic matters?¡±


    Nothing would change even if Uzbekistan got involved.


    However, as a leading country of Central Asia, Youngho wanted to encourage Uzbekistan to join, so it would not be left out in contributing to Uyghur¡¯s independence as a member of Central Asia.


    Likewise, Turkmenistan, which had always been left out in Central Asia, would also be given a chance.


    Although the country was rarely seen in the internationalmunity, it had remained a member of Central Asia.


    Turkmenistan, which bordered Kazakhstan on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, had no special color.


    Youngho did not even pay attention to it to leave it as a buffer zone against Iran, but the people could also be disappointed if Turkmenistan was excluded from the Uyghur issue.


    Regardless of whether they would join or not, Kazakhstan should give them a chance.


    Youngho continued, ¡°That¡¯s why I want you to visit Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Whether it¡¯ll be helpful or not, they¡¯re part of Central Asia, so why not give them a chance to participate?¡±


    ¡°I feel sorry to think that Turkmenistan is always being marginalized. So, sure. We¡¯ll be able to finally save Kazakhstan¡¯s face as a leading state of Central Asia that way.¡±


    The only thing that Kazakhstan could support would be Russia¡¯s old-fashioned weapons, but what was important was to include those countries in the Uyghur issue.


    If the two countries returned to the Central Asian Union through this incident, Youngho would help them achieve rapid growth like Kazakhstan.


    He did not mean to absorb and integrate them like Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan.


    The idea was to coexist and prosper under the big framework of the Central Asian Union.

 Chapter 784 - The Empire of the Ring (1)

    <h4>Chapter 784: The Empire of the Ring (1)</h4>


    The allied forces of Russian mafia, Serbian militiamen, and some members of the Royal Bodyguards were dispersed and deployed in Kazakhstan¡¯s northeastern border area.


    While Kazakhstan¡¯s military was distracting the Chinese troops with a small battle within the border area, the allied forces who quickly crossed the border joined forces with armed fighting forces in Uyghur and quickly took over the border cities of Aratai and Tacheng.


    And in just ten days, the forces pushed their way down to the Junggar Basin.


    There were quite a few casualties between the two sides in the process, but there were no major battles.


    The Chinese military also focused more on protecting Urumqi, the capital of Uyghur, than on desert areas.


    The allied forces advanced 100 kilometers ahead of Urumqi and began to solidify the front line as the Chinese Army was also there to defend Urumqi.


    The Junggar Basin was a basin-type desert area blocked by the Altai Mountains in the northeast and blocked by the Tian Shan Mountains in the south.


    Securing this area itself would form a buffer zone in the northeast, so the forces pushed for it with all their might.


    The Chinese troops, who were unprepared, simply stepped back, so there was no major battle.


    For the Chinese side, it was not a big deal to give up the desert to the Uyghur militias that suddenly made an action. It also seemed to think that it could recapture the area at any time with the power of the Chinese Army.


    The allied forces had a little trouble getting over to Uyghur to avoid the eyes of the Chinese troops stationed in the border area, and the rest of the section was a deserted desert, so they only needed to drive through on armored vehicles.


    The Chinese military, which was focused on defending Urumqi only, did not care about the desert area.


    However, the loss of the Junggar Basin isted Chinese troops stationed on the border of Kazakhstan.


    About 10,000 Chinese border troops were stranded because they had enemies on both sides.


    Although the supply would not be cut off because the sky path was still open, 10,000 Chinese troops in northeastern Kazakhstan would automatically fall into captivity as Kazakhstan nned to block the sky path soon.


    This was how far Youngho targeted to take over the Uyghur Independence War in the northeastern region.


    If the Junggar Basin and the Tian Shan Mountains were seized, the northern passage linking China and Kazakhstan would be blocked.


    The allied forces also advanced simultaneously in the Kashgar Autonomous Republic in the areas that bordered Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.


    The Royal Bodyguards and Uyghur militiamen, all dressed up as Uyghur militiamen, pushed to achieve control of a branch of Tian Shan Mountains, north of Kashgar, and the Tamakan Desert, part of the Tarim Basin.


    Unlike the Junggar Basin in the north, fierce battles took ce here day after day.


    If the Tarim Basin was lost, China would lose one of China¡¯s oil production sites, so it defended it with all its might.


    Just like the Junggar Basin in the north, there was no intention of taking over the whole region from the beginning because that would only prolong the war.


    If the Chinese troops fought back after the allied forces upied the region to certain degrees, they would retreat to Aksu Prefecture, a city located in the tributary of the Tianshan Mountains, and fight back there.


    They did not mean to upy much of the area, so they nned to move forward and stop moderately, but they could not get out of the vicinity of the Aksu area.


    The Chinese troops came out so strong that the fighting in the eastern part of Kashgar became fiercer day by day.


    With the fierce battles, there were a number of casualties among militiamen, Royal Bodyguards, and mercenaries.


    In particr, the most sacrificed people were Uyghur militiamen whocked experience.


    ¡°The Chinese army is unexpectedly fighting back strongly.¡±


    Cho Chul-hwan, who came into Youngho¡¯s office to report the war situation, looked serious.


    He had thought that the forces would move forward in a rapid manner once the battle started but was very embarrassed as it was getting out of his hand.


    ¡°Did you think it would end in one morning? It¡¯s an independence war. The fight against the Chinese army. It will easily be dragged on for months.¡±


    Since mediators were supposed to appear anyway if the war was prolonged, Youngho believed that if the war dragged out for a few months, it would be concluded.


    ¡°It¡¯s because the Chinese military has an advantage if we struggle like this from the beginning. They¡¯ve got over two million men. It¡¯ll be hard to hold out for a few months if they deploy additional forces.¡±


    ¡°We expected a shortage of troops anyway, and there¡¯s something we can do. Our specialty is guerri warfare. Don¡¯t even think about confronting the Chinese military directly.¡±


    It would be a suicide to fight the regr army with Uyghur militiamen who were not properly trained as regr troops.


    The Chinese Army also had better weapons in terms of firepower as it was mobilizing fighter jets and helicopters.


    ¡°I think we should use fighter jets, too. Can¡¯t you do anything about it?¡±


    ¡°How do we mobilize the fighters? We¡¯re even careful to mobilizebat helicopters now.¡±


    Although Zeynep Security Service¡¯s private militarypany was on the rise these days, it had not yet been big enough to own fighter jets.


    It only had a few smallbat helicopters.


    The mercenaries were mainly skilled in guerri warfare, but were less than the regr army in terms of equipment.


    Under such circumstances, the use of fighter jets would signal that Kazakhstan was leading the war of independence behind the scenes.


    Of course, China was well aware that Kazakhstan was in charge of the Uyghur militia.


    However, there was no hard evidence.


    ¡°If it¡¯s the end of the war, it would be a different story, but we can¡¯t mobilize fighter jets or missiles right now.¡±


    ¡°Then what if we distract the Chinese military¡¯s focus from Uyghur to somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°Do you have any good ideas?¡±


    ¡°I was wondering if the Royal Navy could provoke the Chinese Navy in Southeast Asian waters.¡±


    Youngho had thought about it too.


    Nevertheless, it was not implemented because if the Uyghur independence war was brought out of the country, it would not be supported by the internationalmunity.


    The idea of dispersing the Chinese military¡¯s attention in Southeast Asian waters was only short-sighted.


    In Southeast Asian waters, which had thergest number of logistics transfers, there had been staging of armed protests but never directbat.


    Countries were refraining from armed conflict in Southeast Asian waters, which were logistics routes.


    Who would like it if the Kazakh Navy appeared, causing troubles when it was not an interested party in Southeast Asian waters?


    Itcked justification and could brand Kazakhstan as a terrorist country.


    Also, if Kazakhstan took such a reckless action in Southeast Asian waters, its solid cooperation with the U.S. and India in the Indian Ocean could be broken.


    Anyway, the idea was wrong in manyyers.


    Cho Chul-hwan, who was listening to Youngho¡¯s exnation, immediately withdrew his proposal after realizing that it was a reckless operation.


    ¡°I almost got our country into international trouble. Then I guess there¡¯s no way to distract China from focusing on Uyghur. We need to reduce the sacrifice of the militia somehow though...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of breaking through the front line, but shake the whole Uyghur area with guerri warfare. It¡¯s hard to win this in a short period anyway, but we can¡¯t use high-tech weapons that could lead to an esction. Wouldn¡¯t someone at least go ahead and try to mediate if it looks like the war will prolong?¡±


    If Syria and Uyghur were stirred up, the global economy would be shaken.


    Developed countries would not just neglect such a situation as their economy was highly dependent on exports.


    The United Nations, the European Union, and the United States were bound to mediate.


    Then the forces would stick to the current upied territory and agree to a cease-fire.


    Of course, China should agree, but China also had no alternative, so it expected to respond to a ceasefire.


    This was because Uyghur¡¯s war of independence was pushing its economy to the bottom.


    There had even been moves to impose economic sanctions on China for its inhumane acts


    against the Uyghurs, which was threatening to China as its economy depended on trades.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to release the allied forces of mercenaries, militias, and Royal Bodyguards, who are good at guerri warfare all over Uyghur, but there will be sacrifices no matter what we do.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make sure they¡¯re ready before letting them out. Don¡¯t just think about the attack and try to prepare them to make aeback without losing one member.¡±


    The battle was raging everywhere.


    As a result, numerous injuries were reported, and field hospitals were set up throughout the battlefield so that they could be transferred directly to receive emergency treatment.


    Arge field hospital was operating on the Kazakh-Chinese border in eastern Kazakhstan, and the performance of a medical volunteer group led by Zeynep was quite notable.


    She stationed special hospital trains at the border area and responded quickly to give medical attention to injured soldiers.


    It was possible because all the hospital trains that had been doing medical volunteer work in the Caucasus area had been moved to Kazakhstan in advance.


    Even if there was a battle at sea, the existence of the hospital ship would have saved the lives of countless soldiers.


    The operation of a hospital ship and mobile hospital trains, which began with Zeynep¡¯s suggestion, was now widely known around the world.


    In the early days, it was epted as a rich Kazakh royal princess¡¯ pretentious humanitarian work, but now many looked up to her cause, and many organizations promised assistance.


    Thanks to the volunteer work of the hospital ship and trains in remote areas, countless people in the medical blind spots had been able to be treated.


    However, now, Zeynep was insistent that she would go to Uyghur herself for volunteer work, which caused Youngho a headache.


    ¡°Everyone is grateful for your help on the border, so stop being stubborn. If you¡¯re in the middle of the battlefield, how can our family and the soldiers feelfortable? The bullets or shells won¡¯t dodge you automatically.¡±


    He felt like he was getting more gray hair because of Zeynep.


    ¡°People say that there are many soldiers whose lives are in critical condition because the militia is not treated in time. It¡¯s about saving lives. If you avoid it because of some danger, who would the soldiers trust?¡±


    Once Zeynep was determined to have her way, no one could stop her.


    Fatima had tried to persuade her earlier and handed the ball over to Youngho.


    ¡°You are still a spoiled little girl! You don¡¯t have to go to the front line because we transfer the soldiers by helicopter right after giving them first aid.¡±


    When Youngho strongly opposed it, Zeynep was no longer stubborn, but she tried to use other excuses.


    ¡°I really wanted to visit for the morale of the militia...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why everyone¡¯s so crazy about going to a dangerous battlefield.¡±


    Who would not know how dangerous a battlefield was?


    However, it was amazing that everyone was trying to y a role.


    Every Kazakh person was willing to lend a hand in this fight as they felt responsible for Uyghur¡¯s independence.


    Youngho did not expect this kind of atmosphere, but on the other hand, it was fortunate.


    It would have been a headache if the people criticized the royal family and the government for causing a national crisis by being nosy and bringing in unnecessary work.

 Chapter 785 (END) - The Empire of the Ring (2) (End)

    <h4>Chapter 785: The Empire of the Ring (2) (End)</h4>


    There had been a tedious battle for three months in the Uyghur area.


    The allied Uyghur independence forces gradually expanded their territory, troubling the Chinese Army with guerri-style wave attacks.


    The gueri-style attack pattern was a way to make up for the inferiority of the troops, which could reduce the sacrifices of the militias much more than in the early days of the war.


    As the war for independence showed signs of prolongation, the United Nations began to sound out a cease-fire carefully.


    Such a move was being discussed around the United States and Russia.


    The two superpowers, who used to be hostile in Syria, were speaking with one voice on the Uyghur issue.


    It was none other than the Kazakh royal family that moved the two countries.


    Since the allied forces had secured some buffer zones between Kazakhstan and China, the royal family took out a cease-fire card to stick to the current front.


    When the U.N. discussed a cease-fire, China reacted angrily, saying not to interfere in its internal affairs, diminishing the Uyghur independence struggle as an internal affair, not a dispute between countries.


    However, the U.S. and Russia strongly pressed for Uyghur¡¯s independence, citing a past precedent.


    The past precedent was the independence of Eastern European and Central Asian countries due to the copse of the Soviet Union.


    Russia did not force a country that wanted independence at the time, which was a little far-fetched, but it was true.


    If that was the case, China, which forcibly annexed Uyghur or Tibet, should guarantee the independence of not only the two regions but also other minorities, so it was natural for China to be furious.


    The reason for this forced logic was to press China demanding unreasonable concessions and take a step backter to reach a middle ground on the issue of Uyghur¡¯s independence.


    China would not recognize Uyghur¡¯s independence, but if only a cease-fire in Uyghur was achieved, it would be the desired result.


    If it was an offer of a cease-fire, China might also respond to the idea.


    China¡¯s economy was also at its worst because of the Uyghur conflict, and it was in a position to see a conclusion in any way.


    The trade war with the U.S. was also tough, but China was embarrassed when even the European Union moved to support Uyghur.


    In addition, China¡¯s ambitious One Belt One Road Initiative business was drifting due to the Uyghur War of Independence.


    China was in a dilemma as even globalpanies with factories in China were moving to withdraw due to the national turmoil.


    This would slow down China¡¯s economic growth.


    Unlike China, Kazakhstan was rather rxed because it was a war on other countries¡¯nd.


    On the contrary, Kazakhstan¡¯s economy was booming due to the war.


    Meanwhile, Kazakhstan¡¯s military was preparing to deploy regr troops in preparation for a cease-fire and weighing the timing.


    The Defense Minister frequently visited the royal pce to urge Youngho to make up his mind over the timing of the regr military deployment.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, it¡¯s the right time to deploy border forces at this point when the cease-fire agreement is being discussed. If the regr forces are deployed early, we¡¯ll be able to increase the area of upation.¡±


    There was no guarantee that China would step back although the aspect of the war would certainly change if regr troops were deployed.


    It was also a dangerous idea to underestimate the Chinese military.


    ¡°We¡¯ve achieved our goals in the region we¡¯ve secured. There is no reason to provoke China when the cease-fire agreement is being discussed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an open secret that we¡¯re behind Uyghur, so what are you afraid of?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a truce, not the end of the war. China will try to recapture its lost territory someday. We need to conserve power just in case.¡±


    Unlike the cessation of war, a truce was a temporary halt to the war, and if one side showed weakness, the war could be resumed by the other side at any time.


    The Defense Minister seemed to be d by Youngho¡¯s remark.


    It was as if he wanted the war to continue like a child with a toy.


    It made Youngho wonder if the Kazakh people were this belligerent.


    ¡°Well then, our troops would have to be satisfied with peacekeeping operations for now.¡±


    The regr troops would be sent to Uyghur in the name of a peacekeeping force.


    Russia and the United States were also actively considering sending peacekeepers.


    If so, China would not be able to do anything about Uyghur for the time being.


    This was because Kazakhstan¡¯s border forces would bepletely relocated to Uyghur.


    It had already been agreed with the Uyghur interim government that the Kazakh military would rece border defense until Uyghur grew stronger.


    ¡°The peacekeeping operation is never easy. There¡¯s a possibility of frequent shes with Chinese troops.¡±


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, our military¡¯s training and armed level have long surpassed those of China. That doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re overconfident, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡±


    ¡°I feel more reassured than anything to hear that our military is well prepared. Sooner orter, I hope they will be able to demonstrate the prestige of Kazakhstan¡¯s military in Uyghur.¡±


    After many twists and turns, a cease-fire agreement was signed between China and the Uyghur Autonomous Government.


    The leadership of the Communist Party finally made a decision as the Chinese economy deteriorated too much.


    Another reason China agreed to a cease-fire was that after a fierce battle, it took back a considerable portion of Uyghur rather than the beginning of the war by retaking the upied areas by the Uyghur allied forces.


    This was possible only because the allied forces seemed to be pushed back under pressure.


    The Chinese government had no choice but to fall into the illusion that it had recovered much of Uyghur¡¯snd rather than losing it.


    Although it was a bit disappointing that the allied forces upied only a fifth of the entire Uyghur due to a fierce battle, Uyghur had to agree because if it did not agree to the cease-fire, the U.S. would turn its back on it, and that would risk the whole cease-fire opportunity.


    One-fifth of Uyghur¡¯s total size was 1.5 times the size of the Korean Penins.


    Of course, the desert ounted for one-third of thend, so there was not much usefulnd, but it was important that Uyghurid the foundation for independence.


    As for Kazakhstan, it was a sessful war of independence as it secured a buffer zone against China.


    When the cease-fire was established, a great migration of Uyghurs who lived throughout Xinjiang Uyghur began.


    The Chinese government also did not bother to stop them.


    There was no reason to stop the Uyghurs as holding onto them would only cause trouble just like before.


    As the Uyghurs entered the upied territory, the United States and Russia sent 500 peacekeepers each.


    At the request of the interim Uyghur government, Kazakhstan sent as many as 10,000 troops as peacekeepers.


    In other words, the entire Kazakhstan¡¯s border troops, which were guarding the Chinese border, had relocated.


    The Chinese government reacted angrily, saying it was another provocation in a truce, but there was nothing it could do to stop it.


    Since a truce could be broken easily, Youngho was not going to naively trust the armistice and the Chinese side.


    It was like there was a powder keg nearby that could explode at any time, so it was best to consolidate the border no matter what the other party said.


    For Kazakhstan, it was important that the war was stopped for a while by signing a cease-fire agreement, and it was meaningful that the border was drawn temporarily.


    In the case of Israel, the people started in a small ce when they first set foot in the Middle East. Then, they took over the surroundingnd little by little and achieved the current Israel.


    The Uyghur that was just conquered now was achieved because Uyghurs used the Kashgar Autonomous Republic as their foothold.


    At the same time as the cease-fire agreement, the regr forces of Kazakhstan were deployed to Uyghur in a sh to finalize the border.


    They were called peacekeepers, but they were practically upying forces.


    In the process, there were big and small shes with the Chinese military, but Kazakhstan aggressively seized the opportunity by mobilizing its powerful air force, which chilled Chinese troops¡¯ blood.


    In terms of airpower, China was behind Kazakhstan.


    Some people said that the Uyghur War of Independence had crushed China¡¯s pride, but the reality was different.


    Despite the guerri warfare of allied independence forces, the Chinese military secured most of the Uyghur region.


    There was also something the Chinese government gained from the war.


    By boldly giving up parts of Uyghur, it could prevent the usual terrorist attacks of Uyghurs and unite the Chinese people.


    The Chinese liked to have recovered much of thend they had lost at the expense of brave soldiers and to drive the Uyghurspletely out into a small area.


    It was not even their ownnd in the first ce, but there must have been a sense of relief to have protected it.


    However, considering the underground resources buried in the Uyghur area, they were bound to feel bitter to certain degrees.


    It was a desert area, but there were huge oil reserves.


    ¡°Oh my! This is a true desert. Look at those dunes. They are magnificent.¡±


    The sight of the desert area of Uyghur was different from Kazakhstan¡¯s semi-deserted areas.


    Fatima, who was on a camel, was continuously eximing.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to get back now. Our children must be waiting.¡±


    It seemed unlikely that he would want to go back anytime soon, so he urged her, using the children as an excuse.


    ¡°Is it far from here to the border?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be about 50 kilometers straight.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to have an unscheduled border unit inspection, are you?¡±


    Fatima, who toured the federal kingdom and set Uyghur as herst stop, had often made Youngho nervous by jumping out of her way during her previous travels.


    ¡°Dear, is it that short? You should have secured more of this beautiful desert.¡±


    She was making an innocentment.


    How many soldiers were sacrificed on both sides to secure the Tamakan desert east of the Tarim Basin where oil was buried?


    They managed to secure even this much only because they pushed ahead for the end of the armistice.


    ¡°There¡¯s oil in this desert. Would China, knowing that, have given it away so easily? It¡¯s where the fiercest battles took ce.¡±


    Youngho and Fatima were at the historic site where the fiercest battles took ce, causing so many victims.


    ¡°Oh! This was the famous battleground.¡±


    Then she got off the camel and offered a silent tribute.


    The attendants had no choice but to follow the queen¡¯s actions, and in an instant, it became a solemn atmosphere.


    Uyghur¡¯s independence was achieved by countless people¡¯s blood and sweat.


    Although it was for various purposes, the cost was great even if it was for the well-being of Central Asia.


    History would judge whether such a sacrifice was necessary.


    It was the best decision Youngho could make, but it remained to be seen what the future generations would say.


    Not all dangers had been resolved yet.


    China would still covet Central Asia, and Russia would one day resume its southward policy.


    As ever, Youngho would have to live with its belt tightened and continue to live in tension.


    Thepletion of the empire was only the beginning.


    Looking west at the sunset, Youngho said, ¡°How about having amb barbecue tonight?¡±


    ¡°How can you think of alcohol in this solemn situation?¡±


    ¡°We are left behind to go on, and I¡¯d also like to offer a drink to the dead.¡±


    -The End-


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